I am Ashley Elsdon

someone who's doing some things

Month: April 2013

Experimenting with TWINE

Posted by on in The Internet of Things

I backed TWINE on kickstarter. I thought it was a great idea. I still do. What I struggle with a bit though is what to use it for. So, after a long period of not using it, I’ve upgraded it to the latest firmware. Now it can tweet and respond to vibration etc.

However, this doesn’t really help, I still don’t know quite what I’m going to use it for. It’s very interesting to get it to tweet the temperature, but so what? I’m sure that eventually I’ll work out a way of making this do something worthwhile. When I do, I’ll let you know.

OMD, Metroland, and playing things to death

Posted by on in Listening, Music, Thinking

I listened to this on Spotify and was really impressed by how good it was. Very well produced synth pop music. In many ways what you’d expect from OMD. So I played it for a few days and now I’m starting to move on again. I’ve probably over listened to the Metroland remixes and had enough, for now anyway.

So i makes me wonder what is it that gets us to obsessively listen to something for a while, a few days usually in my case, and then move on. Of course, it could just be me, but I don’t think so. I do know that a few of my friends are like this too. It comes in cycles usually. I’ll listen to something intently for a while then put it down, then in a few months or years I’ll come back to it and rediscover just how good it is. I suppose that’s the thing with ‘pop’ music isn’t it.

Metroland (Remixes) - Orchestral Manoeuvres In the Dark

Cloud Atlas

Posted by on in Films

I didn’t know what to expect with this film at all. I think I’d seen a trailer or something, but that was about it, and I knew it was a long film. So I came to it with no expectations really and nothing that I wanted to get out of it. That was a good thing I think.

With that in mind I have to say that I was really impressed with the film although I’m still not entirely sure what it was about. That’s not to say that the story isn’t a gripping one, it is. But to a degree I couldn’t tell you exactly what the film was trying to say. I have a couple of thoughts about it, but I’ll keep them to myself in case you go to see it.

Overall I thought it was a great movie though. Superb performances by all, and some really interesting ideas and concepts, several of which could have been explored as films in their own right.

So it’s left me with lots of questions too, and I’m finding myself drawn to read the book now. I might just give it a go. If I do I’ll let you know if I get more of a sense of what the story is about.

Cloud Atlas (Enhanced Edition) (Enhanced Edition) - David Mitchell

Shackleton

Posted by on in History, TV

I remember watching this when it first came out. It was a superb production and Kenneth Branagh has excellent in the lead role. Watching it again makes me realise what a truly inspiring story it is. So much so that I can imagine myself watching this a third or even a fourth time.

Anyway, if you haven’t seen this I can strongly recommend it.

Sick sick sick

Posted by on in Stuff

I hate being ill. I’ve been in bed all day and I feel terrible. It’s no fun being ill, not that I am ill very often. Even so, it’s horrible feeling sick and I end up just feeling sorry for myself.

My soundtracking stuff

Posted by on in Admin, Listening

I’ve added a little button thing in the sidebar, at the bottom, for SoundTracking. If you want to follow me on SoundTracking, click it. Couldn’t be simpler really.