http://instagr.am/p/KqB3TWn2Wf/ May 15, 2012 at 07:05PM

http://instagr.am/p/KkyLxTn2aC/ May 13, 2012 at 06:12PM

http://instagr.am/p/KklqLUn2Rv/ May 13, 2012 at 04:22PM

I got into the MoP beta this week and decided to roll a Panderan Monk.  Below is a short video of the madness I found in the starting area.  For those who are having problems with the quest here just remember to use the /Target master command.  You will also need to zoom through the mass of bodies to snatch the flame from the masters palm.

Well Netflix is now available in the UK and Ireland.  It’s working okay on my ps3, xbox 360 and iPad. Can’t use it on the boxee box yet.

The selection is pretty good but not a lot of recent stuff is up yet, hopefully this will change soon.

Any of you using it?

1.  Prometheus

 Aliens was one of my all time favorite science fiction movies of all time and I am thrilled that Ridley Scott has brought us back to the Alien universe with Prometheus.

2. The Avengers Movie

Comic book films have really taken centre stage recently with Iron Man 1 & 2, The Incredible Hulk, Thor and Captain America all making it big in the last few years. I’m really looking forward to the combination of these great characters especially with Joss Whedon in the driving seat.

3. The Dark Knight Rises

Christopher Nolan has done a great job rebooting this franchise and I am expecting great things from the third installment. I’m looking forward to seeing Bane in the all his glory. Hopefully Christian Bale will take it a little easier on the raspy Batman voice this time around.

4. The Hobbit

The Lord of the Rings Trilogy were some of the greatest movies of all time for me and getting back to this world is great. The added bonus of course is the fact that I much preferred The Hobbit book as it had much more of a comedic style to it.

5. The Amazing Spiderman

While I did enjoy the Sam Raimi Spiderman movies I am very excited to see another director take a shot at old Spidey. I think the casting is spot on and with The Lizard as the main villain I am very happy.

6. The Cabin in the Woods

Finally a fresh take on what is admittedly one of the most cliche ideas in modern horror. Having a science fiction take has piqued my interest definitely plus the anticipation of it coming out as it was completed many years ago has wet my appetite for some woodsy cabin horror.

7. Skyfall

Bond films are always a winner with me and Daniel Craig is my opinion the best Bond since Connery. Looking forward to this one immensely.

8. World War Z

Brad Pitt rarely picks a bad movie so I have high hope for this adaptation of the novel of the same name. My obsession with zombies also makes this a high pick for me.

9. Resident Evil Retribution

Another Zombie fest but hey I can’t get enough of them. Enjoyed the earlier films and I hope that this one doesn’t disappoint.

10. Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter

Whats not to like about the idea of one of Americas most famous presidents tracking down the blood drinking monsters that killed his family. I assume its a true story of course.

We all experience times in our lives when we become slightly obsessed with a certain theme. I have had this with sword and sorcery fantasy, humorous science fiction and zombies. Last year I read The Passage, a book that received a lot of attention, praise and some harsh criticism. I enjoyed it while I know many people didn’t.

One of the great things about The Passage was the landscape in the second half. Civilisation is gone with small pockets of survivors clinging to the last remnants of their humanity. I became fascinated with this idea and started searching out anything that could satisfy my new-found hunger.

Like catcher in the Rye but with zombies

The obvious beginning was movies such as The Omega Man, I Am Legend, the Mad Max movies and many of the Romero zombie movies and so many others that it would be impossible to list. In between I also began reading I Am Legend which I quickly devoured, then based on an amazon recommendation I bought The Reapers are The Angels which jumped into my list of top ten books of all time and Feed which despite some immature writing I quite liked.

Both Feed and The Reapers are the Angels follow on from a zombie apocalypse. Vampires feature heavily in I am Legend and The Passage, while war and natural disasters feature prominently in so many stories. Just before writing this I watched the film Stakeland where mutant vampires have brought the world to its knees and a boy is left with a vampire hunter named Mister after his parents are killed.

