tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-74373952012-01-30T01:43:26.577+01:00<a href="http://thewetnoodle.blogspot.com/"><img src="http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f399/WetNoodlePics/NoodleTitle.jpg" alt="Fnord"></a>Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03467552519692855683noreply@blogger.comBlogger7781100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7437395.post-64527659356355737662011-09-07T02:00:00.003+02:002011-09-12T23:42:51.600+02:00

I was recently reminded of an amusing experience I had while looking at a painting in what I think was the Louvre. I initially wanted to share this on Twitter but I could not sufficiently condense the anecdote so I share it here. Incidentally, I have done a quick virtual tour of the Louvre in search of the painting that lies at the heart of this anecdote but I was unsuccessful. Upon consideration

Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03467552519692855683noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7437395.post-50665545763861105982011-09-03T02:47:00.013+02:002011-09-07T02:13:17.724+02:00

In recent weeks I've stumbled across a number of articles dealing with one of my favourite pastimes, the creature feature; the articles in question wondered aloud whether or not CGI monsters are as scary as the old-fashioned man-in-a-suit. One such article, written by the folks over at @denofgeek argued that no, they probably are not, and in a quasi-response to that article the people over at @

Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03467552519692855683noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7437395.post-66057854482160750242011-08-12T00:39:00.001+02:002011-08-12T00:39:39.267+02:00

... that if you go to Japan and travel even further east you will find an old man living on the coast just 40 miles east of Tokyo. If you give this man half a million dollars or something of equal value he will agree to take you to an island just off the coast that can't be found on any map. FnordThis island is occupied by people without faces or names, who hold powerful grudges over the most

Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03467552519692855683noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7437395.post-14848031632309812112011-03-15T22:29:00.005+01:002011-03-15T23:44:27.403+01:00

We were already nervous and on edge due to the serendipitous nature of our rendezvous here and now we also felt tiny and insignificant, gawking at this behemoth of a structure hulking over us. The thing was lit up brightly, illuminating the Parisian night; it shone a reassuring shade of old-fashioned yellow, the hue of decades-old newspapers, like it was adorned from top to bottom with the

Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03467552519692855683noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7437395.post-76181419721407079802011-02-09T13:27:00.000+01:002011-02-09T13:28:20.870+01:00

“Wait. So… what? You’re going to steal a time machine?” Lily asked, shaking her head as if trying to dislodge the cobwebs of Felix’ twisted logic from the nooks and crannies of her mind.Indent“No no,” Felix said. “Geez, Lil. You’re being so linear!”Indent“Explain it to me again, then.”The sky looked mildly depressed –the colour of freshly laid tarmac, an ominous shade of grey– and was gently

Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03467552519692855683noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7437395.post-35555197228435910402010-11-21T21:48:00.007+01:002010-11-21T22:33:49.706+01:00

You'd think that as you get older, you'd (by definition) get more experienced at life and living and consequently also get wiser, more discerning in your tastes and, god forbid, more articulate and literate. I've found this to be not so.Where a decade ago I would not hesitate to read anything from Shakespeare to Salman Rushdie to José Saramago to Umberto Eco, these days I tend to shy away from

Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03467552519692855683noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7437395.post-69929696795322986342010-08-09T09:37:00.002+02:002010-08-09T09:42:53.953+02:00

A distinct sound breaks the silence and fills the room, the contrast between silence and sound so stark that it seems to alter the very room itself, as if it bends space and time, warping the physicality of things. Fnord My heartbeat increases and my body jerks; no matter how subtle the sound is –I’d picked a soundbite from a videogame from my childhood, gentle and recognisable– is still startles

Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03467552519692855683noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7437395.post-382079015577393752010-08-04T09:28:00.003+02:002010-08-04T12:22:56.985+02:00

The bath was running. A couple more minutes and it'd be fine. Just enough time for one more drink before the big event. The grande finale. The show stopper, so to speak.Fnord He'd always been good at holding his liqour, a skill as dubious as it was useful. He tried to remember the first time he'd had a drink but it was ages ago, a memory submerged in the murky depths of his mind; it was

Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03467552519692855683noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7437395.post-44011884311550339472010-05-01T00:06:00.003+02:002010-05-01T01:29:08.261+02:00

As I was watching Sherlock Holmes again just now --in which there are many shots of London, with one in particular that caught my eye depicting Victorian era traffic crossing in front of the Big Ben (see here)-- I came to a realisation.New York City does not actually exist.I know. It's a shock. But hear me out.As I witnessed the shot described above I realised how it must have been a logistical

Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03467552519692855683noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7437395.post-49041560647794116022010-04-14T12:18:00.006+02:002010-04-14T13:41:51.154+02:00

Happiness, however elusive a concept it may be to describe, is something we all know and strive for in life. We are expected to be happy; society tells us we should be happy. And if you’re not, make adjustments and make sure you get there, sooner rather than later. Happiness is often regarded as an end goal, something we slowly (or rapidly) move towards, something we reach, like life’s finish

Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03467552519692855683noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7437395.post-29055487042326727252010-04-07T21:43:00.006+02:002011-09-06T19:39:51.675+02:00

I am completely inept both in front of and behind a camera, so whenever I do shoot a picture worth sharing it's usually due to blind luck. Such as today, when I wanted to take a picture of a lovely sunrise as I was driving to work. So, there I was, driving up 110 k/h, attempting to catch a sunrise in my viewfinder by leaning over to the passenger's side trying to get as close as possible to the

Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03467552519692855683noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7437395.post-58821098817262935662010-03-27T19:41:00.000+01:002010-03-27T19:42:06.754+01:00

Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03467552519692855683noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7437395.post-82824610279223769542010-03-24T01:12:00.003+01:002010-03-24T01:15:03.080+01:00

Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03467552519692855683noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7437395.post-69618836347086344422010-03-23T17:08:00.000+01:002010-03-23T17:09:49.121+01:00

Let me tell you what bugs me of the human endeavorI've never been a human in question, have you?Mankind went to the moonI don't even know where Grimsby isForget progress by proxyLand on your own moonIt's no longer about what they can achieve, out there on your behalfBut what we can experienceUp here and of our own timeAnd it's called mental wealthSource

Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03467552519692855683noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7437395.post-7393234074973125352010-03-14T11:54:00.003+01:002010-03-14T12:07:04.234+01:00

I'm going to make a tradition out of this - it could go on pretty much indefinitely.I bet you didn't know that the 2253th decimal of π is a six. Well, it is and now you do.More π-related goodness next year.

Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03467552519692855683noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7437395.post-25139183146128374632010-03-11T21:07:00.004+01:002010-03-11T22:16:33.214+01:00

So, why no post on the Oscars, you ask? Because Sandra Bullock winning Best Actress and The Hurt Locker winning everything else completely cancels each other out, so I'm entirely neutral when it comes to this year's Academy Awards. That's why.So that's out of the way. Over and done with.However, since I do feel like blathering about random films, here's this:I have a very broad taste in films,

Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03467552519692855683noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7437395.post-63888336927244476402010-03-08T21:15:00.004+01:002010-03-08T22:01:56.577+01:00

I have no title for this yet. A work in progress, so bear with me.___A stray dog. Not that he'd ever know it.Fnord No time, not a breathless moment, passed between him seeing the black and gray blur running onto the road in front of him, entering the luminiscent cone of his headlights, the only sources of light from horizon to horizon on this moonless night, and him pounding his foot down on the

Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03467552519692855683noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7437395.post-81557070034373120892010-02-24T16:54:00.001+01:002010-02-24T20:11:33.961+01:00

"Old people don't need companionship. They need to be isolated and studied so it can be determined what nutrients they have that might be extracted for our personal use."-- Homer J. Simpson

Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03467552519692855683noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7437395.post-60707585213080477452010-02-18T21:04:00.002+01:002010-02-18T21:13:05.339+01:00

Saw it. Mildly impressed. Mainly with the performances. Story, not so much.I might write some more about it at some point, but just to give you an impression of my thought process while watching the film, I will reproduce here the running commentary I posted on my Twitter account as I was watching.Ten minutes into Precious. First thought: Yeah yeah, odds stacked against her, a hard knock life, I

Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03467552519692855683noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7437395.post-16384177741593382832010-02-11T21:38:00.005+01:002010-02-11T21:46:55.150+01:00

I've stumbled across this very nifty little place online where you can collect all the loose strands web 2.0 has been throwing at you all these years and wrap them all up into one big fat bundle of interactive goodness. Which is handy, sure, but what it mainly is, is very, very pretty.Here's mine.Oh, and here's a filler image, just for kicks.

Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03467552519692855683noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7437395.post-3782258844838348202010-02-07T23:11:00.005+01:002010-02-20T14:24:54.466+01:00

That is when the Oscar ceremony will take place, so that will be my deadline. I intend to watch all ten films nominated in the Best Motion Picture category, to wit:Avatar;The Blind Side; District 9; An Education; The Hurt Locker; Inglourious Basterds; Precious; A Serious Man; Up; Up In The Air.Yes, even The Blind Side, despite the fact that, if that wins best film (or best actress), I will spoon

Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03467552519692855683noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7437395.post-60570652358677831892010-02-07T19:34:00.001+01:002010-02-07T19:38:01.475+01:00

It's a bad film. A very, very bad film. But who cares when it offers shots like this?Hmm. Lovely.

Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03467552519692855683noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7437395.post-65635861375560889292010-02-07T00:04:00.002+01:002010-02-07T01:51:39.808+01:00

In your belly button there is a tiny village. A tiny village with tiny roads, and tiny parks, and a tiny church, and two tiny pubs, and tiny traffic lights, and tiny houses with tiny windows and a tiny chimney puffing tiny puffs of smoke. And in these tiny houses live tiny people, a tiny father and a tiny mother and even tinier children; a tiny happy family going about their tiny happy family

Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03467552519692855683noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7437395.post-23257569735441771662010-02-02T21:21:00.004+01:002010-02-02T21:38:11.072+01:00

That freaky little Korean film which, beneath its eccentric surface, is actually a film about the unshakable connection between love and insanity, a parable for a world in which we need to believe in, and have understanding for, each other's failings. It is a film that comments on the nature of belief and on a humanity that we are in danger of losing through cleverness. It's an absurdist,

Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03467552519692855683noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7437395.post-31832851174247792752010-02-01T17:08:00.001+01:002010-02-01T17:08:49.159+01:00

3,14159265.

Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03467552519692855683noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7437395.post-86853745816187488142010-01-28T11:30:00.001+01:002010-01-28T11:38:47.895+01:00

"Nature is an infinite sphere of which the center is everywhere and the circumference nowhere."This is one of my favourite quotes, mainly because however long you decide to look at it and think about it, you won’t be able to make heads or tails of it in any shape or form. It is dripping with a kind of irrational, nonsensical, quasi-scientific meta-physicism to which you can react only with a

Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03467552519692855683noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7437395.post-75192267157042948422010-01-23T15:33:00.001+01:002010-01-23T15:34:51.983+01:00

Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03467552519692855683noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7437395.post-77509206949041395272010-01-17T20:22:00.004+01:002010-01-17T20:26:22.930+01:00

"I found a very useful [remedy] for when you're being physically bullied was to say 'No, no, no, no don't! You'll give me an erection.' "-- Stephen Fry

Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03467552519692855683noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7437395.post-72700428773541141962010-01-17T16:10:00.002+01:002010-01-17T16:13:06.193+01:00

Sure, Transformers set the bar for CG realism and Avatar (allegedly) revolutionised digital filmmaking. But who cares when it's usually the simple, unassuming shots that take your breath away.Point in case, the following, from Korean vampire flick Thirst, is the prettiest shot I have seen in ages.

Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03467552519692855683noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7437395.post-88151707048150602352010-01-15T01:42:00.005+01:002010-01-15T01:48:15.973+01:00

I want one of these.

Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03467552519692855683noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7437395.post-58174682886314961862010-01-13T20:45:00.008+01:002010-01-13T21:24:54.188+01:00

About two weeks ago, as I was watching an as yet unnamed film a strange thought occured to me, which I then promptly forgot. However, just now, as I was watching monday's episode of House MD, enjoying, as I do, watching Hugh Laurie ply his trade, that particularly random thought suddenly struck me again, much like it does House himself, around the 40 minute mark of every single episode, moments

Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03467552519692855683noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7437395.post-21960642030985469022010-01-12T21:56:00.003+01:002010-01-12T22:34:31.544+01:00

Being the European that I am, the entire Jay Leno/Conan O'Brien celebrity death match spectacle over at NBC has mainly passed me by; the only information I get is through Twitter, mainly because I could not be bothered to look up additional sources. What I make of it so far is this: NBC wants to bump O'Brien (who recently started hosting the broadcasting institution the Tonight Show, Leno's old

Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03467552519692855683noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7437395.post-5651666678930482692010-01-11T18:52:00.000+01:002010-01-11T18:53:38.080+01:00

Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03467552519692855683noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7437395.post-6315657317137493702010-01-09T00:02:00.001+01:002010-01-09T00:03:17.210+01:00

"This is how it works,You're young until you're not,You love until you don't,You try until you can't,You laugh until you cry,You cry until you laugh,And everyone must breathe,Until their dying breath."-- Regina Spektor - On The Radio

Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03467552519692855683noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7437395.post-88980297627869993152010-01-07T22:25:00.001+01:002010-01-07T21:38:44.435+01:00

... that if you go to Japan and travel even further east you will find an old man living on the coast just 40 miles east of Tokyo. If you give this man half a million dollars or something of equal value he will agree to take you to an island just off the coast that can't be found on any map. FnordThis island is occupied by people without faces or names, who hold powerful grudges over the most

Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03467552519692855683noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7437395.post-55482901408911684922010-01-05T22:40:00.000+01:002010-01-05T22:41:27.374+01:00

"You know, Hobbes, some days even my lucky rocket ship underpants don’t help."-- Calvin

Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03467552519692855683noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7437395.post-10700902424851413212010-01-04T22:21:00.003+01:002010-01-04T22:22:45.613+01:00

Ah. Lerts.

Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03467552519692855683noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7437395.post-21877399728089328602010-01-03T01:26:00.005+01:002010-01-04T02:00:42.819+01:00

I'm a tall guy, which means a couple of things:I can reach the top shelf; I have trouble finding a decent pair of jeans; chances are that I'll be fairly to incredibly uncomfortable in planes and (especially relevant in this case) movie theatres. The latter offers me an interesting, off-beat frame of reference for determining the overall entertainment value of a film. You see, if a film is

Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03467552519692855683noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7437395.post-72162288120639300092010-01-01T11:44:00.007+01:002010-01-01T12:28:11.326+01:00

Boy meets Girl. Boy likes Girl. Boy takes the plunge and tells Girl he likes her. Girl tells Boy that she does not like him in that way. Girl likes Another Boy in that way. Another Boy is not yet aware of this.Boy understands. Boy accepts. Boy thinks about it and wishes Girl all the best with her feelings for Another Boy. Boy asks Girl to promise to let him know if and when Girl and Another Boy

Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03467552519692855683noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7437395.post-35898309338812933002010-01-01T00:00:00.003+01:002010-01-01T00:00:00.660+01:00

Well. That was a shit year. Let's all make a deal right now and pretend it never happened.On to better things. Or something.

Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03467552519692855683noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7437395.post-36744062144479573672009-12-31T15:29:00.001+01:002009-12-31T15:30:19.211+01:00

Lovely, how 2009, in its very few remaining hours, managed to punch me in the face one last time.

Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03467552519692855683noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7437395.post-49649715015124581662009-12-30T21:23:00.001+01:002009-12-30T21:27:03.241+01:00

Oh Gmail, how I love you for always managing to make me feel like Harry Potter.

Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03467552519692855683noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7437395.post-81331812853815897932009-12-29T22:28:00.004+01:002009-12-29T22:51:52.145+01:00

The nurse looked around, wriggled around on her chair and tapped her fake, gaudy nail on the counter she was sitting behind. She stopped tapping, cocked her head, narrowed her eyes, listening intently to nothing in particular, then dismissed it. She picked up a sheaf of papers that were spread out in front of her and shuffled them into a neat stack. She put them aside.FnordShe picked an invisible

Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03467552519692855683noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7437395.post-84538729761969132202009-12-28T21:00:00.000+01:002009-12-28T21:01:02.410+01:00

Palindrome.

Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03467552519692855683noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7437395.post-47561810385656713402009-12-27T02:37:00.000+01:002009-12-27T02:38:37.264+01:00

Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03467552519692855683noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7437395.post-26234627762407094382009-12-25T18:52:00.001+01:002009-12-25T18:54:20.177+01:00

Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03467552519692855683noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7437395.post-42803882857265513082009-12-25T15:12:00.003+01:002009-12-25T15:35:00.687+01:00

The camera on my phone has a blink-detector: it claims to be able to tell whether or not the subject in the picture blinked at the moment supreme, offering you the chance to take the shot again. How this works and why we, as a species, need this particular bit of technology is beyond me, but it's there, it's available, so whatever.Anyway, imagine my surprise when, as I was taking a photo of my

Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03467552519692855683noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7437395.post-63499918255221095482009-12-23T19:14:00.001+01:002009-12-23T19:16:48.564+01:00

"What we call chaos is just patterns we haven’t recognized."-- Chuck Palahniuk

Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03467552519692855683noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7437395.post-71695232411423423992009-12-21T21:10:00.001+01:002009-12-21T21:50:13.368+01:00

I should write a post on the utter, utter brilliance that is Hugh Laurie; House M.D. is just the tip of his iceberg.I really should.Just not now.

Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03467552519692855683noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7437395.post-32443883685346986492009-12-20T18:01:00.000+01:002009-12-20T18:02:03.540+01:00

"Love is a snowmobile racing across the tundra and then suddenly it flips over, pinning you underneath. At night, the ice weasels come."-- Matt Groening

Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03467552519692855683noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7437395.post-92123174542429786602009-12-20T14:01:00.001+01:002009-12-20T14:03:05.399+01:00

Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03467552519692855683noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7437395.post-52977855461471088262009-12-19T01:42:00.000+01:002009-12-19T01:43:06.742+01:00

"I won't pretend that I am not a creature of the modern world, but I am at least aware that a price has been paid to achieve it."-- Stephen Fry - Last Chance To See, episode # 6

Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03467552519692855683noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7437395.post-607484888524758242009-12-17T20:36:00.004+01:002009-12-17T20:41:59.007+01:00

Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03467552519692855683noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7437395.post-12965841825805461072009-12-17T19:51:00.004+01:002009-12-17T19:55:29.680+01:00

Occam's razor \AH-kumz-RAY-zer\ noun-- a scientific and philosophic rule that entities should not be multiplied unnecessarily which is interpreted as requiring that the simplest of competing theories be preferred to the more complex or that explanations of unknown phenomena be sought first in terms of known quantities.Got it?

Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03467552519692855683noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7437395.post-17966019202865942832009-12-16T21:30:00.010+01:002009-12-16T22:39:13.371+01:00

You'd be forgiven for finding Where The Wild Things Are narratively underwhelming. There is no distinguishable plot to speak of beyond childlike ruminations and innocent playfulness. But bear in mind that a film that takes place solely in the imagination of a young and lonely child perhaps doesn't require an emphasis on plot and narrative. It's often the simpler films, the ones depicting the

Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03467552519692855683noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7437395.post-23214110014508966752009-12-16T18:19:00.001+01:002009-12-16T18:19:36.465+01:00

"When you're in a camp, and a bear attacks the camp, you don't have to be able to run faster than the bear, you've just got to be able to run faster than the slowest camper."-- Michael Ruppert

Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03467552519692855683noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7437395.post-10524850258406223152009-12-15T20:52:00.003+01:002009-12-15T21:42:08.908+01:00

Forget Roland Emmerich's interpretation of the Mayan's prophecies, however pretty and wham-bam-spectacular it may look in his film 2012. That, we all know full well, is not how the world will end. In fact, the world will not end at all. Not in our lifetimes, at least. Or this millenium, for that matter. The Earth will be here for a very, very long time.Civilisation as we know it, on the other

Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03467552519692855683noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7437395.post-91412405192608531432009-12-14T22:29:00.001+01:002009-12-14T22:29:37.942+01:00

Onomatopoeia.

Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03467552519692855683noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7437395.post-41782683381666118572009-12-14T21:21:00.004+01:002009-12-14T21:29:11.755+01:00

There seems to be some kind of balance in the world when it comes to electrical appliances breaking down or working properly. When one is fixed anywhere in the world another one breaks down elsewhere. It's like a narrow tube filled with marbles: when you push one into it on one end, another one must fall out at the other end. It's like there can only be so many properly working electrical

Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03467552519692855683noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7437395.post-57124253153638532009-12-14T01:28:00.001+01:002009-12-14T02:13:48.761+01:00

Time for some deep thought. I'm winging it and it's well past midnight, so, to quote Prince, forgive me if it goes astray. Besides, I haven't researched this in any way, so I might be kicking a dead horse here. Basically, what I'm asking is, humour me.The question I'm pondering is this: does the understanding of evolution nullify evolution?I think that it could be argued that we, as a species,

Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03467552519692855683noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7437395.post-65392013781396980672009-12-12T21:28:00.004+01:002009-12-12T21:46:40.564+01:00

Some say this mysterious spiralling light, which appeared over Norway on december 9th, was a faulty Russian missile. I say it isn't. I say it's an interdimensional portal. I say (again) that they've arrived.I told you so.

Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03467552519692855683noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7437395.post-14010497991595063712009-12-11T23:01:00.000+01:002009-12-11T23:01:00.719+01:00

Mail Goggles, it's just really not going to work. Why can’t I do some analogies, spelling or comprehensive reading questions?

Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03467552519692855683noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7437395.post-72236242706705055622009-12-11T21:54:00.001+01:002009-12-11T21:56:21.587+01:00

"I contend that we are both atheists. I just believe in one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours."-- Stephen Roberts

Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03467552519692855683noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7437395.post-21509162082420129942009-12-10T19:26:00.002+01:002009-12-10T19:28:27.934+01:00

Rhopalic (adj.)Def.: Having each successive word longer by a letter or syllable.Usage: "I do not know where family doctors acquired illegibly perplexing handwriting; nevertheless, extraordinary pharmaceutical intellectuality, counterbalancing indecipherability, transcendentalises intercommunications’ incomprehensibleness." ~ Dmitri BorgmannSource.

Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03467552519692855683noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7437395.post-607874546715688472009-12-07T19:34:00.001+01:002009-12-07T19:34:57.058+01:00

Schrödinger.

Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03467552519692855683noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7437395.post-88471798034139555892009-12-06T18:40:00.001+01:002009-12-06T18:41:51.067+01:00

"In an ideal world I'd have all 10 fingers on my left hand so my right hand could just be a fist for punching."-- Dwight Schrute

Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03467552519692855683noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7437395.post-10235193392443327382009-12-06T15:12:00.004+01:002009-12-06T15:37:53.973+01:00

This Urban Forest, supposedly to be built in Chongqing, China, is, as of yet, a concept design. Each floor features copious amounts of garden space so as to re-introduce greenery into the cityscape and some of the floors are completely open, containing only plant life in lieu of the residential and office space on the enclosed floors. And while there is so much wrong with it on an architectural,

Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03467552519692855683noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7437395.post-60372545604716847822009-12-06T14:50:00.001+01:002009-12-06T14:52:32.601+01:00

"Disappointment is anger for wimps."-- Gregory House, MD

Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03467552519692855683noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7437395.post-55942560299040519522009-12-05T17:52:00.002+01:002009-12-06T01:50:32.206+01:00

This is my favourite PostSecret postcard:I do the same thing, only, you know, with food.

Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03467552519692855683noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7437395.post-369167624587647422009-12-04T19:46:00.004+01:002009-12-05T01:44:30.257+01:00

It's been a full year since I started keeping track of the films I'm watching - between december 1st 2008 and november 30th 2009 I watched a grand total of 335 films, which is not quite an average of a film a day (which is what I keep aiming for), but it's a considerably better average than in 2006, the last time I kept track, when I watched 188 films in a year.I suppose the increase could

Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03467552519692855683noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7437395.post-42143482195201940712009-12-04T14:37:00.002+01:002009-12-04T14:42:07.213+01:00

I, for one, welcome our new plant people overlords.

Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03467552519692855683noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7437395.post-21178229761322639542009-12-03T22:58:00.001+01:002009-12-03T23:00:34.487+01:00

"The only true currency in this bankrupt world is what you share with someone else when you’re uncool."-- Lester Bangs, Almost Famous.

Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03467552519692855683noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7437395.post-36934949633542502512009-12-03T21:34:00.005+01:002009-12-06T02:36:33.680+01:00

Right.Fucking. NOW!

Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03467552519692855683noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7437395.post-74396745953991742702009-12-03T10:49:00.005+01:002009-12-03T11:38:10.593+01:00

I've been home sick with the flue these past few days, but I have been corresponding with a colleague through e-mail, which fills me with subtle pangs of guilt because were you to see me (I'm an unshaven mess) or listen to me, you'd know I'm not feeling all that well, but you wouldn't know that from reading an e-mail I wrote; I sound fairly reasonable and clear-minded in them. What it comes down

Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03467552519692855683noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7437395.post-55835953049093397812009-12-03T02:26:00.000+01:002009-12-03T02:36:05.432+01:00

Ampersand.

Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03467552519692855683noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7437395.post-72121673330787750302009-12-03T00:47:00.005+01:002009-12-03T10:47:44.869+01:00

Several weeks ago I wrote about a micrograph of in-vitro fertilization which produced something that resembled a van Goghian sun in an alien sky more than anything else; its beauty immediately struck me, and still does to this day, which is why I wrote about it.Well, if that was, as mentioned above, an alien sun blazing fiercely over some unknown farscape, than I have now stumbled upon its

Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03467552519692855683noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7437395.post-35996112169463374722009-12-01T19:06:00.001+01:002009-12-03T12:31:08.648+01:00

Forget the Mayan mythology they are trying to portray, to dizzying effect, in 2012 - this is how a colleague of mine described the film:"The sun falls onto the Earth making it melt from the inside out."Which, let's be honest, sounds like a much more interesting film.Oh, and apropos of nothing in particular:Unce unce unce unce ...

Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03467552519692855683noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7437395.post-23177569464714133272009-11-30T16:34:00.012+01:002009-11-30T17:07:40.479+01:00

This quote about the 'Darknet' (or deep web), that part of the internet that we everyday users never get to see, is the most interesting thing I've read all week:"The deep web is currently 400 to 550 times larger than the commonly defined world wide web," [Michael Bergman] wrote. "The deep web is the fastest growing category of new information on the internet … The value of deep web content is

Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03467552519692855683noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7437395.post-51427685003683092872009-11-30T01:03:00.002+01:002009-11-30T01:05:33.960+01:00

"Words as slippery as smooth grapes, words exploding in the light like dormant seeds waiting in the vaults of vocabulary, alive again, and giving life: once again the heart distills them."-- Pablo Neruda

Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03467552519692855683noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7437395.post-58963883601844684182009-11-29T21:19:00.001+01:002009-11-29T21:20:30.171+01:00

Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03467552519692855683noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7437395.post-1363037425919101332009-11-28T21:06:00.006+01:002009-11-28T21:54:51.903+01:00

If you're a bit of a geek like I am, the next bit of music is likely to give you goose bumps; it's the theme from The Legend of Zelda, as performed by the Boston Symphony Orchestra.The accompanying video is generic and forgettable, so I got rid of that. Just listen to this:That, to me, is equally recognisable, if not more so, that the themes to, say, Star Wars and Indiana Jones. That theme right

Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03467552519692855683noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7437395.post-26886141007687869732009-11-27T21:01:00.002+01:002009-11-27T21:11:08.605+01:00

There was something about this cover of Margeret Atwood's modern classic that stirred something inside me, a twang of familiarity lurking in the murky waters of my memory that refused to surface.Until it did.Am I wrong?

Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03467552519692855683noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7437395.post-20148305187241443362009-11-27T13:55:00.003+01:002009-11-27T14:11:52.296+01:00

I have succumbed. I, too, have fallen victim to the relentless, unstoppable march of progress.And while I do recognise it as being entirely self referential/self congratulatory/self masturbatory (self masturbatory? Is there any other kind?), I also find it to be kind of fun.So, while it lasts:http://twitter.com/thewetnoodle

Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03467552519692855683noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7437395.post-49784549446239395672009-11-26T19:21:00.001+01:002009-11-26T20:19:18.191+01:00

The dark days of winter are upon us, and to illuminate those, I burn candles. What can I say, I'm a romantic. Or too cheap to pay for decent heating/lighting. Whichever appeals to you more. I had two big cheap candles lying around, the kind that consist more of chemicals than of actual wax; the kind that do not so much melt as kind of split down the middle. And they're aquamarine.I call them my T

Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03467552519692855683noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7437395.post-31331700256816147562009-11-23T19:43:00.004+01:002009-11-23T20:04:38.209+01:00

"You are being shagged by a rare parrot."-- Stephen Fry to Mark Carwardine - Last Chance To See, episode # 5Point in case:

Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03467552519692855683noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7437395.post-46249359364623221112009-11-22T20:42:00.004+01:002009-11-22T21:40:43.432+01:00

What is it about internet connections that they insist upon failing at the most inopportune moments? Why oh why would he internet gods taunt me by killing my connection for several hours mere moments after I finally get my grubby hands on a much-coveted Google Wave invitation?(Cheers, Bob.)And while I am asking difficult questions:What is it about sundays that makes me feel like crap? The sunday

Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03467552519692855683noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7437395.post-33315567816645241812009-11-21T21:55:00.004+01:002009-11-21T22:03:02.918+01:00

After a long and arduous 14 months the Large Hadron Collider is finally back online and ready to suck our reality into a black, godless pit. Which basically mean that I have been waiting 14 months to post this image, which I will never cease to find amusing. A man must respect such splendid punnage.Ah, sweet relief.

Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03467552519692855683noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7437395.post-35232770694911401372009-11-20T20:13:00.002+01:002009-11-20T20:20:18.983+01:00

While attemtpting to exit my local Burger King just now, carrying a freshly bought and about to be eaten Crispy Chicken™ burger, I stood in front of the doors for a good four seconds, wondering why the hell the doors wouldn't open, before I realised that doors in question were, in fact, push doors as opposed to sliding doors. Four seconds, while negligible in the context of, say, a human life, is

Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03467552519692855683noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7437395.post-83603785298531229062009-11-19T16:00:00.001+01:002009-11-19T16:00:03.664+01:00

't Is. Look:Pretty, no?There's one tiny thing about that desktop that does not make sense, but I won't change it because I like it. It's perfect in its subtle imperfection. Find it, I dare you.

Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03467552519692855683noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7437395.post-56673471121521408252009-11-16T14:00:00.000+01:002009-11-16T14:33:58.597+01:00

... Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. Wake. Birth. Cry. Grow. Pain. Crawl. Move. Speak. Move. Move. Kid. Grow. Teen. Rebel. Grow. Up. Fall. Up. Crush. Meet. Kiss. Date. Buy. Love. Sex. Ring. Join. Smile. Kids. School. Dance. Hug. Hold. Rift. Leave. Hate. Gone. Work. Work. Work. Work. Work. Life. Ha. Bang. Dead. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing ...

Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03467552519692855683noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7437395.post-74095834897840315132009-11-15T14:32:00.002+01:002009-11-15T14:42:46.756+01:00

There's this substance in the world, rarer than platinum, more precious than diamond, more controversial than oil. It's called Win, and this video is made of it:Oh yes.

Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03467552519692855683noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7437395.post-21975207582855765712009-11-12T21:34:00.000+01:002009-11-12T21:53:57.132+01:00

"Darling, now just don’t put down your guns yet,If there really was a God here,He’d have raised a hand by now."-- Editors - Papillon

Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03467552519692855683noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7437395.post-47562982976039153202009-11-09T20:50:00.003+01:002009-11-09T20:42:53.899+01:00

I'm going to start this post like an American stand-up comedian starts his routine: what's the deal with originality these days!? And when I say originality, I mean the suspicious lack thereof."Originality is the art of concealing your sources," Benjamin Franklin once said, and it's a credo that got me my Master's degree (I kid, I kid), but Hollywood can't even get that right.And it's not just

Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03467552519692855683noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7437395.post-53316023533423588852009-11-08T18:57:00.004+01:002009-11-08T19:01:53.566+01:00

I want this t-shirt.I want it now. Someone buy me this.Source: Threadless.

Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03467552519692855683noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7437395.post-81717476246844526412009-11-06T22:05:00.003+01:002009-11-06T22:14:27.018+01:00

Pop quiz, hot shot. What's this from?

Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03467552519692855683noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7437395.post-37823653122689910952009-11-04T17:54:00.004+01:002009-11-04T18:37:11.302+01:00

I own a cat. I love her dearly. But should she ever, I don't know, pack her bags and head for California in search of a life in showbiz (or die), I will get a new cat. Call me callous, but I will.And I will name it Tetris.

Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03467552519692855683noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7437395.post-69759687807500154412009-10-31T22:19:00.004+01:002009-10-31T23:07:03.633+01:00

About a year ago I happened to catch a lovely little Irish film called Once and I fell head over heels in love with it. I wrote about it here; go read it, it's a review I stand by and will not reiterate here save for the following: I gave the film top marks and postulated that this film might very well have bluffed itself into the upper regions of my list of best films ever. I wasn't sure. I

Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03467552519692855683noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7437395.post-69036802790856219232009-10-23T18:35:00.011+02:002009-10-23T19:13:33.065+02:00

Ha! See what I did there? I'm witty.Pixar has done it again. It seems the studio's only weakness is its incapability of making a bad film. Even the simplest of stories they can turn into a showcase of storytelling that has set a standard for today's films, animated or otherwise.But blowing Pixar's horn is not what I am here for; if there's one thing they have plenty of, it's good reviews. I just

Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03467552519692855683noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7437395.post-19877225823877730992009-10-19T19:34:00.006+02:002009-10-19T20:01:50.124+02:00

Who would have thought that Vincent van Gogh, the Dutch painter most famous for his Starry Night, the Potato Eaters, and cutting off his ear because he was as bonkers as a box of wet badgers, would ever paint anything that is genuinely out of this world; say, an orange sun blazing in an alien sky:Not me, because he didn't.This is an award winning micrograph of in-vitro fertilization, showing the

Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03467552519692855683noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7437395.post-70614729814150779032009-10-17T19:19:00.007+02:002009-10-17T20:58:16.972+02:00

Doogie Howser M.D. is doing a little jig and I can't take my eyes off of it.If you know what this is from, I'll marry you. Because people who know what this is from are marriage material. Fact of life.'s All.

Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03467552519692855683noreply@blogger.com5