...mumblings...

May Contain Geeks

2009-06-08T21:14:00.003+01:00

Time for something new:

May Contain Geeks is my new blog about all things Geek.

Check it out NOW!

I dream of the silver screen

2007-09-24T23:03:00.001+01:00

This reminds of a dream I had a while back.

I dreamt that I'd build a cinema in a shed in my back garden. As I live on the 2nd floor and don't have a garden, this was my first clue that it was a dream. The shed was large like a Scout hut and the dream was very practical; I had put a lot of effort into blacking out the place, choosing the right seating and use a digital projector.

Of course it wasn't the Geek-fest created in the Star Wars cinema above or in the same league as Dan and Nicole Chilton when they built their own real-life cinema, but it was a nice dream...

Tees @ Threadless 24/09/07

2007-09-24T22:19:00.000+01:00

I'm not sure what is is I like about this tee, but I get the feeling that it would look better on my wall than my chest.

Finally, something I've voted positively for has been printed!

This tee may be a couple of days late but I love the details and concept is just yo-ho-ho good.

All my Threadless posts are also copied across to my blog on the Threadless site here.

I can feel it...

2007-09-07T00:43:00.000+01:00

No idea what this ad has to do with chocolate. But who cares ... it's fab!

www.aglassandahalffullproductions.com

I'm off to by a drum kit now...

Yard Sale

2007-09-04T00:43:00.000+01:00

I'm selling off some beloved collections, starting with some DVDs and videos (yes actual VHS tapes, like what you see in museums). Later I'll be adding some books, games and comics.

Check it out and see if there's anything you'd like:

Duke1974 @ eBAY

M

Passing God

2007-08-28T22:28:00.000+01:00

This from a book called Church Signs Across America, by Steve and Pam Paulson. Is a collection of the attention grabbing and engaging church signs that they saw while driving across America and Alaska.

I'm a sucker for a clever play on words and always had a soft spot for church signs like:

CH__RCH. What's missing? UR.

Ah, an oldie but a goldie.

You can see a sample of Steve and Pam's book at the Guardian web site here.

But if you're a bit more subversive, don't forget you can make your own.

Got map?

2007-08-28T21:46:00.000+01:00

What? Is that bowl in front of her full of random words and she has pick out and try to make a sentence from. Because if it is she failed.

People in THE Iraq are the reason Americans can't find America on a map? In a couple of years that might work the other way around; no one will be able to find Iraq on a map thanks to the Americans.

American education does seem to help South Africans and like such as. The more dumb American like this one, the higher up the World Education tables places like THE Iraq will rise.

Sorry, got a bit political there, rant over.

Man-Bag-iness

2007-08-28T00:07:00.000+01:00

In response to Warren Ellis's Bad Signal Confession:

I have been man-bag guy for many years, so many that I was that kid in school with a briefcase. OK that's a bit of a lie, I had a briefcase but didn't take it to school. What I did have was what can only be described as medium sized luggage. The thing was big enough to fit the entire classes books in and once over-balanced my ~~considerable~~ limited judo skills to get me a good kicking from some passing bullies. Contents:

* School books (backed in wallpaper).
* P.E. kit (in an attractive red-sock in with the whites shade of pink).
* Pencil case (full of random pens, pencil sharpener, protractor and coloured pencils with the colour names on them).
* Random sweet wrappers (empty).

That was, of course, when I had to carry what my Mum bought. For years after that, when I spent most of my time Roleplaying and had money in my pocket, it was a CAT record bag that hung from my shoulder. Contents:

* No records.
* RPG books (Feng Shui, Call of Cthulhu, Champions or Star Wars).
* Extra pencils, sharpener and a rubber.
* Many, many dice (d4, d6, d8, d10, d12 & d20s).
* An A4 writing pad (full of random campaign notes, tally-lists and calculations).
* An A5 note book (full of top secret campaign notes - well actually it was mostly empty, I never made notes).
* Comics (double bagged for protection).

These days it's a simple Gymsack (a horrible name). Light-weight and inconspicuous, if a little flimsy; I'm on my 2nd one now. Contains:

* A6 note pad & pen.
* Baseball cap; in-case it rains (currently Boston Red Socks).
* A draw-string plastic bag (to waterproof my stuff, these bags are very thin and I live in Manchester).
* The Metro (the best paper in the world).
* Whatever paperback I'm reading at the moment (right now - Around the World in Eighty Days).

Maybe I need to upgrade?

DVD WARS!

2007-08-23T00:28:00.000+01:00

And so it begins:

Paramount Goes HD DVD Exclusive [Empire Online]

Director Bay joins DVD format war [BBC News]

Now I'm just too young to remember the VHS vs Betamax fight. Sure I remember the two section in the Video Shop, but awareness of technological / business current events was still a few years away.

Being a film buff I was very wary when I heard about the two new formats; not wanting to predict the winner before updating my collection or buying the latest releases. So when I heard on the Gadget Show that LG were releasing a DVD player that plays both formats, I really though that was the end of the problem.

