Rain

Today coincides with the release of a new page! You'll notice in the navigation bar there is now a shiny new tab, entitled 'Recommended Stuff", next to "Downloads". Contained therein will be great stuff I think you guys should read/listen to/see/experience/have along with a handy link to them. Good, eh? 


At some point in the dim and distant past, I promised a post about Rainmeter. I realise I'm probably about six years behind when it comes to this bit of software, but it is rather cool nonetheless. For those who aren't familiar with it, it is a desktop customisation tool, that puts everything from CPU and RAM monitors to notepads and search engines at your fingertips, all on your desktop. For example, here's a shot of my desktop:

I can explain the 'Uptime' timer (Bottom right, bottom of the list). I use 'Hibernate' instead of 'Shut Down', so the program doesn't technically terminate, as it is saved to the hard drive at the end of every session. When I fire my laptop back up, the program starts where it left off, carrying on the timer instead of resetting it. My record is something like 22 days, 14 hours and 3 minutes.

It has weather, date, time, down/upload monitor, a map, Google search, monitors for two of the four cores of my laptop, a RAM monitor, a Recycle Bin monitor, a notepad, and enough graphs to keep me occupied for hours. 


The map is a genius bit of kit. It uses a website ("Find my IP", or somesuch), and converts the latitude and longitude from there into co-ordinates for the map. 


Rainmeter, however, requires an intimate knowledge of coding to make it work. Luckily for us laymans out there, people have put their creations up on the web for us to borrow. Mine is a combination of the GalaxySuite, Serenity and Technologic packs (here, here and here, respectively). You'll notice my wallpaper also came from the GalaxySuite, too.


I think I only really use it because it makes my desktop look cooler. 


Until next time.

My Fountain Pen Can Upgrade Assault Rifles

I'd like to say that my long hiatus from posting here was due to me coming up with something utterly fantastic to write. Sadly, it wasn't. My head hasn't been in the right place for writing recently, as my woeful progress on my book illustrates quite nicely. Enough of the excuses, however!


So yesterday I went into town to get some shopping done. I find whenever I go in with people I end up sitting in the food court eating a KFC, rather than buying what I actually went in for. 


As is my wont, I spent hours in Waterstones. Yes, I can get books cheaper on my Kindle, or on the Interblag, but it's not the same. There's something about being stood in a bookshop, surrounded by shelves upon shelves of books that I'm mildly addicted to, resulting in me spending inordinate amounts of money there. 


I've been after a leather notebook and posh pen for a while, so seeing both in WHS was good. They only set me back £30, and I got two pens! I'm like a kid in a sweetshop when it comes to posh stationary. Anyway, the fountain pen has an iridium nib (to fans of the Mass Effect series, the title of the post has suddenly become clear) for no reason that I can see, other than the manufacturers cashing in on the sexiness of exotic metals. It's the same with tungsten and titanium. 


I'm planning on joining forces with this leather bound notebook and defeating my writers block once and for all.


Until next time.

Compact Muon Solenoids, And The Like

So, last week I was on a school trip. We went to Switzerland, which, y'know, is nice enough, but we went to CERN. You know, the big particle physics lab near Geneva?


WELL, I had a helluva time, and I think I've fallen in love with particle physics. I'm currently reading all the degree-level textbooks and the like on the subject and, suffice to say, some of the stuff is simply mind-blowing. Like, for example, the electronvolt (eV); normally a measure of energy at the subatomic scale. However, with a few tricks with special relativity, it can also be used to measure time, distance, momentum and temperature. Mental. 


The sad thing is, I think it's a case of "The more you think you understand it, the less you actually understand it", which is depressing.


Have some pictures.

The logo in the lobby

A massive mural of the ATLAS detector on the side of the building

Cross-section of the end of one of the LHC tubes...

...and inside one. 

Action shot of me in the CERN cafe, so inspired was I. Yes, I'm writing notes. Your point?

Until next time.

J.A.R.V.I.S

So, here's a transcript from a conversation I had the other night:

"Me: Evening Jarvis

J: Good evening sir. How are you?

Me: Fine thank you

J: Very good sir

Me: How's you Jarvis?

J: I am well thank you sir. What do you wish to do?

