A very tragic story made the headlines this morning, and you can read it here http://tinyurl.com/yepeb7k
One of the questions that you sometimes hear is... given a choice between saving 1 out of 2 loved ones, who would you save? We never want to answer this kind of question, as no matter what the answer is... its going to be bad.
In this case, the father had to choose between his wife or his son. Well, ideally he would've tried to save both, but time was of the essence as the car was sinking deeper. He chose to free his wife first and got her back up to shore, but unfortunately the car had sunk too deep for him to free his son, and even more unfortunately... the rescue team weren't able to get to him in time.
I know things can change in the heat of the moment, especially at a time like that where you really dont have time to think about things, but if I was in that position I think I would have saved my kid first... as I don't think anyone should have to die so young, and I think my wife would understand in that situation. If I was in the wife's position, I would find it hard to live knowing that my child died while I got rescued.
I wish the best for this family in such a tragic time, and I hope that anyone reading this never has to go through this kind of decision.
RIP Silva Natana Horton
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
News Watch: Japanese man marries anime girl
A rather interesting story about a man who fell in love with a character made from a Nintendo DS game called "Love Plus", which you can read about here http://tinyurl.com/yj99yqr
This is the first time I've heard of this game. Apparently you pick a girlfriend in the game, and try to woo her like you would for an actual girl. Probably the most interesting thing is that to kiss the girl, you quite literally kiss the DS (wonder what would happen if they made a function to have sex with her =P). So anyway, I think a lot of people would be WTFing at this. I can definitely understand that people will be quite quick to judge this guy's actions... and it's probably due to upbringing and how that has developed our sense of what should be normal.
I wonder what his family must be thinking during the wedding ceremony (although note that it wasn't actually legally binding)... I don't really know how accepting Japanese families would be of this, but I'm quite certain that if that were to be a case in Australia... it would not end so happily.
Personally I'm a pretty open sort of guy, so I can understand why that he could genuinely fall in love with a video game character and want to marry her (not that I would do this myself). At the end of the day... as long as it makes him happy, then I think it's a good thing. Maybe his family wasn't very accepting of it, and definitely a lot of people from western cultures would laugh about it and think he's a weirdo... but I think that for all cases like this where people judge you for doing things which are considered to be out of the norm... well, you should just ignore people and just do what you feel is right and what you feel will make you happy. It's kind of like people who can not accept gay/lesbian marriages, or interracial marriages in my opinion. Why should other people stop you from doing what makes you happy, and how you live your life?
Anyway that is my rant for the day. I hope this helps encourage people in similar situations.
This is the first time I've heard of this game. Apparently you pick a girlfriend in the game, and try to woo her like you would for an actual girl. Probably the most interesting thing is that to kiss the girl, you quite literally kiss the DS (wonder what would happen if they made a function to have sex with her =P). So anyway, I think a lot of people would be WTFing at this. I can definitely understand that people will be quite quick to judge this guy's actions... and it's probably due to upbringing and how that has developed our sense of what should be normal.
I wonder what his family must be thinking during the wedding ceremony (although note that it wasn't actually legally binding)... I don't really know how accepting Japanese families would be of this, but I'm quite certain that if that were to be a case in Australia... it would not end so happily.
Personally I'm a pretty open sort of guy, so I can understand why that he could genuinely fall in love with a video game character and want to marry her (not that I would do this myself). At the end of the day... as long as it makes him happy, then I think it's a good thing. Maybe his family wasn't very accepting of it, and definitely a lot of people from western cultures would laugh about it and think he's a weirdo... but I think that for all cases like this where people judge you for doing things which are considered to be out of the norm... well, you should just ignore people and just do what you feel is right and what you feel will make you happy. It's kind of like people who can not accept gay/lesbian marriages, or interracial marriages in my opinion. Why should other people stop you from doing what makes you happy, and how you live your life?
Anyway that is my rant for the day. I hope this helps encourage people in similar situations.
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
TV Show Review: House M.D
Season 6 of House began recently in the U.S, and its one of the shows that I follow regularly. It is based on a diagnostics division of a hospital, with Dr Greggory House being the head of the division. House is an extremely gifted diagnostician, who can solve cases that most doctors could not. It is a comedy-drama based on the medical field. There is not actually a whole lot of a storyline to the series, as usually each episode is based around a stand-alone case. However there are plotlines which develop, except its quite subtle and it only develops bit by bit. I'd compare it to shows like CSI in that sense... so if you've watched CSI before, you'll probably know what I mean.
The main characters are;
Doctor Greggory House - As mentioned, he is extremely intelligent. However, he is also sarcastic, arrogant, antisocial... and most of the other characters just think hes a jerk. Although sometimes he does show a sense of caring and compassion, so hes both a very interesting yet weird character at the same time. He has to walk around with a cane due to a heavy loss of muscle in his right thigh, which causes him a lot of pain... and is a reason why hes an ass to a lot of people. He gets through the pain using a prescription pain killer called Vicodin, however it is a very addictive drug, and is another major subject to the storyline later on. He likes to make a lot of snide comments, especially towards Doctor Cuddy... and the comments in my opinion are both flirtatious and usually insulting at the same time. He is also a very logical kind of person, which causes him to get into arguments with anyone who is religious.
Doctor Lisa Cuddy - She is the administrator of the hospital. Despite being a qualified doctor, she doesn't actually do any medical examinations. She is able to put up with House's behaviour, but at the same time she respects his abilities as a doctor.
