Woman Fashion: London

Showing posts with label London. Show all posts

Grand Theft Auto Series

Genres: Action-adventure, Open world
Developers: Rockstar Games, Rockstar North, Rockstar Leeds, Rockstar Toronto, Rockstar Lincoln
First release: Grand Theft Auto, Oct. 1997
Latest release: Grand Theft Auto III(for iOS, Android), Dec. 15, 2011

-Grand Theft Auto(GTA) is a multi award winning video game series created in the UK by dave Jones, then later on by Dan Houser and Sam Houser.
-It's primarily developed by British developer Rockstar North
-The name of the series refers to grand theft auto, a type of car crime referring to motor vehicle theft
-The series is set in fictional locales heavily based on American cities, while an expansion for the original was based on London.
-Gameplay is open world, meaning you can run around, explore, do missions at your leisure, side activities, consisting of driving, action-adventure, occasional role playing, stealth, racing.
-The game play has comedic satire based on American culture, but the series has been under fire for it's controversial adult nature and violent themes. The game is focused around different good guys trying to rise through the ranks of the criminal underworld. The bad guys are commonly characters who have betrayed the good guy or characters who have the most impact preventing the good guy from his/her progress
-And as for voices, famous people have provided voices for characters in the various games of this series. Such as:

Michael Madsen
Phil Collins
Jenna Jameson
Gary Busey
Ray Liotta
Samuel L. Jackson
Danny Trejo
Frank Vincent
Robert Loggia
Kyle MacLachlan
Peter Fonda
Dennis Hopper
Burt Reynolds
Chris Penn
Joe Pantoliano
James Woods

Overview
-Each game allows it's player to take on the role of a criminal or wannabe in a big city, typically an individual who rises through the ranks of organized crime through the course of the game. The player is given various missions to accomplish by kingpins and major idols in the city underworld which have to be done in order to progress.

-Assassinations and other crimes appear regularly, but occasionally driving a taxi, firefighting, street racing, bus driving, or learning to fly helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft are also present
-In the later ones, most notably Grand Theft Auto 2, the player is given a more expanded storyline in which he is forced to overcome an unfortunate event(i.e. being betrayed and left for dead) which serves as motivation for the character to advance.
-Grand Theft Auto III and later games have more prevalent voice acting, and radio stations, which simulate driving to music with DJs, radio personalities, commercials, talk radio, pop music and American culture.
-The use of vehicles in an explorable urban location provides a basic idea of a working city, complete with pedestrians who obey traffic. Further details are used to create an open ended atmosphere that has been used before, such as in The Simpsons Hit & Run, which is more family friendly.

Setting
-The GTA series is set in a fictional version of the world, in a number of various time periods. The original GTA introduced 3 main locations: Liberty City, which is based on New York City, Vice City, which is based on Miami and San Andreas, which is based on Los Angeles.
-Later games have been redone and expanded on the original. GTA: San Andreas takes place in the state of San Andreas, which is based on California and Nevada and includes the cities Los Santos(Los Angeles), San Fierro(San Francisco) and Las Venturas(Las Vegas).
-There have been other versions made, like an expansion pack for the original have London 1969 and London 1961, set in London, have been made as expansion packs for the original.

The Spice Girls

-British all girl pop group formed in 1994
-Consisted of Victoria Beckham, Melanie Brown, Emma Bunton, Melanie Chisholm and Geri Halliwell
-They earned the credit of being pioneers in the breakthrough of teen pop in the late 1990s.
-Their trademarks include Geri Halliwell's Union Jack dress, representing "girl power".
-They used aliases, nicknames basically. They used Ginger, Baby, Posh and Scary
-They are considered to be part of the 'second wave' of 1990s British Invasion of the US
-In 2007, they all reformed to launch a renunion tour that played at London's O2 Theatre

History
-In the mid 90s, father and son management team Bob and Chris Herbert set about creating an all female group to compete with the popular boy bands in the heavily male dominated world of music.
-400 women showed up, and each was asked to dance to "Stay" by Eternal.
-Victoria Beckham sang "Mein Herr", Melanie Brown sang "Greatest Love of All", Melanie Chisholm sang "I'm So Excited", Michelle Stephenson sang "Don't Be a Stranger".

