Communications

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Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Last night I went to an “Unlimited Screening”. I’m not really sure what that means but I was glad of the opportunist to see this film. As I drove along the riverside road I could see birds standing in groups out on the mud flats. The tide was not in.

Mudflats
Mudflats

So, I went to see Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. [pause while I look up US states because I only know those on the coast]. I rated this film on IMDB and you should read this communication about the scoring system [although I think it needs updating, the system is slowly failing].

This film shows what can be done in the cinema. We arrive part way through longer story arcs and leave before the finish. The characterisation and humanity in this film is created through dialogue and situations. This film is how it should be done. It shows just how simple and obvious many other films are. It shows how to do “people”.

The story is touching, sad and just works well. The acting is brilliant. The photography is perfect. It all works. This is a film people should see because it exposes the shitness of all the other stuff you watch.

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Supermoons

I can’t say “moon”. It’s just best not to try. But, that is for a specific social group anyway. To the rest of the world, I say “supermoon”.

Anyway, this supermoon stuff in the press and shared on social media. It’s bullshit. Just thought you should know. See this thread on Twitter.

Very soon we will have the “Blue Monday” phenomenon which isn’t a phenomenon. Give it a couple of weeks and we will see newspapers spreading non-science and bullshit by declaring that “this Monday is the worst Monday”. If only we knew when this started?

Well, we do!! It was an advert for a travel company. Read this by Ben Goldacre.

If you want to find me on Blue Monday, I’ll be in the office RANTING about the bullshit.

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Single Heavy Downpour

I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o’er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Lonely Cloud
Lonely Cloud

It’s interesting, the level of science and technology we have and use daily without thought far far surpasses that of any previous generation and yet we take it all for granted and have little care for how that technology works.

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Paddington 2

The other day I took a trip to Rochester cinema along the esplanade. For some reason these communications now have references to the state of the tide as I visited. I’m not sure when this started but I do know it was used as a coded reference to the time of day I went. So, if you can find my first reference to the tide then you can work out what time I went to see that particular film. Instead of telling you I can show you what the tide was like:

Medway Tide
Medway Tide

Normally all the green in the foreground is covered with water at high tide. Maybe next time I’ll get a shot of the mud flats?

Anyway, I went to see Paddington 2. I haven’t seen the first one, maybe I should watch that now? But I can say I enjoyed this film. Here’s my scoring tweet:

So, I really enjoyed this film. This and Jumanji have helped me get over the December slump and the mess that was Star Wars. Paddington 2 was a delightful little film full of the great and good of British film and television. It was, essentially, a very clever little film using all the techniques and plots from cinema over time. It was a detective story, a story about adoption and family, a story about identity and immigration, a prison break, a musical, a cop caper, and also a train race with a circus and treasure.

The humour in this film was carefully used and suitable for all ages. Overall this was a great little film and deserves to do well.

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Water Loss

Yesterday I went to make a morning coffee and noticed that the pressure from the tap was pretty low. This happens sometimes as I share a water main link with some other houses. Their water use can affect how well the water flows in my house!

I didn’t really pay much attention to this water drop as it doesn’t last long. Later on during the day, I had been for a run and needed to get clean.

I hadn’t really time the run that well as one mile into the exercise the rain started and fell quite heavily for about twenty minutes, that was slightly annoying. Once home I went to run some water for a drink and the flow was very poor. It took in excess of ten seconds to fill a small glass.

So, I went to my water supplier’s website and lo and behold there was a broken water main.

Keeping Them Informed
Keeping Them Informed

At least the website was updated regularly and the company were doing their best to keep everyone informed. I think that the British are ok with inconvenience as long as we know what is causing it and as long as it wasn’t due to some idiotic behaviour.

The water pressure is now restored. As for a post-run shower, please don’t ask!

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Racing The Ring

In a follow up to this communication I’ve spent some time getting to know the Nurburgring and I’m getting there. These two videos show the same lap just from different perspectives. There’s the TV view and then the front spoiler view. The front spoiler view is the main one that I race with.

Enjoy.

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More F5

I suspect that you are going to get bored of these over the next while as continue to mess around with the livery editor in Gran Turismo. These next few shots are another F5 livery I created. It’s a Japanese car this time, my next one might end up being a Ford F150!

F5 Number 5
F5 Number 5
Nice Ass
Nice Ass

This livery is called Sylvana for obvious reasons. Perhaps you want to ponder the union flag being so prominent when I care not for nationality?

Finally, here’s a photo, just because it looks beautiful.

Moody at Nurburgring
Moody at Nurburgring
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Arctic Hiding

When I’ve finished racing in Gran Turismo and don’t have time for more detailed races I sneak over the the livery editor and create car liveries. This feature is surprisingly more fun than I had expected.

Gran Turismo has a feature where graphic files can be uploaded and then added to the cars you design. However, this has meant I have had to learn how to edit SVG files and mess around with a graphics editor. For whatever reason the file size for upload is limited to 14kB. This isn’t a great deal and means you have to be quite creative within the editor software. The SVG format is perfectly sensible but Microsoft don’t really deal with them, however, there is a free editor available, I use Inkscape.

This car livery is my own design, even the polygon arctic camouflage pattern. I think it looks good:

Arctic RAF
Arctic RAF

This is partly based on an RAF Jaguar scheme, I might try and look up some more planes and get a decent version of each. I know the car is German, but it still looks good.

Snowy Jaguar
Snowy Jaguar

Here are some snow views of the car:

Arctic RAF
Arctic RAF
Arctic RAF
Arctic RAF
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Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle

I took a trip last night to see Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle last night. I had flip-flopped about going for a good hour or so earlier in the day but decided to get out and stop playing Gran Turismo. I pay money to get to the cinema and so I should go, even if there aren’t really any films I’m that bothered about, December was a bleak month for films on my list.

I don’t recall what the tide was like but I have sought out that information online and let me tell you, the sine curve is lovely.

Rochester Tide
Rochester Tide

I know this doesn’t show the actual day I went to the cinema but just work backwards. I think it only changes by about an hour per day.

HW Times
HW Times

So, on to the film. As is custom within these pages I rated the film on IMDB. See this communication for an explanation of the rating system.

So, I really enjoyed this film. It was enjoyable, funny and well written. It was a little one-dimensional and obvious, but really it’s a kids film so I can let that pass. I do like the fact that the kids in the original film had the surname “Parrish”. They even get a shout-out in this film.

There were a few times when I thought the action was a little over-the-top, but then I realised this is based on a computer game and those things are what you would do in a game. I mean, flying a helicopter forwards at 90 degrees of roll!

I’m happy to say that I really enjoyed this film.

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A Livery Company

In the new Gran Turismo it is possible to design the paint scheme for cars, helmets and racing kit. I’ve done some terrible versions, trying to get use to the UI, and now I have finally created quite a nice looking car.

Aston Martin Vantage
Aston Martin Vantage

This is an Aston Martin Vantage for the Fulham Five reprobates. I’ll try and get some more shots because not all the detail is visible from here. I like the wing mirrors.

How'd It Get There?
How’d It Get There?

And, because some of us are US based, here’s some location in the USA.

F5 in NYC
F5 in NYC

Finally. This is a clip of me taking the thing around the Kent Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit:

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