girl, interrupted…
And huge apologies for the sizeable blog-gap – the mind and typing fingers were willing, but the available internet connection was weak; fortunately I have now appropriated an ethernet cable from the front desk of my charmingly well appointed and spacious Jersey digs after four days of less than effective moving-of-the-laptop-around-the-room both here and in the Isle of Man, Gawd bless it – the (admittedly free) WiFi signal at my otherwise delightful Manx accommodation running at approximately the same speed and level of efficiency as a pissed tortoise. Longer standing readers may remember my panic when arriving at my hotel in New York earlier this year when a similar dilemma presented itself, and remembering that computers used to need to be plugged into things took me a full twenty four hours then – no such problem this time, and the wiggly yellow cable was first item on the list upon arriving in St Helier.
The week began with the keenly anticipated follow up to the previous weekend’s Night Of The Dead horror-film-athon and Day Of The Dead – another ten hours or so of scarlet-hued fun and frolics in very much the same vein as it’s predecessor, only at a slightly more sensible hour (not actually a particular advantage, as the 11pm finish meant forking out for a hotel rather than staggering, blinking and disorientated into the daylight at ten am on a Sunday morning and heading immediately for the next train home) and boasting a fabulous new German giallo, a Japanese-style supernatural slow burner (er, from Sweden), an American Civil War zombie flick (not nearly enough zombies; got bored, nodded off) and finally the UK premiere of Juan of the Dead: Cuba’s first independent film to leave the country in 50 years! Woohoo!
The venue was the newly renovated (with jaw-dropping results – see top pics for some of the bits they found in the renovation process, and we can all show our age haha) City Varieties in Leeds City Centre – directors from around the world pitched up and answered questions, the short films were brill (again, and see below for another gem, this time from Greece) and last but not least, I have sealed my anorak credentials by purchasing possibly the most nerdish object on the planet – a London Underground map of horror films complete with themed lines. Pics at the top, for those (like me) unafraid to celebrate and wallow in joyful geekdom…
On to the island-hopping and I was once again almost thwarted by the trains for the third time in a month – twenty-five minutes late for the airport meant if not a mad dash, a very purposeful walk through security at Liverpool and straight on without any overpriced breakfast, messing about amongst the skincare testers or pontificating over Toblerones – the winter rail timetable is now upon us, complete with lengthy unexplained delays, super-convenient engineering works and a good six months of inexplicable buggering about to come yet. As usual though, everything (eventually) went very much according to plan, and I can say without reservation that it has been quite one of the most enjoyable weeks of the year with ne’er a quiet moment and some very welcome new friends – phew! Apologies as ever to those who have missed out, but I will be back, more than likely in February provided that all goes well – I will not be leaving Guernsey out this time either and dates will be announced, well, as soon as I know them myself. Watch this space for details!
More island life shortly; I am currently working out my December availability and will be spending the ensuing couple of weeks getting organised for Christmas before making my way back to London on the twelfth – this week sees Friday and Saturday already spoken for, but (time allowing) I will be back in Scarborough for incalls from Monday through until Saturday 10th – yay! For now, it’s time for packing, last-night-bath-and-takeaway and an early night before the hike back tomorrow.
More in the week…
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