they want blood and badges and long shore drift and something to connect the three with an interlectual shift but they dont grow hops and valerian to get the buggers to sleep and so while they pass (the buggers) we (the parents) creep...
... around like overgrown schoolkids...
happily un-aware
of the absolute and total excellence
required there.
While others make drugs
and invent diseases.
for what mother once called
little sneezes.
Calpol will not save the nation
The cherry chapstick awaits
like a century's corpse outgrown
by the billion deaths of our progeny's success.
This bird.......
January 24, 2010
January 21, 2010
nothing to do with Walter
“If you are a responsible cat owner then you'll have them neutered” said my neighbour as she appraised the two little ginger bundles I'd just brought home for my children.
The reason why particular things people say remain with me can often stay a mystery for years. There was nothing monumental about what she'd said. It wasn't out of character and I don't have lengthy, in depth or important conversations with my neighbours either – so why would this sentence be something that I would repeat to myself over and over again, at different times, with a kind of passive but slightly enquiring wonder?
I don't know.
But I am going to see if I can find out.
Reading 'The Sirens Of Titan' by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. seems to have raised the currency of my neighbours comment – as I am repeating the phrase more often.
I'll begin with an analysis of the sentence from a structural, grammatical and semantic perspective:
If you are
Conditional from the start
a responsible cat owner
A category of moral worthiness with predisposition to the following action
you will have them neutered
-taken on it's own – a straightforward order. The action which is desirable (to her)
No doubt, if these words had been spoken to her husband, they would not have needed the conditional prefix. An order would have sufficed. I should then, possibly, be more acquiescent in the face of her tacit acceptance that I am not a man who she feels she can give orders to. However, her self assured certainty in the creation of a condition of which she alone is the jury and judge seems to me a little, no, a lot – autocratic. Even authoritarian. And moralistic. Particularly in that she was talking about cats which are, in fact mine and not hers.
The further function of her sentence was to notify me in advance of the class of persons I would be joining should I see fit to do anything other than that which she has deemed as 'responsible'. Such is my judgement pronounced in advance, no doubt justifying any further comment or action she might seek to take in the future.
At no point is any of her opinion held up as moot or open to modification or even question.
OK
Having established some clarity in the basic meaning and function of this sentence, I have decided to go in search of other – real life- examples of sentences spoken by other people. I hope that some examination of their context and speakers might enlighten me towards anticipating such behaviour at large and in general. I might then be able to formulate a better way of handling other such transactions with greater self awareness and self satisfaction. And to understand why this sentence has been so oft repeated by me to me....
The reason why particular things people say remain with me can often stay a mystery for years. There was nothing monumental about what she'd said. It wasn't out of character and I don't have lengthy, in depth or important conversations with my neighbours either – so why would this sentence be something that I would repeat to myself over and over again, at different times, with a kind of passive but slightly enquiring wonder?
I don't know.
But I am going to see if I can find out.
Reading 'The Sirens Of Titan' by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. seems to have raised the currency of my neighbours comment – as I am repeating the phrase more often.
I'll begin with an analysis of the sentence from a structural, grammatical and semantic perspective:
If you are
Conditional from the start
a responsible cat owner
A category of moral worthiness with predisposition to the following action
you will have them neutered
-taken on it's own – a straightforward order. The action which is desirable (to her)
No doubt, if these words had been spoken to her husband, they would not have needed the conditional prefix. An order would have sufficed. I should then, possibly, be more acquiescent in the face of her tacit acceptance that I am not a man who she feels she can give orders to. However, her self assured certainty in the creation of a condition of which she alone is the jury and judge seems to me a little, no, a lot – autocratic. Even authoritarian. And moralistic. Particularly in that she was talking about cats which are, in fact mine and not hers.
The further function of her sentence was to notify me in advance of the class of persons I would be joining should I see fit to do anything other than that which she has deemed as 'responsible'. Such is my judgement pronounced in advance, no doubt justifying any further comment or action she might seek to take in the future.
At no point is any of her opinion held up as moot or open to modification or even question.
OK
Having established some clarity in the basic meaning and function of this sentence, I have decided to go in search of other – real life- examples of sentences spoken by other people. I hope that some examination of their context and speakers might enlighten me towards anticipating such behaviour at large and in general. I might then be able to formulate a better way of handling other such transactions with greater self awareness and self satisfaction. And to understand why this sentence has been so oft repeated by me to me....
January 13, 2010
Walter 18
repeat ext. scene: panorama of city
You would have to say it is beautiful up here.
