Once again, a week has gone by with little action on the blogging front. There’s been some behind the scenes writing but nothing is quite at the stage where I feel comfortable sharing it. I am devilishly annoyed because I had a stonkingly brilliant idea coming home on the bus on Thursday, but by the time I got to the computer I’d forgotten it. You see, it was such a good idea I didn’t think I needed to write it down because I wouldn’t forget it… Just goes to show you how much I know.

Anyway, once more with the roast. It’s not a huge one, but it’s not teeny either, just kinda average sized. Not that size matters of course 😉

I haven’t used Pandora in a while because I’m not spending every waking hour chained to my computer any more, but when I was in full-on research/writing mode, Pandora is responsible for saving what was left of my sanity. So I can understand the blow it will be now that some non-US listeners will be blocked.

Two girls in Wales have been fined for drawing with chalk on the pavement. It’s chalk which, by it’s very nature, washes off. Yes, hearts and rainbows are highly subversive but… What next? Are kids going to be given ASBOs because they’ve drawn a hop-scotch grid outside their house?

I’ve not ventured into the weird and wacky world of Linux myself, but I know plenty of people who have made the plunge for a variety of reasons (more than one because of GIS licensing issues, but that’s another story) and they all said it’s surprisingly not scary. Hopefully more people are going to think the same thing, or else Dell shipping Ubuntu on Linux PCs isn’t going to be as successful as they hope!

The British Library are compiling an e-mail Domesday Book. I’m not quite sure as to the use of it, nor am I sure any of my emails will be appropriate (too personal!) but it could be a cool idea. Go, email them! I will if you will.

I saw these last week but didn’t roast them as I wasn’t sure if I was going to get some for my brothers birthday or not and he does (on rare occasions) stop by the blog. But I’ve got his present now, so it’s safe to share these cute mugs.

We had the lolcats last week, but I just had to share these adorable fluff-balls.

I have a policy with items I’m not sure about roasting – if they cross my radar from two or more sources I respect (and who I not-so-secretly adore) then I have to roast them. This map fills both categories, and also led me to this so I kinda had to roast it, even though I do so hate to follow the herd.

You might have noticed a distinct upswing in Archaeology/geeky related links lately. I blame Neko for reminding me of the fun. Grrr. Anyway, the Museum of London is doing some groovy stuff at the moment but, rather than tell you about it myself, I shall let Tom explain everything. Well, he’s done such a good job, it would be a shame to waste all his effort 😉

MOO took the blogging world by storm with their MiniCards – I’ve got a handful from various people in my Filofax, and they always get people talking when I reach for the business cards – and now they’re going for the double with these adorable NoteCards.

As you might have noticed, my mojo has been on extended leave at the moment. I get the odd postcard to let me know it’s ok, having fun without me in groovy places like Iceland and Timbuktu, but I’ve still no idea when it will be back. Which sucks for me, because writing is part of me and it’s not nice when a bit of you is missing, and which has to suck for you because you have to put up with reading the drivel I’ve been spewing lately. So perhaps these tips will help me? Idea 13 is intriguing me, even if it is a little ghoulish, though I am detecting a flaw with the cunning plan: I need to be able to write to write my future obituary. Doh!

A quick writing tip from one of my favourite TV writers.

And lastly, some movie trailers to enjoy:
Fantastic Four – Rise of the Silver Surfer – You should know by now that I have a soft spot for crappy movies. Not as big a soft spot as Moose, but still, it’s there. This appeals to that spot. That’s all I’m going to say.

Civic Duty – I’m intrigued by this one as I genuinely can’t see how this will play or end. Normally I can predict quite closely the plot of a movie. This one, not so much. If the neighbour IS a terrorist, then basically the film is saying paranoia and rampant xenophobia is OK. But from everything in the trail, the neighbour clearly is up to something dodgy… Plus, Richard Schiff is in it, and he’s an actor I could watch all day.

Hairspray – I’ve never seen the original, but along with my soft spot for crappy movies, I’ve got a gooey chocolatey centre for musicals and stirring, uplifting tales of the bullied girl making good…

Duck – And I’m including this because I haven’t got a fracking clue what it’s meant to be about and I’m hoping someone else has an idea!

