tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26819981961769597942024-03-05T18:39:18.898+00:00These thoughts of mineA mixture of thoughts from inside my head.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03964256784632422857noreply@blogger.comBlogger293125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2681998196176959794.post-30580232324401969602014-01-04T10:32:00.001+00:002014-01-04T10:32:35.591+00:00Albums of 2013Here is my ranked list of albums I have got in 2013.<br />
<br />
<i>Unranked</i><br />
<i>Editors - The Weight of Your Love</i><br />
<i>Although I got this album in the last year, I don't think I know it well enough to rank it yet.</i><br />
<br />
17. Keston Cobbler's Club - One, For Words<br />
I saw these guys supporting To Kill a King. They were really fun live, but their album is quite boring. The music gains a huge amount when played live.<br />
<br />
16. Cathy Burton - Source of Every Hour<br />
Meh. S'ok. Not much more to say.<br />
<br />
15. Treacherous Orchestra - Origins<br />
Very different, quite entertaining. Hard to listen to a whole album though, it's pretty intense.<br />
<br />
14. Rend Collective Experiment - Homemade Worship by Handmade People<br />
Some ok stuff, some really good stuff. The style isn't really my thing though.<br />
<br />
13. Lifehouse - Almeria<br />
It's fine, but not much more. Lifehouse's first two albums were incredible. The next four were fine, but far less impressive.<br />
<br />
12. One Sonic Society - Forever Reign<br />
Good, especially the title track. I should keep following this band.<br />
<br />
11. Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds - Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds<br />
I bought this out of curiosity. It is Oasis-y, but I like that. Decent album.<br />
<br />
10. Matt Redman - Your Grace Finds Me<br />
Not one of his best, but still fairly good. Even a weak album from Matt is better than most other worship albums.<br />
<br />
9. The Killers - Battle Born<br />
Strong. Some great tunes.<br />
<br />
7=. To Kill a King - Cannibals with Cutlery<br />
This band has real quality. Some excellent songs on here. Deep stuff.<br />
<br />
7=. Switchfoot - Oh, Gravity<br />
I got five Switchfoot albums at the start of this year, and the weakest of them is in joint 7th place. Ths is an excellent band, an this is a very good album.<br />
<br />
5=. Bastille - Bad Blood<br />
Surprisingly mainstream for me. This album doesn't really have a weakness.<br />
<br />
5=. Switchfoot - Nothing is Sound<br />
More good quality music. Simple as.<br />
<br />
4. Switchfoot - The Beautiful Letdown<br />
A bit of a leap, I think, from the previous 2 Switchfoot albums, to the next 3. This is a mint album.<br />
<br />
2=. Switchfoot - Vice Verses<br />
This really has been Switchfoot's year.<br />
<br />
2=. Of Monsters and Men - My Head is an Animal<br />
I really like this album. And it doesn't decline in the second half.<br />
<br />
1. Switchfoot - Hello Hurricane<br />
To be honest, all five Switchfoot albums on this list are very good. The order could change on another day, but Hello Hurricane currently tops the list.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03964256784632422857noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2681998196176959794.post-89419670763773268042014-01-01T13:17:00.001+00:002014-01-01T15:10:23.973+00:00Films of 2013For a couple of years, I have ranked every film I have watched that year and written a bottom to top list here at the end of the year. this year will be similar, though only the top 9 will actually be ranked. Below that, things will be more merged.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk4JvvCUX-RmlRonWW2SsiXztQ7lP4JKI7q9ys6jPi7if6CN-0g_IW3D5ecB9cWPEdIvBJVyidih-aLFALra0tuX7f7Xwr30vgA1_J3HyjnzMxwUVl3vE3mijNH6bN2OhCIuz9yposfKoc/s1600/Shame_Poster_02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk4JvvCUX-RmlRonWW2SsiXztQ7lP4JKI7q9ys6jPi7if6CN-0g_IW3D5ecB9cWPEdIvBJVyidih-aLFALra0tuX7f7Xwr30vgA1_J3HyjnzMxwUVl3vE3mijNH6bN2OhCIuz9yposfKoc/s320/Shame_Poster_02.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Do not watch this film</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<b>Films I wished I had never watched:</b><br />
Shame. "It has Carey Mulligan and Michael Fassbender in", I thought, "it must be great". It wasn't. It was awful. A slow-moving string of sex scenes. One of the worst films I've seen, ever. Mulligan is great, as is Fassbender. But they were wasting their time.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Films I watched but they weren't that good:</b><br />
Lion King 3. The story of the Lion King from Timon and Pumbaa's point of view. Vaguely entertaining at times. At least it was only about 70 minutes long.<br />
<br />
Terminator. Mindless action, slow moving and uninteresting plot, classic loopholes involving time travel.<br />
<br />
The Tourist. Entertaining but, if I remember correctly (I can't remember it that well), completely unconvincing in the final third.<br />
<br />
Mulan. It's ok. Fairly standard Disney animated film, with all the features and flaws you'd expect.<br />
<br />
Tangled. Similar, though slightly more interesting than Mulan.<br />
<br />
Blade. Some cool stuff, but mostly just quite silly and over the top.<br />
<br />
The Nativity. Kind of funny, kind of moving, but mainly just exasperating and incredulity-invoking.<br />
<br />
The Great Gatsby. Leonardo DiCaprio and Carey Mulligan need to choose better films to act in. Had the fatal flaw of not actually having an interesting plot<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Films that were reasonable:</b><br />
3:10 to Yuma. Christian Bale was the attraction. This was a reasonable film. I have nothing against it, just nothing much to write home about either.<br />
<br />
The Greatest. Carey Mulligan was the attraction. This was a reasonable film. I have nothing against it, just nothing much to write home about either.<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlRmytpgSorqO98Yw4IzCm23Ql4r6p4u2iZLPR0o1bj_4hoDXQPtNdEViHfqD5FdClnP344XlcL5p-0XuC7aDEqoB_8F2vMwEMu9YQxKRdZBS7K6zHBlpB5Z3VlEhJtkoMdE9zDMcLv9X2/s1600/adjustment_bureau_ver2_xlg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlRmytpgSorqO98Yw4IzCm23Ql4r6p4u2iZLPR0o1bj_4hoDXQPtNdEViHfqD5FdClnP344XlcL5p-0XuC7aDEqoB_8F2vMwEMu9YQxKRdZBS7K6zHBlpB5Z3VlEhJtkoMdE9zDMcLv9X2/s320/adjustment_bureau_ver2_xlg.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Promising but disappointing</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The Adjustment Bureau. Nice idea. Gripping and exciting. Horrible, awful ending, and very poor explanations of what is going on.<br />
<br />
Jarhead. Better than most war films I've watched, probably because there wasn't a huge amount of war in it. Having said that, I wouldn't bother watching it again.<br />
<br />
Saving Mr Banks. Fun but unsatisfying - not enough about the creation of Marry Poppins as a character, and not enough links between the two main plotlines.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Decent films, places 10-6:</b><br />
10. Goodfellas. It's decent, not not as good as all the Top 100 lists make out. Lacks a driving narrative.<br />
<br />
9. The Kingdom. Quite interesting, kept my attention very well. I enjoyed this film.<br />
<br />
8. Contraband. Not much more than a standard action/heist film, but it does that well.<br />
<br />
7. Brassed Off. Simple film, but very well done.<br />
<br />
6. Gravity. Very tense, very exciting.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Top quality, the top five, the ones I'd really recommend:</b><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4fQsqyg4pw85a0dzUaactMOCD3k9Pckd_gQlnkpeHdLZufbjDu-X3qAkBjC1aOEZko4lzzm_2qrAHp7d7JnaR238EZPYRixGBx_N_diVfJ7CIB4kc3NEhicZuDGmvibpGjrVPiocn_f87/s1600/Monsters-University-Teaser-Poster-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4fQsqyg4pw85a0dzUaactMOCD3k9Pckd_gQlnkpeHdLZufbjDu-X3qAkBjC1aOEZko4lzzm_2qrAHp7d7JnaR238EZPYRixGBx_N_diVfJ7CIB4kc3NEhicZuDGmvibpGjrVPiocn_f87/s320/Monsters-University-Teaser-Poster-2.jpg" width="216" /></a>5. Monsters University. An excellent film in it's own right, very entertaining. Brilliant references to both university life and Monsters Inc. One of the very best Pixar films.<br />
<br />
3=. This is England. Full on intense. Brutal and real. Excellent acting all round.<br />
<br />
3=. Catching Fire. Quality, just like the first film. Everything the first one did well, this one matched. The one main weakness was the rushed ending. If they can avoid screwing up the transition from one final book into two films, and stay faithful to the book, this will be an excellent trilogy.<br />
<br />
1=. Les Mis. You have to be a special film to reach top spot, even joint top spot, when there's a Middle Earth film in the list. Les Mis was superb. Fuller review <a href="http://benbo-baggins.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/les-miserables.html">here</a>.<br />
<br />
1=. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. By no means perfect. Major flaws. But the good stuff is so good, and the adaptation is so difficult, that even with it's problems, it's still an excellent film. More discussion <a href="http://benbo-baggins.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/the-hobbit-desolation-of-smaug-review.html">here</a>.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03964256784632422857noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2681998196176959794.post-13868777245074780562013-12-24T08:51:00.000+00:002014-01-04T10:35:23.962+00:00Soundtrack of 2013Here is my list of songs that I've been listening to a lot this year.<br />
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Bastille - Pompeii<br />
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I discovered Bastille while watching the video to Choices by To Kill a King (see below), investigated them on Youtube, liked them and bought the album. I then discovered that Pompeii had just been released as a single and was at number 2 in the charts. This was the most mainstream I have ever felt.<br />
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Bastille - Weight of Living, Pt. 1<br />
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I love the understatedness of this. A much smaller, simpler song than a lot of Bastille's stuff. The middle eight is just lovely.<br />
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Live - They stood up for love<br />
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A much older song. If it wasn't for Run to the Water, this would be my favourite Live song. Epic music and deep lyrics. Live have genuine quality.<br />
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One Sonic Society - Forever Reign<br />
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<br />
We've sung this in church a bit this year. The lyrics, while simple, are very good, and the melody is one of the best I've ever heard in a worship song.<br />
<br />
Of Monsters and Men - Little Talks<br />
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<br />
I know, I know - I'm not normally this 'in touch'. To be fair, I didn't discover this song through the charts or the radio - I heard a different OMAM song on the tv and proceeded to buy the album. Little Talks appeals to the ska-lover in me. Playing the chorus with just brass first time, with that incredibly catchy riff, an then adding in vocals second time round - that is genius.<br />
<br />
Of Monsters and Men - Lakehouse<br />
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<br />
Of Monsters and Men's album fulfils one of my requirements of a great album - it has a strong final third. Two of the three tracks from the album that are on this list are tracks 11 (this one) and 12 (see next). I'm not sure why I like this one so much. It's something about how big they go in the chorus I think.<br />
<br />
Of Monsters and Men - Yellow Light<br />
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<br />
This sounds like Sigur Ros on one of their good days. That is reason enough to like it.<br />
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Rend Collective Experiment - Build your Kingdom here<br />
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<br />
I'm not a massive fan of the new pop-folk craze but I can deal with it in small doses. The lyrics and violin/trumpet solo are excellent enough that I love this song.<br />
<br />
Switchfoot - Awakening<br />
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<br />
I know it's a bit idiot-punky. But it does it well enough that I'll forgive that. I unashamedly enjoy this song, at least partly for the cheeky 5/4 bar at 3.10-3.12. Sneeky but effective.<br />
<br />
Switchfoot - Faust, Midas and Myself<br />
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<br />
Switchfoot happened to me this year. I've tried them before several times and not bee that impressed. This time it clicked. This song is here because it's just different. Interesting. And because of 3.47-4.07.<br />
<br />
Switchfoot - The Shadow proves the Sunshine<br />
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<object class="BLOGGER-youtube-video" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" data-thumbnail-src="http://img.youtube.com/vi/ypSz8WqRc_M/0.jpg" height="266" width="320"><param name="movie" value="http://youtube.googleapis.com/v/ypSz8WqRc_M&source=uds" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><embed width="320" height="266" src="http://youtube.googleapis.com/v/ypSz8WqRc_M&source=uds" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></div>