Now this. Why can't people just get along?

Spider-fun, Spider-fun.

2007-08-21T23:42:00.001+01:00

This is the new Spider-Man cartoon. The last animated series was good, the animation looked great and mirrored the recent films design, but this one looks a lot more Saturday morning cartoon and a lot more fun.

Steam Treking

2007-08-16T22:42:00.000+01:00

Is this what the new Star Trek movie is going to be like?

Probably not, but this is tee-hee funny. I'm particularly fond of the 'transporter' and the carbon-based life-form.

Tees @ Threadless 13/08/07

2007-08-13T22:54:00.000+01:00

If you've not heard of Threadless you are seriously missing out on something great.

The site contains some gorgeous and unique t-shirts designed by, well you possibly, as anyone can submit a design and the ones with the highest votes get printed. And yes, you get something out of it too.

Because I love Threadless this post is going to be the first in a semi-regular series highlighting the newest tees that catch my eye.

How cute is this? I'm not sure I'd like to be the cow or chicken explaining to the farmer how that happened, but it makes a great tee. Probably not the type of t-shirt I would wear, but something I might buy for my Niece.

Wow! It's the level of detail on this that makes it stand-out for me. Dramatic, monstrous but there's also something softer. It reminds me of King Kong. It's also one that I probably wouldn't wear, more of a ladies tee I think.

Now this makes me laugh, little sand knights fighting against an inflatable Jabberwocky. I missed it the first time around but this I'd buy; it's funny and colourful.

All my Threadless posts are also copied across to my blog on the Threadless site here.

Property of Doctor Jones

2007-08-06T20:35:00.001+01:00

My new wallpaper, roll on Memorial Day 2008. Fingers crossed. Fingers crossed. Fingers crossed.

Everyone loves Big-J.

2007-07-15T23:22:00.000+01:00

Which God or Goddess are you like? Your Result: Jesus You are God's lovechild. You love all and most love you. You help those who need it, and those too. The girls all chase you, and some boys too. You love to have fun, but you keep a serious life of working as well.Congratulations!! You are Christ!!
Budha
The Christian God
Goddess Sekhemet
Goddess Bast
You are your own God or Goddess
God Zeus
Satan
Which God or Goddess are you like? Make Your Own Quiz

But hang on, isn't Jesus the Christian God? I only got a B in R.E. but I'm pretty sure the clue is in the name.

Words and Very Pretty Pictures

2007-07-10T19:46:00.000+01:00

I have a friend called Melanie who works as a commercial artist and draws very pretty pictures. She's done a lot of things but mainly illustrates children's books and has five new books coming out soon:

That Pesky Dragon :: Buy from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

Cinderella's Party Night :: Buy from Amazon.co.uk

Three Goat's Gruff and a Grumpy Troll :: Buy from Amazon.co.uk

I Win :: Buy from Amazon.co.uk

Rise and Shine :: Buy from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

Why not buy one (or all of them!) as a present for a son, niece, grandson or even yourself?

Or check out Melanie's other books at Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

Awesomemobile?

2007-07-08T00:53:00.000+01:00

Awesome?
Maybe, but perfect?
No way, they forgot one thing.

If I Were a Simpson

2007-07-07T23:46:00.000+01:00

This is created with a great little Create a Character utility at the website for the new Simpsons movie:

www.Simpsonsmovie.com

All I Want For Christmas

2007-07-01T20:16:00.000+01:00

R2-D2 Interactive Astromech Droid

from Think Geek

THIS... IS ... GREAT! It's EXACTLY the sort of thing I dreamt of as a kid, I always wanted some sort of alien/robot/supernatural creature as a pet.

I pity the fool who doesn't think this is a great toy, it's going straight to the top of my Christmas list.

Three Iron Men and a Woman

2007-07-01T18:59:00.000+01:00

From Marvel.com

This is a promo photo from the upcoming Iron Man movie.

I have high hopes for this film; the casting of R.D.jr as Tony/IM is inspired, the design looks great from the teaser pictures and how scary does Jeff Bridges look in this shot!

Rememer to 70s and 80s?

2007-07-01T17:18:00.001+01:00

From Marvel.com

When Superman laments on the 'golden' years of his film career, maybe Spiderman isn't the best shoulder to cry on...

Autopsy - A Love Story?

2007-06-27T21:33:00.000+01:00

This has to be one of the weirdest films I've ever heard of...

Aurora - Dave School CGI Short Film

2007-06-27T20:19:00.001+01:00

Trailer for the upcoming film Aurora, created entirely by students in the June 07 graduating class of the Digital Animation and Visual Effects School! - For a student film, this looks GREAT!

read more | digg story

To blog, or not to blog ... 2

2007-05-16T22:10:00.000+01:00

I admit it; I'm suffering from Blog Depression.

There are two main reasons for this:

1st - I am easily bored. I'm a fast learner, so once I got the hand of the basics of creating and running a blog the novelty had worn off. So I started tinkering, one of my favourite pass-times and biggest flaws - tinkerers rarely finish anything. Which was fine until I reached the limit of my technical know-how.