A picture postcard of a view. (pause)
Now this feels like frightening work. (pause)
What have I done?
and what the hell am I going to do next?
Suspended with full pay for up to three months, then half pay for another three. but the Rep doesn't think it will get that far - and neither do I.
I don't know what to say.
Here's some music...
?! TAKE YR PIC>>>!?
(30 seconds)
Walter 19
Ext. Day: A succession of still landscapes
graphic: 5 years on...
I make my living now as a wedding photographer
I went to Art School - steve's suggestion - I spent three years there trying to make a film about God and The Devil meeting up in Starbucks to find out what had gone wrong with the human race. About why the difference between 'good' and 'evil' seemed to have narrowed so much... In the end they decided to amalgamate Heaven and Hell- issuing day passes at first and then giving people open passports to travel freely between - very much like the European Union - It was quite clever. It got a few laughs and has been shown at one or two obscure film festivals.... but, in the end, the need to earn a living re-surfaced as it always does.... but somehow, just looking back at some of these early pictures - especially some of these scenes i shot while still 'on the job' - well, i just think they are interesting - as they are. (pause)
maybe, because I was seeing things for the first time, seeing, as I said at the time - what I was missing - I don't know, it might just be me - but I thought it was worth putting something together. It's not much. Just a Re-presentation if you know what I mean...
I'll finish off with a bit more music.
Thanks for your attention and I'm out of here.......
You would have to say it is beautiful up here.
A picture postcard of a view. (pause)
Now this feels like frightening work. (pause)
What have I done?
and what the hell am I going to do next?
Suspended with full pay for up to three months, then half pay for another three. but the Rep doesn't think it will get that far - and neither do I.
I don't know what to say.
Here's some music...
?! TAKE YR PIC>>>!?
(30 seconds)
Walter 19
Ext. Day: A succession of still landscapes
graphic: 5 years on...
I make my living now as a wedding photographer
I went to Art School - steve's suggestion - I spent three years there trying to make a film about God and The Devil meeting up in Starbucks to find out what had gone wrong with the human race. About why the difference between 'good' and 'evil' seemed to have narrowed so much... In the end they decided to amalgamate Heaven and Hell- issuing day passes at first and then giving people open passports to travel freely between - very much like the European Union - It was quite clever. It got a few laughs and has been shown at one or two obscure film festivals.... but, in the end, the need to earn a living re-surfaced as it always does.... but somehow, just looking back at some of these early pictures - especially some of these scenes i shot while still 'on the job' - well, i just think they are interesting - as they are. (pause)
maybe, because I was seeing things for the first time, seeing, as I said at the time - what I was missing - I don't know, it might just be me - but I thought it was worth putting something together. It's not much. Just a Re-presentation if you know what I mean...
I'll finish off with a bit more music.
Thanks for your attention and I'm out of here.......
Walter 17
(Int. of a computer screen being 'browsed' for plumbing engineers and products)
The boiler has broken down.
It will cost me two and a half grand to fix it.
Daughter - Mel - who changed her name - is not happy with anything I've given her - and that wasn't more than a name according to her.
*expletive deleted* Flaneurs....
I have my annual review tommorrow...
This will be the first time I haven't received a performance bonus in six years.
I'm meeting Steve in the pub afterwards.
If they know anything about him, I'll get the sack.
Oh look at that - it's gravity pumped.. (section of tech data)***** another grand...
And still I am fiming. Filming my own misfortunes instead of other people's... But I think people enjoy the misfortunes of others. Schadenfreude.
Steve's word. Steve should be in prison. What am I doing?
What a muppet....
I should have filed the report on him...
Bastard.
The boiler has broken down.
It will cost me two and a half grand to fix it.
Daughter - Mel - who changed her name - is not happy with anything I've given her - and that wasn't more than a name according to her.
*expletive deleted* Flaneurs....
I have my annual review tommorrow...
This will be the first time I haven't received a performance bonus in six years.
I'm meeting Steve in the pub afterwards.
If they know anything about him, I'll get the sack.
Oh look at that - it's gravity pumped.. (section of tech data)***** another grand...
And still I am fiming. Filming my own misfortunes instead of other people's... But I think people enjoy the misfortunes of others. Schadenfreude.
Steve's word. Steve should be in prison. What am I doing?
What a muppet....
I should have filed the report on him...
Bastard.
Walter 16
Ext. day. (a succession of classically framed still landscapes)
I had a call from my daughter today - which is a bit out of the ordinary - unless she wants money. She's leaving her husband. She was calling me to say she'd fallen out with her mother and had no-where she could go and could she come and stay? I thought I'd better say yes.
