REVIEW: The Dukes of Hazzard (3.5/5)

Sorry for the gap in posting. I'm back from the long weekend and I've been to the cinema, so I thought I'd get back into it with a review.

When I was a kid growing up, the Dukes of Hazzard was a regular part of my Sunday afternoon at my grandparents, slotted in right after Sunday dinner and right before CHiPS. I am watching the reruns of the original series at the moment, so I wasn't too sure what to expect out of a remake.

Now, if you know anything of the originals, you're not going to be expecting any deep and meaningful, Oscar wannabe epic thriller are you? Are you? Good.

This is the type of movie you should go to see when you want to watch something you don't have to think too much about. If you don't take it too seriously then I don't think you will be disappointed. It's fun, corny and a few cars get to look very second hand indeed. This is a good old 'stop the bad guy before the clock ticks twelve' type of movie.

How close to the original?

Depends on how you look at it. The story would fit in fine if you shortened it a bit and slotted it right in the middle of series one with the original cast (apart from the fact that at one point Bo and Luke end up a long way from Hazzard). The characters? I'm not so sure:

Roscoe wasn't much good to me. He seemed to be the tough arm of the law, as opposed to the thick sheriff. Then when in front of Boss Hogg, he seemed just to have no character at all.

Boss Hogg was about as good as he could be I suppose. I doubt anyone could replicate the original character.

Enos was his good old bumbling self, although the original character was that in a simple innocent way, rather than in a 'thick as two short planks' way like in the movie.

Jessie Nothing much to say. Spot on.

Daisy's character was also about right (I'm shocked to say).

Bo and Luke were good but they are probably the ones that differ most from the original. In the original even though funny things would happen to them, I thought they had a serious side to them. In the movie I found them a bit 'slapstick'.

The General LeeIt got bent, scratched, smashed up, rolled and jumped, but they did have 13 of the things to play with ;)

All in all a good movie. The characters may differ slightly, but the typical Hazzard storyline compensates for that. 3.5/5

FYI:

Hello all,

I won't be posting for the next day or so as I'm off up to Cumbria for my sister's wedding. I'll be back Saturday night, but I doubt I'll have the energy to open up my laptop yet alone post.

Later

Chris

The homosexual heterosexuals

This is something I came across while watching Shaun of the Dead and I'm trying to work it into my current screenplay. When I say came across, I mean it's the first time I noticed it as a writing tool.

Take two friends, say in their thirties, that have been together since school. Total opposites in character, one is a total asshole (we will call him Bob) and the other is the typical 'nice guy' (we will call him Fred). Whatever Bob does, be it pissing the whole world off, or causing trouble and leaving Fred to take the rap, Fred will always forgive him without a second thought. This instantly causes conflict in Fred's life as he is likable and a great friend to everyone, but Bob always stresses any friendships that exist. To get on with his other friends, Fred must harm his bond with Bob, but to get on with Bob he must harm his Friends when he defends him.

Fred will always defend Bob against people he has annoyed, in fact he will protect him if a situation arose. There is some sort of deeper love here than simple friendship, some special type of love. On the flip side these two are as heterosexual as you can get, Bob will go after anything with breasts, while Fred is always after 'the one'.

They love each other in some deep way, but are terrified (in fact sickened) by the thought of love with another man: The homosexual heterosexuals.

I know there are many other films where I have seen this work, but I can't think of any off the top of my head. Actually there's that sort of relationship in a film called Combat Academy. I'm not going to watch it again to examine this for further ideas as I'm sure it's an awful film. I'll just keep the childhood memory I have of it alongside 'Ferris Bueller's Day off' and 'Wired Science'. If you can think of other examples where this has worked particularly well, drop them in the comments.

If the above is old to you, just remember, I'm a newbie.

I'm a liar and I love it!

I lie, at least from the point of view of this blog's title. Over the last 2 weeks I've managed to:

-- Get a screenplay into act 2.
-- Realise that I need to start again from a different angle.
-- Write a whole new outline for it along with back-story for the main characters.
-- Start version 2 and almost have it as far as act 2.

