100th Post!

Hurray! My centenary! Fun, huh? One hundred posts of utter madness. Madness is good. I like madness.

Wait...what was I talking about?

So yeah...Quantum of Solace not as good as you might hope. It's fine, y'know, and if it were an independant Bond movie then it'd work fine - the problem is that it does actually properly ride in on the train of Casino Royale. Not to say it's bad, right - just not as good as it could've been.

Finished Fable 2, and that had a rather underwhelming climax to it. New and interesting ways to beat bosses aside from smack smack, dodge dodge are good...but this was just ridiculous. In a movie, it'd've been fair enough - but in a game, I'd quite like a challenge please. Still, the overall experience was great, and the vast number of improvements they made over the first one are absolutely stuaggering. I went - as I usually do - the good guy, so next play through I'll get to be the bad girl. Plus there are three endings, so a third play through may well be in order. It was also great to see the likes of Stephen Fry and Zoe Wanamaker making voice appearances, oh yes it was.

Went back to the CoD5 beta, and it seems they've patched it. It's no better or worse, mind - they've just fixed a couple of the map glitches as far as I can tell. So Halo got loaded back up and I've been letting some carnage ensue. My current source of new games is LoveFilm, as it seems I'm gonna be a bit strapped for cash until the end of November, which is bloody annoying. And all because the cinema pay in bi-weekly sets, so I have to wait up to two weeks to get my pay for one bleeding week. I mean, I know that the net gain is the same, but getting paid weekly simply works better for me. Anyways, this way means that I spend an awfully long time in the red when I could just zip up to the black. C'est la vie, I suppose.

The great thing is that when December does roll around, I'll have two jobs, and then on my birthday in January, I get bumped up to the proper minimum wage - instead of the shitty, middle-bracket one that I'm in at the moment. £5.75 here I come!

Writing has, annoyingly, ground to a halt. No idea why, but this image sums me up nicely...

And that's about it, really. Lots of musings, little in the way of interesting stuff. Latas.

Is it can be waffle time?

No, I couldn't think of a clever title for this post. Let's just get over that hump and move on.

I have a job! At a cinema! Hurray!! Dead chuffed about that - the interview was nerve-wracking to the extreme, and they asked the rather 'ARGH!!!' question of 'Why do you think you'd be good to work here?'. I reckon that's a really unfair question to ask for a job interview - surely it's up to the interviewer to decide that, instead of me telling them why? I kinda flapped my jaw without saying anything for a couple of seconds, then I just came up with something about my having relevant expeience and loving films. Think I mumbled...

But it doesn't seem to have made a difference! Hurray! I start on Saturday, and it's free cinema for the duration of my tenure! Which is fucking wicked, I tell thee. I mean, I was always happy to pay to go the cinema, all it did was limited how often I could go. Now, I have no limit, which kicks ass. So hopefully you guys - the two or three of you who regular check this place, anyways - can expect lots more movie reviews. Which is good!

Not much else happened on the movie front beside the movement towards the cinema - haven't been for a while, and I've been bogged down in watching Sex and the City (not my choice - apparently if Fee's going to watch Firefly, I have to watch SatC). It's not nearly as unbearable as I thought it would be - it's very well written, and the guys in it are really relatable, even if they aren't explained as well as the female characters (it's very much portrayed from a lady's perspective). I'm still never going to be convinced that the movie was necessary - I saw the final two episodes, and it ended without any plot strings hanging - but I suppose for completion's sake I'll have to watch it. So that's a good few hours of my life to while away. But then! It's onto Firefly, which'll hopefully kickstart some inspiration in my brain for my book!

Speaking of my book, I finally finished another chapter - which is fantastic news, as this was one of those transition chapters where you do have to fill in the gaps, but nothing really happens. I'm honestly find those the trickiest to write - I wish I could think of nifty little 'filler' chapters akin to the similar concept in TV series that have a self-contained little happening, but I honestly can never think of one appropriately brisk and relevant to the story. Hopefully on my 're-write' stint I can segue a few of those in. Still, my next chapter is very much a story chapter, so I shall hopefully be able to forge forward with that.

LoveFilm is slowly filling out the fringes of my film knowledge - I've got Saw IV to watch, along with The Orphanage to see if I'll still feel the same way the second time around (review's in the sidebar if you want to have a look). Also watched An Evening with Kevin Smith, which was excellent - and AEwKS2: Evening Harder is on it's way soon. Genius of a title, that.

Well, that's about it for today. Jeez, this post has a lot of tags. Apparently I'm very tangental today. Yay.

Hooray!

