Restricted Heir Space

I'd Like To Introduce You To A Frond Of Mine

2007-09-10T15:23:00.000+09:30

Sigh, I had always envisaged using that gag as an opening line in a stand-up comedy routine, but John wanted a pun, so there it is.

It's been pretty much a year since I last posted so if anyone is still regulary checking this site, thankyou from the bottom of my Sfida sneakers. I apologise for not writing for so long, but I lost the passion for it. To be honest I'm not sure I have it back yet, but I've linked my MySpace page here and I want to give the eager punters something have a geez at.

Q. Why dod the scientist go to the fair?

A. To go on the Sodium Claw Ride!

Proof Of Life

2006-09-05T18:17:00.000+09:30

Yes, I am still alive, though everybody who reads this blogs probably knows that anyway. I'v sorry that I've let the updates slide, I've had nothing to really vent about for a while, but that has changed since my viewing of "A History Of Violence" a fortnight ago. I will lay down my review when I have more time as I want to fully communicate my displeasure. Also, I hope to start a semi-regular segment on the blog where I share jokes that I have made up that are specific to my job (I'm a lab technician). For example:

Q. What's a lab techincian's favourite kind of music?

A. Rythmn and Methylene Blues.

Q.What other kind of music do they like?

A. Tartaric Acid Jazz,

You were warned.

Emergency Words

2006-07-21T20:09:00.000+09:30

This post will be bad merely because I don't have anything of consequence to say, it's just that I haven't written anything in three weeks and I feel obliged to pen at least something amusing/interesting/educational.... maybe I'm strecthing it a bit with that last one. Anyhoo, I work 40 hours a week at a winery, you may have picked that up in one of my previous posts, and I enjoy it a lot of the time. I work in the lab, which is good because I've been of the scientific ilk for a good deal of my life and I feel at home buggerising around with Bunsen burners and burettes and all manner of wacky glasswear. I would like to take some photos of my workplace to show you all, but I don' think that would go down well with my superiors, who are by no means perfect, but are quite good at what they do. I like them and my opinion you could do a lot worse. No don't start whinging and call me a sycophant, I told you that it wouldn't be very good.

Anyhoo, so life in the lab is quite pleasant and the atmosphere can be great if the right people are working. I feel blessed to be working there and it was worth the 9 month wait to get there. I think of the other couple of jobs I could ended up in and I'm glad I am at Hardy's, I believe God directed me there.

Here is a picture.

This slightly spaced out fellow is none other than Richard August Carl Emil Erlenmeyer. I place him here because he invented a commonly used piece of laboratory glassware otherwise known as a 'conical flask'. Seriously, this guy is the man, Erlenmeyer flasks are so darn useful and without his sterling service to science I doubt whether we would have even invetented the wheel yet. Yes, I can feel the vibes of underwhelmment deeping through the screen as I type, so I will now stop. If you like watching high quality films of strapping young musicians jamming out amazing ukulele songs then don't visit this link.

End transmission

Man Of The Match? That's Unkewelled For!

2006-06-24T18:35:00.000+09:30

Yes, just in case your living in a cave 50 parsecs beyond the orbit of Pluto, Australia qualified for the round of sixteen at the World Cup with a rollercoaster draw against Croatia. It had everything; goals, red cards, hideous blunders, and most importantly, the favourable result should you be a supporter of the green and gold. Before I go on, I would like to draw attention to the teamwork and commitment of the Japanese who, as you can see from the picture above, clubbed together to find the coach's keys after he dropped them during the warmup......... Is this thing on? Anyway I'm a big fan of Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi, the Japanese 'keeper, and I'm sad to see him and his teammates heading home after only three games. They had a tough group and in the end had trouble up front, which many people were predicting before the tournament.

Back to Australia and some more of my ill-tempered whinging and moaning about the commercial media in this country. I don't even know who voted Harry Kewell man of the match, if in fact anyone did, but that's all I've been hearing this week and surprise, surprise I disagree vehemently with the suggestion that he was the best player on the field. I guess it is just the fact that he scored the winning goal that illuminates him in everybodys mind. For mine, he played quite selfishly sometimes and should have scored 10 minutes before he actually did when he hit his open shot from 12 yards out straight at the keeper at a perfect height for him to save. I am too harsh on Harry I know, it's not his fault that there is so much hype surrounding him, but you'd think there were only one player in the Australian team. I thought Moore played well on Friday and Lucas Neill was again solid at the back. Chipperfield, who a few years ago was a bus driver in Wollongong, gave another reliable performance, showing his defensive qualities.

