Folie A Deux

Or how the continuity people lost the plot.

We start with the wild locks and wayward beard.








On and off the beard seems more closely trimmed and the hair neater.








(Does anyone else think this looks like the house from Fico di Capo?)























Next the hair gets quite short and the beard turns into stubble.


Then grows back again.





And finally the crop and stubble triumph.



With thanks as usual to the High Priestess of VDO-dom, dear Eliza, for getting the DVD to me less than 36 hours after it aired in the US!

The Cell

I capped this scene yesterday to compare my copy of the film to those from two other people's. Not enough for a lengthy post, but the full-face in the tub lends itself particularly well to a slidshow.

For months on end I've been unable to download Adobe Flash Player on a permanent basis on to my computer. Every time I switched on, I had to remove it completely using a little thingamajig that Adobe sent me, then download for that session.

Last night, I noticed that, without my having downloaded it for days, Adobe was present on my machine. It's still there today. SO the problem was obviuosly with Adobe all the time, not my computer.

Anyway, this was clearly a sign that I should post a slidewhow today, so with no more ado:

The Whole Wide World

I managed to cap just over 30 minutes of this today. I didn't reach the kiss scene, folks, sorry.

Ed Wood

All that time waiting for Vincent's part, and then it's over in a flash (no, sadly, not that sort of flash).



I loved this film. I thought it was absolutely hilarious, the more so for being true. I just resent that they didn't give Vincent time to develop his own Wellesian voice, and dubbed over him instead.

Incidentally, when listening to Desert Island Discs the other week, I heard Peter Sallis (the voice of Wallace in Wallace and Gromit) say he knew Welles well (er...could have put that better) and worked with him for some time. I thought it was interesting, anyway.

My New Toy

There is constant talk about installing smart meters in our homes to monitor our electricity use, but no one wants to bear the expense. The alternative is an electricity monitor. You can buy them, rent them from the manufacturer, or where I live you can borrow them from the library. There's quite a waiting list for that, though.

Today, in my local shopping centre, the Energy Saving Trust had a stall giving and collecting information, and giving away freebies. So this little baby

which should cost over £30, cost me absolutely ZILCH!

It's sitting beside me tell me I'm using just over a penny an hour at this minute. I've used nearly 4 pence since I started it up about an hour-and-a-half ago.

It can even tell me my what my greenhouse emissions are.

Sadly, as my heating and water from the hot tap are both supplied by gas, my new gadget (god I love gadgets) only tells me what I waste when I leave items on standby, or do not switch off an electric socket that has a little light on it. Since I already unplug everything I can when it's not in use (for my oven that can last for days, even weeks...) and have half-a-dozen low energy light bulbs in use, I'm probably saving all I can.

Oh look, the amount per hour just went down to 0.845 pence per hour! What changed? How can I do it again?

Crooked Hearts

Self-Made was on last night, reminding me how gorgeous Bobby was looking in between the trauma of his mother's death and his stay in the prison hospital wing.

It also reminded me that Charley, as I think it was Eliza said, still hasn't forgiven his father from this movie.










How come Marg Helgenberger is older than him in this, but gets to play someone younger in CSI?








He makes this look so easy.








I like to imagine he's naked in this.


Need a hand, dear.


Can I run my fingers through your hair for you?








What do you have in those jeans?





Can I kiss it better?

Lorenzo's Oil

I bought and watched this 1992 film last week, even though Vincent wasn't in it.

A month or two ago I said I had been asked to teach a kid with ALS. I was wrong. He has ALD - adrenoleukodystrophy, the condition that little Lorenzo Odone had. It develops between the ages of 5 and 10, passed on genetically by mother to son, and is usually fatal within a couple of years. But when Lorenzo deveolped the illness in the early 1980s, his parents were determined to pursue a treatment to help their son recover.

Ultimately their research led to a blend of oils that helped to stop the destruction of myeline, the substance that allows the brain to send messages throughout the body.

Though it appeared to make improvements in Lorenzo, and at the end of the film the hope was expressed that he would recover speech and some movement, it was already too late for him.

But the oil does halt further deterioration, and Lorenzo lived to the age of 30, dying just over a year ago, the day after his 30th birthday.


My little lad is 16, and has already suffered from the disease for 8 years. His brother is also a sufferer, but was diagnosed early because of the older boy, and a bone marrow transplant and Lorenzo's oil are keeping him healthy.

My student can blink to signify yes or no. Other movements are mostly, though not exclusively, involuntary. He is such a brave young man.

Adventures in Babysitting

My new copy of Salt On Our Skin arrived today, though it will be some time before I can cap it. The seller is amazing. I'd contacted him with my concerns about the language and not being able to remove subtitles. He removed subtitles from a copy and burnt me a spare in case the main one wouldn't work for me!

So, folks, never be afraid of ordering off Amazon from F1RSTCLASSDVD.

Meanwhile, here is what happened when our hunk turned FMJ fat into mechanic's muscle.