The tide is supposed to have turned. In the past 9 days we have been witnessing the gradual shortening of the night, and yet it is still dark by 4ish. I have decided that today is the last "vacation day" and I must say I am disappointed with the management of my time. I have been spending a lot of time before my computer, finding ways to convert mpeg2 format to mpeg4 for use on i-movie. Currently converting excerpts from what must be one of the worst documentaries ever, John Romer's Byzantium, the Lost Empire. I managed to watch only 10 minutes of it before I almost committed ritual suicide. Managed to cling to life by thinking that the images from his visual document of historical murder would be ultimately useful for something else. That is if I manage to find a frame where his narcissistic blobish persona is not standing before some majestic ancient ruin, competing with it for the Ruined Hulk Decrepitude Awards. On a positive note, the fact that this idiot savant has managed to make a career out of crackpot documentaries, may mean that there is a market for better made and historically accurate renditions of ancient drama. Meanwhile I have been reading on and off Ian Banks' most recent non-SF book. It is pretty good. He does the family drama pretty well.