Whilst trying to cross the road in Hursley this morning, I was struck by how the cars arrived in a long bunch that prevented me from crossing. Someone pointed out that in this case it was probably caused by the traffic light at the end of the village. This got me to thinking: is it important to have cars bunched? If they had been evenly distributed along the road, is it possible that they would be just close enough never to give me a gap large enough to cross?

If you’ve never had a chance to listen to the director’s commentary for Die Hard, I can wholeheartedly recommend getting hold of a copy - John McTiernan’s comments are fascinating, and complement the talented acting of both Bruce Willis and Alan Rickman. It rapidly becomes obvious that McTiernan takes action film very seriously, as an artistic genre - not something to turn a fast buck. This is clearly one of the reasons why Die Hard is such a polished film and is a canonical example of the action film genre.

OK, so I admit, I want to see this film made too.

I’ve just watched Leni Riefenstahl’s Triumph of the Will. I wasn’t as moved as I expected to be; perhaps precisely because the film shows only ‘positive’ messages, which I’m not greatly influenced by because of the benefit of hindsight. All the negative connotations of Hitler, WWII, and the Holocaust are absent. In fact, after some time, the film becomes rather repetitive and I skipped several sections. Nevertheless, Hitler’s closing speech to the Party Congress at the end of the film is well worth watching, as a striking example of just how good oratory can get (ironic from a man that’s so hard to admire in most other respects).

I am very much looking forward to attending the euroGel 2006 conference; I’ve just been updating my entry in the attendees list. I’m still not 100% sure what it’s about, but it sure looks like fun and I know I’m going to enjoy it! (they describe it as: ‘a conference, and community, exploring good experience in all its forms – in business, art, society, technology, and life’)

After cycling round part of the Isle of Wight with Rachel last weekend, and foolishly using little-to-no sun cream, I ended up looking like a lobster in places. Accordingly, I went and refreshed my stock of years-old sun cream this week. However, even though I get a bit pompous about this issue, I didn’t realise just quite how acute the dangers were. Did you know that over a million cases of skin cancer occur every year in the US?

One of the things I like to do is keep track of my own personal finances. Knowing how much money you have at any one time, what your debts are (in my case, credit card balances), what your outgoings are, etc., has several advantages: You can foresee and more easily overcome cash-flow problems, enabling you to avoid those ‘a bit short this month’ problems. You can spot unwelcome trends in your spending patterns, and plan better for the future.

I’ve just spent a frustrating few hours trying to get my new Nokia 6630 to talk to my Linux PC properly, and have given up after OpenOBEX kept segfaulting. I did manage to get the USB connection between the two working, but this seems to do little without the OBEX support. On the upside, I did get GoldenPod up-and-running so that podcasts will be automatically downloaded for me. This should make it easier to copy them across to my mobile when I have the opportunity.

I got a Make Bono History t-shirt about a week ago, and wore it for the first time ‘in anger’ on Saturday. I think it possibly bothered a few people. I think the manufacturer’s original thought was that it was a comment on U2’s music. For myself, it’s not (their music is a little bland but perfectly harmless): it’s a comment on the Make Poverty History campaign and its self-righteous attitude.

I came across a short article the other day - Mankiw’s 10 Principles of Economics. A good 2-minute introduction to Economics, and possibly also a good clarity regenerator for those whose brains become clogged and confused like myself. I’m not sure how much point 7 aligns with my current libertarian politics - perhaps the point he makes is true, yet morally irrelevant? Still, worth a look.