Hills, 93, ECG, trailers and riding a bike

Elliot has finally got the hang of riding his bike. Roz and I bought it for him a good few months ago but up until recently, he has got the hang of pedalling a full rotation (he tended to move himself along with a half rotation, then realigning and starting again). Now there’s no stopping him…

Also, we have recently taken down all but one of the stair gates in our house. Elliot had pretty much figures out how to open them, so they no longer really served much purpose.

I’ve noticed that since I’ve started riding into work that I’ve been getting rather uncomfortable chest pains. As such, I decided to go to the doctor to ask about this. He suggested an immediate ECG (which was worrying), thankfully my heart is fine. Instead, it’s some sort of gullet infection which will likely be better soon (actually feeling better already).

There have been a whole host of trailers posted on the web recently, these being:

Snakes on a Plane – interesting could be amusing.

Lady in the Water – Lost faith in M Night Syamalan a long time ago.

And…

Spiderman 3 ( which can be found here)

Looks promising!

Films watched:
United 93

An unnervingly real account of the tragic flight 93 during the events of September 11. So real in fact, that this almost seems to a documentary take on the events.

The brought back memories to me of my reaction on that day. The utter shock and disbelieve. The feeling that the whole world was coming to pieces. An overwhelming sense of sympathy for those and the families caught up in these events.

As a film, this is remarkable, something that I couldn’t really describe as enjoyable, but could describe as unmissable. If this isn’t up for an Oscar come 2007 I’ll eat my hat. My only complaint would be that the film really is split in two parts. That of the passengers on flight 93 and also air traffic control as they try to get to grips with the events. Whilst the air traffic control events are interesting, they are dragged on a little too long and I feel that the focus should have been skewed a little more to the passengers of the flight, perhaps giving a little more background to them.

The last twenty minutes or so, where the passengers say goodbye by mobile to their love ones and decide to take action against the terrorists really is quite an emotional experience. Highly, highly recommended.

8/10

The Hills Have Eyes (2006)

Haven’t I seen this before? No, I’m not talking about the original either. I’m talking about the endless spew of slasher films in the past few years. I’m talking Texas Chainsaw, Hostel, Wolf Creek, Wrong Turn … the list is almost endless.

For all the blood, guts and violence this film had it was lacking one very important ingredient… a plot.

I’m starting to tire of watching the same film over and over again. Hell, I like horror’s, but for god sake, a little bit of originality is needed. Please?

4/10

Potty's and Geisha

We’ve been trying to train Elliot to be “dry” overnight at the moment. A little early perhaps, but his bedtime nappies have often been dry so we thought, why not!

Tonight we left a potty in his room and told him that if he woke up and felt like he needed to go to the toilet he could use this. We were surprise to see when we went into his room before that he had actually used it. He’d gotten out of bed, used the potty, got dress again and climbed back into bed without us even hearing him. This may sound trivial to non-parent, but you have no idea how proud this make me feel.

I know, I’m a sad, yet very proud, father.

Film watched:
Memoirs of a Geisha

Another recent adaptation of a popular novel that I have enjoyed (the other being The Da Vinci Code), this unfortunately, has not translated to the screen as well.

Yes it has been beautifully filmed and yes it follows the novel very well (even if it skips a few initial chapters), but what it doesn’t capture is the heart of the novel. If there was one word that could describe the film it would be “pedestrian”. It just goes about it’s business slowly, doing what it needs to do, showing what it needs to show, with little flair or spark.

The psychological yet courteous war games between rival Geisha feel flat and pointless. The desires and hopes of Sayori, unimportant. You never feel anything for anyone, which is a crying shame considering the strength of the novel.

If Spielberg had directed this (as he had originally intended) then this may have been a very different film. Now, it’s just a poor and pointless adaptation. Pretty to look at, but shallow and hollow to the core.

4/10

Tardis Tennis and Candy

Whilst browsing for online flash games with Elliot I came across the following:

Tardis Tennis

Just perfect for pre Wimbledon fever.

