Danska: Shadow Master

Hello, hello! I can see you eyeing my biscuit collection. Yes, you! They're MY biscuits, so paws off! Laptops. I've spoken about laptops - or rather, my new shiny awesome godlike super-machine - but recently another laptop arrived. My mum, getting highly frustrated with her current laptop which, really, is no surprise given that it has trouble doing something as simple as switching between programs (believe me, I'm not exaggerating), wanted another one. I managed to find a useful little website that sold refurbished machines, meaning they tended to be old and cheap. Given that my mum only uses her laptop for the internet and typing, that was exactly the sort of thing she needed. So we got one, it arrived at some unearthly hour yesterday morning so my mum dragged me out of bed to get it running for her. Note that I am of the opinion that mornings exist for sleeping, and the day begins at midday. So, with much grumbling, sort it out I did. I NEVER want to go through the process of transferring emails again! Gah! I'm currently searching for a job...well, kinda searching. Ish. I'm also lined up to attend some university open days. If I don't like them that's unfortunate as I've already applied. Hopefully I should like at least one out of the five. My first visit is Saturday, which should be interesting. I fear I shall get myself horribly lost, despite a shuttlebus going to and from the train station. Directions were never my strong point. Games! I want to talk about games! Games are fun! Two in particular that I play are EVE Online and The Force Unleashed (Wii version). EVE is great if you know people. I've fallen in with a few crazies who all seem to speak Dutch and have a ship that's somewhat more powerful than any I should have given my current playtime and experience. Friends are useful. They can buy you stuff and, if they're really experienced, take you on missions which you gain tons of cash from. Just today I gained more cash from one such mission than I've made in the whole of the past week and a half I've been playing. I like how the skills train too (choose one, tell it to train, wait for the length of time it takes either online or offline), but it gets tedious waiting for them at times. When you're training them to level 4 or 5 (highest levels), they literally take days if not weeks to complete. The Force Unleashed you may well have heard of, being a multi-platform well-hyped release set to change the history of Star Wars blah blah blah. Wait, what am I saying? Curse you negative tone for twisting my words! The game is awesome! While the force powers aren't as 'unleashed' and overpowered as expected from all the advertising and so on, they still far surpass those of any other Star Wars game to date. Finally I can hurl opponents around like rag dolls, send boxes flying into them, drop them over pits, toss them into each other and actually feel a bit more like a Jedi. Though, for a Jedi (well, Sith), his blaster blocking skills suck. And he must be using a training saber, because some enemies simply do not die! I'm there, stabbing them over and over and over again with my lightsaber inflicting horribly disfiguring wounds upon them yet they keep coming! Why won't they die!? That aside, I utterly adore the game. I haven't completed it yet and have no idea where it's going to take me (some VERY interesting plot twists), and I can't wait to find out! On a completely random note, I've just remembered there's something on TV I want to watch shortly. It's the only thing I ever watch on TV, yet it conflicts with going on EVE to train a skill...stupid time. Why can't I control it? Yes, I want superpowers. You know that old question "if you could have any superpower what would it be"? Well for me, there's no contest. Telekinesis. Seriously, that power would be ultimate if properly applied. You could defend yourself against anything, avoid effort in almost any situation, fly, as an extension of flight (and generally moving yourself) travel at super-fast speeds and pull a whole host of cunning pranks on people. The possibilities are endless! I'm re-reading a book called Brisingr right now. It's the third book in the Inheritance Cycle (originally a Trilogy, but it's since been expanded into four books) that started with Eragon (mention the film and you die), continued into Eldest and now this one. I have to say, I enjoyed it. Some interesting tie-ups to sub-plots and answers to old questions, but still there are more. I do feel Eragon's strength is being seriously downplayed, given he has both elf-like strength and abilities on top of being a rider. He should be able to manage much more than he does without being tired out IMO. There are also a couple of other things I would question, but besides that I thought it was great! Well worth the read. I've got to look after myself these next two weeks. I don't want to say why, but I shall be all on my lonesome. This means I'll have to cook, wash and look after things myself. Well not cook so much, as my mum's prepared various things that I can throw in a pan and heat up, but even so...eep! On the other hand I'm quite looking forward to it. Two weeks by myself without anyone else there breathing down my neck telling me to do this or that - and it's good preparation for when I finally go to University and life thereafter. Yeah, my attitude is strangely optimistic for once. And that about wraps it up! I'm off to do whatever it is I end up doing. Until my next entry!

Now I don't know about you (or even who you are, but man you're ugly!), but I've had a problem with all the Newva since the first time I saw pics of the Phantoka. Don't get me wrong, I like the sets, but I really don't like how little resemblance they have to their original forms. I'm starting to see just how little sense that view makes. I recently named the Toa Metru as my favourite group of Toa, with the Toa Inika coming in third. Yet both these groups of sets are guilty of exactly the same 'crime' the Newva are, the Metru most of all. Who can honestly say the Metru have any resemblance to their Turaga forms? How much do the Inika represent the Matoran they once were on Mata Nui? Any resemblances tend to be forced upon them because people want to find them. I would guess these similarities are purely coincidental. Remember that sets come before story. Chances are, the sets were made before anyone gave them their story identities, in which case how can they bear similarities to their 'former appearances' when the set designers had no idea they were designing those characters? There was a small smattering of discontent about the Metru's dissimilarity, and a slightly larger one for the Inika, but nothing on the scale of what's hit the Newva. Why? We've known all those characters from 2001, yet it's only the Nuva people make a huge fuss about. I admit I did as well, but thinking about it a bit more logically the view seems to make little sense unless I also have a problem with the other sets. I mean, even the Mahri bore little real resemblance to their Inika forms. Every single one of them had a different colour scheme, which seems to be one of the primary considerations when searching for a resemblance. To be honest, I can understand it in this instance, given that the set style was more or less the same. It would be hard to create sets in the same style resembling each other without being too similar. Now in terms of storyline, the Nuva's appearance is the most understandable. Both the Metru and the Inika had their forms changed, essentially shrinking from Toa size to Turaga size and Matoran size to Toa size, respectively. The Nuva on the other hand received completely new armour, masks and weapons and it's the armour that dictates their appearance. Of course they'd look different! Physically, at least for the most part, they are not the same Toa, so why would they look the same? I'd also like to add that the Nuva's 'transformation' is my favourite one to date. Why? Because technically, it isn't a transformation. They've been re-outfitted with new equipment which for a few years has seemed to me an obvious way to release the same Toa without transforming them and is far simpler than coming up with yet another mutagenic substance conveniently placed for the Toa to fall into or whatever they do to get themselves effected by it. I could start rambling about half a dozen different ideas right now as an offshoot of my main point, but I'm not going to. I'm going to stop. To summarise my main point: don't eat fish. And would whatever spell checker that has latched itself onto Firefox please stop giving me the American spellings of words? I am British, not American!

It's not one of the major brands because I had it custom-built, so got it straight from the manufacturers. The website is called PCSpecialist (which I have proudly stamped over the top of my laptop).

At last! I have me a laptop! And a good laptop it is. As I type I am installing a game, playing music, running MSN, Mozilla Thunderbird, Open Office Writer and about 3 other tabs in Firefox all without any lag whatsoever. On my old PC, simply viewing the desktop was liable to send it into a fit of lagging while installing a game. Am I happy? Yes I am! I spent most of yesterday (once it arrived) copying files and installing programs. It took me well over an hour to transfer all my music to my external hard drive from my old PC. To get it onto my laptop - I dunno. Five minutes? Now THAT is impressive! In fact I think I managed to transfer four times as much in less time. Setting up my email was difficult. First I had to work out how to do it (I'm not talking about web-based email here), and then the SMTP address given (the one needed to send emails) seemed to be wrong. I also had to find a way to transfer my old emails to this machine. Thankfully I succeeded in these ventures, though it took me many hours. I am now going through and installing all my games. The mere fact that I should be able to complete that task in a day is a testament to my laptop's awesomeness - or perhaps the uselessness of my old machine. Far as I'm concerned it's both. To further confirm my desktop's inferiority to all but the most basic and simple of units, it is now dead. It always had problems, but it now blue screens whenever I start it up. I don't think I'll miss it. Perhaps the thing I'm most excited about is this machine's gaming potential. On my old machine, nearly any game made in the last three years would struggle to work and any game in the last five would take an hour to load. Though I haven't tested any games yet (I'm still installing them), I would imagine my laptop can do a lot better. If it takes me less time to load a Dawn of War match than to play it, I'll be happy. Now to go and run around happily until I collapse in a heap from exhaustion, giggling like a lunatic.