I hope this business of filming people in the street isn't going to get me in trouble. It's just very fascinating to catch people on film and un-awares. And it's so much easier to do that when you have cameras hidden inside traffic cones.
I've read up on the legalities and I'm not doing anything wrong. I've decided. Okay, Steve has helped me to see - if I'm honest, that what i'm doing is important work. He sees it as important work. He has told me it's important work I do feel a bit of an arsehole... But he says i'm working in a long tradition of the 18th and 19th century Flaneurs - who were mostly French - right up to the Mass Observation film makers like Flaherty and some other people in the 1930's when everyone lost their jobs and maybe didn't have better things to do with themselves...
I've thought a lot about what Steve says - we've met up a few more times..
He says what I'm doing is 'reportage'. He says quite a few things in French, which is a bit off putting sometimes...
She's coming next week, after she's told her husband. She sounded very certain. I felt quite proud of her. I wonder what she's going to do for a job? Is she expecting me to keep her? Wouldn't be un-reasonable if the CSA hadn't already accounted for all my would be disposable income.
How do I feel? I don't know. What will we talk about? I feel nervous. I haven't really had a conversation with her since - Well, i haven't, I just haven't..
History gets made so quickly......
I had a call from my daughter today - which is a bit out of the ordinary - unless she wants money. She's leaving her husband. She was calling me to say she'd fallen out with her mother and had no-where she could go and could she come and stay? I thought I'd better say yes.
I hope this business of filming people in the street isn't going to get me in trouble. It's just very fascinating to catch people on film and un-awares. And it's so much easier to do that when you have cameras hidden inside traffic cones.
I've read up on the legalities and I'm not doing anything wrong. I've decided. Okay, Steve has helped me to see - if I'm honest, that what i'm doing is important work. He sees it as important work. He has told me it's important work I do feel a bit of an arsehole... But he says i'm working in a long tradition of the 18th and 19th century Flaneurs - who were mostly French - right up to the Mass Observation film makers like Flaherty and some other people in the 1930's when everyone lost their jobs and maybe didn't have better things to do with themselves...
I've thought a lot about what Steve says - we've met up a few more times..
He says what I'm doing is 'reportage'. He says quite a few things in French, which is a bit off putting sometimes...
She's coming next week, after she's told her husband. She sounded very certain. I felt quite proud of her. I wonder what she's going to do for a job? Is she expecting me to keep her? Wouldn't be un-reasonable if the CSA hadn't already accounted for all my would be disposable income.
How do I feel? I don't know. What will we talk about? I feel nervous. I haven't really had a conversation with her since - Well, i haven't, I just haven't..
History gets made so quickly......
January 12, 2010
Walter 15
Mr Creative Writing with the inmates
Mr Smiley....
Better not say his name I suppose....
I told you I'd got him. (You? Who are YOU? - why am I talking to YOU?)
well, then I went and told him I'd got him....
and he just kept smiling....
and asked me if I'd like to have lunch... and it was lunchtime... and i said 'yes. ok'.....
and we had lunch.. and we got on.. quite well....
It even turned out he'd done my job .. for a while.
..but he'd got the sack for not forwarding any referrals from 'nosey neighbours' -as he put it....
I liked him. I even told him about this stuff.. about Pink Rabbits....
He was encouraging. he made it seem worthwhile... I mean, it is worthwhile - or I wouldn't be doing it.
He completely understood that there was nothing I could do about his prosecution - or whether charges were brought - he didn't even seem to want to talk about it... in fact he made me feel guilty for prying.. Like it was obviously necessarry - or he wouldn't be doing it..
I shouldn't have disclosed myself to him like that.
Mr Smiley....
Better not say his name I suppose....
I told you I'd got him. (You? Who are YOU? - why am I talking to YOU?)
well, then I went and told him I'd got him....
and he just kept smiling....
and asked me if I'd like to have lunch... and it was lunchtime... and i said 'yes. ok'.....
and we had lunch.. and we got on.. quite well....
It even turned out he'd done my job .. for a while.
..but he'd got the sack for not forwarding any referrals from 'nosey neighbours' -as he put it....
I liked him. I even told him about this stuff.. about Pink Rabbits....
He was encouraging. he made it seem worthwhile... I mean, it is worthwhile - or I wouldn't be doing it.
He completely understood that there was nothing I could do about his prosecution - or whether charges were brought - he didn't even seem to want to talk about it... in fact he made me feel guilty for prying.. Like it was obviously necessarry - or he wouldn't be doing it..
