Fantastic Four: Rise Of The Silver Surfer review June 23, 2007
Posted by Will Hines in Comics, DC, Fantastic 4, Fantastic 4: Rise Of The Silver Surfer, Film, Marvel, Review, Silver Surfer.1 comment so far
It’s hard to forget the fairly abysmal origin story that was the original Fantastic Four film. Despite being a good summer film and fairly entertaining at times, it didn’t quite deliver and struggled to retain the audience’s interest during the origin of this famous foursome.
So imagine my surprise when I saw the sequel- Fantastic Four: Rise Of The Silver Surfer- last week and was quite impressed by it. I decided to see the film to decuce if Tim Story, the director of both films, could make a better film the second time around. In an age of darker, more ‘adult’ comic book flicks such Spider Man and Superman, Story wasn’t afraid to change his formula for the second installment of this franchise. The film is really fun, without compromising the fact that it is, in essence, about the end of the world. Let me explain; (LARGE SPOILERS) the Silver Surfer, or Norrin Radd (as he was known on his homeland Zenn-La) is a herald for a greater being, Galactus (who you do see a bit, but in a weird form). As a servant of Galactus, the surfer scopes out planets that Galactus can suck the energy from (as a “planet-eater”) and prepares them for his arrival.
The Foundation… June 20, 2007
Posted by Will Hines in Life, Me, School, Team Building, Weblog, Work Experience, World.add a comment
What a tiring last few weeks I’ve had! No sooner had I finished exams than I was swept off up to London for a week’s work experience which, I might add, went really well. And then as soon as I finished work down at Vauxhall last Friday I was expected to get back on a bus down to Cheltenham for our end of work experience meeting. This meeting turned out to be a complete waste of time, or so my friends said… I didn’t go 
. However, I was still expected back on school premises the next day so I could go on a Foundation Course for two days. Now does that strike you as something I would particular like to do straight after my exams? No, is the answer, and I was fairly skeptical when we boarded the bus early on Sunday morning. I was only armed with the knowledge that I needed comfortable clothes, trainers and a waterproof.
I’m happy to say that as much as I hated the idea of going to some random place on a Sunday afternoon, the Foundation Course was excellent. It showed me a lot about myself as a person, and the sort of role I could fulfill in a team of working adults. And that role is…. leader. I’ve always had large dreams about running some multinational company, and I thought I had it within me to manage a team of talented people… well, I was one of the two people in my team who emerged as leaders, and I enjoyed the role thoroughly. But what of the course itself? Well, the two day course took place in the new Cotswold Conference Center, somewhere near Oxford. Owned by the famous entrepreneur Jorgen-Philip Sorensen, my school is the only one in the United Kingdom which has the privelege of using this world renowned business training centre (because Sorensen has relatives who go to Dean Close). After an eventful journey in which the bus overheated, we arrived at the conference center. On the way, there had been a incessant beeping which we couldn’t deduce the source of… there I was joking “It’s a bomb” a la Speed, but it turns out that beeping signals the bus is overweight and the engine is overheating.
A Rough Patch June 14, 2007
Posted by Will Hines in Life, Me, School, Weblog, Work Experience.add a comment
Oh, the joys of work experience! Pretty much as soon as I had finished my 6 hours of impossible exams last Friday I was packed off to London for a week of enjoyable work experience. Not to sound unnappreciative; I’ve learnt a lot this week and not many people in my year are doing such exciting things in their respective jobs. The only thing is, I’ve reached the point in the week were I just want to break out of routine and do something unexpected. Yet I am bound by law to continue the monotous routine of getting up at 7:30 every day until holidays start.
It obviously didn’t occur to the organisers at my school that we might like a short break to get over the stress of my exams. Or perhaps they thought work experience was a good way to ‘relax’? Well, whatever they decided, I have had enough… I sit here in the Comic Relief offices in Vauxhall, rebelling by writing this very post. Give me a shout if anyone out there working in the professional word is feeling the same way I do right now…
London- England’s showcase or a sprawling mess? June 13, 2007
Posted by Will Hines in Capital, City, Life, London, Me, Underground, United Kingdom, World.5 comments
So… London… the beating heart of Britain perhaps? The commercial forefront of the British Isles?