Doctor James Wilson - He is House's best friend... and arguably House's only friend. He is an oncologist, and is well-respected in the hospital.
Doctor Eric Foreman - He is a qualified neurologist working under House. Out of the diagnostics team, he is the one who challenges House the most on House's seemingly strange methods, as he is the type of person who does things by the book. He is a very ambitious person, and strives to reach the top.
Doctor Allison Cameron - She is the female member of the diagnostics team. She is a very sincere and emotional person, which has an effect on the kinds of decisions that she makes medically. She is very intelligent, and like the others in the team... shes overqualified to be working as an underling.
Doctor Robert Chase - He is a member of the diagnostics team, who specialises in surgery (which he often performs or assists in performing). He is Australian... which is pretty clear when he speaks. He is seen to be the kind of person who will do anything to protect his job. He is actually quite loyal to House, because he respects House's brilliant medical abilities, but like the others... doesn't think too much of his personality.
Rating - 8/10. Generally I'm the type who likes to watch things with a good storyline, which develops a bit slowly in House... which is why it loses rating for me personally. However, I really enjoy watching it for the medical aspect of the show... as its actually pretty informative, and I've learnt a lot of various diseases and illnesses that I'd never heard of before. It also has great comedy, and I like House's sarcastic and obnoxious behaviour. Plus... Allison Cameron is pretty hot. I'd definitely recommend this to anyone, if you haven't already been following the show already.
Below are pictures of Doctor Remy Hadley (nicknamed Thirteen) and Doctor Allison Cameron. You won't actually see Thirteen until later on... but she's played by Olivia Wilde, who is ridiculously hot. Another reason why I'm mentioning her, is because Megan Fox expressed an interest in Olivia Wilde in an interview... and they're both bisexual, so if they ever got together... I could die a happy man just on the thought of them.
The picture of Dr Cameron doesn't do her justice in my opinion... but I couldn't be bothered spending more time looking for a better one of her as her actual character... but you'll see how nice she looks when you watch the show.
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The main characters are;
Doctor Greggory House - As mentioned, he is extremely intelligent. However, he is also sarcastic, arrogant, antisocial... and most of the other characters just think hes a jerk. Although sometimes he does show a sense of caring and compassion, so hes both a very interesting yet weird character at the same time. He has to walk around with a cane due to a heavy loss of muscle in his right thigh, which causes him a lot of pain... and is a reason why hes an ass to a lot of people. He gets through the pain using a prescription pain killer called Vicodin, however it is a very addictive drug, and is another major subject to the storyline later on. He likes to make a lot of snide comments, especially towards Doctor Cuddy... and the comments in my opinion are both flirtatious and usually insulting at the same time. He is also a very logical kind of person, which causes him to get into arguments with anyone who is religious.
Doctor Lisa Cuddy - She is the administrator of the hospital. Despite being a qualified doctor, she doesn't actually do any medical examinations. She is able to put up with House's behaviour, but at the same time she respects his abilities as a doctor.
Doctor James Wilson - He is House's best friend... and arguably House's only friend. He is an oncologist, and is well-respected in the hospital.
Doctor Eric Foreman - He is a qualified neurologist working under House. Out of the diagnostics team, he is the one who challenges House the most on House's seemingly strange methods, as he is the type of person who does things by the book. He is a very ambitious person, and strives to reach the top.
Doctor Allison Cameron - She is the female member of the diagnostics team. She is a very sincere and emotional person, which has an effect on the kinds of decisions that she makes medically. She is very intelligent, and like the others in the team... shes overqualified to be working as an underling.
Doctor Robert Chase - He is a member of the diagnostics team, who specialises in surgery (which he often performs or assists in performing). He is Australian... which is pretty clear when he speaks. He is seen to be the kind of person who will do anything to protect his job. He is actually quite loyal to House, because he respects House's brilliant medical abilities, but like the others... doesn't think too much of his personality.
Rating - 8/10. Generally I'm the type who likes to watch things with a good storyline, which develops a bit slowly in House... which is why it loses rating for me personally. However, I really enjoy watching it for the medical aspect of the show... as its actually pretty informative, and I've learnt a lot of various diseases and illnesses that I'd never heard of before. It also has great comedy, and I like House's sarcastic and obnoxious behaviour. Plus... Allison Cameron is pretty hot. I'd definitely recommend this to anyone, if you haven't already been following the show already.
Below are pictures of Doctor Remy Hadley (nicknamed Thirteen) and Doctor Allison Cameron. You won't actually see Thirteen until later on... but she's played by Olivia Wilde, who is ridiculously hot. Another reason why I'm mentioning her, is because Megan Fox expressed an interest in Olivia Wilde in an interview... and they're both bisexual, so if they ever got together... I could die a happy man just on the thought of them.
The picture of Dr Cameron doesn't do her justice in my opinion... but I couldn't be bothered spending more time looking for a better one of her as her actual character... but you'll see how nice she looks when you watch the show.
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Monday, November 16, 2009
Anime Review: One Piece
One piece is an ongoing manga and anime and is currently one of the longest ones that is still going. Some people are deterred from such long animes/mangas, but personally I think its well worth watching. Worse comes to worse... you'll at least know you always have something readily available to watch.