Ehhhhhhhh, why am I angry, this is a time of celebration for soccer fans in Australia, but I'm sure my ire will be raised again when we finally get knocked out of the tournament and everybody forgets that any of this ever happened. Soccer paraphenalia will disappear from T.V. and magazine adds and soccer results will once again be confined to the 'sporting digest' section of the Advertiser in text so small that even the Hubble Space Telescope has trouble making it appear legible. This second event I will welcome as I'm losing count of the number of misspelled names that I read in some of the print media. I know the names are difficult, but a quick visit to any of the myriad websites that list the World Cup squads will solve this problem. Yes, it's pedantic, but I'd like to have people who actually know something about the game reporting on it.

Anyway, no-one likes a complainer.

Aldo This World

2006-06-19T17:43:00.000+09:30

Well I hope you've been enjoying the World Cup telecast so far, I know I have. So much in fact that I had an incredibly lonely five days last week just trying to fit in as much viewing as possible. No seriously, it got to Friday and I was desperate for some kind of human companionship. Let that serve as a warning for all you loners out there, it's unhealthy to cut yourself off from human contact! and while I'm at it, I hate hate hate all this bandwagon jumping and non-Harry Kewell-critiscising media. Everyone wants a piece of the World Cup pie, commercial television going it's hardest while clearly having no idea what they are talking about. And, for anyone who didn't watch last night's game, Harry Kewell missed a complete sitter, but you literally wouldn't read about it. Nothing on the news, nothing on the web. I mean, it's gotta be the miss of the tournament, but instead of accepting we lost because of our poor finishing it's all '....oh the referree was against us" and "....the courageous Socceroos fought valiantly and left the field with their heads held high". BUGGER OFF YOU PAROCHIAL TOSSERS! We lost because we didn't have the class of the other team. Oh yeah, Schwarzer buggered up as well on that second goal. I still wholeheartedly support the Socceroos, I guess I'm just angry at the media.

Anyway lets focus on the good and by good I mean outstanding. If you only remember one player from this World Cup, remember Paraguay's number two 'keeper Aldo 'El Gato' Bobadilla. He was perhaps not expected to play a game, but all this changed when the first choice keeper Justo Villar, tore his calf muscle in the opening minutes of the game versus England. He didn't concede a goal in that game and in the following game against Sweden he made a string of acrobatic saves to keep out the Scandanavians until the dying stages. Sure, he probably makes a lot of the saves look flashy, but everybody loves a showman.

Anyhoo, I hope some big European club signs this guy on and he becomes some kind of legend who plays some really great games, but at the same time make some shocking and hilarious mistakes and is remembered as a great personality and becomes chief of the U.N. and wins TIME Magazines person of the year award and discovers the cure for cancer and writes a musical about some girl who he thought would always be available, but then married someone else, but would have said yes if he had asked her and finds Jimmy Hoffa's body and goes on Deal or No Deal and wins and kicks Andrew O'Keefe in the groin and rejects the money out of principle and while he's at it kicks random commercial television sports presenters in the groin for pretending to like soccer and convinces all the countries of the world to spend less on space travel and armaments and more on looking after the needy and becomes Paraguay's greatest export and becomes a Christian and tells all his teammates about God and uses his profile to help other people and pops by for a coffee so he can give me some goalkeeping tips and stays for a serve of my mums Shepherd's Pie and releases an ill concieved and extremely poorly made pop song that playfully complains that women are so hard to understand but 'God love 'em anyway' and reads this blog so he can tell me what he thinks and learns English prior to reading my blog so he can fully grasp my admiration of his talents and doesn't become disoriented by my lack of punctuation and poor sentence structure and dies satisfied.................

Yeah, that's about it really.

