The Gear Post

Photographers care way, way too much about gear. The number of blogs, reviews and articles out there that are passionately dedicated to analysing the tiniest differences between lens A and lens B is pretty is insane, as are the arguments that result from it.


With that said, equipment definitely is important for the working photographer. What matters though is not necessarily having all the latest, flashiest gear, but having stuff you know how to use, you know is reliable and can take a beating. Since a few people have asked me about it, here's my loadout for a major job I'm setting up for next week.

Cameras

Nikon D600 - Though the D600 isn't classed as a 'pro' body by Nikon, it's plenty professional enough for my needs. The combination of 24 megapixels and an FX (full-frame) sensor means it's got superb image quality and really sings in the dark. Everything up to ISO6400 is perfectly usable with a little post processing and a smart Auto ISO system means I spend less time fiddling and more shooting. It's well put together too, even if it's not the all magnesium body I'd prefer. The tradeoff is lighter weight and smaller form-factor than the D800 family, both of which are greatly appreciated. The big resolution makes cropping easy when necessary and smart ergonomics make it easy to handle.

For full-day work I usually pair the body with a MB-D14 battery grip. This not only gives me my much liked portrait controls but also enough juice that it's nearly impossible to run out in a day. I've also done some minor customisation to the eyepiece, fitting a larger, circular rubber piece that works better with my glasses.

The D600 gets something of a bad rap these days because of a manufacturing fault that caused them to spit dust and oil over the sensors. Nikon has issued a permanent offer to fix or replace the issue, so I bought mine at a knock down price and sent it for servicing and it's been rock solid ever since. Highly recommended for someone who needs the quality of full-frame on the cheap.

Nikon D300 - The D300 is ancient in camera terms, dating from 2007. There's a reason why a lot of people still swear by them though, and that's because they're incredible workhorses and tough as nails. The D300 is my choice for two major activities - sports, where its 51 point autofocus system is far superior to the D600s, and long distance work, where the cropped sensor gives it additional reach. It's also built like a tank and can withstand nearly anything I can throw at it. Granted, 12 megapixels is a little on the low side these days and it can't see in the dark like the 600, but it's versatile and reliable and still takes a hell of a picture. Perfect #2 camera, and I'd recommend it to anyone wanting to step up from more basic SLRs too, since good used ones are a snip at around £300.

Lenses

Nikon AF-S 18-35mm f/3.5-4.5G - The newest addition to my bag and rapidly becoming a favourite. It's a compact, lightweight ultra-wide angle that costs and weighs way less than top-end lenses but goes blow to blow with them in image quality. Paired with the (relatively) compact D600 it's a highly portable winner, and the 600's superb low light capability makes up for the slight slowness of the 18-35. Definitely recommended if you want a great wide angle that won't break the bank or your back.

Nikon AF-S 50mm f/1.4G - I'm a huge fan of shooting prime lenses and every photographer should have a 50mm in their bag in my opinion. This is my go to lens for dark work or people shots, which means it's welded to the camera at conventions. The smallest, cheapest and lightest lens I use, yet the one which delivers the highest quality, day in and day out. Essential

Nikon AF-D 80-200mm f/2.8 (Two-Ring) - Good, fast telephotos are one of the toughest and most expensive things to find as a photographer, so I delved deep into the past to come up with this gem, first introduced in 1997(!). That 2.8 aperture is a lifesaver for dark halls and concerts and it's sharp and contrasty at every length and aperture. The old school feel is enhanced by the magnificent build quality, with everything being finely milled metal. The net result is a very very heavy but otherwise magnificent tool.

Other Stuff

Nikon SB-700 - I'm not a big fan of flash and avoid using it wherever possible, which is most of the time. But when you absolutely need it, the SB-700 is my go to. It's small and light enough that carrying it isn't a huge issue, yet it's got plenty of punch, infra-red remote control and a built in bounce card and diffuser. Don't underestimate built in flashes either, which can act as decent fill sources.

Spare Batteries - ALWAYS CARRY SPARE BATTERIES. Seriously, I've found this out a few times to my cost. I carry three batteries for the D600 and two for the D300, plus spare AAs for flashguns. Charge everything the night before.

OPTech Utility strap x2 - If you're carrying a camera for any serious length of time the neck strap is going to hurt. Instead, I use these cheap and tough sliding shoulder straps. A lot of photographers prefer straps that screw into the tripod mount, but these attach to the strap lugs, which I prefer since I'm a bit paranoid about damaging the screw threads.

Manfrotto 294 Monopod/Manfrotto 394 Tripod - Depending on the situation. I rarely bring the tripod out into the field these days since I don't do much landscape work. The monopod is practically compulsory if I want to use the 80-200 for any extended period of time though, so you'll almost always see me with one or the other.

When it comes to gear, less is more. I tend to over-pack and as you can see this still isn't a huge amount of stuff. Choosing the right equipment is important and necessary, but never forget it's skill and imagination which turn a decent photographer into a great one.

Anime Focus Post Breakdown

I wrote for Anime Focus for almost three full years, and during that time I reviewed a lot of stuff - movies, figures and TV shows. Here's a masterpost of all the stuff I wrote, conveniently arranged by rating.

