From Smackdown vs Raw 2006 through to the 2008 version, as some avid players of the “Smackdown vs Raw” series will know, the game featured a mode dubbed “General Manager Mode”. From day one it was praised, all the way to the end. But why did they replace it with the apalling “story mode”?

As the name suggests, in GM Mode, as it’s shortened to, you play the as general manager of the brand of your choice, (Raw or Smackdown and in SVR 2008, ECW). You subsequently sign wrestlers to contracts, choose rivalries to start, and book the card.

Throughout the year you compete for ratings by any means necessary, using PPV’s, scandalous tactics or even making opposing brand’s wrestlers jump ship. Its practically a recreation of the “Monday Night Wars” between WWF and WCW.

As the incredibly addicting mode that it was, and still is, it’s a mystery as to why it was removed from the game. It had extremely long replay capability and was equally as addicting as Daniel Bryan’s “YES” chants.

I once played against my brother for a whole week, almost non-stop. After a thrashing in the ratings, he stole some of my talent, (including Hulk Hogan and Rey Mysterio), ending in him winning the ratings war within three months. It was awesome and created some fun memories with my brother.

The highlight of the year was probably Royal Rumble, where you would select 15 wrestlers from your brand, and so would the other. In a competition to have your brand to win, the whole year’s build up ends in a massive, tense heated Rumble.

The whole GM Mode experience was great, and enabled the fans to engage further into the product and understand how to book. Overall, it was fantastic. So why was it removed? The “Story mode” is supposed to be the same thing, but better, however it’s just really boring.

If WWE ’13 is going to be better than WWE ’12, which was a good game, then THQ, (namely Cory Ledesma), may have to raise the bar, and GM mode may just be the saviour that can do it.

That’s right, currently taking a course in healthy eating, the YAP is providing a great opportunity for any young person from age 13-19 to cook, and probably most enticing, to eat! Not only is there that, but there’s a well equipped music studio for aspiring musicians or eager people willing to learn. Or for people just looking to hang with friends, there’s a pool table, table tennis equipment and a multi-use sports hall.

The next course we are taking will be a four week trampoline course and will finish off the term with a group barbeque!

Situated at Barnfield Youth Centre in North Kingston, the so called “Youth Allsorts Programme” is run by wonderful youth workers, Julie and James, every Wednesday from 6.30 pm to 9pm. Feel free to come along, we’re all friendly to newcomers.

Check out these dates to see what is happening and when:

23rd May – Healthy Eating, the main course.

30th May – Healthy Eating, the dessert (obviously the best bit!).

13th June – Life Skills, money matters, e.g. tax, budget and credit cards.

20th June – Trampolining

27th June – Trampolining

4th July – Trampolining

11th July – Trampolining

18th July – End of term barbeque.

(Don’t hesitate to comment if you are interested and want to know more.)

I love Joss Whedon. I love his writing, his characters, his jokes, his subversive nature. Everything that he writes is like a personal haven for me. Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Firefly (and by extension it’s film sequel Serenity), and The Cabin In The Woods are my personal favourite Whedon projects. I was in Forbidden Planet in London recently, and I saw a poster, which I absolutely loved:

So true.

Anyway, on to The Avengers. What did I think of it? I loved it. I adored it. I am saying that it is one of my favourite films ever (I said favourite, not best made). It had every Joss Whedon trademark and so much more. Funny, thrilling, action-packed, and smart, The Avengers is simply a joy from start to finish.

So what’s the story? Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) had his plan for the Avengers Initiative scrapped, and S.H.E.I.L.D is experimenting on an object called the Tessaract, which is said to be a source of unlimited clean energy. However, the demi-god Loki (Tom Hiddleston), brother of Thor (Chris Hemsworth), uses it to transport himself to Earth, to complete his plan of taking over the world (of course!). Nick Fury contacts Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr. (SO AWESOME)), Captain America (Chris Evans), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo), Thor, and Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) to re-form The Avengers and stop Loki from bringing an alien army to seize control of Earth.

