2016 summer olympics

The opening ceremony of the Olympics summer games is this evening, actually tomorrow morning at midnight. I am looking forward to the games, I haven't anything in mind to watch really, maybe the judo but I expect I will catch a range of different events. They usually introduce a sport I'm less familiar with, which is a good thing I think.
What I'm most looking forward to though, is seeing how the games are influenced by the culture of Rio and the Brazilian people who I imagine are very relaxed and friendly. The setting and environment are fantastic and very picturesque.

The Reef

Saw this film last night. It's set in Australia and concerns a group of four friends coming back together, two are a couple and two were a couple who had split for a time. One of the guys runs his own business delivering boats to rich clients. The other three are meeting him to go on a boat trip together. There is a fifth person who  has been hired as a captain's mate. Now, the film sets up nicely but you just know that trouble is on the way.  And the film cleverly uses the environment, so that the audience sees what a hostile environment the sea can be and how vulnerable we are, even in idyllic weather. I enjoyed this film, it feels similar to Frozen - about the friends stuck in a ski resort.

Eden Lodge

I watched this film this week. It used a lot of cliched tactics but was well paced and well acted. It managed to steer its own path through a story that has elements of Psycho and Wolf Creek but not enough of its own original slant. I've got to give mention to the beautiful actress Aggy K Adams who plays the character Pomona. What starts out well doesn't really carry on. Shame because a lot of good elents are here but are just not used well enough. If you fancy a bit of entertainment withou having to think too hard.

Diary of the dead

Surprised that George A Romero put his name to this rubbish. It is supposed to be shot in the style of an amateur film maker. It comes across as a Blair Witch wannabe without the authenticity of Blair Witch. Not a very good film.

Siren

I watched this film this week, it was a film I was looking forward to after seeing a couple of trailers. However, after seeing it I was a little disappointed.  I don't know why I felt so disappointed, could have been the lack of gore maybe? The climax wasn't very satisfactory, the end credits appeared and I just felt so what. I didn't particularly like the actors, the casting felt wrong to me. The girl on the island wasn't very scary. It is not a film I could recommend but its not a badly made film, it just doesn't have a lot going on that make you empathise. I would rather see Frozen any day. A film I was reminded while watching. There was not a lot of use of the environment as something to be scared of: more could have been made of the scenery, instead of it just looking idyllic. I guess I felt apathetic to the plight of the characters. The boyfriend character was particularly unappealing.

Splinter

I watched this Australian horror film this week. It was an interesting film in some ways. The heroes were the humans with their own weaknesses, sort of anti-heroes if you like. The villain was a type of fungus that attacks human flesh but in such a way that appears to be alive. I found some parts of the movie comical in an unintended way, not awful but my sense of humour was tickled. The sttings are sparse, most of the action takes place in a gas station. Effective camerawork and a good script help things along. All in all, I thought this wasn't a bad film.

New Prime Minister

Things have moved fast haven't they? Since my last posting about the leadership of the tory party the race has certainly been cut short to the point at which it was no longer a race but a win by default without even having to run. I think the official campaign ended on its first day. Andrea Leadsom faced a barrage of bad publicity and while rough water I thought she should have stuck it out and made a proper contest of it. However, she decided it wasn't worth it. Perhaps her she personally wasn't ready for it but I don't know who is ever really ready for a job like that one. So now Cameron had to leave number 10 viciously early and Theresa May is installed in his place. All very rushed and unsatisfactory.
We have a new cabinet as well. The changes have been quite far reaching, I was surprised that George Osbourne is no longer the Chancellor. I was pleased to see a good number of female appointments and infact it is good that we have female leader. I see Boris Johnson has got a job in the cabinet but Michael Gove hasn't and I'm glad about that because I felt like many others that he stabbed Boris in the back. However, I am not sure that Boris will make the best Foreign Secretary.
One thing I have noticed about Theresa may is that she isn't afraid of wearing angular shaped dresses made of dark material, I hope this trend I've noticed continues. It might be the only thing of interest about this new government.