Footballing My Eyes Out

2006-06-10T17:20:00.000+09:30

Far be it from me to suggest that people are actually regulary reading this blog, but apologies to those out there who are getting frustrated at my lack of updating. I never thought getting a full time job could be so time consuming, after all it's only 40 odd hours out of a 168 hour week (about 24% worth for those of you with a mathematics bent). That and the fact that I can't always find things to write about. Fear not though for the second problem has been remedied with the commencement last night of the oh so eagerly anticipated 2006 Soccer World Cup. If you don't know what I am talking about then stop reading now and don't come back for the next four weeks coz this aint gonna be the place for you.

Right, so the opening game saw the hosts Germany take on the Central American 'powerhouses' Costa Rica. Seriously though, these guys have qualified for the last two World Cups, but that could be due to their ordinary qualifying group in which the biggest threats are Mexico and the U.S.A. I mean they got belted 5-2 by Honduras in qualifying and just got past Cuba on away goals. Back to the Germany game, the final score was 4-2 but my inkling is that Costa Rica scored twice simply for the fact that the German defence is more porous than a single-ply Black and Gold facial tissue. Despite this weakness at the back, the Germans look good in attack and both their first goal, scored by Phillip Lahm, and their last, driven in by Torsten Frings from all of thirty yards, were absolute crackers. Miroslav Klose, who has been banging them in for fun this year with Werder Bremen, scored Germany's other two, with his feet surprisingly enough. Paolo Wanchope grabbed Costa Rica's two goals with well time runs and cool finishes, though he looked marginally offside for the second.

The other game of the night was the less exciting Poland vs Ecuador, which I only watched because at this point of the tournament quality international soccer is still a novelty. Don't be expecting any in depth analysis of the upcoming Tunisia - Saudi Arabia, Trinidad & Tobago - Paraguay or Iran - Angola, I mena, I am a soccer tragic, but I'm not some kind of sadomasochistic sport addict. Anyway to wrap things up, Poland were downright disappointing up front and were undone with two well-worked goals by the well disclipined and disturbingly muscular South Americans. It just wasn't going to happen for the Poles who ironically hit the post twice (get it, poles and posts..... yep) and now look to be heading home from Germany after just one week. It's a bit unreasonable to think they could get a result from their game with the hosts, although there will be a lot of hate flying around for that one so anything could happen. Ecuador could be the surprise packets from group A. They qualified simply because they play all their home games in their capital city Quito, which is about 3,000,000,000,000,000,000 metres above sea level meaning teams that come to play there have enough trouble staying conscious let alone running around for 90 minutes chasing 11 Ecuadorians who are quite used to the thin air.

Anyhoo, my house is the venue tonight for England vs. Paraguay, although the only taker seems to be Dave 'I like sport as much as you do, but don't give me that volleyball crap' Yeend. I'll be back tomorrow with more results and hopefully more wit as well, but don't hold your breath (especially if you are in Quito).

PS: I have never asked Dave about his views on volleyball, he could actually love the game, I just could think of a sport that he didn't like to make his nickname amusing.

Daily and Knightley

2006-05-25T00:58:00.000+09:30

Alright, so it's just after midnight, I've just got home from an afternoon shift at work, I'm cleaning the teeth and what pops into my head? The fact that I don't really like Keira Knightley, but I'd respect her more if she did some kind of musical comedy, preferrably with a cockney accent. I mean I'm not asking much, just a bit of rhyming slang and some songs with the word geezer in them. Look at her in that picture, smug and comfortable in her 'uptown girl' world. C'mon Keira, get out of your Tony Blair, jump in you Kareem Abdul Jabbar and give us a ding dong. It's why you Max Factors get paid all that Becks and Posh for. Now if you excuse me, I've gotta go for an Ogden Nash.

The Squid and the Wha.....?

2006-05-05T12:09:00.000+09:30

If you've been keeping pace with Rowdy's frenetic posting spree, you may have caught a mention of the film 'The Squid and the Whale', which we saw last Saturday with the indefatigable Marty. An intriguing film showing the destructive powers of divorce, it will also make you writhe with discomfort like a man witnessing his own vasectomy. I was ready to walk out after half an hour, because some of the scenes are just that disconcerting. We stuck it out though, hoping in vain for some comic relief, that mainly coming in the form of the tennis scenes. You'll know what I mean if you watch it, but I strongly advise you not too, not at the cinema at least. It's maybe worth a view on DVD, but you'll probably need a stiff drink beforehand. None of the characters are incredibly likeable, and personally I felt that the flaws in some of the characters were present in me. That adds to the whole discomfort thing, having your perceived shortcomings displayed on a big screen for all to see.