I'm quite pleased considering I'm (allegedly) not supposed to have any time to write.

For my next trick I will try to keep the momentum going. Now where’s my magic wand?

I like being a cliché

I have to admit I like sitting in Starbucks writing. My local one is in a Waterstones book store. They have classical music playing softly in the background, and I've spent time in there writing when it's been quite quiet. I've actually found the whole experience therapeutic.

I other thing about it is I'm the only person who appears to think I'm a cliché. The 'slaving away writing in a coffee shop' thing hasn't taken off over here (well, not in Bradford). Actually when I say I'm the only person, that isn't true. There is an American woman who works there. When I went back for my second drink, I'm sure she gave me a smirk and mentally stamped 'Wannabe Writer' on my forehead. I could see it in her eyes :)

Anyway, I'm about to break into act two with the re-write of Untitled 4. So far so good.

A lesson in common sense:

I've just received a phone call from Lydia (my wife), who was totally freaking out because the postman had just delivered a postcard. It was handmade with a tropical scene cut out of a magazine and was allegedly from our soon to be 3 year old daughter Anna-Louise. It said something like (in adult pretending to be a kid style writing):

"To Mummy and Daddy, Having a lovely time playing in the water and climbing trees. Wish you were here, Anna-Louise"

Lydia was really freaking out asking if I really did drop her off at nursery this morning (wondering if she had been taken by someone and this was their sick way of letting us know). I told her to ring the nursery and I would check with a friend to see if it was him (I knew someone who was sending postcards out to friends). I got an email back saying he knew nothing about it, so naturally I freaked out and called Lydia back.

She said all was fine. She had called the nursery and the postcard was an activity all the kids had done. They had made them and walked to the post box to post them. The nursery manager said she doubts she will do that particular activity again as every parent had called in totally freaked out and checking that their children hadn't been kidnapped.

Personally, I would have preferred the manager had used common sense and threw that idea in the bin rather than learning the hard way. Probably great fun for the kids and no harm was intended. The disappointing point is that it really paints a depressing picture of today's society when every parent instantly thinks kidnap. Oh for the days when you could go out and leave your front door unlocked.

I suppose all's well that ends well.

I am still a child

It's true.

I've just ordered a Sony PSP and I'm actually quite excited about it.

I was thinking of buying an iPod or similar, but I saw the PSP and thought "that plays movies and games as well". Ok, there isn't a 40Gb hard drive in there so I won't be able to store 10 gazillion albums on it, but the memory stick is fine for the select few albums I do actually pay ear time to.

I'll get it sometime in the next 2 to 3 weeks.

Get the fuck out!

No seriously, do I really have to?

I was thinking about this with my re-write of Untitled 4. I wrote the outline and back-story for the characters, and started writing the opening scenes. One thing that has become clear is one of my characters seems to have a bit of a foul mouth. I didn't deliberately do this, he just seems to open his mouth and the bad language comes out.

Will this limit the opportunities for this screenplay? Should I make it as family friendly as possible, or will a reader see through the language knowing it can be toned down in a later draft it he is looking for a family film?

Please advise.

When is a Zebra a Horse?

When it has no stripes.

When is my script The Dukes of Hazzard 2?

When I look at the one I'm currently writing ;(

I can't avoid it. I have to come to terms with it. My script is a Dukes of Hazzard movie, but there aren't many similarities:

There are two extra main characters to go alongside the Bo and Luke type (actually there isn't really a Bo and Luke type).
There's no Uncle Jessie in sight.
No Daisy Duke type.
No Boss Hogg.
There is no car taking a starring role.
No bumbling deputy.
No yokel car mechanic.
No corrupt local government.
No Boars Nest.
(I can go on but I'll stop there)

What it does involve is four *good ol' boys*, driving suped up cars around 1970's backwater southern USA. Oh and a sheriff who is always one step behind them.

No matter how long I make the above list, those last few sentences simply say "Dukes of Hazzard", so I've called a halt to the project.

