An interesting article on the mince spouted by creationists. In this case that Dinosaurs helped build the pyramids. Read, laugh, realise that these bampots are putting this rubbish into the minds of children as young as four and despair of governments somired in political correctness that they're not protecting our children.
Monday, August 25, 2008
Aye right!
MaltaToday
An interesting article on the mince spouted by creationists. In this case that Dinosaurs helped build the pyramids. Read, laugh, realise that these bampots are putting this rubbish into the minds of children as young as four and despair of governments somired in political correctness that they're not protecting our children.
An interesting article on the mince spouted by creationists. In this case that Dinosaurs helped build the pyramids. Read, laugh, realise that these bampots are putting this rubbish into the minds of children as young as four and despair of governments somired in political correctness that they're not protecting our children.
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Review: Clone Wars
It's fun, certainly, but is quite a bit further down the path of made for kids than even Return of the Jedi went.
There are moments where your expectations are decidedly jarred. The first being that, as this is distributed by Warner Bros; and not 20th Century Fox it doesn't have the Fox Fanfare opening it and, somehow, that's just weird. That piece of music, iconic in its' own right, has always been apart of the opening of a Star Wars film. Speaking of music Clone Wars doesn't even have John Williams' theme, but a variation on it. This is tinny, thin and lacks the majesty indicating this cartoon's real place in the world which is a TV movie. Much of the incidental music is a sort of cross between world music and mild rock which is fine of itself but, again, just isn't Star Wars.
Whilst we're on the beginning, there's no opening crawl, either. Instead it's a voice-over done in that cheesy American style which the old serials might well have had. Here, though, it just seems to be pandering to an audience who don't want to take the time to read.
Much of the advance rumour mill suggested that this movie would be a bridge into the new series which is to be set, apparently, between episodes 3 & 4. The rumours were wrong as this is set between Episodes 2 & 3 where it should have had a great chance for fleshing out Anakin's story and how he dealt with the aftermath of his mother's death and his response to it, certainly his first steps on the dark path to becoming a Sith. What did they make of this opportunity? "I don't want to talk about my past." says Anakin to his new padawan. Talk about a waste.
Actually, let's talk about waste. Padme barely appears, preventing any development of her relationship with Anakin, the politics (barring some drivel about the Hutts controlling space trade routes in the Outer Regions) are all-but ignored so there's no advancement of the overall situation and Obi-Wan & Anakin are kept apart so there's no sense of growing conflict between them. So the Star Wars Saga goes even further down the road of shallow spectacle. It's really little more than an excuse for one battle after another.
The good news is that it does that well. The battles are well-staged, the animation sumptuous and the voice acting excellent throughout. Indeed, Anakin works better than Hayden Christensen ever managed it. The animation department have gone for a style which often leaves visible 'brush strokes' on backgrounds or 'tool marks' on computer models making the art look more organic and less clinical than is too often the case with computer-generated imagery. That hyper-realism which seems to make things less real is subverted and works incredibly well. Using computers also allows the camera right into the middle of the action on occasion giving a soldier's-eye view of the proceedings.
As always, it's the story that lets it all down a bit.
Anakin fights Dooku again, but there's no real tension to it as you know it can't be resolved until Revenge of the Sith. If you haven't kept up with the comics or novelisations you may be confused by the heroes' familiarity with Asajj Ventress, the apprentice of Count Dooku as she's not explained at all. So much for "Always two there are; master and apprentice." Since Dooku is the Sith apprentice what's Sidious doing letting him have his own? Toe-curling cuteness is provided by the new padawan, clearly meant to be about 13 and fitted with the biggest baby-blue eyes you've seen outside of Jap-anime and a baby Hutt. Yep, you read right; a cute Hutt.
The whole thing with the Hutts is the most aggravating thing about the whole premise. Sadly, the franchise is going the Star Trek (and more recently Doctor Who) route of constantly shoehorning previous characters in where they're not needed. It began with Boba Fett into Ep 4's special edition which had the effect of reducing him from one of the galaxy's most feared bounty hunters into a standard minion followed by stuffing Chewbacca into Revenge of the Sith just because fans wanted to see him back.
Please stop listening to bloody focus groups.
