Wolfenstein: The New Odour

Excuse the lack of creativity in the title.

A few months ago, ID released the latest entry in their age-old IP - Wolfenstein. Developed by Machine Games, Wolfenstein: The New Order see's you once again play as BJ Blaskowicz in a Post-World War II world where the Nazi's won and all hell has broke loose.
The game released and fans new and old adored it, loved it. Some considered it a "return to form" or a "great return for BJ" and more. Eventually, last August, I managed to eventually get a hold of a copy of the game for myself. Being a fan of the series, having played the 3D original and the 2009 game simply titled "Wolfenstein", I was eager to try this!

Before I go on, let me make it clear that this isn't a review, per se'. And don't let how I communciate through literacy confuse you, I did enjoy the game.
When you get around to starting the game, you start in a war plane alongside your Scottish sidekick. Your on your way to sending the Nazi's a firm greeting via your boot. For the next 10 minutes, your running around pressing switches and manning the turrets, shooting at other planes. It's all fair enough, as this opening works out as a sort of tutorial to the game,
Anyway, eventually your plane crashes and you go searching for your team mates, following a strict, linear pathway filled with scripted events. Within 20 minutes, I was then getting bored. It shouldn't take so long before you get to shoot something, but that seems to be the case here.

 One small step for man, One giant leap for the Fuhrer

But when you finally do get to kill Nazi's in a heated blaze of bullets riddling upon their flesh, that's when it's at it's best. But for the first half of the supremely lengthy campaign, the gunplay is placed "here and there" with linear pathways, scripted events and climbing through ventilation shafts taking up the majority of the gameplay. I couldn't help but feel the creators must have been inspired by Half Life judging by the way this game was paced and that would have been fine if it was a whole new IP. But this is Wolfenstein and most of the game didn't feel very..."Wolfenstein". I also found the game very "cutscene-heavy" as it felt like every corridor-end and every turn led to a cutscene. I'm all for games with a serious focus on story, just not a game about a beefcake american carrying 20+ guns at once, gunning down an army of Hitler fanatics. It got to the point where I felt the story was so pointless in being there that I was skipping the cutscenes. At times I also felt myself comparing the experience to Gearboxes' ill-fated Alien: Colonial Marines. 

While many will agree Colonial Marines was a garbage Alien game, I felt it was a great entry in the modern-day old-skool shooter. With dozens of weapons at your disposal and plenty of enemies to gun down for your enjoyment. The health system in Wolfenstein: TNO was also pretty similar, letting you pick up Nazi armour and helmets and such to improve BJ's protection. I like this approach and hope more gamed adopt it.

But aye, in a nutshell, Wolfenstein: The New Order was somewhat disappointing for me as a Wolfenstein game. I felt it wasn't a return to form for Wolfenstein but rather a new lease of life for the ageing IP. As a general FPS, I found it to be enjoyable and fun. With a huge focus on singleplayer that isn't seen much in todays generation of gaming. Machine Games recently hinted that they'd like to do a sequel and despite my disappointment, I would happily welcome a sequel. 

But we're not done yet.....

When I finished The New Order, I decided to dust off the 2009 Wolfenstein game and one again play through it's campaign, for the sake of comparison. To give you a idea on which one I found "funner" as a Wolfenstein game - 5 minutes into the 2009 game and I was already having more fun killing Nazi's here than TNO. Bosses on the other hand were shit in the 2009 iteration.

But I sort of preferred BJ's personality in the 2009 game. There was some humour mixed in with the seriousness of the game's situation. While TNO's BJ is a more realistic personality for a man damaged physically and mentally in war, Wolfenstein hasn't exactly been known for being "realistic". I don't know, everyone will have their preference surely. Some might prefer a "mute" BJ ala Wolfenstein 3D. 

Speaking of 3D, the homage to the original game in TNO was probably the best thing there, It reminded me of the secret ID loot rooms in RAGE, except..you could actually play the fucking level!!!

Would happily play a whole game of this.

I also prefer the supernatural theme in Wolfenstein over the TNO's robot theme. I'd like to imagine the Nazi's in the game were more of a mass-numbered cult instead of a Post-World War II Skynet. 

I couldn't care for any of the side characters in either of the games and no amount of drama and intensity will change that. I like my Wolfenstein with a side order of blood and death. 

Before I finally get round to finishing this half-assed Blog post, I need to know another thing about TNO. What the fuck was up with Caroline Becker's super-suit? She shows up near the end, kicks some Nazi machine to the ground, able to walk in a modern-looking suit reminiscent of Isaac Clarke's from Dead Space. I felt that suit wasn't explained all too much in it's short screen time. 

