Our Work Christmas Party

The work night was a good laugh. We got plenty of feedback on our outfits (although one guy did ask why we had come as sperm) and fortunately the venue had no problem with 9 people entering their place with machine guns, although they did have a problem with one of us running around wearing all the balloons they'd "acquired" from the dinner tables.

Unfortunately the live band didn't have the skills to play Intergalactic, preferring to hide behind trumpets and microphones than bust some verbal skills on da mic! However this did not stop us from having backspin battles and trying to do the running man in our wellington boots.

Some of our group didn't have the courage to stay in their outfits for too long changing into their black tie, others left to go to other events, still in their costumes. Myself and few others decided to stick it out and wear the outfits all night.

I think it's fair to say we had a good time!

Can you guess what this is?

I asked my best mate what she wanted for Christmas and it had to be something she'd use. Here's a picture of it wrapped up. Can you figure it out? It's not a spade.
I didn't know which was worse, having to carry the present unwrapped through Sutton High Street on a Friday night or having to carry it wrapped to the party. The police thought it suspicious as they made sure to slow down as they drove past. I'm glad she didn't ask for a sawn off. Oh, and if you haven't figure it out, it's actually a garden fork. You didn't expect me to wrap the prongs individually did you? Certainly one of the most unusual things I've had to wrap but I know the present will be appreciated and used, which is always what I'm most uncertain of when choosing gifts. It's much easier to just ask even if the surprise is taken away.

The Names Bond, Malcolm Henchman Bond

Tomorrow sees our big Christmas work party and our company has booked a huge stately home in Kensington for a "James Bond" themed evening.

Now when you think of James Bond what do you think of? Do you think of smartly dressed people in their black tie outfits sipping Martinis at the bar before gambling at the Roulette wheel. Something like this in fact.



Well that's clearly what the people who have organised the event have thought of. However being the maverick team that we are we've decided to represent the lowly henchmen who are always overlooked in these films. Those guys in the all white workers' overalls, tinted safety goggles, bright construction helmets and white wellington boots. Yep, that's who we're going as. So that's our outfits and armed with toy machine guns we're going to either liven this party up and be talked about the next day or be swiftly turned away from the premises. If it's the latter we have a contingency plan, we'll be wearing black tie under it for a quick change.

We've also noticed that the outfits aren't too disimilar to those worn by the Beastie Boys in their "Intergalactic" video, so I may be taking my iPod and portable speakers for some impromptu Beasties dancing.

Space Cadets - Is the joke on us?

We have a reality show on at the moment in the UK called Space Cadets where a group of people think they're off in Russia training to be the first civilians in space. In fact they're in a base in Suffolk in a building that has been made to look Russian. Actors are playing all the parts of the trainers and a couple of actors are within the group to remove any doubts of the genuine contestants becoming suspicious they're being set up. Apparently this joke is the reason for watching the show.

There is a lot of talk of this show being cruel, exploitative and maybe the final nail in reality TV shows, after all who is going to believe any shows after this one?

Well it turns out the joke may be on us, one of the "contestants" is also an actor having appeared in a commercial which is still being shown on the telly. The pictures above show Ryan in his cadet outfit and helping Gordon Ramsey with his damaged spleen. The full advert can be seen here

The final episode is tomorrow night when the big joke will be revealed. We'll see whether my suspicion is right or not then.

MC Jelly Donut

I like MC battles but I have no idea what to make of this guy. A candidate for any 8 Mile sequel perhaps?

Make your own Opie Pic

Opie what?

If the pic hasn't given it away Julian Opie is the artist responsible for the superb Blur portraits seen above. This website explains how to do your own. I'm definitely going to give this a go.

How to do cool pop art portraits - no skill required

[edit]Here's my first attempt. My brother's school picture when he was a mere young thing. Not too bad for half hours work using a graphics tool for the first time. I'll do myself later haha! It doesn't look too bad if I say so myself. I could have done more work on the hair, but I'll do that next time.

Remember Rick Dangerous?

Before Lara Croft, if you wanted a tomb raiding you'd go to Rick Dangerous. I've found a version that runs in flash and I've been playing this quite a lot. If you like platformers give it a go.

Rick Dangerous Flash

Create your own South Park Image

Came across this nice little flash app that allows you to create your South Park avatar. Plenty of options to play with.

As James has kindfully pointed out I forgot the link, try here

Stella Awards 2005

Most of you will know of the Darwin Awards, given to people who do their bit for the future of the human race by killing themselves in stupid ways. However you may not be familiar with the Stella Awards, which are awarded to people who have successfully sued companies for their own crass stupidity. They are named after 81-year old Stella Liebeck... who spilled coffee on herself and successfully sued McDonald's for millions.

This years runners up are:

Jerry Williams of Little Rock, Arkansas. Won $14,500 after being bitten on the arse by his neighbour's beagle. Mr Williams was shooting it repeatedly with a pellet gun at the time.

Amber Carson was paid $113,500 by a Philadelphia restaurant after she broke her back from slipping on a soft drink... which she had just thrown at her boyfriend.

Kara Walton of Delaware sued a nightclub and won $12,000 after falling from a bathroom window and knocking out her two front teeth. This occurred while Ms Walton was trying to sneak through the window in the ladies room to avoid paying the $3.50 cover charge.

But the winner is:

Mrs Merv Grazinski of Oklahoma who purchased a brand new 32-foot Winnebago. On her first trip, she drove on the freeway, set the cruise control at 70 mph and went out back to make a sandwich. She crashed. Then sued for the manual not advising her not to do this. The jury awarded her $1,750,000 plus a new motor home. The company then changed their manuals on the basis of this suit.

Spot the Bands

To those of you who should be studying but find my directionless blog a pleasant distraction, hopefully this should keep you busy.

How many bands can you see in this pic, apparently there are 75.
So far I've been able to spot...

Alice in Chains
Ash
B52s
Beach Boys
Black Flag
Blind Melon
Blur
Cars
Eagles
Eels
Gorillaz
Green Day
Guns 'n Roses
Hole
Kiss
Korn
Led Zeppelin
Matchbox 20
Nickelback
Prince
Queen
Radiohead
Red Hot Chilli Peppers
Rolling Stones
Scissor Sisters
Seal
Smashing Pumpkins
Spoon
Streets
U2
White Snake
White Stripes
White Zombie

Is this the Coolest Picture Ever?

Tesco's New Promotion...Incest!

(courtesy of b3ta)

Movie Quiz

Who has been the only Hollywood star to have been killed by all 3 celebrity owners of Planet Hollywood?

Post your answers below. No prize for the winner, it's just for fun and bragging rights.

What I didn't want for Christmas...

...was to be prescribed a course of anti-biotics.

I've had a cold the last week (who in the UK hasn't) and on Saturday whilst I slept it got to my ear and infected it. It was nice to wake up in the morning and not be able to hear anything from the left, really it was!

Today I finally got to the doctors who confirmed it was a little infected and blocked (like, duuhhhhhh!!!) and he's put me on a course of capsules to help and recommended I get some ear drops too.

The downside is that we start our Christmas parties next week and as you run the risk of exploding if you mix medicine and alcohol I can't really get drunk. It also means I'm not getting the full benefit of my iPod on the journey to and from work. That's not so bad as music, like cute little kittens and puppies, is not just for Christmas but for life; the same cannot be said of Christmas parties.

Overtake at your peril

I wonder if anyone has had an accident passing these trucks?
(courtesy of viding.blogspot.com)

Dean Gray Tuesday

Those that know me may know that I'm a big fan of bootleg mixes such as those posted by partyben and gybo. Occasionally a few of them get together and remix an entire album from a big artist. These have included the likes of The Prodigy and Chemical Brothers. The most famous would have been DJ Danger Mouse's mixing of Jay-Zs "Black" album with the Beatle's "White" album to produce, yes you've guessed it the "Grey" album. Soon after it's releasing on the net, EMI issued a cease-and-desist order and the site hosting it was pulled down. Its popularity exploded when the media reported on a mass protest called Grey Tuesday where as many people as possible hosted the files for people to download as a "f*** you" to the record company.

