Commuters 'suffer extreme stress'
Commuters can experience greater stress than fighter pilots going into battle or riot policemen, a new study says. reports the BBC.
Well I travel four hours a day, four days a week on South Eastern Trains into London Bridge and back, so I know a bit about commuting by train.

Ok, it's boring, but really, get a grip! I do it because I couldn't get paid enough where I choose to live, but I choose to live by the sea because I like it and my family like it. I lived 12 years in London, it was fine, but I like to be able to open my front door and walk to the beach, so I accept the hours I spend on the train.

I read a lot, I sleep a hell of a lot, sometimes I even 'work' on the train. I've made some quite good friends on the trains. Maybe I'm a boring old git, but if I am at least I'm chilled about it.

Film Review via Instant Messenger

Taking a lead from the ever excellent orbyn I've decided that the only way of updating this weblog is via instant messenger, so here's the latest film review from Magnus Hook.

A little background - we work in the same office but rarely speak in the traditional manner preferring to use instant messenger.
Magnus went to see a new cut of Ken Russell's 'The Devils' at the National Film Theatre. Ken was interviewed after the showing of the of the movie.


~Editors notes in blue~

angelo_del_fuego: hello mate are you ready for tea?
magnus_hook: sounds good to me
angelo_del_fuego: goof
angelo_del_fuego: good
angelo_del_fuego: even
angelo_del_fuego: magnus, i'm rather afraid taht i may have to eat the last biscuit :-B
magnus_hook: go for it
magnus_hook: they're a bit lost on me at the moment - don't have much taste sensation ~Magnus has flu (I didn't pass it on to him)~
angelo_del_fuego: do you mind?
magnus_hook: nah, course not
angelo_del_fuego: cheers matey! :-*
magnus_hook: yeah. i pretty much rock.
angelo_del_fuego: me too
magnus_hook: for sure. you kick ass.
angelo_del_fuego: and you too
magnus_hook: heh. you said it bro.
angelo_del_fuego: http://zattevrienden.realroot.be/depanneren.htm
magnus_hook: hmm
angelo_del_fuego: clearly photoshopped
angelo_del_fuego: Ithink I should buy the biscuits always from now on ~Magnus had wondered over and taken control of my PC while I was looking out of the window at the foggy Thames~
angelo_del_fuego: oh..
magnus_hook: that's kind - what type aer you going to get today?
angelo_del_fuego: well, i don't remember saying that, but i must have and i guess i meant it?
angelo_del_fuego: i wonder if we should
magnus_hook: I think so
angelo_del_fuego: get 2 types
angelo_del_fuego: one luxary
angelo_del_fuego: and one everyday
angelo_del_fuego: luxury
angelo_del_fuego: strange word
magnus_hook: okay. can we go soon pls
angelo_del_fuego: yup
magnus_hook: ~o)?
magnus_hook: no wonder he's winning the fantasy football
magnus_hook: which was to matt ~Too many yahoo messenger windows open - Magnus sends to wrong person~
angelo_del_fuego: what vince? why, how? does he have mojo football beads>~Matt has love beads that make him irresistible to women~
magnus_hook: apparently he spends all his time playing a football manager game
angelo_del_fuego: what, at work?
angelo_del_fuego: cool
magnus_hook: well, I guess it's that or swap banter with dionne ~dionne is a male colleague of Vince~
magnus_hook: I'm going to see the devils this eveing~I completely missd this - but it's important!~
angelo_del_fuego: ah, well i know what i'd do - except when W is in anyway ~W is very beautiful part-time colleague~
magnus_hook: what would you do?
magnus_hook: I think we should call w dorothy
angelo_del_fuego: yeah ok, any reason for dorothy?
magnus_hook: she lokos like a wicked witch
angelo_del_fuego: ok fair enough
angelo_del_fuego: :x
angelo_del_fuego: dorothy's gone !! =((
magnus_hook: I'd thought that the gravitational pull from that side of the room had shrunk...
angelo_del_fuego: thats a very cruel thiong to say and frankly i thought you were above that sort of petty bullying
magnus_hook: what you gonna do about it luverboy?
angelo_del_fuego: i'm gonna smash your stupid head in you nasty snotty-nosed, yellow-haired, bully-boy, fattist, fatter-fat-hating bully
angelo_del_fuego: you...
magnus_hook: bring it on blubber-boy
angelo_del_fuego: I'm gonna git you X-(
magnus_hook: :-SS
angelo_del_fuego: so you should be nancyboy

~Next day - I'm working from home~
angelo_del_fuego: i had to kick d off my pc - she was playing fashion designer barbie at 8am!~d is young daughter~
magnus_hook: fashion designer barbie! yikes :-&

