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The Art of the KISS
Writing software that is simple, clean and easy is hard. KISS is easy to say but difficult to put into practice.
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Failure is an Option
Trial and error is the only way we learn. Taking chances (not risks) is how we evolve our knowledge and the output to which we are relied upon.
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Technical Debt – A visual guide
Unpicking the mystery of what technical debt is and how it can be provide learning and inform the future.
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Whiplash (2014)
This obscure unknown movie made quite the splash at the 2014 Oscars being nominated across the board for a number of awards including Best Picture. While getting a huge promotion boost with the Oscars (and various other awards) it still only managed to pull in $13M at the box office, which isn’t a huge amount but against a $3M budget, kept the bean counters very happy. The movie centers around…
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Pride and Glory (2008)
First off, this movie demands your attention, both physically and emotionally. For 2 hours and 10 minutes you are entering a very dramatic world of police corruption centered around a single multi-generational family. The story on the face of it, doesn’t deserve this amount of time, but it does whip by at an alarming pace. So what is the setup? Well, we have 2 brothers, a brother in-law married to…
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Viva Las Vegas (1964)
Okay so let us get this out of the way quickly, you don’t watch an Elvis Presley movie for its in-depth, multi-dimensional story line. If you even attempt to rate or review an Elvis movie on its story, then you have already missed the point of the King’s musical escapade. Long before Michael Jackson raised the bar with his highly produced mini-movies with his music videos (Thriller, Smooth Criminal etc), Elvis was…
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Burn After Reading (2008)
The Coen brothers unite for another clever character driven comedy. The setup is fairly simple but quickly turns into a farce. A gym trainer who works at the local gym where many of the government agencies come to train, finds a disk of sensitive information. He then attempts to sell it both to the USA government and the Russian embassy. The cast of this movie is outstanding with no real…
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Filth (2013)
How do you describe a movie that is quintessential Scottish to an international audience? Based on the Irwin Walsh book of the same title, we chart the journey of a corrupt, drugged fueled detective, who is manipulating his situation to gain promotion in order to win back his wife. If you are wondering the style here, then think back to the 1996 when Trainspotting hit the silver screen (complete with…
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Bottle Shock (2008)
I stumbled upon this little gem of a comedy a number of years ago, and every so often, I will throw it on in the background. The dialogue is top notch, the pace is just right and the soundtrack is extremely catchy. The movie retells the story of when Californian wine broke through to the international scene in the mid 1970′s when it won against a blind tasting contest…
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True Story (2015)
As the title suggests, this movie is based on a true story, in fact, the book of the same name True Story. Michael Finkel was a New York Times journalist who was fired after fabricating a story on African child slavery. Disgraced and excommunicated from the writing community he is struggling to find a writing gig. While he struggles, he discovers there is a mass-family murderer, Christian Longo, has taken his…
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Grosse Pointe Blank (1997)
John Cusack in one of his finest and career defining roles. Martin Blank is a professional killer, a fact he never actually hides from anyone, yet people think it is so outlandish they don’t believe him. Martin is getting tired of the hitman business, particularly after one botched kill that was meant to look like natural causes ended up with multiple bullets in the chest, he is forced to do one…
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Local Hero (1983)
It was a Friday, and a Friday demands a classic for the evening and this evenings classic never fails to deliver. Local Hero, tells the story of an American coming over to Scotland to buy basically a whole town for subsequent oil exploration. Peter Riegert plays Mac, the American, more use to the hustle’n’bustle of oil dealing Houston than some highland community where everyone knows everyone and they have all multiple…
the legend that is, Alan Williamson
For over 24 years, I’ve shared my thoughts here on this blog whenever the muse strikes.
It’s unpredictable, honest, unedited, and occasionally witty. I’m living the best years of my life, working harder than ever, learning each day and enjoying every second.