But oh well. I meant to post this weeks ago, but I didn't finish it and lost motivation. Kinda just re-did it all tonight to finish it. Regardless, what's your favourite Wolfenstein game? Be sure to let me know in the comments below.

 This is the face of Justice.

No rest for the Living - My life currently.

Oh hello there, looks like your reading another one of my blog posts - that's right, I'm just going to assume you read the other ones before this. You didn't? Well bloody do it then.
Then again, why would you want to read about my life. What makes my life so damn interesting. Anyway I'm not gonna beat you with a stick if you want to stay and read.

My life - it's currently busy. Remember when I made that previous blogpost about job searching? Of course you do. Funnily enough, I completed my job-searching quest only a few weeks later and now currently work in an Airport that I have some trouble getting to at times.

So now comes the "point" in this blog post. What am I doing with my life or more precisely, trying to do with my life. The same shit I was doing before the job. Just basic things like seeing the Lady, spending time with the friends that actually matter and running a Youtube page. Though now with the job and entering the "adult life" like everyone else, I now have almost zero times for creative endeavours. Now don't get me wrong, I'm still making Youtube videos but not as progressively or on a weekly basis - only when I can be bothered and lets be honest, that's only my days off. But at the end of the day, at least I'm still trying, right?

So what can you expect from my silly little page in the future - Comics! More Comics!!! So much pages of super-heroic faffing about, filled with itty-gritty storylines and brooding dialogue as well as no conclusions - EVER!!! Just the occasional reboot. Still, it's the main focus of my channel and what I enjoy doing. Can I act in them - well, no. Or at least I think not because I have to put up with my dull and drab voice everyday but I don't mind it any more when I hear it recorded and played back because I'm a "mature professional-adult" who takes his projects seriously (that's not quite true). But the next two comics, like Space Detective are from the Golden-Age era of Comics with the titles being "Cat-Man" and "Daredevil".

 I mean, just look at him, with a colour change, he looks just like Batman.

What about Cat-man? Well he's not like Batman at all. His parents died in a car crash and he was raised by a Tigress. Somehow this tigress is magical in that it can bring him back to life, should he be stupid enough to jump into any laser beams...

Oh wait...(Silly Cat)

So expect that at some point, as soon as I get the last few voices done and edit it all together with music and sound effects to make the whole video longer, sexier and give your ears that euphoric orgasm it so desperately craves after having the latest radio tunes pumped into them. 

Since he reminds me of Batman, you can expect a poor-mans Batman impression in the final video. It sucks and I know it does. But am I going to change it. Haha - no, enjoy ;)

So what of Daredevil? I bet you got all excited and thought "finally, a comic character I know". Well I hate to be the voice of disappointment...no wait, I do! It isn't Marvel's more popular character Daredevil known to jump from building and wear red spandex - who was also played by Ben Affleck in a okayish movie. No, it's this guy...

This is the original non-marvel Daredevil

What can I say about him? Well he sort of looks like Deathstroke except with a shit-tonne more personality. The first issue shows him to be a little sly dog who manages to sneak his way into a Nazi base with the intentions of fucking up Hitler. Also yeah, this guy beats up Hitler..that's cool.

I bet your thinking "But Scott, we want something modern". I'm sure you do, but there's this little thing called "copyright" where I need permission to do so. But you know what I'm gonna do (eventually)? I'm gonna climb on my high horse, lift my head up and say YOLO. With the shit tonne of personal comics and graphic novels I own as well as the increasingly growing collection online thanks to the Humble Bundle, I've got enough copyright character stories to use in the comic future. So..expect that. 

Some of the notable titles being Batman, Deadpool, Spider-man, My little Brony, Robocop, Transformers, Sons of Anarchy, The Walking Dead and more!!!

Want to do something other than sit there with your finger in your bum? If you have decent recording equipment and want to give it a try, you can email me. But I'll go on about that later. 

So overall, I'm liking my new job and despite being 21, I do miss my free-time and the adult-life is sucking away the majority of any free time, but I'm still intending to deliver videos because everyone needs a hobby I guess. Because we need things like "money" and "responsibility" and...well, stuff! Here and there I plan to do more than simply comics, when I have an idea. 

If you've been reading all of this and thinking "calm down Scott, it's just life" then you've been reading it all wrong and shame on you. I'm a happy man and just enjoy expressing my poor patter in the form of text rather than sit and do nothing. It feels good, but for today I'll use words like "liberating" and "orgasmic" to express how I feel when making ranty/talky/chatty blog posts. 

And since I've been blabbing about Youtube non-stop, why not be cool for once and give my page a subscribe. It means you get to watch any hokey video I make as soon as it's ready!

link: https://www.youtube.com/user/MK5Spartan666

And if your wanting to get involved in voice acting comics alongside myself, get messaging my e-mail address at: scottaburns@hotmail. Because collaboration is all the rage. 

