Friday, 17 December 2010

My thoughts on Tron: Legacy.

This is not a review;

My thoughts on Tron: Legacy








Just my thoughts on the film.




I HATE 3D, before i just disliked it, didn't see a point in it, but now, having seen a film in 3D, i really Effing Hate It.

As for the film, i think it had lots of problems, the story is a bit thin and predictable. But i liked it. A major problem with it, has nothing to do with the film itself, but the over hyped advertising, my expectations were high, and the film didn't live up to them. I think thats why it wasn't as good as i expected.

I'll definitely be buying the Blu-Ray when its released, and i think it'll be a better viewing experience on my TV then in a cinema with (Crappy) 3D.



Extra video;

"You have/had to see it in the theatre"




"You have/had to see it in the theatre"


Bull crap.

After DVD and home cinema systems became the normal, and cheap, i find it a better viewing experience watching a film on DVD or Blu-Ray at home.

Thursday, 16 December 2010

TRON: Just got home from the Cinema...

So i just saw Tron: Legacy.

In 3D :(

At the start of the film a message says that some scenes are meant to be shown in 2D, and will be. So i ask, why screen it at all in 3D. Tron is the first EVER film i've seen in 3D, new or old, and before i simply didn't see the point in 3D, but now, i really fucking hate it. It gave nothing to the viewing experience, NOTHING, I'm hoping its a fade, like the many times in the past where 3D reared its ugly head to world cinema and faded away to a bitter memory.


At this point in the blog i was going to type;

[SPOILERS]

and write a brief review, but, even thought its been an hour since it finished i'm still not quiet sure what to make of it. During some scenes i got goose bumps, but that could of been due to the musical score. When the film finished, i actually wished it would continue for another hour or so, it seemed to end before its 1 hour and 45 minute run time. Maybe i just answered my own question of weather or not i liked it.

When a film seems to move at a high rate of speed and end, you sitting there hoping it'll continue because it can't possibly be over in such a short space of time, looking down at the back lit digital read out on your watch you realise that you've been sitting in that, rather nice, comfortable leather seat for nearly 2 hours.

I know when i dislike a film, i'm sitting there wondering if it'll ever end, slow, boring, my body starts to tell me that its had enough by telling my bladder that its about time i had a piss, now the viewing is slow, boring and uncomfortable. Tron: Legacy was none of these.

I like the characters, i like the story, and i like the end.

I would say that the GCI was outstanding, and it was, but in a movie this big, with that amount of money, thats to be expected, and great CGI does not a great film make.

To have a great film you need Great Characters, and a Great Story. I guess i have to decide weather those traits were great, or simply good with regards to Tron: Legacy.

I'll leave that for later.

Night all.

Tuesday, 14 December 2010

My daily VLogs

On the 15th of November, i started "Jay's Daily Vlogs" on my Youtube channel.

I did how ever miss VLog number 5 :( because i had nothing to say, but after that i decided to upload a 'Non-Vlog' on days i have nothing to say or if i've done nothing worth capturing. I upload a video saying, basically "Hi, yeah i have nothing today. Good Bye" Yeah i know, i'm an innovator. A friend on Twitter called it Meta-Vlogging.

As of today (14th December 2010) i'm on VLog 30. Use the link above and go subscribe to my Youtube channel.

On my other channel, which has had the 15 minute video limit lifted (So has my fiskyjay channel) i uploaded a 60 minute video of, well nothing, just my room, and me going about my business [HERE] nothing happens in this video worth talking about, but i was asked by a friend on twitter to do it, so i did. It may well be the most boring video ever posted to Youtube.

Sunday, 21 November 2010

YOUTUBE DOESN'T LIKE ME :(

Well, look at you, my how you've grown.

Yea its been awhile since i made a blog.

This one is about my youtube channels;

I have three, yes 3, incase you can't read..........?

Anyway, i started a new channel ages back when i found out that my bosses were watching my Griftersixone channel, this meant i had to private some videos, ones that were either filmed at work or when i said things about work. Yeah, my managers don't actually like it when your not happy with work, they feel like they've don't something wrong, you just can't have a bad day. And then, when they ask why your having a bad day, if its not work related, they don't give a fuck.

So i needed a new channel that they wouldn't know about, so i made a video announcing the new channel, but giving no information as to where it was. In the end i decided that that wasn't such a great idea, as the people i do like, didn't know where it was. So i forgot about it.