Let’s face it: the story is no Shakepeare. It’s a little bit of a shame, considering some of the great and creative stories Whedon has come up with in the past. It doesn’t matter though, because it’s a formula that works. Why does it work? Joss Whedon, that’s why!

The performances are universally great. Mark Rufallo has surpassed Ed Norton is every way possible. Robert Downey Jr. is as charming and funny as always, and has most of the film’s funny lines (does motherth know you weareth her drapes?). Scarlett Johansson’s role is expanded from her eye candy role in Iron Man 2, even though she still has quite a lot of fan-service in her first scene.

The action scenes are expertly put together. This is proof that Michael Bay’s films are not the standard for popcorn films. This sets a new bar for summer films, action films, and comic book films.

The Avengers is a miracle film. It’s a miracle that it came together as well as it did. A miracle that they managed to hype it this much, and it to then satisfy in every way. Joss Whedon, thank you. You have solidified my consensus that everything you touch turns to gold instantly. And to everyone else, go see this film. Then go see The Cabin In The Woods.

TNA is currently the 2nd largest wrestling company in the world. However, their ratings have dropped since two years ago and their product has been criticized heavily since. Their chance to create the second “Monday Night Wars” with WWE was ruined. But why? Why?

Dixie Carter, President and Owner of TNA Wrestling

Hulk Hogan joined TNA in late 2009 straight away promising a head to head war with TNA’s flagship show iMPACT and WWE Raw. However the efforts were feeble as TNA averaged a mere 0.9 on the Nielsen Ratings and WWE almost effortlessly maintained an approximate 3.2. TNA moved back to their original Thursday time slot after 5 months.

It was a very poor attempt on the part of TNA and Dixie Carter as their spontaneous decisions ended up for the worse. Their ratings went down and their audience size has decreased, nevertheless, awareness that TNA actually exists has improved. Though just because everyone knows WWE, doesn’t mean they all watch it. It is the same situation with TNA.

TNA should take it slowly and not waste the huge opportunity of giving WWE a run for their money. They are the 2nd biggest international wrestling company in the world today, however no where near WWE’s capacity. TNA rushed their go at WWE and paid for it.  What the office and Dixie Carter need to do is set goals for themselves.

“Where do we want to be in 2 years time?” they should be asking.

Instead of pushing already established WWE talent also, (just like WCW and we all know how they ended up), push some TNA talent. What ever happened to AJ Styles? He was amazing and now he has been reduced to mid-card jobbing.

It is good to see Bobby Roode and James Storm being pushed to the main event recently, in fact, since Roode has held the TNA title for so long, I am just waiting for someone to defeat him! Its making me tune in, it works. It also, most importantly, makes me stay. A permanent audience is essential – as they provide the back bone for the sales of merchandise and house sales.

Every time TNA comes to the UK, people always flock to see the spectacle they provide, (unlike WWE who always pull a half-arsed show when in England), and 2013 should be no different. The next year’s tour is going to be dubbed “Lockdown Tour”. Lockdown = Steel Cage. That, is going to draw, and its very smart. That is more of what TNA should be doing!

If TNA take things slowly, set goals, concentrate on themselves and not WWE, they will have a very strong chance
of running against Vince McMahon. Otherwise, its WCW all over again, but even worse this time around. The guys are older, the business is even more stale and the “talent” is thinner.

Surprise us TNA. Don’t squander the enormous opportunity you have. All wrestling fans are cheering for TNA to be some competition for WWE. The wrestling business needs a fresh change. And TNA could just be it.

On the first occassion, we went to the KU 19 clinic at Guildhall 1 (where YU online’s based, 6:30 Tuesdays.. hint, hint…) On a positive note, the staff were friendly, which is always a good thing; but on the other hand I was given out-of-date dental dams, and we had to wait over an hour before being seen… Fun times!

On the second occassion, we went to the Surbiton YMCA, to the same service. This time we were seen immediately (after being asked to give our feedback) However, we both found that the nurse kept reminding me of my being under 16, which was quite patronising. We got some advice about the various forms of contraception, and some condoms.