And if you like following this blog, why not actually follow the blog itself as well as the following links:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Scott_Burns_

Instagram: http://instagram.com/hairy_mary05

Tally Ho!  

Is DOOM, doomed? Not by a long shot!

Ah, DOOM. I have many a fond memories of blasting Imps, Pinkies, Cacodemons, Hell Knights and more! DOOM is an FPS game developed by ID Software and released in 1993.
Before DOOM came along and blew up in the world of gaming, ID created another game. A little FPS game where you escape imprisonment from a Nazi castle - it was called Wolfenstein 3D. A quirky, cool little shooter that didn't vary much in the way of enemies or weapons, but paved the way for more intriguing possibilities.

Thus, DOOM was created. The game has you as a lone marine battling hordes of demons that spawn from Hell. While it proved to be popular, it also gained a reputation for being highly controversial for it's nightmarish elements, satanic imagery and violence and parents were stepping in to stop their kids becoming an adult as they strafe, dodge and surface the onslaught of blood-gurgling, spine-tingling faces from below.
With the great graphical quality and extensive library of shooters we have today, you probably find that hard to believe...well it was the 90's is all I can say. It happened and a decade later, it continued and eventually died down.

But I'm not here to talk about DOOM's controversial aspects, I'm here to talk about the history and what's to come from DOOM now.

This poor soul has been waiting too long for the next DOOM

Along with Wolfenstein and DOOM, ID Software have also created Quake which went on to blow up further in the gaming industry with it's fast pace and enjoyable multiplayer mode, defining the birth of Online FPS games for the PC. The 90's were certainly the Highpoint for ID Software.

But like many Hollywood actors, beyond the 90's is when things began to decline a little. A new millennium meant a new era of games and gaming in general. In 2001, Return to Castle Wolfenstein was released - now fully 3D, it was a reboot of sorts for the Wolfenstein franchise and was received favourably. This eventually led to a sequel in the form of a game simply title "Wolfenstein" and it was largely ignored or simply passed by everyone without even a passing glance. 

I played it. It was actually a fun little game - the last boss was beyond hard and didn't consist of the old-skool ID videogame rule of "just blast the FUCK out of him" and instead relied on a little cunning, but you can't blame ID for trying to be a little bit original in 2009, an era where every game aspired to be Call of Duty. ID even tried it by forcing a terrible and unpopular multiplayer mode in their 2009 Wolfenstein (which is where the focus of most of the achievements lie).

Regardless of some flaws, I'd still recommend it.

As for Quake, Quake 2 became very popular in both the multiplayer gaming community and the modding community - the game being modded to create Half-Life even. Quake 3 was released eventually and focused only on the multiplayer aspect, pooling together a host of characters from all of ID Softwares IP's. It done away with the story element which at the time was okay since FPS games like Quake didn't have much in the way of story anyway. In 2005, Quake 4 released on PC and Xbox 360 as a launch game and received somewhat favourable reviews but mostly just passed by our radars as FPS games weren't all the rage at that point and a lot of people forgot Quake existed - only the fanboys/fangirls were eager for it. 

Maybe I'm just an ID Fanboy, but I'd still recommend Quake 4

Now, what of ID's flagship title, DOOM? DOOM for the most part is actually okay, DOOM 2 was released in in 1994 and was mostly the same game as DOOM except with bigger, more varied levels and a shit-load of new Demons to give you nightmares and stop you reaching your destination. But between DOOM 2 and DOOM 3 was a Decade-old gap! Yes, DOOM 3 was released 10 years later (fuck!) Regardless, DOOM 3 became a commercial and critical success to the company, but divided the fanbase for it's horror elements as well as the ability of switching between a gun or a flashlight - this was later sorted in 2012's DOOM 3: BFG Edition. 

It did everything in Dead Space before Dead Space existed

But what now? Despite these successes, ID Software weren't hitting hard like they did in the 90's. They weren't "making a difference" any more, just making games like any other companies. Part of me felt they weren't comfortable with that and I feel that's the thing with ID, they strive to do more than just "make games". In 2011, ID created a new IP in the form of RAGE. It was an open world shooter with RPG elements and felt like a fusion of both Fallout and Borderlands only, it failed to really capture the essence of both. Sure, it had the wasteland, but it was bland and everyone in it had little personality. There was tacked-on racing modes which while a little fun, they aren't for everybody and enemies and loot that don't re-spawn. Also there were some areas you couldn't go back to after completing a level. But overall it generally felt like an ID Software game at the time and the lacking of real ideas was showing, so between then and now, what's happened? 

