Saturday, August 30, 2008
North Devon
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Greenbelt - post festival
The festival is over and the tidying up begins. A busy and long day yesterday - there was a moment at about 8pm when I felt really shattered but fortunately it passed fairly quickly.
We tidy up and sort out the last few things - making sure that the stuff which needs to be thrown away is not mixed up with the stuff that needs to go back to London!
Another festival over and one which seems to have been successful - very succesful when the vagaries of the British weather have been taken into account.
Things are sorted fairly easily, goodbyes are said and at 2.30pm I head off for a few days much needed R&R in beautiful north Devon.
Monday, August 25, 2008
Greenbelt - Day 4 - Monday
Under strict instructions to get my portrait taken as part of an onsite photo project - see here for the whole series but I'm not going to link to my particular picture!
So, another festival draws to a close - busy, quirky, fun and thought provoking - tiring but completely worthwhile.
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Greenbelt - Day 3 - Sunday
However, overall the weather, whilst a little windy in places, and the odd passing shower, has been acceptable. Little sunbathing under the Rising Sun, but there has been daily yoga in the morning.
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Greenbelt - Day 2 - Saturday
And some have found something to interest them.
Friday, August 22, 2008
Greenbelt - Day 1 - Friday
A couple of showers have dampened the ground first thing this morning, but on the whole the forecast looks fairly favourable for the next couple of days - certainly in comparison to what we've had over the past few weeks.
Don't know what will happen over the next few days - a lot of hard work, but also plenty of fun and a chance to catch one or two things that might take you by surprise.
Looks to be a good weekend ahead!
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Greenbelt - pre festival
Arrived yesterday to help with the set up. Always fascinating to see the skeleton of the site take on flesh over the next couple of days. Lots of anxious looks at the weather forecast and seeing how the weekend might pan out - surely the 'British Summer' must arrive at some point??
Much going through my mind pre-festival so little sleep had last night as I couldn't switch off - not long now 'til the start.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
More Olympic thoughts
Just how bad an interviewer is Garry Richardson?
The Olympics have been been great - the BBC presentation of the event, very poor.
Monday, August 18, 2008
On the Buses
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Website of the week
Still, if you think you have little 'quirks' then look here - you may even want to add your own.
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Some Olympic Thoughts
2. Just how good are the GB cycling team?
3. Just how quick could Usain Bolt be if he ran flat out for the whole 100 metres?
4. Just how normal and refreshing is Rebecca Adlington?
5. Just how poor has the BBC presentation been? Way too much of the presenters rather than the sport, poor 'human interest' and 'amusing' pieces (I particularly hate the Phelpsometer/Jaws theme and the 'previously at the Olympics' start of the evening show), not enough coverage of other 'minor' sports and some incredibly poor commentating. Notable exceptions on the commentary front are Michael Johnson (refreshingly calls it as it sees it), Gerry Herbert (knowledgeable and passionate, if slightly hysterical) and Hugh Porter (like most cycling commentators - such as Phil Liggett on C4 and David Duffield on Eurosport - he's completely mad but the spirit of Alan Partridge lives on). Also did you used to watch some football programmes just to see what John Barnes or Barry Venison would actually be wearing? Doesn't the same seem to apply to Gabby Logan and the Olympics coverage?
Is an interesting article here about just how unequal the Olympics are. Is it still little more than a posh people's sports day?
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Needing a Nudge
I've been reading Nudge, a new book by American academics Thaler and Sunstein, and the only reason I'm writing about it is because it is on the current 'must read' lists of numerous politicians.
I think it's safe to say that this is first book by Yale University Press I've ever read, let alone purchased. However, in a similar vein to Freakonomics, Microtrends, and The Tipping Point, it's a comfortable, accessible read. In it Thaler and Sunstein say that if 'choice architects' give things a little thought they could design decisions so that people are 'nudged' in a certain way for the overall public good. For example, on starting a new job you are automatically enrolled in a pension scheme rather than having to make a conscious decision to join one. In doing this you save for your retirement and everyone will be better off. However, because they also want to allow choice, you always have the chance to opt out, thus the freedom to choose is preserved. They call this 'libertarian paternalism' and it will be a big thing in both the upcoming US election, and the next UK one.
