Excess Month 2026 Take 2: Week 4. Conclusion

None of these were full, but I managed to finish them all off in the month

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— Matt Tuckey 🇬🇧 (@matttuckey.bsky.social) 24 October 2026 at 17:36

Watched One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, about a con who’s trying to get out of work detail by pretending to be insane. His face/off against the tyrannical Nurse Ratched drives both of them near-on mentally ill anyway. Stacked cast, including Christopher Lloyd, who, need I remind you, I met at Comic Con Liverpool a few weeks ago. 

Followed this with Human Traffic, a classic from my university days. 5 mates (including the equally baby-faced John Simm and Danny Dyer) plan a drug-addled Saturday night out in late 90s Cardiff, featuring pills, cocaine, after parties, a giant venue, and Radio 1’s Carl Cox as a notorious club owner. Nice one, bruvva! 

Finished the Toffee Chocolate Ballycastle. Incredible liqueur. Drained the White Chocolate version after this. Also recommended. 

Then I watched Dog Soldiers for the first time in probably 20 years, taped on long play from Channel 5. It’s now considered a classic of werewolf movies, featuring a bunch of squaddies dropped into the Scottish Highlands for a routine training exercise… or so they’re told. There’s something out in those woods that’s ripped their compatriots apart, and now it’s coming for them. Great tension. Gritty screen quality as it was taped off TV in around 2005, transferred to DVD the following year and never watched since. Until… I met Sean Pertwee, Sgt Wells, also in Liverpool this month. 

The last day of this excess project is technically tomorrow, but I may as well end it here on the #psychologysaturday upload. The results: well, I’m 82.6kg, 800g up. I’ve made lots of space in my cupboard. I’ve drained 7 alcohol bottles, granted, not from full. I’ve uploaded 15 posts including this one, a fairly standard upload rate. I watched 13 films. I still have 5 DVDs that I’d planned to watch this month. Oh well. I’ve had some good times and some not so good times as the month has gone on. 

As Macho Man Randy Savage once said, I’ve soared with the eagles and I’ve slithered with the snakes.

Excess Month 2026 Take 2: Week 3

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Finished a bottle of delicious Spirit of Yorkshire Cream Liqueur. Like Baileys, but artisan, reasonably local, and tastes better. Well recommended. 

Revisited the 90 Gangster genre with Things to Do in Denver When You’re Dead. Underrated heist movie starring Andy Garcia as Jimmy the Saint, a retired gangster gone straight, called out of retirement for one last job, which predictably goes off the rails. Also making appearances: Christopher Lloyd, who I met last week, William Forsythe, who I met in ‘23 and Treat Williams who died in ‘23. 

 Dug out blaxploitation gem Coffy, starring Pam Grier, who I met last weekend. When her sister is hooked on heroin, a nurse tracks down the junkie pimps responsible and wipes them out. 

Followed this up with Tarantino classic Jackie Brown, also starring Pam Grier in the titular role, as an air stewardess drugs mule caught in the crossfire between the FBI, her bail bondsman (who she falls for), her gangster boss, his pothead girlfriend and a dumb ex-con fresh out of jail. Not seen it in decades. I think for the first time I kinda followed it. Slow burn, well acted, with more depth than his previous 2. Marijuana, alcohol, and lots of raw cash on display. 

Next in the pile: Less than Zero, Marek Kanievska’s 1987 adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis’ debut novel. The book – a rip-roaring, unforgiving portrait of rich late-teen life in LA in the 80s – was an astounding work of short fiction, with no real character arcs and no real purpose either. But the glamour and the pace and the crushing apathy from all the characters keep you hooked on every page. The film may have the same disillusionment and addiction-prone cut-and-copy characters, but the undeniable soul of the book is sadly lacking in the film. Ironically, Robert Downey Jr predicted his own future by playing a loaded drug addict disappointing everyone. Is there a phrase for when an actor does that? There should be. ‘De ja view?’ ‘The Downey Effect?’ 

