a spot of luck

I travelled light, cleared Nice airport in minutes into a waiting S Class Merc for a fast ride to Cannes. The hotel only had one check-in person, so things slowed, more than compensated by the magical phrase "you have an upgrade".

Next thing I'm being shown to a penthouse apartment, with its own meeting area, lounge, office, separate bedroom, decked balcony big enough for fifty people, side balcony with screen garden and hot-tub, remote controlled everything, Hamman steam room (with eucalyptus delivery system) and Jacuzzi.

Oh yes, and the view out across the entire Cannes bay. Mediterrean blue sea, yachts, marina, mountains and later a great sunset.

Worth a few minutes check in delay. Wanna look? I'm on the seventh floor - check it out!

Tag: travel, france, cannes

it cannes be done

A plane hop to Nice today and then onward to Cannes. I'm sure I can work this into the plotline somewhere. Photos of the Martinez to follow. Decided to travel light as this is a bit of a flying visit.

Tag: travel, france, cannes

nanohotlegs

I've discovered a new form of industrial injury doing this Nanomalarky.

Its 'hot legs'.

Earlier today I noticed a red mark on my left leg. I worked out it was a sort of heat burn from the Powerbook, which has been receiving above average attention in the last few hours courtesy of trying to get the wordage into the 10k zone.

Other people have Repetitive Strain Injury and carpal tunnel syndrome - they both sound a lot more exotic than hot legs. I'm back to normal now, so I suppose its alright for me to start again - this time with a cushion.

And another thing, why have a '5 hour journey' somewhere {3 words}, when you can have a 'tortuous five and a half hour journey', instead? {7 words}. At this rate I can finish the novel with only half as much plot!

Tag: nanowrimo, writing, madness

beware of civilians using gunpowder

Remember, remember the fifth of November
For gunpowder treason and plot.
I see no reason why gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot.

Guy Fawkes, twas his intent
To blow up king and parliament.
Three score barrels were laid below
To prove old England's overthrow.

By God's mercy he was catched
With a dark lantern and lighted match.
Holler boys, holler boys, let the bells ring
Holler boys, holler boys, God save the King.

The nearby school display is always the best in the area. This year I didn't get time to go visit it, but the rockets can be seen over the rooftops and the bigger explosions still seem to be pushing the earth out of orbit.

Tag: fireworks, gunpowder, Guy Fawkes

the madness is creeping over me

I've just killed Brian. Actually I did it Thursday. And now I have to rub out his parents. They were never going anywhere. But Jake, Clare and Bigsy have a future, at least for the time being. and I have to find out why the guy in the Alfa is driving to Cannes.

Yes, I'm having a go at the wierdest thing - this Nanowrimo novel scribbling thing. 50,000 words between 1st and 30th November (I shall need to see when it finishes - GMT or whatever!) And don't panic, I won't fill this blog with pages of still wet storyline. In the words of the Nanowrimo web page, if I'm just writing 50,000 words of crap, why bother? Why not just write a real novel later, when I have more time?

My adaptation of their three reasons:

1) If I don't do it now, I probably never will. Novel writing is mostly a "one day" event. As in "One day, I'd like to write a novel." Here's the truth: 99% of us, if left to our own devices, would never make the time to write a novel. It's just so far outside our normal lives that it constantly slips down to the bottom of our to-do lists. The structure of NaNoWriMo forces you to put away all those self-defeating worries and START. Once you have the first five chapters under your belt (I'm only around Chapter Two at the moment), the rest will come easily (they say). Or painfully. But it will come and apparently I'll have friends to help see it through to 50k.

2) Aiming low is the best way to succeed. With entry-level novel writing, shooting for the moon (another plotline? maybe not) is the surest way to get nowhere. With high expectations, everything written will sound cheesy and awkward. Instead, evaluating in terms of word count, takes that pressure away. And maybe I'll surprise myself with a great bit of dialogue here and a ingenious plot twist there. Strangely, the characters have already started doing things I don't expect and the story has already wandered across into France. I'm sure there will be much execrable prose, but amidst the crap, there may be some glimpses of something better.

3) Art for art's sake does strange things to you. In my case it makes me feel even more crazy than usual. I know I have to put on my extra thick personal self esteem shield because whatever I do will create a great selection of knowledgeable critics. But this is one where I think the fun is being in the game. Doing something just for the hell of it is a wonderful antidote to all the chores and "must-dos" of daily life. Writing a novel in a month is mainly mad, but it is already an amusing way to spend a few hours.

[479 words]

...and now back to the plot (I've always wanted to write that).



