Amsterdam and other things

Well it seems like a long time ago now but it's only been a couple of weeks since I was away in Amsterdam. I was away for five days with my parents and it was certainly a busy holiday! There was a lot of walking, museums including the Rijksmuseum as well as the Anne Frank House, markets, the city center itself, a canal tour as well as the Amsterdam zoo. We stayed in the Urban Lodge Hotel which I would highly recommend, it was outside the city itself but 5 minutes walk away from the Sloterdijk public transport station. You buy a public transport ticket which allows you to travel on trains, trams, buses and ferries. It was only a short trip to Amsterdam central. The public transport was great apart from the lack of air conditioning. It was particularly warm and sunny when we were there and apparently it wasn't normal for Amsterdam. We got caught out on the first day which turned from cool and very overcast to very warm and blazing sunshine that kept coming and going and we got a bit sunburnt. Amsterdam is a lovely city though the center especially with all the weed shops can be a bit tacky. As for food we certainly didn't go hungry and the food was generally very nice. It was a bit strange being away so early in the summer but it was great to get away and get a change of scene.

As much as I like the idea of another holiday later on in the summer I am coming to the end of my PhD with my funding running out at the end of September so I need to focus on that. I got confirmation today that I don't need to do any more lab work which was both a relief but also a bit anticlimactic! I hope to get the third paper of my PhD submitted for publication soon and will start to write up the next one once I've completed sorting out the data and analysis on the species I'm working on at the minute. Once that paper is written up it will be a case of sorting out the rest of my thesis. I am fortunate that I've been able to write and publish as I've gone along so my thesis will consist mainly of my papers along with an introduction/background chapter and a review/big discussion chapter. I do not envy those who have to do all their write-up at the end of their PhD. As for what comes after my thesis well I will have to do what is called a viva which is essentially an interview where you defend your thesis and go through it bit by bit with internal and external examiners. So all that to look forward to!

Wonder Woman review

I know I'm very late with this but just thought I would share my thoughts on this movie. Is it better than Batman V Superman and Suicide Squad, yes definitely, is it as good as the hype suggests, no. Obviously it has a lot riding on it being the first female superhero blockbuster really, not sure if you can call Catwoman or Elektra blockbusters, it is also directed by a woman. It's hard not to be cynical but you have to wonder if the reason that it is being so highly praised by some people is because of these two factors. It is a decent superhero movie and origin story. Gal Gadot who I thought was overrated in Batman V Superman  is surprisingly good but you do have to wonder why they didn't get her to put on a bit more muscle/bulk up a bit more (not just guys saying that). Not saying she should bulk up as much as Ben Affleck did to play Batman but when you see how some of the other Amazons look it is a bit strange. The action scenes are mostly great, though there is a lot of slow-mo and the cgi isn't great at times. Chris Pine is great as Steve Trevor, but not as fussed on the group he assembles to help them in their mission. There are a number of villains with the two German ones being fairly interesting though there is one scene involving them that is so cartoonish it is cringe worthy. The final act of the movie isn't great and as I predicted the final battle is a bit of a mess. It is a step in the right direction for the DC movie universe that said the more I think about it the more holes I find to pick in the quality of it.

This fight scene was awesome

Hopefully movie studios will see the success of Wonder Woman and make great female led superhero movies, it's a shame Marvel are for once stuck behind with their first female led superhero movie-Captain Marvel not coming out until March 2019. No doubt Black Widow will continue to play a key role in the movies going forward and the Ant-man sequel is titled Ant-man and The Wasp and will apparently give equal billing to Paul Rudd's Ant-man and Evangeline Lilly's Wasp. Warner Bros are apparently going to continue with female led superhero/comic book movies with Gotham City Sirens (female villains) and Batgirl. Lots to look forward to hopefully!