So when I've not been at work or doing epic battle with the snow this week I've mainly been watching and reading stuff.
The main thing I've been watching is the second series of 30 Rock. I really like this show. I think it's very well written and pretty damn funny, but for some reason it's not generally very popular.
It's surprisingly actually because it's not hugely popular in America, and yet it's not been cancelled. Stuff get cancelled pretty quickly in America if it's not popular, or its popularity fades. I think what might be helping 30 Rock stay on air is something hinted at in the extras - NBC wasn't expecting it to be popular.
As such, because its rating seen to have stayed pretty stable and in some cases gone up, they may be pretty happy with it. Plus it apparently tests well in certain demographics. It's also a critical darling and has won a clutch of awards, including Emmys, which are some of the big ones.
I dunno - it's one of those odd things about American TV where it's all a bit random as to what's renewed and cancelled.
I'll be doing a proper review of it at some point, but I've got a lot of reviews to write and prepare after Christmas, so it might be a while before it appears.
I've also sampled a couple of anime shows:
Kampfer
This is a gender-swap comedy. It's got quite a lot of fan-service and the plot is quite predictable. There's lots of elements I've seen in other shows.
So it's not really innovative or original. Plus the animation rarely bobs above the 'basic' threshold. Also, the soundtrack is slightly odd, flipping into heavy metal when there's an action sequence, which really doesn't shit the bright, colourful visuals of the show.
But do you know what? I kinda enjoyed it.
I was rather surprised by this, and tried o pin down what it was that made me like it, but I really can't figure it out.
Don't get me wrong - I'm not saying it's amazing or ground-breaking or anything, just that I kinda enjoyed it.
Maybe it's just that I've been out of the anime loop too long?
The Sacred Blacksmith
The other show I sampled had much higher production values. The animation was much generally smoother, and the soundtrack fit the show better.
I must admit, though I was a bit torn over it. There was stuff I quite liked - the characters were quite interesting, for example. But then there were quite a few things I didn't like.
The background/setting is another one of those weirdly random anime things. Part standard fantasy, part mumbo-jumbo mystical stuff and part odd take on Christianity.
Also, the show is sort of about a Blacksmith, which I thought might be interesting, but it didn't really show much of that in the first few episodes. What it did show a bit of was the 'sacred' part and I didn't really like it.
It came across a bit like magically making the sword, and I dunno it just left me really cold. There's a big difference between the sweat and toil of making a sword (especially a samurai sword with all that folding) and just going all mystical mumbo-jumbo and conjuring one up.
Plans for the weekend are basically pretty dull.
My main aim, as mentioned yesterday, is to get a big shop in and to buy some electricity for the meter. Apart from that, I need to clean my flat.
Otherwise, it's sleeping and relaxing watching a bit of telly, I think. This week has really left me shattered.
Friday, 15 January 2010
Thursday, 14 January 2010
bored of this now
I'm bored of the snow now.
On Wednesday it snowed again - well, it's snow several times, actually, but this was proper snow that covered the ground with an extra inch or so. And the journey to work was horrendous.
Part of the problem was that I hadn't gotten up early. Since this snowy weather started I've been getting up a bit earlier in attempt to beat the heavier traffic periods. But on Wednesday I was so tired I just couldn't do it again, so I got up at my usual time.
My usual time is actually pretty early anyway and I usually get to work at about 8AM or so. This is with setting off at 7:30, so in other words it's about a half hour journey. It should be quicker, truth be told, as it's only about 11 miles, with most of it on the A31, which is a dual carriageway.
Yesterday it took an hour and a half.
The problem really seemed to stem from the fact that the roads appeared not to have been treated at all. It's really difficult to describe, but there was a sort of weird texturing of the roads, caused by the compacting of the snow. It was like driving on a cobbled road, only made of icy clumps, rather than cobbles.
I'm pretty sure that if they'd been out and put salt down it wouldn't have been like that. Especially because the temperature was actually not that old. Which isn't to say it wasn't chilly, just not like it has been.
So the journey to work was an extremely slow crawl - everywhere it could be snarled up, it was. I mean, it took half an hour for me to even get down to the Shepherd and Flock roundabout, which is only about 3 miles or so.
