Nick Jordan

Life is changing rapidly at the moment. After Juliet and I announced our engagement on New Year’s Eve, her parents very kindly offered to turn part of their home into a flat for us, in order to help me save up some money. After a little thought I accepted, so now the process of figuring out what to keep and what to give away/throw away has begun. On top of this, we’re organising two engagement parties, one for close family and one for our friends.

As a result of all this, I feel more optimistic about the future than I have for a very long time. Life’s been pretty hard over the last few years but this last year and a bit with Juliet and now planning our future together has really made a difference. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

On New Year’s Eve Juliet and I announced our engagement. I’m pleased to report that our families have been really great and we’re both extremely happy. We’ve already started planning the wedding, even though it probably won’t happen until sometime next year. In the meantime we’ll be trying to save some money and generally sort our life together out.

This year promises to be hard work but great fun! I’m feeling more optimistic about life than I have in a very long time.

Last night Juliet and I attended Bad Film Club at the Jewish Museum in Camden Town. It had been a little while since I’d been to BFC, the last one being I Know Who Killed Me at the Barbican a couple of years ago. After grabbing a bite to eat we headed to the museum, even though it was rather early, so that we could have a good look around. We found the staff to be very friendly and the museum itself was well laid out and very interesting. I was particularly fascinated by the large trade union banner on display, one of only two Jewish union banners left in the country, apparently. I’d very much like to go back for a proper look at some point in the future. We even managed to have a quick look around the gift shop, which was at about the usual museum shop level, containing some interesting-looking books but otherwise a load of tat. They didn’t quite have “I *heart* my Jew” t-shirts, but it wasn’t far off.

When the time for the film approached we made our way to the auditorium where there was wine on offer. There were some extremely nice paintings on the wall, mostly of life around Brick Lane, any of which I’d be very happy to have on my wall. After a brief introduction, the film, Carry On Girls started. The commentary from the hosts was a little lacking, I felt, but the film wasn’t their usual kind of choice, so I think they can be forgiven. They still made a pretty good job of keeping us entertained through what is a truly terrible movie. I won’t bother to describe it – suffice to say that if you’re familiar with the genre you’ll know exactly what we got. I’ll definitely be going back to BFC again, especially as their next London showing will be Anacondas. Need I say more?

At the weekend Juliet and I decided to go and have a poke around at the London Tattoo Convention in Wapping. My friend Mark had let me know that he was going to be there and I was looking forward to meeting up with him. Unfortunately, thanks to the dreadful user interface in the car’s sat-nav, we were led way off course and had to spend hours struggling through heavy traffic. This meant that we didn’t get to see Mark.

On arrival, we discovered that the only cash machines were in the venue and we couldn’t use our debit cards to pay the rather steep £30 entrance fee, so we popped to a nearby garage to get some cash and have a quick and much-needed burger for lunch. Once we were in, we had a good wander around but, to be honest, weren’t all that impressed. Much more entertaining was sitting down with a drink and doing some serious people-watching.

The journey home was very slow, again thanks to very heavy traffic. At least we were able to break it up with a quick stop at the services to pick up some food and some milk.

On Sunday we had a nice long lie in before cycling into Rickmansworth for a spot of lunch. We decided to take the dog out for a walk in the woods, and were very glad we did. Not only was it delightful out, but we came across three alpacas, which were recovering from dog attacks. We spent quite a bit of time leaning on the fence watching them, while the dog just stood and looked faintly bored.

The evening was spent relaxing in front of the TV, which is a pretty good way to end a weekend, if you ask me.

At the weekend Juliet and I had a wander down to Walthamstow Marsh. I took the camera with me so that I could practice some photography and, although the results were a bit hit-and-miss, I did manage to get some shots that I liked.

On Saturday night we went out to a club in Romford. It was a pretty easy journey there as we were able to take the train, but the trip back in the wee small hours of the morning was not so much fun, involving as it did two night buses, a couple of longish waits in the cold and then a walk home from Walthamstow Central station in heavy rain.

As a result of being out so late on Saturday, we had a good long lie-in on Sunday, getting up at about 1pm. As is normal for me, though, I was awake at about 7:30am and was unable to go back to sleep, so by the late afternoon I was really struggling. This was a bit of a shame as we were out again and had to come back earlier than was ideal. On the plus side, I did get a nice rest and a good night’s sleep and so I’m pretty much back to normal.

Juliet’s dad recently bought a 1966 BSA A50, which he’s very kindly offered to lend to me. It’ll be absolutely great to have a bike again, and an old British bike has, in my opinion, masses of cred. Anyway, I’ll obviously need to sort out insurance, so I went on to Bennetts site to get a quote. After dutifully filling in their form, the price that was quoted was a whopping £2,710! That seems more than a tad excessive to me, so I guess I’m going to have to shop around. I shall try Carole Nash, although they don’t provide quotes online, but if anyone can recommend sensibly priced classic motorcycle insurance I’d be very grateful.