TV Shows and Movies

One Star

Nothing!

One and a half Stars

Eureka Seven AO Part 2

Two Stars

Tekken: Blood Vengeance
Baka and Test: Summon the Beasts
Blue Exorcist Part 1
Dragon Ball Z Season 2
Baka and Test: Summon the Beasts 2
Ga-Rei Zero
Dragon Ball Z Season 7
Fairy Tail Part 5
Eureka Seven AO Part 1
Nisemonogatari Part 2
Dragon Ball GT Part 2

Two and a half Stars

Ninja Scroll
Bakemonogatari Part 1
Bakemonogatari Part 2
Dragon Ball Z Season 8
Guilty Crown Part 1
Dragon Ball GT Part 1

Three Stars

Rideback
Welcome to the NHK
Fairy Tail Part 1
Dragon Ball Z Season 4
Persona 4 The Animation Part 2
Dragon Ball Z Season 9
Mobile Police Patlabor OVA Collection

Three and a half Stars

Fairy Tail Part 2
Roujin Z
Dragon Ball Z Season 1
Squid Girl
Blue Exorcist Part 2
Dragon Ball Z Season 5
Kids on the Slope
Persona 4 The Animation Part 3
Nisemonogatari Part 1

Four Stars

Freedom
Broken Blade
Dragon Ball Z Season 3
Trigun: Badlands Rumble
Persona 4 The Animation Part 1
Dragon Ball Z Season 6
Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion R2

Four and a Half Stars

The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya
Fairy Tail Part 3
Black Lagoon
Fairy Tail Part 4
Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion

Five Stars

Puella Magi Madoka Magica
Penguindrum Part 1
Penguindrum Part 2

I'm pretty happy with the spread of scores overall, and I don't think there's anything I desperately feel the need to go back and change. My criteria was always to try and be as focussed as possible and restrict the higher ratings for genuinely great stuff, and I think I by and large succeeded. Maybe I'd knock Fairy Tail 3 & 4 down half a star, and I genuinely considered giving Eureka Seven AO a one star review. It's a pretty good indication of my tastes though, and I'd fight for any one of these reviews.

Figure Reviews

Good Smile Company's Tenshi
Revoltech Yotsuba Summer Vacation ver.
Alter's Nanoha Takamachi School Uniform ver.
Figma Madoka Kaname
Alter's Yui Hirasawa
Nendoroid Mami Tomoe
Alter's Ritsu Tainaka
Bandai's D-Arts Thanatos
Figma Chie Satonaka
Alter's Alvis and Lavie
Good Smile Company's Ultimate Madoka
Nendoroid Teddie
D-Arts Blastoise

No point in grouping these by score, since as they're all from my personal collection the scores are universally pretty high. Unlike the DVD reviews there are a few of these I wish I could take back, mostly because of the poor photo quality. Figma Chie is a particularly bad example, as I was deprived of a lot of my normal equipment.

I also wrote a fun little History of Dragon Ball as an accompaniment to the release of the first season.

Wrestling Wramblings: Monday Night Raw 19/05/14 LIVE!

Everyone has a guilty pleasure. I have many, but one of them is the hurricane of stupidity that is professional wrestling. In my ongoing attempt to broaden my pool of writing topics and styles, I present a bulletpoint, match-by-match recap of last night's WWE TV offering Monday Night Raw, which I was fortunate enough to attend live in the O2 Arena London.

This is written assuming you know a bit about wrestling - I don't explain who people are, the stories or the lingo. It's really just a chance for me to get some thoughts out. Also yes I know it's all fake and no I don't care.

• The O2 was packed and I'm pretty sure the show was a legit sellout. Crowd was very hot. Plenty of 'CM PUNK' and 'YES!' chants. Lots of 'wooooo's. Huge 'WE WANT BARRETT' chants too.
• We were up in the nosebleed seats but still closer than I expected, and we actually had a pretty great view all told.

Superstars Taping: Big Show def. Titus O'Neil, Jack Swagger (w/Zeb Colter) def. Cody Rhodes (w/Goldust)

• Hey, these aren't Superstars matches, they've got actual legit guys on them!
• Seriously though, these were very decent matches with a much higher level of talent than I expected. Great way to kick off the evening.
• Big pop for Big Show when he came out, and even from up high you could tell how massive he was. Solid match with Titus, with the crowd hushing for three big chest slaps and really getting into the attempted chokeslam. Titus got a little heel heat but went down pretty easily.
• Cody vs Swagger was a good match too, with Cody in control most of the time and hitting most of his signature spots like his Disaster Kick and his Sunset Flip from the turnbuckle.
• Cody also did some bigger spots which I was surprised he'd bust out on a nothing taping. Most notably his top rope dive to the outside and his top turnbuckle moonsault.
• People sung along to Swagger's music and chanted 'WE THE PEOPLE' with gusto.

Raw begins with Bray Wyatt cutting a promo on John Cena. Cena then jumped out from under the ring to attack the Wyatt Family.

