The idea: a guerilla cinema in the park. I wanted to inspire people to get outside more, and push what they consider “normal” with bicycles and travel by bike. Inspire people. Inspire myself. I came up with the name (it has a pun!), drew quite a bad logo (that I will, one day, get someone to update for me), picked a date, hoped that the weather would be good, and went for it.
I put the call out over Instagram and my Last Minute Adventure Club Whatsapp group and people were keen.
I didn’t want to have to spend a lot of money to set this up, and didn’t think it was necessary to. I bought a big piece of white fabric to use as the screen – that was around $30. I already have a laptop, amplifier, speakers, and power stuff. The only big-ticket item that I needed that I didn’t have was a projector. I asked on Instagram, and a friend was willing to loan me their projector for the event. Perfect. The park near my house where I was planning to host the cinema has a sneaky power-point that I could tap into. Also perfect.
The big day came. The weather was good. I’d downloaded the videos so I didn’t need to rely on internet while in the park. I had sausages to put on the BBQ. I loaded up the bike and set off for the park. Hung the screen. Set up the projector. Wired the sound. Fired up the BBQ. Everything came together beautifully. People turned up. We chatted. Ate. Watched. Chatted some more.
Magic.
You can follow the Cycling Gorilla Cinema on Instagram now. Follow along here: @cycling_gorilla_cinema
After you’ve installed r-base on Ubuntu with the default packages, you will have issues installing Tidyverse. It’s because there are a bunch of packages missing.
If you pop through a hole in the right fence in the right suburb in the right city and walk up the hill for the right amount of time, you will reach The Quarry. It’s filled with water since it’s not actively quarried any more.
Everyone assures me the water is fine. It’s beautifully blue and clear. Maybe a little bit too blue and clear.
“It’s so blue because of all the sulphates.” “It’s a lime quarry – just have a shower when you get home.” “It’s so clear because of the sulphates – it’s the same algaecide you use in a pool – it’s fine.”
Everyone assures me that it’s fine to trespass there. Everyone does it, apparently. The company that owns the place doesn’t care, apparently.
And, to be honest, I’ve not had any problems the dozen or so times I’ve been. Not from weird water or trespassing issues. So I, too, tell people that the water is fine, and that the company doesn’t care if you trespass. I call it Diet Trespass. Trespassing Lite.
If you want to come for a swim here, let me know. I’ll meet you at the hole in the right fence. We’ll walk up the hill for the right amount of time.
I had high hopes for this novel when I started reading it, after having read The Martian and Project Hail Mary. But this isn’t a man-is-stuck-in-space-alone-and-needs-to-go-into-details-about-niche-science-knowledge themed book, so it feels outside of Weir’s really strong toolkit.
I enjoyed the mystery side of things, and the inevitable Weir-esque delves into the science of various processes. It’s like reading Neal Stephenson without the huge slowdown as the novel descends into treacly textbook-style explanations of the physics behind things.
All in all a decent novel that kept me mostly entertained.
My lovely friend Nick recommended this Andy Weir novel to me. I’d read The Martian previously, so jumped PHM immediately. I was in the depths of being frustrated with Shantaram at the time, so jumping onto something fun and interesting was an easy decision to make.
I loved the premise of the book, and the unlikely-hero trope. I found Grace frustrating as a character, but I get the feeling that I was meant to.
I enjoyed the thought that Weir put into the alien non-humanoid design and language, and their scientific limitations.
Largely an enjoyable book, and I look forward to the film.
