We woke up in darkness in a very cold, icy Sankt Goar. There was ice on the balcony, and the view outside was exactly what I imagined waking up in wintery Europe to be. We grabbed some breakfast and then went back to our room to pack our bags, and took a little too long, and almost missed our bus. We just about made it back in time to throw our bags in and find a cramped spot to sit.
We took a ride into town to hear about how beer steins are made, and all bought a stein (myself included, though I've yet to use it). We also bought a little piggy teddy, really cute thing, and looked around at the world's biggest beer stein and world's biggest free-hanging cuckoo clock. After all of that, it began snowing. Our first time seeing falling snow! It was pretty magical, and was really cool to see it in such a little fairy tale town.
The drive to Munich was stunning, the wintery wonderland around was awesome to look at. On the stop along the way we got some sausage and chips - a typical German meal, but delicious. On the bus, each person was asked to stand up and give their name, occupation and a joke to the rest of the tourists. A poor joke was rewarded with a yellow jelly baby from the driver, an average joke with an orange jelly baby, and a good joke with a red jelly baby. I told the joke about 3 testicles (message me if you want to know!) and got a red sweetie! Bonus! We then got to sit and either sleep, watch the scenery fly by, or watch 300 on the bus telly. At this stage I was dying for a pee, and couldn't wait to get into Munich.
When we finally did, I wasn't all that impressed with the city. It's not amazing at first sight, but after we checked into our hotel we were dropped off in the city centre, by the Glockenspiel, for some free time before a walking tour. The walk really changed my mind - Munich rocks! The Glockenspiel is an awesome building. The market there is out of this world - stall after stall after stall after stall, and shop after shop after shop after shop. Stalls filled with nothing but different kinds of cheeses, and ones with breads, and ones with meats, and ones with fruits and veg, the best place in the world!
The girls walking around Munich were also gorgeous looking, and all dressed very well (especially in the wintery weather). We bought a pair of leather gloves for Adi, and after a brief walk around bought a bread roll and a hunk of delicious cheese, which the kind German lady behind the counter cut for us and smushed into our bread roll, so that we could enjoy the best cheese sandwhich I have had to date. Awesome! We also found a shop with petit fours in, and helped ourselves to an absolute delight of one. You might sense the growing theme (and growing circumferences of our bellies) of the tour for us - eat, eat, eat! It was tons of fun.
After all of that fun, we met up with the rest of the tour and the tour manager, Brek, to meet Sam, a local tour guide. Brek called her in a hurry to do us a favour, since we arrived fairly late, and I would think they were perhaps "friendly" in a past life, since she was more than willing to help us out. What a cute, awesome girl she was. She was on a Contiki tour, and when they arrived in Munich she fell in love with it, and never left. How cool! She gave us a great walking tour with tons of history, stuff you would never learn without a tour guide. It was so informative and was such a great thing for us to have done. Super chuffed!
After the walking tour, we got to go into one of my highlights of the tour - the Hofbrau House! A traditional German beer hall. It was tremendous. Great big steins of beer, served by cute waitresses in traditional dresses, with a cute blonde pretzel girl selling giant, salty, amazingly delicious pretzels. An oompa band was playing, and you could see the cages with family steins locked away. The pork knuckles we had were so good, and over all a lot of fun was had (how could it not, with such wonderful beer?). A great evening was had by all. After quite a party, we all headed back to the hotel to prepare for the next day.
Showing posts with label awesomeness. Show all posts
Showing posts with label awesomeness. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Day 3 - Amsterdam to Sankt Goar
We woke to wonderful European breakfast: chocolate spread (Nutella) and nesquick! Awesome. We did a tour of the Anne Frank house - incredibly overwhelming, hectic, but so glad we got to see it. A fascinating place, and I definitely recommend it for anyone in Amsterdam. Outside, we were accosted by the worst smelling sewage in the history of man. Gah! We missed the Van Gogh because the queue was so long, but we walked around the city taking in the sights, eating chocolate waffles, giant pizza slices (best pizza ever, hands down) and did some shopping. The shops are great, there are bicycles everywhere, and it's a very cool vibe. I loved Amsterdam.
We left Amsterdam in the afternoon for Sankt Goar - a little German town in the Rhine Valley. The countryside along the way was absolutely stunning, and we got to see some cool graffiti on buildings as we drove, and also my first experience of sound barriers around the highway. Were we in Europe or something? We stopped at a service station in Germany, and had some schnitzel (Gutentag, eine schnitzel bitte?). We also came into contact with snow! Thick snow on the road and paving at the service station. Awesome! When we arrived in Sankt Goar it was dark, but we could still see some castles and the river. We did a wine tasting in a cellar, the place was hundreds of years old. IT was very atmospheric, and beautiful to see. All 4 wines were very good, some people bought a few bottles, we bought a bottle of eiswein (for our wedding, but Adi didn't know at the time!).
After that we headed for the hotel where we sampled some local beer, chatted with our manager and driver, and had some meatballs for dinner. It was icy cold, and there was frost on the balcony and snow on the roofs of the buildings around the little hotel. It was such a nice place! We didn't have a late night, and headed to bed to catch some sleep.
We left Amsterdam in the afternoon for Sankt Goar - a little German town in the Rhine Valley. The countryside along the way was absolutely stunning, and we got to see some cool graffiti on buildings as we drove, and also my first experience of sound barriers around the highway. Were we in Europe or something? We stopped at a service station in Germany, and had some schnitzel (Gutentag, eine schnitzel bitte?). We also came into contact with snow! Thick snow on the road and paving at the service station. Awesome! When we arrived in Sankt Goar it was dark, but we could still see some castles and the river. We did a wine tasting in a cellar, the place was hundreds of years old. IT was very atmospheric, and beautiful to see. All 4 wines were very good, some people bought a few bottles, we bought a bottle of eiswein (for our wedding, but Adi didn't know at the time!).
After that we headed for the hotel where we sampled some local beer, chatted with our manager and driver, and had some meatballs for dinner. It was icy cold, and there was frost on the balcony and snow on the roofs of the buildings around the little hotel. It was such a nice place! We didn't have a late night, and headed to bed to catch some sleep.
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Day 2 - London to Amsterdam
On day two we got to meet up with our group in the outside lobby of the hotel, along with our tour manager (Brek, Australian) and bus driver (Gerry, Irish) who both seemed really cool guys. Adi and I sat one row from the back, where most of the South Africans were seated. From the hotel we drove to Dover to get on the ferry at Calais, going through London and some English countryside. It is quite a beautiful country. Along the way, Brek explained the rules and gave us some general info on Contiki, and we did what he called "speed dating". This involves half of the bus sitting where they are, and the other half rotating seats every 2 minutes, and doing a quick "Hi my name is Brett, I am a boring computer programmer from South Africa what do you do?". That kind of broke the ice a little.
