The Avengers an Overdue Review

The Avengers (2012)

 

Due to a mixture of being busy with work, filming projects and mostly being plain lazy, it has been sometime since I last posted a blog. I figured with the cinematic release of the highly anticipated Avengers movie what better topic to blog about and make my way out of this funk.

We all knew the Avengers movie was going to happen, hell I hardly think you need a spoiler warning to know that there is always something at the end of the current crop of Marvel movies all of which were blatant hype tools for a film which teamed some of Marvels most popular characters together in one epic film. Watching Iron-Man and and 2008’s Hulk films it felt as though the film was an age away but it seems to have arrived in what feels like the blink of an eye. I must admit as excited as I was about the film I also felt strong trepidation. To say a superhero film is a big budget affair is an understatement, how was director Josh Whedon, cast and crew going to make a film that contained all the bells and whistles of previous films whilst portraying a story that Incorporated all characters at almost equal merit?

The answer is, pretty damn well. The movie revolves around the maniacal plans of Thors brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston). Loki as we know from 2008 Thor movie sets out for revenge at the knowledge that he is half rival species the Frost Giants and feeling spited by Thors constant praise despite his misgivings tries to destroy the great planet Asgard. Having his plans foiled first time around he now sets his sites on Earth, bringing with him a vast and powerful army. With earths forces seemingly to pussy to sort the problem out the World turns to Nick Fury (Sam Jackson) and his Avengers.

Consisting of an all-star cast including Iron-Man (Robert Downey Jr) Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and Hawke Eye (Jeremy Renner) amongst other well know names. Each hero is drafted in to help fight the invading menace. The draft runs about as smoothly as sand paper with people like Bruce Banner aka Hulk understandably not wanting to use his ‘power’ as a weapon. However as the seriousness of the situation is made clear it is apparent that our heroes must work together to save earth.

My initial trepidation was that this would end up being like a typical action flick or Michael Bay-esque, a shallow story in exchange for explosions, one liners and offensive stereotypes. The film however does not jump straight into senseless action scene after senseless action scene, instead a good half and hour is dedicated to the building of characters, providing reason for each characters choice to join the fight and slowly threading together the seems of a team.

The biggest or most notable star is probably Robert Downey Jr, the trailers certainly focused on his portrayal of the narcissistic Tony Stark and his funny quips and one-liners. The film is not nearly as narrow as the trailers but there is a slight leniency to this character. The balance between each character is surprisingly even, including that of lesser-known characters, spy and martial arts expert Black Widow and the soldier with an amazing shot Hawkeye.

Though their stories are not elaborated on to the same depth of some of the other characters there is a great chemistry between the two characters that hints at a dark past. I did feel however that Black Widows moments of apprehension in the face of dangers like the Hulk, though understandable undermined her true strength as a character. This is a minor quibble however and kind of makes up for it by the ass kicking of villains and certain heroes.

What I wanted most from this film was for the Nick Fury to elaborated on, as a character it kind of feels as though they are simply playing on Samuel L. Jackson’s natural cool factor and I find it hard to see Nick Fury. I wanted a little bit ofhistory and motive but most of all some fight scenes, as shallow as that is, he is Nick Fury aka a badass in leaguer with Captain America, tough is probably smarter considering he pretty much runs and plans everything.

To summate, despite the minor flaws, this films as epic amount of win. Great story that takes the time to build it’s characters backed by superb fight scenes and some laugh out loud comic moments, particularly from the Hulk. No doubt this will garner a sequel and I just hope they can keep up or exceed the great work.

8.5/10

Luke ‘kindasurprize’ Brown

Trailer

Tags: Films the avengers luke brown 2012 brocrastinating

25/09/11 – Routine Madness Pt.2

It’s been almost two weeks since my last progress report, this is due to the un-expectancy of the real world. One of the biggest lessons I am learning is an obvious one but is probably the thing that defeats most people on their journey. That lesson is that unlike the hench dudes and fit ladies that adorn most magazine covers, people do not always simply have the time put their all into getting fit. Instead working on that six-pack has to be fitted around work, family, friends and life in general. For most folk whilst being fit and healthy is essential to their wellbeing, having a six-pack will not pay the bills.

