I’m with GiffGaff and have gone for the cheapie £10 package which limits me to 1Gb of data per month. Regularly I was hitting 700-900Mb per month, which is fine – but I noticed I was gradually using more. No real reason other than I was out and about and getting more and more reliant on apps, etc.
A simple change to my settings saved me a huge amount of data and I’m now hitting around 300Mb per month. Simply ensure that your app updates are set to run automatically only when you’re on wi-fi.
Aside from things like streaming media, this is probably one of the biggest data downloads you do on a regular basis. There’s usually very little need to have an app update *right now* (and if there is, you can force an update manually very easily), so just leave them till the next time you’re in the house when they should kick in automatically.
Once again I visit the cinema on little sleep due to a teething infant. This was a movie I’d been looking forward to since I had seen the trailers. It’s a nice change to see a prequel rather than a sequel as well.
First up, though, the attached “short” entitles The Blue Umbrella. A little more heart-warming than the earlier shorts which were nice and funny, and the visuals are stunning. It took me a few seconds to realise I was watching a cartoon rather than a film. It didn’t outstay its welcome, and the kids weren’t sitting there asking me where the monsters had got to, so that’s fine.
And the main feature. Well, it is as I said a prequel. It’s the story of Mike’s aspirations to be a “scarer” and Sully’s expectations that he would be able to wing it based on his family history. Of course, things don’t go to plan and they have to face a series of challenges to become accepted by the university and the Scaring course tutors.
It’s a well-written story, and leads very well into it’s precursor. A few of the characters you’ll be familiar with from Monsters Inc. make an appearance, but not so many as get silly. The way relationships change from this film to the next are quite interesting.
The best bit for me was the ending – it wasn’t what you would expect. As per the rules for my blog, though – no spoilers! I gather there is a post-credit sequence but we didn’t stay for it. I’ve looked it up and if you have the patience it could be worst parking your backside for five minutes. Not easy when you’re with kids though!
Overall, it wasn’t bad. The kids enjoyed it and it’s a good story. It wasn’t as good as the original, in my opinion, but I really appreciated the sideways step for the plot. Far better than just trying to make more of the same.
Aries: Today you will feel angst that someone on benefits is getting more money than you, despite the fact that you deserve it and they don’t. Also, news will reach you that someone not even born in this country is claiming money from the government that comes from your taxes. This will make your blood boil. In health, there will be a revelation that something you eat, drink, wear, breathe or do is now a cancer risk.
Many words get “redefined” these days. Picked up and used in ways which, historically, make no sense. Some are niche, others become more common.
For instance, remember when something being “bad” meant it was good? And that a skateboard trick being “sick” doesn’t mean it need to see a doctor?
Then there’s the word “awesome” which I am guilty of (over-)using. Specifically, it’s got quite a narrow range of meaning. The Oxford Dictionaries define it as:
adjective
extremely impressive or daunting; inspiring awe: the awesome power of the atomic bomb
In the last couple of years, they’ve added:
informal extremely good; excellent: the band is truly awesome!
Why do I bring this up? Well, today is my youngest daughter’s first birthday. A whole year surviving in our household is no mean feat, especially as you get older and start annoying the adults more and more…
But what I want to get over is that she is awesome. And I don’t mean she’s simply extremely good, or excellent. Alestorm are extremely good, or excellent. Niamh inspires awe. She is utterly, wonderfully, jaw-droppingly amazing.
How on earth I managed to have something to do with the creation of something so mind-bendingly incredible is beyond me. That is awesome.
…and now.
How she grew from something the size of a pin-head to a huge lump of flesh and bone which can now toddle, smile cheekily, dance to Airbourne, open toilet lids and feed the dog from his own bowl (the bits that she doesn’t steal for herself)… that is awesome.
And we have two others – one voted the top pupil in her year by her peers recently; the other getting a perfect incident-free report from nursery for two years, who’s become addicted to libraries and about to move to “proper” school. They’re awesome, too. Not just excellent – they inspire awe.
So if you have kids, I really hope that every day you spare a little thought for how ridiculously, incredibly, incalculably unlikely it is that two cells each became those things you spend half your time wishing would just shut the hell up.
And if that’s not something to inspire awe, I don’t know what is.
It’s the holidays which means we have to find things for the kids to do. So, with the sun blazing outside we headed for a darkened room to watch a fat man and some small yellow creatures.
Plot-in-a-nutshell: Villain turns hero as Gru is drafted by an anti-bad-guy organisation
See if it you like: kids’ films with cute backing characters
It’s a fairly unimaginative name for a sequel – there’s not even a subtitle – but they’ve tried their best to put a new spin on the characters and storyline. Gru (Steve Carrell) is this time a good guy after turning over a new leaf at the end of the original. He’s partnered with Agent Lucy (Kristen Wiig) to find out who’s stolen a secret formula which turns simple, innocent creatures into vicious, invulnerable monsters.
Guess which creatures the formula will be used on?
As ever, the story is ably backed up by the cast of millions of minions (due to star in their own sequel in 2014). In fact, they’re still the real stars of the film. Proof? Have you seen any Gru merchandise? Or the three orphan kids? Nope.
There are a couple of pop culture references, some great slapstick sequences but – for some reason – the film left me feeling a bit flat. Despite some genuinely funny moments, I just found it a bit samey. Different from the first film, but too similar to many others.
It’s still good. The kids loved it (though Little Mister claimed that the purple monsters were too scary and wanted to leave – he settled for firing imaginary arrows at them instead), and the audience were laughing out loud at a handful of scenes.
I’d still recommend it even though I wasn’t too keen on it as it’s more likely down to me being pooched. I was up at 5am to give a friend a lift to work, so was struggling to stay awake at points. No reflection on the animation, though!
