My clothes are by Armani and my hair is by Elaine

Hello...

Had a nice lazy weekend. Met up with Bex at the 'Coach & Horses' in Ray Street, Farringdon on Saturday night, then trolled over to Holborn to see Max and co for a couple more beers. Had a dodgy vege-burger from our local kebab shop, got the squits on Sunday.

Have booked our flights to Germany, off in two weeks, yay! Staying in Amsterdam too, didn't see much of it when I was there last, on a school trip - I was grounded and had to stay in the Hostel in the evenings for being caught drunk and smoking... I hope to pick up loads of DVD's, especially the Edgar Wallace Box Sets.

As for films we have seen, um...

'Secrets of a Call Girl' ('Anna, quel particolare piacere' Directed by Giuliano Carnimeo 1973)
Another great Italian crime movie (!) with the added bonus of having the Queen of Giallo, Edwige Fenech as the main star. She plays a naive girl from Bergamo who gets involved with a very nasty piece of work, Guido (Corrado Pani) who takes her to Milan. In between punching and slapping her, he gets her to become a prostitute. Most of the time she puts up with it because she's in love with him, but eventually she runs away to Rome and gives birth to a baby boy. There she gets involved with a Doctor (played by John Richardson - 'Eyeball', 'Torso') after her son has an accident, but is reluctant to get too close to him because of her past. Guido tracks her down and forces her back to Milan, where before long she takes her revenge...
Another fantastic DVD release from NoShame with extensive liner notes a featurette and trailer.

'Mannaja' ('A Man Called Blade' Directed by Sergio Martino 1977)
Quite a violent Spaghetti Western, well lots of people getting shot. Maurizio Merli stars as Blade, a hatchet-wielding bounty hunter who wants revenge on the man who killed his father and took his land. Unfortunately there's something about Merli that I don't like, I don't know why, I can't explain it and this kind of spoilt it for me. The soundtrack, by Guido & Maurizio De Angelis is great when it's instrumental, but when that bloke sings it's bloody awful. Nice to see Martine Brochard ('Fango bollente', 'Eyeball', 'The Nuns of Saint Archange') again though.

'The Curse of the Werewolf' (Directed by Terence Fisher 1961)
Oh my god! How totally gorgeous was Oliver Reed in this film? Have seen this many times but it was in the 'Hammer Horror Series - Franchise Collection' box set and we decided to see it anyway. Lots of lurid blood, heaving bosoms, a creepy castle etc. all woven around a story about a young man (Reed) cursed with being a werewolf.

'Pink Flamingos' (Directed by John Waters 1972)
I must have seen this movie about 100 times, but put it on when we got in from the pub on Saturday night. Matt fell asleep instantly! Still is a weird vision, I always feel like I've had a really odd nightmare after watching it. Divine, Mink Stole, David Lochary, Edith Massey, Mary Vivian Pearce etc. were all so totally brilliant, I wish Mr Waters had made lots more of his films in the 70's. When, oh when will 'Mondo Trasho' and 'Multiple Maniacs' get DVD releases? Surely New Line could package them like the last lot of double feature DVD's?

Scotland

God, it's Wednesday.

Had a great time up in Glasgow with Catherine and Paul. Catherine drove us everywhere, poor love. On Friday we went into Glasgow and looked around the Cathedral and graveyard, then went to the Lighthouse to see the 'Marimekko: Fabrics, Fashion, Architecture' exhibition (cool) then sank some pints in 'The Thirteenth Note'. Catherine drove us back to Uddingston where we got a taxi to some enormous pub and got monumentally drunk. Saturday (feeling sick!) we were back in the car and went to someplace on the coast and picked up shells, stones and driftwood, saw lots of washed-up jellyfish too. Drove to a small town I can't remember the name of and went into an amusement arcade, where I lost five quid on those two pence slider machines, I did, however win a tacky pink dice key-ring. Catherine came out with three (!) cuddly toys from the grab machine and Matt won three hideous key-rings. Drove a bit further and stopped for a traditional 'fish tea' in a weird chippy/sweet shop. Sunday we went to Stirling and walked around some graveyards, part of the castle and into the town, where we had a coffee. Later we went up the William Wallace Memorial tower (well Matt & me did, Catherine and Paul couldn't be bothered!). On the way back to Uddingston we stopped off at a castle in the dark and climbed a big hill to walk around it, that was cool and scary! Got back to theirs and had a roast dinner and drank more beers. Back on the train at ten in the morning to come back to London, which was a horrendous experience, the train smelt of a toilet, we were travelling backwards, a baby was crying and my seat gave me a bad back. GNER do not rule.

