Finally!  After several short delays in 2009, and increasing excitement by many fans of the game – Plants vs Zombies is finally released in the iTunes store. This is going to be great on the iPad !

Plants Vs Zombies in the UK iTunes App store

A superbly balanced easy-to-play-and-get-addicted-to tower defense / strategy game mixed with the expected polish from Popcap, masters of casual gameplay.

Plants vs Zombies on iPhone / iPod / iPad released February 15th 2010

Charismatic, colourful illustration style, amusing animations, fitting sound effects and catchy music only add to the experience which is guaranteed to help you lose a few days to protecting you house from an onslaught of all manner of zombies (including bobsledding Zombies – apt considering the Winter Olympics have just begun).

The iPhone / iPod / iPad is a perfect platform for Plants vs Zombies.  The game actually works better than on the PC – no more frustration moving the mouse around to collect Sun – the all important currency for growing and adding to your plants.

Right down to the different game modes that are basically tailored for varying lengths of Bus or Train journeys.

It’s a must buy for all ages, and is bound to become a top grossing game on the iTunes app store, based on it’s previous success as a PC and Mac game sold through Steam and Popcap’s own website.

There are a fair few cheeky little illustration ‘easter eggs’ in the desktop version of PvZ – so expect to find a whole load more on the iPhone version, such as these oriental zombies found in the title screen achievements area.

PvZ on iPhone iPod Touch iPad Oriental Zombies illustration easter egg - dig deep to find them!

The family dog, Wallace, likes to watch TV. Well at least it’s only a big old CRT and not a more delicate flat screen.

Anyway, what better way to showcase his doggy style TV watching than with the trailer for Hotel for Dogs?!

Sound will most definitely enhance this video.

The best way of tackling The Baltic art gallery is to go straight up to the 5th Floor and admire the view of the Millennium Bridge and The Sage.

Unless you’re very lucky, this is likely to be the best art you’ll see all day.

From the fifth floor you can also look down onto the exhibition on the fourth floor. It saves you a trip down there if you’re not too keen on what you see.

Thank goodness I hadn’t read the brochure when I looked down onto the fourth floor. This meant that what I saw, I saw without prejudice or preconceived ideas. What I saw were some huge posters on huge bill boards positioned on each side of the gallery leading your eye to the centre piece at the end.

This was a sort of kaleidoscopic video. There was a strobe effect. There was a mirror below the video which created another place to look. There was sound. It was indistinguishable voices. An interesting effect or annoying, one of the two.

I was, in fact, very annoyed. What a waste of an amazing gallery space, I thought. I know artists who would have given their eye teeth for half the space and provided the viewer with more to think about.

Basically the posters could have been, and maybe were, done on a computer. The messages on the posters were inane (perhaps this was part of the point!). I hadn’t got a clue what the video was. So, it was up to me to try harder. I read the blurb.

BALTIC presents Run, Black River, Run by Turner Prize nominee, Mark Titchner which creates a psychologically unnerving space, combining image and sound. The exhibition features the video installation, The Eye Don’t See Itself, depicting a kaleidoscopic, unblinking eye, mirrored in a black pool. The installation questions our blind faith in advertising and obedience to authority.

Oh dear! So even without knowing that this artist had been a runner up in my bete noire, the Turner Prize, my inbuilt dislike of the sort of art that it demands was evident. Go and see it for yourself. Better still, get the lift down and see:

BALTIC presents Egyptian artist Mona Marzouk’s first UK solo exhibition. Marzouk tackles universal themes in her work. She reassembles varied influences including architectural histories, mythology and technology. Marzouk imagines an alternative to cultural difference, a “hybridised future”.

Now this was really mind boggling stuff. AND, In June there’s something I can’t wait to travel up to Newcastle for:

Early summer sees BALTIC present a magical new exhibition by internationally acclaimed Japanese artist Yoshitomo Nara, in collaboration with design unit graf. The exhibition will feature a village brought to life with Nara’s iconic characters, turning ordinary life into art.