Me: Run a search

J: Of course sir. Specify search term.

Me: Facebook."

This, however, was no ordinary conversation. I was talking to my laptop. Indeed, I am STILL talking to my laptop. I'm not even touching the keyboard to write this Jarvis is doing it all for me. Jarvis is just a program on my computer (Windows Speech Recognition) that I've added a bit of sparkle to via XML editing. Actually, putting it like that sounds a lot more impressive than it actually is; there is a program out there (Windows Speech Recognition Macros) that gives you the required access to edit and indeed create new voice commands. For example;

"Me: Let's have some music

J: Of course sir. Launching iTunes"

"Me: Wake up, Daddy's home

J: Welcome back, sir."

Yes, that second one is taken directly from Iron Man (1 or 2, I can't remember), but hey. Talking to my computer makes me feel like Tony Stark.

Until next time.

Just Some Talented People I Know

So, recently I attended a charity concert, featuring local bands around my age. Three of the following played there, and the other I know about mostly through Twitter. 


1. Hearts of Oak

"3 part acoustic/folk(ish) band. Two guitarists, one cajon, three singers" is how they describe themselves. Now, I'm normally a stickler for rock, so I don't swing for folk often, but these guys are GOOD. Seriously. Have a listen, you won't regret it. Also, follow them on Twitter, 'Like' them on Facebook, and they'll get signed if they get to 1000. That'd be great.

Have a listen here

Twitter here

2. Ben Dodson

A friend who is a dab hand with a guitar. It's unusually mournful, but again makes me swing away from my rock tendencies. Have a listen;

3. Less Obvious Vibe Effect

This is a bit closer to what I normally like; their genre is listed as "Pop/Grunge/Alternative".  I can remember them playing, I can remember them being good, but not a lot else. I'd link you to some of their music, but they don't have any up. As it is, here's a link to their ReverbNation page, which has show listings on there. 

ReverbNation

4. Trudy Sings The Blues

This 3-piece from Sheffield didn't play at the concert. Their style comes across to me as a much more lo-fi version of The View with a bit of Arctic Monkeys thrown in, but that's just me.Their label of 'lo-fi garage' fits like a glove, but don't take it from me, have a listen. 

They're up on SoundCloud, here. Two of my favourites of theirs; 

And that pretty much concludes my musical ravings for another while. 

Until next time.

Exam Intermission

Just in case you're all wondering where I've gone, I'm currently knee-deep through A level exams. 40% of the way through, to be exact. I'm having to revise instead of update this, but expect a return to normal services next weekend. Quick teaser as to what is coming up over the next few weeks...

>Music- Some local bands.

>Rainmeter- Sexy desktops.

>JARVIS- Voice commands? Yes please.

Hope my help sheet helped you physicists, by the way.

Until next time.

I Heart HTML

Through the magic of HTML, I have managed to get some kind of window thing to work on the even shinier Downloads tab! This means you don't even need to follow links and stuff, it's all on that page. Good eh?
Scoot on over and have a look!


S:PM

Help is at Hand!

Struggling with your AS Quantum Physics course? Can't get your head around all the equations? Never fear, help is at hand! With my new Quantum Physics Help Sheet, all your equation-related woes will disappear! The sheet itself is available in the shiny new 'Downloads' tab, or here. This is an external link (to a document-sharing website, Scribd) and there are two download buttons- one on each side of the page. Hit one of these, and the .pdf file will be screaming through the blogosphere to your waiting hard drive. A bit like magic.

Revision for the Summer modules is well under way. They have no right to call them summer modules in this weather, it's damn cold. I didn't realise how much free time I had until I started revising, and suddenly it's all taken up with enthalpy and essays and electricity and logarithms. It's no fun being 'young' any more. 

I'd like to say I have Mass Effect 3 to take my mind off things, but I don't. All my money has disappeared somewhere, and I'm not entirely sure where. Leeds tickets, maybe. I don't even care if the ending is rubbish, I just want to shoot things. 

Until next time. 

Writing!