Until a few months ago, when they sacked me, rightly so, but they sacked me, so i un-privated all the work related videos, including one that is an eleven hour time-lapse video (11 hours in 14 minutes) which, in this video, i clearly fall asleep. I did do security. Have a guess why i got sacked.

The new channel is Fiskyjay (same as my twitter) where i'm now posting daily vlogs (assuming i don't forget, and if i have something to vlog about), Hey i could of vlogged this blog, shit....................... anyway the Grifter channel is, i guess, going to be for silly rants, the FiskyJay is for vlogging and anything artsy i guess. And the FiskFilmLtd channel is for shorts, if i ever get around to making anymore.

The reason i'm going to be using the Fiskyjay channel now, is because i want to get away from the Grifter tag. I guess i feel the Fiskyjay channel will be taken more seriously. I donno.


I never get very many views on the Tubes :( Youtube, why don't you like me?

Also, i uploaded my first full 1080 high definition video today 'EYES' to my Fiskyjay channel, just as a test to see what 1080 on Youtube looks like.

Monday, 1 November 2010

Keep on keeping on ~ ?

Ok, back to a life of stale normality. Late nights. Late mornings. Checking my eMails in bed. Responding to rejection eMails. Still looking for a job. Yogurts and diet coke. Keep on keeping on ~ ?

Sunday, 17 October 2010

The Orion Directive [Updated]

Okay so yesterday i slacked off and didn’t write anything, but today i made up for it. I’ve been writing for hours and i actually set out to write the treatment for the prologue but instead wrote out most of it as it might appear in the finished book, and during all this i thought that i might just skip the treatment part and go strait to the writing of the book, i was really enjoying it, i just writing stuff as it came to me, i wrote far more then i thought i might, which does make me feel better about writing the book itself, knowing that i can write so much with so little information to start with.
[17 Oct 2010]

I finish my chapter write ups today, 11 pages of notes, now i have to turn that into an even more detailed treatment. Which i’ll write chapter by chapter, seeing as thats how i intend to write the book. Getting each chapter right before moving on to the next one. Can’t wait.
[15 Oct 2010]

Today i turned a page and a half from my chapter list into 6 pages. Basically the chapter list has 42 chapters written down with 1 or 2 lines of what happens within that chapter. Today i wrote down more detail for each chapter, so i’ll be at 6 to 10 pages of chapter write ups tomorrow, i hope. Next once that is done i can start on the treatment, again i’ll be doing it by chapter, but getting more detailed about everything, filling up at least a page per chapter, so i should have around a 42 page treatment. And from that i can start to write the book. All this is so i can work out the kinks so once i start writing i won’t get stuck half way wondering what i’m writing.
Once i actually start writing i’ll be doing it chapter at a time, making sure that i’m happy with each one before i move on to the next. Looking forward to it. Hopefully i’ll be starting that in a few weeks. Stay tuned.
[14 Oct 2010]

Today i set out the story in chapters, 43 in all so far, and i might even have a few more to add later. I’ll take each chapter and write a lay out, a detailed brief of each one. At the end i should have a pretty good treatment for the book giving me all i need to get started on the book.
I still need to find names for the 5 new characters i mentioned yesterday. And because these names can’t really be easily recognisable as human names, i’ll find them without using a name search, but in stead by looking at objects around the house.
[13 Oct 2010]

More writing done, Yayy.
I wanted to make the story a little more complex and i think i might be on to something, i may have also extended the length of the book, i was hoping to get at least 350 maybe 400 pages, and was unsure i could, but after todays writing session i think i can reach that length.
Today i write brief bios of my villains, and as my hero is looking for something, i made the something hard to find. Sounds simple i know but you have no idea just how hard it’ll be. :D
[12th Oct 2010]

More profiles done over the last few days, getting closer to what i’m looking for. But so far i’ve done all the easy profiles, the next three are where the story and plot is going to get defined, So i have to take it slow. I might even write it out a few times, to make sure i’m happy with it before i’m ready to even start on chapter one. Also i decided to make it far more complex then before, thats kinda what writing these profiles has been about, what might seem like unnecessary back ground information on some characters will be useful later on, motives of why some characters are doing what they are doing.

