The One In Which 'My Eyes Begin To Moisten'

I haven't written in a while, but nothing much has changed. If you're wondering what the topic of the blog post refers to, don't worry - it's an insided joke that only one person woul laugh at. Apart from getting me hari done (hurrah), I've been taking pleasure in doing as little of anything as possible whilst putting in some serious Halo 3 playtime. I haven't actually progressed that much, but that's only part of the experience. I've actually met some cool people on xbox live, and my presumption that the famed online service is full of potty-mouthed jerks has been challenged. I haven't really been thinking about that future all that much, so at the very least Halo 3 is a very good distraction. I've started reading 'The Good Soldier Svejk' by Jaroslav Hasek, and it is one of the funniest books I've ever had the pleasure of laying my eyes on. It reads as a series of anecdotes, and short deviations for the plot, much in the same way that Family Guy has flashbacks which are not at all connected to the story. The chapters themselves are many and it reads quickly with illustrations about every ten pages accentuating what you see in your mind's eye. It's definetely a book which is off the beaten path in terms of what I would normally pick up, but I'm glad I gave this one a chance. I won't go into the Zimbabwean secondary run-off election because that just gets me upset. All I know is that the man's days are numbered - and the country will eventually be free of his death-grip.

Pascal x

Boogying Is Not A Crime

Fiscal problems meant that I missed the Postmortem Promises gig last night. But the day wasn't terrible. I got to play Dark Sector and Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2008 at my friend's house. Dark Sector is a chiched story about a virus infected super agent, but with a fascinating game play mechanic. It borrows heavily from great games such as Resident Evil and Gears Of War, with the camera situated in the third person perspective, zooming in when targeting enemies. The entire feel of the game shifts drastically between the first and the second chapter, when the the main character is infected by the flesh eating virus. The character is voiced by Michael Rosenbaum, who play the character of Lex Luthor in the hit TV series; Smallville. The voice acting is reasonably good, and he does an effective job of bringing the anti-hero to life. The Russian voice acting is nothing short of hilarious, the exaggerated thickness of the accents does not help the ultimately dark theme of the game. The colour scheme changes the moment your character is infected by the virus, from a gothic palate of black and dark greys, introducing a wider ranger of colours. Your arm becomes a metal one and you suddenly don a glaide to slice and dice opponents with. This does not get old, from gruesome decapitations to electrifying slicing - the boomerang-like melee weapon satisfies any virtual bloodthirsts you may have. The blood curdling screams and groans that result from using the weapon form part of the reason why this game is worth a play (or two). The bosses in the game are promisingly imaginative and a real challenge to dispose of, they include a helicopter (technically not a boss), a giant creature which baring a resemblance to the ones in the motion picture, Cloverfield, and a giant four-legged robot armed with machine guns and rockets. These provide a welcome break from the slightly repetitive collection of enemies, with varying weaponry. All in all, this is an excellent game with a weak story line but some seriously cool combat.

The other game I played was the generic update of the Tiger Woods PGA Tour series. The 2008 version isn't as generic as you might think however. Already out of date, it has some sweet game mechanics which makes it more than you average game mechanics. The player creation options are very deep, with everything from nose shape and size to chin shape. The game even allows you to take a picture of yourself using the Xbox 360's official camera, and having an accurate likeness of yourself in the game (at least in facial terms). The control system is essentially love/hate, prompting the player to use the left joystick to swing the club. It can be very fiddly, and many a time you'll find the golf ball in the bunker or otherwise out of bound. When on the green however, a nice gameplay mechanism allows you to compensate to the direction the ball is expected to to roll in in relation to the hole, also taking the wind into account. This is represented by a grid of directional arrows placed atop of the ground. Putting however really is hit and miss, there seems to be no skill involved however. The arbitrary success rate is disheartening. The game is worth a look if you are interested in golf games, however it's probably more logical to wait for the latest updated incarnation of the Tiger Woods series.

Pascal x

Triumph Of The Despot

Sometimes I see little hope for the human race. After Morgan Tsvangirai announced that he would not be standing in the Zimbabwean run-off elctions, Nick Clegg responded by calling for the stop of remmitances. What he doesn't seem to realise is that people cannot afford food, and if they are not given money by over-seas relatives - they will simply starve to death. Clegg has unrealistic expectations, the Zanu PF government has already shown that it does not care for it's people, why then would such a measure make things any easier for Zimbabwe's inhabitants? No matter, it's a reaction from someone without a vested interest in the country, no personal connection. To sum up, the Liberal Democrats suck. I spent a large part of the day playing Halo 3, and I'm pleased to see that my battle rifle head-shots have improved dramatically. I might become reasonably good at this game after all. I'm not naturally good games of this type but I'll keep at it.