<br />
I chose this song because it's one of their more chilled, quieter songs. Hard to put my finger on exactly what I like, but, like may of their songs, it just sounds great.<br />
<br />
Switchfoot - Twenty-Four<br />
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<br />
Epic. "You're raising the dead in me" and "I am the second man" - brilliant lyrics. And the outro - wow. This song gives me goosebumps.<br />
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Switchfoot - The War Inside<br />
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<br />
It's between this and Twenty-Four for my favourite Switchfoot song at the moment. This song, like They Stood up for Love (above) just stinks of absolute, all-round quality.<br />
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To Kill a King - Cold Skin<br />
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TKAK are a special band. You should investigate them. I like lots of things about this song, you can listen to it yourself. I particularly enjoy ow much the guitar sounds like it belongs in a Libertines song.<br />
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To Kill a King - Choices<br />
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You see how lovely this performance is? How it's so 'community-y'? That's how it is when they do it live too. They get the support acts on stage to perform with them and it ends with the whole gig singing 'ooh-ooh-ooh'. Lovely song.<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03964256784632422857noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2681998196176959794.post-26306182539892952522013-12-18T20:37:00.001+00:002013-12-27T10:12:34.814+00:00The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug - ReviewI have seen the second Hobbit film twice. Here are my thoughts so far, in a semi-structured order.<br />
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<ul>
<li>Martin Freeman is still excellent. I feel this needs emphasising, otherwise it will be overlooked. He is currently the stand-out feature of these films. The way he portrays Bilbo is...I want to say perfect. I can't think of anything wrong with it. He is incredible.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxySscH43hHfa9KEJOCAU5d-hp0cGqRmHmHLXj-bVnglwoQaUPj8Mnv3RGgffdA-pwtHiKPuIGKr8KeUBAu4UKfRtc2PQosDqHCE5SyLWkl638czs1aDUh7-cyG1Fesxs5ExqC5tZX5QPH/s1600/hobbit-desolation-of-smaug-bilbo-martin-freeman.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="176" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxySscH43hHfa9KEJOCAU5d-hp0cGqRmHmHLXj-bVnglwoQaUPj8Mnv3RGgffdA-pwtHiKPuIGKr8KeUBAu4UKfRtc2PQosDqHCE5SyLWkl638czs1aDUh7-cyG1Fesxs5ExqC5tZX5QPH/s320/hobbit-desolation-of-smaug-bilbo-martin-freeman.png" width="320" /></a></div>
</li>
<li>The whole Beorn sequence, so memorable from the book, was very nicely adapted and really well done. However, it felt short and rushed. More time could have been spent developing Beorn's character, especially as he will return later, and also the dwarves characters (more on this later).</li>
<li>The references to LOTR, such as Jackson's cameo at the start and the line about athelas being a weed, are still making me smile.</li>
<li>Tauriel's inclusion was fine. I don't care if she wasn't mentioned in the book. There would have been elves like her, in her role within the community. There's nothing wrong with putting her character in to help develop the story.</li>
<li>Linked in with this, I was in favour of having the orcs continue to hunt the dwarves. I wasn't sure about this at first, but I think it keeps the pace of the story going, and it will link in nicely with Azong's return in film 3.</li>
<li>The Tauriel/Legolas romance was understandable but needed to be done properly or not at all. I felt it was not developed sufficiently to carry weight. Instead, time was given to the Tauriel/Kili relationship. Now this was a farce. No way this would have happened. Tauriel wouldn't have got into that sort of conversation with a dwarven prisoner. Dwarves and elves are still at loggerheads at this point in the story. And the sheer number of times she saved his life started to annoy me.</li>
<li>The barrels sequence was good, but over the top. It was fun, but took it all too far. Legolas' dwarf surf? Bombur's barrel bounce? They're clearly trying to make these films 'entertaining' by throwing in ludicrous stunts, forgetting that stunts and effects aren't that impressive these days, now that you can put anything on screen and make it look realistic. Impressive filming nowadays is about clever adaptation, a gripping story and engaging characters.</li>
<li>The Dol Guldur scenes were great. Gandalf vs Sauron, awesome.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFZ-qbg_s5v_PH_vbTKhCCaJpNo5eGrzGROvPZ9VXHLfFg00tpA5VkkaChvnizxMTqmbMbVvkiHw1vB5hp7Ra0D6MIQwSVncgh2nfzuqGuFrDEKTQP__OiLan0KnDK18ZtEH_bWDI-bLey/s1600/hobbit5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="165" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFZ-qbg_s5v_PH_vbTKhCCaJpNo5eGrzGROvPZ9VXHLfFg00tpA5VkkaChvnizxMTqmbMbVvkiHw1vB5hp7Ra0D6MIQwSVncgh2nfzuqGuFrDEKTQP__OiLan0KnDK18ZtEH_bWDI-bLey/s320/hobbit5.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
</li>
<li>Laketown looked absolutely perfect. Wonderful design.</li>
<li>There wasn't enough development of the Master of Laketown. In fact, there wasn't enough development of the characters in general, but particularly of the Master. I wanted more backstory about his rule over the town.</li>
<li>Smaug looked brilliant. He was brilliant all round - the voice, the design, the animation, everything. Lots of people have said this, but it's still true.</li>
<li>The Bilbo/Smaug scene was brilliant Possibly even as good as riddles in the dark. The tension was incredible.</li>
<li>I'm not convinced by the decision to leave 4 dwarves in Laketown. It feels like it was only done to promote the Kili/Tauriel thing. It did give the end of the film a kind of double-focus - the Lonely Mountain and Laketown - and allowed intercutting between them. But my jury is still out on this one.</li>
<li>I think there was too much fighting in Laketown. As I said above, I'm fine with the continuing orc-chase, but the fighting in Laketown got a bit ridiculous. It was over-emphasised at the very least. Yes, it provided a good second climax to the Smaug action (see above point) but I guess it felt unbalanced.</li>
<li>Dwarves vs Smaug. Ludicrous. Ridiculous. Unnecessary. Unconvincing. As 'Mithril' from theonering.net said, "what made me cry out upon leaving the theatre 'I want a do-over' was the Indiana ones escapade that they were taken on. Not only was it completely outrageous but it was confusing and unbelievable. Start the forges? What? Melt millions of gallons of gold in minutes? What? Stand on the nose of Smaug 'Oh, greatest of calamities' and not get eaten? WHAT!!?!?!?!????!" Quite. It was a farce. And what was the deal with the massive gold statue at the end? Was that there from the past? Did they just make it? Was it explosives that blew it up? What made it melt? A flipping joke.</li>
<li>Ed Sheeran's closing song was good. Not on the level of the Rings credit songs, but still good. I enjoyed it.</li>
<li>The music was, overall, less noticeable than in Rings or An Unexpected Journey. I'm not sure why. Fewer new themes perhaps?</li>
<li>Most of the dwarf characters were still undeveloped. Thorin, Balin, Dwalin, Kili and Bofur excepted. Bombur still hasn't had a line. It was about 5 hours into the trilogy before we found out Fili is heir to the throne. Too much time is spent on foolish 'action' sequences and not enough on character and story. The way they have made them all look unique is outstanding, but this has not been replicated in terms of character development.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjES2-BPrPZ25LVlS_fjixh66NoRxw-1m_E5JAZYi1FDLz5b0xEhcQQgQJHMVGMjs5UFJvt4pHZ0s5dJlvfd7N0gE6ujWuA5K2WAYSCVODnL4lAZvxdn0h97BGaYDLIMMDp9OUX2rNJo12m/s1600/dos4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjES2-BPrPZ25LVlS_fjixh66NoRxw-1m_E5JAZYi1FDLz5b0xEhcQQgQJHMVGMjs5UFJvt4pHZ0s5dJlvfd7N0gE6ujWuA5K2WAYSCVODnL4lAZvxdn0h97BGaYDLIMMDp9OUX2rNJo12m/s320/dos4.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
</li>
<li>Smaug should have died. They ended the film in the wrong place. Instead of the disastrous action scenes inside the mountain, and the mostly unnecessary elves vs orcs in Laketown, they should have had Smaug attack Laketown as he does in the book. It would have been a wonderful set piece, and would have eliminated the issue of having the dwarves split up.</li>
<li>Alternatively, cut some of the stupid action, including the Lonely Mountain fiasco, and spend more time on characters (including Beorn and the Master). The problem with this would be the lack of a conventional climax to film 2.</li>
<li>These hobbit films, despite their problems, are the most impressive adaptation I have come across. To adapt a children's book into a catch-all film, link it pretty seamlessly to a previously made epic and very popular film trilogy, and draw in multiple other Middle-Earth storylines like dwarven history and the rise of Sauron, is truly remarkable.</li>
<li>There were several glaring continuity errors. The most obvious was how Bombur destroyed his barrel and then jumped back into it, seemingly as good as new. Two others that annoyed me were the spontaneous appearance of a horse in Laketown, which until that point appeared to contain no horses, just in time for Legolas to ride it; and how the gold in the Lonely mountain was conveniently melt-able when the dwarves needed it to be, but didn't melt at all when Smaug breathed fire on it.</li>
</ul>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div>
I don't really know what to write in summary. It's a great film. Some of it is jaw-droppingly good (e.g. Smaug, Dol Guldur, Beorn, Freeman). Some of it is overly ridiculous (Kili/Tauriel, Dwarves vs Smaug). It's still the greatest adaptation I have seen, and because of the difficulty of the adptation, my criticisms should be taken with a pinch of salt - especially as this is the notoriously difficult middle film. Bring on part 3.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03964256784632422857noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2681998196176959794.post-6070444305718323932013-10-26T14:44:00.000+01:002013-10-26T14:44:24.515+01:00Harry Potter and Myers-Briggs<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Recently, there were a few suggestions on the internet
about which Harry Potter characters were which of the 16 Myers-Briggs
personality types. Here, I will analyse
three of these, plus on suggested by a friend of mine. You will need knowledge of both the Harry
Potter series and Myers-Briggs in order to understand. I will assume such knowledge.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
The difficult thing with Myers-Briggs is that the
combination of the four letters can give unexpected personalities. For example, I am INTJ. Looking at the N/S spectrum in isolation, I
am slightly more S than N. However, when
looking at the personality as a whole, I am INTJ rather than ISTJ. This also happens with Harry Potter characters. Therefore I shall analyse both the individual
letters assigned to a character, and the overall personality description,
before giving my own suggestions for personality-character matches based on
individual letters and then overall personalities.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
For reference, <a href="http://www.myersbriggs.org/my-mbti-personality-type/mbti-basics/the-16-mbti-types.asp">here</a> are the descriptions of the 16
personality types.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
The most popular internet suggestion, together with my
comments, was as follows:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
ISTJ: Snape. Not a
bad choice, but Snape fits INTJ better.
He’s not that fussed about order and organising his life.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
ISFJ: Neville.
Partially correct, but I’m not convinced he’s a J. Lupin fits this better<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
INFJ: Lupin.
Material possessions? Really? DD is far better for this one.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
INTJ: Malfoy.
Snape is INTJ. However, Malfoy is
close. I get the impression he could be
one when he grows up.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
ISTP: Harry. Not
really. He doesn’t analyse lots of
information, he tends to act more on impulse.
Probably an F, not a T. Hermione
is closer to this, though I don’t think she’s quite here.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
ISFP: Hagrid. I
think Hagrid might be a marginal E.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
INFP: Luna. She
fits pretty well here. I. N.
F. P. All seem to fit.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
INTP: Hermione.
She is clearly a J and almost certainly a T. She’s more of an ISTJ.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
ESTP: Ginny.
Pretty good. We don’t actually
have loads of info on Ginny but she could
fit here.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
ESFP: Twins.
