The Sunday Supdate: 31/07/11

Okay so I'm going to make this quick as it's like 11pm and I'm on my step family's PC while they all sleep about 2 metres above me. Plus this computer isn't exactly what you would call reliable, so a crash could be imminent at any moment...

 So of course this week I started up DudeMeisterVlogs down on YouTube, with some incredibly awkward videos of me talking about nonsense and sounding like a douche. But, work is work, and I'm determined to carry on with it, just have to get into the flow if you know what I mean. Once I've found that point where I can loosen up in front of the camera, then perhaps we'll see some actually worthwhile content.

  Along with all that, we've had the busiest month of the blog so far (22 pieces, incl this), partly down to that monster of a Tuesday this week, belting out a whopping 5 trailer articles for you to feast upon. I got to tell you, that was a pretty relentless day that has left me able to recite every word of each of those trailers, which is at the annoyance of others when they appear in the cinema. So that brings us to the hits. July is in contention with May's 1077 count, with an impressive 1033 which could rise to conquer depending on how fast you can refresh your page in the next hour.

   Jesus Christ! Oh sorry, Dynamo: Magician Impossible is on the TV behind me and that guy is just blowing me away with what he can do. If you haven't heard of him, Dynamo is a UK magician who is currently considered as the best in the world, performing tricks that defy what we conceive as humanly possible. Walking on water!? Stepping through glass!? Turning cardboard into butterflies!? I've literally spent the last few hours (I've been watching the marathon on Watch) with my jaw to the floor in awe (hey, sick rhyming!) of this dude's talent. There's just no way these things are happening. Truly unbelievable.Please take the time to check him out, and I promise you won't regret it.

  All right, that'll be all. Like I said, I've got time constraints and there are two dogs barking at me in the hallway so I best be off. See y'all yonder.


ATR

RE:View: Captain America: The First Avenger

As the final Marvel piece before next year's The Avengers, a lot was riding on the Cap to bring home the bacon and deliver on a solid origin story of America's mightiest hero, while keeping in mind that behind the Super Soldier physique lies a simple kid from Brooklyn with a big heart. Not only does it succeed in this, but it leaps ahead in terms of character driven narratives vs certain other comic book movies to date.

   So it's 1942 and Steve Rodgers (Chris Evans) is this puny, 90lb kid from Brooklyn NY, who just can't seem to get accepted into the army - after desperately trying 5 times - despite his golden spirit. But when a government scientist, Abraham Erksine (Stanley Tucci) offers him a chance to be more than just a soldier via a new serum, Steve leaps into action and becomes America's first Super Soldier, bringing bulk, brains and bravery like no over to face Hitler and his Nazi hoards. But the evil Johann Schmidt (Hugo Weaving) - or Red Skull - and his Nazi research team, HYDRA, are using an unseen technology capable of great destruction, and could tip the tide of the war in Germany's favour, unless the Cap and The Howling Commandos can stop him.

Let The Vlogging Commence!

That's right, today I am happy to announce DudeMeisterVlogs - the YouTube Vlog (Video Blog) channel to accompany the very Blog you now look upon! What are you waiting for? Get on YouTube and get watching/subscribing/trolling on the brand new medium. Or alternatively, watch it here below, but a Like and a Comment via YouTube would be very much appreciated.
First Ever Vlog!

Eeek... Hope you liked it... I'll start doing more soon and maybe even try to transfer some of my Blog features into video form (i.e. video RE:Views). It'll mostly be stuff about the blog, stuff about me, stuff about the world and news, you know, stuff like that. So here goes something new!

ATR

What The Fridge?!: Week Six

So there I am, on a Tuesday morning, minding my own business on my laptop when this quite frankly disturbing phrase passes through my peripheral hearing. As a moment I couldn't miss, I rewound the clip to record it and share it with the world wide web. This Morning will never be the same again...

Yeah, he just said that. Live on TV. At about 10am. Seriously, what is wrong with you Eamonn, we all knew you like food but keep it down, yeah? Sheesh! 

