Archive for December, 2002
The Quiet American
Thursday, December 19, 2002
Great plot, a great example of how the hollywood plot formula can work. Evocative setting, good acting from all the leads, Michael Caine is doing very well for himself later in life. I was amused to just find out that there was one previous adaptation of the book, made in 1958 just after the book was published. The book itself was a best seller at the time and most critics claim Greene to be prophetic in his vision. From seeing the film I would have to agree. Will have to read the book too.
Heart of Darkness Joseph Conrad
Thursday, December 19, 2002
It was very interesting to read this, I now see Apocalypse Now in a different light. I have to say I prefer the movie to this book, I think it is a bit more mature, maybe a bit more considered, maybe a bit more focused. Having finished it I’m not sure of its exact message anyway.
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Twoism Boards of Canada
Wednesday, December 18, 2002
Nice re-release of this older BoC album (EP by todays CD length standards really). It sounds very typical of their work. A fairly hectic D&Bey sounding track, but otherwise drifty melodiousness.
Everyone is a designer
Tuesday, December 17, 2002
This interesting computer science slash cultural analysis piece, Beyond “Couch Potatoes” (which is about the move from passive consumer to active participant) has sparked off some thoughts and helped draw some others into a cognisant whole. To kick off I’m going to call ‘em - in a fairly derivative way - the mass amateurisation of everything.
Everyone is a designer
Tuesday, December 17, 2002
This interesting computer science slash cultural analysis piece, Beyond “Couch Potatoes” (which is about the move from passive consumer to active participant) has sparked off some thoughts and helped draw some others into a cognisant whole. To kick off I’m going to call ‘em - in a fairly derivative way - the mass amateurisation of everything.
Everyone is a designer/programmer/publisher/artist. Never have we had the equalised power to create since the days when all it took were a cave wall, a hand and a mouthful of paint.
I’ve stolen the mass amateurisation term from Clay Shirky’s article and talks about the mass amateurisation of publishing. But I believe that this is the start of the mass amateurisation of everything.
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Last Chance to see…
Monday, December 16, 2002
… the Hunterian and Odontological Museums in Linclon Inn fields. They’re shutting down for 2 years of refurbishment.
Not to be confused with the Hunterian Museum in Glasgow, created by John Hunter’s older brother William. Both surgeons, both with an interest in comparative anatomy and both with large collections of medical weirdness. The Hunter household dinner table must have been a delightful place to hear tales of autopsies and strange aquired specimens.
Colliding galaxies
Monday, December 16, 2002
I was reading this BBC NEWS article about 4 galaxies colliding and thinking about scifi set in galaxies like that. I don’t think I’ve read anything except universe spanning space opera that has even talked about them. Most galaxy bound scifi has been set in our galaxy the milky way. Interesting.
Reputation
Wednesday, December 11, 2002
Here is my first online reputation powerpoint presentation. It’s probably a little on the un-informative side just being a set of slides. I’m going to try and bash out an expanded explanatory bit of text.





