| Book update. |
[14 Aug 2008|10:37pm] |
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I've just completed the first draft for chapter 14. Sort of. I may be able to either add more to it, or do what could be done in this in chapter 15. Not quite sure yet.
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| I have no idea what to type here. |
[12 Aug 2008|11:33pm] |
So it seems like I never update this thing any more huh?
What's been going on with me lately, not much. Work still the same, the book is slowly making progress (we're talking a few hundred words a week here) and other things. Not really much to say.
I do have a review for Dark Knight behind the LJ cut though.
( Read more... )
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| I ATE'NT DEAD |
[23 Jul 2008|11:56pm] |
- Got taken on at NPower, once my training starts I'll be on £15,000 a year. Noice.
- I bought Brawl today.
- I'm going to see Dark Knight tomorrow.
- This is a short entry, isn't it?
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| Achtung! Schnell! Other video game Nazi phrases! |
[09 Jul 2008|09:42am] |
| [ |
mood |
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 nerdy |
] |
Transformers Animated Blitzwing arrived recently arrived from eBay in full UK packaging. So let's have a look see.
Jet Mode:
Blitzwing comes packaged in this and to be honest it's his weakest mode. The gaps make it look a bit of broken down and it feels sorta fragile when you pick it up. I still kinda like it though, especially the grey and purple colouring. The missiles don't fire in this mode as they point backwards though I guess you could fire them if you wanted to, but they create the jet wash, which looks nice pretty nice.
Tank Mode:
Definitely a step up from the jet mode, feels solid, looks cool and destructive. The smallest mode of all as the bulk of the toy curls up into something roughly the same size of a large-ish cricket ball/softball. Turret has full 360 degree movement and the missile can fire properly. The paint applications look a little odd in this, but still a cool mode.
Robot Mode:
Love the robot mode, very show accurate and just very cool looking. This is where the whole purple, grey, and black paint looks it's best. You also see his other gimmick, the face changing ability. All three faces look good and definitely have their own distinct personality to them. Cold Blitzwing has a very stoic expression, whereas Hothead looks sufficiently angry, though his grimace would probably work better if they put some teeth in. Random just looks nuts with his trademark psycho smile. My personal favourite is the cold face.
As an aside, because his hands come out flat rather than as fists, Blitzwing can do a Nazi salute. This is both appropriate and inappropriate at the same time.
Transforming him between the modes is fun, as it they're pretty involved but simple, and going between the three modes in whatever order you like is easy and fun. All in all a pretty nice figure with no major problems, the only real big weakness being the weak jet mode, but you always have one iffy mode with the triple-changers so it's not that big of a deal. I'd recommend him, but that said I'd recommend all the Transformers Animated toys for one reason or another at the moment, aside from perhaps Cybertron mode Megatron and deluxe Bumblebee.
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| Hulk smash puny Ninja. |
[24 Jun 2008|09:53am] |
| [ |
mood |
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 bored |
] |
"Hey Lothar, you've got three days off from work, any plan?"
"Bit of writing, bit of painting, gonna go see Hulk with Drew tomorrow, that's about it."
"Didn't you rent Ninja Gaiden 2 for your 360? How is it?"
"Stopped playing it because I managed to track down a copy of The Incredible Hulk Ultimate Destruction on the original Xbox. Woo backwards compatibility, since the new game is shite."
"But Ninja Gaiden 2 has Ninjas in it!"
"The Hulk has a 12ft tall green dude who can smash a building."
"But Ninja Gaiden 2 is really hard and you'll feel like a badass for beating it."
"I'd rather enjoy my games thank you."
"But...ninjas."
"FUCK NINJAS!"
*TF:Animated Prowl starts to cry."
"Except that one."
*Dr McNinja consoles Prowl*
"And that one."