I especially like playing John Legend (Lennon) :)

Film watched:
Hard Candy

I normally try to avoid them, but…

*warning – spoilers*

This has got to be one of the only films I’ve ever seen where someone (a man, unsurprisingly, in this instance) has been forced to leave the cinema out of utter horror. He was sitting a little behind me and as such, I was privy to his sharp intake of breath as the particular scene took place followed by a comment along the lines of “I can’t take any more of this”.

Two word sum this up very nicely…

“Castration scene”

Of course you don’t actually see anything (thank god), but it’s the slow psychological build up to the scene and the fact that it doesn’t rush a single second that make it so stomach (or should that be groin) churning. That and the squishy sound effects.

Unfortunately the twists towards the end of the film are a little disappointing, I would have preferred it if you’d been left wondering a bit more about the girls sanity and whether the victim was really a paedophile or not.

6.5/10

Portrait, Anthology and Elliot

Poor Elliot hasn’t been feeling well the last few days. It turns out that he had a “hand foot and mouth” infection which seems to be localised in his mouth. Basically it means that is mouth is full of blisters and is really very painful. As such, he hadn’t been able to eat much or even drink much the last few days and has understandably been rather miserable.

My parent had planned to take Elliot away today for a daytrip to Sark and for a while it was looking uncertain whether he would be able to make it. Thankfully he seemed a little perkier in the morning and has gone and by the sound of things, has been having a very nice day.

It’s been a rather strange day just with just Roz and I, almost as if we were just a couple again. It’s been rather a nice break, but all the same I’ve missed Elliot a bit.

I got the Beatles Anthology DVD boxset through from Amazon the other day and have started to watch through this. It’s all very interesting and I’ll likely post a little more about this once I’ve finished.

At playschool on Thursday Elliot made a couple of presents for me for Fathers Day. One of these is a coaster with a portrait of me that he drew. This is shown below:



The expression is probably about right, not too sure about the orange hair though :-\

Weird Al Blunt

If you have the same feeling of dread everytime that "your beautiful" by James Blunt is played on the radio, why not download (for free) a new mp3 by the sublimely talented Weird Al Yankovic...

here

It amused me :)

Jersey films, Lara, 666 & Abbey Road

Well 06/06/06 has come and passed with no apocalypse (that I’m aware of)… I hope all you parents out there with babies born on that fateful day check your child’s head for suspicious 666 shaped birthmarks. Trust me, Damien is the name to go for a boy.

The remake of The Omen happened to be release on 06/06/06 and I happened to take a look on boxofficmojo.com and saw its opening night figure:

$12,633,666

A spooky coincidence, don’t you think!

Had a nice time in Jersey with Roz and Elliot, just seemed to go by so damn quick, before I knew it my holiday was over and I was back to work… I slightly overindulged on all you can eat buffet at the hotel and therefore suffered a bit on the last day, but apart from that everything went smoothly… even Condor was on time!

I managed to pick up a couple of extra Beatles albums in Jersey, namely Rubber Soul and Abbey Road. I’ve also since ordered the Beatles Anthology DVD documentary from Amazon a couple of days ago. Abbey Road has been rocketed to the very top of my best albums of all time list, alongside Sg. Peppers and The White Album. It really is quite something else, an end of an era record (this was the Beatles last studio album) and a much more joyous and less restrained album than Let it Be. It really is something else, Rubber Soul is also an excellent album, but I’ve been listening to Abbey Road pretty much no stop since I put it on my ipod.

My only annoyance is with my ipod. Why is it that the ipod insists on having a slight pause between tracks? This must only be for 1/10 of a second, but for some CD’s this can be annoying and Abbey Road is one of those. The final 11 tracks which formed side 2 of the original record are a collection of song which really form an seamless rock ballad. This makes the pause between tracks very noticeable and annoyingly so. Surely there must be some way around this, but as far I can see there isn’t.

Over in Jersey I managed to catch a few films at their vastly superior cinemas…

Films watched:
Silent Hill
This film varied from extremely unnerving and visually striking to pretty humdrum.

