Over the weekend, I caught a movie that I've been aching (really, aching) to watch, Avatar. Not to be confused with some air bending cartoon, this was the big release by James Cameron, a movie that took a long time to make and bring to the big screens.
Sure, there were financial issues, as well as technology ones as well. James Cameron being James Cameron, he just built new crazy hardware and came up with software to go with his vision (stereoscopic 3D and God only knows what else).
There's even a video game (for the PC, consol and maybe even the iPhone) but since I don't own either one of those (no gaming PC, sadly) lets not go there.
The movie was an amazing feat for the eyes. Seriously. Even if you're not a Sci Fi fan, this movie looks pretty as hell.
This is from the game, instead of the movie, but you get the idea.
On to plot and nit-picking!
The movie reminded me so much of the wild west. Cowboys ride into the new frontier, find gold, silver, diamonds what have you, and start to mine the hell out of the local geography. Just so happens that you've got a bunch of semi-peaceful, tree hugging religious indigenous people on the same plot of land. So what do you do? Pretty much blow them out of the sky.
Hey, come back here, we just want to be friends.
(I love the tech and weapon arsenal in the movie by the way, just love it!)
At one point, the humans even decide to use a space shuttle to act as a bomber. Why? Why? If you asked anyone to commit to using a vehicle that's specially designed to get off the planet safely, and probably costed a bajilion dollars as a simple bomber, you'd get laughed out of the military academy! Just stay back, and lob missiles in over and over, job done. Don't go in with ground troops, you don't want anything left alive, shot the jungle up first! Jebus, if I had to take over one more godforsaken jungle country . . . .
The only grainy screenshot from the actual movie, ha ha!
Minor gripe, if you log off your Avatar, and it goes 'dead' like that, how does it stay alive? What keeps the Avatar unit biologics going? Sure, Autonomic nervous systems can keep it breathing, but what about nourishment etc? Huh? Riddle me that Mr Science Space guys!
Edit: Found a good gameplay video on YouTube, just thought it would be great to share it out.
But I jest. The movie was great. A little long, but an amazing movie nevertheless.
Six thumbs up (watch the movie, some animals have 6 legs).
The Internet is such that you should be able to find anything (well literally anything)on it. The powers of Google knows no bounds!
So imagine my surprise when I tried to load a link to a YouTube video that someone sent me, and was told that I could not view it, since its not available in my country.
Wait, we're on the Internet, but we're still being restricted by countries?
No, seriously, I'm on the Interwebs, whats this country stuff about then?
We're supposed to come together as a global village, one mankind and all that, but someone thinks its better to sort and group us by our physical location.
Updated my lists of things to accomplish. Best accomplishment so far, has got to be Paintball. I've been yearning for a game of paintball ever since I saw an advert for it over here, but I never had the chance (or the funds) since all the places that had them charged an arm and a leg.
We had a company sponsored game of paintball, and I must say, this game just looks easy. Cardio. Seriously, do some cardio or something a few weeks before you even get into the paintball field. Oh, and it does hurt up close. Not as much at the start, and then it starts to bruise and hurt some more. I got hit on the knuckles and the back of my hand, and it actually drew blood. I'm not trying to scare you, but this is an extreme sport for a reason.
Did someone order a big can of pain?
Back to the list. Sorted the one's I've completed down, and left 'Take over the world' as the last item. I'm pacing myself here.
I took the evening off on my busy hectic weekend to catch the latest flick from Bruce Willis, Surrogates.
This sir, is a movie poster.
The movie is basically about how science comes up with a way for humans to remotely control robots remotely. The technology then advances; I'm sure with some suited guy in a corporate office the size of a basketball court, into technology that lets everyone strap themselves into a control couch and instead let their surrogate robot body go out and live life. Living life via a robot. Life. Robot. I digress.
Am I the only one who thinks that technology that allows humans to remotely control, sense, feel and manage a humanoid robot has gone to waste, just because we have the crazy need to play a real life version of the Sims?
I can come up with at least a hindered hundred uses of the Surrogate technology, of which only 1 is showcased in the movie. Surrogates in the military, brilliant, that was my first choice.
But what about space exploration? It makes so much sense! Having people here on Earth remotely controlling a robot on the Moon, building our first real off-world habitat.
Get lost bub, this is a job for us robots, see?
Why stop at the Moon? Heck, lets aim for Mars. Strap the largest, fastest rocket you can build on and watch that baby burn its way to Mars. We wont have to factor in issues on G-Forces or anything, these are robots for god's sake! Heck, we can even toss out O2 tanks, and a whole load of logistic issues, both on the way to Mars, and when the robots get there.
Sure, there might be a lag issue (I don't see any in the Earth versions!) but I'm sure we'll be able to iron out the kinks.
Hi, I'm a robot. I've been here toiling for years to build you a condo on Mars.
Seriously.