ATR

Trailer Tuesday: The Walking Dead: Season 2

To round off this spectacular day of Trailery Trailerness, here's the epic 4 minute preview of the terribly anticipated second season of The Walking Dead. Once again debuting at the San Diego Comic Con 2011, the trailer boasts zombies, gore, zombies, suspense, zombies, guns and zombies. Edge of your seat stuff people, here it is. Recommended with no background noise for full cinematic awesomeness.

I do not think something as breath taking as that needs a breakdown, so I'm just going to write what I think and feel of the trailer. It's obvious things aren't peaches and cream with the survivors any more, and as tension builds between them we end up with a divide. From the first few seconds, I think Shane may be regretting that decision though... Then Rick's radio broadcast sounds very well scripted as we ease away from season 1's Atlanta back drop. Now I didn't read the comics, so I'm not sure where it's all going this season. I heard they hide out in a prison at some point...

   Anyway, these haunting scenes of dead people in cars serve as a constant reminder of the horror of the situation, keeping up the grim tone we all loved from season 1. And that carries over into the group, with all the fighting that seems to be going on. Even old Dale seems to be falling out with the black guy over things. The strain of survival is taking it's toll and that's not the worst of their problems.

 But oh my god, that Highway scene. I cannot wait to experience that tenseness and suspense of when those zombies walk past them under the cars. I have a feeling I too will be holding my breath as they pass! This has got to be the most intense scene in TV history if it shapes up anything like this trailer says. 

  This blend of intense emotion and kick-ass action has made The Walking Dead the TV success it has become, and season 2 shows no signs of slowing down in that aspect. The last minute or so, when you've got this mix of all the zombie-shooting and chasing, and then Rick running with his wounded boy (?) while everyone else looks on in despair, just gets you going with a pathos like no otherer. "But a slim chance is better than none" just takes the cake to end it off. Bravo.

Bring on October. That is, if the UK gets things straight and airs it as close to the US as it did last season. Fingers crossed!

ATR

Trailer Tuesday: Doctor Who: Season 6 Part 2

Another trailer from Comic-Con, was the preview of the next half of Doctor Who Season 6. Expect terrifying monsters, twisty plot lines and David Walliams as a small alien with no hair and pointy ears.

Anyone for a breakdown?

• 0:02 - Since when can Rory ride a motorbike?
• 0:04 - The Doctor appears to be wearing a proper suit, top hat included (No Fez?!) in front of a swastika.  Confused yet?
• 0:07 - The number 11. Not only my favourite number, but the incarnation of the Doctor that Matt Smith is, hence the "My time is running out" over the top of it. Don't panic though, Matt is still playing the Doctor next season too.
• 0:08 - Who is Winston Churchill holding a gun to? The Doctor? Hitler? James Corden?
• 0:09 - Speak of the devil; here comes that lovable mass of a man running down a changing room corridor. Looks like we'll be seeing a return of his character, Craig Owens.
• 0:10 - And here's David Walliams' aforementioned alien, called Gibbis, a spooky new creature appearing in the Toby Whitehouse (Being Human) written episode, God Complex.
• 0:11 - And another guest star this series, Daniel Mays (Outcasts, Ashes to Ashes), who'll be in a Mark Gatiss (Sherlock) episode, entitled Night Terrors.
• 0:11 - Madame Kovarian also returns...
• 0:13 - What is this the eye of? Dalek? Silence? James Corden?
• 0:15 - WTF?! Middle aged Amy? In futuristic armour? When is this going to happen?
• 0:16 - A snippet from the much anticipated episode "Lets Kill Hitler", where apparently the Doctor and co do quite the opposite. "Oh FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU"
• 0:19 - An odd exchange between Doctor and Corden, involving some homosexual interactions. Didn't see that coming, did you?
• 0:22 - Amy in wonderland.
• 0:23 - A quick shot of what looks to be a darker and grimier take on the Starship Enterprise cockpit.
• 0:25 - At least now we know how the Doctor gets to Hitler. Smashing through the window.
• 0:26 - River. Is. Madame. Kovarian? WHAT!? Actually, there was always a slight resemblance there...
• 0:28-0:33 - The Silence. Cybermen. Weeping Angels. Creepy Dolls. Robots. Ugly Viking playing chess. And a close up on a Minatour. Anything else?
• 0:33-0:35 - Followed by smashing. Lots of smashing.
• 0:36 - Rory punches Hitler! FRIDGE YEAH!
• 0:37 - Amy fights robots with swords and sticks! FRIDGE YE-HEAH!
• 0:38 - David Walliams/Gibbis hides in a closet! FRIDGE YE-oh wait, that's not that exciting.
• 0:40 - SLOW DOWN! IT'S GOING TOO FAST! From what I could gather here, dudes shoot Silence, one guy teleports, the Doctor pulls Daniel Mays away from something, a Minotaur runs down a corridor and Cybermen heads blow up. Phew.
• 0:46 - So who is in the astronaut suit? That little girl? The Doctor himself? James Corden?
• 0:52 - Answers will come, en masse I suppose. Looks like all these over arching plot lines should be tied up by the end of this, which makes you wonder, "How the fridge are they going to do that?".