Now, I'm thinking I should be screaming at the person who thought it a good idea to do a Dukes of Hazzard movie and release it about now, but I'm glad they did. It has been a blessing in disguise for me and I finally think I've moved up a level as a writer (not the cash earned this year level I'm sad to say). In the past I may have just thrown what I had written in the bin and sulked for a week, but this time I have taken it as a sort of a challenge. Whilst in Starbuck's (see my last post), I re-wrote the idea. I've moved the story on a few decades to the present time, cut the number of main characters by two, changed the location to New York, removed the sheriff, installed the FBI and added the Mafia. However the core of the story remains.

You may think "big deal", but I am really pleased with myself. As recent as a year ago, I often wondered what I would do if I managed to sell "3500 Miles from New York", and the person paying the money said "Great story, but I want it to take place twenty years in the future and involve submarines and a massive man eating spider! A great big hairy thing!". I would freak and say, but that isn't the story! It takes place where it takes place, and it takes place when it takes place, and it involves what it involves!. Now I feel I've gained the ability to take the core story and place it in a whole new screenplay recipe.

Anyway, enough posting, I've got some more back-story to write :)

I am a Cliché!

Not that I ever swore I would never do this but I just had to get out of the house today. Can't say why, I just needed some time by myself.

I grabbed my bag (no idea why I did that), and headed off into town to do some window shopping and grab a bite to eat. Suddenly I found myself in town with a bag containing my writing notes, standing outside a Starbuck's. Oh no!

Sitting in Starbuck's with a hot chocolate (I hate tea and coffee), writing a screenplay! Isn't that the biggest cliché ever?

Oh well, I must now officially be a writer :)

Finding a writing group

Does anyone out there know of any sites I can use to look up any screenwriting groups that may exist in my area?

To keep things on the move with my writing I'm trying to immerse myself in writing circles as much as possible. When I search for Bradford and screenwriting/scriptwriting I seem to get a billion links to the Bradford Film Festival and nothing else relevant.

How Accurate?

This is something I've often wondered about so I thought I'd ask for opinions.

I was reading a post on Josh Friedman's blog, where he spoke of research. He spoke of getting approached about writing a script for an idea someone was pitching to him and talked about getting offered the chance to research the idea.

Now, no one from a studio has ever come to me and asked me to write for a project, yet alone offered the resources to research the idea. I have a day job that pays the bills and I hardly have the time to write.

As I can hardly spare time to write yet alone the time (and money) to do much detailed research about an idea, how factually accurate does a script have to be?

We all know the rules about format, but for example, if I am writing a script on an English warship in the year 1800 and the captain orders general quarters (really he would say beat to quarters), is that a problem?

It is perhaps a weak example but you get the point. As long as the format is correct, the story flows and works, can the newbie get away with something like that when he/she doesn't have the resources to perform detailed research?

New phrase coined

There are probably people who will say "Stop going on about that", but I think it's classic:

Shit happens!
C'est la ville!
Life's a bitch!
Snakes on a plane!


For those of you who have no clue what I am on about, read this.

Washing up for ideas

I've discovered my muse!

It's the washing up sponge (we don't have room for a dishwasher).

My last two screenplay ideas came to me while I was washing the dishes. The down side to that is the dishes didn't really get done as both times I left the kitchen and wrote the outlines down.

I always do that now. I'll write something out as soon as I think of it. I've done that ever since one night when I woke around 1am and couldn't sleep. I came up with a wonderful idea, it seemed perfect. I tossed it round in my head for about two hours and then felt tired enough to get back to sleep. I thought "Should I get some paper and write that down?" but that meant getting out of bed and I was tired, so I told myself I would do it in the morning.

Morning came and could I remember what I had spent two hours planning out during the night? Yeah right! I spent the whole day trying to remember and drew a blank. All I could remember was that it sounded fantastic :(

So now I write everything down.

Thank Crunchie it's Friday!

