Yesterday, I went to the cinema with Dan (who is staying in Bath for the weekend) to see the new James Bond movie, Casino Royale.
Dan and I are both massive James Bond fans and were highly anticipating this latest addition to the series and eager to see how the new 007, Daniel Craig would perform.
After enduring FORTY FIVE MINUTES of advertisements, the film begun. Good job too, I was becoming rather frustrated and on the verge of running down to the cinema screen and starting a protest by shouting “START THE MOVIE, START THE MOVIE!”
Anyway, I found there to be positives and negatives about this latest film…
– The film was very dark, although I am lead to believe this is reflected in Ian Fleming’s original novel. In places it reminded me of Timothy Dalton’s, Licence to Kill.
– Having watched numerous Bond films lately, Casino Royale did not seem to have the charm seen in any of the previous titles. Something was most definitely missing and CR came across as more of an action film than a classic James Bond adventure. If Ian Fleming was alive today, he would not be amused.
– There was very little of the humour, innuendos or light heartedness, commonly found in the previous Bond movies.
– There were aspects of the film which bared similarities to George Lazenby’s Bond in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. Lazenby is of course, a Bond you either love or hate. Like most true 007 fans, I hate Lazenby and OHMSS.
– The Bond girl, Eva Green was lovely. Without giving too much away, I was a little displeased with how “involved” Bond became with Green’s character. In the end, it worked out for the best though.
– At times, I thought Bond was a rather crude. He has always been a no-nonsense character, but I thought one particular line, where he asks his adversary to scratch his testicles, was going a little too far even given the context of the situation.
– Casino Royale is a very good film, but at the end of the day, it’s an action movie.
– Daniel Craig is a great actor and despite appearing in a disappointing Bond movie, has a lot of potential. I think giving the right script and production team Craig could make some real classics. Sadly though, Casino Royale is not one of these
After the film, we both went to meet Simon for Nandos. At this point, Simon did not know we had already seen the movie and was getting ready to watch it this evening with us!
As I had promised Simon I would watch it with him, I had no problem with watching the film again. Dan was a little more objective however, and broke the unfortunate news to Simon when he had a mouthful of Peri Peri chicken.
Needless too say we did not watch the Bond movie again and I was unable to use the humorous blog title I had planned of “You Only Watch Twice”. Instead, Simon and Dan came back to my flat where we drunk coffee, ate cake and watched a proper Bond film – Octopussy.
It’s just a shame that the care and love which went into producing Octopussy was missing from the latest 007 film.
I was awoken this morning by a rather alarming sound. It was an alarm – a fire alarm to be precise. Some sod, probably living in the ground floor flat, must have thought it rather funny to set their fire alarm off, consequently throwing the whole building into a state of panic, as dozy residents awoke thinking that the world was about to end.
These are the same neighbours who, just the other week, scared me by placing a stuffed rabid cat in the hallway, all in aid of celebrating Halloween. I made it my mission back then to seek revenge upon “the family downstairs” and after this morning’s disturbance, am even more determined to do so.
My frustrations for the day didn’t end there. I have just returned from the local shops, only to discover that the bin men, or “Refuse Technicians” as they now like to be known, made a fucking mess when attempting to take the rubbish bags away. The contents of one bag had spilt outside the house, spilling beer cans, old food and other filthy items onto the pavement.
I know that they have a rubbish job to do (sorry!), but somebody has to do it and after paying excessive council tax rates, I expect it to be done properly.
That is my rant over for today. I’m off to town to meet Dan who has travelled down to Bath for the weekend. I will need to question him about a possible crime he may have committed…
This evening, as I have already mentioned was spent watching a fabulous performance of non-league football between Bath City and Cirencester Town. Bath are of course, very likened to the European Champions, Barcelona and their stadium, Twerton Park bears many similarities to that of The Nou Camp.
Bath won the game 1-0 and are now top of The Southern Premier Division. Apparently, the only reason that they can claim to be leading is because their name starts with a B, as opposed to Mangotsfield, whose starts with an M. Coincidentally, Bath and Mangotsfield have same amount of points, goal difference and for goals – riveting stuff I know!
The game was an amusing one. Non-league football is great. If offers something that you simply cannot get when watching a larger club in the Championship or Premier League. For one thing, non-league football is the only place where you can legally abuse another human being without being smacked, shot or arrested.
Simon and I were sat behind the opposition goal for the whole duration of the match (we walked to the other side of the ground at half time), and along with a group of other fans, took enjoyment in, not only cheering our local side, but making sure the keeper had a shit evening.
It wouldn’t be unfair to say that the Cirencester goalkeeper was a little on the plump side. Therefore chants of “You fat bastard”, “Who ate all the pies” and in the absence of any away supporters “Did you eat all the away fans?” were very fitting.
Being a Leeds fan, I also tried to bring a few chants from Elland Road to Twerton Park. My rendition of “Let’s go fucking mental!” (a Leeds United classic), went down particularly well, along with my own composition of “Are you Graham Poll in disguise?”, aimed at the noticeably inept referee.
If you thought I sounded rude and uncouth, you should have heard a group of 12 year old boys standing nearby. Insults of “You’re a fucking fat cunt!” and “Show us your vagina” were among the profanities thrown at the overweight goalkeeper, fittingly named as “Squeaky” due to his high pitched yells at team mates.
