The Eternal Struggles of Al

Films that make me feel good - part 1 of probably many..

2011-08-04T06:18:00.001-07:00

Anyone who knows me well also knows I'm a film buff.. I have a cultish taste in films and I thought I'd simply share some of the films that I love to watch to cheer myself up...

1) Doomwatch: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0068498/combined

When I was in my twenties with alot of spare time on my hands and few cares I used to stay up all hours watching films and TV. Channel 4 had a brief run on UK B movies that were on at some crazy hour of a Saturday Morning. This was one of those and they were like small treasures to me being a Sci-fi fan. Love alot of Tony Tenser's stuff as you'll see.
This film is a followup to a now little know UK TV series..kinda like a precursor to the X Files but with a more Environmental bias.

2) A Matter of Life and Death: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0038733/combined

In many peoples estimation the Greatest film ever made. Mine included. I 1st saw this with my Father in the house I now own. I must have been about 7 and it's gentle fantastical view of heaven plus the fact that David Niven looked like a thinner version of my father really grabbed my attention. Though Niven is the star and gives a great performance the film is stolen by the Duo of Roger Livesey (A criminally forgotten character actor of the 40's & 50's and Marius Goring as the delightfully pompous french Conductor trying to get Niven to allow him to take him to heaven after losing him in fog at his allocated time of death.... watch it, it will make more sense lol

3) The Body Stealers: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0065089/combined

From the same stable as Doomwatch, this is a lovely flawed gem of a film. Again part of the Channel 4 late night B movie season I loved so much. Patrick Allen (he of the iconic Barrett Adverts in the 70's) is the lead here with interestingly Sean Connerey's Brother Neil, and yes its as you imagine.. a somewhat less handsome version of Sean.. Also the Spaceship for Dr Who - Daleks invasion earth make a cameo appearance.. It's silly and very flawed, but I love it..

4) Atlantis Interceptors: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086135/combined

The 80's was a great decade for film... Maybe not as classic quality wise, but classic in it's own trashy glossy way... In B movies apart from horror one film spawned more clones and admirers than any other.. Mad Max..Yes made in 79 I know... But just like Alien..or even more so a whole industry of Imitators appeared like poppies on a battlefield. Alot of the better ones from Italy. I saw most of them from a mobile video rental service called flix. Alot of them are ok for a couple of views such as Exterminators of the year 3000 and Bronx Warriors, but this somewhat more ambitious entry always stuck with me. Synopsis thus: A team aboard a drilling rig are trying to raise an old sub, however in doing so they awake an ancient race of warriors from an unnamed island (Atlantis??) who just happen to dress in torn denim and leather and drive hacked up chevrolet's and dodge trucks covered with horns etc, who then begin attacking the mainland. The heroes are a couple of Mercenaries who appear to be hired killers at the start of the movie.. It's just great!!!

More to come..yep..sorry...

Apple Pros

2010-11-06T02:59:00.001-07:00

Something happened yesterday (05/11/2010) 5th Nov to our transatlantic cousins.. And I don't mean Guy Fawkes!!! Anyone who knows me will know I'm virtually obsessed with using Apple's OSX operating system in high end environments. To facilitate this we mostly use the Xserve rack-mount server (www.apple.com/xserve) Yesterday Apple announced it's retirement.. Once we found out that there wasn't going to be a replacement this gave me a twofold worry. 1)The suggested replacement is the Mac Pro Tower. For a number of reasons this isn't ideal, the most obvious ones being form factor and lack of dual psu's. However the implications may range far wider than this. Are Apple considering removing themselves from the Pro/High end markets? This was especially important to me as I have just invested in the Xsan fibre san system and the Final Cut Server asset management system with the main aim of training myself. A pretty useless past time if the products are end of life'd yes?
To this end I have started a petition to ask Apple for a statement on their Pro products.
This affects alot of folks. Techies like me who install and maintain these solutions. Our Clients who invest in the solutions.. It's just not the way to work with the Pro sector. Keeping far reaching plans 'behind the curtain'. It works great in the consumer arena, but in the high end Apple are costing (or could be costing) people their careers...

If this affects you at all please consider signing my petition. Anon if you prefer.