That title will probably confuse you if you live outside the UK, but it means the same as TFI Friday! or TGI Friday! etc…

This week I've been mostly writing documents. It's kind of a double edged sword for me. I hate starting work on a project that has already gone arse over tit about halfway through. I'll say "Right! Let's get it sorted. Where are the requirements?" (I've stopped asking for the technical design documentation, that never exists). Usually the answer is "Err… well we have these", or "I'll try to dig out the emails".

So I like documentation. The flip side is that I whilst I understand its value and am willing to write it, the actual process is dull, dull, dull! It seems to suck my will to live, hence the post title.

Please send sympathy.

If you don't work in IT then I apologise for the meaningless post :)

Writing Style Dangers

Arrggghhh!

It nearly happened to me again!

I've got part way through another screenplay and the point where the start and the end meet in the middle started to open up into a large gap :(

This time (for once) I've managed to pull them back together.

I suppose I'm at risk of that with my style of writing. Some writers will plan the screenplay out in great detail, writing out little cards for each scene detailing who is in each scene, what the point of the scene is and what will go on in it. I don't seem to be able to work like that (I have tried).

When I come up with an idea, I will get the outline down on paper. That will run somewhere between eight and twelve pages (handwritten). It is then up to me to see if I can flesh it out to a full length script. Just like I did this lunch time, I often find holes in the plot and no bridge building equipment to hand. Luckily today I found a spare bridge in my pocket :)

Doing it this way seems to be the best way I can keep the flow going. I want to get on with it, not spend weeks writing out each tiny detail. I know that way the potential for weak scripts is greater, but I have to go with what works best for me.

What is your writing style?

Review: The Last of the Mohicans (5/5)

I must have watched this film a dozen times, but last night was the first time in about five years.

What a fantastic film! I must get hold of the script for this and read it. It is one of those films where a good portion of it is told visually and not verbally. Trying not to give anything away to those who have not seen it (and if you have not you must!), there is a whole sequence from when the English army marches out of the fort, to where the lead characters paddle canoes across a lake and down a river. It must last up to ten minutes (maybe more) and during that time there can't have been more than two sentences spoken by the main characters. Great writing (or filmmaking or both). The only small point I have to pick is that the dialog is probably a bit modern for the period the film is based in. However, with all the plus points you don't really notice.

It is also one of those rare films where the soundtrack is equally as great as the film. Put the film and soundtrack together on the screen and the results are outstanding. The battle sequences are excellent, especially the final one at the end.

Fantastic story, fantastic acting, fantastic soundtrack and breathtaking locations.

I'll give it 5/5.

I'll have to start a review section. Not that I'm trying to copy off you Iain :)

Americanised?

This is related to my writing post about all my screenplays being based in the USA.

I stated this point on a screenwriting forum once and was told that I should only write what I know. How can I set a screenplay in small town USA if I have never actually been there? He said I should only write UK screenplays.

I don't know if his statement is valid or not, but it does bring up an interesting point:

Have we become completely Americanised here in the UK (or at least have I)?

I'm not implying anything negative there at all, just asking the question.

For me to write a screenplay based in small town America, then I must know something about it. I can't imagine ever coming up with a screenplay based in Russia, Finland, Brazil etc… as I know nothing about them. But it seems that I assume to know something about America.

I can probably safely say that it is true to some extent:

- A lot of popular TV shows are American (at least the ones I like are. I'll take Dead Like Me over Eastenders or Teachers any day).

- Films I have already talked about in older posts.

- Loads of adverts advertising products (many of them British or European) are set in America

- Films and products are released in America first, making us over here wanting to 'catch-up'.

- Our not so fast food has been replaced with American versions (McDonalds, Subway, KFC etc...). I can't remember the last time I saw a Wimpy Bar (if they still exist).

- Go to any cinema complex or any out of town shopping complex and the eateries are all Americanised with Route 66 signs and similar plastered all over the walls.

The list goes on. Perhaps we should get it over and done with and become the 51st state (a mediocre British film).

If it is true I suppose it doesn't matter to me that much. I'm the last person to be a "God save the queen" person. I don't think there is that much left in our society to be "British and proud of it" any more.