I weird consequence of this is that I've strained my groin muscle. My car's clutch is really heavy, and when you're driving in traffic you're constantly using the clutch. SO this morning driving in my groin was aching like a bastard.
So yeah, I'm falling apart. I'm really tired and my groin aches. Plus my back still aches from the snow shovelling. Also my shoulders ache because of how stressful it all is. Driving in weather like this is just the most tiring thing ever
Plus, my diet's gone to pot. Don't get me wrong, I wasn't on a diet, I just mean that what I'm eating has gone silly. The office is really bad at warming up and my job means I'm really sedentary, so I end up eating more stuff to try to keep warm.
I've also not been risking going out at lunch, and of course evening I don't (and can't) go anywhere, so I'm getting a bit of cabin fever.
Add to that I'm going to have to do a big shop on Saturday to replace all my stocks and buy some more electricity, but they're still forecasting torrential rain and black ice, and you can see why I'm a bit bored of all this.
On Wednesday it snowed again - well, it's snow several times, actually, but this was proper snow that covered the ground with an extra inch or so. And the journey to work was horrendous.
Part of the problem was that I hadn't gotten up early. Since this snowy weather started I've been getting up a bit earlier in attempt to beat the heavier traffic periods. But on Wednesday I was so tired I just couldn't do it again, so I got up at my usual time.
My usual time is actually pretty early anyway and I usually get to work at about 8AM or so. This is with setting off at 7:30, so in other words it's about a half hour journey. It should be quicker, truth be told, as it's only about 11 miles, with most of it on the A31, which is a dual carriageway.
Yesterday it took an hour and a half.
The problem really seemed to stem from the fact that the roads appeared not to have been treated at all. It's really difficult to describe, but there was a sort of weird texturing of the roads, caused by the compacting of the snow. It was like driving on a cobbled road, only made of icy clumps, rather than cobbles.
I'm pretty sure that if they'd been out and put salt down it wouldn't have been like that. Especially because the temperature was actually not that old. Which isn't to say it wasn't chilly, just not like it has been.
So the journey to work was an extremely slow crawl - everywhere it could be snarled up, it was. I mean, it took half an hour for me to even get down to the Shepherd and Flock roundabout, which is only about 3 miles or so.
I weird consequence of this is that I've strained my groin muscle. My car's clutch is really heavy, and when you're driving in traffic you're constantly using the clutch. SO this morning driving in my groin was aching like a bastard.
So yeah, I'm falling apart. I'm really tired and my groin aches. Plus my back still aches from the snow shovelling. Also my shoulders ache because of how stressful it all is. Driving in weather like this is just the most tiring thing ever
Plus, my diet's gone to pot. Don't get me wrong, I wasn't on a diet, I just mean that what I'm eating has gone silly. The office is really bad at warming up and my job means I'm really sedentary, so I end up eating more stuff to try to keep warm.
I've also not been risking going out at lunch, and of course evening I don't (and can't) go anywhere, so I'm getting a bit of cabin fever.
Add to that I'm going to have to do a big shop on Saturday to replace all my stocks and buy some more electricity, but they're still forecasting torrential rain and black ice, and you can see why I'm a bit bored of all this.
Wednesday, 13 January 2010
rocky balboa
So over the Chrimbo period I watched a few films via rental and just generally.
The first was Rocky Balboa, which, rather amazingly, is the sixth film in the Rocky series.
The idea with this one is it's meant to be a proper end to the series. We catch up with Rocky with him having completely retired from boxing, as he's getting on a bit, and running Adrian's - a restaurant named after his recently deceased wife.
I think over the years I've seen all of the Rocky movies. Certainly I've seen the first two and the fifth ones, which are the better of the Rocky movies. The third and fourth, from memory, were fairly forgettable.
So I've seen them all, but I'm not really sure if I'm a fan.
I mean, I remember enjoying the first one and I seem to recall the fifth one had something about it, but I dunno. I think one of my main problems was that the character of Rocky never actually seemed all that good of a boxer to me.
Now to be fair I can't honestly claim to be anything of an aficionado when it comes to the pugilistic arts, but I'm pretty sure boxing is about more than simply absorbing as many of the other guy's punches with your face. This seemed to be Rocky's entire strategy - he punches me in the face until he gets tired and then I win.
From memory he didn't really even seem to guard himself properly in an attempt to prevent some of the bows making contact. He'd just stand there taking a pounding until the other guy was knackered.
