Some recent mobile phone pics

I haven't been out shooting much recently due to my health but I have taken a few on my phone so here goes.

American Hustle (film review)

Set mostly in the 1980s the film is about a group of con artists who get involved with an FBI plot to trap corrupt officials.
I found the film very slow and frankly boring, as a fan of the British tv series the Hustle I suppose I expectedsomething similar, sadly it's nothing like the tv series.  The British series was polished with lots of clever plot and twists and turns everywhere, the film is none of those things.
Save the money and buy a box set of the tv series instead.

Waynes rating 3/10

Global warming the joke

A research vessel sent to investigate the ice loss in Antarctica has become trapped in the very ice they claim is vanishing, to add insult to injury the rescue vessel (a specialist icebreaker) has also become trapped in the "thickest ice that's been seen for years" Indeed far from vanishing the ice theres been getting thicker and covering a bigger area for several years (look it up like I did) records show theres been NO global warming for 15 years, but still the joke goes on....
But now it's finally come full circle... after all it's a bit tricky to claim the ice is all melting when your own bloody ships been stuck in it for a week.  The final irony would be if they all froze to death, I can see the headlines now.... GLOBAL WARMING SCIENTIST FROM FROZEN TO DEATH.......  Oh dear that wouldn't look good on someone obituary would it.

Alan Partridge Alpha Papa (film review)

Now I have to say I'm not a big fan of Steve Coogan, or his character Alan Partridge.
The plot of the film,  a hostage situation at Alans radio station leads to him being sent in to negotiate (unlightly if I'm honest) the story flows along and gets into pace fairly quickly, theres lot of the Alan we are used to from the tv series, and the film hangs together well.

Waynes rating  5/10  worth a watch if your a Steve Coogan fan

Kirstie Allsopp

Kirsties just whinged about people getting compensation for having their electricity off due to the storms, she says people all over the world manage without it all the time.  Well shes got a point, but then those people also don't live in a mansion like she does, they don't watch her crap tv shows either.
 But more importantly we have to pay a service charge, so why the hell should we pay a service charge when theres no service?  Not to mention the vastly over inflated price we pay for it in the first place, it's ok for her to manage she can afford a generator.
Time to get back to making shows about houses and stop making a fool of yourself Kirstie

Dr Who Christmas special

It was interesting to see Matt Smiths last day as the Doctor, even more interesting was how much he reminded me of William Hartnell (the first doctor) in the some of the scenes.

Christmas travel chaos

The weathers causing chaos with peoples Christmas travel, planes are grounded and trains stopped, and they all seem to have one thing in common... nobody seems to be able to tell the stranded passengers anything.
Why for heavens sake?  Take an airport for example, someone must have a rough idea when it's going to re-open, (or at least a minimum of how long before it's lightly to re-open)  why not tell the stranded passengers it's going to be at least 4 hours or whatever instead of saying bugger all and letting them just sit there wondering.

Nigella Lawson court case

Like many people I've sort of followed the court case of Nigella Lawson and Charles Saatchi, it's been a bitter case with lots of allegations thrown about. 
 I suppose the saddest part is that staff could spend £650k without them seeming to notice, you or I would check our credit card bills and most would notice a few quid missing, that staff were just given cards and told to spend money with no real check is more shocking than the drug allegations.  After all it's not uncommon for "celebs" to have drink or drug habits so most people probably wouldn't have been surprised.
I must admit I like watching Nigelllas cookery programs, she makes nice real food your or I could make (unlike some ! Heston please note)  and lets face it she's not bad looking either..

Christmas party time

Here's a few pics from a Christmas party I went to yesterday..... Santa didn't behave like that when I was a child, I guess times have changes even for him.

Christmas is nearly here, Happy holiday

Well it's the time of year to hang up your tinsel, buy the wrong presents and eat tangerines (where the bloody hell are they the rest of the year) and spend more than you can afford, well I have anyway.
I'll take the opputunity to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year!
May all your problems be small and your health good, have a good holiday and enjoy yourself.

