So, having made a proclamation about doing stuff last Friday, did I carry it through across the weekend?
Well, kinda.
Friday and Saturday were good days - I ploughed through the to do list with a vigour that meant I was ticking off stuff way ahead of schedule. However, Saturday night I was up rather late and the knock on was that Sunday I was pretty tired.
And being tired meant I didn't really maximise my time. There was a bunch of options for stuff to do and I avoided any that seemed like too much effort. Also I kinda blew the entire morning playing compute games.
However, by the afternoon I'd decided I was being silly and so did some scanning. The truth is if I'd properly committed to scanning I could have done loads more, but even so I got through two issues of New Type, which is pretty good going.
Anyway, while I scanned, I watched some fansubs, so here's some mini reviews:
B Gata H Kei
Hmm, this is a weird one.
At the very start of the first episode the main character, a 15 year old girl, declares that it's her ambition to sleep with 100 guys.
Which, if I'm perfectly frank, did not sit well with me. It is worth bearing in mind that the Japanese age of consent works differently to ours. Here there's a single age, above which sex is basically illegal. In Japan I believe it's more like a tiered system, where people between something like 14 and 19 are allowed to sleep with people of a similar age.
So in other words, she's not underage, as such. However, what troubled me more was that no justification for it was given - why does she want to sleep with 100 guys? It makes little sense. Also, if a girl really had this ambition, would she also then be as naive and afraid of actual sex as this one is?
Plus, the show then moves on to essentially being a fairly standard romantic comedy. The fact she says she wants to sleep with 100 guys is almost irrelevant. If instead it had been about her falling for this guy and her continuing clumsy attempts to seduce him then that would have worked perfectly. So why the 100 sex partners crap?
Anyway, if you get past that element, this is actually a fairly okay romantic comedy.
Kiss x Sis
And speaking of bizarre shows, there's Kiss x Sis.
The basic idea of this show is that the main guy has two older twin sisters who both want to jump his bones. However, it's eventually revealed that they're not blood relatives - his father married their mother after they both had their respective children.
One of the main problems I have with a lot of romantic comedy anime is that there's no real reason why the hot chicks like the guy. Many of them just seem to work on assumptions, and this is another one - why do these girls love him? No reason is given.
However, where B Gata H Kei had a weird idea but then proceeded to actually be a fairly normal romantic comedy, this show just knocks that weird ball out of the park for a home run and never looks back. I mean, when it's revealed that they're not blood relatives, the father and mother actually do so with the aim of encouraging them to sleep together.
And in one scene, one of the girls fishes something out of a waste bin in his room and smells it. My assumption as to what's going on is that she's found a tissue he's used to wipe up his 'night-time emissions' and is taking a great big sniff.
No, this isn't a proper hentai anime, it's just very, very wrong.
Magic Kaito
I must confess that I know next to nothing about Detective Conan - or is it called Case Closed? The only things I do know are that the main character is a guy that's been turned into a kid and that he solves crimes.
It turns out that Magic Kaito (Magic Kid) is actually a side-story to Case Closed, and features a character in that show. Given that the Magic Kid in question steals stuff, my guess is that they're enemies.
But in a way this is beside the point. I only found this all out after I'd watched the OAV and I still enjoyed it. I'm not sure my enjoyment was sufficient to instantly rush out and buy Detective Conan, but I'd probably look into it if I didn't have a million other DVDs to watch already.
Tono to Issho
Tono to Issho means something like "my master and me" and appears to originally be a gag manga.
I'm completely unfamiliar with the manga and really didn't know what to expect going into this. My overall reaction is a somewhat mixed one.
Humour is always the most subjective of things and seems to be one of those truly cultural things. The French, for example, love slapstick comedy. This is relevant because Tono to Issho seems to be very Japanese.
And that's not only in terms of its humour - the show is set during the warring states period of Japan, which I have to confess I know very little about. This suggests that a lot of the gags would have more impact if you did know about it, which is to say you were Japanese.
To be fair, I did laugh at some of it, but I also have to say there were some long periods of not laughing, so very much a mixed bag.
Highschool of the Dead
HotD is pure fan service.
I think I've probably blathered on before about how fan-service is actually a fairly broad church, where a lot of people use it simply to refer to tits & ass. Now t&a is fan-service, of course, but fan-service also includes stuff like giant mecha and their transformation scenes or huge space battles and the like.
So when I say HotD is pure fan-service, not only do I mean it has a lot of jiggle, but it's also crammed full of top zombie horror action too.
HotD is actually based on a manga that I like. It's actually one of the very few manga I've read as scanslations, which are normally something I hate, but there didn't seem to be a western release on the horizon and the manga had been on hiatus for a good while, so I checked out the first few volumes.
The anime is faithful in terms of basic plot, but it seems to have added a few bits and pieces. All of these work well, and what also helps is that it's directed and presented in a really nice way. They also don't really skimp on the ultra-violence, although I guess for ratings reasons, some of the more shocking things tend to be just off camera, which doesn't really take anything away.
My only real fear is that because the manga is so short and seems to be a good way off having an end that when it gets to that point of the having to come up with its own end then it'll go off the rails a bit. What I'm hoping though is that the hiatus was because the writer was working with the anime guys to give it a good end.
Luckily, it turns out that this show has already been licensed, so hopefully there won't be too long a wait before it's out on DVD.
Monday, 19 July 2010
Friday, 16 July 2010
gay ass and other entertainment
"Gay ass" is what people who don't like Code Geass - LeLouch of the Rebellion. The problem with this insult is that Geass isn't pronounced "Gay-ass", it's pronounced more like "Geeh-ass" with the G being a hard g. It's actually more like the Indian clarified butter stuff, which is Ghee. Although the ass bit isn't far off.
All of which random dribbling is meant to act as an introduction to the fact that I have been watching Geass.
There's actually a hell of a lot of weird namery in Geass. It kinda suffers from that old problem that a lot of the characters are supposed to be western (The "Britannia" many of the characters come from is kinda supposed to be a warped version of the British Empire) and the Japanese phonetic systems doesn't always cope well with western names.
Throw in the fact that the Japanese often like to pick bizarre names from the western canon (if you can point me to a Steve or a Fred in any anime ever you win a prize*) and you end up with people called stuff like Kallen Stadtfeld. Yes, not Karen, Kallen. Now Kallen is a name, but I've never seen it used as a forename - only as a surname.
And what's more, that's not because she's actually Karen, but the whole pronunciation problem is rearing its head, but both the subtitles and English dub call her Kallen with the l's as well.
Anyway, all of this is really beside the point. I'm finally watching Code Geass and it's just as good as I remember. It's jam-packed with twists and turns and that dash of moral ambiguity I enjoyed when I first sampled it all those years ago.
I've also been ploughing through Matter with some gusto.
I'm now about two-thirds of the way through. Which actually means I've read about 400 pages of the 600, so there's still loads left.
I have to admit I have been flagging a bit just recently. We seem to have reached a point in the narrative that's almost totally devoid of action. Previously, there were several wars kicking about, chases, murders and the regular introduction of new characters, alien lifeform and amazing vistas.
Now the wars are pretty much over, the chases have stopped and it feels like most all the characters have been introduced. I mean, I'm not saying it's bad, it's just some of the story momentum that kept me turning the pages has dissipated a bit so I'm only reading small chunks. Hopefully it'll swing into its final arc pretty soon and I'll be re-invigorated.
The only plan for the weekend is a relatively mundane one - I need to give the place a bit of a clean and do some domestics.
I'll tell you one good thing that came out of last Sunday's "free work" session - it made me realise that if I put my mind to it I can really sit down and get stuff done. I mean, I spent about 8 or 9 hours working on the Sunday and it wasn't because I abandoned doing other stuff, it was because I got my arse in gear and cleared the to do list on Saturday, leaving Sunday free.
It was also because I felt I had to do it. I think often on the weekend I end up drifting a bit, doing an unsatisfactory amount of lots of small things, rather than ticking off the big jobs. So hopefully it's lesson learned and I can start thinking that way more often in the future.
* No you don't.
All of which random dribbling is meant to act as an introduction to the fact that I have been watching Geass.
There's actually a hell of a lot of weird namery in Geass. It kinda suffers from that old problem that a lot of the characters are supposed to be western (The "Britannia" many of the characters come from is kinda supposed to be a warped version of the British Empire) and the Japanese phonetic systems doesn't always cope well with western names.
Throw in the fact that the Japanese often like to pick bizarre names from the western canon (if you can point me to a Steve or a Fred in any anime ever you win a prize*) and you end up with people called stuff like Kallen Stadtfeld. Yes, not Karen, Kallen. Now Kallen is a name, but I've never seen it used as a forename - only as a surname.
And what's more, that's not because she's actually Karen, but the whole pronunciation problem is rearing its head, but both the subtitles and English dub call her Kallen with the l's as well.
Anyway, all of this is really beside the point. I'm finally watching Code Geass and it's just as good as I remember. It's jam-packed with twists and turns and that dash of moral ambiguity I enjoyed when I first sampled it all those years ago.
I've also been ploughing through Matter with some gusto.
I'm now about two-thirds of the way through. Which actually means I've read about 400 pages of the 600, so there's still loads left.
I have to admit I have been flagging a bit just recently. We seem to have reached a point in the narrative that's almost totally devoid of action. Previously, there were several wars kicking about, chases, murders and the regular introduction of new characters, alien lifeform and amazing vistas.
Now the wars are pretty much over, the chases have stopped and it feels like most all the characters have been introduced. I mean, I'm not saying it's bad, it's just some of the story momentum that kept me turning the pages has dissipated a bit so I'm only reading small chunks. Hopefully it'll swing into its final arc pretty soon and I'll be re-invigorated.
The only plan for the weekend is a relatively mundane one - I need to give the place a bit of a clean and do some domestics.
I'll tell you one good thing that came out of last Sunday's "free work" session - it made me realise that if I put my mind to it I can really sit down and get stuff done. I mean, I spent about 8 or 9 hours working on the Sunday and it wasn't because I abandoned doing other stuff, it was because I got my arse in gear and cleared the to do list on Saturday, leaving Sunday free.
It was also because I felt I had to do it. I think often on the weekend I end up drifting a bit, doing an unsatisfactory amount of lots of small things, rather than ticking off the big jobs. So hopefully it's lesson learned and I can start thinking that way more often in the future.
* No you don't.
Thursday, 15 July 2010
trouser conundrum
My work requires that I dress in a suit.
I actually own two suits. Both are pretty cheap affairs and both are black - they're actually the same suit in the sense that I bought two sets of the same suit at the same time. So of course, both are the same size.
Except they aren't. They both have the same size labels in them, but one pair the trousers are ever so slightly smaller than the others.
The difference has to be really quite small - visually you can't see a difference, so they can't be, like, 2 inches different or something like that. No, this is more in the realms of manufacturing tolerance.
Manufacturing tolerance is that tiny little difference you get between products that have rolled off of some sort of assembly line. Mass production is probably the most important advance in terms of the functioning of modern society, and the idea behind it is that every single thing that rolls off the line is identical.
It's the source of the idea that if you go down a shop and buy a particularly screw that is labelled as being 1 inch long then that screw will be one inch long. And all the other screws in the bag will be 1 inch long as well.
In the mists of time, this wasn't' the case - you'd drill your hole and have to make your screw fit based on the individual hole (well, you probably wouldn't be using screws, but you get the idea). Anyway, the point is that manufacturing tolerance is the margin of error that's allowed before that 1 inch screw stops being a 1 inch screw.
In some cases - like with screws - the tolerance can be tiny. Often things with those sorts of tolerances are entirely produced by machines, so you can see why the variation would be so small.
In the case of my trews they've probably be produced by some Chinese Sweatshop by a small child and he'll have flubbed the exact position of clasp or something. Probably as a result of the beating his supervisor gave him for making too many mistakes.
I'm kidding of course. I'm guessing the supervisor has probably been replaced by a machine - far more efficient.
Anyway, the point is that the trews I am currently sporting are ever so slightly tighter than the other pair of trews I own. This has the weird effect of making me think I'm either gaining or loosing weight each week.
Now this isn't because of the obvious, I know the trews are differently sized. The reason is because when ~I put the other pair on, the difference is greater than I remembered. So, when I put these on, I knew they would be tighter, but the extent of that tightness was more than I was expecting, so I thought I must have put on weight.
The reverse will happen next week - I'll put the looser pair on and be surprised at just how loose they are and think my efforts to combat the tightness experienced this week had more effect that I thought.
How's that for self-delusion?
I actually own two suits. Both are pretty cheap affairs and both are black - they're actually the same suit in the sense that I bought two sets of the same suit at the same time. So of course, both are the same size.
Except they aren't. They both have the same size labels in them, but one pair the trousers are ever so slightly smaller than the others.
The difference has to be really quite small - visually you can't see a difference, so they can't be, like, 2 inches different or something like that. No, this is more in the realms of manufacturing tolerance.
Manufacturing tolerance is that tiny little difference you get between products that have rolled off of some sort of assembly line. Mass production is probably the most important advance in terms of the functioning of modern society, and the idea behind it is that every single thing that rolls off the line is identical.
It's the source of the idea that if you go down a shop and buy a particularly screw that is labelled as being 1 inch long then that screw will be one inch long. And all the other screws in the bag will be 1 inch long as well.
In the mists of time, this wasn't' the case - you'd drill your hole and have to make your screw fit based on the individual hole (well, you probably wouldn't be using screws, but you get the idea). Anyway, the point is that manufacturing tolerance is the margin of error that's allowed before that 1 inch screw stops being a 1 inch screw.
In some cases - like with screws - the tolerance can be tiny. Often things with those sorts of tolerances are entirely produced by machines, so you can see why the variation would be so small.
In the case of my trews they've probably be produced by some Chinese Sweatshop by a small child and he'll have flubbed the exact position of clasp or something. Probably as a result of the beating his supervisor gave him for making too many mistakes.
I'm kidding of course. I'm guessing the supervisor has probably been replaced by a machine - far more efficient.
Anyway, the point is that the trews I am currently sporting are ever so slightly tighter than the other pair of trews I own. This has the weird effect of making me think I'm either gaining or loosing weight each week.
Now this isn't because of the obvious, I know the trews are differently sized. The reason is because when ~I put the other pair on, the difference is greater than I remembered. So, when I put these on, I knew they would be tighter, but the extent of that tightness was more than I was expecting, so I thought I must have put on weight.
The reverse will happen next week - I'll put the looser pair on and be surprised at just how loose they are and think my efforts to combat the tightness experienced this week had more effect that I thought.
How's that for self-delusion?
Wednesday, 14 July 2010
red cliff
Usually when I do these reviews I'm pretty sure what I think about whatever it is I'm reviewing.
I mean, at the very least I'll know if I liked it or not. And I'll have a fair idea of the specifics - what about it I liked or didn't like. Often of course it's mixed - I liked it overall, but x, y or z annoyed me.
As you can probably guess, I'm not entirely sure whether I liked Red Cliff or not.
The Red Cliff in question is a place in China that was the site of a big battle some 2,000 years ago. If you've ever heard of the Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history (which is the setting for the famous Romance of the Three Kingdoms stories) then the Red Cliff is, I believe, the history immediately prior to it.
Now that makes things a little difficult for me - I know next to nothing about Chinese history and this film does little to really clue you in. It's a bit like if you're doing a TV show about Churchill and you make the assumption everyone knows about Churchill. Fine, except for all the people who don't know about Churchill.
And what's more, there were a lot characters in this and they all have very Chinese names that are difficult for me (not least of all because it's all subtitled and they way the names were written was sometimes not anything like how they were said) so I have to confess I got a bit mixed up.
However, the different characters did have very recognisable personalities, and they all looked very different, so it wasn't that I couldn't tell them apart, it was just that when bloke a was going on about girl b who was off-screen I wasn't always sure who that was.
What also didn't help here is that there was very little real characterisation or depth. I understand that what I watched was a chopped down (it was still 2h20m) and stuck-together version of 2 films, so perhaps there's more of this sort of stuff in the original. Certainly, there was very little in the way of background to the film - again, I got that feel of "let's just get stuck into it everyone know the history already". But I didn't know it.
However, that approach also meant that something like 80% of the film was action stuff. There were at least 4 separate big battles, plus a lot more fighting besides. And given that it was directed by John Woo, these action sequences were really well done.
Which I think is where my real dilemma comes in - should I really be thinking of this as a Hong-Kong style action film?
If so, then actually it's a really good example of one - there was loads of really entertaining combat that was imaginatively shot but still really easy to follow and enjoy. In other words, if you look at it from that point of view, then the story is actually quite good in the sense that it doesn't' get in the way too much.
I guess the conclusion is that I did enjoy the film, but I would have wanted more depth and back-story for it to be elevated to a really great film.
I mean, at the very least I'll know if I liked it or not. And I'll have a fair idea of the specifics - what about it I liked or didn't like. Often of course it's mixed - I liked it overall, but x, y or z annoyed me.
As you can probably guess, I'm not entirely sure whether I liked Red Cliff or not.
The Red Cliff in question is a place in China that was the site of a big battle some 2,000 years ago. If you've ever heard of the Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history (which is the setting for the famous Romance of the Three Kingdoms stories) then the Red Cliff is, I believe, the history immediately prior to it.
Now that makes things a little difficult for me - I know next to nothing about Chinese history and this film does little to really clue you in. It's a bit like if you're doing a TV show about Churchill and you make the assumption everyone knows about Churchill. Fine, except for all the people who don't know about Churchill.
And what's more, there were a lot characters in this and they all have very Chinese names that are difficult for me (not least of all because it's all subtitled and they way the names were written was sometimes not anything like how they were said) so I have to confess I got a bit mixed up.
However, the different characters did have very recognisable personalities, and they all looked very different, so it wasn't that I couldn't tell them apart, it was just that when bloke a was going on about girl b who was off-screen I wasn't always sure who that was.
What also didn't help here is that there was very little real characterisation or depth. I understand that what I watched was a chopped down (it was still 2h20m) and stuck-together version of 2 films, so perhaps there's more of this sort of stuff in the original. Certainly, there was very little in the way of background to the film - again, I got that feel of "let's just get stuck into it everyone know the history already". But I didn't know it.
However, that approach also meant that something like 80% of the film was action stuff. There were at least 4 separate big battles, plus a lot more fighting besides. And given that it was directed by John Woo, these action sequences were really well done.
Which I think is where my real dilemma comes in - should I really be thinking of this as a Hong-Kong style action film?