Oh and i wanted to share this as well. It might be a tad premature but i designed a cover for the book. Actually i designed 5 covers, but i really like this one. So here you go.




[11th Oct 2010]

So this week i’ve been getting under the skin of a few characters. There are three characters that have a past, of course this all takes place before the book begins, but its good work in order to know my characters, plus, i plan on making this a trilogy and the character dynamic works for the second book and plays a big part in the third (Assuming of course i actually get it done) So i wrote three character bio’s and before i even started i wasn’t even sure that one of these characters even existed at all, in writing the bio’s my imagination kinda went crazy, and i wrote one three times, each time getting closer to something that i liked, in the end i just went with it.
First i write it all out with a pen and paper, next i type it all up, and only refer to my notes. Right now i’m happy with what i have, but unfortunately the actual plot and or story hasn’t come up yet, but i should be giving it some serious thought over the next few days.
Also, seeing as the sub-genre has an extensive history and mythology i had to sort out a specific time frame, making sure that everything fell into place chronologically. Which it does. Now. after much pain and misery.
[8th Oct 2010]

The Orion Directive is a spy thriller based and set in the Star Trek universe.

The story is kinda complicated, but i’m thinking i need to make it a little complex.

Sunday, 3 October 2010

Things...

Recently i've been thinking about making some pretty big changes in my life. Well, i say recently, i've been thinking about this stuff for years, and have made no effort to change anything. So why is this time any different?

Well maybe it ain't, maybe i'm simply deluding myself again, trying to keep optimistic about my future rather then recognising the truth. That i'm lazy, and will always be lazy. With a shit life and doing shit jobs.

There are things i "want" to do. Get healthy, get fit, read and write more (More as in at all) and travel, i wonna travel, see places, met people. From all walks of life and all corners of the earth.

I make plans in my head, about starting a fitness regime. That i never start. About writing more and reading more. Which i never do.

I'm quite simply. LAZY!


I've tried to identify the reasons and or courses for my laziness. They are as follows;

Work: I've worked in Security for the past 5 years, nothing but sitting around not doing very much, a job that requires no thought, and so your brain almost shuts down completely. And little or no physicality, your either standing still or sitting down. So doing nothing for long periods of time becomes almost natural.

Television: One of my biggest problems, its so easy to just sit and watch hours of TV, reruns on Dave (Sky ch 111) or DVD's/Blu-Rays and now Apple TV, i mean when i think about it i actually want to watch 3 maybe 4 shows a week. Mondays its Spooks, Tuesdays its Eureka and Mythbusters, Wednesday its Burn Notice. Thats 4 shows, i download 3 of them every weeks from iTunes anyway. 4 hours of television a week is all i actually want to watch, so why do i sit watching my TV screen for hour after hour each day?

Internet: Social networks like Facebook, Twitter, Vloggerheads and Chatterheads. These are the sites that i frequent the most. Every day i visit these sites, for hours at a time, sometimes with the TV on next to me. I'll sit for hours refreshing these sites waiting for something to happen so i can respond via video, blog or comment. I can't measure the hours i've wasted refreshing web pages.

All the above is part of the reason i'm as lazy as i am. But i think, personally, that they just helped to propagate an already existing conduction. I don't think that i'm lazy by nature. But i think i can narrow it down to a year of when it all started.

In 2003 i was made redundant from my job of 7 years, in this job i worked from 8:30 till 17:00 with only a lunch break for rest, it became a very active job, lots of walking and standing, it differed from security in that i actually had a days work to do and a 17:00 dead line to finish it which i met every day, it was physical and mental, so in my mind it ticked all the boxes. After being made redundant and getting 6 months pay, with £500 sweetener. I made a big mistake, instead of paying off my credit card and banking the rest and looking for a new job immediately. I decided to take a month off, which turned into a few months, mostly because it was a hot summer, then it became to cold to look for work (yeah i know, an excuse) that excuse is how my lazy downward spiral began (In my mind anyway) i sat on my arse for a year. I was made redundant on June 11 2003, and i didn't start working again until June 19 2004. In that year i sat around a lot, spending my redundancy money until it ran dry. I've still to pay off my credit card. I worked in the prison service for a year, i was becoming more active again, and starting to get fit. But in 2005 i discovered that Corporate Security paid more. In the prison service i earned around £15,000 a year, In three years working in Corporate Security i was earning up to £24,000 a year. Thats a 9000 pound increase in 3 years. But security in general is a lazy mans job, lots of nothing.

