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March 31, 2004
Eating Placentas Washing them Down With A Cool Cup Of Urine
I'm currently doing this entry at work, and the above is the subject currently being discussed by the women here. Isn't life grand...
Sunday was fun - no James to bring us all down, and Nick found the wonders of broadband very tempting as he spent an hour hunting for bits for the monster computer... we also managed to connect to a Vietcong server online. All in all, a nice use of the day - Nick even managed to use the new Detonator drivers to get transparent water in Far Cry! Of course, the fool brought his old Windows ME PC at first and had to go back home to get his proper PC as the few games he tried ran like solid treacle. Far Cry at .5 FPS is painful (and that was with everything off!)
Monday and Tuesday flew by at work, and I spent the evenings fiddling with PHPNuke trying to understand it. I think I do, and will be spending the night tonight fiddling and trying to get something decent online at roguenoid.com. I will be moving Badgers to that system too, but this will no doubt cause problems for James as he is fairly used to Moveable Type now...
The interesting stuff for the weeks so far is that Spring has arrived - after the early April showers we had last week, the weather is glorious today - we may yet have the fine Easter the weather people have promised... Also, I have nearly run over a number of grinning loonies crossing the roads lately - they seem to be everywhere - kids, old women, the lot of them - all grinning insanely as they traipse across the roads ahead of me. Wierd.
Oh, and tonight will be the last time I am a Technical Support Officer. No, I haven't finally managed to quit, I just get a new job title tomorrow as part of the reorganisation of the department. I am a Sensory Support Officer from tomorrow onwards. Plus ca change! At least my boss will be in Preston so I won't have them over my shoulder all the time, which will be fun!
Oh God, now they've started on The Passion Of Christ... and Scooby Doo 2...
Posted by Badgers at 02:43 PM | Comments (2)
March 28, 2004
Cars
I love cars. Don't get me wrong, I do - I have one myself, and I watch Top Gear. But what is it with all these pumped up cars with extra bits stuck on? Most are only called 'evo' cars as they are held together by Evo-stick glue!
Most of these cars look silly - I play Need or Speed Underground, and have a very nice Peugeot 206 in the same colour as my own, and I realise that it looks silly with all that stuff on it, but it's a game. In reality it often looks silly. Most of the cars we see on the road have bodywork mesh stuck in odd places to fill holes in the skirts that scrape on every bump in the road. A fashion that seems to have caught on is a huge spoiler made out of Mecanno bolted onto the boot. Often unpainted. Admit it, no matter how loud your stereo is, they look crap. And your music sucks anyway. And what is it with the little 'air-intake' things on the roof of some fashy cars - where does the air go? Whats up with that?!?!
A couple of weeks ago I saw a truly cool car over in Clitheroe - the bodywork was wood. For real! Judging by the way it turned the corner, it was based on a 2CV chassis (and probably worth more than the original car!). And no spoiler!!!
Posted by Badgers at 09:56 AM | Comments (0)
Cliches
The Plain English Campaign are at it again! Cliches are the new target, and 'at the end of the day' has been voted the most annoying cliche of all!
Others include 'its not rocket science', 'ballpark figure', 'pushing the envelope' and 'address the issue'. Oddly, 'head them off at the pass' wasn't included!
Link to the Plain English site here.
Posted by Badgers at 09:46 AM | Comments (0)
Brain Surgeon Suspended For Wanting More Soup
A brain surgeon in Nottingham has been suspended on full pay for taking a bowl of soup without paying. Dr Terence Hope was suspended, and now reinstated after the theft. Overkill, or what?
Of course, at £80,000 a year, he could surely afford to have paid for it... or had it put on his tab (he's good for it!)
News links here
Posted by Badgers at 09:37 AM | Comments (0)
The Interview
I am in Tokyo to do an interview with Ayumi Hamasaki for the site... I hunt round and eventually find the address (Japanese addresses are notoriously hard to work out) and knock. I am let in and I'm led upstairs into a dingy flat. I sit on a messy bed and wait. I watch an old woman cooking something in the kitchen, and after some waiting, during which I look out the window over the backstreets of Tokyo (somehow I expected it to be the Akihabara area, but it is as dingy as the flat! A man comes in and in heavily accented english he asks me some questions. I realise that this is a security check - there was no way that I would interview her here! After a short while he is satisfied that I am who I am, and takes me downstairs to a car and we drive off...