Juliet is away at the moment in Nashville for an Alison Krauss concert, which leaves me at a very rare loose end this Saturday. I’m not entirely sure what I’m going to do with myself, apart from having a very long lie in. I suspect that some DVDs may get watched and music listened to. There’s always my book, too.  Possibly some housework may get done if I get really bored.

On Sunday, assuming that Hurricane Irene doesn’t bugger things up completely, I’ll be meeting Juliet at the airport and accompanying her home, where I shall look after her while she gets over her jet lag. This will, I suspect, spill over into Bank Holiday Monday. We just might walk the dog or maybe do a spot of cycling, but probably nothing too energetic.

So, that’s the plan for the weekend. It’ll be lovely to get some rest – I’m feeling increasingly in need of some R&R, so I suspect it won’t be all that long before I take a week or so off work and give myself over to some serious laying about.

I’ve just read God Collar by Marcus Brigstocke. It’s about his struggle with the concept of God, in particular the God of the Abrahamic faiths – Christianity, Judaism and Islam. I’ve always liked Mr. Brigstocke and have enjoyed his appearances on the Now Show, Argumental and QI, to name a few. I think he’s funny, clever and, as much as any of us are, pretty sensible.

The book, unsurprisingly perhaps, utilises quite a few personal anecdotes, as well as quite long passages about his wife and children and his friend James, to whom the book is dedicated. The passages about how much he loves his kids and how wonderful he thinks they are really made me want to have some of my own. This is a man who really appreciates what’s important in life and is lucky to have found it.

There’s also a very interesting section about his early years, and how miserable he was. I can certainly relate to this, having struggled with depression and anxiety since I was very young.

All the above makes the book sound more like an autobiography, which it most certainly is not. The author merely uses some details from his life to illustrate points about what sort of God he would like there to be and what sort of God it seems many people actually believe in. I’ve wrestled with much the same difficulties and, again, felt a strong empathy towards Marcus Brigstocke.

All in all, a very funny, intelligent book and well worth reading, whether you believe in a God of some sort or not, or whether you’re undecided. Honest, charming and very hard to put down.

I’ve just finished reading The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle, as recommended by Juliet. I confess that I was a little sceptical about how good a book about a unicorn was likely to be. I was wrong – it’s absolutely delightful. The style reminds me a little of Japanese folk tales: beautiful, somewhat sparse and often a little odd but always charming, entertaining and an absolute joy to read.

The story itself sounds like fairly standard fare (a unicorn sets out to discover what became of all the other unicorns and picks up companions and adventures along the way) but there’s much more to it than that. There’s real beauty here, both in the prose and in the ideas and characters.

I haven’t yet seen the animated film of the book but I’m going to try to do so. In the meantime, I recommend this very highly indeed.

Yesterday evening Juliet and I were due to meet some friends in the pub but, even after stopping for a meal, we were still rather early so we decided to go for a walk. We soon founds ourselves down by the Thames, a little way west of London Bridge, and found some steps leading down to the water. The tide was a fair way out, so there was a large strip of exposed ‘beach’, which we took a wander along.

As well as a large quantity of pottery there were an incredible number of animal bones. I have no way of knowing how old they were, but I can only assume that they weren’t terribly recent, jusging by the colour and the way they were broken up. I have to say that it was quite fascinating, and I’m very tempted to sign up for a day’s organised beachcombing sometime.

Today I went into a Computer Exchange shop in order to sell some games I haven’t played in a very long time and probably won’t want to play again. Foolishly, I assumed that I’d simply be able to hand them over and take the cash, but apparently it’s more complicated than that. Before I can sell them anything, I have to open an account and before I can open an account I have to provide two forms of identification, one of which must include a photo. So, I have to try again tomorrow, taking my passport and a recent utility bill with me. All for (probably) less than ten quid’s worth of games.

I was (and am) strongly opposed to the idea of ID cards, but I have to confess that even I thought, albeit momentarily, that it would have been handy in this particular situation to have had one. Then I came to my senses and remembered just how deeply flawed the whole idea is and gave myself a mental slap for being so stupid. It does go to show, though, how easy it is to persuade the general public of the usefulness of such a system.

On Saturday Juliet and I, accompanied by her mother, went to the Living Crafts fair at Hatfield House. We were pretty hungry when we arrived so we headed straight for the food area, where Juliet’s mum bought us each a pork baguette, which was delicious. Afterwards, we had a good wander around the stalls, picking up some really lovely sausages and cheese, among other items. We also really enjoyed looking at the goats and the barn owl that were present, and chatting to the guy on a stall that sold products made from dog hair (yes, really!). All-in-all, a good day out.

Mark asks:

the observer effect is proved on a quantum level

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/1998/02/980227055013.htm

my question is… will it ever be proved on a MACRO level?

Yes. It has been.

