So basically, this is going to be a quick one. Weather depending as it is currently perpetually raining in England (no seriously, it's really bad) I am going to be doing a charity fun run on 27th September, and there was an optional fancy dress thing optioned in the brief. I haven't run for months and I am well out of whack, but judging by the route I think this will be a really fantastic kick up the arse to start running again, and for once in my life: I bought into fancy dress as an idea...
I very quickly started to excited about the whole thing and the idea of running again just for my own personal pleasure rather than to achieve any specific goal, and I started to brainstorm costume ideas and whatnot for the event. Initially, I wanted to go dressed as Vegas-era Elvis, as I am a massive rockabilly nut, but the outfit wouldn't have arrived in time so I had to ditch that one. My second plan was to come dressed as Batman - but specifically the cheesy 1966 Batman outfit worn by Adam West. I'm not going as Ben Affleck dear god no... but alas, Batman was too expensive, so back to the drawing board I went. After briefly trying to rope some girls I knew into doing it with me as Barbie and Ken respectively (I had to buy into Barbiemania at some point I suppose) I had a master brainwave, and I mean master...
"Why not go as one of the 118 runners?"
You remember them, right? UK people? Help me out here! These fellas:
Some younger readers might be staring at the screen with total confusion right now, but these two were bloody massive on British television back in the day (and by that I mean circa 2003 until about 2017), and they transcended TV too, they even had their own comic strip in some of the tabloid papers. Everybody knew the 118 guys!
In fact, they were so prolific when I was growing up (I'm obviously in my late teens now), that I couldn't even remember what in god's name they were meant to be advertising. I only remembered those characters. (SPOILER ALERT: They were advertising a phone directory helpline service, the number literally was 118-118. This stuff was big back when mobile internet was still in it's infancy.)
Anyway, this whole situation got me thinking: I think the 118 runners are one of those very rare (and I mean rare) examples where a piece of advertising, something created with capitalistic intentions, transcends whatever it was trying to advertise and becomes it's own true piece of art. Something truly ingrained in popular culture. I know it may be hard that two characters who were dreamed up one afternoon by a marketing agency can actually do that, but it's true!
The 118 runners instantly put a smile on my face and cast my mind back to a much simpler and more nostalgic time for me (although the reality was much, much different I know), it is a state of mind that only Clarkson, Hammond and May - with The Grand Tour and old repeats of Top Gear, and old Taylor Swift records have been able to achieve for me. It's a very peculiar and interesting feeling.
Anyway, that's all for now. I will be writing something about the finale of The Grand Tour coincidentally when I can find the time and the will to do it, but for now I leave you with my favourite 118 advert.
Farewell netizens!
-- Joe
2024-07-07
On Donny's Funeral scene from The Big Lebowski (1998)
I want to talk about one specific scene from one specific film today, mainly because of my emotional reaction to it whenever I have the chance to see it - which is quite often, surprisingly.
The scene I'm talking about is the ashes scattering scene from The Big Lebowski, one of my all time favourite movies.
I'm not quite sure what it is about this scene that makes me love it so much. Of course the section of this scene that everybody remembers is Walter scattering the ashes themselves and the wind literally blowing them back into The Dude's face - and I'll admit, it's fucking hilarious and never ceases to make me laugh - but that overshadows the actual eulogy beforehand.
It's an emotional bit of dialogue for sure, and it has the honour of being the only film scene that has ever been able to move me to tears as a man, but I think what makes it so fantastic is it's simplicity, and it's focus on Donny's part in the small friendship group made up of The Dude, Walter, and Donny.
The first line kicks me right in the feels from the off: "Donny was a good bowler, and a good man."
Goodman delivers it with a hint of a grin on his face, and a sense of happiness in his tone of voice - it feels incredibly uplifting to me; Walter as a character puts the initial focus on the characters' shared interest in bowling, and to me, the open admission that Donny was a good bowler (as we see throughout the film) feels like an immense show of respect from these two guys, and it shows that - despite the constant pisstakes and banter directed towards Donny - these guys really loved their mate, which is incredibly heartwarming to me.
I think this is because from my perspective, culturally as an Englishman, this kind of negative-on-the-surface derogatory humour directed at Donny up until this point is a sign of great endearment amongst male friend groups, and the final eulogy scene cements that friendship between these characters and makes it all the more funny and heartwarming to watch on screen with repeat viewings. The eulogy scene is the pay off for those who see the constant "Shut the fuck up, Donny!" as pure abuse on Walter's part and it typically changes their perspective on the friendship - such as in the case of Steve Buscemi himself when he first read the script.
