¿Pero quién es este personaje que se atreve a embutirse en traje militar con semejante look hippy? Pues se ni más ni menos que el mismísimo George Clooney en cuerpo mortal, caminando hacia el set de rodaje de Men Who Stares at Goats. En la cinta, que cuenta con una imaginativa premisa, Clooney es un soldado de una división secreta estadounidense, cuyos componentes tienen extraños poderes mentales. O al menos eso dicen ellos. Ewan McGregor, Jeff Bridges y Kevin Spacey le acompañan en la película.

Incendiary

Maybe its just about time and place but this film tugged at the heart strings more than I thought.

The story is fairly good and given recent events of terrorism over the last ten years not really far fetched- to a certain extent you know you are being led down a path but you follow along all the same. There are a few weak points with the love triangle but otherwise a very strong film.

As the main part of the story is dealing with the loss of a child I do think being a parent draws you in deeper- not saying it’s necessary but it’s amazing how easy the emotional attachments can be drawn on both the first scenes of the son and later with the newborn. Thankfully the story focuses on the mother and the journey that she takes after losing her son instead of just on the details of the bombing. I particularly liked how they also showed the son of the bomber and her acceptance and even sacrifice for him. One thing I did find a bit maudlin were the balloons with the pictures of the victims on it- they do actually fit into the story but it is only really at the end that it has much significance to the story.

The acting by Michelle Williams is simply superb- I didn’t actually realise this was the same actress of Dawsons Creek fame. She is excellent at showing the suffering and introspection of grief and hopefully there will be more films where she can show her range. Ewan McGregor is good but I am beginning to think that he does independent films these days just to get his jocks off! Matthew Macfadyen is effective but would have liked to see his character written with more emotion.

Good cinemtography as well- close ups were well shot and the scenes of the bombing done well. Unfortunately with a the few events over the last 7 years there is more than enough footage to compare it to.

Have a look to: –> Men Who Stare at Goats Movie with George Clooney and Ewan McGregor

Men Who Stare at Goats Movie with George Clooney and Ewan McGregor

A Homage to Irvine Welsh

I finally figured out where stripgenerator keeps the arms. My initial plan was to just keep the guy (Shaun, I guess) armless, but once I found the arms I figured I wanted him to hold something, just to prove a point.

I also like how happy he seems to be in the last frame. Weee!

And since I realize that not everyone might get the reference (a thought that makes me realize I might be old), here’s an explanatory youtube clip:

The movie in question is Trainspotting, and features Ewan McGregor before he sold out and did Obi-Wan Kenobi in the so-called “new Star Wars movies”. And the movie Trainspotting is based on the book Trainspotting by the author Irvine Welsh. Books is what people used for entertainment before South Park.

Hay gente que cuando la ves desnuda gana… pero también hay gente que sale perdiendo. Y esto también pasa con los famosos. La ropa existe por muchos motivos y uno de ellos puede ser disfrazar la realidad o favorecerla.

Tenemos por ejemplo a David Beckham… Sinceramente, creo que está mejor con los calzoncillos de Armani puestos… o es que esta fotografía no le favorece demasiado… por otra parte, como artista considero la medida de su pene desproporcionada con respecto al resto del cuerpo.

Daniel Craig, el último 007, luce una curiosa mata de vello rojizo nada favorecedora, pero la proporción de su pene me parece más adecuada con respecto al cuerpo.

Harry Potter quizá necesite algún kilo más encima, pero con respecto a la proporción entre su pene y el resto del cuerpo creo que es perfecta, aunque quizá le quitaría tres milímetros en el grosor…

Ewan Mcgregor tampoco tiene problema con sus proporciones, por lo menos eso parece desde esta perspectiva…

Josh Duhamel, el guapo de Las Vegas, pues la verdad tampoco está proporcionado el tema… o quizá sea la fotografía, no sé, pero me parece un pene pequeño para lo que es el resto del cuerpo.

Con respecto al pene de Rupert Everett, aunque en la fotografía no se ve muy bien, yo diría que habría que añadirle algún milímetro al grosor.

