Use skEdit? Don’t like the standard dark theme that’s included with the app? Well, here is my concoction for you to try.

If you’re a skEdit user, you’d be familiar with the fact not that many syntax highlighting themes are available to us. Whilst I don’t mind the standard dark theme that’s included by default, I decided to modify it a bit to my liking. What you see above is what I’ve come up with.

If you’d like to try it out, grab it here.

Put it in your ~/Library/Application Support/skEdit/Themes/ folder, then to use it simply select the theme via preferences.

0 comments, add  |  Filed in Mac

I was looking to upgrade my WDTV HD for quite some time now, so when I came across the WDTV Live on special – I simply couldn’t resist and ended up going home with one.

I wrote quite an extensive post on the HD version of the WDTV, so I won’t go too much into every little detail with this post as I figured most know what the WDTV is capable of. Instead, I thought I’d just post my thoughts and findings on this unit and provide a little feedback to those who may be looking at upgrading. For reference, my setup consists of a Pioneer VSX-520 AV Receiver and Sony SA-VS350H 5.1 surround sound speakers.

Continue reading

0 comments, add  |  Filed in TV

I originally saw the trailer for this movie and being a dog lover, I thought it would be a good watch with the high IMDb rating it received, I wasn’t wrong..

Coincidently, what sparked my interest to finally watch this movie whilst being stuck at home sick was the fact that my mother managed to watch this movie before me (which is a rare occurrence) and the feedback I got from her was “Why did you give this movie to me? I was crying non-stop”. I thought to myself, how upsetting can this movie really be? Well, I was in for a surprise..

To loosely describe the plot of the movie; it is based on the true story of a college professor’s bond with an abandoned dog he takes into his home. For the real and full background of this remarkable dog, check out this Wikipedia entry

The movie is definitely watchable if you just pick it up without having an understanding of the temperament of this certain breed. However, knowing the background of this breed will give a better understanding of its character and the type of personality they have. The “Akita Inu” is renowned for its intelligence and loyalty to its owner, as witnessed throughout the movie. It also goes to show that sometimes even animals hold values and traits better than some humans can; loyalty and faith in this instance.

Initially, it seems as though Professor Parker Wilson (played by Richard Gere) is the main character in this movie, but when the Professor passes away – we come to learn that Hachi really is and always was. What I thought was a nice touch was the fact that not only were we given a view from the humans side, but also a view from Hachi himself – a dog’s eye view which really helps to gather feelings and an understanding of the dog.

The movie is quite enjoyable up to the point where the Professor passes away. At this point, you are strapped into an emotional rollercoaster with no way out.. Even as a grown man I couldn’t hold myself together emotionally. I think I pretty much cried until the end of the movie and some more after it was actually over, the last 20-30 minutes of the movie are just simply that upsetting.

I can honestly say I have never been that upset after watching a movie based around animals. I guess because of the fact I’ve had strong bonds with several dogs over the past decade and a half (1 being my own, 3 being my cousins dog’s), I can sympathise and understand how Hachi would be feeling.

As a young kid, did you need a tissue at the end of Free Willy when he was set free? Well, have a towel ready if you find the courage to watch this movie, because I’m telling you now, you will without a doubt be crying by the end of it.

Hachiko: A Dog’s Story needs to be watched, at least once – as a dog lover or not.

0 comments, add  |  Filed in Delayed Movie Reviews

The Legendary MacGruber. Former Navy SEAL, Army Ranger and Green Beret. Served six tours in Desert Storm, four in Bosnia, three each in Angola, Somalia, Mozambique, Nicaragua and Sierra Leone. Recipient of sixteen Purple Hearts, three Congressional Medals of Honor, seven Presidential Medals of Bravery and starting tight end for the University of Texas, El Paso.

