Month: April 2006

Inside Man

Movie info from IMDB
Movie reviews from Metacritic

Spike Lee goes big budget, a bank heist that isn’t, Denzel on form, Jodie Foster playing it straight and sassy, and Clive Owen talks quietly throughout.

The trailers make this look like a thriller, and it is to an extent, the plot slowly reveals itself with some nice twists that keep you guessing although, like the best movies, the hints are all there whilst you watch.

A smart bank heist movie then, except it isn’t. Spike Lee makes sure that the pacing isn’t too fast, and throws in some nice moments —the moment when a Hindu is grabbed by the police and they exclaim “Fuck, it’s an Arab!” gives us a nice microcosm of current US sentiment— but you never feel like you are watching a ‘smart’ movie as it pulls you along without patronising, feeding you info or bemusing you to the point of distraction.

However this isn’t as good a movie as it could’ve been. It’s no Usual Suspects despite the possibilities offered by the script, but that’s about the only criticism. Well directed, and with all the main characters handling their roles without complication, the movie could have been a little faster but all in all it’s very watchable. Probably best served as an introduction to Spike Lee movies —although I’d suggest 25th Hour as a far superior starting point— it’s worth a watch.

And you’ll note how I managed to avoid mentioning how downright sexy Ms. Foster looks..

April 10, 2006

Every day?

Can’t be bothered to post.

Yet the urge to post is an almost pavlovian reaction when a browser opens.

It’s not healthy and I’m trying to break the habit of posting just for the sake of it and only posting when I have something to say or something to post (we did watch Inside Man at the cinema over the weekend, so I’ll write up a wee review thingy later). However, as has been pointed out, I do so like to delve into the why and wherefor of such reasoning and this is too good an opportunity to miss.

Of course to do so would have me hoisted on my own petard, so I won’t.

But what about you? Do you post because you feel you have to? If so, why? If not, why?

April 10, 2006

Bye Bye Blogrolling

Despite their frequent emails over the past week —with each successive email featuring more and more exclamation marks to make the point “only one day left!!!!”— I’ve dropped my blogrolling subscription. Why?

I’ll tell you why, I’m skint. No wait, that’s something else…

The reason is simply that I don’t need their services anymore. I don’t use them for this site, and I don’t use them for my own little personal “internet start page” either. Simple enough.

But it does leave me with a quandary, one which was of my own making and quite deliberately manufactured. You see, not every site showed up as being ‘updated’ in blogrolling lists, and as I tend to use the indicator as a starting point for my browsing*, so I need to find another way to see the most recently updated sites and I’m hoping that way will be either the site feeds (if offered), or software like Website Watcher.

Not sure how this one will pan out and I’ll let you over the coming weeks, but if I don’t visit YOUR site within the next fortnight then you have a clue as to why… either that or I just don’t like you…

* how do you choose what sites to visit first, always your favourites or by the ones which have updated, and if you can’t tell which is which, how do you choose?

April 8, 2006

Praise where due

It doesn’t take much to say “thank you”. It’s only two words, yet they are so rarely used these days it… ohh hang on, I’m beginning to sound like Lynn Truss. Suffice to say that we are all quick to complain, myself included, and today I want to buck that trend.

I would like to say thank you and well done to First ScotRail.

Train companies get a lot of bad press, deservedly so on many occasion, but you don’t read about them when they are efficient, clean and run on time. When they have improved communications to the point that I get a text message sent to my phone if a morning train is delayed, and an email sent to my work address if the evening train is delayed.

Yes the trains can still get cramped but they are more running these days and unlike the masses of idiots who cram onto the 5.12pm train home, I wait until the 5.19pm train, stroll on and pick a seat. The inspectors are more frequent, and if there are any problems the driver will tells us if he knows what it is, and how long we will be delayed for, AND he tells us if he doesn’t know. That last bit is important.

The biggest problem I’ve always had with public transport is the lack of communication. I’m fairly realistic, I know that not every train can be empty, nor that every train will be the newest model with the nice armrests and tables, that’s ok. What I really couldn’t stand was the not knowing. The train is late. Why? The train has stopped between stations. Why? How long will we be sitting here? All questions which you can pre-empt and First ScotRail seem to have gotten that message.

So, well done. As we leave the winter months behind, I can happily say that I can count, on the fingers of one hand, the number of times a train was delayed or cancelled —Last year the number was much higher, a good three or four hands worth if not more— and even then I always knew why it had happened, usually before I arrived at the station, and how long it was going to take to fix. Bravo.