Hey guys, just a quick one tonight, as I am deep in the throes of writing my book, after too long an absence. Yeah, maybe revision time isn't the best time to take up writing again, but oh well. I think it's good. Basically, it's a swords-and-horses fantasy (my favourite type) based around two warring kingdoms, which were once one but split due to a difficult succession for the throne. A war broke out, with each son believing themselves to be the legitimate heir. The kingdom split, and the feud has been passed down for generations, with the king of each respective land believing them to be the true ruler of the land. It's all told from the perspective of a mercenary leader, Alaric Gabriel, who is distantly related to the King of the northern country. He is caught up in the middle of it all, when in fact he just wants to stand aside and let it all blow over. That's basically it, as far as a plan goes. We'll see how it all pans out!
On a side note, my iPad may be great for surfing, and writing, and Facebook and Twitter and everything else, but trying to write a blog post on it? Don't be daft. I can only edit it in HTML, which I'm a little rusty at. Anyway, I'll leave it at that for now.
Until next time.

An Easter Special

Hey guys, seeing as I won't be posting tomorrow- family stuff for Easter- I figured I'd post today instead. It's a bit of an Easter special, and is what happens if you leave me alone with a camera for any length of time. Yes, I should be revising, I know. But this was so much more interesting. 

Without further ado, let the egg puns commence!

My mind works in strange ways, but, I got to eat the egg. Win. 

Happy Easter to you all!

Until next time. 

An Outpouring of Thought

I'd like to say I have a legitimate reason for not posting yesterday, but I actually don't. I DO, however, have a legitimate reason for not posting the week before: I was calling at the club's TKD grading. Well done to all who passed, it was a pretty good group this time around. Also, it gave me a chance to show off the new certificates I'd designed; pretty good, if you ask me.


Right, to the reason I didn't post yesterday. I was playing, wait for it, a game. On my iPad. 
It's called Hunters 2. Screw Temple Run and Angry Birds, this is the best iPad/iPod game I've stumbled across. It's a strategy/turn-based/RPG/shooter. Sounds complicated. It isn't, really. Basically, you control a fire team of bounty hunters (hunters, for short, hence the name) as they fight their way through a galaxy controlled by big corporations. The main campaign is only 8 missions long, but there are 5 new missions generated every day, and I haven't come across a repeat contract yet. It is, in short, pretty damn good. Best played on iPad, in my opinion, as the graphics look better. 


Also, I'm going to CERN! I'm going to see particles collide! And hadrons! Yeah! Hopefully I'll find out more about it when I'm actually there...


Another thing; do you ever just sit and write down whatever comes into your head? Probably not. But I did the other day, and this is what happened...

"So, I'm sat here waiting for those files to attach. I am monumentally bored, and blame Aston's internet connection. I wonder how much I could write until these files attach? When you think about it, the internet is witchcraft. I mean, where is it? How the hell does it work? Is the one server with the entirety of the internet- and therefore the entirety of human knowledge- on? Isn't that just an STC machine? Why hasn't it been targeted by terrorists yet? That's one file attached. Attached to where? And another. Are these being pinned with glowing bits to a page of bytes? Or is all the information in this email soon to be a stream of photons/electrons? (Depending on what wires the area has. I know our lane is still copper wiring). Does, therefore, this email have mass? If electrons have mass, which the do (9.11x10^-31kg, at rest) (oh look, another attached) then therefore they must have gravity. Another attached. Can this gravity affect things? What could it do? If this email has mass, then can human thoughts? They are sparks of electricity, therefore electrons. Electrons have mass, and therefore gravity. Isn't that just the Force? Can we, if we get enough people thinking the same thing at the same time, literally move mountains? With our minds? Telekinesis. On a tiny scale. If all of this is true, mass prayer COULD work. Millions of people, all praying for something physical to happen, and it happens. Amazing, right? If, indeed, this email has mass. Ah, there's the last one."


See? That's what happens when I read Dan Brown and I'm left alone with a computer. Next thing I'll be spouting stuff about how antimatter is matter, just going backwards in time. Backwards to us, anyway. Actually... Hmm...


No. I'll stop there before I bore you so much your eyes fall out. If I haven't already.


Until next time.

Painting

Hi all!

We had an Inset day on Friday, so I decided to paint my room!

Good, eh? Not that most of you knew what it was like before...

