Grumpy old bag.

A new lens arrived today. I had to pay VAT, as it came from America. It was quite cheap. It's supposed to be a 'fish eye' lens. But it's not very fishy at all. Which is a bit fishy... So no fish eye shots on the way home from the movies. Also, it was persisting down, so no shots at all, fishy or otherwise...

The day was dreich and drizzly, and as it's a Wednesday, ie cheap afternoon movies at the Cameo, I greeted the weather with a whoop - don't like to go on nice afternoons. And don't like to pay £8 odd for something that I might not like. Actually, there's an idea - pay what you think it's worth at the end. There's a restaurant nearby that offers this one night a week. My guess is that people pay more than necessary because the restaurant is consistently good.

But films do not always rarely live up to their hype. I saw 'The Place Beyond the Pines' with Bradley Cooper and Ryan Gosling, both good actors. The film was like three films, two of them were great, and the third was drawn out mumbling tedium. It was two and a half hours! Mid way, the middle aged couple sitting nearby started rustling round in their shopping bags. They then proceeded to have a picnic - something wrapped in foil and they used their fingers and then licked every piece of the foil, very carefully and indeed, enthusiastically. Unfortunately, this happened at a crucial bit in the film, and I was so busy looking at them in disbelief that I missed it. It was downhill from then on.

Last night we went to the theatre. The Doll's House. Moved seats when the folk next to us arrived with packets of crisps. Crisps! In a theatre! Besides, we needed an aisle seat to make a quick getaway for the last bus - didn't want to be trapped in the middle of a row with curtain calls, and have to walk home. There may not have been many curtain calls. We thought the acting was terrible, so we didn't wait to see the second half. It may well get rave reviews, so don't let me put you off.

Sorry if I come across like a grumpy old bag, but I go the cinema/theatre to watch a play or a film. Not to have a picnic and generally rustle around and annoy others. People who do that are obviously getting confused with watching TV in their own lounge... Rant over.

On that note, some nice flowers. Notice that I managed to resist the water spray. Just.