Oh, the movie? Eh, was not the best movie from Bruce (I get to call him Bruce, we're just that close) but it wasn't all bad. Very thought provoking in regards to humans loosing their humanity when technology that should have been used to further progress our lives gets used for an awesome MMORPG instead.
I personally couldn't live in a world where everyone looked perfect. Who would we make fun of then?
No, I did not just sign up for the Dr Seuss Class for Rhymes, I really have issues with my shoes. I can never get anything I like in my size.
I'm a UK 11. Depending on the cut of the shoes, its sometimes a UK 12. I have 2 pairs of leather shoes I wear for work, but even those were from the UK.
I need a pair of canvas of loafers. Woes me, none of the local stores seem to carry any sizes above 10 UK over here.
Sure, there are some 11 and 12 UK sized shoes, but most of them are sneakers (Nike / Rebook etc) for basketball.
Call me crazy, but I don't want to be chilling out in shorts with a pair of basketball shoes on. You just cant do that man, its against the very fabric of space and time.
Also, I'm going for the sock-less look for 2010.
Wish me luck with my shoe hunt!
Dav out
PS: Do NOT like the new way Blogger pushes images into the blog, sure, there's left / right / center etc but its hell trying to format the post.
I checked out PUR Water a while back, and boy was I sure impressed by that bit of technology.
Calle has now shown me another amazing product that does the same thing, and is designed in Sweden!
Called SOLVATTEN (that's Sun Water if I got it right), it uses the sun to make water clean to drink.
A bit from the site:
What is SOLVATTEN?
SOLVATTEN makes unsafe water drinkable by using solar energy. The portable 10 liter container is a patented and scientifically approved Swedish invention. Put SOLVATTEN in a sunny place, give it 3-4 hours and the water will be drinkable! An indicator will show when it is safe to drink.
I like the concept, though the 3 - 4 hours is a bit long to wait. However, you don't need to keep buying stuff to add to your water, and that is a huge bonus.
I woke up with this brilliant idea. I would look at the number of posts I've made throughout the year, and then put that data into a cool looking chart. Amazing! Fabulous!
Getting the data was one nightmare, lets not go there. Suffice to say, my l337 skillz (that's with a 'z' to make it hardcore) finally kicked in and I got the data into Excel.
What followed next, was a horror-show of cell selection and updates. A simple bar chart you say? Nay sir! It is a complex group of data tightly packed and presented to users in an easy to interpret and read manner.
For some reason, this song has lodged itself in my brain for the past 3 - 4 days. Oddly, I'm not a super huge fan of the Black Eyed Peas. I like some of their music, but not all, some of it is just way out there for me.
For this song, I found the music pretty catchy, but when I watched the video, I was blown out of my mind. I love sci-fi, this video reminded me of sci-fi books I've read (stop asking me why and stuff!)
Black Eyed Peas - Meet me half way
Its just nice to hear someone else besides that Will I Am guy, you know?
This video had a very Avatar feel to it. Avatar, being this movie.
We recently visited a new place called Quattro that boasted the cheapest beer's in town (and a great view honestly) and it was a lot of fun. We, as in people from work.
The concept was pretty cool, and I'd guess its something of the norm in other European restaurants, where there's a bar / waiting area for you to have a couple of drinks before moving into the actual restaurant for dinner and then off to the club for some music.
The area that we visited was 'Spring', since as the name suggests, there are 4 restaurant / pubs in one area, named after each season (Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter). I was looking forward to stepping into the Winter restaurant pub, but did not have the chance.
One neat (OK, gimmick!) feature was the rain corridor, which would simulate 'rain' every hour. They even had umbrellas on each side of the corridor for people to walk in and out of the summer shower.
View along the bar and the outside, it faces the city scape.
Pretty much the same shot, deal with it.
A shot of the pillar and ceiling. Note the design.
Zoomed in tight on the Chinese calligraphy used, Jason says it means 'Spring'.
A blurred shot of the rain corridor and some poor shmuck getting caught in the rain. (sorry blame the beer)
I also noticed that the building had super huge lift doors. These are the kind you see in Resident Evil, or even Doom (or Return to Castle Wolfenstein)
Seriously, look at them doors!
What are they trying to move? You could fit a whole car through that!
Its been a slow couple of weeks for me, so I was browsing YouTube and came across 2 movies that caught my attention.
The first, is Gamer. Now, I just watched RocknRolla the other day, so to me, it seems like Gerard Butler is everywhere these days (mostly because a few weeks ago the movie "P.S. I Love You" also played on the telly).
Seems like a fun twist on movies based on video games. Why don't we make a movie based on a video game used in a movie! Or.... something.
Some fast paced action as per the YouTube link, lots of interesting choices of rifles so it should be good just for the action sequences.
Next up is ZombieLand.
Wait.
ZOMBIELAND! There, much better.
It has Woody Harrelson, who's usually good in these off beat kind of comedy movies.
