The Moustachioed Man
It has been a while since I've made a post, this is because I have been busy finishing my degree. It was a bit of an anticlimax actually, as these things often are. After my last exam I expected to experience a certain amount of excitement, but instead I just felt a sense of euphoria, although that's not to be sniffed at. I'd already decided to listen to Iron & Wine's God Made the Automobile on the way home before I went into the exam, I'm not sure why, it just seemed to make sense. I became aware of this feeling of serenity when I saw two things. The first was a reasonably attractive girl holding hands with a guy who was substantially less well gifted, which usually makes me livid, especially with my relationship status in the state that it's currently in. But I thought to myself "I'm sure their love is pure and real. Good luck to them". The second event happened a few seconds later when I passed a smackhead sitting on a grassy verge, behind some bushes, looking like he was about to cough up a lung. And I thought "What a character", jumped in the air, clicked my heels and went on my merry way.
Now the actual purpose of this post is to inform you that over recent weeks I have fashioned myself a moustache. The main reason for this is that I thought Zach Condon looked so cool in his Elephant Gun video with a fake moustache that I would try and grow a real one for myself. Here are some excerpts from the diary of a moustachioed man:
04/05/10
Day one of the new moustache. It seems to have gone down well with my house mates. I'm fairly happy with it, although it has taken a while to get used to my new face.
05/05/10
I popped to the shops today and passed a fellow follower in the way of the hirsute upper lip. I felt like we had a special connection.
06/05/10
Today was the first time that Rache and Elli saw me with the moustache. They described my appearance as "pedo" and "gay" respectively.
07/05/10
The moustache is gone. In an attempt to take the advice of Elli I began some strategical trimming this morning. However, things got slightly out of hand.
23/05/10
It's back. I won't let the girls get me down. My people have been persecuted long enough.
27/05/10
Abi said that I should go for the handle-bar. I'm not entirely convinced she's got my best interests at heart.
03/06/10
Sophie saw the moustache for the first time today. She laughed and then said she liked it.
06/06/10
It seems that I might be the only person who genuinely likes my moustache. And when I think about it, I prefer it that way. So, I'm going to persevere for now. Although it will have to go before my graduation. One day, I aspire to have a moustache as magnificent as the one displayed below.
Posted in play on Friday 25th of June 2010 by Mike | 0 comments
Labels: moustache
Two very different but equally enjoyable photos
I handed in my final year project today, it's been a challenging but enjoyable experience. Consequently I'm pretty knackered, so this will be short and sweet - I've seen two pictures today that are in no way related but I thoroughly enjoyed both of them.
Whilst this Icelandic volcano is obviously causing a lot of grief for a lot people, you have to concede that the above picture is beautiful. It is from http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/, which displays a different image each day from the universe along with an explanation.
Genius.
Posted in work on Monday 19th of April 2010 by Mike | 0 comments
Labels: web highlights, nature, star wars
Rant #1
It will come as no surprise to anyone that Rupert Murdoch has been a bit of a twat this week. And when I say "a bit of a" I mean "a gargantuan", and when I say "this week" I mean "for every single one of his waking moments". He's been threatening it for a while, but now it seems that he really is going to try and make people pay for access to his news websites - starting in June with The Times and The Sunday Times, charging £1 a day. No doubt he has plans for his other sites, including The Sun and The News of The World, to follow suit and if you believe what he said in an interview with sky news then he will also stop Google from indexing them too.
It amazes me that he has ever made any money if he is capable of making such a monumental cock-up of a decision like this. Not only has he failed to grasp the fact that insisting that readers pay for online content is never going to work because there will always be plenty of sites that offer good quality news coverage for free, but he genuinely seems to think that people are going to be up in arms at even the slightest suggestion that their beloved NewsCorp will be taken away from them... When actually I've got a suspicion that no one is going to give one solitary shit.
And this stuff about Google is literally unbelievable; the root of the problem appears to be that Mr. Murdoch obviously believes the content that his newspapers, and associated websites, produce to be invaluable. I guess he thinks he can strike a deal with another search engine such as Bing, and in turn they can offer their service as a superior one to Google because you can find Murdoch's websites with them... I'm just not convinced anyone is going to move away from Google because they can't find headlines such as "George Michael's pal is rent buoy" anywhere else.
Ultimately, I'm quite glad though. If he actually goes through with this stuff then his corporation will undoubtedly suffer for it, and maybe that'll be the last we hear of him. Obviously that won't happen, at least not anytime soon, but I can dream.
Posted in play on Sunday 28th of March 2010 by Mike | 1 comment
Labels: Rupert Murdoch, rant
Anvil
I just finished watching Anvil - a rockumentary about two friends; Lips Kudlow and Rob Reiner, who started playing music together when they were fourteen and who went on to influence some of the biggest metal bands ever with their album Metal On Metal. Anvil, however, didn't become rich and famous, they disappeared into obscurity. The film follows the band around, still trying to make it big, 30 years later.
There is a bleak comedic feel to the film and there are a lot of laugh-out-loud moments where you have to remind yourself that you're not watching Spinal Tap... these people actually exist. Yet, it never patronises the band - an opportunity that seems all too available. Instead it shows their determination and commitment to the music and their fans, often playing gigs to only a handful of people. In fact, there are a lot of parallels in that respect between Anvil and The Wrestler, which I saw the other night. There are also some genuinely moving moments as well; particularly when Lips shows himself to be the (misguided) optimist that he is, despite the band's persistent failings.