Jude Law parece haber sido pillado in fraganti, aún así siento debilidad por este chico y creo que sus medidas son perfectas.

Y hasta aquí nuestro pasada por el microscopio a los penes de algunos famosos… Con ropa o sin ropa, viendose todo o insinuando, cada cosa tiene su encanto.

This is completely off for my usual posts, But:

I was brought up, similar to many, with the Star War Movies over the years. Many truths were incorporated in the original trilogy and thereafter.

One actor and character for me is Obi-wan Kenobi, namely, Scottish actor Ewan McGregor. He is very handsome, and that accent of his is outstanding !

Now, Anakin Skywalker should take the cake -  I admire Hayden Christensen - but maybe Darth Vader should be left to the “Dark Side”, and he was Confused at best.

Seriously, George Lucas should be congratulated on his efforts for the series, and I hope his efforts won’t stop with the latest ones in the Star Wars series.

May the Force be with You!

Tom Hanks New Movie

Angels & Demons

Plot: When a murder of a physicist, Leonardo Vetra, finds a symbolist, Robert Langdon, and Mr. Vetra’s daughter, Vittoria, on an adventure for a secret brotherhood, The Illuminati. Clues lead them all around the Vatican, including the four alters of science, Earth, Air, Fire and Water. An Assassin working for the Illuminati, have captured four cardinals, and murders each, painfully. Robert and Vittoria also are searching for a new very destructive weapon that could kill millions. Written by XXDustfingerXX

The Pope died and the conclave has been called for. 4 candidates were chosen. However, before the voting, the 4 candidates are killed one by one. The killer leaves clues that seems to say that he/she is from the Illuminati. Strangely though, the Illuminati was long thought to be extinct. Who is the mastermind? Who revived the Illuminati? What do they want? Written by Ryanking

Director: Ron Howard

Writers: Dan Brown (novel)
Akiva Goldsman (screenplay)

Cast:
Tom Hanks …  Robert Langdon
Ayelet Zurer …  Vittoria Vetra
Ewan McGregor …  Carlo Ventresca
Stellan Skarsgård …  Richter
David Pasquesi …  Vincenzi
Cosimo Fusco …  Father Simeon
Allen Dula …  Vatican Police

First off, let me say I am sad to see the season ending. Although some would think it to have already ended the weather here in Toronto has been great this past week, with clear skies and temperatures in the mid to high teens (celsius).

Secondly, I am sad to report still more damage to Red Molly. A little over a week ago I left work to find that someone had hit my parked motorcycle and done some damage - nothing too serious, but the front brake lever snapped (so no front brakes) and some scuffs to the rear fender. Someone had witnessed the accident and told me it was a guy on a bicycle who knocked it over, picked it back up, then cycled on his merry way. As the season was almost done and with money tight I decided to cancel my insurance and park the bike.

And finally, I thought I’d share a link to Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman’s incredible motorcycle trip and documentary, Long Way Down. In 85 days they covered 15,000 miles from John O’Groats to Cape Town. At this website you can watch clips of the doc and read blog posts. An inspiring trip. Check it out here.

I’m collecting some info on storing your motorcycle over the winter that I’ll post soon, so stay tuned!

And if you haven’t already you can join our Blog Network on Facebook by clicking on the banner to the right of your screen. Cheers!

Anjos e Demônios, filme baseado no livro de Dan Brown que deu a origem ao bestseller O Código Da Vinci deve estrear somente em 2009, mas já vazaram duas novas imagens do filme. Tom Hanks volta ao papel de Robert Langdon, especialista em simbologia de Harvard e desta vez, ele tenta impedir que uma antiga sociedade secreta destrua a Cidade do Vaticano. Ewan McGregor e Ayelet Zurer co-estrelam o longa.

Apesar de se passar antes de O Código Da Vinci, a Columbia Pictures fez um acordo com o autor Dan Brown para transformar a história em uma seqüência do filme de 2005. Anjos e Demônios tem direção de Ron Howard e roteiro de Akiva Goldsman, mesma dupla responsável por levar Código aos cinemas. A estréia mundial está marcada para 15 de maio de 2009.

