The flakes fall softly
Changing the shape of the world
A blanket of snow
Any Human Heart
A turbulent century
Mapped in memories
In Chu Chu Rocket
Cats chase mice in abstract grids
Puzzle perfection
Note to the police
Kettles are for brewing tea
Not punishing kids
Evening chill banished
With central heating and a
Gingerbread latte
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Monday, November 29, 2010
Rocket Reducer
The temperature warmed up slightly overnight, to a sultry minus one, and was accompanied by a dusting of snow. There was a bit more snow on the way into work but the roads were clear, although it was the worst traffic that I have yet seen - an hour and twenty minutes to do my usual thirty five minute trip. The car park was practically empty too, although to be fair, I think the snow was worse to the north of Leeds, so folk coming from that direction will have had more problems.
A minor bit of excitement last night when I had to rescue a mouse from the bathroom upstairs where Daisy had taken it. I picked it up in a towel and released it over the wall at the front of the house where it scurried away to safety. I wonder what goes through Daisy's little cat like brain when she manages to catch a mouse in the dark, bring it into the house, take it upstairs and drop it, and then forget what she was supposed to be doing with it.
No telly to report on - we were going to watch the second episode of 'Any Human Heart' but our signal for channel 4 seems to have dissolved into a pixelated mess recently, which nixed that idea. We should be able to watch it on 4OD or via, ahem, other means.
I did finish watching 'The Fellowship of the Ring' which was as good as I remembered, even if I did notice one or two bits of slightly ropy CGI, such as the bit where Legolas jumps on top of the troll to shoot an arrow into its brain. The sweeping panoramas are still a treat to watch though, and I really hope that 'The Hobbit' is going to be filmed in the same places. Two Towers next week!
In games news, I played a bit of Rock Band to brush up my keyboard skills. I ran through some scales practice first (all that's missing is the rap over the knuckles with a ruler from the piano teacher) before launching into a bit of quick play - in retrospect, picking 'Light My Fire' to practice first on was probably a mistake, but I went back to some easier tracks and picked up enough fans to unlock the jet for a world tour next Friday which should make a change from our previous trek down the west coast.
A minor bit of excitement last night when I had to rescue a mouse from the bathroom upstairs where Daisy had taken it. I picked it up in a towel and released it over the wall at the front of the house where it scurried away to safety. I wonder what goes through Daisy's little cat like brain when she manages to catch a mouse in the dark, bring it into the house, take it upstairs and drop it, and then forget what she was supposed to be doing with it.
No telly to report on - we were going to watch the second episode of 'Any Human Heart' but our signal for channel 4 seems to have dissolved into a pixelated mess recently, which nixed that idea. We should be able to watch it on 4OD or via, ahem, other means.
I did finish watching 'The Fellowship of the Ring' which was as good as I remembered, even if I did notice one or two bits of slightly ropy CGI, such as the bit where Legolas jumps on top of the troll to shoot an arrow into its brain. The sweeping panoramas are still a treat to watch though, and I really hope that 'The Hobbit' is going to be filmed in the same places. Two Towers next week!
In games news, I played a bit of Rock Band to brush up my keyboard skills. I ran through some scales practice first (all that's missing is the rap over the knuckles with a ruler from the piano teacher) before launching into a bit of quick play - in retrospect, picking 'Light My Fire' to practice first on was probably a mistake, but I went back to some easier tracks and picked up enough fans to unlock the jet for a world tour next Friday which should make a change from our previous trek down the west coast.
Sunday, November 28, 2010
The Thin Ice
Minus 6.2 last night, according to the weather station and it didn't get above freezing all day by my reckoning. Winter draws on, I would say.
Last night's movie, appropriately enough was 'Frozen'. Three young hipsters bribe a ski lift attendant to let them on the chair lift without passes to enjoy a spot of weekend skiing and snowboarding on the cheap. Unwisely they try to sneak in one last run before nightfall and find themselves stranded in mid air when the lift closes down and the lights go off. It's dark, very cold and it doesn't take them long to realise that they are in a great deal of trouble.
This is a perfect example of a well made, low budget movie that will have you alternately gripped and then saying 'well, I wouldn't have tried doing *that*' as the situation that the characters are in gets progressively worse. It's like the set up for particularly grim episode of Casualty and several scenes will have you wincing in sympathy. I watched this movie knowing nothing about it, other than the basic premise, and this made it perfect viewing for a chilly Saturday night.
OU work today included polishing off two chapters of unit 6, including a reasonably chunky bit of programming, and organizing my notes into a form suitable for sending to my Kindle as a revision aide memoir.
That done with, and another walk in the sub zero woods (winter coat update - remarkably toasty with the hood up!), and I'm now into my annual winter rewatching of my Lord of the Rings dvd box sets which look stunningly good on the new telly.
Last night's movie, appropriately enough was 'Frozen'. Three young hipsters bribe a ski lift attendant to let them on the chair lift without passes to enjoy a spot of weekend skiing and snowboarding on the cheap. Unwisely they try to sneak in one last run before nightfall and find themselves stranded in mid air when the lift closes down and the lights go off. It's dark, very cold and it doesn't take them long to realise that they are in a great deal of trouble.
This is a perfect example of a well made, low budget movie that will have you alternately gripped and then saying 'well, I wouldn't have tried doing *that*' as the situation that the characters are in gets progressively worse. It's like the set up for particularly grim episode of Casualty and several scenes will have you wincing in sympathy. I watched this movie knowing nothing about it, other than the basic premise, and this made it perfect viewing for a chilly Saturday night.
OU work today included polishing off two chapters of unit 6, including a reasonably chunky bit of programming, and organizing my notes into a form suitable for sending to my Kindle as a revision aide memoir.
That done with, and another walk in the sub zero woods (winter coat update - remarkably toasty with the hood up!), and I'm now into my annual winter rewatching of my Lord of the Rings dvd box sets which look stunningly good on the new telly.
Sunday Links
- Miami Zoo Welcomes a Baby Pygmy Hippo Blorpulant bebbeh hippo on Zooborns
- Angry Birds Peace Treaty
- How To Wrap A Cat For Christmas
- Tintin vs Cthulhu I would *love* to see full versions of these books
- Why is Cthulhu on this 300-year-old gravestone? Squamousness ahoy!
- You Fix the Budget What would you cut to solve the US budget deficit?
- Copyright: what do we want it to do? Thought provoking article by Cory Doctorow
- 30 Awesome Disaster Movie Money Shots Saving you the bother of sitting through rubbish disaster movies waiting for the good bits
- 100 Best Movie Spaceships Pop quiz time - can you name the Coen Brothers movie with a space ship in it?
- AudioQuest K2 terminated speaker cable You'll be amazed at what this $6,800 speaker cable can do!
- Machine of Death Free book!
- J-Pop Embraces The Posthuman (And Has Been Doing So For Decades) A beginners guide to the strange world of the J-Pop Idoru
- Flowing Auroras Over Norway Stunningly beautiful video of the Northern Lights on Astronomy Picture of the Day. Watch in full screen HD for best effect.
Saturday, November 27, 2010
Echo of Frozen Faces
Well, I was wrong about the snow. There was enough of a fall overnight to turn the world white and leave the cats looking suspiciously out of the cat flap. The dog was his usual excited self and could wait to bury his head in the nearest snowdrift for the sheer joy of it.
The walk in the woods was bracing to say the least, and the zip on my winter coat finally gave up the ghost after ten years of sterling service. Rats.
My agenda for the day included a trip to Barnsley to go to the opticians for an eye test. I'd noticed that my eyes had been getting worse recently, particularly my right eye, and the test confirmed my suspicions that I need a new pair of specs. I had been dreading the cost because my last pair had come in at £275 but fortunately I found a pair of frames that suited me and the lenses that I needed had come down in price so the total came to a much more reasonable £145. Phew. We also managed to find a new coat for me for £40 in TK Max which should keep me warm enough when we go out.