I'm bored, so I've decided to post an entry listing my Toa in favourite to least favourite order with my reasons why. No, not my reasons why I posted this. Don't be silly now. My reasons why I like them. 1. Toa Metru - These guys totally redefined Toa sets. They were the first Toa not to use the Mata bodies, they introduced a whole host of new colours including bley, they had bendable limbs and almost every piece was new and has been re-used countless times in future sets. That's not why I like them though. The reasons I like them are many. From a purely aesthetic point of view, they look brilliant. The dark colours/bley combination was pulled off really well, the powerful, angled shoulders looked fantastic and their proportions are the best yet in Toa sets. Their masks were interesting but not over-detailed like some and the range of tools was fantastic. Giving Vakama a disk launcher was a nice touch, even if it didn't fire well. The playability options was fantastic! Not only did they have more poseability than any set before, they still had gears and a whole host of tool functions that only added to their role-playing potential. I will never get tired of playing with these guys. They are the perfect midway between Mata Nuian gear blockishness and Ignika era feature-free poseability. I don't dislike either, but the Metru show that they CAN be combined. They weren't quite clones, but they also weren't different enough to not be. In this aspect they lose marks, but given anything else it hardly matters to me. They were already composed almost completely of new pieces and had pretty much everything else going for them. They also looked like they fitted into the city environment of Metru Nui perfectly. Points there, I think. 2. Toa Mata - Yes, I'm an old fan, so I'm bound to have a preference for the original sets. The Mata were what brought Bionicle to me, and so I'll always like them. That said, they do have a number of things going for them. In terms of appearance, I really think they hit the nail on the head. Remember that Toa are powerful heroes who harness the power of the elements themselves - forces of nature. These Toa looked the part so much. They really seemed like avatars of their elements. Add to that the masks - so simple, so elegant - and the differences between them - I do like their appearance. The big gear on their back does look odd, as do the rest of the gears (odd that no one complains at this blatant intrusion into the colour scheme yet they seem outraged at blue pins), but given the level of playability they add I'm prepared to forgive them for it. Yes, that is what I really love about the Mata. They are the perfect size to hold in your hand and bash something with the gear function. Latter sets - Metru included - are too big for this, and although the gear on the back is huge I personally feel the size necessary. It's much easier to use than the puny Metru gear. What's more, there were three distinct functions here: Kopaka, Lewa and Tahu's sword/axe slash, Gali/Onua's claw scrabble and Pohatu's kick. This added variety is something that really attracts me to these sets of old, although I feel the Nuva did it slightly better by allowing you to choose whether they have one or two gears. That's something else I disliked about the Metru - they all had two gears. Of the three systems that was by far my least favourite. I actually replaced the second gear in the Metru with that small grey piece found behind the Mata's massive gear (you know what I mean). I was much happier after that. But wait! I have yet more to say about playability. The Mata also had masks that came off, which was great fun! It was wonderful to have contests between the Toa and watch them smack each other's masks across the floor! Okay, Pohatu never did very well and yes, the single-gear trio were at an advantage with the size of their weapons, but they were the coolest three! It's only fair that they win! *ahem* yes. But if you think that's all, think again! One thing that really set 2001/2002 apart was the interactivity of the sets. The Toa could knock masks of the Rahi, the Rahi could knock masks of the Toa, the Turaga could stand their flailing uselessly trying to reach something's mask (poor Pohatu)...it was great! The sets existed to DO something, not just stand there looking pretty! (which they did as well) I didn't mind the lack of arm/leg poseability too much. It actually gets a bit annoying, having limbs flailing everywhere, although you can't get half the poses with the Mata as you can with later sets. Just the typical "I'm staring into space. I can't see you, I'm ignoring you, just staring into space" pose. That was what annoyed me. The lack of neck movement. If there was a way to combine that and the gear system (like the Metru, but without arms that knock against things due to their wierd angle) I'd snap it up straight away! 3. Toa Inika - These guys were great. Again they had a massive number of new pieces, they had light-up tools which looked awesome and the first multi-fire launchers. They were also the first Toa to introduce full poseability, which was great. They were also the first sets where all six did not share the same colour scheme, just in a different primary colour, and the first sets where they didn't all share the same armour. The colour schemes were, by and large, very nice. Jaller and Matoro were especially nice due to their transparant pieces, and to this day I adore Hewkii Mahri's colour scheme. The yellow/iron grey scheme worked better than later variations on the yellow colour, made all the better because the iron grey was the dominant colour and really made him look armoured. The light-up tools gave them something besides a simple shooting tool to enjoy. While the lack of an actual set feature was dissapointing, the light-up tools were nice - especially in the dark. The rubber masks I was less fond of. Excepting Matoro's, they just looked wierd! They were much more like faces than masks which would be fine, except they were meant to be masks! The wide torsos, coupled with thin shoulder armour and long arms, made them look very disproportionate. The shoulders were too wide and while it's good they used one of the shorter leg pieces for the arms, it still made them too long. Perhaps if the upper arm piece had been a 5-length piece instead of a 7-length one? So why did I put them in third? Because, despite their obvious faults, I like them. They were something new and interesting and the armour style suits them far better than any sets since, perhaps because it was made for them? They're fun to play with and easy to pose, as well as having the light-up feature which later sets in the same style do not have. 4. Toa Hordika - Yes, the Hordika are not last. Why? Because, as strange and alien a concept as it may seem, I LIKE the Hordika. The Rhotuka was one of the most addictive and enjoyable launcher functions yet, and was actually part of the set and not some clumsy hand-held collossus tacked on to give the set the semblance of a feature. It was well incorperated into the design and worked, even with the ripcord which should by rights have killed them. The arms were annoying, particularly the left, but the right arm was interesting. The gear function wasn't the best in the world, but it's the only buildable limb we've ever had. It was a nice idea and I think it worked. Another thing I liked was the torso and armour. Really well-designed pieces IMO. The armour especially is incredibly versatile, and the body has a really nice shape to it and a lot of potential. The heads, while provoking controversy over the idea of Toa not having masks, were something different which is not necessarily a bad thing by any means. The completed effect was something which looked great and had two different functions. I have to admit I don't think the primary/bley colour scheme worked so well with these guys, especially with the added silver, but nor did it not work. I had - and still have - great fun playing with these guys and loved them and 2005 as a whole. 5. Toa Nuva - Aaaaaahh yes. A formulaic rehash of the Mata that in essence was even worse than the Mahri and Newva from that angle. Nevertheless, I like them a lot. For me they have the strongest line-up of tools yet, and giving them all secondary 'transport' features was a stroke of absolute genius. What's more the ability to give them one or two gears was a definite improvement, as was the ability to hold the gears in place. I love them simply for that. But not exclusively. Their armour was awesome, and made them look even more heroic and powerful than the original Mata. Everything was a step up and they were even more fun to play with than the originals. Their masks mostly bore some resemblance to their originals and certainly had the appearance of being transformed. So if I love them so much, why are they so low in my list? Well, I'll tell you why. While they did everything the Mata did, and better, the still did little more and were almost carbon copies of the originals with a few bits and pieces tacked on. Yes I like them, but when what I like has been done before and there's nothing new, what's left? 6. Toa Newva - A rehash of the old Inika formula, these lose major marks just for that. I have built that structure too many times to be interested anymore and if they weren't the Nuva I would never have bought them. Still, when you overlook that blatant and irritating flaw, they're not so bad. Lewa being lime green was excellent. Every Toa since Lewa Nuva has been dark green with bley, except Kongu Inika who was dark green with small splashes of silver which is no more enthralling. I like the colour dark green, but if they're not going to do anything interesting with it they may as well not bother. So they didn't. They chose a brighter, more exciting colour and...mixed it with bley. Yeah, I don't like the masses of bley and silver in the sets. My major complaint is how little they represent their Nuva counterparts, but I've beaten that one to death already so I'll skip over it. The Midak Skyblasters were and probably always will be my favourite launchers ever. Despite their size they look less cumbersome than the Cordak Blasters and fire extremely well. The Nynrah look cool, so points there, but fire badly so lose those points. As for other tools - they had them? Lewa and Tahu are the only ones who had seperate tools, but what tools they were! Lewa's Air Saber is one of my favourite weapons ever, and Tahu's Rotating Blade I thought was quite clever. The methods of flight given to the Phantoka were wonderful. I loved Lewa's jet pieces and Kopaka's wings, and while Pohatu's helicopter blades meant he had no arms they were still very inventive. The Mistika, on the other hand, decided to get two pieces (jets and small jet wings) and stick them in places. It looked cool, but I'd have preferred something more inventive for perhaps Gali and Onua. While these sets were good, they just felt like another dry rehash of an already over-used formula and so I find it hard to mark them up. 7. Toa Mahri - Despite coming in last, I don't have the Mahri. I am a particular fan of Jaller Mahri's armour and thought the blue/lime scheme of Hahli Mahri was a nice idea. I also liked the Cordak Blasters (and have no trouble firing them whatsoever) as well as Jaller Mahri's awesome tool. There were a number of innovations, such as Matoro Mahri's build and Kongu's use of lower Hordika arms as shoulders, but as a line-up I feel them the weakest of all the Toa. The tubes were a nice idea, but I personally feel the sets look better without them (they also made the sets harder to sprite at times). I also felt, for all their great functionality, that the Cordak Blasters looked incredibly cumbersome and unwieldy and detracted from the sets' appearance as a whole. I also refused point blank to stick the spare ammo on their bodies. That just looks wrong. The masks were, by and large, not a bad set and certainly better than the Inika's. So why do they come last? Because basically, I don't feel the Mahri had anything that particularly set them apart. They played and felt much like the Inika due to following the same design conventions, and to me they didn't seem to pull off those conventions as well. The Inika had parts made for them which, together, gave the appearance of strong and powerful heroes. The Mahri attempted to follow this design, but ended up looking a mess because the parts they used had been designed for other sets and other purposes. I say again that I don't dislike the Mahri, but I don't feel they have anything over other Toa groups that has not been effectively replicated by similar and superior sets. Well there we go! I hope whoever read this found it interesting. I'm now going to go off and do...something. Yeah, that sounds good.

