mike[space] dot net

Further to my post on The Thin End of the Wedge, we can see the British Government successfully shifting the debate of detention without trial. Previously they controversially aimed for 90 days, were defeated, and wound up settling on 28 days (up from 14). Now the plan is to have a limit of 42 days. Seriously, what a crock of shit.

On Saturday we decided to go an check out Beowulf, and managed to find a showing of the 3D version. First off, the glasses are much nicer than the paper jobs from days of yore. They also no longer rely on the red & blue lenses, with them instead being shaded (although the package warns that on no account should they be used as sunglasses). The effect was pretty startling at first, but I soon found myself being more irritated with the flaws than impressed with the wizardry. Out of focus foreground objects loiter at the corner of your eye and distract, and layers can look pretty flat, even if they do appear close to. I have a feeling I would have enjoyed the film more in its 2D incarnation, but there were animation flaws that seem to be more fundamental; frankly there were times when it felt very much like watching a big screen cut sequence from a computer game. The temptation of Beowulf was rushed, and ultimately failed to really satisfy and explain why he gave in - Angelina Jolie is lovely, but I found it very difficult to believe that this was the first time he'd met a hot demon ... Anyway, there are some great fight sequences, some neat tricks, and occasionally even some good acting showing through the animation, but I wasn't blown away by it.

1) if you're driving to Old Street from Brixton and trying to avoid the congestion charge, you need to leave earlier than 7 o'clock - I spent an hour getting from tower bridge to aldgate this morning.

2) it's no good getting an envelope from the hotel you are staying at to keep hold of your receipts, if you don't then put the hotel receipt in there as well.

3) a wooly hat really is no substitute for an umbrella.

Last Saturday, Claire and I met up with Nick, Abbie, Dave, Oc and Iona to taste an unhealthy amount of wine at the annual london wine show in Islington. Alongside the opportunity to try lots of different wine, we also sat down to an entertaing 20 minutes with Oz Clarke who in turn encouraged us to enter a raffle for some wine. We duly followed his advice, and were stunned when Claire actually won a bottle of Penfolds Granges 1998, apparently worth a couple of hundred quid and the sort of wine for which you feel almost obliged to build a cellar. The cellar is yet to be built, but we will certainly be storing the wine for a long time to come. After our surprising win, we headed off to the Cork for more wine and a spirited discussion on the state of education etc (which I think is a conversation Claire and I will be having more and more of as her status as a teacher becomes established ;-)

Many thanks to dave for sending me the link to The Cat Came Back on youtube ... a very welcome gem from childhood, and reminding me a little bit of Ben and Sarah's new house guest Mannie, a cat that recently adopted them ;-)

Weekend was good, if a little disappointing from a sporting perspective. Rugby was very enjoyable, F1 still sends me to sleep, but I was disappointed for Lewis Hamilton. Asides from the obvious amounts of drinking that went alongside the sport, the weekend was actually pretty civilised, mainly involving a little bit of shopping (almost a new a laptop, and a carving set from John Lewis), spending time with Iona (almost walking, almost!!) and then Sunday playing quite a lot of Halo 3 (enjoyable, violent fun) Friends watching and roast chicken eating (with leeks in white sauce; my favourite!!).

Well, sadly the holiday is at an end. Last night we all went out for an incredible meal on a restored Chinese Junk in Bluewater Bay. A set menu of 5 course created by a 2 star michelin chef, a load of wine and a beautiful evening under the lights of Hong Kong. We went for a little sail around the coast as well before heading back and getting a sampan back to the shore.

Today we headed over the Llama Island and walked the length of the island to hit the Rainbow Restaurant, eating a tonne of gorgeous seafood and drinking copious amounts of beer. Headed back on Virgin tonight, hopefully Dave can blag an upgrade again, so that we can be nice and fresh for the rugby tomorrow night ;-)

As regular readers may have noticed, my holidays generally revolve around the winter, primarily up mountains. I've regularly been against the idea of summer holidays, not really relishing the prospect of getting all hot and sweaty, irritable and itchy. But Sunday we were out on a boat trip spending time in the sea and on the beach, and today we hit the beach again, splashing about in the waves. I also spent a productive couple of hours digging a big hole with Amelie, and building a fairly respectable sandcastle. I had fun, my skin wasn't too irritated, and being as I made sure to get suntan lotion everywhere (as opposed to missing my shoulders, which I managed quite successfully on Sunday) my sunburn has not get any worse!

so as I am over here in Hong Kong, it was inevitable that Dad, Dave and I would head into town for a bit of electronic gadgetry shopping. I got slightly over-excited by the prospect of picking up an iPod Touch - in spite of my earlier disgust about the lack of capacity, it had occurred to me that hooking it up with an airport express would mean that I could stream music from it into my stereo in the lounge effortlessly, and rather than having to remember to take my laptop home, and then fire it up, I would be able to surf in the lounge, and read my email in the lounge.

Alas, Apple have completely fucked it. There's nothing on the Touch that will allow either music streaming, or proper email support (I don't count webmail support). So that's a shame, and means that I shall be going home toyless. Unless I decide that I can be arsed to pickup a keyboard and mouse to save myself 20 quid instead of getting them more conveniently delivered to the office.

I really did not expect to be celebrating an English victory against Australia last night - fantastic bloody result. We watched it standing on the street with the rugby mad pubs of Hong Kong filled to overflowing. With enterprising bar staff wandering out onto the streets to deliver beer, and a tense, gruelling match up on the big screens, it was an excellent evening's entertainment, followed by a great curry, and an overnight (and sadly unwatched for me) surprise for France - an England France semi-final, who saw that com

Well it's certainly been a busy few weeks, with a trip to Oklahoma with work, followed by a weekend in Paris, and now I am in Hong Kong with Dave to visit Dad, Jane, and Amelie. Dave managed to get us upgraded all the way to Upper Class on the Virgin flight out, which was ace - proper flat bed, an amazing lounge (dumps on BA's lounge from a great height) and lovely staff (again, far nicer than BA's staff). Was woken by Amelie this morning several times, eventually I gave in and surfaced after she came in at 10 to tell me I still wasn't awake ...