Anyhoo, in conclusion I give this film two shoulders up (as in shrugged).

The Biggest Luger

2006-04-27T19:55:00.000+09:30

Well, what more appropriate a time than now for the above title, the night when yet another adored reality television program, based solely on the exploitation of its contestants has its finale. Well for now at least. No doubt the bigwigs at channel seven are already trawling the country for another bunch of insecure, overweight people for people to gawk at and feel good because "Hey man I'm not as big a boombalada (and yes, that is the official spelling) as that guy". Yes, it's the insecure securing the other insecure, if you follow me.

Anyhoo, it's easy to be negative so let the class begin. The man you see gracing the cover of this edition is none other than Venezuela's premier luge pilot, Werner Hoeger. Yes, I was confused as well at first, because you don't meet a great deal of Latin Americans with names that would seem more at home at a reunion of the 5th Panzer Division than on the front page of the evening edition of 'El Mundo'. But here's the kicker to this whole shebang (thanks Ben Gibbard), he was born in Venezuela to an Austrian mother and German father and grew up in Merida. He got a scholarship to a university in the U.S. where he completed his PhD. at the age of 24. He now is a professor in the Department of Kinesiology at Boise State University, but it gets better.

From 1970-1975 he was the reigning Venezuelan national all-around gymnastics champion. He didn't actually take up luging until 8 years ago, when he was 44. No your eyes don't deceive you dear readers, 44! Most people are content to file away most of their sporting dreams by that age, excluding those wonderful people who partake in such "low impact" pastimes such as darts, croquet, lawn bowls, chess, shooting, sailing, golf... um errrr, perhaps the opening stanza of this sentence was a little inaccurate. I'm concerned because a lot of guys the wrong side of 50 have trouble operating an automobile 60 km/h and this bloke tearing down a sheer ice track at a squllion miles an hour. Lets not for forget that he's doing this wearing figure hugging lycra (shudder). In any event, he cracked it fo 32nd place out of 36 competitors at Turin 2006, not too shabby at all.

My last word for you Werner is even if you don't qualify for the next winter olympics you will still be able to get in cheap as a spectator when you present your pensioners card.

For more information on famous Werners visit:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Werner_Klemperer

and

http://nobelprize.org/physics/laureates/1932/heisenberg-bio.html

Hoogaaannnn!!

If You Can Read This Then You Are Not Blind

2006-04-10T19:35:00.000+09:30

I really have little to say of any consequence, so this post will consist of ten English words that I feel aren't used as often as they could, nay, should be.

Invigilator - Someone who watches examination candidates to prevent cheating.

"The invigilator stood at the front of the examination hall."

Abacus - A manual computing device consisting of a frame holding parallel rods strung with movable counters.

"The invigilator stood at the front of the examinaion hall holding his abacus."

Vassal - A person who held land from a feudal lord and received protection in return for homage and allegiance.

"The invigilator stood at the front of the examination hall holding his abacus while his vassal looked on in admiration."

Isthmus - A narrow strip of land connecting two larger masses of land.

"The invigilator stood at the front of the examination hall holding his abacus while his vassal looked on in admiration, dreaming of the isthmus he called home."

Equine - Of, relating to, or characteristic of a horse.

"The invigilator stood at the front of the examination hall holding his abacus while his vassal looked on in admiration, dreaming of the isthmus he called home where he would play with his equine friends."

Triumvirate - A group of three men responsible for public administration or civil authority.

"The invigilator stood at the front of the examination hall holding his abacus while his vassal looked on in admiration, dreaming of the isthmus he called home where he would play with his equine friends under the oppression of a corrupt triumvirate."

Ne'er-do-well - An idle, irresponsible person.

"The invigilator stood at the front of the examination hall holding his abacus while his vassal looked on in admiration, dreaming of the isthmus he called home where he would play with his equine friends under the oppression of a corrupt triumvirate, who thought him nought but a ne'er-do-well."