Tag: nanowrimo, novel, writing

snowflake (Schneeflöckchen)

I was upstairs this afternoon looking out of the window at a fairly dark sky and bleak day. I noticed some rain and then as I looked carefully, it was floating downwards instead of dropping. It was tiny snowflakes. A few touched the window, paused as ice and then melted. I'd only been drinking tea so I'm pretty sure this was real.

Black and Blue Brothers

Two thuggish brothers Grant and Phil Mitchell in the EastEnders soap are popular TV villains. An impressive 25.3 million viewers watched Grant attack Phil in 1994, after learning his brother was having an affair with wife Sharon. They variously left the series and returned, recently together to resume their bad'un double act.

But wait!

This week the actors playing the brothers have both allegedly been assaulted! Ross Kemp is in the headlines after his wife, Sun editor Rebekah Wade, was arrested but later released for alleged assault. Later, in an unrelated incident, a woman was cautioned by police for an alleged assault on Kemp's EastEnders co-star Steve McFadden. How wierd is that?

Another story, as Doris would say, that you can't make up!

Tag: TV, Eastenders, soap

no dna'l this time

David Blunkett, the blind cabinet minister for pensions, has resigned for the second time in a year. Yesterday he denied any wrong-doing buying shares in DNA Biosciences in contravention of a ministerial code. Today he publicly apologised and resigned from the Cabinet for the second time within a year. Type "blunkett wrong-doing" on Google and get 27,000 hits.

Tony Blair is still saying supportive things, but there's an old adage about politicians being caught out for sex or sleaze; Blunkett seems to have tried both tacks, with DNA as a linking theme. You can't make this stuff up.

Oh OK then, Private Eye can.

Tag: Blunkett, politics, UK

geeky

Someone emailed me about the little picture that changes every day at the top of the sidebar. Its from the Joy of Tech and leads to their daily cartoon.

November is mine

I can't help feeling a bit proprietarial about November. Its my month (by which I mean its my birthday month). A few days yet to go, but as the First arrives, I think, "Yes!".

Its not got anything to do with presents or celebrations. Its just my month. And I still feel a bit cheated that October has 31 days (have to wait longer for November to start) and then November only has 30 days.

There's that woody smokey edge to the air, the mix of leaves, a sharper edge to the wind and an intangible excitement as the season really starts to change in a more purposeful way.

So to Scorpios everywhere - have a great November!

Tag: november, scorpio, eagle

400th Anniversary of Treason

It may be the last day of October, but the fireworks of November the Fifth have already started. The build up is to next weekend when something peculiar happens across Britain. Everyone stands around outdoor fires as big as they can make, eating baked potatoes and looking into a sky illuminated by fireworks. On top of those fires and you'll see an effigy usually of Guy Fawkes who was accused of the plot to blow up Parliament.


At the real centre of the conspiracy was the Warwickshire gentleman Robert Catesby. He wanted to blow up the King, together with the House of Lords and the House of Commons during the ceremonial opening of Parliament. He recruited Italian explosives expert Guido Fawkes to assist and then 400 years ago, on the night of Nov. 4, 1605, Guy Fawkes and 12 fellow conspirators prepared to blow up the Houses of Parliament during the state opening by James I.

The conspirators had hoped that King James would be more tolerant of their Catholic faith than his predecessor Queen Elizabeth I and so they decided to assassinate the king by packing the basement of Parliament with 36 barrels of explosives. However, an anonymous tip-off letter foiled the plot and Guy Fawkes was found in the basement with a fuse in his pocket. He was imprisoned and tortured with his fellow conspirators before being executed on Jan. 31, 1606.

So for 400 years, Britain has celebrated the day the plot was foiled. The celebrations started in London on Nov. 5, 1605 the day after Fawkes' capture. Until 1859 they were supported by an Act of Parliament that made Nov. 5 a day of thanksgiving for "the joyful day of the king's deliverance."

But time moves on - The day is no longer a public holiday, though nearly all towns and cities still have some form of Bonfire Night celebration, as well as private events. The actual reason for Bonfire Night, though, has faded like the end of a Roman candle firework. For many years, it was a celebration of Fawkes' capture — a denunciation of popery and a rejoicing in the king's life being saved. Nowadays everyone just goes outside for a social evening and maybe to burn a few (un) popular political figures on the bonfire, just as much a Guy Fawkes.

scary post

OK.

Time for a scary post.

This is not as bad as the spooky French hospital from a couple of weeks ago, but is worse than the extreme pumpkins.

Click Enter at your own risk.