THE TALK LOCKER by Lachlan Hamilton

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3 Things You Should Know About Apple’s 2016 WWDC Keynote

Apple presented their 2016 Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) Keynote on June 13th, and introduced new versions of watch OS, iOS, tvOS, and OS X - now renamed macOS. All of these updates came with new features, some that fixed old gripes, and some that are very forward thinking. If you would like to know what Apple announced, I would recommend watching a highlight reel of the keynote. If you want to know all of the features that were announced, I would recommend finding a YouTuber that has compiled a list. No, really...I just watched a 30 minute video that outlined 75 new features of iOS 10. Some of the things Apple left off their keynote are incredible! I have picked three things that I would like to bring to everyone's attention however.

1. Siri, AI, Advanced Computer Vision and Differential Privacy

Apple introduced updates to Siri at their WWDC keynote, including the fact that the assistant would be coming to macOS Sierra, and that they were opening Siri up to developers. This is a big step forward for Apple, and in my opinion, one that was necessary if Siri were to continue getting smarter. Not all third party apps will be able to take advantage of Siri however. Apple is only opening Siri up to six app categories: ride booking, messaging, photo search, payments, VoIP calling, and workouts. Some notable exceptions from this list are music and podcast apps, email, and to do lists. I have a feeling this might be due to Apple wanting to ensure a smooth and focused experience. Rather than opening Siri up to everyone and having lots of problems, they're starting with a small number of categories, ensuring that works, and will more than likely continue to expand after that.

Apple are starting to show signs of their work on artificial intelligence too, with updates to predictive text options and something they're calling Advanced Computer Vision. As you're typing a message or an email, the predictive text above the keyboard will now show you even smarter results than before. You will notice trending slang and recently used email addresses start popping up, as well as emojis now as well.

Advanced Computer Vision is Apple's term for their machine learning in photos and video. Apple's Photos app can now identify objects such as animals, structures and your friends and family. Were you to search for photos with dogs, Photos would return images of, well, dogs. From what I have seen so far, this is remarkably accurate. It can't search for everything yet, but one would assume this will only get better as it keeps learning.

The difference with what Apple is doing here in comparison to a company such as Google, who offers very similar features with their own AI, is how they handle your privacy. Apple is using a technique called Differential Privacy to keep your data safe. Most of the photo recognition happens directly on the device, which in itself I think is amazing that they have the grunt in CPU to do that. But when anything needs to be sent to Apple's servers, it's done through this technique, whereby extra, random data is thrown into your data to make it harder for hackers to identify the true data. This is a technique called Noise Injection. There is much, much more to Differential Privacy, of course, though without some sort of software engineering degree I don't think I would do a good job of explaining it. The point to note here, is that Apple are once again leading the field in keeping your data safe and mostly on your device.

2. Messages

What some considered to be a peculiar update, especially when it was given so much stage time, was Apple's update to their messages app on iOS 10. iMessage was a very robust and functional service on iOS 9, with read receipts, end to end encryption and other features like sharing your location and group messages you can enter and leave on a whim. Meanwhile, Facebook and WhatsApp (which Facebook now owns) have become almost monolithic, and offer more features in addition to those that Apple offered previously. I saw this update as Apple not only catching up, but ensuring their dominance in messaging. The advantage they have is that iMessage comes with everything they sell: Apple Watch, iPod Touch, iPhone, iPad, and Mac. It is on by default on iPhones and people use it as their default messaging app because, well, it's easy! But as more and more people started seeing the stickers, payment options and more on other platforms, iMessage began to look a little stale. I don't think anyone will accuse Apple of looking "stale" in iOS 10.

Though I can't foresee myself using the full screen effects much outside of birthday greetings, or the new bubble animations, I'm certain a lot of people will find this a fun, colourful update. I will remind you, you don't have to use all of the new wacky animations if you don't want to, though we all have a few friends we know we could annoy with them!

Apple also announced messaging as a platform for developers. Now, developers can create apps within the Messages app. One example Apple showed off was a booking take away food within a group message. People were able to order their own food before sending the final order off. Imagine booking flights and accomodation, booking an Uber, or sending someone the $20 you owed them all from within the Messages app. This is a powerful update that has the ability to change the way we use outside services.

3. Swift Playgrounds

The last thing Apple presented at their keynote was a new iPad app called Swift Playgrounds. Targeted at "kids", Swift Playgrounds is an educational game that teaches coding in Apple's Swift programming language. There are plenty of books and apps already that teach you how to code, I've even read some of them in an attempt to learn (not very successfully), but this is a stroke of genius. Although I'm aware that coding is starting to be taught at a very young age in different parts of the world, it makes all the sense in the world for Apple to teach kids their own programming language in an easy and fun way. As I was watching the demonstration, I immediately wanted to download the app for myself!

More app developers in the world can only be a good thing, as we start to shift into a world that relies on apps and technology more often. The app looked incredibly robust, but colourful and creative in the way it was teaching code. Apple has always made an effort to bring developers into their ecosystem, but this is a great way to get developers born into their ecosystem. This was a great way to end a keynote that was a steady stream of update after update.

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The Next "Big Thing"

There has been a lot of talk about artificial intelligence, or A.I., over the last few years. The big three tech companies, Apple, Google and Microsoft, all have their own versions of a virtual assistant in the form of Siri, Google Now and Cortana respectively. Facebook and Amazon are also in the artificial intelligence game, albeit in a slightly different way. A.I. is not just limited to digital assistants. You know when start to type something into Google, and Google suggests things you might be searching for? That is a form of A.I., and it is getting smarter all the time. This year, almost all of the major tech companies have announced improvements or new features to their artificial intelligence efforts. This is a big deal, and here's why.