Following this: Ken Russell’s The Devils, the 1971 formerly banned historical tale of French Priest Urbain Grandier, based on the real man of that name, left in charge of the city of Loudon during a time when The King is attempting to consolidate and centralise his power, intending to strip it from said priest. Complicated scenario enough. But Grandier’s arrival sends the local nuns into mass erotic hysteria, leading to witch-hunts and supposed demonic possession. If you’re ever religiously on the fence, this should push you towards atheism. What follows – prostitution, persecution, prosecution and execution. How’s that for elocution? 

Deep, beautifully shot, horrendously violent for the early 70s and heavily plotted. Recently, film critic Mark Kermode has managed to dig out a few minutes of unseen footage from some movie vault, creating a newer version closer to the now-deceased Russell’s intended film. 

We’re all probably at least culturally aware of Brian DePalma’s 1983 crime movie Scarface from 1983. Few are aware it’s a remake, though, of Howard Hawks’ 1932 original with Paul Muni as Tony, importing beer to Chicago during prohibition. At the time of the film’s production, alcohol was still outlawed, making the title cards (‘what are you going to do about it?’) eerily poignant. A shorter, faster, to-the-point tale of the big hard man reduced to nothing after he betrays everyone who ever helped him, resulting in his eventual downfall. Stunningly executed, impressive almost a century later. 

I had to watch the DePalma / Pacino version after this, partly as it’s in theme, but also as I met Steven Bauer who plays Manny last week at Comic Con Liverpool. Any excuse. This time, it’s the early 80s. Tony’s a Cuban refugee, booted out of his jail – and country – by Castro, and has washed up on the shore of Miami. He climbs from Freedomtown thug to head honcho cocaine importer, whose meteoric rise precedes a devastating betrayal and a brutal fall from power. Both versions are classics. The remake is more fun, but the original more effectively conveys the journey of a man who betrays everyone who ever helped him, ultimately causing all their deaths, and eventually his own. 

Little over a week left of this Excess Project. Lots more planned.

Excess Month 2026 Take 2: Week 2

Well, it’s time for another Psychology Saturday update, including anything vaguely psychology-related from this week. Most of this update will involve this absurd ‘Excess Month’ in which I attempt to make space in my cupboard by drinking as much of the alcohol in it as possible. 

The last few mls of a bottle of Glen Morangie – that I’ve probably had since 2008 – was the first thing to be emptied out down my gullet this week, followed by the remaining quarter of a 2012 bottle of fine Bacardi that I remember buying in Brighton Pride. Also polished off: the last of the Aldi Ballycastle Peanut Butter variety. Exquisite indulgence. 

Finished watching the very weird Twin Peaks series. I’m a big David Lynch fan but I understood none of it. Was I supposed to? Maybe not. The murder mystery remains unsolved after 2 seasons, but there were plenty of other things that were left unexplained, like… all of it. The DVD extras include plot updates that Americans could receive – in the late 80s and early 90s – by phoning a specific number, read out by the actors playing their characters. I still don’t get it. I think the whole point of Lynch’s work is that you absorb the feeling, the dream-like state of the work, without totally getting the narrative. Just breathe it in, like the pinewood air of the fictional rural Washington town. 

Next up: Withnail and I, a 1987 Brit classic featuring 2 1960s pisscan out-of-work actors taking a break in Penrith Cumbria. The cottage they’ve inhabited, however, comes with some obstacles – namely the closet gay uncle they’ve borrowed it from. They drink a lot of alcohol. As it happens, I met Paul McGann – the titular ‘I’ – at Comic Con Yorkshire in June ‘24. 

Revisited a university classic in Old School, featuring Will Ferrell, Luke Wilson and, interestingly, Snoop Dogg and the dude off Mulholland Drive who has a heart attack when he sees the homeless guy. Older guys start an unsanctioned college fraternity, drink a lot, smoke a lot of drugs, and have unwise (and borderline illegal) promiscuous sex. The Dean – that they used to bully in school – is out for revenge. Still funny, but has perhaps not dated well. I saw Snoop Dogg at Parklife in 2014. 

