This is an amazing advert!

I've just seen a very impressive, literally "amazing" advert here. I mean, this had me actually chuckling and saying things like "no way" out loud, as I sat at my computer. Credit must go to the author of this blog post where I found the link.

Back to the Future Trivia!

I just found out LOADS of interesting things about the Back to the Future movies that I never knew before. It's amazing how many clever references people write into movies to pay tribute to films they liked in the past, or naming things after wives and so on.

If you're interested, here are the trivia links for Back to the Future parts 1 and 2:

Trivia for Back to the Future
Trivia for Back to the Future Part II

In case you're not convinced about the merits of reading the trivia, let me show you the COOLEST one I discovered:

The mall where Marty McFly meets Doc Brown for their time travel experiment is called "Twin Pines Mall". Doc Brown comments that old farmer Peabody used to own all of the land, and he grew pines there. When Marty goes back in time, he runs over and knocks down a pine tree on the Peabody's property. When he comes back to the mall at the end of the film, the sign at the mall identifies the mall as "Lone Pine Mall".

Here are some pics to prove it. I just grabbed these straight from DVD:




I love the fact that someone went to the trouble of doing that. It makes me smile.

(I'm watching part 3 tomorrow, maybe I'll read up on the trivia now.)

I love "Back to the Future"

For the past six months or so, I've had a kind of nagging craving in the back of my mind that I really should watch Back to the Future. I can't explain it, other than it being like really missing an old friend.

On monday, I signed up with my local video shop and rented the completed Back to the Future trilogy on DVD! Last night I watched the first one and it's still as good as ever. OK, so the special effects are pretty dated by today's standards but the thing I realized was just how great a story it is. I suppose it's the ingredient of time travel that really opens up the plot options to writer(s?) but still I think it's definitely one of the better ones.

Tonight I was watching Back to the Future Part 2 and I noticed something very spooky at the start. Just after the opening credits it states the date as October 26th, 1985. I thought October 26th looked a bit familiar and then I checked today's date. Today is the 27th, meaning I watched part 1 of Back to the Future EXACTLY TWENTY YEARS after it was set! How cool is that? I thought it was noteworthy at least.

Part II was brilliant as well. They really took things to a new level with the plot going back AND forward in time. Especially the idea that someone had gone back in time creating a tangent on the space/time continuum, leaving them unable to go forward in time again to stop him going back because they were now on a different time line. There's not many movies that would attempt to put something as cool as that in there. Sure, their idea of the future wasn't exactly accurate but it'd just be too freaky if everyone really was using wireless Internet, laptops and mobiles. I still want a hoverboard, though.

Tomorrow I'll watch Part III but I think it's safe to say that 30 years later, Back to the Future still has the magic! Great Scott!

Baby Progress Bar

I just had a great idea today for the more geeky parent to be.

I thought what would be cooler than a baby progress bar? That's right. Imagine an item that could be safely stuck to the tummy of the mum-to-be, indicating to anyone who's interested how far through the pregnancy she is! Wouldn't that just be so cool? I think it would be. Before you get concerned, I'm not going to take things to the extreme of that guy last year who named his baby version 2.0.

Come to think of it, it'll be a while before I'll be in need of such a product, since I won't be having any babies until I solve the "still needing to get a wife" problem which in turn is complicated by the "still needing to get a girlfriend" problem. Ho hum, I can always make money off those who are a bit further down the track in these things in the mean time, though.

Guinness Face

I don't know if you're like me but whenever I get a Guinness, I always feel the need to try the "face" test. The face test (ok, I'm sure no-one else calls it that) is when you make a face in the head and then see if it's still there at the end of the pint. A "good" Guinness will preserve the face to the bitter (ho ho) end.

By that definition, this pint wasn't a good Guinness. It just goes to show for all you Canadians that we don't get perfect Guinness in Glasgow either. Maybe one would need to go on some kind of pilgrimage to Dublin to get the real deal. I suppose there's the argument of how it's poured as well, I suppose.

