Her Majesty

In this movie we are sent back in fifties of 20th century. It takes place in New Zeeland in a small town which is known by its cheese and rhododendron park.
In this town the camera is following the life of young girl Elisabeth (yes just like the princess) that adores Princess Elizabeth (yes she was princess back then). She really wants to meet her some day and that was the reason why she wrote her so many letters.
While she is waiting on her meeting with princess she is living her life with her family. Her father is a cheese factory owner, her mother is a housewife (and a member of city woman community) and her evil brother that is teasing her all the time.
One day she meets an old native (Maori) woman that is banned from everyday life and disrespected by anyone form the town. She is a descendant of Maori chief of this region.
We found out the horrible story of her father, who was ambushed and killed by newcomers because he got a present from king (two precious pistols) for his courage and faithfulness. The pistols were stolen from him and were now in possession of a town most known lady (who had a secret relationship with mayor).
One day the princess announces her arrival to the town. Everybody is excited and they all want to meet her.
The town Bitch (oops. Lady) wants to show her the rhododendron garden. However Elizabeth’s mothers wants to let princess see the cheese factory that has supported England during the war.
In the end it all runs well so the princess tries the cheese and she meets the old Maori woman and shows her respect. She does not visit the rhododendron garden. And the most important, young Elizabeth meets her bellowed princess Elizabeth.

Go-Carting

Yesterday we went to go-carting in BTC. This was my first time doing it. It was fun, really fun. There were four of us. I was the only rookie.
It goes like this. The man explains you how it all works. You have two paddles first is acceleration and the second is brake. The cars are all electrically powered, but they are still quite fast. Even thou I was a rookie I did not do so badly.
In eight minutes (yes that’s it) I managed to make my fastest lap in 33.650 sec. The track record is 27sec and something. The best from us had 31 sec and something more, only some hundreds of a second faster than the second form us. I was third and I believe it was not bad for the first time.
My roomy and I got these tickets for our birthday. We have one more each, so we will go back there soon.

World Trade Center

Well, how should I begin... I've watched movie in two parts (it was too late to watch the whole movie the first time) so I can say that the first part was about the day when the tragedy occurred it introduces the people that we will follow later on and what are their jobs. But not only this, it also shows the very moment of the tragedy.
The people did not know really what happened at first. The camera is following the police officers as they are commanded to go to WTC. At first they didn’t even know why, they just know that something bad happened and that a plane crashed into one of the towers.
When they arrive to the spot we follow the police commander (Nicolas Cage) and his crew as they are going into the tower one trying to help evacuating the people.
Soon after they enter the building they experience the worst thing – its crash. We can say that here is where the part one ends and part two starts.
In second part we see the two survived officers in the ruins. They can not get out by them selves so they are waiting for the rescue.
In the mean time the families of casualties are trying to find out what happened with their relatives. Are they alive? It shows their desperation and sadness.
The and is typically Hollywood like. Both of injured officers survive and one year later they have a picnic to celebrate their living.
I did not like the movie very much.

The Departed

Leonardo Di Caprio, Matt Damon and Jack Nicholson, great trio.
The movie is about a group of well organized criminals that are infiltrating the man into police forces to protect them from the police. But on the other hand the police is infiltrating their own men into this same group, so they would get inside information about what is going on in the gang.
The underground boss (Jack) is living his debauched life in peace, because he was having it all; much money, pretty girls, and no trouble from police. He pushed his nephew (Matt) into police school, then into Special Forces and then into detective school. So he knew what the police was doing all the time.
Meanwhile the police chief and his right hand recruit a guy (Leonardo) for a special task. He went undercover and joined the Jack’s gang and followed them everywhere. He even done bad things so he would not e recognized as a rat.
The funny thing was that both “rats” had the same shrink and they both fall for her. Matt even married her.
The movie shows the life of both “rats”. How they are giving up information and how they are hiding their real intensions. How they are doing things they would newer done in any other situation, and how they are afraid to get caught.
Good movie with lots of action and even some romance; but very sad ending.