Well this time another bootlegger Dean Grey, with a little help from Party Ben, put up a remix of Green Day's "American Idiot" album called "American Edit", mixing the tracks with the likes of the Doctor Who theme tune, Kanye West, Blur, Bryan Adams, U2 and Coldplay amongst others. This week Warner's issued a cease and desist order and the files have been pulled. Well it looks like the bootlegging community is putting up a fight and another mass protest has been called this time called "Dean Grey Tuesday" (have to like the gray/grey pun) where the files will be available for one day only on the 13th of December on as many sites as is possible. If I had my own site I'd post them, instead I'll make the files available to those who ask; not sure how I'll do that exactly :D

Clearly I'm not opposed to bootlegging and to be honest I can't understand the attitude of the record companies. No one takes money away from the record companies or their artists, this is all free. The original material is being copied in part, but it is not the original recording that is being put out for people to download, just a reworking of it. The albums that get remixed in this way are usually those albums that are going to or have already sold thousands. American Idiot has been one of the biggest selling albums in recent years and ironically it's been a remix of one of their tracks,"Boulevard of Broken Dreams", which has become the biggest bootleg this year. People who are into the bootlegging scene probably have bigger music collections than most and are certainly more into music than the average fan, you need to be. Paul Morley couldn't have been closer when he described the bootleggers as having "a love of music bordering on the diseased". Actions like these won't stop these guys.

I would imagine that the band wouldn't mind their material being used in this manner, it's clearly some exec sat in his fancy chair behind a desk who is as responsible for the music as I am that is on a power trip. Besides isn't any publicity good publicity. Perhaps that's why they've done it.

Click here for more on Dean Gray Tuesday

Tagged by Someone Breathless

One of those posts that passes from blog to blog.
This one comes from someone I don't yet know but who's blog I enjoy reading; you know who you are!

5 faults
1) I don't socialise enough, particular with women I don't know.
2) I am unconfrontational, prefering to just walk away (although I think it's a good thing, most don't).
3) I am quick to pick up on others' grammatical errors.
4) I don't like coffee in all its forms.
5) I remember everything that people got up to on drunken nights out and am happy to fill in the gaps the next day.

10 facts
1) My tongue is pierced.
2) I have 3 tattoos.
3) I don't look like I should have either.
4) I can fit a stack of 16 pringles in my mouth.
5) Cats don't like me.
6) Mine is the same as your's. Nice to know I'm not the only one!
7) I can't juggle
8) I've attended all 10 B-Boy championships in London.
9) I once got a high-five from MCA of the Beastie Boys.
10) I lost my glasses at the same gig when my face collided with a stage diver.

Rodney Mullen is Still a God

Whilst it's Tony Hawk who's become famous for his big jumps and vert tricks, Rodney Mullens is the master of flatland and does tricks that just sound impossible. Don't believe it's possible to grind on the front of an upturned board or spin on a single wheel then check this out. Link comes courtesy of DevilDucky

William S Burroughs: Thanksgiving Prayer

I remember hearing this a few years ago and like the works of Bill Hicks seems just as relevant today as the first time I heard it. I'm not anti-American by any means, I just believe it's as important to hear the voice of those who don't confirm as those that do. Link courtesy of DevilDucky

2nd celebrity sighting in a week

Earlier in the week I saw Lee McDonald jogging past me. To those that don't know him he played the part of Zammo McGuire in Grange Hill. He told our generation to "Just Say No" then developed a drug habit. I guess the plan had always been to make it easier to get the drugs himself by removing the competition.

Today, whilst in Croydon I saw Vanetha from this year's Big Brother. I think that was her name, well that's how she pronounced it. She was famous for doing nothing at all. I'm surprised I recognised her; no one else appeared to.

As with the time I saw Sam in Sutton a few months ago, I was so enthralled I went off and did something equally as exciting. Namely taking a dump in the nearest toilet.

Transporter 2

I've gone with the continental poster here as it is much better than the British one don't you think, even if it does rip off Bond a bit. Actually the film rips off quite a lot of other movies.

The original was a film that didn't do that well in the cinema but seemed to do well enough through DVD sales to justify a sequel. The second is more of the same; lots of action sequences spliced together with bad acting from untalented 'actors' and a ridiculous plot with more holes than the film "Holes".

Jason (lock stock) Statham plays a special agent, who is very skilled at diving to the side whilst shooting (see poster) who has now settled down as a chauffeur to the son of a man due to speak at a large DEA conference. Bad guys come up with an elaborate plot to infect the kiddy with an air-borne virus that he'd pass on to his dad who in turn would infect everybody at the meeting; a bad case of halitosis if you will. After MI:2 you'd have thought the bad guys would have come up with something a little bit imaginative as this is pretty much the same as that. Anyway, it becomes Jason's job to be Tom Cruise and save the day whilst keeping his suit and car immaculate.

In fact, the lack of damage to the car was the first thing I noticed watching this film. He does damage his shirt and jacket but they get replaced. The car however gets flipped, shot at and driven through steel support poles amongst other things but seems to come off scratch free. One funny sequence with the car sees him remove a bomb from the underside, not by getting out and removing it by hand, but by barrel-rolling it in the air beneath the hook from a crane which knocks it off. Either inspired or dumb, depending on whether or not you left your brain at home, and with films like this it's best to have done the latter.

Fight sequences aren't too bad. He does rip off Jet Li in a sequence involving a fire hose. There is also a scene involving a fight in and around some scaffolding which could easily have come from a twenty-year old Jackie Chan film. However, for reasons unknown, this scaffolding contained steam which sprayed out of the pipes when broken. Maybe scaffolders in Miami require central heating in their scaffolding although given it's climes I can't see how. The first film had a novel sequence involving Jason covered in engine oil and being ungrippable by the baddies and there is a little nod to that here too.

There are no big names in this film. Statham isn't quite up there with the Hollywood elite just yet. The baddies seem to consist of models or former linebackers or boxers. I recall seeing Shannon Briggs throwing 500 punches a round in his heyday as a heavyweight boxer, a career that seemed to end when it was realised that his incredible work rate hid the fact he couldn't take a punch. He plays the token heavy here and whilst he has the muscle to see the role off, he lacks the acting talent. Admittedly this isn't Shakespeare and he does OK considering the genre. The model who plays the crazy girl with the 2 mini-uzis is much more watchable. Fortunately being set in Florida she was able to walk around the place in just her lingerie. If the film had been set in Alaska, I doubt her presence would have been as enthralling, unless they made her wear lingerie there too that is! Fellow lock stock actor Jason Flemyng (neither Fleming or Phlegming) does play the first russian scientist baddy since Alan Cummings in Goldeneye, no pen spinning here though.

The film is quite short coming in at around 90 minutes and the ending does seem rushed. The final sequence involving a fight in a crashing aircraft is technically well shot but it's ridiculousness and sloppy CGI let it down.

If you liked the first then you'll like this. If you fancy a change from the 8 screens of Harry Potter (as is happening at my local) then you can do no wrong with this, if you're prepared to accept it for what it is and not criticise it too much.

Oh, and he doesn't appear to transport anything this time around. Maybe he will in the third one, if the DVD sales do well again. Let's face it, it's not going to get much from the cinema given it is up against The Goblet of Fire. A shame it can't rip off the sales of that film.

British Marines

The big news in the tabloids this weekend surrounds secret footage of a so-called training session where marines were made to fight naked with rubber sleeves and then barefisted. When one of the marines refuses to wrestle he is kicked in the face and knocked out by one of the officers dressed a surgeon.

It all sounds quite bizarre and whilst I can see the need to fight to make the soldiers tough, I don't get why they had to be naked, nor do I get what the guy was suppose to learn by being kicked in the face.

Good to see that jokes are coming out of the internet already. This from b3ta.

