ah, the things that drive one back to blogging.

like being alone in the house after 9.30, so it's too late to call anyone...and not strictly alone, as husband and kid are both in bed...and really, really wanting to rave about the movie you've just seen...so of course you think "I'll blog it".

I've always had time for David Cronenberg's particular weirdness. And ever since Lord of the Rings, Viggo Mortenson has been pretty high up my celebrity safe list. Saw A History of Violence, liked it. and tonight, it was Eastern Promises. Now, I'm not a big thriller watcher. I don't go for violence for its own sake. I admit I watched some of the gorier bits through my fingers or not at all. but this was a Good Movie. It didn't rush the plot. it wasn't confusing. it had enough "aha" moments to make the viewer feel clever. It had Naomi Watts. it didn't go for the easy solutions. And Viggo, well, apart from the deeply homoerotic nude-fight-in-the-sauna (deeply violent too, as eroticism can often be), even apart from that, he played the part just far enough - enigmatic Russian thugs are a movie cliche, but I forgot the others when he was onscreen (apart from one Pulp Fiction moment involving sunglasses in a diner.)

go see it. it's good.

hey, now I'm getting really narked. the archives only go back to 2001. this blog is way older than that.

right, so now I have archives but this newfangled xml thing won't accept my old list of images, links etc. I did save a copy of the html, but when I try to put it back, it spits it right back at me. so I'm stuck with this new look and no pix.

ah, this I remember. stuffing around for ages trying to get the blog to look right. sigh. memories. archives missing, will find. :)

February? really? if it didn't contain a lot from when I blogged ten times a day, I'd let it die a natural death.

what have I done since February? got back on my bike. doubled my swimming session distance. tried to surf (and have the sandpapered knees to prove it). not read enough books. completed my honours thesis. set up a rental flat, which is supposed to be my mini-job. worked a little, but not much. made a snowman out of the last dregs of ice because I'd promised my son snow.

it all doesn't sound like much of a life, and you'd think there would be time in there to blog, but there hasn't been - I don't think it's that I've had nothing to say, because I email my friends and I am still, but not as much, writing fiction. maybe it's because of the fiction; if I have an idea it goes into the notebooks these days. or is it the home-with-kid thing kicking in?

whatever it is, I racked up nearly two thousand posts before Feb, and then nothing, and that only inane Britney raving. my latest media annoyance: the British couple who are accused by the Portuguese cops of killing their own daughter. can anyone say Azaria?

(oh, and PS: I got to the comic book show and Arkley. and I was converted: Arkley was not just a man with huge canvases and an airbrush. he had composition, themes and incredible textures.) It's still on in Queensland until September 16 if you're up there.

gotta say, the crazier Britney Spears gets, the more I like her. so she shaved off her hair? big deal. it's hair, people. just hair. so the pop idol isn't staying clean and pretty? why should she?

actually, the comic book show is still on, until 25/2. so now I have to choose between that and the Arkley at the NGV. no time to do both.

I'm on Blogger New, whether I like it or not. Noticed in the process that I have made 1,906 posts to this blog so far, even though I treat it like an ugly cousin to be kept in the basement these days. (all complaints about that comment to jennysinclairATgmail.com please - I've realised lately that I'm missing out on criticism of me because I have been inactive in the blogosphere)

anyway, the reason I blogged on was not to upgrade to Blogger Fabulous, but to post a link to this: a comics web site written by, I have to say, the most geeky comic wonk you can imagine - Kevin Patrick's Comics Down Under. I am writing up a report that includes the media coverage of his exhibition at the State Library last year and am very sorry I missed it. and when I looked at his blog, it started off with a discussion of the influence of Spanish/South American culture on Australian comics. Brilliant. You have to admire that level of commitment to a topic: the comic, the whole comic and nothing but the comic.

btw, if this new Blogger Wonderful is so good, why do I still have to hand-code my links on the Mac? Hmmm?