Cinema tonight! Yay! Going to see Righteous Kill, and a review will almost certainly be posted either tonight or tomorrow, depending on how much I need it to stew in my brain. So look out for that, ladies!

Oooh, oooh! I also have gotten back into a major creative groove, and Raider's is now trotting along rather nicely. Which is brilliant, to say the least.

Anyballyhoo...latas!

Woo for 2AM!

Yup, 2AM, and I should be fucking asleep. Only I'm not. Joy of joys, huh? So might as well regale you lot with some tale of debauchery and heroism. Either that or just ramble about random crap. I like the idea of the latter. I could go into debauchery...but we all know what happens when I do that...so I shan't.Been watching Dexter as of late. It's absolutely superb - I wasn't really expecting to enjoy it as much as I am. It's a perfect mix of the dark, bleak serial killer stuff and police prodedural, with a fantastic dose of pitch black humour. Case in point - Dexter's at an 'Addiction Anonymous' thing, woman standing pouring her heart out about how she needs the drugs, and Dexter's sitting there thinking he needs to sharpen his knives. Genius.

Michael C Hall is perfectly cast - his bluff demeanour fitting the character brilliantly. That and I really do like the development of the character as well - I won't give anything away, but the way it delves into Dexter's psyche is one of the most interesting facets of any TV show I've seen for quite a while now.

Fee's graduating tomorrow - well, later today depending on your definition of tomorrow - and I'm trotting along to the aftermath. Not at all fazed by the fact that I'm not going to the...eh...math, seeing as the damn tickets cost far too many pennies. I kinda object to charging the graduates themselves for heading to their own freaking graduation, so I guess even if I had been invited, I'd've not gone out of principle. Still, apparently I'm to 'keep her sane' whilst her family bicker over vegetarian food. Should be good!

Then it's up to the Cairngorns for a wedding. That's the weekend taken up in its entirity - joy of joys - but at least I get to wear my kilt for it. Haven't worn it to a formal event for absolutely ages, so it'll be fun to look the part for once!

Poked at Raider's for the first time in absolutely ages - wrote a page or so, which was fairly impressive. I think I'm really gearing up for having all of September being a mad rush to get the thing finished - I know exactly where it's going, it's just getting it down on paper (well, digital paper) that's been the problem. So September and some of October off to finish the damn thing. Gotta stop calling it that - it's my book, not some 'damn thing'. Bad Ross, bad!

Right, that's it for tonight. Should probably make another attempt at sleep. Night!

March! The one before May! Or is that April...

Yes, my mind has finally melted. Not sure if I'm truly happy about it, but then there's always the old saying: 'ignorance is bliss'! Just because this isn't self-inflicted or hereditary ignorance, doesn't mean that doesn't apply. Right? Right?!?!? Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed my unproductive February...two movie reviews is pretty good, regardless of what else I did(n't) post.

Regardless, my brain is indeed a pool of pink mushy stuff, and so this little ditty will probably be far less coherent than normal. Starting with probably a ton of spelling mistakes that I will inevitably forget to change once it has finished pouring out of me.


Saw Cloverfield the other day; was pretty good. Attempted to write a review, but fell asleep and dropped the computer on the floor. Not a good plan. Still, I did enjoy it, and I'd give it about 7 or 8 out of 10, depending on what mood I'm in. Some of the characters were vaguely annoying - especially the guy holding the camera, although his name was ingenious: 'Hud'... - but when the action kicked in, it was a ridiculously tense ride, loads of great moments and an actually quite scary monster. Although I agree with Empire - if they decide to do a true sequel, it'll just degrade the original. But I can see a so-called 'midquel' working quite well; i.e. the same events, but from a different angle. Like...Gods, I can't believe I'm saying this, The Lion King 1½...

Been spending loads of my free time procrastinating. Actually got some of Raider's done, which made me happy. Fee's been over quite a bit, which has been pretty cool. Been...*ahem*...'forcing' her to expand her movie horizons, which has been vaguely entertaining. Particularly on my shiny new TV, which I adore. Also been playing some CoD4 and Devil May Cry 4, all in 'glorious' HD.


Speaking of Devil May Cry 4; micro review! It's pretty damn good. The graphics are amazing; the combat is easy to get to grips with, but rather tricky to get truly good at; and the cutscenes are brilliantly over-the-top, both in terms of action and melodrama. Some of the boss fights are really interesting too! Although the platforming 'puzzles' - to paraphrase Ben Croshaw - suck a big fat cocksicle. Some of them are just ridiculously unintuitive, and others are so inane that you wonder why they even bothered. What is it, recently, with developers not actually being able to grasp what makes their games fun? Anyways...

