Not Got Much To Say At The Moment...

Yeah, like you believe that. But actually it's pretty true. Still at the same house, the new job is going well but still very slow (although hopefully things will pick up a bit this week) and everything in London's going well, if not awesomely fantastically well.
There are however a few things I'd like to say about some new films and new CD's, so feel free to accept that I'm doing ok and skip the rest of this if you're not interested.

To start with, Franz Ferdinand's new album, 'It could be so much better' is excellent. Probably better than the first although there's not that smiley familiarity with the new songs yet so it's hard to tell. This albums certainly more diverse. A couple of slow songs and one that sounds almost, but not quite entirely, like the Beatles. Which is of course a good thing. Well worth getting.

Land of the Dead is a film that I was looking forward to. I love all George A Romero's zombie films (yes I know that's very sad and geek-like but I'm not only ok with that, I'm kind of proud of it too) and this one, whilst being different, is still excellent. The main difference with this film is that the zombies aren't actually the bad guys. Ok, so they're hardly soft cuddly care bears and still enjoy eating flesh, ripping arms in half, pulling out belly button rings with their teeth, you know, real zombie stuff. However, in the end, the zombies are the backdrop for a pretty standard apocalyptic earth story. You know, the one where a evil business guy has created a 'haven' which means that all the ordinary (ie not rich) people are left living in craphole and one of those guys, who started off by working for the bad guy becomes the hero and saves everyone and the bad guy gets killed at the end (not really a spoiler, if you don't see that happening in a film you probably shouldn't be watching the film in the first place and should instead go back to your Peter and Jane books). The films worth seeing though and the best bits, of course, are all about the zombies.

Serenity, is Joss Whedon's new film. He's the writer behind Buffy, Toy Story and Alien resurrection (but don't hold that against him) and so I was really looking forward to this film which is his big screen debut as a director. The film is a continuation of Whedon's cancelled tv series 'firefly' (which I now can't wait to watch) and is basically a western in space. Sort of like the original (episode IV, a new hope) Star Wars without the aliens and spiritual undertones. It's set in the future with mankind now living in a different solar system and a sort of wild west environment going on in the outer planets, which is where the crew of the Serenity, the films hero's, work and live. I'm not going to go into the plot cos I don't want to spoil it. I'm just going to say that it's funny, witty, intelligent and damn good fun. I will give you one of my favourite quotes (from very early in the film):
pilot: this is going to get interesting
Captain: Define interesting
pilot: [completely deadpan] my god, my god we're all going to die.

Finally I want to say something about Jamie Cullum's new album. He's one of those guys that I know I really shouldn't like. He's now, more than ever, middle of the road Dad music rather than the Jazz genius that I really thought he would appear to be on his albums (although from all accounts and his DVD, still is live) but I can't not like him. He's a 24 year old who just seems to have gone through such similar experiences to me that I can't help but love his stumbling, at times awkward, lyrics and his half Jazz/half pop sound. I loved twentysomething (the song) from his last album as it seemed to completely connect to how I felt. And on his new album there's a song, photograph, that I just can't get out of my head. It sort of gives me the same feeling that watching American Beauty gives me, that the world is really a beautiful place, but makes it more personal because he's talking about a life that sounds so similar to mine. Anyway, here are the lyrics in all their stumbling, awkward glory. I know they may appear to sound overly sentimental or just plain crap, but they connect with me. Listen to the album, if you like it buy it, if you don't I'd hardly blame you, it probably just means that in this case, you have more taste than me.

Photograph

Her name was written on a photograph,
right next to her red, sunburnt face,
it all had happened in that long tall grass,
about a mile from her old place,
and I can't remember how it started and if it lasted that day in the sun.

We said that we were going to study hard,
we held our books instead of hands,
she held a blanket over cans of beer,
I can't deny I was so full of fear.

It's just another story caught up in another photograph I found.
and it seems like another person lived that life a great many years ago from now,

When I look back on my ordinary, ordinary life,
I see so much magic, though I missed it at the time.

And there's the first time that I tried that stuff,
I think I look a little green,
I remember throwing up behind a bush,
and I found it hard to use my feet,
and who's that easily led little boy who's really off his head?

It was the same night that I kissed that girl,
the tall one with the auburn hair,
I remember laughing coz to kiss me,
she had to sit down on a chair!
she tasted like the schnapps she'd drunk,
and the cigarette she'd stolen from her mum.

And it's just another story caught up in another photograph I found.

When I look back on my ordinary, ordinary life,
I see so much magic, though I missed it at the time.