The Views of Teamwak

Mimic Octopus

2010-12-19T02:18:00.000Z

Plan B "The Recluse"

2010-09-15T12:09:00.003+01:00

I worked on this video last month. It was a crazy shoot involving helicopters, mansions, and alligators!

Im currently doing Plan B's new feature film iLL Manors at the moment too, which is a scream. More on that when I can make the time to post :)

NSPCC advert "Everyday Choices"

2010-09-15T12:03:00.002+01:00

I worked on this in July. It has already been selected as a contender for shot of the week in Shot magazine. Way to go Luke (the director)

Simons Cat in "The Box"

2010-09-12T18:41:00.000+01:00

I've been crap at posting lately

2010-09-12T18:22:00.003+01:00

No excuses, but I've just been so, damn busy!

Which is good on the one hand. I've genuinely had only 2 days off since 5th May. Some days are easier than others, but since 5th May I have only not worked twice, and you can believe I was thinking about work the whole time! lol

And it doesnt look set to end anytime soon either. After this currrent job, I think I go straight onto another job that will take me into December.

I cant complain. For a self-emplyed person, it is something I have to do, but damn! I just wish I had more a life sometimes! lol

If my scheming goes ahead though, I intend not to work in Dec/Jan very much. Lets see if I earn enough cash my the end of the next job to make that a reality!

LZ7 - This little light

2010-08-31T20:29:00.001+01:00

I worked on this video in April. Note yet another starring role for my car! lol

Newport State of Mind

2010-07-29T20:00:00.002+01:00

This fantastic video has been doing the rounds around Youtube. Spoofing Jay Z and alicia Keys music video Empire State of Mind.

Shear brilliance!

NSPCC advert

2010-07-29T19:41:00.004+01:00

I went from Bulla straight onto an advert for the NSPCC.

It was again a very fun shoot, although dealing with the clients expectations along with the director, producer, and production designer added a new level of complicatedness to the whole thing.

The advert was filmed in First Person Style, and had the poor actress having to wear a crash helmet with a camera on her head for the whole shoot.

All good fun though, and got to work with Nicola and Terry who I hadn't worked with in ages. Both of them were friends I made doing The Rapture when I first came down to London.

Bulla went well

2010-07-29T19:22:00.001+01:00

I've been a bit crap at posting lately. I just seem to be very busy all the time, which I suppose is good really! lol

Bulla went very well. Such a fun shoot with alsorts of interesting people and things going on.

The teaser poster is already out and its a beauty (although if you knew how bloody long we had to hunt for the location that the picture was taken in!! )

Can't wait to see what it looks like when its done!

The Half Million Pound Bathtub

2010-07-13T16:58:00.004+01:00

Oh god, how beautiful is that? Seems a little flash, but I'd love to have a soak (on my own or with company) in that bad boy! lol. Best get saving now :s

Britain may have escaped sinking into a bathtub-shaped recession but most consumers would still think twice before splashing out half a million pounds for a good wash.
That's how much upmarket department store Harrods is asking for a rock crystal tub by Florentine luxury furnishings group Baldi.

The item, on display at the Knightsbridge store during July and carrying a £530,000 price tag, is carved from a single block of the purest white rock crystal.

It is 2m long, 55cm high and weighs about 2.5 tons when filled.

The tub was cut from a 10-ton block discovered in the Amazon region of Brazil.

Paolo Baldi, father of current chief executive Luca, purchased the rock and had it extracted and transported intact to Italy.

The block was cut into two; the first half was cut into a tub and sold to a Russian magnate for £567,502 in 2008.

Each tub, fashioned by Luca Bojola, is unique in its design.

Both were sculpted with diamond cuts and left partly in the rough to show off all the natural beauty of the original block.

Luca Baldi told Sky News the tub's creators had been entranced by the rock's "precious transparency" and "overpowered by the untamed energy" of the part left in its natural state.

"What was our rationale? To create the wildest, craziest, most beautiful and luxurious object ever imagined for a bathroom," he said.

Caricature

2010-07-10T19:59:00.003+01:00

A caricature can refer to a portrait that exaggerates or distorts the essence of a person or thing to create an easily identifiable visual likeness. Wiki

Someone did a caricature of me not so long ago. Hmmmm. I may have to start moisturising! lol

How big?

2010-07-01T21:15:00.003+01:00

I know I've covered this subject with a series of pics a while ago, but someone has put an animation together showing the relative sizes of planets and stars.

A-Mazing! How bloody big? lol

Hubbles 20 Greatest Discoveries: 12 - 9

2010-07-01T21:05:00.005+01:00

#9 - Hubble Finds Mysterious Ring Structure around Supernova 1987a

MAY 19, 1994: The Hubble telescope has obtained the best images yet of a mysterious mirror-imaged pair of rings of glowing gas encircling the site of the stellar explosion called supernova 1987A.

One possibility for these "hula hoops" of gas is that the two rings might be caused by a high-energy beam of radiation that is sweeping across the gas, like a searchlight sweeping across clouds. Though all of the rings appear inclined to our view (so that they appear to intersect), they are probably in three different planes. The small, bright ring lies in a plane containing the supernova; one larger ring lies in front of and the other behind the smallest one.

#10 - Color Image of Multiple P/Shoemaker-Levy 9 Comet Impacts on Jupiter

Nothing else to add! lol

#11 - Hubble Makes First Direct Measurements of Atmosphere on World Around another Star

NOVEMBER 27, 2001: Astronomers using the Hubble Space Telescope have made the first direct detection of the atmosphere of a planet orbiting a star outside our solar system. Their unique observations demonstrate that it is possible with Hubble and other telescopes to measure the chemical makeup of alien planet atmospheres and to potentially search for the chemical markers of life beyond Earth. The planet orbits a yellow, Sun-like star called HD 209458, located 150 light-years away in the constellation Pegasus.

#12 - Hubble Directly Observes Planet Orbiting Fomalhaut

NOVEMBER 13, 2008: Astronomers using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope have taken the first visible-light snapshot of a planet orbiting another star. The images show the planet, named Fomalhaut b, as a tiny point source of light orbiting the nearby, bright southern star Fomalhaut, located 25 light-years away in the constellation Piscis Australis. An immense debris disk about 21.5 billion miles across surrounds the star. Fomalhaut b is orbiting 1.8 billion miles inside the disk's sharp inner edge.

Captains Blog - Episode 2 (Control)

2010-06-21T02:32:00.000+01:00

Don't park there!

2010-06-16T09:03:00.005+01:00

I finally got my revenge on all those bastards who park or leave their cars in the parking bays/areas we have paid for and cordened off for filming purposes.

It is the bain of my life when I have paid for a road closed, or 10 parking bays to find that some bastard the night before has dumped their car and buggered off for the day.

Today, down by the docks in the beautiful Trinity Buoy Wharf; the site manager had a toy (which I wish I had in my kit! lol) which solved the problem of the car parked in our area. He just fork-lift trucked it out of the way.

Take that errant parker! When I say don't park there, then DON'T PARK THERE! lol

Got Crabs?

2010-06-13T16:13:00.004+01:00

COCONUT CRABS
The coconut crab is a large edible land crab related to the hermit crab, and are found in the tropical Indian and Pacific Oceans .. They eat coconuts for a living! How would you like to be on an island and come across a crab that is more than 3 feet from head to tail and weighs up to 40 pounds, with a pair of large pincers strong enough to open coconuts! They can climb trees too, but they only eat coconuts that have already fallen to the ground. Coconut crab meat has been considered a local delicacy.

I'll save you, Mr President!

2010-06-05T21:50:00.005+01:00

Maybe its the kid in me, but I get a small kick everytime I put my covert earpiece on my walkie-talky in. I feel like I'm a member of the American Secret Service.

Only problem is, after many years of loud clubs, I think I'm a bit deaf. And when I've got the covert in I can hardly hear a bloody thing! I have to cup my hand around my good ear and say something like "Speak up, Sonny!". Not a good look lol

And god help if I get an urgent phonecall to the other ear! My brain certainly can't handle too many (most likely) urgent or important phonecalls in different ears at the same time. My brains shuts down and I usually go Errrrrrrrrrr!

Still, looks good though lol

Fireball on Jupiter

2010-06-05T21:31:00.003+01:00

A huge fireball has been spotted on Jupiter in yet another collision from space caught on camera and video by amateur astronomers.

The new Jupiter crash occurred on June 3 at 20:31 UT (4:31 p.m. Eastern Time) and was spotted by skywatcher Anthony Wesley in Australia and fellow amateur astronomer Christopher Go in the Philippines.

Wesley's photos show the Jupiter fireball blazing in the atmosphere of the gas giant planet. So far, no visible scar in the clouds has been reported from the event.

Wesley described the event as a "large fireball" on his website, where he posted the photos taken from Broken Hill, Australia.

This new impact on Jupiter comes less than a year after a spectacular crash on July 19, 2009, when what scientist now think was an asteroid about 1,600 feet (500 meters) wide slammed into the planet. That collision created a massive bruise the size of the Pacific Ocean. [Gallery: Jupiter gets smacked.]

It was Wesley, too, who first spotted the July 2009 collision. His observations kicked off an international observation campaign to study the impact site.

Astronomers initially suspected a comet in last year's impact, but announced this week that a rogue asteroid was the most likely culprit.

And Jupiter has been smacked before.

In 1994, the comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 broke into more than 20 pieces and pelted Jupiter repeatedly. At the time, astronomers estimated such impacts could occur on Jupiter every 50 to 250 years. So they were surprised by the July 2009 impact.

Sydney Opera house gone to the dogs

2010-06-05T21:27:00.003+01:00

The glittering sails of the Sydney Opera House went to the dogs on Saturday as hundreds of pugs, poodles and pooches converged on the iconic landmark for a world-first concert for canines.