You'll find it here: http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/applepros/

Thanks.

Tech off the beaten path

2010-07-30T00:45:00.001-07:00

As I write this I'm currently on holiday in Voronizh Region of Russia. It's a Rural location and I knew beforehand that there would be no Internet access available, or at least in place.
I'm here in support of my wife and Daughter. My wife is Russian and is here seeing her family and Introducing our (nearly) 3 year old Daughter to friends and family over here. So I was wondering how I would keep myself entertained for the duration of the visit as I have only basic Russian language skills and am far from the focus of the holiday.

The kitlist for the trip was initially going to be the following:

Apple Macbook Air

Apple iPad 64 Gig

Apple iPhone 3GS (used as camera for the trip mainly)

A few things then cropped up... My daughter is Cartoon crazy and if I filled the ipad with those there A) wouldn't be much room for some films for me and b) I wouldn't get to use it much!!!

So I unexpectedly got an offer on a cheap 13" Macbook Pro with a 320 Gig Drive, so the MacBook Air was replaced with this. I could fit alot more films on this rather than the 120 Gig SSD of the Air.
I then bought a 2nd iPad (A 64Gig 3g model) which I could dedicate to myself.

I thought I would transfer as much of my itunes library as possible to the MBP. Unfortunately this didn't happen as time got the better of me with a heavy workload. In a bit of a panic I had a brainwave... My media server is a macmini. Small,quiet and pretty portable. Maybe I could take this with me? Surely it would mean taking a screen/keyboard and mouse? Getting out of hand!! Another brainwave.. I could remote into the mini and run it headless. BUT todo this I'd need a certain amount of network infrastructure. I was going to use the Airport "create a wifi network" feature todo this for the ipads/iphone but what if I took a small router? Luckily I have a few such items already. I decided on the Solwise 3g router ( http://www.solwise.co.uk/3g-routers-3g11nmrw.htm ) I have both the older 54g wireless and the newer 802.11n model which has the benefit of being powered by usb too. I try not to be without one of these little boxes in my kit bag.
I could power this from the usb of the mini and it will provide ethernet and/or wifi for the mini and wifi for the IOS devices
I tested it quickly in the office before I left and it worked perfectly.

So the kitlist is now:

Apple Macbook Pro 13"

Apple Macmini 2 Ghz (mediaserver with 640 Gig HD)

Apple ipad 64gig wifi

Apple ipad 64gig wifi & 3g

Apple iphone 3GS

Solwise 3g11nmrw Router

Apart from me forgetting the mini psu and having to turn back on the drive to Heathrow Airport and only having 1 travel adapter for power, its all run very smoothly... I have all my media library here in the middle of rural Russia, and have even managed to sort 64k 2G (no 3g in alot of Russia yet) mobile internet.

With Temperatures over 40 degrees here right now this is really helping to keep me sane..

New Aquisition

2010-01-16T00:39:00.001-08:00

I've just bought a nearly new Apple Macbook Air.. Great price and it looks just like a new one. 1st Job is to buy and Applecare on Monday lol.

I'll be blogging about my experiences with it shortly..

UPDATE: I've now sold this and replaced it with a 13" MacBook Pro as I needed a bit more power and Firewire. I still like the Macbook Air even though I think its future is in doubt..

My Essential Mac Apps (updated)

2010-01-03T16:23:00.001-08:00

Just a list of the Apps that I insist on having on all my Macs, which are currently:

Macbook Pro 15" 2.66Ghz, 8Gig Ram, 750 Gig HD

Macbook Pro 13" 2.25Ghz, 4 Gig Ram, 320 Gig HD (which has replaced the Macbook Air as my home/mobile web device)

Mac Mini 2.0Ghz, 4 Gig Ram, 500 Gig HD

Mac Mini 2.0Ghz (Media Server), 4 Gig Ram, 640 Gig HD

Mac Mini 2.16Ghz 2 Gig Ram, 500 Gig HD (x 2)

Mac Pro 8 Core 2.26Ghz, 16 Gig Ram, 4 x 1TB HD's

Xserve Twin Dual Core 2 Ghz, 8 Gig Ram, 2 x 80 Gig HD + 1 x 500 Gig + Apple Xserve RAID via Fibre Channel

My Image for these machines (Apart from the server) contains the following essential apps:

Yazsoft Speed Download (http://yazsoft.com/products/speed-download/information/): Amazing app that integrates with Safari and is also a nice FTP/iDisk client.