Bugger - I don't know if I got the damn interview!!! Again, this is what happens when you watch an Ayumi concert before going to bed! I'm not sure where most of this comes from, to be honest, but lots of it seemed really authentic at the time (as dreams do) but even afterwards, the araea the flat was in was 'right' for a dingy area of Tokyo - probably silimar to the village in Shenmue only for real.
And of course, I would never get an interview with the great woman herself!
Posted by Badgers at 09:30 AM | Comments (0)
Japanese Cybots
I am in Tokyo and it starts after I have just taken out some cyborgs in black suits - kinda like Agent Smith in The Matrix, but japanese and they have small miniguns coming out of their arms. I don't really know how I did it, but I keep getting flashbacks to the fight where I grab them and kick them and jam the guns.... I seem to be one myself, but I don't know how or why. After the battle we go to a small bar and they buy drinks which I gladly accept! I go off to the loo, and I hear them talking, and they are talking about me possibly being the one... or The One...
In the toilet I wonder about this when a monster rises from the toilet (a western toilet, oddly) and I think how the barman would like it on the wall... fade to the mosnters head on the wal with a toilet seat as a frame. Like a tacky movie..
A cheap Japanese Matrix ripoff? Surely not! This (and the next dream) are no doubt inspired by me watching an Ayumi Hamasaki concert before I went to bed... The monster in the toilet is possibly a reference to James' last dream entry (!)
Posted by Badgers at 09:16 AM | Comments (0)
The Destruction Of Burnley
I know, that sounds like a good idea, but it seems to be happening lately in this town - unused mills are being torn down, and nthis week has seen the plans laid out by Burnley Council to begin demolishing large area of the town that have old, empty housing (I live in such an area) and that are run down. Its a big, ambitous plan, and a good one, not just because it will give the house a better view (which it will, though it is likely to be a better view of a building site), but it might just rid the area of the junkies, the dealers and the prostitutes. Expect me to mention more on that as things go on.
Houses are not the only things being rebuilt and modernised - recetly the petrol garage near the hospital has been torn down and will be getting a Tesco Express on the site, and the hospital itself has revealed it's plans to totally modernise itself, but unlike Queens Park Hospital in Blackburn, it isn't moving to a new site... Could be fun when a surgeon asks for a drill during an operation...
More destruction and rebuilding at Greggs recently - they said they were closing the shop for a makeover (needed) that would reflect the heritage of the company... It's kinda strange that it is now bare, stark and not very heritage-y. Unless you feel that the heritage is just that they are a fast food outlet. The pasties are much more puffed up, but still not a patch on the ones sold by Hampsons in Clitheroe!
So, how has the past week been? Mine hasn't been anywhere near as bad as usual, but still very annoying - interesting, though! Between all the rain and hail (sounds like a James Taylor song) I fitted special smoke alarms, and rediscovered how annoying deaf people can be. When we fit alarms, we don't do it for beauty, but one couple really didn't want it surface wired. 'It showed'. So, it had to go through the loft. I don't do lofts. luckily, the husband arrived, and drilled the holes, but not before demolishing half a fitted wardrobe and mking a not-so neat hole in the ceiling in the process. Amazingly, my bit worked. Another person I saw had a stash of porn in his bedroom on full view. Not just a mag or two shoved under the bed - more like a pile of scary DVDs and videos two feet high next to the TV. And a week's worth of Daily Sport newspapers. I'm lucky I could pull my feet off his carpet!
Otherwise work wasn't too bad - my boss gave me my last supervision and said she was happy with my progress and stuff, and my sickness review was the same mixed messages as before. She has no problems saying that my health and attendance are both of top importance (see earlier blogs!) but I have no problems in saying 'stuff the job, I'm ill' on those days that I can't move as I am really ill (unlike Andrew who just had a few days off to play Galaxies)!
Last Sunday saw me having fun on Far Cry and Unreal Tournement 2004 - two games so good I actually went out and bought them! Of course, I really want to play them online (Far Cry is superb, but seems a little laggy online, though as all the servers were giving pings of 100+ it isn't too surprising, but UT 2K4 is fantastic - Onslaught mode is brilliant with 66+ players, and virtually no lag - I may do reviews again soon!)
Sunday also saw Nick bemoaning his lot and wanting to sort out his computer by buying a new one. A monster, more powerful than mine. With an Athlon 64bit processor, 2 gig of memory, and at least a Radeon 9800xt... no doubt he'll be one of the first people to go PCI Express, and have lots of problems with a first generation card... James has had to send the hire car back and is now in another Sierra - this time a decent looking Sapphire model with less rust.
