Time out on tumblr

Funnily enough though I’ve been blogging and using social networking for longer than I can remember with tens of thousands of contacts to boot I never joined tumblr until just recently. My main reason for not joining was not liking the idea of having too much of my photography out there, surely flickr is enough.

Instead what I’ve done is created a tumblr profile which I’ll mostly be using to post pictures or links I like, I’ll have some of my own work on there now and then but its really just for a visual time out, expect anime/cars/paranormal & the occult.. pretty much anything from the daily mundane to the overly insane. Feel free to follow my tumblr if you like, or if you have one yourself drop me a link and I’ll have a look. – LisaTiffany

www.lisatiffanygellar.tumblr.com

Grand Theft Auto 5 - Details Released

The web is a flutter tonight as Game Informer disclose what gamers everywhere were waiting for.. insider details on Rockstars latest instalment of the ever popular highly successful Grand Theft Auto Series ..GTAV.

The announcement of GTAV back in October of last year started the rumour mill off, but while loose details started to leak that same rumour mill went right into overdrive. Mostly the loose details could not be traced back to developers and instead were wishlists and wantings by GTA fans. Now with a number of high resolution images on the table, a sneaky trailer and Game Informers fantastic coverage its clear the GTAV will be one of the best selling games of all time. Game Informer went into great detail over its 18 page feature so I naturally devoured every page so I could cut down on the bulk of the article and instead post some of the top need to knows that will make GTAV one of the most memorable games you will ever play.

Who ya gonna be?

The early pictures of the game were dissected by gamers to try and find out who was the protagonist of GTAV. The answer is not as simple as you would think, you don’t just play as 1 main protagonist, you play as 3!. Trevor, Franklin and Michael. Trevor is a drug addict, Franklin is a hustler, and Michael is a bank robber who left the life but gets drawn back into the action.

Absence makes the heart grow fonder

Each of the three protagonists live miles apart from each other, come from different backgrounds but either of them can be accessed at anytime, some missions can incorporate all three. 

No place for old men

In the past GTA have employed the voice acting talents of many actors and celebrities including, Dennis Hopper, Ray Liotta and Sam the man Jackson. Rockstar have decided to ditch this approach and have instead have gone with regular no-name voice actors that won’t appear familiar to gamers.

It’s a Big Big World Out There

Word has it that GTAV will be far bigger than any other game Rockstar have made, they are saying it will be bigger than GTA4, Red Dead Redemption and San Andreas combined ..how is it even possible? well they promise there will be the usual urban setting but included will be the following: a lush and vast wilderness, vibrant beach fronts, military bases, the triumphant return of Mount Chiliad and deep a ocean floor that can also be explored..

The ocean floor will feature the following: coral beds, rocky canyons and caverns, and even deep ravines.

Only The Lonely 

Each of the three characters you control have their own mini games unique to only them, no real information has been given on what games will feature but word has it a fully functional golf course will feature and be available for actual golfing.

All three have their own personal assortment of friends and contacts, skill sets, and while you are playing with one the others will go off and busy themselves with other activities.

Unbreak My Heart

While previous games allowed you date, and wine and dine a number of ladies from all walks of life Rockstar have decided to shelve relationships insisting that it only slows the game down and can be too distracting from the main game, will gamers miss it? I know I won’t, it felt more Sims than GTA.

Dude You Just F#d Up Your Ferrari ..It Wasn’t Mine

One of the best features of GTA have always been the ability to jump into any car you see and take it for a ride, even if there may have been someone previously in the drivers seat who is now laying in a pile on the side of the road. Boosting cars has always been fun but in GTA4 no one will argue with me when I say the vehicle physics were appalling at best. Cars felt like they were unrealistically weighted and being behind the wheel just wasn’t a joy. Rockstar have rebuilt and enhanced the driving in the game making cars handle more realistically, even high speed racing has been given a serious overhaul and promises to be a blast.

And the Rest:  

Flying can be done early in the game if you are playing as Trevor, he is after all a veteran of Vietnam so its one of his skills.

Some of the many vehicles available include, cars, trucks, planes, helicopters, dirt bikes, bmx’s, atv’s and even jet skis.

Ammu-nation is making a welcome return, gun lovers everywhere won’t have to go far to beef up their cache.

