atavistic avatar assessment

We were standing by the bar chatting.

For the third time in a few days, the subject of Avatar came up in general conversation. Slightly surprising, but each time different people have raised it. First time it was a ‘not sure’ and a criticism about whether the plot was derivative, followed by bemused remarks about the Pope’s criticism and whether it was neopagan.

A few days ago it was someone who has booked to see it at IMAX but has to wait until February because of the demand. I still had only the haziest idea what it was about. Blue creatures in a sci-fi setting defending mineral rights from humans.

The two people I was with at the bar had seen it; another was on their way that very evening.

“Its good”, said the two. “And it's not very violent”.

“Did you see it in 3D?” I innocently asked.

“Yes - there are some amazing scenes like where the gun cartridges eject. It looks as if they will hit you in the eye.”

“Don’t spoil it.” said the other one, “Mind you, those fighter plane Head Up Displays are pretty amazing.”

I remembered that the two non-violent reviewers in front of me both had military backgrounds. In previous lives, one had worked in Afghanistan, and the other had driven Nimrods around.

It's on my list.

Tchaikowsky Piano Concerto and cellphone

Really a belated new year moment, this clip from Amanda Palmer and the Boston Pops, with Amanda playing Tchaikowsky's First Piano Concerto.

Until its interrupted after around 3 minutes by an audience member's cell-phone.

Pure punk cabaret.

There's further insight (and around 200 comments) over at Amanda's blog. Amanda's experimenting with some video blogging too.

And congratulations to Amanda and Neil Gaiman on their recent engagement.

stuck in the middle with you

It looks as if the politicians are about moving into the fight for the middle ground ahead of the next election. I haven't seen any of the photographs of weasels holding children yet, but it can only be a matter of time.

The Labour party has been quick to move towards the centre and to claim to be friends of the middle classes. This break between the Old Labour of Trade Unions and Workers and the New Labour of Ends, not Means was a Blair argument during his reign.

One key element was the removal of the public ownership parts of Labour’s philosophy, but Gordon Brown’s short succession reversed that by dragging all the robber banks into massive taxpayer funding.

What’s upsetting is the cynicism with which much of this is being played. Pump any old pulp fiction to the electorate to stage manage them to vote the right way.

It looks as if we’re going to get months of manipulation whilst a club of spinners scrabble for front seats in the house.

software slew slakes slated iSlate speculation

A slew of new Apple updates hit my computer this week. The Bonjour update is the intriguing one, if it includes something to support a new Apple iSlate/iPad communing with Macs and iPhone screens.

We'll have to wait a week or two to see whether a maximised iPhone emerges and whether 3D gesture support gets included, although some of the Apple patents are rather recent.

If the guys that designed the Newton had a finger in the works of a new design, then anyone looking for hints or gestures could start with the chordic manipulation of a multi touch surface.

Conspiratorially, someone has just shut down the gesture guide site for the pre-Apple technology. If you didn't know, it would be difficult to spot that it had ever existed, were it not for the power of cache. It could make magazines look quite different.

Maybe there's a new 'go large' iPhone with iReader software. Maybe it has 3D gesture support. And something to stop it from getting scratched when its in a bag.

So, keep taking the tablets and maybe reading the new style magazines...

Link the tablet technology and the gesture interfaces together to start to see the bubble of uncertainty for the traditional media world.

Colour, mixed media, interactive, gesture based, customisable wireless distribution, channel linked. An iTunes style distribution of content. IS-Interactive Slate. iPad to differentiate from Windows?

Then I found the little song to the tune of American Pie, which summarises the media 2010 turmoil in a ten minute slide show.

I'll need to get a bigger battery charger. Oh, and more bandwidth.

a sweet for the landing

A couple of flights this week. Unsurprisingly, yesterday's wasn't quite to plan. In fact, it was cancelled. I spotted the cancellation early in the day though, and managed to get onto another airline. A few delays, but I arrived at my destination.

So this evening, whilst sitting at 37,000 feet and whizzing along at 500mph, I was thinking about my route through the terminal when I got back. I'd stop at M&S on the way to the car to pick up some essential groceries.

Then the kind lady with the interesting hat came along to offer me a sweet for the landing.

I realised I was on a different airline, coming into a different terminal. Instead, I'd have to stop at the filling station on the motorway and settle for picking up some milk.

new snow now

Heathrow today, for a flight, through last night's new snow.

Not much traffic about.

no snow now

The snow's all gone. Official. Depending upon where you live. London yesterday had little hints compared with surrounding areas. 

My attire yesterday featured snow boots, ski-jacket, toned down non alpine jumper (* no reindeer or elephants), gloves and back-pack, as I walked in the darkness to where I'd parked my car, complete with a shovel in it's boot. After one sideways car on the way to the main roads, the rest of the journey was like a slow Monday.  

