As it's Winter-een-mas 2005, I thought I'd be nice to attend a LAN-party once. It had struck me that - even though I used to game a lot - I'd never attended one before. Sure, had some game-days with my friends back in the days (Skate or Die, Doom, Descent, Carmageddon and Mortal Kombat come to mind), hooked up computers and stuff, but never been to a community center, plugged in a computer and screen to an outlet and hooked up to the local LAN via switch or hub in order to game for hours and then sleep on the ground of that same room. Sounds fun ? Not really, probably why I never went. So anyway, FRaNKy and I threw an old tv and my Xbox in the back of the car, brought along a laptop and went to see my nephew and his crew. Small room, around 10 computers with screens ranging from 15" flatpanels to 19" (or was there a 21"er too ?) CRT models glowing in the semi-dark ... Games played were Tony Hawk Pro Skater (very nice - played it myself), LOTR Middle Earth (LOTR is lame), some WWII thing (boring), Alien Vs Predator (snoozefest) and Star Wars Jedi Knight (fuck yeah !).
FRaNKy and I crashed some cars in "Burnout 3 : Takedown", did some slips and slides in "Project Gotham Racing 2" (I was following FRaNKy nicely for once), conquered a planet in "Star Wars Battlefront", had really difficult steering problems in "Rallysport Challenge 2" and I talked FRaNKy through a big part of "Halo 2". And before we knew it, it was half past five in the morning and really time to go home.
Song of the week : "Pain" Jimmy Eat World
Oldie of the week : -----
Last seen movie : "Ichi The Killer" : comments are being written
"Van Helsing" : Oh my god ! Do the words (start english accent) "boring shite" (end english accent) mean anything to you ? I knew this would amount to nothing and I was right. The back of the DVD cover mentions this is an "authentic representation of Dracula, Frankenstein and the werewolf". Uhm ? Hello, they're not real ! So I assume "authentic" can only mean that it's very much "based on the books and/or legends". Which is - again - impossible as these characters aren't in the same book. They're not even from the same author. Which marketing idiot dreamt this one up ?
Reading that I knew it could only go wrong and my hopes were set low. In fact I'd be happy if the sceneries looked nice (directed by the guy from The Mummy, so it was possible), that Hugh Jackman'd get some good lines and that Kate Beckinsale would look scruptious. They even got me there ... Kate looked awful, who gave her that silly curly hairstyle ? In the beginning it looked nice and promising : a blueish black and white photography for the Frankenstein myth (based on the first movie, not the book by the way, just thought I'd mention it in regards to the "authenticity"), but after the fight with Dr. Jeckyll/Mr. Hyde it quickly went downhill ... I wouldn't even recommend it as a rental.
Doing this week : The last evening of Winter-een-mas tonight. Little get-together with some friends on Xbox Live. No big plans for the rest of the week yet.

Editorial - 25 January 2005

Did any of you know that the singer/guitarist of Filter, Richard Patrick, (former Nine Inch Nails live-member) is the 10 years younger brother of Robert Patrick, most famous for portraying the T-1000, the liquid metal bad ass Terminator in T2 ? When I found out a few years ago on IMDB I was surprised to say the least. I'm pretty sure some of you will be to. Popped in my mind when selecting the "oldie of the week".
Song of the week : -----
Oldie of the week : "The Best Things" Filter
Last seen movie : "Phonebooth" : Well, I never thought it would happen, but Joel Schumacher has made his first good movie. Short, sharp and intens. Seeing the documentary on the DVD, I got the idea that the director of photography may be a contributing factor in that. Anyway, compelling story, great actors (Collin Farrell is amazing), very short (around 75 minutes) and definitely worth a view.
"The Perfect Storm" : Visually impressive with all the storms (probably gave the visual department of "The Day After Tomorrow" some ideas), but cheaply going for the tearjerking american hero theme. Poor fishermen must go out on rented boat one last time before the winter in order to catch some extra fish and dough for the family for either their divorced wive and son, the move to sunny florida, the own appartment with the new girlfriend and so on. Of course they get trapped in the biggest storm of the century and must fight the elements to survive. George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg and a lot of other reliable B-film actors get some silly lines about nature, survival and friendship and just stare towards the water. Utterly silly when you think of it, but thanks to reliable actors and a good director (Wolfgang Petersen) it's at least enjoyable. If you look past the obligatory Hollywoodian heroism, you're in for good night's entertainment.
"13 Going On 30" : comments are being written
Doing this week : Henry Rollins is coming over to do a spoken word show - called Shock & Awe this time - on thursday. Seen him do two spoken word shows already and busted my gut each time laughing out loud : his youth, the first punkshow, an audition for a big-budget Hollywood movie he didn't want to do ... all very funny stuff. If he's doing a show near you, go check it out.

