Pokémon

Pokémon will always hold a place in my affections. It was my first love really, before women, alcohol and other more alluring prospects came about. I'm ashamed to say I've owned pretty much every Gameboy iteration of Pokémon at some point. Including Pinball and the Trading Card Game one. So, under the guise of peer of pressure from a friend, I've bought the new one. Soul Silver to be exact. Not quite sure why they've been named Soul Silver and Heart Gold. Just sounds a bit shit really. But then again this from the company that named their world conquering console the "Wii" so titling their products obviously isn't the highest thing on the agenda. Anyway, the games are a re-skin of fan favourites Gold and Silver with a few bells and whistles. The shiniest of these is a Pokéwalker which lets you wander round with your favourite little beast while catching Pokémon and getting items. However I found that I could never find an item in the mini game and Pidgeys would be all I could find Pokémon wise. So, pointless then I guess. The game itself though is still as glorious as ever. I've just got to the third Gym city (Goldenrod) so plenty left to do for me. Puzzles have been rejigged and few other things tweaked from what I remember but nothing that's mind-blowing as yet. The highlight is still probably giving your little beasts "hilarious" names. Was worth digging my DS out for the first time in a year anyway. Although if I could find that copy of Zoo Keeper I'd use it a whole lot more.

Also got my copy of Cosmogramma delivered a few days early, which was nice. Pretty much the same as the leak but without the hassle of the tracks being out of order and labeled incorrectly. It's certainly growing on me a lot more now than when I first got it. Not as much as High Violet by The National is though. I can't seem to stop listening to it. Also got Jason and The Argonauts and the original Clash Of The Titans delivered as well. Can't beat a bit of Harryhausen.

Leak Madness & A Bit Of Gaming Stuff

I decided to wean myself off leaks and illegal downloads in general this year after Mandelson decided to go all 1984 on us with the Digital Piracy Bill or whatever it was called. However, certain temptations can crumble even the strongest of men. The National's newie was the first that got me yesterday and it's an absolute blinder. Apart from opener Terrible Love which after getting extremely excited about that version I was left somewhat underwhelmed by a more stripped back studio version. I should have learnt after falling in love with this early live version of Radiohead's Videotape only to be left with a subtle almost acoustic studio version. Still think if both went big it would have been better. Size matters as they say. Anyway, the rest of the album is beyond brilliant. By far the best thing I've heard this year and that includes the LCD, Flylo and Foals (who also got me yesterday!) leaks. Already forked out for a Flylo pre-order and will probably do the same for the others on promise of a decent pre-order package mind.

Neglected to mention Just Cause 2 yesterday which I've pilfered off my brother while he's away and have been well and truely sucked in. There's plenty of flaws to it, but it's so much fun you forgive them very quickly. It almost begs the question why isn't there a grappling hook in every game? Not those crummy Zelda ones though. I might have to go out and buy it at this rate. Up there with Bioshock 2 as the best thing all year. Also played AvP. Not so great. That's all I have to say on that matter.

Football & Musical Titbits

It's getting to that time in the season that's so appropriately known as "squeaky bum time" and of course this season it's more widespread than ever. Unless you live on the south coast. After getting their nine point deduction finalised I imagine Portsmouth's bums are done squeaking and now just weeping pooey tears of relegation. Lovely. It looks like the title is going down to the wire this year anyway, although there's still a 66% chance that the FA can reuse the ribbons from the photo as Arsenal and Man Utd are both in the running with Chelsea now. During a moment of educational procrastination I deduced that by my predictions Arsenal would sneak the title by a point from Man Utd and Chelsea would be consoled a further point behind in third. But this is coming from the man who has been baffled by the 24 hour system on his alarm clock more than once in the last month. So pinch of salt and that. Also getting closer to those Champions League quarters which I am thoroughly excited about. Not excited enough to remember if it's next week or the week after but still very excited. Messi is going to (unfortunately) destroy Arsenal and whichever poor soul gets stuck at right back defending against Robben for Man Utd will be more embarrassed than I was when I accidentally did a fart when waiting for a train a couple of weeks ago. I was pretty damn shamed by that as well. Still exciting times. Even Newcastle are a little on edge these days, although 5 points clear at the top it's ours to throw away. Or punch into our team mate's face. Whichever is more self-destructive for us really.

Got caught up in leak madness today. Not the frankly disturbing video but that of Flying Lotus and his new album. Luckily I was too caught up in the moral quagmire of whether to do it or not to realise that it was in fact not the actual record but a fake or apparently something miss tagged and generally mixed up. Better off waiting then. To fill in the gap though another song by The National has arisen, this one a studio version from the new album. It's up on the official site. It's good, not quite got the same instant impact of Terrible Love though. Also got the new album by Dan Le Sac Vs Scroobius Pip. They seem to have given up on the Radiohead samples and (in places) got into drum and bass. Which I don't mind. Lyrically it can be quite preachy at times but songs like Snob have that much more relatable subject matter of musical snobs. Kicker of a beat too. Also played on Microsoft's Game Room. I say played; loaded it up, decorated my "room", looked at the games on offer, decided it was shit and turned off the 360. Could have been a good idea but at the moment it's an absolute waste of time and money.

Music Titbits & Burnout Paradise

Just managed to recover from a 3 day bender this weekend, not had one of those in a while. One of the main things that got me through a painful Sunday (apart from an enormous amount of Smash and sausages) was Laura Marling's new album. New single Devil's Spoke is a good example of how talented she is. Tender, touching and just wonderful stuff really. Scary to think she's younger than me as well. Not the most reassuring thought when you've got a mouthful of mash potato, a head full of hangover and you're glumly staring at a laptop in your pants. Today I also found a couple more leaked Flying Lotus tracks which again are fantastic. They're not on Youtube yet but the obscenely outstanding Computer Face is. I'm almost counting the days for this one. 3rd May, 3rd May, etc. Also listening to MGMT's new album currently. Remember them claiming to be influenced by all sort of obscure musicians and whatnot. Which makes them sound unbelievably cool obviously. The album leaked so they're streaming it for free on their site, which is nice. "We wanted to offer it as a free download but that didn't make sense to anyone but us" they claim. It's alright really, nowhere near as spectacular as I'm sure many will claim. Brian Eno will undoubtedly appreciate the track dedicated to him as well. You can really feel the ambient influence. Also, fuck me, the new song by The National is incredible. Another cracker for May then.

Had my first foray onto Big Surf Island in Burnout Paradise as well today. 1000 points seems like a lot of money but now I've played it I think it was well spent. The island is much open for want of a better word, with jumps and secret routes all very well integrated in the map. In fact it's better than the main game really for that, I certainly enjoy it a lot more. Apart from the events are quite tricky, or I'm just not used to using the insane beach buggy. Fun as hell though so glad I bought the game at all. Time for a sequel Criterion?