My already lazy attitude was being fed by an inactive job. And after 3 years i'd had enough, so i gave my notice and left looking for better things. 5 months later nothing had happened so i started looking for security jobs again. Its the only thing i'm qualified for  :(    and the last 2 years i worked the weekend night shift, Friday, Saturday and Sunday night, every week, including holidays. 12 hour long shifts of nothing, with maybe 1 hour worth of work a night, most of which was sitting down.

I'm not trying to make excuses for my laziness, I'm lazy git, i know that. I'm just explaining that my circumstances over the last 7 years haven't helped much.


So, what do i want to do about it?

First: I need to eat right, and by that i mean, eat less crap.
Second: At least an hour of exercise a day, alternate between cardio and weights.
Third: Spend an hour (or more) writing each day every day.
Forth: Read more, about an hour or two before bed, or when ever.

Thats about 3 hours a day of something to do that isn't watching TV or getting lost on social networks. Three hours a day and i might better my fitness and health, learn something from reading more and finish my writing projects.

The four objectives above are the same objectives i've had for years now.

If i actually start doing them, I'll let you know. If i do them for longer then a month, i'll let you know. If they become the norm, a daily habit, then i'll let you know.

Stay tuned. But don't hold your breath.

To...

Get health...

Get fit...

Get writing...

Get reading...

Get off my arse...

Get rid of lazy........

Saturday, 2 October 2010

My Life.

My life is unremarkable.

In fact, unremarkable would be an upgrade from my current standing.


~ Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Sunday, 5 September 2010

Changes...

Health;
Mostly all food based, i usually just eat what ever is in the fridge, but thats not really going to cut it anymore, so i guess i'll be buying my own stuff, stuff i want, Steaks, Chicken, large potatos, salad w/dressing. And for the times i get peckish, low fat yogurt.

Fitness;
A run three days a week, Mon,Tues, Fri, using an iPhone app called Couch to 5K, its a nine week plan, my fitness over the last 10 years has suffered some pretty major set backs, and its time to sort it out. And on the off days when im not running, i'll do basic and simple strengh exercises, push-ups and sit-ups.

Time;
I waste so much time watching the television, mostly reruns, there are a few shows a week i love to watch, but at most one maybe two hours per day. The rest of the time could be spent doing something more productive, like Running and other exercises. So i'll be cutting the TV down to only the shows i really want to watch, which are record with Sky +.

Writing;
1 to 2 hours per day, 7 days a week. Thats the goal any way, and with less television time it shouldn't be a problem. I have more then enough to work on, in fact i have way to much to work on, because i've had years of ideas that i just haven't gotten around to even starting. So now its time to make the time.

Tuesday, 17 August 2010

New Optical Broadband Connection

So yesterday the BT man showed up to connect me to the Optical Broadband.

My old connection was a regular broadband, running on copper. My average download speed was around 6mb and my average upload speed was 0.2mb - 0.3mb. Pretty average actually for normal broadband in my area.

My new connect however is far better.


My new download speed is 5.5 times faster, and my new upload speed is, well, its faster then my old download speed.

Of course the above speed test could be the peak of my connection, i did the test and took to pic, if i do the test again it could well be slower, but not by much.

Sunday, 8 August 2010

Taking a..?

Well what did you expect



~ Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Saturday, 7 August 2010

If I could...

Vibrate my atoms at a speed 99.999999% the speed of light would time slow down for me. Meaning everything around me would past faster?

That's a question for particle physicist out there.


~ Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Have you ever...

Sat, hoping something would happen that would define the rest of your life?


~ Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Your not...

The one but your the only one who can make me feel like this. Your not the one but your the only one who can make me feel like shit.


~ Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Can't write, Won't write.

How do you do it?

Ironicly i can sit and write a blog on not being able to write.
But then i know this blog won't take up most of my year, it doesn't need characters or plots, i start writing and at some point in the next hour or so i'll be finished, no re-writes no frustrating writers block, just a few paragraphs and i'm done, i don't even need to write discription, i just write exactly whats on my mind and then stop when my mind goes blank on this subject, and believe me, it won't take long for that to happen.

