1. Yesterday was the medieval festival at the castle.
I got my Tarot cards read. Retrospectively, admitting I had only once had my cards read before was a little disingenuous considering I am a skilled amateur and read for myself all the time. But the point of the exercise was to watch someone else's Tarot reading style, and I wanted as ordinary an experience as possible - or maybe I just like a good lie, to get it out of my system.
I was the six of coins - from which she established that I had a "big creative project under way". Always accurate, that one...but I was also worried about my financial situation. Perhaps I just had "artistic bohemian" on my forehead. Apparently, it's a bad time to start a relationship - which is a shame, my reader commented, considering an important King of Cups in my life. My current crossing influence is the Wheel of Fortune, which she translated as: "something big and surprising is going to happen, you don't know what it is, and you can't do anything about it".
If that isn't a Barnum statement, then I don't know what is...
I would describe my reading as very accurate, considering the day before I started on The Novel I Intended To Finish with the explict aim of publication. This makes sense of all the creativity and financial fears, but of course gives no clue as to why my next three months are going to be horrible. And I'm interested by the way something else seems to be intersecting with the things I already know. Temperance will give me a hand through the tough times. Irritatingly, later in the day I did consult my pa about my novel just as she had predicted, and I've been wondering ever since whether the event was FATED IN THE STARS, a coincidence, or in someway suggested by the reading.
Friend 4 got envy, support, and a veritable armory of of swords. Despite between us getting what I regard as the scariest cards in the pack - the Three of Swords, and my personal bete noire, the Nine of Swords - it was also quite fun. Friend 4 commented on how easily those in front of us in the queue would offer information about their personal lives in response to the cards. Friend 4 tends to see Tarot as very manipulative. On balance, she is almost certainly right, but that's not to say that some morally good Tarot readers can have a beneficial effect on their customers by providing a listening point for their grievances. Sometimes, just talking things out can help. But even I must admit, it was bizzare to hear these people discussing their financial situation and plans to quit their jobs with a total stranger. I tried to stay coy, and I noticed Friend 4 was almost totally silent. I feel like I got less out of the reading because of it.
In terms of technique, I admired how well she drew the reading together - something I have yet to totally master. It was a lovely spread. But she had a very traditional view of the court cards, with the Kings as men and the Queens as women, that I couldn't quite stomach. I prefer it if the court cards are not necessarily people.
2. And...
The highlight was getting an adorably guess-what-ish scar from the Casualties Union, a charity which trains people in depicting realistic wounds for, i.e., training first aiders. I'd join like a shot, but their grades involve acting as well as makeup - and frankly, adding "sucking chest wound" to my CV isn't a life aspiration...
The scar makeup is a see-through glue that contracts, pulling the skin downwards and creating a very impressive gash effect. I was the happiest little victim in the world, and thus totally deserved what happened next: an allergic reaction to the glue that blossomed into two huge red scabby rashes. I'm more amused than cheesed off - I've never had an allergic reaction before, and I can hardly complain. I still get a cute scar, and all I've got is the fun of having one for longer. This assumes I'm not permenantly scarred - I presume the novelty would quickly wear off. I've a feeling being reminded of Blake every time I looked in the mirror would be a shortlived entertainment.
3. Music history
When I was in Italy, the music channels kept playing the big hit "In Italia" - a very annoying song. Rap in "foreign" is more annoying, and more hilarious, than rap in a language you understand. On redisovering it on youtube, I actually rather like it. And having looked up a translation, I think his anger is being directed at Italian stereotypes. I also rather enjoyed "Do you speak English?". It's a bit offensive, but it's always fun watching your country get reviewed by a rather witty gent ("in England I would have won an MTV award for sure")
4. Films
My filmwatching has been very shoddy recently. Before France, I watched the Asylum version of Sherlock Holmes - starring Ianto, a kraken, a dinosaur and a "cyber man". Awful. I rewatched real SH, and Galaxy Quest. The last real film I've seen is Remains of the Day, a soul-destroyingly tragic Merchant Ivory drama. Based on a book, which prompted one of my least favourite comments from mama: "It was a better book".
The book was a better book - that is all. The film was a far superior film. End of debate.
Now, you can argue that the themes intended by the novelist are better revealed in one medium or another, and you can enjoy one more than the other. But at the end of the day, books are stories, and they work in any medium. I personally believe every book has the potential to be a great film, and vice versa. It's not a popular stance, but I defy you to prove me wrong. It's just typical of the way some media are held as "more worthy" than others.
Ignoring the pointless quibblings on accuracy, if you have a problem with a book being filmed just don't bloody watch it. I didn't bother with the Dorian movie. No point.
5. Other news
Do you remember Commuteocalypse? My long-rumoured Lovecraftian London Underground board game that I've been chatting about for two years? After 600 days of hot air, and 30 minutes of actual effort, I've completed the first 25 cards - tommorrow I shall do a second 25, and it will be ready for testing by the weekend. It is going to be excellent.
Finally, does everyone like - or can everyone live with - my new blog layout? Trying to fix the ever-growing line of bugs in the old one was getting tiresome. The creators just stopped supporting it, so here's something I'm growing to like in replacement. Similar enough, but actually functioning and with a search bar that works. Downsides? Still no dates. Still no archive. That doesn't bother me, because I can access both from the blogger dashboard - but I know it bothers you. The internet is too slow right now to even contemplate doing a task as web-frenetic as blog design, but hopefully I'll get the Flickr feed at the bottom fixed onto photos I like. I'm tossing up between a catalogue of current obsessions (too contentious narrowing it down to five?), some of my sister's photos, some of my paintings (will they work that small?), or a combo of the three. I might even have a bash at the dates if I am feeling productive...
