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*Shudder*
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Dec. 21st, 2005 @ 07:11 pm
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It's amazing how fast Condemned, and its reputation, can creep you out of playing. For instance, I now almost constantly have to fight the nagging part of my brain saying "yeah you played it, now switch it the hell off".
I got to the Department Store, level 5. I've been knocking the heads off store dummies to make sure they're not gonna come to life, as I know some do. It saved as I was approaching one in a glass cabinet, so I switched off.Feeling:  uncomfortable |
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Fuckers be trippin'
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Dec. 21st, 2005 @ 12:42 am
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Angry Goth
What Kind of Goth Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla
Bastards.Feeling:  angry |
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Ah hah!
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Dec. 21st, 2005 @ 12:35 am
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You fit in with:
Humanism
Your ideals mostly resemble that of a Humanist. Although you do not have a lot of faith, you are devoted to making this world better, in the short time that you have to live. Humanists do not generally believe in an afterlife, and therefore, are committed to making the world a better place for themselves and future generations.
0% scientific.
60% reason-oriented.
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Take this quiz at QuizGalaxy.com
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Feeling:  surprised |
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Hypnotism ROCKS.
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Dec. 20th, 2005 @ 11:53 pm
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There's something about seeing a guy, bound to a chair, screaming "what the fuck do you want with me? Who the fuck are you? Why won't you leave me the fuck alone? Fuck off! FUCK OFF!" at a bunch of people dressed like Santa because he's been hypnotised into fearing whatever comes over the brow of the hill.Feeling:  amused |
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Oh Mr Kutaragi, please listen to what you're saying.
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Dec. 19th, 2005 @ 03:12 pm
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"Whether consumers think a product is expensive or cheap all depends on the balance between its appeal and price," said Kutaragi, again hinting that the PlayStation 3 may indeed be a pricy piece of kit. "Our idea is for consumers to think to themselves, 'Right, I'll work more hours and buy it.' We want people to feel that they want it, no matter what. When Nintendo was selling its 16-bit machine at around 12,500 yen ($114), we sold the first PlayStation at 39,800 yen ($364). The press was saying that it was expensive, but it was a huge hit. It's the same thing with the PlayStation Portable from last year. The Game Boy Advance is a similar handheld gaming machine, and it costs less than 10 thousand yen ($91). On the other hand, our PSP had cost 25,000 yen ($229). And there were people lined up overnight to buy it, and it sold out on the day of launch. It all depends on whether people want it. Of course, I'm confident that PlayStation 3 is a product that people will definitely want."
Erm, slight problem, fella- the SNES was a dying system when you came around; a comparison to, say, the Saturn would be a better idea, and that was a similar price but inferior. Same goes for GBA and PSP- the DS, which is still kicking your ass by the way, is a better base for comparison.
Facts, you need to get straight.Feeling:  shocked |
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Feel like crap. For the first time EVAR (IN THIS JOB ^_^) i'M RINGING IN SICK.
Dec. 19th, 2005 @ 09:11 am
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| » This is how bored I am |
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Finally found an image of a Fox Demon from Jade Empire, the origin of my phrase "titty fox heaven". See the posts around May for further info.
Dec. 18th, 2005 @ 06:23 pm
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| » Supposed to be doing NVQ work |
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Gah, this is boring.
*Air guitars to "Walk"*
Dec. 18th, 2005 @ 04:07 pm
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| » "This year in review" |
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As stolen off the LJ peeps.
Basically, it's the first line of the first journal post of the month.
January: So, Sam's mum and Andy came today, with gran in tow, to bring up the rest of the presents.
February: So, the "dog house" is really, really nice.
March: We were supposed to be training until 4:30.
April: For never have you had a massage like the constant praise for getting the ungettable.
May: The amount of humour in Jade Empire is astounding.
June: The guys who owned the house we practically had have gone back on their word and taken a higher bid from the first couple.
July: Today, for those who do not know, is International White Band Day.
August: My God.
September: Been out with Dave on his scooter to have a practice.
October: So, they've all gone on holiday.
November: Right, I want to do a bit of shopping, and we need good food.
December: So, there I was, 5:30am, crawling out of bed.
Gee, it all makes so much sense...
Dec. 17th, 2005 @ 09:11 pm
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| » It must be late... |
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MTV has music on.
Dec. 17th, 2005 @ 02:44 am
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| » Now that IS a refreshing change. |
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Wow, Google Earth's detail level sure has shout up; finally, Newcastle and Bradford are fully detailed! Sure, where I'm writing this isn't; did I really expect it to be? No...
Wow. It's amazing... I have to admit, being able to see the place my nan lived her final days made me a little emotional. Still a raw wound, I suppose.
Dec. 17th, 2005 @ 01:41 am
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| » Wooooh. Spoooooooky. |
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The house is empty, bar me and the cats. The neighbours must be awake, as I can hear them.
At least, I hope it's them.
Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeerie.
Dec. 16th, 2005 @ 11:46 pm
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| » High Life indeed! |
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So, my copy of The High Life, BBC Scotland's comedy series about a fictional Scottish airline, finally turned up.
The DVD's Region 0, also used on flights. Oh, the irony.
Dec. 15th, 2005 @ 10:28 am
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| » Two things finally turn up. |
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So, while Sam was asleep, the major part of her Christmas present arrived! Huzzah, etc. Also, when she finally got downstairs and I popped to the loo, the other item I'd been waiting for turned up: a 50" tiger burn patterned rattan escrima jo staff. Sam's very happy with this, as it was quite obvious the idea I bought myself a bokken and she couldn't use it to practice her skills due to the curvature bothered her a little. So, solution found.
