My Blog In 2012

Another year has passed and as many people prepare for a new year I am looking into the past and looking back at my blog highlights of this past year. It has been a big year for my blog this year. I have a new record for most views in a day (201 views), I reached a major milestone as I reached an overall viewing figure of 25,000 views and One of my posts reached a major milestone as it became the first post I have done to reach 1000 views. In terms of my blogs I have also written both my 150th and 200th posts. It has been a Great Blogging Year and I would like to thank everyone who comes here to read my posts and continue to support my blog, Thank You.

Now, just like I did last year I will once again  be showing  you my Top 5 Blog Posts (My Personal Favourites that I have written) from this past year. Also I will be telling you my favourite blogs and blog posts this year from all around the World Wide Web. So firstly here are my Top 5 Personal Favourite Blog Posts from this past year:

5: Virgin vs FirstGroup – I wrote this one back in September during the whole fiasco between Virgin Trains and FirstGroup. I enjoyed writing this one a lot because it is about trains which is something I like and use quite a lot but also because I wanted to point out what the real issue was about this whole issue, The Trains. A train Company is not a train company without trains and so I did some analysis work and suggested some ideas for FirstGroup about what trains they could/should use. I don’t know if anyone at FirstGroup or Virgin read the post but I enjoyed writing it anyway.

4: Space Impression From Space – Don’t be confused by the title, this was a Film review I did for a Godzilla FIlm. This post was for the film Godzilla VS SpaceGodzilla in which Godzilla fights a space mutation of himself. Even though the idea was a bit silly and parts of the film were a bit silly too, it was a very enjoyable film and writing the post was enjoyable too. while this was not the only Godzilla film I reviewed this year, this is the one I enjoyed doing the most.

3: My Top 10 Favourite (NON-GODZILLA) Films – Yes, Because I am a massive Godzilla fan I need to Top 10 lists for films. My Actual Top 10 Favourite Films and My top 10 Favourite Non-Godzilla Films (For everything else). Making this list was a lot of fun as I had a look through all my favourite films to get 10 films (if you want to know where they may appear after my actual top 10 list, add roughly 20-29 to the number they are). While I will recommend films that are not on the list that is because it was quite hard coming up with 10 films overall. So after a lot of hard work I managed it and there are 10 films that are all Fantastic, I Guarantee it.

2: A Nice Film That Will Be Hard To Beat – In March I saw one of the most Amazing films in the history of Cinema. After a stressful couple of months I was able to wind back by watching a film at the cinema that I both had not seen coming or had any idea what it was about, that film was The Hunger Games. After seeing this I went to the University Library and wrote up the review for the film in just over an hour. The following day I posted it online as well as went into town and bought the book (and then the other two 5 days later). Because of both How much I enjoyed the film and writing the review I didn’t want this to be a standard review. So this became the first film to use the current format for film reviews that I do (Paragraphs with pictures and a trailer). I like this new format so much that I actually want to re-review some films I have previously done. This was also the first time that I did my links in Bold Black Italic Writing so it blends more into the text. Both a Fantastic Film and an Enjoyable post to write.

1: Akira Kurosawa’s Masterpiece – The Hunger Games was not the only Fantastic Film tha I saw this year. In May I saw one of the greatest masterpieces in cinema history and as a result of that it introduced me to one of the Greatest Directors in the history of Cinema. The director was Akira Kurosawa and the film was Seven Samurai. Since then I have been buying and watching many more of his great films but to me this is his masterpiece and one of the best films I have seen to date. The post was incredibly enjoyable to write and I both hope that people enjoyed reading it and have since gone on to buy and watch the film. An Incredible, Enjoyable Experience and that is a reason more than any to why this is my Favourite Post this year.

Now that I have said what My personal favourites are here is my Top 5 favourite Blog posts from other people (this will be in a brief format, just so that I won’t spoil the post for you):

5: Pathfinding – For the second year in a row my former tutor is in this list. Here he shows us how to make a little AI piece with pathfinding. It kind of reminds me of something he was going to do in our class where everyone was going to be represented by blobs and then would fight each other (Yes Ant, I have not forgotten).

