Month: July 2005

  • Over There

    I watched the first episode of Over There last night, and thought it was really good. Sky should waste no time in getting on in the UK. The obvious difficulty of producing a series set in the current climate, is that you might have to take sides – especially with a conflict that as sensitive…

  • Web Browser on PSP

    I spent a bit of time deciding whether or not I’d install the new PSP update that takes the firmware to 2.0. It adds a proper browser, but takes away all the homebrew stuff that’s possible at the moment. In the end I had to bite the bullet and download it – every game from…

  • Dancing With The Stars

    Dancing With The Stars is the US title for Strictly Come Dancing, and it’s been a big summer hit in the US. Except there’s been something of a controversy over the final and the outright winner. While we’re used to doing the show and then coming back with the phone vote’s winners later the same…

  • Sniper in Iraq

    Salon has an excellent piece (watch an ad for free access) by Phillip Robertson about his attempt to track down the American soldier who shot dead an Iraqi journalist (and doctor) last month. It’s a very honest piece showing the impossibility of it all on the ground for the soldiers who are there. I’m very…

  • Nasa TV

    The live Nasa TV feed of Discovery docking with the ISS makes for fascinating viewing.

  • Note To Danny Baker’s Agent

    Make sure that you send some decent headshots to the guys at Media Guardian.

  • Silver City

    It’s taken a while for John Sayles latest film to reach these shores. In the US it was released in the run up to last year’s presidential election, since it addresses State politics. Included in the cast are some of Sayles favourite actors. Chris Cooper plays would-be Governor Dickie Pilager, who should in no way…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • 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…