Tick-Tock

[williamjm]

What would you do with £1 Million? If you're Inventor John Taylor then you spend the money on building a giant mechanical clock made of gold with no numbers on it which tells the time (but only every 5 minutes) using some blue lights and a giant mechanical grasshopper and you put it on a Cambridge street corner where it will spend the rest of time baffling passers-by and disrupting traffic as crowds gather in the middle of the street to stare at the clock.

I read the story about its unveiling on BBC news yesterday (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7625815.stm) and I was planning to go into town anyway today so I thought I may as well wander past it and have a look. It is an insane-looking thing and almost completely useless as a clock but strangely fascinating nonetheless.




I watched the first episode of Merlin today. I guess it's better than Robin Hood and it's watchable and Eve Myles' witch was quite good (although rather reminiscent of Stardust, which is unfortunate as it mainly reminded me how much Stardust was), that's probably about all the good points I can think of. The storytelling is wearily predictable and didn't really make much sense - the plot relies on Merlin being such an idiot (using magic continually when it is banned, fighting with Arthur not once but twice when both could lead to him being executed) that it's implausible he's survived as long as he had, also it would have made more sense for the witch to try to do something before her son was executed rather than starting to try to do something just after he had his head chopped off. I'll probably still watch more of it, hopefully it will improve.

Comments

[bazzlebane.livejournal.com]

Um...that's...odd. Don't know what else to call it. But hey, it's pretty neat. Is it permanent?

[williamjm.livejournal.com]

I think it is meant to be permanent - the BBC story talked about it not needing to be wound up again for the next 25 years which implied it is meant to be there long-term.

[peadarog.livejournal.com]

I think it looks cool. Unlike Merlin.

[tom-foster.livejournal.com]

Very cool. Where can I buy one for my bedroom?

[williamjm.livejournal.com]

I'm sure Cambridge gift shops will soon starting selling cheap replicas of it.

[tom-foster.livejournal.com]

Nah, I want to full size jobby. Maybe I'll visit Cambridge with a very large hold-all and an innocent expression . . . ;)

[williamjm.livejournal.com]

If you do plan a heist then I'll point it out the clock is very near the river so you should use a punt as your get-away vehicle. It isn't going to help you get away very much, but it will be amusing watching the police chase you.

[tom-foster.livejournal.com]

Very amusing, if you've ever seen me punt :)

[peadarog.livejournal.com]

The same shop where you got the mirrors for your ceiling and the leopard skin bed spreads.

[tom-foster.livejournal.com]

What, a car book sale?

[peadarog.livejournal.com]

The very same... How wise you are, tomfoster!

[williamjm.livejournal.com]

Sadly not. It just walks about a bit on top of the clock.

[niamhotoole.livejournal.com]

This.is.amazingly.beautiful.