If so, then actually it's a really good example of one - there was loads of really entertaining combat that was imaginatively shot but still really easy to follow and enjoy. In other words, if you look at it from that point of view, then the story is actually quite good in the sense that it doesn't' get in the way too much.
I guess the conclusion is that I did enjoy the film, but I would have wanted more depth and back-story for it to be elevated to a really great film.
Tuesday, 13 July 2010
those crappy feet
My toenail is falling off.
You remember I walloped my toe a few weeks back? Well, it's healed up, but I was scratching my toe last night and noticed that the nail was hanging off. You know when your nails grow how the part that's not attached to your flesh hangs off? Well almost the entire nail is like that. There's just a small sliver at the bottom keeping it on.
It doesn't hurt in any way, and that small sliver seems quite rigid, but it's a weird feeling knowing your toenail is dangling off.
Generally, I suffer with my feet anyway.
Or, more specifically, I suffer with my heels. The problem really, I guess, is that I'm appallingly fat. This means that my feet have to support a much greater weight than most people - imagine spending all day giving someone of equal size to yourself (for I way twice as much as I should) a piggyback ride all day. That's roughly what it's like.
So as a result, my feet are subject to a hell of a lot of stress and one of the ways this manifests itself is in a thickening of the skin on the heels of my feet. I think most people get a bit of this - the skin naturally thickens to provide additional protection and cushioning where you're getting a lot of friction and wear. It's like an accumulation of dead skin to act like an extra layer of padding.
So it's basically normal, but my problem is I get excessive amounts of it, due to this excess baggage I carry around. My feet are subject to such heavy forces that the natural effect is sped up and emphasised. In other words I get whacking great lumps of dead skin on my heels.
Now this would okay - cushioning can hardly be a bad thing for someone of my size - except for the fact that it tends to reach something of a critical volume, after which is cracks. Anyone who has had cracked skin will know that this is not a pleasant experience.
Indeed, when standing in certain positions, the stressing forces make it feel like someone is jabbing needles into my heels. See, the cracks go deep - right down to the soft flesh beneath, and here's where it gets gross.
See, the only cure I've got for this is to cut the dead skin away. However, it's almost impossible to easily tell the amount of dead skin there is, so this means I end up hacking it away in uneven lumps, often using the blade on my penknife. And when you get right down to the roots of the cracks, I generally find that they go far enough down to actually have small amounts of blood seeping out.
Oh, it's not properly flowing - think the sort of overly red flesh you get from a small paper cut - but it's definitely there. And it doesn't help the overall effect that the hacking and slashing makes it look like my foot has had an accident with the business end of a chainsaw.
To try to stave off the need for such extreme action I use a special cheese grater thing once a week on my feet. You have to use it after you've had a shower, because otherwise the skin is too tough to get through (hence the need for the penknife) and every week I scrape away loads of dead skin, but over time it still builds up.
Oh the price of beauty. No wait, this isn't that is it?
You remember I walloped my toe a few weeks back? Well, it's healed up, but I was scratching my toe last night and noticed that the nail was hanging off. You know when your nails grow how the part that's not attached to your flesh hangs off? Well almost the entire nail is like that. There's just a small sliver at the bottom keeping it on.
It doesn't hurt in any way, and that small sliver seems quite rigid, but it's a weird feeling knowing your toenail is dangling off.
Generally, I suffer with my feet anyway.
Or, more specifically, I suffer with my heels. The problem really, I guess, is that I'm appallingly fat. This means that my feet have to support a much greater weight than most people - imagine spending all day giving someone of equal size to yourself (for I way twice as much as I should) a piggyback ride all day. That's roughly what it's like.
So as a result, my feet are subject to a hell of a lot of stress and one of the ways this manifests itself is in a thickening of the skin on the heels of my feet. I think most people get a bit of this - the skin naturally thickens to provide additional protection and cushioning where you're getting a lot of friction and wear. It's like an accumulation of dead skin to act like an extra layer of padding.
So it's basically normal, but my problem is I get excessive amounts of it, due to this excess baggage I carry around. My feet are subject to such heavy forces that the natural effect is sped up and emphasised. In other words I get whacking great lumps of dead skin on my heels.
Now this would okay - cushioning can hardly be a bad thing for someone of my size - except for the fact that it tends to reach something of a critical volume, after which is cracks. Anyone who has had cracked skin will know that this is not a pleasant experience.
Indeed, when standing in certain positions, the stressing forces make it feel like someone is jabbing needles into my heels. See, the cracks go deep - right down to the soft flesh beneath, and here's where it gets gross.
See, the only cure I've got for this is to cut the dead skin away. However, it's almost impossible to easily tell the amount of dead skin there is, so this means I end up hacking it away in uneven lumps, often using the blade on my penknife. And when you get right down to the roots of the cracks, I generally find that they go far enough down to actually have small amounts of blood seeping out.
Oh, it's not properly flowing - think the sort of overly red flesh you get from a small paper cut - but it's definitely there. And it doesn't help the overall effect that the hacking and slashing makes it look like my foot has had an accident with the business end of a chainsaw.
To try to stave off the need for such extreme action I use a special cheese grater thing once a week on my feet. You have to use it after you've had a shower, because otherwise the skin is too tough to get through (hence the need for the penknife) and every week I scrape away loads of dead skin, but over time it still builds up.
Oh the price of beauty. No wait, this isn't that is it?
Monday, 12 July 2010
fuck up
Super late blog post today as I was too busy fucking up at work.
I'm tempted to go on a rant about how it's not really my fault, but I think probably the balance of evidence would show that actually it is basically my fault. My fault with additional circumstances is probably the best way to put it.
Given the horrible state of the UK's economy and the fact that my job is totally reliant on government work, it's not really the time to be fucking up like this.
But the thing that makes it really depressing is I spent all day Sunday working on it. And I don't mean as over-time or even as part of my actual hours - this was me doing it off my own bat, because I realised there was no way I could do it in the allotted time.
For it to turn out that everything I did was stuff I shouldn't have done is a real kick in the balls. serves me right for fucking up, I guess.
I'm tempted to go on a rant about how it's not really my fault, but I think probably the balance of evidence would show that actually it is basically my fault. My fault with additional circumstances is probably the best way to put it.
Given the horrible state of the UK's economy and the fact that my job is totally reliant on government work, it's not really the time to be fucking up like this.
But the thing that makes it really depressing is I spent all day Sunday working on it. And I don't mean as over-time or even as part of my actual hours - this was me doing it off my own bat, because I realised there was no way I could do it in the allotted time.
For it to turn out that everything I did was stuff I shouldn't have done is a real kick in the balls. serves me right for fucking up, I guess.
Friday, 9 July 2010
it's a heat wave
Not much to say today.
It's the British Grand Prix this weekend, so I'll be emerging myself in that. I'll also probably give the car a bit of a wipe down, although the forecasts are that this weekend will officially be a heat wave - it's certainly hot enough in the office today.
I always wondered what a heat wave was, and the definition of it is actually weirdly unpleasant. A heat wave is essentially a period when the temperature stays very high for a consistent period of time. Part of the key to this seems to be the night - if the temperature stays high at night then that means there's no chance for people to cool down properly.
And if there's no chance to cool down, then that leads to increased deaths. I kid you not - an official heat wave is essentially about an increase in the number of premature deaths.
I'll leave you with that pleasant thought - enjoy your sunny weekend. Needless to say my air con will be going about its important business.
It's the British Grand Prix this weekend, so I'll be emerging myself in that. I'll also probably give the car a bit of a wipe down, although the forecasts are that this weekend will officially be a heat wave - it's certainly hot enough in the office today.
I always wondered what a heat wave was, and the definition of it is actually weirdly unpleasant. A heat wave is essentially a period when the temperature stays very high for a consistent period of time. Part of the key to this seems to be the night - if the temperature stays high at night then that means there's no chance for people to cool down properly.
And if there's no chance to cool down, then that leads to increased deaths. I kid you not - an official heat wave is essentially about an increase in the number of premature deaths.
I'll leave you with that pleasant thought - enjoy your sunny weekend. Needless to say my air con will be going about its important business.
Thursday, 8 July 2010
shit happens
This weeks seems to have been a veritable textbook definition of the expression "shit happens".
On Monday I discovered I'd made bit of an error at work.
Basically I'm working on a literature review, which means reading all sorts of reports and I discovered that what I thought were documents to be included were actually not quite that. Instead, they were, in essence, documents that were to be included only if the customer is willing to pay for them.
In other words, I've done a bunch of work that technically we're not definitely going to be paid for. As it turns out, I think the reason I've gone over the times is actually because my work colleague has done a much smaller share of what was required. So, if there were 40 documents, I've done 30 and my colleague has done 10.
If we'd both only have done 20, then these extra documents would have been within the time allocated. I'm not sure that makes sense, but I know what I mean.
Also, at the end of Monday the work colleague and I had a long chat about which documents were still to be done and what was next. And I mean loooooong. This colleague could talk the hind legs off a donkey.
So I didn't even leave work until 6:30, which meant I got back really late. After having a bit to eat, it was basically time to go to bed. I therefore couldn't bake any bread for my lunch on Tuesday.
Following the discovery on Monday of me being over the days allowed, I basically had to suspend activity on that project. And that meant getting something else to do. And what I ended up doing was horribly tedious.
Basically, I had to do data entry. And it was tedious data - lots of dates and serial numbers, which are dull, but also easy to make errors with.
Plus Tuesday I had to buy lunch, which also meant I bought some other bits (as you do) and put my whole shopping schedule out of whack.
When I got home I initially had plans to do something productive and did something utterly unproductive instead. I also discovered that sometime during the day one of the curtain rails in my room had fallen down, which took a good half hour to fix.
Wednesday was more tedious data entry, except for the end where my boss suddenly asked me to do some stuff on a bid she's working on. However, my colleague on the other project had got themselves into a bit of a flap and basically asked me to continue working on that project, so I could get something to them by Monday. It's really not needed for a while - I wasn't even going to start on it until Monday - but it was easier just to agree to do it.
And it would need a couple of days to do, so I planned to finish the data entry on Wednesday, then work on it Thursday and Friday. Except the bid was due to go Friday lunch and my boss is away all day today.
So I've basically had to drop everything and work on this bad today. What I didn't appreciate from the simple instructions she gave was just how much effort it was going to need. I've spent all morning working on it and it's still got lots to do. There's nothing more I can do for now, but I wouldn't be surprised if I have to get involved tomorrow as well (hopefully more people will be back, so my boss will pick on them!).
And to cap it all off, last night when I thought finally I could do that productive stuff (finish Samurai Champloo or do more scanning) instead I get involved in a massive e-drama and the entire evening disappears.
See - sometimes shit just happens.
On Monday I discovered I'd made bit of an error at work.
Basically I'm working on a literature review, which means reading all sorts of reports and I discovered that what I thought were documents to be included were actually not quite that. Instead, they were, in essence, documents that were to be included only if the customer is willing to pay for them.
In other words, I've done a bunch of work that technically we're not definitely going to be paid for. As it turns out, I think the reason I've gone over the times is actually because my work colleague has done a much smaller share of what was required. So, if there were 40 documents, I've done 30 and my colleague has done 10.
If we'd both only have done 20, then these extra documents would have been within the time allocated. I'm not sure that makes sense, but I know what I mean.
Also, at the end of Monday the work colleague and I had a long chat about which documents were still to be done and what was next. And I mean loooooong. This colleague could talk the hind legs off a donkey.
So I didn't even leave work until 6:30, which meant I got back really late. After having a bit to eat, it was basically time to go to bed. I therefore couldn't bake any bread for my lunch on Tuesday.
Following the discovery on Monday of me being over the days allowed, I basically had to suspend activity on that project. And that meant getting something else to do. And what I ended up doing was horribly tedious.
Basically, I had to do data entry. And it was tedious data - lots of dates and serial numbers, which are dull, but also easy to make errors with.
Plus Tuesday I had to buy lunch, which also meant I bought some other bits (as you do) and put my whole shopping schedule out of whack.
When I got home I initially had plans to do something productive and did something utterly unproductive instead. I also discovered that sometime during the day one of the curtain rails in my room had fallen down, which took a good half hour to fix.
Wednesday was more tedious data entry, except for the end where my boss suddenly asked me to do some stuff on a bid she's working on. However, my colleague on the other project had got themselves into a bit of a flap and basically asked me to continue working on that project, so I could get something to them by Monday. It's really not needed for a while - I wasn't even going to start on it until Monday - but it was easier just to agree to do it.
And it would need a couple of days to do, so I planned to finish the data entry on Wednesday, then work on it Thursday and Friday. Except the bid was due to go Friday lunch and my boss is away all day today.
So I've basically had to drop everything and work on this bad today. What I didn't appreciate from the simple instructions she gave was just how much effort it was going to need. I've spent all morning working on it and it's still got lots to do. There's nothing more I can do for now, but I wouldn't be surprised if I have to get involved tomorrow as well (hopefully more people will be back, so my boss will pick on them!).
And to cap it all off, last night when I thought finally I could do that productive stuff (finish Samurai Champloo or do more scanning) instead I get involved in a massive e-drama and the entire evening disappears.
See - sometimes shit just happens.
Wednesday, 7 July 2010
no review
Today would be review day, where I do a little review of the rental DVD I watched over the weekend.
Well, there isn't one.
See, first off, there was no rental DVD. Due to how the package I'm on works, I basically get 3 DVDs a month. If you do the maths - 12*3 = 36, you'll see that means that some weeks I don't get a rental DVD.
But then of course some weeks I'm on holiday, so I'm not blogging anyway, or I simply watch a DVD I own and review that.
Well, I wasn't on holiday and I did watch a DVD, but the problem is, I liked it so much and I think I've got so much to say about it that I'd like to do a proper review for trismugistus.com.
So there's no review. But speaking of trismugistus.com, I did finally update the site last weekend. Plus, I have 2 more updates ready to go. Of course, then I run out of stuff, but hey, you never know, I'm might do something about it.
Well, there isn't one.
See, first off, there was no rental DVD. Due to how the package I'm on works, I basically get 3 DVDs a month. If you do the maths - 12*3 = 36, you'll see that means that some weeks I don't get a rental DVD.
But then of course some weeks I'm on holiday, so I'm not blogging anyway, or I simply watch a DVD I own and review that.
Well, I wasn't on holiday and I did watch a DVD, but the problem is, I liked it so much and I think I've got so much to say about it that I'd like to do a proper review for trismugistus.com.
So there's no review. But speaking of trismugistus.com, I did finally update the site last weekend. Plus, I have 2 more updates ready to go. Of course, then I run out of stuff, but hey, you never know, I'm might do something about it.
Tuesday, 6 July 2010
one and a half newtypes
So this last weekend I had a decision to make as to how to spend a chunk of my leisure time.
I could have sat and watched a bunch of DVDs, or I could have read some comics/manga or I could do some scanning (and watch some fansubs). In the end I decided to go down the scanning route and scanned one and a half new types.
That doesn't sound a lot, but a normal newtype has about 60 scannable pages, so we're talking the best part of a hundred scans. You can get some idea how long this took from the fact that I watched a total of 8 fansub episodes (2 episodes each of 4 series). A single anime episode runs about 25 minutes with the opening and ending animations, so we're talking about 3.5 hours there alone.
But then you have to think that I'm continuously stopping and starting when I'm scanning (I can't read subtitles if I'm putting the next page into the scanner).
Anyway, the point is I've got some of those small anime reviews I like to do:
Angel Beats!
The first episode of Angel Beats is terrible.
One thing I learned when I was starting to write was that info dumps are very bad things. An info dump is when you have loads of paragraphs that just explain stuff. They're most common in fantasy and SF because there's all sorts of things the writer feels he needs to explain to his readers about the world he's created.
Now they're not forbidden, but they are a tricky thing to master. Usually because while the stuff seems cool and interesting and clever to the writer, generally, the reader will find it boring. Especially like here when it's all a bunch of stuff you've seen before.
The standard trick for discussing info dumps is to do it in dialogue. You have your lead character or someone else who doesn't know any of this stuff ask questions, then your other characters can simply explain it.
Wow - amazing and simple solution, right?
Well no, because boring, clichés are still boring clichés when your character says them. The best solution is to utilise show don't tell - you don't have your characters talk about stuff, you have them do stuff that demonstrates the point.
The difficulty with anime of course is that it's quite expansive to anime things that show, but quite cheap to animate lip flaps. And to be fair, Angel Beats does show us stuff, but it has far too much info dumping to be enjoyable.
Or it does in the first episode. The second episode was a lot more fun - perhaps they'd decided to cram it all into the first episode and the rest of the series is more enjoyable?
My instinct is to give it the benefit of the doubt.
Working!!
Clearly exclamation points (ugh) are the vogue in anime titles at the moment - the second season of K-ON!(ugh) has also had the temerity to go for a double exclamation point. It's sort of all right there, because it's the second season, so it's sort of a gag. Here you've got wanton double exclamation point use.
What makes it worse is that the series is also a bit poor.
The problem is similar to that of Angel Beats!(ugh) - it feels like the cobbling together of a bunch of anime clichés and tropes. Witness: lolis, menial part-time jobs, cut uniforms, tsundere, fear of the opposite sex, hot chick inflicting violence on male lead; disinterested manager, cool chef... hands up if you can't name half a dozen series featuring each of those.
Although the real problem here is a lack of mojo. Where Angel Beats!(ugh) at least tries to be fun, Working!!(ugh) is dull and flaccid. It also doesn't help that it keeps repeating the same basic jokes over and over - oh look, the loli girl is short, hilarious; oh no, wait, she's denying her shortness - I LOLd (the first time). Oh no, the tsundere has punched him in the face again for no apparent reason other than his hormones - I've never seen such japery.
Arakawa Under the Bridge
Ah, SHAFT, how plain and boring many anime would be without your visual chicanery.
Yes, it's this seasons SHAFT show and it's a good one. In this case, they're back to their bonkers best, as Arakawa is a rather unhinged series.
It's good, though.
Hakuouki Shinsengumi Kitan
I'm pretty sure this series fits squarely into the reverse harem genre.
In case you don't know that means there's a single girl surrounded by loads of men (i.e. the opposite of a guy surrounded by lots of girls, hence the name). Here, the series is set back in feudal times, so the guys are all samurai, but there's all sorts of physical and personality types.
The only show I've watched that I really liked in this genre was Ouran High School Host Club and while I didn't like this sufficiently to keep watching, I did think it was okay. I'd say if this sort of show is your bag then this, from my perspective, seems like a good example.