So. Many. Questions? Why is there a Minotaur, why are the Cybermen there, will they kill Hitler, what's the deal with River, why was Amy aged, will there be a Fez, who is Daniel Mays, how does the Doctor not die, how does Gibbis play into it and most importantly, is the Doctor gay with James Corden? It'll all be revealed, this Autumn. Can't wait.

Trailer Tuesday: Games Special 2

As if I haven't said it enough already, the San Diego Comic-Con was on last weekend, and that means new game trailers to go along with it. So, like I did with the E3 ones, I've compiled a lot of them for your viewing pleasure.

First up, Battlefield 3:

Showcasing a new map based in and around the Paris Metro system, as well as tooting their own horn about awards, this trailer has me pumped for the explosive, vast and awesome multiplayer the game has to offer when it releases October 28th.

Zelda returns to Wii! Could this game make me pick up a Wiimote again after all this time?

After over 3 years in development, Star Wars: The Old Republic is finally nearing, and here's a trailer showing off the different classes the new MMO has to offer. I call Smuggler/Jedi! Hey, there should be Jedi Smugglers! *Jots down idea for future writing*

Trailer Tuesday: The Last Airbender: The Legend of Korra

Signed poster from the Con

So you may remember the cartoon show (don't even mention the movie adaptation), Avatar: The Legend of Aang/The Last Airbender (depending on your region), which was about this world where people could "bend" the elements (fire, water, earth, air) and one person in every generation could bend all of them. This person was the Avatar and would unite the four nations of Earth, Fire, Water and Air and protect them in times of trouble. That series focussed on Aang, a 12 year old air-bender Avatar who had to stop the tyrannical rule of the Fire Nation and this time around we see 16 year-old Korra, 70 years after the original.

Here's a synopsis for the super-anticipated new series:

"The new series will take place 70 years after the end of the Avatar: The Last Airbender story arc, with all-new characters and settings. The protagonist of the new series, Korra, the next Avatar after Aang, is a hot-headed and rebellious young woman from the Southern Water Tribe who is "ready to take on the world".^[2] The series plans to follow Korra as she faces an anti-bender revolt while mastering the art of Airbending from Aang and Katara's son, Tenzin." - Avatar Wiki (I left the links in)

Trailer Tuesday: The Amazing Spider-Man

For today's Trailer Tuesday, I'm going to be mixing it up a bit and (with a lot of effort) posting at least 3 separate trailers with breakdowns! The majority will be coming straight from the San Diego Comic-Con, held last weekend, and will be from movies, TV and video games. To start us off we've got the Teaser for The Amazing Spider-Man, which was released alongside the theatrical debut of Captain America. Want a synopsis? You got it:

"In this reboot of the classic Spider-Man series, The Social Network's Andrew Garfield steps into the role of Spidey as we once more witness his incredible origin story of how he came by these strange spider powers. But with great power comes great responsibility, as Peter Parker will find out when he does battle with Rhys Ifans' Lizard, as well as wooing the glamourous Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone). Expect a moodier and darker take on the Spider-Man legend when it hits theatres, 3 July 2012." - Yeah, I wrote it. I apologise for the cheesiness... 

