Solstice, beach, cocktail white sand, clear skies, seagulls you, me, everyone painted into faces or into wooden embankment swimming to the finish line.
I don’t know why I made that picture above. Something to do with the cost of potatoes…
It's coming and there's no time left for mourning or sobbing or for little cakes and tea nor can little Timmy play in the garden anymore because it is coming be ready stand on your own two feet remember the cycle that will unfold is mere memory of fragments untold.
They say the aether is beyond Say that our rhyme was a love song Our hands touch, we feel light If you could of seen it, you'd be bright *** Having to write, a pain indeed Without such delight, negate the need Onto pastures of brittle greens Where life blossoms, and love screams Behold beauty held in our hearts Withhold the truth, long enough to start a fire in your blood *** Come now our drupel purple passion love seed Red cherry cast on bakers stove Your yearning need In our cove.
Genre Adventure · Drama · Thriller · War
Directed by John Sturges
Written by Tom Mankiewicz · Jack Higgins
Music by Lalo Schifrin
Produced by David Niven Jr. · Jack Wiener
Production company Associated General Films · ITC Entertainment
I watched The Eagle has Landed free on YouTube in 4K HD which made it look modern and clear. I enjoyed the experience and wanted to share my thoughts on the movie.
The plot is rather simple however, there is a selection of subplots at play which does leave the movie feeling a bit out of its depth. The Nazis are planning to infiltrate England and kidnap Winston Churchill on his way through a small English town. Michael Caine is part of the crew and is playing a bad guy Nazi. It’s not the first time he’s played the bad guy and he did a good job. On a side note any movie with Caine is guaranteed to be worth the viewing time and has been proven to boost the money that the movie makes in sales.
For a movie from 1967 it holds up well in terms of direction, camera angles, lighting and scenes and sets. Costumes and makeup/special effects are good with a nice selection of explosions and shooting. My own personal preference is toward the older movies because they were better than what is being produced today. They are more gritty, real. They don’t rely on CGI for gunfights or dogfights. I think it was a good choice casting Robert Duvall as the bad Nazi who schemed the whole idea to kidnap Churchill. his acting is rather mysterious, dark and brooding.
As a war film it’s fairly easy going but not 100% accurate. I got vibes of the Dirty Dozen but the film is not in the same category. The clear shots allow it to appear easy to watch. I enjoyed it. Donald Sutherland brings the IRA into the equation, don’t ask me how this works but it does.
This is a really short review because I don’t want to spoil anything. It’s a must watch war movie classic set in England. Similar movies include; The Great Escape, Where Eagles Dare, The Dirty Dozen and The Guns of Navarone.
4 stars
It’s been roughly 5 years since Call of Duty World War 2 was released. I finally took a chance on a Call of Duty game since I hadn’t played one in years. Considering how popular the series of games has become I was surprised at how little the game actually delivered and it reminded me why I don’t bother with them in the first place. Sorry, this isn’t going to be an entirely positive review as the game blatantly falls short of itself and fails to deliver potentially ambitious content.
Campaign
It’s based around United States soldier Daniels who is enlisted into the second world war. As a player and someone who wanted to experience world war 2 again in video games I expected that it would take place from 1939 to 1945 – the duration of the second world war. I also expected it to put players into new locations which hadn’t been overdone to death in previous games. I was wrong. The game takes place entirely in 1944 and is told from the point of view of exclusively the Americans. They should have called it, ‘Americans gloat over themselves yet again. For a game set in the second world war there is American, Germany and some French troops and that is all. There are no missions based around the rest of the nations in the war. It is narrow minded.
Alas the disappointment continues, and I’m glad I waited until it was reduced to £15 to buy it. The first mission, wait for it, is the overdone charge onto the beaches of Normandy. Operation Neptune yet again done to death. D-Day landings that players have done before in previous Call of Duty games – notably, World at War which is by far a superior campaign inn every respect.
