I Hate Nature
I used to know someone who variously described natured as “untarmacced state” and “green is the colour of mould”. I was never quite so strident, but I do like the trappings of civilization. I like technology. I like engineering. Big machines fascinate me. And I get hayfever.
Today I was in an edifice dedicated to consumerist excess. Minding my own business, travelling down the escalator. I felt something on my neck, a tickle. I thought it may be a stray hair and moved my hand to brush it off. Searing pain in my finger and some form of yellow and black striped insect dropping to the ground.
My finger felt like it was on fire and swelled up. The pain eased some but is still there now (some seven hours later) and, at one point, my hand had pretty much swollen up and gone mottled. At one point the pain was bad enough to cause me to pass out. I think it is safe to say I am allergic to bee stings. I’m working on the assumption it was a bee because wasps have never had this effect on me.
I saw The Surrogates on Friday. It touched on similar themes to Gamer but was much more even and considerably slicker. The direction wasn’t nauseating and there wasn’t the feeling there were 3 or 4 competing films vying for screen time. It did, however, share a problem with Hostage: it veers into routine Bruce Willis saves the day with a gun territory rather than following the more interesting premise of the film to conclusion. It’s also too short to properly ruminate on some of its themes. It is visually consistent and features some neat touches and competent special effects.