A Dimension of Mind

Hi folks

Isn't it great when the world unites for a common cause, even when it's the celebration of evil vampires, zombies, ghouls, and other deadly entities that would have their wicked ways with your body parts!

If any of my readers have any pics of your Halloween adventures send them to me and I'll feature them on the blog. 

So get out the eyeball soup and brain pate and have a great Spooky day : )

Ghost Rider

If you joined the circus, what act would you most want to perform?

Doot Doot Doodle doodit doot doot doot dootdoot, that's not a bad text approximation of a circus tune!!! So which circus act hmmm, been trying to remember when I last saw a circus as their numbers have certainly declined in recent years.

Thinking back I remember;

The Clowns... which I never really found all that funny, I feel I should apologise for that, but it's true

The Strong Man... which was cool until I noticed the car he was lifting was hollow, but I obviously realise now that was still a hell of weight that guy lifted! I'm not currently in ahhh peak phyiscal condition to take that one on : )

The Freak... (I don't think that's politically correct term but so what) I remember a fat guy, I'm mean body weight challenged gentleman, who stuck all manner of skewers and knives through his flesh, people passed out! He was great but not something I'd fancy doing.

The Animal Trainers... While I realise that this isn't something you see a lot of these days, it was great when I was a kid as I'd never seen half of the animals on show in real life. This experience was spoiled by a circus I went to, my last now that I think about it, where you didn't have to be an expert to see the poor animals were seriously distressed. Strike off animal trainer...

The Juggler/Plate Spinner... Now that was a cool skill especially if it involved juggling fire or chainsaws, but I'm not the most coordinated of people so I fear my act wouldn't last beyond my first catching attempt!

The Trapeze Artist... Now I think of anything I'd like to give that a try. It was always amazing to see people flying across the big top, and most times I've seen it was without a net, no Health & Safety Authorities in those days!  It would be so cool to be able to complete a complex spin through the air, or better yet catch the scantily clad beauty flying through the air to meet me : )

So after a little trip down memory lane I'd have to say The Trapeze Artist would be my act of choice, my choice not colored at all by the thought of the pretty ladies in the tiny costumes...

How about you?

Google Wave is the best thing to hit the WWW, at least that's what we're told.  When presented in the very snazzy video below you'd believe it too.

Google Wave is everywhere at the moment.  It's the new email, the new telephone, the new TV, the web 3.0, etc, etc, etc.  Now I haven't tried it out so I'm only speaking from first impressions but I doubt it can live up to the hype.  I hate hype, it can be so overwhelming and the subject being hyped rarely lives up to ...well ... the hype.

Google Wave is claiming to be all things to all people giving instant real time txt, voice, video, file access, and collaboration, to all your friends and anyone else surfing your Wave.  At first that seems great and can be used for some good business productivity, i.e. several partners from offices anywhere in the world working real time together on shaping a project.  But can't we do that already?

Google is saying Wave can collect all your personal and buisness contacts, and their social media elements, in one place so everyone is connected, which sounds great until you think about it for a second.  Productivity, be it personal or business, can take a serious hit when you go online to carry out a task but then get lost in tweeting (guilty), facebooking (meh), MySpacing (not sure anyone does that anymore) and the rest.  That's my fear for Google Wave, that for all the potential benefits a technology like this might bring, there's a hell of a lot of pitfalls as well.

With waves everywhere isn't just possible you could drown?

Climate Change – Is it a big deal?

Climate Change is a big topic at the moment, has been for a while, and is the subject for the 'Blog Action Day 09' www.blogactionday.org but is it something to worry about? So it gets a bit warmer, there's a few less creatures running about in corners of the Earth that don't affect you and you'll never visit, what's the big deal?

Let's put it another way... You're driving your car, would you blindfold yourself and let go of the steering wheel? Or sail out to sea far beyond rescue then start drilling holes in your boat? Or go into your home, brick up all exits then set fire to the place?