On the parent front, after some Community stuff is being stopped by a neighbouring area being grumpy and egos beginning to start chipping in, Mum & Dad are set to leave the local Community Action Group and once her committments are soerted, will not be involved again, even as a volunteer. She has been at the forefront of organising lots of the events, but has given up as in-fighting begins to take over the group, it seems. Their loss. She has also got a cut over her eye as Folly, the whippet/doberman cross, jumped up and caught her with a nail - looks nasty, but is getting better. I also have to take my dad to York for a week's training course, and of course, the date (which I was finally told on Friday) is the same as the Team Away Day in Longridge where we plan the future of or service and how to make it better. Luckily, I get him to York early, and rush back on the motorway, but that day will be so much no-fun. And I am in Northwich the day after - what am I, a bloody rep?!?
Thursday saw me going through Padiham at lunch and seeing the aftermath of what looked to be a spectacular crash - no details as it was too late for the local paper, but a car at the side with a smashed front, a bike on it's side on the other side of the road and oddly, a back of chips and crisps scattered everywhere - whether theree was a pedestrian involved I don't know (an ambulance had just arrived, but no blood on the road, thankfully.
I mentioned Clitheroe earlier, and I now know what I want for Christmas (Last year) and my birthday (for the last two years!) As no-one picked up on my hints for presents (a PS2 memory card, helping to pay towards my Eagle Transporter) or indeed paid me for buying the Macross/Robotech lighters I bought for them to gve James at Christmas. After I spent actual money on them at Christmas. A shop in Clitheroe was selling a cute carved Tin Tin figure, but no Snowy. Now they have mor including Tin Tin in space suit, hiking gear, etc - all very wantable!
In other stuff, I found out that the server move has not happened (the reason for the big update session this morning) and finally got round to getting PHP Nuke installed on .com... And yesterday was a fairly big spring cleaning day as the idiots are due up here this afternoon (apart from Mr Grumpy who is working), which coul be interesting as we share the internet connection... We shall see!
Posted by Badgers at 09:02 AM | Comments (2)
March 20, 2004
And The Winner Is....
Christopher Eccleston! One of my favourite actors, and a nice surprise to wake up to find that he had been cast as the Ninth Doctor... I wonder though if all those fools that moaned about Richard E Grant's Doctor in the Shalka webcasts will be happy - after all, I doubt that this new Doctor will be a happy smiley guy with jelly babies... of course, I could be wrong!
Well done, BBC - it looks like you are doing something right! This looks like a great new start/continuation of Doctor Who... just don't bugger it all up in 2005!!!I'm sure James will be unhappy though (he usually is!) Now if only you would also splash out the money to make the fifth season of Angel, another great show - and this time one that was geting great ratings! - cancelled! And still Mutant X and Andromeda continue (though I'll let Andromeda off as I like all the characters except Dylan Hunt - go figure!)
Ah well... Life in the past few hours isn't much changed from yesterday, really, though the server move doesn't seem t be affecting the site yet, though I could be wrong, and this entry will fade into the ether!
Posted by Badgers at 01:17 PM | Comments (2)
March 19, 2004
NTL Help!
I woke up this morning to find and email from James to say that someone had mailed him to ask about my entry on installing NTL - specifically the dreaded vtruck error! Why email Mr Grumpy I don't know... Still, as a service (and since a search for vtruckdbg brings up Badgers!) I felt it was worth putting up the link to the site that helped me set up when the CD karked it!
Cable Modem Troubleshooting Tips is a pretty comprehensive site that covers pretty much everything as far as I can see. If you have the set top box you don't really need the install CD anyway, but the cable modem does need the drivers from the disc - the main pages that explain all this are the Installer Issues and the Registration Issues (the latter explains how to register your box and computer with NTL without going through the CD. Hopefully this will help point some people in the right direction!
In other stuff, I spent yesterday doing little apart from grabbing the demo for Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow and playing it to death (can't seem to do the spit jump yet!) and wondering if I should go to Manchester today... Now I don't feel too bad, I want out of the house for reasons other than work!
...And just laughing at The Golden Arrow on TCM - or to be specific, the battle scene with Tad Hunter firing the titular magic arrow (not to hit anyone, but to stop the horses, slice the string on bows, etc, and three genies whizzing round on carpets dropping pots onto the heads of baddies - silly, but fun!
Posted by Badgers at 08:21 AM | Comments (0)
March 17, 2004
NTL: Hell!
