watch tHe skies

My humorous christmas post didn’t die, it just curled up in a cardboard box for the holiday. Fortunately I’ve unearthed it and, using the time machine I have invented using only a rubber band, two coat hangers and a jar of marmalade, I have travelled back to Christmas Eve and posted said post. You can find it here, though to be honest in the cold light of the first few days of 2007, it actually isn’t that funny.

Still, as I often say in meetings, you don’t pay me to be funny so consider it a bonus when I am. Ironically, that doesn’t get a laugh either.

My missus is a big fan of Jason Statham, she has enjoyed his previous movies such as The Transporter and Lock Stock, so when his latest offering, Crank, hit the shops it was an easy decision to rent it.

Jason Statham is a hitman who wakes up to find that he’s been killed. A lethal poison has been injected in to him that will eventually stop his heart. His only chance is to keep his heart pumping fast enough to hold back the poison and  allow him to seek a cure and take revenge on his murderers. This results in a frantic race through Los Angeles, leaving a trail of death and destruction as he pieces together the reasons for his assassination, and seeking opportunities to get his heart pumping even quicker, taking him through car chases, gunfights and even a quick stop to see his girlfriend.

The movie is very stylishly directed, giving you a real first person perspective of our hero, it is also fused with some rather peculiar humour and plotting, which conspires to keep you guessing throughout the movie, such that I really didn’t have any idea of the ending until (and possibly after) the credits rolled. I was a little disappointed that there wasn’t more action in it - it’s a highly kinetic movie but it’s not a Transporter movie so you don’t get the cool kung fu sequences of that genre, and most of the action is actually character oriented - check out the sequence where his girlfriend drops her handbag and he is trying to keep her from seeing him taking out the various goons that have been sent to finish him off.

All in all it is a good, but quite dark and bizarre film that evades classification in to a genre and is quite an interesting experience. Jenny’s view of it - she thought it was good and was pleased to see Statham’s bum - and I thought she liked him for his acting skills…

So today, Apple announced two more steps in their plan for world domination, in the form of the iPhone and Apple TV.

The iPhone is a widescreen video ipod with a touch interface and, strangely, a phone. Fortunately for my bank account it’s only available in the US (hits UK in Q4/07), however it comes in 4g and 8g configurations and looks very nice indeed.

Also the previously talked about Apple TV is finally available. This is shipping in the UK in Q1/07 and costs the princely sum of £199. The box synchronised with iTunes (using a 40gb drive) on your PC to allow you to watch movies, listen to music and browse your photo collection all from your TV. Unfortunately its video out options don’t sit well with my current configuration and it doesn’t have onboard wifi which means another box in the lounge. So for the time being I will wait and watch, at least until a SCART adaptor is provided by the third party acessory community.

The main thing of interest for me is the new UI for the iPhone, as it is surely a sign of things to come for the impending video iPod, and I would imagine that by the end of 2007, all iPods will use it, and cover flow will be the navigational tool of choice, like flicking through your vinyl whilst sitting on the bus…

Over the holiday period I finally got around to reading Matthew Reilly’s Seven Ancient Wonders. Taking a break from books based on Shane “Scarecrow” Schofield and his wondrous maghook, Reilly introduces us to a new and equally mean protagonist, Jack West Jnr. SAS man turned archaeologist, Jack West Jnr. is a cross between James Bond and Indiana Jones.

The story revolves around the international race for the golden capstone, an artifact that once sat atop the great pyramid of Giza, and rumoured to be the source of great power. As a natural phenomenon that only occurs every 5,000 years approaches, powerful nations mobilise to gain the seven pieces of the capstone and assemble them on the pyramid at a time that, according to legend, will afford that country great power for 1,000 years. Representing the minor nations, Jack West and his team are tasked with obtaining a piece of the capstone to give them bargaining power, which means capturing one of the pieces hidden within or near the seven ancient wonders of the world, such as the Lighthouse at Alexandria, the Museum at Halicarnassus, and even the fabled Hanging Gardens of Babylon. (more…)

Well it couldn’t last forever (but what if it could?), so I’m back at work today after a lengthy holiday of festive fun and new years sales. I’ve also got to spend lots of time with Ben and realised how hard it is being home with a baby all day. You see Jen took my time off as time off for herself and has taken the opportunity to refresh her wardrobe now she is back to her pre-pregnancy days and once again looking fitter than a butcher’s dog on steroids. That’s not to say she didn’t look gorgeous during and after pregnancy, it’s just that it’s nice to see her in figure hugging jumpers again. Oh I digress, it wasn’t my intention to make an adult-only post!

So I’ll be back to posting here again as I’m back at work and therefore need a vent for my non work-related ideas. Fortunately my voice recorder has come in very handy for that and I have a stack of ideas waiting for conversion in to semi-structured ramblings. Can ramblings be semi-structured? Hmm I’m not sure (But what if they could? What happens when you semi-structure your ramblings?)

And for those of you that noticed my meta-model musings lightly concealed by bracketry, you likely gather correctly that my next NLP practitioner module is this weekend, something for me to look forward to and for Jen to dread as it means I’ll be practicing on her again.

Happy New Year to one and all, and an especially warm welcome to you.