For me it's been an interesting year, my health if anything has got worse (hence no recent photos) but I've met some wonderful new people over the year, and lost a few more old friends. My children are growing up into two big fine lads, I'm really proud of them, and it seems I did a half decent job of bringing them up (I could have been a better dad I'm sure)  So good luch all and ass dear old Dave Allen used to say may your God go with you

George Clarkss amazing spaces (ttv series)

I haven't seen the full series but I have watched quite a few of the programs.  George Explores some wonderful small houses... well I use the houses loosely, some are sheds, others are old ambulances, my favorite was a cob house that looked for all the world like the sort of thing a hobbit would live in.
What people have done is take a small space and with ingenuity make fantastic use of the small space they have.
One of the things I like about the series is the way George Clarke is just so enthusiastic about what people have done, he really seems to be enjoying being there, that makes you the viewer enthuse about it too.
Waynes rating  8/10 well worth a watch, but be warned you'll want your very own small space after watching it  (I do)

The Hobbit the desolation of Smaug (film review)

I saw this last night.
The story continues from where the last film left off and is part two in the trilogy.  The film has the excellent special effects we're used too, with wonderful sets and graphics, the fight scenes are also well done, with scary big spiders and the great ballol chase sequences.
I enjoyed the film and it's failry fast paced from the start, but I did feel it was lacking something compared to the first film, although I couldn't put my finger on what was missing.

Waynes rating.  8/10  well worth a watch on the big screen

Tesco blast shoppers for food waste

The retail giat Tesco today blasted shoppers for causing Tesco to waste food, it seems that us shoppers "pick the cream of the crop and leave the rest" when it comes to shopping.  Tesco claims it threw away 30.000 tons of food in the first 6 months on this year.
A few points Tesco. First off if I'm spending my money I will pick the best stuff I can see, only a fool buys rubbish when theres better stuff for the same price, secondly Tescos used to be cheap, but your prices have gone up a lot over the last year, far more than inflation, so if your going to charge top prices I want top goods for the money. 
Some other points to consider, not everybody want to buy bulk packs of everything, many people live alone, they don't need 48 toilet rolls or whatever, your getting more like a whole seller than a retail outlet every day.  The buy one get one free is wasting stuff if it's perishable goods, many people take the offer and throw away the second part, after all it cost bugger all (so they think).
But maybe the biggest lesson Tesco need to tae in is not to buy misshapen damaged fruit in the first place, and maybe a lot wouldn't end up damaged if it was stored and looked after properly in shop.
Remember Tesco, your not the only place we can buy food, theres cheaper better shops around just waiting for you to screw up.

Christmas tv adverts

This time of year we're bombarded with terrible Christmas adverts.  It's crazy!  They must cost a fortune to make (look at John Lewis or Cokes adverts)  Yet it still hasn't occurred to these people that  A most people will shop were they always shop, and B a lot of people in our multi cultural society don't actually do Christmas so the adverts are offensive to many non Christians.  
Yet every year we get these really terrible Christmas ad's, I do enjoy Christmas, but the adverts are driving me crazy to be honest.  I know it's Christmas in 2 weeks, I don't need it rammed down my throat by some grubby marketing company or a shop I'll never use.

Gravity (film review)

Gravity is a si-fi film, two astronauts are stranded during a space walk and have to make their way to a near bye space station to survive.
The special effects are excellent, sadly I can't say the same about the soundtrack, the droning, whining, music? (sounds a bit like a knackered jet engine)  really got on my nerves after about five minutes, after an hour you'll be suicidal, even sadder is the fact that it wasn't needed, the film itself is quite good on it's own merit.
The story is a bit over the top with the actors having to fight countless obstacles to survive (just one would have done, honest!) but it's a good romp.

If you see it in the cinema take your ipod and wear the earphones, you won't miss much and it cuts out the really horrid music/noise thingy, if you watch the dvd just turn the sound off the telly.

Waynes rating   6/10 probably worth watching on the big screan for the views of earth.

Amazon drones

It seems Amazon are planning to use drones (unnamed aircraft) to deliver your parcels, while sounding like a good idea to the finance department, it really needs thinking through properly.
First off there's the slight risk these drones would hit real aircraft, and although unlikely it's still a factor.  Then theres the much bigger risk of them crashing on cars or busses causing a serious accident, with todays congested roads a very real danger. 
By far the biggest problem though is the problem of delivering the goods.  My street has big trees and lots of overhead wires, all a risk to a low flying drone, then what happens if it manages to find the right garden, theres washing lines, trees, etc, even if it dodges those it can't just leave the parcel on the lawn. 
You see most normal houses don't have closed in gardens, and even those with them often have a dog that wil eat the parcel (or drone) that is if the neighbours or a passer bye doesn't steal it first.
Sorry Amazon, your trying to be too clever, it simply wont work in practice, many people won't get their parcels, and sooner or later some clever bugger will work out they can bring the drone down with an airgun or something and steal the goods, if you don't cause a big accident first.  Stop now while your ahead.