A successful shopping trip was rounded off with a mooch around the German Christmas market in Barnsley center with an al fresco lunch of an enormous Bratwurst to ward off the winter chill. Om nom nom.
The day was enlivened somewhat with an encounter with a pair of Mormons (I said Mormons!) who were slightly upset when I asked them about Joseph Smith's magic spectacles given to him by the angel Moroni and the golden bible that nobody else was allowed to see. I wasn't quite so cruel as to press them on the subject of the magic underpants, mainly because I imagine that they would have been quite useful on such a chilly day.
The walk in the woods was bracing to say the least, and the zip on my winter coat finally gave up the ghost after ten years of sterling service. Rats.
My agenda for the day included a trip to Barnsley to go to the opticians for an eye test. I'd noticed that my eyes had been getting worse recently, particularly my right eye, and the test confirmed my suspicions that I need a new pair of specs. I had been dreading the cost because my last pair had come in at £275 but fortunately I found a pair of frames that suited me and the lenses that I needed had come down in price so the total came to a much more reasonable £145. Phew. We also managed to find a new coat for me for £40 in TK Max which should keep me warm enough when we go out.
A successful shopping trip was rounded off with a mooch around the German Christmas market in Barnsley center with an al fresco lunch of an enormous Bratwurst to ward off the winter chill. Om nom nom.
The day was enlivened somewhat with an encounter with a pair of Mormons (I said Mormons!) who were slightly upset when I asked them about Joseph Smith's magic spectacles given to him by the angel Moroni and the golden bible that nobody else was allowed to see. I wasn't quite so cruel as to press them on the subject of the magic underpants, mainly because I imagine that they would have been quite useful on such a chilly day.
Friday, November 26, 2010
Thursday, November 25, 2010
The Pregnant Widow - Martin Amis
The Pregnant Widow by Martin AmisMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
A Tuscan summer
The cusp of a new decade
Young lives entangled
View all my reviews
A Small Blue Thing
Cold all day, with the mercury barely rising above zero, and occasional snow flurries to boot as well. No sign of the promised (threatened?) heavy snow in our neck of the woods though. It's the earliest start to the winter that I can remember for a long time.
I felt strangely out of sorts last night - headachy and dizzy in a non-specific sort of way. A hot lemon took care of the headache but the dizziness persisted until bed time. Weird and a bit unsettling.
Some good news at work, which I can't talk about too much yet. In a nutshell, I'll be getting the job title to go with the work that I have actually been doing for the last year, and there is the vaguest hint of a chance of a possibility of some more money, as well, also. So hurrah!
In games news, the venerable mouse based puzzle-em-up Chu Chu Rocket is on the app store at the princely sum of fifty nine of your Earth pence, and at that price it would be rude not to download it immediately. I missed out on the Dreamcast generation and it's good to be able to catch up with all time classics like this.
In telly news, The Walking Dead continues to impress with a mix of grisly shocks and unexpected twists. It's too grim to watch last thing at night without following it up with an episode of Frasier to cleanse the televisual palate, as it were.
I felt strangely out of sorts last night - headachy and dizzy in a non-specific sort of way. A hot lemon took care of the headache but the dizziness persisted until bed time. Weird and a bit unsettling.
Some good news at work, which I can't talk about too much yet. In a nutshell, I'll be getting the job title to go with the work that I have actually been doing for the last year, and there is the vaguest hint of a chance of a possibility of some more money, as well, also. So hurrah!
In games news, the venerable mouse based puzzle-em-up Chu Chu Rocket is on the app store at the princely sum of fifty nine of your Earth pence, and at that price it would be rude not to download it immediately. I missed out on the Dreamcast generation and it's good to be able to catch up with all time classics like this.
In telly news, The Walking Dead continues to impress with a mix of grisly shocks and unexpected twists. It's too grim to watch last thing at night without following it up with an episode of Frasier to cleanse the televisual palate, as it were.
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Late Show
Another chilly day, with snow on the way apparently. I went out a bit earlier this morning but fortunately the windscreen didn't take too much scraping to get the frost off. Setting off at that time seemed to avoid some of the traffic too.
Major frustration at work where we are in the middle of an implementation at a customer site and found out that their IT department had rolled out vista at the same time, causing the whole network to grind to a halt. All of the work that we have done has gone through happily, but the customer can't actually see it. Grrr. Still, on the plus side we have several carrier bags full of sweeties from a trade show that the consultants went to last week. Om nom nom.
Out at lunchtime to brave the chill and buy a new cartridge for our laser printer. I bought the wrong one, due to some confusion about which model our printer actually is, but Jan managed to get it to fit by trimming off some little bits of plastic that seemed to be the only thing that differentiates the TN2000 and the TN2005. I also bought nine packets of crisps and some dog chews from the pound shop (I paid a pound!).
Last night's telly was the first part of 'Any Human Heart' which deals with the memories of a an elderly man looking back over his life and loves during the twentieth century. It was very well made, even if some of the intersections with iconic figures such as Ernest Hemmingway and Wallis Simpson seemed a little bit forced. I particularly enjoyed the dreamlike quality of some of the memories, and it's an interesting compare and contrast with the books I have been reading of late with Christopher Hitchens' memoir and 'The Pregnant Widow' by Martin Amis which deal with the regrets and memories that accumulate over the span of a human life.
Major frustration at work where we are in the middle of an implementation at a customer site and found out that their IT department had rolled out vista at the same time, causing the whole network to grind to a halt. All of the work that we have done has gone through happily, but the customer can't actually see it. Grrr. Still, on the plus side we have several carrier bags full of sweeties from a trade show that the consultants went to last week. Om nom nom.
Out at lunchtime to brave the chill and buy a new cartridge for our laser printer. I bought the wrong one, due to some confusion about which model our printer actually is, but Jan managed to get it to fit by trimming off some little bits of plastic that seemed to be the only thing that differentiates the TN2000 and the TN2005. I also bought nine packets of crisps and some dog chews from the pound shop (I paid a pound!).
Last night's telly was the first part of 'Any Human Heart' which deals with the memories of a an elderly man looking back over his life and loves during the twentieth century. It was very well made, even if some of the intersections with iconic figures such as Ernest Hemmingway and Wallis Simpson seemed a little bit forced. I particularly enjoyed the dreamlike quality of some of the memories, and it's an interesting compare and contrast with the books I have been reading of late with Christopher Hitchens' memoir and 'The Pregnant Widow' by Martin Amis which deal with the regrets and memories that accumulate over the span of a human life.
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Haikusday
The hunter's moon sets
As the cold light of morning
Washes the landscape
In a far off land
Generals posture and preen
Sabres are rattled
A sub-class extends
The basic paradigm of
Its super-classes
I fight the darkness
With bright lights and strong coffee
Before nodding off
An old friend is ill
I scan Twitter and Facebook
Waiting for more news
As the cold light of morning
Washes the landscape
In a far off land
Generals posture and preen
Sabres are rattled
A sub-class extends
The basic paradigm of
Its super-classes
I fight the darkness
With bright lights and strong coffee
Before nodding off
An old friend is ill
I scan Twitter and Facebook
Waiting for more news
Monday, November 22, 2010
Walk the Dinosaur
Monday morning, aching bones, cold, damp, busy roads, nuff said.
I forgot to top up my phone to get my free internet allowance again, but fortunately I spotted the reminded and switched off cellular data before I racked up any charges. I put my usual ten squids on, which covers me for all of my usage for a month and leaves £2.50 left over, and I've now set a monthly reminder so I don't miss it again. I suppose that I should look at monthly contracts, but I doubt if I'll find anything as cheap for my typical usage (500MB of data, 300 texts and unlimited calls to one number).