One piece is a comedy and fighting anime, based around pirates. It has a historical background, which is based on the "Pirate King: Gol D. Roger". Most people just refer to him as Roger... and he was the pirate who found "One Piece", which is a legendary treasure and gave him the status of the Pirate King. He was eventually captured and executed, but upon his death he announced to the world that he had hid it "there" and if anyone wants it they can go get it. After this, he was killed... and the age of pirates began, with many pirates trying to find One Piece. One such pirate is the main character, Monkey D. Luffy, who aspires to become the Pirate King. Thus the anime is based on Luffy's adventures with his pirate crew, which changes over time, and his journey into the Grand Lane, which is deemed to be where One Piece is hidden.
One important aspect of the story are the 'devil fruits', which is obviously something that someone will consume. Each devil fruit will give its user a particular power, depending on which fruit was eaten. Most of the fruits give very powerful abilities, or abilities that will eventually develop into something powerful. The downside of them, is that if the person falls into the ocean, they will lose all of their strength and simply drown... no matter how powerful they normally are.
Another important aspect is the use of bounties, which is a clever way to indicate how powerful people are... and I think its better than stuff like 'battle power' that you would see in Dragonball.
Luffy's pirate crew changes over time with new additions, but the main ones that you see during the early part of the anime are;
Monkey D. Luffy - Captain of the Straw Hat Pirates. He has an iconic straw hat, given to him by a pirate named Shanks, when he was just a kid. Shanks had also saved Luffy's life when he was young, and Luffy looks up to him as a role model. When Luffy grew up, he decided he was going to become a pirate and look for One Piece to become the Pirate King. He has eaten the Gomu Gomu devil fruit, which has made him a rubber man. So he is able to stretch his body out, and he can not be harmed by bullets, which just bounce off him. Like many people in the anime, he has a name that most people refer to him as... which is 'Mugiwara', which simply means 'Straw Hat'. He has a very laid back personality, and is very childish at times. He's not a very bright person, although when it comes to fights... hes quite innovative... and when it comes to sentimental times, hes also very thoughtful and compassionate. He is also quite stubborn, and if any of his crew are in danger, he will do anything to save them. He is the most powerful pirate of the Straw Hat Crew.
Roronora Zoro - The second member of the Straw Hat Pirates, and has the nickname of 'Pirate Hunter'. He is a swordsman, who developed his own style called 'Santoryu', which is a style that uses 3 swords (1 in each hand, and 1 in his mouth). Despite not having a devil fruit power, he is extremely strong and skilled with the sword. He aspires to become the strongest swordsman in the world, thus he wants to defeat the current number 1 swordsman called 'Hawkeyes' Mihawk. He has the worst sense of direction imaginable... and always gets lost whenever he has to navigate on his own. He is the second strongest of the Straw Hat Pirate crew.
Nami - The female member of the Straw Hat Pirates and its navigator. She is quite intelligent, and she normally uses her intellect to fight battles, since she is physically quite weak. She later obtains a weapon thanks to Usopp, which allows her to have minor control over weather, thus allowing her to use that to fight on more even grounds. She has a strong lust for money, and she considers it the most important thing in the world. Her dream is to draw a map of the world.
Usopp - He is mostly the comedy relief of the crew. Physically he is as weak as Nami, but he has an arsenal of random stuff that he makes to use in his fights. He likes to boast and claim that hes the captain of the Straw Hat Pirates, but when someone powerful comes along.... he will cower in fear. He is however quite gifted at tinkering things, and tends to invent a lot of random little gadgets, for example the weapon that Nami uses. He is also a gifted marksman, which can be seen when he fires a cannon with great precision.
Sanji - He is a passionate and highly skilled cook, but he also is a very strong fighter whose style is based around kicking. He is usually a pretty serious and hard faced character, but whenever a hot young female is nearby... he becomes really giddy and tries hard to flirt and court them. He is also very chivalrous, and will never harm a pretty lady or let them get hurt. His dream is to fine 'All Blue' which is an ocean with every ingredient imaginable, and he wants to cook using those ingredients. He is the 3rd strongest member of the Straw Hats Pirate crew, until maybe later when other people join, as I think its a pretty close call with some of the other people who join.
Chopper - He is the last to join for a pretty long time, but the crew attaining storylines end once they get chopper... and then a lot of the main story arcs begin. He is a reindeer who has eaten a zoan-type devil fruit, which gives him humanoid properties. He is a gifted doctor, and his dream is to be able to cure any illness. He is a bit cowardly like Usopp, however he can fight reasonably when he transforms, although I'd say he's a fair bit weaker than Sanji. Like Luffy, he is quite childish and is easily impressed by everything. He is also very gullible and will believe anything that hes told. Another thing is that he is flattered very easily, which he tries to hide often although he fails at doing so. Also, he has a funny habit where he tries to hide when hes scared... except hes hiding the wrong way, with his body out in the open whilst hes holding onto the wall.
There are also numerous powerful characters that are talked about throughout the anime. Probably the most prominent is a character named Whitebeard, who is known to be the strongest man in the world... with the power to destroy it. Luffy's role model; Shanks, is also a well known pirate, with some kind of special status in the pirate world. In addition, there are the 7 'Shichibukai', which translates to the Seven Warlords of the Sea. You will see more of them later on in the anime.
Rating - 9.5/10. Its one of my favourite animes, and I always look forward to it every week when it comes out. Even the fillers are actually pretty decent, especially compared to fillers of other animes. One thing that might deter people, is that the initial obtaining of the full pirate crew up to Chopper, takes up a lot of episodes... but this is because whenever a character is added... a large number of episodes are dedicated to the character development. I personally think this is fine, as I enjoy learning about a character's background... but I know theres a lot of impatient people out there who don't appreciate this kind of stuff. So I guess it depends... I definitely think people should at least give it a go. If nothing else... its a very humourous anime.