Watched stand Up Guys, a 2012 crime comedy. Al Pacino gets out of prison, meets up with his old career criminal friend Christopher Walken and decide to party to celebrate freedom. Cue booze, cocaine, prescription drugs, prostitutes, hospital visits, car thefts and fine tailoring. Chaotic fun, needed a bit more umph to make it stand out. Ending is a bit ridiculous. 

That’s all so far.

Excess Month 2026 Take 2: Week 1

Bought my last junk food for the foreseeable. Didn’t actually specify that I was going to cut that out, but I will now. Current weight: 82.7kg. I’d like it to go down, but let’s be realistic here.  

Went to Newcastle for the Comic Con. Did a lot of walking around. One drawback to memory difficulties: if I go to an unfamiliar place, like Newcastle, I’m going to park somewhere. I have to take pictures of the car, the street signs and the surrounding areas. I’ve also got to make sure there are no parking issues. Blue Badge has its benefits, but it doesn’t mean I can park anywhere. Bit of stress finding the car after dark in a strange city. I also need to make sure that my phone and external battery are as charged as possible. Running out of power means all the photos, notes and maps are inaccessible. If that happens, I’ve really screwed the pooch. I really should learn how to drop a pin on Google Maps. 

Effort. Came home. Slept all Sunday. 

Went for a curry.

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Wednesday: tried to go to some kind of mindfulness session in Hathershaw in Oldham, but couldn’t find the building. Not the safest or cleanest of places, nor with the best signage. Mum told me about it. Alas, Google Maps took me to a dilapidated building on a council estate. I didn’t hang around. 

Throughout the week I polished off the remnants of a bottle of Talisker that I’ve had for over a decade. Aldi’s latest Ballycastle release – Chocolate Malt Biscuit – was a bit of a misfire.

The Machinist Diet is Complete… sorta

A month ago I set a challenge to diet down to a weight target by eating only a can of tuna and an apple every day. This was, if the DVD is correct, how actor Christian Bale prepared for his skeletal role in 2004’s The Machinist. 

 I started this on the 15th August. I know through experience that diets can be hugely wasteful if you’ve already got food in your fridge and freezer, as diets can end up lasting longer than you might expect and stuff goes off. So I alternated. A can of tuna and an apple for tea one day, a full meal from the fridge freezer the next. Very steadily, the weight started to drop. 

The month-long project ended with a deadline of 15th September. I started at 86.2kg and ended at 77.6kg. I had been 76.9kg at one point. A lot of skipping and gym classes kept me burning calories. The classes were HARD when you’ve hardly eaten anything, and skipping just gets very clumsy and it’s hard to work up a sweat when you’re constantly tripping over the rope through exhaustion. 

It becomes more confusing when you’re watching the first 2 seasons of David Lynch’s Twin Peaks, trying to follow the incomprehensible plot.

 

But the diet is over now, and for the moment, I’m eating what I want. Weight is predictably flying back up, but I’m finding I’m fuller much quicker. A stomach has the tendency to shrink when virtually nothing goes in it. 

I may try The Machinist Diet again next year, by depleting the freezer first and solidly sticking to 1 can of tuna and 1 apple every evening.

Well, I’m still trying this Machinist Diet.

Nearly a month ago I embarked on this idiotic, exhausting and unproductive project: trying to eat the same food that Christian Bale ate for his skeletal performance in 2004’s The Machinist. 

Unfortunately, I have neither the willpower not the willingness to waste food, so throughout the month I’ve – on occasion – eaten only a can of tuna and an apple, as Bale reportedly did daily. But usually my sole meal has been something else – freezer food, soup (until it went off), or roast dinners at my mum’s weekly. The weight is not particularly dropping off. I started at 86.2kg. I was 79kg this morning. 78.1 yesterday morning. Considering how little I’m eating, and how much skipping I’ve done, I can’t understand how this weight is staying on me. I dunno if the 2 kilos of peanut buter I've mullered through have anything to do with it. 

