Monday 30 April 2018
Mugs
Here are a few cool mugs we've acquired.
This one is my favorite. The man on it is Uncle Iroh from Avatar. He finds a flower and isn't quite sure what species it is. It's either a deadly poisonous one, or one that makes very good. Well, he tries it, it turns out to be poisonous and he gets very ill. His line while debating whether or not to make tea is "Delectable tea or deadly poison?" and that's what's on the mug. I think it's pretty funny. And of course I love Uncle Iroh.
This one is fun. It's a mug shaped like a camera lens. Very appropriate for a photographer like me. It's a little difficult to use as it doesn't have a handle and the lid comes off easily, but it's still fun.
This one is a Star Wars one. It has a load of different characters' lightsabers on it and when you put hot liquid in it the lightsabers light up! Very fun and clever.
This is another one that changes when you put hot liquid in it. It's Alice talking to the Cheshire Cat. When you put hot liquid in it the Cat disappears. Fun!
This one is my favorite. The man on it is Uncle Iroh from Avatar. He finds a flower and isn't quite sure what species it is. It's either a deadly poisonous one, or one that makes very good. Well, he tries it, it turns out to be poisonous and he gets very ill. His line while debating whether or not to make tea is "Delectable tea or deadly poison?" and that's what's on the mug. I think it's pretty funny. And of course I love Uncle Iroh.
This one is fun. It's a mug shaped like a camera lens. Very appropriate for a photographer like me. It's a little difficult to use as it doesn't have a handle and the lid comes off easily, but it's still fun.
This one is a Star Wars one. It has a load of different characters' lightsabers on it and when you put hot liquid in it the lightsabers light up! Very fun and clever.
This is another one that changes when you put hot liquid in it. It's Alice talking to the Cheshire Cat. When you put hot liquid in it the Cat disappears. Fun!
Saturday 21 April 2018
Film Reviews: Porco Rosso (Contains Spoilers)
I wouldn't describe myself as an anime fan as such, mostly because I've not really seen much of it and don't know too much about it. I am, however, a huge Studio Ghibli fan. Howl's Moving Castle, My Neighbour Totoro and Spirited Away are all firm favorites. Porco Rosso seems to be a lesser known Ghibli film, for some reason. I really enjoyed it though.
The plot is fairly wacky, even by Ghibli standards. It's about an anthropomorphic pig called Porco Rosso (red pig in Italian), who was an Italian fighter pilot in WWI. Since being turned into a pig by a spell he now spends his time living alone on a hidden island, visiting his friend Gina, who is secretly in love with him, and fighting air priates for cash. He's always careful not to permanently put the air pirates out of action though, in order to ensure himself a continuous supply of work. Eventually the air pirates get fed up and hire an american pilot, Curtis, to take out Porco for them. Porco however, has no intention of fighting Curtis. He tries to fly to Milan for repairs, but Curtis is waiting for him and his plane gets badly damaged. Porco manages to get it to Milan and a young female engineer, Fio, plans a complete redesign and overhaul. Porco is impressed, despite his earlier scepticism about her skills. With repairs complete Porco and Fio set off for Porco's island, but the air pirates are hiding in wait for them. They threaten to tear up Porco's new plane but Fio gets them to agree to a duel, Porco versus Curtis, instead. Their dogfight degenerates into a fist fight when both their guns jam. Porco wins and Curtis has to pay Porco's repair bills. Just then Gina arrives with the news that the air force is on the way. Everyone scatters and Fio kisses Porco goodbye. It's hinted at that this breaks the spell on him and he and Gina live happily ever after.
I love how light-hearted and care-free this film feels throughout. Despite the conflict, there aren't really any villains. Everyone is essentially nice, they just happen to be on different sides. As usual with a Ghibli film, the animation is gorgeous and the characters are larger than life. For me this film has a special appeal because it looks so much like home. The artists have really made an effort to make their landscapes look like Italy, and for certain locations I even have a pretty good idea where their inspiration came from. The possible exception here is the canal in Milan. It doesn't look quite right, somehow. Too wide, perhaps, or too many bridges. But this aside, there's still plenty to make me feel homesick. There are also parts of it that feel pretty dated. It was made in 1992 and I don't think a film could get away with the kind of sexist remarks that crop up in it today. All in all though, a very enjoyable film.
The plot is fairly wacky, even by Ghibli standards. It's about an anthropomorphic pig called Porco Rosso (red pig in Italian), who was an Italian fighter pilot in WWI. Since being turned into a pig by a spell he now spends his time living alone on a hidden island, visiting his friend Gina, who is secretly in love with him, and fighting air priates for cash. He's always careful not to permanently put the air pirates out of action though, in order to ensure himself a continuous supply of work. Eventually the air pirates get fed up and hire an american pilot, Curtis, to take out Porco for them. Porco however, has no intention of fighting Curtis. He tries to fly to Milan for repairs, but Curtis is waiting for him and his plane gets badly damaged. Porco manages to get it to Milan and a young female engineer, Fio, plans a complete redesign and overhaul. Porco is impressed, despite his earlier scepticism about her skills. With repairs complete Porco and Fio set off for Porco's island, but the air pirates are hiding in wait for them. They threaten to tear up Porco's new plane but Fio gets them to agree to a duel, Porco versus Curtis, instead. Their dogfight degenerates into a fist fight when both their guns jam. Porco wins and Curtis has to pay Porco's repair bills. Just then Gina arrives with the news that the air force is on the way. Everyone scatters and Fio kisses Porco goodbye. It's hinted at that this breaks the spell on him and he and Gina live happily ever after.
