What I'm Reading
Haven't read many comics lately, so grabbed Catwoman: It's Only a Movie from the library. This one didn't really work too well in isolation since they didn't have just one storyline in the volume. The first half is pretty good as Catwoman tracks down movie-based serial killer the Film Freak, who is killing people in scenes ripped from consecutive movies. Particularly neat was the way he crushed two policeman in the Buster Keaton falling house-front stunt. Not quite sure why Catwoman is fighting crime rather than committing it.

That's tied up a bit perfunctorily, and the rest of the volume is spent tying up loose ends from earlier big plotlines. There is a nice escape-from-explosion gimmick though. Artwork: professional but not particularly outstanding. Liked the celluloid edges on the film frames.

What I'm Watching
Saw Flags of our Fathers on DVD. Quite liked "Letters from Iwo Jima" which told the story of the battle from the Japanese side, so thought I'd look up the companion movie. The film concentrates on the story of three marines who raised the flag in the famous photograph and were sent on a publicity tour to raise money for war bonds.

Didn't really like it. There are three levels of storyline: a mawkish bookend where a son learns about his father on his deathbed, then flashbacks to the bond tour, which has flashbacks to the battle of Iwo Jima itself. None of it really comes together as a story.

Father-son-conflict-turning-to-love is just about the most overused cliché in Hollywood at the moment. After recentish experiences I find it hard to take sentimental deathbed scenes these days. Does it ever happen in real life that people make touching emotional speeches on their deathbeds, instead of sinking into delirium?

Finally, I don't think I've ever met a soldier who, given the chance of doing a booze-and-babe-soaked publicity tour instead of regular duty, would suffer guilt and angst about it for more than about six microseconds before getting on with enjoying it to the hilt.

What I'm Reading 2
Halfway through a couple of things. The TTC Shakespeare course is good: should have that finished by my next weekend update.

Also halfway through The Golden Notebook by Nobel-winning Doris Lessing. Good, but heavy going. Partly it's the number of characters, partly the number of layers, but mostly it's because Fifties Britain was just so depressing. Keep wanting to shout at the characters "Don't give up! Hold on! Just a few more years and the Beatles'll turn up!"

OBLF
Slight water glitch this week: pretty sure I only lost 0 or 1 pound this week since I slacked off a bit. Wish people wouldn't wait till after I've bought my sandwich or eaten my noon MRB before saying "Hey, let's go to the pub for lunch."

Saturday 9 Feb 2007
Lunch: Beef pasty, bread, tomato, mini-Babybel, ham. WW cookies
Supper: Bread, chilli con carne.
Snacks: Apple, orange, hot choc with whisky
Booze: 2 whisky
Exercise: 5BX Chart 4 Level A.

Sunday 10 Feb 2007
Breakfast: Bread, tomato, rollmops. WW cookies
Lunch: Burger, potatoes, parsnip, broccoli. WW choc vanilla dessert
Supper: Beef and olive sandwiches.
Snacks: 1 chocolate
Booze: 1 beer, 1 whisky
Exercise: 5BX Chart 4 Level A. Dumb-bells

Monday 11 Feb 2007
Breakfast: Beef and olive sandwich
Lunch: Slimfast meal replacement bar
Supper: Chicken Jalfrezi, rice with little butter. Crunch corner
Snacks: Mango. WW cheesy biscuits
Booze: 1 beer, 2 whisky
Exercise: 5BX Chart 4 Level A. 3.5 miles walking.

Tuesday 12 Feb 2007
Breakfast: Beef and olives, toast. 1 chocolate
Lunch: Sausage sandwich
Supper: WW beef hotpot, toast. WW choc vanilla
Snacks: Banana, tangerine, grapefruit, hot choc
Booze: 2 whisky
Exercise: 5BX Chart 4 Level A. 3.5 miles walking.

Wednesday 13 Feb 2007
Breakfast: HE couscous, ryvita, beef
Lunch: ham and cheese sandwich
Supper: Gammon, potatoes, carrot, broccoli. 3 chocolates
Booze: 2 whisky
Exercise: 5BX Chart 4 Level A. Dumb-bells. 3.5 miles walking.

Thursday 14 Feb 2007
Breakfast: Slimfast meal replacement bar
Lunch: Sausage baguette
Supper: WW bolognese. Bread. Small cheese. Choc and nuts.
Booze: 2 whisky
Snacks: Pear, orange, apple
Exercise: 5BX Chart 4 Level A. 3.5 miles walking.

Friday 16 Feb 2007
Breakfast: Ham and tomato sandwiches
Lunch: Lamb chump, sweet potato, courgette
Supper: Ham, small cheese, WW chicken noodle soup. 2 chocolates
Booze: 1 Beer, 3 whisky
Snacks: Slimfast meal replacement bar. Banana
Exercise: 5BX Chart 4 Level A. 1.75 miles walking.

The perils of listing
One thing I've noticed is that when you start making comprehensive lists of your activities, you tend to find that you previously had a am over-optimistic view. You think that you eat healthily with an occasional treat, but when you write it down you find you treat yourself all the time with an occasional burst of healthiness. Or you think you read mostly improving books with an occasional dumb entertainment, but really it's just that the improving books seem to have dragged on forever.

Judge not, lest you be Judge Judy.

Web
Three feet washed ashore in Canada.

Miniature-gun smith (MeFi)

Stolen from B3ta. How to have sex with dogs. Cardboard Star Wars reenactment.