I have decided to put a random number generator in this site. Just for kicks.
So, these values are generated using atmospheric noise and are truly random. See Random.org for more information.
White House Down
Channing Tatum – Who? Am I that far away from popular culture now?
PROBABLY
So, I went to see this film because of my Washington DC visit earlier in the year. I really like seeing places I’ve been in films and on the big screen. It’s like seeing London in big films. I feel that slightly more personal connection with the movie because I can say “I’ve been there”.
You get what you pay for with this film. I wanted a brain dead action thriller. I got a brain dead action almost-thriller. The good things about the film: DC looks nice, politicians are the baddies. The bad things about the film: pretty much everything else.
The President doesn’t want to be president. Congress don’t want him to be President, but he is trying to secure a middle-east peace deal. OK, that’s fair enough. But, the rest was just poor and laughable terrible. The script was bad. The action was over the top and implausible. Oh, it was bad. But, as with my tweet rating of 5, it was bad done well, rather than being just a badly made bad film, it was a well made bad film!
It’s curious how some of the most recent American films have depicted disgruntled Americans as the baddies. Perhaps they are waking up to the fact that the greatest threat to USA peace and security comes from within the country and that external factors are small in comparison [US Government shutdown].
Shame On The BBC
It’s a crying shame.
I had intended to use this site to moan about various BBC news articles where the reporting was poor. It is quite clear to me now that if I pointed out every problem with just the news section I would have to leave my current job and spend all my time informing you about how bad the News section of the BBC is. It is truly awful. However, it is the least awful source of news within the UK. I occasionally look at the HuffPo app on my phone and it reports complete bollocks and also has blog articles masquerading as news items. The BBC quite clearly feels it is in a free market and that readership or just spouting news for 24 hours a day is the most important thing. Well, it’s not. I would quite happily watch BBC news if it was only on twice a day and not around the clock as it currently is. Let’s get this straight, for most of the day: nothing happens. Nothing worth reporting.
Breathe.
Calm.
My latest problem is with one line in the new Atlantis series. Jason says to Pythagoras something along the lines of
Well, you and your triangles have been boring school children silly for thousands of years.
This is utter populist arse. Pythagoras’ Theorem occurs everywhere and is even used within relativistic equations. The music work Mr P did founded European music. All the great things that have happened can be linked in someway to Pythagoras and the early pioneers of the importance of mathematics. Perhaps Jason should have said:
We owe so much to your thoughts and insight, it’s a crying shame most people don’t value mathematics.
There are enough problems caused by a pride in how poor we are at mathematics and script writers don’t need to add to the perception that this is ok.
Wake up and smell the importance of mathematical literacy.
Rock is my life and this is my song
It’s a crying shame
That some of us have not survived
No use in asking how it happened
But very few are left alive
Bachman Turner Overdrive
How It Works
I had a new washing machine delivered this morning. The old one was making noises as though it was grinding cutlery everytime I used it. The new one is pretty quiet! The water draining away is louder than the machine on a spin cycle. Anyway, that’s not the point of this communication.
I asked one of the men installing the machine if all new washing machines only had cold water input. Yes, was the reply. Ok. I’m fine with that but he went on to explain why they don’t need hot water.
You know that jet engines spin around and they have hot air coming out of them, it’s just like that, the spinning makes the water warm. It’s just a shame that washing machines just don’t have after-burners.
Holy cow. I must have been wrong all these years to assume it was an electric heating element that warmed the water! Gosh. The fuel in jet engines must just be to make the turbines turn and then the spinning does the rest.
Now, a washing machine with an after-burner is something I would pay a lot of money for.
Sleep
This morning when I synchronised my Up (by Jawbone) band with my phone it told me I had surpassed my eight hour target of sleep for the night. I was amazed. I was pretty sure I had spent ages settling my sons as they both had reasonably disturbed sleeps.
Only when I looked at the graph of my sleep did I understand what the app was saying. The dark blue is deep sleep, the light blue is light sleep and the orange is up and moving around. As you can see the only way I got eight hours sleep was by going to bed at about 21:15 and waking at 07:00.
I guess in total I had eight hours sleep but it sure as hell don’t feel like it!
Sexy Stuff
I don’t follow many people on Twitter. It’s a conscious decision that means I actually have the time to read tweets by my friends (see here). I have, however, recently added a couple of new people/things to follow.
- @Scienceporn
- @CombinedHistory
- @MilitaryPorn
I find these generally fascinating and I feel that they actually add something to my life. I’m a complete science whore and so @Scienceporn is awesome. I am unsure about some of the sources and tweets, but the replies to @scienceporn normally ask for references and so it’s a self-sorting system, much like science.
@Combinedhistory is a really clever concept of matching famous pictures with modern backdrops and fusing the two together to give a brilliant time-displacement view of scenes.
@MilitaryPorn is awesome. I’ve always been a fan of military aircraft and in my teenage years I went to lots of airshows. Most of the aircraft that I find gorgeous aren’t really flying anymore and so this tweeter gives me a chance to drool over pictures of planes I’ve always enjoyed. Here’s a selection:
Lego 16 Model 60019
Reno, baby. That’s where I’d like to go one day, but not for the gambling but the air races. I love the idea of P51s racing 200ft off the deck. It would be a seriously sexy sport to watch. In the mean time I will satisfy my air racing passions with this little Lego racer.
