Ash the Mighty

I just got back from a very lovely wee night out with some people from the GCMRS programme. I actually was one of the first to leave, despite the fact that no one had had dinner, and we all met at 5pm. We were just having a ball, and I felt bad doing a runner, but I’ve just got to give my liver a break some time!

My week of drink (ooo, that’s good. Capitalize that. Week of Drink) is actually only a half week, and started last night. My good friend Odie has a girlfriend by the name of Caron who will be turning 25 on April 5th. Braden (Odie) and Caron’s best friend, Aly, decided to throw her a suprise birthday party over at the Hogshead, so I tagged along. Keep in mind that I had never met Caron nor any of her (amazingly hot) friends. That said, I was still an integral part of the night, as the excuse to get her to the Hogshead was that the GCMRS was throwing a ball, and so Braden not only had to be there, but he had to bring a date. I even got to play lookout for them and “chide” Braden on behalf of our course convenor for being so late to the party. Caron had absolutely no idea and the look of happiness on her face was really truly heartwarming. The shindig went late, and it was probably a good thing that I caught a cab home, because while I’m sure there’s a MUCH shorter way to my flat from there, I really don’t know it and would have had to walk the almost three miles while several sheets to the wind.

So that’s last night and tonight. Tomorrow night will make three in a row. It’s the usual Thursday meeting of the Deadlies and I never really manage to face a Friday without one hell of a hangover. It’s gonna be fun though, especially since we haven’t gotten to hang out as a group for a few weeks now (St. Patty’s and truancy have conspired to keep attendance low). After that I’m going straight though. I’ve got the whole weekend of work to look forward to, and I’ve more or less given up drinking at Jinty’s. It’s a fantastic place, but I really am starting to think that it’s not the most professional thing for me to be pished in the bar that I’m supposed to be an authority figure in, call me strange . . .

That’s all I’ve got. I’m really tired and just a tiny bit intoxicated (really, just a tiny bit. I started getting my own drinks and was ordering lemonade, minus the vodka), so I think it’s time for bed. Odie and I are gonna hit the gym tomorrow sometime, so I’d like a good night’s rest. He’s a lot smaller than me, but that boy is considerably stonger than his frame would suggest! Take care, everyone!

Slainte.

“vertiginous drops to the valley below”
~Shona Catherine McIntosh – Lyrics to a song she can’t remember but swears exists.

Both of them would likely be considered less-than-worthless by any number of people, but I found them both amazing in entirely different ways. Constantine is a (very liberal) movie adaptation of the DC/Vertigo comic series “Hellblazer”. Chris and I saw it Saturday afternoon and I was absolutely blown away. Keanu Reeves wasn’t fantastic, but he didn’t need to be. The plot was awesome, the support cast were extremely supportive, and the special effects were everything they should be. Can I say once again how much I love and adore Rachel Weisz?

The other movie is the considerably less high-brow and serious Harold and Kumar Get the Munchies (known in the US as Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle). This one was just plain fun. Make by the same guys who did Dude, Where’s My Car (not the best of pedigrees, I know), Harold and Kumar is about, amazingly enough, two guys named Harold and Kumar who smoke a whole lot of weed, get the titular munchies, and head off in search of the alternatively-titular White Castle to satisfy said munchies. Many misfortunes ensue including getting lost, encountering a very freaky Jamie Kennedy, encountering an even freaker towtruck driver suitably named “Freak Show”, and of course encountering a tripping Neil Patrick Harris; all while fighting racial prejudice (and the moronic “extreme” culture) every step of the way. Both Harold and Kumar are rather cult icons already, by the way. “Harold” (John Cho) played the infamous “MILF” lover in the American Pie movies, and “Kumar” (Kal Penn) was “Taj” in National Lampoon’s Van Wilder.