It seems there is a lot of negativity towards MacGruber in the reviews. 5.2/10 on Rotten Tomatoes, 5.6/10 on IMDb – it’s not to say that these ratings are unjust, but I feel people are taking MacGruber too seriously or perhaps it simply caters for those who have a wider humour spectrum. The movie itself is all nonsense and literally ridiculous, but you simply can’t help but laugh at foul mouthed dialogue, mini-parodies, raunchy soundtrack and play on words – ‘cunth’ anyone?

MacGruber is an ex-special operative who is called back into action to take down his archenemy, Dieter Von Cunth, who is in possession of a nuclear warhead and bent on destroying Washington, D.C.

Although the plot is straight forward, It feels as though it was almost written overnight or by a 13 year old – but that doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things considering the movie is purely driven on its dialogue, not to mention one of the funniest sex scenes I’ve seen in a movie since Team America.

MacGruber is said to be the best of the best, the elite, cream of the crop but in reality he can only be described as a big douche. He dresses like Macgyver, drives a Mazda and carries his car radio everywhere – at one point, he even goes as far as to put a celery stick up his ass to divert attention – classic MacGruber. His sidekick, if you can call him that is Lt. Dixon Piper (played by Ryan Phillippe) who MacGruber makes out to be the clueless rookie, yet probably has more qualifications and training than MacGruber himself.

Then you have Dieter Von Cunth (played by Val Kilmer) the token bad guy, I can’t help but laugh every time I hear “Cunth”, for obvious reasons. If you’re unsure of what I mean, you can read up on it here. While the character of Dieter Von Cunth doesn’t get much screen time, any that he does is usually absurd – he is either belittling MacGruber or painting portraits of naked old ladies with drooping tits.

I’d say this movie would be a cross between Get Smart and Austin Powers in terms of that raunchiness and plain stupidity with the exception being MacGruber is filled with about 10x 50x more memorable one-liners and humour which is crude – sometimes it leaves you thinking, “dude, are you normal?”. But you can’t help but laugh at it all. I can see myself and my boss at work repeating some of the dialogue for months to come.

The action sequences in MacGruber are pretty average, just your run off the mill type – apart from the half dozen throats ripped out within the space of 10 minutes by the man, MacGruber himself.

MacGruber is one of those movies that if you go into it expecting something serious rather than just 90 minutes of pure nonsense, stupidity and laughs you’ll probably end up turning it off after 9. So sit down, shut up and just enjoy it.

Trailer

0 comments, add  |  Filed in Delayed Movie Reviews

Last night I watched How To Train Your Dragon and in short, it was awesome. To be honest, I feel the 8.2/10 rating it received on IMDb is a bit of an injustice — It should be in the 9/10 region.

How To Train Your Dragon is the tail of a hapless young Viking named Hiccup, who aspires to hunt dragons like his father. However, Hiccup has an unlikely fate where he befriends a young dragon himself. In spending time with this young dragon, he learns that there may be more to these creatures than he assumed and what has been instilled in him.

DreamWorks really nailed it with this movie, it works on many levels and is a really moving picture. The script is very good in terms of dramatic depth, within it we also explore many other interweaved topics such as ethics, social conscience, family and friendship to name a few. The good thing about the way this movie is laid out is these topics are not bombarded into the script, they just flow through it smoothly.

The animation side of things is superb as well. From the action sequences, effects to the characters and dragons – it is all crafted wonderfully. Last but not least the soundtrack – I thought this was done pretty well too. During the action sequences it really gives a sense of adventure and during the more emotional scenes, it makes it feel more like a heartfelt moment.

All in all, the story and animation tie in very well together and make How To Train Your Dragon a very enjoyable watch. I would love to see a sequel to How To Train Your Dragon, however I think it could potentially tarnish what this movie has already accomplished.

Well, I’ll leave it at that.. I’m off to watch it again – I suggest you watch it too. I’d post a link to the trailer, but I feel it reveals a bit too much.

0 comments, add  |  Filed in Delayed Movie Reviews