But which was better? On the whole, despite of the wait (and the out-of-date contraception), I would rate the Guildhall service as better, purely because of the friendliness of service. After having gone to the clinics, we were asked to give our feedback, and from this the services made changes to improve themselves. To be honest, it was incredibly awkward and embarrassing, in particular getting the bus home with a bag full of condoms, which then fell out of my bag - my idea of a good time.

We were helping the “You’re Welcome” project, which assesses clinics against a set of criteria related to young people; this ensures that clinics are young-people friendly. By helping to improve the services, we ensured that other users of KU19 had a better experience, as the services had a chance to make changes, for example, they now have in-date dental dams, and they try not to make under 16s feel more at ease;  following the mistakes they made with us mystery shoppers. All in all, it was an excrutiatingly awkward experience, though I can appreciate that our embarrassment helped other young people, who actually DO require the service.

Jonathan Reuven ‘J. R.’ Rotem is a record producer responsible for many of the big pop songs of the last few years. Not only does that make me what to punch him, on principle, but he has a distinctive ‘style’ of producing. You know what I call it?

Being talentless.

He cannot make good music to save his life. The trouble with producers is that they don’t have a persona. If the music is bad, it’s their fault and their fault only. He takes whatever happens to be popular at the time and jams it into one song. For instance, he produced a song called Buzzin’ by American hip hop artist (for want of a better word) Mann. Here it is:

Caution: contains strong language.

This is an awful song. Why did I subject you to this? Because that song symbolizes everything wrong with current music production. It sounded ugly, it had little to no creative thought put into it, and it features a rapper who was hardly in it (although, it is 50 Cent, so that’s probably a blessing). Oh yeah, did you hear that little stinger at the beginning? In case you didn’t, listen again. Here’s a quote explaining it:

“His trademark is a horn that follows with a stylised “J-J-J-J-J-R” or “Beluga Heights” at the start or end of records with which he has been affiliated.”

The “J-J-J-J-J-R”  bit wasn’t in that song, but instead it had 50 Cent yelling his name. I resent this. If you are a producer, you do not get your name tacked onto a song. RedOne did it in Just Dance, but there are two differences. 1. It was subtle so you couldn’t really hear it unless you were looking out for it. 2. That was a good song with great production, so he deserved a credit in the song. J. R. does not deserve to put his name in actual songs.

I have one last complaint (or at least the last I care to mention) about J. R. Rotem. It’s a big one. In fact, it’s the biggest. He samples everything! Let’s take  look at some of the songs he has produced. His first song, SOS by Rihanna, samples the song Tainted Love by Soft Cell. The Rotem produced song Beautiful Girls samples Stand By Me by Ben E. King. In fact, here is a list of songs produced by J. R. Rotem that sample a song:

Please keep in mind I am not against sampling, I am just against people being uncreative and lazy.

SOS – Rihanna – Samples “Tainted Love” by Soft Cell

Save Our Songs.

Push It – Rick Ross – Samples “Scarface (Push It To The Limit)” by Paul Engemann

Hey Rick Ross, SAY HELLO TO MY LITTLE FRIEND!

Beautiful Girls – Sean Kingston – Samples “Stand By Me” by Ben E. King

Seriously, I swear he is like 12.

Me Love – Sean Kingston – Samples “D’yer M’aker” by Led Zeppelin

Me hate.

Hip Hop Police – Chamillionaire Feat. Slick Rick – Samples “Children’s Story” by Slick Rick

If music had police, you WOULD be on the most wanted list.

Fuego – The Cheetah Girls – Samples “All Night Long (All Night)” by Lionel Richie

All Night Gone.

What Is It – Baby Bash Feat. Sean Kingston – Samples “9MM Goes Bang” by KRS-One

9MM Goes Bang in your face.

All In The Name Of Love – Mya – Samples the “Halloween” Theme Music by John Carpenter 

J. R. Rotem IS the music equivalent of Michael Myers. He butchers songs, and no matter how many times you try and make him go away he just keeps coming back.

