I just wanted to post this video as it's so cool - these games put almost as much effort into their losing videos as they did their winning games. There were 2 losing endings in Wing Commander 3 - the grovelling ending and a pretty cool if downbeat ending. Here is both of them:-
Monday, March 12, 2007
New Wing Commander
Yes, believe it or not there is a new Wing Commander coming out of nowhere - Wing Commander Arena. As the name suggests it will be multiplayer geared, and I suspect there won't be much of a plotline. And it's XBox only currently.
In the meantime here's some of the coolest bits of Wing Commander 4, again:-
In the meantime here's some of the coolest bits of Wing Commander 4, again:-
Friday, March 09, 2007
Badgered
I have returned to work after a few days holed up with the lurgy and am now more powerful that an unimaginative fool could possibly imagine. I am a badge carrying member of staff now - the badge I ordered for UCAS days to identify me as a staff member has arrived, and only a day before the last of my UCAS days.
As a badge carrying member of the Uni I can now stop people in the street . I will now get the best seats in cinemas, be given the "special" table at restaurants and casinos and am able to commandeer vehicles.
Now before you get an image of me on a motorbike riding through the corridors of Leicester Uni Judge Dredd style as an insight into how things work around here I received a phonecall telling me it's the wrong type of badge - it's fastened by a safety pin and would therefore could put holes in my nice shirt. I am therefore getting another badge. Possibly before the UCAS day tomorrow, but probably not as they take 2-6 weeks.
So, don't mess with me. I have 2 badges and one of them controvenes health and safety and is sharp!
I am the Law! Behold the badge of doom!
As a badge carrying member of the Uni I can now stop people in the street . I will now get the best seats in cinemas, be given the "special" table at restaurants and casinos and am able to commandeer vehicles.
Now before you get an image of me on a motorbike riding through the corridors of Leicester Uni Judge Dredd style as an insight into how things work around here I received a phonecall telling me it's the wrong type of badge - it's fastened by a safety pin and would therefore could put holes in my nice shirt. I am therefore getting another badge. Possibly before the UCAS day tomorrow, but probably not as they take 2-6 weeks.
So, don't mess with me. I have 2 badges and one of them controvenes health and safety and is sharp!
I am the Law! Behold the badge of doom!
Thursday, March 08, 2007
Serenity Again
I liked Firefly. I really liked Serenity (even if it wrecked the damn Reaver myths dammit). It may be the best thing Joss Whedon ever did, as Buffy went stale for me around Season 3 and got progressively worse, while Angel was always fantastic but started to fade away around Season 5 (though if it had got a Season Six would've been so epic). Firefly never got the chance to go stale because it was cancelled way before it's time. And Serenity was good but I always hoped it'd be the first in a series of movies. Apparently it won't be, which is sad, as the cast are genuinely talented and doubtless have lots of good acting gigs on the go (especially Fillion, aka Mal).
I was in Page 45 in Nottingham (finally remember Dr. Sordid posting it was the "grown-up" shop ages ago and went for a looksie) and I saw a graphic novel of Serenity - Those Left Behind. The original Dark Horse issues went like hotcakes (which makes me wonder just how unprofitable Serenity was given it's comics are worth a mint), and semi-amusingly even Nathan Fillion (Mal) had problems buying issues for his family without being fleeced by some city slicker.
The storyline is set bang between the last episode of the series (one of the weaker ones IMHO) and the movie. It ends with Inara getting off the ship and Book deciding to do the same. I believe I read somewhere that Joss wanted to do an Animatrix type prequel to Serenity The Movie but didn't get funding, and that this was the script (or more likely synopsis the other authors worked with). It certainly does resolve one of the plot-threads from the TV series, the Hands of Blue - who were frequently seen chasing our heroes and killing people with their weird devices but never actually caught up with them in the 13 episodes run.
The comic didn't work for me. It's not bad per-se and I recommend you read it if you like Firefly/Serenity. It was only 3 issues long, and to me needed to be a six issue mini-series.
Maybe Serenity needs to be on a TV to work for me, maybe the plot was too close to the movie (it opens with a raid on a bank, the middle is in a spaceship graveyard and so on). The witty banter was there - but again I think I needed to hear it, not read it.
It could also be the main reason I bought it was to finally see what those god-damn-hands-of-blue fellas were about, and after 2 issues of buildup they last roughly five seconds against Simon, River, Book, Kaylee and Wash, without any revelation of what made them so special, and without them remembering to use their funky nosebleed devices. They basically die hastily so that the Alliance can call the Operative and begin the movie.
The comic also goes to the bother of digging up Lawrence Dobson from the first episode (he was the Alliance agent shot in the eye and apparently if the show had gone on for more than 13 episodes would've popped up pissed at being maimed by Mal - I had to look this up, it's been a while) only to have him decisively killed of by Mal in slightly more time than it takes the secondary characters to kill the Hands of Blue.
So the upshot - buy this book if you're a completist (it's going between the Firefly boxed set once I err... buy it and my Serenity DVD).
Also Wikipedia reckons Dark Horse are doing another miniseries - one that sees the crew of Serenity pulling off a successful job which results in unexpected wealth called Serenity: Better Days. I'll buy the trade no doubt when it comes out. Hopefully it'll be a little better.
I was in Page 45 in Nottingham (finally remember Dr. Sordid posting it was the "grown-up" shop ages ago and went for a looksie) and I saw a graphic novel of Serenity - Those Left Behind. The original Dark Horse issues went like hotcakes (which makes me wonder just how unprofitable Serenity was given it's comics are worth a mint), and semi-amusingly even Nathan Fillion (Mal) had problems buying issues for his family without being fleeced by some city slicker.
The storyline is set bang between the last episode of the series (one of the weaker ones IMHO) and the movie. It ends with Inara getting off the ship and Book deciding to do the same. I believe I read somewhere that Joss wanted to do an Animatrix type prequel to Serenity The Movie but didn't get funding, and that this was the script (or more likely synopsis the other authors worked with). It certainly does resolve one of the plot-threads from the TV series, the Hands of Blue - who were frequently seen chasing our heroes and killing people with their weird devices but never actually caught up with them in the 13 episodes run.
The comic didn't work for me. It's not bad per-se and I recommend you read it if you like Firefly/Serenity. It was only 3 issues long, and to me needed to be a six issue mini-series.
Maybe Serenity needs to be on a TV to work for me, maybe the plot was too close to the movie (it opens with a raid on a bank, the middle is in a spaceship graveyard and so on). The witty banter was there - but again I think I needed to hear it, not read it.
It could also be the main reason I bought it was to finally see what those god-damn-hands-of-blue fellas were about, and after 2 issues of buildup they last roughly five seconds against Simon, River, Book, Kaylee and Wash, without any revelation of what made them so special, and without them remembering to use their funky nosebleed devices. They basically die hastily so that the Alliance can call the Operative and begin the movie.
The comic also goes to the bother of digging up Lawrence Dobson from the first episode (he was the Alliance agent shot in the eye and apparently if the show had gone on for more than 13 episodes would've popped up pissed at being maimed by Mal - I had to look this up, it's been a while) only to have him decisively killed of by Mal in slightly more time than it takes the secondary characters to kill the Hands of Blue.
So the upshot - buy this book if you're a completist (it's going between the Firefly boxed set once I err... buy it and my Serenity DVD).
Also Wikipedia reckons Dark Horse are doing another miniseries - one that sees the crew of Serenity pulling off a successful job which results in unexpected wealth called Serenity: Better Days. I'll buy the trade no doubt when it comes out. Hopefully it'll be a little better.
Monday, March 05, 2007
Chad Vader: The Story So Far
This trailer is pretty cool - it also has a lot of the funnier parts of the early episodes thrown in for good measure.
Chad Vader Episode 6
Chad Vader Episode 6 - better than 3,4 and 5, but still not as funny as the first couple. The Obi-Wan guy really ain't that funny.
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Happy Birthday Blog!
In all the excitement I forgot to wish my blog a Happy Birthday. I started writing it on the 21st of February 2005 in preparation for the move to Leicester, and I'm still writing it. Worryingly this represents the most commitment in my life at the moment!
Since I forgot it's birthday I'd better get it something on the way home.
Since I forgot it's birthday I'd better get it something on the way home.
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
The Name's Kerrigan, Stuart Kerrigan
You Are 80% Gentleman |
 You are definitely a gentleman. You're very considerate and you have excellent manners. Occasionally, you slip and do something foolish... but usually no one notices! |
Sunday, February 25, 2007
The Birthday
I decided to enjoy a late lie, a shower and shave before putting on fresh clothes and going to work feeling respectable. Then came the knock at the door - which I opened assuming it was the postman who had somehow having ninja'd his way past the security door and was clutching some massive parcel he was unable to shove through my letterbox.
I was therefore somewhat surprised when it was the building maintenance chaps standing there, staring at me in my bathrobe. However this was better than last time when they knocked on the door at some ungodly hour, burst in and decided the best way to investigate the leak in my bathroom was to check out the bedroom where I was hastily changing to answer the door first.
Apparently after reporting my shower leaking in December my lottery numbers had come up and they were here to tear up my bathroom and replace the shower cubicle. The net result of this exchange was that they graciously allowed me twenty minutes to get ready I went to work looking like a hobo with 2 days worth of stubble, and in the first clothes I could find lying around. Using some of the 20 minutes to check the post I was somewhat disturbed by my present from mum and dad - a pair of pink lined rubber gloves complete with ring and pearls. As I walked to work I tried to contemplate the significance of this gift... were my folks indeed trying to say:-
1. "Son, we think you are gay." (hence the pink lining and girly pearls)
2. "Son, we think you need to find a lass and marry her." (hence the ring on the rubber gloves)
3. "Son, it's your turn to do the dishes when you go back to Dundee." (the most likely)
I got into work and discovered a card on my desk. As Andy pointed out it was either from him or Ben. I'll let you guess who it was from, but let me give you a hint - it wasn't the tosser.
Work progressed a little slowly with only surly students making rather humorous errors in an effort to amuse me. After midday when I went upstairs for lunch and ate the most odd chicken baguette and drank a pint bought for me by the gracious Mr A. who let the rest of the staff know this was my birthday. This was followed at 1:30pm by me taking an extended lunch break and going to the student's union beer festival, which was cheap.
This also meant that after lunch I had already consumed 3 pints of beer. I was somewhat unwilling to continue imbibing alcohol as I had nightmares of getting drunk and somehow waking up the next morning with a fit of amnesia to discover I'd taken B. home with me. It also meant that after lunch I was somewhat less than efficient.
However I didn't have long to work - at 4:30pm I was dragged across the Student's Union for a pint, then back to the staffroom for another pint - the net result being I had consumed 5 pints while at work that day. That's probably not much compared to other folks, but at least Scott Adams would be proud I'd beaten the system.
Amazingly still sober I staggered home at 6pm to quickly try out my new shower (which still leaks everywhere), shave and get ready for a nice meal at La Tasca. Which I had, and was very nice, despite people assuming I lost control of my camera after 2 pitchers of sangria. La Tasca's is very nice - and gets the seal of approval. Much tapas, sangria and weird cocktails later I collapsed at the far too respectable time of 2am.
So apologies for the long rambly post: in a nutshell very good birthday.
I was therefore somewhat surprised when it was the building maintenance chaps standing there, staring at me in my bathrobe. However this was better than last time when they knocked on the door at some ungodly hour, burst in and decided the best way to investigate the leak in my bathroom was to check out the bedroom where I was hastily changing to answer the door first.
Apparently after reporting my shower leaking in December my lottery numbers had come up and they were here to tear up my bathroom and replace the shower cubicle. The net result of this exchange was that they graciously allowed me twenty minutes to get ready I went to work looking like a hobo with 2 days worth of stubble, and in the first clothes I could find lying around. Using some of the 20 minutes to check the post I was somewhat disturbed by my present from mum and dad - a pair of pink lined rubber gloves complete with ring and pearls. As I walked to work I tried to contemplate the significance of this gift... were my folks indeed trying to say:-
1. "Son, we think you are gay." (hence the pink lining and girly pearls)
2. "Son, we think you need to find a lass and marry her." (hence the ring on the rubber gloves)
3. "Son, it's your turn to do the dishes when you go back to Dundee." (the most likely)
I got into work and discovered a card on my desk. As Andy pointed out it was either from him or Ben. I'll let you guess who it was from, but let me give you a hint - it wasn't the tosser.
