Weekly blogs – well that didn’t last long

Hi all, suddenly a month has gone past since my last blog! I never seem to have time to fit everything in. I have watched next to no TV, played no games or done much of anything really. Work, running and shopping for Christmas is about all I’ve managed. On the up side I hit my weight goal of 11stone in fact managed 10stone 13lbs.

Unfortunately the treadmill broke a few days after, which was a couple of weeks after the warranty ran out. The irony is the treadmill isn’t even payed for yet! Cutting a long story short the part is available for £40 delivered but looks like a bit of a job to fit. I don’t like to moan on my blog but this was a £1000 treadmill reduced to £700 and neither my wife and I are that heavy but the walking board under the belt has cracked. I would have hoped a treadmill should have lasted longer than that we both use it every day, I run on it but my wife mainly walks. Not exactly heavy use. Anyway if any of you are looking to get a new treadmill best avoid the pro-form performance 600i. Also a note about iFit which some treadmills have, its very proprietary so it’s not a standard Bluetooth connection requires their apps, subscription and wearables to work. What is wrong with these people Apple Watch and Fitbit connection at least should be standard. When you invest in products they should all work together without ripping people off time and time again. Giving iFit credit though the new app is brilliant the workouts are fun and the maps are much smoother and immersive.

It’s taking two hours walking outside to hit my calories goal which is very draining on my time. We have an exercise bike but it doesn’t interact with any of our devices so I find it quite hard to motivate myself. Might after start running outside again but the winter is never the best time to start.

Entertainment

I have caught up on Supergirl, Arrow and made a start on the Flash, these are ones I normally enjoy but this seasons I’m finding them slow going.

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NCIS has been ok, and has survived the departure of Abby. Criminal minds on the other hand should have finished three seasons ago, I struggling to bother watching it at all.

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Movies have mainly been Christmas cheese and although I don’t mind that at all the do start to blend into one. Highlights have been the Christmas Conicals and Princess Switch in the new ones. Love Actually, Nativity, Die Hard and the Holiday are all classics that I have caught up on.

Between the cheese we have caught up on some of the new Netflix stuff which I have to say I’m well impressed with the selection. Dumplin’ was excellent and so was Kissing Booth. We have watched so many over the last week or two I can’t recall them all as I said the Christmas ones tend to just blend! A simple favour was captivating, very impressive. I will mention Set-up too which was great I haven’t gone into detail about anything as I basically can’t remember but if you normally like what I watch you will like these.

Snowflakes

I have a little rant about the snow flake generation who find themselves offended by absolutely everything, including this blog. I will just comment on the latest crazy idea that has spawned from this movement, we need to make farther Christmas more generic!! Really! I truly have no words, everyone is entitled to their opinion, but why should the majority bend to every minorities whims just because they have decided something we hold dear is offensive to them. We are allowed to be offended you are not going to agree with everyone or everything, but that does not give us the right to presume the majority should change to fit in. My advise to anyone who wants to be them-self and feels that life has dealt them the wrong cards, go ahead, but accept that you will probably stand out in a crowd, people will look at you. I guess what I’m saying is any choices we make have consequences. If I choose to have green hair some people won’t agree with my choices and some will even voice that. I don’t expect a law to be made to show Santa with green hair that would be ridiculous right? If someone was to attack me for having green hair they are already braking the law so I don’t need anything else to protect me. Anyone who’s been to school will remember how cruel the world can be and lots of people try to fit in just to survive. We will also remember the ones that were brave enough not to, but will that be for the right reasons, I suspect not.

You can’t make the world agree with you by changing symbols from our childhood or putting 15 genders on forms. My advice is: be who you want to be, be offended, understand most people won’t agree with your choices and accept that, while living your best life!

A week of work, gaming and entertainment!

Hi all, I said I was going to mix it up, but I think with the fact that I’m into the same stuff as always it might be a challenge. Can try and be a bit more inventive with the format.

Sunday Movie night

After fitting the dishwasher, and cupboard handles, I thought I’d relax with a film! That was short lived as I realised I needed to clean out the fish/duck and cut the top grass! Blasted through that relatively quickly! Also noticed I needed to hit my goals so 5k run slotted in too!

The film we chose was mission impossible -fallout, personally I thought it was good and very similar to the others. So if you like them this is a solid 7/10 watch!

Sleepy Monday

Oh dear finally fell asleep at 2am so then the alarm went off at 6:45 I was not ready to get up! Hopped in the shower and basically showered with my eyes closed. I’m like the walking dead today! Hope to wake up later as I’m babysitting lots of databases this week and it’s a gaming global event on “The Division”.

Morning full of calls, saved me from having to concentrate too much! Some interesting stuff there though. Coffee and fruit bread, are a great fuel keeping me going!

Lunch time dog walk woke me up it’s quite fresh out there today even though the suns out. Closed my green ring too which is a result, will still have to do a run to hit my red one it’s up to 580 calories now!

Well 12minute run in the bag 2.5% incline for first 5mins managed 2.33km I’m more than pleased with that all rings completed!

Katsu for tea then The Division GE!! Pitch Perfect was tonight’s mealtime soundtrack… I know we rock right!?!

PC division went well logged off at 23:30 then decided to reboot the router and I’m still massing with it, the iPad and iPhones keep locking up on the Wi-fi I have switched them off and on but made no difference! Fingers crossed that this has fixed it as I haven’t had any more dropouts!

We are now in what I predict to be Tired Tuesday!

Tired Tuesday!

Never start a two minute electronics Job at 23:30 it is invariably going to end in disaster!

so an hour and a half later I gets to bed and the router is fixed.

Work was a mixed bag today, until about 15:00 when it went crazy. Led to a late finish which is annoying as I needed to do a run and I have a date with the Division! I want to get a good tactician build and this is the event to do it! Some of the guys still need gear on the Xbox so I want to balance my time but if yesterday is anything to go on the Xbox won’t get a look in.

Slotted a walk in earlier and my 12 minute run before tea! Pushed it to 2.35km tonight!So all my rings are sorted!

Had madras for tea and it was delicious!

Division on the PC is a challenge for me, can’t use mouse and keyboard so can’t compete in pvp but I’m getting there in pve enjoyed last night solo Times Square legendary, just came unstuck at the end! Had to give up and grind some gear, still pleased I got that far!

Wan Wednesday

Woke up with a migraine so I emailed work and went back to bed!

Managed to pull myself together for my 14:30 work call looking at Exadata! Was very interesting so I’m glad I didn’t miss it.

Took the dog out for a 4K walk thought that might help it didn’t but at least it eat away at my move goal.

Struggled on my 12 minute run but still managed 2.34 k so not too shabby. Completed another perfect day rings wise which is always an achievement when you are ill.

