Miscallaneous: 'The Thirty Nine Steps, 'The Lego Movie', great moments of relief and a giant blue die?

My head hurts a bit too much to be creative. It throbs in its tiredness after far too much expenditure of nervous energy and far too little sleep. It has been a week of events, all good and none bad, but tiring in their very existence. Four events: A hospital trip (good outcome, enough said!), a trip to the cinema to see 'The Lego Movie', a community theatre production of 'The Thirty Nine Steps', and a lecture given which should have lasted far far longer.

Being happy with being busy is an acquired ability, and this week was the busiest I've been in a fairly long time, possibly since perhaps the grand days of Aberystwyth period I, or some of the more dubious portions of the Nottingham interregnum, or perhaps some weeks in the Hungary inhabitation. It's easier to be busy when someone wants you to be busy with them. Now to be busy by oneself is paradoxically harder, as sleep and books can be so, so seductive!

So, to events, wherein we find a play (good) and a movie (good). Of the two, 'The Thirty Nine Steps' was far more enjoyable in that way that small scale theatre always is. Minimal sets and paraphernalia make a production far more interesting than glitz and glamour and decorations galore, and the incredibly simple and obvious but to me unexpected option of using a projector to display in text the current location and time on the backdrop was utterly brilliant. I wonder if they do it that way in the big old London productions. Do they instead teleport people back in time to Scottish moors? Is that farfetched? Anyway, it was a good production, with some kooky aspects and the only flaw being an overly shouty lead performance. I think that last part might actually be encoded into the script though. Oh, and there were dancing girls, which utterly stunned me.

In the alternate world of cinema, 'The Lego Movie' was pretty good superficial fun. There was no great depth, no excellent aspect, just general competence and a certain amount of stylistic panache. It's hard to think that a movie which is also the very essence of product placement could be made any better. Seriously, how can you make an advert with any more credibility than this movie has? The story is predictable, but the film itself points that out on several occasions so that isn't a problem. The voice cast are excellent - Chris Pratt was born to play 'Ordinary Joes' - and the animation is jerky but enjoyable once the audience has adjusted. Overall a good movie, but probably not one I'll ever see again. Why on Earth was Lego Batman so ineffectual? I don't understand.

The best part of the cinema trip was the fact that Sam the Eagle has a non-trivial part in the next Muppets trailer. Sam The Eagle will get things to do, and he has a badge. This can only be good. Sam the Eagle. If they continue to highlight the Muppets who were mostly neglected post-Henson then I will be overjoyed. Oh, and yes, that single thing was the standout of the whole movie experience. That might mean something.

Laziness calls. The computer is doing all the work with eight consecutive heavy workloads to punch through by Tuesday. The end of the week has struck!

O.