February 2017 – Fooyah

February 28 2017October 18 2017

Lego 44 Model 60101

Here is the Lego City Cargo Aeroplane.

It’s a pretty neat little model.

On immediate inspection I think it looks a lot like the Lockheed S3 Viking, but I will soon be corrected if it doesn’t.

February 27 2017October 18 2017

The Scala is a curious venue in Kings Cross. It might not actually be in Kings Cross geographically but it is close enough to the station and so that is where I proclaim it to be. I had been here before to see Therapy? and quite liked the venue. This time I was watching VNV Nation who I very briefly saw last year at M’Era Luna when they got a harsh review from me but Smith and I were rushing off to see Hocico so we only saw them briefly.

Doors were at 7pm and we got in there around 19:30 hrs after grabbing some food at a Cho Zen [where I had never eaten before]. The room is up three flights of art-deco stairs [I think they were art-deco] and around a few corners. It’s not an easy venue to fire exit I imagine.

This particular tour was a compendium tour. I hadn’t realised that, I think Smith and I got tickets because we thought the atmosphere and people would be quite similar to Slimelight and we figured the music would be bearable. There was no support. Just straight in to VNV Nation playing loud and proud.

I didn’t know a great deal about the band before this gig and I still don’t really but I can tell you the singer is Irish. He also has similar issues with people using camera phones as I do. After the first song he said that he is happy with people videoing or photographing the band but everyone needed to turn off their flash/lights and also keep the camera in front of their own face, not block those around. In terms of the flash he is spot on. Why use a low powered flash in that sort of scene, it won’t work, it’ll just ruin your final product.

One of my issues with people and cameras is they use the digital zoom to get a “better close up” but the problem is they would be better off taking a full zoomed-out picture and then cropping. Digital zoom and cropping achieve roughly the same thing but less jerky.

So, I need to speak about the songs. All of their songs are pretty good. They are well constructed and good to dance to. The lead singer was good at getting the crowd going and he was really the only one doing any movement as the others were stuck behind electronic stuff.

They played two slow songs. During a song, which may or may not have been a slow one, the singer got the lights turned down and the room was lit by people holding the lights on their phones up. This was very nice and atmospheric.

https://www.facebook.com/42907656257/photos/10154257794271258/

This was a good fun gig. Nearly three hours of a single band playing their greatest songs from over twenty years of work. I enjoyed it. I’d happily see them again.

The “scene” wasn’t as alternative as I was expecting. There weren’t that many people who were part of the dress up scene such as the ones at Slimelight or M’Era Luna.

February 27 2017October 18 2017

Gorgeous Curves

While taking a jog from SMP near junction 12 of the M20 here in Kent I noticed the gorgeous curves of a water tower. I like this design because it clearly is a DESIGN and not a “let’s build it as strong as possible” clump of bricks. Most water towers are inelegant, this one is gorgeous.

I have a suspicion that these curves are catenaries, Gaudí uses them a lot in his cathedral.

Along with the lovely curves of that delicious monster the sun was rising over the sea. Here’s a view.

I’m quite proud of that last picture. I do think I’d be quite happy living is this home:

February 20 2017October 18 2017

Lego 43 Model 75115

This particular Lego model is coincidence. It has nothing to do with the excursion yesterday. Surprisingly the shop at the Identities Exhibition had zero Legos!

February 19 2017February 20 2017

Star Wars Identities

In part of the O2 arena complex there is an exhibition at the moment entitled Star Wars Identities. I went to see it today. The Millenium Dome as people my age remember it, the white elephant of bullshit that cost nearly a BILLION pounds for a year’s worth of exhibition about stuff at the turn of the millennium [although they got the wrong year, it should have been 2001 obviously]. I went to the dome in 2000 and it was shit. Then it lay empty as far as I know and at some point O2 coughed up money and it seems to be a half decent venue. I’ve not seen a band there but I have seen tennis and it was OK for that. The outer part of the arena seems to consist solely of places to buy food.

The exhibition was a little underwhelming. I knew there were going to be outfits, models and robots but I didn’t realise just how much “identity” was going to be in it. It was very nice to see the stuff from the films and I really enjoyed that but I’m not a fan enough to want to see developmental sketches and stuff like that. Just show me the real stuff.

The opening video section was about how Anakin and Luke were both heroes. How the choices they made changed them. And then there was more stuff but I had stopped listening. I just wasn’t interested in trying to shoehorn a reason for this exhibition into the exhibition. It wasn’t necessary. This sort of thing would have been good just by itself.