So, the title, Can't Write; There are lots of people out there who want to be a writer, but don't know how, i used to be one of them, all i can say is just start writing, it doesn't really matter what you write, just write. And read, read all the time, lot of books, that'll give you an idea of how its done especially if you read books in the genre you want to write in. So, get a pen a pad and just start writing whats on your mind.

Won't write; This is where i am now, in the phase of laziness, using the fear of failure as an excuse for laziness, i've also used the "I have no time" "I'm really busy" and the "i have writers block" defenses, its all bullshit. You probably waste more time every day then it'll take to write something. One hour, thats all it takes, just one bloody hour a day, even if your not writing anything, sit there, spend your hour thinking about the work, but sit down and spend your hour a day, the point is to get used to it, make that one daily hour a habbit. You'll most likely find that the hour, once you get started, goes fast and you will be spending up to three hours daily instead, i usually get lost in it and don't want to stop, that is, if i ever actually get started. Where i am right now is, i want to start Chapter One of my book, but its going really slow, and i just sit looking at my screen not writing anything, it feels like a waste of time, but its not, i'm spending that time thinking and developing the story in my mind, it helps in the end. But, i'm a lazy bastard and can't seem to get started on a daily basis. You need to find that place in which you feel comfortable enough to write, away from everything, turn off your phone, close the curtains, because everything outside your window is a distraction, even if nothing is happening, unless your view is of a brick wall, and force yourself to spend one hour every day sitting there, pen paper, computer or voice recording, but sit there, soon enough you'll start writing.

I write these blogs when something other then my book or script ideas are on my mind, it helps to clear those thoughts out, otherwise i think about them all day and night. Personally i have over 30 ideas for books and scripts, thats to many, so get your idea and get cracking, if a new idea pops in there, write some notes to remind you of them then get back to your original idea, file the notes for later. You only want to work on one at a time, yeah i know it sounds odd to say it, but if you getting a little tired of the first idea and the second sounds more exiting, you might stop the first in favour of the second, don't do this, finsih your first, get atleast a first draft done, then start work on your second.

Okay, when you've completed the first draft, file it, leave it for at least two weeks, so when it comes time to do a re-write, you can look at the material fresh.

So go write something.

Friday, 30 July 2010

Think...

That is all...

Wednesday, 28 July 2010

View from my window...

At 4:20am


Been up all night again, it's either insomnia or caffeine or maybe a little of both.

If I'm going to blog this early with my Mac turned off, I should maybe get an iPad or a laptop.

I want to say more but typing on an iPhone isn't such a great thing.



~ Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Tuesday, 27 July 2010

I need a.....

Where do i start, Well i guess i need a new iMac, the new 27inch looks tasty and powerful enough to handle what ever i throw at it. My current iMac is nearly 4 years old, you know the one's, the Whites ones, before the Black and Grey ones.
Yea, so i need a new iMac, i looked over on Apple.com earlier and i seemed to get the price up to nearly £2000, oh well, guess i'd better start saving.

Also, being a writer, i need to write, but i hate sitting at my desk infront of this computer, so i guess i want, not need, a Laptop, in this case a MacBook, i thought about getting a cheap £350 laptop, but all the word processing i do is Mac based, i use Pages and Final Draft (Mac Version) so i really should get a MacBook, to make switching between the two easier, why you ask, will my iMac is set up with Time Machine, if you don't know what that is, its a back up device, every hour my iMac backs up my hard drive, and i mean all of it, its a 1TB external drive and it'll fill that up before it starts to over write stuff, pretty cool, so transferring to my iMac would mean that all my writings would get backed up, i also have external server space with Apple, in my Mobile Me account, 20GB, and i also back up there.

While i was in California, i was taking pictures of pretty much anything, and when i got my new iPhone 4 i started to use the 5mp camera to snap random stuff as and when i saw something i though was worth it, because of this i opened a Flickr account (HERE)

[One of the last pictures i took with my iPhone]

That picture has no post work, thats how the sky looked from my window, So i figured maybe i should invert in a really good digital camera and some lenses. I guess i'm looking at Canon and Nikon cameras, the mega pixel is fine, a high one, but what i want is a fast shutter speed, big lenses to let as much light in as possible, and a wide angle lens as well as a telephoto lens.


So to some up;

I need a new iMac
I want a new MacBook
I want a new Digital Camera

Sunday, 25 July 2010

Mind the Gap

Yes you should.


