Life in the Material world, a review!

   
Hey there, Pandora here after a long absence but trust me it'll be worth it.

I have just finished watching George Harrison: Life in the Material world. I'm a massive Beatles fan, and a lot has been done on The Beatles as a group, and John Lennon as a solo artist, but there seems to be an absence of recent out put about the others. This is often explained by the sad loss of John at a young age, and although this is true (and tragic) I feel that this isn't completely fair. George Harrison, in my opinion, was an amazing guitarist and song writer. So when Life in the Material World came out I was intrigued, although I have to admit it did take a while to get round to watching it. At a whopping 208 minutes, its not exactly something you watch any time. So here goes, my thoughts on George Harrison: Life in the Material World.
   
    First off that run time. Although it seems long, none of it drags and it really didn't seem all that long to me. There was a lot to cover through his life and none if it rushed, or drawn out. Surprisingly more time is dedicated to the end of The Beatles career than the start. This may be due to the latter having the more profound effect on George. It also covers very sensitively the struggle George had within The Beatles to be recognised as a song writer on his own merit. Also, a lot of time is dedicated to his time with the Maharishi, again something that had a profound effect on his life and beliefs. I was genuinely thrilled that it has been balanced in such a way that the things that mattered to George where the things that got the most screen time. This shows how important it is to have someone who knew the subject of a documentary intimately is to the quality of the final product. It is also not afraid to cover things like his experience with drugs, which surprised me a little as drugs these days are kept off screen unless it's to enforce a negative image.

    The interviews were amazing, well balanced but personal. No one tried to paint him as perfect or a saint, Olivia for example mentions his affairs quite candidly. As well as talking about George as a person they also spoke about the impact George had made on there lives. Which, to me, is just as important. The idea of a documentary on a persons life is so you can know them better, and knowing the impact George Harrison had on so many people better explained the kind of person that he was. There is a good mixture of funny and moving stories, some have been previously publicised others are more personal. Even the more well known stories, for example the end of his first marriage and the break in at his home, are given new dimension by the personal touch the interviews add. So even if you think you know everything about George Harrison's life, it is still worth a watch.
   
    The visuals for this documentary I found quite strange. The mix of archive footage and interviews was fairly standard for a work of this type. The archive footage being a mixture of interviews and public appearances and home movie footage. The thing that I found strange, and this might just be me, was the slide show type sections of still images, often displayed with music over the top. I can understand the inclusion of the stills, but I feel that this would have been more effective if there was a story behind them being told. Slightly off topic, the use of Dhani Harrison for the voice over section for letter's was a great idea, he looks and sounds exactly like George.

    The only thing I have to say that is quite negative is I'm not sure what the mass appeal of this would be. I went into this as a fan of George Harrison and wanting to know more about him, however I'm not sure what a casual viewer would take away from this. This is a documentary not a biography, so it might be difficult for someone who knows little about The Beatles to enjoy. Maybe this is true of all documentaries, and an existing knowledge is presumed. Olivia Harrison was quoted as saying she wasn't sure she wanted people to see the documentary, but I for one am very glad I did.

VLog - The Olympic Games Opening Ceremony

Auros and Dare give another vlog, this time on the Olympic Opening Ceremony. Once again these are first impressions, so there may be errors... and cake.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2402eFDahE

VLog - The Dark Knight Rises

OK people, we're back and v-logging it up!!!

Staring with Auros and the until now the unseen man that is DARE!!

Remember these are first impressions, and so there may be errors.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwQt4DYcLjA&list=UUNDOyj0LRBc4SYik7qgNdBw&index=1&feature=plcp

Enjoy as more is to come. :)

Dm

creating an RPG, a route to madness

Greetings folks,

During our quiet time seeing the sights of far off dungeons, tackling the looming horrors of space and of course dealing with the almighty perils (and yes the peril is far too perilous) of the dole office

We spend an inaudible amount of time playing role-playing games.

Inevitably we get to a point when one of speaks up going hey wouldn’t [insert film/game/far fetched concept] make a brilliant RPG?

 Well yes! And at the same time no..why no? because you failed your insight check that’s why!!!

Ok, ok I’m being silly, but in all honesty its our geeky little dream to sit down and create a RPG based on what we love, honestly don’t tell me you’ve not thought of it?

so who steps up to plate ready to pitch but Konrad a masterful mind, full of vampire lore in the shape of castlevania!

now castlevania is just one of those retro games that throughout the years via various consoles and survived right up until modernization on the xbox360.... i could of course go into the back history (and yes young Konrad has lectured me on the universe over and over again as fantastic as it is i just cant remember a fat lot...needless to say i failed the GCSE)

But none the less we thought why the hell not, and then the headache began.

First off we assembled a team of crack mercenary types masters in there feilds.. Unfortunately we couldn’t find them sop we went for next best thing, Auros (an outsider to the universe but open mind for RPG rules/game play) and Pandora (knowledge of castlevania universe did come as optional extra but well worth it for the online support) Konrad (as is his brain child) and my self THE ALMIGHTY DM, LORD OF RULE BOOKS....ahem* not to blow my own horn or anything.

To business. *and yes this is the ultimate work is progress, all content is subject to change*

 When creating a RPG of the pen and paper variety (cos anything just aint good enough) we established some ground rules.