At Dover we got on the ferry and had a most awful cup of coffee, and a plain steak pasty. The ferry is mahoosive, with shops and restaurants and a whole lot. Since it's really a big ship on the sea, some people were feeling a little woozy with the rolling motion. Adi felt a little sick, but I myself being big and strong and awesome was fine.
We landed at Calais and drove through to Belgium. France has a wonderful countryside, great to watch out the moving bus window. Belgium, or at least the bit we drove through, has a wonderfully dull countryside, and in fact looks a bit like Hillbrough. Not amazing. After a quick stop in the Dutch speaking part of Belgium (where I sampled some Belgian cheese and paid to use the toilet) we headed on to Amsterdam.
I can't stress how absolutely awesome a city Amsterdam - it was built in the 1500s and yet also has modern elements; it's a stunningly beautiful place. One of my favourite cities! When we reached the hotel Adi and I had a nap, so we missed dinner, but afterwards we joined the group for a short walking tour of the red light district. You can't take photos of the prostitutes (without getting beaten by them, as discovered by an unfortunate Asian on our trip) so I left my camera at the hotel.
The red light district is really cool, it's almost indistinguishable from the rest of the city, it's so "normal" it's subtle. Most of the girls are pretty gorgeous, and the red light does wonders for their skin (as confirmed by the girls on our tour in Florence). Even the girls in the blue lights were pretty good looking. In case you haven't worked it out, a blue light means that they are not 100% girl, and pack a little extra heat. The red light district is filled with weed coffee shops, and sex shops with giant dildos everywhere. At the same time, the buildings are all old and beautiful and there are the canals and cobbled streets, so it's a really pretty place.
After the walk, we went on a cruise boat in the canals. It had free drinks - Heineken on tap - and so after a few minutes of it being a quiet touristy affair looking out the windows at the passing boats and buildings, the trip became a bit of a raucous party with the Aussies and South Africans dancing and singing and drinking much beer. The boat of other Contiki people we passed looked pretty boring, so I think we got a good group. Prost!
After this we went to the "cultural show" at the Cassa Rossa, which is a live sex show. Since we were one of the first to arrive at the venue, we were ushered in to the front row where we got a most excellent view of Jonny D and his rather large talents. It was quite an experience, and you can't really prepare yourself for it, but I must say it was great fun and everyone that went enjoyed it. A few people got called onstage during the stripping acts, and so the whole Contiki group was having fun.
Once the show was done, we headed off to one of sex shops to take a look around. There is some scary stuff in there. I did note that a giant rubber fist will set you back 80 EUR. We also had a puff of a joint in one of the coffee shops where some of the other group were spending their evening / early morning. After that, we made our way back to the hotel for a much better night's sleep than the one previously.
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Day 1 - London
As promised, here is the first post on my recent (okay, 8 months ago isn’t all that recent) Contiki Tour. For a bit of background, we chose to do the European Discovery (Winter), partly because that was when the money was available, and because Adi would have holidays then, and also because we’re completely used to summer holidays, and wanted to experience something completely different to what we’re used to – hence Europe in the middle of freezing winter. We chose to leave on Christmas day – this meant we would have Boxing Day in Amsterdam, Venice on New Year’s (a significant factor, though unbeknownst to Adi at this point), and would also have time to catch Liverpool game on the 9th of January.
So, after all the planning was done and Christmas had, it was time to make our way to the airport. Adi and I were on different flights – she gets a freebie business class ticket thanks to her dad flying with SAA (incidentally, he was flying her plane there), and I got the cheapest ticket I could find: Virgin. Since Adi and I would be going through customs together, I didn’t want the scanner to pick up the engagement ring, so I gave it to her dad to take with. We would then arrange to exchange it in London somewhere. Cool spy stuff!
So, the flight was actually not bad, the Virgin airhostesses were pretty hot, and I watched some cool movies on board. Landed in London round about the same time as Adi, even though she left an hour earlier, that was quite cool. Apart from leaving my snuggy snoozer on the plane, everything about the flight was fine. After a bit of searching, Adi and I met up, and then got on the underground to get to Russel Square. A most uncomfortable 45 minutes later (that train was packed) we arrived in Russel Square, and fought through the masses to get out and into the lift to get to street level.
The first thing I noticed when I got to ground level ready to go find our hotel – London is COLD at 8:30am on the 26th of December. After finding the hotel, we then found the Contiki Basement to go check in. Unfortunately, the CB doesn’t open until 11, so we left our bags in storage and went exploring Russel Square. The Russel Hotel is an awesome building, and otherwise Russel Square / Camden is quite a cool little area. After walking around we met up with Adi’s dad for some breakfast (and to exchange the package while Adi went to the bathroom), and then went back to the CB to check in. This time, we were told check-in was only at 2pm, so we opted for another walk, this time to Oxford Street for the Boxing Day sales.
We missed Oxford Street, however, and carried on walking till we hit the Thames. We saw the sights, took tons of photos, and then finally made our way back for check-in. We stayed in the Royal National Hotel, which is the standard Contiki option in London. Point of information – do NOT stay in this hotel, it is absolutely horrible, and is the worst hotel I have ever had the misfortune of staying in. The beds are terrible (we got 2 singles, instead of a double), they have big wheels on them which means even when rolling over the bed rolls around, they squeak when you breathe, and they are thin and uncomfortable and horrible. The hotel itself is not much better than the quality of the beds. Given the option – rather sleep on a bench in some park.
After our nap we went to a pub nearby and met some people going on our Contiki Tour, had a beer and some chips, and then went to our pre-tour meeting where we met our tour manager, driver and some other tour mates. There were lots of South Africans and Australians, and then a fair sprinkling of other kinds too. The pre-tour meeting was helpful, so I would suggest not missing this when going on your Contiki Tour.
After the meeting, we decided London wasn’t that cold and went off to Fulham to meet Adi’s dad and a friend at a pub, leaving our jacket outers, gloves, scarves and beanies behind. We missed our stop, and discovered that our bus didn’t go back, so we walked for 30 mins in the rain to get to the pub, freezing our arses off. Note: even when you think you’re warm enough, bring a jacket in London. After that ordeal, we had a beer and made our way back to the hotel for the worst night’s sleep in living memory.