The only weird thing was the pacing - weeks seem to suddenly elapse between scenes for no real reason. Considering the girl is searching for her father, who we assume is in some trouble, she doesn't seem to cause much of a fuss if two weeks drift by.
I could have sat and watched a bunch of DVDs, or I could have read some comics/manga or I could do some scanning (and watch some fansubs). In the end I decided to go down the scanning route and scanned one and a half new types.
That doesn't sound a lot, but a normal newtype has about 60 scannable pages, so we're talking the best part of a hundred scans. You can get some idea how long this took from the fact that I watched a total of 8 fansub episodes (2 episodes each of 4 series). A single anime episode runs about 25 minutes with the opening and ending animations, so we're talking about 3.5 hours there alone.
But then you have to think that I'm continuously stopping and starting when I'm scanning (I can't read subtitles if I'm putting the next page into the scanner).
Anyway, the point is I've got some of those small anime reviews I like to do:
Angel Beats!
The first episode of Angel Beats is terrible.
One thing I learned when I was starting to write was that info dumps are very bad things. An info dump is when you have loads of paragraphs that just explain stuff. They're most common in fantasy and SF because there's all sorts of things the writer feels he needs to explain to his readers about the world he's created.
Now they're not forbidden, but they are a tricky thing to master. Usually because while the stuff seems cool and interesting and clever to the writer, generally, the reader will find it boring. Especially like here when it's all a bunch of stuff you've seen before.
The standard trick for discussing info dumps is to do it in dialogue. You have your lead character or someone else who doesn't know any of this stuff ask questions, then your other characters can simply explain it.
Wow - amazing and simple solution, right?
Well no, because boring, clichés are still boring clichés when your character says them. The best solution is to utilise show don't tell - you don't have your characters talk about stuff, you have them do stuff that demonstrates the point.
The difficulty with anime of course is that it's quite expansive to anime things that show, but quite cheap to animate lip flaps. And to be fair, Angel Beats does show us stuff, but it has far too much info dumping to be enjoyable.
Or it does in the first episode. The second episode was a lot more fun - perhaps they'd decided to cram it all into the first episode and the rest of the series is more enjoyable?
My instinct is to give it the benefit of the doubt.
Working!!
Clearly exclamation points (ugh) are the vogue in anime titles at the moment - the second season of K-ON!(ugh) has also had the temerity to go for a double exclamation point. It's sort of all right there, because it's the second season, so it's sort of a gag. Here you've got wanton double exclamation point use.
What makes it worse is that the series is also a bit poor.
The problem is similar to that of Angel Beats!(ugh) - it feels like the cobbling together of a bunch of anime clichés and tropes. Witness: lolis, menial part-time jobs, cut uniforms, tsundere, fear of the opposite sex, hot chick inflicting violence on male lead; disinterested manager, cool chef... hands up if you can't name half a dozen series featuring each of those.
Although the real problem here is a lack of mojo. Where Angel Beats!(ugh) at least tries to be fun, Working!!(ugh) is dull and flaccid. It also doesn't help that it keeps repeating the same basic jokes over and over - oh look, the loli girl is short, hilarious; oh no, wait, she's denying her shortness - I LOLd (the first time). Oh no, the tsundere has punched him in the face again for no apparent reason other than his hormones - I've never seen such japery.
Arakawa Under the Bridge
Ah, SHAFT, how plain and boring many anime would be without your visual chicanery.
Yes, it's this seasons SHAFT show and it's a good one. In this case, they're back to their bonkers best, as Arakawa is a rather unhinged series.
It's good, though.
Hakuouki Shinsengumi Kitan
I'm pretty sure this series fits squarely into the reverse harem genre.
In case you don't know that means there's a single girl surrounded by loads of men (i.e. the opposite of a guy surrounded by lots of girls, hence the name). Here, the series is set back in feudal times, so the guys are all samurai, but there's all sorts of physical and personality types.
The only show I've watched that I really liked in this genre was Ouran High School Host Club and while I didn't like this sufficiently to keep watching, I did think it was okay. I'd say if this sort of show is your bag then this, from my perspective, seems like a good example.
The only weird thing was the pacing - weeks seem to suddenly elapse between scenes for no real reason. Considering the girl is searching for her father, who we assume is in some trouble, she doesn't seem to cause much of a fuss if two weeks drift by.
Monday, 5 July 2010
oh that holiday
So Sunday morning I looked out the window and noticed my landlord buggering about with his caravan.
And then Sunday afternoon he knocks and my door and explains how they'll be setting off tomorrow (Monday) and here' the key to look after his place.
Which presumably means I'll get home and they'll be gone. And I'm left slightly puzzled as to whether I'm going bonkers or he's just changed the date. He didn't mention he did and I was in the middle of dinner (he's got a hell of a knack of knocking on my door while I'm eating or just about to take something out of the oven) so I didn't ask, but I'm pretty sure he said he was heading off on the 1st of July.
I dunno, maybe he didn't say that date or maybe he changed it because of the rain, it just gets very confusing is all.
I'm now about half of the way through Matter. It's very good, but I have to admit it feels like it's a little padded. Well I say that, in the midpoint, Banks is essentially juggling 4 plot-threads at the same time and it keeps moving between them in a sort of languid way.
No, that's not right - it's like every time we switch narrative you shift into a different gear. Some of the stuff is told almost in a summary way, while other bits are told at a very leisurely pace. It's not a bad thing, because Banks's stuff is always very entertaining and readable, it's just that when I reached page 300 and realised I'm only half way through I think I sort of which he'd only had 3 plot threads, if you see what I mean.
My little toe on my foot ached like a bugger on Friday, and then Sunday it itched like mad. This is the one that I banged and while scratching it bits of scar tissue were coming away. That usually means it's all healed if the old scar tissue is breaking away, but it doesn't half make things look messy.
And speaking of Friday we went to the pub at lunch for a work colleagues birthday. I wouldn't usually mention this sort of thing, but it was a slightly bizarre experience. We went to a pub called the French Horn, which we've been to a handful of times over the ten years I've worked here.
Usually I associate it with being very busy at lunch - it's a well known gastro pub, but we were virtually the only people in there. And perhaps the explanation was that the food was really odd.
I had belly pork, which was reasonable enough, but it had this sauce with it that I thought was going to be normal apple sauce, but it was actually a sort of creamy sauce that was apple flavoured. Also, the crackling on the top was weirdly chewy where I normally associate it with being crispy.
And then the pudding. I had a fruit crumble and it turned up and was crunchy. At first, I thought this must be in the crumble, but then the actual fruit bit had crunchy stuff in it too. Now I can't be sure because the fruit was obviously brightly coloured and the crumble was covered in custard, but I'm pretty sure these crunchy bits were peanuts.
Yes, that's right, peanuts in a fruit crumble. It was just plain wrong and, tbh, slightly unpleasent.
oh that holiday
So Sunday morning I looked out the window and noticed my landlord buggering about with his caravan.
And then Sunday afternoon he knocks and my door and explains how they'll be setting off tomorrow (Monday) and here' the key to look after his place.
Which presumably means I'll get home and they'll be gone. And I'm left slightly puzzled as to whether I'm going bonkers or he's just changed the date. He didn't mention he did and I was in the middle of dinner (he's got a hell of a knack of knocking on my door while I'm eating or just about to take something out of the oven) so I didn't ask, but I'm pretty sure he said he was heading off on the 1st of July.
I dunno, maybe he didn't say that date or maybe he changed it because of the rain, it just gets very confusing is all.
I'm now about half of the way through Matter. It's very good, but I have to admit it feels like it's a little padded. Well I say that, in the midpoint, Banks is essentially juggling 4 plot-threads at the same time and it keeps moving between them in a sort of languid way.
No, that's not right - it's like every time we switch narrative you shift into a different gear. Some of the stuff is told almost in a summary way, while other bits are told at a very leisurely pace. It's not a bad thing, because Banks's stuff is always very entertaining and readable, it's just that when I reached page 300 and realised I'm only half way through I think I sort of which he'd only had 3 plot threads, if you see what I mean.
My little toe on my foot ached like a bugger on Friday, and then Sunday it itched like mad. This is the one that I banged and while scratching it bits of scar tissue were coming away. That usually means it's all healed if the old scar tissue is breaking away, but it doesn't half make things look messy.
And speaking of Friday we went to the pub at lunch for a work colleagues birthday. I wouldn't usually mention this sort of thing, but it was a slightly bizarre experience. We went to a pub called the French Horn, which we've been to a handful of times over the ten years I've worked here.
Usually I associate it with being very busy at lunch - it's a well known gastro pub, but we were virtually the only people in there. And perhaps the explanation was that the food was really odd.
I had belly pork, which was reasonable enough, but it had this sauce with it that I thought was going to be normal apple sauce, but it was actually a sort of creamy sauce that was apple flavoured. Also, the crackling on the top was weirdly chewy where I normally associate it with being crispy.
And then the pudding. I had a fruit crumble and it turned up and was crunchy. At first, I thought this must be in the crumble, but then the actual fruit bit had crunchy stuff in it too. Now I can't be sure because the fruit was obviously brightly coloured and the crumble was covered in custard, but I'm pretty sure these crunchy bits were peanuts.
Yes, that's right, peanuts in a fruit crumble. It was just plain wrong and, tbh, slightly unpleasent.
And then Sunday afternoon he knocks and my door and explains how they'll be setting off tomorrow (Monday) and here' the key to look after his place.
Which presumably means I'll get home and they'll be gone. And I'm left slightly puzzled as to whether I'm going bonkers or he's just changed the date. He didn't mention he did and I was in the middle of dinner (he's got a hell of a knack of knocking on my door while I'm eating or just about to take something out of the oven) so I didn't ask, but I'm pretty sure he said he was heading off on the 1st of July.
I dunno, maybe he didn't say that date or maybe he changed it because of the rain, it just gets very confusing is all.
I'm now about half of the way through Matter. It's very good, but I have to admit it feels like it's a little padded. Well I say that, in the midpoint, Banks is essentially juggling 4 plot-threads at the same time and it keeps moving between them in a sort of languid way.
No, that's not right - it's like every time we switch narrative you shift into a different gear. Some of the stuff is told almost in a summary way, while other bits are told at a very leisurely pace. It's not a bad thing, because Banks's stuff is always very entertaining and readable, it's just that when I reached page 300 and realised I'm only half way through I think I sort of which he'd only had 3 plot threads, if you see what I mean.
My little toe on my foot ached like a bugger on Friday, and then Sunday it itched like mad. This is the one that I banged and while scratching it bits of scar tissue were coming away. That usually means it's all healed if the old scar tissue is breaking away, but it doesn't half make things look messy.
And speaking of Friday we went to the pub at lunch for a work colleagues birthday. I wouldn't usually mention this sort of thing, but it was a slightly bizarre experience. We went to a pub called the French Horn, which we've been to a handful of times over the ten years I've worked here.
Usually I associate it with being very busy at lunch - it's a well known gastro pub, but we were virtually the only people in there. And perhaps the explanation was that the food was really odd.
I had belly pork, which was reasonable enough, but it had this sauce with it that I thought was going to be normal apple sauce, but it was actually a sort of creamy sauce that was apple flavoured. Also, the crackling on the top was weirdly chewy where I normally associate it with being crispy.
And then the pudding. I had a fruit crumble and it turned up and was crunchy. At first, I thought this must be in the crumble, but then the actual fruit bit had crunchy stuff in it too. Now I can't be sure because the fruit was obviously brightly coloured and the crumble was covered in custard, but I'm pretty sure these crunchy bits were peanuts.
Yes, that's right, peanuts in a fruit crumble. It was just plain wrong and, tbh, slightly unpleasent.
oh that holiday
So Sunday morning I looked out the window and noticed my landlord buggering about with his caravan.
And then Sunday afternoon he knocks and my door and explains how they'll be setting off tomorrow (Monday) and here' the key to look after his place.
Which presumably means I'll get home and they'll be gone. And I'm left slightly puzzled as to whether I'm going bonkers or he's just changed the date. He didn't mention he did and I was in the middle of dinner (he's got a hell of a knack of knocking on my door while I'm eating or just about to take something out of the oven) so I didn't ask, but I'm pretty sure he said he was heading off on the 1st of July.
I dunno, maybe he didn't say that date or maybe he changed it because of the rain, it just gets very confusing is all.
I'm now about half of the way through Matter. It's very good, but I have to admit it feels like it's a little padded. Well I say that, in the midpoint, Banks is essentially juggling 4 plot-threads at the same time and it keeps moving between them in a sort of languid way.
No, that's not right - it's like every time we switch narrative you shift into a different gear. Some of the stuff is told almost in a summary way, while other bits are told at a very leisurely pace. It's not a bad thing, because Banks's stuff is always very entertaining and readable, it's just that when I reached page 300 and realised I'm only half way through I think I sort of which he'd only had 3 plot threads, if you see what I mean.
My little toe on my foot ached like a bugger on Friday, and then Sunday it itched like mad. This is the one that I banged and while scratching it bits of scar tissue were coming away. That usually means it's all healed if the old scar tissue is breaking away, but it doesn't half make things look messy.
And speaking of Friday we went to the pub at lunch for a work colleagues birthday. I wouldn't usually mention this sort of thing, but it was a slightly bizarre experience. We went to a pub called the French Horn, which we've been to a handful of times over the ten years I've worked here.
Usually I associate it with being very busy at lunch - it's a well known gastro pub, but we were virtually the only people in there. And perhaps the explanation was that the food was really odd.
I had belly pork, which was reasonable enough, but it had this sauce with it that I thought was going to be normal apple sauce, but it was actually a sort of creamy sauce that was apple flavoured. Also, the crackling on the top was weirdly chewy where I normally associate it with being crispy.
And then the pudding. I had a fruit crumble and it turned up and was crunchy. At first, I thought this must be in the crumble, but then the actual fruit bit had crunchy stuff in it too. Now I can't be sure because the fruit was obviously brightly coloured and the crumble was covered in custard, but I'm pretty sure these crunchy bits were peanuts.
Yes, that's right, peanuts in a fruit crumble. It was just plain wrong and, tbh, slightly unpleasent.
Friday, 2 July 2010
holiday, what holiday?
My landlord told me last week sometime that he was off on holiday (again).
This holiday was supposed to start on the 1st of July, which was yesterday. But when I came home his caravan was still there.
Don't you just hate when people don't do what they say they're going to?
To be totally fair to him, I think he may have cancelled it because of the weather. The holiday was in North Wales and there was heavy rain forecast for there for last night and today.
But still, it's a pain in the arse. I guess a part of it is because he's retired, so he's got that leeway to just change his plans as he wants. If it was fixed holiday off from work, he wouldn't have that freedom.
You might be able to tell I've sort of run out of stuff to say this week :/.
No real plans for this weekend - bit of cleaning and other domestics are needed. I'm not really sure what the weather is up to is part of the problem. It's been horribly humid this last week and I understand that's going to clam down, but I dunno. So far today it's looked like it's about to rain all day, but there's not been a drop.
This holiday was supposed to start on the 1st of July, which was yesterday. But when I came home his caravan was still there.
Don't you just hate when people don't do what they say they're going to?
To be totally fair to him, I think he may have cancelled it because of the weather. The holiday was in North Wales and there was heavy rain forecast for there for last night and today.
But still, it's a pain in the arse. I guess a part of it is because he's retired, so he's got that leeway to just change his plans as he wants. If it was fixed holiday off from work, he wouldn't have that freedom.
You might be able to tell I've sort of run out of stuff to say this week :/.
No real plans for this weekend - bit of cleaning and other domestics are needed. I'm not really sure what the weather is up to is part of the problem. It's been horribly humid this last week and I understand that's going to clam down, but I dunno. So far today it's looked like it's about to rain all day, but there's not been a drop.
Thursday, 1 July 2010
doctor whoisit
So last week marked the end of the latest season of the revamped Doctor Who.
The season has been a pretty good one. There weren't any proper stinkers as there have been in previous seasons. There were a few things I was disappointed about, though.
First off they buggered about with the theme tune in a totally unnecessary and, frankly, rubbish way. It sort of took on a drum-and-base feel at the beginning and in my opinion ruined it. I can understand wanting to tweak things to signify the beginning of a new era, and I can see that a tweak to the music is a lot cheaper than tweaking the visuals or totally revamping, but they really should have left well alone.
Also, I have to come down in the camp of not being a new fan of the new Daleks. The new ones are bigger, which is okay, but they're also colour-coded. I can't remember what they're supposed to mean (this is part of the problem - unless the colour coding 'makes sense' based on what they are you're likely to forget it) but the idea presumably is that each colour corresponds to a type of Dalek.
Which is another part of the problem - part of what the Daleks are about is that they're meant to be a reflection of that part of Nazism that was concerned with racial purity. Daleks see themselves as the best race and a pure race, so they want to exterminate all other races. But surely that means genetically they're all nearly identical, meaning specialisation should essentially be un-necessary - they're all equally good at everything.
But also, the Daleks are now a veritable riot of rainbow colours (taste the rainbow indeed) and a bright yellow Dalek is just not as scary as a utilitarian metallic one.
One thing I think has been a struggle this last year is the relationship with the companion. I think there was a decision to be made about keeping the idea of the companion and Doctor loving each other (or unrequited love) and going back to the old days where it was more about a platonic friendship.
So you ended up with a bit of an odd situation at one point where Amy basically threw herself at the Doctor... on the very night of her wedding to Rory. The problem with this is I'm not sure that really reflected very well on her. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for complicated relationships, but did it really fit with how she was depicted throughout the rest of the series? I'm not sure it did.
My last niggle was the whole paradoxes thing. The eventual conclusion of the story played a fairly typical trick of making it so that 'none of it had ever happened' but the problem is that just creates even more paradoxes.
I dunno - I kinda didn't mind that in the RTD era, but I think I was expecting a bit more in the ways of reliable hard-SF chops from Moffat. I guess the real point there is that it's a Saturday teatime entertainment show, not a proper hard-SF show and never has been.
The season has been a pretty good one. There weren't any proper stinkers as there have been in previous seasons. There were a few things I was disappointed about, though.
First off they buggered about with the theme tune in a totally unnecessary and, frankly, rubbish way. It sort of took on a drum-and-base feel at the beginning and in my opinion ruined it. I can understand wanting to tweak things to signify the beginning of a new era, and I can see that a tweak to the music is a lot cheaper than tweaking the visuals or totally revamping, but they really should have left well alone.