4: Battle of the Battle-Proof Thingies – An interesting post from Matt while answering a question from Tim. I wonder if he read my last comment?

3: “Godzilla vs. Biollante” Coming December 4 – One of many posts announcing the arrival of Godzilla vs Biollante on Blu-ray. This announcement was massive news.

2: Nagoya Castle To Be Destroyed Again? – A very interesting post talking about the history of one of Japan’s most amazing buildings as well as recent ideas to knock it down and rebuild it as it should be.

1: This Is All Sam’s Fault – Another post from my friend Matt as he shows that on three occasions I have recommended films to him and he has liked all three. So, when I say a film is Good and tell you to buy it, BUY IT AND WATCH IT HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU TO WATCH A FILM BEFORE YOU GO AND WATCH IT. Thank’s Matt (Best Blog Post this year)

So, now we move onto the Best Blog Award (apart from mine obviously). Here are the Top 5 Best Blogs I have read this year (once again in a brief format):

5: Ant’s Blog – Ant’s blog this year has still been very interesting with many little pieces of flash work to try for yourself, unfortunately I do not have flash so I cannot participate.

4: Tim’s Blog – A blog from a friend of my friend Matt. I first found out about this blog as part of the FIrst 12 of 2012 challenge (Where I came second). Some very interesting posts all year round. Thanks Tim.

3: The Jimquisition – More like a video series on the Escapist. I discovered this a few months ago and have enjoyed it quite a lot. I sometimes look it up just listen to the Fantastic Opening Theme.

2: Matt’s Blog – Matt has produced more and more fantastic Posts this year with subjects including his new Animation series Papercuts as well as points of general Interest. Keep up the Excellent work Matt (We need to do another blogging challenge soon) – Second Place two years in a row.

1: Godzilla 2012 – Once again this blog takes the top spot. An interesting blog and my usual first source on Godzilla news. Congratulations (Best Blog Overall this year).

Well that was my blogging year for 2012. I hope you have all enjoyed visiting, viewing, watching and reading my blog as much as I have enjoyed writing, producing and publishing it. I hope you all have a had a Great Year and have a Fantastic New Year and I hope that you will come back soon for more High quality blog posts. Thankyou.

GENEPOOL (This is the end of Postaweek2012. Let Postaweek2013 Begin)

Big Film News – Catching Fire, X-Men First Class Sequel, Elysium And The Host 2

My more regular readers may have noticed that I have not put up a film review this month. There is a very good reason for this and it is because I have been so busy that I have been unable to do one. However on a lighter note I am hoping to watch Ran within the next few days and so I will try to do a review of that for January.It has been a long time since I have done a piece of film news and so here is some Very Big News for you. The next couple of years are going to be a massive 2 years for films. I will not say too much about 2013 as I  am planning to do another Top 10 Most Exciting Films thing but here is a brief summary.

Catching Fire (Sequel to The Hunger Games) is currently filming with all the major cast from the first (FANTASTIC) Film returning. There is a new director this time though as Gary Ross has dropped out due to schedule problems. Francis Lawrence will be directing Catching Fire as well as both Mockingjay films. Catching fire is expected to be released November 2013.

Once production on Catching Fire is completed, Main star Jennifer Lawrence (Katniss Everdeen) will be heading from Lionsgate to 20th Century Fox to film the sequel to X-Men First Class which has been named Days Of Future Past. All the other main cast members will be returning for that. Hugh Jackman will reprise his role as Wolverine. There is also the possibilities that Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen may return to reprise their roles as Charles Xavier and Magneto. That is expected to be released July 2014.

