Travel: Alnwick (Town, Castle, Gardens)

Alnwick (pronounced without the L or the W) is a town in Northumbria, England.  Its claim to fame is mostly in its castle, but the town is also sizable, with its fair share of shopping, sights, amenities, and activities to make for a worthwhile stop.

One of the side streets.

The town itself features two old gates on the roads passing by the market square.  Along the main roads, you can see opportunities for shopping, restaurants, tearooms, and the like.  There are museums throughout the town.  Accommodations are available through hotels and small bed-and-breakfast places.  Driving through the town can be a little tight, given the gatehouses with the narrow archways and some really narrow side streets.  It is also possible to take the train to town.

Bondgate.

Alnwick Castle rests in easy walking distance from the center of town.  Some of the best views of it can be seen if you follow the road past the castle's barbican (front gate with two sets of gates) to the old stone bridge, and in the afternoon or evening of a good day, the lighting will offer the perfect photo opportunity.  At the front of the castle, you can purchase tickets for either the castle, gardens, or both, and some of this admission is good for a whole year.  The price for admission can be pretty high, so you will need to evaluable whether you think it's worth the price.

The view from the bridge.

Inside the castle, you will be able to see some intact walls, towers, and the main keep.  Areas around the keep are well-kept, and include a number of old cannons.  The towers along the walls contain some exhibits, including wax figures, an armory, and an audio-visual display.  The main keep is most exquisite, with its marble floors and furnished interiors.  The first room you come to will have weapons (guns, blades, bayonets) hung on every inch of the walls in symmetric swirls and patterns.  From there, you can see a library filled wall-to-wall with books, and staterooms with elegant wallpaper, furnishings, ceilings, and displays of china.  Unfortunately, photography is not allowed in these state rooms.

That's not all:  Alnwick Castle has events going on all the time.  Fighting demonstrations, archery, children's activities, festivals, and concerts may occur on any given day.  Schedules are posted around the castle, and can be researched on their website.  I am not certain how much certain events cost, but at the very least, there is a free tour of the "lost cellars," where actors will take visitors down and present some creepy fictional tales with some theatrics for an effective (and perhaps a bit cheesy) ghost-story effect.  A gift shop and tea room are also available.

Alnwick Castle has been around since 1069 AD, and has been the seat of power for the Duke of Northumbria, even to this day (the family occupies part of the castle, leaving the rest open to visitors, which flood the place every year).  The castle was involved in some combat during the War of the Roses.  These days, it is probably most famous for being one of the filming locations for Elizabeth, Robin Hood:  Prince of Thieves, the first two Harry Potter films, and bunch of TV shows (mostly British ones).

Flowers near the Alwick Castle gardens.

Not far from the castle are the gardens, which offers a number of grounds for flowers.  The biggest attractions here include the root gardens (containing mostly vegetable gardens, a beehive display, and for some reason a bunch of plants growing in boots), a massive fountain with alternating streams of water, a few major areas for flowers and statues, and the poison gardens.  The poison garden offers tours, where a guide will talk about a few of the most prominent plants being kept there (including nettles, nightshade, hemlock, cannabis (grown with the permission of the UK government), opiates, and more).  There is a huge treehouse in the gardens, but for some odd reason, I didn't see it.  A gift shop and tearoom is also available in this area (and the gift shop did include a decent-looking book on the plants of the poison garden, which I'll probably find handy in research for some of my novels).

Alnwick is a pretty nice town, but it features a really good castle and a decent garden.  The castle alone is one of the biggest sights to see in England and is worth seeing at least once. 

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Travel: Lindesfarne (Holy Island)

Along the northeast coast of England, in Northumbria, is an island called Holy Island.  It is accessible only during the low tides, when the water is not covering the causeway.  If you travel to Holy Island, you will need to see what the crossing times are and plan accordingly.

Upon entering the island, you will be treated to a few impressive sights.  The first and most prominent is Lindesfarne Castle, which stands on top of a tall hill.  It was originally built in 1550.  The castle overlooks just about everything on the island and can be seen for miles, even from the mainland in certain spots.  On a clear day, Bamburg Castle can be seen across the water.  Getting to Lindesfarne castle, you will need to park in one of the designated parking lots in town and walk a good ways, including a steep set of stone stairs up the slope to the castle's walls.  After paying for admission, you are free to walk through the castle's rooms, which are furnished with antique furniture and items to illustrate what each room was used for.  There are two major balconies that provide expansive views of the surrounding coast.