I was really hoping that this would be a spectacular game adaptation, the only problem is that for most of the film it felt very much like you were playing the game. The story was led very much by a poor clue A leads to clue B narrative, which whilst fine in a game, is a little dull in a film.

When things got surreal and dark, then the film came into its own and certain scenes (I’m thinking pyramid head and nurses here) really were pretty damn good. It’s just a shame that they felt the need to try and explain just about everything. The good thing about Silent Hill is that you don’t know what the hell is going on.

6/10

The Da Vinci Code
Okay, I really liked the book and overall this was a pretty fine adaptation.

Bits of the book were slightly watered down for the film and other parts were quickly mentioned, but overall the film slowed well and the performances closely matched the characters.

I think that really, like many book adaptation, it’s hard to convey so much within such a short period of time and whilst the book has the luxury to take it’s time, the film doesn’t and as such, much of the impact is lost.

7/10

X-Men 3: The Last Stand
It seemed that every critic wanted this film to fail after the departure of Byran Singer from the project, but I wanted to give it the benefit of the doubt and I’m glad to say that in my opinion at least, this more than lives up to the previous films.

My only 2 complaints are that Vinnie Jones was quite frankly a stupid choice for Juggernaught and that the film could have been a little longer to fit in all the story threads.

If this is truly the last X-Men film (which I hope it isn’t), then this is quite some finale.

For any of you that have been put off by lukewarm reviews, I suggest that you give the film a chance, you might be surprised. Just sit back and enjoy the film, as pure entertainment, it can’t be beaten so far this year.

8.5/10

Games played:
Tomb Raider: Legend
Whilst in Jersey I picked this up at a very good price at Woolworths on the PS2

I managed to have a quick go at this last night and my initial impressions are very positive. It is very much a case of Tomb Raider meets Prince of Persia, but that is no bad thing. Also, the graphics on the aging PS2 really are quite impressive. The old Tomb Raider games suffered very much from a building block like structure to the levels, but this has been removed and the environments really are quite realistic as a result.

Even the combat is greatly improved over previous games… Something I hated in the old games and also Prince of Persia.

Bike, boobs and BB

Well I purchased a bike today.

It’s been absolutely ages since I’ve owned a bike, but the plan is to use it to cycle into work. It felt damn weird being back on the roads again on a bike. I felt so damn vulnerable. I also kept looking for a rear view mirror… hmmm…

I spotted a special issue of FHM in the newsagents today, called “The girls of FHM ASIA”, being a bit of a sucker for Asian women my eyes jumped out of their sockets. So much so that my wife bought me a copy… What a gem of a wife I have.

Okay I admit it, I’ve been watching far too much of Big Brother, it’s just so damn addictive. Must stop soon!

Brain age

Just got my brain age down to:

21

That twenty damn one... Just one year away from brain age perfection!

Poor Elliot

Elliot hasn’t had such a great weekend. All his little friends have had a stomach bug recently and Roz and I were beginning to think that he may have managed to avoid this, but no.

He woke up around 3:30 a.m. Saturday morning and proceeded to be sick on his bed and from then onwards, neither Elliot or Roz and I got much sleep (I estimate I probably had around 2 hours sleep maximum). Elliot continued to be sick until around 4:00 p.m. in the afternoon.

Sunday wasn’t much better, although he’d stopped being sick, he was still very ill, and spent most of the day lying down.

Thankfully he seems to be on the mend now. I’m just pleased it was this weekend rather than in a weeks time whilst we’re in Jersey.

Elliot was also a little disappointed because I told him that we could play football in a friends “big garden” during a housewarming party on Sunday and as he was too ill, we couldn’t make it. Also, Roz wanted to have a look around and chat…

BB, Flat, Work and Phoenix

Okay I admit it… I watched the first episode (and now the second) of Big Brother 2006.

I used to rather enjoy watching Big Brother, but since Elliot came along, finding the time to watch so much television became problematic, as such I did really see much of the last 2 series.

