Travel: Hadrian's Wall

Almost 2,000 years ago, the Roman Empire conquered much of Great Britain, up to what is modern-day Scotland.  In 122 AD, Emperor Hadrian decreed that a great wall would be built, spanning the entire width of England.  Reasons for building the wall remain vague to historians, but it would have been an expression of Rome's militaristic might and power, and it would help protect the Empire from barbarian invasion (which, at the time, would have been the Picts, and possibly the Brigantes).  Various forts along the wall would have provided a base for auxiliary Roman soldiers to serve as guards; auxiliary troops were non-Roman citizens who had to serve in the military for 25 years before becoming official Roman citizens.  As time went on, however, the lines between being a Roman and a native of England was blurred.  By the 5th century AD, the wall was abandoned, and parts of it became cannibalized by locals to build villages, homes, churches, and other structures.  Today, parts of the wall and Roman forts are scatted all around sporadically, and can be visited.

This wall once protected an empire.

The wall appears in certain spots, somewhere from 1 - 5 feet tall, before disappearing back into the grassy hills.  Actual forts are pretty much reduced to their foundations, with low-lying walls outlining where buildings used to be.  To see these places, you can either plan an extensive hike across the entire 77-miles stretch (which many people do, but I'm not sure what the particulars of it are), or you can follow the B3618 in your car.  Along this path, the most notable places will be Chesters, Birdoswald, and Vindolanda.  Other notable ruins may exist as well.  A lot of these places require admission or subscription to English Heritage,

The fort at Chesters (Cilurnum) features a smattering of small ruins, including a barracks building, gatehouses and towers, and a sizable bathhouse.  All of these structures are enclosed by wire fences, but it is possible for visitors to pass through and visit the ruins up-close.  It all rests on wide-open grass fields, close to a steep river bank.  Near the visitor's center, a museum is available, containing numerous artifacts and finds from all along Hadrian's Wall, especially from noted archeologist John Clayton.

Side of the barracks building at Chesters.

Birdoswald (Banna) is notable for having the longest stretch of intact wall.  After parking, you will need to walk up hill and around a curve for a bit, before coming across the visitor's center and exhibit, which includes wax figures and information.  Once you pay for admission, you can walk on the open grounds, where you can see large chunks of the wall and many low-lying ruins and foundations embedded in the ground.  Sheep roam around pretty freely here, which is cute, but also makes the ground littered with droppings.  If you walk past the ruins to the far side of the site, you can see a pretty wide-open view of the surrounding countryside (and this is a viewpoint that most people seem to miss, not willing to walk the extra 100 yards for some odd reason).

Ruins at Birdoswald.

Vindolanda is a place I saw many years ago.  As I recall, it is a pretty big site with some very sizable ruins.  A museum is also available here, amidst a garden.

As I said before, other places might be seen scattered around, including even more forts and wall segments.  These three sites are the three biggest that I've personally seen and am aware of, and are certainly with a trip for interested visitors.  It is pretty impressive to behold piece of Roman history in Great Britain; it is easy to see the influences of Normans, Saxons, Vikings, and the various English kings and queens of medieval history, but Rome predates all of these kingdoms, and their forts represent the very western edge of their vast empire.

Film Review: Godzilla (2014)

60 years ago, a monster rose up from the depths.  Godzilla, a gargantuan beast borne from nuclear fire, invaded the monster movie scene in 1954 and gave us a terrifying vision of Tokyo's destruction.  Godzilla's reign persisted through nearly thirty movies, seeing the titular monster as both villain and hero, pitting him against a whole universe of monsters, aliens, armies, and machines.  Then, after running through a whole gauntlet of battles in Godzilla:  Final Wars, the beast was given a good ten-year rest.

In 2014, Godzilla rose up again with a fresh new look and fresh talent.  Even though the beast has been rebooted repeatedly before, he has never before hit the western shores as hard.  In this American production, great care and detail has been given to provide a hard-hitting thrill ride that will remain true to Toho's original vision.

In a somewhat Spielbergian fashion, Gareth Edwards' vision of Godzilla purposefully builds tension before giving us the actual monster combat.  Much like Jurassic Park, the film steadily builds up the suspense with tremors, sound, and focus on subtle details.  Much like Jaws, the actual monsters receive limited screen-time to maximize their impact when you do see them.  And much like 2005's War of the Worlds, much of the action is subdued to the background, with a firmer focus on the characters' drama.  Above all, Godzilla represents an evolution of Edwards' debut film Monsters, which accomplished all these same techniques on a more limited scale.

What this amounts to is a film that builds and builds, taking its time on character-building and plotting before giving us what we really want:  all-out monster bashing and city stomping.  When you finally get to it, the mass destruction is modestly satisfying.  Special effects are top-notch throughout, giving us an intense and epic vision of creatures smashing into each other and smashing into buildings.  However, the action is not overblown or overdone, and it never overwhelms the plot.