Pascal x

You think that everyone around you cares about what you think, no one knows your name.

I listened to A Day To Remember, for the first time in ages today. The breakdown laced hardcore sounded slightly muted because of the poor state of my earphones but the lyrics left my pondering. I've had some really weird friendships with people since I moved to the UK, then again it wasn't all that different in Zimbabwe. A Day To Remember constantly reinforce the simple idea that 'My friends come first it's the bottom line'. I don't really have any evidence to suggest that any of the people I know live by that statement. It seems to be all take take take, opportunist heaven. If I don't contact someone, they don't contact me. Chances are most of the people I consider friends are no more than vague acquintances who feign interest in me every now and then. I'm not in a great mood, some jerk on xbox live ruined my Halo 3 session. Maybe watching The OC would have cheered me up, but I reckon it's a bit late to be putting it on now. I'm yawning and everything. The arrival of summer means many things, one of them (as I realised today) is a lot of BBQs. People satisfying their carnal desires, obvlivious of any pain and suffering that takes place between the farm and the fork. Trying times.

Pascal x

She's not going to squeeze my shirt like that, is she?

The Village by M. Night Shylaman is I have to say categorically better than 'The Happening'. It's reveals something about human nature. How people will do anything to save the ones they love, and at the same time - the lengths some people will go to, to keep terrible secrets buried. They'll be no plot spoilers here. The plot is simply more believable, and film is cleverly shot. The red that is reffered to in the film as the 'bad colour' just jumps off the screen, it's so striking in amongst the dull greys and greens that it makes an for an interesting symbol. This maybe the second time I've seen this film, and I did discover a few things I had missed on the first watch. It's definetly worthy of any patient film buff's attention. On a side-note, today is the Summer Solstice, not that you'd notice with the terrible weather to look forward to this weekend.

Pascal x

This Is The Will Of The Gods, And I, Am Their Instrument

So I've settled in nicely back into the the familiar sights of Halo 3, not a moment too soon. It remains one of the best games I've ever played. My iPod is working now after being frozen for almost one full day - it was torture, seeing as I don't have nearly as much music on my computer as on my iPod, and I wasn't able to listen to my podcasts on the go. It was as if I was missing a limb (excuse the cliche). The relief of finally finishing my A-levels is overwhelming. Stretching far into the distance is just some 'me-time', a few weeks I can take to enjoy life's simple pleasures. Awesome.

The One In Which I Don't Regret Jumping The Gun

I finally got my hands on the luscious Firefox 3, and I have nothing bad to say about it - it's everything I expected and more. I didn't aid the world record attempt cos I downloaded it too early, but no matter it was worth getting it early. As I typed this the end of my definitive exam season is less than a day away. It couldn't have come sooner as far as I'mm concerned, there's nothing worse than exams where education is concerned. Hopefully I'll have done enough to secure my university place. I'll find that out in around two months time, until then I'll be chillaxing and basically getting up to nothing of consequence. God Damn, I'm lazy!

Pascal x

The One In Which iPod Earphones Suck

I listen to a lot of music on my iPod, like all the time - so what's the worst thing that can happen? No scratch that, what's the most annoying thing that can happen? My original iPod earphones failing that's what. Granted that I've had them for more than six months, and they've probably lasted longer than their built to last right? That still doesn't exuse the poor built quality, I've got full volume in my left earphone but hardly anything coming from my right earphone. If the entire set had failed altogether than I might be less annoyed. Right now it's the only functioning pair of earphones I have so blah. Hopefully my next purchase will last longer, and provide better sound quality - although the original earphones are not terrible, I did notice that a lot of sound escapes into the surrounding atmosphere - prompting me to have the volume on at an unhealthy level. But i can't complain about everything, I still love my iPod, with it's sleek controls and near infinite capacity.

Pascal x

We've Sensed It. We've Seen The Signs. Now... It's Happening.

