The Money Pit

Ever since the economy started taking its nose dive the prospect of me supporting myself through the PhD has been harder and harder. It doesn't help that Trinity have some very rigid policies regarding the implementation of fines.

I got a letter today asking for more money as my last chunk of fees didn't make it in by the due date. They were about two or three days late because the bank couldn't process the international transaction any quicker, and I don't have an Irish bank account.

Taking head and impacting it against a hard brick-based surface.

So unless something miraculous happens that's my Easter research trip out now. Just can't afford to do it and pay penalties. And I need to find another £2k for the end of September. Am starting to wonder how quickly I could write up the material I've dug up already and how far off finishing I would be.

On the plus side, I've located another archival collection of material from Exclusive in the early 50s which I'm thinking might be useful for a chapter looking specifically at the day to day business model of the company with individual cinemas. A case study within what is essentially one great big case study.

Over the weekend I also caught Sliding Doors for the first time on Film4. According to the new Exclusive website, it is one of the archival properties acquired by the new version of the company. Well, at least its British and fairly low-budget, which is much more in keeping with the old Hammer/Exclusive model than some of the things I've heard recently.