Also, I have to come down in the camp of not being a new fan of the new Daleks. The new ones are bigger, which is okay, but they're also colour-coded. I can't remember what they're supposed to mean (this is part of the problem - unless the colour coding 'makes sense' based on what they are you're likely to forget it) but the idea presumably is that each colour corresponds to a type of Dalek.
Which is another part of the problem - part of what the Daleks are about is that they're meant to be a reflection of that part of Nazism that was concerned with racial purity. Daleks see themselves as the best race and a pure race, so they want to exterminate all other races. But surely that means genetically they're all nearly identical, meaning specialisation should essentially be un-necessary - they're all equally good at everything.
But also, the Daleks are now a veritable riot of rainbow colours (taste the rainbow indeed) and a bright yellow Dalek is just not as scary as a utilitarian metallic one.
One thing I think has been a struggle this last year is the relationship with the companion. I think there was a decision to be made about keeping the idea of the companion and Doctor loving each other (or unrequited love) and going back to the old days where it was more about a platonic friendship.
So you ended up with a bit of an odd situation at one point where Amy basically threw herself at the Doctor... on the very night of her wedding to Rory. The problem with this is I'm not sure that really reflected very well on her. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for complicated relationships, but did it really fit with how she was depicted throughout the rest of the series? I'm not sure it did.
My last niggle was the whole paradoxes thing. The eventual conclusion of the story played a fairly typical trick of making it so that 'none of it had ever happened' but the problem is that just creates even more paradoxes.
I dunno - I kinda didn't mind that in the RTD era, but I think I was expecting a bit more in the ways of reliable hard-SF chops from Moffat. I guess the real point there is that it's a Saturday teatime entertainment show, not a proper hard-SF show and never has been.
Wednesday, 30 June 2010
saw v
Is it me, or does it feel like the saw series has been going on forever?
In reality, the first film came out in 2004 and they've been releasing 1 new one each year since then. Saw 5 was therefore last year's entry in the series.
I came quite late to the saw series - I obviously knew about them, but I hadn't seen any of them until fairly recently. I think part of this was because of that label of being 'torture porn'.
I mean, it's a brutally descriptive label and I'm not sure I fancied the idea of watching torture done in an appealing way. Don't get me wrong - I enjoy a good horror movie and torture is a suitably horrendous thing to feature in a horror movie, it was just that porn tag that made it seem like something I wouldn't like.
However, a while back I thought I might as well find out what they were really like, so I put them on my rental list. Now sometimes, the way the rental list works there's a real risk of getting the films out of order, but I was lucky enough to get them in order, and also to get them in fairly quick succession.
So in other words, I watched 1, 2, 3 and 4 in order and within a short space of time. As it turned out, I think this helped quite a bit, because the torture porn label was not quite accurate.
What I mean is that the films turned out to have much more in the way of story than I'd anticipated. The torture was actually a result of the bad guy putting people into lethal games where generally they (or someone important to them) had to endure some sort of physical pain in order to win the game. If they lost, then they (or the someone else) would be killed in generally quite nasty ways.
So to start with, the central gimmick of the film is already pretty complicated. Normally the central core of these horror franchises is quite simple, but here you have an interesting basic premise - I mean, as Jigsaw himself points out, he never actually kills people, unlike every other killer in these horror films.
Also, as the series progressed there were more than a few twists that actually worked and it was revealed that there was a proper back-story and that there were accomplices and copycats and all sorts. They also tended to play about with the timelines, so sometimes it turned out you'd seen things in non-chronological order, of things you thought were simultaneous were actually far apart.
It was also pretty much the case that everyone that died was - how to put it? Deserving? Generally, these people were nasty criminals or had escaped justice or whatever. And in Jigsaw's traps they also had a genuine chance - if they did what they had to and what they were told to, then they would survive.
However, this seemed to change in the fourth film - some of the people that got killed were not given a chance, or they did not really deserve to die. Or at the least, the justifications changed gear - where previously they, I dunno, got away with a hit-and-run, in 4 some of the people were being punished for things like not getting over their grief. Also, some of the traps became fiendishly complicated, or over-complicated.
Unfortunately, 5 seems to continue this trend. Some of the people in the traps haven't necessarily done anything particularly bad. There's a world of difference between someone who escaped justice for a proper crime and simply not doing what Jigsaw says.
On the upside, the plot of 5 is simpler than it was in 4, where it became incredibly complicated. Unfortunately, this simplicity is also at the expense of it being interesting. Although it reveals a bit more depth and gives some back-story, the problem is that this back-story isn't hugely interesting.
What doesn't help either is that the franchise is now almost totally impenetrable to the outsider. I mean, given the gap between me watching this film and 4, I was rather lost myself, and I've seen all the films.
The only real saver is that the actual traps themselves are still as good as ever (well, excepting that aspect of fairness).
In reality, the first film came out in 2004 and they've been releasing 1 new one each year since then. Saw 5 was therefore last year's entry in the series.
I came quite late to the saw series - I obviously knew about them, but I hadn't seen any of them until fairly recently. I think part of this was because of that label of being 'torture porn'.
I mean, it's a brutally descriptive label and I'm not sure I fancied the idea of watching torture done in an appealing way. Don't get me wrong - I enjoy a good horror movie and torture is a suitably horrendous thing to feature in a horror movie, it was just that porn tag that made it seem like something I wouldn't like.
However, a while back I thought I might as well find out what they were really like, so I put them on my rental list. Now sometimes, the way the rental list works there's a real risk of getting the films out of order, but I was lucky enough to get them in order, and also to get them in fairly quick succession.
So in other words, I watched 1, 2, 3 and 4 in order and within a short space of time. As it turned out, I think this helped quite a bit, because the torture porn label was not quite accurate.
What I mean is that the films turned out to have much more in the way of story than I'd anticipated. The torture was actually a result of the bad guy putting people into lethal games where generally they (or someone important to them) had to endure some sort of physical pain in order to win the game. If they lost, then they (or the someone else) would be killed in generally quite nasty ways.
So to start with, the central gimmick of the film is already pretty complicated. Normally the central core of these horror franchises is quite simple, but here you have an interesting basic premise - I mean, as Jigsaw himself points out, he never actually kills people, unlike every other killer in these horror films.
Also, as the series progressed there were more than a few twists that actually worked and it was revealed that there was a proper back-story and that there were accomplices and copycats and all sorts. They also tended to play about with the timelines, so sometimes it turned out you'd seen things in non-chronological order, of things you thought were simultaneous were actually far apart.
It was also pretty much the case that everyone that died was - how to put it? Deserving? Generally, these people were nasty criminals or had escaped justice or whatever. And in Jigsaw's traps they also had a genuine chance - if they did what they had to and what they were told to, then they would survive.
However, this seemed to change in the fourth film - some of the people that got killed were not given a chance, or they did not really deserve to die. Or at the least, the justifications changed gear - where previously they, I dunno, got away with a hit-and-run, in 4 some of the people were being punished for things like not getting over their grief. Also, some of the traps became fiendishly complicated, or over-complicated.
Unfortunately, 5 seems to continue this trend. Some of the people in the traps haven't necessarily done anything particularly bad. There's a world of difference between someone who escaped justice for a proper crime and simply not doing what Jigsaw says.
On the upside, the plot of 5 is simpler than it was in 4, where it became incredibly complicated. Unfortunately, this simplicity is also at the expense of it being interesting. Although it reveals a bit more depth and gives some back-story, the problem is that this back-story isn't hugely interesting.
What doesn't help either is that the franchise is now almost totally impenetrable to the outsider. I mean, given the gap between me watching this film and 4, I was rather lost myself, and I've seen all the films.
The only real saver is that the actual traps themselves are still as good as ever (well, excepting that aspect of fairness).
Tuesday, 29 June 2010
toe-day only
I whacked my toe at some point on Friday morning or Saturday night. I don't really remember what time it was as I'd woken up in the middle of the night and was wondering about without turning the light on - hence why I whacked my toe.
It hurt when I did it, obviously, but it was only when I was getting back into bed that I realised I'd done some proper damage. As I slid my foot into bed it felt strangely wet, so I turned the light on and saw I'd left a streak of blood on the duvet.
We're not talking pints of the stuff here, but an inspection of the toe showed I'd actually broken the skin and it was all bruised and angry looking. It wasn't really painful anymore (well, it smarted when I poked it) but it was a bit of a mess, so I whacked a plaster on it and went back to bed.
When I got up on Saturday morning, it was a much less comfortable experience. I had to take the next load of stuff down the recycling place, and that meant putting some trainers on, which put constant pressure on my poor damaged pinky.
I plastered it up again, as it wasn't in any way healed and when I got back and removed the plaster it was a bit of a mess. It looked like it was mainly plasma that had leaked out, rather than blood as such, but it was definitely a mess.
It's not doing too badly now - I still get a bit of a twinge if I bump it, but nothing too bad. Certainly I'm not hobbling while I walk :/.
The Valencia Grand Prix was on over the weekend.
Well, actually, if you're a sports fan it was a bit of a mad one - Wimbledon is ongoing of course, and the world cup is in full swing (I'm not really interested in either, but understand that that manically depressed Scot is still 'in it' and that Eng-Ger-Land received a trashing from the Germans and so are very much not) but it was a bumper crop for us petrol heads as well, because the Assen (Dutch) MotoGP was on as well.
Assen was on Saturday and I have to say, it was a bit dull. This is a remarkable turn-up for MotoGP, where it's almost always a great race with loads of overtaking and daredevilry. But as they hinted at on the commentary, the layout of the circuit doesn't lend itself to overtaking and while it wasn't processional like F1 can become, it wasn't as exciting as usual.
What made this even more bizarre was that Valencia is usually incredibly dull. This is it's third year and in both previous years there have been only a handful of attempts to overtake, most ending in failure. Well, bizarrely this year the race was actually quite interesting. I mean, I don't think I'd go as far as to say it was up there with the likes of Canada, but it was a lot better than usual. And Mark Webber had one of those horrible moments that the drivers must dread - check it out on the BBC site if you haven't seen it.
Next up is the British Grand Prix at Silverstone. The bikes seemed to do well around the new arena circuit (it was apparently designed with bikes in mind) so now we get to see if it adds anything to F1 as well.
And speaking of petrol heads, a new series of Top Gear kicked off on Sunday. Mixed reaction from me - the bit with Jezza in the Reliant Robin 3-wheeler was funny, but had that overly set-up thing going on. The joke was he kept rolling it, which was good, but every time he did some celebrity just happened to be there to flip him back over, which was odd.
But then they got a new reasonably priced car and did the thing of inviting a bunch of celebs to come and have a go, in order to put some times on the board. This was good and funny, but felt oddly rushed - like they'd only decided to do it at the last moment. When they last changed the reasonably priced car I'm sure more celebs turned up to have a go.
There was also a bit on James May driving up the Iceland volcano, which was good, but seemed a bit short. The news was better - the last few series it seems to have weirdly veered into being the TG boys try their hand at stand-up, where it's better when it's actually about cars and proper news and then they can make funny comments.
It hurt when I did it, obviously, but it was only when I was getting back into bed that I realised I'd done some proper damage. As I slid my foot into bed it felt strangely wet, so I turned the light on and saw I'd left a streak of blood on the duvet.
We're not talking pints of the stuff here, but an inspection of the toe showed I'd actually broken the skin and it was all bruised and angry looking. It wasn't really painful anymore (well, it smarted when I poked it) but it was a bit of a mess, so I whacked a plaster on it and went back to bed.
When I got up on Saturday morning, it was a much less comfortable experience. I had to take the next load of stuff down the recycling place, and that meant putting some trainers on, which put constant pressure on my poor damaged pinky.
I plastered it up again, as it wasn't in any way healed and when I got back and removed the plaster it was a bit of a mess. It looked like it was mainly plasma that had leaked out, rather than blood as such, but it was definitely a mess.
It's not doing too badly now - I still get a bit of a twinge if I bump it, but nothing too bad. Certainly I'm not hobbling while I walk :/.
The Valencia Grand Prix was on over the weekend.
Well, actually, if you're a sports fan it was a bit of a mad one - Wimbledon is ongoing of course, and the world cup is in full swing (I'm not really interested in either, but understand that that manically depressed Scot is still 'in it' and that Eng-Ger-Land received a trashing from the Germans and so are very much not) but it was a bumper crop for us petrol heads as well, because the Assen (Dutch) MotoGP was on as well.
Assen was on Saturday and I have to say, it was a bit dull. This is a remarkable turn-up for MotoGP, where it's almost always a great race with loads of overtaking and daredevilry. But as they hinted at on the commentary, the layout of the circuit doesn't lend itself to overtaking and while it wasn't processional like F1 can become, it wasn't as exciting as usual.
What made this even more bizarre was that Valencia is usually incredibly dull. This is it's third year and in both previous years there have been only a handful of attempts to overtake, most ending in failure. Well, bizarrely this year the race was actually quite interesting. I mean, I don't think I'd go as far as to say it was up there with the likes of Canada, but it was a lot better than usual. And Mark Webber had one of those horrible moments that the drivers must dread - check it out on the BBC site if you haven't seen it.
Next up is the British Grand Prix at Silverstone. The bikes seemed to do well around the new arena circuit (it was apparently designed with bikes in mind) so now we get to see if it adds anything to F1 as well.
And speaking of petrol heads, a new series of Top Gear kicked off on Sunday. Mixed reaction from me - the bit with Jezza in the Reliant Robin 3-wheeler was funny, but had that overly set-up thing going on. The joke was he kept rolling it, which was good, but every time he did some celebrity just happened to be there to flip him back over, which was odd.
But then they got a new reasonably priced car and did the thing of inviting a bunch of celebs to come and have a go, in order to put some times on the board. This was good and funny, but felt oddly rushed - like they'd only decided to do it at the last moment. When they last changed the reasonably priced car I'm sure more celebs turned up to have a go.
There was also a bit on James May driving up the Iceland volcano, which was good, but seemed a bit short. The news was better - the last few series it seems to have weirdly veered into being the TG boys try their hand at stand-up, where it's better when it's actually about cars and proper news and then they can make funny comments.
Monday, 28 June 2010
return of the aircon
So this weekend I rediscovered the sheer, unbridled joy of running my air conditioner.
Over the last 3 or 4 years my aircon unit has pretty much just sat there, taking up space, because we've not had the weather to justify using it. However, last week it was rather warm and then all forecasts pointed to it being properly hot over the weekend.
After I got back from the shops on Saturday morning I therefore attached the hose and its fitting, which take the hot air outside, and fired her up on Saturday morning. God, it was glorious.
I ran the aircon continuously all day Saturday and Sunday and was super cool. On Saturday it even got to the stage where I was turning the temperature setting up, because I was actually starting to feel a little cold. I think this was because, while was pretty warm, it wasn't as hot as it can be.
When I bought the aircon it was because it was consistently into the mid-to-high thirties and it was staying warm all night. It was also horrendously humid, which is the thing that really kills me. However, this last weekend I think it only just got into the thirties, which is hot, don't get me wrong, but it's not the sorts of temperatures where my aircon struggles to keep my bedsit cool.
Indeed, I was able to keep the internal doors open and keep the entire bedsit cool, where I remember when I first got it I had to close all the doors just to keep my main sleeping/living room cool.
I also remember that as soon as it was switched off, the room instantly heated back up, whereas this last weekend, the room stayed fairly cool for quite a while afterwards.
That's one of the downsides - as soon as you turn it off, the room starts to warm up again. I think a big part of it is because the bricks heat up in the sun during the day, so in the evenings they release a lot of heat. Certainly it's warmer than outside temperatures would suggest it should be.
So why don't I leave it on overnight? Well, it's extremely noisy. I always find it difficult to sleep when there's noise - the small fan in my PVR can keep me up, so think what it's like when I've got the aircon going. And it's also very drying - the cooling also comes with dehumidifying effects, and while I don't like humidity, that sort of extreme drying can give me very dry eyes, which is very uncomfortable.
Still, I'm more than happy to put up with these effects while I'm awake, especially when it makes my room so pleasantly cool.
Over the last 3 or 4 years my aircon unit has pretty much just sat there, taking up space, because we've not had the weather to justify using it. However, last week it was rather warm and then all forecasts pointed to it being properly hot over the weekend.
After I got back from the shops on Saturday morning I therefore attached the hose and its fitting, which take the hot air outside, and fired her up on Saturday morning. God, it was glorious.
I ran the aircon continuously all day Saturday and Sunday and was super cool. On Saturday it even got to the stage where I was turning the temperature setting up, because I was actually starting to feel a little cold. I think this was because, while was pretty warm, it wasn't as hot as it can be.
When I bought the aircon it was because it was consistently into the mid-to-high thirties and it was staying warm all night. It was also horrendously humid, which is the thing that really kills me. However, this last weekend I think it only just got into the thirties, which is hot, don't get me wrong, but it's not the sorts of temperatures where my aircon struggles to keep my bedsit cool.
Indeed, I was able to keep the internal doors open and keep the entire bedsit cool, where I remember when I first got it I had to close all the doors just to keep my main sleeping/living room cool.
I also remember that as soon as it was switched off, the room instantly heated back up, whereas this last weekend, the room stayed fairly cool for quite a while afterwards.
That's one of the downsides - as soon as you turn it off, the room starts to warm up again. I think a big part of it is because the bricks heat up in the sun during the day, so in the evenings they release a lot of heat. Certainly it's warmer than outside temperatures would suggest it should be.
So why don't I leave it on overnight? Well, it's extremely noisy. I always find it difficult to sleep when there's noise - the small fan in my PVR can keep me up, so think what it's like when I've got the aircon going. And it's also very drying - the cooling also comes with dehumidifying effects, and while I don't like humidity, that sort of extreme drying can give me very dry eyes, which is very uncomfortable.
Still, I'm more than happy to put up with these effects while I'm awake, especially when it makes my room so pleasantly cool.
Friday, 25 June 2010
actual bona fide dvd watching
So this week it happened.
Come Tuesday night there was nothing I fancied watching on telly and the only things I had on my PVR were some huge long dramas that I just didn't have the time or energy to watch. Which could mean only one thing - I would have to watch something on DVD.
Being a little tired my energy levels suggested a film was out, so I plumped for some anime of all things. I know, how about that, eh? Actually watching some anime on DVD. It's almost like I've got dozens of series sat on DVD waiting to be watched - no, I know, what a preposterous notion.
The series I picked - and there was no real reason for it, just a random selection - was Samurai Champloo. Ages ago I read a manga version of Samurai Champloo, but it was only 2 volumes and while the character designs were pretty faithful, there was a note from the manga-ka saying it was deliberately different to the anime, although I did enjoy it.