Last night's movie was 'The Man From Earth' - a micro-budget indie film that has apparently done well on the convention circuit and benefited from publicity on file sharing sites. The premise is intriguing - a university professor plans to quietly retire from his job after ten years and move on without a fuss until his colleagues turn up to throw an impromptu leaving do for him. He poses a hypothetical question for them - what if he was a fourteen thousand year old survivor from the Cro-Magnon age? What if he had lived through every major shift in human history, observing and learning as he went? He asks his colleagues - experts in the fields of anthropology, history, biology and psychology - if such a thing might be possible and if so how it might be explained. Is he playing a game with them, is he mad or is he telling the truth?
The film is set almost exclusively in one room and I suspect that it would have been better being staged as a play. It's also a bit overwritten in places - the writer Jerome Bixby originally worked on scripts for Star Trek and Twilight Zone, and it certainly would have benefited by being cut down to around an hour. On balance it was an interesting idea and worth a watch, if you can rent it or track it down online.
I forgot to top up my phone to get my free internet allowance again, but fortunately I spotted the reminded and switched off cellular data before I racked up any charges. I put my usual ten squids on, which covers me for all of my usage for a month and leaves £2.50 left over, and I've now set a monthly reminder so I don't miss it again. I suppose that I should look at monthly contracts, but I doubt if I'll find anything as cheap for my typical usage (500MB of data, 300 texts and unlimited calls to one number).
Last night's movie was 'The Man From Earth' - a micro-budget indie film that has apparently done well on the convention circuit and benefited from publicity on file sharing sites. The premise is intriguing - a university professor plans to quietly retire from his job after ten years and move on without a fuss until his colleagues turn up to throw an impromptu leaving do for him. He poses a hypothetical question for them - what if he was a fourteen thousand year old survivor from the Cro-Magnon age? What if he had lived through every major shift in human history, observing and learning as he went? He asks his colleagues - experts in the fields of anthropology, history, biology and psychology - if such a thing might be possible and if so how it might be explained. Is he playing a game with them, is he mad or is he telling the truth?
The film is set almost exclusively in one room and I suspect that it would have been better being staged as a play. It's also a bit overwritten in places - the writer Jerome Bixby originally worked on scripts for Star Trek and Twilight Zone, and it certainly would have benefited by being cut down to around an hour. On balance it was an interesting idea and worth a watch, if you can rent it or track it down online.
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Black Cherry
Back to good old fashioned text based blogging today, although I think I will be posting more Audioboos as the fancy strikes me. Will is already putting me to shame with two in one day now!
Well, a gray day, a lie in and another run through of adventure mode on Plants vs Zombies. I was thinking about buying it for my Macbook but it looks to be $20 on the Popcap site which is a bit of a step up from a 59p impulse purchase on the app store. I also think I would miss the touch screen controls which make playing it on the iPhone a tactile pleasure. Maybe I'll wait till PvZ 2, whenever that comes out.
In other games news, as mentioned yesterday I played a fair bit of COD:BLOPS until Jamie came back from his usual Saturday afternoon manking and ripped the disc from my cold, dead hands. While the game is visually stunning with great attention to detail, particularly in a section set in the Pentagon briefing room, it is frustratingly linear.
At no time are you left in any doubt of where you should be going or what you should be doing - in the couple of hours I played I always had an AI character to follow with a handy yellow pointer in case I got lost, and enemies always behaved in completely predictable ways. You never really get the feeling of having a tactical or strategic impact on the battles going on around you, compared to the Halo series where the big set piece fights can turn out completely differently each time you play them. Is this really the biggest selling franchise? I suppose the major attraction is the online play, which I can't really compete with.
Well, a gray day, a lie in and another run through of adventure mode on Plants vs Zombies. I was thinking about buying it for my Macbook but it looks to be $20 on the Popcap site which is a bit of a step up from a 59p impulse purchase on the app store. I also think I would miss the touch screen controls which make playing it on the iPhone a tactile pleasure. Maybe I'll wait till PvZ 2, whenever that comes out.
In other games news, as mentioned yesterday I played a fair bit of COD:BLOPS until Jamie came back from his usual Saturday afternoon manking and ripped the disc from my cold, dead hands. While the game is visually stunning with great attention to detail, particularly in a section set in the Pentagon briefing room, it is frustratingly linear.
At no time are you left in any doubt of where you should be going or what you should be doing - in the couple of hours I played I always had an AI character to follow with a handy yellow pointer in case I got lost, and enemies always behaved in completely predictable ways. You never really get the feeling of having a tactical or strategic impact on the battles going on around you, compared to the Halo series where the big set piece fights can turn out completely differently each time you play them. Is this really the biggest selling franchise? I suppose the major attraction is the online play, which I can't really compete with.
Sunday Links
- Jaguar Twins in Tenerife - ZooBorns
- 'You have to choose your future regrets' Christopher Hitchens
- Hate E-mails with Richard Dawkins Nice to see the fine Christian traditions of tolerance and forgiveness on display (*aside* ... they're not)
- The web's best optical illusion videos ... and how they trick your brain
- A room with a *real* view on the ISS
- Spain's human towers BBC News - Close-Up:
- London World Record Panoramic Photo An 80GB panorama with built in treasure hunts
- From Pigeon To Superman and Back Again The theory and practice of behaviour control
- Sunset on Mars Somewhere out there, a little robot is watching the sun set on an alien world.
- Amazing what you can get at Ikea nowadays
- Transcendence novel excerpt Free book!
- Harry Potter and the Homo-Erotic Subtext
- If Other Directors Made The Social Network
- A Secret Hidden Kitten Is Revealed
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Friday, November 19, 2010
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Radiator
It seems that the best days to drive are grey, overcast ones when it is not raining or windy. I was in the office for twenty five past eight again, getting a good spot in the main bit of the carp ark with no problems.
My seasonal affective disorder (if that's what it is) is not brilliant at the moment. It's not too bad in the evenings with my light on and I usually make it to eleven o'clock or thereabouts before toddling off to bed, but mornings are a real struggle. I wake up feeling tired and weak with wobbly muscles and aching bones, and I have to force myself out of bed and into the morning routine of feeding the animals and myself (in that order), washing up and making a cup of tea. Still, I've just worked out it's thirty three days until the turn of the year so that's not too long in the grand scheme of things. Looking at the weather forecast promises some sunny days in the near future as well, which I am looking forward to.
I went out at lunchtime to buy a card and get a bit of fresh air. The air turned out to be very fresh and slightly damp. Brrr. Slightly depressing that all of the shops are in full Christmas overdrive when we are only just over half way through November. Even Staples, where I went to buy some plain index cards, was decked out with a cornucopia of plastic trees, tinsel and other seasonal tat which presumably counts as essential office supplies. Bah, and indeed, humbug!
In OU news, I've finished the coding for my TMA project and now have a little animated steam train chugging across the screen complete with puffs of smoke. I just need to copy the code and answer one question about public vs private methods in my solution document and that's done with. More work on inheritance and sub-classes next, which looks interesting.
In games news, as alluded to the other day I've retired from the Knife and Candle assassination game part of Echo Bazaar. I think I got up to about fifteenth on the world leaderboard at one point, but I can't keep up with the constant attention needed to fend off attacks at all hours. It got silly when I worked out that I would need to be logged on at four in the morning to have a chance of catching a particular American player off guard. Oh well, it's been fun for the year that I've been playing and I imagine I'll go back when they release some new high level content.
