Wayne`s World

The West Country...

2011-10-23T21:04:00.001+01:00

Hey everyone.So here I am, 150 miles away from where I used to live and now I am faced with a NEW DAWN.The OLD life that I used to live has been WIPED clean and now I am looking forward to my new life. Right now I am living in Melksham, in the West Country of he United Kingdom and I CANNOT believe how different it is here...I am in AWE about what I have done because this is far from what I am used to...

Hey everyone...

2011-09-11T15:19:00.001+01:00

Hey there everyone,

I know what you are all thinking at the moment and I don't really have an excuse this time. I know that I have promised you my F1 pictures and videos from the Silverstone GP back in July, and other assorted titbits. I know that I am behind with a lot of things and all I can say is "sorry".

I have been studying a LOT recently as I am set to wrap up the A210 Approaching Literature module for the Open University. Next month I have a crucial exam that I need to pass, in order to complete the first of two Level 2 modules. As well as that, I have two new modules that will be starting on October 1st - the 2nd Level 2 module: A215 Creative Writing and my first Level 3 module, EA300 Children's Literature.

I know that blogging was my thing (and it still is!) I miss it too, especially when I find something that interests me as I tend to add new and interesting blogs whenever I can but it seems that I have very little time these days, what with work / studying and trying to finish my scripts and novel. It was obvious that something had to give and I am afraid that it has been this blog. However, I am not giving up on it as I have been blogging for a long time, and some of you have been following me since I started. (I still get emails from you asking me about adding something). This is just a check-in to keep you all up-to-date.

All I can say is "hang in there", I will try to spare up some free time to post something or rather. The next month or so will just be me studying, so I will leave a day free to update this blog. In the meantime, I am (at this moment in time) writing out a draft for a covering letter for a "Writer's" job which I came across online this morning. I am very much interested in this and I am pulling out ALL the stops to make the covering letter stand out above everyone else's. Of course this means that I will be swamped, if I am lucky to get it. It involves blogging, just not the kind you might expect from me. All I am going to say right now, is that some of you might be shocked...

ROBOPOCALYPSE

2011-07-20T20:16:00.000+01:00

I am about to start this - ROBOPOCALYPE - which I bought at the weekend. I have read some reviews and they all say that this is a good read. I am not going to say much about it or even promote it because I haven`t read it. I will let you all know what I think about it when I have finished it, but from what I have seen just flicking through the pages, it looks pretty good. I think that Steven Spielberg gas already bought the rights to the book and is hoping to make a film out of it soon... As for the idea, I think it reads pretty good. So give me a month or so and I will let you know what I think...

SONY`s COCK-UP is OUR GAIN

2011-07-20T20:12:00.000+01:00

OK so this may not be new news for all you PS3 owners / gamers out there but I have only just discovered this on my own and without the aid of any Internet related gaming sites to tell me...

So yes, 15GB is the FULL GAME and I am currentlt sitting here patiently while the game downloads to my PS3 as I don`t want it to suddenly stop working because SONY have decided to change their minds about giving away a £49.99 game for £FREE!!!

I think, although I may be wrong here but it might have something to do with the HACK a few months back which put all us PS3 gamers in the dark and back in the 90s, resulting in us playing with ourselves for months on end. (I shall leave that open for you lot to fill in your own puns...)

Or I may suspect that it is just a glitch that allows anyone, who played the inFamous 2 demo to get the game for £FREE? Either way I am not going to bitch or moan about this, as I welcome a £FREE game just for being left in the dark for months on end while SONY sort to repair the HACK and the damage that was caused. Just for that and having to cancel my Debit Card, in case my details were stolen, I think that this is something that the SONY Corporation can stretch to and not something that they should stop, just because it isn`t financially viable for them to do so.

BRITISH GRAND PRIX

2011-07-04T15:34:00.000+01:00

Here it is - my F1 tickets. I will be going on Saturday 9th and Sunday 10th, and I am actually looking forward to it. I will `try` and get a LOAD of photos and a couple of videos, which I will share with you all next Monday. If the iPhone battery permits it, then I will update my FB along the way.

A NEW CHALLENGE...

2011-07-04T15:31:00.000+01:00

That is the NEW area that I will be working in as of today. It has been a LONG time coming and finally I will be a lot closer to home. There will be no more long distance travelling. No more traffic jams to contend with. But most of all - there will be no more M25.

EXPECTATIONS...

2011-06-30T20:32:00.000+01:00

I have realised something, I know why I am why I am now. It is because I have changed, since I started working towards my BA (HONS) degree in English Literature.

My focus was once on the film, I used to watch it from a viewers perspective where I would see what they were doing but it didn`t register on the level that I am thinking on now. I used to see an idea or hear something that I thought was good or useful and then I would expand on it, for whatever idea / script that I was writing. Now it seems that I am firmly rooted on studying the dialogue and the direction that the movie is going in. Now I am expecting far TOO MUCH from something that is so simple. I have changed into a "monster", so to speak. It now has me looking at movies in a whole new different light and it has changed the way that I approach my writing. I have lost the `old me`, in terms of creative expression and I have turned into one of these writers who has to follow what they have been told.

And for that, I am pissed off.

___________________

Earlier I submitted my TMA for A210. I found that assignment to be difficult because it was the way that I perceived the question.

`A reader`s sympathies are invariably influenced by how a story is narrated.`

I could not get into the book (The Color Purple) because of the way that it was written. It was written in letter form and journal entries, as some of you may know if you have read it. That was what I found to be difficult.

I tried, God knows I did but I could not get my head around the book and the way that the author wrote it. It seemed like it was disjointed, that there was simply not follow through with the events that happened. She told it and that was that, we didn`t get to see what happened after or any other perspective - it was just that Celie character. I would go back and change what I have written / submitted, but you know what - I can`t be bothered. I am trying to take this degree thing serious but with TMAs that have no significance in what I am doing / writing, why am I bothering?

I know that every single writer has to start somewhere, that he or she has to learn the tricks of the trade and study the methods that must be used, in order to write a good piece of work but seriously, I am not going to write poetry and I am not going to write something that is structured in a load of letters. I am a bit annoyed. I feel that I am once more being distracted from what I should be doing. I know that my scripts lacked that certain grace about them, that they made no sense whatsoever and that the grammar was piss-poor so to speak, but I need to learn from my mistakes and doing this is something that is distracting me from my work. I just feel that even though I am learning a lot from these modules, they are keeping me from my writing and I look upon them as yet another unnecessary distraction that is keeping me away from getting out of the life that I hate, and into a better life where I am actually doing something that I love.

Like this. Blogging. Granted I haven`t been the best blogger in the world, and I know that I have slumped these past few years but you may have noticed that the quality of my work has improved since I started this degree. That much I can say but as for the rest, well I wish that I had taken a better course with this and maybe aimed at getting a diploma in Creative Writing. At least I would be actually taking part in the course now and not waiting for it to start.

EAGERLY AWAITING...

2011-06-30T19:36:00.000+01:00

Ghosts of Daylight : A Memoir of War and Love.

I have just read the article about this is the Daily Mail and it sounds like it is going to be a good read. Don`t ask me why, because I can`t exactly answer that question but it was the feeling that I just got when I read the article.

JUST FORGIVE THIS ONE...

2011-06-30T19:24:00.000+01:00

Another one bites the dust.
I`m not an alcoholic, though sometimes I wishes I was back in those days again...

Have you ever found yourself in a drunken state where you wished certain things would just go away?

I know I am right now. It is not easy facing the things that keep reoccuring in your life. The things that you thought wouldn`t repeat themselves have a habit of returning, when you least expect it. Recently I thought that I was getting back on track with things, that I was going to start the journey that many started back in their twenties but alas, it seems that life once more has a few old tricks to play on me. I am not saying that these things are a coincedence, because they aren`t. What I am saying is that they have a nasty habit of returning, when I least want them to. Is it too much to ask for a bit of happiness after everything that I have been though - especially when it comes to my career? Or rather, I wouldn`t say a career per-sa more a train wreck that happened so many years ago that now I am starting to see the destruction that it has caused.

Anyway. The reason for the blog title is pretty straight forward. The picture gives you some idea for the kind of "state" that I am in. I am not drunk, in the way that you stagger around in a drunken mess, unable to find your zip when you need a leak or the wall when you want to lean against it - NO. I am `merry` but at the same time, I am looking at what has happened at the bottle of another JD and I am feeling down. Writing this seems the only logical conclusion, because it was either going to be this or another entry in my journal...

METAPHORS, PHILOSOPHY AND LIFE IN GENERAL

2011-06-18T21:57:00.000+01:00

I am getting back on track now. It has taken a while but I feel that I am returning to the place where I was a while back. I am starting to question Life again, the Universe, the decisions that we make, the reasons we do things, God and Religion, and the very thing that keeps us going. This is because I am looking and trying to finish my script - #4 : Highway to Hell (working title). It has been a ride and a half these last year or so, as I have been trying to keep an equilibrium going between all the things in my life. It has been difficult to maintain all these things at the same time because I was never really good at balancing different things. I guess you could say that I became unstuck with them all... and I caught so caught up in one thing, that when I tried to do something else my heart / head just wasn`t in it. It is all to do with priorities and I was just never one for knowing which was more important. I guess that I have found out now.

So yes, I am getting back to facing these age old questions. It was something that I wrote about a few years ago. (I have just had a quick look - "was it really that long ago?") WOW!!! Time flies and look where we are now... Anyway, I am delving back into these questions and the one thing that I always find myself coming back to, is the one thing that draws so many people`s opinions - RELIGION or more specifically, "the actual presence of a God-like entity?" That is the main element that I am have in my script, whether God actually exists right now because at the moment there seems to be a divide between in the forums as well as the websites. (There are TOO MANY to list here.) It is a worthy debate but then I look upon things with a different mind, as I am slowly becoming a writer I am questionning things more because it seems that the literary world is full of these so-called questions. Every writer seems to have his or her say on these matters and it is the same out there in the world. God is the one thing that many people seem to be divided about because the more science uncovers the mysteries of Creation and the origins of Life, the further away Religion seems to be. It`s not like Religion can come up with new and exciting things to disprove what is being discovered, because it is a book grounded in the old world. It is written in stone and no one can say otherwise, only what is printed inside the Bible.

I think that the more humanity / mankind unlocks, outside of this planet the more knowledgable we become. Adam and Eve, if you believe the story, took a bite out of the Apple because they wanted to know more about everything that was around them. But as you have read, God forbid them to do so and when Lucifer tempted Eve, she did just that and Adam followed suit. It is in everyone`s nature to be nosey and curious. Like the children that we see and hear, their ongoing curiousity is amazing. We hear funny stories of what they have said and we laugh at them, because adults we know better. But it is that childlike innocence that we have all lost over the course of our lives. We grow up and we distance ourselves from our childhood, because we have become adults and with that comes the responsibility of becoming one. What I am trying to get here, is that being curious about what is around us is something that we all take for granted thesedays. It seems that we are so caught up n our daily lives that we forget what is around us.

I got into that frame of mind for a while and there wasn`t a day where I didn`t think about these sorts of things. I got so wrapped up that I could only see what was a couple of metres in front of me. I never gazed upon the trees as they exploded into spring, I forgot what it was like to hear to Birds singing in the morning, or the feeling you got when it was a raining. I seemed to have slipped past all that for a while and you know what, I didn`t like it one bit. I became soulless for a while and it showed. I was miserable, depressed and a pain in the arse. But that was just because of work and the long journey that I was making, the lack of money that I was earning and the the fact that trying to get a new job was difficult.

So here I am. Questionning the very thing that has `created` us. I don`t think that I will fully understand any of this - LIFE. We are here because we are. It might be the work of some unseen force or it could just be a fluke, an accident that we just happened to come into existance. Will we ever know the truth and if we do, do you think that it will make any difference? We believe in our own thing, yet it seems that if other`s believe in it then it OK but if they disagree, well... that`s an entirely different story. But that`s good isn`t it. It`s good that we can agree to disagree or disagree to agree. We all have our own thoughts, beliefs and opinions. Otherwise we`d all be boring old farts who sat about and moaned about the price of fish and the weather. So yes. We might fall through the cracks every so often but we rise up to return to what we know and loved... and we might even appear a little wiser from the experience.

All I am trying to say, is that I am gathering up a LOT of questions and some really stimulating controversal theories and I am placing them in my script. I like to think that this is going to be my deeply thought out piece where it may just answer a few of life`s little questions. OR... it might just stir the pot a bit and shake a few branches, to make a few enemies who just want to argue for arguements sake. All I want to do, is write something that I was passionate about a while back... Religion is one thing, the Universe is another, Fate and Destiny are both intertwined that it begs the question of whether our lives are already predetermined or if it is just a coincedence that these things happen. If there is another realm, such as Heaven or Hell awaiting us, wouldn`t it be nice to know and if there was, what would happen to us as a species? These sorts of questions can be found all over the place and there a lot of wild / proven and accountable facts / stories and theories. So mine will be on what I preceive them to be, but I will have thought about it long and hard. Because that`s what we do. I won`t just babber on without thinking about it, I will give it some thought and who knows - I may just unlock the secrets of the Universe and Life as we know it. Then what? Will that allow me to ascend to the next level of evolution or will I stay the same, just more enlightened that I already am.

It will be interesting to see what I come up with. When I do, you`ll all be the first to know and who knows, maybe that will stir up some healthy debate among the ranks??? It will be interesting to see...

I LIKE A GOOD BLOG...

2011-06-18T21:18:00.000+01:00

I like to have a look around to see what everyone is nattering about and then I just came across this, in my blog travels. It`s called `Oh Whatever Never Mind` and I liked it.

AND SO IT CONTINUES...

2011-06-18T19:24:00.000+01:00

Yet again my bloody iPhone is playing up. This time round I cannot access my photos. I can access the APP that has them, but as you can see the icon is ABOVE where the `Album` label is. All this has happened AFTER I just downloaded the iTunes update. After that annoyance the other month with the GPS settings, I am starting to think that this definitely ISN`T me now and that there is something SERIOUSLY wrong with this thing. Granted, if I take it back to get fixed this will be the third time and the way that it`s going, the iPhone will go the way of the X-BOX360 - boxed up and thrown into the cupboard where it will gather dust and never be used again. I thought that it was me, that technology simply refused to work around me but now I see that there are SMALL software glitches that hamper my every move and it seems that I find them, without even trying. Maybe I should get a job over at Apple just testing for glitches because it seems that I would be good at it. I seem to have that kind of luck where it just happens without even trying...

