Dead Director's Society
Michelangelo Antonioni has died has died aged 94, right after another famous director, Ingmar Bergman lost his final game of chess on the beach with Death. Since famous folks like this normally go in threes, anyone care to bet on the next respected but aged director to vacate the Editing Room? I almost put Michael Winner on my Director's Dead Pool, but since it is for respected elder directors he clearly isn't eligible...
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Shiny morning
A rarity this summer, a bright, sunlit morning. Crossing North Bridge, clear views right down the valley to the Forth, birds circling, riding the thermals rising from Arthur's Seat. And right below the bridge the zig-zag pattern of glass panels on roof of Waverley Station above the platforms; simple structure, nothing special about it until the breeze fluttered across and I could see there must have been some sort of plastic covering over the glass. As the wind caught them they rippled, catching the morning sunlight and causing glittering, sparkling starbursts, like sunshine catching the waves by the seashore and for a few seconds something ordinary and rather dull was beautiful and magical. I love when the city shows me something like that.
A rarity this summer, a bright, sunlit morning. Crossing North Bridge, clear views right down the valley to the Forth, birds circling, riding the thermals rising from Arthur's Seat. And right below the bridge the zig-zag pattern of glass panels on roof of Waverley Station above the platforms; simple structure, nothing special about it until the breeze fluttered across and I could see there must have been some sort of plastic covering over the glass. As the wind caught them they rippled, catching the morning sunlight and causing glittering, sparkling starbursts, like sunshine catching the waves by the seashore and for a few seconds something ordinary and rather dull was beautiful and magical. I love when the city shows me something like that.
Sunday, July 29, 2007
Things you don't want to see...
...Raindrops pooling along the brim and then dripping off of your nice Panama hat you put on to keep the summer sun from your face as you went on a walk of several miles along the beach...
Of course, being Scotland it was still sunny as it rained. Another thing you don't want to see, raindrops running off the dark lenses of your sunglasses.
And add in a a t-shirt that was now two-tone, darker on the front where it was soaked and sticking to me (yes, ladies, you missed Joe's Wet T-Shirt Beach-a-thon, try to contain your disappointment or your lunch, depending on your point of view or inclination) and still the normal on the back where it was dry. Still being summer the rain was reasonably warm. And when the sun came back out again the rain made all of the plants glisten as if covered in diamonds.
...Raindrops pooling along the brim and then dripping off of your nice Panama hat you put on to keep the summer sun from your face as you went on a walk of several miles along the beach...
Of course, being Scotland it was still sunny as it rained. Another thing you don't want to see, raindrops running off the dark lenses of your sunglasses.
And add in a a t-shirt that was now two-tone, darker on the front where it was soaked and sticking to me (yes, ladies, you missed Joe's Wet T-Shirt Beach-a-thon, try to contain your disappointment or your lunch, depending on your point of view or inclination) and still the normal on the back where it was dry. Still being summer the rain was reasonably warm. And when the sun came back out again the rain made all of the plants glisten as if covered in diamonds.
Saturday, July 28, 2007
Blogging meme
Normally I'm not mad on memes, those pesky little things that go round blogs and seem to be the web equivalent of the supposedly funny jokes or pictures that used to get faxed from office to office. And I got tagged twice with this same meme, as Ariel tagged me at the FPI blog for it and Big Dumb Object tagged me here at the Woolamaloo, no fair! But since this particular meme was to do with blogging I decided I'd take part; I considered being lazy and just repeating the tip I added for the FPI blog - don't be afraid to voice your own opinion, regardless if it flies in the face of many other opinions, as long as you can defend your reasons for it. But then I decided I'd go for another tip, a nice simple one, and add it to the previous ones on the list:
After adding my tip I'm supposed to tag up to another ten victims to pass this on to, which since I already had to do this over on the FPI blog is pushing it a bit, but anyway, here are a few more potential victims: Padraig, Katie, Von and Moggy, Dan Goldman, Hal Duncan, the Silvereel.
Normally I'm not mad on memes, those pesky little things that go round blogs and seem to be the web equivalent of the supposedly funny jokes or pictures that used to get faxed from office to office. And I got tagged twice with this same meme, as Ariel tagged me at the FPI blog for it and Big Dumb Object tagged me here at the Woolamaloo, no fair! But since this particular meme was to do with blogging I decided I'd take part; I considered being lazy and just repeating the tip I added for the FPI blog - don't be afraid to voice your own opinion, regardless if it flies in the face of many other opinions, as long as you can defend your reasons for it. But then I decided I'd go for another tip, a nice simple one, and add it to the previous ones on the list:
-Start Copy-
It’s very simple. When this is passed on to you, copy the whole thing, skim the list and put a * star beside those that you like. (Check out especially the * starred ones.)
Add the next number (1. 2. 3. 4. 5., etc.) and write your own blogging tip for other bloggers. Try to make your tip general.
After that, tag 10 other people. Link love some friends! Just think- if 10 people start this, the 10 people pass it onto another 10 people, you have 100 links already!
1. Look, read, and learn. ***** -http://www.neonscent.com
2. Be, EXCELLENT to each other. ****** -http://www.bushmackel.com
3. Don’t let money change ya! **** -http://www.therandomforest.info
4. Always reply to your comments. ***** -http://chattiekat.com
5. Link liberally — it keeps you and your friends afloat in the Sea of Technorati. ****
-http://chipsquips.com
6. Don’t give up - persistance is fertile. *** -http://www.velcro-city.co.uk
7. Give link credit where credit is due.*** -http://www.sfsignal.com
8. Follow your own path. Do anything you want to, it’s your blog. **
-http://www.bigdumbobject.co.uk
9. Don’t put off until tomorrow what you can blog today. Backlogs are the primary cause of Bloggers’ Block. * -http://www.thegenrefiles.com
10. Don’t be afraid of giving an honest opinion when you post, even if it is different from most others, as long as you can explain your position and give a decent reason for it. http://www.forbiddenplanet.co.uk/blog/
11. Using some visual material can really make a post look more attractive - pictures, photographs, video embeds and so on, and also help break up larger posts, such as interviews and reviews to make them more readable instead of offering a huge chunk of unbroken text. Just bare in mind not to over-use pics and to keep them relevant to the article. And cute kitty pics are always popular :-) http://www.woolamaloo.org.uk
-End Copy-
After adding my tip I'm supposed to tag up to another ten victims to pass this on to, which since I already had to do this over on the FPI blog is pushing it a bit, but anyway, here are a few more potential victims: Padraig, Katie, Von and Moggy, Dan Goldman, Hal Duncan, the Silvereel.
