so i decided last week i am going to revive my fish tanks. i have a biggish one (i think it’s 1.2m and the small one is just a mere 30cm i think)

when the last fish died about 8 months ago i decided to stop the whole fishtank thing and placed my empty fishtank in the garage hoping one day i’ll set it up again. last week that day arrived.

i decided to get it out the garage, get a cloth, hosepipe and clean the tank. what a mission!

once that was done i left it dry a little before i started. i didn’t know where to put the tank at first but then i found a cool spot and of course had to wait till the wife got home for the approval cause once you put water in there is no moving it! the spot that was chosen has no sunlight at all and also the view from the kitchen and lounge is awesome to view it.

now the fun part begins. i first cleaned the stones up and then placed them evenly around the tank and also added the background wallpaper .

then i started adding the water, took about 10 or 12 buckets to fill it up.

then i put the filters on, i added the two i have to just speed up the process a little bit for a few days.

i have done a little more than this but i don’t have my camera with me today at work so i will be posting more stuff on what i have done this weekend!

let me know what you guys think and if you have any suggestions!

so i finished another game last week. this time gears of war 2.

again i won’t give away the story line but will just give a snippet of the intro

Gears of War 2 takes place six months after the detonation of the Lightmass Bomb at the end of the first game. Though most of the underground army of the Locust Horde was destroyed, the explosion also caused much of the liquid Imulsion underground to vaporize, causing a fatal disease called Rustlung to spread among the diminished human population. After months of peace, the cities of Tollen and Montevado suddenly and mysteriously disappear underground, leading the Coalition of Ordered Governments (COG) to suspect the resurgence of the Locust. Soon after, the once impenetrable Jacinto, one of the last remaining safe havens for humans, begins to show signs that the same fate awaits it. In order to stop the fall of Jacinto, the COG responds with a large-scale counter-offensive against the Locust. Senior Producer Rod Fergusson says “In order to save Jacinto, [the COG] have no choice but to take the war to the Locust.”

back in november i tried to play this game but only managed to get 30 min of it in due to me being impatient with the whole first person xbox controller thing. once i got the hang of the controller playing modern warfare 2, i decided to give it another chance and boy am i glad i did!

i never did play gears of war 1 (i will though soon) and was not sure if i should start the 2nd one before playing the first. but i decided to do it anyways. this game got me hooked from the start, once again you get involved and drawn in with the characters and  it’s like a movie you are watching and you in the action. the game play is awesome, controls are easy and the graphics is awesome too, though it does not do it justice on my tv. i seriously need to invest in an hd tv to be able to enjoy the graphics way more. the characters are so damn awesome alone. you get to laugh your ass off at some of the things they do or say. you get to shoot from moving vehicles, ride vehicles, ride monsters and fly stuff. it took me about 12 hours to complete and during that time there were no disappointments or any time where there was no action.

the storyline is good, not predicable and some  twists in the tale as well. must resist not to say anything.

i would not mind playing this again as it rocks and i want to play it co-op with someone. i have not tried the multiplayer yet but will try that sometime.

i give it a 9/10

P.S. still feels like i’m missing something from doing reviews.

this was inspired by @Wenchy on twitter.

1.What did you do in 2009 that you’d never done before?

• twitter

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?

• no i didn’t…i’ll try make resolutions for next year but will see if i can actually stick to them this time!

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?

• not that i know of.

4. Did anyone close to you die?

• thankfully no.

5. What countries did you visit?

• no new countries this year.

6. What would you like to have in 2010 that you lacked in 2009?

• fitness, motivation, creativity

7. What date(s) from 2008 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?

• 21 april – first wedding anniversary
• first 2 weeks of november went to uganda

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?

• successfully moved datacenter and network to new premises (january)
• started new job (july)

9. What was your biggest failure?

• i don’t know if you would call this a failure but i have not started any sports since last year

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?

• except for bronchitis, nothing serious

11. What was the best thing you bought?

• xbox 360

12. Whose behaviour merited celebration?

• definitely my wife. she took the courage and decided to quit her job and start her own gift hamper business.

13. Whose behaviour made you appalled and depressed?

• some of the previous company’s employers. they just didn’t give a damn or cared for what they did, leaving me to do things and actually make me move on cause i could not take it anymore.

14. Where did most of your money go?

• bills, where else?

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?

• new job
• everytime i got a new toy

16. What song will always remind you of 2009?

• jesse clegg – girl lost in the city

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:

• Happier or sadder? Happier
• Thinner or fatter? Fatter – SIGH
• Richer or poorer? Richer (less debt and higher salary)

18. What do you wish you’d done more of?

• photography

19. What do you wish you’d done less of?

• although i have quit WoW, definitely that in the early part of the year, but then again, i would not have met alot of people i have made friends with.