MOVIE IDEA...

2011-06-18T19:09:00.001+01:00

OK. So this wasn`t the best film ever - Mystery Science Theatre, but the idea is what interests me and as I watch `Battle of Los Angeles` on SYFY+1, that idea springs to mind. What fun would it be to watch a movie with a group of good mates, a few beers in hand and ripping the shit out of the bad movies or whatever movie there is. It would be like one of those movie based reviews that you see all over the place, but instead of just reading it, you can watch the film at the same time - except you`ll be watching and hearing a group of 30-something guys give their initial thoughts and feelings about what we`re watching.

[[ I have just had a look on the interweb and I have come across these guys - Film Pigs - I am currently downloading the podcast to hear / see what these guys think. As well as The John Madsen Movie Commentary blog. ]]

So I am watching `Battle of Los Angeles`, well I was as it has just finished. But as I ripped the shit out of it on Facebook, that idea came to me. (As well as others.)

(The ALIEN KILLING MACHINE for `Battle of Los Angeles` looks like an expresso machine gone mad. You know, like that other movie where the machines go mad - Maximum Overdrive.)

(In a film where the ALIENS are mostly airbased, this chick brings a sword to the fight. She probably has seen HEROES a couple of times and thought that HIRO was cool when he wielded his sword.)

(... and then there`s this fella. "Why is it that any writer thinks that ALIENS have three fingers?")

_____

"If someone wrote that piece of shit and pitched it to a studio, who subsequently bought the script and made the film, makes he think that I should be writing tacky scripts like that." Obviously, my talents could be put to use to (coughs) write these kinds of scripts. I mean, it`s not that easy to write something like `Battle of Los Angeles` is it? Hell, if someone buys the script and makes it into a movie then they writer must be laughing all the way to the bank. I am seriously missing on some pocket money.

"Does anyone have a website or a YouTube account that rips the shit out of movies, where they watch the film and give humorously comments on the film?" Is there, or will I have to jump on the webnet to have a look? That sounds like a good idea to me, of course that would mean trying to circle around the legal stuff with copyright and all that stuff, but getting a couple of mates together and having a few beers while we record a funny video watching a crap or average, or below par movie sounds like a Friday night that we all used to de as teenagers.

It`s just an idea is all, but I personally think that it would make for good website and just for a laugh YouTube channel. Of course it will probably be shutdown within a week or so, because the powers-to-be will have seen it and seen that there are a million and one copyright infringes, leaving us with nothing to stand on and time being wasted on such an endeavour. But it would be good.

CONCLUSION

2011-06-18T08:56:00.001+01:00

Woohoo, I've won yet again.

I might have won £2.50 on last night's Euro-Millions but the realisation of me winning the BIG time is impossible. It seems that I am ignoring the TRUTH, in the fact that I will make my money the old fashioned way instead of winning it the easy way - by my own doing.

Winning the Lottery through 'Good Fortune and Good Luck' is OK. I could easily give my life for pleasure if I came into a few million however, I would eventually become bored because I would be doing stuff and not having anything to show for it - except photos and memories.

I don't knock that because if I could see the world with what I had won it would take the rest of my life. I have always said, that if I saw the world I would write about it and that I would spend the rest of my life travelling. That to me would be something. To be free and on the road, to experience new places and meet different people, would truly be something to marvel and behold but I have come to the logical conclusion. I am putting off what I should be doing more of - WRITING.

Sarah said to me the other day that "It's all part of the learning experience!" My question being that I always get stuck on dialogue and structure because I don't think of dialogue as I do when I am having a normal conversation with someone, I write differently?

Don't ask me why that is, it just is. So that's why I am a little behind on my target. That and the fact that I haven't properly structured out my plots, but that's just part of the learning curve when you start out as a writer. I tend to write from the very beginning and not backwards, like some writers do. I find that working from start to finish with an idea allows me to 'walk the path'. I usually have "no idea how the ending will turn out" because I have just come up with the initial idea.

But I am "back on track" now. It's just a matter of knowing what to do as a writer. Knowing 'how to structure' a script or a novel in a way where it makes sense is all part of being a proper writer. I could go and write something that doesn't make sense or is just cobbled together, but that would lose many people when they come read it.

NO! I would rather take a 'bit longer' so I get it right. I want to give up the day job and do something that I can appreciate, something that I have done which will enrich my life and not do something that someone else wants me to do.

I guess that I need to find that equal balance, between work / home and writing, so I can use my time more effectively. Because right now I can only write when I am 'in that moment'. Most of the time I struggle to put pen to paper but I guess that's just part of the process... ?

______________________

This episode has been brought to you by the letters - G and T.

______________________

I am posting this Blog using the 'BlogPress' app on my iPhone.

Which is pretty good now that they have updated it. Now you don't have an excuse to blog on the go, because it is as versatile as the Internet version.

Location:Wickfield Ash,Chelmsford,United Kingdom

PET HATES.

2011-06-17T21:47:00.001+01:00

You know what I hate the most? It`s the thoughts that you have which will not go away. Thoughts about the past... That is the problem with me - I am a PRISONER of my own past because it is the one thing that I cannot escape from. I am always thinking about it and what has passed, instead of what will be and what is to come. For me, it seems that my mind is well and truely stuck in the past and it seems that I am reluctant to simply let go. Don`t ask me why that is with me, but it is, What am I talking about? I`m talking about this - broken hearts and love. "Have you ever been in love with someone who never returned the feeling?" We are all guilty of doing that. (Some more than others.) It all started on Wednesday,with the season 3 finale of FRINGE, which was on SKY1. The moment I saw 'future' Olivia Dunham (Anna Torv) with her long blonde hair tucked behind her ears like that, sent my mind immediately into another place. It switched onto a different track, another frame of thought if you will.

I was no longer concentrating or concerned about what was going on in the last episode of season 3, but fixated with someone else entirely. I was thinking about "her" - Helen. For those who know me, I was hung up on her for quite a LONG time. (Just under 8 eights if you must ask.) It was a one way affair of the heart because I had built her up in my head as someone who I wanted to be with. How was I to know back then that she was manipulating me into a position where she could get what she wanted out on me, without the need to ask anything. All she had to do was batter her eyelids and look at me, in the way that she did and I would simple crumble. It was something that I am not proud of doing and I missed quite a bit of my life doing other things. I missed out on a FEW good (possible) chances with other women, but being me back then I simply pushed them out of my mind.

It is a shame that I did not follow my head instead of my heart because there was one particulat woman who I liked very much, and I saw her the other day when I was driving downtown. She was the girl who walked past Budget-Rent-A-Car when I was working there, back in 98/99. She always smiled at me and always seemed to take her time when she walked past, as if she was waiting for me to make the move and ask her out. I contemplated doing that MANY times over but I simply wasn`t as confident as I was with other women, than I was with Helen. I guess that I can easily make friends with a woman because I don`t see them as a conquest, merely a member of the opposite sex with whom I can have a good conversation with without the complicated factors coming into the equation - like sex. But hey, we are all HUMAN here.........

... I must make one thing straight here. I am committed to my girlfriend Sarah, and I am only mentioning this in my blog because it is the one thing that has been driving me crazy these last few days. It seems that I am always hung-up with the past, at times, ignored what was going on around me and that has also left me with the inability to look to the future.

PICTURE OF THE WEEK...

2011-06-15T17:12:00.000+01:00

I`ll tells ya, who here gets depressed when they pass a place like this?

I know that I do and I am trying my BEST to get a script (or two) finished by the end of the year. I know, I know, I promised that I would have them finished by now but I have been somewhat delayed by my OU Coursework.

But getting back to this. The iron-wrought gates and the long sweeping driveway, covering a lot of arces is something that is a life-long dream of mine. We all dream about living a HUGE house with an overly LARGE garden and the best we can do, is a modest two up / two down terraced house. But the way things are at the moment, it looks like most people will just end up renting for the meantime because of house prices and the fact that most jobs are not giving it`s employees a payrise.

However I am not letting this get me down, in fact I have pasted it onto my background wallpaper on my laptop to spur me on. Just looking at the gates makes me wonder just how BIG that house is. We all have something that we want to strive toward and own, before our time on this Earth is up. Mine is not only having a house that I can call a home, but have somewhere that I don`t have to move out of when the landlord wants to sell. I guess that one day my dream will become a REALITY, but I need to work pretty hard to achieve that...

IS THIS THE FASHION THESE DAYS???

2011-06-15T17:04:00.000+01:00

OK. So there I was, working over in Borehamwood and this young girl (late teens) got out of her Dad`s car wearing this. (As well as a denim jacket.) I know that I am not one for fashion, women`s fashion at that as I still am a man`s man who wears his tried and trusted combo of jeans and trainers. (Which isn`t that bad, just bad because "certain people" make it out to be bad. Hey, if you`re comfortable then go with the what you like.) But let`s not get into that debate just yet. Though I am starting to make a conscious effort to look older and more distinguished - i.e: shirts and smart looking shoes.

So anyway, all I could do was look at what she was wearing, because I could not believe it. Have we slipped back into the 80s again? Or is fashion merely rotating eras? I suppose that if you have the confidence to wear those sorts of things, then why shouldn`t you. I guess that we have because I could NOT find a decent looking shirt to wear in any of the shops downtown. WHY? I hear you ask, couldn`t I find a suitable looking shirt. I`ll tell you why, it`s because I simply don`t like the style of them. They look like they did back in the 80s and I am kinda glad that I didn`t have to wear them, but now... I don`t know. Maybe I am just so far behind in fashion that I am shocked about what is out there. (Says the man who had sported a mullet for decades, and now that mullet has been retired.)

GREEN LANTERN - Mmm???

2011-06-15T16:55:00.000+01:00

After watching that `GOD-AWFUL` movie X-MEN : FIRST CLASS the other week, I seriously do not want to sit through another DIRE comicbook movie. (Don`t get me wrong, I love a good comicbook movie but they have to be spot-on when it comes to adapting them. There have been the odd few that have slipped by the weighside and they have been, well shall I say a little poor. But the recent Marvel attempts have been pretty good - all except THOR and probably CAPTAIN AMERICA, in a couple of months time?)

GREEN LANTERN is almost upon us over here in Blighty and from what I have seen, I am going to give it a MISS. For me it is plain and simple, Ryan Reynolds just doesn`t suit the role. (Pretty much like Chris Evans won`t suit the CAPTAIN AMERICA role either, and I am not looking forward to that one.)

When I think about Hal Jordan, I think about someone who is a LOT more serious and given the fact that the character single-handedly destroyed the DC Universe back in ZERO HOUR, goes to show you that particular movie studios are looking for laughs and thrills, more than serious acting and storylines in their comicbook franchises.

I guess that I will just have to wait to see GREEN LANTERN when it is aired for FREE on SKY MOVIES.

BATMAN`S BATMOBILE - BATMAN LIVE

2011-06-15T16:47:00.000+01:00

I have just watched the BATMAN LIVE - BATMOBILE video and I must say, it really doesn`t do him justice. Seriously, it doesn`t. When you compare this to the other Batmobiles, they all screamed fear.

As you can see, the BATMOBILE is sleek but it doesn`t look menacing enough to prowl the streets of GOTHAM CITY.

Raining on a Sunday afternoon.

2011-06-12T16:14:00.001+01:00

I do like days like these.
It's pouring out(side) and I am lounging about in Sarah's conservatory engaged in a spot of writing.

I am mixing three pieces of writing at the moment :
• my Serial Killer novel,
• my (newly) altered dark fantasy, which was going to originally be a children's fantasy but I want some blood and gore in it, just like the series on SKY Atlantic - "what's it called?" Game of Thrones?
• as well as my 'BOON' animation that I developed this year
• my 'Dark Thriller' which I started drafting yesterday and has a Stephen King vibe to it
• and my 'Alien/Zombie' idea.

You may say that it is a lot to do, but I find that switching between ideas is better because I find it difficult to concentrate on just the one idea for a long space of time.

So yes, I like Sunday's like this. It may be raining outside but I am putting it to use. Plus, I find it calming... Hopefully I will get somewhere with my writing this year? (Fingers crossed!)

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Location:Mt Ave,Southend-on-Sea,United Kingdom

Doctor Who images

2011-06-05T11:37:00.001+01:00

I thought that I'd add these..

They're the translations for the baby's name, in Doctor Who.

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Image of Yesterday

2011-06-05T11:01:00.001+01:00

Taken at yesterday's Medieval Fair at Colchester's Castle Park.

It was a good day out for us both and we got a little sunburnt. Even though it was a cloudy, we still felt the sun and the fayre was really busy.

The Medieval Fayre was really good. It was enjoyable to see medieval re-enactments and traditional costumes.

There were Archery displays, Falconry displays, Medieval fights, carpentry displays, and puppet theatre.

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PS3 + SEGA = WOW

2011-06-04T08:08:00.001+01:00

At least there's one thing worthwhile coming out of this "Welcome back" package and that's this - Sega's "Streets of Rage 2" - from the 90s.

The thing I loved most about Streets of Rage 2 was the gameplay. It was one of those horizontal beat 'em ups, which had a pretty good soundtrack and some shit hot characters, with deadly special moves.

I seriously cannot remember the last time I played it. I believe it maybe when I first had the Sega Megadrive, back in the 90s. Most of you young whippersnappers won't remember the heyday of actually going round your friends house to play videogames, because now we have online gaming. Which takes away the defining qualities of friendship and gaming, because most of you are happy to be online.

Back in the day, there was a group of us hanging out at each other's houses playing videogames - Simon Clift, Adam Thorogood, Andrew Eley and me, having a laugh and later on, drinking beer and smoking weed.

(I've just remembered one good, expense memory where we all chipped in to buy the Japanese import of Super Bomberman for the SNES. THAT dear folks, was the most expensive videogame that I have ever played. The cost included the Japanese version, which didn't come out officially until a year later, and also came with the Multitap convertor which allowed 4 players to play simultaneously. You may mock this but back then, that was the only way we could all play videogames together without having to wait our turn. Christ, there were a LOT of lost hours spent playing that game.)

