I don’t know what my naive self thought was happening – perhaps that the birds just liked the act of catching fish and would do it even on a full stomach? who knows – but I was clearly stupidly wrong. What happens, is the birds have a piece of string tied around their neck so that when they catch a fish, they cant fit it down their throat to eat it and the ‘fisherman’ grabs it out of their beak. Seems obvious in retrospect, and possibly even looks like it’s a clever tactic, like ‘yay – humans win over nature!’ but I cant help but feel like it’s cruel and unnecessary. Maybe before we’d learnt how to use nets and rods and whatnot, I could understand it, but these days(?) Is that the best fishing method(?) Really(?)

Bah. Boo to HSBC for glamorising tying string around cormorants necks. Boo!!

(more on ‘cormorant fishing’ here)

No related posts.

You know when you used go back to school after the summer and had to write down a story about what you did over the holidays(?) – (edit: Did anyone else have to do that? I’m not even sure that I ever did that.. but it sounds like I should’ve) – Well, this is that. Except not in story form. Just the facts. I’m not 100% sure why this is relevant to anyone but it goes someway to explaining my silence and besides, this is my blog, and I’ll cry if I want to. Or something.

I suppose the main thing was that I spent the best part of a month in California and Hawaii. Ostensibly due to a marriage / honeymoon – mine, that is. It went great, thanks for asking – the trip actually served to develop a yearning for a less stringent U.S. immigration policy. Seriously, it’s practically impossible to move there from the UK, which is a shame, but probably just as well because it’s a superb holiday destination and living there would ruin that. So anyway, in a trip that wasn’t too dissimilar from our Californian adventure 2 years ago, we started in San Francisco, stopped in Big Sur to get married, went to a few different places in Los Angeles for a bit, flew to Hawaii (Oahu – Big Island – Oahu again), then flew to Las Vegas. I still haven’t finished sorting the photos yet, but they’ll be here soon, along with a bit more detail. It was a.m.a.z.i.n.g.

(^ custom made wedding figurines of us.. it’s an exact likeness.)

Also went to the Reading Festival and lost a glowstick (and some dignity) to The Prodigy who were the definite highlight for me. They were STONKING. I’ve mentioned before that Out of Space is just immense, and mentalling out to it live was great . Catching the ’secret’ performance from rock supergroup Them Crooked Vultures was quite good too, and Little Boots was ace. But generally, though the festival itself was fun, the bands are all pretty much meh to me. It’s no ‘rock the bells‘, put it that way. Nonetheless, two groups that I didn’t get to see because they were on the main stage at midday (on different days) but wished I had seen were Sonic Boom Six and Mariachi El Bronx. Until a week before the event, I had no idea who they were but then I discovered them just in time to be disappointed that I didn’t see them live. Ah well. Maybe next time.

What else? Oh yeah, I finished two-thirds of an M.A. (time-consuming), sold my house (exciting), watched the whole of The Wire (awesome), and mastered the art of caring for an injured hen (sadly necessary). Some of those things could do with longer explanations but now that I’ve mentioned my M.A., it’s dawned on me that I really ought to be doing something for it this weekend, so I’ll wrap this up now

Related posts:

1. It’s been 115 days..
2. photos from California

I’m unashamedly a Big Brother viewer (or at least, I was until the last series this year, which I didn’t bother with at all). I’ve mentioned it here a few times before. I think it’s entertaining.

I also like zombies. They’re clearly the best type of horror fodder. Especially the ones that roar and scream and run and are still just about stupid enough to let you think you can escape, until the sheer number of them overwhelms you and you become another member of the horde.

So when I saw this viral a while ago for a show which would combine Big Brother with zombies (no jokes about it having done that for years already), I thought it’d be worth a watch.. and it was(/is).

‘Dead Set‘ started with an hour long episode on Monday night on e4, with a half hour installment last night and 3 more to come every night this week (ending on Halloween.. ooohh! spoooky!). If you’ve missed the two so far, they’re probably available on 4oD, or other un-endorsed sites perhaps, or the DVD comes out next week apparently. However you manage it though, you should watch it. The zombie bits are delightfully gory, the Big Brother bits are spot on (in terms of inanity, humour and realism) and it’s wholeheartedly recommended. There’s a bit in the first episode where a man in a wheelchair is pushed into the path of a zombie as a temporary barrier from the munching and I feel like I shouldn’t've laughed but I did. Out loud. A lot. Actual L O L. Oh, and it’s created by Charlie Brooker. Good stuff.

No related posts.

Just when you think that Lost couldn’t get any more confusing, they go and introduce new characters with potential ghost-talking abilities and multiple future-past-present-future flashforwardback things. Oh, and the bones of a polar bear wearing a Dharma collar in the Tunusian desert. Brilliant.

