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Monday, April 25, 2011

An Alien, A Dragon and a Wasted Light

Well I thought I would do something I haven't done for a while and write an update on things I have seen lately that deserve some extra attention.

Paul, the latest movie from Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz duo Simon Pegg and Nick Frost has finally reached Australian cinemas. The wait was worth it. The pair have hit another home run with this charming road trip comedy. The story for those that don't know is about two british lads who, while on a tour of the USA's most famous UFO hotspots, run into an actual Alien (Paul) who is running from captivity. Paul is voiced by Seth Rogan and it seems alot of his personality has seeped through into the CG creation. As you can imagine comedy hijinks ensue but they never get predictable. The supporting cast is all top notch (Jason Bateman and Sigourney Weaver both turn in stellar performances) and the SCI-FI references all come thick and fast (including the film's climax at one of the most famous locations in SCI-FI film history) leaving you laughing out loud. The film is more accessable than the duo's previous efforts so if you are put off by the excessive "britishness" in Shaun and Fuzz you should be fine here. All in all a great movie with plenty of laughs to be had.

Dragon Age 2 is the newest epic roleplaying game from RPG masters Bioware. Once again the player is thrust into the world of Dragon Age however things have changed this time around. The original game was a return to the old-school sensabilities of classic RPG's like Baulders Gate and Icewind Dale. It was lauded by many for this return to crushing difficulty, pause and order combat and massive game length. However many were put off by the game for these very reasons. DA:2 is a much more modern style of RPG and it seems to have more in common with Biowares other key series, Mass Effect, than it does with the original.

DA 2's main character is voiced this time around, creating a sense of involvement that the original lacked. The combat can now be played in real time (the option of pause and order is still there however) and the dialog system has been lifted directly from Mass Effect. In all the game experence has been streamlined nicely and for those that were daunted by the original, this is going to be a much more inviting game. The game has it's problems however. The whole game (all 25-30 hours) are set in one town. This of course becomes more than a little repetative. The other major issue I have with the game is the story. Story is usually one of Bioware's strong points but here it seems little more than a reason to connect quests together. The ending is also increadibly unsatisfying leaving the game open for what is obviously going to be the final part of the triology. Don't let these things deter you too much though as there is a lot of fun still to be had with DA2 and unless you are a die hard DA:O fan you should find something to love.


Wasting Light, the newest effort from alternate rock gods The Foo Fighters has hit the shelves. Labeled as a return to the bands earlier style the album contains 11 short but rocking anthems that should keep any fan more than happy. "Bridges Burning" and "White Limo" are some of the heaviest tracks that the band has released in years and something that fans have been clamouring for. Their pop sensibilites haven't left them though with radio friendly tracks such as "Rope" still getting love from Dave and the band. All in all a very solid effort with the only downside a very short running time. A couple of extra songs would have been nice but what is here is about as good as the Foo's have ever been.

Well thats it for me. Just a reminder I am also writing game reviews for www.blackpanel.com.au. My latest is on Need for Speed Shift 2 - Unleashed. Please head over (http://blackpanel.com.au/2011/04/21/shift-2-unleashed-review/) and check it out. While you are there support the site by subscribing to the podcast and the facebook group. I will love you for it.

Monday, April 18, 2011

A Quick Favor.

Hey Folks just a quick message to ask a favor of you.

My Wife and Mother In-Law's business has entered a competition and they need your help. If you could all head to http://www.milliondollarmemo.com/en/entries/mitchell-personnel-solutions-australia-218?cmpid=36#. Watch the video and vote if you like it, it would be great. It is a great promo for their company and give them a chance to win a great holiday for the staff.

In case you are wondering the Mango is my Wife and Mini-Mango is my youngest.

Oh and if you feel like you want a chance to win some cool techie stuff and you live in Australia, you should click on this link.  http://c.kogan.com.au/c/mega5/4POlngKE/ and you could pick up $5k worth of goodies.

Thanks for the help.

Hewso

Friday, April 8, 2011

Hewso's Blog - Post EA Sports Active

This is just a quick entry to once again say thanks to everyone who supported me over the 9 Week EA sports active program and barring any mishaps (my Asthma is playing silly buggers at the moment) I will be starting the 9 week challenge again on Monday at the high intensity.


