Italian Spiderman Movie - Episode 1

May 22nd, 2008

I know I haven’t been around much lately - but this I just HAD to post about. I have hinted towards Italian Spiderman before with their trailer.

Feast your eyes on the latest and greatest video on the web - created with care, love, beer and sprinklings of gold by the angels geniuses at Alrugo Entertainment.

Praise our new hero - ITALIAN SPIDERMAN!

I just can’t wait for the next episode!!

If any of you out there also want the delicious soundtrack to Italian Spiderman created by Enzo Bontempi (I believe he is the long lost cousin of Dario from the Tokyo City Sex Shooters), it is available on iTunes (store link) for modern MP3 digital, or if you want to keep it true to Italian Spiderman, enjoy it on Vinyl 45rpm available at RecordKicksDotCom. I have already bought my copies, I just love pretending that I am Italian Spiderman… drinking whiskey, chain smoking whilst knocking off baddies with shotgun. Ahhh…

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I’m Addicted to Top Gear

April 11th, 2008

Top Gear LogoSince I haven’t had any programs to download thanks to the writers strike… I have downloaded the entire Top Gear series. Well, so far I’m up to downloading the fourth season, and have watched to near the end of the third season so far. I just can’t get enough of it.

I am an addict. I guess the first steps to recovery is admitting it. But seriously though, it is an absolute top show. I did find it interesting in the first season how the audience was only a handful of people, and there was a focus on actually bringing useful information for people that might want to buy a vehicle. Then by the third season they have almost forgotten about normal every day cars, and have started realising the entertainment in pointless tests and races. Which is awesome!

For anyone that hasn’t seen Top Gear, do yourself a favour and switch it on when the new season starts later this year. You don’t have to be a car buff to enjoy it. It is entertainment more so than journalism. You don’t need to know anything about cars at all really. It’s just brilliant!

I must say that I am quite jealous that my namesake from Wales has watched Top Gear on set. I even saw him (well, after an eagle-eyed search) in the audience! Bastard!

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I Hate Waiting at Centrelink

April 9th, 2008

Centrelink LogoJust a short post I’m posting from my phone really to pass the time whilst I wait in line here at Centrelink. Seriously though, you would think they would put more staff on, because there is ALWAYS a line, and it ALWAYS takes forever. I have managed to live without the financial assistance from the Government for over a year now, but with my living situation changing recently, and the sent going up, I can’t go without any longer. Bah! I have waited for a good 20 minutes, just standing here.

What we do for money. The necessary evil. Damn you evil money, damn you!

UPDATE: Unfortunately on my phone it gets to a point where I can continue to type, but can’t actually see what I’m typing - so I had to finish it on the iMac at home. Which wasn’t quite what I had planned, but at least I can easily post a pretty little picture =).

Peace, love and no evil for you all!

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Annual Accident

March 18th, 2008

Yep, it’s that time of year again. Something terrible hasn’t happened to my vehicle in quite some time. For those who have no idea what I’m talking about (which is most people, other than my very long time readers… all two of them lol), each year something bad happens to my car.

I won’t include accidents before I went overseas, but since I got back, my first accident was from some stupid bitch who didn’t give way and came flying around a corner in a car park and collided with me head on. My second accident was almost an exact year later when the traffic stopped suddenly and the bloke behind me wasn’t paying attention and slammed into the back of me, making my car a write-off. Then just after I got my new car some dickheads at a party kicked in a few of my panels because they didn’t like me for some reason (I didn’t even know them). Then just last year my car got broken into, and an attempt to steal my car, they tried to rip the steering lock, but the steering wheel came off instead. So when I rang my boss to say I’d be late for work… if I made it at all, he was a little annoyed, and didn’t believe me at first - “How can your steering wheel be missing?”

Last Thursday I woke up with a screaming hangover after a rather big night out at Flashdance, our local Retro party on Wednesday nights.I had a blast of a night, but had to be at uni by 9am for a practical. Well, considering the state of my head, it just wasn’t practical. So I figured I could attend the practical through Second Life. Yes, with that particular course we are able to attend courses through Second Life. It’s REALLY handy on days like the one I was having. However, I must have logged in too early, because I couldn’t find anyone else from the class online. I ended up sucking it in, and decided I would head in to uni, so at least I could have lunch with a good friend of mine afterwards.

Bad idea.

