Sunday, December 04, 2005

Non-disclosure

Two things people start asking once your blog gets to the mythical 'above four readers' level.

1. 'You're not going to put this conversation in the blog are you?'

and

2. 'I can't believe you didn't put that thing I told you in the blog! Was it not funny enough for your internet friends, eh? Eh? I HATE YOU.'

You can't win. So I had a couple of meetings up in London, one of which I promised I wouldn't write about. The other was with a film company which, in the time it took me to get from Truro to, ooh, about Exeter, suddenly ceased to be a going concern. Oddly enough, you get used to this sort of thing.

Hammersmith pub meet thing was fun, always good to meet new people, especially once I'd sorted out that Dave wasn't cricketing Dave but a different Dave who has a website about snacks. And other things, but I think the snack site is one I've come across before. Or it could have been a dream. And the GW wrap party was great, but tinged with melancholy - loads of people who've worked together for three years and I've got used to being able to wander into the office and talk nonsense with them. And now? Who knows.

Did have this great conversation with one of the GW runners though:

ME: (sympathetically) So this is it for you then? Off to work in retail for a bit now until something else comes along? Bookshops are hiring for Christmas, little tip for you there...
RUNNER (who is barely the age of my laptop, frankly): Actually I've set up my own production company and we're releasing a series of short films over the next few months.
ME: (weakly) Oh.

Google Video has an entire 11min episode of Robot Chicken up. Seen bits of this before, and like every sketch show ever, it's sort of patchy, but does have its moments. Particularly the Cannonball Run outtakes bit at the end, which made the whole thing worthwhile, but possibly you have to be a Cannonball Run fan to enjoy it, which I very much am. Even the second one.

More book edits to do now, looking at getting it out to publishers mid-January (when they're still all fat and woozy from Christmas I suppose), and Top Secret Script Project that I can't talk about. Although I will say that when you're supposed to be talking up a script you've written and end up saying 'I'm bored with that now, how about this thing I came up with in Pizza Express last night? I had to go out and buy a Muji notepad to write it in specially, which I think shows a certain confidence...'*, it can go one of two ways. I'm going to try and transcribe Muji Notebook ramblings into Final Draft now, so we'll find out which way it is.




* I didn't say that word for word. I'd had quite a lot of coffee, so frankly the whole thing's a bit of a blur.

9 comments:

Dave said...

Do you realise you've posted this twice? Once with a heading, once without.

I got confused when I read reports of the pub meeting - wondered if I'd actually been there, but drunk so much/said something so embarrassing that I’d erased it from my memory.

Then I remembered that I’m tee-total.

So probably I wasn’t there.

GreatSheElephant said...

hee, that'll teach you to patronise toddlers.

Mind you, I hate hate hate successful young people

Anonymous said...

James, you have saved my blog with the word "robot". Ta.

Mrs. Elephant, If you think you've got it bad.. I've been turned down for several jobs just because the boss of the company was almost half my age. Note to self : Must remember to avoid revealing that I learnt to program on punch-cards in Fortran 77. (This is the point where you all go 'Ewwwww!' and never speak to me again.)

GreatSheElephant said...

respect. I learnt Pascal which is just as obsolete and never useful at all

Anonymous said...

Cannonball Runs I & II, Reynolds's finest work without doubt.

(Was there a disappointing Cannonball Run III in which the director foolishly cast his daughter in a leading role, or in which Burt Reynolds had to fight Mr T?)

woot said...

Aww loved cannonball run, both of them. "Boy,Nun, Boy, Nun."

Was told by a guy that i worked with about punchcard programming. He and a colleague sat and patiently told me all about it and how if you got one punch wrong you had to start all over. I thought they were just winding me up...

patroclus said...

Must...not...get...all excited about how punchcard computing evolved from French jacquard weaving looms.

But isn't it great, all the same? I *love* the bizarre history of computing, me.

James Henry said...

Blimey, there it is, Cannonball Run III. AKA 'Without Burt'. Might be best left I think.

Anonymous said...

Mrs. Elephant : Don't knock pascal, it was an important milestone. If you understand that, you'll have no problem with a lot of other languages.