~Start of actual film review~
magnus_hook: the devils was brilliant last night - it was a restored version of the film with various large scenes that were cut out when the film was originally distributed put back in
magnus_hook: then afterwards, mark kermode interviewed ken russell and a couple of other people - the editor from the original film (who had also done the restoration) and some chappy who (with mark k) had chased warner bros to track down the original missing bits
magnus_hook: and had made a documentary about the film
angelo_del_fuego: how was Ken? good laugh I expect
magnus_hook: and generally was a bit of an anorak about the film :-B
angelo_del_fuego: was glenda there?~I thought Glenda Jackson was in the film but it was Vanessa Redgrave and er...Brian Murphy~
magnus_hook: he was - he told a story of how they had shown it to 3 bigwigs at warnor bros before it was released
angelo_del_fuego: it was notorious at teh time
angelo_del_fuego: i bet they shat themselves
magnus_hook: who then summoned ken and the producer up to their hotel room where they told them how depraved and disgusting their film was
magnus_hook: while they each had a prostitute sat on their laps...
angelo_del_fuego: ha!
magnus_hook: (alledgedly as mark k hurridly pointed out) ~maybe we should say alledegly too just in case, not that anyone actually reads this ~
angelo_del_fuego: really??
angelo_del_fuego: well they either did or they didn't!
magnus_hook: most of the cutting was done at the behest of warner bros it seems rather than the censors
angelo_del_fuego: so was it good?
magnus_hook: the editor chap was talking about the restoration of the film - they just had the film, but with no soundtrack (it had been in some warner bros storeroom since 1971)
magnus_hook: it was really good
angelo_del_fuego: cool
magnus_hook: the first scene that was cut was the rape of christ scene - where a load of nuns get their rocks off rubbing themselves up against a giant jesus
magnus_hook: apparently that was quite easy cos one orgy sounds much the same as another
magnus_hook: :-D
angelo_del_fuego: maybe i'll just cut and paste this into wildly inaccurate as your reveiw
angelo_del_fuego: yeah I guess
magnus_hook: but the second scene was at the end when the mother superior (vanessa redgrave) was masturbating with a charred bone of the ollie reed character - he managed to recover a gasp from justa second of sound interspersed between other people speaking...
magnus_hook: which sounded a bit tricky
angelo_del_fuego: so they were missing the soundtrack of the cut scenes?
magnus_hook: yep - I don't really know how it works - but all they had was the negatives of the film
magnus_hook: I think they said it was cut before the musical score was added as well
magnus_hook: but I guess that was easier to add in
angelo_del_fuego: i guess they could get most of the soundtrack from existing copies?
magnus_hook: yep
angelo_del_fuego: did ken have any good oliver reed stories?
magnus_hook: he didn't really - no body asked any questions about that kind of thing
angelo_del_fuego: is ken still working?
magnus_hook: though he did have one story about him and the only cast member who was still there - which was the daughter ollie gets pregnant at the beginning of the film - apparently she complained that ollie was wearing woolie underpants while she was totally naked and this was uncomforatble
angelo_del_fuego: chafing, i suppose
magnus_hook: They gave the impression that he still had current projects, but the filmography on the blurb seemed to peter out in more recent times
magnus_hook: it still had tv things on it though
angelo_del_fuego: i expect ken has problems getting funding - also he must be getting on a bit i guess
angelo_del_fuego: oh
magnus_hook: yeah - born 3 july 1927
magnus_hook: they weren't great tv things
angelo_del_fuego: right - you have a good memory for dates
magnus_hook: hmm - it could be because I've just pulled the info sheet out of my bag...
angelo_del_fuego: ah! smart work

Observer Monthly Music Magazine Stuff That I Missed At The Time
The ten worst cover songs - This is the selection of Graeme Thomson in The OMM - some interesting choices - Duran Duran's Public Enemy cover - any thoughts?
I'm not a huge fan of the Chili Peppers but Anthony Kiedis' autobiography looks fun. "...discovered sex and drugs at the age of 12 thanks to his dad, pot-dealing friend to the rock aristocracy of Seventies California." Also includes what it's like to have Cher as a babysitter.

Things I've realised in the last week or so.
1).Channel 4's Teachers has got worse with every series and is now unwatchable - it should have ended after series 2 - disappointing.
2).Chelsea could now realistically win the Premiership.
3).Jon Ronson is an excellent writer/presenter and is lucky in that he could write his name as JonRonSon.
4).Channel 4's The Green Wing is like Teachers used to be but even better.
5).There should probably be special places where people can go to commit suicide without involving other people.
6).I now want to buy series 1-4 of Channel 4's Six Feet Under on DVD. (even though I've seen most episodes)
7).Adrian Chiles on Match of the Day 2 is actually quite funny. (I may be mistaken about this though)
8).Putting up sheds gets easier the more you do, but after 3 there isn't much garden left.
9).My dog still doesn't like fireworks.
10).The Killers album, Hot Fuss is better than anything Franz Ferdinand have done. (even if it does sound like a cross between Pink Floyd and ELO at times)
11).Owls are very cool. (I met 2 this week)
12).Wireless networks are great even though they make me feel a bit sick sometimes. (probably/hopefully psychosomatic)
13).If I listen really intently all my senses are heightened.
14).I can't think of any good reason why I shouldn't emigrate to New Zealand sometime soon. (can anyone else think of any?)(apart from the donkey shagging competitions, Jim)

US Military PsyOps
Excellent extract in Saturday's Guardian magazine from Jon Ronson's new book The Men Who Stare At Goats.
"In the wake of Vietnam, the US military were demoralised and prey to some fairly crazy ideas. They thought they could train 'super soldiers' with psychic powers."
Contains amongst other things, attempts to walk through walls, bursting the hearts of animals by staring at them, Psychic healing, 'Project Jedi', the quest for invisibility and encouraging soldiers to walk into battle carrying a lamb and giving the enemy "an automatic hug" - sadly, Ronson concludes that all this could have led to the abuses of Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib.

Chelsea Have Destroyed Me
So claims Adrian Mutu. He also reckons he's ready to quit football entirely once he's served his ban.
As far as I'm aware no one at Chelsea actually forced him to take cocaine. He should put his hands up and accept his punishment.
Whether Chelsea's zero-tolerance approach would apply to anyone they actually wanted to keep is another question. Would they kick out Lampard or Duffer? - can't see it myself.