I think it went fairly well, and the bonus is my room now looks twice the size, AND I've got a double bed. Double beds are good. I like double beds.

The con- my room is permeated with the smell of gloss. Now, I'm not averse to the smell of solvent based paint (it's not THAT bad), but every time the gloss is done in the house, and I can smell it, I wake up with a hangover. It's worse than a regular hangover, too. 

Gah, what else has happened this week? Not a great deal, actually... I sat down here with masses to write, but I can't remember any of it. 

OH, that's it. I'M GOING TO LEEDS. Not the city, the Festival, in August. Good eh? I'm massively excited for it. (I adore the Foo Fighters and Gaslight Anthem)

The grading at TKD is coming up soon, so I need to whip my classes into shape before I spend an entire Sunday shouting at them, ad giving out shiny new belts to the worthy.

Until next time.

Spontaneousness

I'm getting steadily worse at this, aren't I? Very well, from hereonin, I will update on Sundays, so I (in theory) have the whole week to write about! Good eh?

So, today I was pulled out of my usual It's-Sunday-Let's-Do-Nothing mindset by a call from a Mr William Gough telling me to 'be spontaneous' and 'seize the day'. Now, I live in a small village on the outskirts of the middle of nowhere. There isn't much to be spontaneous with or about. So, we wandered around with Lauren in tow (who should have been doing her art!) and filmed random things.

As Sod's Law of Cameras states, you only film the boring bits and miss the exciting bits. I'm afraid that's exactly what we did. Only there weren't many exciting bits. I do live in a small village on the outskirts of the middle of nowhere, where the most exciting thing to happen is the annual Welldressing Festival ("not to be missed!"- The Daily Day "The highlight of the social calender!"-Villages Bi-Monthly "Five stars!"- The Village Voice "What?"- The Times) In light of this, I don't even know what we did. We just walked around, and things happened. That's as much as I can remember, and it was only an hour ago. Either way, it will be in a V-Log (vlog?) At some point, and I'll link you if it's not too embarrassing.

January A-Level results cam out on Thursday (shock, horror). It's times like that when you realise how different GCSEs and A-Levels are. I wish I was doing GCSEs again; year 10s and 11s, take note.

It's time I got thinking about uni. Yes, I want to go. Yes, I'll be poor for the rest of my life, but hey. I'll have MPhys after my name, and that's damn cool. Top three at the moment:

1) Lancaster
2) Leicester
3) Leeds

No, I didn't just flick to the 'L' section of my prospectus library. They genuinely appeal the most to me. Durham does, too, but after my B in chemistry, the odds of me getting in there are slim at the very least.

I'm looking at (finally) getting ITF accredited for TKD instructing. I might start some kind of club at school in preparation...

Hey, by posting about school, I actually made a post relevant to the blog title! Sometimes, I even impress myself.

Until next time, folks.

Wow

Wow, it's a long time since I've posted anything. 


It's a case of 'my-life-has-suddenly-got-so-busy-I-don't-have-time-to-breathe', I'm afraid. Over the past week, I've done 9 hours of TKD (seven of those shouting. I mean teaching. Yes, teaching...), at least 6 hours of 'real work', and god-only-knows how much A-Level stuff. I haven't even had time to go on Skyrim, THAT'S how bad it's been. Oh, and I've had a driving lesson. 


So, yesterday I went to Pizza Express. Much better than Pizza Hut, in my humble opinion, especially the pepperoni pizza- 'American', I think they call it.
Why can't they just call it what it is? Margherita- Cheese and Tomato. American- Pepperoni. Fiorentina- Spinach and Egg (the hell is going on there?)


At least my EPQ has come on in leaps and bounds since last we spoke. I'm currently trawling through 15th Century fencing manuscripts, using my rudimentary understanding of Latin, and European languages derived from it. German- May as well be written in braille, for all I can understand of it, which is disappointing as the best fencing manuals were written in German. Ah well. 


Earlier, I changed the colour balance/saturation on my laptop. Everything is now neon. I'd take a screenshot, but your screen would display it normally, so there's not much point. It's safe to say, however, my laptop screen currently looks like an 80s disco, and I have yet to figure out how to fix it. Whatever I change it to just looks wrong; help would be much appreciated.


