Well as you know, my reviews here are pretty much exclusive of older films. So with that in mind, here’s a film from 2009! Staring Quinton Aaron (Michael Oher) and Sandra Bullock (Leigh Anne Touhy) who won an Oscar for her leaden role in the film.

Based on a true story, the film follows the story of, big friendly and slow black giant from the projects in Memphis Tennessee. With little education in his life, does not know his father and his mom is a crack addict, life is not nice for Michael. By chance, he is given a a place at a Christian school by their football coach who sees Michael as their star defender.

Being a huge late teenager starting in a class with kids barely in their teens, life is at first hard for Michael at his new school. However little child, S.J Tuohysees the giant as a lost soul and make friends with the big guy. One wet, cold night, while making his way to the gym or as he knows it “home”, the child’s parents chance upon Michael and give him a roof for the night at their sizeable home.

One night turns into weeks and slowly but surely they build a bond between them and realise his talent for defending not only in football but in life itself. The key to his future though relies on him needing to graduate and so hires a private tutor (Kathy Bates), a role no doubt helped by that fact she was born in Tennessee.

At first though despite his size and protective nature, he does not do too well at football and his coach has no clue how to teach the giant bear how to play the game.

So in steps Leigh Anne and shows Michael what he needs to do in the only way he can relate to, from there on in football is his future.

He ends up being the the first draft pick for the NFL in 2009.

So that’s the basic outline and I have to say I love this film. I hate to use the term “feel good film”, because, well, in most cases it’s a film and people watch films as an escapism not as a guiding light.

But given that this is based (fairly strongly) on fact I can see this as a feel good film. Not that most can benefit from it and make a change for the better (that’s what I call a real “feel good film/documentary”); however it is a film that lifts the spirit and even shed a tear for sadness growing into joy.

As mentioned, Sandra Bullock won the leading actress for her role. I’m a HUGE Sandra fan, but she’s a very hard cause to fight for. Ever since Speed, much of her film career has been stinkers, but I can’t help but love her. However, in this she does play a blinder of a role, akin to Julia Roberts‘ role in Erin Brockovich though I think Julia did far better than Sandra.

There are big similarities, being a strong based-on-fact woman and a role vastly different from their norm. Both are incredibly good looking for their age, however Julia certainly pulls of the push-up bra better than Sandra does in this film (which must surely have been deliberate). But, and this is a big but, it was fantastic to see Sandra actually work for her money.

To see her in this role proves that she has been a wasted talent and I would assume she hasn’t had many roles like this given to her. I can only imagine she leapt at the chance to be in this film. Sadly it seems, it’s not been a case of a career revival and has been given more roles like this.

The big centre point in this film is the deep south of love, of God and with Christianity overcoming racism. At points the black card is played and is better dealt with in some scenes than others, but given that allegedly the real Tuohy’s applied a big part in this adaptation, time constraints played more than their part in this.

Credit has to go to the other members of the family who make this feel like a great household to depart of. Much credit has to go to Jae Head. His closeness to Michael looks and feel genuine as the whole family takes this stranger and make him instantly a part of the family. Their religion is never forced down are throats as actually Christianity per se, but having not read the book, this is possibly Hollywood glossing over a few aspects of the real events.

Overall I really liked this film, while it was obvious it was “Sandra’s time” at the Oscars she has not moved much from the rom-coms since, she played a great role as does Quinton in his. This makes for defending the Sandra Bullock Fan Club a harder cause to fight for. After the massive disappointment of Johnny English Reborn which was watched immediately preceding this, it was a great watch.

Reviewed by Invisiblekid

The major reason for me upgrading was that my contract with O2 was at an end and I wanted a change. 3G coverage with O2 is terrible (in my area at least). At work, 3 was the only one with a 3G signal and their all you can eat data plan with the ‘One Plan’ is the only plan on any network for non business users. Deal. So far they have been exceptional with the ability to stream content at work (useful for lunchtime entertainment) and great coverage and speeds. I get 4-5mb at work with a mate’s iPhone 4 getting at least 2mb less, so at least the HSDPA+ abilities of the 4s are a great bonus. In stronger areas I get 6-8mb, which is great for iTunes downloads on the fly. Not close to it’s max rated speeds, but that’s not Apple’s fault and we’re even less likely to reach those than the US.

