rudolfrocker

03:11 pm: I haven't updated my LJ in aaages so I thought I'd do a quick Going Up/Down Hot or Not type thing:

Going Up

1. Wicked: the new musical starring RENT’s Idina Menzel, opening on Thursday :-). I’m shivering in antici………….
2. Work: I have finally managed to earn and actually retain some money woo!
3. Subway: I know it’s a huge corporate chain etc. etc. BUT a BLT on Italian bread with lettuce, cucumber, minus the ‘T’, topped with cheese and toasted is my new favourite thing to eat *dribbles*.
4. The latest offering from the Scissor Sisters: “And I just pretend that I know which way to bend”.
5. New films: When I saw the glory that was Snakes On A Plane there was an advert for the Black Dahlia which looks amazing! Am also looking forward to The Wicker Man and Adrift.
6. 2006-7: The one where they all turn 21 has started already.
7. Debenhams: Their dresses turn me into a girl.

Going Down

1. Exercise: It hurts.
2. Salon brands: Kerastase and Matrix products have made my wallet considerably lighter and my hair look even worse.
3. Other road users: Be it cyclists, drivers or people who belong on the pavement (just because you have been to the theatre does not give you the right to parade down the middle of the road in droves).
4. NHS appointments being like bloody gold-dust: THEY rearranged my September appointment to one that clashes with my holiday. The next available one is 3rd January.
5. Robbie Williams: What the FECK is frigging Rudebox???
6. The Honda Civic Type-R: I thought it was a sexy little beast and aspired to own one before the new model came out.
7. Attacks with Samurai swords: It’s just not very nice.

12:39 am: TRIUMPH! At last! I've been making more videos and I finally managed to change, something, and get one on YouTube. Featuring flashes of hildabeast, athalassia, hen_hen and sir_rosealot:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YpJesgqeQuI
(Turn the sound up, it's the good bit)

Hehehe. I know. I could definitely use my time more productively.

06:50 pm: neoanjou tagged me for the music wotsit:
Seven songs I'm listening to:

1 + 2. Muse - Space Dementia and Hyper Music
3. The Androids - Do It With Madonna
4. Ian Dury and the Blockheads - Reasons To Be Cheerful, Pt. 3
5. JC Chasez - Blowin' Me Up With Her Love
6. Joe Cocker - The Ticket (I think...)
7. The Raconteurs - Steady As She Goes (still)

I'm afraid there are no deep and meaningful reasons, I haven't unpacked my CDs yet so this is just what happens to be in my room/on home-made jobbies.

If I could do the taggy name thing, I would ask for merio, hildabeast, liminereid, sebastiality, sir_rosealot, hen_hen and sebastienne's seven songs. (Sorry if you've already done it).

Holiday's going well, this weekend has been very good fun. I take back anything I ever said about not getting particularly drunk on spirits. I think I successfully defeated the object of the Baywatch party by wearing more clothes and entrails than usual (admittedly by taking them off other people - unfortunately it only means that there is more to wash after I dripped chocolate over them).
I was pleased for Federer, he seems like a lovely chap. But why is Wimbledon such a renowned tournament when the English are generally so appalling at sport?! Maybe it's our grass...
I was going to see Pirates of the Caribbean 2 tonight but it's not had particularly good reviews (that I've seen), so I'm thinking of heading off to the pub, although I'm not sure this is the best idea with the football. I must change my trousers.

02:41 pm: I'm really weird
Blimey I am finally back in the land of the living!! I'm trying not to think about the exams and just focusing on the fact that I have NOTHING TO DO :-). Apart from packing. My parents are coming earlier than planned because my mum wants to be back in time for the England game. This is most peculiar.

At 5:30 this morning I went to sleep for half an hour and I had a really odd dream: my scout came into my room in a tracksuit and with wet hair, and as she walked towards my bathroom suddenly her hair pinged out, like it had instantly dried into curls, but it was like someone had cut and edited a film or something, I did a weird double take. She went into my bathroom, came out again and said "I'll see you tomorrow, Jocasta Clark" and left. I looked out of my window and she was moonwalking through a door outside and rapping some...song which went 'dedededede soul brother, dedededede soul brother'.

I have no idea.

Then I walked into an enclosed area, like a shopping centre or something, and there was somebody collapsed on the floor, but I didn't have my phone on me so I was telling Nick to call for an ambulance. I looked around and there was sort of a crowd standing at a distance, but nobody was doing anything, and when I looked down again the person on the floor was actually on a TV... I've had that one before quite recently.
THEN I was in a shop and a man was trying to reach a jumper behind me but I got tangled in it, and he was getting more and more annoyed. I was trying to explain to him that the sleeve was actually tagged to the main bit but he was just getting more irritated and put his hand around my neck.
Then my alarm went off.