The reason I enjoy watching Big Brother – simple my friends. As outrageous and freakish as the large majority of contestants are, they are still people. As such, after a very short period of time (maybe a few days) their true character normally bubbles to the surface and then you get conflicts, disagreements and arguments… The real fun part.

I guess I always tend to put myself mentally in the house and imagine what it would be like as a “housemate”. For starters, I’d tend to be the oddball in the corner who doesn’t speak to a soul and doesn’t get involved with anything. There’s also the fact that I’d likely hate the majority of the housemates and not hide my feelings or opinions in the slightest. Strangely, I’d probably rather enjoy the experience (even if I was tearing what little hair I have out in frustration after a couple of hours).

Will I watch anymore of this series…? I might, but not religiously so.

We now have the deposit from out new tenants and I’ve drawn up a new lease, just need to get it signed now. The new tenants sound like nice (reliable) people, so fingers crossed, things should go as planned. They’ll be moving in on June 11th.

I’d love to blog about what I’ve been doing at work, but I can’t. Confidentiality you see. I’d love to say that I went … and saw …, then bumped into… Then went … and did …, but I can’t. I’ll just say that it’s been quite an eventful week and probably a little more varied and exciting than usual.

Games played:
Phoenix Wright
This has got to be one of my favourite games on the DS so far.

It’s so, so simple. Really no more than a simple text adventure really, but as the story progresses and you start to put the clues together and build a case, it really gets the adrenalin pumping.

Roz said the other day that it sound a little too much like work (my work that is). Then again I rarely deal with Silver Samurai actors, Psychics and dead bosses in real life!

Just hope that the sequel is as good. Maybe a Wii version may even be on the cards (although I’m uncertain how the wiimote would be used – unless they included a microphone attachment), I can but hope anyway. After all, Trauma Centre is due to be a launch title for the Wii – so why not bring Phoenix Wright to the party?

“Objection!”

Flat, Second console (?) and Jersey

We have reached a compromise with our tenants. They are going to pay us the amount we paid to the estate agents in fees and as such, we will allow them the cease the lease early. As such, our flat will be available (again) on June 11th. We’ve contacted Martel Maides (not Swoffers this time) and they have found us tenants already!

Unfortunately, however, are agent from Martel Maides has told us that there is a rather unfortunate smell in the flat. She described that as like a tomcat had peed on the carpet. So now we have this to deal with. The new tenants seem happy to take on the flat, so long as the smell is dealt with.

The problem is, we can’t very well go down to the flat and tell our tenants that they smell, or even ask what they have been doing in the flat to cause the smell (they could very well be unaware of it). I think our best bet is to simply get the flat professionally cleaned (including the carpets) prior to the new tenants moving in.

Our new tenants would prefer to move in a little early on the 1st June, so I’ll have to speak to the existing tenants to find out whether they are willing to leave early. That's the plan at least, except I don't seem to be able to catch a time when the tenants are actually in the flat...

I read on the internet today that the official response to the Wii from BOTH Sony and Microsoft is that it would make an excellent second console… At this rate the Wii may even get the biggest market share! We can but hope. All I want now is an official release date in Europe sometime before Christmas 06… Pretty please Nintendo.

I’ll be off to Jersey in a couple of weeks with Roz, Elliot and Roz’s parents. We’ll be staying at the Merton Hotel as this is ideal for children, and Elliot seemed to enjoy it there last time. Also the evening buffet meals are lovely!

Whilst in Jersey I’m hoping to catch a few films at their vastly superior cinema… Namely:

The Da Vinci Code
X-Men 3
Poseidon
United 93 (possibly)

Tenants, knee and Vengeance

First of all, the tenants spoke to Roz the other day and have explained that their nephew who is currently living with them and helping with the rent, has decided that he wants to leave Guernsey. As such, they will shortly be unable to afford the rent. What they want to do, is give us one months notice.