The 20-minute concert kicked off with a mellow set featuring whale calls and soothing white noise, before moving through a rhythm and beat section to a discordant crescendo almost drowned out by hundreds of barks and howls.

"We've got some singing dogs down here in the mosh pit!" joked Anderson, who led the four-piece band with a variety of instruments including a whistle, violin and synthesiser.

Almost 1,000 dog-lovers packed onto the Opera House steps and forecourt to treat their pets to the free outdoor event, part of the Vivid LIVE arts festival curated by Anderson and rock legend partner Lou Reed.

Anderson and her band used the high-frequency sounds to appeal to the dogs' super-sensitive ears, eliciting excited leaping from some creatures and a cacophony of yelps and yowls.

A sea of ears pricked up and tails wagged uncertainly when a burst of whale song rang out from the speakers, the sense of which Anderson said she thought the dogs could decode.

"I know that a lot of animals' calls are about distance and location so I think they might pick up some of that," she said.

They yelped, yowled and circled one another excitedly during the beat section, as Anderson encouraged owners to scratch their pets behind the ears and dance along.

She credited the exuberant canines for the dazzling sunshine that bathed Sydney for the morning's festivities -- the first reprieve in almost three weeks from torrential rain.

"I think the dogs brought on this weather. They don't want to sit freezing in the rain, they want to have a little sun on their fur," she laughed.

"It was good dog vibes."

There were plenty of water bowls and dog waste bags on hand in case of overenthused pooches needing a drink or toilet break, and Opera House staff circulated with spare leashes in case of a rogue escape.

Anderson said she laid some human-friendly strings and horns over the high-frequency sounds so that the dogs' owners also had something to enjoy.

"We brought the octaves down into our hearing range so we could all have the experience," she said.

One sheepdog nipped enthusiastically at the heels of a nervous poodle and there were a few robust exchanges of barking, but Anderson praised the doggy decorum overall, describing the event as the "highlight of my life".

"The dogs were really wonderful audience members, they were grooving, a lot of them were singing and dancing, they were uninhibited," she said after the recital.

"And you know what? There were no dog fights. We were very relieved about that, everyone was very well behaved."

Hubbles 20 Greatest Discoveries: 16 - 13

2010-05-27T22:57:00.006+01:00

What is dark energy?

Dark energy is an unknown form of energy that radiates from deep space. It behaves in the opposite manner from gravity. Rather than pulling galaxies together it pushes them apart.

2. Did anyone predict dark energy?

Dark energy is a complete surprise. However, Albert Einstein theorized the existence of a repulsive form of gravity in space that would balance the universe against normal gravity and keep it from imploding. Einstein called it the cosmological constant.

3. How does dark energy affect the universe?

Dark energy makes up the bulk of the universe's mass/energy budget. If dark energy is stable the universe will continue expanding and accelerating forever. If dark energy is unstable the universe could ultimately come unglued to the point where stars, planets and even atoms come apart, a doomsday scenario called the "big rip." Dark energy might also flip such that is becomes an attractive force and causes the universe to implode in a "big crunch."

4. How can Hubble "see" dark energy?

Hubble can measure the faint glow of distant supernovae, stars that exploded billions of years ago. Supernovae trace the expansion history of the universe, hence, how dark energy "pushed" on space over the past epochs. Every second a star explodes somewhere in the universe, so it's a matter of Hubble looking in the right place at the right time.

5. Does Hubble prove how dark energy really behaves?

These latest Hubble observations show that dark energy is not changing its behavior over time, and so may be the "constant" Einstein predicted. However, more observations are needed over the coming decade.

6. What happens to this research after Hubble stops working?

There will be a hiatus of at least several years in this type of research until some future space telescope with a wide field of view picks up where Hubble left off. This type of research cannot be done with even the largest ground-based telescopes, even those outfitted with adaptive optics for improving image quality.

The Crab Nebula is a supernova remnant, all that remains of a tremendous stellar explosion. Observers in China and Japan recorded the supernova nearly 1,000 years ago, in 1054.

Quasars reside in a variety of galaxies, from normal to highly disturbed. When seen through ground-based telescopes, these compact, enigmatic light sources resemble stars, yet they are billions of light-years away and several hundred billion times brighter than normal stars. The following Hubble Space Telescope images show examples of different home sites of all quasars. But all the sites must provide the fuel to power these unique light beacons. Astronomers believe that a quasar turns on when a massive black hole at the nucleus of a galaxy feeds on gas and stars. As the matter falls into the black hole, intense radiation is emitted. Eventually, the black hole will stop emitting radiation once it consumes all nearby matter. Then it needs debris from a collision of galaxies or another process to provide more fuel. The column of images on the left represents normal galaxies; the center, colliding galaxies; and the right, peculiar galaxies.

Top left: This image shows quasar PG 0052+251, which is 1.4 billion light-years from Earth, at the core of a normal spiral galaxy. Astronomers are surprised to find host galaxies, such as this one, that appear undisturbed by the strong quasar radiation.

Bottom left: Quasar PHL 909 is 1.5 billion light-years from Earth and lies at the core of an apparently normal elliptical galaxy.

Top center: The photo reveals evidence of a catastrophic collision between two galaxies traveling at about 1 million mph. The debris from this collision may be fueling quasar IRAS04505-2958, which is 3 billion light-years from Earth. Astronomers believe that a galaxy plunged vertically through the plane of a spiral galaxy, ripping out its core and leaving the spiral ring (at the bottom of the picture). The core lies in front of the quasar, the bright object in the center of the image. Surrounding the core are star-forming regions. The distance between the quasar and spiral ring is 15,000 light-years, which is one-seventh the diameter of our Milky Way. A foreground star lies just above the quasar.

Bottom center: Hubble has captured quasar PG 1012+008, located 1.6 billion light-years from Earth, merging with a bright galaxy (the object just below the quasar). The two objects are 31,000 light-years apart. The swirling wisps of dust and gas surrounding the quasar and galaxy provide strong evidence for an interaction between them. The compact galaxy on the left of the quasar also may be beginning to merge with the quasar.

Top right: Hubble has captured a tidal tail of dust and gas beneath quasar 0316-346, located 2.2 billion light-years from Earth. The peculiar-shaped tail suggests that the host galaxy has interacted with a passing galaxy that is not in the image.

Bottom right: Hubble has captured evidence of a dance between two merging galaxies. The galaxies may have orbited each other several times before merging, leaving distinct loops of glowing gas around quasar IRAS13218+0552. The quasar is 2 billion light-years from Earth. The elongated core in the center of the image may comprise the two nuclei of the merging galaxies.

Deepest View of Space Yields Young Stars in Andromeda Halo

MAY 7, 2003: Relying on the deepest visible-light images ever taken in space, astronomers using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope (HST) have reliably measured the age of the spherical halo of stars surrounding the neighboring Andromeda galaxy (M31). To their surprise, they have discovered that approximately one-third of the stars in Andromeda's halo formed only 6 to 8 billion years ago. That's a far cry from the 11-to-13 billion-year age of the stars in the Milky Way's halo.

Why is there a difference in the age range of the stars in the Andromeda and Milky Way halos?

Astronomers think that the collision with another large galaxy or the ravaging of several smaller galaxies scattered the young stars into Andromeda's halo. The newly discovered younger stars in Andromeda's halo are richer in heavier elements than those in our Milky Way's halo, or in most of the small dwarf galaxies that surround the Milky Way. The stars' age spread and chemical make-up suggests three possibilities: (1) Collisions destroyed the young disk of Andromeda and dispersed many of its stars into the halo; (2) a single collision destroyed a relatively massive invading galaxy and dispersed its stars and some of Andromeda's disk stars into the halo; and/or (3) many stars formed during the collision itself. Astronomers say it will take more detailed observations to unravel the evidence of these early cataclysmic events.

2. Why do astronomers call these observations the "deepest visible-light images ever taken in space"?

Astronomers needed to make several hundred exposures to survey the bright and the faint stars in Andromeda's halo. The image shown here was made from 250 separate exposures. The observations were taken from Dec. 2, 2002 to Jan. 11, 2003 with the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS), but the total exposure time was 3.5 days. Astronomers needed the lengthy observations because the halo's ordinary Sun-like stars are very faint. In fact, before using the ACS to tackle the halo stars, astronomers had observed only the brightest ones. The sharp eyes of the ACS, however, uncovered about 300,000 stars that astronomers had never seen before.

Getting close

2010-05-27T22:36:00.002+01:00

We shoot on Bulla the Movie in a few days time. Pre production is going well, but there are a couple of tricky locations still outstanding.

Still, we've nailed some great ones, so can;t wait to see what they do with them! :)

This is Bulla, from some previous clips from the 11 O'clock Show in the 1990's where he was a regular character.

And from a recent short film they made.

Its Alive!

2010-05-27T22:32:00.003+01:00

It may not quite be "Frankenstein," but for the first time scientists have created an organism controlled by completely human-made DNA.

Using the tools of synthetic biology, scientists from the J. Craig Venter Institute installed a completely artificial genome inside a host cell without DNA. Like the bolt of lightning that awakened Frankenstein, the new genome invigorated the host cell, which began to grow and reproduce, albeit with a few problems.

The research marks a technical milestone in the synthesis and implantation of artificial DNA. Venter expects the research will lead to cheaper drugs, vaccines and biofuels in several years — and dozens of other companies and researchers are working toward the same goal.

It may not quite be "Frankenstein," but for the first time scientists have created an organism controlled by completely human-made DNA.