Lego 15 Model 4436
It’s a cops and robbers scene. The po-lice car is really cool. I love the way the criminals all have sneaky grins on their faces.
Man of Steel
Went to see Man of Steel on a 2nd Chance Thursday. To be honest I wasn’t even aware that 2nd Chance Thursday existed but there you go.
This was a really good film, apart from one minor thing more of which later. I really enjoyed the “names” in the film the cast was excellent and there was someone new at every scene change. Having said that the story made the film not the actors so that was good.
It was nice to see intelligent use of emotion throughout the film and the story played out in flashback. This was much better than, say, Wolverine or any other cheap basic superhero movie. Much like Avengers this film had a good script and good direction.
I’m not sure I understand or agree with the reasoning why Clark was so strong and I’m not sure how being able to jump far means that you can fly and change direction but I’ll overlook those bits.
It’s curious that it’s ok to destroy Manhattan again, or rather Metropolis. After 12 years we can finally have falling skyscrapers and aircraft exploding after hitting buildings.
I did not like the final fight scene. Two brilliantly strong men fighting to destroy each other and the final move comes down to “breaking the neck”. Why didn’t that happen in the first place?
This was well worth seeing. I really enjoyed it.
PS: There was one part of the movie that freaked me out and I haven’t searched the interwebs yet for information so I am probably wrong. When Superman is under the machine in the Indian Ocean it looks for a brief time that his face changes to look like Christopher Reeve’s superman. If this was deliberate then it is awesome. If it’s just me then I think I need to turn down the pareidolia section of my brain.
PPS: I laughed out loud at the church scene. It was hilarious. Clark could have got that same advice from anyone though, you don’t need a book and “gods” to guide you.
Lego 14 Model 21103
Here’s a lovely DeLorean DMC-12 for all you Back To The Future fans. Really impressed with this little model. Great fun to put together and looks awesome too.
Before opening:
Part way:
Done:
Riddick
Riddick. Watch the first one. Don’t see this one. It’s the same film.
I was greatly annoyed at the sexism inherent in the script and screenplay. Katee Sackhoff starred in this film, previously known for playing the most excellent role-model “Starbuck”, Kara Thrace in the TV series Battlestar Galactica. Her first line in this film, as the only woman in the cast was:
Are you going to clean that up?
Seriously. A great female actor who’s been a force for strong female characters asks about tidying up the room? What a waste.
Also, there was a gratuitous boob shot. How disappointing. Just not needed. I really like Katee Sackhoff as an actress but she was let down by this film.
Pain and Gain
About halfway through this film you start thinking that these people can’t be this stupid, then the film freezes and it says:
Remember, this is still a true story.
Well, in reality, in reality it’s a film based on a true story with a number of things changed just to make it more of a film. See the Wikipedia page.
Also, you get to the end of the film and it comes up with Michael Bay and you realise what you’ve just seen.
I felt sad that society has bred thick people who believe it is their RIGHT to have money and be famous. This film is a commentary on the state of society given the modern age of the X-Factor and get-rich-quick. People, you need to understand you have rights to nothing. You have to earn everything you want. You don’t deserve anything until you have put the effort in. Hmmm, think my morality drifted a bit there, whoops!
Elysium
Look, the film was ok. I think the fact that I am now approaching a good number of years on this Earth means that I have seen lots of Sci-Fi themes covered in movies before. This film didn’t say anything new. I guess that, in terms of entertainment, it did its job. I was entertained for a couple of hours. In terms of meaning and interpretation there are other films that do the job much better.
The space station was STUNNINGLY BEAUTIFUL.
Pain
I have found a new running route that includes some climbs. Most of my previous routes just took me along mostly flat paths and roads. There were some small inclines but nothing of imposing height. After a trip to the Lake District when I ran up a mountain I have decided to make my run include a hill climb.
I run a circular route from my house, up the North Downs and then down the Downs again. The route I have chosen has the shortest route up the Downs and so, logically, it is the steepest. I have run that way four times now and have reached the top without stopping twice. Basically, it hurts!
This is my route up the North Downs. The contour lines get quite close together and so you can tell how steep it is.
Headlights
I first drafted this communication after a couple of long drives around the country. I travelled to the Lake District for a fleeting visit and then to Cornwall for dinner! Give I live in Kent this was quite a way to go for food but the company made it worth it.
One day, whilst driving, the weather had turned from particularly sunny to showers and full on rain. I was curious to see the number of drivers who didn’t think it necessary to turn on headlights while driving in reduced light conditions. “Are they really all that stupid?” I asked myself. Then, of course, you remember that half the population is below average intelligence.
There were grey cars I could barely see without lights on. It wasn’t that dark but the fine rain and spray severely restricted visibility. I thought many people were being irresponsible on the roads with their inability to turn the lights on.