The ads I'd like to see
Adverts - some are funny, some are stupid, rarely do they make me want to buy something but boy, how often do some of them grate so much you dive for the remote to change channels? Except when you're in the cinema and stuck with them. When I can't get away from them in situations like that I stay sane by amusing myself with the version I'd like to see. Top of the annoying list has to be that little shouting twat Barry Arsehead who does the Cillit Bang ads. Cleaning product ads are often the lamest of all (especially since they often use the same footage across Europe and dub in appropriate language voice over which doesn't match mouth movements), but the Cillit one is made even more annoying as this wee arse struts onto camera and bellows. It's TV, you twonk, we can hear you perfectly alright without shouting. Quite why a short man shouting is supposed to make a product attractive to us is beyond me. I long to see a Cillit Bang ad where they strap that eejit down, force feed him five bottle of Cillit Bang, insert a fuse down his throat, light and run away - Bang! And the dirt is gone! Now there's an ad I'd watch.
The mobile phone 'flex' adverts too bug me, especially the one that starts with the guy chattering away on his cell phone as he gets ready to go out, then gee, take the stairs or lift, no he goes out the balcony of his block and drops to the plaza below which becomes like a trampoline, flexing to allow him to land safely. I understand the ad is trying to say, look, we make our service flexible to suit you (which is bollocks, as we all know) but I can't help but see it as a sign of the lazy and selfish attitude of many today: get everything out of my way, I want it my way, right now, sod off, me, me, me (the other phone ad where buildings and vehicles are all folded down flat to get out of the way of the hip young things illustrates this perfectly too - visually funny image, but if you think about it what happens to the people in those buildings???). The oh-so-cool guy doesn't even look before he leaps; what if he landed on someone? Or even if he missed them what if someone was walking nearby when he makes the ground ripple, causing them to fall over and get hurt?
Yeah, I know, you're thinking, Joe, don't take is so seriously, its just an ad, which is true on one level but how often have you been bumped into by some twonk who is constantly talking on their phone and ignoring everything and everyone around them as they do, walking into them, knocking things over, not even pausing in their conversation even when dealing with someone like a sales assistant in a shop or the driver when boarding a bus (so bloody ignorant). A general symptom of the increasing selfishness and rudeness we see everyday in society. So I want to see this ad where the numpty jumps out of his window, plummets earthwards and suddenly he runs out of credit and hits the hard, stone plaza and does an impression of a giant pizza. Or he loses signal as he falls with a similar result. Or he lands safely again but the rippling, elastic flex of he ground as he lands caused someone to fall over and get hurt, then they sue him and the cell phone company for damages. And I have to admit there is a perverse part of me that almost wants to see some stupid idiot trying to replicate this ad in real life, be a great one for the Darwin Awards.
And while we're at it, what the hell is with the constant use of faded-out colours and clothes styles which are used to try and create a 1970s film footage effect in so many ads? Cell phone ads are the worst for this. Once or twice is fine, but so many now do it I find I hate even the appearance of this stylistic.
Citroen, alive with technology as the French car suddenly becomes a Transformer robot and runs down the street. What happened to the driver when this happened? Don't you just want to see this ad where the car transforms and there's a wet scrunching sound as the driver find out what its like to become pate? Actually I don't mind the Citroen ad too much, it looks quite cool, but what does annoy me is that lack of internal logic to the idea: I can suspend disbelief and go with a car which transforms into a robot for an ad, but really, what do the ad makers think happens to the occupants of the vehicle? If they ain't horribly crushed they will at least be terrified and probably terrified of all motor vehicles for life after that.
And then there's the ads that do what ads do best, try and pray on our fears of things not being quite right with our bodies. Don't let diarrhoea ruin your day, take these pills. Then the other way round, don't feel constipated, take this! Talk about being full of shit... Tell ya what, instead of popping an instant-fix pill as our modern, super-fast society demands and try actually eating right you stupid bastard! Got the runs? Eat decent, balanced foods and wash your hands before cooking rather than pop pills. Bound up? Again eat some decent food you numpty. Decent fibre or if all else fails a good curry and Guinness.
Adverts - some are funny, some are stupid, rarely do they make me want to buy something but boy, how often do some of them grate so much you dive for the remote to change channels? Except when you're in the cinema and stuck with them. When I can't get away from them in situations like that I stay sane by amusing myself with the version I'd like to see. Top of the annoying list has to be that little shouting twat Barry Arsehead who does the Cillit Bang ads. Cleaning product ads are often the lamest of all (especially since they often use the same footage across Europe and dub in appropriate language voice over which doesn't match mouth movements), but the Cillit one is made even more annoying as this wee arse struts onto camera and bellows. It's TV, you twonk, we can hear you perfectly alright without shouting. Quite why a short man shouting is supposed to make a product attractive to us is beyond me. I long to see a Cillit Bang ad where they strap that eejit down, force feed him five bottle of Cillit Bang, insert a fuse down his throat, light and run away - Bang! And the dirt is gone! Now there's an ad I'd watch.
The mobile phone 'flex' adverts too bug me, especially the one that starts with the guy chattering away on his cell phone as he gets ready to go out, then gee, take the stairs or lift, no he goes out the balcony of his block and drops to the plaza below which becomes like a trampoline, flexing to allow him to land safely. I understand the ad is trying to say, look, we make our service flexible to suit you (which is bollocks, as we all know) but I can't help but see it as a sign of the lazy and selfish attitude of many today: get everything out of my way, I want it my way, right now, sod off, me, me, me (the other phone ad where buildings and vehicles are all folded down flat to get out of the way of the hip young things illustrates this perfectly too - visually funny image, but if you think about it what happens to the people in those buildings???). The oh-so-cool guy doesn't even look before he leaps; what if he landed on someone? Or even if he missed them what if someone was walking nearby when he makes the ground ripple, causing them to fall over and get hurt?
