Wednesday, November 30, 2005

Merry Christmas, you're sacked

 City Life is to close, the last issue will come out on December 7th. I never really utilised the magazine much, but I did get mentioned in it three times- the blogging article earlier this year, a nasty review of my self published novel and a mention for a mini comic I put out years ago. I do think it's a loss, if only for those four times a year I picked it up to find something new to do.

via Public Relations Consultant

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posted by Ian at 9:43 PM
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Gone in 60 Seconds
Forget the Cage/ Jolie/ Jones remake, this is the real deal.

H B "Toby" Halicki wrote, directed, starred in and did many of the stunts for this classic car heist/ chase movie. For $400,000 his character and a team of insurance investigators with a sideline in Grand Theft Auto have to steal 48 cars to order. Most of the thefts go smoothly, bar the occasional wild animal or trunkfull of heroin, but it's the final car, Eleanor- a Mach 1 Mustang, that causes all the trouble and sets up a forty minute car chase across California.

The acting's a little ropey, but in a charming way, and the film doesn't slow down long enough for anyone to embarrass themselves with excessive emoting. The chase is the heart of the film, some of it shot on open roads and with genuine accidents incorporated into it. There's none of the more-is-less feeling you get with car chases in so many recent movies. You know that half the stuff in Matrix Reloaded is done on a computer, so you're not really excited by it (impressed, yes, but not excited). Plus it serves as a time capsule, holding the same sort of fascination as an episode of the Sweeney or similar, with all the 70's hardware, cars and fashions.

Halicki died whilst making Gone in 60 Seconds 2, but also made Junkman, the trailer for which is one of the special features on this disc.

This is one of those cases where Amazon's rental service has done its job.  I definitely want a copy of this film. As you can see from the list in the left hand column, we've got a varied selection of movies lined up for the coming months, all of which interest me, but none of which I'd just go ahead and buy without seeing them first. It's a great system and I highly recommend it.

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posted by Ian at 9:14 PM
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ZineFest
ZineFest is a festival of zines, anti-corporate artwork, and diy publications which will take place on Feb 8-12 in Manchester at the Basement Bookshop, 24 Lever St. The purpose is to showcase some amazing zines,music and artwork, to promote DIY publishing,


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posted by Ian at 7:04 PM
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Face/Off
Doctors have performed the world's first partial face transplant, grafting a nose, lips and chin onto a 38-year-old woman disfigured by a dog bite, hospital officials said Wednesday.

The surgery was performed Sunday, said a statement from medics at hospitals in Lyon and Amiens. The surgery was performed in Amiens in northern France, but doctors from both hospitals participated.

via Sploid

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posted by Ian at 7:01 PM
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Art or Porn?

 Is it vintage smut, or vintage cinema?

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posted by Ian at 6:50 PM
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incompetence watch- banks

I wrote a cheque on the eighteenth. The money left my bank last thursday. Jessops still haven't received the money and won't give me my shiny new camera until they do. They also expect it to take a fortnight for them to get money from a cheque payment.
What exactly is their bank doing with my/their money for the week and a bit between taking it out of my account and putting it into jessops'?


posted by Ian at 1:20 PM
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All I want for Christmas is a Kalashnikov

 So that it can be turned into useful tools by a blacksmith in Sierra Leone.

Peace is paying dividends in Sierra Leone. The same civil war that depleted the country of tools and work is now providing ample raw material for recovery: weapons. Enterprising blacksmiths and metal workers convert them into farm implements so that a Kalashnikov becomes hoes and axe heads and a rocket launcher transforms into pickaxes, sickles and even school bells.
The indisputable heavyweight champ is a tank (or a heavy duty 16 wheeler) that can provide a year's work for 5 blacksmiths, turning it into 3,000 items vital to equip a farming village of 100 families. Jobs, tools, agriculture. It isn't everyday that what you long for comes true.

via BoingBoing

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posted by Ian at 7:20 AM
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Get a better browser, make Ian some money

 I've talked up Firefox before. It's a far better browser than Internet Explorer, more secure, better organised thanks to tabbing and with loads of third party plug ins. Version 1.5 has just been released.

Yet 78% of you (well, of the last 100 visitors, anyway) still use Explorer to visit Spinneyhead. So I'm going to ask you to trade up to something better and help me earn some money at the same time. Click on the link at the top of the page, download- for free- a superior browser and install it, and I'll get a dollar. I'd recommend Firefox for free, but this way is even better.

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posted by Ian at 7:03 AM
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