I'm doing this blog entry in little bursts, saving as I go, as I'm not entirely sure if my NTL broadband connection will keep up, or whether IE will suddenly freeze the computer!!! This week has been one of those weeks, so far - what else did I expect?
Sunday afternoon saw me go from sniffly to sounding like an aqualung in just a few short hours (I think I was running on adrenaline on Saturday), but at was fun - different levels to play in Raven Shield and some fiddling as usual. James turned up, a little late, but he turned up. He is currently hiring a new car (a first for him) as his wife managed to run into someone with the blue Sierra. Even though it has been written off, James feels it is actually fine - it's just the colour-matched bumper that is the problem. Hmm - perhaps a little more work needed to pass the MOT if they wrote it off, methinks... still, he seems happy with the newer car...
Monday was a bugger as I worked a day of my holiday to fit some equipment, Tuesday was spent on my bed barely able to get up as I was so dizzy and out of it due to whatever this thing is that I have caught, And today was fine apart from a boring meeting that went nowhere (surprise!) and the fact that this morning my NTL STB decided to lose it's connection to broadband! I've now got it to have the light on the front that says that the connection is there, but it seems that now the PC is losing the connection.... between that and IE suddenly freezing the computer as well, I'm not too happy! It seems okay at the moment, though... At first I wondered if they had stopped my service due to my downloading going over the 1 gig limit, but this is doubtful as I haven't downloaded that much each day (hardly that much since Saturday to be honest) and they have to tell you first. And considering the amount James downloads till four in the morning...
Hopefully things will work out better tomorrow, but I doubt it. Life sucks. After all, I managed to be given my job in the new structure at work, which is annoying! Ah well. At least I managed to do a blog entry with a Jethro Tull reference in it - that was fun.
Later, I hope!
Posted by Badgers at 08:31 PM | Comments (2)
March 13, 2004
Cable Guys
Thursday was survivable, though my boss did call while my mobile was off - it turns out that the man who was supposed to come in to collect a fax machine did, but they couldn't find it. When it is on my desk. Sigh.
Friday was just busy - I got most of what I wanted done, though one job hd to be cancelled until I return from holiday, and the closures I had wanted to get closed didn't happen. Thankfully, the meeting wasn't too bad - in fact it was no problem ar all. The last visit in Clitheroe was a pain though - the equipment, that I had waited ages for, didn't work for him. Sigh.
Then I get home last night happy to havwe missed the usual birthday stuff(Friday was my 34th birthday, you see) to find that NTL had been to check if the cable would be okay and said that they would be here this morning to connect it. And they were. At 9.00am. On the dot. Two hours of wiring and fiddling and the cable box was set up and working, and they left. The fun thing about the installation? One if the guys was a little hungover from being out last night, but the one who was actually wiring up the room was kinda amazed at Ayumi... the computer, that is! I don't think he's ever seen anything like it. Few people have, especially when lit up, humming and generaly doing its thing. So to speak. All I had to do then was set up the set top box so my computer wourld access the internet through it. And of course, there was a problem. The installer kept giving me a 'VTruckDBG' error. Some hunting on the net via mum and dad's Tiscali broadband connection and I was able to sort out how to connect manually without any of that CD stuff, and bingo - I was online again! Of course, while I get a monster fast connection to the NTL newsserver, the ones I usually use were slower than BT, and sadly they have the pop video group on (but NTL doesn't!). It's not a problem as one of them needs renewing and I can let that one go and keep one going, so I don't have to tape too much VH1 Classic... Insane, I know... Sigh.
So, now I'm ready to get down to being able to watch The Handler again and other stuff I usually miss, often because it is on BBC Three! And this in the week that The Alan Clark Diaries gets shown on BBC2... Sigh.
Slight Update: I have watched lots of VH1, and an old episode of Knight Rider on Bravo where he goes to help a logger with a quick temper... and I noticed something interesting. KITT is open top at the beginning. That's fine. Then as he leaves Michael Knight pops up the roof, which is a soft top (and even has the handle to lock it in place (Hasselhoff even reaches to lock it down). No sign of the console above his head, and the next shot shows KITT to be his usual self, without the soft top. Of course, this is nothing compared to the glaring problems caused by super pursuit mode later in the series, but lets not get into that... It's also the episode where KITT keeps changing his voice when he goes over a bump. I actualy used to watch this show avidly. Sigh.