Swearing Competition

Bush and Blair trying to out-swear each other. Very clever editing.
Swearing Competition

Clip Tip

Cliptip is a blog site that I've been subscribing to for a few week's now and it saves me going off to find interesting pop videos; The people behind this site save me the effort. Thanks guys!

They've posted a link to the new White Stripes video "The Denial Twist" directed by Michel Gondry, and it is very strange to say the least. It's like the entire video is shot in a hall of mirrors with bodies stretching to ridculous extremes. The ending shows how the set is structured which you don't usually see in a vid; a nice touch.

18 Tricks to Teach Your Body

Some of these sound ridiculous enough to work. Article courtesy of Men's Health here

Oh Dear!!

Very funny but in extremely bad taste.

R.I.P.

On a day where the country has been remembering George Best, a past it footballer infamous for his partying, womanising and continual abuse of his body even after a liver transplant, it was sad to hear that Pat Morita had passed away today.

He may have been ridiculously stereo-typed as the Oriental wise man, but he did it well, most notably in Karate Kid, a film the majority of my generation grew up with.

Wipe on, Wipe off.

Director's Label

After waiting a month for Play to send these out and then having to send one back because they'd cocked the order up (shame on you Play), I finally got my hands on the latest 4 DVDs in the Director's Label series.

For those that don't know, these DVDs compile the works of stand out video directors putting all their videos and adverts (where they've shot those too) onto a single disk along with interviews etc. A really good gift for someone into the medium of pop videos.

Last year we had the works of Spike Jonze, Chris Cunningham and Michel Gondry which were superb. This year we get the works of 4 more. I'll list the videos and the ones in bold are the reasons for me buying these.

Anton Corbijn is perhaps most famous for his work with Depeche Mode, and features people prominantly in his videos. If you remember Dave Gahan dressed as a King with a deckchair under his arm, this was one of his. Perhaps the weakest of the 4 but still great.

Propaganda "Dr. Mabuse"
David Sylvian "Red Guitar"
Echo and the Bunnymen "Seven Seas"
Godlen Earring "Quiet Eyes"
Echo and the Bunnymen "The Game"
Depeche Mode "Behind the Wheel"
Joy Division "Atmosphere"
Joni Mitchell with Peter Gabriel "My Secret Place"
Depeche Mode "Enjoy the Silence"
U2 "One"
Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds "Straight to You"
Depeche Mode "Walking in my Shoes"
Nirvana Heart "Shaped Box"
Henry Rollins "Liar"
Metallica "Hero of the Day"
Metallica "Mama Said"
Depeche Mode "Barrel of a Gun"
Depeche Mode "It's No Good"
Herbert Gronemeyer "Bleibt Alles Anders"
Mercury Rev "Opus 40"
Mercury Rev "Goddess on a Hiway"
Joseph Arthur "In the Sun"
Herbert Gronemeyer "Mensch"
U2 "Electrical Storm"
Travis "Re-Offender"
The Killers "All These Things That I've Done"

Jonathon Glazer is perhaps the best director of the 4 and is easily in the Cunningham/Jonze league. The stand out track video here is Rabbit in Your Headlights which features a mentally disturbed man being repeatedly run over by traffic. Definitely one of those videos that was shown post-watershed. This is also the guy who did the Guiness Surfer advert (tick follows tock), which is also on the disk.

Radiohead "Street Spirit"
Jamiroquai "Virtual Insanity"
Richard Ashcroft "A Song for the Lovers"
Nick Cave and "The Bad Seeds Into My Arms"
UNKLE "Rabbit in Your Headlights"
Blur "The Universal"
Radiohead "Karma Police"
Massive Attack "Karmacoma"

Stephane Sednaoui is another director who's stuff you've seen but are probably not aware of. If you had to pick the best videos by Red Hot Chilli Peppers or Bjork you'd probably pick Give It Away (the one where they're painted as silver demons) and Big Time Sensuality (Bjork dancing on the back of a truck through New York) and these were both directed by him.

Mirwais "I Can't Wait"
Tricky "For Real"
Red Hot Chili Peppers "Scar Tissue"
Mirwais "Disco Science"
R.E.M. "Lotus"
Bjork "Possibly Maybe"
Alanis Morisette "Ironic"
Tricky "Pumpkin"
Massive Attack "Sly"
Youssou N'Dour & Neneh Cherry "Seven Seconds"
Bjork "Big Time Sensuality"
Black Crowes "Sometimes Salvation"
U2 "Mysterious Ways"
Red Hot Chili Peppers "Give It Away"
NTM "Le Monde de Demain"
U2 "Discotheque"

Finally we have Mark Romanek who has done some of the most spectacular videos featuring crazy walls of lights and over the top firework displays as backdrops to the acts. He is also the director of the most expensive video to date, Scream by Janet and Michael Jackson which is also here.

Jay-Z "99 Problems"
Link Park "Faint"
Red Hot Chili Peppers "Can't Stop"
Johnny Cash "Hurt"
Audioslave "Cochise"
No Doubt "Hella Good"
Mick Jagger "God Gave Me Everything"
Janet Jackson "Got 'til it's Gone"
Fiona Apple "Criminal"
Nine Inch Nails "Perfect Drug"
Beck "Devil's Haircut"
Weezer "El Scorcho"
Eels "Novocaine for the Soul"
Sonic Youth "Little Trouble Girl"
Michael and Janet Jackson "Scream"
Madonna "Bedtime Story"
R.E.M. "Strange Currencies"
G.Love and Special Sauce "Cold Beverage"
Nine Inch Nails "Closer"
David Bowie "Jump they Say"
Madonna "Rain"
Lenny Kravitz "Are You Gonna Go My Way"
Keith Richards "Wicked as it Seems"

What have I bought this week!

Trying not to get too addicted to iTunes but this week I have mostly been downloading...

"Antics" by Interpol
I saw the video to "Evil" on Colonel Blimp and totally love this track. If you've seen a video featuring a puppet at the scene of a car crash, this is the track. After hearing another couple of tracks I decided to buy the album. Not bad at all.

"Everyone is Someone in LA" by Felix da Housecat
This is the stand out track on the new Tony Hawk's game. It sounds like some old punk tune but is actually produced by one of the biggest House DJs out there. Completely catchy, and whilst I've already completed the game, there is no way I'm going to tire of this track.

"Love Generation" by Bob Sinclair
He had a big hit with the Jane Fonda workout sample a few years ago ("and back 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8) and has had probably produced this year's Summer anthem. OK, so it rips off the whistling from Frankie Knuckle's "Whistle Song" but it's still great.

"Doctor Pressure" by Mylo vs Miami Sound Machine
Yes I like my bootlegs, and this is cheesy as hell, but it's a great great pairing. That Mylo track can be put to just about anything and it would sound superb.

"Big Fun" by Inner City
Just a great tune from the 80s that I saw and thought I'd add to my collection. Now if I can just find an unmixed "Pennies from Heaven" I'd be happy.

"Rez" by Underworld
Another tune that blew me away the first time I heard it. It was actually played a lot on MTV's Party Zone years ago and the video consisted of nothing but coloured circles strobing on the screen. The track goes on for about 10 minutes and takes it's time building up into a track that would still rock the floor a decade on.

"Without You" by Dogzilla
The best track on the last Euphoria CD and now finally released as a single. Epic trance track which actually has a decent vocal which puts it leagues above the crappy trance that is advertised on the telly. Once in a blue moon there are tracks that are so good I'll put them on a loop (which thinking about it would make a great post in itself). This is the most recent.

"I Miss You" by Blink-182
I have the early albums by this lot but thought they'd gone a bit stale so didn't bother the more recent ones. However this track stands out so I decided to buy it. A nice drum track and just a tune that is full of energy; I like it!

A nice London sunset.

Skies aren't usually this nice in London.
Fortunately I had my camera on me.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Not "Giblet of Fire" as I'd accidentally typed initially, although that would have been quite a novel twist (pun not intended).

"Whoever's name comes out of this chicken intestine will take part in the Tri-Wizard tournament".