It was a fairly low-budget film that still had some nice ideas, interesting plot and believable characters even if there will be no acting awards going for this attempt. It made me think however of how I would react to an apocalyptic scenario. Would I rise up and become the leader of a bandit group, or maybe roam the wilderness as the disinterested stranger that shows a gentler side and saves people. Most likely I would be doing the same thing that most people will end up doing. Simply surviving.

What would you do if faced with the end of the world?

The only medium that hasn’t captured my imagination with this kind of setting is video games which is odd as I’m very much a gamer at heart.  I can only assume that it is because of over saturation within the gaming market.  So many games are based in the decaying ruins of a city or the arid wasteland  that is the wilderness.  Game developers have been riding that pony since the early 80′s and because of that I just don’t care.  With a book, TV show or movies you get sucked into the narrative and experience through someone else’s eyes the devastation and lose of humanity in a very unique way.

Zombieland was a great Post-Apocalyptic movie

With a video game the apocalyptic landscape is just a handy backdrop to whatever game mechanics the developers want to show off, or an easy tool for lazy writers so that they don’t have to fit plot points and story devices in a traditional and recognisable environment such as a modern city.  While these games may be good often they are good despite the landscape rather than with help from it.

Let me know your thoughts on these kinds of books, movies and games and let me know of any hidden gems that you would recommend.

Original credit to http://twitter.com/Smokeme_aKipper:
“If you somehow “lose” your free game by attempting and failing to download too many times. Follow these steps..

1. On your PlayStation 3 or PlayStation Portable navigate to the PlayStation Network icon on the XMB
2. Log into your PlayStation Network account and choose Account Management > Transaction Management > Services List
3. Choose “SCEA PlayStation Network Promotions” or such – could be different on your system.
4. Select either “PS3 Free Games” or “PSP Free Games” and then choose “Select Content””
5.It will fire up the store and you can choose. Of course it may also fail again, but keep trying it will get through eventually.

Once you are  successful the counter on the content will be “0″

Good luck.”

I found this today and it really creeped me out.

Well the Playstation network is now back up and running in Ireland with the notable exception of the Playstation store. All Playstation users should have received the below email today but just in case here it is:

”
As you may have heard, PlayStation®Network was suspended worldwide on 20 April 2011 following a criminal cyber attack on our servers.

We’re pleased to say that we have now started restoring some PlayStation Network services. Over the coming days, more services will be back up and running and you should keep an eye on eu.playstation.com/psnlatest and PlayStation.Blog at blog.eu.playstation.com for the very latest developments.

Before you start using PlayStation Network again…

In restoring PSN, we have introduced a safety measure which means you will need to update your PlayStation Network account password before you can start using PSN again.

If you’ve got a PlayStation®3, you can do this by updating to system software version 3.61 and then signing in to PlayStation Network from the XMB™ (XrossMediaBar) Menu. Find out more at eu.playstation.com/ps3psn.

Otherwise, you can change your password by visiting https://store.playstation.com/login.gvm on your PC. It shouldn’t take more than a few minutes and if you’d like more help you can follow the step by step guide at eu.playstation.com/psppsn.

Free games on us…

To thank you for your patience whilst PSN has been unavailable, we’ll be rolling out a Welcome Back programme for all PSN users shortly; this will include free games to download and a month’s free subscription to PlayStation®Plus (or a free month for existing members).

Once available, we’ll publish a full list of Welcome Back offers in your country at eu.playstation.com/welcomeback.

Again, we would like to thank you for your patience and support whilst our teams worldwide work to get PSN back up and running.

Remember, for the very latest updates, you should visit eu.playstation.com/psnlatest, PlayStation.Blog at blog.eu.playstation.com and follow us on twitter.com/PlayStationEU.

We look forward to seeing you online soon,

The PlayStation Network team”