Flux

Volkswagen Golf 1.9 TDI S

2007-06-03T23:24:00.000+01:00

Oh yes, after over a year driving the irrepressibly brilliant Mercedes G-Wagen 3 litre beast (read - far too much petrol) I have gone and bought a lovely second hand Golf which drives fantastically (so far) and can be seen in the pictures below:

'Flux'

2007-02-24T16:25:00.000Z

Having completed and passed my Viva Voce ('Living Voice') the title of my blog had to change, as it has done many times before through my time as a Ph. D student.

Naming my blog Flux seemed perfect - not only was it my favourite word ever, it showed how I feel about the blog - always changing. So this is it, the final title (never say never and all that tho ;))

Dr Howard I presume?

2007-02-21T09:55:00.000Z

Absolutely.

The Ashes 2006 - 2007

2007-01-17T21:14:00.000Z

Its taken me a while to post this Ashes report for reasons obvious to anybody who saw/heard/read anything about any of the five test matches. I'm going to mention the reasons why I think things went wrong and explain them a bit. If you agree/disagree/feel confused, strikeback below and I'll get back to you...

Marcus Trescothick's handling. Twice.

Big one this. We have a guy who consistently scores runs, quickly, at the top of the order and ahs done since ~ 2000. He built a great partnership with MPV and an even better one with Brockett. He's experienced and a senior player trusted by those around him, indeed he was Captain when MPV was not. We needed him. I don't pretend to understand what happened with him, but I do know that the ECB mis-managed the whole thing seeing as he broke down again coming to Australia.

Monty's handling.

Well, obvious, really. He is the best English spinner I have seen. He takes top order wickets in a variety of conditions, he bowls with different speeds, bounce and turn and he has a decent economy for sure. So why drop him? He could have been the most potent attacking force on either side. As it stands, he just turned in one of the most auspicious debut Ashes' performances around in a losing cause. Callous.

Read/Gojo's handling

One can keep wicket brilliantly and bat awfully; one keeps wicket well and bats poorly compared to 2004. So what do we do? Chop and change over a couple of years giving neither long enough to get used to Test attacks (Read) or regain his past form versus counties (Gojo). What did we expect them to do with the bat? A combined average of 11.08. Wonderful.

Cooley

Best bowling coach around. He creates a truly awe-inspiring five-man attack to help England win the Ashes 2005. He's allowed to leave. We collapse all around ourselves, bowling to second slip whilst Australia convert a two-man attack into a full-on five man bowling team.

Fred being made captain

Let's look at the evidence. Fred had never captained a team before. He batted, bowled and slipped. He was akin to Botham. He was talismanic in 2005. Strauss was not given the captaincy.

What happened? Strauss didn't speak to him despite his brain being the best cricketing one on the pitch, Fred couldn't score runs, he couldn't take wickets, he couldn't captain and, truth be told, he just wasn't very good (bad body language, very clear signals to bowlers and whole team....just all round poor captaincy. Great man, great player, bad captain.

Brockett not being kept as captain

The man knew what he was doing. He won tests, he attacked, he made incisive changes, he listened, he cajoled and he gave the right appearance on pitch. In short, he was the closest we had to MPV. Oh yes, his batting seemed to improve when captain too.

Gilo being 'fit'

He wasn't. Even so, despite being an awesome player in the previous series he just wasn't the best spinner we had and shouldn't have played as a result. Fletch or Fred or whoever's fault, big mistake.

Change in attitude from attack to defence

Why? This is how we won the Ashes. Take on the bowling. Go for a RR over 4. Place fielders in catching positions. Stand up to their bullying. How did we go from this to fielders back, inconsistent bowling, turgid batting, futile sledging attempts and so on? Lack of MPV, too nice a captain, too insecure a captain (in his own players). Sure, he had a point but still. Go down fighting...

Fletch saying he doesn't pick the team

He obviously has some input and he needs to support his captain

Fred saying he doesn't pick the team

See above.

Injuries

Of course the losses of MPV, Jones, Gilo and Banger hit us hard. But their replacements are all pretty good (batting may be stronger on paper; bowling isn't, granted.

Australia...

...were awesome. Fantastic play. We weren't as good as we should have been. A gap that could maybe have been breached given different choices, luck and personnel was just made all the bigger. Congratulations Australia - we'll have you next time.

Christmas time

2006-12-28T11:04:00.000Z

Well, Christmas is in its kind of half-way house currently. I'm back at work having spent a lovely few days in Leeds with Katie and her family (first time away from home at Christmas) but am going down south at the weekend to see my parents etc. for New Year.

Here are a few things to keep you interested if you actually ever come and read this blog:

Dave's trailer page - Go and check out new trailers for The Transformers, Ocean's 13, Hot Fuzz, 300, The Good Sheperd, Grindhouse and Live Free or Die Hard. In time I'll post my preview of the coming year's films and look back on my predictions from last year. Needless to say I'll have a few words about some of the above films...

England have capitulated in world cricket. The Ozzies have been too good, we've fired on fewer cylinders than a radio controlled car and more. I have a fair few theories about why this happened, and maybe what we need to do to fix it. When the whitewash is complete I'll come and share these with you all.

I now own Snakes on a Plane. Yay!

Anyway, enjoy the remainder of your holidays one all.

Thesis: Submitted

2006-12-19T22:51:00.000Z

...and the world, synchronised in shock, screams 'about time too!'

Irrepressible info

2006-10-29T15:07:00.001Z

Adj. 1) Impossible to repress or control.

Chat rooms monitored. Blogs deleted. Websites blocked. Search engines restricted. People imprisoned for simply posting and sharing information.

The Internet is a new frontier in the struggle for human rights. Governments – with the help of some of the biggest IT companies in the world – are cracking down on freedom of expression.

Amnesty International, with the support of The Observer UK newspaper, is launching a campaign to show that online or offline the human voice and human rights are impossible to repress.

http://irrepressible.info/

Long time no hear?

2006-10-26T21:49:00.000+01:00

Yes. Sorry for that. The main reason is my right arm has been in a cast for the past 6 weeks. Another 4 to go still (at least). Ho hum. Makes typing more awkward....

Anyway, things going ok. Work good, thesis progressing etc. etc. Same old same old really. Nothing new to say as I haven't had a chance to do anything new ;)

Check out some of the new links on the right tho - last.fm is great, facebook addictive and so on!

Paul Hunter

2006-10-09T23:42:00.000+01:00

My thoughts go to to Paul's family on this day.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/other_sports/snooker/6035879.stm

My God, is this a sad day. Tragic and resonant.

The Ryder Cup 2006

2006-09-24T18:17:00.000+01:00

I won't say too much as words can't describe it, but well done to Europe and congratulations and sympathy to Darren Clarke - a performance for obvious reasons that transcends sport.

Short post; not much time...

2006-08-30T19:30:00.000+01:00

Work beckons but having not spoken for weeks I feel I must.

Liverpool look excellent so far this season. Very exciting
Ben Thatcher is an animal
Cricket - roll on Ashes; ignore the ODIs
EXAFS - bane of some people's existence
Coke Zero - very good
Snakes on a plane - yet to be seen. I need to earn a break...
Superman - never got around to watching it. Ho hum
Midlake - check them out (band)
Jonny Cash American V - awesome final recordings of the man in black
Bavaria - Dutch beer newly available in bottles in the UK. Excellent lager.
Caol Ila - superb whisky I recently found
Administration in the UK - pathetic
HDTV - on its way once submission has occurred (the research then purchase)
Sky comes next
Bye!

Hard-work, but nearly there?

2006-08-12T10:34:00.000+01:00

Well, its August time now and final submission date for my PhD thesis ('Position' in Greek, allegedly an intellectual proposition) is 30th September. How close am I to finishing writing? Nearly there...kind of.

You see, my supervisor is kindly checking 6 out of 7 chapters which are all fully written. I hope not to have too many corrections for them, but even if I do they shouldn't take too long to sort out.

The kind of bit stems from the remaining chapter, something where the analysis is proving to be hard stuff and until that's done I can't finish writing the chapter. When that's (hopefully soon) done I then have appendices and tidying to do before printing and submitting.

My aim is to submit between 17th and 29th September. I will finish the writing by then, despite mot being sure how much is left to do yet. I have to! It'll probably make September the hardest month yet but I only truly have myself to blame despite the excuses I make to myself :)

The large range for submission dates is due to me not knowing which day(s) I can get off work to go to Durham and do the relevant printing, binding and paperwork. Also depends on work commitments too.

I will make these dates, submit on time, organise examiners and enjoy(!?!) defending my thesis - successfully I hope - in my Viva Voce (by word of mouth or 'living voice'). Hopefully corrections will be minor, but even if they're major I'll not be too worried - just have to ensure its not a resubmission jobbie.