The best bit was being given a wrist RFID thing that meant I could create my own Star Wars character as I went around. By answering questions and making choices about my fictional life I would end up with a character.

I chose to be a wookie. There were nine other question stations and in the final hall area I could see the chosen character on the wall. I also got an emailed version which will appear below.

Anakin's Speederbike — Anakin’s Speederbike

There was an expensive lot of tat being sold in the regulation shop at the end of the exhibition. I bought a few things including these glasses.

So, here is my character:

Here is my biography:

I was raised on the gas planet Bespin, where members of my community made their living working as engineers in Cloud City’s reactor core. On holidays my friends and I would traditionally relax in the luxurious floating spas.

My parents raised me with a mix of independence and support, and I inherited my natural abilities from them. Later on I spent some time with the wise Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi, whose guidance left me with knowledge I still use every day in my job as a fighter pilot.

I remember this one time when I crash-landed on a strange planet. I didn’t let this affect me too much, though; instead I became a successful trader of scrap metal and found a home among the Jawas.

People often tell me I’m a generally organised and prepared person, I also tend to be adventurous and curious. But the most important thing to me is universalism: after all, as they say, equal rights for all and special privileges for none.

I have only a low sensitivity to the Force, but the Emperor saw potential in me. When he offered me limitless power in exchange for my allegiance, I fought the urge to join him and his evil minions and rejected his offer.

Overall it was expensive for what it was, although I expected that. I remember seeing a Lord Of The Rings exhibition at the Science Museum years ago and that was great. I’m glad I went as I love the photo I took of the Tusken Raider and the view from the cable car.

I also took a trip over the Thames in the cable cars sponsored by Emirates.

February 16 2017

Hacksaw Ridge

I went to the cinema by the river Medway [Rochester] and watched Hacksaw Ridge. I rated it on the IMDB website and as ever you should read this communication about my rating system.

I rated Hacksaw Ridge (2016) 6/10 #IMDb https://t.co/MsCytTnPlL

— Ian Parish (@iparish) February 16, 2017

My general overview is that I won’t watch this film again. I enjoyed it but I am thoroughly depressed at man’s ability to kill and destroy each other. I do understand that at times it is necessary to do these things but I wish it wasn’t.

If you want to see a boot camp sequence then you only need watch Full Metal Jacket. There was a lot of soap opera joyness about the USA scenes. I will say that Hugo Weaving was fantastic as the father, he really showed the horror of coping with war. I am not sure that his friends would have been buried in the hometown but I could be wrong.

When we get into battle this film blows you away and I almost cowered waiting for the calm. The noise and assault was impressive. The battle scenes are brilliantly horrific and scary. Fuck war.

This was a “true story” and the interviews at then end played out some of what we saw. This is worth a watch.

February 14 2017

The LEGO Batman Movie

I tried to coast the car as far as possible to Rochester cinema today, but there are too many uphills in the way and I had to use a fair bit of fuel. I do tell myself that all journeys that start and end at home are potential energy neutral [given particular losses for downhill and energy conversion] but still, hills annoy me. I also don’t want to be a particularly sad Prius driver, I do like power mode. I went to see Lego Batman and I rated the film on IMDB, perhaps I could trouble you to read this communication about the rating system.

I rated The LEGO Batman Movie (2017) 6/10 #IMDb https://t.co/aL4hyefXad

— Ian Parish (@iparish) February 14, 2017

Well, overall I would say I was largely not affected by this film. The opening was good, I liked the Batman character and his voice-over. but I think I’m too old for these films now. It all seemed just a little too busy. There was always so much going on in the film and on the screen it was hard to keep up with the characters and potential jokes that were happening. I am positive it was funnier than I thought, but I only smiled a couple of times.

While I guess this film was inevitable after the Lego Movie, I think Batman has been done to death. Putting it in Lego didn’t change or improve it. If anything it possibly messed up the Lego brand a bit. This film could have just as easily been live action or animated [not Lego] and it would have been the same. There wasn’t any reason for it to be Lego.

I didn’t leave the cinema amazed with what I had just seen, I left feeling “huh”, or whatever letters spell the equivalent of a “shoulder shrug”. It is quite possible that I just don’t like Batman. I remember seeing the Tim Burton version and thinking “whatever”, I do now recognise it as great though. All versions since have left me cold and irritated. I’m just not made for Batman.

