Tim


A minor clear out

At the start of the year, I set myself the target of uploading 1,000 pictures in to my gallery. So, when I ran out of harddisk space on my computer yesterday, I actually found some pictures I though I might upload.


Pictures Of Cars
– Imaginatively titled, including a day trip to Belle Vue’s Banger racing

Collectormania – Various pictures I have taken from Collectormania, including some famous actors, and some not so famous.


Location, Location, Location

Ian’s film (which currently has the title “memory”) has started shooting in Manchester.

I managed to take quite a few photos today of the cast and crew (which will be released later), but just to wet your appetite a little bit, the photos I took of the location and the view can be found here.

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It's back… and this time it's personal.

Futurama, the spin off from The Simpsons got unfairly cancelled. The good news is that the creators are making a new series.

The new series will carry on two years after season 5 and they will be addressing the Fry/Leela relationship pretty much straight away.

Links:

Futurama Series 1
Futurama Series 2
Futurama Series 3
Futurama Series 4
The Simpsons

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With enough soap you can blow up just about anything….

This week’s review is not so much at the cinema, more on DVD. The film is of course Fight Club.

Fight Club tells the story of an office worker (Edward Norton – “Red Dragon“, “American History X“) bored with his life and suffering from insomnia. He starts attending groups of terminally people, just to feel a release. Marla (Helena Bonham Carter – “Planet of the Apes“) then appears on the scene and while she is there, he feels nothing and drifts back in to the insomnia.

His life then changes when he meets Tyler Durden (Brad Pit – “Troy“, “Ocean’s Eleven“, “Snatch“) a soap maker and part time terrorist. They start a Fight Club to feel the release again, and progress from there.

The film tells you about little things that you have seen in the cinema but choose to ignore (like the cigarette burns) and what they mean. I don’t watch this movie over and over, because I feel that would ruin it, but when watched occassionally, you notice the little jokes you don’t get the first time around. “Flashback humour” being one of them.

The story is based on the novel by Chuck Palahniuk and is a very good adaptation. Not easy, as you will find out if you watch the film.

It is nice to now, in a world of growing terrorism treats, that this movie exists, especially with it describing the ways how to make bombs.

Remember: The first rule of fight club is… You do not talk about fight club.

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Doom turns 13

Thirteen years ago today, Doom by ID Software was released. It wasn’t the first “first person shooter” (Wolfenstein was), but it did change the face of gaming (not to mention the course of my degree) to a large extent.

Doom spawned a lot of competitors, including ID’s own Quake.

Don’t forget, you can buy Doom the movie.

Also-

Quake 4, Doom 3 and Return to Castle Wolfenstein

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Wednesday, Orange Wednesday

Last wednesday, Members of Team Spinneyhead made the trek to the local cinema to watch Daniel Craig in his new film, Casino Royale.

Daniel Craig has been in some memorable films such as Layer Cake and some not so memorable ones (such as Tomb Raider).

So… On to the nitty gritty, what did Team Spinneyhead make of the new James Bond…

Tim: The film is a bit oddly placed when compaired to the rest of the bond movies, given that it is the first, but set in the present. The DB5 makes an appearance and does the new Aston Martin DBS. Gadgets are light on the ground (Bond does has a few, but no Q). Apart from the scene where the Aston DBS gets destroyed, I liked the film (I liked the DBS too much to enjoy that bit). Not as funny as Woody Allen’s Casino Royale, but well worth the money any day of the week. Overall: 9 /10

Ian: It was definitely trying for a back to basics feel, and the action sequences are great. It’s been suggested that they were going for a Bourne Identity/ Bourne Supremacy kind of grittiness to make the series more relevant. I have to say they didn’t quite succeed if they were- the glamourous scenes in the casino and beach resort.

Highlights- the free-running chase, for more of the same see the fun District 13, the DBS crash (it takes a lot of nerve to write off three supercars for the sake of a good shot), “You died scratching my balls!” and the revelation that M has a home life.

Less good- without spoiling the plot for you, there’s a bit toward the end that just doesn’t fit comfortably into the film, everyone is acting at odds with their established characters and you just know it isn’t right. And the camp Swiss banker was hamming it up way too much.

Amazon Links:

James Bond Ultimate Editions Collection
Casino Royale – The Novel

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The Male Pill

The BBC is reporting that scientist has discovered the necessary chemicals to stop men ejaculating sperm. apparently, the man’s fertility will return within a few days after he stops taking it.

UPDATE: Don’t forget, Ian’s brand of contraception is available from the Cafe Press Store, entitled “Must Not Mention Sheep”

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Taking gaming to a new dimension…..

Ian was talking about actually building his sex toy at the weekend. Just to give him a headstart, I have managed to get hold of a spare PS2 controller (with vibrate function) from ebay. I have also located a programming guide for the PS2 (which does involve soft modding a PS2, of which we have access to 2), from PS2 DEV.

I do have a few ideas on what the software should ultimately do, but I will be happy just to get the vibration thing working to start off with.

Somehow I don’t think Sony are going to let us license this product….

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Spinneyhead Reunited?

I have been spending far too long on friends reunited. I have figured out that if I leave my email address in an unsubtle format, People can then figure out my email address from my profile. Further to this, to get my old friends to look at my profile, I have simply sent them an ecard. The ecard won’t let me type them a message, but if will let them view my profile.

I can only assume that Ian’s lack of postings for today must be to do with his new novel. Afterall, he is a few thousand words short at the moment.

Maybe Spinneyhead should have a reunion soon? Although most of the members keep in touch, whenever we get together, at least one of us can’t make it.