Archive for May, 2011

Star Wars Episode I to III

Movies | Posted by Dean
May 26 2011

I remember when it was announced that George Lucas was producing three new Star Wars films. The excitement level was high as was the expectations. Over the release dates the hopes and expectations were consistently lowered as we all saw the story taking second place to the ability to create the CGI special effects, for me I had not seen Episode II and III due to the reports of this, that was until the past 2 to 3 weeks.

Star Wars: Episode I - Phantom Menace

Star Wars: Episode I - Phantom Menace


Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace
I distinctly remember going to watch The Matrix after a 24 hour stint on a uni project, needless to say I was tired but thought I would hang out for the movie. I managed to watch the Episode I trailer through and was really looking forward the movies release, then promptly snored through the Matrix before the opening credits finished!

My expectations were high with the cast including Liam Neeson, Ewan MacGregor and the delightful Natalie Portman. The story has a good basis and there is a great story trying to escape the confines, however the use of CGI seemed to be the main goal of the production. The live action sequences free of CGI were enthralling and the acting is not bad.

I guess the embodiment of the CGI overuse is Jar Jar Binks. A case could be made that Jar Jar is the singularly most annoying character in the history of science fiction. It is not that Jar Jar is a CGI character, it is that his just an insane character in this movie. Thankfully the over the top characteristics are scaled back in the latter movies.

I like the fact that Darth Maul is used sparingly and even more pleased that they were brave enough to kill Qui Gon Jin off. Without that move the remainder of the story would not develop appropriately.

Overall I think this movie is reasonable, but by no means a masterpiece and well worth watching. I rate it a 7 out of 10.

Star Wars: Episode II - Attack Of The Clones

Star Wars: Episode II - Attack Of The Clones


Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones
Again there is a story trying to get out here. The use of CGI though is still a bit over relied upon. The action sequences are fine, however the overwhelming failing of this and the subsequent film are a casting decision!

This movie brings with it Hayden Christensen as Anakin Skywalker. I find Haydens’ acting akin to watching a Gumby claymation production. There is just a disconnect between actions and words, and I find this off putting and not convincing.

This movie is not as good as the previous and Christensen detracts from the story further. Another actor could have done a better job in my opinion. 6.5 / 10 for mine.

Star Wars: Episode III - Reveng Of The Sith

Star Wars: Episode III - Reveng Of The Sith


Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith
This movie suffers from the fact that we all know what was going happen due to seeing Episode IV well before Episode I was created. This limits the story and the experience overall, I wonder how it would be for the new generation who don’t have that baggage. I must say though that the way the limited story is delivered is very well done. The use of CGI is extensive, however the kid in a chocolate shop excitement over the technology has been superceded with lets use CGI to coplement a story, not replace it!

Again Christensens acting detracts from the experience. A solid effort though, 6.5/10 for me.

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“Born This Way” the Album Review

Music | Posted by Dean
May 23 2011

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Lady Gaga Born This Way Cover

Lady Gaga Born This Way Cover


Time to admit it, I do like Lady Gaga music. It fits in amongst a lot of different genres and styles within including Mozart to Eminem to Metallica and every level of Hip-Hop/Pop/Rap/Rock within. If you are not a Gaga head it is time to stop reading this now.

I have been anxiously waiting for the release of Born This Way as the music from The Fame/The Fame Monster was just reaching the point where it would be condemned to the occasional play (i.e. it’s there but only if I am in that very specific mood). Basically needed to add a new spark to the music. My excitement piqued when the single was released I thought this is going to keep the standards right up there.

So yesterday I managed to get into my local JB Hi Fi to have a look and the album was there. I very quickly snavelled the Special Edition which includes a second disk of remixes. I also grabbed The Remix for the first album, adding to the re-energising potential. Both set me back less that $30 Australian, so can’t complain. With much excitement I slipped the CD in the car stereo and hit play.

After hearing Born This Way (Track 2) and Judas (Track 4) there were 2 good songs and 2 also rans, then Americano (Track 5) hit. I was thinking that the album lacks a certain something that the previous album had. I was not engrossed in some of the tracks to date and they faded into the background.

Lady Gaga Born This Way (Special Edition) Cover

Lady Gaga Born This Way (Special Edition) Cover


I continued to listen to the rest of the album and was particularly captured by Scheiße. This is most likely due to the fact it utilises German. The beat and music suit the lyrics, it is a boppy song and is quite infectious.

In terms of the singles we know that Born This Way, Judas and Hair are out. Marry The Night and with luck Scheiße will follow this up. Both receive the remix treatment on the Special Edition of the album, as does Fashion of his Love which I suspect qualifies it as another potential singles spot.

On the whole there are some real highs and flat bits, there are no complete disasters. I mean Gaga does not all of a sudden produce a Melissa Tkautz Read My Lips or anything as disastrous as that. Don’t get me wrong, the album is still very strong but unlike the previous effort lacks that instant appeal. The flat tracks are more than likely the type that will grow on you over time, that is my hope. I think we should keep in mind that following up the previous album was always going to be ridiculously tough, if not impossible. This album should keep the Gagamonsters happy though!

I have given this album a solid ★★★★★★★☆☆☆

P.S. It is playing now and will be for the remainder of the day.

