mike[space] dot net

Various thoughts to mention, none of which are long enough or interesting enough to go on their own, but might just group together enough to justify it.

First off, I made the unusual decision to get the train up to my Mum's this weekend. Normally, I'd jump in the car, but the M1 just sucks at the moment with the lane widening work, getting through London is always unpredictable, and I figured it wouldn't actually make the journey longer. And tbh, even with the train being delayed, it definitely proved to be a pleasant journey.

I've watched the unfolding story of Damian Green's arrest with interest. The vocal reactions from Tories and Lib Dem MPs is all very well, but frankly we've kinda had it coming for some time. This is hardly the first time that counter terrorism police and laws have been used inappropriately and such abuses are a direct consequence of the fearmongering that all politicians should bear responsibility for.

Several months ago, I came up with the wonderful idea of writing a short story every couple of weeks to post on this here site. I then of course came up with the idea for Out of Office (or untitled web series, as it was known then) and the plans flew out of the window. I am still learning about my abilities (or lack thereof) when it comes to writing, but it does seem that I need a bit of space to be able to come up with new ideas to work on.

Last week was the big block of filming that we had scheduled for Out of Office. We shot three episodes in the five days, so we now have four episodes in the can. The next big step will of course be the editing, which may take a little bit of time. But I am still hoping that we can have something ready by the end of January. The experience of the shoot was fantastic. We had a brilliant bunch of people working on the set, and (of course) a fab cast.

One thing I forgot to mention about our trips to the Lakes was that I finally got the opportunity to read Watchmen, generally lauded as the finest graphic novel ever written. It's currently being made into a Hollywood movie by the director of 300 Zack Synder.

This weekend was the first part of the shoot for Out Of Office, the webseries that I wrote and am co-producing. We are using my friend John's flat for the set, and he very helpfully volunteered to go away this weekend, so we had the place to ourselves to sort everything out. On Friday, the crew descended to start dressing the set; blacking out the windows, rigging the lights, moving the minimal set around and and working out the practicalities of filming. Unfortunately, Tom's armchair had not fitted into Beth's car, so we decided to head back to mine to see if we could fit mine instead.

Just got home after spending the evening with friends, watching the somewhat snazzy but frayed around the edges coverage from the BBC. A long night, filled with early feelings of unease and concern, which gradually gave way to slightly disbelieving hope before topping out with a sensation of utter relief and delight. Regardless of the slightly breathless reportage, it is truly an historic event, and I was glad to bear witness to it. Fantastic speech from McCain, as well as from Obama, really nicely capped it all off.

The big day has finally arrived. After what feels like an entire lifetime of speculation as to whether America is ready for its first female president, or its first black president, or its first (in 8 years) intelligent president, we are finally, finally at the big day where America decides. It's the day where the world will take a collective deep breath and hold it in - hoping and praying that Obama gets in.

It's half term this weekend, so Claire and I decided that we should take the opportunity to get away from the hustle and bustle of the big city and head up to the Lake District for a few days of greenery and fresh air. Of course on Saturday came the news that there were extreme weather conditions leading to flooding and problems for fell runners, but a quick call to the inn we were staying at reassured us that we should go anyway.

I'm late on this, what with being away for the last few days, but I really wanted to comment on this whole furore over the Ross and Brand upsetting Andrew Sachs and his Granddaughter, which so far has the two of them suspended and Brand resigning. First off, yes, ok, so it was a bit rude to tell an old man that his granddaughter had been fucked (or as the tabloids would write f****d), but the whole thing has been totally blown out of all proportion. First off, he's already accepted the apologies.