 Artificial Intelligence is the next big thing. I would go so far to say that the last "big thing" in tech was the iPhone. It completely revolutionised the mobile phone industry and the way we all live our lives. Prior to iPhone, we would use our mobile phones for three things only: calling, texting and playing Snake. Some later models started to include some internet features, but it was a horrible experience, and Apple really made sense of this segment of the market.

 That was 2007. Since then, we've had iPads, hybrid tablet/laptop computers like the Surface, but nothing that I would consider has changed the way we live our lives. The interface of the iPhone was what did it. All of the new apps we install and use are still based on the touch input, that is, tapping or sliding your finger on a glass screen. This is all about to change.

Apple introduced Siri in 2011. Phones had voice commands prior to this, but you had to know the exact wording to use for it to work, and was limited almost exclusively to making phone calls. Siri was a breakthrough in conversational technology, as there were many different ways you could ask the same question. For example, I could ask "Is it going to rain?", or "What's the weather like today?", or "What's the high temperature today?". All will give me similar information about today's weather. Google introduced Google Now in 2012. Featuring much of the same functionality of Siri on a mobile device, Google Now also featured "cards" on Android devices, and on the Google iOS app. These cards would be proactive, so if it was time to go to work, the top card would probably be directions and traffic to work. If you had a flight, the top card might be your flight status or perhaps your boarding pass. Apple later introduced similar functionality in Siri with "Proactive".

Now, in 2016, these features are being expanded on again. Google recently introduced Google Assistant, which seems to be a rebranding of Google Now. Google Assistant will more more conversational, and seemingly more contextual. You will be able to ask follow up questions with the assistant remembering the answers it has previously given. Siri has this capability already, to an extent, though I fail to get it to work consistently. Google Assistant is also going to appear in chats, so you can type to it and ask it to book flights, accomodation, set reminders and so forth. Google has said that it wants Google Assistant to appear across all devices, so you have access to it at all times.

Microsoft announced a similar upgrade to its Cortana assistant. You can now chat to Cortana and have her answer all the same queries you could ask Siri or Google Assistant, but with one big difference. Cortana can now speak to Bots on your behalf. Firstly, what's a Bot!? A bot is a specific type of program set to ask you questions for a specific purpose, such as, booking a rental car, or booking a flight. So, you will be able to ask Cortana to book you a flight to New York, and stay in a minimum 4 star hotel, and book a medium sized car for two weeks in September. Cortana will be able to talk to three different bots and do all of that for you. Incredible, right!? This is where we are headed.

There are likely to be bumps along the way, but to return to my original point, these assistants are the next "big thing", and the interface is conversation. Whether that be voice or typing, chatting to a digital assistant will be how you get things done. It's artificial intelligence that drives an autonomous vehicle. It's artificial intelligence that filters your gMail. These assistants are getting smarter all the time, and before too long, I think you will be using them for many day to day tasks to alleviate your time to do more important things. I can already hear people complaining that this will make people more antisocial, to the point where people will have these assistants speak on their behalf to their friends. This is a story for another blog post, but I will just say this: be responsible with this technology. It has the power to bring you closer with family and friends. Use Siri to help plan your day, use Google Assistant to book your next trip. Use Cortana to order a pizza! But call your Mum. Text your friends. Go outside. Use this technology responsibly

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In Man Of Steel’s Defence

So, in preparation to see Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice tomorrow, I just re-watched 2013's Man of Steel. This film received plenty of criticism at the time, just as I have been reading plenty of similar criticisms about the sequel, which was released this week.

Most of the criticisms about both films, seem to centre around the lack of "fun", though, I don't recall 2008's Batman: The Dark Knight receiving the same criticism. In fact, I believe it was praised for its gritty tone. We had "fun" Batman films prior to Christopher Nolan's Batman run, and look how they turned out!

I'm a big fan of Christopher Reeve's portrayal of Superman, as many "Man of Steel" critics are, but that is not the only portrayal. There are many different interpretations of Superman spanning more than 75 years in comic books, where he first came to life. Though I can't say I'm well versed with all of the source material, I know that the character has always battled with his identity and his humanity.

In "Man of Steel", we see glimpses of Clarke's childhood in Zack Snyder's eyes. He struggles to keep his identity a secret, whilst at the same time, can't help but save lives when he can. The school bus and the oil rig incidents both show that he was willing to risk exposing himself in order to save people's lives. He loves and trusts his father, Jonathan Kent. When Jonathan holds his hand up, knowing full well his adoptive son could save him, Clarke trusts him. He has faith that he believed the world wasn't ready to know who he was. And he was right! It wasn't until Superman saved the lives of some military personnel during the battle in Smallville that the ranking officer finally saw he was not an enemy. If Kal El had revealed himself any earlier, imagine what the government's response would have been.

That brings us to the infamous Battle of Metropolis, where many buildings were demolished, and many innocent people died. "Where was Superman?", the critics asked. "Why didn't he save them?" Perhaps he was preoccupied with stopping General Zod from terraforming Earth, creating New Krypton, creating an atmosphere that would be uninhabitable for human life. The Man of Steel was busy saving the planet! Yes, it was bleak. Yes, there was death. But clearly there are consequences, and, for my money, made for a gripping ride! I don't understand why critics are asking for the same Superman we had 40 years ago. I like this Superman. He's flawed. He doesn't know what he's doing. He's learning!

