two years he walks the earth. no phone, no pets, no cigarettes.
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Posted by Mark Gary McKenny at 10:49 0 comments
new moon;
well, i went to see it last night. midnight opening and all.. so i thought id better write about it now, whilst its still fresh in my mind. chances are what i say now i wont agree with after a second watching, but here it goes:
overall, it was a good film. it got an 8/10. i was asked what i thought about it as soon as we got out of the pictures and i didnt know what to say, so i just said eight. the storyline was changed in some parts. bits added, bits taken out, you know the drill. which was sort of annoying. there were some really cheesy scenes. like *SPOILER?* theres this scene of when aro reads alices mind to see bella as a vampire in the future, and seriously, this shot comes on of edward and bella running through the woods and she glitters a little. i mean wtf? no need for that at all. couldnt they have just shown bella in her dress looking all beautiful with red eyes and glittery skin? a dark shot. instead, edwards wearing a little cardigan. honestly they looked like hobbits. near the beginning they also added a scene were bella actually gets on some guys bike, for a ''spin'' ahh it just was not needed.
the acting was same as the first really. some bad bits, but overall not bad. i was surprised at how good jacob was in this film. i mean, this is his film, and he did it justice definately. he'll probably get annoying in the next one, for obvious reasons, but we'll see.
ok the volturi. wow. absolutely amazing. seriously well done. it was perfect. the scene where they look at that painting and it comes alive and then you see aro rip that guys heads off. seriously, those chairs!! and the long black coats and the red eyes. humans are boring.
favourite scene has to be the wolf chase. with the thom yorke song. it was amazing. couldnt have pictured it with any other song really. the tracks called 'hearing damage.'
i think im gonna go have to see it again. ill update this, this reviews poor.
Posted by Mark Gary McKenny at 03:39 0 comments
two films one day;
Posted by Mark Gary McKenny at 15:18 0 comments
canada;
it seems the bbc, or Qi, have got something against canada. well not in a serious 'someone should sue!' sense, but more a 'what the hell, 2 days on the run, why?' yesterday, and today, the 'fact of the day that' i read on my bbc homepage every day has been about canada. not just canada as a country, but canada and their wars.
just read this:
The four Canadian soldiers killed in Afghanistan on 18th April 2002, were the first Canadians to die in combat for more than 50 years. They were accidentally bombed by an American F16.
In a national anthem survey, 79% of Americans know the first line of the 'Star-Spangled Banner', but only 37% of Canadians know the first line to 'Oh, Canada', which is really pathetic considering the first line of 'Oh, Canada' is 'Oh, Canada'. JAY LENO
ok, and im trying to find yesterdays one, but having no luck. anyways, it was of a similar subject. think it was to do with civil wars. what i want to know is why? 2 days on the run? seriously? its like theyre making out its a bad thing that canada is not particularly known for its wars. ISN'T THAT A GOOD THING? jesus christ, i know when im older, i want to live in a country like canada! i dont want to go to war. i dont want to hear about war. i dont want to see war. on the other hand, i find it interesting and humourous in the strangest sense of the word, the fact that it was an american war ship that shot them down. oh almighty america!
Posted by Mark Gary McKenny at 14:33 0 comments
piggy;ralph;jack;
finished reading lord of the flies today! was one of those books that i didn't really want to put down, and with it only being 200 pages, you know the end is always near. anyways i thought it was great. really really interesting. i think its one of those books that you definately! should read when your at a younger age. probably want to introduce this to my kids when theyre about 10-11. i think it has important issues in it that may come up from time to time as your a kid. hope my kids dont get lost on a desert island though. i thought the characters were amazing. i like ralph, i liked piggy, i even like jack. they all had qualities in them that were likeable. i think i liked ralph the most, but he was a little blind at times to issues other than the fire. but i guess at the end of the book, he was right all along. i think it was very haunting the way the hunters became outright killers, especially piggys death, the visual image was not very nice.
i kept noticing links to the american tv series LOST. first the fact that theyre on an island, then that one is called jack. and then the relationship jack has with locke sort of reflected ralph and jacks relationship. especially with locke being a keen hunter. then there was the parachute that fell from the sky, this too happened in lost. very interesting. the writers of lost must be fans of the book.
its a book that will stay in my head for a long time. im off to start joseph conrads heart of darkness now, hope ralph doesnt keep popping into my head.
