Toilet Gazing!

Why a picture of a toliet seat you ask? Because that's what I've been looking at for the last half hour. No I'm not ill! The simple fact is that my family are destructive as hell when it comes to toilet seats. They never seem to last any length of time. I only had the last one for under a month before it was annihilated! There may well be a partial excuse in the proximity of the radiator to the toilet, but I haven't broken any seats, and I'm probably the heaviest of us all. Anyway I had to pop in by B & Q earlier today to buy a replacement, so I tried one with a different attachment and it took me a while to work out how to fix it in place, as the instructions were laughable, and it wasn't exactly obvious. As it happens there is a small plastic component which slides out. How I was meant to work that out, I'm not sure.

Anyway, another long weekend coming up, decent weather too, so if I get caught up with all my paperwork tomorrow, that'll leave the weekend clear and on Sunday I'll probably take the family down the A9 to climb Meall Chuaich. An apparently easy enough Munro, which after last week, it better be. The kids won't forget that hike in a hurry, and won't let me forget about it either. That will leave next weekend clear to go and watch the new Indiana Jones film at the cinema. Not sure how good it will be, but who cares, how far wrong can you go with a franchise like that?

Four weeks to go until I finish my University course, at which point I will be a fully fledged probationer teacher. The probationer part seems harsh, but at least I will start getting some form of payment, and that can't be a bad thing with the student loans I have to pay back. It will literally take years, maybe even into double figures. Where are the incentives to enter the teaching profession? Besides the holidays, there are none. Most teachers could find easier, less stressful jobs, for more money. They're only there because that's what they want to do, or don't know any better.

The Return to Action!

Looks like I won't be flying off to the hills this weekend! Not only do I have a bad cold, apparently the weather is going to be horrible as well. It was no wonder that I caught a cold when I was surrounded by unwell people all week. I was sort of hoping that I'd just get lucky and stroll through it untouched like Bruce Willis in "Unbreakable"! However, I actually broke in about 3 days, as it happens. Ah well, there goes my invincibility. Perhaps I'm more like Samuel L. Jackson than Bruce Willis then.

Speaking of Bruce Willis, I saw a photo of Demi Moore the other day, and she's starting to look like somebody's grandmother despite having put up a pretty good fight against time and nature. Poor Ashton, looks like he's been Punk'd! He should have known that he could never step into Bruce's shoes and fill them. Can't believe that either Bruce or Stallone are still making films. They're both pushing on a bit now and should probably be on the other side of the camera like Clint Eastwood.

Then there's the other aged action hero due to return to the big screen shortly, Harrison Ford, as Indiana Jones, reprising the role for the first time in over 20 years. It's a shame there weren't more Indiana Jones films, I know there was the young Indy TV show, but I found it lacking to be honest. Mind you, we also have the Tintin films to look forward to, although I haven't really come across any details as of yet. I don't know if they'll be making films of the books, if so which ones? And if not, who's script writing? Anyway, everyone likes Tintin don't they? Surely?

The Emperor's New Boots!

I bought myself a proper pair of hiking boots today, so now there's no excuse. I have a whole series of reasonably large hills lined-up, which I intend to hillwalk while the weather is still fairly Wintery. Once the snow's all gone, I will have a go at some of the larger hills around here, Ben Rinnes being a priority. It's actually quite exhilirating, and little challenges give you something to look forward to, something to aim for. This week's intended target is Bennachie near Insch, in Aberdeenshire. It's actually three fairly large hills strung together, but we'll take the whole lot if you don't mind, weather permitting as always.

I'm also planning ahead. I'd like to climb the Tap o' Noth near Rhynie, which is a vitrified fort, and so should probably count as double. Actually, like Bennachie, there are two hills joined together at Tap o' Noth. Following that will be another nearby double-hill; The Buck. What we're aiming for are increasingly high peaks. Bigger and badder every time. That's the way to play it I reckon, culminating in Ben Nevis sometime this Summer!

So, it looks as though there might be a few decent films out this year. I never even realised that they were making a follow-up to "The National Treasure". That was a decent film, and the sequel look like it could potentially be half-decent also. I might just go and see that next week, if it's showing here of course, which is by no means guaranteed, as per my recent Cloverfield not showing here post. There is also the small matter of the new Indiana Jones film to come, as well. The Indiana Jones franchise stole part of my childhood, I must confess. What kid wouldn't have wanted to be Indie? I also seem to recall some game I had for the PC, I think it was called "Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb". It looked fantastic, but was rendered virtually unplayable by the dodgy controls which made a simple jump into a doctorate in computing physics!

Phoenix Rising.... No, Falling!

Yesterday afternoon I took the family up to Moray Playhouse to watch Harry Potter and the Order Of the Phoenix. I was certain that this time it would be semi-worthwhile viewing, given that the previous films were severely disappointing and tended to follow the same plot each time, ie: Harry has a run in with his relatives, Harry goes to Hogwarts, wanders around a bit, there are some new teachers, Hagrid takes the kids into the woods to show them something. Then, they break for Christmas, Harry gets fed up, then its back to Hogwarts again, Voldemort appears, Harry accidentally saves the day, and its back on the Hogwarts Express!

So, how did the new film compare. Well this is a quick rundown on the plot:

Harry has a run in with his relatives, Harry goes to Hogwarts, wanders around a bit, there are some new teachers, Hagrid takes the kids into the woods to show them something. Then, they break for Christmas, Harry gets fed up, then its back to Hogwarts again, Voldemort appears, Harry accidentally saves the day, and its back on the Hogwarts Express!

Does that seem slighly familiar? Don't get to excited if you're a fan, because at least with the previous films there was a vague sense of direction. With this one, there was a complete lack of structure, the whole film seem disjointed and it just left me empty. Promotional trailers led me to believe that there would be massive battles, but in reality there was only a rather brief skirmish in which it wasn't at all clear what was happening, only Sirius Black seemed to die, except I don't think he did!

Would I recommend this film? Absolutley not! It clearly demonstrates just how poor film-making is today. I really think the proper art of film-making died in the early 80's. I can't say exactly where they're going wrong, but I suspect that aiming to squash a 900 page book into just over 2 hours screentime, means cutting out crucial plot elements, which is clearly the case with this film. I noticed the same thing with "The Two Towers" when it came out. It just seemed hurried, like they were trying to fit in too much, which they were! Not like the days of films such as Lawrence Of Arabia and Doctor Zhivago. The long drawn out dramatic scene would be a welcome relief nowadays. Even Spielberg with the Indiana Jones films, knew how to structure his films so the plotline was as clear as day. It's time Directors looked back at how it used to be done!