It's also a little kinky to her. This worries me.
Dec. 14th, 2005 @ 11:34 am
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| » Mini FLAP meet day 2 |
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Well, Ollie got off around midday, after watching some of Space Cadets; everyone is amazed by how close they've come and how easily they've been suckered.
Convinced Allan of PDZ multi by the medium of Live. It worked a lot better today - seems there's some server issues as it all changes over - and as such I could demonstrate a larger amount of games. He seems to prefer Dark Ops' Sabotage mode, which I never expected; I still love the fantastic Infection mode, but Sabotage is quite good fun.
Apparently, a lot more games work on a 360 than has been said; Allan was up last night playing Predator Concrete Jungle, for example, and I do believe that isn't listed.
Dec. 13th, 2005 @ 11:27 pm
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| » Mini FLAP meet |
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So, Allan and Spike came over. Much multiplayer fandanglery ensued...
Did the usual run-through of the games: start with Kameo, demonstrate Condemned's fantastic graphics and atmosphere, show off PDZ. Played some Halo 2 with the lovely smooth graphics that the 360 brings out, messed around a lot... it was fun. Truly.
Allan's not very convinced of PDZ multiplayer yet though. That'll have to be rectified tomorrow.
Dec. 12th, 2005 @ 11:27 pm
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| » Sam will kill me |
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But I've yet again spent money on the card. I've bought her a present, and I know she'll love it.
Dec. 10th, 2005 @ 11:11 pm
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| » This NVQ lark gives me joy, honest. |
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Goddamn it. That's the last time I do anything in one of the fucking lessons.
Barry's watch was going off. I told him... and got a pen to the head off the lecturer in return. I haven't slept a lot, so this irked me a lot. I'd already been told off for talking when I made a little quip as she went off subject talking to someone. What, I'm supposed to sit here rapt while you chat to another student about something? Fuck's sake.
At least I was praised for having my work ready for marking already so it can be signed off.
Dec. 6th, 2005 @ 04:11 pm
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| » The Xbox 360 takeover: It has begun... |
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So, I thought that while I was trying to sort out the TV cabling and getting the Xbox unplugged ready for Sam selling it I'd remove all the electronics that were unecessary.
Stereo? Well, the CD drive is buggered, and the 360 plays streamed audio from the PC anyhow.
VCR? Redundant, totally.
Little CD player? Would have been plugged in were it not for the 360's streaming audio.
DVD player? Only staying by virtue of playing copies. The 360 apparently plays VCD etcetera too however, so that may go soon too...
So, what's left? A digibox for Freeview, a DVD player that may not stay and a 360.
Dec. 5th, 2005 @ 08:01 pm
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| » Review: Perfect Dark Zero |
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I'll admit this now, to get it out of the way: I thought this could NEVER live up to the hype. All anybody's said to me ever since I started the crazy act that was securing an unreserved 360 was "man, make sure you get PDZ with it, you'll certainly not regret it". And all I've thought is "yeah, whatever. PDZ's only on my list so I have something to play on Live".
What a stupid opinion to hold.
To get things straight: this was made by RARE. Forget the big gap between games of any quality; they were all third-person cack games anyhow. No, Rare specialise in 2 things: great platformers and FPS games of the spy genre. Goldeneye, THE console FPS, and the true heir and infinitely superior successor Perfect Dark. And now, unleashed on a high-definition beast of a machine, they shine.
Literally. I've never seen so much Goddamn sheen! Leather, PVC, metal, plastic - it fucking gleams. You can see water trickling down brickwork from broken gutters, ice melting on cliff edges, water spray from waterfalls... The detail level is immense. This game, as with all the games I've got, hammers home "this is what next gen looks like". It's fucking amazing. The animation is slick - if, like all the current physics engines, a bit odd in parts - and realistic, with you actually being able to watch muscles move as people reload guns and such. Animation detail drops significantly in multiplayer, but that's to be expected frankly. It's the little things, like jetpackers flying over urban levels and the like, that really brings home the detail level.
The weaponry, as a lot of people have pointed out, doesn't have that weight you've come to expect since Halo 2. The feedback and movements seem very light, especially when you consider Joanna's stature and age. They are, however, highly polished, with some very useful secondary and even tertiary fire modes. Stuff like the RCP-90's friend-or-foe view and reprogramming suite, the shotgun's radar sweep, even the Falcon's firecracker; all well thought out and useful in different ways. Some obviously share modes; the flashlight, underslung grenade launcher, energy fields... still, each is used slightly differently, and so maintain a small amount of uniqueness. Satisfying to use, for sure.
Level design is as polished as people have come to expect from a Rare FPS, with missions changing dependant on difficulty level and multiple possible places to go. The higher the difficulty, the more you have to explore the level; and the more you explore, the more you realise how massive the levels are. One later level, should you explore, rather memorably contains a small grotto, showcasing the amazing lighting and reflection technology being used. There's realistic stalagmites and stalagtites, a pool of crystal clear water, moisture glinting and running down the rock... amazing. And it's just a detour; so far, not a single mission objective's been in there.
