Mike Riversdale

From the Web 1.0 days I bring you  The Forum . To preserve them for posterity as Geocities can no longer be found but also it's fun to re-read some of them. ----- 22nd December, 2001 Well, Here I am, last 40 mins of work this year and bugger all to do apart from a whole bunch of "anti-work" which has been summoned from the Nether Regions, you know the stuff - a job which on the surface appears to be useful and promote a good vibe and get things done, but in reality, just creates a bunch of tasks that have no real existamnce outside of this man-created vacuum... So I thought I'd just write to pass some time in-between scoffing choccys which I have blagged from the "help-Desk Girls". So called because they are not only gals, but supply us all with help. Not the sort of "help" that we fellas actually NEED from time to time, no, but a purer form of assistance allowing us to get to other places and stay in hotels and get places on time. God, it's st

From the Web 1.0 days I bring you The Forum . To preserve them for posterity as Geocities can no longer be found but also it's fun to re-read some of them. ----- 19th December, 2001 House update Tis the season to be jolly, Tra la la la la, La la la la, The roof is fixed, And we don't need a brolly, Tra la la la la, La la la la, Well, we're on the final leg of the alterations of our house. To those who have read earlier 'Letters' you will know that we embarked on a serious re-modelling of the house. "Much easier than moving" we said. HUH! To be fair, the builders should be finished this week. Exactly 9 weeks later than the first time we heard the immortal words "We'll be outta here in 2 weeks"...Yeah, right! Just a few little jobs to complete and we're ready for Christmas. HOORAY!! It's been a bit of a struggle but Karen's done a fantastic job of decorating whilst surrounded by 3 kids, bit's of skirting board, half finished doo

From the Web 1.0 days I bring you  The Forum . To preserve them for posterity as Geocities can no longer be found but also it's fun to re-read some of them.

From the Web 1.0 days I bring you  The Forum . To preserve them for posterity as Geocities can no longer be found but also it's fun to re-read some of them.

From the Web 1.0 days I bring you  The Forum . To preserve them for posterity as Geocities can no longer be found but also it's fun to re-read some of them. ----- 19th November, 2001 Hello amigos ... Have left my flattie Hayden clearing up the remains of our bi-continental meal (tortillas and a cherry danish) and wrapped up in what he refers to as my "blanket" (its a pashmina ... ) and ventured down to the Internet caf, where despite the fact that it is about 2 degrees indoors, the room always smells of other people's sweat. We're cohabiting, largely successfully in spite of an obvious fashion deficiency on Hayden's part, in North London ... most of the other residents in this area are Turkish or Afro-Caribbean which is making grocery shopping at my local Turk supermarket fun. The butchers, who used to merely whisper about me behind my back, have now taken to calling me 'Snow White' to my face. As in "noooo Snow White my darling we not have any to

From the Web 1.0 days I bring you  The Forum . To preserve them for posterity as Geocities can no longer be found but also it's fun to re-read some of them.

From the Web 1.0 days I bring you  The Forum . To preserve them for posterity as Geocities can no longer be found but also it's fun to re-read some of them.

From the Web 1.0 days I bring you  The Forum . To preserve them for posterity as Geocities can no longer be found but also it's fun to re-read some of them. ----- 3rd October, 2001 Hello, it's me. How are you? What's the latest? Send me any old crap - naiive enough to believe it. Had a wierd dream last night. The old gang had a reunion and dressed up in all the crap we used to wear (I have no idea how these clothes fitted!). Then when I turned up they all went to another pub. This kept happening and they didnt want to go to any of the pubs I suggested. I have no ideas what this means, apart from me having a huge inferiority complex... :-) Or that I should give up on my herbal tea before bedtime. Hmmm. I`ve been over to Madrid for some business last week until yesterday. Some of my Spnish came back to me, but only the important stuff like "2 beers, please" and "another 2 beers please". And the like. Usual approach is just to speak s l o w l y and shout at

From the Web 1.0 days I bring you  The Forum . To preserve them for posterity as Geocities can no longer be found but also it's fun to re-read some of them.