I'd really like to put this down to exam madness.

11:32 pm: I have now been in the presence of Richard O’Brien playing the Time Warp. I feel truly blessed.

I had a great time at home this weekend :-). My parents are in the habit of defrosting a chicken whenever I return which is always nice. I was sent back with a Fopp (OOOH has anyone seen that Fopp has FINALLY come to Oxford?? YAY! It’s the replacement for the music shop between Gino’s and Cult) bag of clean clothes and some new music from Dad. I gave him the Raconteurs and my gospel box set and he gave me the very best of Cream and The Westbrook Blake, which is proving to be something of an acquired taste (is anybody a fan?). Apart from not having done enough work and becoming dangerously immersed in my little fantasy world, life’s not bad.

12:58 am: This is my Jerry Springer moment
I got invited to see ‘Confetti’ tonight, and despite the appalling title it was certainly preferable to working unproductively. If anyone will marry me, I WANT A MUSICAL WEDDING! Given that I can’t sing, dance or act it’ll be the only time I’ll get the chance to be in one. I’ve also had a really strong Jack Daniels in The Grapes, which was nice. They have a really cool contraption on the bar which vends little tins of snacks :-). Unfortunately I nearly knocked it on the floor, make sure you use two hands if you try and turn it. Tomorrow I’m off home to go and see Rocky in Birmingham YAY! I really have had a lot of wear out of the costume which I put together for my 18th, I’m very pleased.

05:23 am: 'Steady, as she goes'
I LOVE the new Raconteurs song, only because I don’t have it I’m sure, but still. Wow I haven’t done this in aaages. I’ve been walking round the lake with Dave and I’m trying to drink at least a glass of water before I go to bed otherwise I’ll have an awful hangover. Not much is new, I had a fantastic Easter which involved spending lots of time in pubs with my friends and family. I trekked to Birmingham twice to see the RENT film and I met some lovely new people and kinda re-met some old ones which was most interesting. I usually believe that people don’t change but one particular person has quite a bit. I should be working a lot harder than I am for my exams but unfortunately I have discovered my most successful procrastination technique yet – making films! :-) I decided it was time to edit some old videos, harvest some new ones and then attempt to put them with fitting music :-). I’ve also attempted to include some incredibly blatant ‘subliminal’ messaging but that’s just because I’m mean mwahahaah. It’s been a really good week actually, I had a great weekend after making the decision not to do any work, unfortunately this carried on far beyond Sunday... OULES, well CUBES, on Monday was absolutely excellent, it was great to see everyone again and the show was genius. I’ve spent quite a lot of time in G&Ds and various pubs over the course of the week and tonight’s party was marvellous. Now the plan is to go to sleep for, erm, three hours, and do a decent day of work tomorrow before a birthday celebration in the evening. My arse.

11:19 am: I've managed to get flu, it had to happen sooner or later with the strength of the Worcester Bug, but these next two weeks are the busiest of term dammit and I'm behind already! Amidst a sea of disgustingly damp tissues I realised just how delirious I actually was when the thought process "blimey I'm like some kind of epic hero [yes even in delirium I still have gender issues], I must watch Legally Blonde" occurred. The Legally Blonde bit continues to mystify me, but I can justify, sort of, the epic 'hero' bit with the fact that in slipping in and out of a fragmented slumber, all my dreams seemed very real, and I kept believing that various people were actually standing by my bed talking to me. Every time I get ill I always think that I MUST appreciate what it is to feel 'normal' when I recover, but this has also made me think more about the body - it's a bloody good job that we can inhale through the mouth and the nose. It seems almost like having two of important things like lungs and kidneys in case one packs in. I suppose having two hearts or brains would just be too confusing. Anyway I really should shut up, but the body does rock.

02:23 am: I feel that this is the most useful page of my 'Worst Case Scenario Daily Survival Calendar' so far, although I am finding it increasingly difficult to work out just how serious it is...

"How To Survive Psychological Torture(/an Oxford degree?):

1. Do not show weakness
Your tormentors will look for weak individuals, focus on them, and exploit their fears. Resist the urge to burst into tears, beg for mercy, flee, or bond with your tormentors.

2. Live in the moment
Do not worry about what comes next. Do not dwell on what just happened. Deal with each horror on its own terms, as it happens.

3. Keep your mind occupied
You may be isolated from the group, kept awake for several days, or seemingly singled out for special treatment. In such situations, keep your brain active by recalling the lyrics of all the songs you know, remembering pleasurable experiences, or focusing on the goal of rejoining the group."

It has been a week of considerable realisation and revelation. One thing I realised is that I have spent so long pandering to my fussy habits that I am now incapable of spreading small chunk Branston Pickle properly, having mastered the art of keeping the chunks on the knife and just spreading the juiciness onto wholemeal bread (I know the smooth version now exists but I have issues with the consistency).

