Leave a comment Posted on March 14, 2016March 13, 2016 by Steve Murray Sports

F1 2016 Season Preview: Drivers and Teams

As is tradition here on The Lowdown, we are doing our annual week-long Formula One season preview series. The 2016 season starts in less than a week with the Australian Grand Prix. To start our F1 2016 season grand prix-view, we’ll take a look at the teams on the grid and the men driving the cars.

There isn’t a lot of change on the Formula One grid this season. While there is a new team on the grid with the addition of Haas, sixteen of the 20 seats on the grid remain the same as last year and three rookies will debut in Australia. While the driver market intrigue for the 2016 season was minimal, there is plenty for 2017. There is also a lot of engine and money news that will shake the grid up this year.

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Leave a comment Posted on March 13, 2016March 13, 2016 by Steve Murray Link-Off

Sunday Link-Off: Spring Forward

It’s Daylight Savings Day (unless you’re in Saskatchewan). That means you’ve lost an hour of your life but you were probably going to waste it anyway. After all, that extra hour of sleep we get in the fall is just used for sleep. What good ever came of being asleep anyway?

Anyway, it’s Sunday which means that we have to do some links. Since Mythbusters just wrapped up its run, let’s kick things off with Kari Bryon. Well, Kari Byron from ten years ago.

It’s been five years since the Japanese tsunami and the Fukushima power plant is just as dangerous now as it was then. (Newsweek)

The FBI’s claims that they can’t unlock an iPhone is “bullshit” according to Edward Snowden. (The Guardian)

It didn’t work in the election but the Conservatives are still pushing the Justin Trudeau is too young narrative. That’s why they’re polling stronger now than during the election. (Canada.com)

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Leave a comment Posted on March 12, 2016March 12, 2016 by J Entertainment, Link-Off

Entertainment Link-Off: Down the Rabbit Hole

Time for the weekly dose of entertainment links! If you’re keen on hitting up the cinemas, 10 Cloverfield Lane is finally out. Despite the fairly short notice (the trailer popped up in January), there seems to be a lot of buzz surrounding the Cloverfield non-sequel. Reviews have been very kind as well! Anyway, let’s get on with the links and kick off the ELO with Deborah Ann Woll at the season 2 premiere of Daredevil. The series is due to hit Netflix next week. Should be a fun weekend of binge-watching!

After the jump, new clips from Game of Thrones season 6, mark your calendars for Luke Cage, The CW renews its entire slate of scripted shows, meet Spider-Man in Captain America: Civil War and a look at how Deadpool should have ended. Continue reading →

Leave a comment Posted on March 11, 2016March 6, 2016 by Steve Murray Video Games

Superhot Review: Am I Standing Still

You’ve probably heard or read the lines but maybe you don’t understand them. “Super. Hot. Super. Hot.” Or maybe you’ve read “It’s the most innovative shooter I’ve played in years.” These aren’t ready-made box quotes from your favourite critics. They’re lines right from Superhot, the new first-person shooter that’s taken gaming by storm for the last week or so.

Superhot is a new first-person shooter that’s been labelled as being somewhere between a strategy game, a puzzle game and a traditional FPS. The hybrid of styles certainly makes this one of the more fun and interesting games that I’ve played in years.

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Leave a comment Posted on March 10, 2016March 6, 2016 by Steve Murray Video Games

Until Dawn Review: Trope Scares

One of the alleged selling points of The Order: 1886 was that it was “cinematic” but it didn’t really feel like anything out of a movie other than the aspect ratio of the screen. To make a game that seems like a movie, you need to rely on more than just the visuals. Ready at Dawn missed that memo.

Supermassive Games didn’t miss that memo. They had last year’s PS4 exclusive that was noteworthy for all reason opposite to The Order: 1886. While Until Dawn could be called a cinematic game, it was cinematic because it was put together as a loving homage to 90s slasher and horror movies. It looked and acted the part and was all the better for it.

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Leave a comment Posted on March 9, 2016March 8, 2016 by Steve Murray Link-Off

Wednesday Link-Off: A Voice from the Past

Joining yours and mine. Adding up the layers of harmony. And so it goes, on and on… Final Fantasy fans know how that one finishes. I’ve had a long day writing before writing this post and could really use Square Enix hustling the FF9 PC release out the door. It would be nice to unwind with a game that I absolutely love. It’s like they’re Blizzard with the Soon™ release date.

Anyway, it’s Wednesday and that means it’s time for us to do the links. Let’s kick off with Olivia Wilde.

You can call them Generation Y’ers. You can call them Millennials. But you can definitely call them worse off than the generations the preceded them. (The Guardian)

The Washington Post is backing Hilary Clinton. Well, it appears that way after they ran 16 stories that are perceived to be negative towards Bernie Sanders. (Fair.org)

The German Vice-Chancellor said that Donald Trump is a “threat to peace and prosperity.” When one of the leaders of the free world says that, people may just listen. (International Business Times)

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Leave a comment Posted on March 7, 2016March 6, 2016 by Steve Murray Sports

Formula One: 2016 Barcelona 2nd Test Recap

The second of the two-week Formula One pre-season testing program wrapped up last week in Spain at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. As the final preparations for the 2016 World Championship continued, teams switched their focus from speed to locking down any reliability concerns they may have. Some teams were very successful. Others were wondering if the best way to save money was to virtually eliminate all running outside of race weekends.

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Leave a comment Posted on March 6, 2016March 6, 2016 by Steve Murray Link-Off

Sunday Link-Off: Simply Primary

I thought Super Tuesday was supposed to effectively end the primary process and leave us with a straight-forward 1v1 between Democrat-turned-Republican Drumpf and Republican-masquerading-as-Democrat Clinton. If only we could get that lucky. Well, luck is a relative thing. Another eight months of this must be a violation of the Geneva Convention.

Anyway, it’s Sunday which means that it’s time for the links. Let’s kick things off with Amy Adams.

President Jimmy Carter says that American politics is an oligarchy. Only the rich can afford democracy as they’ve bought and paid for it. (Inquisitr)

Tennessee Presidential primary winner defends penis size, promises war crimes. Just another day on the Republican Primary trail. (Nashville Scene)

After the Super Tuesday primary results, searches for moving to Canada jumped 1000%. I think that Canada should build a wall and make America pay for it. (Notable)

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Leave a comment Posted on March 5, 2016March 5, 2016 by Steve Murray Entertainment, Link-Off

Entertainment Link-Off: I’m Afraid of Those Ghostbusters

I haven’t talked to Jackie about it but I was underwhelmed by the trailer for the new Ghostbusters. It seems like it’s a rehash of the first two movies in terms of plot and characters. I get that they want to revive Ghostbusters for a new generation but couldn’t they have put together something original but keeping the spirit of the classics. Maybe that’s just too much to ask.

Anyway, if you haven’t already noticed, I’ve drawn in for Jackie this week. He’s gone walkabout again. I don’t know what that means but it sounds vaguely Australian. This week’s pop culture links talks a lot about the magic of TV and the internet in various forms. And I thrown in some stuff about the Oscars and Ghostbusters which will be the only time that those two things will be in the same sentence this year.

But before we get to the links, let’s kick off with Tina Fey and Margot Robbie who star in Whiskey Tango Foxtrot.

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