Monsters, Inc.

I quite enjoyed watching Monsters, Inc. on the TV tonight. It was a fairly fun animated movie from Pixar for kids — a light tale about scary monsters in the closet. The monsters needed to collect the screams of children to power their city.

But one kid found her way into Monstropolis and caused havoc.

The animation was well done, and the movie itself was creative, and actually fast paced and humorous.

But the absolute best part was the credits. Alongside the names were move clips — first the ‘bloopers’ reel. There was some great humour there.

Then followed the ‘musical’ that was used as an excuse during the main movie. The musical was pretty much a summary of the key plot points from the main movie, told with drama and effect.

It was all good fun for a relaxed Saturday night. If you should watch this one, definitely stay all the way through the credits.

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See and download the full gallery on posterous

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The Mammomat 1000. The black ‘base’ contains the X-Ray plate, while the perspex ‘plate’ squishes the breast.

A couple of weeks ago I received a letter, not quite out of the blue, giving me a time and place for my routine mammogram. It’s a smart move: instead of a letter asking you to call for an appointment, they just make an appointment for you.

I imagine they have a much higher participation rate that way.

BreastScreen Aotearoa is a free national breast screening programme for eligible women aged 45 to 69:

• The aim of breast screening is to find very small cancers before a lump can be found on the breast. Early treatment has the best chance of success.
• Breast cancer is the most common cancer in New Zealand women.

This was my second routine screening so I knew what to expect. The technician was very friendly and efficient, positioning me with my feet in certain spots and hand over my head, or arm forward, head facing one way or the other, to get everything lined up.

The Mammomat 1000 includes motors that move the machine into position. The technician can operate it with the buttons shown here.

The black base in the photo of the amazingly named Mammomat 1000 contains the X-Ray plate. The perspex ‘plate’ comes down and squishes your breast. It’s a bit uncomfortable for a few seconds while the image is made, and then you’re released.

The machine tilts to around 45° and a second image is made.

It’s all repeated then with the other breast.

After my images were done the technician asked me to wait around for a couple of minutes before I could get dressed again. She looked at the X-Ray images to make sure they met whatever requirements are in place. Mine must have been OK, because we didn’t have to do them again.

The whole session took about 10 minutes, including the undressing and dressing again.

When I took a couple of photos the technician grew quite enthusiastic, telling me how great this particular machine is.

The Mammomat 1000 has several buttons that operate motors to move it into position. At the Hutt Hospital, where she also works, the machine is older and she has to move it into position by hand. That must be pretty demanding, when you spend all day on that kind of work.

I feel mighty pleased that our government provides free breast screening for those most at risk. Let’s hope that it’s not taken away again by those currently in power.

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On any road shared by cars and cyclists there is clearly a fragile relationship between half a ton of steel and a few kilos of flesh and bone. When that relationship strays from its careful path, it’s the human being who suffers.

As an occasional cyclist on Wellington’s narrow, winding roads my fragility is always on my mind. Now a study tells us that motorists’ perceptions are skewed by the oh-so-helpful cycle lanes:

Traffic.

Drivers give cyclists a wider berth on roads where there is no lane because they assume that they should share the road and make more allowance for the risk of wobbles. …

[A] study, which is due to be published in the scientific journal Accident Analysis and Prevention, says that on roads without cycle lanes, drivers “consciously perform an overtaking manoeuvre”. On roads with cycle lanes, they treat the space between the centre line and the outside edge of the cycle lane as exclusively their territory and make less adjustment for cyclists.

[Via : Cycle lanes encourage motorists to drive closer to bikes, says study - Times Online.]

I grew up cycling to school and back in Christchurch. My bike was my means of transport. By the time I got my driver’s licence I totally understood the needs and problems of cyclists.

I think motorists should be required to demonstrate a number of hours experience riding a bike on busy city roads before they are allowed to graduate to a full car licence. Once they’ve had a taste of the fear, perhaps they’d be more considerate.

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Dug the dog from Up.

Yesterday I saw my first ever 3D movie: Up, from Pixar. The 3D glasses were a little unfamiliar and uncomfortable at first, but I soon forgot that because the movie was so engaging, after the first few minutes.

