I've been making the most of my freedom in library time.

Our library at home hates me too. It never has books when I want them, and pretends they don't exist. I looked for Guns of Navarone monthly for about a year and a half, and finally aquired my own copy. I come back looking for H.M.S. Ulysses (same author), it's not there - but guess what suddenly is? With its sequel, Force 10 from Navarone. I want to read Watchmen for years. It's not there. I come back after buying my own copy - it's suddenly appeared. And so on. I went for The Quiet American, and The Longest Journey, and made do with and The Last Word and Thank You, Jeeves. My subconscious seems to be at its most powerful in the local library. In Hampstead, at the height of my Jack the Ripper obsession, I took our From Hell. Because it was an Alan Moore comic I'd intended to read for ages. It was only sitting at home and opening the first page I remembered, oh yes, it's all about Jack the Ripper. This happened again today with Persepolis - another classic comic I've been looking forward to reading for a long time. I'm sure something weird was firing in my brain today too, because of course it's all about Iran. The friend I am following isn't doing so well today, but what is going on down there is still incredible and terrifying in equal measure. Also Oranges are not the only Fruit, which I took out mainly to piss people off while reading it on public transport, Rififi - a favourite classic heist movie I've not seen for ages - and Brighton Rock.

Brighton Rock has been high on my list of must-sees for a long time. I almost got derailed by the fact it stars William Hartnell, who astonishingly turns out to be a real actor. I take my fiction very seriously, so I do tend to veto other things starring actors in things I am or have been obsessed with. It's unrealistic to apply it to a show as huge as Doctor Who, and yet it would be a factor in me choosing to not see a film. In any case, I'm glad I persevered. Even if it was strange to see him sufficiently young that fancying him wasn't creepy (Yes, I have a tiny crush on every Doctor. Yes, even him. Try not to judge.). It's fantastic, and I recommend it to everyone unreservedly. Graham Greene is the master of cruel irony, perfectly expressed. A while back I wondered which author has had the highest number of great adaptations made of their work. Philip K. Dick? He's certainly had a lot - Total Recall, Next, Minority Report, Scanner Darkly Blade Runner - but many are just loosely based, or inspired by. Aside from Total Recall, which I haven't seen, all of those are very worth watching. Stephen King? Misery, Stand by Me, the Shawshank Redemption, Carrie and The Shining are five classic films based on his work - but they are overwhelmed by stinkers such as Pet Semetary. So what about Graham Greene, an author who could become a favourite very soon? Brighton Rock, The Third Man and The Quiet American are all fantastic. Whereas the Dick films are based on his great ideas, the King films based on his great talent for terror - the Greene films are based on his great words, great expression. That clean prose style, which expresses everything by saying so little. Because of that, those films have stayed very rooted in his words - maybe that's why they work so well. The quest continues...

Also today, Friend 4 and I watched the first two episodes of Blake's 7. I've had them on video for a bit, and have been loudly declaring to anyone who will listen that it's the greatest show of all time. And secretly thinking "it's like Doctor Who, but better" when I'm sure people aren't eavesdropping with their psychic powers. Despite me talking it up, she still claimed she was surprised at how damn brilliant it was. I'm also not suprised that she has joined the massed ranks of the church of the quoteable Ker Avon. And then we went upstairs and ordered the first season boxed set off Amazon.

Amazon: "do you want next day delivery?"
Me: "NEXTDAYDELIVERY"
Friend 4: "But I'm going away tomorrow!"
Amazon: "thank you for your purchase. We recommend: "Blake's 7 - season 2"

But luckily, we recalled our shopper's prayer - lead us not into temptation, for we are but students and our loans are small - and reason prevailed. The show is, like much sci fi, about a band of plucky rebels trying to take down an evil Federation - but it's marked out by it's grim nihilism. The Federation is, frankly, terrifying in their efficiency. Perhaps the best way to explain what I mean is this exchange, which I particularly like:

"Maybe some dreams are worth having."
"You don't really believe that."
"No...but I'd like to."

I don't hold out much hope for Blake succeeding in the long run...

And then we laughed at the new Torchwood trailer. I can't help it, I'm sorry, for reasons I've been into before. Then Gwen mentioned the Doctor, and for one glorious moment, my mind went "OMG IT'S GONNA BE AWESOME" on fan auto-pilot. And then she kept talking, made some weird assumptions, and I remembered it was Torchwood. Then felt slightly embarassed at how easily, and how small a Doctor Who reference needs to be to make me really, really excited. So we nitpicked about whether the Doctor would ever do that - answer, no never! Except when he does.

You might recall I was hopping mad about finding a Doctor Who spoiler, and hopping madder about the contents of that spoiler. After a few days of hell and "surely they can't...!", I did go hunting for some proper spoilers to confirm or deny it. It's not true, as I knew it couldn't be, because it's an appalling idea at this time, with that cast, at that moment. The flipside is that I'm now properly spoilt - but on facts, not rumours. And I'm content with what I have learnt, at peace about what is coming. I do so hate spoilers, normally. Still, my worst nightmare was to want the Master to return so much that, in the case he wasn't coming back, my disappointment would overwhelm the rest of the episode. Now I know one way or the other, I'm happier and as things stand, I think it's going to be a fine piece of work.

While we're talking about Doctor Who, I'm gonna hold my dangerous itch to buy Caves of Androzani till this boxed set comes out:

What a masterpiece list! Spearhead from Space is the first Pertwee adventure, and basic template for every story for the next five years. So while it's classy, I can do without it - because it lacks variation in comparison to the rest. Tomb of the Cybermen I also have on video, but it's marvellous and deserves DVD quality. Robots of Death and The Talons of Weng-Chiang are two of the absolute all-time classic adventures, and I haven't seen either! And then there's Caves, which has such an appallingly high rewatch factor, I'm almost nervous to get a copy in case I do nothing but watch it for the rest of my life.

Finally, I've been suddenly inspired to write some explicit Prisoner fic. Which is an example of what happens when you stay up late on the internet - it takes over your BRAIN and makes you crazy. But bear with me a moment. I've a strong distaste for fanfiction, and I'm not sure that I have it in me to write convincing porn. And yet I've a fantastic image of what I could write: a creepy sexual twist on the Village's psychological mindgame, drugs and dreams within dreams, people slipping and changing, or appearing several times - the way that the entire populace sometimes all are angry, or silent, or just not there at all. I know there's something appallingly twisted and wrong and brilliant to be written, but I'm fairly sure I'm not the one to do it. Lynch-y (David Lynch is my favourite director whose films I've never seen - he succeeds the title from Warner Herzog and Tarantino, the latter of which is now a genuine favourite director)

We'll file that under "too much information", eh? Better get to bed quickly before I have any more bright ideas...