The miniature willow tree we planted is doing really well. Looks pretty healthy to me – but it’s clearly still got a strong ant and aphid infestation. Click to embiggen any of the photo’s.
Here’s the garden in general with the tree,
And here’s the ant infestation.
Been a while since I posted about the house and the garden (well, technically it’s been a while since I posted about much at all). Anyway, in March I moaned about some stuff. One of those issues was the brickwork around the base of the house. A nice gentleman posted a comment which I took seriously. We actually got the plumbing in the bathroom sorted out first, because it was easier. However, we asked around some friends for builders / brickies they trusted, and one of them popped around yesterday and confirmed it is frost damage, and it’s not a big job for him to fix. He’s sending us a quote.
There’s no way I’d have the confidence to fix it myself, and we need some re-pointing doing as well. One of the bricks is partially under the path so we’ll need some cold tarmac as well. Anyway, pleased we finally started the process of getting it sorted – he suggested once he’s fixed them up we coat them with silicon to keep the frost out.
Here’s the before shots so you know what frost damage bricks look like, and so I can remember how bad it was after we get them fixed.
In January I wrote a preview of what movies were coming in 2011, with a genre slant. Quite what genre means is open to debate, but probably translates to ‘stuff that I think I might enjoy’. We’re about to saunter into July so I thought I’d look back, see how we fared in the first six months and then in a later post, look at what the rest of the year has in store for us and how it’s changed from the January outlook. Caveat: I have seen very few of these movies, and I’m basing these comments on reviews, reports, financial statements and stuff that I read elsewhere.
To be fair, although we’re half way through the year it’s likely that more movies will be released in the second half than than the first, so this might turn into an awfully short article. So in no particular order (or rather, in the same order they showed up in the original post).
Sucker Punch – Miss
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0978764/
The critics hated it and the fans were pretty disinterested. Rotten Tomatoes gave it a rotten 22% (fan rating 53%) while Metacritic gives it 33%. In the US it only managed second place to Diary of a Wimpy Kid in its opening weekend (~$19m). It’s grossed around $89m against an estimated $81m budget so with DVD/Blu-ray sales it will make a profit (that was probably never in doubt). Much of the negative criticism revolved around the lack of characters and plot along with the misogynistic imagery.
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides – Hit
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1298650/
Critic proof and proving it. Much of the critical response was highly negative – flabby, too long, lacklustre, and yet the fans flocked to it and drove it to a $90m opening weekend in America and £11.6m in the UK. Worldwide it’s now taken $986m, putting it ahead of The Curse of the Black Pearl ($654m) and At World’s End ($963m). RT (Rotten Tomatoes) gave it a rotten 33% (fans rated it 63%) and Metacritic 45%. Despite being too long it looks like Johnny Depp saved this outing, and until he signs on to #5 we might still be saved from yet more buck swashling and rum jokes.
Fast Five – Hit
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1596343/
A clear surprise, Fast Five had the potential to be the worst sequel to date of any franchise but somehow it managed to dig deep and give audiences something worth getting behind. Even the critics liked it with an (essentially) unbelievable fresh 78% on RT, 67% at Metacritic and an opening weekend in the US of $86m. It’s now grossed over $590m worldwide, making it the most successful of the franchise to date by a significant margin. Bucking the trend in the industry, Fast Five shows you can make a movie part of a franchise and still pull in people and give them something to enjoy.
Thor – Hit
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0800369/
I’ll be honest – I was dubious. Doubtful. Maybe even negative. I was also dead wrong. Delivering an entertaining and eye blisteringly impressive movie, Thor was proof that you can deliver dramatic action while dressed like a dork. RT loved it (78% fresh), Metacritic thought it wasn’t bad (58%) and critical reception was generally positive. Despite opening very early in the year Thor pulled in respectable box office cash ($64m opening weekend in the US, $436m to date worldwide against a budget of $150m estimated). Get a quality director and a half decent script, and even super heroes can be believable.
