Ugh I Feel Sick

So lately I have been feeling a little sick. Not so sick as to take to my bed or something like that but that level of tiredness and just slowness that can’t be identified as say a cold or an infection, anyway just thought I would mention it in case I keeled over.

So I have been trying and trying to grab myself a bargain PS3 over the past month or so unfortunately for me it has only served to open up a darker side of Ebay with two successful winning bids ending in my bid being refunded because obviously it was less than they were expecting to get. Totally kills my belief in the Ebay system with all of its talk on bidding being a contract and such.

I am still trying here and there to grab some bargains thinking about grabbing a new radio, we will have to see how things go with the PS3 for now it is an elusive dream though not as elusive as the next gen of gaming consoles which as of now start at $499.

So this week totally out of the blue when starting up WoW I saw on their little self ad thing that there was ½ off on all character services. If you’re not familiar with the game these character services are things like renaming your character, transferring to another realm or switching factions. For my purposes changing realms is the important thing as the size of your faction on your realm really impacts on the aspects of the game that you can participate in.

I took the time to move a level 90 Paladin to Ragnaros after talking to a friend of mine and checking out WowProgress and RealmPop and it seems pretty good so far.

BOOKS

So I have been reading a lot recently last month was especially busy, most of them have been pretty good, the only one I wasn’t that overly keen on was World War Z but that was just me and indeed each to their own. I finally got my hands of Fall of Night the penultimate Morganville Vampires novel. If you’re like me and love those books you can check out my Goodreads list by clicking on the Widget on the right of the blog.

EMPLOYMENT AND JOBS

As I write this I just finished the paperwork on my job searching for the job, things are not looking great on that front the jobs are starting to dry up they always do nearer the middle of the year. Still managing to find enough jobs but it is getting tougher and unfortunately after getting the interviews and not getting the jobs most of the prospective employers don’t give feedback.  

FILM REVIEW: Dragon Lore: Curse of the Shadow

Dragon Lore: Curse of the Shadow is a 2013 Fantasy Film directed by John Lyde and stars Danielle Chuchran, Richard McWilliams and Paul D. Hunt.The film was released on the 12 August 2013 and is 100 minutes long. The film is also known as SAGA – Curse of the Shadow and The Shadow Cabal.

PLOT

A ruthless elven bounty huntress (Nemyt) shoots down the dragon ridden by the fugitive orc shaman, Fangtor Bloodmoon. When Fangtor refuses to surrender quietly, the huntress must battle for her own life against the dangerous villain, and comes away with more than just his head.

WHY I BOUGHT IT

I think the last fantasy related film I watched was Dungeons and Dragons: The Book of Vile Darkness which was cheesily awesome. That was early last year which shows that there is a distinct lack of actual fantasy films out there that get released. Not including those ones which are just fantasy period monster movies which are ok but they are not proper Fantasy with lots of interesting lore and characters with a little depth.

WHAT I THOUGHT

Where have you been all my life Dragon Lore this was such a fun watch. I will admit to having low expectations as I had not heard of Dragon Lore or SAGA before and I thought it was just a low budget film that might be good for a laugh, either with the film or at it. It turns out that the film was so much more than a cheap rip-off of fantasy tropes it was a gripping story.

Have you seen similar stuff before of course, does this film take the time to do it in an entertaining way? It certainly does in a solid story that will keep you interested.

What I liked most about this would have to be the fight choreography, for the most part it was as slick as it was brutal in parts, I was very impressed by the female lead and the actor who played the orc, often in action scenes it is the stuntman/actors who do all the heavy lifting while the main cast just do a sort of fighting by the numbers that is certainly not the case here.

What I didn’t like was the small scale of the project though I fully understand that because they kept the story tight and controlled which meant that overall it never felt cheap or like a run of the mill B movie.

I look at this film and think to myself if these guys were to get hold of the Wacraft license and do a film based on that lore I have a feeling that I certainly would not hate it. This is a fine example of doing more with less as this is a much smaller budget than the summer blockbuster crowd.

So in closing if you’re like me and the idea of a pseudo sin’dorei running around with a huge sword sounds like an entertaining night then Dragon Lore: Curse of The Shadow will be right up your alley.

BOOK REVIEW: Feed by Mira Grant

Feed is the first book in the Newsflesh series written by Mira Grant. It was published by Orbit on the 1^st May 2010 and the ISBN is 0316081051. Feed was a Hugo Award Nominee for Best Novel in 2011. I purchased this book.

PLOT

The year was 2014. We had cured cancer. We had beaten the common cold. But in doing so we created something new, something terrible that no one could stop. The infection spread, virus blocks taking over bodies and minds with one, unstoppable command: FEED. Now, twenty years after the Rising, bloggers Georgia and Shaun Mason are on the trail of the biggest story of their lives - the dark conspiracy behind the infected. The truth will get out, even if it kills them

WHY I BOUGHT IT

I thought I would give the zombie genre another try after not really syncing up with World War Z which just didn’t work for me. I only found out that Feed was award nominated while preparing this review but after the fact I can understand why.