Those days are long gone, but with the onset of HD enhanced gameplay and the tweaks taken out - such as that annoying slowdown that most of the 90s games suffered from - allows us 'old skool' gamers to once more rejoice and revel in the past.

All the while, never forgetting the controls or what lies ahead. It's funny how you forget certain memories of the past, but the moment you see an intro screen and faced with an old game, you instinctively know what to do.

I guess it is part of the 'core memory'. The one thing we all rely on.

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So you don't have any more excuses about needing to go home to blog. Now you have the Internet version in the palm of your hand...

PS3 Movies out to rent...

2011-06-04T07:47:00.001+01:00

I delved back into the PS3 Movie store to see what was out, because I have a soft spot for the lesser known movies that come out. You know what I mean, they have a good premise and it sounds like it's going to be good but the money side of things ruins it... Back in the day I used to devour these movies from my local Blockbusters, but I grew weary of scratched disks and so I gave up with them. Recently I have been toying with the idea of renting them via the PS3 and with the arrival of LOVEFiLM, I will once more be able to indulge my passion for lesser known movies.

Below I have selected a FEW movies which I think would be good to watch. I am merely looking at them with an eye for a potentially good storyline, plot and well-rounded characters. There is also the potential for some good action scenes, but like all these lesser known flicks, chances are they won't be as good. However, I am willing to take that risk... So here goes.

Paradox Soldiers looks like a good £4 rental because it sounds intriguing. "Soldiers from the future who come back to the past, to alter the future", what can go wrong with that? I mean, seriously, what could go wrong with that? Reese managed to do it in The Terminator.

Seconds Apart also sounds like it could be a good serial killer thriller / horror, with two telekinetic brothers who kill for fun turning on each other? Mmm, that does sound like fun! Some possible gruesome kill scenes, a few good quick moments of hilarious laughs at the cost of innocent lives, and a potentially hellraising finale with the two brothers. I bet that would be good to watch?

The Hit List. What is it someone said to me one day in a bar? I can't quite remember, but this might jog my memory. The Hit List could potentially be a good little film, that might have some interesting scenes and possibly, some good acting between the two main characters. I am curious to know what will happen.

Bloodrayne? I know what you're going to say. I have to ask though, will it have what's-her-name in it? You know, that actress that starred in the first Bloodrayne. (Bloody hell, what's her name?) I had to watch the first one because she is hot. Anyway, Bloodrayne 3 sounds promising. A Vampire Hunter against the Nazi undead! I mean, come on, what could go wrong with that? Huh! Vampires. The Undead. Nazies. Sounds like a good combo of arse-kicking to me.

"Dude, what's in the box?" I know that I would have to ask him? I am curious to sneak a peek and if I did, I bet something horrible would happen to me. Grizzly ends come to those who snoop about where they're not welcome. Needle sounds like it could be sick and twisted. A possible worthy addition to the torture porn list of Saw and Hostel.

The Ministers. You know what? I'm going to nip out later to get a PSN card and I am going to rent this, because I like my Police Thrillers and this sounds like it's going to be a good viewing. It could possibly be in the same light as Seven, dark and gritty with some severely disturbing characters, all wrapped up in deep motives and worrying consequences. Yes. I will give this a look-in later...
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PS3 Movies

2011-06-04T07:07:00.001+01:00

Oh WOW, look folks three free movies to download as a "Welcome back" gift from SONY...

... oh no, hold on, wait a bloody minute, what they playing at here. They're not FREE, they're bloody rentals. Rentals I tell ya. The nerve of it.

Final Fantasy : The Spirits Within
Resident Evil : Degeneration
House of the Dead 2 : Dead Aim

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PS3 Accounts

2011-06-04T07:01:00.001+01:00

I am glad that I "created" a couple of global PS3 accounts because they have now paid off...

I just logged on to see what was 'available' over on the U.S Store and yet again, I was sorely disappointed with what was in offer. Another huge letdown and nothing to show for it...

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PS3 Schanighans

2011-06-04T06:31:00.001+01:00

Is this it?

I am reading, via the Internet / Facebook and Twitter about the "Welcome back" goodies that await PS3 users.

I have waited, and waited, and waited but I still CANNOT log on to the PSN? Why is that?

Has the issue been sorted or is there STILL work being carried out?

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HOW DID I GET TO THE BBQ ON SATURDAY? DON`T ASK!

2011-06-02T16:33:00.002+01:00

HAIRCUT! HAIRCUT!!

2011-06-02T16:31:00.000+01:00

You all know what I mean by the title of this blog. You were probably teased when you went to School the next day after having a haircut. I know I did and when I was younger, I had my haircut like that. In fact, it was way shorter than that and after I was teased, I decided to grow it long and I kept it that way. Funnily enough that was where I got the "Mullet" part of my nickname from. But like all things in life, time has finally caught up with me and it has hit me HARD, where it hurts. As you can see, I am losing my hair and I am quite saddened by it. My hair was everything to me and it still is, but I have had to sit up and take stock that I am not as young as I used to be, and as I approach the BIG 40 things will start to fall off. (Well I kinda hope that nothing falls off but you get the jist of what I am saying.) Of course the BIG 40 is still 4 years away, but it`s the run-up to it that starts kicking off the small troubles and the minor woes... Anyway, it has been a week now since I got my haircut and I am SLOWLY starting to get used to it. I have, surprisingly enough, received a LOT of comments about "how young I now look". Which is funny because I was thought that I looked young and now I look even younger, which is a good thing as when I am older, I will still have it where it counts - my looks.

TRANSFORMERS G1 JETFIRE

2011-06-02T16:18:00.000+01:00

Ever since my Cousin Lee broke my TRANSFORMER Jetfire toy back in the 80s, I have not been the same. I loved that toy and my childhood was brutally crushed when that happened.

(OK so I am going a bit far with the whole "life crushing" / devestating event during my development, but still it was a cool TRANSFORMER to have because it was really BIG, and it was a Jet Fighter.)

Now I am scowering eBay for it. I have seen a FEW good prospects, but the stumbling block has been the auctions where the price has just skyrocketted. In fact it has gone for such ridiculous prices that it just puts me off.

Take this one for example, (see PIC below), £700 odd quid for a MINT CONDITION original 1980s Jetfire isn`t something that I would pay. Sure it is something that I would like, to preserve that memories of old but I still wouldn`t pay that sort of money.

I am looking at one which is going for £200, which is something that I can easily consider.

Doctor Who

2011-06-02T16:08:00.001+01:00

OK so I am still trying to get my head around Saturday's Doctor Who episode. I have now watched it THREE times and I am still confused?

When was Amy kidnapped?
By my calculations, it couldn't have been in the factory.

Either I am half asleep or losing it, or I completely missed it. I still can't see it... I know she was a copy but still.

(Sigh) I guess that I will have to wait and see this Saturday, maybe then we'll get to the bottom of it?

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The wound from Saturday

2011-06-02T16:02:00.001+01:00

Well I now bear an uncanny resemblance to Marcel Marceau because the wound has healed... kinda healed, that is.

I have posted this Blog using the 'BlogPress' app on my iPhone. "Which is pretty good when you're on the go, but now as versatile as the Internet version. But hey, you can't have it all."

Injuries at family gatherings

2011-05-28T18:27:00.001+01:00

Ouch! Sitting a few feet away from an open fire isn't a common thing to do when you're at a family gathering. But whatever you do, don't let someone place an empty Coca Cola bottle to it. This will happen if you are unfortunate enough to be in the firing line... It stings a little but at least I came off lucky!

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But hey, you can't have it all." ))

The CORPS comicstrip

2011-05-26T16:20:00.001+01:00

Back in the 90s, in a video game magazine called C+VG (Computer and VideoGames magazine) there featured a comicstrip called THE CORPS.

They were a group of Space Marines who were called to a planet, where they faced a menace. (I believe the planet had something living inside it, like a supercomputer which controlled whatever they were up against.)

I cannot for the life of me find this RARE gem. It was a really good comicstrip and the blood & guts was insane. I have hunted high and low for mint copies of this magazine. I have even trundles through the Internet, in the slim hope that someone had scanned it.

Alas, my search has drawn a big fat NOTHING!

I probably will never be able to read it again...

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Essex gets a RAW deal...

2011-05-22T18:05:00.001+01:00

A few days ago, I read an article in the Essex Chronicle about the raw deal that Essex received in the Great Britain edition of the Lonely Planet travel guide.

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/england/southeast-england/essex

This is just a small extract but I will update this blog when I get home. As a county Essex is not as bad as people make out. Sure it has it's fair case of stereotypical typecasts living here but they are few and far between. For someone to justly label something without even looking closely, is pretty unfair. OK, so it doesn't take long for me to see those stereotypical people where I am, but the county has much more to offer than that. As a whole I like what the county has to offer and everything is within easy distance.

Right now I am just thinking off the top of my head but rest assured, the minute I get home this blog will be updated. There's so much that I want to share with you and those of you who have probably read the book, may already be put off. However, I want you to see what is on offer and what you are missing out on. Just because a well-respected travel guide says 'this' and 'that' about the county, doesn't mean that you should strike it from the list.

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Location:Southend-on-Sea, U.K

The End of the World? Was it f##k!

2011-05-22T17:52:00.001+01:00

So yes here we are, a mere 13+ hours on, from that prediction of the World Ending. It's become so old and tired now that no-one batters an eyelid. If the world was going to end, I seriously think that no-one would actually panic or worry, if we were told because we've been told so many times that we just shrug our shoulders and carry on.

Today was like most weekends, except for the high winds. (Which is quite unusual this time of year, but then that Volcano in Iceland has just erupted, so I'm guessing that the weather's going to be screwy.) Aside from that the weather was lovely and we (that's Sarah, my girlfriend) had a nice afternoon out, where we went to Tropical Wings Zoo then we drove through the county to the Pub and had an early supper.

I rarely say this, but life is there to be enjoyed and not squandered in doing nothing or worrying all the time. We don't have that much time here and using it to do "what ever the hell we want" is something we all need to embrace. Having someone there beside us is even better, because we get to share it with them.

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Location:Southend-on-Sea, U.K

PSN UPDATE

2011-05-18T12:11:00.000+01:00

Well it is about time!

This is pretty much the first proper apology from SONY in a while, since the PSN went down. Sure there have been blogs about what has been going on but that has been about it. I have only received one email from SONY with regards to the network being shutdown and that has been about it. I have also just read that once the PSN is up and running again, there will be complimentary offerings in the forms of LITTLEBIGPLANET, inFAMOUS and WIPEOUT HD. That`s not what I would call a suitable offering, seeing as LITTLEBIGPLANET is £FREE anyway with the PLAYSTATION PLUS membership. As for inFAMOUS and WIPEOUT HD, I have them already so what am I getting out of this???

FERRET RACING!?

2011-05-10T18:33:00.000+01:00

On my way back to site this morning from Stevenage, I took a detour to avoid the congestion on the London-bound A1 and I passed this banner on the roundabout leading to Codicote. I saw it out of the corner of my eye and I had to take a second look, after the first made me think to myself that I was seeing things. I decided to spin the van around and get a closer. It sounds like a good day out and having just looked at the website, I think that next weekend I am going to take Sarah out for the day. I mean, come on who would pass up the opportunity to see jockeys trying to ride Ferrets!? Yeah I`m joking but who hasn`t seen Camel racing?

TV MOVIES ARE GOOD FUN TO WATCH, BUT...

2011-05-10T17:50:00.005+01:00

When it comes to TV movies, I will give them a go but they have to have a decent enough storyline, if they want me to sit there and give it my undivided attention. The storyline has to be entertaining enough to make me "think" that I want to sit there and give it a go, but then if there isn`t anything else on tele then I will watch it anyway because there is always something within it that is good. Sure the movie itself might be a load of old tosh but it is necessary to watch these kinds of movies, because they serve as an example of "what not to do" when it comes to scriptwriting. (I have included the trailer, just for a laugh.)

I decided to give this a go, which coincedentially had it`s premiere on Channel 5 this afternoon - STRANGER WITH MY FACE - here in the UK. By the end, I was pretty disgusted by the result and I sat there afterward trying to get my head around the shit ending. I say `shit ending` because it was just that. (If you don`t want me the ending ruined, then don`t read on.) Lia is the twin sister who resides in an institution and `learns` to astral project herself so she can see her other twin sister, Laurie. In the end, Lia is in fact the `evil` twin sister and inhabits Laurie`s body in order to escape the institution. Laurie is trapped between worlds and tries to force her `evil` sister out, but it doesn`t work, so Laurie makes everyone believe that her boy is being used by her `evil` twin. In the end, Lia has nowhere to go and decides that Laurie cannot have here body back, so she jumps. Now here`s the kick in the teeth - when she hits the water, Lia immediately forced out of her body and Laurie returns. Later on the Doctor calls to tell Laurie that Lia has died and that they cremated her. Problem is, Laurie is Lia`s next-of-kin and the Doctor said that they just went ahead and cremated her!? Huh, can people actually go ahead and do those kinds of things without written or verbal consent? I think not. But that wasn`t my grievance with the movie, it was the bit where she jumps off the cliff. That was the copout and none of it made any bloody sense. The whole `astral projection` idea and a `psychotic` twin sister was pretty far fetched however, if it was executed properly then it would have been a good movie and I would have had a real copout ending, where Laurie possesses her twins body / escapes from the institution with the help of the teenage with the cane and confronted her twin on the cliff. Now that would have been a better ending, instead of us having to watch Laurie`s soul appearing in front of them - sigh. It was a bit leap of faith for me and a bit of a stretch as well. If you are completely stumped by what I have just said or for some unknown reason, that too doesn`t make any bloody sense, then I have added the CLIP below, which is on YouTube before anyone moans at me for copyright infringement. You don`t have to watch it if you don`t want to. The ending was shit, if I have to be blunt but you will get the point that I am trying to make...

QUOTE OF THE DAY...

2011-05-07T14:45:00.000+01:00

"People aren`t carved out of marble. We`re all works in progress. The trick is to define ourselves, rather than let outside influences define us."

(J.A. Konrath, 2004 - Whiskey Sour, page 198.)

Saturday afternoon...