I, for one, can't wait to see the new film tomorrow! I've been behind Ben Affleck's casting since Day 1. Seeing The World's Finest in live action on screen together for the first time is something I've been waiting for for a long time. Not to mention Wonder Woman's first live action big screen appearance too! If Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is anything like Man of Steel, we're in for a hell of a ride!

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Slowly getting a handle on this YouTube thing. Take a look at what’s on my iPhone 6s Plus!

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AMY Review

It's been a little over four years now since Amy Winehouse tragically died of alcohol poisoning. There have been a handful of documentaries made about her life, the most recent entitled AMY. Directed by Asif Kapadia, the film is mostly comprised of footage taken from Winehouse's friends' mobile phones, appearances on talk shows and, of course, live concert footage. I am a big fan of Amy Winehouse's musicality, but I walked out of the cinema feeling something I'd not felt walking out of a cinema before. I was angry.

I immensely enjoyed Kapadia's previous feature length documentary, Senna. Admittedly, I didn't know a great deal about Ayrton Senna prior to watching that film, so part of the enjoyment was learning about the late Formula 1 driver's life and career. What I feel Kapadia excelled at, however, was showing how Senna's actions moulded the sport of Formula 1. It was as much a history of the sport as it was the man. Amy is not a documentary about the music industry. Nor is it a documentary, in my honestly humble opinion, a documentary on the life of Amy Winehouse. No. This is a documentary about Amy Winehouse's friends and family, and their actions that ultimately resulted in her death.

At the time of writing this review, I remain conflicted on how I feel about certain aspects of the film. Primarily, the use of incredibly private and personal footage from what seemed to be Winehouse's phone, as well as her friends'. I felt uncomfortable watching videos that clearly were never intended to be broadcast publicly. Imagine finding a stranger's phone. Now imagine unlocking this stranger's phone, reading all of their text messages, and looking through all of their photos and videos. You would suddenly discover a lot of personal information about this person. Now imagine making a feature length documentary, featuring mostly information and footage taken from that phone you found, and sharing all of that private information to the world, knowing that the owner of the phone was unable to do anything to stop the movie from being made or shown. Doesn't sit well, right?

Throughout the film, we are introduced to different "characters" from Amy's life. Juliette is one of Amy's closest friends from her childhood, and plays an important part in the film. Let's call her the protagonist. We're also introduced to Amy's father, Mitch Winehouse. We're told by Amy herself that he was never "there" during her childhood. He was always busy whenever it came to spending time with her, or disciplining her. Let's call him the antogonist.

The film does a good job of profiling Amy's passion for music, and how disheartened she was at the time with pop music. More specifically, how pop music didn’t provide any good role models. She grew up listening to jazz, artists such as Frank Sinatra and Billie Holiday. Winehouse always referred to herself as a jazz singer, even though at the height of her popularity she would have been considered a pop singer, or in the Soul genre.

Throughout the documentary, there are numerous clips of Amy Winehouse commenting on her inability to deal with fame. These comments come both from before she signed major record deals, and after. After Amy’s first major string of incidents under the influence, most of which was captured by paparazzi, her friend Juliette encouraged her to go to rehab, and was almost successful. Winehouse’s father insisted, however, that she didn’t need rehab. After this point, things spiralled out of control toward the end of the movie.

Though you know how the film has to end, it’s like watching a train crash. The film itself isn’t bad, quite the opposite. In order to produce this response of anger, I believe the film has done it’s job. Though I don’t entirely agree with how much footage was shown from what seemed to be incredibly private mobile phone footage, I feel as though Asif Kapadia’s mission here was to expose the people responsible for Winehouse’s downfall, as well as the friends that tried to prevent it. It’s an upsetting film, but hopefully we can learn from it to prevent another tragedy like this from occurring.

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The Death Of Superman Lives: What Happened? REVIEW

I had heard about The Death of Superman Lives: What Happened? documentary through social media ever since the filmmakers discovered footage of Nicholas Cage in a bizarre looking Superman outfit. My first thought, like others that aren't big fans of the actor, was something along the lines of "no wonder this film didn't get made!" This documentary not only changed my thoughts on the aborted film, but also my feelings toward the divisive actor.

Director Jon Schnepp was mingling with guests when I arrived at the Hayden Orpheum in Cremorne, NSW for the Australian premiere of his documentary. I was excited to see the film for a number of reasons, mainly being why anyone would want to cast Nicholas Cage as such an iconic superhero in Superman Lives, a film directed by Tim Burton that was supposed to premiere in 1998. Burton had successfully cast Michael Keaton as Batman almost a decade earlier, which at the time was considered ridiculous. As Kevin Smith said, "the Internet was angry, and this was before the internet!"

Smith was one of the highlights of the film, as he told his story of how he was brought on board to write the first script for the film, which at the time was called Superman Reborn. It was Smith that changed the title and provided the groundwork for the two writers that followed him. Smith's story has become somewhat ubiquitous among his fans. He retells his experiences with producer Jon Peters, and his outrageous requests for the film, including not wanting Superman to fly, not wanting the classic Superman suit, and wanting a giant spider in the film.

In a Q&A with Schnepp following the screening, he revealed that he only secured the interview with Jon Peters two months before the documentary was supposed to premiere in Hollywood. He then had to recut the film with grabs from the Peters interview, which actually provided some of the funniest and most revealing elements of why the film never saw the light of day. Most of the crew tried to ignore him, or appease him at the very least. His lack of understanding of the character and  quirks such as street fighting, and putting the crew in head locks to demonstrate his sleeper hold, certainly didn't help the movie, but this documentary reveals it definitely didn't kill it either.