The Green Hornet – Miss
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0990407/
It opened strongly ($33m in the US) and it’s easily covered its budget with a worldwide gross of $227m, but The Green Hornet is average at best. Even the RT critics and RT fans agree giving it a rotten 44% and fan score of 49%. The score seems to boil down to the movie not knowing what it was meant to be and falling squarely between serious and slapstick giving that terrible serious-stick kind of performance that makes us all cringe.
Drive Angry – Miss
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1502404/
Having made about $28m worldwide, I think we can safely say this movie flopped. Although flopped suggests that it was alive with a chance in the first place, where-as we know better. This fish was dead in the water at inception. It garnered a surprising 45% on RT which I put down to excessive drug use to be frank, Metacritic gives it 44% based clearly on equally absurd chemically induced insanity. Fans on RT were more sensible giving it only 40%. If you need any more evidence, it opened with a $5m box office weekend in the US, dismal.
Hanna – Hit
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0993842/
I thought maybe the world wouldn’t quite be ready for 2 kick-ass kids so close together. But apparently, they were. Hanna did okay, not brilliantly, but definitely okay. RT rated it fresh (71%), it opened in the US to a $12m weekend and has grossed $56m worldwide against what is probably quite a small budget (estimated $30m). Although on average the movie scores well, it certainly wasn’t universally loved and many critics complained it was vacant, meaningless and without soul. Since many critics are vacant, meaningless and without soul I’ll consider us even on that point.
The Hangover Part II – Hit
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1411697/
Fair to say the critics disliked it (RT 35%) but the fans came out, supported it and for the most part enjoyed it (RT Fans 62%). The critics disliked that it was the first movie all over again while the fans seemed to be happy to accept exactly that. Opened to another whopping $85m in the US (£10m in the UK), and has so far sucked in over $527m globally. Undeniably financially sound, but not necessarily a winning movie.
Your Highness – Miss
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1240982/
I had high hopes but apparently, too high. Looks like the puerile humour didn’t hold up in this gross out fantasy comedy. With the notable exception of The Princess Bride, fantasy comedy never works – don’t they know that! Murdered more thoroughly than a Dragon at a Knights and Wizards convention, Your Highness dredged up a terrible 26% at RT, with even the usually lenient fan reviews only getting up to 45%. I’m sure it has moments of hilarity but the critics weren’t falling for it. Opened to a semi respectable $9m in the US, but has grossed only $24m worldwide to date. A royal flop. Not even shots of Natalie Portman’s naked arse could save this script.
Limitless – Hit
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1219289/
Proving Bradley Cooper is hot property, Limitless did well enough with the critics and very well with the punters. On a reasonably low key release it pulled in $18m in the US on it’s opening weekend and has grossed $145m to date. RT gives is an impressive 70% (fans 74%) and Metacritic 59%. In general it seems Bradley manages to smooth over some of the weaker elements of the script to give this franchise-free action-thriller a good run for your money.
X-Men: First Class – Hit
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1270798/
Another surprise in the first half of the year for me – X-Men: First Class had so much potential to fall flat on its face that it could have been known as the ‘flat on its face movie’. Okay, that didn’t sound as smooth as I thought it might. Despite the fears, the script (by the excellent Jane Goldman, Matthew Vaughn, Ashley Miller and Zack Stentz), the choice of time period and stand-out performances from McAvoy and Fassbender seem to have wowed crowds and critics alike. RT gives it 87%, Metacritic 65% and it pulled in an impressive $55m on it’s US opening weekend (already up to $321m worldwide).
Paul – Hit
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1092026/
Well, I loved it. Although it wasn’t trumpeted as an outstanding success, Paul is sucking in money, making people laugh and has more than easily covered it’s budget. Despite some negative reviews, the overall RT score of 71% is solid, while the Metacritic score of 57% seems harsh. In the US it only opened to $13m, ranking 5th that weekend (against Sucker Punch and Diary of a Wimpy Kid), but in the UK it pulled in a respectable £5.5m (~$8.9m). Globally it’s now done okay at $94m, easily covering the estimated budget. It’s a sleeper of a movie, and I’m hopeful DVD/Blu-ray sales will do it proud.