From the Web 1.0 days I bring you  The Forum . To preserve them for posterity as Geocities can no longer be found but also it's fun to re-read some of them. ----- 28th September, 2001 Hi all, Well, despite the fact that there are security vehicles lined up along the hilltops surrounding it, and everyone in San Francisco is convinced of it, the Golden Gate Bridge has not yet been bombed. It's amazing being here at this time ... tourists have abandoned this country, American Airlines is offering round trips from SF to NYC for US$100, every front yard, car window, office building, and human being sports an American flag, and despite the fact that the people here try to maintain a degree of dignity and unity, a tangible paranoia appears to have set in. I have heard a thousand "true stories" about where the next plane will crash, and every person in every bar knows someone who knows someone who knows where the Osama bin Laden affiliates are hanging out. Right here in San F

From the Web 1.0 days I bring you  The Forum . To preserve them for posterity as Geocities cam no longer be found but also it's fun to re-read some of them.

From the Web 1.0 days I bring you  The Forum . To preserve them for posterity as Geocities can no longer be found but also it's fun to re-read some of them.

From the Web 1.0 days I bring you  The Forum . To preserve them for posterity as Geocities can no longer be found but also it's fun to re-read some of them. ----- 24th September, 2001 The Man Who Knew Too Little USA, 1997 Director: Jon Amiel With: Bill Murray, Joanne Whalley, Alfred Molina, Peter Gallagher. Running Time: 1 hour 33 minutes Tagline: The International Intelligence community is about to get a whole lot less intelligent. Murray is Wallace Ritchie, an American paying a surprise to his successful businessman brother in London. Trouble is, he turns up on the very night his brother James (Gallagher) is hosting a huge business dinner for a bunch of German would-be clients. And knowing his brother is an embarrassing idiot, Gallagher arranges for Murray to take part in The Theatre of Life. A 3.5 hour theatre-participation production that allows you to be the action hero in your own James Bond adventure. Complications ensue when Wallace misses his Theatre of Life instructions,

From the Web 1.0 days I bring you  The Forum . To preserve them for posterity as Geocities can no longer be found but also it's fun to re-read some of them.

From the Web 1.0 days I bring you  The Forum . To preserve them for posterity as Geocities can no longer be found but also it's fun to re-read some of them.

From the Web 1.0 days I bring you  The Forum . To preserve them for posterity as Geocities can no longer be found but also it's fun to re-read some of them. ----- 21st July, 2001 20-June-2001 Well, I’m sitting here at work, with a million, billion, trillion things to do and don’t know where to start. So I’ve made myself a nice cup of tea, adjusted my chair and made an executive decision. For the past few weeks I have been promising Mike that my next ‘Forum’ contribution would be completed and posted within days. Obviously, from the lack of any material from me, this couldn’t have been further from the truth. Spare time, since the birth of Tomos, has been at a premium so try as I might, my latest column never had a chance. This is the only free time I have had available for weeks so I’m making the most of it. European travel Last week I was sent to Barcelona (first time I’d been to mainland Spain) and my thoughts turned to the wonderful cuisine, sitting on a beach or worst case lyin

From the Web 1.0 days I bring you  The Forum . To preserve them for posterity as Geocities can no longer be found but also it's fun to re-read some of them.

From the Web 1.0 days I bring you  The Forum . To preserve them for posterity as Geocities can no longer be found but also it's fun to re-read some of them.

From the Web 1.0 days I bring you  The Forum . To preserve them for posterity as Geocities can no longer be found but also it's fun to re-read some of them.

From the Web 1.0 days I bring you  The Forum . To preserve them for posterity as Geocities can no longer be found but also it's fun to re-read some of them. ----- 30th May, 2001 This is totally off the subject - but I need to share the heartbreak, the pain, get it off me chest - it's all good therapy. One of the things I have become used to over the past 18 months is saying hello and goodbye to many friends, cities, countries, loved ones……but the hardest and most heartbreaking of all was……my piano. You may laugh but it was a very cool piano. And I was quite attached to it. AND it was the largest and most valuable thing I owned (most people have cars or houses - me, I have a piano.) We first got together about oooh, three or four years ago when I went all musical and decided I wanted to start playing again. So thanks to generosity of a dear friend, I inherited an old upright(!!). Next I signed up for lessons with a mad but lovely music teacher - Olga. Now I wasn't exactly th

From the Web 1.0 days I bring you  The Forum . To preserve them for posterity as Geocities can no longer be found but also it's fun to re-read some of them.