I for one would be far more excited about the prospect of this being made into a instant blockbuster than World War Z but to be fair that has been out a heck of a lot longer.

WHAT I THOUGHT

I will be honest I went into this book more than a little wary after World War Z and the first few chapters I was beginning to roll my eyes in anticipation of another dry fact filled zombie adventure. Thankfully it began to pick up and then it started rolling on like a runaway express train. What Feed does is a lot of world building especially in the beginning which can make the reading tough going but get passed that and it is like a plane that has made it out of turbulence – smooth sailing.

The characters are fairly believable and very well written and you want to know what happens to all of them.

What I hated? Actually surprisingly little allowing for the fact that the first quarter of the book makes for hard reading but really nothing else particularly felt wrong or bothered me about this book. I would warn you though that it can get more than a little depressing so be prepared for that. The one thing I have to mention is the journalism propaganda and the endless talk of searching for the truth, it is so idealised that I was worried it was going to give me a cavity of put me in a sugar coma but that is just me and my very low opinion of journalism.

What I loved? The detail oh my goodness the level of detail was amazing that is the sort of world building that you might see in TV shows like the Star Trek franchise after TNG, the amount of lore they squeeze into that book is quite frankly breathtaking.

I also loved the way events weave together and the fact that it never just devolves into flesh chomping zombie hordes, there is also method to the madness as the conspiracy goes ever deeper and darker. One of the most interesting aspects of the book is how the zombie phenomenon came to be which I won’t spoil here but it is an interesting commentary on the human condition especially Western society. Read on to find out the whole story.

Feed is a great read which sucks you right into a richly detailed world be advised though this is the book in a trilogy so you’ll be left desperate to learn about the next chapter.

FILM REVIEW: Last Kind Words

Last Kind Words is a 2012 Mystery/Thriller film directed by Kevin Barker and starring Brad Dourif, Spencer Daniels and Alexia Fast. It was released on the 24^th March 2012.

PLOT

17-year-old Eli has just moved with his family deep into the backwoods of Kentucky to work on the isolated farm of a local recluse. Inexplicably drawn into the strange forest that lies beyond the farm, Eli encounters the beautiful, sweet and mysterious Amanda, seemingly the perfect girl. But with the discovery of decaying bodies hanging from the trees, he realizes that the forest - and Amanda - are harboring some very dark secrets. Suddenly, Eli is living in a waking nightmare where the lines between life and death are scrawled in blood, and there is no escaping the terror from beyond the grave. [taken from IMDB].

WHY I WATCHED

I have been following Alexia Fast since I saw her when I took a chance on Triple Dog (which is AWESOME). I saw her on this when I looked it up on IMDB and decided that there are worse ways to spend an evening especially if you have a thing for redheads.

WHAT I THOUGHT

Well I have to say I was not sure what to expect as anyone who does IMDB surfing from time to time even when they look at films they know realise that the descriptions can either be cryptic or just plain wrong. In the end this one actually keeps pretty close to the description which thankfully leaves enough to the imagination to allow you to keep interested in the things that are going on.

The acting is fine and doesn’t pull you out of the moment with awkwardness the plot is pretty dark and just gets darker when you start with an abusive alcoholic and go from there to finding dead bodies but even with all that stuff there is a touching story too which I will leave for you to find.

For fans of old school horror there is the always good for a creepy guy role, Brad Dourif and for most of the rest of us there is Alexia Fast who I last saw in a small part in The Secret Circle which only ran for a season. Those are the big names involved with this particular project.

I certainly won’t be spoiling the ending but for me I will just say I was a little taken aback by the ending. That is all you will get nothing more from me on that. So in closing I would say that the film is worth a lot but know you what you are letting yourself in for a dark tale that just gets darker.

JOBS JOBS JOBS Part I

So I thought I would write about my job search process because it is getting that time of the year when jobs at least in my sector start to dry up.

My background and desired work is in administration, I am also interested in working in HE and FE. Hmm what else, oh I have a current up to date CV that I got written up with the help of a recruitment agency.

Moving on I surf through several job portals to look for relevant work I have listed some but certainly not all of them below:

• www.indeed.co.uk
• www.jobs.nhs.uk
• www.prime-appointments.co.uk/looking-for-office-staff/
• www.nusconnect.org.uk/jobs/browse/
• www.chelmsford.gov.uk/current-vacancies
• www.jobs.ac.uk

So there they are and they each have their uses Indeed is adequate for searching for all jobs (not just admin) in the local area which most other places wouldn't have it is also good for catching things like schools advertising for non-teaching roles. To sum it up think of it as a Universal Job Match that actually just about works instead of stealing your data.

NHS Jobs doesn't really need an explanation other to add that there is actually a fair amount of office work always available there the problem tend to arise from the part time nature of it. Prime Appointments is good quality but due to the fact that it is based on a region means that there is a finite pool of jobs to look at.