I drank some water, grabbed my stuff and climbed into my car. Took the usual route to uni, past Maccas and the Holden Hill Police HQ. I was taking it pretty easy, driving very relaxed with Jack Johnson playing on the stereo, keeping my sore head at bay.

As I crossed the major intersection with Maccas and the Police HQ, the lights turned amber. No big deal, I was already over the line, I notice that in the left lane that a bus has stopped to pick up/drop off passengers, and a seemingly impatient Statesman (car) was behind it with the indicator to turn right to get around it. There was a bit of space between myself and the car ahead of me, but really not quite enough for a normal car to accelerate into safely. I watched the car for moment half expecting it to pull out in front of me, as I approached and got closer, it was impossible for the car to get in front of me, so I directed my attention to the cars in front of me.

Just as I was pulling alongside the Statesman traveling at just under 50km/h (30mph), I saw it move forward!! What!?! I hit the brakes and swerve to the right, but only had limited space because there were vehicles in that lane.

CRUNCH!! CRUNCH! SCREECH! CRUNCH!

Accident Diagram

The lady in the Statesman hadn’t properly checked her blind spot, didn’t see me and pulled out. Only to see me too late, and then swerve back in. Of course, she had accelerated pretty hard, and she had to stop again VERY quickly. The bus was still there, and provided a good stopping block for her car.

The young uni chick in her little Holden Barina to my right panicked as she saw me swerve towards her lane and had slammed on the brakes. It was quite a late model Barina, and it stopped very quickly. Too quickly for the lady behind her, as her brakes locked up and she hit the back of the Barina. Fortunately not terribly hard, and all the damage is easily repairable.

A cop who was checking a defective vehicle at the Police HQ saw the whole thing. A great witness to have for insurance! At least we didn’t have to go far to file a report. A cop just drove a car around to alert other drivers of the smashed vehicle taking up the left lane. I only got nervous when he pulled out the breathalyzer to do the mandatory blood alcohol test. Uh-oh… I had had a pretty big night. I was genuinely VERY nervous. The other ladies are joking about drinking a bottle of scotch that morning yada yada… I stood there quietly shitting myself. I was second to blow. The policeman then asked for my drivers license. I am on my full license, so the legal limit in Australia is 0.05.

“Have a big night last night?” The copper asked, and everyone else looked at me. Ah shit! I’m screwed.

“What did I blow?”"You’re under,” and he showed me the breathalyzer. 0.025. Oh thank god! 

Next thought through my head - REALLY should’ve stayed in bed this morning… 

Only the silly lady who couldn’t wait another 5 seconds for me to pass was left with an undriveable vehicle.

Smashed Statesman

And my car. 

My Smashed VS Commodore

 I came out a little better off because I didn’t hit the bus. Still, it’s going to be about $2000 to fix it. My insurance company must hate me. Unfortunately for the silly lady, she doesn’t have insurance to be hated by. She’s screwed. I do feel sorry for her… but it’s not my problem. She should’ve waited another 5 seconds, and checked her blind spot. Her toddler kids were in the car for god’s sake.

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Kira Quests

March 14th, 2008

Okay, so I know it has been a while since I last made a post. Issues with my server and domain expiring hasn’t helped things, and neither has the xbox.

I have a few stories to tell over the next few days (not including the weekend, because they don’t count as days).

On one of the blogs that I regularly read, The Gospel According to Rhys, my namesake, I mentioned that I may start up a new and entertaining section about my new housemate.

Meet Kira.

(I was going to change her name to protect her privacy. However, the exhibitionist that she is, she wanted me to use her real name. I just won’t put down any other details.)

Kira is blonde. And not just blonde in hair colour. But the type of blonde, that doesn’t get blonde jokes.

Within her first week living with me, she nearly killed us. Okay, slight exaggeration. She cooked dinner for us that night, and after eating it in front of the idiot box, after a little while, we smell gas.

“Do you smell gas?” Kira asks.

“Ah yes, yes I do. Did you turn off the stove?”

“Erm… I think so.” She replied. I get up and wander over to the stove, to find all the switches facing the same way. On.

She had somehow managed to turn ALL of the hotplates on, despite only using two of them. Now, you’re probably wondering ‘How the f*** did she manage that?’. To be honest, I have no fucking clue. When I asked her… neither did she.