So I went to 'The Happening' at the cinema last night. I'm ashamed to say the trailers drew me in, and so did the amount of hype surrounding M. Night Shyamalan's latest offering. I won't spoil the plot but merely point out the many love/hate elements contained within the excruciatingly brief movie. The concept is nothing new, people running away from death - literally. The acting in this film is ridiculous. Whether it's simply nervousness in front of the camera or something else, the sense of fear just isn't believable. The strange dialogue doesn't help either - weird lines written into the film to break up the tension simply feel out of place. Some of stunts are barely believable, and main characters' wooden voice acting is simply disheartening. The film has potential but just isn't cohesive enough for what it promises. The plot is all over the place, nothing is ever really explained. I felt as if 'The Happening' was a late april fool's joke, a bad one. I would want to see this film again, but not because it's amazing - just to point out it's many flaws. I would certainly pick 'Signs' or 'The Village', as 'The Happening reflects badly on M. Night Shyamalan's talents as a script-writer and director. I hope he's on better form with his next film. The potential for greatness is undeniable.

Pascal x

Limbo

This is a strange time of the year indeed. Stuck between stress and uncertainty. The stress of the exams and the uncertainty of whether I'm going to make it to my first choice university or not. I feel anything but anchored right now. Even after next week is over, I still won't be that much more at ease. On a lighter note, I might be going to watch 'The Happening' this evening. If it's anything like Signs it'll be a waste of hard earned cash, I mean come'on - aliens who can't handle water. Why would they visit a planet that's seventy percent water. That aside, if I go it'll be an enjoyable experience - films are always hightened in such an environment for me, you watch them the way they were meant to be seen. If not, I'll try and squeeze a few more hours of cramming stuff for my exam on Monday.

Pascal x

iPod + iTunes

I knew this day would eventually come, but it took a while to arrive. I bought my iPod 80gb 5th generation at the end of last year. I made the snap decision of ignoring the iPod Touch. Now I'm going to do a u-turn, it's just that well...the touch looks so cool, slick and sexy. And maybe it's because of all the Apple Keynotes I've been watching but the Cocoa Touch interface has me captivated. I want to get the iPod Touch 32gb, and iPhone is simply too small for the amount of music I listen to. The cherry on top of the vegan cake is the lyric support that's recently been added to the iPod Touch. Who knows how long it'll actually take me to get an iPod Touch, but I have been sold. On a lighter note, I love the Adobe Air software, it's so asthetically pleasing. Despite the failings of the actually Twitter site, I can still seat here and tweet on the marvelous twhirl application. With money as no object, I would be sitting here surrounded by Apple products - but so far I've got the one. Hopefully I'll get a Macbook for university, ahem...touch wood.

Pascal x

Cliff Diving (The One In Which I Dream)

I have recently felt as if I'm just floating through my life. But the dream I had last night, was so hyper-real and vivid that the feeling has gone. I know I dream every night but I don't usually remember my dreams. This particular dream was special, it's amazing how powerful the human mind and it's ability to imagine can be. Unlike the previous exam seasons I've had before, I am under an enormous amount of pressure this time round. Revision is anything but easy, I find it hard to focus and I am never sure if the notes I make and read are retained in my stretched memory. I know that I have to get into Royal Holloway University now, there really isn't any going back. I have imagined myself there so many times that I can't really be spending the next three years of my life elsewhere without feeling like a failure. I wonder if my dream was based on some past memory, that's not worth thinking about. I had some horrible experiences with girls in my teenage years. Who hasn't right?

Pascal x

Top Men Lois, Top Men

I have just seen two back-to-back episodes of Family Guy on BBC3. The first of which was extremely dark and thought provoking, to me at least. Most meat eaters probably wouldn't have watched between the frames and paid that much attention to it's message. Millions of cattle are slaughtered every year to satisfy McDonalds' customers palates. I for one know that nothing justifies slaughtering animals for food, especially when there's an alternative. I've been vegan for about four months now, and my convictions are strengthened more and more each day. The bloodlust intrinsic to slaughter and meat is something a lot of meat-eaters would find disturbing, the choice is there and I can only hope people open their eyes like I recently have. The second episode of Family Guy had one of the greatest quotes in film history, taken straight from the end of Indiana Jones: Raiders Of The Lost Ark, spliced together with the music from the film - it was literal comedy gold. Seth McFarlane and his team are still writing excellent material, and it's a nice break from The Simpsons' hit and miss episodes. Although - props to Matt Groening, in the new Simpsons episode tonight there was a welcome continuity in the storylines. The raccoon version of Lisa Simpson refrained from eating the beef jerky (choosing acorns instead that the rest of the family were gorging on. Though I take exception to the appearance of beef jerky in the episode in the first place. 'Top Men Lois, Top Men.'