I shouldn't have disclosed myself to him like that.
Walter 14
(Scene from one of Walter's many surveillance sites)
I've been on at least 12 training courses in the last two years. I've used up about three weeks of annual leave attending training courses: Level 7 'Professionalism In Security. Refresher courses under the PEACE model. Peace! i love that! Police and Criminal Evidence Act....Peace/PACE - either way - it's not the right word.. It doesn't even fit. I did an updated 'Institute of Revenues Rating and Valuation Certificate' and every piece of in-house essential beauracratic udating and obfuscating you could ever imagine....
Every last bit of it made pefect sense.
Everything you learn is essential to the carrying out of a job. And the job you do makes you who you are in the world. It gives you meaning and gives you value. It gives taxpayers their money back - which is a good thing. It stops others from stealing money from the state when they might be most tempted.
Meaning, value, a living.... everything anyone who is self respecting could want or need... from a job.
But where do all the other things that you need come from?
Sometimes i think about what other people do - what motivates them - what matters to them. i look at their faces, the way they move, their expressions and I wonder: Are they like me? Are we all more like each other than not? How do we connect? Am I helping? How do I know if I'm helping? and if I was - would they help me back?
I've started writing more of this stuff now.... As i look up, a man sat opposite me at the Library has left his computer. I am relieved, because, he has seemingly felt it necessarry to restate, all beit under his breath, like a child learning to read, everything he has done. Myself and the three others around our table have tolerated him though. Nobody did more than sigh loudly... Just as he leaves - a woman dressed in black with a slight limp takes over his seat and then shoots up suddenly shouting "excuse me". She goes after him with a watch he has left behind....
Everyday, millions of un-rewarded minor acts of honesty and help like this go un-noticed or recorded. But maybe if they could be, they would show how we are more connected than we know. Show that we want to help each other... That... we are more alike than not....
I did a quite un-usual thing yesterday...
I've been on at least 12 training courses in the last two years. I've used up about three weeks of annual leave attending training courses: Level 7 'Professionalism In Security. Refresher courses under the PEACE model. Peace! i love that! Police and Criminal Evidence Act....Peace/PACE - either way - it's not the right word.. It doesn't even fit. I did an updated 'Institute of Revenues Rating and Valuation Certificate' and every piece of in-house essential beauracratic udating and obfuscating you could ever imagine....
Every last bit of it made pefect sense.
Everything you learn is essential to the carrying out of a job. And the job you do makes you who you are in the world. It gives you meaning and gives you value. It gives taxpayers their money back - which is a good thing. It stops others from stealing money from the state when they might be most tempted.
Meaning, value, a living.... everything anyone who is self respecting could want or need... from a job.
But where do all the other things that you need come from?
Sometimes i think about what other people do - what motivates them - what matters to them. i look at their faces, the way they move, their expressions and I wonder: Are they like me? Are we all more like each other than not? How do we connect? Am I helping? How do I know if I'm helping? and if I was - would they help me back?
I've started writing more of this stuff now.... As i look up, a man sat opposite me at the Library has left his computer. I am relieved, because, he has seemingly felt it necessarry to restate, all beit under his breath, like a child learning to read, everything he has done. Myself and the three others around our table have tolerated him though. Nobody did more than sigh loudly... Just as he leaves - a woman dressed in black with a slight limp takes over his seat and then shoots up suddenly shouting "excuse me". She goes after him with a watch he has left behind....
Everyday, millions of un-rewarded minor acts of honesty and help like this go un-noticed or recorded. But maybe if they could be, they would show how we are more connected than we know. Show that we want to help each other... That... we are more alike than not....
I did a quite un-usual thing yesterday...
January 10, 2010
walter 13
Ext. Landscape day
the golden ratio. Fi-Bo-Na Ki or is that Chi? 'C C I' - i think makes a 'ch'....
I've got this little dictaphone thing now - so i can edit stuff over the er, pink rabbits... FiBonAchi was a mathematician. I did a google search for 'the look of things' and found out about the golden ratio - which is when things look right. It's about 63%. it's meant to be the ratio that things reproduce by and it's all over classical architecture and it pops up in nature everywhere.
you're belly button is 63% of the way from your toes to your head
I was just curious since I started looking back over my locations - how some just looked right and others didn't - to me - and I wondered was this to just me or other people? and why. And why - is because of Fibonachi and the golden ratio.
i dont know. Some things are just right. Right in time, right in proportion, right in every way.
This is right.
(IMAGE STILL)
And this is wrong.
