Blog/Journal
Anomarokarisu
Although, at 27, obviously I do not need a cuddly toy to hug when the monster under my bed is drooling, my inner-nerd does want a cute custom made-to-order plush reproduction of Cambrian predator Anomalocaris (via Pharyngula), one of the many weird fauna from the Burgess Shale.
Comment on entry | Copyright 2007 JVC | Permalink posted on 31.07.07 | Tags: evolution, nature, toys | Top of page
Website update, 27.07.07
Added: Lightbox; Updated: Things.
Another minor update, this time to add Lightbox, chunks of easy-to-install Javascript that displays images on top of a webpages. I have added it to my recently renovated Things page, as well as the Comics folder, so now you can read Freakfighter! as a slideshow!
Comment on entry | Copyright 2007 JVC | Permalink posted on 27.07.07 | Tags: design, website | Top of page
Transformers: a Michael Bay film
Overall, I agree with the title and content of this review...
It was as if Bay watched the first Transformers movie only long enough to harvest the line "One shall stand, one shall fall", and then quickly set about trying to make everything as cool as he could.. and yeah.. that kind of cool - Michael Bay cheesy-as-hell cool.
The producers deserve a brief respite for the numerous references to the cartoon and toys, my favourite being a shot during the final battle that mimics a sequence from the original animated Movie. Even these Easter Eggs, however, come across as add-ons to appease the fans, rather than from any genuine love for the brand itself.
Bay makes it overly apparent that he started with the premise 'What If... Transformers really did come to Earth'. Unfortunately, this desire for realism didn't extend to the writers' understanding of science and technology. Instead of consulting someone knowledgeable, they peppered sentences with pseudo-techno-babble, under the assumption that it would go over most peoples' heads. During several scenes, I thought that "any moment now, someone is going to try to hack the mainframe".
There are plenty of plot holes and, throughout, the script is saturated with lines and scenes that are trying really hard to be funny. This brings me to the worst aspect of the film, the Transformers themselves. Not only are the designs aesthetically unappealing, they're a complicated mess of metal, meaning that it's often unclear what is happening and who is fighting whom. In particular, the Autobots don't come across as alien warriors, but clumsy prat-fall-prone adolescents... even Optimus Prime gets Binksed.
To summarise, Transformers isn't an action film about transforming robots, it's a bad comedy with a few Transformers in it (3/10).
Comment on entry | Copyright 2007 JVC | Permalink posted on 26.07.07 | Tags: films, life, reviews, transformers | Top of page
Website update, 26.07.07
To prepare for imminently adding posts from my old Blogger archives, I tweaked the CSS.
Comment on entry | Copyright 2007 JVC | Permalink posted on 26.07.07 | Tags: blogs, design, website | Top of page
Transformer noise
Going to see the new live-action Transformers film tonight. To say that I'm apprehensive would be an understatement. Movie-snobs the Onion AV Club graded it C- and meta-critic Rotten Tomatoes don't class it 'fresh'.
Nonetheless, I'm still excited about watching it, as it scored 4 out of 5 stars in trusted source Empire and was given 3/4 by Roger Ebert. One friend's already seen it, describing it as "AWESOME"... but they were born in the 1980s, so their opinion is automatically void :p
The film's directed by Michael Bay, who also made Armageddon and Pearl Harbor. Transfans now supposedly tell him We are so sorry, Michael Bay, you still suck but we love you
.
So please Michael Bay, don't destroy my childhood!
Comment on entry | Copyright 2007 JVC | Permalink posted on 25.07.07 | Tags: films, links, transformers | Top of page
07.07.07
Pointless post, but then I can only do this for another five years. Probably.
Comment on entry | Copyright 2007 JVC | Permalink posted on 07.07.07 | Tags: life | Top of page
Apostrophe's
One can get away with making a good number of grammatical errors without other people batting an eyelid. One mistake to never make, however, is misusing apostrophes, as it can make you look considerably stupider than you actually are. Like having blonde hair, illegible handwriting or a northern accent, it's an assumption based on a stereotype that's clearly unjustified, but may still give the impression of being poorly educated.
In my experience, it isn't that people aren't aware that there are wrong ways to use the apostrophe, but rather that, at some point during their education, they got confused. Subsequently, they either fabricated rules of their own which they believe "make sense" or relied on the (incorrect) rules provided by an authority figure, be it a teacher or a seemingly confident friend.
While it's possible to distill usage down to "use an apostrophe when letters are missing", my favorite comes from Apostrophe Guide, which describes the two situations in which they should be used...
Marks letters that have been omitted
Example: it's -> it is; there's -> there is; wouldn't -> would not
An apostrophe can be used to remove letters from two words being joined together, typcially a vowel in a pronoun or the words 'has' or 'us' although other instances exist. The apostrophe in this case replaces the letters missed out.
Question to ask yourself: Would an apostrophe replace missing letters?
If yes, insert an apostrophe.
Shows possession
Example: the dog's bone; the man's phone. But: the Jones' house
Apostrophes can be used to show possession. In the above examples, the bone belongs to the dog and the phone belongs to the man. If the noun (thing) in the sentence does not end in an s, then an 's is added to show the possesion. If the noun is plural or ends in an s, simply adding an apostrophe is sufficient.
Question to ask yourself: Would an apostrophe be used to show possession?
If yes, insert an apostrophe.
Comment on entry | Copyright 2007 JVC | Permalink posted on 03.07.07 | Tags: links, rants, words | Top of page
Sweatcast
This afternoon I've been listening to the Sweatdrop Studios' second podcast. While it's supposed to be about news of their upcoming projects, it's more like eavesdropping on a group of friends sitting around a table, being nostalgic and chatting about prior work. Funny and well worth a listen (via Laura Watton, otherwise known as Laura Watton).