Nerds! Geeks! Dorks! Dweebs! You have to love them all. Whatever variation a super-clever, computer-loving (occasionally socially-inept, but I am in no way suggesting that’s every one, it’s a very small number!) individual comes in, they are loveable for several reasons: OK, half the time they might not be able to communicate their incredible ideas so well—only because us non-nerds don’t have the brain-capacity to handle what they are on about, which is our own stupid fault—but they are the brains behind most of the world’s best energy-saving ideas / concepts / gadgets. Have you ever heard of a muscle-bound jerk inventing a Nobel Prize winning machine responsible for later solving third-world drought? No, I’m willing to bet you haven’t (also because no nerd worth his salt would be caught dead constructing muscles). You’ve not seen that because that’s what nerds and nerdets are for. And Enigin have their own crew of these people—some of them in the US, so I can’t comment on them because I’m not familiar with the US variety, although from the web-site they seem much cooler—working round-the-clock to make the world a more inhabitable place. They and other people are making a proper difference. It’s us non-nerds who should be ashamed, people!

Finally getting to the point now, hold on. So, as well as inventing, Enigin like to post news / ideas about other applications which aren’t theirs, but they endorse. Wonderful. The result is that you not only learn about all Enigin products but about products made by some of the finest companies in the energy-saving world.

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One consistent feature of theenigin is their ability–something which comes naturally and isn’t at all forced–to cram an awful lot of decent knowledge into each and every post. The above post, for example, sheds light on the mysterious and often trivialized Seasonal Affective Disorder. Where else would you find out that all you had to do to curb that problem was eat fish?

But in all seriousness, theenigin is all about the little things–the small things you can do in the home, and how you personally can make a real difference by opening your ears and adjusting your attitude–as well as the great big world changing things we can do as countries by paying a bit more attention to how we utilize and consider energy. You won’t find sexed-up arguments here or debates pointing the finger left and right, all you’ll find is informative news and good old-fashioned Good Will. Within minutes of arriving I had already discovered that I am a horrendous carbon wasting human being. But I didn’t feel bad, because these guys broke it to me gently, keeping me in to the idea rather than switching me off.

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‘The Rip’ is one of my favourite Portishead songs. It is taken from ‘Third’ (which also happens to be my favourite one of their albums).

I had heard the track quite a few times before I finally came across its official video on You Tube. I’m not sure what I expected it to be like and I certainly wasn’t prepared for it. Portishead have always released interesting videos to accompany their singles, but this one is the best to date.

The whole thing is an animation. It is the first Portishead video to be made in this style and I certainly hope there will be more to come. It is surreal, beautiful, arty, thought-provoking and scary. There is a very strong feel of Art College about the entire film; it is pretty much like viewing the exam work of a degree student. I have spent a long time trying to find out who it was that created it, but up to now I have found very little information. What a shame it is for such a wonderful artist to remain unknown.

If this were the work of a student, then he/she would be getting the very highest marks on offer. It is an amazing piece of animation and would still be an absolute joy to watch without the song. Having it with such a stonkingly good track by Portishead is just an enormous bonus feature.

It’s a pity that more groups do not experiment in such creative fields. Drawings by the right artist can go so well with a song and express far more than traditional film footage can. The first band to use this method was A-ha with, ‘Take on me’ back in 1985. Since then there have been surprisingly few musicians to use the medium of animated drawings for their videos.

By the way, I have just been told what my cousin preferred for her birthday present, and you are going to laugh when I tell you how specific it is. So now I need to sort out where to purchase a yellow sun lounger cover , any guidance is welcome!

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Human Traffic was the super hyper-active, quintessentially 90s party film about five pill-popping, out-of-their-heads friends who live only for the weekend. Monday to Thursday it’s work, boring, mundane, pointless, a waste of time—then the weekend comes: 48 hours to cut loose and live for themselves. No boss, no rules; anything goes, so long as it’s fun. Watching it now it’s a bit dated, but one thing it does more than ever–and will continue to do as time goes on–is show up the gaping chasm dividing the culture which existed then and what exists today. The 1990s were about going with the flow, breaking boundaries because we could. Trainspotting, Nirvana, illegal raves, they all played their part.

This got me thinking: if Human Traffic was a symbol of the 1990s, then what is the symbol of the 2000s? We’re not exactly going to run out of time to decide this any time soon, but come on, it’s been ten years already and we’re almost exactly where we started, aren’t we? I’m struggling to think of one film which, in twenty years time, could be picked out as quintessentially 00 material. Everything that’s come so far can be easily divided into obvious categories: American comedy, Hollywood blockbuster, Art-house cinema. Anything in between is either a throw-back to the sixties or seventies, or too unspecific to have really made an impact. Maybe it’s something to do with it being the start of a new Century, who knows? It does seem sad to think of the 2000s as the time of animated cinema, but if not that, then what else? War films? Avatar? As interesting, realistic and relevant as The Hurt Locker was and Avatar can be considered ground-breaking in certain ways, I can’t help but think that we’ve been robbed so far. If something doesn’t happen soon then the 00s will become identity less. It makes my skin crawl to think of a future conversation where a child asks his grandmother what the start of the 00s was like; the last words I want to come out of her mouth in response are X Factor and Property programmes.

Before I go, I just want to give a shout out to this amazing website that I found called enigin digital. If any of you are interested in super nerdy things that I tend to like, then you should really check it out!