Yeah, I know, you're thinking, Joe, don't take is so seriously, its just an ad, which is true on one level but how often have you been bumped into by some twonk who is constantly talking on their phone and ignoring everything and everyone around them as they do, walking into them, knocking things over, not even pausing in their conversation even when dealing with someone like a sales assistant in a shop or the driver when boarding a bus (so bloody ignorant). A general symptom of the increasing selfishness and rudeness we see everyday in society. So I want to see this ad where the numpty jumps out of his window, plummets earthwards and suddenly he runs out of credit and hits the hard, stone plaza and does an impression of a giant pizza. Or he loses signal as he falls with a similar result. Or he lands safely again but the rippling, elastic flex of he ground as he lands caused someone to fall over and get hurt, then they sue him and the cell phone company for damages. And I have to admit there is a perverse part of me that almost wants to see some stupid idiot trying to replicate this ad in real life, be a great one for the Darwin Awards.
And while we're at it, what the hell is with the constant use of faded-out colours and clothes styles which are used to try and create a 1970s film footage effect in so many ads? Cell phone ads are the worst for this. Once or twice is fine, but so many now do it I find I hate even the appearance of this stylistic.
Citroen, alive with technology as the French car suddenly becomes a Transformer robot and runs down the street. What happened to the driver when this happened? Don't you just want to see this ad where the car transforms and there's a wet scrunching sound as the driver find out what its like to become pate? Actually I don't mind the Citroen ad too much, it looks quite cool, but what does annoy me is that lack of internal logic to the idea: I can suspend disbelief and go with a car which transforms into a robot for an ad, but really, what do the ad makers think happens to the occupants of the vehicle? If they ain't horribly crushed they will at least be terrified and probably terrified of all motor vehicles for life after that.
And then there's the ads that do what ads do best, try and pray on our fears of things not being quite right with our bodies. Don't let diarrhoea ruin your day, take these pills. Then the other way round, don't feel constipated, take this! Talk about being full of shit... Tell ya what, instead of popping an instant-fix pill as our modern, super-fast society demands and try actually eating right you stupid bastard! Got the runs? Eat decent, balanced foods and wash your hands before cooking rather than pop pills. Bound up? Again eat some decent food you numpty. Decent fibre or if all else fails a good curry and Guinness.
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Truth and lies and videotape
The BBC admits a trailer for a programme on the queen was re-edited to give the wrong impression, TV phone in quizzes turn out to be falsified and fraudulent, Discovery has admitted that Bear Grylls' survival programmes aren't as authentic as they seem, he often sleeps in a nice motel and not under some desert rock with a lizard as we thought (personally I was more pissed off with seeing him killing a frog by biting its head off to then eat it. Survival trick maybe, but killing an animal like that isn't necessary for a bloody TV programme, is it?)
... Gee, guess what? TV isn't real! Even reality shows aren't real. So why are we surprised? Yes, they were attempted to create a misleading impression, but all texts, every single text any person creates, from a simple photograph to a TV programme or film is informed by choices about how it is structured to give a particular impression, consciously or unconsciously; in media studies it is referred to as the paradigmatic and syntagmatic elements of the text, the selection and combination of elements desired to give a certain effect. The big surprise here is that anyone is really surprised that even factual programmes aren't the solid, objective, truthful beam of light we might like to think. Everything is edited, everything even before being edited was decided to be shot in a certain way with certain light with certain people, places... What you see is only half the story at best and if a lot of folks have forgotten that - as it seems from the surprise - then it is a good lesson to relearn. Mind you, it does make you think about how we decide to base our opinions on anything and also consider just what is truth and what is real?
The BBC admits a trailer for a programme on the queen was re-edited to give the wrong impression, TV phone in quizzes turn out to be falsified and fraudulent, Discovery has admitted that Bear Grylls' survival programmes aren't as authentic as they seem, he often sleeps in a nice motel and not under some desert rock with a lizard as we thought (personally I was more pissed off with seeing him killing a frog by biting its head off to then eat it. Survival trick maybe, but killing an animal like that isn't necessary for a bloody TV programme, is it?)
... Gee, guess what? TV isn't real! Even reality shows aren't real. So why are we surprised? Yes, they were attempted to create a misleading impression, but all texts, every single text any person creates, from a simple photograph to a TV programme or film is informed by choices about how it is structured to give a particular impression, consciously or unconsciously; in media studies it is referred to as the paradigmatic and syntagmatic elements of the text, the selection and combination of elements desired to give a certain effect. The big surprise here is that anyone is really surprised that even factual programmes aren't the solid, objective, truthful beam of light we might like to think. Everything is edited, everything even before being edited was decided to be shot in a certain way with certain light with certain people, places... What you see is only half the story at best and if a lot of folks have forgotten that - as it seems from the surprise - then it is a good lesson to relearn. Mind you, it does make you think about how we decide to base our opinions on anything and also consider just what is truth and what is real?
Edinburgh raft race
Some video footage from the recent raft race on the Union Canal near me - all the rafts were made from found material (yes, there was someone with a floating bath-tub too at one point!). It's so cool to see life back here now, it was run down for so long, now the canal is refurbished, back in use with holiday barges and some barges moored around the new quays which folk live on year round, restaurant barges go up and down the way, the old derelict areas and the the former brewery are all being redeveloped with new apartments, cafes and bars, while the towpath has been repaired from the old potholed, overgrown mudbath it used to be to a good path for walking and cycling now. And as you can see here as the competitors for one heat try to get to the start the old Leamington Lift Bridge has also been restored to working order. I knew it had been fixed up but for all the times I've passed this spot I'd never actually seen it working until now. I know I'm easily amused but it tickled me to see it working again after all this time.
It isn't a real raft race until someone ends up in the water.
Some video footage from the recent raft race on the Union Canal near me - all the rafts were made from found material (yes, there was someone with a floating bath-tub too at one point!). It's so cool to see life back here now, it was run down for so long, now the canal is refurbished, back in use with holiday barges and some barges moored around the new quays which folk live on year round, restaurant barges go up and down the way, the old derelict areas and the the former brewery are all being redeveloped with new apartments, cafes and bars, while the towpath has been repaired from the old potholed, overgrown mudbath it used to be to a good path for walking and cycling now. And as you can see here as the competitors for one heat try to get to the start the old Leamington Lift Bridge has also been restored to working order. I knew it had been fixed up but for all the times I've passed this spot I'd never actually seen it working until now. I know I'm easily amused but it tickled me to see it working again after all this time.
It isn't a real raft race until someone ends up in the water.