But the thing that really opened my eyes, and made me think "I really wish this film had been made," was the footage of Nicholas Cage and Tim Burton in costume tests, discussing ideas for the film and the characters of Clark Kent and Superman. Cage's comments came from a place of respect and admiration for the Man of Steel, but also wanting to explore new and different ways of presenting him that hadn't been seen on the silver screen before. Not only that, but the Superman suit they were developing looked incredible in motion. The images that were circulating social media really don't do any justice.

Tim Burton was the other high profile interviewee. His was filmed in what reminded me of a dark attic, though I think it may have been his office. His thoughts were perhaps the most interesting, given we’d not heard much at all from him until this documentary. It was clear to see how much passion Burton had for the project, and his disappointment that the film never saw the light of day.

The documentary also features interviews with script writers, concept artists and executives associated with the film. There was a great deal of originality going into this film that we have not seen before or since in a live action Superman film. It’s interesting to note that some of the ideas from The Death Of Superman were translated into The Man of Steel, and I guarantee we will see more in Batman v Superman: The Dawn Of Justice.

The Death of Superman Lives is a must-watch for any Superman fan. It is hilarious in parts, but ends leaving you incredibly agitated that the film was ultimately shelved due to the studio not wanting to take risks, especially after films such as Batman & Robin. Here’s hoping Zack Snyder is allowed to take these characters in a new direction, much like Tim Burton and Nicholas Cage wanted to.

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Funko Video Game?

As far as I can tell, no one has said or predicted this before online (if be happy to be proven wrong!), so I'll say it now. I am predicting that Funko, the makers of the adorable Pop Vinyl figures, bobble heads, T-Shirts, key chains and other licensed merchandise, will move into making their own video games and animated features.

There, I said it!

LEGO has had tremendous success doing essentially the same thing. Their video games are incredibly well made, and always sell big numbers. I would love to play a fully fledged Avengers or Justice League game, in a style similar to Rocksteady's Arkham games. LEGO Marvel Super Heroes and LEGO Batman 3: Beyond Gotham certainly scratch that itch, albeit in a somewhat hectic, fun, cartoony style! They've even transferred these characters from the video games into their own feature films, and they appear in the feature film The LEGO Movie. 

Disney have achieved some pretty great success in the video game market too with their Disney Infinite line of games and figures. Whilst still in the same cartoon graphic vein, the difference here is the ability for kids to play with these recognisable heroes in toy form, and then teleport them onto the TV screen to play with them virtually. 

Which is where, I feel, Funko come in. Funko must be making an absolute killing off of their toy line. You can't tell me that the profit they make just goes back into designing more bobble head figures. I have a feeling in my gut that we are going to get a video game, in a very similar style to the LEGO and Infinity style games, featuring characters from the Funko Pop Vinyl range of figures. It makes perfect sense, right? I would absolutely love to run around Central City as my Funko Flash figure, and see who would win in a fight between my Funko Batman and my Funko 6" Hulkbuster (spoiler: Batman always wins).

If this happens, you can absolutely say you read about it first here on The Talk Locker.

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First (of many?) vlog for 2015

My first vlog for 2015! Would you like to see more of these?

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Shots from iPhone 6

Hi all, I have been having a great time taking shots with the new iPhone 6 camera. I'm certainly not a qualified photographer, so I'll let the photos do the talking. I believe you can scroll through these photos, and if you want to see them in full resolution, you can click through to them. And without further ado!

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Hyperlapse by Instagram

Instagram released a new time lapse app last week called Hyperlapse. I’m impressed…very impressed.

I’m not usually taken by the offshoot apps of the big social media companies. Facebook are now forcing you to use their Messenger app for instant messaging, but the functionality within that app is nothing exciting. Facebook also have tried to take on Snapchat twice now, first with Poke, and recently again with Slingshot. To my knowledge, neither of these apps have been successful. I would be very interested in trying Paper, Facebook’s separate newsfeed for press and media consumption. Unfortunately the app is only available in the USA for the time being. Instagram earlier released Bolt, a standalone version of the direct messaging function they tried implementing into their main app a while back. 

Hyperlapse, on the other hand, is an incredible breath of fresh air and creativity. They have somehow combined time lapse photography with incredibly smooth image stabilisation to create an uncannily cinematic effect, purely on your iPhone. I admit, it’s a little hard to describe, so here’s a video I took of one of my favourite roads in Sydney to drive down (albeit preferably without the traffic!)

I’ve only played with the app a little bit, but a quick search on Instagram for the #hyperlapse hashtag will yield a wealth of fun and creative videos that people have made using the new app. Here’s one I particularly like…

After you take your footage, you have the option to speed your video up a little, or a lot, depending on how short you want your video. Obviously if you're sharing to Instagram you'll have to keep it to fifteen seconds, six seconds if you're sharing on Vine! If you want to have longer videos, they all get saved to your camera roll, so you can share them on Facebook or YouTube as well!

It’s early days, but I have a feeling we’ll be seeing a lot of very creative videos with Hyperlapse! Share your videos with me and I will feature them on my YouTube channel! And to finish, here’s a hyper lapse I took last night at a birthday at Tex Mex!

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Audio Visual

My girlfriend is always the first to tell me I’m biting off more than I can chew with my social media ambitions. Already, I blog, albeit sporadically; I cohost two podcasts, Lachlan & The Colonel and MacMen - we’re working hard to bring MacMen to you more regularly; and I am trying to connect with you more on my Facebook page, Instagram and Twitter, bringing targeted content to each platform rather than sharing the same thing across all of them. In fact, as I write this paragraph, it’s clear that I’m having to excuse myself for a number of different activities. So why on earth would I even be considering starting a YouTube channel, with new content yet again!?