Another lesson I have taken on board came from the initial fear of thinking a change of plans would be a bad thing. Not having my prearranged weekly exorcises in place led me to the scales. I discovered that I had some how managed to put on halfa stone. This then led to an uneasy night where I felt as though I was failing, however when I looked at my progress pictures the following day my fears eased and the good old logic self was there to remind me that muscle actually has weight to it.

This was a wake up call to me that the scales are an aide that is black and white in it’s function, merely telling you how heavy you are. They do not take into account a whole other abundance of signs that may give you a better-rounded picture of progress. Because of this I have decided to weigh myself only at the start and end of each new routine as I feel I gain more from the improvements I make throughout the weeks. My photos may run similar risks to the scales but I believe they are a more obvious source of progress.

A disruption to routine however does not mean that I have not been working hard. I may have made the minor mistake of planning my six-week routine right around the time of a Ju Jitsu grading. This has seen a huge shift in intensity during these sessions and aches and injuries have become abundant. Our class looks like an auditioning for a Mummy film. Due to the diverse nature of Ju Jitsu there is hardly a muscle that is not in use in some form. A throw for example will often engage the legs, core and arms. During my first week I tried to keep up my previous routine but it was simply too much and with ‘train smart’ as my mantra I decided to put it on hold until after grading.

This amount of training has also made me a whole lot hungrier as the body craves a source of fuel. Not everything I have been eating has been entirely healthy, a few chocolates and sweets but on reflection nothing major comes to mind. Writing notes for these blogs has been a great way to fend off those illogical demons that tell you that you’re failing. I cannot entirely shake the feeling that I will regress due to a slight change of plan. But two things help me through this, one is that my Ju Jitsu club is a place I have been able to witness the positive changes in plain sight and two is that I know that I am still training hard and will be back to laid plans soon enough.

I have about two weeks left of the current planned routine and have started devising plans for another six-week routine. I enjoy change and goals. Challenge and achievement have to be graspable and I feel I am making real progress in regards to these. My next routine should help push me even more but I will approach it with the understanding that life will sometime throw you a curve ball.

PICS!

By Luke Brown

Fun ‘n’ Gamefest`

by Sam Faux

I was speculative as to what to expect from GAMEfest, having never been to anything like it before. I thought it would basically be one huge GAME shop with demos dotted around the place. In reality, a hell of a lot of effort had gone into the exhibition, with stands from all the major game companies and demos of all the latest and up-and-coming games. Oh, and a huge GAME shop in the middle of it all.

Me and fellow gamer-geek Gio got to the NEC  just after half ten and the place was already heaving. One of the Codemasters reps told us that they had 7,000 through the doors Friday, whilst Saturday and Sunday both sold out at 13,000 tickets each. Looking down the list of exhibitioners we planned out what we wanted to look at and went for quick once over of the show floor. We decided right off the bat the Call of Duty MW3, Battlefield 3 and Gears of War 3 were no-gos. MW3 and BF3 had by far the largest queues at the show whilst neither of us cared much for Gears. However, we both agreed the up-dated version of the original Halo was worth a queue.

Halo: 10th Anniversery Edition

As a recent Halo convertee, I never played this first time around, so I was excited to see what was on offer. The answer, it seems, is exactly what you’d expect. Having queued for little over 45 minutes, we entered the vailed booth along with 8 other players for some 10 player free-for-all multiplayer. This updated version runs on the same engine used in Reach, so the graphics are fantastic. The map we played was from Halo 2, a small, base on either side style set up, perfect for FFA. Before we entered, we’d noticed that the winner of the round got a t-shirt. This changed my mind set completely and I wanted to win! Turns out, I’m awesome at Halo and stormed to 25 kills, victory and a cheap Xbox 360 t-shirt. As for the game play, it plays just like Reach but the smaller map made the round very action packed and entertaining rather than sparse and annoying like some of the large maps available in Reach. It’s hard to tell what the single player mode will be like other than the graphics will look next-gen sexy!

Time to head over to the Codemasters stand.

F1 2011

F1 2011 was available to demo one of three ways. The quick and easy way was two-player split screen, the stupidly long queue was for a semi-simulator contraption and the fairly long queue we opted for was bucket seats and steering wheels. The graphics for this game are unbelievably good. So much effort has been spent getting the track and the surrounding areas and vistas right that it is easy to take your eyes of the road and crash. Speaking of easy to crash, it is very easy to crash! It might be because I’m not used to playing with a steering wheel, that I was too close to the pedals or just a general lack of skill on my part, but the handling was hardcore. Add to that the various buttons for KERS and DRS and a 3 lap demo is not enough to fully appreciate the level of detail available in this game out side of graphics alone. I can see myself getting very rapped up in tailoring a car set up just right to my needs, working out a tyre strategy and working towards the right upgrades. The fact the I dropped it on the third corner doesn’t phase me too much, because I know it takes a while to get used to a racing game. Whether I’ll get it this Friday like planned, or wait for a price drop is undecided at this time, either way it’s worth getting just to look at the pretty cars.