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Limo at the Castle
I decided on a rare dry evening after work to walk up to Edinburgh Castle and take some pics of it while the seating is up for the upcoming Edinburgh Military Tattoo (it also gets used for some concerts before and after the Tattoo - Blondie played there last weekend. Scarily Debbie Harry is only a few years younger then my mum!). As I was taking pics this Daimler Limousine arrived taking someone into the Castle. I have no idea if it was a member of the royal family, or an official or whoever it was as an ignorant tourist stepped right in front of my camera as the limo passed me so she could take a pic. I wonder who it was?
I decided on a rare dry evening after work to walk up to Edinburgh Castle and take some pics of it while the seating is up for the upcoming Edinburgh Military Tattoo (it also gets used for some concerts before and after the Tattoo - Blondie played there last weekend. Scarily Debbie Harry is only a few years younger then my mum!). As I was taking pics this Daimler Limousine arrived taking someone into the Castle. I have no idea if it was a member of the royal family, or an official or whoever it was as an ignorant tourist stepped right in front of my camera as the limo passed me so she could take a pic. I wonder who it was?
Random scenes from Edinburgh
Getting on the bus, a very tall man in front of me. Not just tall but Lurch from the Addams Family tall; he has to bend forward to avoid hitting his head on the door frame of the bus.
Another day, another bus, a loud man bellowing swear words so loud he can be heard on the upper deck even though he is downstairs, shouting the F and C words constantly. A few seconds after I get off the bus a police car pulls up at the bus stop and when I look back the man now has a new mode of transport in the back of a police car.
A rare sunny day in a wet summer and I see a quick glimpse of beach volleyball being played by women in a temporary giant sandbox set up in Princes Street Gardens right below the Castle. Lucky it wasn't next day when it poured again and the sand would have been like mud.
Rain overnight is just clearing as I head to work, the cobbles of my street still damp and slick. The sun tries to break through the low cloud and mist rises from the earth. Crossing North Bridge I have a great view of Arthur's Seat, mist rising right out of the rock, the summit lost in low clouds.
Harry Potter fans in the round glasses, lightning bolts and Hogwarts scarves already taking up places early on Friday morning ahead of the midnight launch of the new book.
Passing over the canal bridge on the way to Mel's, a barge with holidaymaker's and a very excited dog passes under the bridge as I am crossing. I stop to watch it slipping past just feet below me then run delightedly over to the other side to see it come out. Yes, I am easily amused. It's a gift.
I go to see the new Die Hard movie with some friends, including my mate John McLean who inevitably got the nickname Die Hard attached to him years back. Afterwards we congratulate him on being a great action hero.
Sitting in the Caley Sample Room, waiting on friends to arrive, new William Gibson novel in one hand, a lovely, chestnut-coloured pint of Caley 80 in the other. One of the regular barmaids looks like she could be the younger sister of the actress Natash McElhone with her very long, fine hair, slim build and large, luminous eyes.
Grey, overcast cloudy skies, some backlit by the sun struggling to break through. Crossing North Bridge, looking along the valley towards the Castle and there's that brilliant effect where shafts of sunlight pierce the clouds, like World War II searchlights but the beams are gold and pointing down from the sky instead of up.
Getting on the bus, a very tall man in front of me. Not just tall but Lurch from the Addams Family tall; he has to bend forward to avoid hitting his head on the door frame of the bus.
Another day, another bus, a loud man bellowing swear words so loud he can be heard on the upper deck even though he is downstairs, shouting the F and C words constantly. A few seconds after I get off the bus a police car pulls up at the bus stop and when I look back the man now has a new mode of transport in the back of a police car.
A rare sunny day in a wet summer and I see a quick glimpse of beach volleyball being played by women in a temporary giant sandbox set up in Princes Street Gardens right below the Castle. Lucky it wasn't next day when it poured again and the sand would have been like mud.
Rain overnight is just clearing as I head to work, the cobbles of my street still damp and slick. The sun tries to break through the low cloud and mist rises from the earth. Crossing North Bridge I have a great view of Arthur's Seat, mist rising right out of the rock, the summit lost in low clouds.
Harry Potter fans in the round glasses, lightning bolts and Hogwarts scarves already taking up places early on Friday morning ahead of the midnight launch of the new book.
Passing over the canal bridge on the way to Mel's, a barge with holidaymaker's and a very excited dog passes under the bridge as I am crossing. I stop to watch it slipping past just feet below me then run delightedly over to the other side to see it come out. Yes, I am easily amused. It's a gift.
I go to see the new Die Hard movie with some friends, including my mate John McLean who inevitably got the nickname Die Hard attached to him years back. Afterwards we congratulate him on being a great action hero.
Sitting in the Caley Sample Room, waiting on friends to arrive, new William Gibson novel in one hand, a lovely, chestnut-coloured pint of Caley 80 in the other. One of the regular barmaids looks like she could be the younger sister of the actress Natash McElhone with her very long, fine hair, slim build and large, luminous eyes.
Grey, overcast cloudy skies, some backlit by the sun struggling to break through. Crossing North Bridge, looking along the valley towards the Castle and there's that brilliant effect where shafts of sunlight pierce the clouds, like World War II searchlights but the beams are gold and pointing down from the sky instead of up.
Saturday, July 21, 2007
BBC on YouTube
The Beeb has been posting material to YouTube, higher quality than usual, although it isn't that great a mix so far to be honest - a lot of it is very short clips that were trailers for programmes shown on TV or the BBC websites before and I'm damned annoyed they blocked the embedding function which rather undermines the notion of YouTube and people sharing videos by embedding them on their sites and blogs. Still, they did have this clip from Mock The Week which is worth a look where the comedians compete to come up with unlikely lines for given situations.
The Beeb has been posting material to YouTube, higher quality than usual, although it isn't that great a mix so far to be honest - a lot of it is very short clips that were trailers for programmes shown on TV or the BBC websites before and I'm damned annoyed they blocked the embedding function which rather undermines the notion of YouTube and people sharing videos by embedding them on their sites and blogs. Still, they did have this clip from Mock The Week which is worth a look where the comedians compete to come up with unlikely lines for given situations.