Posted by Mark Gary McKenny at 12:11 0 comments
macbeth;
finished reading macbeth the other day! really liked it. takes a while to get into shakespeare, but now that im into him, im into him. just finished reading 'shakespeare' by bill bryson. a biography ofcourse. but it was a great read. a great insight not just into the life of shakespeare, but also the times in which he lived in. the conflict between protestantism and Catholicism. the executioning of mary queen of scots. and the fact that before king james I became so, he had been king james 6 up in scotland. all interesting stuff. and as you'd expect, a book written by bill bryson is both enjoyable and never tiring. one interesting thing to take from the book is the fact that shakespeare not once spelt his name how we spell it today. all we have are six signatures, and these are the only pieces of shakespeares handwriting that we actually have. instead, shakespeare spelt his name: William Shackper, William Shakspear, Wm Shakspea, William Shackspere, Willm. Shakspere, William Shakspeare.
the other important subject came at the end of the book. doubters. since shakespeares death it seems people have found it hard to believe that this one man could create such a level of genius like work. i dont. some people are born with amazing talents. in fact i believe we all house something that we are excellent at, its just that some people have that extra drive, that extra help, that extra wanting and the knowing that you are good at something and can do something. this was shakespeare. its to be a well known fact that he collaborated with other writers and poets along the way. i think i remember reading that there is a guess at 9 hands being involved in shakespears first folio. nobody is denying that. i just dont see how people spend their lives trying to find a more creditable human being that shakespeare. if it wasn't him then what makes you think a different man is capable of such literacy?
anyways, its a great read. ive got a few more to read now, hamlet, much ado about nothing, the tempest. ill get through them all eventually. im taking time out to read lord of the flies at the moment though, will let you know how it goes!
Posted by Mark Gary McKenny at 12:36 0 comments
life of pi; and inglorious basterds;
just finished reading life of pi, and today i went to see inglorious basterds. first i will talk about the book:
a really enjoyable read, finished it fairly quickly which proves my interest in it. must say i preferred the first half of the book to the second. the first few chapters touch on some interesting stuff, zoology, religion, and parenthood to name a few. i held the book in my hands and felt that here was a book i could learn a few things from. i started thinking about what being agnostic really means? and just because i dont feel the need to be a christian, does not mean i would not feel the need to be a Muslim.
i still don't know what to label myself, and I'm not in the right time of my life to have a serious think about it. for the past 5-6 years I've quite happily labelled myself as agnostic, but what does that even mean? i wont go into it. but i am aware of other religions, and would like to get to know a bit more about them, before i announce myself as a firm atheist.
learning about animals at pondicherry zoo was also very interesting. how piscine puts things into perspective. you should not feel sorry for animals at a zoo. they are not under any threat, apart from human visitors, they are territorial, meaning they like sticking to one place and having routine, not being under a constant threat of attack, and a fresh food source is dropped into their cage/pen/tank every day. why would they want to be out in the wild? i'd never thought of it that way before. i mean i wasn't one of these people wearing t-shirts saying 'free the animals' but just a week a two ago i questioned buying a rat because i thought it would be cruel to keep it in such a small cage.
i liked the book, just expected the bit where he was alone at sea (apart from the animals) to last a bit longer, but then i guess that was the whole plot to the book. maybe i just found the religion bit too interesting.
as for the film, inglorious basterds. what can i say? i feel like the only two words i can use to describe it are: f*%ck!ng amazing! and i hate swearing. but seriously, its that good, it'll make you want to say those words. its been a while since i've been to a cinema and came out feeling like i've just seen the best film ever made. (its not, i prefer other films) but its definately in the top 20-30, and thats something. it looks like tarantino is back on top. a fact that i am more than happy about. inglorious basterds; a complete and utter roller coaster ride of shock, suspense, remorse, and pleasure for every single emotion imaginable.
Posted by Mark Gary McKenny at 14:08 0 comments
the reader;
ever buy a new book and then want to read it straight away? even though you've just started a different one. i started one flew over the cuckoo's nest, but then after 10-15 pages, had to go back to work. and then i couldnt read that night, and then on sunday i bought 'the reader' for like 30p from the car boot, and i was looking at it and realised i could read it in a day or two.
anyways i did, and i loved it! a really good read. i was a big fan of the film. still need to buy it on dvd. went to see it when it was out with alex emma and kirsty i think. this was when we had just signed the contract for fairfield road. anyways the film was great, if you havn't seen it, it is a must see! and before you watch it, try reading it! either way, the book is pretty short and very enjoyable. its actually probably better to watch first, as then you can picture that ralph fiennes, kate winslet, the young kid.. etc.
mentions quite a bit about james joyce's ulysses i think its spelt. so ill definately read that as soon as i get my hands on a copy. the question is, what to read next? still dont really feel like reading cuckoos nest, i dont know why. maybe i'll give life of pi a try!