My seasonal affective disorder (if that's what it is) is not brilliant at the moment. It's not too bad in the evenings with my light on and I usually make it to eleven o'clock or thereabouts before toddling off to bed, but mornings are a real struggle. I wake up feeling tired and weak with wobbly muscles and aching bones, and I have to force myself out of bed and into the morning routine of feeding the animals and myself (in that order), washing up and making a cup of tea. Still, I've just worked out it's thirty three days until the turn of the year so that's not too long in the grand scheme of things. Looking at the weather forecast promises some sunny days in the near future as well, which I am looking forward to.
I went out at lunchtime to buy a card and get a bit of fresh air. The air turned out to be very fresh and slightly damp. Brrr. Slightly depressing that all of the shops are in full Christmas overdrive when we are only just over half way through November. Even Staples, where I went to buy some plain index cards, was decked out with a cornucopia of plastic trees, tinsel and other seasonal tat which presumably counts as essential office supplies. Bah, and indeed, humbug!
In OU news, I've finished the coding for my TMA project and now have a little animated steam train chugging across the screen complete with puffs of smoke. I just need to copy the code and answer one question about public vs private methods in my solution document and that's done with. More work on inheritance and sub-classes next, which looks interesting.
In games news, as alluded to the other day I've retired from the Knife and Candle assassination game part of Echo Bazaar. I think I got up to about fifteenth on the world leaderboard at one point, but I can't keep up with the constant attention needed to fend off attacks at all hours. It got silly when I worked out that I would need to be logged on at four in the morning to have a chance of catching a particular American player off guard. Oh well, it's been fun for the year that I've been playing and I imagine I'll go back when they release some new high level content.
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Take it as it comes
Weather, cold and grey. In contrast to earlier in the week the journey in this morning was relatively smooth and I was at my desk not long after half past eight and more than ready for a nice cup of hot coffee.
Work was irritating, with constant interruptions breaking my already tenuous train of thought as I was trying to sort out a complex bit of code that was building up an xml file and missing out sections that should have been there according to the definition. It was also too warm and airless with the central heating radiators on full blast drying the air out, leaving me with a sore throat and a headache. Not good.
In telly news, along with every other geek on the planet we have been watching The Walking Dead, and boy, is it grim stuff. It seems that some of the survivor characters are actually far nastier than any of the undead. After all, all the zombies want to do is eat your brains - they don't want to beat you up or rape you first.
In contrast, we have recently found that Frasier is being re-run in the mornings on Channel 4 so we have been recording them as an antidote to all of the apocalyptic horror. Classic, excruciating farce, particularly in the contrast between the snooty pomposity of Frasier and Niles and their determinedly blue collar dad. Daphne's accent remains a uniquely strange thing though, and quite unlike anything I have ever heard in real life.
Work was irritating, with constant interruptions breaking my already tenuous train of thought as I was trying to sort out a complex bit of code that was building up an xml file and missing out sections that should have been there according to the definition. It was also too warm and airless with the central heating radiators on full blast drying the air out, leaving me with a sore throat and a headache. Not good.
In telly news, along with every other geek on the planet we have been watching The Walking Dead, and boy, is it grim stuff. It seems that some of the survivor characters are actually far nastier than any of the undead. After all, all the zombies want to do is eat your brains - they don't want to beat you up or rape you first.
In contrast, we have recently found that Frasier is being re-run in the mornings on Channel 4 so we have been recording them as an antidote to all of the apocalyptic horror. Classic, excruciating farce, particularly in the contrast between the snooty pomposity of Frasier and Niles and their determinedly blue collar dad. Daphne's accent remains a uniquely strange thing though, and quite unlike anything I have ever heard in real life.
Haikusday
Freezing fog descends
Blocking out the morning sun
Traffic crawls morosely
Collins and Herring
Tales of student life - will they
Lose their deposit?
Miranda is back!
Exquisitely funny farce
That breaks the fourth wall
The alarm goes off
Outside to a cold car park
Could do with a fire
After a full year
I think it's time to retire
From Knife and Candle
A Royal Wedding
Just like 1981
Paris Honeymoon?
Blocking out the morning sun
Traffic crawls morosely
Collins and Herring
Tales of student life - will they
Lose their deposit?
Miranda is back!
Exquisitely funny farce
That breaks the fourth wall
The alarm goes off
Outside to a cold car park
Could do with a fire
After a full year
I think it's time to retire
From Knife and Candle
A Royal Wedding
Just like 1981
Paris Honeymoon?
Monday, November 15, 2010
Just a car crash away
Zero degrees exactly this morning and a thick layer of frost to scrape off the car before I could hit the road. The sun was dazzling on the horizon and two cars just in front of me on the motorway had a minor crunch. Fortunately they were travelling at less than 10 miles per hour so it was nothing worse than a dented bumper, but I imagine it will have caused a huge knock on tail back.
Why do people insist on driving nose to tail? It doesn't get you to your destination any sooner and if you don't have razor sharp reactions (and anti lock brakes to match) then you will run into the back of the car in front if it stops suddenly for any reason. Are minimum stopping distances and the 'two second rule' not taught as part of the driving test anymore?
Last night's movie continued our current obsession with The Who with a viewing of Tommy. Fortunately this was a much better quality DVD than the copy of Quadrophenia that we had, with the very pleasant bonus of an excellent Dobly 5.1 soundtrack (which we naturally turned up to 11) to complement Ken Russell's utterly bonkers visual imagery, combining sex, drugs, rock and roll, religion, ultra violence, pinball and a rather odd baked bean fetish scene. Lovely. It's probably the first and only piece of work to truly count as a Rock Opera in the way it is constructed, rather than a concept album.
Why do people insist on driving nose to tail? It doesn't get you to your destination any sooner and if you don't have razor sharp reactions (and anti lock brakes to match) then you will run into the back of the car in front if it stops suddenly for any reason. Are minimum stopping distances and the 'two second rule' not taught as part of the driving test anymore?
Last night's movie continued our current obsession with The Who with a viewing of Tommy. Fortunately this was a much better quality DVD than the copy of Quadrophenia that we had, with the very pleasant bonus of an excellent Dobly 5.1 soundtrack (which we naturally turned up to 11) to complement Ken Russell's utterly bonkers visual imagery, combining sex, drugs, rock and roll, religion, ultra violence, pinball and a rather odd baked bean fetish scene. Lovely. It's probably the first and only piece of work to truly count as a Rock Opera in the way it is constructed, rather than a concept album.
Sunday, November 14, 2010
The Cinema Show
And so another Sunday afternoon fades into darkness. I was doing the usual round of ironing upstairs when I noticed that it was almost dark outside and the dog was still waiting for his walk, so I nipped out while there was still a smidgeon of light to be had.
Not much to report from today, really. I went through my notes and the sample papers from yesterday's tutorial which proved to be very useful in clearing up some things that were not entirely clear. I've just got the last bit of code to do for TMA 01 now, and then that's done and dusted at least three weeks ahead of schedule.
This weekend's Rock Banding has produced a couple of notable high points. I was pleased to get 100% on guitar for the first time playing 'Cool for Cats' and also that we've finally racked up enough fans to earn a tour bus and a new set of Road Challenges. I really like the structure of the challenges which provide just the right mix and duration for a typical playing session. I also downloaded 'Blue Monday' by New Order, which almost killed Jamie on drums until I pointed out that the original was played on a drum machine ... evil? Moi?
Talking of achievements, I was slightly irritated by the new release of Pocket Frogs which introduced a couple more cheevos knocking my completion percentage from 100% down to 95%. One of the new cheevos is practically impossible too - cataloging every single frog in the game in the Froggydex, which is 14,000 different combinations including legendary frogs which take at least a day to grow. In other games news, I got all the achievements on Plants vs Zombies and I'm still enjoying it. It's quite a relaxing experience to play through the adventure mode again, trying out different tactics each time for the fun of it.