Cellphones that were very popular in GTA4 are back.

Instead of splitting up the city into sections linked by tunnels and bridges it is now one major expansive area.

The inclusion of a TV to watch random shows and adverts on is back, they have even expanded on the running time and content.

Multiplayer is back though specific details on how they will evolve or effect the main game are murky at the moment.

You won’t be able to purchase property (damn!) but Rockstar promises that cash earned can be used on other pursuits, a huge problem with GTA4 was having so much cash but nothing to spend it on, I can only assume cars/clothes and jewellery?.

With GTAV officially announced for Spring 2013 there is still plenty of time for Rockstar to make improvements and put a final polish on their most wanted title yet. Perhaps one of the most exciting updates to soon follow is the addition of a new trailer which is to be released on the 14th of November.

Photography 2012–Highlights

I’ve been shooting a lot of events and gigs this year so I thought I would arrange some of them in an easy to read and accessible list, to view one of them just click on the link, it’s that simple. I’ll add to the list as I shoot more shows/etc.

Music Photography

HELL / Elm Street / Twisted Wrath / RBOTN / Bakken

Trash Talk / Wounds / Loose Nut

Sepultura / Pagan Riot

Iced Earth / Absolva

Dead Aeon / Shattered Skies / Aeternum Vale / Taibshe / Eazy Tyger / Aesect / Hostile Ground

Belt Buckle Overdrive / Wolf Regime / Pagan Riot

Snowblind / Kerouac / Taibshe / Faith In The Autumn / The Forbidden Itch

Venus DeVilo / Beau Peekaboo / CJ Skyes / Sinestro

Xeronun / The Lizzy Experience / Venus DeVilo

Music Promo & Portraits

Events

Dublin Zombie Walk

Dublin Zombie Walk (promo work)

Bray Air Spectacular

Bavaria Dublin City Races

Dublin Offline Conference

American Pie: Reunion

Air Corps 90th Anniversary

Easter Rising Commemoration

Irish Model Convention

Acta / Sopa Ireland

Copyright © 2012 LisaTiffanyPhotography All rights reserved.

Modern Warfare 3: first day impression

Another big game gets released and as a first day buy I thought I’d write yet another first impression, again this is not a review as that will come later. Most people seem to gravitate to either BF3 or MW3, it usually ends up in you either love one and hate the other. After playing both all the way through the campaign and through the multiplayer I have to say I do recommend both games but for different reasons – in a nutshell BF3 has the better multiplayer and MW3 has the better single player campaign. Popping on MW3 today I wasn’t at all surprised to see an almost identical start and menu screen to the previous modern warfare title, giving it the benefit of the doubt I went right in and started the campaign.

The game continues right after where MW2 left off, and to be honest I didn’t really like the first few missions because they were trying too hard to shock and awe me with all kinds of over the top scripted events. It’s fine to have one or two in there but having so many in one mission just makes it too unbelievable to think you really could do what was being done on screen, the rest of the campaign does have similar events but they are a bit more believable and for a Call of Duty game that’s saying a lot. The controls handled very well and I saw no real differences between them and what was used in the previous games, even if you aren’t familiar with the game the controls are easy to pick up. The weapons handled pretty well and looked realistic but firing an RPG didn’t feel right, my character barely flinched as it rocketed away.

In past Call of Duty games I never felt too engrossed in the story or in the characters but this time I found I was paying a lot more attention to the characters and really liked how they dealt with the story. While the first few missions are based in the States the next remaining batch are dotted around locations such as London, Somalia, Germany, Paris and Prague, maybe I found it easier to relate to the game because I felt closer to the European cites portrayed in the game than in the States. As for the maps themselves and the overall design I was very impressed, familiar cities of the world looked brilliant and I noticed it was less closed than I expected. Instead of just having to run through a street in a straight line it gave me the choice to cut through buildings or shops, I liked that they put all of that in and it helped keep the game more interesting and certainly less linear.