Friday, July 20, 2007
Cash, dishonours, whitewash
It looks like no-one will be charged over the scandal of cash for honours. What a bloody surprise that is. If no-one was held to account in government for lying to the House, misleading the citizens, fabricating supposed evidence and dragging us into a war without proper legal moves then what chance any of the scunners would be held accountable for this scandal? Two-faced political leaders whine on about the yob culture, increasing violence among the young, lack of respect for law, the rules and society and morals and while there is a problem of this nature just how the hell are we supposed to tell younger folks to have respect for society, to play by the rules and do the decent thing when they see lying, scheming politicians breaking all sorts of laws again and again and always getting away with it. If society is going to hell, it is rotting from the head down.
It looks like no-one will be charged over the scandal of cash for honours. What a bloody surprise that is. If no-one was held to account in government for lying to the House, misleading the citizens, fabricating supposed evidence and dragging us into a war without proper legal moves then what chance any of the scunners would be held accountable for this scandal? Two-faced political leaders whine on about the yob culture, increasing violence among the young, lack of respect for law, the rules and society and morals and while there is a problem of this nature just how the hell are we supposed to tell younger folks to have respect for society, to play by the rules and do the decent thing when they see lying, scheming politicians breaking all sorts of laws again and again and always getting away with it. If society is going to hell, it is rotting from the head down.
Pottermania
No, I'm not talking about dear old Colonel Sherman T Potter from M*A*S*H* but the boy wizard. This morning on the way to work there were already some fans in glasses, lightning bolt and Hogwarts scarves queuing on the pavement outside The Bookstore That Shall Not Be Named (indeed the very branch Evil Boss moved to later on and made the staff there very happy too - not). Man, that is one thing I do not miss, having to do the midnight opening for Harry bloody Potter... To be fair the kids were okay - they were so excited and many were in costume, so that was kind of fun, but some of the older fans, notably the semi-drunk students were a pain in the bloody arse. As was being there to 1 or 2am and still expected to be back in at 8am next morning for the Saturday Potter onslaught. I also laughed out loud at the news that Childline ( a fine charity) needs extra counsellors on duty to deal with young fans if they are traumatised by the widely expected death of a major character. No, I'm not joking. Jeez, kid, get a fecking grip and clear the line for some kid who has a real problem and needs help!
Still, I was thinking, if Harry Potter was killed off it doesn't have to be the end of the series - in the worlds of fantasy and science fiction death is rarely final, after all. So I was thinking we team up a deceased Harry Potter with the recently murdered Captain America to fight evil in the Afterlife. Harry Potter also starts dating X-Statix's Dead Girl and when he and the Cap have saved the Afterlife they earn the right to be returned to the land of the living, where Captain America then adopts Harry as his son so at last he has a dad, while Doctor Strange completes Harry's magical training and shows him how to grow a moustache. They might turn Iron Man into a frog while they're at it. (sorry, that last bit will be meaningless to folks not up on current comics news)
No, I'm not talking about dear old Colonel Sherman T Potter from M*A*S*H* but the boy wizard. This morning on the way to work there were already some fans in glasses, lightning bolt and Hogwarts scarves queuing on the pavement outside The Bookstore That Shall Not Be Named (indeed the very branch Evil Boss moved to later on and made the staff there very happy too - not). Man, that is one thing I do not miss, having to do the midnight opening for Harry bloody Potter... To be fair the kids were okay - they were so excited and many were in costume, so that was kind of fun, but some of the older fans, notably the semi-drunk students were a pain in the bloody arse. As was being there to 1 or 2am and still expected to be back in at 8am next morning for the Saturday Potter onslaught. I also laughed out loud at the news that Childline ( a fine charity) needs extra counsellors on duty to deal with young fans if they are traumatised by the widely expected death of a major character. No, I'm not joking. Jeez, kid, get a fecking grip and clear the line for some kid who has a real problem and needs help!
Still, I was thinking, if Harry Potter was killed off it doesn't have to be the end of the series - in the worlds of fantasy and science fiction death is rarely final, after all. So I was thinking we team up a deceased Harry Potter with the recently murdered Captain America to fight evil in the Afterlife. Harry Potter also starts dating X-Statix's Dead Girl and when he and the Cap have saved the Afterlife they earn the right to be returned to the land of the living, where Captain America then adopts Harry as his son so at last he has a dad, while Doctor Strange completes Harry's magical training and shows him how to grow a moustache. They might turn Iron Man into a frog while they're at it. (sorry, that last bit will be meaningless to folks not up on current comics news)
Saturn
JPL and the ESA have announced that the Cassini probe has found a small, previously unknown moon around the giant world Saturn the sixtieth so far discovered around the ringed world. It may be a tiny lump of rock and ice but I love the fact that almost 50 years after Gagarin's first space flight our own solar system is still surprising us. Makes me wonder what we will discover when we finally get further out (and why haven't we pushed further, we let ourselves get so small after the Apollo missions...)
Elsewhere on the ESA site there's a function to listen to the Huygens probe which descended into the large moon Titan from Cassini. The sound files aren't especially interesting as such, in fact is is just a rather dull sequence of white noise, but the fact the first one is a recording of sounds heard on an alien world is. Sounds from a world no human has walked on, beamed across millions of miles to be heard for the first time in human history. Now that is impressive.
JPL and the ESA have announced that the Cassini probe has found a small, previously unknown moon around the giant world Saturn the sixtieth so far discovered around the ringed world. It may be a tiny lump of rock and ice but I love the fact that almost 50 years after Gagarin's first space flight our own solar system is still surprising us. Makes me wonder what we will discover when we finally get further out (and why haven't we pushed further, we let ourselves get so small after the Apollo missions...)
Elsewhere on the ESA site there's a function to listen to the Huygens probe which descended into the large moon Titan from Cassini. The sound files aren't especially interesting as such, in fact is is just a rather dull sequence of white noise, but the fact the first one is a recording of sounds heard on an alien world is. Sounds from a world no human has walked on, beamed across millions of miles to be heard for the first time in human history. Now that is impressive.
Thursday, July 19, 2007
All at sea
I came to this story by Johan Hari of the Independent via Boing Boing - Hari joined a regular cruise organised by the ultra right wing National Review in the US, a cruise ship full of rich, white, right wing Americans. I have no problem with the fact that people hold different views from what I would consider reasonable (not to mention humane and moral), but these people are off the scale for willful ignorance, arrogance, bigotry, stupidity and an ability to tune out real events in a manner that would make even Fox News blush in shame.
