Pynchon

There was another power cut this morning. Luckily it only lasted 10 minutes. When I rang Central Networks they said that the power cut occurred because they were swapping from the emergency generators' to the national grid. Emergency generators???? I knew it! The lights were flickering like a disco last night. I nearly got up to dance, but I didn't. I felt too ill and, anyway, "24" and "Rescue Me" were on the TV.

How are you? I'm OK.

So, to the weekend.

Friday.

Lunch at Asterias (nirvana for baguettes) and then during the afternoon we haunted every jewelry shop in Birmingham looking for a birthday present for Lorraine. It was very stressful. In the back of my mind evil Pynchon was saying, "You know this was a bad idea, John. You should just have picked Lorraine something and given it to her. She would have said that he liked it, even if she didn't really like it. You are a silly bugger." I ignored the voice. After 4 hours! Lorraine picked out a very nice Amethyst and Citrine pendant. It's really nice. A little bit more expensive than I had hoped to spend, but that was OK.

We then saw "V For Vendetta" at the Electric Cinema.



Alan Moore appears nowhere on the credits of this movie. The only hint as to the original format that the story appeared in is a single credit over the end titles that reads something like, "Based on the graphic novel illustrated by David Lloyd". It's a crying shame, because "V For Vendetta" is good (no, make that very good) and he should be proud to have his name associated with it.

"V For Vendetta" is completely modern, relevant and thought provoking. Yes, it has been modified (the original material is 20 years old) and some things have been lost (the tragedy of Rose Almond and the original ending), but the tone of the film is correct and that is the most important thing. I am also very happy that the whole "Valerie" sub plot has been left mostly intact. It was probably my favourite bit in the original book.

While at the Electric Cinema we treated ourselves to some of the themed "V For Vendetta" cocktails. I had some kind of absinthe concoction. Very potent. I hoped that it would cure my cold. It's didn't. However, it did remove all feeling in my tongue.

Then, onto Milano Ristorante Italiano. It's the second time we have been there. Still good. We enjoyed it a lot. I cannot remember what Lorraine ate, but I had the Risotto ai funghi to start and then the Bistecca di manzo olive, caperri e pomodoro. Sadly, no wine. Lorraine didn't think it would be a good idea.

Saturday.

I started to go into town on my own. Lorraine had chores to do, and she was OK with me going to the cinema on my own to gawp at Kate Winslet. Waiting at the bus stop, an old school friend Victor Garibaldi drove by, stopped and gave me a lift to the UGC on Broad Street. I haven't seen Victor in a couple of years. At one time he was a very good friend, but things drift. I do tend to run into him every couple of years. Victor looks like Freddie Mercury. He has very prominent front teeth and a big bushy moustache. At school he was a Sex God. He's totally bald now, but he's still a Sex God. Lovely guy.

Victor was with a lady. Early 20's. Slim. Long hair. Nice lips. A naughty twinkle in her eye. Think a young Angelia Jolie. Victor introduced me.

"John, this is my daughter."

Oh, fuck.

Now that made me feel old. How old is Victor? About the same age as me. 42/43 at most.

We chewed the fat. Victor told me some news about somebody else that we used to hang about with. This guy's name was Mike. Mike got married last year to his long term girlfriend. Good, eh? Yes. Except that the lady died a couple of weeks later from cancer.

How did this happen? How did we turn into people that hair loss, cancer, beer guts, arthritis, aches, pains, deafness, bad eyesight happen to? It wasn't supposed to happen to us. We supposed to be exempt. We were the punks, the mods (second generation), the disco kings and queens. We were supposed to be invincible.

Lorraine is home. I will continue later.