Work progressed a little slowly with only surly students making rather humorous errors in an effort to amuse me. After midday when I went upstairs for lunch and ate the most odd chicken baguette and drank a pint bought for me by the gracious Mr A. who let the rest of the staff know this was my birthday. This was followed at 1:30pm by me taking an extended lunch break and going to the student's union beer festival, which was cheap.
This also meant that after lunch I had already consumed 3 pints of beer. I was somewhat unwilling to continue imbibing alcohol as I had nightmares of getting drunk and somehow waking up the next morning with a fit of amnesia to discover I'd taken B. home with me. It also meant that after lunch I was somewhat less than efficient.
However I didn't have long to work - at 4:30pm I was dragged across the Student's Union for a pint, then back to the staffroom for another pint - the net result being I had consumed 5 pints while at work that day. That's probably not much compared to other folks, but at least Scott Adams would be proud I'd beaten the system.
Amazingly still sober I staggered home at 6pm to quickly try out my new shower (which still leaks everywhere), shave and get ready for a nice meal at La Tasca. Which I had, and was very nice, despite people assuming I lost control of my camera after 2 pitchers of sangria. La Tasca's is very nice - and gets the seal of approval. Much tapas, sangria and weird cocktails later I collapsed at the far too respectable time of 2am.So apologies for the long rambly post: in a nutshell very good birthday.
Thursday, February 22, 2007
Age, Juju and Fuzz
It's been a while since I posted an update saying how things are going. Mainly because it'd be a long rambly post and because I was waiting for something interesting to happen to blog about.
Things are going good - in fact I was going to reflect how things are much better they are than this time a year ago. Tomorrow's my birthday and in honour of this the university has decided to host a beer festival. (Actually I'm pretty certain they were going to have one anyroads, but allow an old man his senile delusions).
Work has seen its fair share of bad juju - but the juju has been aimed at someone deserving for being a pain in the backside for 2 years. I'll make a long ranty post about it sometime.
I saw Hot Fuzz on Wednesday with some chums - actually quite a lot of chums. It's very, very good - the first half is quite slow but the second half is cinematic brilliance and the idea of Lethal Weapon type cop films being transplanted into southern English villages works on so many levels. I'd say it tops Shaun of the Dead, but that may be the post-cinema afterglow talking.
Anyroads, that is for me to be honest - beer tomorrow, followed by Tapas which will hopefully rival the ones in Glasgow's merchant city.
Things are going good - in fact I was going to reflect how things are much better they are than this time a year ago. Tomorrow's my birthday and in honour of this the university has decided to host a beer festival. (Actually I'm pretty certain they were going to have one anyroads, but allow an old man his senile delusions).
Work has seen its fair share of bad juju - but the juju has been aimed at someone deserving for being a pain in the backside for 2 years. I'll make a long ranty post about it sometime.
I saw Hot Fuzz on Wednesday with some chums - actually quite a lot of chums. It's very, very good - the first half is quite slow but the second half is cinematic brilliance and the idea of Lethal Weapon type cop films being transplanted into southern English villages works on so many levels. I'd say it tops Shaun of the Dead, but that may be the post-cinema afterglow talking.
Anyroads, that is for me to be honest - beer tomorrow, followed by Tapas which will hopefully rival the ones in Glasgow's merchant city.
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
The Source Reviewed
The postman delivered my Russian DVD of Highlander: The Source today. Oddly it comes without any special features. :) However I was slightly alarmed to open the jewel case and find no DVD - until I realised those whily chaps had put the DVD in a separate envelope inside the DVD case to prevent it getting loose or scratched. Actually a very sensible idea for a postal DVD company.
I'd read some pretty negative reviews of it, and had actually downloaded it before hand but managed to keep my willpower and only peaked at the film before the DVD arrived at my door. Then after digesting the Source and a roast dinner I thought I'd share my thoughts.
Overall the Source is not bad, it's not as good as Endgame as it lacks any attempt at real depth. It's pretty much a no-brainer 90 minute action movie - there's not much sophistication to the plot.
Pretty much the story is that it is the near future. The world is falling apart, or at least Eastern Europe is. Duncan MacLeod is depressed because his latest wife has left him to go seek something mysterious. He is seemingly tracking her through "Eastern Europe" (at least that's what the subtitles said, it's actually Lithuania) when he sees the results of a massive quickening, meets the Immortal who received it, gets his ass handed to him by said immortal and escapes, falling in with Joe Dawson and Methos from the TV show, along with his wife Anna, a cockney stereotype immortal called Reggie and Cardinal Giovanni who are all looking for the Source. They all seem pretty up on where the Source is, and the immortal who is guarding it - the Guardian. They don't seem to waste much time discussing it or explaining how they suddenly know all this stuff that they never mentioned in the TV series before going off on a modern day Lord of the Rings style jaunt.
Suffice it to say by the end only Duncan and Anna are left, and he has to claim the power of the Source to defeat the Guardian. The final fight is very matrixy, but seems okay, if a little anti-climactic.
Overall the acting seems pretty good. With the exception of Joe the rest of the cast are British or European and give a good performance. The only character I felt got short shift was Cardinal Giovanni (pictured) - how exactly he became a catholic cardinal is a mystery - at first he appears serene and wise, if a little arrogant, but before long he's whimpering, selling everyone down the river and claiming he's The One and that God shines on him, and generally being an unhelpful twat that reminds me of a certain someone I know in real life. Not exactly cardinal material, much less the kind of material that survives for thousands of years - if he'd obviously become genuinely unhinged by certain events in the film it'd be nice if they made it clearer.Anyroads, nice no-brainer film, but no real depth that adds to the source material of Highlander. And some pros-and-cons...
Pros:
- No confusing flashbacks, or flashbacks within a flashback within a flashback. Endgame suffered from that problem.
- Good SFX (although the Source looks a little dodgy).
- Nice orchestral soundtrack
- Lots of Methos being Methos (albeit one who is trying to fill Duncan's shoes for most of the movie until Duncan gets his act together at the end).
- While some of the movie looks a little cheap it actually looks rather spectacular in places - there's a very nice monastery for example.
Cons:
- The Guardian is goofy, like most Highlander villains. He even sings Who Want To Live Forever (admittedly better than the covering band).
- The story doesn't really begin. There's no indication as to how Methos et al. become aware of the Source given in 6 seasons of Highlander the Series it was never mentioned.
- No Scotland. This is supposed to be Highlander.
- No historical flashbacks bar 1 short one.
- No explanation of what the Source is. Given the film is The Source you'd at least have some inkling as to its nature beyond being some sort of powerful force.
- Maybe it's me but 90 minutes is too short for a film. This film needs a decent epilogue.
- Princes of the Universe : The Karaoke Mix. ARGH! And let's not even start on Who Wants To Live Forever.
Monday, February 19, 2007
Wookie Porn!
Now I've your attention this is a post about the Star Wars Holiday Special and how I love watching it. Not alone, you understand, but rather talking over it with chums and watching as their love of Star Wars is put to the test in this 90 minute travesty.
The Star Wars Holiday Special was broadcast not long after the original movie came out in 1978 and was intended to be a variety show for the holidays (Christmas I think). The plot is that Han Solo and his buddy Chewie are desperately trying to get back to Kashyyk for Wookie Life Day, but the darn Empire keeps chasing them, lazily only via reuse of footage from A New Hope.
It all starts of reasonably well with the dramatic opening of a star destroyer chasing the Falcon, and then the announcer begins with...
Starring Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker
Harrison Ford as Han Solo
Carrie Fisher as a very doped up looking Princess Leia
--- and so on... ----
(Alec Guinness was unwilling to reprise his role as Obi Wan Kenobi... odd that!)
Then, suddenly without warning the travesty begins as the narrator continues by "introducing Chewbacca's family... his wife Malla, his father Itchy, his son Lumpy". Yes I kid you not - then we open with what seems like an eternity as Lumpy, Itchy and Malla talk to each other in Wookie (sans subtitles). But that's not all, the Holiday Special has so much to offer:-
However it is a little known fact that the Holiday Special saw the appearance of Boba Fett in a little animated short. This cartoon is probably the only respectable bit of the Holiday Special and feels like it was meant to be part of a bigger story that never got made.
If you are morbidly curious the entire holiday special is on YouTube, but be prepared for your brain to hurt!
There is also a five minute long version that really shows you everything you need to know.
The Star Wars Holiday Special was broadcast not long after the original movie came out in 1978 and was intended to be a variety show for the holidays (Christmas I think). The plot is that Han Solo and his buddy Chewie are desperately trying to get back to Kashyyk for Wookie Life Day, but the darn Empire keeps chasing them, lazily only via reuse of footage from A New Hope.
It all starts of reasonably well with the dramatic opening of a star destroyer chasing the Falcon, and then the announcer begins with...
Starring Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker
Harrison Ford as Han Solo
Carrie Fisher as a very doped up looking Princess Leia
--- and so on... ----
(Alec Guinness was unwilling to reprise his role as Obi Wan Kenobi... odd that!)
Then, suddenly without warning the travesty begins as the narrator continues by "introducing Chewbacca's family... his wife Malla, his father Itchy, his son Lumpy". Yes I kid you not - then we open with what seems like an eternity as Lumpy, Itchy and Malla talk to each other in Wookie (sans subtitles). But that's not all, the Holiday Special has so much to offer:-
- Wookie porn - Granpa Lumpy gets a "wow" machine which looks like it came from a hairdresser but seems to be some sort of Wookie Porn!
- Princess Leia singing the Star Wars theme
- Princess Leia looking like she is coked up to the nines
- Luke Skywalker with far, far, far too much mascara on
- The worst coded conversation ever - "That rug you ordered will arrive. Made by hand. Hand solo you might say!"
- A four handed chef basting a turkey on Wookie TV
- Clothed wookies
- A musical extravaganza in the Star Wars cantina with Bea Arthur
However it is a little known fact that the Holiday Special saw the appearance of Boba Fett in a little animated short. This cartoon is probably the only respectable bit of the Holiday Special and feels like it was meant to be part of a bigger story that never got made.
If you are morbidly curious the entire holiday special is on YouTube, but be prepared for your brain to hurt!
There is also a five minute long version that really shows you everything you need to know.
Sunday, February 18, 2007
Am I A Bird, A Plane?
Your results:
You are Superman
Click here to take the "Which Superhero are you?" quiz...
You are Superman
| You are mild-mannered, good, strong and you love to help others.  |
Click here to take the "Which Superhero are you?" quiz...
Saturday, February 17, 2007
Friday, February 16, 2007
The Seven Deadly Sins
Pride and Gluttony - who'd have known it.
| Your Gluttony Quotient: 72% |
 Eating is not just a hobby for you - it's your life. And while your friends do appreciate your good taste in food, they're a little disgusted by how fast you shovel it down. |
| Your Greed Quotient: 32% |
 You're a little greedy, but generally you don't let your desire get the better of you. You know that good things will come to you - as long as you wait your turn! |
Your Sloth Quotient: 29% |
 You're a little lazy, but normally you're a very energetic and motivated person. Don't beat yourself up over a little laziness every now and then. You do need your downtime! |
Your Wrath Quotient: 50% |
 Ouch! You've got a bit of a temper going on there, don't you? Just make sure to keep your revenge fantasies just that... fantasies only! |
Your Lust Quotient: 39% |
 You are a fairly lustful person, but nothing out of the norm. You usually keep your lust under control, but sometimes it gets the better of you. |
Your Envy Quotient: 55% |
 You are an envious person, but only at times. Perhaps certain situations trigger your envy. Or maybe you're especially jealous when you're feeling insecure. Instead of letting that green monster out, work on making your own life better. And then maybe people will be envious of you. |
Your Pride Quotient: 71% |
 You're beyond proud - you think you're honorary royalty. And while you may be nice on occasion, it's usually just to get what you want. |
Thursday, February 15, 2007
Precocious Laird?
 | My Peculiar Aristocratic Title is: Most Noble and Honourable Stuart the Precocious of Bumswick by the Hole Get your Peculiar Aristocratic Title |
Russian Mafia Discs
I've ordered Highlander 5 on DVD from DVDigitall, even though the official US release is September 2007. Apparently 'an early cut' been released in Russia of all places, straight to DVD. I'll probably watch and maybe even sell the Russian one on ebay and buy the proper DVD when it comes out.