It feels good to say this in a public forum (if read only by the few - cheers Kiran ;)) as it now means I'll have to do what I've said I'll do. Hmmm, here's to hard work for two more months...

New Filmic Blog

2006-07-20T23:47:00.000+01:00

Dear all,

As of today no more film/cinema/DVD/hardware type posts will be made on this blog. Purely TV, sporting, random and the like. As of now I have a film journal too:

What we do in life echoes in eternity

Check it out. Come back and comment. Create a community! Request articles, or discussion pieces.

Enjoy!

Godfather.

Frack me gently with a chainsaw - Pirates rule the world

2006-07-09T23:24:00.000+01:00

Record takings on 1, 2 and 3 days. Wow! Superman failingf. Hmm, message here, superheroes are out (take note FF4, Hulk 2 etc.). Pity as Supes probably rocks (we'll see soon enough...).

Pirates = great fun I hope when I see it with my lovely girlfriend next weekend.

Italia!

2006-07-09T23:07:00.000+01:00

World Cup winners - at last!

First WC in 1990 -Penalty losers. Baggio is my hero
1994 - Penalty loser's in final. My hero worship of Baggio is confirmed.
1998 - France beat us on pens. Grr. Baggio = Hero once more.
2002 - Guus Hiddink/dodgy officials just too much ;)
2006 -WORLD CHAMPIONS AT LAST (Not the same as May 2005 or how it would have been if England had done it but still fantastic!)

Hassel the Hoff

2006-07-03T23:11:00.000+01:00

Get him to number 1!

Godfather.

"I want these motherfracking snakes off this motherfracking plane"

2006-07-03T22:52:00.000+01:00

It occurred to me, whilst updating my blog at last the other day, that I had neglected Snakes on a plane. Woe is me. The film comes out in August, Friday the 18th August, to be precise.

I'll be on holiday. Arse. The second I return it's straight down the Odeon for SOAP. That film will save the world.

Why? Its got snakes. On a plane. And Sam Jackson who was brought in to do re-shoots to add swearing/nudity/violence. Cool.

Superman has just returned 80 million in 5 days. Half of that which Spidey got 2 years ago. The modern box-office is in turmoil. No doubt. Pirates 2 comes out next week and I have no doubt it will blow all out of the water. Until August.

SOAP a will smash all known records and Sam Jackson will win all known Oscars. He has to. He aint gonna lie down whilst snakes take over his plane.

Godfather.

"It's my job to handle life or death situations...

2006-07-03T22:38:00.000+01:00

...and I'm very good at it"

Snakes on a plane. The saviour of modern cinema? Quite possibly.

Godfather.

Citation

2006-06-29T21:21:00.000+01:00

Those of you who've done any research will know that doing the work isn't important. it has to be put out there, into the public domain, and then to actually prove its worth totally must be cited by others. If this happens somebody, somewhere has decided that your work was a) worth reading and b) good.

Well, a year after the publication of my first paper as lead author (LEM Howard et al.) I have been cited by 6 people. One is another paper on which I'm an author, one is an RSC article but 4 are by people around the work who deemed my work important.

Note the citation numbered 4. That guy is the guy in FePt nanoparticle chemistry. He was an author on the seminal Science paper which started the work on which my thesis is based and has done some very advanced work since. This paper is also a review article, a brief one, where the most important and valid work has been noted in a sumamry of all work in the area.

Extremely exciting. I almost feel valued as a Scientist. Thanks to all who helped me get that paper out - I could not have done it alone (no chance!).

Godfather.

Long time...

2006-06-29T20:22:00.000+01:00

...no see.

Yes, I haven't blogged for a while. Been busy. You may remember I started a job, in a new city, whilst still having to write my thesis. Hmmm.

So, Newcastle, or more specifically, Killingworth is great. Convenienece (superstore, doctors, dentists etc. nearby), close to work and brand new flat too - very cool. The downside is its not Canbridge :(

Wok is good, but very hard work and typically long hours. I'm getting there as regards finding my feet and as for the thesis, it is progressing - slowly, true, but I'm doing it.

Godfather.

First Class Train Travel

2006-03-31T19:52:00.000+01:00

Awesome.

In traveling up to Newcastle to start my new job I managed to wangle a first-class train ticket. It was half the price of a standard class ticket. Go figure. Anyway, what a superb way to travel! I have been using long distance train travel for ~12 years now and this was my best experience. Not getting the tickets*, but the whole journey. I was called Sir, had a bigger seat, much more space between me and any other passengers, no-one brushing past me, plenty of space for my expansive luggage, free coffee (lots), free food and a free paper. Superb.

* - Getting the tickets was hard work. I think they felt they'd messed up giving me a cheap ticket. They were meant to post them to me, but come this Tuesday nothing had arrived. I rang them up (Virgin trains) and they said the tickets were returned as they could not reach destination. Now, I know the address they had by looking at the confirmation details of the ticket purchase - there was nothing wrong. Anyway, they said they'd have to send them to the station and I'd have to turn up '15 mins' early to get them. Note this was only done because I rang them up; they hadn't contacted me (the ticket was non-refundable, non-transferable and I think they just wanted me to waste my money on nothing). Anyway, we arrived at the station over an hour early today (traffic wasn't as bad as we'd thought it would be) and the tickets weren't there. I persuaded the guy to ring Virgin up, after he told me to - I was traveling in 50 mins! He had more cache; they confirmed I'd bought the ticket and said they'd fax the details (you need a fax confirmation before being allowed to issue the ticket). They got the fax number wrong. Three times. Anyway, with 10 mins to go I finally got my ticket. I do not know how people are expected to use public transport more often when it is so poorly ran.

Godfather.

The Big Move

2006-03-27T14:34:00.000+01:00

Okay, so its nearly time. On Friday I get the train to Newcastle, look for a flat on Saturday and begin my new job on Monday. My official job title is 'Scientist' and I'm working for Proctor & Gamble. Very exciting.

Bit nerve-wracking too. I'm okay currently but I'm setting up home on my very own for the first time (no house mates this time round), starting the first proper job I've had (I've been studying for this for 20-odd years) and I still have to finish that thesis of mine ;)

My room is a tip at the minute, with me trying to work out what I need, how best to pack it and what to throw away/leave behind. I'll only have clothes/laptop for the first week or two until I have somewhere to live and then my parents will drive up with all my stuff. I'm living in a hotel part paid for until then...

"Enough is enough. I've had it with these snakes."

2006-03-22T23:03:00.000Z

I worry that my blog will just become an archive of all things snakes on a plane. Oh well, not a bad way for things to go :)

Here's the logo!

The Da Vinci Code full trailer

2006-03-21T10:15:00.000Z

Exciting. Looks very good. You can see how much money has been pumped into it.

Tom Hanks actually comes across pretty well here, the first time I'm warming to his casting. Still don't think he looks right though.

Miss Tautou and Jean Reno aren't seen enough in this film but are going to be damn gorgeous and great respectively...

Go watch! Roll on May 19th.

Snakes on a mother-frackin' plane!

2006-03-20T09:46:00.000Z

Snakes. Footage. Planes. Snakes and planes, two mega-nightmares for many - combined. Wicked.

SNAKES ON A PLANE

2006-03-16T21:37:00.000Z

I've publicised this before, right back when my blog was first beginning, but its must be repeated. Snakes on a frackin' plane!

Wicked.

5th ODI: South Africa v Australia at Johannesburg, 12 Mar 2006

2006-03-15T17:34:00.000Z

Incredible. Pure excitement. I followed this match on text commentary when it was clear the Ozzies may top 400. Even THAT was exciting :)

Godfather.

DVD Times - Crash - Best Film?

2006-03-15T17:30:00.000Z

This guy at DVD Times has written a spot-on review of the most over-rated film I've seen in an awful long while. Go and read it, do, then come back and read my thoughts on the same film...

The North-East

2006-03-07T13:20:00.000Z

Newcastle, to be precise. That's where I'll be living from very soon and for the foreseeable future. You see, I have just been offered, and accepted a job with
Proctor & Gamble (they make Ariel, Duracell batteries, Fairy liquid
amongst other things) at their technical centre in Long Benton,
Newcastle.

Some background. I was invited to interview by P & G to Italy in
January. I went and was subsequently offered the job. Unfortunately,
it wasn't for me so I said no, even though it was just south of Rome.
Anyway, they rang me up this week, got me up to Newkie for a chat on
Wednesday and offered me the job by Friday. This job is quite a bit
different and far more exciting, and as such something I was very excited to have the chance to do.

