Renfe: Travel Long Distances for Just 9.90 EUR

I received a promotional email today from Renfe. Despite the obvious programming errors on their website and in the email I tried to find these infamously low priced tickets.

Well it seemed like the really low price was between Madrid and Sergovia.

A word of advice Renfe. I love your trains and travelling with you guys, but it’s exceptionally poor to click through to the site and not be shown these deals for a quick and easy click to buy. Second, you ought to have said it was for small and not long haul journeys. After wasting 5 minutes trying to find an example of a 9.90 Euro journey I gave up.

So, not being straight forward with your customer isn’t the way to go.

Having a landing page with the best offers is probably the way to go.

If you’re a traveller I’d compare journey costs with planes and coach companies. You might find it cheaper to opt for an AVE for the outward or return journey.

Bret Michaels: Diabetes Champion in Hospital

When I got diabetes, a kind nurse told me about Bret Micheals, a rock musician who got on with his condition. He is reported to have said, “Look at diabetes as a blessing in this way: If you deal with it right, it will give you total awareness of your body and what your limitations are, what you can and can’t do. It may actually be an advantage, because it made me self-reliant at a young age and put me ahead of the game.”

This is what I believe in. Bret Micheals is presently in hospital with brain hemorrhage. He was due to tour later this year after the release of his solo album. Let’s hope he pulls through! Diabetics need great rock and roll heroes!

Cargo: Hard Sci-fi at its best

Cargo is set in the year 2267. The Earth is riddled with viruses and appears to be uninhabitable. Acid rain scorches the Earth and although not explained throughly, it appears that corporations run the show for the continued existence of humanity!

In the background a group of terrorists make a bleak call to humanity explaining that machines are in control. To make sure each space journey is safe a space marshal accompanies space flights to thwart terrorism.

The only escape from the dying planet is to live on a paradise planet called Rhea. Only the rich can afford to live there. Our protagonist Laura Portmann signs up for a 8 year stint [4 years to Rhea and 4 years back] working as the ship’s doctor on a cargo vessel. At the end of 8 years she’ll have enough money to make it to Rhea after dropping off much needed raw materials and supplies at station 42.

When the ship gets near station 42 to drop off its cargo, the crew is awakened and strange events begin to happen. There’s movement on the ship, shadows and it appears the cargo hold has been compromised. Investigating the ship, the crew suffers some fatalities. When the cargo is inspected, the crew is divided over its significance and where their loyalties really lie!

The pacing of this movie is similar to Solaris. The tension is set up at perhaps too slow a pace for some. About 1/2 way through we’re still wondering who or what is on the ship with them, what the cargo is and why is there a love interest with the doctor. The story comes together in the last 30 minutes when the whole universe’s political, social and financial interests are explained via the various protagonists. This movie is similar to apocalyptic political make-up used in the Blade Runner, Pandorum, Soylent Green, Moon and The Matrix universes.

This movie, made on a budget has tight acting, performances and effects. If you like hard sci-fi, this movie boasts it all. Although not classic, existential or original enough in its own right, the movie is a strong enough in its own right! More for sci-fi fans who like slow developing mysteries than hard paced action.

Watch the trailer here

Barcelona’s Hidden New Photoshop Dali: Manolin Lao

I’ve been lucky to have had some photos shot with this guy a few years back. His work is not only ingenious but surreal and highly creative.

I seriously suggest you check out his work here.

You’ll be amazed!

Listen to the new Deftones Album

We7 and the Deftones have teamed up to offer 30 second clips from their forthcoming album ‘Diamond Eyes‘. The new Deftone’s album comes out May 3rd, 2010. Click here to preview the album

Lost: The Final Series, what is going to happen!

If you’ve been watching the present and last series of Lost and you’ve also tuned into Fringe, you will note there’s some cross over. No surprise. Both shows have the same producer!

Okay, no Jack or Hurley in Fringe, however like in Lost as in Fringe, there’s an influence of one dimension on another. In Fringe, a doctor takes his son from one dimension and takes him to another. This created a riff between the dimensions and has opened, shall we say our dimension to influences of the others.

I guess in simple terminology,  each dimension has it’s own determinism. Each decision creates another determined outcome. The outcome is played out in one of the many dimensions, but it’s deterministic.

Freewill exists but in a really weak form, but I believe it’s more deterministic.  Freewill is played in another dimension as it could have been.

In effect, it’s a cop-out for the determinism vs freewill argument introducing a softener for free-will enthusiasts.

The end of the world in Lost, is more like the dominance of one dimension over another. As we know from Star Trek [great resource] when one dimension meets another, at least in theory, one gets destroyed. So, we’re seeing another dimension being affected by another and there can ONLY be one survivor.

So, the Island allows transport through time and as such through dimensions for people on the Island. So if Locke escapes for example, its said he’ll bring around the destruction of the world. Well, yes. He’ll destroy the dimension that the original Lost survivors come from, but not the other dimension.  Maybe this is the determinism for that Island. Locke escapes, everyone is wiped out by dimension take over.  Probably he is the fail-safe. I believe that, as Whitmore says to Desmond, he’ll need to make a large sacrifice. The decision of us and ironically, the dimensional others!