On Tuesday, I’ll have been doing this Machinist Diet for a month. After that, I’m tempted to just fast it out until I hit 72.2kg.

Manchester Boob Walk… on Caraway

A month ago I attempted to get high on caraway, a seed available in many supermarkets, while attending the Manchester Day Parade. According to Dan Nestor – author of Get High Now (Without Drugs) – this is perfectly achievable. Minor dizziness and sickness was the upshot. 

I still had half the pot, so I figured a surreal – but very meaningful – gathering might be an ideal opportunity to try it out again. 

I don’t want to overlook the purpose of the event I attended today. Saturday 5th March, Manchester held host to the Boob Walk, raising awareness of Breast Cancer. There are around 59,400 new breast cancer cases in the UK every year, that's around 160 every day, according to Cancer Research UK. 

Hence, several hundred women dressed as breasts paraded from St Peter’s Square, down Oxford Rd and into Circle Square, where alternative event Manchester Psych Fest was taking place, with a rave, trippy outfits and yoga on offer. So fuck knows what a bunch of high-as-a-kite hippies thought when a barrage of literal tits rocked up for a photoshoot. 

 

Of course, on the way, I was chugging down this half pot of caraway seeds. These, Nestor says, give a sensation that’s ‘identical to taking an aspirin for a headache, but without having the headache.’ Maybe. We met at the Library at 11. By 11:30 I’d eaten the rest of the pot. Again, maybe a slight dizziness took over. I dunno. I made sure I kept drinking water; it was still a mild September day and when you’re walking, you notice the warmth. 

At this point, I noticed someone famous was in Manchester. I wanted to see if I could snap a selfie with them, so I bailed on the boobs and bussed to a different part of Manchester. But where? And for whom? Stay tuned...

Suffragette Annie Kenny getting in on the action

This Machinist Diet is starting to get painful.

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2 weeks ago I started this Machinist Diet: an attempt to eat like Christian Bale did in preparation for his role as an anorexic insomniac. My goal isn't to look like him - it's to hit 72.2kg. 

It’s taking a lot longer than I thought, although it’s really starting to hurt now. Yesterday I just had tuna and apple for lunch, with no other meal all day. Then I blasted through circuit class as best as I could. This morning I did pump, sauna and steam. I’m about to eat again now. I’m still 82.4kg, a very minor reduction considering how little I’ve eaten and how much exercise I’ve done. Both my skipping ropes snapped on Thursday, so I bought 2 more, much sturdier this time. 

One thing I’ve noticed on The Machinist Diet – you don’t have to clean the kitchen anywhere near as much. Hardly any food prep or consumption happens in it. I still have a load of soup to eat, plus stuff in my freezer. I’m out of milk, protein drinks, cheese and eggs. 

Oh, also, I watched all the (very interesting) extras on The Machinist DVD. 

Let’s see what happens next...

Machinist Diet Update

Last Saturday I described this insane diet basted on Christian Bale’s efforts to prepare for his role in The Machinist. 

The problem with a diet like this is that we all have food in our cupboards, fridges and freezers, and there’s no point it going off. So you might as well eat it. And that’s what I’ve been doing: with one meal per day, munching through the eggs, bread and other perishables. I also had made a huge pan of vegetable soup. I had some ingredients for a recipe, so I bought the remaining goods and cooked that too. I’ve actually got loads of non-tuna-and-pineapple stuff still to go. Furthermore, my mum – who doesn’t yet know I’m doing this project – invited me round for a curry. This absolutely stuffed me. When you're only eating one meal a day, it takes a long time to use up. 

Soon, though, it will be just a can of tuna and an apple as a daily meal - as confirmed by the director below...

I watched The Machinist, and understood it a lot better this time. I’ve also watched the commentary track, in which director Brad Anderson clears up a few of the more confusing plot points. I totally forgot Michael Ironside and Jennifer Jason Leigh were in this. 

