Sat/Sun
The weekend was a bit of a blur. I was home with the kids while my wife worked both days. My son and I briefly had a go at playing Call of Duty online and I spent about half an hour getting killed every time I was out in the open. Man, some of these online players fight dirty.
I realised that I probably wouldn't fare much better if this was a real war zone. I still had on the Longines from last week.
Eric Ambler's classic is the next book on my reading list. Can't believe this man's work has been allowed to go out of print in recent years.
When my wife got home, it was still a sunny and mild afternoon, so we piled into the car and went to get fish and chips before heading to the beach nearby and eating al fresco by the sea. It was time to switch wristwatches.
We bought the food and found a quiet spot.
With a view
I was wearing the Omega Planet Ocean Co-Axial.
Man, I look like I'm being held at gunpoint. Ah well, I was wearing the right watch. And my blue track-top that mimics Goerge Lazenby's ski outfit in "On Her Majesty's Secret Service". Sort of.
Monday
I decided to hit the gym for a light workout. Went to the supermarket to do a top-up shop (how French) before heading home to tackle the cataloguing assignment that's due at the end of the month. Switched on the laptop and this came up on-screen.
"Oh, no, no, no, no, no", I thought to myself. "Not now, not now", I added. I downloaded an iTunes update yesterday. Could that have caused it? No time to waste in trying to figure it out. I took the Lenovo to my local computer repair guys who charged me $49.oo just to look at it before they could give me a quote. Revenge of the nerds, alright. They said it'll take a day or so before to they get back to me. Bit of luck, I'll have the computer back before the end of the week.
Tuesday
Had classes. Did a little more of the assignment. Still have a heap left to do. When I got home, there was a message on the machine. My laptop was fixed and ready to collect. Off I went. Apparently, the crash had something to do with Norton Antivirus and the techies recommended that I switch to Kaspersky. I've never had any issues with Norton in the past, but it looks like I'll make the switch. I've used McAfee, but I was never crazy about its user-friendliness.
Later that night, I checked out BAMF's blog. He writes about the outfits worn by actors in certain films. I have to say that I love his writing style and he blogs about some very cool outfits. His latest post was about Daniel Craig's clothing in the finale of "Quantum of Solace". As soon as I got to the section about Bond's wristwatch, I looked at my wrist and smiled.
BAMF stands for "Bad-Ass MotherF--well, you can guess the rest. Great blog!
I was saddened to hear that Syd Field, the legendary screenwriting guru, had died at the age of 77.
His seminal text "Screenplay-The Foundations of Screenwriting" was the first book I ever read about writing scripts and it's the one that I have often referred to since. Certainly there have been detractors over the years who have called his book simplistic, but I have long maintained that his work provides a great blueprint for the three-act structure of a script. And while there have been others who have written screenwriting books that go against much of what Field outlined, I have always said that first you have to know the rules before you can break them. Thank-you, sir.
Feeling inspired, I busted out the SM3 and tried hammering out a page of my (current) script.
This story is giving me a few headaches. I've decided, however, to just sit down and map out the entire synopsis so that I can work out a decent plot for it. In the past, I've either just taken a few notes before writing the script or plotted it all out on 3x5 index cards, but this one is gonna require a little more thought and planning. This could explain why I haven't finished any of these scripts of mine. However, I like this idea enough to spend the time and trouble with it.
Oh yeah, I switched over to my Seamaster 300 on the Bond NATO strap.
Thursday
I had the Seamaster 300 on when the mailman delivered these Fisher Space Pens. My son has done well in his first year of secondary school and we wanted to give a couple of his teachers a little gift of appreciation.
Then I stepped out to get a book for my son for Christmas. And the October issue of GQ magazine. Madame hopped onto the table to check it out. She's interested in the men's winter collections for this year.
Friday (today)
And that's the week as we land on November 22nd. Fifty years since the assassination of JFK. I've sometimes wondered how America would have turned out in the 1960s if he had lived. How different things might have been. Certainly, he was no saint, but I can't help but think that he was a great President. I'm speaking as an outsider here, and perhaps those of you who were around in that time may hold different views on the man and his legacy. Still a shame that it happened.
Anyway, tonight I may head out to catch a session of "Captain Phillips". And I'm thinking that I'll probably switch back to the Planet Ocean.
Thanks for reading and have a great weekend!
That's the great thing about typewriters - no blue screens! Sorry to hear about Syd Field - although to be honest I had no idea he was still alive. I have a yellowed copy of "The Screenwriter's Workshop" published 1984. It helps to know the rules before you can break 'em.
ReplyDeleteI too have a copy of Syd's book. That is such a shame. But it is my screen writing bible.
ReplyDeleteSo, did you get your blue-screened machine back? That sucks. Time to get out the Olympia and replace that machine!
And as always, such style with your watches!
Typewriters: always dependable. Windoze:garbage. I have not experienced the BSOD for decades. I don't run expensive unstable software. I grew up on mainframes and UNIX so all my PCs run Linux or Apple OS. No viruses or crashes. Apple will crash on some beta programs, but not often. If I do need something that will not run on Linux I create a VM and then I''m forced into WINE or XP. Running a VM allows me to keep all my files and everything isolated and if the VM crashes I just recreate it.
ReplyDeleteSometimes taking a screen shot with your camera and searching the crash code on line (if you have a spare PC to go on line with) you can clear the error causing the BSOD) Also always create a restore point before any changes. That'll allow a reboot into safe mode and the MBR can be reset to run from the previous state before the update or new install.
Nice watches.
This is a bit off topic, but I wonder whether you've heard of the Shinola company, now making nice watches in Detroit, of all places. I sent them an e-mail encouraging them to consider typewriter manufacture!
ReplyDelete@ writelephant, I loaned my copy of "The Screenwriter's Workbook" to a budding playwright back in 1995 and he moved interstate...and took my book with him. If I ever see the guy back in my town...
ReplyDelete@ Scott K, I got the laptop back the next day and it's working fine. Still a hassle when these things happen at the wrong time.
@ Bill M, I'll have to run those two paragraphs of yours through Google Translate! I'm not computer savvy. Although, for all the flak that Bill Gates gets, he and his wife set up a foundation to donate a billion dollars to charity over a twenty-year period. That alone makes him a stand-up guy in my book.
In a perfect world, though, all of these various operating systems would work together for the good of the consumers rather than for the good of the bottom line.
@ Richard P, yes, I've seen the Shinola watches. I don't mind them, but I really like their other products and I hope that companies like them manage to put Detroit back on its feet. An absolute damn shame what that city is going through at the moment.
And wouldn't it be cool if a company began producing a typewriter again? I've often thought about it in recent months. That's another post.
It is no wonder why you fail to finish any screenplays. Stop dicking around with typewriters, fountain pens and watches. Just write. Clean your desk and work.
ReplyDeleteYou know, you CAN always contact me via e-mail and we can discuss my writing career, or lack thereof. Who knows, maybe you'll even give me your name.
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