2013 will also see the long-awaited return of film director Neill Blomkamp. The man behind District 9 will be releasing his new film Elysium. The film will star Matt Damon, Jodie Foster and Sharlto Copley. According to Wikipedia:

“In the year 2159, two classes of people exist. The first are the very wealthy who live on Elysium, a pristine man-made space station similar in appearance to a Stanford torus built by the Armadyne Corporation. The rest live on an overpopulated, ruined Earth. Secretary Rhodes (Jodie Foster), a hard-nosed government official, will stop at nothing to enforce anti-immigration laws and preserve the luxurious lifestyle of the citizens of Elysium. That does not stop the people of Earth from trying to get in, by any means they can. When unlucky ex-con Max (Matt Damon) is backed into a corner, he agrees to take on a daunting mission that if successful will not only save his life, but could bring equality to these polarized worlds”.

All this coming from the Master Mind behind District 9, should be Fantastic. Elysium is expected to be release August 2013.

Finally, we turn our gaze to South Korea as there has finally been news on the sequel to The Host. The Host being the South Korean Monster Movie (not to be confused with the upcoming film of the same name), one of the Best Monster Movies in Cinema History. Well it has been reported for years that there was going to be a sequel but to date there has been no sign. that is until this past week when I found a clip on YouTube from the upcoming film. This is major news and could be one of the years biggest film releases. No idea on a release date I am afraid but hopefully it should be sometime in 2013.

GENEPOOL (Check back soon as I go through my blogging moments of the year)

MCA – Monster Combat Alliance – Apocalypse

The time has finally arrived, over the last few months monsters have competed for this, to have a shot at and become the first MCA World Champion. Well, now it is time for them to work even harder against other well fought monsters to become the champion. Let’s remind ourselves who is fighting tonight and how they got here

• Kiryu (Defeated Mothra)
• Rodan (First KOTM Champion)
• Desghidorah (Impressive Debut defeating Rodan)
• Megaguirus (Defeated Zudomon in Debut match)
• Titanosaurus (Defeated Buraki)
• Godzilla (Defeated Battra)
• Anguiras (Defeated Rhedosaurus in a Best of 3 Series)
• The DeathSaurer (Won the first Hostile Takeover Match)

So we have the competitors, now we need the matches. This is how it will be done. Using a D8 the monsters will be paired up, they will then fight it out in a series of 5 fight matches, whoever wins will proceed onto the next round. So, let’s see who is fighting who:

Titanosaurus vs Rodan

Desghidorah vs The DeathSaurer

Megaguirus vs Kiryu

Godzilla vs Anguiras

We have the monsters, we have the matches, we have the battleground, enough talk let Chaos Begin.

Our first match is Titanosaurus vs Rodan – Rodan goes first.

Rodan	Titanosaurus
6	13
15	3
5	2
11	4
14	9

Rodan Wins. Bit of a shaky start but Rodan drives home the win and goes through to the next round.

Next match of the evening is between Desghidorah and The DeathSaurer – Desghidorah goes first.

Desghidorah	DeathSaurer
20	9
8	12
9	16
16	11
11	12

DeathSaurer Wins. A pretty even fight throughout but The DeathSaurer delivers the final satisfying blow to win the round.

Our next match will be Megaguirus vs Kiryu – Kiryu goes first.

Kiryu	Megaguirus
13	15
10	3
5	13
17	13
8	13

Megaguirus Wins. Another even fight but Megaguirus fights on to win the match.

The final match of round 1 will be Godzilla vs Anguiras. This is almost like a rematch of their fight in 1955, back then Godzilla won, question is who will win 57 years later  – Godzilla goes first.

Godzilla	Anguiras
10	13
6	1
19	1
16	15
12	3

Godzilla Wins. Godzilla reigns triumphant again, it has been 57 years since their titanic battle and the result stays the same.

