An Old Friend's Retirement.

Retired - The good ol' Samsung.

I’ve never really been the most punctual person, but I do get there in the end. It’s better late than never… I’m finally here in the 21st Century!

I decided last month that I would buy a new phone as my poor old Samsung was getting a little tired. The cheeky little blighter turned 4 years old last month and I decided it had worked long enough. Upon this decision I thought it was the right time to get a new phone and retire my Samsung, I did consider the same option as the government - increasing the age of retirement - pushing it to five years, but I thought this was just unfair on my poor phone who’d worked bloody hard these past four years.

Deal or Deal.

The government is currently on a slashing spree. Desperately clawing back every penny they can in order to get us out of recession and get our economy growing. It was revealed today that Steve Hilton, one of David Cameron’s policy advisors, came out with some ridiculous ideas in a meeting back in March.

According to Hilton, the government needs to scrap maternity leave altogether to stimulate the economy. Really Steve, that’s your big idea? Force women to go back to work immediately after birth? Or is the plan for them to actually give birth at work? Surely that's against the law.

Kung Fu Panda 2: Black belt or black eye?

It’s a bit of a year for animated sequels this year. Pixar are serving up Cars 2 this summer while Dreamworks have released Kung Fu Panda 2. To be honest both of them look a little underwhelming, Cars is probably the weakest film Pixar have done so it’s a strange choice to bring out another. Kung Fu Panda was a relative hit, a decent movie that is probably more variable than Cars to get a sequel.

That being said Kung Fu Panda 2 doesn’t really capture the same magic of the first instalment. Po the Panda is already a Dragon Warrior so the object of this movie is simply stop the bad guy from doing evil stuff.

Being second is to be the first of the ones who lose.

It’s been just over 15 years now since the death of Ayrton Senna during the San Marino Grand Prix in 1994 and to commemorate this anniversary a documentary was made about him and released in cinemas. It came out this year in the UK and focuses on Ayrton Senna’s career as a racer from his karting days up until his World Championship winning Formula 1 days.

Of course back in Senna’s era, Formula 1 was a great motorsport competition with great drivers with great personalities, and no driver was better than he was. He may not have won the most races or held the most championship titles, but he was the best, and everyone, including his closest rivals, knew it.

Vote Magneto.

The superhero genre is one that refuses to go away. It’s a genre that’s always been with us ever since Batman was calling Robin his good chum back in the 1940s. Since then though the superhero snowball has tumbled down the hill, further and further until it’s become so big we’re finding the number of superhero movie releases in a year approaching double figures!

This year isn’t showing any signs of melting the big ball of frozen water as we’re being bombarded by the likes of Thor, The Green Lantern, and Captain America. Over the years though, I’ve found that superhero movies have slipped a little and the movies aren’t quite up to scratch. In recent years the only superhero movies worth mentioning are Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, and possibly Kick Ass, if you can class that as a superhero flick.

Retail Therapy.

The high street has been taking a bit of a beating recently thanks to the poor economic climate. Many companies have seen profits drop to an absolute low with some taking the drastic measures of closing stores and making staff redundant.

If the current economic climate were an actual climate then I would liken it to the harsh dry sandy deserts of the Sahara. Although every desert has an oasis. For example Marks & Spencer recorded a growth in sales recently, while Sports Direct have been making a profit. It appears the chavs who used to shop at Jolly Jolly Bargains (JJB) have moved retailer and are now shopping at Sports Direct!

Summer Blockbuster Season Ahoy!

About a month ago I went to see the new Pirates of the Caribbean film: On Stranger Tides, the movie that kicked off the Summer blockbuster season, and to be honest I don’t think it was that bad.

Critics have pretty much buried this movie, they've given it a heavy slating it but I thought that was largely unfair. Yes, this is nothing more than a Bruckheimer cash-cow but still, if you ignore that fact and just watch the movie you’ll find it isn’t as bad as it’s been made out to be.

It follows the same swashbuckling formula of its predecessors and has just the right amount of humour to keep it going while the cast is decent enough to keep you interested. Penelope Cruz is the new love interest: Angelica, Geoffrey Rush returns as the legless Barbossa, Frank from Hot Rod (otherwise known as Ian McShane) is the new villain: Blackbeard, and of course Johnny Depp is back as the indispensable Jack Sparrow!

That's no moon.

Today is the end of an era: The News of the World have published their final newspaper in their 168 year old history. Good riddance.

Parent company News International has taken the decision to close the doors after the massive backlash against the paper when it was revealed they’d not only hacked the phones of celebrities and politicians but also those of bereaved families of killed soldiers and the murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler; as if her family hasn’t gone through enough recently.

Ready to Rumble: Public v Private; Serwotka v Maude; Daily Mail v Journalism.

Last Thursday thousands of public sector workers went on strike in their continuing battle against the government’s public sector pension reforms, and depending on who you listen to it was either a massive success or a complete damp squid.

The reforms in question would mean that public sector workers will have to pay 3% more in their pension contributions, work for longer, up until they are 68, and once they do retire receive less money in their pension. The government has called this “fair to taxpayers.” I’m afraid the only government that could see this as “fair” would be a Tory government. Public sector workers pay tax too.