Multiplayer. There. Let's say this fast to cut the complaints: this beats Halo 2 by a country mile, and not just because the 360's so hard to get the asshats off Live aren't in there yet. There are 2 main modes: Deathmatch and Dark Ops. Deathmatch is the usual; killcount, team killcount, capture the flag, territories... you get the idea. Dark Ops is, well, Counterstrike made playable. There's Infection, where the aim is to either survive the undead onslaught (yes, the infected are walking skeletons!) or to kill the fleshies; Eradication, where you eliminate the opposing team; Sabotage, where you have to destroy key targets before you get taken out; and finally, Onslaught, where you just have to try survive in a VERY small area. Now, Deathmatch is a leap in whenever, leap out whenever game; the game never finishes. People constantly jump in and out, and as such games really can go on forever. Dark Ops, however, is played in rounds, and here's the kicker; most of the time, you have to purchase your weapons. The cash level is set at the start, and goes up and down as you spend it at the start of rounds and achieve objectives in rounds. It's very well implemented, and whereas a lot of people buy the same weapons, some people have fave combos and use them well, showing off the flexibility well.
Overall, this is a very slick experience. Sure, the AI could be better and the physics of collapsing bodies is somewhat off at points; these are issues found in many games, however, and I certainly can't say it spoils the game. Living up to the hype? Depends on how much hype got your way...
Dec. 4th, 2005 @ 11:04 pm
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| » Review 1: Condemned |
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Okay, I'm not that far into this, but I feel pretty damn confident I can review this already.
I've read plenty of reviews of this already, and they're either hailing it as the true next generation game at launch or damning it as too short and linear. It's an interesting pair of opinions, which surely don't have to be exclusive of each other. I can see, however, why they would think it too short; there are, after all, only ten "chapters", and I suppose that, should you feel so inclined, you could do a chapter in, say, 30 minutes.
I, however, would say that's a silly idea. Frankly, it is a very atmospheric game; it is massively possible to rush, yes, but not if you truly "get" the atmosphere of the game. If you do, you'll be slowly creeping forwards; rushing merely allows the extremely violent denizens of the game world to get a better jump on you, especially if they're armed with a firearm. But, more on them later.
Let's start with the graphics. Now, if you haven't seen any of the pictures, you won't have seen just how detailed these textures are; the enviornments are very realistic, with crumbling walls, piles of detritus and realistic urban decay. There's a run down underground station; the abandoned office block at the start, heck even your own flat's quite grubby. The enemies are fantastically detailed, with drunken hobos asleep on benches covered in stained clothing and mottled hair and crazed drug addicts in filthy sportswear and even bike helmets to prevent deadly headblows.
Next, weaponry. Every weapon has 4 stats unless it's a gun: damage, block, speed and reach. There are 3 classes of weapon as well - debris (2x4s with bolts through them, road signs, rebars, pipes, conduits), tools (slow weapons of a more practical use; fire axes break down doors, spades pry off digital locks, and sledgehammers smash apart heavier door locks) and firearms (I'm assuming there are more, but so far these are psitols and shotguns). Now, anyone who's seen anything of the game will know about the "debris weapons" system; that is, most of the game's melee weapons can be found attached to walls (as pipes should be) or sticking out of rubble (like a rebar should be). Guns are found in lockers and cabinets or in the hands of dead enemies, and there is no such thing as extra ammunition. What's in the chamber, is what you have; you will have to swap guns to have any more. And, in the true spirit of realism, you'll carry one and one alone. That's it; not even a spare slot. Weapon switching means picking up a new one. Well, you DO have a taser; it takes a while to charge back up, but a headshot's a headshot, and they die. Anywhere else stuns, and therein lies the genius of it; shotgun-wielding foes can be taken down by hiding behind a doorway, watching them rush in and tasering them, at which point they drop it. Simply pick it up, and use it on them.
But these are clever enemies, oh yes. They hide around corners when you have a better weapon to try and get the drop on you; if you knock a weapon away they will try and strangle you or tear a new one off the wall; if they have firearms, they give chase, knowing they have an advantage. Some of them will even block a shot to buy them some time while they work out how best to batter you. It's worth going slowly just to listen for them; you can hear ragged breathing, even them battering each other senseless. And sometimes, this is your best strategy; get two of them in the same place and get out of sight, and they'll batter each other; time your own attack right and they'll be tired and weak enough to finish easy. You can't just wade in there; more than one is death, as long as they're both focused on you.
Sound, of course, is a very important part; there's no background music, leading to a more chilling game, the melee combat produces very visceral bone-smashing sounds and grunts and groans, enemies growl and scream frustration when they miss you or get their attacks blocked; dying birds flap their wings ineffectively to draw your attention.
The birds are part of the implementation of the 360's Gamerscore Achievements system; every 360 game has a way for you to earn a certain amount of Gamerscore points by achieving some goal or another. In Condemned, that includes end-of-chapter Achievements, weapon achievements, and hidden item achievements. Hidden throughout the game are 360 consoles and TVs showing various things, such as police badges and video footage. They're usually hidden somewhere requiring a tool that isn't necessarily en route to level completion, and it actually is usually incidental when you find one. There are also 2 collectables in every level: 3 pieces of strange metal (usually surrounded by eyes drawn on the wall - it actually does make you jump when you see it) and 6 dead or dying birds (some have rotted away, leading to discovery by gas spectrometer; others are still flapping, vainly trying to stay alive). They're pretty hard to find without a guide, and as such it really IS an achievement to find them all. It adds a reason to replay, along with the weapon achievements (find every weapon, use only firearms to kill which includes the taser thankfully, and use only melee weapons), which due to the supposed short length of the game is probably a blessing.
Overall, so far it's been a fantastic, if absolutely terrifying, experience. It is truly a scary game, even more so than the Project Zero or Silent Hill games, and one definately recommended.
