Microblog: A very long article Wikipedia article on the orientation of toilet paper [Jun 7th, 22:52] [R]

Saturday, January 29th, 2011

Crouch Vale Brewers Gold

Categories: [ Beer/FAVOURITES | Beer ]

Crouch_Vale_Brewers_Gold

“aromas of tropical fruits, bitter-sweet mouthfeel and a lasting hop presence”

Very fruity smell (and kind of flowery too), not too bitter. Very nice. Contains barley.

Crouch Vale Brewery, South Woodham Ferrers, Essex, England. 4.0% alcohol.

[ Posted on January 29th, 2011 at 19:01 | no comment | ]

Wednesday, January 26th, 2011

Eragon

Categories: [ TV/Cinema ]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eragon_%28film%29

Wikipedia

Eragon finds in the forest a stone, which turns out to be a dragon's egg. The egg eventually hatches and the quickly growing blue dragon, samed Saphira, bonds with Eragon. Galbatorix, the despotic king who killed all the dragonriders to take the power, sends his henchmen to kill Eragon (and thus the dragon). Helped by Brom, a storyteller who knows a lot about dragons (having been himself a dragonrider before the death of his mount), they flee to the mountains to join the Varden, rebels to the king. During their journey, Eragon has recurring dreams of a young woman; in the last dream, she tells him she is a prisoner in Galbatorix's fortress. Againt's Brom's judgement, Eragon and Saphira fly to the castle, infiltrate it and are caught by Galbatorix's lieutenant Durza, a sorcerer. They manage to escape with the woman, named Arya, but Brom is killed. Eragon and Arya join the Varden, and with their help repell the attack of Galbatorix's army and kill Durza. In the end, Galbatorix is seen unveiling another dragon.

[ Posted on January 26th, 2011 at 23:45 | no comment | ]

Sunday, January 23rd, 2011

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

Categories: [ TV/Cinema ]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indiana_Jones_and_the_Kingdom_of_the_Crystal_Skull

Wikipedia

From Wikipedia's Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull:

In 1957, World War II hero Indiana Jones and his long-time partner George “Mac” McHale are kidnapped by a group of Soviet agents led by the psychic Colonel Dr. Irina Spalko. The Soviets infiltrate a 1950s Area 51 in Nevada and force Indiana to find a crate containing the remains of an extraterrestrial being that crashed ten years prior in Roswell, New Mexico. After finding the crate, Mac double-crosses Indiana, having been bought off by the Soviets. Indiana manages to escape into the desert, where he stumbles upon a nuclear test town and survives a nuclear explosion by hiding in a lead-lined refrigerator. He is later debriefed by the FBI because of Mac's Soviet ties. Shortly after returning to Marshall College, Indiana is offered an indefinite leave of absence to avoid being fired because of the incident.

At a train station, Indiana is stopped by greaser Mutt Williams, who tells him that his old colleague Harold Oxley was kidnapped after discovering a crystal skull in Peru. Indiana proceeds to tell Mutt the legend of a skull found in the mystical city of Akator, in which whoever returns the skull to the city would be given control over its supernatural powers. Mutt gives Indiana a letter from his mother, who was also kidnapped, containing a riddle written by Oxley in an ancient Native American language, which leads them to the Nazca Lines in Peru. There they discover that Oxley was incarcerated in a psychiatric hospital, having suffered a mental breakdown from the powers of the skull, until he was kidnapped by the Soviets. In Oxley's cell, they find clues that lead them to the grave of Francisco de Orellana, a Conquistador who went missing in the 16th century while searching for Akator. They discover the skull at the grave, with Indiana reasoning that Oxley had hidden it there after finding it.

Shortly afterwards, Indiana and Mutt are captured by the Soviets and taken to their camp in Brazil, where they find Oxley and Mutt's mother, who turns out to be Indiana's old love, Marion Ravenwood, and reveals that Mutt is Indiana's son. Spalko believes that the crystal skull belongs to an interdimensional being form and holds great psychic power, and reveals that the specimen stolen from the warehouse also has a crystal skull. She also believes that returning the skull to Akator will grant the Soviets the advantage of psychic warfare. Indiana, Marion, Mutt and Oxley manage to escape from the Soviets into the Amazon. Mac rejoins them claiming he is actually a CIA double agent working against the Soviets.

All five head for the temple of Akator, only to be attacked by the Soviets again, but they manage to escape due to a nest of extremely aggressive army ants. On surviving an attack by the Ugha warriors defending Akator, they enter the temple. Mac, who is actually still loyal to the Soviets, secretly leaves a trail for the Soviets to follow. Inside the temple, they find artifacts from several ancient global civilizations. Indiana deduces that the creatures were kindred spirits: they too were “archaeologists” studying the different cultures of Earth. The five enter a chamber containing thirteen interdimensional beings seated on thrones in a circle, one missing a crystal skull. After the Soviets arrive, Spalko places the skull onto the headless skeleton. The interdimensional beings begin communicating to the group through Oxley in an ancient Mayan dialect, promising to reward them with a “big gift.” Spalko approaches and demands to “know everything.” The interdimensional beings grant her request and transfer their collective knowledge into her mind, activating a portal to another dimension. Indiana, Marion, Mutt and the now-sane Oxley escape the temple, while Mac (who risks his own life for Indiana and the rest of the gang, showing his loyalty to Indiana), and the other Soviets are sucked into the portal; the skeletons, meanwhile, form a single interdimensional being which overwhelms Spalko with its knowledge, causing her brain to ignite and her body to disintegrate. Her scattered essence is then drawn into the portal. The temple crumbles and a flying saucer rises from the debris to disappear into the “space between spaces.” After they return home, Indiana and Marion are married as he is reinstated and made an associate dean at Marshall College. At the wedding's conclusion, a sudden wind blows Indiana's hat onto the floor, at Mutt's feet. Mutt picks it up, and starts to put it on his head, only to have Indiana quickly grab it out of his hand to place it onto his own head.

