Dinner

The Kitchin

Last time I was in Edinburgh, we went to The Kitchin. This time... well, it was good!

(Looking that up made me realise I've been thoroughly inconsistent at logging this kind of activity -- mainly by, er, not.)

A daily dose of sci-fi - Day 23

It's party-time!
Which sci-fi character are you going to dress-up as?

No one. Does that count? I guess not.

Donnie Darko

Because I'm really lazy and really, really don't care.


Read about a daily dose of sci-fi, with links to the rest of the series, here.

Articles

How Black People Use Twitter by Farhad Manjoo
(from Slate)
The subject of this article is something I have also noticed and been intrigued by, so I find this to be noticeably intriguing.

Review of Anno Dracula - New Edition by Blackgloves
(from Horrorview)
Interesting, insightful review of Kim Newman's seminal modern-classic SF/F novel.

Lunch

Gidleigh Park

Remember just over a year ago, when I went to Michelin-starred restaurant The Kitchin? Well, by a similar token, today I went to the two-Michelin-starred Sunday-Times-best-restaurant-in-Britain, Gidleigh Park.

It was very nice, thank you very much.

Articles

500,000 download new Who game by Christopher Dring
(from MCV)

“The result is a lot more than I was expecting,” Simon Nelson, controller of portfolio and multiplatform at BBC Vision told MCV.
“We had set ourselves some fairly stretched targets on this and we’ve blown them away... This has been part of the Who planning process rather than just a bolt on at the end, which too many interactive things have been. I’m hoping that we have demonstrated to the TV and the games side that there is a marriage worth pursuing here... I like to think we’ve broken ground for the TV industry, games industry, the public service sector and hopefully even the commercial sector”
...the BBC is not resting on its laurels and is focused on making sure the rest of The Adventure Games are a success before looking ahead to future projects.

It came out on Mac earlier this week, so I can finally play it. I forgot that until today, which shows what revelations about the kind of game it was did for my initially-high excitement levels.
I might play it later.

Serafinowicz: Five Reasons I Love Apple and Five Reasons I Hate Apple by Peter Serafinowicz
(from Gizmodo)
I agree. Also, presented with funny piccies.

The use of digital media comes at a price by Dan Roberts
(from Executive Style at The Sydney Morning Herald)
Interesting article on the mental and physical impact of spending too much time on computers, the Internet, social networking, etc. The solid evidence is hardly extensive at this point, but it's nonetheless compelling.

Articles

A space odyssey of the mind by Jon Kelly
(from BBC News Magazine)

Six would-be astronauts will this week begin a 520-day mock space voyage to simulate a mission to Mars. How will they cope with the huge psychological pressures?

An intriguing idea, but it will be interesting to see if they can last the full 520 days. Doing something like this in some Russian hangar is very different to actually going to space.

Homer Simpson voted greatest TV character by Morgan Jeffery
(from Digital Spy)
No surprise there, really, though others in the top five -- Buffy, Tony Soprano -- are more surprising/welcome. And Harry Potter's there, of course. Though it's a little depressing that Spongebob Squarepants has made the top ten.

Why the Digital Economy Act simply won't work by Cory Doctorow
(from Digital rights, digital wrongs at guardian.co.uk)
If only the government, etc, would listen, rather than pushing on with this nasty piece of legislation.

Articles

FlashForward finale: Did advance planning do more harm than good for the show? by Lynette Rice
(from Hollywood Insider at EW.com)

Steampunks gather for Great Exhibition by Mark Ward
(from BBC News)
It's funny how older stories sometimes turn up in BBC News' "most popular" list, like this rather cool one from the end of March.

Dinner

The Kitchin

I don't normally highlight what I eat -- obviously -- but I think going to a Michelin-starred restaurant (especially for the first time) counts as a cultural experience.

It was very nice, thank you very much.

This confounds my regular array of categories, but still, it counts...

City Sightseeing bus tour of Edinburgh

Suggestion of the day...

Send this letter to this email address (adding some kind of framing bit to note the letter's not actually by you but you agree with every word of it).

It'll only take a few seconds, but it might one day turn out to be worth it.

Helping Haiti

"Single £3.97 ... At least £1 goes to charity."

I'm sure it's not just Simon Cowell profiting from disaster. Sure it isn't.

But still -- why buy a single from a bunch of crap artists when just donating the money directly would give more to where it's needed, rather than to recording studios / CD duplicating facilities / Cowell's pockets / etc?

It's raised awareness, I'm sure; and it's probably getting money from those who can afford to give but wouldn't care enough to donate normally -- yes, despite what you think, you don't actually care if you're only giving because you get a high-profile single in return.

That's the long and the short of it: if you actually care about the charity, not Simon Cowell's latest money-making scheme, you'd donate £3.97 directly instead of buying the single.

Articles

Corduroy Skirts are a Sin by Julie Z
(from fbomb)
A wonderful protest (it's infinitely more important, and clever, than that title suggests). It would take too long to summarise, so, just go read it.

Articles

Did We Land on the Moon? A Debunking of the Moon Hoax Theory by Robert A. Braeunig
(from Rocket & Space Technology)
This is very, very long, but is also a thoroughly comprehensive overview of why those who claim we never went to the Moon are wrong. Even if you're not interested in all the details, the opening and closing statements summarise well, and if you've ever had any specific questions about the science of the Apollo missions and Moon landings you'll likely find an answer in there.

