Top 5 fave TV characters

For a bit of fun, after a friend mentioned the idea, I thought I'd list my five favourite current TV show characters.

5. Maurice Moss (The IT Crowd, pictured).
How do I describe Moss? He's an IT nerd through and through, pedantic, weird, unworldly and very funny to watch. One of the great unseen gems of TV in Australia, the IT Crowd is a brilliantly written sitcom and, in the tradition of Fawlty Towers, hasn't been overdone (only 18 episodes to date). The thing about Moss is that at times you are also laughing with him and that makes a good character.
4. Devon a.k.a. Captain Awesome (Chuck).
Chuck's soon to be brother in law is the way too perfect guy all us normal average people kind of secretly detest. He's athletic, a doctor, he's very supportive of everyone in his life and to him everything is `awesome'. He's kind of a simple character and I think he was only meant to be a one or two episode character but he's just so interesting and funny (particularly his reaction when anyone else says something is awesome) and I think the show would be very different without him.
3. Ben Rafter (Packed To The Rafters)
I'm only a recent convert to this show but it is the eldest son Ben who seems to be the soul of the show. He's very much you're average suburban nice guy. He's goofy, impulsive, lovable and loyal and there aren't too many characters like him. I reckon he's the kind of brother anyone would love to have.
2. Kevin Walker (Brothers And Sisters)
I think there is a theme here. Kevin is smart, handsome, a lawyer, classy - but can be very childish an selfish. Yes he is the `gay one' in Brothers And Sisters but he, a bit like Ben Rafter, is the heart of the show I think. He's always stuffing up and getting into silly fights with his siblings but I always get a good laugh out of him. I think he'd also make a good brother and at least he'd be able to afford the therapy you'd need if you were. The gay thing is neither here nor there as far as Kevin goes, though it probably adds to his character a bit.
1. Homer Simpson (The Simpsons).
Who else? The king of the kids, Homer has evolved over the years into the reason to watch The Simpsons. He's been involved in all the best bits of the show, including the episodes where he famously quit church and started his own religion and when he inadvertently ate his pet lobster (my favourite two episodes). How different would culture be now if The Simpsons wasn't around? Interestingly, I was in year nine at high school when it started and my nephew, who is almost eight, has grown up watching it. That says something about the impact it has had.

Friendship breaks

I met up with a friend tonight for the first time in over a year.
It was fairly easy and it was good to hear the goings on of his life in that time. We used to attend the same church and have both moved on since then, for not completely dissimilar reasons but different situations.
So we had a good chat, and it was kind of like nothing had changed even though there has been a break in the friendship, for want of a better description.
Whether this means we'll hang out a bit more now remains to be seen.
It is interesting how people disappear and resurface. It reminds me of a quote from the movie Threesome from the 90s. Different situation obviously but I think the sentiment is easy to relate to.
`I wondered how someone can be a necessary part of one's life one day then vanish the next. Isn't it supposed to last?'

Baby news

Congratulations to my friends Johan and Lena in Sweden on the birth of their second child.
And thanks for the photo! (I know you check this blog now and then).
No news from me on that front (or the girlfriend front for that matter) but you never know what the future holds.

Knowing

I'm going to break with the norm a bit in reviewing Knowing , the new film starring Nicolas Cage.
Yes there will be spoilers, because there's no other way to get around it. But first here's a general review, to be followed by some comments about the film and what happens at the end.
Cage plays John Koestler, a college professor whose son Caleb is given a letter from a time capsule buried at his school 50 years earlier. The letter just comprises a bunch of seemingly random numbers. When Koestler studies them he uncovers a pattern that is predicting disasters and the number of people who will perish in them.
What he can't work out is how they affect him and why Caleb is so involved. His colleague Phil (played by Aussie Ben Mendelsohn with a pretty decent US accent) doesn't believe him even when Koestler is witness to a tragic plane crash predicted.
He seeks out the family of the girl who wrote the numbers in the time capsule letter. He comes across Diana (played by another Aussie Rose Byrne) and her daughter Abby (who looks eerily like the young girl from 50 years ago) in search of answers.
That's enough plot. I was very interested, even after reading a scathing review, as the movie managed to build a bit of suspense surrounding the meaning behind the numbers along with some pretty spectacular disasters. Then it kind of copped out.
It was pretty obvious (to me anyway) that the bulk of the movie was filmed in Melbourne but an overseas audience wouldn't pick it so easily.
You know, it wasn't a terrible film. It was well enough done, the story was good to a point (that I will discuss shortly) and the effects were good. Can't go higher than 6 out of 10 but I can't help but wonder what could have been.


