Wednesday

Very sad to hear about the death of Lauren Bacall, she had a long and eventful life that eclipsed the times she lived in. Quite an extraordinary woman. I saw her on the stage in Sweet Bird of Youth directed by Harold Pinter - I still have the program. They really don't make them like that any more - it wouldn't be possible. I like this photo - it's more natural and she is wearing hardly any maker-up, it's not as dramatic or flattering as her carefully composed and lit studio shots, but it show her for what she was, striking, beautiful and intelligent. Her autobiography is actually very good indeed.

Last night I re-watched 'Howl' - the James Franco film about the trial to prosecute the publishers of the titular work for obscenity - it was as good as I remembered, I really enjoyed it. Franco is very convincing, at the end - there is a section of Ginsburg talking and singing in the background that cuts to real recorded film of him, and you don't notice the point where Franco's voice segues into Ginsberg's, that's how close it was. There are also a lot of animated sequences to illustrate the narrative of the poem, and they work really well. It's was part of my 'winter' DVD drive - I sorted out about 35/40 films I intend watching over the next few months now that it's starting to get dark in the evening - all heavy stuff or foreign language films that are difficult to concentrate on when it's still sunny outside at 10pm.

I'm in work early, I'm supposed to have a meeting later but they have yet to confirm - I'm fully prepared regardless and have spent about 70 quid printing work out in anticipation. Senile greyhound has decided to move into the much smaller basket that belongs to the whippet - and she's fine about the arrangement - but he doesn't seem to be able to understand why it doesn't fit. A raw bone every day is doing wonders for his bad breath, so it's not all bad news - although a couple of his loose teeth seems to have fallen out in the process.

The house that has been 'done up' on my street has been painted a really insipid grey colour - just that little bit too light - and to be honest - I think that the render repairs are quite shabby - and as it seems that they have left the original layout - downstairs bathroom with two box rooms upstairs at the back - I have a feeling they may be thinking of renting it out - not really the best outcome.

It's supposed  to rain later - but as the forecast has been consistently 100% wrong every day for a week - I'll take that with a pinch of salt - quite a nice day by the look of it.

Realised this morning as I caught sight of myself as I was leaving the house, I've grown a full beard without realising. It's all grey. Will have to get rid of it later.