Habedasher - A dealer in men's furnishings.

"The invigilator stood at the front of the examination hall holding his abacus while his vassal looked on in admiration, dreaming of the isthmus he called home where he would play with his equine friends under the oppression of a corrupt triumvirate, who thought him nought but a ne'er-do-well who would amount to nothing more than a haberdasher."

Moxibustion - The burning of moxa or other substances on the skin to treat diseases or to produce analgesia.

"The invigilator stood at the front of the examination hall holding his abacus while his vassal looked on in admiration, dreaming of the isthmus he called home where he would play with his equine friends under the oppression of a corrupt triumvirate, who thought him nought but a ne'er-do-well who would amount to nothing more than a haberdasher, prolonging their own feeble lives with frequent health sessions involving moxibustion and other therapeutic practices."

Galoshes - Waterproof overshoes that protect shoes from water or snow.

"The invigilator stood at the front of the examination hall holding his abacus while his vassal looked on in admiration, dreaming of the isthmus he called home where he would play with his equine friends under the oppression of a corrupt triumvirate, who thought him nought but a ne'er-do-well who would amount to nothing more than a haberdasher, prolonging their own feeble lives with frequent health sessions involving moxibustion and other therapeutic practices only venturing outside when clad in long back trenchcoats and matching galoshes."

Get back to work you slackers.

Ah... Eh?

2006-03-24T18:33:00.000+10:30

Hey guess what, I was writing an amusing entry for my blog and then I accidentally pressed the wrong button and WIPED IT ALL! I thought I would feel awful, but all I feel is emptiness....... Don't expect anything great now, I've poured out all the humour and irony that has been welling up inside of me this week and it's been lost in that crazy aether we know as 'cyberspace'. Here's the gag that was going to be the piece de resistance of the original post. It seems so lame and pointless now....... I got a new job this week in a lab at a winery (no, the joke hasn't started yet) and I thought I attach a picture of the team hard at work:

Ha ha geddit? You see that's not really my workplace, it's just a picture I found online! And that's not really me in the picture either! Isn't that hilarious?

Ahhhh, go fly a kite.

That's A Moray!

2006-03-07T21:43:00.000+10:30

11:21 on a Tuesday morning and I've completed my daily routine consisting of surfing the net whilst consuming a hot, caffeinated drink. "What now?", I'm asking myself. I do have some uni homework to do and some things to organise for work, but hey, while my appetite remains suppressed by the aforementioned mocha I reckon I'll tap out a few words to all the people that value my insight and biting political satire (at last check that group consisted only of my mother, Rowdy and old Mr. Samick from number 10).

Anyhoo, so last post I mentioned a little moving picture called 'Crash' and lo and behold the next week it goes on to win an Oscar. How 'bout that. Actually I was a bit surprised that 'Crash' got the gong, because while it was good, I didn't think it was THAT good. Last Tuesday, I went to see 'Syriana' with a couple of friends. You know, 'Syriana', that movie in which George Clooney has a monster beard. Truth be told, this one will make you think, but watching it as an Australian there is a strange kind of detachment from the plot. It's all about the lengths that governments and corporations will go to to secure oil fields. Some of it is quite frightening, but you gotta understand that some people really want that oil! My special tip is to watch out for the fingernail scene....... (shiver).

I you want to see some pictures of my life and times, please stop by http://spaces.msn.com/rodneyspongo/ and have a gander. I try to update it semi-regularly.

Au revoir.

A Long Time Between Drinks

2006-03-05T12:46:00.000+10:30

Ha! Got you! The post has the same name, but the words have changed. What's more there seems an extremely witty picture where there was no picture before. Yes that's right trendsetters, today, in a moment of pure boredom and confusion, I posted from a Chinese friends computer simply for the fact that it seemed 'random' and 'interesting'. The lustre soon wore off and I meant to save the post as a draft, but I accidently posted it. And for all of you who are shaking your heads in disapproval, step off, I can't read Chinese yet!

Anyhoo, I haven't posted in a while, so I thought I better satsify the punters and tap out some light-hearted banter about movies, politics and the dynamic milieu that is my life. Sod it. How about I just tell you to watch 'Million Dollar Baby' because it's really good and no, it's not just about the boxing. Mo Cuishla, need I say more. 'Crash' is quite confronting, it deals with the racism that seems to be present in most people in different forms. What links these films (seamless) is that they were both produced by Robert Moresco, I look forward to checking out his next project.