• Bray Wyatt must surely be one of the best promo guys ever. Listening to him talk was spellbinding.
• Less spellbinding - the crowd giving him the 'WHAT?' chant.
• I was completely taken in by the old 'entrance music plays' trick and I didn't actually notice Cena until he was halfway through his Attitude Adjustment on Bray.

Cesaro (w/Paul Heyman) defeated Sheamus in a non-title match

• Thrilled that Paul Heyman made it out to Europe.  'E-C-DUB' chants while he was walking to the ring. His inspired promo was so much fun.
• The crowd reaction was mostly similar to my own, which was enthusiastic boos between fits of laughter. Everyone chanted along with his 'My client BROOOOOCK LESNAR' spiel.
• On the other hand, Sheamus was roundly booed. Not sure if it was the result of a very 'smart' crowd or simply the Irish thing, but he wasn't a popular man (though the reaction was still huge).
• Decent match, if a little slow. There was a weird series of spots where Cesaro tossed Sheamus through the ropes like four times in a row, which eventually became a comedy spot. Cesaro also kept shaking Paul Heyman's hand, which again got pretty funny.
• Cesaro deadlift superplexing Sheamus from the outside was incredibly impressive.
• The interference ending seems a little unnecessary, but seeing Heyman throw his jacket into the ring was fun.
• Predictable though, because now Sheamus has a title he has to lose every match he's in.

Big E def. Ryback in a Beat the Clock Challenge

• Big E still got a decent pop, so that push isn't entirely dead yet.
• I love that matching beanies are now a thing for Rybaxel.
• I used this match as my toilet break which probably says something. It was OK, it just...was.

R-Truth and The Funkadactyls vs Fandango and Layla went to a no-contest when Summer Rae attacked Layla

• People are still REALLY into R-Truth for reasons I cannot fathom.
• London is still into fandangoing for slightly more acceptable reasons.
• Summer Rae showing up was a great moment, although I'm disappointed that this has once again been reduced to 'women fight over a man'. Why did't she just beat the crap out of Fandango too?

Stephanie McMahon comes out to announce she's asking Daniel Bryan to hand back the WWE World Heavyweight Championship

• Stephanie coming out to Daniel Bryan's music was an all time great troll move
• I think most of us who were 'in the know' knew that Bryan couldn't possibly be in the arena, but there was still a colossal pop for the music. 
• I can't help but feel bummed that (since he's apparently back next week) we attended the one episode of Raw in forever where Bryan wasn't around.
• Big cheers for the Barrett video package.
• The promo was masterful - seemingly reasonable but dripping with evil glee. Huge boos for all the potential new champions except for Barrett, who predictably got massive cheers (which Stephanie then used to heel on the crowd further).
• During the actual announcement that Stephanie wanted the title handed back, there was a COLOSSAL CM Punk chant going that drowned her out completely. Understandably WWE turned the crowd down for the broadcast, but you can still read lips and hear it faintly.

Rusev def. Heath Slater

• I'd completely forgotten that 3MB were 'The Union Jacks' last time they were here, but everyone absolutely loved it again and they got big cheers, which they played up really well.
• Crowd was kind of flat when Lana came out but her comically ludicrous heeling got her some heat, what with photoshopped Russian flags on the Houses of Parliament and such.
• As for the match...squash. At least Rusev finally beat up someone who wasn't black.

Rob van Dam def. Alberto del Rio in a Beat the Clock Challenge

• RVD is still really over with live crowds. More 'E-C-DUB' chants here
• However, the match itself was B-O-T-C-H-A-M-A-N-I-A. Even from our seats we could see daylight when del Rio 'kicked' RVD in the head. RVD went for Rolling Thunder twice and got it neither time - the first time he just legdropped him while the second he did a standing somersault. 
• That missed Five Star Frog Splash looked painful.

Seth Rollins def. Batista by disqualification after Triple H interfered.

   

•  Dear god, the Shield are really, really over.
• Triple H's little game at the beginning was a good laugh and at least meant we got to boo each of the Evolution members individually.
• Match was great, mostly because if there's one guy that can carry Batista it's Seth Rollins. Lots of insane bumps and a relatively high workrate.
• Good as the match was, the post match melee was even better. Big reaction to Orton chairshotting Reigns, Ambrose diving off the table, Triple H being sent over the table and Reigns' spear. The 'This is Awesome' chant got going pretty fast.
• Everyone shouted Reigns' OOOOOOOOOH along with him.

Alicia Fox defeated Paige in a non-title match

• Crowd was naturally really into Paige, but Fox as well got a decent cheer.
• When Fox won the crowd was sort of stunned into silence, but they quickly got back into the post match insanity.
• Alicia Fox looks good in a crown.

Dolph Ziggler def. Mark Henry in a Beat the Clock Challenge

• Crowd was into Mark Henry but went wild for Ziggler. For all the tough times he's endured, people are still really into him.
• A good match, since the two play to each other's strengths - Henry is best when he can ragdoll people around and Ziggler is best when he can take massive bumps and try and get by on agility.
• The real highlight here was of course the after match segment, where RVD comes out for no reason whatsoever only to be killed in the back of the head by Bad News Barrett, who got a colossal cheer. 
• The subsequent promo was even better as Barrett explained how the English CONTROL TIME ITSELF then called RVD 'a bloody Yank' to predictably massive audience approval.
• Being played off to Rule Britannia was the over-the-top cherry on the cake.