The downsides are two-fold, one, its not in Cambridge or nearby, which
means I'll still be spending many weekends travelling. But at least it
takes no longer than Oxford - Cambridge (really) and also I'll be able
to afford the travelling! Two, I start asap (no actual date yet set
tho) and haven't finished my thesis. It means it'll be very hard work
firstly, something I'm sure we all know I've never really done when it
comes to academia, but as somebody quite the opposite once said,
although these three months will be awful, it will all be worth it
when you come out the other side. Excellent advice.

Here's to hoping all goes well....

Godfather.

Hot Fuzz

2006-03-02T09:28:00.000Z

How exciting! Wright and Pegg of Shaun of the Dead fame (and more) have released some details of their new movie, Hot Fuzz, which promises to do for action what Shaun did for horror.

Oh my, this is exciting. SOTD was basically the funniest film I had seen for an absolute age when I finally got around to it - better than the glorious Anchorman I would say, even. If they can make an action film in the vein of Shaun that's half as good, it will still most likely be the best thing ever (aside from Shaun of course, as it would only be half as good...)

Rock on.

Eli Roth Webchat

2006-02-09T11:34:00.000Z

What a guy! Not content with making one of my top ten most wanted movies of the year ( Hostel ), Eli Roth just happens to provide the funniest article I've read all year so far. Excellent.

Godfather.

14-disc Superman: Ultimate Collector's Edition box set

2006-02-01T00:45:00.000Z

Wow! A 14 disc Superman boxset? As it coincides with the release of Superman Returns, will that be in it? Doesn't matter, I'll be getting both items if separate anyway.

The Alien Quadrilogy only contained 9 discs. This potentially kicks it into touch as a great box set (The Matrix trilogy contained 10 discs too). The key aspect is the Donner cut of Supes II:

"...at least 50 % of the film will be footage you've never seen"

Also:

"This will feature new deluxe editions of all four of the original films".

Now, I should qualify this. I remember watching all 4 of these films numerous times as a kid, but as I grew up Batman and the X-men stole me away from the man of steel. I guess he's just not as cool. BUT this box set will be what dreams are made of and Batfans do dream of electric Superman boxsets. As a DVD collector this is my top package of 2006.

I should just mention that if it comes out ~ November, I hope to be working by then. That means I'll hopefully be getting round to buying that HDTV and BDDVD player (assuming we have 1080p HDTV by then - or I plump for the 720p standard). This is meant to be released in HD/BDDVD too - what a christening!

Cheers,

Godfather.

Oscar Nominations 2006

2006-01-31T13:48:00.000Z

OK, here are the main Oscar nominations. Films with a * are ones I have seen, films with a # are those I have yet to watch, and films with nothing by them don't interest me. My choice is in blue, my prediction is in red. If only one name is coloured, that is both my prediction and choice (except for supporting actress where I have no choice having seen none of the performances so far...).

Directly before the ceremony I shall re-evaluate my choices having seen more of the nominees.

Best picture:

Brokeback Mountain (#)
Capote (#)
Crash (*)
Good Night and Good Luck (*)
Munich (#)

Best Director:

Ang Lee - Brokeback Mountain (#)
Bennet Miller - Capote (#)
Paul Haggis - Crash (*)
George Clooney - Good Night and Good Luck (*)
Steven Spielberg - Munich (#)

Best Actor:

Philip Symour Hoffman - Capote (#)
Terence Howard - Hustle and Flow
Heath Ledger - Brokeback Mountain (#)
Joaquin Phoenix - Walk the Line (*)
David Strathairn -Good Night and Good Luck (*)

Best Actress:

Judi Dench - Mrs Henderson Presents (#)
Felicity Huffman - Transamerica
Keira Knightley - Pride and Prejudice
Charlize Theron - North Country
Reese Witherspoon - Walk The Line

Best Supporting Actor:

George Clooney - Syriana (*)
Matt Dillon - Crash (*)
Paul Giamatti - Cinderella Man
Jake Gyllenhaal - Brokeback Mountain (#)
William Hurt - A History of Violence (#)

Best Supporting Actress:

Amy Adams - Junebug
Catherine Keener - Capote (#)
Frances McDormand - North Country
Rachel Weisz - The Constant Gardener (#)
Michelle Williams - Brokeback Mountain (#)

Best Original Screenplay:

Crash (*)
Goodnight and Good Luck (*)
Match Point
The Squid and the Whale
Syriana (*)

Best Adapted Screenplay:

Brokeback Mountain (#)
Capote (#)
The Constant Gardener (#)
A History of Violence (#)
Munich (#)

Best Animated Feature:

Howl's Moving Castle (#)
Wallace and Gromit in the Curse of the Were-Rabbit (*)
Tim burton's The Corpse Bride (#)

For the full list including other awards such as art direction and score, check here.

Cheers,

Godfather.

The Italian Job not going ahead...

2006-01-31T13:45:00.000Z

I would have loved to live and work in Italy BUT the package was unspectacular, the job wasn't the most interesting and I think writing up whilst learning a language in a new place, alone and being miserable working would have beena bad thing ;)

I am disappointed, but I know that had the job been in England I'd have said no and there are other jobs which, given the chance, I would pick ahead of this one, so lets see how it goes, ok?

Godfather.

PRODIGAL SON FOWLER REJOINS THE REDS

2006-01-27T18:13:00.000Z

I am just gobsmacked. God has returned, and I am in heaven.

Amazing.

Godfather

The Italian Job

2006-01-27T12:40:00.000Z

Well, on Monday I flew over to Rome Ciampino for the purpose of attending a day visit at Proctor and Gamble's Pomezia site on the Tuesday. Yes, they invited me over in the hope I would be who they wanted to fill a particular vacancy.

So, after getting to my hotel around 8pm, seeing the Italian version of Deal or no deal (third country, after Oz and UK in which I've seen this, evidently very popular game), I went to sleep. I got up at 6.30 am local time, showered, dressed and had some breakfast. Then the taxi arrived to take me to P+G.

I got there about 9 am, waited until ~ 9.30 then gave a presentation on my PhD work which lasted over an hour, including questions. It went ok, which it should have done - I'd plenty of presentation practice and had spent a couple of weeks writing/learning this talk. The questions were a mixed bag - some fine, some foucussing on areas of which I wasn't sure.

Anyway, 30 mins after that finished I had the first of two hour long interviews. These both went fine. I was happy, and hungry by the end and was taken for lunch in the site canteen and then given a tour of the (small) R+D department within which the job would be.

After that I went to the airport where I had to wait for over 8 hours due to delays etc before getting a very nice, clear flight home (where I got to see the Eiffel tower from 39,000 Feet!).

Anyway, a day or two later I was offered the job - woah! I wasn't expecting that. Anyway, here I am, trying to work out the following:

1) Do I want to do this work (not sure)
2) Do I want to work in Italy (Yes, that would be great - Golaccio! - apart from not being in the same country as Katie)
3)Can I finish my thesis whilst working full time, in a foreign country, where I don't yet speak the language?

Who knows. I need to decide and give them an answer by Monday though. Ho hum.

Godfather.

24 - Day 5

2006-01-17T21:43:00.000Z

What is there to say? 24 returns for a fifth series with 4 hours more intense and explosive than ever before (arguably, at least for the opening). The first hour in itself is incredible and stands head-to-toe with the Myers, Mason, Chapelle and the Palmer/Soul-Patch/Chloe episodes (you know which ones I mean - If not scroll down for the spoils...) of previous seasons'. In fact, at this point I would put it as the best hour of 24 ever, and as such, the best hour of TV. Ever.

It certainly stands as the bravest opening of any TV series ever, the most intense opening of any TV series ever and quite honestly just has to be seen to be believed. Truly.

Wow. 24 is back. Thank-you.

Godfather.

Highlight the inviso-text for some spoilerage from seasons 1-4:

By the Myers episode I mean the penultimate episode of season one where we learn Nina is actually a mole; the Mason one relates to the nuclear bomb drop in season two where we believe Jack is going to sacrifice himself only for Mason to pop up; the Chapelle episode is in season three where Jack has orders from Saunders to execute Ryan Chapelle; and the other three are from season four, the season I refer to as the greatest hits collection where one by one we get treats - Palmer returns when we thought he'd gone, Soul Patch returns to save the day and Chloe shoots people!

The 2006 Movie Preview - Part III

2006-01-17T15:42:00.000Z

So, my top ten is done. What else am I looking forward to over the coming year? Lots, I guess. Superman Returns by the genius that is Bryan Singer is a no-brainer, as is Munich - hardcore Spielberg at last.

