Today's song was one I originally heard when I watched Kevin Spacey's stunning performance of Bobby Darin in "Beyond the Sea". "Simple Song of Freedom" was one of the last songs Darin wrote before his premature death and is very politically motivated. Darin campaigned for Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy and after their assassinations came "Simple Song of Freedom" which is obviously aimed against supporters and instigators of the Vietnam war and against the military establishment in the US.

The song is still extremely relevant for today as we have Bush and the neo-cons making war in the Middle East and the media being manipulated by big business. It seems that 30 years on, Darin's message of "most of what you read is made of lies" is still very much with us and that politicians haven't really learnt any lessons since Vietnam.

I've been hearing many mixed reviews about the new Spiderman movie so I thought I would give my two cents worth. We went to see Spiderman 3 on Tuesday night.

What did I think of it? I actually really liked it which means a lot because I am notoriously difficult to please when it comes to movies. Movie-wise, I have a very short attention span so for me to watch a movie right to the end, the story needs to be well-written and engaging. I can probably use the fingers on both hands to name the only movies that I can truly say I liked and would watch again. 95% of what comes out of Hollywood these days is just pure dross (and probably 95% is a very generous figure).

Anyway, back to Spidey. Most films that make it to the second sequel are struggling to come up with original ideas. Sam Raimi doesn't have that problem here. To me, Spiderman 3 is very well-written, the criminals are great, the humour is crackling and Tobey Maguire once again is rocking and rolling.

What really gets me are people that post reviews on the internet and criticise the "stupid plot" or the "overuse of CGI effects". Well here's a newsflash people - Spiderman is a COMIC-BOOK! So being a comic book, of course the plot is going to be a little strange and of course Raimi is going to use CGI - how else can you get the Sandman on screen or have James Franco flying through the air on a hoverboard? When it comes to comic book adaptations, you HAVE to use CGI effects to make the movie work and you DO have to suspend your disbelief when it comes to the plot. I mean, do you read a comic book and criticise the plot? Of course not. When you buy a comic book, you know it's just some escapist fantasy fiction. Why should the movie version be any different?

Holiday Diary Part Two


Stardate Monday 23 April 2007. Captain's personal log. I woke up early at around 6.00am, going crazy at Tanya's cannon-roaring snoring in the hallway. God, that dog can sure snore AND growl at the same time! I finally stagger out of bed, shocked that I am conscious at such an early time in the morning. If I was back in Germany, I would be in cloud cuckoo land by now......

Today is "going into Edinburgh" day, to look at the shops and maybe buy some souvenirs for people. But a deadly unspeakable curse hangs over us whenever we venture into Edinburgh - it's called "The Rain Curse". Everytime we go into Edinburgh, it starts to rain heavily. Will it happen again? I look out of the window nervously and I am relieved to see sun. Maybe the curse has finally been defeated? I can only hope!

We're finally ready to go into Edinburgh and before we leave, Monika asks the big question : "should we take an umberella?". Then to tempt fate even further, she adds "well, you know what the weather can be like here!". I look out of the window again with dread but again I see only sun. Feeling relieved, I am still nervous of something happening so when I think the weather isn't looking, I stuff a small travel umberella into my backpack. Best to be prepared!

45 minutes later, we are in Edinburgh after a bus ride and so far everything is looking good. Still sun, no rain. Some of the passengers have even started to take off their rainjackets and they are starting to think about perhaps going really crazy by also putting on a pair of sunglasses. I begin to think there may be a God after all. We get off the bus in the main shopping street, Princes Street and then it happens - it starts raining. Did you hear someone howling last Monday? Perhaps a little scream added in? That was me, cursing God and summoning the devil. As I am standing there in the middle of a downpour, I see everyone taking off their sunglasses again and putting their rainjackets back on. God, I'm so miserable! Then I discover that I forgot to bring along the camera and now I am even more annoyed!

We spent the entire day blowing our entire budget and then some. Monika went into the Disney shop and reverted back to a ten year old girl again with lots of "ooohhs" and "aaahhs". I was the perfect gentleman by buying her a Winnie the Pooh cushion (it was discounted!). We also raided the Marks and Spencers sandwiches, which for those who don't know M & S, are simply wonderful. Expensive but well worth it. Yum.

We finally decided that pneumonia wasn't our idea of fun so we went back home, dripping wet like a fish out of water. I then spent the next couple of hours drying off before we both decided to go to the cinema to see the new Anthony Hopkins movie, "Fracture". I wasn't expecting anything wonderful to come from this film but by the end, I found myself pleasantly surprised. The film centres around Anthony Hopkins' character who murders his wife when he discovers that she is having an affair with a police detective. Even though he readily confesses to the crime, he has absolutely no intention of going to prison for it. Instead we see him manipulating the system to weaken the case against him and we gradually discover how much planning and thought he put into a shooting that initially seemed to be random and spontaneous.

The prosecutor (played by Gosling) is an arrogant and cocky assistant DA who thinks that because he has a confession that the whole thing is locked down and secure. But he has severely underestimated Hopkins and step by step, Gosling gets his legs cut out from under him. This is an enjoyable movie and Hopkins is just fantastic.

Oh and the popcorn wasn't bad either.