Volume II

Yeah, Cheaper by the Dozen 2 was a big let down. The first part was excellent. All the tricks, games, funny moments were all there in great build ups too. And in part 2, half the fun was lost.

The need for building up characters was not really needed. The plot also didn't need much of a hack either. Just let two rival fathers with their kids run wild. And since it was done like that, there was not much craftiness. Nor much child games either. In other words, there was not as many laugh out loud moments as expected.

I'm starting to think that Yours, Mine and Ours which was released about the same time is the better movie now. It was like the dozen kids part 1, but with a slightly different tale. I wonder what happened during the production of dozen kids part 2.

Oh, and when the fireworks went off at that gathering, I wasn't expecting them to be put out so soon. I can't help but think part 2 has really lost the edge in bringing out the comedic moments those energetic kids could've brought into many of the scenes.

Yes I've gone all masala on the template. A friend showed this template to me and after comparing it to my custom made template of Dots, I decided to go ahead and change it. I quite like it actually, being Indian an all.

Spring is in full flow now. The rain, the winds, and the sun all mixed up creating a nice range of whether for us each day. Yesterday was more rain than sun. Today there's a little more wind and sun, but less rain. It's all good.

Mounting my printed artwork was a crazy task. After getting no offers for a pair of feminine hands, I had to use my own. Making it worse, the bloody trimmer was bust so I had to use a pair of scissors which not only meant more time, but a little more effort too. They all came out nice though. Spray adhesive rocks!

Wow, what an interview I had today morning. To fill you in, I only applied to one course at one place only on my UCAS application. I know, I'm a dumb-arse who likes to take risks. Well anyway, after a week of constant waiting, I get an interview. I was over the moon as you could imagine. Then came the process of getting the portfolio ready, and all that was done by last night. Now up till last night I was very confident and not nervous at all. But soon as I slipped into bed, I started to panic. The words 'interview tomorrow' kept and creeping in and out of conscious. I couldn't sleep at all, so I had a quick game of checkers (which I won) and before long I was knocked out.

Today morning however, I was feeling confident again. On the bus, I was still confident. Walking up to the building, I was still confident. Waiting in reception, still feeling confident. It was 10, and I hadn't been called in yet. So I asked Pauline our lovely receptionist and she said it may go overtime. Then it happened. I started to panic again. Within an extra waiting periods of 15 minutes, I was from fully confident to a nervous wreck again. Anyway I decided to get a drink from the water cooler and like clockwork, she appeared, and amazingly enough, the wreck had gone and once again I was feeling confident. Spare you the details, it was a very successful interview which resulted in an outcome which I couldn't be any more happier with.

Kid you not, it's nice and sunny, but started to rain again. Just show's what happens with British whether within the duration of writing a single blog post.

I don't believe this, Steven Seagal has done it again!

I'm not going to even bother going into this one. Mercenary for Justice is another already played out movie. If you like guns and CIA ops, give it a watch. Don't blame me for the lack of originality though.

When I was about 9 back in junior school, I had a really cool teacher. His name, Mr Williams.

Now in junior school you have the same teacher all day every day throughout the whole school year. Maths, English, P.E, you have the same teacher for every lesson. It never really got boring, because that's how we knew school back then.

Anyway Mr Williams was a magician. He did gigs at his local house and also fairs that stopped in town. He was a great magician too, but nothing too savvy. I think it was one Friday I was told to stay behind after school because I'd been a naughty boy. I must've not washed the brushes and left them on glue pallets or something causing them to stick and jam up. I remember finishing cleaning them up and him calling me over. He told me not to forget next time, and asked if I wanted to see something amazing. Being 9, I was all 'hell yeah!'

So he took out a quid, put it in his palm and rubbed it. The quid disappeared. He then went behind my ear and took the quid out. Wow! Now I used to think of myself as some clever kid, so I asked him to do it a few more times to see how he did it and catch him out. But there was no luck that day. Eventually he showed me how, and all the way home I was practising. Without a quid ofcourse.

Weeks later I learnt new tricks. I even ended up doing a show at the end of school year in front of the whole year. I had everyone going. This was great, I was already something. I'd get asked at home to do stuff. Show my cousins when they came over the amazing things I could do. But I was getting bored of this magic stuff. I wanted something more challenging. More real in life. I wanted to not trick someone into thinking, but giving. Yes, I wanted to con.