Okay, so here it is:

And the analysis:

• 0:15 - After a fly over of New York, we see a very young Peter and his Father, presumably just before his death. It would seem that the film's going to delve into the history of his parents, unlike the original Spider-Man films. 
• 0:30 - Andrew Garfield as Peter Parker in the present day now. I for one am looking forward to seeing Garfield in the role, and hopefully he'll be able to play the character in a way Tobey Maguire never could. I don't know about you, but Maguire never sold it for me. 
• 0:36 - Let the moodiness begin! Peter walks down a crowded High School corridor looking lonely while some creepy music plays. Note that he is in High School, and will be throughout the movie, giving us a chance to see a younger Spider-Man, which could add a coming-of-age element into the mix.
• 0:44 - And there's a shot of Peter in class, looking very distracted as he scribbles in his dark hoodie. Hopefully they're not going for an emo Spidey again like they tried in Spider-Man 3 and epically failed, what with it falling into an irrelevant, uncomfortable and all around misplaced scene... That's Gwen Stacy looking back at him by the way, who is the main love interest here. No MJ I'm afraid. (That's Mary Jane, not Jacko). 
• 0:59 - Peter turns up at the lab where Gwen works. Here comes the powers... Also, it would seem they're playing up the geeky nerd angle on Peter, with the glasses and the subsequent awkwardness. 
• 1:01 - Now here is the villain of the piece. Dr Kurt Connors aka Lizard. According to the reports from the footage shown at Comic-Con, the good Doctor only has one arm and while attempting to regrow it using reptilian stem-cells it all goes South, turning him into a huge Lizard. Hence the name. Refer to What The Fridge?!: Week Five for more details on that.
• 1:04-1:11 - "She told you not to touch anything!" Peter somehow finds his way to this dark testing room, where there seems to be some sort of experiment involving spider webs going on. Then, of course, a spider that's been altered in some way finds our hero and blesses/curses him with that fateful radioactive bite.
• 1:19 - Peter starts finding webbing coming out of his neck. A very different, perhaps more natural, discovery than how the first Spider-Man film handled it.
• 1:25 - My theory on this shot is that Peter is running from muggers/bullies and ends up discovering his new found acrobatic capabilities.
• 1:28 - He's even starting to catch flies! Looks like The Amazing Spider-Man is going to draw out the "freaked out by discovery of powers" thing for a while. It certainly has his Aunt Mae confused, this time played by screen legend Sally Field. And it should be pointed out that Martin Sheen is portraying Ben Parker, Peter's Unlce.
• 1:31 - Peter and Dr Connors meet up before the accident, suggesting that Connors is responsible for Peter's powers. 
• 1:35 - Peter looks to be either sowing his costume or threading out more web from his skin. He could even be working out his webshooters which have been confirmed for the movie. These are just contraptions put on his wrists to allow him to shoot webs, a part which the last films skipped over with the all-natural wrist shoots.
• 1:41 - It's a quick shot, but it's badass. Peter, in costume, sitting by a window. There's something very dark about that shot. 
• 1:44-2:17 - An epic first person sequence of Spidey free-running and swinging across the Manhattan sky-line. If you look at about 2:12 you can see the webshooter on the wrist as he shoots one out of it. And at the end we finally see a proper short of Peter in costume. Looks sleek and more poignant. This sort of Mirrors edge style sequence has me really wanting a FP Spider-Man game! Oh and the dialogue sounds awesome. "The secrets we keep and the ones that are kept from us." Mysterious, eh?
• 2:22 - Title and date. And although it doesn't say, I'm fairly sure it's 3D. See you next year Spidey.

