Friday 16 December 2022
Saturday 10 December 2022
Thursday 8 December 2022
" This isn't a democracy anymore!"- Rick Grimes
The above quote is by a fictional character from the hit US show The Walking Dead but it is also an appropriate way to describe the state of UK politics.
To have a truly democratic society you must have a well educated and informed society.. look around, do you REALLY see that? I admit you are seeing pockets of political active youths here and there but when you have the Government and massive institutions like the mainstream media doing there very best to squash any intellectual speech it is hard to say with a straight face that this country is a democracy.
Besides from the fact that we still have a monarchy, the Government are actively trying to push through bills that will make protesting and any type of industrial actions harder and harder to organize and one day they may even make it illegal and when that day comes you( the people) will have lost everything. Protesting is a way to show the " powers that be" that something is very wrong and to try and hold the powerful to account. Yet they do not want this... I mean why would they want to change anything that will make their live slightly difficult or inconvenient like give good pay to nurses(?!)
The mainstream news will try and keep all the focus on the disruption caused by the striking nurses and railway workers but very few outlets will shed a light as too the why behind the strikes. For God's sake this is the first time in their history that nurses have gone on strike ! That should give you some indication as to how dire the situation is.. I mean we have nurses who have to go to foodbanks!! These are the people that looked after your loved one through the pandemic and the Government are apposed to giving them a decent pay rise. This is the same government that claims we have a massive debt while giving away PPE contract worth million to their mates that have no clue wat PPE even is!!
Just ask yourself .. who's really looking out for you? and who should you really be mad at?
Tuesday 29 November 2022
Tuesday 22 November 2022
The Walking Dead finale..
.... Well what can you say for a show that has been running for 12 years? I though the finale was good yet it did feel a little rushed. I felt that the final 8 episodes could and maybe should have been longer as this is the final season or maybe that's because I love it so much!! I love this show not because of the action sequences or the blood and gore but because of the emotions each character brings to it.
Anyway about the finale... I have to say the new smarter Walkers should have been brought a lot earlier in the series as they were a lot more terrifying. This episode was straight after the events of the previous episode, so Daryl was carrying a shot Judith while our group was trying to fight of the zombies horde and most of our group made it out unscathed except Jules and Luke who had just come back a couple of episodes earlier, Jules got swamped by the herd and Luke got bitten which then forced his friends to amputate his leg when they all met at the clinic. Luke then died due to this ad hoc surgery which was sad but added a bit of realism because too many times we had people chop of limbs and be just fine.
what I found rather amusing and a tad frustrating about this episode was how they just skipped over the fact that both Aaron and Lydia were trapped in the RV surrounded by Walkers and Lydia had just had here arm chopped off? The show does have a habit of skipping over or fast forwarding, it could be a time issue but this episode was over a hour long, so who knows?
Like I said before I do enjoy the emotional parts over the action sequences and the scenes with Maggie and Negan were powerful, you could see the pain and suffering on the actors face- just beautiful. The final battle was okay but wouldn't the huge explosion at the Estates draw more walker and now that the walkers have change wouldn't they have to change their defences at all 3 communities? And how did they rebuild Hilltop so fast, I know there was a time jump but still...
Another thing about the explosion at the Estate that I found rather funny was as Merser was narrating what the plan to lure all the walker , I half expected The A Team music to start as they were getting ready. Also I do have a little gripe with some of the corny speeches... Pamela and her troops were ready to ley everyone outside die and then Daryl give a speech and they suddenly change their minds?? but we forgive it because overall it is a very good show with some great actors.
The ending was rather happy Lydia and Elijah survived and apart from Rosita, Luke and Jules no one major died, even though I'm okay with a happy ending not everything has to end up so happy, sometimes tragedy can actually make stories better and Rosita dying after we thought she got out of the horde unscathed was tragic but she wasn't part of the A team. But I know many fans will be pleased that Dog survived... I know I was!
I also believe the studios decision to announce the spin offs early took a lot of the suspense out of the occasion because we all knew Negan, Maggie and Daryl were going to survive. And speaking of Daryl this whole thing with him Carol and Connie is still a little confusing, I know Daryl finally said those three little words to Carol but it wasn't clear, did he mean it in a romantic way or a platonic way??
