This ain't dead y'all ;)

Wow... I wasn't expecting this... were you? I doubt it! In fact I wasn't even expecting to remember this blog! So much has happened and changed since the last post that I shan't even try to list any of it. 9 months? I could have had a baby in that time... well... maybe not... but had I the correct equipment I could...
Anyway, there isn't much point in this post, except to get the ball rolling again. Get ready for the continuation of the vague humour, pointless rambling, pedantry, melancholy and general idiocy (and unnecessary tags) of J, M and myself (that's C to y'all), which I promise I shall not let die again (at least not permanently) - I know I'm ready for you, Mr(s) Internet(s) >:D
Also, I feel I should plug at least some sort of link, that being what I do, so please have a look at this webcomic series featuring Luigi (Super Mario Bros. , Mario Kart, etc.) I recommend you look out for Link. The series is so far short, but most enjoyable. Good job to kevinbolk (its creator (and continuer)) Have a link: http://www.interrobangstudios.com/potluck/index.php?strip_id=941
Until next time, adoring fans...
Much luffles,

C

The unfinished symphony...

SO.
I’m determined not to let this Blog die… Kind of… Well, you can probably tell that determination isn’t really my thing. Perhaps what I actually mean is that I’m too stubborn to let it sink into the depths of Internet obscurity. Well, anyway, I doubt M will ever feel compelled to make a post here of his own accord… and well, I think C would probably take a bit of pushing too, even if he did have something he wanted to share with the world… then again, our readership probably does only consist of about eight people at maximum, so he could likely find a better audience elsewhere… Hmmmmmm… ‘Kay, well now I’m starting to wonder whether this post is worth making. Huh… well… I guess I’m going to resolve to create my own blog sometime soon, and make it a genuine project with, like, regular and frequent updates… yeah…

BUT THERE IS ONE THING I’D LIKE TO COMPEL YOU ALL TO DO.
WATCH EDEN OF THE EAST.
NOW.



To be honest, my feelings towards the franchise as a whole are very similar to the sentiments in the above paragraph… it starts off all BANG, and really wins your heart. Then, well, it goes towards something, sort of determined, for the remainder of the series, which, whilst still really good – really, really good - leaves you with a fair bit of uncertainty at the end. Then, there are the movies… If you take the first one by itself, then it could be said to be quite good, well rounded and seemingly setting up the last part quite… But then… Well, the second film…
It’s not quite so good as a film, rather slow with too much dialogue and not enough action or development… And everything goes rather limp. The baddies aren’t really baddies, the goody’s still pretending to be the baddy and the girl’s still chasing after his tailcoats…
Most things are resolved, but the build up and the dynamics and the development weren’t quite realised as you’d have hoped given the pacing and the direction at the beginning of the series…
AND THEN… ARGH… DAMN YOU AKIRA, WHY MUST YOU ALWAYS RUN OFF!?
*ahem*
(Oh, and one thing that particularly annoyed me about the films was that they didn’t use the OP and opening music (‘Falling Down’ from ‘Dig Out Your Soul’ by Oasis) from the series that, together, really complimented the anime perfectly… seriously, the OP of the episodes can be just as interesting to watch as the episodes themselves until you’ve taken note of every little detail…)

Thus, I’d give the series 10/10… the final resolution, however, drags the whole thing down to about… 7.8? (sort of like Pirates of the Caribbean, but nowhere near as bad XD).

In spite of this, I’m pretty sure it’s the anime that’s had the most profound effect on me. It just… seemed (for the majority of it at least) the most perfect balance of beauty, melancholy, cuteness, action, awkwardness, mystery, developing romance, and – something which I very rarely find in anime – meaning. Not like big philosophical malarkey about the nature of justice or absolute power, or the sublime and immense power of the universe and its beauty, and how mankind and its technological expansionism is some kind of blight and blah blah blah, but real, relevant meaning. It really felt like there was little pretension… like they were trying to say something about the generational gap, about the nature of youth these days… commenting on the degree to which we can really make a difference… what constitutes a healthy culture… about how we can save ourselves? In the end they have to rush the conclusions to these things like everything else… but the initial ideas really got through and hit home.

I really wish they’d decided to make a second series as opposed to the two movies… I think that would have served to develop everything, from the characters to the story through to the themes… But alas it was not so. But still.

So yeah, I’ll remember this series fondly, as the masterpiece that was not to be. I may even take to writing my first fan-fiction about it… Perhaps a few songs, a poem or two… But seriously, it has helped affirm within me the ideas and ideals by which I hope to live my life… for the time being…

So my little malchickiwicks, my dear droogs, I think I’m going to head off to my beddy-wed, rest me gulliver, and put on some of the old Ludwig Van, proper horrorshow like.
Till the next time… perhaps…

J

Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys

Abandon all hope ye who enter here...