Monday, December 7, 2009
The Killers
We arrived at Val de Vie Wine and Polo Estate at roughly 14:00. We went and queued in the golden circle queue shortly thereafter, buying overpriced cool drinks and biltong, and sat in the sun for 2 hours until they opened the gates at 16:00. We then made a headline for the beer tent where we purchased some much needed cold alcohol, and grabbed some waters from the coca cola tent, and then squeezed through the masses at the golden circle entrance and parked ourselves about 10 rows from the front of the stage. We made alternating trips to and from the coca cola tent and Spur tent (Spur burgers - ingenious idea!) whilst waiting in the baking hot sun, listening to crap spewed out over the loudspeakers while Zebra and Giraffe and The Killers either sat in traffic with the masses, or sat in the shade drinking cold beverages (not sure which is more truthful).
At roughly 19:00, Z&G graced the crowd with their presence, and played a good opening to the show. At this point, the sun stroke ridden and boozed up crowd proceeded to crush ever closer to the stage, throw rubbish around, sweat on their very close neighbors, and be generally discourteous and unmindful of those around them. Some clever pricks near the front decided it would be a good idea to make a massive beer-cup stack, and so hundreds of helpful folk threw their mostly empty beer cups at the stack makers, pelting nearby crowd-members with cups and splattering sticky beer on those in between.
At roughly 20:30 The Killers made their entrance, played their show, did the encore, and left. At 22:45, we had purchased our Killers and Z&G merchandise from the stand, and made our way to the car (being some of the lucky few to actually remember where the car was at this stage) . By 02:00 this morning, majority of the cars in our parking lot had not yet moved. At all. A whole host of people had slept in their cars, us included, to wait for the crazy traffic. Eventually, by 02:30, we started our car and began the trek home, through much traffic still on the dirt road providing access to Val de Vie Wine and Polo Estate. We collapsed into bed at 04:00, exhausted.
All in all, we payed R1052 for 2 tickets to watch the Killers, spent over 12 hours at the venue doing mostly nothing, 5 of those hours being in the achingly hot sun, and a further 4 of those hours waiting for cars to move, and the remaining few spent being crushed and sweated on and bumped and elbowed and groped. And you know what? It was TOTALLY worth it. The Killers absolutely kicked arse, rocked out, and drove the masses wild. Brandon Flowers is one hell of a front man, a great performer, and knew exactly what we wanted and how best to give it to us (I never thought I'd take such pleasure in a man asking me if I was ready to receive it as hard as I can). The stage setup was phenomenal, and their use of lighting amazed me. I've never seen anything like it, and I'm guessing that the hordes of screaming fans around me felt the same way. The Killers absolutely blew me away, and that day is one I will never forget, thanks only to a few hours of sheer awesomeness.
Killers - you guys rocked hard. Thank you!
At roughly 19:00, Z&G graced the crowd with their presence, and played a good opening to the show. At this point, the sun stroke ridden and boozed up crowd proceeded to crush ever closer to the stage, throw rubbish around, sweat on their very close neighbors, and be generally discourteous and unmindful of those around them. Some clever pricks near the front decided it would be a good idea to make a massive beer-cup stack, and so hundreds of helpful folk threw their mostly empty beer cups at the stack makers, pelting nearby crowd-members with cups and splattering sticky beer on those in between.
At roughly 20:30 The Killers made their entrance, played their show, did the encore, and left. At 22:45, we had purchased our Killers and Z&G merchandise from the stand, and made our way to the car (being some of the lucky few to actually remember where the car was at this stage) . By 02:00 this morning, majority of the cars in our parking lot had not yet moved. At all. A whole host of people had slept in their cars, us included, to wait for the crazy traffic. Eventually, by 02:30, we started our car and began the trek home, through much traffic still on the dirt road providing access to Val de Vie Wine and Polo Estate. We collapsed into bed at 04:00, exhausted.
All in all, we payed R1052 for 2 tickets to watch the Killers, spent over 12 hours at the venue doing mostly nothing, 5 of those hours being in the achingly hot sun, and a further 4 of those hours waiting for cars to move, and the remaining few spent being crushed and sweated on and bumped and elbowed and groped. And you know what? It was TOTALLY worth it. The Killers absolutely kicked arse, rocked out, and drove the masses wild. Brandon Flowers is one hell of a front man, a great performer, and knew exactly what we wanted and how best to give it to us (I never thought I'd take such pleasure in a man asking me if I was ready to receive it as hard as I can). The stage setup was phenomenal, and their use of lighting amazed me. I've never seen anything like it, and I'm guessing that the hordes of screaming fans around me felt the same way. The Killers absolutely blew me away, and that day is one I will never forget, thanks only to a few hours of sheer awesomeness.
Killers - you guys rocked hard. Thank you!
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
FIFA 10 Review
In the weeks and days leading up to FIFA 10's release, my waking moments were gradually taken over by the usual build up of excitement. I had read every preview, watched every trailer and tutorial and preview video, and wolfed down any offering EA Sports had in the way of glimpses of the game to come. Imagine my disappointment, then, when I stuck the disc into my Xbox 360, and found the gameplay to be chunky and uninspiring at first attempt.
I had read all about the 360 degree movement, and could not wait to get started. I had glazed over at the mention of more physicality and improved manager mode - all I wanted was the 360 degree movement. At first play, the 360 degree movement is hardly noticeable. I did notice that smaller players are easily pushed off the ball, and if you are not particularly quick when in possession, it can lead to you losing the ball easily to thick bodied oafs with lots of strength and little skill. The game was a little frustrating at first, and I was secretly disappointed.
I had been talking about this for weeks, my girlfriend had already expected not to see me for a week or two as I immersed myself in the world of FIFA 10, and here I sat, feeling like I should play The Sims 3 instead. However, I had also read that one should play FIFA 09 to get a real feel for the difference in FIFA 10. I didn't do that, but I took it to mean that the improvements are subtle and take some time to surface. So, I stuck to it, and played another game. And another game. And another. By the 5th game, I was rooted to my chair, that wild, childish look of glee plastered to my face, and my absolute joy and love for FIFA 10 was founded.
It takes a while to get into FIFA 10, but once you start playing, you begin to realize that this is without doubt the best football game to have ever existed, ever. When you get the hang of it, and play enough to see its subtle uses, 360 degree control is a godsend. Dribbling is much better, you keep the ball more often, and gameplay with the ball at players' feet is incredibly realistic. Slide tackles and challenges are realistic, the animations are excellent, and the physical side of play is a welcome relief to FIFA 09's inability to cope with speedy attackers - in FIFA 10, Fernando Torres is required to beat the defender to the ball using his pace as well as his strength, whereas in FIFA 09, his pace alone left defenders for dead, and many long ball goals could be scored that way.