We’re charging familiar trenches, with improved weapons graphics and sounds being the only highlight. The animations and cut scenes make it feel like a movie yet it still falls short of its competitor Battlefield One, which also released in 2017. With so many cutscenes and animations it was distracting from the gameplay. I want to play the game not watch a very poorly scripted movie. Some of the dialogue is believable but overall I don’t care about these people as much as I care about playing new locations.
The most original campaign mission was set in France in which you had to infiltrate a Nazi base and exchange briefcases with a betraying Nazi. It was different, and combined stealth in the first half of the mission – which was easy – with action in the second half as the French revolution rise up and take back the streets around the building and along the Seine. It could have provided so much more though, and like previous missions it didn’t take advantage of this unique mission by expanding on it. All the missions were short played as well, with some literally ending after a 10 minute gunfight.
The missions and game following this were underwhelming and despite wanting to enjoy it I finished the game feeling robbed of time and effort. They put more effort into the cutscenes than making a decent, playable video game. Not to mention that in some missions, pressing one button did something completely different to what was intended. This ruins the experience and is evident of an incomplete and unpolished game.
If they had taken the time to research world war 2 and see who and what and where things took place then we might have had a game based in world war 2… This game doesn’t expand on anything, and doesn’t even explore the war in full, sticking to the 1944 timeline with already overdone locations and missions. The end mission was a slap in the face. It was short lived thankfully, and I finished it in roughly 8 hours, literally over the space of 2 days after buying it.
I don’t think they did the war justice. Call of Duty World at War (2008) is much better and if you can look past the older graphics I implore you to try that game if you haven’t. As I discovered recently after reinstalling it on my Xbox One, people still play that game, and there even appeared to be more people online over there than in this newer World War 2 game!
Verdict: Guilty of screwing the gaming community over with a w*** fest of American propaganda… again. My rating is extremely generous and takes into account improves weapons and animations.
Nazi Zombies (2 maps included with base game)
This was one of the main reasons I bought the game. I replayed the World at War zombies mode again recently (der riese) which still has players on, and found myself wanting a fresh new experience. Thankfully, the game delivered what I consider to be one of the best zombie maps in the Call of Duty franchise.
Getting rid of a lot of the cartoony/childish looks from the Black Ops zombies and going back to what appears to be a root/original look to the zombies, the map ‘The Final Reich’ comes across as scary, exciting, fun and rewarding. The improved zombies graphics and improved gore system make the undead very frightening indeed.
We don’t have the typical defend the map and block windows tactic, instead Activision have innovated and following a quest based zombie mode. You start in the same manner as previous zombie maps, in one location, and through unlocking doors and exploring you encounter new areas and new zombies! You are tasked throughout with following and completing various tasks in order to unlock the secrets of the map and beat the bad Nazi behind this. Taunted by Dr. Straub throughout you find yourself working for a common goal, which binds the players in a way that hasn’t been done before.
The town of Mittleburg is a real location and is the location of the map. Based on real history of the salt mines in the town, the game builds fiction and history together to make us feel like we’re part of something bigger. Exploring the mines soon reveals art – hidden by the Nazis – and more deadly, paranormal secrets tying into the storyline of the dark aether. A great return to roots, this map is worth playing.
Another, smaller map called Groesten Haus is available to play and ironically means ‘big house’. It’s the smallest zombies map ever. But the aesthetic, feel and playability make it enjoyable. Thank god that they removed the stupid glow up eyes of the undead because it looked ridiculous.
Activision I hope that these maps are going to be inspiring future maps because they are great. You nailed it with The Final Reich. Something else they have done and have repeated here is using actual actors for the characters; David Tenant, Ving Rhames etc. There are people on these games but a lot quit early which ruins it for other players. Despite having the game less than a week I think this is my favourite map. Although I haven’t played them all, because a lot look rubbish.
There is a further 3 maps which you have to buy separately in order to finish discovering the secrets of the Emperor. This is not good, and I believe they should be included with the base game, considering that you charge upward of £60 brand new. Charging for extra content is greedy.
