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Sun, 28 May 2006
[07:16] X-Men: The Last Stand - Rating: 6/10
X-Men: The Last Stand is pretty much your standard blockbuster fare, very much a sit back, tune-in, turn-off kinda deal. Which is not to say it's a bad movie! The majority of the X-Men morality tale was taken as being dealt with in the previous two films and the stage was left clear for the special effects.
The special effects were well-implemented, the acting was mostly good, the plot was not mind-snappingly contradictory and I didn't have to sit there constantly thinking "must willingly suspend disbelief" so all in all - a successful movie! My only gripe was the glaringly obvious continuity errors (the daytime/night-time switch was the "best" of these).
Two things more to mention:
1) Don't forget the post-credits snippet; and
2) If this is the last X-Men movie then I'll consume some form of inedible headgear.
[Posted at: 28/05/2006 15:16]
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[06:12] The culture, the culture!
Another rockin' week of excitement and culture in London! Let's break it down:
Tuesday - Musical Culture
Another classical concert, this time it was the Philharmonia Orchestra (again) at the Royal Festival Hall (again) playing a selection of Mozart. The selection included:
- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Symphony No.36 (Linz)
- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Sinfonia concertante in E flat for violin & viola, K364
- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Symphony No.41 (Jupiter)
Friday I - Horticulture Friday saw us trundling off to the Chelsea Flower Show. We had a ticket for 1730 through to 2000 on Friday (obviously) which was good as the awards had already been allocated so we got to see who got which medal. There are basically two lots of "stuff" to look at - things outside and things inside. The outside has all the show gardens, some pretty expensive sculptures, ride-on lawnmowers and some really swisho hanging chairs. We saw all the show gardens (of which the Australian garden won a gold medal) and collected a large cache of brochures so we've got lots of pretty pictures to look at still. Since we were in towards the end of the show (it only had one day to go) the various water features were really doing their best to escape their enclosures and become mud features so it was a fun and sloppy wander around. I also like the juxtaposition of people taking photos with their mobile phones standing next to the incredibly expensive camera folks.
On the inside were a large collection of bonsai, tomatoes, strawberries, fungi, orchards and carnvierous plants which I can't really do any kind of justice in a textual manner - as soon as the photos turn up I'll stick em in here.
Friday II - Modern Pop-Culture After the elbow-fest that was the Flower Show we thought it might be nice to go and watch a lot of things blow up so we headed back up to Piccadilly Circus to check out X-Men: The Last Stand. It was pretty good, we both enjoyed it but I'll give it its own entry shortly. Suffice to say for now, if you want to go out and relax your brain and watch sparkly things then this movie is for you!
And that's mostly the week in review. Amongst all the gratuitous fun I also found out on Friday morning that I've got an interview scheduled for the 12th of July for the other job I've been chasing so you all know when you need to be keeping your fingers crossed.
[Posted at: 28/05/2006 14:12]
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Sun, 21 May 2006
[10:43] How about some classical music then...
Since we're on a bit of a classical binge at the moment we went to see the Lambeth Orchestra play last night. They're a community-based orchestra that "...pursue a policy of performing minor works of major composers and major works of minor composers...". The main reason that I wanted to go and see them is because they played one of my favourite pieces, Rachmaninovs Isle of the Dead. The complete playlist was:
- Bruch: Scottish Fantasy
- Liszt: Mazeppa
- Rachmaninov: The Isle of the Dead
- Elgar: Crown of India
It was a bit of an adventure getting down there, we had to catch two buses and navigate the so-called "bus interchange" at Brixton - holy crap. We eventually located our bus-stop and made it out in time to catch the concert. Whilst passing through Brixton I saw some interesting advertisements including one for faith healing! Perhaps next weekends outing? Unfortunately Shona is refusing to attend but I think it could be fun!
Anyway, the music was really good (much better than I was expecting) and we managed to get front row seats about three feet away from the orchestra. I really enjoyed the up close and personal feel of the whole thing but Shona didn't like being so close that she could hear the clanks, bangs, page-turning and snorting that an orchestra at work makes!