Adam Rose was interviewed by Renee Young before they were interrupted by Jack Swagger and Zeb Colter.

• I'm not the biggest fan of Adam Rose but I'll admit the gimmick is pretty infectious when you're there in person. The entire arena was bouncing along singing his theme song.
• Rose did well selling his campy, quirky character (which I suspect probably goes down a bit better over here than in the States).
• That bunny can move. Doing a kip-up in that costume is mighty impressive.
• Zeb Colter is the perfect party pooper. His mic work is so good it's extremely easy to boo him. First instace of the 'WHOAREYA?' chant popping up.
• After Swagger cheap-shotted Rose he got a fantastic 'YOU'RE A LEMON' chant.
• Crowd were looking for any excuse to sing the song. An encouraging sign for Rose, he was very over.

John Cena (w/The Usos) defeated Luke Harper (w/The Wyatt Family) after Bray Wyatt interefered

• The crowd sung JOHN CENA SUCKS to the tune of his theme song.
• Mobile phones were out and swaying was in full effect for the Wyatt's entrance.
• Cena and Harper have had better versions of this match before, but it was still good fun.
• For a man who's 6 foot 5 and 275lbs, Luke Harper moves with scary speed and grace. Seeing him hurricanrana Cena was breathtaking.
• Bray's snap Sister Abilgails on the Usos looked super cool and brutal as hell.
• Pretty rote ending, but having Bray singing on top of the ramp while Harper counted was a very cool visual to end the show.

Dark segments

• Bray returned to the ring and threw John Cena's shoe into the crowd. Crowd sung 'JOHN CENA'S SHOE' to the tune of his theme song.
• Bray then cut a quick promo about how awesome the Wyatt Family was and issued an open challenge. The Shield came out and there was a quick mini-brawl which ended with the Hounds of Justice standing tall. Erick Rowan was left flat on his back in the ring.
• After the Shield had left, Bad News Barrett came down to the ring, announced he had some bad news then gave Rowan the Bullhammer elbow.
• Cena recovered, cracked a quick joke or two then left the mic to Barrett. Barrett cut a (mostly out of character) promo about how good it was to be back in the UK. He put over his fellow British stars Paige and Adrian Neville.
• Stephanie McMahon came out to tell Barrett the show was over, the left and cut the lights and sound. They came back up and then were cut several more times as he tried to carry on talking.
• Triple H came out and once again re-iterated the show was over. He started heeling on the crowd in classic style, telling us we had bad teeth and bad hygiene in an appalling British accent.
• Adam Rose came out again to big cheers and danced his way to the ring. Triple H got the 'YOU'RE A LEMON' chant as weel as a good 'WHOAREYA?' chant.
• Eventually Triple H got in the ring and got a Bullhammer elbow in the face. Show closed with Adam Rose dancing in the ring as the crowd chanted along.

While overseas Raws are never huge shows because they're always 'middle of the road' shows, this was a lot of fun and I'm really glad I went along. 4 and a half hours is a lot of time to sit watching wrestling, but it was a great experience.

All photos (c) WWE except the last one, which is mine!

Wrestling Wramblings: Wrestlemania XXX

Everyone has a guilty pleasure. I have many, but one of them is the hurricane of stupidity that is professional wrestling. In my ongoing attempt to broaden my pool of writing topics and styles, I present a bulletpoint, match-by-match recap of last night's WWE pay-per-view, the 'Showcase of the Immortals' Wrestlemania.

This is written assuming you know a bit about wrestling - I don't explain who people are, the stories or the lingo. It's really just a chance for me to get some thoughts out. Also yes I know it's all fake and no I don't care.

• I'm not embarrassed to tell you I completely lost it at the opening segment. Hogan botching the Superdome name was pretty funny but then GLASS BREAKS and it's all golden. The Rock coming out was just the icing on the cake and the entire thing was really the first time I felt like XXX was the huge anniversary event it was billed as. Legendary.
• Speaking of which, the arena looked INCREDIBLE. The huge screens and the gigantic XXXs with customised visuals being projected on them looked amazing at every stage of the evening, and all the entrances were massively enjoyable spectacles. Good work stage crew.

 Daniel Bryan defeated Triple H to earn a spot in the main event 

• Dear god I love Triple H's increasingly elaborate He-Man style entrances 
• I don't love Daniel Bryan's fur lined boots. In fact, his entire getup here was kind of eh. back to the classic red/burgundy soon please. 
• The match was a little slow to start but picked up well and was a bona-fide classic by the end. I think because Triple H has largely competed in no-holds barred matches in recent years I'd forgotten he's actually a really good wrestler. He abandoned his usual big man style here (bar a wicked spinebuster) and instead had a surprisingly intense mat and submission based match with Bryan.
• Bryan kicking out of the Pedigree was a real 'he's arrived' moment for me. 
• I'd probably have preferred the post match beatdown to be a little more vicious. As it is it felt almost lazy. I know blading has been banned for years but this really was one occasion I felt blood might have aided the spectacle. 