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As Gordon Brown and the Irish Taoiseach Brian Cowen try to broker a deal between two increasingly opposed parties in Northern Ireland, it seems that we stand on the verge of a return to the dreadful days of mistrust and violence associated with The Troubles.

In the decade that has passed since the Good Friday agreement came into place, huge strides have taken place in Northern Ireland politics. I am old enough however to remember the horror of the 70s and 80s, and onwards into the early 90s, when terrorism was rife and religion divided communities in a most bitter and bloody way. The threat of bombings was very real both in Northern Ireland and mainland Britain, and ’punishment beatings’ (in effect gangland torturing and intimidation) took place on a daily basis on a widespread scale. Young children going to Catholic schools were spat at in the streets and had abuse screamed at them by Protestant adults. Protestant marchers had briks thrown at them during the heated summer marching season. As a catholic of Irish descent myself I remember plainly how depressing the situation was and how insoluble the problems seemed.

Good Friday however changed things in a remarkably quick fashion. Just a few years ago it would have been impossible to imagine Ian Paisley and Gerry Adams sitting around the same table or the IRA declaring that the armed struggle was over, or even Unionists admitting that some devolution was necessary for Northern Ireland, but these things have rapidly come to pass.

The warning signs are still there however, and rest assured that just as quickly as the troubles were erased they can resurface if the fragile goodwill between the opposing factions breaks down.

One of the most bizarre elements of the Norther Ireland peace process was the relationship between Ian Paisley and Adams and Martin McGuinness. It seemed that a real understanding, almost a warmth, had grown between these men, previously and literally deadly enemies. Now that Paisley is no longer leader of the DUP, the differences between the Unionists and Sinn Fein seem to be widening again.

The two parties are split over the devolving of policing and justice, and whilst Brown and Cowen have worked hard to persuade both Republican and Loyalist politicians there seems to be an increasing desperation about their actions.

It seems inevitable now that the talks will end in failure and that the Stormont assembly will once again be thrown into chaos. Violence is on the rise again in Northern Ireland and newly emerging dissident groups are ready to use any excuse to start their gangland activities masquerading under a political facade.

I hope that it is not too late for a deal to be brokered. Whilst it could be the last action of Gordon Brown as British PM, it could be the most important achievement of his life. Politicians of both sides must once again put aside relatively minor differences, and must even be prepared to put aside lifelong ideaologies, in order to prevent the destruction of the country itself. A dark cloud is emerging again over the beautiful green counties of Northern Ireland. In this little corner of Europe the storms can arrive quickly and ferociously and they last a long, long time.

I think I have a solution everyone will agree upon for what we should plan for Clive’s pre-wedding weekend. We should sort out some time at one of his favourite ski chalet holidays as a surprise.

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Actually neither my glass is just not big enough, that’s how I feel today, a veritable overflow, one of those days when life makes you feel rich and in your heart you just know that if you step around the corner another delight is going to face you.

Why? Well it started with getting out the house one cold miserable day, didn’t want to do it had made a million and fifty excuses why I could not possibly start my day with a brisk morning walk up to the park and back again, then one nasty morning having got thoroughly fed up with myself I did it. Trainers on, water bottle in hand I set off with a determined stride, head up and panted up the steep hill, in through the park gates around the pond and then another hill right to the top of the park.

I hadn’t noticed the blue sky behind the grey, not seen the ducks, squirrels and dogs bounding about until I finally caught my breath wiped the sweat from a very glowing face and felt a ray of sunshine bouncing off my head, London spread out below me glowing in the most perfect morning.

Ever since that day my life changed from a half full struggling glass my cup fairly overflowed with energy & delight, so cheers to fresh air, exercise & of course a radical change of diet that took me from sloth to speedy Gonzales.

I cannot pat myself on the back enough for finally getting my lazy butt out the door, every morning I step out into the wide world wondering what I will encounter, those jobs put off are done before I can blink, nothing seems to be too much trouble anymore & as an additional bonus I cannot find the remote for the TV and what’s more I don’t care.

Before I go I have a quick and rather random favor to ask of you. A good friend of mine is doing a show in a theatre and requires a set of shutters for this play that is going up at the end of next week. If you know of anyone who has any for free please shoot me an email.

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I watched one of my favourite films again the other day. It is a much underrated British movie called, ‘Paperhouse’ and it was made in the eighties.

It is the sort of story that is really easy to get into; it sounds a little bit silly, but it actually comes across as being very believable. Anna is a girl of around twelve who loves to draw. When she gets Meningitis she discovers that her pictures actually become the backdrop to her dreams; whatever she draws becomes a sort of reality, hence the ‘paper house’ of the title.

I love films like this because they are so imaginative. Wouldn’t it be brilliant if your drawings could come to life? When I was a child I spent hours with a pencil and paper. If my pictures had become real then it would have been the most magical thing that could ever have happened.

This sort of movie isn’t just good because it has an interesting story; the best thing about it is that it reminds you of how it was to be a child. In the young and innocent, there are no limits on the imagination. If we want to believe in something then we can. We do not need to concern ourselves with such things as whether or not it will fit in with the rest of society.

The joy and freedom of being a child is something that we should all try to remember now and again. It is all too easy for us to get caught up with mundane, everyday things. We forget what a wondrous place our world is and that our minds are free to go wherever we want. The only limit that we have on our imagination is the one that we ourselves have put into place.

Before I go, the ski chalets bookings for our annual winter trip have been sorted out. I need part of the payment by this weekend.

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