The Secret Life of Andrew

I can't say that I have much to update about really. I had the most amazing week last week. Due to the show and the way my days off fell I didn't have to go back to work until Friday, and I can tell you it was amazing. I played on the Xbox, read lots and generally enjoyed the warmth. My God I miss it now. I hate January so much and I hate being back at work, especially when there aren't any jobs to apply for!

The snow's mostly gone today, which is good as it was getting very boring. Aside from it being on the news all the time it just makes everything soggy and reminds me of Iceland and how much I wish I was there right now.

So what have I been up to? Well we've got back into our James Bond watching, ticking off Moonraker and For Your Eyes Only. To be honest, I think we'd stopped watching them because Moonraker was next. My God it was dire. And so depressing to think that it was the biggest grossing Bond film until Goldeneye. Proof that people will go to see any old shit if it jumps on the zeitgeist. It was such a rip-off of Star Wars I wanted to weep. Reasons why Moonraker is shit:

1. A double taking pigeon.
2. Hovercraft gondola
3. Jaws coming back even though he'd been eaten in the last film
4. Jaws gets a girlfriend. I mean really, WTF?!
5. There is a laser shoot out in space.
6. the first hour is useless. Bond goes all over the world to find that a man has stolen his own space shuttle.
7. Sexism a-hoy! And it's bad, even for Bond.
8. Rotating space station with an emergency stop button. Christ.
9. Evil man plans to poison all humans with a gas that doesn't kill animals or plants. How does that work exactly.
10. Did I mention that there's a double taking pigeon.

Awful. And what was more frustrating is that it had the making of a normal, good Bond film in there, it's just because they didn't stick with the original plan and tried to cash in on Star Wars. Grrr. For Your Eyes Only though, I'm happy to say was brilliant, maybe Roger Moore's finest. Strnage Blofeld death prelude aside, it was bang on form, possibly because Bond employs a lot of outside help which feels quite different and interesting. Hell, Bond even turns down the offer of a woman which is very rare. A great film. While on the subject of Bond films - What's your favourite Bond theme? I'm intrigued to know.

The other thing we've watched lately was the documentary on Barack Obama. James sums it up better than I can here: http://theresnotime-jrm.blogspot.com/2010/01/by-people-election-of-barack-obama-2008.html , putting that 1st degree to good use! But I really enjoyed it. Obama could read a shopping list out and I'd feel inspired. It was very interesting to see what happens behind the scenes though, American politics is much more interesting than here. It brought back memories of how exciting the Democratic nominations were compared to here where I'll be voting for a middle aged man in a suit - again (mind you, look what happened when we broke the mould last time...) So yes, a good watch.

Oh, we watched The latest Muppets film too, Letters to Santa. It was surprisngly good, especially the lengthy out takes. I'm a big believe that there's still room for the Muppets on TV (probably because I'm reading an amazing book on Sesame Street at the minute), they just need to kill the Disney-fied cutsy-ness stone dead.

Yesterday we went to see Nine at the cinema. It was very good, but not great. The cast is amazing, absolutely stunning and it's well acted. And the Dame Judimeister sings which is obviously amazing, but the whole thing was missing the wow factor like Chicago had. I don't know what it was. maybe the plot? Enjoyable at the cinema though, and it looked stunning.

Thankfully I've found another job to apply for. It's at the University of Huddersfield which seem like a great Uni. Commuting is an issue but hey, I'm desperate.

Thank God it's Friday eh?It's been a funny old week. Work's calmed down a bit after national My-God-my-department-is-being-dissolved day although it's still a bit weird that, potentially, three of your co-workers are being made redundant at the end of the month. I've calmed down too, after James had to listen to me talk on for AN HOUR on Wednesday night, explaining it all and ranting about the injustice of it all. It's hard though. I mean, I've actually had the best deal out of it all. I'm getting a pay rise after all. It's a shame I won't be around long enough to benefit it really. My course has come at the wrong time in a way as, if I hung around here until I'm at the top end of my new grade, I'd be earning close to £20,000, which is the lowest end of the librarian wage. Of course, the fact that I'm not all that keen on my job has to be taken into account! It's still a shame though, because I was told to day that my pay rise was in recognition of the hard work I'd put into OfSTED and the committees I service which is quite good going considering I've not been in post six months. I must slip this into every interview I go into from now on - 'And did you know that I got a promotion due to turning a new job into a job of wonder in little under six months? EMPLOY ME!'. Haha. There are still issues though but more meetings are planned. Joy. On a side note, James was looking for new jobs the other day and he found a committee servicing job at Skipton Council which I'm perfectly qualified for and which pays a lot more than I'm earning. I'm thinking I could go far in this area! Do I really want to do libraries....? Actually, speaking of libraries, Tom popped round yesterday to say that he'd asked at the library about relief work and they need someone at the weekends. Obviously I won't do it yet but it gave me hope that when I start my course I'll be able to find work :) It was nice of him to ask for me too :D