I am a bad blogger. I take a break for assorted reasons, promise there will be shiny new content in April, then don’t produce shiny new content in April. Seems like I only had to find my personal mojo at the bottom of bottle of iron pills, to have my blogging mojo up and disappear on me. Worry not though, I am hot on the trail. In the mean time, feast your eyes on a few choice bits from the last week.

Need a gift for that penguin obsessed blogger in your life? Look no further than these beauties.

Sometimes there doesn’t have to be a reason, you just need silly pictures.

I have this fascination with graffiti that is independent of the current fad for Banksy, though I do love his work. To me graffiti can be seen as the way audiences are constantly renegotiating their relationship with monuments and spaces. So thanks to Josh for finding this wonderful example of evolution graffiti.

And… Some movie trailers to wet your appetites 🙂

Ratatouille – a rat, that learns to cook, in France. I’m a sucker for animation, so bring it on!

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix – as Moose said in the email she sent with the link to this “*jumps up and down excitedly*”

Moliere – Looking suspiciously like Shakespeare in Love, but in French and with Moliere, and with a REALLY annoying voice-over guy introducing it, this still made me giggle. Most likely a rental though.

OK, seeing as how this roast is made up of stuff from the past month, I’m going to have to order it a little bit differently. First will be the news stories that caught my eye for whatever reason during the time I was taking a break. Then there’ll be the blog posts, and I’ll end it all, as usual, with some more movie trailers. Due to the volume of things I want to share, I’m going to hold back on most of my usual commentary. Just accept that if they’re still being roasted after a month, they’re really worth your click 🙂

News

• A Palestinian woman was found with three crocodiles strapped to her stomach
• Blair targets career criminals – I won’t even try to repeat the outcry that went round the office when this hit the headlines at the end of March. Let’s just say it goes pretty much contrary to everything we’re trying to do. And what we’re trying to do, I’ll hasten to add, is simply implement government policy… And as for testing children to see if they have criminal tendencies… *ARGH!*
• IBM develop a browser to make audio and video content accessible to those with visual impairments
• Gromit steps into HMV logo role – my one nod to April Fool’s day this year
• Serenity was named the top sci-fi movie – now, don’t get me wrong, I adore Firefly, I loved Serenity, and I am even rather fond of the comic now I’ve got my hands on it, but calling it the best sci-fi movie ever? Yes it was good, and different, but it wasn’t a great movie as the first half especially just played like an extended TV episode. Not on a par with movies such as Blade Runner or Alien, or as genre-busting as The Matrix.
• The Net in space – how more sci-fi do you want to get?!
• A free service to convert web pages into Braille – yes, I’m having an accessibility drive at the moment
• Two people have been arrested for stealing wi-fi
• An offline version of Wikipedia? To be filed into the ‘things that make me go hmmmmmmm’ category and that are tweaking my spidy-research-senses
• A move is being made regarding the ‘return’/loan of the Elgin Marbles back to Greece
• The US erects the ‘Baghdad Wall’ to keep sects apart – because that’s an idea that’s always worked SO well in the past
• Twitter makes it to the NYT

Blog Bits

• Cosmopolitan coffee
• The story of Yoda and his kidnap…
• The ever elusive Tea Moose
• Ever wanted to rewrite the ending of a book? Now you can (I recommend you check the date stamp of this post 😉 )
• A great article on human/computer interactions in Science Fiction movies
• Display your To Do list on the desktop (for Macs)
• The ‘Lectric Archaeologist
• A rape in Cyberspace – a long, and not easy article to read, but with some very interesting ideas and though provoking aspects
• Researchers explore the idea of scrapping the Internet and starting over – a tempting idea at times!
• The Digital Classicist

Movies

• I now pronounce you Chuck & Larry
• Evan Almighty
• Live Free or Die Hard – I know I showed it last week, but it bears watching again
• Surf’s Up – well, it’s penguins so I have to want to watch it, right? And I just love how they surfer-dude penguin’s are all tattooed!

And that’s it. Have a great day folks, I’m off to the park to sit in the sun again 🙂

Just because I haven’t blogged for a few weeks it doesn’t mean I haven’t been collecting lots of fun things to share with you all. I did intend to do a HUMONGOUS roast on Sunday, but then the weather was just too fracking gorgeous and I had to spend it sitting in the park with my friends.