By the time I returned, I'd forgotten about the need for snow-proofing, until I started walking around in my office shoes, which sank immediately under several inches of whiteness. By today, the tractor has been along the road and we can, once again, see tarmac.

with a pinch of salt

The sequencing of the weather news over the last few days has been predictable with Blizzard Conditions, The Big Freeze, No School, Grocery Shortages, Scared Gritless, Unusual Sledge and Shovel Injuries and still to come, The Big Thaw and Floods.

What's also interesting is the weather vocabulary being sneaked into other stories. Frozen, Icy, Slippery Slopes and similar expressions.

But the ones I particularly like are the references to various senior politicians being asked to show clear leadership. The last couple of days it's affected Barack Obama (one year in office), Gordon Brown (to game change the next election), Cameron (to differentiate leadership).

Yes, they are all being recommended to show 'true grit'.

movies to watch in snow

We've changed the original plans for today and will spend considerably more time at home. Maybe watch a movie later.

Need good ones with snow themes (in no order):

- Edward Scissorhands * where snow comes from
- Fargo * classy, complex snow, sky and blood spatters
- Let the right one in * vampires done right
- Nightmare before Christmas * not pure xmas movie
- Blow * a different type of snow
- Doctor Zhivago * 3 hour epic
- Help * Yay, Beatles
- Snow White and Seven Dwarves * gotta have a Disney (Bambi?)
- The Golden Compass * Dark materials done well
- Jack Frost * just scrapes in
- Bridget Jones Diary * snowy start and end
- The Shining * poor Jack
- Into the Wild * brilliant road movie
- Bits of James Bond movies * too complicated to itemise
- Superman II * prefer Superman I
- Jeremiah Johnson * adventure in the mountains
- Groundhog Day * always watchable * always watchable
- Manhattan * Beth's great suggestion
- The Chronicles of Narnia * Tilda forever
- A Simple Plan * can go wrong
- Ice Station Zebra * proper cold war
- Gorky Park * ice and icepicks
- Kill Bill I * spectacular at a cinema
- The Thing * classic Carpenter
==
- Ice Storm
- Ice Age
- The Empire Strikes Back
- Dreamcatcher

I like most of the above (to the ==, anyway). Please help me out if you can think of others?

The early morning snow (5/10) has stopped and if I believe the various weather and gulf-stream predictions, it could be the start of the change around of wind directions and an increase in temperatures.

I may make another short trip into the world of the white witches later, prior to tomorrow's expedition back to the car and then onward to the world of commerce.

Let the right one in - Toned-down US Trailer + surface reviewers - I decided the original Scandinavian trailer is too scary

and the book to read...Snow Crash, of course.

my private narnia

If you leave rashbre central and turn left, then right, then right, then right, walk to the 'no turning back' sign and then turn right again, you come to the area in these pictures.

I sometimes cycle around here, but today wandered along to see the difference that the snow has made. It is always pretty when the area has been dusted white and the first thing I spotted was a wren flittering along beside me.
Then a few deer tracks and the flash of a deer's tail in the distance. The deer are crafty around here and I suspect many people don't even know of their existence.

There were several on what amounts to an island amongst a few small ponds and streams. Luckily I knew about the very flat differently coloured snow and didn't try walking on the water.

Onward to find the wild ponies, who were in a clearing, grazing in the sunshine surrounded by snow that reached over the top of my boots.

It may not be Narnia, but it's also not bad for a ten minute walk from home.

i must be slipping

a kind of liberation

It took me half an hour to liberate my car today. The frozen snow was about 20 cm all over it. I ran the engine, whacked the heater onto maximum and started scraping.

Then I dug out the wheels. A diagnostic message said something about take the car to the workshop to have the brakes checked. I suppose the ice has got inside the sensors.

Then I reversed it onto the road I'd dug yesterday. Slightly down hill, enough for the little yellow triangle stability signal to flash intermittently. Gingerly down the slope to the next level of road, which had become noticeably more slippery than yesterday. I needed to drive about another 300 metres to get to a bigger gritted and salted road.

I hadn't bargained on the sheer number of walkers who were splayed around the whole expanse ahead of me. More than when I'd been out yesterday or Wednesday. I suspect cabin fever had finally forced people to the streets. So instead of making my progress at a sedate 2-3 mph, I had to stop.

I knew this would be a bad thing.

The car got stuck. Luckily I'd brought a shovel so I could dig out the snow that had immediately formed around the front of the rear wheels. I moved the build up of ice and then three neighbours gave me a lengthy shove to get moving again.

End of the road. Glass surface but no traffic at the T junction so I could turn without stopping into the main road where I found proper grip. I've decided to leave the car on a main road now. The backpack, woolly hat, gloves and ski jacket came in useful for my walk back home.

As I passed the spot where I'd got stuck, I noticed another car parked there. It's wheels had sunk to around the level of the axles.

Here's Tori Amos fabulously singing about Winter. And fathers. And daughters.
Snow can wait, I forgot my mittens, Wipe my nose, get my new boots on.