Confira abaixo o trailer oficial do filme:

Não sou católica. Nem budista. Muito menos judia. Estou mais para agnóstica do que para qualquer outra coisa. Na verdade, não sou nada. Sendo assim, é muito errado ter pensamentos lascivos com o Ewan McGregor vestido assim?!

Se bem que Ewan McGregor fica irresistível até vestido de tomate.

*Mr. Maker, The Kooks

Actorul Ewan McGregor si amicul sau-stiti, cei cu “Long Way Round”, calatoria pe ruta Europa-Eurasia, Siberia-Alaska-America-au revenit pe postul National Geographic cu un nou documentar din aceeasi serie.

De data asta ei s-au suit pe motociclete si au pornit din Europa spre Africa. A iesit “Long Way Down”, o poveste a continentului “negru” filmata din goana “motoarelor”. Am vazut un episod sambata trecuta si merita. Detaliile, fotografii, filmulete sunt aici.

Seria e pe primul loc la “cele mai populare” pe site-ul National Geographic.

Angels & Demons

Tüm dünyada geniş bir hayran kitlesine sahip olan ünlü yazar Dan Brown’un The Da Vinci Code (Da Vinci Şifresi) adlı romanından sonra Angels & Demons (Melekler & Şeytanlar) adlı romanı da beyazperdeye uyarlandı. Bu uyarlamada da yönetmen koltuğunda Ron Howard’ı görüyoruz. Başrolde ise yine Tom Hanks var. Diğer rollerde Ewan McGregor, Stellan Skarsgård ve Ayelet Zurer gibi oyuncular göze çarpıyor.

Harvard Üniversitesi Simgebilim Profesörü Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks) Galileo zamanından beri Katolik Kilisesi’nin bağnaz inançlarını lanetleyerek bilimin yararlarını yücelten efsanevi gizli örgüt Illuminati‘nin hala faaliyette olup cinayetler işlediğini öğrenince şok olur. Parlak bir fizikçi olan Leonarda Vetra cinayete kurban gitmiştir. Tek gözü oyulmuş ve göğsü örgütün sembolüyle dağlanmıştır. Bilim adamının son buluşu güçlü ve çok tehlikeli enerji kaynağı karşı madde çalınmış ve yeni Papa seçiminin gerçekleşeceği gün Vatikan Şehri‘nin altına saklanmıştır. Langdon, Vetra’nın meslektaşı ve aynı zamanda kızı olan Vittoria (Ayelet Zurer) ile medeniyeti yok olmaktan kurtarmak amacıyla Roma sokaklarında, kiliselerde ve katakomplarda soluk soluğa koşuşturarak 400 yıllık izi sürerek Illuminati’nin izini bulmaya çalışırlar.

Filmin altyazılı fragmanını aşağıdan izleyebilirsiniz.

Hace unos días vimos las primeras fotos de Angels & Demons del director Ron Howard y basada en la novela de Dan Brown, el mismo de The Da Vinci Code. Ahora, gracias a /Film nos llega el teaser trailer de la película, que se estrenará el 15 de Mayo de 2009. Lo poco que se ve, se ve bien y los encargados del film han comentado que esta cinta tendrá más acción y dinamismo que The Da Vinci Code. La historia cuenta los sucesos que ocurren mientras se realiza el Cónclave para elegir al nuevo Papa, momento en el cual una oscura organización conocida como los Iluminati decide realizar un ataque a la Iglesia Católica, aprovechando su vulnerabilidad. El libro fue escrito antes que el Código Da Vinci y cuenta con muchos aspectos similares, sin embargo, no sé si la adaptación a la pantalla grande será tratada como una precuela o como una secuela. El trailer en alta definición, gracias a Lyricis a continuación.

TEASER TRAILER: ANGELS & DEMONS

Angels & Demons es protagonizada por Tom Hanks, Ayelet Zurer, Ewan McGregor, Stellan Skarsgård, Armin Mueller-Stahl, Cosimo Fusco y Thure Lindhardt y fue escrita por Akiva Goldsman basándose en la novela de Dan Brown.

