Weekend At Arnopp's... The King Of Kong

In his editorial piece at the start of this morning's Shooting People Screenwriter's Network bulletin, the right reverend Andy Conway spoke thusly: "It's funny, being a freelancer, you're deprived of the thrill of bank holiday weekends. A friend of mine just called round to collect a mannequin (it's a long story) and asked me what I'd be doing Friday. Er... the same as Thursday: working on a script. I'm a writer. We don't really know the meaning of the word 'holiday'. Or is it just me?"

Nope, Andy, it's not just you. When you're self-employed, Fridays and Mondays off only mean that your e-mail inbox will beep less frequently. For me, this long weekend has been set aside as a much-needed period of intense work. Admittedly, this is partly because I'm going on holiday in two weeks (a proper holiday! remarkable) and need to get some work out of the way.

And it's going great, so far. I'm loving the quiet solitude, and have today finished the first draft of a Doctor Who Magazine feature about imminently returning aliens, the Ood. They take a while, these features, pulling together various elements - notes from that tone meeting you went to about eight months ago, notes from the set visit you made in September, interviews you did at various times. Anyway, it's a big ol' job, so I feel triumphant at today's progress, and am rewarding myself with a glass of Chianti. Okay, the lion's share of a bottle. Where, in a frighteningly real sense, is the harm?

I've even found time, this evening, to watch a brilliant documentary called The King Of Kong. It's about the competitive world of arcade game high scores - specifically, the world record on Donkey Kong. Admittedly, retro video games are among my passions. But this doc is so well put together, and so compelling, that I reckon most people would have fun. It's a battle between the distinctly ego-driven, all-American Billy Mitchell (see picture) and the far more personable underdog Steve Wiebe. Tremendous stuff. Examine the official website.