The Gates of Hell are somewhere in West Sussex

Now comes that time of year, in which I weep and moan, a time in which I try my best to delay and postpone. Ah, school, the bane of my life. I'm baffled by the people who actively look forward to sitting on uncomfortable plastic chairs for hours on end every day; those people positively buzzing with educational fervor and an unquenchable thrist for knowledge - misdirected sex drive if you ask me. Many people tell me they're excited to see their friends and catch up on gossip, or whatever it is other people do. For me, school means, well, other people, and Hell is other people.

AFRICAN QUEEN

Featured Songs playlist by AFRICAN QUEEN

People, check these guys out! The drummer's an acquaintance of mine (as well as being a FUCKING AMAZING drummer) and the band in general are pretty sick (in the good sense XD). They're a psychedelic-rock band, which these days is kind of a rare thing to find, so take a look-see! Also, if you feel particularly generous, why not buy one or two of their tracks as well as taking advantage of the free downloads they've put up :)

J
xxx

Unfinished blog posts are...

A beautiful mind...

...or perhaps not. You decide!
http://www.formspring.me/lizardking461

J xxx

J's Random Review!!!

So, I'm going to try something different to get me back into the habit of blogging! Prepare for... SUPER RAPID CRAPPY SUBJECTIVE RANDOM REVIEW ATTACK! *kamehamehaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa*

*cough* So...

Robert Downey Jnr. - Brilliant as both Holmes and Stark

1) Iron Man 2: Brilliant effects, quite funny and Robert Downey Jnr. is as brilliant as ever, though it did feel at points like it served simply as a lead up to the Avengers movie... however - Mickey Rourke was amazing! Best scene: Rourke showing us some whip action and slicing up the TV *nods* Ultimately, not as good as the first movie, but still a good sequel.

2) Bram Stoker's Dracula: Firstly, the book - still yet to finish it, but obviously a classic and a brilliant read, and probably needed for any prospective A2 English students! Secondly, the 1992 film - hmmm, well, Gary Oldman once again proves that he is both a chameleon and a brilliant actor, as he really does make the film. It's probably one of the more loyal adaptions of the book, despite the addition of an entirely new sub-plot. Keanu Reeves is as wooden as ever, even in the sexy scenes, whilst Hopkins is also great and the casting of Tom Waits, of all people, as the psychopath Renfield is inspired!

3) Mary Shelly's Frankenstein: Yet to even start reading, but it's relatively short, which is never a bad thing, so... top marks!

Over the top... so to speak

Dash Vault

Greetings all my adoring fans and avid readers. I came back from a hot, uneventful, relaxing holiday in Egypt on Wednesday; this holiday made me feel somewhat lazy, so I've decided to be healthy, fit and industrious. I went for a walk last night and ended up Parkour training with some hay bails (dash vaults, kash vaults, tic tacs and gap jumps), and it got me thinking - what other weird and wonderful things might I be able to vault over? I want your help. I want your suggestions for weird and wonderful, but also feasible objects that I might be able to vault over, and I'd like to make a video of me doing so. My Parkour showcase reel is thus far non-existent, so this will serve the dual purpose of amusing and providing me with something to impress. Leave any suggestions as comments, if you'd be so kind, and hopefully we'll see me vaulting on camera for y'all in the near future.
Do me proud!

C
xxx

He does many things...

My hair was getting quite long and unwieldy, I simply had to get rid of it. But I wasn't prepared to spend a small fortune getting it to look reasonable for a single day, and then have it grow out the next and look stupid. So I decided to save myself the money, and did the deed myself, since it would end up looking horrid anyway.

This is what M really looks like.

It doesn't look too bad, in my opinion. It has been received favourably by all. Although, no other living soul has seen it as of yet, but still. Huzzah! Now I can fritter away the money I saved on penny sweets and liqourice and whores more candy.

M

“It's not whether you win or lose, it's how you place the blame.”

So, myself and my sister have an obsession with retro video games. Especially Super Nintendo games. So much so that our playing of them is occupying so much of my time that I'm unable to write a substantial post. So I decided to share with you guys some of my classy geekery, just in case anyone out there is alien to these LIFE ESSENTIAL EXPERIENCES! So, here's J's personal top ten retro games! (Retro being pre-N64/PS1/DC by my definition)

10) Mario Paint


9) The 7th Guest (bit of a cult game, highly recommended)


8) Super Mario Kart


7) Sonic The Hedgehog


6) Final Fantasy VI

Ego cogitare mori...