Today was our pretty much annual trip to Legoland, although considering Mr. Lacer and Girl Lacer finally cashed in some Tesco Clubcard vouchers and now have annual Legoland passes, we will be going more next year. The annual nature of the trip though has made it hard this time in a way though as Boy Lacer is now pretty much exactly the same age (in fact he’s a month older) than Girl Lacer on her first trip to Legoland and it is very easy to remember what she was like as an excited 3 year old, running round, chattering about everything, wanting to go on every ride and it is very very hard not to compare that with Boy Lacer. Now obviously I know already that Girl and Boy Lacer are reaching their developmental milestones at very different rates from each other and I know that’s not just because of Boy Lacer’s autism either, every child is different particularly comparing between boys and girls but today it has been very, what word shall I use, remindful.

Today Girl Lacer did her normal stuff at Legoland, going on the rides and having a ball; Boy Lacer stayed in his pushchair for most of the time and was only really interested (obessively so) in MiniLand and didn’t go on any of the rides (I wasn’t actually expecting him to, although when I saw him looking interested in the very gentle balloon ride and I suggested it, it was like asking if he wanted his teeth pulled). So as pretty much usual Mr. Lacer and Girl Lacer went off to do their thing and me and Boy Lacer ummm hung around. Actually in previous years I have managed to get on at least one ride with Girl Lacer, it’s just that we ran out of time this year. He did like MiniLand though and was happy to stay watching particular aspects of it all day if I let him; the first was a ferry in Holland, which actually was rather clever, it went from one side of the port to the other and on one side would pick up a bus and then the bus would drive off the other side and start driving off and then the ferry would wait for a rubbish lorry and the rubbish lorry would do the same.

The ferry in question

He liked watching the trains to and was particularly taken with the underground train in the London bit. You could see the train through a not overly small window and Boy Lacer was crouching down at one side watching it, getting very excited everytime it appeared and disappeared, there was plenty of room for other children to see, but it got crowded and some small children started to push into him which he didn’t like so Boy Lacer pushed back, then the kids’ mother virtually sent her older child (about 7 or 8 ) to “Go and be big brother” and get it so his little siblings could see. So the brother barged in, Boy Lacer gets increasingly upset and swipes the brother (not particularly viciously actually), so of course I tell Boy Lacer not to do that and take him away from something he has loved watching (and was actually leaving plenty of space for other children to watch, like I say he was crouching to one side). So of course Boy Lacer now get hysterical and I have to end up letting him scream it out on the floor a little distance away from the particularly controversial window (about as far as I could carry him/ persuade him to walk, whilst I juggle the pushchair to get him back in it. So obviously I was too busy to argue back with this woman who had obviously no issue with sending her children to push in and then sending her older child in when the child being pushed (i.e. Boy Lacer, who may be 3 but actually due to height and behaviour still looks like a young 2) objects! So I walked away, with a sobbing Boy Lacer in the pushchair eating a biscuit, fuming, now normally in situations (not exactly like that because thankfully it hasn’t happened before but in other situations where I’ve crossed swords with someone) I’ll walk way and then think up some appropriate comment I could have used but honestly all I could think about (which was obviously not at all right and completely and utterly wrong and I’d never do this but it’s how I felt), giving the woman in question ankles a good kicking. Now I know she didn’t know he was autistic and in the whole situation I never got a chance to say, but still like I said, he looks and acts like a small 2 year old for pete’s sake (and to be honest a lot of 2 / 3 year olds would have done the same thing). Ok I’m calming down now I’ve got that out my system. Actually though talking in effect about people not realising someone is autistic, standing as I was in places like the Holland part of Miniland for a very long time, I think I could see some other children passing by (or stopping to watch things obsessively like Boy Lacer was, was a clue) that showed traits, I guess I’m more aware of it but I wish people didn’t always assume straight away that every single person was exactly the same, before they’ve even had that initial contact with them and to treat people with more ‘caution’ and respect before boundaries are established, that can be necessary even in a brief 1 minute encounter in a theme park.

