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Crossing The Streams

Dan — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 15:47:00 +0000

Ghostbusters. The Game.

It is real.

It is coming.

It has this.

I’m very happy today.

Pathological liars – guarding labyrinths since 374 BC

Dan — Sun, 30 Sep 2007 23:36:00 +0000

I’m the sort of person who specialises in over analysing things, particularly stuff that’s inherently ridiculous. Perhaps that’s why I find this comic from the xkcd archives so funny.

Back to uni tomorrow. Probably the best place for me. Well, except maybe here.

The lament of the casual-hardcore

Dan — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 22:57:00 +0000

With Halo 3 already out in the US and about an hour away from launch over here, The Guardian’s games blog has made a few observations on the media coverage. It made me laugh, at any rate.

I’m getting really tempted by the 360 now. I’m the sort of person who’s interested in games but doesn’t play them too often, which can get annoying when I’m with better and more knowledgeable gamers and pretending to be really enthusiastic about a game I’ve never played. It doesn’t help I’m not a particularly good gamer either, but then again, games are supposed to be fun, right?

So anyway, I’m tempted. Though this could be a subconscious decision to eliminate that slightly guilty feeling I get when I claim I’m a hardcore gamer when I suspect I’m really just extremely casual.

Posted at 10:46 PM (0 comments)

Dan — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 22:46:00 +0000

Recently there’s been quite a lot of discussion about Hard-Fi, or more specifically their new album’s cover art – or lack of it. Quite exactly why this is noteworthy is questionable, but then again I’m talking about it here so it must be vaguely relevant. Either that or I’m obsessed with pointless discussions about what is in the end is a picture on a box.

This is what’s been causing all the trouble. The band themselves have stated that it’s supposed to be a way of avoiding the cliché of black and white photos of the band plastered all over it – which is understandable if you look at Razorlight’s and the Kaiser Chiefs‘ artwork offerings – as well as being a comment on the growing irrelevance of album art in the iPod age, as explained here.

There’s been a load of criticism of it – it’s derivative, it’s lazy, it’s pretentious, it’s ugly, and even that it doesn’t go far enough, and the fact that there’s even a colour and a font suggest that this is very much cover art and all it entails – a publicity stunt designed to convince a few more people to buy the album, and the complete opposite of what the band have been claiming.

Despite this though, I’m still not convinced that the cover is “bad”. It’s not “good” in the same sense as something like Dark Side Of The Moon etc, but that’s not really it’s point, and while you may not approve of the art itself, it’s hard to argue against the message – that album art is nowhere near as notable as it once was, and certainly not as iconic. I think it’s interesting that album art has only become notable again now that a band has threatened not to use any.

Perhaps it’s me being an idiot and liking the simple design and the commentary (and the fact that it’s the sort of thing I’d do if I had an album), but I like it. Admittedly that doesn’t make it good, but it doesn’t make it bad either. And I smile every time I see the single cover, because, ultimately, it’s the truth, isn’t it?

Do Not Pass Go.

Dan — Sun, 12 Aug 2007 16:16:00 +0000

It has been reported that Ridley Scott is working on a movie based on…Monopoly.

Yes, that Ridley Scott.

Yes, that Monopoly.

Oh dear.

Certified for Exhibition

Dan — Sat, 04 Aug 2007 22:51:00 +0000

I’ve been watching a lot of films lately now that most of my friends have time to spare, and generally enjoying myself as well. Most recently I saw The Simpsons Movie, which I know I enjoyed even though I can’t put my finger on why yet. (One of my most annoying traits is not being able to appreciate anything completely without seeing or hearing it at least nine times and being able to quote it impeccably). It’s a decent enough film, and I think probably one I’ll like more on repeated viewings.

I’ve seen the fifth Harry Potter as well, which wasn’t quite so rewarding. To be honest I’ve never rated the films highly, and while the films are never bad, I can’t help but feel a little indifferent towards them, and if you’re looking for a full adaption of the book, you’re going to be very disappointed.

That said, Luna Lovegood was perfect. (By the way, I’ve finished the seventh book too, and can give it my thumbs up. A fitting end to the series.)

Cinema wise, the thing that is really annoying me is the fact that some genius somewhere is responsible for Ratatouille being released in the UK on October 12th, three and a half months after it’s release in the USA. I’ve been looking forward for this film since I saw the first teasers, and I can’t understand quite why there’s such a big gap in the release dates. I suspect some marketing guy is responsible, however, and if it is I’d like to know just quite what was going through their head, given the reviews.

Le sigh.

I am excited.

Dan — Sun, 22 Jul 2007 21:35:00 +0000

Bill Bailey to enter Eurovision.

Oh yes.

The Ffantastic Voyage

Dan — Fri, 13 Jul 2007 17:18:00 +0000

Those of you who’ve known me for a while will know that I’m a huge Jasper Fforde ffan, so when I discovered he was giving a talk in Manchester yesterday to plug his new book First Among Sequels, I knew I had to go along to it, partly to get a copy of the book (which even from the little I’ve read so far seems to be another excellent adventure), and also to convince myself that the man actually existed, which sound slightly strange, but given the nature of Fforde’s books I wouldn’t be surprised if he actually turned out be a consciousness that had grown beyond physical form and was now directly linked to the literary ether as a spiritual phantom.

He wasn’t, by the way. But he did exist, and he was great fun to meet.

There was a good hour’s talk about all sorts of things, such as satirical fantasies creeping (or steamrolling) into reality, the difference between A and B grade marmalade, a few insights in the world of publishing – “If you call it First Among Sequels, people will think it’s a sequel!…” - and where a few of those names come from. And then of course, there was signing. I’ve never been able to go to any signing ever without being at a complete loss for words, and that wasn’t something that changed yesterday as I nervously watched him stick a Jasper on the page-with-a-title-that’s-not-a-title-page. I’ve got to work on my meeting famous people technique.

Still, I least I got the book…and had a excellent time getting it. If you ever get the opportunity to read Fforde’s books, please do. You won’t regret it.

Well, time waits for no man, as they say…

“A Snapshot Of Life”

Dan — Sun, 24 Jun 2007 20:04:00 +0000

This post is coming from a bench outside the library. There’s going to be no other content in this post other than the fact that I’m sitting outside the library making a post in the evening, and it’s nice. I’ll come up with something substantial later.

Well Supervised Craziness (hopefully)

Dan — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 01:24:00 +0000

The general situation of my life at the moment is organising my situation for next year – My provisional results tell me I’m definitely through, which is a relief, though Logic continues to be a problem. Hopefully soon I’ll have my final results which will confirm it all, and justify me trying to sort out accommodation for next year as well as trying to find someone who will supervise me for my final year project next year, which isn’t a job I’d want.Still, things are going well at the moment, if slightly stressful. The only really annoying thing is my loss of an internet connection in my soon-to-be-no-longer-residence, which to me is equivalent to losing several limbs. I’ve been hanging around in the CS labs recently to get connected, as well, and Matt’s been helpful as well, so good for him.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m about to collapse of exhaustion, so I’ll just fingvtttttttttttttttttt