Editorial - 18 January 2005

Want some advice about sleeping ? Don't put your mattress on a bed made of plastic pallets (weird word isn't it ?) because the airfilled space between the plastic touching your mattress and the floor works like an amplifier when you're sleeping with your ear on your pillow. Sounds from the couple on the floor beneath your appartment having sex, can wake you up. I felt like Michael J. Fox in "The Secret Of My Success" when he hears the couple in the appartment next to his.

Editorial - 17 January 2005

Anyone seen the new site FRaNKy and I have put together yet ? It's called RBBS and features our growing addiction to Xbox Live and some other possible addictions. Feel free to check it out and send us your comments. You know the addresses.
Song of the week : "Jolene" The White Stripes
Oldie of the week : "Podunk" Foo Fighters
Last seen movie : "Ocean's Twelve" : Liked it. I like most heist and con-movies. I like most movies from director Steven Soderbergh. I like most movies from either George Clooney or Brad Pitt. More comments are being written.
Doing this week : Read some more blogs I found. Always funny to see what other people have done with the whole "blog" thing. I'm not calling this a blog, because frankly I've been doing it longer than that word is popular and I'm not used to follow trends. Just ask my girlfriend whenever she tries to get me buy some clothes that are fashionable. I'm stubborn, I know.

Editorial - 14 January 2005

Ever had the pleasure to sit on a bus or train, or stand in line waiting while some fuckhead needed to share his or her problems with whatever on the phone ? Why do people always talk so loud in their cellphones ? Do they really think we all want to hear how they chatted up some skank in a bar and showed her all corners of the room ? Or how their boyfriend is such an asshole because he never puts away the dishes. Or whatever. Well, never mind that. Here's the solution. Download this PDF document, print it out, maybe even strengthen the paper with a plastic coating and hand them out to whoever is being annoying. If it doesn't shut them up, you'll at least have had the chance to vent your frustration.