Don't worry - I paid paypal so the mafia don't have my credit card details, and it seems the DVD and certainly the website are legit. I'm looking forward to watching this film, though the mutterings I've heard from those who already have the DVD suggest the film is not going to be amazing, unless they have some pretty major reshoots due before September 2007!
Expect a review forthcoming, but for now everything is in the hands of the Russian postal service.
Don't worry - I paid paypal so the mafia don't have my credit card details, and it seems the DVD and certainly the website are legit. I'm looking forward to watching this film, though the mutterings I've heard from those who already have the DVD suggest the film is not going to be amazing, unless they have some pretty major reshoots due before September 2007!
Expect a review forthcoming, but for now everything is in the hands of the Russian postal service.
Monday, February 12, 2007
At Least I'm Not Lazenby...
Your results:
You are Sean Connery
Click here to take the "Which James Bond am I?" quiz...
You are Sean Connery
| The original actor to play James Bond in a movie is generally regarded as the best. Sean Connery has always been the epitome of sexiness, suaveness and sophistication. |
Click here to take the "Which James Bond am I?" quiz...
The Doctor Who Code
Season 1 had Daleks, Season 2 had the Cybermen, so it makes sense Season 3 has the Master right? Well apparently so as the Sun, Metro and the Independant report John Simm of Life on Mars is to play the Master. (Also purely by coincidence a Master boxed set of Tom Baker/Peter Davidson episodes has just been released).
This means there have been (arguably) six people to play the Master:-
Master 1 - Roger Delgado, moustache twirling Bond villain.
Master 2 - Peter Pratt, zombie with pingpong eyes.
Master 3 - Geoffrey Beevers, still a zombie but played by someone else
Master 4 - Anthony Ainley, moustache twirling pantomine villain.
Master 5 - Eric Roberts, of the McGann movie
Master 6 - John Simm?
Also, Mister Saxon is an anagaram of "On Master Six".
Cunning eh? And yet, given the lack of sophistication Bad Wolf and Torchwood metaplots I suspect this is too clever by half and probably not true. But it's scarily coincidental nonetheless...
This means there have been (arguably) six people to play the Master:-
Master 1 - Roger Delgado, moustache twirling Bond villain.
Master 2 - Peter Pratt, zombie with pingpong eyes.
Master 3 - Geoffrey Beevers, still a zombie but played by someone else
Master 4 - Anthony Ainley, moustache twirling pantomine villain.
Master 5 - Eric Roberts, of the McGann movie
Master 6 - John Simm?
Also, Mister Saxon is an anagaram of "On Master Six".
Cunning eh? And yet, given the lack of sophistication Bad Wolf and Torchwood metaplots I suspect this is too clever by half and probably not true. But it's scarily coincidental nonetheless...
Wednesday, February 07, 2007
More Ghosts of Files Past
After threatening to bore people with my scribblings as a writer I was digging around on my almost defunct but still standing Dundee University Homepage I managed to find a copy of my first professionally paid article from Dungeon. If I recall a couple more followed, but AFAIK no-one saw the need to scan them. Anyroads, here it is for posterity.
Speak of the Devil...
... and it appears. There's a new Highlander: The Source trailer on the web, which is good as the previous one was a bit amateurish.
1. Good grief! Never, ever ever ever cover a Queen song again. If I was going to update Queen for 2007 I'd still keep Freedie's vocals.
2. This looks even more angsty than Highlander Endgame.
3. The dark future setting doesn't look particularly dark in this trailer.
4. That's Joe driving. Hello Joe!
5. Good dialogue.
Duncan: "What do you want from me?"
Anna: "The impossible."
Stuart: "Typical woman."
1. Good grief! Never, ever ever ever cover a Queen song again. If I was going to update Queen for 2007 I'd still keep Freedie's vocals.
2. This looks even more angsty than Highlander Endgame.
3. The dark future setting doesn't look particularly dark in this trailer.
4. That's Joe driving. Hello Joe!
5. Good dialogue.
Duncan: "What do you want from me?"
Anna: "The impossible."
Stuart: "Typical woman."
There's Nothing Like A Challenge...
...To Bring Out The Best In Man.
Scenes like these remind me why I like Highlander 2 despite some plotholes. I may be the only person on Earth to feel this way, but hey-ho.
Mind you it's still not as good as my all-time favourite part of the series, even if it is a lot more depressing.
Scenes like these remind me why I like Highlander 2 despite some plotholes. I may be the only person on Earth to feel this way, but hey-ho.
Mind you it's still not as good as my all-time favourite part of the series, even if it is a lot more depressing.
Sunday, February 04, 2007
This Weekend I 'Av Been Mostly...
Making the most of things - as it appears I will be working the next two weekends. Then after that I intend to be mostly recovering from getting older. I'm going to be 27, but at least I won't be 28 and thus no-longer mid-20s. So before it's time to start running the carousel I had a fairly good weekend despite impending old age - visiting Coventry and spending a ridiculous amount of time shopping in its game shop, Bishop Games.
In addition I played poker, and didn't suck entirely. I even went to a party and had a student there who insisted on calling me sir all night and asked me for advice on alcohol. Much drunkeness, thankfully not all mine.
I've been playing Outrun 2006 Coast 2 Coast. I loved the original Outrun and Turbo Outrun on my C64 and recently had the chance to play the arcade and missed it. The new fangled Outrun is a little too bells-and-whistles for my liking, clearly overly influenced by Ferrari too much, but it plays similar to the original and it's nice to play a gmae that doesn't take a month to complete.
I've also been playing Oblivion - or more accurately it's Knights of Nine expansion. Oblivion has the problem of getting very repetitive, though Knights of Nine was a fun distraction it seems I basically reformed a knighthood that now sit around drinking tea and thinking about doing things. In addition to doing the data disk I've nearly completed the main plot and am the dizzy heights of level 4 - I'm beginning to think my OOO path is reducing my advancement rate.
ITV 4's doing a John Carpenter season and for the first time I watched the original Fog. 100 years after the founding fathers of a town destroyed a leper colony and half-inched its gold the Nazgulish lepers come back in some magical fog. Obviously The Thing is regarded as his best, but I'm waiting for Prince of Darkness to come back on. Physicists vs. the Devil in a weird science-meets-religion-fest with Alice Cooper thrown in.
In addition I played poker, and didn't suck entirely. I even went to a party and had a student there who insisted on calling me sir all night and asked me for advice on alcohol. Much drunkeness, thankfully not all mine.
I've been playing Outrun 2006 Coast 2 Coast. I loved the original Outrun and Turbo Outrun on my C64 and recently had the chance to play the arcade and missed it. The new fangled Outrun is a little too bells-and-whistles for my liking, clearly overly influenced by Ferrari too much, but it plays similar to the original and it's nice to play a gmae that doesn't take a month to complete.
I've also been playing Oblivion - or more accurately it's Knights of Nine expansion. Oblivion has the problem of getting very repetitive, though Knights of Nine was a fun distraction it seems I basically reformed a knighthood that now sit around drinking tea and thinking about doing things. In addition to doing the data disk I've nearly completed the main plot and am the dizzy heights of level 4 - I'm beginning to think my OOO path is reducing my advancement rate.
ITV 4's doing a John Carpenter season and for the first time I watched the original Fog. 100 years after the founding fathers of a town destroyed a leper colony and half-inched its gold the Nazgulish lepers come back in some magical fog. Obviously The Thing is regarded as his best, but I'm waiting for Prince of Darkness to come back on. Physicists vs. the Devil in a weird science-meets-religion-fest with Alice Cooper thrown in.
Friday, February 02, 2007
An Uncharacteristic Music Post
I'm not normally one to discuss my musical tastes, bt I have come to the conclusion from listening to their albums Sumerland are fantastic. It's rare that a band produces an album I like more than 2 tracks on, but every track on Imaginary Ways meets my exacting standards.
We now return you to our regular bloggage.
We now return you to our regular bloggage.
Thursday, February 01, 2007
New Vistas
Vista is out. I actually have a copy as its free to download for all students and staff in the CS department who join Academic Alliance (and I imagine the entire University but don't quote me on that), but I've yet to install it for fear that it will replace my unlicensed and unkeyed whiny Windows XP with an OS that is fully legit but no longer speaks to my wireless adaptor, USB devices, soundcard or graphics card. Or more worryingly that it will work perfectly at an initial glance but some insidious problems will bubble to the surface.
Maybe when the Family edition comes out on Academic Alliance I'll dabble. I've played around and like what I saw, though there seems little tangible benefit in upgrading other than a pretty desktop.
So for now my expert? advice is to follow this guy:-
Maybe when the Family edition comes out on Academic Alliance I'll dabble. I've played around and like what I saw, though there seems little tangible benefit in upgrading other than a pretty desktop.
So for now my expert? advice is to follow this guy:-
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Gen Con No More
Peter Adkison has closed down another Gen Con apparently. Having met Peter I can say having enough money to make you a rockstar doesn't mean you can relate to the likes who go to Gen Con.
I still count his Gen Con UK 2003 as my favourite though even though it pretty much was the deathknell for Gen Con UK for me (Gen Con UK is on, but I can never seem to make it even though it's always ridiculously southern venues are nearer to Leicester than Dundee). I was staying free at the Olympia Hilton in London, being paid £10 a pop in trade hall vouchers to run games people weren't turning up to, and because the venue was only 1/4 full the trade stalls were discounting their stuff like mad. The net result was I nearly had to pay excess baggage for all the swag I was carrying.
Which remind me I've been meaning to put up some of my old modules I wrote in 2001-2004 when quite frankly I should've been writing my thesis. I keep getting asked for these so it'll save a lot of time...
Glaive's Gambit - my first quasi-professionally published D&D scenario, and probably my favourite. A murder mystery that came at a time when Greyhawk scenarios weren't particularly cerebral, that was so popular I was encouraged to make it into a trilogy.
The Blazing Banner - the second part of my trilogy, which frankly shows too much of Babylon 5's influence.
There was also a prequel to The Blazing Banner I can't seem to find, written by the most scholarly Dr. Paul Looby who really should've gotten more credit prior to Part 3. I'll dig that and Part 3 out another time.
I still count his Gen Con UK 2003 as my favourite though even though it pretty much was the deathknell for Gen Con UK for me (Gen Con UK is on, but I can never seem to make it even though it's always ridiculously southern venues are nearer to Leicester than Dundee). I was staying free at the Olympia Hilton in London, being paid £10 a pop in trade hall vouchers to run games people weren't turning up to, and because the venue was only 1/4 full the trade stalls were discounting their stuff like mad. The net result was I nearly had to pay excess baggage for all the swag I was carrying.
Which remind me I've been meaning to put up some of my old modules I wrote in 2001-2004 when quite frankly I should've been writing my thesis. I keep getting asked for these so it'll save a lot of time...
Glaive's Gambit - my first quasi-professionally published D&D scenario, and probably my favourite. A murder mystery that came at a time when Greyhawk scenarios weren't particularly cerebral, that was so popular I was encouraged to make it into a trilogy.
The Blazing Banner - the second part of my trilogy, which frankly shows too much of Babylon 5's influence.
There was also a prequel to The Blazing Banner I can't seem to find, written by the most scholarly Dr. Paul Looby who really should've gotten more credit prior to Part 3. I'll dig that and Part 3 out another time.
Monday, January 29, 2007
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
The Haggis of Karma: No Good Deed Goes Unpunished
Updated with added crunchiness and accuracy
New from the makers of long rambling stories about how weird their day has been comes a new rambling story about how weird their day has been. And here it is. It is long. It rambles. Hopefully it makes you laugh. Living it certainly made me laugh.
