Chain Letter

My daughter (age 8) got a chain letter from a school friend of hers last week. A real snail mail chain letter. It purported to be trying to set a Guiness Book of Records record and was sent FreePost (no postage required). I'm pretty surprised the Royal Mail delivered it. After searching around the Internet, I found out that variants of this chain letter have been in circulation since 1981! Geez. Talk about perpetual motion! Check out Break The Chain.

L.A. Confidential (1997)

Saw this DVD last night. I rented it after seeing how highly rated it was on IMDb. Sure enough, it deserves the rating. It's a fast-paced twisty detective film set in 1950's LA but it's also a good character study. Amazingly, the twists and turns in the movie are far simplified compared to the book which is supposed to be excellent.

Guitar Institute

Had my assessment at the Guitar Institute last Thursday. It turned out to be more of a chat than an assessment. Very cool place. Very chaotic. They teach guitar, bass and drums. Lots of students jamming narrow corridors. Rehearsal rooms with bands playing. Good vibe all around. The school is tucked in a industrial/warehouse part of Acton but parking is still a nightmare.

Anyway Charlie, my assessor, recommended that I do the Arpeggiator course. I also think the Foundation Blues course sounds fun. Have to see how I can fit this stuff in.

The Making of a Building Site Manager

After four weeks the builders are still at it doing our front yard. There's been some heavy rains so that's slowed the work down. It's driving Jenny crazy. It seems like every time she leaves the house for a few hours, the builders screw up. Lately they've built the fence wrong. Before that it was the circular paving slabs. Before that it was an uneven brick edging. It's a long list.  It's great that she catches all the mistakes. Jenny could have an excellent career ahead of her as a building site manager.

The 2002 Bloggies (Weblog Awards)

Another discovery. Interesting reading if you've got the time. Great weblog history article. I'm still checking out how other bloggers design their websites and surveying the tools most commonly used.

UK Weblogs

Useful site for UK bloggers. I just submitted my site. Also take note of the UK Bloggers Christmas Party next Saturday in London. There's also UK Blogger Mailing Lists.

The Urinal Game

I don't know how old this is but it's an excellent tutorial on how to select the correct urinal. I got one answer wrong though.

Say good-bye to the Great Apes

The UN needs $25 million as a minimum to save the Great Apes from extinction and is grasping to find it. Isn't it amazing how billions can be quickly found to fight a war but it's so hard to scrape together millions to push back extinction?

Musical Mania

The kids are keen on watching old musicals at the moment. Last month they watched "The Sound Of Music" and haven't stopped singing songs from it since. I can tell you I'm sick of hearing "Do Re Mi". The other week we watched "My Fair Lady" and today they're watching "Oliver!".  I'm expecting refrains of "Food Glorious Food" for the rest of the week. Turns out Jenny hasn't seen many of these musicals either and she's going around singing the songs too. Arrghh!

BBC: Top UK judge slams Camp Delta

Excellent. Someone with influence and a conscience calls out this perversion of justice by the US.

The Law Lord said the US was guilty of a "monstrous failure of justice" and challenged UK ministers to condemn the decision to hold any prisoners there....He said detainees were "beyond the rule of law, beyond the protection of any courts and at the mercy of victors".

BBC: Tourists dream of hunting haggis

One in three Americans considering a trip to Scotland believed that haggis was a creature. No surprise really but it's just a PR stunt for a Haggis maker.

Scotsman: Fury as France and Germany Escape Rule Breach Punishment

This really looks bad. If one of the smaller members of the EU had breached the rules, I bet they would have been fined. But the guys who made the rules don't follow them. Either they got to stick to the rules or change the rules to be more flexible especially with the new member countries getting added. Otherwise, the workings of the EU become opaque, loses trust and gets further mired in political wrangling.

One Month Until Christmas

Arrgghh. We still haven't got around to writing Christmas cards and shopping for presents and it won't be long until Christmas is here. The kids are getting excited. We're off to Canada to visit family and friends in Victoria and Vancouver during the holidays. Even if you don't work the time sure fills up quickly with all the things that need to get done.

Whale Rider (2002)

We watched Whale Rider during one of our regular Foreign Film Nights. Superb film. It certainly deserves all the awards its won. The review on IMDb sums up the plot well. What truly amazes me is that Keisha Castle-Hughes who plays the 12 year old Paikea was simply plucked from a classroom in New Zealand. She had no training but her acting was superb. Good script. Good pace. Good acting. Beautifully filmed. A great story. Worth watching.