Alex's Top Ten...

People to Subscribe to on YouTube

1. sxephil

Philip de Franco started off small, much like every other YouTube sensation, but now he's one of the bigger names on the daily Most Viewed lists. If you want to stay up to date with the news that matters to most people between 16 and 25, then the sxephil channel is the channel for you. He covers new in an amusing and satirical way that reminds you that not all American's are idiots; though a lot of them are. He's hosted shows dedicated to films, women, games and most recently; other YouTube videos, so if this Monday to Thursday news show isn't enough for you, then be sure to check those out too!

2. SHAYTARDS

Generally, I hate reality shows. Watching people live their lives in annoying and stupid ways just annoys me, so I have never been a fan. So you would presume that a daily vlog channel following of the lives of a bearded man, his wife, four children and extended family would annoy me equally as much. Except, the Shaytards (as you will end up calling them whether you like it or not) aren't a bunch of vacuous rich people who long to show the public that they aren't arseholes (except they are), instead what we have is a real  family. Their lives are eccentric and far from normal, but the core family values behind each upload have amassed a humongous following. Shay (the father) shows me, as a young man, some of the best ways to raise your children, and he does so with a manic laugh and no fear of public rebuttal. You have to watch the regularly to understand why it's so addictive, and ever since the Shaytards graced my desktop monitor I've watched it as my morning show  with my breakfast - a perfect and cheerful start to the day and I can tell I'm going to be incredibly depressed the day that Shay decides to hang up his camera.

3. Team Four Star 

As a kid, Dragon Ball Z was the show to watch on Cartoon Network. That isn't to say that it wasn't ridiculous, and because of this it is perfect material for parody, and they don't get better than this effort. So far following through to the Frieza saga, the dubbed over parody of DBZ always amuses and I for one am looking forward to following TeamFourStar through to the Buu saga and beyond.

4. SecretAgentBob

Most people who have been on the internet for more than 5 years will have seen the Charlie the Unicorn videos (search if you haven't), and SecretAgentBob are the group behind it. Incredibly surreal but incredibly funny, the only problem is that these guys don't release media nearly fast enough.

5. collegehumor

Collegehumor are the big wigs of the internet now, and so they have cameos from some real Hollywood actors in their skits. A hell of a lot of media to browse through, and not all of it stays up on YouTube long enough, so you'd better subscribe to their channel if you want to keep up to date.

6. HISHEdotcom

HISHE (How It Should Have Ended) have released a number of good takes on some of the most popular films out there, something that has inspired others to do the same with other forms of media such as books or video-games. If I'm honest, the material has been less inspired of late, but there are quite a few in the back-logs that are worth a watch, though at the expense of probably ruining any film that you hold dear if you are overly sensitive.

7. KassemG

Kassem G has a, well, I guess you can call it a show where he approaches the fine people of California to discuss their thoughts on topics such as sex, drugs, films, etc etc. More often than not these Californians don't manage to present themselves in such a fine light, but Kassem G himself as the host is even more amusing in his ability to confidently create social awkwardness; welcoming it even. Now Kassem can be found in a variety of other YouTube media, most interesting being his one-on-one interviews with pornstars. He's hilarious in a 'oh my gawd I can't believe he just said that' sort of way, and definitely worth a follow as he is amongst the YouTube elite.

8. schmoyoho

I'm pretty sure you can't attribute the schmoyoho channel to the wave of 'autotuning' any weird, embarassing, or even completely ordinary videos to upload to the internet, but they are certainly the best at it. They have no shortage of classics, and if you've seen a funny person on the internet, be it Charlie Sheen or Antoine Dodson, you can bet that schmoyoho have got their own infinitely better and more musical version up, and you don't want to miss it.

9. Machinima 

This channel is more for the geeks out there who love videogames. Mostly reviews and fan-videos; it can be hard to find what to actually watch amongst the masses of uploads. I particularly like the take on the normally speechless character from Half-Life (above), and there are definitely other channels to subscribe to. If you're a hardcore fan to a certain type of game, you'll likely find some sort of homage to it here.

