This week is going to be a bit of a dog's dinner I think. Monday should be fine, but there's a couple of pieces of work that I absolutely have to get done and out of the way today. The reason being that Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday will see me travelling to my local Starfleet office to participate in three days of education.
More mixed messages from the powers that be in the academy - last weeks galactic communication informed some of the populus that insufficient volunteers have been found for planetary exploration and that the "away team" will be hand picked whether they like it or not. Clearly a depressing message.
I'm being trained in the usage of some of the latest equipment to be issued to the crew members and recently installed on my communicator. You might think that if starfleet are investing three days of time training me to use this equipment that it's unlikely that I would be in the "away team" as operators will be required. Don't be fooled for a minute. Captain kirk is reactionary and forward planning is not on his agenda.
One thing I do know is that the trainor is an interesting character with a wide range of ties to smile at, so there will be some entertainment at least.
Another reason for a messy week is my health. Worn out and rough last night complete with sniffles, this has increased to full blown man flu and I really want to get that shifted before spending time, travelling back and forth to starfleet. I'm pretty sure it's something more than just Autosomal Cholinergic Helio-Ophtalmologic Outburst syndrome. I suspect this is a combination of huge chunks of car travel last week, plus a further 8 hours out of 24 doing the same again this weekend, too much sunshine/sunburn and not getting enough fruit and veg. So today, I think I'll start the day with orange juice, expresso, a lemsip and a banana and see where I go from there.
Four movies I've been trying to catchup with and sort of have now - thanks to a pretty relaxed Sunday. A Serious Man, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, The Men Who Stare at Goats and The Informant!.
A Serious Man. The Coen Brothers - famed for The Big Lebowski, among many others, have scored a goal again here with the critics, but be warned, it's confusing. Did I fully understand it? No. Did I enjoy it ? Yes. So it's definelty one I've got to go back and see again, and possibly again after that as well.
The Men who Stare at Goats. Based on an allegedly true story it's all about a reporter on the hunt of a story. What he finds is the "New Earth Army" which is basically soldiers with super powers (in their heads). It's a magical, whimsical piece with plenty of smiles and the odd chuckle. Ewan McGregor plays the reporter, the awesome Jeff Bridges plays one of the original members of the Army and George Clooney is his mentee. On top of this is Kevin Spacey taking himself extremely seriously turns this into a gem.
The Informant!. If as it claims this is the true story of a compulsive liar informing to the FBI about alleged price fixing of corn syrup - then it's a truly amazing story. It took me the best part of the first act to actually work out what the hell was going on, but once I had it nailed I couldn't stop watching. Set in the 80's (everything seems to be 60's, 70's or 80's of late, guess that's the times we're living in) there's a very interesting commentary by our lead which is pretty much a juxtaposition to which ever scene we're watching. So an important meeting with someone from Japan, would be accompanied by his views on tie colour for instance - very odd, but very enjoyable.
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus - Halfway through and I feel like I missed a bit - got to go back and start again - so a typical Terry Gilliam Film. Looks beautiful though.
Of the four of them - The Men Who Stare at Goats is the most accessible and I think, certainly the one with most mass appeal. The Informant! and A Serious Man take up a lot more of your concentration. As for the Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus' - well I'm lost, but I'll have another crack at it when I can be completely undisturbed.
Finally, make sure you've booked a space in your diary for Thursday night and ITV at 8pm. Our future leaders will be having their first live TV debate - I can't wait to see how high Simon Cowell has his trousers!!
Hello Coffee.... It's life Jim, but not as we know it!
More mixed messages from the powers that be in the academy - last weeks galactic communication informed some of the populus that insufficient volunteers have been found for planetary exploration and that the "away team" will be hand picked whether they like it or not. Clearly a depressing message.
I'm being trained in the usage of some of the latest equipment to be issued to the crew members and recently installed on my communicator. You might think that if starfleet are investing three days of time training me to use this equipment that it's unlikely that I would be in the "away team" as operators will be required. Don't be fooled for a minute. Captain kirk is reactionary and forward planning is not on his agenda.
One thing I do know is that the trainor is an interesting character with a wide range of ties to smile at, so there will be some entertainment at least.
Another reason for a messy week is my health. Worn out and rough last night complete with sniffles, this has increased to full blown man flu and I really want to get that shifted before spending time, travelling back and forth to starfleet. I'm pretty sure it's something more than just Autosomal Cholinergic Helio-Ophtalmologic Outburst syndrome. I suspect this is a combination of huge chunks of car travel last week, plus a further 8 hours out of 24 doing the same again this weekend, too much sunshine/sunburn and not getting enough fruit and veg. So today, I think I'll start the day with orange juice, expresso, a lemsip and a banana and see where I go from there.
Four movies I've been trying to catchup with and sort of have now - thanks to a pretty relaxed Sunday. A Serious Man, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, The Men Who Stare at Goats and The Informant!.
A Serious Man. The Coen Brothers - famed for The Big Lebowski, among many others, have scored a goal again here with the critics, but be warned, it's confusing. Did I fully understand it? No. Did I enjoy it ? Yes. So it's definelty one I've got to go back and see again, and possibly again after that as well.
The Men who Stare at Goats. Based on an allegedly true story it's all about a reporter on the hunt of a story. What he finds is the "New Earth Army" which is basically soldiers with super powers (in their heads). It's a magical, whimsical piece with plenty of smiles and the odd chuckle. Ewan McGregor plays the reporter, the awesome Jeff Bridges plays one of the original members of the Army and George Clooney is his mentee. On top of this is Kevin Spacey taking himself extremely seriously turns this into a gem.
The Informant!. If as it claims this is the true story of a compulsive liar informing to the FBI about alleged price fixing of corn syrup - then it's a truly amazing story. It took me the best part of the first act to actually work out what the hell was going on, but once I had it nailed I couldn't stop watching. Set in the 80's (everything seems to be 60's, 70's or 80's of late, guess that's the times we're living in) there's a very interesting commentary by our lead which is pretty much a juxtaposition to which ever scene we're watching. So an important meeting with someone from Japan, would be accompanied by his views on tie colour for instance - very odd, but very enjoyable.
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus - Halfway through and I feel like I missed a bit - got to go back and start again - so a typical Terry Gilliam Film. Looks beautiful though.
Of the four of them - The Men Who Stare at Goats is the most accessible and I think, certainly the one with most mass appeal. The Informant! and A Serious Man take up a lot more of your concentration. As for the Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus' - well I'm lost, but I'll have another crack at it when I can be completely undisturbed.
Finally, make sure you've booked a space in your diary for Thursday night and ITV at 8pm. Our future leaders will be having their first live TV debate - I can't wait to see how high Simon Cowell has his trousers!!
Hello Coffee.... It's life Jim, but not as we know it!
great read and I love the starfleet comments :-)
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