One thing I did notice was the break from the norm in that the zombies don't just shuffle around, they POUNCE. Take that you zombies!
Its only apt that I end the post with a classic video from the awesome guys of RvB
Though I'd wonder on what they had to toss out to make the unit so much more slimmer then the original PlayStation 3. A quote from one of the websites:
The PS3 Slim is powered by a new 45nm version of the Cell processor, which runs at the same speed as the 60nm processor in the "old" PS3 but is smaller and more energy efficient. According to company reps, power consumption for the Slim has also been cut to two-thirds, "helping to reduce fan noise," which is important.
Something I've seen (mostly with computers) is that a smaller footprint always leads to heat issues or issues with upgrade.
The one feature missing from the Slim is the ability to install another operating system (i.e., Linux)--Sony is doing away with that feature.
Woah, hold up, you cant mod / install Linux or anything else on it? Well that might be a huge issue with it comes to some gamers. I've seen the videos of having Linux on the PlayStation 3, and I must admit, it looks pretty neat. Much like having a different OS on the XBOX 360.
Katy Perry confuses me. Her original stuff, IMO, was so-kay. Just OK.
Then she comes out with new stuff, and yeah, some of it is catchy, and if you look back in the blog, I did say somewhere that she sounded like Alanis Morissette. Alanis Nadine Morissette. Not everyone agrees, but yeah, that's the internet for you.
All of a sudden, this song (Waking Up In Vegas YouTube link) seems to be all over the air waves, and I'm smitten. I'm into the song. Its uh, on, like Donkey Kong for me.
The music video is pretty funny and related (I love related music videos, random ones annoy me) and the song's lyrics are funny but still not all that bad.
Bit of an odd choice for the lead male though.
So viva Katy Perry, and here's hoping you wake up in Vegas with someone that looks like her, eh?
The usual funk set in with work and stuff, so I fired up the old movie USB drive (my DVD player lets you plug in a USB drive and plays practically everything - go LG!) and watched Semi Pro.
Before I go on with the general movie review, read this for a reference to 'bow chicka wow wow' if you're not really a RvB fan.
I'll give you a good 10 minutes to wrap your head around that bit of urban knowledge.
Back to Semi Pro (IMDB link here). Its funny that I used the word 'funk' earlier, because this 2008 movie is set way back when the funk was really funk, 1976. Sure, its over the top, but what do you expect when you have Will Ferrell in it? His portrayal of Jackie Moon is pretty crazy, but the entire movie just didn't hit the mark for me.
Gasp! Teh HORROR! A Will Ferrell that didn't quite deliver?
Sure, there are some Ferrell moments, and yes, this movie is still worth watching, don't get me wrong.
I'd say this movie sits in that grey area that Blades of Glory is in, its good, its funny-ish, but not quite up to the mark.
Just don't say that to Will Ferrell. Have you seen the man? 6' 3½" tall, able to bear hug people to death. Damn, that's not someone I'd want to mess with.
Ok so I tend to skew the blog title post a little. Sue me. Wait, don't sue me. I was reading the BBC as I usually do and came across this interesting article.
It seems that a lady (see: Deranged in the dictionary) chucked a mug at the Mona Lisa painting. A direct cut and paste from the BBC article:
Leonardo da Vinci's masterpiece was completely unscathed, as the ceramic mug smashed on bullet-proof glass surrounding the painting.
Bullet proof glass, ftw!
I guess it was a smart move putting in the glass, seeing as how this isn't the first time someone's tried to tag the painting.
I've been having issues with my Achilles heel recently. I don't know if its due to the heavy driving that I've been doing (its my right foot / leg) or if I've hurt it in someway.
Only real exercise I get would be walking but that's about it.
Just in case you're wondering, I'm not talking about this:
Its more along the lines of this:
Looking up some physiotherapy I can do at home to make the pain go away. The pain isn't something major, but its there and it tends to wear me down after a while.
Someone needs to do something about all this squishy gooey human bits and replace it with some simple to service medical grade steel.
Dav out
Edit: I received in total one (1) complaint about the original Achilles photo. Replaced the image with an edited one (sorry, way too lazy to find a program to pixelate it and make it look like a professional job)
I caught Surfer, Dude (the movie) the other day. It started off fine. I'm one of those people that are ashamed to say that I kind of like Matthew McConaughey. His white teeth does seem a little freaky, even more so in this movie since he's pretty tan and everything.
I am sad to inform you dear reader, NOT TO WATCH this movie. I come across as a doomsayer when I say that. But no, really, this movie was pretty bad. Really bad.
I had no idea what the producer's had in mind when they made the movie. I was half expecting some form of surf-off between McConaughey and his rivals or something cool like that, but there wasn't any. Maybe the producers were worried they might accidentally rip off Surf's Up or something, I don't know.
Half a surfboard out of 5 surfboards for this movie, bro.