The island also has a priory a short walk away from the castle.  After paying admission, the priory offers a fairly impressive sprawl of ruins with tall stone arches, walls, and windows.  There is a funky wooden statue on one end of the priory.  The ruin dates as far back as 634 AD, originally founded by the Irish monk St. Aidan.  The place experienced its fair share of historical conflicts between Viking raids, Norman conquests, and the War of the Roses.  Close to the priory is a church and a number of graves that are also open to visitors.

The castle and priory are probably the two biggest things to see on Holy Island, but the place also has a village with a few shops and tea rooms.  On the way to the castle, you can pass by a harbor with a number of ships, including a bunch of ships that are overturned and converted into shacks of some kind.  Looking in the direction of Bamburg Castle, I was able to see a long stretch of land where a bunch of sea lions were resting, and their noises could be heard from the island as a eerie ghost-like wail.  On the way to the castle, I noticed an old man playing a bagpipe.  The island also has a nature reserve of some kind, although that is an area I did not explore.

I had the good fortune to see the island on a fairly sunny day, but it was quite windy and chilly.  If you are thinking about visiting Northumbria on a pleasant day, Lindesfarne can make for a decent day trip, especially if you are interested in hiking, sightseeing, or for unique photographic opportunities.

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When Computers Go Bad

It's always alarming to turn your computer on and find that something is not working right.  It can be a daunting task to analyze a computer's symptoms and determine how to fix it.  The issue can be compounded by varying degrees of hardware and software compatibility issues.  For casual users, it can be an overwhelming and heartbreaking thing, but it is usually possible for the more well-informed users to mitigate and fix a given issue.

So my computer recently stopped loading Windows, and my initial reaction was of alarm and desperation.  I've had my computer for several years now; it's a Velocity Micro refurbished computer I got from some website (1saleaday.com), which works great for all my needs, but has exhibited odd behavior on occasion (mostly in the form of crashes).  With Windows unable to load after the BIOS, I began to wonder if my hard drives were going bad, or if something in the motherboard is off (now that I think about it, the CMOS battery probably needs to be replaced), or if Windows itself is just screwy.  My temporary solution has been to simply reinstall Windows without reformatting or partitioning the drive; doing so just shoves my personal files to a Windows.old folder, so they can still be salvaged.  Since I wasn't sure about the integrity of my computer and hard drives, I took the time to pull out my hard drives, and use an external HDD docking port to access and back up my files.

My efforts have ensured that I haven't lost any files, and with Windows working temporarily, I was able to finish up a few major projects I was working on (primarily editing my travel videos).  My next plan is to totally revamp my computer, upgrading the motherboard and hard drives and installing Windows from scratch.  Obviously, it'll be work to reinstall all my programs and move my files around, but I expect that new hardware will allow things to be faster, more stable, and more efficient. 

In order to keep things running smoothly, I will need to maintain my computer regularly and diligently follow certain practices.  Below are some tips that can benefit all users, to keep your computers running effectively and prevent them from succumbing to fatal errors.  Chances are that you may know of these things already, but if not, these are practices you should adopt regularly:

• Back up your files regularly, onto an external source like an external hard drive, thumb drive, or optical disk.  I personally prefer to use an external HDD of one or two TB in size, with folders for all my documents, music, video, photos, downloads, saved games, and the like.  I personally don't feel the need to save personal settings for specific programs, but you might have to back those up if you want them.  I also tend to make a backup of the backup, in the event that one of these external drives fails.  Your devices should be easily-accessible, but it is advisable to keep them somewhere safe from damage or theft (like a fireproof box).  Backups in a cloud might be feasible, but I haven't bothered to set up a cloud of any kind.
• Set up a system restore point regularly.  This will allow you to use the Windows restore option, which will restore all your settings to what they were when you set up the restore point.  So if you do have a problem, the restore point can be reloaded and everything should resume working the way it did before you ran across a particular problem.
• Use your security programs.  Anti-virus, anti-malware, and firewalls will help prevent hacks, trojans, worms, and viruses that could otherwise cripple your system or steal your information.  I personally use Bitdefender, which seems to run well, but you also can't go wrong with Norton's.  The best I can recommend is to shop around to see what program will meet your needs and what you're willing to pay for.  You shouldn't rely solely on default programs like Windows Firewall, which only works one way, or Windows Defender, which has limitations.  For whatever program you install, be sure that it updates itself regularly, and don't ignore any alerts it gives out.
• Maintain your updates.  Windows is always updating itself, because it's always being fixed and protected from vulnerabilities.  Individual programs may do the same, and many drivers may need to be updated to enhance your capabilities.  Many of these programs can update themselves, but for those that don't, be sure to visit the vendor's website to see if you have the latest version of that software, and look at your drivers to make sure they're the latest.  Updating everything could even fix problems you may be experiencing.
• Run your disk cleanup at regular times (like every month or every season or so) to delete temporary files and free up some space.
• Run the defragger program often (or the defraggler, which is supposed to be a grade better), which will reduce the amount of file fragments on your disk drive.  Running this annually can help make your CPU more efficient in retrieving your files, and it could free up a little more disk space.  This process can take hours, so it may be ideal to set this up to run overnight.  Defragging works best on magnetic hard drives, and should not be used in flash memory.
• Set up Windows with a login ID and password, and make it a good one.  A strong password should include a mix of alphanumeric characters, upper and lower case, and at least one special character.  The longer it is the better it can be, but the password should not be a recognizable word or phrase, or something easy to guess.  But you should still be able to type it easily and remember it.  The best thing is to take a word or phrase and split it up with numbers and special characters.  I even use foreign names as the basis for a password, making it exceptionally hard to decipher.  These disciplines can be helpful for any password you need, and passwords for each device and website should be different.
• Encrypt your network.  WiFi routers may come with a password already set up, but it may be helpful to change the password to something stronger to deter attackers or people leeching off of your bandwidth.  If it doesn't, it can probably be setup by accessing your router (try localhost in a web browser's address bar).
• If it isn't obvious, you should be diligent in protecting your personal information while browsing around the Internet.  Do not advertise your full name, address, contact details, or bank information on public forums, Facebook, or other places where people can easily find it.  Do not trust e-mails claiming to be from companies, governments, or other places asking for your personal information, as these could be phishing e-mails with links that can upload viruses to you or fields to steal your information (if you're in doubt, contact the sender directly through their official contact details, and not through the e-mail).  If anybody calls you asking to access your computer's event task list, hang up.  Do your best to remain anonymous and guarded online.  Some users may desire to use proxy servers, but following all the other advice here should keep you safe from being attacked.

If something does happen and your computer exhibits troubling or fatal issues, your backups should save you from losing too much of your work.  If not, you can still salvage your hard drive's data by removing it from your CPU and using something like a docking station or SATA-to-USB cable to connect it to another computer.  If your hard drive to very badly corrupted, there may be forensic programs available somewhere that can retrieve lost files (I used to have one for images; the best I can recommend is to google for such programs).

When you're certain that your files are backed-up and secure, you can then start troubleshooting and fixing your system.  You will need to determine if your issue is hardware-based or software-based, all depending on the symptoms your computer is displaying.  You will need to do some basic tests, such as starting and restarting your computer, installing and uninstalling things, to determine possible causes.  Windows has some basic troubleshooting prompts which may or may not be helpful, and the Internet is crammed full of stories and advice that can further help you.

Computers may be complex machines, but in the end, they're all just motherboards connected to hard drives and boards, with an OS and oodles of programs.  Regular maintenance, backups, and security practices can help keep your system safe, but even when it breaks down, it can be saved with the right tools and the right guidance.

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Book Review: The Children of Húrin (JRR Tolkein)

"Then Mablung said bitterly: 'I also have been meshed in the doom of the Children of Húrin, and thus with words have slain one that I loved.'" - JRR Tolkein

Here it is, decades after the passing of JRR Tolkein, and eons after his epic sagas of The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings left their mark on fantasy literature.  Fans wanting more could always fall back to The Silmarillion.  Now, after all this time, Tolkein's son collected, edited, and released this collection of tales to provide even more Middle-Earth action.

Does that mean this book is inherently awesome? Perhaps for diehard Tolkein fans, but I found the book to be a total chore to go through.  Even though it's a pretty trim tome with only 257 pages, it is completely saturated in names, places, and folklore that mostly goes way over my head.  I personally found it tiresome to flip through so many proper pronouns and trying to keep track of who was what and where they were and what they were doing.

Part of the problem is the prose, which I felt tried so hard to be extravagant and grandiose that it felt like Tolkein was trying to rewrite the Prose Edda or something.  As such, it came off as being extremely stiff and dry.  It made it hard for me to personally connect to the characters or the plot, and combined with the onslaught of namedropping, I found myself trudging through the book, going through the motions of reading without truly becoming engrossed in it.