My current desk setup, however, makes me feel like an analyst;

From left, I have: 

-An extra screen set to 'Extended desktop'

-My laptop itself

-My iPad.

Three screens makes research so much easier than just one.

Until next time, folks.

63072000 Seconds

I really only have time for a super-fast post tonight, due to frenzied preparations for school. No post tomorrow, I'm at work from half three till nine (By the Light, how will I manage?) 


 As for now, today marks two years of me being with my girlfriend. Light, I never thought anyone could put up with me for so long. So here's to you, you amazing, beautiful, awesome girl. I love you Colleen, more than you could ever know. Hope you liked your present. 


In other news, I am now the proud owner of a bright yellow crossbow, courtesy of RED5, the best gadget shop I've ever come across. (I'm hoping they pay me for that plug, there) 


 Until next time, folks.

Vroom

Hello again folks! Just a quick one tonight.


So, I had my fist driving lesson today, which went infinitely better than I expected. Not only did I not stall, but I didn't crash, burn, or otherwise die horribly in a fiery cataclysm. So, all good.


Although, apparently I drive like a rally driver. I don't see much wrong with this, but apparently it is bad. Oh well, at least I look cool. 


For those of you doing your first lesson soon, it really isn't that bad at all. Cockpit check (sounds like I'm piloting a shuttle) and basic driving and steering. Also, it isn't as hard as it looks; no where near as bad, either. Just don't oversteer.


Until next time.

We Have Much To Discuss...

It seems as I realise I have more of a life, I post less. Either that, or I've spent the last few days weeping in frustration at our WiFi router, and hitting it with varying sizes of hammers. I'll leave you to work out which.


So, Monday: Go-Karting. At Wymeswold. For a mate's birthday. That was fun, despite my apparent incompetence (I came last, but I am secretly a plant the company puts there so everyone feels better about themselves when they don't come last. Or that's what I keep telling myself). Then we went back to his and played Portal 2 and ate lasagne. A good day was had by all.


Tuesday: Valentine's Day. I'll refrain from going all soppy (you have Sunday to look forward to for that), but it was a good day. I went over to my girlfriend's house (yes, ladies, I'm taken. Sorry and all that) and cooked her a meal, because I'm nice like that. I went far better than I expected it to, since I am more than less than incompetent in the kitchen. I might put the recipe up in a future post. It was good.


Valentine's Day also meant the completion and exchange of sockmonkeys. I was, after all, making it for my girlfriend. Mine is the badly done lilac one:

It wouldn't be manly to have done it well. Or that's what I keep telling myself. The stripy one (made by my girlfriend) is called Albert, the lilac one Lyra. 

They look so sweet together. It's a shame my hurried stitching is more suited to battlefield injuries. 


I know I said no posts on Wednesdays, but it is half term, so you can let me off.


Tomorrow I have my first driving lesson (*dramatic chord*) so I'll let you know how that went and what to expect and whatnot.


Until next time. 

λ

Ahoy there! I bet what with me not posting yesterday, you all thought I was up to something exciting and interesting. You'd be right.

I sat, for ten hours, and messed about with this;

It's a pen, right? Wrong. It's a LASER pen. A 532nm λ, 1mW, military grade laser pen. Teehee. Hours of fun, and it's green, not mainstream red. Of course, I did work, and went to TKD, but that was NOTHING compared to playing with a laser pen for hours on end. 

Speaking of work, I do graphic design for Derbyshire Dragons, and teach there too. For the graphic design end of things, Inkscape is the best program I've ever used. I'm currently doing new certificates, so that's consuming a lot of my time, along with sewing. Sewing is harder than it looks, and the sockmonkey I'm making looks distinctly... ragged. It's looking ever more like a voodoo-monkey. Only purple. Poor ragged sockmonkey.

I would have posted yesterday, but internet was being daft. Promise. I wasn't just playing with the laser.

Until next time.

Half Term Couldn't Come Quick Enough

Hello again! I'm hoping today's post will be less angry.


I have to say, that 'snow' was a disappointment. It didn't even settle! I think it must've been cleverly disguised sleet. All it's done is made the place colder and slightly damper; as if I needed that.