2nd - I'm a always trying to create something that's one step beyond what I can practically achieve. When I envision things in my mind, and believe me when I say I put far too much though into most things, they they reach a level idealism that when I actually start to make them I an immediately disappointed.

So when I these two characteristics with the real-life practicalities and the fact that no-one was reading the blog - not even I find playing to an empty house that interesting - I gave up.

So a few random posts and year-or-so later and here we are.

So why start again?

To be continued...

Post Envy

2007-04-22T21:53:00.000+01:00

Consider this a To blog or not to blog interlude:

Wil Wheaton wrote in a recent post about his respect for writers Warren Ellis, Neil Gaiman and John Scalzi and how his developing fiction writing skills don't match up:

I find myself feeling like that more and more with various authors. I read something and think, "Man, I wish I could put words and images together like that!"

I'd just like to say I completely agree with this statement but I'd like to add another name: Wil Wheaton himself.

I've been reading his blog for a couple of years, along with his other web writing like Games of Our Lives, and Just a Geek is one of the few hardbacks I own.

Man, I wish I could put posts and online articles together like that!

To blog, or not to blog ...

2007-04-22T19:17:00.000+01:00

As you might have noticed, if you even exist at-all, I've not really bloged in a while. Apart from some random bits of stuff I've been off the posting-wagon since December 2005.

There are some practical reasons for this.

I have been busy moving and am now the proud owner of my first property, a nice little one-bedroom flat in a cool looking 100-year-old, 4-storey, redbrick converted school building. This has meant two things: one, I've had a lot less money to spend and two, I was physically off-line for a couple of months while I moved and had my broadband installed.

But to be honest these problem were resolved months ago. The main reason is I’ve had something of an existential crisis about my reasons for continuing to blog.

In my first post I said “The reason for doing this blog ... well truthfully there isn't one” but that wasn’t entirely truthful.

I had this idea that it would be a good way to record and share the things in the interweb that I liked and also a way to practice and publish my writing; something between an old fashioned link-list and micro-journalism.

Things started off well. My posts were irregular but a pleasant mix between the micro-journalism, links to the fun and the interesting on the web and original content (photos and the like). I even branched out into other specific blogs, one to record my birthday trip to America and a communal blog with my mate to dramatise our Urban Dead games. There were a couple more blogs that stayed at the idea stage but the whole blogging experience was ticking along nicely.

So, what went wrong?

To be continued …

06+06+06

2006-06-06T23:11:00.000+01:00

So the world didn't end ... damn!

By The Omen (DVD) from Amazon.co.uk / Amazon.com

25590

2006-05-14T19:16:00.000+01:00

Next Sun (21st May) I will be running in the Great Manchester 10k Run for the 2nd time. Last year was the first time I had run in an organised race and the first time I had run 10k - or anything over for the bus distance to be honest.

Last year I raised money for an AIDS charity in Africa - Tackle Africa - but this time I've picked something a little closer to home. I'll be raising money for the Yorkshire Cancer Research charity.

If you would like to sponsor me you can online via the link below:

http://www.justgiving.com/markslattery2006

I'll let you know how I do next week.

Out of This World Again

2006-03-05T11:15:00.001Z

Bang! Bang!

2006-02-25T22:58:00.000Z

Angel Dust
People Iced:	Forty Four
Car Bombs Planted:	Two
Favorite Weapon	Microwave Oven
Arms Broken:	Twenty Two
Eyes Gouged:	Fourteen
Tongues Cut Off:	Seven
Biggest Enemy:	Shady Sammy
Get Your HITMAN Name

Happy New Year!

2006-01-01T22:44:00.000Z

HNY! to all my readers [echo...echo...echo]

And in the spirit of all things old and new here's 100 things we didn't know this time last year from the BBC online.

Evolution of the Apes

2005-12-07T18:15:00.000Z

What this special report from Channel 4: Gorillaz in our midst.

Cheese and rice! Did you see those holograms?

Now I've been a sci-fi fan my entire life. I have seen practically every episode of Star Trek and every other sci-fi show out there (Shut up, I'm geek and I'm proud) but that's better than most of the pseudo-holograms you see in films and TV!

Finally! The present is surpassing the future ... now about that jetpack.

Where's Wil?

2005-11-30T22:16:00.000Z

If your looking for Wil Wheaton, and haven't it worked it out yet, WWdN is bust. You can find Wil ~~hiding~~ in exile here.

Strangely the move has perked his blogging up a bit. A change is as good as a rest I suppose. Plus, there's a much funnier profile pic.

WWW Extras

2005-11-30T21:40:00.000Z

One of my favourite parts of DVDs are the extras. I love to watch the making-of freaturettes and the behind the scenes documentaries.

Now that the Web is being used more and more to promote new movies, a lot of these extras are appearing on the WWW first and for FREE.

Here are a couple of my faves:

Production video diaries by Bryan Singer during the making of the new Superman movie; Superman Returns.

A blog with video diaries for Kevin Smith's Clerks 2: The Passion of the Clerks.

