The Year Zero

Happy Chinese New Year!

Yes that is a picture of Craig

I need to dislaim this blog post at the very outset by stating this it is leeched directly from the one and only Craig in New York’s blog. Go check out his blog for the original. He being a convivial, friendly, charming and altogether eccentric type – said he didn’t mind me posting it.

Anyway, do tell me which animal sign you are and whether you can see resemblances in character trait or perhaps in the people whose animal sign you share!

I’m the year of the DRAGON and that bit about “you are eccentric and your life complex” was the obvious give away. If you were to believe close friends like Sheridan – a fiery temper and flighty nature might also be in the mix. Makes me shudder to think Sarah Palin has the same sign, though!!

OX: 1937, 1949, 1961, 1973, 1985, 1997, 2009
CELEBRITIES: Meryl Streep, Seth MacFarlane, Heidi Klum, Sigourney Weaver, George Takei, Barrack Obama
PLACEMAT SAYS: Bright, patient, and inspiring to others. You can be happy by yourself, yet make an outstanding parent. Marry a Snake or Cock. The Sheep will bring trouble.

TIGER: 1938, 1950, 1962, 1974, 1986, 1998, 2010
CELEBRITIES: Tom Cruise, Jay Leno, Steve Carell, Leonardo DiCaprio, William H. Macy, Ryan Phillippe, Amanda Bynes
PLACEMAT SAYS: Tiger people are aggressive, courageous, candid, and sensitive. Look to the Horse or Dog for happiness. Beware of the Monkey.

RABBIT: 1939, 1951, 1963, 1975, 1987, 1999, 2011
CELEBRITIES: Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt, Ian McKellen, Conan O’Brien, Kate Winslet, Tara Reid, Quentin Tarantino, Mark Hamill
PLACEMAT SAYS: Luckiest of all signs, you are also talented and articulate. Affectionate, yet shy, you seek peace throughout your life. Marry a Sheep or Boar. Your Opposite is the Cock.

DRAGON: 1940, 1952, 1964, 1976, 1988, 2000, 2012
CELEBRITIES: David Hasselhoff, Chuck Norris, Mary McDonnell, Reese Witherspoon, Haley Joel Osment, Wanda Sykes, Sarah Palin
PLACEMAT SAYS: You are eccentric and your life complex. You have a very passionate nature and abundant health. Marry a Monkey of Rat late in life. Avoid the Dog.

SNAKE: 1929, 1941, 1953, 1965, 1977, 1989, 2001
CELEBRITIES: Martha Stewart, Tim Gunn, Sarah Michelle Gellar, J.K. Rowling, Daniel Radcliffe, Robert Downey Jr.
PLACEMAT SAYS: Wise and intense with a tendency towards physical beauty. Vain and high tempered. The Boar is your enemy. The Cock or Ox are your best signs.

HORSE: 1930, 1942, 1954, 1966, 1978, 1990, 2002
CELEBRITIES: Denzel Washington, Katie Holmes, Joe Biden, Oprah Winfrey, Clint Eastwood, John Travolta, Harrison Ford
PLACEMAT SAYS: Popular and attractive to the opposite sex. You are often ostentatious and impatient. You need people. Marry a Tiger or a Dog early, but never a Rat.

SHEEP: 1931, 1943, 1955, 1967, 1979, 1991, 2003
CELEBRITIES: William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, Pamela Anderson, Mo’Nique, John Barrowman, John Krasinski, Will Ferrell
PLACEMAT SAYS: Elegant and creative, you are timid and prefer anonymity. You are most compatible with Boars and Rabbits, but never the Ox.

MONKEY: 1932, 1944, 1956, 1968, 1980, 1992, 2004
CELEBRITIES: Miley Cyrus, Kristen Bell, George Lucas, Will Smith, Tom Hanks, Carrie Fisher, Jake Gyllenhaal
PLACEMAT SAYS: You are very intelligent and are able to influence people. An enthusiastic achiever, you are easily discouraged and confused. Avoid Tigers. Seek a Dragon or Rat.

COCK: 1933, 1945, 1957, 1969, 1981, 1993, 2005
CELEBRITIES: Britney Spears, Jennifer Aniston, Paris Hilton, Jack Black, Steve Martin, Jason Bateman, Jessica Alba
PLACEMAT SAYS: A pioneer in spirit, you are devoted to work and quest after knowledge. You are selfish and eccentric. Rabbits are trouble. Snakes and Oxen are fine.