Spoiler alert


OK. So after seeing a frightening scene of the earth being destroyed by fire we start to wonder what role Caleb plays in this. Also, the strange ghostly skinned men who tend to turn up each night continue to be mysterious. It all promises so much.
Then they decide, at a point where you can almost see the fork in the road in the writers' minds, that the strange men are aliens or extra terrestrials of some kind here to start a new world using selected children of which Caleb is one.
At that point I was very disappointed. I thought we were well past copping out with alien storylines and some other conclusion would have been much more satisfying. On the plus side at least no-one saved the world - it was actually destroyed by the sun.
The only alternative summation involves a biblical scenario where God was destroying the Earth but saving a number of chosen children to take to another world and start over again. There was a scene at the end with a large white tree and I wondered if it symbolised the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. There was a biblical reference that pointed in that direction midway through the film. Still, I think it was a cheap way out. That's my thought on it anyway.

My own `Sixteen Candles' moment

Anyone who grew up in the 80s would be familiar with the movie Sixteen Candles.
Well, today I had my very own Sixteen Candles moment - my housemate forgot my birthday.
Initially it was disappointing that someone I have shared a house with for as long as we have been could not remember a birthday.
Then when he realised I actually felt a bit bad for him because he was feeling pretty guilty. So much so he pestered me for a while to allow him to take me out for a drink tonight. If nothing else his reaction shows that he cares.
In the movie Molly Ringwald's character turns 16 but her parents forgot because of everything else that was going on. It has that classic line - `I don't believe it. They f***ing forgot my birthday'.
I never thought that would actually happen. For the record I turned 34 today.
Yesterday I spent most of the day out and about so today I chilled out for the most part.
I spent the day at the races then went to a mate's house party on the other side of Sydney. I met a bunch of interesting people and had quite a nice time. So it was a good way to spend a `birthday weekend'.
By the way, happy birthday to Brant whose birthday is the 21st but thanks to being on the other side of the world we share, technically, the same day.

Construction

I had a call this morning from my rather excited mum to tell me work has commenced on building a new house.
Given the old one was only demolished a couple of weeks back this movement is encouraging and perhaps they will be able to move back in around July. Given holds up that can happen with weather and such perhaps August might be more realistic.
On another topic, I had a visit to a chiropractor today for the first time and it seems, no surprise to me mind you, that there are some posture created issues that are causing discomfort. So I was sent off for some X-rays which were done straight away (one of the great things about a metro city) and hopefully there will be progress next week.

What is intimacy?

I have been reading a few articles on the topic of intimacy and am finding it an intriguing topic to think about.
Not so much intimacy when it comes to a one on one relationship like marriage, but it's all about knowing and being comfortable with yourself and others.
That's something I'm not sure about. One of the questions posed in the article was: do you like yourself?
Now the obvious answer is yes, but when I think deeper about it I wonder about how much I do. I'm not always nice to myself, I have bad habits, I'm far too self-deprecating, I worry too much, I could go on.
Are these actions of someone who likes themself? Would I be like that to my best friend? Aside from the occasional disagreement and an hour or two of silence, absolutely not. Why is it then good enough to treat myself by different standards?
Now the article is about growing comfortable with intimacy, things like physical (non-sexual) contact with others, letting other people into your world, communication. I'd maybe scrape a pass mark on the first, fail miserably at the second and for someone who works in that industry my communication skills are ordinary when it comes to personal stuff.
It's not that I don't want to participate, I want to feel closeness that is reciprocated and not punished, like I get now and then. I know we are all a work in progress on a lot of issues. I guess this is one of mine. While I fully understand the concept and largely how it works (I try very hard with certain people but they don't seem to want to play ball and that can be disheartening) it seems like something that takes time to learn, because it doesn't seem to come naturally.

