good friends

hampton court, leompthta.

this was the bit of wood they gave you to say which food order you were, taken from a jaunty angle to effect a 2001 monolith vibe..

No, let's not.

Nearly here.

Fap, very fap.

The best music packaging of the year... Alt-J

signed, natch.

back...and to the left. back....and to the left

"Gran-ola"

Prometheus

So i went along a few days back to take in the scifi must-see film of the summer, Ridley Scott's Prometheus.

I tagged along with Boomtown and Tater to the Vue in Worcester.

The bean and olive deli round the corner from the Vue did us proud for pre matinee food.

And my thoughts?

Polished, very polished. But..a polished turd? No not at all. It looked fantastic. It sounded fantastic. It's clearly been stuffed chock full of meaning and reference to mythology and Alien lore.

There's a good article by this bloke that covers a lot of that palaver.

Here's what Empire magazine made of it.

The three-d didn't do a whole lot for me with the general action but it did add something to the ship's computer graphics that flashed up on the screen. The astral map in the engineer flight deck was damn fine.

The downside? Um well without spoiling it too much... They land on a planet, they go into a cave, they go back to the ship, then go back to the cave, then the ship, then the cave then finally go back to the ship. So while the mythology of what they discover is all important and relevant, the actual plot in terms of the action is a bit in-out-in-out shake your alien tentacles all about.

I've heard that it was originally going to encompass more in the story line but that certain plot strands were taken out to leave material for 2 more films that may now be made. Also there was a bit of a clunky basil exposition moment......i.e. "i'm mentioning something in depth in the opening scenes that seems incidental now but maybe just maybe there will be some relevance to it as the action hots up.."

It did stay with me as a bold visual experience. It looked great. I found the article (linked above) an interesting discussion on the film. I would definitely want to watch the next film in the series when made. 

So.......7 out of 10?

A patriot loves his country, a nationalist hates everyone else's..

Yesterday morning the queen (The queen? The Queen? thE quEen?) came to Hereford. 

 Here are some photos..

In my mind this bloke had to have a cockney accent. I didn't want to get anywhere nearer to him in case he didn't and the illusion would be shattered.

I clocked the wire, mate, i know what you're about.

umm...the money shot?

And the verdict? Quite momentous. Look at that fiver in your pocket? That was her. That lady on the  stamp on your postcard? She was a couple of metres away. A wierd kind of hysteria in the crowd. A sense that it is something you might only experience once in your life (particularly as she's in her eighties). Yeah, i got it. But in a cool non-rabid way.

Where are your friends tonight?

Sunset over the muesli belt..

Yes.

He aha te mea nui o te ao? 

He tangata! He tangata! He tangata!

What is the most important thing in the world? 

It is people! It is people! It is people!

Bike left out in rain. Whoops.

Newgale Sands. Witness the fitness.

greatbritishgreatbritishgreatbritish

Jubilee olympiad tea party torch blah di blah. All the supermarkets are going bat shit crazy over the patriotic frenzy that is supposed to be in the air at the moment. I realised it was going too far when Morrisons put up it's Great British Price Crunch flags. 

Great British Price Crunch? Great. British. Price. Crunch. Whaa?

When was that one of our traditions? Crunching prices. You got a price that wants crunching? Call in the British. Them French? Couldn't crunch a euro if they tried.

And they're throwing union jacks at every spare bit of packaging too.....

..............INCLUDING SOME BASIL. Grrrr. Pocco miserio! Mi dispiatchi gianfranco zola. Your basil belongs to us!

A June week in Newgale, some notes..

A trip to an old favourite for a meal out. Not quite up to it's old standards (it's been taken over). It's all in the chips.

A mid-holiday phone call from work to change my shifts. Just what you want. "Hangonhangon i can't find any paper to write it down on.... ok go on i've found something" 

Some rainy holiday entertainment

My moobs, a lament. Phillip Schofield fashion special. A high water mark for the saturday paper.

A day at the cricket

The new stand at....no, sorry, can't remember where this was

Mike Gatting and Angus Fraser spin some yarns during the lunch break