Not much else to note really as I’ve given screens a wide birth today.

Throwback Thursday

Still tired and headache not masses better, but I have work to catch up on and it’s The Division global event. Also my sons 24th birthday 😬

Work was mega busy unsurprisingly but why do people wait until 15:00 to come through with requests when they have had all day. Up side is I clawed back some of my hours. I was booked for dad taxi duties in the evening to drop boy and his girlfriend at a restaurant so they could have a drink! Also managed to volunteer to be on call for a change too!

On the way to drop them off I put #throwbackThursday on Spotify and I expected all would be good, but alas it sucked! This was easily fixed by asking for “the show” by Eminem, I had forgotten how awesome that album was! Made the taxi job pass much quicker. Had to shoehorn the exercise in, not even sure what I did but all rings completed I’m 6 away from getting my 100 move goal… again! Could get two monthly goals too one is 30 stands and the other is a perfect month!

Had a quick blast on The division but got duplicate items in my cache which is a pain did get a mask though!

Frantic Friday

Well I thought Thursday was busy, it was hectic at work cut a long story short I racked up 9hours and he’d to do Out of hours work and be on call for the weekend.

Also the home system went mad so I had to re code some scripts to get that working again. Not fun when you don’t know what you are doing. That seems to be ok until the next up grade!

Exercise was a disaster, to the point that my friend messaged me to ask if my watch had broke! It’s a good job he did or I would have missed my stand goal and I would have been gutted. Fortunately I managed to get all my rings by the skin of my teeth.

Global event was also a washout, it seemed a bit laggy and I was tired, so basically I sucked. I grinded my way through a legendary mission got to the last guy all I need to do is keep putting my turret out and stay away from him, no let’s press the wrong button and climb on a truck which I couldn’t get off… brilliant! It would have meant going through the last 5 waves again life’s too short so I gave up and did a speed run to get GE credits which was also awful I lost count how may times I went down mainly because NPCs were teleporting all over the place and sliding around the screen when I shocked that! I’m not going to lie I had gamer rage! Oh and the final straw I got another duplicate gear set item.

Positives from the day was the computers are now working and so far not got called out!

Another highlight was tea… we had mac n cheese with breaded chicken it worked really well, tasted delicious and wasn’t crazy calories! Helped me stay under my calories even though I’d had a lot of chocolate to get through the day 😜

Second birthday Saturday

Had a weighing this morning, it’s amazing how that can set your mood for the day 11st 8lb #HappyDay makes all the running worth it.

Ran 6.1k this morning steady pace but sometimes that’s the best way. Managed 35 crunches and a 40 second this it’s the right time to start toning the one pack 😂

My son, girlfriend and flat mate came round for tea they had pizza we had Indian. My parents came too as it was my sons birthday in the week. The food was awesome and we even played a bit of singstar. Then Jake(flat mate) showed me some tricks on borderlands, which I have tried out yet!

All in all was a brilliant day, down side is we have tonnes of cake left which is not good for the diet.

As for the entertainment updates it was very lacking may be next week!

Where has this year gone!

Well blink and you miss it! As I’ve got older I have realised that time is not your friend and I wish for the days when birthdays seemed so far apart. I have done loads this year and I will mention some of the stuff here, a lot of it could warrant a whole blog to it’s self but I might spare you guys that.

Entertainment

Games

The Division Xbox one/PC:

This is one of the main time thief’s, I have spent 42 days playing on the Xbox alone and a modest 45.7 hours on the pc! This is probably the prime reason I stopped blogging. Although there is very little to achieve on the Xbox now I still find it’s my go to game. New shields and Global events keep adding a bit of life but don’t desperately need those. I find the PvP part of the game annoying mainly because it doesn’t suit my play style and I never get any better.

I have really enjoyed starting again on the pc, it showed me I’m better than I think as some of the missions I struggled with at first I rocked through with ease. Looking forward to the new one in March but until then I have tried the following:

• Destiny – looks great and the tutorial bit was good but not played beyond that.
• Destiny 2 – amazing looking game, I’m finding the game play a little confusing but playing it with high level friends is probably not helping.
• Fortnite – not sure why people like this it sucks big time
• Black ops 4 – great game it’s like going home for me, battle royal is ok but see above I don’t love that style of game.
• Borderlands – just an awesome game which I will always go back to
• Borderlands 2 – as above
• FIFA 19 – played demo seems good but not fully committed to it as I’m not a massive football fan.

TV

This year has seen the end of a few shows I watched some defiantly needed the chop but others I think could have gone on and on.

• Nashville – had to go, last season seamed lost, too many of the main faces where either out or only appeared briefly. Decent ending though.

• Lucifer – this could have carried on and the ending was just rubbish!

• Once upon a time – this was done ending was ok not sure where else it could have gone.
• Pretty little liars – not sure this was this year but it had to go! Think the ending was ambitious it set it up for a new series with the same story different cast and or a spin off! Neither of those seem like a good idea to me.

I did start a few things this year:

• Good girls – started well, but only managed to get 4 episodes in before everything else came back
• The affair – really liked this but have not moved on to season 2 yet
• Sharp objects – episode 1 was hard work not sure I will bother.
• 13 reasons – not finished season 1 the episodes are very long.
• SWAT – decent show into season 2 now and it’s going strong

Rediscovered a few too:

• Suits – i have started this a few times, think it’s great but never get more than a few episodes in and I have to start again
• The Good wife – watched most of season 3 and I love it

Stuff that’s started back:

• NCIS all flavours – all good, amazed how Abby’s departure has had less impact than I imagined.
• Lethal weapon – still behind on this but love it
• Elementary – think this has finished again this seasons as great like all the others
• Criminal Minds – loosing the will to live with this it’s lost and maybe should go, Derek left a massive hole in the team and the team lead left taking my interest with him.

Stuff I lost track of and have got behind:

• Hawaii five-0
• Stranger things
• Westworld
• The flash

I’m sure I have missed loads but as TV forms most of my content, I can catch up on them over the coming weeks.

Movies

I have watched many some that come to mind for both good and bad reasons:

Deadpool 2 – as sequels go this is decent I laughed loads!

Avengers infinity wars – oh my days, left the cinema with my home alone face on

Mamma Mia 2 – I was underwhelmed by this one even though the ratings suggested it was better than the first!

Skyscraper – first half got a bit far fetched but that said still enjoyed the film

The greatest showman – one of the best films I have seen

Incredible’s 2 – also very good, may also have help that I watched it with a beer on a cruise ship some where near the Bahamas!!,

Fitness

I have been bouldering a bit, not as much as I’d like but I need to build up the strength and reduce the weight to get the best out of it.