Cocoasoft Pathfinder (http://www.cocoatech.com/): This is what the Finder should become...

Acrylic Wallet (http://www.acrylicapps.com/wallet/): I keep ALL my secure info in this App, and it syncronises between all the Macs and my iPhone.... Love it!!

Blacktree Quicksilver Nahh scrub that. Replaced with Launchbar as it's still supported and can be made to act just like Quicksilver.

Conceited Software Linkinus (http://conceitedsoftware.com/products/linkinus): Lovely/Polished IRC Client.

JollyfastVNC (http://www.jinx.de/JollysFastVNC.html): Just as it says..super speedy, lightweight VNC Client.

Evernote (http://www.evernote.com/): This holds all the other info I can't keep in wallet easily. And just like it syncs great between Computers and iphone etc...

Adium (http://adium.im/): THE Messenger client on the mac. Integrates with skype via 3rd party addon.

TimeMachineEditor (http://timesoftware.free.fr/timemachineeditor/): Make Time Machine work when YOU want it too!!

Micromates Textmate (http://macromates.com/): Quality Super Text Editor at a great price...

Put these on your Mac and watch it fly!!!

Thoughts on Afganistan....

2009-07-09T14:29:00.001-07:00

I like most uk folks am watching the footage our our troops battling away in Afghanistan, and I'm beginning to feel a sense of dread.
Here's a fact about war in Afghanistan: No foreign army has won in hundreds of years. I see our troops there and it's beginning to look like the 70's footage of the last stages of Vietnam to me. It's just not viable to beat a guerilla army that can hide amongst the native population... think Northern Ireland. Peace won there, not the uk armed forces, and unfortunately I have the feeling that peace will not win the day in Afghanistan for many a year.
Those that know me, will know I have Russian family. Russia was at the height of its military power when it went into the country and after (what was it) 10 years and hundreds of casualties they got out.
Another fact.. It's very hard to beat an enemy that doesn't care about casualties.. that just keeps on coming... Think (again) vietnam, think The Chinese in Korea....
This isn't gonna end well folks and I hate to see our guys (UK, USA etc etc) being killed. as the casualties mount the public will begin to lose appetite for the war, which destroys moral for the troops.
It maybe a naive plan, but I think we should get out, and spend the money on making sure that anyone who's come from there, or anywhere training grounds for perceived training camps are, doesn't get into the country. It hurts me to speak these words as I have always hated racism and still do, and I dont want to make this a race issue..more a common sense/security issue.
The view that we can impose our way of life on other cultures is amazingly naive and will be paid for in blood. Afghanistan will develop on it's own path just as England did through the years.

Just my rough thoughts....

Gran Torino

2009-07-04T15:24:00.001-07:00

Just got off watching this impressive film. Turns out Clint says it's his final acting job, so it has to be compared to 'The Shootist' which was fellow American icon John Wayne's final film.
I actually quite like the shootist. I watched it soon after my Mum died from Cancer and Wayne filmed it knowing he had advanced Cancer. It brought me to tears (as did a few things around then).
In the Shootist wayne tries to make amends for his tough guy image by trying to turn Ron Howard's (yes the director) character away from being a gun fighter, and not staining his soul by killing a man. He however does this by doing the deed himself....
In Gran Torino Eastwoods character ends up in the same position. Trying to stop a Korean kid from being involved in carrying out a revenge attack on the gang that nearly killed his sister.. which he does. However Eastwoods character doesn't have to further validate his hard man image by marching into the Gangs house and shooting them up, which wayne would have insisted upon, as would I'm sure Stallone and Arnie. No Eastwood sacrifices himself knowing that the law would handle it from there, and even though his character in the film is a classic (aged) tough guy. Eastwood doesnt feel the need to reinforce this....
The film is a little smalzy and overly sentimental, but I believe this was planned.