[Posted at: 21/05/2006 18:43]
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Thu, 18 May 2006
[15:23] An Eventful Day
I got a call today from the folks in London who I've been interviewing for, offering me a position. This puts me in a bit of a quandry because it's the second of two jobs that I applied for, the former of which (I'm pretty sure) I'd prefer to work for but that I've not finished interviewing for yet (a process whos outcome is by no means a foregone conclusion). If I decide to wait for the interview process to run its course then I lose the option of this job and possible end up destitute. Some heavy thinking for the weekend.
Luckily I was able to cast my cares aside as we had tickets to see the Philharmonia Orchestra play at the Royal Festival Hall so we rode the bikes up and went out to dinner at Wagamamas on the South Bank before the
concert.
I think this is the first time that I've gone to see classical music played, certainly as an adult anyway and I really enjoyed it. The menu consisted of:
- Richard Wagner: Tristan und Isolde - Prelude to Act 1
- Richard Wagner: Tristan und Isolde - Liebestod
- Benjamin Britten: Serenade for tenor, horn and strings
- INTERVAL
- Sergey Prokofiev: Romeo and Juliet, Op.64 - excerpts
Not only did we have a great time but, thanks to lastminute.com, the seats only set us back £10 each!
[Posted at: 18/05/2006 23:23]
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Wed, 17 May 2006
[09:46] What do you call a man with no legs who climbs mount Everest?
Mark Inglis!
It's not funny because it's not a joke. I read today that Mr Inglis (who lost his legs to frostbite whilst stuck on top of Mt Cook in what he described as "a very public hiccup to my climbing profession") reached the summit of Mt Everest on Monday (15 May, 2006) under his own steam.
I think this is particularly interesting, nay amazing, for two reasons:
- A guy with prosthetic limbs climbed the highest mountain in the world!
I've not got a massive interest in prosthetic limbs because, so far, I've still got all of mine but I am interested in the concept because it's people who need the crappy prosthetics that we have today who are going to be among the first "proper" augmented humans. Look at the Rheo-Knee or listen to the interview with Jesse Sullivan who has prosthetic arms and is currently actively working with his doctor (Todd Kuiken)to make them a lot better. All of this is REALLY cool technology.
There's a guy who I sometimes ride past on London Bridge on the way to work in the morning who has a leg that looks very similar to those that Mr Inglis is sporting in a couple of pictures on his site. How long before he's powering past me with some kind of exo-skeleton?
- He was in near-constant telephone and e-mail contact with his wife and able to update his blog whilst up the mountain!
I'll admit that I've not been actively on top of how satellite technology has been progressing (I assume that's what they're using because the websites are unfortunately skimpy on technical details) but I still think that's pretty cool that in some of the most extreme environments on Earth you can hang out in your tent and surf the 'net!
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Sun, 14 May 2006
[11:03] Unicycle Update
It's been a bit tough to fit some practice in but I think I've racked up about three or four hours this week and, if I do say so myself, I'm getting a lot better. I can now free-mount and even "ride" for several meters. Ride is in quotes because I'm not at liberty to choose which direction to go in just yet, still some work to be done! I have ventured forth from my rubber coated play-pen and have been riding on the road and pavement around my house. I also put in a good hour and a half yesterday and I can now ride down stairs, up is still a considerable challenge.
Unfortunately this means that I've not yet achieved Level One of the Unicycling Society of America Skill Levels but I'm oh so close...
The weeks damage roster stands at:
- Reopened wounds on both shins,
- Scratches to left calf (that's right, I managed to hit myself in the back of the leg!),
- Ashphalt punctures to right palm,
- Considerably less steel on both pedals,
- Smashed reflector on right pedal.
[Posted at: 14/05/2006 19:03]
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Thu, 11 May 2006
[03:37] Final Interview?
