Friday 24 December 2010

Films 2010

Lastly some films. Probably the hardest to put together as well.

1) The Social Network
2) Inception
3) Toy Story 3
4) Monsters
5) Scott Pilgrim Vs The World
6) Kick-Ass
7) Four Lions
8) How To Train Your Dragon
9) The Illusionist
10) Shutter Island

Tuesday 21 December 2010

Music 2010

As ever I started the year trying to listen to as many albums as possible and ended it with 100's of plays of the same ones. Number one was hands down this year though and I won't hear anything else otherwise.

Top 10 Albums

1) Flying Lotus - Cosmogramma
2) The National - High Violet
3) Frightened Rabbit - The Winter Of Mixed Drinks
4) Four Tet - There Is Love In You
5) Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
6) LCD Soundsystem - This Is Happening
7) Gold Panda - Lucky Shiner
8) Caribou - Swim
9) Foals - Total Life Forever
10) Warpaint - The Fool

Honourable Mentions

Laura Marling - I Speak Because I Can
Broken Social Scene - Forgiveness Rock Record
Arcade Fire - The Suburbs
Hot Chip - One Life Stand
Gorillaz - Plastic Beach

A Few Disappointments

M.I.A - MAYA
Klaxons - Surfing The Void
Kate Nash - My Best Friend Is You
Vampire Weekend - Contra
Zola Jesus - Stridulum II

Top 10 Tracks

1) Flying Lotus - Do The Astral Plane
2) Frightened Rabbit - The Loneliness And The Scream
3) The National - Terrible Love
4) Gold Panda - You (Album Closer)
5) Flying Lotus - Kill Your Co-Workers
6) Hans Zimmer - Dream Is Collapsing
7) M.I.A - Born Free
8) Daft Punk - Derezzed
9) The Gaslamp Killer - Carpool Dummy
10) Foals - This Orient

Games 2010

2010 has been a pretty strong year for the industry as a whole. Black Ops has made over £1 billion, Microsoft and Sony have made us the controller and Blizzard only went and released Starcraft 2 and a WoW expansion in the same year. Still got a few games to get through (AC:Brotherhood, Singularity, Rock Band 3, Need For Speed, Vanquish, Fable 3 and New Vegas a few who have slipped through the net thus far) but, hey, I'm not made of money. So here's a few top fives.

Top 5 360

1) Red Dead Redemption
2) Alan Wake
3) Just Cause 2
4) Mass Effect 2
5) Fifa 11

Top 5 XBLA

1) Limbo
2) Super Meat Boy
3) Worms 2
4) Sonic 4 Episode 1
5) Lara Croft: GOL

A Few Disappointments

Black Ops
Alien Vs Predator
Halo Reach
Splinter Cell: Conviction
Scott Pilgrim: The Game

Honourable Mentions

Pokemon HeartGold/SoulSilver
Football Manager 2011
Flight Control HD

Split/Second
Bioshock 2
Dead Rising 2

Now I've got a current gen PC, I might be able to expand my horizons in 2011. Still no PS3 or Wii though.

Friday 10 December 2010

Quick Rant

Quick rant. The dust is starting to settle on the recent events up in Tyneside and yet it still makes little to no sense. Chris Hughton gets sacked after a run of 5 games without a win. On paper it seems logical. Given it's Newcastle as well it seems very logical, well for them. But yet this is the first sacking at the club for a long time that has left me bemused, upset and downright angry with the the blatant short-sightedness of the club and it's owner.

This time two years ago Newcastle were an absolute state. In fact this time 18 months ago we were a complete mess. To take us from the relegation joke team to being back in the Premiership and shipping 5 one week and scoring 5 the next is an achievement. We're not the Newcastle of yesteryear, but we're certainly playing with the same excitement and inconsistency of it. This is the reason you love the team as a fan. Seeing us get hammered by West Brom is depressing and as upsetting as it gets, but not two months ago we smashes Sunderland so hard I almost got in a fight watching it for just wearing a Newcastle shirt. As a fan, this year has been brilliant, I couldn't have asked for more.

But yet no we're faced with Pardew, a man so bland you forget his face every moment you're not looking at it. He's also signed a 5 and a half year deal which really shows how much of a joke this whole situation is. I will be amazed if he makes it to the end of the season. Which is what brings me to the overall focus of my ire. Ashley has managed this club worse than the Americans do their secrets. Just one mess after another. Like an elderly dog with the shits we continually stumble through the footballing calender emptying our bowels in a fit of embarrassment at the slightest opportunity. There is literally no logic behind this move given he's trying to sell the club. Not even the most naive of Saudi business men would purchase a club with that dead weight strapped to the front for 5 and a half years.

We'll see how we do on Saturday against the previous "biggest joke in the Premiership team" Liverpool. He'll need a lot more than a result there to prove his worth though.