Last night's movie was another Shane Meadows - 'Le Donk and Scor-Zay-Zee. An amusing rockumentary of a washed up roadie played by the versatile Paddy Considine attempting to get a support slot opening for the Arctic Monkeys for his wannabe rap star friend. Apparently the whole film was largely improvised and shot in just five days. It's not quite a British Spinal Tap, but it is funny and sort of heart warming, and worth a watch.
Not much to report from today, really. I went through my notes and the sample papers from yesterday's tutorial which proved to be very useful in clearing up some things that were not entirely clear. I've just got the last bit of code to do for TMA 01 now, and then that's done and dusted at least three weeks ahead of schedule.
This weekend's Rock Banding has produced a couple of notable high points. I was pleased to get 100% on guitar for the first time playing 'Cool for Cats' and also that we've finally racked up enough fans to earn a tour bus and a new set of Road Challenges. I really like the structure of the challenges which provide just the right mix and duration for a typical playing session. I also downloaded 'Blue Monday' by New Order, which almost killed Jamie on drums until I pointed out that the original was played on a drum machine ... evil? Moi?
Talking of achievements, I was slightly irritated by the new release of Pocket Frogs which introduced a couple more cheevos knocking my completion percentage from 100% down to 95%. One of the new cheevos is practically impossible too - cataloging every single frog in the game in the Froggydex, which is 14,000 different combinations including legendary frogs which take at least a day to grow. In other games news, I got all the achievements on Plants vs Zombies and I'm still enjoying it. It's quite a relaxing experience to play through the adventure mode again, trying out different tactics each time for the fun of it.
Last night's movie was another Shane Meadows - 'Le Donk and Scor-Zay-Zee. An amusing rockumentary of a washed up roadie played by the versatile Paddy Considine attempting to get a support slot opening for the Arctic Monkeys for his wannabe rap star friend. Apparently the whole film was largely improvised and shot in just five days. It's not quite a British Spinal Tap, but it is funny and sort of heart warming, and worth a watch.
Sunday Links
- Critically Endangered Little Leopard - ZooBorns
- Many too small boxes and Maru How small does a box need to be before Maru won't try and sit in it?
- Cats Lap With Just Tip of the Tongue, Engineers Find Enquiring minds need to know these sort of things
- Cats vs Dogs But which is better?
- Simon's Cat in 'Lunch Break'
- Watch a 7-hour train ride through Norway set entirely to electronic music Quite
- Virtual Justice A free book about the laws governing virtual worlds
- LIFE in the Laboratory A LIFE photo gallery
- The science of Godzilla
- Menacing Tweet Generator
- Water from the Moon A lovely song to brighten up your Sunday, courtesy of the very talented Nancy
- Alan Partridge's Mid Morning Matters The very best of digital regional radio
Saturday, November 13, 2010
Saturn, the bringer of age
In another mini-tradition (as you will have gathered, I like my routines and rituals) it's Saturday night, Jan is out shopping and the boy is (supposedly) on his way back from town where he has been doing whatever it is that teenagers find to do on a chilly afternoon. Thus I have the house to myself for an hour or so, I have a gingerbread latte, three cats (two within mithering distance and one on the radiator shelf) and a dog snoozing on his big cushion and I've picked out an album to listen to on the music system.
Tonight's choice is the Isao Tomita's electronic rendition of Holst's Planets Suite which I have loved ever since hearing it back in the late 70s not long after it was released. It was somewhat controversial at the time to say the least, with the musical purists throwing their hands up in horror at the radical interpretation, but I think it still holds up well today. The analog synthesizers that Tomita uses have a great deal of warmth and character and he uses lots of effects in the mix. I picked up a vinyl recording in the 80s which I still have up in the loft, I think. If you want to hear a sample, it's all on youtube but it's definitely worth getting a proper recording.
It was an early-ish start today with a trip to Leeds for an OU tutorial - definitely worth going with lots of useful pointers for the first TMA. I also had question answered that had been puzzling me - I thought I was doing something wrong with the bit of code that I am working on for my project, but apparently it's a quirk of the OU Workspace window in the IDE that was doing something weird. Entering the lines to test the class one at a time rather than trying to execute them all at the same time fixes the problem apparently.
After the tutorial and a bite to eat in Subway we returned via Ikea to exchange a table top (it's a long story). I was feeling a bit stressed with navigating the complicated road layout round that junction, and the prospect of Ikea car park on a Saturday afternoon is enough to give the stoutest yeoman conniptions, but fortunately we only needed to go to the (comparatively quiet) returns department and there was no problem with swapping it for the one we needed. So hurrah.
Back home for a much needed snooze, and that's us about up to date. Oh, and I've just been out to give the rough beast slouching up the hill a lift from the bus stop.
Time for Saturday night Rock Band!
Tonight's choice is the Isao Tomita's electronic rendition of Holst's Planets Suite which I have loved ever since hearing it back in the late 70s not long after it was released. It was somewhat controversial at the time to say the least, with the musical purists throwing their hands up in horror at the radical interpretation, but I think it still holds up well today. The analog synthesizers that Tomita uses have a great deal of warmth and character and he uses lots of effects in the mix. I picked up a vinyl recording in the 80s which I still have up in the loft, I think. If you want to hear a sample, it's all on youtube but it's definitely worth getting a proper recording.
It was an early-ish start today with a trip to Leeds for an OU tutorial - definitely worth going with lots of useful pointers for the first TMA. I also had question answered that had been puzzling me - I thought I was doing something wrong with the bit of code that I am working on for my project, but apparently it's a quirk of the OU Workspace window in the IDE that was doing something weird. Entering the lines to test the class one at a time rather than trying to execute them all at the same time fixes the problem apparently.
After the tutorial and a bite to eat in Subway we returned via Ikea to exchange a table top (it's a long story). I was feeling a bit stressed with navigating the complicated road layout round that junction, and the prospect of Ikea car park on a Saturday afternoon is enough to give the stoutest yeoman conniptions, but fortunately we only needed to go to the (comparatively quiet) returns department and there was no problem with swapping it for the one we needed. So hurrah.
Back home for a much needed snooze, and that's us about up to date. Oh, and I've just been out to give the rough beast slouching up the hill a lift from the bus stop.
Time for Saturday night Rock Band!
Friday, November 12, 2010
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Unquiet slumbers for the sleepers
Rain, high winds and chilly with it. Yep, definitely Autumn out there at the moment.
I woke up at four in the morning, with the room spinning as if I'd been drinking. Not good, considering the strongest thing I had last night was a can of diet coke. I was awake for an hour or so, sitting up in bed again, nodding off to a nightmare about rescuing kittens from a fire just before the alarm went off. I was feeling lousy and couldn't face the drive to Leeds, so I rang into work and worked at home.
I have just been flabbergasted by the outcome of the Twitter joke trial. For a stupid joke to be so blown out of proportion and end up in this astonishing illiberal ruling is gob-smackingly stupid. Any hopes that the coalition would take a more reasonable approach on freedom of speech and civil liberties compared to Labour look to be going out of the window. It's also emerged today that a Conservative counsellor has been arrested for making an offensive joke on Twitter too. Good grief - the solution to things like this is to vote him out at the next election, not send in the internet storm troopers.
This is the day when we remember those who died for our freedoms. It mocks their sacrifice if we go down the route of totalitarian government where saying the wrong thing can get you arrested.
I woke up at four in the morning, with the room spinning as if I'd been drinking. Not good, considering the strongest thing I had last night was a can of diet coke. I was awake for an hour or so, sitting up in bed again, nodding off to a nightmare about rescuing kittens from a fire just before the alarm went off. I was feeling lousy and couldn't face the drive to Leeds, so I rang into work and worked at home.