I thoroughly enjoyed the game and would really like to go back (friends of mine, particularly Simon should expect demands to go with me in the future). At this rate, I may soon be a supporter of the famous Bath City as well as Leeds United!
Yesterday was the first official day of my week off work, and for the morning, I didn’t do anything of a constructive nature. I got up at 9ish, watched a little bit of television, played some music, surfed the internet for a while and had a late breakfast consisting of coffee, fruit and cheese & onion flavored Hula Hoops.
I met Simon in town in the afternoon. We went to the Subway sandwich shop for a bit of lunch. I had never been to a Subway until yesterday, although I understand from all the hype that they are rather tasty.
I was greeted by a member of staff who was very polite and even called me “Sir”. The last time somebody called me that was when they added “you’re making a scene”. They then offered me a wide range of fillings which could be used to construct the ultimate sandwich. Meats, cheeses, vegetables and sauces were all thrown in. I got a little carried away and when I was asked to pay almost £5 for my “light lunch”, I realised why they were so keen to add all those fillings.
After eating our sandwiches and a visit to a coffee house, we looked around various clothes shops, looking for warmer, winter garments. I had the idea that a hoodie would keep me warm, although to avoid being labeled “chav”, was keen to get a hoodie without a hood.
I looked in a variety of different shops, including Route One and Just Add Water. They all reminded me of skater dude, biker and pisshead clothing. I did have a laugh at the T-Shirts displaying messages of “I’ve Got Fucking Torrets” and “I Love Your Mum”. All very good, but I wouldn’t be seen dead wearing such items.
In the end, I found a “hooded” fleece in Gap which looked good. I haven’t purchased it yet, but on my return visit to town on Thursday, I will probably buy it.
On the way home I stopped at Argos. I originally intended to buy an electric fire and coffee machine. The electrical fire was out of stock, but will be available on Thursday (hopefully there won’t be an ice age before then). I bought the coffee machine and an electric water cooler/dispenser.
After making my purchases, Simon came back to my flat to watch the latest episode of Family Guy. He was also a help in carrying home the rather large cardboard box which housed the coffee machine.
Today was spent playing with my two new toys. The water cooler is, well… very cool. The coffee machine is excellent. It makes a fabulous cappuccino and although it takes a while to setup and clean, it tastes so good that you wouldn’t question the quality, had you been served it up in Starbucks. When Dan comes to Bath later in the week, I am sure he will be making much use of that particular gadget.
I’m off out shortly to watch a fabulous game of football between Bath City and Cirencester – the Chelsea of The Southern Premier Division.
Yesterday, Simon, Watkins and I went to The Colston Hall in Bristol to watch David Mitchell and Robert Webb’s live show The Two Faces of Mitchell and Webb.
The performance is effectively a live version of the Peep Show star’s successful TV and radio series.
Despite it receiving some negative reviews in the press, I was actually pleased with the show, especially the second half. Most of the sketches were the same as those featured on the TV and radio series, which was the main cause of media criticism, but I didn’t find this a problem. Mitchell and Webb performed these sketches in a different style which suited the stage well.
Highlights of the show for me included
– A Sky Sports presenter announcing an upcoming fixture between Macclesfield and Shrewsbury – “Massively mattering to someone, presumably!”
– A cricket movie created by the catering staff of The Full Monty, where the coach of the Manchester United Cricket Team attempts to beat The West Indies in the Quarter Finals of The Ashes.
– Big Talk and the interaction between Robert Webb and the audience. I must admit, I was a little nervous about being picked from the crowd and expected to ask the panel of boffins an on the spot, humorous and original question
– The charity spoof. “Don’t give money to poor, starving children. Give it to unhappy, hungry Labradors instead”
– The now infamous Numberwang game, this time featuring a Numberflan round. This lead to comedy custard pie being flung onto the set walls.
– The pissed snooker commentators – “Ooh, and that’s a bad miss”, along with their excellent rendition of Table of Reds.
My only criticism of the show was the supporting cast. They performed sketches of their own as fillers in-between Mitchell and Webb’s acts. They took the attitude of “Our acts are so bad, that they’re funny”. I just thought they were bad. The show would have been a lot better if the supporting cast was made up of Paterson Joseph and Olivia Colman (Alan Johnson and Sophie from Peep Show). I was also disappointed at the absence of the Party Organisers sketch.
Overall, a good show and one I would recommend, despite the unfair publicity.
About Me
So you stumbled across my blog. No doubt after searching for something bizarre on Google. Before you hit that 'Back Button', why not stay and have a read for a few minutes?
If you are after a website which gives advice on how to hack an iPhone X, download the latest Steven Seagal movie, or view nudy ladies, you've come to the wrong place and may now press 'Back'.
However, if you would like a lifestyle blog, written by a 30-something chap, living in Bath (England), feast your eyes on this.
You won't discover how to copy PlayStation 4 games. What you will find is a blog, covering life in the West Country, the highs and lows of supporting two unsuccessful football teams, while sharing a house with a wife and rabbit.
All written by a man, somewhere on the sanity-scale between normal and eccentric.