But I digress.

Welcome to the fourth movie adaptation of Rowling's tale of a young wizard called Harry and his adventures at a school for wizards called Hogwarts. Oh you know all that already, why preach to the converted?

This was the first of the big books and it was always going to be interesting to see what would be cut from the film whilst staying true to the book. To be honest director Mike Newell seems to have cut the right bits out; so it's bye to Harry discovering that Darth Voldemort is his father and that Snape is really Keyser Soze. If you want those story lines you'll have to go and find the book that I just made up.

The vast majority of the book's start takes place around the Quidditch world championships but this gets trimmed to about twenty minutes in the film. Personally I'd have liked to see more of the championships as just as the intensity of the team introductions had built up we cut to Harry's gang making their way back to their tardis tent once the game is over. Instead the film focuses on the rest of the book with the Tri-Wizard tournament where 3 schools come together (a bit selective to say the least) and put their best pupil forward for the chance to become famous across the magic world; a sorceror equivalent of Pop Idol so to speak, only with no Simon Cowell to tell them how terrible they are. There's also a secondary story of Harry plucking up the courage to invite a girl to the school ball and no, it's not Hermione, but again you all already know that.

With so many characters established in the first 3 films, it was nice to see that the most famous actors and actresses took on more of a cameo role this time, allowing some of the minor characters to step up and take centre stage, in as much as there is a stage in a movie production. The likes of Snape, Hagrid, Dumbledore and MacGonagall all have much less of a role this time round with the limelight being given to the ginger twins, Neville and Ginny (they are not the Ginger twins I was referring to). This is the first film where you won't see any Dursley's as they've been cut completely. Of course Harry, Ron and Hermione are the principal characters in this film too. We get to see Voldemort properly for the first time in this film too and Ralph Fiennes does a good job here although I couldn't help but think that it was really Christopher Eccleston playing the part. Brendon Gleeson is this year's Dark Arts teacher Mad Old Moody, and his character is great with his ridiculously inflated artificial eye that sees all.

The film comes in at a little under 3 hours but the pacing is fine, and you don't get bored. Even the little kiddies in the cinema were enthralled for the duration, which after making the mistake of going to see the Phantom Menace during daytime and enduring bored kids climbing over seats et al, this was nice to see.

Earlier films have featured British Rock Stars in "blink and you'll miss
em" roles. If you were quick enough to spot Ian Brown in Azkaban will probably spot Jarvis Cocker this time. But did you spot the other member of Pulp and 2 from Radiohead? If not go back and look again!

The franchise is getting stronger, and to think if Steven Spielberg had been picked as director we'd have had to endure that kid from the Sixth Sense as Harry. Hurrah for JK insisting on a predominanlty British cast and another hurrah for demanding Cho retain her Scottish accent.

and yes, I was crazy enough to go to Leicester Square on opening weekend.

America Trip 2005

My place has been confirmed for the US tour next year.
To show how much I'm covering, here're the states I've visited so far.




and here's what it will be like after the tour, if I get to go to all the places afterwards.



create your own personalized map of the USA
or check out ourCalifornia travel guide

Roll on May!

Where in the world have you been?

create your own visited country map
or check our Venice travel guide

Owners who look like their dogs

Squeaky Voice

This poor presenter can't handle the guest having such a high voice, courtesy of break.com. Click here

You Know What Grinds My Gears?

No, not Lindsey Lohan, and no, not the new Family Guy DVD, which is extremely funny but that new advert that is being shown in cinemas telling me not to watch pirate movies.

Now, surely the fact I'm sat in the cinema would be taken as a sign that I don't watch pirate movies. The intended audience for the clip are those that won't be in the cinema but watching the forementioned bootlegs at home where they're not going to see the advert.

Thanks for trying to make me feel bad for doing the right thing, British Cinema Industry. I'll add you to the same list as Sony for punishing those who DON'T do the wrong thing.

Oh, and if I had a girlfriend who looked like Katie Holmes and she jumped at The Fantastic Four like that, I'd dump her :P

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang

The plan had been to see The Constant Gardener but when I got to the cinema the staff had put up a sign that said "The constant garden is fully booked". I guess they meant the same film. Would you need a gardener if the garden remained constant? That would be quite a dull film.

The only alternative was Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, which I had seen the trailer to a few weeks ago but I didn't take the name in because I was too preoccupied with how fat Val Kilmer's face had become.

The film stars Hollywood's favourite drug addict Robert Downey Jr. as a toy shop thief from the East Coast who, by an odd twist of fate, finds himself in Hollywood following an accidental audition sesson that he in advertantly stumbled into whilst escaping from Police.

Along the way he stumbles across an old school crush, who is in Hollywood pursuing an Hollywood career. The two of them then find themselve's caught up in a murder plot which takes a few twists and turns, as you'd expect in a film like this.

The film is very well written with a very funny script that takes delight in poking fun at Hollywood and other movies. However you find yourself laughing so much that you lose focus on the plot line, particularly towards the end as the story reaches it's climax.

Robert Downey is very good leading this movie and fat Val does well in the support role as the gay movie producer. There is some very snappy dialogue between the two of them, which provides most of the mirth. There is also a good quantity of dark comedy which I am always partial too anyway.

This isn't a film that I would have chosen to see had circumstances dictated I do so, however I am glad I did as it was better than I had expected, especially once I'd got use to seeing Fat Chin. There is no way he'd be repicked for the next Batman film looking like that, and if there was going to be a sequel to The Doors, they'd have to be wide ones.

Which Operating System are You?

It's another of those pointless online quizzes...




Which OS are You?

Actual Game Descriptions as Titles

Another photoshop contest where computer game packages get renamed to something a little more descriptive

Click here

What religion best suits me.

Saw this on Tom's site and thought I'd give it a go.
My results are below.


You scored as Satanism. Your beliefs most closely resemble those of Satanism! Before you scream, do a bit of research on it. To be a Satanist, you don't actually have to believe in Satan. Satanism generally focuses upon the spiritual advancement of the self, rather than upon submission to a deity or a set of moral codes. Do some research if you immediately think of the satanic cult stereotype. Your beliefs may also resemble those of earth-based religions such as paganism.

atheism		71%
Satanism		71%
Buddhism		63%
agnosticism		63%
Islam		50%
Paganism		46%
Judaism		33%
Christianity		25%
Hinduism		13%

Actually I'm just as much atheist as satanist before you start thinking I'm the sort of person who kills goats for religious kicks. Am I surprised by the results? Not particularly. I know I'm not religious in the common sense of the term, but I do live by a moral code, even if that code isn't in line with the norm; it's good to be different and at least now I have an explanation for why I chose the tattoos I did haha!

Which religion is the right one for you? (new version)
created with QuizFarm.com

An introduction to Californian Politics

Meet Governor Schwarzenegger and the people in his neighbourhood on Schwarzenegger Street

Thousand-hand Bodhisattva Dance

I hope girls 2 thru 19 didn't spend too long on their makeup!

DevilDucky - Thousand-hand Bodhisattva Dance

Nude Brits shop while drunk

Quite a funny article. Whilst I will confess to shopping online drunk I've never done it naked. 50% correct in my case!

For the record I hadn't realised I'd ordered £100 worth of Jackie Chan DVDs until they arrived.

Nude Brits shop while drunk | The Register

Be a dog I must

Barking mad!

Animal Cruelty

www.beedogs.com has been doing the rounds on the net and now it looks like Richard & Judy have got in the act.Dog Bugs

Lost Rhapsody

Lost Rhapsody
Someone quite clearly has waaaaaaaaaaaaay too much time on their hands. It's actually very clever and did make me laugh.

Could this really happen?

Newly computerised pizza ordering system

a meme

Apologies to Bearettefor stealing this off her website. Does allow me to answer some questions I've not answered before.


Name someone with the same birthday as you.
Shakira, Christie Brinkley, Farrah Fawcet & James Joyce amongst others.