From the Web 1.0 days I bring you  The Forum . To preserve them for posterity as Geocities can no longer be found but also it's fun to re-read some of them. ----- 22nd May, 2001 Would the real fiona.fraser please stand up? I was pretty appalled to learn that somebody posing as myself sent you lot a hoax email from fiona.fraser@telstra.com towards the end of last week. Have just laid eyes on the email ... it makes reference to a bunch of stuff that never happened, at a bunch of places I don't go to, and is written in a a style poorly imitating my own. (God help me if I ever use "Wow!" as a subject heading ...) Anyways ... I ask you all, if you are able, to block fiona.fraser@telstra.com from your email accounts and/or to disregard anything sent from this address in the future. I have somebody investigating the server path of the email on my behalf and I spoke to Telstra this morning to see what they can do about this abuse of their service. While I'd obviously pr

From the Web 1.0 days I bring you  The Forum . To preserve them for posterity as Geocities can no longer be found but also it's fun to re-read some of them. ------ France, 1997 Directed by Claude Berri With: Carole Bouquet, Daniel Auteuil, Running length: 1hr 55 mins. This is from the same guy (Claude Berri) who brought us Jean de Florette & Manon des Source - the sumptuous 1986 family saga set in early 20th century Provence. You know, the one with Gerard Depardieu as a hunchback breeding rabbits, and the neighbours who try to stop him so they can have his land to grow carnations on. The sequel, Manon, brought Emmanuelle Beart - the blonde in the first Mission Impossible film - to our attention. I had no intention of covering Lucie Aubrac, except yesterday I took a punt on it at the local video shop, and when I fired it up on the old mitsubishi at home, I discovered to my delight that it was letterboxed! Letterboxing of videos & movies on TV is the subject of many rants on

From the Web 1.0 days I bring you  The Forum . To preserve them for posterity as Geocities can no longer be found but also it's fun to re-read some of them.

From the Web 1.0 days I bring you  The Forum . To preserve them for posterity as Geocities can no longer be found but also it's fun to re-read some of them. ---- 24th April, 2001 Hard Boiled Hong Kong, 1992 Directed by John Woo With: Chow Yun Fat, Tony Leung Running length: 2 hours 7 minutes Funny story to this one... due to circumstances beyond the control of mere men (squeamish co-viewer). This time round I only saw about 20 minutes of the movie. But nevermind, that's enough to give you the flavour, and anyway, I've seen it several times before. So what have we got.... the movie opens peacefully, with a visit to a teahouse. Hong Kong tea houses are gentle, civilised places where citizens meet to philosophise & generally chill out over a few cups of char. Enter the Hong Kong police force, staking out a bunch of gangsters suspected of doing their business from the premises. While I didn't time it, I estimate that Hard Boiled remains peaceful for approximately 2 minu

From the Web 1.0 days I bring you The Forum . To preserve them for posterity as Geocities can no longer be found but also it's fun to re-read some of them. 20th April, 2001 15 minutes, just 15 minutes, that’s all we want. 15 minutes of peace & quite. Why??? Well, this is the first time that I’ve been able to sit down in front of the pc for 5 weeks and write the second letter from UK. The reason? Quite simple really. Tomos David Burge was born on 19th March and since then life has been somewhat hectic with night-time feeds, nappy changes and of course, lots of hugs and cuddles. Not only do we have the needs of young Tomos to contend with, we also have Philippa (5) and Georgina (3). A real handful but luckily the girls love their little brother and can’t do enough to help (in their own way of course!). By the time they are all asleep and things are quiet, we’ve only had the energy to fall into bed to grab a few hours sleep before the whole circus starts again. On the morning of t

From the Web 1.0 days I bring you  The Forum . To preserve them for posterity as Geocities can no longer be found but also it's fun to re-read some of them. ----- 9th April, 2001 The Celluloid Closet USA 1995 Directed by Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman With: Tom Hanks, Tony Curtis, Gore Vidal, Susan Sarandon, et al. Narrated by Lily Tomlin Running length: 1 hour 42 minutes Ever see Howard Hawk's classic western Red River? Did you guffaw when John Ireland asks Monty Clift if he can see his "fancy gun" and offers to show him his? How about Ben Hur? What exactly was it Messala (Stephen Boyd) wanted from Hur (Charlton Heston)? Specifically, what, that involved so much eyelash batting....? Or Spartacus? Do you prefer snails or oysters? Or both? The Celluloid Closet is basically a string of clips from movies both famous & obscure, linked by talking heads (also both famous & obscure). I love documentaries with clips from movies. I get a buzz seeing how many I know.