Performance Pressure

2005-11-29T23:22:00.000Z

Sofitel toilet, Queenstown, NZ

Err, I think I'll wait until I get home...

I [brain] Urban Dead

2005-11-29T21:45:00.000Z

UD is a amazingly simple yet, incredibly playable online, multiplayer, turn-based zombie apocalypse game.

Me and my friends have been playing it for several weeks now and it's become a little adictive.

If you've not tried yet you should go play now!

Then you can follow the progres of our characters at our UD blog: UD Iron Reavers

And remember: Always have your shotgun loaded and a safe place to sleep.

HULK RIP!

2005-11-27T21:52:00.000Z

Ultimate Hulk vs Ultimate Wolverine

WOW! It's scenes like this that remind me why I love comics.

You couldn't descibe this moment in a novel with the same impact and you wouldn't have enough time in a movie to absorb the relevance.

This mini-series is deffinately going on must get list.

Nerd Porn

2005-11-19T21:26:00.000Z

How did they know? How? Have they been reading my mind?

Geek Fantasies

Hmmm ... magic misslie resisted ... [drool]

Seriously though, this sort of thing gives geeks a bad name. Now nerds, those freaks would probably love this sort of thing. Sickos!

Truth vs Non-Truth, init?

2005-11-16T22:45:00.000Z

Ali G vs the NBA! Visit the site and view the video clips to find out what it's like to be MP3 of the Year, how many springs are in the average basketball and if they have to play in their underpants...

Century!

2005-11-16T22:41:00.000Z

Yay! I've finally reached an eBay feedback score of 100!

We Now Return to Our Regular Scheduled Viewing ...

2005-11-14T08:53:00.000Z

After a ~~long~~ brief absence for ~~laziness~~ personal reasons I'm back.

Let the celebrations begin ...

M

Red Head?

2005-10-08T20:26:00.000+01:00

Your Hair Should Be Red

Passionate, fiery, and sassy.
You're a total smart aleck who's got the biggest personality around.

What's Your Funky Inner Hair Color?

I've always fancied red highlights, it's probably the little rebel in me, but past experiences with hair dye have left me wary though ...

Writing on the Wall 3

2005-09-11T15:06:00.000+01:00

SAS moto

This was on the side of the SAS plane that I flew to the US in last year. A nice touch I think.

SUPER-natural!

2005-09-11T12:48:00.000+01:00

I found Supernatural while clicking through Warner Bros last night.

I looks quite cool. There hasn't been a decent horror/mystery show since X-Files started going south around season six. I'll definitely keep an eye open for when this one crosses the pond.

- - -

BTW, if you want to know what happens in the 5th season of Smallville read the WB intro. It virtual tells you everything that's going to happen. They might as well uploaded the scripts...

Tod durch Chocolate

2005-09-05T23:54:00.000+01:00

From this morning's Metro.
Apparently, this was one of the Nazi's secret plans during WWII - exploding chocolate bars!

Katrina Khaos

2005-09-03T00:55:00.000+01:00

What's going on in New Orleans is mind boggling.

A natural disaster and such a chaotic aftermath is believable, and almost common place, in a so-called 3rd World country.

But in the heart of the civilised world?
In the middle of the World's only remaining Superpower?
Its almost unbelievable. Like a bad TV movie or a trashy airport paperback.

The similarities with Vertigo/DC Comics new mini-series DMZ is eerily prophetic.

Get Your Freak On

2005-09-02T23:00:00.000+01:00

Take the Freakonomics Quiz and see swiched on or swiched off to the ways of the world.

The authors' even have a Freakonomics blog. This book is going on my wish list.

Mr Bronson Dies

2005-08-31T22:25:00.000+01:00

The actor Michael Sheard dies aged 65.

Apart from starring in Grange Hill, he also played Hitler in Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade and Admiral Ozzle in Empire Strikes Back.

I met him a couple of times at GenCon UK; a genuinely nice bloke, always free for a chat or a pint.

"Thank you my Very Dear Chums - See ya."
Michael Sheard (1940-2005)

Da da da da Bat-shirt

2005-08-29T22:26:00.000+01:00

I did buy a t-shirt from More T Vicar.

VOTE - Auton!

2005-08-29T21:31:00.000+01:00

Fight Mannequinism - really a site to promote voting among youth of America, but it reminds me of one of those old Doctor Who episodes so much.

The 50 Greatest Independent Films?

2005-08-23T20:52:00.000+01:00

Empire Online are doing a list of The 50 Greatest Independent Films. They've listed 50-21 up to now...

Take a look? Agree/disagree? Let me know in the comments.

- - -
Prediction: Knowing Empire's style, Kevin Smith's Clerks will be number one.

Animated Blogging

2005-08-18T22:14:00.000+01:00

I found these two sites for comic creators:

Dork Tidings - the blog of John Kovalic creator of Dork Tower, Dr Blink and illustrator of the Apples to Apples game.

Family Guy Freakin' Blog (via Blogger Buzz) - a blog by the writers, directors and staff behind the super-cool cartoon series.