If they lived in their own little warped world that would be fine, but cry for the world because these are the sorts of shagwits who have urged on the foreign policies of the current US administration and if anyone disagrees they are obviously communist-liberal-muslim-sand-nazis out to destroy The American Way Of Life (TAWOL), which obviously for them includes freedom of expression as long as you express nothing but agreement with them. Warning, reading this article may make you very angry and demand the public disembowelling of Rush Limbaugh.
I came to this story by Johan Hari of the Independent via Boing Boing - Hari joined a regular cruise organised by the ultra right wing National Review in the US, a cruise ship full of rich, white, right wing Americans. I have no problem with the fact that people hold different views from what I would consider reasonable (not to mention humane and moral), but these people are off the scale for willful ignorance, arrogance, bigotry, stupidity and an ability to tune out real events in a manner that would make even Fox News blush in shame.
If they lived in their own little warped world that would be fine, but cry for the world because these are the sorts of shagwits who have urged on the foreign policies of the current US administration and if anyone disagrees they are obviously communist-liberal-muslim-sand-nazis out to destroy The American Way Of Life (TAWOL), which obviously for them includes freedom of expression as long as you express nothing but agreement with them. Warning, reading this article may make you very angry and demand the public disembowelling of Rush Limbaugh.
Postcards from Palestine
I mentioned Katie who runs the Moomin13 LiveJournal a while back here and who posts on life as a peace activist in Gaza and also her art and cartoons which draw on her experiences in and around Ramallah. She's been doing more cartoons and also beginning an actual comic strip based on her experiences, some of which have been published in magazines and papers in the region. I had a very brief chat with her over on the FPI blog this week (with links to a lot more of her work, including the titular Postcards, which show art and when the cursor runs over them flip over to show the context on the 'back' of the postcard), which I hope some folks find interesting.
I mentioned Katie who runs the Moomin13 LiveJournal a while back here and who posts on life as a peace activist in Gaza and also her art and cartoons which draw on her experiences in and around Ramallah. She's been doing more cartoons and also beginning an actual comic strip based on her experiences, some of which have been published in magazines and papers in the region. I had a very brief chat with her over on the FPI blog this week (with links to a lot more of her work, including the titular Postcards, which show art and when the cursor runs over them flip over to show the context on the 'back' of the postcard), which I hope some folks find interesting.
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Le freak, c'est chic
I love this Paris fashion article in August's Harper's Bazaar (there's a publication you will rarely see me discussing here) in which Simpsons animator Julius Preite has created a Paris fashion show article with our favourite yellow family. Genuis and somehow it puts me in mind of the episode where Homer buys the New Yorker for Richard Avedon's photographs of Lenny.
Normally the overblown marketing exercise which accompanies major movie releases annoy the smeg out of me, but so far the Simpsons one has been entertaining and clever, from turning Seven Elevens in the US into Kwik-e-Marts to a faux chalk carved Homer next to the Cerne Abbas giant and now this. Gives an idea just how deeply embedded into global culture the Simpsons has become that it crosses so many boundaries of class and style. Fashionista has the pics (link via Comics212)
I love this Paris fashion article in August's Harper's Bazaar (there's a publication you will rarely see me discussing here) in which Simpsons animator Julius Preite has created a Paris fashion show article with our favourite yellow family. Genuis and somehow it puts me in mind of the episode where Homer buys the New Yorker for Richard Avedon's photographs of Lenny.
Normally the overblown marketing exercise which accompanies major movie releases annoy the smeg out of me, but so far the Simpsons one has been entertaining and clever, from turning Seven Elevens in the US into Kwik-e-Marts to a faux chalk carved Homer next to the Cerne Abbas giant and now this. Gives an idea just how deeply embedded into global culture the Simpsons has become that it crosses so many boundaries of class and style. Fashionista has the pics (link via Comics212)
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
"Feed your head"
Interesting post on Alterati (via Boing Boing) comparing the late consciousness and drug guru Timothy Leary's little-known foray into comics with Neurocomics from 1979, exploring his 8-circuit model of the brain (best understood after a generous spliff, methinks) and comparing it to the Promethea series by the great, transcendental, bearded god of comics, Alan Moore, along with a link to a torrent of a scanned version of the comic:
"Promethea is a survey and summation of western occultism through a very self-conscious and post-modern lens, and the techniques that Alan Moore and the artists he works with throughout the Promethea run appear in somewhat abbreviated form in Neurocomics, but they are there. I would not be surprised if Mr. Moore was at least aware of this particular work, as the delivery of highly symbolic and succinct chunks of information in Promethea and the delivery of psychological models through astrological contexts are remarkably similar. But where the 8 stages of evolution and the astrological model of personality types are condensed into a few short pages in Neurocomics, Alan Moore tackles the whole foundation of the occult tradition of the West."
Interesting post on Alterati (via Boing Boing) comparing the late consciousness and drug guru Timothy Leary's little-known foray into comics with Neurocomics from 1979, exploring his 8-circuit model of the brain (best understood after a generous spliff, methinks) and comparing it to the Promethea series by the great, transcendental, bearded god of comics, Alan Moore, along with a link to a torrent of a scanned version of the comic:
"Promethea is a survey and summation of western occultism through a very self-conscious and post-modern lens, and the techniques that Alan Moore and the artists he works with throughout the Promethea run appear in somewhat abbreviated form in Neurocomics, but they are there. I would not be surprised if Mr. Moore was at least aware of this particular work, as the delivery of highly symbolic and succinct chunks of information in Promethea and the delivery of psychological models through astrological contexts are remarkably similar. But where the 8 stages of evolution and the astrological model of personality types are condensed into a few short pages in Neurocomics, Alan Moore tackles the whole foundation of the occult tradition of the West."
Sunday, July 15, 2007
Supercute!
Dizzy, queen of all she surveys
I've taken a lot of pics of the petite puss (you'd be hard pushed to tell she is 13 years old here, wouldn't you? Still acts like a wee kitten too) but this one taken on Saturday afternoon as she decided some recently delivered packages were obviously there specifically for her to play with and lie on has to be one of my favourites.
Dizzy, queen of all she surveys
I've taken a lot of pics of the petite puss (you'd be hard pushed to tell she is 13 years old here, wouldn't you? Still acts like a wee kitten too) but this one taken on Saturday afternoon as she decided some recently delivered packages were obviously there specifically for her to play with and lie on has to be one of my favourites.
