Senses

Senses - Written 2007

The wind whistles through the trees as I sit there on the cold, metal seat of the tram stop. All around me are other commuters just wanting to get home and relax with a hot cup of tea.

A cup of tea would be so nice right now. A really milky one with two sugars; I can almost taste it. But in reality all I can taste is the remnants of my mint that I’d been sucking on for the last ten minutes.

Over the road from the tram stop I can see a tramp sat on the floor. He looks filthy and judging from the faces of the people stood near him he doesn’t smell too rosy either. I wonder how he got like that, how can someone get to live in that state? He obviously has no money, nowhere to live and barely enough food. What was his life like before? Did he have a business that went bust? Did he just run away from it all?

My musings are cut short when he suddenly gets up and walks away and out of sight.

Someone at my tram stop has chips; I can smell them now. They must have just arrived and it’s making me hungry. I covertly look around to see who it is. It’s a young girl, probably just come out of school, and her mum. They are cuddled together sharing the chips. The girl only looks about nine or ten and I wonder which school she goes to and why she has to get the tram home. Both her and her mother look smart and well dressed, yet both look at ease eating chips out of the paper at a tram stop.

People around me start to move, swarming towards the edge of the platform; the tram is here. I board quickly and am lucky enough to get a seat next to an old lady. She smells like posh soap and has a woolly hat on that makes me smile.

The tram is full to busting and all around me are the bodies of other people. They bang into me as the tram starts and a woman’s bag hits me on the back of the head. She apologises in an unconvincing way and turns back to chat to her friend.

I can hear snippets of people’s conversations, one sided conversations of people on mobile phones and the loud hissing sound of someone’s headphones as they listen to music. I can’t help but wonder how loud they have it if I can hear it but it’s their ear drums not mine at risk.

The tram trundles on and I try to look past the old lady and out of the window. The world seems to be moving instead if the tram and only the occasional bump ruins the illusion. I watch for landmarks that I’m getting close to the stop where I need to get off. Upon seeing these I fight my way to the doors ready for when the tram stops. I push my way through what seems like tens of sweaty people and finally reach the doors just as the tram stops. I step off the warm and clammy tram into the freezing air of the world. I listen as the tram moves away before starting to walk.

Awake

She lies there, as still as she can, pretending to be asleep. He’s watching her, she’s sure of it, so she tries to keep her breathing as deep and regular as possible. She considers opening her eyes to check, but changes her mind as she feels his face closer to her own.

She can feel his breath on her cheek as he leans down and gently kisses her. First on her cheek, and then lightly twice along her jaw line, and then slowly and softly on her mouth. She can’t help smile, only a small one, but it creeps onto her lips before she can stop it.

She hears him sigh and knows he’s awake again worrying. He’s a worrier, he always has been and she knows she’ll never be able to change that. She knows no matter how much she reassures him that everything is going to work out and all of this… mess will be over with soon, he’ll still lay there next to her worrying night after night.

He jokes that the stress is what is turning him grey but she knows all too well that his jokes and smiles during the day are a mask. She wishes she could fix this and they could just get on with being together and loving each other.

He brushes her hair away from her forehead and kisses her again. She smiles and turns her head towards him as he wraps his arms around her and holds her against him. She can feel his breath and hears the steady rhythm of his heart, and hopes that he’ll be able to sleep tonight.

~~*~~
He’s almost sure she’s awake, or at least half awake but he doesn’t want to say her name in case he’s wrong and wakes her up. She deserves to sleep; she’s the one who does the worrying during the day, and then it’s his turn at night. She always knows the right thing to say to ease his mind, even if it is only a temporary release from the stress.

She always has done, that’s one of the reasons he loves her. She knows just what to say and do to make him ridiculously happy. She knows just how to look at him to make his legs turn to jelly and his stomach do back flips. He only has to look at her and he smiles; it’s completely involuntary, a natural reaction.

He can remember the first time he ever saw her perfect face, and how he had watched her all day from across the room. He’d been too scared that day to speak to her properly and had intended on introducing himself the next morning. However, at some point he’d looked up and found himself staring into the most beautiful pair of eyes he’d ever seen.