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| Lugnut is GLORIOUS. |
[23 Jun 2008|11:51pm] |
| [ |
mood |
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nerdy |
] |
The last TF: Animated toy I'll be getting for a while showed up today. Lugnut is basically a fanatic Decepticon convinced that Megatron is awesome and will rule the Universe, and wishes nothing more than to serve him by beating the shit out of his enemies. What's more he's NOT STUPID. He's actually of normal-ish intelligence, but his fanatical devotion to Megs makes him a little narrow-minded.
He turn into a sort of retro-future version of an old WW2 9in purplke and teal, a nice look toy that almost completely hides his robot bits. When in this mode he;s lengthy, but when he turns into his robot mode he looks bulky and tough. He also comes with a fuck-off huge mace. He's one of my favourite toys in the line so far, and he's also a very unique looking Transformer, which TF: Animated seems to be doing a really good job of pulling off. If you see him, I'd definatly recommend picking him up.
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| Bulkhead. |
[20 Jun 2008|10:41pm] |
| [ |
mood |
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nerdy |
] |
Yes, I got another Transformers animated figure. No I don't care if you don't wanna hear it, ya bastards.
Voyager Bulkhead:
The brawn of the Autobots, I got this one rather than the £40 Leader one because I was only willing to put that down on Leader Megatron. If I can get a version of the character who is more show accurate and cheaper, then wee.
His vehicle mode is nice and big, the biggest of the Autobot toys I have so far, which is good as it's the biggest in the show after Ultra Magnus. His robot mode suits his name, i.e. the "bulk" part, and looks quite nice. However he's probably the biggest brick of the current toys I have, though his wrecking ball weapon is OK. Still looks good. Now all I need is Ratchet and I have the main Autobot cast completed.
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| More Transformers. |
[19 Jun 2008|02:26pm] |
| [ |
mood |
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nerdy |
] |
Went back to Toys R Us today in the hope they had Animated Prowl, and they did, but they also had an offer on where if you bought two toys, you get one free. So I picked up Cybertron Mode Prime and Bumblebee as well.
Deluxe Cybertron Mode Prime:
A very similar mode to the Earth mode I have but re tooled to look like Prime's original form. Looks pretty decent, but I still prefer the Earth mode, as it comes with a better, larger axe, has the traditional Prime face-plate, and is a less fiddly transformation. One the other hand Cybertron Prime's colours are brighter and look far better than the Earth mode one.
Deluxe Bumblebee:
Scale? Anyways, his vehicle mode is small, yellow and pretty nice looking, especially if you strap on the little booster rocket things. His robot mode is a little...messy, and has weird feet. It's still kinda fun though, and he has a cool little smile on his face. Could be better in robot mode but I really like his car mode.
Deluxe Prowl:
Hands down the best Deluxe (£/$10) toy in the line so far. His motorcycle mode is great looking, and his transformation is fun, and his robot mode is just brilliant. Partly due to the transformation he's crazy poseable, able to do really great "Ninja" poses and such. He also comes with two throwing star weapons that store on his wheels/knees. He also comes with traffic lights on a rope...I have no idea why. I would recommend this toy to anybody with even a passing interest in Transformers.
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| It's 3am, I have a cold, and can't sleep. |
[19 Jun 2008|03:16am] |
| [ |
mood |
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nerdy |
] |
So time to settle in for a long night of mindless entertainment.
So I guess I should use this more often, and what better way to waste the time than to talk about the useless lumps of plastic I've spent far to much money on in recent weeks.
As you know I like Transformers. What you may not know is that I think Transformers Animated, the latest imagining of the franchise is fucking awesome. Everything about the show is brilliant, the animation, writing, voices, characters, just great.
Now because it's awesome I've picked up some of the new toys for the franchise, 5 in total, so I'm gonna have a quick review of them, nothing fancy.