I understand that the book is compiled from various other bits and pieces, which have their connections to The Silmarillion, and parts of this may have been published before in other volumes.  The story is a huge, sprawling, somewhat random saga that includes all manner of war, drama, orc and dragon-slaying, and adventuring.  There are familiar elements, but a lot of it is fresh and new, covering areas and events that are otherwise far from the classic Lord of the Rings era.  In the end though, Children of Húrin is less of an actual story and more of a compendium of background legends and history in the overall lore of the Middle-Earth.

In the end, if you're a huge Tolkein fan and can absolutely dig deep into all the names and history of the Middle-Earth without much reservation on the author's prose, then the book will likely be a total winner for you.  For casual reading, I felt the book was dry, convoluted, and way too dense.

2.5/5 (Entertainment:  Poor | Story:  Marginal | Book:  Average)

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Video Game Review: Tomb Raider: Legend

Upon celebrating its tenth anniversary, the Tomb Raider franchise underwent a pretty heavy-duty make-over in Tomb Raider:  Legend.  With a new developer, the series would start with a fresh new direction, ensuring that Lara Croft's adventures would continue for a while longer.

Legend definitely has its share of coolness.  As before, you play Lara on a quest to raid tombs and fight bad guys.  This time, the relic in question is Excalibur, and the Arthur legend is interpreted in a pretty loose way that spreads the tale across multiple countries.  As always, you are required to climb seemingly-impossible obstacles with precise, complex acrobatic moves.  You occasionally fight armed goons and supernatural bosses (although, I don't recall many animals in this game).  In addition to the main story, you can also explore the Croft manor for bonus collectables, and you can unlock a plethora of bonus material.  Overall, the experience is an adventurous rush, much akin to a regular Indiana Jones or Dirk Pitt story.

All that being said, the game had its frustrating parts.  I found myself breezing through parts of it satisfactorily, but then I'd be held up with some obstacle or crazy boss fight that just kept me stuck for hours.  Part of the problem is that the game has a few iffy glitches (at least on the PS3's HD collection, I'm not sure how this game actually fared when it was first released for the PC and older consoles).  Lara would often die an inexplicable, stupid death (especially in the last boss fight, where swinging Excalibur suddenly backfired and caused her to fly off the map).  I had plenty of moments where a jump was miscalculated, either by me or the machine.  It was never a smooth or fully-enjoyable experience, unfortunately; the game has a pretty even mix of good and bad moments.

The story that's told here is at least most of the way relevant, given that it explores more of Lara Croft's backstory and uses it as a focus for the main conflict.  It is still episodic in a contrived way, stringing together exotic locations for the sake of giving you a series of unique levels with unique challenges.  The game ultimately hits up some decent character-building points, but the plotting feels like more of the same.

This game boasts some adequate graphics, especially for its time.  It is most notable for its animation and movements; Lara's climbing and acrobatics are quite flexible and dynamic, and offer its own array of challenges.  The gameplay and control scheme overall is pretty sublime and easy to master.  Levels are well-designed, and features okay-looking settings, items, costumes, and creatures.  Sounds and voices aren't too bad, and the music is lovely.

Playing Tomb Raider:  Legend is pretty fun, but with a few frustrating moments.  If you're a casual fan of adventure gaming, it'll be worthwhile as long as you're patient and able to stick with it.  Fans should love it though.

4/5 (Entertainment:  Pretty Good | Story:  Pretty Good | Game:  Good)

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Film Review: Lara Croft: Tomb Raider and the Cradle of Life

One of the most popular characters in video gaming lore returns to the big screen! I've always wanted to like the first Tomb Raider film, and it does have its moments, but something about it always threw me off. I blame it on its indulgence in style over substance, with its chopped-up action scenes, choppy narrative, and one too many surreal scenes.  As it is with any sequel, I expected improvements. Even though both films were poorly received by critics, I do believe that the second Tomb Raider film delivers the solid, straightforward adventure story I always expected.

If nothing else, TR:COL cuts to the chase and maintains a clearer narrative than its predecessor.  It still has its excesses (do we really need to see Lara doing flips on a jetski?), but the pacing is tight and even throughout.  This sequel is still really high on style and action, but it is a smooth and fluid experience; while the first film was rather choppy, this movie is smooth with its camera work and editing, allowing the action to flow and stand well on its own.  There are plenty of smashing shoot-out scenes (especially in the Hong Kong scenes), and quite a few impressive stunts.  Special effects are used quite liberally, for better or for worse.  Overall, the action and style is satisfying.