I took a deep breath, and pondered a little about the next many months coming with Kira.

This is the first of many stories. There are many more to come, and I’m pretty certain that I won’t run out of material any time soon. Only a few hours ago she asked me if ants were nocturnal… yeah.

Wait until the you hear about the garlic bread…

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Onkyo Receiver on eBay UPDATE

January 23rd, 2008

Well, I now have a whole NINE people watching my item. Today I finally got around to cleaning up and taking a photo of the amp ready for sale. I am still actually using it, and it still works so awesomely… I don’t know how I’ll go for those few weeks without a amplifier/receiver.

So people can see EXACTLY what they are buying, here’s a pic of it.

Onkyo TX-SR603S

 It’s beautiful isn’t it? When you plug it in, and bring around your mates, it’s just like… “Woooooow…”

Oh yeah, I don’t fool around when it comes to awesomely loud and clear sound. 

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Onkyo Amp For Sale on eBay

January 22nd, 2008

For those (in Australia) who are looking for a kick-ass premium home-theatre amp (well, mid-class, depending on who’s talking), I have one for sale on eBay

Onkyo 7.1 Channel Amplifier TXSR603S

 

Ah, the Onkyo TX-SR603 7.1 Channel A/V Receiver. It is a fantastic amplifier, and still does blow me away. I used it only half an hour ago to enjoy the fourth installment of the Harry Potter franchise (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire). Yes, I know, I’m a little behind the times. I thought I might finally watch it.

So anyhow, I’m selling it because I need HDMI. What? You say… High Definition Multimedia Interface. Oh, it’s just like the latest and greatest with digital A/V connections. … I won’t go into detail.

I have listed the amp for $699, not bad considering it is less than 2 years old and was originally worth $1399 (RRP). I have all the original packaging and manuals for it. It is also the last of the 600-series amps to get the awesome chunky remote (the new models have a pathetic cheap plastic remote), and the blue glow is soooo damn cool!

The amp was (and still is) very popular, and considered great value for money. To be honest, I actually much prefer the look and feel of this one to the new models. I am going to stick with Onkyo for my new amp (probably the TX-SR705B, retail $1899), but I really think the new models are getting a bit cheap. They have lost that ‘tough, muscle’ feel to them. Nevertheless, I want HDMI, so I upgrade.

It will be sad to part with it… I have shared many awesomely loud hours with it.

Happy bidding! 

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Italian Spiderman

January 16th, 2008

I know this video has been cycling around the web for quite some time already, scoring (at time of writing) just shy of 395,000 views. If you haven’t yet seen this, do yourself a favour, and watch it now. Don’t delay, just watch it.

The team from Alrugo Entertainment have brought us one of the biggest previews of the year!

You may have seen spiderman and the green goblin before around here.

Congratulations to Dario, Will, David and the rest of the team at Alrugo. Absolute geniuses.

UPDATE (22/05): Episode #1 now available.

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The Busy Time and IE Incompatibility

January 16th, 2008

Well it has been another long time since I last posted anything - this is mainly because I have a hatred of Internet Explorer, and am well aware that my website is IE-incompatible, yet CAN NOT for the life of me, work out WHY IE won’t play ball. What makes it harder is that I’m on a mac, and need to run downstairs each time to test IE on my housemates PC.

Also, Christmas and New Years are somewhat busy for me. I mean, they are busy for us all - but those who work in retail would know that it is STUPIDLY busy. Up until this week, it has been really crazy with all the post-christmas and new-year sales on. It’s actually kind of nice to be able to put my feet up.

Thursday if I’m not too hungover I’ll tell some stories. For now, WordPress needs upgrading, and I need to sleep.

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Go Karts, Imperial Pints and Famous People

November 8th, 2007

Well, it has been a little while since I wrote a story about my drunken quests.

This story kicks of just last Saturday, as I started the evening with a few races at a local Go-Kart for one of my best mate’s Birthday.

Now the karts weren’t that good… in fact they were quite dodgy. However, the one I was in did have a bit of go if you drove it properly. Because it was just a private joint, there weren’t any lap timings or official races. You just get to thrash the karts for a while.

The sessions only go for 10 minutes. But after about 10 minutes, the ol’ arms are starting to get somewhat sore. After two sessions of 10 minutes, it feels like you’ve done 100-odd push-ups.

