Alastair's Blog

Celebrity deaths in 2011

mondrak — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 15:15:43 +0000

As usual, we had to say goodbye to some greats in 2011. It was a sad year for music, sport and entertainment.

Harry Morgan 07/12/2011
Ken Russell 27/11/2011
Anne McCaffrey 21/11/2011
Joe Frazier 07/11/2011
Dan Wheldon 16/10/2011
Steve Jobs 05/10/2011
Charles Napier 05/10/2011
Frances Bay 15/09/2011
Andy Whitfield 11/09/2011
Bubba Smith 03/08/2011
Amy Winehouse 23/07/2011
Betty Ford 08/07/2011
Peter Falk 24/06/2011
Jeff Conaway 27/05/2011
Randy Savage 20/05/2011
Mia Amber Davis 10/05/2011
Jackie Cooper 04/05/2011
Elisabeth Sladen 19/04/2011
Elizabeth Taylor 23/03/2011
Michael Gough 17/03/2011
Jane Russell 28/02/2011
Nicholas Courtney 22/02/2011
Gerry Rafferty 04/01/2011
Pete Postlethwaite 02/01/2011
Anne Francis 02/01/2011

^^^Rest in peace^^^

And of course the the dictator and the terrorist, Osama Bin Laden and Colonel Gadafi.

Burn in hell.

Filed under: life

Happy New Year

mondrak — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 12:46:14 +0000

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!!

Welcome to 2012

Filed under: life

Films I watched in 2011

mondrak — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 12:43:43 +0000

Here is a list of the films I watched in 2011 and what I thought of them. These are in no particular order, they are as I remember them.

Black Death(Sean Bean) A bit naff really **
The Adjustment Bureau(Matt Damon) Loved the concept, enjoyed it ****
Twilight: Eclipse(Dakota Fanning) Another good Twilight film. Only really enjoyed by Twilight fans ****
X-Men: First Class(Jennifer Lawrence) Loved the way they set this up for the rest of the films. Thoroughly enjoyed it. ****
Unstoppable(Chris Pine) Inspired by a true story, and a very good film ****
Tron: Legacy(Bruce Boxleitner) Good follow up to the original classic ***
Transformers: Dark of the Moon(Shia LaBeouf) Much better than 2 as they didn’t do close ups on the fight sequences ****
Predators(Danny Trejo) A good film, going back to the idea that Predators kill and don’t want to be friends ****
The Other Guys (Will Ferrell) Only one thing I have to say about this film C-R-A-P The only good bits were when Samuel L Jackson and Dwayne Johnson were in it *
Thor(Natalie Portman) Good film. Well cast and the openings for The Avengers were well done. The humour was well placed as well. ****
Battle: Los Angeles(Michelle Rodriguez) Another alien invasion film, and the effects were brilliant. ****
Cowboys and Aliens(Olivia Wilde) Another alien invasion film, this time set in the 1800′s Wild West. Very good ****
The Book of Eli(Denzel Washington) As a post apocalyptic earth film, it was somewhat lacking. They could have done a lot more with it. **
Surrogates(Bruce Willis) Seen the style of film before, but this one was cleverly done. ****
Captain America(Chris Evans) I had been avoiding this film as it never really interested me, but when I did get round to it, I thoroughly enjoyed it. ****
Rise of the Planet of the Apes (Freida Pinto) Setting the scene for the original Planet of the Apes films. In my opinion … BRILLIANT *****
Final Destination 5(David Koechner) Good prequel. Ties really well into the first film. ****
Skyline(Eric Balfour) Akin to Cloverfield Effects are well done and the whole film was very good ****
Season of the Witch(Clare Foy) The producers spent all of their money on Ron Perlman and Nicholas Cage they had no money left for anything decent in this film. **
Resident Evil: Afterlife (Mila Jovovich) Great next step in the film franchise ****
Faster(Dwayne Johnson) A Good film with a predictable end to it. ***
Fast and Furious 5(Vin Diesel) Still making the fast car films with excellent results ****
Red Riding Hood(Amanda Seyfried) New take on an old story. Good, but not one I would watch again often ***
Patchfinder (Karl Urban) Excellent viking savagery film. ****
National Treasure(Nicholas Cage) Male version of the Tomb Raider franchise. Good. ****
National Treasure 2(Nicholas Cage) Should have stopped with the first one **
Mirrors(Kiefer Sutherland) Good idea for a film. Predictable ending. ***
The Mechanic(Jason Statham) Another great action film from the new action hero ****
Limitless(Bradley Cooper) A great idea, seriously lacking though. **
Let Me In(Kodi Smit-McPhee) A beautiful film about two children with their own demons. ****
I Am Number Four(Alex Pettyfer) Aliens who look like teenagers. Good storyline, well presented ****
The Green Lantern (Ryan Reynolds) The effects on this Superhero Movie were nothing short of brilliant. ****