(IMAGE STILL)
What do you think?
the golden ratio. Fi-Bo-Na Ki or is that Chi? 'C C I' - i think makes a 'ch'....
I've got this little dictaphone thing now - so i can edit stuff over the er, pink rabbits... FiBonAchi was a mathematician. I did a google search for 'the look of things' and found out about the golden ratio - which is when things look right. It's about 63%. it's meant to be the ratio that things reproduce by and it's all over classical architecture and it pops up in nature everywhere.
you're belly button is 63% of the way from your toes to your head
I was just curious since I started looking back over my locations - how some just looked right and others didn't - to me - and I wondered was this to just me or other people? and why. And why - is because of Fibonachi and the golden ratio.
i dont know. Some things are just right. Right in time, right in proportion, right in every way.
This is right.
(IMAGE STILL)
And this is wrong.
(IMAGE STILL)
What do you think?
walter 12
Ext. Night: The Garden
it's funny since i started doing this
not that roses look like anything this time of year
but they will
look like something
they're old stock
proper sweet smelling roses
leisure class roses
veblen's rose i garden
(i beg your pardon).. sings drunkenly
it's funny since i started doing this
not that roses look like anything this time of year
but they will
look like something
they're old stock
proper sweet smelling roses
leisure class roses
veblen's rose i garden
(i beg your pardon).. sings drunkenly
walter 11
Shaky hand held shot of one of Walter's surveillance tapes shot from a monitor/screen
this guy's always smiling
he looks so happy
cut
this guy's always smiling
he looks so happy
cut
walter 9
(int. Walter's home.) graphic 'later that night...'
love isnt meant to be measurable. cant buy it... cant quanitify it... but it is a bit moderated, a bit, erm, i mean, it does have a price... its got a lot of different faces. It, you, have it, then you don't.. but it's like a rental word for whatever you're doing at the time.. love is a big excuse.... its definitely not always enough.. its definitely not all you need... but it can be all you have.. it probably is all you have.. but you might be a bit ashamed to admit it.
cut
i dont know how these film makers find the time.. and i cant remember one thing from the next..
its very clever.
film making love making...
jacob's creeking
daft bugger
cut
im a little airplane - yeah (repeat)
love isnt meant to be measurable. cant buy it... cant quanitify it... but it is a bit moderated, a bit, erm, i mean, it does have a price... its got a lot of different faces. It, you, have it, then you don't.. but it's like a rental word for whatever you're doing at the time.. love is a big excuse.... its definitely not always enough.. its definitely not all you need... but it can be all you have.. it probably is all you have.. but you might be a bit ashamed to admit it.
cut
i dont know how these film makers find the time.. and i cant remember one thing from the next..
its very clever.
film making love making...
jacob's creeking
daft bugger
cut
im a little airplane - yeah (repeat)
January 08, 2010
walter 9
ext. Front of a Victorian prison. camera pans slowly to reveal children playing in the snow..
You bring some of these pictures home and look at them, there are things that occur and well, sound editing is not something I'm used to but... this is a prison. I'm actually looking for a guy who is teaching and signing on..which is unusual.. teachers I mean... creative writing with the inmates. The leisure classes.
Anyway, i wrote something:
(clears throat and reads:)
There are 495 schools closed in the county today. Mousehold heath sits right opposite the prison. A sledging haven. It seems a cruel act to sight a prison on a flat county's most impressive viewing site. You can see the whole of the City from here. With it's bankers, it's churches and it's estate agents - and pubs.
today, children are playing like they used to when I was a kid. un-supervised, in large groups and not a health and safety man in sight..
puts paper down
never mind that
i'd like to say it reminds me of when my two were little. We didn't do very much of this kind of thing. It would have had to be sponaneous. We never did anything spontaneous. They're both at University now. I got them a house together with a re-mortgage to help finance them - not sure it was the best time to do it...
I don't think we ever had a sledge...
i've got him, by the way. i have to catch him enter and leave. with all the prison checks, I had to sit there all day...
So..
it's sort of beautiful.
it's everything I missed...
Creative Writing - dear oh dear...... mmmmm
cut.
You bring some of these pictures home and look at them, there are things that occur and well, sound editing is not something I'm used to but... this is a prison. I'm actually looking for a guy who is teaching and signing on..which is unusual.. teachers I mean... creative writing with the inmates. The leisure classes.