Hopefully you've sensibly said no to all of those, as that would be crazy right?

However our planet is our only home, our only safe haven in the cold vastness of the universe. This island Earth is a place we can't afford to destroy if we as a species want to survive. There's nowhere else we can run to and ignore the consequences of what we are doing.

Human arrogance affords us the luxury of thinking we are the only creatures on the planet that matter as we're the smartest, but are we? No other creature with a bit of sense destroys its only habitat and sits back watching itself suffer and die, only the foolish humans.

Our politicians will meet again shortly as they have numerous times before and talk about doing something, and make lots of sound-bite worthy comments about action and change. But at some point someone has to do something critical before it's too late, if it's not already. Our actions today will affect our children and our children's children to years to come. So lobby your local elected representative today to get working towards helping control climate change. I'm counting on you as here in Northern Ireland all our politicians are either idiots or terrorists, sorry 'former' terrorists, so reasoned thought is pretty much beyond them.

For my part I'm looking into solar and wind power for my home to try to alleviate some of my energy cost to the environment, and it'll save me a hell of a lot of money on utility bills! Look into it yourself, there are advantages to going green, it's not all lack of personal hygiene and living in trees : )

Should you compromise your morals for family obligations?

I know I said I was going to do mini-blogging for a while but let me get this wee novel out then I'll keep it short for a while. 

Well anyone following my Twitter would have seen me mention annoying family stuff I had to do last weekend, from which there has been more fallout. The annoyance of all of this has prompted me to empty my head of thoughts hence the Blog post, and I'm curious to see if anyone has an opinion on my situation.

A female member of my family is splitting up from her husband and as these things go it's getting messy and acrimonious. He accuses her of having an affair, which she denies.

She has moved out of the home she shared with him and has returned once with another family member to retrieve some belongings. At this time she and the person accompanying her were allegedly assaulted (a smack in the face for the 21yr old male with her) by the soon to be ex-husband. Also two of his friends turned up and acted in a threatening manner in defence of the husband. All very upsetting.

So ok that sort of behaviour is not to be tolerated. However to play devil's advocate, the husband was very annoyed to be called at work to be told people were in his house, and the 21yr old male could have easily said something to set off the husband. Whatever happened tempers flared and things happened as they did.

I get a call and am asked to accompany a few family members and the estranged wife on one final trip to get the items that belong to her and her two children out of the house. One child is the husband's, one is from a previous relationship. Now I am well aware that I'm only being asked because I would be the boogie man in the situation. If the husband brings a few 'heavies' along to start trouble I am more than capable of dealing with them.

Now my first problem is that I think the husband is right. His wife has from nowhere hooked up with a volunteering colleague, and the stuff to be moved out from her current family home is going straight to an apartment they are renting together ....hmmmm. Now morally I have a problem because for me she shouldn't be shacking up with anyone else until her marriage is over, but maybe that's just me being I'm old fashioned. However as I said I feel her husband could well be in the right, putting me as far as I'm concerned on the wrong side of the fence.

So the question I asked earlier was – 'Should you compromise your morals for family obligations?'

Well, as things turned out I kind of found a half-way house, which while not ideal, has kept my conscience clear.

I did attend the removal of items from the home and even videoed the event, so that if something really bad or violent (which is what I was led to believe was likely) happened I would be on hand to ensure no one 'innocent' got injured.

What I witnessed that morning was heart breaking. The husband did arrive shortly after we did and was somewhat annoyed. He'd changed the locks since the last visit by his wife, which is an illegal act to bar her from a property she legally owns with him, so there was much back and forth over trying to get in. Some harsh comments were said but I witnessed, perhaps they were playing up to the camera, a very ugly side from my family members, and in one case threatening to keep his child from him if they didn't get access to the house.

