A Pocket Symphony

Not just the name of the new Air album, but also the name I have given to my recently obtained Ipod!

I finally bought into the mainstream brand of apple's most amazing creation, the ipod. And to be truthful, I have taken to it like it was my own child. I have not really parted with it for over two weeks now, and it has already provided me with many musical moments in my life. There is nothing as satisfying as driving along and rocking out to AC/DC one moment, walking through the park to Goo Goo Dolls in another, and falling asleep at days end to Ry Cooder.

Currently packing 5205 songs and counting as I continue to transfer my cds to digital. Also put on A-Team and Scrubs Season 5 for the lonelier times.

Now this makes you think

So instead of spending $150'000 for a music video, Sarah McLachlan made one for $15. It's pretty impressive.

School For Wannabe Bad Boys

So at the risk of making my blog sound like a regular film guide, I just want to make mention I went to see School of Scoundrels last night, and I don't know.

Some good scenes (esp. the paintballing), some good lines ("Just look at me , I'm amazing"), and a good cast (BBT and JH, and a cameo by BS), but it just didn't strike me as being all that great. It's a remake of a 1960s film of the same title, and by all accounts, was a very good film. The modern day remake however, just doesn't really cut it with me. And I like daft comedies!

Maybe it's my film tastes have become more refined, or my desire to see more solid performances, better cinematography and well crafted plot lines, that I did not find this as funny as I expected. I have attended the cinema once a week for the last four weeks (twice to see Blood Diamond - leave your computer at once and go see this film as it is amazing), and am thoroughly loving Crazy Tuesdays at the Moviehouse and Wacky Wednesdays at the Strand. However lately I am seeking more now for films that stir my imagination and soul, that actually inspire me to get out of the cinema and to go somewhere or do something.

Like the new film Amazing Grace that is coming out to commemorate the abolition of the slave trade. But in reality, the slave trade was never abolished, just transformed. William Wilberforce (what a name) was only one man who persuaded his friends, and eventually a nation, to wise up and see the injustice of what was happening. What is stopping us from being a generation of wilberforces? The Bible tells us that God works through us to make us a force to be reckoned with, and by Him we can do anything.

I reckon it's going to be a film that stirs your soul, and this of course, is what movies should do.

Red Hot Fuzziness

"Crap got real!"

Hot Fuzz. If you ain't seen it, you ain't just had the chance to go to the cinema yet, and I know when you do get to go to the cinema it'll be the first film on your list.

Flipping hilarious. Maybe not as funny as I expected, but then I had massive expectations before I went!!! But still a thoroughly good show!

Danny Butterman: Have you ever fired two guns whilst jumping through the air?

Nicholas Angel: No.

Danny Butterman: Have you ever fired one gun whilst jumping through the air?

Nicholas Angel: No.

Danny Butterman: Ever been in a high-speed pursuit?

Nicholas Angel: Yes, I have.

Danny Butterman: Have you ever fired a gun whilst in a high speed pursuit?

Nicholas Angel: No!

[[[ Hot Fuzz ]]]

Cost of War

I'm not political, but I found it staggering to see how much the American government is spending on Iraq! Just stumbled across it as I wasted time on the net. It has got me thinking though, how much has Britain spent on Iraq and other useful stuff like that?

So it transpires before the end of 2006, the British Government has spent nearly 7 BILLION QUID, which of course, is a big sum of money. Check out the news article here back in November. Now of course, this makes up only a small part of the near £400 Billion Britain spends every year.

So THAT then got me thinking, what could you do with £7 Billion?
Here's a few ideas.

1) Cancel the total debt of a developing country (using World Bank figures for what countries owe), maybe Belize, or Lesotho, or Kenya (c. £4'000'000)
2) Go with a friend to visit the Titanic two and a half miles underwater (£28'500 x2)
3) Get as close to space as possible without leaving the atmosphere (£15'999), or actually go into space for 5 minutes (£63'299)
4)Get a wax version of myself, then get wax versions of my mates, and put them in a giant 5 a side football table, or in dubious positions with other well known celebrities (£150'000 x10 friends; £75'000 for table; £150'000 for other celebrities)
5) Take a romantic holiday for two to the South Pole (£25'999 x2)

A better Top 5 might be:

1) Pay for 166'905 families to send a child to Secondary School for 5 years in Britain (circa. £7 billion)
2) Make up the shortfall the government 'needs' to replace road surfaces, that wreck cars and can increase the chances of accidents (£1 billion)
3) Order, print and distribute 4'666'666'666 bibles across Asia (£7 billion)
4) Distribute 85 million gospel study guides on all four Gospels from Emmaus Bible School (£7 Billion)
5) Roughly £15 a month, over a year, could rehabilitate a borehole with a pump - providing water for up to 250 people in somewhere like Zambia, so that's £180/yr, so you could service 38'888'888 boreholes across the world, affecting 1 billion people for 10 years.

It's crazy to think the difference our government could make to the world if they wanted to.