Walk the line, a biopic of Johnny Cash's early life appeals to me, as does the wonderfully titled Snakes on a plane starring Sam Jackson. Deja Vu is this year's actioner from Tony Scott starring Denzel and The Black Dahlia featuring the ubiquitous Scarlet Johansson promises labyrinthine mystery on a par with LA Confidential, and a return to form for De Palma.

The Proposition looks a fairly uncompromising western, and The Assasination of Jesse James by the coward Robert Ford, despite having the longest title ever, looks a solid enough bet for a good night out.

There are others but I'm all filmed out currently. Just one more thing, then that will be the end of movie previews for now - I think if pushed I would say The Da Vinci Code is my most wanted movie. Despite my disinterest in Hanks the cast is fantastic, the source material some of the most entertaining hokum I've ever read and the film itself something I've wanted to see since I first read the book. I want to see how well it turns out, if its how I imagined it and if its as exciting on screen as in text. Time will tell but for those reasons I make this film my number one wanted this year.

Cheers,

Godfather.

The 2006 Movie Preview - Part II

2006-01-17T14:34:00.000Z

So, on to the second part of this 2006 filmic preview, where I divulge in-depth details of the remaining five films in my top ten most anticipated movies and list a few others I plan on checking out. Onto the listings then:

Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby

For a long time this was simply known as Will Ferrell's untitled NASCAR comedy, and that information alone should allow you to make the decision of whether or not you'll go out and see this film.

As arguably the most talented comedian in the 'Frat Pack' (Ben Stiller is overrated, Owen Wilson is more a straight man, Vince Vaughn is better away from the central role and Steve Carell needs more movies to be fully judged), his performance as Ron Burgundy lead to Anchorman becoming the greatest comedy vehicle starring any of these actors mentioned (cf Dodgeball, The 40 year old virgin, Meet the Fockers), in my humble opinion.

The guy is just superb when allowed to go off the rails (cf Bewitched for what happens when he isn't) and given the starring role (cf Old School when he isn't). This WILL BE the best comedy, and highest grossing comedy of 2006. No question.

PotC 2: Dead Man's Chest

Johnny Depp is Captain Jack Sparrow.

Its produced by the hidden king of all action cinema Jerry Bruckheimer.

Keira Knightley is the starring female. These three facts are all I need to know to know I'll be watching this. Actually, I only really needed to know the first one.

The Fountain

The latest movie from another young, up and coming director (cf Richard Kelly), Darren Aronofsky this film has finally been made after a previous aborted attempt due to spiralling budgets (set to star Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett) in 2002.

It centres around a scientist (Hugh Jackman) who is trying to develop a cure for his terminally ill wife's (Rachel Weisz) illness in the present, whilst also covering the 'same' man 500 years in the past and 500 years into the future. So, to sum up, its a romantic science-fiction tragedy. Obviously.

Aronofsky produced the magical Requiem for a dream in 2000 and is likened to Richard Kelly in that they both have outstanding, unconventional potential, and in the case of this film and Kelly's Southland Tales, more to the film than just the film - in this case only one graphic novel though ;). It probably won't make much sense, so we can add it to the confusion genre, alongside Southland, but I bet it will be a highly memorable experience...

M:I:3

The third film in this franchise based on a great 60's TV series. It stars Tom Cruise which is not to everyone's taste but it can't be denied that he a) can act and b) is a star despite personal opinions and equally he owns the rights to M:I and as such would appear to very much love the subject matter and thus wish to make the best film possible.

The first was a terrific mind-bender with a brilliantly choreographed vault breaking scene, the second a little too dumbed down for my tastes but with enough to keep me hoping for a third.

JJ Abrams of Alias/Lost fame is the director this time around, having tried to get the film going with both Joe Carnahan and David Fincher. Whilst this makes me expect an ok film, nothing more, it could well help me enjoy the film more due to my expectations, or JJ could hit it out of the park, who knows. The question is though, if I don't expect much, why is it in this top ten? It is still Mission Impossible, after all.

Dreamgirls

This is pretty much my wildcard entry to the list. Its nominally a musical biopic of Diana Ross and The Supremes. Not something that would get me going, normally, but its based on the award winning Broadway musical of the same name, stars, amongst others Eddie Murphy and is due out december time in the US, thus indicating the studio expect it to vie for Oscars. Worth keeping your eyes on.

So, that's the top ten done. I hope you find something you didn't know about (unlikely as most are high profile) or something you want to see (highly likely). I'll post a few words later on about other interesting films coming this year.

Thanks for reading,

Godfather.

The 2006 Movie Preview - Part I

2006-01-16T19:10:00.000Z

Having settled into the year 2006 I have taken my time and assimilated a lot of information about a lot of the movies on their way to America and the UK in the next year. This post will provide some information on those I most want to watch. Of course no list like this can ever be considered comprehensive as there will be many I don't know about as they haven't been announced, reported on or quite simply exist currently only in some Mandarin dialect. I will limit my list to ten films, but also mention a few more in a brief way at the end as quite frankly, I don't give a damn if you all are bored by that point :)

Each film is due for release in 2006 in the USA or UK. The titles are named in no particular order other than the top ten (of which any film could be number one or ten).

The Da Vinci Code

The world's best selling novel, the world's biggest actor and a twisty plot to confuse even the calmest of logisticians? Absolutely. The second of Dan Brown's Robert Langdon stories takes place primarily in London and Paris with our Harvard symbologist hero's search for the Holy Grail taking him from clue to clue, art work to art work and place to place, with a little bit of action, comedy and romance thrown in.

Whilst the novel is a personal favourite it is hardly worth describing in detail here as most will know of it. As such the film is a home-run for Sony and fully deserving of a place as one of my most anticipated movies. However, a few reservations remain. Firstly I tend to find Ron Howard's output rather dry and unengaging, as well as not thinking Tom Hanks is all that. Still, the story is a kicker, Audrey tautou I feel fits the role of Sophie better than anyone else could and we also have Jean Reno in the film. Excellent.

It opens in the US on May 19, two weeks after the hot M:I:3 but before X3 which opens on the Memorial weekend. I put it as film most likely to win the box office wars this year - it really can't fail. I also imagine it will be one of the most enjoyablke and thrilling films this year and I'll be right there, hopefully!

Hostel

The second film from Eli Roth, the horror-nerd who gave us an excitingly hyped old-school type scary movie in Cabin fever, which ultiamtely left me feeling a little disappointed. This time I doubt I'll feel the same.

This is the story of some american backpackers who find Eastern Europe, some Eastern European ladies and some fun. For a while, for after the fun is offered the torture, severing of limbs and killing begins. What do they do?

I really belive this can be the kick-start to a cycle of true 70's horror type films - balls achingly raw, scary and brutal. Combine this opener (April 21st in the UK - its already opened to commercial and critical success in the US) with The Hills have Eyes (remake of the Craven film of the same name, by the guy who did Haute Tension which is having trouble getting past the MPAA uncut) and we could be in for a glorious year, and beyond.

Southland Tales

Written and directed by the guy who made Donnie Darko, centering around the end of the world, it involves Sarah Michelle Gellar as a porn star who gets it on with The Rock's forgetful action hero (best action star since Arnie - discuss).

Exactly in what way could you not anticipate this movie? DD is a masterpiece of the confusion cinema genre (cf. Mulholland drive, Lost highway), SMG is an attractive actress who could finally break out from her small screen (Buffy) persona and become a movie star at last and The Rock, is well, The Rock.

Due out sometime this year, it is a small part of a much larger story Richard Kelly has to tell (he's producing various graphic novella to add to the film) and although very little is yet known, if the excitement I have for it already is any measure, it could well become the film of the year. Also, did I mention its part comedy/thriller/science fiction and apparently, musical? No? I should have done.

Zodiac

The best director currently making films, David Fincher makes his first film since 2001's claustro-thriller, Panic Room. In a change from the camera trickery of that movie's action by numbers, we have the Finch back doing what he does best - serial killer thrillers. This one though, unlike Seven, is based on a true story - that of the Zodiac killer (the baddy in Dirty Harry) - a man who terrorised San Francisco with apparently randomised murdering during the 60's and 70's and is in this film the backstory which allows us to follow the lives of the detectives on his trail.

This currently has no actual release date other than 2006 and having not read the source material I can't tell you much more about the plot, but with such a director and cast (Jake Gyllenhall, Mark Ruffalo and Robert Downey Jr.) it must be good!

The Prestige

Director: Christopher Nolan of Batman Begins and Memento fame

Starring: Hugh Jackman, Sir Michael Caine, Christian Bale and Scarlett Johansson

Plot: Two magicians (Bale and Jackman), rivals in the late 19th century, become so involved in their magic and one-upping the other that they turn to murder to succeed.