I have run a lot especially over the last two months, mainly treadmill. I did get out recently as the weather conditions have been perfect for me. Relatively mild for this time of year.

Hoping to hit a perfect month on my Apple Watch, I would have done it last month but I lost some data when I upgraded my phone. This was a bit annoying but made me determined to do it this month!

Done some walking too the dog wasn’t well so decided to do more with him has he had become lazy and he seems to have gained a new lease of life.

I’m trying to diet of sorts but not getting on that well, I like food too much. With the increased exercise though I’m keeping below 12stone which isn’t amazing but I’m ok with it.

Holiday

This year we went mad and booked to go to Florida for 10 days and do a 4 day Disney cruise round the Caribbean! I don’t have words to explain how amazing it was. Thrill rides, loads of food and the an amazing cruise to finish. This could fill a whole post so I’m sure I’ll come back to it.

Booked for Cuba next year which will be our 3rd visit to this resort, stalk contrast to this years trip, but will be equally amazing!

Work

I’m now a day walker no more shifts for me! Enjoying weekends at home and not feeling constantly jet lagged. Do I miss the money… yes! Do I miss the 4 days off… also yes. That said though my health was suffering and I think making the move now before I got in trouble at work for time off was the right move. Still doing the same job but not out of hours. I’m on call one in 5 but up until this week I’d only been called out once and then this weekend twice in one night. Helps make the money up.

There are loads of other things going on new dishwasher, handles on cupboards, sub draft beer machine and a new computer! Loving having a PC that a can game on but I’m still a controller kind of guy can’t use the mouse!

Also just wanted to mention a cake mrs H baked, it was a poisoned apple cake from coop recipe and it was delicious! Not great for the diet at 700 calories a slice!

Next post will be back to the usual drivel!

Entertainment – November – Week 2

Another busy week for TV so not sure anything else will get a look in, but I’m hopeful for some COD time later on in the week. I look like putting a full week at work this week as I want time off in December, so maybe I can catch up on some Break TV on my iPad or iPhone. For spoiler avoidance the list below shows the contents of the TV section.

• NCIS Los Angeles S09E07
• NCIS S15E07-E08
• NCIS New Orleans S04E07-E08
• DC Legends Of Tomorrow S03E06
• Flash S04E06
• Supergirl S03E06
• Criminal Minds S13E04

TV

NCIS Los Angeles S09E07:

Wow this is hard core nuclear launch plot, Kensi has history with one of the guys so is called to fly out to the bunker! They are trying to talk one of the guys down, they need all three of them to launch. It’s down to Kensi and the sister to stop one of the guys. It’s that or Kensi down a tube and shoot some shit! She saved the day but Deek’s is in bits, they are not sure how they can carry on doing the job and be together. Not sure which way that will go but the new assistant director and her side kick are starting to gel with the team. Maybe her mind has been changed about splitting them up!

NCIS S15E07-E08

This one twists and turns all over and you see the temporary return of Farnell and Ducky. It’s a good episode but there seems to be too much crammed in, although Farnell omitted evidence in this guys trial, he was convinced he had the right man. This bloke is released after the team re examine the evidence, Gibbs notices some inconsistencies in the guy’s story though and follows him and discovers he’s a very good liar. Although this didn’t prove he was a serial killer it proved he was a liar don’t think we have seen the last of this story.

Episode 8 was very strange hearing voices, this lady Amber leading them to the clues. I can’t say to much about this one as it will totally spoil the twist. Ducky seems to be back, I know his trip thing was only for 6 months but I think he only missed a few episodes. This for me was a brilliant episode lots of tech things and things that go bump in the night! Also we find out more about Tim becoming a farther soon.

NCIS New Orleans S04E07-E08:

This one is mind blowing literally, fitting chips into people’s brain to treat anger issues caused by posttraumatic stress. Clinical trials go wrong when someone hacks the system and stimulates the subjects to lose control and murder. Patton is called in and we found out that he will be working with his ex wife and they have unresolved issue regarding his accident. Great to found out Patton’s back story and maybe now he has faced his ex he can move on. Reasonable episode, the personal story overshadowed the case though!

Episode 8 starts with a young sailor (Loretta’s foster son) calling Pride when he gets home to find his girlfriend’s room mate dead and an intruder in the flat. His girlfriend is missing and Loretta is asking questions as she didn’t know about her. Emily (the girlfriend) didn’t exist before this year so the team are trying to find out why. Danny got snatched and Loretta is putting the blame on Pride forcing his hand to do something rash to get him back. A message was sent, Danny is in a bad way they will kill him if Emily testifys. Pride has the bad guy’s son and he will kill him if he don’t let Danny go. He got Danny back but nearly got them killed, Pride is questioning his motives and his actions. He has made an appointment with the doctor from HQ to try and fix him.

DC Legends Of Tomorrow S03E06:

Helen of Troy and the splitting firestorm. Hell of a start, and we have a freaky friday situation with Jax and Martin! Helen is causing a storm in the movie industry of the 30’s and guess who her agent is… Mr Dark. Helen has a strange effect on men which literally causes wars! Dark has a proposition for Sara go back to their own time and he will spare them all if not he will kill them one at a time until there is only Sara left. Amaya and the girl who said she would only be killing herself have a chat see intimates that she is from the same place as Amaya and her totem is now part of her. There is more to that I’m sure, I think they are related. Granddaughter I knew it! Didn’t see Dark’s daughter though that was a shocker! Time Fixed, Dark escaped with his daughter and Sara in an induced coma so she can heal, just another day on the wave rider!

Flash S04E06:

Love Flash it’s so funny. Back to the plot though, the team seem to be getting closer to Devoe, and this is a worry for his assistant, but not for him. Harry’s from other worlds come to help, except they don’t, and Harry hates them. Cisco tries to explain that the council of Wells could help if they learned to like themselves. Ralph is struggling with his new superhero status. Looks like the bad guy won’t stay caught or in this case bad girl. Ralph seems to be getting it and eventually and he is checking on the girl. they have found him but his assistant/wife is putting on a show and I think they think they are in the wrong place as the guy who comes to the door is in a wheelchair and looks nothing like the Dalek we have seen in other episodes.

Supergirl S03E06:

The Danvers girls go home, really sad one! Mum’s worried about both her girls! Flashback time, sheesh, Denver’s kids, high school not so happy days! Get the tissues for this one it’s a sob fest or it was for me, but i’m a big sop. The girls were a crime fighting duo way back then too. The two young actresses are amazing in this I have to say, moving convincing performances, obviously they look like their older counter parts but what impressed me was the mannerisms and how they became friends as well as sisters.

