New stuff - SNES, Pi and the bunny

Over the last week or so I seem to have acquired stuff quite quickly.

My Raspberry Pi has arrived, about 4 years after I placed the order, but to be honest, all enthusiasm for the little thing has long since perished and if anything it seems a waste for me to hold on to it.

That is my hand and no I'm not a giant, it really is quite small. But the task of gathering equipment, power lead (actually have that) HDMI cable, SD card reader, SD card that works, etc, is seeming as attractive as jumping into some chemical waste and becoming a super-villain. Hmmmm.....

At the moment it's as likely to end up on eBay as actually being used...

But better than that, which seeing as I'm completely unenthusiastic about it isn't overly hard, is the new pet the child has come into the possession of! She has wanted something quite fluffy for a while now and we considered Hamsters (vicious little bastards, fuck that), Guinea Pigs (look a bit like fat rats?) but eventually settled on a rabbit. It's her 4th birthday on Saturday, so last weekend we went and picked one up with me and mother Driscoll fronting 50% of the cost each. Pets at home staff, I have to say were quality, told us what we needed, including a back story on the rabbit and a few hours later et voila:

We have Rosie the rabbit at home, in a nice wooden hutch. Cute aint she?? Shits all the time don't she?? Had her outdoor (now indoor as a result) hutch attacked by a cat first night didn't she?? What stupid animals cats are, just bog off moggy haven't you got some birds to pester?? Stupid animals, feed them all to dogs I reckon! 

And yes that is a USA football top, I like it, it's a nice design!

Finally my favourite new possession is this little beauty:

Oh yes, that is a remarkably good condition PAL Super Nintendo, wanted one for a while and eventually just went and bought it, £40 with 2 games (Super Tennis and Flashback) both of which I used to have and love back in the day. 

The source of this purchase was the lovely Otakuzoku in Cardiff, a cracking little shop on Sailsbury Road in Cardiff, much recommended as they had loads of stuff. (I'll take my fee now...) Only down side was they wanted £23 for Super Metroid, I want Metroid, but not for that cash.

I got a component cable connection for it for £3 on ebay and it looks and plays fabulous. I'm now on the prowl for games on eBay. There is a possibility that these old games may seemingly suck now, but I'm confident my happy 16 bit memories will still hold up, they have on the first 2 games at least. Super Tennis is awesome! I've experienced annoyance with the Mortal Kombat collection on the 360, so some caution will be used though. I also need to invest in a 2nd controller.

In addition a Game Boy pocket has turned up, complete with Tetris game and has seen some use already, although sadly the battery back up in the cart is dead so no scores are saved. Tetris is still a fabulous game though.

Oh and Twin Peaks rocks, everyone watch.

Olympic Partners and Pomp

This doesn't refer to athletes shaggin' in the village, although I'm sure that does go on.

The days of the Olypics being an amateur event about sport are obviously long gone.  It seems to now be an odd trend between pointless ritual and money, with some events thrown in the middle somewhere. Let's face it, the games themselves are about 3 weeks? Just over? While the worldwide cash in campaign is months, if not years.

Companies (the partners of the title) will throw any possible amount of money at the organisers just to get their name associated with the event. Some of these just don't make sense. Two obvious one's stick out, McDonalds and Coca Cola, two things criminally bad for health, I enjoy partaking in both, but in no way do I think Big Mac meal with a coke, let's do some triple jump!Is unhealthy food really who the IOC want to be associated with? Of course, as they have the most money to give them.

Others on the list just make you think, why? P&G are on there and it's plastered all over their adverts. But once again... what's the association? Are the risks of Paula Radcliffe shitting on the pavement again so high, they've got the manufacturers of pampers in just in case? Or have they got some discount Ariel out of the deal and the athletes wash their (hopefully not shit stained) clothes in it?

UPS? Well I suppose if I was an athlete I wouldn't want to use bastard Yodel either, who would? Fucking Yodel.

Visa? Naturally the more active or accurate or... ummm, of the payment methods...

Nature Valley? Will those business people falling into the haystack on the advert be being replaced with water polo players?

There are some obvious matches, Airwave a radio supplier, going to need them. Ticketmaster, yep going to need someone to sell tickets, addidas, sportswear... yeah cool, technogym, running to techno music? I not sure but it sounds like something that makes sense.

Basically any company with enough cash and the urge to have their name associated with such a global spectacle of an event can become an Olympic partner, I don't like that.

Then there's all the pointless ceremony. Friday I've taken the day off work, the reason? A good percentage of Cardiff will be closed while people run through the streets holding the Olympic torch, so everyone can get to see it. Wow, a torch. Yeah, I'll hang round for that...

Then the bastard thing is following me and will close bits of Merthyr Saturday, for gods sake I've got things to do!The idea that this torch thing has to go within x distance of everyone's house baffles me. I understand it some attempt to involve the whole country, but I don't give a shit. I don't want to see the torch, I don't want a T-Shirt, I don't want a mouse mat, or a mug. I momentarily thought about getting tickets to the football, but as my beliefs are no Welsh players should be involved (Bale, Ramsey, Williams, Allen, etc this means you) I thought no, plus they were expensive!