Well, being in front of a camera has never been incredibly comfortable for me. Throughout high school I spent a lot of time behind the camera and in the editing room, creating short films, mockumentaries and sketches. I loved it, and it’s one of the things I miss doing a lot of. I regained some of that passion when I started doing some audio production - which is a whole other beast - but in a lot of ways, got me back into editing on the computer and tweaking things to get them just how I wanted them. So, being behind the camera or editing desk feels completely comfortable, but sitting in front of the camera…well that’s another story.

Over the last few years I’ve been broadcasting more and more, whether it be on community radio or podcasts, I’ve been getting a kick out of entertaining and speaking to audiences. The common theme of course is that’s all been behind a microphone. No one could see me. I’ve decided to take things into my own hands and change all that! My YouTube channel will mostly be pop culture themed. If you’ve been paying attention, you’ll have noticed blogs about comic books, animated series, superheroes. I podcast about film, video games and technology. I’m going to try to incorporate all of that into the YouTube channel, with some blatant cross promotion of course. In fact, my face may not be the only new face you see. Lachlan & The Colonel could soon be seeing a switch to YouTube, though the audio podcast will continue.

There’s not much more to say now until I publish my first video, so stay tuned for that! I’m going to try to get a few videos under my belt first before I publish anything, so I don’t run into the problem of sharing one video and having you waiting for ages before you see another (something you’re probably all too familiar with on this blog!). I’ll keep you posted!

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The Comic Book Store Experience

If you've been paying attention, in the last two or so years I've been getting more and more into comic book culture. In fact only a few weeks ago, I attended Supanova, my first convention centred around comic books and pop culture. I’ve always been a fan of superhero films, TV shows and video games, but the enjoyment that has come from the words and art of comic books is fairly new. And actually, it’s a no brainer.

Comic books are where the stories of these great characters get to be told without restraint. They're the most honest stories of any medium. I’ve found myself latching on to certain writers and certain artists, following them over different books to see how they will tackle a certain character.

But what I really want to talk about it the comic book store experience. I hadn’t even stepped foot inside a comic book store until about two years ago. Perhaps it’s because I thought they were only for the die hard nerds, though if I’m honest it was probably more because I’d never had the inclination to read comics much prior. But that first experience opened my eyes to a new community, and leads me to believe that comic book store staff are the friendliest and most helpful of any other kind of store.

The world of comic books can be very overwhelming - and I was very overwhelmed. You have an entire store full of stories of all your favourite characters; Batman, Superman, Spiderman, X-Men; plus some names you hadn’t heard of until Marvel’s slew of movie mega-hits; Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, The Incredible Hulk, and The Avengers. After you pick a few characters you might like to read, you have to decide what stories you want to read, keeping in mind both Superman and Batman at least have been going for around 75 years! At this point my brain melted, and had to ask for help.

The staff at Kings Comics in Sydney were tremendous, and nothing like the popular Simpsons character, 'Comic Book Store Guy' pictured above. I wanted to get a well rounded collection of books and issues (two slightly different things) for my first purchase. They pointed me towards some fantastic stories that required no real prior knowledge, self contained stories that were great to ease me into reading comics. I decided to get some well known stories, such as Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Batman: Hush, and Kingdom Come. The Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller was one I already knew about, but the other two were recommended to me. I also grabbed Justice League Vol. 1: Origin, which was my introduction to DC Comics’ reboot of all their books, The New 52. These self-contained stories had already been collected into one book, graphic novel to some, trade paperback to others. I also picked up a copy of Superman Unchained #1, written by Scott Snyder and art by Jim Lee, two names that I had heard during my limited research (Of course, now I know they’re essentially the rockstars of DC at the moment!).

As I was pointed to all these stories by the staff, I was given a brief synopsis of each book, when it takes place, why it’s good for someone that hasn’t read many comics before, and if I liked this I would probably like that, and so on. I was astounded by how much they knew! Every staff member seemed to know just as much as each other too. They were real fans themselves. Even the security guard at the door was asking questions about when certain items were coming in. I’ve been trying to think of another type of store where the staff are as enthusiastic about the products they sell. Being a musician, my first thought was a music store. But then I’ve had some dismal experiences in music stores, where staff try to sell something they will get more commission on, or when they talk down to you. And whilst music store staff will usually be musicians themselves, I think the amount of knowledge that the average comic book store clerk has on comic books is more than the amount of knowledge a music store clerk has on musical instruments…on average I reiterate.

There are other stores of course where you must know about the products you’re selling; hardware stores, make up stores, computer stores. Any niche market that warrants a store front of course must have knowledgable staff. But here’s why I think comic book store staff are the best.

They want you to enjoy these books as much as they do. They’re fans themselves, they know how much joy these books can bring to someone. They seemed so happy when I told them I wanted to get into reading comic books, almost congratulating me! It’s an experience that I definitely took away with me, and have tried to let others know about. I’m slowly building my collection of volumes, issues, books, trade paperbacks, graphic novels et al.

Here’s a shot of my graphic novel collection as of today. 

If anyone reading this has been on the fence about reading comic books, or has had their interest piqued as a result of this, I highly recommend visiting your local comic book store, or even ask me! Ask them or me anything you want, they want you to be fans.