Criminal Minds S13E04:

Wow this a bit heavy! We have terrorist, drone strikes, murder and kidnap. All this pitched as a video game and then send a letter outlining how many people they have killed with the drone. Excellent episode best this season by miles !

Entertainment Update – October – Week 2

TV

Leathal Weapon S01E15-E16:

Another fantastic set of episodes, I can’t get enough of this show. It’s funny and serious in equal measures. We have discussed this one at work and collectively we think this is getting to the point of been better than the films!! What a well made easy to watch TV show.

The Big Bang Theory S01:

I know late to the party or what, well I have seen some of these but I feel a marathon is well overdue. My goodness this is so funny and just what I need to watch today!! Love the fact of how the geeks react around Penny, I know it’s exagerated but I think its how lots of people find talking to pretty girls not online, or maybe thats just me! Also the fact that the episodes are short helps the humor to flow and the chemistry is amazing right of the bat. Glow in the dark gold fish are amazing i need one! Where do I start drink and nerds equals solid gold comedy!! The moment that Raj’s dad says you all look the same to me, I was crying with laughing Episode 8 is the funniest sofar!! I have done it a whole season, and there has been so many good points i’m not sure which to even mention. I loved Friends, but I would argue this is even better. Season 2 next week!!

Hawaii Five-0 S08E02:

Great episode, centered arond a huge drug smuggling ring. Lots of references to the fact that Kono isn’t coming back anytime soon. They seem to be testing potential new people and maybe even a dog! The new girl from last week seems to be a full time member, well I think it’s her!

NCIS Los Angeles S09E02:

Hetty is still off on a secret mission and the new assistant was no where to be seen. Not sure if they are dropping that charicter or if it’s going to be an ocasional part. Sam met a potential love interest or potentionally and more likely a new member of the team. Looks like Anna may be leaving, I’m guessing she will fit in there for now.

Once upon a time S07E01:

Well I mocked this one and I thought that it had gone on to long, but by the end of the last season I was back liking it. Was totally confused with the hint at the end to this season, but from what I understood I was hopefull at where was going. Although this was a scean setting episode, it is working great and I do like it and it is on the lines of what I expected. Interesting to see which charictors stay and which are new. Loving Roxy and the detective (Ragina and Gold). Although these are the same people they are totally different charicters and I’m not sure if they are from Hanry’s relm and are cursed or they are from a different story or relm. Looking forward to finding out.

The Big Bang Theory S02E01-E06:

Snuck E01 in and it carried on in the same brilliant path as the first season Penny and Lenard are dating, but as you would expect things are not going well. Still loving the 20 minute episodes it’s seems to be the perfect length to make me want more. Oh no they are not dating now. I’m going to have to try and keep up. More Leslie Winkle fun though she cracks me up so much!Gaming Penny, was a massive highlight, and she got snapped out of it by Howard lol. Having a mare trying to watch episode 4 stupid computer. Penny is regretting going out with Raj already lol. Glad I fixed episode 4 so funny! I watch this one out of sync thanks to my computer acting up, they basically try to get Sheldon to learn to drive and he decides he’s too evolved to drive, it made me laugh so much. Lol Sheldon with a girlfriend/stalker funny as struggles to get rid of her until she asks to be credited on his ideas, then off she goes!

Lucifer S03E02:

I love this show it is funny and I love the characters, wasn’t sure about the new boss but he’s growing on me! This episode sees lot more of the doctor and I have to say she is my favourite person. The plot line was a little slow and the case they worked on seemed a little incidental for my liking. It set the scene though for moving forward on the overarching plot. Can’t wait to see where it goes.

NCIS S15E03:

This was probably the weakest episode so far but still good. Think they are setting it up for Ducky to leave which for me will be a sad loss to the show. The story line will give the opportunity to come back so there is always hope. Still no sign of the woman from the last season, which is odd, I don’t remember anything happening to her but there has literally been no mention at all. Not sure it’s a big loss but I’m very curious over why she’s not in it any more.

Criminal Minds S13E02:

This was a better episode, but I do think they trivialise the trauma these people go through. Not sure I would be ever fit for work if the things they deal with happened to me. That said I’m still not in love with this show and I feel I’m watching out of some duty to it.

Games

Balloon Bros. (mame):

I have never played this before but as I’m testing some pi based systems I have built I wanted to try the games out to make sure they worked. This one is like an upside down version of tetras with balloons instead of blocks. You make horizontal lines and they disapear simples. Be warned this is very addictive.

Also another old post hiding in drafts mostly irrelevant now but as it’s complete I thought I would share it. I’m going to try and complete weekly updates going forward I want to mix it up a bit so what I can come up with.

Entertainment – January – Week 2 & 3

The weeks are merging into one and with doing the extra exercise and trying to play on the Xbox, the TV watching has taken a back seat. I’m loving Agents of shield now the team are regaining control and five-0 is a big favourite too. Nashville has also started promisingly and there are Lethal Weapons to catch up on.

• Hawaii Five-0 S08E12 – E13
• NCIS: Los Angeles S09E12
• The Good Wife S03E01
• Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD S05E07
• NCIS S15E12
• NCIS: Los Angeles S09E13
• Flash s04E10
• Supergirl S03E10

TV

Hawaii Five-0 S08E12 – E13:

Lots going on in this one and as the last one was all Danny, he doesn’t feature in this one at all! Looks like another new member for the team a task force against organised crime. With all the mob bosses on the island dead and the FBI agent and is family murder Steve is determined to find this new player in the game and asks Adam to head up the task force.
This one was all about Lou an origin story if you like. Not sure it tracked perfectly but it is another great episode. Danny is back, but no mention of the new task force. One thing I will say is this one is harder to watch than many of the others. It’s a very emotive subject.

NCIS: Los Angeles S09E12:

Wow another top episode covering bullying, global warming and extremists activists! Not bad in 40mins! Still not sure what Mosley has in store, but as we haven’t heard anything about Henrietta for several episodes she might be here to stay! I think we may get a rescue Hetty episode soon though! In the end an old microfiche saves the day thanks to a contact of Mosley’s. Also in other news I managed a walking workout while I watched!

The Good Wife S03E01:

Well this is a very interesting start, the more Alicia distances herself from Peter after the revelations of season 2, the more their lives become intertwined. It’s very hard to tell who is on who’s side and often who the good guys are. Another strong start and after each episode i just want more. I think this will be another binge watch.

Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD S05E07:

Wow things are becoming much clearer now and the team are heading to the surface. May is there already and the others are on the way YoYo and Mac are staying in the station to  help the new inhuman with his powers, and I think to ultimately save everyone from the Blue Bloods, I love the analorgy there. Even though I had a tough time with the early parts of this season it is making total sense now and I understand why things went down that way. Excellent show and an excellent season.