So we started with 8 and we are already down to 4:

• Rodan 2
• The DeathSaurer 19
• Megaguiras 15
• Godzilla 18

Now we need to pair these monsters together again and then make them fight all over again. This time however the matches will be 7 fights not 5 fights. To see who will be facing who it will be decided by a D20. The 2 monsters with the highest values will face each other and the 2 monster with the lowest values will face each other. After this round of fighting we will be 1 match away from crowning the first MCA World Champion. The second matches will be:

The DeathSaurer vs Godzilla

Megaguiras vs Rodan

So, let the next round of Chaos begin.

The first round will be between The DeathSaurer vs Godzilla – The DeathSaurer goes first.

DeathSaurer	Godzilla
9	17
5	15
11	3
19	15
9	5
2	7
3	15

Godzilla Wins. It was a truly climactic battle, Godzilla gets a great start but then The DeathSaurer comes back in only to be ripped up by Godzilla at the end. Godzilla goes through to the World Title Match.

The next round will be Megaguiras vs Rodan – Rodan goes first.

Rodan	Megaguiras
4	9
20	8
18	5
13	3
3	2
7	9
1	2

Rodan Wins. In another climactic battle, Megaguiras gets a great start but is then beaten to a pulp by the KOTM Champion and just manages to get some shots in at the end, but it was too little too late. Rodan goes through to the World Title Match.

Coming up next is the big one, the World Title Match, whoever wins this will become the first MCA World Champion. But first lets remind ourselves how the 2 monsters came to this point. Rodan earned his spot thanks to his King of the Monsters victory in July. In the first round he defeated Titanosaurus and then went on to give Megaguiras their first defeat to reach this match. Godzilla defeated Battra (the current number 1 contender) in October. He then went on to defeat Anguiras before defeating The DeathSaurer to reach this point. This final match will be a 9 fight match. Whoever wins this will become the MCA World Champion. Let Chaos Commence. In the black corner, with a 4 Wins and 1 Loss – The King Of The Monsters, GODZILLA. And in the white corner with 7 Wins and 1 Loss, The Fire Pterodactyl, The KOTM Champion, RODAN.

Rodan Goes First.

Rodan	Godzilla
2	15
13	12
13	14
7	13
3	6
3	18
3	15
13	7
5	14

The Winner and the First MCA World Champion is – GODZILLA.

Godzilla must really want revenge on Rodan for being the KOTM Champion. However Rodan did not have the strength this time to defeat Godzilla who is now the MCA Champion. Congratulations Godzilla.

So, it is finally happened, within a year we have crowned our first World Champion. Now it is up to Godzilla to hold onto that title for as long as possible. And it may not be that long as next month he takes on the current Number 1 Contender Battra. Join us next month for many more Fantastic Monster Battles. Take Care and Watch Out.

GENEPOOL (MCA Founder and Chairman)

Top 5 Joke End Of The World Scenarios

It is more than likely that you know that the 21st December 2012 is supposed to be the end of the world, well, that’s according to people who think that. Well, it is more than likely that it won’t happen and a lot of people will be upset (especially the ones who have not bought Christmas Presents yet, have spent a lot of money preparing for the date and those who have given up their jobs). but on the plus side there will be some growth on the employment side thanks to those people who left their jobs, a lot of vacancies will be filled up on the 22nd of December.

There are several reasons why the world probably won’t end, one of these is the fact that no-one has any ideas how it will. Usually when it comes to one of these things there is at least a popular idea but this time there are several ideas which makes the whole idea even more un-likely. The second reason is that this is not the first time the world is supposed to end. Apparently this one was originally supposed to happen in 1998 or something and was postponed, who remembers The Millenium? The Millenium Bug? The Black Hole machine in Switzerland? Put your mind at ease because every time someone has predicted what day the world will end, they were wrong.

So I think we can have some fun with this whole thing. So here is some joke ideas I have come up with. So here is my Top 5 Joke End Of The World Scenarios:

5: Justin Bieber releases a Christmas Song – Alright this…………………….person has released a Christmas Song before. What I am talking about is if he releases a song that gets more views overnight than Gangnam Style has done over its entire YouTube lifetime. This would not necessarily end the entire world, but it would destroy the entire world of Music and the Music Industry.

