A Picture of Britain

New exhibition in the Tate (plus tv series and book) is being trailed in this weekend's papers. I'm determined to make it to this (for once).

Bewl Water

Just been here for the day - it's one of the seven wonders of the "Weald" apparently. Actually very good with an excellent adventure playground (Tom).

Sin City

Sometimes even I win things....such as an xfm competition to see "Sin City" at The Rex, which is an "exclusive members club with cinema" in Soho. Well, I'd planned to see the film anyway, and oh, might as well admit it, I was also enticed by the phrase "The film is to be introduced by Brittany Murphy and Jessica Alba so you won't want to be late." Hah! Yeah, a video introduction...how cheated do I feel....

Sin City is an adaptation of the comic book (or graphic novel, if you prefer ;) . It's all guns and girls and one-liners in the midst of mayhem. There isn't really a great deal to say about the film, since it's pretty much what you'd expect a (good) comic book adaptation to be: nothing too deep and meaningful, but plenty of action. It also has a weird and wonderful look, which at times leaves you wondering whether it's live action, CGI or animation. Most of the film is monochrome with colour used sparingly (a girl's eyes; blood on a face) which makes for some stunning visuals.

One problem I did have with the film is that I kept expecting the stories to merge at some point and they don't. It's more like "Tales from Sin City" where the viewer is given glimpses of the life of these weird characters.

Not one for the kiddies, it's unashamedly violent and old fashionedly sexist, in a film noir sense. Excellent fun.

Fitzrovian Facts!

The Fitzroy Tavern was built in 1897. Former regular Aleister Crowley invented a cocktail for the pub, the kubla khan no 2, from gin, vermouth and laudanum.

After all the writers moved onto the Wheatsheaf, the place became a gay hangout in the 50s, when such behaviour was illegal, but it got raided by the police.

Twenty Questions!

Anyone come across this neural network 20 questions game? It's slightly eerie how it successfully guesses what you're thinking about: http://www.20q.net

The Monastery

This was fantastic - did anyone else catch it?

London Compendium:

I bought a copy of The London Compendium at the weekend, and now intend to bore you at regular intervals with top facts about Fitzrovia.

Tonight: Adolf Hitler's half brother lived at 4 Percy St (the one between the Fitzroy and Tottenham Ct Rd), and Adolf visited him there in 1912.

Also: In 1640, the entire area was an estate, which was acquired by Henry Fitzroy, an illegitimate son of Charles II, who later became Earl of Euston.

The Sun

Slightly ashamed about finding this funny, but enjoyed the Sun's headline on Friday: Bush Probes Sadam's Pants. Sub-head was something along the lines of 'He's determined to get to the bottom of it'. It has become Viz. (This in response to their picture of Hussein in underwear on the previous day.)

Undiscovered Scotland

I know it's been linked to before, but it's worth mentioning again that the Undiscovered Scotland website is totally fantastic browsing fodder. I particularly like this bit.

Ahh, I am half in love with easeful middle age...

Respect!

On second thoughts, Galloway's alright after all.

Contemporary Scottish Bar in London...

Has anyone come across this? Maybe we should go for a Fitzroy Tuesday summer excursion?

http://www.albannach.co.uk/

More on What the Bleep

Dickie Dawkings having a pop in today's Grauniad. Bet the bloke from Edinburgh feels a bit foolish, his criticisms far milder than the rest of them.

The trailer's up

and it looks pretty good.

I really don't like George Galloway

I've no idea whether the current allegations are true or not, but he just referred to himself in the third person in his BBC interview. Never a good sign.

Another classic

Sorry to get there late, but we still managed to cover the following:

- arguments for Scottish independence vs devolution
- the open source brewery
- the new political landscape
- the work-life balance
- whether God is a fascist or not and if e=mc2 describes or governs the universe
- existentialist teleology

Anything else...?

Open Office

Has anyone (ie John or Seumas) tried the Open Office open source office suite?

Lookout v1.2

Lookout for Outlook. Incredibly useful if you use Outlook as your mail client...

What the Bleep Do We Know!? :: Official UK Site

What the Bleep Do We Know!? :: Official UK Site

Pub

So just to be clear, we are up for the pub this evening yeah? I can get there fairly early-ish...

There are more of us than I thought...

about 1.1 billion in fact...

a brilliant website

I particularly like the 'pictures of burning palaces' section:
http://www.throneout.com/palaces_on_fire.asp

This

Spanish ISP obviously didn't check with English speakers before choosing its name

I love this corny film

Now available on DVD. Has been impossible to get hold of until now - dodgy VHS tapes changing hands for £50 on ebay.

Tuesday 10th a go-er then?

I'm certainly up for it. There is plenty to discuss, and Charlotte St will be illumined by the clear light of an early summer evening.

VOTE LABOUR

VOTE LABOUR

New Yorker - Global Warming

Final part of a new yorker 3-parter on global warming. Also, did you see the Tony Blair profile, reprinted in the Observer on Sunday? Like most New Yorker features, about twice as long as it could have been, but quite interesting on the Iraq stuff...