Anyway, i wrote something:
(clears throat and reads:)
There are 495 schools closed in the county today. Mousehold heath sits right opposite the prison. A sledging haven. It seems a cruel act to sight a prison on a flat county's most impressive viewing site. You can see the whole of the City from here. With it's bankers, it's churches and it's estate agents - and pubs.
today, children are playing like they used to when I was a kid. un-supervised, in large groups and not a health and safety man in sight..
puts paper down
never mind that
i'd like to say it reminds me of when my two were little. We didn't do very much of this kind of thing. It would have had to be sponaneous. We never did anything spontaneous. They're both at University now. I got them a house together with a re-mortgage to help finance them - not sure it was the best time to do it...
I don't think we ever had a sledge...
i've got him, by the way. i have to catch him enter and leave. with all the prison checks, I had to sit there all day...
So..
it's sort of beautiful.
it's everything I missed...
Creative Writing - dear oh dear...... mmmmm
cut.
walter 8
Ext. Rear of a house with garden and empty bottle of wine with glass on table
erm, this is my house.......
erm, this is my house.......
walter 7
Ext. shot of boat on river - day
It was a man called Thorstein Veblen who invented the idea of 'the leisure class'... This one's new. Selling boats on a website, but also owns a string of b and b's. It makes sense to diversify. None of them are in his name of course. He's probably far too sussed to get a prosecution.. if only they all knew that admitting nothing is 90% of the answer to getting away with everything... I reckon the 'leisure class' would be twice the size it already is. Not that this leisure class is quite like Mr Veblens'. His idea was that most societies produce a limited number of upper class, superior folk, who would spend most of their time engaged in doing things high in status and pay - but relatively low on use.
We didn't have a welfare state when Veblen was working...
oop - movement - he's in...
Wild goose chase this one.
he was an economist... i've been researching a few things lately... along with looking at the world with a different eye - so to speak - after my pink rabbit incident.
Anyway - the leisure class - there he is.... Bastard.
It was a man called Thorstein Veblen who invented the idea of 'the leisure class'... This one's new. Selling boats on a website, but also owns a string of b and b's. It makes sense to diversify. None of them are in his name of course. He's probably far too sussed to get a prosecution.. if only they all knew that admitting nothing is 90% of the answer to getting away with everything... I reckon the 'leisure class' would be twice the size it already is. Not that this leisure class is quite like Mr Veblens'. His idea was that most societies produce a limited number of upper class, superior folk, who would spend most of their time engaged in doing things high in status and pay - but relatively low on use.
We didn't have a welfare state when Veblen was working...
oop - movement - he's in...
Wild goose chase this one.
he was an economist... i've been researching a few things lately... along with looking at the world with a different eye - so to speak - after my pink rabbit incident.
Anyway - the leisure class - there he is.... Bastard.
January 06, 2010
walter 6
Exterior office block day.
This is where i work.
feels a bit weird taking pictures.. i'm in the queue for the car lift.. the weather's. .. oh christ, this is stupid.... It's not meant to be about ME
cut
This is where i work.
feels a bit weird taking pictures.. i'm in the queue for the car lift.. the weather's. .. oh christ, this is stupid.... It's not meant to be about ME
cut
walter 5
EXT. - garden ?- Night....
I had a bit of an altercation last year. Road Rage believe it or not. (laughs) Me! Of all people... with my training.. anyway.. shows it can happen to the best of us... fact is I ended up racing a 17 year old. The judge was very fair in light of my previous good character and obviously I was relieved that he understood how much you need a licence in this job. Well, in the end, he let me go with a ticking off and a 200 pound fine - and a promise to attend a 'driving awareness course'.....
well, i went on this course last week and they did the most amazing thing. i mean you don't expect to be impressed by a 'driver awareness course' - but they showed this video...
there were five basket ball players dressed in white and five basketball players dressed in black. Each team had a ball and the course leader told you to watch and count how many times one of the teams passed the ball... At the end he goes around the room and sees who got it right.
Well, thank God, i got it exactly right - 47 times - me and the two policeman - we were the only ones - but then that's professional training - i have to get those things right... so do they..l especially the CID boys..
But that's not the point. The teacher - course leader bloke - then re-ran the video and just told us to watch without counting... just look, you know? WELL YOU WOULD NOT BELIEVE IT! half way through the game, a giant pink rabbit walks into the middle of the pitch, stops, and waves at the camera for about 30 seconds - and then walks off. NOW. WOulD U BELIEVE IT? NOBODY... Not one of us even noticed. Naturally, I suspected it was a different film. But no. it was a video. The tape never came out of the TV and the TV got rewound after the first showing...
it got me thinking -
People often only see what they are looking for. And if I could miss a giant pink rabbit staring at me and waving for 30 seconds - what else might I be missing - you know?....