Green Lantern – Miss
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1133985/
I don’t think Rotten Tomatoes alone is a good measure of a film. The rotten/fresh scores are sometimes out of kilter with the movie going public, and critic proof blockbusters can easily get 20% on RT and still make a billion dollars. What I do think is an interesting measure is when the critics hate something (27% on RT in this case) and the fans don’t mind it so much (56% fan score on RT). Despite that, I’m still rating Green Lantern as an overall miss. That’s even with a friend saying she really enjoyed it – she was pretty much hypnotised by Ryan Reynolds’ ass, and so I’m discounting her view. It’s early days, but Green Lantern opened to a decent $53m and has grossed $122m worldwide. Why then a miss? Because it could and should have been more. It should be scoring like X-Men: First Class on RT, it should be raking in $80m on the opening weekend, and it should have grossed $300m worldwide by now.
I Am Number Four – Hit
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1464540/
Haven’t heard much about this, so basing this commentary solely on the numbers. Disliked by critics but reasonably enjoyed by the target audience, I Am Number Four made a wedge of cash ($19m opening weekend, $144 globally) and probably kick started a franchise.
Red Riding Hood – Miss
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1486185/
At 11% on RT and 29% on Metacritic, Red Riding Hood is the worst performing movie out of the bunch this year. It’s empty, vacant, banal and a failure according to the critics. The potential fans weren’t wowed either with a 44% fan score on RT. Financially it didn’t do too badly, a half decent opening weekend of $14m in the States and $89m worldwide so far mean it’s paid for itself, but I think it would be disingenuous to describe it as anything other than a miss.
Battle: Los Angeles – Miss
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1217613/
Title confusions aside (was it ever called World Invasion: Battle LA?), it appears as though Battle: Los Angeles was a missed opportunity. Rotten at RT (35%) and equally weak at Metacritic (37%), reviews suggest the movie could have delivered much more than it did. On the other hand, it apparently appeals to fans of Killzone, Crysis and other similar games and may just be too narrow for a general audience to appreciate. Opened to a good $35m, and has easily earned back the budget with $202m worldwide so it can’t be considered anything other than a critical failure but a financial success.
Source Code – Hit
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0945513/
A half decent year for original thrillers with a near-future theme, Source Code impressed the critics and entertained people who actually pay for their tickets. An out of this world 91% at RT puts this near the top of this years genre movies to date, and with fans agreeing (82% on RT) and the box office backing it up ($14m opening weekend, $112m worldwide vs. a low $32m budget).
Unknown – Hit
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1401152/
Although it just barely scrapes in, Unknown was probably a hit. Average scores on RT and Metacritic, and an okay performance in the box office mean we probably won’t see a sequel (Also Unknown, Mostly Unknown, What do I know Unknown) but it won’t offend and it might just pass the 113 minutes in a sort of enjoyable haze. Another soft script saved by a hard Neeson performance.
Priest – Miss
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0822847/
The critics were never going to love it were they? It’s not their thing. But the studio never gave me a chance to like it either because they only opened it in 3D. No 2D showings anywhere near me (where there any at all)? As expected it got panned (17% on RT), and the fans didn’t like it that much better (40%). It opened reasonably well ($14m in the US) but is only just beginning to struggle past its budget (only $75m worldwide so far). The editing seems to be the biggest issue and the movie is very short (these days) at 87 minutes. Many people wonder what’s on the floor and if it could have been even better with a little more work.
The Adjustment Bureau – Hit
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1385826/
Turning Philip K. Dick stories into movies is notoriously hit and miss, but this effort seems to have found the right audience. Described as intelligent, romantic and imaginative, the movie scores 72% fresh at RT (although fans gave it 68%). Considering the budget (estimated $50) the $21m opening weekend was very healthy and the worldwide gross of $123m assures us that in 15 years someone will try a remake. Matt Damon will have been a big draw, but people must have found something enjoyable once they arrived.
Overall then, a bit of a mixed bag. The stand out winners so far are Fast Five and X-Men: First Class. Thor and Paul get honourable mentions, while Drive Angry and Red Riding Hood take home wooden spoons. Seriously, did any of you think Drive Angry would be good? Really?
This energetic refreshing film will surely go down as an absolute classic, remembered for the excellent script, fight sequences, humour, romance and the whole retro-gaming look and feel.