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Spiderman 3 in 5 minutes … better than the actual movie!

Movies | Posted by Dean
May 21 2011


During my perusal of the How It Should Have Ended site I noticed the Spiderman 3 rendition. As I think most would consur Spiderman 3 was where a successful franchise went to far and jumped the shark. There has not been a Spiderman movie since, and would only be possible with a complete reboot.

I can not resist sharing the HISHE video with you which tells the entire story in a shorter time in a better way.

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Pip and The Cockatiel

General | Posted by Dean
May 19 2011

Pip the Indian RIngneck

Pip the Indian RIngneck


Bobbie and I have always been keen to have pets, however it is hard as renters. We though have been lucky with fish and birds. Nemo the monster goldfish has been with us all the while and we have gone through a number of Siamese Fighting Fish over the time (currently 3 here now). Fish though do not give the interaction that birds can.

We really became aware of this with Custard the Indian Ringneck. Custard adopted us by flying into the kitchen at the old place and ate a banana from the fruit basket. Over a period of a few months Custard formed a strong bond with me, in fact it could well have been described as love. Whenever I was around she would put her chest forward, pin her eyes, and cluck. When she was allowed out of her cage she would often come to my shoulder. Sadly Custard flew the coop about a month before we moved, I like to think that Custard went to educate others in bird love. It did leave us devastated and hollow, so we planned to obtain a new Indian Ringneck once we had moved. That bird is Pip.

Pip was raised by a breeder as a hand raised bird, however her social interaction was neglected in the last couple of months. As a result Pip had began reverting to aviary bird habits. We also gave Pip a hell of a fright on the second day out of the cage. After a few hours we needed Pip to go back to the cage. Pip though had other ideas and it was only after chasing around the house for 45+ minutes that Pip capitulated, I dare say to the exhaustion as much as anything. Since then Pip has been on the skittish side.

Since that time Pip has been out a few times, and by out I mean sitting atop the cage. Rarely does Pip venture more than 2 metres from the cage. Over the past couple of days though Pip is starting to show signs of gaining confidence with us. Pip is not scurrying back into the safety of the cage as we pass within a couple of metres as she used to, in fact I have managed to have my hand on the cage within 30 centinetres without Pip moving today, this is progress. Pip is also starting to pay close attention to the whistles and speeches we perform for her. Hopefully it won’t be too much longer before we have a bit more sociable bird on our hands.

Cockatiel

Cockatiel


Also have the new cage for the Cockatiel when it arrives in a couple of weeks. Nice sized cage and stand for $68 from Pet Barn. The Cockatiel is a purely hand raised bird and will come our way at 8 weeks old. We will need to keep the socialisation up with the Cockatiel. The Cockatiel will be the common grey and yellow variety, however will not be named until we see the personality. If it is a loopy bird I am thinking Nut would be good and complements Pip.

We are hopeful that Pip and the Cockatiel will form a friendship and be stimulation for one another. We are also hopeful that Pip will also learn from seeing the human/Cockatiel interaction that we are not the enemy and begin participating in human/Indian Ringneck activities.

We live in hope that we will have two happy birds and a healthy interactive relationship with them soon.

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Apple iOS Updates … Why so frustrating!

Geek | Posted by Dean
May 19 2011

Apple released iOS version 4.3.3 on the 4th May. This was for me relatively good timing as I was about to pick up a brand new iPhone 4 with an iOS that would need an update. The phone has iOS 4.3 on it, so my second task after setup was to update IOS on it. Well so I thought.

iOS 4 Logo

iOS 4 Logo

It is now the fourth day of trying and failing. The process is failing during the download, so before it even attempts updating the phone. Each and every time the iOS update ends with error 1403, which is a corrupt file. You only get this message after downloading the 600+ MB from Apple.

I would guess I have tried a minimum of 15 times in the past 4 days. This represents 9+ GB of download wasted for no result. The suggestions on the Apple Support Communities from a fellow iOS user is to wait a few days and try again. Hardly a solution, and I do not fancy waiting a few days and see the exact same behaviour continue. I will be shaped lickity split if it does.

I think Apple need to revise the way they perform iOS updates. Perhaps delivery of patches via small files rather than moster updates. Or if the monster updates are to continue how about splitting the download into smaller chunks (say 50 – 100 MB) that can be verified individually before being assembled into the larger update file. In the latter scenario the corrupted content would represent a lot less to download again than the whole 600+ MB.

Another thing Apple should have a long hard think about it where private customers like myself have multiple iOS devices. I have an iPad (which miraculously got 4.3.3), iPhone 4, and an iTouch in the house. Each requires its own specific download to accomplish the same base task of running iOS 4.3.3. The equates to roughly 1.5 GB just to ensure the 3 devices are up to date. Why could I not download a single smart update that includes smarts to say are you an iPad/iPhone/iTouch and then include the applicable code updates. Again this would save a lot of download limit for those of us with the devices in the house.

This all said I am not likely to jump to Android or Windows Phone 7 as a mobile compute platform. I just am not impressed by them. I float this advice on the hope that Apple may look at how they can make their update experience better and more robust for the home user.

Anyone else had a similar iOS experience or have any thoughts on how the update experience could be improved?

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