April 7, 2006

Knowing me, Knowing you

(aahhh hhaaaaAAAAAAA)

Snaffled from pixeldiva.

Apparently “What you are supposed to do is copy this entire blog entry and paste it onto a new blog entry that you’ll post. Change all the answers so they apply to you, and then publish! Leave a comment if you do this. The theory is that you will learn a lot of little (random) things about your friends, if you did not know them already.”

Sounds simple enough.

What time did you get up this morning?
7.15 am (that’s a “school day” lie-in for me).

Diamonds or pearls?
As in “necklace”? Silly question…

What was the last film you saw at the cinema?
Narnia – which was OK. Really REALLY need to get back to the cinema but we are caught in the trap of having stuff we both need to finish, and when we do take some time off we can’t be bothered going out.

What is your favourite TV show?
Hmmm. I’d say 24 at the moment, or House, or Grays Anatomy. Lost? Fuck it.. The Simpsons!

What do you usually have for breakfast?
Cereal. Always.

Favourite cuisine?
Chinese.

What food do you dislike?
Peppers. To my palate they dominate whatever dish they are used in and aren’t that nice to begin with.

What is your favourite CD at the moment?
Elbow – Leaders of the Free World.

Morning or night person?
Night. All mornings are evil.

Favourite sandwich?
A pesto chicken and mozzarella pannini from our local coffee shop in Hamilton. Delish. Better yet you can take them away uncooked and chuck them in the George Foreman. Double trouble.

What characteristic do you despise?
Arrogance. Apparently it’s something I display on occasion and anytime this is pointed out to me a little part of me dies. I can’t stand those know-it-all preachy wankers who think that everyone WANTS to listen to them, and who refuse to listen to other people.

Favourite item of clothing?
Either my red woolly jumper, or my jogging bottoms. The former because it was one of those few items of clothing that I just KNEW I should buy, the latter because they signal a day of lounging around on the sofa. In saying that I’m a terrible shopper when it comes to clothes, I always know what I want before I start and rarely, if ever, find it. The red jumper was something of an impulse buy, which is probably why I rate it as a favourite.

If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation, where would it be?
I hate these questions. I’m always torn between a city destination – San Francisco – and somewhere else. Somewhere a little off the beaten track, somewhere that’s clean and quiet and has a beach I can lie on all day.

What colour is your bathroom?
White, grey and purpley-lilac, with an absolutely minging mushroom coloured sweet (which is on the list of “things wot we must replace”).

Favourite brand of clothing?
Threadless if they are considered a brand… other than that I’m not fussed… George? (see previous comment about shopping for clothes)

Where would you retire to?
Somewhere warm and near water, either the coast or a lake.

What was your most memorable birthday?
The last one. I have a terrible memory. Ohh OK, probably my 21st which included my ‘fairy’ godmother turning up dressed as a fairy, tutu and all!!

Favourite sport to watch?
Anything. Honestly, I’ve yet to find a sport I can’t lose hours watching. I prefer football, rugby, and basketball, but will watch pretty much anything that’s competitive.

Who do you least expect to complete this?
Peter from Naked Blog.

Person you expect to complete it first?
Someone that I don’t read regularly.

Person who is least busy?
Me! Must be, to have time to do this!

When is your birthday?
October 17th.

What is your shoe size?
10.

Pets?
Not at the moment.

Any new and exciting news you’d like to share with us?
It’s raining here at the moment. Whilst this isn’t exciting it’s always new (and means yet another weekend where we won’t be able to give the grass it’s first cut of the year!).

What did you want to be when you were little?
Anything as long as it was to do with music… DJ maybe? Studio technician to the stars?

What is your favourite flower?
Strelitzia reginae (that’s birds of paradise or crane flower to you lot), or anything that is… I dunno… more architectural looking than, say, a daisy. OK, not sure that makes sense.

What date on the calendar are you looking forward to?
1st November 2006. That will mark the end of a hugely crap (non-calendar) year.

One word to describe the person who you snaffled this from?
Foxy.

April 7, 2006

Ketchup

My mate Keith is currently just over halfway through a world tour —He’s a lighting …um … technician (here)— and arrived in Glasgow yesterday. Managed to hook up with him and some mates for a few beers and dinner. Except it wasn’t a few… it was many… and it was a school night…

If you want me I’ll be under my desk, please don’t shout though.

April 6, 2006