Even with that though I think we enjoyed Miniland, me personally I like spotting the TV references, this year I spotted (apologies in advance for the grainy zoomed photos).

McGregors Mechanics and Boorman’s Bikes in ‘Scotland’, I like what I can only assume are a mini Ewan McGregor and a mini Charley Boorman, on motorbikes to the side 

Marge and Homer watching the Changing of the Guards at Buchingham Palace, look for the lady with the big blue hair, her husband is sitting next to her.

The Doctor, Donna, Davros and some unidentified Lego people go visiting the London Eye. It’s nice to see they’ve changed the Doctor display a bit from last year.

Anyway, we did see the fireworks and I did enjoy those. I’m not a big fireworks fan but Legoland fireworks are always something special and it’s quite nice ‘doing fireworks’ early, as opposed to nearer November 5th, means that we don’t have to go to the (in comparison) grotty local display! Last year the fireworks had a witches theme, this year is was Star Wars and it opens with broadcast dialogue, this time telling the tale of a young Jedi trainee (yes I know there’s a proper term but I’ve forgotten it) flying through meteors and enemy ships before going to a graduation ceremony. The graduation ceremony was sweet, the dialogue called for everyone to raise their light sabres (which of course the park had been flogging all day) to the sky and everyone did in unison! And then the real full spectacular fireworks began, choregraphed to all the well known pieces of Star Wars music, culminating in a final multitude of explosions, the sound vibrations from which I could literally feel making my trousers move. It was spectacular, I tried taking some photos but of course they didn’t come out too well!

The 'best' one

Apologies for any typos / spelling mistakes / grammatical errors worse than my normal ones, my computer let alone me is tired and it’s time to go to bed.

Der este Trailer zum DaVinci Code-Prequel Angels & Demons (Illumitati) ist nun endlich erschienen. Viel sieht man zwar noch nicht, das Bisschen kann sich aber sehen lassen. Da es sich um mein Lieblingsbuch handelt, bin ich schon gespannt und hoffe ziemlich fest, dass der Film niht enttäuschend sein wird…

Kinostart ist übrigens der 14. Mai 2009.

Sony Pictures has just released the first trailer for Angels & Demons, the second film in the franchise following author Dan Brown’s hero, Harvard symbologist Robert Langon, after 2006’s The Da Vinci Code. Tom Hanks returns in the lead, as do most of Da Vinci’s crew, including director Ron Howard and screenwriter Akiva Goldsman, who co-penned the adaptation with David Koepp (Ghost Town). Joining the cast are Ewan McGregor (Deception), Ayelet Zurer (Vantage Point) and Stellan Skarsgård (Mamma Mia!). My one question is why did they make such a big deal of hiring a French actress to play Sophie Neveu in the first film only to have an Israeli portray Vittoria here?

This trailer is certainly riveting, and a much better one than that first look of The Da Vinci Code, which simply showed cracks in the Mona Lisa. I agree with the general feeling that Angels & Demons (which came before Da Vinci) is a much better novel than its more famous little brother, and interestingly enough, I found it also quite pro-christianity. Then again, I also felt that The Da Vinci Code wasn’t that anti-christianity. In any case, I wonder if Angels & Demons will be set as a prequel, or if it was reworked as a sequel. Angels & Demons will be released worldwide mid-May 2009. Leave your thoughts in the comments below.

Have a look to: –> Angels and Demons First Official Teaser Trailer

Angels and Demons First Official Teaser Trailer

El otro día os comentaba que ya estaba en la red el primer poster de la nueva película de Tom Hanks, ’Ángeles y Demonios’ (pincha aqui), la siguiente adaptación de la novela de Dan Brown (sí, el de El Código Da Vinci por si aún hay alguien que no sepa quien es este señor). Pues ayer USA Today, reveló al mundo el primer look de la nueva aventura del soso del profesor Langdom en ‘Angeles y Demonios’.

La imagen que encabeza el post de hoy es una prueba de esas nuevas imágenes. Vemos a Hanks (Robert Langdom) junto a Ayelet Zurer (Vittoria Vetra).