Any on that downer of a point, I'll stop ranting on :)

Where do your screenplays take place?

It has occurred to me as strange that my screenplays take place in the USA, with the exception of one which is 50% UK, 50% USA. As I live in the England, I find that a little strange.

I'm trying to get a handle on this and come up with a UK based screenplay, but every new idea I invent seems to be based in the USA. I don't know about the rest of you, but when I am inventing a screenplay in my head, I am imagining how it will appear on the big screen. For some reason I just don't see the UK on the big screen.

Has the British film industry suffered that much lately? I know that British films have done alright over the past few years, but every one of them seems to come sort of label like "The best British film since …....". As if that label alone will make me see it. They seem to attempt to make it trendy to want to go see the film. Anyone who knows me will tell you that if something is perceived as trendy, I will avoid it like the plague. I hate following sheep.

Perhaps the fact that with almost every film in the cinema is set outside the UK, I have been brainwashed into thinking of the big screen in that way.

I'm trying to come up with a British film I really liked. The only one I can think of is 'Shaun of the Dead'. 'Love Actually' was ok, but it just seemed like 101 short films rolled into one feature length film.

Anyway, maybe a UK based screenplay idea will pop into my head tomorrow :)

lasertastic!

I haven't really told this to many people I don't see on a day to day basis:

I've finally plucked up the courage and had my eyes zapped. I can now see!

So if you see me without glasses, well now you know :)

Later

C

Rotten Apple?

I forgot to post this when I wrote it, so it is a few days old now…..

Apple must be stupid. You think up a product, submit a patent and them manufacture it! No variation on that order.

It seems they launched the iPod without taking out a patent. Microsoft noticed that and said "Ohh, we'll have that then!". Now it turns out Apple may have to pay Microsoft up to $6 in royalties for each iPod sold.

Apple are fuming and crying foul, but to me it seems that it's their own fault as they should have known better.

I'm not sure how it will work out in the end, but doesn't Microsoft own 30% of Apple anyway?

Robert McKee???

I'm not quite sure why so many people rave about Robert McKee's book (Story: Substance, Structure, Style and the Principals of Screenwriting).

When I visit screenwriting forums or newsgroups, everyone says this book is a must have. I bought it and started to read. My first comments were "My God this is dull", but I stuck at it for a while. After that while I gave up and put it down.

To me it seemed more aimed at someone who wants a third party view of how this particular person views the writing process, rather than a book that will teach you how to write screenplays. Perhaps it got to the nitty gritty soon after the point where I stopped reading. If that is the case has he not broken the golden rule; get the readers attention and interest from the start? Maybe his seminars are different but the book just didn't do it for me.

I get the feeling that in the screenwriting world it is trendy to swear by that particular book.

Perhaps I'm the rebel writer, or maybe I just prefer books that get right to the point. I have read about three other books on the subject that I found really helpful. I'll post the titles soon if they aren’t at the bottom of some box (we are moving house at the moment).

Disclaimer: Please don't take offence if you do happen to think that book is great. What do I know, he's sold a shed load more books than I have screenplays :)

Write! With what?

I posted about this on a forum the other day and thought I'd include it here.

I saw another one of those "Which screenwriting program should I buy" posts the other day. I asked the same questions when I started out and various answers like Final Draft, MMS (Movie Magic Screenwriter), Microsoft Word and Notepad came back to me.

I have since purchased a copy of MMS which does the job fine, and that's ok as I know I would love to write for a living so it was worth spending the money. However these posts come from people who are thinking about dipping their toe in the screenwriting pool. They know they would like to write a screenplay, but they probably don't know if they will be able to see it through.

Here is my answer to that question and it's one I wasn't given:

Buy an A4 pad of paper and a pen. Why spend £180 or so on a screenwriting program when you can spend £1.99? Write it out on paper first. If you see that process through to the end and have a finished screenplay, then it may be worth spending more money on some software.