Time for me and Gio to split for a while. Gio headed of to try his hand at Forza 4, a variety of Mario games he knew more about than the Nintendo reps and Sonic Generations. Me? Well I was headed for a 2 and half hour queue at a booth far, far away…

Star Wars: Old Republic

My love of Star Wars is well documented, and when I saw it on the exhibitioners list I was very happy. Over the time I queued I watched people play as a Jedi Knight, Sith warrior, Bounty Hunter, but no smuggler, so I decided that I would give that a try. But right before my go someone played smuggler so I went with trooper instead. I’d read a lot about the idea of starting epic in this game and now I would agree with what I’ve read. As a level 1 trooper, I was able to comfortably take on multiple enemies and take advantage of explosive rounds right from the get go. Having only 15 minutes to try the game, I didn’t get too involved with the story of the quests I was on, all I knew was bad guys were jamming the good guys signals and that I had to stop them. A few dead thugs and smashed transmitters later and my time was up. I played this demo on an Alienware laptop and the graphics were very impressive. Other than the odd tree popping up from time to time the environment was lush. You won’t mind spending a few hours walking around the planet because it looks great. The map system works very well, it shows you were you quests can be completed  and goes translucent when you start walking, so you don’t have to keep flick back and forth to the map scene to know where to go. There seems to be a wide variety of combat SFX to stop fights become tedious and the animation is a lot less ridged than in other MMOs (cough, WoW). 15 minutes is just adrop in the ocean for any MMO, but not feeling like a complete noob at level 1 gives me a good feeling about the cinematic presentation of this game further down the line.

As GAMEfest was drawing to a close, I made my way back to the Old Republic booth to give another class a try. As it happened, I got to do just that but this time in a PvP situation, playing the hottest new sport, Hutt-ball. I drew the short straw and ended up as a Jedi Sage, aka the healer. No throwing lightsabres for me then, but Hutt-ball was very fun regardless. The idea is like capture the flag, but there is only on flag to capture in the form of a ball in the middle of a map riddled with flame traps and acid pools. it was a good chance to see how well (or not) the classes can work together. I did my best, but r-tards will be r-tards and I was stuck on a Republic team with several gamers who hadn’t played an MMO, screw it, hadn’t played WoW before, so were a little lost playing a level 15 character, trying to use abilities that they had no idea about. Those of us who had played WoW were able to group together and take down a few Sith before we inevitably lost the match overall. Regardless of the loss, the PvP game type was very enjoyable, and the ambience of the crowd made it feel like you genuinely were on a Hutt world in a death match with thousands betting on your victory or demise. With no release date in sight at GAMEfest, I can only hope they release this sooner rather than later, because I have a few weeks holiday left a t work and I know how I would like to spend that time.

SWTOR MMORPG PvP FTW!

Best of the Rest

There were a few of the games I caught glimpses of that looked good, including Soul Calibre 5, Forza 4 and Goldeneye Reloaded. On the MW3 and BF3 front, from what I read at the show, BF3 has got me more excited multiplayer-wise. Apparently you can get XP for things like suppressing the enemy, not necessarily killing them but giving your team cover fire and hold them back, a concept that I really like. According to all sources, BF3 is far more tactical and teamwork based, and from playing Medal of Honour and Bad Company, I much prefer that style of play to the arcade-ish approach of Call of Duty. But ah well, I know I’ll buy both anyway so why bother comparing the two.

FIFA 12 looks fantastic, the players actually look like humans this years, always a bonus. Batman Arkham City looks to have picked up where the last one left off, with a open world 5 times as big as before. Super Mario 3D was enjoyable, although jumping on mushrooms in 3D is bloody confusing! Oh, and it might not be a new game, but we also got to play Crazy Taxi on a Dreamcast which was righteous. Christ on a bike, those controllers felt weird now.

