Actually, Really, I was going to say...

Modern life, as I repeatedly say, is rubbish, and in so many ways. As mentioned below, I went to my only film of the year at the weekend, the first time I've been to the pictures with my wife for, ooh, 3 years or so. So that was nice.

Not so nice was the legal warning that came on before the show, warning us that it was illegal to film it. My response was to blow a raspberry. It's not only a gross insult to the audience who have paid to see the show, but the kind of impotent and meaningless response to a problem that seems actually to make matters worse. Because people who videotape films know that it's illegal, don't they, without being told? And all I wanted to do in response to the warning was have a camcorder with me so I could film it, just out of annoyance.

I feel the same way about FBI warnings on CDs I've bought and paid for and those crappy screens of text that come up on DVDs, which you are not allowed to skip.

The main problem for the entertainment industry has always been their own employees. I might take a pen home from the office; someone working for Pixar/Disney and its various subcontractors might take home a copy of Finding Nemo. Or the outtakes from the latest Bruce Springsteen session.

So fuck them.

It's as if you went into Sainsbury's, picked up a pack of bacon and were told, after you've paid for it, "It is illegal to use this bacon to kill people."

"It is illegal to use the fuel you have just puchased to drive over the speed limit."
"It is illegal to deface the £10 note you just received from this cash machine."
"It is illegal to club to death the spouse you just married."