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Open Tech 2005
I was pretty rubbish on Saturday, and only made this event by the skin of my teeth – not an easy achievement given the state of London transport in the aftermath of recent events. Anyway, it was well worth going to, and there was the usual problem of deciding which events to see – the…
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The War of the Worlds
I’ve been meaning to write something about this since I saw it a couple of weeks ago. Critical opinion has been very mixed, and a couple of people of work seem to have found the whole thing enormously disappointing. But first things first, Spielberg’s transported H G Wells’ classic from nineteenth century Surrey to 21st…
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Captain Alatriste
In Spain, the fictional character, Captain Alatriste, has appeared on stamps. And now, the biggest budget film ever produced by Spain is being made about the man, starring Viggo Mortensen (of Lord of the Rings fame). So who is this man? He’s the creation of Arturo Perez-Reverte, the Spanish writer, some of who’s books I’ve…
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A Long Way Down
Nick Hornby’s latest actually took me a little while to get through, and I really couldn’t put my finger on why that was. But, much as I always seek out the latest Hornby fiction (must admit to giving 31 Songs a miss), I’m not enjoying his books as much as I did when he was…
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Cricket
Of course there was another sporting event at the weekend – days three and four of the Ashes. But with a poor batting performance alongside poor weather, I didn’t want to dwell on it too much. The problem is that there are a maximum of 20 more days for me to dwell on it while…
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Lance Armstrong
So another fabulous tour ended, and Lance Armstrong retires from professional cycling with his 7th consecutive win in what is quite probably the toughest sporting event on the planet. It wasn’t his greatest win ever – he only won his first individual stage in Saturday’s time trial, and Basso stuck to him like glue in…
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Jack FM
A Guardian piece on the Jack FM radio format that’s been invading America of late. I had quite a good listen to the Dallas version of this service when I was there a couple of months ago. In the States you see many more posters for local radio stations anyway, and although I’d heard a…
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Channel 4 or Sky News
At work I’m lucky enough to have a telly near my desk. So if the distractions of the internet weren’t enough, and with the constant sound of the radio, I’ve got something else to distract me. Yesterday was the first day of the first Test, so it was going to be Channel 4 all the…
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Stealth
Stealth is the new film from Rob Cohen, the guy who brought us The Fast & the Furious and xXx, and let me say from the outset, if you know any thirteen year old boys, they’ve going to think that this is the best film ever made. It’s set among an elite Navy fighter plane…
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Harry Potter on the Tube
I know I must be thinking like a complete snob, but I can’t be the only one who’s disappointed by the number of adults they’re seeing reading the new Harry Potter on the tube. Last night I saw a couple sitting together each reading their own copy. I think the worst thing is that some…
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Analogue Switchoff Inquiry
The new Commons Culture, Media and Sport Committee have announced an inquiry into the plans to switch off analogue telly between 2008 and 2012. Long time readers will know that I believe that it’s still far too soon to be switching off the analogue signal – particularly as there’s no real demand for the spectrum…
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Today’s Steve Bell Cartoon
I think this cartoon from today’s Guardian really says it all. See also today’s leader.
Podcasts, Radio, TV, Books, Cycling, Photography and More
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Yellowface/All The Lovers In The Night
Yellowface by R F Kuang I first came across R F Kuang with last year’s very enjoyable Babel, an alternate history of the British Empire told in a world where magic exists and is controlled by an elite group of individuals. Yellowface is very different, but no less enjoyable. It’s a book about books, and…
Hadrian’s Wall
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