Working for the Bank

Two of my sisters work for banks. I have a sister-in-law and a brother-in-law who work for a bank.

I once applied for a job in a bank. I got an interview which seemed to go well. Then the bank, which had been planning to hire lots of new people apparently, changed its mind and ended up hiring very few. I did not get the job.

The irony is that I am now working for the banks. We all are. I am working to ensure that the banks do not go under. I am working to ensure that bankers do not lose their jobs. I am not working directly for the banks to be sure, but I am earning money so that I can pay increased taxes that can be used to cover the losses which the banks made.

I don't think that is very fair.

The second irony is that we now say casually in conversation that we own the banks. That may be technically a fact, but there is very little evidence of it. We can't force them to loan money to companies and individuals who need money. We can't even force them not to pay themselves bonuses.

The harsh reality is that the banks own us.

Avengers Assemble on the small screen

I posted a review of Avengers Assemble back in May when I saw it in 3D on the big screen.

I have now re-watched it in 2D on the small screen. And it's still great!

Well done to Joss Whedon and to the cast for a great ensemble performance (no pun intended).

In May it was at position 31 in the IMDB Top 250. It has since drifted out to position 100. Now there are two comic book movies ahead of it: The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises. If it slips a few more places then Batman Begins will pass it as well.

When you're watching it, stick with it until the credits are over. There is a small reward for sitting through them all.

Just how many copies were sold?

If you go into a second-hand book store, or if you go to a place where you can swap books (the picture below was taken at my local golf range where you can take a book as long as you bring one in exchange) then my experience is that you will see many more copies of one book than any other.

Mr Brown must be a very, very wealthy man.

Maybe this differs in other countries and in other languages?

This picture shows the six copies that were available when I was there yesterday:

The Taking of Pelham 123 - Tony Scott

In 1974 they made "The Taking of Pelham One Two Three" starring Walter Matthau. I haven't seen the movie in many years but I remember it being good (7.7 on IMBD).

In 2009 they re-made it as "The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3" with Denzel Washington in the Matthau role and Tony Scott at the helm.

I bought the DVD recently as (a) it has lots of extras (including two commentaries) and (b) I had never seen the movie and it was the second last movie Scott directed before his untimely death.

It's a very disappointing movie, I'm afraid. It scores 6.4 on IMDB and 55 on metacritic.

The saddest thing is that the parts they seems to want to change or "update" are among the parts that worked least well.

One example is that Garber is now just an "ordinary guy" rather than a transit authority cop. In one of the extras, Denzel takes the credit/blame for this idea. It doesn't work at all well for the last part of the movie.

Another is the idea that some young guy is having a video chat with his girlfriend during the hostage situation. That part is beyond bad.

It's a shame really. And the documentaries and commentaries give some idea of the amount of thought and effort that the cast and crew (and even the MTA) put into making the movie and it just hasn't translated onto the screen.

My rating: 6/10.

Here is a still of John Travolta initiating the hijacking:

Great Programming Tool - AutoIt

Imagine the scenario: you need to develop a tool quickly to solve some problem. You need to decide what programming language/tool to use. You consider Java, VB.NET, Qt, Perl, Python, Adobe AIR, and a variety of BASICs (QuickBASIC, FreeBASIC, Just BASIC, XBASIC, and Rapid-Q).

If your target platform is Windows, then I would suggest that you should add AutoIt to that list.

AutoIt (pronounced "aw-toe-it") was originally developed to help automate installs on Windows. But it evolved over time to include some really clever features which allow it to do a lot more than that.

I used it recently to create a performance test script which automates Word and Excel operations in order to produce timings that help to predict the actual response times which users will experience (the company was moving its data centre to a remote location where bandwidth and latency would be potential issues).

Some of the great things about AutoIt include:

• You can simulate keystrokes, mouse movement and window/control manipulation in order to automate tasks
• It can generate EXE files which do not require any runtime environment (contrast that with Java and .NET!)
• You can download it packaged with a nice editor called SciTE
• You can even use it to create GUI applications

And do you remember (and sometimes miss!) the "Macro Recorder" which used to be an Accessory within Windows way-back-when? Well AutoIt has a tool called "Au3Recorder" which can create a script based on keystrokes and mouse movements.