En las siguientes veremos a los distintos protagonistas de la precuela que Ron Howard vuelve a llevar a la gran pantalla (no se si le gusta las novelas de Brown o el dinero que ellas generan…..).

No son muchas pero si suficientes, porque hasta su estreno en Mayo de 2009, tiempo habrá de hartarnos a más imágenes, traileres, posters, etc, etc, etc. En ellas se ve el concilio para la nueva elección del Papa (no recuerdo si se llama así, por lo que no me seais “picajosos” porque sabeis a que me refiero), a Ewan McGregor como Carlo Ventresca y en la última se ve a todos juntos pero no revueltos descubriendo SPOILER la bomba del Vaticano FIN SPOILER.

Karelia

Hace un par de días vimos las primeras imágenes oficiales de Ángeles y Demonios y ahora su promoción nos deja su primer trailer. En contra de lo esperado, el video no está tan dedicado a sus protagonistas como a los villanos de la película. Los malvados Iluminati intentarán amargarle la vida al criptólogo Robert Langdon, al que vuelve a dar vida Tom Hanks, esta vez acompañado por Ayelet Zurer, Ewan McGregor y Stellan Skarsgaard.

DESCARGA DIRECTA ALTA DEFINICIÓN 720

The Teaser trailer for Angels & Demons is now up at AngelsandDemons.com. 

Dan Brown’s Angels and Demons is scheduled for US release on May 15, 2009.  Directed by Ron Howard.  Starring Tom Hanks as Robert Langdon, Ayelet Zurer as Vittoria Vetra, a CERN scientist, and Ewan McGregor as Camerlengo Carlo Ventresca.  Featuring a score by Hans Zimmer, one of my favorite composers.

Originally, this movie was slated for a release in December 2008. This movie became the first big screen casualty of the Hollywood writer’s strike in 2007 as Akiva Goldsman’s screenplay still needed work, but he was on strike with the Writers Guild of America.

I actually thought the book was better than The DaVinci Code.  The premise is pretty cool as we just recently experienced a papal conclave a few years ago. 

Robert Langdon is summoned by CERN to investigate a murder victim, branded with the Illuminati ambigram, leading him to discover the cult’s scheme to murder four cardinals and destroy St. Peter’s Basilica during a papal conclave using antimatter.

With the sucess of The DaVinci Code and most likely Angels & Demons I hope Sony options Dan Browns’s other novels, Digital Fortress and Deception Point.  Check out Browns’ website for more info on these novels.

Have a look to: –> Tom Hanks Angels and Demons New Movie Photos

Tom Hanks Angels and Demons New Movie Photos

Over the years I have made it a point to travel light.  It stems from a time when, at the tender age of nineteen I embarked on a two thousand mile bicycle trip. In winter.  This meant packing quite a bit of cold weather gear.  Over the course of two months I cursed the amount of blatantly unnecessary weight that I was carting around.  I promised myself that in future whenever I travelled I would try to pack less than I thought I could make do with.

I was deciding what to pack on a motorcycle touring trip last summer.  I would be wearing a pair of Sidi motorcycle boots and a change of shoes would be appreciated so I packed a pair of flip-flops.  These also provided a bonus of sorts, in that they feature a rather clever bottle opener built into the soles.  I smiled and put them onto the coffee table in front of me.  Upon this table would rest all the items that would fight for their right to go into my rucksack.  The flips flops were guaranteed entry to my bag.

Next onto the table was my mobile phone and charger.  Following that was my passport and my ferry ticket.  After that my laptop and charger took their place upon the table.  I then added my waterproof jacket and trousers.  I stopped and looked at the pile of clothes, books, maps and assorted bits and pieces that were still sitting on the floor next to the table.

In a moment of madness I scooped all of it up and put it away. I decided not to take anything else.  Not even a map. I figured if I couldn’t find my way to Barcelona there was little point in having a map anyway as I’d lack the intellectual capacity to read it in the first place.  How hard can it be to find a large city?