-Later on, Geri Halliwell was let in to audition and she sang "I Wanna Be a Nightclub Queen" and aftr the interviews, they were divided in to groups of 3 and asked to sing "Just A Step from Heaven" by Eternal.
-1 week later, the women had a recall and they all learned to sing "Signed, Sealed, Delivered."
-Stephenson left the group to take care of her mother whow as diagnosed with breast cancer
-On June 7, 1996, they released their debut album Wannabe.

-The success they received from releasing chart topping single after single was compared to the Beatlemania experienced back in the 1960s.
-In 7 weeks, they released 1.8 million copies in Britain alone, making them the fastest selling British act since The Beatles.
-In January 1997, they released Wannabe in to the notoriously hard to break U.S. market. They managed to make it onto the Hot 100 and it was the highest debut by a British(or non-American) act in the US, beating the record held previously by The Beatles for "I Want to Hold Your Hand".

-Later that month, The Spice Girls won 2 Brit Awards for Best Video, "Say You'll Be There", and Best Single for "Wannabe".
-They performed "Who Do You Think You Are?" to open the 1997 Brit Awards with Geri Halliwell debuting her Union Jack min dress, causing it to become one of pop history's biggest icons
-On May 31, 1998, Halliwell announced she was leaving the band

-In 1999, Victoria Adams went on to marry soccer star David Beckham and she became Victoria Beckham.
-At the 2008 Live Vodafone Music Awards, they beat acts such as rock bands Led Zeppelin and The Sex Pistols.

Fashion Trends and nicknames
-Early Spice Girls look was casual, calm and laid back, maintaining an image of everyday young British females. But as they got more famous, their look changed. Each girl had a unique look and nickname

Victoria Beckham(nee Adams)
-Posh Spice because of her upper middle class background, her choppy brunette bob and refined attitude, form fitting designer outfits, and love of high heeled shoes

Melanie Brown
-Scary Spice because of her outrageous "in your face" attitude, "loud" Leeds accent, throaty laugh, pierced tongue, style of dress(leopard skin outfits), curly hair

Emma Bunton
-Baby Spice because she was the youngest of the group, wearing her hair in long, blonde pigtails, wearing babydoll dresses, innocent smile, and a girly girl personality

Melanie Chisholm
-Sporty Spice because she usually wore tracksuits, her hair in a ponytail, and a tough girl attitude.

Gerri Halliwell
-Ginger Spice because of her "liveliness" and flaming red hair. She usually wore outrageous stuff on stage, such as her Union Jack dress. And was seen as the leader because of her conversational style and business savvy nature.

Destroy All Humans 2

-Sequel to the first one
-Made by Pandemic Studios

Plot
-The game is set in 1969, 10 years after the original. The games begins with a KGB slid show.
-Soon after, things begin. Crypto must stop the KGB from destroying America. Crypto's boss, Orthopox 13, downloaded himself into a hologram unit just before he died. Crypto finds out that the KGB have fled to Albion, and they follow. There he meets Reginald Ponsonby-Smythe, a James Bond like figure with M16 or British Intelligence. Also he meets a rogue KGB agent named Natalya. They find that the KGB have created a type of spore that can mutate a human into a monster. Eventually Ponsonby betrays Crypto, revealing that he is British Intelligence, part of Majestic, Sector 16, the British branch.

-Then Crypto learns that the KGB have a base in Takoshima. Arriving in Takoshima, Crypto is to rescue a man named Dr. Go(parody of Dr. No). He provides info and access to the KGB base hidden in the island's volcano. Crypto and Natalya must break into this base and they eventually find out that the person behind most of this is the Russian Premier Milenkov. He shows them a clip showing his men using the spores on a Takoshimese girl, who tranforms into a Godzilla-like creature, called Kojira. After defeating the monster, Crypto and Natalya travel to Tunguska, a remote scientific industrial town in Russia. Crypto finds another alien race has taken over the town, The Blisk. They are an enemy the Furons fought during the Martian War. Pox realizes the Tunguska event of 1908 was actually a Blisk warship crashing on Earth. After rescuing Natalya from a Blisk gas bubble, the 2 go to the Moon where Project Solaris is.