NCIS S15E12:

One of the new characters is a profiler which has added a new dimension to the show and allows for unique episodes. This one was about a JAG lawyer living a double life! I do wonder if the bubble will ever burst in this show. The worse episodes are good and the rest are excellent. Some of the new characters I struggled with and I miss some of the old ones, but the show is not only surviving this it’s still getting stronger.

NCIS: Los Angeles S09E13:

Well I called it…Hetty episode and it’s only a two parter. The significant parts of this episode is that Mosley seems happy to help the team even though Callen insists on keeping her out of the loop.Not sure now which side she is on is she team NCIS or has she got her own agenda. Lots of scenes of Hetty and the survivor been tortured, both the team and Hetty’s old crew are closing in on her location. Still none of them know why she’s there or why she needed so much money. Hints have been made about the survivor, but no believes so far that he could have survived.

Supergirl S03E10:

This is a fantastic show, and totally surprising. Wasn’t expect much at all from this and it gets better and better. Still sad for the girl who is a big supergirl fan and her mum’s the evil Reign! That is not going to be good to find out. Supergirl spends most of this episode in a coma trying to find herself and the way back to her friends and family. There is a classic scene where J’onn has to be Kara and talk to Lena about kissing James. Mon-el and his wife help out on this one to help defeat Reign. This victory is only a temporary solution though and it looks like she will be back shortly with help!

Flash S04E10:

After the Christmas break cliffhanger where Barry is charged with murder, this one is all about the trial. It is also quite slow in places. The team still manage to save the world from the radioactive villain Fallout. Not sure how Barry will be the flash from prison with no chance of parole, but I’m sure he will. Mrs DeVoe is instrumental in sealing Barry’s fate in court and eludes to a bigger plan that she is cooking up with her husband 2.0!

Movies

Sliding Doors:

This film is a total classic, I was reminded about it in passing and I knew I had to watch it again. I didn’t quite realise how great is was, this must be the 20th time I have watched it. Yet it was like watching it for the first time and I saw things in it I hadn’t seen before or had forgotten which is possible. This is a sweet what if movie. Full of great quotes and classic moments. I’m a sucker for a love story and you kind of get two in this one and Gwenyth looks and is fabulous which is a bonus to the film and not making the film which sadly is the case in a lot of modern films. How did I forget the ending, ond of the best, and then credits roll to Dido’s Thank you! if that’s not a cinematic mic drop I don’t know what is!

Games

Mario Kart SNES:

What a throwback this was, a mate has a snes mini and I have to say it’s a great piece of kit. Been critical i would have liked it to be a hardware solution and have someway of using cartridges. This said the attention to detail in the case and the controllers is great. As you would expect the game plays great and we could have wasted an afternoon playing mario kart, this is not my favourite version I love the multi-play DS version, but still had lots of fun with this addictive racer.

As I found this in my drafts I thought I would put it out there seriously old news now apart from The Good Wife which I have picked back up in season 3 I’m now on episode 20 and loving it.

Entertainment – January – Week 1

Not sure there will be much of anything in this one, back to work and feel like I’ve never been off! To be honest apart from today I haven’t this has left me very tired. Again I try to avoid spoilers but I will list the TV so you can skip if you wish

• Lucifer S03E11
• NCIS: New Orleans S04E11
• The Good Wife S01E14-E23
• The Good Wife S02E01-E23
• NCIS S15E11
• Lethal Weapon S02E07
• Nashville S06E01
• Criminal Minds S13E10

TV

Lucifer S03E11:

Flashback Alert!! As flashback’s go this is one of the worse and pointless ones I’ve ever seen. Nothing new in this one that you didn’t know already, I was worried that this show had lost its way and plot wise had hit a wall. This latest episode confirmed that. The first two seasons are amazing, but sadly the current one is very lacking. Oh well I will stick with it as the rest has been brilliant.

NCIS: New Orleans S04E11:

This is a great episode, even though all the stressors ave gone for Pride and HQ are off his case. The team is still unsure if Pride will go off book again if he see’s it is required. Percy is struggling with Pride and she hooks up with her old ATF partner and he intimates she always gets itchy feet after 3 years. Pride follows the rules but a CIA agent gets killed and leaves Percy’s friend to carry the can. This is fast becoming my favorite NCIS franchise.

The Good Wife S01E14-E23:

This is just an overview of the show in general as I wouldn’t do the episodes justice if I tried to go into detail. This is my go to show when I have run out of things to watch, I find it easy to pick up and put down as I need too. The characters are very strong and it’s easy to relate with them, are understand them. It’s tangled to like real life things don’t always go to plan, sometimes feelings mess things up. It has love, warmth and a load of drama to keep you interested. Had a mini binge today and it felt good! This show is amazing and what a finish! Best I have seen in many years!

The Good Wife S02E01-E23:

Wow excellent start, carrying on from the end of the last! Interesting case too and with a merger at the firm and Will’s message deleted and her competition on the other side, things are hitting up for Alicia. Her husband is very impressed with work in court!

Episode 2 Alicia wins against her old competitor again but this time he has an ace up his sleeve and gets the army to re try the case. Will is getting attention from the bachelor article and the first conflict of interest at the newly merged firm is revealed. Also the two investigators also clashed! So much going on and that’s not even touched on her husbands campaign!

I just totally binged the other episodes I can’t say anything bad about this show, completely engaging and allows you to build relationships with the characters. I will definitely watching more next week. I find this an easy watch and it is for that reason I won’t go in detail about every episode, instead I will guide you through the general story. Fantastic season with a great ending not quite what I expected which was very refreshing.

NCIS S15E11:

What a great episode Torres and Bishop undercover, very convincing! Think it sparked up some feelings between them. Great story too with a little twist at the end. Slightly predictable, but this show has been so good for 15 seasons and that is saying something! Not many shows can say that!

Lethal Weapon S02E07:

This is a bit slow, but another good story. Lots going on for Riggs and Murtaugh too! The case is also a good one, surfer dies and uncovers all sorts off bad stuff! Riggs is struggling with his sleep and keeps dreaming of his father. He wants to talk but keeps walking out before he opens up! Murtaugh has to apologise to his wife for acting crazy!

Nashville S06E01:

Actually this was a very decent start and it looks like there are some new characters on the horizon. Very little was said about the label and what agreement they came to with Zac but I guess that’s presumed. Looks like a love interest is in the wings for Maddie and possibly for Deacon too. Looks like Juliet is joining a cult, very worrying indeed!

Criminal Minds S13E10:

As many of you will know I have fallen out of love with this show, I’m not at the stage of quitting it but I definitely don’t look forward to the next episode as I once did. Saying that, this episode was good, it built well and the plot seemed logical to me. It also felt easier to watch than some of the others at late. I know a crime drama is going to tackle unpleasant subjects and I also understand that part of its draw is to shock. I just find it too much at times and it turns me off as a viewer.