20. How did you be spend Christmas?

• spent it with the parent-in-laws. was actually very very nice!

21. How will you be spending New Year?

• i have NO idea. the last few years i have not even stayed up to see the new year at 12am. undecided at the moment.

22. Did you fall in love in 2009?

• can one fall in love again with someone who you already in love with? cause then you need to fall out of love and then back in again? so then the answer is a no

23. How many one-night stands?

• zero

24. What was your favourite TV programmes?

• dexter
• prison break
• supernatural
• heroes
• just to name a few….

25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t

• nope

26. What was the best book you read?

• i have a whole bookshelf of books. i am yet to read one. (new years resolution idea!)

27. What was your greatest musical discovery?

• www.lastfm.com – the place to find new music that likes you!

28. What did you want and get?

• higher salary
• gaming console

29. What did you want and not get?

• HD TV
• second monitor for computer

30. What was your favorite film of this year?

• district 9
• x-men origins: wolverine

31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?

• sitting at work at the moment and wife has something planned for tonight!
• 28 years young

32.What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?

• errr, not sure to be honest.

33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2009?

• acceptable!

34. What kept you sane?

• my wife
• my gaming
• and the wonderful tweeps on twitter

35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?

• julius malema for his comedy throughout the year!

36. What political issue stirred you the most?

• the whole caster semenya fiasco.

37. Who did you miss?

• my mom :`(

38. Who was the best new person you met?

• all the people i have gotten to know on twitter. awesome people!

39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2009.

• life is too short to worry about shit, move on.
• what goes around comes around
• don’t hold grudges or be angry…sort them out then and there.
• COMMUNICATION IS THE KEY.

40. Quote that sums up your year.

• when life gives you lemons, just say ‘fuck the lemons,’ and bail.
• do not take life too seriously.  you will never get out of it alive
• life would be much easier if I had the source code.
• live each day like it is your last.
• take the road less traveled.

i wanted to buy this game but the price for it is still too much. sheeeesh. i went to visit a friend and he kindly lent me a copy of it.

i have an xbox 360 and tried to play first person shooters with the controller and failed or maybe i just did not have the patience for it. i only had the game for about 3 week so i knew i needed to play it at least and see how it was.

i am not going to give away the story or plot line but just a brief introduction:

“Modern Warfare 2 is set five years after the conclusion of Call of Duty 4. Despite the efforts of the Marines and the SAS, the Ultranationalists ultimately seize control of Russia and declare Imran Zakhaev a hero and martyr, erecting a statue of him in the heart of Red Square. Meanwhile, Vladimir Makarov, one of Zakhaev’s former lieutenants, begins a campaign against Europe by committing numerous acts of terrorism.^“

you first have to do some timed training course to see if you can actually play the game and at what level. lo and behold, i failed on the first attempt. i was too slow. yes, the whole controller thing to aim, move, shoot, etc was a bit daunting. i am used to the pc gaming with keyboard and mouse so you have to forgive me for that. but that didn’t stop me and i managed to complete the course eventhough  i failed the sprint to the door on 4 occasions not knowing where my sprint button was.

as i got more into the game the controller became more easy to use, knowning where the buttons where and just sitting back on the couch with your feet up in the air makes it even better.

the game itself is very very gory and highly viewer sensitive for some people. they give you the option to actually skip the scenes or missions that might be too gruesome. for instance, there is a scene where you start in a packed shopping mall. and you gun down every single person in the mall. you get to travel to all over the world, deserts, oil rigs, shoot from choppers, ride snow mobiles, climb cliffs, chase enemies, stealthy missions , etc.

the game for me was very enjoyable, you get to play different characters and you start to like them as the story develops. it’s a very short game ( 6 hours ) but the whole story, game play and graphics and the fact that you get so involved in it like you are there in the action just made it out to be an awesome and enthralling interactive 6 hour movie.

i have not played the co-op or multiplayer yet so i cannot say how good that is, but if the single player mode is anything like it, then it’s just got to be totally awesome.

i give it a 9/10

i was a bit lazy this last week i was off hence no blogging, so i thought i’d write up a big one on what i did the past week.