2011-05-07T14:40:00.000+01:00

So here I am. I am not in Southend this weekend because I felt like I needed to have a weekend apart, also I needed to get some "me time" in with my writings. I tried to do it this week, but having to work a load of extra early starts, kinda hit me towards the end of the days. So I though that I would give this weekend a chance to catch up on what I haven`t done in a few weeks. I am taking a break at the moment and I thought that I would jump on here to give a couple of updates on stuff that has caught my eye. I am making a bit of progress with my writings, especially the crime novel that I am attempting. It was originally going to be a script, but having read a couple of crime novels in the last few months, I thought that it would be better if I penned a novel. Right now I am trying to work out how I can introduce the killer. I am thinking of an original, gruesome introduction that I could have. I want to have it nice and gory, so that it sticks in the mind. Nothing too gory because that would alienate a few readers and it might even put them off, so I am looking for something inbetween. Something that would induce a stomach-churning sensation but not kick it off. I do have a good spin on things. But it is a case of seeing IF it all works out. I am feeling confident, but like I said - "we`ll just have to wait and see..."

A215 - CREATIVE WRITING (OU)

2011-05-07T14:32:00.000+01:00

I have just signed up to the CREATIVE WRITING course for the Open University, which starts in October. £700 is pretty good when you look at what is involved and given that I could have done it a lot cheaper, if I had just gone down to my local bookshop and bought a couple of creative writing books, but that`s not the point of studying. If I had gone down the cheap route, then I wouldn`t have learnt as much. I find that the OU tutorials give you a little more insight into the course that you would if you were reading a book. Plus, it will help me to understand where I am going wrong in my writings. I haven`t hit another `brickwall` so to speak, more I am in a muddle as to the rest of it. I have the basic layout and all I need is to fill it in, and that`s where I am faltering.

CASTLE - CLOSE ENCOUNTERS

2011-05-07T14:22:00.002+01:00

Hey. Does anyone watch CASTLE? I am a BIG FAN of the series and I thoroughly enjoy sitting down to watch it. Sure it is pretty obvious at the start who was involved in the killing, but it is the way that they get there which keeps me entertained. It`s not everyday that I find a crime show that entertains me, because most just bore me to death. I mean, how many times have you watched CSI and thought to yourself - "here we go again." I know that I did and I gave up watching it. But anyway, enough of that. Back to CASTLE. The reason I like watching it is the fact that Nathan Fillion cracks me up, but he`s also a writer and as you all know, one day I will also become one. And the other fact that I like the show, is that Detective Kate Beckett (played by Stana Katic) is a real HOTTIE!!!

I have just caught Wednesday`s episode `Close Encounters of the Murderous Kind` and it was a really good episode. Once more the writing was spot-on and there were a few references to The X-Files. [Above is a CLIP of the last few seconds of the episode.] "Why have I included this?" I hear you ask. Well, there was a `brief` piece at the end which got my attention. I was keen-eyed when I watched it and I saw something that eerily looked like a lightning flash. "A lightning flash!?" I hear you ask. Well yes dear reader, a lightning flash which was the same one (or neat abouts) to the one that The X-Files used just before `The Truth Is Out There` appeared.

Don`t believe me, have a look for yourself and if you still want to argue the fact - I have included the still PIC below of the lightning bolt that flashed up at the end of CASTLE and lightning bolt in The X-Files above. I couldn`t get the SKY+ / movie clip to stop at the right place, but you get a general idea when you look at the two. OK, so they`re not but the THUD at the end is spot-on.

Anyway. I`m not trying to make a debate out of this or anything like that. I just thought that it would be nice to share something like this with you. I thought it was a funny episode and the homages to various shows, within shows keeps going. CASTLE is not just visiting The X-Files, but there have been an assortment of Firefly references as well.

POETRY? I HATE IT!!!

2011-05-06T14:30:00.000+01:00

That was the assignment that I had to hand in yesterday and you know what, it was hard. Trying to find 1500 words isn`t as easy as you would think. Somehow I managed to write it but I was no mean feat. At one point I thought to myself "is this really what I want to continue studying?"

Don`t get me wrong, I like studying OU because I can work it around my life instead of needing to find the time to actually attend college / uni. This way I can study in my own time and at my own pace. The problem is, this assignment wasn`t what I wanted to write because I had a good viewpoint on what it was all about (or rather what I thought it was all about), but the OU doesn`t want that kind of stuff to read. They want what is being asked and what the common census is, which for this assignment was about "nature mourning for the loss of some 3 year old called Lucy". But oh no, that wasn`t what I saw when I read it. No sir. I saw something completely different and I should have gone with that however, I didn`t have enough sources and evidence to back the claim up. Merely my own interpretation of things. I guess being a writer, or being on the path to becoming one, involves having to write a few things here and there on what people want to read. I guess no-one wants to read a trashy assignment full of personal opinion and ideals, when the whole basis for OU coursework is to be scholarly and have a point that is backed up with evidence, not just hearsay or your own ideas.

I`m not disappointed. I am a little pissed because poetry is something that I am not good at. I have no idea what they are trying to say, I have no bloody idea what a `metaphor` is and even when it is shown to me, it still doesn`t make any bloody sense. Poetry for me, is trying to understand Chinese when you don`t have a translation book in front of it - that is how I find it, difficult. When I have an inkling and I think that I do get an idea of what is being said, it just isn`t the right one. For me poetry is something that I am going to steer clear of, from now on. Oh wait no I can`t, because the next assignment is also about poetry... DAMN!!! Critical analyis / Poetic Form and Language / Techniques / I would go on, but just reading what is being asked bores me to death.

At least I handed it in on time. It is out of my hands now.

I am not expecting a good score for this one. Maybe it will beat the 50 that I received for TMA01 (Pride and Prejudice) and 52 for TMA02 (Frankenstein)? Who knows. That all depends on what mood the Tutor is in when he comes to read it. I am however, expecting to get a whole list of comments when it is returned about "what I could have said", "what I should have said", "what I should have added", "what really is being said" and all that nonsense.

I can`t wait until this Module is finished, so that I can get my teeth into what I have been itching to do from day one - the Creative Writing course. It is just a shame that I have had to do these two courses before I could do the Creative Writing one, because right now I just want to pack it all up and put it away. But I can`t. This is what I want to do because I never got the chance to excel myself in school and I certainly didn`t get the chance to go to college or uni... Plus it will look good on my literary CV when I hand in my first `Novel`.

CRIME FICTION

2011-05-06T14:02:00.000+01:00

Before I even started towards my OU Degree in English Literature, I never really had the time to sit about a read. In all honesty, reading just wasn`t my faute. I can read, don`t get me wrong, it`s just I never had the patience to actually sit there and read a few pages, or even a couple of chapters. But now I have demolished four books this year and I am halfway through two more. I have no idea where this appetitie for reading has come from? In my OU studies I have to read a few chapters on whatever assignment that I am doing, so I guess it just sprouted from there. Plus, I am also looking at changing my approach to writing because writing a screenplay isn`t the same as writing a book and that is what is hampering me at the moment. I thought that writing a screenplay was going to be easy, but it isn`t because you have to cater for what is going on on-screen and I have so much that I want to slap on the page, that the only logical progression was for me to write a book. So I started where most writers begin, when they are looking for inspiration in whatever genre they are writing for, a picked up a book.

Now I didn`t make the mistake and pick up any old book that littered the shelf in my local bookshop to read. No. I picked up something that I was going to enjoy, and after what seemed like an eternity I found something that was going to fill me with the kind of inspiration that I needed. And what is that I hear you ask? (Well, judging by the pics that I have lined up on this blog, you thought that it would be so obvious.) Crime Fiction, that`s what. I cannot get enough of it - bodies, blood, serial killers, Detectives - I love `em. Sure some of you might find them to be boring or a bit predictable, but you know what? You seriously have to look at what you are going to start reading before you pick it up, because I have noticed that there are a FEW bogstandard run-of-the-mill crime writers out there, but only the rare one or two who actually write fresh / original novels. So loving something that involves deranged serial killers slicing up victims and leaving a bloody trail for the Detective to follow, might want you to read something else. But for me, I just love reading what some author has come up with.

So far there have been two books that have kept me going, but only because they have been an interesting read. The first is - KILL ME ONCE by Jon Osbourne and the second being - WHISKEY SOUR by J.A. Konrath. Both of these have been interesting because they pay equal amounts to the `Serial Killer / Detective` dynamic. What I mean is, where most books take the view of the main character and they look at nothing else, these two simply look at both sides of the tale. KILL ME ONCE has an original spin because it plays with recreating a couple of `old` cases from previous serial killers. This is what attracted me to it. It`s not everyday that a writer actually takes time to think this deeply about a book, and given the amount of research that was needed for this one, I salute the writer for giving me an interesting literary journey to follow. There were a couple of times where I even chuckled to myself, but that was the way that he described the methods of killing that made me chuckle. WHISKEY SOUR on the other hand, follows the usual `tried-and-tested` formula of a rundown Detective, who is suffering from all the usual hallmarks of working the beat. Jacqueline "Jack" Daniels is on the trail of the Candyman, sorry I meant the Gingerbread Man. (Candyman would have worked because that sounds a bit more scarier!) But anyway, the book has a fair few good lines in it and some are worth mentioning - "Maybe one of the leads would pan out. Maybe someone would identify the Jane Doe. Maybe the Feds and their super crime-busting computer would solve the case moments after they arrived." OK, so that isn`t what you would call a worthwhile mention, but I thought that it was pointoutable because I could do a bit more with it, in my novel. So yes, I am having a blast catching up on all the years that I have missed out with reading a good book and who knows, it may even give me the kick-up-the-arse that I need to actually get my own creation into print (or at least finished.)

YOU CAN`T BEAT IT THIS TIME OF YEAR...

2011-05-05T16:15:00.000+01:00

Now that the doom and gloom of Winter has passed, and Spring has truly sprung, it`s time to dust off the ol` BBQ and start partying again. Mmmm.... saying that, I have already attended two BBQ`s and who says that it will end there!

Wii - METROID OTHER M

2011-05-05T16:11:00.000+01:00

With all the bollocks with SONY and the PSN, I thought that I would dust off the Wii and actually sit down to play METROID - OTHER M. I bought it when it first came out and I didn`t even get a chance to play it, until last week. All I can say is WOW!!! Playing it took me back to the ol` days of the SUPER NINTENDO and SUPER METROID. I didn`t have to concern myself with Trophies or Achievements or any of that stuff, I just sat there and played it old skool. It certainly is a treat to just sit there and not have to worry about getting some little in-game credit to brag about. No sir. i just revelled in the past and engaged with a game that I haven`t played since the early 90s.

FAST FIVE

2011-05-05T16:05:00.000+01:00

You know what? I should have gone to see this the other week instead of that piss-poor THOR. Having watched the trailer again, it really does look the bollocks. But then when I saw the trailer in the cinema before THOR, even then I got a little excited... Am I wrong to say that, that I got a little excited watching a trailer?! No!? Who cares. I liked that trailer!

CLASSIC SUPERMAN

2011-05-05T16:00:00.000+01:00

I came across this last year and I completely forgot about it, until a second ago when I was browsing through my website list. I couldn`t remember what it was, so I clicked on it and look what I found...

A WALK IN THE PARK...

2011-05-05T15:57:00.002+01:00

Sunday gone, Sarah and I took a stroll through Chelmsford`s parks. We started off in Admiral`s Park, walked through West Park and eventually we arrived in Central Park. It took me back a fair way because the last time that I walked through those parks, was when I was knee high to a grasshopper. I cannot remember when it exactly was, but I think I may have been 8 or 9 years old. (Which was a really long time...) I commented a couple of times that it just looked so small, and it did because when I was a kid it looked HUGE!!!

THE SEARCH FOR A GOOD BURGER...

2011-05-05T15:52:00.000+01:00

Sorry about the half eaten burger, but it was so tasty that I had to take a photo. This was taken in the Riverside Cafe in Bath and since then I have yet to find it`s equal. In fact, it has been well over a year and my search for a "good burger" still continues. It is an epic search to find something that matches what I had in Bath, but I will not give up. The burger itself was lovely. It had what peppers and onion, and what I think might have been a chilli of something as well. It was `proper tasty` as they say in Bath and by golly it was...

IMAGE OF THE DAY... Part 2.

2011-04-29T23:22:00.000+01:00

I took this the other week, when Sarah and I were in London. We met up with our friend Joshua and when we strolled down Regent Street, back to Oxford Circus. The display in the Kurt Geiger window made us stop in our tracks and marvel at what we were seeing. I took the photo because it looked good and you can`t say that it doesn`t!? There is something about it that looks good. Maybe it is the way that the display is arranged? Hell, I can`t put my finger on it. All I know is that it looked good.

BUDDING ARTIST???

2011-04-29T23:16:00.000+01:00

Last weekend, Sarah and I ventured off to Hockley woods for the afternoon. We ended up camping out to have a picnic and afterward, we spent an hour or so sketching. This was the scene that I was attempting to draw, and this is what I ended up with. As you can see, I am not what you would call a good artist. Drawing was never my thing and looking at it, I still draw like a kid.

IMAGE OF THE DAY...

2011-04-29T23:10:00.000+01:00

THOR SUCKS!!!

2011-04-29T23:06:00.000+01:00

Now when I saw the THOR teaser at the end of IRON MAN 2, I was excited. Seriously, who wouldn`t be, with the news that it was all going to lead towards THE AVENGERS next year.

There`s no way to say this, but the new MARVEL movie THOR literally sucks arse! And to think that I was actually looking forward to the next installment, which will lead us into next year`s THE AVENGERS. (Sigh) I suppose that I was expecting a lot and considering the fact that I am looking at THE ULTIMATES as my source and can you blame me!? THE ULTIMATES is, in my opinion, the best superteam comic around... As for THOR, well what can I say? There was more banter than action and even the action wasn`t that good. I need to ask this - why cast Natalie Portman in it? Seriously, for me she ruined everything. I suppose it was a lot to ask, following on from IRON MAN. Oh well.

