Your circuits dead, there's something wrong...

The other night I watched the DVD "The Martian" starring Matt Damon, a sci-fi adventure film with touches of humour, and some great atmospheric shots.

During a U.S. manned mission to Mars, astronaut Mark Watney is presumed dead after an intense storm hits and he is left behind believed dead by his crew, as they abort the mission and return to Earth. But Watney has survived and finds himself stranded and alone on the hostile planet.

Trapped in the mission's habitat, with only insufficient meager supplies and some humble spuds, he (‘a biologist not a real scientist’) must draw upon his ingenuity, wit and spirit to subsist, and find a way to signal to Earth that he is alive.

Watney's own potato famine

Millions of miles away, NASA and a team of international scientists work tirelessly to bring "the Martian" home, while his crew-mates concurrently plot a daring, if not impossible, rescue mission.

As these stories of incredible bravery unfold, the world comes together to champion for Watney's safe return - to ‘Bring him home’.

The Mars long-range scenes were shot in the Jordanian desert at Wadi Rum. The habitat and surrounds were shot inside the Korda Studios in Budapest, Hungary.

The "cloak-and-dagger" meeting to propose the Rich Purnell Manoeuvre is dubbed Project Elrond after the Council of Elrond in the "Lord of the Rings" series. In the scene concerning Project Elrond, Teddy Sanders (the Head of NASA, played by Jeff Daniels) quips that he wants his Codename to be Glorfindel. When this name is questioned, the first character to explain the connection is Mitch Henderson, played by Sean Bean, who played Boromir in “The Fellowship of the Ring” and was present during said council.

Author Andy Weir originally wrote the novel as a serial on his blog, then a Kindle title, publishing and film deals.

With regards the music in the film , the soundtrack to the film is "Bring him home" from Les Miserables.The soundtrack also quotes the ping at the beginning of “Echoes” by Pink Floyd.

When Mark digs up the Radioisotope Thermometric Generator (RTG) to provide warmth to the interior of the Rover, he plays an appropriate selection from Commander Lewis's dreaded disco collection - "Hot Stuff" by Donna Summer. 
Other song titles also pull directly from the action “Rock the boat”, “Don’t leave me this way”, and “I will survive”. Bowie’s “Starman” was a must, but they could also have played his “Space Oddity”.

Moments in the film are reminiscent of the classic "2001: A Space Odyssey", the sling-shot manoeuvre has appeared in several movies, and the duct tape on the helmet visor => “MacGyver”.

Another great Ridley Scott venture into space, and wonderfully portrayed by Matt Damon with just the right amount of larrikin.

Time for Thing 18

Have I got time for Thing 18 Productivity apps?
It is about being efficient and effective and some tools on mobile devices can help organise tasks and schedule activities, provide reminders and help with motivation and time management. 

And while I utilise the phone's calendar and alarm, I still carry the old-fashioned paper diary for appointments, notes and various slips of paper, and not just for its Pooh cover.
The Discover task was to check out- Remember the Milk  is a task and time management app. It integrates with Evernote, Gmail, Google Calendar, Siri, and Twitter. You can even email tasks to your Remember the Milk account. You enter your task's properties (due date, priorities, tags, alerts), sync it with all your devices, and get reminded by email, text or Instant Message.
Doodle  is a scheduling tool, for coordinating times for meetings and appointments. It's 'MeetMe' coordinates your meetings with colleagues or friends, it shows them when you are available and how you want to be contacted.
Pomodoro technique is a productivity system that breaks work down into 25 minute chunks to improve concentration. To get the tomato timer you need to buy 8 for 60Euros.
Lift  (now called Coach.me) is a goal setting app, helping you to set goals, monitor progress and tap into support groups.
For me, I prefer my productivity less interferring, is that an oxymoron
unstructured organisation?