Ooops

Excellent – I hadn’t seen this before, but it appears that there is a major problem (well, other than armed people on planes) with the concept of Sky Marshals.

The problem? They stick out like a sore thumb in a crowd of passengers. What a complete stroke of genius.

Geeky : 1

I know that other people have mentioned it already, but Mozilla has now released Firefox 0.9 for download. A bit more stable, a bit quicker, a slightly different appearance. Oh, and it keeps the settings from 0.8, although you do have to get the extensions again, which is a bit of a pain.

I’ve got it, and I like it.

Extension

Work-related post, for once. Don’t fall over, you at the back.

Yes, my contract has been extended again. I’m now here ’til at least the start of October. *Sob*

This contract was initially a six-monther, purely a project to install and develop a content management system for the council’s internet and intranet sites. That was thirteen months ago, and they’re only just getting ready to sign the contract with the supplier they’ve chosen. The wheels of this bureaucracy move so slowly that if you didn’t pay attention you’d think it was actually standing still.

As it is, things may still change. I saw a *gasp* permanent position I quite liked the look of, and sent off for an application package yesterday. We’ll see what comes of it.

For now though, the outlook is that I’m in Oldham ’til close to my birthday. Lucky me.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

Yes, it took me some time to get to see this. There were a variety of reasons, but mainly it came down to first “can’t be arsed” combined with “not during half-term”, and then became “Ah well, I’ll see it on the weekend”.

So – what did I think of it? In general, I liked it – I’m glad that the new director managed to go with the darker feel of the book, following on from the more child-friendly and glossy first two. Managing to move Chris Columbus on to producer duties was probably a Very Good Thing for the HP franchise.

There are still faults within the production though – certain shots and cuts are over-used, and begin to feel tired by the end of the film. Also, there are some minor, but bloody annoying – bugs, such as Harry Potter’s scar moving during scenes (and even disappearing at one point), beds reassembling themselves, and the “Hulk Hypothesis” where a character can revert to human fully clothed, but when they transform again, the clothing stays behind.

Obviously it’s not possible to translate the film word-for-word from book to big screen, but there do seem to be a couple of huge sections missing. Particularly the explanation about who Prongs, Padfoot, Moony and Wormtail are – which is fairly relevant in the long run – as well as any explanation of the form Harry’s Patronus takes. Various other sections have been dropped too, but that seems to be the real biggie. It’s enough to make me wonder if those parts might not be explained in a “Special Edition” DVD release with extended footage.

But they’re the negative aspects. In general, the film is still pretty superb, and I thoroughly enjoyed it, even with the stroppy little cunt darling child kicking the back of my seat for the first half hour. The main characters are still excellent, and Michael Gambon replaces Richard Harris as Dumbledore very nicely. It’s also interesting to see how Emma Watson (Hermione) is growing into the role, but certain scenes also make me wonder if she’s not going to be the next Keira Knightley, which could make for some entertaining films over the next few years.

Overall, an enjoyable two and a half hours of entertainment. I do wonder though how Goblet of Fire will fare – and how long it’ll be. There’s an awful lot of book to fit in there, and a lot less that’s skippable…

Boots

Yes, Pix, I’ve sent it over to the Shoe Project too, but in the name of completeness, a side-by-side of the new boots and old.

It doesn’t really take a rocket-scientist to work out which pair is which, does it? I think that the photo should perhaps have really been captioned “Well fucked”.

A Rare World-Cup Post

England Lost. What a shocker. At some point I’ll remember to care.

However, watching the news last night I was struck by one thing. The Home Secretary was over in Portugal. To watch the match. (bottom paragraph)

David Blunkett. Watching the match? Some mistake, surely.

Homecoming

Well, I’m back, after a weekend of idiocy and weddings. Oh, and Harry Potter 3. (Of which more in a bit) Well, someone had to.

In the meantime, I’m also guesting over at Uborka this week (again), and today contains a small post about How to Swear. There’ll be more, but right now I’m at work and I’ve forgotten my log-on and password. It’s one of those days.