Yesterday the sun was shining, the sky was blue and I was seized by an uncanny urge to buy a barbeque, so I did. Refusing to tell Courtney what was up I ushered her into the car and drove to a hardware shop in the town centre.
“Where are we going?” she asked, “I’m so confused.”
I [...]

Continuing my mission to reach a better understanding of the strange land I currently inhabit, last Sunday I went with Tom, aka Politco Wonk, to see my first basketball game.

The Varsity doumentary is coming along. I shot interviews two weekends ago, and now I’m amassing documents. Above is an original lobby card for the first movie to play in the Varsity cinema on June 9th 1950. By all accounts, it was a bit of a B movie, albeit one presented in glorious Technicolor.
Update: 1st [...]

I don’t know exactly how this came to be, but I remember a degree of nagging and flattery emanating from Courtney, and a degree of arm-twisting from Julie at the Co-op. The upshot is that on February 16th 2006 I will be teaching a course on how to make Cornish Pasties and Chicken Tikka Masala. [...]

I’ve started pre-production on the Varsity documentary. Hopefully everything will be in place for a shoot on the second weekend of December. I’ll post more news as and when it happens.
The New(ish) Jaga Jazzist album is wonderful. Courtney and I are looking into buying an iMac for me to edit on. If and when it [...]

My friend Jeff has decided to use me as the face of his Crow About Davis t-shirt range. I hope my mug doesn’t damage his sales too substantially.

Last night, after months of wrangling, dithering, and what appears to be attempted sabotage, the city council finally approved my boss’ plan to reopen the Varsity cinema in Davis as an art house cinema.
Built in the 1950s, it had all the trappings of a small movie palace, including murals and a proscenium. It’s been hacked [...]

The other day a customer at the coffee shop asked “Did you see that?”
“What?” I asked.
“Someone just came up to one of the tables outside, changed their baby on it, and left without wiping up.”
And bugger me, it was disgustingly true.

Picnic Day turned out to be more fun than I thought. Having witnessed a pretty half-arsed St. Patrick’s Day parade in Rochester last year, I’ve been apprehensive about parades. As I’ve discovered from watching student films, there’s little entertainment to be had from watching people walking.
Yesterday I discovered I may have been too harsh in [...]

Tomorrow I’m being hauled into work – missing the televised coverage of Crystal Palace vs Norwich – to help Mishka’s deal with the craziness of Picnic Day. Apparently, everyone who has ever lived in Davis returns to the town for the day to watch a parade and a dachshund steeplechase.
I’m charging the camera batteries as [...]