I had my final interview for the UK job last night. It consisted of two parts. The first was about an hour with the CIO and the second was a social event, drinks with the team whom I'd become a part of.
I think both parts went well and I'd be surprised if I didn't at least get a offer (considering the amount of time these guys have put into interviewing me now). The interview was pretty good, the guy obviously knows what he's talking about which is nice - management with a clue! - and I'm told that the only guy who failed the social test did something unmentionable on top of the bar with his underwear in entirely the wrong location.
Although this started off as being my second choice job, after meeting the team (through the interview process) and seeing the work that's to be done I'm actually quite keen on working with them! The management structure is really quite flat (about four hops to the top I think) and they're really open to new ideas - especially from us techies! After yet another year in the EDS bureaucracy jungle (about 400 hops to the top I think) I'd really like to work for a smaller company and actually achieve something. Working for larger companies, especially doing outsourced administrivia, means that although the work is essential it's basically a thankless task - somewhat akin to painting the Sydney Harbour Bridge; By the time you've finished it's time to start over on the other side again.
I should hear back from them late this week or early next week and I guess I'll also be hearing from the other mob again soon (my recruiter is on a weeks holiday). Hopefully there'll be some decisions to make soon...
[Posted at 11/05/2006 11:37]
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Tue, 09 May 2006
[10:01] The Shredder
EVERYTHING that comes through the post box in this country seems to be personally addressed to me, even the junk mail! Bills turn up consisting of four pages, one with the bill and three with advertisements, each with a full name and address emblazoned across the top. Identity theft has become such a problem here in the UK that there's an entire website devoted to it (although it's run by a mob calling themselves the "Home Office Identity Fraud Steering Committee" which makes it sound like they're the ones behind the whole caper) and there are little stickers and posters all over the place exhorting constant vigliance.
With this in mind I've finally procured a shredder, this one to be exact. It's a cross-cut shredder that spits out confetti in the shape of 4x36mm rectangles. Cross-cut shredders are basically strip shredders (your standard "cut paper into ribbons" style shredder) but with an extra cutting edge that cuts each strip into about 7 pieces (assuming you fed it an A4 sheet). The cross-cut seemed like a better idea because it's pretty easy to put the ribbons back together if there's not too many of them. I actually had a go at piecing some of the stuff I shredded back together and I've dicovered that you should definitely shred from top to bottom rather than edge to edge. Edge to edge means that you end up with strips of sentence and I managed to put my name and address back together easily! I also heard a tip on the In The Trenches padcast that suggested sealing half a cup of milk in a bag with your shreddings and leaving them in the sun for a day before disposing of them but I'm not so sure if I need to go to such extremes just yet...
[Posted at: 09/05/2006 18:01]
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Mon, 08 May 2006
[00:34] Stolen Bodies?
Whilst reading my New Scientist in bed last night I came across the article Putting bodies on display regarding the "Bodies...The Exhibition" exhibition that we went to see last week.
According to the article, and contrary to what the staff told me when I asked, the people (or bodies I guess would be more correct) on display did NOT give their consent to be stripped of their skin, eaten away by acid or otherwise folded, spindled and/or mutilated. The article states that:
...all the specimens used in Bodies were obtained legally from the Dalian Medical University and they are the bodies of unknown people, or people whose families never claimed them for burial.
There's more in an article entitled Who is running man? from the St Petersburg Times when the exhibition visited Tampa.
[Posted at 08/05/2006 08:54]
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Mon, 01 May 2006
[12:08] The Whirlwind Weekend Of Fun
Yet another weekend off! This weekend is Microsoft patch weekend so I've been kicked outta the building for the duration (don't want too many changes occuring at once). So, it's been another weekend of crossing off things on the "Things to do in London" list. First up, on Friday night, we went to the Blue Man Group production (for want of a better word) at the New London Theatre in Drury Lane. The walk there was an entertaining experience as we negotiated the hordes of brawling pre-teens screaming obscenities and traffic cones at each other, interesting neighbourhood. The outside of the theater was pretty un-preposessing but the inside was nice enough and the seats were pretty comfy. Our seats were in the fourth row but, since we booked so late, were on the far right-hand side of the stage. In the end we were actually able to see nearly everything. Because of the nature of the show and our proximity to the stage our seats had disposable ponchos waiting for us - they came in handy!