February 14 2017

Infrastructure Update

It’s about time I updated the home network diagram from this communication. The original communication was written in January 2014 so three years seems a reasonable length of time for an update. It shouldn’t really be a surprise that the network has grown. There are some notable additions:

Raspberry Pi
Wireless Printer

I don’t have any “smart” kitchen appliances or anything like that, I’m not sure I see the point of them! Click the picture for a pdf file.

February 13 2017

Secret Scotney Dark Side

I went and visited Scotney Castle today. The sun was shining and it was lovely out, a little cold but largely nice. The skies looked great, far better than all the grey we’ve had recently. The car managed 62 mpg on the way home, so I’m quite happy with that. Scotney is a lovely large house that definitely isn’t a castle. The owners deliberately ruined the old castle to create a good looking folly after the newer house was built.

While wandering around the newer house I noticed a wooden panel in the library.

Now this is quite disturbing. When you focus on the words it becomes obvious that there may be secret Star Wars fans when the house was designed in the 1800s!

Apparently the phrase should be:

I care not for quotations of kings and queens. Also, they are quotations, not quotes.

February 12 2017November 6 2020

T2 Trainspotting

18. It was a proper 18 film. These are quite a delight because you get proper violence and language and sex. These films are grittier and more interesting than those certified below 18. When I think about it, you don’t get many horror films that hit the 18 mark anymore, I wonder if that’s because the market for those types of films is really teenagers. I’m pretty sure that some films change certification over time. Alien was an X on release [over 18] but is now a 15 on DVD release, people’s sensitivities get less as society evolves.

So, I went to the cinema at Royal Tunbridge Wells, it’s an Odeon, or the one I went to is, there may be other cinemas available. The cinema has an Italian restaurant on the mezzanine floor, which was nice and saved having to go to a big-chain-edge-of-town restaurant. Here is my rating which I score on IMDB and you should read this communication if you don’t get how my system works.

I rated T2 Trainspotting (2017) 8/10 #IMDb https://t.co/BdwEfmBMx8

— Ian Parish (@iparish) February 12, 2017

I really enjoyed this film. It was funny, touching and terrifying at the same time. I thoroughly liked the original and this is a good follow on. T2 shows how films can be sequels without just re-running the original film. There were plot points that were similar but you can watch this without knowing the original.

The film looked great and the soundtrack was excellent as expected.

It is quite scary just how much the actors have changed while also looking exactly the same, the cutting from one film into another deals with this brilliantly. There is liberal use of the word “cunt” by Begbie and at times I almost needed subtitles for him.

February 12 2017December 21 2020

Don’t Patronise This

While waiting for my fish and chips to cook last night at the world’s most homo-erotic chip shop I saw a magazine with the following advert:

The Young Men’s Christian Association has a Wellness Centre which I guess promotes wellness.

WELLNESS is NOT a DEFINED MEDICAL TERM. Therefore it means fuck all in this context. It’s why promoters of bullshit use the term, because it DOESN’T MEAN ANYTHING. Look, I used bold and block caps there! I must be annoyed.

Even the logo looks new-age and bollocks.

Of the services offered at the religious centre (which probably isn’t religious but the name is) some are utter bullshit before we’ve even had to look into them and some are possibly iffy by association. I have looked at their website and I will quote so in the following.

Osteopathy

I have rubbished this within these communications and so I can tell you now, it is bollocks. On the website there is information about osteopathy and babies. Just don’t.

They claim to be able to help with

migraines and headaches
asthma
sports injuries
disc problems
sciatica
trapped nerves
tennis elbow
arthritis (wear and tear)

I very much doubt this as there’s no good evidence to show that osteopathy works for anything. They even lost “lower back pain” recently. Have a look at the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). God, this makes me so sad.

“Oh but it worked for me/my relation”

No, it probably didn’t. We humans are terrible at separating out what really happens and our experience.

Sports Massage

It feels nice. It massages you. It costs you money. They claim it helps you but these are all self-limiting problems and while a massage can do damage it might help you.

Acupuncture

Grade A bollocks. They claim it works:

Acupuncture is the insertion of fine needles into the skin at predetermined points to affect the internal levels of energy. It may be deficient, excessive or stagnant and therefore not flowing in the most efficient manner. When energy, called Qi, in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is not in balance then we see symptoms, at all levels. Some symptoms are obvious, such as those affecting the physical, others less so, such as those that affect the emotional and mental.

There is absolutely NO evidence for Qi. In fact different practitioners will use different locations on the body to cure the same thing. It doesn’t work.