Below is a picture of Nami's future wanted poster. Although you might argue that its a bit of a spoiler... I personally don't think it is. I chose this pic, because its my favourite of Nami's poses, as I think its quite sexy.
One piece is a comedy and fighting anime, based around pirates. It has a historical background, which is based on the "Pirate King: Gol D. Roger". Most people just refer to him as Roger... and he was the pirate who found "One Piece", which is a legendary treasure and gave him the status of the Pirate King. He was eventually captured and executed, but upon his death he announced to the world that he had hid it "there" and if anyone wants it they can go get it. After this, he was killed... and the age of pirates began, with many pirates trying to find One Piece. One such pirate is the main character, Monkey D. Luffy, who aspires to become the Pirate King. Thus the anime is based on Luffy's adventures with his pirate crew, which changes over time, and his journey into the Grand Lane, which is deemed to be where One Piece is hidden.
One important aspect of the story are the 'devil fruits', which is obviously something that someone will consume. Each devil fruit will give its user a particular power, depending on which fruit was eaten. Most of the fruits give very powerful abilities, or abilities that will eventually develop into something powerful. The downside of them, is that if the person falls into the ocean, they will lose all of their strength and simply drown... no matter how powerful they normally are.
Another important aspect is the use of bounties, which is a clever way to indicate how powerful people are... and I think its better than stuff like 'battle power' that you would see in Dragonball.
Luffy's pirate crew changes over time with new additions, but the main ones that you see during the early part of the anime are;
Monkey D. Luffy - Captain of the Straw Hat Pirates. He has an iconic straw hat, given to him by a pirate named Shanks, when he was just a kid. Shanks had also saved Luffy's life when he was young, and Luffy looks up to him as a role model. When Luffy grew up, he decided he was going to become a pirate and look for One Piece to become the Pirate King. He has eaten the Gomu Gomu devil fruit, which has made him a rubber man. So he is able to stretch his body out, and he can not be harmed by bullets, which just bounce off him. Like many people in the anime, he has a name that most people refer to him as... which is 'Mugiwara', which simply means 'Straw Hat'. He has a very laid back personality, and is very childish at times. He's not a very bright person, although when it comes to fights... hes quite innovative... and when it comes to sentimental times, hes also very thoughtful and compassionate. He is also quite stubborn, and if any of his crew are in danger, he will do anything to save them. He is the most powerful pirate of the Straw Hat Crew.
Roronora Zoro - The second member of the Straw Hat Pirates, and has the nickname of 'Pirate Hunter'. He is a swordsman, who developed his own style called 'Santoryu', which is a style that uses 3 swords (1 in each hand, and 1 in his mouth). Despite not having a devil fruit power, he is extremely strong and skilled with the sword. He aspires to become the strongest swordsman in the world, thus he wants to defeat the current number 1 swordsman called 'Hawkeyes' Mihawk. He has the worst sense of direction imaginable... and always gets lost whenever he has to navigate on his own. He is the second strongest of the Straw Hat Pirate crew.
Nami - The female member of the Straw Hat Pirates and its navigator. She is quite intelligent, and she normally uses her intellect to fight battles, since she is physically quite weak. She later obtains a weapon thanks to Usopp, which allows her to have minor control over weather, thus allowing her to use that to fight on more even grounds. She has a strong lust for money, and she considers it the most important thing in the world. Her dream is to draw a map of the world.
Usopp - He is mostly the comedy relief of the crew. Physically he is as weak as Nami, but he has an arsenal of random stuff that he makes to use in his fights. He likes to boast and claim that hes the captain of the Straw Hat Pirates, but when someone powerful comes along.... he will cower in fear. He is however quite gifted at tinkering things, and tends to invent a lot of random little gadgets, for example the weapon that Nami uses. He is also a gifted marksman, which can be seen when he fires a cannon with great precision.
Sanji - He is a passionate and highly skilled cook, but he also is a very strong fighter whose style is based around kicking. He is usually a pretty serious and hard faced character, but whenever a hot young female is nearby... he becomes really giddy and tries hard to flirt and court them. He is also very chivalrous, and will never harm a pretty lady or let them get hurt. His dream is to fine 'All Blue' which is an ocean with every ingredient imaginable, and he wants to cook using those ingredients. He is the 3rd strongest member of the Straw Hats Pirate crew, until maybe later when other people join, as I think its a pretty close call with some of the other people who join.
Chopper - He is the last to join for a pretty long time, but the crew attaining storylines end once they get chopper... and then a lot of the main story arcs begin. He is a reindeer who has eaten a zoan-type devil fruit, which gives him humanoid properties. He is a gifted doctor, and his dream is to be able to cure any illness. He is a bit cowardly like Usopp, however he can fight reasonably when he transforms, although I'd say he's a fair bit weaker than Sanji. Like Luffy, he is quite childish and is easily impressed by everything. He is also very gullible and will believe anything that hes told. Another thing is that he is flattered very easily, which he tries to hide often although he fails at doing so. Also, he has a funny habit where he tries to hide when hes scared... except hes hiding the wrong way, with his body out in the open whilst hes holding onto the wall.