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Harley's Holiday

Anyone who's known me in the last few years has probably noticed I've increased my enthusiasm for comic book and superhero characters. I have a Superman wallet, a Superman belt buckle, a Batman belt buckle, Superman, Batman and The Flash underwear and boxer shorts, Superman and Batman socks. I've started reading comic books and slowly starting a collection of statues, bobble heads and so forth. Then there have been movies and TV series that I've been watching. The big blockbuster films such as Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy, and Zack Snyder's new Man Of Steel franchise are obvious choices for someone like me. I've also been watching some current TV series, such as Arrow, Marvel's Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D, and I'm certainly excited for the new Flash TV series to kick off.

However I've also been going back and watching some things that I may have missed along the way. One such example is Batman The Animated Series. The creators of this series are true fans of the character, and it's for that reason that the series is commonly believed to be the most accurate representations of the Batman character outside of comic books themselves.

I had listened to some podcasts about the series, and discussions on more specific episodes, and I had thoroughly enjoyed watching this series for the first time. However, one of the last episodes produced took me by surprise. "Harley's Holiday" was written by the great Paul Dini and directed by Kevin Altieri. In it, Harley Quinn is being released from Arkham Asylum, and seemingly ready to leave her life of crime behind. She goes shopping and buys a new dress, but as she leaves she forgets to take the security tag off, and security go after her. She panics, and runs away, soon to be followed by the police and, of course, Batman.

.@Paul_Dini @BruceTimm I've slowly been working my way through the 85 episodes of BTAS, and was blown away by "Harley's Holiday".

— Lachlan Hamilton (@LachHamilton)

February 15, 2014

.@Paul_Dini @BruceTimm the entire episode was built and balanced perfectly, and when Batman presented Harley with the dress she bought...

— Lachlan Hamilton (@LachHamilton)

February 15, 2014

The episode comes to a high as Batman and Harley face each other on the rooftop. Quite a dramatic and cinematic fight scene ensues. Harley ends up being captured and taken back to Arkham. In this scene, she's told that Veronica indeed dropped all charges, and that she should be out in no time. Harley, confused, asked Batman why he was looking out for her, when she had caused him so much trouble. Batman's response caught me off guard. He told Harley, "I had a bad day too, once," and then handed her the dress that she had paid for earlier in the episode. Harley kisses Batman, out of happiness, before being led to her cell. 

.@Paul_Dini @BruceTimm ...it hit me like a brick wall, I started to choke up. THAT'S why Batman and Gordon are the only ones that are able..

— Lachlan Hamilton (@LachHamilton)

February 15, 2014

This captured Batman's essence perfectly for me. Harley had done her time in Arkham, and when everyone was out to get her after a misunderstanding, it was Batman and Jim Gordon that had faith that she was in fact, just spooked and reacting to that. Such a level of empathy and forgiveness in these characters makes them true heroes. 

.@Paul_Dini @BruceTimm ...to do what they do. They're capable of empathy and forgiveness. A truly beautiful episode. Thank you.

— Lachlan Hamilton (@LachHamilton)

February 15, 2014

I was so taken back, that I felt compelled to write to the writer, Paul Dini, and producer, Bruce Timm, to thank them for the experience. I knew that Dini was big into Twitter, so I decided to contact them through a small barrage of tweets. To my surprise, I received a reply :-)

@LachHamilton @BruceTimm Thanks for your kind & thoughtful comments. Glad you enjoyed the ep. "Harley's Holiday" is one of my faves too.

— Paul_Dini (@Paul_Dini)

February 15, 2014

[thetalklocker]

The Talk Locker

You might be asking yourself why I'm making such a big deal about relaunching my little corner of the internet, that I've been contributing to on and off for the last two years. Yikes! Two years? That even took me by surprise! Indeed, there are two years worth of text and photos if you look back through the archives. During this time I've built up a (very small) following, over a few different social networks, and I want to bring it all together into a cohesive, easy to understand, warm and cuddly bubble. 

Given that my blog is now effectively a toddler, I thought it only fitting and fair to give it a name! I sweated and toiled over a finding a name that didn’t pigeon hole me into a particular category, such as a tech blog. Instead, I tried creating names that involved my own name - however my name is misspelt so often I thought it may not be the best idea. I stumbled across The Talk Locker completely by accident. It involves my name in a vague kind of way, and also doesn't pigeon hole me into talking about just one thing, in fact if anything the new name encourages lots of different talk. Plus, I reckon it sounds kinda cool!

Now, back to this warm and cuddly bubble! Another part of this relaunch is making a few of my social networking platforms co-operate, to play nicely with each other. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and this blog are now all part of how I plan to communicate with you lovely people. I've tweaked a few of my usernames so that it's even easier to find me across the board. Twitter is proving to be a little bit difficult, as there is someone with the @username I want. Luckily it’s been inactive for a little over two years, so I’ve filed a request. The Facebook Page is brand new, and I'd be thrilled if you toddled on over and "liked" it.

     The addition of the Facebook Page means there will be four networks I’ll be posting to - this blog (obviously), Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. I’ll be posting different content on each of the different platforms, and with any luck you won’t see (many) of the same posts across the different networks. I’ve been relying a bit on the services where, for example, a post on Facebook will automatically post to Twitter. I think these services look a bit messy, and never work as well as they should. Twitter in particular is where I’ll be making up the most ground - keeping my verboseness down to 140 characters could be a challenge! All in all, this means I’ll be posting content that is most relevant to each service. If you want to see everything I'm up to, best to stalk follow me from all angles!

I've also decided not to delete any past posts that I may have deemed to be irrelevant under this new structure. I posted them for a reason at the time, and if nothing else it's an interesting look at my journey up to this point. This is also the reason why I didn't start new accounts for any of these social networks, with the exception of the Facebook Page.

