The Man with No Time

Yes, I've been to see another film. Yes, it's another one that was actually released ages ago. Yes, I love the Warwick Student Cinema for letting me catch up on films like this. Any further questions? Captain Philips is based on the true story of a Somali pirate hijacking. Not just any run-of-the-mill hijacking (if there is any such thing) though, oh no. The hijacking of the Maersk Alabama  was the first successful seizure of a US flagged vessel by pirates since the early 19th century (wikipedia) . Although there have been accusations that the film is inaccurate in some respects, in some ways that's to be expected for any 'based on a true story' film or television series. The movie poster depicts the moment that the pirates board the ship. (Credit: imdb.com)

So as I mentioned in a previous post , I travelled over to Leicester today for my first Warmachine tournament of the year. I'd been told that it started at 10:30, and after a tangle with Leicester's current heavy roadworks and diversions, made it to the venue about 10:15 to find that the tournament was literally just starting. I'd made it just in time! It was a small affair - only 8 players - and very Warmachine heavy. We had two Cryx players (including myself), three Protectorate players, a Mercenaries player, and a Khador player. The sole Hordes representative was playing Legion. I said in my other post that I was hoping for 'not last'. Sadly that wasn't to be, and I did indeed finish at the bottom of the heap. Sadly it wasn't even particularly close, and I put in what was a pretty poor showing at times. Not the worst I've ever played, but not the best either. I do miss playing more regularly. I'm going to do a quick run down of m...

One of my goals for this year was to get more game reviews up on the blog. I very carefully didn't specify what type of games that would be though, and with my hobbies that leaves a lot of options! I've played a few new board games so far, but want to get in some more plays with them before I review them, so I'm going to start off with a video game review. Halo 4 is the most recent instalment in the Microsoft X-Box exclusive Halo franchise. Originally created by Bungie, the license was handed to 343 Industries after Bungie declared that they had reached the end of their plans for the series. The Halo games to date have mostly been first person shooters, and Halo 4 continues this trend, picking up the storyline of the games main character, the Master Chief, several years post-Halo 3. The box art for Halo 4. (Credit: en.wikipedia.com) I played through the original Halo on the PC, then played the second and third instalments co-operatively with my brother on t...

Tomorrow I'm travelling over to Leicester for my first Warmachine tournament of the year. I've never been to the store there, so it's a bit of a journey into the unknown. But after asking on the Warhammer Forum's Warmachine board it seems that there's no sign up, just turn up on the day. So I thought I would. It's a 35pt, Deathclock, Steamroller 2014 event. Two lists, with each having to be played at least once. 

Warning - today is a rant day. I got home last night to find a note from the flat underneath mine - turns out he'd had a leak coming in through his bathroom ceiling, which had given him a mild electric shock from his light switch and taken out the light in his bathroom. Fortunately he was ok, but he'd had to have the emergency repairman out from Whitefriars housing to sort it out. It turns out the culprit was my toilet. When I left for work yesterday morning (about 9:30), all seemed ok. But after checking out downstairs after I got home about 22:30, I found that the valve on the pipe feeding my cistern was leaking; it was only drips, but they were pretty frequent and had clearly been going for most of the day if the dampness of that corner of my bathroom was anything to go by (not just the carpet, but the wall around the pipe too). I didn't sleep particularly well - I think it was worry that the bowl I'd put under the drip, which I'd managed to slow consi...

Yesterday had me doing something a little different to my usual weekend activities. Taking advantage of the fact that I'm back in the Midlands, I decided to go to Autosport International, the racing car show put on by Autosport magazine. My brother and dad thought they'd come along too, so it turned into a family day out, which was nice. I'd been to the show several times before, both when I lived at home and when I was a student in Coventry. It's held at the Birmingham NEC, so it's pretty easy to get to from here. But I haven't been in years, and was keen to see how it had changed, if at all.

I've been getting a bit behind on new film releases in recent months. First I missed Elysium. Then I missed Gravity, which by all accounts was amazing and something that, as an astronomer, I really should see. Then I managed to avoid seeing Ender's Game, which I was also looking forward to. Finally, there's the second part of the Hobbit trilogy (don't get me started...). I really enjoyed the first one, and was looking forward to part 2, but I missed the work trip to go and see it at the IMAX. So I thought I'd wait to go with my family over the Christmas holidays. Circumstances contrived to make this difficult, but we did eventually manage to get to see it (in 2D of course) last night. Promotional poster for ' the Desolation of Smaug ', showing Bilbo in front of the Lonely Mountain. (Credit: fansided.com)

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE! This is the third and final part of my year's end review. Last time I looked at my goals from last year, and found that I'd achieved roughly half of them. This time around I'm going to be setting my goals for this year. As with every time I do this, I'll be trying (on the whole) to make them plausible. They're more to encourage me to push on with my hobbies than to be any kind of life-changing aspirations, so don't expect anything too wild. (Note that * marks those carried over or repeated from last year)