Give You The World – The D.E.Y – Samples “Fantasy” by Earth Wind And Fire

It's my Fantasy for J. R. to no longer have a career.

The Boss – Rick Ross Feat. T-Pain – Samples “Paul Revere” by Beastie Boys

I'm sure this will be a sweet love song.

Bust It Baby Part 2 – Piles Feat. Ne-Yo – Samples “Come Back To Me” by Janet Jackson

It seems "Bust It Baby Part 1" just didn't fulfill Piles' artistic vision.

Want It, Need It – Piles Feat. Ashanti – Samples “Two Occasions” by The Deele

Sampling is what I don't want or need.

Solo – Iyaz – Samples “Again” by Janet Jackson

Hey, remember this guy? He's one of those guys that were a one hit wonder although technically had a second hit.

Whatcha Say – Jason Derulo – Samples “Hide And Seek” by Imogen Heap

Wait a second, here. They sampled something that was only popular because it was on The OC which was then parodied by Saturday Night Live, which spawned an internet meme. They sampled a friggin' internet meme.

What If – Jason Derulo – Samples “Alone” by Heart

What If there was any creativity left in pop music.

The Sky’s The Limit – Jason Derulo – Samples “Flashdance… What A Feeling” by Irene Cara

The sky is not the limit for J. R.'s musical talents.

La La La – Auburn Feat. Iyaz – Samples “Around The World (La La La La La)” by ATC

La La La. How original.

Buzzin’ – Mann Feat. 50 Cent – Samples “I Can’t Wait” by Nu Shooz

Buzz off.

Girls Fall Like Dominoes – Nicki Minaj – Samples “Dominos” by The Big Pink

Her musical quality falls like dominoes, d-d-dominoes.

This isn’t even a complete list. Several songs he produced didn’t have their own Wikipedia pages so I couldn’t find out if they sampled anything or not. I highly doubt this is it. But still, 18 songs he made are based around melodies or lyrics that came out of other people’s heads. Where’s the creativity? Slap together some lazy synths, drums, and bass, and some derivative, uninteresting lyrics; and then base it around someone else’s song that they put effort into creating from scratch. Simply shameless!

J. R., stop doing this. You’re making yourself look like a hack.

Danny certainly doesn't look very impressed!

Following Saturday night’s live version of the Britain’s Got Talent rival, The Voice, Will.i.am has been forced to apologise after being spotted using his phone during feed back from fellow coaches throughout the evening.

We later discovered he had actually only been using his phone to Tweet about performances. Never the less, hasn’t he ever heard the phrase; “No phones at the table”?

After the show he defended himself by saying:

Thank you everyone who watched #thevoiceuk tonight…if you saw me on my phone I wasn’t being rude…I was connecting to people watching

— will.i.am (@iamwill) April 28, 2012

Hmmm.. Whatever you say Will! Following more critisim about his actions he later added:

tv, phone, laptop, & tablet.. its a new day…if I dont tweet during live tv Im not connecting to people watching in the new way #thevoiceuk

— will.i.am (@iamwill) April 28, 2012

One things for sure, Simon Cowell would never have been seen with his phone during a live show! So for now, it’s still Team BGT for us!

SPOILER WARNING (ALTHOUGH IT’S MORE LIKE A SAVER) !!

The highly promoted film “Battleship” was released internationally a few weeks ago and is directed by Peter Berg, the same man who made the acclaimed high school football movie Friday Night Lights, and notably epic comedy Hancock. However, perhaps to set itself apart from these films, Battleship fits into the science-fiction and action genres.

Promising to be based on the board game of the same name, Battleship is a naval war film with an ‘interesting’ twist. Alex Hopper, a talented but undisciplined slacker, is at a bar trying to impress a girl, while sitting next to a supposed friend of his and eventually gets arrested for shoplifting a burrito as a present for her. His supposed friend then forces him to join the navy so he can clean up his act. Once at sea, an unusual ship is there and revealed to contain aliens. The fight for survival soon emerges.