Pary in Fužine

Yes. We had a little party at our place in Fužine (Ljubljana) on Wedensday. There were nine of us and we were playing a very own table strategy game “Saving the Galaxy” (I’ve just came up with this name).

GAME:
The game it self was quite good but there were too few of us (there should be more). The players were divided into three groups. Each group represents a civilization in a Galaxy. The story goes like this.
In the galaxy far far away there were three civilizations. The galaxy they were living in is running to its end. It is on collision course with another galaxy and that means definite end of all civilizations in the galaxy.
The civilizations are not aware of each other so they can not communicate (until they realize they are not alone and they invent interstellar communication device).
The goals of the game are to rescue the civilization out of dying galaxy to another one. To accomplish this, they must find the proper galaxy and build the ship that is capable of moving whole civilization.
That is why they must search the galaxy, gather new knowledge and resources.
The game is made so that rescue is possible only if all three civilizations are working together. They have different tasks and questions on their way to rescue.

We did not really finish the game (it took to much time), so we watched a movie Over the hedge and afterwards another movie Click.
The next day we tried how is to play PS2 on projector. It’s great, really great. BTW Soul Calibur III rox.

Dragon Storm

Well I just need the fiction fix. And that is why I have to look some fiction movies. Here is another one for today. It is a low budget movie so the action is much improvised. The story talks about dragon eggs that are falling from the sky and on the Earth the dragons are born. The story is taking place in 12th century and on ground of two kingdoms. One king that is longing for power and wealth and another one that is rightful and good to his people.
The dragons attack the first kingdom and the king flees to his neighbor for help and care. The second king gathers a group of adventurers to seek and slay the dragons. There are five dragons that are threatening the land. In the first run they kill two of the dragons.
While the group of dragon slayers is fighting for whole land the first king shows his greedy side and tries to take the crown of the second king. For a short time he even succeeds.
However later on the dragon slayers help the second king and he gets his kingdom back. But not just this, while they are rescuing the kingdom they kill the last dragon too.
There is also a love romance in the movie for all those who need one.

Legend of Earthsea

Do you remember the book from Ursula K. Le Guin that I wrote about (here). Well recently I discovered that SciFi had made a movie after that same book.
The story is not the same, but we can still recognize the characters and events from the book. It is a big difference how fast the things are going in the book and in the movie. In the movie the time flies by like mad, just as you would read the book on steroids. There are also many parts from the book that are missing in the movie and many parts that are totally different.
Even thou, the story is good and the effects are great. The play is good as well.
If you are a fiction lover it is a must see movie.

Farscape - The Peacekeeper Wars

Now that we found out about Babylon its right to tell something about another great SciFi original series Farscape. Since I haven't watched the series yet I can not tell you much about the series it self. But I have watched the very long movie that was filmed after the series and I believe takes place after the series too.
The movie is very long. Two main characters are also playing in newer episodes of Stargate SG1.
The story is great. Its about two great civilizations that are battling with each other just to prove who has bigger (ahm...) who is stronger. The main character from the movie is capable of spotting wormholes that could be potential weapons. However he does no yet poses the knowledge how to do that. Since no other means can convict the battling sides to stop fighting he asks his knowledge-manager (space-time ruler or something like that) to unlock the knowledge of wormhole weapon.
After heavy struggle for his survivor the main character uses the new knowledge and creates the destroying wormhole. He threats that all will be lost if they do not agree to peace treaty. Under thepressure of destroying wormhole both sides agree to make peace with each other. That is what the main character stops the doom. By doing that he loses all the knowledge about wormholes.
The end is happy. The main character gets a baby and they all live in peace.

Babylon 5 - The Legend of The Rangers

Some time ago there was a TV series named Babylon 5. There were also some mini-series with the same story background. And this is one of them.
The whole series (all five seasons) is great. Its about the fifth space station build by men to form alliance and provide space for marker and meeting of different races from all over the universe. It is also place where the main alliance meetings are and where the decisions are made that affect most of known universe.
During series we find out many things about history of different races and how they are living now. Later on there is a battle between alliance and dark forces.
In this perticular movi we are joining the rangers on one of their mission. and we find out the new enemy in the space. The story is quite good and the special effects are much better then in original series.

