nichadaemus

I'm remembering a film I had seen years ago, but cannot for the life of me remember what its called.

The story is as follows(mostly):
A poor family of 5 (parents and 3 sons), the eldest 2 take all the money and go off to seek fortune. The Tzar (I think) has put up posters with gold nails seeking anyone who can get him a flying ship. The youngest kid of aforementioned family gets one, shaped like a swan I think, from a stranger he had helped just earlier. On the way to see the king/tzar, he picks up: a farmer with a bale of frozen straw, a man with one of his legs tied up and a couple, the woman of which has a massive appetite.
When he arrives, the kings adviser has him complete tasks to prove his worth, but mostly to have him killed. He passes them all thanks to the people he helped and the adviser gets punished. The poor boy during this also catches the eye of the kings daughter who he falls in love with and marries at the end.

Can anyone help me name that damn film?

As with everyone else today, SNOW!!

Spent most of today just doing nothing but I did have the great idea of making a snowy Sonic the Hedgehog:


I'll admit its not great and neither is the picture quality (photo taken by phone). Also it seems to look more like a cartoon wolf than a hedgehog, oh well.

Snow, i mean seriously Snow.

Currently snowed in, i cannot get the car the 10 or so feet to the top of the hill. No gritters have been in walkley at all.

I have now found the street's grit box and so will be attempting to grit the top of the road tomorrow morning.

If that doesnt work then it is another day off.

Oh the pain and the suffering. :P

Snow.

There. Now that's out of the way. In any case back home from work early as there was no real point in staying open what with the lack of people in town and all that.

and here they are!

Mogs found this one:

http://bezbrige.com/index.php/Art/artwork-in-old-stories.html

I noticed this one the other day, I think it amuses/confuses me more than it really should...

http://www.flamesofwar.com/hobby.aspx?art_id=1724

I had a very amusing dream last night that involved randomly finding large amounts of money left in an abandoned bank and some kind of epic chase through Wales on the back of an elephant to get to Aberaeron. Elephants are not good for being fast but on the other hand, whoever is pursuing you is going to be a little worried about attacking you and is not going to be able to jump you from that height.

I saw St. Trinian's 2 recently. It was almost as funny as the first one. Its one of the few things that puts Doran in a good mood that doesn't involve the other two of us dying horribly.

Well, back at work after a reasonably busy and really quite entertaining Festive Period.

So, now my PS3 is set up and working with its shiny new HDMI cable making everything look terribly pretty. I downloaded a bunch of stuff for it (after finishing the inevitable firmware upgrade) both from the Playstation Store and an unofficial PS3 theme website.
Currently have a 'Tron Legacy' theme on there, which has a lovely redesigned lightcycle as wallpaper and features some soundclips from the original film - including the iconic 'End of Line' bit when the console shuts down. I was terribly impressed. I've got a fairly nice Shadow the Hedgehog theme also, but since Shadow is currently my desktop background, I thought he might get egotistical if he were featured on them both ;)

Got four games for the thing so far. Batman Arkham Asylum is amazingly awesome, the combat is unbelievably smooth and intuitive and the graphics extremely pretty. Little Big Planet is colossal fun, excellent for winding down of an evening. The Darkness is good, but a challenge for me, since I'm not used to controlling FPS-type games. Devil May Cry 4 is again very, very pretty and the combat is even smoother and more badass than previous DMC games - which I didn't think was actually possible. And after awhile spent practicing, I'm finally getting the hang of being a guitarist on Rock Band as I realised while playing last night that my fingers were hitting the fret buttons entirely without my conscious direction. Apparently the less you think about it, the easier it is.

Downloaded a few demos also. Including some old-skool-style games like Gravity Crash, Blast Factor and Super Stardust HD. They were fun, though its been so long since I last played an arcade-style shooter that i've almost totally forgotten how to play them.

I've also got demos - Got one for the Ghostbusters game that looks great, and sounds great with the original cast, but the control system is complex and giving me problems. Sega Superstars Tennis where The Computer is a Cheating Bastard though having Shadow as one of the only two available playable characters amused me. The Force Unleashed - That sure wasn't James Earl Jones as Darth Vader, and I'm having major trouble killing the damn AT-AT walker. And finally, Sonic Unleashed which I may have to buy this, since up 'til now, every since console I own has at least one Sonic game on it. It helps that this one actually looks pretty good (but then, almost anything would be superior to Sonic '06 *shudder*)

Hm. I may be in danger of turning into a Sony fangirl. Sony Ericsson mobile phone, Sony Walkman MP3 player and two Playstation consoles and now this entire entry has been about my PS3. So, moving on...

Also saw two films at the cinema over the Xmas/New Year period. The first was 'Avatar' in 3-D. It looks absolutely awesome. Fantastically pretty, very absorbing and for the most part decently acted. The story is basically 'Dances With Wolves/The Last Samurai' sort of tale flavoured with a heavy environmentalist bent - greyfore accurately described it as 'The Last Samurai crossed with Ferngully' which is both amusing and accurate. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Next was the new 'Sherlock Holmes' film starring Robert Downey Jr. I loved this, I though Robert Downey Jr. was superb in the role and it was a very entertaining story, with just enough clues to give the viewer a sniff of what was really going on beneath the cloak and dagger without giving away too much. Loved the chemistry between Holmes and Watson - Jude Law is one of those actors whose performance, to me at least, seems to vacillate between good and mediocre - not so in this, he game an excellent performance as Watson, a character who is often overlooked in many adaptations in favour of the more brilliant and charismatic Holmes, but in this the relationship seemed equal - perhaps even biased in favour of Watson's solid practicality versus Holmes' brilliant eccentricity.

