The Day the Earth Stood Still…

The Day the Earth Stood Still was quite good, although this may just be in comparison to Twilight, which I had seen earlier today. Keanu Reeves was a good fit for the alien, a part that utilised his wooden acting skills to the max. It’s a remake of the 1951 film by the same name. I liked the original and this one wasn’t drastically different, except a bit of Hollywood cheese and the product placement (Honda, LG, Microsoft and McDonalds), which probably paid Keanu’s wage bill.

Even though I liked it, it’s quite a depressing film to watch. It’s 57 years since the original was made yet the message is just the same. We’re killing the planet and when an alien turns up we respond by trying to kill it too. So 57 years later and the human race still reacts to any situation by waving a stick. It would be nice to think a story like this would seem comical after all this time, but one look at the world shows it’s more relevant now than ever.

Cheers

Tim…

Twilight…

Just got back from seeing Twilight. I really should read up about the target audience before I see some of these films. If I had I would have known that this was a vampire movie for girls aged 10-14, or boys aged 10-14 who wished they were girls. I think it only fair to split this review into two parts.

10-14 Year Old Girl Review

The vampires can go out in the daylight, but they don’t unless it’s overcast because the sun makes them glitter like they are made out of diamonds, kinda like a fairy princess. The main vampire characters are so nice they don’t drink human blood, just animals they hunt in the forest. The vampires would never dream of turning someone into a vampire against their will, that wouldn’t be nice. All the vampires are quirky, yet adorable. The lead male is a dreamboat and deserving of an Oscar. He’s the best actor that ever lived. I’m going to cover all my bedroom walls with posters of him and write his name all over my pencil case and books at school.

Adult review

This film is total dirge. The acting is terrible. The plot sucks (no pun intended). It’s devoid of any redeemable features.

Please don’t go an see it unless you are a 10-14 year old girl!

Cheers

Tim…

PS. I’m sure it will do incredibly well at the box office and spawn a bunch of sequels and a TV series.

Orcan Update…

I’ve been in Sweden for the last few days at Orcan, the Swedish Oracle User Group. The event was held in the Yasuragi Hasseludden hotel about 20 minutes outside Stockholm. I was a surprised when I arrived as the hotel is a Japanese Spa and it didn’t really seem to be an obvious place to hold a conference. As it turned out it was a great choice. The atmosphere was very relaxing and the social event involved sitting and chatting in a hot bath then going for food. It sounds a bit strange, but it was good fun.

Some of the sessions were in Swedish, so I took the opportunity to use the spa facilities, including a flotation tank. It’s quite freaky lying in a big plastic bubble full of salt water with no light or sound. Sensory deprivation is a strange thing…

It was good to see some familar faces (Julian Dontcheff and Laurent Schneider) and meet some new people including Joel Goodman.

I’d like to say a big thank you to Patrik Norlander for inviting me to speak at the event and thanks to everyone who attended my talks. Hope to see you all again soon.

I think I’m going to be at home for the next few months. It looks like I’ll be in Chile, Bulgaria and Finland in the middle of next year, but for the moment life is back to normal…

Cheers

Tim…

More Discworld Books…

The recent travelling means I’ve been able to do some more Discworld reading:

The Truth: Ankh-Morpork gets its first newspaper. It’s all downhill from there on…

Thief of Time: The perfect clock is built, time stops and the world as we know it ends. Susan, Death’s Granddaughter, and the History Monks come to the rescue.

The Last Hero: Cohen the Barbarian and his Silver Horde decide to give the Gods what-for! Could this mean the end of Discworld?

The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents: A talking cat, talking rats and a stupid looking kid pretending to be the Pied Piper. Life is never quite as simple as a fairy tale.

Next stop, book 29. The journey continues…

Cheers

Tim…

Missing UKOUG…

I’m a bit hacked off because I’m missing out on UKOUG…

I got a free pass to check out the conference this year and I can’t go because I’ve got a cold. I spent the whole of yesterday in bed and I think I’m going back there now. I’m bored out of my brain, but every time I try to do anything other than sleep I feel really dodgy and my joints hurt.

It’s my nephews birthday tomorrow. If I miss that I’m going to be in all sorts of trouble, but it’s not looking good at the moment…

I’m off to Sweden next week for a conference over there. I hope I’m feeling better by then!

Cheers

Tim…