Primer is a Super 16mm film by Shane Carruth that premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January, where it won two major prizes and a fair amount of acclaim. As far as I can make out from the trailer (click here for 10mb QuickTime version) and various websites, the story is about four men build error-checking devices in their spare time. Through trial and error, they build a (time travel?) device that two of them realise is too valuable to market. The strapline for the film - "If you always want what you can't have, what do you want when you can have anything?" - hints at the potential of such a scenario. Viewer opinion seems polarised with some geeks and science fiends giving it a thumbs up whilst others scratch their heads and dismiss it as claptrap. I'd like to see it and make up my own mind but, as it isn't even released in the US until October, I doubt it will reach the UK any time soon and then maybe only as a DVD.
Meanwhile, closer to home, I am looking forward to some extended couch time over the next 72 hours as I watch the always-watchableand grossly under-used Ken Stott in the BBC's Messiah III. The two previous two-parters, written by Lizzie Mickery, have been excellent examples of a genre the BBC do so well - taut scripted, finely crafted, well acted psychological dramas.
|W|P|109379636789833031|W|P|Intrigued|W|P|bignoseduglyguy@gmail.com
With more than enough yang to cancel out Radcliffe's ying, earlier this evening Kelly Holmes blew away not only the rest of the field in the women's 1500m Olympic final, but also the cloud that has hung over her performance in major competitions for the last 12 years. Holmes' wide eyed smiles will now pass into the history books and rightly so.
© onlyinmalta.com
How to do infrared data transfer of contact information between a Darkside smartphone and a T610 without having to read the receiving screen upside down. Despite appearances, it's been a busy week as the lack of posts will attest.
pigpogm|W|P|So you were mirroring the data between the two?Sorry.
zoe|W|P|eh ?
Andy|W|P|Absobloominglutely! As I hit 37 this very day (hint hint) it's great that KH has reached the zenith of her career at 34. 30-somethings rule! rotflol2004 snogs
Mile 23 Disaster for Paula. She slows and then stops, unable to go any further. Having given everything in pursuit of that elusive Olympic gold, she is now in tears.In response to the above, Brendan Foster has just talked out of his arse. According to Foster and admittedly I'm paraphrasing from memory here, winning gold in the Olympic marathon isn't about being the best marathon runner in the world, it is being about being the best marathon runner over a tough hilly course on a hot evening in Athens. Well, the Olympics are being held over a tough hilly course on a hot evening in Athens. I doubt Mizuki Noguchi who has just won gold is going to be too worried about Radcliffe being the fastest marathon runner or the fact that Deena Kastor's 'conservative' race style brought her from nowhere to finsh an emetic third. I would imagine that she's thinking that she's the Olympic marathon champion and that - after beating the hotly tipped favourite and the best the world has to offer - she was the best marathon runner in the world on the day. I know pundits say things in the heat of the moment and that it is easy to criticise from my office chair but it's my licence fee that's paying his salary so I'm entitled to point out shortcomings. Off for a consolatory beer and snack. |W|P|109319690887881211|W|P|World Exclusive - Pundit talks nonsense|W|P|bignoseduglyguy@gmail.com
Jubilee Place, Canary Wharf
Running in a city provides one with a different perspective of a city to those which most folks experience. As I prefer to run on the softer asphalt of the road rather than the knee-jarring concrete pavements, I am acutely aware of not only every manhole cover and pothole but also the rise and fall of the gradient and the variation in the camber. Drivers and passengers who use London's roads will not have the same intimate acquaintance with and knowledge of the variety in the road's texture that runners do. The grippiness of granular tarmac, the unforgiving nature of herringboned brick, the potential for injury that lies in cobbles and the blessed relief of smooth black asphalt. In a similar fashion, perhaps only cyclists with their increased rate of respiration, will know of the smells and tastes that impress themselves on the urban runner. Whether it is the smell of stale beer and urine around the local late-license pub, the muggy fug that issues from the merchant bank's air conditioning ducts or throat-catching tang of the processed fats factory at Leamouth, each is as much a milestone on a run as any white line or lamppost. The difference in the level of traffic fumes between, say, late Friday afternoon and early Sunday morning is scarily palpable by taste and smell, reinforcing the image of shimmering waves of translucent blue wisps taken in by the eyes. Permanent landmarks and other fixed features take on different aspects when one has more time to absorb their presence. To me, the off-kilter bollard peeking out from a line of peers speaks of a wider streetscape that is moulded by the way in which it is used or abused. A runner, unencumbered by the roof of a car or the brow of a helmet is free to look beyond and above the more usual sightlines of the urban traveller. Gaps between part-closed gates, hedges and walls offer the runner a brief sweeping glimpse of what lies beyond, not dissimilar to the type of rapid panning shots beloved of pop video and edgy action movie directors. Through these momentary keyholes a runner can spy all manner of things from the mundanely workaday to the furtively illegal. In a car, one might never see the child's training shoe that dangles by it's lace from a telephone wire, never ponder as to whether it ended up there as a result of the owner's high jinks or the darker, more cruel taunting of a bully. On a bus, one will surely miss the street signs plundered from unsuspecting towns across the country, then furtively reattached to a solitary signpost outside the pub used by the local rugby club.