10. klaatu42

Okay, this might just be me, but I find this sort of thing hilarious. I don't know if it's just how well the dubbing seems to be, or if I'm just weird enough to find talking animals really funny. And no, I'm not high at the time. If you like the idea of cats and dogs talking, then this is for you...I just realised how crazy that sounds


Sound off any other suggestions!

Some of the new illustrations to pick up on

My main man Keiran has been hard at work lately - here's a few of his better pieces:

Rock Lee from the awesome manga; Naruto. One of the better characters and I like this take on him - gives him a darker look than usual

I really like this one - reminds me of Killer Croc from Arkham Asylum or some other monster from my nightmares

An interesting picture called Depression - shows off different styles the guy can do

A cool Goku picture that I already used for one of my random posts; and I like the style; especially how Goku looks slightly more realistic with his weedy arms!

This is a great one - would probably be at home on a greetings card of some sort

One of the best characters; Stringer Bell from The Wire which brought Idris Elba into the big leagues, and he's done justice here too



Visit Keiran's blog here for more samples of his work, and contact him for anything you personally want done!

Anywhere but here

So when September rolls around in dreary London, life can get considerably more...well...dreary. School starts again for the young-folk, autumn begins to rear its poetic but aggravating head, and until I head back to University, I just get incredibly bored. And, as someone who often takes flights of fancy and a keen lover of science fiction and fantasy, I often like to think about where I would be if I were born in some of the amazing worlds thought up by Tolkien, Lucas and Whedon, to mention a few. So, to cure this boredom, and to remind myself how to type in something other than 'textspeak', I'm giving a run down on how that might pan out.

The Star Wars Universe

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What's Good - I love Star Wars, even the prequels, and I believe that the real thing that attracts the millions of fans of George Lucas' world long, long ago in a galaxy far, far away, isn't the dialogue or the plot, but rather the impressive universe and lore that Lucas has created to inspire not only hundreds of novels, spin-offs, games and fanfiction, but the imagination of young kids and adults alike. My love of Star Wars comes from my father dutifully taking me to see the original trilogy when they were re-released in cinemas in the nineties, and since then I've wanted to be a Jedi, Bounty Hunter, X-Wing pilot, and during my riotous teenage years, a Sith Warrior. Who wouldn't want to fly around at lightspeed? Who wouldn't want to live on a planet made up of one huge city? Who wouldn't want a lightsaber or a furry friend who can rip the arms out of whoever pisses you off's sockets? I know I would.

What's Bad - So in the original trilogy, you're governed by an evil Emperor, which wouldn't be too bad if it wasn't for the army that used to police the Empire. Stormtroopers are generally rubbish at shooting the people that matter, can be thrown off the scent of fugitives by an old man waving his hands, and don't have any quarrels with burning people alive. If you want to be a Jedi, you have to wear girly robes all the time and seem to be banned from having any real fun. And your quality of life is probably dictated by what planet you end up on. I imagine living on Tattooine must be a pretty rough life, what with it being run by massive talking slugs, sandstorms, and slavery in open view. And unless you study the books that came after the films, you'd be hard pressed to find a good planet to raise a family on, if you were so inclined. Tattooine's out. Hoth? A frickin' ice planet. Mustafar? A world of lava. Geonosis? A rocky planet with weird bug-like locals. Coruscant works; not so much for farmers and the like. And Alderaan? Well, we know what happens there.

Middle Earth

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What's Good - The Peter Jackson films did an excellent job of bringing Tolkien's work to life, and a lot of that was down to the lush lands of New Zealand. In any case, where Star Wars has spaceships and lasers, Middle-Earth has magic, swords and mountains. If you wanted a simple life; you can drink ale and grow vegetables with the Hobbits. Mystical lands of elves such as Rivendell and Lothlorien would fill anyone with intrigue. If things that are shiny tickle your fancy, join the dwarves in the mines where hearty meals are valued just as much as valuable metals. Gondor has white buildings of grandeur, and Rohan has glorious lands stretching along the West. Watching the Fellowship traverse these lands just made me want to emigrate to New Zealand and walk the mountains and greenery on my own with a sword at my side. Weird? Maybe, I'd take it over sitting at home at a computer everyday.

