The best music video of all-time!

This is officially my new favourite music video! It combines pretty much everything I love - RPGs, video gaming and Christian progressive death metal! Becoming the Archetype, I salute you!

Furry's Forest - Short Story

Joni looked up from the ersatz-potato she was peeling as Berry burst into the room, tears streaming down her small chubby face.

“What's the matter, dear?” she asked with concern.

The little girl dropped her school satchel as she ran into her mother's embrace. Joni stroked her daughter's auburn hair soothingly, waiting patiently for her sobs to subside. The tall graceful woman knelt, looking into the watery face of the six year-old.

“What's upset you?”

“My friend Oak, he, he said...” She trailed off, fighting back fresh tears.

“What did he say?”

“He said Furry's Forest isn't real.” The tears won the battle, her tiny body convulsing as she cried. Joni's look of concern slowly morphed into a smile.

“Is that all that's bothering you?”

“Don't laugh at me!” The child's sorrow swiftly changed to anger, her tiny fists clenched, her lip quivering.

“Oh, I'm not laughing at you,” asserted Joni, pointing to her no-longer smiling face, an urgent look upon it. “I just thought it was something more serious.”

“It is serious!” Berry shouted.

Joni took her daughter's hands, easing the anger out of her.

“It's OK, Berry. Next week, we are going to Furry's Forest, for your birthday.” She adopted a mock expression of concentrated thought. “Now which day is that...?”

“Thursday!” Berry's face lit up with excitement.

“So you don't need to worry. If Furry's Forest isn't real, then how could we be going there?”

“I know it's there, I know it egg, eggs...” The small child frowned.

“Exists?”

“Yeah, exists. But, Oak said the trees aren't real.”

Oh boy, thought Joni. She had hoped this conversation wouldn't come up for quite some time.

“Well...” she began, but was saved by the sound of the front door opening.

“Daddy!” cried Berry, dashing out of the kitchen. Joni stood up, straightening out her blouse. Eric strode into the kitchen in his smart dark suit, tie undone, his face tired but still bright and youthful. Berry sat atop his shoulders, laughing with delight.

“Hi Jo,” he said, kissing his wife, whilst Berry copied him, kissing the top of her mother's head. Joni chuckled.

“How was your day?” she enquired.

“Same old, same old. The project's ticking over, but we're on schedule.” He grabbed the little girl off his shoulders, who squealed with happiness. “But right now, me and Berry-Werry have got some playing to do. Lead the way, Princess,” he said as the child pulled him out of the kitchen and down the hall. Joni sighed, turning back to her potatoes.

- x -

“Did our daughter ask you anything about trees this evening?” Joni queried her husband as they lay in bed together, the lights dimmed, the air-traffic rushing past outside the high-rise apartment only a faint insulated hum.

“No. Why?”

Joni turned over, looking at Eric.

“She must have forgotten it. She was in floods of tears when she came off the rail after school. Some boy told her about the trees.”

Eric shrugged.

“She was gonna find out sooner or later.”

“I know, but the week before we take her to Furry's Forest? It could have come at a better time.” She looked into her husband's eyes. “I think you should talk to her.”

“Me? No, no. I'm the funny, happy-go-lucky parent. You're much better at the serious stuff. She wouldn't believe me.”

“Oh, so it's fair that I have to be the one who shatters her belief of there being some scrap of nature left on this planet? I should be the one who tells her that the magical theme park we're going to is just heap of lab-grown synthetics and plastic leaves?”

“Look, maybe she'll forget it for a while longer. We'll wait till after her birthday, then we'll break it to her gently.” Eric embraced his wife, kissing her forehead. “We'll do it together.” 

Joni looked solemn.

“She won't forget.”

A unique approach to the Bible...

Movie Mini-Reviews: The Adjustment Bureau, Thor & X-Men: First Class

The Adjustment Bureau

Being based on a Philip K Dick short story, I will admit I was surpised that this movie was only 'sci-fi lite' at best. However, as a psychological/romantic thriller, The Adjustment Bureau is fairly effective. Damon and Blunt do a good job of protraying a couple striving to be together, only to be torn apart by destiny, and the use of New York as a setting fits very well with the narrative. The quasi-religious undertones are a tad contrived, but overall this isn't a terrible flim. There are definitely better Philip K Dick adaptions, but equally there are others that are much worse.

Try this is if you like: The Time Traveller's Wife, Blade Runner, The Bourne Trilogy
Rating: 3/5

Thor

Going into this movie with no prior knowledge of the Marvel comic book series is not necessarily a bad thing. Thor does a really good job of bringing the viewer up to speed with the mythology and background info, without letting it feel exponential or clunky. Although the plot is fairly good, it's the performances that really shine in this film, with Tom Hiddleston deserving special note. Playing the trickster-villain Loki, Hiddleton toys with our empathy, causing the audience to pity him as much as we despise him. Apart from some minor flaws, such as continual and obvious nods towards the upcoming Avengers movie, Thor stands out as one of the best superhero movies this year.

Try this if you like: Iron Man, 300, X-Men
Rating: 4/5

X-Men: First Class

I think it's important to clarify one thing about this film: it is intended to be a reboot - this portrayal of the X-Men characters and story-lines will not marry-up with previous X-Men films. The main strength of this movie is also its main weakness - the subject matter. The film does a great job of telling the origin stories of Magneto and Charles Xavier, but it should have stopped there. Too many other characters are crammed in, and fairly weak characters too. However, the narrative of the movie is solid, making great use of historical events to frame the plot. McAvoy and Fassbender carve out original portrayals of their characters, and Kevin Bacon is an effectively sinister villain (and possibly the only new character with a cool mutant power). Not an awful film - still not sure why all the female characters had to be semi-naked though...

Try this if you like: Wanted, X-Men, Inglourious Basterds
Rating: 3/5 

What do you do when you think God's got it wrong?

An interesting response to the recent debate sparked by Rob Bell's book, 'Love Wins'.