Watchmen

One thing I can say about Watchmen is that I haven't seen a `superhero' film like it.

A former superhero called The Comedian is murdered and a mysterious `Watchman' called Rorschach investigates with the theory that someone is offing the superheroes, who have been forced to assimilate by the Government.

We meet what's left of the Watchmen: Night Owl, Silk Spectre, Dr Manhattan, Ozymandias and they are all at different stages of coping with life without their superhero status.

This I think is the most interesting facet of the film. Night Owl particularly is having trouble with his alter ego and he comes across quite like a Clark Kent but not intentionally bumbling. It's almost like the normal human life is weighing him down.

I'm not going to go on about the plot because it is quite complicated (for someone not familiar with the graphic novel).

I couldn't help but think after the film the similarities the characters had with Batman characters, kind of like they were an alternative 1980s rip off. Humour me.

Night Owl is obviously a nod to Batman, even in some of his mannerisms, Silk Spectre is a bit like Catwoman without a mask, Dr Manhattan has a Mr Freeze look and demeanour about him, Rorschach is very much the Scarecrow and well The Comedian/The Joker?

Watchmen is very graphic, quite funny in parts and I thought quite interesting. Not your average superhero film, worth a look but there are some really graphic moments including some sex scenes and Dr Manhattan's member is fairly prominent throughout the movie.

A 7.5 out of 10.

Whirlwind trip

I crammed so much into the short time I spent in Melbourne last weekend I almost don't know where to start.

In an effort to cut down on taxi expenses I caught a shuttle bus into the city and then walked to my hotel. Only, I got kinda lost as I was being a bit too casual about my directions.

After some backtracking I found it quite easily and dumped off my stuff, eager to see as much as I could by evening when I had planned to enjoy a relaxing night in.
I quickly found my way to the Eureka skydeck (obviously the building in the centre of the photo to the left towering over the rest) on the other side of the Yarra and headed for the 88th floor and the viewing area near the top of Melbourne's tallest building.

The ability to see the entire city is amazing and a great way, I thought, to take it all in. Some landmarks stood out easily like Flinders St Station, the MCG and the Docklands area.

After snapping some photos I headed off for a walk along the river and some lunch.

The one thing about sitting by the river to eat is that you're usually accompanied by at least one seagull.

When I had finished eating I saved some bread for the birds and as soon as I threw the patient gull a piece another six or seven suddenly emerged to try and get some for themselves. Now I didn't save so much as to feed a flock of seagulls so sadly some missed out.

I decided to see a different part of Melbourne to the last time and went for a walk past the MCG (second picture, the view from the Skydeck of the cricket ground and tennis centre) and towards Richmond.

On my way I passed Olympic Park, where the Melbourne Storm have played a lot of their games, and the Collingwood Football Club.

In the park behind the club there was a an AFL game in progress so I stopped for a while and had a look.

I was told it was a trial match between Collingwood and North Melbourne reserves teams (third picture, Collingwood are in the black and white, reserves waiting to go on the field) and there was a reasonable crowd for such a low profile game on a Friday afternoon.

But Melbourne lives and breathes AFL as I had confirmed when the pre-season semi-final was on in prime time TV that night.

I ended up catching a tram back to the city and headed to the hotel for a short rest before taking off again for dinner.

I ate at a restaurant overlooking the Yarra, a nice setting for the end of the week.

Then I wandered back to the hotel to read the papers, a magazine I had bought and just kick back to watch the AFL and the Simpsons episode that preceded it.