We had snow here in Leicester finally. It's been a little chilly since Sunday and yesterday my car boot froze locked. Rather unhandily I unlocked it manually and managed to freeze it unlocked. Fortunately I was marking at home and was able to fix it eventually.
Anyroads - snow! Or more precisely slush and ice. See for yerself:-
Not exactly Siberia yet, but it was pretty chilly.
Today I had a UCAS day and decided to dress smart for my talk. I had recently purchased a very new and comfy set of trousers. Now gentle reader, you may be wondering the reason for this rather unnecessary detail in the tale. You may think that I have finally flipped my marbles but I assure you that this minor detail of the trousers will prove relevant in a minute.
Somehow today was going to be special I decided to go outside and check my mailbox before going to work. For the first time in a while there was a parcel sitting in my box. As I peered round the corner I wandered was this those CDs I had ordered nearly a month ago from the States? Nope - it was amusingly a tin of haggis mailed to me from my good pal and fellow intellectual Dr. Steve reminding me tomorrow it is Burn's Night. He proudly told me he had spent a great whopping 49p on the haggis and handily provided me the relevant verses of prose (along with humorous translation from broad Scot's into English) to recite whilst consuming said tinned haggis. For that I salute him and will need to mail him up a little surprise of my own... In the meantime the following photo should justify the P&P:-
I made my way, now one haggis richer, to work in the difficult weather. At the corner of the road I spied an old lady struggling through the worst of the ice at Stoneygate Road. I ended up helping her all the way to Avenue Road and got told that I would get my reward in heaven. However as I already had been given a random haggis I thought, to quote Haley Joe Osmond, Steve'd already "paid it forward".
Anyroads, a few paces on I discovered I'd not quite removed all the labels off my new trousers. As I did, I just thought it was amusing what the label said given the situation...
It seemed funny enough at the time. Perhaps I had mild hypothermia.
Going into work I finished off the last of my exam marking only to be given more marking to do. At the Uni you know you are working well when more people are giving you work to do. This is clearly a philosophy B. takes to heart given his attempts to do as little work as possible.
As to B. - he'd been behaving like a human being for nearly a week now. I was shocked - other than being inexplicably upset that my Christmas present of a jacket might be more expensive than his Christmas gifts he'd been relatively normal. We'd even for the first time managed to choose office hours without him screaming and flatly refusing to do any office hours as he is too busy verbally handing out marks to the students or driving back from Durham for his midday lunch break on a Monday (actually he did remind us not to put him down for Monday mornings because of his 2 hour commute on a Monday).
Anyroads, the conversation started innocently enough:-
B: "Hrmph. I'm doing 4 office hours and 2 hours of labs that last until 6:30pm on Thursday. Can I swap office hours with someone?"
A: "Sure... why don't we swap some of my hours on a Friday."
B: "Yes. No. No. No. I don't want to do any on Friday."
A: "Why?"
B: "That's when all my handins are - the students will pester me at the last minute. This way if they have any last minute handin questions they'll need to see me on Thursday evening. If they haven't done it by then they're stupid."
A: "Er... isn't that a little unprofessional? Shouldn't you help your students if they come to you?"
B: "@£&£ *&£^" and so on as we tried once again to point out his job is to help the students...
We've had this conversation endlessly - you can listen to an example of it here.
The upshot is B. thinks A. and I are there to answer all his module queries when he can't be arsed, but that he does not have to do the same for our module queries. Usually this involves him mentioning that he can't do it and backtracking to simply saying he won't do it.
This time revealed some interesting new tidbits. A while back B. had been on at the boss to raise our office support from 8 hours a week to 10 hours a week despite the fact he is the one who most vehemently objects to doing it. Today he proudly explained to us this was a cunning ploy to get us to request exactly the opposite as apparently we only want the opposite of what he wants.
Admittedly I had tried to get down to 6 hours/week due to the large volumes of lectures I had taken on, but his seriousness at admitting to wasting my time, A's time and both our bosses time with all the pointless discussion left me literally falling off my seat in laughter and saying, "So next time you express an opinion we should assume you mean the opposite? Or are you clever enough that it's a double negative, or a triple negative? Maybe we should flip a coin to decide what your opinion is in future." Or better yet - replace him with a magic 8-ball!
B. doesn't seem to like it when people laugh at him during his tantrums apparently, as this made him a little confused but I had to leave.
I was somewhat surprised when B. came back in from lunch and hung around outside the window listening to us to see if we were talking about him. Eventually it was time for me to go set up my talk (I left an hour early admittedly) and I opened the door, causing B. to nearly fall into the office. As I stepped into the corridor he walked in, sat down at the helpdesk and started loudly complaining about how pointless it was. He then proceeded, for no other apparent reason than it was his office hour, to call A. a word that implies he may not know who his father is, followed by numerous loud explitives.
Now, not-so-longtime readers of my blog will remember the Door Story. The door to our office is not so soundproof as it once was and by this point I was well down the corridor. Andy had also mentioned to B. this was a UCAS day and he should therefore try to be behave but nonetheless his childish swearing and namescalling was clearly audible throughout the corridor. I turned back, put my face against the door and pointed out to B. I could hear everything he was saying and that any passing students could too. For my sins I joined the "dubious family tree" aka Bastard club and received two fingers I'm fairly certain was meant to be impertinence and not information.
Suffice it to say there is no a notice outside our door saying if you are a student and are here to see B. you are out of luck on a Friday, or a Shrove Tuesday...
After that he managed to disturb me again with my marking by yelling at one of our lecturers that the mistakes in his course were not his fault and hanging up. I really feel sorry for the poor chaps on the other end of the phone some days...
Shaking my head at poor A. I walked off thinking about how B. puts me in mind of Ash, (thanks Jamalen) the psychotic android, from Alien - he's always saying he's busy collating, actually works against the team and is a pretty unpleasant and unhelpful individual with violent mood swings. He hasn't tried to choke me with a copy of our office porn yet - but I'm sure it's a matter of turn. Also I recall they dealt with Dallas with the business end of a flamethrower - there might be something in that.
Anyroads, trudging home in the cold to race around Leicester looking for a birthday present for my dad I reflected on my day, and how weird it had been.
New from the makers of long rambling stories about how weird their day has been comes a new rambling story about how weird their day has been. And here it is. It is long. It rambles. Hopefully it makes you laugh. Living it certainly made me laugh.
We had snow here in Leicester finally. It's been a little chilly since Sunday and yesterday my car boot froze locked. Rather unhandily I unlocked it manually and managed to freeze it unlocked. Fortunately I was marking at home and was able to fix it eventually.
Anyroads - snow! Or more precisely slush and ice. See for yerself:-
Not exactly Siberia yet, but it was pretty chilly.
Today I had a UCAS day and decided to dress smart for my talk. I had recently purchased a very new and comfy set of trousers. Now gentle reader, you may be wondering the reason for this rather unnecessary detail in the tale. You may think that I have finally flipped my marbles but I assure you that this minor detail of the trousers will prove relevant in a minute.
Somehow today was going to be special I decided to go outside and check my mailbox before going to work. For the first time in a while there was a parcel sitting in my box. As I peered round the corner I wandered was this those CDs I had ordered nearly a month ago from the States? Nope - it was amusingly a tin of haggis mailed to me from my good pal and fellow intellectual Dr. Steve reminding me tomorrow it is Burn's Night. He proudly told me he had spent a great whopping 49p on the haggis and handily provided me the relevant verses of prose (along with humorous translation from broad Scot's into English) to recite whilst consuming said tinned haggis. For that I salute him and will need to mail him up a little surprise of my own... In the meantime the following photo should justify the P&P:-
I made my way, now one haggis richer, to work in the difficult weather. At the corner of the road I spied an old lady struggling through the worst of the ice at Stoneygate Road. I ended up helping her all the way to Avenue Road and got told that I would get my reward in heaven. However as I already had been given a random haggis I thought, to quote Haley Joe Osmond, Steve'd already "paid it forward".
Anyroads, a few paces on I discovered I'd not quite removed all the labels off my new trousers. As I did, I just thought it was amusing what the label said given the situation...
It seemed funny enough at the time. Perhaps I had mild hypothermia.
Going into work I finished off the last of my exam marking only to be given more marking to do. At the Uni you know you are working well when more people are giving you work to do. This is clearly a philosophy B. takes to heart given his attempts to do as little work as possible.
As to B. - he'd been behaving like a human being for nearly a week now. I was shocked - other than being inexplicably upset that my Christmas present of a jacket might be more expensive than his Christmas gifts he'd been relatively normal. We'd even for the first time managed to choose office hours without him screaming and flatly refusing to do any office hours as he is too busy verbally handing out marks to the students or driving back from Durham for his midday lunch break on a Monday (actually he did remind us not to put him down for Monday mornings because of his 2 hour commute on a Monday).
Anyroads, the conversation started innocently enough:-
B: "Hrmph. I'm doing 4 office hours and 2 hours of labs that last until 6:30pm on Thursday. Can I swap office hours with someone?"
A: "Sure... why don't we swap some of my hours on a Friday."
B: "Yes. No. No. No. I don't want to do any on Friday."
A: "Why?"
B: "That's when all my handins are - the students will pester me at the last minute. This way if they have any last minute handin questions they'll need to see me on Thursday evening. If they haven't done it by then they're stupid."
A: "Er... isn't that a little unprofessional? Shouldn't you help your students if they come to you?"
B: "@£&£ *&£^" and so on as we tried once again to point out his job is to help the students...
We've had this conversation endlessly - you can listen to an example of it here.
The upshot is B. thinks A. and I are there to answer all his module queries when he can't be arsed, but that he does not have to do the same for our module queries. Usually this involves him mentioning that he can't do it and backtracking to simply saying he won't do it.
This time revealed some interesting new tidbits. A while back B. had been on at the boss to raise our office support from 8 hours a week to 10 hours a week despite the fact he is the one who most vehemently objects to doing it. Today he proudly explained to us this was a cunning ploy to get us to request exactly the opposite as apparently we only want the opposite of what he wants.
Admittedly I had tried to get down to 6 hours/week due to the large volumes of lectures I had taken on, but his seriousness at admitting to wasting my time, A's time and both our bosses time with all the pointless discussion left me literally falling off my seat in laughter and saying, "So next time you express an opinion we should assume you mean the opposite? Or are you clever enough that it's a double negative, or a triple negative? Maybe we should flip a coin to decide what your opinion is in future." Or better yet - replace him with a magic 8-ball!
B. doesn't seem to like it when people laugh at him during his tantrums apparently, as this made him a little confused but I had to leave.
I was somewhat surprised when B. came back in from lunch and hung around outside the window listening to us to see if we were talking about him. Eventually it was time for me to go set up my talk (I left an hour early admittedly) and I opened the door, causing B. to nearly fall into the office. As I stepped into the corridor he walked in, sat down at the helpdesk and started loudly complaining about how pointless it was. He then proceeded, for no other apparent reason than it was his office hour, to call A. a word that implies he may not know who his father is, followed by numerous loud explitives.
Now, not-so-longtime readers of my blog will remember the Door Story. The door to our office is not so soundproof as it once was and by this point I was well down the corridor. Andy had also mentioned to B. this was a UCAS day and he should therefore try to be behave but nonetheless his childish swearing and namescalling was clearly audible throughout the corridor. I turned back, put my face against the door and pointed out to B. I could hear everything he was saying and that any passing students could too. For my sins I joined the "dubious family tree" aka Bastard club and received two fingers I'm fairly certain was meant to be impertinence and not information.
Suffice it to say there is no a notice outside our door saying if you are a student and are here to see B. you are out of luck on a Friday, or a Shrove Tuesday...
After that he managed to disturb me again with my marking by yelling at one of our lecturers that the mistakes in his course were not his fault and hanging up. I really feel sorry for the poor chaps on the other end of the phone some days...
Shaking my head at poor A. I walked off thinking about how B. puts me in mind of Ash, (thanks Jamalen) the psychotic android, from Alien - he's always saying he's busy collating, actually works against the team and is a pretty unpleasant and unhelpful individual with violent mood swings. He hasn't tried to choke me with a copy of our office porn yet - but I'm sure it's a matter of turn. Also I recall they dealt with Dallas with the business end of a flamethrower - there might be something in that.