Pretty good match.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
ENFP: Ron. Good
again. Twins and Ron are quite
similar. Maybe they could swap types.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
ENTP: Sirius.
Yes. Though the twins could fit
here too. Or maybe Sirius is an I?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
ESTJ: McGonagall.
Possibly, but she’s not extreme enough to fit here. Moody is the one for here.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
ESFJ: Lily. She
might well fit here, but why choose her when Molly is a mor major character and
definitely fits?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
ENFJ: Dumbledore.
DD is an I. End of.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
ENTJ: James.
Maybe. We don’t know that much
about James, but this might be right.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
The second suggestion:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
ISTJ: Hermione.
Yes.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
ISFJ: Cho. Yes,
but Lupin more so, and he’s a more major character so we can be more certain
about him<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
INFJ: DD. Yes.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
INTJ: Snape.
Yes. A good start! But these first 4 are the easiest ones.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
ISTP: Hooch.
Maybe. She’s very minor
though. This is the hardest personality
type to fit with a character.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
ISFP: Harry. Harry
is actually quite hard to place. He is
FP for certain. But he seems quite happy
with conflict so I don’t think he fits here.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
INFP: Luna. Same
as last time. A good fit.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
INTP: Neville.
No! Where did this idea come
from?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
ESTP: Sirius.
Maybe. He seems to fit in a few
EP places.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
ESFP: Ron. Could
be this, or the next one. As could the
twins.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
ENFP: Tonks. Maybe
– but twins/Ron are more major and fit at least as well here.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
ENTP: Twins. I
think they are Fs. Sirius fits better
here.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
ESTJ: McGonagall.
As above, Moody is here.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
ESFJ: Molly. Yes.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
ENFJ: Fudge.
Possibly. He might be ENFJ gone
wrong. But I don’t think so really.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
ENTJ: Lucius.
Maybe but, like James, we don’t know much about him.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
The third attempt, by a friend of mine. She left some blank if she saw no clear fit.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
ISTJ: Hermione. Yes.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
ISFJ: Lupin. Yes.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
INFJ: DD. Yes.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
INTJ: Snape. Yes.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
ISTP: <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
ISFP: Harry. He
seems to fit the letters, but he doesn’t fit the avoiding conflict bit in the
description.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
INFP: Luna. She
ends up here a lot. She certainly fits
the letters. Idealistic? Catalysts for implementing ideas? I’m not sure.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
INTP:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
ESTP: Sirius. See
comments above.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
ESFP: Ron. See
above.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
ENFP: Tonks.
Ditto.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
ENTP: Twins. Ditto
again.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
ESTJ:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
ESFJ: Molly. Yes.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
ENFJ:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
ENTJ: Ginny.
Maybe. She’s hard to place. Definitely E, but other than that it’s
unclear.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
And the fourth attempt:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
ISTJ: Hermione.
Yes.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
ISFJ: Hagrid.
No. He’s not accurate or
painstaking, in general. He’s quite
oblivious to others.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
INFJ: DD. Yes.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
INTJ: Snape. Yes.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
ISTP: Hooch. See
above.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
ISFP: Harry. See
above.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
INFP: Lupin. He fits here to an extent, but is batter as
ISFJ.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
INTP: Voldemort. Interesting.
And also good. Very good.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
ESTP: Malfoy. Er, no!
Flexible and tolerant? I think
not. And he’s an I.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
ESFP: Ron. See above.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
ENFP: Twins. Ditto.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
ENTP: Sirius. Ditto, yawn.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
ESTJ: Percy. Good.
He fits the letters. I like him
here.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
ESFJ: Molly. Yes.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
ENFJ: Maxime. Possibly, but she’s a minor character. That’s not a no though.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
ENTJ: McGonagall. Maybe.
She’s a hard one to place, seems to fit in a few slots.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Finally, here are my suggestions. Preceded by some caveats:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->1.<span style="font-size: 7pt;"> </span><!--[endif]-->The
four scales (I/E, N/S, T/F, J/P) are scales – not absolutes. One can be a slight E or a massive E, for
example. But when a person is labelled
with four letters, the extent of their letters is not shown. The only way to accurately represent this
would be on a 4-dimensional graph. In
short, this system is limited.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->2.<span style="font-size: 7pt;"> </span><!--[endif]-->I
am an INTJ. However, I am more S than
N. But overall, I am more INTJ than
ISTJ. This happens with other people as
well, especially if they are only marginally on one side of the scale. Therefore I have produced two sets of personality-character
matches below. The first is based on the
four individual letters, in isolation, without regarding the personality
descriptions. The second is based purely
on the descriptions, without considering the individual letters.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->3.<span style="font-size: 7pt;"> </span><!--[endif]-->ISTP
was a really hard one to match to a character.
It’s certainly not Harry, as in one internet suggestion. The others either left it blank or went for
Hooch – but there is very little information on her. She’s only really in one scene in the whole
saga, other than refereeing quidditch matches.
In fact, it was only as a came to write what comes below, after
analysing this all for several hours, that I belatedly realised who fits it.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->4.<span style="font-size: 7pt;"> </span><!--[endif]-->It
is hard to differentiate between the twins, because they are almost always
together and doing the same things.
George is obviously a little more considerate than Fred, but that’s
about it.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Firstly, based on the individual letters. Sometimes more than one character seems to
fit.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
ISTJ: Hermione, Draco<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
ISFJ: Neville, McGonagall<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
INFJ: Dumbledore<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
INTJ: Snape<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
ISTP: Arthur<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
ISFP: Lupin, Harry<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
INFP: Luna, Hagrid<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
INTP: Voldemort<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
ESTP: Twins<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
ESFP: Fudge<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
ENFP: Ron<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
ENTP: Ginny, Sirius<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
ESTJ: Moody<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
ESFJ: Molly<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
ENFJ: Bella<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
ENTJ: Scrimgeour, Percy, Umbridge<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
And now, purely based on the descriptions. Bold sections are phrases or words that
particularly fit the suggested character.
Italics is where the match is weak.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
ISTJ: Hermione. Quiet,
<b>serious, earn success by thoroughness
and dependability</b>. Practical, <b>matter-of-fact,
realistic, and responsible</b>. <b>Decide
logically what should be done</b> and work toward it steadily, regardless of
distractions. <b>Take pleasure in making
everything orderly and organized</b> – their work, their home, their life.
Value traditions and <b>loyalty</b>.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
ISFJ: Lupin. <b>Quiet</b>, friendly, responsible, and <b>conscientious</b>. <b>Committed</b> and steady in meeting their obligations. Thorough,
painstaking, and accurate. <b>Loyal,
considerate, notice and remember specifics about people who are important to
them, concerned with how others feel</b>. Strive to create an orderly and
harmonious environment at work and at home.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
INFJ: Dumbledore. <b>Seek meaning and connection in ideas</b>,
relationships, and material possessions. <b>Want
to understand what motivates people and are insightful about others</b>.
Conscientious and committed to their firm values. Develop a clear vision about <b>how best to serve the common good</b>.
Organized and <b>decisive in implementing
their vision</b>.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
INTJ: Snape. Have
original minds and great drive for implementing their ideas and achieving their
goals. Quickly see patterns in external events and develop <b>long-range explanatory perspectives</b>. <b>When committed, organize a job and carry it through</b>. Skeptical and <b>independent</b>, have <b>high standards of competence and performance – for themselves and
others</b>.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
ISTP: Arthur. Tolerant
and flexible, <b>quiet observers until a
problem appears</b>, then act quickly to find workable solutions. <b>Analyze what makes things work</b> and
readily get through large amounts of data to isolate the core of practical
problems. <b>Interested in cause and effect</b>,
organize facts using logical principles, <i>value
efficiency</i>.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
ISFP: Neville. <b>Quiet</b>, friendly, <b>sensitive, and kind</b>. Enjoy the present moment, what’s going on
around them. <b>Like to have their own space
and to work within their own time frame.</b> <b>Loyal and committed to their values and to people who are important to
them</b>. <b>Dislike disagreements and
conflicts</b>, do not force their opinions or values on others.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
INFP: Harry. <b>Idealistic,</b> <b>loyal to their values and to people who are important to them</b>. Want
an external life that is congruent with their values. <b>Curious</b>, quick to see possibilities, <b>can be catalysts for implementing ideas</b>. <i>Seek to understand people </i>and to help them fulfill their potential.
Adaptable, flexible, and accepting unless a value is threatened.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
INTP: Voldemort. Seek
to develop logical explanations for everything that interests them. Theoretical
and abstract, <b>interested more in ideas
than in social interaction</b>. Quiet, contained, flexible, and adaptable. <b>Have unusual ability to focus in depth to
solve problems in their area of interest</b>. Skeptical, <b>sometimes critical, always analytical</b>.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
ESTP: Twins. Flexible
and tolerant, they take a <b>pragmatic
approach</b> focused on immediate results. <b>Theories
and conceptual explanations bore them – they want to act energetically to solve
the problem</b>. Focus on the here-and-now, <b>spontaneous, enjoy each moment that they can be active with others</b>.
Enjoy material comforts and style. <b>Learn
best through doing</b>.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
ESFP: Ron. Outgoing,
<b>friendly, and accepting</b>. Exuberant
lovers of life, people, and material comforts. <b>Enjoy working with others to make things happen</b>. Bring common sense
and a <b>realistic approach to their work</b>,
and <b>make work fun</b>. Flexible and
spontaneous, adapt readily to new people and environments. Learn best by trying
a new skill with other people.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
ENFP: Hagrid. <b>Warmly enthusiastic</b> and imaginative.
See life as full of possibilities. <i>Make
connections between events and information very quickly</i>, and confidently
proceed based on the patterns they see. <b>Want
a lot of affirmation from others, and readily give appreciation and support.</b>
Spontaneous and flexible, often rely on their ability to improvise and their <i>verbal fluency</i>.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
ENTP: Sirius<b>. Quick, ingenious, stimulating, alert, and
outspoken</b>. <b>Resourceful</b> in
solving new and challenging problems. Adept at generating conceptual
possibilities and then <b>analyzing them
strategically</b>. Good at reading other people. <b>Bored by routine, will seldom do the same thing the same way</b>, apt
to turn to one new interest after another.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
ESTJ: Moody. <b>Practical, realistic, matter-of-fact</b>. <b>Decisive, quickly move to implement
decisions</b>. <b>Organize projects and
people to get things done, focus on getting results in the most efficient way
possible</b>. Take care of routine details. Have a <b>clear set of logical standards</b>, systematically follow them and want
others to also. <b>Forceful in implementing
their plans</b>.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
ESFJ: Molly. <b>Warmhearted, conscientious</b>, and
cooperative. Want harmony in their environment, work with determination to
establish it. Like to work with others to complete tasks accurately and on
time. <b>Loyal</b>, follow through even in
small matters. <b>Notice what others need
in their day-by-day lives and try to provide it</b>. Want to be appreciated for
who they are and for what they contribute.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
ENFJ: Ginny. Warm,
empathetic, <b>responsive, and responsible</b>.
Highly attuned to the emotions, needs, and motivations of others. Find
potential in everyone, want to help others fulfill their potential. <b>May act as catalysts for individual and
group growth</b>. <b>Loyal</b>, responsive
to praise and criticism. <b>Sociable</b>,
facilitate others in a group, and <b>provide
inspiring leadership</b>.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
ENTJ: Scrimgeour. <b>Frank, decisive, assume leadership readily</b>.
<b>Quickly see illogical and inefficient
procedures and policies</b>, develop and implement comprehensive systems to
solve organizational problems. Enjoy long-term planning and goal setting.
