The Freestyle event blog used some of my pictures of the 8-Bit Ninjas and Tom Peel on their page.
The originals & many more can be found here on my Flickr page
These were all taken at the Bulls Head in Moseley on 15th July
Category Archives: General Blog
8-Bit Ninjas @ The Bulls Head Moseley, July 15th 2011
Another ace gig, with some brilliant acts on the same bill. A good show and some great dancing in the audience.
8-Bit Ninjas at The Wharf Bar, Walsall
8-Bit Ninjas, Played the Wharf Bar in Walsall on 9th July 2010.
iPhone v HTC Evo 4G video
Unfortunately the guy who made this lost his job with ‘Best Buy’….Stiil ‘Best Buy’ suck anyway
Video Shoot
Had a really entertaining day on Friday with Andy & Sam from the 8-Bit Ninjas and a whole host of actors & actresses shooting part of the video for ‘Disco Terror’ in Digbeth, Birmingham.
As part of the 2weeks2MakeItBrum competition, the 8-Bit Ninjas had been paired with filmakers ‘Emerald Void’. Having already completed a day shooting various scenes on the Thursday, the main event for the Friday was to take place on a derelict site near the Custard Factory in Birmingham. This was to be the scenes involving all the ‘extras’ that had been recruited for the day.
An early start saw us head to New St station to pick up Liam who had travelled down from Newcastle to be one of the main characters in the video.
A brief stop at Tesco Express to stock up on baby wipes and water was a brief diversion and gave Andy C plenty of comedy material to start off the day! (Don’t anybody mention ‘Meal Deal’ to Andy again…)
With Liam now safely accosted it was off to Digbeth ..and the joy of finding somewhere to park,….. followed by a visit to a greasy spoon for a bit of breakfast.
There was a sudden realisation that Liam was not suitably attired for the part he was due to play, so it was a dash up to Primark in the Bull Ring for some cheap clothes before heading off back to the site to meet up with the film and makeup crew.
First task was to get Liam into his custom hi-tech suit…
Meanwhile a steady stream of volunteer actors and actresses started to turn up and were lovingly dispatched to the temporary makeup area for a bit of ‘zombification’.
The day then unfolded as scene after scene was committed to Digicam, people crawled in the dust, spouted fake blood and stood patiently ‘between scenes’ getting well and truly sunburnt. Meanwhile Liam, without a hint of complaint, was treated to a good 6 or 7 hours standing around wrapped up in his robot suit come sauna.
There is a nice little slideshow of some images here…
The Zombies were brilliant. The make up was awesome and very effective and everyone took on the parts really well. The film makers really seemed to have a good understanding of what they wanted to achieve and were very well organised.
The day wrapped up nicely, the importance of sufficient ‘baby wipes’ was highlighted in the clean up operation and everyone had a good time.
The competition closes this Friday and the video is now in production/editing. Personally, I had a wonderful time, met some interesting people and I can’t wait to see the finished video.
My Top Ten Films
My Top Ten Films
OK. So I thought with all the movies I have watched over the years I would compile my “Best Of” list
Now this may not match up with yours and the criterion is a bit varied. These are films I love for different reasons; either they are just fantastic screenplays, brilliantly acted or just feel-good movies.
Either way it has taken me a bit of thinking and some films just missed out on the top ten.
OK then, in no particular Order I give you my favourite movies list.
The Matrix: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0133093/
I like films that leave you thinking. This was so original in its concept and execution…. it is just awesome.
The Shawshank Redemption: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0111161/
This fits in the Feel-good category, but it is also a brilliant screenplay and brilliantly acted.
Saving Private Ryan: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120815/
What can you say, re-defines war movie genre. Cinematography is superb. You are in the film from the start.
2001 A Space Odyssey: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0062622/
Another thinking film…Just leaves you turning things over in your head and so ahead of its time.
Terminator 2: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0103064/
One of the Sci-Fi daddies…Robots, Guns and awesome special effects…and Arnie in a role that fitted.
Pulp Fiction: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0110912/
Tarrantino…once you get used to the timeline hoping…just outstanding.
Duck Soup: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0023969/
The Marx bros at their best….just full of so many one liners and jokes, I never tire of this film.