Still, I think it’s very Schrodinger’s Cat and I think the Locke[Smokey] and Jacob, could simply be positive and negative conduits for the Island, needed for it to exist and to give it coherence. They exist inside the box, but it’s never open for view. Thus, when it’s stated the actors are DEAD, well they are dead and alive as they exist in the confines of the experiment and not open to investigation! Paradoxical right ahahah!

Remember in Series 1-2,  the count-down timer found on the Island, before being destroyed? This may have been the failsafe to stop one dimension from crashing into the other.  It’s been destroyed so now. In the present series we have the other dimension being played out and effecting the other one [people on the island].

With 5 episodes left, I think they need to cover a LOT of ground. We need to know what is DHARMA, why were they there, who are  Jacob and the Smoke Monster and why are they there, and what or who is the Island?

The great thing about Lost is, it’s an entity itself. People refer to it as a thinking, rational entity. However, we have not met or had any inference with this evil/or benign genius. The other main question is, is the Island UNIQUE or does it also have duplicity in other dimensions. If it’s not unique then we might run across some problems.

iTunes Free Festival London 2010: What a Line Up with Ozzy Osbourne, Placebo, Kasabian

There’s a crazy cat free festival happening in London UK, 1-30 July, 2010. It’s the iTunes Festiva with 30 glorious days of FREE music! This  kinda puts other free festivals in Barcelona to shame. I’m bored of the usual safe music I hear at every festival that’s either bad music or bad imitations of other main stream bands.

Sure, people may be influenced by other groups, but unless there’s something different, why bother? Get the real band and and get them to play! Let’s hope Steve Jobs influences the iTunes concert to come to Barcelona! Face it, we need it!

Rant aside, there’s an excellent free festival happening up in my old stomping ground Chalk Farm. [That’s the real Camden Town if ya didn’t know] @ the Roundhouse. It’s a largish venue but intimate enough to really soak in one of your fav bands”

Excellent bands across genres will be playing and there’s more to be announced. Here’s a tasty line up! Oh and did I say it’s for free? Yeah, but ya have to enter a competition to enter and have iTunes installed or it don’t work 😦

• Ozzy Osbourne
• Simple Minds
• Tony Bennet
  
• Bloc Party
• Placebo
• Calvin Harris
• Kasabian
• Mika
• Bat For Lashes
• Sophie Ellis-Bextor
• La Roux
• Friendly Fires

Get your itunes festival tickets here

Blur release “Fools Day” as a Free Legal .Mp3 + .Wav download: Fools Day Video

I posted a week or so ago about Blur releasing a single, “Fools Day“, online with just 1000 copies on Vinyl 7″ only. This is their first single for like 8 years and it’s quite landmark in itself.

Anyway, the band have sensibly made a decision to release it online and for free, and more than likely as 1000 copies were not enough for Europe, let alone America.

This is to halt bad vinyl copies [read piracy] floating around on the net. You can get it in MP3 format or .Wav which is impressive! Thanks boys!

Blur’s Fools Day MP3 or Wav for free.

Here’s the video for the single!

Mandatory Condom Use in Adult Films

I read an article recently stating an interesting twist on adult movies and condom use.  Seems like Michael Weinstein President of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation were, ‘knowingly exposing porn actors to sexually transmitted diseases’. Of course there’s other bodily fluids such as blood, mucus and saliva as well.

A complaint was sent to various agencies including: “A List Talent, ATMLA, Gold Star Modeling, LA Direct Models, Lisa Ann’s Talent Management, Metro Talent Management, SpieglerGirls.com, Type 9 Models Inc. & World Modeling”.

So, if the complaint is upheld it’ll mean watching some hammy acting before king dong sheaths on a 19″ black knobbler. Still, I think it’s best practice to show this in movies per se. If it goes out to a catholic country they can cut the scene and with any sex-safe country then with the dom-on!

The article is interesting and can be found here.

Tool Start Work on New Album: Tool to play with Rush, Muse, King Crimson & Pink Floyd

Tool have announced this week on their site that they are indeed going into the studio.

It’s been 4 years since we’ve heard anything new from these guys since their 10,000 days album.

So far there’s no name of the album, but stick close and come back soon when this is announced!

Before I give you the link, the band are suggesting fans practice magical evocation to get:

• Tool to produce a new album quicker and your potent magick will help the make the band work faster!

• Tool to perform with Muse, U2 style, on a rooftop in Teignmouth Devon
• Tool to open for Pink Floyd at the Royal Albert Hall
• Tool to open with Rush somewhere (possibly at Neuschwabenland)
• Tool to open with for King Crimson at Madison Square Garden

You can also work the magick spells to be:

• In the company of Danny and Adam at a Lakers’ play-off game [or Chelsea FC with Justin ].
• Winning two free tacos from Jack In The Box {??}

Of course it’s all tongue in cheek.

The email is VERY long so good luck