No, not quite… London is a mess. A huge, sprawling, disgusting dump of a city, it doesn’t exactly stand out as a showcase of what is great about Britain. I mean, superficially, it looks just about presentable, with its meager ’skyscrapers’ and stand out landmarks such as The London Eye and Big Ben. But if you delve a little deeper, say 30 meters beneath the ground, you find what this city is actually about. I am, of course, talking about the infamous London underground.
The chosen method of transport for 3 million Londoners every day, the London system is the oldest Underground in the world, and it shows. I struggled to find on my first journey why so many people use it, and I hope you will empathise with me: I’m going to paint a picture of a normal journey on the London Underground in the summer months. You are waiting on the packed platform for the Victoria Line traveling North to Brixton. A train pulls up, and as it slows down you see bodies literally crammed against the windows- the doors open and people are thrown out onto the platform by the mass of bodies on the carriage. You then attempt to try to find your way onto the train, before the doors slide closed suddenly onto you arm or backpack.
“Please mind the closing doors. Please mind the closing doors” calls the pre-recorded message.
Once on the train, you look around, realising the point that you are crammed into the space normally reserved for someone half your size; don’t forget the fact that your face is stuck in someone’s armpit. As the train begins to move the heat sets in, and you pray for some form of ventilation. The blistering heat only abates when a gust of wind manages to find its way into the carriage, and you pray for your stop to come. Well, I hope you get the idea.
The tube, whilst being a big problem, is only one of the things that is wrong with London. When you look at the city as a whole, one of the main issues I find is the overall cost of living there. The general living standards aren’t higher than anywhere else in the UK, but the cost of a carton of orange juice in Marks and Spencer’s is around £4. What is it about London that means companies can get away with charging ridiculous prices for inadequate goods?
Well, at least I’m only here for a week. However, it seems as if the citizens are unsatisfied with many aspects of their city; at the moment most of the problems at the moment concern the 2012 Olympics. To be fair, who can forgive the committee which allowed a logo which looks like a 3 year old child’s drawing? I just hope the added pressure of the Olympics in 5 years can help to give London the clean up it needs. And as a side note, what does everyone out there in the blogosphere think of this logo?
Finally, the ordeal is over. June 11, 2007
Posted by Will Hines in Comic Relief, Exams, Life, Me, Work Experience.add a comment
Yay! I have finally finished my exams. After vowing to put aside everything that could distract me last week, I managed to get down to some serious work. It turned out I really needed it; I had 9 modules last week over 4 days, and on Friday I was in the exam hall for 6 and a half hours! But lets forget about that… It’s over! I had some celebrations on Friday, before I went off on Saturday for my work experience at Comic Relief in London. Well, I had my first day at work today, which was okay. I didn’t really expect much, because I worked there last year for 3 weeks, and know that there is a lot of admin work to be done in a charity. That’s not to say it doesn’t look like there is some cool stuff for me to do in the week ahead- I’m going to be messing around with photoshop a bit, as well as working with some of the different teams (TV Production, Media, Education) and see how they work. Well, I’ll keep you updated on what cool stuff goes on in the charity sector. Stay tuned!
See you in a week June 2, 2007
Posted by Will Hines in Academics, Life, Me, School.add a comment
Well, it is coming to the point in my school year where I have to do exams. I have 9 modules in 4 days this week, so I think its about time for me to turn my attention fully onto my studies. I won’t be blogging this week unless I feel very confident, but I will be back online on Saturday. Thanks for reading, and keep watching this space…
Pelicans- On their way to being King Of The Jungle? June 1, 2007
Posted by Will Hines in Animal, Animals, Bird, Birds, Current Affairs, Funny, Image, London, News, Pigeon, World.add a comment
I stuggled at first to see what was going on in this interesting and slightly disturbing picture. Was it a mating ritual, or a sign of friendship in the bird world? I pondered over this for hours, but it was suddenly obvious to me once I remembered the happenings of last summer, when a pelican at St James’ Park in London swallowed a live pigeon whole. According to witnesses, it walked up, and grabbed the pigeon in its beak, before swallowing it head first. The meal (pigeon) struggled the whole way down.