It's nearly 6am and I'll soon be heading home from work for the last time this week, to sleep, where I my only get a few hours which is good, because it means I'll be able to sleep properly later on, or I'll sleep until 6pm which is bad because then I want be able to sleep tonight and it'll ruin my whole week.

But before I even get a chance to do that I have to get home, using the London Underground, or the Tube, this 150 year old mode of transport is an hateful thing, but needs must so I shall bite my lip, and try not to fall asleep. Falling asleep on London's public transport basically means you have given your permission for whom ever decides to either video record you and or take closeup pictures of you. So stay awake on the tube.

For more Tube tails read my blog entitled "it's all about the seats" which was written shortly after a bad tube ride into work.


~ Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

My Doors

I have another blog called 'The Doors' which was supposed to be a series of short stories.

One night while at work self deprecating i though about my subconscious mind, and that there is a light side and a dark side to us all, and being that the dark side is more interesting, from a writers point of view, i decided to write the stories, i called them 'The Corridor of my Subconscious' then add a door number. There are 48 doors, starting with 00, and 47 is at the end of this subconscious corridor, i would write a short story based on one of the doors, each being different and each holding something different inside, an end to whom ever goes inside, some want to, some don't, some fear the unknown, other attack it. They all loss.

I figured i might start writing these again, i finished 3, doors 00, 18 and 11 i was in the middle or writing another but for the life of my i can't find it anywhere. These would be a good place to start, or to just give me something to write.

They didn't take long, 5 maybe 6 hours to finish, then a quick spell/grammar check, then post.

Maybe writing these would get me in the mood to write more, re: last blog.

Long time...

Haven't written a blog in like forever.

So whats been happening with my writing, not much is the short answer.
I've come to the conclustion that i'm lazy, to lazy infact to better my own life. Now what does that say about me? Does it mean that i just don't care about my current currcumstances, no matter how much i complain about them, does it make me a hypocrit? Or just a guy in his early 30's who still doesn't know exactly what he wants and or needs in his life? Answers in a postcard.

Writing has once again been on my mind which is why i'm writing this blog right now, I have many books to read, books in the genre i like, Thrillers, Crime and or Spy, the book i 'want' to write is a Sci-Fi Spy Thriller, I wanted to down play the Sci-Fi aspect. "So why write one then?" Because its a particular Sci-Fi franchise, it can really only be one of two, Star Trek or Star Wars. Now, i happen to know quite a lot about this franchise and figured i'd write my first novel in the time and place of that franchise, to make things a little easier for myself. So i spent more time thinking about the Story-Plot-Characters etc etc...

It hasn't gone well, i have maybe 8 pages written so far, 8 pages in how many months?

I keep hearing people say that "You need to get in habbit of writing" to find a quite corner/place with no window or other distractions and just start, first set a goal, weather it be a time goal like an hour or two, or a word goal like 500 or 1000 words, and once you've reached that goal, run out of time or reached your 1000 words, STOP. But do this every day, maybe giving yourself a day off each week, say Sunday, it is a day of rest after all.

What about the dreadid "Writers Block". I read a book awhile back by Anne Lamottcalled 'Bird by Bird' it was an insightful read, about her Anne goes about her writing, in it she said that Writers Block is incurrect, because your creativity isn't being blocked, you've simply run dry, like a car running out of fuel, and all you need to do if get a refill. Instead of forcing it out, stop writing and refill your creativity. Go for a long walk, watch a film, read a book, have a discussion with friends, do something else besides sitting infront of your computer word processor, save - close - turn off. The more you try to force creativity the harder it is to find, So give yourself permission to finish early.

Now, to me this all makes perfect sense, does it to you? (leave a comment below if it does or does not) So if all this makes perfect sense to me, why do i have so much trouble writing, i wrote this blog on the spur of the moment. I spend, Waste, so much time every day, either watching reruns of Top Gear on Dave (Sky ch 111) or visiting the miriad of social networks online, sitting refreshing pages incase i miss something. Television, The Internet (Ironic) and Noisy Children are among the biggest distracts i now of, so let me tell you a story.