The line immediately after, for me, is certainly the most impactful: "He was one of us."
In my opinion "one of us" is the greatest complement a bloke can give to a friend, and in the context of The Big Lebowski it's still impactful to a wide audience because it means that Donny was a good enough man to be accepted by these two outcasts in Walter and The Dude. Goodman's delivery of the line, with a slight emotional stammer - as if Walter is struggling to find the right words to describe his friend - just adds more emotional weight to the line in my opinion.
Of course, I'm sure somebody is bound to say, because we're getting to that point: "Yeah, but clearly Walter doesn't give a shit because he feels the need to link Donny to the Vietnam War, like he does with almost everything!"
Yeah, no, I don't agree with this line of thinking on the Vietnam moment. I think, whilst it has comedic value and is funny, it still shows Walter's true love and respect for Donny - because he links something he feels is incredibly important and sacred with the death of his friend. A true sign of how much he values Donny. Equally, it makes light of a tragic situation without being insulting to Donny (but not necessarily The Dude, as we see at the end of this scene) which is noble on Walter's part in my opinion. Despite what some may think...
Equally, this moment can be read somewhat differently - in the way I usually view it based on Goodman's delivery - in that Walter has to go off on the Vietnam tangent, and list all the battles and such in order to stop himself from crying. Which is just so upsetting yet uplifting to me at the same time, and yet again proves Walter's love and respect for Donny.
Lastly, to quickly wrap this up because it's running longer than I thought and I still need to proof-read, the final line: "Goodnight, sweet prince."
Yeah sure, it's a bit cheesy (no, scratch that, very cheesy - we're talking stuffed crust and extra on top here) and a little bit camp, but it's iconic amongst us fans, and nevertheless a very melancholic line. It neatly caps off a very underrated movie monologue and the implication it gives referring to Donny like royalty is the final nail in the coffin for winning over viewers that think Walter and The Dude are terrible friends to Donny. I love it, and I can say wholeheartedly that I would want somebody to say it at my own funeral.
Cheers for reading my blathering, until next time.
-- Joe
2024-01-10
Barbie was naff. Oppenheimer was great. Dial of Destiny was underrated and THE MEG 2 WAS THE BEST FILM OF 2023 FFS!!!
2023-03-26
Ok, so it's been a month! And I've finally done some stupid s**t worth blogging about: I bought a cheesy '90s computer chessboard. Yes, you heard me correctly - one of those old school '90s electronic chess games.
Basically, I got hooked a little while ago watching ASMR Chess on YouTube and also discovered that I enjoyed playing Chess.com during lockdown AND discovered that Chess is now hip and cool again for some bizarre reason, so I decided to get back into the game.
A few problems came up with this late-night, bound-to-become-an-awful-financial-decision line of thinkng: 1. I really don't like playing without physical chessboard, 2. I have very few people to play in-person Chess with, and 3. I don't actually own a proper full-size chessboard.
If you combine these three points with the fact I really enjoyed watching Mr. A-CHESS-MR play against a late '90s Kasparov Alchemist, you have the perfect cocktail for mildly interesting new blog content and a stupid Ebay purchase.
So I swiftly sauntered to Ebay UK (insert 1966 Batman transition here) to buy myself a second-hand Kasparov Alchemist. These boards were made throughout the late '80s and into the '90s by Saitek during the big electronic LCD game boom and ended up being endorsed by the legendary grandmaster for some (probably business) reason.
I very quickly realised that a boxed, complete Alchemist set goes for about sixty to seventy-five quid, way more money than I was willing to spend. I reckon this is probably because of it being the top-of-the-range model back in the day and it's newfound YouTube popularity.
In the end, I came to the conclusion that if you want an affordable, decent quality retro Saitek board your best bet is a Kasparov Atlas! So I bought one, boxed and complete but used for about twenty-three quid including delivery.
Saitek Kasparov Atlas, image from somewhere on the Internet.
So there you have it! The first part of what *should* be an ongoing saga about a casual afternoon chess player constantly battling it out with a cheap '90s computer chess set.
Currently, the Atlas is winging it's way to me via Royal Mail 2nd Class Delivery (creme de la creme, I know) and should arrive in a few days! Well... unless Royal Mail decides to take further industrial action, in which case, it might take much longer! But I guess we'll see what happens.
Cheers!
-- Joe
2023-02-26
Hello! Welcome to my first journal entry! There will be more here soon I promise, but this is just a first post to get me started!