Saturday, July 14, 2007
Bird in flight
Seabirds wheeling, screeching overhead, noisy, loud and then suddenly grace personified; flight, the dream of humans since time began, so effortless to the bird, wind slipping over and under wings constantly adjusting to the flow by instinct, making the finest human pilot look like a clown by comparison, feathers that took millions of years to evolve insulating, guiding, hollow bones to give less weight but remain strong to hold the elegant curve of wing. How can something which moments ago was a noisy nuisance scavenging for food from parties on the beach be so utterly perfect. More than a dozen frames in rapid succession on the multi-shot function, most blurred, out of frame, empty sky but one, just one like this came out and I am happy. What would it be like, I wonder, to fly like this? No engines, no whirling propellors or screaming jets, just the wind and muscle and instinct, skimming across the face of the world...
Seabirds wheeling, screeching overhead, noisy, loud and then suddenly grace personified; flight, the dream of humans since time began, so effortless to the bird, wind slipping over and under wings constantly adjusting to the flow by instinct, making the finest human pilot look like a clown by comparison, feathers that took millions of years to evolve insulating, guiding, hollow bones to give less weight but remain strong to hold the elegant curve of wing. How can something which moments ago was a noisy nuisance scavenging for food from parties on the beach be so utterly perfect. More than a dozen frames in rapid succession on the multi-shot function, most blurred, out of frame, empty sky but one, just one like this came out and I am happy. What would it be like, I wonder, to fly like this? No engines, no whirling propellors or screaming jets, just the wind and muscle and instinct, skimming across the face of the world...
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Burns-themed poem on the recent Glasgow Airport attack my cousin forwarded me, which seems to be doing the rounds
To a Gallant Baggage Handler
(with apologies to Robert Burns)
'Twas doon by Inch o’ Abbots
Oor Johnny walked yin day
When he saw a sicht that troubled him
Far more that he could say.
A fanatic muslim bastard
Wiz doin' what he’d planned
And intae Glesca Airport's hall
A Cherokee he’d rammed.
A big Glaswegian polis
Came forward tae assist
He thocht, “A wumman driver!”
- Or at least some guy half-pissed
But to his shock nae drunken Jock
Emerged to grasp his hand
But a flamin' Arab loony
Frae yon Al Qaeda band
The mad Islamist nutcase
Had set hissel’ oan fire
And swung oot at the polis,
GBH his clear desire
'Hey, that’s no richt!' oor Johnny cried
And sallied tae the fray.
A left hook and a heid butt -
Nae bother! - saved the day.
So listen up Bin Laden:
Yer sort’s no' wanted here
For imported English radicals
We Scotsmen huv nae fear
Oor hame-grown Glesca Asians
Will have nae bloody truck
So tak yer world-wide jihad
An' get yersel' tae Fuck!
Come into my parlour, said the spider...
One of my Fotolet chums was carrying his new camera with him, went to try for a flower close-up, heard a bee, looked closer and took this amazing picture of a bee and a white spider on a flower having a disagreement - go and look, it is a stunning capture.
One of my Fotolet chums was carrying his new camera with him, went to try for a flower close-up, heard a bee, looked closer and took this amazing picture of a bee and a white spider on a flower having a disagreement - go and look, it is a stunning capture.
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Introducing Heep's hot new SUV, the Fundamentalist. Great off road for the muddy terrorist training camp, brilliant on the busy city roads for trying to kill those damned infidels who insult your culture by daring to go on a summer family holiday. Also perfect for the school run for the busy family Jihadist on the go (only for boys of course, can't have those damned girls being educated, can we?). Heep, the number one best-selling SUV in Afghanistan and Britain! Deluxe model comes with special SatNav with directions to Salman Rushdie's house. That will teach the British to value decent literature and freedom of expression!
Sunday, July 8, 2007
Bon voyage and ha det bra, Vidar
This weekend was the final weekend here for a Norwegian friend of Mel and I, Vidar, who came over here last summer to live and work in Edinburgh for a year. Shockingly that is a whole year gone by already - doesn't feel like a whole year since Vidar and I went along to last summer's Edinburgh International Film Festival screenings (he was so excited when he got to see Charlize Theron). Where the hell did that year go? So we were off for some drinks and a nice meal over the weekend (La Partenope, which I was last in ages ago, still nice place but if you are a veggie their new menu is a bit lacking in options. In fact there was but one, which surprised me in an Italian restaurant and was not as good as before. Luckily it was yummy, but shame they offered no choice). Drink, food, friends, always a winning combination. So that's Vidar sailing off back across the North Sea to Norway today; bon voyage and don't let the trolls bite you when you get home. And do introduce more Norwegians to Irn Bru (I told him he should take some and sell them at a premium as a Scottish health tonic for hangovers, which is kind of true...).
(What Vidar looks like through a wine glass, literally)
This weekend was the final weekend here for a Norwegian friend of Mel and I, Vidar, who came over here last summer to live and work in Edinburgh for a year. Shockingly that is a whole year gone by already - doesn't feel like a whole year since Vidar and I went along to last summer's Edinburgh International Film Festival screenings (he was so excited when he got to see Charlize Theron). Where the hell did that year go? So we were off for some drinks and a nice meal over the weekend (La Partenope, which I was last in ages ago, still nice place but if you are a veggie their new menu is a bit lacking in options. In fact there was but one, which surprised me in an Italian restaurant and was not as good as before. Luckily it was yummy, but shame they offered no choice). Drink, food, friends, always a winning combination. So that's Vidar sailing off back across the North Sea to Norway today; bon voyage and don't let the trolls bite you when you get home. And do introduce more Norwegians to Irn Bru (I told him he should take some and sell them at a premium as a Scottish health tonic for hangovers, which is kind of true...).
(What Vidar looks like through a wine glass, literally)
Saturday, July 7, 2007
New Jonas Moore mash-up
Upcoming multimedia webcomic The Many Worlds of Jonas Moore has had another musician take up the offer to remix material from the site - this time top producer Phil Nicholas, who has worked with Fat Boy Slim among others, has remixed Make It Through (sung by Steve Hart) to video and art material from the Jonas site. Very cool. I like the fact that Howard and his Jonas team are inviting people to remix material into new forms and the fact that quite a few musicians have taken up the offer so far means, hopefully, that it will mean the series will have appeal beyond the normal comics community too.
