Archive for the 'Non-Fiction' Category

Why Goblet of Fire is My Favourite

7/12/2005

Originally posted on Potter’s Place
As I mentioned in my review, Goblet of Fire is my favourite of the Harry Potter books (thus far at least). For many fans Prisoner of Azkaban was the high point of the series, so I decided to try and explain just what it is I like so much and [...]

The Cinema Indoors

3/06/2005

Originally posted on Filmography
There have been a number of articles about the movie industry reducing the time between a film appearing in the cinema and being available on DVD of late. The reasons given tend to be cost (you spend less on advertising), piracy (it gives pirates less chance to get illegal copies distributed) and [...]

Made for the Screen

9/05/2005

This article was originally posted on Filmography
With the current furore over The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxyfilm I am beginning to wonder if it’s actually possible to adapt a beloved and bestselling book to the screen successfully. I suppose the other question is what makes an adaptation successful?
Due to the relatively short runtime of [...]

Here’s to Your Health

29/04/2005

I was thinking about how many days off I’ve had sick since I started work in my present job the other day. Zero, none, zip, nada, zilch. Sure, I’ve had the odd cold, but nothing strong enough to keep me from turning up. Thinking back over the preceding years, I don’t remember [...]

Legalisation of Drugs

15/01/2005

BBC 1 and 2 are available via cable in the Netherlands, so I was able to watch the If… drugs were legalised program on BBC 2 last Wednesday. There seemed, to me at least, a strong bias towards legalising drugs and I generally got the feeling it came down on the pro-drugs side (documentaries [...]

Is Disney Finished?

11/01/2005

I finally got round to seeing The Incredibles over the Christmas period (and it was by far the busiest of the three films I went to see at the Cinema) and it got me thinking. I remember reading news that Pixar will be discontinuing their relationship with Disney after their current contract runs out. [...]

Get Connected

6/10/2004

They’re one of the reasons for the web to exist, they’re part of the net at a fundamental level and without them it would be a much harder place to visit. I’m talking, of course, about links. They’re everywhere and are what makes the web work. Without them it’s just a collection [...]

The Importance of Good Site Design

23/06/2004

The mantra goes that content is king, practically every expert out there will say the same thing, but is that necessarily true? Design is often sacrificed in favour of content, as it should be surely? Well, I’m not totally convinced. Don’t get me wrong, I believe that the information or products on your site is [...]

The Case for a Designer

20/06/2004

More and more people are taking the plunge and building a web site, and for the most part I encourage people to experiment and try it out. With the vast array of HTML editors available and the growing capabilities of the WYSIWYG sector in particular, it seems that now the web really is open [...]

Harry Potter’s Secret Recipe

8/06/2004

Now, as I may have mentioned, I’m a fan of Harry Potter. I may be significantly older than the target demographic, but I’m not afraid to stick my hand up and be counted. Originally I avoided Potter, thinking it was just some silly kids craze, but when my little sister lent me a copy of Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone one Christmas when I was lacking reading material, I got hooked.