Usually <b>well informed, well read</b>,
enjoy expanding their knowledge and passing it on to others. <b>Forceful in presenting their ideas</b>.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
So there you go. Some
characters fit really well, Like Snape, Hermione, Sirius, Moody and Molly. Others are weaker, like Hagrid and
Ginny. Some people fit different types
under the two systems. But I reckon that
my effort is more accurate and more conclusive than the previous four. Which is why I bothered to post it, I
suppose.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03964256784632422857noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2681998196176959794.post-71446785242587197102013-09-07T11:34:00.001+01:002013-09-07T11:34:22.284+01:002 issues with educationRant time.<br />
I have a lot of issues with teaching, Ofsted, Gove etc. Here are just two of the more major ones.<br />
<br />
Number One.<br />
<br />
Back in the day, teaching was very different from how it is now. The teacher would stand at the front and either dictate or write on a blackboard. The class would copy the notes down in silence, then learn them by heart and regurgitate them in an exam. Memory was rewarded. It was flawed, but there was a kind of logic to it. The idea was to move knowledge from the teacher's head into that of the pupils, and the test assessed how well the pupils had absorbed the knowledge.<br />
<br />
These days, teaching is almost unrecognisable. There are discussions, role plays, projects, posters, experiments, games. There is coursework (for now). It's a more difficult way of teaching, but it's a more effective way of teaching. Understanding, rather than memory, is the key. There are still tests, but there is also coursework - project-style assignments completed over a few weeks, with access to notes, books, the internet, and teacher guidance. The sort of thing that might be required in an actual job. This reminds me of a tweet I saw a few months ago:<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Today at work I memorised huge quantities of facts and then regurgitated them with pen & paper over 3 hours.
</span>#Saidnoone<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px; white-space: pre-wrap;">
</span>#courseworkmatters"</span><br />
<br />
Exams used to be focused on the task of 'spew-everything-you-know-about-this-topic-onto-your-exam-paper'. Interestingly, most university courses seem to operate this style of exam. The assessment style of recent years includes exams, but exams that go at least some way to assessing understanding as well as knowledge. It also includes coursework, which assesses understanding of a topic and also skills such as communication and time-management. This is a better method of assessment, and is also more suited to the more modern, interactive, learner-centered teaching style.<br />
<br />
<i>TANGENT: I originally wrote the above paragraph as one hideously complicated sentence. I thought I'd keep it in here in case you want to read it and marvel at it's sub-clauses:</i><br />
<i>The assessment style of recent years, which includes exams - but exams that go at least some way to assessing understanding as well as knowledge, rather than the older-style (and, interestingly, university-style) exams focused on the task of 'spew-everything-you-know-about-this-topic-onto-your-exam-paper' - but also coursework, which assesses understanding of a topic and also skills such as communication and time-management...is a better one, and is also more suited to the more modern, interactive, learner-centered teaching style.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
But my main point is not that things are better today than they used to be. My main point is about whether the assessment is suited to the teaching. In yesteryear, the assessment ('spewing') kind of matched the teaching (dictation). Then both changed, and the assessment, with the inclusion of coursework, matched the interactive teaching. And the plan for the future? Make teaching more and more interactive, fun, learner-centred, insert-jargon-here, but move assessment back to the traditional method of learning and regurgitating facts. These two styles do not match. Traditional teaching and traditional exams, while flawed, do match each other in their flawedness. Modern teaching and modern exams also kind of match. Making the teaching more modern and the exams more traditional makes no sense. This is not about which method is better, it's that the future proposals surrounding assessment of pupils in this country, before they are mad, over-demanding, out-of-touch, are simply illogical.<br />
<br />
<br />
Number Two<br />
<br />
I recently saw a news article about how nurses and midwives will face three-yearly checks, basically to make sure they're doing a good job. Doctors have a similar system. Okay, fair enough. But this got me thinking about doctors and nurses would be assessed. Observations? Interviews? Maybe they should be assessed on whether the patient they are caring for lives or dies. Yes, that would be good. If the patient lives, the doctor is a good doctor. If the patient dies, the doctor is clearly not up to scratch and should at least be monitored closely, and possibly removed from his or her job.<br />
<br />
Clearly madness. A doctor should not be judged by whether the patient lives or dies, because such things are only partly in the doctors control. Some patients, no matter what treatment they are given, are sadly going to die sooner or later. In fact, we all die eventually.<br />
<br />
What does this have to do with teaching? Let me explain from the perspective of my school. But first, some context. When teachers and schools are inspected or observed - by Ofsted, or the local authority, or just other teachers, they are graded on a scale: 1 (outstanding), 2 (good), 3 (used to be 'satisfactory' but is now 'requires improvement'), and 4 (inadequate). A lesson can be judged as any of these four levels, and the school as a whole can also be given a level.<br />
<br />
Last year in my school, all teachers were observed as part of performance management, and also in other contexts. 78% of lessons were judged as good or outstanding. Not bad. So, you'd think that the school as a whole would probably be good or outstanding, yes? No. Because, if the exam results are level 3, nothing else can be graded above a three. So a school could be observed by Ofsted, who might grade every single lesson and teacher, and every other aspect of the school, as outstanding, but if their results 'require improvement', then the school will get a level 3. And how are the results levelled? In absolute terms. Not compared to pupils' levels upon entry to the school, not in terms of progress, but simply by the number of pupils who get the 'magic' 5A*-C grades, including English and Maths.<br />
<br />
So, regardless of who the pupils are, what their skills were when they arrived from primary school, what special needs or disabilities they have, how academic they are...they, their teachers and their school are judged on how many grades they get. It's the equivalent of judging a doctor solely on whether the patient lives or dies. Schools are judged by something over which they have limited control. Teachers can make a difference to the grades that a pupil achieves, but probably not as much difference as parents can make, and certainly not as much difference as the pupil themselves can make. It is, again, illogical, to judge teachers and schools by something over which they have such limited control.<br />
<br />
End of rant. For now.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03964256784632422857noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2681998196176959794.post-22810325480201279232013-08-05T16:00:00.001+01:002013-08-05T16:00:16.173+01:00Random random mixRecently I made a new playlist, which I've copied onto two CDs. The idea behind the playlist is to mostly include songs which are the only songs I tend to listen to by a particular artist - either because I only have one of their songs, usually from a compilation album, or because there is just one song much better than the rest. There is also some allowance for songs that are particularly ranbdom. This sort of playlist is known as a 'random random mix', and it allows me to listen to a wide variety of songs that I like, without wading through lots of inferior songs by the artists. I chose enough songs to fill two CDs, then randomized the order. Here is the resultant track listing. I haven't listened to it yet but I'm intrigued by some of the combinations and sequences that have appeared.<br />
<br />
CD 1<br />
Lift It - Worldwide Message Tribe<br />
Pinball Wizard - The Who<br />
Afterthought - The Yearning<br />
Smother+Evil=Hurt - The Kissaway Trail<br />
Last Train - Lostprophets<br />
Waverley Steps - Roddy Woomble<br />
Be Prepared - Disney<br />
Lifted - The Lighthouse Family<br />
I'm Blue -Eiffel 65<br />
Pictures of Matchstick Men - Status Quo<br />
Pass it on - The Coral<br />
New World - Tobymac<br />
Feel Good Inc. - Gorillaz<br />
Bitter - This is Freedom<br />
Now We Are Free - Lisa Gerrard<br />
Hocus Pocus - Focus<br />
Boulevard of Broken Dream - Green Day<br />
Sonnet - The Verve<br />
Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots - The Flaming Lips<br />
<br />
CD 2<br />
Stan - Eminem/Dido<br />
Summer Presto - Vivaldi<br />
Don't Speak - No Doubt<br />
Layla - Derek and the Dominoes<br />
BBC Grandstand theme - London Theatre Orchestra<br />
All Star - Smash Mouth<br />
Dancing in the Moonlight - Toploader<br />
Smells like Teen Spirit - Nirvana<br />
How you remind me - Nickelback<br />
No Resistance - The Last Spectacular<br />
Chop Suey - System of a Down<br />
Smooth Criminal - Alien Ant Farm<br />
Parklife - Blur<br />
Start of the Summer - YFriday<br />
Tribute - Tenacious D<br />
Adiemus - Karl Jenkins<br />
Til the End - Haven<br />
Hospital - CanterburyAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03964256784632422857noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2681998196176959794.post-44288345944528914802013-07-09T21:46:00.003+01:002013-07-09T21:46:45.272+01:00Muse Moments<div style="text-align: justify;">
This is part three of what is, so far, a 3-part process.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
I couple of months ago I was listening to Map of the Problematique by Muse. There is a moment in this song (at 2.18) that I love, and I texted my friend Joe Williams, as follows "When listened to at the appropriate volume, 2.18 in Map of the Problematique is the greatest moment in any Muse song. Discuss." That was part one.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Joe soon listened to his whole Muse collection and came up with a shortlist of 13 moments that should be considered. He didn't include anything from the latest album (The 2nd Law) because he didn't know it well enough. That was part two.</div>
Now I have ranked these 13 moments, as follows. (Are you beginning to realise why Joe and I get on so well?)<br />
<br />
13. Cave 4.06<br />
12. Hysteria 0.21<br />
11. Unnatural Selection 6.26<br />
10. Bliss 3.07<br />
9. Resistance 3.43<br />
8. Citizen Erased 1.26<br />
7. Muscle Museum 3.41<br />
6. City of Delusion 2.55<br />
5. Stockholm Syndrome 2.37<br />
4. Starlight 3.25<br />
3. New Born 4.45<br />
2. Time is Running Out 1.46<br />
1. Map of the Problematique 2.18<br />
<br />
As you can see, I still believe 2.18 in Map of the Problematique to be the greatest. It's simply enormous. It scares me a little bit. You can listen to it <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nm75sn9zZVs">here</a> (it's actually at 2.22 in this video).<br />
Interestingly, as I listened to these songs, I found that in some cases, these weren't even my favourite moments in the songs. For example, I rate 1.37 in New Born more highly than 4.45. I rate 2.44 in Stockhom Syndrome more highly than 2.37. I rate 1.30 in Muscle Museum higher than 3.41. Citizen Erased has several moments (3.16, 3.49, 4.11) at least on a par with 1.26. 1.42 in Unnatural Selection is up there with 6.26. 2.45 in Hysteria could challenge 0.21.<br />
However, these were the 13 moments that were provided, so these are the ones I have ranked.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03964256784632422857noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2681998196176959794.post-77299589617815375042013-07-09T20:30:00.001+01:002013-07-09T20:30:36.198+01:00Reaction to Katie HopkinsRecently, Katie Hopkins was slated on social media for her comments made in this video.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/edZjdgU0asM?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
I have two main things to say.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
Contrary to 90% of the population, I can see where she is coming from. As a teacher, I know or have known thousands of kids. Most people probably know up to a hundred. There are names that I, as a teacher, am wary of. If I see a list of names, there may be some that make me think 'I need to watch that kid'. My wariness may turn out to be completely misplaced, but there are some names that <i>tend </i>to be more troublesome than others. Of course, all kids are individuals, but it is nevertheless a fact that there are certain names that are <i>more likely</i> to be trouble than other names.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
In fact, surnames can be even more significant. Sometimes surnames can indicate a child's likely background and therefore what they might be like.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
This is not to say that I would treat kids with such names any differently in practice (I <i>wouldn't </i>stop my child from being friends with someone just because of their name) but, as far as I can tell, from a relatively large sample of teenagers, there are some names that <i>tend </i>to cause more trouble than others. There are, of course, exceptions - this is a generalisation at best. I disagree with Katie Hopkins' decision to stop her children being friends with kids with certain names, but her decision is, at least, based on generalisations that are true.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
My second point is that we all judge kids (and adults) in ways that we shouldn't. By their names, their clothes, their accent, vocabulary, address, friends, car, house etc. The people who are so angry with Katie Hopkins for making assumptions about people based on their names should have a look at the assumptions they themselves make about people based on these things.</div>
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<br /></div>
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There you go. Shoot me down if you want.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03964256784632422857noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2681998196176959794.post-73346457039917073562013-07-07T22:03:00.000+01:002013-07-07T22:03:02.971+01:002 further thoughts on tennisI posted a couple of thoughts on tennis after Wimbledon 2011. Here are two more thoughts.<br />
<br />