 The Shield defeated Kane and the New Age Outlaws 

• If you're wondering which match got its time cut to accommodate those long-ass entrances in the opening segment, this was the one. 
• Loved The Shield's super dumb masks, and the fact they interrupted the Outlaws's opening spiel. Double-Triple powerbomb was pretty neat. 
• But yeah, squash match, not much more to say. The Hounds of Justice deserved better than this.
• I'm not a big fan of WWE putting adverts for their own crap into the middle of shows, but that Slam City vignette was genuinely funny and packed with stars. Listen to the pop everyone gets!

Cesaro was the last man standing in the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royale 

• It seems really odd you'd keep those last three spots a mystery and then just fill them with generic jobbers. 
• On the other hand, David Otunga sighting! 
• Speaking of which, the two guys they chose to give proper entrances to (Big Show and Sheamus) is a pretty good indication of the way the hierarchy works. 
• Big Show rocking the Andre the Giant Memorial singlet there. 
• As with all battle royales, the opening minutes were boring and a mess, and it's painfully obvious there were a bunch of guys standing around doing nothing. It's one of the reasons the Royal Rumble is pretty much the only battle royale that's good from beginning to end. 
• Once they got down to about half the roster though, there was some great stuff. Loved the crowd bringing back fandangoing, some nice spots from Mysterio and Kofi's insane elimination save (which looks like it could have gone really wrong if he hadn't stuck the landing). 
• Cesaro winning was a genuine surprise (since he was allegedly a last minute replacement for Christian) and the way he did it was awesome, slamming Big Show over the top rope in an impressive display of strength and nice tribute to the event's namesake. Great handshake too. 
• That trophy is huge and must weigh a ton, yet Cesaro hoisted it like it was nothing at all. 

John Cena defeated Bray Wyatt 

• Not sure Wyatt should have a live band playing him out but the cool lighting and great atmosphere sold me on it. 
• Remember when Cena's increasingly awesome entrances were a Wrestlemania staple? I miss that. 
• Great match, as expected, with some solid brawlin' and a good underlying story. It was no classic but it was entertaining and unpredictable. 
• Cena hammed it up to ridiculous proportions here, but then it's a very broad canvas to work with. Better too much emoting than not enough. 
• Bray was great as always, taunting and teasing Cena. His singalong with the crowd was a great, organic moment. 
• Cena being shocked out of his five moves of doom by Spider-Bray was awesome and (thanks to some clever camera work) a good jump too. 
• I understand why Cena was booked to win here, but I still think it's the wrong decision. We've seen him OVERCOME ADVERSITY so many times now the plot holds no appeal, and it reduces Bray into just another monster of the week to be fed to the merchandising machine. I hope this program continues so Bray can eventually get the win back. 

Brock Lesnar defeated The Undertaker(!) to end The Streak at 21 

• Before we get into the hows and whys, I just want to point out this was a bloody awful match. It was plodding, poorly executed and badly scripted. Why repeat that Hell's Gate into slam spot twice in a row? Boring and shoddy to watch. 
• I was pleased Undertake had gone back to the classic coat-and-hat look...until the lights came up. Dear god that was an ugly outfit. 
• So...this is how it ends? The greatest constant in WWE history finished on a mid-card match to a part-timer with terrible buildup and a dead crowd. I was genuinely in shock and judging by the hilarious reaction videos it seems most of the people there were too. I get they did it for the swerve, but the end of a 21 year story deserved more fanfare than this. 
• I love Brock Lesnar and I'm one of the people who thinks he is absolutely worth his exorbitant limited-dates paycheque. But he's been a made man for more than a decade now and ever since his return he's been pushed as an unstoppable monster. This win does nothing to enhance or detract his credibility. It's pointless. 
• On the other hand, we're bound to get some pretty amazing Paul Heyman promos out of it. Like this one for example. 
• One nod to reality here - Undertaker apparently has complete creative control over his character by this point and it's pretty unthinkable the match would have been booked this way without his consent. If this is how he wanted to go, that's worth respecting. 
• If nothing else, this was an actual surprise, which is incredibly rare these days. Lesnar will also have enough heel heat to last to his dying day. 
• It was sad the crowd couldn't even get a decent 'Thank You Taker' chant together. 
• With his one remaining reason to keep wrestling now gone, surely this is the end for The Deadman? 

AJ Lee won the Vickie Gurrero Divas Championship Invitational to retain the Divas Championship

• There's cooldown matches', there's 'being sent out to die', and then there's putting this match on immediately after the most shocking event in wrestling for years. 
• Part of me is thrilled AJ is still the champion, but a greater part of me worries about creative direction? What is there left for her to do? Unless they bring up all the NXT crew of course. 

