Little Storping-in-the-Swuff

I think it maybe… What you need to do is get the widget and then run an instance for each station you want to keep an eye on trains for… (eg. one for the station near home, one for the station near work).

Then just hit your dashboard hotkey to see whether check if your train’s on time!

ITV has temporarily resolved its dilemma over whether to axe Men & Motors or ITV News on Freeview by reducing the hours for ITV News to make way for the part time channel.

It seems insane to axe news for a second male-orientated ITV channel, but ITV will have to review its decision when CITV arrives in February to take up the remaining ITV News hours.

On the other hand, I rarely watch ITV News, and ITV 4 is going to carry Homicide: Life on the Streets. Hurrah.

It may have gone (temporarily - 1 Month & 25 Days until The Christmas Invasion) from our screens, but Doctor Who is going from strength to strength.

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And there’s currently Gatiss-scripted Doctor Who on the radio - Invaders from Mars is on BBC 7, with the 8th Doctor in ’30s New York.

I haven’t posted for a while. I have gained and lost a relative and paid little attention to the outside world. But it hasn’t escaped my attention that whilst I wasn’t watching we seem have come into conflict with the US. War has been declared over the London congestion charge on the grounds that it’s a tax, and therefore they should not (under the Vienna Convention) be required to pay.

The Germans are on their side this time, together with another 25 embassies. At least the Russians and the Spanish, not to mention right, are on our side in this. Our diplomats, after all, pay their road tolls in the US. The yanks may be “proud” to declare they’re not paying for what they’re using. Well, let’s hit ‘em with late payment fees and clamp their vehicles, diplomatic plates or no.

They’ve made use of our roads. Now it’s pay-back time.

So Daniel Craig is the sixth official James Bond. I’m excited. I loved Craig in Our Friends in the North.

Furthermore, it seems Q won’t appear. M may not be Judi Dench. If this isn’t a prequel, then let this not explicitly be the start of Bond’s career but let it not follow from the recent nonsense either. Everyone knows it’s the 21st official Bond film, but it doesn’t need to make a point of fitting (or not) with the previous 20 films (as in the irritating referencing to each of the previous 19 in Die Another Day).

One thing is clear, this Bond is going to back to Fleming’s blueprint. Even if he is blond.

In fact, Casino Royale (offical website, requires Flash Player 8 ) is shaping up to be the Bond film I’ve been wanting to see for ages.

Here’s my wishlist (with reasons to be cheerful)

- A Bond who can act (Daniel Craig could be the perfect Bond)
- More ephasis on the quality of the writing (Million Dollar Baby writer Paul Haggis is polishing the script)
- Fewer gadgets - ie piss off, John Cleese, and take your invisible car with you (no Q in Casino Royale)
- Fleming’s Bond, not Moonraker’s Bond (it’s an adaptation of Fleming’s first novel)

And finally… Purvis and Wade (although why not get proper writers to do the job?) have started writing the script for Bond 22. Might Eon have given Craig a contract that means we don’t have to wait 4 years for our next Bond fix? Could we maybe even hope for another 007 film in 2007?

Hey, this looks really cool: The Apple remote used with the new iMacs and their front row software can also control iPods via the new iPod Universal Dock.

According to variety.com Sony are announcing who will play Bond in Casino Royale tomorrow, and it’s not Brosnan. A sixth actor will take the role.

This suggests that we’re going to be sadled with this improbable reboot of the Bond canon. When, after the excesses of the dire Die Another Day, Eon gained the rights to film Fleming’s first book (previously filmed in 1967 by idiots) they planned to get back to the roots of Bond. There’s precedent for this. The nadir of the series, Moonraker, a ridiculously silly action movie which ended up in space, was followed by the excellent spy yarn For Your Eyes Only. It’s just that this time they’re filming the book which details a formative episode in Bond’s life - it’s the first book - and they’re filming it as such.

This is fine, and not an oriiginal idea. Tarantino wanted to film it, in period, with Bond’s voiceover. However, Eon aren’t exactly planning a prequel to Dr No. It’s going to be a contemporary Bond.

Although the Bond films all essentially follow a set formula, it’s the variations that are interesting. And there are story arcs through the series.

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Because this is an “offical” Bond (unlike the first Casino Royale or Thunderball remake Never Say Never Again) you’d expect it to fit into the canon.

But it seems it’s going to fit into at least two places. Which makes no sense.

Cool. Just watching Numb3rs, and when he gets bored of the mathematical giberish he starts playing Minesweeper. But on OS X! I hadn’t even thought to look for a Mac version, but here’s one.

Apple seem to be blocking live coverage of their media event. I want to know the minute any possible new video iPod is announced! Tell me more about Photo Booth and Front Row! Show me the new iMac!

Update (7.03pm): Alright! TV shows from iTMS! So what’s the UK price going to be (more than the equivalent of $1.99 in sterling, no doubt)? And more importantly, are we going to have to wait eons again for this to arrive in the UK?

Update (7.16pm): Live coverage!

Update: It’s over. Okay, well, we Brits are being stiffed again on the videos (£1.89 > $1.99) and anyway we’re not getting the TV Episodes (besides, I don’t want Lost, or Desparate Housewives, I want West Wing). So then what do I need a video iPod for? Or indeed iTunes 6 (I’ve only had 5 for 5 weeks, for pity’s sake!)

No, the big deal for me is the new iMac - I do want to get me one of those. Already pretty gorgeous, built in iSight is neat (PhotoBooth is staggeringly dull, but hard to deny it’s useful) and Front Row just takes it onto a whole new level.

In fact, how about building Front Row into a Mac Mini, chuck in an EyeTV for DTT and you’ve got the ultimate set-top box?

There’s speculation there will be an official announcement in the next couple of days. Newspapers are reporting scouser Daniel Craig has got the part, although this is not the first time the rumour has circulated. Still, it’s looking pretty likely: Although there have been rumours Sony want Pierce Brosnan to return for a fifth Bond movie (something Brosnan has hinted at) Casino Royale director Martin Campbell has poured cold water on that idea. This is in because of the strange decision to reboot the Bond saga with a younger Bond, making the 21st Bond film separate, in some way, from the chronology of the previous 20.