And now why I love them and placed them together on this post. First off for not taking themselves too seriously. Granted, Constantine was very much in danger of that right from the beginning. But it wasn’t too self reverential for all that it dealt with the end of the world and the coming of the Anti-Christ. And then there’s Harold and Kumar which I believe was entirely incapable of taking itself seriously at all. Plus I have to thank both movies for their hotties. The previously mentioned Rachel Weisz was her usual gorgeous self, but was also joined by Tilda Swinton who played the androgynous Arch Angel Gabriel. As befits any teen movie, Harold and Kumar was chock full of sexy creatures, but foremost among them was Columbian actress Paula Garcés who I really wish lived in my building. I do just HAVE to say that I’m vaguely worried that if Constantine does well in theatres that we’ll see an increase in stupid gothy kids trying to see into Hell by partially drowning themselves, only to screw things up and actually drown themselves. You never know what those idiot kids will do!

That’s probably enough playing at Siskel and Ebert. Sorry, Ebert and Roeper. Eh, who cares. Annoying guy and Annoying guy. Suffice to say that they have both recieved the Ash Seal of Approval. Now I’m off to stare at the ceiling a bit more.

Slainte.

“Lu. What took you so long?”
~Keanu Reeves (as John Constantine) to Peter Stormare (as Lucifer) – Constantine

“Here’s an extra $200. I made a little love stain in the back seat. You’ll see it.”
~Neil Patrick Harris (as Himself) – Harold and Kumar Get the Munchies

OK, I have forty minutes before there’s a Smallville rerun on telly that I’ve been wanting to see. Thought I would just send out a bit of an update as to what’s what these days. No extra charge.

Work. Got a new girl working as the second bouncer. In a remarkable show of trust, Jinty let me do the hiring. I think I made a good choice with Lauren, a Canadian professional rugby player who can’t decide if she wants to go on and get a PhD in Medieval Warfare (like me) or if she wants to go back to Med School. So damned smart as well as being bloody huge for a girl. Also on that front, we’ve got St. Patrick’s Day coming up which I’m really not looking forward to. They let me contract out for one additional bouncer, but I personally think we should have as many as six total rather than just three . . . but then I don’t have to pay the extra wages so I can’t really comment I guess.

School. Had the best day of my post grad career yesterday. I went with my Chivalry class to the Museum Storage Facility. The Kelvingrove Museum has been under construction for over two years now, and will continue to be for at least another one. During that time, they had to do something with all the treasures, so they put them in these huge warehouses in very dodgy Southside Glasgow. Well, we just got to go and see the AMAZING collection of Medieval Arms and Armour. Saw the oldest complete set of plate armour in the world (called the Avanti armour, after the word “avanti” engraved around the edges, which means “Forward!”). Got to hold and even swing a bit a sword dating from the early 11th century (which means early 1000s, which means I’ve actually held a sword which was forged and used before William the Conqueror was even born). Seriously the coolest day in my recent life. Other than that, things are pretty quiet in my personal academic career. I only have these two 5000 word essays due in June, and then the dissertation in September and I’m done. I really need to start on the 5000 word ones, but getting time w/ profs is proving to be a bit difficult.

Social. Things continue apace, I guess. Have developed a pattern of going out every Thursday night with a group of friends. I think it’s pretty cool of them to go out on such an awkward night just because I can’t make it on a proper weekend. Last night was fewer of us than usual. Rather than the Six Deadly Sins (we don’t have anyone for Greed yet) it was only Four. Anger and Sloth were off being angry and slothful, I guess. I’m proud of myself though. While I’ve more or less sworn off finding myself a female companion, I am still a bit disappointed in my own atrophied conversational abilities, so I made a point of talking to at least one total stranger a night. In last night’s case it was a young lady with a beautiful nature-motif tattoo running across her shoulder blades. I have no idea what I said to her, or indeed anyone after about 11pm (vodka has a lethe-effect for me when consumed in large doses), but I still know that I made an effort, damnit!

Smallville approaches. It really is surprisingly good. I find it amusing that only after moving to Britain do I become a follower of so many American television shows (Smallville, The OC, CSI [though I was a CSI: Miami fan before], even Stargate SG-1). I guess it took really really rubbish television to make me appreciate what we have back home!

Slainte.

“Can we get on with this? I have someplace to go.”
[classmates look at her in disbelief]
“Television counts as a place.”
~Wendy Hoopes (as Jane Lane) – Daria

“How come when you talk about bugs everyone says you’re a genius but when I talk about birds everyone says I watch too much television?”
~George Eads (as Nick Stokes) – CSI