May, 2007

Real tears are dripping onto my laptop typing this, as Emma Thompson has just found out that it's all been a big misunderstanding and Hugh Grant isn't married after all. This is extremely worrying and not just because of my history of electrical equipment and water.

Endless problems caused primarily, I think, by this crazy idea of making six documentaries in six countries at the same time. With a crew of two. All our stories are running away with us. Jeh is in the UK at an airshow, but we only found out via the news, so we missed filming his big press conference this morning - he's buying 10 more planes. Shit. That would've been a good scene for the ever-expanding angle. Al is getting stressed at us filming on the rig. Think he might be thinking of backing out.

Lack of diary entries recently as I've been happily sidetracked. Firstly, my Sister managed to persuade a crowd of 2000-odd people to their feet through sheer enthusiasm at a Pet Shop Boys gig (we'd sneaked into the posh seats at the front and were going to get captured if everyone stayed sitting). And Neil Tennant smiled at me. He did. He did! Then I had a visitor from Israel for five correctly-speeded days (time has either been way too fast - the two days we had together - or way too slow - the three months since).

Seems hard to imagine right at this minute, writing on a jumbo over the Atlantic, but I genuinely intend never to fly again once I've finished Crude. (At least: to only fly within non-damaging carbon emissions, so about one big flight every five years or so). So this is highly likely the last time I'll see my brother's family in Boston. Well, not the family - they'll be visiting England - but their house and their life. (Having said that, we plan to come back for more Al filming later in the summer, so may get one more chance.)