bookmark_borderBeep Beep

Car Insurance, always such a joy when it comes up for renewal and we are coming to the end of the free year of insurance we got when we bought the car. So time to change, but to who?

Previously we’ve been well served by Admiral, but I’m open to suggestions. I’m sure I’ve used an online searching service before by my Google-fu is failing me, so are you happy with your car insurance? If so, who’s it with?

bookmark_borderThe Lovely Bones

The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

The story of a murdered schoolgirl, this book offers a unique perspective of how her death affects her family, her community and herself. Told through Susie’s eyes, as she watches the people in her life from heaven, this is both a thriller, a love story, and an exploration of life and death all wrapped up into a very readable package.

The scope of the book is at once huge and yet focussed, and the storyline moves along nicely ensuring you are never bored, and always intrigued as to what is going to happen next. The characters are nicely developed and this was a pleasure to read. One of those books that slowly draws you in, and before you realise it you can’t wait to turn the next page, read the next chapter.

Excellent stuff, thanks to whoever recommended it (I really must start writing these things down somewhere). Now, what next?

Posted in UncategorizedTagged

bookmark_borderMeeting Hell

Stuck in a meeting, all day. Who schedules an all day meeting for a Friday?!

Weekend looming, weather decidely dodgy, what will we do? Alliteratively alluring options avail.

Posted in UncategorizedTagged

bookmark_borderRevenge of the Sith

Movie info from IMDB
Movie reviews from Metacritic

I’ve been very aware of this movie for a while now, and very aware of avoiding reading reviews, articles and spoilers. I figured it was a last chance for George Lucas to put things right. He almost does.

The obvious stuff first then, and I’ll begin with a small suggestion. Should Mr.Lucas decide to make another movie, of any kind, he really MUST employ someone who will disagree with him. The most recent Star Wars movies seem full of little moments where you can almost imagine the conversations:

“I think we should make that into a little comedy moment… ”
“Yes George”

“These lines are ideal, don’t you think?”
“Yes George”

“These ARE the actors you’re looking for…” *waves hand in front of producers face*
“.. these are the actors we’re looking for…”

Speaking of which, and it pains me to say this because I’ve enjoyed some of his other work, Ewan McGregor is awful. Natalie Portman isn’t much better and Hayden Christiansen just isn’t threatening enough for me. Ian McDiarmid steals ever seen he is in, but even he has some awful AWFUL dialogue. It’s almost painful at times, at least the original movies tried to keep these things to a minimum. Unforunately all the action sequences in the world don’t make up for those moments when a badly written, badly delivered line jerks you from the Star Wars universe straight back into the cinema you are sitting in.

The good bits are very good though. Some of the battle scenes are fantastic (in every sense of the word) to the point of feeling a little forced on occasion. The reliance on closeups during some of the lightsaber battles is a huge annoyance, and I think they would have been better served training the actors for longer to make it appear more realistic.

Beyond the obvious and jaw-dropping special effects I’m struggling though. I’m a huge fan of the original three movies, and had hoped that this movie would finally bridge the gap in terms of quality. It almost gets there, almost. There are some funny comic moments (one nearer the end with Yoda is spot on), and it certainly is a darker movie than its predecessors not least due to the settings. Watching Senator Palpatine manipulate Anakin is the key part of the movie and is handled well, Padme’s death less so, and the loose ends are tied up quite nicely with the bonus of not being dragged out (as everyone knows how it’s going to end).

Anyway, it’s one of those movies that you will go and see regardless of what I say, if you are a Star Wars fan there is no way you can not watch this, and you’ll enjoy it on some levels (we are a forgiving bunch it seems), if you aren’t a fan then I think it still stands up well as a Sci-Fi romp.

I can’t wait to see what happens in Episode 4!

Note: I reserve the right to change my mind on this, as I’ll be watching it again next week.

bookmark_borderGet connected

A few months back Andrew Sullivan wrote:

“What was once an occasional musical diversion became a compulsive obsession. Now I have my iTunes in my iMac for my iPod in my iWorld. It’s Narcissus heaven: we’ve finally put the “iâ€? into Me.”

In the article he makes a few valid points, and whilst this is hardly stellar journalism it does offer a few little hooks that got me thinking. As he points out with the choices we have available to us we can tailor our daily life, and the flow of information in it, to meet our needs. No longer do I need to tune to a 12 o’clock news bulletin, or wait until I get home to hear that new CD. I can check my emails on my phone, and most of the links on my blog are from people with a similar liberal outlook like myself. I skim read the news sites using my RSS reader, focussing more on topics that interest me, and generally know when to steer clear of something that I don’t agree with (the latter may just be common sense, rather than an effort to control the inputs to my brain).

I filter out what I don’t want and create my own little utopia. I’m sure you do something similar, even if the degree of filtering changes.

So maybe we should be challenging that. Not just being more aware of surroundings, or even walking around in public sans headphones (gasp), but actually pursuing other viewpoints with an aim of at least understanding them a bit better? So whilst I think that guns should be under tighter control, how much do I actually know about the situation? I disagree with the way George Galloway conducts himself in most cases, but his recent “show” has reminded me that he is a smart guy, have I been selling him short? Is the Catholic religion as controlling and antiquated as I believe it to be? Is abortion a bad thing?

If there is one thing the internet is most definitely MADE for it’s providing a platform for differing points of view. So, where should I start? After all, there is nothing worse than a closed mind.

bookmark_borderMiscellany

Bit busy so a few quick thoughts.

~

Remember that musical meme which went round in January? Well I’ve been spotting it all over the place in the last couple of days. Apparently it’s hit the “design” guys and gals. I used to think that they set the trends, but it seems like we are all further ahead than we think!!

~

Paul (brother-in-law) and Angela (his girlfriend) are over tonight for dinner. It has absolutely NOTHING to do with him buying a new MP3 player, and even less to do with the fact that I have 58GB of music on my PC.

~

Blog etiquette. More on this later, but it’s a bit like life. If you wouldn’t say something to someone’s face then don’t say it online. Ohhh and there is NEVER any reason to degenerate into name calling and whatnot. I’ll happily disagree with someone, and have them disagree with me, but everyone has the right to expect courtesy and politeness. Pausing before you type is usually the best method.

~

Football starting up again soon. Must get fit. No chocolate has passed my lips for three days. Yes, I’m counting!