Upcoming multimedia webcomic The Many Worlds of Jonas Moore has had another musician take up the offer to remix material from the site - this time top producer Phil Nicholas, who has worked with Fat Boy Slim among others, has remixed Make It Through (sung by Steve Hart) to video and art material from the Jonas site. Very cool. I like the fact that Howard and his Jonas team are inviting people to remix material into new forms and the fact that quite a few musicians have taken up the offer so far means, hopefully, that it will mean the series will have appeal beyond the normal comics community too.
Blood sings
Please forgive me if I seem to be once more banging on about a subject I bring up quite often here, but at the end of this week I got not only my reminder card from the blood transfusion service saying I could now come back in anytime but I got a letter from them too saying that stocks are still very, very low, especially in my group (slightly less than three in ten of the general population have that and apparently only six percent of the population overall actually donates regularly). So yes, I am again going to say to folks, if you have ever thought about donating blood, please, please, turn thought into deed.
With busy lifestyles we just often don't think about things like this today and notions of doing some sort of community service seem to have become old-fashioned; then someone we know and love falls ill and needs serious, long-term treatment and we realise how much a simple, short action like donating blood can impact on a life. A few spoonfulls of blood can save the life of a premature child - take the example of the lady who left a comment last time I discussed donating blood on here. She didn't give blood before, but when her baby's little life was kept going by donations of blood she realised how important it was and she now gives herself.
The pool of people giving seems to keep shrinking - people are busy and don't think about it, they've had a piercing or tattoo recently and aren't allowed to give, or they've had an infection or a trip to a foreign clime where malaria is common and so can't give, some folks plain don't care and assume other folks will take care of it (until it matters to someone in their life) - there are all sorts of reasons why the pool of people who are able and willing to donate several times a year is shrinking, some practical, some down to a mindset. There's only two good reasons why you should be doing it - it can save a life and it is a good thing to do. There's far too much wrong in our little world, so why not do just a little to make something good? Everytime I mention this subject someone always says "oh, I keep meaning to do that" to me. Well, stop thinking and please try it - its a short bit of time, pretty much painless and you get a choccy biccy afterwards :-).
There's something running through your veins, a rich resource driven by the beating of the heart, the greenest power source on planet Earth, a rich biofuel, a resource which endlessly renews itself and fuels life itself. And you can share it. Feel that pulse in your wrist. Feel the beat of your heart. And then think how you could help keep that same pulse and beat of life going in another person's body. How amazing is that?
"When blood sees blood
Of its own
It sings to see itself again
It sings to hear the voice it's known
It sings to recognize the face
One body split and passed along the line
From the shoulder to the hip
I know these bones as being mine
And the curving of the lip"
Blood Sings, Suzanne Vega
Please forgive me if I seem to be once more banging on about a subject I bring up quite often here, but at the end of this week I got not only my reminder card from the blood transfusion service saying I could now come back in anytime but I got a letter from them too saying that stocks are still very, very low, especially in my group (slightly less than three in ten of the general population have that and apparently only six percent of the population overall actually donates regularly). So yes, I am again going to say to folks, if you have ever thought about donating blood, please, please, turn thought into deed.
With busy lifestyles we just often don't think about things like this today and notions of doing some sort of community service seem to have become old-fashioned; then someone we know and love falls ill and needs serious, long-term treatment and we realise how much a simple, short action like donating blood can impact on a life. A few spoonfulls of blood can save the life of a premature child - take the example of the lady who left a comment last time I discussed donating blood on here. She didn't give blood before, but when her baby's little life was kept going by donations of blood she realised how important it was and she now gives herself.
The pool of people giving seems to keep shrinking - people are busy and don't think about it, they've had a piercing or tattoo recently and aren't allowed to give, or they've had an infection or a trip to a foreign clime where malaria is common and so can't give, some folks plain don't care and assume other folks will take care of it (until it matters to someone in their life) - there are all sorts of reasons why the pool of people who are able and willing to donate several times a year is shrinking, some practical, some down to a mindset. There's only two good reasons why you should be doing it - it can save a life and it is a good thing to do. There's far too much wrong in our little world, so why not do just a little to make something good? Everytime I mention this subject someone always says "oh, I keep meaning to do that" to me. Well, stop thinking and please try it - its a short bit of time, pretty much painless and you get a choccy biccy afterwards :-).
There's something running through your veins, a rich resource driven by the beating of the heart, the greenest power source on planet Earth, a rich biofuel, a resource which endlessly renews itself and fuels life itself. And you can share it. Feel that pulse in your wrist. Feel the beat of your heart. And then think how you could help keep that same pulse and beat of life going in another person's body. How amazing is that?
"When blood sees blood
Of its own
It sings to see itself again
It sings to hear the voice it's known
It sings to recognize the face
One body split and passed along the line
From the shoulder to the hip
I know these bones as being mine
And the curving of the lip"
Blood Sings, Suzanne Vega
Friday, July 6, 2007
Bloody blogger
Some of you may have noticed that I hadn't posted for an entire week then suddenly two posts with old dates crop up. Blame bloody blogger. Ever since the new version came in there have been problems (and not just for me judging by some of the forums I had to search for help since Blogger now makes it very hard to get in touch directly for problems, not very user friendly) and this isn't the first time the admin side says my post has gone up but nothing appears on the live site. In this case it took exactly a week for material I wrote last Friday to turn up and I'm not happy about that. I've been talking to a good friend about what would be involved in moving to a full Word Press set-up like I use on the FPI blog but keeping my woolamaloo.org domain, which I can't do with the free, basic version of WP. But if blogger is going to continue to be so unreliable and to make it so hard to get in touch with their help folks when it is going tits-up then I am going to have to think about changing one way or the other.
Some of you may have noticed that I hadn't posted for an entire week then suddenly two posts with old dates crop up. Blame bloody blogger. Ever since the new version came in there have been problems (and not just for me judging by some of the forums I had to search for help since Blogger now makes it very hard to get in touch directly for problems, not very user friendly) and this isn't the first time the admin side says my post has gone up but nothing appears on the live site. In this case it took exactly a week for material I wrote last Friday to turn up and I'm not happy about that. I've been talking to a good friend about what would be involved in moving to a full Word Press set-up like I use on the FPI blog but keeping my woolamaloo.org domain, which I can't do with the free, basic version of WP. But if blogger is going to continue to be so unreliable and to make it so hard to get in touch with their help folks when it is going tits-up then I am going to have to think about changing one way or the other.
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