Despite having lived in London for over a decade, yesterday was the first time I’ve ever been to Highgate Cemetery.
As the chap at the gate said, the main draw for many visitors is the tomb of Karl Marx:
But there are many other graves to see, and it’s a quiet and somehow relaxing atmosphere – well worth a look if you have the time and are in North London.
Though I have to admit that several times in the visit I heard David Tennant’s voice in my head…
We can put the whole tea-wasted-in-the-harbour thing behind us, right?
Anyone else think she’s jumping before something unsavoury emerges?
As it was – notionally – Henry Jones Junior’s 110th Birthday yesterday, and following a recent re-watch of Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade, I thought I’d just mention a recentish Lucasfilm re-edit of existing material – less glaring than Greedo shooting first, granted, but still rather strange, to my mind.
The 1992-1996 TV series The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles wasn’t a wildly popular show – probably, I suspect, because it often came over as an uncomfortable mix of entertainment and historical fact; the young Jones meets a lot of historical figures (Lawrence of Arabia, Hemingway, Picasso and so on), and if you don’t know who they are or know their historical significance, it’s kind of reduced as a show.
Anyway, it was shown in various slots on UK TV, and I rather liked it, partly because episodes were often bookended by ‘present day’ (that is, early 1990s) encounters between people and an aged Indiana Jones, played by George Hall. As you can see from the picture accompanying this post, Jones in his 90s appeared to have lost an eye, which of course leads to the question of how, suggesting a story yet to be told.
And yet, rather inexplicably, Lucasfilm (presumably with the blessing of George Lucas – also pictured, he’s the one without the fedora) have edited out the ‘Old Indy’ aspects of the show for the DVD release. It’s not fatal to the story by any stretch of the imagination, though I rather liked the suggestive nature of the missing eye and facial scar (even as it does remove the suspense of the films, as we know that Jones will survive to a ripe old age), but it does strike me as rather symptomatic of a tendency to tinker which Lucas (and his pal Mr Spielberg) seems unable to resist.
Ultimately, the films etc are Lucas’s baby, and so I think that one has to concede that if he wants to add or delete stuff, then he’s free to do so; the usual excuse given is that it takes it closer to the original vision, though I must admit that if I was responsible for some of the most well-loved films of the last 50 years or so, I’d probably tend to leave well enough alone – however I suspect it’s the fate of creative types to only be able to see the flaws in their work, whilst if it finds an audience, they will probably focus on the merits.
I’m increasingly feeling that there is a tacit agreement between creators and their audience, though most of my feelings about this boil down to simple commandments (thou shalt not deus ex machina, thou shall know where thy story is going, that kind of thing) than to the exact nature of ‘entitlement’ within the relationship; as Neil Gaiman recently pointed out, the creator “is not your bitch”, and in the final analysis I suppose it’d best just to pretend there isn’t a new film or book or revamped version of the old one if you don’t like it. I know that’s easier said than done, and sometimes it’s bewildering how a creator themselves seems to lose sight of the aspects of their work which resonate with the audience, and indeed which made them popular (examples which spring readily to my mind would be the novel Hannibal, and Jewel’s album 0304). But – as Gaiman again points out – we’re talking about other human beings here, and they’re as prone to making errors of judgment as you and I.
It may be the sunshine outside, or the fact I have a cup of tea to hand, which is making me less snarly about this subject than usual; on the other hand, it may well be the fact that the excised Young Indiana Jones material has been lovingly compiled by some kind folks and placed on youtube in chunks such as this, and by sticking the letters ‘pwn’ before the web address, it’s possible to download the footage.
Um, you do know about that ‘pwn’ trick, right? If not, then I hope that me imparting that to you has made it feel like it was worth wading through the above rambling nonsense…
… a handful of minutes past the deadline for the BBC CBBC Writing Competition.
So, did any of you fine people enter? According to Royal Mail (yes, I know – hardly the most reliable of sources), my script was delivered this morning, and I know that Lawrence, Antonia and Dom have all entered too, so that’s at least four people. Any more?
Like many of the folks linked above, I rather enjoyed writing my script – which is called, at Mrs Soanes’s suggestion, The Secret Life Of A Bookworm – and was fairly pleased with how it turned out, even if, what with it being the first of a possible series, I had to get some exposition out of the way before I could get to the action. Still, I hope I did it pretty well, and I keep my fingers crossed about hearing back from the Beeb for the next stage, a workshop on Tuesday 28 July for the select(ed) few.