There are also numerous powerful characters that are talked about throughout the anime. Probably the most prominent is a character named Whitebeard, who is known to be the strongest man in the world... with the power to destroy it. Luffy's role model; Shanks, is also a well known pirate, with some kind of special status in the pirate world. In addition, there are the 7 'Shichibukai', which translates to the Seven Warlords of the Sea. You will see more of them later on in the anime.
Rating - 9.5/10. Its one of my favourite animes, and I always look forward to it every week when it comes out. Even the fillers are actually pretty decent, especially compared to fillers of other animes. One thing that might deter people, is that the initial obtaining of the full pirate crew up to Chopper, takes up a lot of episodes... but this is because whenever a character is added... a large number of episodes are dedicated to the character development. I personally think this is fine, as I enjoy learning about a character's background... but I know theres a lot of impatient people out there who don't appreciate this kind of stuff. So I guess it depends... I definitely think people should at least give it a go. If nothing else... its a very humourous anime.
Below is a picture of Nami's future wanted poster. Although you might argue that its a bit of a spoiler... I personally don't think it is. I chose this pic, because its my favourite of Nami's poses, as I think its quite sexy.
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Movie and Book Review: Angels and Demons
Back again... was sick last week, so didn't have the energy to write anything here. But during that time I was able to find some time to watch the Angels and Demons movie. I liked the Da Vinci Code book (same main character, and written by Dan Brown), and the movie was ok. So it was interesting to see how Angels and Demons would be converted to a movie.
The Angels and Demons book was a great read. I don't know how accurate the historical stuff that the book mentions is... but it made for a good storyline, and its good to get some background information about various pieces of art. Normally I'm not a fan of these type of things... but various pieces of art sparked some interest in me, so I looked them up to get a better idea of them.
Anyway as for the storyline... the main character is Robert Langdon. He is professor of religious iconography and symbiology, and he teaches at a university. He is contacted by CERN, which is a real organisation based in Switzerland that researches particle physics. A researcher at CERN was murdered and branded with the Illuminati symbol. The Illuminati are an ancient cult, comprising of 'enlightened' beings. They are an anti-Christian secret society... and judging by the branding of the researcher (who was a devout Catholic), are plotting something to bring down the Vatican. They had stolen 'anti-matter', which threatens to cause a massive explosion on the scale of an atomic bomb, which could wipe out Vatican city, and possibly all of Rome. I researched anti-matter after reading the book, and apparently anti-matter can not explode on that scale, especially with such a small specimen. However... it does make for a good storyline, but having said that... I wasn't so sure on the validity of the historical references that the book makes.
The movie for me... was actually quite disappointing. It leaves out important characters, and even the actual storyline deviates greatly to the book. An example is the character known as the 'Hassassin'. As you might guess... hes an assassin (gasp), and he is meant to be of middle eastern origin. He is also very sadistic, and his thirst for killing is only equalled by his lust for women... and he tends to like combining his interests. Anyway, he's one of the most important characters in the book... yet he is completely different in the movie, and has absolutely no character development whatsoever. Another thing which is more for me personally... is that the female lead playing Vittoria Vetra wasn't as good looking as I had imagined... she's too old. The actress is 40 years old... and Vittoria is meant to be in her 20's.
I'd give the book a 8/10 rating, and the movie I'd give 4/10. The movie's rating is mainly bad because I read the book first. If I had watched the movie by itself, then it would be closer to a 7. Personally I'd recommend reading the book first. If you don't watch the movie... you're not really missing out that much, but the book is definitely well worth the read.
The Angels and Demons book was a great read. I don't know how accurate the historical stuff that the book mentions is... but it made for a good storyline, and its good to get some background information about various pieces of art. Normally I'm not a fan of these type of things... but various pieces of art sparked some interest in me, so I looked them up to get a better idea of them.
Anyway as for the storyline... the main character is Robert Langdon. He is professor of religious iconography and symbiology, and he teaches at a university. He is contacted by CERN, which is a real organisation based in Switzerland that researches particle physics. A researcher at CERN was murdered and branded with the Illuminati symbol. The Illuminati are an ancient cult, comprising of 'enlightened' beings. They are an anti-Christian secret society... and judging by the branding of the researcher (who was a devout Catholic), are plotting something to bring down the Vatican. They had stolen 'anti-matter', which threatens to cause a massive explosion on the scale of an atomic bomb, which could wipe out Vatican city, and possibly all of Rome. I researched anti-matter after reading the book, and apparently anti-matter can not explode on that scale, especially with such a small specimen. However... it does make for a good storyline, but having said that... I wasn't so sure on the validity of the historical references that the book makes.
The movie for me... was actually quite disappointing. It leaves out important characters, and even the actual storyline deviates greatly to the book. An example is the character known as the 'Hassassin'. As you might guess... hes an assassin (gasp), and he is meant to be of middle eastern origin. He is also very sadistic, and his thirst for killing is only equalled by his lust for women... and he tends to like combining his interests. Anyway, he's one of the most important characters in the book... yet he is completely different in the movie, and has absolutely no character development whatsoever. Another thing which is more for me personally... is that the female lead playing Vittoria Vetra wasn't as good looking as I had imagined... she's too old. The actress is 40 years old... and Vittoria is meant to be in her 20's.
I'd give the book a 8/10 rating, and the movie I'd give 4/10. The movie's rating is mainly bad because I read the book first. If I had watched the movie by itself, then it would be closer to a 7. Personally I'd recommend reading the book first. If you don't watch the movie... you're not really missing out that much, but the book is definitely well worth the read.