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Actually, I heard an interesting story about the origins of Guinness. The inventor, a Christian man, (presumably Mr. Guinness) noticed how a significant number of the working-class men in Ireland were going straight to the pub when they got paid and then drinking all their earnings, neglecting to feed themselves properly in the process.

Concerned by this, he created Guinness to be a meal replacement. It actually has all the nutrients and whatever that you might get from a normal meal. It was made with alcohol, so people would drink it but it was designed to be difficult to actually get drunk on, although I have to say I've never tried. I've even heard of doctors recommending Guinness to nursing mothers who've been having a hard time producing enough milk for the baby. Strange but true.

Having said all that, I still find it sad that Guinness is all people think about on St. Patrick's day. (See my post on St. Patrick's day from March.)

End of an era

Today is a sad day. Well, not very sad but a moment to reflect at least. You see, I finally decided it was time to get a new wallet because I've had this one for years. At least since 2002, maybe even 2001. I had this one with me in Germany on outreach in 2002 and I actually lost it. Then I retraced my steps in the dark and found it in the middle of the road! It was the strangest thing. I drove over a wallet-shaped shadow and thought, "Hmm, that could be it." and then dismissed the idea. Then I remembered that I was in fact LOOKING for my wallet so it would really make sense to check out wallet-shaped clues. I did a u-turn and came back to the spot and there it was. Nothing was missing.

My new wallet is different and it brings attention to the fact that I'm very accustomed to the other one. It opens to the left while the old one opens to the right so I keep opening the new one upside-down and then saying to myself, "Oh yeh, it's my new wallet." Also, the zip opens from left to right while the old one was from right to left. I really don't know how I'm going to cope. I'll try to be strong - for the sake of my blog readers.

End of Innocents

Today is a sad day. I've now finished the ten free fruit smoothies that Innocent Drinks sent to me as an apology for the yoghurt thickie I bought that was off. I still have the bottles on my shelf to help me remember the good times, though.

 

Image Test - Wine Bottle Decoration

Look at that, that's amazing! You can add images directly to blogger these days. I don' t know how long it's been like that but that's handy to know. I've been using Flickr for a while now as the more avid TheKen-blog-followers will know. (If you didn't know that, stop reading this and go to my flickr images and start commenting on my amazing pics immediately.)

This picture to the left is a bottle of wine, decorated simply yet effectivley with a decoration my good friend Heidi Lichti gave me just before I left Canada. Apparently in Canada they have traditions about bringing bread and wine to a new house to symbolise things like provision and prosperity. (I think.) Anyway, this was the first bottle in my new flat so Heidi, that's your wine-bottle-decoration put to good use.

Innocent Drinks are the best!

I'm seriously impressed with the people who work at Innocent Drinks. (innocentdrinks.co.uk) I've been a huge fan of their fruit smoothies and yoghurt thickies for a number of years now. Of course, I've also been living in Canada for the last 3 years so it's been a difficult distance relationship. In fact, I actually missed innocent drinks while I was in Canada. I really did. Whenever I came home to visit, I always had to go out and buy one.

It was when buying my first innocent drink after moving home to Scotland that this latest adventure all began. I bought a yoghurt thickie at a shop in Glasgow Central Station (I won't name and shame them here) and hopped on the train to Greenock, to go see Mum & Dad. Well, after the obligatory shaking up of the bottle, I was surprised to hear a fizzing sound when I opened it. I drank some and it tasted fizzy and seemed thinner than usual. Oh, not to forget that when it fizzed to begin with, it actually overflowed onto my hand and the floor of the train. It was quite a tricky moment.

Well, the good people at Innocent Drinks were kind enough to offer me a case of their finest drinks as a peace offering after I reported the unfortunate event to them. A whole case! I got TEN FREE SMOOTHIES because I bought one bad one! Amazing!

Here are some pics of me enjoying my new smoothies after they arrived today. If you follow the links, you'll see bigger pictures along with comments from yours truly. (That's me)









If you're still reading, you obviously find this interesting. Why not check out what they have to say about cranberries.