On the subject of hearing back, I see from the BBC Writersroom site that they intend to let people know if they’re through to the next round on Friday 10 July – that is, next Friday. Quite soon, then, but that’s certainly better than keeping people waiting.
And now this deadline is past, it’s on, on, ON to the next bit of writing! To the novel, and don’t spare the clauses*!
*Grammar, I mean, not Santa’s family.
I can’t quite shake the feeling that this picture might have been manipulated in some way. Not exactly sure what it is, but something about it isn’t quite right…
Taken from p4 of this, in case you think I’m making it up (as I so often do).
… unfortunately, like
Paula Radcliffe and many a late-night reveller in a CCTV zone, it’s having your image captured whilst ‘going toilet’.
I’m John Soanes, and this has been your Sunday morning dose of sophistication. Coming up next, a CD of Parzifal which makes it look slightly as if the titular character has his winkie on show. Four years studying Law , and this is how I spend my time? Believe me, I too shake my head in despair.
(Click to enlarge as required)
Copyright Marvel Comics, obviously.
Interestingly, this semi-francophobia featuring one of American comics’ most patriotic characters was written by a Scotsman and drawn by a Brit. They clearly know how to please their audience.
I got an e-mail the other day from a chap called William Akers, asking if I’d mention his forthcoming talk on the blog. Given that Will’s a writer with actual produced films to his credit, PLUS the fact that he worked on Eerie, Indiana and Lois and Clark (two TV programmes I like), it would have been churlish to say no. And whilst I’m frequently childish, I like to think I’m not churlish. Well, if I can avoid it. anyway.
So: Will’s talk is called Fatal Errors New (and experienced!) Writers Make! and it’s being held at Met Film School (Ealing Studios, Ealing Green, London W5 5EP) on Thursday 2nd July between 6:30 and 8:30 p.m. Entry costs a mere £15, which you can pay on the door, though you need to book ahead of time by e-mailing beka[at]metfilm.co.uk. Let’s face it, you could easily spend that on a round of drinks (or a couple of coffees at London prices), so it’s quite the bargain.
You can find full details of the session here. Definitely worth going along if you can make it, I’d say (I’m already booked that night for a family event – pah).
Will is also the author of the attention-grabbingly-titled Your Screenplay Sucks!, pictured above, which you can read more about here, and buy from the usual places (and some of the more unusual ones too, I’d wager). Will also has a blog, which has solid advice on matters writing-related, such as the following on the idea of selling ‘an idea’ for a film:
Someone who has sold screenplays for lots of money can sell an idea, if they have a famous actor attached. Have you sold screenplays for lots of money? Have you got a famous actor attached?
If the answer to either question is “No,” then shut up already and write your script.
With that in mind, I’ll shut up and get back to writing. Hope that you can make it to the talk, though, it sounds like it’ll be useful – if you do, be sure to let me know all about it!
Merlin Mann on getting started (via John August)
Billy Mernit on why your first draft may well resemble food after it’s been digested and expelled (via David Lemon)
And Neil Gaiman’s advice to authors:
“How do you do it? You do it. You write. You finish what you write.”
And whilst I wouldn’t really recommend watching the film pictured here, its title can be seen as a prompt as much as a play on words. Oh, and it does mean I include a picture of Sherilyn Fenn, which may not be a bad thing.
A still there from the latest TV ad by the not-Manchester-based soft drink, Oasis.
It’s quite an elaborate ad (backed by a suitably jargon-filled ‘integrated’ marketing campaign), built around the tagline ‘Oasis. For people who don’t like water’.
Would I be the first to point out that if you look at the label of a bottle of Oasis, the first listed (and therefore most prevalent) ingredient is water?
So, if you really don’t like water, this might not be the best drink for you to choose. Mind you, if you’re really anti-water to that extent, you probably don’t have time to buy soft drinks because you’re spending all day trying to avoid the 71% of the planet that is covered in water, or – and this is where the challenge sets in – the 65% of your body which is, on average, water.
I guess drinking Oasis because you don’t like water is probably like buying The Daily Star because you don’t like words.
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