Posted by Badgers at 04:46 PM | Comments (0)
March 11, 2004
A Job Not Done
I am at work, though I am not in the job I do now. It looks like I might be in admin. A social worker comes up and angrily asks about the transport for some old dear who has, apparently, been in hospital for a few months waiting. They cannot get her home without the transport. And it is all my fault.
I apologise and quickly fill in the forms to get the transport. The social worker strides off saying he wants it in writing in triplicate. Somehow I think this is an Anchor job... but is it really mine?
The funny thing about this dream is that I woke up sweating and thought that my job really was this admin/transport thing, and that I had in fact forgotten to do it. It took a few moments to shake this off and come round, which was scary. It's probably due to the fact that I'm supposed to be off work next week (though I am working 2 1/2 days instead and not getting paid for the days leave I can't take) and am rushing to get stuff done before I go home on Friday night (at 6.30).
Another thing is that I never apologise - I pass the buck! (Joke!)
The 'anchor' thing was odd as today I went to see an old dear (who had been waiting for a while for her appointment as it wasn't sent on to me to do) at a sheltered housing complex owned by Anchor.
This is not the only dream that I thought was real lately - every so often I have one of those dreams where you live in a house similar but quite different to the one you are in now, or one you lived in in the past. I have these every so often, but one recently really confused me as it was the old house - and it was so real it hurt to wake up from it. Another one I had recently (last week in fact, though the details went quickly as I have been waking up with a bang recently and that, as we know, tends to wipe the dreams out of your mind) had me walking up and going to work at a totaly different job to the one that is messing me up at the moment. Whatever that job was, I want it. Now. I seemed to like it!
Posted by Badgers at 06:04 AM | Comments (0)
All It Needed Was Sarah Beeny
So, I'm taking my friends to see the house I have just bought. They are excited and wondering if there will be enough room for them to set up their PCs on Sundays. I tell them there will be. I open the door and shove them in as they are blindfolded. They take them off and gasp.
I have bought an old church.
The camera pans round the hallway first, then out into the church proper. It has been stripped of all the pews and stuff long ago, so it is a big open room (very big!) with a tiled floor. I start telling them about my plans for the space, and how I will have it on two levels (the church is kinda tall enough!). They are amazed, then they go through into the vestry, etc and gasp again - so much room! And me living in an old church. I am very happy, and show them the plans and stuff.
This is the sort of dream I like. And the sort of dream I want to come true. I'd love to live in an old church (preferably in the belfry where I could drop things on passers by). No doubt this was in my head as yesterday I spent ages up and down and passed a few churches that were now converted into flats. Of course, I had to go one better in the dream, and buy a whole church. That and reading a certain classic Father Brown story.
The plans were quite cool if I remember correctly - I may well use them in some future project. If only that project was the church in real life! I wonder where I got the money though? It'd cost a bomb to buy a church (heck - I can't even afford to go halves on a hole in the ground for a few more years)...?
Sarah Beeny, host of Channel 4's Property Ladder was sadly conspicuous by her abscence.
Posted by Badgers at 05:49 AM | Comments (2)
March 10, 2004
I Despair. Really.
The good news is that so far this week has been better than last week, though waking up this morning to a flat tyre was a bit of a downer!
Saturday was of course not too bad, and Sunday saw James turn up at Nick's (with battered PC - mine would have stood up to that pointless assault!) and also the plague-ridden Andrew was there too. He explained that unlike me, when he is ill he isn't ill like when I fake it... lets try him having a heart problem, no balance, low blood pressure, migraines, a memory like one of those things with holes in that isn't a rhinoceros. At least I can pick up a phone, and do emails when ill (even if my voice is almost gone), rather than pull a sickie to play Galaxies... Still, he was in fine spirits, whinging away. James is worried someone spiked his drink as he obviously had a bad night a (and week!) - he's going to be on non-alcoholic drinks next time. Oh, and yes, Andrew will definitely be at the next one. Yeah, and Flight 223 will finally land in Washington!
Work-wise the week has been good so far - I had a meeting in Preston that was half-way interesting, yesterday wasn't too annoying out on visits, bt today was annoying - in the office most of the day, and some stuff I ordered a couple of months ago urgently have finally arrived. I kept my boss happy with a load of closures and the news that tfrom 1st April I should be no longer her concern!
