Exams are over. Time for Holidays!

Right, exams are over, relaxation has been very much had; I think it's time for a return!

As it turned out the much vaunted "stress of exams" turned out to be not very stressful at all. As soon as you sit down in your chair it's as if all the pressure has been released, you know what you know and accept your faith, whatever it may be. A surge of adrenaline brings details you never thought you could remember to the forefront of your cortex and suddenly, you realise, you can do this.

So exams went well but that's all over, the important thing is Summer! And a strange feeling this Summer is. I am no longer a pupil, I am not yet a student. I have no idea what the end of this Summer will bring except adventure. So to make the most of it, 9 of my friends and I are heading west next week for a week-long holiday in The Maharees of Kerry for sun, surf and sand.

 

Of course the above image and hopes are a bit idealised. What we'll probably end up with is clouds and rain, some very cold surfing (still extremely fun) and many evenings spent in the local pub drinking to our hearts delight. But what we're looking forward to most of all is the simple craic of freedom. I'll try to post updates while we're down there but even a simple internet signal is very much a luxury we probably won't be getting.

But who cares, there'll be stories to tell when we return, stories of drunken escapades, wetsuit rash, sociopathic pranks and "genius" ideas. Until then I leave you with this, make the most of this Summer, it may be the last you ever spend with all your friends. Make it last a lifetime.

Over and out.

Avengers Review! - Not

Okay I know I should be reviewing Avengers Assemble right now but I'm simply too tired so I thought I'd give you a quick update instead. That review will come soon.

Leaving Cert Construction Studies Day Practical was today, basically a four hour practical exam without power tools and a whole lotta stress. The piece looked simple enough but unfortunately I ran out of time and my project remained unfinished, but in a reasonable state. I found the time constraints to be unreasonable as such a rush seemed inadequate for a delicate piece as which we were making. But I digress, it's done now and it's up to next year's poor bastards to complain.

Looked a bit like this, but then again they look a bit like this every year.

Exams are fast approaching and I think I've just realised that now, updates may become sparse over the next month as I dig in for some hopefully successful cramming, although I suppose my readers will be doing the same. Good luck to you all by the way, it's been hard going and we all need a break, but the rewards will come for our actions now. I just want to see the first one to crack and go bonkers. Offering odds of 2/5 on Mark Ennet ;).

Over and out.

The Way Of Shadows - Book Review

Have decided to post this to distract myself from my thoughts. Might as well be useful for something I suppose.

Quick update on my current situation:
Leaving Certificate Exams approaching in 6 weeks, should be studying.
Relationship status is single, despite my very very very best efforts.
Just played the biggest concert of my life last week with my orchestra, jazz band and choral group.

Anyway, I've literally only decided I'm going to do a book review half way through writing this. This should be good (I always was known for my amazing planning skills).

Put simply, The Night Angel Trilogy is my favourite collection of books, bar only Harry Potter. They are simply unputtdownable, and I hope you understand that that statement is not an exaggeration, these books (doorstoppers all three of them) have kept me up until the wee hours of the morning have long faded.

And here's why: Though yes, they provide plenty of action and violence, the primary purpose of this series is an examination of human morality, mortality, faith, and the limits to which one can be pushed to ultimately do the right thing.


Here I will reviewing the first book in the series; The Way Of Shadows.

The action takes place entirely in  Cenaria City, a cesspool of thievery and whoring in the the fantasy world of Mid-Cyru. The city's poor have been confined to the ghetto like warrens and every child faces a battle for survival as they live among the violent and self-destructive child gangs that roam the streets.

Orphaned Azoth is one of these gutter-children, 11 years old and having never seen his parents, as he digs through the mud to find coins to pay his protection fees and avoid a beating, he spots the legendary wetboy (magical super-assassin) Durzo Blint above him, a man without fear, without worry, without desperation. Azoth vows to become Blint's apprentice and be like him, to lose his his caring.

Spoilerific circumstances come to pass and Azoth is reincarnated into Durzo's apprentice, Kylar Stern. Politics, treachery, love and intrigue ensue as he learns his new lethal trade, until his ultimate test comes and he must face his most deadly enemy.

The violent action flows as seamlessly as it should, if there's one thing Weeks can most definitely orchestrate it is description of the fine art of murder as Kylar leaves a trail of corpses behind him on the way to justice, the movements seem natural, the dialogue can be jarringly vulgar at times, but suits the situations, and the relationships developed (except for one in particular) are highly thought out and only serve to highlight the authors main themes of morality further.

I'd firmly recommend this book for any fans of Batman, Assassin's Creed or The Black Magician Trilogy. It reads at a rip roaring pace and has a character for everyone to connect to, passing through the entire spectrum from Lawful Good to Chaotic Evil. You're heart will be in your throat and your blood will surge. This is a must read.


Over and out.

I'm so, so sorry. And I won't do it again. Maybe.

*looks at feet*
I may have left you in a rush of excitement for the glitz and glam of YouTube and vlogging, and I'm quite guilty about that, so I've returned here, tail between between my legs, as I'm having trouble making vlogs due to hardware failure...

I think I left due to the pressure of 2-3 blogs a week, and the closing in schedule of school work, but as of next week I'm officially off school for the summer! I hope to bring a schedule of about 2 blogs a week, 1 a blog, the other a review of movies/games/tv. And if my webcam gets fixed I'll try not to leave you again...

Forgive me?

Over and out.

p.s. I also intend to start a cricket blog for the English cricket season if anyone's interested.

Along Came a Vlog

Close followers may have noticed I recently started a vlog (to be updated haphazardly, much like this). It's an interesting experiment I decided to perform, and it turns out I quite like it.
You can find my channel here

The first thing you need to know about vlogging is that it can be quite difficult, and most of the time you feel like a whack-job talking to yourself in your room, the camera doesn't respond, and you often find yourself watching the screen to see how you're doing, which leads to a horrendous number of retakes, which leads to my second point of difficulty; the time. The two and a half minutes of my first vlog took roughly 90 minutes to film over the course of a day, with most of the time wasted sitting there trying to remember what you were going to say, scripting it in your head, and then messing it up when it comes to actually filming it.

The third problem is the sheer need for content, between my blog and vlog I'm going to start leading a more interesting life to find some interesting things to put out there, but hopefully they'll come along.

And now that I understand the difficulty of undertaking such a project, I must lead you to my friends over at The Indefinite Collab, who are really starting to get into their stride, and also, Harry (aka thescrotbag) who, in relation to my last post, is doing a Minecraft Let's Play.

Vlog should be up either tonight (March 7th) or tomorrow (March 8th), I start recording last Thursday, and have been bogged down with concert rehearsals since... You might notice a slight transition in clothing halfway through :L

Issue #2 of the comic should be here within the next few days, if Hannah ever gets around to it :P

Til then;
Over and out.