Douglas Adams: Parrots the Universe and Everything

Douglas Adams was the best-selling British author and satirist who created The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. In this talk at UCSB recorded shortly before his death, Adams shares accounts of some of the apparently absurd lifestyles of the world's creatures, and gleans from them extraordinary perceptions about the future of humanity.

Richard Dawkins Lecture at UC Berkeley

Divshare Down...

The filehosting site I use is down at the moment. I hope it will be up and running again soon. I'll leave it for a while but if things don't improve I'll search for a new host. So for the moment all the links to Scotney, Brent, Conchords and a few other bits and bobs are broken.

Ho hum.

Oh YES!

You have to be a fully paid up child of the 70's and 80's to appreciate this. While I was watching it I started grinning like an idiot.

I hate it when this happens.....

Oh bother...

Oscar-winning special effects expert Stan Winston, who created the creatures in films including Aliens and Jurassic Park, has died at the age of 62.
Winston, who also made the robots in Terminator, died at home in California surrounded by family on Sunday.

The film veteran had been battling multiple myeloma, a plasma cell cancer, for seven years, a representative of the Stan Winston Studio said.

He had worked with Steven Spielberg, James Cameron and Tim Burton.
During his 40-year career, he became a pioneer of merging real-world effects with computer imaging.

California governor and former Terminator star Arnold Schwarzenegger said: "The entertainment industry has lost a genius, and I lost one of my best friends.
Stan's work and four Oscars speak for themselves and will live on forever."

"What will live forever in my heart is the way that Stan loved everyone and treated each of his friends like they were family."

Winston won Oscars for his work on Aliens, Terminator 2: Judgment Day and Jurassic Park.


He also received Oscar nominations for Batman Returns, Edward Scissorhands, The Lost World: Jurassic Park, AI, Predator and Heartbeeps.

Winston had recently worked on director Jon Favreau's box office success Iron Man, starring Robert Downey Jr and Gwyneth Paltrow.

Favreau said: "He was experienced and helped guide me while never losing his childlike enthusiasm.
"He was the king of integrating practical effects with CGI, never losing his relevance in an ever-changing industry."
The director added that he was proud to have worked with Winston and had been looking forward to future collaborations.
"I knew that he was struggling, but I had no idea that he would be gone so soon. Hollywood has lost a shining star."


Winston's most recent film projects included Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins, GI Joe, Shutter Island and the futuristic Avatar, for which he reunited with Aliens director James Cameron.

Cameron paid tribute, saying: "He ran at full throttle, in both work and play, and was a man of kindness, wisdom and great humour.

"He was a kid that never grew up, whose dreams were writ large on the screens of the world. I am proud to have been his friend, and I will miss him very deeply."

Winston grew up in Virginia, where he enjoyed classic horror films, drawing and puppetry.

He graduated from the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, in 1968 and tried his hand as an actor before gravitating towards working behind the scenes.

He completed a three-year make-up apprenticeship at Walt Disney Studios in 1972.

Winston is survived by his wife Karen, a son, daughter, brother and four grandchildren.

Nice surprise this morning...

They said it might snow overnight, but I stopped listening to forecasts yonks ago. This time they got it right!

Mike Oldfield: Music Of The Spheres

Ok.... this is tough. I have been a fan of Mike Oldfield ever since I discovered my Dad's vinyl copy of "Tubular Bells" when I was about 8. It's hard to remember just how radical a record it was when it was released. Mike has come to be seen as a bit naff over the years, and today is seen as being about as "middle of the road" as you can get.

However, the first 3 albums "Tubular Bells", "Hergest Ridge" & "Ommadawn" are about as perfect as albums can be. In terms of style the first three albums can be seen as a trilogy and a time when Mike was at his creative peak.

The next few albums "Incantations", "Platinum", "QE2", "Five Miles Out" & "Crises" all have much to recommend them. Mike is obviously trying out new things and this makes them somewhat patchy. When he hits the mark though the results are wonderful as in his cover of the ABBA song "Arrival".

Then come "Discovery", "Islands" & "Earth Moving". Oh dear.... The less said about these the better I think.

Then out of the blue comes "Amarok". This is the marmite of Mike's works, you either love it or hate it. Me? I Think it's fantastic! It's a completely schizophrenic album, but all the better for it. Stylistically it's all over the place, wavering between lilting guitars, heavy drum sections, avant-garde and.... well, you name it.

Now come the average years as I call them, "Heavens Open", "Tubular Bells 2", "The Songs of Distant Earth", "Voyager", "Tubular Bells 3", "Guitars", "The Millennium Bell", "Tr3s Lunas", "Tubular Bells 2003" & "Light & Shade".

Now... there is nothing particularly wrong with these albums. They are all perfectly... pleasant. And that's the problem. As accomplished as they are they all lack that fire of inspiration that Mike had at the start. Of all of them the best are probably "The Songs of Distant Earth" and "Tubular Bells 2". The first is a great ambient album for chilling out too and the second an interesting riff on themes and ideas from the original "Tubular Bells" album. "Tubular Bells 2003" is a complete re-recording of the original album because Mike felt he couldn't live with the mistakes on the first one, and although it makes for interesting listening it lacks the soul of the original.

