I'm enjoying the new Terminator series

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles takes place immediately after the events of Terminator 2: Judgement Day. Lena Headey plays Sarah Connor, Thomas Dekker is her son John, the soon-to-be saviour of humankind.

In the pilot episode, John's laying low in a school in New Mexico, in 1999, when a new teacher reveals himself to be a terminator sent back in time to kill him.

Luckily the weird girl in his class also reveals herself to be a terminator (they're all over the place in this series) sent to replace the T-Arnie model destroyed at the end of the 2nd movie. This terminator, Cameron, is played straightfaced, by the awesome Summer Glau (NB: this photo is absolutely not from the series).

Forget Terminator 3: The Terminatrix (or whatever it was called), that didn't happen. Because what the T-Summer does, is transport Sarah & John 7 years into the future (thus, avoiding for the time being, Sarah's death from cancer that was reported in T3), to 2006.

The game's still the same, protect John from a legion of robots sent back to eliminate him, and try to find the origins of Skynet (now a prototype chess playing computer called The Turk).

It's violent, it's funny & it captures the same atmosphere as T2 - plenty of juxtaposing the petite Ms Glau with all manner of mechanical objects, and the same sort of humour is derived as the benign terminator learns to pass as human. It's worth watching the series just for the magnificently perfunctory "grief counselling" Cameron suffers after being the last "person" to speak (surreally) to a suicidal student. Emo, she's not.

There are also some nice nods to the earlier films, for instance, Cameron patrols LA in police uniform, rayban aviators (in the dead of night) and a motorbike. Sarah quips "Somewhere there's a naked policeman bleeding in an alley".

Oh, and that guy that always stuck me as a martian in Beverly Hills 90210 - Brian Austin Green, is also in it - he's Kyle Reese's brother (John's uncle).

Glau's a trained ballerina & one episode has her undercover at a ballet school. Later, a character muses that once machines learn to appreciate art, they may not feel the need to wipe out humanity - and cut to: Cameron alone in her room practising her ballet moves in the mirror.

Smart, violent, funny, and not unimportantly, a talented & attractive cast.

Series 2 has just been commissioned. Yay.

More Summer Glau photos (SFW) for your entertainment.

summer glau terminator - Google Image Search

One good reason for not allowing free access through farms

Woman trampled by cows sues farmer for £1 million damages - Telegraph

A better one can be summed up in 4 words: Foot and Mouth Disease.

Auckland 'needs mini-government' - Stuff.co.nz

No sweat, they can have our old one later this year when we've finished with it.

Auckland 'needs mini-government' on Stuff.co.nz

Can't they?

Lookout Daniel Radcliffe

I've yet to see a film featuring Sienna Millar, so I'm not qualified to comment on her acting talents. But I can put 2 & 2 together & divine that Ms Miller has top class talents in other areas.

Consider - if you happen to be a young, presentable actor, and especially if you're British, it's probably only a matter of time before Sienna will get around to you.

SO look out Daniel! (Or perhaps more likely, Rupert Grint.)

Rhys Ifans throws phone tantrum after Sienna split - Stuff.co.nz

The Dark is Rising - now a major film!

Actually, given it jettisons most of the original plot & changes everything else, it's more like the "major" film that they made out of The Wizard of Earthsea. A steaming heap, in other words.

The Seeker (film) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Why do they bother?

Winter Harvest

Winter Harvest has commenced. That’s the harvest of 4 of the macadamia trees that are ready in the middle of the year. In Winter, in fact. There’s another harvest later in the year, we call that one the “Not the Winter Harvest”.

Some macadamia trees drop their nuts. These are the Winter Harvest trees. The nuts on the other trees hang tight until Not Winter.

Last year, we harvested 49.9kg from all 4 Winter Harvest trees. That seemed like a lot at the time. This weekend, we harvested 62.5kg from two of the trees (not counting some 20kg of windfalls picked earlier in the month). That was two trailer loads (ok, small trailer). We only had time for two of the trees because as soon as they’re picked they have to be run through the smelly & noisy de-husking machine, or the husks will taint the nuts.