Daniel Bryan defeated Randy Orton(c) and Batista to win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship

• Predictable and predictably wonderful. The match was overbooked to hell but then that's pretty much the only way it could have worked, and the resulting mess was a lot of fun.
•  Rev Theory look like a utterly awful metal bullshit band. In other words, perfect for Randy Orton. 
• Bryan carried this match and the points he was not in it were undoubtedly the worst parts. 
• The inevitable Triple H run-in was way smaller-scale than I predicted and ended swiftly and decisively in Bryan's favour. 
• Who keeps leaving sledgehammers under the ring? 
• LOVED that they bought Scott Armstrong back for two reasons. One, it's a great continuity nod to the earlier part of this story and two, it finally definitely nails down that title win at Night of Champions as a screwjob. 

via Wrestling With Text

• The powerbomb/RKO spot throgh the table looked great but took WAY too long to setup, making it clear how much of a spot it was. 
• There was a moment I was concerned the injury angle was real, especially since Batista just stood around while the paramedics fussed over Bryan. As even the dumbass commentary team pointed out, he could have simply thrown Bryan or Orton in the ring, covered them and won. 
• Batista kicking out of the RKO is probably the only time he'll ever get cheers in this run. 
• Loved the spot where Orton jumped over the spear and Batista hit Bryan instead. 
• Given that most of the story has had Bryan feuding with Orton, it seems odd that it's Batista who got tapped out. But it makes sense if the next step is a program between the two. 
• Whatever happens to Daniel Bryan from here on (and I suspect some bad booking is rapidly heading his way) he's immortal now. Nobody can ever take this moment away from him, and it'll be in video packages from now until the end of time. That's pretty cool.

This was an incredible show, that combined extremely high quality of matches with some very powerful story beats. Arguably the Undertaker/Lesnar match was the only real blunder here, but it was at least a huge shock that got people wildly specualting, and that's a good thing. I'd put this among the best WWE pay-per-view events ever, right up there with the likes of Wrestlemania X-7. It was a brilliant night and a fine show. 

Games of the Generation #3 - Portal

You will be baked, and then there will be cake

Subtlety is a rare quality in videogames. They're normally about the BANG CRASH WALLOP of throwing as much shit at the screen as possible and seeing what sticks. That's no bad thing, and has lead to quite a few of the games on this list. But occasionally, you'll see a game that realises less is more. Portal is that game. It's a masterclass in putting exactly what you need in exactly the places you need it.

The game's tendency to minimalism begins with its visual design, the spare blankness of the test chamber conjouring visions of an experimental design that was never meant for the public eye. Likewise, there's no plot, no character and no premise. Just you, a robot voice and a bunch of seemingly simplistic puzzles. All the buildup to the release of Portal had painted it as the odd one out in The Orange Box, a quirky throwaway experiment that was a mere tacked on bonus. It was a brilliant piece of misdirection.

The slow, creeping realisation that there may be more at stake here is the engine which drives the Portal experience, even as you marvel at the increasingly complexity and ingenuity of the chambers you're placed in. Valve expertly grows the mix of humour and looming dread, as the impeccably witty GladOS veers between jealousy, madness and insidious threats. From nothing more than an outstanding script and voice acting performance the game radiates personality, charm and wittiness. There's more personality within these blank walls than a thousand budget bloated blockbusters.

Having spent much of its brief runtime building up this weird world and relationship, the game's most memorable gambit is to tear it down completely. The moment you step behind the scenes it feels as if you really are escaping the script, becoming an agent of chaos in a perfectly planned system. That's daft because this segment is no less guided by Valve's all seeing eye than the others, yet it's a credit to the brilliance of the design and the build to the moment that it really does feel like a mad, cathartic moment of escape, climaxing in a showdown with your tormentor that's as funny as it is thrilling.

Perhaps the greatest testament to Portal's brilliance is that I can't think of a single thing I'd change about it. So brilliantly structured, so expertly paced is it that to do so would be sacrilege. Unlike almost every other game made, the parts fit together so smoothly you don't even notice they're there. It achieves the rare feat of being both artistically outstanding and mechanically ingenious. In short, it's the closest thing there's ever been to a perfect videogame. You might even say it was a triumph.

Wrestling Wramblings: Royal Rumble 2014

Everyone has a guilty pleasure. I have many, but one of them is the hurricane of stupidity that is professional wrestling. In my ongoing attempt to broaden my pool of writing topics and styles, I present a bulletpoint, match-by-match recap of last night's WWE pay-per-view, the greatest gimmick match ever, the Royal Rumble.

This is written assuming you know a bit about wrestling - I don't explain who people are, the stories or the lingo. It's really just a chance for me to get some thoughts out. Also yes I know it's all fake and no I don't care.

Preshow - Rhodes Brothers vs. New Age Outlaws for the WWE Tag Team Championship

• Solid match. It's always fun to see the Rhodes wrestle and I'm impressed by how well the NOA are doing, considering their age.
• Having said that, they definitely aren't on the same level as Goldust, who is wrestling like a man half his age. Not a technical masterpiece here.
• I'm ok with the Rhodes dropping the straps here, with a few caveats. One, I would have preferred the loss to be less clean. And two, the NAO better transition those titles post haste, preferably to the red-hot Usos.