-There they find a superweapon designed to bombard the Earth with Blisk spores and radiation, granting the Blisk control of Earth as their new irradiated, water-logged homeworld. Using his ability to "body snatch" Crypto disguises himself as cosmonaut Leonid, the head scientist and convinces the rest of the cosmonauts to turn against the Blisk. Crypto also manages to sabotage the firing mechanism for the weapon. So Milenkov confronts Crypto and he reveals that they have been controlling the Russian government. Natalya and Crypto destroy the Blisk Hive Mind with a virus called O.M.G.W.T.F. After fighting Milenkov, Crypto relaxes in his saucer with Natalya in bed.

Characters

Crypto

-Cryptosporidium (furon) Cryptosporidium, known as Crypto for short, is the main character in the series. A member of an alien species known as Furons, he is an anti-hero who enjoys wreaking havoc and destroying humanity and he speaks with a very slow and emotionless Texas accent. He is known to have a best friend/ ally personality with Pox, although he does not like to admit it and enjoys pushing his buttons. He is also known to be an alcoholic, tomboy, gambler, smoker and many other personalities of the sort. His name comes from the Cryptosporidium protist. Crypto's commanding officer is Orthopox 13, who usually gives him his missions. Sometimes, Crypto talks with a variety of wise-cracking remarks. Voiced by J. Grant Albrecht and Sean Donnellan (in Big Willy Unleashed).In Japanese version, he is voiced by Kappei Yamaguchi.

Orthopox 13

-Orthopox, known as Pox for short, is Crypto's commanding officer, who gives him his assignments. Pox is an intelligent furon scientist who likes to experiment on the species' DNA, and is the second most senior fleet commander in the entire Furon Navy. Pox is the mastermind behind the expedition to retrieve the furon DNA from Human brain stems. Pox is a brilliant tactician, a canny businessman, and holds his own in chess. However, years of physical neglect has rendered his lower extremities somewhat useless, requiring the use of a cerebro chair, with which he uses to float about, and to help support his massive cranium.^[2] Pox also has Cranial Implants on his head, which resemble metallic horns. These could be a sign of Pox's high status in the Furon Armada. Pox's achievements include: Conqueror of Zarkon-5, Hero of the Battle of Tharsis Mons, Winner of the Xanthrax-47 Mental Cruelty Award 6 years running. Having been destroyed at the beginning of Destroy All Humans! 2, Pox's mind has been confined to a HoloPox unit, a furon hologram projector that he developed himself, which he managed to download his conscious into before the mothership exploded and his last words,(WHAT THE???!!!), were Spoken. Though with this unusual handicap Crypto makes many jokes about at Pox's expense about being dead. He remains this way until he obtains a monkey`s body by mistake in Destroy All Humans! 3. Between the times of Destroy All Humans! 2 and Destroy All Humans! 3, Pox opens a new restaurant called Big Willy's. However, it is revealed that Pox has been collecting the dead bodies Crypto leaves lying around and feeding them back to the people as hot dogs in the Big Willy Franchise. By the time of Path of the Furon, Pox is extremely bitter about being confined to his holographic prison and wants to just collect the human DNA and go home so he can receive a new clone body. He is voiced by Richard Steven Horvitz (causing him to sound like Zim from Invader Zim, albeit with an English accent) and by Darryl Kurylo in Destroy All Humans! Big Willy Unleashed

Supporting Characters

Natalya Ivanova - was a KGB agent who went rogue after strange things begin to happen. She allies with Crypto in order to save both their species from Milenkov and the Blisks. She is killed at the end of the game, but Crypto reclones her. It is revealed in Big Willy Unleashed that they had a son. In an in-game conversation, Pox reveals that her clone died about six years before the events of Path of the Furon due to human clones having a short lifetime. She is located in all the countries Crypto goes to.