A Short History of Nearly Everything

Eventhou the style of title is borrowed from Hawkings book Short history of time; it really does not have much in common with that book. Well yes some parts of content from Hawkings book is explained in here as well. But that is just one very small part.
The book is truly about what the title says but is not short. It has over 400 great pages. It is about nearly everything. Now let us make short review of the book itself.

In the first part the book explains how the space was created. What are the newest theories about "The Beggining". What all could happened if there were just slightly different conditions. Why there should be the possibility of multiple universes and much more.
After that it explains the beginning of out solar system. Why are all the planets here? Another lucky moment that was needed for creation of solar system is described. And at the end of this part it tells us how big the space really is and how old it is.

In the second part we find out where Earth is. Why is that good for us? How big is the Earth? Well if we look it from our point of view it’s enormous, but if we compare it with other planets, stars of even galaxies its so small that no one can really imagine. We also find out how old is the Earth and how do we know that.

The third part tells us about world of small. It takes us to the journey to atoms and beyond. How did we find out that everything is made from really small pieces? Pieces so small that you can't see them even wit the microscope. And why this little pieces (atoms) are build even from smaller and smaller particles. We also find out that the atom is almost empty. There is a very small nucleus and far from it a surrounding cloud of electrons. All in between is empty. That means a lot and lot of empty space in the entire universe. We also get to meet some of finest scientists from this area of expertise (Einstein & Co.).

Part four tells us about structure of our planet. Why is it so warm, what are continents. How do we know that earth is liquid beneath the coat and has a solid core? When did the humankind realize that the continents are moving and why are they moving. Where do all the mountains come from? Why are there so many fossils on top of world highest mountains? What are Volcanoes and what caused many extinctions in Earths history.


Part five is the part where we meet the phenomenon of life. When did it appear? Why and how? Are we really all connected to our ancestors? How did the life evolve from its appearance to the latest days? Is the Darvins theory of evolution real? How did he came to that idea? The book describes the life from its smallest to its largest instances. Are microbes always bad for us? Are we really built from small living cells?

Last - sixth chapter is about evolution of modern human. Where did we come from? Was there single line from our departure from apes to modern human or were there many paths that intersected each other. When can we say that human really departure from our common ancestor (our as human and apes)? Why are we the "ruling" spices on the planet? Do we really make many other spices extinct?

And this is the end. Really great book. It makes you remember many things and teaches many new things too. It is instant dose of knowledge for all who wants it.

Dungeon Siege II - The Broken World

Yes, it is true. I play games. Rarely really, but I do. But I only play really good games. At least for my taste and my taste is very picky.

My favorite games are FRP (Fantasy Role-Playing Games). The best ones from these sack are arcade small party games with strong and good stories. My favorite ever from this sack is still Baldur’s Gate II: The Shadows of Amn. Let’s list some of these games:

Diablo II with expansion Lord of Destruction

Baldur’s Gate II: The Shadows of Amn with expansion Throne of Bhaal

Neverwinter Nights with expansions Shadows of Undertide and Hordes of The Underdark

Dungeon Siege with expansion Legends of Aranna

Dungeon Siege II with expansion The Broken World

Icewind Dale with expansion Heart of The Winter

Icewind Dale 2

World of Warcraft

These are my really favorite games of all times. And now at beginning of October I finished with DS2: The Broken World.

It was very good game. I enjoyed it every second. I did not do all the quests because I wanted to finish it as soon as possible (don’t have much time you know). It was still excellent.

I just don’t know what to add.

GREAT GAME

The Ark Sakura

The Ark Sakura is a book from Kobo Abe, a Japanese Sci-fi author.

It is very chaotic book about a man that believes that world is going to end very soon. He commits his life to build a shelter that will withstand the disaster of nuclear war. In the abandoned mine, he created almost all things man would need to survive such thing. He also gathered lots of food, drink and other necessities that a group of people would need. The main thin is toilet. But it is not the only one.