The actual story involved is pretty much on-par with the older Godzilla films; most of these give us a handful of military and scientist characters who figure out what's going on, then behold some massive monster battle.  This film stays true to this formula, but the focus is constant on the characters and their struggles, whether it be the struggle to deal with the monsters, or the struggle to save loved ones.  The film definitely tries to pull at the heartstrings by showcasing a father trying to reunite with his family, while also trying to save his father and fulfill his mission.  While this can be a bit contrived and sappy, the film does have a little more depth and power to it than the older kaiju flicks.  All that being said, the characters are still not huge stand-outs; their emotional struggles are pretty much the only thing we can latch on to, but they remain pretty shallow and flat.  Plotting suffers a little as well, given that some parts don't always make sense, and characters don't always make the best decisions.  Much like the older films, the story overall conveys a strong theme about the folly of messing with mother nature and abusing nuclear power.

The film is competently made, with quality photography and editing.  It is especially noteworthy in the way it masterfully reveals just what it wants to when it wants to, to draw out the suspense and make each monster's presence more powerful.  Acting is okay from the whole cast; Aaron Taylor-Johnson is a pretty average everyman hero character, Elizabeth Olson is a pretty average as the guy's wife, Ken Watanabe is an average scientist dude, and Bryan Cranston steals the show in an all-too-small part.  Writing is so-so.  This production has some great-looking sets, props, costumes, locales, and special effects.  Sound design is phenomenal, with monster roars that's guaranteed to make the entire theater shudder.  Music is pretty interesting.

Finally, this has got to be the most intense and hard-hitting Godzilla movie since the original.  Storytelling and characters aren't a big standout here, but never were in the older movies anyway; this version still offers a phenomenal build-up and a satisfying payoff, and anybody wanting a good monster-movie fix should be pleased.  It'll be thrilling to see what directions modern film-making like this will take Godzilla next.

4/5 (Experience:  Good | Story:  Average | Film:  Good)

Travel: Alnwick (Town, Castle, Gardens)

Alnwick (pronounced without the L or the W) is a town in Northumbria, England.  Its claim to fame is mostly in its castle, but the town is also sizable, with its fair share of shopping, sights, amenities, and activities to make for a worthwhile stop.

One of the side streets.

The town itself features two old gates on the roads passing by the market square.  Along the main roads, you can see opportunities for shopping, restaurants, tearooms, and the like.  There are museums throughout the town.  Accommodations are available through hotels and small bed-and-breakfast places.  Driving through the town can be a little tight, given the gatehouses with the narrow archways and some really narrow side streets.  It is also possible to take the train to town.

Bondgate.

Alnwick Castle rests in easy walking distance from the center of town.  Some of the best views of it can be seen if you follow the road past the castle's barbican (front gate with two sets of gates) to the old stone bridge, and in the afternoon or evening of a good day, the lighting will offer the perfect photo opportunity.  At the front of the castle, you can purchase tickets for either the castle, gardens, or both, and some of this admission is good for a whole year.  The price for admission can be pretty high, so you will need to evaluable whether you think it's worth the price.

The view from the bridge.

Inside the castle, you will be able to see some intact walls, towers, and the main keep.  Areas around the keep are well-kept, and include a number of old cannons.  The towers along the walls contain some exhibits, including wax figures, an armory, and an audio-visual display.  The main keep is most exquisite, with its marble floors and furnished interiors.  The first room you come to will have weapons (guns, blades, bayonets) hung on every inch of the walls in symmetric swirls and patterns.  From there, you can see a library filled wall-to-wall with books, and staterooms with elegant wallpaper, furnishings, ceilings, and displays of china.  Unfortunately, photography is not allowed in these state rooms.

That's not all:  Alnwick Castle has events going on all the time.  Fighting demonstrations, archery, children's activities, festivals, and concerts may occur on any given day.  Schedules are posted around the castle, and can be researched on their website.  I am not certain how much certain events cost, but at the very least, there is a free tour of the "lost cellars," where actors will take visitors down and present some creepy fictional tales with some theatrics for an effective (and perhaps a bit cheesy) ghost-story effect.  A gift shop and tea room are also available.

Alnwick Castle has been around since 1069 AD, and has been the seat of power for the Duke of Northumbria, even to this day (the family occupies part of the castle, leaving the rest open to visitors, which flood the place every year).  The castle was involved in some combat during the War of the Roses.  These days, it is probably most famous for being one of the filming locations for Elizabeth, Robin Hood:  Prince of Thieves, the first two Harry Potter films, and bunch of TV shows (mostly British ones).

Flowers near the Alwick Castle gardens.