De-husking is a long & tedious task. My arms hurt today from hours & hours of cajoling & wrestling nuts through a tiny opening. But there’s something satisfying about the 6 sacks hanging in the drying room now. They’ll hang for 3 months, before being given a bit of a booster drying through the ovens (very low temperature). I expect them, at that stage, to weigh about 45kg.

Harvesting any kind of home grown produce is satisfying, Mrs Llew managed to find time this weekend to finish picking the granny smiths, about 5 20 litre buckets full, she’s given a fair few away, and stewed & frozen what she’s kept. We enjoyed apple crumble the other night, first apple crumble in decades for me.

We’ve also now got a pantry well stocked with quince jam, quince paste, quince & apple jelly, crab-apple jelly. Mrs Llew bought herself a stainless steel preserving pan which sits proudly on the stove top (because we don’t have a cupboard big enough to put it away.)

I remember my mum doing all this stuff when I was a kid (she still does, actually), but I was still staggered at how much sugar goes into preserves... I can see we'll be buying it by the sackload next year.

Aside from processing our own produce, the other old worldey sort of thing we do is make our own stock – in fact, there is a large stainless steel stock pot sitting proudly beside the preserving pan, every few weeks I simmer the collection of chicken carcasses that we keep in the freezer, along with whatever else I can find to chuck in – leeks, celery, herbs , carrots, onions, salt & pepper. I simmer the whole lot for a day or two, before straining the stock off (the sludge gets fed to the dog, by now any chicken bones are the consistency of chalk.)

The stock will set to the consistency of jelly. We freeze it for later.

Best headline of the week.

Gillian Anderson pregnant, no aliens involved - Stuff.co.nz

Save Central - NZBC

If someone would be so kind as to click through this link, save the picture within & photoshop some wind turbines onto those ranges...

Save Central - NZBC

...I will post a companion piece.,

Tax cuts blamed for mortgage rate rise

Banks Blame Tax Cuts for Mortgage Rates Rise - Stuff.co.nz

I don't get it - tax cuts have been announced, but not yet implemented, how can they be responsible for increased interest rates?

Civil Defence Bunker down, we're all DOOMED!!

It's probably 15 years since I was last in the famed Civil Defence Centre that's underneath the Beehive. You know the one - it's where the government retire to in the event of the Big One, so that they can govern the country in safety. Or something like that.

Nats call for inquiry into Civil Defence power lapse - Stuff.co.nz

But anyway...

I was disappointed that the place was like a tramping hut, bunks, rudimentary cooking facilities (& PCs bolted to the desks so that they survive earthquakes.) No high tech communications, the PCs weren't even networked, no big screen from which to monitor the catastrophe through satellite images. Of course, it may well have changed since then.

One thing I remember the Civil Defence fellow telling us, which doesn't seem to have been imparted to Helen & John, is that this bunker exists in order to manage the aftermath of a disaster that occurs outside of Wellington.

Think about it, if (or when) the Big One comes, do you really think Civil Defence staff will be able to dig their way through the rubble of the collapsed Beehive? The CD guy showing us around was scornful of the chances of that.

No, apparently (and I am prepared to be corrected if this is wrong or has changed) there exists another Civil Defence bunker somewhere in Auckland, possibly it's above ground, that's the one to be used in the event of a disaster befalling the Capital.

Nat MP Hone Carter (remember him?) said, through a hole in his head:

"It's not acceptable that there's a gap. This is our civil defence emergency headquarters that we are talking about here. These guys should be able to respond immediately."

The place isn't even staffed around the clock as far as I know. Hone's as full of wind as he always has been.

Visitors from the future could arrive in Geneva this August. Seriously. « Poneke’s Weblog

Visitors from the future could arrive in Geneva this August. Seriously. « Poneke’s Weblog

Bloody fascinating!

Lurching into the new millennium

I finally have a DVD recorder. I note that in September 2005, my technological priorities were over-ridden:

SunnyO: Technological priorities

But now, thanks to an unchaperoned visit to LV Martin (to buy vaccuum cleaner bags), and a quick survey of the Consumer Org website, I have a brand new Panasonic something or other.