Wolfenstein: The New Order was released just a couple of months ago and it blew up! People ate it up, loved it and appreciated the lack of multiplayer and focus on singleplayer and like some games on this list, ID used an external company to develop the game - in the end it paid off and Wolfenstein has shown ID that old-skool FPS games can STILL thrive in a modern world. But what about DOOM?

Well, With Quakecon just passed, those who attended got to see something the rest of us won't get to see in any form till 2015 - DOOM 4 Gameplay!!!

Except, that it's no longer being called DOOM 4 but simply - DOOM. Like DOOM 3, it's a reboot of the story which hopes to remind players what they loved about DOOM in the first place. And going by the fan reaction - they are certainly getting there. Fans who attended keep speaking about elements like "tonnes of demons", "carrying lots of guns at the same time", "strafing", "old-skool gameplay" and more. That alone has made me very excited. So what does this mean? 

ID Software have gotten their shit together and are going forward, with Wolfenstein and DOOM being successful, I would like to see them release a new Quake and complete the holy trinity! 

Until we have the next DOOM title though, please enjoy the teaser. [I should really make a drinking game out of the amount of times I've said DOOM]

I cream a little every time

So what now? We wait. We wait and we hope it turns out fun and fantastic. Regardless, I'll still buy it because 1) It's DOOM and 2) I'm a fanboy. Heck I even enjoyed the movie! 

Yes people, there was a movie! It isn't actually uncommon - it's arguable that more people know of the movie's existence than the game. After all it stars Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and Karl Urban. 

*SPOILER ALERT*

Karl Urban totally kicks-ass as the Doom-Guy ;)

No satanic imagery included

While it's not bad, I have to always point out the missing elements of the movie that the DOOM games are recognised for. Firstly there's the satanic imagery - there is none of it, not even a wee pentagram. For Demons that are supposed to come from hell, there is nothing to suggest it, but that also brings me to my next point. The Story - It's no longer about aliens from hell but rather science experiments turning the people into monsters. I suppose that's more "logical"? But when has DOOM been regarded for being logically-correct? I'll tell you when - NEVER! My final point is the number of Demons - there just isn't that much. I suppose it must have something with the movie relying on practical monster effects. I for one am glad they did this as CGI begins to show itself more over time in comparison to practical effects, especially for a movie made in 2005. I am the sort of guy who leans more to practical effects in movies because I feel it is both scarier and more authentic. But still, you can't excuse the small amount of Demons which only consist of Zombies, Imps and a Hell Knight or two - oh and maybe a Rock (hurr-durr). The only reason I could see the lack of Demons was probably because Dwayne was filling his pockets up with the money (possibly). 

Regardless, I say it's worth a watch, but then again, I enjoy both great and shit movies - I guess I just like everything. 

So anyway, that's that for this blog post! Want more? Here's a couple of videos from a joint Youtube channel with my friends. Here we play through the first Episode of DOOM. If you enjoy be sure to subscribe for more DOOM and other videogames. 

Part 1 of Episode 1

Part 2 of Episode 1

Most Unemployable person ever? Sounds about right!

Jobs! Literally the bane of my existence. Not intentionally though, more...well, it's something I have no choice against anyway.
Like many other people my age, I was born into this world with a well-stable family with a working Father and Mother. For the majority of my existence to date, I just assumed jobs were an adult thing and they were easy to get, nothing more. Boy, life didn't prepare me properly for what was ahead.

Lets do this!!!

Fast Forward to my Highschool years and we're eventually introduced to the idea of looking and applying for jobs so we can become "Successful, independent individuals" in society. Awesome, good. But at the time, I was maybe about 12 or 13 and didn't give a shit as I was too busy being young and free along with not looking forward to being a responsible adult. It was like having someone come into your room, invade more of your privacy than you'd like, prep you up and ship you off to military school before you can oppose to the idea.  

As I got older, the good ol' Bank of Mum was a little drier than as a young child. I could no longer wrangle my mums leg and beg for a "Big Toy" or a "Wee Toy" and at the sweet age of 14, I actually got my first job, not by looking for it and not buy sending a CV (or make one for that matter). No, instead I simply called the local Advertiser company and gave them my details and let them know I wanted the job - I didn't have to say why, I didn't have to say "delivering papers was my passion in life" and I didn't have to list them a bunch of bullshit reasons on my employee skills for the simple fact that I was indeed 14 and never had a job beforehand. I did it simply to have my own money - and it felt great! By now, you may have gathered it was a Paper Job - I was indeed a Paper Boy....twice!

I did the job for a good wee while and for the most part, it was okay. I just had the worst part of Grangemouth to deliver in and had to enter more smelly, dingy wee junkie-riddled flats than I was comfortable with, but I was more than willing because I was earning money that I could spend on silly wee daft shit, which always brought a smile to my face at the end of the day. 

