Predator Escapes

Don't cinemas want my custom? My son's and I were going to go and see the new movie 'Predators' on Thursday night, but when my eldest called to book tickets he was told that the only showings during the week were at 23:30 hours and that they were not in 3-D. If we wanted to see it at a sensible time and in 3-D we would have to go Friday, Saturday or Sunday. Due to my work pattern I cannot make those showings so I guess I will have to either buy the DVD or wait until it is on Sky TV.

My original post about Predators is here.

American McGee's Alice is back

Be afraid, be very afraid because eleven years after the original American McGee's Alice is coming back and it should be more twisted and scary than ever. I can't wait. Unfortunately I will have to, as it is not due out until next year.

The rumours started when Thewhiterabbit Tweeted, "Follow me and stay tuned for a major announcement from the mad world of Alice today!" Thewhiterabbit's Tweet was then retweeted on the official EA Twitter, leaving Alice fans desperate to know more.

The official website is now up with screen shots and more teasers http://www.ea.com/alice and there is even a Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/alicemadnessreturns so it is all true. Now all we have to do is wait for the nightmare to begin.

The game info on the Alice website reads:

Eleven years ago a horrific fire took Alice’s family from her and left her terribly burned—and her mind terribly scarred. Afterwards she was confined to Rutledge Asylum, struggling to come to terms with her demons by slipping into her fantasy world of Wonderland. Now, after ten years, she has finally secured her release--yet she still bears the heavy psychological burden of that tragic event.

In Alice: Madness Returns, Alice is released from the asylum to a London psychiatrist’s care. As nightmarish hallucinations continue to haunt her and invade her reality, she seeks to understand her torment in order to recover herself. Her mind in tatters, she is unable to resolve the fear and neuroses prompted by her strange memories, dreams, and visions. Her relocation to London seems only to add to their number and intensity.

Perhaps she’ll do better in Wonderland. She always has. She travels there, seeking what the “real” world can’t provide: security, knowledge, and the truth about the past. But in her absence, Wonderland too has suffered. Something has gone horribly wrong, and now a great evil is descending upon what once was her beautiful refuge.

Can Alice save Wonderland—and herself—from the madness that consumes them both?

Follow the White Rabbit!

One pill makes you larger
And one pill makes you small
And the ones that mother gives you
Don't do anything at all
Go ask Alice
When she's ten feet tall

And if you go chasing rabbits
And you know you're going to fall
Tell 'em a hookah smoking caterpillar
Has given you the call
Call Alice
When she was just small

When men on the chessboard
Get up and tell you where to go
And you've just had some kind of mushroom
And your mind is moving low
Go ask Alice
I think she'll know

When logic and proportion
Have fallen sloppy dead
And the White Knight is talking backwards
And the Red Queen's "off with her head!"
Remember what the dormouse said:
"Feed your head. Feed your head. Feed your head"

White Rabbit by Jefferson Airplane

Rage Against The Mayo

Mayonnaise (often abbreviated to mayo) is a stable emulsion of oil, egg yolk and either vinegar or lemon juice, with many options for embellishment with other herbs and spices. The stuff you buy in the shops also contains tons of salt, preservatives and sugar. Mayonnaise has frequently been the source of mass food poisonings due to the use of raw egg yolks full of salmonella bacteria. If not properly refrigerated even bacteria free fresh mayo goes bad extremely quickly. We are told that most people should avoid eating more than one or two eggs a week and that while the white is good for you the yolk is an evil cholesterol bomb. So can someone please explain to me why every ready made sandwich maker in Britain has stopped using butter or margarine and started to spread their bread with the potentially lethal concoction that is mayonnaise? I absolutely hate mayo and even if I did like it I would think twice about eating it at all outside of my own home where I know how it has been kept. Just what is wrong with a decent bit of butter? Just to rub it in these ready made sandwich makers sometimes supply "Mayo Free" versions, but these consist of dry bread, which is usually stale on both sides. I know I should try not to eat from service station refractories, but needs must. Sorry to moan but I have had enough of the dodgy pasties, sausage rolls and pies too.

Lodewicus Theodoru Oosthuizen

Lodewicus Theodoru Oosthuizen what a name! What a worthy champion. Well done Louis, well done South Africa. That was a nice 92nd Birthday present for Nelson Mandela and a great touch from Louis to mention it in his winners speech. Somehow the final round of the Open seemed a bit of a foregone conclusion and maybe a bit of an anti-climax, but it never really is. Every shot counts and it was brilliant to watch a man that seemed to have nerves of steel enjoying his final round like he was just out for a knock about with his mates. That was certainly some of the neatest driving I can remember watching. Everyone wanted to see him get loads more birdies and the field to give him something think about but they failed and he played the percentages, and did what was necessary. The mark of a true champion.