Deluxe Earth Mode Optimus Prime:
By law, whenever there's a new Transformers franchise, you have to buy a Prime toy. So I got this one that came with the Cybetron mode Deluxe Megatron, which I'll talk about in a mo. Prime turns from his animated self into the familiar truck mode, which is actually a fire engine, but seen through an "Animated" lens. Can't really say much else, it's the prime you know and love, except he's got a HUGE axe instead of a trailer. When he's transformed he's very well pro-portioned, and poseable as hell. So much so I have him hold his axe over his should, while his over arm rest on his hip, in a way I term the "I'm a lumberjack and I'm OK." pose. The only annoying thing is that he has "battle damage" paint, which means random black cracks. Still if they ever release this mold without that, I'd be happy.
Deluxe Cybertron Mode Megatron:
Probably my least favourite figure I own, but it's still OK. This megs comes as his cybertron spaceship mode, which I think looks like Serenity if Jayne got to be in charge, i.e. very pointy. His robot mode is OK, but again has battle damage paint which just looks daft. Since he came with the deluxe prime in a two pack, it's OK but I wouldn't have bought it on it's own.
Deluxe Lockdown:
Probably East's favourite character of the show, a technically unaffiliated bounty hunter who steals body parts off the TF's he captures and modifies himself with their powers and parts. Think of it in the context of someone who eats you heart for your rich tasty courage. His alt-mode is a really cool looking Animated style hot-rod, with spikes and such over it. It's small size and £10 price point is deceptive (fitting since in the toys he's sold as a Decepticon), as when he transforms to robot mode, he's actually the second tallest figure out of the entire toyline, and this includes the £40 Megatron toy I have as well (more on that in a bit). His poseability is lacking, but he makes up for it by just looking very cool in both robot and vehicle mode. Plus he has a hook for a hand. Awesome.
Voyager Starscream:
Ever since G1, Starscream has been my favourite character. Maybe it's because he's a jet, maybe it's because he was red, maybe it was because he was the ONLY Decepticon who would ever tell Megatron his plans were bat-shit insane. In G1, he was a coward, and all since then we've had incarnations who have been similar. But Animated turned that on it's head, he's still a deceptive, scheming little self-righteous git, but now he's NOT cowardly and is very good in a fight. He kicked the shit out of the entire Autobot team single handed, and is now immortal. But most of all he has a brilliant toy. As usual his alt-mode is a Jet, but it's got forward swept wings and the animated proportions and looks very cool with it's light blue/grey, red, and black colour scheme. Then when he;s transformed to robot mode he looks brilliant, with his Bruce Campbell chin, and his brilliant shit-eating grin. Plus he's very poseable so you can do all yopu sinister plotting poses and "I'm firing a missile into your god-damn face at point blank range Ultra Magnus you fucking cunt" poses. He's my favourite Starscream toy ever, and joint tied with my other favourite.
Leader Megatron:
The most expensive toy I have at £40, but worth it, as he's my hands down favourite Megatron toy of all time. Partly because his character iun Animated is an actual effective leader/threat to the Autobot but because he looks so damn cool. The proportions, stylings and everything of his robot mode just screams "power" which is what you need in the leader of the bad guys. He has his trademark fusion cannon, and large swords that mean he can take on all comers in both ranged and close combat. In fact in the show the only way Prime beat him in the season one finale of the cartoon was to shove God into his chest, and he still didn't die.
His alt-mode excellent, and when he's transformed (including THAT noise as an electronic sound, yay) he turns into what is essentially the mutant offspring of an Osprey VTOL plane, and a Hind attack helicopter. His swords become the rotor blades and his cannon mounts under the cockpit. A very useful, and phallic, mode for the powerful Decepticon leader. His toy has a few electronic gadgets and tooling, and is worth the £40 I paid for it. on toy value alone this is the best toy of the line in my own opinion, but Starscream is my favourite character so I have to have him there to.
You'll probably notice that Prime is outnumbered by the Cons. This is mainly because very few of the Autobot toys interest me, though I may try and scavenge a Prowl. Still as TF franchises go I'd say we're on to a good thing with Animated and hope it lasts for a while.