Have you ever seriously vandalized someone else's property?
Nope. The property would have never done anything to me so why retaliate?

Have you ever sung in front of a large number of people?
I've lip synched at a school performance of Yo Twist by Chubby Checker and the Fat Boys (I was Fat Boy #2) and I've done a Karaoke performance of Blur's "Song 2" and Beastie Boys "Fight for your Right to Party" but that was to around 30 people.

What's the first thing you notice about the preferred sex?
Their hair and how they carry themselves.

What is your biggest mistake?
Being consistently complacent.

Have you ever hurt yourself on purpose?
Yes, but it was a long time ago.

Say something totally random about yourself.
I seem to have worked too many overnights this week and my body clock is a mess.

Has anyone ever said you looked like a celebrity?
Yeah, Boy George without his makeup but having seen the recent pictures of him I'm not sure that's a good thing.

Do you still watch kiddy movies or tv shows?
Absolutely, I'm still a big kid.

Did you have braces?
I did, but only the kind that keep your trousers up; not the dental type.

Are you comfortable with your height?
Yeah I am, but I'm fascinated by tall people.

Do you speak any other languages?
I've studied French, German and Spanish at school and I've self taught myself Japanese. It's all in my head somewhere but filed at the back because I don't immerse myself enough in the countries to develop my skills.

Have you ever been to a tanning salon?
No, I wouldn't suit a tan methinks.

What magazines do you read?
FHM is the only one I buy religiously. I did use to get Bizarre but it got a bit boring.

Have you ever ridden in a limo?
I can't recall any occasion where I have.

Has anyone you were really close to passed away?
Not yet.

Do you watch MTV?
No, as I don't have Sky. I do tend to leave music channels on in the background even with their heavy rotation.

What's something that really annoys you?
Politics.

What's something you really like?
Easy; movies, movies and movies.

Can you dance?
Oh yes, I do a mean "pour-a-cup-of-tea" robot and I can bounce up and down raver style if I have to.

What's the latest you have ever stayed up?
I've done 48 hours before. An overnight with work followed by a heavy game playing session when I got home.

Have you ever been rushed by an ambulance into the emergency room?
Not critical enough to be rushed straight through but yes.

Top 10 Most Ridiculous Black Metal Pics of All Time

Very funny article that rips the piss out of Black Metal. Click
Here

Lots (read "LOTS") of coloured bouncy balls

Clever idea for an advert and it's not CGI.

Sony BRAVIA - The Advert.

Renaissance vs Movies

Some really impressive photoshop trickery on display here.
Renaissance vs Movies Photoshop Contest

The night shift....again

This week has been quite hellish and the team have been working flat out.
We've had 5 overnight implementations this week, which is a record.
I'm currently doing the final one; as part of the time change from BST to GMT I have to stop our systems when that happens.

I have a TV hooked up, which is showing Halloween H2O. If I remember it correctly it was pretty rubbish. I was going to phone in for a pizza but I've gone for the healthy option of bowls of fruit instead. The obligatory cans of red bull are also on hand to ensure I remain awake during the small hours.

This has completely killed any chance of doing anything this weekend, so I've managed to arrange Monday and Tuesday off work. I just need to find something to do on those days. It'll probably be the cinema again. How predictable huh?

I will probably throw up some links to other sites whilst I'm working. I have spent the last couple of hours adding pictures to some of the old posts. The things I have to do to keep myself awake. I should really have brought in my PS2 and played "Tony Hawk's" all night.

Saw 2

As a big fan of the first film I was looking forward to this one even though I knew nothing about it until a few weeks back when I saw a poster of 2 dismembered fingers on a bus. With it being Halloween weekend it made sense to go and see it. Surprisingly it's the only horror film out this weekend which is a little disappointing. We clearly don't celebrate this event anymore.

For those that didn't see the first film, a cancer racked, serial killer called "Jigsaw" kidnaps people and puts them into a series of games which they must escape or they die. It was cleverly written in that the serial killer was picking bad people and making them appreciate their lives more and for this reason you could sympathise with him putting the people through the games. It also had a clever twist and didn't follow the Hollywood cliche of having the baddy die at the end.

The sequel sees more of the same and this time we have 8 people trapped in a house from which they must escape or they'll succumb to a nerve agent that is being pumped into the building. Elsewhere Donnie "New Kid on the Block" Wahlberg plays a cop who finds Jigsaw but can't take him into custody when he discovers his son is one of the people trapped in the house.

There are some ingeniously designed games around the house that offer an escape from the nerve agent in the form of syringes of serum. The games include looking for a key in a pit full of syringes (ouch!) or having to climb into a cremator. If they only offered these games in Big Brother, that show would be a lot more entertaining.

Some clever interplay between the cop and the killer leads us to a conclusion that offers similar surprises to that of the first film. There are also some nice references to the first film, which would be lost on people who haven't seen the first. Although I did manage to guess one of the twists I was still caught out, and in hindsight it is quite obvious what is going on. As with the first film the clues are there if you pay attention.

The acting is a little better this time around but with so many characters in the house it is difficult to sympathise with the majority of them, partly because there isn't enough time to fill the characters out but more importantly because the strongest character in the film is Jigsaw who is elsewhere. Wahlberg does alright as the cop, and for those of you who remember him in Sixth Sense you'll be pleased to hear he has been eaten a few pies since then and is looking normal again. (Speaking of eating pies, Val Kilmer seems to have eaten quite a lot in prep for his new film Kiss Kiss Bang Bang). The first film made a lot of a clown mannequin which really added to the Jigsaw character. It isn't used as much this time round and this is a shame, as it does add a creepy look to the film.

I hear there is a part 3 already in the making. I'm really enjoying the franchise and can't wait to see where it goes.

Wallace & Gromit and the Curse of the Were-Rabbit

I can't say I've been a big fan of Wallace and Gromit, not because I don't like cheese (unless it's on a pizza), but just because the humour didn't really make me laugh all that much. I have seen the film with the penguin and thought that was alright.

I decided to go and see the new film because it had received good reviews, so I thought it worth giving Aardman another go in case I had been harsh initially.

The film stars 2 piles of clay as a bampot inventor and his dog partner, although the relationship between them is purely platonic (or should that be plasticeneonic). A local vegetable growing competition is looming and the two provide a security service, protecting the veg from marauding rabbits.

However, after a failed experiment, a were-rabbit is produced that escapes into the neighbourhood which leaves Wallace and Gromit with the unwanted task of catching the rabbit or facing the wrath of the town.

I wasn't blown away by the film and it left much the same impression on me as the last film. You can't fault the animation but I'm much more a fan of CGI than modelling clay; I guess that's because I was always better at IT than art when at school, a trait that continues to this day.

The one thing I do like though is the emotion, or lack of it, that can be put into the models, especially around the eyes. Hutch, the bad rabbit in particular looks decidedly sinister. There are some nice nods to other TV shows such as Thunderbirds too, although the Six-Million Dollar Man sound effect used in the movie's trailer didn't find it's way to the final cut. I guess they never got clearance on the du-du-du-du-du-du sound.

Apparently it takes a day to film four 4 seconds of footage. Do I feel a bit bad for putting together a bad review in 5 minutes? No.

A pleasant surprise at work today.

Well 5 years ago the Sainsbury's board decided they didn't want their IT staff anymore and outsourced us to Accenture for 10 years and a lot of money. At the time they admitted they did retail not IT.

Today they decide to announce that they wish to terminate the contract and bring us back in house because they're ready to run the IT again.

It's going to be an interesting few months ahead....Why do I feel like a pawn on a chessboard?

J Sainsbury plc and Accenture announce change in IT resourcing

The Gameboy is alive!

Checked the gameboy again this morning which has been sitting on the windowsill for a couple of weeks and I'm surprised to say it has made a full and lengthy recovery and is as good as new. There is now no water mark behind the screen.

Saves me having to buy a new one when they're released next month. Superb!

Nice one Nintendo.

Revenge of the Sith DVD Easter Egg

Yoda and some stormtroopers get down to some hip hop here.