4: Alien Salesmen – Alien Salesman from another world (obviously) come to our planet and don’t stop putting magazines that we have no interest in and knocking on our doors asking if they can have their magazines back even though we have obviously lost them (hang on a minute). They will also not stop calling us and asking if we would like PPI (hang on a minute) and ask us if we would be alright to participate in a questionnaire (hang on a minute). They will also not stop calling us and telling us that there maybe a problem with the computer and try to take some of our money (hang on a minute). This may have already started. Well, if any of this increases in activity we know that the Alien Salesmen have landed.

3: Attack of the Giant T-Shirts – The world is attacked by an army of Giant T-Shirts, it’s that simple, people may be able to fight back but unless people could find the source of the T-Shirts are stopped it could be the End of the World. The Giant T-Shirts must be stopped.

2: The Recession and Credit Crunch is solved overnight – Yes, all of the worlds money problems are solved and Employment is back on a positive up (constantly) and the world is back to how it was back in 2007 (What a Fantastic Year). While this will obviously be a Fantastic Thing the sheer amazement and positive attitudes of everyone will cause their heads to explode. The financial situation will need to be fixed sooner or later but not literally overnight (I don’t think the world can handle it, if it happened over the course of 7 days the human mind should be able to cope).

1: All Reality TV Shows are Cancelled – While this may not sound so bad, it is the plot of A story I plan to write. Think Day of the Triffids but worse and not the walking dead but the walking Chav. Basically, without Big Brother or Towie (stupid name) or I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here and Made in Chelsea, all the Chavs have nothing to talk about and go through a process where they become mindless Zombies (or the Walking Chav as previously mentioned). If this were to become reality it would be terrifying. So let us be thankful that TV Shows like the ones previously mentioned (I don’t watch them because they are all RUBBISH, I do watch The Apprentice though) are around to prevent this End of the World Scenario.

So with the 21st of December just a few hours away let us remember that it is more than likely that the World is not going to end on the 21st. So let us put our minds at ease and remember that none of the things previously stated have happened, Yet (Mysterious end hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha). Now let’s think about something more positive and completely off topic.

Seven Samurai.

 

The Best Film I have seen this Year

(Film that I have not seen before that is)

If you have not watched it yet, WHY NOT?

GENEPOOL (One further note, I do not listen to the Music of Justin Bieber either, wait until he is 25 and then he probably won’t be as popular)

Christmas Present Ideas – 5 Board Games

If you read last weeks post you may have seen that I decided to give you some Christmas Present Ideas. Last week I did 10 films that I suggest you buy. This week I am going to recommend 5 Board Games that you should get. Once again I am not putting them in any particular order. I will not give too much detail as I don’t want to confuse you or take away some of the fun.  so, onto the Board Games.

Lords of Waterdeep – My second favourite Board Game (after Monopoly) and the Best Board Game I have played this year. Up to 5 players can enjoy this one. Basically you are one of nine Lords of Waterdeep and during your turn you need to put men out on the board to collect resources to complete quests and gain the most points to win. How you win is determined by what quests you complete as well as bonuses at the end of the game depending on which character you are. Each round you take it in turns to put pieces out and there are all sorts of things you can accomplish including:

• Building buildings
• Hiring Adventurers
• Collecting Gold
• Choosing Quests
• Playing Intrigue Cards

The Game is a lot of fun and well worth buying, so BUY IT, BUY IT NOW, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR.

Ticket To Ride – Ticket to Ride is one of the simplest games on the planet. Maybe that’s why it won a Game of the Year Award. In Ticket to Ride up to 5 players can join in the fun as you take it in turns to either pick up train cards, lay routes that match the quantity and colour of the cards you have and also buy ticket cards which if you complete will give you more points. You can only do one action per turn and to complete a route to get basic points you need cards to match a route. so a route that has 5 blue rectangles on it means that you need 5 blue cards to do it. The game is so basic all I really have to say is GO AND BUY IT, IT WON A GAME OF THE YEAR AWARD FOR CRYING OUT LOUD, GET YOUR WALLET OUT, GO DOWN TO THE SHOPS OR ONLINE AND BUY IT, BUY IT, BUY IT.