The multiplayer is the main reason a lot of people will buy MW3 and given its popularity between both casual and hardcore gamers I can see why. I’ll admit that having played the multiplayer online for a few hours I do enjoy BF3’s multiplayer more, it’s simple really MW3’s is more of an arcade shooter laden with perks and bonuses while BF3’s is more gritty and has a more urgent sense of realism to it. There is no shortage of guns and equipment in MW3 online, I started off with a fairly standard pistol and submachine gun and had no problems gunning down players unlucky enough to cross my patch. The perks are all back as are the missile strikes and attack helicopters, I didn’t much care for these in MW2 but it didn’t spoil my most recent experience.

There was a lack of campers and that definitely helped keep me playing, even random running and gunning seemed to be few and far between. The maps were ok but I only played 5 or 6 of them and I’m sure there are still a lot more to see. All in all the online multiplayer hasn’t really changed that much but it’s changed enough to keep fans of the series busy and happy. Spec Ops mode was the main reason I bought the game because I enjoy having the option to play offline in split screen, again this didn’t disappoint. The missions in Spec Ops are fun and there is a new survival more that I enjoyed, it’s early days yet but I’m sure I’ll like the rest of the content Spec Ops have to offer. So the main question would be is Modern Warfare 3 worth the price tag? As a first day buy and as a first impression I’d have to say yes, fans of the series will love it and I’m really looking forward to reviewing it soon.

The Paranormal Podcast

It’s no secret that I'm a big fan of almost everything paranormal, from practising tarot and other means of divination to actually studying parapsychology and the occult. And so I'm absolutely delighted to say I finally found a podcast that addresses all these subjects and much more. So what’s it called? Quite simply it’s called “The Paranormal Podcast“ and it’s as the name suggests a podcast that deals with the paranormal and all things spooky. In the past I have listened to a few podcasts and radio shows of a paranormal nature which attempted to explain and educate but they always fell short. There were a few reasons such as hosts not letting their guests get a word in edge ways/poor equipment set-ups which resulted in badly transmitted audio from both the guests and the hosts.. the list goes on and on.

Again The Paranormal Podcast soars above the rest, not only is the audio quality exceptional the host Jim Harold is both sincere and inquisitive, he is not afraid to admit he doesn’t have all the answers and gives his guests ample time to provide a deeper insight into what those answers might be. After listening to my first show I like many listeners was hooked and quickly went about downloading every single episode available, but didn’t that cost a lot? Not at all. Subscribing to The Paranormal Podcast is 100% free which is mind-blowing when you see the wealth of entertainment and education that show delivers over and over again. Jim Harold tackles so many paranormal subjects with an open mind and a professional manner that both draws you in and sends chills through your spine, what subjects exactly?

After listening to every episode i could find I have seen the show feature ghosts and spirits/tarot/ufo’s & aliens/cryptozoology/near death experiences & after death communication/ghosthunting & psychic's/magik & astrology ..and that’s just the tip of the iceberg! The Paranormal Podcast has something for everyone. Other shows too featured guests but for the most part they were unknown and not very professional, instead here we have popular figures such as the legendary author Brad Steiger, Annette Martin, Rosemary Ellen Guiley, Dr Bruce Goldberg and even my favourite Irish author David M. Kiely all make an appearance over the vast archive of shows. If you are obsessed or just curious about the paranormal and the unexplained then make The Paranormal Podcast your first stop for all your spooky needs, and if that’s not enough Jim Harold graciously offers yet even more podcasts.

We all love sitting around campfires sharing ghost stories but its not really something we can do on a regular basis, however through the magic of the internet now it’s possible. Jim Harold’s Campfire is a virtual feast of great stories that come from the actual listeners themselves. The stories range from downright scary to humorous and heart-warming, its a rare unseen yet interesting look into the paranormal events that occur around ordinary people every day. Just like the previously mentioned podcast this exciting mix of storytelling and real life happenings is truly not to be missed. If you are a believer or a sceptic or simply just not sure these campfire stories will give you hours of listening for absolutely no cost at all. I as a general rule don’t mention other sites or even podcasts but i genuinely recommend you check out what’s going on over at JimHarold.com and give his podcasts a listen, I know many of you who read my blog on MySpace (over 50,000 subscribers thanks guys!) are into the paranormal too. So give it a try you won’t be disappointed, with Halloween right around the corner it’s the perfect time to tune in.

