Month: December 2013
The last of the Cornetto Trilogy
I’ve enjoyed the previous films in the trilogy. I thought that Shaun of the Dead was excellent and Hot Fuzz was inspired if a little dark, so I was looking forward to The World’s End quite a bit. However, having now seen it I’m not sure it was the climax of the trilogy I was looking for.
In many ways it had all of the elements that should make it brilliant, but it seemed slow to start and a little artificial where the previous films had flowed. I think it got there in the end, and overall I did enjoy it, but it didn’t make me laugh out load as the previous two had done.
Still, it was fun, and I’m sure that’s what they wanted it to be.
So, Heaven 17 are writing again
This is great news of course, and I’m really happy to hear that they’re making something new for 2014. My personal preference would be for something that’s halfway between Penthouse and Pavement and the Luxury Gap.
Let’s wait and see what they come up.
A nice message from Blancmange
I’m looking forward to some new material from them in 2014 and remixes too.
Nice one Blancmange. If you’re playing in 2014 I’ll do my best to be there too.
Editorial for iPad, powerful automation, workflow and scripting for iOS
I bought this app a while ago and have only just really started getting to grips with it, but I’ve started to see just how powerful it is. The real power in this app is in the workflow features. Think Automator for mac, but inside an iPad app that’s built for writing and with added power besides.
Editorial is a nice writing app and has a lot of features for writing and publishing, but its real power comes with a series of built in workflows that are pre-configured to do some straightforward things you might need for writing. These built in workflows are great as a place to start from with automation in Editorial, but making simple workflows is also a very easy process. Workflows are assembled by connecting simple building blocks, almost the same as automator for mac. Building blocks like ‘if … then’ statements, copy, select, etc. Combining these together is easy, and you can make some very powerful automated processes.
But it doesn’t stop there either. The workflow editor can also include python code which vastly expands the options available to any workflow. Obviously writing python code isn’t for everyone, it isn’t easy, but the option is there. There is also another option. There’s now an Editorial workflow directory in beta. If you access the directory from your iPad with the Editorial app installed on the device you can directly install workflows to the app without any difficulty at all. What this means in that you can add complex workflows into the app that have been designed and built by other people and use them for yourself.
Apparently in the next version of Editorial the workflow directory will be even more beefed up so you can upload and download within the app itself. That’ll be popular I’ll bet, and it’ll give everyone access to some great workflow and automation.
I’ve got a long way to go with this app and getting used to creating workflows, but I think that it’ll be worth the time investing in this app. In the end it’ll send a lot of time.
Doctor Who: The Time of the Doctor, what a wasted opportunity in a sea of wasted opportunities
I finally watched the Doctor Who Christmas Special. I’d put it off for a bit, but finally I decided to watch it. What an enormous disappointment it was.
Now it’s only fair to say that the last season or so of Matt Smith’s doctor hasn’t been something I’ve enjoyed. On the whole I think it’s been way too sentimental, without clear individual stories, or indeed any real story arc. The main focus of Doctor Who has changed since the ‘reboot’. Over time it has moved. In the ‘original’ or ‘pre-reboot’ stories, each episode or story was about how the Doctor solved a particular problem or crisis, usually involving one or more alien races or enemies. The relationship with his companion(s) was there to serve the story and help to move it along in a variety of different ways, and different companions had different methods to assist the Doctor.
This has all now changed. In the post re-boot Doctor Who world the situation is completely reversed. The story now only exists to serve the relationship between the Doctor and his companion. Notice that there is almost never more than one companion now. This is best shown by the latest Christmas ‘special’, although I can find precious little that is special about it. In this episode, you had the daleks, the cybermen, and the sontarans, together with many others mentioned although not shown. The daleks had the most to do, although that’s not saying much at all. The cybermen had almost nothing to do at all and the sontarans were merely there for comedy value. What a waste of good aliens.
But the actually story (what exceptionally little of it there was), was only about The Doctor and his companion. Everything else was entirely superfluous. Even the Christmas dinner seemed to serve no purpose at all. So what’s the whole thing about now? It’s not the aliens, it’s not the planet, it’s not even about the regeneration, which was dealt with in just a couple of minutes. In effect Doctor Who has just become about the relationship between the Doctor and his current companion, that’s it, that’s all, and nothing more. The science fiction element is almost entirely incidental now, and that’s why I almost can’t watch it anymore.
I have high hopes for the new Doctor, but it’ll only work if the writing is spot on, and so far it’s just got worse and worse, and shows no signs of getting better. The really sad thing is that there’s no need for Doctor Who to be this bad. When you compare the current state of the television show against the stories that Big Finish put together there’s no contest at all. So why don’t the BBC just get Big Finish to take over the whole thing and make it awesome? That’s the question I’d like them to answer, although I’ve no expectation that it will happen.
So it’s an enormous shame, a great missed opportunity, and a terrible way to end Matt Smith’s Doctor. Please, someone at the BBC, sort this out. It really isn’t that hard.
Doctor Who: Hornets’ Nest – the Dead Shoes
The second story in this first series from Paul introduces the third of the trio who are to be so significant throughout these stories. I won’t say who, as it might spoil it if you ever do listen to these stories, and they’re well worth it too in my book.
The second story is a nice time traveling jaunt with some lovely typically english characters and the Doctor being his usual self. It moves on the story arc just the right amount without giving away too much and delivers on its own story just as well. It also sets up a few things very nicely for later on, much later on in fact.
So of course I’d recommend it without a second thought. It’s a great story (as part of the arc) and it’s available on iTunes. Click below.
An interesting message from David Sylvian
I wonder what it means?
Now here’s the real sound of Christmas … Tijuana Christmas (Sound of Brass)
Something from my childhood that I remember from every Christmas. Decorating the tree to the sound of Tijuana Christmas. My Grandfather used to love it too, and in many ways that sound reminds me of him, which is no bad thing at all.
It was awesome, and now I’ve found out that it’s on iTunes I can go grab it for myself and relive all of those memories!
Doctor Who: Hornet’s Nest – the Stuff of Nightmares
I can remember finding out about this story and buying it on iTunes and then listening to it on a train home one winters evening and being struck by just how much fun it was to listen to. Whilst on the one hand it was a very traditional fourth Doctor story, it was also different in the way it was told and how it was constructed. A nicely congruent departure for number 4. Added to that was the excellent script, which I’m sure was added to by Mr Baker, it was, and still is a joy to listen to.
My favourite line from that particular story is “Glumly I had a terrible pot of tea and a damp Garibaldi“, which speaks volumes about the story and the writing.
Even though I know the story very well I can still safely say that it’s one of my favourites out of all of the stories in the whole series. Perhaps because it’s the beginning, perhaps because it’s lovely to hear old and new characters come back into a story. I don’t know, and perhaps it’s better like that.
I am Ashley Elsdon 