But life as a con artist was very short lived. Not to mention that my religion forbids it, so I had no choice but to give it up. Out of interest, my first mark was my cousin. What a daft bitch she was.

So college is over. I handed in my final (I'd like to think) project today, and had an early day off. All that remains now is a single project (FMP) which will run for the duration of 13 weeks or so which will also take us right up to the official college is over day. I can't wait to start my FMP next week though, it's a great opportunity for me to set my own brief, do it, evaluate, and then present it. I'm told it's a real 'grade booster'.

The only other tasks that remain are getting through a successful interview which will require getting my portfolio ready, and also a storyboard for a few scenes of a movie that you got to create yourself. The only not so difficult bit to that is - well, the movie/storyboard must show influence of the director that we wrote an essay on earlier on during the year.

I might aswell, yesterday I walked into the print shop again and I also walked right back out within 10 minutes with a set of amazing quality prints ready to crop and mount. I also bought some mount boards which are foam centred too. But the real amazing thing is, it all cost just little under £40. So why not, I bought myself a muffin from the change I spared.

Oh, and I keep wanting to be a con-artist again. I'm just not sure whether it'll work for me now.

Right now there's so much going. Finishing up of projects, writing proposals to get approved for the Final Major Project, finding a part-time job, getting UCAS interviews sorted which means to get my portfolio ready.

Yes, I love my portfolio, and I scream with my eyes if anyone ever so even bumps into it giving it a little knock making me look down after to see whether any damage has been done. So I don't love it that much, but I do take good care of it. It didn't come cheap afterall.

So for the portfolio, I'm getting my design pieces reprinted via digital print. I've had enough of cheap college printers and tacky cropping jobs. Anyway, I think it was Wednesday morning when I popped into a print shop in town, and it was right early too, around 8 or so. The shop was well hidden in an alley and less you were looking for it, you wouldn't notice it. Surprisingly though, inside the shop it's all modern. High tech computers and huge press machines. I remember it was well heated too.

Anyway to the point, I asked for a quote on a 15 A2 colour printouts with no bleed but vinyl covering print job. In my mind I had estimated it to cost no more than £70-80, but lo behold, a huge £210 came out of her mouth. I was gob-smacked, and she even noticed it too. 'It's a little dear I know, but we do do 15% discounts for students?' - yeah, forget about it. I stood there like a div thinking what to do, so I asked for the same job, but this time for A3 sheets and guess what, it only costs a little under £40, with vinyl covering too.

So you see my estimate made sense, it should cost double for what it costs for A3 since the paper size is double, but I guess that's not how it works. It looks like I'm going to have to get some A3 digital prints, and then find some feminine hands to crop them up and help me mount them on some boards I'll have to buy now too.

Ah, how little do I know about my chosen industry.

After seeing the one sheet for this movie, I made a mental note to watch it. I didn't expect much from Paradise Now, but it sure gave me a lot.

The story telling in Paradise Now was nicely done, and the plot was very realistic. The acting was good too, and although I hadn't heard of any of the actors before, they sure as hell made a good first impression. Not to forget the cinematography which was done brilliantly, and with good camera direction.

I wouldn't really mention this, but the movie didn't really strive for much attention from the viewer either. At times I felt sorry for the families of the bombers, but that was it. And not seeing any action and terror from the opposite side made this movie almost one sided, but when reading the plot line again, it makes perfect sense. It's a movie about two men, not a nation who recruit men to blow themselves up.

Guilty pleasure my left foot, Bandidas was a really fun movie and I loved every bit of it.

Many Westerns have a similar trait and give the same sense of feeling and drama. Bandidas did just that. The story of two girls from opposite walks of life make together to take down the bad guys who are not surprisingly 'gringos' from America looking to take over their land. A noble act indeed, and with the help of another American they win the fight. So the plot maybe a little clichéd, but most Westerns are.

Although I think the characters weren't built up too well, it still worked. I'm not so fussed about the story telling here, or even the plot, but the action was great. Add to that the loads of laugh out loud moments and two lovely bank robbers, there's not much you could really moan about.