Movies

Bed Time Stories:

This one is a total clasic. I think the best Sandler film. I is simple funny and something you can watch with the family. A perfect film for this time of year. I have to confess this was on the TV so I didn’t catch the begining but really enjoyed it from the middle, this wasn’t a problem as I have seen it many times before. Watch it it’s good clean fun!! 9/10

The Do-over:

This is a stalk contrast to the previous Sandler film. It is rammed full of bad language and adult content. Although it is funny and clever in places, it’s not the best film I’ve seen. If there is nothing else to watch then this will pass on a few hours. I would probably give it 6/10 and some of that is because I had to keep turning it off when my daughter came in the room, she is 12 and the film was rated 15, but I think the content warented I higher rating.

Entertainment – December – Week 4

Not a lot of TV this week due to the Christmas break. So far just Agents of SHIELD, which was good.

TV

Marvel’s Agents of Shield S05E05:

Love this one and it explains why Fitz was left and how he gets to the future earth to try to rescue the team. I have struggled with this season as a whole, but I feel this maybe the turning point and the team might well get the upper hand!

Movies

Bright:

Right, this has a lots and lots of swearing-in, I’m not naive, I understand that this is classed as everyday speak, I just don’t think it should be. We are intelligent people and have a million ways to express how we feel, if we swear with every other word, how can you tell if someone is angry or just chatting!! Anyway I digress, this film has to be the one of the slowest I have ever watched! I get the concept, and it’s a good one but it took too long to get to the point I knew what was going down in the first 10 minuets took 50 minuets to actually see it on-screen. The ending is decent though and like I say the story is a solid one, primarily about greed and prejudice! I think if it was shorter and more to the point I could have rated this higher but 5/10 is all I can give it.

Almost Christmas:

This is ok, interesting story, not exactly a feel good movie, but it has it’s fair share of funny moments. The plot isn’t complicated so if you like your movies as background TV then this is a great one for that. If I was pressed I would say 6/10 at the most.

Friends with Money:

I think Netflix need to review some of the categories they put films in. This was meant to be a comedy, I didn’t laugh once. I found it awkward and cringe worthy which is not what I want from a movie. I like Jenifer Anniston so I’m happy to give this film 4 for that. Not sure I took any more highlights from this, but it did pass some time on.

A Christmas Detour:

Cheesy film, but it is very easy to watch, the chemistry is not as good in this one as A Wish For Christmas for example. I love christmas films and this is no exception. It’s predictable, with a ton of sweat sugary, icky love stuff. The other couple in the car are brilliant make me laugh. The posh folks are annoying but I guess we are not meant to like them it keeps it nice and tidy.

Pitch Perfect 2:

Obviously it isn’t the first time I have seen this and it didn’t disappoint. Funny, sweet at times and full of great acapella music. The one liners are epic and snoop dogg is off the hook. I’m happy to watch this over and over again, I would argue it’s the best of the trilogy. I would go for 8/10

American Made:

I wasn’t sure what to make of this one, but I like Tom Cruise so thought I would give it a whirl. It starts without any dead space straight into the action. I think that’s the best way to make a film, sometimes intros are required, but audiences aren’t stupid and you can set the scene as you go, we will keep up. Anyway back to this film, acting is excellent, plot great, action spot on the only slight weekness was his wifes brother, who I was hoping met a sticky end from the first second he shows up. 9/10

Forigner:

Jacky Chan and Peirs Brosnen are great in this, not your average Chan film, it’s grity and I have to say it feels like a true story in places. And even with my step Dad talking all the way through this ia still enjoyed it. Another clever story actted out excellently, lots of twists and turns, some more obvious than others. I will give you that it’s a bit far fetched in places, but if you remeber parents will do anything for their children then it’s not such a streach. I can only give this an 8/10 because it’s not one i would watch over and over.

Time Travellers Wife:

I’m thinking as I watch this I have seen it before, but I can’t remember how it ends or if I liked it. Sofar it’s ok, I love time travelling stuff anyway so it gets three points for that right off the bat. It’s a very sweet story, sad, a litle odd in places, but overall very lovely. I’m a sucker for a love story and this unconventional love story really hits the spot. Get the tissues out though as it’s not exactly a hppy ending. 7/10 this time round.

Thor Ragnarok:

This was ok lots of quick one liners, kept me smiling throughout the film. Sadly I missed the middle film so some of the context was a little lost on me, or I’m assuming it was that. I was presuming I would like this as the first one was good, just need to catch up on the middle one now to see what I missed. Easy to watch and great entertainment for a winters night in. 8/10 for this one

PiK3A Mk2

Well, so pleased with my first attempt I thought I would make a couple more for family gifts, both my son and step dad love it. My son had a larger monitor going spare and would need a 2 player version so I went for the bigger table. These tables head up £200 depending on the quality of items you use, the perspex seems to have jumped up in price since last time. I wanted to get better joystick components this time as mine is rubbish and didn’t fit in 28mm holes that well. My son will be able to connect his to a network drive and store his games there but my step dad won’t so I had to buy 64GB sd cards to make sure all the games would fit on. I bought the round double usb extenders also much better than to ones I used before. The speakers I got first time around had a rubbish volume control so this time I got some logitech ones the volume control is fantastic but the speakers are a total pain to take apart as they are glued! Also the speakers are difficult to mount too. I have a set I use in the loft but I think they are 2.1 I might swap with those for the bigger table as the sub can fit on the shelf below or the under side of the table. I bought a totally different speaker in the end they will be listed below. I will update when I finish it.

This is the normal lack table:

I started by prepping the monitor and all the cables, I got power sockets with a switch, but they didn’t come prewired so I broke out the crimper and the soldering iron! Then mark and cut out for the monitor, partly because I didn’t want the monitor to get damaged out of it’s case and also it helps position all the other bits. I put the cables in the monitor and placed the Perspex on, consider a cable style HDMI converter I went for a stick style one, I got lucky as it just fitted but meant I could only put the pi in one place. Note you need to put the monitor in upside down because of the viewing angles on LED/LCD monitors.  I leave the Clingfilm protective cover on the Perspex for now. I always feed the monitor controls to the outside and stick them under the table, just in case the monitor comes on to the wrong source or the brightness needs adjusting. I drew around the power plug and guessed how much to cut inside the lines, it needs to be tight as these things are just push fit. I ended up gluing it once I was happy as it would have pulled out with the cable. Will get screw in ones next time. Be carful with the soldering as I melted one of the contacts which stopped the light coming on when the switch is on. Also remember you have to screw the legs in so don’t put it to near that or you will struggle to get the leg on. Next for the speakers, I mentioned how difficult they are to get open, even with the aid of a forum took me ages, I even used a hack saw at one point. Once I had got them out I extended the cables on onside as one of the cables is very short and the others are miles too long, I didn’t want to shorten them as they had plugs on both ends. I drilled a small hole under the table to feed the two USB power leads and the three adaptor power keeps it all nice and neat. Now I had to draw round the speakers I decided they needed to stick out as I wouldn’t be able to secure them flush without using some sort of spacers. I did take the monitor out a few times during fitting the power leads and speakers so I might not put it in quite so early next time. The pound land special three socket has special screws in it which are the same as Nintendo use, result as I have a screw driver that fits. take it apart and mark two corner holes on the base of the table under the hole where the monitor fits. then put it back together without the two screws you marked. You can bolt it to the table with those two, I put a couple of washers on it as the table is made out of soft wood and I didn’t want it to pull through. I refitted the Perspex and marked the holes for the buttons and joystick when you get through the Perspex remove the circle of plastic before going through the wood. I put player one and coin button on the side, but it was very close to the speaker made it difficult to fit. The player one button in the kit is too long really I would order a short one next time so it can go on the top. Mine are on the front and are easy to press by accident, and reset your game. I also wanted to fit the volume on the front and this prove tricky, mainly as I don’t own a box spanner and my sockets are too short, I have learnt now and I will sink it into the wood next time. I drilled a small hole for the LED so it shows the power is on. The USB ports fit in a 28mm hole like the buttons so I put that in the front edge, the cables are long and stiff which are have to be routed up by the monitor. The buttons I bought came with a small controller bored for USB and the wiring loom with connectors the length of these limits where you put things and the USB cable is very long and stiff which causes problems as you quickly run out of space. Tighten up the button nuts and connect the pi, I pre installed the software, but left the config to the end. Tested everything and made a cover from the wood I cut out for the monitor. Then before fitting it I powered up the table plugged in a USB keyboard, edited /boot/config.txt and added line [display_rotate=2] so the screen was the right way up mounted a network drive and copied the games over. All that was left to do was decide and configure the buttons, with retropie it’s so easy and can be changed per game if you wish, remember start is player one and coin is select. In the pie setup you need to make sure the sound is set to the jack, unless you have speakers off your HDMI and that the software volume is set to max. I have included some pics that should indicate what I’m talking about above but if something is unclear, just ask.

Table two a larger Ikea coffee table:

The process was exactly the same, but because the table was black and the monitor was bigger I encountered a few of extra issues. If you put the monitor in at the beginning it makes the table heavy and awkward to move around. Also the black table shows up dust like you wouldn’t believe. Also cutting and drilling is difficult as every little slip shows up! I used a Sharpe to mask any slips. I found I had to take the Perspex on and off loads of times, and was forever getting bits on under it. In this one been two player I had to lay everything out to see how it would fit. I quickly realised that space would be tight and the wires for some of the buttons would be too short. I extended the wires for the buttons and also for the speakers. The new speakers worked great and had a long volume stalk which made mounting easier. The drill hole for the led was lined with black tape to prevent the rough edges showing. I found that no matter how well I had thought it through I had to build and deconstruct this many times. Also I mounted the power on the bottom very early as it was soldiered to the socket, this made drilling from the top tricky, that needs fitting at the end I think. Getting all the buttons on, then fitting the audio controller, usb controller and the pie was a squeeze as you need to keep the pie as far from the speaker components as you can. With this Joystick configuration you need to edit a configuration file on the pie and ensure that all the buttons and direction switches are wired the same. If not when you play a two player game it will reconfigure player one and vice versa. I think two usb adaptors would have been better, but that would have taken more space. I haven’t gone into too much detail as I hope the pictures show you what I did.

For multiple joysticks in one usb port change cmdline.txt adding this line to the end usbhod.quirks=0x16c0:0x05e1:0x040

Apparently it gives a single port multiple addresses so that emulation station sees it as two controllers.

I have tried many consoles and arcade games on these tables and a good percentage run well, but if your favourite game fails with a bit of googling and loads of time you can reconfigure things to get the best performance.

I’m pleased with the end results and the recipients of these loved them, I would just like to be able to get the wiring neater and not have everything so squashed in.

You could use a single socket if you wire the monitor into the kettle socket, but as a triple one was only £1 I thought I would stick with those.

Table One:

• Three socket power bank Poundland £1
• USB Triple Charger IKEA £7.50
• Micro USB cable Amazon £1
• 17″ Monitor recon Ebay £21.99
• Kettle connector and switch amazon £5.49
• Speakers Logitec z120 amazon £11.99
• Memory Card ScanDisk Ultra 64gb amazon £19.85
• Pi 3 Model B amazon £31.68
• HDMI to VGA amazon £5.29
• Arcade joystick buttons and arcade controller Kit No 10 1 player arcadeworlduk.com £31.19
• USB Twin kit (Flimi Car Truck Flush Mount Dual USB3 mate to female extension cable kit Amazon £10.99

Table Two:

• Three socket power bank Poundland £1
• USB Triple Charger IKEA £7.50
• Micro USB cable Amazon £1
• Kettle connector and switch amazon £5.49
• 21″ Monitor free (one we had)
• Speakers Trust Remo 2.0 PC speakers Amazon £13.00
• Memory Card ScanDisk Ultra 64gb amazon £19.85
• Pi 3 Model B amazon £31.68
• HDMI to DVI cable Amazon £4.99
• USB Twin kit (Flimi Car Truck Flush Mount Dual USB3 mate to female extension cable kit Amazon £10.99
• Arcade joysticks buttons and arcade controller Kit No 10 2 player arcadeworlduk.com £49.19

,

The other items:

Perspex 2-4mm I bought this local and got it cut a few mm smaller than I need makes a better finish, if money is no object you can get the edges polished too. It cost about £50 for both, which was cheaper than I could get it online.

Screws and caps, I got both from The Range for a  few English pounds, but the first one I did I got chrome ones thrown in with the Perspex.

Transfers seem to be tricky to get, a guy in the US did some for me and they are great cheap too, they will do custom designs and colours. I needed really small ones as my first arcade kit was a cheep one from wish which I wouldn’t recommend unless you have a selection of imperial wood drill bits. The few quid you save isn’t worth the hours of filing. Imperial drill bits are not easy to get in the UK and are expensive. Also put the transfer on first and then line the button up much easier than trying to stick it on straight after!

I understand this is wordy and I’m sure there are loads of things that require more detail just comment or message me if you need help.