Somehow I nearly managed to flip it. Again, private track; there were pot holes, the tires that lined the edges were loose, which made for an interesting time as the track was constantly changing as you dodged pot-holes, tires, spun-out karts etc.

Afterwards we quickly decided that we wanted dinner, and somehow fluked a table at a local hotel for FIFTEEN people! To just rock up without a booking, at a pub that is normally booked out, and still get a table was very lucky.

I had myself some garlic prawns… which were somewhat ordinary. Wasn’t terribly impressed, but what can ya do? (Eat it was the option I chose.)

A few beers downed at the pub over dinner, and everyone retreated back home to clean themselves up ready to go out. Fortunately I lived just up the road (well, kinda), so myself, the birthday boy and his girlfriend stopped off at my place. I poured myself a bourbon and cola as I quickly cleaned up and had a shower.

Soon enough, the taxi arrived and we arrived in North Adelaide. The chosen watering hole was The Archer. Quite a good choice for a Saturday night. Not too busy, but enough of a crowd to feel that it isn’t empty. Problem is, whenever I go to the Archer, my memory is always very vague of actually leaving the place. For this I blame their pints. Pints at the Archer aren’t normal pints. They are imperial pints. So once you’ve downed 4-5 of the bastards, vision blurs and the mouth slurs.Bumped into quite a few people I knew, which is no surprise really, I mean, it is Adelaide.Although, it was a little strange being out in town the the people that I was with. My good mate, the birthday boy, is actually a real country boy. So being at a popular destination in the city with him was a little different, and he did feel a little out-of-place. Whereas I was in my element and loving it.

So several pints later we were kicked out of the pub as the doors closed. There was a breathalyzer machine in the foyer that we threw a few bucks in to see how drunk we were. I blew 1.something-high, and I still had more beer that was settling itself into my blood.

Yep, I was drunk.Now the memory does become rather vague at this point. But I do remember a few key events. I don’t remember drunk dialing a few people… whoops! I also don’t remember getting to the Casino. However, I did. Now I’m not a gambling man. I’ve thrown a few dollars here and there on roulette, but that is it really.

One of the blokes I was stumbling about with wasn’t keen on betting either, so we went for a stumble. And, we stumbled upon Ryan Fitzgerald… commonly known as Fitzy (the radio presenter). For whichever reason, we thought that it would be a good idea to buy him a drink. As drunken blokes do when they meet someone famous… they slur lines like, “Ah gidday Fiizy, yoor a farken lergend.” - And exactly that we did. However, to his credit he did chat to us for a while, which was quite cool.

The birthday boy eventually rocked up, and wanted to throw some money on the table. I said I only really knew how roulette works… which is partly a lie, but I couldn’t be fucked walking anywhere else, and they were right next to us. Then he asked how it works… I had a few attempts at constructing a sentence, but eventually gave up and just said, “Bet red…”, “Bet odd…”, “Bet top half… huh? Erm… jus’ put it there.” Soon enough he was $50 up thanks to my good advice lucky suggestions.

Then we lined up outside in the taxi rank. Time seemed to pass fairly quickly, and the rank wasn’t that busy, as it was about 4am. Just before a taxi arrived for us, an old neighbour friend of mine turned up out of nowhere. I knew she lived nearby, and we invited her along to split the cab. But then we all got out at my place, and sat in my loungeroom chatting for quite some time. Eventually I made it to bed at something past 5:30am… well, that was the last time I checked the clock. It was quite some time after that before I actually got to sleep.

Problem was… I had to be up for work at 10:00.Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck.Yes, ’sucked’ is somewhat an understatement. I was so ridiculously tired, and hungover, and no doubt smelt of booze. But I made it through one of the busiest days we’ve ever had at work. Oh-my-god my head was sore.

After what felt like years, the day ended, and I was able to go home. Okay, I had to play basketball at 8. Hmm… it’s just past 6. Nap? Yes, definitely. So I set my alarm, laid down and was probably asleep before I had even closed my eyes.

A few minutes later… well, what felt like a few minutes… my phone alarm is going off. God damn… reach over and pick it up, and it stopped. I pull myself around to get a look at the time… wait a minute. That wasn’t the alarm, that was it ringing! Missed call… oh shit… it’s 9pm!!!

Fuck.

Slept through the whole thing. Ah fuck it, I’m going back to sleep.

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AJAXed with AWP