The day before the big move, The Dark Knight was released in the UK. The mister was desperate to see it and so was I to some extent. We headed to the cinema straight from work, and spent two solid hours staring at the big screen.

The hype about the Joker and Ledger’s performance was definitely right – he was great. But so was everyone else (except maybe the woman who played Rachel this time, not that Holmes was much better, but still).
I particularly liked the character of Harvey Dent, and it was interesting to see that element of the plot played out. There were some really funny moments, and some really awesome moments (note: Batmobile), but one thing stood out more than anything – and this isn’t anything against the film, I loved it – it was so freaking depressing! I imagine that’s the point, but for two hours we were bombarded with this deluge of angst, and I felt rather deflated afterwards. A lot of people I’ve spoken to have said the same.

That said, eat loads of sugar to get your happy up, and then go and see it. You must see this film. The adverts are not lying when they tell you that much! 5/5!

Its three hours long and definitely one to miss – try the book, it’s so much better. Or if you’re really not a book person, the Hitchcock adaptation.

If you haven’t seen it, watch it. If you have, ignore the spoiler warning.

Two of my favourite characters were killed this season, David Palmer, who I wish was the real president, and Edgar Stiles.

Edgar’s not really a main character, but his small part really is so big, and it was so touching to see how much he wanted to help his mother in day 4, and how he soldiered on after her death. His relationship to Chloe has always been so sweet and interesting. I just cried my eyes out when he died, absolutely cried for about an hour. He was such a great character, the real heart of the team. He made me laugh. Bless his cotton socks basically. He was great. And his death was spectacular.

The takedown of the president, and everything else that happened with that was well written, fantastically performed, and Aaron Pierce is now my new Edgar.

I definitely need to watch Day 6 again, because I’ve completely forgotten what happened with everyone, since I didn’t know who they were when I watched that.

24 is a great show. I am worried they’ll carry it on too long, and it’ll lose its impact, but for now, it’s well worth a look and an example of good quality television – something which is lacking these days.

Spoilers – Not seen season 4 or the end of 3? Don’t look!

The first episode is basically a pisstake of England. We drink coffee, what the hell was all that about? How hard is it to know that a red light means stop. Does America do that differently? That’s so confusing. It was pretty funny to see Boreanaz trying to get out of the back of a traditional Mini, but I don’t know. Something was missing.

I didn’t expect Clarke to last long in the labs, and he didn’t. The girl that replaced him was so annoying, I’m glad they got rid of her pronto, although if Sweets really is sniffing up that tree, then maybe we haven’t seen the last of her.

The thing which shocked me the most was the breakup of Angela and Hodgins. Clearly the strike messed this up and there was supposed to be more of a back-story to it. Two people so in love, so committed to marriage, to seemingly so suddenly break up, and then not have that dealt with at all in episode 3, was just weird, and I expected them to be far more upset about it, considering how long it took them to get together. Maybe this’ll be redeemed at a later date, I am curious to see where it goes.

We’ll just have to see!

The premise:

“The idea is simple: take your TV, your DVD player, your video iPod, your XBOX 360, your laptop, your PSP, and say goodbye to them all for seven days. Simple, but not at all easy. Like millions of others before you, you’ll be shocked at just how difficult – yet also how life-changing – a week spent unplugged can really be.”

Find out more at this link.

Last night’s South Park, titled “Over Logging” actually highlighted some key issues surrounding always being “turned on” to the internet in particular. It’s really hilarious, but also a little disturbing. I won’t spoil it, but I did want to mention a few things that have tied into things I’ve read in Adbusters material. Not knowing how to behave in a face to face situation, feeling compelled to check and reply to emails etc, becoming numb to real relationships and sex, having too much information etc.

I’m all for the internet, I just thought it was funny and thought provoking and tied in well with Adbusters’ message. Check it out if you get the chance

I think in America you might be able to view the full thing where this clip is, if not, here’s a clip!

I had this photograph featured in a piece on NowPublic.com about the government maybe enforcing some kind of smoking licence scheme. I know it’s not that big of a deal, but it’s really nice that they asked to use my photograph. Also VOTE PETE for student support officer. This be him, pictured here.

I saw Sweeney Todd. Whever it was, with the Mister. I thought the movie was good. Not my favourite Burton, but it kept me entertained. Here I tried drawing with white on black paper, which is much harder than it sounds. I will post the finished piece, when I finish it, I guess.

The Mister’s mum sent us pressies from Egypt. This is the little wood camel we got. Name suggestions in the comments please!

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My best friend came to visit that Friday. Haven’t seen him since Christmas so it was a blast. The Mister cooked us up a good dinner and good times were had by all. These are some of the flowers he brought me.

I honestly adore how in England going to the beach in winter isn’t a bad idea. I spent the best part of my day down at the beach whichever day this was, just listening to music and sleeping on the pebbles. It was awesome. The weather was nice too. I love this photo.

