I've just finished the second of Jim Butcher's Dresden novels, Fool Moon. It actually took me an age to read it mainly because I kept finding other things to do rather than sit down and read. For me this is usually a sign that I'm not enjoying the book, but once I got through the initial ten chapters or so, I finally sat down and read the rest of the book in no time at all.
As the title suggests it's about werewolves, but as always I'll not spoil anybody's enjoyment of the book by revealing the plot.
Some of you might recall that I found a TV series called the Dresden Files and I did manage to get hold of it and watch it. The series borrows a lot from this book, one episode in particular mirrors the outline of the story so I felt that I was re-reading an old book. My own fault I suppose, I should have read the books first.
I'm not sure if I'll jump straight into Grave Peril, the third in the series just yet, I might take a break and read another book first to freshen my mind, I quite fancy reading Blood of Elves by Andrzej Sapkowski, which the Moomin recommended to me a few weeks ago.
I'm immensely glad that I have taken up reading once again, all thanks to e-books and the ease of their availability and the wonderful iPhone Application, Stanza.
There I was thinking to myself, ok, I can't go out because I'm horribly skint, so what is the next best thing that I can do by myself on a Friday evening whilst all my mates are in the Wychwood Festival enjoying themselves listening to various bands and events? No, I wasn't going to do that, I thought I'd watch this dodgy copy of Angels & Demons I managed to get hold of.
Think what you might like, watching this pirated version means I have just funded a few terrorists who are at this very moment piecing together a bomb to stop Dan Brown and Ron Howard from ever inflicting upon us such utter piffle ever again! One can only hope that my tiny participation in their demise was well worth my having to sit there for over two hours trying to stop the blood from pouring out of my ears. Not since I walked out of Solaris with George Clooney have I felt this strongly about a film.
Fair enough, almost three seconds into the film I was a little dumbfounded as I couldn't understand what was being said as it was all in Italian or some other heathen language, but even without understanding the language, I already could see the intricate plot unravelling in front of my eyes. By the third minute I knew it was Ewan McGregor who was behind it all and to top it all off, the McGuffin, an anti-matter bomb, was so implausible that even a sci-fi geek like me couldn't suspend my disbelief to make it work.
Running around Rome looking for churches wasn't that entertaining, in fact I was so bored halfway through the film I went and cooked my tea, only to return to be disappointed further by the fact that one man, yes one guy, managed to take down about fifteen armed police officers and still managed to miss Robert Langdon, aka Tom Hanks.
If that wasn't bad enough the whole plot revolved around timed set pieces and the ending totally relied on Langdon taking Ewan McGregor with him to find the bomb, nobody on the face of Gods creation could have anticipated or planned how this would all turn out with seconds to spare, not even Obi Wan Kenobi.
If my experience is something to go by, please let me help you out my lovely readers; if for whatever reason you feel the urge to see this disaster of a film, please do so with a ear plugs and a blindfold, you might then enjoy it.
For me the only redeeming factors this film has brought to me is that Ron Howard has fathered a hot daughter who I will never ever meet nor will she ever contemplate sleeping with me. I'm also closer to God now because I agree with the Vatican that this film should be banned, not for its religious insensibilities, but because it is the devils work and it will surely drive many cinemagoer to commit heinous crimes like murder of the director, script-writer/author or just simply force the viewer to commit suicide.
Oh, just in case you might not have understood my critique of the film, I though it was the worst film I have ever seen. One hopes that in reading the book I might change my mind, but lets face it, Dan Brown wrote it, so that's not very likely is it....
I've been thinking recently that I could do with a friend around the house, since little Charlie cat died last year it's been a little bit quiet around here. Quite frankly, the fish don't quite cut it when it comes to company and I find it hard to relate to them in their own little eco-system. So I've got it into my head that I should offer a place for a rescue cat in my home.
I have plenty to offer, I'm at home all of the time, I have a big garden and a comfortable place to live, I love animals and animals tend to love me, although I have been on the receiving end of a couple of bad dogs and a badger in my time. Cats are independent enough so I can go out once in a while, plus on the upside you don't have to walk them as you would a dog, seems a perfect arrangement.
I have a friend who might be able to help me as she knows someone who works for the RSPCA but I haven't seen her in such a long time for one reason or another. I'd go myself but I'm not driving at the moment and getting to Gloucester is a right pain which would be even worse if I had to carry a live animal all the way home, plus it's always nicer to be introduced.
What do you guys think? Should I dive in and get a cat? What have your experiences been of rescue pets?
You know, a lot of things have made me angry recently but I have held off writing about them because so many other bloggers have done so already, but the furore about the MP's siphoning off tax payers money to line their own pockets has really got my goat.