I have just been flabbergasted by the outcome of the Twitter joke trial. For a stupid joke to be so blown out of proportion and end up in this astonishing illiberal ruling is gob-smackingly stupid. Any hopes that the coalition would take a more reasonable approach on freedom of speech and civil liberties compared to Labour look to be going out of the window. It's also emerged today that a Conservative counsellor has been arrested for making an offensive joke on Twitter too. Good grief - the solution to things like this is to vote him out at the next election, not send in the internet storm troopers.
This is the day when we remember those who died for our freedoms. It mocks their sacrifice if we go down the route of totalitarian government where saying the wrong thing can get you arrested.
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
I am the Sea
Down to three degrees today, but dry and clear which helped considerably on the road. It seems that a bit of rain and wind can add half as much again to my journey time, for no readily apparent reason.
Not a brilliant night's sleep last night either. I woke up at about half past one feeling dizzy and sick and lay in bed for a while before going to the loo. The wave of nausea passed after a while and I went back to bed, sitting up for a while before nodding off again to some strange and vivid dreams combining work, cats and google street view.
Last night's movie was Iron Man 2, borrowed off of one of my cow-orkers. It was a splendidly incoherent mess of stompy robots, big explosions and Mickey Rourke as a raddled Russian nuclear physicist with botoxed lips and an electric whip. Or something. It's really just an extended teaser for the forthcoming Avengers movie (that's the Merkin superhero team, not the English kinky boots and umbrellas duo). If you are a Marvel comics geek make sure you watch the post credits extra scene on this one.
As alluded to yesterday, I was more than a little upset by George Bush making excuses for the use of torture (and if anyone doubts that water boarding is torture then they should watch the video of Christopher Hitchens undergoing it). The idea that torture is useful to get a suspect to divulge the location of a ticking time bomb is a myth, dating back to a novel about the French occupation of Algeria in the 1960s, and used as a gleeful plot device in every episode of 24, ever.
Even more nauseating is the collusion of our previous Labour government (and every time I say that, I want to repeat - a Labour government - with the same air of contempt that Neil Kinnock used in his most famous speech) in such despicable actions. Anyone - politician or pundit - that advocates the use of 'harsh techniques' should be wired up to the same electrodes, or strapped to an identical water board, for the duration of any 'interrogation' session to show just how harmless it all is.
Not a brilliant night's sleep last night either. I woke up at about half past one feeling dizzy and sick and lay in bed for a while before going to the loo. The wave of nausea passed after a while and I went back to bed, sitting up for a while before nodding off again to some strange and vivid dreams combining work, cats and google street view.
Last night's movie was Iron Man 2, borrowed off of one of my cow-orkers. It was a splendidly incoherent mess of stompy robots, big explosions and Mickey Rourke as a raddled Russian nuclear physicist with botoxed lips and an electric whip. Or something. It's really just an extended teaser for the forthcoming Avengers movie (that's the Merkin superhero team, not the English kinky boots and umbrellas duo). If you are a Marvel comics geek make sure you watch the post credits extra scene on this one.
As alluded to yesterday, I was more than a little upset by George Bush making excuses for the use of torture (and if anyone doubts that water boarding is torture then they should watch the video of Christopher Hitchens undergoing it). The idea that torture is useful to get a suspect to divulge the location of a ticking time bomb is a myth, dating back to a novel about the French occupation of Algeria in the 1960s, and used as a gleeful plot device in every episode of 24, ever.
Even more nauseating is the collusion of our previous Labour government (and every time I say that, I want to repeat - a Labour government - with the same air of contempt that Neil Kinnock used in his most famous speech) in such despicable actions. Anyone - politician or pundit - that advocates the use of 'harsh techniques' should be wired up to the same electrodes, or strapped to an identical water board, for the duration of any 'interrogation' session to show just how harmless it all is.
Tuesday, November 09, 2010
Haikusday
One degree warmer
Cold rain somewhat abated
Commute not as long
Smart playlist for Boos
Listening to a friend's voice
From Tijuana
George makes excuses
Did water boarding save lives?
Somehow, I doubt it
An empty planet
No sign of life, except for
Big stompy robots
Marmalade for lunch
Goes especially well with
Frozen Christmas cake
Drums, guitar and keys
Striving together to nail
That big rock ending
Cold rain somewhat abated
Commute not as long
Smart playlist for Boos
Listening to a friend's voice
From Tijuana
George makes excuses
Did water boarding save lives?
Somehow, I doubt it
An empty planet
No sign of life, except for
Big stompy robots
Marmalade for lunch
Goes especially well with
Frozen Christmas cake
Drums, guitar and keys
Striving together to nail
That big rock ending
Monday, November 08, 2010
Cold Wind Blows
As Mondays go, I've had better.
I could tell it was going to be cold, wet and windy as soon as I saw the three cats indoors first thing, rather than outside on the fence as they normally are. The weather station confirmed that it was 4 degrees and I guess you could knock a fair amount off that for wind chill too. I set off a bit earlier than normal, but it didn't help. I hit the first knot of traffic about five miles in to the journey and it was crawling from there all the way into Leeds.
I knew that wasn't going to get my usual space, so I parked in the overflow car park and got soaked walking in to the office. I had stuff to set up in our web system to demo to the consultants and found a whole bunch of things that weren't working properly after our image server crashed a while back. I worked through lunch and just about got it set up by half past two, and then spent an hour talking about it and showing them what to do.
Back to my desk, and immediately on to a problem on site that I suspect is down to a change made by one of the consultants (who was conveniently on holiday today) and will probably have to wait until she gets in tomorrow. I didn't leave until after five, just in time for another walk in the freezing rain back to the car park and the same crawl home - not quite as long as the morning, thankfully, but bad enough in the dark.
By the time I got home my eyelids were drooping and I asleep on the bed for fifteen minutes before I was even in a fit state to make a cup of coffee. At least that perked me up enough to enjoy two episodes of Sarah Jane Adventures from last week.
No games news, no OU news. Normal service will be resumed when I have a chance to recover.
I could tell it was going to be cold, wet and windy as soon as I saw the three cats indoors first thing, rather than outside on the fence as they normally are. The weather station confirmed that it was 4 degrees and I guess you could knock a fair amount off that for wind chill too. I set off a bit earlier than normal, but it didn't help. I hit the first knot of traffic about five miles in to the journey and it was crawling from there all the way into Leeds.
I knew that wasn't going to get my usual space, so I parked in the overflow car park and got soaked walking in to the office. I had stuff to set up in our web system to demo to the consultants and found a whole bunch of things that weren't working properly after our image server crashed a while back. I worked through lunch and just about got it set up by half past two, and then spent an hour talking about it and showing them what to do.
Back to my desk, and immediately on to a problem on site that I suspect is down to a change made by one of the consultants (who was conveniently on holiday today) and will probably have to wait until she gets in tomorrow. I didn't leave until after five, just in time for another walk in the freezing rain back to the car park and the same crawl home - not quite as long as the morning, thankfully, but bad enough in the dark.
By the time I got home my eyelids were drooping and I asleep on the bed for fifteen minutes before I was even in a fit state to make a cup of coffee. At least that perked me up enough to enjoy two episodes of Sarah Jane Adventures from last week.
No games news, no OU news. Normal service will be resumed when I have a chance to recover.
Sunday, November 07, 2010
Proud of the BBC
For the first time in more years than I care to remember, I'm listening to the Radio One chart show. I'm old enough to remember listening on a transistor radio on a Tuesday lunchtime to hear the top ten, before the charts got moved to a Sunday afternoon at some point in the 80s. If I'm honest, there's not a lot of interest in there for me - mostly anodyne x-factor style pop, but I'm not exactly the target demographic. Each to their own, and I suppose there must be enough of an audience who enjoy that sort of thing to make it a viable proposition.
