Cynergist

Beowulf

This evening I went to the cinema for the first time this month to see Beowulf. There have been posters all over town, and I was interested to see how a motion captured film would actually look on the big screen.

If you don't know the story, it is based on an Anglo-Saxon poem that is believed to be about 1,200 years old and is one of the earliest examples of English literature.

The story is set in Denmark, where aging dragon slayer King Hrothgar (played by Anthony Hopkins) is holding celebrations in his new mead-hall. Unfortunately this disturbs the rest of the monster Grendel, who attacks the hall.

A message goes out across Scandinavia that the King will give half his gold to anyone who can kill the beast.

Beowulf hears of the Thanes plight, so comes to their land with his troops. On their first night he manages to kill Grendel, but this incurs the wrath of its mother (played by Angelina Jolie).

Summer Holiday

In September I went on my first holiday to Eastern Europe. During our initial plans we talked about visiting Poland, or perhaps traveling around the Czech Republic.

I wasn't sure what to expect, but I had heard good reports from friends who had previously visited Budapest in Hungary, so this is where we eventually decided to go.

One of the main advantages we found of traveling into Eastern Europe was that our money went quite far. For less than we would normally pay to stay in a two star hostel in Barcelona or Paris, we managed to rent a private apartment in the centre of Pest. The cost also included the cost of someone meeting us personally at the airport and driving us back to the apartment (although we did have to pay a little extra for a ride back to the airport at the end of the holiday).

My initial impressions of the city were that the shops and fast food establishments were getting very westernised (with branches of M&S and Burger King found across the city), but the styles of many things seemed to be a bizare blend of both 70's and 90's fashions.

I've included a photo of a telephone box I found in Buda. How many colours are there? The telephone handle is pink, the telephone's body is blue, while the telephone box itself is green and yellow!

During our stay, we managed to take in quite a few trips. One of my favourites was up into the Buda Hills. I've included a short video clip.

We set of by taking the underground metro from Pest into Buda. We then transfered onto a tram to take us to the base of the hills. Next we took the cogwheel railway up into the hills.