In book the main thread is weaved around his search for people that are worthy of surviving and would accept his leadership and his conditions. He find sectarian that fits his profile. He offers him a ticket on his “boat”. But because he was not careful enough two more people find out about his “thing”. And that is when all gets complicated. Things get more complex when we find out who is the owner of the “ship”, where did mole (nick of ship’s captain) get all the founds for things he has. Who is really a young beautiful girl that was deceiving him. What would he do just to be alone with her. Why is ha as fat as he is. Did he really rape a woman when he was young. Who are other people that live in abandoned mine. Where goes everything from his toilet. Why are traps that guards his “ship” disabled. Who is deceiving who. And in the end; did the nuclear war really started.

The book is quite good. But it doesn’t have much to do with Sci-fi. Well except the nuclear war. It explains relations and thoughts of individuals.

The Ant Bully

Well I don't really know how to say it. It was not good. Don't really know why. I've tried to watch it. Two times. But I couldn't get to the end of it.

Don’t know if I was too tired. But even if I was I would not fall in sleep if it would be good movie. As far as I watched it goes like this.

There is a young boy that is excommunicated by all other guys in the neighborhood and that is why he discharges his anger on anthill on their backyard. Some day the ant shaman creates a magic potion that makes boy smaller then the ants are.

For all the ants he is “The Destroyer”, killer of many ants. But now he is nothing. Most of ants despises him for what he has done. But some ants teach him about ants, their life their community, their habits, their food and many more.

Well this is as far as I can remember. Afterwards I blacked out in peace of sleep.

Garfield - A Tale Of Two Kitties

Do you remember small orange funny cat? Named Garfield? Well he’s back. This is second movie about this funny spoiled cat and it’s happening in London.
This time there is more then just one cat. In fact there are two of them and they both look just the same. The difference between them is that one is our well known Garfield but the other is royal cat called prince. After Prince’s owner dies she leaves great fortune to her cat. Se however has nephew who wants the fortune for him and that is why he wants to get rid of Prince.
He almost succeeds but his plans are thrown apart by Garfield, Prince and all the other castle animals. They work together to prevent him to get the fortune. And they succeed.
But they are not the only one that succeeds. Garfield’s owner finally finds guts to propose to love of his life. And so the end is just perfect.

Crank

Action movie with Jason Statham (Transporter 1 & 2) in main role.
The main actor is drugged with some “Chinese cocktail” that should make him dead in one hour. But there is one thing that keeps him running. It’s adrenalin. Because he produces so much adrenalin his heart does not stop and so doesn’t he until he gets the man who tried to kill him.
The camera effects are incredible in this movie. What all can men do just by setting camera at the right spot and take the right angle. It’s insane.
In the movie he tries to get rid of his job, a professional killer, and tries to spend more time with his girlfriend. But now he just can’t do that. He’s on the move all the time just to keep the adrenalin pumping.
In the end he dies by killing his own killer, he pulls him out of the helicopter.
If you like fast movies with lots of action and you have good stomach, and then this film is for you. If you want to see crazy camera this one shows that too.

Jack London's tales

Jack London, the author of world famous White Fang and Call of The Wild wrote many novels and books. Recently I read these novels.

The Sunlanders
The White Silence
The Faith of Men
In the Forests of the North
The Seed of McCoy

All but last on are talking about north America and people who discovered it and people who lived there for long time before that (that means north American Indians). He tales are written very well and describe the adventures and events very realistic. They show us what life was in his times and how different people are seeing same thing. The adventures that are described are some times not pleasant and rebound the hardness of life so far north.

Academic dance

Our student club, Šaleški študentski klub (ŠŠK), organized traditional academic dance last night. There were young, old and those in between. We gathered to recollect the memories on students’ years.
We, which are still students, organized the party that shows how new, young students (bruci) are accepted in community of other older students. The ritual of christening with honored most illustrious infallible green stardom which consist of honored most illustrious green czar, left spade, right spade, bruc mayor and fiskus. Those guys run the process with different tests tasks and in the end the oath.
The dance succeeded. There was even a secret guest – Oto Pesner. Like all the other years there was auction for different things: some pictures, grill, Montefiori towel and washing machine WOM (without motor). The auctioning was in wine bottles.
Before the dance there was pompous dinner.
It was quite great.