Posted by Mark Gary McKenny at 15:06 0 comments
2th;
not last night but the night before, i had a dream, probably the most graphic dream i've ever had, that one of my bottom teeth fell out. well, it was loose, n then i pulled it out. looked it up, and it says this is probably the most common nightmare people have. sorta annoyed me. but anyways, it was a good dream. it actually took me a day to realise i'd had it, n then i couldn't believe that it wasn't true. if that makes sense. this site said it related to caring about your body image, dunno if thats true. ive been thinking about buying really nice clothing an changing my hair, so maybe the meaning is true? i even remember pulling a face in the mirror and thinking how i'd always wanted to have a tooth missing, just to look a bit different, but when i actually looked in the mirror, i no longer wanted a gap in my bottom teeth.
i dunno what it is lately but i just cant think of things to write about on here. i really want to get back into blogging but there's just nothing going on really for me to talk about. work, work, reading, doing the dishes, work. and works still rubbish, but im closer to the end. the books still fantastic (american psycho) and ive got around 50 pages left, gonna finish that later. and what can i say about doing the dishes?
meteor shower last night, didn't see any of it. bluddy showers overhead like all of south england, just my luck. if i still lived in liverpool the north west woulda had showers. instead i just went on flickr and looked at peoples uploads of it, pretty nice!
i thought about what i might do after uni the other day. and i was thinking of going into teaching. well it has sorta always been my intention to do a teaching course after the 3 years, cause id like to teach when im older. but i dont really wanna teach when im like 25-30 (the children years) so i was thinking of doing a teaching course, and a night course in french, and then hopefully move to france to teach for a little while. i definately want to move out of the uk for a year or two after uni, and france seems like my favourite choice. hope blogger still exists in 3 years so i can blog when im in france.
thats all i have to say.
Posted by Mark Gary McKenny at 13:05 0 comments
american psycho;
hey! i said i'd put a post up on here, so here it is!
so, im in winchester, im my new house at fairfield road, its all pretty sweet so far. its mainly me alex emma and tabreez at the moment, but lauren basically lives here aswell, an sometimes i live at her house just 5 minutes away. the house is nice. nice road, nice area, nice cats. the neighbours are alright too. so yea its goin ok so far.
im workin at beales, in the coffee shop. its basically like bhs. like an old persons shop. so the coffee shop is more or less full of old people, so you'd think it would be pretty quiet and nice. but lets just say its a bloody nightmare. i actually hate going to work. like, loads of people moan about their jobs, especially the english, cause we already like to moan. but seriously, i feel like i have reason to moan so much. it is awful. we dont stop, i go in at half 9, n literally dont stop til 5. i get a poor half hour break, in which i cant even read one chapter of a book, and its a crap lunch cause i know ill have to get back to makin coffees anytime soon. and thats another thing, im meant to enjoy my days off that i do get from work (i work 4 days a week, so i get 3 off) but when im off, alls i think about is 'ohh ive got work tomorrow.' its horrible. on wednesday, i just couldnt be bothered, was about to throw the towel in or whatever that saying is, but if i can just stick it out til my contract runs out (8th sept) ill have quite a lot of money to last me til christmas or whatever. i think i can do it, i just dont want to.
im really into reading at the moment. that list really inspired me to get going at the top 100, n then i bought a bookmark with the top 50 on. so thats another thing i do on my days off. basically just go round all the charity shops lookin for these top 50-100 books. got about 20 of em so far probably, its just findin the time to read the bloody things, in between work, tiredness, xbox and socialness. im reading american psycho at the moment ^ its really really good, would definately recommend it to anyone! its not in the top 100 or anything, but i really loved the film and have wanted to read the book for ages. eventually picked up a copy at cancer research ;)
i cant think of much else to write. other than both my neighbours have cats, and one of them seems scared of me, but it proper looks like one of my mates. i never know what to think about cats. they come across as quite intelligent. definately more so than the dog. but if theyre intelligent why does this one keep runnin away from me? took some pictures of them before anyways, up on me flickr if you want a look.
ill write something else on here when there's something good to talk about. this is twaddle.
Posted by Mark Gary McKenny at 13:42 0 comments