To conclude, I was shocked at the effort put into this show and I can’t wait for next years. It’s got me egger to spend my money and even more egger to buy a new PC to play Star Wars at some point as well as a wheel for my 360 so I won’t crash next time round. Most importantly though, I now know that I am a badass at Halo and I have the t-shirt to prove it!

9/11 – Conspiracy – Truth – Tragedy

It’s been a little over 10 years since the tragic events in September 2001 America, in which four planes were bought down killing thousands of people shocking the world and shaping events that are on going to this day. The entering of Afghanistan in search of the worlds most wanted man Osama Bin Laden, then the entering of Iraq and the dethroning of tyrant dictator Sadam Hussain. As we remember these events I find myself questioning the conspiracy theorists, my own beliefs and the official story.

BBC3 - 9/11 Conspiracy Road Trip

What instigated my thinking was a recent documentary shown on BBC called 9/11 Conspiracy Road Trip. In this documentary comedian Andrew Maxwell a believer in the official version of events takes five young conspiracy theorists to America to visit each of the locations in order to investigate their theories. These theories included the popular belief that the towers were felled by a controlled explosion and that the almost perfectly circular hole in the walls of the Pentagon was the result of a rocket. Now I didn’t find this documentary the most compelling, the conspiracy theorists involved scarcely seemed to knew all the details of their own arguments and hardly put forward convincing cases but points were raised, mainly that the official version of events is a little suspect. Were the tragic events the result of a government master plan or a declaration of holy war by Muslim extremists?

I am unsure if we will ever know the full truth. As a self confessed fence sitter on the matter I am currently leaning toward the side that suggests the government didn’t orchestrate events BUT the official version of events has definitely been tempered with. I believe that officials and security were definitely aware of possible threats but their failure to act and a failure in communications resulted in a national tragedy. Put simply no one is willing to put their hands up and say, we could have at least tried to avert events. For them to do this would make them liable, this would be to their detriment and so no one is willing to take or share the blame.

For me the most obvious and foul government act was the orchestrated illegal invasion of Iraq under false pretence. This is plain for all to see, famously everyone now knows that Sadam was never hiding weapons of mass destruction, despite this troops were amassed and rushed in anyway. The government effectively employed fear-mongering tactics. The American people were now all too aware that despite being the most powerful nation on earth, even they were vulnerable to terrible atrocities. With a nation seeking retribution as a springboard the government was able to invade a country that had no evidence of being involved in attacks to America.

Bush... Not the good kind.

So what did George Bush and the rest of the government stand to gain from this invasion? Well I think there was probably a genuine feeling of fear, this may stem from their previous failure to act, however it didn’t take long for these wounds to fester. America and the UK failed to follow international law invading Iraq and profiteering from oil and forming new ties with an Iraqi government they could now effectively control. Now before people call this crazy they must understand that this is nothing new. America and the UK are the worlds biggest arms dealers, supplying sides from which they stand to gain the most. It is the darker side to running the world.

These acts are unforgivable as soldiers with a patriotic love and passion to serve their country were lied to, the American and the larger western world were lied to and for this innocent people on both sides were killed. Life is priceless and for even one innocent soldier or person to die due to an unclearly just cause is disgusting.

To me the obvious truth is that the government is trying to appear as though having clean hands when this clearly is not the case. That is not a conspiracy but an obvious truth. It does not mean however that the government is not capable of conspiracy. This is where being a somewhat of a fence sitter comes in handy, it allows me to examine events in a shade of grey. Referring back to the BBC 3 doc Andrew Maxwell’s sheer arrogance that the US government would not commit conspiracy frustrates me. Floating through life with blissful ignorance or the ability to question the world we inherit may fail to alert us to the next tragic act.

Most importantly though my thoughts and condolences will always be to the lives lost and changed during those shattering days.

As proof of American scandal and conspiracy I leave you with this.

By Luke (Kinda Suprize) Brown

Give Me Sight Beyond Sight!

by Sam Faux

By The Eye of Thundera!

Seems like the phrase “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” doesn’t exist when it comes to beloved TV shows and films. Instead, the word reboot is used all to often. No, not the awesome 90′s CGI cartoon about a load of computer game characters (although that would make an awesomely ironic reboot!), I’m talking about relaunching things you thought you’d seen the back of many moons ago. Maybe Al Gore made us all a bit recycle mad over the past few years, maybe writers are lazy douche bags, who rightly knows, either way a reboot can go one of two ways; either change how we look at a piece of intellectual property for the better, or has more fan-boys weeping into their keyboards than when Firefly got canned.