DOG: 1934, 1946, 1958, 1970, 1982, 1994, 2006
CELEBRITIES: Cher, Madonna, Matt Damon, Steven Spielberg, Queen Latifah, Tina Fey, Ellen DeGeneres, George W. Bush
PLACEMAT SAYS: Loyal and honest you work well wit others. Generous yet stubborn and often selfish. Look to the Horse or Tiger. Watch out for Dragons.

BOAR: 1935, 1947, 1959, 1971, 1983, 1995, 2007
CELEBRITIES: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jada Pinkett Smith, Joel McHale, Sam Neill, Amy Poehler, Hillary Clinton
PLACEMAT SAYS: Noble and chivalrous. Your friends will be lifelong, yet you are prone to marital strife. Avoid other Boars. Marry a Rabbit or a Sheep.

RAT: 1936, 1948, 1960, 1972, 1984, 1996, 2008
CELEBRITIES: Ben Affleck, Jennifer Garner, Samuel L. Jackson, Cameron Diaz, Ashlee Simpson, John McCain
PLACEMAT SAYS: You are ambitious yet honest. Prone to spend freely. Seldom make lasting friendships. Most compatible with Dragons and Monkeys. Least compatible with Horses.

Go read Craig’s blog to find out where he got the info, is a nice story!!

PS Craig put this together from scratch (well, compiled from a few different resources), so if you end up using it on your blog, at least acknowledge / link to him plz, as I have done. Ta.

Following the lives of the twenty-somethings and their secret double-lives – as a werewolf, vampire and ghost – Being Human was first transmitted in February 2008 as a 60-minute special as a part of BBC Three’s drama pilot season.

Popular with viewers and critics alike, the pilot peaked at nearly 450,000 viewers whilst gaining rave reviews and online petitions begging for a series to be commissioned.

Russell Tovey reprises his role as the lovable George, battling with his double identity as a mild-mannered and geeky hospital porter who for one night a month is transformed into a flesh-hungry, predatory werewolf.

Aidan Turner plays the good-looking and laid-back Mitchell who, in contrast to George, has the gift of the gab and an easy confidence with the ladies. But he is also a blood-sucking vampire struggling with going cold-turkey from the blood he craves.

Completing the flat-share trio is Annie, played by Lenora Crichlow, a talkative ghost lacking in self-confidence and desperate for company. Annie is still pining after her fiancé, whom she was due to marry before the fatal accident that left her with her ghostly affliction – and who happens to be the landlord of their flat.

The series follows the trio as they do their best to live their lives as normally as possible despite their strange and dark secrets.

But with unwelcome intruders into their world, rumblings about an impending revolution from the vampire underworld and constant threats of exposure – on top of the usual issues faced by young people surrounding love, work and mates – the only thing they may be able to rely on in their heightened world, is each other. Source: BBC

I quite enjoyed this. Fairly eccentric stuff – it was a cross between This Life, Casualty and Interview with a Vampire. Theree twenty-somethings sharing a house together in Bristol. The two guys work in a hospital and the girl stays in the house.

George, the werewolf:

Mitchell, the vampire.

Annie, the ghost.

This is the first thing I’ve watched on BBC3 as I tend to not watch comedy. This definitely wasn’t a ‘comedy’ in the usual sense of the word but it did have a humorous streak running through it which worked pretty well. Also a fair amount of gore and drama.

The emerging plot line is that of the wider vampire population wanting to take over the rest of society (at least I think that’s what it was).

Anyway, quirky enough to watch next Sunday evening as 9pm is when I do the week’s ironing and having something half decent to watch whilst doing it is important!

Episode 1 on BBC iPlayer and Being Human page on BBC website.

PS The snapshot of episode 1 which appears on the front of iPlayer is downright scary!!

I saw Frost/Nixon at the cinema this afternoon. Very good film. Extremely good acting from Michael Sheen (as David Frost) and Frank Langella (as Richard Nixon).

Michael Sheen has been in a number of films which I’ve really liked, not least of which was Fantabulosa where he brilliantly portrayed Kenneth Williams.

Anyway, if you haven’t seen Frost/Nixon – I recommend it. I want to see Milk next.

Very good news yesterday. I was reading a long article in The Telegraph about Mad Men and its creator, Matthew Weiner, at the end of which I read the magic words:

‘Mad Men’ series 2 starts on BBC4 on February 10

I’ve been so looking forward to it coming back to our shores. It was one of the very best things on TV when it started last year on BBC4.

Birdie is also a big fan.

There is also a good article in the DT about voluptuous siren Joan Holloway (played by Christina Hendricks). Can be read here.