Anyway, the idea behind this film is broadly one of Rocky making something of a comeback. The film features a modern boxer who's become hugely unpopular and in order to boost his popularity they put together a show fight.
Now this could have been extremely cheesy. It has actually happened in real life as I understand it, with old boxers coming back, and what they do here actually kinda makes sense.
They don't make it seem like the aging Stallone could really go toe-to-toe with the younger man, but they do create a few things that put them on more of a level playing field. But the key is how they end the film. I won't spoiler it, but there's actually an alternative ending on the disc that if they'd used that it would have undermined the whole film, so it's good they went the way they did.
The other clever thing is that there's much more of a focus on Rocky outside of boxing. The death of Adrian forms a core plot-thread, as does his relationship with his brother in law, Paulie.
There's also other non-ring plot threads and it's by focusing on these that make the film a good film, rather than purely a boxing film.
So yeah, I quite enjoyed it, though I still think it's a little daft that after all these years Rocky basically stands there taking the punches.
The first was Rocky Balboa, which, rather amazingly, is the sixth film in the Rocky series.
The idea with this one is it's meant to be a proper end to the series. We catch up with Rocky with him having completely retired from boxing, as he's getting on a bit, and running Adrian's - a restaurant named after his recently deceased wife.
I think over the years I've seen all of the Rocky movies. Certainly I've seen the first two and the fifth ones, which are the better of the Rocky movies. The third and fourth, from memory, were fairly forgettable.
So I've seen them all, but I'm not really sure if I'm a fan.
I mean, I remember enjoying the first one and I seem to recall the fifth one had something about it, but I dunno. I think one of my main problems was that the character of Rocky never actually seemed all that good of a boxer to me.
Now to be fair I can't honestly claim to be anything of an aficionado when it comes to the pugilistic arts, but I'm pretty sure boxing is about more than simply absorbing as many of the other guy's punches with your face. This seemed to be Rocky's entire strategy - he punches me in the face until he gets tired and then I win.
From memory he didn't really even seem to guard himself properly in an attempt to prevent some of the bows making contact. He'd just stand there taking a pounding until the other guy was knackered.
Anyway, the idea behind this film is broadly one of Rocky making something of a comeback. The film features a modern boxer who's become hugely unpopular and in order to boost his popularity they put together a show fight.
Now this could have been extremely cheesy. It has actually happened in real life as I understand it, with old boxers coming back, and what they do here actually kinda makes sense.
They don't make it seem like the aging Stallone could really go toe-to-toe with the younger man, but they do create a few things that put them on more of a level playing field. But the key is how they end the film. I won't spoiler it, but there's actually an alternative ending on the disc that if they'd used that it would have undermined the whole film, so it's good they went the way they did.
The other clever thing is that there's much more of a focus on Rocky outside of boxing. The death of Adrian forms a core plot-thread, as does his relationship with his brother in law, Paulie.
There's also other non-ring plot threads and it's by focusing on these that make the film a good film, rather than purely a boxing film.
So yeah, I quite enjoyed it, though I still think it's a little daft that after all these years Rocky basically stands there taking the punches.
Tuesday, 12 January 2010
chrimbo break
I always get this feeling towards the end of a holiday of "what have I actually done?"
Well, unless it's a proper holiday where I've been away, I mean. If it's one of my less exciting "not going to work, but staying at home" holidays I'll almost inevitably have made a great big to do list.
These are like my normal weekend to do lists, but on a much bigger scale. Where the normal lists are basically just notepad files with a big list of stuff to do, these will be done in word, and have a colour-coded table mapping the days and what I'm planning or have to do.
It takes anal retentiveness to a whole new level.
Anyway, despite this level of planning there's always a bunch of stuff that I put down as more general things, like watching DVDs and reading books and stuff, with the idea that when I tick off the appropriate stuff on the timetable, I can do these.
And I think it's these that produce the "so what have I done" feeling, because I don't tend to kill them off in the same way. So even though I did loads of stuff like cleaning my cupboards in the kitchen (I've been there 5 years and never done them once - the grime was thick, to say the least), the fact that I made no real impact on my pile of unread Empire mags means I feel like I've not really been doing anything.