Daniel Bryan vs Bray Wyatt

• This was a big test for Bray Wyatt, considering his only PPV singles experience had been a terrible match with Kane that ended in an interference finish. Needless to say, he rose to the occasion.
• It kind of helps when you have one of the best wrestlers on the planet opposite you of couse. But both parties worked hard to make this match a barn-burner.
• Bryan bumped like crazy. Guess those rumours of a concussion were exaggerated.
• Not sure why Harper and Rowan came out just to get tossed. 
• Where does this program go from here? It looks like the Wyatts are moving on, so what's next for Bryan?

Big Show vs Brock Lesnar

• This match was changed into a straight beatdown the night before when Show broke his hand. I didn't know this at the time though, and was very disappointed with what we got.
• Granted, there was actually some decent psychology in the very short bit of actual competition we got. Big Show playing possum was cool and that punch was ace.
• There's always entertainment to be had in seeing Lesnar go apeshit on someone too.
• Still, I felt this went on way too long and didn't have one big spot that made me go OH MY GOD.
• That F-5 was pretty great though.

John Cena vs. Randy Orton for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship

• Boy, that sure was a John Cena vs. Randy Orton match, right?
• Seriously though, this was boring as crap. It become a little more interesting when they started stealing finishers at the end, but otherwise a snooze-fest.
• The trend of 'every other person can do a better looking STF than Cena' continues.
• The crowd weren't having any of it either, busting out a ton of dumb chants. It was pretty funny, but I feel bad for the performers too. They're trying hard guys, it's not their fault they've been booked like crap.
• Having said that, Cena hearing the 'Y2J' chants and then immediately trying to put Orton into the Walls of Jericho shows how smart that guy can be.
• Given the ending, what was the point of the ref takedown?
• I'm pretty sick of distraction endings, but at least this was a genuine surprise and teses an interesting Wyatt vs Cena angle.

Royal Rumble Match

Instead of the usual breakdown, let's go through entrant by entrant shall we?

1. CM Punk - Was anonymous for large amounts of the match, but worked well in the early stages when it's basically a mini brawl. His elimination was the obvious next step in the angle, but executed well. Took a big bump through the Spanish announce table (49m15s)
2. Seth Rollins - Did extremely well entering at the attention grabbing #2 position, somewhat compensating for being clearly the least important member of The Shield in the match. Only member to make the traditional through the crowd entrance. Bumped hard, worked hard. Pulled Ambrose off of Reigns to further emphasise his position as the 'reasonable one' in the team.
3. Damien Sandow - Oh dear. What a waste.
4. Cody Rhodes - Solid as ever, if largely unspectacular. Couple of decent spots. Would have preferred his elimination at the hands of Goldust to be better highlighted/more spectacular.
5. Kane - Great little story arc here. Punk dumping him almost immediately was a fun little get back. His elimination of Punk was very unexpected (if you missed his accidental on camera appearance) because it happened so long after her initially left. Wrestling in dress slacks was great.
6. Alexander Rusev - Great showing for what's probably the next big graduate from NXT. While he didn't eliminate anyone, he got to beat the crap out of a bunch of guys and look damn strong. Also thank god he got proper wrestling gear.
7. Jack Swagger - BIG HOSS continues to improve and he did some solid work to keep the match flowing here. Really though Zeb Colter continues to be the star.
8. Kofi Kingston - Loved his ridiculous leap, which was a moment of genuinely great athleticism. The spot where he took off Swagger's boot and bashed him with it was great as well. Always a decent entrant. Mad elimination by Reigns.
9. Jimmy Uso - I love the Usos but neither of them did anything of note in this match.
10. Goldust - Great to see him here. As I mentioend with Cody, I do feel his elimination of his brother should have been a bigger spot.
11. Dean Ambrose - The shot of him eyeing Roman Reigns slimily from behind was one of my favourite moments of the match. Also, Sheamus lifting his shirt revealed that he's RIPPED.
12. Dolph Ziggler - Big pop for this return. Proceeded to look after his head by selling everything like he was made of rubber. Insane bump of Reigns' spear.
13. R-Truth - Does anyone really care about R-Truth?
14. Kevin Nash - It was cool the first time he came back but seriously, keep Kevin Nash the fuck away from anything resembling a wrestling organisation. Horribly botched elimination.
15. Roman Reigns - Looked like a million dollars. Muscled guys around like crazy, got great spots, went full throttle all the way through. Hearing the crowd cheer for him when he was one-on-one with Batista is a great sign he's getting way over for his imminent singles run.
16. The Great Khali - Existed solely for the purpose of being an impressive elimination spot for Reigns.
17. Sheamus - His character is an obnoxious bully, but it was great to see him back in the ring. Not quite sure he deserved to make it to the final three, but a genuinely enjoyable return.
18. The Miz - Hey, remember when this guy main-evented Wrestlemania?
19. Fandango - Great to see fandango-ing become a thing again, albeit briefly. Actual wrestling is not the attraction of his character, but his elimination was pretty great.
20. El Torito - Great, great stuff from the little man. His interactions with Punk were golden and he was tossed fast enough that he didn't outstay his welcome. Great little comedy spot.
21. Antonio Cesaro - Impressive as always, both in his brute strength and his ability. Those swings are still as fun as hell to watch. Played a small but crucial role in Reigns' turn on his teamates.
22. Luke Harper - It's sort of odd seeing the Wyatts in somethign so over-the-top 'wrestling' as this but Harper did well and sold his massive brute role decently.
23. Jey Uso - See Uso, Jimmy.
24. JBL - Announcers entering has become somewhat old hat at this point, but this was pretty funny, especially the crowds's YOU STILL GOT IT chant.
25. Erick Rowan - Seemed to make less of an impact than Harper.
26. Ryback - Largely anonymous, which reflects the decline of his position on the card. Would have liked to see him involved in more big strength spots.
27. Alberto del Rio - Only here to be fed to Batista.
28. Batista - Did anyone actually want him to win? Dude looked crap in the ring and was visibly exhausted by the end despite his late entry. Him facing Reigns one-on-one was unflattering to Dave in the extreme.
29. Big E Langston - Disappointingly, did nothing of note. Nothing wrong with that, since pushing him in the same match as Reigns would not have made sense, but if you just need a warm body, why not use Xavier Woods or something like that?
30. Not Daniel Bryan - I felt extremely sorry for Mysterio, given the poisonous atmosphere he emerged to. Dude managed a few cool spots before being tossed, as is the usual fate of the #30 entrant.

