Yep, second university term and I've got essays to do, well just one for now the other one is for much later. Regardless I'll be concentrating on getting it done so things like drawings and writing will have to take a back seat until I can get this one done. I'll still be around on IRC and IMs and will still be available to chat and *maybe* role-play a little depending how my work load is.

Also, if anyone can tell me the reason why British armour were so successful in North Africa (other than the Italians were terrible at it) that'd be helpful.

Yeah, it was a good movie I guess, certainly seen worse.

Alright, here's my contribution:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zUCdi9_wHI

and

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLGjrc8MKnc

Are you happy now?

YARRR...

Also, Running Wild rule.

Alright, something of an angry rant post, I'll take it down later if I happen to calm down and think this is a stupid idea, but here goes.

Alright, I was cycling home and came up to a busy junction, I was tired from cycling up several hills along the way. I was on the road obviously and I weaved through the cars to the appropriate lane. Then light turns green and I cycle to turn left, only there's a few oncoming cars so I brake but shuffle out of the way so the cars behind me can move past me. Then some bastard drives past, pulls his window down and calls me a prick. I'm just not used to that, what kind of cowardly git insults someone and then immediately drives away? I'm sorry I inconvenienced you for ten fucking seconds as I moved out of the way so I don't get ground under the treads of oncoming cars, evidently whatever it is he was late for is more important than me not dying.

*sigh* I know I was a bit stupid, I should have just got off the bike and used the pedestrian crossings, but as far as I'm concerned that doesn't justify the insult. I guess I'm just a little upset by it, well very upset then.

Rant over.

Just finished listening to it. Utterly awesome; one of the best albums Megadeth (otherwise known as Dave Mustaine plus three) has produced since Countdown to Extinction. A great mix between the early Peace Sells era, Rust In Peace, and Countdown to Extinction. Though at times it feels like it's following these formulas too religiously, but the end result is nonetheless awesome.

Umm, yay?

I guess I should do something about that.

Alright, been tagged by  LunaRuby

Rules=

* Choose a singer/band/group.
* Answer using ONLY titles of songs by that singer/band/group.
* Tag 2 more people (let them know they've been tagged)

The band I chose: Megadeth

Are you male or female?
'Use The Man'

Describe yourself!
'Rattlehead' [should have been obvious]

What do people feel when they're around you?
'Ashes In Your Mouth'

Describe your current relationship.
'Last Rites/Loved To Deth'

Where would you like to be now?
'Looking Down The Cross'

How do you feel about love?
'Architecture Of Aggression'

What's your life like?
'Poison Was The Cure'

What would you ask for if you only had one wish?
'Set The World Afire'

Say something wise.
'Holy Wars...The Punishment Due'

Alright, I tag  Veratis and  Herakilla , I think

SQUEE! http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/headcrusher/

Hello and welcome to this inaugural Rattlehead's Reviews, where the only opinion that truly matters is mine.

First we shall be analysing one of the summer blockbusters; Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. Now, first off I should mention my previous experience with the Transformers franchise is limited to the movie that came before this one; seeing a few clips of the original animated series on YouTube; and of course the cover performed by British metal band Hospital Of Death ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pb036SLVrHc their first album is free to download from their website).

The first movie was passable at best; the plot was okay-ish but felt merely like a mechanism to send us from one CGI action scene to another. I guess the best way to describe it would be like watching someone play a video game about the Transformers complete with long un-skippable cutscenes. So, how would this sequel match up to this towering edifice of mediocrity? Well, let's dive in.

Like the first movie it seems to start more like a soap opera; Sam is about to move off to college which as everyone knows is a terrifying and horrifying experience. Already we have come into my main annoyance with this film; it seems to lurch violently between plot development and pretty flashy action scenes. The trouble is of course the plot development feels stilted, sure there are some decent moments but really this is a film about big robots that can change into vehicles waging war on each other, I think people are more concerned about that than Sam worrying about fitting in with his new roommates. That's not to say the two parts don't cross over but it just feels like it's padding the film too much. Which is another problem; at 147 minutes long the film is far, far, far too long. This is quite possibly the first time I've sat in a cinema and checked my wristwatch wondering when the hell this is supposed to end. All this could have been avoided by simply cutting down on the superfluous material, we didn't need to see Sam's mother running around high as a kite and the whole subplot about that woman trying to seduce Sam is completely unnecessary.

That leaves the action scenes, make no mistake this is just a pure CGI action fest. The CGI is at times pretty, although the mechs have the same problem of transforming so fast and so blurry you can't see it. Furthermore it has far less shaky-cam than its predecessor.