Pascal x

In At The Deep End (Records)

This blog title isn't really appropriate because I can't swim, not even in the shallow end. But a little bird tells me it's a common figure of speech. Today I had my first two A-Level exams, it was pure torture. I had a case of writer's block towards the end of the English one (typical). I'm just glad I've finally got the ball rolling, but I am more uncertain about my performance with each exam. On the horizon is all those days I'm going to spend doing nothing of consequence except reading and playing Halo 3. It's not all that far away but, as I pointed out today to fellow exam sitter - 3weeks of exams instead of all of them at once is likening a tattoo, to a single virtually painless injection. My mum pointed out that if there is a regime change in Zimbabwe she aims to go back, but seeing the videos of the suffering on the news and the internet, it wasn't something that I found amusing in the slightest. A few days of intense revision and I'll be facing another excruciating session of exams, but for now I can breather a momentary sigh of relief.

Pascal x

Mugabe's Parallel Universe

This afternoon, the Zimbabwean dictator Robert Mugabe made a speech at the United Nations Food Congress in Rome. It struck me a desperate ploy on Mugabe's part to appear the community of world leaders as a visionary and a responsible leader. But he failed, miserably. For one thing he talked about his land redistribution program in which farms were forcibly taken from the whites and given to the rioting black masses. That not being enough, the people who were assigned these farms had no knowledge of, wait for it...farming. This mean hectares upon hectares of farmland lies barren as I write this, no food is being grown on numerous farms across the country. His anger at the west is not entirely pointless, but his idea that the US and British governments have led to the downfall of the Zimbabwean economy is nothing but hot air. He talked off 'farm mechanisation programs' and the importance of harnessing the land. And accidentally forgot to acknowledge the humanitarian disaster that is Zimbabwe, inflations is at 165 000% as I write this. Neglected to admit major failings on his part. And even unintentionally failed to point out the hundreds of displaced, and maimed Zimbabweans living in fear - simply because they have been thought of as MDC supporters. For someone of Mugabe's stature to speak at such a global event is an achievement, he has been thrown out of most international organisations, including the Commonwealth. Apart from his speech, the one he seemed to not have written himself - seeing as he did not once take his eyes away from the pages; Mugabe is fighting fit. Walking with a youthfulness, that men half his age can only dream of. It will be a long time before Zimbabwe is no longer in his grip. It might not even happen in my lifetime.

Pascal x

At Home With The Carnivores

As I write this the sweet taste of a ripe banana still lingers on my taste buds. I know that it is near impossible to get someone like my mum to give up meat but that's no reason to lose hope right? Every supper time the smell of needless death wafts up and down the relatively small house. A fresh carcass is served up at each meal and I can do nothing but watch as meat is torn from bone, and my brother compulsively licks his fingertips. He pushes all the other food items aside, most notably - anything green or remotely healthy. My family are almost a lost cause. Meat and dairy ever-entwined in my estranged culture. I know things could be worse, I could be in an over-bearing family and forced to eat such 'food stuffs' at every meal. My brother seems to not mind what food he eats as long as it looks like meat. After his trip to Brighton sea-side, he wolfed down my marinated tofu pieces as if there was no tomorrow, and today he even attacked the tofu weiners I had purposefully left in view in the kitchen. I could wean him off death-tinged meals, at least at home. I'm sure they're a lot of people who would turn vegan if they knew just how good the food tasted (well may be that's being a bit ott). I will put up with the smell of death and escape with my bruised conscience to university this summer (touch wood). I'm out.

Pascal x

Cold Feet

So here goes. My first two exams are on Friday and I'm getting increasingly nervous about them. I am under pressure to perform - more than last year at the very least. It is strange how weeks of study is measured by a test lasting no more than 3hours. There is a dream like element about this particular run up to the exams - it doesn't feel as urgent as it should. I just hope my best is good enough. I've changed a lot the first half of this year, the most important of the changes and closest to my heart is my veganism. It is yet another way expressing my disgust at the needless violence in the world, but enough of that. I don't actually have that much to talk about today, but the anticipation over my exams is mounting. I write again soon.

Pascal x