"This is not a novel to be tossed aside lightly. It should be thrown with great force." - Dorothy Parker

Hmmm...what to say about this one.  It seemed to have so much potential...but the ending left me cold.  Maybe i missed something vital.

Well I'll tell you what i think.  Maximum spoilers here...so look away NOW!

At the end of the movie, I think...think...not sure...that the old man waiting for the "out of service" bus dies, and is figuratively taken away by the otherwise empty and out of service bus.  Now if this is the case, and call me slow if you want, but then that means Enid dies at the end too...but...does she kill herself?  What...what happens...off she goes in the empty out of service bus...are we meant to just ponder this?  I don't get it...there's not really enough information to say she does die...but I think she must.  Seymour is back under his mother's wing.  Rebecca is out living in her new place.  Enid's father is back with his old girl...i get all that...so, does Enid die???

Anyway, i know i'm slow...she dies...i'm sure...

In fact I've probably got so much happening that it's difficult to put it into words.

I'll just mention a couple of the bigger things...

Yesterday my Dad came out of hospital (for the second time, after going back in because the doctors thought his wound wasn't healing properly), and he now seems to be mending very well.  He's still a few weeks away from doing anything much.  Which means I have the total business responsibilities for a couple more weeks at least.

OK, now my main distraction from that has been the girl from the Mid-West (I don't call her that to her face, only on here...hehe).  She's been a distraction, but more than that.  We're certainly developing a good friendship and it seems maybe even more.  I have levelled off after my initial enthusiasm.  I know that this sort of relationship is ridiculously difficult and am looking at the whole thing in a much more relaxed way.  Ms Midwest however may be getting a lot more serious than she previously was, so now it's a case of me trying not to hurt her if I see it can't work.

Oh, and on that point.  When I'd thought Ms Midwest had wigged out on me the other day, I (as a result of a definitely increased confidence engendered by the positive response of my online relationship) actually took the huge step (for me) of asking a "real life" girl out.  She had come into the shop (to sell us something, not buy) and I got her mobile number.  Afterwards (last Tuesday 9th) I messaged her and hinted (you'd have to know the full context to understand the hint) that we should go to the movies together.  She didn't reply, and I'd forgotten about it (almost), until yesterday!  Yesterday, out of the blue, she messaged me back and said do you want to go to the movies tonight!  WOW, I couldn't breath for about an hour afterward (and didn't reply for 2 or 3 as it was busy at work).  She is a VERY attractive girl, the most attractive girl I've ever asked out...AND she wants to go out with me.  Things are looking up.

You're dying for me to tell you what happened last night, aren't you.  Well, we ended up not going out, but have arranged to go out on the weekend!  (You're disappointed aren't you...hehe...don't be)  We would have gone out last night, but the movie we wanted to see was at the wrong time plus we were messaging until 6pm and she was still at work (so she wouldn't have made any of the others we were planning to see either).  The weekend will be better anyway.  More info to come...

Saw Once Upon a Time in Mexico this morning at 10am, I haven't seen a movie in ages, so I thought stuff it I'll go by myself, seeing no one else I know seems to want to go anymore.

So, the film, well...it was less than I expected.  But still Johnny Depp was good, as usual.  It was a bit abstract and violent for my liking.  The kind of fractured storytelling that passes for action movies these days.  It's all getting a bit annoying for me, I'm getting sick of it.  But that's another story, and Once Upon a Time... wasn't as bad as some I've seen.  But I really don't have much else to say about it.

Anyway, I decided to take Mum to see a movie tonight.  With Dad in hospital I think she needed a bit of a break and/or a change.  But, we picked to see Mystic River which may have been a bit violent and swear-ridden for her.  She said that she liked it quite a bit though, and said it was a very interesting story and film.  I thought it was good too.  And you could really see the 3 roles (with the 3 children and then the 3 adults) being played out as the movie went on.  If you haven't seen it, the rest of what I say might constitute minor spoilers (consider yourself warned ;).

It was interesting to see the Jimmy character, he was the ring-leader of the 3 boys when they were younger, the trouble maker, and the mouth.  And this was shown also when he grows up, trouble, ring-leader and still a mouth.  Dave was the victim, the downtrodden when he was a boy and certainly remains so when he grows up.  He ends up as the victim throughout his life.  The 3rd charater Sean is sort of the "nobody", the balance; and as such he is also the balance or lynch-pin even when they grow up, becoming a cop and the one who comes off almost unaffected by the events, though still a vital cog in their workings.

chuck palahniuk must have writen down every single off-the-wall idea that has popped into his head every minute of everyday of his life.  when he gets to about 30 or 40 in his most recent list he must then begin to compile them into book-form.  having read all of mr. palahniuk's books (except maybe one who's subject matter really didn't appeal) i have realised that the man is a flood of disturbing ideas and has the talent to express them in a most interesting way on paper.

