Showing posts with label Stanley Kubrick. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Stanley Kubrick. Show all posts

Thursday 26 September 2019

Anthropic


When you are reading a book it helps if you know what the words you are reading actually mean and I am still sort of getting my head round The Anthropic Principle which basically means that if the universe were not capable of supporting life then we wouldn't be hear to wonder about it . This is the weak version, follow the link or search google for more information.

It is coming up a lot in "The God Delusion" where I am up to so far and does sort of make sense to me but I also feel it's far above my intellectual level (which is not very high anyway, 2 "A" Levels , 5 "O" Levels and something in Business Studies) but I wont let it stop me from reading this book.

The blog visits are probably going to hit 300K in the next month and at this rate half a million could happen in the next six months. That is something that I didn't expect as the Feedburner thing is continuing unbroken this time, although it may stop after two months, but we shall see.

September has seen 34K visits which is an all time record following the previous record of 27K last month and 25K in June which smashed the previous record of 10K in October 2013.


So we'll go for "Set The Controls For The Heart of The Sun" by Pink Floyd from "A Saucerful of Secrets" which seems vaguely appropriate for me with a suitable video. Apparently Stanley Kubrick wanted to film an adaptation of Dune with a soundtrack performed by Pink Floyd... it would have been 14 hours long. This song was the only one to feature all five members of Pink Floyd Phas I

I'll set my mind to understand more.

Sunday 28 July 2019

2001


Like the 1999 post the 2001 post will go the same way except not with the Prince song but the Arthur C Clarke book and the Stanley Kubrick film which still look jaw droppingly awesome now, fifty years sich it was brought to us in the days before CGI, and thank god no one has decided to to ty and remake it for a modern audience.

The original main theme is "Also Spake Zarathustra" (there are various alternate spellings and wordings by Richard Strauss , also used to open Elvis Presley's '68 Comeback Special , but remember being shouted down in a pab discussion when the shouters said it was Holst, proves that shouting louder does win the argument.

Johann Strauss was the composer of the "Blue Danube" for the docking scene included below.

So this is post 2001 with some appropriately great video and musical accompaniment. I know there's not many words but it is good to be able to share this film and book and if you haven't read the book or seen the film do yourself a favour and make time to do it now.



Sunday 28 April 2019

Late Again


That's twice in a week I've been up past midnight , mainly because of writing blog post, but last week was after a brilliant gig (see here) and yesterday I had been walmost hypnotised watching Stanley Kubrick's "2001:A Space Odyssey", fifty years on and some of the decor is very sixties but the classically accompanied space sequences are still mostly jaw dropping. Remember this was way before CGI so it was all models and backdrops and stop motion animation.

Anyway it means that I do have some way of activating myself to stay up beyond my usual ten o'clock, though I am not too sure what that is. Yes oit's doing something that stimulates my mind and brain, but I am not too sure what that is but it proves I can stay up late again.

That takes me back to 1972 , four years after  "2001:A Space Odyssey" was released , and I first heard Stealers Wheel on The Old Grey Whistle Test  playing "Late Again". Most people have only heard "Stuck In The Middle With You" from the ear removal scene in "Reservoir Dogs" but Joe Egan and Gerry Rafferty had a bit more in their locker than just that, and are worth investigating further, although Rafferty did hit paydirt with "Baker Street".

So although I was up til about two this morning , I got up at seven thirty, so doubt will have a nap this afternoon, and probably an early night tonight as I have a doctors appointment tomorrow morning.

Again my tangentiality has linked Stanley Kubrick, Arthur C. Clarke, The Men That Will Not Be Blamed For Nothing, The Old Grey Whistle Test, Stealers Wheel and Quentin Tarantino.

Enjoy your Sunday everyone.

Sunday 9 November 2014

Remembrance Sunday Is Not A Photo Opportunity

One of Rebecca's Beatifully Poignant Paintings
It's Remembrance Sunday , and I really want to be positive on this blog, but this day should be a solemn remembrance of people who gave their lives to defend their homeland. However all I see is cynical manipulation and photo opportunities by politicians celebrities and corporations who would happily send decent men and women to their deaths , to swell their bank balances.

It makes me sick the idiots in the current government who glorify war while making sure that they are in no danger and ensuring that their war bonds and arms shares are paying handsome dividends.

It makes me angry every time I see a Help For Heroes plea for donations, not that I have anything against Help For Heroes , they are a selfless caring organisation dealing with the fallout from a government and their corporate cronies who sent men to defend their selfish interests then washed their hands of them leaving Help For Heroes to pick up the pieces. Click through on the Help For Heroes link and provide some help , also write to your local MP and ask why THEY aren't  looking after war heroes and casualties.
 

Paths of Glory
The problem is that since 1914 nothing has changed , the government and corporation still see us as expendable cannon fodder. Stanley Kubrick's Paths of Glory is still a brilliant damning indictment of the system endemic in almost all modern society. We really do have a long way to go before this changes.

They even have a song The Green Fields Of France (No Man's Land) by Joss Stone and Jeff Beck which you can buy here and raise money to help the returned war injured , but it's better to listen to the uncensored version which is truly anti war written and performed by Eric Bogle (who also wrote "The Band Played Waltzing Mathilda").


Anyway  , sorry if this post has been a bit of a downer, just remember how horrific war is , most of us don't have a clue, like the people who actually cause wars. Remember in silence and don't glamourise war and do what you can to support those who return , and do all you can to make sure we don't have to fight over oil and money.