Prodigy vs Pendulum - Voodoo People Remix

I'm loving Pendulum and have always been a big fan of the Prodigy. Here the former remix the latter and the video is very strange. I didn't recognise Keith straight away, he looks a bit odd. Link to vid is here

Serenity

Now I'd never seen the Firefly TV series so had no idea what this thing was about. I was hooked on the poster which featured a chick with blades. I've never sat through an episode of Buffy (although the film was alright) or Angel so had no idea what the writer was famous for.

The plot tells the tale of a psychic girl who is a little messed up and a smuggler crew who take her and her brother under their wing. She escapes from a government facility and they send an agent to bring her back. There is also a race of bad humans called the Reavers who are at war with everyone else and who get in the way. There I've summed up the film in three sentences.

The film isn't too bad, it's by no means great. There are some obvious things wrong that I'll go into here.

Firstly the character names are all wrong. The macho, testosterone muscly guy is given the name Jane. The captain of the ship is called Malcolm and the super secret planet is given the name Miranda. I mean "Malcolm"? What a ridiculous name ;)

Secondly the plot is very cliched; the crew of the ship return to their home planet just in time for the old wise man to give his final words before he dies.

When the crew are later holding a final stand against the reavers, they stop shouting when the doctor decides to give his "I love you" speech to the naive girl, and once he's finished they then start up again.

There's also this stupid woman who's sole purpose seems to be to wear skimpy outfits and when it comes to the big stand off her weapon of choice is a bow and arrow.

There is some nice dialogue and I did laugh in a few places but I came away thinking it should have stayed on TV. The CGI is good and the sets are nice even if the buildings were all too angular. It would have been a great, but stupid idea if the bad guys were called Ravers and were all pill popping, lightstick carrying clubbers.

The film also suffers from a bit of wobbly sets, watch the control panels in the bridge. The blond pilot moves a bit of it at one point.

Gameboy Follow Up

Further to my earlier post where I mourned the death of my Gameboy it actually turns out that it survived the wash after all, albeit with a water stain just behind the glass. It's still playable but not ideal, I'm likely to still go ahead and buy a new one when they're officially released here.

I'm still scared to plug it into a power point though.

Lord of War

Nicholas Cage plays a Russian with a Nicholas-Cage-a-like American accent. He deals arms (guns not limbs) and gets very rich from doing so. Every now and then he sends his ADHD-afflicted brother (who was a junkie in Requiem for a Dream) to rehab to get him off drugs; at no point does he ask for his money back because they keep failing, he's that rich! He marries a nice looking model who is happy to not ask him what he does for a job as long as he continues to buy her nice things.

Nikolai Cage then starts to become very rich and powerful when Gorbachev calls an end to the cold war and he is able to sell his uncle's tanks (mobile weaponry not things to keep fish in). This upsets Bilbo Baggins who wanted the tanks for his own means. Ethan Hawke plays an FBI agent who keeps popping every half hour and tells Nikolai he won't get away with his scams this time, even though he keeps continuing to do so.

In the end he does get caught out when Ethan follows the model who follows Nik to his hidden secret place where he keeps all the evidence needed to incriminate himself. Does he get sent to prison? Well I'm not going to spoil it for you.

The best bit of the film is the opening sequence which tracks a bullet from the factory to the forehead of a kid soldier. At no point does Nicholas do that thing where he raises his fingers to his temples, as he seems to have done in all his other films; if you've going to see it for that, don't bother.

The director also seemed to like casting kids with missing limbs to play the part of kids with their limbs missing.

However the film is quite thought provoking, especially towards the end.

Proof of Americans exaggerating the news

Check out this report on "extreme flooding" click here

Gameboy Micro RIP

I bought one of those spanking new Gameboy Micros whilst in Japan.
Today I loaded my clothes into the washing machine forgetting that it was in the back-pocket. Too small to be obvious when feeling the clothes down, as I usually do.

I've aborted the washing program and have salvaged the machine but it's full of water. It did actually manage to start up but it was short lived as it's not doing anything now. There is no way I'm going to risk plugging it into a power supply, so it's as good as dead.

I'll just have to buy a new one when they're officially release here - next month I believe.

Coaster Site Updated

How I wished I had a camera a few years ago...

I've now put up a pic for each coaster that I've ridden where I have a picture. Now obviously I'd like to complete the set but I'm going to need help to do so.
I've got the OK to use the ECC club website images so the next step is to raid their archives as they'll have pics for the rest.

Link to the coaster page is over on the left.

Saying "complete the set" reminds me of those sticker albums you used to have as a kid.

B-Boy Championships 2005

Another year another weekend spent at Brixton for the battles.
This year was it's 10th anniversary and they'd really pulled out the stops, ensuring every battle featured the highest calibre of dancers.

Saturday was the solos day and featured popping, beatbox and b-boy battles.

The popping was won by Mike from France who beat "son of the legenday Popping Pete" Shon Boog in a very close final. Shon had been the best consistently but Mike really pulled out the stops in the final couple of rounds. However I don't think either of them were as entertaining as Salaah who blew everyone away last year with his mixture of popping and miming, even though he failed to win. It was also odd that last year's winner Sally Sly was present but in a judging capacity only.

This year marked the first time a beatbox battle had been held; in the past Kela and Rahzel had put on shows but this time was the first we saw 2 people battling properly. We had what appeared to be a complete mismatch here with a huge black guy from the states called DOA vs a skinny British white kid called Faith SFX (to be honest I'd heard of neither). It was Faith who won this one, in fact he was so dominant that DOA acknowledged his superiority in the second round, very humbling indeed. I believe it had also been the first time that DOA had been beaten so squarely and it was great to see him hand the torch over at the end.

The B-Boy battle this year ended up with 2-time winner Physix from Korea against Roxrite from the US Rocksteady Crew. The final had been a bit disappointing and it came down to who made the most mistakes, not who did the best moves. I think the Korean was just having a bad day, he didn't even manage to pull off his signature elbow spin and fell on that one. So it was the US guy who won it and I can't recall anything that stood out particularly.

Day 2 and we had pair locking, dj and team battles to keep us entertained.

First there was the locking that was won by Japan with Hilty and Bosch beating Originality Lockers from Korea. The Japanese duo were very slick with some great looking martial arts worked into their routines. The Korean duo were very good too but a little bit too camp with some of their moves for the judges liking I suspect.

The DJ battle was a bit of a mess, I think they were let down by at least 2 of the decks breaking. It was the pairing of Renegade and Shortee Blitz that beat ex-Scratch pervert Mr Thing and Harry Love but to be honest I don't think anybody really cared.

Then it was the big one, with 8 of the biggest crews brought together for what had to be one of the best overall championships I'd ever seen (and as I've been to all 10, it's quite a few). In the end it came down to Pokemon from France, who had beaten a very unsportsmanlike Rock Steady Crew vs 2-time winners Project Seoul from Korea. The favourites were very good, extremely slick in their executions but Pokemon seemed to had come on great lengths since the last time I had seen them. Lelou, their main dancer was insane this year (you've never seen anyone kick themselves in the head like this kid). The French were definitely winning over the crowd with their routines but the Koreans were just consistently good. In the end Korea won it but it must have been very close to call.

All in all a great weekend, and here's to 10 more years.

The BEST Geek Quotes Ever!

Found these on another site and rather than steal them it's only right I link to their page. Please don't think I'm a 'pool fan. I particularly like the Unix one.

Over to this.is.anfield

Scariest ride in Tokyo?

Given the picture above you'd be inclined to think it's the Indiana Jones ride at Tokyo DisneySea or maybe we all ate too much ham for breakfast that day.

Coaster Blog Site

I've decided to give my coaster page a little overhaul.

Fed up with all those coaster fans out there who can write 500 words + on even the most boring coasters I decided to go for a minimal review, limiting myself to no more than 5 words in the majority of cases.

Going with the mantra that a picure paints a thousand words I've also decided to include a pic, where I have one.