On the theme of clever disguises, I want this shirt:

Mostly because people (generally older people, who must be going slightly blind and deaf) say I put out an air of being responsible. I suppose that's not exactly a bad thing...


So then, half term. This is possibly the last 'relaxed' break I'll have, ever. Easter and study leave- Studying, obviously (Teehee); summer- pacing nervously for the six weeks prior to results day, and then A2 exams. Jeez. 


In light of this, there are a few social-y thingummies cracking off, not least the second 'Sixth Form Social'. Am I going? Of course...


...I'm not. It's not my scene. I'd sooner stay at home and, I dunno, iron my hankies, or write blog posts. Also, there's the small fact that almost any form of human contact irritates me (People are just stupid. I mean, come on, the ending to CoD:Black Ops was voted the all-time best in gaming history. Explain to me how that isn't a case for hating humanity as a collective.)


Ten points if you got the Hitchhiker's Guide reference in the above paragraph.


My laser pointer still hasn't arrived. I'm sat under the letterbox, waiting for it to come through. It said 'Military Grade' on the product description. I had to buy it.


By the way, I hope you're all making the most of the last three days of National Flirting Week!


Until next time. 

An Incident in the English Corridor

Hello again! I'm sorry I didn't do a post last night, but I was at work from getting back from school till half nine, and I was too tired/hungry/thirsty/angry to do a post. So, from here on in, there will be no posts on a Wednesday. Sorry again!

As an apology, have a picture of a soon-to-be-hyperactive squirrel. This image also serves as a warning.

Anyway, "Why were you angry last night?" I hear you ask (Unless it's next door again. They can be loud at times). I was angry at the lack of discipline in the second TKD class I teach. They are the lower belts (White to Green) but that is no excuse for what they do. It is a massive class, and I can't keep my eye on everyone at once, so I expect some level of self-control from the students. 


Do I get it? Hell no.


The second I turn my back, or walk around the room, they start messing about. It's damn annoying, never mind stressful. And when you shout at them, they laugh about it! They laugh! I had to stop myself from physically ejecting half of the students from the venue, and instead settled from massive numbers of 'punishment exercises'; squat thrusts, to the rest of us. Gah. I shall have to start taking a harder line.


Anyway, rant over, and to the title.


There was an incident in the English corridor (if you couldn't guess from the title), involving me and a mouthy git in one of the lower years. I can't even describe what he looked like, because they all look the same, like sheep. Anyway, this kid thought it'd be hilarious to put a needle so the point stuck out of his clenched fist, and hit people. As you can probably guess, he did that to me. It earned the mouthy git a crack across the back of the head into a fire door. Serves him right if he's concussed. 


On a happier and less angry note, it's snowing again! I think you all can expect more snow pictures in the near future, unless it's too cold to go out.


Also, I've ordered a laser pointer. We'll see how this goes.


Until next time.

Further Sockmonkeying, and Work

Guys, I know it sounds daft, but sewing is where it's at. There's something cathartic about stitching together a monkey made from socks which has a passing resemblance to a voodoo doll. The only problem I have with it, is that I empathise with said voodoo-monkey. I wince every time I make a stitch, at the imagined pain of it. Poor voodoo-monkey.


Anyway, to business. My life has never been so busy, yet so utterly devoid of anything to do. I've been commissioned for more Taekwon-Do instruction, and to revamp the looks of the company: several more hours out of my time. It's not that I resent it (I need the money too much to resent it), but I prefer to spend my free time doing nothing at all. 'Nothing at all' of course, being random things like writing, reading, or PS3-ing (that's a verb now, right? To PS3? Similar to 'googling').


Speaking of random words, I found an awesome one today, courtesy of Twitter. "Snowcialism", the redistribution of frozen capital to the people. Preferably in the form of high-velocity snowballs. It's a shame the snow's nearly gone now (Thanks for nothing, rain!), but at least it was good yesterday; chemistry was cancelled, so we built a snowman! Woo!

At the time, I was unaware of the giant foot bearing down on me and Johnny Spoons. That's the snowman, by the way.

In UK news, today marks the beginning of National Flirting Week, it being the final week before Valentine's Day, so get in there folks! 