Dec. 3rd, 2005 @ 05:17 pm
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| » I did it! I got the crystal! I GOT THE CRYSTAL! |
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So, there I was, 5:30am, crawling out of bed. Drained, weary, 4 hours sleep behind me.
But it was worth it.
I got to Asda Living Byker for 7am. There were 4 people queuing ahead of me, one literally arriving moments before me. "The security guy says they only got 3 in", says a young lad who's been there all nigh, sleeping in a shopping trolley. "That's odd", I say, noting the worried look of the lady ahead of me, "this Asda allocation list I got given says 5 premium 3 core..." After a few glances between the 3 overnighters, the lad breaks the silence. "Shit, we sent all those people home!" Laughter breaks out. We're all among friends.
It was a good 1 1/2 hours we all spent together, chatting away about gaming, explaining how it all works to a rather perplexed mother (the aformentioned woman who'd arrived a bit before me). We had a good laugh, and the store manager took pity on us and issued us with preorder tickets at 8am. I got my premium ticket, and waited. At 8:30am, with the heavenly noise of a heater and electric automatic doors opening, we went to collect our prizes.
Work dragged me down. My system was at home, and I was stuck, there, doing nothing of consequence! I needed to get out. I needed an early release...
And I got it. I was outta there like a shot, on a bus and home. Put up with mindless drivel for an hour or two, and was then left alone with my machine...
Right, and now we review it. No photos; is it really necessary? It looks no different in real life, and if you need to see a real one go look at a demo pod.
Righty, initial setup. You set up a profile, pick a picture, go through all the Gamercard steps. You set up the clock, etc. And then, finally, you can have some fun. Port across your Live account, and if you got a Premium like me go visit the Marketplace and get your exclusive vids like HD film trailers and the Red vs Blue "shameless 360 plug edition". That's not the actual name, but it IS damn close.
Do what I did as well; make it part of your network. To confirm, there are NO DRM PROGRAMS ON IT. Feel free to stream your illegal downloads to it! It plays .m3u playlists too, so any of those you have stored on your PC are usable. Nice little touch, that. You need Windows Media Centre Edition on at least one machine on your network to play back video, but that is a minor niggle.
Oh, and by the way - if you got the HDD, there's a load of content on there already. Delete most of it, but NOT HEXIC! Hexic is the reason it took me 1 1/2 hours to put an actual 360 game in. It's just damn lush; like Tetris's steroid enhanced brother, and twice as addictive. It does take a lot of effort to NOT play. Oh, and on the subject of Live Arcade games... download the demo games. Seriously. It is worth it. I've played the Gauntlet demo and now can't wait til I have some spare cash to buy the Marketplace currency, Microsoft Points. There's a discount for buying over Live, and they allow you access to pay for content like extra skins for your setup, new gamer images, Live Arcade games, and so on. Once I have some, I can download games like Gauntlet and Smash TV, or Outpost Kaloki X! You may not believe it, but this is just as great a prospect as, say, getting in a session of Condemned and Perfect Dark Zero (both of which I will review over the next 2 days).
The pad is sumptuous, purely heaven to hold, and the remote also. They work so well, and the headset is so much better this time too. The wirelessness is amazing - there's no drop in control or audio at all. Smooth as silk, and twice as good as Wavebirds ever were. The whole machine smells like quality. So far, so awesomely good.
Dec. 2nd, 2005 @ 11:51 pm
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| » Yeah, that time again. |
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Gonna try backdate as much as I can, to get this full of info again. It'll take a while; 17 days to cover, and not a lot of memory of it. Have to do the holiday with Matty as well.
So, to whit, coming soon:
*Twelfth Night (RSC @ Theatre Royal Newcastle, 26/11) review
*Prodigy (Metro Radio Arena, 22/11) review
*Corpse Bride (18/11) review
*Matty's holiday week (31/10 - 4/11)
*NVQ meetings (8/11 and 21/11)
*Xmas decor (26/11)
*And whatever the heck else I can remember
Nov. 27th, 2005 @ 01:59 pm
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| » Review: Twelfth Night by the RSC, Theatre Royal |
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This was a surprise for Sam, to be honest. Twelfth Night is her favourite Shakespearean comedy, and this was to be the last performance before it moved on to London. So, out with the credit card, and let's make her a very happy bunny.
The RSC does a lot of good merchandise, amongst which are BBC DVD boxsets, copies of the play in question, Shakespearean Insults fridge magnets and a few more esoteric items.
But anyway, the play. Good cast, many of whom have been in BBC television dramas and the odd film, including some very recognisable faces. The costumes are fantastically handled, being a mix of modern and traditional. Here's an interesting piece of trivia for you; Forbes Masson, who plays Feste in this, was in The High Life, the BBC Scotland airline comedy, in which he starred and wrote alongside Alan Cumming, whom he looks exceptionally like...
Anyway, enough about the cast and such; what about the play? Well, to be honest I had never read the play. This was to be my first experience of it, and what an experience it was! Fantastically done, apparently better than the BBC version (which, by many accounts, was a very drab affair), and very very funny. Feste is a fantastic character, dour and melancholy when alone yet mischievous and full of humour when with people. Malvolio comes across better here in his bouncer-like attendant style than in a drab butler characterisation normally attributed to the character, and is excellently played. The twins are fantastic, especially near the end where most of the mix ups occur.
All in all, I couldn't have asked for a better first experience of the play. It pays to go see RSC shows!