If you're looking for something a bit left of centre, check out 'The Jacket' starring Adrien Brody and Keira Knightley. An interesting take on the whole time travel genre and the original music was composed by Brian Eno of 'Roxy Music' fame. Check out his story and slightly wacky full name at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Eno. Oh yeah, and I really hate seeing Kris Kristofferson trying to act. Please Kris, stick to things you're good at like having initials that consist of the same letter repeated.

Well, I've an early lecture tomorrow so toodles for now.

A Changing Of The Guard

2006-02-11T11:29:00.000+10:30

Well, where does one start on such a sensitive and personal topic. For years Michelle Yeoh has been the only actress in my eyes. Her handsome features paraded across my television screen with some regularity in films such as "Police Story 3", "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" and "Tomorrow Never Dies". The photo above (and yes, she is the one on the left) does not do her justice. You have to see her move and listen to her soft, deep voice form those intricate sounds that exist only in the Mandarin language.

Lately though, there has been a new wind blowing from the East. I have tried to resist it with all my strength and sense, but in now looks as though I am starting to cave in. If you hadn't had the good fortune to lay eyes on her before, I now present Zhang Ziyi. Yes, I've known of her existence for a long time. I'd seen her

in "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" and "House of Flying Daggers" and I was aware that she was rocketing towards worldwide stardom with her part in the newly released "Memoirs of a Geisha". It was an older film though that finally stole my heart away. 1999's "The Road Home" was a masterpiece of cinematography played out in a heart-melting romance. The movie starts with Luo Yusheng returning to his home village after his dad, Luo Changyu, has just died. Changyu was the school teacher in the village and had been for 40 years. Yusheng's mother, Zhao Di, wants her husband's body brought back to the village in the traditional manner, carried along the road with lots of shouting so that Changyu will not forget the way home. The village has a shortage of manpower so as Yusheng ponders a solution we are taken back to 1958 on the day when Changyu first arrived in the village as a 20 year old.

At the time Zhao Di was 18 and is called "the prettiest girl in the village". We have to take their word on this as as we don't see any others. Zhao Di falls in love with Changyu at first sight and commences an intense campaign to win his heart. This involves cooking her best dishes, gathering water from a well near the school and waiting by the road on which he travels every day. She finally catches his eye and things are moving along until Changyu is called back to town to face some political questioning. He says he will return by the end of the term and gives Di a hairclip as a parting gift. He does not return by the end of term and Di nearly kills herself walking to town in the middle of a snowstorm trying to find him. The villagers get word to Changyu in town and he comes to Di and sits by her bed as she sleeps for two days. Alas though, he has returned without permission and is taken away for another two years before he finally returns to marry his beloved.

One must mentioned that the present day scenes are filmed in black and white with the flashbacks being filmed in full-blooded colour. This contrast is amazing as it adds to the whole romantic feel - the dull grey of a time after death and the vibrant colour of new love. The different seasons are captured well, with the bleak, white winter contrasting well with the orange wheat fields during harvest time. Zhang Ziyi's performance however is what makes this film. Her pigheaded will to win Changyu could be viewed as stalking by today's standards, but her girlish charm makes you sympathise with her completely. The story is handled so well with no gratuitous sex or nudity, things that Western directors almost seem obliged to stuff in somewhere.

All I can say is that Zhang Ziyi makes it believable. I think it's hard for a woman to make you fall in love with her while wearing baggy pants and a matching jacket, but Zhang makes it happen. After I had finished watching this film I was almost ready to watch it again. This speaks of the effect it had on me. I encourage you to watch it and if your heart is not reduced to a quivering mess then consult your doctor.

Hands Up Hu Likes Communism!