My Valentines present was oil pastels which I asked for. Expect an art in the next few weeks This is also the card I made for the Mister, the idea for which I stole from Dinosaur Comics. Check that out. Hilarity with dinosaurs. It’s hand painted anyway. Check me out. Little miss artist.

Valentines day itself, the Mister cooked me a lovely meal, we had lots of wine, and watched Lost in Translation. I quite liked the film, it kind of reminded me of Eternal Sunshine in the way it was formulated and how it was two people making a connection.

Selling my blue Olympus 410. Buy it here.

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Massive emo moment, haha! I’ll post when I have the rest of this set up, I have a few of them. They’re sort of a sequel to my Descent themed set and part of my Self Elected project.

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Today’s picture is about something so exciting, it’s getting it’s own post.

And no lectures about time management either, there were issues with this project.

Just a note to say I do have my daily photos, almost all of them, I think I missed one. You can see them when I have time to upload them, maybe Thursday. Provided I don’t drink too much after hand in tomorrow and cease to exist.

I dyed my hair today. Tis black. Also, I’M SEEING SWEENEY TODD ON THURSDAY.

We’d decided to do a “serious” present, a “silly” present and a bunch of stockingy presents for each other. I’d bought him Mass Effect (Xbox 360), the Muse poster from the gigs we went to in June, a Screaming Flying Monkey and a lot of chocolate and sweeties

He’d accepted my suggestion of jewellery, and got me the beautiful set shown here. I picked butterflies because of the Muse song “Butterflies and Hurricanes” which is my favourite song of all time, it’s pretty special. He also got me Lego Star Wars II (PS2) (which I haven’t had chance to play yet), a make and display Play-Doh parrot which is awesome, and lots of sweeties.

My Mum got me a subscription to Adbusters magazine which is awesome because I won’t be able to read it at the library once I finish uni , I got money, a new duvet and set, lots of chocolate and sweeties, a nail varnish set, Sleepy Hollow, Design Without Boundaries: Visual Communication in Transition and I’m sure I’m forgetting some stuff.

As an aside, watch Toy Story, it’s awesome. I’m Woody, howdy howdy howdy.

Amazon Synopsis
Andrew ‘Large’ Largeman (Zach Braff of TV’s Scrubs) is returning home to New Jersey for the first time in nine years to attend his mother’s funeral. A struggling actor in Los Angeles, he’s been living under clouds of medication prescribed by his psychiatrist father (Ian Holm). After drifting through the funeral with the same emotional numbness he’s felt for years, he reconnects with old friends Mark (Peter Sarsgaard), a gravedigger, and Albert (Denis O’Hare), a millionaire who invented noiseless Velcro. In a doctor’s office, he meets ebullient Sam (Natalie Portman), an epileptic whose lust for life inspires Andrew to feel things that his medication long denied him. Over four days, he develops feelings for Sam he didn’t know he was capable of, and faces up to the resentment his father holds toward him about an accident that happened long ago.

I’d say the Groener and Baldwin had a fair amount to do with Boreanaz in Buffy/Angel. I did sit there and wonder if they talked about the good old days. But I guess they weren’t really “regulars” even if they were the big bads of their seasons.

I’m fairly certain there’s at least one more. I’m forever spotting familiar faces.

Just thought I’d add to the list.

As for SMG, her role was such a strong one in Buffy, I think it would be hard for that not to compromise Bones’ role for a lot of people.

I have to admit I do think it may have been aimed at teens younger than me. It was easy to see through some of the effects and some of it did seem quite childish. That said, it was a lovely story to escape with for a few hours once the lead stopped wearing his rose tinted glasses.

Brilliant cast list, I didn’t find myself wondering what other films they’d been in when I was watching – I was too engrossed in the performances. I’m really not a fan of Robert DeNiro – mostly because of the types of characters he plays, but I really enjoyed his part in this film and thought he did it brilliantly.

If you’re looking to escape for a few hours, you love fantasy or you love an entertaining lovestory with sky pirates, this is the film for you.

• It has the director of Wrong Turn. Wrong Turn was fantastically rubbish and hilarious. And actually from a visual perspective not bad.
• Eliza Dushku is one of my favourite actresses because Faith was clearly the best slayer and I’ve wanted to be her since however old I was when season 3 of Buffy came out – 13? She also does a better job in horror films than Sarah Michelle Gellar – who was just the worst thing ever in The Return (what the hell was that film supposed to be about? Usually I can at least laugh at rubbish horror but this one, I was just so bored) and alright I’ll give her a little credit for the Grudge, because the Grudge was awesome. But still no.
• The title makes it sound so deliciously rubbish, how can I refuse? Now I’ve read the synopsis I am a little disappointed that it wasn’t literally working through the alphabet, but that’s what you get for basing a film on a true story…
• Which leads me to a curiosity about the ending since in real life they never caught the killer.

The official site is over here –> http://www.alphabetkiller.com/ and it even includes a fantastic “teaser” trailer which shows you all the best bits of the film before you’ve had a chance to see it. Which who knows when that will be because it’s said OCTOBER for at least forever. Maybe it’ll hit the screens around Halloween (Halloween!!!)