It is true! I shall soon be getting a laptop to replace this old and battered heap of junk. It's about time, I think. I've been wanting a new computer for about four years now - and been honestly meaning to get one for as long. I found a great website back then which does custom-built desktops and laptops for very decent prices. I've had my eye on that website for about as long, but have never gotten round to buying anything. My current PC is seven years old and was new roundabout when XP was. Considering it's age the specs aren't too bad, but the 40GB hard drive really isn't enough. Even with an 80GB external I'm running out of space, and the fact I'm still working on USB 1 means anything I load off the external takes ages. Add to that the sheer volume of junk on here, its slowness and numerous other problems including its apparant inability to load up first time, something new would be greatly appreciated. Which is why I've ordered something, finally! I've been carefully saving my money this summer (ibetween spending it, not least on all the Mistika canisters and Takanuva) and on Sunday I finally ordered a laptop! Veeeeerrry good specs, especially for a laptop. Intel Core 2 Duo (2x 2.40ghz) Processor 2GB RAM 250GB Hard Drive Nvidia Geforce 8600 GT Graphics Card 8x DVD player/rewriter/24x CD drive Network card Inbuilt Webcam Windows XP The last item is especially pleasing, as I have no desire to get Vista just yet. Also, XP was cheaper. Those specs make the laptop about 3-4 times more powerful than this machine, and should enable it to play a decent selection of games. I should at least be able to spend more time playing Dawn of War than I do waiting for it to load. The laptop's now ready to be built according to the website, and should be arriving sometime next week! Happy happy fun time!

Alright. Let me begin by saying that I've seen the pictures, but I'm not going to spoil anything for anyone. 2009 is supposed to be a fresh start for Bionicle. New location, new characters, new everything. Greg once mentioned, after I'd said how much I liked 2001-2003 for its scenery and location, that I should like 2009 a lot. As you can imagine, this has gotten my hopes up considerably. My impression, which could be right or wrong, is that 2009 will be similar in many ways to 2001. I imagine the setting to be closer to that in terms of technology and perhaps in terms of environment as well. This gives considerable scope for exploring new lands, ideas and cultures. I would dearly love to spend some time getting to know the inhabitants, how they live, what life is like and what the actual environment is like. In the old days we got to explore these places ourselves. I knew what every place was like because I'd been there myself and interacted with both the place and the people through the MNOLG. In 2002, and to a lesser extent 2003, the Webisodes provided this interaction that allowed me to gain an understanding of the region. In 2003 there were more webisodes, the MNOLG II and a film. Something, anything, to let me see the places would be dearly welcome. In terms of location, I'd like to see something with diversity. Mata Nui and Metru Nui had six distinct regions each with their own atmosphere, Rahi, challenges, culture and locations. Voya Nui and Mahri Nui had very, very little in this sense and while they both had potential, they fell very short IMO. Karda Nui is hardly better, with Mutran's description summing it up very well indeed. Given it's supposed size and incredible importance to the universe as a whole, I was sorely dissapointed by this. I would like to see somewhere that can be explored and have more purpose than a stage for battles. Unless Greg surprises us by throwing in a bunch of known characters, do you realise next year will be the first time we've had Toa (if they are Toa) who we haven't known since 2001? They'll be the first hero sets to have new, original names! I don't know why I'm excited by this, but it does seem cool. The sets such as I've seen are fantastic. Truly great. They have some things I don't like, so they're not perfect (what is), but I do really like them. I genuinely think BZP will like them as well. They have a number of things people have wanted, and a considerable number that I've wanted. What are these things? Heh, you know I can't say. I'd be bundled up and kicked out into a passing lorry before I could yell "pants". Infact, if you take that to mean before the general likelihood of me saying that rather than as a measure of time, then it could be a long time before that happens. I mean, I don't often run around yelling 'pants'. I don't think I ever have, infact. Why did I say any of that? I don't know. I have no idea what the story will be next year. I would like it to involve an epic quest with puzzles, obstacles and many reasons for the Toa to spread themselves across the location as far as possible to give multiple angles and viewpoints all leading up to an epic and surprising confrontation against some mysterious and powerful villain throwing in mysteries and surprises along the way, but that might just be me. Time will tell. Right. I think I'm done for now! If I come up with anything else to say I'll be sure to forget to write it anywhere. Stupid memory...

I think I would have preferred that. Given the importance of the Nuva's quest, and that they're basically the most important Toa team in the universe, I could have accepted their need to transform without complaint (at least, I say that now). After all, they're trying to reawaken the most powerful being in the universe who is essential to the universe's well being against the wishes of the Brotherhood - arguably the most powerful organisation in the universe. A lot for any team of Toa to handle without a few tweaks and modifications along the way. The only real problem I can see is that Vakama could no longer stand up and pronounce "you are not the first Toa!" with so much authority. "You are not the first Toa - but are still the most important Toa in the story I'm about to tell you" doesn't quite have the same ring to it.

A Level results came out yesterday. I would have made an entry earlier except I was out celebrating yesterday and earlier today I went to see the Clone Wars (don't). I actually passed! My results were much better than I expected, too! If you're not British, I'll give you a brief explanation of the results system. The grades range from A to E. All of those are a pass, although the higher the grade the better the pass. There's also a U, which means means you failed. My grades were: Philosophy: A Critical Thinking: B English Language: C Computing: D Really pleased with the Philosophy and Critical Thinking, as I want to do Philosophy at University. English Language really surprised me. I expected to get lower than that. I was also annoyed, if not surprised, by my Computing result. They've been messing us around from the start and provide almost no guidelines at all for the coursework, so I more or less flunked that. I'm also convinced they mismarked at least one of my exams. Nevermind. There's also the advantage that I've recieved £55 from various family members. I'm going to London next week, so that won't last long I fear. Happy!

Today is the beginning of a week full of busy. Yes, busy has now become a noun. Authorisation: me. Deal with it. Today I'm going to a surprise party being thrown in town for someone who's going to India in a few weeks, where she shall be staying for a year to teach ickle people. God only knows why, but it is an excuse for a party! Tommorow I'm going to a friend's house for a Wii party mostly involving Super Smash Bros. Brawl, which will take up most of the day. THEN in the evening I'm going out for a meal to celebrate my friends' 19th birthdays (they're twins). There will be many people both familiar and less so and most importantly, lots of pizza! Wednesday A friend is coming round and we're going to see The Dark Knight. About time! I've wanted to see that for ages! Thursday...it's Doomsday. Results are coming. They shall be hideous. I shall die. Then I may go out drinking either to celebrate or commiserate. I may have spelt that wrong. Oh well. Friday was my free day, however I heard there may be a plan for me to go and play Dungeons and Dragons. My friend just got the kit, and none of us have ever played it before! No idea what to expect, but I'm certain it will be awesome! The weekend may be free...however at some point I will need to pack, as I'm going to London next Monday through to Wednesday. It will be awesome! Quite why everything decided to happen this week I do not know, but who cares? It's fun! When I'm back from London I may be rendered comatose for a week due to so much activity. Sleep is good to. I look forward to it.

