Shawshank, Xenomorphs and Spring Weather

Sitting out on the patio at the moment trying to figure out what to include in this blournal entry. Today’s one of many beautiful days we’ve had over the past week or so. The sun is shining, the birds are tweeting and although it’s warm, there’s a subtle breeze in the air, so it’s absolutely sweltering. I have a bottle of water by my side so I can stay hydrated and I’m in my typical state of mind where there's a million plus things that I wanna say but I don’t know how to say them or where exactly I should start.

I was in Dublin on Saturday. Took the train from Portadown and went to see a stage adaptation of The Shawshank Redemption at the Bord Gais Energy Theatre. I haven’t read the original novella by Stephen King as of yet but the film version with Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman is an all-timer, so I was curious to see how they would adapt it for the stage. Overall, it was a solid production and I liked how every scene in the play is set entirely within the prison. It lends to that feeling of being trapped and confined, even if I personally think it also has the side effect of leaving some parts of the story feeling slightly half-baked. To be fair, that’s part and parcel with the adaptation process. You can’t bring over everything from the source material. I wasn’t going into this play expecting, nor did I want, this to be a scene-by-scene recreation of the film, but it is frustrating when pivotal scenes take place entirely off-screen. Regardless of this little gripe, I still enjoyed the stage production. The cast was superb and the final scene hits almost as hard as the film so I can’t complain too much.

Oddly enough, the train ride from Portadown to Dublin felt like an adventure. Normally, I’m used to taking the M1 down to Dublin, which is a pleasant enough drive but doesn’t leave much room for sightseeing or looking out, whereas when you’re on the train, all you have to do is just look out the window and take in the scenery. It’s a sight to behold.

Sunday was Alien Day but regrettably, I didn’t do anything to commemorate it. There were a few other things going on that day so yeah… I didn’t rewatch any of the movies or even make a start on watching Alien: Earth, which I really need to watch at some point and I’ve been meaning to do since it came out last year. Apologies for that. I just don’t do timely. At all

I think I’ll wrap things up here. I have a midweek pub quiz to attend so… see you soon.