I will note, that the reason for this reckless purchase is the death of our previous DVD player the other night, and the temporary absence of the backup player, the PS2 mentioned in the link.

It remains to be seen if I can wire it up so that I can record from MySky. Could be a frustrating evening.

Enquiring into the inquiry of the inquiry

Clark Announces Inquiry into Ingram Inquiry « The Dim-Post

Newspaper Editor Blames "System".

Rob Olsen, the editor of the Wellingtonian has responded to my request that my "Addressed Mail Only" sign be respected:

What is your house address?
Rob Olsen, editor, The Wellingtonian474
0147editor@thewellingtonian.co.nz

To which I replied:

Does that matter?
It's the one with an "Addressed mail only" sign.
Please respect my wishes.

Which got me this:

Is it 1 Woodward Street? It matters if you want the paper stopped.

It's not, and I think it unfair to all the other "Addressed Mail Only" sign owners that we have to personally plead with anyone, to stop putting unwanted stuff on our property.

But Rob says it's out of his hands. It's the "System".

Without an address I can't act. We have to instruct the company that delivers the paper not to deliver to specific addresses. "Addressed Mail Only" is obviously not enough info. I am sorry to have to labour this point but that's the system. Otherwise I suggest you take it up with my manager Diane Clayton on 474 0362.
Rob Olsen, editor, The Wellingtonian474
0147editor@thewellingtonian.co.nz

The first unstamped Foolscap envelope bearing the two copies of the Wellingtonian that were delivered last week should be arriving on Rob's desk today or tomorrow.

To the editors of Capital Times & The Wellingtonian

That sign on my letterbox which says "Addressed Mail Only" means that until you start addressing your junkmail to me personally, it does not get put in my letterbox.

I'll be addressing every copy that arrives from now on, back to you, without postage.

My final word on the Hobbit films

They will go like this:

The Hobbit should be fairly short... unless Jackson & del Toro decide to splice some backstory from the appendices of the Lord of the Rings & the Silmarilien. But it's my guess they'll leave that for the second movie.

The Hobbit will cover exactly what's in the book - In a hole in the ground there lived a Hobbit... through to Bilbo returning home with the ring & some treasure.

The 2nd "Hobbit" film (which probably won't have many if any hobbits in it) could go on for weeks. He's got plot to fill it, but otherwise a blank slate. There're about 80 years to cover between the end of the Hobbit & the start of the Fellowship of the Ring. And here's my guess how it'll go.

The 2nd film will start with a 25 minute run through of the creation of the world according to Tolkein & events up until approximately 90 years before what happens in the Hobbit.

We'll see the Valar & the Maiar, including a chap called Morgoth, who turns to the bad side & becomes a Sith Lord (or something) and his sidekick Sauron. These guys are Maia gone bad. Morgoth is defeated, but Sauron lives on - he's a shapeshifter who can make himself exceedingly beautiful & charming.

Sauron makes gifts of rings of power for the kings of Men, Dwarves & Elves. Secretly, he also forges The One Ring, which binds the others to his service.

The Istari will enter Middle Earth, they're Maia in the form of wise old men, wizards in fact, chief among them are Saruman & Gandalf. The Valar send them to help the denizens of Middle Earth oppose Sauron.

The dwarf Durin will create the underground city of Moria, but he & the city will wake a Balrog which will destroy them all.

We'll see excerpts from the LotR where Isildur & Elrond defeat Sauron. (By now, Sauron's lost the ability to look beautiful & charming & swans around in black armour, covering burnt black skin.)

Then skip thousands of years & we'll see Gandalf enter the dungeons of "the Necromancer" and discover that he's Sauron returned. And Gandalf will find a captive dwarf called Thrain (father of Thorin Oakenshield), a map & key.

All this happens before the stuff in the Hobbit.We'll skip the rest because it will be in the first film, except for a bit where the White Council drive Sauron out of Mirkwood.

Saruman will begin to turn to the dark side.