Great cartoons but what about the blogs? Let me know what you think in the comments...

Out of this World Blog!

2005-08-15T22:16:00.000+01:00

...mumblings... - now available in all major solar systems!

LotR LoL

2005-08-15T21:51:00.000+01:00

What if The Lord of the Rings was based on a roleplaying game campaign rather than a novel?

Find out at Flying Koala Games.

BE WARNED: it's far too believable! I now don't believe the books exist...

Now Here's a Scary Thought!

2005-08-15T21:39:00.000+01:00

All Good Things...

2005-08-10T00:05:00.000+01:00

I watched the last episode of Enterprise, and possibly the last episode of Star Trek ever, the other day - These Are The Voyages...

Am I the only one who thought it was a cop-out?

The set-up was Riker and Troy on the holodeck running a program about the original Enterprise's last mission to help him solve his moral dilemma during the ST:TNG The Pegasus episode. A nice gimmick but it didn't work, it just felt like a Next Gen episode featuring the Enterprise cast rather than the other way around.

Plus, the death of [Enterprise crew member name censored] was OTT, unbelievable and unnecessary.

At the very end they seemed to rely on the popularity of Next Gen for the final curtain call; disappointing and a bit insulting for the Enterprise cast.

Buy Star Trek: Enterprise - Season 1 (DVD)@Amazon.co.uk

Super Bonus Fun Redux

2005-08-09T18:06:00.000+01:00

Here are a couple of animation themed time-passers I found while clicking through Savage Chickens:

Flipbook - create an online Flash animation flipbook. Here's one I made earlier...

Angry Alien - Flash animations of your favourite movie blockbusters featuring rabbits ... no seriously.

Money Talks

2005-08-09T14:57:00.000+01:00

Take the Which? Moneytalk Quiz and brush up on your financial know-how.

My score? 8/10 - I'm a Wise Owl apparently.

Rock On!

2005-08-06T23:00:00.000+01:00

I just watched School of Rock. Man, I realy wanna be in a band! Now all I have to do is learn to play an instrument or sing or something ...

Buy School of Rock (DVD)@Amazon.co.uk

Finger Spell

2005-08-06T22:50:00.000+01:00

I've always thought it would be cool to learn sign language. You know, so you can have secret conversations with your mates and take the piss out of people behind their back ... the important stuff.

And today's word is ...

DtRT: Ecover

2005-08-03T23:52:00.000+01:00

I can't remember were I first heard of Ecover, but they produce a range of environmentally friendly cleaning and washing products.

Why bother? Just think of all those chemicals you wash down the sink and into rivers, lakes and seas. Much better to use a product made only from natural ingredients.

I've tried the washing-up liquid (which smells really nice) and the fabric softener so far. They are available in most supermarkets and cost about the same as the big brand names.

The Greatest Movie Ever Made!

2005-08-03T14:49:00.000+01:00

I've always suspected those "Greatest" and "Wonderful" quotes they pepper movie posters with were embellished, but this is 'one giant step' beyond that:

Fans win $1.5m over fake critic
BBC News

I mean, it's one thing to lie about the review, but to lie about the reviewer???

Old vs New

2005-08-03T14:31:00.000+01:00

Some helpful advice for all you fellow eBay addicts out there:

10 things you should never buy used

&

10 things you shouldn't buy new

Free Beer!

2005-07-30T18:02:00.000+01:00

The only catch is you have to make it yourself. Damn!

BBC News reported that some Dutch students have published the worlds first open source beer recipe. Based on the same principal as open source software, they have published the recipe for anyone to use.

And here it is - Vores Øl.

Being a fan of real beer, I've always been tempted to have a go at brewing my own. Now I have a recipe to work from, I'm one step closer to my booze filled dreams...

DtRT: Do the Right Thing

2005-07-30T18:01:00.000+01:00

This is my 100th blog post!

To mark the occasion, I thought I use the post to do something worthwhile...

As I mentioned in my I'm with the band post I've been trying to improve the way I interact with the world; trying to do my little part to make the world a better place.

The feeling that I needed to change/do something started as my 30th birthday loomed last year. The idea that I was going to be older, and therefore ~~presumably~~ more mature, evolved into me realising I should take more responsibility for the impact I have on the this world and for the legacy that I would leave behind.

So I started to change my attitudes and involvements with things like recycling, charity and the environment. Just little things at first, but like they say - "Every little helps".

Feel the same way?
Want to make a difference?

Here's where you can start:

First read The Rough Guide to a Better World; a very informative but easily read book. It's a good place to start and will teach you everything you need to known about world poverty, charities, fair trade and advocacy.

Then visit the we are what we do website and check out their list of the little things you can do everyday to change the world.

I'll post more suggestions and more on this subject in the future (look for DtRT in the post title), but remember doing the right thing doesn't stop you having fun.

Inter-networking

2005-07-30T14:08:00.000+01:00

Yay! A couple of photos I've taken have been published on two of my favourite blogs:

Savage Chickens has a spookily apt picture of a theatre poster I spotted on the Paris Metro.