I love how light-hearted and care-free this film feels throughout. Despite the conflict, there aren't really any villains. Everyone is essentially nice, they just happen to be on different sides. As usual with a Ghibli film, the animation is gorgeous and the characters are larger than life. For me this film has a special appeal because it looks so much like home. The artists have really made an effort to make their landscapes look like Italy, and for certain locations I even have a pretty good idea where their inspiration came from. The possible exception here is the canal in Milan. It doesn't look quite right, somehow. Too wide, perhaps, or too many bridges. But this aside, there's still plenty to make me feel homesick. There are also parts of it that feel pretty dated. It was made in 1992 and I don't think a film could get away with the kind of sexist remarks that crop up in it today. All in all though, a very enjoyable film.
Saturday 14 April 2018
Gig Reviews: Barenaked Ladies
Most people remember these guys for fun songs during the 90s with fast rap bits, or possibly more recently for the Big Bang Theory theme tune, but they're still touring, still going strong and still being awesome. And their new stuff is just as good as their old. I've seen them both times they've been up here recently. Both times they had the same opening act and he was awesome. A mad man with a northern accent singing about the monkey that got hanged in Hartlepool and getting the whole crowd to join in with him. Good times. They did a great mix of old and new songs, including everyone's favorite, If I Had $1,000,000, and they just seemed like such cool, chilled out, friendly guys. And Ed, like, totally made eye contact with me. Swoon!
Monday 9 April 2018
Android Games: A Few More Games
A continuation of my updated version of this entry. Here are a few more games I've discovered over the last couple of years.
First, Plants vs. Zombies. The people who ought to know tell me that this is called a tower defense game. You are trying to defend your house from oncoming zombies to stop them from getting in and eating your brains. You do this by planting plants in your garden that have various zombie killing activities. The plants include lots of wonderful puns such as a wall-nut, which acts as a barrier, the squash, which, well, squashes, and peashooters, which shoot actual peas. There are different levels to work your way through and it's pretty easy to get the hang of. They have made a Plants vs Zombies 2 as well, but to be honest I don't like it as much. It's bigger, but there's a silly time-travelling storyline, and it's a LOT harder.
Next, Floppy Bird. This one has an interesting story behind it. A guy in Viet Nam created the original game, Flappy Bird, a couple of years ago. It became insanely popular and made him a lot of money. But he started to feel guilty because it was quite addictive and it's no longer on sale. Immediately a lot of copycat games emerged based on Flappy Bird and this is one of them. The game is pretty simple. You tap to make the bird flap its wings and guide it through a course of pipes that extend from floor and ceiling. Don't flap enough and the bird drops, flap too much and the bird hits the pipes. It's pretty difficult and fun. It reminds me vaguely of games of SuperMario Land on the Gameboy where there were a few levels with sticky sap to swim through. You had to keep swimming to stay up. They were much slower paced though. I think this game has now been pulled as well, because it's too similar to the original.
Finally, Crossy Road. This is another one where you've got to be quick. You play a little creature trying to cross a series of roads, rivers and railway tracks. You've got to time it right so that when you hop onto one carriageway you get a clear shot at the next carriageway before before a car hits yours. It's quite tricky and frustrating. You can't stay still too long either or you get carried off by an eagle.
First, Plants vs. Zombies. The people who ought to know tell me that this is called a tower defense game. You are trying to defend your house from oncoming zombies to stop them from getting in and eating your brains. You do this by planting plants in your garden that have various zombie killing activities. The plants include lots of wonderful puns such as a wall-nut, which acts as a barrier, the squash, which, well, squashes, and peashooters, which shoot actual peas. There are different levels to work your way through and it's pretty easy to get the hang of. They have made a Plants vs Zombies 2 as well, but to be honest I don't like it as much. It's bigger, but there's a silly time-travelling storyline, and it's a LOT harder.
Next, Floppy Bird. This one has an interesting story behind it. A guy in Viet Nam created the original game, Flappy Bird, a couple of years ago. It became insanely popular and made him a lot of money. But he started to feel guilty because it was quite addictive and it's no longer on sale. Immediately a lot of copycat games emerged based on Flappy Bird and this is one of them. The game is pretty simple. You tap to make the bird flap its wings and guide it through a course of pipes that extend from floor and ceiling. Don't flap enough and the bird drops, flap too much and the bird hits the pipes. It's pretty difficult and fun. It reminds me vaguely of games of SuperMario Land on the Gameboy where there were a few levels with sticky sap to swim through. You had to keep swimming to stay up. They were much slower paced though. I think this game has now been pulled as well, because it's too similar to the original.
I think this picture is actually Flappy Bird, but you get the general idea.
Also worth a mention is Robot Unicorn Attack. You play a robot unicorn running and jumping gaps and obstacles. Again, it's a little bit like old Gameboy games such as SuperMario Land, only without enemies. Another difference is that the course changes every time, so you can't learn what's coming next and practice. You have to have to think fast and have fast reflexes. It's pretty good. The music played throughout is Always, by Erasure, and weirdly it doesn't seem to get annoying.
Finally, Crossy Road. This is another one where you've got to be quick. You play a little creature trying to cross a series of roads, rivers and railway tracks. You've got to time it right so that when you hop onto one carriageway you get a clear shot at the next carriageway before before a car hits yours. It's quite tricky and frustrating. You can't stay still too long either or you get carried off by an eagle.
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