France's pain

I really feel for the French people. The terror attacks in Paris last year and now the lorry attack in Nice have shown how ordinary everyday activities can be forever marred by acts of brutality and savagery. I don't know how the families of the dead cope with horrible events like these but I wish them the will to carry on and not let the bastard terrorists win. Driving a lorry into crowds of people and especially children is such a cowardly kind of attack. I hope we never see the like of it ever again. How can we protect ourselves from this kind of attack without constraining ourselves or living in a police controlled state? Man's inhumanity to man continues to disappoint and depress me.

F

The other film I watched was called F. It is billed as a suspense chiller and it is very successful as a suspense film. It is set inside a school college and the main character is an unlikeable teacher there. He has been in trouble for his behaviour with students, he was headbutted at the beginning of the film by one, and is separated from his wife. Things are going downhill for the guy.
For reasons unexplained one evening the school is attacked by a group of guys in hoodies, a face is not shown for any of them. It is dark outside and they seemingly attack the remaining staff who are there at night at random. The main character's daughter is also at the school and he has to try and prevent her from being killed.
It is a strange little film, the ending is odd. The characters and setting are normal enough but it has a nightmarish, unreal quality to it, which I suppose is the intention of horror films. It's probably a little too strange to recommend widely but if you like suspense, it keeps a good sense of this throughout.

eXistenZ

I watched this film by David Cronenberg this week. I have seen the film before, I even remember it was at the cinema actually. The first time I saw the film it blew me away but it was something like 17 years ago now. That is a long time not to have seen a film a second time.
The story is a very interesting one to me. A famous games designer played by Jennifer Jason Leigh is making a special appearance to promote her new game. There is something slightly wrong and unsettling from the first moment though. The place they are unveiling the new game looks like a classroom in a school or some location that is very small considering it is a new game. The other unsettling thing is that the player is biologically linked to the game via a bio-port in their back. An umbilical cable then plugs into a console that is a moulded shape in flesh coloured latex. It is semi-erotic in that sense and the quiet, strange way that JJL portrays the character. The main male character is played by Jude Law who does a good job of playing a naïve young man who has to turn from being a marketing junior into a bodyguard. One neat idea in the film is a gun made out of bone that fires teeth. It was designed to prevent detection by metal scanners.
The film plays with blending reality with the world inside the game called eXistenZ and it does this very effectively in my opinion. To the point where the characters are not sure whether they are in the real world or not. I can recommend this film but I can also see that a lot of people might be confused and turned off by the subject matter of virtual reality games.

The Witches

I watched the 1966 film The Witches this week. What a surprisingly good film I thought it was. OK there felt like the Horror Channel were showing a cut version for some reason but still I did enjoy it more than I thought I would. It is a higher class of film than a few other more modern films I've seen recently. I think for the time, it would have been more shocking than it is today. There were some sequences that if it were made today would be much more graphic and terrifying, however I think the ideas are still frightening. I liked this film, it's certainly not everyone's cup of tea though. Joan Fontaine plays a wonderful part in this film, a Stirling performance in her last major theatrical role in film.

Thunderbirds

The new CGI version of Thunderbirds is being shown on Saturday morning kids television. I have watched a couple of episodes now. I have to say that unfortunately, I am not impressed. This is disappointing to me because I have been a fan of Thunderbirds for a long time. I just don't think the new series is very well scripted.
This is in stark contrast to the CGI version of Captain Scarlet, which I thought was excellent and a shame that only two series were made.

Conservative party leader vote

After David Cameron chucked the towel in after losing the EU referendum he thought he'd win comfortably, Britain was in danger of Boris Johnson or Michael Gove becoming the Prime Minister. This would have been bad beyond imagination.
Well, now the conservative party members can choose the next Prime Minister, some 150,000 members. I don't know the demographics of this membership. I don't know what to think about the candidates. I don't know enough about Andrea Leadsom (below, right) and although I have heard of Theresa May because she is the current Home Secretary, I have a gut feeling that Leadsom would make a better Prime Minister. There are some dirty tricks being played by the papers though, it is clear that The Times and Murdoch owned papers are trying to discredit Leadsom.
Time will tell.

