So tell me, what's become of my ship?

The release of the second Pirates of the Caribbean film on DVD is now less than a month away. At least it will tide me over until the release of At Worlds' End sometime next year. More than one reviewer of the film said that they could have trimmed it down and released only one film. This would have meant trying to compress the storyline somewhat.

I would say the film is fine just the way it is, even with a year long wait to find out what happens next. Less Jack Sparrow? Are they insane? Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow makes the film enjoyable, even if it is a Disney film and I am (nearly) 23 years old.

Geoffrey Rush will be making a welcome return as Captain Barbossa. If his performance in the original Pirates of the Caribbean is anything to go by, it should be a cracking finale to the trilogy.

I leave with Captain Jack's last scene;

Jack Sparrow: [after being covered in mucus after the Kraken roars at him] Not so bad...
[wipes the slime from his face]
Jack Sparrow: [he looks down and sees his old hat] Oh!
[reaches for his hat and puts it on]
Jack Sparrow: 'Ello, beastie.
[smiles and draws his sword]

regards,

Alex.

Sunshine on a Rainy day

No, I'm not talking about the weather. Shopping at my local used game store, I picked up a copy of Super Mario Sunshine for the GameCube, along with The Legend of Zelda: Collectors Edition. I also managed to E-Bay a copy of Banjo-Tooie for the Nintendo64.

Why did I wait till now to get the sequel? Simple, it was a choice between Banjo-Tooie or Conker's Bad Fur Day.

Before you all start moaning about old, kids games, let me say this; I don't care what you think, they're still fun games. Games on the PlayStation2 tend to be more serious games and just not quite as fun as a game made for the Nintendo.

The games might be nearly 4 years old (older in the case of the Original Legend of Zelda), but they are still excellent games. Okay, so they might not be the latest eye-watering visuals or have the ability to play online. To me, so what? Online play is not my priority and the visuals are still impressive.

Cuteness might the order of the day for Nintendo games, but that's not important. They're fun to play and yes a little frustrating at times. The quest to get all of the Jiggys and Musical Notes in Banjo-Kazooie has to be one of the most annoying with the possible exception of getting all the masks in Zelda: Majora's Mask.

So far, no one has yet managed to create a platform First-Person-Shooter that beats either GoldenEye or Perfect Dark. With the immanent arrival of the new Nintendo Wii (Revolution sounded better) and the PS3 in March, we'll see exactly how important next-gen graphics are. Nintendo have already stated they're not going to try and compete on that front. I have seen the screenshots of the new Zelda: Twilight Princess and they look superb. Hopefully they'll do the same with Super Mario Galaxy and Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

till next time,

Alex.

The Last Samurai

They would charge against the guns and they knew they would not succeed. They still rode on, a handful of men on horseback. The last stand of Katsumoto against the army sent against him.

A captured soldier, a captain of the American Army sent to train Katsumoto's enemies, learns something about himself and what it means to be Samurai.

One of Katsumoto's men asks him;
Higen: Will you fight the white men, too?
Algren: If they come here, yes.
Higen: Why?
Algren: Because they come to destroy what I have come to love.

Few words, simply spoken. I also have come to love a culture not my own. One day I hope to travel to Japan and find a home within. Find a place for yourself in the world, fight for it and never give it up.

fare thee well,

Alex.

To be, or not to be.

A very good friend has maid me an Admin on her forum (yes, I mean you Shinelle ;) ). Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely. Well not yet at least, I am still the same Alex as I was yesterday.

Whilst the forum is still in it's infancy, now is the time to make sure it is setup correctly. This includes making sure access rights for members have been set. The public guest should have read access to most forums, whilst members can actually post to them. Other forums such as the information > Rules forum is set read-only for everyone except Admins.

N.B. Shinelle, I have already changed the Rules forum to reflect this ;)

As an Admin I can modify just everything I would want to, right down to the CSS file that governs the display of the forum. It will take some time to get to grips with, but eventually it will be completely customised.

Take a peek at Trinity Limit, the forum in question.

till next time,

Alex.

Snakes. Why'd it have to be snakes?

There I am running around a never-ending desert trying to find a way forward or an exit. Random battle, fair enough this is a Final Fantasy game after all (VII). Giant sand-worm rears up. Oh s**t comes to mind. It looks a similar size to the serpents near Chocobo Ranch, the huge ones that can bite you in half.

