Monday, June 30, 2003
When is a REALLY crap film really great?When it's Alex Cox's Straight To Hell.
A magazine was giving this away on DVD, and loving some of Cox's other work and having heard such awful things about the film, I figured what the heck, I'd give it a looksee.
Knowing the story behind the film helps, though it doesn't help you understand the plot, as there really isn't one. Basically, you have a bunch of semi-washed-up rock stars and an indi/cult movie director who couldn't afford to go on their planned tour of Nicaragua, so made a trashy modern day spagetti western in Spain instead.
The result is pure mayhem and nonsense. Imagine The Good The Bad and The Ugly minus the script, acting skill and buget, as filmed by the Monty Python team while either drunk as skunks or out of their faces on industrial strength coffee.
Terrible acting, scenes where the dialogue makes no sense whatsoever and obviously isn't supposed to, and a sense of humour so dark you need a flashlight to find it, all add up to the kinda movie I love, but can't bear to watch too often. Once you stop trying to make sense of what's going on and realise there is no sense, it's a very cool crap film.
Labels: movies
Steve 11:36 PM [+] (0) comments
Saturday, June 28, 2003
So the RIAA or whatever their name is are going after actual file sharers, now they're unable to get their mitts on the peer to peer networks.Duh!
These people are utterly stupid if they believe it'll do anything to improve CD sales.
The simple fact is, people aren't spending money on music because the manufactured boy/girl bands and flash in the pan puppet groups being churned out by the record companies are all crap.
Spending millions on taking a handfull of file sharers to court will do nothing to stop file sharers, it'll just prompt the p2p networks to create more secure software. What they should be doing is spending that money on developing and promoting real talent that people will actually care about.
If a band like U2 was to appear today, they would fail completely, because the record companies aren't prepared to invest in real talent, and allow the bands time to develop and mature... simply wanting to make a fast buck. How sad and misguided is that? They blame the p2p networks for falling sales, but when you look back, what's happening now is little different to everyone taping music from the radio a few years back. Anyone with half a brain can see where the real problem lies.
*Shakes head in utter bemusement at such stupidity*
Labels: p2p
Steve 2:23 AM [+] (0) comments
Thursday, June 26, 2003
What an interesting couple of days.On wednesday afternoon I got to meet Nik, madbatman... a one time regular in my chatroom, fairly regular reader and occasional commenter on this blog. It was a pleasure meeting you Nik :-)
Wednesday night was also quite an occasion, as another friend I've not spoken to in far too long happened to wander into my chatroom. For those who frequented the chatroom a couple of years ago and remember her, the big news is that Genesis, aka GothGirl, is now a happily married woman. Congratulations :-)
In an entirely different vein, Palmolive rocks.
Why on earth would I say that about a company that makes soap? What's remotely cool or exciting about soap?
Get a look at this...
If that isn't the coolest bottle of liquid hand soap I've ever seen, I don't know what is.
Steve 7:15 PM [+] (0) comments
Tuesday, June 24, 2003
Hmmm.It's not very often I see a film that I don't understand first time. I just watched Donnie Darko, and I'm waaaaay confused. Obviously there's some weird time stuff going down there, like I guess he really died, but through some wierdness, got an extra 28 days to see what might have been... but... I need to watch it again to really get a grip of it.
I know one thing though... I like it. I like it a lot.
Labels: movies
Steve 7:49 AM [+] (0) comments
Sunday, June 22, 2003
Last night among other things I had a bit of an mp3 downloadfest. Lots of tunes I haven't heard in years, or been able to find in the shops... and one particular tune that has me in stitches.Back in the late 80s, an eastern european band called Laibach caught my attention doing industrial techno cover versions of the most unlikely songs you could imagine. So... here I sit listening to the most ridiculous tongue in cheek communist powerhouse version of Jesus Christ Superstar. Classic stuff :-)
Labels: music
Steve 2:58 PM [+] (0) comments
Saturday, June 21, 2003
Finally, at long LONG last, the new Photo Gallery is up and running.So far there are 47 of my fave pics, of varying photographic quality... each chosen either because I think it's a good pic, or because they represent something special to me personally.