Thursday, November 5, 2009
TV Show Review: Heroes
New season of heroes started in America about a month or so ago. Its currently up to season 5... so a lot has changed and developed since then... so I'll keep the explanation to mainly season 1.
Heroes has a similar concept to x-men... where certain people have developed a supernatural power. Season 1 is pretty introductory... giving a brief storyline about each of the characters and slowing unfolding different things which end up entwining together to reveal a well written story which all makes sense later on. If anyone watches Lost... the way they develop the story is fairly similar to how they do it in Lost (I plan on talking about Lost on another day as well).
The main plot of the season, is based around a character called Sylar. Sylar is a serial killer with powers, and he is hunting other people who have powers. It is an obvious kill by Sylar, because his victims have their heads cut open, and their brains are missing. At the same time, Peter Petrelli is visited by a time traveller, who warns him that there is going to be a disaster occuring in the future... and that he must 'save the cheerleader.' So another of the main things going on, is the prevention of this future disaster. Another thing occuring is the presence of 'The Company' who are 'bagging and tagging' people with special powers.
The main characters and their special powers are;
Peter Petrelli - Arguably will be the most powerful person next to Sylar. The show doesn't really give him a special name for his ability, but I would call it 'power mimicry'. Basically when he is in close proximity of another person who has a power, his body will automatically copy that power and allow him to use it. So Peter will acquire powers off basically everyone in the series. The powers that are most prominently used include; flight, time manipulation/teleportation, regeneration, telepathy/mind manipulation, invisibility, precognition through art, telekinesis, and a few others that he gains throughout the series. Imagine if you had all of these powers... practically invincible. Peter is a very empathic person. He has a very pure soul, and can be seen by his desire to help and save people.
Sylar - As previously stated, he is the main villain, and a serial killer. There are a couple of episodes dedicated to Sylar's past, so I won't go into too much detail about him. The actual nature of his powers is discussed in season 2, so I'll keep it brief and describe what you'll see in season 1. Similar to Peter, his power allows him to acquire other powers. The main powers that he uses are; telekinesis, photographic memory, precognition through art, enhanced hearing, and a power that allows him to cut... not sure what its called, but he uses it to cut open heads.
Claire Bennet - A young schoolgirl. She has the power of regeneration, so she is virtually unkillable. She is part of the cheerleader squad at her school.
Nathan Petrelli - Older brother to Peter. He is an ambitious politician following in the footsteps of his late father. He has the power of flight, but he denies his ability because of what it did to him in the past.
Matt Parkman - He is an aspiring detective. He has the power of telepathy. He has problems with his marriage, because he found out that his wife was having affair... and only because of his telepathic ability.
Hiro Nakamura - Everyone's favourite character... he is the comic relief for the show. He has the power of time manipulation and teleportation... which he uses to go back and forward in time, and to generally get around. He is very childish and quite geeky. He believes himself to be a superhero, and his child-like attitude causes him to be very immature about it and he aspires to save the world.
There are actually a huge amount of characters, but these are the main ones that you'll be following... and I didn't wanna have to list too many of them.
Rating - I'll give the first season 10/10, as it was the best season out of all the ones that are out right now, and it was just fantastic. The rest of the seasons i'd give 9/10, because they weren't as good as the first season... but still great to watch. The show is suitable for all audiences, and I'd recommend checking it out if you haven't already been a fan of it all along.
Heroes has a similar concept to x-men... where certain people have developed a supernatural power. Season 1 is pretty introductory... giving a brief storyline about each of the characters and slowing unfolding different things which end up entwining together to reveal a well written story which all makes sense later on. If anyone watches Lost... the way they develop the story is fairly similar to how they do it in Lost (I plan on talking about Lost on another day as well).
The main plot of the season, is based around a character called Sylar. Sylar is a serial killer with powers, and he is hunting other people who have powers. It is an obvious kill by Sylar, because his victims have their heads cut open, and their brains are missing. At the same time, Peter Petrelli is visited by a time traveller, who warns him that there is going to be a disaster occuring in the future... and that he must 'save the cheerleader.' So another of the main things going on, is the prevention of this future disaster. Another thing occuring is the presence of 'The Company' who are 'bagging and tagging' people with special powers.
The main characters and their special powers are;
Peter Petrelli - Arguably will be the most powerful person next to Sylar. The show doesn't really give him a special name for his ability, but I would call it 'power mimicry'. Basically when he is in close proximity of another person who has a power, his body will automatically copy that power and allow him to use it. So Peter will acquire powers off basically everyone in the series. The powers that are most prominently used include; flight, time manipulation/teleportation, regeneration, telepathy/mind manipulation, invisibility, precognition through art, telekinesis, and a few others that he gains throughout the series. Imagine if you had all of these powers... practically invincible. Peter is a very empathic person. He has a very pure soul, and can be seen by his desire to help and save people.
Sylar - As previously stated, he is the main villain, and a serial killer. There are a couple of episodes dedicated to Sylar's past, so I won't go into too much detail about him. The actual nature of his powers is discussed in season 2, so I'll keep it brief and describe what you'll see in season 1. Similar to Peter, his power allows him to acquire other powers. The main powers that he uses are; telekinesis, photographic memory, precognition through art, enhanced hearing, and a power that allows him to cut... not sure what its called, but he uses it to cut open heads.