After watching the prologue, (Hopper getting arrested for the burrito incident), text saying ‘Battleship’ appears and then suddenly we meet this random naval officer who also has the name Alex Hopper. Oh wait! It is the original Hopper, just with a hair cut, a moderate change of face and, to top it all, no introduction! It took me at least a few minutes to work out it was him.

To recap my mind of the film, I read the Wikipedia page for Battleship, and only now have I found out the entire film was set in 2012, where as the prologue is set in 2005. Which explains the change of face. Why were we not clearly told this? The number of plot holes and inconsistencies in this pit of two-dimensional characters, corny action scenes and terrible dialogue is just horrific.

At one point while the characters are at sea, the aliens blow up the ship of Hopper’s supposed friend to which he replies, “They killed my brother”. WOAH!! WOAH!! Hold it just a second! Brother? Since when was he your brother? It’s not even mentioned during the previous segments of the movie that it’s his brother. That is an elementary mistake which at the level we expected the film to be, should not be in there.

Another point to mention, when the aliens first invade, they destroy Hong Kong. Apparently there was more to come for the city, as hyped by news stations, but we never find out because that sub-plot is never talked about again. It’s just forgotten. Hopefully like this film in a year’s time.

Yet more to note, one scene where the aliens reach the cities in the US, these big extra-terrestrial machines start targeting buildings and attacking it. However, when confronted with unarmed humans, their target sensors, instead of showing red with hostility, it glows green in a friendly stance and they don’t attack.

So now we’ve established they’re nice aliens, but wait, we’re at war with these creatures that want peace? That’s right; we still kill the pleasant aliens that gave mercy to children and helpless eye candy women. Hooray for humans! Aren’t we such a good race? Shouldn’t we be so happy to be humans? Killing all the aliens that come in hope of harmony, we’re so kind. I love humans…

One big plot-line in the film is that their battleship is not strong enough to take down the enemy vehicles. Due to the fact they are encased in the alien’s shield, it is clearly stated that they cannot call reinforcements. No one can get in; no one can get out, right? Correct… for about twenty minutes. Our heroes go back to Hawaii and fetch a World War II Battleship to fight with. THEY WENT THROUGH THE SHIELD… then came back… THROUGH THE SHIELD. I really do give up with this film.

I wish I could quit this review now, but there’s more cinematic dirt to rant about. Before the US Navy set off, they have a football, (soccer), game with the Japanese Navy who are joining them on this conquest.

Hopper and a Japanese sailor immediately have friction and end up fighting on the ship. Summoned to the captain’s office, they are both scolded for their poor behaviour. The captain, (played by Liam Neeson, who, for such a brilliant actor, only features in around five short scenes), clearly tells Hopper that after this naval exercise, he will be dismissed from the navy. Later on in the movie, Neeson and his ship are stuck outside the shield, and therefore cannot send orders to the other ships due to communications problems.

So there is a big kafuffle over who is next in line for captain. Then everyone stares at him. Our new captain. Hopper… words cannot explain how angry this film makes me. If there is any expression that would match my emotions at that point, it would have to be the face below.

The man, Hopper, who was visibly reprimanded and told he was going to be dismissed only half an hour ago, is now the new captain. Wow, the US Navy really has sunk to new lows.

As mentioned earlier, Hopper and a Japanese naval officer have a little feud. For about ten minutes, when it is then all forgotten with no other mention. This could have been a good point for the film. Maybe if Hopper and the officer shook hands at the end of the movie it would be good. You need to show problems being overcome and rivalries ending. It provides for good morals. It also would show Hopper reaching his full potential and stopping being a slacker, an example for the audience. But there was nothing. It just shows the action mattered more than the actual film for the directors, or any individual in the making of this movie.

Another blatant instance of that, at the end of the film there is a ceremony for the fallen during combat. It lasts around 5 seconds. A photo of Hopper’s “brother” is shown and then it cuts back to happy music and happy times. No eulogy, no “I miss my brother”, nothing. What a cold hearted human being Hopper is. And we are meant to like this guy?

