For Christmas I bought my Mom an ice cream maker and along with that a Ben and Jerry’s icecream receipt book.

Simple Cup Converter screen shot

There was only one problem with such a gift, the receipts use cups for measurements. Not being American myself, I am more familiar with ounces, grams and millilitres.

This is where the Simple Cup Converter app came in handy, it easily allows you to convert any unit of weight into another. Another problem with converting cups into grams is that one cup of flour and of cup of sugar do not weight the same. The Simple Cup Converter app has this easily covered by allowing you to choose what you are weighing from and endless list of ingredients.

This app does truly make cooking easier. It’s elegant design certainly makes it stand out from all the other unit conversion apps out there.

On a score out of five this app deserves nothing less than a five. My reasoning for this is because it simply does what it says on the tin and the best thing about it is that it is FREE.

Like me, I guessing a lot of people have heard of Rhett and Link through their funny Youtube videos, and with 67 million views I would be surprised if you hadn’t.

Looking for Ms. Locklear cover art.

Well in 2008 they released a film called ‘Looking for Ms. Locklear’, a documentary about their search for their first grade teacher, Ms. Locklear. The film went on to win the Southern Lens Award from South Carolina Public TV, which led to the film screening on PBS in South Carolina. The film also won audience choice awards at the ACE Film Festival and the Secret City Film Festival, and won 2nd place documentary at the Secret City Film Festival, as well as receiving official selections for several more.

I think the idea of going back and meeting your first grade teacher is something a lot of people would like to do, I had the pleasure of meeting a lot of my primary school teachers at my Year 6 Teachers 40th Birthday, after not having seen any of them for nearly 10 Years.

Runtime

The film is an enjoyable 57 minutes long, a comment that they make in the extras is that they had cut it down to 90ish minutes but decided to cut it down to 57. All the deleted scenes you can watch on the DVD, nothing seemed like it was out of place or put in there to pad the story out.

One thing I really like it when they go to a antiques/junk store and film a whole section there with the owner but the sound messes up, they decide to leave it in the film anyway. It lends itself to the film as a sort of reinforcement of their opening statement that they had always wanted to make a film ever since they knew each other, they weren’t pretending to be seasoned professional, they were being themselves and being true and honest. A trait I’m sure Ms. Locklear had imparted into them as that young age.

The people who we are introduced to along the journey are a delight to watch and certainly some of them seem a bit loopy, but nonetheless cheerful and happy to help. Rhett and Link do a great job of narrating the story, you feel like you’re on exactly they same journey they were on. They are the same comedy duo we have come to know and love but you get more of a personal insight into their lives.

Final thoughts

I would certainly recommend that you watch this film, and certainly if you’re an aspiring filmmaker, as it shows what you can do with a very small budget and a lot of determination.

Shane Meadows eagerly awaited four-part television drama, This Is England ’86, exploded onto our screens on the 7th of September. The series was set three years after the original film and many of the cast came back to reprise their roles.

Johnny Harris at the Daylight Robbery Premiere

This time the emphasis is not so much on the Character Shaun (Thomas Turgoose) but the focus is on character Lol, played by Vicky McClure, and follows the turbulent times with boyfriend Woody and volatile relationship with her father Mick (Johnny Harris).

Johnny Harris’ portrayal of Mick has, in my opinion, got to be one of the best performances I’ve seen on British TV in years. So much so that I wanted to talk to the man behind the character, as everyone is on twitter that was going to be my first port of call and Lo and behold, Johnny Harris is on Twitter, @mrjohnnyharris, and he graciously answered a few questions for me.

You played new character Mick in This Is England ’86, what was it like joining the cast who had worked on the previous film? Did you hit it off with all of them from the get go?
I wanted to keep a bit of distance to be honest, as it was important for the part but to be honest it’s impossible not to fall in love with them as they’re the most genuine and generous bunch of actors you’re ever likely to meet! A gorgeous group made up of some amazing individuals! I’ve just returned home from a night out in London with them actually and consider each and every one of them friends! I knew I was in special company from the moment we all first sat in the rehearsal room together!

How did you go about getting the character of Mick, did you have to audition for the part or was it something that was written with you in mind?
I went to Nottingham and auditioned for Shane. He introduced me to Vicky McClure and Chanel Cresswell and set up some improvisations between us. The girls gave 100% in the casting and I really appreciated that and felt a connection with them. Shane was also everything I’d imagined and more. I remember it was raining and I had to run to Nottingham station as my train ticket to London was non-transferable and I couldn’t afford another if I missed the train. As I was running, and getting soaked, my phone rang and it was Shane. He said he knew it was a long journey home and he thought he’d make it a bit easier for me and that I’d got the part! The journey home was a beautiful one!