Which isn't to say I didn't do anything on that front. I mean, I even watched some anime. Admittedly, it wasn't much, but it was something.
Actually, the only thing I totally failed to do was any scanning. It's gotten to the point of being stupid now - I've a stack of more than 6 months worth of anime mags and considering I buy 4 a month (plus Nyan type whenever I can find it) that's a lot of magazines to scan.
That also means I've not been watching fansubs. I've now reached the stage where I've started on a new season (it's a half season really) and so I've downloaded all the episodes of loads of shows without watching a single one of them. There must be about 20 shows I need to watch the fansubs of, and that's not thinking about all the stuff that's available on crunchyroll too.
If truth be told the big problem here is Anno 1404 - I'm still playing it obsessively. My ray of light here is that I've resolved to turn the current sandbox map I'm doing into the definitive article. Indeed, I've actually reached the point where I only have 1 item I need to unlock for both the occident and orient and then that's it. Plus the world is relatively well planned out, so I don't feel like abandoning it.
I'm basically thinking that if I can 'complete' this world then I'll be able to put it down for a while. Well, until the expansion pack comes out in April anyway :/.
But on the brighter side I did make some progress in terms of watching US TV series. For example, I've watched all of 30Rock season 1 and am half way through season 2. Plus I've come out of the holidays with nothing stacked up on my PVR - that's definitely a good thing.
So mixed bag for Christmas really - did quite a lot but also didn't do everything I set out to. So a typical holiday, then.
Well, unless it's a proper holiday where I've been away, I mean. If it's one of my less exciting "not going to work, but staying at home" holidays I'll almost inevitably have made a great big to do list.
These are like my normal weekend to do lists, but on a much bigger scale. Where the normal lists are basically just notepad files with a big list of stuff to do, these will be done in word, and have a colour-coded table mapping the days and what I'm planning or have to do.
It takes anal retentiveness to a whole new level.
Anyway, despite this level of planning there's always a bunch of stuff that I put down as more general things, like watching DVDs and reading books and stuff, with the idea that when I tick off the appropriate stuff on the timetable, I can do these.
And I think it's these that produce the "so what have I done" feeling, because I don't tend to kill them off in the same way. So even though I did loads of stuff like cleaning my cupboards in the kitchen (I've been there 5 years and never done them once - the grime was thick, to say the least), the fact that I made no real impact on my pile of unread Empire mags means I feel like I've not really been doing anything.
Which isn't to say I didn't do anything on that front. I mean, I even watched some anime. Admittedly, it wasn't much, but it was something.
Actually, the only thing I totally failed to do was any scanning. It's gotten to the point of being stupid now - I've a stack of more than 6 months worth of anime mags and considering I buy 4 a month (plus Nyan type whenever I can find it) that's a lot of magazines to scan.
That also means I've not been watching fansubs. I've now reached the stage where I've started on a new season (it's a half season really) and so I've downloaded all the episodes of loads of shows without watching a single one of them. There must be about 20 shows I need to watch the fansubs of, and that's not thinking about all the stuff that's available on crunchyroll too.
If truth be told the big problem here is Anno 1404 - I'm still playing it obsessively. My ray of light here is that I've resolved to turn the current sandbox map I'm doing into the definitive article. Indeed, I've actually reached the point where I only have 1 item I need to unlock for both the occident and orient and then that's it. Plus the world is relatively well planned out, so I don't feel like abandoning it.
I'm basically thinking that if I can 'complete' this world then I'll be able to put it down for a while. Well, until the expansion pack comes out in April anyway :/.
But on the brighter side I did make some progress in terms of watching US TV series. For example, I've watched all of 30Rock season 1 and am half way through season 2. Plus I've come out of the holidays with nothing stacked up on my PVR - that's definitely a good thing.
So mixed bag for Christmas really - did quite a lot but also didn't do everything I set out to. So a typical holiday, then.
Monday, 11 January 2010
it's snow joke
It was like déjà vu all over again last week.
After my big old couple of weeks off for Chrimbo and the New Year I was supposed to start work again on the Wednesday. I always like to take a couple of extra days and come back mid-week when I have any sort of holiday, because I find that shift to a full working week from holiday quite stressful.
Well my timing weirdly meant that I was coming back on Wednesday and Tuesday night was when it snowed heavily. Of course it had snowed before Christmas and had been pretty horrendous by all accounts, but it wasn't too bad while I was at work and then when it got bad I was off.