He jokes with her now that that was the moment he began to fall in love with her. Truthfully, he’d fallen hard and fast the moment she smiled at him and told him her name. He’ll never tell her that though, he thinks it’ll scare her away, although part of him knows that’s just paranoia.

Holding her against him now, nearly all the worry and stress fades away, and although he knows it will return in the morning, he can start to feel sleep overpowering him. He kisses her one more time, just next to her mouth and fights the urge to kiss her again, harder and deeper, when she gives him another small smile.

He carefully gets comfortable, with his beautiful girl resting on his chest, and closes his eyes.

A few changes.

Just a quick post to let everyone know that I've moved some of my articles. I've moved four of my articles from where they were being hosted to this blog to try and make everything more central.
However that does mean that their URLs have changed so if you have any of these bookmarked you will have to change them.

X-Men: First Class - Review.

A Guide to Season One of Haven.

The Sims 3: Generations - Review.

Air Crash Investigation - Overview.

X-Men: First Class - Review

Perhaps one of the most anticipated films of 2011 X-Men: First Class serves as both a prequel of sorts for the hugely successful X-Men film franchise and a relaunch. Although box office taking indicate X-Men: First Class is a success in economic terms, has director Matthew Vaughn been able to balance these two difficult and different film objectives?

X-Men: First Class tells the story of the forming of the mutant team, the X-Men, and also fills in the origins for the conflict between mutants and humans. Fan favourites and team leaders Charles Xavier and Eric Lensherr (Professor X and Magneto to be) are the focus of the film and benefit from much needed explorations of their backgrounds.

The film begins with a little nod to the first X-Men film showing young Eric being dragged into a concentration camp by the Nazis. In a scene that feels as though it has been lifted directly out of Bryan Singer's film, Eric fights to rejoin his parents as a mysterious figure watches him. A mysterious man proceeds to attempt to coax Eric into using his mutant powers but to no avail. Finally, Eric's mother is killed in order to get some form of reaction.

After also introducing a young Charles Xavier and Mystique (who spends most of the film going by her birth name of Raven), the film jumps forward to 1962 and the main plot starts to unfold.

Set during the Cuban Missile Crisis, the film cleverly mixes history with its own plots: the establishment of a mutant team, Eric's revenge and a classic plan for world domination.

The film ticks all the right boxes for witty dialogue, action sequences and adequate explanations of mutants seen in the previous films (Beast, Mystique, Professor X and Magneto). However the introduction of some of the other characters is rushed, while others lack introductions.

X-Men: First Class is a prequel and a relaunch, and it doesn't quite work. You already know the fate of the main characters and the supporting characters are so flat that at times it's hard to care about the outcome.

So, unfortunately X-Men: First Class doesn't quite get full marks. It has wonderful backgrounds for some of its characters, but others leave you wondering who they were. It has funny moments and action scenes but the pacing isn't right. Thus, at times the film plods along and feels disjointed.

A Guide to the First Season of Haven

First aired on 09.07.2010 on Syfy, Haven’s first season was a hit with both science fiction and horror fans: a rare achievement. Developed by Sam Ernst and Jim Dunn, Haven is loosely based on ‘The Colorado Kid’ by Stephen King.

The first season starts by following FBI agent Audrey Parker who is sent to investigate a case in Haven, Maine. It soon becomes clear to her that things are not quite as they seem in the small town and that some of the residents may possess supernatural abilities. The season then continues with the traditional ‘problem of the week’ as Audrey comes to grips with both the town and her own past.

After seeing a photograph in connection to the killing of the Colorado Kid, Audrey spots in it a woman who looks just like her and assumes it must be her mother. It is revealed that Audrey is unable to remember her parents or anything about her childhood. She finally makes the decision to stay in Haven and ultimately quit the FBI in order to search for information about her mother.

At first glance, Haven could look like any other supernaturally-based series with its main characters having to deal with a new crisis every week caused by someone with bizarre powers. However, what sets Haven apart is the overall story arc which follows Audrey and her new partner Nathan Wuornos as they try to find the source of the supernatural events and clues about Audrey’s past.