We briefly interrupt this review to bring an important message to all film makers everywhere. Please, please, please, please stop using shaky-cam and sudden camera changes in action sequences. It's not a good effect, it's just annoying, dizzying and in the past has given this reviewer motion sickness. Action scenes are far more effective when the audience can actually see what's going on. Thank you.

Huh, that was odd, ah well. Where was I? Ah yes the action scenes, on the whole pretty decent but again too long. Eventually seeing Optimus Prime beat some nameless Decepticon into a mass of steel and plastic over and over again loses its appeal. Sure at the one time it's in a forest, and then it's in a city, and then it's near the Great Pyramids of Giza, but a change of scenery does not stop an audience getting tired of it. Also, looks like the United States military is now the redshirt army in the Transformers universe. Why bother do anything when the U.S. Marines, one of the elites of the U.S. war machine, are reduced to cannon fodder?

The plot. The driving force of any movie, and again we see it merely taking a backseat. In itself it merely provides an excuse for more action scenes. Plot exposition over? Great! Time to shoot something. We get some generic claptrap about ancient alien artefacts and the Ancient Egyptians, gee, where have I heard that before? Oh yes, nearly everywhere! The first movie had a fairly generic plot but it was not done with masses of exposition as done here, something that is commonly referred to as the 'Metal Gear Solid 4 (MGS4) effect'. Even with all that exposition the audience is still left confused. Yeah, yeah, mysterious alien artefact, war with machines, wait... why do they want to blow up the sun? What's energon? Where did the sun-cannon-thingy come from anyway? Why am I still watching this crappy movie?

Now we come to the dark heart of the matter: yes, the stereotypes. I'm sure you all remember Jazz, the black robot who only had two lines and the first was simply " 'Sup, bitches?". Well... it gets worse here, much worse. We get Mudflap and Skids; the two African American stereotypes who I swear were meant to be minstrels (ask your parents). I'm sure they're meant to be the comic relief here, but they were more offensive than funny.

It's good to see at least some British involvement here; I counted at least three British accents if we include the Glaswegian. A couple of Union Flags dotted around the first half, all I noticed smaller than the Stars And Stripes and often just slightly hidden behind it. Effort for noticing that we exist, Hollywood but still... Anyway, that's just stupid and pointless nitpicking when I have a whole wealth of stuff to analyse.

As I said before I don't know much about the Transformers universe prior to this latest film franchise so I have no idea if it is in any way faithful to it. Though my instincts tell me Revenge of the Fallen is raping its corpse.

In conclusion, this movie is just bad. It's not horrible, some parts are entertaining at least and they certainly could have made it worse. For the most part, however, it's just dull and tedious. Here's what I recommend, wait for the DVD to come out, look up the plot on Wikipedia, and then just fast forward through everything that isn't an action scene or (if you're a straight male or a lesbian) just ogle Megan Fox like the dirty perverts you are.

Final score: 3.5/10

If you have any suggestions on what else I could review, please tell me.

Exams are finally finished now, hooray. Going to look for a summer job soon.

Bored, may as well do this, borrowed from  emperorpenguin

RULES:
1. Put your iTunes, Windows Media Player, etc. on shuffle.
2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
3. YOU MUST WRITE THAT SONG NAME DOWN NO MATTER HOW SILLY IT SOUNDS.
4. Tag 15 friends.
5. Everyone tagged has to do the same thing. No, I do not do tagging, if you want to do this then fine do it.
6. Have Fun

01) SOMEONE SAYS 'ARE YOU OKAY' YOU SAY?
'Master Of Insanity' - Black Sabbath

02) HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOURSELF?
'Brainwashed' - Iced Earth

03) WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL?
'Ted The Mechanic' - Deep Purple (er...)

04) HOW DO YOU FEEL TODAY?
'Snots Shit [Out-take]' - Venom (pretty accurate actually)

05) WHAT IS YOUR LIFE'S PURPOSE?
'Black Prophecies' - Dark Angel (again...)

06) WHAT'S YOUR MOTTO?
'Hammerhead' - Dragon Slayer

07) WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?
'Elizabeth II: Requiem For The Innocent' - Kamelot (why do I still have this on my iPod? I don't even like this band...)

08) WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?
'Dog Guts' - Macabre (...)

09) WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN?
'Come On Back' - Holocaust

10) WHAT IS 2 + 2?
'I Want Your Life' - Dragon Slayer

11) WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND?
'Silver Into Steel' - Grand Magus (is it just me or does that sound Freudian? 'I want to slip my silver into your steel' ...ew, no)

12) WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?
'Angel Of Death' - Slayer (who told you?!)

13) WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?
'Like Father, Like Son' - Exodus (I don't want to be a Global Infrastructure Manager like my dad! Wait... what's one of those?)

14) WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
'Trashed, Lost, And Strung Out' - Children Of Bodom (well, they'd have to be if they're going to like me back)

15) WHAT WILL YOU DANCE TO AT YOUR WEDDING?
'Still Loving You' - Scorpions (huh, something appropriate, strange)

16) WHAT SONG WILL PLAYED AT YOUR FUNERAL?
'Sleep When I'm Dead' - Venom (I actually want 'Burn In Hell' by the same band, also 'For Whom The Bell Tolls' by Metallica and 'A Toute Le Monde' by Megadeth)

17) WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST?
'Sunshine' - The Lamp Of Thoth

18) WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST FEAR?
'Blades Of Steel' - Satan (er, who wouldn't fear being stabbed?)

19) WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST SECRET?
'Iron Tears' - Flotsam And Jetsam (that's right, I'm so metal I cry iron)

20) WHAT DO YOU WANT RIGHT NOW?
'Strange Wings' - Savatage

21) WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS?
'Train Of Consequences' - Megadeth

22) WHAT WILL YOU POST THIS AS?
'Only As Young As You Feel' - Holocaust

Well, I guess there's something else that has influenced me to take a break from role-plays other than the necessity of exams and the fact that being swamped by requests is downright annoying. I think I am becoming bored with macrophilia, earlier I considered a role-play, particularly ones of a sexual nature, to be something rather special because it rarely happened to me, now that I have done it practically every day it has become just that; an everyday thing. Now it is just part of my routine and as normal as me taking a shower at 5:30 pm. Perhaps I am just nostalgic for the early days, when I had only just been introduced to the fandom early June 2008: back then it was new, exciting, and just a bit scary; and I loved it. I guess I just want to recapture that, so I'm going to have to try and go back to what made me love macrophilia and furry in the first place. I'll be trying to find the artists whose works I first saw, and those writers whose stories dragged me in and never let me go: DTF, Rogue, Arilin, and Johnman.

So anyway, I hope this works otherwise I may have to take a long break from this.

Okay, I enjoy role-plays as much as the next fur but I'm afraid there has to be a limit. I have exams in June so I'm afraid much of my time will be taken up with revising, while I am more than happy to just chat I'm afraid I cannot role-play.

Alright, there is another issue in this and that is I am sick of constantly being badgered for role-plays by people I barely know. Every so often I get someone (they shall remain nameless for now) suddenly expecting me to just drop whatever it is I am doing and provide some material for them to wank to. While I should be flattered that these people (it's not just one person) think I'm good enough to keep coming back to; I do find it irritating. I find myself just typing the same bland sentences over and over again, 'Rattlehead does this, Rattlehead does that' ad nauseam. It's not fair on the person I'm role-playing with as they don't get a good experience, and it certainly isn't fair on me. Which is why from now on I'm restricting all my role-plays to my close friends, they should know who they are.

Black Sabbath are back! If not in name then at least in spirit, Iommi is the undisputed king of creating simple yet utterly memorable riffs and Dio's voice sounds as good as ever. My verdict: awesome.

Right, this is going to be a fairly political entry but I think it is one that everyone living in the European Union should know about. What follows is an e-mail I have sent to my MEPs (Members of the European Parliament) concerning the Telecoms Package they are going to vote on the 5th of May:

---

As a concerned citizen I would like to draw your attention to the Telecoms Package, which I believe will be voted on by the European Parliament on the 5th of May. As I understand it, this Telecoms Package will allow Internet service providers to place limitations on our access to the Internet in the form of packages. It is my belief that this will strangle the life of the Internet and have adverse effects on small businesses, democracy and civil liberties, and unfairly punish the majority of Internet users.

Many small businesses rely on the Internet to sell their products; in this current economic climate where high street shops are closing on a regular basis the Internet provides a way for them to continue with their business without the costs of maintaining a physical shop. The Telecoms Package could very well restrict and perhaps even reverse the growth of these new industries.

Furthermore, I believe the Telecoms Package would be in violation of the human right to freedom of expression as outlined in the European Convention on Human Rights. The Internet provides an unparalleled forum with which to create, exchange, and debate new ideas. It provides a dynamic new way for people to access new information, in a way not seen since the advent of the printing press in the 15th century. Democracy can only truly function if people have unfettered access to information and new ideas. Restriction of this sort is the hallmark of tyrannical regimes. Thus we can see how the Internet aids democracy, by making people aware of the issues around they can be motivated to act on them and make informed choices come election time.

Yes there are negatives to the Internet, particularly piracy and pornography, but there are positives to unfettered access to the Internet; business and freedom of speech as I had just described, it also provides ways of keeping in touch with people through instant messaging and webcam conversations. Not only that some of the closest friends I have ever made have been through the Internet, some of them living as far away as Australia. For those either restricted to their homes through some disability or lack the confidence to make friends and talk to people 'face-to-face' it provides some greater measure of social interaction.