That should be enough to pique interest in this one....if not, check out the novel on which this film is based, watch Nolan's work and imagine what he could do with turn of the century magicians, magic and murder. Sounds better now, doesn't it?

I'll be back later with the next five of my top ten films to come...

Cheers,

Godfather

MovieMall Film Quiz

2006-01-09T14:22:00.000Z

:D

Godfather.

The Empire 200 Poll Results

2006-01-09T13:13:00.000Z

I hate the public. I have only checked out the first page of these poll results and am extremely irritated. In what world is LOTR the best film franchise ever? Let's look at the evidence, briefly:

The first film is good. The second is tedious as anything aside from Gollum and the thirds one equally so until the elephants turn up. Orlando Bloom is in it. I haven't read the books, but I saw all the films and just got bored, yet I was impressed with the first. Peter Jackson has far exceeded these films with King Kong. And for it to beat Star Wars, or Indy, or BTTF? Just insanity. I do not think that in 20-30 years these films will have the same effect.

Its probably just me, granted, but these are my thoughts. I suspect a lot of people voted for it as they thought they should, or because of the practicality of finishing 3 lengthy movies to such a standard in such a way, but honestly, are they more enjoyable than Indy? More romantic than Star Wars? More inventive than BTTF? Better action than The Matrix? No.

Godfather.

Blu-ray Disc & HD-DVD at CES 2006

2006-01-09T13:07:00.000Z

Oh my. Oh my, oh my. Check out all this kit. Impressive stuff. I long for the day the title of this blog can become 'New job for the new Doctor' (a long way off, I feel...) just so I have the cash to buy these things.

Page 4 or 5, not sure which, it has some Pioneer kit - 50" Plasma with their elite BD player. Forget costs, forget mortgages and pensions and things like that, I want to spend all my new salary (when I get one) on these things. Gorgeous.

I forgot to mention that last week I was in Dixons and they had a 60" Plasma. Never seen a screen that big before and I was impressed. Even more so when I noticed it was playing a 1080i source DVD. Oh my, I was dropping my jaw all over the shop and just stood there mesmerised for ages. And that was ONLY 1080i. Wow.

Godfather.

Melbourne

2006-01-07T16:12:00.000Z

So, we flew into Melbourne on wednesday 8th November at about 7 AM local time. The airport was surprisingly small but they did come round with a sniffer dog to check everyone's bags for dodgy disease carrying food. They're especially paranoid about such things in Oz, and we were coming from Asia, the home of Avian flu...

We were met and picked up by Natasha and Ivan, the couple whose wedding we had come to see. They took us back to their house and Ivan cooked Leon and I (Me, Katie, Leon and Caz were all visiting for the wedding, and staying in the same flat in Melbourne)a fry-up on the barbie! Woohoo! In Oz for a couple of hours and already we get a barbeque. It was lovely - the usual stuff plus some interesting oysters. Nice. For the rest of the day we basically chatted, sat in the sun, bought some food and when we could we went and checked into our flat.

That night we got the tram (an excellent tram service operates throughout the CBD and into the suburbs - great prices and regular) to a restaurant on a place called Fitzroy street which is adjacent to Albert Park, where the Grand Prix is run each year.

So, over the next few day we enjoyed Melbourne and went to a Serbian wedding. The wedding will be described in its own post I think, but here is some info. about what we did in Melbourne:

The first thing we did was walk up George street and head into and up the observation tower. Some great views of Melbourne from here, as we'd hoped:

We checked out the old Melbourne Gaol, where Ned Kelly, amongst many others, was hung (including a Mr Barnes ;)) and checked out some of the nice architecture around before going out for a meal that evening.

We went to the botanical gardens the next day, which was ok, then a little train ride to an old naval town called Williamstown. Very pretty place, with some nice views of Melbourne city and some cool ships :)

Then there was Captain Cook's childhood home, transported and rebuilt brick-by-brick from Yorkshire to Melbourne :) - very cool! We also saw a very odd statue that to this day we're unsure whether it's designed that way or altered as a prank....

On our last day in Melbourne we did two very cool things. Firstly it should be noted that Melbourne is THE sporting city in Oz. It hosts the Grand Prix, the Australian Open in Tennis and is home to the world famous (and massive) MCG. Without much time in the morning due to our afternoon outing we were unable to check out the Rod Laver Arena (Tennis) so went for the MCG tour which was great fun, despite a) the ground being renovated for this year's Commonwealth Games and b) the tour guide seemingly being more interested in the drainage rather than cricket despite my questioning him!

Anyway, here are some pics of a ground that is majorly impressive compared to all UK cricket grounds - probably due to it holding around 100 thousand people rather than the 20 K or so that is BIG for us here :)

Then, the last 'cultural' (and I use the word loosely) thing we did in Melbourne was an extremely fun (but equally sad) trip to Pin Oak Court, known over here as Ramsey Street :)

The last two things we did in Melbourne were a) eat a proper Ozzie meal and b) drive out with the aim to get to Sydney, via Narooma, on the coastal road (~ 1100 Km). Here are some photos of part a) and as for part b), I'll leave that for the Narooma section of this historical archive. As this one's too long already....

So what do we have on the plate? A Yabbie (crustacean), Emu and Kangaroo sausages, Wallaby, Kangaroo, Crocodile and Oysters. Crocodile is great, though tough, Kangaroo is surprisingly disappointing (but still a great eat) and Emu had to be the tastiest thing. Oysters, well, salty things, they are. On the whole a truly fine meal that was a highlight of the trip; in fact this whole final day in Melbourne (MCG, Ramsey Street and Ozzie tucker) was a particularly fine day.

Godfather.

My DVD Collection

2006-01-07T14:44:00.000Z

Hey,

Being a major movie fan and a collector of DVDs since december '99, I have finally got around to collating my DVDs via DVD Profiler. Very cool, just a bit laborious when typing in 278 bar codes! Anyway, here is the link to my collection:

Godfather's DVDs

I had been using DVD afficionado but these data can be kept offline and browsed/sorted very easily.

Highly recommended.

Godfather.

Blu-ray and HD-DVD pricing/dates

2006-01-05T16:55:00.000Z

Hmmm. Curiouser and curiouser. Now with MS chucking a HD drive into the 360, HD coming out before Blu-ray and with aggressive pricing (not forgetting the possible delay of the PS3 and definite price premium) the situation is clouded and my belief that Blu-ray will win is a less confident one.

Now, even though Blu-ray ahs the better studio support, that is its only definite advantage currently that is certain. A big advantage, true, but nevertheless...

Godfather.

News - First Blu-Ray movies announced // PlayStation 3 /// Eurogamer

2006-01-04T15:19:00.000Z

So, some info. on the first Blu-ray movies. Not majorly exciting as the first films on a new format are always a mix. The interesting things here are 1) the regions and 2) the whole PC type sensibility behind new movie formats. Let me explain...

If you always wait for the next new thing in PCs you'll never buy one. Same thing is now happening with film collections - DVD has been around 10 years now, in the mainstream for 4-5. VHS was here for 20-30. Blu-ray and HDDVD are based on optical storage, so at least your DVDs are still gonna be useful, but what of newer, better formats coming? How long until these are superceded?

I guess it doesn't really matter tbh as Blu-ray/HDDVD will have HD transfers of films and TV series and that will be the televisual standard for years, really. But the film studios and TV people will still re-release everything and the like, so when do you get that complete X-files set? Do you plump now for the 59 DVDs at small prices, or wait for the 5-10 disc Blu-ray super-duper edition?Well, Blu-ray won't be affordable for a while, but I'm gonna wait when it comes to TV series and the like that I haven't yet really started collecting. Films and the like I'll keep going with, but I'm gonna wait for the next big thing before I get my X-files.

Whilst I'm here I should say that I fully believe Blu-ray will win the format war over HD though. Its all about the PS3. Ho hum.

Godfather.

Hong Kong and Australia

2005-12-16T13:02:00.000Z

In November Katie and I made our way to Australia via Hong Kong and absolutely loved it. Now, I don't want to bore people with what happened but I want to record it somewhere so I can look back on it over time. As such these posts will contain words AND pictures so those of you too lazy to read it all can goggle at the pics ;)

Anyway, onto our journey to Hong Kong and our 48 hours there:

So, after getting to Heathrow mightily early for what was to be the first long-haul flight (14ish hours) either of us had made (I'd been to Canada before but that was only 7 hours) we ate some food and then took off on a BA Boeing 747-400 around 7 pm. We flew over Holland and then Russia all the way to China before turning south towards Hong Kong. The flight was actually good fun and really smooth. We got to watch some films too (Dark Water and The wedding crashers in my case).

