June, 2007

Surprised it made any sense at all

Location Surrounded by empty beer and wine bottles | Mood Quietly confident | Date 2 April 2007
Been having lots of screenings of the Rough Cut to various carefully selected groups of friends & funders, with me scribbling hundreds of notes to myself and then re-editing stuff before the next one. Seems every other night another bunch of people spends the evening staring at the wall. (Looks great projected).

Biology, physics & chemistry conspiring

Location The sofa, then the piano, then bed, then the sofa again | Mood Lonely | Date 25 March 2007
Rooney and his pals failed to wop Israel's asses in the World (or is it Euro?) Cup qualifier last night, not that I care. But it did result, as anticipated, in the first communication from My Certain Someone since our New Year's Eve resolution. Exchanging some flip nationalistic football insults set me off pining for some real exchange with him.

"I assume I'm getting paid nothing?"

Location Hampstead Heath cafe | Mood Dramatically more positive | Date 21 March 2007
Fate has intervened to save Crude. I've been stuck in a terror tunnel as it gradually dawns on me how many elements we are incapable of doing. Like making animation. Or mocking up news reports. Or trawling a million hours of BBC archive.

The human eye did not evolve for this

Location Doctor's waiting room, Camden | Mood Chastised | Date 19 March 2007
Best Pal marched me off to the doctor after coming over to pick up her share of the organic veg delivery - how very neighbourly - to find me typing away with a scarf wrapped round my head blocking off one eye. I explained that the headaches get unbearable whenever that eye looks at a computer, so the interesting headgear is the only way to carry on working.

Money and website solved in one

Location Train back from Oxford. 23.50pm | Mood Clearing of the fog | Date 16 March 2007
Slightly frightening that Crude pal Mark Lynas has dreamt up, researched, written and published a book, 'Six Degrees', all within the Crude timescale. Lizzie and I went to the launch in a cold church hall in Oxford tonight. Mark was doing one of his favourite slide-show talk presentation things - think Al Gore, but way bleaker - which I've now seen plenty of times, but never fails to scare the bejeezus out of me.

Renewed our vows

Location Still in the woods. Feet up at dad's old Avid where Ken Loach cut his McLibel scenes | Mood Worried | Date 11 March 2007
Lizzie and I have made up. She agrees that "a change in attitude is needed". And I said that it was the panic of steering the whole Crude ship on my own for two weeks that caused me to overreact (was that an apology?). Anyhow, we've renewed our vows to get the fucker finished. A good thought from the Guardian. Think there may be the replacement Crude title somewhere in the idea of "like there is no tomorrow":

Hilarious misunderstanding

Location In the woods | Mood Mightily relieved | Date 11 March 2007
Hilarious misunderstanding via text messages to and from New Zealand. My mum had been telling me about the emergency operation one of her alpacas (think llama) had been undergoing. I'd been telling her about the emergency operation my dad (her ex-husband) was about to undergo. Then I asked if she had any numbers for my brother , who is away on holiday, and I thought would want to know about dad's operation.

And where's that going to get you?

Location Tube back from Kensington | Mood A tonne of bricks off my shoulders | Date 17 February 2007
Good thing: Met with Jeh in a swanky pad he was staying at in Kensington to show him the rough cut of the film. His old friend from his car-dealing days in London was there too. I was feeling immensely nervous as it started up.....but..... he absolutely LOVED it. Was laughing all the way through - as was his pal. He said he couldn't believe that I'd made something so professional looking and so "slick".

So much for my last ever flight

Location Easyjet plane | Mood Cruising | Date 16 February 2007
Jeh with mockup planes at Airbus in Toulouse Photograph: Patrick Igonet  

Getting deeply annoyed

Location Feet up on the wobbly desk in the office. Really should stick a 4th leg on it soon. | Mood Abandoned | Date 8 February 2007
Getting deeply annoyed with Lizzie as her holiday in India seems to be ever extending. It started as a week, then became 9 days, now I've just got an email saying it's going to extend again unless I have "violent objections". Two weeks holiday during Crude? What does she think this is, a proper job? She'll be wanting a pension plan and health cover next.