Now we have "Music Of The Spheres". This is of interest because it's his first orchestral work. I've only listened to it a couple of times and although I like it, it might as well be called "Tubular Bells 4". The themes are different but the structure is identical to "TB". Mike.... It's time to move on. I'd rather you made massively huge mistakes trying to do something different than plough the same field again and again.

Flight Of The Conchords

Flight of the Conchords is a Grammy Award-winning folk, pop, and comedy band composed of Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement. Billing themselves as "Formerly New Zealand's fourth most popular guitar-based digi-bongo acapella-rap-funk-comedy folk duo"(having been bumped by a tribute band of themselves, Like of the Conchords), the group uses a combination of observation, characterisation and acoustic guitars to work the audience. The duo's comedy and music became first the basis of a BBC radio series and then an American television series, which premiered in 2007.

The above is the Wikipedia entry for Flight of the Conchords. They're the funniest thing I've come across in a long time. Comedy songs are the hardest thing to pull off and usually wear out their welcome very quickly. The Conchords songs all avoid that trap, they're funny but also work as songs in their own right. I guarantee that you will be singing "Business Time" for a week after you hear it.

There is a link on the right to the Radio 2 show they did a while back. It's a shame that the British contingent of the cast spoil it a bit. The Conchords delivery is very calm and deadpan (a little like Spinal Tap) but the Brits are in full sitcom mode and it can be a bit jarring at times.

Oh damn.....

British science fiction writer Sir Arthur C Clarke has died in Sri Lanka at the age of 90.

Born in Somerset, he came to fame in 1968 when a short story The Sentinel was made into the film 2001: A Space Odyssey by director Stanley Kubrick.

Once called "the first dweller in the electronic cottage", his vision of future space travel and computing captured the popular imagination.

A close aide said he died after a cardio-respiratory attack.

'Vision'

Sir Arthur's vivid - and detailed - descriptions of space shuttles, super-computers and rapid communications systems were enjoyed by millions of readers around the world.

He was the author of more than 100 fiction and non-fiction books, and his writings are credited by many observers with giving science fiction a human and practical face.

In the 1940s Clarke maintained man would reach the moon by the year 2000, an idea then dismissed.

A farmer's son, he was educated at Huish's Grammar School in Taunton before joining the civil service.

During World War II, Clarke volunteered for the Royal Air Force, where he worked in the then highly-secretive development of radar.

British astronomer, Sir Patrick Moore, had known Sir Arthur since they met as teenagers at the British Interplanetary Society.

"He was ahead of his time in so many ways," Sir Patrick said.

"Quite apart from artificial satellites there were other things too. A great science fiction writer, a very good scientist, a great prophet and a very dear friend, I'm very, very sad that he's gone."

He paid tribute to his friend, remembering him as "a very sincere person" with "a strong sense of humour".

Future thinker

George Whitesides, the executive director of the National Space Society, on which Sir Arthur served on the board of governors, said his enthusiasm "was what I think made him so popular in many ways".

"He was always thinking about what could come next but also about how life could be improved in the future.

"It's a vision that I think we could use more of today."

After a failed marriage Sir Arthur moved to Sri Lanka, then called Ceylon, in 1956, where he lived with a business partner and his family, and pursued his interest in scuba-diving.

From 1995, the author was largely confined to a wheelchair, suffering from post-polio syndrome.

The National Theatre Of Brent

I am adding a new link (on the right)to some mp3's of The National Theatre Of Brent.
The NTOB are Patrick Barlow (Desmond Olivier Dingle) and Wallace (Jim Broadbent).
Most recently Wallace has been replaced by Raymond (John Ramm). Mr Broadbent, I assume, is busy being one of the countries finest actors.

The conceit is simple, two men perform massive moments from world history. The problem is they are both idiots. Wallace and Raymond know their limitations, but Desmond Olivier Dingle is under the false impression that he is a great historian, director, playwright and actor.

The NTOB have been around since the early 80's, making TV and radio appearances as well as performing on the stage. One of my personal favorites was "Revolution!" where they reenacted the French Revolution. It is impossible, it seems, to get hold of any of their material as nothing has been released on DVD or CD. The stuff I have posted has been collected from the radio over the years.

So far there is "The Messiah" & "The Greatest Story Ever Told". Later I will post the 6 part series "The Arts & How They Was Done".

I hope you enjoy them.

A little respect please......

nuff said..

Oh.... my...... word.....

I have no idea what to think....

Matter....

Just out .....

Very exciting.

The Culture novels are some of the best (if not THE best) hard Sci-Fi books out there. Now all I have to do is wait for the paperback to come out. The hardback is £18.99!!! Also it's WAY too big to be portable.

If you haven't read any of the Culture novels start with "Consider Phlebas". It's a rollicking good yarn.

Christmas, New Year n' stuff.

Well, the festive season came and went as did the new year. Very pleasant it was too. Christmas always seems to bring out the best and worst in people, but on the plus side presents are involved. Not that I'm only thinking of material goods at that time of year.