Some time during the football there was an earthquake near Melbourne registering 4.7 (so it was officially a tremor) but I didn't notice even though I was on the eighth floor of the building.

In the alley where the hotel is located is this pub that was absolutely packed, and I mean beyond capacity, with a lot of the crowd outside in a designated area.

The next morning I was up fairly early and went to, of all places, McDonalds to grab some breakfast as I couldn't find a cafe open at the time. OK, I only had English muffins with vegemite. I checked out of the hotel and headed to the train station to go to the races. It was great catching the train, not to mention cheap, and it was also another opportunity to see a different side of Melbourne.

The races were great again, Super Saturday, and I met a lot of people who I'd spoken to many times but hadn't met in person before so that was great.

In general I met some nice people, and I found that people are generally friendly, they smile at you in the street and aren't bothered by saying hello. Unlike Sydney, generally.

On the flight back I chatted to an interesting guy from Germany and one from Ireland who were heading to Sydney to continue their travels. Again I had an awesome time down in Melbourne and I'll go back again hopefully for a bit longer so I can hire a car and see a bit more of places like Geelong, Mornington and Ballarat etc.

A fitting result

Racecourses can be very cruel places at times. By nature they are unforgiving, punters are critical (why not I guess when you invest money on something) and sentiment is only very rarely appropriate.

One of those times was yesterday and I was fortunate enough to be at Flemington to witness it.

A week earlier jockey Craig Newitt was told his father had been killed in a car accident less than an hour before he was due to ride in a big race. He rode and ran second, only beaten just before the post.

Yesterday he rode Heart Of Dreams (pictured) to win the Australian Guineas and received a reception that nobody can deny he deserved. I admit that as I applauded him as he returned to the mounting yard that I felt a shiver or two for him.

Earlier in the day I spoke to him briefly, offered my condolences, and wished him good luck for the day. I doubt seriously if I could be as strong as he has been this week and it would be well within the realms of possibility that he will fall apart when he lets himself. And he is allowed.

I'm pleased to have been there to witness such a fine moment. Good on you, Craig.

Super Saturday

Well it has been a pretty flat-out week, kinda feels like it should be Friday today not tomorrow.
Having said that it is close enough.
I'm off on another short trip south and I think it will be a completely different experience to the searing heat of last time. But it's going to be great.
Staying in a different place (also slightly cheaper) and have a bit more time as well as know a bit more about what I'm doing and where I'm going. The event I'm off to is called `Super Saturday' and from what I saw today it appears that it will be.

Breaking Dawn

This afternoon I finally finished the fourth book in the Twilight series, Breaking Dawn, all 750-odd pages of it!
I have to say overall it didn't grab me as much as the previous books and I reckon if it had been shorter it would have been much, much better. When I read Twilight I couldn't put it down, it seemed to fly and was simply riveting (to me anyway). Some of Breaking Dawn, particularly early on was a bit of a chore but when you've made it this far in a series you have to hope for the best.
New Moon, the next film being made, took a while to grow on me but once it did I found it similar to the first book.
Eclipse again was a bit slow to kick off. With Breaking Dawn I just thought there was so much build up to the finale, some of which made it border on an anti-climax, it could be ruined as a movie as most of what needs to be focused on happens towards the end.
With the movie version of Twilight I thought they brushed over some important stuff - though if you'd hadn't read the book you probably didn't notice. As I said when I reviewed the movie there were some very interesting scenes at school and in the James pursuit that they really wasted opportunities on.
Similarly with New Moon, there's some pretty boring stuff going on early in the book before things heat up from about a third of the way in. In all three remaining movies of books there are some scenes that I can't wait to see on screen and I hope they are as awesome as the baseball scene in Twilight.
I haven't gone into a movie series as a fan of the books before so it is a vastly different experience for me as I have all these preconceived ideas of what the movies should look like.
I can see scenarios where New Moon is royally stuffed up and hopefully that isn't because they are rushing to get it done for release in about eight months time and will probably work on Eclipse back to back.