There’s all sorts of mental, overly complex theories out there but all I want to know is – what is the monster?! When Locke asked Ben that very question in episode 2 of the new series, I almost thought we’d get an answer. But no. That’d be too easy. Actually, there’s tonnes of things that still need answering but I won’t dwell on those; instead, I’ll rejoice in the revelation of how the plane wreckage was found in the ocean. They touched upon on it in the show with some news footage, but for the full story take a look at Find 815 (or if you’ve not got the time to unravel the events yourself, click here for an overview). It’s another nice accompaniment to the main tv series which answers a few things but also creates even more mysteries. Worth a look if you’re a fan of the show

The extent to which the makers of Lost go in order to support/add to the story never ceases to amaze me. The amount of work they put into things like The Lost Experience is uber-impressive and while there’s a part of me that just wishes they would concentrate on answering things within the show, I definitely appreciate the extra legwork that goes into creating the whole ‘Lost-universe’. Cross-platform immersive narrative-ness at it’s best.

Related posts:

1. skins series 2
2. we have to go back!
3. hyper island – interactive art director

The ‘blob’ idents on BBC Three have always been a redeeming feature amongst a lot of the tripe that passes for ‘entertainment’ (see ‘Two Pints Of Lager…’ for reference). Their ‘short yet funny in a slightly odd but quite ‘cute’-ish way‘ – ness has been a staple of the channel for as long as I’ve had it on freeview.. and possibly since the start of the channel(?), so it’ll be a shame to see them go. But go they must, to make way for the new BBC Three branding which I actually quite like. It’s pink. I like that. It’s accompanied by a series of new idents which have yet to air but will hopefully be colourful and joyous! Like the sneak preview below..

If you’re unaccustomed to the ‘blobs’, or simply want a refresher – YouTube saves the day again.

Related posts:

1. skins series 2
2. (my) genius photography

Looking forward to this starting as the first series turned out to be actually rather good. I like the fact that they make a lot of the whole myspace/facebook crowd with their various online things (myspace pages, extra content, ‘The Lost Weeks‘, cast blogs etc). Nice cross-platform type of stuff..

There’s a fairly dark trailer for the new series on youtube (specifically, here.. a stark contrast to the series 1 trailer) which is quite intriguing. Will Tony be alright after the accident? Will Sid save Cassie from herself? How many more drugs will Chris take? What’s wrong with Michelle’s nose? All these crucial questions and more, answered in February. Good stuff.

Related posts:

1. we have to go back!
2. on the trail of the dark knight
3. when life gives you promo

Fuck yeah we have to go back! I still have high hopes for Lost even though I’ve pretty much forgotten everything that’s happened so far (it’s been months and MONTHS since the last series). Not really sure what to expect. In my head, all the people on the island have superpowers like flying and stopping time but I’m fairly sure that’s the remnants in my mind of something completely different. Ah well; it’ll come flooding back once I hear that first chorus of ‘Hey‘’s and listen to Jack telling someone he’ll fix them. Can’t wait!

Oh, and let’s not forget there’s the other teaser too, which blatantly has Charlie in it.. Hmm.. Intriguing…

Related posts:

1. skins series 2
2. find 815

The point of this post however, is to point out that on the programme’s minisite, they have an image which is uncannily alike a photo I took this summer and recently added to my flickr page. Witness!!

Naturally, I’m taking this as a sign that I’m a genius in the realm of photography (and not just that lot’s of people have taken photos like that). I’m gifted! You can go and have a look at the rest of my photography at flickr (I just added another 40 or so photos from California which I’ve just got ’round to sorting through). Treat it accordingly and bow down..

Related posts:

1. the guardian travel photo of the month
2. what digital camera magazine
3. ‘yyellowbird’ on flickr

as promised last friday (“celebrity big brother 5“), i went to the live filming of celebrity big brother on friday night. while standing around for near 5 hours in the freezing cold isn’t ordinarily my idea of fun, the thing was rather enjoyable. definitely worth the speedy drive up to elstree after work.. it’s lucky we arrived when we did, because the queue was immense! i’m sure that hundreds of people didn’t get in. (randomly – thanks to the guy who directed us to the studios after google maps let us down. who says all londoners are rude, obnoxious and out to mug you? lies i tell you!)

it was odd being at the place i’ve seen on tv for the last 6 years or whatever it’s been.. and it’s much smaller than i thought it’d be. also, i was shocked to find that it’s not all live. call me naive but i just presumed it always was on a friday night. the second show (when jade goody and her family went into the house) was actually recorded whilst ‘ugly betty‘ was on, and then shown on tv half an hour later. oooohh.. tv trickery!

but anyway.. good fun. it’s a shame that the microphones didn’t quite pick up all of our various shouts, although at the end of the last show you can just about hear me crying “go faceman!”. i have no shame. what follows below are some pictures i took, and some screenshots from the show, with our glorious banner “no cigars? no benedict!” highlighted for your viewing pleasure..

recognise.

davina. talking about the birth of her child. odd.

some pictures of the banner, as seen on tv!


with jade goody spoiling the view.

jade’s mum. she has one arm.

since our visit, donny and ken have both left the house. i think that’s more to do with jade goody going in, rather than us being in the audience but you never know.. can’t say i blame them tho. her voice! christ almighty.. just awful!

anyway. we’ll see how it pans out. dirk to win!

