Wednesday 27 May 2015

Peaks and troughs


It's a good day today. The sun is out, the last of the screaming deadlines has been met, and the video-mapping is over to general acclaim. This morning I fit the massive pair of cast aluminium antlers to the metal stag on the hill, and I know they look good because I made them. I didn't know how the video would look.

I'm not allowed to show you pictures of the stag, but I am allowed to show you the video, which I will as soon as it's up on You Tube.

Green Eyes rang up in tears last night because she is struggling with a deadline too. It's a 3000 word essay which is quite a lot of words for someone with dyslexia. As soon as I get back, I am committed to helping her put it together because I don't have dyslexia. She knows what (medical stuff) she has to say, but she doesn't know how to say it. It's the other way round for me.

The trouble is that she was off at a festival over the weekend and is now suffering the consequences. I told her to not think about it last night, watch TV and have an early night. Young people - and most old people - revert to childhood when tired and under pressure. I panic about small things and don't give a toss about big ones. That's why I ain't rich.

I followed my own advice by watching two early episodes of Twin Peaks (the two last from the first series), then went to bed. It's the hair-cuts which give David Lynch away in it.

The bit which had me laughing out loud is when Agent Cooper finds himself in a veterinary surgery, and amongst the animals is a huge lama. Given that the lama was not an actor in a lama suit, it could not have been rehearsed when the beast gets between Cooper and another - at eye level - they both look int each other's eyes, the lama lets out a grunt of disapproval before moving on and Cooper carries on with the dialogue as if it had all been scripted. A true actor. I would have collapsed with laughter, but he understood the value of the scene instantly.

I love the setting as well, in the same way I loved the setting of The Shining. Mountainous, wooded, isolated, Northern territory with a massive waterfall. Log cabins, fishing, the smell of pines and piles of doughnuts in the middle of crime scenes.

Come on, don't tell me you didn't laugh when the three police take a break from their forensic search to reach for a doughnut, still wearing the latex gloves that are supposed to prevent third-party contamination?

I love the music too. The Italians are so good at sound track music. Look at Nino Rota and Ennio Morriccone.

A massive bonus is that I no longer have the sound track which I chose for the video-mapping going through my head. It has been replaced with the Twin Peaks theme. Relief!

10 comments:

  1. Nice cheerful post for a bit of a change. Yes, I rather think that you suffer peaks and troughs yourself Tom. Poor old Green Eyes - I know a lot about Dyslexia, having taught many Secondary pupils who suffer - and how they do suffer- with so little understanding of the subject. It is so pleasing to me that you now intend to help her to sort out her thoughts. Good luck to you both.

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  2. Regardless of Dyslexia, I think most people do their best work at the eleventh hour.

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  3. I loved/love Twin Peaks -- especially the the earlier episodes and the mood it evoked -- well, I suppose it still does. Also, good for you helping out Green Eyes. My youngest son suffers from dyslexia -- his spelling is atrocious but puts his words together rather well -- so I am happy to help with proofreading any time any place...

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  4. Let's hope there's no llamas in the essay.

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  5. Twin peaks.......dont get me started

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    1. It's getting you finished that's the problem.

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  6. I don't know if I'm thick but I never understood a bloody word of Twin Peaks …… I can remember a dancing Unicorn or was that The Simpsons Twin Peaks episode ?!!!
    Hope that you've dried Green Eyes tears and sorted her essay out, you lovely Grandparent you !! XXXX

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    1. I don't know either, but I haven't watched them all yet.

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    2. You are not alone Jackie, I never understood it either, and P declared it a load of rubbish in no uncertain terms.

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