erastes

First off - Charity Auction: Handwritten story by Emma Collingwood (author of the lovely "Lieutenant Samuel Blackwood, deceased") which is to benefit the Morpeth Lions Club Flood Fund - a club once patronised by Captain Collingwood himself and a good cause.

There is also an original picture by the illustrator of "Samuel Blackwood" - Amandine De Villeneuve

Click on the links to take you to the Ebay (UK) auctions.

As for Cinema night: Well, it was DEATH RACE starring the delectable Jason Statham. I'm old enough to have seen the original, but I'm afraid I never did. Was that the one where the drivers got points for each person they hit? I could go and look it up but I'm too lazy, but there were a lot of jokes about "ten points for the old lady" when I was driving with boys as a teenager. Perhaps it'll be on the TV one day.

Anyway, this one was really bloody enjoyable, and it was a bit of a surprise. We booked it because it had Jason Statham in it, and both

canarieschick and I really like him and love his hotness. I never thought I'd be impressed by a film that had little to draw me in other than hot cars, hot men and hot chicks (which frankly were a bit superfluous) but I was - the storyline was not convoluted; one knew pretty much what would happen to the bad people, but all the same it handled it in a way that was entirely satisfying. There's even a very hot black gay guy. "Everyone has a woman navigator, apart from Joe. That's because he's gay." "No, it's because he gets through them too fast and the network got squeamish." "yeah - he gets through them - through the arse." I think there must be a law now that any film CC and I go to see has to have major gay elements.

There's not a lot to the film. Cars. Explosions. Revs. Rivalry. A Wronged Hero doing what he has to. But it works in all the right places for the right reasons. And the most interesting fact about it - and the reason I wanted to see it (other than Mr S getting his vest off, AGAIN) was that they deliberately didn't use any CGI in the film at all. When you know that - the story suddenly gets a lot more interesting, and you sit there, like a child, thinking "fuck! how did they DO that!" which is how it should be, imo. Loved it. Who knew I was such a petrol head, eh?

Oh squeeful - they are building Ankh Morpork in Second Life!

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Ankh%20Morpork/137/111/25

It's annoying my PC doesn't have the specs to run SL successfully. If no-one's going to build a Ankh Morpork Adventure Park (I would, as discussed earlier, if I had the money) then Second Life is the next best thing. I'll just have to wait for a better PC before I rush off and join the Assassins Guild. I like the concept of SL, but don't want to have to spend money, and it seems like that is inevitable if you want a shop or something. I'd love to do book readings or something there, it'd be cool.

Watched Farinelli - Il Castrato today, I was dreading that it might have horrid scenes of castration but it was nicely handled (if you know what I mean.) The script was pretty crappy, and Riccardo's performance was a bit bleh - but it was a rather sumptuous film and great for inspiration. I didn't find any slash in it, though and believe me I really really wanted to because the actor playing Farinelli was TO DIE FOR, and you know me, I can normally find slash in anything. But no. However, it was the sort of film that makes you rush off to the net to research and see what his life was really like. The music and costumes were simply gorgeous although I would have liked to have know what they were singing - the pieces, I mean, not necessarily the words. If you liked Amadeus, you'll love Farinelli.

I've been playing Second Sight today too, which I'm still really enjoying although it's getting more difficult - as games tend to do! I watched a few YouTube videos to help me through some levels and they didn't help AT ALL - because they were filmed by BLOKES who simply play so so differently to me. What I tend to do is to find somewhere safe to hole up, then use my "Projection" (which creates a second invisible copy of me) - send that copy off to see what the dangers are - then when I find them I possess the guards and kill all the other guards. What BLOKES tend to do is just run in, all guns blazing, the narrative on one of the youtube videos was "so you just kill this guy, then run forward and kill all this lot..." (ad infinitum) I wish I had the first clue how to take a video from the TV and put it on the PC - as people would have a good giggle at my gameplay. But hey. It works, and I use literally NO ammo. Yes, yes, I know - none of you have played it, so you have no clue what I'm on about... *wanders off, unloved*

So, no writing today, as you can tell.