Regular characters such as handsome rogue Duke are likeable and well thought out with little details from earlier episodes becoming relevant later in the season.

Each of the three main characters has their own story arc for the season which adds to the depth of the world created. Audrey, as previously mentioned, is searching for clues about her past. Nathan has a rare condition that leaves him unable to feel anything physically. In other words, he cannot feel if something is hot, or if he has been injured. Duke, a jack of all trades and perhaps a criminal, faces the prospect of being killed by a man sporting a rather particular tattoo.

These all tie in together for the season finale which ended with a fantastic twist. Season two has a lot to live up to but general consensus among Haven fans is that things can only get better.

The Sims 3: Generations - Review

The Sims 3: Generations is the fourth expansion pack from EA and aims to make every generation of the Sims different. Released in the US in May 2011 and in Europe in June 2011, Generations is a different kind of expansion pack as it focuses less on physical content such a clothes and objects and instead changes the way Sims interact with their world.
This expansion pack adds more than people think to the game. There are not a lot of new objects, clothes or lots. There also is not a new world to tie everything in together, however it is the new interactions which make Generations worth looking at.

Children and teens get a lot more to do now with after school groups, imaginary friends, pulling pranks and the ability to go to special boarding school. Strollers also allow babies and toddlers to get out of the house a bit more and the animations are very cute.
Children also get tree houses and a costume box. Each tree house has different interactions available as do the various costumes your Sim children can play in.

New traits also give the game some added 'oomph' with the rebellious trait standing out as the most fun. Give it to your Sim as a child/teen and they will want to pull pranks and have mood swings. As an adult, it means they are more likely to have a mid-life crisis, which can be very funny.
Going on dates is back (and thankfully it is easier than going on Sims 2 style dates) and weddings are even more special with bachelor/bachelorette parties, wedding arches and wedding cakes.

Elders are not left out with three styles of canes to choose from, each with two different walking styles available.

The downsides to Generations
Although male sims can now have body hair, it looks ridiculously unreal and imaginary friends can get annoying after a while. They will follow your child everywhere except school, even into the bathroom.
The new memory system is poorly thought out and clogs up memory very quickly. Your Sims will remember everything. Every trip to the park, every trip to the book store, every time they choose a new outfit.
Overall though, it is a good buy if you like having large Sim families. Every generation gets something new and the game feels much less repetitive.

Air Crash Investigation: Overview

Air Crash Investigation is a series which examines the causes of air disasters using aviation experts, witness testimony and official evidence recovered  from the scene. The series is producted by Canadian production company Cineflix and is classed as a docudrama. The series is known as Air Crash Investigation in Australia, Mayday in Canada and Air Emergency in the US. Air Crash Investigation was first aired in September 2003 and has continued to be a popular series shown on the National Geographic Channel in the UK.

The series follows the same formula for each episode with a reenactment of a particular air crash or accident. This is recreated as faithfully as possible from data from the flight recorder, any witnesses and cockpit voice recordings.
After the reenactment the series attempts to explain what happened in this air investigation and how the experts came to the conclusions they did.

The series is informative with industry experts interviewed alongside survivors and relatives of those on board. Computer graphics bring to life the last minutes of the aircraft and provide easy to understand images and sequences. 

Over the years Air Crash Investigation has looked at many famous aviation accidents such as Lockerbie and British Airways Flight 5390 when the captain was sucked out of a hole in the cockpit window. The series as even tackled controversial incidents such as the EgyptAir Flight 990 which has conflicting information regarding the cause, with the Egyptian's claiming mechanical error while the US claim the plane was crashed deliberately by First Officer Gameel Al-Batouti.

While the acting during the reenactments can be terrible at times the series is enjoyable nevertheless and never crosses the line into 'car crash tv'. Air Crash investigation manages to show shocking events, sometimes with surprising reality, without ever exploiting the material or the people involved. The series never shies away from showing the true causes of the accidents whether it be human error, a manufacturing error, poor repairs, or hijackers. 

Overall Air Crash Investigation is an excellent educational programme which shows not only the technical aspect of air disasters but the human aspect and the impact on people's lives.