In other stuff, my glasses still aren't ready, the parents are now on Tiscali broadband, I am ready to go NTL (I got a letter from BT saying they were sorry that i was leaving - as I hardly use the phone, £9.50 line rental is better than £30 a month, in my book... and I get TV and fast internet too), and James is witering that some things are not working on the site. I wonder what he'll say if I stop his user for a while... Considering what is coming the Friday, I hope the week stays okay (though I have got to work two days of my leave - yeah - try THAT Andy!) though Friday does have an annoying meeting coming up - don't these people realise that just having me for this half of Lancashire is going to cause some delays?!?! Ah well - I'll report on that lot sometime later this week. We'll see if I can stop myself from jacking in the job afterwards...
Posted by Badgers at 08:47 PM | Comments (5)
Sitcom
If ever there was a sitcom doomed to fail, it would be this one. But still, BBC Breakfast are bigging it up and I am sat behind a chair near the TV watching the promo for the show. The presenters waffle on, but I don't know what they said. There are some clips from the show, which is a co-production by the BBC and NBC in the US - it is in fact two sitcoms - one set in the US with a bunch of stupid college jocks, and one set in Manchester with two complete pricks.
The pilot (from which the clips are taken) involves the pricks meeting the jocks as some sort of exchange programme - there were clips of various 'funny' moments and then the clip of them going their separate ways, into their own sitcoms, apparently specially made to appeal to viewers on both sides of the Atlantic. Yeah, right.
While I'm watching the screen I'm also messing with my cat - I don't know where it comes from, but I suddenly have a ginger cat and I'm playing with a ball and it is playing too. From the other side of the chair mum says that the sitcom looks funny. The cat and I roll our eyes and shrug.
Where the heck did the sitcom come from? All I know is that it can bugger off nack there - luckily I don't remember much about it, but it was bad. Middle-period Friends bad. Still, the BBC were giving it the big push, it just didn't happen to be over Beachy Head.
The cat was cute. The cat is no doubt one I saw the day before, except that ginger tom wasn't in quite the same shape on the side of the road, if you catch my drift. I guess I was just giving it some fun.
Why was I behind a chair? No idea - but considering how horrid the show was, I think I should have been at the other side!!!
Posted by Badgers at 06:34 AM | Comments (0)
March 08, 2004
Lucasarts Sucks!
"LucasArts has decided to stop production on Sam & Max
After careful evaluation of current market place realities and underlying economic considerations, we've decided that this was not the appropriate time to launch a graphic adventure on the PC" says Mike Nelson, Acting General Manager and VP of Finance and Operations. There is currently no plan to reduce staff.
With these words, on the 3rd March 2004, the world learned that the company that made its reputation on classic adventure games (yes, in those days, there were no non-stop and dreary Star Wars games coming off the conveyor belt!!!). A similar release appeared last year to announce that production had stopped on Full Throttle 2, though that had its problems and was not really the sequel the fans wanted...
Sam and Max - the classic - has been a favourite game of many an adventure fan, and the idea of a sequel, in 3D, which was apparently coming along fine, made the new game one of the most awaited games in ages (making Far Cry, Half Life 2 and Doom 3 seem like other games that are long awaited). The humour would be there, the quality would be, and yet, despite its advanced state (apparently it was well on it's way) it is cancelled as the market wasn't ready for an graphic adventure.
What the hell was Broken Sword 3? Not the greatest game, but it sold well. Knights Of The Old Republic? A great puzzle game obviously... But then, the last one was kind of a Star Wars game, wasn't it? I think I have the plan that Lucasarts are going to be working to in the future. After all, the last Indiana Jones game sucked, so I don't think there'll be many of those coming along. Star Wars games, on the other hand, can be crap and still sell. They have the magic words in the titles... Admittedly, I enjoyed Jedi Academy (especially when I turned dark and ripped Kyle Katarn a new one), and I'm enjoying the openess of Galaxies, but somehow I have a feeling that they are rushing games out a little quickly - Armed & Dangerous is fun, but I agree that a little more polishing (and releasing it after Christmas) would have made it much better. As would a multiplayer option.
Maybe it's a Lucasfilm thing - after all, look at what Lucas did to Star Wars (and I'm not talking about The Phantom Menace!) in making Greedo fire first (a tough bounty hunter missing at point blank range! Yeah, right! And if Han was not going to shoot him, why did he have the gun under the table already?) Perhaps Episode III will suddenly be cancelled as it wil not be financially viable to release a film in the current market... well, obviously not - it has Star Wars in the title..
My solution - not to buy another Lucasarse (oops!) game until Sam & Max- Freelance Police is released! I will still play them though... they just won't get any money from me...
Of course, the only thing that could be worse than this news is the possibility that Michael Grade wants to be the head guy at the BBC again, and Doctor Who might just find itself cancelled again... (Noooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!)
