2013 ~ Suitably Simple

Wednesday, 6 November 2013

Muse at Emirates Video Playlist

Posted by Suitably Simple on 00:03 with No comments

In honour of Muse releasing the Live At Rome Olympic Stadium DVD / Blu-Ray and CD (and not one of the Emirates Stadium grrrr) I created a little video playlist featuring all the songs from the Saturday 25th May show. This way you can experience the gig without the annoying people, lovely body odours or braving the London Underground home.

Of course you should buy the Muse Olympic Stadium DVD because it will be amazing and to capture the madness of the latest tour in high quality will be worth it. Who doesn't want to see Charles strut his stuff in high definition! Or experience the eyebrow singeing flames from your sofa! Go on do it now!

Charles Robot 2nd Law Muse Buy Olympic DVD

Charles Says Buy The DVD or prepare for the Robot Uprising

Useful Android Apps

Posted by Suitably Simple on 23:43 with No comments

This a post about some useful android apps that I use on my phone.
My phone is a not particularly powerful , has that much storage space or even has a large screen so the apps I mention below are chosen with that in consideration.
So if you have an older android phone that is what these apps are geared towards.
Given the ridiculous length of contracts in the UK I imagine many are in the same situation as me with an older phone so I hope these help !

Kii Keyboard

An excellent multi-language keyboard combining features such as swyping , split layouts, multiple keyboard layouts and next word prediction with support for multiple themes.

It supports Android 2.1 and above so very much backward compatible.

Kik Messenger

Kik is a messenger service that operates over your data or wifi connection. It is a simple , quick easy to use messenger app. It featured typing, sent and read notifications. It integrates with your media apps so you can share photos and other media.

Kik does not integrate with your phone book so it is more private than other apps.

It supports Android 2.2 and up.

Opera Mini Browser

Opera mini is part of the Opera range of browsers for Android platform. Opera Mini is the lightweight version of the browser but definitely not lacking in useful features.

Like the desktop version it has the speed dial start page where you can save your favourite sites.The layout is also clear with large buttons and tabbed browsing for ease of use.

The browser also compresses the data to speed up loading times and web pages can be saved offline for later reading.

Power Toggles

Power Toggles is an app that allows you to add toggles to the top notification bar.

You can add toggles for WiFi sound, screen brightness , Bluetooth and GPS to name a few.There over 40 toggles to choose from.

The toggles can also be added to the screen as widgets if you prefer for even easier control. The app allows for creation of custom application shortcuts as well.

Twicca

Twicca is a lightweight twitter client app. It has all the standard twitter functions you expect such as posting, re-tweeting, searching, trends. It can also set colour labeling for specific users.

Images are automatically previewed within client itself. It features automatic URL shortening and ability to share media in tweets.

The app has its own widget as well . There are notifications for mentions and direct messages built in.

Shuttle Music Player

Shuttle Music app is a lightweight but fully featured music player.

Its has an optimised and simple beautiful layout based around the Google Holo theme.

Amongst its many features include playlist creation, gapless playback of songs, album artwork automatic downloading, lockscreen controls , gesture support , last.fm connectivity and a selection of different widgets for desktop screen.

Hopefully some of these will be of use in the never ending battle with Android!

River Thames in London At Night

Posted by Suitably Simple on 23:35 with No comments

One of the wonderful things about London is the way the city lights up at night.
No where is this more true than along the River Thames with its multitude of iconic bridges and tourist landmarks such as the London Eye and St Pauls Cathedral.

I personally very much enjoy walking around the River Thames at night. In the middle of the urban hustle and busy nature of London it is actually quite relaxing. Standing across the London Eye as it lights up the night sky and river is quite breathtaking.

I heartily recommend anyone visiting should go for a walk along the Thames in the evening. It is most rewarding and worthwhile !

Hungerford Golden Jubilee Bridge Across Thames Charing Cross

The Hungerford / Golden Jubilee Bridge which leads into
Charing Cross Train Station from the South Bank

The London Eye

The London Eye as viewed from the Victoria Embankment

Westminster Bridge which connects Palace of Westminster
with County Hall and The London Eye

The National Theatre on the South Bank

St Pauls Cathedral and The City Of London

The City of London and Blackfriars Bridge

Christmas Market on the South Bank

New Autumn TV Shows

Posted by Suitably Simple on 21:19 with No comments

As Autumn approaches new and old tv shows are returning back to our screens.
This blog entry is about my thoughts on a couple of new shows that I am liking so far. Hopefully you will like them as well !

Marvels Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D

As the name suggests this show follows a group of individuals being put together as a team by Agent Coulson (he lives! or does he...) to investigate the cases S.H.I.E.L.D hasn't classified as yet.

The show follows on from the events of The Avengers when the public are now aware of the superheroes that are amongst them. I don't want to give to much plot of the pilot away as there are a few mysteries to start with.