The only other thing I knew about Champloo was that it was by Manglobe and I quite enjoyed what I'd seen of Michiko to Hatchin and this expectation was backed up by the fact I don't think I've ever seen anyone say anything bad about it.
It feels like there's a giant "but..." coming, doesn't it?
Well there kinda is.
I mean, I wouldn't say I've not liked it, but it's more like it's not quite what I was expecting. What I was expecting was something a bit more madcap than what I got. I mean, I didn't think it would be a comedy, but I thought it would have more humour in it, if you see what I mean.
And the first section of the first ep sort of backed this up - it did a gag about 'one day earlier' (it's a little difficult to explain) but since then it's been more dry than I was expecting. I dunno, I think I was expecting to find it funny, but have barely cracked a smile. Later episodes have been better in this regard, but I dunno, the start was a bit flat.
And that doesn't mean there hasn't been plenty to enjoy - the characters are nice (although they feel a little under-developed at this stage - who Jin and Mugen actually are has not been explained at all) and the episodic stories around a longer story arc seems to be working quite well. The animation is very stylistic and the whole thing feels alive with creativity (even if the music is arsebiscuits), it's just not as funny as I was expecting, and since that's all I was expecting I've felt a little disappointed.
Come Tuesday night there was nothing I fancied watching on telly and the only things I had on my PVR were some huge long dramas that I just didn't have the time or energy to watch. Which could mean only one thing - I would have to watch something on DVD.
Being a little tired my energy levels suggested a film was out, so I plumped for some anime of all things. I know, how about that, eh? Actually watching some anime on DVD. It's almost like I've got dozens of series sat on DVD waiting to be watched - no, I know, what a preposterous notion.
The series I picked - and there was no real reason for it, just a random selection - was Samurai Champloo. Ages ago I read a manga version of Samurai Champloo, but it was only 2 volumes and while the character designs were pretty faithful, there was a note from the manga-ka saying it was deliberately different to the anime, although I did enjoy it.
The only other thing I knew about Champloo was that it was by Manglobe and I quite enjoyed what I'd seen of Michiko to Hatchin and this expectation was backed up by the fact I don't think I've ever seen anyone say anything bad about it.
It feels like there's a giant "but..." coming, doesn't it?
Well there kinda is.
I mean, I wouldn't say I've not liked it, but it's more like it's not quite what I was expecting. What I was expecting was something a bit more madcap than what I got. I mean, I didn't think it would be a comedy, but I thought it would have more humour in it, if you see what I mean.
And the first section of the first ep sort of backed this up - it did a gag about 'one day earlier' (it's a little difficult to explain) but since then it's been more dry than I was expecting. I dunno, I think I was expecting to find it funny, but have barely cracked a smile. Later episodes have been better in this regard, but I dunno, the start was a bit flat.
And that doesn't mean there hasn't been plenty to enjoy - the characters are nice (although they feel a little under-developed at this stage - who Jin and Mugen actually are has not been explained at all) and the episodic stories around a longer story arc seems to be working quite well. The animation is very stylistic and the whole thing feels alive with creativity (even if the music is arsebiscuits), it's just not as funny as I was expecting, and since that's all I was expecting I've felt a little disappointed.
Thursday, 24 June 2010
more about the sun, it seems
I figured out what I was blathering on about on Tuesday. Or that is to say, I figured out what I was supposed to be blathering on about: lack of sleep.
Basically, when it gets to this time of year I have real trouble sleeping. I mean, all this week it's still really light at 9pm, and that confuses me. For the rest of the year by 9pm it's usually dark, and my brain can go "oh look, it's dark, must be time to sleep".
But this time of year, I find myself going to bed and there's loads of light streaming in through the curtains. It's weird - it's like if you have a lie in at the weekend and you kind of drift into consciousness and it's clearly proper daytime outside, but you're still in bed.
Except it's at night, so I'm tired and want to go to sleep, but another part of my brian is saying actually it's not dark so it's not time for bed yet. What makes it worse, I think is British Summer Time/daylight savings. Without that, it would be dark at a more reasonable time.
Anyway, the upshot is that for a couple of weeks I'm going to be struggling to get to sleep.
I recently started a new book.
I've been a bit derelict with my reading for a while now. This isn't anything unusual - I tend to go in cycles of reading a lot and then nothing for ages. Usually I snap into a reading phase when I get a book I'm excited about reading. In this case that book is "Matter" by Ian M Banks.
I'm a big fan of Banks's sci-fi books - especially the culture novels, which this is one of. I get the impression he'd kind of put the culture (and possibly SF) stuff to bed, but I guess he's found a story he wants to tell... and it's a bit one. The book is some 600 pages long, which I'm pretty sure is the biggest book he's done.
I'm about a fifth of the way through and I'm enjoying it so far. It's really starting to get going - there was quite a lot of establishing stuff to start with, but now the main plot has really kicked in.
I've not actually read any of Banks's non-SF books, although I received his first - Wasp Factory - as a present for my last birthday and am intent on starting them. Banks has a great prose style, which is very readable, so I'm sure I'll enjoy them despite not being SF.
Basically, when it gets to this time of year I have real trouble sleeping. I mean, all this week it's still really light at 9pm, and that confuses me. For the rest of the year by 9pm it's usually dark, and my brain can go "oh look, it's dark, must be time to sleep".
But this time of year, I find myself going to bed and there's loads of light streaming in through the curtains. It's weird - it's like if you have a lie in at the weekend and you kind of drift into consciousness and it's clearly proper daytime outside, but you're still in bed.
Except it's at night, so I'm tired and want to go to sleep, but another part of my brian is saying actually it's not dark so it's not time for bed yet. What makes it worse, I think is British Summer Time/daylight savings. Without that, it would be dark at a more reasonable time.
Anyway, the upshot is that for a couple of weeks I'm going to be struggling to get to sleep.
I recently started a new book.
I've been a bit derelict with my reading for a while now. This isn't anything unusual - I tend to go in cycles of reading a lot and then nothing for ages. Usually I snap into a reading phase when I get a book I'm excited about reading. In this case that book is "Matter" by Ian M Banks.
I'm a big fan of Banks's sci-fi books - especially the culture novels, which this is one of. I get the impression he'd kind of put the culture (and possibly SF) stuff to bed, but I guess he's found a story he wants to tell... and it's a bit one. The book is some 600 pages long, which I'm pretty sure is the biggest book he's done.
I'm about a fifth of the way through and I'm enjoying it so far. It's really starting to get going - there was quite a lot of establishing stuff to start with, but now the main plot has really kicked in.
I've not actually read any of Banks's non-SF books, although I received his first - Wasp Factory - as a present for my last birthday and am intent on starting them. Banks has a great prose style, which is very readable, so I'm sure I'll enjoy them despite not being SF.
more about the sun, it seems
I figured out what I was blathering on about on Tuesday. Or that is to say, I figured out what I was supposed to be blathering on about: lack of sleep.
Basically, when it gets to this time of year I have real trouble sleeping. I mean, all this week it's still really light at 9pm, and that confuses me. For the rest of the year by 9pm it's usually dark, and my brain can go "oh look, it's dark, must be time to sleep".
But this time of year, I find myself going to bed and there's loads of light streaming in through the curtains. It's weird - it's like if you have a lie in at the weekend and you kind of drift into consciousness and it's clearly proper daytime outside, but you're still in bed.
Except it's at night, so I'm tired and want to go to sleep, but another part of my brian is saying actually it's not dark so it's not time for bed yet. What makes it worse, I think is British Summer Time/daylight savings. Without that, it would be dark at a more reasonable time.
Anyway, the upshot is that for a couple of weeks I'm going to be struggling to get to sleep.
I recently started a new book.
I've been a bit derelict with my reading for a while now. This isn't anything unusual - I tend to go in cycles of reading a lot and then nothing for ages. Usually I snap into a reading phase when I get a book I'm excited about reading. In this case that book is "Matter" by Ian M Banks.
I'm a big fan of Banks's sci-fi books - especially the culture novels, which this is one of. I get the impression he'd kind of put the culture (and possibly SF) stuff to bed, but I guess he's found a story he wants to tell... and it's a bit one. The book is some 600 pages long, which I'm pretty sure is the biggest book he's done.
I'm about a fifth of the way through and I'm enjoying it so far. It's really starting to get going - there was quite a lot of establishing stuff to start with, but now the main plot has really kicked in.
I've not actually read any of Banks's non-SF books, although I received his first - Wasp Factory - as a present for my last birthday and am intent on starting them. Banks has a great prose style, which is very readable, so I'm sure I'll enjoy them despite not being SF.
Basically, when it gets to this time of year I have real trouble sleeping. I mean, all this week it's still really light at 9pm, and that confuses me. For the rest of the year by 9pm it's usually dark, and my brain can go "oh look, it's dark, must be time to sleep".
But this time of year, I find myself going to bed and there's loads of light streaming in through the curtains. It's weird - it's like if you have a lie in at the weekend and you kind of drift into consciousness and it's clearly proper daytime outside, but you're still in bed.
Except it's at night, so I'm tired and want to go to sleep, but another part of my brian is saying actually it's not dark so it's not time for bed yet. What makes it worse, I think is British Summer Time/daylight savings. Without that, it would be dark at a more reasonable time.
Anyway, the upshot is that for a couple of weeks I'm going to be struggling to get to sleep.
I recently started a new book.
I've been a bit derelict with my reading for a while now. This isn't anything unusual - I tend to go in cycles of reading a lot and then nothing for ages. Usually I snap into a reading phase when I get a book I'm excited about reading. In this case that book is "Matter" by Ian M Banks.
I'm a big fan of Banks's sci-fi books - especially the culture novels, which this is one of. I get the impression he'd kind of put the culture (and possibly SF) stuff to bed, but I guess he's found a story he wants to tell... and it's a bit one. The book is some 600 pages long, which I'm pretty sure is the biggest book he's done.
I'm about a fifth of the way through and I'm enjoying it so far. It's really starting to get going - there was quite a lot of establishing stuff to start with, but now the main plot has really kicked in.
I've not actually read any of Banks's non-SF books, although I received his first - Wasp Factory - as a present for my last birthday and am intent on starting them. Banks has a great prose style, which is very readable, so I'm sure I'll enjoy them despite not being SF.
Wednesday, 23 June 2010
in the loop
One of the best British comedies in years is a satirical show called "The Thick of It."
Thick of it is in many ways a modern version of Yes Minister, but it's also its own distinct beast. For one thing its focus is much more on 'spin' than the working of government, which was the focus of yes minister. In other words, it's more a product of its time - that isn't to say spin has never existed, just that it's something people are probably more aware of.
Thick of it also has other modern trappings - it's filmed in a sort of mockumentary style. Well, actually it isn't really, because in mockumentary, part of the point is that the characters are aware they're in a documentary - think of David Brent playing to the camera in The Office - whereas in thick of it, it's more like the camera is a traditional 'extra body in the room', but the filming style is quite jerky and full of quick-pans and crash zooms. This is clever because it lends the whole proceedings a 'live and as it happens' feeling.
Also, the language is very coarse. One character in particular - Malcolm Tucker - is rather gifted in the ways of rude language, shall we say?
Anyway, the point is that in the loop is essentially an offshoot of the thick of it. However, it's not a film version of the TV show - it features some of the same characters and just about all of the same actors, but it's canonical, if you see what I mean.
So, for example, Malcolm Tucker is there and is essentially the same character as in the TV show, but the guy who plays Ollie in the TV show is now playing a character called Toby. Toby is a similar character to Ollie, with a similar job, but is also slightly different in that he behaves a bit more unpleasantly.
So, the basic point is that it's still the thick of it, but it's also slightly different. One of the major differences is the scale - clearly with an hour and a half to fill, rather than just half an hour, a much bigger subject is needed, and they don't come much bigger than war.
In this case, although it's not explicitly stated, the war in question is that in Iraq. As I say, they never actually mention Iraq, but there is mention of the middle East and if you know anything about what went on in the build up to Iraq then you'll soon see the parallels (and parody) that in the loop is making.
In particular, the end game involving a report and a dossier of intelligence hits the issue right on the nose. And the stage for this is much bigger - much of the action takes place in Washington DC and the dossier part happens in the UN, which is New York.
So given I hailed The Thick Of It as one of the best British comedies in recent years, what did I think of In The Loop?
Well I'm glad to say I enjoyed it immensely. It really hasn't lost anything in the translation to the big screen and they've cleverly managed to maintain what makes the thick of it so good whilst also not pandering to moviedom or running out of steam.
If you like the thick of it or political satire in general it's well worth a watch.
Thick of it is in many ways a modern version of Yes Minister, but it's also its own distinct beast. For one thing its focus is much more on 'spin' than the working of government, which was the focus of yes minister. In other words, it's more a product of its time - that isn't to say spin has never existed, just that it's something people are probably more aware of.
Thick of it also has other modern trappings - it's filmed in a sort of mockumentary style. Well, actually it isn't really, because in mockumentary, part of the point is that the characters are aware they're in a documentary - think of David Brent playing to the camera in The Office - whereas in thick of it, it's more like the camera is a traditional 'extra body in the room', but the filming style is quite jerky and full of quick-pans and crash zooms. This is clever because it lends the whole proceedings a 'live and as it happens' feeling.
Also, the language is very coarse. One character in particular - Malcolm Tucker - is rather gifted in the ways of rude language, shall we say?
Anyway, the point is that in the loop is essentially an offshoot of the thick of it. However, it's not a film version of the TV show - it features some of the same characters and just about all of the same actors, but it's canonical, if you see what I mean.
So, for example, Malcolm Tucker is there and is essentially the same character as in the TV show, but the guy who plays Ollie in the TV show is now playing a character called Toby. Toby is a similar character to Ollie, with a similar job, but is also slightly different in that he behaves a bit more unpleasantly.
So, the basic point is that it's still the thick of it, but it's also slightly different. One of the major differences is the scale - clearly with an hour and a half to fill, rather than just half an hour, a much bigger subject is needed, and they don't come much bigger than war.
In this case, although it's not explicitly stated, the war in question is that in Iraq. As I say, they never actually mention Iraq, but there is mention of the middle East and if you know anything about what went on in the build up to Iraq then you'll soon see the parallels (and parody) that in the loop is making.
In particular, the end game involving a report and a dossier of intelligence hits the issue right on the nose. And the stage for this is much bigger - much of the action takes place in Washington DC and the dossier part happens in the UN, which is New York.
So given I hailed The Thick Of It as one of the best British comedies in recent years, what did I think of In The Loop?
Well I'm glad to say I enjoyed it immensely. It really hasn't lost anything in the translation to the big screen and they've cleverly managed to maintain what makes the thick of it so good whilst also not pandering to moviedom or running out of steam.
If you like the thick of it or political satire in general it's well worth a watch.
Tuesday, 22 June 2010
summer may be here
The weather forecasts suggest that summer may be arriving. The suggestion is it's going to be warm and sunny for the rest of the week at least, and possibly beyond.
The is slightly weird, because yesterday, Monday the 21st of June, was the official mid-point of summer. The day itself was the Summer Solstice, which is the day with the longest period of sunlight and is apparently named because the Sun (the "Sol" part) appears to hang in the air at mid-day (the "stice").
Each of the seasons are exactly 1 quarter of a year long (so about 3 months) and their centres are marked by the solstice's and the equinox's. The Solstice's mark the 'maximums' of the year, with Summer having the longest day and winter having the longest night.
The Equinox's are the points of equality(Equi - Equal + Nox - Night) where the day and night are exactly the same length. They mark the mid-points of Spring and Autumn.
But hat causes these and what causes seasons? Well, many people believe that summer and winter are caused by the proximity of the Earth to the Sun. I'm not sure where this comes from, but could be because the Earth's orbit is not perfectly circular, but is instead an ellipse.
However, this isn't what causes the seasons or the change of the length of the day. That's due to the fact that the Earth's axis is tilted. Because it's tilted, that means that the northern and southern hemisphere are exposed to different amounts of sunlight.
Now if you think of the earth like a chicken on a spit-roast over a fire, you can see that if the spit was tilted, the chicken would not cook evenly. Well those are the seasons - the tilting means each hemisphere spends disproportionately longer in the sun than the other as the year goes on. It's also why once you get far enough north or south you have days where the sun never sets and never rises.
I'm not sure quite why I'm blathering on about this stuff, other than I find it fascinating.
I also guess I'm going to have to start using the old aircon. Luckily a side effect of all the sorting out has been that my aircon is now set up and ready to go - I won't need to spend a sweaty half hour moving crap out of the way so that I can turn it on this evening.
The is slightly weird, because yesterday, Monday the 21st of June, was the official mid-point of summer. The day itself was the Summer Solstice, which is the day with the longest period of sunlight and is apparently named because the Sun (the "Sol" part) appears to hang in the air at mid-day (the "stice").
Each of the seasons are exactly 1 quarter of a year long (so about 3 months) and their centres are marked by the solstice's and the equinox's. The Solstice's mark the 'maximums' of the year, with Summer having the longest day and winter having the longest night.
The Equinox's are the points of equality(Equi - Equal + Nox - Night) where the day and night are exactly the same length. They mark the mid-points of Spring and Autumn.
But hat causes these and what causes seasons? Well, many people believe that summer and winter are caused by the proximity of the Earth to the Sun. I'm not sure where this comes from, but could be because the Earth's orbit is not perfectly circular, but is instead an ellipse.
However, this isn't what causes the seasons or the change of the length of the day. That's due to the fact that the Earth's axis is tilted. Because it's tilted, that means that the northern and southern hemisphere are exposed to different amounts of sunlight.
Now if you think of the earth like a chicken on a spit-roast over a fire, you can see that if the spit was tilted, the chicken would not cook evenly. Well those are the seasons - the tilting means each hemisphere spends disproportionately longer in the sun than the other as the year goes on. It's also why once you get far enough north or south you have days where the sun never sets and never rises.
I'm not sure quite why I'm blathering on about this stuff, other than I find it fascinating.
I also guess I'm going to have to start using the old aircon. Luckily a side effect of all the sorting out has been that my aircon is now set up and ready to go - I won't need to spend a sweaty half hour moving crap out of the way so that I can turn it on this evening.
Monday, 21 June 2010
sort it out
So I spent a good chunk of my weekend engaged in yet more sorting out and I can thankfully report that I have finished... sort of.
The entire bottom left corner of my room is now given over to boxes. To give you some idea of how much stuff we're talking out, combined with what's in the attic at the moment there are a total of 15 of the 50litre boxes and 30 of the 30 litre ones.