Deadpool

I finally got around to watching this film tonight. I thought it was a good film, the humour was the best part of it. Lots of little jokes littered throughout it. I enjoyed the dialogue of Deadpool and the breaking of the 4th wall technique, used to good effect. It covers the origin of Deadpool, so I expect there will be a sequel. The special effects were very good.

The Facility

I also saw this film this week. It was made in 2012 and is set in the single location of an isolated hospital that is home for two weeks for some volunteer pharmaceutical test subjects. The subjects come from different walks of life and are given a small dose of a medicine. Within hours things start to go wrong and the end result is not at all what the pharmaceutical trial intended. After several deaths the effects of the drug wear off and the remaining characters are left to pick up the pieces. I found this to be an entertaining film but not one with any great surprises.

Prey

I watched a film this week that was made in 1978, a film called Prey. An alien lands in England and takes on human form after attacking a young couple directly after landing. He is then found and taken in by two young women living in a large, isolated country house. The two women have a strange relationship, they are lovers but one of them is quite overpowering. The more normal of the two suspects that the other has murdered her boyfriend. It's a very strange film, not scary at all. The make up effects are quite crude. The best part of the film are the relationships between the characters, there isn't a lot of action otherwise so its probably a good thing. The ending, which I won't spoil here, is a bit of a disappointment.

Black Death

I watched this film this week and have to say that I was impressed with it. The pacing was good and the story concerning a young monk torn between love and a holy life, set amongst the devastating Black Death era was interesting. The cast was pretty good also, including Sean Bean, Eddie Redmayne and Carice Van Houten. It felt at times like I was watching the Game of Thrones. I think I recorded it off the Horror Channel, whilst there were some supernatural ideas such as witchcraft involved I didn't think it went far enough into that territory to warrant being called a horror film. However, whatever you categorise it as, it is a good film in my opinion.

Glastonbury 2016

I've watched a few bands on TV who were performing at the Glastonbury festival this year. I enjoy watching the festival, it reminds me of the festivals I've attended in the past. Generally I'm very happy that I'm not there myself, what with the queues and the rain and the mud. I imagine it is rather an other-wordly bubble that feels weird and wonderful while you are there and one that you miss when you can't attend. It is certainly more of a commercial venture now than it has been in the past and security has tightened a lot. My favourite TV clips have been from Band of Skulls and Wolf Alice. I watched some of Muse's set and most of Adele's. Adele was on fine form.

Night of the Demons

I watched this film hoping it would improve all the way through and as the end credits appeared on my screen I turned it off disappointed. There isn't really anything to say about this film that really redeems it. It is just about some stupid drunks who are having a house party that get shut down by the police. All the guests leave except for the small group of 7 who become the targets of some demons in the house to possess them. I really can't be bothered to explain any more because the film is lazy and gore infested without any good reason. The costumes reveal quite a lot of cleavage for the ladies involved but it's still a crap film.

The Children

This wasn't on the horror channel but is supposed to be a horror film. It involves children so won't be for everyone. The children are supposed to be the scary ones in it. It is set in contemporary England and two families are renting a large house in the country for what I think us a Christmas getaway. It wouldn't be too bad a horror film for Christmas time. But at the present time, I can hardly think of Christmas.
The children turn out to be possessed or something. Again the plot of this film leaves a lot to be desired. It isn't as incoherent as the Cradle of Fear film but it doesn't do very much to explain what is happening and the children in the film are very young. The character called Casey is played by Hannah Tointon who played Simon's girlfriend Tara in season 3 of The Inbetweeners, one of my favourite series. Hannah is the best thing about the film in my opinion, she plays her part well.

