morgado.co.uk

I’ve turned into an open source traitor due to the fact that I’m using a Windows product (Live Writer to be exact) to write this but since I have found it nearly impossible to find a Linux blogging tool that does what I want it to do I’ve had to unfortunately turn to the minions of Bill Gates and get me a bit of free software albeit on a Windows platform.  At least I didn’t have to pay for it but considering how I wrote a rather gushing appraisal of Linux I do feel a bit of a hypocrite.

It’s one of the reasons why I decided to have a dual install on my computer (both Linux and Windows) because I was aware of the fact that doing everything I want to on Linux could prove to be a bit difficult especially since I’m not as cognisant with regards to the intricacies of Linux as I would like to be.  I have to admit that long term usage of the click and install approach of Windows has made me rather lazy.

I primarily use Scribefire but that has limitations and especially with regards to the positioning of images within a blog entry. I have attempted to install the Sun weblog Openoffice plugin but having some difficulties with making it work and my laziness (and frustration) has made me abandon that particular endeavour.

Ideally, I would like there to be an ecto for Linux but that hasn’t happened yet and so I have to muddle on somehow and I suppose in the long run it ought to be the content of what I write that is important and not what I use to write the content with.

I’ve become rather tearful of late.  I thought I was made of sterner stuff but in the last couple of years many things cause me to well up in a rather pathetic fashion.

My cheeks get moist when I hear or read a heartbreaking news story.  I sob during scenes of sadness in films or on television and most of all I blub when I see others blubbing.  I’ve either got something wrong with my tear ducts or I’ve turned into a rather sentimental fool.

At aged thirty-six perhaps I have onset of early mawkishness, a condition that many men fight hard against getting as the majority of my gender view it as an affliction.  Personally, I’m letting my emotional being express itself in whatever manner it sees fit.

The last time I shed a tear was whilst watching Wall-E that absolutely wonderful film by Pixar.  That film symbolises why I don’t try to fight back the tears that my body feels is necessary.  Wall-E is searching for humanity by trying to connect with another being by touch and in this technological age where everything appears to be getting more and more “virtual” actual physical “contact” appears to be becoming obsolete.  As someone who spends a lot of time “online” I’m aware of the dangers of becoming detached from the world and from people.

To be moved by something real (not superficial attempts at heart string-pulling), genuine and honest means that I haven’t turned into an unexpressive, unemotional shell and perhaps crying will help me retain my humanity.

This afternoon was spent at the allotment.  I haven’t been there in a long time and my other half is doing all the work.  Still it was good to see the fruits of hard toil even though the majority wasn’t by my hands.  It was made to look even more lovely by the beautiful sunshine.

Here are a few photos that I took.  I’ve uploaded them to my flickr.

Joss Whedon creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Firefly has used the internet in a rather creative and wonderful way. Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog is a film about super-heroes and super-villains but in reality it’s about the loner in all of us that just wants to be loved and to be understood.

Dr. Horrible has music, comedy, a society of villains called The Evil League of Evil and it stars the actor who played Doogie Howser. What more could one want?

The film is broken up into three 15 minute acts and the first two have already been streamed. The last act is due tomorrow so watch it before you regret missing it all.

I’ve seen The Wizard of Oz innumerable times. It was a staple visual feast every Christmas when I was young and now I’ve got a copy of it on DVD I still watch it and never tire of watching it.  However, I’ve never seen it on a cinema screen so when I discovered that The Electric was going to be screening it using their new HD projector I knew it was an opportunity I couldn’t afford to miss.

Screen 2 which is upstairs at The Electric has a small auditorium that feels like a throwback to a much more communal and homely past and an ideal setting to watch a film about community and belonging. The cinema is reported to be the oldest working one in the UK and every smell, every part of its architecture refers back to the days before multiplexes, overpriced popcorn and mindless summer blockbusters.

I sat down in my seat with my beer (yes you can buy ethanol) and began to get rather excited as I looked around the cinema at the forty or so people who had also decided to come. A mixed aged bunch who are comprised of students and those cinephile types that seem to be the constituency of The Electric. A pity as I would like the cinema to have a broad spectrum of users but I suppose the multiplexes have won that particular bout.

Once the film began I had an unexplainable warm feeling throughout my entire being. From the opening credits in beautiful sepia tones to the final scenes I was absolutely enthralled. It is a great film on any size screen but seeing it projected in a cinema with its digitally cleaned up sound and visuals was how it was meant be seen. The songs, the sets, the sheer exuberance and vivacity of all the cast strengthens its position as one of the truly great films ever to be made.

The shot where Dorothy (played by Judy Garland) steps out of her sepia world into the colourful world of Oz packs such a cinematic punch that seeing it again on a television screen will never have the same impact. Excuse me for getting carried away but although the film is sixty years old it’s so full of heart, soul and genuine sense of cinema that it demonstrates how truly lifeless our CGI age has become.

If anybody hasn’t seen the film yet on a cinema screen then please do so. If you are not captivated by it then perhaps you need to tap on your chest just to make sure that it’s not hollow.

My self imposed exile from blogging has created some clear mental space but also has filled other parts of it. I’m not sure whether it’s the experience of everyone who attempts to write but there are occasions and I have many of them when one really can’t be arsed.

Perhaps it’s procrastination or perhaps it’s a necessary lull so that one’s thoughts can be ordered so that one can write something semi-coherent. I was getting worried that I’d reached some kind of impasse with the blogging and it got to a situation where I was screaming curses at the notebook as if it could magically write the blog for me.

Sadly, such a magic notebook has not yet been created so I thought I’d write about not writing. It sounds clever but it’s actually an essential activity that needs to be done because at least words are being created no matter how self-obsessed they are.

I’ll not give myself insurmountable ventures again like blogging everyday for a month. I know myself too well and that really was a no starter but I’ll call it a glorious defeat because it makes me feel better. Time to finish this little splurge and concentrate on drinking my cup of tea. It’s the little things that make the world a good place. The writing will sort itself out or it won’t. It’s as simple as that or maybe I’m deluding myself. To be continued…