One excuse might be that some of the cars had automatic headlights. It possibly wasn’t dark enough for the computer to turn the lights on but the spray and rain made it a necessity. This could explain why so many people didn’t turn on theirs. I have had cars that have automatic lights but I turn that function off. I am perfectly capable of deciding when to turn my lights on. It seems that these additions to cars are meant to make our lives easier but they just make us more stupid. Automatic choke, synchromesh gears, power steering, ABS all make driving easier. I won’t deny the safety benefits of some of them, but it wouldn’t hurt the general population to make them
THINK
once in a while. Stop living in your cocoon for now and think about your actions and how to make your life (and others) as safe as possible.
Another reason for disliking automatic headlights is that they come on when driving under a bridge. If you are behind someone it looks as though they are braking and it makes you more hesitant as a driver for a short while.
It seems that most modern uses for technology are great at making our lives simpler but they also stop us having to think and understand what is going on. This is a dangerous trend for a stupid world. As Carl Sagan said (the gist not a perfect quote):
We live in a world more and more reliant on technology but where the technology is understood by fewer and fewer.
Head
HEAD is the title of my current favourite playlist on my iPhone and Sonos system. I use the iPhone in the car and the Sonos system at home. If I ever get the chance to listen to music at work then I use the iPhone there also, I have some Bose headphones I plug into.
Anyway the HEAD playlist consists of the following songs (an eclectic mix!):
- “Das Grauen” from “Hell Starts With An H” by Reaper
- “TIP the DANCER” from “YOUR WORLD IS BURNING” by Panzer AG
- “Get Out of my Head” from “Today We Are All Demons” by Combichrist
- “Inhuman” from “All Beauty Destroyed” by Aesthetic Perfection
- “Duality” from “Vol 3: The Subliminal Verses” by Slipknot
- “Motherfucker” from “All Beauty Destroyed” by Aesthetic Perfection
- “Surfacing” from “Slipknot” by Slipknot
I once owned “If You Want Blood . . . . You Got It” by AC/DC on music cassette and I think that whole album pretty much played the same role in my life as this current playlist. I played the cassette so much that the tape eventually stretched in various places and I had to upgrade to a CD as it sounded awful.
I’m grateful to Andy for helping chose the songs for this playlist.
The Lone Ranger
It, was, ok.
That’s pretty much it.
Oh, it had spectacular, implausible action, ugly cowboys, silver and greed. But it was still, just a little bit, ok.
2 Guns
So, this is what I like about films, or rather, what a film needs for me to like it. Sympathetic Characters. It’s not that hard is it? To hook me in to a story I need a person I can relate to and feel for. The main reason I have walked out of one film and one film only was that I hated the characters and I didn’t care whether they lived or died (that film was The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe). I would have walked out of Van Helsing but someone else was sitting in the row and I didn’t want to disturb his film.
2 Guns HAD sympathetic characters and a good script that covered the buddy-buddy aspect of working in a team (something Hawaii 5O does really well). It was funny and had some, reasonably plausible, action scenes. All-in-all it was a very enjoyable film. The baddies end up dead and the good guys win. Well done.
Front Line Assembly – The Garage
I went to watch Front Line Assembly at the Garage in Highbury. It was a venue I’d not been to before and a band I hadn’t seen before either. The company I was keeping was delightful, although I did accidentally miss a tube stop. Started with drinks at the Porterhouse and then went on to Highbury and Islington.
The venue was nice and small-medium sized. Bigger than the Underworld but smaller than Brixton Academy. The sound was good and the drinks prices seemed reasonable to me. There was only one main area and it was pretty hot in the room (it was a hot day outside too). There didn’t seem to be any form of air-conditioning which was a bit of a shame (the Underworld beats you there!).
First band on were (as far as I can tell) iVardensphere. I really liked them, probably not enough to buy any of their stuff but enough to watch and enjoy. Heavy electronic music. Pretty good, nice and upbeat too.
Second band were Haujobb. Their songs were probably better crafted than the first band but their pace was a bit slower and I didn’t like it as much. They were still pretty good at the music they make though.
Headline act were Front Line Assembly. The latest album is more electronic than some I have heard and a bit slower. They were very good and had a live drummer, which is becoming more important to me as I watch more of these EBM bands. Quite clearly they were the best band last night and it was good to tick them off my list. I probably wouldn’t see them again, I think I’d rather take a punt on an unknown band and see what happens (much like my restaurant-food-choice policy).
Overall, a very enjoyable evening.
Poo Crime
I been to Suffolk on occasions, mostly to observe USA warplanes taking off. It’s not really been the sort of place I have visited deliberately! However, this changed when I went and stayed with some friends near Ipswich. I had a lovely time but was slightly horrified and curious when they mentioned a particular, occasional, pastime.
Poo Crime
Just suppose there is someone you don’t particularly like and they live near you. Then, you might indicate your displeasure at that person by defecating in their garden. You don’t want to get caught so you do this at night. I am vaguely reminded of a “Dave Bowman” plan to plant one on the desk of the Bolhp monster while at college. This is something I would have to deny any knowledge of whether there was such a plan or whether it was carried out!