Russia has recently celebrated its Victory Day on the 9th May 2023 to commemorate the victory over the Nazis in 1945 at the Reichstag, Berlin. It was on that day that brave troops stormed the deepest, darkest place of the Reich and wiped out the core Nazi government, proclaiming Germany and indeed Europe and free nations once again.
Now, though, Russia has been taking to the Ukraine in a war which has had – as expected – the western nations and people in uproar, touting that they are the worst country in the world. This post isn’t about their feelings but is about the impact of the war so far. So, I will keep this brief and that is that the western hypocrisy is shining like a beacon in the night once again. For those who are angry, hostile and shouty toward Russia with no supporting arguments other than, ‘it’s just wrong,’ and ‘why start a war on innocent people’, they should keep quite. They will happily endorse their own armies and have done previously when it came to Iraq and Afghanistan. They were happy to let their government bomb innocent people for decades. When it comes to Ukraine, I suspect their confusion for caring comes from feeling obligated by news propaganda which is slating Russia. You didn’t see any for the Americans or British during the Iraq war did you?
Anyway, we can see the first effect is one of emotion; shock, feelings of uncontrollable anger, depression, sadness, loss of hope and generalised feelings of being the victims. These should only apply to those fleeing the Ukraine. Refugees who have been extracted to the UK and beyond will bring their families and lives to a new place. It is important to understand the political aspect here, that bringing in such refugees is part of nations agreements. The UK takes in a certain number, and so do other countries. However, as the war rages on people have continued to stay in the Ukraine, with many posting video’s onto YouTube. War is supposed to be dangerous, with several videos being filled with air raid sirens. It makes you wonder what they gain from staying if they are literally in the middle of the war. Lots of places are still safe though, which is my point, although that could change at any moment. Russia so far has targeted government sites, with allegations and evidence they targeted nuclear reactors – the biggest in Europe.
With this comes inevitable inflation. Governments borrow from other countries and banks to fund their war – both the Ukraine and Russia – which has a knock on effect on their economies. Although in another post I highlighted that actually, financially Russia is very stable and seems to be growing exponentially, whereas the Ukraine is dwindling. When Visa/Mastercard pulled out of Russia, lots of expats lost money they had in Russian banks as they couldn’t access it in other countries. This included the normal, working class people and people fleeing the mobilisation initiative.
“Russia’s economy ministry revised higher on Friday its 2023 gross domestic product (GDP) forecast to 1.2% growth from a 0.8% contraction.” A clear vision that the economy is set to surpass many western nations.(https://www.reuters.com/markets/europe/russian-economy-ministry-improves-2023-gdp-growth-forecast-2023-04-14/).
The UK has predicted a sharp decline in the economy. “The annual expectation for GDP growth in 2023 is now -1.3%, broadly in line with the OBR and Bank of England’s predictions.”
So surprisingly, or not given the amount of production that Russia has, being very self reliant has paid off. Cutting import costs of luxury brands which have been pulled from Russia including Coca Cola, Levi’s and McDonald’s has saved the economy a ton of money. Russia has their own equivalent and one can’t help feel good for their economy. The Ukraine however isn’t the same and relies heavily on both imports and exports to support the economy. Although it has one of the biggest nuclear power stations in Europe – the Zaporizhzhia plant in southeast Ukraine. Bombing of any kind around here could be fatal for Europe. There wouldn’t be a Ukraine left to fight in and Russia would be affected by the radiation too if it were breached. Fortunately, after some close calls, it is still safe. Although according to this NBC article things are still dangerous -(https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/russia-ukraine-war-zaporizhzhia-nuclear-power-plant-dangerous-iaea-un-rcna83230)
Another concern is the lack of qualified staff to run the facility if Russia pulls out workers, albeit Ukrainian workers. Under Russia control. Things have a very Stalinist feel to them in this place. One wonders if that is going to change. (https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/other/russia-plans-to-relocate-2-700-ukrainian-staff-from-europe-s-largest-nuclear-plant-reports/ar-AA1b08xM)
Going back to the issue of import and export, the inflation has made food more expensive whilst reduced other countries buying capabilities of Ukraine’s resources like food and gas and oil.
