I’m listening to the soundtrack to 28 days later (I know, I know, sorry). Most of it is the incidental background music and it makes watching other people in the office more fun. With softer music, seeing people walking around has quite a serene feel to it, with an angry track, – of which there are quite a lot on here – with the tempo building up and up, it makes it look a bit more sinister. Why is Doug following Mike? Is he going to attack him? Hee hee, I shouldn’t be allowed to watch films.
That’s what music in films is for obviously, to emphasise the mood and setting the director and sound people want you to have, different pieces of music would put hugely different slants on the same visuals. Probably the best use of sound (or rather NOT use of sound) I’ve seen was in an episode of Cracker. It certainly sticks in my mind anyway. The best episode of the series involved Robert Carlyle playing a deranged Liverpool fan. At the end of one episode he stabs and kills Christopher Eccleston. It’s all done in silence, no sound at all, and it was a stunning piece of television. There’s not a sound on the screen and none at home where you’re watching either. I think it just accentuated the feeling of shock you have at such a gruesome and devastating scene.
Maybe I’ll release my own soundtrack album of the things going on in my head. Suggestions on a postcard please…

Manners. I hate bad manners. I really hate bad manners. I was in McDonalds yesterday (again I’m sorry) and whilst I was chatting to the woman serving me about what I wanted, a young girl came up and said, “I want two ketchups”. The serving woman continued talking to me so the young girl repeated herself and seemed to get annoyed. She got her ketchups in the end, without a please or a thank you. I felt an urge to go to her table and tell her mum to teach the little shit some manners. And then spit on her chips or something. When I was the age of that little girl, I wouldn’t have dreamed of butting into other people’s conversations, I’d have waited my turn, and even then would have been quite shy and courteous.
In the swimming baths the other week I saw a little girl of about twelve threatening the guy who was helping her get her money out of the vending machine. Should I really be shocked by this anymore? Then I saw her heavily tattooed bullet-headed dad and wondered about what sort of manners kids actually get taught anymore. When dad swears constantly and everybody demands that they get their “share” out of life, when people are just full of anger at others for getting the things denied them, why should the kid show good manners? They know nothing else but to threaten, demand and insist.
I refuse to resort to that.

Oh Jesus, this bit of the soundtrack makes me want to push my thumbs through somebody’s eye sockets. See, I really shouldn’t be allowed to watch, and indeed listen, to films. Maybe I should direct my anger at people in the swimming baths.

Hmm, I’ve not been in the best of moods the last couple of days. I’ve been het up, easily agitated and restless. I hope I’ve not taken it out on anybody else, I don’t think I have, it’s nobody elses fault I’m full of nervous energy. It’s probably work related. It usually is.