The fact still remains that it was just a mumbled mess of cutting to different `realms` and I simply wasn`t in the mood for it. I was excited to see it, but half hour into it I lost all interest. Who is to blame for this jumbled mess? I don`t know. I guess that the problem ends with the director and when it was revealed just who was going to direct it, I knew there and then that this was going to end in failure. All I am going to say is this - Don`t take it from me and ignore what you read here UNTIL you have seen it for yourself, and then come back here and see if you`re thoughts match what I am thinking here. I would like to go on about it, but seeing as it isn`t out yet, I don`t want to ruin it. THOR seemed to kick things off rather slowly and if you see the SUPERMAN 2 reference, ((PICTURED ABOVE)), when the other Asgard characters walk down the dusty road and everyone looks at them funny. That to me smacked like the arrival of ZOD. I guess you need to see it to make that connection... but I am right!!!?

Why am I saying that THOR is slow? Well it is. It is so slow in fact, that is the reason why it is so off-putting. But then, how does one go about introducing the `God of Thunder`? Tricky one that! You need to go back to where he came from, but then there was a LOT to deal with and a LOT was placed before us to digest. I suppose that it was a little overwhelming, especially given that it was a 12A, which really doesn`t bode well for any movie.

... and then there`s the matter of this - the COSMIC CUBE which you will see at the very end of THOR and is linked to CAPTAIN AMERICA. I am NOT spoiling it for those who HAVEN`T seen it because that video is splashed all over Youtube. ((Update, Paramount has now stopped the `Thor post-credit clip` now.)) It doesn`t really explain a lot and the inclusion of Loki in it, makes things a little more confusing. Like, how the hell did he survive??? I guess once more that these questions will be explained later on, or will they? Who knows.

PS3 HACK - SO MUCH FOR FAITH...

2011-04-28T18:51:00.000+01:00

So yes, we all know about SONY and the PSN by now, and while my faith is still down with the PS3, there is SOMETHING To laugh about while SONY gets to the bottom of things. But I will get to that in a minute... I finally received my email from SONY yesterday, informing me about what has happened. "It is good to know that a company like that takes great pride in keeping their customers up-to-date", because having read about it online and heard it all over the radio, I was starting to wonder where SONY`s response was. Of course it was lurking over at SONY HQ, like most things have been since the PS3 launched. Granted the techs were busy shutting down the network and seeing where the hack came from, by as always the heads just sat there and waited for someone to tell them what was going on, and ignoring the problem until someone actually knew what was going on. The (PIC) on the left is the official Playstation notification about what had happened. This appeared 24hours before the emails started arriving... which you can see below.

... and here`s the funny thing that I have found so far. It comes from the C+VG website, entitled: "PS3 battled hacker `vandals` but `every lock has a key`". I don`t really care much for the article, as this is just the usual SONY / PR bullshit that we have all come to expect. No. The funny shit is below in the comments and when you read it, it just makes you chuckle. I know I did and I just had to share it all with you. (Usually I don`t care much for talking about these kinds of things, but once in a while something like this crops up.) When you scroll down, you will see what I mean. Comments like: "I once had a girl friend and I can assure you I did not have the key to unlock her knickers! Hackers would have never have gotten in there!" and "Someone had a girlfriend? Omfg what was that like? Naaa you wouldn't have liked it mate, she wanted TV all the time for knob enders and interrupted my gaming with dumb ass questions. She did get her beaver out on occasion but only usually after I had spent copious amounts of cash and wandered around feckin clothes shop. Sod that then. I'll stick to pornography."

ALIEN IN THE SNOW

2011-04-20T13:14:00.000+01:00

This is the DAILY STAR headline about the Alien found in the snow in Siberia. (Thanks to SGT BILBO for helping me out with this.) It looks like EVERYONE has jumped on the "Alien in the Snow" bandwagon - DAILY MAIL THE EVENING STAR, THE SUN, and even the bloody DAILY TELEGRAPH has it. I seriously cannot believe that this is making headline news. I have had a look at the rag to see what was said and judging by the Youtube video, I am going to hold out until it is proven.

"What kind of a jackass finds a body and doesn't poke it with a stick!?" Kookoocachu, Youtube comment.

Below are the pics taken from the Youtube video. It is a bit odd to see where they decided to dig. Was there a reason behind this? Or are they just playing this for kicks and getting the whole world in a frenzy before they reveal that it is a hoax!

Looking at the size of the "ALIEN" it is pretty small. So small in fact that you have to take a second look to see what you are looking at.

The features are pretty distinctive, but I still remain distanced from this because it just doesn`t look right to me. I would be surprised if it is real, but then... I will wait and see.

... and here is the Youtube video, if you want to see if for yourself.

SUCKER PUNCH REVIEW

2011-04-15T15:36:00.000+01:00

A couple of days later I know, but here I am. You know I was looking forward to watching SUCKER PUNCH and after seeing the 6 minute preview a few weeks ago wetted my appetite even more. Sadly I cannot say much after seeing SUCKER PUNCH because I was letdown by it. Sure the "dream sequences" were pretty wild and the Gattling Gun wielding Samurai Giant was my favourite moment, but all in all I was really disappointed with the film.

I think the moment it switched into the 1920`s era, where the girls are in the nightclub kinda made me turn off. It would have worked better if we actually saw the Asylum a bit more, instead of having it set in the nightclub. That for me was where I lost my interest. Also the whole dancing thing / camera rotating round to start the "dream sequence" just got tired. I mean you knew what was coming the minute the camera started to roll round Babydoll.

Sigh... It was visually impressive, I`ll give it that. But it would have been better IF they could have rolled it into a more pleasing film, not the drivel that I had sat through. Oh well...

ONE TOO MANY...

2011-04-13T17:39:00.000+01:00

I already know what you are thinking? What has gotten into me. I haven`t been myself this last year or so and in that time, I have faced quite a few demons in my quest to create a new life for myself. I have glimpsed into the heart of my being and I have not like what I saw. There has been a lot that I had tucked away in the dark recesses of my soul and they have so far been difficult to get rid of. Everything that I have become, has been a result of what has happened in the past. Eveything that I have seen and heard and experience has been kept within me and I have strived to avoid doing those exact same things. I was told that it was not going to be easy and it hasn`t. It was never easy back then when I faced what I have been hiding from for such a long time... You never really get over those sorts of things and you even if you think you will, you won`t. I know now that I will never be a parent because of what I have been through and even if I could shake the shadow, I will never be free of it. I know that it will still take time to get over and because I have spent all of that time building barriers around it to keep it out, means that even trying to remove them will take even longer. The moment came when one small thing appeared and started to chip away at those barriers...

For me, that happened last year and it has taken me a while to adjust to the change that I have been going through, as I have struggled to change my ways and adopt new versions to replace my old ways.

What I will say is this, it is not easy and it will still be a challenge for a while longer. I still have my bad days where I think that this is a waste of time but then I look at what I was like, and the life that I used to live. It is difficult to alter your ways when you have been living them for a long time. But as long as you have loved ones behind you, who are there to support you, then it will be OK. Sarah has been a rock for me. Sure it has been bad and there have been times when I have reverted back to my old ways, but they only appear after four or five months. You cannot just start being different after a lifetime of misery and depression. You cannot just switch one minute from then to now - it takes time. And with that it takes patience as well... I know that it is challenging and there ARE times when I want to just give up, but I can`t do that. Being miserable is not a good time.

"My core misery was a form of happiness to me."

SUCKER PUNCH

2011-04-13T17:20:00.000+01:00

I am off out later to see SUCKER PUNCH at 8pm in Chelmsford Odeon. No doubt some of you have seen it. I know that I am a little late seeing it, but from what I have been hearing - it is a good film and I really can`t wait to see it as I expect it will be a blast. (Plus, if it has got a gatling gun totling Samurai Warrior, then it must be good.) I will bring you an update of what I think about it the film tomorrow when I get home from work. (I would do it tonight, but I need to get some sleep...)

In the meantime, here are the animations shorts... which is good that they did them, because they are BRILLIANT pieces of animation that adds to the film. I haven`t even seen it yet and I am itching to see it now.

FEUDAL WARRIORS

DRAGON

ROBOTS

FREE SOFTWARE.

2011-04-13T16:50:00.000+01:00

I have been playing around with the FREESTUDIO software for a few days now and I haven`t had any problems. No virus-wrecking my laptop. No slowness from the software installation. Nothing. I had to find some software so that I could transfer my 3GP videos that I had shot at the weekend on my old Nokia. (I would have used the iPhone which I had, but that broke again - bloody software problems.) I couldn`t watch the videos on the laptop, so I had a look around. I found this lot - http://www.dvdvideosoft.com/ - and I am mightly impressed by it. I am not recommending it because a lot of you might have other software programs that you like. All I am saying is that I like this and so far, I haven`t had any problems.

My Review.

This is going to be brief because the website tells you EVERYTHING that you need to know. All I will say is that the package is £FREE to download, it doesn`t take long to download and once you are installed, you can sort all you videos and pictures in no time at all. (Which is a good thing and what you get is quite a lot considering that it is free.) I am suitably impressed by the mammoth array of functions that is at your disposal.

MORE SCAM ARTISTS CROSS MY PATH...

2011-04-13T16:30:00.001+01:00

The last few days have really given me a proper headache. I am trying to get the ball moving so that I can change my career and get a LOAD of applications out before the Summer comes, but this setback has annoyed me. It has annoyed me because I was also looking to kick-start my life with Sarah and get a place together, but right now that has pushed things back a bit. (You`ll know what I mean by `proper headache` when you read this blog.) I was originally going to post this on my Facebook profile, but it is difficult to do when your employers are snooping around on everyone`s profiles to see what you are up to. (It is what employers are doing nowerdays, don`t ask me why they are doing it but they are and that is an invasion of my privacy.) This internet snooping leaves us without any means to actually write or mention what we are really up to and a LOT of us really HATE our jobs at the moment, but given the way that the job market is right now we are stuck in our collective ruts until something comes up, or we have to do something to change all that. Which is what I am trying to do at the moment and having to endure the pain and agony a little bit longer, is getting tougher with each passing day. I know that I have to bide my time until something comes up but it is difficult when the pressures of work and the annoyance of some people there, just wind you down and down... I also have to ask - since when do we have to answer to our bosses outside of work. I know that we cannot slate the companies that we work for, but since when do we have to actually silence our misery about work. There came a time when we could all just do that without being moaned at, but now that the internet has everything that we say printed on screen, it makes it harder to say or mention anything. I know that I should be a little more cautious here about mentioning any of this, but given that this is my blogsite and the fact that I haven`t told anyone else about it, just adds more and more pressure. I can easily keep a secret, but when something like this happens - you`ll read about it in a minute - you need somewhere where you can off-load that frustration and so I have decided to add it here. I thought that I would use my blog to update you all on what has been going on. I hope that some of you will use this information before leaping because there are a LOT of scam artists out there working the angles, particularly in these pocket-tightening times. If you know anyone who is thinking about doing what I have done, then tell them to look around before they actually sign up with them.

You cannot tell who is GENUINE online.

Don`t just trust the site, get out there and take a look for yourself.

For the last 2 months I have been trying to get some training sorted out, so that I can reskill and apply for different jobs and get out of Leakage once and for all. I decided that the best bet would be for me to apply and go for my provisional C licence as well as my D1 licence. (Which would allow me to drive - with a C licence : 7 1/2 tonne up to 34 tonne and with the D1 licence : a passenger carrying vehicle up to 17 people.) Now I originally contacted RSM Commercial Driver Training in Basildon and the guy sent me all the necessary information and forms to fill out. Now, that was the START of the aggro as my Doctor left out THREE boxes on my D4 Medical Form, which the DVLA returned. That took an entire week to sort out and as you know, the NHS isn`t exactly good with dealing with us patients because they are more about wanting to squeeze EVERYONE in, rather than taking care of individual patients. Anyway, I managed to get the licence back last month and now I have spent the last week or so trying to find a SUITABLE training company.

I am also looking about getting a couple of forklift licences as well, which would further add to my skill set and allow me to expand upon my search for a new job somewhere.

As you all probably are aware, it isn`t exactly easy getting or even trying to get a job out there at the moment. Whatever`s happened has created a huge hole in the job market. There isn`t a lot out there and what is out there, requires qualifications. For me, it isn`t so easy because I don`t have any good qualifications to get into a well paid job. So working in an office or anything like that is pretty much out for me and besides, I am an outdoorsy kinda guy. It is where I have been for the last 12 years and by the looks of things, it`s where I am going to be for a while longer. So I applied online at various websites specialising in what I am looking to train for.

A couple of online brochures arrived in my inbox, none arrived on my doorstep. I tried this lot as they covered it all - 1st Class Trucking. A guy called Wayne Beacher called (+447958 333090). The minute someone rings you up saying "watchya fella, how you doing?" as their opening words, alarm bells start ringing. I mean, come on, when you`re representing a company and you`re speaking to a possible NEW customer, you DON`T treat them like that or even speak to them like that. (Just look at the GRAMMAR here.)

When they asked me what I was looking to train for, I told them. But I then mentioned that I was already going with another company because I honestly didn`t like their attitude and I said my goodbyes. Within 5 minutes the Manager rang me (+447889178014) to see if he COULD match the offer. I plucked a figure out of the air - £2500. (It was way too cheap for what I was looking to train for and most companies would have told me that it wasn`t possible.) But these guys said that they would match it and offered a better deal as well, undercutting the price by £150. Now when you crunch figures, no company would be able to do that. It costs £1500 for a C Class licence, £1000 for a D1 licence, £850 for Counterbalance Forklift training and £550 for Reach Forklift training. If you add it all up, it comes to over £3500. Offering to cut me a deal for under £2500 would have been mad!!! (Even in these desperate times that we are facing.)

This is where you need to go if you want to see them to get your money back. The BIC centre (Business Innovation Centre) which is in Innova Park, Enfield. Go into the main reception and the Security Guard will show you where to go. He was very helpful when I had a chat with him.

... and the final straw came...
When I went for a drive earlier today - they have TWO DIFFERENT addresses listed both in Enfield and both at the Innova Park estate. Their website address says "Unit 38" but their online brochure says "Unit 50/51". (Would anyone like to guess which one it is?) Like I said, alarm bells rang the minute I took that first call. I was going to be driving past Enfield on my way to Wembley, so I thought that I would get up 15 minutes early and take a drive to see if I could find their premises.

I drove around this morning and the Security Guard came out, when he saw me on the video-cameras driving round. When I explained to hin what I was doing, he told me everything that I needed to know... That these guys are a bunch of Cowboys. In fact he told me that every week someone walks in demanding their money back and he just looked at shaking his him. 1st Class Trucking have their yellow long wheel-base Iveco parked in the car park near the road at night, but round 7:30am it vanishes.