What's Bad - Yeeeeah so there are creatures running around that are all about killing and eating people, and pretty unsightly to look at. Then you have these weird cloaked figures that send chills down your spine and ride around on massive winged black beasts. There are fiery demons, vicious giant wolves, gigantic trolls, and one great overlord who pretty much wants to kill everyone from his aptly named Mount Doom. And that greenery I was admiring? The trees can come alive and decide to kill you, if they so please. Lovely.


Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh and Unova regions (Pokemon)

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What's Good - The Pokemon games and cartoons were and still are one of the more popular franchises to come out of Japan, largely because of the imagination behind the monsters and the adventure that you would have to find them all. Just think; at ten-years old you're given a little companion to take out into the big wide world. With this little monster, you get to go out and capture more monsters in an attempt to bolster your party so that you can compete in battles between your Pokemon companions and other Pokemon collectors you bump into on your journey. You can prove your worth as a trainer in Pokemon Gyms or against the Pokemon Elite, or you can simply live your life with the help of your Pokemon in whatever life you choose to follow. The amount of characters that you would meet in the games or see in the cartoon who were simply living life with a Poke-pal showed how well thought-out this universe was. For people who love pets, why wouldn't you love a pet who also seems to have superpowers?

What's Bad - With all these ten year-olds running about with fire-breathing monsters, you gotta think that maybe they should have spent a while somewhere to learn a thing or two about the world around them. When I was ten, I don't think I'd survive too long out in the world alone, and if there are monsters running about that are literally three times my size, I don't think I'd feel too safe. Surely, if in our world, when a tiger gives in to the call of nature and kills some fool who tries to take a picture with it, and the tiger is eventually killed, then there must be a helluva lot of dead Arboks and Charizards around. And I'm guessing (or at least hoping) that if you live in this world, then you have to be a vegetarian, or else, what do you put in your hamburgers? Is there a special group of Pokemon collectors who only catch the tastier ones? We all know that there's a Pokemon that looks like a cow, and a sheep, and there are loads of bird-based Pokemon, so hitting Nandos would be a pretty gruelling experience. With that in mind, I would be in constant fear of living in this world, because the Pokemon in this series seem to have a certain amount of intelligence at least, and I have a feeling that once they figure out that their kind are caught, forced to live in a small ball, forced to fight one-another, or eaten, they'll go all Planet of the Apes on us and show us who's boss. That is, if they aren't all eating each other...it'd be a pretty terrifying thing to witness.

The Dragon Ball Universe

Art from this dude!

What's Good - This franchise took up a lot of my younger life; I loved Dragon Ball Z with the grunting and quirky characters to boot. Most boys who watched it wanted to be a Super Saiyan, and have the ability to fly, and shoot lasers, and fight at the speed of sound with muscles that ripped your clothes from your body and bulged every time you tensed. And the world was pretty cool too; there were aliens, dinosaurs, magic wish-granting balls, dragons, giant beasts and a lot of humanoid animals...

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...and there are even these weird little capsule things that release everything from a motorbike to a fully functional apartment with all the furnishings...what could go wrong?

What's Bad -  So if you weren't one of these special superheroes with super-strength and the ability to fly and all that jazz, then you could have a pretty normal life being...well, normal. The thing is, apparently living on a planet with such variety seems to attract people who, well, just want to destroy the world. And you know what, these magic dragonballs that grant wishes to whoever collects them all? It seems like only the superhero characters can ever find them, and these guys are hardly the great minds of our world. There should be a council, or a mass debate on whether to end poverty, cure a fatal disease...I don't know, maim Justin Bieber? But no, instead they decide to revive their most useless allies who seem to be intent on dying, all the time. Couldn't bring back someone actually important, no, just that guy who blew himself up while climbing on the back of a bald alien. Awesome.

