YesConsiderably

Saw Muse at the 02 last night. It was a really good show... but i was a bit disappointed that the JFK speech segued into Stockholme Syndrome and not Defector, which is my favourite song from Drones (after Dead Inside, Mercy and Revolt). 

I particularly enjoyed the puppet thing they did with the screen while playing Handler.. and the inflatable drone.

Masterpiece Ironhide.

I tend to prefer third-party or legends-class Transformers figures and am not the sort of collector who considered MPs the be all and end all... but i’ll be damned if this really isn’t the best version of Ironhide.

DX9 Terror - or Shattered Glass Rodimus.

I’m not an especially big fan of Halo so it took the recent price drop for me to take the plunge, which is why i’ve only just noticed Cortana’s new look. I’m not impressed.

On a purely aesthetic level, i think that is kind of the point. In Halo 3, i believe Bungie felt they had to make Cortana more alluring to the average player in order to bring the love story element of the series across. The player as Master Chief was meant to really, really care for her. Making her attractive was a pretty good way of forcing the issue.

In Halo 5, Cortana has changed and the tie between her and John needed to be strained. Making her less appealing physically did the job for those of us not heavily invested in Halo lore. 

So both looks served a narrative purpose in my opinion.

On a deeper level, however, i’m left wondering why she would choose to cloth herself - especially given 343′s previous justification for her look in Halo 4 (that she uses her appearance to gain an upper hand in conversations). In Guardians, she is more manipulative than ever.

There is also the fact that she essentially becomes the Catalyst and makes the decision that an enforced galactic peace is worth essentially subjugating the various species of the Halo world. This represents a loss of humanity compared to her previous appearances. 

In Watchmen, Dr Manhattan’s lack of clothes was meant to show how detached he became from mankind, and that makes sense. I don’t see how Cortana’s new look represents her new character at all?

Well, her outfit has a vague armour-ish look about it. Maybe it reflects her willingness to fight and wage war, but more likely it was a change made to appease the sorts of people who support Anita Sarkeesian. You know - people who don’t particularly care about context.

My friends and family often poke fun at me for my Transformers collecting hobby/habit... so i decided to leave each of them one of my treasured toys when i die. The one who best represents them as a person. 

My youngest brother gets Swindle... because he’ll often pocket the change the when i give him so money to get me something from the shops, and he once tried to defraud a supermarket by putting a dozen packets of chewing gum in a fruit bag, and weighing them as bananas in a bid to pay less. 

Trailcutter.

Battlecore Optimus / Optimus Maximus.

Chop Shop.