I know I should feel bad, but I really don’t 😛

But this does mean that my ‘sunday roast’ bookmark collection is kinda exploding so I figured I’d do some mini-roast-type-posts throughout this week 1) to ease me back into the whole blogging gig and 2) to give you something to read. You have been remarkably patient with me, so thank you!

For today, I bring you some of the movie trailers that have made me go “ooooh…” lately. Plus a little special something at the end 😉

• 28 Weeks Later – 28 Days Later, whilst admittedly a rip-off of the amazing Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham, was still very very good. Let’s just say I’m intrigued as to this sequel. Not sure I’m a fan of the fact we poor Brits have to be saved by the Americans, but Robbie Carlyle is always a pleasure to watch. And hey – zombies. I mean, it’s hard to muck that up, right?
• Stardust – in a complete contrast to zombies, Stardust looks like a film that should bear the “paid for by the UK tourist board” stamped all over it. Despite that, it seems to be crammed full of the latest (and best) British talent so it’s bound to be good.
• Oceans 13 – I loved 11, loathed 12, and am prepared to forgive 13 if only for Matt Damon’s nose.
• No Reservations – I watched this trailer whilst in a “need fluffy! need girly!” moment. So sue me.
• Kickin’ It Old Skool – to start with this wasn’t grabbing me, but by the end of the trailer I have to grudgingly admit I was giggling. Just a little bit. Maybe not a see-at-the-cinema, but definitely a rental.
• Live Free or Die Hard – the fourth Die Hard movie. I can now die happy 😉 Yes, I am a BIG fan of the Die Hard trilogy and yes, I watched this trailer three times chuckling and bouncing in my chair with girlish glee. I am not embarrassed. Honestly.
• Catherine Tate meets Tony Blair – the Catherine Tate sketch show never did it for me, but the Comic Relief specials she did this year did make me laugh. None more so than the Tony Blair sketch… Yes, that is our real Prime Minister. Yes, that really got screened on national television. And yes, it is genuinely funny.

Enjoy, don’t forget to add anything else that’s caught your eye lately in the comments, and I shall most likely do another roast-type-post on Thursday so you’ve got that to look forward to as well 🙂

This Sunday Roast is brought to you by a Cas who has a sore foot (look at my shiny new tattoo!) and who is also feeling monumentally crappy. As a result (of the crappyness, not the sore foot) I think I’m going to take the next week or so off from blogging. I just can’t seem to find things to write about 🙁 That being said, the last couple of times I’ve taken a short break, I’ve come over all inspired so I shouldn’t worry too much 😉

The IPPR argues that adult students should get loans. Yes, yes we should. And there endeth my reasoned argument.

Appealing to my sense of the kinky and serving no practical use whatsoever, a cable tidy.

For those of you who didn’t catch Comic Relief on TV this year, I do recommend you get the Catherine Tate DVD. Not only does the money go to charity, but it’s also very, very funny. And I’m not a Catherine Tate fan!

If you’re not going to pay your TV license, you’d better have a good excuse.

ITV is abandoning its summer reality shows. Thank any-deity-you-care-to-mention!

Poor Jane, being deemed too ugly for her own biography. If I was feeling on top form I’d be all over this as an example of how society is going to the dogs and beauty isn’t everything yada yada yada. But I’m just too tired so I’ll leave you to fill in the blanks on your own.

I don’t wear watches, but if I did, I’d wear this one because it would just so totally freak people out!