Here in the UK, or more specifically in the city in which I live, we have what is called a Balloon Fiesta. That is, or was, an occasion where lots of balloons gather and are flown often in an attempt to advertise the company that owns or funds the balloon in question. It can be quite interesting seeing some of the shapes that appear. This year I noticed one in the shape of a fire extinguisher, and last year there was one shaped like a house. You get some strange balloons around. Of course, now that people have realised this is an occasion where lots of money could be made it has become more of a large, corperate fair which charges extortionate prices for the simplest of things and hardly lets you move without encounterting an easy opportunity to lose all your money on something. True, some of the attractions are quite good. The Waltzers and Dodgems are always fun (although dodgems are nowhere near as good as they used to be) and some of the food is alright I suppose, but it's still waaaaay too expensive. I was quite surprised, perhaps unrightly so, to find a 'cash van' in the area. This is a cashpoint on a van which charges £2.75 for every transaction. Sadly I had to make use of this. The space allocated for balloons must be only a third of that given for everything else, probably a lot less. For something with 'balloon' in the title there was a noticeable lack of them. I remember going when I was much younger and seeing balloons everywhere. You could go up and talk to the crews and everything. I remember being terrified by a balloon wandering around shaped like a green dragon. Despite all that, it still manages to be fun. I guess it helped that I was with friends, but I thoroughly enjoyed myself. Yes I may have spent too much money, but it didn't seem to matter at the time. There was even a tent up for EA where we got to try out the Spore Creature Creator. My friend made a dinosaur-like creature with two heads, a mace on its tail and four arms. It was awesome! There was also an XBox 360 simulator and a Nintendo tent advertising Wii Fit. I gave both of them a miss. The Playstation 3 was absent for some reason. Not that I care about the PS3. I think it's better they weren't trying to inflict it on the poor people there, to be honest. Thursday, the day I went, was the first day of the Fiesta. There's a good reason to go that day, as they have something called the 'night glow'. This is lots of balloons being inflated and 'lit' intermittently to music. As the name may suggest, this happens when it's dark. It looks great! I seem to remember it being better last year, however. I dunno. Nevermind that, it still looked awesome! The whole event was a lot of fun and I look forward to going again next year! I did bump into a couple of other friends there who mentioned the possibility of arranging a trip with people from school today, but given it's 4:40 in the afternoon already I don't see that happening. Not sure I'd go either, as it's not cheap. Sure I may have managed to get my friend to pay me the £80 he's owed me for months yesterday, but I'm also trying to save up for a laptop which, if you're as fussy about specs as I am, do not come cheap. On a final note, party rings taste goooood.

Ok, so the title may well be a serious over-generalisation or exaggeration, whatever you wish to call it. I doubt anything could keep me away from toy shops indefinitely. But...I now have all the Bionicle sets I want this year. For months I've been intermittently visiting toy shops to see if they have the set I want, but now I have no reason too! It's...strange. It's become so much of a habit now. *sigh* Just have to wait until next year.

I made a blog entry about the Mistika a while back. It was quite negative, I seem to recall. Now that I own the three Toa, I thought I should post an updated account of my opinions. I'm still not happy that these are the Nuva. The only set out of all the Toa who's stayed true to his colour scheme is Onua, and the only one who looks anything like his 2003 counterpart is Takanuva. I'm not going to talk about Takanuva, though. I've already done a review of him. Now, the Mistika feel pretty much like your average run-of-the-mill churned out Toa set - at least since 2006. Basic builds focusing on a Piraka/Inika torso, familiar limbs and a few slapped on parts. I'm also really dissapointed to see the projectile weapons become their main - and only - weapons. The tools are often the high point of the set, and one of the clinching reasons for buying Lewa was his incredible tool. I really love melee weapons (although I frequently complain to anyone who will listen about how hard they are to draw) and it's a shame to see them go. The Nynrah Ghostblasters really aren't an adequate substitute. I am quite impressed at how different each Toa's blaster looks, though. Tahu's looks like quite a simple one-handed blaster, Gali's looks more like a powerful two-handed weapon while Onua's looks like the biggest gun from the heavy weapons department. It's a nice touch, even if it is achieved using only one or two pieces. Nevertheless, their firing capabilities are poor compared to the Midak Skyblasters and the ammo keeps on falling out. Appearance wise, they look great. The bright silver adds a balance to the darker colours, although I find it dominates somewhat. A bit unfortunate, seeing as silver is not supposed to be their primary colour last I checked. Still, the result is satisfactory and they look very heroic. One frustrating point is the red and blue pins and rods. In the past, blue pins would blend in with the blue sets and strive to annihilate every other colour scheme possible. Now it has a parter, the red pin, which is even more devastating and is particularly effective against blue sets. Why, lego? Why? I mean pins is one thing, but sticking giant red fins and jets on a black set which already has three different colours in it? What are you thinking!? There are one or two variations in build, but nothing substantial. I wasn't expecting Gali's neck to connect the way it does - or Onua's, for that matter. I also...no, wait, that's about it for surprises. No, wait, I've got another one! The jets on Onua attach differently to how I might have expected, sticking out at an angle. Nice touch, I thought. Playing with them is quite fun, but the group just doesn't look like at team anymore. With the old Nuva you could tell they belonged to the same team as they followed the same colour scheme conventions and used the same body, armour legs etc. (but still managed to be unique, I might add). The six Nuva now look like random Toa thrown together from seperate corners of the universe with the odd similar feature strung on somewhere. Perhaps if they'd kept the grey as the secondary colour, or even better given the Phantoka silver, it might have worked. Still, the Mistika are a nice bunch of sets despite this. My main complaint is, as I've said before, their lack of similarity to the original Nuva. I cannot even begin to assosciate one with the other, which is quite frustrating. A pity, because I do like them. For further Inika/Piraka rehashes they're good and do the job very well, but they're also Inika/Piraka rehashes and so are hardly deserving of new group names. The Makuta, on the other hand, I adore completely. I didn't like them that much when I saw them, and didn't really like them until I had them out and built. Pictures really do not give an accurate impression of a set. Take Krika, for example. Initially I thought 'oh no, another annoying unposeable four-legged thing'. The four legged thing actually makes him more poseable, will you believe. He can stand perfectly upright unlike Vamprah, or he can be stretched out so far his body is horizontal. Either way, it looks awesome! The other two sets are great two. Bitil is the one I was most anticipating getting my hands on, although I'm still not sure why. No, no! I'm not saying he's bad! Quiet those misguided thoughts! Of all of them, Bitil is the most humanoid (well, he is humanoid) and still manages to be very tall despite having a short torso. He also uses a yellow colour not seen since 2003 on Jaller! I wasn't sure whether he used that colour or Keetorange when I saw the pics, but it's great to see an old colour return! He also has very interesting tools and a great way of attaching the wings, although I find it hard to think of them as wings. Gorast looks awesome and looks menacing in absolutely any pose you might put her in, but is the most awkward to play with. The short arms make posing them difficult, as does the attachment of the wings. It's a cool idea but one that, in the end, dissapoints when it comes to playability. All of them use a black Metru arm to attach the head to the torso, which in every instance except Krika allows considerably more poseability. Krika's more difficult because of how the head is attached and the huge spikey thing that stretches back over his head. You know what I mean, right? Anyway, I really like this setup. It's especially good for Bitil as it adds significantly to his height and allows the Makuta to go from tall, imposing masters of shadow to necks-bent-forward hissing monsters. Except Gorast. She's always going to be short. All in all the Mistika are a nice group of sets, although the Nuva feel nothing like the Nuva and I sometimes find it hard to imagine the three mutated monstrosities to be proud members of the Brotherhood, but who cares? They look awesome! In conclusion, Nuva quite good but not the Nuva, Makuta very nice indeed.

Just wanted to share this awesome action shot I captured of the Nuva taking their revenge on Icarax for attacking them in Karzhani.