Now to be fair, quite a fee of the 50 litre ones are full of stuff that they shouldn't be. Basically, there are all the things I should have scanned and there's all the stuff I need to get onto e-bay. There's even a box with things like a keyboard and mouse in for when I set up my TV PC (my new TV is sort of also like a monitor and so I can connect up one of my old machines - I've been meaning to do this for ages and should allow me to watch stuff like fan subs in a more comfortable way).
Anyway, those are only the boxes that are full. While I was sorting out, I got some spare boxes, so that things like the DVDs on my bookshelf can be easily stuck in boxes and put in the attic for when my landlord wants to decorate. The problem with that is I only considered things like my DVDs and forgot about other stuff like my clothes. I'm guessing I may therefore need to buy even more boxes to put those in when the time comes.
One thing this whole exercise has brought home to me is just how much stuff I still own. When I moved out of my family home I remember there being a lot of stuff, and what's slightly dispiriting about all this is realising that I've still got loads of that stuff.
The point being that it's essentially of no use to me and I doubt very much it will sell on e-bay. So why have I been lugging it around in boxes and tripping over it all these years?
Two reasons - firstly is my hoarder mentality, where I struggle to throw things away, but second, the other thing this whole sorting exercise has brought home to me is just how much physical effort is involved. This shit is heavy and it's tiring moving boxes around, especially in my tiny bed-sit where emptying one box becomes this logistical nightmare of having to fill others or take stuff back-and-forth from the kitchen.
Which is why the 'fun' really starts now - I seriously need to get rid of all this crap. Whether it be in the bin, down the tip or on e-bay.
The entire bottom left corner of my room is now given over to boxes. To give you some idea of how much stuff we're talking out, combined with what's in the attic at the moment there are a total of 15 of the 50litre boxes and 30 of the 30 litre ones.
Now to be fair, quite a fee of the 50 litre ones are full of stuff that they shouldn't be. Basically, there are all the things I should have scanned and there's all the stuff I need to get onto e-bay. There's even a box with things like a keyboard and mouse in for when I set up my TV PC (my new TV is sort of also like a monitor and so I can connect up one of my old machines - I've been meaning to do this for ages and should allow me to watch stuff like fan subs in a more comfortable way).
Anyway, those are only the boxes that are full. While I was sorting out, I got some spare boxes, so that things like the DVDs on my bookshelf can be easily stuck in boxes and put in the attic for when my landlord wants to decorate. The problem with that is I only considered things like my DVDs and forgot about other stuff like my clothes. I'm guessing I may therefore need to buy even more boxes to put those in when the time comes.
One thing this whole exercise has brought home to me is just how much stuff I still own. When I moved out of my family home I remember there being a lot of stuff, and what's slightly dispiriting about all this is realising that I've still got loads of that stuff.
The point being that it's essentially of no use to me and I doubt very much it will sell on e-bay. So why have I been lugging it around in boxes and tripping over it all these years?
Two reasons - firstly is my hoarder mentality, where I struggle to throw things away, but second, the other thing this whole sorting exercise has brought home to me is just how much physical effort is involved. This shit is heavy and it's tiring moving boxes around, especially in my tiny bed-sit where emptying one box becomes this logistical nightmare of having to fill others or take stuff back-and-forth from the kitchen.
Which is why the 'fun' really starts now - I seriously need to get rid of all this crap. Whether it be in the bin, down the tip or on e-bay.
Friday, 18 June 2010
yet more boxes
Well I acquired more boxes, which pretty much sets what I'm going to be doing this weekend. I'm kinda just hoping that I've finally got enough now - it'll be tedious if I get half way through and realise I need yet more!
Apart from that I've got a weird list of stuff I need to do. My Dad gets back from Canada this weekend and he's buying my old monitor off me. That means that at some point I'll have to drop what I'm doing and take the monitor to him. Because he's flying from Heathrow, it means he won't be that far away, so he's decided to go the long way round and we can meet up and I can give him the monitor.
I've given him some basic instructions and they should put him on roads he knows from when we used to go to Devon on holiday, but I wouldn't be surprised if he gets lost. My basic idea was to take him slightly off route and meet up with him at the large Sainsbury's that's down the road from me. Trouble is Dad's never the best with directions and it can be a bit confusing round there with all the roundabouts.
But adding on to that is the fact that he's not computer literate, so I'll need to sit down and write him some instructions as to how to connect up the monitor and, more importantly, set up his desktop so it does the new resolution. That should be interesting.
Most of the rest of the weekend will be spent being domestic, I think. With all this time spent sorting out I've not done any cleaning or ironing in ages. Well, I'm assuming there that I get the sorting down fairly quickly - if it drags I won't have any room to set the iron up, which means I could be wearing a lot of scruffy shirts at work next week!
Hopefully I'll be able to do the ironing while the MotoGP is on this Sunday. It's the British MotoGP, I think, which means it'll be my first proper look at the new Silverstone circuit.
Apart from that I've got a weird list of stuff I need to do. My Dad gets back from Canada this weekend and he's buying my old monitor off me. That means that at some point I'll have to drop what I'm doing and take the monitor to him. Because he's flying from Heathrow, it means he won't be that far away, so he's decided to go the long way round and we can meet up and I can give him the monitor.
I've given him some basic instructions and they should put him on roads he knows from when we used to go to Devon on holiday, but I wouldn't be surprised if he gets lost. My basic idea was to take him slightly off route and meet up with him at the large Sainsbury's that's down the road from me. Trouble is Dad's never the best with directions and it can be a bit confusing round there with all the roundabouts.
But adding on to that is the fact that he's not computer literate, so I'll need to sit down and write him some instructions as to how to connect up the monitor and, more importantly, set up his desktop so it does the new resolution. That should be interesting.
Most of the rest of the weekend will be spent being domestic, I think. With all this time spent sorting out I've not done any cleaning or ironing in ages. Well, I'm assuming there that I get the sorting down fairly quickly - if it drags I won't have any room to set the iron up, which means I could be wearing a lot of scruffy shirts at work next week!
Hopefully I'll be able to do the ironing while the MotoGP is on this Sunday. It's the British MotoGP, I think, which means it'll be my first proper look at the new Silverstone circuit.
Thursday, 17 June 2010
civ5
I learned recently that Civilization 5 is in production.
I have mixed feeling about this. I mean, I love the civ series and have devoted untold hours to playing it, so it's always good that there's a new entry in the franchise.
However, my fear comes because I wasn't that big a fan of Civ4. I mean, it was okay, but it kinda did away with the things that I love to do in Civ. See, I like to make gigantic, sprawling empires where every city has every improvement and they're all as big and productive as they can be.
In Civ4, these aspects were kinda done away with - the emphasis of the game was on much smaller worlds (I think the huge map in Civ4 was broadly equivalent to the normal one in Civ3) and you were supposed to specialise your cities to either focus on Science or religion or whatever.
This is fine, but didn't really appeal to me too much. The problem comes in that Civ4 was generally hailed as the best Civ ever and had universally glowing reviews. This suggests (and what I've seen and read supports this) that Civ5 will continue and develop those aspects of the game even more.
There are some other radical changes. The most notable is that the map square have been replaced by hexagons. I think this is probably a good idea, on balance. However, what they've also done is made it so that each square can only have 1 unit in it. Also, cities can no longer be garrisoned by units. This seems like a bit of a mixed bag.
Stacks of Doom were always a bit of a bugbear in the game - you could literally put hundreds of units on the same square and it was a true moment of dread to see the AI advancing two to three hundred tanks towards you.
However, it does mean that things could get logistically very confusing. I mean, if you've got a big army, it'll be easy to get really confused if you're trying to re-adjust your forces to attack or defend on a different flank. Also, how do things like air power work? Surely Jets and Bombers will have to live in cities or on aircraft carriers? And where will you store ICBMs?
Plus it's hardly realistic is it? If a signal tile is big enough to represent a city like London, then surely you can fit dozens of units that sort of space? And what about choke points? Choke points on continents were often crucial to effective defence on many a map I've played.
I dunno - it could be good or it could be horrible.
One good thing they seem to be doing is improving the diplomacy. Diplomacy was always vital to games, but it's often been a bit predictable or limited. It sounds like they're making it so the AI is cleverer - hopefully this also relates to the actual game play and tactics as well.
But the upshot is it looks like my autumn could basically disappear :).
I have mixed feeling about this. I mean, I love the civ series and have devoted untold hours to playing it, so it's always good that there's a new entry in the franchise.
However, my fear comes because I wasn't that big a fan of Civ4. I mean, it was okay, but it kinda did away with the things that I love to do in Civ. See, I like to make gigantic, sprawling empires where every city has every improvement and they're all as big and productive as they can be.
In Civ4, these aspects were kinda done away with - the emphasis of the game was on much smaller worlds (I think the huge map in Civ4 was broadly equivalent to the normal one in Civ3) and you were supposed to specialise your cities to either focus on Science or religion or whatever.
This is fine, but didn't really appeal to me too much. The problem comes in that Civ4 was generally hailed as the best Civ ever and had universally glowing reviews. This suggests (and what I've seen and read supports this) that Civ5 will continue and develop those aspects of the game even more.
There are some other radical changes. The most notable is that the map square have been replaced by hexagons. I think this is probably a good idea, on balance. However, what they've also done is made it so that each square can only have 1 unit in it. Also, cities can no longer be garrisoned by units. This seems like a bit of a mixed bag.
Stacks of Doom were always a bit of a bugbear in the game - you could literally put hundreds of units on the same square and it was a true moment of dread to see the AI advancing two to three hundred tanks towards you.
However, it does mean that things could get logistically very confusing. I mean, if you've got a big army, it'll be easy to get really confused if you're trying to re-adjust your forces to attack or defend on a different flank. Also, how do things like air power work? Surely Jets and Bombers will have to live in cities or on aircraft carriers? And where will you store ICBMs?
Plus it's hardly realistic is it? If a signal tile is big enough to represent a city like London, then surely you can fit dozens of units that sort of space? And what about choke points? Choke points on continents were often crucial to effective defence on many a map I've played.
I dunno - it could be good or it could be horrible.
One good thing they seem to be doing is improving the diplomacy. Diplomacy was always vital to games, but it's often been a bit predictable or limited. It sounds like they're making it so the AI is cleverer - hopefully this also relates to the actual game play and tactics as well.
But the upshot is it looks like my autumn could basically disappear :).
Wednesday, 16 June 2010
adaptation
I have something of a blind-spot for the word adaptation. To me, the word should be "adaption".
I don't know why I think this - the proper word makes sense and everything, it's just, I dunno, it seems like it's got too many syllables.
(According to a google search I've just done, adaption is a word and is also another word for adaptation - this is weird, because I've never seen it used and the spell checker corrects it to adaptation.)
Anyway, the film is written by Charlie Kaufman, who is, simply put, one of the best screen-writers ever. Kaufman was responsible for Being John Malkovich and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, which are two of my favourite films.
This is a really hard review to write, because the film is really complex. Or at least, it's complex when you really start to look at it - on the surface it's relatively straight-forward.
The straight-forward version is the story of Charlie Kaufman trying to adapt a book called the Orchid Thief. This is a real-life, non-fiction book, written by a real person about a guy called John Laroche who wanted to clone a very rare orchid that grows in the Florida swamps.
However, the film is a blend of this non-fiction narrative with a fictional one. Which is where it gets complicated. Basically, the film is about the process of adaptation that Charlie Kaufman goes through in adapting what he comes to realise is an un-adaptable book.
The book it seems is a real life account and doesn't have a proper narrative thread. And yet the nature of mainstream movie making is that it's all about narrative. There's a brilliant part close to the beginning where Kaufman is basically in a lunch meeting, telling the person he's doing the adaptation about all the things he doesn't want to put in the movie because he wants it to be about "real life" and real life isn't like that.
And yet as the problem of adapting the un-adaptable rears its head, Kaufman transitions into that very story he didn't want to write. But the way this is done is so clever you don't really realise what's going on.
What makes it even more interesting is that it's not clear if Kaufman is being really disparaging about such writing or whether in a way he's admitting that in the end he's unable to transcend it. Effectively, he's asking the question, rather than giving the answer.
So we have a very weird mix of a film - real events are mixed with fictional ones and the plot twists around, looping back on itself in a complex way.
I don't know why I think this - the proper word makes sense and everything, it's just, I dunno, it seems like it's got too many syllables.
(According to a google search I've just done, adaption is a word and is also another word for adaptation - this is weird, because I've never seen it used and the spell checker corrects it to adaptation.)
Anyway, the film is written by Charlie Kaufman, who is, simply put, one of the best screen-writers ever. Kaufman was responsible for Being John Malkovich and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, which are two of my favourite films.
This is a really hard review to write, because the film is really complex. Or at least, it's complex when you really start to look at it - on the surface it's relatively straight-forward.
The straight-forward version is the story of Charlie Kaufman trying to adapt a book called the Orchid Thief. This is a real-life, non-fiction book, written by a real person about a guy called John Laroche who wanted to clone a very rare orchid that grows in the Florida swamps.
However, the film is a blend of this non-fiction narrative with a fictional one. Which is where it gets complicated. Basically, the film is about the process of adaptation that Charlie Kaufman goes through in adapting what he comes to realise is an un-adaptable book.
The book it seems is a real life account and doesn't have a proper narrative thread. And yet the nature of mainstream movie making is that it's all about narrative. There's a brilliant part close to the beginning where Kaufman is basically in a lunch meeting, telling the person he's doing the adaptation about all the things he doesn't want to put in the movie because he wants it to be about "real life" and real life isn't like that.
And yet as the problem of adapting the un-adaptable rears its head, Kaufman transitions into that very story he didn't want to write. But the way this is done is so clever you don't really realise what's going on.
What makes it even more interesting is that it's not clear if Kaufman is being really disparaging about such writing or whether in a way he's admitting that in the end he's unable to transcend it. Effectively, he's asking the question, rather than giving the answer.
So we have a very weird mix of a film - real events are mixed with fictional ones and the plot twists around, looping back on itself in a complex way.
Tuesday, 15 June 2010
canadian gp
It was the Canadian Grand Prix last weekend, and it was an absolute belter.
The Canadian Grand Prix often produces some classic races and it was a real shame it was off the calendar last year.
To be fair, part of the reason it does produce classic races is one of those artificial things, a bit like when it rains. Rain always produces an interesting race, because tyre strategies go haywire and of course the drivers struggle with grip.
Well, the circuit for the Canadian GP is a bit of a weird one - it's built on a man-made island that was created with the spoil from when they built the Montreal subway. That means that, while it is designed as a proper circuit, it's also a public park and people can drive on it.
This means that few other races are held on the circuit, but it also means the tarmac is not like normal racing tarmac. The stuff they use on racetracks is a lot stickier and softer than they use on normal roads. In that way, it's a lot like a street circuit, like Monaco.
It's also like a street circuit because there aren't really any run-off areas - there's barriers and walls right next to the circuit. But, unlike a normal street circuit, the track is quite wide like a proper circuit and has proper bends and chicanes in. It's a kind of hybrid between a street circuit and a proper race track.
And those factors contribute to it being an interesting race - the tarmac means the tyre strategies can go bonkers, like we saw this last weekend and the circuit itself lends itself to exciting racing, providing a real challenge to the drivers and also good opportunities for overtaking.
And my Dad was there. He's gone on a combined race weekend holiday to Canada, which lasts for about 10 days. The first bit is at Montreal for the race and this second week is in Quebec, I think - he told me, but I have an awful memory.
I'd have loved to have gone too, but it would have cost a fortune and I'm still reeling from the expense of Monaco last year :/.
The Canadian Grand Prix often produces some classic races and it was a real shame it was off the calendar last year.
To be fair, part of the reason it does produce classic races is one of those artificial things, a bit like when it rains. Rain always produces an interesting race, because tyre strategies go haywire and of course the drivers struggle with grip.
Well, the circuit for the Canadian GP is a bit of a weird one - it's built on a man-made island that was created with the spoil from when they built the Montreal subway. That means that, while it is designed as a proper circuit, it's also a public park and people can drive on it.
This means that few other races are held on the circuit, but it also means the tarmac is not like normal racing tarmac. The stuff they use on racetracks is a lot stickier and softer than they use on normal roads. In that way, it's a lot like a street circuit, like Monaco.
It's also like a street circuit because there aren't really any run-off areas - there's barriers and walls right next to the circuit. But, unlike a normal street circuit, the track is quite wide like a proper circuit and has proper bends and chicanes in. It's a kind of hybrid between a street circuit and a proper race track.
And those factors contribute to it being an interesting race - the tarmac means the tyre strategies can go bonkers, like we saw this last weekend and the circuit itself lends itself to exciting racing, providing a real challenge to the drivers and also good opportunities for overtaking.
And my Dad was there. He's gone on a combined race weekend holiday to Canada, which lasts for about 10 days. The first bit is at Montreal for the race and this second week is in Quebec, I think - he told me, but I have an awful memory.
I'd have loved to have gone too, but it would have cost a fortune and I'm still reeling from the expense of Monaco last year :/.
Monday, 14 June 2010
aches and pains
Well, back to work and, quite frankly, I could do with the rest! I woke up on Sunday and I think just about every muscle I've got ached, and I'm still not fully fixed today.
The reason for the aches and pains are twofold - first off I did a huge amount of sorting out, but then I also decided to give my car a thoroughly good clean.
My initial plan for the weekend was just to do the sorting out, but I it was a little unrealistic to genuinely think I could do it all. I mean, to be frank, it's one of those jobs that never ends, but also I'd forgotten that my landlord was going on holiday, so there was no way to get anything into the attic.
As well as this I discovered I still didn't have enough plastic stacking crates - I must own more than 20 of them now, but I still need more! See the problem was I tackled the stuff under my bed and I had forgotten just how much was under there. In the end I ended up filling 7 of the smaller crates and putting them under the bed. They work quite well, but in order to support the bed beams (don't ask) stuff has to be sticking out of the top. This means that I need spare crates for if and when I take them out.
This is also the issue for quite a few things - I kinda realised it was one thing to transfer all the stuff I've had in big cardboard to stacking crates, but what about all the stuff I use day-to-day? That needs to have boxes ready and waiting to.
Does that sound odd? I guess it comes back to the point that my landlord want to decorate the flat, which means that everything needs to be able to go in the attic, even if I'm using it in the meantime. I need that extra capacity so I can just chuck it in the boxes and then stick it away in the attic while he decorates.