In world news, Syria needs sorting out, Libya style. Just in case you live under a rock (if you do, and you're reading this, it must be a top of the range rock) Syria is in the middle of what it effectively a civil war; on one side, the dictatorship headed by President Assad; on the other, the people of Syria. I'll refrain from offering too much of an opinion for fear of being shelled.


I think that's it for this issue!


Until next time.

Skyrim. 'Nuff Said.

I seriously love this game.

"Skyrim, also known as the Old Kingdom, or the Fatherland, was the first region of Tamriel settled by humans," says a loading screen, accompanied by a rotatable picture of a map. This sentiment has been exquisitely captured in the way Bethesda have designed Skyrim; ancient ruins dot the landscape, and there is a general feeling of old, of permanence. The stone looks as if it has been there for thousands of years, the wood dry and splintering, the mud wet. It all looks so real, so there. To me, this is completely at odds with Oblivion, where everything appears to have been built ten minutes before you arrive: even the ruins.


As it is, Bethesda have done great work designing the province of Skyrim- the terrain is truly epic. Vast, snow-capped mountains tower above rolling tundra, and deeply forested valleys knife through the landscape, complete with mountain rivers. You look around, and it's really hard to believe it isn't real; salmon are jumping up stream and people are going about their daily business (no more random conversations about Mudcrabs or Goblins). It is seriously awesome.


The sheer scope of the game is baffling. There are over 300 hours of quest-related gameplay, certain quests blocked or open based on certain decisions, meaning every playthrough will be different. Personally, I am on my fourth. So far, I've had a noble Nord, a dastardly Dunmer and a conniving Khajit, but I've settled for a vicious Orc (yes, I ran out of alliterative adjectives), and every single time I've played, I've played differently. Skyrim allows this.


My Nord (because the Dovahkiin should be a Nord) was a sword-and-shield-and-heavy-armour guy. Fairly hardcore.


My Dunmer (because Dunmer are cool) was a sneaky bow-and-arrow-and-light-armour guy. This was fun to play, as you watched the various Bandits mill about in confusion as you picked them off one by one.


My Khajit (because I wanted to see if they would let me in cities) was another sneaky character, but this time a dual-wielding-dagger-kinda-sneaky. This is the file I died the most on. I just don't have a subtle mind.


By this time, I was bored of sneaking around. I wanted some blood-and-gore. So I chose an Orc. But a spellsword Orc, to mix things up a bit. This is great fun; blowing enemies away with destruction magic,  and then waiting for them to get up close and finely dicing them with an axe. 


I've never felt so much freedom from an RPG. In Oblivion and SW:KOTOR 1 and 2, I felt pressured to do the main storyline to the exclusion of all else. Not so in Skyrim. I'm perfectly happy to wander around, admiring the scenery, chopping logs in Riverwood or mining ore in Gloombound Mine (a job I was holding down so I could buy Vlindrel Hall).


Glitches, however, are the worst thing about this game. I've had times when I was attacked in Whiterun, with no bounty. The inability to join the Thieves Guild, due to Brynjolf not being in the Ragged Flagon. Falling through the ground in Windhelm, and dying. There are myriad others. The glitches are the only thing that ruins the game for me, and stops me from giving it ten out of ten.  


Overall, however, this is one of the best games I have ever played, and I heartily recommend it to anyone and everyone.


Summary- TES V: Skyrim - 9, of a possible 10. The glitches let it down, but ultimately an amazing game.

Sockmonkeys and Snow

I awoke to a perfect blanket of snow this morning, so what did I do? Of course. I made a sockmonkey. In case you're unaware (and if it isn't obvious), this is a monkey, made out of socks. Well, when I say 'made a sockmonkey', I really mean 'started making one'. Sewing is harder than it looks, guys. At least I didn't bleed all over it.

And then, I went tobogganing- for the first time in years. Not only was it cold and wet, but it was awesome! I never knew about the hill where we went, until today. As it happens, it's a damn good hill for sledging and whatnot. I would've got a picture for you guys, but I was way too busy sliding down hills. Also, I had gloves on, so I couldn't work my phone. Ah well, we'll live.