Articles

First:

WWI veteran Patch dies aged 111
(from BBC News)
"The last British survivor of the World War I trenches, Harry Patch, has died at the age of 111."
Appropriately, the main story across BBC News today.

Now, on to more trivial matters...

A Night With Peter Jackson by Nick de Semlyen
(from Amazing Tales from Comic Con! at Empire)
In which the director reveals all a little about the many, many projects he has in development.

Panel Report: Avatar by James Dyer
(from Amazing Tales from Comic Con! at Empire)
It's amazing, blah blah blah. I can only assume it looked a lot better than it actually sounds.

Spies like them by Gordon Corera
(from BBC News Magazine)
"What do real life spooks make of fictional spies?"
A simple but incredibly interesting concept for an article, which is moderately well-served here. It would be more interesting to know what spies thought of purportedly realistic series like Spooks (well, in its early series) or the too-forgotten Sandbaggers, rather than the obviously-fictional world of James Bond. Perhaps the three-part radio series it's promoting will shed more light on the matter.

Articles

School safety 'insult' to Pullman
(from BBC News)
"How dare you check me, I'm famous!" One rule for them, etc etc. I can almost see where they're coming from but, to be frank, they're wrong. Following this article I have a lot less respect for Philip Pullman, Anne Fine, Michael Morpurgo and Anthony Horowitz.

Articles

Five Outrageous Reality Shows from Around the World by Stefanie Lee
(from tv.com)
Penitents Compete? Japanese Tetris? Sperm Race? You know you want to know more.

Rose Byrne: Star Wars TV Show To Be a Family Drama by Seth Abramovitch (from Movie|Line)
and
Star Wars Live-Action TV Series Casting Underway by Eric Ditzian (from MTV Movies Blog)
She's not in the series and she only had a small part in one of the six films ("I’m literally like an extra in that film."), but it seems Damages star Rose Byrne can't help letting slip little details on the forthcoming Star Wars live action TV series.

Steven Soderbergh: 'I can see the end of my career' by Henry Barnes (from guardian.co.uk)
and
Does Anyone Direct More Movies Than Steven Soderbergh? by Kyle Buchanan (from Movie|Line)
Apparently this news has caused a bit of a stir -- unsurprisingly -- but it is phenomenal how many films Soderbergh has directed in such a short space of time. Read the second article for some comparisons to other prolific directors -- Soderbergh leaves them all in the shade.

Twitter is not for teens, Morgan Stanley told by 15-year-old expert by Julia Kollewe
(from guardian.co.uk)
"Report on young people's media habits written for investment bank by teenage intern causes huge interest in the City"
It's interesting that this has caused such a stir, because you can read the full text of his report here and see it's really not much cop -- a decent enough piece of work for a 15-year-old on an internship, maybe, but certainly no more than that. I'd also be prepared to wager it shows no more than the opinions of his group of friends -- at best, because it may just be what he thinks, lazily knocked out in half an hour. There's at least one glaring factual error in there, for example:
"Most people have Virgin Media as a TV provider. Some have Sky and some have Freeview"
It's a cold hard fact that the number of people with Sky is several times bigger than those with Virgin.

Moving update

Due to technical issues relating to my move (see previous few days for related posts), updates to this blog will not appear with their regular efficiency for the next week. Rest assured that updates will continue daily (though delayed) and normal service will resume shortly.

Technology

Spent most of today moving stuff again, but that included setting up my oft-discussed new TV arrangement.

I've not had a chance to fully calibrate and enjoy it yet, but the brief check-it-works tests proved it all to be as stunning as I hoped.

Moving

My Cultural Experience spent today moving, with occasional breaks to visit the likes of B&Q, which rather got in the way of any more genuine cultural experiences.

Articles

Film first-looks, anti-American websites, and a freakin' spaceport! Today is a good day...

Bay slams Transformers ad campaign by Simon Reynolds
(from Digital Spy)
"Website TMZ has published an email (dated May 4) from Bay to executives, among them CEO Brad Grey and Transformers producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura, in which the director blasts the studio for not spending enough money publicising the robot sequel's summer release." And there's details of what he said, if you want them.

Crazy Cancellations by Ben Rawson-Jones
(from Digital Spy)
Parts of this article about prematurely cancelled TV series are interesting, parts aren't. Primarily, it uses the modern misappropriated definition of "cult TV" -- i.e. "sci-fi/fantasy/unusual" -- rather than the appropriate origin of its meaning -- i.e. anything with a small but dedicated following, which most often happened to be SF/F. Fools.

Creator: New Scrubs not set in hospital by Lara Martin
(from Digital Spy)
A bold reinvention for the sitcom, making it part continuation, part spin-off and part reboot. Cunning.

First Look: Tim Burton's Trippy New Alice in Wonderland by Alex Billington
(from FirstShowing.net)
Stunning, but mad. Can't wait to see this.

question of the day: Are sites like Hulu and YouTube “anti-consumer, anti-media employees, and even anti-America”?
(from FlickFilosopher)
It always amuses me when someone trots out "anti-American" as if it's the be-all-and-end-all of what is good and right. Bless 'em. Still, that aside, this article has some good points about the future of all media.

Real life spaceport under construction
(from Live For Films)
So far beyond cool it hurts. A freakin' spaceport!

Wicker Man 2 - Holy Cowboys for Christ! Ewar WooWar indeed.
(from Live For Films)
They're making a sequel to the original Wicker Man. By all rights this should be appalling news, but it actually looks and sounds quite good...