Also, I'm having a bit of a problem in that the boxes, although great for lifting stuff and convenient, aren't as space efficient as cardboard boxes. You can fill and stack a cardboard box so that it's 100% full and takes up no unnecessary space, but a plastic stacking box 'wastes' space because of how they go together. It's not a big deal, but it does mean I keep underestimating how many I need, hence the need for more.
But the key thing is I am on the very cusp of having boxes for everything. I can do the other type of sorting out (deciding what to keep, throw away or sell) in slower time.
The car cleaning was partly a way of doing something productive in my box-deficient state and partly because my car really needed it.
It was a full-on clean:
The first and last were pretty much without surprises, but cleaning the car body turned out to be rather more painful than I'd expected.
The problem was tar spots.
Basically, I think what's causing them is all the road patching they've done to fill potholes. I'm guessing loose bits come off as you drive over it and your tyres tend to fling it back. All of the tar-spots were in a similar area just behind each of my wheels.
I'd noticed them a while back when I gave the car a quick wipe, so I decided I was going to sort them as part of this big clean. There are several products you can use to get rid of them, but I think they're all essentially turpentine-based solvents. It doesn't damage your paintwork, but dissolves them tar.
Well, eventually it dissolves the tar. What it turns out you also need to invest is a lot of elbow grease, as you need to really rub it on. Twice. See, you rub it on and it starts to dissolve it, then you have to run again to really get rid of the spots. And this is all at basically ground level, so there's loads of rubbing while bending over, so you can see why, combined with all the box-lugging, I've buggered up my wimpy muscles.
Don't get me wrong, though the product itself was good, it was just that I hadn't appreciated how hard it would be and just how many tar spots there were.
The reason for the aches and pains are twofold - first off I did a huge amount of sorting out, but then I also decided to give my car a thoroughly good clean.
My initial plan for the weekend was just to do the sorting out, but I it was a little unrealistic to genuinely think I could do it all. I mean, to be frank, it's one of those jobs that never ends, but also I'd forgotten that my landlord was going on holiday, so there was no way to get anything into the attic.
As well as this I discovered I still didn't have enough plastic stacking crates - I must own more than 20 of them now, but I still need more! See the problem was I tackled the stuff under my bed and I had forgotten just how much was under there. In the end I ended up filling 7 of the smaller crates and putting them under the bed. They work quite well, but in order to support the bed beams (don't ask) stuff has to be sticking out of the top. This means that I need spare crates for if and when I take them out.
This is also the issue for quite a few things - I kinda realised it was one thing to transfer all the stuff I've had in big cardboard to stacking crates, but what about all the stuff I use day-to-day? That needs to have boxes ready and waiting to.
Does that sound odd? I guess it comes back to the point that my landlord want to decorate the flat, which means that everything needs to be able to go in the attic, even if I'm using it in the meantime. I need that extra capacity so I can just chuck it in the boxes and then stick it away in the attic while he decorates.
Also, I'm having a bit of a problem in that the boxes, although great for lifting stuff and convenient, aren't as space efficient as cardboard boxes. You can fill and stack a cardboard box so that it's 100% full and takes up no unnecessary space, but a plastic stacking box 'wastes' space because of how they go together. It's not a big deal, but it does mean I keep underestimating how many I need, hence the need for more.
But the key thing is I am on the very cusp of having boxes for everything. I can do the other type of sorting out (deciding what to keep, throw away or sell) in slower time.
The car cleaning was partly a way of doing something productive in my box-deficient state and partly because my car really needed it.
It was a full-on clean:
- Full alloy wheel clean and polish.
- Full car body clean and polish.
- Full hoover out and surface clean inside.
The first and last were pretty much without surprises, but cleaning the car body turned out to be rather more painful than I'd expected.
The problem was tar spots.
Basically, I think what's causing them is all the road patching they've done to fill potholes. I'm guessing loose bits come off as you drive over it and your tyres tend to fling it back. All of the tar-spots were in a similar area just behind each of my wheels.
I'd noticed them a while back when I gave the car a quick wipe, so I decided I was going to sort them as part of this big clean. There are several products you can use to get rid of them, but I think they're all essentially turpentine-based solvents. It doesn't damage your paintwork, but dissolves them tar.
Well, eventually it dissolves the tar. What it turns out you also need to invest is a lot of elbow grease, as you need to really rub it on. Twice. See, you rub it on and it starts to dissolve it, then you have to run again to really get rid of the spots. And this is all at basically ground level, so there's loads of rubbing while bending over, so you can see why, combined with all the box-lugging, I've buggered up my wimpy muscles.
Don't get me wrong, though the product itself was good, it was just that I hadn't appreciated how hard it would be and just how many tar spots there were.
Wednesday, 9 June 2010
telly 2
And here's the second part.
You Have Been Watching
Clearly, you have to like Charlie Brooker before you even consider watching this. Especially since, although it's presented as a panel show, it's a bit of half-arsed version. I mean, there are normally very few actual questions asked of the guests and more time is spent giving what are more like mini-reviews.
It works, but they appear to have tweaked the format a little from the first series, and I'm not sure I like the tweaks. In the first season the guests watched episodes of the shows being discussed, but I think they've scaled that back a bit this year - perhaps only showing them 1 episode and asking questions about the whole series.
This okay, but Brooker watches them all (he's a TV critic after all) so the balance has shifted more towards him talking, where the guests said more in the first series.
Also, they had something called TV club last year where they told you what to watch and you could put your opinions and stuff. This has basically been dumped, although to be fair, it wasn't a crucial bit of the show.
The Big Bang Theory s3
The Big Bang Theory is consistently the funniest show on TV. I'd say its only real rival is 30Rock, and that's not shown on a channel I can watch easily.
Oh, Channel 4 are always up to their usual scheduling shenanigans of course, but the mighty power of schedule searching that my PVR enables, combined with my already exhaustive scouring of Radio Times each week ensures I don't miss any episodes.
I think one of the things I like most about the show is that for once it actually manages to depict scientists and nerds in an unapologetic and non-fanciful way. I've ranted many times before about Hollywood depictions of scientists and nerds, but Big Bang Theory doesn't do that - it's got a proper understanding geekiness and geekdom.
The Mentalist s2
The mentalist is a bit of an odd beast.
Basically, it's a crime mystery job (I love a good crime mystery) and generally speaking, each episode is self contained. There's a murder or two and the main guy, Jane, solves it, often engaging his mentalist abilities - think Derren Brown.
Anyway, these are all fine and good, but then there's also supposed to be a couple of plot threads that work across the episodes. For Jane, this is basically to do with a serial killer called Red John who killed his wife and child.
Now this is clearly quite a dark thread, but the individual episodes are often jolly and light-hearted. It's like there's an intention for them to be entirely stand alone, but then every so often you get a full Red John episode or a small arc. If this were an anime, I'd probably end up thinking of the normal episodes as filler, because tonally they just don't match with the Red John ones.
But in a way it still works - the reason for Jane being there and how he behaves is actually explained by the Red John stuff.
I dunno, it's difficult to explain in a short space, but basically the show works. The stand-alone episodes work as crime mystery stories and the Red John episodes work as a long-running plot. My only thing is I wish the two were a bit better integrated - it's like they completely forget about Red John while they work on the individual cases.
Doctor Who
The Steven Moffat run Doctor Who continues to be enjoyable.
If I'm totally honest, I have had a few niggles. The biggest one was probably the Rory character. Rory was engaged to Amy, the Doctor's new assistant, indeed, the Doctor actually took her away on the very night before her wedding.
He even went and picked up Rory, who was in a few episodes and was heavily involved in the plots - not just a bystander. And then a few weeks back they killed him off.
Well, actually they didn't just kill him off, he was touched by some sort of time rift thing and completely 'disappeared' from all-time. He not only died, but he ceased to ever have existed.
If they'd simply killed him that would have created paradoxes - there was some stuff of him in the future - but to cause him to cease to exist is the mother of all paradoxes. He was about to marry Amy and has been her friend since childhood - how does that all now work?
Hopefully, the overarching plot to the series will sort it all out. Certainly the overall series plot has been better integrated into the series than back in the RTD days.
You Have Been Watching
Clearly, you have to like Charlie Brooker before you even consider watching this. Especially since, although it's presented as a panel show, it's a bit of half-arsed version. I mean, there are normally very few actual questions asked of the guests and more time is spent giving what are more like mini-reviews.
It works, but they appear to have tweaked the format a little from the first series, and I'm not sure I like the tweaks. In the first season the guests watched episodes of the shows being discussed, but I think they've scaled that back a bit this year - perhaps only showing them 1 episode and asking questions about the whole series.
This okay, but Brooker watches them all (he's a TV critic after all) so the balance has shifted more towards him talking, where the guests said more in the first series.
Also, they had something called TV club last year where they told you what to watch and you could put your opinions and stuff. This has basically been dumped, although to be fair, it wasn't a crucial bit of the show.
The Big Bang Theory s3
The Big Bang Theory is consistently the funniest show on TV. I'd say its only real rival is 30Rock, and that's not shown on a channel I can watch easily.
Oh, Channel 4 are always up to their usual scheduling shenanigans of course, but the mighty power of schedule searching that my PVR enables, combined with my already exhaustive scouring of Radio Times each week ensures I don't miss any episodes.
I think one of the things I like most about the show is that for once it actually manages to depict scientists and nerds in an unapologetic and non-fanciful way. I've ranted many times before about Hollywood depictions of scientists and nerds, but Big Bang Theory doesn't do that - it's got a proper understanding geekiness and geekdom.
The Mentalist s2
The mentalist is a bit of an odd beast.
Basically, it's a crime mystery job (I love a good crime mystery) and generally speaking, each episode is self contained. There's a murder or two and the main guy, Jane, solves it, often engaging his mentalist abilities - think Derren Brown.
Anyway, these are all fine and good, but then there's also supposed to be a couple of plot threads that work across the episodes. For Jane, this is basically to do with a serial killer called Red John who killed his wife and child.
Now this is clearly quite a dark thread, but the individual episodes are often jolly and light-hearted. It's like there's an intention for them to be entirely stand alone, but then every so often you get a full Red John episode or a small arc. If this were an anime, I'd probably end up thinking of the normal episodes as filler, because tonally they just don't match with the Red John ones.
But in a way it still works - the reason for Jane being there and how he behaves is actually explained by the Red John stuff.
I dunno, it's difficult to explain in a short space, but basically the show works. The stand-alone episodes work as crime mystery stories and the Red John episodes work as a long-running plot. My only thing is I wish the two were a bit better integrated - it's like they completely forget about Red John while they work on the individual cases.
Doctor Who
The Steven Moffat run Doctor Who continues to be enjoyable.
If I'm totally honest, I have had a few niggles. The biggest one was probably the Rory character. Rory was engaged to Amy, the Doctor's new assistant, indeed, the Doctor actually took her away on the very night before her wedding.
He even went and picked up Rory, who was in a few episodes and was heavily involved in the plots - not just a bystander. And then a few weeks back they killed him off.
Well, actually they didn't just kill him off, he was touched by some sort of time rift thing and completely 'disappeared' from all-time. He not only died, but he ceased to ever have existed.
If they'd simply killed him that would have created paradoxes - there was some stuff of him in the future - but to cause him to cease to exist is the mother of all paradoxes. He was about to marry Amy and has been her friend since childhood - how does that all now work?
Hopefully, the overarching plot to the series will sort it all out. Certainly the overall series plot has been better integrated into the series than back in the RTD days.
Tuesday, 8 June 2010
telly 1
As promised, I thought I'd do a bit of rounding up of some of the telly I've been watching over the last few weeks.
Derren Brown Investigates
The name is pretty self-explanatory here - Derren Brown, who famously does a lot of mind-reading and psychic type magic, investigated several people claiming psychic powers or similar things. Brown of course, doesn't pretend it's real, but these other people do.
There were 3 episodes. In the first, he met up with a Liverpudlian psychic, in the second he went on a sort of course that purports to give you the ability to see without using your eyes (especially to allow blind people to see).
These two episodes were pretty much what you'd expect - exposures of conmen/frauds. The only thing I'd really say about this was that in a way, Derren was too nice.
I don't mean he should have been actively aggressive towards them - the main aim was to give them enough rope to hang themselves with, which they did - but he should at least have called them on things a bit more. For example, in the psychic one, he set up a reading with a woman which the psychic did really badly at. But at the beginning, Derren asked her to use a false name, which suggested at some point he was going to say to the psychic - how come none of the ghosts mentioned her real name? - but he never did.
However, in the third show this soft approach actually worked well, because this third was a ghost hunter and the guy genuinely believed in ghosts. I mean, proper conviction about the existence of spirits.
Now while this is a bonkers belief, unlike the other two, it was clear he wasn't trying to exploit people (he'd never accepted a penny from someone he'd helped) and genuinely wanted to help them. Clearly, Derren found no actual evidence, but his soft approach worked a lot better.
Luther
I was a little apprehensive about Luther, which is a new detective job.
I love a good crime thriller/mystery, but I tend to get a bit worried when words like 'dark' and 'brooding' are bandied about. It's one thing for the crimes to be dark, but things tend to get a bit messy when you start making your character dark too. Look at Waking the Dead, which does some great mysteries, but seems to have lost the plot when it comes to the main character Boyd.
And there are echoes of those sorts of problems with Luther - his home life is a bit messy and there are suggestions he's not exactly arrow straight in everything he does. However, to be fair, they brought those elements in fairly gently, and instead focused on the actual murders.
In the latter episodes they have kinda ramped these overall plot threads up and I think they might have gone a bit far, but overall the show was better than I was expecting.
Story of Science
This was an interesting documentary series.
The basic idea was to present science and scientific discovery in a more realistic 'of it's times' series of events, rather than as a kind of guided process. Essentially what it's saying is that, science if often presented as a series of logical steps that lead inevitably towards an end goal.
The reality of course is that the people themselves aren't thinking like that - they're doing experiments, coming up with ideas or whatever in the context of their time and what interests them. So someone who's trying to work out the movement of the planets in the heavens comes up with the idea of elliptical orbits around the Sun, but because it was against popular opinion, it didn't become accepted.
Dollhouse s2
I can't honestly say I was that impressed by the first series of Dollhouse, the most recent offering from Joss Whedon.
It seemed like a reasonable idea, but the main problem was a lack of any really strong arc to it. The idea seemed to be that some of the dolls - especially Echo - were beginning to, I dunno, develop proper personalities, rather than just being totally blank slates.
The I dunno is quite important - it wasn't clear quite what was happening and that was the problem, especially in the early shows, where it focused on being a very episodic format. Think "monster of the week" only "doll of the week".
Also, people said it got a lot better towards the end and while I'd say it did improve a bit, it wasn't like it suddenly took a leap up to excellent - more like a gentle incline up to okay.
There was one ray of hope. There was an 'epilogue' episode at the end, which hinted at much more story. The second season is a huge improvement, with a more consistent and flowing arc. It's even managed to throw in a few curveballs which the first season really lacked.
Derren Brown Investigates
The name is pretty self-explanatory here - Derren Brown, who famously does a lot of mind-reading and psychic type magic, investigated several people claiming psychic powers or similar things. Brown of course, doesn't pretend it's real, but these other people do.
There were 3 episodes. In the first, he met up with a Liverpudlian psychic, in the second he went on a sort of course that purports to give you the ability to see without using your eyes (especially to allow blind people to see).
These two episodes were pretty much what you'd expect - exposures of conmen/frauds. The only thing I'd really say about this was that in a way, Derren was too nice.
I don't mean he should have been actively aggressive towards them - the main aim was to give them enough rope to hang themselves with, which they did - but he should at least have called them on things a bit more. For example, in the psychic one, he set up a reading with a woman which the psychic did really badly at. But at the beginning, Derren asked her to use a false name, which suggested at some point he was going to say to the psychic - how come none of the ghosts mentioned her real name? - but he never did.
However, in the third show this soft approach actually worked well, because this third was a ghost hunter and the guy genuinely believed in ghosts. I mean, proper conviction about the existence of spirits.
Now while this is a bonkers belief, unlike the other two, it was clear he wasn't trying to exploit people (he'd never accepted a penny from someone he'd helped) and genuinely wanted to help them. Clearly, Derren found no actual evidence, but his soft approach worked a lot better.
Luther
I was a little apprehensive about Luther, which is a new detective job.
I love a good crime thriller/mystery, but I tend to get a bit worried when words like 'dark' and 'brooding' are bandied about. It's one thing for the crimes to be dark, but things tend to get a bit messy when you start making your character dark too. Look at Waking the Dead, which does some great mysteries, but seems to have lost the plot when it comes to the main character Boyd.
And there are echoes of those sorts of problems with Luther - his home life is a bit messy and there are suggestions he's not exactly arrow straight in everything he does. However, to be fair, they brought those elements in fairly gently, and instead focused on the actual murders.
In the latter episodes they have kinda ramped these overall plot threads up and I think they might have gone a bit far, but overall the show was better than I was expecting.
Story of Science
This was an interesting documentary series.
The basic idea was to present science and scientific discovery in a more realistic 'of it's times' series of events, rather than as a kind of guided process. Essentially what it's saying is that, science if often presented as a series of logical steps that lead inevitably towards an end goal.
The reality of course is that the people themselves aren't thinking like that - they're doing experiments, coming up with ideas or whatever in the context of their time and what interests them. So someone who's trying to work out the movement of the planets in the heavens comes up with the idea of elliptical orbits around the Sun, but because it was against popular opinion, it didn't become accepted.
Dollhouse s2
I can't honestly say I was that impressed by the first series of Dollhouse, the most recent offering from Joss Whedon.
It seemed like a reasonable idea, but the main problem was a lack of any really strong arc to it. The idea seemed to be that some of the dolls - especially Echo - were beginning to, I dunno, develop proper personalities, rather than just being totally blank slates.
The I dunno is quite important - it wasn't clear quite what was happening and that was the problem, especially in the early shows, where it focused on being a very episodic format. Think "monster of the week" only "doll of the week".
Also, people said it got a lot better towards the end and while I'd say it did improve a bit, it wasn't like it suddenly took a leap up to excellent - more like a gentle incline up to okay.
There was one ray of hope. There was an 'epilogue' episode at the end, which hinted at much more story. The second season is a huge improvement, with a more consistent and flowing arc. It's even managed to throw in a few curveballs which the first season really lacked.
Monday, 7 June 2010
face slicer
I cut myself shaving on Saturday. I've not done that in years. It was above my top lip and it bled like a bugger - cuts on your face often do, for some reason.