Nov. 26th, 2005 @ 11:10 pm
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| » The Christmassy |
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Vid 1
Vid 2
Vid 3
Yep, that's my house...
Nov. 26th, 2005 @ 10:02 pm
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| » Review: The Prodigy @ Metro Radio Arena Newcastle |
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Yes, it's the wee small hours - the bus was at 11:30pm and takes 50 minutes...
So yeah, The Prodigy. LIVE. Where to begin?
The DJ set was awesome. All credit to them, I've never liked the Audio Bullys (sic) but they sure know how to get a place moving. Blinding set, pity more people weren't around for most of it.
Whoever the Hell the support band were you didn't hear their name and it was pointless anyhow. They were good for what they do but totally out of place.
And then on came The Prodigy.
Now, I'm not sure how common knowledge it is, but this tour is Their Law: The Singles Tour, to commemorate their greatest hits CD of the same name. Most bands would just play the hits with a little bit of banter in between, but not The Prodigy. Oh no. Liam Howlett reworked EVERY SINGLE ONE to be something new and unique, rather than just performing them in their album format. What this means is that no song sounded the same as its album counterpart; new samples, same lyrics in the main, but all recognisable for what they were.
And talk about interaction! At least 5 times during the set, Maxim and Keith Flint wandered off into the crowd in the seating areas, of which I have a load of low quality pics. May add them to this later. The crowd reaction was obviously extreme, and they lapped up all the attention like kings.
After a storming run through their greatest and rarest, they left behind a crowd buzzing with energy. A night to remember
Nov. 22nd, 2005 @ 11:59 pm
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| » Review: Corpse Bride |
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Well, this will be short. Like the film, really.
The animation is, as you would expect from adverts, trailers et al, very like that of Nightmare Before Christmas. Very very alike, in fact. Character design remains along the same lines; in fact, it's almost like they're part of a series.
The voice acting is top notch, especially as it's actually quite hard to tell it's Johnny Depp. After the amount of Burton roles he's done, that has to have been hard work. All the rest are spot on, and it's fun to spot who did what voice. There's a lot of people in it that you recognise the voice of...
The actual story is quite nicely fleshed out (no pun intended, but duly noticed) and well presented, if a little... short. The film started at 2:30pm, and we were at the toilets by 4:15pm. About 75 minutes of film at rough guess.
Overall, great film, but very very short.
Nov. 18th, 2005 @ 10:20 pm
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| » WZW, Lightfoot Centre Newcastle |
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Yeah, we went to watch a cheapass wrestling show.
A cheapass wrestling show that had Mick Foley, D-Lo Brown, Joe Legend and Iceman...
This is Sam posing with Mick Foley. He seemed a little overwhelmed by it all, but not as much as poor D-Lo, who I don't think knew what hit him.
Speaking of D-Lo, this shaky shot taken by Sam is me with him. Very cool guy.
This is Sam's stepdad Andy (next to Mick) and Dave, a friend of ours, with the two of them. We also came away with 2 signed DVDs and my copy of "Have a nice day!" signed by Foley as well. Wish I'd had something for D-Lo to sign, really.
It was a good night out, made all the better for being sat where we were. You see, behind us were a gang of fellow hardcore wrestling fans, who we teamed up with to make some good chants and taunts with. The rest of the crowd were a little stiff and predicatble, so it was even more fun to be where we were.
I don't think the UK tagteam knew what was going on when our corner started chanted for the other team, but it made it all the more fun. Some of the other stuff was fun too, but is mainly lost in the adrenaline.
Nov. 10th, 2005 @ 11:41 pm
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| » Got Half-Life 2? |
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Download this. You won't regret it. I sure don't.
Nov. 6th, 2005 @ 11:51 pm
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| » Matty's Holiday, Day 5 |
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Ah, good to be home. From the top!
I got Matty up at 8. He had quite obviously not gotten to sleep til late. No matter; I warned him, and now he shall live with it.
First item of the day: cook your own damn breakfast for the first time. Second item: clean the entire damn kitchen, and all its surfaces and accoutrements. That's all the washing up, the table, the cupboards - everything. Meanwhile, I'm going on a binning frenzy - starting with the fridge. Oh, you have 3 cans left, what a shame. In the bin...
Of course we were late out of the room. Everything got done, we got out, got in a taxi and headed for Scarborough. Put the last camera in, did a bit of shopping (Matty ever the ass), let him buy the new Singstar to shut him the Hell up, picked up the photos (17/27 developed, all of which are soiled. Take a real camera next time...) and got on the train. Little events on the way back, hopped another taxi to get home, got in, dumped the paperwork and stuff, hung around to talk to Dave and then got the Hell outta there.
So, the Mattyisms of the week:
*On being prodded near the eye:
"Careful, my eyes are sensible"
*On goals for the future(*1):
"I want to be a professional footballer"
*On his past:
"I was a childhood once"
*On time travel:
"I'd go back to 1991, so I was 8 again"
*Why:
"I'd be 8"
(*1: As part of his Person Centred Plan (PCP), Matthew has to set out goals he would like to achieve in his life. This is stuff like learn to drive, get married, have a house, fly in a plane... NOT being a pro footballer, being an astronaut, a major popstar.)
Nov. 4th, 2005 @ 06:48 pm
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| » Matty's Holiday, Day 4 |
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Matthew falls out of bed at 11:45am. Not literally, curse my luck.