Loud, angry and oddly paced, The Expendables is billed as a 9-man movie, but turns out to be an okay 2-man bromance between Stallone and Statham with added guns.
Better than I had been led to believe with some excellent performances and engaging action sequences, Robin Hood goes a long way to erasing the memory of previous efforts while providing a visually pleasing experience.
I wrote a review for Daniel H. Wilson’s Robopocalypse over at BookThing – you can check it out here.
I read a review yesterday for the new DLC pack for Fallout: New Vegas called Honest Hearts. To be fair, I didn’t read the whole review, I read a summary which basically suggested Honest Hearts wasn’t that great and that the quests were mostly fetch and collect stuff. Compared to Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas, that seemed out of place since the developers do a good job of disguising the quests so they don’t feel like ‘go here, fetch that’.
It got me thinking though. What was it that I enjoyed most in the two Fallout games I’ve played (I never really played 1 and 2)? After thinking about it, I believe the reviewer of Honest Hearts missed the point. The quests aren’t what make Fallout 3 and New Vegas the games they are, it’s the side stories.
When I first played Fallout 3 on the PS3 I was blown away by the depth and richness of the world. I came from an MMO background really, in terms of computer RPG’s, so I was expecting lots of little quests tied together, but the main one in Fallout 3 is actually quite simple. Essentially it’s, ‘go to a small number of locations, find evidence of your father, piece together the story, and then make a decision at the end which finishes the game’. But doing that took ages, because I was constantly dragged into the side quests. The side quests are great, but even they aren’t what make the game essentially unforgettable, it’s the non-quest driven side stories.
Finding a vault, searching it, and finding journal entries, or computer logs, or snippets of information and putting together what happened in the war, or just after, or what happened in that vault to one or two people, or the entire population. Finding a house in the middle of nowhere with some tiny piece of information about the owner, often sad, poignant, a reflection on what the Fallout world had become before the war, or the struggle that followed. That was what made the game great. Learning about the world, learning about the history. Not having it given to you on a plate or purely in voice overs, but honest discovery. If you just did the main quest, you’d miss it. You had to go looking, had to go digging, open every box, check every terminal. Find out of the way locations, en route to nowhere, and delve into their history.
Slowly, the sinister truth about the vaults became clear, and the heartache of a world destroyed came into focus.
I was initially disappointed with Fallout: New Vegas, it felt a little too civilised for me, I wanted more of the blasted world of Fallout 3. Despite myself, I found it growing on me though, and eventually I bought into the story. Sadly, constant crashes on the PS3 version meant I stuck to the main quest, did as little as necessary to complete the story and got through it more as a chore than a game. But I recently re-bought it on the 360 (still in pocket after purchase, re-sale, and cheap re-purchase), and thanks to fewer crashes (3 in 80 hours, plus 2 almost-game-breaking bugs) I’m taking the time to go everywhere, search everything, do every quest, explore every vault.
The stories are still there. The vault where people were basically driven insane so they could be researched, the vault in which people had to sacrifice one person every year to stay alive, the vault with too many people and an unlocked armoury. In those locations you learn the back story by piecing it together, yourself, from journals and terminals. You don’t need to, nothing in the main quests requires it. You may need to go to the vault, but you can find what you need by just following the arrow – if you’re interested, if you want to find out, it’s there for you to find.
The writing is superb – I feel like I was there during the last moments of the lives of those vault dwellers, because the game authors take so much time to craft the words.
I picked up Honest Hearts and played through it in a weekend. It’s a new location, rocky and hard to navigate, there aren’t many different enemies, and the story feels a tiny bit contrived. But there’s an underlying story of loss, heartache, suffering and then optimism if you want to go looking for it. Not only that, but there are little teasers of connection to the Mojave wasteland and vaults you’ve already been to. While I was running around doing the collection quests, I was also searching every inch of caves for some sign of an old hunter who lived in the region and who documented his story on his computer terminals. That story takes us from the war through his survival, and the slow regeneration of the land, including the first signs of new creatures that Fallout 3 players will know well.
It was fascinating, sad and heart wrenching, and as well written as anything else in the Fallout universe, but if you didn’t go looking for it, you might never find it.