[ Posted on January 23rd, 2011 at 18:12 | 3 comments | ]

Saturday, January 22nd, 2011

Dark Star Espresso

Categories: [ Beer ]

Dark_Star_Espresso

“A black beer brewed with dark roasted barley malt and challenger hops. Freshly ground arabica coffee beans are then added…”

Yep, it definitely tastes like coffee. Contains barley malt.

The Dark Star Brewing, Partridge Green, West Sussex, England. 4.2% alcohol.

[ Posted on January 22nd, 2011 at 18:03 | no comment | ]

Friday, January 21st, 2011

Timothy Taylor's Landlord

Categories: [ Beer/Timothy Taylor's ]

Timothy_Taylor_s_Landlord

Just another pale ale, not bad, not too bitter and slightly flowery. Contains barley malt.

Timothy Taylor, Keighley, West Yorkshire, England. 4.1% alcohol.

[ Posted on January 21st, 2011 at 19:01 | no comment | ]

Wednesday, January 19th, 2011

The Dark Knight

Categories: [ TV/Cinema ]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dark_Knight_%28film%29

Wikipedia

Wikipedia: The Dark Knight (film)

[ Posted on January 19th, 2011 at 09:31 | no comment | ]

Saturday, January 15th, 2011

Samuel Smith's Celebrated Oatmeal Stout

Categories: [ Beer ]

Samuel_Smith_s_Celebrated_Otameal_Stout

“fermentated in ‘stone Yorkshire squares’… almost opaque, silky and smooth textured ale with a complex medium-dry palate and bittersweet finish”

Just another stout, quite good, not too strong. Contains malted barley, roasted malt, oatmeal.

Samuel Smith's, Yorkshire, England. 5.0% alcohol.

[ Posted on January 15th, 2011 at 11:57 | no comment | ]

Tuesday, January 11th, 2011

Sabotage (The Woman Alone)

Categories: [ TV/Cinema/Hitchcock ]

http://www.moviegoods.com/movie_poster/the_woman_alone_1936.htm

© MovieGoods.com

After Sabotage_(film) on Wikipedia:

Karl Verloc, the owner of a cinema, is part of a gang of saboteurs from an unnamed European country who are planning a series of attacks in London. Scotland Yard suspects Verloc's involvement in the plot and assigns Detective Sergeant Ted Spencer to investigate Verloc, initially under cover. Spencer conducts the investigation posing as a greengrocer's helper, selling fruit and vegetables in a shop right next to the cinema.

Verloc's young and beautiful wife believes that her husband is a good man because he has been kind to her and her little brother, Stevie, who lives with them. However, gradually she comes to suspect that her husband may be one of the people behind the terrorist attacks. The final straw comes when her little brother is killed, along with many other people, when a bus explodes. The boy had thought that he was simply delivering a film canister, but he was unknowingly carrying a time bomb for Verloc, to be detonated in the London Underground station under Piccadilly Circus. The boy had become distracted along the way, which had delayed his delivery, and thus the bomb exploded en route to its final target.

Verloc confesses to his wife, but then blames Scotland Yard and Spencer for Stevie's death, saying that they were the ones who prevented Verloc from successfully carrying out the bomb delivery himself. Soon afterwards, as Verloc and his wife are preparing to eat dinner, she stabs him to death with a knife. When Spencer arrives to arrest Verloc he realizes what has happened, but insists that she shouldn't admit that she killed her husband. Nevertheless, she starts to confess her crime to a policeman. Then an explosion and fire at the cinema intervene, destroying all the evidence of her crime and effectively preventing the policeman from remembering whether it was before or after the explosion that she told him, “My husband is dead!”

At the end we see Mrs Verloc and Ted Spencer walk away together.

[ Posted on January 11th, 2011 at 10:40 | no comment | ]

Sunday, January 9th, 2011

The Player of Games

Categories: [ Books ]

ISBN: 9781857231465

© Amazon.fr

Jernau Gurgeh is the best player of the Culture. He is offered by Contact (the exploration and diplomatic affairs branch of the Culture) the opportunity to play Azad, the game that is at the heart of the Azad empire. Empires tend to fall appart by themselves, but this one, where the skill at the game determinates one's rank in the society, has survived for a long time. Gurgeh accepts the offer and travels to Azad, learning the game on his way there, reaching the empire just in time for the tournament. He manages to beat all of his opponents despite attempts by the Imperial Office to discredit him (he was expected to lose early in the tournament), but eventually faces the emperor himself. The latter is a sore looser and attempts to kill Gurgeh, himself and everyone around him when he discovers that this alien is better than him at the game. Gurgeh is saved in the nick of time by the drone who was accompanying him. The drone eventually reveals to Gurgeh that his true mission was not a diplomatic one, but was to discredit the game of Azad so that the empire would fall apart and be eventually absorbed into the Culture.

[ Posted on January 9th, 2011 at 11:13 | no comment | ]