Entertainment – December – Week 3

This week will be a mish mash at best as it’s that time of year, Christmas specials and season breaks a plenty! Also there has been a global event on Tom Clancy’s The Division so a lot of spare time and not so spare time on that!As always there maybe spoilers so I will list the TV in order below.

• NCIS S15E10
• Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD S05E04
• Once Upon a Time S07E10
• Hawaii Five-0 S08E10-E11
• Lucifer S03E10
• Leathal Weapon S02E05 – E06
• NCIS New Orleans S04E10
• NCIS Los Angeles S09E11

TV

NCIS S15E10:

This was an interesting one two of the team are on security detail in the Middle East I think, looking after a general friend of Gibs! Disaster strikes back home when the General’s son is injured in a fall. The General needs to get back in a hurry but the transport hits an IED. Unfortunately the coms are destroyed and they are left to find shelter in a cave, off course which will hamper rescue! Will he get home to see is son… meanwhile the rest of the team investigate what happened to his son as they don’t think it was an accident. Good Christmas episode, with plenty of sentimental lessons to be learned!

Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD S05E04:

What the… this episode is mind-blowing and right at the very end!! It will be a massive spoiler if I say too much but the plot is coming into its own and the team are building some momentum in with the resistance of the Blues!

Once Upon a Time S07E10:

Another great episode the plot is unfolding nicely. They took time to fill in some of the gaps and it does make more sense. Things have gone a bit Pete Tong for Ivy and Ronny has found and woke her sister. The reason the curse can’t be broken is becoming clearer too. Ivy’s sister is awake and Lucy is asleep. Henry is starting to believe but is it too late!!

Hawaii Five-0 S08E10-E11:

This is another emotional one Danny is fighting for his life from a few minutes in! They are trapped in isolation which complicates thing somewhat! No one knows who the shooter is and as he shot himself right after it’s a mystery for the next episode.Wow cheerful Christmas special this ones lining up to be… not really! I’m pleased to say it was a happy ending and there was some good messages in there too! As Christmas episodes go this was a really good one.

Lucifer S03E10:

There was a hint of the old Lucifer and I liked it. This said though the relationship between Lucifer and the detective seems to be beyond repair, and it’s getting annoying for me. There was also a crazy twist this week involving the chief, I’m not totally shocked. He’s always seemed shady to me!

Lethal Weapon S02E05 – E06:

Was super tired watching this, but it seems another one of the darker episodes where more of Riggs past is revealed. Also we see the return of Leo, he’s annoying but funny. Will add the ending when I re watch it as I fell asleep! Watched the end of this which was good and the next one, wich give you even more insight into Rigs and his past. It looks like there was more to his Dads death than we first thought and some friends from his past make an appearance. Maybe this could be a new love interest!!

NCIS New Orleans S04E10:

Oh my God, this is a tough one to watch, all the effort they went to put Hamilton away and now he could walk free! Dwayne has a plan as it’s an old friend of his popping of the witnesses. Pride gets NCIS HQ to let him go rogue and join forces with his friend to kill Hamilton, what could possibly go wrong. I think Pride is fixed it was the right thing to do going after Hamilton. Pride goes to see his Dad and helps him get parole, he told his dad that he was done looking up to him and it was time to get on with his life.

NCIS Los Angeles S09E11:

Power outage and ransom ware, happy Christmas to all!! Young lad gets paid to bring the grid down, but the team suspect there is more to it. Mosley is a bit of a Gringch! Looks like a sleeper drug cartel are waking up! Turns out everyone just wants to be with their kids. Nice Holiday episode lots of warm fuzzy moments. Even Mosley got in on the action and made Christmas happen in the office.

Movies

Kingsman – The Golden Circle:

This is action packed and hilarious, I would also suggest it breaks the sequel rules by being better than the first one! Nothing more to say really 10/10 for this one and I hope they make more! Elton was amazing too!

Groundhog Day:

This film is just brilliant and a great go to movie when you want entertaining. An innocent story about someone who isn’t very nice getting taught a lesson and learning to see the good in life. Plus if nothing else it’s pay back for getting the weather forecast so wrong. Nothing more to say really! Watch it, it’s awesome!

Edge of Seventeen:

This is a complicated one about a very angry young girl. It’s good but some of the things she does and says are a bit over the top! It was a little close to home too in places. Definitely worth a watch though!

Love Rosie:

A friend recommended this one, she obviously knows me very well. It’s not exactly a new story about best friends been in love, but the take on it is excellently delivered. I could have happily sat through it twice back to back! I loved this as much as My Best Friends Wedding, and as this type of film goes has been my favourite for years!

Christmas Inheritance:

This is a lovely film, I Think the story stands up on its own, anytime of the year. It is full of cheese which I have no problem with, it is a love story too! What I like is there is a very strong message about how we should treat people well and not take our wealth/status for granted!

Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets:

I can’t really say any more than has been said countless! The love story sucks cos the couple don’t gel. Ignore that though, visual this film is stunning. The rest of the story would easily carry the film without the two agents falling in love. That said more good than bad and anyone who likes visual SyFy movies, this is for you!

Spider-Man homecoming:

To be fair I wasn’t in the mood to watch this, but it’s the worse marvel film I have ever seen, stupid and boring are the two words I’d use. I think I laughed once, so that gets it a 1/10. Total drivel watch anything else!

A Wish For Christmas:

This is a hallmark film so you don’t need to be Sherlock to work out what you might get! This was pure cheese from start to finish, and even though I had seen films of this type before, this one worked for me. Handsome boss, pretty subordinate go to do a pitch for a client. The twist is that the girl is fed up of being treated badly so Santa gives her a wish and for 48 hours she will have the courage to stand up for herself. I won’t spoil what happens as I think it plays out really well, with I guess a predictable ending. This doesn’t spoil the film though as the journey is the important bit. Solid 7/10 for me!

Games

Tom Clancy’s The Division:

My base is fully operational now and with the skills and talents it gives you, it makes completing missions much more doable. The game has become so complicated since I hit level 30, what with high-end gear and the gear sets, skills, talents and attributes are just the tip of the things you need to know. The combination of these items is crucial, if you get the right items, mods, skills and talents together you can become unstoppable. Obviously one loadout is enough for every situation, full DPS might work for missions, but try incursion and you will get your ass handed to you. The multiple loadouts is mind-boggling. Another key thing you need to know about this game is you need a crew of four with complimentary skills to beat some of these things. And knowing how the missions play is helpful too. This week is a Global event so lots of exotic items can be grabbed so I have put in some late nights/early mornings. We have played in a group this week which has been great fun and has helped me loads. The Dark zone is brutal and so is the incursions. The rest of it is great fun. I’ve not done much PVP yet as the team have been trying to boost me up to the same level as them. This game is massive and I can’t wait untill I understand it more!