Honor to the Red, Dead and least, the Lost

In a light-hearted spin on how past and present game characters would fit into a future wild west game setting, on the back of the recent success of Red Dead Redemption, the Examiner has put together a collection of images. My favourite is Donkey Kong, looking good as a stereotypical bar piano player(see above).

The Examiner also have a nice send-up on the topic of 'what the cast of Lost can do now that they are out of work' - here's the link.

[wipes tear from eye]

Waiting for a resolution

I'm more 'cowboy' than 'gangster', more 'western' than 'modern-day suburbs'.

The 'western' has been with me as my favourite great escape, just as long as the sci-fi adventure(which is more or less, a retelling of the western in the far reaches of space) has been. No surprises considering Star Wars was released in 1977 and A Fistful of Dollars released circa 1967. Both these films shaped my early pre-teen imagination and I believe I have yet to be shaken those strong initial archetypes. But then again why would I? I feel lucky to be a child of the '70s for that very reason.

So Rockstar have made me rather happy with the release of Red Dead Redemption. Not only for bringing back the western genre to video gaming again but by doing so trying to raise the profile of, what I consider, an under-appreciated genre that deserves better.

The movie Unforgiven(1992) and to a lesser extent, The Quick and the Dead(1995 - which has a town of Redemption, at its centre) did much to breath life back into the genre in the '90s. And I have yet to see The Assassination of Jesse James by the coward Henry Ford(2007) but it could be that the genre is dying due to a lack of real interest within the movie industry. Sometimes it takes another medium to bring it around, so I'm thanking Rockstar for not giving up and also taking a gamble on a genre that should be held in higher regard.

...the UK sounds more and more foreign all the time.

Politics!

There. I said it...pleugh...

Exit left, the chancellor that became the PM that didn't win a general election.

I once read that we 'get the leaders we deserve' which is a fair observation, as we are all products of our time. Is it the party or the image portrayed by a party leader, that floating voters(like me*) decided on?

An American friend of mine(see Aaron's comment - 3rd down) is perturbed by what he's read and seen regarding the recent general election. I can see why he would feel that the UK is a foreign land to him. The political system in the UK is very out of date and steeped in rhetoric and doesn't feel generic to the land or people.

Maybe this coalition government can, if nothing else, make politics in the UK relevant to the general populous and stir them from a coma-like existence.

*yes, I did vote.

So long and thanks...for nothing

After my first trip to Anfield, to watch a preseason friendly against Spanish side Atletico Madrid, back in August 2009, I had an unnerving feeling that the forthcoming 09-10 season was going to be a poor one for Liverpool FC. Don't ask me why, as the previous season had been one of Liverpool's best placed finishes in the Premier League. I just felt Mr Alonso would be missed and surely enough, he was.

Normally at the end of another season, I'd have something positive to say about what I had seen in the last 10 months of football. This year I have nothing worth commenting on, as the woeful position of 7th in the PL speaks volumes.

These are the seasons that test your loyalty and reserve.

2010-2011 season can't get any worse?

DAVID as a movie rating

I wish I had thought of it but am glad a fellow blogger, and movie/comic book buff, has had the imagination to spring forth such an excellent review rating system.

OK, so I'm a little biased. I'm a DAVID. And I do remember saying to a friend once, how weird it was that DVD was DAVID without the vowels. I got some odd looks but it suited my agenda...

David from Clandestine Critic is the blogger in question. His is an entertaining blog and I'd be more than happy to adopt his movie rating system if I had Badinage set out that way. As it is, I don't plan to review things in quite the same way but I'm still jealous that I hadn't thought of it!

If you like your movies and comic books then Clandestine Critic needs to be in your reader. With over 750 posts in its 5 year history, DAVID is nothing if not dedicated.