Using the tools of synthetic biology, scientists from the J. Craig Venter Institute installed a completely artificial genome inside a host cell without DNA. Like the bolt of lightning that awakened Frankenstein, the new genome invigorated the host cell, which began to grow and reproduce, albeit with a few problems.

The research marks a technical milestone in the synthesis and implantation of artificial DNA. Venter expects the research will lead to cheaper drugs, vaccines and biofuels in several years — and dozens of other companies and researchers are working toward the same goal.

No machine can turn out a single piece of DNA anywhere close to that long, however. Instead, Venter and his colleagues started with many relatively small pieces of DNA. Then the scientists transferred DNA pieces back and forth between a yeast cell and E. coli bacteria, turning the many short pieces into fewer but longer DNA segments.

Once the synthetic DNA segment reached the desired length the scientists injected it into a Mycoplasma bacterium that had had its own DNA removed earlier. Needless to say, the process of assembling such a lengthy piece of synthetic DNA was complicated.

"I hope the day comes when making genomes is something everyone can do," said Pamela Silver, a systems biologist at Harvard Medical School.

Some genes suffered glitches
The new, synthetic DNA "booted up" the bacterium, but not without a few problems: Several of the synthesized genes didn't work properly. And the genes that did work didn't do anything particularly useful, at least by human standards.

The Mycoplasma bacteria grew and reproduced, but that was about all. Within several years however, Venter and his colleagues hope to create more exciting bacteria that will speed up the production and drive down the costs of biofuels, vaccines and drugs.

Venter has teamed up with a major oil and gas company, and a pharmaceutical company, to help realize these goals.

Venter's work falls into a nascent field of science known as synthetic biology. Synthetic biology builds on the decades-old field of genetic engineering. Unlike genetic engineering, where scientists introduce a handful of new genes into an organism, synthetic biology aims to reprogram entire organisms, including bacteria and viruses.

The creation and insertion of a synthetic genome more than 1 million base pairs is a technical landmark, said Frances Arnold, a synthetic biologist at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. He said the feat showcases scientists' ability to precisely manipulate long sections of DNA.

But before consumers see any benefit several significant hurdles have to be solved. One of the biggest problems is that scientists are still searching for the specific genetic code to produce cheap drugs, biofuel and other products.

"We can write anything we want," said Arnold. "The problem is that we don't know what to write."

Hubbles 20 Greatest Discoveries: 20 - 17

2010-05-17T21:05:00.007+01:00

17. Hubble Maps the Cosmic Web of "Clumpy" Dark Matter in 3-D

This three-dimensional map offers a first look at the web-like large-scale distribution of dark matter, an invisible form of matter that accounts for most of the universe's mass. This milestone takes astronomers from inference to direct observation of dark matter's influence in the universe. Because of the finite speed of light, regions furthest away are also seen as they existed a long time ago. The map stretches halfway back in time to the beginning of the universe.

The map reveals a loose network of dark matter filaments, gradually collapsing under the relentless pull of gravity, and growing clumpier over time. This confirms theories of how structure formed in our evolving universe, which has transitioned from a comparatively smooth distribution of matter at the time of the big bang. The dark matter filaments began to form first and provided an underlying scaffolding for the subsequent construction of stars and galaxies from ordinary matter. Without dark matter, there would have been insufficient mass in the universe for structures to collapse and galaxies to form.

[Top] - Three slices through the evolving distribution of dark matter. The dataset is created by splitting the background source galaxy population into discrete epochs of time (like cutting through geologic strata), looking back into the past. This is calibrated by measuring the cosmological redshift of the lensing galaxies used to map the dark matter distribution, and binning them into different time/distance "slices". Each panel represents an area of sky nine times the angular diameter of the full Moon. Note that this fixed angle means that the survey volume is a really a cone, and that the physical area of the slices increases (from 19 Mpc on a side to 31 Mpc on a side) from left to right.

[Bottom] - When the slices across the universe and back into time are combined, they make a three-dimensional map of dark matter in the universe. The three axes of the box correspond to sky position (in right ascension and declination), and distance from the Earth increasing from left to right (as measured by cosmological redshift). Note how the clumping of the dark matter becomes more pronounced, moving right to left across the volume map, from the early universe to the more recent universe.

The dark matter distribution was mapped with Hubble Space Telescope's largest ever survey of the universe, the Cosmic Evolution Survey ("COSMOS"). To compile the COSMOS survey, Hubble photographed 575 adjacent and slightly overlapping views of the universe using the Advanced Camera for Surveys' (ACS) Wide Field Camera onboard Hubble. It took nearly 1,000 hours of observations. The distances to the galaxies were determined from their spectral redshifts, using the Subaru telescope in Hawaii.

18. Hubble Provide Complete View of Jupiter's Auroras

19. Pluto's Two Small Moons Officially Named Nix and Hydra

A pair of small moons that NASA's Hubble Space Telescope discovered orbiting Pluto now have official names: Nix and Hydra. Photographed by Hubble in 2005, Nix and Hydra are roughly 5,000 times fainter than Pluto and are about two to three times farther from Pluto than its large moon, Charon, which was discovered in 1978.

The names were approved this week by the International Astronomical Union (IAU), the recognized authority for assigning designations to celestial bodies.

In Greek mythology, Nyx is the goddess of the night. Among her many offspring was Charon, the boatman who ferried the dead across the river Styx into the Underworld. (Because asteroid 3908 already bears the Greek name Nyx, the IAU decided to use the Egyptian equivalent, Nix, for the name of Pluto's moon.) The mythological Hydra was a nine-headed serpent with poisonous blood. The Hydra had its den at the entrance to Hades, where Pluto and his wife Persephone entered the Underworld.

The team of researchers who selected the names, out of a list of more than two- dozen candidate names, used Hubble images to make the discovery in support of NASA's New Horizons mission to Pluto and the Kuiper Belt beyond. Team members are based at Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) in Boulder, Colo., the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Md., the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore and Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Ariz.

"You're going to be hearing a lot more about Nix and Hydra in coming years, says co-leader of the discovery team, Alan Stern of SwRI. "Astronomers are already applying for telescope time to study their orbits and physical properties. And when New Horizons flies by Pluto in the summer of 2015, each moon will be mapped in detail."

In making the selection, team members explained that Nix and Hydra honor the search for new satellites and the New Horizons mission to Pluto by starting with the letters "N" and "H." The first letter of Hydra also honors the Hubble Space Telescope that was used to detect the satellites. This has historical tradition. Pluto's name begins with the letters "P" and "L" to honor Boston astronomer Percival Lowell, who inaugurated the search that led to Pluto's discovery. (Lowell did not live to see Pluto's discovery, which was made by Clyde Tombaugh at Lowell Observatory in 1930.)

20. Quaoar

OCTOBER 7, 2002: NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has measured the largest object discovered in the solar system since the discovery of Pluto 72 years ago. Approximately half the size of Pluto, the icy world is called "Quaoar" (pronounced kwa-whar). Quaoar is about 4 billion miles away, more than a billion miles farther than Pluto. Like Pluto, Quaoar dwells in the Kuiper belt, an icy belt of comet-like bodies extending 7 billion miles beyond Neptune's orbit.

1. How large is "Quaoar"?

Using Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys, astronomers determined that "Quaoar" has a diameter of about 800 miles (1300 kilometers). Hubble's observation is the first direct measurement of a Kuiper belt object's true size. Although astronomers have discovered 500 Kuiper belt objects over the past decade, they have estimated the sizes of only the largest of them. But astronomers could not measure the true sizes of the objects because they are small, dim, and far away.

2. What is the significance of this finding?

This new object is the "biggest fish" astronomers have snagged in surveys of Kuiper belt objects. Astronomers theorize that even larger icy worlds reside in the Kuiper belt, a reservoir of material from the birth of our solar system. The Kuiper belt is a vast frontier where astronomers are just beginning to hunt for clues about the early solar system. Objects like "Quaoar" could help enlighten astronomers about the birth of our solar system planets.

Film premier

2010-05-09T11:04:00.004+01:00

I was invited to the premier of one of the films that the guys I'm working with did last year. A comedy docu about a failed low budget film. The film that inspired this film was one I worked on 18 months ago, but thankfully it wasn't down to the Locations Dept that it went all a bit wobbly! lol

It was a great film, with all sorts of knowing wink to the wonderful world of low budget indie film making. Worth checking out if you get the chance. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1452294/

And yes, it even had a red carpet! lol

Next film up

2010-05-09T10:56:00.004+01:00

This one is an East End gangster comedy/mockumentary. Could be great fun!

So its full of East End clichés. Been checking out jellied eel stalls (remember them?), Run down EE pubs, and bank vaults! More if I can post :)

Happy 20th birthday Hubble telescope

2010-05-03T12:31:00.002+01:00

As you may know I am a huge fan of the Hubble telescope. 25th April was its 20th aniversary. The Hubble telescope has revolunionised astronomy and cosmology in the past 20 years, making discoveries that were un-heard of, and taking pictures of things only hinted at in Einsteins theory of relativity.

So over the next few post I will be posting a series of pics and articles showing what scientists believe to be the 20 most important discoveries that Hubble has made.

Happy birthday, old girl! I hope we get many more years out of you!

Relationship between Genes and Cognition in Schitzophrenia

2010-04-26T00:17:00.003+01:00

I was looking for part-time work and came across a request for test subjects for a study at the Institute of Psychiatry at Kings College, London. It was a study into the link between genes and the mind in Addiction Studies.

I thought it might be something interesting and new.....so I volunteered! :) So cue me having electorodes strapped to my head as they put little cameras in my eyes while I followed moving dots around a screen. Hehehehe

Seen in London - God knows what!?

2010-04-26T00:05:00.002+01:00

This crazy piece of sculpture was seen in Hays Galleria, on the Southbank, London. God knows what it is?! lol

The cars the star!