26 years after the show first aired in 1985, Thundercats is back and it is epic! My brother loved Thundercats as a kid, had every toy going, knew all the characters and lore like most 80′s kids. As a result, I was a little worried when we sat down to watch the new cartoons that he might smash something if the show didn’t tick enough boxes. But it did. I’m a second hand Thundercats fan, I just remember playing with the figures and not a lot about the original show, but it was great to see how much of the remake rang true with my bro. The pilot episode would have been epic as a stand alone show, but the little details that the directors put into it made it a tasty piece of nostalgia pie. For me, it was the 80′s sound effects and animation style. For my brother it was the personalities of the characters and the old sayings but most importantly, The Sword of Omens complete with Thundercats battle cry. The original Lion-O, Larry Kenney don’t you know, even voiced new Lion-O’s father, and when he shouted “Thundercats, Hooooo!” Rob turned to me and said “He got to say it one last time”. Though he’ll deny it, I swear there was a tear in his eye.

I’m not sure if the new series is made in Japan, but if I was a betting man…

Eight episodes in and each episode has the same level of love. What is enjoyable about this remake is that the directors and writers have given it a new, edgier cinematic feel but still kept the essence of the original. The story has been given a bigger scope with more depth to cater for the adults watching this rather than just trying to get a new bunch of kids to buy some toys (but they will, adults too, if you’ve got an old Lion-O figure, now is the time to put it on Ebay!) Being a music kinda guy, I was very impressed with the score for these cartoons. It’s is fittingly epic to match the action on screen and will nod to familiar themes from the original every now and again but with classical instrumentation. Gone are the synth and guitar solos, in with the French horns and brass sections. Go have a listen. As mentioned before though, it is great to hear the classic sound FX being used, especially where The Sword of Omens is concerned. I’m going to put it out there, the 2011 version beats the 1985 version for me. It’s just more, sorry to keep using the word, epic! Judge for yourself. The directors of the series have kept all that is good and only trimmed the fat and gristle. Personally, I was so happy to find out that Snarf doesn’t talk in the new cartoons, instead he takes on a Pikachu role and is far less annoying as a result. The rest of the characters keep their charm from the original with very little change to costume, mainly just hair styles. It’s a little odd seeing Panthro with hair, but he is still badass so it’s all good. And the Thunder Tank? F**king sweet!

I’m sure Rob Faux will have a more valid opinion on this topic than me, and no doubt he’ll want to write his own review soon enough, but I thought I would put my opinion out there as a balanced one so Rob can go off on one in depth at some point. I for one am looking forward to the next few episodes and hopefully (unlike Firefly) a second season.

Routine Madness

Well here it is guys, after much deliberating I have finally decided to post this. Still not sure If I should be but here goes.

 

23/08/11 –

I am officially announcing today as the start of a six-week plan to improve upon my all around muscle and fitness. My goal however is something I feel maybe even more challenging and that is to try and overcome some of the issues I have with weight. Up until two years ago I weighed around 20 stone. Growing up I endured many jokes about my weight, from students to even a few teachers. I always believed however that should I choose to I could lose the weight. Two years ago I decided to do just that.

Aiya Napa 2007 - 20 stone - stood with a chair I broke :-/

The start of 2009 would be my year. As my brother took of on an around the world trip I pledged to myself that by the time he got back and the time I started university I would be trim and fit. At this point I weighed just over 20 stone, I said to myself that by the time my brother got back I would be 15 stone with visible muscle definition. I began by making an extremely strict and enforced no junk food policy. No crisps, chocolate bars, chips, coca cola or sugar. I have done martial arts for a number of years and would now apply myself as much as possible to training. I chose to shun public transport and walk everywhere and everyday would be filled with literally hundreds of press up’s, sit ups, dips, crunches, kicking and punching.

The first few months proved great, the weight was dropping of very fast, within 3 months I was down to my 15 stone target. However whatever issues and bad habits I had when I was 20 stone were still apparent. In fact they were becoming worse, I began to obsess with image, nothing I did made me happy. No matter what people told me, I never looked as good as I should have and developed a constant fear of not looking good or waking up back at my 20 stone weight. This was relatively innocent at first but it quickly developed into something on the verge of madness. Not only had I cut out junk food, I cut my calorie intake to a minimum of a thousand calories a day. An average man should be eating between 2000 and 2500 calories per day. This is without exorcise!