The biggest one being how Coulson is alive after The Avengers movie.

There is also an anonymous group known as the Rising Tide who are trying to expose the work of S.H.I.E.L.D to the public.

And there are groups trying to profit and use the alien technology left after the Battle of New York.

I enjoyed this pilot very much. It had the quick witted dialogue , humour and compelling mystery that you would expect from Joss Whedon. It would have benefited from maybe having a longer run time to better introduce the characters but overall I'll be watching on !

The Blacklist

The plot of this may be slightly similar to Silence of The Lambs . Raymond Reddington (James Spader) one of the F.B.I most wanted criminals one day walks into the F.B.I headquarters and gives himself up.

He has knowledge of a kidnapping plot against a US Generals daughter but will only work with one person. This person is Elizabeth Keen a newly qualified F.B.I profiler who Reddington knows an awful lot about.

Most of the episode you are left wondering how much of the this kidnapping plot Reddington might have actually set up himself as the show progresses.

This is but one of the mysteries set up to play through the series and what Reddington's end game is actually is.

At the end of the episode Reddington agrees to help the F.B.I track down a series of high level criminals that only he knows about , known as The Blacklist on condition that he only works Elizabeth Keen.

James Spader is suitably charming , enigmatic engaging and slightly menacing in the role. He manages to keep the role subtle and not turn into a caricature of the evil bad guy - which easily could have happened with the wrong actor.

There is definitely enough mystery between the characters to keep me hooked on it and hopefully a lot more twists to come!

S.H.I.E.L.D / The Blacklist

Purchase The Blacklist Poster from the NBC Store below :

Star Trek Into Darkness at the Imax London

Posted by Suitably Simple on 13:26 with No comments

In honour of the DVD/Bluray release of Star Trek Into Darkness I am uploading a few pictures I took from the Imax premiere of Star Trek Into Darkness 3D that I went to earlier this year.

This was the first 3D film I had actually been to see in the Imax. The 3d definitely works better in the Imax than at a conventional cinema just due to the size and quality of the Imax screen.

If you have never seen a film in the Imax then all I can say is GO AND DO IT !
The difference in quality and the sound system is just immense compared to standard cinema.
The screen in the London Imax is the largest in the country at 20m high and 26m across! The sound is provided by a 12000 watt surround sound system.

Star Trek Into Darkness 3D

BFI Imax Waterloo

Jetplane Landing at The Lexington 6th September 2013

Posted by Suitably Simple on 00:22 with No comments

Setlist:

London The Lexington ,6th September 2013

Jetplane Landing at The Lexington London

The Lexington Stage

Jetplane Landing

Jetplane Landing Manchester Soup Kitchen 4th September 2013

Posted by Suitably Simple on 16:44 with No comments

Setlist:

Manchester Soup Kitchen , 4th September 2013

Jetplane Landing at Manchester Soup Kitchen

Soup Kitchen Stage

Jetplane Landing

Emirates Airline London Cable Car

Posted by Suitably Simple on 23:31 with 1 comment

Emirates Airline Cable Car

The Emirates Airline is a cable car link across the River Thames. The cable car started operating on the 28th June 2012 and is being run by Transport For London (TFL).

The cable car is 1 km long and runs from the Greenwich Penisula near the O2 Arena to the Royal Docks home of the ExCel Centre. The service cost cost £65 million to build.

The cable car operates at a speed of 6m/s and journey time is less than 10 minutes across the River Thames.

View of O2 Arena

Emirates Airline Cable Cars over River Thames

View of Riverside

Emirates Airline Cable Cars over River Thames

View of Dockside Apartments

Emirates Airline Cable Cars from Royal Docks

Alpenzoo / Alpine Zoo in Innsbruck, Austria

Posted by Suitably Simple on 16:22 with No comments

Alpenzoo

The Alpine Zoo, located at an elevation of 727 meters, is Europe's highest zoo. It is located at the foot of the Nordkette, right above the capital city of Tyrol with an unique view over the surrounding mountains and the city of Innsbruck.

The zoo can be reached by public transport , car or via the Hungerburgbahn.

Hungerburgbahn is a hybrid funicular railway in Innsbruck, Austria, connecting the city district of Hungerburg with the city center. It opened on the 1st December 2007 and has four stations: Congress (underground station), Löwenhaus, Alpenzoo and Hungerburg.
The stations were designed by Zaha Hadid.

The zoo features more than 2,000 animal and 150 species of Alpine animals.
The animals are mainly vertebrates: 20 of the 80 alpine mammal species, 60 bird, 11 reptile and 6 amphibian species as well as nearly all alpine fish species.
The animals are housed in modern enclosures, going through aviaries, exiting outdoor terrariums and a large cold water aquarium.