London, Heathrow Airport, June 21.
I sit in the departure lounge waiting for my already late Virgin Boaing 747-700 to start boarding, 1 hour and 15 minutes late, its called 'Cosmic Girl' and bares an image of Dita Von Tess below the cockpit windows. I really hate airports, but its a necessary evil for intaintercontinental travel. The ride was terrible, the sits are to crammed together, people need space, but that economy for you, next time i might spend a little more and upgrade to Premiem Econemy, Maybe. So i watch a few films on the inflight entertainment screen. Landing 11 hours laters in San Francsico International Airport, no trouble with US customs, at all, infact he was very nice. I meet my friend and we drive back to his place, where several others were waiting. Ok, now for the point of this little story, I spend 3 days in his house, with no Internet and no Television (by choice) and i switched off my mobile phone because of the roaming charges, i just checked my emails a few times a day, that it, we then spent 4 days on Berryessa Lake in a house boat. No TV, No Internet, just 11 other people, Booze a speed boat and some water sport devices, the rubber ring and a knee board, needless to say i didn't miss television or the internet, again irony, i uploaded all the video i shot and pictures i took to the internet so i could share them with the eleven others. Point is, i really didn't need television, or the internet.
The Web is fine, its a great tool for research and buying stuff like books, DVD's and furniture, but don't let it take over your life or you'll spend valuable moments of your life pixelated, Turn off the Television, switch off the computer, go out with friends, socialise with real people, people you can see and hear without having to look at a 2 dimentional screen.

So, if i can spend a week with no Television and no Internet, why can't i do it while at home, is it because i'm lazy, because its just easier to entertain myself with Television and the Web. Could i spend time at home, without using either? Could i sit and read books, plan a book, write a book, and or film script.

Maybe my attention span is just to short for something as involved as writing.

Sunday, 23 May 2010

Sunday Sunday...

I awoke at 3pm this afternoon to the sound of one of my fans blowing in the fresh air from beyond my curtains, birds churping and children playing in the distants. I sat up and checked the clock beside my bed 15:02 in green LED's. The sound of Spring fills my bedroom. And on the chair infront of me, a sight that rips that Spring feeling away like my soul on the wind. My work uniform. My mood turned as black as the fabric.

As per usual i go to the toilet after getting out of bed, both windows are open and the bright sun shine, the blue cloudless sky and a cool breeze reawakens that Spring feeling, i stand, releaving myself, and soaking up the gorgeous Spring air.

I have 2 hours before i have to go to work. Shit.

I stand at the bus stop, my face burning in the sun light, i move into the shade, the bus was empty most of the way to the tubestation, women with short skirts and strapless dresses sit around me, pink with a mild sun burn. I wait 10'ish minutes for my train, which at the last minute had a change for destination, which meant i had to change halfway. Shit. For the next 40 minutes i'll be underground in a metal cigar travelling through tunnels that were cut out of the London earth 150 years ago. I hate the London Underground, even more so in hot weather. I make one change, blissfully walking, trying not to care about the time. Once out of the sweat box i have nearly one mile of London city streets to walk, the suns out, and so i walk again without a care for the time, i just walk, slower then normal watching tourists checking their sight seeing maps then checking local land marks then checking their maps again, they look confused. The London Eye is infront and across the river and the Parliament building is to your right. Easy. My one and only stop on my way to work is a small Tesco with a small corridor filled with undecided shoppers. I look in, see the hopelessness of getting in and out with my weekend usual so i turn and leave empty handed. Now i have to walk a little out of my way to the next little Tesco, but Fuck it, its a beautiful day, and so i walk on passing the giant entrence to Westminister Abbey surrounded by its gothic architecture, the lawns in front are filled with resting walkers still taking pictures. The second Tesco is a little bigger, but more importantly it has what i wanted, so i grab a bottle of water, which i'm drinking now, a sandwich (Chicken salad) two bottles of Diet Coke (gotta watch my figure ;P) a Twix extra and a box of Go Ahead biscuits, strawberry favour. I need the sugar to keep me awake for the next 12 hours.

By now its nearly a quarter to seven, and i still need to do an external check on the building before i go inside. Its a habit. Check done and i enter the building a little after, heading strait throught the reception and into the showroom filled with "buyers" checking out next seasons crapola. I stash my grub in the fridge then go back the reception for the Handover of Responsibility.

I am now, and will be until 7am tomorrow, responsible for this building and its contents. Overall value about 25 million pounds, but to me, its just bricks and rags.


The moral of this story is;
"Why the fuck do we have to work on days such as this, it ain't right and should be a crime"


Have a happy Sunday folks, enjoy it, get the most out of it, for tomorrow is Monday.