And lastly four trailers to keep you busy this Sunday afternoon 🙂 Don’t you just love trailers – saves me having to write anything!
Year of the Dog – I wasn’t sure, till Peter Sarsgaard quirked his eyebrow, then I was sold. More likely a rental than a ‘go see at the cinema’, but still one to see.
Day Watch – I loved Night Watch (though I know I didn’t get all of it, those crazy Russians) and have been eagerly awaiting Day Watch. The trailer isn’t doing a good job selling it, but I still want to see it.
Pathfinder – not sure I want to see this, but I’m linking to the trailer because I would have put money on this having gone straight to DVD over here LAST year. Clearly not…
Pirates of the Caribbean: World’s End – do I have to give a reason? I do? Ok, Johnny Depp 😛 And it looks funny 😀

To start with, massive *huggles* to illyna – because she’s worth it 🙂

This week can only be described as having been a little bit pants (that’s ‘not very good’ to those not familiar with Brit slang). I’ve definitely seen the dark side of project work this week and, whilst it’s made me even more convinced the work we’re doing is worthwhile, the day-to-day hasn’t been so much fun. Luckily I’ve got Monday and Tuesday off as I’ve been a very good girl, so that should give me time to find my fizz once more (contrary to one suggestion, it wasn’t down the back of the sofa).

In other news, I seem to be being sucked back into the whirling blackhole that is research, archaeological computing, and online publication… Whilst I’m enjoying it immensely to be truthful here, it has somewhat coloured the things I’ve been bookmarking lately. Yes, the Roast not only serves as entertainment for you all, but as a repository of things I want to go back to later myself. Bless the person who invented the search function, that’s all I have to say!

And enjoy the Roast of course 🙂

Wikipedia is going to be checking credentials of its contributors. Since writing the Demon Thesis, I’ve started to come around to thinking that verification of people is important if you want to have a trusted resource. That’s not to say that people with PhD’s are more trustworthy than those without, but you do need to be able to prove that Person X really is Person X and not Person Y pretending to be Person X, and that what Person X is saying about themselves is true. Credibility online is something that is very hard to build and, if you’re basing part of your credibility on your qualifications, well, it does help if those qualifications can be verified.

Yeah, there’s an argument in there somewhere if you care to look. My ideas are currently very nebulous and based more on a gut feeling than reasoned argument. I’ll get back to you when I have something more coherent to say on the matter!

This week the ‘Net proved it can cope with non-English characters. Which is good news for all of those who use a character set other than the Roman one.

9rules, the Old Skool way.

Following on from last week where a piece of Banksy art was sold with a free house attached, this week some fool painted over a Banksy piece by mistake. Er, oops?

What’s it like to visit the offices of a major publishing house? wonder no more.

Has anyone made any Flickr Collections yet?

I’ve been writing snapshots lately, but they are veritable novels compared to these ficlets.

I’ve been Twittering like a fool this past week, despite saying only LAST week that I’d never Twitter (I know, I know). I’ve got some Twitter friends already (yay me!) and am slightly scared at how well it’s fitted into my life. But all that aside, I’m really crap when it comes to explaining to people why I Twitter. I’m working on a post, but in the mean time read this because it explains things really rather well.

My all-time favourite Web academic danah has been on a roll this past week with articles on web sociality and narcissim on the web. Lots to ponder in there 🙂

And what is becoming a standing feature once again, some movie trailers that caught my eye:
Resident Evil: Extinction – so I’m a sucker for Oded Fehr in all his marvelous forms. That, and some mindless action always go down a treat.
Slow Burn – it took me two watches of this to work out why the female lead looked so familiar…
Lonely Hearts – Mmmmm, Jared Leto. Plus, the cinematography looks quite funky and different, and the story intrigues me.

On the basis of today’s Roast title, I’m pondering starting a new tradition – using a quote from a comment as the title instead of a quote from a movie/TV show/book/song as I normally do. Then again, as none of you ever make the effort to guess the provenance, I don’t know if I’ll bother 😛

What’s new in the life of Cas this week? Well, er, not a lot actually. I’ve been under the weather all week: not ill, just… not quite right. Then today I went to the gym! :O Yes, be shocked, be very shocked. It’s even going to be a regular thing again. I had a minor *eek* moment when I stood on the scales at the gym (damn them for having the ‘ideal weight comparison chart’ right over the scales) then I reminded myself that even at my thinest, (when I was 14, hadn’t eaten for 3 months, and you could count my ribs) I was classed as “obese” and that I don’t believe in all these charts and ideal weight mlarkies.