Before getting the part of Mick had you watched This Is England before? Would you liked to have had a role in the film?
‘This is England’ was and still is one of my favourite films of all time! The direction is sublime and I think Stephen Graham’s performance as Combo is one of the most powerful and nuanced performances I’ve ever seen on camera, just stunning! How he was overlooked for the awards for that performance is shameful. Also Thomas Turgoose of course was just an absolute revelation and it’s lovely to see him blossom into such a free and unique young actor. I was at the BIFA awards that same year with ‘London to Brighton’ and remember meeting Shane and thinking something exciting was happening in British film.

How old were you in 1986 and what are your memories of 1986? Were you like any of the This Is England’86 characters?
I was 13 in 1986 and was doing quite well by that point as an amateur boxer. Believe it or not I dropped out of school at 13 and got a job as an apprentice locksmith so it was all quite exciting and scary I guess? I remember I was into ‘The Smiths’ in a big way and was just starting to hone and perfect my angry young man persona! I got a genuine lump when young Shaun argued with Cynthia and ran away from home. I remember that phase of my life well…the fear dressed up as anger, the confusion…I think Tommo portrayed that so well.

(Left-Right) Milky, Trev, Lol, Woody, Chanel during a scene of This Is England ’86

In episode 3 we really get to know what your character is about, from reading the script did you know just how intense the darker scenes were going to be?
I knew from the first read that the subject matter was as serious and delicate a subject as I was ever going to be trusted with as an actor and that I had the right Director and team to be tackling it with. Shane then spent plenty of rehearsal/preparation time with us and it was during this really that we all slowly started working towards finding the truth of the scenes and the intensity and dark tones required.

Did you have some hesitations in playing the character?
No

How did it feel to be Mick in the darker scenes? Did it feel like just ‘another day at the office’? or was there a more sombre mood on set?
Shane made sure we had the perfect conditions to work in. The energy we needed to create in the scenes needed to be present and respected at all times on set and the crew were amazing. They couldn’t have been more respectful and it was very quiet and extremely focussed. I think it’s fair to say a few tears were shed on those days.

Do you worry about getting any backlash or negative responses from playing Mick?
The response has been overwhelming. People aren’t stupid and I think we underestimate the public.

What can we look forward to seeing you in next?
‘Black Death’ Starring Sean Bean is out now in selected Blockbusters and on nationwide DVD release from October 13th 2010. Then ‘HUGE’ a new film directed by Ben Miller and starring Noel Clarke and myself as two failed comedians and co-starring Thandie Newton is due for release at the end of the year TBC

Thanks very much to Johnny Harris for answering the questions. Go ahead and follow @mrjohnnyharris on Twitter.

All Images take from the This Is England ’86 Facebook page.

The title says it all really since his appearance on letterman people have been wondering what’s going on with him.
(check out the interview below.)

Joaquin Phoenix back in 2000.

Retirement

It was October, 27th, 2008 that Joaquin announced his retirement from acting to pursue a career in rap music. Joaquin had previously recorded the soundtrack album for the film Walk the Line for which he won a Grammy Award at the 49th Annual Grammy Awards.

It had been revealed that Joaquin has been the subject of a documentary made by his brother-in-law Casey Affleck entitled ‘I’m Still Here’. Rumours circulated that it was an elaborate hoax, to which Phoenix stated “This is not a joke. Might I be ridiculous? Might my career in music be laughable? Yeah, that’s possible, but that’s certainly not my intention.” However, he has also been reported to have said, “It’s a put-on. I’m going to pretend to have a meltdown and change careers, and Casey is going to film it.”

Hoax?

If this is indeed a huge hoax it will have been one of the best and biggest hoaxes ever! It it may have a serious tone; how people treat other with mental illnesses. The Letterman interview is a perfect example, the audience and letterman seem to do nothing but take the piss out of him the entire interview, something like this wouldn’t happen if we knew they interviewee had a mental disability.

What’s your opinion on whether it’s a hoax or is it a sign of a serious mental breakdown. Check out the trailer for the film ‘I’m Still Here’. and the whole of the Letterman interview below.

Image: Attribution: Mimi C. at en.wikipedia

So it was announced last week that British/American actor Andrew Garfield would become the new Peter Parker in the Rebooted Spider-Man series.