Claire Bennet - A young schoolgirl. She has the power of regeneration, so she is virtually unkillable. She is part of the cheerleader squad at her school.
Nathan Petrelli - Older brother to Peter. He is an ambitious politician following in the footsteps of his late father. He has the power of flight, but he denies his ability because of what it did to him in the past.
Matt Parkman - He is an aspiring detective. He has the power of telepathy. He has problems with his marriage, because he found out that his wife was having affair... and only because of his telepathic ability.
Hiro Nakamura - Everyone's favourite character... he is the comic relief for the show. He has the power of time manipulation and teleportation... which he uses to go back and forward in time, and to generally get around. He is very childish and quite geeky. He believes himself to be a superhero, and his child-like attitude causes him to be very immature about it and he aspires to save the world.
There are actually a huge amount of characters, but these are the main ones that you'll be following... and I didn't wanna have to list too many of them.
Rating - I'll give the first season 10/10, as it was the best season out of all the ones that are out right now, and it was just fantastic. The rest of the seasons i'd give 9/10, because they weren't as good as the first season... but still great to watch. The show is suitable for all audiences, and I'd recommend checking it out if you haven't already been a fan of it all along.
Monday, November 2, 2009
Anime Review: Blood+
Blood+ is a dark kind of anime. Pretty serious atmosphere based of creatures called 'Chiropterans'. Chiropterans are monsters who feed off human blood. They are exceptionally strong, fast and have high speed regeneration. They can transform various body parts to do things like fly or extending limbs for attack. High level chiropterans can disguise themselves as humans.
Chiropterans are created from the blood of Queens. However if one Queen's chiropterans have another Queen's blood injected into their blood stream, it will cause them to crystalize and die. There are always 2 Queens at any given point of time, and they are female twins born from 1 of the previous Queens. Queens are only awake for 3 years at a time, and then they hibernate for 10 years.
Then there are the 'Chevaliers' who are the second strongest chiropterans after the 2 Queens. They are created when a human drinks the blood of a Queen. Chevaliers have a strong bond towards their Queen. They also retain a human appearance, unless they transform a body part into a chiropteran limb to fight with. Like normal chiropterans, they will die by the blood of the opposing Queen. But they can also die by being beheaded, or through burning the whole body. They don't age, and from what I can remember... are essentially immortal unless killed by one of the ways previously stated. A Queen can only be impregnated by a chevalier of the other Queen... and during pregnancy, her blood will no longer be dangerous.
So the story is based off these creatures living amongst humans. The main characters are;
Saya Otonashi - She is the primary character, and one of the Queens. She was adopted into a family, although she suffers from amnesia. She fights with a katana, and one of the main aspects of the plot is the recovery of her memory, which explains her past and what chiropterans are. (I've explained enough to give you an idea... theres more involved with them... so its not spoiled)
Hagi - Saya's Chevalier. He plays a cello, which he carries around and he uses it as a shield in combat.
Kai Miyagusuku - He is the son of Saya's adoptive father, hence he is Saya's brother by adoption. When his father was killed, he swore to protect Saya, since he is her older brother.
Riku Miyagusuku - He is the younger brother of Kai and Saya. He is very kind and gentle.
David - He is a very serious and cold character. He was Saya's father's friend, and he takes care of Kai and Riku. He is trying to get rid of chiropterans.
I kept a lot of the details of the characters brief, as a lot of it is important to the actual storyline... so I've only really spoiled stuff that you will see in the first episode.
Rating - 8/10. It has a good storyline, good fighting scenes and is well drawn. The humour in it is limited, but its meant to be more of a dark kind of story anyway, so its to be expected. I recommend it for people who like dark fantasy type of storylines.
Below is a picture of Saki when she awakens from hibernation... She actually has short hair in the present time of the anime, but she had long hair back then... and I think she looks much cuter with long hair. If you're wondering what shes doing in that picture... she's kind of kneeling on the ground, whilst grabbing the jacket/shirt (I forgot) of someone (I'll leave the details of that for you to see in the actual anime).
Chiropterans are created from the blood of Queens. However if one Queen's chiropterans have another Queen's blood injected into their blood stream, it will cause them to crystalize and die. There are always 2 Queens at any given point of time, and they are female twins born from 1 of the previous Queens. Queens are only awake for 3 years at a time, and then they hibernate for 10 years.
Then there are the 'Chevaliers' who are the second strongest chiropterans after the 2 Queens. They are created when a human drinks the blood of a Queen. Chevaliers have a strong bond towards their Queen. They also retain a human appearance, unless they transform a body part into a chiropteran limb to fight with. Like normal chiropterans, they will die by the blood of the opposing Queen. But they can also die by being beheaded, or through burning the whole body. They don't age, and from what I can remember... are essentially immortal unless killed by one of the ways previously stated. A Queen can only be impregnated by a chevalier of the other Queen... and during pregnancy, her blood will no longer be dangerous.
So the story is based off these creatures living amongst humans. The main characters are;
Saya Otonashi - She is the primary character, and one of the Queens. She was adopted into a family, although she suffers from amnesia. She fights with a katana, and one of the main aspects of the plot is the recovery of her memory, which explains her past and what chiropterans are. (I've explained enough to give you an idea... theres more involved with them... so its not spoiled)
Hagi - Saya's Chevalier. He plays a cello, which he carries around and he uses it as a shield in combat.