The Black/The Firefly Universe

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What's Good -  One of the most underrated and unjustly ended shows of the last twenty years, Firefly was Joss Whedon's creation after finishing with the Buffy and Angel series. Well written dialogue, lovable characters and a healthy injection of science-fiction amassed a cult following of Firefly, and I am proud to be one of these obsessive fans. The mix of western and sci-fi genres worked perfectly and had me yearning for a spaceship so I could speak like they do in True Grit, with a pistol on my hip and at the same time fly from planet to planet looking for the best way to earn some gold. It was a great story of people just battling to get by, and for the people who preferred the roguish Han Solo to Luke Skywalker (everyone) would want to live in this world too, to soar the skies, have shoot-outs and evade the authorities. And guess what. Not only is prostitution legal, but it's widespread and a respecting form of entertainment. These aren't the scary toothless prostitutes you hear about, rather ravishing, beautiful women who seem to hold a high public standing in this universe. How? Who cares! If Earth's fate really does go in this direction, I hope I'm around to see it (I won't be)

What's Bad -  So yeah, the reason people are struggling to get by is because unless you're lucky enough to have grown up on one of the Alliance run planets, you have a pretty rough and impoverished life. Crime lords run the show on the outer-rim worlds, and if you weren't trying to avoid getting tied up with them, you'd be trying to avoid getting in the way of this Alliance entity that worked as the oppressive law that stamped down on the little man. But this is a mere annoyance compared to the real problem with living in this universe, the problem that scares even the gruffest of space cowboys; Reavers.

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Reavers are terrifying. To quote Zoe, if you are unfortunate enough, which is an understatement, to be caught by reavers; "...they'll rape us to death, eat our flesh, and sew our skins into their clothing - and if we're very very lucky, they'll do it in that order"......WHAT??!! Screw that. 

There are many more worlds, but I'm out of time...add more!

Places that you don't want to work...

Sacred Heart Hospital (Scrubs)

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Up-and-coming young doctor? Don't apply here; this place is a nuthouse. First of all, you'll be working with Doctors that drift off into their own worlds mid-sentence, and seem to enjoy subjecting those around them to what must be expensive practical jokes that cannot be for the benefit of the patient. Then you have the nursing staff, who seem very happy to let you know where you're going wrong and where you can shove it when you're going right. And don't expect support from the senior staff either; there only seems to be one on-call Attending for the whole hospital and he's sarcastic and egotistical ranter who will not only point out your mistakes but every flaw you've had since you were ten-years old. The Chief of Medicine? Don't even think about it, he's just as crazed as the rest of them. And I'm pretty sure the Orderly's and Janitors are insane.

The Jeffersonian (Bones)

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Got a doctorate in any sort of anthropological or forensic field? This is not the place for you. For some reason, the fact that your superior aids FBI investigations means that you should too, and therefore you are likely to be shot at or abducted and buried alive during your term working at this prestigious location. The only perk is there seems to be some sort of magic computer that only a hippy artist can use, though she is involved with a strange entomologist who seems intent on blowing up parts of the institution in order to verify his findings. Not only that, but your superior is most probably autistic, not that that's a problem, but it can make her very difficult to work with.

Seattle Grace Hospital (Grey's Anatomy)

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This hospital is certainly more effectively run than Sacred Heart, but where Sacred Heart has insanity flowing through it's halls, Seattle Grace has just raw emotion. A day doesn't seem to go by without one very attractive doctor telling another very attractive doctor some sort of life lesson in the form of a lengthy monologue, and every surgeon in the place seems to have a knack for projecting their own issues onto their patients in order to reach some sort of revelation in their own mind; it's like these people wouldn't be able to function unless a man with kidney failure wasn't going through a heartbreaking end to a long marriage could inspire them to also tend to their own romantic relationships. Also note, that all the surgeons seem to be sleeping with someone else in the hospital, and forget that this is a bad idea, especially since each surgeon seems to somehow grievously injure themselves every other month.