2010-04-25T23:35:00.004+01:00

In the short clip for The Message charity shoot, there was a clip of a broken-down car being pushed as an act of kindness. They put a smoke machine under it to give it that "just broken down" look :D

They only bloody asked me to use my car for it! Guess my old shit-box looked the most likely to have broken down! At least it continued my unbroken streak of myself or something belonging to me appearing in everything I've ever work on lol

Parkour

2010-04-25T23:10:00.005+01:00

On the LZ7 shoot, they also had a free-runner or Parkour guy who was bouncing around through their video. The guy really knew his stuff, and it was pretty damn cool to watch :)

We were also going to have Parkour on The Rapture shoot I did, but thank god that never came off, as we had no proper stunt co-ordinator on that shoot, nor health & safety in place. I would have hated to have been some how responsible for Danny Dyer or Lois Winstone getting killed for that shitty shoot! I even scouted a container docs in Kent for them to do it in! I had nightmares of someone getting killed before the whole scene was thankfuly cut! Phew!

Charity rappers

2010-04-25T22:47:00.003+01:00

I've just done 3 days on a rap video/charity promo for a band called LZ7. They work with a Manchester based youth charity called The Message. They go into schools and try keep under-priviledged kids out of trouble. All good stuff really.

They were filming the video for their new song "This Little Light Of Mine", plus were also filming a promo for The Message about "Random Acts of Kindness". Which was basically showing that just because a teenager is wearing a hoody, that they're not a little thug who's about to mug an old lady. So lots of little clips of teenagers helping people in broken-down cars or delivering milk to old ladie. All good stuff :)

Its the first music video I've done, and they brought some really cool lights and stuff with them, plus hired in a Jimmy Jib, which is a sweet-ass camera-arm on track, which can do all sorts of cool things.

A pretty, damn cool few days :)

Lets hope there's nobody out there

2010-04-25T22:29:00.002+01:00

Aliens are very likely out there, according to eminent scientist Stephen Hawking - but we should keep quiet and hope they don't notice us. Skip related content

In a new documentary for the Discovery Channel, the theoretical physicist warns against making contact with any extra-terrestrials.

Professor Hawking, who retired as the Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge last year, claims such space life would only abuse Earth's resources and move on.

"We only have to look at ourselves to see how intelligent life might develop into something we wouldn't want to meet," he said.

"I imagine they might exist in massive ships, having used up all the resources from their home planet.

"Such advanced aliens would perhaps become nomads, looking to conquer and colonise whatever planets they can reach."

"If aliens visit us, the outcome would be much as when Columbus landed in America, which didn't turn out well for the Native Americans."

The documentary, which begins on May 9, explores the British scientist's vision of the universe.

While most aliens were in all probability simple organisms such as microbes, Professor Hawking said it would only take a few intelligent ones to spell disaster for humans.

"To my mathematical brain, the numbers alone make thinking about aliens perfectly rational," he explained.

"The real challenge is to work out what aliens might actually be like."

Foreign Language Syndrome

2010-04-21T10:59:00.001+01:00

Sky News 2010

A woman from Devon has begun speaking with a Chinese accent after suffering severe migraines.

Thirty-five-year-old Sarah Colwill puts the startling change down to an extremely rare medical condition known as Foreign Accent Syndrome (FAS).

"I knew I sounded different but I didn't know how much and people said I sounded a bit Chinese.

"Then I had another attack and when the ambulance crew arrived they said I definitely sounded Chinese."

The rare disorder is thought to be caused by strokes and brain injuries and causes sufferers to lose the ability to talk in their native accent.

There have been an estimated 60 recorded cases of FAS since it was first identified in the 1940s.

Mrs Colwill, who lives in St Budeaux in Plymouth, Devon, with her husband Patrick said her accent change had been startling.

"I spoke to my stepdaughter on the phone from hospital and she didn't recognise who I was.

"She said I sounded Chinese. Since then I have had my friends hanging up on me because they think I'm a hoax caller."

After researching FAS on the internet Mrs Colwill has been in contact with doctors from Oxford University who are interested in studying her plight.

She is undergoing speech therapy to try to revert to her West Country accent.

"I am frustrated to sound like this. I just want my own voice back, but I don't know if I will get it back."

John Coleman, a professor of phonetics at Oxford University, said: "FAS is extremely diverse, almost certainly not 'one thing', not a well-defined medical phenomenon.

"It is not the kind of problem that there are any easy generalisations about."

Sufferers can develop an accent without ever having been exposed to it as it is the change in speech patterns from a brain injury which causes the lengthening of syllables, change in pitch or mispronunciation of sounds.

Experts believe FAS is triggered following a stroke or head injury, when tiny areas of the left side of the brain linked with language, pitch and speech patterns are damaged.

The result is often a drawing out or clipping of the vowels that mimic the accent of a particular country, even though the sufferer may have had limited exposure to that accent.

One of the first reported cases was in 1941 when a Norwegian woman developed a German accent after being hit by bomb shrapnel during an air raid.

As a result, she was shunned by her community, who falsely believed she was a German spy.

In 2006 Linda Walker, 60, woke from a stroke to find that her Geordie accent had been transformed into a Jamaican one.

Selling you soul for a game?

2010-04-17T12:43:00.002+01:00

Fri Apr 16 04:25PM by Yahoo! UK Games Editor

Answer this question honestly – do you read the small print when you buy games on the internet?

High Street retailing giant GameStation decided to put this to the test and inserted a new clause into their terms and conditions earlier this month that granted them legal rights to the immortal souls of thousands of their online customers. Here, in darkest legalese, is how they got away with such a heinous act:

"By placing an order via this Web site on the first day of the fourth month of the year 2010 Anno Domini, you agree to grant Us a non transferable option to claim, for now and for ever more, your immortal soul. Should We wish to exercise this option, you agree to surrender your immortal soul, and any claim you may have on it, within 5 (five) working days of receiving written notification from gamestation.co.uk or one of its duly authorised minions."

GameStation’s fiendish clause specified that they might serve such notice in “six foot-high letters of fire” too, but also offered customers an option to opt out, rewarding them with a £5 money-off voucher if they did so.

Alas, hardly anyone noticed the clause, let alone the substantial bonus for spotting the gag. More to the point, the fact that it passed more or less unnoticed raises an important issue – too few people actually read the small print when they make online purchases.

According to GameStation, around 7,500 customers carelessly signed their souls away on the day. Were you one of them...?

What looks like a strawberry yet tastes like a pineapple?

2010-04-12T22:55:00.003+01:00

A Pineberry, of course!

The pineberry is white and covered in red pips and has the same genetic make-up as the common strawberry but with a flavour and ''extraordinary'' smell closer to that of the pineapple, Waitrose said.
The supermarket will sell pineberries in 45 stores across the UK for the next five weeks while they are in season.

The pineberry originated in South America as a wild variety of strawberry but was threatened with extinction until seven years ago when Dutch farmers began growing it commercially, according to the retailer.
They are grown in glasshouses, turning from green to white and are ripe when the seeds turn dark red.
Nicki Baggott, Waitrose fruit buyer, said: ''Pineberries offer our customers the chance to add a new fruit into their diet and the berry's bright appearance can add an unusual decoration to sweet dishes.
''As the summer unfolds we won't be surprised to hear that our customers are inviting their friends over for pineberry pavlovas, punch or serving them up with yogurt for a lighter alternative.''
A 125g punnet of pineberries will cost £2.99 until April 13 and then sell for £3.99.

Seen in London - A Kick-Ass Red Mist mustang

2010-04-12T15:44:00.004+01:00

Parked up at Elstree Studios was Red Mists car from the film Kick-Ass (which I am desperate to see). Whats a guy to do when faced with such a cool car? Pose, of course! ;)

DIY

2010-04-12T15:39:00.002+01:00

I did my possibly first bit of DIY ever! I built a bed! lol Nowt to it ;)

Astronomy pics

2010-04-12T15:17:00.004+01:00

I've been slacking on the pics recently. Here's a batch I've been saving for a while.

Seen in London - A floating city

2010-04-03T14:33:00.003+01:00

I visited a friend who lives in Canada Water in London. I'd never been there before. All I can say is I want to move there now!

What a beautiful part of London. Wonderful old docks that have been converted into cool flats and modern living, but in the middle was a wonderful marina, just full of the most interesting houseboats and barges, where loads of people live fulltime.

And the wonderful Canary Wharf looms over in the background! Its quiet and beautiful, and I've always wanted to live near the water. I'd better start saving now!

Picture wrap!

2010-04-03T14:24:00.003+01:00

And we finally wrapped on Booked Out on Wednesday. It was hardwork, but a great shoot. And I got to work with a load of brilliant people again.

I've spent the last few days overseeing the decorating, cleaning, and waste removal from our main location (3/4 tonnes of trash!!). And then back to Harrogate for Easter and to get the last of my stuff before I move down to London permanently.

So still all bloody go!

The winners of this year's International Earth and Sky photography contest

2010-04-03T09:55:00.008+01:00

The winner: 'Temple Night' by Chris Kotsiopoulos, presents a panoramic view from the Poseidon temple in Cape Sounion of Greece with a starry sky in one direction and immense light pollution of Athens toward the other horizon

Observatory and Capital' by Mahdi Zamani: The Iranian night sky photographer made this panoramic image from Byurakan Observatory near Yerevan, the capital of Armenia

Lights of Los Angeles' by Ali Douraghy: This panoramic photo shows the lights of this metropolitan as seen from the Griffith Observatory. Judge David Malin, said: 'What a spectacular waste of energy! And what a spectacle, all the way to Santa Catalina Island.'