That's about it, really. Making money, having fun and generally living it up. Went out on the lash last night with some people from Winter Wonderland; ended up half way down freakin' Leith Walk to have one freakin' drink. Epic. Oh! And we're going to go see Scotland get thrashed by England next weekend! My Dad managed to secure an extra few tickets, so Fee and I are going to trot along and shed tears of despair for the state of our national side. Huzzah!

Well, that's me done for the night. Hope you enjoyed this splurge of randomness. Ta-ta for now!

Planes, Films and....Kitchen Porters

Wow, I've not posted here for absolutely ages. For nearly a month! Dear Steve, that was evil of me. So! What's on the books today?

Saw The Nines today; so I'll post a review of it as soon as I get around to writing it. Yes, I know I've used that excuse before, but it almost invariably seems appropriate to the situation! I have to write the damn thing before I can post anything, ladies! Still, I quite liked it, so that's a vague indication of what I thought right there.

Not been to the cinema for absolutely ages. It's actually quite scary, because the last thing that I saw was that stupid, awful, poorly constructed big screen adap of The Golden Compass, and honestly, it's getting me a little down.

Been trying to go see Sweeney Todd with Fee for a while now; but we've simply failed to manage it, because she's got copious amounts of essaying to do for her dissertation. But apparently we're almost certainly going to go on Saturday, and hopefully it'll be worth the wait!

Managed to actually attack my novel once again, and wrote a good 1000 words! It's not quite a chapter, but I'm slowly progressing after Winter Wonderland put a massive 'HALT!!!' to it! Although I'm telling people that I'm 'striking' with the WGA; that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it. Although I've been thinking about that, and if there's a time that anyone could get something they wrote made into a TV show or movie, this is it. Studios will be looking for stuff to see them (financially speaking) through the strike; and so hopefully some ex-indie gems will come pounding through. Still doesn't mean that Scrubs and 24 will get a kick up their backsides and actually get into production...but there isn't exactly much we can do about that now. Not if we actually want our beloved TV shows to retain their usual quality.

Oooh! I completed Call of Duty 4 on Veteran mode. That was rather harrowing in how bloody difficult it was; but it got done! Hurray! Also bought Ace Combat 6; played through the first 4 missions, then decided not to go through it too quickly - there're only 11 bloody missions! Still, I'm vaguely enjoying it, although dogfighting is - realistically, I suppose - incredibly tricky, and almost all of my air-to-air kills come from good ol' missiles.

That's pretty much it, really. Oh! I got another job - kitchen portering at a restaurant! Hurray! Having a 'trial two weeks' starting Monday. See if I like it; if I can do it; and if they like me! Should be good. But that's it!

Ciao!!

Cute Girls, Random Guys and a Whole Lot of Alcohol

Ah the joys of a dilemma. There's this incredibly cute girl at work; but I have no idea whether or not she likes me - seeing as I have the relationship sense of a monkfish, and maybe half the common sense... - so we'll just have to see. Maybe she's got a boyfriend...maybe I can slink into his chair like a thief stealing into a palace to try out the king's throne. That'd be fun...oh well.

Went out with Ryan (my flatmate) Amy and Fran tonight. Got a little wasted - not too much (I'm hardly a light-weight) but just enough to come back giggling incessantly with both Amy and Fran. Gods, but I become stupid when I'm tipsy. Then again, I'm not the only one, so I'm hardly ashamed of that fact. Heck, I've just announced it on the internet, so there's proof of that right there.

Ryan's off home tomorrow; meaning I've got the flat to myself for 3 weeks. Not sure whether or not I'll truly enjoy that...but we'll just have to see. Working tomorrow, so I don't get to see him off; but then again I think I'm going to his house for Christmas (or Winter Present Giving Day as I'm semi-obliged to call it now), so I'll see him then. Must remember to buy gifts for his parents...and him. But yes! Work! It's good fun! Well, except when they force me to shovel slush in the pouring rain, but that's only happened once and I got to go home early because of it. Still. Fun! Woooooo!

Made a small amount of progress with Raider's; realised that the ending of my previous chapter was stupid - and thus my inability to continue it. So I deleted the last bit and replaced it with something new; along with a tongue-in-cheek in-joke commentary on how stupid the previous ending had been. Because...y'know, I'm funny like that.

Speaking of fiction; I jotted down some ideas for a sci-fi novel that's been brewing in my mind for a while now. Not that Ex Valde Ira one - though that is still on the cards, methinks - but a brand new, space-opera style one along the lines of Red Dwarf smooshed together with Mass Effect. Could be good...could be crap, but once again, we shall have to see. Was originally going to try and write it for NaNoWriMo, but never actually got around to getting anything down on paper. But now...huzzah!