We stayed in Hong Kong on the SE corner of the island with Katie's cousin and his wife (Jai and Patty) in an area called Stanley. We got there via train and taxi from the airport and both were nice and cheap. Stanley itself was a nice contrast to the CBD and mainland in that it was quiet with very few people around at night (though in the day it hosted a popular market. Temperatures were up at 30ish and with 100 % humidity - oh how I loved that :).

The above picture is a view of Stanley Harbour from Jai and Patty's apartment. They have a cat too, who's unfortunately been through the wars a bit and lost an ear:

On that first night we were treated to a trip to an authentic Chinese restaurant which was an experience - the food was similar to what we'd have back home but the actual way the meal is served etc. Is quite different - one big thing is that they automatically give you a glass of green tea and just keep on refilling it. It was actually quite nice :).

After the first night where we didn't really suffer from jet-lag we got up fairly early in order to make the most of our one and only full day. We went straight to Victoria Peak via bus, foot and then Peak tram (the second steepest incline in the world in which a vehicle travels). Victoria Peak provides views of the mainland and harbor but due to pollution very little was visible as can be seen below!

After that we ventured over to the mainland using the Star Ferry across the harbour.

Here we basically walked for hours and took in the surroundings, noticing especially that as you got further north the influence from England diminished and the Chinese culture revealed itself more and more. However, the pollution was so bad we could smell and taste it so we had an ice-cream and then went looking for a restaurant for dinner. We ended up in a Japanese restaurant as it was the first we found that looked like it would be free of disease and that had an English menu. The food turned out to be really nice though, which was good.

After dinner we made our way to Temple Street Night Market which was good fun, very touristy though. My Brother had wanted a Breitling watch from here (fake, of course), so I asked various sellers if they had them. After finding a seller and then bartering with him on the price, he beckoned me behind the store to do the deal down some back-alley. I felt kind of freaked at this but fortunately it all turned out ok :).

That night we again slept well before going to Stanley Market the following morning and I bought some Silk ties for ~ £1 each and Katie got some pressies for people and a scarf-type thing for herself.

We met up Patty and her friend for lunch and went for some Dim-Sum, basically a variety of small Chinese dishes - Tapas in Chinese if you will. It was all very nice, and then we had a few minutes to go and check out a true locals market (very local - lots of dead birds and pigs etc. hanging from stalls as well as other foodstuffs and not a westerner, aside from ourselves in sight!) before heading back to the airport for our 10 hour journey to Melbourne.

And that story is for later...

Godfather.

New look

2005-12-16T12:20:00.000Z

Right, as I have started to use this blog again I thought it would be nice to make it look different. Its only a template - I haven't worked out how to make my own yet, but it does look good.

I hope you all agree?

Godfather.

Champions League 05/06 'Super Sixteen' Draw

2005-12-16T12:03:00.000Z

CHELSEA v Barcelona
Real Madrid v ARSENAL
Werder Bremen v Juventus
Bayern Munich v AC Milan
PSV Eindhoven v Lyon
Ajax v Inter Milan
Benfica v LIVERPOOL
RANGERS v Villarreal

Wow! What a bunch of top games. Firstly, we get our reward for topping the group ahead of Chelsea - Benfica. Lovely draw. If we play sensibly that should be straightforward.

As for Chelsea, sorry, but that's what you get for failing to beat Betis in Seville. Barcelona! The most attractive, destructive attacking force in Europe. Wow, they have moved on a gear since last season and Chelsea have remained where they are, stagnated. I can't see beyond Barcelona - Mourinho will NOT be happy :D

Roll on February/March!

Godfather.

Long time no see?

2005-12-15T21:58:00.000Z

Indeed it is. I should post more. Maybe I will again. Starting tomorrow with the Champions League draw. See you then,

Godfather.

Telegraph | Sport | Inside the tormented minds of the captains

2005-08-22T10:27:00.000+01:00

Telegraph | Sport | Inside the tormented minds of the captains

BBC NEWS | England | Dorset | UK pair pay �4,000 for stray dog

2005-08-18T22:03:00.000+01:00

BBC NEWS | England | Dorset | UK pair pay �4,000 for stray dog

How cool is this? Nice one!

Snakes on a Plane

2005-08-18T19:09:00.000+01:00

Arrow in the Head News: Jackson talks Snakes: "Email
this story to a friend | Discuss
this with others "

How cool is this?

England win the toss

2005-08-11T18:05:00.000+01:00

And bat - excellent.

Glenn McGrath is back. Not such good news but a) he hasn't got the Lords slope and b) there must be a chance he breaks down? Not that it matters though as c) we will play better ;)

Mikey

2005-08-11T17:45:00.000+01:00

Time for a ton! Preferably a double...?

3rd Ashes Test - I predict...

2005-08-11T17:37:00.000+01:00

...The winners will be the team which bats first. I think its that simple. A good batting pitch, which will turn later in the game.

So, we need to bat to get runs before Warney can do any century-defining stuff again, and they need to bat first to allow Warney to do his stuff....

Granted, we still have the stronger attack (assuming McGrath does not play) but I still fear Warne. I would say if the team batting second were to win it, only England could do so.

But come on Mikey - time for you to put runs on the board, and Bell, to join Banger and Brockett - maybe the first tonnes of the series? Followed by KP, Fred and Gojo, we should be aiming for 600+ if we bat first....here's hoping; we haven't won a single toss yet this series, so chances are?

The Ashes at 1-1

2005-08-08T17:14:00.000+01:00

Well, having recovered enough to actually remark upon the final hours of the match - wow!

A horrible, horrible morning that ended, in my opinion, with the correct result :D

Go England! Onto Old Trafford and a chance to carry the momentum onwards to gain a 2-1 advantage; or concede one. Hopefully not the latter ;)

England's Day

2005-08-07T05:57:00.000+01:00

Ulysses? Botham? Fred? England!

Frederick Flintoff

2005-08-07T03:23:00.000+01:00

Awesome.

Bat - one of the most exhilirating innings I have ever witnessed.

Ball - Fantastic variety and skill, and reward.

The demon? Why not, I know he was Australian, old Frederick Spoffoth but surely fred deserves it after today?

The Historian

2005-08-02T18:30:00.000+01:00

A novel, by Elizabeth Kostova - her debut.

Great book. Very much the thinking man's Da Vinci Code. Whilst that book was more a pacey summer blockbuster with twists and turns at the end of each chapter (and one of my favourite novels), this was a slower paced, more complex quest.

Its pace is perhaps its weakness, in that things do take a while to happen, some may indeed be obvious before they have (primarily the things between characters though, rather than the actual plot) but the book is enthralling until the end, and has kept me thinking for quite some time afterwards.

Highly recommended, 4.5/5

DVD Times - Transformers: The Movie (Reconstructed) in September

2005-07-27T20:43:00.000+01:00

DVD Times - Transformers: The Movie (Reconstructed) in September: "US theatrical trailer and TV spots"

Wow!

I gotta get me one of these!

Cricinfo - England need to address their balance

2005-07-26T21:10:00.000+01:00

Cricinfo - England need to address their balance

Highly intriguing article. Do I think Uncle Ashley should go? Well, I don't know. i guess the option is an exceptional one if Edgsbaston isn't going to swing. Colly would aid our field too, despite the run-out by The King of Spain.

Do I agree with the guy? Unsure. I think its a fantastic idea, truly. Colly would field, bat and bowl if needed, plus Bell and Mikey can do some spin if needs be. I imagine until old Trafford spin for us isn't a factor, really, so why not?

Brian Lara's Cricket - A Streaker?

2005-07-26T00:12:00.000+01:00

http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=60164

Excellent :D

Lance Armstrong

2005-07-25T23:57:00.000+01:00

What a guy.

Awesome.

To win the hardest sporting event ever 7 years running, after overcominmg Brain, Lung and Testicular Cancer.

Wow.

The Ashes - First Test

2005-07-25T23:54:00.000+01:00

Well, disappointing sums it all up. It started better than I could have dreamt, got a little bad, got a bit better (I was there on friday - what a player KP is. How anyone, let alone a test debutant could hammer McGrath for 4, 6 and then 4 I don't know, but it sure was great fun watching him!)and then just got depressing, and pretty much stayed that way.

We need to bat better and keep the intensity up. I'm sure we can have better performances from all but 2 players, so we can close the gap. Depsite what the Ozzies said, you take away McGrath and Warne and the team is good, not great. We have a good team too...

Roll on Edgsbaston!

