Category: Random stuff

Over the last couple of weekends The Times newspaper (which I buy on Saturdays only) has run articles on the “100 Greatest Films/Books of the Decade” (the decade in question being 2000-2009). I thought it would be interesting to see which of these films/books I have watched/read – perhaps this is a measure of how “current” or media-savvy I am. So, here goes my list from the 100 Greatest Films:

06: Slumdog Millionaire
09: The Queen
34: Finding Nemo
42: The Incredibles
71: Monsters Inc
89: School of Rock

That’s it – I’ve seen just six of the top hundred and four of these are films for children (says it all really).

Mind you, I have a couple more on DVD ready to watch:

08: Casino Royale
50: Lord of the Rings: Return of the King

and there are a few others in the list that I’ve nearly watched or thought about watching such as:

23: Man on Wire
39: Lost in Translation
94: An Inconvenient Truth

so it’s not impossible I might be able to creep up to 10% of the list eventually.

There was a peculiar letter in the local paper (The Herald – The Voice of Plymouth) last night. If I could provide a link to it I would do, but it’s not online so I’m going to be cheeky and quote it here in full:

“Lately, as there is a renewed interest in the Moon, may I suggest that next time the astronauts pack their picnic in preparation to jet off to the moon, to also pack some tins of silver paint and paint the damn thing”

That’s it – word for word. It’s a worry to think that not only did someone have that idea but that they actually bothered to send it in to the paper. Mind you, it’s even more worrying to think that the newspaper published it (but now I am wondering where that leaves me for quoting it here…)

The blurb of the book I am reading at the moment includes the following text:

“A remarkable story of heroism and adventure, of a boy who had to become a man too soon…. He would become father to his people. He would be Genghis Khan”

Now, the last time I checked Genghis Khan was a real person – specifically the fearsome ruler of the Mongol Empire around the year 1200. So, I am rather puzzled than in the front pages of the book there is the following disclaimer:

“This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual person, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental”

So how does that work then? Am I expected to believe that it entirely coincidental that the author imagined a character who had the same name, and who took the same role in the same general location as a well-known historical character? I don’t think so. The disclaimer is wrong – the author’s just lucky that Genghis isn’t still alive to take appropriate action against him because from what I have read so far, it wouldn’t be pretty…

On my way into work each morning I walk past a branch of a major DVD rental company. Yesterday, a hand-written sign appeared on the door of the branch along the following lines:

“Donate at least £3 to [charity X] and receive a football worth £9.99”

I’ve been puzzling over the idea that lies behind this notice. If it was true, then everytime someone donates £3 and receives a £9.99 ball, the charity is missing out on up to £6.99 that it could have received if the store had sold the football for £9.99 (which, after all is what the ball is worth) and then given the proceeds to the charity. With the way the scheme is set up, the store or whoever is involved buys the football for amount £Y, gives it away for nothing (net loss to store = £Y), receives £3 in exchange (net gain to charity = £3) which comes from the customer (net loss to customer = £3). If the store had sold the ball for its true value and donated the profit to the charity then the net loss to the store = £0, the net gain to the charity = £(9.99-Y) and the net loss to the customer who bought the ball = £9.99. In the latter case the store gains (+£Y), the charity gains (+£9.99 – £Y – £3) and the customer also gains (they’ve given a bigger donation to charity AND, in effect, gained a £9.99 ball for only £6.99). So, given that my idea seems to be a WIN, WIN, WIN situation why doesn’t it occur? Simple, the ball isn’t worth £9.99 so no-one in their right mind would buy it at that price (I suspect that in fact it’s worth almost nothing), and the notice on the store door is untrue…

I’m interested in the idea of connectivity and the inter-relatedness of things. I also like maps. So, I found this recent piece in New Scientist, Issue 2704 [15 April 2009] which describes and presents a series of showing various networks of routes across the globe intriguing. Apparently, the most remote place on the planet is on the Tibetan plateau – it would take 21 days (1 in a car and 20 on foot) to get to the nearest city of more than 50,000 people. Hmmmm, I wonder whether anyone has put a geocache there…

Yesterday evening I was standing waiting for my eldest daughter to return to school after a rounders tournament. Across the road in front of me was a new block of appartments, the ground floor of which had been a surf clothing shop which had rapidly gone bust only to be replaced by a new surf clothing shop (do people ever learn?). Anyway, this new shop isn’t open yet but the owners are clearly getting everything ready because the shop window dummies on which clothes will be displayed were standing in place waiting to be dressed. When I looked carefully I noticed that whoever had positioned these dummies had a sense of humour. I don’t feel that I need to say anymore…  rather I will share with you a snap I took of the scene. It’s not a particularly high resolution shot, but I reckon it’s good enough for you to get the picture 😉