Hogwarts (Harry Potter)

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  The perks are, if you're a wizard or a witch, this is probably the only place in England to pursue a career as a teacher. But beware, it would seem that the headmaster of this school is quite happy to allow children to learn in a site that also houses a three-headed dog, a tree that will kill you if possible, stairs that will just change position no matter who is standing where, and an array of ghosts that have no problem lingering in the bathrooms of minors. There is also one small group of children that seem intent on not attending a Wizarding School to actually learn magic, but rather to just poke around at night and put themselves in harms way, to which the headmaster rewards with boiled sweets and preferential treatment. Also, teaching moody teenage children the ability to hex others and such is not a well thought out plan, and we have yet to figure out why there would be a restricted section of the library that is actually easily accessible to all students if they so please.

The Empire (Star Wars)

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Being a soldier is surely tough work, even if your role is to police an Empire ruled by a dark lord. It doesn't get any easier when you are forced to wear what must be the most useless armour in the galaxy, an armour which cannot protect you from laser-bolts nor the clubs of a small teddy bear, and surely restricts your vision enough to force you to miss every shot you take. A typical day might have you murdering a family and burning them alive before blaming it on the indigenous dwellers, scouring an entire planet for droids in baking heat, being deployed to a planet that is either entirely ice, sand, or forest, or killing the furriest, most wide-eyed aliens you can find. And if you screw up there's a high chance that the Emperor's leather clad lackey will choke you to death with his magic powers. And you better hope you aren't stationed on any space ships, as they'll either plough through an asteroid field in the pursuit of one tiny ship, or they'll include a weak point in the ship that can essentially destroy everything from the inside...only to rebuilt AGAIN with what seems to be more or less the same flaw; a direct route to something that can blow up the entire thing!


Princeton Plainsborough (House M.D.)

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Another hospital, with even more worrying problems. It doesn't matter where you work in the hospital, you're day can easily fall victim to the whims of one man and his team. A serious drug addict, this man insults both his colleagues and his patients, forces his workers to break into people's homes, and screws around with the Chief of Staff. Incredible illnesses can only be cured by this man, it seems, but it doesn't negate the incredible tests and strange procedures that are taken to rule out a diagnosis. A day working at Princeton Plainsborough must be a tense experience; you are just hoping that your path doesn't cross with this sociopath and his team.

My Pokémon

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So, I bought Pokemon White, and have to say I was disappointed. Yes, a lot of the game mechanics and graphics had taken some vast improvements from the original games, but what were with the starter Pokémon?! A weird pompous looking lizard thing, that let's be honest, NOBODY chose. A fire pig?? I chose this guy, but I was not happy. And an otter, which is probably the cooler choice, up until the evolution into some weird, spiky...I don't even know what to call it. No, no. The original 151 Pokémon were the best, and here are the 6 that if I lived in that world, I would want to carry around with me, starting with the very important starter Pokémon.


Charmander

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In the original Red and Blue games, it was probably a bad idea to choose Charmander when the first two Gym Leaders had teams that a fire-type would be useless against. But I LOVE Charmander. When Pokémon first started in the UK, Charmander was the first card I got and I just loved his design. Bulbasaur and Squirtle are pretty sweet too, but Charmander will always have a special place in my heart. Nothing at all to do with the fact that he eventually evolves into fricking Charizard, a beast of a Pokémon. Seriously, throwing out a Charizard would be the best feeling ever if I was a cartoon with massive eyes and spiky hair.


Vaporeon

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Out of the original evolution options for Eevee, I always thought Vaporeon looked the most elegant and seemed like the most useful, especially when I have Charmander with me. So for my water type, Vaporeon seems like the dude to go too. For some reason Flareon seemed too fluffy and Jolteon too, well, spiky. At least with Vaporeon I know that he's either going to be smooth or slimy.

Onix

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It is absolute bullcrap that Pikachu managed to down Onix in the anime series; Onix is a beast, sprinklers or no sprinklers. To be honest, when choosing a rock type, it's either Onix or it's Geodude, and for some reason I prefer the idea of having a massive rock-snake on my side than a floating rock with arms.