There'll be an xbox game, it'll be crap, they're always crap, so I don't want that.

I also don't want to watch drug cheats such as Dwaine Chambers compete, but looks like I'm stuck with that too. I won't celebrate if he gets a medal, luckily he shouldn't.

I'll watch and enjoy the Olympics, don't get me wrong, but all the BS that comes with it, I can do without. I'm now resigned to however many decades of having this shit stuffed down my throat. It should be about the athletes, not cash.

What a moron!

And for once the carrot in question is me! I forgot to 'publish' this Friday so read it from the context of that day!

I stroll onto the bus this morning (Friday) brandishing the weekly 'Megarider Gold' ticket Stagecoach peddle me for more than it's worth each week. To my knowledge there's no MegaRider Silver, I think the name may just be pointless fluff to make them sound better than they are when 'Weekly' would suffice. I hold up, the same ticket I've been using all week, and the soon to retire (by the looks of him) bus driver calls me back, points out the back that the ticket expired some time ago.

Pointing it out is fine, but this old nob end decides to speak to me in a way I'd be embarrassed to speak to Gracie in. Bet he didn't consider the literally 9 hits this blog would get. Ha who's stupid now. Actually there may have been more people in the queue behind me than that...

I stand there confused, convinced that I bought it on Tuesday, but unable to deny the fact the ticket has indeed expired. With insufficient funds upon my person to get a ticket I'm forced off the bus and begin searching my stuff for the correct ticket. I was there Tuesday, I remember buying it. But the bus leaves as I head to a cashpoint to get ticket money.

Upon my return to the bus station i get a thought, an idea, just in the back of my mind. Where did I see a bus ticket? Open the front pocket of my faithful Targus backpack (with cushioned section for the very netbook that brings this blog to you) and low and behold, stoke the fucking crows, boil a bastard geordie, there is is all flat and shiny and expiring on 21/5.

Ha, fuck you old codger, told you I had one.

Keep on running

It's that time of the year again, the time of year I try to do something I'm physically incapable of to raise money for charity (well not only for that, I do it so I don't become a 30 stone monster as well, beefcake!), this year I've used all my imagination and done exactly the same as last year, the Cardiff Half Marathon, plus probably the Swansea 10k as a warm up race.

This year I'll be joined by my friends Brad and James (or so I'm told by Brad, don't count numbers til the start line), here's the classiest photo I could find of myself (the floral number) and Bradley (the little black/grey dress) from my stag night. Ignore the bald one, we always find it best.

Anyway, running requires preparation, something which traditionally I suck at as much as the running part. So this year I've started earlier (well it can't be any later than last year as I barely did anything, lazy motherf...) so Rhydycar gym will actually start earning the £9,500 a month it takes from my account. So far I've made 2 visits, on the first covering 4 miles and doing a bit on the bike and the second 5 miles, both at pretty decent pace too, so I'm pretty confident I'll be able to do 13 by October.

The main issue at the moment is feeling the urge to stop at even the faintest hint of fatigue. Knowing rest and relaxation is just a large red stop button away is quite tempting, to the point where on the 5 miles, I could have easily have carried on, I wasn't feeling that bad, but just thought, "That'll do fatty, go get a burger." Which of course I didn't.

Luckily I get myself into a mindset that once I'm going I do tend to really enjoy training. Headphones in, decent music, bit of adrenaline or something pumping, sense of achievement when you get there, it's good stuff.

Equally my choice of charity is still open, traditionally of late I've fund raised for Velindre, a very worthy cause. But with a new sprog on the way (have I mentioned that? I have now anyway) the temptation is there to support a kids charity, such as the NSPCC who I ran for on my first half marathon, also with Brad but no James, ended with quite a nasty knee injury...

Any suggestions, I have a comments section....

I may keep this blog updated periodically with training updates, I doubt they'll be that interesting, but it's my blog and I'll post what I like! I'm planning on hitting the gym this very evening, 5 miles again is the target, see how I feel when I get there. I'm still far to heavy to make a decent go at it, but I'll get there. I even have Special K for Breakfast this morning! Not out of any weight-loss plan, I just really like the red berries one. 

Also is it wrong I'm really fancying a kebab at the moment?

American Pie: Reunion

From previous posts, you may know that I dislike it when people bleed a franchise for everything it's worth, and the American Pie franchise has seen it's fair of bleeding. Namely Band Camp, Naked Mile, Beta House and Book of Love (Shame on you Eugene Levy, even though he apparently did the DVD ones on the cheap).

So excuse me if I was a little blasé when it came to American Reunion, or the 65 other slight variations on that title. It looked generally more of the same as the first 3 (and maybe the DVD ones, I haven't seen anything bar the first), same characters, same setting etc, could work, may not... It was also billed as the 4th in the series, excommunicating the straight to DVD stuff. Ha!