I was disappointed that Paul Casey could not rise to the challenge. Maybe he too was playing the percentages and waiting for Louis to make mistakes, but the mistakes never materialised. I hope we see Paul win a Major soon, he has the talent and a Major win could just be the confidence booster he needs to become an unstoppable force in golf.

If Rory McIlroy doesn't win a Major in the next five years I will be most disappointed. Rory has talent by the bag full and seems destined for big things. After his amazing 63 in the first round he came in with a torrid 80 in the second but that did not stop him putting in two more excellent rounds in the difficult Scottish weather. If the weather on Friday had been better I think we might have seen this young man taking the Claret Jug.

South Korean amateur star Jin Jeong was for me the highlight of the championship. It was just a pity that we did not see more coverage of his progress on TV. Jin is the British Amateur Champion after his win at Muirfield last month. I would really like to see him match this weekends performance with a similar one at the Masters next year, before he turns professional.

Some new golfing stars worth watching, but it is always such a pity watching your old golfing heroes playing like amateurs. The weather made things difficult for everyone but somehow you expect the older guys to be able to cope better with the conditions than the young ones, but a lot of them never even made the cut. Maybe they have lost the hunger for the fight or maybe they are just no longer good enough but it doesn't matter we still love 'em.

My thanks to everyone involved for providing a wonderful weekends entertainment. One tip to the BBC though; Cut the build up and show the golf. Golfers out at 6:30 and coverage started at 9:00 yet it was after 10:30 before we saw any live golf.

British Gas Advice Fail

British Gas managing director Phil Bentley says: 'Religious buildings are particularly well suited to solar power as they tend to have large south-facing roofs which receive direct sunlight for the main part of the day.'The energy giant has calculated that churches, mosques, synagogues and other religious centres could make savings of up to £5m a year on their electricity bills by using power generated from their own solar panels, and cut CO2 emissions by around 42,000 tonnes.

FAIL - Sorry but the idea is almost a complete none starter because most of Britain's religious buildings are listed by National Heritage and it would be illegal to make the modifications required to install such systems. When they will not let you install secondary double glazing in such buildings then they are not going to give permission to installing solar panels that would effect the buildings look completely. Bear in mind a great many of these buildings where constructed in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. One of the biggest problems in this country is we have powerful figures like Mr Bentley who cannot think a problem through, but most of them are politicians.

British Gas urges churches to go solar - Which? News

http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/

Predators - Cult classic or cheap rip off?

When I saw they were making a new Predator movie I was filled with mixed emotions. The first Predator with Arnie playing Arnie was as near a masterpiece as comic book sci-fi had ever been before. It maybe does not hold a candle to some of what we have seen since but I loved it all the same. The second movie Predator 2 was enjoyable but predictable and the acting was that of a television pilot, but still good enough for me want to own it on DVD.

Alien vs Predator was the movie I was hoping for but was so short if you blinked you missed it. It was quality but it left me feeling cheated, just like I had just had a nice juicy steak but there were no vegetables, pepper sauce, fries or onion rings. I hoped AVP Requiem would be the chocolate gateaux and cream that I missed in the first movie, but it was a damp squid and not even worth £3.oo for the DVD from the bargain bin. The only reason to own it was for completeness.

Up until AVP Requiem I thought that the Alien movies were far superior and a couple of them are still up there in my top 100 movies. Even the worst of them was better than Predator II. I however feel that the Predator potential for engaging sequels had been missed. If the quality of the second movie had matched the first then this new movie might not have been so long coming.

It is therefore that I await Predators with a mixture of excitement and impending disappointment. Having been bitten by AVP Requiem at the checkout I will not be queuing at the cinema or buying it when it comes out on DVD unless I have it on good personal authority for my sons that it is up to scratch or I have seen it on TV and think it is worth adding to my collection.

The reports are good so far. Adrien Brody plays a darker version of the Arnie type character with a good few more brain cells. Lots of stupid mistakes that we have seen in similar action movies are avoided such as people running out of ammunition when there are weapons and ammo lying there from fallen comrades and the commandos act like soliders rather than frightened school girls. Laurence Fishburne should be okay and the producer Robert Rodriguez studied at the feet of Quentin Tarantino. The director Nimród Antal, who's name sounds like an anagram, is someone I don't know and I have never seen any of his movies. Lets hope he is not the weak link.

There are always going to be lots of people who don't get this movie and it was never going to be very cerebral but I am hoping for a fast and furious romp that I can sit back and enjoy without engaging the brain to much. I expect a chill out and an adrenalin rush and not a "why did I bother watching that crap?" moment. Cult classic or cheap rip off? We will have to watch it to see.