Thumbs Up for Hitchhiker

I vividly remember the evening, around 28 years ago, when I tuned in one evening to a little radio show on the BBC. Within 30 seconds of hearing it I know I wanted to get a copy of this, so I recorded them all. Then I bought the album. Then I bought the book. Then I bought the other album. Then I watched the TV show. And so on. You could say I liked it.

It was very sad when I heard that Douglas Adams had passed away. A genius of high order.

So I was somewhat nervous about going to see the film. But I needn't have worried. It is super terrific. Not just a good realisation of the Hitch Hikers but a good film in its own right. People have complained that it is not like the book. As if the book was the thing anyway. I remember people moaning that the book was not like the radio show. It was ever thus. There is no thing to be like anything else. There is just a great radio show, a thought provoking read, a nice little TV show and now a thumping good film.

They are all different things. But all the essentials were there, and given the constraints of a big budget, high risk, Hollywood funded venture I reckon they did Douglas proud.

Just go and see it.

Ho for Milton Keynes

So it was up with the lark (I'd hate to be a lark, all that getting up early) and off down to MK for another Collectormania thing. They have stalls and stars and stuff. And I like going. They had all kinds of things there, it is amazing what people collect, from trading cards to great big axes which they have signed by the actors who swung them.

Made a few investments (OK, I bought some bits and bobs) and met up with the stars (no chitchat and just one photograph please).

They were plugging the new War of the Worlds movie. I seem to remember one of these some time back, nothing like the book and therefore rubbish. At the end they found that seawater dissolved the martians and that was that. I think this reflects a rather poor standard of forward planning on the part of the invaders:

Martian Leader: "Summon forth the Chief Scientist"
Chief Scientist: "Here, your excellency"
Martian Leader: "So, what of this planet earth?"
Chief Scientist: "Seems safe enough to me"
Martian Leader: "What of these 'oceans' that cover most of the surface"
Chief Scientist: "I dunno really, but I don't suppose they could be much of a problem"
Martian Leader:"Good enough for me. Ready the battlefleet for launching....."

..but the Jeff Wayne musical version is superb.

The Force is Strong in these Bricks

Bought another video game today (am I sad or what? - don't answer). I'd heard good things about "Lego Star Wars" and so when I saw a copy cheap I thought I might as well invest.

It is very good. Star Wars, in Lego, in real time. Nobody dies as such, they just fall to pieces. And you can use your forceful powers to rerrange bricks to make them into bridges and stuff. I know full well it is a kids game but I like this because it makes it less likely I'll get stuck or killed. The game is full of nice touches which seem to have been put there for the fun of it (how else do you explain the dancing chairs?). Not played it for long (I have mucho work to do) but I've enjoyed it so far.

Thought for the Day

Do catholic priests get incense phone calls?

Shake Rattle and Roll

The car is making a rattling noise. This is worrying. It is not rattling as much as it was (which is probably more worrying since I've not done anything to fix it). However, it still rattles. At the moment I've found a workable, if probably temporary solution.

I've turned the music up.