While there are definite problems with the Internet I believe that the positives outweigh the negatives. Piracy and other illicit matters only make up a small minority of total Internet usage. Unfortunately this is a fact of the Internet and will undoubtedly slip through the net cast by the Telecoms Package. Instead it will be the innocent who will be punished: the casual user who uses the Internet to book holidays; shop online for things that cannot be easily found in the high street; look up and get in contact with old friends they have not seen in years; as their access to these things would be restricted. It makes little sense to punish the innocent majority of Internet users for the crimes committed by a small handful of people.

In conclusion, I respectfully implore you to support amendments, which will safeguard our rights to access and distribute content across the Internet; and to reject any text that discusses placing restrictions or limitations on Internet access. I ask that you guarantee our rights to freely access the Internet and to ensure that all websites and services are freely available to all users.

Right, time for an ill-considered project, as many of you may or may not know I am a student of that most epic of all subjects: history. Therefore I have decided to, in my spare time, write a definitive history of the furry fandom; from it's origins right up to the present day. To do this I will need sources, while most historians often use written texts both of the primary and secondary variety it is unlikely I shall have that privilege. Thus I shall need to conduct interviews either through e-mail or preferably through IMs. So spread the word as I require more and more sources from which to glean information from. Whether I complete this or not, we shall see.

More essays, after that exams, yeah I probably won't be drawing or writing anything any time soon

Well, between completing essay one and starting essay two of three I have composed some thoughts on toleration and tolerance, don't worry, while these are political in nature it is just my opinion and I do not expect anyone to actually follow it.

One cannot go more than two or more days without hearing some politician or human rights activist calling for 'more tolerance', but do people actually know what it means? Toleration is one of the key pillars of liberalism along with liberty and free market economics, put simply it is to allow the existence, practice and act of without hinderance. However, it also implies that when we tolerate something we generally dislike it but shut up and put up with it. For example, if I were to say I tolerate coffee drinkers it would imply that I am prejudiced against people who hate marmite (you freaks) but I merely keep my opinions to myself and don't act upon them. However, in reality I have nothing against marmite haters (you freaks), so therefore am I intolerant of them because I don't have to 'shut up and put up' with them? By the dictionary definition of the word I would not be tolerant of them, but according to most people saying I do not tolerate something would make me an evil hatefilled individual.

Just some random musings inspired by what my politics teacher once said, though he used the example of homosexuality, and thus some student who was not paying attention only heard the phrase 'I do not tolerate homosexuals' and didn't hear 'because I don't think there's anything wrong with it' and thus started up a website denoucing this teacher. The reason I used marmite is so that no one should take it out of context.

Hooray, essays are all done now, meaning requests are open again. Until I have to start doing essays again but that won't be for another week or so. So if you want me to draw you something now is the time to ask.

One essay down, two more to go. Then I'll probably get a few drawins done and then start work on the next batch of essays.

Gah, student life...

Bored, now taking requests for sketches and lineart.

Edit: As of now, all requests, art, writing etc are on hold until I get all of these essays done.

... I had a bit to drink, so erm, yeah.

One word: METAL! This album is a great big 'screw you' to all those who say metal is dead, Saxon continue produce quality, honest, balls-to-the-wall, British metal. Best songs: 'Battalions Of Steel' and 'Demon Sweeney Todd' (epic chorus). Anywyay, just had to share this with you, but I'm not quite finished ranting. I predict 2009 will be a great year for metal, I am eagerly awaiting 'Worship Music' by Anthrax, and new albums from Slayer and Megadeth.

METAL IS FOREVER!

Eh, this will be something of an emo rant now. Well, today is the last day I shall be spending at home, tommorrow I return to the university campus and start the spring term. And I'm dreading it now. I just don't think I can go back there and cope with it all, not just the studying but more of the loneliness and solitude. I completely screwed up in welcome week and the first term, I know next to no one there so it would just be me alone in my room pretending to be a bloody wolf on an IRC with the only people I could really call me friends... Pathetic isn't it? And sometimes the internet connection fails, and that sends me into panic because if these people are gone then I'll be completely alone. I dunno, sometimes I think all the time I spend there gets in the way of a real social life, but I just can't, I just can't go out there and talk to people. Of course I should probably spend less time on it, but I don't want to take a break from it or leave the fandom completely. I dunno, I've got a meeting with a counsellor on Tuesday and we'll see how it goes there. Dunno if I should tell him about this though.

The questions I've been arguing about in my head is whether I should join Second Life or not. While it is presumably a great way to meet and make friends, there is also the very real possibility I make a total idiot out of myself since I really don't know how it works. So... I guess I'm just trying to weigh up the costs and rewards of this.