I can't remember if I ever made an entry about how bad the Eragon film is. Whether I did or not, I'm making one now. Right. Let's start with the trivial things shall we? In the book Eragon is not 17, he does not have blonde hair and he actually has a personality different from every single generic fantasy/action hero in every sub-par fantasy book or film. The Raz'ac are supposed to have beaks, look nothing like their film manifestations, none of them die (VERY important) and I'm certain there's a different number in the film than there is in the book. Galbatorix is NEVER supposed to be seen, so we don't even know what he looks like yet but considering he's an ancient Dragon Rider, he probably looks more elvish. On the subject of elves, last I heard, they had pointed ears. What happened to Arya's? On another note, since when was Angela JUST a fortune teller (and an unconvincing one at that) and when did the Urgals become big men with bald heads and tattoos? With many of the trivial details aside (but by no means all), let's move onto the plot. It seems to me that whoever spearheaded the idea simply decided to pick out a few words he liked, throw 9/10ths of the plot out the window and re-write everything around those few happy words into something that only partially resembles the actual plot if you've been hit on the head by a sack of bricks, thrown down a large hill infested with angry gnomes armed with mallets and land in a stone ditch where, just to make sure, a team of disgruntled peasants have amassed to brutally remove whatever is left of your intelligence with a chisel. Not only do they simply cut out almost everything that happens, major events (or those that are left) are thrown together like tadpoles in a blender so it's almost impossible to distinguish where one begins and the other ends. Apparantly, Eragon goes from being a happy little farm boy with a blue stone to the hero of the Varden, crossing leagues and leages of country being pursued all the while in about two days. Oh, and Galbatorix manages not only to amass his army, but to get them across a vast mountain range from half way across the country in no more than twenty minutes. Not to mention Eragon managing to become a competant swordsman and magician over the course of about a day having started a novice at both at its beginning. It holds together about as well as a pile of sand in a tornado. I'm not finished yet. I've yet to mention the dialogue. From the moment Galbatorix announces "I suffer without my stone" you know the writer has about as much ability as a drowning beetle floating obnoxiously in someone's soup. The entire thing suffered painfully as the writer attempted to make grand and earth-shattering points with every single sentance. The result? A pile of repetetive drivel so unbelievable and ridiculous it makes a national sonnet-writing competition for sheep seem an almost everyday occurance. You know what I really hate? When the writer puts a phrase in somewhere loaded with undue significance and then, later on, throws it back at you with a smirk as if to say "wow, look! Aren't I clever?" No Mr Writer you are not. I don't care that you based the entire plot on a single pretentious and over-bearing sentance. I don't want to be reminded that "truth is greater than a sword" or "courage lies in the heart" or whatever other unnaturally significant phrase you want to come up with. People simply do not go around saying that to each other and then suddenly, in a moment of sudden realisation, proclaim it as if it were the meaning of all creation. Ok so Eragon doesn't do that as such, but it does seem to attach itself to certain annoying phrases that were almost bearable once but just sound cheesy when repeated again. I mean really. Dialogue is meant to be the characters speaking and should, therefore, at least act on the pretense that it's meant to sound in some small way natural or realistic. It should not be the writer's excuse to big themselves up and make important self-rightious statements that sound like they came from the mouth of a crusading fanatic than whatever character they are meant to be portraying (unless it's a crusading fanatic, but they'd probably start talking like everyone else should). with the exception of maybe two people, I found the acting to be at best unimpressive. At worst? Let's not even go there. It's as if they were each handed a little card saying '"you are [insert stereotype]" and told to run with it, then bashed repeatedly round the head whenever they tried to do something new or original until their portrayal of the character was as grossly inaccurate in their representation as modern art. I cringed so often at just how mind-numbingly blatant and painful some of the clichés were. Alright, they're working with a book that has a fair few of them itself, but not as many as that. Yes, alright. Arya is the 'love interest'. Except she went out of her way to show no interest in Eragon whatsoever, if I recall. With that in mind, I would very much like the penultimate scene in the film explained. I particularly want to have a rant about the character of Eragon. He could be stereotypical in many ways, yes. It's the classic 'farm boy inherits his destiny and becomes a great hero' story, and he fits right into it. That is not the same as having enough character to be played just as well by a moth-eaten piece of crumbling bark (I'm not even sure if moths eat wood. They do now, anyway). He really did have the personality of an old discarded brick forgotten about it the construction of a lavatory extention. He went from 'I'm a poor little farm boy' to 'no! I'm a crusading hero with a sword out to right wrongs like every single crusading hero before me!' in the blink of an eye and seemed uncertain the whole way through as to which he actually was. On second thoughts, that's being too generous. It almost makes him sound like he had some kind of recognisable personality. I'd hate to give anyone such a mistaken impression. If you hadn't guessed it already, I think Eragon works about as well as using cake and jam to build a house instead of bricks and mortar. It shows so much promise and looks delicious, but suddenly loses its attraction the moment you step in the door and it all collapses on you in one large mushy heap. It's such a blatant attempt to cash in on the LoTR wagon it hardly deserves to be called a film. It's more of a 'please give us your money we want to be big and popular and famous' heap of second-rate trash cunningly disguised with badly altered stickers from the latest big fad. I cannot believe I actually sat through it twice. If time is money then I want the cash equivilant to the amount of time I wasted in front of that poor excuse for a money-spinner back, please.