They have signed a years lease which was arranged through an estate agent (who took a 10% finders fee). So if we were to allow them to give one months notice, we will have in effect paid the estate agent the commission for a years rent, for just 3 months. Of course I would insist that the deposit was not repaid, which would help a little, but we would still be losing out, not to mention the fact that we’d have to try to find new tenants…. Again!

Alternatively, I could insist that the tenants stay. They have after all signed a years lease. We also hold a letter from their employer which guarantees payment of a years rent. So presumably, if they were unable pay, we could chase the employer via petty debts for the remaining money.

I’ve spoken both to the employer and the tenant. The employer basically said that his employee has to stay and will speak to him about this. My tenant (the employee) has said that his employer will not help out in the least and that he simply cannot afford to pay the rent that I’m asking (which is very reasonably btw).

So, at the moment, I’ve left it that I’ve told the tenants that I’ll think about it… But what to do? Insist that he abides by the years lease and see how payment goes… pursuing the employer for payment of my tenant doesn’t cough up? Also bearing in mind that there would be a great deal of bad feeling from my tenant towards me (they after all, just live downstairs from us). Or, just accept a month notice, keep the deposit (losing out on a few hundred pounds to the estate agents) and start all over again…

Why did I ever decided to become a landlord again?

Elliot accidentally lost a beanbag into the field behind our garden today. I climbed over the wall to try to retrieve this (but was unable to – too many brambles and stinging nettles), then as I was climbing back over the concrete wall, smacked my left kneecap on the wall.

By god is it hurting at the moment.

It seems the longer I don’t use my leg, the more it hurts. I’m dreading the paid tomorrow morning when I wake up…

Films watched:
Lady Vengeance (aka Sympathy for Lady Vengeance)

The last part of the Park Chan-Wook Vengeance trilogy, comprising of Sympathy for Mr Vengeance, Oldboy and Lady Vengeance.

I simply loved Oldboy. It is without a doubt one of the most astounding films I have seen in years. Unfortunately, when I watched Sympathy for Mr Vengeance shortly after watching Oldboy, I was very disappointed. Therefore, whilst really looking forward to Lady Vengeance, I was also a little cautious that it may turn out to be the disappointment the Mr Vengeance was.

In a word… “wow”,

While not quite as good as Oldboy, Lady Vengeance is still an absolute masterpiece. A very different film, slightly more sluggish pacing and a more drawn out conclusion, but still on a similar level to Oldboy.

I have read that some found that this film wasn’t as shocking as Mr Vengeance and Oldboy. Whilst it is true that for most of the film, it isn’t as stomach churning as the first parts of the trilogy, the final segment of the story is just as powerful.

For the most part, this initially seems a much simpler tale of revenge than Oldboy, but as will the twists in Oldboy, Lady Vengeance holds a spectacular card up it’s sleeve. I wouldn’t spoil the film for anyone, just to say that it turns out a lot different than you might have expected and involved a lot more people than you might expect.

As a father, I’ve also got to add that I found the film particularly disturbing, but again, without spoiling anything, I can’t go into the specifics.

A wonderful. Wonderful film.

9/10

E3, E3, E3 & flat

Right…

I though I’d take a moment or two to write down my thoughts so far on E3.

I have watched all of the Nintendo conference, half of the Sony conference and have downloaded a lot of gameplay video/trailers. Read several “hands on” reports and pretty much taken in as much of E3 as possible without actually being there.

So far, it looks like Nintendo seem to have hit the ground running… and skipping. Sony on the other hand, seem a tad unprepared, over expensive and ever so slightly uninteresting.

Zelda on the Wii is looking very promising and Super Mario Galaxy just looks stella. Other promising looking Wii games are: Metroid Prime 3, Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz, Excite Truck, WarioWare, Red Steel and Super Smash Bros Brawl. My only slight concern is that Nintendo are heavily marketing the Wii as a console that anyone can use, but there isn’t anything as immediately open to non-gamers in the same way that Brain Training and Nintendogs has been on the DS.

