Delta done (just about): You get to know how these oxbow lakes form around kettle-holes after doing this kind of drawing. the KML file is getting too heavy to manage now, so I need to call a halt soon- there are 190 ponds & lakes drawn in to add onto the ones already present.

This printscreen was taken at the current time & weather, the melt is underway leading to the very short summer, but 24hr daylight.
I will probably make this file available on this site until AvSim is recovered.

Journey home was hard today; that wind.
Delta building: About 75% complete I’d say, the town of Tiksi is misplaced and has the wrong shoreline- I will fix that soon.

There Will be Blood: on a roll now; two great films in a week. This one was very long, again it’s set in the deserts of the US, but the dark tension came from a different direction. This time there was focus on a character Daniel Plainvew, clues were revealed when the lead wanted to expose them. They were not nice things to see, some were only hints but still ugliness was there in a way that created a a heavy, tense and sinister feel. As dark as the crude oil that he was obsessed with. Stupid me, didn’t realise that the lead was played by Daniel Day-Lewis. Perhaps that is the mark of a great actor, or a viewer who doesn’t have a care about celebrity.
This film is worth watching again.

Film: No Country For Old Men: now here is a film full of space, time to breathe and heart-thumping tension. Given, the characters were not really explored in depth, it’s not a film about that. There was so much to explore otherwise that I didn’t miss it anyway. The story was centred about a psychopath, casual murder and some gore, blood, dust and desert. It was however, quiet; quiet enough to hear your heartbeat. It beat out because of the plot which didn’t give away too many secrets in advance. The theme of ageing was never far away, timeless characters were set against a guy who was so conscious of his own. I liked this film, the space, the long scenes and the smallness of the players in that vast desert.

The clouds are taunting us- the patch of blue sky to the west has stayed there all morning, clouds are travelling northwards and could stay like this all day.
In Bruges: What a very sweary film. A brutal and funny gangster film set in a relatively little known Belgian city. What a beautiful place; a medieval city with much of the charm and atmosphere of Prague, but as the opening line in the film states: "Bruges is a shithole".  Clearly that character is less than happy: later you find out why. Warning: after watching this film, you may find yourself swearing more than usual.This effect dies down after a day or so.
  

Matrix (the): no need to say much, I have not hated a film as much as this since the trip to see Lord Of The Rings. Similar reasons, or at least both shared the characteristic that they are ridiculous films. The main problem was that it was not possible to suspend disbelief. Each time the plot got itself into a corner, then some sci0fi/magic trick was introduced to get them out of it. The effect is like cheating, I felt cheated anyway because we didn’t fully understand any dilemmas that characters were in. Actually, I say "characters" but there were no real personalities, there were roles played by people (or things) but they were not steered by their own personalities.
The result is a film that never drew me in. In Both films, I came out feeling quite annoyed by them. Why do so many in the 3D animation field enthuse about "bullet time"? I’m exasperated.

Slartybartfast: he won an award for designing all the crinkly bits around Norway, I’m going for one in Siberia, specifically on the delta of the River Lena in Flight Sim X. Look at this for a landscape, those ponds are a few miles across for each one.

This delta is on the Arctic circle, which makes this delta-scape look odd. Deltas don’t often have kettle-holes do they?
Okay, I think it looks odd then, you are entitled to an opinion.
I bet the place smells a bit in late summer, what with the permafrost melting and all that.
Instead of worrying about that- play a game instead.

5°C, light cloud, some stars.

The Curious case of Benjamin Button Was that a long film? It touched on some raw nerves that film. The poignant themes were carried on concept of an odd man who grew younger as those around him aged. The power laid in the big life issues that we all often have to deal with: love, loss, longing and the clash between life-long desires and moving our lives onwards. Even though it was nearing 3 hours (incl. adverts) I thought some parts could have been longer, it seemed a big heavily cut in parts. That’s Hollywood I suppose.

4°C, clear, sunny, snow lingers.

Warwick Arts Centre, film:initially I thought this would be like a documentary, but it turned out to be a very powerful story that wove politics, sexuality, personal tragedy into a compelling story. It wasn’t all that long ago, significant events happened in the mid-seventies, years I can recall.

Please someone suggest what the thinking was behind this apostrophe. Not possessive, so it’s the missing letter game.
Can any scrabble experts suggest a word for thr_o. Anyone…?