The passing is much improved as well - lofted passes no longer hang in the air like golf chips, rather they move accurately depending on how the pass was played. If struck with the inside of the boot, the ball curves naturally as it would on the real pitch. If struck more solidly, the flight is flatter and the ball zips across field to make a 40 yard, Xabi Alonso-esque pass a viable and realistic option. It is much easier to play passes over obstructing defenders than previously, and with the improved ball control, it feels far more natural and realistic than ever before.
The goalkeepers are better, and react quicker, the commentary is much better and varied, and the graphics are awesome, with most players represented accurately (Jamie Carragher looks like himself, for once, and some shots of Pepe Reina are scarily lifelike). The soundtrack is a good mix, as always, and I could happily leave the game spinning and the speakers on in the house for some good musical ambience.
I am mostly a manager mode man, so I don't usually wander too far afield of this mode. It has been greatly improved, and the main point for me is the player growth system. Previously, you could assign points for your players individually if you wanted. If you simple made all your players incredibly fast, the game became far too easy. It was never really realistic to have a team full of superstars. In FIFA 10, player form plays a large part in their growth. In form players will show green arrows next to their name in the squad view, out of form players will show red arrows. Respectively, in form players will have a rating higher than their usual rating if they are in form, and out of form players will have a lower rating. A nice addition to the commentary has been added - Martin Tyler and Andy Gray will make mention of a player's current form as well.
Fitness of your players plays a much bigger part as well, if you have not upgraded your fitness coach to max - and there is a welcome assistant manager option. The assistant manager will pick your weekly squad and automatically rotate players for you - keeping your players fit and raring to go at all times. Bare in mind, however, that he may not be 100% aware of the calendar at all times, and so you may need to tweak his selection here and there to ensure that you have your best squad fit and available for the big games.
I do have some irks, as with any game. Notably, I was sacked from my job as Liverpool manager quite unjustly. I had been playing on the professional difficulty to start with, to get a feel for the game and get the goals flowing. Once I became bored of hammering sides 6-0 every game, I changed up to World Class difficulty. Leading the table late into the season, I found myself facing two weeks of cup semi-finals - an FA Cup semi against Aston Villa, followed immediately by a League Cup semi against Chelsea, both now on my new World Class difficulty. The manager mode in FIFA 10 now has a screen that shows your reputation, and the board's assessment of you. Winning games will gain reputation and improve the board's assessment (and job security) and losing games will do the opposite. At the time of semi-finals, I had gained reputation to require one more win to move onto the next star rating. The board were in love with me, and, leading the table, I was the man of the hour. I lost my first World Class game against Aston Villa 2-1, and found that my reputation had dropped by 9 points, and the board were dangerously close to giving me the boot. I drew the game against Chelsea 1-1, not bad at Stamford Bridge, and found myself immediately without employment.
I found that a bit unrealistic, but I guess it's something I could live with. On the plus side, rather than having to start the manager mode again (as would have been required in FIFA 09), I was offered a job with Hereford in League 2 (appropriate to my reputation) which was quite nice.
The other major change is the virtual pro. In FIFA 09, you could create a player and then use him in the be-a-pro mode and assign points to his skills based on the experience points gained in matches. In FIFA 10, your virtual pro goes with you wherever you are. He followed me from Liverpool to Hereford, and he is also available in all other modes. Instead of assigning points to his skills based on experience, points automatically go to his skills upon completion of certain tasks. There is a sticker book of sorts with "challenges" to complete - for example, juggle the ball 5 times in the Arena and unlock some skills. Score a volley and get some points to the volley attribute. Score with your weaker foot and gain some points to weak foot ability. It's a welcome change, and gives you reason to play with your virtual pro across all the modes.
All in all, once I got into it, FIFA 10 was a revelation. 360 degree control makes life so much easier, fluid and more realistic. The physicality is great, and the graphics and gameplay overall are awesome. FIFA 10 is without doubt the best football game, ever, hands down. If you don't own it, then I suggest you get to a store and buy it, because it will rock your world.
I had read all about the 360 degree movement, and could not wait to get started. I had glazed over at the mention of more physicality and improved manager mode - all I wanted was the 360 degree movement. At first play, the 360 degree movement is hardly noticeable. I did notice that smaller players are easily pushed off the ball, and if you are not particularly quick when in possession, it can lead to you losing the ball easily to thick bodied oafs with lots of strength and little skill. The game was a little frustrating at first, and I was secretly disappointed.
I had been talking about this for weeks, my girlfriend had already expected not to see me for a week or two as I immersed myself in the world of FIFA 10, and here I sat, feeling like I should play The Sims 3 instead. However, I had also read that one should play FIFA 09 to get a real feel for the difference in FIFA 10. I didn't do that, but I took it to mean that the improvements are subtle and take some time to surface. So, I stuck to it, and played another game. And another game. And another. By the 5th game, I was rooted to my chair, that wild, childish look of glee plastered to my face, and my absolute joy and love for FIFA 10 was founded.
It takes a while to get into FIFA 10, but once you start playing, you begin to realize that this is without doubt the best football game to have ever existed, ever. When you get the hang of it, and play enough to see its subtle uses, 360 degree control is a godsend. Dribbling is much better, you keep the ball more often, and gameplay with the ball at players' feet is incredibly realistic. Slide tackles and challenges are realistic, the animations are excellent, and the physical side of play is a welcome relief to FIFA 09's inability to cope with speedy attackers - in FIFA 10, Fernando Torres is required to beat the defender to the ball using his pace as well as his strength, whereas in FIFA 09, his pace alone left defenders for dead, and many long ball goals could be scored that way.
The passing is much improved as well - lofted passes no longer hang in the air like golf chips, rather they move accurately depending on how the pass was played. If struck with the inside of the boot, the ball curves naturally as it would on the real pitch. If struck more solidly, the flight is flatter and the ball zips across field to make a 40 yard, Xabi Alonso-esque pass a viable and realistic option. It is much easier to play passes over obstructing defenders than previously, and with the improved ball control, it feels far more natural and realistic than ever before.
The goalkeepers are better, and react quicker, the commentary is much better and varied, and the graphics are awesome, with most players represented accurately (Jamie Carragher looks like himself, for once, and some shots of Pepe Reina are scarily lifelike). The soundtrack is a good mix, as always, and I could happily leave the game spinning and the speakers on in the house for some good musical ambience.