If you check out "1st Class Trucking (Cowboys)" on Facebook, then you will see what I mean. They have taken a LOT of money from unsuspecting customers and no one has anything to show for it. But if I can find their yellow Transit again in the morning, then I will certainly get a snapshot of it so that I can pass it on to Trading Standards because they might be able to trace the owner through the DVLA. With any hope, what I am doing might help out those who were conned by these crooks.

((I am glad that I chose to do this because I would have so easily fell for their hard-pressed tactics. Their telephone manner has a lot to be desired but they certainly knew how to push you to buy their services. I wasn`t going to crumble under their constant weight, but they have called me five times since Monday - take about hardselling tactics.))

O2 REWARDS.

2011-04-13T14:59:00.000+01:00

I am currently deciding what REWARD to take from O2, who have given me a choice of three. I can either go for a FREE DAY on Paintballing, Laser Tag, Battlefield Live Combat or Scuba Diving. Or I can go for a 3 MONTH Membership at Gourmet Dining (?) Or I can have a FREE Personal Trainer. My, my. I never got anything like this when I was T-Mobile and you can see why everyone is going with O2... Anyway, I suppose I better make my mind up.

OPEN UNIVERSITY STUDENTS BEWARE!

2011-04-13T14:55:00.000+01:00

If any of you are studying OPEN UNIVERSITY and you are looking for a discount card, then may I steer you AWAY from this website - http://www.studentdiscounts.co.uk/. They will NOT send you a discount card after you have signed up with them, but they will happily take your money off you. I have recently just closed a disagreement via PAYPAL. Having waited since Christmas for them to return any of their emails, I have finally been able to get my money back after waiting the maximum amount of days to file a complaint.

FOLLOWERS...

2011-04-12T22:26:00.003+01:00

It is a LITTLE small to read. But I have a new follower on TWITTER. (I don`t use it as much as I used to, but I still look in every week just to see what I have been missing.) Anyway, I received the usual email from them telling me who is now following me. I have someone called "Wayne`s World" following me now. Strange and funny all at the same time. I thought that I would share it with you all, because it certainly made me laugh when I saw it the other day...

BATH

2011-04-12T22:12:00.005+01:00

Have you ever come back from a holiday and not been the same?

It really is an experience when it comes over you and I know how you feel. I haven`t been the same for over a week now since Sarah and I returned from BATH. (I have added the tourist link, so you can all have a look for yourself.) It just doesn`t seem right now that we are back and nothing has been the same either. Trying to get motivated again really is difficult.

I will admit that it really was a good weekend spending time with some old friends. The conversations were varied and chatting away about a whole matter of subjects and catching up with old friends, really has taken it`s toll on me. Now I am not saying that social interaction takes it out of me, because it doesn`t. (Well it does, but in small doses it is OK.)

What can I say about BATH? It is only the second time that I have been and everytime it just takes my breath away. The scenery just isn`t the same, compared to dreary ol` Essex. But then, BATH is over in the West Country.

SUNDAY AFTERNOON at HADLEIGH CASTLE

2011-04-11T16:00:00.013+01:00

Yesterday afternoon was a splendid day to have a picnic and considering it was only the start of April, made me wonder what the rest of Spring / Summer will be be like?! I am hoping that this year will be nice because that will mean more chances for us to get out and explore, as well as see some new and exciting things.

So my girlfriend and I ventured off on a lovely sunny Sunday afternoon to visit HADLEIGH CASTLE, which is just down the road from Southend-on-Sea - check out the link. We had a look at the old ruins and then we went for a walk. Every man and his dog was down there enjoying the sunshine and clambering around the old ruins, so we decided to give the ruins a miss and go for a nice walk along the trail.

Luckily for us we managed to find a good spot to have our picnic, which was empty and it gave us a really good view of the 2012 Olympic Mountain Bike course - seen above. It was certainly a nice day for it and given the weather was very generous, it was a really good day out. My girlfriend Sarah shot this little video of me, trying to blow through grass.

HEY, HOW YOU DOING?

2011-03-25T21:12:00.002Z

Once more I have completely forgotten that I promised to update this once a month. Sorry folks. You know what it is like when you are concentrating on life and not keeping in constant contact with the need to keep informing everyone about what you are doing on the internet.

It is the same with Facebook.

"Does anyone actually give two hoots about what one of their friends is up to or has done?"

I didn`t think so. I know that I am not really that bothered about it.

So anyway here I am.

I did say that I was going to drop in and out from time to time, and here I am.

CURRENT OU MODULES

2011-01-22T09:10:00.003Z

Right now I am studying two OU Modules -

Level 1 : AA100 The Arts Past and Present

(October 2010 - April 2011)

and

Level 2 : A210 Approaching Literature

(February 2011 - September 2011)

This isn`t as difficult as I first thought and anyone who thinks so, shouldn`t! Take it from me, I thought that it was going to be a whole load of higher education learning which I wasn`t going to know anything about. But how wrong am I?

I am not trying to preach anything here. All I am saying is that if you looked at doing something like this and decided not to because you thought that it was going to be hard, take another look and you may be surprised. It doesn`t really take a lot of your time because you DON`T have to read everything that they send to you. You only need to read the relevant sections regarding the Assignment that you are working on. How do I know? Because I panicked as well when I saw what was being asked of me and I immediately assumed that because they had sent out a study calendar, that you HAD to read all the necessary chapters. But as I have already said - "You don`t have to!"

Anyway. I am starting to take a LOT out of these courses and I am starting to hold much of the information that I am learning, because I am writing it down with pen and paper, and the notes that I am making as well as the rough draft that I am writing, is enabling me to remember more than any of us would if we were simply typing it all down on a keyboard.

Plus, on another note - having these new things set out infront of me, is allowing me to use it in everyday life and not just with the coursework. It gives me a chance to say what I know about the subject, when a relevant example comes up in conversation. (But that`s pretty rare these days).

So yes, I am having a blast.

I don`t want to rub it in to other fellow OU AA100 / A210 students out there, who may be reading this blog - but I am currently MONTHS ahead with my schedule of TMA`s. I am already working on TMA06 for AA100 (Burial at Thebes) and TMA03 / 04 for A210 (Wordsworth).

But I am almost finished with it and then comes the next block of OU Modules to work on :

Level 2 - A215 Creative Writing

and

Level 3 - AA306 Shakespeare : Text and Performance

[OU Degrees are based on you studying : 1 x Level 1 Module, 2 x Level 2 Modules and 3 x Level 3 Modules. (Working towards 360 points. with each Module being 60 points in total). That way you are starting to learn much more along the way and the levels start to get slightly harder, but they are NOT difficult. Because with each Module preceeding it, you are already learning the necessary facts that you need to use for the next Module.]

I must say though, that I am thoroughly looking forward to seeing what the `Creative Writing` course holds because having attended a few Night School classes over the years, this looks certain to be a more fully intense course that will help me to learn what it is that I need to achieve through my own writing.

(Hopefully I will learn a thing or two that I have missed out on along the way?!)

THE SUFFERING OF HAVING TO WAIT...

2011-01-22T09:01:00.002Z

It is always late and with everyone else posting their TMA scores on FACEBOOK, it is annoying at times.

It is like those times when the teacher at school deliberately held back giving me my homework back because there was something wrong with it. (Not that I was a dullard back in school, it was just I had always had some kind of issue with it). But here, it feels exactly the same. But I am not getting arsey because I have done quite well with the last two Assignments and I know that I have put my all into it, I have answered the questions and placed them within the Assignment, along with the relevant information needed to answer that question.

So why am I always feeling like this, whenever I see everyone else posting their scores???

"Anxiety Induced Dreams"

2011-01-03T08:55:00.001Z

So 4:30am saw we wake from 3 unsettling dreams. These dreams were all unrelated, yet they seemed so real... and from then on, they just got weirder and weirder. For the last 15 minutes I have been jotting them down and there is no reasonable connection between them...

"And the reason for them is..."

I have always hated the last day before returning to work because I have rested and relaxed and completely forgotten about the stresses & strains of work, but now my body has returned to a state of anxiousness that is always there when I am at work.

It is rather an unpleasant feeling to have throughout the day because it never goes away. It is constantly there and the feeling is just overwhelming. My body gets all tight and I feel uncomfortable in my own skin. It is something that I can't get used to.

"And the reason IS work related..."

I tried to get a better job before Christmas and I churned out the hours across my holiday to secure something. But alas I couldn't find anything and what I did find, was less than satisfactory. So for the moment I am stuck, doing the one thing that I hate the most.

However, rest assured that my struggle will not die in vein because of the current economic climate, in fact it's quite the opposite as I am still gunning for something else that doesn't involve this much travel...

Question is - "What do I fancy doing next?"

In the meantime, I am now in the process of using the next 5 months in preparation for selling my Scripts, which is going to be tough going. The hardest part for me will be taking what I have and making them "more original than they were". All I need to do is focus on them each month.

(That's devote a month per Script and complete it by the end of that month, if you weren't so sure what I meant earlier).

Anyway. I suppose I'd better do something now, seeing as I can't relax or get settled now...

- I have posted this Blog using the 'BlogPress' app on my iPhone.

Location:Chelmsford, Essex. United Kingdom

Happy New Years.

2011-01-01T10:12:00.001Z

So this is it folks - 2011. The start of a new Dawn and a new Year.

I know that quite a few of you have already made (or rather are in the process of making) New Years Resolutions that you all will 'try' to stick to / complete / give up on. But I say "do it". No matter what it is that you have chosen to do, stick with it because if it is worthwhile to you and the future, then it will be worth it in the end.

However, if it's just something that you need to improve yourself on, like say going down the gym to lose those unsightly curves that have "suddenly" appeared on your hips, then that's a long-term thing that needs to be continued and not abandoned halfway through.

Most of us, if not a 1/3 of us will give them ALL up by the end of January. The other 1/3 will see it through to at least April time, but given the fact that it's the Easter holiday will mean that's that. While the remaining 1/3 will push through with their Resolutions and incorporate them into their lives, as a new thing to do.

I find that it's important to have specific New Years Resolutions that are tailored to the individuals needs. Like me...

I have quite a few objectives that I am aiming toward this year. For me 2011 is going to be a productive year because like many of you, you've tired of what you have been doing and want to embrace a "better way of living" and a "better lifestyle".

(That and the fact that your life hadn't really progressed beyond your usual routine and that's what it's all down to - ROUTINE. You can keep saying to yourself that it's easy, that it's something that you are "happy with"; but we all know that you are kidding yourself when you say that. You're unhappy like the rest of us and that "routine" that you do, is just holding you back...)

That is why I am aiming towards having "more realistic goals" and "more specifically tailored tasks" that will not only push me towards where I want to go, but it will make me a better person for it in the long-term. That's what I am aiming for -

- a better career, rather than the one that I am stumbling through and one that actually gets me thinking rather than trundling along being miserable. Because your career is the one thing that affects everything else. "If you're in a shit job, that's easy to do and pays well, then you stick with it because it's easy". But then where is that getting you? Nowhere! You are only hurting yourself in the long-term and your prospects of advancement looks bleak. Seriously, you need to look at where you want to go and what you want to do. Granted this MAY involve studying towards something, like I am doing with my Open University Degree, but that takes time. Although I am receiving a LOT of interest from potential new Employers because of this. It looks GREAT on your CV as it shows people that you are doing something "outside of the workplace to better yourself". Also, it's a good thing to have. A Degree WON'T necessarily get you a higher paid job but what it will do is get you a better job in a place that isn't your current position. (I.E. It will allow you to change professions and give you that push to move up the ladder.)

- I am also going to continue with the gym going routine that I set in place back in May last year, after my Girlfriend Sarah completed the 'Race for Life 5K Run' in Southend-on-Sea. This helped me train for the '10K Race for Life' that we took part in back in October. Sure it was tough to do, seeing as it was my first real Marathon but at the end it was worth everyday that I had spent down the gym. (Which also helped tone up my body, which not only made me look good but the Girlfriend loved to bits.) So it's a win-win situation in the end. Keeping fit also allowed me to think about the others things that I was doing in my life. When you are pushing your body to get fit, your mind is pushing itself as well. This aided me in my writing at the time, as I was stuck for things to do in them. It also helped me with my Open University coursework, as well as helping me make sense of all the other things that I am struggling to make sense with...

- which neatly leads me onto my "problems and issues" that have been holding me back. It's something that many of us ignore and some of us just 'put off as being nothing'. Granted we all have our "problems" in life and we all have our "issues" that have stuck with us after some kind of event. It's just a fact of life. We all have them, there's no denying it. What we need to do, is confront them and deal with the more important areas of our lives that are causing us to put things off.

So that's it so far for me. I will also try to see MORE of my GF over the year, as well as try more things that haven't been done yet and see more things... It's going to be a crammed year and (probably) an expensive one, but I'm going to have fun this year...

(( I have posted this Blog using the 'BlogPress' app on my Apple iPhone. ))

Location:Southend-on-Sea, Essex. United Kingdom

Back in Business

2010-12-30T11:34:00.001Z

Well here I am, using my iPhone and getting back into the groove, from which I disappeared.

It's been a while I know but rest assured, I am going to jump back in with whatever is going on around me.

It's been a case of "not knowing whether I was coming or going before", but now I am on the mend. I have numerous things going on in my life and I am aiming towards something now, instead of the trundling that I was doing a while back.

I make no excuses for this absence, yet I made no solid promises that I would be blogging every single solitary day. I just said that I would post something here, if I had something to say...

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Chelmsford, Essex.

DO YOU EVER...

2010-11-10T19:34:00.002Z

Recently I have had this feeling that I am still a kid. You know, where you look at everything from a kids perspective. It`s kinda odd to put into words. It`s just I have been feeling like this for a while now and it is slightly off-putting. It`s not something that I want to do, as it just comes over me at times. Maybe I am imagining it? But it certainly feels like that sometimes.

THE VOICES.

2010-11-10T19:22:00.002Z

I am not referring to any voices of the sort, but I felt that the title was pretty apt for what I am feeling right now. It`s been a few days now and all I can do is keep it together. Call it stress from the constant early starts, call it depression from having to work in the dark, call it what you will. I just feel that I am going out of my mind right now. I had a good run for a while, but now all I can do is feel miserable about myself.