None of this needs to be there. The developers could just stick the same vault design in the ground, fill it with ghouls and leave it at that. They don’t have to write these stories, they don’t have to populate the vaults or the buildings or the caves with history and sadness. Quite a few gamers wouldn’t even notice, certainly not the people who brag about completing Fallout: New Vegas in 7 hours. I’ve been playing it for 80 hours and I’ve only scratched the surface of the main quest. I’m pleased they take the time to include this content, I’m grateful the development team get the time from their management and the people funding the game, it’s what makes them worth buying.
You can make me collect as many broken radios as you want, as long as when I get to the building they’re in, I can spend time learning about the world, the people who are or used to be in it, and hearing their stories.
(Oh, it would be nice if it didn’t crash too)
Simple eggdrop tcl script to return random movie quotes from a file. I haven’t fully tested this, it’s partially copied from a working script with some stuff removed that isn’t necessary. Posted because someone was asking how it worked in the IRC channel.
[sourcecode language=”shell”]
#create the bind to allow the !movie (and aliases) to get a quote
bind pub – "!movie" myscript::quotes::movie
bind pub – "!film" myscript::quotes::movie
bind pub – "!quote" myscript::quotes::movie
namespace eval myscript {
variable version "0.4"
# file with the quotes, must be in the same directory as the script
variable quotefile "quotes.txt"
proc randline {file} {
if {[catch {open scripts/$file r} fs]} {
putlog "Failed to open scripts/$file"
return ""
} else {
variable data [read -nonewline $fs]
close $fs
variable data [split $data \n]
return [lindex $data [rand [llength $data]]]
}
}
namespace eval quotes {
proc movie {nick uhost hand chan text} {
variable aquote [myscript::randline $myscript::quotefile]
puthelp "privmsg $chan :$myscript::quotes::aquote"
return 0
}
}
}
putlog "Loaded: MyScript v$myscript::version"
[/sourcecode]
Previous Confessions [Part 1] [Part 2]
Being an EverQuest raid leader is a position of responsibility. Sure, it’s not on the same scale as school teacher, police officer or children’s TV presenter, but it should not be taken lightly. As a raid leader your actions and language should be an example to those you lead. Raiders are of all ages and backgrounds, ethnically and religiously diverse and you should always take care to be courteous.
Choice of words therefore is critical. I would strongly advocate never swearing.
Unless absolutely necessary.
Such as in the following situations.
Readers of a nervous disposition or delicate nature should stop reading now (also, if you’re under 18 you should seek your parent or guardian’s permission before reading, or check with your local wizard).
[Sat Jul 30 23:38:48 2005] You tell your raid, 'I remind you ALL to read the fucking charter before raiding with us' [Sat Oct 01 23:32:56 2005] You tell your raid, 'when people then leave afterwards it really fucks us over' [Sat Sep 09 23:15:27 2006] You tell your raid, 'patience folks please - keep an eye out for trash - welcome to why people don't fucking farm ikkinz 3' [Sat Feb 09 21:07:03 2008] You tell your raid, 'but whle they are clicking you can't click otherwise it fucks the order up'