My rucksack was too big and began to flop and wallow, like a boneless chicken. It looked ridiculously empty.  I dug around in the pile of stuff that I had decided not to take and located a book with a stiff cover.  I put it into my bag, propping it up like a piece of scaffolding, using it to give the rucksack at least some semblance of being full.  To make it look better still, I unrolled my waterproof jacket, puffed it up and tried to make it take up more room.  I could have filled my bag with rolled up bits of newspaper to make it look full, but decided against such subversion.

The next morning after my drive down to Plymouth I was sitting at the front of a long queue of motorcycle tourists, about to board the ferry bound for Santander in Northern Spain.

I felt slightly out of place leant up against my sports bike amongst the crowd of BMW touring bikes and large Harley Davidsons.  In front of me on board a massive BMW R1200GS complete with shiny metal panniers, was a chap dressed head to toe in off-road gear.  He looked like a competitor in the Paris Dakar event.  He wore a large scarf around his neck.  It looked like something a Bedouin tribesman would wear.  I wondered if this motorcyclist was indeed Ewan McGregor, however I could not see any film crew and there was not a back up vehicle in sight.  It turned out he was an estate agent from Hull.

The Harley guys were teasing the BMW boys.  The banter went back and forth between the two of them.  The Harley guy, grey haired and pot bellied, pointed a hand at his leather panniers and said “You don’t need those metal panniers mate, what you need is a nice pair of hand stitched leather ones like these, with nice tassels”.

The estate agent from Hull on board his BMW smiled and asked where Mr Harley was going.  He said he was travelling around Northern Spain for three days.

Then they spotted my bag tied with bungee cords to the back of my bike.  They went a bit quiet for a moment.  Then asked me where I was going.

I took a deep breath and said “Barcelona”.  They nearly died laughing.  I think the guy on the BMW coughed up his kidneys and undid his belly button. They had never seen anyone travelling so light.

Fast forward four months. I was in my kitchen, thinking about the last time I had packed my rain jacket into a bag.  I was about to go mountain biking and was being sensible, packing some kit into my CamelBak.  I had enough kit to go touring for weeks.  I had tools and spares.  I could practically have set up a shop fixing bikes.  Indeed I had enough tools and paraphernalia to build the shop first that I would be working out of.

As I crammed a massive multi tool-set into my bag I thought back to my motorcycle trip. As it turned out I never needed the waterproof jacket or trousers and I never read the book. If it weren’t for the fact that I needed my laptop, I could have just taped the flip-flops to the pillion seat and put the phone and charger into my pocket.

I leave you with a classic bit of Mr. Bean footage, courtesy of  YouTube.

PS. I had a lovely mountain bike ride up in the hills and didn’t need any of the stuff I had taken with me. ☺

El fenómeno literario y de ventas que fue The Da Vinci Code catapultó a su autor a vender cualquier libro que hubiera ya escrito o que tuviera en la mente todavía. Tal fue el caso con Angels & Demons, la primera novela con Robert Langdon como protagonista y que se menciona brevemente en una página de la exitosa The Da Vinci Code. Pues bien, como podrán imaginar, la cinta era más que un obligado después del despegue en ventas que representó el libro y todo lo que tuviera que ver con el universo de Dan Brown. ¿Están listos? Angels & Demons llegará a las pantallas de cine el próximo año.

Tom Hanks vuelve a interpretar al experto en simbología religiosa de la Universidad de Harvard, Robert Langdon, en una aventura en la que enfrentará a fuerzas antiguas que están dispuestas a todo para conseguir sus metas. Cuando Langdon descubre evidencia de la resurrección de una antigua hermandad secreta conocida como los Illuminati -la sociedad más poderosa en la historia de la humanidad- se da cuenta de una amenaza al más grande enemigo de la organización secreta: la Iglesia Católica. Con el reloj corriend, se une a Vittoria Vetra, una científica italiana en una aventura a través de catedrales y catacumbas hasta la más secreta bóveda del planeta, siguiendo un rastro de 400 años de simbología antigua para encontrar la única esperanza para la supervivencia del Vaticano.

En esta ocasión, Hanks está acompañado por Ewan McGregor, Stellan Skarsgård y Ayelet Zurer. La música sigue siendo de Hans Zimmer, cosa que se agradece.

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D