I just also have to mention Judith and RJ... losing yet another parental figure. Judith was right when she said to Daryl that if she told him about Rick he would leave because he did just that! Judith seem a rather strong character but I really feel sorry for RJ, he never even got to see his dad.
I would have liked to know what happened to Rachel and the rest of the Oceanside community, What happened to Negan and Annie, how and why do Negan and Maggie team up in the spin off and who are these " stabilizing forces" that Lance referred to also what was " designation 2"? There is still so many open threads to the story that you can't really say The Walking Dead is not over.
The little teaser at the very end with Michonne and Rick was great, I am so excited to see our favourite Sheriff back and it's good to see the long hair is back. Overall it was a good finale but could have been longer.... but I think that's more to do with the fact that I'm sad to see it end.
Wednesday 16 November 2022
Wednesday 9 November 2022
Tuesday 13 September 2022
The fate of Carol Peltier?
Carol Peltier is arguable one of the best characters on The Walking Dead. She started of as a victim and has become one of the strongest characters, she is smart and she knows how to manipulate situations to her advantage. She is aware how non threatening and "weak" she appears to people and she uses this so that people will let their guard down around her- much to their detriment!
This is why I find it so absurd when I hear rumours that she might be killed off in the finale. According to " Screenrant" they might do exactly that. I am fully aware that some thing you read from these outlets should be taken with " a pinch of salt" but it does make me worry about my favourite character. However the writer have killed of a major character before... Carl Grimes. Now not everyone was a fan but the decision to kill him off was curious after all he was nor only Rick's son but also his main driving force. Rick Grimes main motivation was to build a better future for his son.
If they did kill Carol it would be for " shock value" which in my humble opinion should not be the case, it should be to to move the story forward- this would just create confusion as she is one of the more capable fighters. And not to forget poor Daryl, if this were to happen it would be devastating for him. But the actor who plays Daryl Dixon did say at San Diego Comic Con that the Carol and Daryl story wasn't over so who know!!
All I know for certain is that I can't wait for October 2!!!
Friday 19 August 2022
Sunday 14 August 2022
Sarah Wayne Callies talks about the highs and lows of The Walking Dead w...
Friday 5 August 2022
This obsession with Carol and Daryl... ( spoiler alert)
..... Okay I know I'm fairly new to the Walking Dead universe but I feel a need to speak out.
Carol is one of my favourite characters with one of the most interesting story arcs- from a meek and abused housewife to a bad ass warrior. She has been through so much trauma the first of course being married to Ed! Then losing Sophia, having to kill Lizzie and losing her adoptive son Henry in the most brutal way and she deserves to finally find some happiness. .. And I think her friendship with Daryl has given her that.
Her friendship with Daryl is one of the most endearing and sweetest things on tv and I personally believe it should remain a friendship. I know this may seem like a radical concept and may enrage some "shippers" ( yes I do mean Rayon!) But hear me out... these 2 characters have been through so much together and know each other so well that I think it might cheapen things a little if they had a romantic element. Not only are they so comfortable with each are and can be show true vulnerability and be their true selves, that I think in my humble opinion this will be best if it was left as a friendship.
Also do you want to turn the show into some teen drama?? Don't forget it's a show about the zombie apocalypse not a show about "hooking up". And to quote Rick " this is not a democracy" just because you want these characters to get together doesn't mean Angela Kang , Scott M Gimple or Robert Kirkman etc have to listen to you. And least we forget, there are millions of Walking Dead fans all around the world with all sorts of opinions on how things should turn out, so it will be impossible to satisfy everyone, so there are always going to be people out there who will be disappointed.
On a different note I am slightly disappointed that Melissa McBride will not be joining Norman Reedus in the future spinoff. I completely understand why she wouldn't want to uproot her life to film in Europe, and also she has been playing the role of Carol for over a decade so cut her some slack!
October can't come soon enough ( not only is my birthday in October) I'm looking forward to seeing more of the Dynamic Duo!