Here it has resulted in giving the Hutts, and Jabba in particular, far too much power in the grand scheme. The Hutts are crime lords, not galactic potentates. Surely it wouldn't have been too hard to come up with the head of some galactic fiefdom with real value or strategic importance than stretching to having the Republic and the Jedi prepared to deal with Jabba? Don't get me started on Jabba's gay cousin from New Orleans, either. Other than pointing out that it meant requiring Padme to have an almost inside knowledge of the Hutt's family structure and where to find this cousin (Uncle? I really was past caring).
In short a movie which is to Star Wars what those digital roller coasters are to thrill rides; fine but not as good, as memorable or as much fun as the real thing.
There are moments where your expectations are decidedly jarred. The first being that, as this is distributed by Warner Bros; and not 20th Century Fox it doesn't have the Fox Fanfare opening it and, somehow, that's just weird. That piece of music, iconic in its' own right, has always been apart of the opening of a Star Wars film. Speaking of music Clone Wars doesn't even have John Williams' theme, but a variation on it. This is tinny, thin and lacks the majesty indicating this cartoon's real place in the world which is a TV movie. Much of the incidental music is a sort of cross between world music and mild rock which is fine of itself but, again, just isn't Star Wars.
Whilst we're on the beginning, there's no opening crawl, either. Instead it's a voice-over done in that cheesy American style which the old serials might well have had. Here, though, it just seems to be pandering to an audience who don't want to take the time to read.
Much of the advance rumour mill suggested that this movie would be a bridge into the new series which is to be set, apparently, between episodes 3 & 4. The rumours were wrong as this is set between Episodes 2 & 3 where it should have had a great chance for fleshing out Anakin's story and how he dealt with the aftermath of his mother's death and his response to it, certainly his first steps on the dark path to becoming a Sith. What did they make of this opportunity? "I don't want to talk about my past." says Anakin to his new padawan. Talk about a waste.
Actually, let's talk about waste. Padme barely appears, preventing any development of her relationship with Anakin, the politics (barring some drivel about the Hutts controlling space trade routes in the Outer Regions) are all-but ignored so there's no advancement of the overall situation and Obi-Wan & Anakin are kept apart so there's no sense of growing conflict between them. So the Star Wars Saga goes even further down the road of shallow spectacle. It's really little more than an excuse for one battle after another.
The good news is that it does that well. The battles are well-staged, the animation sumptuous and the voice acting excellent throughout. Indeed, Anakin works better than Hayden Christensen ever managed it. The animation department have gone for a style which often leaves visible 'brush strokes' on backgrounds or 'tool marks' on computer models making the art look more organic and less clinical than is too often the case with computer-generated imagery. That hyper-realism which seems to make things less real is subverted and works incredibly well. Using computers also allows the camera right into the middle of the action on occasion giving a soldier's-eye view of the proceedings.
As always, it's the story that lets it all down a bit.
Anakin fights Dooku again, but there's no real tension to it as you know it can't be resolved until Revenge of the Sith. If you haven't kept up with the comics or novelisations you may be confused by the heroes' familiarity with Asajj Ventress, the apprentice of Count Dooku as she's not explained at all. So much for "Always two there are; master and apprentice." Since Dooku is the Sith apprentice what's Sidious doing letting him have his own? Toe-curling cuteness is provided by the new padawan, clearly meant to be about 13 and fitted with the biggest baby-blue eyes you've seen outside of Jap-anime and a baby Hutt. Yep, you read right; a cute Hutt.
The whole thing with the Hutts is the most aggravating thing about the whole premise. Sadly, the franchise is going the Star Trek (and more recently Doctor Who) route of constantly shoehorning previous characters in where they're not needed. It began with Boba Fett into Ep 4's special edition which had the effect of reducing him from one of the galaxy's most feared bounty hunters into a standard minion followed by stuffing Chewbacca into Revenge of the Sith just because fans wanted to see him back.
Please stop listening to bloody focus groups.