First prize in the Beauty of Night Sky category - 'Full Moon Rainbow' (left). The photo is taken from the Yosemite Falls of California in a moonlit night. 'Starry Night of Croatia' (right). This wide-angle photo is taken in black and white mode and shows the starry sky above Sjeverni Velebit National Park in Croatia

'Lights vs .Stars' by Fredrik Broms: This image is taken near Kvaloya in Norway

'Light House and Stars' (left) was a runner-up. The photo was taken from coast of Oregon in USA, framing a seaside starry night and strong rays from a light house 'Stargazers' (right) was taken during a public observing night above a hill overlooking Targoviste, Romania

I want a go now!!!

2010-03-30T22:34:00.004+01:00

Oh my god!! How exciting does that look?!!!!

Some time soon (I hope), I am going to Six Flags in Ohio. The number of super adrenaline rides in that place is mind blowing. And whats a poor adrenaline junkie meant to do? Can I please have one of those well-paid job soon? :D

Pacman in space

2010-03-30T10:48:00.003+01:00

(c) BBC news

The Cassini spacecraft in orbit around Saturn has caught an interesting new view of the tiny moon Mimas.

The probe measured temperature differences across the object's surface and produced a map that looks just like the 1980s Pac-Man video games icon.
Scientists are unsure why Mimas should display such variations but say it is probably related to the diversity of textures in the surface materials. Some textures may retain heat better than others, they explain.

Mimas is about 400km (250 miles) across. It has a distinctive scar called Herschel Crater which has led many to draw comparisons with the "Death Star" from the Star Wars movies.

The Cassini team says the creation of the crater itself might have played a key role in changing conditions across extensive regions of the moon's surface.
Cassini is a joint venture between the US space agency (Nasa), the European Space Agency (Esa) and the Italian Space Agency (ASI). Its mission was recently extended through to 2017.

Captains Blog - Awake

2010-03-25T00:35:00.004Z

This is a new internet series my friend Duncan Laing has produced. Called Captains Blog, its a Red Dwarfesque sort of sci-fi series about a 10 year mission to Pluto, who awake after cryosleep to find the mission has been cancelled.

Made for a few hundred pounds, it shows what inventiveness and talent will do with the right people having a go at it!

I worked with Duncan when I first started out in Yorkshire, and its great to see him produce this well made comedy sci-fi show on zero budget.

Well done! Good job. Hope it takes off for you.

Seen in London - Catch up edition

2010-03-21T22:58:00.014Z

I've been doing a lot of scouting for the past few weeks, and I've been to a few interesting places. Seen a lot of stuff...

The worlds cheeriest funeral parlour.

A really cool wall art thing-me-jig in a really cool warehouse apartment converstion with a really cool Pueruvian photo on it. A big fucking bag of cool really!

One of my favouritest buildings in the world.

We filmed in a 5 star hotel right next to St Pauls for a day. It also had a penthouse with a garden rooftop view of it, complete with glass lift to get there! Also THE BIGGEST FUCKING TV I'VE EVER SEEN! God, I don't get paid enough for that lifesyle.....yet. ;)

The remains of a very bad day for three people.

Westminster cathedral. What a beauty! lol Never seen it properly before :)

The globe. Sam Wannamakers dream. I really want to see a proper Shakespeare play done in there this year.

A man in a gibbet! lol I really got a kick out of seeing that as I've always want to see one of those (even if he wasn't real lol

And two of the most impressive (and expensive) cakes I've ever seen, as it was the director (Bryan O'Neil) and lead actor (Rollo Weeks) birthdays on the same day. One was a chocolate bonanza, shaped like a rose, and the other was a cream and Every Fucking Fruit You Can Think Of, including cumquats, lychees, passion fuits, and some strange white shit with seeds that I'm ashamed to say I couldn't name lol Needless to say, both were fucking gorgeous! :)

Sorry, been busy

2010-03-21T22:14:00.004Z

A bit crap on the posting front, sorry!. My average posts per month ratio will be suffering for this! ;)

Filming is in full swing on my latest film, and I'm doing crazier than usual hours as I'm wearing a couple more hats than my usual Location Manager role. I'm also Transport Captain, and about half of Production Manager. As a result I haven't had a day off in nearly 4 weeks. My last day off had me take my first phonecall at 8.30am (I missed a work text at 7.20), and I didn't get back in after a full days location scouting until at 7.30.pm. So a day off is a 3 hour sleep-in from the usual 14-16 hours I do six days a week! lol

But it is a great shoot, with a really cool crew, and a great script to work off. We spent the weekend filming a swing dancing (a kind of 40'a/50's jive) scene. Had loads of people in 50'a hair and clothes dancing really coolly to a brilliant old swing tune. So all is good:)

Why?

2010-03-10T12:25:00.005Z

Because. Just because....I have enough money. $180 Million dollars plus $20 million running costs per year! 'o'

http://www.why-yachts.com/

Your daily AWWWWW!

2010-03-10T00:33:00.003Z

Old school

2010-03-09T00:16:00.004Z

A very old school friend from primary school has scanned and published some class photos on Facebook from back at my days at Starbeck County Primary School in Harrogate.

She tagged everyone in the photos, and what followed beneath was a trip down memory lane with a bunch of people I havent seen or spoken to for 25 years. A couple of them were my bestest friends in the whole wide world when I was 10! lol

Its been very nice to chat again to all my old school friends, and to see how they and their lives have turned out since all those years ago. But god, look at them clothes and haircuts!

So here I am aged 9 and 10. Bless! If only he knew, eh? ;)

Action!

2010-03-09T00:12:00.002Z

We started filming on Sunday, with our first location being in St Pancras station, which yours truly managed to blag for free :D

St Pancras really is the most beautiful building, and what we shot looked wonderful!

So three crazy weeks ahead of me, but it'll all be worth it. Wish me luck!

Skinput

2010-03-03T18:58:00.001Z

Wow!! Snazzy, or what?! Please hurry up and make this commercially available.

Seen in London - Herbie!

2010-02-26T22:38:00.002Z

I was in Fulham in the pouring rain the other night coming back from a location recce, when what should I pass in the street? Only bloody Herbie!* lol But no, I did't go banana's ;)

* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herbie

Just too awesome for words

2010-02-26T09:39:00.002Z

I came across this fantastic clip of a 1970's Soviet Union lounge singer. I was sure it was a spoof, but I am assured it is not!

Lyrics? Who needs them! Bask in the beige glow and awesomeness of "I am very glad, because I'm finally back home";)

The £22,000 car key

2010-02-20T11:44:00.002Z

Is this watch the world's most lavish and expensive car key? Buyers of the new Aston Martin Rapide can specify the Jaeger LeCoultre Rapide Transponder as a £22,000 option.

Owners can use the amazing timepiece to lock and unlock the five-door supercar by simply touching its face.

If it seems expensive, that's because an incredible amount of work went into squeezing the 'plipper' into the watch.

Firstly, Jaeger's engineers had to reduce the size of the transponder that sends the locking signal to the car so it would fit. Then, they spent 18 months working out how to install the watch's mechanical internals while ensuring its timekeeping isn't affected by the transponder's electrical field.

As if owning a Rapide isn't impressive enough, the James Bond-like ability to lock it by pressing your watch face is quite a trick. There are two 'zones' on the sapphire crystal face, one to open the car between 8 and 9 o'clock, and the 'close' section between three and four. There are no buttons required, as the face is a touch-sensitive.

The watch is the latest item on an increasingly lavish Aston options list. The Aston Cygnet (a thoroughly re-upholstered and modified Toyota iQ) will offer wealthy owners the chance to leave their 'proper' Aston behind and take a super-exclusive city car to work instead.

Your daily Awww! Bambi & Thumper

2010-02-17T17:01:00.005Z

Next job!

2010-02-14T13:18:00.003Z

I have landed my next job, so am now down in London again; and may be here for quite a while (more on that soon).

It is an indie comedy called Booked Out, which is a charming script in a kooky romantic comedy sort of way, by a first time director and first time producer. They are both great guys and I am looking forward to it.

Schedule is tight! We shoot in 3 weeks so I had better get cracking! lol More as it comes!

www.bookedoutfilm.com

Happy Valentines Day from 1695

2010-02-14T13:10:00.002Z

It seems finding a partner has never been easy! lol Hope you are having a lovely day wherever you are and whoever you are with. For once, Im not sulking today. Perhaps Ive grown up eventually lol, or am just past caring! x

Simons Cat -Snow Business part 1 & 2

2010-02-12T15:38:00.001Z

The greatest wedding cake ever!

2010-02-12T15:29:00.001Z

Who Says Romance is Dead?: The H.R. Giger Alien Wedding Cake.

On your wedding day, Seattle’s Jet City Cakes wants you to remember: love takes many forms, and can–in turn–be sweet, dark, sticky, or have you violently ejecting your inside parts through a gaping chest cavity. MAZEL TOV!

The Known Universe

2010-02-06T14:31:00.002Z

A fantastic short film showing just how small our little planet is in the grand scheme of things!

Creative Retirement Activity

2010-01-29T08:46:00.002Z

Some of my former business associates among other acquaintances have asked me what I do with my time, now that I am retired. I have decided to distribute a series of brief articles on what one can do to remain mentally active in such circumstances.

1. Kill a few Flies

2. Put them in the sun to dry for one hour.

3. Once they are dry, pick a pencil and paper... Let your imagination flow.

Here are a few examples...

The Wisdom of Bill Gates

2010-01-28T15:58:00.003Z

Love him or hate him , he sure hits the nail on the head with this!
Bill Gates recently gave a speech at a High School about 11 things they did not and will not learn in school. He talks about how feel-good, politically correct teachings created a generation of kids with no concept of reality and how this concept set them up for failure in the real world.