There was a lot of nice cinematography too. Really beautiful scenery, all shown breathtakingly with a bright and crystal clear image. Now although I'm not a big fan of the whole showing the bullet piercing and trailing gunpowder effect, it did spice up the movie a little which made it all the more enjoyable to watch.

If you too just want to have a fun to watch movie, you need to give Bandidas a try. Or if you just want to see Hayek and Cruz in some legendry outfits. Whichever fits your bill.

I don't even know why I postponed watching this movie. I guess the title, Four Brothers, didn't sound as appealing.

Ok so that was an excuse, but I'm glad I finally did watch it. Very quickly, the plot was something different, and I think the story was told pretty well too. The action was just right, giving that street - almost believable feel. The character profiles weren't built up well as they could've been, but it all fell into place easily.

The imagery was great too. There was some really nice camera direction, again giving the whole urban feel. Not to mention the title sequence, it was different, with some really nice use of typography.

Out of ten, I'd say an unexpected nine.

Today I finally got some free time to personalise the look of the blog. The Dots template created by Douglas Bowman which I was using previously is very nice, and so I decided to just build on top of it giving it my personal touch and good use of white space. Just like all my other design work.

Please leave any suggestions, criticism, and feedback in the comments.

Violence and the ability to thrill is his trait. Hostel was no different, but followed through pretty badly.

I read, heard, got told that Quentin Tarantino has worked on another movie which was to be released soon. I was so excited, and even though the genre was categorised as horror, I still wanted to see it.

I might aswell tell you now, I've not watched another full horror movie since I was nine. Yes I had a terrible experience once, and it's lived on inside me ever since. Apart from when I watched Constantine by accident last month.

Anyway, Hostel was a yucky-yuck movie. I was so confused as to why it had taken such a bad direction. I was hoping for another Pulp Fiction, but I was left with nothing but a mere porno flick with some bondage and not so much horrific, but rather comedic scenes. The blood, violence, and gore were all there. The unique narrative style was also evident at times. The funny yet amusing scenes were there too. But even with all that, how could a script go so bad?

I definitely think that somebody was watching a lot of European porn whilst they were writing the script. There's no real horror in this movie at all. It was all sex and bondage which I think can also be classed as horror depending on how it is portrayed.

The small television in the reception/lounge at the hostel was very interesting though. Would I be right in saying that the movies shown on the screen were all the influences for Hostel? It sure did look like it.

I would never have thought a director could be so sex obsessed. So sick.

Packaging of products change almost daily. Some get worse, others get cooler.

It appears Walkers have recently gone over the packaging for their best selling crisps. They look cool now. Very cool infact. Gone with the times, a sort of techno-san serif edge to the type, and overall design.

I'm feeling much more tempted to pick another Walkers Ready Salted off the shelves now.

I started on another game past Sunday. The latest from Tom Clancy's works, Rainbow Six: Lockdown.

The first of Clancy's games I ever got was... well I can't remember to be honest. I got it off a high school friend who said it was the only game he had of the kind I was looking for. You must understand that ever since I was a kid, I was a sucker for espionage and military-intel orientated stuff. And yes, movies like SWAT are nothing but my thoughts, plots, and dreams for a movie come true.

But back on with the game, I have to say it is awesome. That feeling that it gives; a somewhat experience of feeling and knowing what it is like to work as a field operative as part of a small task force sent in to rescue hostages in an under-base camp somewhere in Algeria. So maybe I'm getting a little ahead here, but this game is like I said, simply awesome.

The real time effects, perfection to detail, not allowing the user to get too fussy with the weaponry and getting away easy with firing an unlimited round of ammo, the not so over-dramatised operations; the whole game is just superb. Ofcourse, with it being a game you get to save it in places. But had the saving game feature been limited to the beginning and end of each operation, it would've given it that extra 'real' feel.

But I'm not going to moan on about that, because this game is the closest I'll ever get to be that team leader leading a small group of trained anti-terrorist soldiers in an underground camp somewhere half-way across the globe.

I do however hope my tutors don't end up reading this. They'll then soon catch up on why I don't seem too bothered about getting through the final year of the course right now. Then I will be the one moaning.

Ah, if only virtual reality was life.

Roger that.