All in all, this film just angered me to no end. Every time someone asks me what I thought of this film, I bash my fist hard against the table and tell them the truth. It was the complete definition of the phrase “a waste of time”. An interesting note, Battleship was released in the UK three weeks before the USA. Wow, a film us Brits finally don’t want first. America, you can take Battleship, and please God, keep it.

So why do people have to deny their being feminists? Well, simply put, we have a really bad press. Everyone (falsly) assumes that all we do is burn our bras and moan about the injustice of male oppression. This just isn’t true. Whilst some feminists do admitedly use the patriarchy as the scapegoat for all their problems, they are in the minority, and shouldn’t be held up as a symbol for the entire feminist movement. This is the equivalent of using Joseph Stalin as the  posterchild of the Left-wing. The main reason for feminism’s infamy is due to the target of it’s original battle- housewives. This didn’t evoke much sympathy from the public (for obvious reasons); and so feminism has been despised ever since.

The fact remains that feminism isn’t about female supremecy, or forcing everyone to be like women. No, feminism is simply the belief that the genders should be regarded as equal, both by society and by the law. In fact, issues where women are treated more favourably (e.g. mothers getting maternity leave when fathers get very little paternity leave) are also subjects of interest among feminists. You see, we campaign both ways, for true equality. Feminism is very easily accessible, and men can be feminists too. Some notable male feminists include John Lennon, Kurt Cobain and the Dalai Lama, to name but a few.

Feminism is a much older issue than first it might appear. Feminism(in this country at least) is generally acknowledged to date back to the publication of Mary Wollstonecraft’s Vindication of the Rights of Woman (a book which I am proud to say I own) which states the basic rights a woman is entitled to (the same as those of a man, basically). This book predates the suffragette movement by almost a century, making it the foundations of modern feminism.

As young people, we are socially obliged to find a cause to believe in, so why not make it feminism, and help rejuvenate this still-relevant cause? Whether you’re female and disheartened about the fact you’re going to earn less than your male counterparts for doing the same job (despite the fact that this has been illegal since 1975); or whether you’re male and feel that society forces you into an overly-macho mould; or you just think that the sexes should be equal, then feminsim’s for you.

This video explains some of the feminist issues at hand (that and it’s really good):

I’d also recommend Caitlin Moran’s “How to be a Woman” for a humorous insight into how feminism is still relevant today.

Let’s start by mentioning the beloved Lil’ Kim. From looking at Lil’ Kim’s previous material you can clearly see there is a definite case of clone-sydrome when it comes to Nicki Minaj. The same fashion, same rapping style, same friends; is there any actual difference?

When in an interview around 6 months ago Nicki Minaj said that Lil’ Kim was just a Stupid Hoe (whether it was an accidental slip or not I’m unsure). In response to this public ‘diss’ Lil’ Kim came out with a single called Black Friday; thought to be a parody of the fact that Nicki’s album is called Pink Friday. This rap includes the following lyrics:

(don’t watch if you’re offended by swearing.)

By listening to the rest of the rap you can instantly tell that Lil’ Kim feels that she is being unfairly used to get Nicki famous, and for Nicki it’s worked. Lil’ Kim really throws everything she’s got at Nicki in this response to the interview, but was Nicki satisfied that she had got the all important publicity she wanted? No. Nicki goes ahead and then creates her own comeback to Kim: ‘Stupid Hoe.’ I won’t even bother writing the lyrics down here as all you need to know is she repeatedly says ‘you a stupid hoe’. Clearly from this grammatically incorrect sentence you can see the hypocricy in this.

(again, don’t watch if you’re offended by bad language.)

Another thing I have to say is even though Lil’ Kim doesn’t nearly have as many fans, at least she gives them the credit the fans deserve. What does Nicki do? Deletes her Twitter, and although I did a previous rant about Twitter I still think that, seeing as she had 11 million followers (yes, the whole population of a country) she shouldn’t have deleted her account.

So in conclusion I will say this;  Well done Lil’ Kim for knocking Nicki back; and Nicki Minaj? Well, she’s about as talented as Kristen Stewart in Twilight and she will never get my praise.