Anyroads, trudging home in the cold to race around Leicester looking for a birthday present for my dad I reflected on my day, and how weird it had been.
Monday, January 22, 2007
Just What Is In A Name?
1. YOUR REAL NAME:
Charles Stuart Edmund Kerrigan (for real)
2. YOUR GANGSTA NAME: (first 3 letters of real name plus izzle.)
Chaizzle
3. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (fav color and fav animal)
Yellow Spaniel
4. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, and current street name)
Edmund London
5. YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first name, last 3 letters of mom's maiden name)
Kerchsil
6. YOUR SUPERHERO NAME: (2nd favorite color, favorite drink).
Blue Max (should be Blue Pepsi Max, but Blue Pepsi Max sounds kinda rubbish for fighting crime)
7. YOUR IRAQI NAME: (2nd letter of your first name, 3rd letter of your last name, any letter of your middle name, 2nd letter of your moms maiden name, 3rd letter of you dads middle name, 1st letter of a siblings first name, last letter of your moms middle name)
Hreiear
8. YOUR WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (father's middle name)
Joseph - nice and non-descript.
9. YOUR GOTH NAME: (black, and the name of one your pets)
The Black Sweep
Charles Stuart Edmund Kerrigan (for real)
2. YOUR GANGSTA NAME: (first 3 letters of real name plus izzle.)
Chaizzle
3. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (fav color and fav animal)
Yellow Spaniel
4. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, and current street name)
Edmund London
5. YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first name, last 3 letters of mom's maiden name)
Kerchsil
6. YOUR SUPERHERO NAME: (2nd favorite color, favorite drink).
Blue Max (should be Blue Pepsi Max, but Blue Pepsi Max sounds kinda rubbish for fighting crime)
7. YOUR IRAQI NAME: (2nd letter of your first name, 3rd letter of your last name, any letter of your middle name, 2nd letter of your moms maiden name, 3rd letter of you dads middle name, 1st letter of a siblings first name, last letter of your moms middle name)
Hreiear
8. YOUR WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (father's middle name)
Joseph - nice and non-descript.
9. YOUR GOTH NAME: (black, and the name of one your pets)
The Black Sweep
Sunday, January 21, 2007
Flibble 2: The Revenge of the Wrath of the Return
I was bored yesterday, so I made a trailer for a movie I probably won't be bothered to make, but have had requests for:-
Actually I wanted to play around with Nero Vision and make sure I could create a movie that didn't have that "I made this on my home PC" type captions - I might try for something a little more spectacular next time.
(You may need to click view original post to see this)
Actually I wanted to play around with Nero Vision and make sure I could create a movie that didn't have that "I made this on my home PC" type captions - I might try for something a little more spectacular next time.
(You may need to click view original post to see this)
Saturday, January 20, 2007
Distraught!
Tom Baker was back as the voice of BT texts from December to early January and no-one told me! I'd have texted my own landline if I'd known - alas! However there is now another website with Bakeroke. Maybe it's me but I think all the songs generated from texts are not that bad, it's worrying they sound better than any song sung by William Shatner!
Friday, January 19, 2007
Friday, Bloody Friday
I used to like invigilating... used to...
I should point out I've been invigilating for about 6 years now. It was a great way to earn money - you sat there, read a book or academic paper and two to three hours later you stood up, collected some papers, handed it to the person in charge and claimed £15 or so. Now it's part of my newly expanded repertoire of demonstrator duties and should've been quite straight forward. Alas here in Leicester everything must be 100 times more complicated...
During the 3 hours I managed a grand total of 60 pages in the novel I was reading, inconveniently hitting a funny part just in time for the end of the exam. I suspect I looked a might evil, trying to cackle silently while my students struggled to finish on time. This slow reading was because of many, many "problems", and it was relatively stressful.
Another of the staff let a student wander out to the loo on her own.
One of my 'bathroom escorts'* was apparently quite ill.
Some of my exam paperwork went mysteriously missing, so it turned out that I had more scripts to mark than I had candidates registered!
One of my students was so late for the exam we couldn't let him in under regulations.**
To be honest the only other bad things that could've happened on the lists were someone actually cheating and someone actually dying. I actually think the latter would be easier to deal with because the paperwork for reporting a cheat looked pretty formidable!
Even after the nightmare of collating the papers and taking care of the paperwork was over it took me the best part of the afternoon to get hold of the exam answers I'd written before Christmas. I'd deliberately destroyed any of my own copies- and unfortunately the person holding them in escrow for me was nowhere to be found.
* It's worth pointing out the whole 'bathroom escort' is probably the most awkward part of the invigilating gig. The first time I did it I realised I was stood in the gents not doing anything with a lot of people staring oddly at me. However back then bathroom breaks were pretty rare in exams.
** I did this once, though I at least had the unique distinction of being 24 hours late for the exam in my first year. I was there at the right time of day, simply the day after everyone else. Thankfully Dr. Gregor of Dundee was a very, very understanding man (as were the Exams office), and I ironically the rest of my year disliked me enough not to give me the answers. It did involve a 3 hour wait in the departmental office to ensure I did not go off and get some insider-tips.
I should point out I've been invigilating for about 6 years now. It was a great way to earn money - you sat there, read a book or academic paper and two to three hours later you stood up, collected some papers, handed it to the person in charge and claimed £15 or so. Now it's part of my newly expanded repertoire of demonstrator duties and should've been quite straight forward. Alas here in Leicester everything must be 100 times more complicated...
During the 3 hours I managed a grand total of 60 pages in the novel I was reading, inconveniently hitting a funny part just in time for the end of the exam. I suspect I looked a might evil, trying to cackle silently while my students struggled to finish on time. This slow reading was because of many, many "problems", and it was relatively stressful.
Another of the staff let a student wander out to the loo on her own.
One of my 'bathroom escorts'* was apparently quite ill.
Some of my exam paperwork went mysteriously missing, so it turned out that I had more scripts to mark than I had candidates registered!
One of my students was so late for the exam we couldn't let him in under regulations.**
To be honest the only other bad things that could've happened on the lists were someone actually cheating and someone actually dying. I actually think the latter would be easier to deal with because the paperwork for reporting a cheat looked pretty formidable!
Even after the nightmare of collating the papers and taking care of the paperwork was over it took me the best part of the afternoon to get hold of the exam answers I'd written before Christmas. I'd deliberately destroyed any of my own copies- and unfortunately the person holding them in escrow for me was nowhere to be found.
* It's worth pointing out the whole 'bathroom escort' is probably the most awkward part of the invigilating gig. The first time I did it I realised I was stood in the gents not doing anything with a lot of people staring oddly at me. However back then bathroom breaks were pretty rare in exams.
** I did this once, though I at least had the unique distinction of being 24 hours late for the exam in my first year. I was there at the right time of day, simply the day after everyone else. Thankfully Dr. Gregor of Dundee was a very, very understanding man (as were the Exams office), and I ironically the rest of my year disliked me enough not to give me the answers. It did involve a 3 hour wait in the departmental office to ensure I did not go off and get some insider-tips.
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Listening
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Up here in my palatial mansion I've been listening to some more of Paul McGann's Dr. Who. The new stuff is premiering on BBC7 rather than going to CD, and is thus broadcast in 45 minutes rather than the old series style serials.
The first one Blood of the Daleks starts with a strange woman appearing in the Tardis, which is a bit unfortunate as that's exactly how this year's Christmas Special began. However it differs shortly after that as it turns out the northern-accent woman is Lucie Miller, a girl from Blackpool (shock horror - not London, or Manchester - the default setting for 'the north' in England). They then take a trip to a planet that isn't Earth for some dalek related schennanigans and get involved in a war between Daleks and a character I call Mini-Davros. In two parts it's an excellent listen - much punchier than some of the bloated dramas (cough, Minuet in Hell). Very good stuff.
I'm looking forward to this week's one already - imaginatively titled "The Horror of Glam Rock", a play on an old Tom Baker episode, the second one, currently on Listen Again, sounds really, really Douglas Adamsy:-
The Doctor and Lucie go glam when the TARDIS makes an unexpected landing in 1974. Slade, The Sweet and Suzi Quatro are Top of the Pops - and brother-and-sister duo The Tomorrow Twins will soon be joining them, if starmaking Svengali Arnold Korns has his way. But will their dreams turn to dust at a service station somewhere on the M62, besieged by a pack of alien monsters?
Thursday, January 11, 2007
Marking Takes Its Toll
I'm back, but I'm marking at home for a while, but I need to stop as I'm getting a serious headache - this is how you begin to view the world after 4 hours of marking student papers.
Xmas Hols 3
When we last left I was on a sugar high from drinking several hot chocolates in rapid sensation.
For sheer variety I spent the afternoon of New Year's Eve in Lloyd's No. 1 with my brother and his new significant other. I drank a lot of hot chocolate as I was driving. Again.
In the evening Steve, Karen and I went to Jolly's, a dancey-type pub in Broughty Ferry. I inadvertently picked up a follower who seemed to insist on dancing into me in a not-so-suggestive way and at one point disturbed me by following me into the gents and provided plenty of amusement at my expense for my chums at the bells. This body is a curse, and this photo of Steve sums the experience up nicely...
And of course I simply tried to look as philosophical as possible all night:-
We went back to Steve's and thanks to his folks treated ourselves to the cinematic delights of "Sam" - a musical written back in days of yore and Monifieth High School by a commitee consisting of myself, Steve, the Mythical Man Hoppy and three of girls in our drama class. Actually implying myself or Steve had much say was probably going a bit far, and neither of us can write a tune to save our lives. One of the song-writing minstrels has gone on to success though, at least until the entire show hits YouTube soon.
This experience was probably most amusing for Karen however, as she'd never seen this video. We skipped the boring bits, so in fact we probably only watched about 10 minutes of video, even if it felt like two hours. After that an the New Year TV treat of Tales from the Crypt showed the BBC were once more pushing out all the stops for 2007.
When I finally got to bed I decided New Year's Day wasn't going to involve much action. I pretty much settled down to watch the new Sarah Jane Adventures, one of the billion spin-offs from Doctor Who. As Steve remarked it was just like Torchwood, but without the odd f-word. It was actually pretty good even if they had a bunk reason for writing out K9 (he's off closing a black-hole, could take years).
Other than that not a lot happened beyond mooching around, watching Pan's Labyrinth (an excellent Spanish film Six Foot Hobbit recommended I see) and the obligitary dinner at Ethiebeaton Farm that was my Xmas break. Then I returned to...
and I'm back in good old Leicester, still waiting on the bathroom, living room curtains and washing machine I reported on the 15th of December to be fixed. But that is as they say, another story...
For sheer variety I spent the afternoon of New Year's Eve in Lloyd's No. 1 with my brother and his new significant other. I drank a lot of hot chocolate as I was driving. Again.
In the evening Steve, Karen and I went to Jolly's, a dancey-type pub in Broughty Ferry. I inadvertently picked up a follower who seemed to insist on dancing into me in a not-so-suggestive way and at one point disturbed me by following me into the gents and provided plenty of amusement at my expense for my chums at the bells. This body is a curse, and this photo of Steve sums the experience up nicely...
And of course I simply tried to look as philosophical as possible all night:-
We went back to Steve's and thanks to his folks treated ourselves to the cinematic delights of "Sam" - a musical written back in days of yore and Monifieth High School by a commitee consisting of myself, Steve, the Mythical Man Hoppy and three of girls in our drama class. Actually implying myself or Steve had much say was probably going a bit far, and neither of us can write a tune to save our lives. One of the song-writing minstrels has gone on to success though, at least until the entire show hits YouTube soon.
This experience was probably most amusing for Karen however, as she'd never seen this video. We skipped the boring bits, so in fact we probably only watched about 10 minutes of video, even if it felt like two hours. After that an the New Year TV treat of Tales from the Crypt showed the BBC were once more pushing out all the stops for 2007.
When I finally got to bed I decided New Year's Day wasn't going to involve much action. I pretty much settled down to watch the new Sarah Jane Adventures, one of the billion spin-offs from Doctor Who. As Steve remarked it was just like Torchwood, but without the odd f-word. It was actually pretty good even if they had a bunk reason for writing out K9 (he's off closing a black-hole, could take years).