Cradle Of Fear

I have been recording a few films on the DVD Recorder recently, since clearing a lot of room on the hard drive. The films have been mostly B movie quality. One of them was a film called Cradle Of Fear that had a starring role for Dani Filth from the black metal band Cradle Of Filth. He didn't say very much throughout the film, he just had a role in looking downright filthy and scary.
The film supposedly follows a number of short stories all connected by the last story. This is a similar format to some 1970s films from hammer and Amicus, I believe the style is called Portmanteau but I might be wrong about that!
The film is not one I would recommend. It is barely coherent and the acting is generally terrible. It relies far too heavily on gore and it is gory throughout so there is no sense of climax at the end. In short, it's a crap film with no likeable qualities.

EU Referendum

Well our votes were cast yesterday and the decision has been made. The UK is going to leave the European Union but the timetable is not absolutely clear. David Cameron has decided to leave his job as Prime Minister by the Conservative conference in October.
I am sorry that this was the decision. It was very close, 52% v 48%. And Scotland and Northern Ireland voted to remain in the UK, so the ramifications are important. Remarkably the turnout was 72%, which is high for an election however that's still a significant number of people who didn't vote, sadly.
I disliked the way that both the Leave and Remain campaigns were run. There was scare mongering and incitement of hatred against immigrants. I also think that there is a feeling that the difference between the young and older voters was significant in that younger voters were in favour of remaining in the EU and older voters were against BUT I'm not sure that this was really the case.
It's possible that Scotland will have another independence referendum, they certainly seem to be seeking one. The UKIP leadership were jubilant this morning, while it was noticeable that Boris Johnson and Michael Gove were sombre and paid tribute to David Cameron. Looks like there is a question mark over Jeremy Corbyn as leader as well.
I hate politics!
I am sad about the decision, I was very proud that the UK was part of Europe and I think the economic arguments for remaining in the EU were convincing.

Muhammad Ali RIP

He was more than a fighter, he stood up for what he believed in. There is evidence for this in his refusal to fight against the Vietnamese in the war with Vietnam in the 1960s and early 70s. A great champion who took too much punishment and fought too many fights. He should have been prevented from carrying on his career as a fighter but was probably allowed because too many people would have lost out if he stopped. A great shame we have all been deprived of his spirit and intelligence.

Dave Swarbrick RIP

I was saddened to learn yesterday that another musical genius had died. It was the turn of ex Fairport Convention fiddle player Dave Swarbrick. The Fairport Convention album Liege and Leaf is one of my favourite folk-rock records and his playing on it is second to none.

Bluebird Tea Company

I drink a lot of tea and coffee. Several cups a day, every day. So I like to try different teas occasionally. Last time I bought some loose leaf tea was when I was in Brighton and visited the Bluebird Tea Company shop, they have a very wide selection of blends they produce and are very innovative. I have blogged about the teas I bought the first time. This week, when my wife visited Brighton again she bought me a tin of one of their best selling teas, the Great British Cuppa. Here is my new tin...

Into the DSLR zone

This week while I was working away from home I saw a second hand camera that looked like it was in good condition. It was a DSLR, a type of camera that I have not owned before. I have been considering getting a DSLR for a few months now. We have been framing pictures around the house, including a few in our bedroom that are colour photocopies. So I have been wanting to take photos that I can print out in a large size for the walls. My travel compact camera (a Lumix TZ40) is still a brilliant camera but if you dial up the ISO in low light the amount of noise is very noticeable.
So I had been thinking about getting a Nikon DSLR because it is the best make of camera in my opinion. Canon are also a good brand, so too Sony, but in DSLR photography they are not quite as good as Nikon in my opinion. My last Canon camera was an EOS SLR and I really liked taking photos with it. I hope I enjoy my new camera as much. After saying that though, it is about the time you spend and care and attention you take with each shot that counts, the camera is an extention of the photographer's imagination.