Superman returns

2005-07-19T21:01:00.000+01:00

OK, so Batman Begins totally ruled, and the X-men movies have been amazing (though the less said about plans for X3 the better ;)). Now for Bryan Singer's Superman Returns.

Well, it's Supes. We all like him (He aint Bats or the X-men, but he's still enjoyable) and next summer we'll see what he's doen with it all. The trailer should be here pretty soon, too. That'll be good. Can he make it good? Will it match the Donner movies? Will it better them? Well, he did for X-men what he did, so he can probably do it for Supes, too.

Harry potter 6 - May contain spoilers...

2005-07-18T18:03:00.000+01:00

Well, I got this, and read this, on saturday. Very good. Up there with Azkaban and Goblet. One chapter, 23, arguably the most important in all of Harry Potter thus far. Very excitingly set-up for the final book too.

Ebay

2005-07-08T17:42:00.000+01:00

I bid for an item yesterday, a games console. It was being sold by a guy with a feedback rating of 9 (100 % positive).

He cancelled my bid. Reason? 'Troublesome feedback'. Interesting seeing as I have 100 % positive feedback from 30 transactions!

If people choose to be weird, and cancel perfectly good bids for whatever reason they choose, I wish they'd say so, rather than inventing some scurrilous trash.

Terror attacks - London

2005-07-08T17:41:00.000+01:00

Awful. Totally shocking. It could have been worse, yes, but that's not the point, is it?

I hope everyone is ok, or as ok as they can be.

Stevie G staying

2005-07-08T17:40:00.000+01:00

I know I'm late with this but I thought I should mention it anyway. As long as he forgets all this transfer rubbish this season, and thus plays at 100 %, fine. If not, I'd have rather had the 35 million ;)

Gerrard on his way

2005-07-05T23:41:00.000+01:00

So, Stevie G has decided to leave the club he's been with since a boy, supported forever and won all but the title with. Clever.

Anyway, as a result, we will get a load of money for the best man ager in the world to disperse around the football world in an aim to obtain players of the calibre of Carragher, Cisse, Alonso and co. with a view to enhancing Liverpool's standing, home and away. Excellent.

Personally, I'd like to see Essien, Robinho and Vicente/Joaquin. I somehow doubt that will happen though ;)

Nosebleeds

2005-07-04T19:23:00.000+01:00

I've had these all my life, regularly. My earliest memory of one is in the basement of Dillons' bookstore, Oxford, and my Mum trying to get the bleeding to stop. It doesn't, not until it wants to anyway. I normally spurt out a good few hundred mls, easy.

However, being used to them does not make things any better when you wake up at 2:40 am with a bleeding nose that doesn't stop bleeding until ~ 3:11 am. Bleeding whilst half-asleep, then finding it very awkward to get to sleep again. Fun. Truly.

Google Earth

2005-06-29T19:23:00.000+01:00

Google Earth

Very cool.

Warlock

2005-06-29T17:17:00.000+01:00

The book I'm currently reading, and the third and final in the Egyptian series from the fantastic author Wilbur Smith.

A stunning series, which i am looking forward to finishing, purely because I'm really excitred to know what's going to happen to the current crop of characters. In all the three books, only one character, Taita, remains from book to book, and the series spans 3-4000 years (you'll understand if you read the books!). I thoroughly recommend them. The first book contained some stunning characters and you really felt for them, whilst the second book was more a rip-roaring adventure in the vain of Indiana Jones. The final book, well I'm not sure what it is yet...

Sony and the PSP importers?

2005-06-24T18:11:00.000+01:00

http://www.guardian.co.uk/online/story/0,3605,1512591,00.html

Insanity. How can a company expect goodwill from anyone based in Europe? First they admit the European market is leazst important, then they release the PSP 10 months after Japan and the USA get it, and now they want to track down each individual owner and take back their 200 quid toy and software?

The mind boggles.

Google portal?

2005-06-23T02:02:00.000+01:00

http://www.google.com/ig

Not sure how many people will use this - currently - as its a work in preogress, doesn't seem to do things that well and most panes only work in the US (weather etc.). BUT it has potential, and hey, its Google ;)

"You know how to whistle don't you Steve? You just put your lips together and blow"

2005-06-22T19:03:00.000+01:00

http://www.joblo.com/index.php?id=7846

One of my personal favourite film quotes from this top 100 as presaented by the American Film Institute. Pretty cool.

Other faves:

"Made it, Ma! On top of the world!" Just before dying...

“Well, here’s another nice mess you’ve gotten me into!” (It IS Laurel and Hardy ;))

“Yo, Adrian!” he he

“Oh, no, it wasn’t the airplanes. It was Beauty killed the Beast,” Very true

There are way too many for me to keep listing them, but I had fun reading the whole list myself, so why don't you do the same?

Paul Collingwood

2005-06-22T09:08:00.000+01:00

What a day! Great innings (second fastest ODI ton by an Englishman), first englishman (only second person ever after Viv Richards) to get a ton and a 5-for in one match and then the only man ever to get 6 wickets and a ton!!! Hero - now, do we hear the calls for his promotion to the test team ;)?

England Vs. Bangladesh ODI 21st June 2005

2005-06-22T02:01:00.000+01:00

Wow! 391/4, the second highest OD score ever, and the highest (398) was against a non-Test nation.

Fantastic.

And no KP in sight ;)

KP and the Ashes?

2005-06-21T18:53:00.000+01:00

http://sport.guardian.co.uk/ashes2005/story/0,15993,1511028,00.html

I don't know. I think the guy is amazing and I can't wait to see him bat on thursday, but that is in ODIs. Tests are a different matter, plus all the present incumbents are in superb form. I say have him as first reserve as clearly The Portly Assassin has been demoted to third choice over the past six months.

Just think, Thorpe or Bell get injured, the ozzies are privately happy and then they see KP take their place. What a replacement. It has been quite some while since we had 11 top players, let alone 12 or more...

Batman Begins

2005-06-17T23:16:00.000+01:00

What happens?

Bruce Wayne, wanting to avenge his parent's death, goes from being a mixed up kid confusing right and wrong, to an all-round fighting dude who has the money, and the brains, to set up a one man avenger-type business where he becomes the Bat-man. Supervillains and dastardly plots follow with Batman having to finish things once and for all with a shadow from his past whilst trying to sort out his life, and ensuring those around him continue to have one.

What's it like?

Let me begin with some background. I'm a guy born and brought up in the UK. As such comics were never a major thing for me (aside from the Beano and Dandy of course ;)) so I learnt about the major and not so major comic creations from America via both film and TV. Superman is my earliest superhero/comic book memory, although I'm sure I'd seen the Adam West Batman and Batman/Spiderman/X-men cartoons previously. As I grew up I looked for more information on Batman, Superman and the like andcame to the conclusion that Batman and the X-men could not be beaten as characters. It was the darkness behind them all, and the variety in the X-men which caught my ey. Sure, Supes was a great hero, but slightly boring. Spiderman was fun but no substance. The Hulk, well, he's a bit different, isn't he? Out of Bats and Wolverine's gang, Batman was always number one. A deep, dark and thrilling character whose motivation isalways a little on edge and leads to a wild and frankly somewhat scary character. But one who fought for the good guys. Anyway, for a long time Burton's Batman was my favourite film starring a comic character, but come the X-men in 2001, and the start of the recent wave of comic movies, I had a new first. A fantastic film so well put together with variety, action, well defined characters and an arc which you could believe. A great film that lead to an even better sequel where very little could have been done better and the whole piece just exuded excellence. Then Singer left for Superman, the X-men (number 3)had a million script/cast/director changes and now it looks to be on its way to a rushed and under-par movie. Not what Singer and co. set in motion when seeding plots throughout the first and second movies. But, along came Batman. A new vision of the character, an origin picture, with full freedom given to Nolan, the director and Goyer, the writer. A chance to make the definitive Batman movie and to set up a series of planned movies. A pre-planned trilogy (going on recent allusions made by Goyer), if you will. Yesterday, I finally saw this, my most wanted film of the summer.

Whether you think X-men are better than Spiderman, if you're a Marvel geek or a DC fanboy or really only ever liked Superman's first movie, you'll like this. No, you'll love it. The film is astonishing in everything it does. From the tone to the casting to the story arc to the set-up and more, it just excels. From the opening act where not a single second of boredom creeps in, through the exposition of the second act and the show-down in the third, you will love it. Its easy for me to say you'll love it when its a 'comic book' movie and I liked Hulk, but I assure you it is so much more than that, and less. You see, if you hadn't heard of Batman, you would not suspect this film to be in any way related to a comic.