2006-02-09T09:49:00.000+10:30

Hello again devoted readers. It's been over a week since the last post and hasn't it been a crazy time! Well no actually, it's been pretty routine with some periods of extreme sloth interspersed with snippets of frantic movement. Pre-season training has started at soccer, which I believe to be a blessing in disguise. Every time I think about the word "pre-season" I envisage long runs, gruelling fitness work, being yelled at by two fifty-something Scotsmen and subsequent aches and pains for the next week. To my immense joy though I have thoroughly enjoyed the two sessions I have joined so far. Something about physical activity really floats my boat and I generally feel really pumped afterwards. Besides, we really don't do as much fitness work as I imagine, plus I'm a goalkeeper, which means even less fitness work.

Anyhoo, I've seen three fillums since last post: "Good Night, and Good Luck", "Cinderella Man" and "Dear Wendy".

"G N 'n' G L" is the story of Ed Murrow, a journalist who exposes Senator Joe McCarthy communist witch hunts for what they are. It's a bit pedestrian, but if your familiar with the time and events it's quite enjoyable. The fact that it's all filmed in black and white adds to the charm. David Strathairn plays Murrow and he is backed up by a solid performance from George Clooney.

"Cinderella Man" suffers from the same problems that afflict all Hollywood productions - the fact that the film must take you through the full range of emotions. Grief, fear, anguish, admiration, love, respect, joy, excitement, they're all there. My opinion is this slows the film down a bit, which is a shame. because it tells a good story. Russell Crowe plays James J. Braddock, a boxer who was once close to being heavyweight boxing champion of the world. The Great Depression in 1929 brings hardship to Braddock and his family and his boxing career slumps. He is offered a second chance after a last minute cancellation puts him in the ring with the number two contender for the heavyweight crown. Braddock KO's the chump in three rounds when popular opinion was that Braddock himself wouldn't last one. He then stitches up two more contenders before he takes the ring against the then current heavyweight champion, Max Baer.

Being based on a true story, I imagine it would have been difficult for the makers of this film to build any suspense, but lo and behold they succeeded. I found myself on the edge of my chair during several of the fights. I also thought the film gave a good snapshot of what things were like during the great depression. If you want to read the real story about James J. Braddock and check out some cool photos to boot go to: http://www.jamesjbraddock.com/.

Simple enough for even a boxer to remember eh?

I will write about "Dear Wendy" when I have had time to muse about it. Until then......

A Good Harp, These Days, Is Hard To Find

2006-01-30T18:05:00.000+10:30

After my review of 'The Island' last week, the time has come for a review of "The Count of Monte Cristo'. I enjoyed 'The Count'. I've only seen Jim Caviezel in two other films - 'The Thin Red Line' and 'The Passoin of the Christ', but he's got to be one of my favourite actors. He seems to be able to make each of his roles believable. Kudos must also go to Guy Pearce for his portrayal of the dastardly Mondego.

I didn't know the story behind the film, nor had I read the book by Alexandre Dumas, so I didn't know what to expect. I think this was a benefit as I didn't have a chance to form any preconceived ideas about the film.

I actually saw 'The Count of Monte Cristo' about 2 weeks ago, so I can't remember anything specific, but the acting was strong and the movie contained good amounts of intrigue, action, romance, adventure and morality, for want of a better word. I would stop short of calling it a swashbuckling epic, it's more of a subtle tale of betrayal, vengance and love. My recommendation is see it! It will be two hours well spent.

Punchi Singho, We're Gonna Miss Ya

2006-01-19T18:02:00.000+10:30

G'day All,

When I started my blog only a week ago, it was so exciting, so new, a breath of fresh air in my dull and dreary world. I couldn't wait to post those zany pictures and get on my high horse about well I suppose you call it "cinema". A week later and I'm struggling to find the desire to post anything. Yes, I probably have plenty to write about, I have watched three films in the last 24 hours so there's some ammo there. I have also been toying with the idea of devoting whole posts to family and friends complete with unflattering photo identification. Who knows, I'm here all week.

The three aformetioned films are, in order, 'The Island', 'The Count of Monte Cristo' and 'The Virgin Suicides'. The only redeeming feature about 'The Island' as I see it is when you punch the title into google, the first result is a link to the national newpaper of Sri Lanka (todays front page informs us that Punchi Singho is no more, complete with a photo of an older, sub-continental Dr. Evil).