This seems fairly sensible - but let's also be careful here. The pensions thing seems sensible, but another example they suggest is that organ donation should move to an 'opt out' rather than, in the UK at least, the current 'opt in' system. This is perhaps a bit more controversial - in effect the state would 'own' your organs for transplant upon your death (and more organ donation is needed) unless you'd made a conscious decision that they couldn't. Suddenly a nudge seems a bit more of a shove?? And I speak as someone who has had a donor card since aged 16.
Personally I feel there is an innate contradiction between 'libertarian' and 'paternalism', and it's one they don't quite solve - and I'm also not saying which one I tend toward! Nonetheless, it's a fascinating book and well worth a read. You may really agree with it, or may find it all very worrying, but it makes you think. You may not yet be aware of 'nudging' - but many key politicans are.
Have a browse at nudges.org.
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
The Dark Knight
Let's make no mistake - this is a nasty, nasty film.
Just who is the audience supposed to be supporting in this film. Batman? Doubt it, he comes across as annoying and spoilt rather than tormented and full of anguish. The good DA Harvey Dent? Perhaps but then, somewhat ironically given Batman's graphic novel background, he becomes a one dimensional cartoon character. The cop Gordon? Well, let's just say I'm glad I'm not his wife. The Joker perhaps? Well, yes if we are meant to sympathise with a double crossing sociopath who has a knife fetish.
The film is horrible. There is an almost pornographic celebration of knives - and given the current climate, especially in London, this makes this film even more depressing. The 'plot' is risible and the film is violent and gruesome - how this film has got a 12A certificate (the same as the excellent Man on Wire!!) I don't know. It starts well but is at least 20 minutes too long and after a couple of hours I was bored and just wanted it to end.
Are there some good things? Yes, some. Heath Ledger is good as the Joker - all twitches and ticks - and it is a fitting final performance, but talk of an Oscar is wide of the mark and his best work remains Brokeback Mountain. Old stagers Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman are excellent and light up the piece, but their parts are small and you wish they had more screen time. Aaron Eckhart is good as Harvey Dent; it's more his movie than Batman's. But overall a nasty film and one that is not a 12A - if you have kids under 12 don't take them, it can be pretty gruesome. If you have kids over 12 I still wouldn't take them - it's just not good enough.
Saturday, August 09, 2008
Paris for President
What's even more worrying is that her environmental policy makes more sense than McCain's or Obama's.
Paris for President - she's, like, totally ready.
Sunday, August 03, 2008
The things people say...
At the end, as the closing credit rolled, one said to the other in a loud stage whisper,
"He was very attractive when he was young. Not anymore though. Very attractive as a young man. You know what he reminds me of now though? He looks like an old gay."
Saturday, August 02, 2008
Man on Wire
Petit is a natural story teller - and it has to be said, very French. Also included in the film are the various talking heads of Petit's co-conspirators - an eclectic mix of old friends from France, people who worked in the the WTC, and a couple of, well frankly, potheads. One of the accomplices sports the finest moustache you are going to see in a film this year.
The film tells the story from the start - almost in the style of a heist movie - and includes film of Petit's previous high wire walks between the towers of the Notre Dame Cathedral and over the Sydney Harbour Bridge. It is spellbinding. The movie is excellently executed - from the superb Michael Nyman soundtrack to the correct (but possibly controversial??) decision not to mention the terrorist attacks of September 11th.
No film footage of the Twin Towers walk exists, but there is footage of the Paris and Sydney walks, and the stills of the event are superb and suitably vertigo inducing. It's also a strangely emotional film - perhaps best summed up by the NYPD cop who says "I figured that I was watching something that somebody else would never see again in the world - it was once in a lifetime."
Simply stunning.