But it looked worth watching, purely for an element of nostalgia, and the wife wanted to see it too so bingo, we're off.

                  

Some of it felt tired (hmm I wonder if Jim'll end up in an awkward situation... oh yeah, there he goes) and to be fair the film was exactly what you'd expect, almost frame for frame. Some of it felt... wrong (no spoilers). However that isn't necessarily an entire negative, as it was easy and familiar to watch and enjoyable throughout. But please don't make any more.

Oh and why was Oz not mentioned in the 3rd film at all, not even a breath, he vaguely mentions it here but still...

Oh and there were tits, of course there were tits it's american pie. Oh and Jason Biggs cock (or stunt plastic variation). No pie though... but well worth seeing.

Merthyr Town FC Champions again

Saturday afternoon I took my semi regular trek through the gates on Penydarren Park to watch my beloved Merthyr Town play Infracombe in the knowledge a win would confirm they win the league and return them to the Southern League, now just 1 division below where they were when Merthyr Tydfil went bust.

They beat this side 5-0 away not 1 week before, surely it would be simple! When is it ever simple?

After a considerable period of being unable to hit a cows arse with a banjo, eventually the significant proportion of the play Merthyr had paid off they scored and won 1-0 (Goal by Ryan Prosser), keeping them a point clear and with second place Bitton having no games left... game over. There was a nice trophy prsentation after and much sparkling white was sprayed around the field. Nice trophy too:

Western League trophy

Two promotions in 2 years is nothing to be sniffed at any level and while the Western Football League wasn't exactly of blistering quality, it was entertaining at times! Next years return to the Southern League (in a regional division) should be a notable step up in quality and I doubt three on the bounce is really on the cards, but you never know! Next year will see the return to some more familiar teams such as Mangotsfield, Tiverton, Taunton... Still pretty obscure, but better!

I'll be there next year, and judging by the turnout at a few of the later games this year, there's potential for quite a few others to be there too, just need to carry on doing well to keep the crowds in. 725 my arse. Even got their mugs on sgorio. Da Iawn!

Worst part is, despite the season being done, champions decided etc, 2 teams have not played the full 34 matches, Merthyr and Wells. The games been abandoned once and postponed once and now... doesn't matter much (Unless Merthyr score 5 to get their 100 goals for the season, or if Wells win they come 11th not 12th). It's now scheduled for the 8th, I doubt too many of the players will be up for the 4 hour round trip for little/no reason. Call it a draw?

Stuff like this just confirms to me even more, while an Arsenal follower I'll continue to be, I'm a fan of Merthyr.

Avengers

I like my superhero films, and while my first loyalty will always be to DC (mainly due to Batman being my fav superhero by a distance), I've got time for Marvel even though some of the films have hit n miss.

There has been years of build up to The Avengers (or Avengers Assemble if you will as us Brits are too thick to distinguish between it and the horrific 1998 The Avengers or indeed the 60's TV series) in the form of the previously mentioned films, Thor, Captain America, 2 Iron Men and one of the Hulks (I think the first one didn't count) and that mean allot of money spent on it so far, and indeed allot of money taken! This thing had to be good.

They got Joss Whedon to write/direct, always a good sign (even if it has seemingly delayed/killed Dr Horrible 2) got the cast back from the set of earlier films (except Ed Norton, replaced with Mark Ruffalo who was much better anyway) all was set. I paid my rough-value-of-a-kidney for my 3D tickets and myself and the wife ventured onwards.

2 and a bit hours later... result, awesome film!

The whole was greater than the sum of it's parts by some distance, the dynamic between the characters (particularly Cap and Tony Stark) was excellent, it has plenty of action, more humour than the last 3 Police Academy films combined. Joss rarely lets down with a script... ahem and he hasn't here. The acting was excellent, it contains Samuel L. That's always an endorsement (I've had it with these motherfuckin' Avengers on this motherfuckin' helicarrier), Downey Jr if anything was even more smarmy and arrogant here than in his own films, Ruffalo should have the part regularly from here on in, Hemsworth was good, better than he was in Home and Away anyway, Jeremy Renner was excellent as Hawkeye and Evans was... the same. Combine that with Hiddlestone being an excellent antagonist and you're on to a winner.

I rarely think films need 3D but to be fair while there were cheap stuff-blowing-up-at-the-screen shots, most of it was just for effect and actually helped the action sequenced. Supporting the claim it wasn't shot in 3D, but was changed in production. Although that still makes me question where the cheap shots came from, it must've been in the back of Joss' mind at least.

The ending implied sequel and I've no doubt there will be. There's already an Iron Man 3 and Thor 2 confirmed (wow they didn't get killed in the film then, of course they didn't, it's Disney) and I hope there will be. I'm even looking forward to Iron Man 3 a bit, Thor 2 not so much.

No plot spoilers in here, it's not even out over in North America yet (lol) but it's a really good film I'm immensely looking forward to owning the Blu-Ray of (crimbo maybe?).

I'd still rather a justice League film, yes their name is awful, but they have Batman!

Go watch!