Hows that for a trailer then? There's been a lot of mixed opinions on this film so far, with many criticising how a reboot of a franchise only a few years old is just too early. But honestly, the old Spidey's were getting stale towards the end, especially the "Let's bung in as many villains as we can for no good reason" 3rd film. So I say Horrah for this one, and can't wait to see how it turns out next July. 

ATR

The Monday Supdate: 25/07/11

Woah, a Supdate! Haven't seen one of those in a while! And on a Monday! By heck this is a rare occasion!
Well, actually, it's not. The Supdates are coming back, and at a weekly basis like before. Thanks to the Summer, I've got a lot of free time, so there's no excuse for any mishaps. They may not all be on Sunday (I'll try though!), like today, but they'll be Supdates none the less.

    So, for the return of the Supdate, I'd like to start off by thanking everyone for the 4000 hits I've now got. These past couple months haven't been as strong as the mighty 1077 hits-April that we had, but it's gaining more momentum now and should be back on track for something special. And look, just another 939 until 5000!

 
This weekend just passed was of course the San Diego Comic-Con, and a lot of stuff went down. The thing that got me the most though was this awesome concept art for The Avengers movie, coming out 4th May 2012. The movie features Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, Hulk and more in a big Marvel Super Hero team-up to end all Super Hero movies. And the best bit for me is the fact that it's being helmed by the superb Joss Whedon, creator of DMb favourite, Firefly, and Buffy The Vampire Slayer, not to metion his deep history in comic writing. His knowledge of the heroes combined with his expertise in big ensemble casts full of strong characters makes me have no doubt that this film will rock. Here's the poster:

Click to enlarge and properly appreciate it

  Along with that, the Con also saw the release of a slew of new trailers for Film and TV, which you can expect to see on Tuesday. While we're on the subject of Films and Comics, Captain America: The First Avenger hits cinemas this week for us Brits and I for one am seriously excited about it. Expect me there opening day and perhaps a RE:View afterward.

   So I also did a presentation in English class this week about the Blog and Blogging in general, in a pretty shameless plugging attempt for 3 minutes. Meaning we may see a rise in viewers soon, or a loss depending on how it went. Fingers crossed?

While preparing the presentation, I delved quite deep into my future plans and where abouts it might be going. In fact, I've got several bits and pieces planned for over the Summer which could see a rise into a new medium and networking. YouTube, anyone? And I've been searching the net for some semi-famous candidates for an Interview section. Heck I've even got this global idea that could find its feet over the next few weeks! But I fear I have said too much, and in fear of eating my words, I'll give this a rest. For now...

Until next time readers.

ATR 

What The Fridge?!: Week Five

Okay, so I found this while reading some stuff about The Amazing Spider-Man movie, including details on the villain, Lizard. One quick witted reader got on the comments right away with this belter of an image:

Funnily enough, the image was pretty much bang on to what the reporter was describing. Read for yourself over at io9.com, it's some pretty sweet tid-bits on the film.

Thanks to io9 commenter, JimmyDTU, who used to look like this, but thanks to a little luck and a lot of moisturiser, he's now gleaming!

ATR

Trailer Tuesday: The Dark Knight Rises

IT IS HERE.

After debuting in front of Harry Potter this week, The Dark Knight Rises teaser trailer has finally hit the internet. Something I'm very happy of, because when I watched HP, the trailer didn't turn up (Damn you, local cinema!). So here it is in all its incy-wincy-oh-so-teasy 1 minute and 36 seconds, dissected by yours truly. There's no synopsis, because no story details have been released as of yet, so just know that this is the concluding third of Christopher Nolan's epic Batrilogy. Yes, I am coining that word now (tell your friends).