Anvil's act is certainly dated and their music is cheesy at best, but their passion is real and contagious, and ultimately you know they are never going to make it big, but every fibre of your being is hoping that they will.
This is a great film; it is both funny and heart warming whilst remaining brutally honest. You definitely don't need to be a metal-head to appreciate it.
Posted in play on Friday 26th of March 2010 by Mike | 0 comments
Labels: Anvil, Film Review
The Wrestler
I just finished watching The Wrestler. It's a film I've been meaning to see for a long time, since seeing Mickey Rourke on Friday Night with Jonathon Ross some time ago. I enjoyed it as much as I thought I would (a lot). Rourke plays a has-been wrestler who finds himself lonely, performing for die-hard fans, and trying to rekindle a relationship with his estranged daughter.
I've not seen any other Darren Aronofsky films, although Pi has been on the list for some time now too. It is well directed, juxtaposing the glamour of performing in front of adoring fans with the harsh reality of life outside of the ring. It manages to produce some genuine heart-wrenching moments without shoving them down your throat, and you're left with a good feeling at the end even though there's no real resolution.
Although one of the best things about The Wrestler is that it manages to make a film about a niche subject accessible to everyone, I think it's more of a treat if you were ever into wrestling growing up - showing that the fights are, obviously, farcical but that they still pose a threat to the performers involved. Also, any film with Marisa Tomei in it brings a smile to my face because it reminds me of a brilliant Seinfeld episode.
Posted in play on Thursday 25th of March 2010 by Mike | 0 comments
Labels: The Wrestler, Film Review
Wonders of the Solar System
Currently I am attempting to write the final report for my final year project. Its going ok, but, the techies among you will know that, the process of documenting code is a long and arduous one and I am bored; hence this post.
Follower (Singular. I think it's just you, Sam. Talking to you directly, rather than writing posts on here, would be a much more efficient use of my time) and friends alike will know that Brian Cox is one of my favourite people at the moment. He possesses those qualities that seldom live harmoniously within the same organism; a love of physics and a personality... I think I have a bit of a man-crush. Well, he has his own program on the BBC at the moment, called Wonders of the Solar System and it is truly fantastic - the best show I have seen on TV for a very long time.
It is incredibly informative and beautifully shot; the first episode shows the total eclipse of the sun in July 2009 as well as the Aurora Borealis - two phenomena I am determined to witness at some point. The second focused heavily on Saturn; its rings and one of its moons - Enceladus, which shoots jets of water and ice high into its atmosphere. The latest episode (third) was mostly about another of Saturn's moons, Titan, which has been shown to have a very similar atmosphere to Earth - a very encouraging discovery.
I thoroughly recommend you check it out.
Posted in play on Wednesday 24th of March 2010 by Mike | 0 comments
Labels: Wonders of the Solar System, physics, Brian Cox
Selected Highlights from the Interweb #1
A few videos that I've appreciated recently:
I don't particularly like Ok Go's music, but I love the effort they put into their videos. This is the best one I've seen of theirs.
Jeremy Kyle: King of the Gypsies
I love Wes Anderson, all of his films are among my favourites. Here is a nice little parody of them.
"George is dead, call me back!"
This is the best of the lot, can't embed it though.
Posted in play on Thursday 18th of March 2010 by Mike | 2 comments
Labels: web highlights, Seinfeld, Wes Anderson
Put Your Faith In Me My Friends
This one started when I was trying to find an embarrasing picture of Sam because he just posted one of me on his blog, taken when I was slightly inebriated, that I'd completely forgotten about. I found a few, but none that really fit the bill and besides I know him well enough to know that he'd just revel in it anyway. So I abandoned that idea. I did, however, find a lot of other photos of me and my friends being... well idiots essentially, I've included some of my favourites below.
They left me in a state of ambivalence; most of them made me laugh out loud, but also I find that there's a real sadness that comes with looking over old photos because I don't get many opportunities to see the people in them anymore, as they are scattered up and down the country. Also, I've not put in all the effort that I could've done to keep some of these relationships over the last few years. But that will change.
It's the little things that we do that mean anything.
Posted in play on Wednesday 17th of March 2010 by Mike | 0 comments
Soft Silly Music Is Meaningful, Magical
"From pure sensation to the intuition of beauty, from pleasure and pain to love and the mystical ecstasy and death - all the things that are fundamental, all the things that, to the human spirit, are most profoundly significant, can only be experienced, not expressed. The rest is always and everywhere silence."
I have been wanting to the read The Rest is Silence, an essay by Aldous Huxley on what music means to him, for some time now and after reading that first paragraph I knew I wasn't going to be disappointed. In little over two pages he manages to sum up everything I feel about music concisely and beautifully, and therefore, to say I wasn't disappointed is, in fact, somewhat of an understatement.
"We are grateful to the artist, especially the musician, for 'saying clearly what we have always felt, but never been able to express.'"
That is exactly why music can be amazing, when a record is capable of doing as Huxley describes, it can mean more than anything. However, it is also why so few records actually make it to that level because it requires a talent that is nothing short of genius.
Short and sweet, I don't really feel I can do it justice. I recommend you read it.
Posted in play on Tuesday 9th of March 2010 by Mike | 0 comments
Labels: music, essay, Aldous Huxley