I got my Tarot cards read. Retrospectively, admitting I had only once had my cards read before was a little disingenuous considering I am a skilled amateur and read for myself all the time. But the point of the exercise was to watch someone else's Tarot reading style, and I wanted as ordinary an experience as possible - or maybe I just like a good lie, to get it out of my system.
I was the six of coins - from which she established that I had a "big creative project under way". Always accurate, that one...but I was also worried about my financial situation. Perhaps I just had "artistic bohemian" on my forehead. Apparently, it's a bad time to start a relationship - which is a shame, my reader commented, considering an important King of Cups in my life. My current crossing influence is the Wheel of Fortune, which she translated as: "something big and surprising is going to happen, you don't know what it is, and you can't do anything about it".
If that isn't a Barnum statement, then I don't know what is...
I would describe my reading as very accurate, considering the day before I started on The Novel I Intended To Finish with the explict aim of publication. This makes sense of all the creativity and financial fears, but of course gives no clue as to why my next three months are going to be horrible. And I'm interested by the way something else seems to be intersecting with the things I already know. Temperance will give me a hand through the tough times. Irritatingly, later in the day I did consult my pa about my novel just as she had predicted, and I've been wondering ever since whether the event was FATED IN THE STARS, a coincidence, or in someway suggested by the reading.
Friend 4 got envy, support, and a veritable armory of of swords. Despite between us getting what I regard as the scariest cards in the pack - the Three of Swords, and my personal bete noire, the Nine of Swords - it was also quite fun. Friend 4 commented on how easily those in front of us in the queue would offer information about their personal lives in response to the cards. Friend 4 tends to see Tarot as very manipulative. On balance, she is almost certainly right, but that's not to say that some morally good Tarot readers can have a beneficial effect on their customers by providing a listening point for their grievances. Sometimes, just talking things out can help. But even I must admit, it was bizzare to hear these people discussing their financial situation and plans to quit their jobs with a total stranger. I tried to stay coy, and I noticed Friend 4 was almost totally silent. I feel like I got less out of the reading because of it.
In terms of technique, I admired how well she drew the reading together - something I have yet to totally master. It was a lovely spread. But she had a very traditional view of the court cards, with the Kings as men and the Queens as women, that I couldn't quite stomach. I prefer it if the court cards are not necessarily people.
2. And...
The highlight was getting an adorably guess-what-ish scar from the Casualties Union, a charity which trains people in depicting realistic wounds for, i.e., training first aiders. I'd join like a shot, but their grades involve acting as well as makeup - and frankly, adding "sucking chest wound" to my CV isn't a life aspiration...
The scar makeup is a see-through glue that contracts, pulling the skin downwards and creating a very impressive gash effect. I was the happiest little victim in the world, and thus totally deserved what happened next: an allergic reaction to the glue that blossomed into two huge red scabby rashes. I'm more amused than cheesed off - I've never had an allergic reaction before, and I can hardly complain. I still get a cute scar, and all I've got is the fun of having one for longer. This assumes I'm not permenantly scarred - I presume the novelty would quickly wear off. I've a feeling being reminded of Blake every time I looked in the mirror would be a shortlived entertainment.
3. Music history
When I was in Italy, the music channels kept playing the big hit "In Italia" - a very annoying song. Rap in "foreign" is more annoying, and more hilarious, than rap in a language you understand. On redisovering it on youtube, I actually rather like it. And having looked up a translation, I think his anger is being directed at Italian stereotypes. I also rather enjoyed "Do you speak English?". It's a bit offensive, but it's always fun watching your country get reviewed by a rather witty gent ("in England I would have won an MTV award for sure")
4. Films
My filmwatching has been very shoddy recently. Before France, I watched the Asylum version of Sherlock Holmes - starring Ianto, a kraken, a dinosaur and a "cyber man". Awful. I rewatched real SH, and Galaxy Quest. The last real film I've seen is Remains of the Day, a soul-destroyingly tragic Merchant Ivory drama. Based on a book, which prompted one of my least favourite comments from mama: "It was a better book".
The book was a better book - that is all. The film was a far superior film. End of debate.
Now, you can argue that the themes intended by the novelist are better revealed in one medium or another, and you can enjoy one more than the other. But at the end of the day, books are stories, and they work in any medium. I personally believe every book has the potential to be a great film, and vice versa. It's not a popular stance, but I defy you to prove me wrong. It's just typical of the way some media are held as "more worthy" than others.
Ignoring the pointless quibblings on accuracy, if you have a problem with a book being filmed just don't bloody watch it. I didn't bother with the Dorian movie. No point.
5. Other news
Do you remember Commuteocalypse? My long-rumoured Lovecraftian London Underground board game that I've been chatting about for two years? After 600 days of hot air, and 30 minutes of actual effort, I've completed the first 25 cards - tommorrow I shall do a second 25, and it will be ready for testing by the weekend. It is going to be excellent.
Finally, does everyone like - or can everyone live with - my new blog layout? Trying to fix the ever-growing line of bugs in the old one was getting tiresome. The creators just stopped supporting it, so here's something I'm growing to like in replacement. Similar enough, but actually functioning and with a search bar that works. Downsides? Still no dates. Still no archive. That doesn't bother me, because I can access both from the blogger dashboard - but I know it bothers you. The internet is too slow right now to even contemplate doing a task as web-frenetic as blog design, but hopefully I'll get the Flickr feed at the bottom fixed onto photos I like. I'm tossing up between a catalogue of current obsessions (too contentious narrowing it down to five?), some of my sister's photos, some of my paintings (will they work that small?), or a combo of the three. I might even have a bash at the dates if I am feeling productive...
05:11 |
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Font way too small (showing my age I know...)