OMG. This just makes me want this film to not only be filmed, but to also come out sooner. I truely cant wait! I also cant wait for more of this brilliant Fan-Art to come out!

Brilliant advert.

Now that it is over I’m not really too sure as to what i am going to watch from now on, but I’m sure i will find something.

So anyway LOST has finish and i feel that i must say, what an ending. I can quite safely that the LOST finale has to be one of the greatest TV episode of all time. I must say that i don’t advise watching it, if you haven’t watched the show from the beginning then you a: might not have the foggiest clue as to what is going on and b: also you just might not want to know the end before the beginning and middle.

The episode has to be, not only the greatest LOST episode ever but also my favorite, this is because not only did i get to see how and where all the remaining characters end up but i also got to see some of my favorite characters return and previous relationships reignite. I got to see Sayid and Shannon reunite and embrace each other lovingly after they both remember what had happened, but my favorite would have to be Charlie and Claire, in a brilliant scene which mirrored one from the island, we got to see a pregnant Claire give birth to Aaron, with the assistance of Kate, at which point Claire began to remember, but then Charlie turns up and both him and Claire begin to remember everything, and the embrace each other. I have to say, and I’m not afraid to say this, but i cried during this episode, this is how good it was.

I think one true testimony to how big-a-show LOST really is, is the fact that it was simultaneously shown all over the world, now this has never been done before in the history of non-sports, scripted TV.

Goodbye LOST.

How i will miss thee so!

Now this is a brilliant advert, and deserves all the recognition and rewards that it can get! Its such a clever idea, and one the things that i that i love and think alot of other people will love is that it has a number of stars not just playing football in it, but actually doing something else for the ridiculous amounts of money that they get paid!

Take Wayne Rooney for example, i think that it is brilliant that they played on the whole idea of screwing up at the world cup is the end of his career, and that he then becomes a washout painting white football lines for a living! Its a very clever idea because it plays on the idea that i’m sure all footballers have at this time every four years!

The advert also gets its point across, that with NIKE you can rewrite the future with their products!

Does this really deserve its £6,000,000 recept?

I have seen this many times and yeah its a good advert and gets their point across well, but i truely cant understand as to why it cost them so much to create!

As i have said it gets the whole idea of that John Lewis as a shop is for all ages and will be there for you (as a customer) for all of your whole life, thats assuming you have the money to shop there, which is probably about the same as the advert cost!

As well as this i do now know that i have lived through one of those rare moments in life that will be remembered forever, i will be able to say in years to come i remember where i was when LOST finished!

Also thank you SKY for creating a deal with ABC so that the UK can watch it at the same time!

MORE TO COME POST FINALE LOST EPISODE!

Sorry it has taken so long to reply to you but it has been a busy old-time. It nearly been a year now hasn’t it James? I really did enjoy hearing from you!

So this year, or nine months atleast, has been very busy not only have i been getting consistant good grades but i have also made numerous new friends, which i know i will keep with me till the end of my degree and no-doubt beyond. these friends are not just off my degree course, i have also joined Source Radio, which i now played an active role in, i have a show with two friends off my course but more on them later, also i hope to start my own radio show soon, i think i am going to base it around my primary love, film, so i am going to include soundtracks and loads of film news and reviews on films.

As for Mike and David, my friends and co-radio presenters, we also have our own podcast, in which we discuss funny news stories and we have a sketch we you can find on our website. http://randomdownload.squarespace.com/

As for the course like i mentioned earlier i have been getting consistantly good grades, so cant complain about that really. I have have really enojyed all the assignments which have been set, for all of my modules, also i feel that what i have so far this year will stick with me forever and not just lessons i have learned from my lectures but also guest lectures and coventry conversations.

As for next year i plan to take Documentary film making as well as Short film in my second term.

Well thats it pretty much hopefully i have caught you up on everything that has happened.

James

I had waited for this film for so long and for whatever reasons i never actually got to see it till the 15th February, i was so unbelievably psyched when i was finally booking those tickets, i think the only way that i can describe the way in which i was feeling, was like a child at Christmas morning, running downstairs and opening all his presents at the same time, and when i got home after seeing it, by the way in the only way that it should be viewed in full Imax 3D, people wanted to also see it so i jumped at the chance to see it again. Which i did on the 21st February and 28th February, for the 21st the one thing that topped it for me would have to be the fact i was sat directly behind Star Wars’ Wicket and Filius Flitwick from Hogwarts, the great Warwick Davis! As for the 28th i’m not afraid to say that i got emotional near the end, after the great battle over the Halaluyah Mountains!