[Sat Jun 25 23:37:59 2005] You tell your raid, 'we never know if we should do this tower first or last, it's always a fucking pain' [Sat Nov 05 21:36:26 2005] You tell your raid, 'then we give it 5 seconds and then i'll call assist and you come over push him onto us and burn the fucker' [Sat Jan 07 23:27:46 2006] You tell your raid, 'ok mob has a nasty AE, hits for 3-4k, single target rampages, and memblurs all the fucking time' [Sat Mar 18 21:37:10 2006] You tell your raid, 'if we stay near where we zone in, it's 2, if we stray it's 4, if we stray badly it's 6, if we fuck up it's 6 + Sol Ro' [Sat Feb 25 21:55:43 2006] You tell your raid, 'the trash is fucking annoying and snares, roots, etc.' [Sat Apr 22 22:12:00 2006] You tell your raid, 'but let's not forget, he probably hits like a fucking truck' [Sat May 20 21:13:23 2006] You tell your raid, 'it's fucking chaotic, we just need to try and survive' [Sat May 27 20:42:15 2006] You tell your raid, 'this is a revenge match - i hate this little fucker' [Thu Sep 07 20:16:48 2006] You tell your raid, 'so let's not fuck about with it once we're inside' [Thu Sep 07 22:38:09 2006] You tell your raid, 'we kill the mob to 90% while he's beating the fuck out of us' [Sun Sep 10 00:26:06 2006] You tell your raid, 'we will 1. kill him once with extreme fucking prejudice' [Sun Sep 10 01:08:30 2006] You tell your raid, 'top game from everyone folks, we give Derg 5 seconds and then we rush the fucker' [Sat Feb 03 23:04:28 2007] You tell your raid, 'they both have fucking horrible AE's' [Sat May 21 20:38:49 2005] You tell your raid, 'and from 90% you go full burn and nuke the fucker into the ground without mercy'
[Sat Sep 08 22:56:13 2007] You tell your raid, 'GHOSTS IN THE FUCKING RAID' [Sat Jan 07 22:08:43 2006] You tell your raid, 'Adds in the clerics fucking kite them ' [Sat Aug 09 22:01:04 2008] You tell your raid, 'Kill that fucking orc PLEASE'
[Sat Jul 30 23:43:30 2005] You tell your raid, 'ok we will need to re-clear and then redo this - sorry for the fuckup'
[Sat Aug 26 22:19:13 2006] You tell your raid, 'who's not in the fucking zone?'
[Sat Sep 17 20:58:06 2005] You tell your raid, 'GET THE FUCK OFF THAT TREE' [Sat Oct 15 22:19:00 2005] You tell your raid, 'get the fuck off this mob until i call assist NOW' [Sat Jan 07 22:07:27 2006] You tell your raid, 'FUCKING NAIL HIM' [Sat Dec 03 20:32:12 2005] You tell your raid, 'Ok, I won't ask again - you will all move back behind me NOW and you still NOT fight the mobs in that fucking doorway' [Sun Feb 05 00:43:24 2006] You tell your raid, 'Get off that Guardian of Dresolik and fucking assist Cheichn' [Sat Feb 25 21:16:32 2006] You tell your raid, 'we are not engaging get the fuck off him' [Sun Mar 26 02:46:07 2006] You tell your raid, 'BURN THE FUCKER' [Sat Jun 24 21:38:51 2006] You tell your raid, 'FUCKING INVIS' [Sat Aug 26 23:28:15 2006] You tell your raid, 'MOVE BACK FROM THE FUCKING EDGE NOW' [Sat Oct 28 20:47:59 2006] You tell your raid, 'those folk not in the corner, get in the fucking corner NOW' [Sat Nov 25 20:47:57 2006] You tell your raid, 'BACK THE FUCK OFF' [Sat May 21 22:51:11 2005] You tell your raid, 'get off thos emobs, get them out of that fucking corridor' [Sat Feb 23 21:27:45 2008] You tell your raid, 'and don't fucking train us' [Sat Nov 20 21:28:56 2004] You tell your raid, 'fucking surround it - not all on the same side as me'
[Sat Feb 18 21:56:49 2006] You tell your raid, 'It's a fucking Egg Jihad' [Sat Feb 26 23:23:39 2005] You tell your raid, 'fucking perfect' [Sat Apr 16 23:40:08 2005] You tell your raid, 'YES YOU DRESS WEARING FUCK' [Sat May 07 21:05:26 2005] You tell your raid, 'and our shield will be RIGHTEOUS FUCKING ANGER' [Sat Jan 15 20:18:14 2005] You tell your raid, 'before we go anywhere - thanks for a fucking awesome turnout'
[Sat Oct 01 23:31:55 2005] You tell your raid, 'ahh fuck it' [Sat Sep 17 22:05:16 2005] You tell your raid, 'fuck' [Sat Jul 15 23:03:41 2006] You tell your raid, 'ah fuck' [Sat Jul 28 23:23:49 2007] You tell your raid, 'fuck it'
[Sat Jan 26 23:10:50 2008] You tell your raid, 'we killed Tunat and he was fucking ugly'
Other than those situations, you should try and avoid swearing.