Ah well, nice to be back in London, but it was great to see Catherine and Paul as I do miss them.

Windsor

Had a nice weekend in Windsor with Kate, Graham and baby Scarlett. Fed some fish in Cow pond, had fish and chips and went to an enormous car-boot sale in Eton, where I bought some kitsch bookends with seated oriental ladies, some resin crab paper weights, a glass lampshade and a hideously lovely china dog. Also went to a huge Garden centre and had an insipid lunch.

Last night I went out with Justine and her pals to watch the cricket finals and I got very drunk, had a hang-over all day, but it was worth it, just to see Justine as it's been ages since I last saw her (eight weeks or more).

As for films we've seen:

'Night Creatures' ('Captain Clegg' Directed by Peter Graham Scott 1962)
Weird Hammer outing involving wine smuggling in the 18th-century. Peter Cushing is fantastic as Captain Clegg sporting a strange hair-style. Oliver Reed is there too, looking pretty. This DVD is in the 'Hammer Horror Series' eight film set, which was fantastic value at only £12, I suppose you can't grumble that there are no features...

'The Kiss of the Vampire' (Directed by Don Sharp 1963)
Another great vampire tale from Hammer A young honeymooning couple, Gerald and Marianne Harcourt (Edward de Souza and Jennifer Daniel) get stranded in an Eastern European village where a noble family of vampires plan to keep Marianne in their clutches. Certain parts reminded me of 'The Masque of the Red Death'.

We're also working our way through the first series of 'The Saint', 'Wonder Woman', 'The Protectors' and 'Tales of The Unexpected', the latter of which has been very patchy indeed.

Can't wait for Thursday, we're off to Glasgow.

New!

Well, had a super time back in Salisbury. Had fun looking at old photo's with my Grandmother one night. Checked out the charity shops (and got some great Italian films on VHS from a weird pet shop/charity shop - yes, that's Wiltshire for you). Ate chips twice. Met Fay and her new baby (Archie-James, named after me (!)) and went to the Cathedral close for a picnic. Met up with my friend James on Friday night (when Matt came down), but sadly I felt really sick after just a few sips of lager (I know - unheard of), ended up at an odd gay pub, where after one drink the awful dance music was too much for me, so went back to my sister's house. Saturday went to the Cathedral with Matt, Jess and her funny/lovely friend Kat (Mrs Blobby). Had an ice cream in the market square and went into a craft fair (!) where my sister was pestered by a woman who made fairies out of clay (or something). Had a gorgeous meal in 'The Old Mill' with my Mom and Step-Father, Aunt and Uncle. Got quite drunk, Jess felt weird so went back to hers. Watched TV. Sunday morning Kat came round, went to a car-boot sale and bought a 60's fish lamp ("it is French, you know"). Jess did a huge and welcome fry up. Said our good-bye's and came home on the train. Wish Jess hadn't been dumped, I hate seeing her sad : (
So that was our weekend...

As for viewing delights, we've seen:

'Risking' ('Pronto ad uccidere' Directed by Franco Prosperi 1976)
Cool Italian crime film featuring Ray Lovelock, Martin Balsam and eurobabe Elke Sommer (who doesn't show up until almost an hour into the movie - however her role is not wasted). It's a story about an undercover cop (Ray Lovelock) who seeks revenge over the crippling of his mother by crooks (kind of!).

'Kidnap Syndicate' ('La Città sconvolta: caccia spietata ai rapitori' Directed by Fernando Di Leo 1975)
Luc Merenda's back as an ex motorbike racer (now a poor mechanic) who's son gets kidnapped along with a rich man's son (the father 'Ingegner Filippini' is played by James Mason, who was obviously only in the film because of his name). Anyway this was different from most Italian crime/revenge movies and had some really touching scenes that has you really rooting for Merenda's character. Cool motorbike chases, gorgeous scenery and a superb ending. Valentina Cortese ('The Iguana with the Tongue of Fire') who stars as Grazia Filippini was fantastic too especially when she overhears her husband bartering over the price of their son's ransom.

That's all for now, bye!