Matthew says the stupidest things. Today's favourite? "I never want to do that again cos these two guys kept hassling me. They said I was dancing with their girlfriends." Erm, you were. And not just dancing. What would you do if someone came up to your girl and danced like he wanted to screw her? "I'd punch him." Well, you got off lucy then didn't you? "Eh? How?" Gimme strength...
Right then, today we are going to Bridlington:
a) because we've been to Scarborough twice;
b) because I need to develop a camera; and
c) because I damn well said so.
Brid is crap. Always has been. And that's why we're there - to make it hard for him to blow his cash. No dice. Matty is being an utter cock. He keeps wandering off, refusing to listen to me and much much more. I swear, if he doesn't pick up I'll kill him.
The photos came out naff. Thankfully, the night out's on camera 2. Still, I'm pissed to have lost all the photos. There's F all to do here, Matty keeps trying to wander off... let's get some stuff in for our final night and go home.
The ignorant little shit scuttles off to his room, puts his music on loud and STARTS SINGING. It was a cardinal goddamn rule he wouldn't do that! Little fucker. I cook tea, and leave his on the table. I'm not telling him it's done. I eat all mine and leave his there; when he finally notices, he says thanks at least.
The trouble starts when Matty starts drinking again. Now, last night while pissed, Matthew said he considers his drinking out of control, and fears becoming an alcoholic like his stepdad. He swore he never wanted to drink heavily again, and here he is guzzling away and becoming a total ass for it. I tell him to shut up, he gets louder. I tell him that if he won't behave he can fuck off to his room. After a while he grasps that I'm serious, and skulks off with his can. I tell him he's off to bed as we need to get up early tomorrow, not off to his room. He scowls. I remind him that tomorrow we have to be out by 10am and he wants breakfast, so he needs sleep seeing as he missed a lot last night. I also take the can off him. He slams the bedroom door in my face.
I was calm for 10 seconds. Honest. 10 seconds. I calmly walked to the sink, poured the booze down the drain. After that... I charged into his room and nearly throttled him. It was a close call. He could have died. Instead, I got very much in his face and let rip. I told him what I thought of him, from his irresponsibility to his childish behaviour. His lack of respect for others, his sheer gall, his unrelenting idiocy, his lack of any hopes of getting on my good side at that point. then, I took every distraction from the room and shut it. If he won't sleep, fine. He's up at 8 NO MATTER WHAT.
Nov. 3rd, 2005 @ 11:09 pm
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| » Matty's Holiday: Day 3 |
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Obviously, all these entries lie about the time, even more so tonight.
Matty is being a sullen little twat. I'm used to his Kevin the teenager act, but I still think it's fucking stupid. Having obviously not listened to a fucking word I siad last night, Matty is bleary eyed from having stayed up all night. I remind him that, seeing as we're going out tonight, he'll regret it majorly. Then again, I say just after, he'll be fucking lucky now if I want to take him.
Cake makes good breakfast, oh yes.
The on site supermarket doesn't even have AA batteries. The other shop only opens at peak time. OK, we NEED to go to a population centre. He refuses to go to Bridlington, and I'm not taking him back to Scarborough til the night out, so it looks like we're off to Filey.
My God what a dump. I'm amazed anything ever opens. Get a phone call off my manager saying Matty has to take presents back, so that's another item on the list. Matty's being a cock, and I really don't want to take him tonight. On the flip side, I do want to go out. Shit, I have to take him. Back to the site, anothe Chinese takeaway. Time to get ready for tonight. A few drinks, methinks.
From here on in, things take a nosedive.
Matthew is a fucking moron when it comes to alcohol. He thinks he's some big shot drinker who can takes load, but truth be told 2 pints and he's wasted. Now, I tell Matty he needs to get a couple (that word is very important) of drinks from his 2L jug of Cornish real scrumpy. I drink a whole bottle of red wine and feel naught for it, and whil I'm getting ready Matty drinks the whole damn scrumpy jug.
That's 8 pints (in alcohol units; 16 units, 4 pints of fluid) worth of alcohol. Matty normally has 2 pints (4 units) and is wrecked. He is now, to be frank, totalled. This night out has become a train wreck. And it will only get worse.
Matty is a Pandora's Box alcoholic. He bemoans everything that happened in his life before, weeping and crying his eyes out about it all. He also loses what little motor function he had. He also confesses everything. Basically, it all comes out (hence the type name). He is feeling mega rough, and we have 2 hours til Vivaz opens. On Sam's advice, we went to Maccy's to see if hot food would help. He redecorated, not long after I promised he wouldn't, and as punishment for making me break a promise with somebody I make him help clean up. He even threw up in his goddamn coffee cup.
But, he is looking well enough to be let in at Vivaz, so who gives a shit! We're in now, and I won't let him out til closing. It's a rock club tradition! Lemonades. That's the secret to sobering someone. Bitter, and sugary; wakes the tastebuds, gives the body energy by the ton. And the body uses it, knowing full well that, if not used, the sugar will turn into even more alcohol.
It worked. He didn't come off the dancefloor once it kicked in. He dances terribly, like a drunk uncle at a wedding; jogging on the spot and doing dirty dancing whenever a girl goes by. He fixates with two lasses, and while he's busy doing that I get photo evidence and do a load of dancing meself. Made a few friends, one of which is used to the London scene and as such is disappointed by the sheer lack of musical scope covered (for theirs is the nu-metal, the odd bit of low-end metal, and the rock music, amen...). He lasted til the end of the night.
Afterwards, I hang around and chat, being as I am a socail creature who hates gatherings of people. Matty sits on a wall and looks tired and rough. Bed comes easy to him once we're back.