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| Still alive. |
[17 Jun 2008|08:02am] |
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No, I never update this thing anymore. Does anybody even read it?
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| HAPPY BIRTHDAY RAQUEL! |
[08 Jun 2008|09:05am] |
| [ |
mood |
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 loved |
] |
I love you so much my darling, and thank whatever higher power controls the universe that I found you.
Enjoy your special day my angel. I love you.
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| The Dark Knight Can't Be Bothered |
[05 Jun 2008|01:29pm] |
| [ |
mood |
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 annoyed |
] |
I just picked up the “Batman: The Dark Knight Strikes Again” TPB today. I regret this. The original “Dark Knight Returns” is one of my favourite comics of all time, and say what you want about Frank “I like whores” Miller, it shows how good of a writer he can be, and the art style was brilliant and really helped visualise the media run quasi police-state of future America. It was superbly written, amazingly visualised, and brilliantly paced. Dark Knight Strikes Again is none of those things.
It just feels like someone drove a big sack of money up to Miller’s house, said “Sequel please” and drove off before Frank could say “Actually I’d rather not.” It feels rushed and half-hearted at best. From the Superman/Wonder Woman sex-scene to Lex Luthor and Brainiac ruling America with virtual presidents, it’s feels like Miller couldn’t be bothered to do a properly well thought out and written script and just threw in as many DC characters as he could to fill up the pages. Speaking of sex, in DKR the few sexual references were rather more subtle and added some sub-text to the story, the sheer amount of “hey look, TITS” stuff in this one just feels like bunging it in for the sake of it.
The things that annoy me most happen at the end of the book. Through the book you have a Joker look-a-alike murdering people, who is in it for about, what, six to ten pages? Then he turns up at the end, tries to kill Catgirl, and then reveals he’s Dick Grayson. In explaining why he isn’t dead, and seems to be able to heal all we get is “oh I got genetic modification,” and that’s it. No further explanation before he gets blown up. And then there’s Superman. I’m not a huge fan but I know as well as anybody else that Superman does not use his god like powers to rule because of the staunch belief that he doesn’t have the right, and he should use them to help people. This is the key to the moral conflict that he goes through in the original story. But here? At the end he does a complete 180 and decides on the very last page he’s going to rule the world? Why? Because his daughter said so. Oh fuck off.
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| Indiana Jones and the Something of Something. |
[22 May 2008|05:30pm] |
| [ |
mood |
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 apathetic |
] |
So, I saw the Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull, or whatever it’s called with my mates Drew and John. I like the first three Indiana Jones films a lot, and while I hadn’t looked in to this much I was looking forward to it.
After watching it and coming out of the cinema, I had no idea if I liked it or not, and if I’m honest the more I think about the more I think I didn’t like it. John and Drew said there’s something missing from the film, and I agree, but I’m not 100% sure what that was, but I can think of a few things that seem to stop me labelling this a good film. Spoilers behind the cut.
( Read more... )
All that said, I wouldn’t say Indy 4 is a bad film, it just seemed…different from the others, even though you could tell it was trying to recapture the original trilogy's spirit, which it does in some instances. Ford is great as always, showing why he seems to be the only actor whose career wasn’t destroyed by Star Wars and in fact most of the characters are likeable and portrayed well (LaBeouf does a particularly decent job I think). If you like the previous films, I’d say watch it and make up your own mind. As for myself, again I wouldn’t say it’s a bad film, but you’re not missing much if you choose not to see it. ThoughI'd rate it better than Temple of Doom despite my feelings.
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| Actung and such. |
[18 May 2008|10:46am] |
| [ |
mood |
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amused |
] |
Is there something about German cars that make them drive like absolute pricks? In the last week while driving I’ve been cut off, nearly crashed into, seen people not indicate on motorways full of traffic, speed, park horribly, and pretty much any other sort of behaviour I usually associate with taxi drivers. And they’ve all been done by people in either BMWs, Audis, or Mercedes. I know they’re German, and very well made, but they are not Panzers so you can’t drive them like one.