I don`t know if it`s that time of year or if I am just having a bad moment right now. What with it being Autumn now, doesn`t help things and the nights are closing in, the weather is now against me and the cold is just getting on my nerves.

Right now, all I can do is keep it together and the more I try to do that, the more it hurts. I am not talking literally here. It just feels like that.

I know that I haven`t been myself lately and I know that I need to get myself sorted, so I am off to the Docs on Friday to see what they can do. I have an idea or two about what it may be and one of them, ticks all the boxes. You may have read on Twitter that I have a feeling that I may be suffering from Adult ADHD and if that is the case, then it would certainly answer a hell of a lot of things in my life and the ever-changing behaviour that I have.

I will just have to wait and see what they have to say. It might be nothing or it may just be something, and if it is, then it will certainly answer all the questions about who I am and what I have become...

But let`s not get down about this. We all have our problems. Some of us ignore them and hope that it goes away. Others just swerve the issue and use whatever substance to dull the pain. And me, well I do everything to see if it will go away. However, there is only so much that you can do until it bites you in the face and when that day comes, you need to man up and sort your problems out. I`m just saying because all my life I have run away from problems like these and in the end, it only makes you worse... Christ look at me, I haven`t been around to blog and now I am pouring my heart out here for the whole world to read.

I am not deliberately trying to be depressing or give off a miserable vibe, it`s just I am at a place in my life now where I am facing up to the route that I have taken. It all stems from ducking out of certain situations and avoiding the obvious concern. But I have run out of excuses and I have run out of energy trying to hide...

MY SCRIPTS

2010-11-08T17:00:00.002Z

Okay, so some of you are wondering - "how are you getting along with your scripts?" Well, the answer is slow at the moment. I am in the process of putting the finishing touches to Script #4 - "Crime Hour". Which I must say, is becoming something of my favourite right now. I thought that the idea of it was going to be off-putting, but now that I have looked a little deeper into the background of it and the read some of the old `Pulp` magazines, I feel that this is going to be a really good script. Of course, I have added a bit more to it recently and all I need to do, is have a little re-read and then type up ALL of my new notes that I have made. Granted, I have a fair bit to do as I am only getting the roughness down. (Seeing as I am writing mere rough drafts, before I commit to the whole finishing them properly.) I know that a few people have said that I need to work on one and see it through to the end, then start on another. But this isn`t what I wanted to do. I wanted to get 5 rough drafts finished by New Years Eve, so that come 2011, I can work on them and fill in the blanks and cut away the sharp points until I am left with something that is both smooth and something that someone can work with. It is a lengthy process, but given the fact that I have so far written 3 rough drafts, shows that I am getting back to my very old ways - and that is all THANKS to my wonderful and very supportive girlfriend SARAH, who has done a fantastic job in encouraging me (without pushing me) to start writing again. And that is what I have been doing this year so far. As well as that, as you already know, I am also doing my BA HONOURS DEGREE in ENGLISH LITERATURE for the Open Univerisity.

LOVE

2010-11-08T16:53:00.002Z

So here I am again. This time I thought that I would have a little chat about "love". As some of you know, I have been dating now for just over a year and it has been very special. Sarah has managed to do what everyone else had tried and failed to do, she has made me come out of my shell and has gotten me onto a better path. It has it bumps from time to time, as I have problems dealing with the constant overwhelming changes that are happening around me. I know that this isn`t a common thing with you all, but I am not as used to these things as you are. I find even the slightest change somewhat scary. You see I used to live a small live, away from the hussle and bussle of everyday life. I went to work, I did what was needed of me and then I came home. I rarely went out and when I did, it was always awkward. Now I am not saying that I had some sort of social phobia or anything like that, I just liked my life the way it was. It`s difficult to explain "why I was like that". I guess it was something to do with the fact that I liked things uncomplicated. But now that Sarah has come into my life, all that has been turned on it`s head and I do find myself, at times, worrying about nothing. I guess that I do get a little overwhelmed by it all. But why? Who knows? All I know, is that I have it under control...

EXPERIENCES

2010-11-08T16:44:00.003Z

So I am still amazed. Even when I thought that I had overcome every obstacle in my life, a completely whole new set have appeared out of the blue. I am not knocking it, as that is what "life" is all about. It is about overcoming the barriers that are put in front of you to see how you fair and how you able to deal with them.

SPLIT SECOND

2010-10-28T21:10:00.001+01:00

Seriously, I cannot get enough of this game. Granted I have yet to make the heady heights of being #1 in the entire world, but that`s not everything is it? I just like to make everyone suffer where and when I can. Of course I have had my fair share of "joypad swearing moments", but who hasn`t?!

SONIC 4 - THE VERDICT

2010-10-28T21:05:00.002+01:00

You know what? I am still not sure about the new SONIC THE HEDGEHOG. It looks good, don`t get me wrong about that. It`s just something that is nagging me in the back of my mind. I don`t know what it is... but one thing is for certain : I don`t hate it!

1928 MOBILE PHONE???

2010-10-28T20:49:00.002+01:00

OKAY. So am I not the only one who has studied this VIDEO here. Is it me or is this just the oddest thing yet. I will admit that I have watched this for about a DOZEN times. (Yes, I am not kidding here.) Each time I watch it, I still cannot fault what she is doing. Whether or not she is talking on a mobile phone remains to be seen. Of course it could just be what we think it is. (You know, that condition where we want to see something, but in reality it is just our brains filling in the gaps.) Either way, it would be curious to find about what that is actually about.

CURIOUS? I KNOW YOU ARE...

2010-10-28T20:44:00.002+01:00

Hey, I know that it has been a while and you are thinking "wow, two posts in one day, we must be doing something right." Well, it has been a while and I have no idea why I fell out of `blogging`. Who knows? Maybe it was Facebook that has taken much of that time and effort. Anyway, I thought that I would post up a pic of the audience figures of late. I know that you are pretty curious about who else looks in on this blog, so here it is. -ENJOY-

AA100 - THE OPEN UNIVERSITY

2010-10-28T19:58:00.003+01:00

That was what I was looking at when my OPEN UNIVERSITY course pack turned up. (That was a few months ago and when I looked at that, I instinctively panicked.) Now I have just turned in my 1st Assignment, with 500 words on Cleopatra and 500 words on Cezanne. It was quite daunting because I had to write boring. I was getting stressed out because it is something that I have to do throughout the course. All I could do was sit there and stress out. There was a couple of times where I wanted to pull my hair out, simply because academic writing is something that I have serious problems with. I thought that it was going to be easy, but being a writer and an on-off `blogger`, having to write dull concise paragraphs that cover all the aspects of the question that is being asked, is really tough going. You might not think it, but it is. However, thanks to my loving girlfriend Sarah I can now write boring. (But only for the sake of the OU coursework.)

MOMENTARY LOSS...

2010-08-26T16:08:00.002+01:00

There are times when we have to sit things out. These are the times when we suddenly, for some unknown reason, become lost in this overwhelming big wide world of ours. I still do not know where I lost myself, only now I am coming to terms with that. I guess it was something that I needed to do... I guess you could say that I needed to sit things out for a while and simply ignore the world that I had been digesting for all this time.

_____

Which leaves me to this. Just a little something something to get off my chest. I know that many of you have been wondering of late exactly "where I have been" and "what I have been up to". Well, the answer to that is simple - I have been dating. I know that that doesn`t take up all my time, and that in the time inbetween there are other things that I have been doing, well that is true. You could say that I had to leave to take stock of myself and peel inside to see what needed to be done. (I have found out that by living a lie, that by ignoring the very problems that I have kept hidden, sooner or later they will resurface and they will start to worm their way out and into situations where it shouldn`t appear.) This is something that has made me stop. Take stock of what I have done [nothing bad folks, so don`t worry] and focus on who I am, instead of what I had become. You see, many of us simply chose to ignore our problems. That by engrossing ourselves in our lives and the lives of others and the world in general, we can push those problems away and keep them tucked away in a little box, in the corner of our minds. You can do that sure. But in time that box will start to break apart and what you thought you had locked away, will start to manifest itself in your everyday lives. So you think you have it all under control? Well you do now, but wait until later on. One day it will just jump out at you from nowhere and take you by surprise!!!

You may think that by reading this, I have gone a little side tracked. That what I am saying may seem a little `loopy`. Well, I am pretty much sane. (Though everyone else would say otherwise.) Just take it from me. Living a life with problems isn`t the sort of thing that you should do. Sure I ignored them, drank through most of the heavy periods of my life and shut out everyone who tried to help me. And look where that has gotten me. That`s right - nowhere. You may say otherwise, but where is the happiness? A decade or more`s worth of diaries mentioning things that are depressing isn`t the way to go. Only now am I starting to see that there is a life out there and it`s not here, stuck in front of a computer screen all day long. Sure you get to see who is doing what and what`s going on out there, but is this really the way to live. I read that we spend FAR TOO MUCH time meaninglessly surfing the web. Why? Because we just do that. We have become mindless zombies to the Internet Super Highway. It`s all here at the touch of a button. Which is why I have ditched my iPhone. Simply because I was becoming LAZY!

Coming back to my laptop allows me to regulate the influx of data / information that I digest. I can do it whenever I want now. No more reaching for the iPhone and becoming engrossed for God knows how long... But I am walking off the path here!

__________

Between then and now, I have three "rough draft" scripts ready to go. I say "rough draft" because that`s what they are. The nitty gritty is down there on paper and all I need to go is add the filler and give it a bit of a spit & polish for it to be considered as a viable source. So yes, I have been a busy fellow. These last 9 months have been an interesting sight to behold. As many of you can say, having been through relationships like this, the first year or so is the most precious. It`s where you learn a lot about the person that you are dating, as well as finding out a little bit about yourself in the process.

For now, I am starting to get back in the tracks, I can focus on what`s important to me and what I have been missing out on. There is so much that I want to do and see now, that the time ahead doesn`t bother me. It`s just getting those things done. (Now I am not dying, merely getting old.) And given the fact that I am no longer in my youth, means that responsiblities have taken presidence. Because after all, I am no longer a Bachelor anymore. I have another to look out for and take care of. Right now I am concentrating on what lies ahead, on the horizon. (Which for me, was a lonely place to be. Seeing as I never looked that far ahead.) The future is a strange place to look into. It offers up so much in the way of choice. "Who would have thought that?"

In the meantime, I am diving headlong into the world of DEGREES. (I know, who would have thought?!) So in October I will be busy, busy, busy; as I start my studying. If you`re interested - OPEN UNIVERSITY course : AA100. I will also be finishing the last two scripts before my New years Eve deadline, which will allow 2011 to concentrate on putting the finishing touches to them / find an agent and hopefully, with luck on my side, give me the opportunity to sell my works... Who knows? This time next year, you may well see a TON of blogs from Hollywood, of all places. (Well, a guy can dream can`t he?)

So let`s see where this takes us now... ?

GEARS OF WAR 3 on PRE-ORDER ALREADY!??

2010-04-28T16:44:00.002+01:00

That`s right - the big three online retailers, PLAY.COM / HMV and AMAZON - are all taking PRE-ORDERS for GEARS OF WAR 3.

It`s amazing, that it`s still a year away but the main three are taking them anyway. The RRP is £39.99, but given that this is the standard for games releases, it will be a case of wait and see who offers the best deal.

... which gives me ANOTHER excuse to post the `ASHES TO ASHES` trailer here as well.

Which also reminds me - "what is the music that is played in the background on the trailer?"

A quick look (via the SHAZAM app on the iPhone) revealed that it is : SUN KIL MOON - HERON BLUE (taken from the APRIL album). Here`s the YOUTUBE video for you to listen to.

VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS...

2010-04-28T13:39:00.002+01:00

Here`s a little VIDEO of the recent Weekender that I went away on. It was with some friends and we all had a great time...

BIRDEMIC REVIEW...

2010-04-20T14:46:00.007+01:00

REVIEW of BIRDEMIC.

[ WARNING - This is not a good REVIEW and anyone who does not want to read one of my blogs that goes on and on and on, should leave straightaway. This film is so bad that it deserves the slating that it is about to receive. ]

The following film that you are about to read, will drive you into the depths of despair and annoyance. If you can sit through this film and not be annoyed / frustrated by the level of amateurishness, then you should get a medal. (No scrub that, you should get something worthwhile.) If you take this seriously, then you should be shot!!!

If anyone that was responsible for this film is reading this, then you should feel sorry for yourselves. Clearly you never bothered to follow any of the following rules -

A. should have put a little more time into the script,

B. read the script AFTER you had written it,

C. ditched the first draft / second draft and third draft,

D. made it a LOT more believable,

E. asked for more money,

F. asked for a bit more money (after what you were given),

G. invested more of the budget into CGI,

H. hired actors that can act instead of what they were "attempting to do",

I. given them more directions to follow as to what their motivations are,

J. given a little more consideration for us (the audience) about what you were attempting to make...

I would go on with this, but i`m not going to. What I will say is that it is SHIT!!!

(Be warned, it is SHIT!!!)

Well, where shall I start?

Let`s begin shall we with ROD and NATALIE. Two of the dullest characters that I have ever seen on the big screen. Rod can just about walk down the street without looking like he`s a newbie to the movie industry - sadly for us, he is new. (Which is pretty much obvious from the get-go.) Sadly BIRDEMIC will NEVER make it over here in the cinemas, which is a relief as the cinema chains would have made us all sign a waiver before we went in, stating that we cannot ask for our money back. Straight-to-DVD is where this is going. The first scene, after a hefty 5minutes & 40seconds pretty much sets it all up. The Intro gives the game away and if you can sit through that, then it is only destined to get worse... The dialogue in the ROD / NATALIE street scene is straight from a porno. (Don`t believe me? Watch it for yourself and tell me that I am not mistaken!?) It is so bad that is needs to be seen to be believed.

This scene - ROD and NATALIE`s FIRST DATE - clearly this should have been researched more properly, as it has been written very very badly. I mean come on, if I was sitting there and talking like (about the dullness of my job), then I clearly wouldn`t have a second date. Hell my date would have probably walked out within the first 10 minutes. Yet somehow, they manage to go out on that second date. "That`s not how real life works!!!" ROD just goes on and on and on and on and on and on about his dull job, yet he somehow makes it out to be the best job in the world. *YAWN* I am surprised that NATALIE can stay awake.

