One of my pictures has been blogged over at GeekDad, part of the Wired Blog Network.

Even though I’m subscribed to the blog, I completely missed my shot in it, but thanks to Flickr’s stats page it was very obvious that there was a lot of traffic coming through Wired.

Anyway “Nom Nom Nom” is one of my favourite phototgraphs of the wee one, so it’s nice that somebody else recognises it too.

Thanks GeekDad.

OK. The headline is a bit misleading. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is a disappointment. The reason everyone is wrong is why it doesn’t match our expectations.

I went in the theatre with fairly low expectations, but I was definitely there to enjoy myself. I still felt let-down.

Everybody places the blame squarely on George Lucas’s script. Everybody is wrong. The dialogue is cheesy, and the plot is implausible. The same, however, could be said for all Indy movies (and most other action movies). In the past it didn’t matter because because Indy was cool. So while this is a fault, this isn’t the reason why the movie was a let-down.

The reason why this movie hasn’t matched our expectations is that it was rushed and cheap.

Every dialogue scene looks like they’ve settled for the first take. The actors haven’t been given a chance to get into character for the part. It’s as if the directorial instructions were, “Get you lines said, and move on!” From the very first scene where Cate Blanchette is speaking to Harrison Ford. I couldn’t have been less convinced. Speilberg would have seen this on set, but time restrictions meant he had no choice but to move to the next bit.

Despite the extensive use of CGI, the movie looked very cheap. Indeed these things often go together. The sets looked unconvincing. Everything looked like it was filmed on a badly lit stage on the Paramount lot. I think the university car/motorbike chase was the only set I was convinced by.

It all smacks of a rush-job. Getting these titanic figures of the movie industry together at the same time was it’s downfall. Maybe Lucas or Speilberg (or both) didn’t need to be so involved after all. Perhaps if they were less involved, there would have been enough time to make this a great movie.

I’ve update NixonByName.com to include FriendFeed comments. FriendFeed now drives the majority of traffic to this blog, so I think it’s important to send some love the other way.

I enjoy using FriendFeed, and it seems that most of my online contacts are the same way inclined. They are not perfect, but they are doing a damned good job…especially after such a short period of time.

If you haven’t already added me as a contact on FriendFeed you can do so here.

I’ve made a load of changes here on NixonByName since I moved from Wordpress.com. The excercise was so that I get everything I needed in place before I make the same move for Photografr.com. I’m pretty happy with what we’ve got here, so look for the Photografr move to happen in the next couple of weeks.

Yours aye!

Ministers in the UK are considering plans for a database to hold details of every phone call and email sent in the country. Apparently the system will be a “crucial tool” to protect national security and prevent crime. From BBC News:

A Home Office spokesman said: “The Communications Data Bill will help ensure that crucial capabilities in the use of communications data for counter-terrorism and investigation of crime continue to be available.

“These powers will continue to be subject to strict safeguards to ensure the right balance between privacy and protecting the public.” The spokesman said changes need to be made to the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 “to ensure that public authorities can continue to obtain and have access to communications data essential for counter-terrorism and investigation of crime purposes”.

I will never vote for any party that votes for this to go ahead. They are going too far.

Of course, it will never get passed. What will happen is a watered down version of this will sneak through under the radar of the press, chipping away a little more at our civil liberties, something which many Western governments seem to care little about. They want to spend millions in tax payers money protecting our freedom, yet are willing to trade away that very same freedom in the interest of security.

At the weekend I took my daughter to the swimming pool for the first time. I was not allowed to take photographs of the occasion because paying customers are no longer seen as people by management, but as potential paedophiles. It’s blindingly obvious that those in charge don’t give a crap about the dangers of these criminals, they’re just covering their arses should something happen in their venue. Banning phototgraphy won’t solve the problem. It will just make it less likely that they’ll have legal action against them.

In the same way, the goverment doesn’t give a crap about the freedom they claim to be protecting, they just want to be seen to be doing something by voters.

The UK is now a country whose authorities are obsessed with terrorism and by paedophiles. We have suffered at the hands of terrorists in the past and mistakes were made then. The wrong people were fingered for crimes they didn’t commit. Sad though that was, I’d rather live in a country where mistakes are made than one where everybody is considered guilty before any crime has been committed. It bet if these laws were put to statute these mistakes would STILL happen, no more correct convictions would be made, and the collected data would fall into the wrong hands.

I no longer feel trusted by the people who I helped put in power, and whose wages I pay, along with the millions of other tax payers. They need to think about the consequenses of their actions.

Read more at: The National Terror Alert and at Engadget
Photograph licensed under Creative Commons from nolifebeforecoffee

I think this is the best video I have seen on Flickr since the feature was launched. A haunting and telling comment on 24-hour rolling news channels.

Uploaded on to Flickr by Pixelsurgeon

[via Boing Boing]

Following my post last month about the (L) China campaign, I recieved a lot of comments from people who were unhappy about my taking a measured approach to the subject. Apparently I was wrong to question China’s human rights record in any way. This was a bit disappointing, and I felt that the commenters had missed the point of the post.

Those comments have disappeared for now, as I have moved the comments system over to Disqus, and I can’t port them accross quite yet.

Amnesty International and Boomerang in the Netherlands are promoting a campaign to positively promote China *and* human rights. From their site:

China is a beautiful country and has a lot to proud of; it’s economic achievements and their magnificent culture. But there is also a different side to China. China violates human rights systematically. There is no freedom of press and Internet. No other country in the world caries out more death penalties than China. Activists who stand up for human rights are being imprisoned. We must change this.

This campaign is created for those who are tired of the China bashing, but want to see improved human rights in China

I’d be interested to see if this campaign takes on in the same way as the original (L)China campaign.

Tomorrow is the 10th Anniversary of the final episode of Seinfeld. It’s a show that never really caught on in the UK thanks to horrendous BBC scheduling, something which also killed off the brilliant  Larry Sanders Show. In the US however, Seinfeld was king.

I’m currently working through every season again, and I have to tell you, it really stands the test of time. It was a show about nothing, yet said so much about society. OK occasionally a joke about car phones may remind you that it’s not set in the current day, but everything else rings true even after all this time.

The Guardian observes:

It seems striking that while The Office, our defining sitcom of the 21st century so far, gave us an out-of-character happy ending with Tim and Dawn together and David Brent having at least not embarrassed himself on a blind date, Seinfeld ended with the four main characters, not married, not successful, not even happy, but sitting in prison about to start a one-year jail sentence. When it comes to comedy, perhaps we Brits are less sophisticated than we like to think.

There is nothing in the current schedules that matches it’s subtle humour. It would not get commissioned today. The smartest stuff never gets off the starting block, or gets cancelled early. It was American TV comedy’s finest moment.

Come on…I’m sure somebody can take this idea and run. I’ll feature any efforts that link back.

Trembling Blue Stars by Chris Nixon

The Scottish Samurai by Chris Nixon

Thomas Blake Glover, known as the Scottish Samurai was credited for much of the industrial reform of Japan, lived just down the road from my house.

For more info about photo challenges, visit photochallenge.org.