The main limitations of AutoIt seem to be:

• MS Windows only (this really is the main limitation)
• No proper built-in debugger (although you can get debuggers for it)
• No built-in support for creating or consuming a web service
• You can't write multi-threaded code
• No Try...catch blocks

As against that, there are some really cool and easy to use functions:

• Ping - Pings a host and returns the roundtrip-time
• TrayTip - Displays a balloon tip from the AutoIt Icon
• ClipGet - Retrieves text from the clipboard
• CDTray - Opens or closes the CD tray
• PixelChecksum - Generates a checksum for a region of pixels
• GUICtrlCreateAvi - Creates an AVI video control for the GUI.
• DriveMapAdd - Maps a network drive
• FileCopy - Copies one or more files
• FileRecycleEmpty - Empties the recycle bin
• MouseWheel - Moves the mouse wheel up or down
• ProgressOn - Creates a customizable progress bar window
• Shutdown - Shuts down the system
• SplashTextOn - Creates a customizable text popup window
• TCPSend - Sends data on a connected TCP socket
• UDPSend - Sends data on an opened UDP socket

Some of those might sound pretty exotic but the fact is that I used TrayTip, PixelChecksum, FileCopy, and SplashTextOn in the program I mentioned earlier.

Sudden Books by Oliver Strange

Until recently, I had only ever read 2 books set in the "wild west".

The second was "Incident at Twenty-Mile" by all-time favourite writer, Trevanian. I didn't read the book because it was a western - I read it because I was reading all of Trevanian's books.

The first was a book called "Sudden Outlawed" by Oliver Strange. This was one of my father's books and was probably the only book he owned which I read. The book was originally published in 1935 and I guess I read it when I was in my teens (late 70s).

I remember enjoying the book at the time. The hero of the stories is Jim Green but he earns the nickname "Sudden" because of how fast he is on the draw. The first book deals with how he comes to find himself on the wrong side of the law, through no real fault of his own. The remaining books follow him as he travels from town to town righting wrongs while looking for the two men who crossed the man who was like a father to him.

The writing and the dialogue is a joy. Here is the passage where Jim hears about the wrongs done by these two men:

The other was silent awhile, fighting for breath, and then, "Peterson stole my li'l gal an' broke my heart," he said slowly. "An' when yu was East, gettin' some larnin', that houn' Webb stripped me." His voice was harsh, pregnant with passion; hatred gave him a last spasm of strength. "Yo're the fastest fella with a gun I ever see, an' I've knowed some o' the best ; I'm leavin' them two skunks to yu.”

I remembered the series recently and I discovered the following from the web:

1. The books are out of print
2. Oliver Strange was an English man who apparently never travelled to America
3. Sudden Outlawed was not the first book Strange wrote, but is the first in story order
4. After Strange's death,  another author named Frederick H. Christian added 5 more stories to Strange's 10
5. The books are available to read on the web. I assume this is because the copyright has expired (Strange passed away in 1952) but I don't claim to be a copyright expert! 

Having re-read the first book, I kept going and am now reading book 6: "Sudden TakesThe Trail".

The only warning I would issue is that the books are far from politically correct. I assume that the overt racism which many of the characters display is supposed to represent life in the wild west as opposed to any beliefs held by the author.

So if you are interested in stories of outlaws, law-men, gamblers, saloon-keepers, cattleman, rustlers, and prospectors then follow the link above.

The IT Crowd - US Style

I couldn't believe my eyes when I discovered that they tried to make a US version of "The IT Crowd".

Why?!

The original series is perfect. It even features Chris O'Dowd who seems to have made his break-through in the US with Bridesmaids.

There are moments of pure genius (such as S04E06 about the "damp squid" and all of S02E01 "The Work Outing").

This article claims that the US remake had 4 writers. This must be the easiest money they ever made as, based on the clip below, the script seems to be virtually the same as the original.

Two good decisions they did make:

• They got Richard Ayoade to reprise his role as Moss
• They canned the series after making the first episode

Here is the first part of the pilot show:

Life before the Internet

It's difficult to say exactly when the Internet (which has its origins in the 1960s) began to impact people's lives. But a good yardstick would be the the release of the Mosaic web browser in 1993.

So there are many people alive today who did not experience life before the Internet. This posting is for them.

I am going to give a couple of simple examples of things which we take fore-granted now which were impossible before the Internet.