Eventually it was time to move on and make the next step in my Paper Boy career and instead of working only one day as I did in my last Paper Job, I was now working Seven, count them - Seven days a week!!! Realistically, it wasn't a great upgrade, since it was six more days of work for only a little bit more of money - Going from roughly £17 in my last one to roughly £26 with this new one.

I was now working for a man called Jack Frew, a man who's reputation precedes him - in short, he's a major toss-pot and everyone & their dog knows it. It wasn't all bad though, I mean he was only in during the Sundays and Mondays and every other day, a man named Jerry (I think) was running the place - he was literally Jacks polar opposite. He was nice, friendly and a respectable human being that didn't talk to his teenage employees like degenerates. Like the last job, it was simply for the money (and a new route). Like the Advertiser job, I didn't have to kiss up to them, I didn't have to submit a CV and I didn't have to list a bunch of bullshit as I was barely a working man. Both of these jobs were cash in hand and were very useful to kids like me, which is probably why these paper jobs were all done by males. 

I did the job for a fair few months as I got an Xbox 360 just after christmas, but it was an Core model and featured no Hard Drive (for those that can remember that far back) and so I saved up about 3-weeks pay to buy one, cos y'know...they were £70+.

But aye, I did the job for a fair few months before my friend lost his route there. So eventually, I was given his route on top of mines. Did I get paid extra for it? NO!!! I wasn't trying to be self-entitled, but every other kid in the job - whenever they got additional routes, they got paid extra for it and so initially, when I did, I was excited at the prospect of earning more as like I said, I was only doing it for the money (kinda like when actors take the shite roles). I earned my next couple pays with no addition, I ignored it at first and from there I continued to earn no more than my original pay. I slowly began to hate the extra route. Reasons being usually, it was more effort and I had to deliver all of these papers before school. Eventually, I just couldn't keep up any more and got so many morning mix-ups with the papers. Jack eventually caught on and fired me and thus was the end of my Paper Boy career...

It's a sad world, isn't it?

Like all good people, I didn't let the loss get to me. I didn't really acknowledge it for very long after that. Realistically, it phased through me because the boss was a cigar-smoking arsehole with an ego bigger than his bulbous nose. (Full Disclosure - I'm not angry about the loss to this day, I just don't like bad people)

From there, I just continued with school with the hopes of leaving when I turned 16, which I had about a year till that moment. 

Fast Forward again! I'm now on my way to turning 16 and if I was honest about the time, I didn't have the slightest clue where I was going or where my life was going to take me! I spoke to a career advisor and she suggested applying to College and looking into the Princes Trust as as well in case I didn't get into College. I did just that. Can you guess which one I got into? I'll give you a hint....it wasn't College. 

So in January, I was part of the Princes Trust and did 12 weeks of Team Building, Certificate Building, Building and Sandwich Building (to eat, yum yum). It was actually pretty great and I say it made me that little bit more of a confident individual, I met people who I would normally avoid if I saw them in a street prior to this course and they became like a family to me - closer than I ever was with any classmate throughout both Primary AND Highschool - in that respect, that's kind of embarrassing, but they were a cool wee bunch. I gained many certificates (which I still put on my CV, but their probably useless now). A few people were knocked off the course for bad conduct and such, but I made sure to get through this and see it through, no way I was getting kicked off it, I was boy-scouting this course. I did just that and finished the course with a snazzy certificate for completing the Princes Trust (with a nice wooden frame too). 

It was like that, just without the uniform.

We did work experience in the Princes Trust and it was not too bad. The first week was pretty good, I worked at a little place called GMS Recordings in Polmont for a week, but they got too busy and I couldn't do the second week. So I went on to another place called Grangemouth Enterprises. I enjoyed it more there as in GMS, I was simply sitting at a desk for 8 hours while at Grangemouth Enterprises, I was working more hands-on for the same amount of time. This soon led me right into a job there after the Princes Trust, reason being that both were ran by the Falkirk Council. Our Advisor in the Princes Trust, Caroline Barclay, got me the job there! Again, I didn't have to hand in a CV, I didn't have to attend and Interview and I didn't have to bullshit my way to it (Seeing as it WAS my first proper job). But she saw that them and myself included were capable enough to have a job and majority of the people that completed the Princes Trust then went into a job. Despite gaining this job in the Princes Trust, I still really wanted to go to College as I would continue to reflect on my Standard Grades and feel I could do more and better myself. 

The summer holidays passed and during that, I worked at Grangemouth Enterprises five days a week. It was okay, nothing too difficult - usually just heavy lifting, fixing computers and working in a very very dirty environment. 

In the later half of the summer, I attended an interview and bish, bash, bosh - I got accepted into the course I wanted, I then left Grangemouth Enterprises feeling like I was really getting my life together! Oh boy, was I wrong....

