What I'm Watching
Watched Bubba Ho-Tep on DVD after vaguely remembering someone talking about it. Didn't know at first that it had anything to do with Texan author Joe Lansdale, but after about ten minutes realised that there was only one person who can combine superbly scatological dialogue with shrewd observation ( "Get old, you can't even cuss someone and have it bother 'em") that way. Haven't read the short story, but sounds like they were quoting big stretches of monologue and dialogue directly.

Story is about two elderly eccentrics who discover a soul-stealing mummy stalking the decrepit East Texas nursing home where they live. Less cute than it sounds though: there's a brutal honesty to the neglect which rings true. For a horror-comedy, some of the horror is surprisingly disturbing, given the frailty of the victims.

Overall, good balance between horror and comedy, very proficiently done. Some weaknesses: bit too slow-moving; very low budget forces terrible effects and a very small set; and the slapstick got a bit repetitive.

Definitely worth watching, but only if you have a tolerance for obscenity and cheesiness: if so, don't miss it. Quotes.

Consumerism
Bought the Samsung DVD/hard-drive recorder in the end. Pretty pleased with it. Haven't played a VHS tape other than one I've recorded in years, so it should do for my limited watching. It recognizes DIVX, so you can watch your downloaded stuff: you can just stick the files on a normal data CD or DVD and watch them from there. Haven't been through the manual, but allegedly it lets you record from TV while watching a DVD, which could be handy. Not sure if you record two things at once though: will have to look through the manual some time.

Museums
Dropped in at Tate Modern to try out my new card. Had a look at the Martin Kippenberger exhibition, but not sure what to make of most of it. It's a big exhibition, lots of densely-packed rooms; but most of it seems very referential of other stuff, so hard to know what it means and what's supposed to be ironic. Liked the blurry Mirrors for the Hungover though: could do with one of those.

The exception is the impressive The Happy End of Franz Kafka’s ‘Amerika’: one room packed with items and furniture; most of which is in the form of pairs of chairs facing each other. Amusing and strangely emotional.

Had a look in the Members Room on the top floor. Somewhat less crowded than the public bars, but still about three-quarters full. The indoor bits are fairly cramped, though the leather sofas look more comfortable. Two outside terraces: small terrace at the front with a superb view North over the whole of London; pretty much what you get from one side of the London Eye. There's also a much larger South-facing terrace without such a spectacular view: you get a whole lot of sky but mostly rooftops rather than landmarks.

From the notice at the front, they're unpleasantly strict about members. If you have a Member Plus Guest card you can get exactly one guest in. Member Plus Guest Plus Extra lets you get three guests in.

Overall, you're not getting much beyond easier access: there are similar front terraces open to the public underneath. Young-ish, trendy-ish crowd.

Whisky Live
Will try to decipher my notes sometime. The first dozen or so whiskies are fairly clear, the next few just a couple of words, and the last are completely unreadable to me.