Not far from the castle are the gardens, which offers a number of grounds for flowers.  The biggest attractions here include the root gardens (containing mostly vegetable gardens, a beehive display, and for some reason a bunch of plants growing in boots), a massive fountain with alternating streams of water, a few major areas for flowers and statues, and the poison gardens.  The poison garden offers tours, where a guide will talk about a few of the most prominent plants being kept there (including nettles, nightshade, hemlock, cannabis (grown with the permission of the UK government), opiates, and more).  There is a huge treehouse in the gardens, but for some odd reason, I didn't see it.  A gift shop and tearoom is also available in this area (and the gift shop did include a decent-looking book on the plants of the poison garden, which I'll probably find handy in research for some of my novels).

Alnwick is a pretty nice town, but it features a really good castle and a decent garden.  The castle alone is one of the biggest sights to see in England and is worth seeing at least once. 

Travel: Lindesfarne (Holy Island)

Along the northeast coast of England, in Northumbria, is an island called Holy Island.  It is accessible only during the low tides, when the water is not covering the causeway.  If you travel to Holy Island, you will need to see what the crossing times are and plan accordingly.

Upon entering the island, you will be treated to a few impressive sights.  The first and most prominent is Lindesfarne Castle, which stands on top of a tall hill.  It was originally built in 1550.  The castle overlooks just about everything on the island and can be seen for miles, even from the mainland in certain spots.  On a clear day, Bamburg Castle can be seen across the water.  Getting to Lindesfarne castle, you will need to park in one of the designated parking lots in town and walk a good ways, including a steep set of stone stairs up the slope to the castle's walls.  After paying for admission, you are free to walk through the castle's rooms, which are furnished with antique furniture and items to illustrate what each room was used for.  There are two major balconies that provide expansive views of the surrounding coast.

The island also has a priory a short walk away from the castle.  After paying admission, the priory offers a fairly impressive sprawl of ruins with tall stone arches, walls, and windows.  There is a funky wooden statue on one end of the priory.  The ruin dates as far back as 634 AD, originally founded by the Irish monk St. Aidan.  The place experienced its fair share of historical conflicts between Viking raids, Norman conquests, and the War of the Roses.  Close to the priory is a church and a number of graves that are also open to visitors.

The castle and priory are probably the two biggest things to see on Holy Island, but the place also has a village with a few shops and tea rooms.  On the way to the castle, you can pass by a harbor with a number of ships, including a bunch of ships that are overturned and converted into shacks of some kind.  Looking in the direction of Bamburg Castle, I was able to see a long stretch of land where a bunch of sea lions were resting, and their noises could be heard from the island as a eerie ghost-like wail.  On the way to the castle, I noticed an old man playing a bagpipe.  The island also has a nature reserve of some kind, although that is an area I did not explore.

I had the good fortune to see the island on a fairly sunny day, but it was quite windy and chilly.  If you are thinking about visiting Northumbria on a pleasant day, Lindesfarne can make for a decent day trip, especially if you are interested in hiking, sightseeing, or for unique photographic opportunities.

When Computers Go Bad

It's always alarming to turn your computer on and find that something is not working right.  It can be a daunting task to analyze a computer's symptoms and determine how to fix it.  The issue can be compounded by varying degrees of hardware and software compatibility issues.  For casual users, it can be an overwhelming and heartbreaking thing, but it is usually possible for the more well-informed users to mitigate and fix a given issue.

So my computer recently stopped loading Windows, and my initial reaction was of alarm and desperation.  I've had my computer for several years now; it's a Velocity Micro refurbished computer I got from some website (1saleaday.com), which works great for all my needs, but has exhibited odd behavior on occasion (mostly in the form of crashes).  With Windows unable to load after the BIOS, I began to wonder if my hard drives were going bad, or if something in the motherboard is off (now that I think about it, the CMOS battery probably needs to be replaced), or if Windows itself is just screwy.  My temporary solution has been to simply reinstall Windows without reformatting or partitioning the drive; doing so just shoves my personal files to a Windows.old folder, so they can still be salvaged.  Since I wasn't sure about the integrity of my computer and hard drives, I took the time to pull out my hard drives, and use an external HDD docking port to access and back up my files.

My efforts have ensured that I haven't lost any files, and with Windows working temporarily, I was able to finish up a few major projects I was working on (primarily editing my travel videos).  My next plan is to totally revamp my computer, upgrading the motherboard and hard drives and installing Windows from scratch.  Obviously, it'll be work to reinstall all my programs and move my files around, but I expect that new hardware will allow things to be faster, more stable, and more efficient. 

