Well it took me forever to get around to seeing this film (it’s down to two showings a day now I think) and there were richer pickings on offer this summer in my opinion, but when Raj told me in the pub the other night that he had “seen it twice” and he’d “see it again” I thought it’d be a good way to make the most of an Orange Wednesday.

I’m one of those people who pays lip service to the Transformers cartoon in the eighties, but honestly, I can’t really remember too much of it. I remember the merchandising and toys more than watching the programme. Optimus Prime, the Deceptacons, the Autobots – are all familiar though – as is the basic but enjoyable fantasy concept of mechanical objects turning into something living.

This isn’t an intellectual film that plays out complicated characterisations, but that doesn’t matter in the slightest. You come to see this if you want to be swept along, not challenged.

The two main assets of the film are the humour (which is spot on, both obvious and subtle throughout) and most certainly the eye candy. It wasn’t unintentional to cast a leading lady as a hotpantted greasemonkey me thinks (thinks back to Gone In 60 Seconds). Nor was the choice to pick some damn sexy cars. The combination only makes me despair at the thought of all those MAX Power girls who wouldn’t consider picking up an oily rag let alone hotwire a pickup. The zesty Camaro sort of puts my “Matchbox” Polo to shame (though it does give me hope that it might one day flash blueish and morph into a Mustang).

The special effects are stunning and the camera work showcases the true graphic reality/hyper-reality fluidity achievable movies now – I think it’s fantastic. I would have left the cinema thoroughly convinced that the robots were completely real had it not been for a barrage of of unashamedly cheesy lines that clearly drew a direct decent from the action genre of the 1980s. I think the piece de resistance for me had to be “you’re a soldier now” – brilliance.

It’ll be a shame if they make a sequel to Transformers, but it is inevitable of course. It will only be following the tradition that started twenty five years ago when a box office smash is followed by two equally high grossing films that nobody actually enjoyed or rated. Be that as it may, it doesn’t devalue this film which is a piece of happy action, and my only regret is that I didn’t see it on IMAX.

With everyone in my family out of the country on holiday, and everyone else I know in London, I appear to be the only person not on holiday. It’s even a bank holiday weekend, and still, I appear not be on holiday.

That said, I managed to catch a couple of schnifty pints with Liam and Raj on Friday and am fully intending on a visit to The Smoke next weekend to run into Devito/Swan/Sean etc, so it’s not all misery. Add to that the great weather, my upkeep of early morning daily fitness for over a week and the fact the cupboards are stocked to the hilt with olives, pesto and smoothies – I’m actually quite enjoying this slither of summer.

Deako and I have been in talks about a photography trip to the lakes in the coming weeks which will be the first real walking I’ve done since finishing school but I’m really looking forward to it. With flights to New York from as cheap as they are, I was really tempted by a trip across the pond, but I think that will have to wait – there are a number of other and more essential purchases that need to be completed first.

I’ve also gone and pre-ordered the new Foo Fighters album; after hearing the first track, The Pretender, I’ve got all over excited. Can’t wait.

Why is it that I can’t find anywhere that sells sunglasses that fit my face or doesn’t provide some obstacle to purchase like a gaint cardboard label cable tied to the frames? Probably the most difficult purchase I make every six months (my sunnies invariably get sat on/trod on/dropped/bag-crushed), I have yet to find an easy way of replacing the last pair. After walking into every shop in Merry Hell on Saturday, I couldn’t find anything suitable. My frustration mounts.

Saturday brought with it the August Multipack and despite all my hopes of having something to show in terms of a new design for the site, events conspired against me and I didn’t manage to finish what I’d started. Hopefully this next month will prove more flexible on the weekends, but what with Devito coming back in the next couple of weeks, a photography trip on the horizon and one or two other things in the diary, I’m not sure it will.

I completely forgot to take any photos of the event, but did manage to capture the action of the beach volleyball going on in the torrential rain in Centenary Square.

I was surprised and delighted to spend 20 minutes this morning unwrapping a parcel I had forgotten about – a set of Harman/Kardon Soundsticks II that we’re one of the rewards of keeping a blog over the past few months. It’s nice to finally get rid of the big CD changer – though it’s done me good over the years, it’s a little overkill and the sound quality definitely isn’t as good as this.

In an attempt to reach a more sensible structure to my day whilst still incorporating my daily pool lengths, I arrived at the health club at 8.00am this morning only to discover my membership doesn’t start until 8.30am. I would have been annoyed had it not been for the fact nobody had yet touched the newspapers in the bar and with hardly anyone about I got a bit of solace before getting down to fitness. Which was nice.

I’ve finished Return To Tibet , Heinrich Harrer’s second book on his time in Tibet. Written in the early eighties, soon after the border was reopened for the first time since the Cultural Revolution (1960s), this book is a completely different animal to his first volume, Seven Years in Tibet .

For a start this not a story – more of an account – and it only spans but a couple of weeks. By far the most significant change though is how much more political this is than Seven Years.