<ol><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid_4SKg1glxNSdk7wzIlJlD8M3L2tMiuwOeRY1HVbahNqBlREPn5-H-w4pw9kNXj5-jLJiCC9rmYMTqpvacWVVL5YeJZJiEuGJ5-Klcc0n1Rlw7t0Y_81K6UXofuZ-XEnHsfRSQy-Xzr6C/s1600/nadal-celebrates-fo-10-320.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid_4SKg1glxNSdk7wzIlJlD8M3L2tMiuwOeRY1HVbahNqBlREPn5-H-w4pw9kNXj5-jLJiCC9rmYMTqpvacWVVL5YeJZJiEuGJ5-Klcc0n1Rlw7t0Y_81K6UXofuZ-XEnHsfRSQy-Xzr6C/s320/nadal-celebrates-fo-10-320.jpg" width="320" /></a>
<li><div style="text-align: justify;">
I am not a fan of the winning celebration where players fall on their back on the court. It doesn't look natural. It looks like they do it because they've seen other players do it and copy them. Nadal might have been the first to do it, I'm not sure. But it looks like an unnatural movement, it looks fake.</div>
</li>
<li><div style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMHB4VggQzChYH0WXlm1U3snQeSbYGatC7QEPTfoo5GdAxCdJq2T1d_-SGVFO6mqR1KDEvy1a9UofVpoA3_HobeTJatzMd0cAByEOmGfzglld-J9h1rwJwh_ZMXULhu00TOzbyo09GANxu/s1600/Agnieszka-Radwanska-008.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMHB4VggQzChYH0WXlm1U3snQeSbYGatC7QEPTfoo5GdAxCdJq2T1d_-SGVFO6mqR1KDEvy1a9UofVpoA3_HobeTJatzMd0cAByEOmGfzglld-J9h1rwJwh_ZMXULhu00TOzbyo09GANxu/s320/Agnieszka-Radwanska-008.jpg" width="320" /></a>This year I started supporting Radwanska, after the Brits had been knocked out, because I like the way she makes shots and relies more than technique than physique. This is something I've been pondering for a while. I think it's why I tended to support Federer over Nadal. I am not such of a fan of players who seem to rely slightly more on physique, because it is a more generic ability, which can be applied to sport in general, whereas technique is more sport-specific. This is not to say that Nadal has poor technique or that Federer and Radwanska are unfit or weak. It is simply to say that I appreciate the technique that is specific to a sport more than the physique that is more general.</div>
</li>
</ol>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03964256784632422857noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2681998196176959794.post-58920231006115969082013-05-18T12:17:00.000+01:002013-05-18T12:17:21.592+01:00Musical unsung heroesThese are the unsung heroes of my music collection. They all form an integral part of my music, but none of them get much of a mention from me. Some because the bands aren't one of my favourite bands in general, some because they do not feature any of my contenders for greatest song ever, some because I've simply never mentioned them in a blog post.<br />
There are some bands, and some albums, that get a lot of 'screentime' from me. These do not, so here they are.<br />
<br />
Doves - The Last Broadcast<br />
Feeder - Pushing the Senses<br />
Red Hot Chili Peppers - By the Way<br />
Sixpence None the Richer - Divine Discontent<br />
Stoney - The Scene and the Unseen<br />
Temper Trap - Conditions<br />
<br />
If you get a chance, listen to these albums.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03964256784632422857noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2681998196176959794.post-68011225087105863352013-04-27T14:44:00.002+01:002013-04-27T14:44:23.467+01:00Luis Suarez, and related thoughts<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvK37klu0kmQ5nxJcGJ_dwdE2R1bLIP0IB4t9lq5LDFUP7HRY7faGo8JQ5ZiU5Qll8jYpMPPiz2HcjZovWj9F6ogKDKGNpuUE0JGM0CHuWNctUIr3-HTbg1_LxhPV_5HXr-cbtcu7yFb-D/s1600/Suarez_2861046.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvK37klu0kmQ5nxJcGJ_dwdE2R1bLIP0IB4t9lq5LDFUP7HRY7faGo8JQ5ZiU5Qll8jYpMPPiz2HcjZovWj9F6ogKDKGNpuUE0JGM0CHuWNctUIr3-HTbg1_LxhPV_5HXr-cbtcu7yFb-D/s320/Suarez_2861046.jpg" width="320" /></a>Luis Suarez has been in the headlines a lot this
week. He has recently been banned by the
FA for ten games, for biting an opponent in a match last week. He was previously banned for seven games in
2010 for biting, while at his former club Ajax.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
There are several point to make in reaction to this.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->1.<span style="font-size: 7pt;"> </span><!--[endif]-->Biting
is not appropriate on any sports field.
In football, it is classed as violent conduct, warranting a red card and
at least a three-match ban.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->2.<span style="font-size: 7pt;"> </span><!--[endif]-->Players
sent off for violent conduct are often banned for more than three games by the
FA. Di Canio was banned for 11 games for
pushing a referee in 1998. Prutton was
banned for 10 games for the same offence in 2005. Thatcher got 8 games for elbowing Mendes in
2006. In most non-sporting professions,
such offences would warrant a sacking.
Why not in football?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->3.<span style="font-size: 7pt;"> </span><!--[endif]-->This
is the longest ban a player has been given for violent conduct against another
player in England. The only longer bans
are for acts against referees, fans, or for drug offences. The exception is Joey Barton’s 12-game ban,
but that was for two counts of violent conduct rather than one. Why has this offence been given a
significantly longer ban than many other counts of violent conduct? What is inherently worse about biting than
stamping, spitting or headbutting?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->4.<span style="font-size: 7pt;"> </span><!--[endif]-->Jermaine
Defoe bit an opponent in 2006 and was given no ban because the referee saw the
incident, and FIFA have a policy that means that players cannot be
retrospectively punished by football associations if the referee has already ‘dealt’
with the incident. This policy is
understandable, because they want to empower the referees. The policy is also laughable because the best
way to empower referees is with a system of TV replays and challenges, a system
that shows no signs of becoming available.
Referees should be able to use replays like in rugby, for incidents such
as infringements in the penalty area or when players are accused of something
like biting. Team captains should be
allowed, say, two challenges per half, like in tennis, to challenge decisions
like dives and offsides. I have made
this argument so many times, I am getting sick of it.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqyHEpW1dN4seC1t7HePk_Fh4RF4xrX-nRvqSTp-uWSLWIfJj4rkyQ601lVtJEYKXBmIaM1wK0I8qoU4WNFXhn839PZ0ux3cLEYBWBz36h4dYW4RcxzNcVEyeiUqdKRl1SwmxRXUaHOn5a/s1600/images.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqyHEpW1dN4seC1t7HePk_Fh4RF4xrX-nRvqSTp-uWSLWIfJj4rkyQ601lVtJEYKXBmIaM1wK0I8qoU4WNFXhn839PZ0ux3cLEYBWBz36h4dYW4RcxzNcVEyeiUqdKRl1SwmxRXUaHOn5a/s1600/images.jpg" style="cursor: move;" /></a></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]-->5.<span style="font-size: 7pt;"> </span><!--[endif]-->There
are two issues here – that of retrospective punishment, and that of the length
of Suarez’s ban. Much of the discussion
over the ban has been to do with consistency.
Why ten games, where similar incidents have warranted fewer? Is biting an opponent worse than racist
language but not as bad as pushing a referee?
Is this a longer ban because it is the second time he has bitten an
opponent? If so, why has this not been
clarified?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->6.<span style="font-size: 7pt;"> </span><!--[endif]-->The
bottom line is that Suarez should be banned, but he should be banned in a way
consistent with other similar incidents.
On a related note, the way games are refereed needs to change, and has
needed to change for a while now.</div>
<br />
<o:p></o:p><br />
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03964256784632422857noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2681998196176959794.post-83523542646925624802013-04-11T09:06:00.000+01:002013-04-11T09:06:36.793+01:00Standing ovationsI have never given a standing ovation. Yes, I've stood and clapped people. But only in situations where I was already standing (like a gig) or needed to stand to see, because everyone else was standing (like a football match), or because I'm asked to (like a wedding). I've never stood to applaud someone because I thought what they had done was worth it. I've come close a few times, but I've never been so jaw-droppingly overwhelmed that I feel the need to acknowledge it with a standing ovation.<br />
Maybe I'm overly harsh. I probably am. I certainly have very high expectations. I thought the other day that the one time I would probably have given a standing ovation, I never got the chance. If there had been a chance to stand and applaud Colin and Margy Stephenson, the couple who led the youth camp Hebron, to recognise what they had given to teenagers and adults over twenty years, I think I might have. The chance never arose, so I remain a standing ovation virgin. For now.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03964256784632422857noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2681998196176959794.post-47020310916057579932013-04-11T08:57:00.000+01:002013-04-11T08:57:23.013+01:00Martin Smith<div style="text-align: justify;">
I saw Martin Smith (former lead singer of Delirious) perform with his band last week. The gig confirmed my theory that he is the best frontman I have ever seen.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Some of the reasons for this are:</div>
<br />
<ul><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0QgLQqiY6iJQ7Gv3R2kPwtwuTF60uEj59UbUkU1fC74UaJJ9P-Ny_DtLAVo6aeyy1JQHqQS31RwvmmPdPn1spdpXTgjtlDFSP942gmvmi2Q3d7nRAg_nbRnclpayzlge4HXeIMxfvvulM/s1600/martinsmith.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: justify;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0QgLQqiY6iJQ7Gv3R2kPwtwuTF60uEj59UbUkU1fC74UaJJ9P-Ny_DtLAVo6aeyy1JQHqQS31RwvmmPdPn1spdpXTgjtlDFSP942gmvmi2Q3d7nRAg_nbRnclpayzlge4HXeIMxfvvulM/s320/martinsmith.jpg" width="256" /></a>
<li style="text-align: justify;">He seems to really enjoy performing live. He has a good time on stage. This makes him really good to watch. I'm sure many other people also enjoy performing, but it doesn't show as clearly.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">He engages with the crowd like no-one else. He doesn't just talk to the crowd, he converses with them. He shakes hands, makes jokes, stands on shoulders, takes song requests. It's like watching your mate play a gig in the local pub.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">He makes great use of his body when performing. Many frontmen will just stand there and sing (think Liam Gallagher). Martin Smith will jump, dance, kneel, crouch etc.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">He is creative with his music. The other day, he sang History Maker, though a different version without the classic bass/synth intro (creative), but then he sang God is Smiling over the top of it (more creativity). Some of the times he does this, I'm sure it is planned. Sometimes, I'm sure it is spontaneous.</li>
</ul>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
I really have seen no-one else like him. He is the best at what he does.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03964256784632422857noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2681998196176959794.post-55024980488474186382013-04-10T11:46:00.001+01:002013-04-10T11:47:36.834+01:00Albums by yearThis morning, I was challenged to investigate the years in which various of my albums had been released, and rank the years according to how strong the albums from each year are.<br />
<br />
I listed 151 of my albums which I know best, assuming that these were generally my favourite albums (simply because I know them the best). The release dates of the albums ranged from 1981 right through to 2013.<br />
I wrote lists of the albums released each year. Given that these are my favourite albums, I made the assumption that the year with the most albums would be the greatest year. This resulted in a draw between 2002 and 2005. Of course, this assumption is not a valid one - it could be that all of 2002's albums are stronger than any of those from 2005, for example. Having glanced quickly at the two years, I would suggest that 2002 is slightly stronger.<br />
<br />
Another method would be to assign each album an score and give each year a total score. Or an average score. This method would take more time than I have, but I can make estimates. I estimate that, using the 'total' method, 2002 and 2005 still lead, mainly because they each have 16 albums contributing to their totals, while the next closest year, 2003, only has 11. Using the 'average' method, a kind of indicator of the 'concentration of quality' of a year, I estimate that 1994, 2000, 2006 and 2007 would all feature highly. 1994 only has on album on the list - Definitely Maybe (Oasis). 2000 has A day without rain (Enya), All that you can't leave behind (U2), Glo (Delirious), Hybrid Theory (Linkin Park), No name face (Lifehouse), Parachutes (Coldplay) and The Father's Song (Matt Redman) - I know, right, what a year! (Interestingly, when I just typed The Father's Song, I mis-typed it as The Father's Snog...). 2006 features Beautiful News (Matt Redman) (not the strongest start, but wait for it), Black holes and revelations (Muse), Harmonies for the haunted (Stellastarr*), Sam's Town (Killers) and Stadium Arcadium (RHCP). 2007 includes A weekend in the city (Bloc Party), An end has a start (Editors), Beyond the Neighbourhood (Athlete), Cities (Anberlin), Holding nothing back (Tim Hughes) (what a first five!), Make another world (Idlewild), The altar and the door (Casting Crowns), The Kissaway Trail (The Kissaway Trail), The scene and the unseen (Stoney), Who we are (Lifehouse).<br />
<br />
Three points in summary:<br />
<br />
<ol>
<li>There is a lot of good music from a lot of good years.</li>
<li>I like music.</li>
<li>I am still a geek, and that doesn't look like changing any time soon.</li>
</ol>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03964256784632422857noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2681998196176959794.post-40149535331161084512013-04-09T15:00:00.001+01:002013-04-09T15:00:26.623+01:00The Chronicles of Narnia<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWv9MwRRCPAb7fRGp99fRt0YtPDgooIKhPDOBGHH_9Q5WwZAuAfzrjK3cuAXE26xe2MRAi-QCMkX0PizCyNjZRKMPKquxjlrPuU9P6-neEya33b07ViOYVyHz2hrbeQGw_9sd1-gE1l5H3/s1600/Aslan-Narnia1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="156" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWv9MwRRCPAb7fRGp99fRt0YtPDgooIKhPDOBGHH_9Q5WwZAuAfzrjK3cuAXE26xe2MRAi-QCMkX0PizCyNjZRKMPKquxjlrPuU9P6-neEya33b07ViOYVyHz2hrbeQGw_9sd1-gE1l5H3/s320/Aslan-Narnia1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
Without any explanation, and off the top of my head (which are both unusual), here is my ranking of The Chronicles of Narnia. Do you agree?<br />
<br />
<ol>
<li>The Horse and His Boy</li>
<li>The Last Battle</li>
<li>The Voyage of the Dawn Treader</li>
<li>The Magician's Nephew</li>
<li>The Silver Chair</li>
<li>The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe</li>
<li>Prince Caspian</li>
</ol>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03964256784632422857noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2681998196176959794.post-16100011728394568172013-03-28T12:51:00.001+00:002013-03-28T12:51:24.353+00:00Unpredictable weather<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Everyone seems to be complaining about the snow at the
moment. Everyone except me, and I’m
normally the one who complains about it first.