What has surprised me more than the fact that some MP's have been claiming £30,000 a year for food, when people like myself are struggling to live on the welfare system, it has surprised me more that the British public have not gone out to protest and demand a General Election! I'm positive that the French would be out there throwing stones at the police if such a thing happened in France. All three main parties will no doubt lose many seats to the smaller independents in the next by-election, and rightly so.
The whole thing got me thinking about how Labour have hacked away at our liberties over the last 12 years and changed the face of Britain from an affluent country where people from many nations would love to reside into a quagmire of red-tape and stupid laws that infringe on peoples human rights where nobody would dare wish to populate.
Lets take a brief look at some of the laws that Labour have imposed on us since 1997.
- You can't smoke in a public area or an area that is designated as a work related, even in your own car if you use it during working hours!
- You can't own a horse without having a picture passport of the animal.
- You can't hunt a fox or a stag with a pack of hounds.
- You are not allowed to play a piano in a pub without an entertainments license.
- Stage a protest within 1km of the Palace of Westminster without prior arrangement of the Met. Police Commissioner.
- Import into Britain any potatoes which are suspected or look like Polish potatoes.
- Imbibe an alcoholic drink on the London Underground.
- Sell a grey squirrel.
I'm sure that there are sillier laws out there but I can't be bothered to look for them, besides with our rampant terrorist laws I might get arrested for prying into some area I shouldn't, God help me if I wanted to take a photo of a public building or a police officer.
It's a great shame because during my youth when we had the Irish troubles and Thatcher in charge, we didn't lose any of our liberties, unless you count losing our free milk at school a liberty issue. We now live in a fascist state run by an un-elected Prime Minister, constantly under supervision by cameras wherever you are where innocent people are treated like criminals for defending their properties and in the ensuing investigations have their DNA filed and processed for future criminal activities, and there is nothing you can do about it because protesting is now against the law, by penalty of death it seems.
I might sound like a BNP supporter in this post, but at least their sole MP wasn't on the take. I've always voted one of two ways during my time, but neither party will be getting my support this time around. I'm looking to vote for one of the smaller parties in the next elections and in my area the Green Party are quite strong, even though our local Labour MP, David Drew, has not been one to partake of the expenses that he was eligible to skim from the tax pot, he is nevertheless standing for a party I certainly wont vote for. I only hope he defects and becomes an Independent as he is a superb and honest politician, something that this country needs today.
My mum has recently had this fixation about clearing out her house before she dies so that it will be less trouble for me and my siblings after she goes. All very well, but she's only 74 and still quite fit, so even though people keep telling me that people know when their time i getting near, I just can't see it happening any time soon.
So she's got this local handyman to go into the attic to drag everything out to either skip it or sell it. If your attic is anything like my mothers, then that would be a big job!
Over the years everything has been stowed away up there, apparently a lot of it has been produced by me. From the various phonecalls I've had recently most of the stowage I don't remember having, so I just told her to give it away to a charity shop or throw it out. But there has been one thing that she wont do that to.
Apparently there's a vast amount of my old artwork up there, ranging from schooldays to the end of my university attendance. As I remember, most of it is rubbish, but between my mum and this handyman, they've gone through it all and decided I was a genius, my mum has even framed a couple of things! I feel so embarrassed about it all.
Since all of this was found, my mum keeps harassing me to start drawing again, something I haven't really done in about ten years. She and this handyman feel like I'm a huge talent wasted. Normally I wouldn't listen to my mother about such things as she would see such things through rose coloured glasses, but this handyman, whom I don't know, has been extolling my drawings no end, or so it seems.
So I have taken it upon myself to unearth all of my art materials from the bottom of my wardrobe and I'm sat here awaiting for some inspiration, but nothing seems to come forth.
I keep having this nagging doubt in the back of my mind that I'll only frustrate myself as I haven't drawn anything is such a long time that whatever I'll manage to produce won't be up to my exacting standards.
I know that the only way to get back to where I was is to get on the bicycle and ride again until I stop falling off, it's also true that I have more time on my hands than I know what to do with, so I really have no excuses.
I think what I need is a muse, and if I'm honest, the only time I've felt creative and full of energy is when I've had a girlfriend and by the looks of things that isn't going to happen any time soon. Perhaps I shall draw one of my friends or a tidy looking celebrity and see how it goes. If I feel it's good enough, I might post it here, but more than likely I wont as I don't feel the confidence flowing at the moment.
Let's see eh?
Forgive me readers for I have sinned, I have not blogged for a week. In fact other than a few Tweets on Twitter, I have barely typed a single word in all that time. I suspect that my typing speed is now akin to a racing snail competing at the forthcoming London Olympics, which is to say that it is so full of apathy even the spectators couldn't give a rats ring-piece if he was there or not.