The last time I was excited by chart run down was in 2002 when fans of John Otway (including yours truly) conspired to get Bunsen Burner into the top ten as a 50th birthday present. On that occasion we managed number 9 and were rewarded with a truly amazing performance on Top of the Pops.
This time, we are waiting to see if Mitch Benn will make it. You've probably noticed me twittering about it, and I posted the video a while ago. It was looking promising on download sales earlier in the week, but the lack of airplay and physical sales in the shops will probably have scuppered it. We shall see ...
In other news, last night's movie was the excellent Somers Town, another Shane Meadows film. It stars Thomas Turgoose (from 'This is England'), as Tomo - a runaway from Nottingham who winds up in London and is mugged almost straight away, losing his bag and money and being left with only the clothes on his back and nowhere to go. He falls in with Marek (played with remarkable sensitivity by Piotr Jagiello) - a Polish teenager whose father is working on the Channel Tunnel link and hence absent for much of the time. The pair find they have much in common as they try to earn a bit of cash by doing odd jobs, hanging around in the grimy back streets of Somers Town and trying to catch the eye of Maria, a French girl working as a waitress in the local cafe. It's a short film - just under 70 minutes - but it manages to be funny, moving and affecting in that time. An absolute must see.
Post Script
No sign of Mitch ... :-(
The last time I was excited by chart run down was in 2002 when fans of John Otway (including yours truly) conspired to get Bunsen Burner into the top ten as a 50th birthday present. On that occasion we managed number 9 and were rewarded with a truly amazing performance on Top of the Pops.
This time, we are waiting to see if Mitch Benn will make it. You've probably noticed me twittering about it, and I posted the video a while ago. It was looking promising on download sales earlier in the week, but the lack of airplay and physical sales in the shops will probably have scuppered it. We shall see ...
In other news, last night's movie was the excellent Somers Town, another Shane Meadows film. It stars Thomas Turgoose (from 'This is England'), as Tomo - a runaway from Nottingham who winds up in London and is mugged almost straight away, losing his bag and money and being left with only the clothes on his back and nowhere to go. He falls in with Marek (played with remarkable sensitivity by Piotr Jagiello) - a Polish teenager whose father is working on the Channel Tunnel link and hence absent for much of the time. The pair find they have much in common as they try to earn a bit of cash by doing odd jobs, hanging around in the grimy back streets of Somers Town and trying to catch the eye of Maria, a French girl working as a waitress in the local cafe. It's a short film - just under 70 minutes - but it manages to be funny, moving and affecting in that time. An absolute must see.
Post Script
No sign of Mitch ... :-(
Sunday Links
- Meet Quito the Baby Brazilian Tapir
- Who Lives There A home in the pyramid atop Seattle's Smith Tower. Now *that* is what I call a grand design! (Photos)
- From Zen to Zeno A Twenty-First Century approach to stoicism (part 2) (part 3)
- Lada's Theme The Soviet car industry and gangster capitalism
- How to explain the internet to a Victorian street urchin
- Superhero Mr. Men Excellent!
- Amazing close-ups of comet Hartley 2!
- Out My Window Interactive views from the global high rise
- Freak Angels Warren Ellis web comic about London after the flood
- Lego Christmas Tree Decorations
- Lego Star Wars What *really* happened ...
- What effect has death had on your life? When medical surveys go wrong
Saturday, November 06, 2010
Paper in Fire
Weather, crisp and dry, much like the perfectly hee-yuge pile of leaves by the back gate. I thought I reasonably good at keeping the lawn relatively clear of leafy invaders until we saw the neighbours a couple of houses up picking up leaves off of their bowling green standard lawn by hand, one at a time, and bagging them up neatly in rubbish sacks. They obviously have time on their hands. Or OCD.
Last night was certainly a lot quieter than some years we have experienced, but it was still enough to send poor old Doris scurrying upstairs to hide on the sofa bed. The other animals were oblivious and quite happy to loll around in the lounge waiting for tea time, as per usual. I wonder what effect the recession and general lack of dosh has had on firework sales when people no longer have money to burn?
A useful day, OU wise, with question 3 of the TMA polished off and a bit of background reading done. I think I might revisit my answer after next week's tutorial. I am still getting used to the technical language for describing classes and methods, and I'm not sure what level of detail they are expecting in the answers.
As alluded to yesterday, last nights' movie was Quadrophenia which was still a great film despite the DVD being a rubbish transfer that wasn't in the proper wide-screen ratio and obviously predated the days of proper digital restoration. It also amused me somewhat that a movie that concludes that finding your identity in fashion or music is a bad idea was responsible for sparking a short lived mod revival back in the 80s, where people expressed their individuality by wearing the same parkas as everybody else.
In games news, I have finally finished all of the cheevos in Pocket Frogs, so that will go on the back burner for a while until they release some new content for it. I picked up Reckless Racing when it was on sale which is rather good. It reminded me of an old top down PC title called 'Ignition' from the 90s which I enjoyed at the time. I do like sending little cars spinning around corners, even more so when there is a banjo themed soundtrack to go along with it.
Last night was certainly a lot quieter than some years we have experienced, but it was still enough to send poor old Doris scurrying upstairs to hide on the sofa bed. The other animals were oblivious and quite happy to loll around in the lounge waiting for tea time, as per usual. I wonder what effect the recession and general lack of dosh has had on firework sales when people no longer have money to burn?
A useful day, OU wise, with question 3 of the TMA polished off and a bit of background reading done. I think I might revisit my answer after next week's tutorial. I am still getting used to the technical language for describing classes and methods, and I'm not sure what level of detail they are expecting in the answers.
As alluded to yesterday, last nights' movie was Quadrophenia which was still a great film despite the DVD being a rubbish transfer that wasn't in the proper wide-screen ratio and obviously predated the days of proper digital restoration. It also amused me somewhat that a movie that concludes that finding your identity in fashion or music is a bad idea was responsible for sparking a short lived mod revival back in the 80s, where people expressed their individuality by wearing the same parkas as everybody else.
In games news, I have finally finished all of the cheevos in Pocket Frogs, so that will go on the back burner for a while until they release some new content for it. I picked up Reckless Racing when it was on sale which is rather good. It reminded me of an old top down PC title called 'Ignition' from the 90s which I enjoyed at the time. I do like sending little cars spinning around corners, even more so when there is a banjo themed soundtrack to go along with it.
Friday, November 05, 2010
Thursday, November 04, 2010
Roadhouse Blues
A windy night, and then a pig of a drive. Even leaving slightly earlier saw me in a queue of traffic for two thirds of the journey, turning the usual thirty five minutes into over an hour. As predicted, there were no spaces in the main car park when I arrived, so I had to drive round the block to the overflow car park, a benighted bomb site of muddy puddles. Lovely start to the day.
I spent ages at work trying to debug a server method that was constructing an xml object, but putting in sections that weren't needed and were getting rejected by the parser. I could have sworn blind I'd removed the unnecessary bits from the class definition and went through putting in debug statements to show the state of the object at each stage. It was at this point that I realised that I had the class definition open and I hadn't actually saved the flipping thing since making my change. I think the correct expression for such situations is 'Doh!'.
I've now finished unit 5 of my course, which now means that I can tackle the rest of the first TMA. I reckon that I can probably get this finished in draft form over the weekend and then move on to unit 6 next week. I've got a tutorial next weekend, and apparently there's also an open day so I can talk to somebody about signing up to the next ICT module.
The long awaited (by me, at any rate) update to Pocket Frogs arrived last night, with the frog racing mini game finally allowing me to snag a Magus frog. I already have a yellow pruni ready to cross it with and that should give me the last legendary frog that I need to complete all of the cheevos. Phear my l33t frogging skillz!