I don't know how to describe the show really. I guess in the simplest terms it's a (semi-?)scripted combination of comedy and percussion. They describe themselves as:
"...a creative organization dedicated to creating excitement-generating experiences for our audience and ourselves."
which pretty much sums it up. I highly recommend that you go and see this show if you get a chance.
On Saturday we headed off to the London Butterfly House which, as the name suggests, is the premier spot for butterfly watching in London. It wasn't as spectacular as the Australian Butterfly Sanctuary in Kuranda but, given the location and complete lack of funding they're doing pretty well. There was no shortage of butterflies and there was also a really cool leaf-cutting-ant house. I also saw the biggest bodied butterfly I've ever seen anywhere, being ported around by a 6 year old touting for pictures. I was greatly amused when the butterfly voided itself down his leg (it was a seriously large butterfly). We lay outside in the sun for a while because it was a GREAT weekend (sunny and clear) before adjourning to the attached nursery refectory for lunch. The lady we were with ordered a coffee with her lunch and received a rahter odd setup: a ceramic cup with a second, plastic cup perched on top. This turned out to be a coffee filtration system - the boiled water percolates through a wad of coffee in the bottom of the plastic cup providing freshly filtered coffee. Upon closed inspection this filter turned out to be disposable! I've included some pictures so you can see just how large this thing is, I was (and still am) incredulous that someone's made this thing to be thrown away:
Sunday brought Bodies...the Exhibition. I first heard of the concept behind this a few years ago and I've been dying to check it out since then. If you've not heard of this then essentially what it is is human specimens with all of the water removed and replaced:
"A human specimen is first preserved according to standard mortuary science. The specimen is then dissected to show whatever it is that someone wants to display. Once dissected, the specimen is immersed in acetone, which eliminates all body water. The specimen is then placed in a large bath of silicone, or polymer, and sealed in a vacuum chamber. Under vacuum, acetone leaves the body in the form of gas and the polymer replaces it, entering each cell and body tissue. A catalyst is then applied to the specimen, hardening it and completing the process.
This leads to a somewhat macabre exhibition where you're basically looking at and ,in some cases, handling real dead people, or pieces thereof. The highlights for me:
- Probably the freakiest bit was the cabinet containg a "skin suit" basically one of the bodies skins had been removed in one piece and put in a case - very odd to look at
- The nervous system exhibit was quite bizzare looking as well - it consisted of the brain, eyes and the major nerves all in one unit - as Shona pointed out, somewhat reminiscent of the aliens from "Mars Attacks"!
- There was a skeleton leaning back, arms outstretched supported by a muscle-suit in a similar pose leaning the other way. The skeleton was actually removed from inside of the muscles before they were put into position!
- The variety of circulatory system exhibits was probably the most technically challenging and beautiful to look at. They basically pumped blue liquid into the veinous system and red into the arteries, let the liquid cool into a solid and then ate away the body with acid. They did this to various things ranging from kidneys, hearts and lungs all the way up to an entire body. This leaves you with a thing shaped structure made up of the blood vessels - the whole body display was simply berath-taking.
After that we went to see Scary Movie 4 - I wouldn't if I were you.
Finally, Monday, May the 1st was a Bank Holiday and a day for relaxing. It was also my brothers birthday (HAPPY BIRTHDAY JARED!!!) and the day that I've recived my worst unicycle injuries to date. I was passing on my birthday best wishes and attempting to practice my unicylce mounting techniques in the bedroom when disaster struck. Due to the split concentration I ended up face-planting into the clothes hanging thing, hanging up on my brother and ripping great gouges out of my shin with the pedals.
[Posted at 01/05/2006 20:08]
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