I am mostly a manager mode man, so I don't usually wander too far afield of this mode. It has been greatly improved, and the main point for me is the player growth system. Previously, you could assign points for your players individually if you wanted. If you simple made all your players incredibly fast, the game became far too easy. It was never really realistic to have a team full of superstars. In FIFA 10, player form plays a large part in their growth. In form players will show green arrows next to their name in the squad view, out of form players will show red arrows. Respectively, in form players will have a rating higher than their usual rating if they are in form, and out of form players will have a lower rating. A nice addition to the commentary has been added - Martin Tyler and Andy Gray will make mention of a player's current form as well.
Fitness of your players plays a much bigger part as well, if you have not upgraded your fitness coach to max - and there is a welcome assistant manager option. The assistant manager will pick your weekly squad and automatically rotate players for you - keeping your players fit and raring to go at all times. Bare in mind, however, that he may not be 100% aware of the calendar at all times, and so you may need to tweak his selection here and there to ensure that you have your best squad fit and available for the big games.
I do have some irks, as with any game. Notably, I was sacked from my job as Liverpool manager quite unjustly. I had been playing on the professional difficulty to start with, to get a feel for the game and get the goals flowing. Once I became bored of hammering sides 6-0 every game, I changed up to World Class difficulty. Leading the table late into the season, I found myself facing two weeks of cup semi-finals - an FA Cup semi against Aston Villa, followed immediately by a League Cup semi against Chelsea, both now on my new World Class difficulty. The manager mode in FIFA 10 now has a screen that shows your reputation, and the board's assessment of you. Winning games will gain reputation and improve the board's assessment (and job security) and losing games will do the opposite. At the time of semi-finals, I had gained reputation to require one more win to move onto the next star rating. The board were in love with me, and, leading the table, I was the man of the hour. I lost my first World Class game against Aston Villa 2-1, and found that my reputation had dropped by 9 points, and the board were dangerously close to giving me the boot. I drew the game against Chelsea 1-1, not bad at Stamford Bridge, and found myself immediately without employment.
I found that a bit unrealistic, but I guess it's something I could live with. On the plus side, rather than having to start the manager mode again (as would have been required in FIFA 09), I was offered a job with Hereford in League 2 (appropriate to my reputation) which was quite nice.
The other major change is the virtual pro. In FIFA 09, you could create a player and then use him in the be-a-pro mode and assign points to his skills based on the experience points gained in matches. In FIFA 10, your virtual pro goes with you wherever you are. He followed me from Liverpool to Hereford, and he is also available in all other modes. Instead of assigning points to his skills based on experience, points automatically go to his skills upon completion of certain tasks. There is a sticker book of sorts with "challenges" to complete - for example, juggle the ball 5 times in the Arena and unlock some skills. Score a volley and get some points to the volley attribute. Score with your weaker foot and gain some points to weak foot ability. It's a welcome change, and gives you reason to play with your virtual pro across all the modes.
All in all, once I got into it, FIFA 10 was a revelation. 360 degree control makes life so much easier, fluid and more realistic. The physicality is great, and the graphics and gameplay overall are awesome. FIFA 10 is without doubt the best football game, ever, hands down. If you don't own it, then I suggest you get to a store and buy it, because it will rock your world.
Monday, October 5, 2009
Hermanus
So, I went to Hermanus for the first time this past weekend, and let me tell you - it is awesome. I definitely recommend it!
We stayed in a guest house called Walker Bay Manor. The host, Desire, is an artist, and so her paintings adorn all the walls. It's very cool, the breakfast was great, and the views from the windows we stayed in were excellent. I managed to spot a whale from one of them, which was great!
The highlight of the weekend, though, was the sea kayak adventure we went on. A group of 14 people all signed up, 4 from our group that went along. Our 4 got the single kayaks, and the rest got doubles. If you've ever kayaked before, the sea kayaks were plastic, brightly coloured, and quite long and incredibly stable - they had holes in to allow water to seep in and that makes it more stable. If someone were to tip one of those over I'd be highly impressed.
We went out of the old harbour, past some rocks into a bay. The sea was calm but there were some waves, and it was quite cool to feel the difference between kayaking on a river or dam and on the sea. We headed out and saw some whales a distance a way, very cool. As we came into the bay around the corner, we spotted a baby whale quite close to the shore. We all stopped and watched.
At this point, it's worth pointing out that 14 people were at the mouth of the bay, watching a baby whale inside the bay, closer to the shore than us, with our backs turned to the open sea. Quite a scary thought! Anyway, whilest watching this baby whale that was about 100-150m away from us, another, definitely adult whale popped up and did it's blowhole thingy about 35m away from us! It was magnificent! Of course, most people reacted in terror, and Vernon the Kayak Man yelled "LEFT! LEFT! PADDLE LEFT!", at which point we all obeyed (excepting the annoying foreign tourists, naturally, who paddled closer to get some good photos).
We saw several more whales throughout the 2 hour trip, and when we got back to land, as we were packing our kayaks away, a whale started breaching just beyond where we had been kayaking. It was awesome, and the crowd on the cliffs all around cheered. It was a superb weekend.
All in all, I'd definitely recommend a trip to Hermanus if you haven't been, especially during the whale season. You won't regret it!
We stayed in a guest house called Walker Bay Manor. The host, Desire, is an artist, and so her paintings adorn all the walls. It's very cool, the breakfast was great, and the views from the windows we stayed in were excellent. I managed to spot a whale from one of them, which was great!
The highlight of the weekend, though, was the sea kayak adventure we went on. A group of 14 people all signed up, 4 from our group that went along. Our 4 got the single kayaks, and the rest got doubles. If you've ever kayaked before, the sea kayaks were plastic, brightly coloured, and quite long and incredibly stable - they had holes in to allow water to seep in and that makes it more stable. If someone were to tip one of those over I'd be highly impressed.
We went out of the old harbour, past some rocks into a bay. The sea was calm but there were some waves, and it was quite cool to feel the difference between kayaking on a river or dam and on the sea. We headed out and saw some whales a distance a way, very cool. As we came into the bay around the corner, we spotted a baby whale quite close to the shore. We all stopped and watched.
At this point, it's worth pointing out that 14 people were at the mouth of the bay, watching a baby whale inside the bay, closer to the shore than us, with our backs turned to the open sea. Quite a scary thought! Anyway, whilest watching this baby whale that was about 100-150m away from us, another, definitely adult whale popped up and did it's blowhole thingy about 35m away from us! It was magnificent! Of course, most people reacted in terror, and Vernon the Kayak Man yelled "LEFT! LEFT! PADDLE LEFT!", at which point we all obeyed (excepting the annoying foreign tourists, naturally, who paddled closer to get some good photos).
