Update
Sprocket
I’ve just seen The Simpsons Movie, and it is ball-bouncingly funny.
With movies based on TV shows this good, who can’t be excited about 2009?!
I’m a Mac.
Are you a mac or a pc? What a wonderfully clever campaign. I mean, who would wantto be a PC? Mac’s are cool, and they wear jeans with trackie-tops. I’m a mac. Which is ironic, because I don’t own one. Would buying a mac make me any more mac? I’m guessing not, but I can’t deny secretly harbouring a desire to one day own one. It doesn’t help that a good friend of mine who’s got a mac - a nice one - has nearly had a nervous breakdown because his beautiful Powerbook has died. RIP.
Still, just because I don’t own a mac doesn’t mean to say that I can’t live the mac dream. In fact, with Huey Lewis ably assisted by The News anything is possible. ‘The Power of Love’ really doesn’t age, much like Michael J Fox.
We’re just hours away from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows hitting stores. Excited? I wonder if it was written on a mac? I’m guessing so. The New York Times has ruined things by printing an early review. It made the rather good point that it reviews books when they are on sale (which it has been in certain scrupulous places) and that it is not in the business of supporting book publishers marketing campaigns. But that’s a load of Hogwarts. Scholastic really doesn’t have to do anything to market the book other than publicise the date. Children and adults will buy it in droves. I applaud the efforts to keep the plot a secret, so that everyone can have their own magic moment as they read the opening lines of chapter one. Why ruin that? It’s like printing a front page article about Santa Claus’s true identity. There is very little real magic left in the world, so why ruin it? Let those that love the Harry Potter books discover it on their own terms. I can hardly believe a review of this final Potter book will affect its sales in any way whatsoever.
So, whether you read Potter or not, reclaim that magic. The magic of the first chapter of a new book. The magic of opening your favourite chocolate bar at the movies. The magic of wearing a new item of clothing for the first time. The simple pleasures in life. Here’s to yours!
Cellphone’s Dead
Enjoying Beck’s “The Information”. Nice.
I watched an interesting back issue of ZeFrank’s The Show this morning. He was talking about creativity, and likened it to playing a Sudoku puzzle. Just staring at a puzzle, at the little blank squares, doesn’t help fill them in. They don’t magically come into being, completing themselves while you watch. You have to fill in the first. And then the second reveals itself. Fill in the second, and along comes the third.
Writing is like that. Nothing is more terrifying than staring at a blank sheet of paper. Nothing flows. There are no ideas. But start to write, and it flows. I think that applies to most things in life. If you just start, that’s half the battle. Once you’re on the road, you are constantly surprised by the nothing of things that help you along and point you in the right direction. So if I can write a list of things I want to do over the coming months, and then write down the first step, we’ll all be well on the way.
So, what are those things.
This website, the ‘playground’. There should be things to play with in a playground. So, I’ll be adding a game, more stuff to watch, and some widgets. My first will be ‘the Nick Dare widget’. More on that soon.
Next is a new project, called ‘Dave Angel, Life Coach’. That’s enough on that for now.
‘The Yowie’ is halfway funded. We are setting a shoot date for early 2008, so it’s (finally!) becoming a reality.
The youCan2 competition goes live in September, and I’m about to shoot some virals for that. They’ll be going live within the next few weeks.
That sounds like heaps, doesn’t it. Not sure where the feature film fits into that schedule, which is a worry. Nor all that guitar playing I’m meant to be doing.
Oh, and did I mention number one is on the way. So. There’s that. There’s always that.
Still, it’s not all work work work. I’ve rediscovered weekends and the joy of hot chocolate before bed. And with so much to look forward to (new Harry Potter book, Die Hard 4.0, The Bourne Ultimatum, The Simpsons Movie, Spring - the season, not the coiled metal - and building a Boori Classic), it promises to be a busy few months.
Expect lots more updates over the coming days and weeks. Starting with myStuff - the complete filmography of Dick Shepherd. Oh, and check out dickTV as I’ve found some absolute screamers of late. As Posh might say, “major”!
What the bloody hell is going on?
In an effort to bring everything smack bang up to date, I am merging the old website and blog into one, courtesy of the good people at Word Press. Please excuse any broken links over the next few days. Once we’re up and running smoothly the blog posts will resume.
Fanks.
rich
Face Space
I want to be your friend. If you already have a Facebook profile then come along and say hello. Otherwise, you should register. Trust me. It’s great.
Knocked Up
How good does this film look…
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/v/154KVUTpe7A]
Food For Thought
From Current TV…
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Description
In 2005 Time magazine named Peter Singer one of the world’s 100 most influential people. The New Yorker claims: “Peter Singer may be the most controversial philosopher alive, he is certianly among the most influential.” I had the chance to sit down with Mr. Singer after reading his book “The Way We Eat: Why Our Food Choices Matter.” Little did I know the way it would influence me and change the way I thought about food.
Not a Tough Question
Today’s Australian Financial Review has a great feature on the business case for environmental action.
I find this quote particularly interesting because of who is saying it…
“If I look at what two-and-a-half thousand scientists are saying, I do find it incredible there are still naysayers. But even so, who am I going to believe? Two-and-a-half thousand scientists or a few naysayers? I am in the business of monetising risk and that’s not a tough question.”
Michael Hawker
CEO Insurance Australia Group
Just the facts, mam.
I’ve never wondered why Greenland is called Greenland. I had a gut feeling it was nothing to do with Greenland being, at some point in history, entirely green - but I didn’t know it for sure.
A little research online reveals two possible explanations. Firstly, that Erik the Red (!) named it Grønland (”Greenland”) after the lush green areas in the south of the island. Second is the idea that it was a poor translation of Gruntland (”Ground-land”), which also appeared on many early maps.
However, as far as we can tell Greenland has always sat, for the most part, under a glacier. A glacier which, according to NASA, is shrinking at an alarming rate. Where that meltwater goes, and what effect that has, is of grave concern for us all.
Greenland melt ’speeding up’ from the BBC.
‘Greenland ice sweels oceans rise’ from the BBC.
‘It’s all a conspiracy’ from The New Scientist.
‘Greenlands Glacier’s losing ice at faster rate’ from MSNBC
From the other side of the arguement, consider
‘Astray in Greenland’ from The Washington Times
Or check out just the facts and tourist info at
‘Greenland‘ the Official Tourism Site
‘Greenland’ from Wikipedia