Talking of the DS… Phoenix Wright 2, Yoshi’s Island 2, StarFox… Yeah :)

On the PS3 both Metal Gear Solid 4 and Final Fantasy XIII are looking stunning and I quite like the look of Warhawk, but other than that – nothing truly new or immediately interesting.

As for Xbox360 – I’ve barely even looked…

I thought I’d also mention the PS3 controller. As predicted, this has reverted back to the old dual shock design (playing it very safe Sony). However, they have also include motion sensor in this at the expenses of the rumble pack. This just screams to me as a half-arsed attempt to outdo Nintendo. However, as the controller itself hasn’t changed, I don’t see this being as versatile or as well used as the Wii remote. It’s a good addition, just not sure how much it will be used.

Back to the Wii remote… A speaker on the remote? My first thoughts were simply… “huh”? But the more I think about it, the more I can see the sense of it. After all the sound of hitting a ball and a slight rumble of the remote would be a great indication that you’ve made virtual contact with a tennis ball. It should be interesting to find out how this is put to use by various developers.

Just also recently downloader the trailer for Super Smash Brothers Brawl. That has to be both one of the coolest and funniest trailers ever!

On a less happy note… Our tenant situation has taken a turn for the worse. I’m not really in the mood to blog about it now, but rest assured – the saga is not over.

E3 E3!!!

Too much to read / watch - too little time to blog!

Wiiiiiiii :)

Beatles, TV, Games and "no, it's poo"

Okay, got a few more Beatles CD’s through the post over the last few days (been using Ebay a tad). These are:

Magical Mystery Tour
Past Masters vol. 1
Past Masters vol. 2
Anthology 1
Anthology 2
Anthology 3

As I already had the “1” album, I already had most of the singles which are on the Past Masters albums, but it was still worthwhile getting these for the B sides and the rare singles. The anthology album, are fantastic. Again, most of the tracks I already have on other albums, but it’s interesting to listen to the demo’s, alternative takes and the general progress of each song into it’s completed form.

Got the 2 episodes of Lost to watch tonight – definitely looking forward to it. Also, Battlestar Galactica just seems to be getting better and better. I’m really quite spoiled for great TV shows at the moment!

Told Elliot that the new Nintendo console was called “Wii” the other day. He just sniggered and said “no, it’s called poo”. Even Elliot immediately things of urine… but then again he is currently being potty trained!

If anything, Wii is growing on me a little :-

Oh, I've just caught the trailer online for Superman. Previously I've been a little lukewarm in anticipation for this.... Now, consider me excited:

Is it a bird... Is it a plane? No, It's the trailer dummy!

Games played:
Phoenix Wright
I’ve just spent ages trying to type my opening statement for this game… What to say really?

Well, if you’ve ever wanted to stand up in court and shout “objection” then this is the game for you. It’s a mix of old text adventures of days gone by and something completely different, a lawyer sim.

The sense of satisfaction when a case starts to go your way really is great… Although I suspect this game may not last too long, it is certainly very different and memorable.

LocoRoco
I downloaded this the other day from the Japanese PSP site.

It really is quite bizarre, there really is no other word for it! A strange mix of Sonic, Pikmin and Kirby. The fact that I can’t understand a word of Japanese also adds to the confusion a tad. However, this is without a doubt the most original game to come to the PSP since it’s launch and it currently the only game on the PSP horizon that I’m looking forward to!

Brain Training
Got this the other day… It has proven to me something that I have known for some time now… My wife is far smarter than I am. My initial Brain Age… 76 (very bad), hers 35 (pretty good).

I can see why this has done so well in Japan, the incentive to “play” each day to better yourself is very addictive. Also the fact that it keeps a record (in graph form) of my (and my wife’s) performance in the game is also a great idea.

Occasionally the voice recognition isn’t perfect. You have to say a colour in a calm tone for it to work – quite hard when you’re frantically trying to get as many answer right as possible. Also the text recognition slips up occasionally (it doesn’t like the way that I write 5’s and Roz writes 9’s), but then again, this could be seen as a bonus, as it makes us write correctly!

Overall, another great little distraction on the DS.