Flavours of the Month: October 2009...

Another month, another Flavours of the Month blogpost - this time, the haunted and autumnal month of October.

Solitary life...

During October I got the house all to myself for a couple of weeks, and so began a whole new routine and collection of 'vibes', such as microwave meals and the manky scent of those cardboard cooking wrap things that surround your panini or southern fried chicken roll or whatever.

Indeed, the microwave was very much my friend out of pure convenience for this short duration. Naturally I was well acquainted with the oven at university, but as this was a bit of a change of gear here at home I just fancied kicking back with some easy-as-pie meals.

Similarly, I rediscovered how nice a jam sandwich can be, and I even had a one-box-only flirtation for old time's sake with Pop Tarts. If only they weren't so calorific I'd have them more often, but they're full of them, so it was just a one-box-only affair with some rather lush Strawberry Pop Tarts ... another food stuff that I was well acquainted with during my time at university, I must confess.

Having the run of the place also gave me the run of the Sky+ box, and as such I was able to catch up on a few episodes of the American version of Life on Mars, which I have to say, is actually quite enjoyable. It can be quite blunt about certain things, and the CGI Mars Rovers that crop up now and then are just odd, but it's good fun. Inferior to the original - naturally - but good fun all the same.

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Fallout 3, and new GTA...

Yep, it's back on the list, and it has been my game-of-choice since August for whenever I indulge in a bit of videogaming. With the main game completed, it was time to get into some of the DLC stuff, but only Broken Steel and Point Lookout which constitutes Add-On Pack #2 on disc. Broken Steel has been covered - good story centering around what happens after you clean up the water supply - but the main Brotherhood of Steel quests were pretty generic, and not as good as the side quests which opened up the altered-by-your-character's-actions Wasteland to you for further exploration.

As for Point Lookout though, I'm only part way into it, but it is noticeably better overall than Broken Steel. A fresh setting really picks things up, providing new and interesting quests (both main and side) - however - I've temporarily called time-out on Fallout 3.

It's been the only game I've spent my videogame time on since August, and it's time for a change of pace - step forward, GTA Episodes From Liberty City, which rocked up a day early (in spite of the postal strike nonsense the UK began experiencing in October). At the time of writing I'm well through Lost & Damned (not having Xbox Live I've not played that one before) ... the first few missions were, unfortunately, pretty poorly crafted. Simple 'shoot everything' missions that were poorly mapped-out, resulting in some terrible control issues and situations where you get behind the obvious cover you should take only to find people attacking you from behind that safety line.

Not only that, but other early missions that just pile on the police prescence to such a degree that it becomes infuriating - not only that, but the slowness of hi-jacking a bus full of convicts drained almost my entire life bar (and all of my bullet proof vest). Fortunately though, after a number of dull-to-outright-infuriating early missions, it's picked up.

The mission types haven't gotten much more varied, and aren't as compelling as GTA IV's - many of these new ones being alternate-angle retreads of choice cuts of side-plots from GTA IV, which is part-interesting, part-uninspiring - but even still, they're now good fun again. Add in much improved bike handling and physics, a sense of biker gang cameraderie, and the gang wars element and you've got quality GTA fun.

No doubt I'll have thoughts on The Ballad of Gay Tony come the end of November ... not to mention on Modern Warfare 2, and Ghostbusters.

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An American Werewolf In London...

Having never seen it before, in October I finally got my mits on it, and it's been stuck in my head ever since - a sure sign of real quality. The film really is absolutely spiffing, and it just keeps growing on me. Not only that, but it seems like everyone is talking about the film at the moment. Everywhere I turn there's a reference to it, and in addition I've had the damn catchy (and fortunately rather good) Bad Moon Rising by CCR rolling around my head ever since. I think a re-viewing with the commentary engaged is not far off.

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Doing Our Bit...

October has been an active month for filmmaking - namely, conceiving and piecing together our entry for the 1 Minute To Save The World competition (as blogged about in my last post). The response has been positive, which is always nice, and so we're just keeping our fingers crossed. At the very least, nobody can say we didn't try.

Similarly, and with the introduction of new green recycling wheelie bins in our county, I've been setting aside all kinds of things for going in that green recycling bin. Now that we're allowed to put plastic in, it's amazing to see how much recycling you can do in such a simple way - know what the rules are, then bung it all in a green bin and wheel it out front for the council to pick up.

Just as long as the stuff truly is recycled, then it's a great way to do it. That's how it has to be done - make it simple for the masses, and capable of covering a wide range of items, and you're onto a winner.

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Shouting at the telly...

October has been a bit of a month for British politics on television, and as such I've been shouting angrily seemingly every other day at something or other. Not only that, but getting into wide-ranging politics-based rants with others.

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David Sardy's "Estasi Dell Anima"...

This song, featured in the soundtrack to the bloody good Zombieland, is played during the big battle towards the end. If you've seen the movie, you'll know what I mean. This song just sends shivers up my spine everytime, and it's a bloody great piece of music.

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Rammstein's "Liebe Ist Fur Alle Da"...

Speaking of music, this month has also seen the release of the new Rammstein album - yes, the one featuring that song which had that video to accompany it - and I've really been enjoying it.

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Halloween partying...

I think the last time I was at a halloween party was when I was a child - bobbing for apples and so on, you know the score. It's a weird thing, is halloween, in the UK. Nationally it's not seen as a big deal, but the shops all try and jump on the bandwagon anyway to make money out of it (even though they're already flogging Christmas stuff).

However, I think Gen X and Gen Y have really driven it further into our culture of late. There's always been kids trick or treating, and it really depends on where you live, but with the rise in a drinking culture in the UK, halloween has become another excuse to drink ... but a really, really good excuse to drink. Hell, it's an excuse most of all to dress up however you like and have a real good time.

As such, I had my first halloween party since I was a child, and naturally it was a very different affair. One massive house party that happened to be happening right next to another massive halloween party. Lots of people, but not overcrowded, lots of great costumes (big-up to Hannibal Smith, the Ninja from next door, and elderly Elvis, of the people who I didn't know but whom were such strong showings they deserve some kudos).

Thanks though go to Matt (Bill Hicks) for having the kick arse bash in the first place and inviting us all, to Emma (Spinal Tap's drummer) for giving us a place to kip (inflatable beds too - very professional, I must say), and to Knox (Patrick Swayze) for driving my arse to and from the event.

Oh yes, and to Ben - who went as Che Guevara - for being an absolute legend.

Everyone else was awesome too though.

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So there we are - another month, another flavoursome blogpost.