first of all our company took us to ratanga junction. it was pretty sweet going on the cobra and monkey falls again! weeeeee! specially when you had a beer or two in you. makes it the more fun! while on the monkey falls my phone decided it needed to clean itself and landed in a puddle of water and i though it was a goner! would not switch on so i dismantled it and left it in my pocket. there was also a vodacom promoter there who had some xbox 360s there and had a competition. if you clocked the fastest lap time of the day in a game called Need For Speed : Shift, you get to win a cellphone. if you manage to clock the fastest lap time in three days you get to win a laptop. i had the fastest time set (never played it before) until some 14 year old (who apparently is a hectic gamer) beat my time. arrg, the asshat! after ratanga we headed off to panama jacks in the table bay harbour. it was by far the best seasfood place i have ever eaten at. wow, HUGE plate of prawns, crayfish, mussles, calamari, etc.

saturday wokeup nice and early and took my wife out for the day to cape point for a picnic for her birthday. it was such an awesome day driving around the cape on such a beautiful day. drove to muizenberg, past fishhoek and simon’s town to cape point, has picnic and then dessert at the two oceans resturant. (bloody hell they expensive!). drove back past kommetjie, the new look chapman’s peek, houtbay and camp’s bay. took some awesome pics! (pics are on facebook if you have me as a friend). got sunburnt to shreds!

the rest of the time was basically, sicks for two days (food poisoning from braai sunday), finished modern warfare 2 and gears of war 2 (reviews will follow in the next few days), spending a very nice christmas lunch at the parent-in-laws and much to my wife’s dislike, me not wanting to really go anywhere and wanting to loaf at home doing as little as possible (isn’t that what holidays are for?) hehe.

yesterday went out for lunch with the wife to starlite diner where i decided it is time to revive my fishtanks, so i spent yesterday scrubing and cleaning my big tank and setup the stand and put the stones and water in and let the filters run. (another blog post for this)

it was a nice little resting week for me, now i can’t wait for the new year and start those resolutions. maybe this year will be different and i will actually do them, unlike the previous years!

well, the big talking point at the beginning of the season was, would Manchester United be able to survive with ronaldo being sold to real madrid? would they be able to defend their premiership title and win it for a 4th time in a row and become the team to win it a staggering 19 times?

the league table as it stands right now (after 15/16 games)  is

1. chelsea – 40
2. man utd – 37
3. arsenal – 32
4. aston villa – 32
5. tottenham – 30
6. liverpool – 27
7. birmingham city – 27
8. man city – 26

at the half way mark from last season it was the following (about 20 games)

1. liverpool – 45
2. chelsea – 42
3. man utd – 38
4. aston villa – 38
5. arsenal – 35
6. everton – 32
7. wigan – 28
8. hull city – 27

man utd has by far the best manager in the world. he is by far one of the best managers in the last 15 years. he has been the manager of united for 23 years. (he almost got the boot early in his career but he won FA cup in 1990 which saved his skin)

over the years of watching united, the players, the manager picks and signings, you get to understand why he is the manager he is.

anyhoo, enough about that….lets talk about the season so far. it has been, in my eyes, a very good season. people saying united won’t do well without ronaldo, well you’re wrong. when ronaldo was with united, the players had to adjust their own game to cater for him. ronaldo being ronaldo loved the limelight and showed off his tricks, wanted the ball all the time and did most of the things solo (shoot at goal when he really should have passed or crossed). he is a great player, but even the most greatest of players can be the weakest links. just look at real madrid a few years ago.come to think of it, they have not won anything in the past few years.

this season has given some of the players who were not able to get a chance or even be noticed the chance to come out of their shell and shine. a few players who really have stood out darren fletcher, jonny evans and darron gibson. let’s n0t forget the 19 36 year old ryan giggs. he just gets better and better as the years roll. the new signings this season has been very promising, antonio valencia, gabriel obertan and michael owen. even though united had so much money to buy new players, ferguson has only bought 3 players this season because he knows the players he has can do the job and he sees the potential and depth in the squad. everyone has been saying how ferguson has bought someone to replace ronaldo and therefore the person has to play like ronaldo. i for one would not want anyone in a side as selfish as him, barring his goalscoring. i like what i have seen so far. look in the past when ferguson sold some of the main guys and people were asking questions then. david beckham and ruud van nistelrooy for two.

people were questioning ferguson’s select of youngsters in the carling cup and then the uefa champions league game against besiktas. i for one love this policy as it gives the young guys the chance to experiance the big occasions and gives ferguson the chance to see what the youngster are capable of in these games. arsenal have the same policy and managers who do this have my total respect. look at how united’s youngsters beat tottenham’s first team in the carling cup a few weeks ago. sometimes they can backfire, but that is the chance managers take.