Example #1: Before the Internet, if you were a fan of particular music artists, you could find out relatively little about them. You could buy their albums. You could perhaps buy (or borrow) books about them. You could perhaps join their "fan clubs". You might, in return, receive some photographs and perhaps a couple of newsletters each year.

Today, if you are a fan of say The Script, you can visit their website, like them on Facebook,  follow them on Twitter or Google+, and watch their videos on YouTube, and more. You have real-time access to them!

Example #2: Before the Internet, if you were discussing something with your friends, and nobody knew the answer, or there was a dispute, then the issue went unresolved. Many pub conversations ended in stalemate with disagreement over whether or not the person who appeared in movie X was the same person who was in movie Y (or whatever).

Today, it seems that the sum of all human knowledge is only a click away. Certainly questions about who appeared in what movie, or what logo a company uses, or what the largest lake in Italy is, or who invented the Post-it and when, are easily answered. This was inconceivable 20 years ago!

I think, because it has been so gradual, it is difficult to full understand the impact the Internet has had in so many areas. It really has connected people and, in so doing, made the world a smaller place.

Nokia Slide Continues

In October of last year I blogged about Nokia, and how the company had lost its way. At that point they had just released phones using the Microsoft Windows operating system and the share price stood at just over $7.

Last week Nokia released a new Lumia model with Windows Phone 8 and the share price dropped during the launch. That's right - during the launch!

Apparently the Wall Street share price dropped 10% during the announcement and dropped almost 16% before the day was over.

I can only wonder what the people are the helm are thinking, but it seems that few people outside the company have any faith in their strategy. I guess they're just waiting and hoping that Microsoft will step in and buy the company.

A shame really.

The share price stands at $2.63 as I write.

Taken - Liam Neeson

The most anticipated movie event of 2012 for me was not Avengers Assemble, or Prometheus, or The Dark Knight Rises.

The most anticipated event is the release of Taken 2. It will be out on the 5th of October here in Ireland. I can't wait.

I should have suspected that I would like Taken when it was released. Liam Neeson was the star. Luc Besson was one of the writers and one of the producers. But I didn't. The movie came as a complete (and delightful) surprise.

Neeson is superb as the father out to rescue his daughter - a single-minded and unstoppable force of retribution.

Great script. Great fights. Great action sequences.

Here is what Neeson's character says to the kidnapper on the phone early in the movie: "I don't know who you are. I don't know what you want. If you are looking for ransom, I can tell you I don't have money. But what I do have are a very particular set of skills; skills I have acquired over a very long career. Skills that make me a nightmare for people like you. If you let my daughter go now, that'll be the end of it. I will not look for you, I will not pursue you. But if you don't, I will look for you, I will find you, and I will kill you."

My rating: 8.5/10

Music - a gift from heaven

Five of my last six postings have been related to music. Time to move on to something else.

But I can't leave the topic without observing just how marvellous music itself is.

As humans evolved, we developed five senses. All of our senses help us to interact with our environment and have important functions, such as finding food and avoiding danger. Our sense of hearing, of course, has evolved to play a key role in communication.

But beyond being able to hear someone who is speaking to us, or to hear an oncoming car, hearing allows us to enjoy music.

What a marvellous gift!

I can't imagine, from the perspective of evolution or natural selection, why listening to music gives us so much pleasure. Why do we like notes at certain frequencies? Why do we like certain sequences of notes? Why are some chords pleasant to the ear while others are dissonant. How can sequences of chords provoke an emotional response? Why can a "melody" be defined as "a sequence of single notes that is musically satisfying"? Why have we created so many musical instruments? How can so many different songs be composed with so few notes and chords? How can music move us to clap our hands, or tap our feet, or to get up and dance?

I don't know the answers to these questions and perhaps the answers are not important.

Just as sound is connected to the ear, so music seems to be connected to the soul.

What I do know is that the existence of music is a fabulous mystery and the world would be a much poorer place without it.

Prince in Malahide

Back in 1984 I saw a feature on a TV programme about an up-and-coming artist called Prince. I was blown away by his vocals and his performance. The programme mentioned that he would be starring in a movie called "Purple Rain" which was coming out in July.

I went to see the movie and again I was blown away. He may not have been a great actor but the music and the performances were amazing. I subsequently bought the album and it is still one of my favourite albums to this day.