Harrer clearly was disgusted by many of the changes since the time he spent there, and although the physical destruction of the country’s heritage clearly appals him, I also found his negative attitude towards the Tibetans who collaborated with the Chinese revealing. In the first book there is little in the way of a personal revelation – much of what he says is very matter of fact – but here we learn his opinions on the Tibetans in general. If you can believe anything of the film in relation to his personal behaviour, it is clear why he now expresses his admiration for the Khampas (out-of-city warrior tribes) and belittles those who co-operated with the Chinese invaders in order to save themselves.

I wasn’t so sure of the book format this time – many of the chapters are of unequal length and at times Harrer repeats himself, but by the final sections I definitely was reaping the benefit of his insights. The more I have read, the more I have found his story ingratiating. With it being nearly 25 years since this second book was written, it is interesting to now compare my own experiences with his.

This book is not to be tackled without first reading Seven Years, and doesn’t quite grip you in the same way, at least initially and certainly if you are more interested in a good story than reminiscing on the past, the airing of personal regrets (if circumstances had been different) and conversations with Buddhist lamas on the level of oppression suffered by their countryfolk.

Overall I enjoyed it, although not as much as the first book. It had that same appeal of the ‘Seven Up’ television series – with a genuinely worthwhile gap left between instalments (unlike the distance between Charlotte Church’s two autobiographies).

Harrer died in January last year, which is a shame as there are many questions that seem unanswered and especially in relation to the differences between the books and the 1997 film portrayal. I don’t have anything concrete to back this up with, but after reading this second book I get the impression Harrer probably wasn’t too dissimilar from his portrayal on the screen.

His full autobiography is due out this year, so I’m hoping to get my hands on a copy. In the meanwhile, I’m going to have to locate some other reading material…

It may have escaped your notice that the BBC have quietly updated their radio station logos.

It’s been six years since the last major overhaul, and this attempt has been along the same lines as the TV logos – to standardise the format.

The first I noticed of the change was an advert for the Asian Network revealed a new “wavy A” in a circle. I just assumed a rebrand of the one logo until I spotted a new look on the Russell Howard/Jon Richardson podcast on 6 Music.

The new logos haven’t been fully rolled out yet, but the designs have been disclosed.

Radio 1

As you can see, Radio One has seen little in the way of a change. The black sticks, and the only addition is the serif ascender to the top of the number one. Smart and minimally altered. I still like it, and probably still the strongest radio brand.

Radio 1Xtra

Being Radio 1’s sister station, the redesign has keeps the two brands close, and 1X adopts a slightly thicker font to match the Radio 1 branding. Minimal change and understandable, although should 1Xtra be attempting to differentiate itself from Radio 1 more? There has been a paradigm shift over the past few years which has driven the focus of each station further apart – and now 1Xtra pretty much covers all RnB, HipHop and Urban where Radio 1 almost exclusively has removed those genres from it’s playlists since it’s launch. I suppose it is the age of the demographic that still keeps these two stations ‘linked’.

Radio 2

In my opinion, a backward step for Radio 2. For the most popular station in the UK, the logo should have reflected something more exciting than a version of the Radio 1 logo, and in a colour that doesn’t seem to have related particularly with the station in the past. Even if the colour were to stick, I think they have been far too cautious here with a design that could have afforded to be one of the more exciting departures.

Radio 3

Radio 3 provided probably the most interesting and different logo before the revamp. There was something Matisse and incredibly arty about it. I don’t know any Radio 3 listeners, but I always thought it suited the sort of person who would listen to it.

The new look is tamer, based on a clef mark, and is more obvious than the previous incarnation. However, like Radio 2, I think they could have afforded to be a little more avant-garde with this one too. I’m not entirely convinced about the lower part of the number either – it looks like it has been drawn on, where as the upper part has been typographically balanced.

Radio 4

Maybe the one with the least flexibility, Radio 4 listeners are notoriously resistant to change. I really like the colour used here, and it does echo of the previous version. The form of the number is good too, but although the use of the quote mark is in line with the application of motifs in the other logos, it doesn’t feel like it was designed in – much like my issue with the Radio 3 logo. I just feels like it was ‘dropped’ in. It might have sat in better if it had a thicker tail.

Radio 5 Live

I can’t help thinking this is slightly imbalanced. Although the number is very strong, the addition of live makes me see the word Olive which is not intentional and distracting. Perhaps this would have been better below, or within the circle?

Radio 5 Live Sports Extra

Much like it’s sister station, the five branding is strong and the colour completementary, but the positioning of the ‘sports extra’ text this time appears unbalanced – offset oddly from the circle.

Radio 6 Music

From what I have read, the new 6music logo is meant to represent a turntable and stylus, or an iPod clickwheel – playing on the strong music focus and technical-interest nature of the audience. I like the logo, more so than the old one, and the colour also seems a sensible progression.

The inset sans serif typography might have also worked well on the other rebrands too. Despite the musical allusions, I think it would have been better if the hole in the 6 had been truly centred – another case of slight adjustment that could have made it more eye-easy.

