We had a full-on evening on Saturday when we had a few friends and family over for dinner. Sue's sister, Deb, and husband Foggy, newlyweds Terry and Alexis and neighbours Deb and Dave came over. Deb, Fog, Terry and Alexis had recently returned from Australia where Terry and Alexis were married. Alexis didn't manage to last the night and had to be carried to bed.
In the morning after we saw Terry and Alexis off, Sue and I decided to get some fresh air and went for a long walk through the nearby park. Afterwards we took the tram to the entertainment complex where we had a bite to eat and then watched (or in Sue's case slept through) the film, Team America - World Police (the film that's putting the 'F' back into freedom).
This is some crazy puppet shit. Coming from the creators of South Park it has a lot of adult (or adolescent) themes. If you are someone who is easily offended then this is not a film for you. There is total puppet nudity and full sex, extreme violence resulting in dismembered puppets and destruction of several cities, and large amounts of profanity in outrageous accents (we actually saw the subtitled version and I think it helps!).
The best bits for me were the Cairo 'cantina' scene (hey! This looks and sounds familiar - does George Lucas know?), and the Kim Jong Il's song 'I'm so ronery'.
Tuesday, January 18, 2005
Friday, January 14, 2005
More of wot I have read…
Pattern Recognition, by William Gibson
This is a good book but a slight departure for Gibson as it deals in the present rather than the Cyber-Punk future he is more commonly known for. Much of what is in this book is already out there, even if only at the fringes. I like a bit of conspiracy theory and this has it by the bucket load.
'It's only called paranoia if you can't prove it.
Cayce is in London to work. Her pathological sensitivity to brands makes her the perfect divining rod for an ad agency that wants to test a new logo. But when she is co-opted into a search for the creator of a strangely addictive on-line film, Cayce wonders if she has done the right - or indeed, safe - thing. And that's before violence, Japanese computer crazies and Russian Mafia men are in the mix. But she wants to discover the source of the film too, and the truth of her fathers disappearance in New York, two years ago. And from the way people are trying to stop her, it looks like she's getting close…'
This is a good book but a slight departure for Gibson as it deals in the present rather than the Cyber-Punk future he is more commonly known for. Much of what is in this book is already out there, even if only at the fringes. I like a bit of conspiracy theory and this has it by the bucket load.
'It's only called paranoia if you can't prove it.
Cayce is in London to work. Her pathological sensitivity to brands makes her the perfect divining rod for an ad agency that wants to test a new logo. But when she is co-opted into a search for the creator of a strangely addictive on-line film, Cayce wonders if she has done the right - or indeed, safe - thing. And that's before violence, Japanese computer crazies and Russian Mafia men are in the mix. But she wants to discover the source of the film too, and the truth of her fathers disappearance in New York, two years ago. And from the way people are trying to stop her, it looks like she's getting close…'
Global Dimming…
I saw a thought-provoking documentary last night on Horizon about Global Dimming. Why the sun seems to be 'dimming'.
It turns out that the rich polluting European countries may have been responsible for the horrific Ethiopian droughts of several decades ago. Unfortunately the 'cleaning' (removing particles but not removing greenhouse gasses) could actually create a far worse problem to come.
Are we actually ruining the world for OUR children?
'Scientists are now worried that dimming, by shielding the oceans from the full power of the Sun, may be disrupting the pattern of the world's rainfall.
There are suggestions that dimming was behind the droughts in sub-Saharan Africa, which claimed hundreds of thousands of lives in the 1970s and 80s.
There are disturbing hints the same thing may be happening today in Asia, home to half the world's population.
"My main concern is global dimming is also having a detrimental impact on the Asian monsoon," says Professor Veerhabhadran Ramanathan, professor of climate and atmospheric sciences at the University of California, San Diego. "We are talking about billions of people."
Even the most pessimistic forecasts of global warming may now have to be drastically revised upwards.
That means a temperature rise of 10 degrees Celsius by 2100 could be on the cards, giving the UK a climate like that of North Africa, and rendering many parts of the world uninhabitable.
That is unless we act urgently to curb our emissions of greenhouse gases.'
It turns out that the rich polluting European countries may have been responsible for the horrific Ethiopian droughts of several decades ago. Unfortunately the 'cleaning' (removing particles but not removing greenhouse gasses) could actually create a far worse problem to come.
Are we actually ruining the world for OUR children?
'Scientists are now worried that dimming, by shielding the oceans from the full power of the Sun, may be disrupting the pattern of the world's rainfall.
There are suggestions that dimming was behind the droughts in sub-Saharan Africa, which claimed hundreds of thousands of lives in the 1970s and 80s.
There are disturbing hints the same thing may be happening today in Asia, home to half the world's population.
"My main concern is global dimming is also having a detrimental impact on the Asian monsoon," says Professor Veerhabhadran Ramanathan, professor of climate and atmospheric sciences at the University of California, San Diego. "We are talking about billions of people."
Even the most pessimistic forecasts of global warming may now have to be drastically revised upwards.
That means a temperature rise of 10 degrees Celsius by 2100 could be on the cards, giving the UK a climate like that of North Africa, and rendering many parts of the world uninhabitable.