Strap yourselves in! We're going for a Bumpy ride!!!

I apologise for making this so long, but I type as I think. 

Now, throughout my five years at College from 2009 - 2014, I mostly ignored applying for jobs but would do so over the time in the five College courses I attended. These courses were Pathfinders and Newstart which were both Stepping Stone courses and this led me on to Access to Creative Industries. For the majority of that time, it was like doing Highschool again, only better since there were no assholes, no bullies, no general cunts - College felt like a haven and every now and then, I continued to apply to jobs without any real success. 

I then got into the NC Sound Production course as I had finally decided what I wanted to do with my life - I wanted to be a composer! Why? Simply because I loved the music composed for TV and Movies, it was something I felt passionate about and wanted to do!

The NC Course? No problem, got through that! The next step now was the HNC, which was the first year of the HND. Over the course of the NC, I applied for jobs, got a few interviews and NOTHING! No big deal, right? Yeah, well I went onto the HND. I won't lie, it was a bit of a struggle and I even contemplated jumping out of the course as it took me out of my comfort zone on plenty of occasions. In the end, I passed with a C, while everyone else around me got B's and A's and to add salt on the wound, the very biased and egotistical lecturer I had (whom I was not too fond of if it wasn't obvious) stated "you were only 2 marks away from a B". 

By the end of the course though, I attended an interview, obviously by this point in my life, I was sending out CV's, writing Cover Letters and kissing up to companies like they were about to put me out of my misery of finding a job. And I attended this interview at a place called Caledonian Produce. It's a shitehole and everyone who works there won't say differently. You packaged salads in a dull, cold factory which then get sent to Marks & Spencer's where old people may purchase them and suffocate on any creepy crawly or piece of plastic that found its way into the salad.

Now, this is annoying part, I attended the interview, which was a group interview, so I assumed we all had a chance at this. A lot of them looked like school leavers, some were adult junkies, some where lassies younger than me, caked in fake-tan! Surely I wasn't the worst looking person there. Aye, I maybe had a bit of lengthy hair at the time, but I at least dressed nice for it, which was more than I could say for everyone else - believe me when I say, I stuck out, I really did. It was a little awkward. But I did everything extremely courteous and well mannered. 

In real life, I AM a friendly person and I'm sure this blog is giving you the opposite perspective, only cos I'm a little angry with life.

But anyway, I get home after this 8 hour group interview (which you get paid for) and later I found out I didn't get the job. Now that's a little soul-crushing, I think anyone would agree with that. Two weeks later, just as my course is in it's final days, I get a phone call in the middle of the class asking if I'm still looking for work. Naturally with the Summer rolling in, I saw yes. And BOOM - I'm working for Caledonian Produce. 

BUT - The thing that pisses me off is, I didn't get it first time. What does that say to me? That I'm not good enough to be your first choice, only an option for when someone cancels. And since then, I haven't been able to help but feel like that. Because no matter how many times I shape up my CV and no matter how many times I do an interview, I just never seem to be "good enough" to work for some company. 

I've been interviewed for McDonalds, GAME, NEXT, Smyths Toys, Falkirk Stadium - All local and great companies in their own respect. If I had gotten each or any of those jobs, that would look impressive on my CV, but we can't mark where we've been interviewed in the past, only places we've worked. Either I was apprently good enough to potentially get a job at these places or employers get a sick kick out of interviewing me just to shoot me down and I can't help but think the latter. 

But I continue with live regardless, I went on to do the HND Sound Production, but the HNC was stressfull enough that my dreams of being a Composer are no more. I finished the HND to finish the HND, I wanted to finish what I had started and in doing so - I have a snazzy wee Diploma. It's nice and I love it, but I ain't really gonna use it. 

Saying that though, I am currently creating a showreel to apply for Sound Designer jobs. Why? Because I might as well and even though my Self-Esteem is low enough that I feel I won't get any jobs like that or jobs at all, I'm still continuing. 

In the end? The job market is a horrible place. Sure many jobs are available and there actually is plenty to apply for, not many of us have gotten any, we may all feel like we're the most Unemployable person in the world. 

What's even more depressing is everyone around me is doing much much better than myself. That's good for them, but I also want to become "Successful Independent Individual" - something I was once scared to be. For the last four or so years, I have been more willing to work than most individuals who actually have a job and what have I got to show for it? Nothing. Almost every month now, it seems like everyone on my Facebook who doesn't have a job eventually gets one. Happy ending, right? For them maybe. In the end, I don't know anybody else who's been looking for a job for a total of 4 years with no real luck and sure, I worked at Caledonian Produce in 2012, but like I said, I wasn't their first choice.