Some of the husbands family turned up and conducted themselves with dignity and convinced him to step back and let the removal of items take place which he did. As a father I found it distressing to put myself in his shoes after his house had been, well ransacked, and how he'd feel after the truck had pulled away. I had thought we were there to get the children's items but a filing cabinet, then a washing machine, a small basket of paint testers appeared, if it wasn't nailed down and could be carried it was going. A heated exchange took place over one of the children's beds that just wouldn't make it down the stairs, it wasn't an important item, bed's aren't expensive, but it had to go. In the end I convinced them to leave it.

So, how do I not take sides in this, how do I leave with a little dignity intact?

I told one of my family that the video footage I'd taken would not do either of them any favours, given the tone and content of some of the comments, and I would be deleting it before I left and would tell the husband the same.

So as we packed up and my family members took to their cars and started driving away, I took the husband and his family aside and told them what I had done with the video footage. They thanked me and I explained that I was only there out of a family obligation and I have no reason to take sides, he'd always seemed like a decent hard working man to me, and I'd seen nothing that day to alter my impression of him. My family, some of whom I don't speak to as it is, didn't fare so well. The husband looked like a broken man after the morning's events and I feel sorry for him as ahead of him lies family court, visitation rights, and all the heartache that goes with that.

My family are unquestioning of his wife and back her every move with venom and I just can't do the same. I realise I could be wrong about her but too many of the comments and situations involved ring true for the husbands position. I am now of course getting flak, not that I care, for not blindly following orders, and not surrendering the parts of the video she needs to do her husband damage, blinded as she is by rage and not realising that if her comments and those of other family members were aired she'd be frankly up shit creek. Vengeance is the only thought on her mind, but vengeance for what, as I fear she is the one in the wrong and her fight comes from greed and a misplaced sense of getting what's rightfully hers.

But did I do the right thing? It was a decision that troubled me for some time and even my wife's always good council wasn't enough to make any easy choice. If things had turned violent and someone had got hurt when I could have prevented it was a risk I couldn't take, and in the end it would appear that threat simply wasn't there, of which I'm glad. I can't in good conscience blindly follow 'family doctrine' if I fundamentally feel it is wrong as what sort of man would that make me?

So could I have done it any better?

Ok I admit it I've been tardy.  I've fallen behind with the old blog and I think I know why.  I seem to be waiting to say something momentous, which never really happens unfortunately.  So taking a leaf from celebrity blogger and all round lovely bloke Stephen Fry, I'm going to try to commit myself to mini-blogs.

Just a few paprgraphs of thoughts that I can't fit into the 140 character limit on Twitter.  I enjoy writing and am still having fun with the whole 'social media' scene so I really should endeavour to get a better grip of my own blogging obligations. 

In saying that I my next post will be a lengthy question on family matters just to get them off my chest.

I will return with - Should you compromise your morals for family obligations?

I've been really busy the last few weeks to the point of driving me crazy, so my apologies for a lack of blog entries : )

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I signed in to Twitter last night to see this tweet from Princess of Twitter Alyssa Milano;

@Alyssa_Milano: Limbaugh: "We need segregated buses" http://bit.ly/JBh66 http://bit.ly/nXq17 (If you love Limbaugh unfollow me ASAP)

Curious I dropped by a few news sites and was shocked to see Republican wack-job Rush Limbaugh (not all Republicans are wack-jobs but they should really reign this guy in) openly calling for segregated transport!?!

Where is America going? Has all the hope of a new beginning for the USA been lost?  As an outsider I watched Obama take office on a wave of hope, and a desire to see attitudes to America change globally, and for a renewed sense of self at home. I know times are frustrating, that's a world wide issue, and I know some of the choices Obama has made to fix things haven't been popular, but give the guy a chance it's a situation not of his making, and one of the worse the world has ever seen, he's not a miracle worker.

However, for some politicians & media 'celebrities' to be openly making Obama's color and race in general an issue to attack is terrifying, where will it lead? How long before this sort of dangerous headline grabbing rhetoric causes someone's death? What positive outcome can there be from whipping up such hatred?

