Terror-Daktil 4D
Browsing through some old Spectrum magazine adverts and I happened upon this little beauty for a game I’d never played before called Terror-Daktil 4D. Now, as someone with an interest in science I was particularly intrigued by the four-dimensional element to the game so decided to fire up the emulator and have a play with this Melbourne House-published title. The loading screen and a reasonable facsimile of the advert which – you’ll notice – features a heroine and not a hero! Admittedly, it’s a heroine almost bursting out of her khaki top, screaming in fear, and firing near-blindly at what could arguably be described as the scientific find of the millenium but baby steps, baby steps… The game starts with a plane ride on Lost-Jungle Airlines (not affiliated with Drowned-Civilisations Cruise Inc.) and a captain who lets us know we can smoke. Ah, the days when you could smoke on board a plane! The 1830s I think. There’s then a bit of trouble with the aircraft and cigarettes are requested to be put out. If your plane does fall out of the sky and crash into the side of a mountain, wings shearing off and fuselage folding up like a concertina as rocks and trees rip it apart then you really don’t want to compound the issue by dropping your fag and burning a hole in your trousers. The plane apparently crashes and the next thing we are treated to is a Space Invader invasion over a landscape incorporating a volcano, a river, and signs of advanced agriculture or generous allotment allocations on a vast plain. Something in the foreground lobs things towards the Space Invaders and it’s possible to move left and right. I haven’t got a clue what’s going on. The eponymous villain of the piece then turns up; the Terror-Daktil flaps a bit and flies towards you and nothing you do makes a difference. Demonstrating its ancestry with birds it then flies straight into the window/monitor and smashes it. At this point I felt the game had barely delivered on 1D let alone four of the things and gave...
A Filthy Habit
If I had my way it would be banned entirely. Sure, you can't do it in public buildings or workplaces now but that just sends them outside, and outside is the nice place. Why are we letting those people befoul the nice place? Ban it outright is what I say. And yet it's often photogenic too. It can make the difference between an okay shot and a slightly-better-than-okay shot. It adds interest; the revolting is often the most interesting after all. So I watched him, one of them, one of those people, and I waited. He looked guilty as he reached into his pocket and took out a packet. He unwrapped it and discarded the clear polythene into his bag; he'd dispose of it properly later. Shielding it all with his hands – shielding it from the wind or from the gaze of onlookers who might not approve? Who can say? – he took in a mouthful and some painful pleasure flashed all too briefly across his face. I grimaced but snapped a shot anyway. Vile, vile, vile. I just don't see the attraction in it. Sucking the brains from fieldmice through a straw is such a filthy, filthy habit. Google+: View post on...
Star Trek Continues
Star Trek Continues starts where the original series finished allowing fans of the science fiction series to experience some more adventures from that five year mission shamefully curtailed by short-sighted television executives. Pilgrim of Eternity is the name of the first episode and you can watch it here; Apollo – who you might remember from the episode Who Mourns For Adonais? – returns to wreak havoc on Kirk and the Enterprise. Star Trek Continues E01 “Pilgrim of Eternity” from Star Trek Continues on Vimeo. Excellently produced with great attention to detail; the set, sounds, lighting, costumes, and story do great justice to the original series of Star Trek. I imagine Gene Roddenberry would approve. Check out the website for details on the cast and crew as well as wallpapers and background information on the making of the new show. You can also follow the show on Facebook and Twitter. Like I...
The Philadelphia Experiment (2012)
Live commentary. Remember people: this is based on actual events. Really. I swear. Actually happened. With a little poetic licence. Mostly around the facts and the story and the people. Otherwise it’s all pretty close to the actual events that actually happened. An experiment in modern day. The sort of experiment that sees people wheel a car in and immediately start pressing buttons to make it turn invisible. I’m no experimental expert but I don’t think that’s the way an accredited laboratory would do things. At least they’re not taking safety for granted; everyone’s got a pair of shades. Teslas! Of course! If it can just get up to about 40 teslas then that should make it disappear. And it has! That’s real science there. Good stuff movie. Oh, it’s Maybourne from Stargate SG-1. An actual recognisable actor. Excellent. A modern diner and a hacker waitress. Naturally. So, we’ve got a ship from the past now in the present and it’s got lots of glowing, flashing, pulsing blue special effects all over it and people trapped in carbonite on it, plus one sailor with chewing gum on the bottom of his shoes. And what do the sailor from the past and the sheriff from the present do? Touch the glowing, flashing, pulsing blue special effects. Why? Training people! Who is training these people? You never touch glowing, flashing, pulsing blue special effects! The ship’s vanished and Maybourne’s gone too! Past sailor is now wandering around present town. Everything is strange! At least punks aren’t roller-skating past while listening to walkmans. Loud cars! A newspaper stand. It’s 2012! A modern diner again and the past sailor is there asking for Joe. Who’s Joe and why does he want a cup of him? He’s now asking for actual people and not coffee and there may be a descendant of one who’s not there now. He wants to pay for coffee but hasn’t allowed for inflation. Come on time travellers! You’ve got to allow for inflation! Hacker waitress now being told by other waitress that past sailor asked about grandmother. More importantly: hacker waitress answered the phone while driving. That’s dangerous. Don’t do that. Okay? Teslas! Effects! Sailor is in pain, bins fall over, cats and dogs living together. Downtown Chicago. Okay, now that was seriously quite cool. A ship appeared in mid air and crashed onto a skyscraper. A seriously quite cool part in the movie. I wasn’t actually expecting that. Of course, loads of people probably died and this will start a new government-santioned war against navies and the republican party will use the memory of this ship appearing to...
Fashion Faves – Samantha Gradoville
Photographed by Thomas Cooksey for Vogue Latin America comes this selection of photos of Samantha Gradoville via Fashion Gone Rogue, all chosen because they showcase different uses of lines in the photography to bring out the beauty of the model and the styling. Samantha and her swimsuit are showing off some lovely curves here but it’s nicely framed to form a diagonal line through the picture. Good use of sticking two fingers up to the rule of thirds (rules are there to be broken, after all) by setting the horizon dead centre through the image too. The inky blue sea and cool colours in post-processing are bringing out an urge in me to wrap a towel around Samantha and urge her to get onto dry land. If that’s what Thomas was going for in this picture then well done sir! Interesting backdrop for this picture of Samantha featuring sky to one side and what appears to be the light through blinds on the other. It’s like she’s outside and inside at the same time. It’s making my mind think crazy things! On the plus side, it’s nice to see her subtly checking to see if she needs any more deodorant. If you’re trying on clothes that don’t belong to you – as models are prone to do – then it’s important that you’re not leaving them stinky. I’m not saying that Thomas had any problems with Samantha Gradoville on this shoot but this picture says he may have some deep-seated resentment for models in general as he’s clearly indicating the untrustworthy nature of them in this shot. We can plainly see the imagery we associate with a police line-up and captivity; portrait shot with lines behind for height; manacles on the hand. But just in case we were in any doubt as to whether this could mean the model was innocent and framed Thomas makes sure we can see she’s sitting down to disguise just how tall she is. Why would a model make herself smaller? Duplicity! She’s looking to avoid punishment. Oh, Thomas, what did a model do to you? Nice lighting and tones,...
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