I started this at 86.2, went down to 83.2 and am currently back up at 85.9. Teething problems. I’m steadily skipping it off. Watch what happens this next week.

 

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The Machinist Diet

 

In 2004 Actor Christian Bale took up the titular role of The Machinist, a factory worker with insomnia whose interactions – possibly hallucinations – with other people drive him to the brink of insanity. I saw it in probably 2006. I enjoyed it but didn’t understand it. I made a plan to watch it again, but then life got in the way. 

20 years later, I’ve managed to get my hands on the DVD and bargain basement price, and it includes some extras. At the time I watched it I was probably in the best physical shape of my life, doing Muay Thai and weights, and eating my mum’s excellent cooking. There was definitely no need to lose any weight. In 2010, however, I moved out, and under the lacklustre care of social services, I spiralled. I had no idea how to cook, shop for food or budget. The abs went within weeks, and never came back. At the time I moved out I was 68kg. Over the years, I spiralled up to 90kg. I managed to diet down to 72 a couple of times, but I’m currently 86.2. 

So. I need to lose exactly 14 kilos. 72.2kg is the weight I know I need to be to fit into my 30” suit trousers. The fastest way I can imagine doing this is this what I understand Christian Bale did to achieve that gaunt physique. 

Pretty simple really: a can of tuna and an apple every day. This might be a terrible idea, but the reality is a working kitchen usually is already stocked with a load of food. If you try these diets, you risk letting the food go off, even if it’s in the freezer. These projects can take longer than you might expect. So, for the moment, I’ll alternate between eating a full meal a day, and eating a can of tuna and an apple a day. I’ll do this until the rest of the food runs out. But essentially, cans of tuna and bags of apples will be all I’ll be buying until I hit the target weight. In the meantime, I’ll watch the whole of the DVD, plus other media, and use a skipping rope until the weight comes off. I’ll try to keep up with gym classes, but I expect I’m going to have to reduce the weights a bit. Fighting the cravings and sticking to the plan is the tie-in to psychology. The mental task of committing to the diet is probably harder than the physical effort of moving when incredibly hungry. 

I’m getting drunk tonight, but after that… it begins.

Getting High on Caraway at the Manchester Day Parade

What is caraway? It’s ‘the fruit of a flowering green shrub, one of the oldest cultivated spices in history.’ So says Dan Nestor in his book Get High Now Without Drugs. Julius Caesar was a fan, as were many other Romans and Greeks. Used for digestion and glowing skin, caraway can also be used as a mild sedative. 

I’ve tried a few supermarket herbs listed in GHNWD, and so far I’ve felt nothing. But I wanted to give caraway a shot. Third time’s a charm and all that. I found a pot in a supermarket and waited for the right opportunity. 

The opportunity arose Sunday 26th July, with the return of the annual Manchester Day Parade, a celebration of Manchester’s diverse cultures and social groups. Visit Manchester says ‘This year's celebrations feature a special Catalan twist, celebrating Manchester's cultural links with Barcelona, alongside the National Year of Reading. Visitors can enjoy live music, dance, street theatre, pop-up performances and interactive activities throughout the day.’ 

 

 

 

 

As you can see from the pictures, there was a heavy Spanish theme to the day’s proceedings, which started around 1pm in St Peter’s Square near the Central Library. Giant papier maché models of people and animals, dancers of several disciplines, a guy dressed as a fish staring into my very soul and several big fuck-off inflatable dragons contributed to the cavalcade of weirdness, which was made weirder when I started to casually chug down this Tesco pot of caraway seeds. 

I swallowed maybe a teaspoon’s worth at a time, over a couple of hours. I’d maybe swallowed half the 40g pot. By around 2pm I started to feel slightly dizzy, then a bit sick. But at least I felt something. 

I’ve still got half the pot, so perhaps I’ll try again at another fittingly bizarre event, maybe a Bongo’s Bingo night or some kind of celebrity meet.