Here it has resulted in giving the Hutts, and Jabba in particular, far too much power in the grand scheme. The Hutts are crime lords, not galactic potentates. Surely it wouldn't have been too hard to come up with the head of some galactic fiefdom with real value or strategic importance than stretching to having the Republic and the Jedi prepared to deal with Jabba? Don't get me started on Jabba's gay cousin from New Orleans, either. Other than pointing out that it meant requiring Padme to have an almost inside knowledge of the Hutt's family structure and where to find this cousin (Uncle? I really was past caring).
In short a movie which is to Star Wars what those digital roller coasters are to thrill rides; fine but not as good, as memorable or as much fun as the real thing.
Thursday, August 07, 2008
Vroom!
I bought a new car today!
Well, I say new. It's not, of course, but it's new to us. After several months of trying to make public transport work with a baby we decided we'd had enough. So I'm now the owner of a fairly beat-up silver Rover 25. It'll do me for a year until I get my test passed and my insurance down, although the latter wasn't nearly as bad as I expected it to be. That's not to say that I actively enjoyed the amount of money I shelled out today and I've hardly begun.
The tax is due up in November, it needs body work and a full valet. It has, at least, just been serviced and had its MOT done. Picking it up tomorrow.
I had been planning on buying a Honda Jazz, but they're still too dear and with the new model coming out in January the current model prices will fall then. Or if I'm making more money then I might buy something a bit bigger come renewal time. I did go and look at one at Arnold Clark's, but the whole process of dealing with them just put me off. Even having a connection to the salesman didn't make it a much more pleasant experience. I just don't like some of the thingsd they do. Like refusing to accept a personal cheque for the deposit despite it being on their list of accepted payment methods. Like having to give them a deposit to test drive a car in the first place. Mostly like their refusal to refund my deposit to my card but I have to wait for a cheque from them!
Bastards!
Well, I say new. It's not, of course, but it's new to us. After several months of trying to make public transport work with a baby we decided we'd had enough. So I'm now the owner of a fairly beat-up silver Rover 25. It'll do me for a year until I get my test passed and my insurance down, although the latter wasn't nearly as bad as I expected it to be. That's not to say that I actively enjoyed the amount of money I shelled out today and I've hardly begun.
The tax is due up in November, it needs body work and a full valet. It has, at least, just been serviced and had its MOT done. Picking it up tomorrow.
I had been planning on buying a Honda Jazz, but they're still too dear and with the new model coming out in January the current model prices will fall then. Or if I'm making more money then I might buy something a bit bigger come renewal time. I did go and look at one at Arnold Clark's, but the whole process of dealing with them just put me off. Even having a connection to the salesman didn't make it a much more pleasant experience. I just don't like some of the thingsd they do. Like refusing to accept a personal cheque for the deposit despite it being on their list of accepted payment methods. Like having to give them a deposit to test drive a car in the first place. Mostly like their refusal to refund my deposit to my card but I have to wait for a cheque from them!
Bastards!
Friday, August 01, 2008
Passengers to be fingerprinted at British airports - Computeractive
Passengers to be fingerprinted at British airports - Computeractive
This really smacks of another step towards a police state in the name of fighting terrorism.
Every passenger photographed and fingerprinted on every journey? It really is nothing short of tracking teh movements of the populace. How long is it likely to be before we're bening asked to justify our reasons for making the trip? Then it's travel permits.
Sound paranoid? It does to me, too, but then I never thought I'd be getting fingerprinted every time I wanted to fly to London. Read that bit about the Home Office saying 'it would not be responsible in “satisfying the Information Commissioner that the right data protection is in place". and that it would "use its powers...to push the proposals through." In other words, sod what we want this sub-agency of the Home Office can do what it likes to our freedoms with impunity.
This really smacks of another step towards a police state in the name of fighting terrorism.
Every passenger photographed and fingerprinted on every journey? It really is nothing short of tracking teh movements of the populace. How long is it likely to be before we're bening asked to justify our reasons for making the trip? Then it's travel permits.
Sound paranoid? It does to me, too, but then I never thought I'd be getting fingerprinted every time I wanted to fly to London. Read that bit about the Home Office saying 'it would not be responsible in “satisfying the Information Commissioner that the right data protection is in place". and that it would "use its powers...to push the proposals through." In other words, sod what we want this sub-agency of the Home Office can do what it likes to our freedoms with impunity.
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