Now I need to go shower and do some actual workleton.

Also to note, I disabled comments until such a time as I can find a captcha that works in preventing mass spammage of unsavoury anythings. IP address 195.somethingsomething can go fuck itself.

On a more excitable note, I start my second summer of work at 3-Wise Internet Solutions (who are also my host, <3) tomorrow. On top of that, I have three, maybe four, units still to finish for university due to my illness at the end of the first semester, my dissertation research, self elected research and other general course reading to do. That’s a lot, but that’s ok, because it’s all positive. I also have my own personal photography and internet projects in mind. My head’s a bit full at the moment, I’m sure you can imagine.

I took my Mister to his home for the weekend, gave myself a bit of a break during that time, to play Guitar Hero, spend time with him and generally do not much. It was gooood. It all had to end tonight though, ready for tomorry Oh, and yeah, it was some sort of five day weekend, haha.

My Mister took me to see the new Pirates of the Caribbean movie last week, I’ve always thought the storylines were silly, but the movies are certainly entertaining. Worth the look.

Everyone knows I love terrible horror, but this went beyond terrible. I can’t name another horror film that I’ve wanted to turn off halfway through because I’ve cared so little about the plot. I guess Sarah Michelle Gellar fans might have liked it, but to us it was just a movie comprised of lots of minute long shots of people walking towards things, little tension, and very little to relate to.

I think their efforts to build tension were what damaged it, they gave little away about what was going on, they went too far with this at times I thought. The introduction to characters was also rushed, and didn’t give you an opportunity to relate to them or how they were feeling – resulting in nothing to engage with.

Also, it lacked in people dying. It got near the end, and both of us were asking why no one was dying. The fact that you didn’t know someone had made the first half of the film seem pointless – simply because you didn’t know.

I give it 3/10, just because I think I should give it something for trying.

It was certainly visually stunning, although I’m not so sure I’d have been so accepting of the obviousness of CG had I not known it was based on a graphic novel. Either way, they really went to town on it. I especially loved this technique that I’ve only just started noticing appearing in movies, where, for example, someone shoots an arrow, the camera pans in on the arrow, time slows down and it moves around the arrow before it speeds up again, drawing you in and making you feel a part of something otherwise quite flat. It’s almost 3D without being 3D.

Gerard Butler was impressive, I’ve only seen him as the Phantom in Phantom of the Opera, it was very entertaining to see him do something so different, and do it so well.

The story wasn’t that strong, it was mostly about the fighting which is fair enough, but they did manage to put enough of a storyline in to have me crying by the end of it (I felt like I’d been hit with an emotional bus, but I think that may have just been me). There were some very touching moments, some downright scary moments, but mostly, a lot of bloody moments. But even then, they were well engineered bloody moments.

The soundtrack, the soundtrack, the soundtrack, I adored it. Rocky vs classical, always a winner with me. I thought it fit the movie very well. I’d recommend the movie, assuming you can deal with slow motion decapitation… or just generally a lot of slow motion. I read somewhere they filmed most of it at 50-150 frames per second – shows just how much slow motion they did or planned to use!

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I realise now on DA you get a free prints account, so I just messed around with the options to see what would happen, as a result, this photo of the sunset over Southsea is available as a print.

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All else is going alright. Got a lot of work on at uni, but it’s all good things. Thinking of things to write about for a dissertation, working up a design for a competition, running a business focussed on environmentalism (proper website and details available next week), it’s all good.

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Thursday 21st March

Nothing!

Wednesday 20th March

Chocolate chips 0.49
Pizza 1.15
Broccoli 0.46
Butter 0.46
Chips 0.88
Enterprise Investment 30
Car Insurance 476.04 (not including this in percentages as it tips it too much, just included for records)

Totals so far…
£235.35
Necessary £179.96 76.46%
Unnecessary £55.39 23.54%

It was pure entertaining rubbish! What else can I say? Like cheesy teen horror with a flimsy plot, bland acting and a woman that looks like a man, go see this film.

Kept me entertained anyway, I love picking apart horror

Black Christmas – made by the people who made the FD movies, a *remake*, the cast list is mostly a remash of people from the FD films, and the annoying one from Buffy. And and and, it revolves around Christmas. Magic. I expect laughs. The clip I watched earlier floored me. It seems the producers haven’t got any less inventive with their deaths.

Friday. I’m excited. And yes I am a tad morbid.

I was looking through some of my old research, and found a photo of this – an origami unicorn I made when I was doing a project about Bladerunner. The site with instructions is here.

Like Batman Begins, the art direction and what not was pretty decent and it had that same shine to it – I don’t really know how to explain it. It was refined. The cast listing was impressive (what was David Bowie doing in there? That was unexpected.)

I just didn’t like the twist, which I suppose, is entirely what the thing was based on, so I guess that’s why I’m unsure as to if I liked it.

Five stars for effort, two and a half for the story.