It takes about 38minutes & 29seconds to come across a DEAD BIRD. However, the scene before is a monumental cock-up, as you can clearly see that the beach in front of them is dry. Yet not a second ago the beach was wet. This is but the start of some really BAD film editing.

The MOTEL SCENE (44minutes & 19seconds) is also another tiresome event. After boring the shit out of her with the news that the company he works for had just been bought and he is set to receive a MASSIVE payout for his shares in the company, the following scene where one man stands on stage singing a song (where there clearly aren`t any back-up singers) leads to the MOTEL SCENE. There is some really cheesy music and then there is the kissing scene, now we are meant to believe that they got jiggy-with-it, yet (as you can see above) nothing really went down. However, with NATALIE in her drawers, ROD doesn`t even bother to get down with her and strip off. I mean, what is this guy doing - "does he want to get lucky?"

Then comes the really FRUSTRATING bit. After the MOTEL SCENE comes something out of the blue, 45minutes & 36seconds to 46minutes & 45seconds we are treated to pure silence, as the camera pans around several shots of empty streets. Then comes the FRUSTRATION and DOWNRIGHT HILARITY that is BIRDEMIC. 46minutes & 48seconds to 47minutes & 20seconds, we are treated to KAMAKIZE BIRDS flying into things and blowing up. (WHUH???) You read that right! The BIRDS are seen flying into things and blowing up. The CGI is so embarrassing that even I sat there laughing my arse off. The sound effects for the BIRDS is also poor.

Then comes the really, really sad part. 49minutes & 52seconds ROD and NATALIE meet RAMSEY and his girlfriend BECKY. RAMSEY offers ROD and NATALIE a lift in their mini-van, but before they can go out they have to look for "something to protect themselves with". After a motionless search of the bedroom and after a total of 1 second, RAMSEY finds a bunch of coathangers (oh yeah, like they`re going to do any harm) lying there in the cupboard. The SCENE afterward, where our dullard 4some venture out is PRICELESS. The swinging of coathangers clearly has to be seen to be believed...

The thing that gets me (apart from EVERYTHING in the film) is the fact that we are suppost to believe, that in the midst of the U.S being attacked by BIRDS, this SCENE is meant to make sense. I just don`t get it! If the town where I lived was being attacked by KILLER BIRDS, the last thing that I would want to do is stop off in the middle of nowhere and walk out into the middle of NOWHERE squared, to have lunch!!!! W.T.F is that all about!!!! Clearly you wouldn`t do that!!!! Who in their right mind would stop off to have lunch with KILLER BIRDS around them???? (What were the writers thinking????)

I would go on and on and on about BIRDEMIC and the FLAWS that it has, but I would just be going on and on and on and on and on... There are so many FLAWS and monumental cock-ups, that you would be reading and reading and reading, this blog would clearly never run out. Let me say, that you should WAIT for this to come out. Whether any CHANNEL is going to show it, remains to be seen. What you will eventually see, is cinema history. Because without a doubt, this film trumps ever other BAD MOVIE that has ever been made. Just sitting there and watching it, was enough even for me. I was so ANNOYING that I could not believe what I was seeing. None of it made any sense. The actors had no idea what was being asked of them. The actors clearly haven`t had any real acting experience. The CGI is so poor, that even the crappest of animators out there would be able to do them over. All in all, I am so glad that I got to see this for £FREE. It`s not everyday that you come across a film that is so bad... but don`t listen to me. If you come across it in your travels, sit down, crank open a LOT of alcohol and disengage your brain... BIRDEMIC will leave you with such a bitter aftertaste that you wished that you never sat down in the first place to watch it...

GEARS OF WAR 3 (PART 2)...

2010-04-13T16:05:00.002+01:00

So i`m blogging GEARS OF WAR 3 again. Simply because it is one of those games that you can never tire of playing. There have been MANY imitations since it first came out and NONE have even tried to get close to it.

The closing credits of the TRAILER, say that this is "THE END". But is it? Will EPIC close their final chapter with this OR will there be more to come???

The last stand scene toward the end of the TRAILER suggests that this is humanities last stand. That this will be the fight to end all fights.

And like all endings, the final chapter of the trilogy ALWAYS goes out with a BANG!!! They will ALWAYS save the best for last. (Especially when you look at this little beastie...)

MARCUS sports a nifty bandana...

All you COLE TRAIN can rejoice...

Female gamers can finally play a female character, in an all male environment...

(OK, so i`ve already posted that PIC in my last blog. But hey, who is complaining?!)

* PLUS... there`s going to be 4-PLAYER CO-OP as well!!!

(Will this usher in a host of AWARDS for GEARS 3???)

GEARS OF WAR 3 = APRIL 8th 2011!!!

2010-04-13T15:34:00.003+01:00

The wait folks is ALMOST over - APRIL 8th 2011. In a years time, we will all be sitting down and playing the FINAL installment of the GEARS OF WAR franchise. (Yes folks, that WILL include me as well!!!)

HOWEVER... "will this be the last GEARS?" Lookie, lookie - MARCUS and DOM`s back!!!

I`ll tell you one thing, (besides the fact that I will NOT be playing as the girl in any multiplayer matches, even if she does look tasty [and i`m not saying that because she`s got a lancer in her hands].) I will be waiting until (April 8th 2011) then to get my new X-BOX360. (Hopefully there will be a GEARS 3 bundle pack!?) I know that I said that I won`t be getting another 360, but this is GEARS OF WAR and this is something that even I don`t want to miss out on. It`s something that I really do miss playing since I got rid of my last faulty 360. You can say what you want about me and my incessant rantings about the 360 breaking down, but I was just one of those unfortunate souls who kept on paying the price for MICROSOFT`s balls up...

One thing is for certain - "I will be back playing the 360 when GEARS 3 arrives!" That I can promise and whether my luck changes in a years time, remains to be seen...

"Death isn`t coming for you just yet DOM, so pull your sorry arse up and get on with the fight!!!"

So for now, I will sit here and wait patiently for GEARS 3 to arrive and pray that my gaming skills will be able to save me from a severe arse battering, when I delve back into the multiplay arenas... Of course, when APRIL 8th 2011 comes, I will be taking that day off. (Sad you may say, but hey....)

CHECK OUT THE FULL ANNOUNCEMENT TRAILER @ DIGITAL SPY.

BLARG!

2010-04-12T17:05:00.001+01:00

I haven`t laughed like this in AGES...

STOP SCREAMING AND PUT SOME CLOTHES ON LOVE...

2010-04-12T16:54:00.002+01:00

This is a PIC from the TRAILER of THE GIANT SPIDER INVASION over on YOUTUBE.

ZOMBIE ATTACK BRUSSELS...

2010-04-12T16:16:00.003+01:00

BARRICADE your home. STOCK up on those SHOTGUN shells. LINE your cupboards with FOOD. The ZOMBIE HOARDE is finally upon us...

Well, it would be but ITV has a video over on it`s website of a FILM FESTIVAL with a huge crowd of ZOMBIES. (Shame that the end hasn`t come...) Oh well!!! Check out the SITE to watch the video - LINK.

WHO`S THE WISE GUY???

2010-04-12T15:35:00.002+01:00

OK. Who sent my this???

I checked my MSN / WINDOWS LIVE email earlier and someone called 911GOLF has sent me a link to this - WORLD GOLF BETA.

Now I am not grumbling, as I checked it out and had a quick read over on the BLOG - WORLD GOLF TOUR BLOG. And you know what, it looks rather tasty. I`ve always wanted to have a go on some of the world`s BEST Golf Courses and now I can. Plus, having had a quick butchers on the website, there is the opportunity to win some real money. (Which is an added bonus as well.) I haven`t had a go yet, but I will have to soon, as this is something that really does appeal to me. Though saying that, "doesn`t TIGER WOODS PGA TOUR 10 cater for this as well?"

So whoever you are 911GOLF, thanks for the email invite. I will register when I get a minute and play a few rounds...

BIRDEMIC...

2010-04-12T15:19:00.004+01:00

Thanks to my mate SGT BILLBO, who posted this up on Facebook. I would of missed this if he hadn`t found it. This is such a celloid treat, that even I would be a fool to miss it. I noticed the various Facebook comments and immediately set upon YOUTUBE to catch a gander of BIRDEMIC. And must I say, this looks the BOLLOCKS!!! (I mean it as I say it...)

Just looking at the TRAILER, you can see that it`s going to be good. There`s a LOVE SCENE...

A scene of HORROR...

A scene where our plucky CHARACTERS face the TERROR of the skies...

(Dozens of coathangers WERE hurt during the making of that movie! "The bastards!!!")

... and there is some GREAT acting as well.
(Well, I wouldn`t go that far...)
However, the view looks mighty impressive to say the least.

As for the SPECIAL EFFECTS, well you can see for yourself "just how good they are!"

As SGT BILLBO said on the phone earlier - "no birds were hurt during the making of that movie!"

* If I can get hold of a copy, then I will post a MINI REVIEW here for you all to read. But then, if this isn`t any good (even though it looks like it contains some kind of VIRAL outbreak that spreads through the BIRD population), then I will stay away from it. But then, like I said, it may well contain a VIRAL outbreak, so that means that I will certainly have to have a look...

Plus, if they had the BALLS to make that movie, then I will damn sure track it down and sit through it. I mean, come on, "how bad can it really be?"

SPLIT SECOND TRAILER...

2010-04-11T19:47:00.001+01:00

SIMPLE PLEASURES...

2010-04-07T19:34:00.001+01:00

"If bubbles are so much fun, why don`t they last longer?"

THE EARTH...

2010-04-07T19:32:00.001+01:00

"If the Earth is so small, why does it cost so much to visit places around it?"

FIRSTPLAY GOES LIVE THIS WEEK...

2010-04-07T14:36:00.003+01:00

Well, another EMAIL wings it`s way into my inbox and seeing as I have already spoken about this, I thought that I would just remind you all again. (Not that it makes an difference whatsoever...) Anyway, FIRSTPLAY - SONY`s European answer to PULSE and QORE makes it`s arrival on the PSN on Thursday April 8th. Now I have already commented via PS3 about "my thoughts on FIRSTPLAY", but you know what they will say about that...

... it doesn`t matter what we say as gamers / consumers.

We are now stuck with the videogames magazine, that isn`t any good!!! I might as well start buying PS3 magazines again and start watching the £FREE DVDs that come with them. Saves me having to wait for the stinking PS3 to download the FIRSTPLAY episodes. Also, think about the room on your HARDDRIVE (even though I don`t have anything to worry about), what about everyone who wants to keep their copies on their PS3? Then what??? OK so it is only a mere 1GB, but that soon mounts up! Sure the games may be the stars on FIRSTPLAY, as quoted on the SONY / PS3 website, but who wants to hear when we are all used to seeing presenters standing there. Beauty is more enjoyable to gaze upon...

So sure, FIRSTPLAY may grow on me in the end, but in all honesty it won`t. Because like the TV videogames programmes of old - namely GAMERTV and more recently JINX FILES. (GAMEFACE is okay, however having to watch that Julia bird does get on your nerves quite a bit. I don`t have anything against here, but still - she is a bit dull in places!!!) But right now I am not impressed with FIRSTPLAY. Sure OK it`s the BETA version, but who here says that it`s going to change. Changing it into something that looks decent will cost time and money, putting a voice over games clips and whatnot is cheap and easy...

[ SEE WHAT I MEAN ABOUT PULSE... ]

Even though it has been created by the OFFICIAL PLAYSTATION MAGAZINE, it could still do with a human face to front the video magazine. It worked with QORE and PULSE, so why not here? Opinions matter when it comes to things like these, but given that big companies like SONY here don`t really care about "what we think", it`s safe to say that FIRSTPLAY won`t hold any lasting memory in the minds of gamers... Unless you`re one of these gamers / bloggers who like the little things in life and gets rather annoyed with sh*t like this.

SUPER MARIO KART...

2010-04-07T14:05:00.007+01:00

Once more another EXCITING email wings it`s way into my inbox - I`ll get to FIRSTPLAY in a minute. Firstly I am addressing an IMPORTANT matter to all Wii owners. (Now I know that most of you have probably already downloaded this, so i`m blogging this for everyone else who hasn`t.)

SUPER MARIO KART

REJOICE my fellow gamers for an all-time CLASSIC is upon us once more. SUPER MARIO KART graced the Wii Store on April 2nd and I must say, it is STILL a golden oldie!!! For 800 Wii Points it downloaded in 5 minutes and within another 5 minutes, I was reliving the good ol` days of my ill spent youth...

... and if you here`s the SUPER MARIO KART video to watch.

The ONLY thing wrong with SUPER MARIO KART is the fact that it is STILL only playable OFFLINE! (Which wasn`t available back then in the 90`s, but given the fact that we are here & now in `10 I thought that ol` NINTENDO could have given it a little update to include ONLINE matches???) Oh well, mustn`t grumble!!! Saying that, imagine the ENDLESS ONLINE fun that you could be having with the MARIO KART original??? A little NINTENDO magic sprinkled here & there could easily add another level of GREATNESS to this game and by adding the ONLINE feature to it, you could then play against your old friends and finally prove - "who the greatest is???"

Aside from that little quibble - SUPER MARIO KART still holds the #1 place in my gaming heart, simply because it is a great game. It has stood the test of time and even on my 32" HD LCD, it looks the bizz. Having played it non-stop since it first came out, I never tire of it.

If you HAVEN`T played SUPER MARIO KART yet, then you should give it a go. Don`t come here and complain that it`s lousy because it isn`t! And don`t moan because it`s an old game, because this is something that most of us "Old Skool" gamers will never tire of playing... 800 Wii Points isn`t breaking the bank and it is a very enjoyable when there are 2 of you playing. The main MARIO KART GP is a wild ride, but when you start playing the BATTLE MODE - that`s when the real gamers are quickly seperated from the weaklings...

MULLIGAN "PULLS" A RUSSIAN BIRD...

2010-04-01T16:18:00.004+01:00

Even MULLIGAN (my alter ego) cannot escape the Internet grip of the stalkers... This time, I (or rather MULLIGAN) has been chatted up by a Russian girl. [I just hope my girlfriend Sarah doesn`t see this blog!]