Limit-break, limit-break, summon Shiva, Bolt2 ... and it's dead??

For those in the dark, I'm fighting in the desert in Gold Saucer Prison. Not exactly the nicest place; thieves steal your items and leave battle with annoying regularity. I was expecting something a bit tougher. Nothing too vicious otherwise you'd get killed too easily wandering around the desert. Meander around a little more ... random battle!

Aww it's a itty-bitty cactuar. Let's be nice and kill it. Attack! ... miss. er... Attack! ... miss. Raise eyebrow in trademark James Bond (TM) fashion. Limit-break ... 0. I hit it for no damage? Open up GameFaqs FFVII faqs, find cactuar. Almost completely impossible to hit unless [Stop]ped or [Manip.]ulated. Watch in fury as cactuar very slowly legs it off screen.

As Jack Sparrow would say; "Bugger."

After much wandering and random battles, a cart being pulled by a Chocobo pulls up. Do I want a ride? Yes.

On the plus side I am leveling my characters quite nicely, although it is getting somewhat annoying being unable to navigate through a desert and progress the game. I'm not quite so scared of the big snakes any more, they just look real nasty. Ah well, I'll just have to amuse myself by seeing how many Choco/Mog summons turn out to be Fat Chocobo instead.

till next time,

Alex.

A 1337 h4X0r plan... in theory

That's an elite hacker plan for those of you who don't speak '1337'. My trusty Sony Vaio 505FX laptop is starting to look a bit dated after it's long life. Considering it was second-hand when I bought it from EBay, the only problems it has are the CMOS battery being a bit flat and the main battery not holding it's charge for very long.

As it happens I do have the resources to buy a brand new laptop from a retailer if I want to. However, I thought it would be much better to simply refurbish my existing laptop with some case modifications. This would include respraying the casing with some decent gloss paint with some sort of custom-design.

Thus armed with a vague plan I searched EBay for laptops being sold for spares. If I can obtain another 505FX I can use it to practice modifications on. However I have seen a water-damaged laptop going (for the moment) quite cheaply. It doesn't power on, has motherboard problems and the hard drive has been removed. If I can get it for a reasonable price, I might be able to do several things with it;

1. Repair it to full working order
2. Replace the guts with those from another laptop

Option 1. is unlikely but possible. Option 2. is more likely though it will be quite complex. In the interval between now and the end date for the auction I will keep looking on EBay for similar laptops in case I get outbid. I leave you now with the words of Albert Einstein;

Albert Einstein: "A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new."

till next time,

Alex.

The Power of Thought

Reading Slashdot often gives me hope for the future. I'm not talking about the latest, greatest software widget but rather by the fact someone really has done something insane with old technology.

Today? A team of scientists in Washington University in St. Louis have successfully interfaced an Atari 2600 with a 14 year old boy. Whilst it still may be some time before the level of technology approaches 'Ghost in the Shell' standards, it does show what could be possible. The article linked on Slashdot has more detailed information and is well worth your time, for nothing more than inspiration if nothing else.

Currently, the technology relies on invasive means of getting the signals from the brain and into the software; directly attaching a grid to the surface of the brain. Once connected, the teenager promptly completed the first level of 'Space Invaders' by moving his limbs. He then went on to complete two levels with just thought power alone.

This is a fantastic achievement and could pave the way for the control of prosthetics using signals from the brain. If the potential problems involving the invasive means of interfacing with the brain can be overcome, such as infection, then this could help many people in a tangible way. Hopefully the scientists will be encouraged with these results and pursue the work further.

Einstein said it best;
If we knew what it was we were doing, it would not be called research, would it?


till next time,

Alex.

On the importance of Voices

With practice an actor can mimic a particular accent or pattern of speech. Tonight's episode of 'Martial Law' featured Guy Siner, better known as Lt. Gruber from 'Allo Allo'. Nothing particularly remarkable about that, if it weren't for the American accent Siner was attempting to use.

Siner's character was a doctor at a university. Though he was wearing glasses, it was still possible for me to identify him, much to my parent's amazement.

Even the best actor cannot completely mask their idiosyncrasy's, as was the case tonight. The inflection and tones associated with a particular voice cannot be masked without the use of external devices.