Anyhow, what have I been doing? Well, I went to the cinema to see the new Star Trek film. Some of you might know that I'm a little bit of nerd when it comes to Trek, I even considered wearing my uniform to the screening; I didn't by the way, even I have some dignity left. So without spoiling the film for any of you, I will say that I think the film is brilliant, but I didn't like it. An oxymoron if you wish, but I loved the film for what it was, a huge spectacle of excitement and fun, but as a Trek Geek, it totally disappointed me. J.J.Abrahms has taken what we all know and love and re-invented it for the superficial people of today, like those people who prefer Star Wars. He's taken the Trek cannon and thrown it all out, it's as if the Trek universe has never happened, but I suppose you can do this with a story that has its basis in time travel. So I urge you who have not seen it yet and who are still ardent Trekkies, go to see it with an open mind and assume that the events in the film are taking place in a mirror universe.
I've also rejoined World of Warcraft, it seems to take up a few hours in the evening as I'm questing with Smiling Grump, which makes the game a little bit more interesting. The good thing is, I have forgotten a vast amount, so the game feels fresh again after my absence of eighteen months.
I have also discovered Last.fm, well, I knew it was there and I had it bookmarked for ages, but I never got around to going there and playing around. I'm glad I did. For all you music lovers out there, it's a must! Very easy to set up and once you import your playlists, I uploaded mine from my iPhone, it gives you recommendations of songs you might like. So far I have not been disappointed, and lets face it, for a free service it rocks! So far I have not been caught out with a single track that I have searched for. It's fantastic as it feels like you have your own personal radio station that plays all your favourite tunes and similar stuff. Go on, join up and you can befriend me there so we can share music!
Right, I feel like late luncheon, so noodles it is!
Who says fish are stupid?
Some of you might remember that my Puffer fish has learnt to spit water at me in a previous post, I did promise that I would train him to jump through little hoops of fire, but alas he's not taken to that.
So I was feeding the guys today and Foxy, my Rabbitfish, has noticed that Puffy gets some preferential treatment because of his little trick. So by imitation Foxy has started to spit water too. Amazing little fishies!
I must find a video somewhere to record them, I bet you would all love to see.
Heads up people, Squilla has started to blog again! Head over here to leave a comment or she'll never blog again!
For those of you who have not read any of Squilla's writing before, I beseech you to pay a visit as well, she has a unique writing style and has a take on life that no other has. She is one of the wittiest writers out there and she's also one of my bestest friends in the world, although I don't really like her boyfriend much.
I'm now off to e-mail everyone that I know who used to read her blog, just to make sure that she carries on, because let's face it, the blogging world has felt a little empty without her.
My mate Lee bought a Mac a little while ago and he's installed WoW on it, he's having a lot of fun and I became jealous because I haven't played in the Warcraft universe for over 18 months! Believe it or not, I got overly involved and found that my life had become slightly obsessed with playing this online game!
So, when I moved out of my old flat, I stopped playing. Mainly because I didn't have an internet connection at home, but there are places in town where I could have sated my obsession but I thought it better to actually play a new game for a while, Real Life.
It wasn't as interesting to begin with, after all I'd played Real Life for about 32 years before WoW came along and it didn't seem as interesting, but I eventually got back into my stride as a citizen of the UK and carried on playing until today. RL has got very boring lately, my character has no love-life to speak of and he's lost all of his profession points so he's unable to find work to get those all important gold pieces to further his interests. What irks me is that I am much better at playing WoW than I am at playing RL, so it makes a lot of sense to return to a place where I can earn the gold and make myself useful.
So 18 months onwards I'm returning to WoW because after a year and a half of playing RL I'm bored and feel the need to crack some skulls with a big hammer, which is something I can't do in RL because the GM is a bit of a bastard when it comes to illegal moves.
Less of this gamespeak and back to reality.
Lee and I have been chatting about the gameplay when we've been down the pub and I have realised that I have forgotten almost everything about WoW, which may be a good thing as I will be able to return with a better sense of perspective and this is what I intend to do.
I've finally downloaded 18 months worth of patches, which totalled 15GB and took almost two days,I'm now ready to re-enter this universe with my dusty lvl.70 Paladin. I'm waiting until Wednesday so I can pay for the subscription unless Grumpy Lee manages to get me a resurrection invite so I can play for ten days for free.
Depending on how things pan out, I might start a new character as I might not be as astute as I was in 2007, after all, there is a reason why you don't start off with a lvl.70 character, you need to learn the ropes and if I'm honest, I can't remember any of the abilities and suchlike, so being in the middle of a melee with other seasoned players would be quite embarrassing if I haven't got a clue what to do.
I'm only hoping that I'm doing the right thing, this could be the end of my Real Life account and if I'm honest, there's not much in RL that has any interest for me at the moment, so perhaps this is the way forward until the RL recession is over, then I might be able to find a few profession points and finally earn some gold!
I just can't believe it, I have won a giveaway hosted by a blogging friend of mine at Blogger. I never win anything, ever! Could this mean that my luck has changed? Hope so!
I'm over the moon! Think I'll celebrate by boiling up some noodles!
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