Rule 1 : Life is not fair - get used to it!

Rule 2 : The world doesn't care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.

Rule 3 : You will NOT make $60,000 a year right out of high school. You won't be a vice-president with a car phone until you earn both.

Rule 4 : If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss.

Rule 5 : Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your Grandparents had a different word for burger flipping: they called it opportunity.

Rule 6 : If you mess up, it's not your parents' fault , so don't whine about your mistakes, learn from them.

Rule 7 : Before you were born, your parents weren't as boring as they are now.. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about how cool you thought you were. So before you save the rain forest from the parasites of your parent's generation, try delousing the closet in your own room.

Rule 8 : Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life HAS NOT. In some schools, they have abolished failing grades and they'll give you as MANY TIMES as you want to get the right answer. This doesn't bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.

Rule 9 : Life is not divided into semesters. You don't get summers off and very few employers are interested in helping you FIND YOURSELF. Do that on your own time.

Rule 10 : Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.

Rule 11 : Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one.

East meets West

2010-01-24T13:36:00.002Z

Just after the new year I went to Harrogate local rock bar, called The Blues Bar. My friend Simon has just turned 40, so in keeping with his mid-life crisis, has bought a Stratocaster guitar! lol which lets face it, is cheaper than either the sports car or teenage girlfriend! ;) Plus, his good lady Lois would have his balls on a plate if he got either of those lol

So he got guiter and guitar lessons from a local legend, and off we went to see this guy in action with his band. And yes, he is a boody genuis! A very, very talented guitar player.

But the really cool thing was, he had a dancer on the little stage with him. And she was a Belly Dancer! East meets West in sharp contrast. She looked amazing, and we both had a great night. I should go out more!

Walker-Rutter Production Services

2010-01-24T13:08:00.005Z

I have set up a production company with my good friend Pepper Rutter. We worked together a couple of years ago on a short film in Yorkshire which was called Forty Thousand Reasons. We clicked and kept in touch over the past couple of years.

http://walker-rutter.jimdo.com/

Pepper used to run a company with her ex husband, but after their separation invited me to join her in re-branding of the company for 2010 onwards.

Pepper is a brilliant actress and singer, as well as producer extrodinaire! And between us, we have contacts in all aspects of the Industry, so can offer all services, from crew database, to headshots and agents for actors, upto producing any piece of media, from promos to feature films.

Its early days, of course. We've set up a website and email addresses for us, but we both feel that - sometimes you have to make your own luck! And this is our attempt to do that. We want to ultimately produce a film, and are already talking to some people about it. Big dreams, of course, but you never get anywhere unless you try!

So wish us luck, and watch this space!

Work update

2010-01-24T12:39:00.005Z

Basically, nothing much to report!!

I am still up in Yorkshire and am currently doing some temporary Market Research work to tide myself over. The film industry basically grinds to a halt in Winter. This is something that I need to get used to if I am to stay in this industry.

Most people work like crazy over the Summer months, then can take it easy or do temp work over the Winter months. So this could be a common occurance for me then.

I was involved with two projects that I was going to do for free, but this inconvenient requirement to earn money and pay bills meant that I wasnt able to see them all the way through; which was frankly gutting as I am not in the business of taking something on that I cant finish. But I was able to find the locations for both of them before I left London, but was not able to be there durnig the filming of them. They were The Tower (gritty urban TV pilot), and Breathe (a 3D sci-fi short). Reports of the filming were that both went really well! I look forward to reporting on both of them when they are finished!

I am also finally moving to London properly! Probably sometime in March, I hope! I am currently re-decorating my flat so I can rent it out, so come March off to London I go! Exciting stuff!

And hopefully my next film jobs will come up around then too. I have spoken to a couple of people about various projects, so if all goes according to plan - ROLL ON MARCH!! :D

Simons Cat - Snow Business (part 1)

2010-01-24T12:23:00.000Z

Told you it was snowing!

2010-01-13T23:37:00.009Z

The UK has been hit by a mini cold snap. In fact its been the worse snow and winter since 1983, then before that 1963.

Harrogate, my home town in Yorkshire had 8 inches of snow in one day and even made the national news! lol, and Harrogate only ever gets on the news for flower shows and policital conferences (it is a Conference town). Its snowed so much that kids have been making, not just snowmen, but igloos! lol And sledging down the hill in everything from plastic bags to washing baskets!

Thanks to milder winters, people have forgotten what proper snow feels like. But I am old enoough that I remember proper snows, and my parents taking me and my brother sledging in the Valley Gardens in town, our famous steep gardens, which turn into a wonderful sledge run due to the steepness of the slopes.

So I've been taking pictures for the past 3 weeks or so. So here you go.....snow! Now hurry up and bloody thaw! Im sick of it!!! lol ;)

Not just a photograph

2010-01-05T23:51:00.005Z

The idea

2010-01-01T23:43:00.005Z

I had this sent as a pdf butI couldn't find a way of getting it on here, other than screen caps. Best. Email. Ever! lol

As always, click to enlarge.

Happy New Year! Welcome 2010!

2010-01-01T22:40:00.004Z

A new year, a new decade, and new opportunities!

Who knows what the next year will bring, and I couldn't possibly guess where I will be after a decade!

If my 5 year plan comes off, I will be happy (although there is now only 4 years to go). My first year working in London has been pretty sucessful, so more of the same please!

So here's to a new year! I hope 2010 brings you all whatever you hope for!

Sir Peter Jackson

2009-12-31T16:34:00.002Z

My hero, Peter Jackson is to get a knighthood.

Peter Jackson is to receive a knighthood from his native New Zealand.

The director, whose acclaimed Lord Of The Rings trilogy won 17 Oscars, has been named in the country's New Year Honours list.

Jackson, 48, has been handed the title for his "services to film", The Hollywood Reporter reveals.

New Zealand knights and dames are sanctioned by Queen Elizabeth II, the Commonwealth nation's official head of state.

Jackson is currently working on The Hobbit, a two-part prequel to the J.R.R. Tolkien saga, with Mexican director Guillermo del Toro.

In no small way, the DVD extras on the LOTR box set showing all the aspects for the films creation sowed the seeds that would eventually lead me to have a go at trying to make a career in films!

Congratulation, Sir Peter!

Seen in London - Human Trafficking

2009-12-29T13:56:00.002Z

I came across the cardboard box lying next to a bus stop in Stoke Newington. I can offer no explanation for it.

I guess you really can buy anything nowadays! lol

Happy Christmas!

2009-12-25T00:31:00.005Z

To all my friends, and everyone in the Blogosphere! I hope you have a good one, whatever you get up to! :)

Snow and snowmen

2009-12-24T22:21:00.007Z

Its been snowing heavy in Harrogate, and therefore the local citizens have taken the opportunity to do something we dont get to do often in this country.........and thats make Snowmen! lol

There was this brilliant snowman just across the road from my front door, and my brother and his boys made some too. A snowMan, a snowArcher and a snowDalek to be precise! lol

Ah, winter! :)

Highly important new trailer for new Robin Hood film

2009-12-22T16:09:00.005Z

If you remember, I did a day on Ridley Scotts new Robin Hood film.

http://teamwak.blogspot.com/2009/08/sir-martin-de-walker-palace-gaurd-for.html

Anyway the trailer is out now, and its a right good rollicking yarn, so cant wait to see it!

http://www.superherohype.com/news.php?id=8938

Best thing is though, I am in it! lol Granted you wouldnt be able to tell its me, but I know it is! lol So helpfully below I have posted a screen cap to show my big moment*

* Hopes to God that Ridley has some better close-ups of the thone, or Im screwed!

Kick-Ass Red Band Widget

2009-12-22T13:27:00.002Z

Quite possibly the coolest thing on the internet at the moment! lol. Seek parental permission before viewing ;)

Super Mario bacteria

2009-12-20T13:28:00.001Z

If you could engineer bio-luminescent bacteria to glow certain colors, don't try to tell me you wouldn't try to create Mario's iconic Super Mario Bros sprite.

Let's say you were a member of a team that entered the International Genetically Engineered Machine competition (iGEM), and were given the task of creating art with biological components - specifically, luminescent bacterial cultures. What would you do?

If you were a member of the team from the nanobiology laboratories at the University of Osaka, apparently you would shape said bacteria into the iconic sprite of the world's most famous plumber, as seen here. The bacteria are genetically engineered to "express fluorescent proteins and carotenoid pigments to create works of art," which is fancy science talk for "They make the bacteria glow pretty colors."

The New Scientist has some more of the pieces, and while some of them are mind-blowingly gorgeous and impressive (I'm particular to the photo of Albert Einstein), none of them are Mario. So clearly, the Osakans win.

The Steward of The Valley

2009-12-16T11:48:00.005Z

I did a day yesterday on an educational programme for the new ciriculum for kids wanting to do sport and leisure as a career. It was a fun day and we got to film at the stadium of premier league football team Charlton Athletic, who play at The Valley.

Its always nice to get to go behind the scenes at big stadiums, and this was no different. It looks like an excellent little programme, and we had a few very keen teenage actors running around doing sporty things all day long.

And best of all, they asked me to be in it (in the background) as a football steward. So cue orange jacket and my chance to continue my unbroken streak of appearing in everything I have ever worked on! Nice! :)

Carousel

2009-12-16T11:37:00.003Z

After the screening for Rubins there was drinks in a bar in Leicester Square. Outside, in the middle of Leicester Square is a small fun fair.

So happy film crew + alcohol + fun fair = big kids at play. This is me and my flatmates Quinney and Nicky :D

Name in Lights

2009-12-16T11:22:00.005Z

The screeing of Reuniting The Rubins was a unqualified success, or at least I think so.

