I mentioned before my sky-high expectations for the episode of Doctor Who to be written by Steven Moffat.
As it turned out Blink did not in any way disappoint. A beginning that gripped you, a middle that explored a number of mind-bending ideas and an ending that was as as unexpected as it was completely satisfying.
Science Fiction at its absolute best - funny and clever, non-linear and stylish. Scariest episode I can remember - I have bruises on my arm where Stanetta was holding on.
Sunday, June 10, 2007
Friday, June 08, 2007
So-So Day-Glo Logo is a No-No
The 2012 Olympics Logo is generating some heat, but very little light.
People are actually signing petitions to stop this thing - really, are there no issues more deserving of a grass-roots movement at the moment ? Anyone ?
Unjust wars (pick one at random ... ooo, how about Iraq) ? Crooked government ? Global Warming ? Saudi bribes ? House Prices ? Fuel Prices ? Unemployment ? Destruction of Green-Belt ? The Middle East ? English Cricket ? Genetic Engineering ? Police Stop & Search ? African Famine and War ? Zimbabwe ? The NHS ? Grammar Schools ? Collapsed Pensions Schemes ? Abortion ? Press Freedom ? Fathers' Rights ? Women's rights ? Rampaging Supermarkets ? Globalisation ? Elder Abuse ? Child Abuse ? Drinking Laws ? Smoking Laws ? Mother-in-Laws ?
It's a logo - it's fine, maybe it'll grow on us, and everyone will forget it the minute the last London 2012 souvenir t-shirt fades in the wash.
So, could anyone engaged in this ridiculous campaign please desist, take a breath, and do something useful with their indignation.
Tuesday, June 05, 2007
You are only seven men
One of my favorite musicians is Nick Harper, son of Roy. I once broadcasted a live gig over my cell-phone to Da Missus in Illinois because she adores him. Afterwards he chatted with my step-daughter on the phone and then wrote the sweetest note to her on an autographed CD cover -- it went along the lines of "don't ever change".
The song that features the line "you are only seven men" is now inaccurate because at some point, while I was probably watching CSI, it became eight. As in the G8. The lines go "you are only seven men, we are nations."
I don't advocate any kind of violence but I can understand the poor uprising. Actually, not just the poor, but those with a conscience of any kind. From what I have seen of the meeting of the G8 in Germany, it's a shed-load of political show-boating.
Greenhouse this and nuclear that. Tony Blair with the "End world poverty" banner quite frankly made me puke.
I say "get over yourselves" and start thinking about what you can actually do rather than sit eating banquets discussing it for the benefit of your own political (and financial) gain.
The last summit, there was an almighty momentum to relieve poverty. Commitments were made by various countries to contribute millions of greenbacks to the cause. How much has been fulfilled? I'll let you guess.
It is disgraceful that 8 PMs, Presidents, Finance Ministers or whatever you want call them can be so disingenuous. If you're set an objective at work and commit to it, you do your damndest to hit that, and people expect you to. Why does this not apply to the G8?
You are only seven men. We are nations.
The song that features the line "you are only seven men" is now inaccurate because at some point, while I was probably watching CSI, it became eight. As in the G8. The lines go "you are only seven men, we are nations."
I don't advocate any kind of violence but I can understand the poor uprising. Actually, not just the poor, but those with a conscience of any kind. From what I have seen of the meeting of the G8 in Germany, it's a shed-load of political show-boating.
Greenhouse this and nuclear that. Tony Blair with the "End world poverty" banner quite frankly made me puke.
I say "get over yourselves" and start thinking about what you can actually do rather than sit eating banquets discussing it for the benefit of your own political (and financial) gain.
The last summit, there was an almighty momentum to relieve poverty. Commitments were made by various countries to contribute millions of greenbacks to the cause. How much has been fulfilled? I'll let you guess.
It is disgraceful that 8 PMs, Presidents, Finance Ministers or whatever you want call them can be so disingenuous. If you're set an objective at work and commit to it, you do your damndest to hit that, and people expect you to. Why does this not apply to the G8?
You are only seven men. We are nations.
Monday, June 04, 2007
Brand, Not Bland
"Russell Brand's Brit jokes escape censure". I bet he's absolutely livid - getting rapped by Ofcom would've been the best news he's had since West Ham cheated (in all senses of the word) their fate.
ITV described the Brit Awards as being "edgy". Now THAT'S funny. The Brits are as edgy as Eurovision - witness the edgy acts that won in 2006 (James Blunt x 2, Coldplay x2, Jack Johnson...).
Russell Brand's material was good given the occasion and he delivered it with some style, despite obviously holding back. I wouldn't have done the friendly-fire gag, but I'm glad he did.
Holding back ? Well, yes. The man knows how to tailor his material to his audience. He's learnt a lot since he was sacked for going to work on September 12th 2001 dressed as Osama bin Laden.
Who are these 260 people who tuned in and were shocked that he was shocking ?
I'm hoping this event will encourage comedians to err on the side of riskiness in future. Comedians (and public speakers in general) should not be judged by bureaucrats. It could be sinister and it definitely spoils my fun.
ITV described the Brit Awards as being "edgy". Now THAT'S funny. The Brits are as edgy as Eurovision - witness the edgy acts that won in 2006 (James Blunt x 2, Coldplay x2, Jack Johnson...).
Russell Brand's material was good given the occasion and he delivered it with some style, despite obviously holding back. I wouldn't have done the friendly-fire gag, but I'm glad he did.
Holding back ? Well, yes. The man knows how to tailor his material to his audience. He's learnt a lot since he was sacked for going to work on September 12th 2001 dressed as Osama bin Laden.
Who are these 260 people who tuned in and were shocked that he was shocking ?
I'm hoping this event will encourage comedians to err on the side of riskiness in future. Comedians (and public speakers in general) should not be judged by bureaucrats. It could be sinister and it definitely spoils my fun.
Friday, June 01, 2007
The Big Blue
There was an incredible Obituary in the Guardian this week on Loic Leferme, the recently deceased freediver.
To freedive, you wear no breathing equipment. You take a VERY deep breath and ride down on a "sled" to a depth of over 170 metres. This takes just over two breathless minutes, so you are in no shape for sightseeing. You activate an air balloon that drags you the heck to the surface. "The Bends" is not an issue as you are not submerged long enough, so maximum speed is what you are looking for.
Most mere mortals battle Gravity; freedivers battle Boyle's Law. This states that at constant temperature, the volume of a gas decreases in proportion to pressure. Double the pressure of the air in your lungs, halve the volume of your lungs.
Imagine breathing out until you physically can't breathe out any more. Now measure the size of your lungs. This is the Residual Volume and as recently as 30 years ago it was assumed that no-one could survive a dive beyond the point that their lungs were crushed to Residual Volume.
They reckoned without a wonderful mammalian survival technique known as Bradycardia.
Literally it means low (brady) heart beat (cardia). As soon as the brain detects that certain reflexes are immersed in water, it slows the heart rate. As the heart is made of muscular tissue, this reduction in heart rate in turn results in a reduction in the amount of oxygen required by the body, which means that you can go deeper than Boyle's Law would seem to suggest.
Additionally there is a "blood shift" mechanism where blood starts to "shift" from other parts of the bodies and begins to flood the lungs to equalize the outside water pressure.
If this isn't a clue that humans have evolved from something that was comfortable in a hundred metres of water, I don't know what is. There is no reason for an Intelligent Designer to build this feature for a land-based biped.
At 170 metres, your lungs are compressed to the size of an orange and your heart-rate slows to 20 beats per minute. Your lungs are filling with blood, your sinuses full of water and you are being crushed from all sides. Normal atmospheric pressure is 1 bar, car tyres have 2 bars of pressure in them - at 170 metres you have more then 18 bars pressure on your body.
I've experienced Bronchopneumonia and this sounds to have the same kind of entertainment value. I can honestly say that I have never had an inclination to push myself to any kind of physical limit. I'm delighted that there are others in the world who are less sane and less boring by far, otherwise we'd never learn anything about where the limits actually are - not just where science thinks they are.
To freedive, you wear no breathing equipment. You take a VERY deep breath and ride down on a "sled" to a depth of over 170 metres. This takes just over two breathless minutes, so you are in no shape for sightseeing. You activate an air balloon that drags you the heck to the surface. "The Bends" is not an issue as you are not submerged long enough, so maximum speed is what you are looking for.
Most mere mortals battle Gravity; freedivers battle Boyle's Law. This states that at constant temperature, the volume of a gas decreases in proportion to pressure. Double the pressure of the air in your lungs, halve the volume of your lungs.
Imagine breathing out until you physically can't breathe out any more. Now measure the size of your lungs. This is the Residual Volume and as recently as 30 years ago it was assumed that no-one could survive a dive beyond the point that their lungs were crushed to Residual Volume.
They reckoned without a wonderful mammalian survival technique known as Bradycardia.
Literally it means low (brady) heart beat (cardia). As soon as the brain detects that certain reflexes are immersed in water, it slows the heart rate. As the heart is made of muscular tissue, this reduction in heart rate in turn results in a reduction in the amount of oxygen required by the body, which means that you can go deeper than Boyle's Law would seem to suggest.
Additionally there is a "blood shift" mechanism where blood starts to "shift" from other parts of the bodies and begins to flood the lungs to equalize the outside water pressure.
If this isn't a clue that humans have evolved from something that was comfortable in a hundred metres of water, I don't know what is. There is no reason for an Intelligent Designer to build this feature for a land-based biped.
At 170 metres, your lungs are compressed to the size of an orange and your heart-rate slows to 20 beats per minute. Your lungs are filling with blood, your sinuses full of water and you are being crushed from all sides. Normal atmospheric pressure is 1 bar, car tyres have 2 bars of pressure in them - at 170 metres you have more then 18 bars pressure on your body.
I've experienced Bronchopneumonia and this sounds to have the same kind of entertainment value. I can honestly say that I have never had an inclination to push myself to any kind of physical limit. I'm delighted that there are others in the world who are less sane and less boring by far, otherwise we'd never learn anything about where the limits actually are - not just where science thinks they are.
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