It is strange then, with all these things and more flooding my senses, that I feel both present and removed when I run. Whether this is what athletes would describe as being 'in the zone' or more closely aligned with the inner calm of those who meditate, I cannot say. What I can say is that whilst running allows me closer and more intimate interaction with my immediate environment, it also provides me with a valuable opportunity to step away from daily concerns, granting me small instances of calm obserevance and reflection I find nowhere else, regardless of where I run.|W|P|109318169563335805|W|P|Body and sole|W|P|bignoseduglyguy@gmail.com
- MON: Work then family stuff.
- TUES: Work then friend's BBQ & beer.
- WED: Headache, work then collect sprogs from outlaws.
- THUR: Work then playing with new wiki setup.
zoe|W|P|when ? bignoseduglyguy|W|P|When I feel like it...
gemmak|W|P|Ditto to all of that. I have spent many many wonderful holidays in Boscastle and it seems unthinkable!
A visit to the local library with the sprogs was frustrated this morning when, upon arriving, we were told they were closing for lunch. I find it sad that, in this day and age of internet-connected lending libraries that rent DVDs and have advice centres, a small local library that has three members of staff still finds it necessary to close for an hour in the middle of the day. As we had to cross the corner of the local park on the walk home, we stopped of to play on the climbing frames and slides.
Hand made graffiti
St. John's Park is your typical inner-city park, where each renovation and regeneration quickly becomes careworn and frayed at the edges. Tribes of local kids play endless games of 5-a-side football or full-on body contact basketball. The older generations gather in clusters at the junctions of the paths or on the benches to swap gossip and moan about the kids. The dog walkers whistle nonchalantly, looking anywhere but in your eye whilst their pooch craps on the path, next to the unused pooper-scopper waste bin. Young mums and their children promenade in the latest casual wear, the mums puffing away on Silk Cut whilst the kids slug Coke and try to break the see-saw. Very occasionally, one will see the pasty-faced methadone addicts during daylight, swapping prescriptions and arguing over their bottles of White Lightening cider. This cast of local characters varies from visit to visit but, whilst it might not be wise to loiter here too long after the pubs turn out, the park never really feels threatening or sinister. However, it seems that not everyone shares my opinion judging by the message/warning that caught my eye as we left the park:
According to it's scribe, this message implies that "I.O.D." - long the three letter acronym for Isle Of Dogs - now stands for Isle of Danger. Presumably, this new appelation will mean regular visits from The Famous Five, The Secret Seven and The Hardy Boys, all looking for excitement, adventure and mysteries to solve.
| Freudian Inventory Results |
| Genital (70%) you appear to have a progressive and constructive outlook on life. Latency (40%) you appear to have a good balance of knowledge seeking and practicality. Phallic (53%) you appear to have a good balance of sexual awareness and sexual composure. Anal (46%) you appear to have a good balance of self control and spontaneity. Oral (60%) you appear to have a good balance of independence and interdependence. |
All this without therapy. I'm concerned ... this seems to imply I'm well-balanced - if that gets out, my reputation's ruined.
via Jason who is certifiable according to his results
Ian McKenzie|W|P|This might be the only opportunity for Canada to beat England over the next two weeks. ;->- A credit card bill.
- A London Congestion Charge Penalty fine.
- A second London Congestion Charge Penalty fine.
- Yet a third London Congestion Charge Penalty fine.
- A Conditional Offer of Fixed Penalty speed camera fine.
- A letter from my employers concerning increased healthcare benefit costs.