Agent Ivan Oranchov - he was a commanding KGB officer, and was in charge of the KGB operations in Bay City and Albion. In a final duel with Crypto, he uses Blisk spores to transform himself into a humanoid Blisk creature, but is ultimately killed. KGB agent's thoughts sometimes contain questions such as "Why does Agent Oranchov always shout at me?", or a statement such as "Agent Oranchov is mean." even after the Soviet spymaster has been eliminated.

Reginald Ponsonby-Smythe - is secretly leader of the Majestic command in Albion. He helps Crypto in two missions, but then betrays him. He is killed by Crypto after he escapes. He speaks with a posh British accent and wields an umbrella rifle. It is discovered through mind-scanning Ponsonby or listening to his speech during his final battle, that he was in love with Silhouette from the original game.

Milenkov - The main antagonist. He is the Premier of the Soviet Union and secretly the leader of the Blisk.

Blisk - The aliens that the Furons defeated and all-but-destroyed in the Martian War. Pox describes them as "brutes with large claws and withering halitosis" and the result of "a cockroach mating with a lobster." They have a single hive mind, and are attracted to radiation, as it nourishes them. They are located in the Soviet Union and on the Soviet Moon base. They are able to mutate humans with their spores.
The KGB - An original enemies of Destroy All Humans! 2 until the Blisk are discovered. KGB commanders include Agent Oranchov, Sasha Soyisorski, Soviet Premier Milenkov, Blazitsky, Zablazitsky and Leonid. The KGB base: in Bay City is The Rock, in Albion is the abandoned tunnel network (as well as M16), in Takoshima is the volcano as well as a single building in the city, in Tunguska is the large KGB Base, as well as acting as the police when the alert level is raised and on the moon is Solaris. If subjected to Crypto's psychoknesis, then the KGB agents may quote "You will cease to levitate me this instance!" or "You think we cannot do this in Soviet Union?!"
Majestic Command, Sixteenth Sector - The British Majestic, controlled by Reginald Ponsonby-Smythe and ultimately Her Majesty. If a British Majestic agent (or Secret Agent) is manipulated by Crypto's psychoknesis, then they will quote "I bet Blofield put you up to this." or "I haven't got a license to levitate!"
The Freak - The Freak is a hippie in Bay City who knows everything about what is happening. He apparently finds out by picking up radio transmissions with his teeth. By reading his mind, you find out that he sometimes thinks things such as "I am a fish! I am a fish! I am a fish...." or "I AM THE KING OF THE LIZARDS!". It is revealed by reading his mind that all of the other hippies avoid him unless it is to buy drugs from him.

Settings

-Albion. This level is a parody of London in the 1960s. You might notice that alot of the men in this level have collarless suits that were made especially famous by The Beatles, and the men and women all make various references to musicians, people popular in England in the 1960s, such as The Kinks, The Rolling Stones,The Beatles, Marianne Faithfull, Dianna Rigg, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Michael Caine, etc.

-Bay City. This level is a parody of San Francisco.

-Takoshima. Parody of Japan.
-Tunguska. Siberia.

London Calling!

Man, I hope someday I get the chance to see this place! I'm not sure what exactly has started my fascination with London, but for some reason, if I see pictures of it, it just looks like such an awesome city. Forget people saying Paris is the fashion capital of the world. Forget Paris! In my humble lil opinion, New York and London should take top spots as fashion capitals. And plus, this place just looks so cool, with all it's retro stores. I mean, if this place still has stores and locations from the Swinging London scene, I'm sooooo there!!!!

London in general

Bridge

At night

Ahhh, To Travel Far and Wide

I was inspired by a fellow blogger called Summer Baby to do a blog post about traveling. I'm starting to think I'll never get out of school. I swear, I'm never recommending Gateway to anyone!!!! This school SUCKS! If only I could travel. To just get away from all the stress. I wouldn't tell anyone where I was going or when I'd be back or if I'd be back. Sometimes I think it would be way easier to live in another country, because it seems like they don't have as many problems as the US does right now. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm proud to be American, but sometimes that gets tested. Sometimes I regret saying that because the economy of the US sucks right now. People are fighting tooth and nail for jobs, people are losing their homes and jobs, but the famous people of our world can spend millions on weddings only to divorce 3 days later? WTF?

London
-Tate Modern. Art museum, sweet!