Considering bird’s diets are made up solely of fish, what has possessed these birds to lash out and literally swallow their worries? You have to feel for the unsuspecting pigeon/bird which became lunch on these days, just because this bird wasn’t feeling happy with its low placing in the food chain. Oh well, hopefully this means we can say goodbye to the infestation of “rats with wings” (pigeons, for those of you who are unfamiliar with the term) that England currently faces.
It’s as easy as 1,2,3- I can see clearly now! May 29, 2007
Posted by Will Hines in Eyes, Eyesight, Glasses, Health, Life, Me, Optics.1 comment so far
Today has been a very interesting day: not least because I am staring at the blurry screen in front of me with bemusement. Let me explain; I have been a full-time wearer of glasses for over a year now, and I decided today that it was time to progress onto something that wasn’t such a hindrance in sports and similar athletic situations. So I went down to my local opticians in Boots this morning to test the waters with contact lenses, something which hadn’t appealed to me until one of my friends said he wore daily-disposables. So I went down today to have my eyes ‘measured’ and my prescription updated. After the normal happenings- big optical machine, lights being flashed in your eyes and reading letters off a wall chart- we went over the options. Lets see, there were the month lenses, the 2 week lenses and the daily disposables. At this point I made a compromise with my Mum; I would go for the daily disposables, but only order around 15 pairs a month. Despite this compromise its still very expensive, at £15 per month, or a pound per pair. So after working out my prescription I was given a tester pair and had them put in by the optician who was helping me.
Popping them out of their little saline filled containers, he said:
“I’m going to hold you eyelids apart: are you ready? Okay- Look up… look left… look at the corner… look at my tie.”
After a few go’s, he managed to get one in, although not without making my eye water really badly. The whole process was then repeated with the other eye, and then he examined them using the big optic machine again.
“Well, it appears the lenses are too big; I’ll have to take them out and re-fit you with some smaller ones.” he said as he walked out of the door. After a minute or two he returned, took the original ones out and then replaced them with the new, smaller, conveniently more expensive lenses. We finally deduced that these were alright, and I was taken to another ’specialist’ who would show me how to put the lenses in and take them out myself. (more…)
June is coming up? You could have fooled me! May 28, 2007
Posted by Will Hines in Uncategorized.add a comment
I rolled out of bed this morning and rolled up my blinds to take in the beautiful sunshine that would fill my room; it is almost June after all. Yet no sooner had I rolled up the blinds than I was blasted back by gale force winds and smatterings of rain trying to force their way through the 2 inch gap the ajar window left. It hasn’t stopped all day; the constant taps at my window are driving me insane, and aren’t really helping as I’m meant to be doing work. Arghh…. what tragedies we British people face! This is meant to be summer, after all…
Will’s iPod- 2005-07… Rest In Peace May 24, 2007
Posted by Will Hines in Apple, Life, Me, Mp3, Technology, Weblog, ipod.add a comment
Oh, for Pete’s sake, its finally happened. Yes, my beloved video iPod has finally bitten the dust and floated off to the big pit of planned obsolescence. There I was, listening happily to my 2 year old iPod only two days ago, and then when I tried to turn it on yesterday it started to reset itself, flashed a few defiant pixels, and then gave out. Why, oh why? I know we are constantly warned that iPods are highly vulnerable; after all, they are just a glorified hard drive. But how can something so beautiful give up the ghost so suddenly: its not as if I have been shaking it around or dropping it all the time… No, my iPod had a really good life. From the comfy silicon case it was placed in, to the plastic screen protector I placed on it and the way it basically sat in one place for the last year (my desk), I never really put it in harms way as an mp3 player.
The truth is, this is my second ipod. I had one of the 3rd generation ones, which also gave out suddenly 2 years ago. Despite this, I decided to continue as an iPod aficionado, and purchased the brand new ‘video’ iPod soon after my last one died out. I’m not really sure what made me come back to Apple a second time- you would have thought one failure would have been enough to send me packing. In all honesty, its probably the fact that the iPod is an iconic piece of technology, and not least because of its aesthetics; even so soon after my video ipod has died, I am already looking into a replacement; after the first one died I made sure to get insurance for my 5th generation iPod. But what is it that makes the ipod so fragile as an mp3 player? And why do we keep coming back for more?