And then we'll return to Middle Earth to see a very young Aragorn being brought up by Elrond & meeting Arwen, they call him "Estel". We'll probably also see Aragorn serving in the armies of Rohan & Gondor, but under the name Thorongil.

Aragoen will meet Gandalf & they become firm friends. Gandalf asks Aragorn to keep a watch on the Shire.

Gollum will leave his mountain lair & begin to hunt for the thief Baggins. He will meet Shelob, but be caught & tortured by Sauron, who sends his forces to look for Bilbo. Gollum is freed.

Somewhere in here we'll also see Balin & company recolonise the abandoned city of Moria but be defeated after some years by Orcs.

Aragorn will capture Gollum & the goodies will become aware that the Shire & Bilbo are in danger. Gollum wil however, escape from the dwarves in Mirkwood where he was held captive.

Gandalf will go to persude Bilbo to give the ring to Frodo & the story is complete.

There. Easy.

If I'm correct, that must deserve comps to the World Premieres right?

Darth Hughes vs Jedi Jones

It doesn't say where in Britain this happened, but judging by the surnames... it's somewhere in Wales.

Mr Hughes drank 10 litres of wine (!!??). dressed as Darth Vader & then attacked members of Britain's first Jedi Church as they prepared to duel each other with lightsabres. As you do.

Apparently there is video footage somewhere.

Man dressed as Darth Vader attacked Jedis - on Stuff.co.nz

Classic prison escape - Yeah Right! You can't fool me.

I've seen the Shawshank Redemption!

My guess is that the ridiculously neatly knotted rope hanging from the tower is a smokescreen, the guy is really hiding in a cupboard or somewhere, still inside.

Police warn public after classic prison escape - Stuff.co.nz

The witness who saw the escape is a plant.

You heard it here first (although you may never hear it again)

My Pick - The Quest For Erebor will be filmed for the Hobbit movies

Tolkien Geek: The Quest For Erebor

I'll take a punt & guess that these events will be filmed for the 2nd movie, even though they deal with events that occured before the Hobbit.

I got the chronology wrong in my earlier post - so um... don't take anything I say as gospel (or check with the learned TolkeinGeek.)

So what's likely to be in the 2nd Hobbit film?

Well for starters... not many hobbits, if any. I suppose there might be some sightings of Bilbo in the Shire doing not very much in the 80 years (I think the LotR movie made it 60 years) between the events of the Hobbit & the Lord of the Rings. I guess we might see him adopting Frodo at the end.

I must admit I'm doing this from memory & what I've gleaned from different sites in the last few days, but there's enough plot in the appendices of the Lord of the Rings to make a decent movie, just no dialogue nor characterisation.

So what've we got?

From events that took place during the Hobbit, but only mentioned in passing by Gandalf, we will almost certainly see the White Council meet to discuss the "Necromancer" at Dol Guldur. The Necromancer is Sauron returned. Gandalf leaves the dwarves & Bilbo at Mirkwood, and enters the Necromancer's lair. Later, the White Council drive him out & he regroups in Mordor. (this will be in flashback as it occurs either during or before the events of the Hobbit).

We should see Galadriel & Saruman in the White Council scenes.

From the appendices of the Lord of the Rings:

Aragorn meets Arwen. Serves with the Riders of Rohan & also in Minas Tirith. Spends years hunting for Gollum in the wilderness.

Gollum searches Middle Earth for the thief Baggins. He is tracked and caught at various times by both Aragorn & the Rangers, and Sauron's forces. Gollum is tortured by Sauron for news of the ring & Sauron begins hunting Bilbo.

Gollum meets Shelob (the big spider).

Balin, one of the dwarves accompanying Bilbo on his quest, leads a group & recolonises the lost undergound city of Moria. Remember, there's a big fight at his tomb in LotR? So we should see Moria in all its glory, then being destroyed by the Balrog that fought Gandalf.

Saruman begins to turn to the Dark Side & becomes a Sith Lord (Oh wait....).

Gandalf begins to suspect what Bilbo's magic ring really is.

I'll add more as it occurs to me, or I spot it elsewhere.