A return to the darkest times in American history is no way to forge a path to the future, there's nothing to be gained from spreading fear.  A fear based on color is a prejudice that still exists everywhere, but for America it has always been seen as a defining issue in its past

Coming from a country (Northern Ireland) that used the excuse of differing religions as a justification to beat, maim, and kill, men women and children for 30 years, I can assure you, the American people, this is not the path you want to allow pseudo-celebrities and hate mongers to push you down. For you the height of the civil rights issues of the 60's were bad but they could have been worse, I've seen worse. The future is bright unless you choose otherwise. The future is in your hands, not those of people only interested in self promotion.

You are America, land of the free, home of the brave, the land that others look to and hope to aspire to its ideals.

The flames of racism can easily become an inferno, people can't allow it to be the fire on which America's future burns...

Saw The Time Traveler's Wife last night with my lovely wife. She'd been hooked by the slick trailer and I've got to admit it did make the movie look pretty cool. Neither of us had read the book so were coming to the cinema with no preconceptions or expectations. My wife loved it and it was everything she hoped it would be. As with any good tear jerker she was crying away, though at 25 weeks pregnant she was predicting that whether the movie was good or not! So my wife thought it was great but what about me?

Turns out it was great! Now as a sci-fi and tech geek I could take issue with the time travel aspects and blah-de-blah but I won't because it wasn't a sci-fi film it was a love story, and a good one at that. It was all a bit Quantum Leap and made for an intriguing concept and backdrop for the romance that is cause and effect of Henry's uncontrollable journeys through time,

Eric Bana (Henry) and Rachel McAdams (Clare) were great and very engaging. The supporting cast were also good with special mention going to the young actresses that played the young Clare, and Alba. Ron Livingston was ok as the couple's best friend, but I can't get past the character of Berger he played in Sex & The City, and every time I see him the whiny arse he played there comes into my head.

I don't want to be too spoilery but the only thing that bugged me was the way in which the time travel rules of the story mean that nothing Henry does in the past can alter the future, things will always happen as they did. I like time travel as a story tool mainly because you can fool around with the facts of history and reset things again if it all goes horribly wrong, I like that cheat.

The real thing that I don't like about a no changes possible policy is that it means 'fate' determines who we are and how our lives will play out. We are controlled not by our actions or decisions but by some ethereal force that has already determined if today will be a good day or bad, or maybe the last day we'll ever have. I don't like not feeling in control, and I'm neither superstitious nor religious. A sci-fi hero of mine goes by the motto of “I don't believe in the no win scenario” and I wholeheartedly agree. So to sit around watching the events of your life unfold unable to affect them is the only aspect of the movie that bugged me for admittedly deep seated issues of my own.

So I have to say I liked The Time Traveler's Wife, and guys you could do a lot worse than treat your lady to a night out at the flicks with this film. Just be ready with excuses when you find yourself getting misty, you know 'There's a draft in my eyes from the AC' 'I got dust in my eye' 'I'm not crying I'm just tired' etc etc ....enjoy.

You can't beat a bit of biblical apocalypse in a horror movie can you.  Check out the trailer below for LEGION starring Paul Bettany, a fine actor we don't see enough of;

Movie Trivia - Paul is the voice of Tony Starks AI JARVIS in the Iron Man movie.

Bible tales always lend themselves to good movies, think of amazing films like Ben-Hur, The Robe, and so many others.  However it's the 'Revelations' ones that are the most fun and give great scope for horror movie makers, and LEGION appears to be making the most of the End of Days scenario.  Look forward to seeing it...if only for the wee swearing grandma, watch the trailer you'll see what I mean : )

Oh and it's R rated so be careful in work or near your kids.

WOW!!!! my post on the Lightcycles from TRON : LEGACY has made the VOX Entertainment page!!  How cool is that!  You can probably tell I'm somewhat pleased, thanks VOX, you've just made blogging all the more fun!!

Vox Entertainment