lullaby is rather simple, in comparison to the other books i have read from this same mind, but it is no less interesting, spine-tingling nor effective in its story-telling.  lullaby starts with noise and hubbub; the main character is assailed by the roudiness of modern-life.  but as the book goes on, and he finds that this noise has the potential to hurt, and in fact, be a possible weapon, the protagonist now has to deal not just with an aversion to this noise, but the fear of what it may turn into.  scared into action, and paired with another early discoverer of this "word-power" he begins a crusade against the destructive words he has found, but at the same time must fight the corrupting power that these words are bringing to his own mind.

resolved in a similar way to many of chuck's other books, it is nonetheless a startling ending (though many may believe it is telegraphed, at least from about half-way through), and one which lets the reader make up their own mind about the use and abuse of power; in particular the force of sound and
words in this modern age.  i have been reading a lot of my fave authors recently so excuse me if i repeat myself; if you haven't read any of chuck's stuff, start at the beginning and give it ALL a shot, it's worth it!!

why did they call that travesty of everything that is good in the world "average joe"?

i ask you??  how can it be called average joe, when the average joe loses!!  is that the message that they're trying to give the avg joe's out there.  hey you're really a great, sweet guy, you're kind, and loving and you really deserve the girl...but don't worry, just when you think you're doing well with a girl, someone more attractive who kisses better, will come along and swipe the girl from under your nose.

geez!  did the girl name one reason, other than "he's so pretty", or "he kisses so great" that she wanted to be with the looker, jason, or whatever his name was.

the whole thing was a great big joke!! and for adam to come out looking like he'd accepted it, and was ok with it and that everything was fine...it just holds a mirror up to why this whole shallow, appearance-based world is so completely ridiculous!

and omg!  if they aren't trying to pull us in already for the next one.  you would have to PAY me to watch that show, and even then i'd feel robbed!

well, i couldn't leave it on that note...could i?

i seriously considered just putting her on my ICQ invisible list, ignore her emails (if she even bothered to send any)...and let that be the end of it.  but i couldn't do it.

what the fuck!?!?

i thought it was goin' great, i thought it was swell...this is the point that i always fuck it up!!

i don't know what possessed me to try to go further.  i don't know what made me think it was time to find out how we stood.  it's two weeks in.  way early!!  but, we'd been talking "romance" from day 3.  we've been talking about everything under the sun!  she's said how sweet i am, how romantic i am.  the other day she says, "we gotta go to the carribean!", i said "who's we? wink wink" she goes "us of course".  what am i supposed to think!?!?!  i asked straight out was she joking, mucking around, etc.  "no" she says.

i don't get it.  what happened!  today i raise whether we should think about things down the track.  could we see ourselves doing anything, or is it just an internet thing.  i just asked to see if she'd contemplated it.  one thing leads to another...wham...she's telling me i'm a baby, that i think nobody likes me, and if i constantly complain about myself then no one will want to listen!!!  where did that come from?  i made two comments.  "girls just don't seem to like me" and "nice guys finish last".  hell, i wasn't even talking about her, i was talking in general.  but bang, it was on.  you sound like me, she says "nobody likes me mummy, but i was 9".  sheeee-it, now she's fuckin' calling me a 9 year old!! cause of two things i said.

now, how i got onto this was she is always saying how sweet i am, and then today, how she hasn't met many people this sweet, and how it makes her "wonder" why all this "sweetness".  so i say, "see, this is what i always get from girls", hence, nice guys finish last, yada yada.  fuck me, if from that point on i'm suddenly this whining child who can't stop talking about how bad off they are.  so i think how come she hasn't told me this earlier, and ask her how often she's thought this while we've been chatting for the last 2 weeks.  and guess what! she can't name one other example!  (and as far as i can remember, i have been as up as up could be the last 2 weeks, i didn't feel sorry for myself once!) but after two comments it's "you're so negative, and complaining, it makes me sick, and by the way, you're too fuckin' sweet too, what's up with that?"

so, that's it, no more Mr. Feckin' Nice Guy!

(yeah like i'm gonna be able to keep this up, i just can't do it, i'm nice without trying, i'm considerate without trying, i'm reasonable without trying, and i have to make too much effort not to be those things.  so i suppose, if girls don't like that, well fuck 'em!)

anyway, you might think that's only one side of the story...and it probably is...but my side of the story is the only one i can relate.

back to the mundane...haha

jasper fforde is a very good writer.  his narative is engrossing, and doesn't let you come up for air!  it's hard to describe the well of lost plots however, without making copious references to the first two books in the thursday next series of novels.  so i won't try.

the eyre affair and lost in a good book (which are the first and second novels in the series) are extremely funny and certainly the most original books i've read since my douglas adams days.  this book continues the trend and the series without slackening off.  jasper fforde has written these books, it appears, to stimulate the readers' desire for fiction.  he makes reams of references to other works of fiction and, as the titles indicate, a lot of the action takes place "inside" the world of fiction itself.  at various stages the author transports his protagonist into works such as wuthering heights, great expectations, jane eyre, and many others.  this idea seems to me to be highly original and works amazingly well as a plot device.  he also is able to tell thursday's story amongst all these other works, and have it stand apart as a wonderful adventure in its own right!