the games that we have lost this season is, in my opinion, down to bad luck. we dominated against aston villa and chelsea. the ball just would not creep into the net due to some great goalkeeping. team go through these games in seasons and even arsenal have experianced this in a big way.

the team that is going to win the premier league is the team that has depth in the squad. the only team i have seen doing this the last few years is united. look at liverpool for example, without gerrard and torres, they are nothing. they have very good players but the manager sticks with useless players (lucas) and leaves the other on the bench. that has been liverpool’s downfall this season and last season. the manager playing the wrong players. you can see it with arsenal too, without van persie and fabregas they lack that spark. don’t get me started on man city. star-studded side yet they still suck (old real madrid days).

but i must add this, my other team of the season so far has to be aston villa. the players and manager are hungry and you can see it. since they signed richard dunne, steward downing and brad friedel they have been awesome. even people were raising questions about them when they sold gareth barry to man city. james milner has stepped up and become one of thier key players this season.

here a few lists of things so far this seaon:

players who need to step up their game:

• nani
• foster

promising young players:

• obertan
• gibson
• tosic

players of the seaon so far:

• fletcher
• rooney
• evra
• giggs

players who can only get better the next half of the season

• valencia
• carrick
• berbatov

key players

• owen
• scholes
• ferdinand

will ferguson buy a player or 2 when the transfer window opens? with him having to have had a makeshift defence the last few games because of injuries to the key defenders? i personally don’t think he will…i might be wrong but then again, sometimes ferguson surprizes us with his genious ( think hendrik larsson )

let me know what you guys and gals think about the season so far in general and what your expectations are for the next half!

this topic was brought on by 2 women who though it would be funny to see me come up with what i think is the 5 worst fashion trends of 2009.

there were alot to think about, and i think these were the top of 2009. some of the ones that didn’t make the list were emo hairs, low v-necks, skinny pants on guys, dresses that are for pregnant women that non pregnant are wearing, stockings with short skirts and neon coloured combinations.

#5 – CROCS

yes, people caught wearing these should really be eaten by crocs, ’nuff said.

#4 – MULLETS

seriously? back again? i just can’t even write up anything about mullets. the picture just says it all. and yes, this might seem to be an oldish picture, i have SEEN people style the mullet. i’m scared my camera would break if i attempted to take a picture.

#3 – OVERSIZED SUNGLASSES

you think you look so cool wearing these? just a little note. they don’t. they look ridiculous.

are trying to hide your face behind those things?

you want to look like a fly?

did i mention they look ridiculous?

#2 – HAREM PANTS

i’d like my 3 wishes please! they remind me of frikking genies out of a bottle. it does not look cool people.
there is only one person alone who could pull this off and that was back then when it looked good. so please stop wearing these things.

STOP! IT’S HAMMER TIME!

#1 – LADY GAGA

even though she has her whole own fashion sense, we just hope and pray nobody else follows her fashion sense, because if they do, then they should be arrested by the fashion police. wait. that’s too nice. they should be tortured somehow.
i wonder what goes through her head each morning she get’s dressed. how ridiculous shall i look today?

** please note these pictures in this post were taken off google images or some random sites. if these pictures are owned by anyone, please contact me and i will remove them.

so my wife was very excited to go see 2012 and to be honest i was too, i like john cusak…..i think he is a good actor and liked a lot of his movies, so i thought this would be a very good movie. i booked the tickets for saturday for the 20:12pm show (now how awesome is that?)

if you have not seen the movie yet, i would really suggest not reading any further unless you don’t give a damn about the movie

the movie for the first hour and a bit was pretty good…but then it started to drag like hell. the movie is over two and a half hours. most of the time you see cusak dodging every disaster by a mere second or two. (seriously, the first one or two times is alright, but every bloody time?). it’s amazing how the disasters just follow them the whole way, in one direction only. i know it’s a movie but this was just ridiculous. and the kicker was the whole world got flooded (in a matter of a day and a bit) and they built arks for certain people who paid billions of dollars. then a year later, the water mysteriously went down ALOT.
i did a real facepalm in the end when they said “the drakensberg in south africa was visible, maybe that’s why they call it the cape of good hope!” seriously…what in the hell!

but what i really don’t get is the fact that the sun basically nuked the earth’s core resulting in the crust “melting” causing immense damage to the earth. how does one expect to live? surely that would destroy a planet totally? oh and while they were on the ark, they seem to all still wear the same clothes after a year. nice hygiene!

loved the preview, but movie disappointed me. effects and that were awesome.

6/10 overall.

this is just a test to see if my post notifies twitter of a new blog post

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