There's also a small selection of test prints of my late grandfather's photographs. I wish I'd been able to scan the final prints, but even so, the charm of those pics is something really special.
Steve 12:09 AM [+] (0) comments
Wednesday, June 18, 2003
I could so very easilly rip a particular person to pieces here. I could... I'm sorely tempted to, but I'm not going to, purely because even after hearing tragedy after tragedy after tragedy, and wondering just how much is real and how much is made up just to get attention... you never know if this one's for real or not.Instead I'll just say this to that person. You did a thing 9 months ago that made me look at you in a different light. It doesn't even matter if it was for real or the most despicable lie I've ever heard. You dumped your pain onto me and others, and have continued to do so every single day, be it real pain, or made up. Real friends don't do that. Now leave me alone.
Labels: annoyed
Steve 4:28 PM [+] (0) comments
Monday, June 16, 2003
We interrupt the usual boring posts about nothing in particular to bring you....
Folk On The Green.
Every second sunday in June for the past 30 years they've held a free folk festival in Stony Stratford which I've attended pretty much every year since I was around 15 or so, up untill about 5 years ago.
Various things have kept me form going over recent years, but this year I was determined to make it, and Brigitte was up for it too... excellent :-)
What an awesome day. Free music, great sunshine, lots of cool chilled out people, funky hippy stalls selling hats, funky clothes and other unusual things, vegie food, burgers, icecreams.
Yup... best day out in Milton Keynes, and this year's was excellent.
Steve 11:47 AM [+] (0) comments
Saturday, June 14, 2003
It has not escaped my attention that this blog has become incredibly boring of late.Truth is, I've not had anything much that I've either felt like writing, or that I can write about without getting into trouble, so I've just said nothing. I know this hasn't gone unnoticed, as my readership has dropped off to almost nothing... but that's fine. To be even more truthful, I've become entirely bored with writing this thing, not to mention a whole load of other online passtimes.
That's not to say I'm bored with the net, far from it... just different things are holding my attention more than the things I've been doing over the past couple fo years. Things may change, as I've always had a tendancy to drift away from and back to various passtimes, just for the moment don't be surprised to see less of me here, in my chatroom, or whatever.
Labels: blogging
Steve 11:20 PM [+] (0) comments
Wednesday, June 11, 2003
Ah, technology... dontcha just love it?Sometimes techie toys go wrong for the most untechie of reasons.
Turns out the problem I was having was down to the cd resonating. Why was it doing that? Duh. The laptop's sat on a fold-up wooden chair, and wasn't entirely horizontal. A stack of coins placed under the feet at the rear of the laptop levelled it off and cds burn just fine now.
So... svcd movies. Are they worth the huge download time when you can get a highly compressed avi file of the same film in a fraction of the time? Hell yes!!! Very very nearly dvd quality... they stomp all over vhs, and as for vcd or avi.... no contest. Watching on a tv via an svcd compatible dvd player instead of pc monitor makes a big difference too, as the low definition screen acts as a great anti-aliaser... no jaggies, pixelation or blockyness anywhere.
I'm a happy chappy again :-)
Steve 3:56 PM [+] (0) comments
I'm deeply frustrated.
After spending all night downloading a multi disk movie file, my cd writer now refuses to burn the second and third disks. I've tried several times with different settings on the software and the error occurs at different points during the burn, so it's not corrupted data.
Just before it throws up the error, the drive starts making a slight clicking noise, as if it's struggling to focus the lazer onto the disk, and since the first disk burned okay... I'm guessing it may be an overheating issue.
I guess I'll just have to shut the thing down for a while to let it cool off and then try again.
It's gonna get expensive at this rate... 5 dead disks already :-(
Labels: computers
Steve 12:21 PM [+] (0) comments
Monday, June 09, 2003
That was a pretty cool weekend.Saturday we went to the library and borrowed some dvds and videos. Lord Of The Rings: Fellowship Of The Ring, MIB2, xXx, About A Boy, and WindTalkers. Most were great, and I was very surprised to enjoy About A Boy, as I can't stand Hugh Grant. Sadly, there's something very wrong with MIB2, though I can't quite put my finger on it, and Windtalkers is so contrived it's laughable.