“Sharply rising commodity prices have been the most immediate economic impact of the Ukraine conflict, the WTO says. The war also threatens supplies of essential goods from Russia and Ukraine, including food, energy and fertilizers.” (https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2022/04/ukraine-war-global-trade-risk/#:~:text=Sharply%20rising%20commodity%20prices%20have%20been%20the%20most,Russia%20and%20Ukraine%2C%20including%20food%2C%20energy%20and%20fertilizers.)
Crude oil and natural gas saw a sharp increase in 2022 following the outbreak of the war, with prices rising before the war.
“Europe saw natural gas prices climb 45% between January and March to $41 per million British thermal units (Btu) – a measure of heat content. In the United States, on the other hand, prices have “remained relatively low,” the WTO says, at around $4.9 per million Btu.”
It is not hard then to understand a bit more about the inflation of energy prices within Europe and particularly the UK, who have since left the European Union meaning generally higher prices. The UK has to negotiate trade deals with EU countries whereas EU countries have free trade. War or no war, things were always going to be higher in the UK. The oil price increase wouldn’t really impact an oil rich country, like Saudi Arabia for example, as they make money from selling their own oil.
We’ve looked at the war a little and I will end by saying that no matter what the times throw at people they are persevering, surviving and trying to make the most of it. History has shown us that bad things have happened and shouldn’t have been repeated, so let’s hope things settle down soon.
The traditional greeting in the Ukraine is to offer bread and salt to guests. Bread is regarded as the holiest of foods to Ukrainians. Round bread, also known as “Kolach” is a food symbol for eternity; representing hospitality also. When you receive the bread and salt the tradition is to break a small piece of the Kolach and then dip it into the salt, bow your head and say grace (thanks) before you eat it.
To say “Hello, how are you?” in Ukrainian language you would say “Привіт, як справи?” (Privite, iak spravi?)
Years grace transition bloom flock wave brush button up tie down
This can be just like living in paradise
and I don’t wanna go home… 🎶
Light wind streaks across face carrying echoes of a future place hot days lazing about a beach having peach ice cream smiles and laughter hands together into the seas
Now that Elon Musk has bought Twitter there has been a number of new things implemented into the online social platform.
One of those is the introduction of the blue tick or – a monetised account which you have to pay for. That is coming to a grand total of £1,000 a month for business.
As the saying goes if you want to make money you need to spend money. Not always. In this case the platform is prioritising its blue tick member in return for a lump sum each month and shunning, or burying all other users under the algorithm. This translates to regular users not being able to connect in the way they’d originally hoped for.
It leads to dysconnectivity as we have seen. Paid users are at the top with the most viewed content and other people, businesses, and creatives alike are at the bottom. Implementing the paid membership is a good idea if you want to be super in demand, but most people just want to expand their social media reach.
I write this to draw your attention to alternative methods such as general email marketing and engagement with business users. This includes the writing community. I do not feel the changes were justified given the lack of support. However, they have been brought in to the site.
In the world of blockchain and NFT we will see more of this digital monetisation. WordPress uses this feature, whereby users pay for premium accounts in return for ads, which will hopefully generate income. However this is not a lot of money. Twitter on the other hand doesn’t need the money and trying to make it into a paid subscription service has thus far led to backlash. If we wanted someone to promote us for money then we’d surely do it ourselves. But we don’t.
Just a glimpse at the issue are the reviews. You need to use the platform and have used it for considerable time for it to make sense. If you join now you won’t have seen the changes, including the ‘For You’ and ‘Following’ tab.
Happy May Day bank holiday!
Let’s all celebrate the weekend and week with another bank holiday. We also have the Kings Coronation coming up which will also be a bank holiday.
Apparently:
In Ireland, people used to put flowers on the doorstep or windowsills of their houses on May morning to bring good luck and offer protection against the fairies.
Well, I didn’t know that fairies were bad, I assumed from all the films and literature that they were good and maybe a little mischievous at times, but that is all!
Short and sweet just as I like it.
psychedelicwizard 