• This match was great fun right up until the end, with a high quality crop of entrants and some good spots.
• Having said that, UGH. Batista is the worst and he looked extremely bad in the ring here.
• The crowd revolt was all over the place. I hated them booing Mysterio because hey, it's not the guys fault. However, once it was down to Reigns and Batista, they got right behind the Shield man. The vicious, poisonous reaction at the end was delightful and really conveyed my own feelings.
• Batista apparently flipped off a bunch of fans and did the YES chant with middle fingers. Apparently the douchebag persona isn't just a heel thing.

Overall, a solid PPV marred by a puke-worthy finish. It'll be interesting to see if the widespread dissatisfaction encourages Bryan to be booked more strongly. I'm guessing no, but it was certainly a spectacle.

Games of the Generation #4 - Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots

Even heroes have to die

There are all sorts of games and those games strike all sorts of tones - funny, exciting, DARK, reflective and goofy. But very few games are sad. And that's what Metal Gear Solid 4 is. For all of its massive bombast, its Hollywood level production, orchestral soundtrack and (then) cutting edge graphics, my immediate memory of it is always the quiet melancholy which suffuses the production. All the explosions, all the guns and graphics and trademark ludicrous touches of director Hideo Kojima cannot hide the fact that this is a game about a man dying.

MGS4 partially reaches this position of course through the legacy of its illustrious predecessors. It's standing on the shoulders of giants, but that doesn't make its own achievements any less impressive. Kojima returns to the dystopian future we briefly glimpsed in Metal Gear Solid 2 to layer his themes of inheritance, war and human fallibility even more deeply than before. There aren't many games that deserve the descriptor 'operatic' but this is absolutely one of them, as we pull together every character, every thread from a decade of tactical espionage action for a rousing finale. The conflict balloons to a scale never before seen, and yet it still feels intimate, still personal. The world may be at stake but this is always about Solid Snake, and his battle against his nemeses, be that Liquid Ocelot, old age or the sins of his 'father' Big Boss. It's what makes this fight matter more than countless other 'take over the world' modern military videogames. This time we care if the world ends.

All of this emotion though wouldn't matter much if there wasn't a game to back it up. Fortunately, technology finally matches the grandiosity of Kojima's vision, liberating MGS from tight corridors and small play areas, and throwing us onto vast, dynamic battlefields. The game constantly changes approach and atmosphere, from a chaotic middle-eastern conflict to a tense game of cat and mouse on the streets of Eastern Europe to an emotional return to Shadow Moses Island (complete with astonishing robot-on-robot combat). For the first time in the series you're not fighting the controls, instead appreciating the Resident Evil style pop-out shooting. Octocamo offers all the flexibility of MGS3's camouflage system without the annoying time spent in menus, while the Drebin points upgrade path makes for easy play style customisation. This feels like the game where MGS finally stepped into the modern age without losing any of what made it unique.

Uniqueness is what makes Metal Gear Solid 4 such a memorable experience. There may be elements from other games, and characters and ideas from previous entries in the series, but they've never been assembled in anything quite like this. At the time both Kojima and Konami claimed that this would be the final entry in the franchise, a claim that even at the time seemed ludicrous, and so it's proved. Yet there is something very definitive, very final about the game, a feeling that it can't be surpassed no matter what may be yet to come. And for a game that is so sad, so desperate - it's the only game that's ever made me cry - it's important to remember that the moral is ultimately hopeful. Snake doesn't pull that trigger, he doesn't make that final choice. He's still going to die, but before that, he's going to live for the first time in a long time. That's a worthy message for any story to end on. It's good, isn't it?