October 2013 – Page 2 – Fooyah

October 6 2013October 6 2013

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

October 6 2013

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!

October 5 2013

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:

October 5 2013October 5 2013

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.

October 5 2013October 5 2013

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.

October 3 2013October 5 2013

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.

October 3 2013

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:

October 2 2013

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.

October 2 2013

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!