Posted by Badgers at 09:37 PM | Comments (1)
March 06, 2004
One of Those Weeks...
Ever had one? When everything goes pear-shaped? And not in a good, Rogue Noid Productions way? I even got dumped by Catherine! This is a snapshot of mine...
After waking up early and spending the morning reading and playing Knight Online and watching Poirot on Plus I headed to Nick's to shoot him - no Andrew though. I called him and got an answer - apparently he was ill. And had been when I spoke to him on Galaxies. And of course, he was totally unable to get out of bed, reach across his broom cupboard (he lives a little like a 33 year-old, ginger-haired, Harry Potter) to call or email us. Either that, or he was too busy buggering about with the stuff I plonked by his house on Tattooine... ah well. I guess we can't expect anything else, really! He even had the gall to call me about my recent illnesses! Git. Not that he sounded very ill, though - just like normal, actually. At least I sound ill when I'm off (but then I usually only go sick when I am ordered home, or just can't actually move or walk due to it!) James didn't turn up either (a big surprise there), so we played a little Vietcong and then I got him to play some Far Cry... Most of the afternoon was us talking, which made a pleasant change!
I got home, and went online - I got my emails and suddenly my computer shut down with a thump. And that dreaded siren sound that means the processor is not a happy bunny. I checked it, and found it had kinda gone bang. So I had a night without a computer. Luckily, I have a Dreamcast and a copy of Ikaruga... I turned my LCD monitor on it's side, fired it up and played the game vertically, full screen. That game rocks, and the console still does too. I even started playing Shenmue II as well - it's been nearly 18 months since I last played it, by the save game, and I know why - I was in the building of endless QTEs!!! I managed to get on though, and by Monday night I was in China after finally meeting Shenhua! I only have a little more to go to unlock the Saturn version of Shenmue, so tht's probably going to take up more of my time than finishing the new 'Research' demo of Far Cry. Maybe...
So, I ordered the new bits, and NTL cable, on my parents PC and set off to work on Monday. After my week off, I had no real problems. Tuesday came and went with still no hassles and physio (ow!). Tuesday night saw me fitting the new 3200+ Athlon processor, and firing up the computer again. Wednesday was busy, Thursday a pain but not as bad as I thought - I had my physio review and Catherine felt it was time for me to leave (at last!!!) and continue at home. In a month's time I'll get a call and they'll discuss getting me vouchers, etc to go to gyms, Thompson centre, etc, to exercise on my own. Hurray! I think...
Friday was a bugger. it was busy, I had lots of letters to do, an afternoon of visits, and an unhappy deaf man who wants a meeting. This may be my ticket out of this damned job! I also had two people who needed my help urgently who I couldn't get in touch with (one in Longridge, and I was sooo not driving over there blind) and generally felt as grumpy as James does normally.
This morning I finally decided to move RNP onto this server, playe the new Far Cry demo, watched some old Avengers episodes and chilled. All I have to get though is another week then I'm off again. Ish. Y'see, I have a meeting one day, and have to go and see two deaf people urgently on the Monday as well. I get 3 days max of my week off. Not that I care at the moment - the rest of the days will be spent with the NTL cable installation, shopping, etc... then I'll escape Hell to return to work. Which will be more Hell.
Life. I need one, but can't afford it. I'd love a better job, though! Please!
Posted by Badgers at 02:14 PM | Comments (0)
Relationship Advice From My 'Best Mate'
I'll be the first to admit that my relationships have seldom been deep, or worked out well - either they meet someone better (not hard to manage!), vanish after a friend dies, or get dragged off by a bloke from Blackburn (when the girl in question was looking for someone from Burnley and was buying me lunches, etc, but that is sooo another story!). Nowadays I am content to live my life, giving most of my money away to either my parents or eBay (!), and for me the night out is, as it was last weekend, a chance to have fun, imbibe alcohol and not seriously go hunting beaver. Or any wild animal. Or domesticated. If you know what I mean (and I'm sure you do.)
Of course, not everyone is quite so happy in their lot, and a certain married person is one of them. By the end of the night he was heading into melancholia and trying to drag me with him... luckily, I am a happy drunk, and one who usually keeps most of his faculties fairly intact. I can usually stop myself from singing along to Summer Of '69 while debating serious philosophical points as "You're my best mate", "You're the man" and whether the floor is level. And getting relationship advice at that point in the evening/morning/whatever can be an interesting excercise. He knew me, apparently. He knew what I was like. My life was simple. I would never know all he had lost, etc. Go out there. Go on. Go on. Go on go on go on go on, etc... His advice seemed to consist of me going out there and grabbing a girl with both hands. Like Nick. Except I think I'll stick to the living, though, if I can be bothered. Less chance of my skull being broken open and my brain eaten. Nick should be safe there, though.