Other than that not a lot happened beyond mooching around, watching Pan's Labyrinth (an excellent Spanish film Six Foot Hobbit recommended I see) and the obligitary dinner at Ethiebeaton Farm that was my Xmas break. Then I returned to...
and I'm back in good old Leicester, still waiting on the bathroom, living room curtains and washing machine I reported on the 15th of December to be fixed. But that is as they say, another story...
Tuesday, January 09, 2007
141 142/239 movies - I am sad!
SUPPOSEDLY if you've seen over 85 films, you have no life. Mark the ones you've seen. There are 239 films on this list. Copy this list, go to your own facebook account, paste this as a note. Then, put x's next to the films you've seen, add them up, change the header adding your number, and click post at the bottom. Have fun.
(x) Rocky Horror Picture Show
(x) Grease
(x) Pirates of the Caribbean
(x) Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man's Chest
(x) Boondock Saints
(x) Fight Club
(x) Starsky and Hutch
(x) Neverending Story
(x) Blazing Saddles
(x) Airplane
Total: 10
(x) The Princess Bride
(x) AnchorMan
(x) Napoleon Dynamite
(x) Labyrinth
(x) Saw
(x) Saw II
(x) White Noise
( ) White Oleander
( ) Anger Management
(x) 50 First Dates
( ) The Princess Diaries
( ) The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement
Total so far: 18
(x) Scream
(x) Scream 2
(x) Scream 3
(x) Scary Movie
(x) Scary Movie 2
(x) Scary Movie 3
( ) Scary Movie 4
(x) American Pie
(x) American Pie 2
(x) American Wedding
(x) American Pie Band Camp
Total so far: 28
(x) Harry Potter 1
(x) Harry Potter 2
(x) Harry Potter 3
(x) Harry Potter 4
( ) Harry Potter 5
(x) Resident Evil 1
(x) Resident Evil 2
( ) The Wedding Singer
( ) Little Black Book
(x) The Village
( ) Lilo & Stitch
Total so far: 35
(x) Finding Nemo
(x) Finding Neverland
(x) Signs
( ) The Grinch
(x) Texas Chainsaw Massacre
( ) Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning
( ) White Chicks
(x) Butterfly Effect
( ) 13 Going on 30
(x) I, Robot
(x) Robots
Total so far: 42
(x) Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story
(x) Universal Soldier
(x) Lemony Snicket: A Series Of Unfortunate Events
( ) Along Came Polly
( ) Deep Impact
( ) KingPin
( ) Never Been Kissed
(x) Meet The Parents
(x) Meet the Fockers
( ) Eight Crazy Nights
( ) Joe Dirt
(x) KING KONG
Total so far: 48
( ) A Cinderella Story
(x) The Terminal
( ) The Lizzie McGuire Movie
( ) Passport to Paris
(x) Dumb & Dumber
( ) Dumber & Dumberer
(x) Final Destination
(x) Final Destination 2
( ) Final Destination 3
(x) Halloween
(x) The Ring
(x) The Ring 2
( ) Surviving X-MAS
(x) Flubber
Total so far: 56
( ) Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle
( ) Practical Magic
( ) Chicago
(x) Ghost Ship
(x) From Hell
(x) Hellboy
(x) Secret Window
( ) I Am Sam
( ) The Whole Nine Yards
( ) The Whole Ten Yards
Total so far: 60
( ) The Day After Tomorrow
( ) Child's Play
( ) Seed of Chucky
( ) Bride of Chucky
( ) Ten Things I Hate About You
(x) Just Married
(x) Gothika
(x) Nightmare on Elm Street
(x) Sixteen Candles
( ) Remember the Titans
( ) Coach Carter
(x) The Grudge
( ) The Grudge 2
( ) The Mask
( ) Son Of The Mask
Total so far: 65
( ) Bad Boys
( ) Bad Boys 2
( ) Joy Ride
( ) Lucky Number Seven
(x) Ocean's Eleven
( ) Ocean's Twelve
( ) Bourne Identity
( ) Bourne Supremecy
( ) Lone Star
(x) Bedazzled
(x) Predator I
(x) Predator II
( ) The Fog
( ) Ice Age
( ) Ice Age 2: The Meltdown
( ) Curious George
Total so far: 69
(x) Independence Day
( ) Cujo
( ) A Bronx Tale
(x) Darkness Falls
( ) Christine
(x) ET
( ) Children of the Corn
( ) My Bosses Daughter
(x) Maid in Manhattan
(x) War of the Worlds
( ) Rush Hour
(x) Rush Hour 2
Total so far: 75
( ) Best Bet
( ) How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
(x) She's All That
( ) Calendar Girls
( ) Sideways
(x) Mars Attacks
(x) Event Horizon
(x) Ever After
(x) Wizard of Oz
(x) Forrest Gump
(x) Big Trouble in Little China
(x) The Terminator
(x) The Terminator 2
(x) The Terminator 3
Total so far: 85
(x) X-Men
(x) X-2
(x) X-3
(x) Spider-Man
(x) Spider-Man 2
( ) Sky High
(x) Jeepers Creepers
(x) Jeepers Creepers 2
(x) Catch Me If You Can
( ) The Little Mermaid
( ) Freaky Friday
( ) Reign of Fire
(x) The Skulls
(x) Cruel Intentions
(x) Cruel Intentions 2
( ) The Hot Chick
(x) Shrek
(x) Shrek 2
Total so far: 98
( ) Swimfan
( ) Miracle on 34th street
( ) Old School
( ) The Notebook
( ) K-Pax
( ) Krippendorf's Tribe
( ) A Walk to Remember
( ) Ice Castles
( ) Boogeyman
(x) The 40-year-old Virgin
Total so far: 98
(x) Lord of the Rings Fellowship of the Ring
(x) Lord of the Rings The Two Towers
(x) Lord of the Rings Return Of the King
(x) Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark
(x) Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
(x) Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
Total so far: 105
( ) Baseketball
(x) Hostel
( ) Waiting for Guffman
( ) House of 1000 Corpses
( ) Devils Rejects
( ) Elf
(x) Highlander
(x) Mothman Prophecies
( ) American History X
( ) Three
Total so Far: 108
( ) The Jacket
(x) Kung Fu Hustle
(x) Shaolin Soccer
(x) Night Watch
(x) Monsters Inc.
(x) Titanic
(x) Monty Python and the Holy Grail
(x) Shaun Of the Dead
( ) Willard
Total so far: 115
( ) High Tension
( ) Club Dread
(x) Hulk
(x) Dawn Of the Dead
(x) Hook
(x) Chronicles Of Narnia The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe
(x) 28 days later
( ) Orgazmo
( ) Phantasm
(x) Waterworld
Total so far: 121
(x) Kill Bill vol 1
(x) Kill Bill vol 2
(x) Mortal Kombat
(x) Wolf Creek
(x) Kingdom of Heaven
( ) the Hills Have Eyes
( ) I Spit on Your Grave aka the Day of the Woman
( ) The Last House on the Left
( ) Re-Animator
(x) Army of Darkness
Total so far: 127
(x) Star Wars Ep. I The Phantom Menace
(x) Star Wars Ep. II Attack of the Clones
(x) Star Wars Ep. III Revenge of the Sith
(x) Star Wars Ep. IV A New Hope
(x) Star Wars Ep. V The Empire Strikes Back
(x)Star Wars Ep. VI Return of the Jedi
(x) Ewoks Caravan Of Courage
(x) Ewoks The Battle For Endor
Total so far: 135
(x) The Matrix
(x) The Matrix Reloaded
(x) The Matrix Revolutions
(x) Animatrix
(x) Evil Dead
(x) Evil Dead 2
(x) Team America: World Police
( ) Red Dragon
( ) Silence of the Lambs
( ) Hannibal
Total so far: 142
(x) Rocky Horror Picture Show
(x) Grease
(x) Pirates of the Caribbean
(x) Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man's Chest
(x) Boondock Saints
(x) Fight Club
(x) Starsky and Hutch
(x) Neverending Story
(x) Blazing Saddles
(x) Airplane
Total: 10
(x) The Princess Bride
(x) AnchorMan
(x) Napoleon Dynamite
(x) Labyrinth
(x) Saw
(x) Saw II
(x) White Noise
( ) White Oleander
( ) Anger Management
(x) 50 First Dates
( ) The Princess Diaries
( ) The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement
Total so far: 18
(x) Scream
(x) Scream 2
(x) Scream 3
(x) Scary Movie
(x) Scary Movie 2
(x) Scary Movie 3
( ) Scary Movie 4
(x) American Pie
(x) American Pie 2
(x) American Wedding
(x) American Pie Band Camp
Total so far: 28
(x) Harry Potter 1
(x) Harry Potter 2
(x) Harry Potter 3
(x) Harry Potter 4
( ) Harry Potter 5
(x) Resident Evil 1
(x) Resident Evil 2
( ) The Wedding Singer
( ) Little Black Book
(x) The Village
( ) Lilo & Stitch
Total so far: 35
(x) Finding Nemo
(x) Finding Neverland
(x) Signs
( ) The Grinch
(x) Texas Chainsaw Massacre
( ) Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning
( ) White Chicks
(x) Butterfly Effect
( ) 13 Going on 30
(x) I, Robot
(x) Robots
Total so far: 42
(x) Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story
(x) Universal Soldier
(x) Lemony Snicket: A Series Of Unfortunate Events
( ) Along Came Polly
( ) Deep Impact
( ) KingPin
( ) Never Been Kissed
(x) Meet The Parents
(x) Meet the Fockers
( ) Eight Crazy Nights
( ) Joe Dirt
(x) KING KONG
Total so far: 48
( ) A Cinderella Story
(x) The Terminal
( ) The Lizzie McGuire Movie
( ) Passport to Paris
(x) Dumb & Dumber
( ) Dumber & Dumberer
(x) Final Destination
(x) Final Destination 2
( ) Final Destination 3
(x) Halloween
(x) The Ring
(x) The Ring 2
( ) Surviving X-MAS
(x) Flubber
Total so far: 56
( ) Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle
( ) Practical Magic
( ) Chicago
(x) Ghost Ship
(x) From Hell
(x) Hellboy
(x) Secret Window
( ) I Am Sam
( ) The Whole Nine Yards
( ) The Whole Ten Yards
Total so far: 60
( ) The Day After Tomorrow
( ) Child's Play
( ) Seed of Chucky
( ) Bride of Chucky
( ) Ten Things I Hate About You
(x) Just Married
(x) Gothika
(x) Nightmare on Elm Street
(x) Sixteen Candles
( ) Remember the Titans
( ) Coach Carter
(x) The Grudge
( ) The Grudge 2
( ) The Mask
( ) Son Of The Mask
Total so far: 65
( ) Bad Boys
( ) Bad Boys 2
( ) Joy Ride
( ) Lucky Number Seven
(x) Ocean's Eleven
( ) Ocean's Twelve
( ) Bourne Identity
( ) Bourne Supremecy
( ) Lone Star
(x) Bedazzled
(x) Predator I
(x) Predator II
( ) The Fog
( ) Ice Age
( ) Ice Age 2: The Meltdown
( ) Curious George
Total so far: 69
(x) Independence Day
( ) Cujo
( ) A Bronx Tale
(x) Darkness Falls
( ) Christine
(x) ET
( ) Children of the Corn
( ) My Bosses Daughter
(x) Maid in Manhattan
(x) War of the Worlds
( ) Rush Hour
(x) Rush Hour 2
Total so far: 75
( ) Best Bet
( ) How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
(x) She's All That
( ) Calendar Girls
( ) Sideways
(x) Mars Attacks
(x) Event Horizon
(x) Ever After
(x) Wizard of Oz
(x) Forrest Gump
(x) Big Trouble in Little China
(x) The Terminator
(x) The Terminator 2
(x) The Terminator 3
Total so far: 85
(x) X-Men
(x) X-2
(x) X-3
(x) Spider-Man
(x) Spider-Man 2
( ) Sky High
(x) Jeepers Creepers
(x) Jeepers Creepers 2
(x) Catch Me If You Can
( ) The Little Mermaid
( ) Freaky Friday
( ) Reign of Fire
(x) The Skulls
(x) Cruel Intentions
(x) Cruel Intentions 2
( ) The Hot Chick
(x) Shrek
(x) Shrek 2
Total so far: 98
( ) Swimfan
( ) Miracle on 34th street
( ) Old School
( ) The Notebook
( ) K-Pax
( ) Krippendorf's Tribe
( ) A Walk to Remember
( ) Ice Castles
( ) Boogeyman
(x) The 40-year-old Virgin
Total so far: 98
(x) Lord of the Rings Fellowship of the Ring
(x) Lord of the Rings The Two Towers
(x) Lord of the Rings Return Of the King
(x) Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark
(x) Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
(x) Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
Total so far: 105
( ) Baseketball
(x) Hostel
( ) Waiting for Guffman
( ) House of 1000 Corpses
( ) Devils Rejects
( ) Elf
(x) Highlander
(x) Mothman Prophecies
( ) American History X
( ) Three
Total so Far: 108
( ) The Jacket
(x) Kung Fu Hustle
(x) Shaolin Soccer
(x) Night Watch
(x) Monsters Inc.