Scyther

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For most people, having a bug type on your team isn't all that - they aren't particularly useful. But does your bug have fricking blades for arms? I don't think so. Serious the coolest looking Pokemon ever; a great design feat from the same people that brought you...

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....a mentally challenged ice-cream cone....awesome.

Haunter

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If you have to choose between a Psychic Pokemon or a Ghost type, gotta go with Ghost type. I have no idea why Ash let Haunter go off to be some sort of jester for that bratty Gym Leader, because I'd have wanted Haunter on my team all the way to the Final Four. I don't really like his evolution into Gengar, however, just sort of looks like a fat purple guy with good dental work.

Pikachu

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Shut up, shut up, shut up. Pikachu may be a typical choice, but when you look at the other electric types available, can you blame me? I mean Electabuzz just never looked right to me, and I can't very well go with Jolteon since I already have Vaporeon on the time. And Voltorb and Electrode?? I don't really get how having Pokemon that look like Pokeballs would help me...and in the series they seemed to self destruct a whole lot, and I'm not down with terrorist Pokemon thanks. And sure I could have gone for Zapdos, but dude, that's a LEGENDARY Pokemon? How would I even catch it? Think about it, geez.

SO there you go, I would however want a special mention to Cubone, Nidorino, Arcanine and Hitmonlee as other favourites, but hey, you can't have them all.

Thanks... I don't know why you read this

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7 unsung heroes from the Star Wars Prequel trilogy

After reading this article on Dorkly, which I found very amusing and allowed me solace in the fact that there are other Star Wars nerds in the universe, I thought I'd write my own article stating some more unsung heroes from the Star Wars PREQUEL trilogy. You may be interested, you may not, who cares. I sent it to Dorkly anyway, though I doubt they'll put it in.


7. Captain Tarpals

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Darth Sidious, General Grievous, and even Darth Maul cannot compare that the fear that every Jedi, droid and Star Wars fan would feel when trapped in an elevator with no other than Jar Jar Binks. Yet not all Gungans were annoyingly useless halfwits; enter Captain Tarpals. This guy not only fought in the 'lets send the indigenous lackeys to go and fight an army of merciless droids, armed with blue balls (maybe not the best description)', but he fought in this battle with Jar Jar Binks. He even risked his own life to save Binks, falling off his own trusty steed in his effort to rescue a fool who somehow was given the privilege of a leading role in the Gungan army. Yes, he didn't take down a ATAT tank, and yes he didn't somehow fool droids into shooting each other, but he was ready to go down fighting when he was finally surrounded, and would have too if good ol' Binks hadn't uttered the timeless Gungan slogan; 'My give up, my give up'. And who gets to be the Gungan representative in the Galactic Senate? Boss Nass? No, frickin' Jar Jar Binks...and look how that turned out.



6. Cliegg Lars

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So while Anakin Skywalker decided to fulfil his promise to his mother Shmi of 'coming back to free her' a good decade later, Cliegg Lars actually did the real work. Buying the slave from Watto and subsequently freeing her must've been some real heart-of-gold stuff. Yes, he then married her, but hey, moisture farming is a dull business. Not only that, but when she was abducted by Sand People, Cliegg rode out with a group of settlers and  tried to rescue her, losing his right leg in the process! And what does Anakin do to repay the man that did so much for his only familial link? Why, he burdens Cliegg's son with one of his children, who does nothing but complain about living with them, and eventually abandons them to be burnt alive by Stormtroopers...under Anakin's payroll...goddamnit.