As far as content goes, part of the relaunch is to post more regularly. Whilst a weekly blog would be nice, and certainly something I’ll aim for, a fortnightly blog might be the case more often than not. But have no fear! Don’t forget that I still podcast very regularly. 

Lachlan & The Colonel is what you want to listen to if you’re interested in film or gaming. I host this podcast with a very good friend of mine, Patrick “The Colonel” Muldrew. I also host a podcast called MacMen with another good friend, Mike Pensini. If you’re the tech type - this is your podcast!

There’s just one more service which I’d eventually like to add to this nest of social communications, and that’s YouTube. Hosting a YouTube channel has been an idea that’s been brewing in my brain for quite a while now, and I feel it’s closer than ever to happening. It’s a daunting idea for me, because whilst I’ve become comfortable presenting on community radio and hosting podcasts, the veil of vision is lifted when it comes to presenting on YouTube. Whilst it may not seem like such a huge hurdle - especially transitioning from audio broadcasting - the idea of presenting my face on the internet is still intimidating to me. I have a basic concept as to what material I’d present, which would differ to everything else, and bizarrely I think that it would be my most popular avenue for consumption. 

Regardless, I’m elated as I look into the future at where this is all heading. I would love your feedback on any and all of the above, particularly whether or not you’d watch YouTube videos presented by yours truly, and perhaps what you might like or expect to see on them. Like, comment and share! And thanks for all your support!

[thetalklocker]

2014 As I Foresee It

The silly season is over and done with for another year, and most people that were lucky enough to have breaks over the Christmas period are now back at work. I’m lucky enough (or unlucky enough, depending on your point of view), to have another couple of weeks before work goes back full steam. Though the time off is certainly enjoyable, the lack of any sort of income is certainly a worry. It’s for this reason I’m dead keen to get back to work!

In a follow up to my reflective post in which I reviewed 2013, I thought it to be only fitting to instead look forward and hypothesise - theorise is some cases - on 2014. To provide some sense of contrast, this is a slightly more universal look at what’s to come, as opposed to the more personal approach I wrote my last post from.

TECH

I’ll begin with technology, which should serve as no surprise to those that have read more than one post of this blog. I’ve said before that wearable technology is the next wave that will sweep the planet. All the big players know this too, with Samsung, Google and LG (to name just a few) all with products in this category. They’ve mostly been underwhelming in my humble opinion. I recently started wearing a Fitbit Flex, a wristband that counts the steps you take in a day. The accompanying app allows you to view the data in a number of ways, including distance travelled, steps taken, calories burnt and active minutes throughout the day. You can even log your sleep activity and if you’re really keen, log the food that you eat and keep progress of the weight that you’re (hopefully) losing. I’m starting to notice more people with these types of wrist bands, but they’re not mainstream yet.

If I had to come up with a reason, I’d say it’s because the products are very limited. We’re so used to having smart phones that can do almost anything and everything (including activity tracking) that a device such as a Fitbit wrist band that does essentially just one or two things seems like a step backwards. You may have heard of a new breed of “smart watches” that are available, that are attempting to solve the concerns I’ve just raised. The leader of the pack is undoubtedly the Pebble smart watch. Pebble recently announced the second generation of their watch at the 2014 Consumer Electronics Show (CES). The watch connects to your smart phone and notifies you of almost anything your phone would notify you of. Missed calls, text messages, app notifications, controlling your music and tracking activity is all possible on this device. Samsung has also joined the foray with the Galaxy Gear. It does much the same as the Pebble, but neither have really taken off. Here’s why I think that is. 

A wrist watch these days is a fashion statement. I’ve not worn one since half way through high school, when I first had a mobile phone. At that point, I had two devices that told me the time - one of which also made calls, sent text messages and had a cool game (snake!) on it. I had no functional reason to keep wearing my wrist watch, so I ditched it. I haven’t looked back since. I have a few friends however, that I suppose would consider themselves collectors of watches. Every now and again they will flash me the latest watch they purchased. These watches all did the same thing - they told the time. The other thing they had in common was that they looked amazing. Classy, fashionable and suave would be just a few of the adjectives to describe these watches, certainly not the way one would describe my previous watch. It is the only reason these people continue to buy them, because they are a fashion accessory.

What Pebble and Samsung (and others) have failed to do thus far, is make these devices fashionable. To add to the pot, all they are doing is reflecting what your smart phone is already doing. These devices aren’t inexpensive either, with the Pebble coming in at $150 and the Galaxy Gear at around $280! That’s a high price to pay just to keep your phone in your pocket. No one has released the device that makes it a must have yet. I think in 2014, we’ll see Apple show us what was missing from these devices. Simply put, wearable technology will be the key focus for tech not only for 2014, but from here on.

MUSIC

Unfortunately I continue to see an uphill battle not only for independent musicians, but talented signed artists too. It’s an overwhelmingly large topic to discuss, and to be blunt I think we’re decades from even realising the dire state of the global music industry. A lot of what is being blasted through commercial radio today can barely be called music, and we are idolising teenagers that a wealthy man in a suit saw dollar signs in. 