There is one actor who has a broad range of 'voices'; Johnny Depp. From Willy Wonker in 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory' to Captain Jack Sparrow in 'Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest', he continually displays a talent for adjusting his voice to fit the character. I am often hard-pressed to identify him by voice alone and I require visual clues to help.

As ever, this wouldn't be a post about films without a decent quote;

From 'Sleepy Hollow'
[ the burning windmill crashes down on the headless horseman]

Young Masbath: Is he dead?
Ichabod Crane: That's the problem. He was dead to begin with.

till next time,

Alex.

I am Khaela Mensha Khaine!

Well, actually I personally am not. However, I usually play as Eldar in WH40k : Dawn of War. For those of you who don't have a clue what I'm talking about, one of the toughest units available is the Avatar of Khaine.

Daemon with 6k hit points and strong against everything, it takes some time to aquire. In the Winter Assault expansion pack it takes even longer aquire due to some modifications to the eldar tech tree. The addition of Fire Dragons is not enough for me to play Winter Assault as eldar.

However, it does add a new 'race'; The Imperial Guard. Often the backbone of the Imperium they have access to something even more monstrous than an Avatar of Khaine; the BaneBlade super-heavy tank. Physically bigger than the Avatar it packs a bigger punch but is not so hot in close-combat.

So, for now I'm sticking with the Eldar. Who knows, the introduction of Necrons and the Tau Empire might make things more interesting.

Till next time,

Khaela Mensha Khain (Alex).

All i want to do, is be more like me and less like you

Linkin Park - 'Numb'. One of the few pieces of music that stir the blood and are inspirational. Both 'Numb' and 'In the End' have that effect on me, along with several others that I won't list here. Music can have effects far beyond those intended by the artist, especially theme tunes for films.

To me, at least, music can be very powerful and affect our moods quite easily. Felt like cheering watching 'Back to the Future - Part III' during the final train sequence? I'll admit I did even if it was for just a moment.

Could honestly claim that no piece of music has ever affected you emotionally?

Listening to Papa Roach - 'Scars' often leaves me feeling more than a little melancholy. It's usually swiftly followed by some more uplifting like Backstreet Boys - 'Everybody'. Alright, no laughing at the back. My friends would be shocked for several reasons; I listen to rock / metal (nu metal in the case of Linkin Park) and that I listen to more 'normal' tracks such as Backstreet Boys.

Music, films and games. Three of the most powerful stimulants I know, more so than any chemical and just as addictive. To me, this is especially true of films in case you missed the subtle clues in my previous posts. In need of a little cheering? Watch 'Madagascar Penguins in a Christmas Caper'. If that fails to raise a smile, I recommend watching Jack Sparrow in any of the 'Pirates of the Caribbean' films. Sorry; Captain Jack Sparrow.

Elizabeth Swann: There will come a time when you have a chance to do the right thing.
Jack Sparrow: I love those moments. I like to wave at them as they pass by.

till next time,

Alex.

Fighting in the Garden

Students clash left and right. Shots buzz past my head as I fight. My friends fight with me to defend what we hold dear. Monsters from legend are bound to us to help.

No, dear reader, this is not reality. This is fantasy; Final Fantasy VIII.

Second disc, the fight in Galbadia Garden to be precise. I've probably missed some rare character cards in getting this far, although I know that there are two summons to be obtained here.

Fighting to save worlds not our own, to protect strangers that we have come to count as friends. Not altogether a bad idea. Games can affect us just as much as films if not more so. Whilst I haven't got quite that far in Final Fantasy VII, I do know that one of your characters is killed at the end of the first disc. Quite a few of the people that I know who have played the game confess to feeling more than a little sad at this. It was more than a little satisfying to see the killer utterly defeated.

In playing games we do place some emotional investment in them. Characters are brought to life, imagined worlds become closer to reality. At the start of FFVII : Advent Children there is message;

Opening Credits: To those who loved this world... and knew friendly company therein: This reunion is for you.

Games are a form of escapism, that is true but they also remind us that there are things worth fighting for. I would gladly fight, die and live to fight again for the ones that are most precious to me. So, pick up your weapons, let a song fill your heart and fight for what you believe in.

till next time,

Alex.