&

The Moxie Blog has a picture of me and my Moxie t-shirt in Paris as part of it's Moxie Shirt Adventures. I'm picture 18, near the bottom.

See, sharing is fun.

Universally Translated

2005-07-29T19:11:00.000+01:00

I've signed up to Blog in Space - it's a website that beams blog feeds into deep space.

Why? Why not? Who knows, there might be something out there to read them.

And if I do have any interstellar readers, don't forget to say 'Hi' in the comments.

I'm with the band

2005-07-29T18:32:00.000+01:00

Charity bands have become popular over the past year. While I'm not a jewelry person generally, I too have subscribed to this new fashion and currently wear two bands:

The first is a white band for Make Poverty History (which I bought from Actionaid). As part of my attempt to make the world a better place I became involved with the campaign. While I didn't go to any of the protests, I did join in the online/postal advocacy campaign and wear the band to show my support.

The second is a black band from LIVEWRONG. Their philosophy is basically; do what you like. This speaks to the rebel in me and I like the way both the philosophies and the colours contrast each other.

However, I was criticised for wearing them on different wrists the other day. Apparently, this is a sign of racism - separating the colours. Now that's taking things too far...

Silent Bob says what?

2005-07-29T18:14:00.000+01:00

Look what I found - My Boring-Ass Life. It's a blog for writter/director Kevin Smith, he of Clerks and Silent Bob fame.

Just as raw and honest as most of his writing.

Buy An Evening with Kevin Smith (DVD)@Amazon.co.uk

The Doctor's New Clothes

2005-07-28T14:11:00.000+01:00

from BBC News

This is how the new Doctor will look - geek chic. I like it.

It's good to see him back in a suit, the leather jacket of the last Doctor never seemed right.

I watched the majority of the last season - 3/5. They had some genuinely interesting concepts and scary moments but these were washed over by a bizarre comedy streak that ran through the series. I think they found it hard to balance the adult/dark side of the stories (the X Files/Twilight Zone elements) with the family viewing image/time-slot.

Buy the Doctor Who Series 1 Boxset (DVD)@Amazon.co.uk

Recommended by God?

2005-07-27T14:33:00.000+01:00

You can make your own signs at churchsigngenerator.com, they also have a collection of humorous real-life church signs.

Go, and may your God go with you.

Buy Dave Allen - The Best of (DVD)@Amazon.co.uk

Shirt Ninja

2005-07-26T14:50:00.000+01:00

Ever wondered what to do with those old black t-shirts that you are too embarrassed to wear anymore?

Ever had to perform a last minute stealth mission but left your black-out gear at home?

Never fear, Enter the Ninja has the answer. Click over to their site and discover how to solve both problems at once.

Shocking Pink?

2005-07-25T14:42:00.000+01:00

These posters are part of the new advertising campaign to promote my home city:

It has been criticised in the press for being crass and putting Salford in a negative light. I quite like it. It's a clever play on words that uses the sometimes negative image of a city suburb to highlights it's hidden features.

But pink? Why?

The Vicar's T-shirt Sale

2005-07-21T18:16:00.000+01:00

Yay! Now I MUST buy something...

Scotty Dies at 85

2005-07-21T18:00:00.000+01:00

Star Trek's Scotty dies aged 85
BBC News

I'm not sure why, but I always though Scotty/James Doohan was the nice one from the ST:OS crew/cast.

He's one of the reasons I became and engineer and also one of the reasons I stopped. Working in a factory doesn't have the same buzz as fixing a warp core...

Dead Funny

2005-07-20T00:36:00.000+01:00

I found these faux graves in Boot Hill, Frontierland, Disneyland Paris.
Who said death can't be funny...

AFB

2005-07-13T18:00:00.000+01:00

AFB - Away From Blog

I'll be in Paris for the next few days so no posts here. Instead surf over to my holiday blog - My 2 Grand Adventure - to follow my travels.

Threadless No More

2005-07-11T19:49:00.000+01:00

I finally got my first t-shirt order from Threadless.com, I should have received it weeks ago but its been stuck at the post office. I am very happy with the quality, although they're not 100% cotton the weave is soft and they have a good shape, and the t-shirt name in the back is a nice touch.

I'll deffinately be ordering from them in the future.

My orders:

- - -

I forgot to mention more T vicar when I did my last t-shirt post. They have a large range, lots of designers and some realy nice Ts. I've not ordered anything yet but my resistance is failing...

Must ... not ... buy Batman t-shirt ... need money ... for ... food.

London Eye mate, do not pass go.

2005-07-11T14:49:00.000+01:00

Now here is a cool idea:

Monopoly Live

Equip 18 taxis in London with GPS, link them to an online Monoply London board and you have an interactive game with a reality twist. Choose your cab, spend your £15 million on property, place a couple of hotels and apartments and away you go.

The game lasts for 24-hours and updates every 15 mins. For every £1m you've made at the end you get one entry into a prize draw.

Plus, it's FREE to play.

