Bit quiet around here

I've not been making much use of Multiply lately. My friends seem more active on Facebook and Picasa. I still like some of the Multiply features. I find it the easiest for setting who should see each item and you can make things totally public if you want to, unlike Facebook.

I tried sharing pictures on Picasa, but there are aspects of that I don't really like and only a couple of friends use it, so I may go back to putting my pictures here. There's even a plug-in for the Picasa desktop app to automate that, although it doesn't upload things like descriptions and other metadata you can set on your pictures.

Anyone else got an opinion?

Rhythms of the World 2009

Had a great day at the festival yesterday. Details of bands we saw on the blog.

Night at the Museum 2

Rating:	★★★★
Category:	Movies
Genre:	Kids & Family

Although we have the first film on DVD I have yet to watch it all, but I've seen enough to say that this is more of the same, but with a slightly larger canvas as the action moves from New York to the Smithsonian museum complex in Washington DC. It's fun stuff with action most of the way. Not much in the way of slushy relationship stuff.

Good performances from most of the cast, especially Frank Azaria as the nasty Egyptian. Ben Stiller doesn't do much for me. Lots of neat lines with a few aimed at the parents.

Next thing we're likely to see could be Harry Potter VI

News

Assorted pics

YouTube - Total Eclipse of the Heart: Literal Video Version

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lj-x9ygQEGA&fmt=18
'Mullet with headlights'. Excellent!

Albert Hall

Rating:	★★★
Category:	Music
Genre:	Blues
Artist:	Eric Clapton

Interesting to see one of the greats live. Review on my blog.

Star Trek

Rating:	★★★★
Category:	Movies
Genre:	Science Fiction & Fantasy

After all the previous Trek films where an aging cast we were all familiar with doddered through yet another adventure (joking), here's a fresh set of faces in a sort of prequel. They've got a bit of freedom due to some parallel universe aspects. The cast are generally spot-on as younger versions of the original team, although Simon Pegg is a little OTT as Scotty.

Even if you've never seen Star Trek (unlikely) this is a pretty good action film in itself. It kicks off at full speed and hardly lets up. The baddies and really nasty, although a little shallow.

There's lots of references to the original series to spot and Leonard Nimoy gets a neat role.

I hear there's going to be a sequel, so that's something to look forward to.

Music stuff

Vantage Strat copy, V Amp VR60 Lead (anyone heard of it?) and Korg (?) tuner. All long gone. Dig the funky wallpaper

Using this album for assorted music-related pictures I want to put on-line

Monsters vs Aliens

Rating:	★★★
Category:	Movies
Genre:	Animation

Not the greatest work I've seen from Dreamworks, but still a lot of fun. It's packed with references to old sci-fi films and even a vintage synth. Nothing too demanding and the kids enjoyed it.

Cramond Island

This photogenic island near Edinburgh is reached via a causeway at low tide. The pillars are part of the wartime defences for the Firth of Forth.

Loads of frogs

In years past we got excited when we saw a couple of frogs in our pond. This year they have returned in greater numbers with up to 20 visible at any time. They have been busy producing lots of spawn and so we should have a good crop of tadpoles.


We've also been starting our seed planting with some beans and sweetcorn in pots in the new 'green house' (plastic covered frame, tied to the wall to protect from the wind). Then we planted a couple of berry canes in a bit I dug over.

BlueForest Exclusive Tree Houses, Tree Homes & Eco-Lodges

http://www.blueforest.com/
Amazing tree houses. We lack a large enough tree and the funds

Need a wine cellar?

These are nice, but probably a little pricey

New music by a great singer

Here's the latest from Lobelia, who I've been following for a while now. I've seen her live twice. She's making her new songs available for free download. I expect she will be playing some gigs soon, probably along with her amazing bass-playing husband Steve Lawson.

The audio player 'widget' doesn't seem to be working here, so you may be better off going to her page on ReverbNation. Lots of her music there.

Big Garden Birdwatch

Just did our regular survey for the RSPB of birds in our garden. I think this is our third year. It always seem that we see less birds than on other days at this time of year, but here are our totals from an hour of watching:

• 1 blue tit
• 1 collared dove
• 1 dunnock
• 4 house sparrows
• 1 magpie (don't see many land in the garden)
• 2 robins, both male
• 2 starlings

We saw plenty fly over that we are not allowed to count, including a heron, seagulls and crows.

We have been feeding the birds with seed and fat balls. A while back we had lots of blackbirds feasting on our fallen apples. We may try to set up some bird boxes this year.

Lego Star Wars

Rating:	★★★★
Category:	Video Games
Genre:	Adventure
Console:	Nintendo Wii

We got this for Xmas. I've had a couple of plays, but the kids have done much more. It's an amazing game with a massive universe to explore. It features the stories from all six films.

Some of the puzzles are not obvious and we have resorted to looking at some of the walk-throughs on-line for hints. I prefer to work it out myself, but sometimes you just get stuck.

The graphics a pretty good, but some items can be hard to see. You have to judge your jumps carefully to take account of the 3D.

I like that you have to co-operate when two are playing rather than competing. That may result in less conflict between the kids.

This game looks like it will occupy us for some time. I just have to find opportunities to play it.