That is unless we act urgently to curb our emissions of greenhouse gases.'
Legalisation of drugs…
The BBC 'If…' series has been very good. It is an accessible introduction to some very controversial, but increasingly possible, 'what if' worst case scenarios. It combines drama and documentary to present a well-balanced view of how the world might become if certain things continue the way they appear to be heading.
This week's subject was 'If… drugs were legal' and proved to be very believable and frightening.
What do you think is the right thing to do?
This week's subject was 'If… drugs were legal' and proved to be very believable and frightening.
What do you think is the right thing to do?
Tuesday, January 04, 2005
Back to work…
Well here we go again, back at the grind stone (actually the extra effort made before Christmas means I have enough time to Blog - so at least I can ease back into it slowly).
Now we start making plans for the year to come (every weekend from now until the 14th Feb is full already).
Looking forward to the holidays…
Now we start making plans for the year to come (every weekend from now until the 14th Feb is full already).
Looking forward to the holidays…
More of wot I have watched…
We went to see Lemony Snicket's - a Series of Unfortunate Events, starring Jim Carrey as the evil Count Olaf. This is a dreadfully wonderful children's movie that has plenty to keep the grown-ups entertained too.
The movie is based on a series of Lemony Snicket books that are very popular in America.
Almost an equivalent to the Harry Potter series.
We went with James and Nikala to the early afternoon showing and invited them back to ours for dinner. Sue had got a pasta maker for Christmas so we decided to try it out on friends. Once you role the sheets you are supposed to leave them to dry a little before you pass them through the cutters (unfortunately we left them to dry for a couple of hour while we went to the movies - so some of them didn't come out to well). Also the cutter has a dodge cog that keeps coming out of mesh, stopping the pasta from feeding properly. Nevertheless together we all managed to make more than enough pasta for the four of us, and we all agreed it definitely tastes better freshly made.
The movie is based on a series of Lemony Snicket books that are very popular in America.
Almost an equivalent to the Harry Potter series.
We went with James and Nikala to the early afternoon showing and invited them back to ours for dinner. Sue had got a pasta maker for Christmas so we decided to try it out on friends. Once you role the sheets you are supposed to leave them to dry a little before you pass them through the cutters (unfortunately we left them to dry for a couple of hour while we went to the movies - so some of them didn't come out to well). Also the cutter has a dodge cog that keeps coming out of mesh, stopping the pasta from feeding properly. Nevertheless together we all managed to make more than enough pasta for the four of us, and we all agreed it definitely tastes better freshly made.
Happy New Year…
We spent our New Years at home with a few friends (Deb, Dave & little Tom, and Dean & Michelle) engaging in our favourite activities of eating and drinking. Sue had made a wonderful Moroccan inspired meal starting with spiced vegetable pies, lamb filo parcels, and samosas. The main course was lamb stuffed with dried fruits and covered in harisa. Dave made a delicious Italian custard desert. We washed this down with a few wines, some with bubbles, and topped it of with something stronger from the spirit cabinet.
We saw the New Year in with kisses and hugs and phone calls but soon after we turned in, no long sessions for us.
We were slow to start the next day and we were trying to recharge our batteries with caffeine at breakfast with Dean and Michelle when we had a call inviting us up into town to meet some Kiwi friends for lunch. So we found our selves a few hours latter eating Chinese in China Town with Marc & Heather, Terry and Ross.
Sue and I returned home to rest in front of the television.
Happy New Year to you all…
We saw the New Year in with kisses and hugs and phone calls but soon after we turned in, no long sessions for us.
We were slow to start the next day and we were trying to recharge our batteries with caffeine at breakfast with Dean and Michelle when we had a call inviting us up into town to meet some Kiwi friends for lunch. So we found our selves a few hours latter eating Chinese in China Town with Marc & Heather, Terry and Ross.
Sue and I returned home to rest in front of the television.
Happy New Year to you all…
More of wot I have read…
Billy: by Pamela Stephenson
This is an interesting and entertaining book if you are a fan of Billy Connolly. It is well written and captures Billy's 'voice' well in many places. The only downfall is Pamela Stephenson's habit of name-dropping can become a bit overdone.
It gives you a feel of the difficulties Billy had to endure and overcome in his early childhood which fashioned his outlook and give rise to many of his insecurities and manias. But overall it shows that he has an uncommon view of life and the ability that borders on genius for bring that viewpoint out to an audience.
The only time I have seen him live I was made helpless from laughing so much that I couldn't move or breathe from the ache in my side.
This is an interesting and entertaining book if you are a fan of Billy Connolly. It is well written and captures Billy's 'voice' well in many places. The only downfall is Pamela Stephenson's habit of name-dropping can become a bit overdone.
It gives you a feel of the difficulties Billy had to endure and overcome in his early childhood which fashioned his outlook and give rise to many of his insecurities and manias. But overall it shows that he has an uncommon view of life and the ability that borders on genius for bring that viewpoint out to an audience.
The only time I have seen him live I was made helpless from laughing so much that I couldn't move or breathe from the ache in my side.
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