And finally, I saw The Golden Compass on Tuesday. Was thoroughly disappointed. Review shall follow once I write the damn thing, but the main gist of it will be 'disappointing'. Which was...well, disappointing.

And that's it for now, I think. Gods, this was an epic post, wasn't it? Congrats for reading all the way up to here. You deserve a medal. Or at least, a funny.

Of Raiders and Stargates.

Ah, the joys of Stargate: Atlantis; it has to be said, that show surprised me. My mate Nathaniel randomly selected it to watch; and he recommended it to me, and then presto: Ross has become a 'Gater' of sorts. It's just so brilliantly written - and honestly, I find it to be a much stronger draw than it's ex-sister show Stargate: SG1. The stories are more interesting and - Colonel O'Neill aside - I'm rather more fond of the characters. Anyways, I'm now half-way through season 3, and apparently this is rather timely, as by the time I've got internet, season 4 will be well under way.

Speaking of TV shows that are now well under way; both Heroes and Scrubs have started again. Have to say, I'm relishing watching them again. Both ended on cliff-hangers, and I can't wait to find out how they are resolved! JD can't kiss Elliot! Can he? And what the hell was Hiro thinking?!?!

I'm still unemployed; and it's not due to lack of trying. Seriously; apparently you need experience to be a fucking dish-washer in this town! Anyways; I'm confident that I'll have a job by the end of November...but then I was confident that I'd have a degree by age 22, and see where that's gotten me. Still, gotta stay positive, right?

My books coming along nicely - mostly because I've got very little else to do with my days. I'm more or less finished with the ret-con, and so Book 3 is rocketing ahead. Should be a good 'un! Remember, you can still have a gander at the first 12 chapters (and the prologue) here!

Hopefully going to see either Stardust or Eastern Promises over the next week; I'll definitely post a review for the one I finally decide on seeing, so do check in if you're enjoying my reviews!

And that's it for now. I bid you all good...eh...morning!

Back from the black...

Yes, it's October, and no, I haven't been living in a cave. Tiscali are proving to be rather useless in actual service delivery. Still, could be worse...

Great stuff is happening! Well, a singular event of such momentous proportion that I honestly felt the world shake. I cooked! That's right, folks; preparation of food for human consumption by means of heat. I did it, and it was awesome. Okay, so it wasn't the most complicated dish on the planet, I mean, 't'was only chilli con carne. But still, I was damn proud of it; it tasted great, and even Ryan - my flatmate - was impressed! Although time will tell as to its gut-busting probabilities; chances are I'll spend tomorrow in the john, but it was worth it, dammit!

Elsewhere - since my last post, I have finished 'Book 2' of my novel! The last chapter was highly symbolic, and I rather enjoyed writing it; not just for the fact that there was a wee bit of sex (oh yeah!), but also because incorporating that symbolism meant going back and reading bits of my novel, which - honestly - I enjoyed. So now it's on the home stretch - I've got 7 chapters fully planned out for Book 3, with the hopes of writing between 12 and 15 chapters in all. And then it shall be done, and the only obstacle remaining will be...well, getting the damn thing published. I'll have to get a job...*sigh*

Oh yes, and I was present for Scotland's rather unspectacular exit from the Rugby World Cup. The gossip: the Argentinians were constantly cheating, and getting away with it; the only real difference between the two teams was that they scored an illegitimate try - the man was offside, and thus was able to charge down a clearing kick, and some uncharacteristically poor play from Sean Lamont meant that he could touch down just to the left of the post. The score? 19-13; and we should've won. Still, all is gossip; we're out, and we actually did damn well for a team that wasn't expected to get past the group stages. So kudos to Frank Hadden and his boys, he's done us proud. Joel Jutge, on the other hand, is a tosser, pure and simple.

Saw 3:10 to Yuma. Enjoyed it. Reviewed it, although I'm not hugely proud of this particular review; I think I'm a little too positive. Still, it really was very good, and I recommend it to all (and indeed, any) of my readers!

And that's about it for now! Hopefully should have internet on thursday, and thusly I shall be postly more regularly after that!

I bid thee good eve!

Where the artist need not fear the censor...

Welcome to Rapture.

Yes, Bioshock has caught me up. It's absolutely fantastic - one of the best single-player games I've played in a good long while; and easily one of the most cinematic games ever created. To quote Gamespote, it's more like a piece of interactive fiction than a true game - the gameplay is perhaps more than a little simple, and it seems that depth has been sacrificed for both length and graphical quality. But that doesn't stop it from being stunningly entertaining from start to finish. The story grips from the first scene, and the introduction to Rapture - the underwater city created by a man who sought to escape the moral confines of ordinary society - is spine-tingly creepy. Best £40 I've ever spent on a video game, methinks.