5. Chewbacca - again

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The Clone Wars seemed to hit everywhere, and it was a particular delight for fans to have part of Episode 3 take place on Kashyyyk to see some badass Wookie's bring the pain to Separatist Droids. Alas, it was also where unfortunately Order 66 was initiated, turning Clones on their former allies to take out the big cheese of the Jedi; Master Yoda. And who sprung to Yoda's aid? The Yoda that eventually trained the Jedi who defeated the Empire? Chewbacca and his trusted furry friend Tarfful, that's who. And what does he get in return when he successfully leads Yoda to a handy escape shuttle? "Good friends you are. Miss you I will." Gee, thanks Yoda, couldn't have squeezed me in there too huh? Do you know that Chewbacca then eventually was brought into slavery under the Empire? This coupled with his lack of a medal just shows how much patience this 'walking carpet' really has.

4. Kit Fisto

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Okay, so if you take a look at some of the other canon Star Wars works, such as the cartoon shows and graphic novels; you'll see that Kit Fisto has quite a following. But in the films, he has very limited screen time despite some pretty important acts in the Clone Wars. We first see him properly in the rescue of Obi Wan and Anakin on Genosis, where he was able to use his initiative to save yet another annoying character; C-3PO from being hacked by a stray lightsaber. After continuing his assault in this battle and many more to come, he ascended to a position on the Jedi Council. Pretty sweet recognition I guess, but then, as faithful as ever, he accompanies Mace Windu in an attempt to apprehend Darth Sidious. And it is here that he meets his unfortunate demise. The kicker? Mace Windu is heralded as, like, the best duellist in the Jedi Order. Kit Fisto wasn't the only Jedi to accompany him, and two other Jedi died before he did. What the heck was Mace Windu doing? Psyching himself up? Maybe he wanted the glory for himself, but you can bet that if it had at least been Kit Fisto alongside Windu in that fateful battle, Anakin would have arrived to find Palpatine's head being kicked around by a smiling green alien and Samuel L Jackson.

3. Zett Jukassa

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I admit, I had to Wookieepeida who this guy actually was, but this little padawan managed to save another unsung hero - Bail Organa.Okay, you can argue that actually the Clones weren't intending on harming Organa, but that doesn't lessen young Jukassa's feat. Upon seeing the Senator touch down outside the Jedi Temple, Zett fought his way through eight troopers to try to reach him before being gunned down. This kid was sixteen years old, sixteen! Yeah, Anakin took out a Control Centre at ten years old, but Zett's still pretty badass. You know what might have helped? Bail Organa not being a complete tool and running away; would have had one more angry Jedi to grow up wanting to get back at the Empire. The Empire Strikes Back could have been a whole lot different if Luke had touched down on Dagobah to find Yoda already with his Jedi underling Zett Jukassa at his side.

2. Sabé

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I don't know about you, but actually Queen Amidala is not all that. I mean the REAL Amidala; Padmé. What sort of Queen has a double step in to take all the flak from would-be-assassins and the like while she goes gallivanting around Tatooine because she's 'curious about the planet'? No, no, Sabé was the real badass, along with all the other handmaidens trained to protect their wussy Queen who ends up marrying the next Dark Lord of the Sith. Sabé's only reward is being able to make her Queen clean up R2-D2, other than that she's forced to wear uncomfortable dresses and ridiculous Pikachu-inspired make-up. She helps in the assault at the end of the first film, even saving Padmé again when she got her stupid ass captured. How did she run around the entire palace in full Queen gear, make-up and everything, and STILL manage to evade capture longer than Padmé and her crew? And in the end she gets no recognition whatsoever, the biggest blow being when they implore for the aid of the Gungans in the final battle. I'm pretty sure Sabé had it under control, but who had to suddenly break character in Sabé's only minute of glory? One-upping her again, good ol' Padmé.


Point of interest; played by none other than Keira Knightley...whaddya know?