Anyway, I think that's enough waffling from me for now. If you were expecting a comment on Doctor Who 'The End of Time' ...well, it was Ok. Perfectly decent telly, but too many unanswered questions and too much of the self-indulgence that was RTD's hallmark. Bring on the Grad Moff Steven, please. :)

( You are about to view content that may not be appropriate for minors. )

( You are about to view content that may not be appropriate for minors. )

Fun discovery of the day: what happens if you finish a level in Sonic 3 in 9 mins 59 seconds.

This is Wednesday. She came to live with us just before Xmas. Integration with the others appears to be going ok so far *touches wood*



( Two more under cut )

Happy 11th Year After the Day of Lavos! Happy Birthday Kurtliegen!

I always, always, fail my resolutions, so I dunno why I bother make them… but I will, for the hell of it.The party wasn't too bad, I saw a lot of friends. I hope I didn't annoy anyone by being drunk and ranting. my latest fanfic muses can be... difficult.

I can't use an XBox. Actually can't use one. the controller is so counter-intuitive it makes me want to strangle myself with the cord... no, wait... and it reeks of Microsoft-taint. i actually feel nauseous near one. trying to use one to play Mega Drive games is like bashing your head against a brick wall.

Here's hoping for a less crappy year than 2009!

I wonder if I'm not too late to see my Nightopians do new year things?

I had this idea in my head for a bit, now its written I can finally post it.

Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house,
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.
Except for the Doctor, who was quick to on the trot
From some things that looked like a big pepper pot

Adorned with lasers and weird looking plungers,
They’re plan this night was to try and expunge us.
Wiped from the Earth or perhaps even worse,
To have us suffer their emotionless curse.

The Doctor did run, he knew he was beat
With the Daleks advancing, hot on his feet.
Their lasers flew by, like bright neon lights
When suddenly the Doctor was gone from their sights

Where had he gone, how was he that quick?
Unbeknownst to them he was saved by Saint Nick.
The jolly red man took him back to his box
And gave him a pair of extra-thick socks.

The Doctor gave his thanks something chronic
He then when and made Santa’s sleigh sonic.
They both went off their separate way
Both intending to spread joy upon this day.

This is excellent. You should read it, as Bruce Schneider really knows what he is talking about:
http://www.cnn.com/2009/OPINION/12/29/schneier.air.travel.security.theater/index.html

Couldn't agree more with the man.

A parcel arrived for me today. It contained a card from Debatewise and a personalised hip flask.
I have nothing appropriate to put in a hip flask, though :(

Technically I never set foot on a boat or plane, but that's how it feels setting foot back in Sheffield. Like I've been a on a long voyage to nowhere and lost my land-legs.

Christmas was... fun, got to meet my mums new "boyfriend". He alright, just makes me feel slightly uncomfortable seeing my mum with someone who isn't my dad.

Due to a lack of money this year we decided to go with a "retro" Christmas for the gifts. So I went looting in the attic and found a vegetarian cook book I won at school ages ago and a sand filled glass guitar from the Needles in the Isle of Wight. I also got a proper wooden yo-yo, a cup and ball and a cheap RC car.

Dinner was... gargantuan. We had potatoes, parsnips. suede and carrot mash, spring greens, broccoli, homemade yorkshire pudds, tiger tails, beef and lamb. I promptly slipped into a coma after eating that.

Managed to watch Doctor Who, I'm worried about where the hell this is going.

To summerise: I had a wonderful Christmas.

So, finally back in Sheffield after the Xmas period visit with the parental units.

Had a good time, Dad did his usual bang-up job of providing tasty foods with Mum's assistance and I acquired many shiny things, including:

Playstation 3 slim (250 GB HDD)
Batman Arkham Asylum (PS3)
The Darkness (PS3)
Devil May Cry 4 (PS3)
X-Men Origins - Wolverine (Blu-Ray)
The Dark Knight (Blu-Ray)
Plunkett and McLean DVD
Finding Neverland DVD
Sleepy Hollow DVD
Manic Street Preachers 'Send Away the Tigers' CD
Ash 'Free All Angels' CD
Red Hot Chilli Peppers 'Greatest Hits' CD
'Trial of a Time Lord' DVD box set.
Rush '2112' hooded sweatshirt
The Worlds Fluffiest Socks

So yeah, Squeetastic. :)

PS3 is now plugged in and currently downloading a firmware update, which is good. PS3 box didn't come with a HDMI cable, sadly, so I'm not getting it in hi-def right now, but the cables aren't terribly expensive, so I'll trek into town sometime tomorrow and grab one. Might also make a foray into CeX while I'm there and see what cheap PS3 games I can find while I'm there. :)

Hope to see people on Wednesday or New Year, or even before, if people are back in Sheff and fancy hanging out a bit.

Haha this post has one purpose and one purpose only, and that is to proudly announce that I totally have tickets to see John & Edward in a couple of weeks time. >;D And also tickets to see X-Factor Live in March.



It's a meet & greet so I'll spend stupid amounts of time panicking about what to say to them lol. I'm so rubbish in front of celebrities XD Especially ones I can't always tell apart!

And make no mistake, there'll totally be a pimp post when I have internet back. ;) Only one week @___@

Played Disgaea for msot of the day today.
Itts a very addictive game. The music is awesome, the setting full of things that make me lol. There's plenty of random hings to get obsessive about as well, like the tiny dungeons in each item and the level cap of ridiculous.
Far too mcuh grinding is required to get ANYTHING done, though. And will this game ever, EVER let me possess large sums of money for more than five seconds?

I had a dream about meeting the eight year old mob boss who runs Sheffield's underworld and has dice hanging from his ceiling like egg sacs in metroid Prime...

What kind of cheese do you hide a horse in?

Turns out it's Marscapone.

:D

He delivers it better than I do. I'm just saying.