This is a huge problem. One of the things that makes an intelligent human is an appreciation for art. Any kind of art - music, theatre, paintings, literature - that has real dedication and talent behind it. When did we, the majority of the developed world, stop appreciating art? What has caused us to revere oversimplified pop music (who’s appeal actually has more to do with the physical appearance of the singer than the noise they make), and hate what was once considered to be fine art. Despite the title of this section, this epidemic spreads a lot further than just our appreciation of music.  In essence, I fear we’re breeding a race of idiots. There has to be a massive cultural shift if any of this is to be rectified. I was almost going to suggest that schools should address this issue, ensuring that the arts are integral to a student’s learning, but then I remember learning about Mozart, and about impressionist painting. So the material is being taught. But I also remember more than a handful of students who couldn’t care less in those classes, spending their time on more interesting avenues, like sleeping, or counting the spitballs on the ceiling (or contributing in some cases!). So maybe then the problem lies at home, with parenting. Regardless, it’s way beyond me, and certainly something I don’t see being fixed in 2014.

ME

Though I had planned to keep this conversation slightly more global in scope, I’ve decided to finish by letting you know what you might expect from me. I’ll be kept incredibly busy this year with work, much more than last year, and that may have an impact on my online activities. I’m quietly hoping that the scales weigh the other side though. Blogging has been the hardest thing to keep going through 2013. Not necessarily because I’ve been busy, but it’s hard to stay motivated with little to no feedback. I’m ninety nine percent sure that all of my readers at this stage are from my Facebook network, in other words, people I (mostly) know! The feedback I do get is always very encouraging, and I would love for more people to read my posts. The actual writing of the blog is the easy part. I’m aware that if I want to expand my reader base, the hard part will be the networking and the marketing. But that’s part of the plan for 2014. I’m excited to continue podcasting with Lachlan & The Colonel already underway, and MacMen due to start again very soon. I’m also toying with the idea of starting a YouTube channel, but have yet to find a hook for it. I also wouldn’t be against the idea of taking my writing professionally, just to get that idea out there too.

I thrive off your feedback. If you’ve enjoyed the read then I urge you to let me know, and let your friends know too. Hit the “like” button if you arrived from Facebook. Comment. Discuss. Maybe you hated something or disagreed with a point I raised. Let me know.

[thetalklocker]

2013 As I Saw It

I’m not the most reflective of individuals, even as a new year rolls in, however I have decided to take this opportunity to be uncharacteristic and not only look back at the events of 2013, but also to keep my writing chops up, as it has been months since my last blog. So long, in fact, that it’s the absence of writing that I should address first, as I look back on the year two thousand and thirteen. 

I thought a more focused direction would help me to write more regularly. I did a few blogs on technology, but eventually my other commitments got the better of me. My working life outside of blogging and podcasting will prove to be considerably busier in 2014, so I can’t guarantee that I’ll continue weekly informative and entertaining blogs. But what better time to at least attempt than January 1st. 

Part of the reason that less blogging happened was because more podcasting happened. I’ve been having a ball recording these podcasts, one of which deals with film and gaming content, called Lachlan & The Colonel. “Lachlan”, clearly, is yours truly. “The Colonel” also goes by the name of Patrick Muldrew, and is one of my greatest friends, and it’s a pleasure every time we sit down to record every episode. We’ve taken a break over the silly season but will be back in 2014, with plenty more to talk about, particularly with the release of the next generation gaming consoles.

The other podcast I’m involved with is called MacMen. You can probably guess what the content matter is here, but for those still scratching their heads I’ll elaborate. For this podcast I sit down with two tech enthusiasts (whom both happen to be fantastic musicians also), Mark Matthews and Mike Pensini, to discuss what’s been happening in the tech world. It’s been a little harder to get this group together as we’ve all been incredibly busy, so again, look out early this year for new episodes. Being a part of these podcasts has been a great experience. I get to discuss, at length, subject matter that matters to me, and I get to do it with good friends. It’s for this reason that makes leaving my post as co-presenter of a community radio show just a little bit easier to handle. 

For the last few years I’ve been co-presenting a show on community radio called In The Pocket with another good friend of mine, Nic Jeffries. Due to legal and copyright laws, I’m unable to play music in podcasts, so this was the only opportunity I had to broadcast and talk about music to an audience. As I mentioned earlier, my work commitments are heavier in 2014, and unfortunately this is one of the things I’ve had to sacrifice. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed presenting the show, and will take what I’ve learnt from there to the podcasting arena. 

I also want to congratulate some friends that were became engaged in 2013 - Nath & Shelly and TJ & Kathy. A number of my friends have celebrated first birthdays for their children, Dave & Lara with James, and Brendan & Chloe with Harriette. And of course another baby born early in the year was Joshua, with proud parents Graham and Rosa. 

There have been other things that have happened throughout the year. I bought a new car in February; I met the Justice League at Movie World on the Gold Coast; I saw some incredible music in 2013, the highlight of which would have to be David Ryan Harris’ solo shows at The Basement and Venue 505; and of course many films - 2013 saw the return of one of pop culture’s most iconic characters back to the big screen - Man of Steel (…Superman, if you’ve been living under a kryptonite rock). 

However I’ve saved the most rewarding, and perhaps life altering event of 2013 for me until now. I recently moved in with my girlfriend, Rebecca. Though our relationship didn’t begin in 2013, it has certainly flourished during that time. She means the world to me. Though you probably won’t see much from her in 2014, I’ll be encouraging her to get active with some blogging, or podcasting, or something, just as soon as she’s finished her masters degree. 

I’m aware of people or events that I’ve left out of this brief review, but you’re certainly not forgotten. With any luck you, lucky reader, will be seeing and hearing more from me throughout the months of 2014. Enjoy the ride!

[thetalklocker]

#shanksdrivingseries lives on. Points awarded to anyone that can tell me what TWO stores I've been to today. 😃