Bargain keyrings

I looked in the shop called Game while in York and although I was predominantly looking at the games, I also spied a few sale items in the accessory department. I always like to get game franchise related merchandise at bargain prices, this time it was Watchdogs and Call of Duty Ghosts. See what I picked up below and I think you'll agree, they were bargains.

New trainers

My feet got very wet whilst we were in York. I wore a pair of brown leather shoes with me, they have some suede on the top but in the past have been fine in the rain. However, this week they finally gave up and my foot got very wet. It's not nice to trudge around in a wet shoe with a wet sock. So I found the nearest sports shop, which was JD Sports, and took a look at the trainers in there. There was a wall of trainers but the ones I ended up buying were on the rack near the door, the reduced rail - planted at the opening of the shop to entice people in. The trainers I bought are made by Fila, a brand I haven't bought before, the good thing was they were less than half price. A bargain! Here they are, they are known as Fila Energized.

Holiday in York

After the Easter period we travelled up to the North to have a couple of days in York, staying overnight in a hotel. York is an interesting place geographically and historically. The streets are narrow and cobbled and the city castle walls make you feel like time has stood still. Obviously, the shops are modern and trading in goods that are born of the 21st century. However it is the buildings themselves that are original, The Shambles area is very much like Diagon Alley from out of the Harry Potter books. We had a great time in York and we visited a couple of antique shops we hadn't been to before. Here are some photographs I took of the place.

Divergent

I bought this DVD a few weeks ago from a charity shop and watched it last night. The premise is that in the future the world has all but destroyed itself through war and the remnants of society have formed into 5 factions to retain order and keep everlasting peace. The idea being if everyone knows their place, everyone will be happy. These five factions are specialisations by broad human personality type. Each person has to choose a type and are supposed to be assisted by taking a test but free choice still exists, the test is to supposed to help the person choose by revealing some unconscious information. The story centres around a girl coming of age who is called Beatrice (played by Shailene Woodley). Her test reveals that she has infact equal propensity across several factions, a very rare test results and one that means she is what is known as Divergent. Needless to say that Divergent person are a threat to the order of society that the factions have been set up to deliver.

The 5 factions

I haven't read the Young Adult books by Veronica Roth on which the film is based but I think I'd like to based on the film. The premise is good but the film probably dumbs down the story a bit. However, the casting of the film is good but I don't think Kate Winslett makes the best baddie. For me she didn't convey the threat she needed to.
Shailene Woodley plays her character well and she looks amazing throughout the film, particularly as she transforms into the Dauntless faction under the oppressive tutelage of the trainers. There are some unexplained things in the story I would like to understand better. However, the books are probably the way to get those things.

Misty morning light

One thing I have noticed in the last couple of weeks has been the mornings are getting lighter. Particularly noticeable for me on Wednesday mornings as I have to get up at 5:40am. I feed the cats at this time. Back in February it was pitch dark outside at this time but lately the light has been increasingly brighter. We have also had a lot of mist in the mornings and even at night, which I find I like. We have been sleeping with the window slightly open, as apparently it helps with my snoring. It is nice to wake up snuggly and warm in a cool room.

Easter Holiday Coming Up

Well, at the end of the month the Easter holidays are going to come up and this is surprisingly only a week away. Next Friday is Good Friday believe it or not, I can't really believe it. I have a week off after Easter Sunday, taking advantage of needing to use up some annual leave and spending some time with my family. I have booked us a night's stay in a hotel but I shall tell you more about that in another post! For now, I'm just looking forwards to a break in the regular pattern of work, sleep, eat.

The New F1 Season has Started this Weekend

Yes, the Australian GP was held during the small hours. I know the result, Nico Rosberg has won his first race. I hope it is not just going to be Mercedes winning all of the races again this year. I see the yellow Renault cars are here again. There has been some criticism of the qualifying changes but I am not really aware of what the new rules are yet. I will hope to watch the highlights later, the TV presentation has switched to Channel Four for the next 3 years. I'm really pleased that the team includes Lee McKenzie, who I think is really good at interviewing the divers. We rarely see her infront of the camera but she deserves to be.

Other DVDs to watch

As well as the classics I've mentioned, I've also bought a few things on DVD that I'm working my way through, these are:

• The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - this one is the original TV series broadcast in 1981. It was for me something that has stuck in my mind my whole life and as such is one thing worth remembering and revisiting. I bought this from HMV because I doubt I'll see it in a charity shop
• Taxi the French film by Luc Besson, there is a story attached to purchasing this that I'll save for the blog post on it
• Divergent - I know this film is based on a Young Adult sci-fi series of books but I haven't read them so don't know if they're any good. Incidentally, I am currently reading the second book in the Hunger games trilogy.
• Battlestar Galactica Razor - a TV movie made for purest fans of the series as far as I can tell from Wikipedia. I bought this a while ago but haven't posted about it before
• Kick Ass 2 - I have two copies of the first film Kick Ass because when I saw it in a charity shop I couldn't remember whether I already had Kick Ass or Kick Ass 2. I bought the original from HMV I think. I have seen both films on loan before buying, I do like the sheer violent craziness of these movies.
• Cowboy Bepop - this is a Japanese Manga cartoon film but I have seen it before and enjoyed it. It has the same kind of setting of the TV series Serenity, bringing a Wild West kind of vibe to the film.
• Macross Plus - a Japanese Manga cartoon film, the box I have bought also includes some of the first episodes of TV series I think. It will be interesting to see if or how the styles differ between the TV and the film. I've started watching the film but haven't finished it yet

As you can see, I have been active but just haven't watched much. The story behind the Taxi film is the reason why, but more on that after I have finally watched the film!

• 
  

Classic Films purchased

Although I haven't sat down to watch something deliberately recently, I have been active in charity shops looking for films. I have picked up a few classics to enjoy at some point. These have been:

• John Carpenter's The Fog
• Under Siege
• Total Recall (the Arnold Schwarzenegger one)
• The Terminator
• Terminator 2: Rise of the Machine
• The Matrix Trilogy (even though only the first film is any good)

Rather than post the photos of the boxes now, I think I'll do that when I've watched each one of them.

Nothing to Speak Of...

I seem to have fallen behind in my blog posting lately, I'm not really sure why that is. I have been doing stuff I guess. I do maintain a number of writing channels and over the years I have become selective about where I post stuff. Music related activity is posted to my music channels (SoundCloud and WordPress), writing and reading related material (including comics) is posted to those channels (GoodReads and WordPress) and personal thoughts I keep for a journal app on my phone called Diaro. I have a video games channel in WordPress where I post stuff about that. Outside of these I post here about what I am watching in terms of film and TV, I also post about other things happening in my life in general. I haven't really been watching a lot of films or TV over the last few weeks though.