Surprising.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">When the snow comes in December and January, many people
are excited about it – it looks so beautiful, it’s fun to play in, it brings
the nation together and we sometimes get snow days. Many reasons to love the snow in the
winter. I, however, don’t love snow in
the winter. It does look awesome, but
this positive is outweighed, for me, by the facts that it’s cold, I don’t
particularly like playing in it (because I get cold very easily), it makes it
difficult to get around, and snow days are actually a pain for me.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm6qHJ6LhHfZ_hGXLOPGByucnugWeUPB_KjR0s4A0PtCf6LpAGI73Da1he51kby04KWtBVXd2UDdTEEfDMGepON8ECQx3zBjJDQUlto8kXLjDfxxzbT_TSO9jmxSB3P3dBnIyk_qdRwWT1/s1600/birmingham+snow+march+2013+(13)-1862337.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: justify;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm6qHJ6LhHfZ_hGXLOPGByucnugWeUPB_KjR0s4A0PtCf6LpAGI73Da1he51kby04KWtBVXd2UDdTEEfDMGepON8ECQx3zBjJDQUlto8kXLjDfxxzbT_TSO9jmxSB3P3dBnIyk_qdRwWT1/s320/birmingham+snow+march+2013+(13)-1862337.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">So, it’s still snowing, and it’s nearly April. Because this snow is not causing any
significant disruption to my life, and because it’s not actually that cold at
the moment, I don’t really mind it. But
everyone else seems to have an issue with it.
Common quotes go along the lines of ‘It’s nearly April, it </span>shouldn't<span style="font-family: inherit;"> be
snowing now’. Snow at this time of year
seems to go against people’s sense of what the weather “should” be like. This sounds like the sort of thing I would
say. I tend to like things the way they
“should” be. But when it comes to the
weather, I love how unpredictable it can be in this country. It amuses me that it could be snowing in
April, sunny in December, and pouring with rain in July. I know the unpredictability of it can be
annoying, and can disrupt plans for sport, or picnics, or whatever, and this does
annoy me too. But at the same time, the
fickleness of it all amuses me.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
I'm<span style="font-family: inherit;"> a little surprised by the extent to which people are
complaining about the recent snow, when they seem delighted with the much
larger amounts of it in the winter.
Maybe people are just bored with it now, whereas I was already bored
with it back in December. Maybe it is
simply about what the weather ‘should’ be like, and people are now longing for
some warmth and sunshine. Maybe people
want either no snow or lots of snow, not these vague snow showers </span>we've<span style="font-family: inherit;"> been
having. But I like it. Not because it’s snow – as </span>I've<span style="font-family: inherit;"> said, I don’t
really like snow at all – but because it’s an example of our wonderfully
unpredictable weather.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">So there you go – a blog post about the weather. How British of me.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03964256784632422857noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2681998196176959794.post-34280411130224653252013-03-26T20:42:00.001+00:002013-03-26T20:42:22.557+00:00Music DifficultiesI have realised that it is becoming more and more difficult for me to keep up with new music. Over the last 4 years I have created a soundtrack of the year, and each year the list is becoming longer. I seem to be buying more and more new albums each year. Last year it was 21. This year it is already 12, and we're still in March.<br />
The root of this problem is that I am getting old, so not something I can do much about. Because I discover new bands every year, there are more bands that I know about every year. I rarely 'unfollow' bands, so each year there are more albums released that I want to own then ever before, as many bands I follow bring out new albums, and there are new bands to discover too.. I am starting to find that I don't have time to follow everyone.<br />
Occasionally bands disband (see what I did there?) but for the most part, the list of people whose music I want just keeps expanding. The fact that I'm both loyal and a completionist doesn't help.<br />
There is no easy solution to this. I could be more ruthless about whose music I buy, but I wouldn't know where to start in deciding who to cut out. This is starting to worry me. There are plenty of bands I really like and whose music I want to keep buying, but I also love discovering new artists. It seems I have a dilemma on my hands.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03964256784632422857noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2681998196176959794.post-23025606788038622412013-03-06T20:40:00.001+00:002013-03-06T20:40:10.927+00:00Sigur RosLast weekend I went to a Sigur Ros gig in Glasgow. Here are some thoughts on it.<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<ul><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8qXejd5AV07R1LUoV8mRRLyEwn76st746fZtxeZ7VjyvI_n_pGlnqQtf36WxiQTLuLjmMhOaxksjvZ_n8RSPxmeiM75ouBMDf7YMvNxBsrV76KqMJ-n7dPsHgZdrP2zwaJMPXnglEcb7D/s1600/2013-03-02+22.10.58.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8qXejd5AV07R1LUoV8mRRLyEwn76st746fZtxeZ7VjyvI_n_pGlnqQtf36WxiQTLuLjmMhOaxksjvZ_n8RSPxmeiM75ouBMDf7YMvNxBsrV76KqMJ-n7dPsHgZdrP2zwaJMPXnglEcb7D/s320/2013-03-02+22.10.58.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="320" /></a>
<li>Doors opened at 6.30. The support act wasn't on until 8, and Sigur Ros until 9. This was an unnecessary wait. Especially as...</li>
<li>The support act, Banck Mass, was the worst support act I've ever seen. By a mile. One man, one laptop, two decks. One thirty minute track, which was just sound. No groove, or rhythm, or tune. Just atmospheric synth noises. Awful.</li>
<li>The first three songs of the Sigur Ros set were played with a transparent but certainly visible curtain around the stage. This allowed for some very cool lighting effects on the curtain, but made us feel slightly distanced from the band, especially as the first three songs were 2 brand new tracks and Ny Batteri, which takes five minutes to kick in. However, it was worth it for the next moment...</li>
<li>Up until the end of Ny Batteri, the lighting had all been blue, green and white. At the end of Ny Batteri, as the next song started, all the lights went red, and the curtain dropped to the floor. And, the next song was Vaka - a classic, one of my favourites and on my soundtrack of 2012. One of the best moments of the night.</li>
<li>The band lineup consisted of Jonsi, the frontman and vocalist, who played electric guitar using a bow. Lad. He also played piano. Then a bassist (who also played xylophone) and a drummer (who also played piano and xylophone). Also an electric guitarist (who also played piano and xylophone) and a fifth guy who switched between drums, percussion and piano. There were six pianos on the stage. There were also three violinists, a trumpeter, a trombonist/flautist and a french horn player. Everyone also sang. A great spectacle of musicians.</li>
<li>The sound from Jonsi's guitar was very difficult to identify in the overall sound. I could hear the drums, bass, violins etc, but not his guitar. I assume there were huge delay effects going on and that he contributed to the overall atmospheric/synth sound of the music. Shame though.</li>
<li>During Hoppipolla, Jonsi played bass. So there were two basses, drums, piano and xylophone. No electric guitar. Interesting.</li>
<li>Hoppipolla was followed by Med Blodnasir, as it is on the album. This combination really got the crowd going. Sigur Ros aren't really a band people sing along to, but they did for these two songs. Arms were up, lights were stunning, the crowd were almost worshipping. Spine tingling. Another of the best moments of the night.</li>
<li>They played Glosoli. I was not expecting this, but I was delighted to hear it.</li>
<li>The band played a 3-song encore. The penultimate song was Fljotavik, which was beautiful and calm. The calm before the storm...</li>
<li>They finished with Popplagio. Of course they did. And it was enormous. Everything you would hope it might be.</li>
<li>The lighting was continually spectacular, but my favourite feature was the 44 (we counted) lightbulbs perched on sticks around the stage. They just looked gorgeous.</li>
<li>One disappointment was the lack of interaction from the band with the crowd. Jonsi only spoke to the crowd twice, and once was simply to say 'thankyou'. I know they're not English, but they are fluent and it would have been nice to have had a bit more acknowledgement of our presence. Having said this, they came back out after the encore to wave and bow. I liked that.</li>
</ul>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBu_CRDATXXGJumh27G1hM5Jbg6C43ZskUfC0JPsJsG4WdREz_13VGj7niWmxhczhdJpjBtAYu4L76zS1Xa9cc8nwuWfe-UtvJOyDygUixX7aDCZ8C54JPdMqMRf3OGj7N6ovlqEU_cYxW/s1600/2013-03-02+22.13.06.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBu_CRDATXXGJumh27G1hM5Jbg6C43ZskUfC0JPsJsG4WdREz_13VGj7niWmxhczhdJpjBtAYu4L76zS1Xa9cc8nwuWfe-UtvJOyDygUixX7aDCZ8C54JPdMqMRf3OGj7N6ovlqEU_cYxW/s320/2013-03-02+22.13.06.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
In all, a very worthwhile evening. If you ever get a chance to hear Blanck Mass, eat your own heart out with a blunt spoon instead. If you ever get a chance to hear Sigur Ros, do it. If Blanck Mass is supporting Sigur Ros, just arrive at 8.45 and you won't miss a thing.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03964256784632422857noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2681998196176959794.post-3630915327516948382013-01-12T09:37:00.000+00:002013-01-12T09:37:44.677+00:00Les Miserables<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguD-vAtUjKT442sLckXKpDR6QK95F6n-OYMiZxRD8unIRT_2_XV-Lk25xPdK40Vo_Oy7sCi5rNtJaWk-mNKzA0lLJwJpn2oqMMJNr2ROfXCMcTCaRfRcH4vjsdEKe7P8KK2PcK1HvPoW2m/s1600/Les-Miserables-Multi-Character-Movie-Poster-Large.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguD-vAtUjKT442sLckXKpDR6QK95F6n-OYMiZxRD8unIRT_2_XV-Lk25xPdK40Vo_Oy7sCi5rNtJaWk-mNKzA0lLJwJpn2oqMMJNr2ROfXCMcTCaRfRcH4vjsdEKe7P8KK2PcK1HvPoW2m/s320/Les-Miserables-Multi-Character-Movie-Poster-Large.jpg" width="236" /></a></div>
I saw it last night. A few comments follow.<br />
It was, overall, excellent. The cast do a great job. Russel Crowe is fine, nowhere near as bad as people have made him out to be. Anne Hathaway and Hugh Jackman are just as good as everyone says. Jackman's probably even better. Amanda Seyfried particularly impressed me as this is the only time I've seen Les Mis (I've seen it 4 times now) and haven't got fed up with Cosette's drippiness. It's strange that I, as well as many others I have spoken to, normally root for the young Cosette but the adult Eponine. Here I rooted for the adult Cosette as well. Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter were hilarious, and Eddie Raymane was very good.<br />
Obviously, the music was superb. That's kind of the point. But I thought the volume was too low. I don't know if it's the cinema we went to or the film itself, but I was occasionally underwhelmed. I sometimes felt a little distanced from the screen in a way that doesn't normally happen, because of the low sound levels.<br />
Yes, I cried. And, because people will ask, I cried at I dreamed a dream, Did you hear the people sing?, A little fall of rain, Drink with me, and Finale. I was particularly gutted that they only did one verse of Drink with me.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrCrPw-4DO2RO3f1ImTtHrzTZJzboxj1y1UcAUpbVkqOep8Fc-CXguCxS0PYhAnNOEy-ZfN2RuvhyphenhyphenAKsrHEm1Qv1rE32-OY9V__FLlj6_-BzHiCP4QZ86HL5DCU57A65plD11M2ViuloWE/s1600/Les-Miserables-Movie-Poster-Large.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrCrPw-4DO2RO3f1ImTtHrzTZJzboxj1y1UcAUpbVkqOep8Fc-CXguCxS0PYhAnNOEy-ZfN2RuvhyphenhyphenAKsrHEm1Qv1rE32-OY9V__FLlj6_-BzHiCP4QZ86HL5DCU57A65plD11M2ViuloWE/s320/Les-Miserables-Movie-Poster-Large.jpg" width="221" /></a>There were some negatives, but the main one is not the fault of the film itself, it's the fault of the source material. I always think that after the climax of The final battle, the sewers, and Javert's suicide, the show takes too long to end. Empty chairs is excellent, and I guess Every day is necessary, but Turning is excessive and Beggars at the feast just doesn't fit with what's going on. It spoils the mood. Because the film includes everything in the musical, it has these weaknesses.<br />