Quarriors – Not all addictions are bad, surely Board Game Addiction is Good under the basis that it is Fun. Well I am addicted to Quarriors, A dice game consisting of 130 Dice (in the normal game) for 4 players to enjoy. If you have played Dominion you will probably get the hang of this quite quickly. You take it in turns to draw 6 dice from your bag and roll them. Whatever you roll is what you get which also depends on the dice. You can then spend Money or Quiddity to buy more dice (one per turn). The dice are lined up next to the card they represent and it is from these cards that helps you to choose what dice you want as well as details about the dice. Some dice are monsters while others are spells. You win the game by gaining glory from monsters you put out. If they survive you get the glory it says on the Card. Another Fantastic Game which you should go out and BUY, WHY ARE YOU DELAYING, GO AND BUY IT (even though it is kind of ironic that I am recommending a game that is not available on Amazon, sort of).

King of Tokyo – King of Tokyo is a game where up to 6 people play as Movie Monsters (that look like but are not actually those monsters) and have to fight it out to the death to become King of Tokyo. The game is very basic but can become very strategic and tactical. Whoever is the first monster to get 20 points (or is the last monster standing) wins the game, anyone whose life reaches zero is dead. During your turn you roll 6 dice and whatever you get on the dice shows what you do:

• If you roll 3 matching numbers you get that many points.
• If you roll Claws you attack
• If you roll Hearts you heal (but only if you are not in Tokyo)
• If you roll a lightning bolt you gain energy (which buys power cards)

Whoever is the first to roll a claws dice (and keeps) becomes King of Tokyo. For every turn he remains King of Tokyo he gains an additional 2 points. If someone attacks him and he is losing health he can retreat but he loses the title of King of Tokyo and the new monster becomes King of Tokyo. The monsters outside Tokyo only attack and wound the current King of Tokyo while the current King of Tokyo attacks and wounds all monsters outside Tokyo, Simple really. A fun game that the whole family can enjoy and a perfect gift for christmas, SO WHY HAVE YOU NOT BOUGHT IT YET, GO AND BUY IT.

Bohnanza – There are many board games that involve buying and trading, but as far as I know there is only one game that involves the buying and trading of beans. In Bohnanza up to seven players take it in turns to plant, trade, plant more and harvest beans. When you are given your cards at the beginning of the game you can look at them (Obviously) but you can’t shuffle them around, you have to keep them in that order and plant them in that order (face up top card is first). Anymore that you pickup at the end of you turn have to be placed at the back of your hand. You also only start off with 2 bean fields and you have to plant your top card at the beginning of your turn so you may be forced to get rid of a whole crop to plant the new one (you can though buy a new field when you have enough cash). You get money through harvesting fields with enough plants in them to gain the right amount of coins. So if you have 4 Coffee beans you can harvest them for 1 coin, you do that by turning one card over (which becomes your coin) and then discarding all the others. You trade during your turn with the other players by trading two cards off the top of the deck as well as any cards you have in your hand that you don’t want, that they might want. Whatever card gets traded has to be planted though and cannot be traded even further. Some beans are rarer than others and as a result are worth more. whoever has the most money at the end of the game wins. While the game may look daunting from all that text it is a really fun game and one I would seriously recommend you get, SO BUY IT, BUY IT NOW, BUY IT NOW.

So, there you have some more fun christmas present ideas, come back next week for more, until then go and BUY THEM,WHY ARE YOU STILL READING THIS, YOU COULD HAVE ORDERED IT ALL THESE GAMES FROM AMAZON BY NOW, BUY THEM, BUY THEM, BUY THEM NOW.

GENEPOOL