Kai Miyagusuku - He is the son of Saya's adoptive father, hence he is Saya's brother by adoption. When his father was killed, he swore to protect Saya, since he is her older brother.
Riku Miyagusuku - He is the younger brother of Kai and Saya. He is very kind and gentle.
David - He is a very serious and cold character. He was Saya's father's friend, and he takes care of Kai and Riku. He is trying to get rid of chiropterans.
I kept a lot of the details of the characters brief, as a lot of it is important to the actual storyline... so I've only really spoiled stuff that you will see in the first episode.
Rating - 8/10. It has a good storyline, good fighting scenes and is well drawn. The humour in it is limited, but its meant to be more of a dark kind of story anyway, so its to be expected. I recommend it for people who like dark fantasy type of storylines.
Below is a picture of Saki when she awakens from hibernation... She actually has short hair in the present time of the anime, but she had long hair back then... and I think she looks much cuter with long hair. If you're wondering what shes doing in that picture... she's kind of kneeling on the ground, whilst grabbing the jacket/shirt (I forgot) of someone (I'll leave the details of that for you to see in the actual anime).
Sunday, November 1, 2009
News Watch: Another bizarre story
I was gonna continue with reviews today... but this caught my eye and I wanted to share it:
http://tinyurl.com/yhm9z6r
Not being a girl myself... I could be wrong about this... but to my understanding, I think a lot of girls are inspired by fairy tales and imagine themselves being saved by their prince charming, who they fall in love with and live happily ever after.
This girl may have had that fantasy... and it actually happened for her... almost. At the age of 11, she was saved from bullies in a playground by a 19 year old guy. She must've fallen for him, because she asked him out for their first date... then she became pregnant a week later and married him 9 months later. She then gave birth to her baby on the day of her wedding.
The guy thought that she was 15... I dunno how you can mistake a 11 year old for a 15 year old... so for his sake, I'd hope that she's pretty developed for her age to make that believable. The girl had not received any sex education yet, and I think its actually a good idea to start sex education at year 6, which would be roughly around her age... whether its at school, or through parents. Obviously you don't want your kids to be fooling around with sex at that age, so its good that they're aware of what it is... and you can teach them to wait until they're a certain age before they go for it... or at the very least, teach them about contraception in case they do decide they want to do the deed. Personally I had my first sex education classes in year 6, and my class was fine with it... wasn't a big deal.
Even still... its surprising that the guy didn't use a condom... being 19 years old, he should know better. This is the problem many young people face these days... if nothing else, I do hope that all these news about young pregnancies and health risks finally start to open some eyes. In the end we're all responsible for our own actions... as much as teachers and parents try to prevent these things.
The guy has to go to jail for 6 years... which is not really that bad considering its a pretty hefty crime. I guess they took into account that it was a consensual act, and its important that the baby grows up with her mother and father. I think it would've been better if he was able to get out earlier... at least before the kid starts school.
The girls grandmother also had her first child when she was 13... and apparently its not uncommon in their country... in fact its kind of a tradition to get pregnant young (weird tradition). To be honest, I'm not all that surprised at these young pregnancies... I'm more surprised that the older person involved in some of these pregnancies aren't more careful. Its not hard to use a rubber... and its a hell of a lot cheaper than having an unplanned baby, especially at that age.
Anyway enough of this rant... should be back to reviewing tomorrow if I'm not too busy
http://tinyurl.com/yhm9z6r
Not being a girl myself... I could be wrong about this... but to my understanding, I think a lot of girls are inspired by fairy tales and imagine themselves being saved by their prince charming, who they fall in love with and live happily ever after.
This girl may have had that fantasy... and it actually happened for her... almost. At the age of 11, she was saved from bullies in a playground by a 19 year old guy. She must've fallen for him, because she asked him out for their first date... then she became pregnant a week later and married him 9 months later. She then gave birth to her baby on the day of her wedding.
The guy thought that she was 15... I dunno how you can mistake a 11 year old for a 15 year old... so for his sake, I'd hope that she's pretty developed for her age to make that believable. The girl had not received any sex education yet, and I think its actually a good idea to start sex education at year 6, which would be roughly around her age... whether its at school, or through parents. Obviously you don't want your kids to be fooling around with sex at that age, so its good that they're aware of what it is... and you can teach them to wait until they're a certain age before they go for it... or at the very least, teach them about contraception in case they do decide they want to do the deed. Personally I had my first sex education classes in year 6, and my class was fine with it... wasn't a big deal.
Even still... its surprising that the guy didn't use a condom... being 19 years old, he should know better. This is the problem many young people face these days... if nothing else, I do hope that all these news about young pregnancies and health risks finally start to open some eyes. In the end we're all responsible for our own actions... as much as teachers and parents try to prevent these things.
The guy has to go to jail for 6 years... which is not really that bad considering its a pretty hefty crime. I guess they took into account that it was a consensual act, and its important that the baby grows up with her mother and father. I think it would've been better if he was able to get out earlier... at least before the kid starts school.
The girls grandmother also had her first child when she was 13... and apparently its not uncommon in their country... in fact its kind of a tradition to get pregnant young (weird tradition). To be honest, I'm not all that surprised at these young pregnancies... I'm more surprised that the older person involved in some of these pregnancies aren't more careful. Its not hard to use a rubber... and its a hell of a lot cheaper than having an unplanned baby, especially at that age.
Anyway enough of this rant... should be back to reviewing tomorrow if I'm not too busy
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