In fact, that pre-Christmas snow actually ended when I went down to Devon to visit my Dad - it was milder and rained heavily that morning I went down and that actually cleared away the snow, so my journey down was okay. And of course down in the South west they never have it so bad anyway.
I did have scary moment, though. I stopped at Cartgate services to have a pea and when I was driving out of their I hit some black ice on the road out. I turned left and the car went straight on.
It was my own fault because I was going too fast and it was just lucky that no-one was coming the other way. I didn't make it all the way across to the other side of the road, but I crossed the line marking the middle of the road.
Anyway, the déjà vu came because the snow that fell on Tuesday night was almost the exact same depth at what we got last February. And as then, I was trapped.
To be frank I probably would have stayed trapped as well if it wasn't for the fact that my landlord was going on holiday on the Sunday. That meant that he organised a "digging party" and we dug ourselves out on the Thursday.
Also, what would have encouraged me to stay is that I can actually work remotely from home. Plus, because of my pack rat mentality, I'd estimate that I had about 2 weeks of food that I coudl have lived off of. Admittedly, after a while my diet would have gotten a bit bland - lots of pasta and chicken and rice (which aren't great breakfast choices, in my opinion), but I could have survived.
Anyway, the dig out meant it was worth attempting to come to work on the Friday. The journey wasn't great to be frank. The roads had been cleared a bit, but they were a long way from being properly cleared. Especially when you got off the main roads - the industrial estate I work in was almost impassable and I actually got stuck. Luckily my boss has a 4x4 and was able to tow me out.
I took it steady both going and coming back, especially given my experience before Christmas, but that didn't seem to be the attitudes of most people on the roads - I had loads of people tailgating me, which seems the most ridiculous behaviour imaginable in this weather.
One slip or slide and what would have been me having a scary moment on my own could easily become a horrendous pile-up, just because people weren't giving enough space.
After my big old couple of weeks off for Chrimbo and the New Year I was supposed to start work again on the Wednesday. I always like to take a couple of extra days and come back mid-week when I have any sort of holiday, because I find that shift to a full working week from holiday quite stressful.
Well my timing weirdly meant that I was coming back on Wednesday and Tuesday night was when it snowed heavily. Of course it had snowed before Christmas and had been pretty horrendous by all accounts, but it wasn't too bad while I was at work and then when it got bad I was off.
In fact, that pre-Christmas snow actually ended when I went down to Devon to visit my Dad - it was milder and rained heavily that morning I went down and that actually cleared away the snow, so my journey down was okay. And of course down in the South west they never have it so bad anyway.
I did have scary moment, though. I stopped at Cartgate services to have a pea and when I was driving out of their I hit some black ice on the road out. I turned left and the car went straight on.
It was my own fault because I was going too fast and it was just lucky that no-one was coming the other way. I didn't make it all the way across to the other side of the road, but I crossed the line marking the middle of the road.
Anyway, the déjà vu came because the snow that fell on Tuesday night was almost the exact same depth at what we got last February. And as then, I was trapped.
To be frank I probably would have stayed trapped as well if it wasn't for the fact that my landlord was going on holiday on the Sunday. That meant that he organised a "digging party" and we dug ourselves out on the Thursday.
Also, what would have encouraged me to stay is that I can actually work remotely from home. Plus, because of my pack rat mentality, I'd estimate that I had about 2 weeks of food that I coudl have lived off of. Admittedly, after a while my diet would have gotten a bit bland - lots of pasta and chicken and rice (which aren't great breakfast choices, in my opinion), but I could have survived.
Anyway, the dig out meant it was worth attempting to come to work on the Friday. The journey wasn't great to be frank. The roads had been cleared a bit, but they were a long way from being properly cleared. Especially when you got off the main roads - the industrial estate I work in was almost impassable and I actually got stuck. Luckily my boss has a 4x4 and was able to tow me out.
I took it steady both going and coming back, especially given my experience before Christmas, but that didn't seem to be the attitudes of most people on the roads - I had loads of people tailgating me, which seems the most ridiculous behaviour imaginable in this weather.
One slip or slide and what would have been me having a scary moment on my own could easily become a horrendous pile-up, just because people weren't giving enough space.
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