JohnnyRandom

The leaflet in this week's Shetland Times says that it will break even in Year 4, by £7000, if the expected revenue is as forecast in the business plan. It's difficult to discuss this project. It seems like 'You're either with us or against us!' - with no inbetween. I vaguely remember that I liked going to the 'pictures' when the North Star was still a cinema and not a purple shed. I think there could have been a case for a cinema when it was first raised at the end of the 90's, but times change and I can download - legally - movies and TV shows now. Granted, they are not on a 30 foot screen, but even when near a cinema I still weigh up the worth of sitting for 2 or 3 hours in front of a film I can't pause while eating £2 bags of Munchies - compared to doing it in my living room. Cinema attendances have been down for the last couple of years. Some of the arguments centre around 'what are the kids to do round here?' After the demise of the North Star I didn't consider packing it all up and leaving Shetland because there was nothing to do. Somehow I managed - I rented videos and I went to see some of the sparsely-attended gigs from UK bands that dared venture this far North. Mareel would be someplace else to go. Would it enable the birth of ground-breaking filmmakers or platinum-selling bands? We have a dozen sports centres - we are not awash with Commonwealth medalists. Sure i'd GO to Mareel if it already existed, but I'm not fussed whether it gets built or not. The only aspect of all this business that makes me pay attention is the cost. For £9M (or £5M or so of cooncil money) I'd really WANT to feel passionate about something before wanting these elected members give it the nod. The SIC committed the money in '04 when it was arguably in a different financial situation. For several million pounds, shouldn't it be able to look again?

Mareel is the transient glow given off by plankton when they are moved suddenly in the water, such as when a boat might pass over the area of sea they inhabit. Though Mareel is quite spectacular when it is first witnessed, it soon fades away leaving no trace of its presence. How this connects to the cinema and music venue, i'm unsure.

The Omega Man was based on the same Richard Matheson story though, I think? The book is far more atmospheric than the film which looks like another man vs. creature shoot-em-up. As a film by itself, I guess it's pretty enough, with plenty of CGI and moody shots of Will Smith. I wondered why they even bothered using the name 'I Am Legend' since they actually used so little of the book. The 'Legend' (if I remember rightly) is how the creatures will come to refer to Robert Neville after his demise. I guess they gave it a "Hollywood Ending". And Hollywood Beginning and Middle.

I'm re-reading 'I am Legend', because after seeing the film I think I need to send my book back to the publisher. It seems as if the chapter where a carefully manicured scientist saves the world in the last few moments must have fallen out of my copy.