I've noticed how often this is the case. Lord of the Rings is such a good film because the source material is so good. I enjoyed the middle section of Life of Pi but thought the first act was boring and the ending just laughable - but that's more the fault of the book than the film adaptation. The weakness in the Les Mis film is, similarly, down to the source material rather than the film itself.<br />
However, overall, it was excellent. Let's just say that the pre-race favourite, The Desolation of Smaug, certainly has it's work cut out to be named my film of the year in 12 months time.<br />
<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03964256784632422857noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2681998196176959794.post-35538441590779166432012-12-30T13:38:00.000+00:002012-12-30T13:38:16.253+00:00Films of 201231. Shaft<br />
This was just utterly boring. An awful film. Avoid.<br />
<br />
30. Coriolanus<br />
If tried and tried, but I just don't like Shakespeare. I thought the plot of this was average to poor, and I can't stand the whole Shakespearian-language-in-a-modern-setting thing they keep doing.<br />
<br />
29. The Lord of the Rings<br />
No, not the new one. The 1978 animated one. Really very poor. Laughable in fact. Thank God for Peter Jackson.<br />
<br />
28. Alien: Resurrection<br />
Ludicrous. Didn't even make sense. Some cool action, and Sigourney Weaver, were the only positives.<br />
<br />
27. Dante's Peak<br />
Similar to above but slightly less ludicrous and without Sigourney Weaver.<br />
<br />
26. 12 Monkeys<br />
I've seen it twice and I couldn't tell you what it's about. Very forgettable, except for Brad Pitt's brilliant performance - the only thing that saves the film.<br />
<br />
25. American Psycho<br />
Christian Bale is superb as always and the film is strangely gripping, but in the end it's not much more than a load of rubbish.<br />
<br />
24. Source Code<br />
A brilliant idea which falls apart when it runs into logic. Not an awful film but far from satisfactory. Some good ideas, but in the end, I felt cheated of an actual storyline.<br />
<br />
23. Drive<br />
I quite liked the first half, mainly because of Carey Mulligan. The second half kind of fell apart, and not even a bit of Carey Mulligan could hold it together. Half of a reasonable film.<br />
<br />
22. Nativity 2<br />
A few hilarious scenes that had me laughing out loud, but the ridiculous plot means that this is not a good film. Entertaining, but not quality.<br />
<br />
21. The Wolfman<br />
This was ok. Not particularly good, not particularly bad, just ok.<br />
<br />
20. Spartacus<br />
Long, but I don't mind that. Some pretty dramatic stuff. Just not that inspiring or gripping in the end. It's like the Tesco Value version of Gladiator.<br />
<br />
19. Juno<br />
A good, fun, lighthearted film. I enjoyed watching this, though I probably wouldn't bother watching it again.<br />
<br />
18. The Recruit<br />
This was a reasonable film. Some very gripping moments. But ultimately, it's a spy film, and I don't really like spy films.<br />
<br />
17. Phantom of the Opera<br />
This was reasonable. Really good music, nicely done.<br />
<br />
16. Life of Pi<br />
Great effects, though that's not unusual these days. I really liked large chunks of it, but it had a lame ending. and not a great start.<br />
<br />
15. Looper<br />
Some excellent moments, and they really tries hard to make it a sensible film. It was great to watch, but met the obstacle that every time-travel film meets: its doesn't make any sense.<br />
<br />
14. What's Eating Gilbert Grape?<br />
This would be a lot lower if it weren't for Leonardo DiCaprio. He is amazing in this. Other than him, it's not that special, but his performance is outstanding.<br />
<br />
13. Contagion<br />
I missed this in the cinema so was happy to see it on DVD. It's exciting and gripping. A good film.<br />
<br />
12. The Wrestler<br />
This was very good, very watchable, but had a disappointing ending.<br />
<br />
11. Phone Booth<br />
What a brilliant idea, and really well done. Very exciting, and Colin Farrell is excellent.<br />
<br />
10. An Education<br />
This is a decent film. But Carey Mulligan is, as always, brilliant. She makes this film.<br />
<br />
7=. Brave<br />
Pixar never really fail do they? Good plot, great animation, watchable, funny.<br />
<br />
7=. Alien<br />
Some amazing scenes and great acting. Completely gripping. Limited by poor effects, but that's about it.<br />
<br />
7=. Alien 3<br />
More like Aliens than Alien, but not quite as good as Aliens and about as good as Alien.<br />
<br />
6. Aliens<br />
Bigger, more exciting, more impressive than Alien. And therefore slightly better.<br />
<br />
4=. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo<br />
Quality. In pretty much every respect. A really, really good film. David Fincher is definitely one of my favourite directors.<br />
<br />
4=. Holes<br />
Wow. Quite simple, and quite a small film, but really good. Very deep and thought provoking, and also very entertaining.<br />
<br />
2=. The Hunger Games<br />
Great plot, great action, great characters - a great film.<br />
<br />
2=. The Dark Knight Rises<br />
There was a lot of pressure on this film, but it delivered. All round excellence. Review <a href="http://benbo-baggins.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/the-dark-knight-rises.html">here</a>.<br />
<br />
1. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey<br />
No, it's not LOTR. So far, it's certainly not as good as LOTR. But it still does almost everything better than almost any other film. If most films are on Earth, and LOTR is on another planet, then this still is one of the films that is on the moon. Review <a href="http://benbo-baggins.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/The%20Hobbit">here</a>.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03964256784632422857noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2681998196176959794.post-61664958767727687102012-12-20T19:42:00.001+00:002012-12-20T19:42:24.752+00:00Albums of 2012Here is a ranked list of the albums I have got this year. Just in case anyone cares. Bizzarely, there are three times as many albums on this list as on last year's. It seems I have acquired a lot of new music this year.<br />
<br />
21. Northern Lights - Someone Else's Eyes<br />
This is ok. Some nice tunes. Just not very interesting.<br />
<br />
20. Jamie Hill - One Day<br />
Meh. It's just ok.<br />
<br />
19. Phil Joel - The Deliberate People<br />
Some reasonable songs here. Nothing special though.<br />
<br />
18. Sigur Ros - Valtari<br />
Other than () and Takk, I'm not too fussed by Sigur Ros. Those two albums are incredible. This one is ok.<br />
<br />
17. Soul Survivor - Soul Survivor 2011<br />
This is quite mediocre. The best songs on here are the ones of Matt Redman's album or One Thing Remains - all of which I already knew. Not that impressive.<br />
<br />
16. The Gentlemen - A Candid History of Faith, Hope, Love<br />
This is cool. Not as good as their first album, but not bad.<br />
<br />
15. Bluetree - Kingdom<br />
Quite underwhelming after their impressive first album, but some decent songs here.<br />
<br />
14. Syntactical Sugar - The Deuteronomy<br />
This is pretty cool. Not amazing, but no weak points.<br />
<br />
13. The Last Spectacular - The Last Spectacular<br />
A nice album, featuring, but unfortunately dominated by the outstanding No Resistance.<br />
<br />
12. Jenny and Tyler - This Isn't a Dream<br />
Some really nice songs. A good album, though it doesn't hit the heights of some of their other stuff.<br />
<br />
9=. Jenny and Tyler - Open Your Doors<br />
Slightly better, including the lovely Skyline Hill.<br />
<br />
9=. Bloc Party - Four<br />
This is certainly no Weekend in the City, but it still has some really good songs.<br />
<br />
9=. The Birthday Suit - A Conversation Well Rehearsed<br />
Solid. Just very solid all round.<br />
<br />
8. Something Like Silas - Divine Intervention<br />
Similarly solid. I really like listening to this album.<br />
<br />
7. The Temper Trap - The Temper Trap<br />
The Temper Trap are really good, and this album is really good.<br />
<br />
6. Tom + Olly - Spirals<br />
I love Tom + Olly's style. This album is packed full of tunes.<br />
<br />
4=. Muse - The 2nd Law<br />
Another very strong album from the inimitable Muse. Highlights include Madness, Follow Me and Big Freeze.<br />
<br />
4=. Anberlin - Vital<br />
A happy return to form after the previous album. Great stuff. Anberlin back to (almost) their best.<br />
<br />
3. Jesus Culture - Come Away<br />
Very strong. Just very strong. They really are excellent at this stuff.<br />
<br />
2. The Birthday Suit - The Eleventh Hour<br />
Very surprising. This band only appeared this year. But this is really good. Not quite Idlewild-good (The frontman is former Idlewild guitarist Rod Jones), but still really good.<br />
<br />
1. Jenny and Tyler - Faint Not<br />
A very good album, with at least 5 superb songs, including probably my song of the year, Song For You.<br />
<br />
<br />
It should be noted that I also got The Chilis' Stadium Arcadium this year, but couldn't committ to putting it on this list as it's a double album, which felt a bit like cheating. I do like it though. There were also some decent EPs this year: This is Freedom - Welcome Home; To Kill a King - My Crooked Saint; Martin Smith - God's Great Dancefloor; Lifecolour - Time to be Free; Dennis - Colliery Welfare.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03964256784632422857noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2681998196176959794.post-48390435584672108152012-12-19T20:24:00.001+00:002012-12-19T20:25:12.827+00:00The Hobbit: review<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZaT7xC9OIA1WOC2GNUFxS4WbdYmsbCUGHXHPC8s_VkV1rFt-f6cMzzp8f5Rog7NScOObiO6aokFas44KkqrbIHGqcgeqhN1fYSmoe8jLWS5FL6mUhBisH4d3OMlUyokZ09xpuhxewPUpI/s1600/HAUJ_Bus_Dwarves_DOM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZaT7xC9OIA1WOC2GNUFxS4WbdYmsbCUGHXHPC8s_VkV1rFt-f6cMzzp8f5Rog7NScOObiO6aokFas44KkqrbIHGqcgeqhN1fYSmoe8jLWS5FL6mUhBisH4d3OMlUyokZ09xpuhxewPUpI/s320/HAUJ_Bus_Dwarves_DOM.jpg" width="217" /></a></div>
Here are my thoughts, in a slightly structured but slightly random order. I will try to limit comments on large scale adaptation of the book until I've seen all three films in a couple of years. Spoilers follow.<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>I've seen the film in 2D and 3D. 3D still does not impress me - it just costs a bit more and makes my eyes hurt a bit. I expect that 3D IMAX would be very impressive, but I haven't seen it. I also haven't seen the film in 48fps, so I can't comment much on it - but I expect it looks good and I expect it to become the cinematic norm.</li>
<li>It was great to see Ian Holm and Elijah Wood in the film. It helps to connect the film to LOTR. I actually teared up when these two came on screen.</li>
<li>Martin Freeman is perfect. I expected him to be very good, but he exceeded my expectations. Simply outstanding. He's a very capable serious actor but also has a great deadpan humour about him. Sometimes it was just like watching him in The Office (in a good way).</li>
<li>New Zealand looks, if anything, even more spectacular than it did in LOTR. Some of the wide shots are stunning.</li>
<li>The soundtrack is brilliant, both in it's own right and in the way it connects to the LOTR soundtrack. Howard Shore, I salute you.</li>
<li>All three LOTR films started with some sort of prologue, and the first Hobbit film followed the pattern. It worked really well, especially with Ian Holm's Bilbo narrating it. I also liked the bonus prologue section later on detailing Azog and Thorin's enmity (more on Azog later).</li>
<li>The party scene was an excellent to introduce the dwarves. It was full of humour but also meaty exposition. It started to paint the picture of dwarven culture. And it had some really good camerawork too.</li>
<li>Riddles in the dark was superb. Everything I'd hoped for. It's one of my favourite scenes from any book, and I was not let down. I've already said how good Freeman is, and Serkis is, of course, a master.</li>