8699: Takanuva Toa of Light and Shadow The Box Ah yes, the packaging. That annoying thing you have to rip apart in order to reach the vast multitude of glorious LEGO pieces that wait within. Personally I have very little interest in it, finding the main attraction to be the set itself, but I guess it needs a mention. Takanuva’s box is huge. Not as big as say, Kardas’s box, but it’s getting there. It has to be the largest box I’ve encountered for something that is neither a playset nor a combiner. Had I purchased this from a store the size may well have been an obstacle in transporting it home. Thankfully LEGO were kind enough to deliver it straight to my door, so it wasn’t an issue for me. The image of Takanuva on the box shows him in an action pose demonstrating the now familiar action feature of the Midak Skyblaster and looking quite menacing with his three-pronged staff, claws and cruelified mask of light. Much to my surprise, the picture on the box is almost 1:1 scale! Almost. The set itself is ever so slightly bigger, although the mask is much larger in the image than in real life. This all gives Takanuva an immense presence in the picture and makes him seem truly immense. Around the box are circular patterns, the middle of which is decorated by the familiar shape seen of a man seen on the Ignika. One such instance is in the O of BIONICLE at the top of the box. This is an almost unnecessary touch, but personally I like it. The back of the box shows Takanuva in a much more subdued and natural pose, along with adverts for the other summer sets and demonstrations of the action features. Until I got the set I had no idea Takanuva’s staff could spin! More on that later. The box is a very good advert for the set, but is really just that – a box. I can’t really say much more than that. The Pieces The core of any LEGO set are the parts themselves. Takanuva carries with him a vast array of parts, most of them familiar. Among the familiar are a few less familiar parts namely the new Avohkii, the lower claw and his chest armour. Of those, only the mask is unique to Takanuva, but I believe the others appear only in those colours in this set. I really like all of them. The claw piece is small but screams possibilities for MOCing. Unlike Nuparu Inika’s claws they go off at an angle, so could not be interchanged. The chest armour appears in a couple of other summer sets, and is a very nice piece. It works extremely well with Takanuva, providing a solid and pleasant cover for his torso. It is very flat but curves round slightly, and unlike the Inika armour is not tailor-made for any particular body type, which is excellent. The mask has many similarities to the Avohkii of old, but many differences too. The mouth is still there but more understated this time round, as are the three sweeping ridges at the top of the mask. The sides bear a passing resemblance to the smoother, three-holed sides of the original mask and the shape as a whole is quite reminiscent of the original mask. It has some sharper angles and what looks like teeth which, combined with the darker colour, make it look almost evil. Numerous pieces appear recoloured in this set. Among those are white Hordika feet – the first time to my knowledge they’ve appeared in a non-metallic shade – as well as gunmetal grey Takadox heads for the shoulders (I’d wondered for ages what the shoulders were), gunmetal Pohatu Phantoka…can they be called arms? as the upper leg covers and a whole host of new ‘hand’ pieces in white. Among my favourite parts are the outer leg parts. I remember those from sets like the Nui Rama and the Exo-Toa. I’ve always liked them, and seeing them in a new colour is a positive delight for me. Of course, one of the most noticeable things is the inclusion of no less than three Air Sabers! Wielded also by Lewa Nuva, I honestly believe it to be one of the most awesome weapons to date. The parts are, on the whole, very satisfactory. While it is a shame there are so few new ones, there’s a pleasant mix of old and new here (including many technic ‘poles’) which makes the set very appealing if you want to grab a few of the older, less stylised, more multi-purpose parts. Building the Set Takanuva has a nice build which, like the parts, has some old and some new ideas. I actually enjoyed building this set, which isn’t something I’ve been able to say very often these days. It won’t snap together instantly and time is required to get this guy together. Not too much, admittedly, but some. I was quite excited to see he has numbered bags for different parts, although this always leaves me gazing at the unopened bags with an eye for the parts yet unhandled. This system reminds me of older sets like Muaka and Kane-Ra, which I consider to be a very good thing. The instruction manual is the same as ever. The front two pages are given over to saying not to open pieces onto rough floor, only to open the first bag and which bag makes what part of the set. Personally I have enough sense to do those things anyway and I’m sure most people with any prior experience of building lego sets does too, but perhaps there are a few who need to be told that. Near the back there’s a part list (suddenly there doesn’t seem to be as many parts) which is useful. After that lego has, like that have with every bit of paper that passes their way these days, stuck adverts in. These are four double spreads – eight pages in total – given over entirely to the Mistika, vehicles, Phantoka and the website/lego club. Well, fair play to them. They need to sell as many sets as they can, and they’re very good quality images. Suddenly I dislike Onua Mistika less (but only slightly). With that excuse to show off a few images out of the way, onwards we go! You get the first hint of Takanuva’s immensity right at the outset, when you see just how vast the gap between the shoulders and the waist is. Just look at it! This guy’s gonna be big. I must admit I am pleased to see those huge technic rods back. I’ve always liked them – perhaps because I was a lego fan long before Bionicle ever appeared. They are incredibly useful little (ok, big) things, and entirely unobtrusive when used well. The next step is a bit odd, and had I not read another review before purchasing the set, would have left me scratching my head. I think the following image will show you why. One of my favourite parts about this set is the Inika foot at the bottom of the torso. Such a simple thing, but it gives me something different to look at than the bog-standard Metru/Vahki hip piece, one of which has been present in every single canister and titan since 2004! Actually, I’m not sure about Nidhiki…but anyway, bonus points here lego! Next up are the legs. These are titanic in proportion to previous Titan legs (heh. Titanic and titan) and are entirely custom! Yes! No longer is lego making do with standard canister-sized limb pieces! Instead we have legs scaled to the set itself that look so much better. The feet are quite reminiscent of Axonn’s, except this time they don’t look massive. They’re easily large enough to provide stable support for the set and actually remind me of the old Toa feet from 2001-2003. Perhaps that was deliberate. There, look! A built foot! It fits together very well in my opinion, and is a solid and robust piece of work. The lower legs are very simple indeed. They consist of two of those lovely pieces I mentioned earlier around the outside with a Hordika limb at the bottom and two – yes two ball joints to connect it to the upper leg! Believe me when I tell you this makes the set very stable indeed. The upper leg is a bit more complex, but hardly a challenge. You can see the basic build below, and the Pohatu arm just slots onto the blue connector you see sticking out. It flows very well with the set actually, and doesn’t stick out at all. I happen to think it was a very inventive use of the piece and I like it very much. Certainly better than a Piraka or Inika cover. The result is a leg which is scaled well to the set and has almost equally sized upper and lower sections – something many recent titans do not have. Each leg is also symmetrical, meaning the instructions don’t go through it twice but give a simple X2 indicator to say “Well done! Now go do it all again.” Unlike many legs, these ones cannot bend forwards. I initially thought it was the Bohrok eyes which stopped this, but I was wrong. See below? The way the piston attaches means that, if straightened up, the white piece connecting the piston will bash against the main leg and make it impossible to move any further forward than vertical. Very clever! A little addition to the legs once attached allows the white Metru upper leg (can the new ones be called that)? to attach, adding support to the upper legs via a method first introduced by Icarax. Unlike Icarax it actually works without seeming out of place, no doubt due to the set’s size. The height of Takanuva is in many ways owed to the legs. The use of those outside white pieces, which are large already, means the legs are not only a decent width but also surpass any previous legs for height too. The arms are even simpler than the legs (as always), and consist of an interesting upper arm build also with a double socket attaching it to the body and an Inika leg which I think works with this set (they’re too large for canister arms in my opinion). It also limits the arms from bending backwards, meaning Takanuva is very human in his limitations. The claw consists of only five pieces – a two-length rod, a blue friction pin, a white new-style hand, the new claw piece and a white Mahritoran blade. Very simple, but the opposable thumb is nice and the result does look great. The Midak Skyblaster attaches very simply to the arm, and again due to the set’s size does not look bulky and out of place like it does on canister sets. It blends in nicely, although does look a bit odd due to how far back from the arm it reaches. Still, I like it better there than I would were he holding it. So there we are! The completed set! You may have noticed the two pins sticking out of the arms. Onto those attach the Takadox heads, which looks very strange at any angle where you can see the face but otherwise look great. Another clever idea from lego. But wait! There’s something missing! And you’re right! How could I possibly forget the Power Lance? That awesome little weapon is incredibly simple, but because it has three Air Sabers that really doesn’t matter. It looks fantastic and suits the set well. Takanuva must be the only set that can possibly get away with using that many Air Sabers without seeming dwarfed. And there we are! Takanuva is ready to challenge Makuta, wherever they may be! And yes, my posing abilities are terrible. I do apologise. Playing with the Set Perhaps the heading’s a bit of a misnomer. I intend to talk about the set as a whole which does include playing with it, but not exclusively. First off, I’d like to say just how amazing Takanuva looks. Amongst any group of sets, he will stand out. You can see above how tall he is. If his height and Power Lance aren’t enough, the very solid build really helps him jump out from other sets. I find it so hard imagining him to be a Toa now. He looks like so much more. Something I don’t like is the use of the red axle pins. I could understand why the used them on Fenrakk, but since then they’ve systematically worked to ruin dozens of otherwise acceptable colour schemes – and the introduction of blue 3-length friction rods doesn’t help either. Compare the following two pictures and ask yourself: which looks better? Yes, I did go through and replace all 25 red pins with black ones. If I had the pieces I would also have replaced all the blue pins and rods, but alas I do not. Oh, you may also have noticed I added a little piece to the bottom of Takanuva’s staff. That is to stop it falling out. The lance is put through a O hole, so tip his hand too far down and out it slides. No more! As a finished product, Takanuva is great fun to play with. Not only does he make any Makuta look utterly puny, firing Midaks never gets tiresome and those claws allow for limited gripping. I tried to make him haul Teridax/Maxilos up by his neck, but sadly the claws aren’t strong enough for that. Hmm, perhaps I should try Icarax. Oh, he can do a handstand. Proof! I don’t know what more to say. He plays basically the same as any other Titan set, although seems heavier than most and feels very much like a massive canister set (a good thing). It seems that’s what the set designers had in mind, as much of the set feels like a direct upgrade from his 2003 form much like Maxilos was to Teridax, although there’s a definite difference in height there. Poor little guy… Yeah. Takanuva could probably step on him by accident if he’s not careful. No, I didn’t mean – Oh dear… Overall I absolutely adore Takanuva as a set. He’s one of my favourite sets of all time, definitely. The building is actually enjoyable and not quite as simple as most these days. The proportions are great and he looks every part the Titan he is. Not many new pieces, but when one of those is the new Avohkii I can’t really complain, can I? Only two things I’d improve, really. Well, three. One is the use of red and blue pins. Please lego, stop. The second is his staff’s tendency to fall out of his hand. The third, and this is purely a personal preference, is that I think he’d look so much better in gold. Can you imagine just how much more amazing he’d look with shining gold armour? Sure he looks good now, but that would be even better! I can’t see many major flaws with this set at all. It does exactly what it says on the tin – er, box – huge, awesome looking Titan set, Midak Skyblaster and an incredible staff…ok, lance. To anyone who isn’t sure if they should buy this set or not – buy it. Now. No, don’t sit there reading this! What are you doing!? Grab some money, go outside, head to your local toy store and buy this set! Now! In terms of ratings, should anyone desire such things, I shall give the set…a…number. Possibly. Letsee… Parts: 8/10 Building: 8/10 Playability: 9/10 Overall: 9/10 (not an average) Now, what would one of my reviews be without a battle at the end? Icarax has, perhaps foolishly, stepped up to challenge Takanuva. Oh. It seems Icarax has had second thoughts and is…running away. Takanuva looks highly unimpressed. Guess there won’t be a battle today, folks! Gallery here when public. A few images I didn't include.

No, that's just what they want you to believe. For the cake is real!

Um, perhaps cake was the wrong word. After all, saving up is an action and cake is a physical thing, therefore the two cannot be the same, so it must indeed be the wrong word. I think the word I was looking for is 'hard'. Yeah, easy to get those two mixed up. As the title may have indicated, I am saving up for a laptop. I actually have enough to buy one now, but should I do so I'd end up with almost no money - a very undesirable prospect. So I'm going to try and nab another £500 or so. Thinking about it, that could take a while. I'm not sure I'll even have it by the end of the summer - especially not as I'm going on holiday late August. It also means I'll have to be much more careful about spending, which sadly includes things like Bionicle sets and a series of books I've started that I want to buy the next four of. Saving money has never been a strong point of mine, but if it means I can replace the old piece of junk I'm currently using it'll be more than worth it I feel. In other news, I did something shocking yesterday. I went round to my friend's house with a couple of other people where we set up a Wii and played Brawl (no, this isn't the shocking part). As we're all on holiday, that happens a lot. The shocking part comes next. We decided to go...OUTSIDE!!! The great outdoors! The wildy wildy (as my friend says)! That place with wierd green...things...and dangerous natural light! I'm not sure I've quite recovered. In other news, I've finally got my hands on a Tryna which means I now own at least one instance of every different plastic mask mold to date, with the exception of the Mistika masks. I'm quite pleased with myself now. Right then. I have absolutely nothing of importance to be doing right now, so I'm going to run off and not do those important things because they don't exist. Until next muffin...I mean time!

arrows at a target! A couple of hours ago I returned from a short scout camp. It wasn't a camp really - more an activity weekend. Hardly a weekend, more an overnight kip with some activities thrown in. Well whatever it was, it was fun. I would, however, like to strangle all the scouts. I haven't done archery or abseiling in ages, so I really enjoyed doing them yesterday. The archery I surprised myself at by actually being good at it. Possibly because I was firing right handed instead of left handed, so could use my dominant eye (left handed right eyed. What can I do?) I've learnt to take time over my shots, and deliberately aim completely off until I've pulled the string back. Then I can start to aim properly, and am able to shoot the moment I have my target in sights. Seems to work. Most fun about the archery were the balloons. Yes, balloons. Four targets, four shooters each time, and we each got a balloon. I got the short straw both times, actually. My first balloon was smaller than the others, then the instructor decided to place my second right at the edge of the target. But guess what? I hit them both first try! After we'd all had a go at shooting two balloons (or, firing two rounds of three arrows at balloons) there were three balloons still on the targets (none of them mine, of course). We then took it in turns to fire a single arrow at a balloon. I missed the first time (because I was using a different bow of course), but my shot hit the very centre of the target! Talk about a way to miss! Then I got round to my second turn - surprising, considering there were eight of us - and of course, I hit the balloon. I've never been brilliant at archery before (although I don't think I was bad), so I came away very pleased with myself indeed! Then came the abseiling. For the first time ever, I had to tie my hair back! Gah! Stupid health and safety. Anyway, that was awesome. I have no trouble with heights me, and I've been abseiling for so many years leaning over the edge doesn't bother me. First time I did it, the prospect of letting go of the side, holding onto nothing but the rope and leaning back over a sheer drop, legs straight, until I was in a sitting position was not exactly a pleasant one. Nowadays I do it easy. It's almost become natural, and I've learnt to trust the rope as a support as much as I do the sides. I think climbing up the ladder was scarier! Not to mention the Metal Man glaring at us from the side of the tower... My greatest regret was the lack of campfire. We didn't want to carry a metal thing to have a fire in because they're heavy and very unpleasant to carry (especially the distance we had to), and the campfire circle was in a very bad state. Still, the camp was fun, and my nose is slightly sunburnt. That always happens... Now to get on with the masses of kit-related stuff I have to do.