I said in my first post that I'd retell some of the more bizarre events of my otherwise banal life, to perhaps show why I am as I am.

One day, when I was about five years old, my mother was walking me home from school. I was in a foul mood, but then I always was after school because I hated it so much (but that's another post). We lived on a council estate in a block of flats, and we still do. Now, my area's not exactly in the depths of the ghetto, but it's not the most reputable place for a young mind to flourish. I remember on that day, as we approached the wrought iron fence that barred passage onto the estate, I heard the sound of sirens. This was hardly rare for my area, so I took no notice. It was not till we tried to enter our building did I realise that instead of just speeding by, as most police and ambulances seem to do, they were parked near our block, right outside in fact. I was thrilled, and we walked closer. There was a yellow police cordon and a group of people standing in front of the only door into the building (the other; a fire exit that only opens outward). I was intrigued so I darted forward to investigate while my mother talked to the grown-ups. As they were distracted I was able to get right to the front of the crowd to see what was going on. Splattered onto the concrete floor, right in front of the door to the building, was a body.

Sans français...

I couldn't be bothered to write anything so I thought I'd post these pictures. They're all taken in Paris last summer.

Now you're in Newport...

YouTube - Newport (Ymerodraeth State of Mind)

Any Welsh people out there will love this no doubt, but others should find it equally hilarious!
Eat your heart out Alicia/Jay-Z XD

J

He Speaketh...

My my, it's been a while. Seems things have moved on without me.

I am very lazy, and I apologize to all two of the people who read this blog. I'm sure you've been suffering without my daily dose of joy. Sometimes I even put off doing things I enjoy, just because I can't be bothered, like a cat who sees that you bought a shiny new toy for it to play with, but then decides the windowsill is just fine. I'll try to remedy my idleness over the next few weeks, and I'll endevour to post more often.

Why is my face still the profile picture? Ahh! Where's my garish colour palette gone? (Kidding, I never really liked the green.)

I also noticed a distinct lack of pretensiousness, so here;

From the Lethe he sipped
And the Asphodel fields he wandered
The great Baboon didst slumber
In the depths of Tartarus
Where time itself was prisoner

I wrote that in five minutes. I just finished God of War III, and wanted to write something in the vein of Hesiod or Homer, but obviously my work lacks a distinct fistful of EPIC. It's supposed to be an allogory for my apathy and sloth. Or something.

Excuse my brevity, but I'm afraid I'm not quite up to posting a Bible's worth of text like J and C. I'm lazy remember?

M

p.s 'My Daily Dose' is my other blog, that I share with two of my other friend's, whose name's eerily also begin with J and C. I need to broaden my horizons. (I don't actually post on that blog anymore. Again, lazy.)
And I believe Asphodel is the username of a follower of our's. (I'm looking at you, O.)
And thank you, J, for the correct word; pretensiousness, not pretension.

Dr. Watson, I presume...

Hi all, 'tis J here. Firstly, for those of you who may like the length and depth of some of my previous posts, then I'm sorry to say that this is likely to disappoint. However, as I'm sure that most who read this blog will, like the readers of most other blogs, probably enjoy posts with greater brevity, as C quite rightly pointed out, then this should do. So, whilst I will continue to post more in-depth and pseudo-intellectual/pretentious entries with large word counts, I am also going to endeavour to make short posts more regularly. Secondly, sorry for the awful pun in the post’s title. XD

Soooo... Ah yes, Steven Moffat. He's great. He co-wrote some of the Tennant (or rather "Ten-inch" hehe) era Dr. Who, is the main writer for Smith's series and now his modern realisation of Sherlock Holmes has at last been unveiled in the first chapter of a tripartite mini-series. Having been raised on the classic Conan Doyle tales and some of the older (and quite good) TV series, I was very much looking forward to a new interpretation. I had very much enjoyed the recent film, but I did feel that, whilst in many aspects it did actually stay truthful to the original stories, it was very... Hollywood (but I do so love Robert Downey Jnr. <3).

Scale

Thought I'd make a post on a smaller scale today (you know, like most bloggers do) about more trivial stuff.
Hope you enjoy the new theme that J implemented without asking (I know I am... it's more... fresh).
I just wanted to post saying
A) My darling is just fine, I talked to him (once again his voice melted me... the only person who's ever been able to do that)
B) Nondezvouz - that is, an open, large-scale, free PK/FR (Parkour/Freerunning) jam in Southbank, London (August 14th-15th). I'm planning to attend, should be a blast. If anybody else is interested, please check out the info on the Urban Freeflow website: http://www.urbanfreeflow.com/2010/07/16/nondezvouz-1-why-pay-more/
C) Both J and I seem to have simultanaeously discovered a gorgeous little anime called Hetalia (that is hetare (useless) + Italia), set in the early 20th Century, focusing around characters personifying the major countries at the time. Check it out, it's hilarious and ever so cute.
Anyways I'm off to do some training! Enjoy life!