12:25 am: And what a scummy man,
Just give him half a chance
I bet he'll rob you if he can,
Can see it in his eyes
That he's got a driving ban
Amongst some other offences.

I hate that song so naturally I can't get it out of my head. It's stupid. The best opening lines to a song have to be "life is hard, and so am I". Is it Eels? I've just polished off my rusks mmm. I think I'll take some to the next OULES rehearsal although Dad did point out that they make babies grow so I think I may have overdosed on something. It would be awful to grow a whole new child. I was singing that stupid song which goes "I'd like to teach the world to sing in perfect harmony". WHaton earth would the point in that be?? At least teach them something useful like to watch ROcky Horrror at least once a week and learn valuable lessons like don't dream it be it and give yourself over to absolute pleasure. Yes.

I'm starting to think that I should stop drinking.

06:17 pm: It has been an absolutely exhausting week, and despite working pretty much solidly since Monday it was still necessary to experience my first all nighter last night, which was achieved by a combination of excessive junk food consumption, countless cups of tea and coffee (which I still hate, what's wrong with me?!) and rusks. I haven't had rusks for years and after commenting on this the other day a lovely friend went out and got me some :-). I remembered why they're advertised for babies when I decided to dip one in my tea and it went stupidly soggy and sticky. Will not do that again. One of the week's more exciting events was changing my calendars - February seems to be a much better month for photos than January. I also realised today that you can hear when somebody is smiling, which I'd never noticed before. Reading this back it sounds incredibly incoherent, but despite the sleep deprivation I still feel quite alive, I feel I've almost rediscovered my subject this week and I remember why I'm doing it now. I'm off home to see my family and relax and eat some nice food, and maybe even go to the gym. Actually that's a bit optimistic.

02:18 am: I am very annoyed, I've just spent the whole day procrastinating to ridiculous lengths. This is mainly because I am easily distracted, but also because I have had several more stupid ideas for 'The Aeneid: The Musical' today, including a series of bad puns and a George Michael-esque policeman episode. My tutor thinks that I've gone mad although she did say that at least she would 'get' that, whereas she wasn't so sure about Guns N' Roses or the Prodigy. I'm also particularly hungry for no apparent reason at the moment. I very much doubt that it's because I'm growing, at least not in any desired direction.

11:54 pm: I've just finished writing a commentary which I started at 7:30, I'm not used to working continuously for that long due to my short attention sp...
During this time I thought that I'd made the perfect cup of orange tea, but it turned out that it was just the orange light from the display of my hi-fi shining into my cup. Turnips.

02:26 am: Have birds always sung at 2:30a.m.?

01:35 am: I love being at home but it's great to be back in Oxford as well so far, which I am very happy about. I've managed to catch up with quite a lot of people since Thursday, although there are a few more I need to get hold of, it's just been too long! And I've just remembered that my 'optical media' (Derren Brown!!) from play.com should arrive tomorrow so I'm grinning in antici.........pation at the moment.

My parents changed my perspective of Oxford quite a bit just before I came back.
I love Bohemian Rhapsody, firstly obviously because it is an amazing song, but secondly because in my usual revision/exam drill, which involves worrying, making a plan to stop me worrying, not sticking to the plan and then desperate cramming followed by falling to pieces, it's always my Dad who puts me back together by quoting the last line, which is usually followed by "the sun will still rise tomorrow, Joey". And he's absolutely right. I want to worry about things in the appropriate measure, thus my plan for this term is to live the way I want to live, and see where it takes me. If it's not good enough then so be it.

12:36 am: The last four days have been absolutely fantastic, firstly because of one name: Ray Charles. I cannot believe that it has taken me until now to discover him, but I have thanks to Fopp - I saw the soundtrack to the film 'Ray' and thought that I'd 'suck it and see' (Fopp's words not mine). The power of music never fails to amaze me, and Ray Charles makes me appreciate everything, even the new road system in Stratford which makes it SO much easier to get into the right lane (and gives me permanent right of way mwahahaha). He even made me smile about my failed first attempt at a parallel park. Anyway the other reason for such general happiness is people :-). In the last four days I have spent time with old teachers, old school friends, my family and OULES and every minute was just amazing. I've got some exxxcellent photos as well which are full of smiles. People can say whatever they like about money and possessions making you happy, and sure they can help, but family and friends, to quote the Mastercard advert, are priceless.

