I hadn't realised that as a member of UPSU.net, there is a nice Blogging feature to make use of!

 The last year has been sensational! I had always been looking forward to living in a vibrant place like Portsmouth, and its weird how the past 12 months have just zoomed by.Highlighs from my first year at UoP would be Pure FM, web-designing, and my course, which I think I've really enjoyed so far. 

I'll try and write on this blog more often now that I know that it is here. 

Firstly, a few reviews of the films I saw in July. I imagone that if you'd been to the cinema at all in July, that you'd have seen one of these three. I'd love to know what you thought of them, or anything else you might have seen.

Secondly, a little look at some of the films out this month, using MSN's August roundup as a starting point. 

Hancock - July 2nd 
I enjoyed this oddly original superhero tale, as much as 4/5 stars, and then I read some reviews and changed my mind.
I realised that although it was funny in places and the SFX were cool, it did seem to change genre completely
as it drew to an end. I can see this becoming Will Smith's 'go to' role if he's having trouble, like Men In
Black was. A good cast let down by a simple plot with a twist you can see almost before the movie starts.
Fun enough, but I can't help but wonder if its Wednesday release was just to capitalise on the Orange Wednesday receipts.

3.5/5

WALL·E - JULY 18th 
Pixar does it again! The story of the last refuse-collection robot on an abandoned Earth is funny and also
cute. Despite the fact that the most endearing characters are machines, WALL·E is a very human movie. It's
got all the classic themes of loneliness, love, adventure and man-on-a-mission, only its mostly robots doing
it all. There are human characters in WALL·E, but by the time they turn up, they ain't a patch on our little
square bin-bot. The story of why they left Earth (and why they left it in such a state) is well handled and
at times, clever satire, only slightly pushing a worthy message onto wide-eyed widdle kiddies.
Not that its just for them, but if your old enough to copy Hancock's drunkeness, go see The Dark Knight first. 

4.5/5

The Dark Knight - July 24th
The newest Batman film is nothing short of incredible. The biggest story is Heath Ledger's performance as The Joker - a
breathtaking portrayal that's creepy, funny and completely enthralling. I found that the plot felt almost like a
secondary thing, but it was just as entertaining. It's twisty and twisted, with the actions of both the heroes and
villain(s) being, by turns, cruel, unusual and unnecessary. The acting of the rest of the cast was spot on, but special
mention should go to Maggie Gyllenhaal, who has made the role of Rachel Dawes (played by Katie Holmes in Batman Begins)
her own. It's been said since it'a release that The Dark Knight raises the bar for all superhero movies, but it raises
the bar for all movies. Having topped IMDb's Top 250 film's upon its US release in mid July, and barely getting anything
like a negative review, The Dark Knight is so good that it's unlikely to see any serious competition until The Watchmen
is released.
 
4.75/5


In three movies, that was July. I've not seen anything else (shame on me), but there wasn't a lot else to see. But its all
about August now, so what's coming up?

Well MSN believe that this lot are worth watching.

I agree with them about Hellboy 2: The Golden Army, Get Smart and The Wackness. I'd maybe see

I've been employed by the Union in one capacity or another for one month short of the last six years, so it's quite strange to think that yesterday was the last time I'd be poking around the place as an employee. In my time there, I've learnt to pull the perfect snakebite (although I've probably forgotten how to, as well) as a bar monkey, put together and run a sound system and lighting rig as an ents monkey, been involved in designing, building and running the website as a pixel monkey, and - for the last year - been the media officer, looking after the Union's student media output.

I've made a few friends, upset plenty of people, and been given some very cool opportunities, so really this is a thankyou from me to everyone who's made the last six years - and especially the last year - as fun, interesting, and challenging as it could have been. To all the staff and students I may have upset with my git-like behaviour, please remember it was never personal (if it was, I would have told you explicitly!).

I'm not sure what's next for me. I have a one-way ticket to Ibiza booked for this Saturday, and I'll be out there looking for a job and a flat with next year's Pugwash editor Steph Hall. We might only survive a week and find there's nowhere to live, or we might get lucky and make it through the last two months of the summer season - I really don't know. If you fancy laughing at me, join the Facebook group and I'll keep you updated on the latest stupid thing I've done...

Anyway, I'm off properly now. I'll be over at Greyhead.co.uk and no doubt in the news soon for being involved in some embarrassing scandal involving a goat and a nudists' beach in Ibiza.

Rena, Elle, Mike, Steve, Jaf, Fraggy, Tom, Jacob, Tallie, Laura, Pete, other Pete, Ben, Darby, other Steve, Jo, Karen, Tracey, Cherelyn, Sharon, Graeme, Wayne, Cat, Gamel, other Tom, Aakash, Caroline, Gina, Fred, Maz, Sloppy, Carl, Clive, Jim, Ryan, Rob, Hannah, Bex, Shrey, Rich, Alex, Scott, Janet, Stuart, John, Mario, Adrian... ok, «everyone» at the Union: thanks :) 

Good luck Tom, goodbye everybody and, of course, bloody cheers :o)

/al

It is strangely encouraging to see that, about the same time that Pugwash News was suffering its own dramas during issue 9 this year, Imperial College Union's Felix newspaper was suffering as a result of non-editorial pressure to censor itself.

This isn't going to be a rant - or any kind of discussion - about the role of independent student media within a parent students' union institution, but it is interesting to read the following comment:

Im trying to have a productive summer by updating my many websites, and building new ones but its nearly august and I have so much more to do.

My Web Hosting Site needs a redesign but I have managed to get some business, I hope to expand this when im back at uni by offering discounted hosting to clubs and societies websites so that they can spend their budget on more important things.

I have started to develop my photography website but its a little behind scedule.

I will be wrting some stuff for the pompey guide on friday,

 The Web Team will be recruiting in October and we need as many people as possible to join up so please do :)

Hope your having a nice break from uni and congrats to those guys that have graduated.