1) core rule system first!!!

oh god i cant stress the importance of this, having spent many hours chatting over ideas with Konrad we had already got a list of character classes, ideas for powers and it is all far too easy to do that to run with your idea to the degree that there’s a point when you go hang on how the F do we play this?

core rules! now there are many systems to choose from, gurps, story teller, true 20, BRP (basic role-play) the quietly popular fantasy flight percentile system, AD&D, D66 the list goes on.

its all too easy to pick up an existing rule book and go sod it few tweaks and bang that’s my game right there! Rather than the sheer headache of creating system form scratch....fair point we were ready to do the same..
until you apply either a)logic and b) how can we make X skills/talents/feats fit into the universe.

its very easy to be lazy, the crack team of scientists in the WIP lab decided best thing to do is jus decide what dice we would use, and how basic test would be done, form there we could expand accordingly. for our selves we opted for nice and simple D100 rolls with basic modifiers for tests....

Clear simple and no degree in bio engineering needed

2) Character creation

ok this more encompassing than just character creation, (why? cos I’m lazy! )

looking at the near endless reference material we established that we wanted a game leaning towards the various console style game play, so with that in mind we took our basic abilities/stats (strength, defence, luck etc)
now because we want to introduce other elements that literally don’t exist yet we (with the loving tenderness of Tommy Wiseau's acting) added extra dimension to the character  to our own ends of creating a stat for use of magic, willpower and even speed.

Next on out list of character creation is the character classes themselves...now this was bit unique due to the universe your normally following some overpower decent of vampire hunters, which really would be ideal for power gaming but 6 characters all equal to Gabriel Belmont isn’t going to cut it.

So why not have the average man/woman ready to take up arms, be those few not of Belmont descendant who fight and struggle with dark forces.

Boiling it back down the basics we went for the classic fighter, magic user, (because you cant go far wrong there) with the additions of a summoner class and our own jack of all trades character (the watcher/witch hunter/priest think van helsing)

ok sorted but with a kill crazy attitude to rolling dice we wanted something different backgrounds! enough to flesh out your characters and give you an arctype to build upon, let alone a 'class' to play at the end of the day.

Honestly this is how far we've gotten its very easy to get ahead of yourselves so stay on target!

Now form here we can really start to flesh out the game, equipment, enemies, sample characters, experience and how that will work, a play test of combat to make sure all elements work, numbers to put to characters! Always helpful...its a mammoth task but with such a recognisable, and rich universe to dip into a lot of the job is done...its just a case of applying A to B

Until our next session

I’m the Dm criticizing your alignment choice!

Pandora: Rock Horror Picture Show Review

          Hey there, Pandora here discussing the Rocky Horror Picture Show. What makes this film so popular, and does it deserve its 'cult classic' status? The Rocky Horror Picture Show has become a massive phenomenon but is it really worth the hype?

          The story for the film is quite simple. A newly engaged couple is travelling to see a former professor, get a flat tire and they go to seek help from a nearby castle. That's really it. The rest of the story follows what happens to them inside the castle. Okay it's not quite that simple. The film is intended as a homage to, and spoof of, old sci-fi and horror films. The castle belongs to Dr. Frank-N-Furter, a scientist, alien, hedonist, transvestite, and the night Brad and Janet arrive he is unveiling his latest creation to the Transylvanian "Unconventional Conventionists". So what the story is really about is the two nice wholesome kids, Brad and Janet, being dragged into this insane world. Throw in a love affair, a murder and a wedding and it covers all the bases.

          So a plot that on the surface seems simple becomes great by the execution, because the film is quite short it never feels like the scenes drag, and the plot is not so complex that it seems rushed. The pacing of the film always seems spot on. Although there are some scenes that seem random they always have an impact on the story, the characters or their motivation. For example, the scene with Eddie coming out of the deep freeze does seem random but it is this that pushes Columbia away from Frank. Even the professor they are going to visit becomes relevant when he arrives at the castle looking for Eddie. Even the most random scenes in the film mesh into the story line.

          The characters in the film are one of the main reasons the film is so memorable. They are all vivid and unique, drawing on the conventions of horror film traditions, the helpless heroine, the mad scientist and the hunchbacked butler all make an appearance. It's also to do with the way the characters are played, all the actors seem to be having massive amounts of fun making the film and this shows. The acting, especially Tim Curry, is over the top to the extreme but it works so well. Everything about the film is over the top. I always find a film is only as likeable as the characters, so for this reason alone it’s an amazing film. The way the characters play off against each other also works well. With the extremes of Frank-N-Furter and Janet, who faints at the Time Warp, and how these characters change through the course of the film. None of the characters seem obsolete or replaceable, the film wouldn't work if any of these characters were missing or replaced.

          No one can talk about The Rocky Horror Picture Show without mentioning the sound track. There is only one song that doesn't seem to fit, Sword of Damocles, which is sung by Rocky Horror when he first emerges. This is the only song that seems out of place and doesn't fit with the character that is singing it. Okay the Time Warp is random but it still works in the context of the characters that are singing it, and it seems more like how they would phrase things, plus it is a good introduction to the mood of the film and the situation Brad and Janet have found themselves in. It's not that it is a bad song in itself it just doesn't seem to fit. As for the best songs in the film it's a tough call between Science Fiction Double Feature and the floor show. Science Fiction Double Feature is the opening song of the film and it really sets up what is the inspiration for the film, listing charters such a Michael Rene and Faye Ray and King Kong. The floor show is one of the most famous scenes in the film but the reason the music is so good, especially Rose Tint My World, is it really captures the characters and how the events of the film have changed them.

         

          So that's why the film is so popular everything comes together to create something amazing, unique, quirky and edgy. I think it deserves its cult status. And is it worth the hype? If you don't know already I recommend watching it just to find out.