That said I saw people with Vauxhalls this week who seem to wish they could afford those cars, and were trying to make up for it in some idiotic ways. One was bright pink Corsa that had overly large wheels, that wouldn’t look out of place on an Audi, but make a small Vauxhall have a ground clearance taller almost as high as my knee and look like some sort of mutant crossbreeding between a Mini and a monster truck. The other one was a Vauxhall Vectra with spinning wheel trims (hubcaps for the Americans in the audience)
Spinners. On a Vectra.
One of these.
Yes lets make an already crap car look even worse.
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| GTA IV anecdote |
[01 May 2008|08:39am] |
| [ |
mood |
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 awake |
] |
Me and East have been dicking around in the Free Mode the last couple of nights. Tuesday we managed to find a heliport with several Annihalotr helicopters, each with machineguns. After crashing them several times each, last night East went up on top of a skyscraper and somehow managed to destroy his and had no way off it. I offered him a lift and he said yes, but as I got close he blew me up with a ropcket launcher, stating he didn't trust me.
A couple of seconds later I was back in the chopper and told him to just jump off the damn building if he was stuck, but he said he couldn't because of vertigo. So I offered to pick him up again. I did so and after flying higher, I stated this:
Me: Stuart?
East: Yes?
*I jump out of pilot's seat and start plummeting*
Me: Totally worth iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitttttttttt......
I hit the ground and die, while East falls out of the chopper, smacks his head on the corner of a skyscraper, and then hits the ground.
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| Uh oh... |
[30 Apr 2008|10:52am] |
This can't be good.
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| GTA IV |
[29 Apr 2008|12:59am] |
Got it at Gamestation's midnight opening and done the first two missions only (have to go to bed now). So far so good but I havenm't really had time to look at it properly.
One thing I will say, turn the subtitles on, sometimes it's a bit hard to understand what the characters are saying, plus Niko and Roman sometimes speak...the langauge of whatever eatern european country they come from, and the subtitles put it in english.
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| What a faff on. |
[24 Apr 2008|11:03pm] |
| [ |
mood |
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apathetic |
] |
A few weeks ago I had to change the battery in my car because the old one had corroded to fuck. Unfortunately this had the effect of resetting the security code on the radio, and the bugger who owned the car before me not only stunk it up with cigarettes (which is finally gone) but never wrote the coe down. While I could have tried to sort it sooner, I didn't get around to doing it till today. Went down to my local Nissan dealer and asked if there was a way to get the code reset. The woman at the counter looked at me like I just asked if I could take a big wet dump on her desk, then went off to ask the mechanics, and came back saying they couldn't do it there, but their partner dealer might be able to.
Their partner dealer is a VAUXHALL dealer.
Anyway, went to give it a try and when I asked the Vauzhall bloke he said I've probably been sent on a wild goose chase, which I concurred, but he rang the other dealer and they said to try the parts dealership in the same building. So I went and they said they MIGHT be able to decode the radio if I can get the thing out of the car. I assume this is because they require the serial number which is on a sticker on the inside of the thing. Unfortunately I don't have the tool needed to get the radio out, and if I did I could get the code online for a shit-tonne less.
Anyway, glanced round on the net and may have found a code, but gonna have to wait till morning to see. It's just completely annoying that you have to go through all this bullshit for a 4 digit code I could guess if I jammed enough buttons in.
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| Mario Kart Wii. |
[12 Apr 2008|10:11am] |
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Got it yesterday (trading in the piece of shit Zelda game). My friend code is 4596 9603 0518
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| New job. |
[02 Apr 2008|01:54pm] |
| [ |
mood |
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relieved |
] |
Well I just got offered a job doing customer service for a power company. I start monday.
Weej.
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