Pick a colour

Rain, rain, rain ... lots of it during the night, into the morning, and on and on throughout the day: some Midsummer's Day this turned out to be!

There was no point venturing out, so the doors of Carl's Kino opened early for a showing of No Country for Old Men. Phew! Full of shocks, fairly violent in spots, well made ... but still there was something unsettling about the whole thing, as if there were more endings than there should have been, or as if they decided to get full value from Tommy Lee Jones (to me at least, the only big-name actor and recognisable face in the film). I guess what I'm saying is that I found the end unsatisfactory.

Carl has been talking about getting some painting done in his house. The need became greater recently because of damp damage in one corner of the back room, caused by a leak which has now been repaired. He had a rough idea of what colours he had in mind, and he'd actually managed to pin down a painter to the extent that he came back to confirm a price and give a rough indication of when he'd begin work. So we went hunting for paint samples. It's all so confusing, really, and it's so difficult to decided what to go for on the basis of the tiny (and generally inaccurate) colour samples on the cards the paint manufacturers produce. This was the first time I'd seen A4-sized real-paint samples made available, and I thought it was a great idea. Carl preferred getting small sampler pots and actually painting onto the walls. It took a while, but we left with three alternatives. I wish him luck with the final decision-making.

After last night's dinner disappointment I was pretty well famished by three o''clock, so we went for pub-grub lunch in the Stillorgan Orchard (much changed -- and not for the better -- from the days I used be a regular frequenter there). I was back home by 5.30, since when (a) the rain stopped, (b) I've had a quick look at the great new Blip Forums, (c) I had a bit of a lie-down, and (d) I did some work. French Grand Prix tomorrow. Ferraris 1 and 2 on the grid, with Lewis Hamilton starting 13th because of losing 10 places for being a bold boy in the pits last time.