From the Web 1.0 days I bring you  The Forum . To preserve them for posterity as Geocities can no longer be found but also it's fun to re-read some of them. ----- 5 April, 2001 I'm starting to think these little rants of mine should be called "Lifestyles of the broke and indecisive." Several weeks ago I fled the vast shores of China for a new, glamorous and better-paid life in Australia. And where am I? Wellington. (That's in New Zealand.) I had a great ole time in 'stralia, but managed to find myself somewhat directionless- oh and jobless. I arrived to a balmy - ok, hot- Sydney day…clean air, bright blue skies and sparkling waters. Oh how lovely it all was. Habour views, the Opera house, ferry rides into town and that very cool bridge of theirs. As I've never been to Australia before, so I popped off on a bus tour of South Australia through to Victoria and back to Syders. The trip down to Adelaide was trying, to put it mildly. Hours on the bus, with the o

From the Web 1.0 days I bring you  The Forum . To preserve them for posterity as Geocities can no longer be found but also it's fun to re-read some of them.

From the Web 1.0 days I bring you  The Forum . To preserve them for posterity as Geocities can no longer be found but also it's fun to re-read some of them.

From the Web 1.0 days I bring you  The Forum . To preserve them for posterity as Geocities can no longer be found but also it's fun to re-read some of them.

From the Web 1.0 days I bring you  The Forum . To preserve them for posterity as Geocities can no longer be found but also it's fun to re-read some of them. ----- 10th May, 2001 Hi all! When I left you last, I was off to commune with nature at my friend Rebekah's place in the country. Rebekah and her partner Dharma don't like to refer to the place they live in as a "commune", even though that is exactly what it is. About 15 adults and a handful of children cohabitate in a collection of buildings (what was once a dairy factory makes up the main area) near a place called Colac, south-east of Melbourne. Rebekah's description of the saltwater lake at the rear of the property had prompted me to bring my bikini ... I had visions of myself floating Dead Sea style, sipping cocktails and working on my tan. Upon arrival, Bek, Dharma, Mac and I packed a picnic lunch and trundled down to the "lake". Puddle. Grotty puddle. Used to be a dump, apparently. Any hopes

From the Web 1.0 days I bring you  The Forum . To preserve them for posterity as Geocities can no longer be found but also it's fun to re-read some of them. ----- 23rd February, 2001 Hey you, it’s here, finally, my last day at good ole, world famous for its journalistic integrity, CRI...and I’m thinking back over the past, very weird, 12 months. Sure I’m going to miss the special treatment afforded to us foreign experts, the chauffer driving me to and from work every day, the sweet girly who comes to clean my room and pick up after me, the “immunity” from everything bestowed on foreigners, or “freaks”, – but godammit, I’m so looking forward to being back in a real country again. Although, I’m not Australia’s ready for me, and all those bad habits I’ve developed here in the middle kingdom....assuming no one can understand me, so talking about them in front of them, smoking through dinner - or for that matter anywhere I damn well feel like smoking, spitting bones on the table or flo

From the Web 1.0 days I bring you  The Forum . To preserve them for posterity as Geocities can no longer be found but also it's fun to re-read some of them. ------ 23rd February, 2001 Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon (China/Taiwan/US 2000) Directed by Ang Lee With: Chow Yun Fat, Michelle Yeoh, Zhang Ziyi, Chang Chen, Cheng Pei Pei Running Length: 2 Hrs. Best to get a simple truth out in the open straight away: Hong Kong actor, Chow Yun Fat is as close to God as you're likely to get, even on a bad hair day. If you've never heard of him - never mind, billions of Asians have. Before we get onto the subject of today's lecture, let me recommend some Chow primers (much as I'd recommend viewing the entire Sergio Leone back catalogue of Spaghetti Westerns, including the ones without Clint Eastwood, if I were to talk about the mighty Unforgiven. Which is on the cards for the near future). I digress.... Check out these John Woo directed/Chow starring flicks: The Killer (starts