I'm writing my current screenplay on paper. When it is finished I will type it up, moulding it as I go. When I have finished, hey-presto, I'll have a second draft!

When writing a first draft on the computer I find it hard to keep the flow going. I suppose I feel that because it is on the screen in the correct format, everything has to be perfect story-wise before I move on to the next page. There is no flow in that. Write a mess on paper the first time round (at least one you can decipher) and let the story flow.

Explicit Lyrics

Does anyone know the rules regarding explicit lyrics on CDs here in the UK?

I bought the James Blunt album the other day whilst in town with my 2 year old daughter. I got in the car to drive home and thought I'd put it on. Anna-Louise is nodding her head to the music in her car seat when the word 'fucking' came out of the speakers. I turned the stereo off and waited for the inevitable "What does fucking mean daddy?" Luckily she never asked.

Now I didn't remember an explicit lyrics sticker on the case when I bought it and a check when I got home confirmed this. I examined the case closer and on the back, blended in with the other writing on there is a box warning of foul language.

I'm not complaining about it as I have been known to use the odd four letter word myself in the past, but some better sort of warning would have been nice. I thought that if there was any swearing in the lyrics, one of those black and white stickers had to be on the front of the case telling you so.

Can anyone comment?

Screenwriting Post

To help those of you who are not interested in screenwriting filter any writing related posts from the others, thier title will now appear in green.

I tried red but it seemed a bit harsh.

Hope that helps.

C

How do you see films???

I must say that nowadays when I watch films, I do so with a little bit of a writers perspective.

Has it ruined watching films for me? I don't know, but I think I can now really appreciate a well written film. I think Lost in Translation is a prime example of this. I have heard many people say that they were falling asleep watching it, but I was the total opposite. It was great to see a film that constantly moved on, but it was the actual story doing this as there wasn't much dialog in it.

On the flip side there is the film 'Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow'. I rented this last night and I have to say it was rubbish (in fact I rated it 1/5 after returning it to screenselect). It was either badly written or badly made/edited. If it was well written then most of the film must have ended up on the cutting room floor.

First of all it took me a while to get used to the human actors running around in a comic book look and feel world. Then there seemed to be so many things missing. No character back-story, big holes in act two and the twist at the end wasn't mind blowing at all (if you can call it a twist). It didn't even rate a raised eyebrow.

If it was the writing I am seeing here, then I hope I can make a living writing like that, however I think if I ever want to have a career in screenwriting I think the bar I will have to jump over will be set a million miles higher in comparison.

Screenwriting Update

Hi all,

As the title of this blog suggests screenwriting, I thought I'd give you an update on my progress so far. I'll try to make some sort of flag easily viewable for those who don't really care about my writing and are just here to read my rants and raves.

I have around seven screenplays buzzing around in my head or as a rough outline on paper. As far as actually writing them goes….. Well, the number of finished screenplays still registers a big ZERO. However that doesn't mean I haven't started on any scripts.

3,500 miles from New York was my first attempt at writing a screenplay. I have a start, and the ending is fine. Unfortunately I am having trouble with the back end of act 2 and making everything meet in the middle seems to be a problem. Unfortunately creativity on this screenplay seems to have stalled. I will probably come back to this in 12 months or so and see if I can kick it back into action.

Untitled 4 (as in I have no name for it yet) is my current work in progress. I'm writing it out on paper rather than at the keyboard (quicker to add notes and edit). I have a full outline (this time the start and end do meet in the middle), and I am currently around page 20 with the actual script. This one may be the first to the finishing line :)

The Woman on the Bus will be the next one I start. I have an almost complete outline that just needs a few ragged edges tidying up. When Untitled 4 is finished I will crack on with this one in an attempt to keep some momentum going.

As progress continues I hope to give regular updates.

Windows Vista???

This may be old to some of you, but I've just found out what Vista stands for:

Viruses.Infections.Spyware.Trojans.Adware

Well it made me chuckle.

The queen for hire: best offer accepted.

Read an article on Google News to day about plans by the M.O.D to get the queen in to appear at a banquet in celebration of the battle of Trafalgar.