Now it's 2014 and I'm no closer to getting a job. I began volunteering at a local Charity Shop in April and a month later, I added the job and experience to my CV and began getting it out there, I was instantly offered an interview at Smyths Toys - You could imagine how excited I was. This was a place I knew I could be passionate in - it sells toys, boardgames, videogames, Lego - the lot. If there's one thing my friends no me for is that I'm Toy/Videogame-daft and not only have I been in Smyths often, I know the entire shop floor like the back of my hand. And with my recently gained Experience, I felt like I was a shoe-in to work there.

The interview day was different than I imagined. I was seated in the employee lounge till the interviewer arrived. That day set off a few alarms. Firstly - the employees, they looked as if they had lost all care in the world, no appreciation or passion for what they were done, just the bored look that filled their eye sockets with despair, as if they know they are working in a dead-end job as some would call it. Despite which, they were generally friendly and overly Scottish, which was nice seeing as too many jobs round here and cluttered with Polish people who aren't sociable or friendly. Also I feel I should mention the interviewers shirt looked like it was going to pop open, which would have been awkward and I hope the fact I dressed overly nice for the interview with a shirt that actually fit me made him feel dirty. I did the interview as best to my ability, I researched the place like mad (but not a lot of information stays in my head) and he said I'd hear by phone if I got it and e-mail if I didn't. 

A week past and I got neither, I eventually had to phone them to find out myself. Can you guess the outcome? Of course you can. At this point, my story is pretty obvious.

Here is my life cycle: See Job >> Apply to Job >> Get Rejection or Interview >> FAIL >> Repeat!

Now? Now I guess I just keep applying, now that I'm also on Job Seekers Allowance, how can I get any lower, eh?  Only thing I can do is improve my CV and keep submitting till an employer submits and just gives me a job - probably not in this lifetime though.

Still, if your an employer and your reading this and you think I have the experience, I URGE you to contact me, because this blog is mostly a rant at the past and present and does not represent me in my usual way. I am mostly a positive person with big aspirations and dreams. A friendly person who can't hold grudges and be mad at people and someone who obviously keeps trying, even when the odds are clearly against them. 

Below you'll find my CV:

Page 1 and Page 2

And Page 3

Any Job hints, tips and secrets you want to share with me? Comment below or counter-rant and tell me how boring/awful/shit my Blog was! Alternatively if you have me on Facebook, you can do that!

Power Rangers Reboot? Sounds better on Paper

Reboots! A Reboot is something - usually a movie that has it's saga/series/franchise scrapped in order of starting all over again with the hopes of making a story more up-to-date, trendy and/or marketable.

Power Rangers is a long stable franchise, starting in 1993, the series recently celebrated it's 20th Anniversary last year - but it mostly flew by. The only thing that stuck out to me was a very awesome Flash Mob. Which you can see below!

Featuring a host of Red Rangers (And Tommy)

But Saban being the devious, Sleazy Toy Salesman he's always been, he now has the opportunity  (and money, it seems) to take his franchise to the next step (once more) after acquiring his money-printer back from Disney a few years back with a brand-spanking-glittery-gritty-all-new-Reboot-Movie!!!

What does this mean? It means we're surely to get a movie that reboots the franchise with new actors, a new story and redo of the origins. Why? Well, money being a key factor, capitalising on our childhood is another and hell, if Michael Bay can sully our Childhood with the TMNT reboot (featuring Megan Fox's Tits) then fuck it, Saban can sully our Childhood with his potential cash-cow reboot. But what with these two movies being attached to different companies and team-up movies being all the rage after Avengers, I guess we won't get to see another Power-Ranger/Ninja Turtle team up...

 Full Disclosure - I actually loved this episode

Today, the first news emerged on the potential cast for the movie. For starters, it's apparently been confirmed that Chloe Grace Moretz has been cast as the Pink Ranger and Liam Hemsworth may become the Red Ranger! Pretty solid news, right? Well I'm not gonna lie, it takes a dramatic curv...

Other names being thrown about Michael B. Jordan, Jamie Chung, Jack Gleeson and Roshon Fegan. Uhm....what? 

Here's your possible Power Ranger team!

 (excuse rushed photoshop)

Suddenly the idea of a reboot, to me personally seems now pointless. I'm gonna come across ranting, but I hope you can forgive it, but as a die-hard fan and someone who grew up with the series till this present point, it certainly raises some red flags. Bear in mind not all of these actors are confirmed or confirmed by Saban themselves or any other liable company but shut up and allow me to rant, will ye?

First of all - The cast. Chloe Grace - YES! While I can see why she would be placed in the pink spot, I also feel it's a draw back, if they're going with a reboot of Mighty Morphin, surely her character will be girly-girly (which she is capable of being) but we've all seen Kickass and we've all seen Chloe Grace kick ass! She can bring it and hold her own for sure - a few putties are nothing compared to dingy drug addicts and a few petty street thugs.

