matt's blog

For a while I've been trying to buy some new earphones. The standard iPod earphones are rubbish and my $9.99 Panasonics have disintegrated (no thanks to my dog who treats them as a chewing delicacy).

I have three uses for earphones - cycling, gym and at work. For work I want really good sound quality - crisp treble and clean bass. For cycling and gym, the most important feature is that they stay in my ears and don't fall out constantly.

I've been eying up some professional-grade earphones for a while, namely the Shure SE110. After months of deliberation I finally dropped the $100 and bought some. These are sound-isolating canal phones - basically you jam them right down your ear canal and they block out all surrounding sound. The sound quality of the Shure SE110s was great - it was fairly flat in that it didn't over-emphasize any particular frequency, but seeing as my iPod & laptop have their own equalizers, that's fine. However, after wearing them for a only a few minutes they quickly became painful to wear. I managed about 5 minutes in the gym before I had to take them out.

So, back to reading online reviews. It appeared that many people recommend the Sony MDR-EX81 for sports use and high sound quality, so I returned my Shures and spent $35 on the Sonys at Circuit City (yes, they screwed up the price, much to my delight as they usually retail for over $50). These Sony earphones aren't canal phones but they do have a rubber surround that sits outside your ear canal and does a good job of isolating outside noise (although not as good as the Shure SE110s). They have a semi-circular hook that you hook onto your ear so they don't fall out. I immediately noticed how comfortable and stable they were. They didn't feel like they were going to fall out and at no point did they cause any discomfort. However, as soon as I fired up the iPod, I remembered why I don't like Sony audio products - the mid range is really forced, to the point that it sounds like they've injected pure white noise into the mix. Even tweaking the equalizer on the iPod couldn't produce a sound I could bear to listen to - the screeching was just too much for me. Looks like they're heading back to the shop as well.

So, I went searching again. Next up on my list are Bang & Olufsen's A8. I have ordered these and eagerly await their arrival in the mail!

The best thing to do this time of year is camp... and that's what we did a few weekends ago. Two days lying by the lake, just wish we had a boat to go out and enjoy the water.

Full album: http://gallery.matthewbutt.co.uk/v/trips/redtopmountain/

One thing you do have after surgery is lots of spare time, most of which you're unable to do anything very constructive. I took some of this time to watch a load of movies. Some were good, some were bad, so if you're looking for something to watch, see the list below for those to aim for and those to avoid.

Batman Begins 8/10
The most recent and darkest of all Batman films. It's definitely the strongest and there's no comedy to lighten the tone here. The film follows Bruce Wayne's life before Batman and explains Bruce's reasons for becoming the caped crusader.

Being the nerd I am, there are a few things in this that really annoyed me - mainly the ability to be connected via a wire to a speeding monorail train. Somehow the train goes through several rings around the track but the wire magically doesn't get caught up in the rings or the track. I know it's a fantasy film but this just annoys me!

I'd definitely recommend Batman Begins to anyone. Don't expect it to be lighthearted or comical though - it's artistic, dark and probably closer to the original comics than most other filmed versions.

Iron Man 10/10
OK so technically I saw this before surgery but I had to mention it here. Engadget's verdict is spot on here: 126 minutes of gadget porn. The cars are fast, the weapons are powerful, the baddies are bad and the goodies are good - the formula is pretty straightforward and it works perfectly. In contrast to Batman Begins, comedy is rife through the film but it isn't out of place and the cliches don't drag down the story.

Despite the testosterone oozing from every scene of Iron Man, there's plenty to appeal to the less technically inclined amongst us.

Iron man is a big screen film - don't wait for it to come on DVD, go and see it on at the cinema now!

National Treasure 4/10
The first of the National Treasure films sees Nicolas Cage solving clues about American history to find the treasure. Whilst the story line was fun, I don't think the cast was right for this kind of film. Nicolas Cage was great in films like Con Air, Face/Off and Gone in Sixty Seconds the role of a family hero just doesn't seem to work. His sidekick had some amusing lines and was a good support actor but the whole package didn't work as well as the Indiana Jones films which unfortunately everyone will compare this to.

This is a good family film to watch on a rainy Sunday afternoon but I wouldn't go to too much effort to watch it.

National Treasure: Book of Secrets 4/10
Same as the first except the treasure is a city of gold. Another film to queue up for a rainy day.

Untraceable 7/10
If you haven't guessed by now I'm a bit of a techy. Untraceable is centered around the FBI department of cyber crime - the group whose task is to track down and stop illegal activity on the internet. They find a site that has a live stream of a man bleeding to death. The more people who visit the site, the quicker the anti-coagulant is released into the man's bloodstream and the quicker he dies. After another victim or two the FBI team start to get targeted and have to try and find the link between victims to track down who is torturing and murdering these people.

Although not the most original or surprising storyline it kept my attention throughout. What impressed me most was that a lot of the technicalities of cyber activity are accurate. Yep I'm a bit of a geek but I like it ;)

This is a good thriller and I'd recommend seeing it, although I think computer challenged viewers may find some of it a little dull.

Children Of Men 7/10
Set a few decades into the future in a time where women are unable to bear children, this depressing film follows a man who discovers a girl with a surprising secret. The film contains activists, illegal immigrants, food shortages and lengthy civil war scenes with plenty of gore. What hits home is that many of the political and cultural threads are true today and little imagination is required in making the leap from present day to the time of this film.

Children of Men is worth a watch, but it's no family film and will leave you with a bitter taste in your mouth.

Meet the Spartans 0/10 - and that's being generous
I'm actually writing this blog entry whilst watching Meet The Spartans. That's how good it is. In fact having surgery was much more fun than watching this rubbish. What happened to the days when funny films were funny films like Airplane!?

Sigh.

Yesterday we said bye to our recent visitors. Alison's sister came over for two weeks complete with husband and two kids. Six people in a <1000 sq ft house was a challenge but great fun!

I've uploaded some pics to the galleries:

http://gallery.matthewbutt.co.uk/main.php?g2_itemId=680

A few teasers:

I recently purchased a Nikon D40 DSLR and have been playing around with it a bit. I haven't had chance to take it out and really explore what it can do, but I'll add any experimental shots into my gallery:

http://gallery.matthewbutt.co.uk/main.php?g2_itemId=609

Here are a few shots to give you an idea of what I've been playing with:

Alison's sister & family are over at the moment and this weekend we hired a log cabin up in Pigeon Forge along with another friend of ours.

For those who aren't aware of Pigeon Forge's "attractions", the main strip is full of arcades, family theatres, crazy golf courses and other such fairground fun. The neon lights and sounds are plentiful making it quite a tacky experience.

However, just a few miles away from the main drag are hundreds (probably thousands) of log cabins around the hills and up into the mountains. These usually come complete with an open fireplace and hot tub as well as games rooms. The cabin we had was one of these and it was a fantastic place to stay for a few days.

We also managed to battle our way through crawling traffic to the other end of Gatlinburg and out into the Smoky Mountains for some fantastic views and fresh air.

You can see some pictures of the weekend here:
http://gallery.matthewbutt.co.uk/main.php?g2_itemId=27