So, I saw the camera in the window of CEX in Manchester's Arndale Centre on Tuesday evening and left it a day while I did a bit of research. The price was about right, it was just down to the condition. When I took a look at the camera the next day, it was in great condition for a camera that is not only second hand but 6 years old. I get the feeling that the camera was in some person's cupboard for a long time and had not been used very much. So I decided that I would buy it.
However, while I was being served I couldn't help but overhear what I thought was an altercation with a shop assistant and another customer. Now, I have noticed that sometimes CEX attracts a few unsavoury characters and they have to be sure that the goods they take in are in good enough condition to sell and guarantee for a couple of years. I thought at first it was someone who was angry that their phone wasn't being accepted but it turned out to be a guy who was on the phone to what must have been a woman. They way he was shouting aggressively at her though was very abusive. He was really going for it and it was very intense for everyone else to have to hear him effing and blinding down his phone as he walked out the shop. Even the assistant apologised to me even though it was nothing to do with the shop.
The Nikon D5000 was the first Nikon DSLR to feature an articulated screen that has the hinge at the bottom so that the camera can be used low to the ground and high in the air in combination with Live View. When it was released it was the next step up from the D60 and cost between £450-550. It cost me less than half that 6 years down the line.

Afternoon creativity

Rather than play videogames, which I have nothing against, I decided to try something a little more artistic this afternoon. Afterall, I love purchasing drawing books and drawing equipment. I thought I would put some of my gifts to good use. My wife bought me these Letraset pro-marker pens and I have used them a few times but not to any great purpose. This time I thought I would put things to use. I bought a codex book a while back now on the Warhammer Space Marines and I haven't really used it, so I thought I would select one of the  images from it that I thought I could draw. There are lots of great images in the book.

Here is the progression of my drawing to the finished piece. After drawing the image and inking it in, I made a black and white scan of it and coloured that in.

About to start, getting my music ready

Main character outline done

Main inking done

These are the main colours I will use

Starting to add colour

Main character colouring complete now

Added some background colour

Cat play

The latest addition to the house is another gadget supposedly good for stimulating the cats. In our case, it is another piece of equipment that will remain dormant on the floor, like the play tunnel and the archway grooming brush. They are just not interested. I don't know why we bother. Yet when we try to make the bed, they are all over it.

London MCM Comic Con

On Saturday of this fine Bank Holiday weekend I took my son and one of his friends (a girl, indeed) to the MCM London Comic-Con. I had bought us general entry tickets this time, rather than the Priority Tickets and to be perfectly honest, I was fine with it all because we didn't have to queue to get in. Admittedly, it was really busy by the time we got in at around 12 but in fairness the priority entry doesn't afford that much luxury as the halls soon fill up anyway. This time though, I only shot one photograph, which still amazes me.
Here is the shot I took, I took it only because my son likes pixel art and I thought he might like to see the art made from these little plastic beads, which reminded me of pixel art.

Eurovision 2016

This weekend it is another year on for the Eurovision Song Contest. This year's host is Sweden. I usually instantly forget what the winning song was from the previous year and this is no exception. I haven't heard what the entry is from Great Britain but I bet it will be utter crap as usual.
That won't stop me from supporting it though. I do expect nil points and anything better than that will be regarded as a bonus!

BHS (British Home Stores)

I was sad to hear that the high street store chain BHS were in administration. As a chain it hasn't done as well as others and I have wondered how come they have lasted so long when other long standing chains have collapsed. The truth is that they not done so well really, which is why they are now looking for buyers. With the pension problems as well, it is the staff who I feel sorry for.
I have bought clothes from the store, the clothes seem reasonably priced and pretty good quality, they do seem a little out of step with modern trends though. I think the chain needs a brand overhaul. Similar to what M&S went through.

EU Referendum

The important date is Thursday 23rd June 2016. This is the date that the people of the UK get to decide their fate in Europe. We get to choose whether we want to stay in the European Union or to leave it and go our way as a country.
Everyone seems to want a say in this, including president Barack Obama. I respect Barack Obama. He made a stir in the UK by suggesting that if the UK did leave the EU, it would mean a step backwards in terms of trade affairs - he made use of the unfortunate phrase "back of the queue", which seems to have stirred up some feelings.
Personally, I don't side with David Cameron on many things but on the subject of Europe, I think the arguments for staying within the EU are sound. I'm not arguing we can't do everything we do now, in many ways we will continue to be able to do them and it might help in some areas if we did leave the EU. But I believe we have to look at the long game. We also have to consider our security and how we protect our country by the sharing of intelligence information across borders with other national security agencies.
There is still time to read more and consider the arguments from all sides. I shall be doing this and urge everyone whether undecided or not to do this.