Liam Hemsworth - A positive. Out of all the cast here, I feel none of them would rule the rank of Red Ranger quite like Liam. While his brother Chris is rocking the lead role of Thor in Superhero movies, maybe Liam can take and own his lead role as Red Ranger in a Power Ranger franchise. He has the build, the good looks and the hairstyle to take over Red Ranger position.

Jack Gleeson - I'm a little on the fence. My guess is he would be the blue ranger, unless perhaps they introduce a Green Ranger in a similar manner to the original MMPR series in which case, I could see happening, as we all know Gleeson can play an asshole pretty well. But if not, perhaps the Blue Ranger? Could Gleeson pull-off the Nerd character? I would pay money to see that.

Michael B. Jordan - I'm just gonna get this one out of the way, but I'm already getting tired of hearing this guys name. In the past six months, I've heard his name so many times as he's slated to appear in "this movie" and "that movie" yet all of these movies have yet to exist in any form. I've never seen him in a movie/TV show, so I can't comment on his acting skills, but I'd rather see someone else tackle the role of "Token Black Guy" with Breakdance fighting skills. 

Jamie Chung - Meh, she's all right, as far as actresses go. She really hasn't done anything substantial when it comes to acting. I'm sure I've seen her play bad/dickish characters in the past. Why not get her to play Scorpina? I think personally, she'll end up being the Yellow Ranger in this, if it's sure to happen. 

I also have some serious doubts about the movie. With the small titbit of news surfaced (rumour or not), it seems as if they are trying to emulate all of the best qualities that made the original MMPR series of the 90's memorable. 

Firstly, I feel Michael B. Jordan will be the Black ranger, while Jamie Chung will be the Yellow Ranger, which means we'll see a repeat of the most unfocused racial choice of the 90's in the form of an Asian Yellow Ranger and a Black...Black Ranger. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with it, but it's a modern reboot - stop lurking in the past man, it's not cool.

The Cast. Overall it's semi-solid choices (and a few key actors I'll mention later make it better) but it seems as if every major character NEEDS to be a famous face - one that's currently hot in the Hollywood Gossip. But with that comes an ambitious budget surely, with all of those wages to pay out to so many A+ Actors (I thought Saban was a tight-wad?)

The Chemistry. Chemistry is important, it can turn a good movie into a great movie and a bad movie into a likable/good movie. For example, Amazing Spider-man had great chemistry between Garfield's Peter Parker and Stone's Gwen Stacy. This was only heightened in the sequel despite them dating and made for very attachable and lovable characters that when faced with danger, had me gripping at the edge of my seat, which honestly doesn't happen. And if there's anything that we can agree on, the original MMPR series had great chemistry between the cast. They weren't a team, they were a family!

Lastly, the target demographic. I've always dreamed of a Gritty Power Rangers Reboot - this has already turned up a little disappointing. Especially with the addition of Roshon Fegan. I mean personally, he doesn't look old enough to be a Power Ranger. What's more disappointing is that the idea was being sold as a Gritty, more "adult" reboot (I use adult lightly) but instead, it seems like it's being aimed at Tweens :/ Still, I guess there's always time for surprises. 

IT'S NOT ALL BAD THOUGH. Our potential Zordon may possibly be none other than Liam Neeson and Meryl Streep as Rite Repulsa! That would certainly be morphenominal casting! And on a bonus-super-frantic-fantasic-exclusive-once-in-a-lifetime-offer-cameo-role is Jason David Frank - the original Green and White Ranger from Mighty Morphin since ya'know, he's currently the only cast member super-popular with the fans right now and is suddenly appearing in whatever he can nowadays from Toy hunter, to Bat in the Suns videos as well as stalking Stan Lee on several occasions, but whatever. I'd personally prefer the whole original team as a cameo, but maybe I'm old fashioned.

Surely, I will have come across as a hater and not a lover, but lets be honest with ourselves...I'm still gonna see the movie, good or bad. I'll buy the DVD, I'll pirate the shit out of it and stream it so many times, it'll give Alpha a Trojan Horse! I also doubt it'll affect the main series, because there is nothing more stupid than throwing 20 years of corny dialogue and illogical story-telling down the gutter! 

Enjoy reading my Blog? I have a Youtube too! What do I do? My main Focus is Audio Comics - providing you with a visual experience of a comic with recorded Dialogue, engaging music and limited sound effects to bring the story to life. Maybe I'll do a Power Ranger one closer to the time ;)

Why not give my first Space Detective video a watch? Go on! Do it...DO IT NAOW!!!