Filed under: Films

Proud

mondrak — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 12:22:18 +0000

To say I was proud of my daughter would be the understatement of the millennium. At school she was given a word to use in a poem. That’s all … one word. The poem she ended up writing was very moving, and on Friday (9th December 2011) I received a letter from Young Writers. The letter I got regarding her poem was:

Letter confirming daughter's poem

I don’t think I could be more proud of her.

Filed under: education, kids

Another Gamercard

mondrak — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 10:00:22 +0000

Filed under: Uncategorized

New gamercard

mondrak — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 10:04:29 +0000

Filed under: Uncategorized

How disgusting …..

mondrak — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 13:38:32 +0000

I was in a cafe today, and at 11.00 (on 11/11/11) my sister, my daughter and I observed the two minute silence. There was a group of elderly people on a table just over from us and they were still talking. I pointed out that it was 11.00, and the response we got from one of the women was “so?” She then said to her friend “it’s not until Sunday.” I was completely disgusted with them. We (the younger generation) stop to pay tribute to those who have fallen in conflicts, and the people who have lived through more conflicts couldn’t give a damn. Only one of the women was wearing a poppy.

Filed under: Uncategorized

Do a barrel roll

mondrak — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 19:34:11 +0000

Search: “do a barrel roll” on google using google chrome or Firefox … nuff said

Search: “google gravity” and select I’m feeling lucky

Filed under: Funny, Internet

I know where I was

mondrak — Sun, 11 Sep 2011 21:38:48 +0000

At around 13:46 on Tuesday September 11th 2001, I was at work in SAGA Services as a Customer Services advisor. I had been taking calls and then for some reason the amount of calls waiting just dropped for about 30 to 5 then to nothing. I was happy as it meant that I could chat to Rosie who sat over from me. Lovely lady, in her late fifties, but never a bad word to say to anyone. Then I got a call, I did my usual yada yada about who they had called and what my name was, and the woman on the other end said to me “have you seen the news?” This took me aback, and I said “sorry? No, we only have the TV on here if there is something of major importance” She said to me that there had been an attack in America and that the trade centre was gone, it was all over the news. I said to her that I was going to pop her on hold as our hold music was SAGA radio. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Rosie asked me if I was alright as “you look like you seen a ghost love.” I just yelled to my team manager, Mark, to listen to the news. He glared at me for doing what I wasn’t supposed to, which was yell across the banks. He shook his head and listened in to my call. His head shot up, and he threw his headpiece on the table and headed towards the TV, but one of the other team managers beat him to it, and the sight that I saw was nothing short of horrific. Seeing the tower on fire. Seeing people leaping from the windows, then seeing the other plane hit was … well, there is nothing I can say to explain what I saw.

Ten years on and I can still recall vividly what I was seeing. It is a sight that will never leave me. I am an agnostic, and it is at times like that which make me wonder how there can be an omnipotent god who will throw away almost three thousands lives. My heart goes out to the families and friends of the people who lost their lives in the attacks. The bravery of the people who tried to help out. How the rich rubbed shoulders with the poor to try to save as many people as they could. The acts of bravery are too numerous to mention, but they will always be remembered.

The world WILL NOT GIVE IN TO TERROR!

This post does not convey what I try to say, as I can not put into words what I see in my mind, but it goes a little way.

Filed under: life

Three Short films from Within Temptation for Unforgiving

mondrak — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 09:10:26 +0000

Filed under: Films, Music