Saturday, 8 May 2010

Fatal Flaw.

We all have them right, each and every one of us has at least one flaw which dicataes our lives.

Last night i started to think a little about mine. Laziness. No matter how passionate i am about something. Or how motivated i am. I can never seem to shake off the laziness that, it seems i've had for longer then i originally thought.

I figured it started after my redundency back in 2004, i took a year off work and lived on my redundency money, i would spend days. Even weeks doing nothing but watching TV and or DVD's, during that time i gained a little weight, which i still have, and no matter how much i talked to myself about starting to exercise, i never did.

But that, ithink, wasn't where it began, as a kid, i would get home from school and instead of doing my home work i'd play video games or sit watching TV, no biggy right all kids do that, but even then i'd still sit watching crap because i didn't what to do the home work. Now even though i have tons of writing projects to do, i still feel like i'd rather just sit watching TV/DVD's.

Back in 2004/2005 i decided that i wanted to write film scripts, if i'd put in the work back then i'd have at least 10, maybe 15 finished scripts. But how many do i have in stead, well i'll tell ya, exactly 3, and the first one i hated so didn't even think about doing a rewrite. The second is in rewrite limbo and the third is collecting dust waiting for me to do something with it.
In the beginning, i didn't write very often because i never really believed that i could sell one, so subconsciously i suppose i thought "whats the point" so not writing very much wasn't really that big of a deal, i never had the confidence, but later, when i found it, buried deep inside me i used my old  unconfidence self as an excuse to cover the real problem. Laziness.

A few months back i decided i was going to writing 4 blogs. Go to my profile page to see them.
This one, i was going to write a few a week, just a "Whats on my mind" thing. The second 'Fisky's Movies Review', i was going to add one a week, reviewing films i liked or disliked, it didn't matter, the third 'Doors of my Subconscious' is a series of short stories, i've written three so far, but even they are over a year old and i haven't written one sinse then, and the fourth is a company one 'Fisk Film' where i'd write about what the company is doing, which at this point is nothing. I wanted so many blogs because i thought it might force me to do them, but then i have no obligation to, so why should i? Laziness Strikes Back.

And over the last few weeks i decided i was going to write a Novel, which is suffering from the same tired routine, i'd just rather sit on my ass and watch TV/DVD's.

Now, i know what my fatal flaw is, its Laziness. I also know how to over come this flaw, i need to stay busy long enough to develope a routine of writing, get to the point where i just do it, not because i need to, but because i what to. The past has shown me that when i'm busy i can work all day long, no problem. In fact i profer to work hard all day then sit on my ass doing nothing. Of course having no work to do when i'm actually at work isn't helping matters, i use a Mac at home and a PC here, the Mac will read the PC files just fine (.doc) but the word processor i use on my Mac (Pages) isn't recognised on PC's, so i have to convert everything to Rich Text Format (rtf) files so i can transfer and open files on both computers, but i loss any formatting i have. For scripts i use Final Draft (fdr) which, unless i buy a new PC version of Final Draft i can't open at all on the work PC, and using RTF, is out of the question because the format is important. I have done it before but spent hours reformating it in Final Draft, which is more trouble then its worth, not to mention the time wasted.

Summary: My flaw is, Laziness. to over come this flaw i need to force myself to work every day until i fall into a routine.

Wednesday, 28 April 2010

Cover Art

I had the crazy idea that i could write a novel and recently i started to write it, a book, novel, novella i'll decide when its finished which category it fits into. I started by getting familiar with the characters and so set about writing character bios for the two main characters, plus a little research on the subject matter, to which i have already, in a previous blog, mentioned that its a Spy Thriller that has a complex sub-genre. 

I've written half of the first chapter, which i was eager to start so i used part of a bio i wrote, just to get started and today i designed the cover art work, of course this may change, but for right now its all i've got. Yea i know, its a little dark but it does fit the story floating around in my head, which changes from time to time, like earlier today, i was completely convinced i knew the plot, but on the way to my local chip shop i saw a Crow on the grass and things started to change, the Crow just gave me a simple change, but it got my thought processes going and i started to think more about the shady parts of the story, the more complex stuff, and then decided on a significant change to the plot, i love writing, i love the way it evolves in my head, happily it happened before i wrote it.