Well let’s get the big issue out the way. Yes it looks exactly the same as the iPhone 4, and to be honest, I don’t care. I’ve always liked the design and having it again is no problem. I’ll admit it would have been nice to have a new shape, if only to shut up the jibes from Android owners at work. My girlfriend wants a Galaxy S II and while it’s thin, it doesn’t feel or look as nice. So for this, I’m still a happy bunny.

As many Android users remind me, the iPhone has now just caught up with their S II’s, only with a smaller screen. Huh, okay but looking at web pages still trounce yours and for the foreseeable future, I think we have all now hit a power/battery limit and now it is all about the software. So on that note, here’s my thoughts on iOS 5 and the features that I use the most.

My old iPhone was jailbroken, and since only a tethered jailbreak is out for iOS 5, I’ll be reviewing this as intended by Apple.

PC free meant that by the time I walked out the shop, the phone was up and running. Now that was something that was long over due. Okay so it’s only something you do once, but it’s still very nice. This then leads to wireless syncing which again was something that we suffered for far to long, (jailbreaking aside).

Despite this being such a huge release, we still get same 4×4 icon layout and dock. I don’t see any reason why Apple is sticking so rigidly to this. With pages of apps and folders, I need more than the four shortcuts Apple offer in the dock.

Finally we get Notifications! It may eat your battery, but they are well done and it provides a great shortcut to open the app it was taken from. It may only be a couple of touches to do the same, but shortening a process is rarely a bad thing. It looks great and is very customisable, but why, oh why, can’t I open notifications from the lock screen?! Having to unlock the phone to check completely defeats the point since I’ve already done half the work to opening a specific app!

iMessage is a great touch, with quicker sending and receiving. But with so many texts no bundled with your contract or top-up, the ‘for free’ boast is hardly the biggest pull. They only issue is a delay in sending when your intended receiver in not on 3G or wireless. An option to send as text or iMessage each time would be nice rather than ‘on or off’ or ‘If iMessage is not available’.

I also love the new Safari with ‘Reader’. I use this all the time on my MacBook Pro and iMac, so its great to see this finally in the iPhone. Not much else is new or else on the iPad which is my newest purchase and yet to be explored fully, along with newsstand, which I find pretty pointless for the phone.

Next up Twitter, which contributed to a HUGE uptake of new members myself included. It’s slick quick and well, pretty awesome. I’m yet to get fully savvy and when on nights my postings are rare, but I love it and another reason not to go anywhere near Facebook.

And so to Siri. I find it very odd, that Apple would given the millions of new users something that is in beta. I can’t think of anything else recently that Apple gave to the public that was beta. If I was bold, I’d say that due to Apple knowing no new design would not be all that well received, giving us Siri was a must. But then since when did Apple and Steve Jobs give a shit about what we thought?

Beta or not, Siri has a major problem. Outside the US it is crippled by not having maps or business’ added. That leaves us UK people with a great access to Wolfram Alpha, ad-free Google and ways to add reminders etc, but also gives us a very boring Siri. Tell Siri in the US you are horny and you will get escort agencies(!), or being told where to bury a body when asked… But sending texts and playing music is really useful and it’s something I regularly use when travelling in the car. Setting reminders like “ring mum when I get home” is very cool, however, anything where Siri needs to track your movement is a problem. Since doing so then enable the location abilities of the phone and so unless your charging the iPhone, wave bye bye to your battery.

The other problem Siri has is the embarrassment factor. Not many people will find it too comfortable to do all these things where anyone can hear them. Probably it may be the fact that no-one has done it before. But this kind of interacting with our gadgets is only going to get more and more standard and so this is only be beginning, so I expect Siri and Android’s versions will become commonplace and just another way to use your mobile.

Finally we come to the much improved camera. Now I am not a massive fan of camera’s on phones since they usually suck and of little use. For serious stuff of course my digital SLR is still the only thing to have and phones will never ever replace these. But as the camera on mobiles get better and better, at the standard of the one we find on the iPhone 4S I certainly have found myself taking more pictures when out about. Dark scenes are still a problem and this won’t change since the sensors will always be the weak point. But as certain improvement to the iPhone 4, I have to say it’s a half decent shooter.

On the video side it is pretty impressive also shooting 1080p at 30 frames per second. As Apple have said, it’s the best video shooter I’ve ever owned. However, the inability to zoom while shooting is a bummer. Why this is I do not know, but it’s a common place on phones. Get this sorted and I’ll be super happy with shooting video on a phone.

All these features are handled very nicely with the 4S thanks to it’s dual core A5 chip. It’s not massively quicker dotting around the user interface, but it never falters either like the old iPhone 4 did. It’s always speedy and I cannot wait for optimised apps for the 4S, Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto, I’m looking at you!

Just as a quick note at first my battery life was diabolical, but disabling the auto time zone sorted it for me. Also disabling the a few ‘System Service’ location options helped further still, and now it’s as good my old iPhone. However since browsing with 3G is so much better, I find I use my phone more, so lose out in that respect!

However, despite all the nice changes, I miss my jailbroken features. I’m not talking the free loading Installous, since how can you not afford 69p for some great games, cheapskates. Nah I really am talking about homebrew. When an untethered jailbrake is released, I could not resist. One of the best things you can get is SBSettings. This gives you ultra quick access to turning Wi-Fi/Bluetooth etc. I cannot fathom why turning Bluetooth on/off is buried under six actions from a locked phone. Wi-Fi is better as it’s on the main settings, so why not Bluetooth? Linking my iPhone to the car is always a race before it times out.

The other thing I missed most is BiteSMS. This has been slightly tempered by Notifications’ action of not stopping whatever your doing to display a text. But Bite goes one better by letter you text while playing a game, or the ability to text from any screen. Press volume, then touch the Bite icon and your texting where ever you are on the iPhone. Very, very useful.

So Apple has gone some distance to make the iPhone more seamless, but as with just about any hackable device the home devs are way in front. Remember, just about everything in iOS 5 has come from jailbreaking or Android or someone else having an idea Apple didn’t want? Remember the volume as shutter button? So as soon as an untethered jailbreak is out (Google it if you don’t know what that means), then I don’t think I could resist.

But overall, the iPhone 4S is a great phone and as I tell everyone, it’s a better phone than the iPhone 4 in every way. Also being a better network has opened the iPhone as so much more than I am used to. Is the mobile better enough for every iPhone 4 user to upgrade? Well no, but for iPhone 3G or 3GS owners, it’s a no brainer. I was just in the right position to upgrade that it was worth doing and with the excellence of 3, I’m very glad I did.

Here’s some links
http://www.iphonehacks.com/2009/02/sbsettings-offers-faster-method-to-manage-your-iphone-settings.html
http://bitesms.com/
http://www.tuaw.com/2011/10/28/10-cool-things-you-can-do-with-wolfram-alpha-and-siri/
http://vimeo.com/30606785 – 4S video versus the Canon 5D mk II

Extensive review by Invisiblekid.

Earlier this week, Rockstar Games sent the interweb and social network into a crazed when a teaser trailer on the upcoming Grand Theft Auto V was release.

You can click on the video above to see the new game in action and first impressions are we are going back to San Andreas!

I have been a big fan of the Grand Theft Auto series, ever since the British game developer DMA Design – who are now Rockstar North – made the classic 1997 overhead view action game in the original GTA. Sure, it was full of controversy when the game went on sale – and to this day the various GTA games still cause many controversial moments with many themes and issues.

I used to play the PC version to death, perfecting the handbrake turn with a touch on the spacebar and completing the many missions escaping from rival gangs and the police, that my desktop computer crashes every time due to long excessive plays!

I even got the special mission pack for the original GTA when the setting switched to London in the 1960s. The game play made it really addictive to drive fast, kill bad guys and escape with many wanted attention from the police!

Grand Theft Auto 2 was release in 1999 with enhancement to the visuals, city activities, missions and game play. I actually found GTA2 to be quite difficult to play and didn’t enjoy it as much as I would like compared to the original.

But my feelings were soon dismissed when the impressive third-dimension environment in Grand Theft Auto III was released in 2001. The breakthrough in creating 3D visuals in the life, breathing fictional place called Liberty City (based on New York City) was simply amazing and even though the game is celebrating its tenth anniversary this year, I still find it fun and engaging to play.

What made GTA III so special? The ability to fully explore all the parts of Liberty City in 3D was quite refreshing. The various radio stations and characters made the city came alive, plus the chance to create havoc with a host of destructive weapons made it entertaining and amusing.

I have many copies of GTA III on various formats including the PlayStation 2, PC and Mac. Rockstar Games are now marking this special tenth anniversary milestone by releasing it on handheld consoles including the iPad 2 and iPhone 4S. It will be fascinating to see and play without the aid of physical buttons, especially on the iOS devices.

The impressive 3D game engine developed by RenderWare allowed Rockstar Games to develop rich environments full of detail and life. In 2002, the setting of GTA was changed to the 1980s with the awesome Grand Theft Auto: Vice City.

In my mind, this is my favourite in the series. The wonderful 1980s soundtrack made it so special as you drive past the Miami-inspired city of neon lights, beaches and high-rising buildings creating mayhem along the way! The voice acting, story and missions made a joy to play and it’s not surprising to hear that many gamers still favour Vice City as their most-liked GTA.

Rockstar Games actually made spin-offs on GTA III and GTA: Vice City for the PlayStation Portable (and was later adapted to the PlayStation 2) with Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories. The two games were set in a different timeline to the originals with new characters, story and missions. I brought these titles for the PSP when it was first released in 2005-06 and even though I was impressed by the ability to play GTA on a handheld console, I wasn’t pleased by the long loading (blame the UMD disc) and short battery life on Sony’s portable gaming machine.

In 2004, Rockstar Games unveiled their most ambitions GTA with Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. The game was set in 1992 focusing on California gang life and the awakening of the drug epidemic brought on by crack cocaine. The setting was in the fictional state of San Andreas, which was based on some California and Nevada cities, specifically Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Las Vegas. Their counterparts are Los Santos, San Fierro, and Las Venturas respectively.

Like the other GTA in the series, San Andreas composed of elements from driving games and third-person shooters, and features open-world game play that gives you full control in the 3D environment. For the first time in the series, you can customise your cars and character, and even interactive sexual relationships!

I was impressed by the huge, expansive world in GTA: San Andreas. The chance to gamble in the Las Venturas casinos, fly aeroplanes over San Fierro and performing drive-by shooting in Los Santos was mind-blowing. The large gaming environment made it fun to play but so easily get lost due to the many interactions with characters and side-missions.

Embarrassingly, to this day I have yet to complete the final mission in San Andreas when I got this game on the PlayStation 2. I have since brought the many versions available on the PC, Mac and Xbox but still unable to find the time to complete it!

By that time, I have invested in new consoles such as the Nintendo DS, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Nintendo GameCube and Nintendo Wii playing a whole host of different games that I never went back to San Andreas! Yes, it’s a real shame but not to worry, Rockstar Games had an exciting title up their sleeve.

And that was the spectacular-looking Grand Theft Auto IV. Running on a new game engine, the Rockstar Advanced Game Engine (RAGE) plus the Euphoria physics engine, GTA IV was technically brilliant. The level of detail was striking and playing it in full High Definition on my Xbox 360 back in 2008 made it a complete joy.

Grand Theft Auto IV had a much more realistic game play than its predecessors, especially on the vehicle handling. The game once again takes place in a redesigned Liberty City that very closely resembles New York City, much more than previous renditions. In fact, you can visit the Empire State Building, the Statue of Liberty and Times Square in GTA IV.

I simply love GTA IV. The music from the various radio stations, the humour, the missions and the different characters you interact with made this game so enjoyable to play. I even purchased the two downloadable content – Grand Theft Auto: The Lost and Damned and Grand Theft Auto: The Ballad of Gay Tony to expanded the fantastic game play.

The multiplayer mode in GTA IV was also great. The ability to join and host an Xbox Live party with my mates competing in races, missions and other fun activities made it a real pleasure. Amazingly, GTA IV is still in the top ten of most played multiplayer on Xbox Live to this day despite being an old game!

With the release of that trailer on Wednesday, November 2nd 2011 as the next Grand Theft Auto, the level of attention and coverage from gaming blogs, websites and magazines is sure to put big pressure on Rockstar North to fulfil everyone’s expectations and desires in Grand Theft Auto V.

After watching that short video clip, I am full of excitement into what’s in store in Grand Theft Auto V. The graphics do look incredible over what was quite an impressive-looking Grand Theft Auto IV.

The setting in Grand Theft Auto V is Los Santos, the fictional version of Los Angeles and its California surroundings, including Hollywood (Vinewood) and rural hills and valleys.

Rockstar Games announced that Grand Theft Auto V was in full development and that it would take place within Los Santos and its “surrounding hills, countryside and beaches”, and that it would be “the largest and the most ambitious game Rockstar has yet created”.

Rockstar parent Take-Two calls GTA V “a bold new direction in open-world freedom, story telling, mission-based game play and online multiplayer,” while confirming that its story will focus on “the pursuit of the almighty dollar in a re-imagined, present-day Southern California.”

The most telling aspect is what platform this game is coming out on. Will it be the usual suspects with the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC? Plus there were no details on release date. Only Rockstar Games has the answer and after watching that teaser trailer, I want to find out more!

After months of deliberating whether to sign up to Twitter, I have now taken the action to use this social network once and for all. Although it will take me a while to customise the settings just the way I like it…

At least, I have added a nice background image to give it a sense of identity. The words of my favourite films, television shows, music and Formula One drivers form the shape of a racing car! Clever bit of typography that.

Right, be sure to follow me @walkingleaf79 and I will try my best to ‘tweet’ any random thoughts or news items I have discovered on the net.

The Cobb BBQ really is the ultimate in portable BBQs. This thing goes anywhere you can and even carried there while cooking on it!

Originally developed for use in Africa, it meant people could cook in rural areas without electricity and minimising the risk of causing fires using dried corn cobs for fuel. Since it’s inception, it has been developed and improved and is now a world wide success. Needing only a few charcoal briquettes or just a single Cobble Stone, this is more than just a BBQ. It’s a portable cooking system with the ability to smoke, fry (stir and griddle), grill, bake and even make pizzas on. It’s unique design means you can put it anywhere and even pick it up while cooking, thanks to it’s stay cool sides and base. The heat source is isolated within the base so there is no direct contact to the outside of the cooker.

There really is no limit to what you can cook on this, from the usual burgers to whole chickens and joints. Around the where you add the briquettes is a moat where you can add water, beer or wine to keep your food moist or add flavour. The moat also acts as fat collector as the bundled grill grid is slightly dome with holes around the edge, so any fat can run off into the moat. This means there are no flare-ups and little smoke, so you can even use this indoors! You can also add veg or small potatoes in the moat to cook so a proper Sunday roast can be made on this thing.

Right, that’s the story, now what is it like, really. Hah! It’s awesome! Having done all manner of things on it I can confirm this is brilliant. As I mentioned, this is more than just a BBQ, it’s more like a charcoal oven (as described by The Hairy Bikers). Using the lid is essential for cooking most things, due to the fact that your only using a few briquettes it needs the lid to create the heat needed. During the first few uses, means you must suppress the temptation to keep checking the food. However the flip side to this is it makes for a more sociable cook, as you can relax and have a drink or more with your friends and family.

My first attempt with the Cobb was jacket potatoes and the Cobble Stone as the heat source. The Stones are made from Bamboo and wood, which come as a single round brick that fits perfectly in the heat rack. Just light, wait for 4-5 minutes and your ready to cook with enough heat for 2 hours. Having just microwaved potatoes for a few minutes to give them a head start, they were drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with rock salt and wrapped in foil. Using an additional grill rack that sits onto of the holed grill, allows the food to suspended above the heat just like a traditional BBQ. With the lid on about 60 minutes later then were done to perfection. Crispy skins and hot fluffy insides, nice.

Further attempts were the usual affair with burgers, sausages and the like. All came out great and using some cherry tree wood chunks placed on top of the Cobble Stone gave them a great taste, though it does mean indoor cooking is a no-no due to the smoke. My most recent use was the big one, a whole chicken. Seasoned with some rub and stuff with a lemon and rosemary with wine poured into the moat. Cheap wine is only required given the amount needed and primitive requirements from coking with it. Fearing the time needed to cook throughly, I used some highly recommended Australian Heat Beads. These burn very hot for a bit longer than the Cobble Stones, it is also easy to add more if needed. Around 80 minutes later the chicken was excellent, being flavoursome, moist and well cooked.

Make no mistake, this is not a party cooking machine. Being portable means it’s not got the biggest cooking area and needing to keep the lid on, means en masse cooking needs a bit of organising. But that’s not the point of the Cobb. So, up to this point, there has been no failures, just great food. Bad things? Well yes there are a couple. By the time you add all the accessories it’s not cheap, £200 nearly for everything in the range. There are five cooking pans if you will and I have and want to use all of them, then the bamboo chopping board is great as you can put the meat on it to rest with the lid on top to keep wee beasties out. The board has a groove around the edge so the lid sits perfectly on without sliding should you need to move it. I didn’t get it at the time, but you can get an extension to the lid so you have more room inside to cook bigger chickens etc, and that is needed also in my opinion.

The other bad thing is cleaning it. On a traditional BBQ, you’ll probably just clean the cooking rack and that’s it. Here, you need to clean everything and since it’s a cooker (BBQ that means grease) oil, burnt bits and all. While it’s not too bad at home with hot soapy water and a wire scourer (it’s also dishwasher safe), camping out will require hot water. Just in a tent in a field? Hmm not so good.

But overall, I just love it. I’ve always wanted a proper smoker, but most are too big and if you only want to do a chicken or some ribs, it s bit overkill. So this is perfect to smaller things, is very easy to use and given it can go anywhere, cleaning aside, very practical. Highly recommended indeed.

Here’s some useful links:

US Cobb website
UK site
YouTube

Article by Invisiblekid.

Three years ago, I went to see a truly spectacular rock show from Muse at London’s Wembley Stadium. It was an amazing experience and even the special recorded album H.A.A.R.P. made the gig even more memorable.

Fast-forward to 2010 and with the recent success of the band’s fifth album The Resistance, it’s great to hear the new tracks like United States of Eurasisa, Uprising and Undisclosed Desires live in front of thousands of enthusiastic Muse fans.

The popularity of Muse made it quite a challenge to purchase the tickets and in fact, it was a stroke of good luck that I managed to get through straightaway at Seetickets minutes before the tickets were made available to buy!

It was a nerve-racking experience as all the hotlines were jammed and many ticket websites crashed due to the rush of tickets…

Luckily I made that important phone call just before 9.00 am and I decided to purchase a group ticket for my close friends and to attend both dates – Friday, September 10th and Saturday, September 11th.

After receiving a confirmation email, I was able to relax about the prospect of attending the gig at Wembley Stadium. Not surprisingly, the tickets were sold out in a matter of minutes and yet the event wouldn’t happen until TEN MONTHS LATER! For your information, tickets went on sale in November 2009.

Over that long period, Muse played at many festivals around the world including headlining Glastonbury and playing at the London O2 Arena.

When it was time for a return back to Wembley, you knew that the band were planning something special with rumours of UFOs flying around and playing the whole Exogenesis for the first time.

In the actual event on that September 2010 weekend, Muse put on an incredible show (see the photographs) and my close friends loved every moment of it.

The band opened with Uprising, a thrilling hybrid of glam-rock guitars. Muse front man Matthew Bellamy was brilliant. He was certainly enjoying himself in front of an enthusiastic crowd. As for Chris Wolstenholme (bass guitar) and Dominic Howard (drums), the pair even had a jammin’ session on a small, moveable platform with flashing lights!

There were many highlights including Stockholm Syndrome, Time Is Running Out and the brilliant Knights of Cydonia. The huge crowd in the ‘mosh pit’ went crazy with the guitar riffs from Plug In Baby. In addition, the magical trapeze artist suspended from a UFO when Muse performed Exogenesis: Symphony Part 1 (Overture).

It was an incredible gig, complete with two encores, spectacular lighting from the giant stage with superb video projections made this rock show so memorable.

The complete set list played on Friday, September 10th:

Uprising
Supermassive Black Hole
New Born
Neutron Star Collision (Love Is Forever)
Butterflies & Hurricanes
Guiding Light
Hysteria
Nishe
United States Of Eurasia
I Belong To You (+Mon Cœur S’ouvre à Ta Voix)
Feeling Good
MK Jam
Undisclosed Desires
Resistance
Starlight
Time Is Running Out
Unnatural Selection

Encore 1:
Soldier’s Poem
Exogenesis: Symphony Part 1 (Overture)
Stockholm Syndrome

Encore 2:
Take A Bow
Plug In Baby
Knights of Cydonia

And this is the set list on Saturday, September 11th:

Uprising
Supermassive Black Hole
MK Ultra
Map of the Problematique
Bliss
Guiding Light
Hysteria
Citizen Erased
Nishe
United States Of Eurasia
Ruled by Secrecy
Feeling Good
MK Jam
Undisclosed Desires
Resistance
Starlight
Time Is Running Out
Unnatural Selection

Encore 1:
Exogenesis: Symphony Part 1 (Overture)
Stockholm Syndrome

Encore 2:
Take A Bow
Plug In Baby
Knights of Cydonia

I went to see one of the most famous metal rock band in the world, Metallica, at the former home of the Millennium Dome this month. The gig itself was simply spectacular with impressive fireworks, lighting effects and of course, the epic guitar solos from the band.

The O2 Arena itself was also amazing as I’ve never been to the Millennium Dome before. The sheer number of bars, shops and restaurants at the venue heavily distracted me. So much in fact, I’ve missed one of the support bands on stage! Not to worry of course, as I had a seat allocated for me.

In one particular bar, a special tournament was being held offering the chance to play the new Guitar Hero: Metallica video game. I didn’t have the opportunity to play the music rhythm game, as it was more fun watching the other people performing on stage to the ultra tricky Metallica songs!

As for the real deal, it was fantastic to see Metallica performing their greatest hits in front of thousands of enthusiastic Metallica fans. The atmosphere was electric and I loved every moment of it!

The highlight was Cyanide, The End of The Line, One, Master of Puppets and of course, the epic Enter Sandman.

After the two-hour performance, I was left feeling more. And thanks to this ace link on the official website, you can now download the complete set list. I would recommend the FLAC format for the true sounding experience!

My annual visit to Birmingham’s NEC to attend the Autosport International Show is often the highlight of the new year. As this is my opportunity to meet up with my good friends and see some racing cars/stars up close and personal.

The high point was of course was the F1 Racing stand and unique for this year, a special car display celebrating the past British Formula One world champions. From the likes of Jackie Stewart’s Tyrrell, James Hunt’s McLaren, to Nigel Mansell’s Williams and Lewis Hamilton’s 2008-spec McLaren. It’s amazing to see these cars all in the same area and it is fascinating how the advancement in technology and aerodynamics has changed the shape and look of the cars over the past five decades.

Another highlight was the David Coulthard stand, featuring a collection of the Scotsman race cars. Seeing DC’s little go-kart alongside his Formula Vauxhall and Williams-Renault is amazing and you have to wonder how much all these cars, race suits and helmets cost… I wasn’t surprised by the amount of extra security protecting the DC collection from the public.

Unlike my last visits, I wasn’t able to attend the Live Action Arena, as there was a mishap in purchasing the tickets. It didn’t matter anyway, as I spent this free time wandering around, taking photographs and asking for autographs from the racing stars.

This year’s Pistol Head performance car show was quite low-key. Instead of a large collection of exotic supercars, this year it was all about the BMW M3 and Porsche 911.

In fact, the whole Autosport show felt downscaled. The new layout didn’t help and after visiting the main attractions, you are left with little else to see… Which is a shame, as past events made this annual trip to the NEC worthwhile.

Still, at least I came away with some free stuff given out by those promo girls. So I shouldn’t complain too much!

Back in 2007, I went with a group of friends to see the Race of Champions at Wembley Stadium. The event was really entertaining as seeing the world’s best drivers from different disciplines of motor racing, competing in evenly matched cars, around a figure-of-eight circuit was a real highlight to the end of the year.

So for 2008, I invited some more friends who have yet to experience this sporting event and even though I purchased cheaper tickets online, the view from our seats was better than the year before!

From our seating position, you can see all of the track and with the competition so close, the atmosphere made the event felt more like a football match than a racing contest.

Just like last year, Team Germany won the Nations Cup thanks to the driving talent of seven times Formula One world champion Michael Schumacher and Grand Prix sensational Sebastian Vettel. In the main event, it was world rally champion Sebastien Loeb who took the honours, but the Frenchman had to fight hard against David Coulthard in the final.

The recently retiree Formula One racer was in a real competitive mood and it was quite surreal to see DC challenging the likes of Loeb, Schumacher and (Carl) Edwards, as previous years Coulthard would have been knocked out in the very first round…

In addition, DC managed to damage his race car throughout the night, including his Red Bull Racing Formula One car! During his demo run, the Scotsman performed a  ‘doughnut’ but as he was spinning around creating lots of smoke and noise for his fans, the car was slowly edging closer towards the wall…The inevitable happened and I still remember the crowd reaction when the front wing got knocked off against the barriers!

Speaking of demonstrations, the pre-event promotional was the ‘man versus machine’ challenge with British Olympic winner Chris Hoy racing his bike around the track against British Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton in his McLaren. Unfortunately, due to the icy track conditions the organisers decided to cancel the event and instead put Chris and Lewis in an open-top Mercedes and perform a parade lap in front of home crowd. It was a real shame, as I wanted to see this duel but Chris had the last laugh as later that evening, the Olympic hero was made BBC Sports Personality of the Year, beating his rival Hamilton!

So a great day out at Wembley and I was pleased to hear that my friends loved every moment of it. The on-track entertainment certainly kept our enthusiasm up despite the winter cold and we look forward to attend the next Race of Champions.

If you haven’t heard Alison Goldfrapp’s sensational singing voice, then here’s your opportunity to listen and download classic anthems for free – all thanks to The Guardian website.

The leading news website will feature a new track everyday for only this week to celebrate the release of the Seventh Tree Special Edition album, out on November 3rd.

I am a big fan of Goldfrapp. I’ve been to two live shows earlier this year and it was fantastic, in particular at the Royal Festival Hall on the Southbank.

Why do I like Goldfrapp? I just love the different music styles. From the ambient sound in Felt Mountain (Alison’s distinctive breathy, soft vocals and Will Gregory’s multi-layered synthesizer and string arrangements is simply spellbinding!), through to electronic music in Black Cherry to a more glam rock sound in Supernature, and most recently to a blend of ambient, folk, and electronic in Seventh Tree.

I was quite jealous of my work colleagues last week as they had tickets to see a one-off performance at Cecil Sharp House in Camden. The show was recorded as part of the BBC Electric Proms and you can see why I was envious by watching the video and observing the many photographs with this dedicate website.

Feeling left out in missing the event, I immediately booked some tickets after an email dropped into my Google inbox with the news that the band will be playing in Brixton Academy next month. I’ve never been to Brixton Academy before and have heard that this venue is the best place to see live acts.

Funny enough as I write this post, I just received my tickets for the show in the mail today (October 29th). And with that note, it’s time to celebrate with this awesome theme tune!