It was great to see all my old friends from the film, and the Odeon, Leicester Square was packed. Most of the cast attended, including James Callis and Honor Blackman. And both seemed to enjoy it.

The audience Oooo'd and Ahhhh'd in all the right places, and Yoav and Jonathan got a resounding round of auplause that lasted for ages. Keep your eyes peeled in 2010, and I hope you enjoy the film (and the locations! lol) as much as I did. And is it wrong that I think my name looks rather good on a 40 foot screen! ;)

PS. Mr Callis may just steal this film! What a fucking legend! lol

Pointless

2009-12-09T16:29:00.004Z

(C) By Harry Wallop, Consumer Affairs Editor, The Guardian

The Ultramarinum Marine watch, made by Swiss company Horus, promises to give its owners "the power of time". By pressing a button, the company promises, "the owner can play with the seconds, minutes and hours and make them follow the pace of his or her choice, then return to current time at any point."

The idea is that millionaires can enjoy the illusion of being in a slower or faster world, by making their watch faster or slower. If they are sunbathing and want to pretend the world has stopped moving, they can even stop the time. When they need to return to the real world – or find out the correct time – they push a button and the watch returns to normal.

Gadget experts are amused if a little bit confused by the watch, whose design has been inspired by the 1920s steam yacht SS Delphine.
Kat Hannaford, the contributing editor of Gizmodo, said: "This is clearly aimed at yachtsmen. But there are few places where accurate time is more important than when you are at sea and you need to know the time of the tides and the setting of the sun.
"And I am guessing anyone who has £400,000 to spend on watch is probably glued to their Blackberry all day anyway. The watch is going to appeal to owners of super yachts that never leave their moorings in the Monte Carlo harbour, rather than true sailors."

The watch face is made of teak, titanium and the mechanism inside the watch includes 45 rubies. It is water resistant to 100 meters and shockproof. The strap is made of canvas and leather.
The speeding up and slowing down mechanism is controlled by "a marine tourbillion function".

The founder of Horus, Andre Grossmann, who designed the £410,000 luxury item, defended a watch that didn't tell the correct time.
He said: "It took four years to create this breathtaking time-piece. We used avant-garde materials and revolutionary technologies to create a watch with a time-control system. I am really pleased to be able to offer people the possibility of controlling time. That, for me, is the very essence of true luxury. What could be more precious than time?"

Anyone won over by the Ultramarinum Marine watch can buy it from one of Horus's three shops situated in Montreux Switzerland, Monaco and Abu Dhabi.

What colour is the universe?

2009-12-08T14:35:00.003Z

Beige, it seems! lol

What color is the universe? More precisely, if the entire sky were smeared out, what color would the final mix be? This whimsical question came up when trying to determine what stars are commonplace in nearby galaxies. The answer, depicted above, is a conditionally perceived shade of beige. To determine this, astronomers computationally averaged the light emitted by one of the largest sample of galaxies yet analyzed: the 200,000 galaxies of the 2dF survey. The resulting cosmic spectrum has some emission in all parts of the electromagnetic spectrum, but a single perceived composite color. This color has become much less blue over the past 10 billion years, indicating that redder stars are becoming more prevalent. In a contest to better name the color, notable entries included skyvory, univeige, and the winner: cosmic latte.

Avatar natural history programme

2009-12-08T14:00:00.003Z

Avatar finally hits our screens (and our eyes) in just over a week. There have been some amazing promos and trailers for it, but this one is just brilliant.

Narrated by Sigorney Weaver is the style of a real nature programme, this promo is brillaint, and looks amazing! I so cant wait for this! IMAX and 3D - Hell YEah!

Enjoy

http://player.canalplus.fr/#/297591

Save Our Squirrels

2009-12-06T16:51:00.005Z

I have bought a new car. Or a new one to me. Its my brothers old car and its in great nick!

Its a 1999 Peurgeot 406 estate 1.8L. But more importantly, it has electric wing mirrors! An invention of extreme importance! lol. And it is so big that I could actually lie down flat in the boot ;)

But the great thing is that as it used to be the family car of a Yorkshreman with two young boys who like the ourdoors, it means I inherit the causes that they support from the sickers on the car. So I am now supporting the National Trust, the Cubs, Leeds Rhinos rugby league, and......SaveOurSquirels.org.uk! A most worthy cause, I'm sure you'll agree! lol.

Rubins cast & crew screening at the Odeon, Leicester Square.

2009-12-05T03:18:00.004Z

Reuniting the Rubins is getting its cast and crew screening in December. I can't wait to see it on the big screen.

And the great thing is that the producer Jonathan has swung one of his super deals and only bloody got it at the Odeon, Leicester Square, London. The most prestigious cinema in the country, and one where some of the premiers of the biggest films in the world have taken place!

Ok granted its at 11am on a Sunday, but thats not the point! lol

I invited my parents to come, to finally show that what I'm upto has not been a total failed experiment ;) But unfortunately they cant make it, being that weekend is one of only 2 times in the next 2 months they couldn't make it. Oh well, such is life. Next one then!

But one bright cloud is that I can get pissed with all my old friends from the shoot and not worry about parental disapproval lol. There's enough of that anyway! lol Can't wait for this. Should be a blast :)

Christmas is coming in London

2009-11-26T18:52:00.003Z

Some random pics of the Christmas displays on Oxford Street and Carnaby Street. Plus some travelling Hare Krishna.

Seen in London - Jimmy Carr

2009-11-26T18:47:00.003Z

Forgive the blurry pic, but cant take surepticious pics of celebrities very easily lol. But I stood next to Jimmy Carr, the comedian on the Tube home. I told him he rocked (which he does) as he got off. He smiled and said thanks lol

Already seen Michael McIntyre in London, so just need to see Bill Bailey and I've seen all my favourite comedians since I've been down here. :)

Twitter

2009-11-23T12:00:00.003Z

I have joined (reluctantly) the latest online fad - Twatter, sorry I mean Twitter. ;)

Lord knows how prolific I will be, but should you have a burning urge to follow my inane ramblings then my account is under MartinWWalker.

My top 10 films from the past decade

2009-11-20T14:37:00.020Z

I recently was asked to do a list of my top ten films from the past decade for another website I follow. As I spent so much time on it, I might as well post it here too! :)

So a best 10 films of the decade, eh? That's a pickle of a noodle-scratcher and no mistake.

Going through all my old films made me realise that nearly all my favourite all-time films are from the 90's or before.

But there have been some doozies since 2000, including my all time favourite film(s). So here goes.........

1. The Lord of the Rings trilogy (2001 - 2003). Director Peter Jackson

But surely that's three films? No its fucking not, its one film split into 3 regardless of how its been released.

It should be noted that this is my favourite book. My Dad used to read it to my when I was a youngling. Peter Jacksons version is a real high-point in film making in my opinion. The perfect mix of art house and big budget Hollywood. Quality acting, production design, and killer writing. Proof that fanboys will accept changes to lore if it is done with care and respect.

Visually stimulating, acting of award quality by a note perfect cast. And one rabid LOTR fanboys favourite film(s) ever. In no small way the DVD extras showing every aspect of the production sowed the seeds that would eventually 7 years later lead me to quit my steady government job and try and make it in the film world. I hope one day to meet PJ and personally thank him.

2. A History of Violence (2005). Director David Cronenberg

Cronenberg and Viggo! That's boner inducing stuff straight away. Throw in Maria Bello being ridiculously sexy in a cheer leaders outfit, and some of the roughest screen sex ever with the staircase scene. Add remarkable actors as real bad guys (Ed Harris and William Hurt) and this is a mind-searing film.

Following Viggos everyman who becomes a tv hero after killing (most brutally) two thugs who try to hold up his diner, we see how his new found celebrity brings his house of cards crashing down. Mobsters from Philly turn up saying Viggo is not a small town diner owner, but Joey Cusack a mob hitman who disappeared years ago after barbed-wiring Ed Harris face.

I love the slow burn as Viggos family goes off the rails. His slightly bullied son goes berserk on the local jock dickhead, and Maria Bello starts to get turned on by by the idea of Viggo the mobster. Viggo is the perfect actor. He can play sensitive or psycho, and can flip between the two. The showdown at William Hurts house is brutal yet real. And the final scene at the family dinner table is just PERFECT. Cronenberg at his very best, and securing Viggos place as the thinking mans Hard Bastard. A role he re-visited with Cronenberg in the also excellent Eastern Promises.

3. Dawn of the Dead (2004). Director Zack Synder.

Ok, i'm a an unashamed zombie freak. So colour me very surprised that this film makes it into, not only the positively though-of category, but my top 10 of the decade. This film is my trump card whenever anyone moans at a remake of a popular film. I now have to say "Wait and see", because Dawn was sooooo good as a film. Believe me, I was the most vocal hater when this was first announced. Romero's Dawn in my favourite Horror of all time. I was proper scarred as kid by it when I got to see the uncut (and banned in the UK) version. Month long nightmares has a way of burning a film into your psyche. This remake had so much to live upto.

So it didn't. It took the basic premise of hiding in a shopping mall as the world ends in a zombie Apocalypse then built its own story around it. I had no real problem with fast zombies (although I'm sure they wouldn't still be sprinting after a few months of rotting). I just went with the director, and from the very opening of the film he scared the shit out of me. The opening with the little girl, then the whole neighbourhood having gone to shit was damn powerful stuff. And it never really let up from there. The scenes in the mall were brilliant, with always good Mekhi Phifer and Ving Rhames both having strong arcs. And some brilliant set pieces including the underground carpark and the final escape on the converted buses. Dawn 04 does not try to replace Dawn 78, so it can sit happily next to it as the two best zombie films ever made. And both set in a shopping mall and have the same name. Who would have though it.