<li>The action <span style="font-family: inherit;">sequences were sometimes a bit ridiculous. The troll fight was good, as was the battle outside Moria, but the storm-giants scene and the escape from goblin-town were ludicrously overdone. The storm-giants scene was unnecessary, and there was little chance anyone would have survived such an encounter, let alone all 15 of them. Similarly, sequences in goblin-town were very unconvincing, </span>especially<span style="font-family: inherit;"> with respect to the survival rate of the heroes. One reviewer described these scenes as "</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; line-height: 19px;">extended, jovially bloody battle between dwarves and goblins, larded with visual jokes involving decapitation, disembowelment, and baddies crushed by rolling rocks. The sequence is more like a body-count video game than like anything in the sedate novel, where battles are confused and brief and frightening, rather than exuberant eye-candy ballet."</span></li>
<li>The warg attack was excessive and unnecessary. It slowed the story down. They could have just let Radagast go back to keep an eye on Mirkwood, and have Gandalf convince Thorin to go to Rivendell to check out the map.</li>
<li>One common criticism has been that the dwarves are just a bunch of personality-less simulacrums. To an extent I agree with this. I think Dwalin, Balin, Fili and Kili are distinct, partly because they arrive at the party in small groups, and Bofur is too, because he has an enlargened role and everyone always remembers James Nesbitt. But the others lack screen time as individuals and lack opportunities to show themselves. I can understand that a viewer would struggle to identify with many of them, especially if they hadn't been following the film's developments in advance. I think Jackson could have spent more time with the dwarves, developing their characters, and cut the warg attack.</li>
<li>The troll scene good - funny but also perilous, and another chance to see the dwarves in action just being dwarves - as I just mentioned, the film needed more of this.</li>
<li>I liked the Radagast/Necromancer stuff. It added an extra level of plot and peril above what was going on in the dwarves' quest, and it helped to start linking the film to LOTR.</li>
<li>Azog's role was changed from the book. This was good. It helped expand Thorin's role and added an extra elements of suspense. It also provided this first film with a climax - much like the character or Lurtz did for FOTR. More on Azog <a href="http://middle-earth.xenite.org/2012/12/18/why-did-peter-jackson-change-azog-from-the-book/">here</a>.</li>
<li>The use of the orc language confused me. In LOTR, orc and uruk-hai use the common tongue - not precisely accurate, but it makes sense from a simplicity point of view and makes the film easier to watch. In The Hobbit, orc spoke their own language (subtitled) while on their own, and used the common tongue in scenes with dwarves. This just seemed inconsistent with LOTR, which is a shame while most of the film is consistent. It would have been better to just keep the orcs using the common tongue.</li>
<li>Gandalf's magic seemed inconsistent especially compared with LOTR. He uses his magic a lot more in The Hobbit, or at least a lot more overtly. Which begs the question, why didn't he use it more in LOTR. Again, this is a consistency issue between the two trilogies. It will be interesting to see what happens in parts 2 and 3.</li>
<li>I think they chose a good point at which to break the film - between the eagles and Beorn.</li>
<li>When Thorin charges Azog at the end of the film, the music playing is the Nazgul theme. This baffled me. I have no idea why they did this. Anyone care to suggest a reason?</li>
<li>FOTR was practically the perfect film. It had no weaknesses. This wasn't as strong an opening to a trilogy as that was, but this was nevertheless an excellent film. And I expect that the extended edition will include more dwarvishness, which I will enjoy.</li>
<li>Overall - a great film and excellent adaptation. A very promising start to the trilogy indeed. A bit to action-heavy for me, and the action that was there was sometimes over the top. But other than that I have very few complaints. My film of the year, perhaps? That list will come soon.</li>
</ul>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03964256784632422857noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2681998196176959794.post-20014561981454180042012-12-17T21:35:00.001+00:002012-12-17T21:42:31.692+00:00Soundtrack of 2012Here is my soundtrack of 2012 - the songs I have been listening to most this year.<br />
<br />
The Birthday Suit - The Eleventh Hour <i>(no video available)</i><br />
I love the start of this song - the guitar, drums everything. A very catchy song, with great melodies.<br />
<br />
Bluetree - Burn Me Up<br />
From when Bluetree weren't afraid to be creative. I love how stripped back large parts of this are.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/l37B4jL9Br0?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<br />
DC Talk - In The Light<br />
A very funky song. DCTalk doing what they do so well. Great sounds, great message.<br />
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<br />
Dennis - Ella<br />
I love listening to this song. Very upbeat, and a lot of fun.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/S8GvmJqoeBs?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<br />
Dennis - Carry Me Home <i>(no video available, but you can listen <a href="https://soundcloud.com/dennis_band">here</a>)</i><br />
Possibly my favourite Dennis song. It's just lovely. I love the build through the choruses near the end.<br />
<br />
Easyworld - A Stain To Never Fade<br />
An old song that reminds me of being a teenager. David Ford's vocals are still ridiculous.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/Yk0ndCHnMUE?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<br />
Jenny and Tyler - Song For You<br />
Possibly my song of the year, and on my 'contenders for greatest song of all time' list. It's just massive.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/ptqTZSUt56E?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<br />
Jenny and Tyler - Through Your Eyes<br />
Beautifully haunting? Hauntingly beautiful? Either way, this song is wonderful.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/ZFeZ04U7LRs?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<br />
Jenny and Tyler - Skyline Hill<br />
Not normally the sort of thing I'd go for, but this song grabbed me this year and didn't let go.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/hYJzDojzyfs?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<br />
Jesus Culture - Come Away/Let Me In<br />
Jesus Culture are so good at what they do. I love the positivity of this song.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/dbPGsZQX6KI?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<br />
The Last Spectacular - No Resistance <i>(no video available, but you can listen <a href="http://www.thelastspectacular.com/music.html">here</a>)</i><br />
This song, possibly more than any other song, impressed me from the very first time I heard it. Another on my 'contenders for greatest song of all time' list.<br />
<br />
Lifecolour - Faking Masqurades <i>(no video available, but you can listen <a href="http://lifecolour.bandcamp.com/track/faking-masquerades">here</a>)</i><br />
This song reminds me of Hebron. I don't know why. I just love it.<br />
<br />
Muse - Follow Me<br />
Another great song by Muse, they just keep coming.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/LvBzLtBwiBk?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<br />
Red Hot Chili Peppers - Otherside<br />
An old song, but it's been in my head all year. It has everything I love about the Chilis.<br />
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<object class="BLOGGER-youtube-video" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" data-thumbnail-src="http://1.gvt0.com/vi/rn_YodiJO6k/0.jpg" height="266" width="320"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/rn_YodiJO6k&fs=1&source=uds" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><embed width="320" height="266" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/rn_YodiJO6k&fs=1&source=uds" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></div>
<br />
Rock'n'Roll Worship Circus - Everybody Awake<br />
Fun, optimistic, and a good tune. This was the first song onto my soundtrack this year.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/IXUCM2FtVug?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<br />
Sigur Ros - Vaka<br />
A lovely tune. Interestingly, the only Sigur Ros song I can sing by heart in its entirety.<br />
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<br />
The Sunshine Underground - The Messiah<br />
I love how this song is less than 6 minutes long, but feels like at least 8. Some great moments of music here.<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03964256784632422857noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2681998196176959794.post-86656014996364976062012-11-30T11:01:00.001+00:002012-11-30T11:01:46.181+00:00Things I looked forward to in 2012<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">About a year ago I <a href="http://benbo-baggins.blogspot.co.uk/2011/12/things-to-look-forward-to-in-2012.html">posted</a> a list of things I was looking forward to in 2012. All but one of these have now </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">happened, and the last, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">, will probably get a review post of its own.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Here is what I thought of these things.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Continuing reading The Malazan Book of the Fallen</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"> - I'm half-way through book six of this ten-book epic, having taken an extended break from August to October after book five. I like it a lot, though it's one of the hardest things I've read. A full review might come next year.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span></div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">
Returning to Monday night football - it has been so good to play semi-regular sport again. I missed it a lot. The injury is still there and is still limiting, but I'm coping with it.</span><br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<span style="color: black;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Game of Thrones series 2 - brilliant. Lived up to expectations following series 1. Bring on series 3 in the Spring.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Kingdom by Bluetree - a disappointment, compared to their first album. Not completely hopeless, but much weaker than I'd expected. <a href="http://benbo-baggins.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/blutree-kingdom.html">Review here</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">June Project - in half term! - It was great to be involved again. I co-led team sport, as I'd done on the first JP back in 2007. Great times.</span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">The Dark Knight Rises - at the time of writing, my joint top film of the year. Almost guaranteed to stay in the top three by the end of the year. Well done Chris Nolan and co. <a href="http://benbo-baggins.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/the-dark-knight-rises.html">Review here</a>.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Lord of the Rings Lego - I haven't bought any of it, but the models look pretty good. Lego just looks less impressive than it used to though, which is sad. I'm still waiting for a model of Minas Tirith.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Weddings (including one of my oldest friends and my sister (not to each other)) - really fun. Steve's seems a very long time ago now, but it was a great day. Jenny's was wonderful, of course. I ushered and MCed which was a lot of work but even more fun.</span><br />
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">London 2012 - it was amazing, wasn't it? Though it didn't exceed my expectations. My expectations were very high, and the Olympics just about delivered. <a href="http://benbo-baggins.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/london-2012-expectations-and-reactions.html">More here</a>.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Red Dwarf series 10 - variable, to be honest. Some outstanding moments, and generally entertaining, but overall not as good as the older stuff. Most episodes tended to focus on cheap gags rather than actual situational comedy and character comedy.</span></div>
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