No related posts.

• carole malone(?) it really grated me how she tried to act so informed when she went in.. “oh, we heard rumours you’d be here!” and “you’re a suprise! we didn’t hear anything about you” etc.. awful.
• danny tourette is a walking advert for sobriety.
• ken russell should really be in the care of his family or help the aged or something.. poor bloke.
• leo sayer is “too entertaining”. ugh.. makes me shudder.
• oh, and ‘h’ is gay?! who knew?!
• and someone should tell jermaine jackson that it’s not immediately obvious to everyone who he is.. he’s not as famous as his brother.

blah.. i cant lie; i’ll be watching every episode. it’s great..

i’ll unashamedly admit that i’ve always liked big brother. it’s pure entertainment. people can go on about it being trashy and tabloid and having no real worth but they’re just denying the truth: it’s fun to watch. i’ve never understood arguments to the contrary.. they’re usually uttered by people who seem to think that because they slate BB (that’s Big Brother to you uninitiated), they’re automatically better and more intelligent than people who watch it. fools.

so yeah, back to the point of this. dirk benedict will win. surely. he’s a mack.

in more fun BB-related news: i’m going to elstree to watch tonights live episode being filmed.. they’ll be introducing a new family to the house apparently. i sincerely hope it’s someone better than jade goody. still, regardless of what happens.. it’ll be an experience. i’ve never seen stuff being filmed for tv before. oh, except once cannon & ball filmed a skit outside my house, which was odd. no match for davina. should be fun. as long as it doesn’t rain. keep an eye out for our banner: no cigars, no benedict!

No related posts.

in a nutshell.

caught the last three episodes of ‘planet earth‘. and can’t wait for the next batch.

saw the sugababes live (see the pic). surreal, but enjoyable nonetheless.

got tickets to the v festival, and the reading festival. despite the fact that i don’t massively like any of the bands playing. but my girlfriend does. so that’s okay.

installed the ‘tab mix plus‘ extension for firefox. it’s superb.

had my site added to the ‘student highlights‘ section of my media school’s new blog. which was kind of them.

picked up ‘fishscale‘ and watched the trailer for the ‘rock the bells‘ dvd. my reaction to both showed me that wu-tang clan still aint nuthin to f’ wit…

and some other stuff too.

i also noticed recently that this site design isn’t quite as nice as i’d like. so i’m gonna redesign soonish. well, after i get my uni stuff out of the way. only 4 weeks to go and i’m lagging. best stop writing pointless blogs and get on with it.

word.

No related posts.

last nights’ ‘planet earth‘ was as good as the first.. i’m really liking this series so far, and i just read that after the initial 5 episodes, there’s going to be 6 new ones in the autumn. superb.

the snow leopard bits were particularily cool.. and in honour of the cameraman’s 3 year stay in the mountains to get those shots, i thought i’d share my own photo of the elusive creature.

took me all of 3 minutes. in dublin. but still, looks cool

No related posts.

worth a peep.

(oh, and while trawling, saw this too.. real life simpsons house. very odd.)

No related posts.

i wonder what counted as an ‘internet user’.. someone who uses the internet at least 2 and a half hours a day perhaps..

still, it’s a jump forward from the last survey which reckoned that internet/tv time was about equal. not to mention it’s a nice omen for the multicasting trials by the bbc and itv..

everything’s more fun on the interweb.

No related posts.

..is my place of birth.

new wildlife series on bbc 1, started on sunday but is repeated on saturday for people who dozed. well worth watching. some of the shots are unreal.. really impressive stuff. love it.

check the bbc page for programme times and some cool flash video thing. apparently there’s a lava lake on the next one! lava is cool. it’s official.

No related posts.

having, as i do, access to the wonderful world of the interweb, i couldn’t resist getting series 2 of Lost a tad before it’s shown over here. watching it on the computer isn’t quite as good as watching it in full screen glory but it’ll do til the summer. i’m up to episode 6 now and am no wiser than i was at the end of series 1. well, i’m a bit wiser, but confusion still lurks.even after reading this splendid theory, i’m not sure what’s going on on the island. but it’s good to watch tho’.

only thing that really gets me is.. what the fidduck are the numbers about?

No related posts.