Very impressive. 9/10

hmmm

2009-06-05T16:25:00.001-07:00

Well leaving it this long wasn't intended. I had every intention of keeping upto date on this. Problem is time and brain capacity. I (and I'm sure many of you) are pulled in so many different directions. I don't really do myspace anymore, however I'm quite active on facebook and now twitter, so this place comes a distant 3rd right now. If I actually did this properly I'd never get any work done lol!!!

Must do better mr Al....

The Return....

2009-03-01T15:50:00.001-08:00

Wow it's been a while.. Things have been hectic and pretty out of control @ times... BUT due to peer pressure (James Keir take a bow) I've just finally done something with my twitter account and it links to here so I thought I should get my act together!!

I'll try and keep this more upto date from now on.

ill :-(

2008-03-09T08:15:00.001-07:00

I've been ill for over a week now. Cant shake it somehow. Funny how not quite being in this world can make you see things differently....
Not sure what it is. Started out as a flu like virus after a rare night out and has turned into a severe bad throat though still with high temperature.
Will be so bloody glad when its gone.

Change of Direction....?

2008-03-03T09:01:00.001-08:00

I've been working in Technical Sales professionally since 1999. Mainly in the Pro Audio and Video arena. I've done this job in three different companies. Two weren't/aren't my own, one is.
To cut this short I haven't been very happy in one of my current positions (I may explain more in a future post) I've been offered a different sort of job by two organisations just recently. These don't involve sales at all, which is good and bad. The good: I'll be glad to leave the stress behind of sales, or keeping an endless stream of clients happy. The bad: I've built up a nice roster of clients over the past few years and am loath to let this go.

Decisions.. decisions.... Very flattering though. A nice turn-around in fortunes. Hope it stays awhile.

Why is there never enough?

2008-02-07T16:00:00.001-08:00

No matter how busy I am, or how well things seem to be going (usually in the minority) there is never enough 'stuff' to go round. Alot of the time it's money. Some of the time it's friends and sometimes it's love.
I really work hard on all areas of my life. I don't know if it's more than most other people. I don't actually care. It's as hard as I can work most of the time, and I try as hard as I can ..again most of the time. But still whatever the 'thing' is. It's like stretching a rubber square over a shape thats just too big. Sometimes way too big, sometimes just a corner wont fit.

Sometimes i feel it's just my lot in life to live like this. A deeper part of me knows that assuming I live long enough someday things will be different..and simpler. I long for this day!!!!

The state of the nation

2008-02-01T02:06:00.001-08:00

Just a couple of earlier entries from my myspace blog. Just to keep everything together you understand...

18/12/07: My uncle died this morning at 7am-ish. He was 83 and thats not a bad age. The thing thats bothered me is that he was such an unassuming guy. I never heard anyone say anything bad about him, and he hardly ever had a bad word to say about anyone else either. When he did comment it was usually a very shrewd, well thought out observation, and always made great sense to me. he doesn't leave a huge mark upon the world. No stones or buildings bear his name, but he does leave one very distressed wife and a family inshock.

Here's to you Harold Nixon. You looked after me as a child and provided a sounding post in the last few years. Your greatly missed. (Told you I'd get you on the internet somehow!!! Just sad it's like this)

Your nephew Al.

25/12/07: Well I had a real task to deal with today. Essentially I have a father who has severe Althzeimers and sits alone most of the time, and I have an Aunty who was recently bereaved and is in a deep depression. I couldn't bear either of these being alone on christmas day, so my plan was to be with both. Thanks to having a wife and child whom my aunty loves I managed it just. Dropped the wife and child off with Aunty together with xmas dinner (pre-made by me) and took myself and other half of xmas dinner to my dads. I'm feeling a real urge to go back to my roots and be back where my family is. Today has solidified this. The time to simplify my life is drawing near I feel.

I've just bought the wonderful Marsedit app btw, so I'm hoping to get better at all this.

Al.

For wholly selfish reason....

2007-12-25T07:53:00.000-08:00

I'm doing this solely for myself. If i wasn't I would be a pretentious tosser. I hope I'm not and as again this is just for me I'm not going to censor myself in anyway.