Buy Monopoly Here & Now Limited Edition (board game)@Amazon.co.uk

Terror Attack on London

2005-07-07T14:50:00.000+01:00

London rocked by terror attacks
BBC News

A terrorist attack on London the day after it is awarded the 2012 Olympics and while the G8 conference is being held.

Coincidence? I don't think so

Evil? Without a doubt.

I'm wearing boots of escaping...

2005-07-06T23:36:00.000+01:00

Magic Missile movie

D&D meets Cops ... pure geek-funny. Go. Watch. Giggle.

Chick, chick, chicken...

2005-07-06T22:28:00.000+01:00

Now Savage Chickens is a perfect example of a simple idea, done well to create a v.cool, funny webpage. Damn, I wish I had ideas like this.

Now for a chicken joke:

Q: Why did the serial-killer chicken cross the road?

A: To get to the other homicide.

Buy Chicken Run (DVD)@Amazon.co.uk

OOOOO

2005-07-06T14:09:00.000+01:00

London beats Paris to 2012 Games
BBC Sport

Well done! I mean it's not 'Manchester gets the Olympics' but it's better than it going to Paris.

A regular festival sofa goer

2005-07-04T14:46:00.000+01:00

I spent most of this Saturday/Sunday morning watching Live 8 on BBC from the comfort of my sofa.

I also, spent most of the previous Saturday/Sunday morning watching Glastonbury 2005 on BBC from the comfort of my sofa.

I becoming a bit of a agoraphobic, ~~festival~~ sofa goer.

I've never been a big music person. I enjoy listening to music but don't follow bands or subscribe to any particular genre. I only went to my first concert a couple of years ago. Because of this, and my dislike of camping, I've never been too taken with the festival thing and this is probably the closest I'll come to attending one.

I was a little bored with the Glastonbury coverage. They focused on the main Pyramid stage for the majority of the time and the bands that played there all had a similar feel (Keane, Coldplay, Kaiser Chiefs).

Live 8 was much more interesting. Not only did you have a wider range of styles (although mainly white, western pop for which they were criticised) but you were constantly entertained by Jonathan Ross screwing up his links. Highlights included:

JR linking to Brian Wilson saying "Now we go over to Brian Wilson in Philadelphia, although having met him he probably doesn't know were he is". Then going to BW who was playing in Berlin.

JR referring to the live feed from the Big Screen in Manchester as Birmingham at least twice.

Class! Thanks Jonathan for putting the live in Live 8.

Buy Live Aid [1985] (DVD)@Amazon.co.uk

Happy Independence Day!

2005-07-04T14:31:00.000+01:00

Happy holidays to all the crazy Americans I met, including: the mad woman on the train from Niagara to NY, the other crazy woman in the NY bar, the two crazy and young girls from Kingston Mines ... can you spot a pattern?

If you have no idea what I'm talking about, go and read my holiday blog about my trip to the US - My 2 Grand Adventure

I'm also going to use this other blog for my trip to Paris (and any further travels) next week. I guess that means I'll have to write-up my last day in the US and finish uploading my 700+ pictures ... DAMN.

Buy Independence Day (DVD)@Amazon.co.uk

Virtual G8

2005-07-02T22:01:00.000+01:00

Virtual G8

This is me at the virtual G8 rally. Go. Join up. Do the right thing.

Ectoplasmic Freeze Cannons

2005-07-02T21:29:00.000+01:00

I found this while sorting through my stuff for eBay:

It was tucked in an old Real Ghostbusters annual. I was a big fan of Ghostbusters, both the film and the cartoon, and I must have designed this back in my creative youth.

Look at the detail! You could almost start construction.

Buy Ghostbusters (DVD)@Amazon.co.uk

Post-It Elvis

2005-06-30T00:39:00.000+01:00

from Mental Hygiene

Isn't this AMAZING! A wall mosaic made from 2,500+ post-it notes. Head over to Mental Hygiene to find out how to make your own.

Now if I can just find someone at work to sign that requisition form...

Buy Elv1s: 30 #1 Hits (CD)@Amazon.co.uk

Chocolate Sunday Morning

2005-06-30T00:14:00.000+01:00

How to Make:

1 part Brandy
1 part Baileys
1 part Tia Maria
Cola to fill.

How to make:

Add the spirits to a tall mixer glass, then add the cola.

It should react with the Baileys and foam up. The whole thing will look like brown foam with sludge at the bottom. It looks like someone's thrown up in the glass but tastes like chocolate; hence the name.

It might look horrible but it tastes really nice ... Honest.

I invented this cocktail by accident a couple of years ago. It costs about 8-quid in a bar. I used to buy it for peoples birthday drink, the girls would rarely drink it though ... sissies!

Final Countdown

2005-06-28T15:11:00.000+01:00

Channel 4 Countdown presenter Richard 'Twice Nightly' Whiteley died on Sun. Student life will never be the same...

BBC News Obituary

Clearout!

2005-06-26T22:51:00.000+01:00

I'm doing a bit of a life laundry to raise some money and make some room.