I just thought I would let you all know that I will continue to write here about things that catch my eye. There is no set topic just something that catches my fancy. If you have any ideas or suggestions please feel free to leave me a comment and I will do my best. Now I probably wont be writing weekly anymore as I will be writing games reviews for another site and my time is starting to get restricted.



Yup thats right I got a pretty cool gig writing video games reviews for a great little video game site called The Black Panel. You can check them out at http://blackpanel.com.au/ or at http://www.facebook.com/#!/group.php?gid=113907277625 on facebook. My first review should be up tonight or on Monday and it is of a little downloadable title called Swarm. Please support the site that supports me by hitting "like" on Facebook or by visiting their site. The more visitors they get the more chance I will get to write for them.

Check them out. I will love ya for it!

So thank you again and please keep reading and adding suggestions. I loved everyone's comments and they got me through some tough times during the program.

Cheers

Hewso

These are Swarmites. Read about them in my review on the Blackpanel.com.au

Sunday, April 3, 2011

Nine Weeks Down, Many Many more to come.

Well it’s over. The Nine week EA sports challenge is done and my results are in. My original goal, to see if video games could help you lose weight, has been completed and I feel I have proven without a doubt that if you can improve your health and lose weight by sticking to a workout regime set by a Video game. After completing the challenge I feel I need to clarify something. This is not actually a game. My initial impressions were correct; this is a serious fitness product that you just happen to use on a video game system. It would be a disservice to call this product a game as the reality is that this is one of the best home fitness products I have seen and while it will never be the equal to a personal trainer or a commitment to an expensive gym membership it is a great substitute for those who wish to simply get fit at home.
Worth the $$$ and the time I put into it.

When I last wrote I was on my way to Fiji and was worried about what it would do to my workout schedule. Well my worries were realised when, after I went to the trouble of packing my playstation and securing it for transport, the TV in my hotel room was broken. This fact was compounded by the reality of what locals call “Fiji time” or in other words “why do something today when it could be reasonably put off till tomorrow”.  This is a condition that pervades throughout the Fijian Islands (and the whole pacific island region from what I have heard) and it led to a 6 day wait for the TV to get fixed, putting my plans of working out in Fiji to a permanent rest.

Not one to let something like this get me down I continued to think of my health, even if it was just a little bit. Eating healthy was difficult due to the rich nature of the resort food; however I lived this week by the “lesser of two evils” philosophy and went for the foods I felt were better for me. I also walked when I could and did plenty of swimming. This attitude led to me only gaining 1.2kg over my trip and after the large serve of Lobster Mornay and significant amount of cocktails I consumed over the 8 night period I am pretty happy with that result. I have since lost 1kg of that weight on my return just by going back to a healthy diet so things are still looking good.
Yup, this is me busting my diet wide open. Enjoying it too!

Now that my 9 weeks are over I would just like to point out a few things that have happened to me in this time.

-          My fitness has noticeably improved

-          I have lost 2 shirt sizes

-          My jeans are noticeably too big

-          I have dropped three belt notches

These are just some of the additional benefits I have gained through the use of EA sports active 2. Along with my significant amount of weight loss all of the above results make me very glad that I took the step (and the $120) and participated in the challenge. In fact I am so happy I am planning on starting the 9 week program once again after another week off (the diet is not off, nor is the walking. Just the program.) This time I plan to do it on the high intensity and make it through without missing a workout. With this plan I hope to get to 120kgs in time for my 30th birthday in August.

Well that’s it for this part of my blog. I just want to say a quick thank you to all of you out there that have read, offered support, given advice and basically just helped me on my way. It made the hard weeks easier knowing that I had many readers out there keen to see me finish this challenge and improve my health. Special thanks have to go to my Wife and kids, who supported me throughout the whole challenge. Without their help it simply wouldn’t have been possible to complete.  Finally I would like to say that I will be going back to my old style of blog and basically writing about what I feel like. If you like what I have written so far please feel free to hang around and read my future entries. I will also provide the occasional update on the weight loss if you are all interested.

So once again thanks for the support and here is what you have all been waiting for. The final ever “Hewso’s Stat Tracker”.

Workouts completed                      - 33

Hours of Exercise                             - 18 hours 33 minutes

Calories Burned                                - 11 078

Distance Ran                                     - 40.76km

Average Heart Rate                        -126bpm

Max Heart Rate                                -195bpm

Total Weight Loss                             - 12.6 kg

Total Measurement loss                   - 17cm