As is always the case when new sets our out, people rush to buy them and be the first to provide a review - which stands as the only such review topic allowed of that set, all others required to fade into obscurity in the Official Review Topic. I can understand why people do this. It's nice to be the first to do anything, this being no exception. However I fail to see why this should be an excuse for poor reviews. I personally glean nothing whatsoever from a review that consists of five lines of text hastily scrawled under generic headings and twenty fuzzy and obscure pictures that show even less than the official images. What have I learnt from that? Nothing. Has it persuaded me to or not to buy the set? No it has not. This was originally intended to be nothing more than a mild rant at bad reviews (in general, nothing specific mind) but instead has turned into a piece pointing out what I think makes a good review. Pictures Now admittedly not everyone can take brilliant images either because they're a bad photographer (join the club) or because they lack suitable equipment. Until I forked out to get a decent digital camera I had to borrow my dad's, which was quite old and not always available. There are always things that can be done to improve photo quality, however. 1. Lighting is very, very important. Don't take photographs in a badly lit environment - or at least make sure you have a decent flash. 2. Try to hold the camera steady and don't take the picture until you're satisfied it's not wobbling too much. 3. Find some way of displaying things that shows them clearly. I myself use the Kardas box for displaying pieces and a white door as a background for set pictures. I've used some pretty poor cameras, but this has always worked for me. I'm no expert photogropher - far from it in fact - but I honestly believe that the aforementioned things can improve photo quality, and are not that hard to do. If you are going to be the first person to post a review, photos really are a must. This is the first time members are going to be able to see the actual, physical set in someone's hands, so you simply must have images of some kind. This is not to say you need to intersperse every sentance with an image. You can get away fine with only three or four images if necessary - just try to make sure they're as clear as possible. What should a review include? Now, writing the review well is very important. Your purpose in writing a review is to inform the reader about the set and to explain its good and bad points as far as possible. You want to point out anything that's new, exciting or different from previous sets - this is largely why canisters still get a mention - and try to do more than just point things out. Yes, I can see Tahu has silver things on the back of his legs. I know Gali has things stuck to her mask. I can see that. I have my own eyes, thank you very much. What I want to know is the effect that has on the set. Does it improve or hinder poseability? How does it look in real life? Better or worse than in official images? Is there anything about them that surprises you? Would it look better as it is or without them? See how many questions there are? Try to answer as many as you can. It's also nice to include a bit of humour in the review. Completely optional, but it makes the experience more enjoyable for the reader. For the two I've done I included humorous captions beneath many of my images, put the characters in a few odd positions and included mock battles at the end. Ok, explaining how humour works really does make me sound like an old english professor or something. I'll stop now. Format While the almost universally accepted BZP reviewing format is good, don't stick to it simply for the sake of it. If you think something doesn't need its own heading, you can think of another one to include or you want to use completely different ones, there's no reason why you shouldn't. Say what you want how you want - just try to make it as useful and insightful as possible. Whatever format you use, try to cover as wide a range of things as you can. The standard headings for reviews are very broad. They can be used to cover everything, but it can also be easy to miss things along the way. Before you write the review, try to note down - either in your head or somewhere else - anything you could possibly include, and at what point in your review you plan to include it. Persuading the reader I've mentioned explaining the good and bad points before. Remember that you are trying to convey your opinion on the set. Why is it good? Why is something bad? In the end, how does this effect whether someone should or should not buy the set? A good review should be an analysis of the set written to give the reader as complete an overview as possible of the set so that they may form an opinion on whether it's worth their money or not. Pointing out facts won't help with this - people want to know what you think and why. That's where the persuasive element comes into it. To sum up I hope I haven't caused anyone to bury their heads and cry at the seeming impossibility of it all. That's if anyone's actually reading this, which I doubt. Here's a (hopefully) brief checklist of what I think a good review should have: Good images Take the best pictures you can and use them where applicable. Doesn't have to many, but certainly for reviews of new sets they're important. Detail Try to include details on as many features of the set as you can. Mention the type of build, how easy or challenging it was and what new pieces are like. Anything else you can think of, throw in there. Try to do more than just state the blindingly obvious, too. Opinion Explain what's good, what's bad and above all why you think that. Imagine you're the person reading this and are unsure whether or not to buy the set. What would you want to know? Good format Don't just post one huge mass of text. Break it up with different headings. Now most reviews do this, and it's become pretty much standard now. That's a good thing, provided the headings used are appropriate. Use the headings to explain what you want to say. ...and that's it! Whether anything I've written is useful or more than just wild ramblings I do not know. I'll let you decide that.

As some people may know, Iron Maiden have been touring recently. Yesterday they performed their only showing in the UK on the tour - and for at least two years - at Twickenham Rugby Stadium. I heard the number of people attending was around 87,000. Yes, I was among them! I've been trying to see them for about 3 years now, since they announced their tour in support of their most recent album (a different tour altogether from this one). Sadly I did not get the chance to see them, although I came close. Then last year they were playing at Download which, much to my displeasure, came right in the middle of my exams. Not a good time. Then this year I hear they're playing at Twickenham and it could be their last showing for a good while - well, I've got to go really, haven't I? I almost didn't, though. It was also the chosen date for a large family gathering - largest for many years - which, of course, I would be expected to attend. Fortunately I was able to wriggle out of this at least in part because I was supposed to be organising the Maiden trip and was the only person who knew everyone who was going in our little group. It's a shame I had to miss the event, but boy was it worth it! So, a three hour coach journey there and back. Six hours of travelling, arriving back here at two 2:00am. That, and the extortionate prices at the Stadium (£1.80 for a coke? £3.50 for a hot dog or a pint?), were the only bad points about the whole thing. I'm exhausted today and my neck aches, but it was all so, so worth it. Of course, there are always support bands. The first - Within Temptation - I was very impressed by. I arrived too late to see their entire showing, but what I saw was excellent. The second support band - Avenged Sevenfold - I was less impressed by. I'm not saying they're bad, I'm just not a fan of their style of music. Of course, both bands paled in comparison to Maiden. They arrived, as always, amidst fire, explosions and teams of pure awesomeness erupting from the stage. From that moment I left my seat and did not look back. They began with Aces High - an excellent song, although sadly not one with which I'm especially familiar with the lyrics. I must rectify that sometime. All of the songs they played with the exception of one from Fear of the Dark (yes, it was Fear of the Dark) came from their 80s albums. No complaints there! That's where most of their best stuff lies. Two hours of solid Maiden. How Bruce manages to leap around the stage to much at 50 I do not know! He also made some incredibly fast costume changes early on which still leave me slightly baffled, and the band managed to get through six or seven songs with no break inbetween - one of them being the 13 minute epic Rime of the Ancient Mariner. Both incredible and impressive - not to mention extremely enjoyable! I've heard it said that a lot of music tends not to sound so good when played live. This, however, cannot be applied to Maiden. They sound fantastic live - possibly even better than they do recorded. I guess the atmosphere might have something to do with that. I mean, it's a huge stadium filled with 87,000 Iron Maiden fans all chanting along to an incredibly powerful and influential metal band with 25+ years of experience under their belt who know how to please fans and, above all, to put on an outstanding show. Consdering this was their only showing in the UK, too, it really was something special. Of course, no Maiden show would be complete without an encore. I feel so sorry for the people who leave thinking the show is over. Upon their return they played two songs from what is, in my opinion, their best album to date Seventh Son of a Seventh Son - Moonchild and The Clairvoyant - as well as the fantastic song equal in strength to the mighty Fear of the Dark, Hallowed Be Thy Name. The fact that they played both songs at the concert (like they do every concert) was truly the icing on the cake. I utterly adore both of the songs, and being able to scream them out unselfconsciously among tens of thousands of other fans along to impeccable live performances by the band itself - only metres away - Wow. Just wow. I did indeed sing along to every song, and I'm glad no one could hear me. I'm sure my singing was atrocious. Still, that's hardly what matters is it? I expect most people there were in the same boat. All in all, that has to be one of the greatest experiences I've ever had. I was absolutely exhausted on the coach journey back, and my failed attempts to find a comfortable position to sleep may be the cause of my neck aching this mor- no, afternoon. I enjoyed every moment of it and that's what matters, and I would gladly do it again. So, so gladly.