The weekend was good - went to see Man Utd just beat Roy Keane's Sunderland 1-0; with a Louis Saha goal sealing the deal, and hopefully putting us back into our winning ways. More sport this coming weekend - in fact, we're going to see Scotland play two sports. Football-wise, on Saturday we're off to Hampden to see them play Lithuania. Then on Sunday, we're of to Saint Etienne, of all places, to see us play Portugal at rugby. Hectic weekend, to be sure - and there's every possibility that I might get sent home early, thanks to my passport having less than six months left on it. Still! Here's to hope that the immigration officers are in good moods on Sunday!

Haven't seen any new movies recently - though I'm keen on going to see Hallam Foe; I always like seeing films set in places I've been, and this one is set in and around Edinburgh! Apart from that, I saw Over the Hedge and Stormbreaker on Sky Movies (apparently it's a kid-friendly premier week). The former was hilarious the first time - but it quickly loses it's charm on repeat viewings. There are a couple of genuinely funny moments, but it's really a 'hit and run' movie; and doesn't demand repeat viewings. The same can be said of the latter - it has to be said, that whilst it wasn't as good as it could have been, it was still vaguely enjoyable. I can't say that you should run out and go see it now, now, NOW!! But, to be honest, it's fine. And - as Mark Kermode pointed out - it's a massive advert for tourism to the Isle of Mann, which is no bad thing I suppose.

The Raider's Dream is coming along nicely - I had one of those 'epiphanies' where you see exactly where you want to go with a story; managed to get most of it written down before it vanished out of my mind. And I'm certainly looking forward to writing the final chapter of book two...if it goes like it did in my head, it's going to be a pulse-pounding read. Yes! I am very modest! Ex Valde Ira is on hold for now, mostly because I only have so much creative energy, and currently I think I've spent more than my fair share on the aforementioned epiphany!

Well, that's all the musings I can muster for now. Hopefully I'll report back soon...so farewell to the loyal few who read this! Or the non-existent few...

Peace!

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRR...

..RRRRRRRGH!!!

I just stepped on a goddamn plug that was lying pins up on the floor! Damn that stung.

So! What else is on my mind today? And, obviously, not in my foot!

Yet another great, yet somehow cancelled show - Dead Like Me. I don't understand why I keep falling in love with shows that get cancelled - or, indeed, have been cancelled for ages! But it keeps happened. Dead Like Me is an enormous amount of fun; it's apparently a 'Bangsian fantasy'. And that, for those - like me - who have/had no clue what that means, the Wiki page is very informative. But in short, it's set partially or wholly in the Afterlife. And it's about Reapers - ordinary people who die, and then get drafted into the employ of the Divine (or something) to reap souls!

It's got a fantastically morbid sense of humour - some of the deaths that the main characters have to reap are hilarious, as is the occasionally totally insane dialogue. The main characters are all drawn from varioius parts of modern history - they are, after all, dead and have been for some time - and the clash of personalities is particularly entertaining. Anyways, basically, catch it if you can! It's great!

I also tried to convince my 55-year-old father to go to see Transformers with me - but as you can probably guess, that was 27 minutes of my life wasted! Still, I'm certainly wanting to go see it, so I'll probably get the bus into Falkirk during the week. Should be fun. I've been looking forward to this for a while - with almost TMNT levels of anticipation. Those were two of my 'things' as a kid, Transformers and Ninja Turtles (or 'Hero' Turtles, as we were forced to call them in good old Blighty.

I was mildly pleased with the with the way TMNT turned out - and to be absolutely honest, I love Michael Bay films; so Transformers has all the potential to be one of my favourites of Summer 2007! Although Spidey 3 is certainly up there...

I finally bit the bullet and began retconning my story to be 1) more coherent, plotwise (it was already pretty coherent, but I just wanted it to be more so), and 2) to incorporate a few things I'd been wanting to put in for a while. Also, I completely reworked the money system - with the help of my esteemed friend Nathaniel - because honestly the amount of inconsistencies were getting ridiculous. So I've now got it set in stone! Wahey!

Oh! Saw III has finally graced my sight, and honestly? I enjoyed it. It was far gorier than the last two - the Twisting Crucifix was particularly ingenious/twisted (pun intended) - but the plot was a little more coherent than the second (which didn't seem to have any plot when compared to the first). So overall, a rather fun rating of 7/10 from me!

And that's about it for this evening/morning/what-the-fuck-ever.

Laters, everyone!