Sucker Punch Super Review –dvd/bluray/soundtrack/official art book

Straight from the brilliant visionary mind of director zack snyder comes Sucker Punch, i skipped it in the cinema and instead bought it on DVD ..after realizing the Bluray not only had 2hrs of extras but almost 20mins of unseen footage i bought that too! what quickly followed was a purchase of the official soundtrack and art book – what follows now is a run down of what to expect from all of the above.

When a young girl “Babydoll” is locked away in an insane asylum against her will she soon learns that though physical escape is impossible the ultimate escape that is within her grasp is that of the mind. By going deep into her mind she finds the skills she needs to come that one step closer to the freedom she seeks, though in reality she is the very essence of frailty and innocence, in her imagination she is a specially skilled warrior who is more than a match for the inner demons she faces. at the beginning of her journey she befriends a group of her fellow captives and over time convinces them to join her struggle. they too prove to be a pivotal part of baby's plan, Rocket, Sweet Pea, Amber and Blondie all add their own personal flair to the battle plan, but with everything to play for the lines soon blur and escape may not be as easy as they thought.

Lines blurring and a warped reality is where Sucker Punch really finds its home. they seem to be set up into three separate realities, when babydoll is locked up she escapes to a world where she is again held against her will, this time in the form of a brothel where the girls are at the whim of the paying high rollers who visit. babydoll uses the power of her imagination to escape again to a world of fantasy where she and her friends must vanquish all manner of monsters, from dragons to robots and even steampunk inspired zombie soldiers.

Though this might not be to everyone's tastes what Sucker Punch offers is a lot of over the top action and fun with dashes of raunchy female empowerment all dressed up in a moulin rouge-esque thrill ride. don’t expect the laws of physics to intervene, this is their world so matrix styled kicks and flips are ever present, the girls twirl and leap unrealistically opening fire left right and centre. its not all unbelievable though, the dialogue and need for freedom that is expressed from the narrative is carefully written and the characters too draw you into the story. the acting is for the most part top notch even when faced with the overwhelming number of bullets that fly across the screen quite regularly. there is much eye candy to be behold in the movie, snyder brought a whole boatload of visual perfection to his previous films Watchmen and 300, Sucker Punch is no exception.

Visually and even musically it works, the dark world of the asylum and the contrasting brothel blend together rather seamlessly. the characters too from the asylum leak into baby’s imagination and soon become key figures in her quest for freedom, all have a part to play and they play it exceptionally well. if you want to enjoy Sucker Punch be prepared to leave common sense at the door, having watching both versions of the movie i’d recommend the Bluray for the real Sucker Punch experience because the extra footage adds so much more to the story which at times can be hard but not impossible to follow.

Special Features

Maximum movie moment with the director: its very informative and covers all aspects of the film from pre to post production, think storyboards, comparative shots, film stills, interviews and much more its one of the best insider insights ever to grace Bluray.

Animated short comics: these looked and felt like an animated graphic novel, they served as an interesting and visually pleasing way of providing a more fleshed out back story to the worlds that feature in babydoll’s quest. they are quite short, running at about 4mins each but they move straight to the action and tell the story very well so they are a nice little extra.

Behind the soundtrack: though i really liked the idea of this its much too short, the film features many great renditions of popular songs reimagined for the picture but 3mins is nowhere half as near as what's needed to really delve into the creative process. in short its just a general overview of what's on the soundtrack and feels a lot more like an advert to buy it – buy it i did so on to the next part of my review.

Sucker Punch the Official Soundtrack

Its been a long time since i bought a soundtrack and thought the songs all fit together in a way they could expertly enhance the experience of the film, and work together they do, its a fun rocking album that through banging beats and psychedelic splendour delivers hit after hit. opening with a stunningly haunting version of “where is my mind” its not altogether apparent that the cast themselves had a huge part in the recording of the soundtrack, but they did and Emily Browning herself sings beautifully. Tracks such as “sweet dreams” “asleep” “white rabbit” and even “love is the drug” all come across as deeply meaning to the theme and feel of the film. its a soundtrack you can enjoy without even seeing the film and that is very rare, you can love or hate the movie but the songs speak for themselves – though dark and gritty at times it is at its core hauntingly beautiful. 