Nov. 2nd, 2005 @ 11:59 pm
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| » Matty's Holiday: Day 2 |
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Right, I want to do a bit of shopping, and we need good food. Scarborough day it is.
Went to the restaurant on site for brekky; very very few people else did obviously. No surprise, either, as it sucked. Ah well. Tons more arcade play; scores are getting better at bowling (I have taken the lead), he still plays by spawn alone at pool, he still can't PVP arcade for toffee.
The on site peeps pointed us towards buses, which turned out to be off until Easter. Oh goody. Walked to the main road to find no timetables. Great. Asked at a nearby garage - every hour not far from there, he says, as it goes by. Fuck! He said best bet's to walk to the little village just up the road. It's not far...
40 minutes later and we're there. Buses are every 90 minutes. FUCKS SAKE! Had a pint and an argument with Matty. He's already becoming an ass. Bus finally turns up, and costs a shitload. Taxis back and forth from now on methinks.
Scarborough with Matty's a nightmare. He doesn't listen, at all, even when I threaten to leave him there with no way to get back to camp. He just keeps asking to buy CDs and DVDs, and generally getting on my nerves. I eventually let him get a CD single, on the proviso he remembers the rules: no singing along.
Food shop's the normal nightmare when with Matty; you have to pry him away from the multimedia section y'see. Let him get the Westlife album, again citing no singing. Got booze, good food, and a taxi back. Taxi surprisingly cheap.
More arcade play - Matty is being a total jerk. He starts shouting and carrying on on the way back to camp, and I tell him off. He ignores me, I slap the impudent little bastard. He slouches off in a strop. I inform him I have the key, all his money, his cash card and his PIN number, and as such he can slouch off he damn well wants. When I look for him later he is right where I knew he'd be - trying to look like James Dean, leaning against the doors to the entertainment complex staring at young girls while holding a cig in a very gay way. I lay into him a bit to injure his pride seeing as he's puffed up like a fucking peacock and drag him back to the room, where I berate him for being an insolent spoiled little shit for 1 1/2 hours. Eventually, after acting like a sullen teenager, he fucks off to bed. Yay.
Nov. 1st, 2005 @ 11:59 pm
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| » Matty's Holiday: Day 1 |
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Blimey this week's gonna be hard work.
Right then, from the top. The day starts bad when traffic looks to scupper travel plans. End up dropped at the station, meet Matty there, quick bit of shopping in Smiths at the station and some cookies for the journey and off we go.
Love Virgin Trains - the seats have headphone ports so you can listen to Virgin Radio. Very handy, as Matty is gabbing away about nothing, as per. Got to York late, so late in fact we caught the connecting train 1hr after we were due to be on one. Snowballing, this makes us later still for the final wing of the journey. Turns out the train we're on will make it easier anyhow, so we go into Scarborough, get a Maccy's and head back to the station. Found a rock club down this street too that'll be a good place for the night out wednesday night. Matty seems to think the holiday's a shopping trip, so I read him the Holiday Act of 2005: no karaoke, no buying stuff you can't use here, no soap operas, no going anywhere alone, 1 night out allocated to Wednesday.
Primrose Valley is unsurprisingly desolate this time of year. Arcade's still open though, so rough with the smooth. The apartment's stretching the term a lot; it's a chalet, and a very cack one at that. And it's their "gold standard" allegedly... Very basic, essentials only - oven, microwave, hob, toaster, 14" telly, CD player, car stereo (no joke), heater, in room heating, shower. 1 double room (SHOTGUN!) 1 2x single room. As I said; basic.
Onsite shop's shit. Lacking in variety, crap souvenirs, minimal booze. Essentials only shop - Tesco's by the train station in Scarborough. So, that's bog roll, booze and bog all else. Back to the room, hot drinks and cake. Car stereo works well, but only good station's Radio 1. Phone signal wavers between 0 and 4 bars, dependant on the light reflected off local rabbits or some other immeasurable phenomenon.
Well, there's a Chinese restaurant on site, so time to sample the goods for tea. Damn good Chinky actually, even better as I'm not paying. Matty insists on watching soaps, and I warn him he won't get many chances for that this week. Each had a bid bottle of Becks before wandering on to see what happens in the entertainment complex. Unsurprisingly, fuck all this time of year. So, to the arcades! Whupped his ass at air hockey, only just lost at bowling, pretty even at pool. Much much better at arcade machines than him.
After a bit more booze and some practice with my tarot deck (well, it is Samhain), to bed.
Oct. 31st, 2005 @ 11:59 pm
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| » Doom: the review. Laced with spoilers, it be. |
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I will keep this short.
They lied.
They lied when they said "it will remain true to the game". It takes some serious fucking liberties; they left in the whole "not from Hell, just infected with a biological condition" thing. Lou will curse when I say this; they find a 24th chromosome. It makes people hyper-immune; no cancers, no ailments. But it chooses between the "good" and "bad", tracking the chemical composition of the 10% of the human genome some say is the "map of the soul". It also fails to explain how the fuck this created the Pinky. And what the fuck is with an Earth facility being involved? PHOBOS GODDAMNIT!
Oh, while I'm on that subject; they lied about the enemies present, too. I think some of those things are supposed to be Imps. I see no alchymical fire, though. In fact, I see very fucking little. They scratch and bite, launch lumps of flesh at people, and act real strong. Hardly what I would consider "Impish". The only other critters in the film are zombie scientists and the single Pinky. No cacodemons (reason 1 I wanted to see it), no hell knights, no creepy head spiders, and definately no cyberdemon (well, I had hoped).