1. R2-D2

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I know, I know, everyone loves R2, but the characters sure don't. I think we need to be reminded what this little astromech droid actually did in the prequel trilogy, while the other characters called for help and in some cases even shouted impatiently because the little guy couldn't work fast enough. So, here we go;
- he raised the shields of the ship in the escape from Naboo, and what did he get? A free cleaning...before landing down on the dustiest planet in the galaxy.
- he projected the plans for the assault on Theed. Didn't here anyone give him a thankyou for the presentation, did you?
- let's be honest, he kept Anakin alive when the kid got stuck in that starfighter; keeping his cool even when INSIDE an enemy ship to fix Anakin's impressive crash landing
- the dude flew, yes FLEW to save Padmé from being burnt to a crisp on Genosis...THANKS!?
- he trundled through the middle of a warzone to reattach C-3PO's head to his body, with no weapons of his own...Saving Private Ryan can suck it
- he again accompanied Anakin into an enemy ship to save Senator Palpatine, in the process single handedly defeating two Separatist Droids with nothing but oil and a bunsen burner, and finally providing the distraction needed for Obi Wan and Anakin to break free from capture and attempt to subdue General Grievous, followed by assisting the hapless Jedi in a crash landing on Coruscant.
The only justice R2-D2 gets is being fobbed off at the end of the trilogy to another unsung hero, Raymus Antilles, who as we know from the original trilogy, was a worthy master.


See this for more thoughts on R2-D2....

Alex Reviews

So, I watched this DVD from my good ol' Lovefilm account called Boomerang (1992) on the basis of an article I read here http://www.brotherswithnogame.com/the-unsuccessful-players-guide-to-success/ (by the way, Brothers With No Game is a really entertaining blog, check it out) and I have to say I was really impressed.

The story has Eddie Murphy as a high rolling marketing executive who has a certain way with women, yet in his attempts to find the perfect woman to settle with he ends up having his player-nature come back to bite him in the ass. Hilarious and thought-provoking scenarios ensue. What makes it thought provoking is when Eddie Murphy's character as a player gets his just deserves when he himself becomes the victim of a player. The story is predictable, but still charming, and a reminder of the quality that Eddie Murphy films used to hold. Halle Berry is young and B E A utiful as the charming, under the radar love interest, and there are also appearances from Martin Lawrence and Chris Rock to take note of. Really worth a watch if you haven't much else to do;

It got me thinking on two topics as well;

Bros before....yeah you know the saying  - There is a point in the where Murphy's character makes an interesting choice and swoops in on his best friends woman. He SORT of brings it up with his friend, which of course is not taken too well by the harmed party. That got me to thinking, is it EVER okay to be with someone your best bro or BFF or whatever used to be with? It takes a certain type of friendship that would allow a relationship between someone's ex and someone's best friend to take place. I'd like to think that if my best friend wanted to go out with a girl who I loved but things didn't work out with, I'd be the bigger man and step aside to let them be happy; I'd like to THINK that. But I sure as hell know that it would take a LOT of getting used to. I'm young, but I don't know if I'd be able to handle it, especially since you know your best bud is gonna be bringing your old flame around with him on get-together's and what not. With my guy friends at least, I know that it's sort of an unspoken rule that you stay away from any girl that your boy was serious about. It excludes the random 2 day make-out session he had with whatsherface when we hit 2011 in January, but the girl that he spent more than, lets say, half a year with is off limits. Permanently. Or there has to be some sort of code, like; Thou shalt not engage in a relationship with your friends ex until twice the time of their relationship duration has passed. So, if your boy was with this girl for 6 months, you can't touch it for at least a year. At least. Three year relationship? You gotta let six years go by before you bump into this girl on holiday and think "Well, she was pretty fun to hang out with you know?". That's just me, but who knows.

Men are fragile too -   Okay, so typically us men are known for being sort of detached from our feelings and all that jazz; we don't spill our emotions on the table at the drop of a hat and generally we only excel in showing the particular emotion of anger - we can break things or stomp our feet really hard. But sometimes I think women forget that actually we're just as emotionally unsteady as women are, and just as capable for things like love and sadness. Yes, some men are pigs and will use you and leave you, but the 50% of the men who aren't douchebags have a healthy grip on their personality and, like women, can only take so much of a beating. If a member of this 50% actually falls for a girl, he falls hard. And so, screwing him around hurts just as much as when that smartass guy dumps the sweet young girl for the skank from across the street.

I don't know why I went on that tangent; most people know this already. Most sane people anyway.