In other games news, I played a bit more Red Dead Redemption : Undead Nightmare (henceforth abbreviated to RDR:UN - perhaps they should have called it Red Undead?) last night as well, reaching an unexpectedly poignant scene with a Sasquatch of all things. This pack really is DLC done right, but that's what I expect from Rockstar. It makes me want to revisit the GTA:IV trilogy at some point, if only to see Liberty City on the big screen.
I spent ages at work trying to debug a server method that was constructing an xml object, but putting in sections that weren't needed and were getting rejected by the parser. I could have sworn blind I'd removed the unnecessary bits from the class definition and went through putting in debug statements to show the state of the object at each stage. It was at this point that I realised that I had the class definition open and I hadn't actually saved the flipping thing since making my change. I think the correct expression for such situations is 'Doh!'.
I've now finished unit 5 of my course, which now means that I can tackle the rest of the first TMA. I reckon that I can probably get this finished in draft form over the weekend and then move on to unit 6 next week. I've got a tutorial next weekend, and apparently there's also an open day so I can talk to somebody about signing up to the next ICT module.
The long awaited (by me, at any rate) update to Pocket Frogs arrived last night, with the frog racing mini game finally allowing me to snag a Magus frog. I already have a yellow pruni ready to cross it with and that should give me the last legendary frog that I need to complete all of the cheevos. Phear my l33t frogging skillz!
In other games news, I played a bit more Red Dead Redemption : Undead Nightmare (henceforth abbreviated to RDR:UN - perhaps they should have called it Red Undead?) last night as well, reaching an unexpectedly poignant scene with a Sasquatch of all things. This pack really is DLC done right, but that's what I expect from Rockstar. It makes me want to revisit the GTA:IV trilogy at some point, if only to see Liberty City on the big screen.
Wednesday, November 03, 2010
Walking After Midnight
At least today was dry and a bit brighter, after the miserable rainy gloom of yesterday. The traffic was a pain, and I think I'm going to have to start leaving the house a bit earlier in the mornings. I've only just managed to nab the last space in the car park for the last three days, which is irritating.
I was thinking more about why 'One Day' by David Nichols affected me so much. It's been a long time since a book damn near made me cry, but I think in this case it was the combination of the way the characters were written - not necessarily likeable at all times in their lives, but believable, and the evocative reading of the audiobook by Anna Bentink. Another factor was that I am the same age, more or less, as the protagonists and their experience of living in Britain over the last twenty years parallels my own. Well worth the read, I would say.
Last night's telly was the first episode of 'The Walking Dead' - a zombie apocalypse drama directed by Frank Darabont and notable for being played absolutely dead (ho, ho) straight, without any trace of post modern irony or sly humour anywhere to be seen. It's grim stuff, with lots of exploding heads and viscera all over the place. There are some very impressive scenes of devastation and chaos, and some fantastic aerial shots of large crowds of zombies (or 'walkers' as they are called in this show - presumably we are not using the Z word) swarming through city streets. Apparently the zombie genre is now a metaphor for feelings of individual powerlessness, being a wish fulfilment fantasy where all problems can be solved with a bit of survivalist grit, a ready supply of canned goods and sufficient firepower to take pot-shots at the shambling hordes outside. Bet this will go down well with Tea Party America.
In games news, I had to play a game of Progress Bar Champion on the xbox last night before it would let me in to play a brief set of Doors classics on the keyboard. I have also now customised my avatar with a rather natty combo of a 'Doctor What' long coat and scarf, pinstripe trousers, futuristic trainers and orange steampunk goggles. Groovy.
I was thinking more about why 'One Day' by David Nichols affected me so much. It's been a long time since a book damn near made me cry, but I think in this case it was the combination of the way the characters were written - not necessarily likeable at all times in their lives, but believable, and the evocative reading of the audiobook by Anna Bentink. Another factor was that I am the same age, more or less, as the protagonists and their experience of living in Britain over the last twenty years parallels my own. Well worth the read, I would say.
Last night's telly was the first episode of 'The Walking Dead' - a zombie apocalypse drama directed by Frank Darabont and notable for being played absolutely dead (ho, ho) straight, without any trace of post modern irony or sly humour anywhere to be seen. It's grim stuff, with lots of exploding heads and viscera all over the place. There are some very impressive scenes of devastation and chaos, and some fantastic aerial shots of large crowds of zombies (or 'walkers' as they are called in this show - presumably we are not using the Z word) swarming through city streets. Apparently the zombie genre is now a metaphor for feelings of individual powerlessness, being a wish fulfilment fantasy where all problems can be solved with a bit of survivalist grit, a ready supply of canned goods and sufficient firepower to take pot-shots at the shambling hordes outside. Bet this will go down well with Tea Party America.
In games news, I had to play a game of Progress Bar Champion on the xbox last night before it would let me in to play a brief set of Doors classics on the keyboard. I have also now customised my avatar with a rather natty combo of a 'Doctor What' long coat and scarf, pinstripe trousers, futuristic trainers and orange steampunk goggles. Groovy.
Tuesday, November 02, 2010
Haikusday
Journey in the dark
No points of reference but
Red lights and white lines
Plants versus Zombies
Adventure completorized
Alas, no Zen mode
Amps crackle and hum
High hat sets the tempo for
A keyboard bass riff
A Java top tip
It is useful to know that
A string is a class
Dark evenings are here
As usual I respond
By falling asleep
No points of reference but
Red lights and white lines
Plants versus Zombies
Adventure completorized
Alas, no Zen mode
Amps crackle and hum
High hat sets the tempo for
A keyboard bass riff
A Java top tip
It is useful to know that
A string is a class
Dark evenings are here
As usual I respond
By falling asleep
One Day by David Nicholls
One Day by David NichollsMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
One day, lost in time
They meet, they kiss, then they part
Intersecting lives
View all my reviews
Monday, November 01, 2010
Breath in the Air
Even though I know it is coming, the point at which I start driving home in the dark is a depressing milestone in the year. Even though the clocks have gone back an hour, it is still dark when I get up in the morning, made even worse by overcast, grey skies today as well.
Back to work this morning, and thankfully the orange that I had left in my desk drawer hadn't mouldered too much. There was the usual trawl through a week's worth of emails, not to mention the $hilariously_large_made_up_number of Microsoft updates with compulsory reboot at the end. Apparently we also now have to have our laptop hard drives encrypted shortly, which I can't see doing anything positive for the speed of the version control software. It's yet more sticking plasters on the festering corpse of windows security. Anybody else remember Windows 3.0 where you could defeat the fiendish security login screen simply by clicking cancel?
In games news, I was pleased to note that I was in the top 1% of some of the online leaderboards for Rock Band. I am sure this is due to my l33t keyboard rawk skillz and emphatically not because not many people have played the tracks yet.
PS I've bought my copy of Mitch Benn's 'Proud of the BBC' off of iTunes - let's get it to number one, eh?
Back to work this morning, and thankfully the orange that I had left in my desk drawer hadn't mouldered too much. There was the usual trawl through a week's worth of emails, not to mention the $hilariously_large_made_up_number of Microsoft updates with compulsory reboot at the end. Apparently we also now have to have our laptop hard drives encrypted shortly, which I can't see doing anything positive for the speed of the version control software. It's yet more sticking plasters on the festering corpse of windows security. Anybody else remember Windows 3.0 where you could defeat the fiendish security login screen simply by clicking cancel?
In games news, I was pleased to note that I was in the top 1% of some of the online leaderboards for Rock Band. I am sure this is due to my l33t keyboard rawk skillz and emphatically not because not many people have played the tracks yet.
PS I've bought my copy of Mitch Benn's 'Proud of the BBC' off of iTunes - let's get it to number one, eh?
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