In discussion with one of the custodians of the gallery, I discovered that they were going to build a village in the wonderful space on the fourth floor. You would be able to wander in and out of houses and view the art.

Now that’s interesting.

Balticmill Current Exhibitions

Today, in case you hadn’t already noticed, Google is black.

This is to symbolise ‘Earth Hour’, which aims to help make people more aware of the energy they use on a daily basis, by asking them to turn out their lights between 8pm and 9pm (in their time-zone) tonight, Saturday, March 29th.

To find out more about Earth Hour and what you can easily do to help save energy, visit Google’s Earth Hour Page.

Colossal Squids (Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni) are larger than the more well-known Giant Squid. The species was first discovered in 1925, realised from tentacles found in the stomach of a Sperm Whale. There have only been eight specimens of Colossal Squid recovered since their discovery.

A research associate at Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand reportedly said “We’d like to give this animal the name Colossal Squid in order to have a common name for it as opposed to just the scientific name,” This species is estimated to grow past 14 metres in length.

“We feel that Colossal conveys both the size and the aggressiveness of the animal. Armed as it is with the hooks and the beak that it has, not only is colossal in size but is going to be a phenomenal predator and something you are not going to want to meet in the water.”

In 2007 there were three separate discoveries of Colossal Squid specimens. One of the finds was by a New Zealand vessel long-lining for Toothfish in the Ross Sea, near the Antarctic. This gargantuan monster of the deep was eating a Hooked Toothfish when it was hauled.

The Colossal Squid was photographed, measured, tissue sampled, registered and preserved intact into the Natural Environment collection. On-going examination of the giant will help unlock some of the mysteries of the deep ocean.

“Even basic questions such as such as how large does this species grow to, and how long does it live for are not yet known.” said the New Zealand Fisheries Minister, Jim Anderton.

Interestingly, Colossal Squid are not related to Giant Squid (Architeuthis species) found around the coast of New Zealand. Giant Squid grow up to 12 metres, but are not as heavy. A key difference between the two species is the size of the body (called the Mantle) in relation to the tentacles. The Giant Squid has much longer tentacles and a smaller mantle, thereby accounting for its’ lighter weight.

Another difference is the sharp swivelling hooks the colossal squid has in the suckers at the tips of its tentacles, suggesting it is an aggressive hunter. The giant squid has suckers lined with small teeth.

Adobe’s multimedia authoring environment, Adobe® Director® 11 software has been over four years in development. However, despite the extra years that they have had over Adobe’s Flash development team to update and improve it’s features, it is unfortunately looking like just a patch for Director MX 2004 to fix the numerous bugs and keep it running in the latest operating systems people are now using.

Director 11 (full version) is available for pre-order on Adobe’s website for either $999 USD (£504.77 GBP as of today’s date 24th March 2008), or $1,639.81 USD (£828.38 GBP) for the same full commercial product. As far as I am concerned, this is an unfair distortion of trade. Why should Britons have to pay over 60% extra for the EXACT same product (including language in US-English) just because they aren’t American? Please, if anyone knows, tell me why?!

Well this may sound ridiculous, and some may not believe it. However, there are certain types of coffee beans available to buy which have been especially eaten and pooed out by animals before the grinding process. Who ever said that coffee from vending machines ‘tastes like cr*p’? Oh no, I’m sure they would be charging far more if it really did…

Here is an excellent diagram created on Blogjam, which explains the process thoroughly.

And here is another image of a Civet cat for you to admire.

Well aren’t you tempted to try it? Find out more about Civet Coffee here.

Google have a free Easter video game you can play online, AND there’s your normal google search at the top. Great. So maybe it’s worth bookmarking this at least just for the Easter Break?

Play it online now in Internet Explorer or Firefox or whatever browser you have, and decide whether you think it’s a Halo-beater (if you know what that means).

Okay, it’s not really a next-gen blockbuster, nor does it have the most enthralling graphics, sound or gameplay but you have to give them at least one out of ten for making a free Google Easter video game. Java is required to play it – but it is quite likely you will already have it installed.

Google Easter Video Game » (Java must be enabled)