In order to keep things running smoothly, I will need to maintain my computer regularly and diligently follow certain practices.  Below are some tips that can benefit all users, to keep your computers running effectively and prevent them from succumbing to fatal errors.  Chances are that you may know of these things already, but if not, these are practices you should adopt regularly:

• Back up your files regularly, onto an external source like an external hard drive, thumb drive, or optical disk.  I personally prefer to use an external HDD of one or two TB in size, with folders for all my documents, music, video, photos, downloads, saved games, and the like.  I personally don't feel the need to save personal settings for specific programs, but you might have to back those up if you want them.  I also tend to make a backup of the backup, in the event that one of these external drives fails.  Your devices should be easily-accessible, but it is advisable to keep them somewhere safe from damage or theft (like a fireproof box).  Backups in a cloud might be feasible, but I haven't bothered to set up a cloud of any kind.
• Set up a system restore point regularly.  This will allow you to use the Windows restore option, which will restore all your settings to what they were when you set up the restore point.  So if you do have a problem, the restore point can be reloaded and everything should resume working the way it did before you ran across a particular problem.
• Use your security programs.  Anti-virus, anti-malware, and firewalls will help prevent hacks, trojans, worms, and viruses that could otherwise cripple your system or steal your information.  I personally use Bitdefender, which seems to run well, but you also can't go wrong with Norton's.  The best I can recommend is to shop around to see what program will meet your needs and what you're willing to pay for.  You shouldn't rely solely on default programs like Windows Firewall, which only works one way, or Windows Defender, which has limitations.  For whatever program you install, be sure that it updates itself regularly, and don't ignore any alerts it gives out.
• Maintain your updates.  Windows is always updating itself, because it's always being fixed and protected from vulnerabilities.  Individual programs may do the same, and many drivers may need to be updated to enhance your capabilities.  Many of these programs can update themselves, but for those that don't, be sure to visit the vendor's website to see if you have the latest version of that software, and look at your drivers to make sure they're the latest.  Updating everything could even fix problems you may be experiencing.
• Run your disk cleanup at regular times (like every month or every season or so) to delete temporary files and free up some space.
• Run the defragger program often (or the defraggler, which is supposed to be a grade better), which will reduce the amount of file fragments on your disk drive.  Running this annually can help make your CPU more efficient in retrieving your files, and it could free up a little more disk space.  This process can take hours, so it may be ideal to set this up to run overnight.  Defragging works best on magnetic hard drives, and should not be used in flash memory.
• Set up Windows with a login ID and password, and make it a good one.  A strong password should include a mix of alphanumeric characters, upper and lower case, and at least one special character.  The longer it is the better it can be, but the password should not be a recognizable word or phrase, or something easy to guess.  But you should still be able to type it easily and remember it.  The best thing is to take a word or phrase and split it up with numbers and special characters.  I even use foreign names as the basis for a password, making it exceptionally hard to decipher.  These disciplines can be helpful for any password you need, and passwords for each device and website should be different.
• Encrypt your network.  WiFi routers may come with a password already set up, but it may be helpful to change the password to something stronger to deter attackers or people leeching off of your bandwidth.  If it doesn't, it can probably be setup by accessing your router (try localhost in a web browser's address bar).
• If it isn't obvious, you should be diligent in protecting your personal information while browsing around the Internet.  Do not advertise your full name, address, contact details, or bank information on public forums, Facebook, or other places where people can easily find it.  Do not trust e-mails claiming to be from companies, governments, or other places asking for your personal information, as these could be phishing e-mails with links that can upload viruses to you or fields to steal your information (if you're in doubt, contact the sender directly through their official contact details, and not through the e-mail).  If anybody calls you asking to access your computer's event task list, hang up.  Do your best to remain anonymous and guarded online.  Some users may desire to use proxy servers, but following all the other advice here should keep you safe from being attacked.

If something does happen and your computer exhibits troubling or fatal issues, your backups should save you from losing too much of your work.  If not, you can still salvage your hard drive's data by removing it from your CPU and using something like a docking station or SATA-to-USB cable to connect it to another computer.  If your hard drive to very badly corrupted, there may be forensic programs available somewhere that can retrieve lost files (I used to have one for images; the best I can recommend is to google for such programs).

When you're certain that your files are backed-up and secure, you can then start troubleshooting and fixing your system.  You will need to determine if your issue is hardware-based or software-based, all depending on the symptoms your computer is displaying.  You will need to do some basic tests, such as starting and restarting your computer, installing and uninstalling things, to determine possible causes.  Windows has some basic troubleshooting prompts which may or may not be helpful, and the Internet is crammed full of stories and advice that can further help you.

Computers may be complex machines, but in the end, they're all just motherboards connected to hard drives and boards, with an OS and oodles of programs.  Regular maintenance, backups, and security practices can help keep your system safe, but even when it breaks down, it can be saved with the right tools and the right guidance.