I don't really know where to begin. The movie opens with Ewan McGregor waking up in a pseudo-utopic world in the year 2019. His pal Scarlett Johansson lives there as well, as do myriad other healthy, white tracksuited gals and guys. They all believe that the world outside their sealed complex of a home is contaminated after some armageddon event and they while away their time keeping healthy, working and hoping to win 'the lottery', which would allow them to travel to 'the island', a place with no pollution, no longwinded sentences and no 'overuse' of 'inverted commas'.

McGregor's character gets curious about the outside world and discovers that it's not so contaminated after all and that he and his identically clad mates are actually clones of people living in the real world, who exist as nothing more than walking spare parts shops for their sponsors. McGregor and Johansson escape the complex and, with the help of a friend, they set about finding their sponsors and making the world aware of what is going. A team of bounty hunters is sent after them, led by the menacing but miscast Djimon Hounsou, who is about as convincing as one of those 'bad boy club' stickers you see on some cars nowadays. I appreciate his work in gems like 'Gladiator' and, to a lesser extent, 'The Middle Passage' (don't watch this unless you're really into the slave trade and movies with limited dialouge), but he doesn't have the charisma to convince me that he's a suave, well informed leader of a band of ruthless bearded killers. Not many people do now that I think of it.

Anyhoo, now that I've been away from the computer for about 7 hours and have lost my train of thought I should wrap this up. The climax of the film sees McGregor and Johansson return to their home to rescue all the other clones before they too are harvested for their organs. The holographic projector that gives the clones a false view of the outside world (yes I did forget to mention this before) is destroyed and the clones alight from the underground complex into the desert with bewildered looks on their faces. Sean Bean, who plays the owner of this sinister organ bank, is killed in the process, but I can't be bothered going into detail about this. Our hero and heroine share a kiss and Hounsou lopes off looking mighty pleased with himself.

I don't know what I was expecting, but it wasn't this. The fact that my brother enjoyed it should have sent alarm bells ringing in my head. I'm not attacking my brother's taste in films (I'll do that in another post), but we are pretty much completely different except for the whole surname thing.

'The Island' is yet another action film with ridiculous escapes and a tacked on love story that does nothing but slow down the film. I think there was supposed to be some message there about the devaluing of human life and the poblems associated with having a God complex, maybe such a thing could happen one day given the advancement of science. At least we'll have 'The Island' to teach us to be vigilant and to question just what is really going on.

Now if you excuse me, I have go and purchase a new set of Puma sneakers before I test the latest Mack truck model this afternoon.

And Another Thing....

2006-01-14T17:50:00.000+10:30

Continuing on from my previous rant about "The Life Aquatic", what was with that topless chick? A joke that was unfunny the first time continued on, ad nauseum. Maybe it just displays the juvenile nature of the producer/director, I don't know.

One positive I also forgot to mention was the quality of the music in the film. Ask my friend and he'll rave about Seu Jorge's adaptation of David Bowie songs into Portuguese. My personal favourites however are the little bits of synth music - Ping Island and Ned's Theme Take 1. These delights can be sampled at
http://hollywoodrecords.go.com/lifeaquatic/.

For all you trivia buffs out there these nuggets of pure gold were composed by Mark Mothersbaugh, a former member of the 80's group Devo. I'm a big fan of the so called "decade of shame" so this really floated my boat. Check out Mark's story at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Mothersbaugh.

Sorry, no wacky picture today.

What's Wrong With This Pitcher?

2006-01-12T17:02:00.000+10:30

Yeah, I appreciate the lameness of the gag, but step off, it took me ages to find a suitable image.

Anyway, last night I finally got around to watching 'The Life Aquatic'. A friend who really likes it lent it to me and I'm glad, because I'd feel ripped off if I'd payed any money for it. I don't know, maybe I'm missing something. Sure, Willem Dafoe was funny as the misunderstood German who had trouble sharing his feelings, but it wore thin after a while. I enjoyed the way they filmed the characters moving inside the ship, as though it had been cut in half and Cate Blanchett just kept getting cuter as the movie went on, but this wasn't enough to make up for what I perceived to be lack of direction and coherence. Anyway, tell me what you think, I'm not going anywhere.

A New Era In Electronic Entertainment

2006-01-11T20:21:00.000+10:30

Hey, my first post. How exciting. Here's an amusing picture to get the juices flowing....