Back to the Future: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088763/
Fun, Fun and more Fun. Silly in execution but it has time travel….In a wacky way….with a De-lorean car
Lock Stock & Two Smoking Barrels: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120735/
Awesome plotline, and succeeds with its mix of wacky characters, despite the contributions of Sting and Vinnie Jones. Comedy & crime superbly mixed.
Monty Python & The Holy Grail: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071853/
Just down right stupid and appeals to my sense of humour.
The following films just missed out:
Life of Brian: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0079470/
Ditto..as for The Holy Grail….
Moon http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1182345/
On a similar level to 2001. Awesome result on a low budget…brilliant acting and story.
I-Robot http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0343818/
I love Asimov’s storyline in this and it is pretty well executed.
Pink Floyd The Wall: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0084503/
OK, you really have to be a Pink Floyd Fan for this…but just a brilliant showcase for the album and Gerald Scarfe’s contribution is awesome.
The Sixth Sense: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0167404/
Good Story …..with a brilliant twist. One of those thinking ones…
The Great Escape: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0057115/
One of the Feel-good ones and one that still has a British feel to it even with huge American stars involved.
Close Encounters of the Third Kind http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075860/
It was this or Star Wars, both kind of blew Cinema apart in the late 1970’s. I go for this because it was just so epic. (it was borderline)
ET: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083866/
The ultimate feel good movie. Ok, it’s not meant to be realistic but you get so involved in this movie. Awesome.
Winding up a Blues Fan
Had loads of fun on Facebook…baiting a Blues fan..
He took the bait…and he obviously got his dictionary out to discuss things in a rational manner..
I had fun..
**UPDATE**
But he hadn’t finished….
I think I’ll leave it at that….
No Fly Zone
Interesting watching and tracking what is happening regarding the airspace issue and the Icelandic ash cloud.
UK airspace was spookily quiet for most of the day on 20th April with only a few overflights at altitudes well above the 20,000ft extent of the ash.
However rumours and hints that UK airports would re-open later on in the evening prompted British Airways to allow some long haul flights to leave their destinations heading for Heathrow & Gatwick.
Using the RadarVirtuel website it was quite fascinating (if your an aviation geek like me) to watch what was happening with this inbound traffic.
BA flight 74 from Lagos destined for Heathrow was put into a hold over northern France waiting for Heathrow to open.
BA Flight 84 from Vancouver suffered a similar fate..
and BA 274 from San Francisco was forced into a loop off the coast of Ireland..
At least they looked like they would make Heathrow when it was scheduled to open at 22:00 hrs..
Another BA flight from Asia was forced into a flash aerial tour of Holland before being diverted to Brussels. I am assuming that it probably didn’t have enough fuel for a 4 hour hold !
It looks like it will take a week or so to try and get things back to normal…assuming we don’t get another eruption that is.
Mom’s 70th Birthday
A great night…1940’s theme at Fairfield Church Hall.
A display of Morris Dancing got a bit wierd with some audience participation…
I Call this the “Morris Dance Mash Up”…
Can you spot Captain Mainwaring and Herr Flick?
The Photographs can be found HERE
Digital Economy Bill, Democracy=Fail
The Digital Economy Bill was rushed through the House of Commons last night thanks mainly to party whips and backdoor dealing between the the Labour Government and Tories. The Lib Dems kinda showed up but forgot to bring any balls.
Thousands wrote to their MP’s asking that this be debated properly and not rushed through in the ‘Wash-Up’.
Thousands were ignored by the very people meant to represent them.
Of course probably 90% of the voters out there don’t even follow what’s going on in enough detail to understand just how much of our genuine freedom and democracy was lost last night.
The censorship will soon start. The Goverment will decide what you can and can’t look at on the Internet firmly backed by those business lobbyists who have power and influence over policy.
If I write something on here and the Government or business don’t like it, they can shut me down.
They can now silence their critics and anything they don’t agree with.
Some people have put it better than me, please read this
I will no longer vote for any of these incumbent political parties who joined forces to well and truly introduce Totalitarian Government to Britain.
Lobbying by business takes precedence over YOUR views.
The sooner I can get off this sinking ship that is the UK the better.
This is an eye opener in to how Parliament works for MP’s and lobbyists and not for you. Democracy doesn’t work
…and if you want to know how they voted, or those that didn’t even turn up..Here