I began to lose weight, fast. Within four or 5 months I weighed 13 stone. But I wasn’t just losing fat, my muscle was quickly deteriorating. I began to look emaciated. Something I couldn’t see.

Emaciated - Lots of muscle lost around neck and shoulders

I was constantly asking my fam how I looked, if I was getting fatter and telling mom to make ever-smaller meals. I was slowly driving myself crazy. My exorcise routine was immense and my diet was scarily unhealthy and though I am no shrink, my mental state was scary. I was obsessive and constantly depressed, looking at myself all the time. I eventually dropped to 11 stone and was in a constant state of weariness. I have always suffered from bouts of dizziness but around this time they became a constant problem to the point where we questioned weather I would be safe to drive. Friends and family were becoming concerned.

I knew and could see all this happening as clearly as day sometimes but it would never take me long to slip into illogical psychological hell, usually without even realising. One minute I was a content individual proud of what I had achieved the next I would notice every minor imperfection as glaring source of all the times I was mocked and shunned.

Over two years later and many of the issues above are still in effect. I am still constantly obsessing over appearance and looking to close friends and family for reassurance. But I am slowly turning the tide.

One of my closest friends offered me a moment of enlightenment during a night out. He told me about a friend he had who had been through something strikingly similar to my story and had sadly succumbed to the effects of anorexia. A debilitating disease that distorts how we see ourselves. This friend made me vow to not follow the same path and not to lose any more weight.

I know weight between 12.5 and 13 stone. I look and feel physically stronger and mentally have become a more confident individual. Importantly I now heed the advice of others. Training smart, accepting the praise, advice and even criticism of others including my immediate family, particularly my mom.

However there is still a way to go. With training smart as part of my personal mantra I now make sure I have plenty of rest but above all, use my training as source of fun and enjoyment. Not including my crazy and unstructured way of training beforehand, I was doing martial arts three times a week.

Monday – Kung Fu – An emphasise on striking techniques much of this training includes exorcises that will help strengthen these areas. Including squats, planks and isometric exorcises, tons of punching and kicking drills, kata and lots and lots of pain inducing stretching.

Wednesdays – Ju Jitsu – This had an emphasise on techniques that involve, leverage, strangles, chokes and throws to overcome an opponent. This engaged all muscle groups and trying to get a 16 stone muscle man in a headlock is one hell of a CV workout.

Fridays – Mixed. My dad, my brothers and close mates would run through everything we know, sparring, grappling practicing kata and generally trying to gain as much experience from anyone who taught us.

On it’s own this reads as a pretty sizable workout week but on every other day I would  do a least 200 sit-ups, press ups, dips, pull ups (which I became pretty mean at) and lots and lots of walking, jogging, bike riding and basketball.

In fact as I sit and right this it is clear to see that the only thing lacking was a sensible diet and faith in my own abilities. What I plan on doing over the next few months and beyond is developing structure and mental stability. A source for much of this in the first place was my attitude toward everyone who said I couldn’t do it. If someone tells me I can’t do something I will always prove them wrong, always. I now realise that I must apply this attitude to myself.

My new goal is as follows.

Monday – Kung Fu

Tuesday – Morning & night stretches. Chest + Core

Wednesday – Ju Jitsu

Thursday – Morning & night stretches.  Chest + Core

Friday – Morning & night stretches. Biceps

Weekend Off!

*Each day minus weekend will also include a legwork out given to me by a physiotherapist to strengthen the diminished muscle on the inside of my legs due to my flat feet.

Morning and Night

• 10 leg raises. Hold for 5 seconds
• 10 Knee raises
• Side leg raise
• 10 squats
• 10 single leg squats

To help avoid depression and bad habits I will also attempt meditive exorcises and focus on my writing. Above I will try and keep things fun and where I feel appropriate or probably at the advice of others, will be more laxed with myself.

After six weeks I will try and continue with this but will take every 4 week entirely off.

MANTRA

• Train smart
• Stick to my plan
• Take and use advice
• Eat properly
• Do not make the weighing scales a record of progress. Keep it to a minimum.
• Learn to relax, mentally and physically
• Have fun!

Today I completed my first chest work out and stretches but also went on a 7mile bike ride. From next week I will supply photos of my progress.