It just made me think...
(long pause) .. I really ought to prune those roses.
pause and fade to black
I had a bit of an altercation last year. Road Rage believe it or not. (laughs) Me! Of all people... with my training.. anyway.. shows it can happen to the best of us... fact is I ended up racing a 17 year old. The judge was very fair in light of my previous good character and obviously I was relieved that he understood how much you need a licence in this job. Well, in the end, he let me go with a ticking off and a 200 pound fine - and a promise to attend a 'driving awareness course'.....
well, i went on this course last week and they did the most amazing thing. i mean you don't expect to be impressed by a 'driver awareness course' - but they showed this video...
there were five basket ball players dressed in white and five basketball players dressed in black. Each team had a ball and the course leader told you to watch and count how many times one of the teams passed the ball... At the end he goes around the room and sees who got it right.
Well, thank God, i got it exactly right - 47 times - me and the two policeman - we were the only ones - but then that's professional training - i have to get those things right... so do they..l especially the CID boys..
But that's not the point. The teacher - course leader bloke - then re-ran the video and just told us to watch without counting... just look, you know? WELL YOU WOULD NOT BELIEVE IT! half way through the game, a giant pink rabbit walks into the middle of the pitch, stops, and waves at the camera for about 30 seconds - and then walks off. NOW. WOulD U BELIEVE IT? NOBODY... Not one of us even noticed. Naturally, I suspected it was a different film. But no. it was a video. The tape never came out of the TV and the TV got rewound after the first showing...
it got me thinking -
People often only see what they are looking for. And if I could miss a giant pink rabbit staring at me and waving for 30 seconds - what else might I be missing - you know?....
It just made me think...
(long pause) .. I really ought to prune those roses.
pause and fade to black
walter 4
repeat of first shot of rear of factory
It's funny looking at places that no one ever really looks at. Like this one. The obvious thing to do is to think nothing of them at all. but then, you do, a bit.. start to think something. you probably shouldn't. But you do - when you spend so much time looking.....
pause and remain on shot
It's funny looking at places that no one ever really looks at. Like this one. The obvious thing to do is to think nothing of them at all. but then, you do, a bit.. start to think something. you probably shouldn't. But you do - when you spend so much time looking.....
pause and remain on shot
walter 3
shot cuts poorly to a slightly different framing of the pool and lesiure facility - slightly more symmetrical this time
Look at that big piece of wood. I wonder what it is. Bloody massive. How'd they get it to bend so much? A great big piece of wood like that... amazing.
I 've got him now. That'll be a benefit saving. Possible prosecution. Four weeks, two hours a day minimum. i'll make an appointment to see the employer now... and bam.. another job well done. I got him with the yellow cone this time. So I could keep running this shot on the red one. one's for general roadworks and the other's for gasworks. We only need to mark out where the hole goes with that yellow landscapers spray - no need to interfere with the highway. no wonder people think council workmen never do anything. Anyway... (long pause) Right, OK... work to do.
CUT
fade to black and short pause
Look at that big piece of wood. I wonder what it is. Bloody massive. How'd they get it to bend so much? A great big piece of wood like that... amazing.
I 've got him now. That'll be a benefit saving. Possible prosecution. Four weeks, two hours a day minimum. i'll make an appointment to see the employer now... and bam.. another job well done. I got him with the yellow cone this time. So I could keep running this shot on the red one. one's for general roadworks and the other's for gasworks. We only need to mark out where the hole goes with that yellow landscapers spray - no need to interfere with the highway. no wonder people think council workmen never do anything. Anyway... (long pause) Right, OK... work to do.
CUT
fade to black and short pause
walter 2
Ext. Shot of Modern Municipal Swimming Pool and Leisure facility..
I've not done this before.. I'll be in deep do do's with Stationery... but I just fancied making a bit of film for myself.. y know?... I've bought my own tapes.... The others are all sealed and audited .. And quite ight so .. rules of evidence .. I dare say im breaking some other rule, but if I am, I dont know what it is .. Ha HA... Ignorance as a defence... There he is, bastard....... I've decided to make a little memoir.. I reckon I've got something worth saying... by now.... (Long Pause)
cut
I've not done this before.. I'll be in deep do do's with Stationery... but I just fancied making a bit of film for myself.. y know?... I've bought my own tapes.... The others are all sealed and audited .. And quite ight so .. rules of evidence .. I dare say im breaking some other rule, but if I am, I dont know what it is .. Ha HA... Ignorance as a defence... There he is, bastard....... I've decided to make a little memoir.. I reckon I've got something worth saying... by now.... (Long Pause)
cut
Walter 1
Long Shot of the back of a factory
Look at everybody with suspicion.
