Zyber’s Corner

I watch a lot of movies these days, most I just put on while i’m doing work so i don’t concentrate too much on them but others I sit down and watch undistracted. So I thought while I had a few minutes i would write a review of “The invention of lying” staring Ricky Gervais and Jennifer Garner.

The first thing that struck me about this movie is how cheap it looks. From the sets to the on site locations, soundtrack and strangely the quality in which is it filmed. This actually leads to my second point, there are lots of stars in this film who may have eaten away at the budget. Along with Ricky Gervais and Jennifer Garner the film also stars Rob Lowe, with cameo appearances from Tina Fey, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Edward Norton.

The basic premise is kinda the opposite of liar liar which was a great film. Ricky Gervais is a man in a world where nobody can lie, lying was never invented/discovered and everyone overtly tells the truth to the point of sheer rudeness at times. Ricky Gervais plays a down on his luck loser who just lost his job and is about to be evicted when he discovers he can lie, although he doesn’t know what it is he’s doing. This sounds like a great idea but it is let down with poor writing/acting and execution.

Now i’ve never been a fan of Ricky Gervais and I remember why now…he’s not funny….at all. We’re talking Peter Kay levels of unfunniness. He’s also a terrible actor. While others may find his mumblings cute and funny, seeing as he plays the same character in every single thing he’s in, thats not acting, that’s just being himself in all his project.

Jennifer Garner is the bright spark of this movie, while the writing overlooks a lot of her talents, he delivery is a far better with better comic timing. Also all the cameos from famous people provide great comic acting as well, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Edward Norton make even the worse of writing funny. The two scenes involving the actors were the best of the film.

Product placement is rife in this movie, within 10 minutes they are already advertising Budweiser and Pizza hut is massively advertised in the film as well.

While Ricky Gervais looking like Jesus and acting like Moses was surprising it didn’t do anything to raise this film in my eyes.

To summarise, the writing was substandard, the film looked and sounded cheap, the plot was predictable and the highlights of the film can be youtubed if you really want to see them.

3/10

Not written one of these in a while, so thought while a had a free minute or two i’d try to pump one of these out. Currently bogged down with uni work…which reminds me that i had an essay due in 10 days…oops. Ahh well. Things are going really well in my life at the moment, got a wonderful girlfriend and things are going really well between the two of us.

For those of you who don’t know my past i’ve been really unhappy for a long time but i’m sooo happy at the minute and I expect it to go on for quite a while, hopefully. I got some pretty cool presents for xmas off her as well including some lovely dog tags and a 360 skin which is beautiful. I’m not gonna ruin it by putting it on a 360 which might rrod, so it’s going up on my wall soon.

Uni’s going well except for all the work they keep trying to make me do. Bastards. Works going well, just swapped shifts so i’m no longer working Saturday nights…after this Saturday. 3 years of no social life is enough. I’ve also just applied for one of them there proper jobs at the BBC. The job sounds really good i’m just a bit worried I might not get because I might not get the 2.1 it requires.

My gaming social life was great over xmas (while I was doing no work) and now has gone back to usual…non existent. I really wanna go to Newcastle again I just don’t have the time. After my final year project is handed in I’ll go to celebrate my birthday.

All in all, i’m happy right now, more than I have been in a very long time.

Ok, so that should be the other way round especially considering my circumstances. So after my work being robbed I started working 4 nights a week, this doesn’t leave much time for seeing my friends or anything really. On top of this i’ve met a new girl and things are going really well…really well for a change so between seeing her and working i’ve basically got no time for anything. I spend most of my days playing computer games and just chilling as i’m just sooo tired.

Going back to uni in about a month so hopefully (with me reducing my hours at work) i’ll “Hopefully” have more time to see my new girlfriend, my friends and actually do some work. I have a 3rd year project to do next year (amazingly it being my 3rd year and all) which is supposed to take me all year. I’ve been meaning to start it all summer (as well as re-writing my novel amongst other things) but haven’t gotten around to it. My project is supposed to be a website based on the periodic table something interesting, something which gets kids/students etc excited about the periodic table which might be a bit difficult. With doing chemistry at A Level and creating websites it seemed to be the perfect project for me (that plus all the other projects sounded really hard and stupid!)

I’m off to Newcastle this weekend for a wedding, that should be a good laugh.  I want to go to Alton towers and cadbury world before i go back to uni, that might be a bit tough.

Started a new project, more on that at a later date. Stay tuned.

Well, not really. But lets move on. Right, the whole not drinking thing was a success. I did 20 days in the end so that i could end when my summer was set to begin, the end of exams. I found that I could handle it no problem, it was everyone around me who hated it. Why does me not drinking affect anyone but me?

Over the 20 days I went to the pub numerous times and didn’t drink, it was actually quite amusing, my own mother accused me of drinking after getting back from the pub, said I was acting funny. Yup, she’s not seen me sober in quite a while!! I also went out for a mates birthday, again not drinking and had people offering to buy me booze. It’s not like i was too poor to afford to drink, soft drinks are generally more expensive than alcohol is. My mate who’s birthday it was, was especially unhappy I wasn’t going to drink that nigh. I mean why is it such an issue, what if i really was an alcoholic and gave up alcohol altogether, however would my friends cope?

I’ve finished Uni now and was supposed to go on holiday last week. For one reason or another this fell through and i’ve been left with 2 weeks off work and nowhere to go. Luckily my friend Cat graciously offered me a place to stay for a few days, the only drawback was that she lives in Reading. Never been to Reading…don’t really wanna go again, although they do have some nice buses.

Oh my work was robbed which has caused one of the barmaids to leave (she was held hostage while they robbed the place) which means i’m covering her shifts, so i’m working 4 nights a week. Not too bad while i’m off uni but i’ll not have these shifts when I get back there so all is good. Money while I need it, time when I need that.

I got my 360 back so i’ve been playing an assortment of games. Tried playing Star Wars the force unleashed Jedi temple downloadable content *breathe*  which is a bit cack and short and really really hard on Sith Warrior difficulty. Then onto Fable 2 which, while i enjoyed it at first, not remembering any of the controls, what I was doing or anything, quickly bored me. The I turned to Fallout 3. What an unbelievable game!!! I don’t like RPG’s, i mean really don’t; the only RPG i’ve ever played and liked was KOTOR 1 & 2.

To begin with I didn’t really like Fallout but when i got into it and got enough weapons and ammo to arm a small bunch of mercenaries planning a coup d’état I really started to enjoy it. I love doing missions/quests, finding things and exploring and with enemies which don’t respawn I can take my time and enjoy the game. I picked up the first DLC Operation: Anchorage because it’s currently at a reduced price and I was going to play it when I had completed the main game. But, while exploring an area I came across the location which activates the content. Not realising what it entailed I headed into it and completed the first 2 quests of the content. They aren’t particularly difficult, just draining. Because the game is not an FPS the combat is a little bit taxing at times especially when it comes to multiple enemies and constant enemies one after the other after the other. Don’t get me wrong, the FPS aspect of the game is pretty darn good and probly one of the reasons I actually like this RPG instead of simply pushing 1 button constantly with the word “attack” isn’t my idea of a game.

So i’ve got a bit hooked and I want to finish this DLC so I can get on with the main exploration. I’ve only gotten about 12 hours into this game and with multiple ways of exploring (achievements for being good, bad and neutral) I might get lost in this game completely.

I’m heading down to Birmingham this weekend, should be a giggle, that is all.

Strange, i’ve been playing Fallout 3 for about 10 hours straight today and I came off, went on facebook and all of a sudden felt horrible. Terrible depression overcame me and my stomach started doing somersaults, which is strange as I can’t figure out why. Probly something subconscious that i’ll figure out when I sleep but I hope I feel better tomorrow. Drinking and Transformers. Get in!!

Right, for…well a long time now, i’ve been going out and just getting drunk. No reason for it, other than the depression, just getting drunk and passing out. More recently i’ve, more and more, getting drunk and blacking out. Not collapsing just getting so drunk i black out portions of the night, most of the night usually. I drank a bottle of Jack daniels on Monday because i was depressed, i had 5 pints of Carlsberg, 5 JD and cokes and then started on the rum and irn bru last night at a friends birthday.

Thing is, i’ve known these people all my life so trying to figure out if i was an asshole (more than likely) is tough. I don’t mind making a pratt out of myself infront of strangers but friends of my family i do. So, the Plan…

…I was only supposed to blow the bloody doors off. Sorry, wrong film. I can clearly see that when i have 1 drink i have to have more, so i’m gonna do a 30 days. 30 days of no booze what so ever. This might not seem like a long period to drink for but i am somebody who drinks all the time. I work behind a bar, i go to pubs for food all the time, i’m surrounded by alcohol!!!

So 30 days of no alcohol, think i can do it?

Well not too much has happened to me recently, nothing note worthy anyway. I’m finding twitter and actual conversation with people is filling the gap that blogging/venting actually used to. I have my ups and downs, as many people do, but i just find that I am only complaining about the same problems over and over because nothing is changing so i just stopped, complaining. A problem shared is a problem halved but it doesn’t make a difference.

Doing loads of group assignments in Uni at the moment and I had a run in with a mate of mine about it. I got a phone call from him last Monday (when the snow was quite bad) saying that the lecturer had been snowed in and if i wanted to come into Uni we could do some group work. He’d not come in for the last 2 meetings but then again, i was the only one in for those as well; for a group of 4, it’s pretty damn shocking. So i phone up my friend who’s pregnant and let her know we are heading in to do work so she gets up and gets ready but will be a bit late. Nee bother, we can do the work while we’re waiting. I fight my way through the snow, the blizzard, i was like an artic explorer trying to get to the north pole!

I managed to get to uni just after 11 and was grateful for the rest as i’d nearly died* several time. I was greeted at the front door by my mate and some of the other students. They were in the middle of a conversation about whether the rest of our lectures were on this afternoon. When we found out they weren’t my mate proceeded to tell me he was leaving with the other students to go to the Trafford Centre.

WHAT THE FUCK???!!!??? Seriously?

I’m on the phone to my pregnant friend at the time while my mate leaves and i let her know what’s going on. I’m in complete shock as this guy is walking out. We’ve both had a go at him over the last week as it was completely out of order. I guess that’s just the way some people are though. I’ve been warned about having him in my group as he’s known to do shit like this all the time.

Moving on, Valentines day is next Saturday and I have the night off…not that I have anything to do. Someone wanted to swap and have the next day off so now i have Valentines day night (i guess) off and no girlfriend to share it with. Gonna see if some of the lads want to have a night on the pull…but with like 3 single friends (and they are single for a reason) i don’t know how successful it’s going to be.

The big thing i’ve noticed this year is that nearly everyone i know is using moonpig to send valentines day cards. Seems like it’s the new fad that’s going around. Seems like they have cracked a niche market but with the snow recently i’ve heard the post has been slightly delayed so i don’t know if everyone will be getting their cards on time.

Anyways, that’s all for now, peace out homies!!

* slipped in the snow

Right, being an avid 360 supporter in the past I thought it only right to write my thoughts about the newly purchased PS3 sitting in my room. Now I know what you are thinking, he’s moved over to the darkside and well maybe I have, but still, hear me out. Having both my 360’s die on the same day kinda pushed me over the edge so I bought a PS3 and here is what I thought about it…

The first thing I noticed about it is that it is sooo quiet. The 360 is a monster when it comes to noise and the PS3 is completely different. Although it does makes some really weird noises at random points. I mean I go to bed watching DVD’s every single night so I can always hear the 360 when I wake up in the night and turn it off, but the PS3, I can barely hear when it’s on or off.

A lot of the media functions are pretty generic like the 360 however streaming videos work a lot better on the PS3 than on the 360. The only problem is it’s a little indecisive when it comes to which types of video it will play. AVI’s no problem but for some reason it will only play some WMV’s and not others which is strange.

And those are pretty much the only 2 good points…

Bad points:

XMB is shit compared to the guide on the 360. If you want to do anything, anything other than look at your friends or trophy’s you have to go back to the start up. You can’t play music in game which might not seem like a lot, but it just shows the limits.

It’s sooooo slow. If I hit fast forward, rewind, skip, pause and play on videos and music. I honestly could not believe how bad it was, it would stack up commands as well so thinking it hadn’t got the command to skip a track I’d hit skip again and again, skipping past an actual good track. It becomes more frustrating while watching DVD’s.

Internet browser. Like the PSP but a little more advanced. It’s good just a little pointless. Ok you can get updated instructions instead of printing them on paper so you are saving the planet a little but still. I’ve found it’s a better way for games companies to advertise and get you to sign up to things in return for free content…bastards.

SixAxis…yea, great invention.

I’ve not installed linux yet, so this can’t actually be a bad point but I just wanted the point out the irony that the 360 made by M$, a company that makes Operating Systems does not allow you to install it on a 360 but Sony’s PS3 is more like PC than a 360 is.

80 Gig model does not support any backwards compatibility for the PS2…granted I’ve not played a PS2 game in about a year but still. I’d like the option.

Home…what a waste that is. Filled with adolescent boys going up to people with girl avatars (whether they are girls or not is anyones guess) and just talking to them and only them. Nobody else talks to each other, just 5 guys around every girl.

My biggest gripe about the PS3 is the need to install absolutely everything. Put in a game and it needs installing, download a game and after its finished downloading you need to install that too. Went into home and it asked me if I wanted to go to home square…ok….please download home square…wtf?? I just downloaded Home and now I have to download every single place in it before I can go there? Why weren’t they downloaded to begin with? Load times are still there, so why the need for the install?? Blu Ray is that bad it can’t read everything from the disk so it needs to read it from the HDD as well, this was one of the main problems with Blu Ray Vs HD DVD, HD DVD had much better load times yet they went for Blu Ray in the end and this is the cost.

OK, OK, I might have been a bit overly harsh really I mean I’ve just got a cheap Blu Ray player so there is that. The friends list is ok, charge time for the controller again acceptable even if the cable is pretty short so it’s not all bad. It’s more reliable than the 360 so….

All in all it’s a games machine, it plays games while my 360 is being repaired and now I don’t need to worry about platform exclusives. I’d still have my 360 any day of the week but to play all the games available and for the wireless streaming, the PS3 is ok…I suppose.

Define normal: conforming with or constituting a norm or standard or level or type or social norm; not abnormal; “serve wine at normal room temperature”; “normal . Well according to google that’s how you define normalcy. But what is normal?

After 5 months of being off from uni and having next to nothing to do, I’ve just started back at uni. Coming back has a few re-entry problems. Mainly just the university being a bit rubbish. The passwords have all be reset without telling anyone, timetables are all wrong, labs are broken, timetables are pants (technical term), lecturers don’t know what they are doing etc etc.

But what’s new with me? I’ve stopped drinking. 5 days sober and it’s pretty hard actually. I woke up a couple of weeks ago completely happy for no reason which is really strange as it has never happened to me before. It felt good, really good but now I’m wavering. I was happy and didn’t care about all the bad things that have had me depressed for more than a year. I’m beginning to think I was just glossing over the real problems which are very real. But I don’t know. I thought by writing this I would somehow figure out what I wanted needed to do but I don’t. At least I can’t face that decision yet. I’ve got so tired of the whole thing that I don’t want to talk about it to anyone but writing it helps a little. Even though i’m still not ready, I’m still hurting, expressing it without hearing the same old response is good. I have disabled comments on this post.

A month after my accident and I’m still pretty fucked. Didn’t even remember posting the entry below this one, that’s how bad I’ve become. Since my accident I have barely been able to remember anything at all. I don’t think I’ve really come to terms with everything as this has put my life really into perspective. I’ve already started to try and make amends for every bad thing I’ve done in my life. My name is Earl-esque.

So what’s new? I’ve finished my work experience now, might decide to crack on with my novel now, get that finished off for publishing. I got a letter through about Uni, I won the John Ryan prize for excellence for my first year at university. This is basically for getting the highest marks on my course. Here is a copy of my letter. I’m dead chuffed about it and it’s actually made me re-evaluate uni as I was still debating whether or not to go back due to the reasons I actually started. But I digress.

Not long til XL now, seems like it’s gonna be pretty tough this time but i’m still looking forward from the break of being Matt so I can be Zyber. Some people might think they are the same person but they’re not, Zyber is who I like, who I want to be all the time but can’t. God I sound like an emo.

Anyway, I think I’ve bored you for enough. Night!

Today was my first day of my work experience. I had arranged to work with my uncle at a company called ansa (links to come when I’m less drunk) which is a sort of insurance company.

Anyways, the job is in Oldham which is about 30 minutes away, straight down the motorway and when you turn off you are pretty much there. The day was pretty good, nice company, nice people, nice job and a nice drive. Twas really easy, got on the M60 and it was simple, a nice drive. I’d even done a recon with my dad the day before. So after I’d finished work I got in my little Ford Fiesta and started my trip back. Should only have taken me 30 mins but it was a bit longer than that.

I started to feel the car shake, I thought I might have been in the wrong gear or was driving over a chevron or something like that but no. So I decided to get off at the next exit…but then I realised I wouldn’t make it to the next exit when the car started shaking violently. I decided to pull onto the hard shoulder and just be done with it, I didn’t want to do this before encase I was making a mountain out of a mole hill.

I indicated left and then pulled to the left and as I did I saw my tire going off to the right. I was in complete shock, I didn’t know what was going on. I stopped and saw a couple of people run over my tire. Someone eventually stopped (I was still in the car and didn’t fathom what was going on) and I was just compelled to get out of the car and grab the tire off the inside lane and pull it over to the hard shoulder. I called my dad and the my uncle (who was close enough to help me out).

My uncle showed up about 10 minutes later and changed the tire for me and pretty much saved me. I was still in shock after what had happened and he even followed me all the way home as well. Getting back on the motorway was probably the best thing for me but it didn’t seem like it at the time. I think, even now some 7 hours afterwards, I’m still in shock about the whole thing!!!

I’m really angry about the whole thing but not angry at anyone thing or person, just angry. Probably why, when writing this in bed, I’ve smashed my hand off the wall about 12 or so times. Wouldn’t be soo bad if it was playful but i mean, truly smashed it off the wall, the skin is ripped off of all my knuckles and its a real pain to actually open up my hand and type. I don’t really know what’s up other than I’m still in shock. I think I just need to sleep but all I can see when I close my eyes is my tire flying past me.

I realise I’ve not always made the right choices in my life but I made the ones I thought were right and yet I feel so angry and so alone, now more than ever. I have made a lot of mistakes but I take full responsibility for them, nobody else was to blame but me, so I’ve moved past that, I hope others can to.