NUS Connect couldn't be more specialist in that it is jobs from the student movement from all over the UK of course as they are only jobs from Universities and Colleges there are even fewer within a commutable distance.

Jobs.ac.uk a great site that always gives me some decent prospects to look through as it basically lists all the HE/FE related non-teaching jobs.

That is enough for now so you can go check those out to see if they offer up any opportunities for you.

So I was Thinking About Stuff

So there is this conversation going on at Hypable regarding that scene in Star Trek Into Darkness. You can read it here

It certainly divides opinion in ways I was not expecting but then everyone is different. Just thought that was worth mentioning. In other news there is an interview this week for a job with some interesting hours something that I could really sink my teeth into while at the same time not being too challenging for someone who has been out of the hunt for as long as I have.

I sometimes if I am always contrary or looking to stir things up but when I really look at things I am reasonably I am not, there are shows and books that I am completely over the moon about like Morganville Vampires, Continuum and Defiance but so often in the past shows I like get cancelled which then leads me to being so tough on the shows that seem to skate through while treating the audience as if they are idiots.

There is a new patch on Wednesday which I think will prove interesting at least for awhile it should do as the powers that be were probably aware through at least half of it that the numbers were down and that things needed to change.

I can't let today pass without talking at least a little about XBox One I watched a little of the conference maybe half an hour's worth but it really was just a lot of technical talk and a lot of talk about anything OTHER than gaming which is understandable when you look at the XBox 360 and the fact that streaming is a HUGE part of XBox Live.

BOOK REVIEW: Dead Ever After by Charlaine Harris

Dead Ever After is the 13^th and Final book in the Southern Vampire Mysteries series (aka Sookie Stackhouse) written by Charlaine Harris. It was released on the 7^th of May by Gollancz books and is 352 pages long. The ISBN is 0575096616. I purchased this book.

The Southern Vampire Mysteries have been made into the popular HBO show True Blood starring Anna Paquin.

PLEASE BE AWARE OF SPOILERS INCLUDED WITHIN THIS REVIEW

PLOT

Sookie Stackhouse has one last adventure in store.

Life has taken her from a waitress in Merlotte's Bar, Bon Temps, to part owner; from social outcast to the heart of her community; from a vampire's girlfriend to the wife of one of the most powerful vampires in the state.

She has survived explosions, revolutions and attempts on her life. Sookie has endured betrayal, heartbreak and grief...and she has emerged a little stronger, and little wiser, every time.

But with life comes new trials...

The question is, in the end: who will love, who will live, and who will be dead ever after?

WHY I BOUGHT IT

I started reading Southern Vampires after watching the first season of True Blood and instantly realised I had made a TERRIBLE mistake I should have read it BEFORE. The first season of True Blood was good but things went rapidly downhill from there while nearly all of the Southern Vampire novels have been excellent. They are as different from one another as chalk and cheese or say Philosopher’s Stone was to Prisoner of Azkaban.

WHAT I THOUGHT

Wow Charlaine Harris really knocked it out of the park with this one. Some of the last few books have been a bit hit and miss and I was a bit worried where this will go after all it is the final book though I would guess there would be a few short stories down the road but I digress.

I really like and admire Sookie Stackhouse most people who had to deal with the crap that has been shovelled her way would either be reclining in a straight jacket in some institution or so jaded and hardened to violence that she would just be some action hero carbon copy. Instead she is a woman who worries about the damage she may have done to her soul and how best to be a part of her community. I'm not a religious type but the way that Charlaine writes Sookie’s views on religion are something I can empathise with.

Bon Temps feels like I'm coming home the way that Harris weaves the relationships amongst the often eccentric bar patrons and local residents. Plus we get somewhat of a bonus with a huge amount of Sookie’s acquaintances from the previous books come running to offer our heroine their aid.

The murder mystery is a little different this time in that we are left with a fair idea of who did what but there is enough left to look forward to as Sookie and company work their way through it.

I love this book because it has all those little touches which make me think I am reading about someone real, someone who worries about money problems and strives to keep her house and garden clean and tidy. I swear Sookie even gives me tips on the proper way to greet and treat guests.

On the ending which as I have seen has proved a controversial one I am more than satisfied with. From the beginning of the series I could always see that Sookie did not see her real future being the partner of a vampire, she mentions again and again in the series how much she wants a family and that she cannot stand the idea of becoming a vampire. Yet I read review after review of people losing their collective minds over the fact that Charlaine Harris didn't send Sookie off into the sunset with Eric.

Sookie mainly gravitated to Bill and Eric for a number of reasons, her lack of relationship experience the fact that dating a regular human is almost impossible because of her telepathy and of course the larger than life personas of the vampires. At the beginning of the series Sookie was as naïve as she was strong, she started as a girl and came out the other end as a woman and took us all on the wild and fascinating course to get there and I for one am glad I decided to go with.