It's work in progress and will take some time to complete.
Link is on the left.

Lost Series 1

Well I was enjoying the show so much I decided to buy the box set. If you're waiting for the UK one, don't; it's a rip-off. It's only going to be the first half of the series. For the same price you can get the full US series; a much better purchase.

Well having the day off work today (actually yesterday) I got through the last disks and the series has been written well enough to answer some questions but raise a whole lot more. Without spoiling too much here's what I thought.

My favourite episode has to be the Hurley back-story one which provides some mirth that has been missing to date as well as giving you a reason to watch all the episodes again, it's quite fun too.

It's kind of clichéd that a character had to die and I think they picked the best one. I'm glad my favourite character is still OK as I think the show won't have the same vibe if he's written out.

I don't think my initial purgatory theory still stands. It's more complex than that. I do still stand by my thought that the boy has a more significant part in what is going on than we've been made aware of. The same is true of the baby.

It ends on a good cliff-hangar and as series 2 is now live in the states I have a reason to try my bit-torrent client, which I've been reluctant to do so so far.

Friends Wedding

Fourth weekend in a row away from home (Japan, Japan, Alton & Drayton and now this) and I'm off to Wrexham for an evening reception of 2 friends who had got married. I was invited to the day's ceremonies but I would have had to be up at the crack of dawn to make it which I wasn't too keen on so I just went up to the evening reception.

It was quite a lengthy journey.
Train from Hackbridge to Victoria.
Underground from Victoria to Euston.
Train from Euston to Birmingham New Street
Train from Birmingham New Street to Wrexham General
Taxi from Wrexham General to the hotel.

In all about 5-6 hours.

The evening itself was really nice, not a huge affair, just nice small groups. The two of them seemed to have had a good day although Lisa, the bride, was constantly running around making sure everything was going ok. The evening ended with the DJ playing lots of Irish music to keep that contingent happy. Having consumed way too much cider I made my excuses and made my way to bed. As soon as my head hit the pillow I was out for the count.

The journey back was just as complicated but I went via Chester and did a little sight-seeing there too. The taxi driver was kind enough to show me some of the major sights.

Alton Towers and Drayton Manor

First weekend back from Japan and it's off to 2 more parks and 2 new rides; Rita: Queen of Speed at Alton and G-Force at Drayton Manor.

To be honest I was quite happy to spend both days taking pictures rather than running around to make sure I got on all the rides. I guess I was just coastered out after the Japan trip, or perhaps it's that I've been to these parks so many times that they no longer offer me the excitement they used to do.

Alton was extremely busy and the longest wait was just over an hour for Air. Fortunately I ended up getting a front row seat which was a bonus. Nemesis is benefiting this year from a newly installed Single Rider Queue. The girl running this was really nice too ;) All the more reason to go back from more than one ride. They've fixed Hex which was missing a key lightbulb for the last couple of years. As for Rita? Well it's not a bad little ride and it seemed to be really popular with the general public. Apparently recent surveys have shown Rita to be more popular than Nemesis. Perhaps it's too intense for some riders, Rita certainly isn't. The best bit of the ride is the launch but having been fortunate enough to ride Dodonpa a week earlier I didn't get the oooomph factor that everyone else was getting. The ride in the dark was a lot more fun than daytime riding. It really benefits from taking the visibility away from the riders.

Drayton's new ride is a twisty mass of steel called G-Force, not X-Factor as I kept mistakingly calling it. Like Rita it's best bit is at the start with a drop into a lift hill that takes you up then back over yourself before dropping into the ride properly. The fact that this ride has not should restraints really adds to the feeling that you're going to fall out of the ride as it slowly takes you upside down. The ride is quite noisy which the management have admitted is because the manufacturer has let them down as if the ride was running with the correct wheels it wouldn't complete the circuit. Noisier epoxy ones are being used instead. The ride also needs a second train as throughput is quite slow with just the one. The ride does have a nice queue line though with 2 screens showing Soundspectrum's G-Force visualisation and a teslar coil electrical effect to entertain you. If the park could remove the queue line fences they could easily hold parties in the structure. The rest of the park looked a bit run down. Their Excalibur attraction that opened a couple of years ago is already showing signs of disrepair.

All in all a nice weekend to just chill and catch up with friends. I think I was just tired of coasters (blasphemy I know)

Pendulum "Slam" Video

I'm loving the Pendulum album at the moment. Here's the video for one of the stand-out tracks Slam Video

I love Japan

Well I'm back from what has been a really amazing trip, and Japan has totally blown me away. I covered 20 parks and just under 70 rollercoasters in 12 days, quite a pace but not as tiring as other trips I've been on. On top of that I also made sure I did a ton of sight-seeing, either staying out late at night or getting up at the crack of dawn and seeing places before the coach left in the morning. I was really pleased with the amount that I got to see but I do have reasons to go back. Rather than write a boring day-by-day report, before I went out I had a list of missions that I'd like to try to do. Here is how I got on.

Buy a gadget from Akihabara.
This is the electronic shopping district in the North-East of Tokyo and the plan was to buy some gadget from there. The problem I had was that the itinerary didn't leave us enough time to get there when the shops were open. What I had to do was hit it in the evening and hope the shops would be open. At the start of the trip there were ads on the TV for both the new Gameboy Micro and the special edition white PSPs. As the latter had only been released in the UK a week earlier this would have been great to get. The other problem this threw up was that both were being released on the day before I flew back so if I was to get them it would be on the last night. So on the last night I jump the train and make my way up there. Alas when I go there all the big shops were closed but I did go for a walk and came across the strangest department store. A poster at the entrance showed 4 girls dressed as French Maids. It was only when I got to the top floor that I realised that was how the girls dressed. It was their work uniform, very weird, but cute ;) The shop itself was packed full of everything from the normal souvenirs to crash helmets, assorted manga to food. I managed to get my mother a Japanese Doll that she collects and myself a blue gameboy micro. The only PSPs I could find were in a gambling machine and I wasn't going to risk that. So 1 out of 2 wasn't bad.

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED

Visit a Japanese Bath
One of the hotels on the southern coast had a spa next door with a discounted entry to hotel guests, so myself and a couple of friend decided to give it a go. There is a whole routine around baths which needs to be followed and I knew some of them but not all. You are not allowed to wear your normal clothes in one, you have to wear this robe and leave your shoes at the door; our robe was a rather girly looking sunflower design. The sexes are seperated which meant I had to say goodbye to the 2 women with us as they went off to their baths. You need to cover your modesty with a towel. We only realised this when watching the others who were naked; the norm for the locals but very strange to us Westerners. It took a lot of psyching up to proceed beyond this point. You clean yourself before you get in the bath. This is totally different to how we bathe in the West. In Japan the bath is for relaxing in. You have to scrub yourself down at this little stool/shower combo before getting in the bath. We had a selection of baths to try; a hot one, 2 warm ones (1 indoors and 1 outdoors), a freezing cold hot tub and a sauna. We thought there may have been a set order but watching the others showed this not to be the case. The sauna was especially hot. I'd made the mistake of going in with my glasses on and in about 30 seconds they were too hot to touch and were melting on my nose. We managed about 10 minutes in there before needing to escape. I managed to do the cold tub, my friend chickened out after dipping his foot in. Having swum in an Alpine lake before I was used to this. Oh, the other thing you don't do is submerge your head, there are big ladles that are used to do that. In all I think we spent about an hour in there and came away really relaxed and pleased that we'd managed to get the courage to do it.

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED

Visit the Imperial Palace
This is situated in Ginza, the big shopping district in the East of Tokyo. Like a lot of the attractions it closes at 5pm so when I got to it, it was already closed. Most castles and stately places are lit up at night, not so in Japan; it was pitch black and I couldn't see anything but dark trees. Somehow I managed to get past the first line of security to the palace but was quite rightly turned away by the second.

