Second Shot

Today was the first day at work and it seems like it’s going to be a great place to work. It’s a Building Services company in London (won’t tell you where) and it seems pretty relaxed at the moment – probably because it’s the time for summer holidays with families and friends. Still, there were quite a few others dotted around and I was introduced to some of them. They were all great and a good laugh (hence the relax-state of the office) so getting along in the office shouldn’t be a problem.

Didn’t actually do any work today, mind, but tomorrow should be the first proper day because my mentor will be around to throw work at me.

Need to figure out this Flezi-Time business too. (Okay, I’ll stop rubbing the salt.)

My apologies. I’ve been incredibly lazy in doing anything to Second Shot to the extreme that I have been forced to submit this poor excuse of an animated gif.

Again, I’m sorry. I will try herder next time, I promise.

It’s been quite warm lately, hasn’t it?

Don’t get cancer now, will you.

That is all.

[just a post so that it doesn't look like I've disappeared from the face of the earth, even though I know you all wish it so]

If you remember the classic Superman films (well, the first two as the last two were crap) and you liked them, then I urge you to go watch Superman Returns because it is fantastic, action-packed fun. And furthermore, there’s nothing like having a spine-tingling, memory-flooding moment when John Williams’ original Superman score drums out along to some classic ’80s style credits (complete with zooming effects).

And again, it’s classic Superman story where Lex Luther tries to take over the world, etc. etc. I’m sure you knew that it wasn’t going to be anything different, but that’s exactly why it’s great. Brian Singer sticks at the tried and tested formula, deals it straight out and, in my opinion, pulls out all the stops to make it a fantastic ride. I shalln’t provide any details as to the story because that’s part of the fun (like the old days when I never knew what was going to happen before I watched it), but I will say that there’s a nice revelation (that reminded me of something I heard on the radio but can’t remember who said it – it was something funny).

And don’t worry about new-star Brandon Routh as he does a job equal to that of the late Christopher Reeve. He sounds and acts exactly as you remember Clark Kent. There are some good comedy short-sections and setups (the classic “It’s a bird. It’s a bird…” is very nicely executed), and general acting is good. And at 2-and-half hours you’ll be thankful for it; sure you’ll feel the time on your aching arse, but it’ll be worth it. For some reason, probably because of nostalgia, I would recommend this over the latest Pirates of the Caribbean film.

Do not miss this on the big screen.

God only knows how the hell this monstrosity came about but Flame appears to have got himself emblazened, graffiti-style, to what can only be said as ‘art’ (in the loosest of sense).

Went to VUE to watch Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest and most enjoyable it was too.

I had already typed out a post, but this blog has an issue if you take too long to post it. So I can’t be bothered to write it again.

If you like the first, then you’ll definately like this one. I would say it’s neither better nor worse than the first instalment, and is fairly action-packed with a number of concurrent storylines. Jack Sparrow (Depp), William Turner (Bloom) and Elizabeth Swann (Knightley) are back and there’s more swashbuckling to be had as they all start from different situations but have the same aim; to find out Davy Jones’ (Nighy) hidden treasure chest. Why do they want it? Because Sparrow has a debt to pay to Jones, one that lasts an eternity of afterlife.

What is inside and what does it do? Well, I can’t tell you that. Nor can I tell you what happens to Cap’n Sparrow (whoops, did I say something happens to him? Oh well, you’ll just have to watch to find out). Nor can I tell you if Knightley gets nekkid (hint: it’s 12A-rated). All I can say is that you won’t be disappointed with this instalment which leaves you wanting to know what happens next. The third part is definately going to be interesting and quite possibly more ridiculous than this one.

All-round great performances, although Depp once again steals more limelight than most with his comical attitude and one-liners. And this made the 2-and-half hour long film more bearable, which was probably the only gripe I had. Mind, it didn’t really feel like 2-and-half hours, so that’s probably a good thing about the film.

Anyway, go see it. At the very least, it’ll be an excuse to eat popcorn.

Over the last few days I’ve been designing a slightly more appealing look to our Gamesrant website, what with Nav managing to get an advertisement deal with Shopzilla (and as such, a load of wonger, guv’nor). Oh, by the way James, although you do have Rare’s library to dive into, you should talk to Nav about this…

I’ve not hosted my design just yet as it’s not finished, so there’s no change to be seen. But mark my words, it will be quite a change when it’s done (and for those familiar to the computer games industry: it’ll be done when it’s done).

However, I have been putting some ‘goddamn’ effort into a nice Flash animation (which turns out to look quite simple; respect to those that do huge Flash animations) and you can find it here.

And thanks go to Delphine Software for making that awesome game, Flashback.