It wasn't a big cut and because razors are obviously sharp, it was a clean cut and it didn't really hurt. I saw a few people noticing it, though. I guess it's just in that sort of position where you tend to look more - I think eyes and mouth tend to be where you look more closely.
It was a surprisingly successful weekend. Surprising and successful, because although I didn't do quite what I'd planned, I did achieve a lot. Basically, I'd thought the best plan was to get some scanning done, but in the end I did a big chunk of the sorting out I've got left to do.
I'm not really sure what started me off, but after I'd done my cleaning on Saturday I just sort of rolled on and started going through some of the boxes I've got left. I even started to move some of the furniture around, although given how hot and muggy it was on Saturday I kinda abandoned that.
I think because I've got this Thursday and Friday off and my plan is to have it all essentially finished this next weekend I just sort of wanted to get a head start on it.
What also helped is that I reviewed the telly for the upcoming week and there is almost nothing on. I think there are a total of 7 things I want to watch/record across the entirety of this next week, which must be about a third of what I normally watch. And it only really ramps up at the weekend because the Canadian Grand Prix is on.
Hopefully, if this continues it should be a super productive summer . I'll get all my sorting done and then spend the summer dumping stuff on e-bay and watching the DVD backlog.
And speaking of TV stuff, I thought for tomorrow and Wednesday I'd do some summary round-up reviews of the shows I've been watching.
It wasn't a big cut and because razors are obviously sharp, it was a clean cut and it didn't really hurt. I saw a few people noticing it, though. I guess it's just in that sort of position where you tend to look more - I think eyes and mouth tend to be where you look more closely.
It was a surprisingly successful weekend. Surprising and successful, because although I didn't do quite what I'd planned, I did achieve a lot. Basically, I'd thought the best plan was to get some scanning done, but in the end I did a big chunk of the sorting out I've got left to do.
I'm not really sure what started me off, but after I'd done my cleaning on Saturday I just sort of rolled on and started going through some of the boxes I've got left. I even started to move some of the furniture around, although given how hot and muggy it was on Saturday I kinda abandoned that.
I think because I've got this Thursday and Friday off and my plan is to have it all essentially finished this next weekend I just sort of wanted to get a head start on it.
What also helped is that I reviewed the telly for the upcoming week and there is almost nothing on. I think there are a total of 7 things I want to watch/record across the entirety of this next week, which must be about a third of what I normally watch. And it only really ramps up at the weekend because the Canadian Grand Prix is on.
Hopefully, if this continues it should be a super productive summer . I'll get all my sorting done and then spend the summer dumping stuff on e-bay and watching the DVD backlog.
And speaking of TV stuff, I thought for tomorrow and Wednesday I'd do some summary round-up reviews of the shows I've been watching.
Friday, 4 June 2010
already?
It's Friday already? How the heck did that happen?
Feels like only yesterday it was Thursday. Oh no, wait, yesterday was Thursday.
Looks like it's going to be a sunny weekend. I've not got any special plans, though I do need to do some cleaning. There's a MotoGP race on Sunday I believe, and I want to go for another one of my walks.
Unfortunately, the walks have become a bit fortnightly, mainly because when there's a F1 GP on that means there's loads of stuff - 3 practices, qualifying and the race itself, all of which I have to watch across the weekend. I mean, I could leave it, but the problem then would be people spoilering it.
Next week is going to be a short one - I've got the Thursday and Friday off, so just a 3 day week, which will be nice.
Oh, one thing I realised I hadn't mentioned - Eurovision.
We finished stone dead last, and to be perfectly frank I'm not hugely surprised. Well, surprised we were last as there were some real duffers in there that got way more points than they deserved, but not surprised that we didn't do well.
Our song was very poor. I generally don't pay attention to Eurovision until the night itself, so I hadn't heard the song beforehand. Supposedly it was written by Stock & Waterman, of 1980s Stock, Aitken & Waterman, who produced all those cheesy pop songs of the 80s.
The problem there was it just wasn't up to those standards - if it had been an 80s cheesefest, maybe it would have at least been distinctive, but it was just totally non-descript. And it didn't help that they seemed to have got a small boy to sing it, who seemed nice enough, but really lacked any impact.
I suppose at least this year's song wasn't one of those "this is what we think Europop sounds like" jobs.
Feels like only yesterday it was Thursday. Oh no, wait, yesterday was Thursday.
Looks like it's going to be a sunny weekend. I've not got any special plans, though I do need to do some cleaning. There's a MotoGP race on Sunday I believe, and I want to go for another one of my walks.
Unfortunately, the walks have become a bit fortnightly, mainly because when there's a F1 GP on that means there's loads of stuff - 3 practices, qualifying and the race itself, all of which I have to watch across the weekend. I mean, I could leave it, but the problem then would be people spoilering it.
Next week is going to be a short one - I've got the Thursday and Friday off, so just a 3 day week, which will be nice.
Oh, one thing I realised I hadn't mentioned - Eurovision.
We finished stone dead last, and to be perfectly frank I'm not hugely surprised. Well, surprised we were last as there were some real duffers in there that got way more points than they deserved, but not surprised that we didn't do well.
Our song was very poor. I generally don't pay attention to Eurovision until the night itself, so I hadn't heard the song beforehand. Supposedly it was written by Stock & Waterman, of 1980s Stock, Aitken & Waterman, who produced all those cheesy pop songs of the 80s.
The problem there was it just wasn't up to those standards - if it had been an 80s cheesefest, maybe it would have at least been distinctive, but it was just totally non-descript. And it didn't help that they seemed to have got a small boy to sing it, who seemed nice enough, but really lacked any impact.
I suppose at least this year's song wasn't one of those "this is what we think Europop sounds like" jobs.
Thursday, 3 June 2010
new duvet
I got my new duvet the other week. It's incredibly thin. They use something called "togs" to rate duvets for warmth and this is a 4.5 tog duvet. What that means is that it's only just thicker than a blanket.
Now that may sound daft - why not just use a blanket, or a regular sheet? Well for some reason I cannot get to sleep unless I've got a duvet on me. I've tried many times in years past to sleep without any covers or just a sheet and I cannot do it. There's obviously some psychological thing going on that means I just can't.
I'm actually pretty neurotic when it comes to sleeping - I have a whole host of... well, I suppose rituals would be the word, that are essentially there to ensure I go to sleep.
Basically, a summary of the basic ritual goes something like-
First off, I ensure all curtains are fully closed and that all lights are turned off or covered over. Now I don't just mean normal lights. You know how a lot of electrical appliance have some sort of LED that indicates they're in standby, or they have a digital clock or something that emits light? Well I can't have those shinning at me.
It's kinda like a brightness threshold - below a certain level I'm happy, but above and the light will keep me up. This can be so bad for me that I actually have to pin black bin bags to the curtains in my bed-sit, because they're white and crap at blocking out light in the summer or if my landlord leaves a light on.
I then read for at least 10 minutes. This is actually a bit of an odd one, because I know a lot of guides for people with insomnia say you shouldn't do anything stimulating, like read or watch TV before bed. But I dunno, it works for me.
What makes it really ritualistic is that I have to be laying on my side and I have to be in my nightclothes. If I'm not, then it's just ordinary reading and it doesn't help.
After reading I switch off the light and continue to lay on my side. Here, I'm consciously trying clear my mind. I try to force out anything resembling active thought and concentrate on stillness and nothing.
It's also at this stage that any noise will become apparent. Like light, I can't put up with noise while I'm trying to sleep, so if there's a party going on somewhere or my PVR is whirring away, I'll put in my earplugs.
This 'calming down' can last anywhere from 5minutes to half an hour, but once I'm relaxed, I'll turn onto my front and that's when I'll drift off.
At least, I assume I drift off. What will actually happen is the next thing I'll be aware of is waking up. This will usually take one of two forms - waking up very early, desperate for a piss, or wake up about 15 minutes before my alarm is due to go off (also needing a pee).
You'll notice there's no mention of dreaming - I can count the number of dreams I remember on one hand. I sometimes have a sort of a daydream experience while I'm waiting for my alarm to go off, but I've never really thought of these as dreams as they're entirely and actively controlled by my mind.
I believe there's something called lucid dreaming where you know you're dreaming, but it's not like that - it's more like I actively think up a scenario or idea and then muck about with it. So much more like a daydream or fantasy than a dream.
Anyway, this new duvet is great - it's light enough to keep me cool, but weighty enough to fulfil my need for a duvet. My other one is a massive 13.5 togs, which I think is about the maximum. Quite where I'm going to put it, I'm not sure, but it looks like the weather is on the turn, so I don't think I'll need it for ages now.
Now that may sound daft - why not just use a blanket, or a regular sheet? Well for some reason I cannot get to sleep unless I've got a duvet on me. I've tried many times in years past to sleep without any covers or just a sheet and I cannot do it. There's obviously some psychological thing going on that means I just can't.
I'm actually pretty neurotic when it comes to sleeping - I have a whole host of... well, I suppose rituals would be the word, that are essentially there to ensure I go to sleep.
Basically, a summary of the basic ritual goes something like-
First off, I ensure all curtains are fully closed and that all lights are turned off or covered over. Now I don't just mean normal lights. You know how a lot of electrical appliance have some sort of LED that indicates they're in standby, or they have a digital clock or something that emits light? Well I can't have those shinning at me.
It's kinda like a brightness threshold - below a certain level I'm happy, but above and the light will keep me up. This can be so bad for me that I actually have to pin black bin bags to the curtains in my bed-sit, because they're white and crap at blocking out light in the summer or if my landlord leaves a light on.
I then read for at least 10 minutes. This is actually a bit of an odd one, because I know a lot of guides for people with insomnia say you shouldn't do anything stimulating, like read or watch TV before bed. But I dunno, it works for me.
What makes it really ritualistic is that I have to be laying on my side and I have to be in my nightclothes. If I'm not, then it's just ordinary reading and it doesn't help.
After reading I switch off the light and continue to lay on my side. Here, I'm consciously trying clear my mind. I try to force out anything resembling active thought and concentrate on stillness and nothing.
It's also at this stage that any noise will become apparent. Like light, I can't put up with noise while I'm trying to sleep, so if there's a party going on somewhere or my PVR is whirring away, I'll put in my earplugs.
This 'calming down' can last anywhere from 5minutes to half an hour, but once I'm relaxed, I'll turn onto my front and that's when I'll drift off.
At least, I assume I drift off. What will actually happen is the next thing I'll be aware of is waking up. This will usually take one of two forms - waking up very early, desperate for a piss, or wake up about 15 minutes before my alarm is due to go off (also needing a pee).
You'll notice there's no mention of dreaming - I can count the number of dreams I remember on one hand. I sometimes have a sort of a daydream experience while I'm waiting for my alarm to go off, but I've never really thought of these as dreams as they're entirely and actively controlled by my mind.
I believe there's something called lucid dreaming where you know you're dreaming, but it's not like that - it's more like I actively think up a scenario or idea and then muck about with it. So much more like a daydream or fantasy than a dream.
Anyway, this new duvet is great - it's light enough to keep me cool, but weighty enough to fulfil my need for a duvet. My other one is a massive 13.5 togs, which I think is about the maximum. Quite where I'm going to put it, I'm not sure, but it looks like the weather is on the turn, so I don't think I'll need it for ages now.
Wednesday, 2 June 2010
drag me to hell
Sam Raimi is possibly best known for two things - the Spiderman trilogy and the Evil Dead films. Of course he's done a whole load of other stuff too - Raimi wrote and directed Darkman, for example and was also producer on the western adaptation of the Japanese horror The Grudge.
But probably most important here are Spiderman and the Evil Dead films - the first because it's what shot Raimi into a position where the bigger studios would be willing to fund a film like this (afaik, the Spiderman films have generated something like $2.5billion in revenue). The second because it represents a kind of spiritual predecessor to this film.
Anyway, the basic point is if you've seen the Evil Dead movies then this is very much in their vein - it's basically a horror film, but with strong comedic elements. I don't think it's really right to say it's a black comedy - black comedy is more similar to satire, where the humour here is of a more slapstick nature - specifically the three stooges.
So what's different about drag me to hell?
Well, for starters there's a heavier focus on the horror aspects. This isn't really a bad thing as it means the humour tends to come out of left field and therefore has a bigger impact. It also tends to build into it - so the scary stuff will be building and building, and then it will reach a point of absurdity and you'll find yourself laughing. Or you'll be expecting an even bigger fright and instead something silly will happen.
There's also a fine line at times between gross out and comic - in anyone else but Raimi's hands I think some bits would simply have been stomach churning, but the way he handles it you end up giggling instead.
Overall, I therefore enjoyed it. I think the story works particularly well - I mean, it's not a masterpiece, but it hangs together in a coherent fashion and makes sense.
I would level a few criticism at it, though. Firstly, the horror is slightly dampened by the reliance on 'shock' moments. By these I mean the old bogey-man jumps out of the closet and the soundtrack is filled with loud, shrieking violins.
These are fine, but it could have done with a few false shocks - ones that turn out not to happen or to actually be benign things.
It also wimps out a bit with the blood sacrifice - not so much because it doesn't show it, but that the main character doesn't really feel any remorse or regret about it.
And the shock ending was a little odd - firstly the key element was so telegraphed it kinda rendered the scenes before it oddly redundant. But also, and not wanting to spoiler, but the nature of the shock kinda left an odd feeling.
But those don't spoil what is a thoroughly enjoyable, entertaining film that's well worth checking out.
(I love it when I end these mini reviews like that - it's like I'm pretending t be a proper critic :P)
But probably most important here are Spiderman and the Evil Dead films - the first because it's what shot Raimi into a position where the bigger studios would be willing to fund a film like this (afaik, the Spiderman films have generated something like $2.5billion in revenue). The second because it represents a kind of spiritual predecessor to this film.
Anyway, the basic point is if you've seen the Evil Dead movies then this is very much in their vein - it's basically a horror film, but with strong comedic elements. I don't think it's really right to say it's a black comedy - black comedy is more similar to satire, where the humour here is of a more slapstick nature - specifically the three stooges.
So what's different about drag me to hell?
Well, for starters there's a heavier focus on the horror aspects. This isn't really a bad thing as it means the humour tends to come out of left field and therefore has a bigger impact. It also tends to build into it - so the scary stuff will be building and building, and then it will reach a point of absurdity and you'll find yourself laughing. Or you'll be expecting an even bigger fright and instead something silly will happen.
There's also a fine line at times between gross out and comic - in anyone else but Raimi's hands I think some bits would simply have been stomach churning, but the way he handles it you end up giggling instead.
Overall, I therefore enjoyed it. I think the story works particularly well - I mean, it's not a masterpiece, but it hangs together in a coherent fashion and makes sense.
I would level a few criticism at it, though. Firstly, the horror is slightly dampened by the reliance on 'shock' moments. By these I mean the old bogey-man jumps out of the closet and the soundtrack is filled with loud, shrieking violins.
These are fine, but it could have done with a few false shocks - ones that turn out not to happen or to actually be benign things.
It also wimps out a bit with the blood sacrifice - not so much because it doesn't show it, but that the main character doesn't really feel any remorse or regret about it.
And the shock ending was a little odd - firstly the key element was so telegraphed it kinda rendered the scenes before it oddly redundant. But also, and not wanting to spoiler, but the nature of the shock kinda left an odd feeling.
But those don't spoil what is a thoroughly enjoyable, entertaining film that's well worth checking out.
(I love it when I end these mini reviews like that - it's like I'm pretending t be a proper critic :P)
Tuesday, 1 June 2010
wasted weekend
And I don't mean wasted as in booze soaked, I mean wasted as in opportunity.
I'd been hoping going into the weekend that I would do some scanning. That was the plan - I would start to tackle the New Types after the kick-start I had doing loads of animedias the other week.
My backup plan, for if and when I got really bored of scanning was I'd continue sorting my room a bit. I've not really progressed the room sorting very much, because I've had all sorts of stuff that needed to go down the recycling centre.
Well, one thing that was fixed on the schedule for early Saturday morning was a second trip to the recycling place to dispose of most of the rest of the stuff. This was fixed because I also wanted to get a haircut and I was desperate to clear some space at least (I can now see my settee for the first time in months!).
Well I did neither of those.
I didn't even do something useful like watch anime DVDs. I did set my new telly up, although even that was in a half-arsed, quick-fix way - I've not unplugged and removed the old one, just put it on a chair :/.
So what did I do?
I gamed. I must have spent about half of all my waking hours across the bank holiday playing computer games.
Don't get me wrong - I enjoyed the gaming, I just kinda feel a bit regretful that that's all I did.
To be fair, I did get some stuff done. for example, there was a risk I could have failed to watch Eurovision or the GP, and that would have caused me some severe scheduling problems. I mean as it is, despite them totalling something like 10 hours of viewing and me watching several other things recorded I've still come out with more recorded telly that I went in.
The good thing on this front is that more than half of the shows I've been following are on their last episodes this week and next. Given that the world cup starts in a fortnight that bodes very well for my hope that I'll be fully able to engage in catch-up over the summer.
I'd been hoping going into the weekend that I would do some scanning. That was the plan - I would start to tackle the New Types after the kick-start I had doing loads of animedias the other week.
My backup plan, for if and when I got really bored of scanning was I'd continue sorting my room a bit. I've not really progressed the room sorting very much, because I've had all sorts of stuff that needed to go down the recycling centre.
Well, one thing that was fixed on the schedule for early Saturday morning was a second trip to the recycling place to dispose of most of the rest of the stuff. This was fixed because I also wanted to get a haircut and I was desperate to clear some space at least (I can now see my settee for the first time in months!).
Well I did neither of those.
I didn't even do something useful like watch anime DVDs. I did set my new telly up, although even that was in a half-arsed, quick-fix way - I've not unplugged and removed the old one, just put it on a chair :/.
So what did I do?
I gamed. I must have spent about half of all my waking hours across the bank holiday playing computer games.
Don't get me wrong - I enjoyed the gaming, I just kinda feel a bit regretful that that's all I did.
To be fair, I did get some stuff done. for example, there was a risk I could have failed to watch Eurovision or the GP, and that would have caused me some severe scheduling problems. I mean as it is, despite them totalling something like 10 hours of viewing and me watching several other things recorded I've still come out with more recorded telly that I went in.
The good thing on this front is that more than half of the shows I've been following are on their last episodes this week and next. Given that the world cup starts in a fortnight that bodes very well for my hope that I'll be fully able to engage in catch-up over the summer.
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