We saw several more whales throughout the 2 hour trip, and when we got back to land, as we were packing our kayaks away, a whale started breaching just beyond where we had been kayaking. It was awesome, and the crowd on the cliffs all around cheered. It was a superb weekend.
All in all, I'd definitely recommend a trip to Hermanus if you haven't been, especially during the whale season. You won't regret it!
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Holiday!
So, I haven't blogged in ages. So much for my promise of 3 posts a week - I guess if you want to read what I have to say that badly, then send me an email and I'll do a post just for you. Anyways, I've been planning a holiday for some time, and I've finally organized, booked and paid for it. It feels great! Here's what I'm doing, and how I've planned it all:
The trip is a European Discovery through Contiki (see the itinery on the site) which is basically 12 days in Europe, by bus, in the middle of winter. It shall be awesome. While in Europe, I also want to spend some time in England, mainly to go watch a Liverpool game. I've also thrown in a trip to Stonehenge, just for good measure. My itinery is as follows:
I've booked the trip from STA Travel in South Africa (where I got a discount for paying in full), and the flights through Flight Centre also in SA. I'm going direct via Virgin. The Accomodation and Stonehenge tour is also via STA, so all that is left to do is sort out VISAs, transport between London and Liverpool, and book the Liverpool game! Oh, and save for spending money....
I'll put up some further info, with more details on how I did it all. Hopefully it will be of some help to some readers who want a similar holiday.
The trip is a European Discovery through Contiki (see the itinery on the site) which is basically 12 days in Europe, by bus, in the middle of winter. It shall be awesome. While in Europe, I also want to spend some time in England, mainly to go watch a Liverpool game. I've also thrown in a trip to Stonehenge, just for good measure. My itinery is as follows:
- Arrive in London on 26 December
- Contiki tour starts next day
- New Year's Eve in Venice!
- Arrive back from Contiki tour on 7 January
- Next day, off to see Stonehenge, Salisbury and Bath
- Off to Liverpool to watch the Spurs game, spend the night
- Back to London the next day
- Leave London the 11th of January
I've booked the trip from STA Travel in South Africa (where I got a discount for paying in full), and the flights through Flight Centre also in SA. I'm going direct via Virgin. The Accomodation and Stonehenge tour is also via STA, so all that is left to do is sort out VISAs, transport between London and Liverpool, and book the Liverpool game! Oh, and save for spending money....
I'll put up some further info, with more details on how I did it all. Hopefully it will be of some help to some readers who want a similar holiday.
Sunday, June 14, 2009
The Sims 3
I will admit something some would find embarrassing – I play The Sims. I pre-ordered the collector’s edition of The Sims 3, and waited for it in fevered anticipation, howling in horror when its release was delayed and dancing in delight when its release was imminent. I am not ashamed of my status, as I still feel The Sims is the best gaming concept ever delivered, and quite simply, the numbers don’t lie. It’s the highest selling video game of all time. Enough said.
However, there are still a huge number of gamers who despise the game, and everything it represents, because they simply don’t see the point. An open-ended game with no bosses, score or missions, with a large part of every Sim day revolving around sleeping, does not leave much room for fun in the eyes of many hardcore gamers. The same gamers who find joy in repeatedly pointing and clicking their mouse on enemies that hugely outnumber them in first person shooters in the same rehashed concept since Wolfenstein came out.
I don’t argue with those guys, because they have no taste and no sophistication. The Sims series offers huge possibilities that millions enjoy, and I won’t promote its cause because it simply does not need promotion. I will note that there are different types of Sims players, each enjoying different things. Some players love making their “Simselves” and love living out lives for their Simselves that they could never do in real life. Some build massive, rambling, architecturally awesome houses. Some create multiple Sims and drop them in a house, delighting in the chaos as they wield destruction, chaos and madness with their mouse pointer. Others still make movie machinima with actors designed to fit the movie.
I am a humble mixture, though I don’t (always) delight in the chaos and I don’t make machinima. I enjoy designing houses, and making Sims. Prior to TS3, making Sims was only limited fun. Now, it is hugely satisfying, and the effects are notable. My review on the game follows, as promised.
The build up to the game was long. I knew it was coming, but deliberately held off doing too much reading up on it other than watching the first ad. The concept was something Simmers had been looking for since the first game’s release: freedom to move in an open world. The Sims 3 provided that freedom, along with some interesting changes, notably the create-a-pattern design abilities, and the personality trait AI system. I won’t go into too much detail (there is plenty out there on the web) but I’ll write up my findings and experiences.
The first thing I noticed after installing TS3 was the music. True to Sims games before, the familiar music is there upon loading (credits to reticulating splines, ever-present), but it has been updated and improved to give the feeling that you are descending into a computerized sitcom in a pleasant neighbourhood, rather than a silly game. In short, the music is more real and more awesome.
The next thing is the graphics. I’ve heard people complain that they aren’t that much of a step up, but they are. No questions. Everything is better. The Sims do tend to look alike at first, but the general feeling of “all my Sims look the same” is rubbish. The tools are available to make many different creations.
The personality traits works as promised, with each Sim being unique (and, as always, humorous in all its permutations) and reacting to situations differently, and having different interactions open to them. It’s a nice touch to see insane Sims talking to themselves, handy Sims idling by juggling a wrench, and evil Sims giggling mischievously to themselves. It brings their personalities home – they are “real” beings with definite wants, needs and feelings. An example, I had the joy of creating an absent minded and insane Sim. I sent him off to work, and when I happened to check on his progress at work for the day, found the warning that he was missing work. Centring my screen on him, I found that he had absent mindedly forgotten to go to work, and was instead talking to himself outside the theatre like a madman. Fascinating stuff.
The next thing I noticed was the added details. Little things, like how a Sim will kick at a cheap fridge’s broken door, or repeatedly try to flush a crappy toilet’s broken chain (yes, pun intended). The attention to details is magnificent, with many features quicker and easier. Over time, one tends to forget these little things, but I can guarantee that they will be instantly noticed upon returning to inferior Sims 2 games.
The create-a-pattern feature is ingenious. At first, I found the possibility of redesigning my entire house a little overwhelming (side note: houses can be bought furnished, which saves a lot of buying for those who don’t enjoy it as much). But once I had used the design features a couple of times, and realized how easy it is to get exactly what you want for absolutely everything, I was hooked. I have recoloured every object in my house, made multiple designs for random items of furniture, and for different styles of clothing and hair. It’s a fantastically fun feature to use, and people will enjoy it immensely.