Expecto-No-More-O: The End of Harry Potter

After 10 years of the boy wizard, the series finally draws to a close with the climactic Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows - Part 2, which opened last Friday. But what happens next, and what kind of impact has the Boy Who Lived had on the muggle world we live in?

What The Fridge?!: Week Four

After a brief spell of absence, WTF returns with a multitude of pictures found on Funny Junk. Be warned; there are birds and there are arms.

Hit this link for a ton more at iywib.com, including some pop-culture references!

Thanks to Austen, who once wrestled with a bird who had 17 arms, and still came out unpenetrated!

The Morocco Trip: The Videos!

 So I managed to get the 3 videos I took in Africa to upload to YouTube and post them on here. They're not much, but they make the whole Morocco posts complete. And don't forget to click on them to get to the proper YouTube link to watch them in a crisp 720p HD format. Much cleaner, methinks. Here they are in small, Blogger format though:

Here's the video I took while riding Malcolm across the Sahara. Note the epic zoom in to end...

 The dismount vid didn't quite go according to plan, as it was cut in the middle from the drop making my finger slip and stop the video. This is what was recoverable from that footage, including a nice shot of Mal's face at the end. Plus it looks like a sweet first-person sequence.

And this was one of the entertainers we had on the penultimate night. Because my camera didn't take decent pictures in the dark, I decided to do a video of the musical supplement. Gives you a slice of the culture, in my opinion.

And that was it. I would have done more of them while there, but unfortunately videos take a lot of memory up on my SD card and I needed that for the 700-odd photos I had taken. Ah well, at least it makes the whole experience a little more real to empathise. 

ATR


Here's all the other parts, just in case you missed them:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5

Cowardly

cow·ard·ice

   [kou-er-dis]

–noun

lack of courage to face danger, difficulty, opposition, pain, etc.

    What kind of person can't stand up and explain their actions, even when they know they're in the wrong? What kind of person can't face the persons they've wronged, all the while knowing it will come up some time? What kind of person hides behinds others words and waits, crouched in the corner until the inevitable shit-storm flies through. 

A coward.

A spineless, character-devoid, soulless coward. Someone that hides behind this pointless façade of righteousness and kindness, pretending all is well and then turning their back without a single word. Watching from a distance as their actions leave smoking craters in the lives they once knew, and then having the raw-red cheek to not even mention the consequent destruction. And yet the coward does not care, or think or feel. It simply continues with the new path it has paved for itself, leaving others to deal with the damage as they go on happily toward a shameless fate. 

But when the fate catches up with them, once the shame and guilt and realisation of what they have become finally punches through the aura of arrogance surrounding them, then the coward will know. Then the coward will know what they've done, but it'll all be too late. The cowardice has consumed. And it ends. With numbness. With neglectfulness. With nothingness. 

RE:View: iBoy

iBoy is a short novel by acclaimed young-adult author, Kevin Brooks. The premise is exactly what the title suggests; a teenage boy is granted the powers of an iPhone after an "accident" embedded one of Apple's popular mobile device into his brain. The boy, Tom Harvey, must now work out his powers (including zapping dudes, hacking into phones and surfing the web through his mind, all while keeping up an impenetrable electrical skin) and use them to right the wrongs of his gritty London council estate. But he'll soon learn that his powers might just be a curse rather than a blessing...

    It's a fun idea that in the wrong hands could end up being a little childish or even camp, but luckily Brooks keeps some very adult themes running through, such as gang violence, drugs and rape. I for one was certainly not expecting this level of grittiness when I first picked up the book, and have to say I was not quite ready for the many f-bombs that started dropping. Plus there is a sense of good and evil throughout that questions our hero's morals as he fights not only the gangs, but himself for his love, Lucy.

  iBoy feels like a very internal story about the main character, Tom/iBoy, as he struggles to cope with his abilities in the dangerous and violent world just outside his flat. As a first person novel, it delves deep into the protagonist's feelings and emotions, making for some emotive reading outside of the few action sequences. And the structure as a whole takes a unique turn with chapters listed in binary code (10011, 10100 etc) and a variety of relevant quotes at the start of each chapter, often involving gangs, technology or feelings.