Possibly the only downside was the undesirables turning up; smoking and lobbing balls of ice at us. They really do very little to subvert the youth stereotype that apparently everyone over 40 has, of anyone below 20. Ah well. When the world burns, I can say 'at least people thought well of me'. Or most people do. I hope.

Also: Mario Mushroom hot water bottle! What? Why are you giving me that look? It gets cold at night...

Woo!

Enough of this madness! I'm cold, and want tea. Milk, two sugars, if you're interested. 

Until next time.

On the Brink of Madness

My alarm woke me at stupid-o'clock this morning, so I got up and had a Bethesda session; Skyrim followed by Brink.

The customisation options are the best bit for me.

Brink: a game spurned by most 'hardcore gamers'. What I want to know is why? In my experiences of it, I find nothing lacking. The gameplay is smooth, and the parkour element is brilliant; on other games, I regularly find myself trying to 'Brink slide' around corners, to no avail. 


Admittedly, the apparent vast array of weapons isn't quite so vast once you get into the game; the only truly viable option is two sub machine guns, as that's all the choice you're really given. Yes, there are a few issues where a surface refuses to render until five minutes after you've looked at it and walked off, but hey. The gameplay is awesome, the use of level scaling AI enemies likewise.


I don't see what the problem everyone has with it is; this is the game that broke me into the FPS genre. Actually, that might be it. This is a breaking in game for people who haven't played FPSs before, and therefore the ravening CoD crowd dismiss it. Which brings me nicely on to my hatred of CoD. This might be- and probably is- a hipster thing on my behalf, but everyone plays it, and I don't get the hype; it's all 'AAAAAHHSHOOTINGLOL'. There's no sense of a story developing, especially in online modes; Brink has this, as you just play the campaign missions online. 


Me, I'm a story gamer. My games have to have a decent story, as I'll dismiss them as shallow. That's probably my problem with CoD: I just need something more mentally stimulating than running around with a gun shooting people. I'll stick with my RPGs, ta. 


Speaking of which...

Yay!

 Oblivion has just arrived as I write this! No doubt a post sometime in the future shall be me waxing lyrical about it. I'm a fan of RPGs. 


 In other news, I'm writing a book! *cheering and applause* Never fear, I'll keep you posted on how that goes, too. 


 Until next time.

The Wheel

I've been following the Wheel of Time series for years now, but it's never really dawned on me that it would end. I know, I really should have realised, but it seemed it would just go on for ages, akin to a cheese rolling down a large hill. I mean, come on, not even the death of the author, Robert Jordan, stopped them from being written. His co-author, Brandon Sanderson, and wife, Harriet McDougal, have carried the torch since 2007. I doff my cap to them. 


This November, however, it all stops. A huge part of me will die when I finish that final book; a significantly larger part of me than when I finished the Inheritance Cycle (Eragon, Eldest, Brisingr, Inheritance, by Christopher Paolini)


Speaking of the Inheritance Cycle, the ending to that book disappointed me. Yes, I knew it was going to happen and everything, but still. I was just left with a feeling of anticlimax. I sincerely hope the ending to A Memory of Light doesn't leave me like that, but I have a suspicious feeling it will.


Unlike Inheritance, we only have small clues as to how it will end; sneaky quotes apparently from the Fourth Age showing that there is something left of the world after Rand finishes with it. What we don't know, however, is the specifics. What actually happens to Mat, Perrin, and Rand? I wait in anticipation. 


(No, I don't own the above image, but hats off to whoever made it, it's awesome! Got it from here.)
More about The Wheel of Time here, for those who haven't witnessed it's epic grandeur.  

A Beginning of Sorts...

With January exams gone, I've suddenly found myself with acres of time on my hands. What better way to use this new found freedom than to start a blog? Yes, I could go out and whatnot, but hey; it's warmer inside.

Mostly, it'll be be whittling on about random occurrences in my daily life; I'll try to update as regularly as possible, but I'm not promising anything. Also, I'll throw in the viewpoint of a non-serious gamer and amateur music critic; expect something close to reviews. Food could feature, too; pretty much anything I find interesting. 

I'll leave that here for now, while I find something interesting to write about. I'm thinking either my love of TES V: Skyrim, or my passionate hatred of CoD. Maybe something completely different. We'll see.

Until next time.