I'm happy with my simple, uncomplicated life. Marriage no longer grabs me as a goal to aim for. I do not feel the need to continue my line (there are far too many of my family around the world as it is!), and kids are not something I want - though I'll admit to becoming a little broody occasionally... It is Spring, after all! Currently my money is mine (well, apart from the stuff that goes to pay bills for parents, etc but thats just my exheritance!). I can atch what I want, play what I want, listen to Ayumi Hamasaki and collect old computers and consoles. What more could I want? I don't even have to clean out my car! Bliss!
(Note - If I ever do get involved with someone and get all the above things - possibly not a too unlikely, if distasteful, possibility - be sure to point this little rant out to me, okay?)
Posted by Badgers at 01:45 PM | Comments (0)
Exhausted
Last week, when we went out for the night out, Nick was happy to tell me how his exhaust had fallen off his 306. Well, not all the exhaust...
Y'see, he had been hearing a funny noise and on stopping found that the middle bit of his exhaust was hanging off and dragging on the road. He took it to a garage who hadn't got the bit needed (!) and he asked if they could tape it up or something. They obviously couldn't, but could take it off for now, until he gets a new exhaust fitted.
Now, Nick feels that the exhaust is fine without this bit - the car goes faster ('because it's lighter' he says) and it is running quieter. I know, I know....
Before James set off on his journey into relationship advice (see above!) he managed to explain that it probably wasn't a very good idea to do this for a long time... I can't remember the details, as it was a night out with alcohol and let's face it, the technical details of cars pass way over my head! As long as mine goes where I want it and can go fast, I don't care. that it should have four wheels and an engine is as much car knowledge as I need, thank you very much!
Sometimes, I wonder why Nick hasn't ended up as a nominee for a Darwin Award...
Posted by Badgers at 01:25 PM | Comments (1)
Physiotherapy Is A Jip!
As you will have read in my latest blog, I am now free of physio for the foreseeable. But there are a few points that are worth raising (apart from the fact that Catherine was very lovely and didn't wrench my foot off much!).
The first point I have touched upon before - the flexibility of time. When someone says that you wil be exercising for two minutes, then go onto another, you believe them. Oddly enough, as I watched the clocks on the walls I noticed that in the early part of the session two minutes closely approximated that, usually. Sometimes, and certainly by the middle of the lesson, two minutes means three. Or more. By the end of the session, two minutes means one. If you are lucky. Of course, some exercises do seem longer than they actually are, but cold follow the second hand on the clocks - thrice round means three minutes.
Another point is Health & Safety. One man in my class had been in physio and fell, and was now in physio for that injury. As well as the old one. Currently, you can't wear outside shoes (as you will damage the floor - only proper trainers, etc) which makes sense. You can't wear socks to walk about as they are slippy on the floor. Again, understandable. No running, sliding, climbing the wall bars, etc - nothing exactly mind-blowing there. The problems is that they then put you (with your gammy leg) on rough surfaces, wobbly boards, very wobbly rubber cushions, benches, etc. Bear in mind that when you start physio, your leg will not be able to bear weight too well, and your balance will be pretty shoddy (mine is after my fall four years ago anyway) and you have a H&S nightmare!
Cushions. Some of the great exercises they have involve cushions - in the early '90s (my last brush with physio and boy did I need it then) had us taking cushions out of their covers and putting them back, and the ever popular trying to rip them apart (yeah right!). But a favourite is using the cushions to walk on by sliding them along the floor. This creates friction and gives movement to your ankle. I understand that. What is really happening is that you are polishing the floors for them! Note the 'wax on, wax off' style movements, and the sliding (that we're not supposed to do, remember?) from one end of the gym to the other. I'm sure I saw the old guy spray the floors before we started this past week!
To be honest, my foot doesn't feel much different (it still aches when it wants to, still locks up, still feels dodgy), though I have developed a few extra muscles in the legs. Hmm. Don't take this rant as a reason not to go though - it will help, but be warned - time is fluid, you will fall over and have the chance to hurt yourself even more, and you may be lucky enough to meet Catherine!
Posted by Badgers at 01:18 PM | Comments (0)