Wednesday Whimsy

By @hmsbeefnuts

Hello, and welcome to another Wednesday Whimsy. As I type this, it is currently Tuesday 19^th of June, at 12:02pm. In other words, I have left this blog post very very late in the day to start. Why am I telling you this? Well, hopefully it will reduce expectations and hopefully, after finishing reading, what will clearly be a half arsed at best blog, you will not blame me overly much. I have been busy, with real life work things, some big changes coming up in my personal life, a change of job most prominent, and I have not had a lie in for a month, so I’m pretty tired. Anyway, enough of my grumbling, I thought today, I would just let you know what I have been doing entertainment wise this last few weeks, and maybe recommend some books or something, you know, nothing too taxing.

 

OK, so I have been trying to read A Song of Ice and Fire, and I’m up to Book 3, A Storm of Swords, but I have been on this book now for well over a month. Am I not enjoying it? No, I love it whenever I read a few paragraphs, but the problem is, there is so much more to read, it kind of feels daunting, and it’s stopping me from reading more. I have managed to start 2 more books, The Monster Hunters Survival Guide, a comic booky look into the life of a Monster Hunter, and along similar if more realistic lines, Memoires of a Monster Hunter, by Nick Redfern, a glimpse into the life of a real life monster hunter. I’m enjoying both, but finding it hard to commit much time to reading, what with work, writing, a social life, of sorts, and all the rest. Life is tough when you have to fit in everything you want to do #firstworldproblem right?

 

Gaming has also taken a back seat, and it must have been a good month since I played a game, I haven’t even downloaded the new Skyrim patch, must try harder. I’m not really in a gaming mood at the moment, it feels too much like hard work when I’m trying to relax. I’ll get my gaming mojo back soon, probably over the period of the hottest weather in July or August.

 

Film wise, I saw Prometheus twice, and loved both showings. I don’t understand the people who didn’t get the film. The fact it leaves us with questions is one of the strongest parts of the film, which will hopefully get a sequel or two. I also finally got to see JAWS in a cinema, and it was spectacular, so much so, I considering going back to see it again if I have time. I was a beautiful thing, to see one of my two favourite films on the big screen, the other being Raiders of the Lost Ark, which I’m sure I will get to see theatrically one day. I’m a fan of these special re-releases, more please Hollywood.

 

Being busy is also to blame for my build up of podcasts. Podcasts are my new favourite thing, I listen to quite a few. I will take this opportunity to recommend some that are my favourite. For comic book fans, I would like to recommend Cape Crisis, from the guys who brought you Talkradar and Laser Time, always fun and interesting. Also in comic books, The Comic Conspiracy, which is a great weekly round up of news and comic events from a very knowledgeable team, a great listen.

 

For video game fans I would like to recommend Games Radar UK podcast, once every two weeks, the guys lay down some awesome talk and make me laugh constantly. In other video games podcasts, and perhaps my favourite podcast ever, is Destructoid’s podcast, Podtoid. Led by Jim Sterling and Jonathon Holmes, a perfect pairing, they hardly ever talk about games, and it couldn’t be better. I love Podtoid, although be aware, you are best served downloading starting around Podtoid 170, and easing yourself in, you will appreciate it.

 

Fans of pop culture and quizzes etc. would do well to listen to Laser Time, which every week covers a different subject each week, is always hilarious, and always worth listening to. Good Job Brain, is a quiz based podcast that it very QI in form, again always interesting. The Geek Box is a weekly round up of the biggest geeky news stories and goings on, discussed by a range of cool people. Mysterious Universe is a good source of news for the more Fortean minded, including Ghosts, Bigfoot and UFOs, always good to hear.

 

Finally, if you like comedy, my favourite podcasts are, The Comedy Button, and Richard Herring’s Podcast in which he interviews a guest each week, with hilarious results. I’ll leave links to all of them below. That’s it for this weeks rushed Wednesday Whimsy, I’ll catch you for more next week. Hmsbeefnuts out.

For Laser Time/Cape Crisis http://www.lasertimepodcast.com/

For Comic Conspiracy/The Geek Box/The Comedy Button/Good Job Brain http://www.geekbox.net/archives/category/podcasts/

For Podtoid http://www.destructoid.com/?t=podtoid

For Richard Herring http://www.comedy.co.uk/podcasts/

For Mysterious Universe http://mysteriousuniverse.org/

For Gamesradar UK Podcast http://www.gamesradar.com/uk/