Loving this song at the moment. For those who watched (and loved) the BBC’s Life on Mars, it should bring back some memories.

(Click to play)

An enjoyable evening with close friends. A six month grudge at last brought to an end. We’re all human. A realisation and acknowledgement that he’s worth – as a friend – me sticking by, not ditching. Which would have been wrong on so many levels. It’s not ‘love interest’. At least, not in the usual sense of the word. Far too tricky to explain in a blog post; few would understand anyway.

So the evening was better and more enjoyable than I’d anticipated it would be.

He still worries I look too thin. I still worry he drinks too much. Bear hugs and back slaps and I’m relieved I didn’t – in the end – throw the baby out with the bath water. Life is too short, after all, to throw relationships away.

Thanks for your thoughts (and emails!). It has been a difficult time but I think that clarity and calmness have, for the most part, now been reached. I’m not saying there’ll be no more histrionics ever. It is after all him and it is ultimately me. And I am a demanding and over-sensitive type with very high standards for people I’m close and loyal to. But I need to learn to temper some of my intensity.

Ultimately I now feel a lot more sane and grounded than in recent months. And on that note, it’s 1.30am and I’m home and in bed and ready to crash!

Tomorrow I’m seeing ‘old friends’.

One of them is he whose name is beyond the scope of this blog. I’m really nervous. I haven’t felt this uptight about a social event in many years. It’s small and tight knit. At someone’s home. I can’t escape. And I’m nervous.

I want to be honest. For the first time in a long, long time. I want to tell the truth. I’m sick of being cast as the villain. My motto tomorrow night is total honesty. That’s all anyone can want or deserve, right?

I’m imagining the outcomes of tomorrow evening. I worry I will get very very upset distressed, especially if I have too much to drink. I don’t want to touch the void again. Perhaps tomorrow will be the final nail in the coffin. There have been many. The coffin is so close to being irreversibly and irrevocably sealed. But it’s not quite there yet. But it’s close.

But you only hear one side when you read this. He’s lovely. And genuine. And loving. And kind. And honest. And caring. But deeply and profoundly flawed. But we’re all human. Maybe my own standards are too high; that’s not implausible.

Once upon a time he was my north my south, my east and west; my working week and my Sunday rest.

So help me God I don’t know what he is these days. I just know that he’s ’still there’ in my mind.

This time tomorrow I’ll know. I remember how close I was to a breakdown a year ago. I really do hope that I’m not derailed again. I just can’t do it any more.

I started a tumblr blog a month or so ago. I quite enjoy it but it has a very low readership. Would society regard it as a fail blog?

I began using tumblr when my old friend Ryan moved from his self-hosted ‘normal’ blog, onto tumblr. I like his blog as it is arty, eccentric and somewhat irreverent (like its author then).

But I’m wondering if it’s sensible for me to maintain two blogs. I’ve labelled it a ’scrapbook’ but it’s basically a comment-less blog which gets very low traffic.

Thoughts? And yes, you can be candid. What ought I to be doing more of? Merge the two and stay here? Indifference? Don’t care? More pictures? Less pictures? More vignettes? Longer entries? Shorter? London life? Or is it all rather banal, tedious and pointless anyway? Rest assured this blog will be scuttled at some point – like the three that went before it – but not yet… My staying power thus far has been about nine months on any one blog, if memory serves.

And I do like Ryan’s ‘apparently‘ posts so I plan to do more of those. I may even copy the name as it seems so apt, but I’ll feel like an awful copycat. I do like short blog posts, though.

I smiled yesterday. I was in a meeting with the CEO, a consultant and an external. The CEO referred to me as “our [XXX] director”. The XXX being my functional role. But I’m a manager, not a director. And I’m on a 6 month contract (which I’m almost half way through). I hope to be offered permanency. But who could say.

But I was somewhat chuffed that he had referred to me thus. Is difficult to know whether I do a good job or not. I’m certainly dedicated. I was in at 7.45am this morning for an 8am teleconference with Australia. I was on the phone with New York when I sped out the door this afternoon. It’s a very international but close-knit company. Which I like. Decent people. That’s important.

We’ll see.

Most UK residents will have seen this T-Mobile advertisement airing on  TV this January. It was filmed live at 11am on 15th January 2009.

It was a ‘dance mob’ and took place at London’s Liverpool Street Station.

I’m also quite taken with this Virgin Atlantic’s 25 year anniversary advert now airing on TV.

Remember Our Price?? God that brings back memories… 1984! I was 8 years old.