Oh all right.... I AM only thinking of material goods over Christmas. Sue me.



We stayed in Bath and while we were there went to the Christmas market outside the Cathedral. It looks brilliant, until you realise that most of the huts are selling the same stuff. Once you know this it doesn't take very long to walk around. The mold wine was very good though.

The cold weather at the end of last year gave us some wonderful views from the back of our house. There were some lovely frosty mornings....


Some beautiful sunrises....


...and one morning we were treated to a rainbow. It wasn't raining but it was freezing cold. I can only assume it was light bouncing off ice crystals in the atmosphere.




I have decided to walk more this year (new years resolution... god I hate them!) but it gives me a chance to see a little bit more of the countryside around me. The walk to Guildford along the canal is especially tranquil. I'll try to remember to take my camera with me as there is always something to pause and look at.





The walk is about 4-5 miles. Much better than going to a gym!



The rain over the last few weeks has given us a surprise or two. We woke up one morning to find the river encroaching on our garden..


No where near our house, but you still get a nervous tingle in the stomach. Mind you, if it did get to our house it would mean that most of Guildford would be underwater.

Finally, I went for a walk today and ended up in my favourite spot. It's where I just like to sit and stare for a while. As I did this today I put my camera down beside me and let it run. It's my getaway spot. When life gets a bit hard to cope with I sit here and it all melts away. The quality isn't that great (thanks blogger for making my mpeg clip look as though the lens was covered in vaseline).

Scotney....

"It Came From Outer Scotney" is up and running again. There's an embedded player on the right that seems to be more reliable than the original links. Please remember we were a bunch of teenagers who had overdosed on coffee. If you want to know more about it check out the older post.

And may God have mercy on my soul.

Seasick Steve

It was one of those moments when you end up just staring at the screen in amazement. We were over at a friends house for new years eve and the TV was on in the background. It was Jools Holland's Hootenanny 07-08. I wasn't really paying any attention to it until this guy came on. It wasn't to the taste of the others in the room but my jaw hit the floor! How could I have never heard of him! He is, in a word, awesome!

So...

Ladies and Gentlemen....

I give you...

SEASICK STEVE!!!

New Post!!

I will post again! Really I will. I'll get all the pictures n' stuff together and do a proper post. It all came to a bit of a halt in October when my PC finally gave up the ghost. It was a long, drawn out, painful business.

But all is well now and my shiny new PC (nicknamed "The Beast")is humming away to itself and draining power from the national grid as I speak.

Happy New Year one and all.

-a-

Kwoon - I lived on the Moon

A great song and a wonderful video..... Never heard of the band, but will be keeping an eye on them from now on.

Mask.

Granada

Just enough time for a quick catch up. Back from Spain (pissed about this) where we spent a couple of days in Granada. The highlight being a visit to the Alhambra. It is the most amazing place, as is all of the old section of Granada. The location and architecture take the breath away.







A wonderful place. We also had dinner in a restaurant that had Flamenco performances. Although some of it was good I couldn't help thinking that maybe it was "open mike" night. Other than that, much of the week was spent reading and in the pool.

Ahhhhh it's a tough life.

The IT Crowd..

To celebrate the return of "The IT Crowd" here are a couple of my favourite clips from season one.





Fantastic show.

At last!!

It's been ages, but the lions share of the work is now done in the living room and kitchen.

YAY!

There are still a few bits to finish over the next month or two but for the most part it's done. Moving the furniture out of the way to get the new floor in was a pain, but the end result is fab.

Getting the granite in was a problem...

But worth it..

Old floor up, new floor down....

Am I ever going to get this lot sorted out...

We have the room back again!

All done.

For now.

Wait for it!

I think.....

Wait......

I think there may be a new post coming soon!

I blame Facebook. It's a stupid idea that's fussy to use and I just KNOW it's used to gather information on you so that advertisers can sell you even more crap you don't need.

So why do I keep going back to it?

DAMN THEM!

Peter Gabriel Blickling Hall 21.7.07

What a crazy weekend! Spent most of Friday stuck in traffic due to the colossal rainstorms that hit the UK, but made it to Norwich after about 6 hours or so. We booked into the hotel and fell almost immediately asleep. We arrived at Blickling Hall at midday on Saturday and spent the afternoon walking around the grounds. At this point the sun was out and it looked as though we were going to have great weather for the concert (should have known really). We then joined the queue at about 4.30 and waited until they opened the gates. Once we got into the venue I charged down the field to nab a spot up front, we were rewarded with a fantastic view of the gig. The rain DID come down but it didn't matter. PG was on top form, the whole thing was more raw than the "Growing Up" tour. Gone were the theatrics, it was just him and the band. It was fantastic to hear some of his older stuff like "D.I.Y", "Intruder", "Rhythm Of The Heat", "On The Air" and "Lay Your Hands On Me". Great stuff. Here are just a few of the pics I took...

"On The Air"

"Solsbury Hill"

The man himself..


Tony Levin




David Rhodes




















Sledgehammer!



Thank-you and goodnight!

A wonderful night! Thanks Peter!