but not an island

A book and a film I've recently re-read and re-viewed have been big on little details which stand out. On that theme the nice little rocklet on Richmond Lane on the way into town this morning immediately caught my eye. I saw some similar little rocklets at the start of July on the edge of the Pleasance courtyard but didn't blip them for some reason. Despite the similar sticking-out-detail of Mr Innocuous getting some picking-out-a-face-in-the-sea-of-people shots of Princes Street and Treegonk's dolorous shopping-bloke who moped past me on the West Port this afternoon the rock wins for looking the happiest and most impressed at the cards life has dealt it.

Not too impressed at the quality of stuff in this year's sales; I usually stock up on cheap work-clothing every few years when my shirts start to unravel but am not due to do that again until next year though I do try and wander through the shops every now and then just in case they have any shorts on sale seeing as they unravel much more quickly than office-wear due to their more frequent wear and less sedentary lifestyle. As usual there was very little available for anyone with a waist not measuring 30" or 38" (with 28" legs for both where long trousers were concerned) but I managed to pick up one cheap pair to replace those at the front on your left who are unfortunately already on their last legs from nine months of extremely regular wear.

To maintain the illusion of holiday for a little while longer I popped to a cinéma this afternoon to see how much they've managed to bollocks up I Am Legend. Unfortunately there seems to be a theme developing whereby any film starring Mr William Smith with "I" in the title which is based on a shortish sci-fi classic will borrow little from the source material except the title and a few character names and completely mince up the premise, USP and charm of the original. [MILD SPOILER ALERT] I Am Legend is less openly disprespectful of the book than I, Robot was but still dispenses with the trying-to-explain-the-vamipiric-behaviour-scientifically stuff the book was at pains to explain, loses the entire point of the premise of the title and has buggered up the zombievampires by computer-generating them; 28 Days Later was compelling because the zombies were real-people-looking whereas the dark-seekers have ended up looking like Gollum due to their pale skin, ranginess, teeth, vocalisations and expressions.[/MILD SPOILER ALERT] I'd like to think it was all accidental but someone must have noticed at some point. It's still a watchable film (especially afterwards when emerging into a semi-deserted litter-strewn city) but it's just a bit disappointing.

You do get to see the new Cloverfield trailer before it though. MUCH better on the big screen than in a wee computer window.