#38 - Telling Jokes To Mars
Hello folks,
Not much to report this week so I won't take up too much of your time. If you're new to Patelograms, I'd start with something like the letter from last time to get a better idea of my usually rabbiting.
I've been working diligently to deliver a story bible for a TV show, alongside a couple of plays, but I've been slower with the bible than I'd like with it, which is fairly frustrating. I try to square this with myself by accepting that the slowness comes from the lovely reason of wanting to map out the whole series in more detail and with greater clarity than I had intended. It's definitely not the worst place to be, is it? Especially since I've been hammering at this project for an age so to feel the ideas flow out now is some kind of soothing. I will try to take this calm into the big pitches I've got coming up before Christmas. Yikes yikes.
Anyway, it's all still on track and I won't complain. Well, I will. But not to you. It's Friday, you don't need that.
CULTURAL CATCH UP
There is some extraordinary telly going on at the moment. Too much of it for us all to watch and engage with together which will inevitably result in the death of the commons or something but I think my pick of what I've seen is Watchmen. It's such an audacious project, this - taking an iconic piece of work and not just adapting it for telly as I'm sure many people would like so as to erase memories of the film (I admittedly quite liked the first 15 minutes and I loved how the world building was done in the credits though the rest was very much 'hit the beats' of the story without understanding why and has one of the cringiest sex scenes known to man) but extrapolating out 30 odd years to the modern day.
The boldness pays off in spades though. There are some fantastic appearances from old favourites, the newcomers hold their own and so far it both manages to hold the intention of the comic while staking its own territory. I think it's one of the first dramas I've seen to tackle modern white supremacy head on, without both sidesing, and it roots this exploration in a very real and often forgotten past. So yes. Get on it, says I. Come for the playfulness, stay for mad scientist Jeremy Irons and Jean Smart's secret box (honestly, just you wait...)
Theatre-wise, I was blown away by the production of Little Baby Jesus at the Orange Tree. I think it'd be quite easy for that play to sag in the wrong hands but this version had a relentless energy which both served the text in a way that would make any writer proud and recreated something of that anarchy of being of a certain age at school. One part in particular that made me smile was the excitement about a fight and the very specific location in which it had to take place. Teenagers rewriting spaces as their own places of joy, worship and catharsis. That preparatory subversiveness of claiming an adult world that's not quite yours but will be thrust on you imminently. (If I remember right, the spot for the fights at Dartford Grammar was behind the bakery but maybe someone can correct me)
KITTY KORNER
Chill Cat had a mildly traumatic Monday getting some of his teeth out but it turns out there are very few joys in life to compete with a drugged up cat shambling his way around your flat. I shouldn't laugh. But his saucer wide pupils made me fairly sure he was impervious to all pain, physical and emotional. It's taken a few days and I've had to cancel plans to make sure he doesn't choke himself gobbling down dry food but he's back to his old self - thanks for all your good wishes. I'm hauling him back to the vet for a check up today and on mentioning this to my neighbour just now he said "oh I'm so glad he's ok, we were all worried about him". 'All' being the people in this part of the estate. Very cute but boy, that cat really gets around...
x
If you're new to Patelograms and like what you've read, you can subscribe by clicking here.
If you're an old hand, thanks as ever for taking the time.
Not much to report this week so I won't take up too much of your time. If you're new to Patelograms, I'd start with something like the letter from last time to get a better idea of my usually rabbiting.
I've been working diligently to deliver a story bible for a TV show, alongside a couple of plays, but I've been slower with the bible than I'd like with it, which is fairly frustrating. I try to square this with myself by accepting that the slowness comes from the lovely reason of wanting to map out the whole series in more detail and with greater clarity than I had intended. It's definitely not the worst place to be, is it? Especially since I've been hammering at this project for an age so to feel the ideas flow out now is some kind of soothing. I will try to take this calm into the big pitches I've got coming up before Christmas. Yikes yikes.
Anyway, it's all still on track and I won't complain. Well, I will. But not to you. It's Friday, you don't need that.
CULTURAL CATCH UP
There is some extraordinary telly going on at the moment. Too much of it for us all to watch and engage with together which will inevitably result in the death of the commons or something but I think my pick of what I've seen is Watchmen. It's such an audacious project, this - taking an iconic piece of work and not just adapting it for telly as I'm sure many people would like so as to erase memories of the film (I admittedly quite liked the first 15 minutes and I loved how the world building was done in the credits though the rest was very much 'hit the beats' of the story without understanding why and has one of the cringiest sex scenes known to man) but extrapolating out 30 odd years to the modern day.
The boldness pays off in spades though. There are some fantastic appearances from old favourites, the newcomers hold their own and so far it both manages to hold the intention of the comic while staking its own territory. I think it's one of the first dramas I've seen to tackle modern white supremacy head on, without both sidesing, and it roots this exploration in a very real and often forgotten past. So yes. Get on it, says I. Come for the playfulness, stay for mad scientist Jeremy Irons and Jean Smart's secret box (honestly, just you wait...)
Theatre-wise, I was blown away by the production of Little Baby Jesus at the Orange Tree. I think it'd be quite easy for that play to sag in the wrong hands but this version had a relentless energy which both served the text in a way that would make any writer proud and recreated something of that anarchy of being of a certain age at school. One part in particular that made me smile was the excitement about a fight and the very specific location in which it had to take place. Teenagers rewriting spaces as their own places of joy, worship and catharsis. That preparatory subversiveness of claiming an adult world that's not quite yours but will be thrust on you imminently. (If I remember right, the spot for the fights at Dartford Grammar was behind the bakery but maybe someone can correct me)
KITTY KORNER
Chill Cat had a mildly traumatic Monday getting some of his teeth out but it turns out there are very few joys in life to compete with a drugged up cat shambling his way around your flat. I shouldn't laugh. But his saucer wide pupils made me fairly sure he was impervious to all pain, physical and emotional. It's taken a few days and I've had to cancel plans to make sure he doesn't choke himself gobbling down dry food but he's back to his old self - thanks for all your good wishes. I'm hauling him back to the vet for a check up today and on mentioning this to my neighbour just now he said "oh I'm so glad he's ok, we were all worried about him". 'All' being the people in this part of the estate. Very cute but boy, that cat really gets around...
x
If you're new to Patelograms and like what you've read, you can subscribe by clicking here.
If you're an old hand, thanks as ever for taking the time.
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