Yesterday I put some air into the tyres of Brigitte's bike, and we went for a cycle ride. The plan had been to go to Willen Lake, but we stopped off at Milton Keynes shopping centre on the way to munch burgers, and it's a good job we did. Just as we were about to set off again, the heavens opened. If we'd gone all the way to Willen, we'd have been soaked, so when it stopped raining, we decided to play it safe, and headed home again.
I have to give it to Brigitte, for someone who hasn't ridden a bicycle in years, she did really well. There are a few killer hills on our route, and she only needed to get off and walk up one of them... one I sometimes walk up myself. We'll have to do that more often :-)
Last night I watched another movie... this one a little more exclusive. The Hulk is a very surprising film... brilliant, and very odd. While X-Men2 is very dramatic and Spiderman spectacular and playful, The Hulk is a whole different thing... incredible even, if you'll excuse the pun.
It's not at all easy to explain what makes this film so special, and I suspect many people won't like it... many people won't get it. It's not all handed to you on a plate, you have to work some things out for yourself, but unlike say Matrix Reloaded, the plot isn't convoluted... just... I dunno, thoughtful, perhaps.
I guess if I wanted to be blunt about it, it's a work of art... and not everyone appreciates good art. A summer blockbuster, no doubt about it, but a very very strange one.
Labels: movies
Steve 12:14 PM [+] (0) comments
Friday, June 06, 2003
I have a new widget.A Samsung dvd player.
Nothing too impressive about that you may think, but it's rather more than that. The number of formats it can handle is impressive to say the least, and means I can mothball several other players.
It'll play dvds, cds, vcds, svdcs, mp3s and displays jpegs on photo cds. Sadly it's unable to play mpeg or avi video files, and the conversion software I have doesn't seem able to convert them to vcd, so I guess I'm gonna have to hunt around a few bittorrent sites for .bin and .cue files and burn movies direct to video cd.
Heavy bandwidth usage here we come :-)
Steve 7:26 PM [+] (0) comments
Wednesday, June 04, 2003
A few links have gone from the side bar.Sadly, Brian has quit blogging for the moment, but may be back, and Cori's moving her blog to a so far unknown location, so new links will go up as and when.
Speaking of Cori, I had the great pleasure of seeing her in action in the chatroom I frequent a lot lately. Now I rather take pride in my ability to deal with lamers, but she was absolutely devastating. Most impressive.
Labels: blogging
Steve 4:33 AM [+] (0) comments
Tuesday, June 03, 2003
Ever been in a flame war? Sat back and observed the dynamics in a forum or chatroom?There are patterns, and you soon get to recognise the different types of behaviour.
This guide to Flame Warriors is pretty cool, not to mention fun, and covers most types of participant you're likely to encounter.
Which one are you?
Steve 7:39 AM [+] (0) comments
I wish I'd had my camera with me when I nipped down to the garage at 4am this morning.
Sniffing around in the grass not 20 feet from where I stood was a fox.
Now I've known there are foxes in MIlton Keynes for years, having seen the occasional one knocked down by the side of the road, and hearing their calls while out night fishing, but this was the first time I've seen one up close.
I stood watching it for maybe 2 or 3 minutes before it spotted me and bolted.
The way it moved was really something. Not smooth and stealthlike, like a cat, or anything like as bold as a dog... more quick and darting... amazingly alert.
What a beautiful creature.
Labels: animals
Steve 5:24 AM [+] (0) comments
I watched the Scooby Doo movie this morning. Yeah... I was that bored.
It really is rather awful, though there were a couple of funny moments. Tossing Scrappy Doo out of the van was a great move, while the farting contest between Scoody and Shaggy had me in stitches.
Overall though... complete pants. I'm glad I didn't buy it *chuckles*.
Labels: movies
Steve 3:10 AM [+] (0) comments
Sunday, June 01, 2003
Life's a bit freaky just now.Extreme nocturnal sleeping patterns coupled with cranky mood-swings make life difficult for anyone around me at the moment.
All that aside, I'm having a lot of fun... just don't interrupt me while I'm doing something, or I might bite your head off.
And what's this? Addicted to Big Brother? God help me.
Labels: sleep
Steve 2:04 AM [+] (0) comments
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