Acupuncture and other traditional Chinese medicine was promoted during the Barefoot Doctor scheme the communist government of China so that Doctors, who were short on real medicine, could “do something” to keep people happy even though it clearly didn’t work.

Reflexology / Aromatherapy

See “massage”. This is all bollocks. Aromatherapy smells nice. Reflexology feels nice. It doesn’t do anything else. The Wellness Centre says:

Boosts the immune system, which is weakened by constant stress.
Can relieve stress as it calms and soothes.
Is a good preventative medicine.
Improves the circulation.
Can be very helpful at encouraging the body to heal itself and gives the recipient a feeling of well being, relaxing mind and body.
The Digestive system is encouraged to work to optimum efficiency.

Boosting the immune system means nothing. Is a good preventative medicine for what? Encourages the body to heal itself, now I’m laughing, such a wishy washy phrase.

Psychological Therapy

This is probably the most important here and possible the one that can the most effect but I would worry about the company that this service keeps and I would prefer to book myself into a proper clinic. Yep, having looked over the website this seems quite legit. It’s just a shame it’s in a house of crap.

Physiotherapy

This is another that is probably good. Physiotherapy is a protected term and so it should be the real stuff. The problem is it’s hard work and some people obviously want the quick fix of bullshit medicine (see above). The chap’s website looks pretty flash but overall this is the second worthwhile thing on here.

Nutritional Therapy

This is bollocks. If you want the proper stuff you go see a DIETITIAN, that is a legally protected term for someone who has qualifications in diet. ANYONE can call themselves a nutritionist because it’s not legally protected. She claims she is a Naturopathic Nutritional Therapist, this fills me with utter fear. Naturopathic is a nonsense term invented to sound great but mean nothing. According to her website she can help with the following:

Some of these things are diet related but I wouldn’t want a quack telling me what I’m allergic to. Proper allergy testing takes a long time. Oh, and notice that Cancer is mentioned in there. Fucking Cancer. from the website:

“There are numerous studies suggesting a link between some foods and certain types of cancer. However, it would be a broad statement to claim that diet can directly cause or treat cancer.”

I can correct her if you want. It would be ILLEGAL to claim to be able to cure cancer. It shows just how fucked up these people are when they make iffy claims.

Pilates

I know nothing about pilates but isn’t it posh yoga? Just helps you move.

There are more claims on the website of these people and I will cover a few of them here with my crude guide to efficacy.

Food Intolerance Tests – more than likely bullshit.

Hypnotherapy – I’m becoming convinced it’s bullshit.

Neuro Linguistic Programing – bullshit.

And, I’m done. There’s only so much I can take of this bollocks. Look, it says Wellness. It doesn’t mean anything. Don’t go there. It’s in a christian association building for fuck’s sake.

February 11 2017October 18 2017

A Smattering

This morning I went for a run through some of the Kent countryside. I would embed a map of the route from my running app but it crashed after about two miles. So, here’s a map from Google Earth.

It was a good run through a gentle fluttering of snow. I enjoyed it and listened to the Cognitive Dissonance podcast from Chicago. The paths were particularly pretty at times and I took two photos.

February 7 2017

Didn’t Make It

Last month I wanted to beat my record for communications published in a month. After seeing the most I had managed previously I gave up reaching that total but had wanted to aim for 31 communications giving an mean of one per day. I even failed to make that.

I’ll try again another month. It does seem that February would be the best month to try and get that average. Let’s see what happens.

February 7 2017

HUAW

Just had quite a jam-packed weekend. Spent a little time at three establishments while the cadet team succeeded in their competition. Here are a few photos of the sights.

This place was built for the First World War transition of troops across the channel. Don’t be impressed by the aluminium cladding, just inside are wooden framed original buildings that smell and creak with history.

The above is an unheated literal brick out-house that has three urinals and three proper toilets. There are a few toilets in heated buildings but too many people for them!

I love a nice Gate Guardian. This one is very pretty. It guards the helicopters at this base.

This room is part of the SNCO Annex. It’s about 10ft by 8ft with a small en-suite. Can’t grumble, it was dry and warm. The wi-fi helped make it more like home.

That door is an illusion, it’s a thin door to make the rest of the room look bigger!

I would to have a go in this and drive it around. It would be great fun!

Next time I’m out and about I’ll take some more photos. Sometimes I can give information about it all and sometimes I can’t, it’s just not sensible to do that.