Cleaning Things Up

So hmm maybe last month I had an inspection of my rented accommodation which means beforehand I had to do a clean and a clear up of the flat which generally looks like a bomb site otherwise. The main problem is space and a distinct lack storage options, I think this place needs to be IKEA’d but anyway it can be cleaned up but not in anyway that supports someone living.

Cleaning up my flat got me thinking about trying to clean things up personally trying to get my life in order as much as something like that is possible without a job. Anyway I think the first step is to get more organised in terms of upcoming events, interviews and the like. Too often I have nearly forgotten about important appointments because I didn’t centralise all the dates I had to follow.

I'm not sure if I should use my phone to do it or try a diary. I have thought about e-mail or maybe Google Calendar or whatever it is called. I will have to see though after I do something about the seemingly endless paperwork I have stocked up over the last few years. Nothing is more worrying to me than tearing up some seemingly useless paperwork that I’ll need to prove I paid something.

Maybe I’m just one of those Hoarder cases waiting to happen.

Interviews and Feedback

Feedback the bane of my existence it seems as so many places that you would think of as respectable established businesses fail to provide on requests. As far as I’m concerned if you have an actual HR department then there is no excuse for not providing useful feedback on an interview short of said interview consisting of me walking into the interview of delivering 3 stone cold stunners to the panel (I rarely do this).

If the interviewee (is that a word) turns up makes an effort and justifies your shortlisting of him or her then the other side of that bargain is you taking the time to note down why they lost out to the person you picked for the job. We study up on your business we write a decent application and we turn up bright eyed and bushy tailed surely that is enough for earn feedback.

Enough with the negative stuff.

STEAM

STEAM SALE. ZOMG. First time that I have had either the money or the hardware for the Steam Sale to matter me. I decided to make my first purchase (hopefully only) in the form of Defiance after all I’m a big fan of the show and I think I am more likely to try that game with its mixed content then a straight up FPS.

TV REVIEW: DEFIANCE Premiere

Defiance is the much anticipated Sci-Fi series from the Syfy channel developed by Rockne S. O’Bannon, Kevin Murphy and Michael Taylor. As well as a TV series there is also a cross platform MMO game tie-in. It premiered in the US on April 15 2013 and in a number of international markets later that week.

PLOT

The series is set in the near future, where aliens known collectively as Votans have come to Earth seeking a new home after their solar system was destroyed. However, when they reached Earth, they discovered despite a prolonged negotiation with the government on Earth, they were not welcome. Rather than turn away, they began a war with the humans as they are determined to make Earth their new home. During the war, the Votans drop terraformers on the planet and transform the surface of the planet; scorching the earth, opening chasms in the ground and covering the surface of the planet in dust and debris. After decades of war, a ceasefire is declared when both sides realise they must focus on survival on this new almost alien planet. 

WHY I CHECKED THIS OUT

First off the hype for this show has been slowly gathering for more than a year so long in fact I thought it would be a series starting last year. I can remember way back when it was just that new show that starred Julie Benz now it is so much more, it is the new Hail Mary Sci-Fi programme hoping to actually get past its first season.

Then consider the cross platform game (which I have yet to play, not having managed to get into the beta) and you have a HUGE marketing plan which I sincerely hope doesn’t go pear-shaped on us in the first season.

WHAT I THOUGHT

Defiance had so much to live up to with the hype but after the 2 hour premiere well I can’t say it has delivered 2 episodes in but it certainly has not let itself down. The show instantly manages to convey that feeling of epic that this is a whole new world that we the viewers instantly want to know all we can about and the info dump at the beginning is just enough without going overboard.

I am not sure if I would say that the show has echoes of Firefly or not but it has the aesthetic of most Sci-Fi shows set in the near future after a disaster. From what I have seen of the lore (the background if you will) I see a richly detailed world including a language or two which sounds great. For the Sci-Fi fans we have cool weapons (look at those knives) lots of new slang terms and more than multiple alien races each with their own significantly different cultures by the look of things.

The storytelling itself is tight and interesting which it could well be argued is to be expected in a two hour premiere but I can point you to a few examples where Sci-Fi shows have tried to start big and failed. I get the feeling that the next few episodes will continue on at this high level and hopefully get even better after all a lot of the fun of true Sci-Fi shows it finding out about the people who inhabit this brave new world.

One of the reasons that I like Science Fiction is the central cast actually matters, look back at Babylon 5 and you know it isn’t just about Sheridan and Battlestar Galactica isn’t just about the Adamas. The same is true with Defiance being about the various factions who live in Defiance so you don’t have to be a fan of one or another or like me you might be a fan of them all.

If I have not peaked your interest yet in Defiance I don’t know what will. Defiance is a very ambitious project with its game tie-ins especially on a network that doesn’t have a great track record of standing by its more ambitious shows. Don’t me wrong the show is worth watching and striving to do something that real fans of Sci-Fi have been without for far too long, the question is whether or not the network is going to blink if ratings aren’t record breaking.