Having discussed the matter at the weekend, Juliet and I have decided to live together. This will necessitate both of us moving as my studio flat, while great in many respects, just isn’t big enough for two and she’s currently living with her parents. I’m not particularly tied to Walthamstow and as long as I can get to work reasonably easily I really don’t mind too much where I live. Essentially, the whole of the Greater London area is fine.

I’ve had a look at properties online and it looks very much as though we’ll be able to get a decent one or two bedroom flat within our budget, which would be great. Living in a studio is all very well but it’s not ideal when you have guests. Our other requirements are quite modest: somewhere to park, a reasonably safe area, ideally not ground floor and ideally with access to green space.

There’s no desperate rush to find somewhere either, as we can both stay where we are pretty much indefinitely. This gives us the opportunity to look for somewhere that we really like, without having any pressure on us.

Am I happy about all this? I’m ecstatic.

This morning I finished Unseen Academicals by Terry Pratchett, having started it only a couple of days previously. It says something about how enjoyable this book was that I read it so quickly; it was just too good to put down.

This book is the usual blend of characters from Ankh-Morpork: the wizards of Unseen University, Lord Vetinari etc. – even a quick cameo from Death, my favourite. It also introduces some new ones, in particular Mister Nutt, a person of surprising ability given his lowly position as a candle dribbler at the University. This story revolves around football (that’s soccer to you Americans) and, while I have no interest at all in the game, that didn’t matter as what the book’s really about is people and a chance for Mr. Pratchett to philosophise once again.

If you like the other Discworld books, you’ll probably enjoy this one. If you haven’t tried any yet I think this would be a poor place to start as the assumption is that the reader is reasonably familiar with the location and major characters already.

I’ve just finished reading Screen Burn by Charlie Brooker, which was a Christmas present from my lovely girlfriend. It’s a collection of Mr. Brooker’s TV columns in the Guardian from 2000 to 2004. If you’ve not encountered him before, he’s a deeply misanthropic but very funny writer with a penchant for trashy TV and a fine taste in comedians (he likes Jerry Sadowitz, in other words).

In many ways the book is a trip down memory lane, packed as it is with rants about series and one-off programmes that I, at least, had completely forgotten about. If you enjoy reviews where the critic concerned positively foams at the mouth but in a very witty way then, apart from also checking out Mark Kermode’s film reviews, you should definitely read this.

I’m currently off work with a pretty nasty cold. Not the end of the world, I know, but it still feels very unpleasant. It started coming on on Sunday night and by Monday morning I felt ghastly. So, all this week so far I’ve been kicking around my flat reading, watching films and feeling like crap.

I’ve also been feeling pretty guilty about not being at work. I know that it’s stupid to go in when you don’t feel up to it and I really, really hate people who drag themselves in when they’re contagious and spread their nasty diseases to everybody else, and yet I can’t help but feel bad for not being there. I like my job and I like the people I work with, and I feel bad for letting them down.

When I worked in jobs I hated many moons ago, I felt much less bad about it when I was ill. I put my feet up and read my books with a clear conscience. These days I’m fortunate enough to have a job that makes me feel crappy for not being there. I should feel good about that and I guess I do.

IMGP7867 by mattbuck4950, on Flickr

On a couple of occasions recently I’ve arrived at a London Overground station on time, only to find that my train arrived early and, much worse, left early and I’ve missed it. This is, as far as I’m concerned, even more frustrating than the trains running late.

Surely, if a train arrives at a station early for some reason the driver should be made to wait at the station until the scheduled departure time, so that those of us who arrive just in the nick of time aren’t made to wait on a cold, windy platform for the next one.

Last night I watched Inside Man, starring Denzel Washington as a police detective who’s pitted against a bank robber played by Clive Owen. At first, the robbery seems straightforward, if clever, but as the story unfolds it becomes apparent that much more is going on than meets the eye. With good support from the likes of Jodie Foster, Christopher Plummer and Willem Dafoe, the tale develops at a good pace and in interesting directions. Spike Lee’s directing keeps things taut and exciting and shows New York City off nicely.

This is one I’d definitely spend good money on, having rented it, since I think it will only improve with further viewings. Recommended.

Last night I watched the first, um, episode, of Episodes, a new sit-com on Channel 4, starring Stephen Mangan and Tamsin Greig as a pair of comedy writers and Matt LeBlanc as, apparently, the star of the US version of a hit UK TV comedy supposedly written by them. I say ‘apparently’ because he only put in an appearance at the very start of the show, being involved in a car accident with Greig’s character, the rest of the programme being a flashback.

I have to say that I expected more from this cast. The gags, especially a piece of shtick with the security guard at a gated community in Beverly Hills, fell pretty flat and I didn’t smile once, let alone laugh. However, it’s really hard to do much with some stories until you’ve set the scene and established the characters, so I shall reserve full judgement until I’ve seen a bit more. I hated Only Fools and Horses at first, and look how good that got in its heyday. Maybe I’ll write a bit more once we’re well into the series.