Wednesday, February 05, 2003
Well, I survived another LAN event! We spent the weekend at Ben's house in Reading and had a great time, drinking, playing CS, taking the piss etc etc...
Personal high-note?:
We're on Mice_final2. Huge map...all talk is on. I have an AWM (as if???) and Moosey is right on the other side of the map, on the T shelf.
Moose: "I'm gonna jump off the shelf, I bet no-one can hit me on the way down. Here I go" (jumps) "weeeeeeee!!!"
!!!!BLAM!!!!
Moose: "Bastard! Nice headshot K". ;-)
Special thanks to Rav's missus and kids for putting up with us. I think he was a bit worried we'd be 'put off' by them staying but it couldn't be helped as she couldn't make it to Rav's Mum's (snowed in) and anyway, it was nice to have someone around who wasn't a dysfunctional CS freak ;-)
On the way down I popped in to my friend Lynda's and had a chat and a brew, then on to see her brother Michael and his wife Helen. I also got to meet their little boy Owen, who is very very cute, but I still don't want any ;-)
Anyway, they asked me to be his Godfather!!! Me!! Well, I was very flattered if a little bemused and of course accepted. Still feeling a little strange about it now.
Then on to Reading and so began the weekend of stuff and drink and games and stuff. Funny moment? When someone went on Moosey's machine and bound mouseattack to "kill", which meant that every time he fired he died ;-)
One of the strangest things about being at a LAN event is that no-one watches TV. I didn't see any between 10am Friday and 9pm Sunday, and it didn't feel weird or anything. But it means that when the news is talking about things for the 4th time you get shocked stupid. The Shuttle disaster (it can't be a 'crash' can it?) happened Sunday afternoon UK time, yet I first saw it on TV on Monday afternoon. Very strange. They're now talking about the possibility that the whole thing was doomed from the start. It appears that a piece of insulation from the main fuel tank came loose and hit the port wing on take-off, damaging it, but it's going to be months if not years before we have a clear picture I guess.
OK, films I saw yesterday:
Gone in 60 seconds.
Well, I have never seen the original so I didn't know what to expect except cars and stunts and stuff. The film itself has a very basic plot of "Brother saving brother" when anyone with any sense would have gone round and just shot the bad guy in the first 10 minutes.
However, the cars are fab, the stunts are fab, and it's not all *that* bad.
Gosford Park.
Murder-mystery except it's not really. Sir William invites some family and friends for a weekend at the country house. There, about 90 mintues into a 2 and a half hour film, he gets killed, except he's already dead.
The film is in reality about the different relationships between each of the guests and their friends and their servants. It is also and excuse for Robert Altman to use various techniques and to play with the audience a little. The camera is *always* moving. In every single shot. That's pretty impressive in itself. Then you notice (or read on IMDB, I'm not proud) that there is a servant in *every single scene*. Altman had the cast wear minature microphones rather than use boom mics so he could better capture overlapping discussions.
Overall a very well made film, well shot, well acted by an all-star British cast and a pleasure to watch. Don't expect fast-paced thrills or anything of that nature, but just settle down and let it all wash over you.
Con Air.
Watched this last night on TV. Funny film, but not as good this time around. John Malkovich and Nicholas Cage are on board an aircraft transporting convicts when there is an on-board riot and Malkovich takes over. Pretty good action sequences, some funny lines. Cage's accent is horrible, Malkovich is menacing and Buscemi is just the weirdest googly-eyed f*ck ever to walk the Earth ;-)
Random quote:
["Sweet Home Alabama" plays in background.]
Garland Greene (Buscemi) : Define irony: a bunch of idiots dancing around on a plane to a song made famous by a band that died in a plane crash.
OK, I'll post more later this week...
K.
Personal high-note?:
We're on Mice_final2. Huge map...all talk is on. I have an AWM (as if???) and Moosey is right on the other side of the map, on the T shelf.
Moose: "I'm gonna jump off the shelf, I bet no-one can hit me on the way down. Here I go" (jumps) "weeeeeeee!!!"
!!!!BLAM!!!!
Moose: "Bastard! Nice headshot K". ;-)
Special thanks to Rav's missus and kids for putting up with us. I think he was a bit worried we'd be 'put off' by them staying but it couldn't be helped as she couldn't make it to Rav's Mum's (snowed in) and anyway, it was nice to have someone around who wasn't a dysfunctional CS freak ;-)
On the way down I popped in to my friend Lynda's and had a chat and a brew, then on to see her brother Michael and his wife Helen. I also got to meet their little boy Owen, who is very very cute, but I still don't want any ;-)
Anyway, they asked me to be his Godfather!!! Me!! Well, I was very flattered if a little bemused and of course accepted. Still feeling a little strange about it now.
Then on to Reading and so began the weekend of stuff and drink and games and stuff. Funny moment? When someone went on Moosey's machine and bound mouseattack to "kill", which meant that every time he fired he died ;-)
One of the strangest things about being at a LAN event is that no-one watches TV. I didn't see any between 10am Friday and 9pm Sunday, and it didn't feel weird or anything. But it means that when the news is talking about things for the 4th time you get shocked stupid. The Shuttle disaster (it can't be a 'crash' can it?) happened Sunday afternoon UK time, yet I first saw it on TV on Monday afternoon. Very strange. They're now talking about the possibility that the whole thing was doomed from the start. It appears that a piece of insulation from the main fuel tank came loose and hit the port wing on take-off, damaging it, but it's going to be months if not years before we have a clear picture I guess.
OK, films I saw yesterday:
Gone in 60 seconds.
Well, I have never seen the original so I didn't know what to expect except cars and stunts and stuff. The film itself has a very basic plot of "Brother saving brother" when anyone with any sense would have gone round and just shot the bad guy in the first 10 minutes.
However, the cars are fab, the stunts are fab, and it's not all *that* bad.
Gosford Park.
Murder-mystery except it's not really. Sir William invites some family and friends for a weekend at the country house. There, about 90 mintues into a 2 and a half hour film, he gets killed, except he's already dead.
The film is in reality about the different relationships between each of the guests and their friends and their servants. It is also and excuse for Robert Altman to use various techniques and to play with the audience a little. The camera is *always* moving. In every single shot. That's pretty impressive in itself. Then you notice (or read on IMDB, I'm not proud) that there is a servant in *every single scene*. Altman had the cast wear minature microphones rather than use boom mics so he could better capture overlapping discussions.
Overall a very well made film, well shot, well acted by an all-star British cast and a pleasure to watch. Don't expect fast-paced thrills or anything of that nature, but just settle down and let it all wash over you.
Con Air.
Watched this last night on TV. Funny film, but not as good this time around. John Malkovich and Nicholas Cage are on board an aircraft transporting convicts when there is an on-board riot and Malkovich takes over. Pretty good action sequences, some funny lines. Cage's accent is horrible, Malkovich is menacing and Buscemi is just the weirdest googly-eyed f*ck ever to walk the Earth ;-)
Random quote:
["Sweet Home Alabama" plays in background.]
Garland Greene (Buscemi) : Define irony: a bunch of idiots dancing around on a plane to a song made famous by a band that died in a plane crash.
OK, I'll post more later this week...
K.