4. 28 Days later (2002). Director Danny Boyle

The film that rebooted Zombies for the new millennium. Dawn 04 most certainly owes 28 Days Later a big hug.

The film opens with a scene that is legend making, both in terms of visual impact, but also in terms of the large hairy ones Danny Boyle must have to have even attempted to shut down London for filming. Atmospheric and eerie, 28 Days is a visual masterpiece. From out n out (fast) zombie film, it morphs into darker film that touches on the real violence that exists in the human soul. At the end the audience wonders for a while who the real blood crazed monster is, those infected outside or Cillian Murphys character as he goes from victim to executioner of the squad of soldiers gone bad, led by Christopher Eccleston. A genuine modern horror classic.

5. X Men (2000). Director Bryan Singer

Absolute proof, along with LOTR that just because its big budget fantasy, sci-fi, or comic book, it doesn't have to be unintelligent, or peddling to lowest common denominator. Are you listening Michael Bay and Transformers?

From a killer opening set in a concentration camp (in a comic book movie?!), X Men is another parable on the human condition, namely our bigotry and intolerance to each other. Throw in some brilliant action from Wolverine and co, and this is a summer blockbuster with balls and brains. And Hollywood - if you want some hokie dialogue reading, give it to a couple of Shakespearean actors to read. Worked a charm in LOTR as well.

6. City of God (2002). Directed Fernando Meirelles

Its fucking Shakespeare, man. Shakespeare in the Brazilian slums as we follow the Prince as he murders and schemes his way to the top, then his inevitable fall from there. And with a suitable body count to match. I put off watching this for ages until Empire magazine (which I follow) put it as their best film of the year. Not best foreign film, but best film. Full. Stop.

And they weren't wrong. All the more impressive when you realise the director was working with actual street kids and gang members, and loads of it was improvised on the spot. It is a searing film and I was left speechless by the end.

7. Downfall {Der Untergang} (2004). Director Oliver Hirschbiegel

Perhaps the films that stick with you the most are the ones you had low expectations, or even had no expectations at all (before the internet I came across both The Matrix and Shawshank totally blind, with no prior knowledge of either other than the writing on the video boxes). I didn't know much about this other than it was a German attempt to show a very human portrayal of Uncle Adolf.

And he was a human. He can't have been the pantomime villain that all other portrayals showed him as.

So we have this richly plotted film, impeccably acted by all (including Goebels and his wife). But front and centre is a blistering performance by Bruno Ganz as Hitler. Showing him in turns mad, bad, deranged, weak, tender, and always a fucked-up Human Being. I think the German nation needed to show Adolf themselves as a final chapter of coming to terms with the national shame that was WW2.

8. Almost Famous (2000). Director Cameron Crowe

Surely one of the nicest films ever made. A love letter to music, innocence (and waiting to lose it), and Rock n Roll.

Another pitch perfect ensemble, but real stand out turns from Philip Seymore Hoffman, Frances MacDormand, and Billy Crudup. Newcomer Patrick Fugit shines with wide-eyed innocence as we follow his attempts to interview B list rockers Stillwater while he follows them on a tour of the country. Apart from likable characters the film has some set pieces that are some of the best ever committed to film. The LSD party following into the bus trip set to Tiny Dancer are pure film poetry, and who didn't want to be young Patrick as the hot-as-hell groupies The Band Aids take his virginity ("Lets de-flower the virgin").

The film swings from high comedy (Russel's phonecall with Frances' pissed-off Mum) and real patios (Kate Hudson OD'ing on Qualudes), and sometimes in the same scene (the plane journey). I just love this film!

9. Ratatouille (2007). Director Brad Bird

I had to have one PIXAR on here. And I have debated WALL:E, The Incredible's, and even Up to go here, but in the end I keep coming back to Ratatouille.

A perfect little, follow your dreams regardless story, Ratatouille is beauty personified - which is saying something for a film starring a garbage eating rodent. But the animation, especially on the fur (watch it as it gets wet) is just fucking gawjus! There is brilliant comedy, genuinely earned emotions, a love story, and a couple of cool baddies in Skinner (Ian Holm) and Anton Ego the food critic aka The Grim Eater (Peter O' Toole). The thing that consistently raises Ratatouille over the other ridiculously brilliant PIXAR fare of the last decade is one scene alone. The one-eyed colonel happens to think this is one of the great movie scenes, full stop. It is the scene where Anton Ego finally tastes the Ratatouille dish that has been sent out to him. His flashback to his childhood and a mothers loving touch is pure movie magic, and I remember clapping the screen as it played it. Its shit like that that makes me a movie fan.

God bless PIXAR. Long may they continue to be the gold standard that ALL other film makers are held against. Animation be damned! These fuckers are all about STORY. The future of films at Disney is in safe hands with Lassiter at the helm.

10. Intolerable Cruelty (2003). Directors Joel & Ethan Coen

Go on, laugh it up Fuzzballs! This one surely will get the blood boiling, but this is my favourite Coens film. I love the Coens with Fargo, Millers Crossing and Hudsucker Proxy beings favs of mine, but Intolerable Cruelty is just about my favourite comedy of all time.

The very defination of screwball comedy, it is the chemistry between George Clooney and Catherine Zeta Jones that makes this film zing. He showed (to me) what brilliant comedy chops he has, and she has never looked more gorgeous. Fantastic zany support (well what did you expect? Its a Coens), with the always watchable Edwward Herrmann and Geoffrey Rush (the Colonels favourite actor). Wonderful scenes like the court room (Heinz, the Baron Krauss von Espy) and Wheezy Joe just leave me giggling like I'm watching Airplane! or something. And the cross, double cross, triple cross of who's marrying who and what for just make this film a joy from start to finish. Go Coens!

And thats my list. Hope you all like it. Honorable mention must go out to:

Memento (2001) Christopher Nolan,

Shaun of the Dead (2004) Edgar Wright,

Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back (2001) Kevin Smith,

Atonement (2007) Joe Wright,

Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl (2003) Gore Verbinski

3D Building Project

2009-11-19T11:20:00.000Z

From Netherlands-based design firm, NuFormer Digital Media, comes a new way of projecting three-dimensional images onto a building exterior. Custom-designed to fit any building façade and scale up to any size, the video mapped objects are made visible by a set of powerful projectors. Without physically constructing new architecture or permanently altering the streetscape, NuFormer hardware/software technology enables users to transform an outdoor public space into a virtual yet live experience. Consider the possibilities to communicate, entertain, educate. Think of how 3-D projections can be used for advertising, product launches, conferences, concerts, festivals. This is a whole new medium waiting to be tapped.

Projection on Buildings from NuFormer Digital Media on Vimeo.

The Evolution of Technology

2009-11-18T21:04:00.001Z

A cool as fuck advert from Germany.

Animal abuse

2009-11-16T12:09:00.001Z

Please read!

If you are an owner of a dog or know someone who has a dog which belongs to a 'dangerous breed' category, or if you have a child visiting your house, please take this as a warning.

Don't leave your dog with any small child unattended under any circumstances!

Only one little moment was enough for the following to happen.

Thank you!

The Dog

Tattooed

2009-11-13T14:13:00.001Z

Who's been marking up Mars? This portion of a recent high-resolution picture from the HiRISE camera on board the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter shows twisting dark trails criss-crossing light colored terrain on the martian surface. Newly formed trails like these had presented researchers with a tantalizing martian mystery but are now known to be the work of miniature wind vortices known to occur on the red planet - martian dust devils. Such spinning columns of rising air heated by the warm surface are also common in dry and desert areas on planet Earth. Typically lasting only a few minutes, dust devils become visible as they pick up loose red-colored dust leaving the darker and heavier sand beneath intact. On Mars, dust devils can be up to 8 kilometers high. Dust devils have been credited with unexpected cleanings of mars rover solar panels.

Astronomy Picture of the Day

2009-11-11T03:32:00.003Z

The great APOD website from NASA has been busy in my absence online.

Seen in London - Strange folk on the Tube

2009-11-10T22:21:00.002Z

And only one of them was on Haloween! lol

Your "AWWWW" for the day

2009-11-10T21:30:00.006Z

When hurricane Hannah separated two white tigers from their mother, Anjana came to the Rescue. Anjana, a chimp at TIGERS in South Carolina, became surrogate mom and playmate to the cubs, even helping with bottle feeding, according to The Sun.

But here's the truly amazing part: This is something Anjana does all the time, having helped raised leopard and lion cubs on several occasions.

Thats a wrap!

2009-11-10T20:29:00.005Z

We finally wrapped on Lipstikka. In fact it was 2 weeks ago, but since then I've been without a computer as my old laptop died!

I now finally have a nice, new, shiny laptop and am back on the WWW again. :) And it was bloody painful to be offline for so long too!

It was a great shoot. Although we were small, there was a real good vibe on set, and a great cameradorie between all of us. I cant wait to see how it looks when it is all put together.

Next I have a short film (in 3D), a gritty, urban TV pilot, and a batshit insane feature about a sock puppet! ;) Busy, busy!

Rubins film mentioned on TV

2009-10-13T17:54:00.001+01:00

The lovely Honor Blackman mentioned our latest film on the Paul O'Grady show last week. Cool! lol

Heres a link to the clip, but its on Facebook only.

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=304809900202&ref=mf

Volcanoes, clouds, and auroras

2009-10-12T16:36:00.004+01:00

Some cracking photos recently from NASA Picture of the Day :)

Action!

2009-10-09T13:50:00.002+01:00

We start filming tomorrow. 3 weeks in UK and 1 week Israel.

Wish me luck and see you on the other side!