Week 1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

08/09/11

Unfortunately I am a over week late with my progress on here due to a busy week, still I have kept up my routine almost to a T. However due to the unpredictability of MA training some minor changes were made, mostly in the form of extra rest days. The reason for this is due to a important grading which is only a couple of weeks away, this has meant training in this area has increased substantially. Lessons almost always consist of some form of grappling or ‘randori’ these are basically forms of sparring in which we try to attempt moves we have learnt in order to improve them.

The last couple of lessons have almost been entirely dedicated to sparring with one particularly tough week dedicated to throwing. Throwing is great as it engages so muscle groups, legs back, arms, everything must come together in order to achieve a good throw. This day was so tough that I think everyone had a couple of rest days.

An area of improvement would probably be making sure I keep up my knee and leg exorcises. This area has been a little neglected due other workouts and my knees have been giving some mild pain.

Overall I think I have performed pretty well over the past couple of weeks. My diet especially has seen massive changes. Trying to achieve a healthy diet whilst hitting over 2000 is pretty tough and I can see now that junk food has it place albeit within moderation. Pretty good comments of my tonk little bro who said I am already improving loads. Occasionally the irrational mind takes over but I feel I am already getting better at back handing that bitch back into place.

 

Week 3

Kinder Mutha F*@+1!* SURPRIZE!

Been way to long but rest easy, I am back! So what inspired my return here after almost three months of actual procrastination? Well as you would have probably guessed from my former posts it is geek related. This time a gem of a game I only discovered mere weeks ago. That game, Little Big Planet 2!

This is my review for what has to be a contender for game of the year!

 

 

A few weeks back the game store in which I work suddenly had an awesome price drop on the PS3, the catch was the bundle included Little Big Planet 2. A game I have always thought looked cool but had no real interest in playing, in fact I had bought it into store for trade in but for reasons I forget I decided not to. 2 months and five games later and out of a passing interest I decided to stick Little Big Planet 2 in the disk drive, how unbelievably happy I did!

Taking place in an utterly madcap world inherited by robots, bugs and other strange beings, you play as Sack Boy as he earns his stripes by battling negative forces, collecting prizes and solving puzzles. The world is superbly and richly detailed with hundreds of things to do, collect or just plain laugh at. Everything collected is this world is stored and is viewable and usable in some form. From clothing and items to high-scores and even decorating. This offers an almost unprecedented amount of reply value.

Co-op and community play is encouraged but not enforced. There are so many options in this game that you can play however you want. But I can safely say one of the funniest moments I have had in gaming came from accidently inviting a stranger to help out, this quickly escalated into a four man team with hilarious and sometimes annoying consequences. I found that initially everything was hectic and the amount of deaths during each level went way up. However within an hour of play it dawned on us that we would have to play the game differently to get by. We would have to gel together as a team. Instead of a madcap run towards the finish we would have to plan our way through. Once this began to happen each obstacle we overcame felt like a real triumph.

 

Co-op grappling hook game

The story feels just right in terms of length with a good 10 hours of story and loads of extra side missions. It is also supported by a stellar cast, including the wonderfully charming Stephen Fry on narration. It is also supported with added subtext which encourages and celebrates to power of the imagination. Even encouraging you to create your very own Little Big Planet levels which can be shared with the community. With a little time and practice it won’t take anyone long to create levels they can be proud of.

The graphics are beautiful. Each gaming world has a different theme and is lit and textured extremely well. The dynamic use of the camera ranges from great pans and cuts to full on to down isometric views, seemly transforming this from an standard side scrolling caper into something much more fun. A point of reference for anyone else creating similar scrollers.

The sound is great too, a great array of sound fx but the music in particular was extremely well chosen and reflects the world very well.

Controls are very good but one of the bigger issues I personally felt was in this are. Jumping from the far-ground to the foreground to navigate the world can sometimes be tricky, as can using some of the game devices like the grapple hook. Repeated attempts at trying to swing to an object sometimes become annoying. Though it never feels impossible.

The extra features in this game, again are almost unrivaled there is just so much to do! Creating, online, arcade style games, side missions, pool! there is just tons to do!

Overall a brilliantly fantastical adventure that can be enjoyed by everyone. Even me, a veteran of all things destructive.

 

 

SCORE

9.5/10

 

Luke ‘Kinder Surprize’ Brown