Sucker Punch: the art of the movie (hardback)

When it comes to collecting movie memorabilia I'm very careful, but i do like art books so i was very curious to see just what the official art book had to offer. The cover and binding are very nicely put together, its even thicker than you would expect, at just under 300 pages its a whirlwind tour of everything that went into the movie. actors and actresses are all here, profiles and pictures of the various characters are aplenty. its a very vivid and highly detailed book featuring all kinds of stunning photography and artwork profiling the weapons and costumes of the film. the work in the book changes regularly but its very consistent with the flow and story of the Sucker Punch reality.

If the weapons were your thing you won’t be disappointed with all the work put into displaying the inner workings and designs of the various guns and blades at babydoll and her teams disposal. the same thing can be said for the costumes, set designs, promo art and so much more. the insight really is more visual than i’d like relying more on photos and artwork, there is in parts a lack of text but its not lacking enough to make you question why its not there. the castles and landscapes of babydolls imagination are all represented in brilliant clarity, the cover price may be high but its definitely worth it.

Dublin Pride Draws Thousands

Thousands of people took part in Dublin’s latest gay Pride parade yesterday in the heart of the city. The numbers point at over 25,000 people in attendance while a reported 100,000 people looked on. The parade started at the top of Parnell Square with everyone rushing to get ready and gushing at the beautiful weather. Over the course of ten days Pride put on over fifty events, these included everything from walking yours, sports events, music gigs and even a dog show. I like last year popped along to the parade to mingle with friends and snapped a respectable bunch of pictures which can be viewed on the following Flickr page.

Playstation Network: weeks on, but the service remains off

The outage which has affected millions of psn users of the last few weeks was the result of an external intrusion from an unknown hacker group – some say it was the group known as Anon yet as time went by they have denied involvement. The theft of personal details happened between April 17th and April 19th, yet Sony did not disclose the intrusion to its users until May 4th. An estimated 77 million accounts had personal details stolen from them surpassing previous hacks of any kind on any records. Its no surprise that Sony have had so much negative press through the incident, many governments and agencies accuse Sony of mishandling personal information and lacking to keep its users safe. On April 20th Sony turned off the network and its Qriocity services, stating that it would be back within the week – now on May the 9th it still all remains offline.

At the moment Sony claim they are aggressively trying to track down the hackers who perpetrated the attack, yet even with various law enforcement agencies on the case they have not been found and the service remains offline. Sony have stated that the attack is a criminal cyber attack and that it will remain offline until they have completed extensive security tests. When asked to report to congress Sony had the following to say about the on-going attack on their network.

“Sony Network Entertainment America is continuing its investigation into this criminal intrusion, and more detailed information could be discovered during this process. We are reluctant to make full details publicly available because the information is the subject of an on-going criminal investigation and also the information could be used to exploit vulnerabilities in systems other than Sony's that have similar architecture to the PlayStation Network.”

The real concern comes from the way Sony has dealt with the issue, it took Sony almost a week to notify its users that their had indeed been a theft of information and personal details. The information available to the hackers were highly identifiable and included usernames/passwords/emails addresses/home addresses and even credit card information. The circumstances surrounding Sony got even more controversial when their was strong evidence to suggest that Sony failed to encrypt personal details/held on to older information and made it too easy for external attackers to steal. There are even a number of lawsuits being filed against Sony on behalf of its users, each one addresses Sony’s lack of power to protect private information. Since the initial attack Sony have failed to meet set deadlines and some users have had their personal information openly posted on websites controlled by the hackers.

In response to the outage Sony have released information about what they are calling their “welcome back” program. The idea is to compensate its users with a number of offers including free downloadable content and the use of the Playstation Plus service for 30 days. For many users its not enough, they see Sony’s gross negligence as a betrayal to gamers everywhere. Sony are now saying that it could still be a number of weeks until they are fully back up and running though some services should be restored before then. Many are pointing to May 31st as the day when services are fully restored but as the outage continues there really is not telling when it will be business as usual.

When I first heard about the outage I had serious doubts that it would affect me personally but recently my email account has been compromised. It occurred when my details were stolen and then used to access the account, upon noticing I contacted my email provider and explained what happened. It turns out that my details and password were changed and so I have no chance of recovering the account, a harsh lesson when it comes to using Hotmail . As far as I can tell when the network does come back online I should be able to verify my account through my console, but I'll believe it when i see it.