Saturday, 9 April 2016

Batman versus Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016)

Superheroes Batman (aka Bruce Wayne, CEO of Wayne Enterprises, played by Berkeley-born Ben Affleck) takes on Superman (played by Henry Cavill, who debuted in Texas-born Kevin Reynold's 2002 production of The Count of Monte Cristo, as Albert), both DC Comics icons, in this movie. At one point, Batman delivers a very strong kick to Superman, but also uses Kryptonite, which makes Superman weak. The movie is as much about technologically and scientifically equipped and well prepared Man versus the raw, alien strength of Superman, who is representative of the force of Nature. There is also an element of an older Batman facing off against a younger Superman. Eventually the heroes unite to fight the monster created by Jesse Eisenberg's Lex Luthor, Superman's greatest enemy. The monster is eventually destroyed through a Kryptonite mace. Gal Gadot (Gisele in Fast and Furious 2009) also features as ex-Amazonian princess, Wonder Woman. The film is directed by Zack Snyder who also started Cruel and Unusual Films. Zack made his directorial debut with a remake of the 1978 film Dawn of the Dead.

Saturday, 5 March 2016

The New York Times Best Seller List

The List is Multiple Lists

The New York Times Best Seller List ranks books by sales, in print and e-book format, fiction and non-fiction, hardpack and paperback. There are also separate lists for Business, Education, Adventures and Science.

Topping the Business best seller list.. Originals

Originals by Adam Grant. It is about "how to champion new ideas and fight groupthink". It features an entrepreneur who pitches startups by highlighting reasons not to invest.  (Agenda Setting, General Management).

Michael Lewis' The Big Short is steady at number two. (Finance).

At three, former Hillary Clinton advisor Alec Ross weighs in with "The Industries of The Future" published by Simon and Schuster. Data ubiquity, markets and trust, robotics and genomics are among the topics considered. (Disruptive Change).

Overall Fiction Topper..Me Before You

Me Before You by Jo Jo Moyes tops the overall print and e-book fiction list.

At number two is "The Girl in the Spider's Web" which is the fourth novel in the Millennium Series starting with "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo".

Tuesday, 1 March 2016

Overs and Innings, Silly Mid Off and Silly Mid On - A Guide to the Terms of Cricket

What is an Over?

An over is six balls bowled from one end of a cricket pitch excluding wide balls and no balls.

After an over, called by the Umpire, a different bowler comes online to bowl from the opposite end of the pitch - the batsmen however remain in their positions. Bowlers may not bowl successive overs, but may alternate.  In limited overs cricket, bowlers may be deployed for a maximum percentage of overs e.g. no more than 20% of balls per innings.

What is an innings?

An innings is a division of a match where one side takes turn to bat. First class fixtures have up to four innings, with each team getting to bat twice.

Other technical terms: a maiden over is one in which no runs are scored. Silly mid off and silly mid on are positions to the left and the right of the bowler respectively. The furthest point forward facing the bowler (or equivalently, directly behind the wicket keeper) is the Long Stop, and the furthest point behind is the Straight Hit. The extreme left of the bowler is the Deep Cover and the extreme right is the Deep Midwicket.

Sunday, 28 February 2016

Air Hockey

Air Hockey is a two player where both sides try to push the puck into the opponent's goal. It is a played on a special low friction surface.  Its origins are in America in the early 1970s.

It was invented by employees of Brunswick Billiards.

Manufacturers include TekScore and Kostkowice-based Wik.

Sunday, 21 February 2016

Ride Along 2 (2016)

Ice Cube and Kevin Hart are back for a bust up in Miami. The film starts with Finna Get Loose ends with KRS-ONE's Sound of Da Police. The film is directed by Los Angeles-born Tim Story.

Production houses involved include Santa Monica based Cube Vision and Universal Pictures.

Matt Manfredi and Phil Hay were involved in the writing for the film.

Friday, 19 February 2016

Zoolander 2 (2016)

Ben Stiller comes back as Derek Zoolander (a.k.a. Erek Toolander) and Owen Wilson returns as Hansel up against the wily Mugatu (played by Will Ferrell). Billy Zane plays himself.

Thursday, 18 February 2016

Where do Kettlebells come from?

Kettlebells were developed in Russia in the 1700s for weighing crops.