It’s not the storyline, because i cant quite safely say that it’s not the greatest story ever told, but it’s the beauty of the film, its the way in which Cameron tells that simple story and can sustain interest and attention all the way throughout the film. People i have spoken to about Avatar sometimes said that they think there should half an hour taken away somewhere, but i then reply with well ‘what would take out?’ and consistently nobody knows what they would take out and to me that means, which i agree with, that there is nothing that can be taken away from that without damaging it!

So to sum up i suppose Avatar will go down in History, not only for being the highest grossing film of all time, but for also being the first film to not translate from Cinema to the DVD, because as i have stated the best way to watch it is in Imax 3D and it’s because of this that i don’t think it will translate, because currently the best format for DVD would Blu-ray and i don’t think that even this will do it justice!

Universities have warned they will not have enough places

England’s university budgets are being cut by £449m, leading student places to be reduced by an estimated 6,000 in the next academic year.

Teaching budgets are being reduced by £215m, a cut in real terms of 1.6% on 2009-10 levels, says the Higher Education Funding Council for England.

Research funding is being frozen, while the buildings budget is cut by 15%.

Student leaders say this “amounts to national self-harm” – while ministers say universities are “scaremongering”.

National Union of Students leader, Wes Streeting, says the cuts threaten “irreversible damage” to higher education.

‘Testing times’

“In spite of protestations to the contrary, the cuts being imposed by the government are going to hit teaching, research and the number of places available at a time of record demand,” said Mr Streeting.

SPENDING ON UNIVERSITIES Finland 1.6% Sweden 1.4% France 1.1% United States 1% Germany 0.9% UK 0.9% Poland 0.9% Spain 0.9% Italy 0.7% Japan 0.5% Source: OECD, public spending on higher education as percentage of GDP. Most recent figures 2006.

“Singling out universities for cuts of this kind seems to me to be an extraordinary act of self harm by the government.”

Funding council chief executive, Sir Alan Langlands, said these were “testing times”, but that higher education had seen substantial growth over the past decade.

But his statisticians estimate the funding package translates to a reduction in student places in England of about 6,000 on 2009-10 levels.

The pressures come as universities face unprecedented demand for places – with some institutions reporting increases in applications of more than 20%.

Steve Smith, president of vice-chancellors’ group Universities UK, has warned that more than 200,000 applicants could be left without a place this summer.

Professor Smith said the funding details “indicate that the cuts are even deeper than expected”.

The biggest saving will be in teaching – with next year’s allocation of £4.7bn representing a decrease of 1.6% in real terms, compared with this year and nearly 5% less than what had been expected.

Research spending has been maintained – with £1.6bn to be allocated next year.

Capital spending will be £562m, a reduction of almost 15%.

Universities are expected to receive their individual budgets next month.

Rising demand

The biggest rises in applications have been reported by new universities – and Pam Tatlow, chief executive of their representative group, Million+, has highlighted the concerns about the limit on places.

These savings come against a background of record government investment in higher education – around 25% more than 1997 Higher Education Minister David Lammy

“It’s not just that we’re being capped at this level, but it’s the fact that demand has risen because of the recession and the number of 18-year-olds has gone up,” she said.

Paul Marshall of the 1994 Group of research intensive universities said the funding cuts seemed “incompatible” with the government’s ambitions for higher education.

Speaking for the Russell Group of leading universities, Wendy Piatt, said there was a recognition “that universities will have to bear their fair share of any cuts”.

But she said that after this “belt tightening” the government needed “to confirm that there will be no further cuts”.

Higher Education Minister for England, Mr Lammy, said “there will be a minimal impact on teaching and students. No further savings were announced and the bulk of the savings will come from a reduction in capital spend”.

Any pressures on spending should be seen against the background of a long-term increase in student numbers, he says – with “more students than ever before in our history”.

“These savings come against a background of record government investment in higher education – around 25% more than 1997.”

Liberal Democrat universities spokesman Stephen Williams said the government’s target to get half of young people into university was proving to be “empty rhetoric” and that record numbers of bright young people would be turned away this summer.

These funding proposals apply to England – but there are other funding changes ahead elsewhere.

In Northern Ireland, there is to be an increase in recurrent funding – but a cut in capital spending.

The Scottish Funding Council is to announce its budget for universities in March.

In Wales, the funding council has been asked to provide details of actions, measures and timelines for delivering a review of higher education in Wales by spring 2010.

God it must be good to be rich and never have to worry the mummy and daddy wouldn’t be able to help you buy your weekly Sainsbury’s ‘Better Tasting’ range shopping!

http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/27/the-apple-ipad/

Is this what people have truly been waiting for, an overstretched iPhone!