My wife bought me tickets to see him in Croke Park in June 2008. But controversially he pulled out of that gig with just a couple of weeks to go.

And then he announced that he would play Malahide Castle in July 2011. So basically he was going to be performing on my doorstep! How could I refuse!

The gig was absolutely fantastic. The setting was great. The sound was great. The light-show was great. He played all the hits (When Doves Cry and Alphabet Street were a bit short for my linking but you can't have everything). The crowd loved it. The man is an absolute legend.

And he apologised for not turning up last time. And he complimented Sinéad O'Connor's version of Nothing Compares 2 U, which I love.

And Malahide is a great venue for a gig, it turns out. We promised ourselves that we would go to future gigs here. But unfortunately there weren't any this year.

Unfortunately I had an ancient phone at the time of the gig but here is a still from a video I recorded:

Best Piano Songs

The piano is my favourite instrument (I wish I could play it) and I love songs that feature a strong piano track.

Here are some of my all-time favourites:
Again by Janet Jackson
I Can't Make You Love Me by George Michael
Unfaithful by Rihanna
Turning Tables by Adele
Mandy by Barry Manilow

I will finish up with the only one I have every tried to learn to play on the piano - "Right Here Waiting" by Richard Marx:

Best story told through song

My last posting was on the best "story" songs.

Writing it reminded me of the best story I every heard told through song.

In the early 80s, I visited a friend in London and he brought me to see a West End show called "Song and Dance". The show was broken into two parts. The first part featured Marti Webb singing a series of songs which told the story of the romances of an English girl who goes to America. The second part featured a series of dance pieces.

I loved the first part and subsequently bought the album. I can't remember much about the second part to be honest.

The music is beautiful (thanks for Andrew Lloyd Webber), the lyrics are very clever (thanks to Don Black) and the songs are very moving (thanks to both). And Marti Webb has a fabulous voice.

I looked at various versions of the songs on Youtube this evening. I am including a link to Marti Webb singing "Tell Me on a Sunday" below.

But I also found a version of Denise Van Outen signing the same song and I have to say that it is very good. You can see it here.

Best "story" songs

Here are my all-time favourite "story" songs.

My #1 by a long way is Same Old Lang Syne by Dan Fogelberg. What a beautiful song.


If Dan has written nothing else in his life, he could rest easy having written this gem. But of course it is just one of a set of wonderful songs.

My #2 is  Hazard by Richard Marx. Superb song.



Other songs worthy of honourable mention are:
Stan by Eminem
Camouflage by Stan Ridgway

Twelve Angry Men - Best B&W Movie

I would find it quite difficult to name my favourite movie. But I have no problem at all naming my favourite black and white movie. It is Sidnet Lumet's 12 Angry Men, made in 1957.

It is a beautiful made movie, great script, great acting, great direction, great story.

Henry Fonda is brilliant as the man who stands up to the other 11. IMDB says that Fonda regarded it as one of the 3 best movies he ever made.

The way the story evolves is a joy. People's motivations, prejudices, failings, weaknesses, etc. are revealed one by one. The movie has the feeling of a play - the majority of the action takes place in the jury room. There is an elegant simplicity about it.

As I write it is at position 6 on the IMDB Top 250 list.

My rating: 9/10

Here is a still which shows most of the cast:

Gerry Rafferty - Baker Street

I was driving in the car with my seven year old yesterday when "Right Down the Line" by Gerry Rafferty came on the radio. For once "Spin 1038" was not playing (songs released in the 1970s do not feature on that station!)

My son told me that he really liked the song so I played it and then Baker Street for him when we got home (on Grooveshark).

Having heard the two of them, he proclaimed Rafferty to be a genius - compared him to Michael Jackson no less.

I was delighted with his musical taste.

Back in 1978 (when I was sixteen) I bought my first "single" and it was Baker Street. What a fantastic song. Rafferty was a brilliant singer, songwriter, producer, musician.

I had heard that he passed away last year but on reading  up on his yesterday I was saddened to hear that struggles with alcohol seem to have been a problem during his life and presumably a contributing factor to his untimely death.

Still his songs are a fantastic legacy, and Baker Street is his crowning glory. Apparently it was still making him £80,000 per annum over 30 years after its initial release. Wherever he is now, he can be very proud.

Here is part one of a documentary made about him by BBC Scotland after his death: