Musical Arithmetic

Okay, so here's the formula:

(A - B) + C = D

And here are the variables:

A =

Evanescence. More specifically: the original line up (as far as most of the world is concerned). I like Evanescence quite a bit, but that's about 74.2% Amy Lee's voice. The girl has one hell of a pair of lungs on her. I picked this particular song from the first album for reason which may become obvious later. For what it's worth, I think Everybody's Fool and Imaginary are a much better songs.

B =

Evanescence again? No. Well... yes, but the current line up. Specifically: Amy Lee herself. I picked this song from the second album (which is much better than the first) because it seems to have the most Amy Lee-ness in it. It doesn't have an actual video, though, so alternatively:

B =

I figure having a deficit of Seether won't affect the sum either way, so this works too.

C =

Former Irish American Idol contestant* Carly Smithson. Once again: A hell of a pair of lungs. Not an entirely dissimilar look, but quite a different vocal style, it would appear. Carly's voice has a bit more blues in it, a bit more sultriness.

D =

We are the Fallen, the new band from Ben Moody, two other former members of Evanescence and Carly Smithson. Can you seen why I picked that particular Evanescence song? That's more than a passing resemblance, style wise. There is a second reason I picked it, however. Carly has a less operatic voice, though, and a bit more range in terms of singing style. I love me some female fronted metal, so I'll be keeping an eye on this band.

Okay, here's another one which plays a bit better to her frankly spectacular voice:

D =

* That is: she's Irish and was a contestant on "American Idol." There is no such show as "Irish American Idol," so far as I'm aware.

Pirates of Silicon Valley <= 15 Words

This film is actually better than you'd expect, but the story needs more time.

Location Location Location

One of the few things I've missed since abandoning the good ship Windows PC for the Mac... er... Zeppelin (why not?) is magazines. I used to really enjoy reading the PC gaming and hardware mags. Oftentimes they were pitched at about the right level for me. I felt neither patronised nor confused. I'm afraid to say that this is not the case with Mac magazines. For the most part they tend to aim a little low, tech wise (no kidding, right?). I did also try Linux magazines, but generally found them to be way too dry and not especially well written. Once again, quelle surprise. Quelle surprise beaucoup.

So I was, as I'm sure you can imagine, quite overjoyed to discover Wired magazine. A platform agnostic tech magazine pitched about the right level (ish) for me, tech wise, whilst also having some focus on the business side of technology? Win! If you're not reading it already, I highly recommend it. So, when Wired decided to give the cover story to location based social networks, concentrating on Foursquare and Gowalla, I though "sure, what the hell?" and gave them both a go.

That was a good couple of weeks ago now, and I can categorically say that I'm not sure if I like them or not. Nor am I sure which of the two I prefer. The idea, basically, is that you periodically tell them where you are.

Where are you going? Wait, there's more.

It's a game of sorts, you see. Foursquare awards you points for visiting places (more if they're new places) while Gowalla gives you badges in your"passport." Both of them also award you bonuses for various things, and Foursquare declares you the "Mayor" of locations if you visit them more than anybody else. There is a bit more to it than this, of course, there's a social aspect, connected to both locating your friends and finding out where is currently "happening," (this is the correct term, yes?) but I think I've given you the gist.

On balance: foursquare seems to do more in terms of the whole "life as a game" idea, and makes it feel more worthwhile to visit places multiple times... but Gowalla has a MUCH better design, and the badges and pins (achievements) it gives you are much prettier, but lacks the competitiveness of Foursquare. I think, at this point, I would tentatively recommend both, but particularly Foursquare if you're a competitive sort. Either way, feel free to friend me if you do give them a try (it's free).

A couple more...

Further to my last post, here's a couple more films which caught my eye, though one of them is a ways off yet.

Faster (trailer) - I will go and see Dwayne Johnson in any film which doesn't involve him wearing a tutu or fairy wings. Perhaps even then, and you can quote me on that. The guy has more charisma and physical presence than just about everyone else out there, and is (as far as I'm concerned) always good value for money, regardless of the quality of the actual film. Frankly, the guy should be a much bigger start than he is. That he's in an indie revenge flick makes me very happy indeed. Also: great trailer.

Sucker Punch (trailer) - Zack Snyder is another one of those directors who's work I would go sight unseen. Though Watchmen wasn't quite the film I wanted it to be, I still enjoyed the hell out of it and I loved his two previous films (300 and Dawn of the Dead). This is a director who makes cinema and every frame of it is absolutely, stunningly beautiful. Evidence so far suggests that he actually works pretty well with actors and knows how to handle a plot, also, which is nice (Micheal Bay, take note). This is his first time working with an original property, so I guess we'll have to see how it goes. Oh yeah, it also seems to have nazis, dragons, sword wielding burlesque girls, Zeppelins, spaceships and mini gun toting giant samurai demons... and something tells me that's not the half of it...

Looking Forwards

Hey team.

The Cineworld unlimited card is a wonderful thing, especially given that I no longer have a student card (I am still a student, technically. Don't ask). It encourages you to take a much more "what the hell," type attitude to heading to the cinema, and I love me some cinema. That being the case, I thought I'd write a (probably) quick post covering the films coming out this year that I'm pretty certain I'll be going to see. So, in particular order (aside from the one in which they occurred to me):

Inception (trailer) - There are some director's who pretty much guarente I'll go see a film. Christopher Nolan is one of them. Likewise, there are some actor's who pretty much guarente I'll go and see a film. Ellen Page is one of them. Also: this film look awesome.

The Social Network (trailer) - David Fincher is another one of the directors who almost guarantees I'll go see a film. Aaron Sorkin is a writer who pretty much guarantees I'll go see a film. I didn't think I was interested in a film about Facebook, but it turns out that I really, really am. Watch the trailer.

Machete (trailer) - I didn't think much of Death Proof, but I loved me some Planet Terror, and this looks like it's coming from the same headspace.

Tron Legacy (trailer) - I think I might have already mentioned this one.

The Town (trailer) - Ben Affleck might be a genius. Perhaps you didn't know that. You might assume that it was Matt Daemon who did most of the heavy lifting when it came to writing Good Will Hunting. But did you go see Gone Baby Gone? Because he wrote (well, adapted) and directed that and it was spectacular. I'm hoping he's done it again.

The Expendables (trailer) - A cast made up almost entirely of action legends? Written and directed by the man who brought us Rambo? I'm there. If you didn't watch Rambo (the most recent one), perhaps you should. It is incredibly, unflinchingly violent. But it's a film about violence and you might be surprised by how much it has to say.

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World (trailer) - I love it. I love the style. I love the sense of humour. I love the ideas. I'll be very surprised I don't giggle with glee all the way through this one.

R.E.D. (trailer) - I'm not even going to try explaining this one. Just watch the trailer.

Knight and Day (trailer) - I don't know about you, but I mostly go to the cinema to be entertained. This looks like it will be super entertaining. Side note: I might not like Tom Cruise on a person, but I don't think I've ever disliked him in a film.

The Green Hornet (trailer) - This looks all kinds of silly. These ingredients (superhero + martial arts + star of Knocked Up + director of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) should not go together. But I bet the first person to eat a peanut butter and jam sandwich said the same thing.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows (trailer) - I expect to be disappointed by this one. I have been by every other one of these films. But that doesn't mean I didn't enjoy them (except the second one). I'm looking forward to the conclusion of the first set of adaptations of these books.

There are more, but that'll do for now. What do you guys think? Any of these look good? Any look great? Any look awful? Anything you're particularly looking forward to?

As a slight aside, I'm also HarveyNick on Tumblr and Twitter, and I'm thinking of moving the 15 words or less film review to Tumblr instead of here, as it seems to fit better. Can anyone think of a reason I shouldn't (it'll still get cross posted to Facebook).

Predators <= 15 Words

THIS is the sequel to Predator! There IS no chopper, but you should run anyway!

Get Him to the Greek <= 15 Words

No redeeming features. None. Puff Daddy is the best thing in it. It's that bad.