Wednesday 6 July 2022
Thursday 23 June 2022
The Walking Dead ( spoiler alert)
Okay so I know I'm like 10 years late to this show but I have good reasons for not watching it when it first came out- firstly it was just me being really stubborn, I don't watch a show just because everyone is talking about it, I watch a show if I find the characters and the story to be compelling. Which to my surprise when I started to watch it a few months ago... it really was! And secondly I am more drawn to a show if I know that the actors are good and they were. Admittedly I watched this show because Jon Bernthal A.K.A The Punisher was in it but he was only in it for 2 seasons and I've watched all 11!
The fact that we are currently in a pandemic and the show is also dealing with the zombie apocalypse was also another pulling factor for me. The show did a very good job at portraying human behaviours and showed what people were willing to do in order to survive, it showed how some people were willing to risk their own life in order to save a stranger like in season 1 when Glenn helped Rick when he was trapped in the tank and also how people will exploit and rule over people less fortunate than the like Negan in season 6. But it also shows how people can be redeemed because even after his terrorising reign, Negan showed his softer side and learnt that there was more to life than scaring the shit out of people! And his interactions with Judith were frankly adorable.
The show has the ability to challenge stereotypes like they did with Daryl. In season one you were given the impression that he was just a simple red neck/ racist hick especially after seeing his brother Merle, but he has proven to be a integral part of the group not only because of his hunting and tracking skills but because he has shown that he really does care about what happens to people and we see that in season 2 when Sophia goes missing in the woods and he risks serious injury to try and find her . Another reason his character is one of my favourites is his friendship with Carol which really started in season 2. I find it rather refreshing to see a pure friendship and not having to have this romantic BS that many other shows go down . They have a great bond and I think Carol has made him a better person and Daryl has really grown and it is because they are not afraid to be vulnerable which I think is really sweet. I will be frankly disappointed if the writers decide to go down the romantic route.
After being so reluctant to watch this show now I feel sad to say goodbye after getting to know all these wonderful and compelling characters.. when we get the final 8 episode of season 11 here in the UK it will truly be bittersweet and I hope some of the storyline that the writers left open will be resolved like what happened to Rick and who are his rescuers??
Tuesday 29 March 2022
Ataxia and 2 years of Coronavirus...
Ataxia is such an awful disease that I wouldn't wish on anyone, everyday you lose a little more control of your body and it's especially hard when you have no support and no one understands what you are going through. I have had this for about nine years and I can tell you it doesn't start that bad, you feel a little tired and clumsy when walking but you can still walk without support then eventually you give into the fact that you need support but even then it's not terrible because you can still walk on your own fairly easily and then it becomes more of a challenge and gets to a point where you also require another person- that is where I am today and because of Covid-19 I have seen a dramatic decline not only in my physical health but my mental health.
This government has made mistake after mistake and the most vulnerable in society are being forced to pay. The Tory toffs have decided to give up on the pretence of trying to slow this down by removing all mitigation measures and testing capacities and driving more people like me into isolation, you see I can't be sure if the people around me have the virus and seeing as though no one is wearing a mask I could get easily exposed because it's not like I can keep my distance.... without falling on my face. People also forget there are worse things than dying.... like becoming even more disabled that I already am. There have been studies showing that even with mild symptoms it can affect your brain... and I really can't afford that.
So i stay inside away from people and watch how everyone else gets to live there life while I just watch mine getting worse, you have no idea how lonely I am, I see no one and I speak to no one all I do is get to watch other people live there lives while mine has come to a standstill.
Wednesday 23 March 2022
Tuesday 22 March 2022
Monday 21 March 2022
Goodbye Dybala
After 7 glorious years at Juventus and 2 of which they promoted him to captain.... he's finally going to say goodbye. This particular saga has seemed to go on forever and for the last few transfer window he would always be for sale, it seemed rather baffling that the " geniuses" in charge would want to offload such a talented gem hence his nickname La Joya- the jewel.
He has shown that when he is fit what an enormous impact he can make with his wonderful goal on the weekend against Salernitana. He had speed, vision and fantastic link up play that I believe The Old Lady will miss once he's gone.