Radio 7

The change at Radio 7 is a little more than the logo. Previously BBC 7, Radio 7 is a much more sensible name for this station and reflects it nature as a radio station and not so likely to be confused with the BBC 1, 2, 3 and 4 television services.

I always thought the prior logo for seven was as best quirky and at worst weak when compared to it’s counterparts. The new one strikes me as similarly odd, but therefore maybe fitting of a station I find hard to understand – providing little in the way of new material and mainly a place for repeats of old BBC radio productions and comedies.

The seven has been rounded, unlike with any other of the logo numbers and the colour has pretty much stuck. If you know what Radio 7 is about, you’d probably guess the relevance of the smile but maybe not otherwise. Even so I think it a sensible even obvious step forward.

Radio Asian Network

My favourite of all the logos is this one, although I’m not entirely convinced by the lettering reading top to bottom, at least, not on one line. I always liked the old logo too, and this seems probably the most radical but also most appropriate update.

Overall

Clearly the BBC has attempted to consolidate an eclectic mix of logos. When the last lot were devised in 2001, I did wonder why they had chosen to synchronise the look of the television channel brandings yet set apart the brandings of the radio counterparts.

Whether is this a good thing, I’m undecided, as I think this very much echos of the direction of the BBC branding devised nearly a decade ago. It may have been better to have been more forward-thinking with the designs. I’m also unsure of the timeless nature of these – for me I’m struggling to place them as a reflection of the past, or as forward looking.

Quirkiness is a clear thread that runs through all these logos. Radio 1 and 1Xtra are the least affected in the changes building on their existing already strong brand. Radio 3, 4, 7 and to some extent 6 make literal descriptions of their content with varying degrees of success. 5 Live, Sports Extra and the Asian Network have made the most significant departures from their prior design

The launch of the new identities has one more final but subtle change attached – several of the stations have been renamed. 5 Live and 5 Live Sports Extra have ditched the word ‘Five’ in place of the numeral to match the existing lineup of stations, and all the stations are now prefixed BBC Radio, meaning a change in name for 1Xtra, 6music, BBC 7and Asian Network also.

Although I’ve levelled criticism at most of these designs, I think overall they do work and will enhance the strength of the BBC brand umbrella. Whether it is progressive enough shift or whether it really shows the truly diverse range of content on offer, I’m not entirely convinced.

(Also, it might be worth noting, I think the overall impact is enhanced when they are displayed together as above – I reviewed each one individually with the others removed).

Tomorrow marks the 30th year since Elvis died, and so I’d just like to pay my respects and say long live the King…

An interesting favourite musician of mine, and not really in the same boat as the others – Foo Fighters, Groove Armada, Blink 182, Oasis, Jeff Buckley.

Most people I speak to born after his death tell me he didn’t write his own material and he spent most of his years making appalling movies. For me though, that doesn’t matter.

Elvis became an intrinsic part of my childhood listening (Father only kept two cassettes in the car; Captain Beaky and Elvis – so I know both inside out) and the first song I ever remember listening to was Hound Dog. Dad is a big fan – he has a large vinyl collection and has been known to drag the whole family to ‘reunion gigs’ where the original band plays around a giant video screen with the original vocals (I’ve been to two).

In honour of this anniversary I present my top ten Elvis tracks:

10. Viva Las Vegas
9. You’ll Never Walk Alone
8. Heartbreak Hotel
7. A Little Less Conversation (Elvis vs. JXL)
6. I Just Can’t Help Believing
5. His Latest Flame
4. See See Rider (Hawaii Concert version)
3. Suspicious Minds
2. In The Ghetto
1. Burning Love

And so ends two days in Southampton or thereabouts. Aside from being so laissez faire about trains times which nearly meant I spent another night down here, everything worked out pretty great.

I got in before 9am yesterday and was met by DDS in the Peugatti (part Peugeot, part Bugatti) and was whisked back to Chateau Currin for a bacon breakfast and morning meeting. After getting that work out of the way, we spent a while seeing the Beaulieu sights including some classic cars, part of the New Forest and the marina where the sail boat is kept.

The real reason for coming down was the meeting yesterday evening with Lorna, who had come back from London that evening. After some fevered idea-thrashing and date planning over a pint, we came away pretty satisfied and with a list of things to do of the coming days. It’s going to be a busy couple of weeks.

Being Cowes week, we couldn’t resist the lure of Solent, and so early this morning we picked up the floodtide and took the boat down river. We got as far as seeing the Isle of Wight before the wind gave up, so we moored up briefly and went for a swim. It wasn’t as bracing as it could have been, but great fun to be back on the water. The last time I was sailing a craft that size was well over eight years ago, and I’ve been dying to get back out on the water ever since. We called it a corporate event, as strictly, this was a business trip.

The rest of the day has been strategising and the rest, once again in the slightly unusual setting of a back garden in glorious sunshine. If only every day at work was quite so refreshing and holiday-like…