    At times it can be light hearted with strains of humour and pop-culture references (Spider-Man gets mentioned more that a few times), and then take a heavy, darker tone as iBoy attempts to take down the gang underworld. In between this there's a lot of filler that at times doesn't seem particularly productive to the overall narrative, but is still easy page-turning fodder.

     But when the story hits climax point, things get incredibly tense and will have you on the edge of your seat (despite the near-twist that borders on cheesy). Once its done however, I doubt it'll stick in your mind that long and isn't exactly what I'd call re-read material, but it works as a nice little hero-complex story to wind down with. I'm not sure whether it would've worked out better as a graphic novel of some sort, due to its firm "superhero origin story" roots, but that's an argument for another day. For now, I'll just accept it as a decent emotive story about love, fear, good and evil, that thankfully isn't what the cover might suggest.

6.5/10

The Morocco Trip: Part 5

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4

Once we' showered and changed after the uber cool camel trek, it was 4x4 time back to the coach. Once all on we travelled for hours and hours, pretty much following the route back to Marrakech. On the way we saw plenty of sights, including this symbolic photo I took about religion (2 burqas, a mosque and Arabic text).

And there were lamp-shade men.

Not to mention the amount of ninjas that roamed the streets.

The Morocco Trip: Part 4

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

The majority of the day was spent lounging around the pool until 7pm, as it was deemed just too hot for us to go straight into the Sahara in the midday or even day sun. Anyway, I woke up to find several guys had slept by the pool and hundreds of bottles littered the floor. It looked like some big party had hit the hotel. 

This was Unis, one of our guides who either took a liking or hating to me, I'm still not sure which, as he repeatedly hit me round the ear...

The sun was HOT today, and many of us got burnt shoulders, resulting in T-Shirts to be worn for the pool. This however, was a bad idea for those wearing white because the chlorine-sun cream mixture the water had become had a habit of turning things a yellowy-green colour. I thought smart and wore a green top. ;)

A shower and I was ready for the desert. Covering fully up to avoid the intense sun, which included wearing a neat head scarf around the face.

The entire Saharan trek is after this link, so read more for them! You won't want to miss it! 100+ photos!

The Morocco Trip: Part 3

Part 1

Part 2

Snoop Dogg started our day off with a nice petrol refill. 

Then it was straight into action for a jungle-like walk about. 

Hit the jump for the rest!

The Morocco Trip: Part 2

Let's get part 2 under way of this African adventure with day 3 of the trip:

(Part 1 here in case you missed it.)

Day 3 started pleasantly with the realisation of the hotel's wi-fi, resulting in about half an hour of web surfing via iPod Touch. After updating Facebook and what not, it was a pancake breakfast and onto the coach to ascend higher into the mountains, passing various structures such as these.

And Mexican-style wastelands, that went on for miles and miles.

Loads more after the jump!

The Morocco Trip: Part 1

Two days after arriving back from the sandy lands of Morocco, I've decided to share my travels with the world, or at least the small portion of it that reads DMb. So, as you may know, as part of a school geography trip, I (along with 30 classmates) jetted off to Northern Africa, specifically Morocco (no duh).  Here's a sort of commentary in pictures (and a few words) to guide you along my adventures. Enjoy!

On the plane over, easyJet no less. Pretty bumpy ride including one random hit of turbulence resembling that of a speed  hump. Didn't phase me though, and my ears stayed unusually unaffected by the changes in pressure. After about 3 hours we disembarked into the intense and humid Moroccan heat, before collecting luggage and changing money.  

This was the first coach journey, when we were all excited and happy, completely oblivious to how many hours we would end up lounging hopelessly in its not-so-comfortable warm embrace... However, Airport to Marrakech was a mere 20 minutes, giving us a chance to marvel at:

The wildlife...

The culture...

And the architecture...

There's still a lot more after the jump below!