MISSION FAILED

Visit the Meiji Shrine
This is the largest temple in Tokyo and is in the centre of the city. To get here I had to get the first train of the day up there and then get back before the coach left for a park at 7 a.m. It was really strange being out and about so early but as I got to the temple it was nice to see locals on their way to pray. I didn't intrude in their prayers and I made sure I gave the place the respect it deserved. The place is magnificent and has a lovely calming feeling around it. Large Tori gates lead the way to it and they're impressive on their own. A large tree in one corner of the courtyard was covered in blessings that would be read by the monks later that day. The prayer process seemed to consist of washing your hands and mouth at the entrance then making your way to one of several temples in the complex to make the prayers. Candles can be lit or coins dropped into wells.

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED

See a Sumo match
There were preliminary tournaments taking place in Tokyo while we were out there but I was unable to get a ticket for one. I ended up watching some of it on the TV back at the hotel, which is a cop-out really. That is now different from watching it at home. There seem to be a lot more foreigners in the sport than I recall too.

MISSION FAILED

Play some bemani games
These are video games that don't rely on joysticks to control but have the player dancing, playing the guitar, hitting drums etc.. I was supposed to have a DDR challenge with another club member but quite surprisingly the number of machines was quite small. The most popular bemani game was one that involved banging Japanese Drums. This was quite a lot of fun. Very straight forward to play; you either hit the drum or the rim, softly or hard in time to the signals on the screen. We nailed the easy levels quite quickly but medium and hard were much more of a challenge. By the end of the trip I could drum to "Toxic" by Britney Spear's quite well. The strangest bemani game I played was a martial arts exercise game where you had to copy the moves on the screen and your moves were picked up by infra red beams. When they kicked, I had to do the same. It soon got very tiring.

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED

Play Pachinko
DDR isn't commonplace in Japan, Pachinko is. It's a sort of weird gambling game that involves shooting metal balls into a hole which reward you with more balls if your aim is good. Once you have amassed a lot of balls you can then trade them in for a trinket which you then take elsewhere for a proper prize, or cash (this gets around the law that says gambling is illegal). When we were staying in Osaka there was a parlour across the road, which as you approached was very quiet but as soon as you opened that door - CHING CHING CHING CHING CHING CHING. It was the loudest place I think I'd been in. I have no idea how people can stay in there for any length of time and looking at how some players had crates of balls piled up it's obvious some of them had been there a while. I didn't see any of them wearing ear plugs either. So I had a quick game and was rubbish at it, primarily because I didn't want to give myself any reason to stay in there longer than I needed to. A shame though as the girls who worked there were wearing a really sexy blue outfit.

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED

Go to a Japanese nightclub.
Before going out to Japan I did a lot of research into the nightlife that Tokyo had to offer and my aim was to hit at least one club whilst out there. This never actually materialised. A friend who had been to Roppongi on the first night said it was a bit seedy and full of westerners. The trip was supposed to be about immersing myself in a new culture so the last thing I would want to do is spend it in the company of some drunk ex-pats. The place is also full of hawkers trying to get you into their venues which made it sound like San Antonio in Ibiza or Magaluf. In the end I decided not to bother going, and to be honest I'm pleased as I got to see a lot more of the city instead.

MISSON FAILED

Sleep in a capsule hotel.
This didn't happen for 2 reasons; firstly the plan had been to do it after the club as there were plenty of them in the Roppongi area. Secondly the hotels we were staying in were amazing, and easily amongst the best hotels I've ever been in. I was quite happy where I was. I've never been in a hotel that offered a selection of 5 different pillows including one that was extremely heavy; great for hitting your room mate when he snores.

MISSION FAILED

Go up the Tokyo Tower
The Tokyo Tower looks like a red Eiffel Tower and offers some great views of the city. A group of us decided to do this on the first night as a welcoming to Tokyo. The viewing galleries are in 2 parts. You pay money to go most of the way up an from there you can then pay more to go to the higher viewing gallery. It was here that we noticed that dating plays a big part of teenagers' lives in Japan. They really go into the courting thing, impressing the girl by taking her to places like the tower.

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED

...to be continued

How not to relieve stress

www.hairofthedog.co.uk

Ipod My Baby

Ipod My Baby

Spam, Spam, Chips and Spam

I got my first comment spam today, and I thought my Hurricane Katrina post was just popular. Well I'm not interested in boosting my sex life (well I am but I don't require potions to do so) so I've had to start blocking them.

Fortunately the blogspot site has new functionality that requires a password to be entered before the spam is accepted. This should get rid of the majority of the automated spammers.

If you're real, and wish to post a comment, please do so. I hope it's not too unwieldy now.

36 hours to go

On Saturday afternoon I will be departing for Japan, for what I'm hoping will be one of the best holidays I've ever been on. It is a club trip and originally we were going to do 16 parks in 12 days. They've managed to squeeze another 2 parks in and there's another a short walk from one of our hotels that wasn't on the itinerary. That's a lot of coasters in a short amount of time.

My one concern is that the itinerary is so tight that I won't get to see the sights that I want, but the parks close at 5 in most cases and if I don't get the coach back to the hotel I can go off and spend a few hours each day in the different districts. We will definitely hit a major club, and I'm considering not going back to the hotel that night but staying in one of those capsule places which are in the area.

I've done all the research that I can, and have printed off a ton of maps that I've been compiling in Google Earth. I've never done so much research before but then I've never been as excited as I have with this trip.

The majority of the first week will be spent in Tokyo then we head north into the mountains to Nasu. From there we catch a bullet train to Osaka, then we make our way down to the south coast, up to Mt Fuji, which will be stunning, before heading back into Tokyo and home.

Tomorrow I pack, then I'll sit down and watch "Lost in Translation" to help get me in the mood. I won't be posting anything on here til I get back but the club is going to have something on their homepage www.coasterclub.org if you want the updates.

All being well I shall return in a few weeks, assuming the Fugu is cooked correctly that is :D

Primer

I was recommended this film by a friend but having just endured it I think it's because she wanted to discuss this extremely complex movie with somebody.

I'll try my best to explain what happens...

2 geeks build a machine that exists in 2 places in time. When it is started up it records point A and when you enter the machine later on at point B you then fluctuate between those 2 points. The geeks discover that if you entered the machine at point B you could emerge at point A. So they devise this plan that sees them spending the day starting the machine up first thing in the morning then going and spending the day in a hotel. In the afternoon they find what share prices went up then go back to the machine, enter it and then emerge at the point the machine was turned on whilst their former selves are making their way to the hotel. They then bet on the shares then return back to the box, exiting at the point they entered it.

That's the easy bit.

They then discover that they could become trapped in the time loop if the machine is turned off at the wrong time so they build a failsafe machine that is constantly running that they can use to get them back should things go wrong. One of the guys uses the machine first then inadvertantly gets in contact with the other self which starts some weird chain that ends up with copies of both guys running around, although for the majority of the film we only see 1 of each. You just don't know which generation of which are in the same scene.

If I told you that I think the film starts with the 1st iteration of one guy speaking to the original other guy you'd think I was on drugs but I think that is what happens; it's even more confusing when you discover that the guy who has already been through the machine doesn't let on so you think they're both the originals.

There's another side story about a guy with a shotgun ruining a party and the guys going back in time to deal with him as well as they can, and another story where a guy discovers the machine then gets caught in a recursive loop, and just to cap it off you have one of the original guys being drugged by his 1st iteration and then the 2nd iteration trying to knock the first out but being too tired to do so.

At some point I think there is mention of one of the guys carrying a small version of the machine into a bigger one and effectively nesting the whole process. My head was hurting way before that happened.

It's definitely a film that needs several viewings and perhaps the director's commentary, which those in the US already have as it was released last year. If you liked "pi" or "memento" then you might like this, just give it plenty of time to understand what is going on.

Apparently this is the cause of hurricane Katrina

Advocate.com article

More MacGyver

Can you sense a resurgence of MacGyver popularity?

TheShiznit.co.uk - TOP 10 FILMS THAT MACGYVER SHOULD BE IN Feature