It seems the M.O.D can't afford the cost of the knees up and have roped in the queen so that they can charge £1,750 to see her. One source was quoted as saying that if you pay the money you will be able to chat to the queen.

Now it seems that politicians and "constitutional experts" are up in arms about this. They say it is wrong to use her presence to make up an M.O.D cash shortfall in staging the celebration.

I think they should shut up. My only problem would be having to pay money to see Betty in the first place. If she wants to exist in her elevated position paid for by the tax payer, then I think the tax payer should own her along with the rest of the Germans they have hiding behind the name Windsor. I found out last month that Prince Phillip doesn't even have a British passport (he may not even be a British citizen!).

Just imagine it. You go down to your local village fate, and join the queue for the "Throw a rotten piece of fruit at a royal in the stocks' stall (I would prefer prince harry).

Other ideas are welcome.

To gazump or not to gazump.

Is that how you spell gazump??? Anyway:

Had a bit of a dilemma the other night.

We have sold our house and found one to buy and things are proceeding pretty much ok. However one of the people who had been to view our house in the past turned up on our doorstep. He said he had now sold his house and wanted to buy ours and that he had no chain. He said he has seen every other house in his price band in Thornton and wanted ours and was willing to beet our current buyers offer.

Now, he is dangling a big fish hook in front of our mouths with a pile of money on the end. We said no. I think it was the right thing morally and logically.

Morally:
If the people we were buying off suddenly turned round and said. We don't want to sell to you any more as someone has offered more money, we would be pretty pissed off.

Logically:
(1) There is a chain. If he had to sell his to buy ours then there is a chain. If we took him up on his offer and the people buying his pulled out on him, we would be shafted.

(2) The people who are buying ours a first time buyers and that is the definition of no chain, they have nothing to sell so the chain starts with us.

(3) Our first time buyers seem happy so far. If we go with the other guy, he could be fickle and pull out shafting everyone.

I think we did the right thing (I hope)

The most satisfying flash application in the world

Got this off Iain by email and just had to post it.

Kill it!

Things to note:

There is a counter displayed to show many times 'it' has been killed. Keep note of the number and after you have killed it reset the app and see how fast the number has gone up. People must really hate this thing ;)

The harder you hit it, the sooner it it killed. I managed to kill it with 2 swings of the bat. That is a good record to beat, but I admit that it wasn't as satisfying as drawing it out a bit and hitting it in the nuts a few times :)

Is it hot outside?

Wasn't it supposed to be the hottest day ever on record today?

Don't know about where you are but it is pissing it down here!

I really don't know why the news media always seem to jump on the weather. It's the top story if it rains heavily, it's the top story if it snows at all, and it's the top story if it's hot.

I can understand the tornados making the news last month, but the rest? We get sunshine, wind, rain and snow in this country. It's a fact, not big news.

Anyway, if you wan't an accurate weather forcast then download the Konfabulator toolbar (www.konfabulator.com I think). It's the most accurate I've seen so far, plus you can get lost of other widgets for it (thanks to Iain for pointing me at that).

Cinema start times

Ok I doubt anyone will read this as this is my first post in ages and anyone who was reading will have gone by now, but.........

After work last night I decided I wanted to go to the cinema. Looked at my watch: 5:30pm. Great I'll catch the films that start around 6:30, so got into the car and off I went to the Odeon. Got there around 6 and was miffed to find out that the films I wanted to see started at 8:15, in fact everything apart from Herby (or however you spell it), started after 8pm.

So back into the car and down to Cineworld (Bradford's other cinema). The result: THE SAME!!!!!!

Come on. The start times for all their films seemed to be 5:30 and then sometime after 8pm! Has it never clicked with them that the majority of people won't finish work until 5:30. Therefore by the time you get to the Cinema it will be after 6. So why, why, why do they start films at 5:30.

I'm sure there is logic to it but it is lost on me.

Rant over :)

On a lighter note, things seem to be going smoothly with our house move :)

Later

C