C
xxx <3

“It is better to debate a question without settling it than to settle a question without debating it.”

Firstly, I would like to apologise for the lack of posting, and would like to thank dear C for taking the initiative. Ideas have been circulating in my head, but unfortunately life has conspired to distract me. I felt inspired by C’s post, and so I’m going to continue in the same vein… I will most likely end up arguing against, agreeing with, extrapolating on and mis- and or re-interpreting the various points C made, so as to continue with the idea of “debatable’s”. Anyhow, I hope our views on such things can maybe give somebody out there something to think about, even if only for a moment. (I also wish that M would write something already – in fact, I wish he’d bloody well get in touch…). (Picture belongs to illbewaiting.deviantart.com I guess)

I would say, just in case there is anyone out there reading this that doesn’t have a homosexual pre-disposition to any extent, (which I suppose is unlikely given that our audience is probably mainly comprised of people from ‘MB’) that… well, I wouldn’t take C’s advice of finding out about ‘MB’ for yourself. I know that for the majority of people out there who are not gay, even considering homosexual acts can be perturbing, and as ‘MB’ is quite overt in many ways, there’d be no need to take a look at something that’s just going to make you feel uncomfortable. Thus I would disagree with C’s thought that “if you don't like it, you're a fool”, as I’m aware for some that it would simply be impossible to like. I do think it’s a pity that, whilst most gay people aren’t repulsed by the idea of heterosexual intercourse, most straight people can’t get their heads around same-sex sexual relations – that’s not to say they don’t accept homosexual relations, just that they can’t understand the attraction.

On Love and Other Debatables

What to post? A question that's puzzled bloggers since the dawn of blogging; it certainly seems to have the three of us sufficiently puzzled, after nearly a month. I figured I'd break the ice, this time with something a little more serious and perhaps controversial than my oh, so trivial mind would usually indulge. But I feel like having a deep rant, so for those of you who don't like it, fuck off *giggles*

I'm going to start by saying how much I love MB. For those of you who don't know MB, find out and make your judgement. My judgement is if you don't like it, you're a fool. I love MB, and through it I've met something I love even more... or rather someone: My darling D.E.O.B (and no, I shan't tell you what that stands for XP). To me he is the most important person in the world, and there is nothing I wouldn't do for him. That said, he's not the first person I've ever said that about, and this is why I carefully tiptoe around that dangerous 4-letter word at this point.

Games Galore!

Hey all.
I posted recently about playing RDR and finally, over a long-stretched-out play spanning 20-something hours, I've finished the story. I'm not one for spoilers, but I'll tell you this: it made me cry a bit ^_^ *giggles* I love any medium that has the capacity to do that to me. Just to sum up some of the stuff I really loved (and continue to love) about it:
Graphics: textures are superb, the particle effects really help to capture both the desert and snowy mountain areas. The water effects are excellent, and the faces are realistic, convincing and emotional. Weather effects are awesome.
Gameplay: Combat is fluid thanks to Rockstar's quick-lock-on kinda system thing, and a whole lot of fun. Horses are awesome, as is going out hunting, and all the cool side and main missions. Just going to say, I didn't really like the minigames... especially horseshoes x.X
Soundtrack: Awesome ambience relative to the area of the world you're in, and at certain key points in the story a piece of real music will come in, and these are all fantastic IMO. Also the fight music really gets the adrenaline pumping with it's fast but steady beat.
Sound effects: Awesome ricochets and gunshots help bring all the battles to life. Weather sounds add to the atmosphere and make events like thunderstorms vivid and shockingly cool. Animal noises are very real too (hearing mountain lions and bears still makes me quake in my spurred boots)
Voice Acting: Unceasingly realistic, clever and emotional. Awesome all the way through with all the characters.
Story: Well written, well executed, and pretty much an emotional roller-coaster. As I said, I cried as it came to the end T.T
The only things that let it down in any area for me were the occasional glitches; for example at one point there were two of a certain character (avoiding the slightest of spoilers) and said character's voice didn't work in the next scene. Little things like this are all that prevent this game being perfect for me... aside from the online, but I haven't played enough of that to properly judge it yet.
Basically what I'm saying is: buy RDR if you haven't already. It's a fucking work of genius. And it has.... *drumroll* gay mexicans!
Ima buy the soundtrack too I think ^_^