It’s an unlikely story of kids who dream of adventure. As they grow up the adventure seems to disappear, until the right moment comes.

But now we’re already several minutes into the film and things are just beginning.

The movie was a lovely, fanciful tale of adventure and the twists and turns of life. Kevin the bird was gorgeous, and surprising.

There were many dog characters — a whole pack, in fact, that could be a bit much for anyone scared of dogs.

While most of the dog pack were staunch Dobermans or Rotweilers or Bulldogs, Dug was the exception. As you can see from the image here, Dug was far from staunch.

The dog characters were beautifully depicted, capturing the essence of dog. A special ‘translation’ collar allowed the dogs to speak English (and several other languages). The speech patterns weren’t simply colloquial American though, and again gave us a sense of ‘dogness’.

To get a sense of the move, take a look at this clip, showing the old man and the boy, Kevin, the bird and Dug the dog.

[Via : UP : The Official Website: Videos.]

The action was fast-paced, and unlikely. There were layers of humour and deeper meaning, to appeal to both kids and adults.

This was a totally endearing movie. I’ve just had a lot of fun as I wrote this post, watching some of the trailers and clips and featurettes on the official site. The enjoyment endures. Watch this movie, in 3D, if you have the chance.

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via nasa.gov

This gorgeous ‘butterfly’ is one of the images from the Hubble Telescope they recently overhauled.

Read about it and see more fabulous pictures at http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/hubble/multimedia/ero/index.html

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In 2000 I visited Apia in Samoa to do some training work. I had with me my brand new video camera.

Just before 8 one morning I headed down to the Government building on the waterfront and balanced my camera on a nearby car. I was ready to record the Police Band’s daily flag raising ritual.

The Band start at the Police Head Quarters a couple of blocks away and march down the street. The cars just have to wait for them.

After a few minutes they arrive and form up ready to play the National Anthem. The flag’s raised, the Band plays. Then they march back to base.

The whole thing takes around 15 minutes, or less.

My video here is a little over 5 minutes. Since it’s 9 years old, and I had it stored on tape, it has a few artefacts that are probably due to general deterioration.

Today I sold my video camera, so made sure to import my finished videos from the tape I’d stored them on. The friend I sold the camera to asked me to put this one online. A few more may follow — not of the Police Band.

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Kiwis seem to be a creative and inventive bunch. Today I’ve come across two examples related to cycling.

The YikeBike is a new kind of bike called a mini-farthing:

We started with a blank sheet of paper and addressed the needs of urban commuting: light-weight for carrying; compact and clean for carrying and storage; decent size front wheel for bumps and curbs; better visibility through upright riding position; shorter wheel base for better manoeuvrability and electric drive to prevent working up a sweat.

We also addressed a number of safety issues such as: shorter stopping distance (the YikeBike has anti-skid brakes), tighter cornering for emergencies, better acceleration, a limited top speed of 20kph and a riding position that is upright and unencumbered by handle bars in the event of an emergency stop or accident. …

It is designed and currently assembled in New Zealand.

Sounds and looks really interesting, but some excavation of the website revealed a price that is well beyond my budget.

Bike racks

Carrying stuff on a bike is always a problem. I have a rack on my bike and a small bag that locks into it. The small bag was exactly what I intended to buy, but I’ve found it’s not big enough for my usual needs.

Today I discovered the Freeload rack, that sounds very interesting:

Freeload is the world’s first fully adjustable bicycle carrier rack that can be fitted to the front or rear of all types of bicycles, including full-suspension mountain bikes. This innovation is a major breakthrough for load-carrying on mountain bikes, especially in off-road touring situations.

Designed and developed in New Zealand, home to some of the most challenging and beautiful off-road touring destinations, the Freeload system provides you with a truly flexible platform for adventure.
Freeload lets you remove the load from your back and mount it directly to your bike, giving you more freedom to enjoy the ride.

[Via : Your Platform For Adventure.]

The price is reasonable — buy one before 1 November 2009 to receive a 25% discount off the standard price.

I had to ferret around the website a bit, but the rack seems to include bungees for attaching your gear to the rack.

I think I see one of these in my future …

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