A tale of the sea!

Finally woke up to a clear blue sky last morning, so I took advantage of the weather to head out on the semi-open sea. By which I mean, I took a habour trip on the East by West ferry. Ah, the smell of the ocean sea... overwhelmed by the smell of the boat. The fresh sea water... sprayed into one's face... bliss...

Wellington certainly looks different out on the waves. For example, small and far away.


(More pics after the jump.)

Head around Oriental Bay...


Then out around Mount Crawford... [huh, no Wiki page]


Head into Seatoun...


(Avoid the open sea!)

(That's Seatoun on the right, and Pencarrow Head [known for its lighthouse] on the left.)

Then past Marako/Ward Island...


To Day's Bay... [next to Eastbourne]


Then over to Somes' Island / Matui...


(That's Mokopuna Island on the right.)


Pop over to Petone...


Then back to Wellington...


Hey, I can see my work from here! (It's in there, honest.)


[END]

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Rogue Trading 2

[Something I should point out: this is the adventure that's in the main RPG book, so read on only if you don't want spoilers for that.]

So we had this map, but not sure where it was. We tried looking up in the ship's library. Fail. We go looking for map makers. Fail. We check with people on the ship. Fail. We go looking for people with knowledge. After a fail... not fail.

We find out we are heading for Winterscale's Realm, and a particular area therein. First task: get to the general area. This involves going through... The Maw...

Starts well by encountering a warp eddy, which we drive straight into. [Man, we suck. As first level characters, there are very few roles we are successfully making.] However, most of us are fine, and any ill effects pass.

We stop at several way stations, until we hit the Battleground, where we hear a trap... I mean, "salvation beacon". Yeah, it's not a trap. Honest. So we head out there and set off the trap... I mean, the... no wait, it is a trap!

We meet two raiders and a limpet mine coming for us. They get in some lucky early shots and nearly blow us away [only not so by being confused by the rules]. We fails to blow them up, and decide to run away and pretend to be dead. This seems to work, and we limp to the end of the Maw, and get to Footfall. And, for now, we stay there to repair our ship and recrew, although it is slow going. [Sigh, crappy, crappy low skills...]

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SJA: The Gift

Hang on, I've seen this before. The Claws of Axos... or The Seeds of Death. Or...

The Blathereen are back, and they are the good guys! Hang on, no they aren't, as they haven't been whenever they've previously appeared, including on previous SJA episodes!

And in no way did they act suspiciously, saying that if SJA and co were going to scan the plant to do so immediately, and that it would turn Earth into a rich and fertile land... for them!

It's just... so obvious. Is this a first time script from Rupert Laight? Has he never seen a previous SJA episode? Has he never seen any Doctor Who episodes? It's just... so unimaginative!

Even the cast isn't bringing anything new to the table. And, to be honest, the Slitheen outfits are so overexposed, they really do not work. Them moving about is bad enough, but now eating too...

Then, we finally get to the ending, and... Elizabeth? Why did you agree to that? Seriously, you are above that...

The series enders have previously aspired to something better. There is no hint of aspiration to anything here.


Next time: Nope, no more SJA this year. Now we have to wait a whole month until the next DW! (Not counting Dreamland...)

[END]

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Pick your montage!

I found three!



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TW: Risk Assessment

James Goss returns to writing Torchwood with a book by the name of Risk Assessment. He obviously liked the story far more than I did.

We are introduced to a new member of Torchwood, that of Miss Agnes Havershim, an assessor who is awakened when Torchwood faces an epic crisis to assess how well it is operating. Mention is made of the end of Torchwood One, but the arrival of Abaddon was nothing...

Which is one big problem that this book has. James clearly has this big idea about Agnes playing an important role, and there are many flashbacks trying to establish her character, but if she was really that important, she would have been around before, instead of this shoe-horned continuity. And it doesn't help that her character isn't likable. She's always smirking or smiling at odd times, a rather inappropriate reaction to the situations they face, which just make her stand out as an authorial creation that is forced to work.

And the situations are odd too. We start with something small, and the Vam crops up and looks to be the important menace of the book. Except that at the 70% mark, the story changes. Given that we aren't invested in this new character, and it revolves around her, it undercuts any sense that the character was credible as there is an attempt at a character as well as story shift. Neither works well. Then the resolution is just silly.

But then we get to the ending... the hell is up with that? It would make sense if the book is being continued, but it's not. At least, not as far as I am aware. Pretty conclusive ending, actually, in all regards, so I have no idea what either James or the book series editors were thinking letting it go through. Hopefully there is some explanation in The Undertaker's Gift, but I'm not expecting it.

Not a book I would readily recommend.

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Paranormia Activity

American horror movies come in two variates. One is "really bad". The other is "good because it is ultimately a remark of a foreign film". Thus, you can colour me surprised when I found a film that fits into a third category: "good and actually American!"

Although it has been released into mainstream cinemas, Paranormal Activity was originally screened at a 2007 film festival. With a different ending. I don't want to give away the ending, and I haven't seen the retake, but I did like the original ending. It was very dark.

In fact, I liked the entire movie. It is, in a word, creepy. This movie is INCREDIBLY effective at building atmosphere. It is a very slow build, but it is very well done. And, note, it doesn't use background music. I know that can help, but I have an admiration for a story that can work without it (which is one reason I like The Krotons).

The plot is that there is a couple, and strange activities are going on in the house. Turns out that she's been experiencing them off and on over the years, and there is a certain feeling to the story that makes this read as a redo of The Exorcist, but it is distinct enough. We're not talking huge booms here, the effects are subtle, but very well done.

One word of caution: don't watch this right before going to bed. It's creepy enough in the middle of the day, and unsettling enough when watched then to make you jumpy at night, so as for watching it immediately before... that's a scare tactic, right there.

Definitely see this movie. Not sure how well the new ending plays, but also try to catch the original.

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2,012 Apocalypses

Yes, I finally saw the latest in disaster porn. Although the epic disaster we all wanted to see is interrupted Every Ten Minutes by the need for a Family Moment! Every! Ten!! Minutes!!!

Really, I went along to see things blow up, and smash, and crash and lots of deaths on a planet wide scale... and yet there was continual cutting to various families in order to drive home the humanity of the end of the world. I get that there is the intention to make it a more personal story, but that isn't why we went to the story. And yes, we were bored during the non-icing bits in Day After Tomorrow, and no-one cared about the non-aliens in Independence Day.

Of course, the main conceit of the movie is that the Mayans predicted the end of the world. No they didn't. It ends up with neutrinos mutating (no, they can't) and microwaving the inside of the planet (microwaves don't work like that). Which leads to multiple earthquakes, and rising tides that make one think of a certain Biblical story. Basically, yeah, the story is complete bollocks, and is merely an excuse for the kablooms. Certainly shouldn't be thought about or it will cause pain.

You've seen the trailer, you know what to expect, although you may get bored during the talky scenes...

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