Nelly the elephant. Trump trump trump

Well, it looks like Donald Trump is going to be the Republican candidate in the running for the White House and presidency of the US of A. Although if he does, win I doubt he will bring much unity to America. He seems to divide opinion wherever he goes and whenever he opens his mouth.
I have to say, after reading various articles about the man that he seems to be thoroughly unlikeable human being. In that context and in as much as it matters to me personally, I hope he does not beat Hilary Clinton to become the next president. The thought of someone apparently so vindictive and small minded with that amount of power worries me greatly.

Fine weather with Hay Faver

The last couple of weeks have seen temperatures rise where I live. This weekend, it has actually been dry enough and warm enough to sit outside. I have actually been able to get out my bistro table and chairs. I am sitting outside and working on this blog post even now, just wearing my shorts and T shirt. The temperature is into the twenties, I think however that next weekend will be a different matter.
As the weather has been getting better I have unfortunately been suffering. I thought at first it was a cold but my eyes have been so irritated that I know now it is Hay Fever. I haven't suffered a lot from Hay Fever in my life but some years have been worse than others. This year, for whatever reason, it seems quite bad. So I started taking daily allergy tablets yesterday.

Captain America: Civil War

Last weekend was a Bank Holiday weekend in the UK, officially known as the May Day Bank Holiday even though the 1st of the month was last Sunday. So all public sector workers and a good many private sector ones got a free holiday day on Monday. It was so good to get an extra weekend day. So good infact, that I didn't even spend my time blogging about it!
On Sunday last week I took my son over to sunny Milton Keynes Cineworld cinema to go and see Marvel's latest picture called Captain America: Civil War. A tale about Captain America's obsession to help his friend and wartime buddy Bucky Barnes but also about internal divisions within the team of Avengers about oversight and who is best positioned to protect the human population of Earth from the Avengers themselves. During the film, we are introduced to a new Marvel character called the Black Panther and to the baddie Baron Zemo (although I'm not sure he's a baron within the film universe. There is more to say about the film, a lot goes on which is really good. The film is well-paced and has a lot of action and some drama as well as comedy moments. It's very well made all-in-all.

A wet end to the week

Friday evening is here and the weekend begins. I am extremely tired though. So I probably won't be enjoying my evening very much. Also, it is raining so I can't even go out in the garden to enjoy that. Makes me wish we had a conservatory.
In other news, the death of the pop/rock artist Prince has upset my wife who is a big fan of his. She has seen him in concert twice. I like a few of his songs but have never been a big fan really. 1999 was probably the song I enjoyed the most of his. It takes me back to my school years that song.
I see that the Star Wars film The Force Awakens is out on DVD, I'd like to buy that.

Brie cheese

I bought this yesterday and tried it today. It is lovely, I like the creamy texture of it. I had a simple lunch of several pieces of French toast, sliced Pink Lady apple, 5 red grapes, two pickled onions and some of this brie.

Under Siege

I picked up a DVD copy of this film several weeks ago. It's such a clichéd movie but there is something about it that I still like. It might be the awful bad guy characters Tommy Lee Jones or Gary Busey or possibly the brief appearance of the wonderfully perfect breasts of Erika Eleniak. It is worth a watch if you have never seen but if you have seen Die Hard, imagine something similar on a US Navy warship and you are there.

Garden time

Last weekend I celebrated my 17th anniversary with my wife. As an anniversary present we were bought a bistro table and chairs set by my mother in-law, a thoughtful gift as I have mentioned that one would be good in the past. It was ordered through a shop I've not been to before called The Original Factory Shop and it was delivered as promised. All very easy. Looks good, even better in real life than in the brochure (below), it has a light in it so will be good for the summer nights.

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.