I know what my target is – a combination of a weight goal and dress sizes. I’m currently 13 kilos off that weight target and pushing the upper limit of that dress size. I’ll know when I get there because there’s a pair of trousers I want to fit in again (isn’t there always). In fact, there’s another pair of trousers that will be an even better guide – it had got to the point I could take them off without undoing them, and we’re talking easily took off, in that they slid off of their own accord if I wasn’t careful. Now, they are on the snug side.

Why this ‘Get Fit’ thing? Why now? It seems like I’m always trying to do something, at least if you look back through the archives it is. Something in my brain has just clicked again these last few weeks and I want to get fit again. Having the Race for Life looming large on the horizon is another kick up the backside for me!

So there you have it. Deliciously knackered from the gym, more than a little buzzed on endorphins, I bring you the Sunday Roast:

Courtesy of Moose, I bring you the Geostationary Banana Over Texas. Yes, you read that right. And there’s no way I could describe it better than the site itself, so go read…

The University of East Anglia is using Wikipedia in one of its courses. Trust those Fen people.

It’s harder than you think to come up with images for promotional material that are inclusive – this STAND UP FOR DIVERSITY poster caught my eye because I think it does a good job (though quite what it has to do with a bank is another matter entirely). Ok, so you of course have the problem that no everyone can actually stand up but I think it gets the message across quite well.

Roll on socially acceptable graffiti.

It seems like everyone and their monkey is signing up for Twitter these days but I am still at a loss to see how it might enhance my life. I’m willing to be persuaded so of course my ears pricked up when Liz talked about her initial thoughts on why Twitter matters. Setting aside for now the fact I can’t see how Twitter will fit into my life (I don’t have a phone that can can access the web nor can I afford to Twitter via SMS) one of my own bugs is that you can’t comment or ask questions of someone’s Twitter post. Yes, I could email/ring/SMS/IM them but sometimes it’s just a quick response that I see no reason to commit to a larger form of communication… Then again, as Liz points out, it’s this lack of obligation to respond which (for her) is one of the joys of Twitter. Hmmm. I never say never but I don’t think Twitter is for me, not least because most of the people I speak to on a daily basis I, well, speak to on a daily basis 😛 And they’re web-shy. As for the web-hoarde I’m not sure they need to know everything that goes on in my life. Surely the blog, email and IM are enough?

The Penguin wikinovel, A Million Penguins, has finished. I’m a little narked that I didn’t get involved in this, at the same time, I just didn’t have the time. I am still curious and keeping an eye on it however – as Jeremy the Digital Publisher said (and can I have his job, btw?) whether it was a success or not is still a qualified maybe. Ah, the beauty of wikis, they’re never one thing or the other.

Now I’m going to get my Archaeological Computing stalker-geek on and link to two more shiny blogs. Whether you read them or not is probably dependent on your level of interest in the field, but if you have any interest in the field, I suggest you read them. These are the people who are actually out there doing what it is I just sit there and read about. Plus they are just generally nice people and deserve to be read 🙂
Firstly there’s Leif’s offering, Archaetech. Woefully in need of more content (bad Leif) and with SPA activated (shudder) but using one of Phu’s layouts so he can be forgiven.
Then there’s Jo’s Archaeogeek. More techy-fun stuff. Go, read 😀

I was going through Kristin’s wonderful photoblog and these pictures just leapt out and grabbed me by the eyeballs. I would give a lot for talent like that… I’ll leave you with one more and suggest you go sink into her archives for a good look yourself.

Copyblogger has a great piece on the 5 common mistakes made in blogging. Useful if only for 4 (Affect vs. Effect).

The NYT has an article on how archives are in danger of being forgotten because they are not digitized… Oh, the number of things that spring to mind about this are legion, and I was about to get up on my soapbox then I remembered how I get grumpy when an article I want isn’t online… Still, I can see how amateur researchers might forget non-digital stuff, but serious scholars? Plus, don’t get me started on the problem of formats for this wonderous digital archiving.

And lastly, movie trailer time:
Talk To Me – anything with Don Cheadle, Martin Sheen and Chiwetel Ejiofor has got to be good.
Waitress – pie, Nathan Fillion, feel good fuzzies. What more do you need?
The Prisoner or: How I Planned To Kill Tony Blair – definitely not a warm and fuzzy. One of those films you know you should see, but that you aren’t exactly going to enjoy seeing.