(x) Titanic
(x) Monty Python and the Holy Grail
(x) Shaun Of the Dead
( ) Willard
Total so far: 115
( ) High Tension
( ) Club Dread
(x) Hulk
(x) Dawn Of the Dead
(x) Hook
(x) Chronicles Of Narnia The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe
(x) 28 days later
( ) Orgazmo
( ) Phantasm
(x) Waterworld
Total so far: 121
(x) Kill Bill vol 1
(x) Kill Bill vol 2
(x) Mortal Kombat
(x) Wolf Creek
(x) Kingdom of Heaven
( ) the Hills Have Eyes
( ) I Spit on Your Grave aka the Day of the Woman
( ) The Last House on the Left
( ) Re-Animator
(x) Army of Darkness
Total so far: 127
(x) Star Wars Ep. I The Phantom Menace
(x) Star Wars Ep. II Attack of the Clones
(x) Star Wars Ep. III Revenge of the Sith
(x) Star Wars Ep. IV A New Hope
(x) Star Wars Ep. V The Empire Strikes Back
(x)Star Wars Ep. VI Return of the Jedi
(x) Ewoks Caravan Of Courage
(x) Ewoks The Battle For Endor
Total so far: 135
(x) The Matrix
(x) The Matrix Reloaded
(x) The Matrix Revolutions
(x) Animatrix
(x) Evil Dead
(x) Evil Dead 2
(x) Team America: World Police
( ) Red Dragon
( ) Silence of the Lambs
( ) Hannibal
Total so far: 142
Monday, January 08, 2007
Xmas Hols 2
Christmas Day was spent opening prezzies and watching really bad TV. Boxing Day was pretty much the same - I stayed in and watched Casper the Friendly Ghost, which is actually quite good as it has Eric Idle in it.
That's the thing with Monifieth - over Christmas it becomes impossible to leave, and yet there's very little to actually do while you're trapped there. By the 27th I was going stir-crazy. I went to town to pay the Highlander Games and Grouchos Taxes but find a depressing lack of anything I am interested in buying. Oh, and happy 30th Birthday to Grouchos apparently.
The day after that was spent visiting the rellies near Ayr. Travelling to Adrossan and back with my dad was as always an experience in terror. The day after that was spent going avec Egor, Mare and Stevie to the Pizza Hut for buffet, to the bowling where I bowled really, really badly and then finally to sample the culinary delights of Visocchi's in the Ferry. What was truly special about this visit was Mrs. Visocchi gave me a free sample of their award winnning ice cream because she thought Gregor looked like a fishmonger from St. Andrews. I always knew there was something fishy about him...
Aside from that I seemed to spend a lot of time in the pub - the Kittiwake or the Counting House, Dundee's local Wetherspoon's, with Bradley and Kev where we blethered all evening and I got a sugar high from drinking several hot chocolates in rapid sensation.
Next: Will our beloved hero ever leave the pub? Also featuring molestation and humiliation at New Year.
That's the thing with Monifieth - over Christmas it becomes impossible to leave, and yet there's very little to actually do while you're trapped there. By the 27th I was going stir-crazy. I went to town to pay the Highlander Games and Grouchos Taxes but find a depressing lack of anything I am interested in buying. Oh, and happy 30th Birthday to Grouchos apparently.
The day after that was spent visiting the rellies near Ayr. Travelling to Adrossan and back with my dad was as always an experience in terror. The day after that was spent going avec Egor, Mare and Stevie to the Pizza Hut for buffet, to the bowling where I bowled really, really badly and then finally to sample the culinary delights of Visocchi's in the Ferry. What was truly special about this visit was Mrs. Visocchi gave me a free sample of their award winnning ice cream because she thought Gregor looked like a fishmonger from St. Andrews. I always knew there was something fishy about him...
Aside from that I seemed to spend a lot of time in the pub - the Kittiwake or the Counting House, Dundee's local Wetherspoon's, with Bradley and Kev where we blethered all evening and I got a sugar high from drinking several hot chocolates in rapid sensation.
Next: Will our beloved hero ever leave the pub? Also featuring molestation and humiliation at New Year.
Friday, January 05, 2007
Xmas Hols 1
So, let's flash back a couple of weeks and recap the whole holiday in...
After driving through the infernal mists that seemed to shroud the entire M1 I made it home by car. This meant by the morning of the 23rd I didn't really fit for much except watching Peep Show and Dead Zone on DVD.
On Christmas Eve however I slept in, but managed to do some literal last minute shopping. Fortunately all I needed by this point was a DVD of Shrek for Dad to go with his mulled wine and some toys for the dogs (given how rarely I see them I thought it best to spoil them). Those infernal mists however blanketed the entire town...
As is something of a tradition I went to the Kittywake in the evening with Gregor, Mare, Steve and Jenna. We bumped into other Monifieth High School survivors but curiously this year there were fewer of them. If we outcasts start to outnumber the cool kids things will get weird. Also the Kittywake called last orders at a ridiculously early time. We went back to Egor and Mare's palatial mansion before my folks showed up to drag Mare and myself to midnight mass.
I guess midnight mass sets up Christmas nicely on our family. It used to be optional but since I moved away I make the effort to go with my folks. It also means we typically open our presents around 2am and have a nice lie-in.
However I have size 12 and a bit feet, which means lowering the prayer stools in St. Bride's is a little difficult. For those of you not in the know prayer mats are things you lower down to kneel on to save wear and tear on your knees. Most churches etc. have them.
Anyroads as I'm gently trying to lower the mat around my freakishly large feet without dislocating my leg and popping it behind my neck my dad decides they're low enough for him to kneel on. This has the net effect of him crushing a rather painful toe-nail with his weight, and we Kerrigans are not exactly light on our feet. Then there's me desperately trying to attract his attention while not screaming out in church. I hear they frown on that.
My attempts to alert him to this minor problem were in vain until the rest of the row in church leap on the prayer stools as well.
Is our hero going to have to hop for the rest of his days? Find out in Part 2.
After driving through the infernal mists that seemed to shroud the entire M1 I made it home by car. This meant by the morning of the 23rd I didn't really fit for much except watching Peep Show and Dead Zone on DVD.
On Christmas Eve however I slept in, but managed to do some literal last minute shopping. Fortunately all I needed by this point was a DVD of Shrek for Dad to go with his mulled wine and some toys for the dogs (given how rarely I see them I thought it best to spoil them). Those infernal mists however blanketed the entire town...
As is something of a tradition I went to the Kittywake in the evening with Gregor, Mare, Steve and Jenna. We bumped into other Monifieth High School survivors but curiously this year there were fewer of them. If we outcasts start to outnumber the cool kids things will get weird. Also the Kittywake called last orders at a ridiculously early time. We went back to Egor and Mare's palatial mansion before my folks showed up to drag Mare and myself to midnight mass.
I guess midnight mass sets up Christmas nicely on our family. It used to be optional but since I moved away I make the effort to go with my folks. It also means we typically open our presents around 2am and have a nice lie-in.
However I have size 12 and a bit feet, which means lowering the prayer stools in St. Bride's is a little difficult. For those of you not in the know prayer mats are things you lower down to kneel on to save wear and tear on your knees. Most churches etc. have them.
Anyroads as I'm gently trying to lower the mat around my freakishly large feet without dislocating my leg and popping it behind my neck my dad decides they're low enough for him to kneel on. This has the net effect of him crushing a rather painful toe-nail with his weight, and we Kerrigans are not exactly light on our feet. Then there's me desperately trying to attract his attention while not screaming out in church. I hear they frown on that.
My attempts to alert him to this minor problem were in vain until the rest of the row in church leap on the prayer stools as well.
Is our hero going to have to hop for the rest of his days? Find out in Part 2.
Wednesday, January 03, 2007
The Holidays Are Going
Not much to report at this juncture other than that I've had a little time to catch up on my TV and DVD collection. My brother introduced me to Life on Mars, which is a most excellent show. Also, despite being aimed at an age group nearly 20 years my junior I thought The Sarah-Jane Adventures on New Year's Day were actually pretty good, even better than the Doctor Who special.
My dad was also introduced to Pirates of the Carribean. Despite inexplicably owning the film on DVD he waited until it was on BBC1 this Xmas to realise what everyone else on the planet realises: that this is a good film. He was also lucky in that I had Pirates 2 on my laptop, so we sat watching it on the big screen telly at midnight a few weeks back. Ironically I was dragged to a midnight showing of it when it was first on in the cinemas, and having got up around noon, not 7am, this time I actually thought it was a far better film on the second viewing.
I've done other things than sit watching TV and stuffing myself on mince pies, danish whirls and patriotic ice cream dishes, but a full debunk on my Xmas and New Year adventures will have to wait. It's almost time to put all the prezzies in the car and head back to the Bad Place. I don't start work until Tuesday, and plan on doing most of my marking at home anyroads, but I've learned it's always good to have a few days to climatise to Lesta before going back to work.
My dad was also introduced to Pirates of the Carribean. Despite inexplicably owning the film on DVD he waited until it was on BBC1 this Xmas to realise what everyone else on the planet realises: that this is a good film. He was also lucky in that I had Pirates 2 on my laptop, so we sat watching it on the big screen telly at midnight a few weeks back. Ironically I was dragged to a midnight showing of it when it was first on in the cinemas, and having got up around noon, not 7am, this time I actually thought it was a far better film on the second viewing.
I've done other things than sit watching TV and stuffing myself on mince pies, danish whirls and patriotic ice cream dishes, but a full debunk on my Xmas and New Year adventures will have to wait. It's almost time to put all the prezzies in the car and head back to the Bad Place. I don't start work until Tuesday, and plan on doing most of my marking at home anyroads, but I've learned it's always good to have a few days to climatise to Lesta before going back to work.
Monday, January 01, 2007
My New Year's Thought...
Yes, I look like this when I'm thinking apparently. More detailed detail to come soon.
Photoshopping by Steve. As usual. Sigh.
Sunday, December 31, 2006
Last Post of 2006
This being the last post of 2006 I'm likely to make I just thought I'd say Happy New Year to everyone. One of the coolest things about blogging is that you are able to look back on where you were in the previous year, and I can say 2006 has been a fantastic year.
And now the obligatory movie...
And now the obligatory movie...
Saturday, December 30, 2006
Wesley Crusher Plays Kill Doctor Lucky
Apparently Wesley Crusher plays the awesome Kill Doctor Lucky game. Or rather Wil Wheaton, the actor does. Wil rocks in my book now. But I shall not buy the deluxe edition... until I have The Totally Renamed Spygame (or rather Before I Kill You Mr Bond).
Wednesday, December 27, 2006
Stuff I Like: Wing Commander
Part flight-sim, part interactive movie I would say these games were perhaps the most successful results of the Full Motion Video dalliance of the late 90s.