The upgraded skills implementation has meant that rather than painting to increase a creativity skill that will allow you to play piano well, you have a painting skill, and a guitar skill (no pianos) and a writing skill. The skills work the same for others. Additionally, each skill (and career, by extension) will require you to send your Sim into the world to find items, either books, seeds, rocks or creatures, or to learn recipes, baits for fish, or even just to meet people (alive and dead).
The routing of Sims is a bit patchy, Sims still can’t handle a Sim in their way, and stand for several minutes or hours waiting until the way is clear, but while it is frustrating it doesn’t take too much away from the game as a whole. In general, the game will keep avid Simmers happy and enthralled; it will give more design power to less technical players, and will be a happy medium for those who had limited interest in the game. It is a huge step forward for the series, and I am loving it completely. I think it’s safe to say that Will Wright having left Maxis is not a detriment to the franchise in anyway. Well done to their teams, and thanks to them, if anyone is looking for me, they can find me here, playing The Sims 3.
However, there are still a huge number of gamers who despise the game, and everything it represents, because they simply don’t see the point. An open-ended game with no bosses, score or missions, with a large part of every Sim day revolving around sleeping, does not leave much room for fun in the eyes of many hardcore gamers. The same gamers who find joy in repeatedly pointing and clicking their mouse on enemies that hugely outnumber them in first person shooters in the same rehashed concept since Wolfenstein came out.
I don’t argue with those guys, because they have no taste and no sophistication. The Sims series offers huge possibilities that millions enjoy, and I won’t promote its cause because it simply does not need promotion. I will note that there are different types of Sims players, each enjoying different things. Some players love making their “Simselves” and love living out lives for their Simselves that they could never do in real life. Some build massive, rambling, architecturally awesome houses. Some create multiple Sims and drop them in a house, delighting in the chaos as they wield destruction, chaos and madness with their mouse pointer. Others still make movie machinima with actors designed to fit the movie.
I am a humble mixture, though I don’t (always) delight in the chaos and I don’t make machinima. I enjoy designing houses, and making Sims. Prior to TS3, making Sims was only limited fun. Now, it is hugely satisfying, and the effects are notable. My review on the game follows, as promised.
The build up to the game was long. I knew it was coming, but deliberately held off doing too much reading up on it other than watching the first ad. The concept was something Simmers had been looking for since the first game’s release: freedom to move in an open world. The Sims 3 provided that freedom, along with some interesting changes, notably the create-a-pattern design abilities, and the personality trait AI system. I won’t go into too much detail (there is plenty out there on the web) but I’ll write up my findings and experiences.
The first thing I noticed after installing TS3 was the music. True to Sims games before, the familiar music is there upon loading (credits to reticulating splines, ever-present), but it has been updated and improved to give the feeling that you are descending into a computerized sitcom in a pleasant neighbourhood, rather than a silly game. In short, the music is more real and more awesome.
The next thing is the graphics. I’ve heard people complain that they aren’t that much of a step up, but they are. No questions. Everything is better. The Sims do tend to look alike at first, but the general feeling of “all my Sims look the same” is rubbish. The tools are available to make many different creations.
The personality traits works as promised, with each Sim being unique (and, as always, humorous in all its permutations) and reacting to situations differently, and having different interactions open to them. It’s a nice touch to see insane Sims talking to themselves, handy Sims idling by juggling a wrench, and evil Sims giggling mischievously to themselves. It brings their personalities home – they are “real” beings with definite wants, needs and feelings. An example, I had the joy of creating an absent minded and insane Sim. I sent him off to work, and when I happened to check on his progress at work for the day, found the warning that he was missing work. Centring my screen on him, I found that he had absent mindedly forgotten to go to work, and was instead talking to himself outside the theatre like a madman. Fascinating stuff.
The next thing I noticed was the added details. Little things, like how a Sim will kick at a cheap fridge’s broken door, or repeatedly try to flush a crappy toilet’s broken chain (yes, pun intended). The attention to details is magnificent, with many features quicker and easier. Over time, one tends to forget these little things, but I can guarantee that they will be instantly noticed upon returning to inferior Sims 2 games.
The create-a-pattern feature is ingenious. At first, I found the possibility of redesigning my entire house a little overwhelming (side note: houses can be bought furnished, which saves a lot of buying for those who don’t enjoy it as much). But once I had used the design features a couple of times, and realized how easy it is to get exactly what you want for absolutely everything, I was hooked. I have recoloured every object in my house, made multiple designs for random items of furniture, and for different styles of clothing and hair. It’s a fantastically fun feature to use, and people will enjoy it immensely.
The upgraded skills implementation has meant that rather than painting to increase a creativity skill that will allow you to play piano well, you have a painting skill, and a guitar skill (no pianos) and a writing skill. The skills work the same for others. Additionally, each skill (and career, by extension) will require you to send your Sim into the world to find items, either books, seeds, rocks or creatures, or to learn recipes, baits for fish, or even just to meet people (alive and dead).
The routing of Sims is a bit patchy, Sims still can’t handle a Sim in their way, and stand for several minutes or hours waiting until the way is clear, but while it is frustrating it doesn’t take too much away from the game as a whole. In general, the game will keep avid Simmers happy and enthralled; it will give more design power to less technical players, and will be a happy medium for those who had limited interest in the game. It is a huge step forward for the series, and I am loving it completely. I think it’s safe to say that Will Wright having left Maxis is not a detriment to the franchise in anyway. Well done to their teams, and thanks to them, if anyone is looking for me, they can find me here, playing The Sims 3.
Friday, May 29, 2009
Star Trek
I saw the preview for Star Trek while waiting for a Clive Owen movie to start, The International. The International was a pile of steaming dog turd, but the preview for Star Trek hinted at something far more exciting and watchable. I never mentioned my suspicions to anyone, for fear of being poked with a stick while onlookers mumbled the dirty "Trekkie" word in my direction. I let the thoughts of interest slide, and ignored any urges to investigate further.
Then, I saw that the movie was out in South Africa. I could go watch it. I told my girlfriend, and told her sister, and said "let's go see what's showing", knowing fully well that I would use my manly beard to influence their decision, and that we would go watch Star Trek. I watched it. My suspicions were confirmed in 126 minutes of sheer awesomeness - Star Trek is the greatest movie of all time, ever. There, I said it. I'm not ashamed.