The substance suffers a little, especially since the strengths of the first film are absent.  This film keeps the characters one-dimensional. The best that can be said is that they try to develop chemistry, which is meant to resonate stronger by the film's conclusion, and it is partway successful. As far as the plot goes, it's pretty standard adventure fare, but I felt that the quest for Pandora's Box was a fairly interesting subject.  The film does suffer from some ridiculous scenes (such as Lara punching a shark...really?!), but for a brainless popcorn flick, I've seen way worse.

This film is really smooth and slick, with stylish and solid photography and editing. Acting is not a huge standout, but it's not as cringe-worthy as the first film. Angelina Jolie returns and does her best to bring Lara Croft to life; even though she still only channels the single-dimension action heroine of the late 90s and early 00s, she does a decent job at it. Gerard Butler puts in as much charm as he can, for better or for worse. Everybody else is passable. Writing is average. This production has some great-looking locales, and features some slick sets, props, and costumes. Special effects are fairly pretty to look at, but are often frivolous and still rather fake-looking. Music is cool; the soundtrack features a number of good songs, while Alan Silvestri's score pretty much uses the same melody as The Mummy Returns to strike up the right tone.

I personally enjoy this film, because even if it is a shallow run-of-the-mill cash-in, it is a good-looking action-packed one.  Really, it's only recommended to diehard fans.

4/5 (Entertainment: Very Good | Story: Average | Film: Pretty Good)

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Film Review: Lara Croft: Tomb Raider

Since its initial release in 1996, Tomb Raider is one of the most prominent video game franchises. It did to games what Indiana Jones did to movies and what Clive Cussler did to books: they all tap into a certain sense of adventure, with ties in archeology and ancient history, and with liberal amounts of action and peril, to immerse the audience in a thrilling experience. Lara Croft may be well-known for her...ahem...bodily proportions...but she is an action heroine who could stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Indy and Dirk Pitt, in terms of physique, confidence, knowledge, and wit.

Inevitably, the live-action film for Tomb Raider was released in 2001, with enough hype to build it up as one of the biggest action hits of the year. The film definitely tries its hardest to be cool and hip; right from the start, it's loaded with unusual camera tricks and movements, with lots of frivolous time-lapse shots and fast cuts. A high-tempo soundtrack accentuates the small wealth of shoot-outs, chases, fights, and athletic stunts. The film does entertain, and there are moments where the action does come off as being "cool" and still holds up. A lot of it is pretty senseless and frivolous, and there is an underlying impression that the film is merely emulating a game experience, boss fights and all. Regardless, the film is successful at being stylish and fun.

On the other hand, the style becomes so heavy-handed that it does bring down the experience a notch. Frequent flashbacks and other random scenes disrupt the flow of the film. Some scenes, especially toward the end, become so surreal and weird, they further disrupt what should otherwise be a straightforward adventure flick.

With these random scenes, however, the film does try its best to dig up some solid substance. The story is not bad, per se, and it does its best to add some backstory and relevance to the characters and plot. I'm certain the filmmakers (and some audiences too) geeked out when they saw John Voight playing Lara Croft's father. The actual plotline, however, is pretty screwy, and follows the exact same structure as a video game (cut-scene, enter new area, fight bad guys, fight boss, obtain artifact, continue to next zone). Lara Croft is a two-dimensional character at best, for even with a backstory, there's never really enough to flesh her out and illicit much empathy for her or her struggles.

As mentioned above, the film has style, for better or for worse. Acting is a strange animal to judge here; Angelina Jolie is easily the centerpiece of the show, and she fits the part physically. She also does inject her character with a certain playfulness and wit that suits the character. Now that the games have evolved in so many different ways, however, I can't help but to regard Jolie's performance as an antiquated one-dimensional portrayal of Lara, same as it was in the 90s, lacking in nuanced depth or emotion.   Emulating the classic Lara Croft, Jolie does a good job, but in the future, I'm certain that she'll be supplanted very easily (especially if the 2013 game is any indication). As far as everybody else goes, they're serviceable at best. Except for a few witty lines, the writing is pretty bad. This production has decent sets, props, and costumes, but also some rather aged and bad special effects. Music tries its best to seem cool; the soundtrack is a favorite of mine, but it can serve as a distraction during the actual movie. The score is alright.

With all the style and action, and with the promise of seeing the classic video game character brought to life, the Tomb Raider movie seemed like a big movie event of my generation. It did its part well enough, but it remains a rather shallow and uneven experience.  It would be worth a look for fans and anybody interested in adventure flicks.

3.5/5 (Entertainment: Good | Story: Average | Film: Average)

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