That's what I do.
I think it's what everyone does to a point..
The boys in Customs and Immigration call it: 'Behavioural Assessment': Which is slightly misleading, seeing as how it actually involves what would have been, up to about a year ago, a breach of personal data protection laws.
I have to say, having that kind of access to personal information would make my job a damn sight easier. But I'm glad I don't. Makes the work more interesting. Leaves you something to DETECT...
So I look at everybody with suspicion....
Look at everybody with suspicion.
That's what I do.
I think it's what everyone does to a point..
The boys in Customs and Immigration call it: 'Behavioural Assessment': Which is slightly misleading, seeing as how it actually involves what would have been, up to about a year ago, a breach of personal data protection laws.
I have to say, having that kind of access to personal information would make my job a damn sight easier. But I'm glad I don't. Makes the work more interesting. Leaves you something to DETECT...
So I look at everybody with suspicion....
Another Bloody Beginning..... 'Walter'....please add comments.
Synopsis/plot
(with invitation to comment/revise)
david walter cartright - or 'walter' works as an 'SFI' or Special Fraud Investigator for the department of Work and Pensions. His rank is middling - an 'EO' or Executive Officer. At the age of 47, walter still feels he has 'made something of himself', especially given that he struggled with mild Dyslexia at school, which held him back. In this film, we see the world through walter's eyes (and his array of hidden lenses) learning something about eternal themes of power, privacy, greed and envy along the way. The story is of walter's mounting personal epiphany: As he realises his professional ambitions have hit a 'glass ceiling', he begins to daydream and to regard his work from a different perspective...
What began as a duty of surveillance to catch bad guys on her majesty's service develops into a growing aesthetic and creative pastime as walter begins to study his images more closely and to ruminate on them more openly, he begins a new quest, with his work increasingly taking a backseat, walter begins to film 'locations' - as he begins calling them - for a very different set of reasons...
The final and surprising climax of the film brings walter towards a dangerous - and ironic - conclusion: As he begins to venture out with his camera - purely as a photographer and in his own right - his choice of location puts him in the wrong place at the wrong time with potentailly hazardous consequences....
Walter 21
About two years ago, i was an Executive Officer working for the Dept for Work and Pensions - catching dole - scroungers who were making a dis-honest living mainly out of the decent tax payers of this country
I started filming things. i didn't set out with the intention of making a film... in fact the main reason I started was the advice of a union Rep to 'keep some kind of daily record of events'...
I haven't stopped since.
This film is about the last two years of my life. Two years during which I really haven't had any idea about what I've been doing at all. Or so it turns out. The funny thing is - I started out knowing everything about what I was doing.
Looking back, that was my problem....
(with invitation to comment/revise)
david walter cartright - or 'walter' works as an 'SFI' or Special Fraud Investigator for the department of Work and Pensions. His rank is middling - an 'EO' or Executive Officer. At the age of 47, walter still feels he has 'made something of himself', especially given that he struggled with mild Dyslexia at school, which held him back. In this film, we see the world through walter's eyes (and his array of hidden lenses) learning something about eternal themes of power, privacy, greed and envy along the way. The story is of walter's mounting personal epiphany: As he realises his professional ambitions have hit a 'glass ceiling', he begins to daydream and to regard his work from a different perspective...
What began as a duty of surveillance to catch bad guys on her majesty's service develops into a growing aesthetic and creative pastime as walter begins to study his images more closely and to ruminate on them more openly, he begins a new quest, with his work increasingly taking a backseat, walter begins to film 'locations' - as he begins calling them - for a very different set of reasons...
The final and surprising climax of the film brings walter towards a dangerous - and ironic - conclusion: As he begins to venture out with his camera - purely as a photographer and in his own right - his choice of location puts him in the wrong place at the wrong time with potentailly hazardous consequences....
Walter 21
About two years ago, i was an Executive Officer working for the Dept for Work and Pensions - catching dole - scroungers who were making a dis-honest living mainly out of the decent tax payers of this country
I started filming things. i didn't set out with the intention of making a film... in fact the main reason I started was the advice of a union Rep to 'keep some kind of daily record of events'...
I haven't stopped since.
This film is about the last two years of my life. Two years during which I really haven't had any idea about what I've been doing at all. Or so it turns out. The funny thing is - I started out knowing everything about what I was doing.
Looking back, that was my problem....
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