Why don't you take a look at my eBay site and see it there's anything you are interested in:

Mark's Great eBay Clearout

I'm listening dreaming.

2005-06-25T23:44:00.000+01:00

I had a dream the other night that they had made another season of Frasier. However, Kelsey Grammer didn't want to appear so they replaced him with Lionel Blair!

And I didn't even have cheese before bed...

Buy a Fraiser (DVD)@Amazon.co.uk

Old iron, old iron ...

2005-06-22T14:38:00.000+01:00

BBC News

Isn't this cool.

The a statue is built from the average WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment) a person discards in their lifetime. WEEE Man is touring the country highlighting this waste problem. Find out more here.

It reminds me of the Iron Giant; one of my favorite books as a kid. I still haven't got round to watching the film.

Buy Iron Giant (DVD)@Amazon.co.uk

Good game, good game.

2005-06-22T00:44:00.000+01:00

Learn how to ~~cheat~~ play better at some classic games in this BBC News article.

If you don't believe me, go ask the folks at Christie's...

Supertrooper

2005-06-19T17:17:00.000+01:00

I just found a link to the Star Wars fan film Troops.

A brilliant SW spoof featuring Tatooine Stormtroopers in 'Cops' style documentary. I haven't seen this in years. An A+ short film, I just can't believe it's eight-years old.

If you've never seen it or, like me, haven't seen it in a while, go and view it now.

<wave of hand> This is the short film you're looking for.

Mange tout Rodney, mange tout.

2005-06-19T00:41:00.000+01:00

I'm going to Paris.

This will be the first trip since I went to the US for my birthday last year. I must admit I developed an itch for traveling then and I've finally saved up enough money and courage for another adventure.

It's only a short trip; four-days in Paris. I arrive on Bastille Day and will be staying in another hostel. Apart from the sights and sounds of the city, I plan to spend a day at Disneyland Paris.

I guess I'd better start practicing my Del Boy language skills ...

Buy a Only Fools and Horses DVD@Amazon.co.uk

One Happy Bat Geek

2005-06-17T18:10:00.000+01:00

I saw Batman Begins last night and I nearly cried when it ended ...

4/5 - the best Batman film by far. Harsh, believable and scary. Batman (rather than just Bruce or the villains) works for the first time; he finally becomes the star and is both believable and effective. With a good balance of action, drama and wit it's as good as Spiderman (with which it shares a similar structure) only darker.

If you don't believe me, that's OK I'm not offended, check out the Empire review.

If you have no idea what I'm going on about, shame on you, go immediately to BBC News and read their history of the Batman films. Do Not Pass Go. Do Not collect £200.

Then go to DC Comics and discover the source ...

Circle of Cup Life

2005-06-16T18:52:00.000+01:00

Save a Cup

There's something very Buddhist about vending machine cups being recycled into vending machine cup holders.

Aside: Thinking about this I looked up the definition for reincarnation. According to traditional beliefs there are five classes of living being: god - human - animal - hungry ghost - denizen of hell. Hungry and a ghost! Man, that's just mean.

Grave News 3

2005-06-16T18:16:00.000+01:00

In addition to my previous posts, here are a couple more celebrity epitaphs courtesy of an article in today's Daily Express:

Billy Wilder 1906-2002: I'm a writer but then nobody's perfect

Jack Lemmon 1925-2001: Jack Lemon in

As this is almost a regular feature now, I though I'd explain my interest...

Despite the creativity and wit of well chosen 'final words', I have a particular fondness for cemeteries. As a young lad, my Grandad and me would take his dog Bluey for a walk in his local cemetery; the only green space nearby. These fond memories and a sense of reverence found my like of cemeteries and mean that I think the 'people' who defile them are scum.

Of course this doesn't mean I'm not scared in cemeteries at night ... O-o-o-h! S-p-o-o-o-k-y!

See my vest ...

2005-06-15T14:49:00.000+01:00

From BBC News Magazine

All together now ...
See my vest, see my vest, made from real gorilla chest.

Buy a Simpsons DVD@Amazon.co.uk

Star Wars Redux

2005-06-14T16:14:00.000+01:00

So, I've seen Revenge of the Sith.

It's over. Well, if you don't count the TV plans.

So, final verdict? It was enjoyable; 3 out of 5.

I think the reason why I like the original trilogy so much as a kid it because I was a kid. They were genre-setting and evolutionary in film making/special effects term and they will always have a special place in my heart. The new films not so. I'm sure the kids who see them with feel the same way I did 20+ years ago. Which is fine, after all it's this new generation who the films were aimed at.

If you going SW cold-turkey is too much to handle, here are a couple of quick-fixes to tide you over:

Keltech Strikes Back: see and listen to Darth mix the Imperial March like a master.
Revenge of the Brick: EpIII Lego style. Don't forget to visit the screening room for the previous
M&Ms Chocolate Mpire: see the true power of the Dark Chocolate side; product placement.

Or you could buy the original trilogy on DVD and re-live that childhood awe all-over again...