Weapons present? Pistol, shotgun, grenades (including sticky mines...), machine gun, minigun (fired once, might I add), chainsaw, Big Friendly Mongoose. Most are lucky to get fired once. Big Friendly Mongoose? Twice. A bit quiet, for something based on Doom.
The FPS sequence? Quirky, and unnecessary. Frankly it's the only real stretch of action, too; it is the only bit like Doom, too, as it captures the frantic nature of running along corridors gunning down nasties. But, it's totally pointless.
Hmm, as for acting... The Rock is good. Urban is good. The rest... play their parts. It's about "dawn of the dead reamke" standard acting.
The film's mental chewing gum. It's not, to be blunt, DOOM. It just happens on a Mars facility, owned by UAC, and has a few nods to the series. The orange light as he reaches an exit door, the weaponry, the pinky, the computer technology- all DOOM.
The rest? Action film minus a lot of action. It is, to be blunt, crushingly disappointing to see them make the film that, when it was announced and the first plot leaks came out, we all dreaded happening. But it has. As it stands, it's merely an average film. Not woefully bad enough to be cult, รก la Flash Gordon, and certainly no Aliens.
I can't recommend it to anyone with high hopes, really.
Oct. 25th, 2005 @ 11:48 pm
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| » Damned throat. |
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Seems all that shouting at the Grand Final gave me a throat infection. I'm on the Amoxycillin same as Jack now.
The rash around my bellybutton is a common reaction to nickel plating. Thank something.
We had Spike/Olly over today, and he seemed to have a good time. Twas a laugh. Yet again, everyone leaps on me in Pimp, even though I was already losing. Every damn time...
Oct. 20th, 2005 @ 11:43 pm
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| » Inevitable! |
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Cat Burglar
You scored 78% Subtlety, 0% Leadership, and 85% Forethought! |
Brilliant. You're the subtle type, and you know what you're dealing
with (more often than not, anyway). Keep it under the radar, and you'll
come out of it all one smiling bastard. Make sure to trust your gut,
because with the knowledge you've developed, it's a bad move to go
against it.
You work alone, and it's not bad to stay that way. A mildly paranoid
thief is a thief who gets out alive and uncaught. Two pieces of advice:
1. Never go unprepared; working alone means you've got to be perfect,
all by yourself. and 2. Never attach yourself to anything you can't
walk away from in 30 seconds or less.
Please rate this well. |  |
My test tracked 3 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender: | You scored higher than 58% on Subtlety | | You scored higher than 0% on Leadership | | You scored higher than 69% on Forethought |
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Oct. 17th, 2005 @ 02:48 pm
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| » Been to Old Trafford |
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Smaller than expected.
HOO HAH! EAT IT RHINOS! 15-6!
Oct. 15th, 2005 @ 11:22 pm
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| » Oh yes, much better. |
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Lots of fun today.
Matty's holiday is booked. Me and him are off to Filey, to a Haven camp. Just us two, for 4 days. Much drunken stupidity on his part will probably follow.
Lots of karaoke, oh yes. Good, good fun. Lots of laughter induced by having to sing female songs in a voice not too far removed from Jelly from CBeebies' Story Makers programme.
Good day, oh yes.
Oct. 13th, 2005 @ 11:03 pm
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| » Sodding boredom |
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Took Mick cooking. To be real honest, not much else happened.
Oh, except I'm damn close to booking Matty a holiday...
Oct. 12th, 2005 @ 11:03 pm
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| » New staffer |
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I have to admit, when they said "she's young and from Benwell", the first thought was "chav!"
I have jumped on that idea too fast. She seems fine, nice enough. Just a typical young person, not horrifically trendy or anything. She wears pretty normal clothing, has dyed her hair something other than blonde, the earrings aren't those horrible stirrups...
This may work.
Oct. 11th, 2005 @ 10:48 pm
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| » Progress! |
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We have a dining room table, and some chairs. Two of the chairs broke because nobody noticed 2 screws were of a different length to the rest, but hey.
Me and Jack have had a lot of fun together. He loves to play when I'm there, as I do stuff that's a little dangerous and slightly psychotic, stuff his mother's a little too "safe" to do.
Little things have been done, but they worked and are significant for this reason.
Oct. 10th, 2005 @ 10:45 pm
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| » The return |
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Jack was very, very tired. So tired, he cried when he saw me as he didn't have the energy to be happy. Seriously, he tried to be giddy and just... gave up.
Sam is like a limpet. I may need surgery.
Oct. 9th, 2005 @ 10:43 pm
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| » Site news: more updates |
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If you go to the Friends page, some now have pictures and stuff. Oh yes. More of them when I find pictures of people...
Oct. 8th, 2005 @ 10:42 pm
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| » Almost forgot to say |
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The confirmed launch list is smaller than I hoped.
Then again, Quake IV and Condemned at release, with the rather promising looking Crackdown and Too Human, as well as the new Wolfenstein...
Oct. 7th, 2005 @ 11:05 pm
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| » That took some sodding time... |
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The site took half an hour to port across this morning, and only this long for having to go through every written page using find and replace to change the links to the new host.
It's taken four hours to write the May 04 page... it is done, though. So, that leaves, what... 2 pages on family and friends, the majority of GIR, and some Scribblings. Not bad, not bad...
You never know, by Monday it may be done.
Oct. 5th, 2005 @ 10:10 pm
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