Yesterday, me, James and Julia went to see Ocean's 13. The verdict was that it was a lot better than 12 and nearly on par with 11. I really enjoyed it and watching that, and 12 close together made me realise how rubbish 12 was, although I think it was prettier. James pointed out that that's because 12 is style over substance which is probably true. Everything about 13 was good though. The plot was much better, the humour, everything and it did still look great. The hotel and casino looked especially good. My main criticism is that it was really hard to get into. The first half an hour is really confusing and dense. I was trying so hard to follow it all but I couldn't really get any further than - oooh look, Eddie Izzard! Once it got going it was great though.

In other news, the Spice Girls have reformed! Obviously, fanatic as he is, my ever-loving boyfriend is desperate to see them on the world tour so we're eager for tickets! Weirdly, I'm a little excited about seeing them too. They passed me by the first time but I keep saying how I want to go to a huge pop concert because I've never been to one, and they're as good a place to start right? Also, how thin is Posh? And isn't Geri looking like Charlie Dimmock nowadays?! I read an interesting discussion about which Spice Girl is considered to be the most successful and one comment said, regarding Posh, 'if I was having sexual intercourse with David Beckham, I'd consider myself to be the most successful Spice Girl.' Fair point.

Gordon Brown is now Prime Minister! It's all been going on this week hasn't it? I, for one, am a litte worried. I don't really have an opinion on Mr Brown, I'll wait until he actually does something before judging him, but I'm really scared that he'll just cock it all up and let the Tory's get in. It's like the Labour equivolent of the Thatcher/Major run. And God knows I don't want the Tory's in. :s I think, for all the complaining (we're British, moaning about everything is what we do!), I think we'll miss Tony. We just don't know it yet :s

I'll get my head out of the papers now shall I? I've just finished reading Stephen King's 'Carrie'. I've never read any of his stuff before but I really liked it. I really liked the way it was written, slowly hinting at and revealing the final outcome, and the general eerieness surrounding it. Yeah, it was great. I dunno how much of his other stuff I'd want to read really. I might try another and see if I like it. For now I'm reading Germaine Greer's, 'The Female Eunuch'. It's been a while since I've read any feminist stuff.

On my dinner hour I was talking to Mark, who works in Student Support and I rarely get to see and it got me thinking. Mark's blind, and when I was at the library I was always aware of how difficult I found talking to anyone with a disability. I've rarely had to deal with any disability of any kind, just because I've never really come into contact with it, so when I do have to deal with someone with varying needs I've always found it really tricky. But while talking to Mark I realised that, actually, it's not difficult to not be patronising. I know that Mark's not deaf or physically impaired so talking isn't an issue, but still I had to direct him to the bin for example and I had to make him aware of my prescence when I walked in the room. It's just something I've always found awkward and I've got to tackle it if I'm going to get back into libraries.

On the way home on Monday I was listening to the Pet Shop Boys. I've had their Best Of on my MP3 player for ages but not really listened to it until then. Aside from them being really good, it struck me that, actually, I know of these! And I realised that I know them all because my Mum has always been a big fan and she must have played them in the house when I was little/younger. The same thing happened whenJames was playing Gloria Estafan's hits the other day too. My Mum used to play her a lot when I was little. It just made me think how funny it was that music I heard when I was little was still ingrained in my brain. It got me wondering actually, how much influence your parents musical taste have on you when you're younger, musically I mean. I used to like the Pet Shop Boys when my Mum played them. Mind you, if she was playing them and Gloria Estafan too me when I was little is it any wonder that I turned out gay? I mean, they say it's your Mums genes that determine your sexuality but it's clearly an environmental thing too! Hehe. 

I'm surprised I've not really got in to the Pet Shop Boys before actually. Inthe same way that The Human League and Soft Cell are the natural 80s link to the electro of the 00s I know and love, the Pet Shop Boys are the 80s link to the music I love from the year 2000. Bands like Saint Etienne and Dubstar have a similar sound (Dubstar even covered 'Jealousy'). It's that synthy, soft sound rather than the harsh squalches and bleeps that the Human League have.

I'm going on a bit today aren't I?! It's nearly the weekend though, and me and James are seeing the Beauty and the Beast music in York. Fingers crossed it's as good as The Lion King :D