Mark "Luke Skywalker" Hamill stars as Blair (the hero in Wing Commander 1-4). You might argue that going from being the ace Jedi pilot of the rebellion flying against the Empire to being the ace aging pilot of the Confederation flying against the Kilrathi Empire was not much of a stretch for Mark but the characters were quite different. Tom "That guy who was Biff" Wilson plays the annoying butt-head of a sidekick, Maniac, your oft wingman who never follows orders and only survives by sheer chance. By the way if you haven't seen his Back to the Future song see it here!
Malcolm "Clockwork Orange" MacDowell as Admiral Tolwyn and John "Indy" Rhys-Davies as Paladin also added to the respectable caliber of actors to appear in the games - a particularly good cast for a computer game.
The plot of the first three games was the good Confederation were under attack by the evil Kilrathi Empire, a race of evolved warlike cats. In WC1 and 2 the Confederation were the clear goodies, and beyond what happened in your missions there was no way to influence the plotlines. WC1 had a relatively straightforward plotline, while WC2 was literally crying out to be made into a film:-
As the games moved into Full Motion Video WC3 and WC4 were definitely more shades of greys - feeling like a cross between Top Gun, Babylon 5 and Star Wars. As far back as WC2 your wingmen would die in battle, or as the results of nefarious plots. It was dark stuff - WC3 ends with you blowing up the Kilrathi home world:-
Essentially the game comprised of full-motion segments which would occasionally pause and allow you the player to make a decision as to how Mark Hamill's character reacts to the situation. This would then impact subsequent missions. Also by WC3 Hamill's character, Blair, was a Colonel and thus made command level decisions regarding missions. The actual flight-sim itself contained video segments to handle inter-ship communications but for the most part you just shot things and completed your mission objectives. If you failed enough missions bad stuff happened in the overall storyline, usually leading to you being removed of command, Earth being nuked by the Kilrathi, being shot as a traitor or any other number of bad things. There were so many possible permeatations in the storyline - WC3 even had a choice of 2 love interests affecting the end of the game.
Wing Commander 4 was my favourite of the games however - it is set after the Kilrathi wars (bit difficult to continue a war when your homeland has been nuked). The following clip does a good job of explaining matters:-
It was epic, lavishly filmed. Wing Commander 3 was rather obviously filmed on a blue screen, but for Wing Commander 4 they went to town and spent millions on essentially filming a proper sci-fi movie. Nowhere is this more evident than in the intro:-
Despite being a space-sim the end of WC4 is largely dependant on your choices in the cinematic sequences:-
There was a Wing Commander 5 featuring a new main character and (true to Tolwyn's predictions) a new alien threat, but to be honest it was nowhere near as good as WDC4. Wing Commander: Prophecy was a passing of the torch game, where Hamill's Blair turned up to give the new hero the thumbs up. Despite being the greatest pilot in the galaxy on the two missions he features in as a pilot, he is captured and (presumably) killed:-
Note to self: When on big alien mothership run, not walk, back to your mode of transport.
There was supposed to be a Wing Commander 6 and 7 to tie up the alien threat, but the market fell out of the full motion video market and the line was dropped by Origin Systems.
Wing Commander was ripe to spin off on to TV and cinema. Wing Commander Academy was surprisingly gritty for a Saturday morning cartoon series, featuring the voices of Hamill, Wilson and Macdowell as younger versions of the game characters. It lasted 13 episodes but way very true to the spirit of the games.
There was also a Wing Commander movie, starting Freddie "I took Buffy off the market" Prinze Jnr. as Blair and Matthew "That Bloke From Scream" Lilliard as Maniac. Personally I thought it was a good film despite Prinze's presence, the new quasi-religious Jedi mumbo-jumbo (Blair is the last of the pilgrims, a genetically superior race of spacefaring humans) and the continual WW2 motifs (and the fact that ships launching off the carriers appear to be under the influence of gravity in deep space).
Mark "Luke Skywalker" Hamill stars as Blair (the hero in Wing Commander 1-4). You might argue that going from being the ace Jedi pilot of the rebellion flying against the Empire to being the ace aging pilot of the Confederation flying against the Kilrathi Empire was not much of a stretch for Mark but the characters were quite different. Tom "That guy who was Biff" Wilson plays the annoying butt-head of a sidekick, Maniac, your oft wingman who never follows orders and only survives by sheer chance. By the way if you haven't seen his Back to the Future song see it here!
Malcolm "Clockwork Orange" MacDowell as Admiral Tolwyn and John "Indy" Rhys-Davies as Paladin also added to the respectable caliber of actors to appear in the games - a particularly good cast for a computer game.
The plot of the first three games was the good Confederation were under attack by the evil Kilrathi Empire, a race of evolved warlike cats. In WC1 and 2 the Confederation were the clear goodies, and beyond what happened in your missions there was no way to influence the plotlines. WC1 had a relatively straightforward plotline, while WC2 was literally crying out to be made into a film:-
As the games moved into Full Motion Video WC3 and WC4 were definitely more shades of greys - feeling like a cross between Top Gun, Babylon 5 and Star Wars. As far back as WC2 your wingmen would die in battle, or as the results of nefarious plots. It was dark stuff - WC3 ends with you blowing up the Kilrathi home world:-
Essentially the game comprised of full-motion segments which would occasionally pause and allow you the player to make a decision as to how Mark Hamill's character reacts to the situation. This would then impact subsequent missions. Also by WC3 Hamill's character, Blair, was a Colonel and thus made command level decisions regarding missions. The actual flight-sim itself contained video segments to handle inter-ship communications but for the most part you just shot things and completed your mission objectives. If you failed enough missions bad stuff happened in the overall storyline, usually leading to you being removed of command, Earth being nuked by the Kilrathi, being shot as a traitor or any other number of bad things. There were so many possible permeatations in the storyline - WC3 even had a choice of 2 love interests affecting the end of the game.
Wing Commander 4 was my favourite of the games however - it is set after the Kilrathi wars (bit difficult to continue a war when your homeland has been nuked). The following clip does a good job of explaining matters:-
It was epic, lavishly filmed. Wing Commander 3 was rather obviously filmed on a blue screen, but for Wing Commander 4 they went to town and spent millions on essentially filming a proper sci-fi movie. Nowhere is this more evident than in the intro:-
Despite being a space-sim the end of WC4 is largely dependant on your choices in the cinematic sequences:-
There was a Wing Commander 5 featuring a new main character and (true to Tolwyn's predictions) a new alien threat, but to be honest it was nowhere near as good as WDC4. Wing Commander: Prophecy was a passing of the torch game, where Hamill's Blair turned up to give the new hero the thumbs up. Despite being the greatest pilot in the galaxy on the two missions he features in as a pilot, he is captured and (presumably) killed:-
Note to self: When on big alien mothership run, not walk, back to your mode of transport.
There was supposed to be a Wing Commander 6 and 7 to tie up the alien threat, but the market fell out of the full motion video market and the line was dropped by Origin Systems.
Wing Commander was ripe to spin off on to TV and cinema. Wing Commander Academy was surprisingly gritty for a Saturday morning cartoon series, featuring the voices of Hamill, Wilson and Macdowell as younger versions of the game characters. It lasted 13 episodes but way very true to the spirit of the games.
There was also a Wing Commander movie, starting Freddie "I took Buffy off the market" Prinze Jnr. as Blair and Matthew "That Bloke From Scream" Lilliard as Maniac. Personally I thought it was a good film despite Prinze's presence, the new quasi-religious Jedi mumbo-jumbo (Blair is the last of the pilgrims, a genetically superior race of spacefaring humans) and the continual WW2 motifs (and the fact that ships launching off the carriers appear to be under the influence of gravity in deep space).
Tuesday, December 26, 2006
Christmas Who
I'm taking a break from the pressures of mince pie and turkey to post my thoughts on yesterday's TV.
Dr. Who's Xmas Special seemed really disjointed, and while it was entertaining it was nowhere near as good as last year's. This may have been my folks constant moaning, chatter and fiddling with the TV, but it seemed the plot was really disjointed and simplistic, and certainly the science was utterly nonsense. "Drink these particles..." and the hole going to the centre of the Earth in particular made me do a double take. Apparently evil alien spiders from the dawn of time climb holes really, really quickly, either that or a certain villain would have died of terminal velocity long before they became an issue. I also really didn't take to Catherine Tate - she seemed to play to too much like her bovvered alter-ego. Or the robot Santas. I'd assumed that their appearance this Xmas would tie in to their previous appearance, but again it came across as being Santas purely for the sake of it being a Christmas special.
However the Doc was surprisingly dark and vicious for a Christmas special and the ending with the snow and fireworks seemed similar to the McGann TV Movie from 10 years back - right down to asking the companion "D'ya want to come with me?" "No thanks." Only this time the show won't be cancelled.
Speaking of my favourite under-dog Doctor McGann, given this trailer I am looking forward to streaming the BBC7 season starting on New Year's eve on Listen Again.
I also finally caught this week's Torchwood, Combat, and it was really, really good. The script was by the guy that played Mickey in Doctor Who, and while it did seem reminiscent of another Angel episode and Fight Club it was sufficiently dark. I really don't like Owen, but that's a reflection on how well rounded the character is in this show. He's perhaps the most realistic of the Torchwood crew. Though that isn't saying that much.
Dr. Who's Xmas Special seemed really disjointed, and while it was entertaining it was nowhere near as good as last year's. This may have been my folks constant moaning, chatter and fiddling with the TV, but it seemed the plot was really disjointed and simplistic, and certainly the science was utterly nonsense. "Drink these particles..." and the hole going to the centre of the Earth in particular made me do a double take. Apparently evil alien spiders from the dawn of time climb holes really, really quickly, either that or a certain villain would have died of terminal velocity long before they became an issue. I also really didn't take to Catherine Tate - she seemed to play to too much like her bovvered alter-ego. Or the robot Santas. I'd assumed that their appearance this Xmas would tie in to their previous appearance, but again it came across as being Santas purely for the sake of it being a Christmas special.
However the Doc was surprisingly dark and vicious for a Christmas special and the ending with the snow and fireworks seemed similar to the McGann TV Movie from 10 years back - right down to asking the companion "D'ya want to come with me?" "No thanks." Only this time the show won't be cancelled.
Speaking of my favourite under-dog Doctor McGann, given this trailer I am looking forward to streaming the BBC7 season starting on New Year's eve on Listen Again.
I also finally caught this week's Torchwood, Combat, and it was really, really good. The script was by the guy that played Mickey in Doctor Who, and while it did seem reminiscent of another Angel episode and Fight Club it was sufficiently dark. I really don't like Owen, but that's a reflection on how well rounded the character is in this show. He's perhaps the most realistic of the Torchwood crew. Though that isn't saying that much.
Sunday, December 24, 2006
Back Home
As you might have guessed via the deluge of pointless videos I made it back okay for Xmas.
Somehow I managed to get home by 7pm, which isn't bad for a 10am start given the weather and conditions. This was with the obligatory 3 stops and a little bit of confusion over the concepts of north and south around Carlisle. As expected the mist didn't exactly make for the most pleasant drive, though after Leeds there didn't seem to be much fog until I hit Lanarkshire, so it seems that north of the border was not particularly fog free.
However not getting to bed until 2am meant I was little use the day after beyond dog walking. Today I decided to do some last minute Xmas shopping - literally last minute as all my favourite shops closed just before I arrived, but now I'm fully prepared for tomorrow's festivities.
Dundee seemed mist-free when I first arrived but now we have the worst fog I think I have ever seen. You can see fog gently swirling literally in front of your face. I'm rather glad, for me, ze driving is over.
Somehow I managed to get home by 7pm, which isn't bad for a 10am start given the weather and conditions. This was with the obligatory 3 stops and a little bit of confusion over the concepts of north and south around Carlisle. As expected the mist didn't exactly make for the most pleasant drive, though after Leeds there didn't seem to be much fog until I hit Lanarkshire, so it seems that north of the border was not particularly fog free.
However not getting to bed until 2am meant I was little use the day after beyond dog walking. Today I decided to do some last minute Xmas shopping - literally last minute as all my favourite shops closed just before I arrived, but now I'm fully prepared for tomorrow's festivities.
Dundee seemed mist-free when I first arrived but now we have the worst fog I think I have ever seen. You can see fog gently swirling literally in front of your face. I'm rather glad, for me, ze driving is over.
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