12:48 am: One of my favourite plays is 'Angels in America'. One of the central conflicts is that of stasis vs change; the Angel identifies Prior as a prophet, and his task is to stop human motion and turn everything back to how it was in 'the good old days'. Prior chooses to reject the prophecy because he believes that life is all about movement and migration. He makes a good point, but I've always managed to identify a lot with the Angel too. An acquaintance recently said that he hates coming home because nothing ever changes and he feels like he's stuck in a rut, but that's always been part of the charm for me. It's nice to come back to stability after the extremity of Oxford. I completely agree that life has to be about motion and progress, or at least the sense of carving some path between beginning and end, but at the same time there have been things, particularly people, which I have lost along the way. I hate the fact that not seeing somebody regularly almost inevitably leads to drifting, and drifting is exactly what it is - a gradual yet definite distancing, just like when you're in the sea and you turn around and are suddenly surprised by how far you've moved. It was always further than I'd intended. What I hate more than this is having to make choices, as obviously you can't see everyone all of the time. In some ways I've moved on as well, but there's always that uncertain transient period when I'm unsure whether what I'm gaining is really worth sacrificing what I had before.

09:18 pm: Well Christmas is over for another year, I had a great time but it's amazing how it seems to be a case of survival more than anything else for so many people. For the first time in the history of the Clark family my parents had to wake us up which they were pretty damn pleased about (I remember one particularly bad year when I woke up at 3a.m. and immediately woke up my poor dad who had just gone to bed, I think we compromised at 5 in the end). I actually realised yesterday that I hadn't left the house for four days so I went off to Fopp and had a marvellous time, I lost myself in the £5 section and only realised when one of the Fopp dudes came up to me and said "I've come to give you a prod" that I was that annoying last customer who you can't shift.

My dad got me Robbie's new album for Christmas which I appreciated as as a hardcore fan (I'm not ashamed!) I think it's only right that I have all his albums. Anyway I'm so disappointed, most of it doesn't even sound like music to me. I'm realising more and more that it's not Robbie who I like but Guy Chambers, I like to think that this is the reason why I'm slightly partial to a very tiny bit of Charlotte Church. Only the stuff she's done with Guy Chambers of course. What is wrong with modern music though?!! I honestly don't think that anything from our era will last, nothing I've heard in the last few years comes close to anything like Lynyrd Skynyrd, Led Zeppelin, the Rolling Stones etc. Are there any recent break-through bands? I realise that new stuff has to be explored and all that but it seems to be either just uninspiring (Hard-Fi, Arctic Monkeys, Foo Fighters), quite synthesised (I find the Killers too much like that) or depressing Radiohead/Coldplay/Damien Rice type-stuff. Sure it's beautiful (argh James Blunt) or whatever but everyone's doing it now. Maybe I'm just too fussy.

I'm trying desperately to get some work done before I go to Kettering for New Year but failing quite spectacularly, there are just too many distractions! In the words of Madonna (ahem) "music brings the people together" - I bought Tom the sheet music for Coldplay's A Rush of Blood to the Head for Christmas and we've been attempting The Scientist, to which George has added a really nice bit of acoustic guitar. He got a 'cry baby' pedal thingy for Christmas and has been playing some fantastic Hendrix, despite the fact he claims that you're not actually meant to use the pedal where he does.

Anyway enough waffling! Hope everyone's well :-) xxx

04:08 pm: Okay I still haven't done any work and I'm still in my dressing gown listening to 'Natural Blues' at full blast in the lounge while my brother plays violent X-Box games next to the Christmas tree :-). It's really Christmas baby. Anyway this just looked quite fun, I stole it from neoanjou who nicked it from slasheuse:

Instructions:
1. Post a list of up to 20 books/films/anime/TV shows/video games/etc. that you've had an obsessive fannish love of at some time in your life.
2. Have your friends list guess your favourite character from each item.

1. The Rocky Horror Picture Show
2. Pulp Fiction
3. RENT (soon to be a film!)
4. Sonic Chaos (on the Master System, back in the day)
5. Baywatch
6. Iain Banks' The Wasp Factory
7. Anthony Burgess' A Clockwork Orange - much prefer the book to the film
8. Super Mario Kart (on the SNES :-))
9. Sex and the City
10. The League of Gentlemen
11. Space Precinct
12. Thunderbirds

That's all I can think of in terms of real obsession for the moment, I'm sure a few more will come to me.

03:08 pm: Well I've finally started a live journal! I realised that my username might sound quite festive but I know as well as the next person that dogs/weight gain/names are not just for Christmas. 'Rudolf Rocker' is the name of Jeremy Dyson's (I do like the name Dyson, I think it would be a name I'd consider inflicting on a child, although it could be slightly unfortunate if people start 'dysoning' instead of hoovering) band, the fourth and mostly invisible member of the League of Gentlemen. They did a wonderful track called 'Voodoo Lady' which everybody should listen to at least twice. I had initially planned to dedicate today to the translation of the Aeneid, but my commitment to my work can be seen in the fact that it's 3:15 and I'm still in my pjs. Anyway as dear old Frank would say, hope you all have yourselves a merry little Christmas.
Festive love xxx