A browser from Google
5 In 1995, Marc Andreessen of Mozilla accurately summarised the threat netscape (and the web) posed to Microsoft by saying it would one day reduce Windows to a set of poorly debugged device drivers.
It looks like Google Chrome will be a browser to watch, as Google plan to do exactly what Netscape threatened to do in 19955 – render desktop operating systems irrelevant for the majority of users. Gears, and faster javascript libraries, will help drive people to use more and more web applications instead of desktop applications; as the difference between the two becomes less and less discernible. Shame their beta is to be windows only.
Also a very interesting way to market an exclusively online product, from a company which is traditionally all about the web – they’ve sent out hard copies of a comic rather than posting it online. It’s a beautifully executed comic in any case and worth a read if you’re interested in browsers.
Playing with the London Tube Map
3 The 1933 tube map, designed by Harry Beck, has become a reference for tube maps the world over.
4 The Moscow underground map is another iconic design.
The London tube map, the original of which is over 75 years old3, has become a reference for tube maps worldwide, in spite of the over-zealous attempts of London Underground™ to stop anyone from producing similar maps. Another map which has an interesting presentation is the Moscow tube map4 – which again ignores the physical location of the stations and presents them schematically.
Although Transport for London are careful to prosecute anyone who produces a tube map, I don’t believe they have copyright on anything other than the styling of the older map and their logo. I’ve been playing recently with a different map of the London Underground, which shows the circle line as… a circle, and the other lines as geometric curves around that, inspired by the Moscow map.
Man on wire
2 Philippe Petit will always be known for his walk between the two world trade centers in 1974, but has walked between a few other buildings as well, like the Eiffel Tower and Trocadero, and the two towers of Notre Dame.
A beautiful tribute to a strangely obsessed man, Philippe Petit2, who crossed the chasm between the two World Trade Center buildings in New York. The insane plan involved shooting a wire across the void attached to an arrow, then dragging over a thicker cable between the two buildings, and attaching it at several points for stability. Just looking at the photographs makes it hard to believe that he spent 1 hour out on the wire, walking, gesturing, and even lying down.
When people asked insistently ‘Why? Why?’ after making his walk, he replied, somewhat bemused by the question,
There is no why
Philippe Petit
The film mixes interviews, images from the time, and grainy black and white footage (shot as a reconstruction of events), and uses the melodramatic pronunciations of Petit to great effect to space out the action. While it does leave you wishing there were more footage from the day itself, it’s an enthralling film.
Our Wedding
Chatsuda and I were married on the 21st June 2008, at Pollok House in Glasgow. Thanks to everyone who came, and for all the help and gifts we received. We have a little site up with some photos of the wedding.
No Country for Old Men
No Country for Old Men, the latest Coen brothers film set in Texas, is ostensibly about stolen money and the trail of murders in its wake. The film follows the trajectory of a sociopath quietly disposing of bodies as he searches for the thief, but along the way we’re caught up in the mundane concerns of life, on the run, and in the process become attached to all the players, even the strangely logical assassin Chigurh.
While violent, it’s a fascinating look at the gun culture which pervades Hollywood and american cinema – here the violent dispatch of lots of characters doesn’t seem to provide any kind of resolution, and you begin to question why any of this is happening, and what it all means. The lack of backing music to cheer-lead your emotions adds to the impression that the Coen brothers would like you to think about rather than just accept the film.
Solaris
1 Solyaris was the original film by Tarkovsky
I saw the Steven Soderbergh remake of Solaris1 recently (with George Clooney in the lead role), and really liked the contemplative mood, and haunting cinematography. The story doesn’t break any new ground, but it is beautifully centred on the forlorn figure of George Clooney, who drifts through the film without engaging with anything after the death of his wife. Worth watching, though I’d now like to read the original book.
Sunshine
Sunshine can’t decide what sort of film it would like to be, and veers from a straight sci-fi film to horror and then back to a Hollywood ending without warning. The acting is passable, but the script and plot really don’t stand up to much scrutiny. The central idea – that the sun has somehow turned off, and can be restarted with small bomb, seems incredible on many levels, and is undermined by the graphics of final sequences, where the immensity of the sun becomes apparent.
The power of the sun is beautifully represented as noise and destructive light, but the other players in the story and their concerns are given far more weight than they deserve, leaving the film without a centre of gravity. Of course the usual unexplained artificial gravity is also in play inside the ship, and no mention is made of the sun’s pull.
I found it difficult to engage with the characters or the plot, and the choppy film feels like the creators gave up half way through. There are plenty of explosions and special effects to keep you busy, but the plot descends into incoherence near the end, as action and effects take over. A film to avoid.
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