Spider-Man 4 was due to be released May 6, 2011, with Sam Raimi set to direct as well as Maguire, Dunst and other cast members set to reprise their roles. Sony announced they were shelving the film after Raimi left due to trouble meeting the release date and keeping is creative integrity.

Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus premiere – September 18, 2009 – Roy Thompson Hall – Image by: Courtney

Andrew Garfield, who directed (500) Days of Summer, is set to be the new director and the story will tell the story of Peter Parker developing his abilities in high school. While there has been speculation that the reboot will be based on the Ultimate Spider-Man comic books, but nothing has been confirmed.

It’s hard to imagine a rebooted series so close to the previous films, taking into account the Batman films there was an 8 year gap between Batman & Robin (1997) & Batman Begins (2005) but with those it was a big change from the 20th century to the 21st from the Nineties to the Naughties. And with the scheduled release for the new Spider-Man being July 3, 2012 it will only be a 5 Year gap, Pretty short in the scheme of things.

And on a side note of why I haven’t posted a blog in almost a month, I’ve simply been really busy at work and there’s days when I’ve had 15hr days going to London for work and back. Hopefully I’ll be back on writing more regularly again anyway.

Image by: Courtney

Through Twitter I got asked to do an interview with on whohub.com. Whohub’s goal is to create a social network for creative professionals based on their capacity for self-expression and collaboration.

So I’ll post up a few questions from that here.

What is your specialty? Production, direction, something else?
My speciality is in Direction and editing, I produce video for online distribution.

I have also worked at the BBC and Maverick Television and also freelance.

How did you begin in this field? Who introduced you to it?
I began by creating short 10 second animations out of plasticine using an old 2mp camera but I always just saw this as mess around.

So at the age of 16 was the time I really got interested in becoming a filmmaker.

To read the rest of the interview go to http://www.whohub.com/daleokeeffe#

Read more about Whohub: http://www.whohub.com/en/article.php?file=aboutus#ixzz0qU3dz7Vy

So it was announced today that Spotify have released Spotify Open and Spotify Unlimited but what’s new?

Spotify Open.

Spotify Open

Spotify Open is the new ‘free’ version of Spotify, but where it differs from Spotify Free is that you now don’t need an invite to use the service and also you are limited to only 25hr listening time per month you also can’t use the radio feature.

Spotify Unlimited

Spotify Unlimited is the new paid version of Spotify and for £4.99 a month you do away with the adverts,

Check out the Spotify website for more info on all the different plans

Sony have announced that they will finally stop selling the storage format in Japan from March 2011.

3.5 inch floppy disk..

Earlier in the year Sony had stopped selling the Floppy Disk in most international markets because of reduced sales and the competition from other storage formats.

I’ll be honest, I thought the floppy had died out years ago, because lets face it there isn’t much you can keep on 1.4mb, not even one photo or one song. There was something nice, however, about putting a floppy into the slot, it was nice and clunky, like putting a cartridge into a snes or N64.

Story from BBC News

Avatar sold 1.5 million copies in Blu-ray on it’s first day of going on sale. Along with an additional 2.5 million DVD copies being sold.

Blu-ray.

Does the Avatar’s popularity on Blu-ray show that 3D is a format that we’re only interested in seeing at the cinema? This story seems bad news for 3D TV manufacturers, as the 3D version will not be available until early next year.

3D TV technology is new and 3D television are expensive, it’s also not surprising that far more DVD were sold than Blu-ray, showing that audiences either aren’t too interested in HD to spend more money,or haven’t made the leap into buying a HD/Blu-ray player.

It certainly might be sometime before 3D films will be the biggest buys, as Blu-ray is still playing catch up. Personally I’m not interested in buy a 3D TV at the moment simply because 2D works and looks fine and it has done for years and years.

Question

Are you excited for 3D TVs or are you happy with the one you have at the moment?

I saw this article in the news recently link about a small village which raised £37,000 to offer 200 homes the super-fast broadband that BT would not deliver.

Ethernet Snake by shadphotos.

Recently there has also been talks about a broadband tax so that the government could afford to offer everyone 2mps broadband. I’d be perfectly happy to pay a broadband tax if it were going to vastly improve the service, I pay for 16mps at the moment ad get between 10 and 16, so why would I pay for something that isn’t going to improve mine.

Why not aim to give everyone 40mps because then we’ll have an internet speed that will last a long time rather than 2mps which will need to be upgraded only years down the line.

I’d like to know whether or not you would band together with your local community to pay for faster broadband?

Image by shadphotos