Today's Review: Doing A Puzzle On New Year's Eve

Everyone seems to be out getting drunk, and I'm just sitting here tesselating. Yes, it's New Year's Eve, and I'm doing a puzzle with the missus. The kids are in bed, there are some snacks to nibble on, it's quite nice really. Many people would think of it as boring, but we sure don't fancy a night of stumbling around drunk in loud, obnoxious night clubs. Sure, it would be nice to have some company, so we could start up a board game or two, but this is the life I have settled into. Cosy, nice and quiet. New Year's Eve is just another eve, after all.

My rating: 4/5

Today's Review: Accidentally Reviewing The Same Thing Twice

It was bound to happen eventually. Doing a review each and every day, it's only a matter of time before I forget every exact thing that I've reviewed and write about something a second time. I just did, in fact.

I wrote a review about PS3 install and patching times, something which annoyed me quite a bit tonight. But after publishing, I had a nagging feeling that it's probably annoyed me a few times in the last year and a half. Sure enough, the lovely search function on my posts directed me to my earlier review on the same subject.

Well, it's before midnight, so now at least I can put this review in its place. This is A Review A Day, and I will always strive to review something original each and every day. Some may not be fantastic, some may rely on cheap linguistic techniques and meta, but there will be a review of something different every time. I guess I'll just have to use that search function a whole lot more from now on, because reviewing that same thing twice has probably annoyed me more than the PS3 issue I was reviewing in the first place.

My rating: 0/5

Today's Review: Alpro Soya Light

I had never drunk soy milk before today. Why would I? I'm not lactose intolerant, nor am I vegan. But I've always wondered what soy milk tastes like, and today my curiosity met my thrifty nature when I finally picked up a reduced carton of Alpro Soya Light.

It would probably be better to try the original version, as the light version of anything is bound to taste worse, but it'll do. So, does it taste like milk? Surprisingly, yes, a little. It has a strange aftertaste, kind of like porridge oats sticking to the roof of your mouth, but it isn't an entirety unpleasant experience. No patch on the real deal, but if milk makes you go against your beliefs or keep you on the toilet for an inordinate amount of time, it ain't a bad substitute.

My rating: 4/5

Today's Review: Rise Of The Guardians

Dreamworks are rising up in my esteem lately. With the excellent How To Train Your Dragon a couple of years back, and me not hating Kung Fu Panda 2, or even Madagascar 3, they've surprised me again with Rise Of The Guardians.

The movie follows Jack Frost, the winter spirit who has existed for more than 300 years without a purpose. After another day of covering everything in snow and ice, he finds himself nominated by The Man In The Moon to join the ranks of the legendary Guardians of children, consisting of Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy and the Sandman. The re-emergence of the Bogeyman has threatened to envelop the world's children in fear, quashing their beliefs, and thus weakening the powers, of the Guardians. It's up to Jack Frost and his new allies to keep the children's beliefs alive, and use their powers to put a stop to the Bogeyman once and for all.

Rise Of The Guardians certainly has an interesting premise, with the interconnecting lairs and responsibilities of the Guardians, and the belief system that provides them with powers and even visibility. No matter how much of a mishmash all the different characters seem to be, the plot does a very good job of bringing them together into a very effective team. Frost, sand, and various other powers are flung around during some quite spectacular battle scenes, it seems almost like an Avengers for kids (well, little kids).

The Guardians themselves are all fantastic. The inexplicably Russian Santa chortles along with his dual swords, the Easter Bunny is distinctly Australian, wielding a deadly boomerang and dry humour, and even the Sandman has oodles of character, despite the fact that he never talks. There are some great voices behind the Guardians, and the Bogeyman, and they all do a fantastic job at portraying the uniqueness of their characters and the camaraderie of the group.

Rise Of The Guardians is a fantastic kids movie. It looks beautiful, has a great cast of characters, and some quite intense fight scenes that really kept my attention throughout. I'll definitely be watching it again.

My rating: 5/5

Today's Review: Butterfinger

I certainly love a good piece of American candy. But expensive as it may be, there's a chocolate bar that's probably had me forking over the cash a lot more than others, in the form of Butterfinger. I never used to like nuts so much as a kid, but if you're going to be eating American chocolate ,you're gonna have to start liking peanuts and peanut butter.

Butterfingers certainly are nutty. They contain a plethora of ground peanuts blended in with a nice crispy base, smothered in chocolate. The flavour bursts out as soon as you take a bite, that unmistakeable taste of chocolate and peanut butter. The flakiness of the center means it crumbles in your mouth, but as you chew the flavour enhances, and it's quite possible that you'll get some stuck in your teeth.

I don't mind though. It's an awesome, crunchy, smooth, flavoursome experience. If you're into your chocolate and peanut butter (an acquired taste for us Brits, I'm sure) then this is the bar for you.

My rating: 5/5

Today's Review: Zombies!!!

There's nothing like a good board game at Christmas, especially one that involves a zombie apocalypse. Zombies!!! Is a board game in which the players build the board. You all start out on a town square, and each player gets a new piece of the map, complete with any zombies or provisions that go with it. As all the streets become interconnected and full of the undead, players have to make their way to the later-revealed helipad, or kill 25 zombies to win the game.

You get 2 dice, one which determines how many spaces you can move, and one that gives you your zombie killing power. Roll a 4 or above to kill a zombie ad add it to your collection, but if you roll less you'll have to sacrifice your scarce bullets to make up the number, or lose one of your three lives. If you lose all your lives, it's back to the start, so be sure to stock up on provisions to safely clear the helipad and win the game.

So yes, it's quite competitive, but the real spirit of the game lies in the event cards you pick up. These can either provide weapons or bonuses, paralyse other players, or give you the ability to surround them with or move them into groups of zombies. These cards can be played at anytime, so just as someone looks like they're going to win, the tables can be turned quite easily.

There's a lot of fresh stuff here to lake this a novel and entertaining board game. Sure, the rules are quite complex, and it can take a while to get into the swing of things, but I'm coming to the end of a 2 hour session and the time has flown by. Zombies!!! Is a very refreshing experience compared to your regular Christmas board games.

My rating: 4/5

Today's Review: Christmas Rubbish

The presents are unwrapped, the food has been eaten, all that remains is a larger-than-normal amount of toys, and rubbish bags lining the walls. Rubbish bags filled with the wrapping paper, boxes and plastic ties that once so nicely held our gifts. Four bags, to be exact, which is normally equal to over a week's worth of this household's rubbish.

The trouble is, I live in a block of flats with a shared bin store, which contains a few large dumpsters. The bin men neglected to empty them last week, meaning they were already overflowing with rubbish before Christmas Eve. Now it's me and the residents of 60 other flats looking to dump our above average load in an overflowing bin store, and it makes me feel iuncomfortable. I can't imagine what it would be like if I lived in a solitary house with my own wheelie bin. If that overflows, it's trouble. So everyone who has bags full of wrapping, masses of empty bottles, and not to mention the mass amounts of food waste from the Christmas feasts, will have a hard time disposing of their rubbish this Christmas.

Christmas is certainly a holiday of excess nowadays, but it's never more apparent than with the amount of rubbish left behind, chunky black bags getting in the way of your sozzled Christmas conga. Quite frankly, it's a bunch of rubbish.

My rating: 1/5