The worst book I've ever read.

When Adele and I were packing to go away for the weekend, I knew that I'd have time to read, and casting about for something to read, I noticed 'There and Back Again: An Actor's Tale - A Behind-the-Scenes Look at Lord of the Rings' by Sean Astin.

I bought it on an earlier holiday in Wales and ploughed through the first half, but I noticed it sat there with a bookmark showing my last point of reference halfway through the pages, so I threw it in the bag to push on and complete it.

Last night I got a chance to read while Adele was watching X Factor, so I opened the book and within two pages, I remember why I'd put it down.

I hated the writing, I hated the way that the actor Sean Astin portrayed himself, made assumptions about what other people were thinking and generally portrayed himself as the holder of a wealth of experience.

Now I've always enjoyed Sean Astin's acting, he's excellent in LOTR and I've seen him in a couple of other things, but this book is going to the next charity shop I can find. I will not be finishing it, and this fact alone, despite how much I would love to know more about the production of LOTR show how much I cannot stomach reading any more of this book.

Urgh

Comments

Omnifocus 2 and why I'm disappointed

Before I start, there are some things I want to make clear I've not played with Omnifocus 2 so this post is based on reviews of the launch event and blog posts from others. Most of the posts I've read are consistent in what they say so I've based my thoughts around confirmed changes I respect Omni as a company they are driven and focused. Omni engage with their customers (not users) and provide quality products at a fully justified premium price. This article is not a criticism of the decisions they've made. just my take on Omnifocus 2. I use Omnifocus all of the time Of that usage 95% is on the iPad, 4% on the iPhone and 1% is on the Mac. unfortunately I use a windows computer at work. I love Omnifocus it's a brilliant product which helps me out several times a day to ensure I get everything done that I need to. I've used it exclusively for the past two and a half years Omni have worked incredibly hard on Omnifocus 2, this article is not in any wa...

Is that a Computer in your pocket...

As many people know, IOS 4.2 comes to iPad in a couple of months, maybe less. The second it is released, there will be a stampede to download and install it onto people's ipads. Of course, people in the App Development program have advanced beta versions to help them test and if necessary, recode their apps so they work on day one. But Fanboi's all over the world wait with baited breath to take their iPads and upgrade them to allow multitasking and various other features. It is however at this point that the moaning will start. "App A crashes with 4.2, and I can't live without it" and this is where people fail to do proper risk analysis and treat their phones and personal devices as the computers they are. It amazes me that so many people rush so quickly to update the phones they base their lives around without the slightest thought that something might actually go wrong, or that 3rd party developers may not have had time to test their mobile apps agains...

parkrun HQ and Waist band leads for dogs

I’ve sat with the parkrun decision about Waist harnesses for dogs being banned at parkrun events for a few days now. I want to get my thoughts down. Please be clear that these are my words, they’re not said on behalf of Heaton parkrun or parkrun HQ (HQ for the rest of the post). This is solely my opinion. I can see this from many angles having been a runner, worked in health and safety, dealt with many incidents, been an ambassador and also part of the core team at Heaton. I've spoken to people at HQ a few times and they're passionate people who work more than the normal amount of hours to ensure that people all over the world can be at an event on a Saturday (and Sundays for Juniors) From a runner's perspective, all dogs are different, it depends how well you’ve trained them how well they run (no matter the lead/harness arrangement) There will be great and sensible runners such as Anna McEnteggart and Alan McEnteggart who will likely rarely if ever have problems. There wil...

Geoff's Random Thoughts

Search This Blog