You disagree? Have you watched it? If yes, and you still disagree, then shut up and go read someone else's blog (right after clicking a money making advert link, that is). If not, then reserve judgement until you have seen it, and until it has blown your mind hole. If you are one of those "Trekkies" and your complaints are about the inaccuracies surrounding the film, then I give you two statements:
Firstly, I'll start by saying that the recent launch and success of the STS-125 Shuttle Atlantis repair mission played a huge part in my interest in the film - not in my interest to actually go and watch the film, but in the reignition of my interest in space in general. Twitter played a large role in that too, so you could say that twitter made me love Star Trek - a terrible crime if there ever was one! But back to point - the updates from Mike Massimino and NASA got my interest back and I did plenty of reading up on space, and planets, and the shuttle and Hubble and theory around faster-than-light-travel and all things included therein.
My next point regarding the movie is a standard thought I've had for the last few films I've watched (particularly new Hollywood movies) - the movies assume I am stupid and need absolutely everything explained to me, for fear I won't grasp the mind-numbing plot and won't spend my well earned cash on the brand. Well, Star Trek does a good job of avoiding the mistake of filling in every possible detail of certain themes - it skips large chunks of our protagonist's life without missing anything; we are well aware of what makes up his character by the time the story begins in earnest.
Our main protagonist was well cast (James T. Kirk, for those of you who have been living in a cave for the last 40 years), I felt - the girls will certainly love him, and he has that Hollywood "cowboy" manner that is common in movies like Top Gun; an easily likeable, but also troubled, character. The rest of the cast is also well done, easily recognisable for the fans, and fresh and updated so that the popular youth who have never watched Star Trek will be interested. Spock is a fantastic portrayal as well, so hats off to the casting crew for picking him.
The storyline itself is pretty cool, it's not dull and is not too obvious, and it gets away from any need to stick to Star Trek guidelines by throwing in some time travel and alternate universe theories - always a good bet. There are the typical cliches that one needs in order to keep with the Star Trek franchise, and I'm happy to say they're well done and not boring or unrealistic. The amount of times the young Jim Kirk gets the crap beaten out of him combined with the number of times he finds himself clinging to a cliff or ledge by his fingertips is a typical Hollywood move, but it makes for an entertaining, action packed watch in any case.
The visuals are awesome, and the sound is great too - in a surround sound cinema the loud sounds of space travel and fist fights set the mood for a great watch - I found myself on the edge of my seat, jaw hanging, utterly absorbed in the action for large parts of the film. The awe of space and space travel, new planets and things like Space Tethers and free-fall space diving made for a totally believable, absorbing, action packed, nail biting movie. There have been few movies that have kept me so engrossed that I barely touch my popcorn-smartie mix, and Star Trek was one of them.
It may not have the level of character development and thought provoking plot twists that critics need, but any seven year old boy watching this will be running around on flying motorbikes, dodging the event horizon of black holes made by red matter, and greeting their friends with the "live long and prosper" sign for much time to come. I felt like a seven year old kid watching Star Trek, and I insist that you won't find a more entertaining movie anywhere for a long time.
Watch this movie - resistance is futile.
Then, I saw that the movie was out in South Africa. I could go watch it. I told my girlfriend, and told her sister, and said "let's go see what's showing", knowing fully well that I would use my manly beard to influence their decision, and that we would go watch Star Trek. I watched it. My suspicions were confirmed in 126 minutes of sheer awesomeness - Star Trek is the greatest movie of all time, ever. There, I said it. I'm not ashamed.
You disagree? Have you watched it? If yes, and you still disagree, then shut up and go read someone else's blog (right after clicking a money making advert link, that is). If not, then reserve judgement until you have seen it, and until it has blown your mind hole. If you are one of those "Trekkies" and your complaints are about the inaccuracies surrounding the film, then I give you two statements:
- It is the year 2009. Things change (and get better). Deal with it.
- Shut up and go read a fellow Trekkie's blog.
Firstly, I'll start by saying that the recent launch and success of the STS-125 Shuttle Atlantis repair mission played a huge part in my interest in the film - not in my interest to actually go and watch the film, but in the reignition of my interest in space in general. Twitter played a large role in that too, so you could say that twitter made me love Star Trek - a terrible crime if there ever was one! But back to point - the updates from Mike Massimino and NASA got my interest back and I did plenty of reading up on space, and planets, and the shuttle and Hubble and theory around faster-than-light-travel and all things included therein.
My next point regarding the movie is a standard thought I've had for the last few films I've watched (particularly new Hollywood movies) - the movies assume I am stupid and need absolutely everything explained to me, for fear I won't grasp the mind-numbing plot and won't spend my well earned cash on the brand. Well, Star Trek does a good job of avoiding the mistake of filling in every possible detail of certain themes - it skips large chunks of our protagonist's life without missing anything; we are well aware of what makes up his character by the time the story begins in earnest.
Our main protagonist was well cast (James T. Kirk, for those of you who have been living in a cave for the last 40 years), I felt - the girls will certainly love him, and he has that Hollywood "cowboy" manner that is common in movies like Top Gun; an easily likeable, but also troubled, character. The rest of the cast is also well done, easily recognisable for the fans, and fresh and updated so that the popular youth who have never watched Star Trek will be interested. Spock is a fantastic portrayal as well, so hats off to the casting crew for picking him.
The storyline itself is pretty cool, it's not dull and is not too obvious, and it gets away from any need to stick to Star Trek guidelines by throwing in some time travel and alternate universe theories - always a good bet. There are the typical cliches that one needs in order to keep with the Star Trek franchise, and I'm happy to say they're well done and not boring or unrealistic. The amount of times the young Jim Kirk gets the crap beaten out of him combined with the number of times he finds himself clinging to a cliff or ledge by his fingertips is a typical Hollywood move, but it makes for an entertaining, action packed watch in any case.
The visuals are awesome, and the sound is great too - in a surround sound cinema the loud sounds of space travel and fist fights set the mood for a great watch - I found myself on the edge of my seat, jaw hanging, utterly absorbed in the action for large parts of the film. The awe of space and space travel, new planets and things like Space Tethers and free-fall space diving made for a totally believable, absorbing, action packed, nail biting movie. There have been few movies that have kept me so engrossed that I barely touch my popcorn-smartie mix, and Star Trek was one of them.
It may not have the level of character development and thought provoking plot twists that critics need, but any seven year old boy watching this will be running around on flying motorbikes, dodging the event horizon of black holes made by red matter, and greeting their friends with the "live long and prosper" sign for much time to come. I felt like a seven year old kid watching Star Trek, and I insist that you won't find a more entertaining movie anywhere for a long time.
Watch this movie - resistance is futile.
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