Editorial - 11 January 2005

Now this is just sick. Seems like a certain US senator (a republican of course) wants to make it obligatory for women to report a miscarriage in 12 hours or they'll be held liable and could get fined or sentenced. Even if they called medical help, but with the doctor out of town, the nurse told them to relax, sit it out and call back if the bleeding doesn't stop. Go ahead, just read the story here, it's better written than I can. What a fuckhead ! Can't he focus on something that needs fixing ? How about more help for research on why these things happen ? Or aid for women who experience this ? First they harass women who excercice their right to choose and start banning abortion, and now they're starting to ban "acts of god" ? Because people, that's what this is : God telling you that you aren't having this baby. Got it ? Understand it now ? Like this ? Explained in your religious banter. Moron.
Song of the week : -----
Oldie of the week : "Big Girl" CIV
Last seen movie : "Heist" : Still as sharp and witty as when I first saw it. Back then I found the story to be crammed with plot-twists, but this time around that didn't bother me as much. Acting still looked great and fitting for the slight film noir atmosphere that's being created. We turned this disc in the DVD-player when some friends came over for some hotdogs and a screening. Everyone seemed to like it, so my first review may have been a bit too harsh.
"Finding Neverland" : The dramatised, partially true story of J.M. Barrie, writer of the play "Peter Pan", what would become one of Disney's finer old-style animated movies and spawn a series of movies based upon the story. Johhny Depp plays the writer, blocked by his surroundings of upper class ethics, churning out dreadful play after play until even his loyal fundraiser (played by Dustin Hoffman) starts to doubt their future. Luck be it that one day, while writing in the park, Barrie stumbles upon a single mother (Kate Winslet) and her sons. Their family life and a summer they spend with the writer, playing all sorts of childish and imaginary games, would become the basis for the story of Peter Pan : the boy who didn't want to grow up.
Set in the early 20th century, you get costumes, the british stiff upper lip, a horse and carriage and the first automobiles, meddling mothers and gossiping neighbors ... making this movie neither a big adventure, nor a bleeding heart love story for the girls. I enjoyed it very much and wouldn't mind seeing it again sometime.
"Idle Hands" : Average slacker-horror-fest with Devon Sawa and Seth Green. Devon's hand gets possessed by evil spirit killing everything in sight. Teenagers, bongs, weed, severed heads and duct-tape, what more do you want ? Ah yes, some nudity. Insert boobs. Silly lines ? Check. A punkrock band performing at the dance ? Book The Offspring and give the singer a cameo. I just saw the second half of this after coming home late at night and it fits those requirements : late night, brain turned off, watch some images before sleep.
Doing this week : Definitely something important.

Editorial - 7 January 2005

Added the Winter-een-mas 2005 logo to the site. It's a the first annual celebration of video games : an idea coming from the online comic Ctrl-Alt-Del. When during winter the already pretty disturbed character Ethan goes beserk from the cold, he turns himself into the Winter-een-mas king and has everyone worship him, his elite gamingskills and the games he plays. Winter-een-mas being an hommage to the winter, Halloween (dress up as your favorite gaming character) and christmas (not because of the presents, but because of the warm family atmosphere or something). Obviously things have exploded since and this year there's even a site devoted to the phenomenon. The celebration lasts the whole last week of January, but festivities can begin at the beginning of January.

Editorial - 6 January 2005

Back from holiday since monday I had exactly two days to do a bunch of sales-stats and finish implementing a new whitelabel for a big travel-agency (whose name I can not mention yet). Diving in - feet first - I did the stats in one day and setting up the design in the second day. But then disaster struck and our booking system threw a fit. Whenever you reach the third step, the layout reverts back to the standard one for each country. Engage panic circuits ... our main-office in the UK is trying to fix things, but so far I see no changes.
Song of the week : -----
Oldie of the week : "It's Not Easy" Suicidal Tendencies
Last seen movie : "Ever After" : Drew Barrymore as Cinderella and Angelica Huston as the evil step-mom. Think what the Cinderella story would be without the fairy, the elves and animals helping out and you get close to this movie : a romantic comedy situated in the middle ages with a down on her luck girl, her evil-plotting stepmom and the charming prince. Can't recall if he had a white horse ? Nevermind ...
"The Grinch" : Apparently the children's books of Dr. Seuss are welknown in the USA so it's no wonder they'd be turned into a movie one day. Ron Howard directs Jim Carrey as he transforms himself into a hideous green monster bent on destroying everything that's Christmas. Situated in a weird world with weird people and sugary colours, the scene is set for all hell to break loose. But it never does. It stays a sweet, yet little off beat children's tale suited for the kids above six years old. And the parents ? Well, they can laugh with Carrey's antics. Stretching the limits of his face again.
Doing this week : Game. Check the december finances. Sleep.

Editorial - 1 January 2005

I wish you all a good, healthy, nice and safe 2005. Considering all the crap that went around in 2004 we'll all need it.

darkman says sleep tight

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