Yeah yeah. All you americans already have it. But here, Brawl has just been released! Naturally I was out first thing in the morning to grab a copy. No, seriously, I was. I mean, why not? It's not as if I'd be doing anything else important at that time. So um...yeah. It came out today. I've sorta managed to completed the Subspace Emissary already and unlock all the characters. Oh, I've also just completed the first 10 single-player event matches. I'm not obsessed, honest! The game is awesome! Considering the amount of time we had to wait it'd better be really. Still getting used to the transition from Melee. Everything seems a bit strange at the moment. No doubt Melee will start to seem strange soon after a few days playing Brawl. Heh heh. Favourite characters? So far...Ike and Meta Knight. Meta Knight cannot fail to look cool and is such a fun character to use. He can practically stay airborne an entire battle, and seeing anyone slicing an opponent apart with a sword while airborne at that speed has simply got to look awesome! Ike I like because I tend to prefer characters with swords (I like swords, me) and he's veeeeery powerful. If I'm going into something where I know I want a fast KO, he's my man. I've heard Wolf is good, however I haven't tried him yet. Will have to sometime. For now, I need sleep. It's been a hard day, after all!

So. Long time since I last updated my kit hey? That's because it's been a horrible year in terms of work. There's always been something to keep me busy. Now, however, I am free! I'm also trying to do everything I can possibly think of before I update again, which being me is a lot. While I have released almost nothing over the past few months, I HAVE been doing things! All the necessary material exists for me to make the 2008 side views now, although not entirely sure how to fit it all in. Once I recieve a few more things from a certain website which I used to be able to mention even though it had forums but now can't for some reason which is extremely silly indeed, I shall have near enough every different bionicle piece ever made (not in every colour however). A couple of those I still need to draw, including the side-view Tryna. I have done all the other Mahri masks however. Oh yes, among the stuff are the Barraki heads I don't own, so I can draw them too. Any guesses where this is going? If you haven't guessed 2007 side views yet then...well, there are probably hundreds of reasons. ANYWAY, the title of this blog entry is 'previews'. Perhaps I should snip the 's' off - it sort of depends on your perspective really. I mean it's one item, but there are many things in it...I'll stop now and just show you, shall I? The Inika tools have been completely redrawn. They're a vast improvement over what was in their place - or I think so. Now, I'm off to finish putting together the 2008 side views.

Note: I haven't read this through at all and I wrote it quite late at night, so god knows what it says. The mildly cryptic title for once hides within it the subject of this blog entry, namely the accusation so often made against video games of them causing violence. Being a game player myself and knowing others who have borderline addictions to video games, this idea seems absolutely preposterous. Now people have levelled exactly the same accusations at TV and movies, yet particular scorn seems to be saved for the video game industry. What’s more, the level of violence (amongst other things) tends to be far, far greater in films and TV that it ever is in games. So why is it so much worse in games? Perhaps because the people accusing the games do not play games themselves, but do watch TV and films? Perhaps they are unable to bear the thought that something they are interested in could possibly share any sort of blame. Alright, that may be a bit unfair and is indeed an ad hominim fallacy – attacking the person instead of their arguments, and so by attempting to dismiss what they say as a result. Therefore I find myself unable to support my own argument, as in my opinion anything said by anyone can be valid in a debate, regardless of their own opinions or practises. You can tell I don’t think these blog entries out in advance, can’t you? Now then. One thing games have that other media does not is interaction. We watch people attack and hurt others on TV or in the Cinema, but in games we perform those acts ourselves. The difference in quite prominent. To the player, it is them pumping five tons of lead into the enemy, not just digitised image on a screen. The argument for why this is bad would seem to be as follows: by shooting five tons of lead into someone, this action no longer seems questionable as the person has gotten away with it just fine in the game. What’s more, they have enjoyed it. Obviously shooting five tons of lead into someone must therefore be an enjoyable experience, and so the person is more likely to perform such actions in real life. WRONG! For all it may seem like it’s the player shooting five tons of lead into someone, it is just a graphical representation of a person on a screen and the player knows it. What they are doing is not shooting people, but pressing buttons on a controller. Furthermore, while the shooting may be enjoyable, it is not the only focus of the game. Often there are objectives to fulfil, and the shooting has a purpose. Even in Deathmatches the object is not to shoot people, but to win – to achieve a certain number of points. The shooting is the means to achieving this, not the end in itself. Very important is the storyline. Most games have some sort of storyline, and if they don’t and the entire thing is the person running round shooting things on their own for no reason then there’s something wrong. It is the whole experience of the game and not just the element of shooting (or whatever it might be) that is enjoyable. Now there are two ways you can play a game. The first is to play on your own. This generally consists of following a game’s storyline or playing through specific scenarios for personal enjoyment. Either way, the virtual environments have their own rules and objectives. The second way is to play with other people. This may be done through one system, via a LAN or as is becoming far more common these days, online. Whatever people may say, this is social interaction. These are people interacting with each other through a video game because of the different experience it gives. Now as far as I know, shooting someone in a game is not going to make a person think that they should shoot them in real life. Multiplayer games often reinforce such values as friendship and teamwork. Is that such a bad thing? Now it is true that, in a few isolated cases, people have been driven by things seen in a video game to perform similar acts in real life. Until the video game can be shown to have a similar effect on large numbers of people, I don’t see the problem. What I see is a person who has a problem telling the difference between fantasy and reality. Where now does the problem lie? I would like to suggest that games in fact do quite the opposite to inducing violence. Everyone gets angry or annoyed or frustrated. In these situations, I’m sure a great many people feel driven to commit acts of violence be it against a person, specific or otherwise, or just a desire to destroy. Giving in to such urges is naturally a bad thing. Well, it’s socially accepted as being so. I’m not going to go into the precise ethical issues surrounding it (although I would like to). Fortunately, most people do not go around hitting things whenever they get angry. They either find an alternative way to vent their frustration or they wait and let themselves cool off. I would like to present games as an alternative way. When you’re angry, what could be better than running around with a machine gun shooting the living daylights out of anything that moves? How is that not good stress relief? Is it going to make you want to go out and do it in real life or will it in fact sate your desire for mindless carnage and leave you feeling calmer and content? In my experience, always the latter. So, video games lead to violence do they? Even though it is not the violence in and of itself that makes people play the game? Even though there is a distinguishable difference between these video games and the real world? Even though video games often promote positive values and can be used as an outlet for pent up anger and stress? For the life of me I do not see how.

Steven Moffat is a genius. For those who don’t know who he is, he’s the guy who wrote Saturday’s episode of Doctor Who. He also wrote The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances, The Girl in the Fireplace and Blink. Not only that, he’s taking over as Executive Director in 2010! Goodbye Russell T. Davies! I won’t miss you. If you haven’t seen Saturday’s episode, STOP READING NOW! SPOILERS! So many questions, so many mysteries. Unlike Blink, it isn’t the suspense that keeps me interested – it’s the feeling of “I have no idea what is going on here”. Let’s locate a few of these mysteries, shall we? The Doctor and Donna arrive in the biggest library in the universe. It’s deserted, but filled with carnivorous shadows. Why are the shadows there? The Doctor received a note on his psychic paper from River Song - someone he apparently met in his future – before that person arrives! How does that person know the Doctor’s help is needed? Also, who calls a person River Song? Strackman Lux – the man who’s family built or own the library. ‘Lux’ means ‘dark’. Coincidence? Everyone has been saved, but there are no survivors. How is this possible? The Data Ghosts and the Nodes seem inconspicuous and harmless, but I have my suspicions. Particularly about the Nodes. What is CAL? Who is the little girl? How can she see the library through security cameras, her TV, hear the phone ring from the library and fling books around with a remote from her own living room? Who is Doctor Moon? Notice his name is Moon, which appears at night. It’s dark at night, isn’t it? Coincidence? Her world is not real, apparently. Then, is she real? Is her dad or Doctor Moon real? All this in one episode! Staggering. Now, I believe I can answer a couple of the simpler ones. Saved. This doesn’t just mean rescued. Ever saved data on your computer? That’s what I believe it means – saved to the system. That’s how the Node could access Donna’s face, because her data is on the system. The little girl. Maybe she is CAL? The human brain is supposedly more powerful than the most powerful super computer. I have one or two theories that go further, but nothing I’m certain about. And that’s all I can answer. The rest is a mystery to me. Well done Steven Moffat! I honestly cannot wait for next week’s episode! Unfortunately that is followed by FOUR episodes written by Russell T. Davies. Ugh. After so many good episodes, I guess something has to drag the series down to its usual abysmal standard.