The film is an Origin story first and foremost. That in itself is impressive as most films, aside from hulk, just skip through the origin in 10 or 20 minutes and get on with it, if they even allow you that. Bruce Wayne becomes Batman for 140 minutes here. Wow. As such it begins with Bruce in an Asian prison of some kind where he is found by Liam Neeson's character, who is working on behalf of Ra's Al Ghul, the leader of the league of Shadows. He persuades Bruce he can learn how to fight evil and save Gotham, his home city, something his father started but was unable to finish. The reason for that was his Father's and Mother's murder, witnessed by Bruce himself, and something which he also blames upon himself. After this first act he goes back to Gotham, a city worse off than when he left it but also a place where he is thought dead. Over time he, and Alfred, his family's long serving Butler, instigate a plan, with the help of some others whereby he fights crime. He becomes Batman.

The acting throughout the movie is highly impressive. Christian Bale feels more like Bruce Wayne than anyone else before him, and although its hard to seem 'good' when dressed in a batsuit manages to pull it off. Morgan Freeman, Gary Oldman and Katie Holmes have rather small roles, which will be expanded upon in future films due to the nature of their characters' situation. Even with just a few minutes though, they manage to fill the screen,especially in the case of Freeman who is his usual enthralling self. Sir Michael Caine is Michael Caine when playing Alfred, but you could not picture it any other way. He is as he should be. The villains of the piece are as crazy/intellectual/scary as you'd hope for and the whole group combine to form a cast as strong as any in recent years. In fact, its the kind of cast you would just watch. Like anything with Al Pacino, or Denzel Washington in is just good, irrelevant of what they're saying, this is good. But, that doesn't mean the script itself isn't strong.

David Goyer and Christopher Nolan have come up with an origin story, detective piece, summer action movie, emotional drama and managed to seed future films all in around 2 hours. Nothing is rushed and everything seems purposefully put there. The main bad versus good plot is actually quite restrained, helping to foot this film in the real world it so desires to be (and, ultimately, is), whilst managing to incorporate new ideas with a historical footing - you'll see what I mean.

One thing I touched on earlier - this film is for anyone, even those who hate X-men and Spiderman and the like. Its true, it really does transcend all possible genres it could be shoehorned into and does so with aplomb. Its a little like the Bond movies in many ways - the reinvigoration, the main characters and the simple good versus bad plot at its centre. I would say, if pushed, its the Dalton's Batman. Why? Its how Batman should be, the same way Dalton was the closest to Fleming's Bond we've had. But again, if you don't like Bond films, this has enough for you too in so many other ways.

Any criticisms? Maybe its a little slow in the middle act and one of the major villains is perhaps slightly underused, but they are only minor points. All in all this film can't really be faulted and deserves to go and be followed by at least two more movies. The greatest Batman yet, without a doubt. The best actors, the best all-round story, the best director. Yes, Christopher Nolan has followed Insomnia and Memento by showing he can do it with any material, any money and any people. This man is up there. With batman, he has reached new heights. Not just in his career, but also in comic to film adaptations. He has shown how to do it right, well and in the
best possible way. Go see Batman. Now.

Conclusion?

***** - The best comic book movie ever? By a country mile. It just has everything you could want and its all done so very well. The film to see this summer and more importantly, the new beginning of a franchise that should have the world at its feet. "Why do we fall? - So we can learn to pick ourselves up"

Revolution controller?

2005-06-15T19:00:00.000+01:00

http://www.cubed3.com/media/2005/June/jesusraz/revcontroller.jpg

No, i don't think so. But hey, its the first mock-up of the controller I've seen (or maybe its real???)

Shoot 'em up

2005-06-14T23:53:00.000+01:00

http://www.empireonline.co.uk/site/news/newsstory.asp?news_id=16876

Consider me excited.

Twenty20

2005-06-14T07:36:00.000+01:00

Wow. All I can say, The marker has been laid down. We are NOT a walkover. They now know this, so they'll hit their game, but at least we should be able to keep up ;) (England versus the ozzies by the way!)

Microsoft Acrylic

2005-06-13T22:29:00.000+01:00

A competitor for Photoshop? Supposedly. Whatever you think about MS anyway, the following is a link to a 180 day free trial of their photoshop alike. Great stuff.

http://www.microsoft.com/products/expression/

X3

2005-06-13T20:17:00.000+01:00

Oh dear. My favourite superhero franchise - by a mile (at least until I see Batman Begins this Thursday ;)) - and I'm worried.

http://www.aintitcool.com/display.cgi?id=20443

Why do people do this? Why rush something that could - should - be glorious? This movie has the potential to be amazing and although I didn't read details, and just the commentary of the script review, I'm scared. Really scared as with Singer etc. continuing what they started we would have, I truly believe, a killer movie. They would come back, too. But Fox seem to be against it. Oh dear. Oh dear. Oh dear.

Maybe something will happen. Maybe Harry Knowles will turn the screw and all we be resolved. Let Singer do Supes, then ask him back - give him what he wants. I implore Fox to do this. If they're reading...

More 24

2005-06-13T17:25:00.000+01:00

Well, I'm ten episodes in now and 24 continues to be the most thrilling thing on TV. Episode six really blew me out of the water! Fantastic. This season seems to be plotted really well, and we've had Jack doing his Die hard thing and some soul patch which was nice! Not sure what's gonna happen in a couple of hours though...

24

2005-06-12T20:53:00.000+01:00

I've seen all of Lost and Alias this season. They were good/bad/brilliant in spurts. I wait to start 24 until I have all 24 eps. I watch the first. It blows out of the water anythning else I've seen for a year (since the last series of 24, actually). How does it do that? More importantly, please have done that throughout season 4 and continue to do so!!!

Cricket Manager

2005-06-11T16:26:00.000+01:00

A fun little game me and Barney have been playing since it started a season ago:

http://www.cricketmanager.co.uk/

It's not overly in depth - you spend around 5-10 mins on it a day, which is nice. However the tactics etc., being cricket, do make it a fantastic little brain teaser. Anyway, I got promoted in my first season to the top division where I have just beaten last season's league champions - well chuffed. Thought you all should know ;).

Alias Season 4 finale

2005-06-11T09:39:00.000+01:00

Just seen it. Good ep with a very cool ending. The season on a whole has been pretty poor, far worse than 2, worse than 3 and slightly less interesting than 1. The ep where Marshall is the main character was, however, one of the best hours of TV this year (bear in mind I haven't yet seen 24 season 4...).

A question though - WHY DO THEY THINK END OF SEASON CLIFFHANGERS ARE A GOOD THING? THEY SUCK. BIG TIME. Still, at least the ending was a good cliffhanger and making me wish I knew what came next rather than just being disinterested, hey?

Liverpool in CL 2005/2006

2005-06-10T19:38:00.000+01:00

But we are entering at the first qualifying round stage :O

That means 6 competitive games before the season starts, assuming we win each round. Plus all the friendlies we don't have to cancel to fit in the CL qualifiers plus the Super Cup plus the World club cup and more if we get anywhere in any domestic cup or the CL. We played 60 competitive games this season and this could easily be beaten if we have decent cup runs again.

Oh well, I'm grateful we're in it and have a chance to defend it and reap the financial rewards. I just hope our premiership form etc. doesn't suffer as a result...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/l/liverpool/4613695.stm

Bob

2005-06-10T19:05:00.000+01:00

Bob. He's my dog. Cool, huh?

The Inside

2005-06-10T18:47:00.000+01:00

http://www.aintitcool.com/display.cgi?id=20406

A very cool new TV show. The best new show I've seen since 24 back in 2002. It is THAT good.

Big Daddy or Giant Haystacks?

2005-06-10T18:10:00.000+01:00

Well, which one is it? Big Daddy all the way for me...

iPod mini

2005-06-10T17:40:00.000+01:00

I have finally taken the plunge and bought an MP3 player. I went for the obvious, albeit the small form factor version. Why? Many, many reasons that I just can't go into. Mainly because its taken me around 18 months to buy one :) - suffice it to say I'm looking forward to my new 6 GB toy with dock and remote when it arrives (hopefully today as its currently sitting in Gateshead with Flextronic logistics - ever heard of them?).

Luciano Howard.

New Blogger?

2005-06-10T17:24:00.000+01:00

Yes, that's me. A new blogger. Why? Well, I kind of have a website hosted on my Uni servers but I never get around to updating it and soon I'll graduate (hopefully) anyway. So I thought lets try Google's blogger. My very favourite computer based company (I think - GMail etc. are superb!).

So what will my blog contain? Hopefully a lot of interesting links thoughts and editorial. Probably just an annual update saying I'm still here though as I'll not get the time to update ;)

Anyway, keep visiting and I'll try and keep posting for you :D

Luciano Howard.