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Heroes - season four, episode sixteen
Apr. 19th, 2010 08:35 pmHere's my usual Heroes write-up from BBC3 last night - just two more episodes to go.
( The Art of Deception - Spoilers )
( The Art of Deception - Spoilers )
DorsetCon - Or EyeCon
Apr. 18th, 2010 09:32 pmDorset, good weather, eighteen roleplayers and the little matter of the (ex) Regent.
( In other words, the White Knot turn tourists )
So, an excellent week - I'm sorry it's over.
1 Please correct the spelling of any and all character names.
2 Icon is another from the deck.
3 Be warned the site I've linked to has music.
4 Do these dates tie in with what everyone else thought?
5 See lanfykins journal.
( In other words, the White Knot turn tourists )
So, an excellent week - I'm sorry it's over.
1 Please correct the spelling of any and all character names.
2 Icon is another from the deck.
3 Be warned the site I've linked to has music.
4 Do these dates tie in with what everyone else thought?
5 See lanfykins journal.
Heroes - season four, episode fifteen
Apr. 18th, 2010 12:36 pmI will be writing up the Con, hopefully later today. However, first here's my usual Heroes write-up.
Last night's BBC 2 Heroes offering (the second of the two episodes which was also last Sunday's episode).
( Pass/Fail - Spoilers )
Last night's BBC 2 Heroes offering (the second of the two episodes which was also last Sunday's episode).
( Pass/Fail - Spoilers )
I'm currently playing Scratches: The Director's Cut which is a horror mystery with the usual unwise protagonist. However, I've just hit a puzzle that's thematic with the holiday occasion and which, despite my own non-Christian background, I had serious misgivings about completing. It's "put the nail in the Jesus". And there's already someone who isn't in their coffin like they should be; although, in this case, someone with evil spirit issues.
PS. Another new card icon.
PS. Another new card icon.
It's finally warming up outside. Time for an update:
- Dragon Age - I finished my game (as a warrior). I liked the story line and that there were various good/middling/evil choices to make. I loved the graphics and the other characters (although
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bateleur loathed Alistair). The system was OK, but I suspect that the user interface is less clunky on the PC (the double menus using the shoulder buttons were a real pain). I liked the choices of ability. However, I didn't like the difficulty level. I found "normal" really hard and had to retake a couple of sections to get through. I disliked that it was difficult to complete without doing all the optional bits; in Baldur's Gate the optional bits include harder stuff for people who want it. Overall I thought it was a good game, but it fell short just obviously enough that I was very aware it failed at being an awesome game. Particularly as just a little more work would have made it an awesome game (harder optional sections, slight more twist in the plot). Oh, and their download system is awful - it times out in such a way that the codes I have for extras did work, but it took half an hour for Bioware to admit that the "incorrect codes" actually weren't. - Lady Oracle - This may be my favourite Atwood to date. Why? Because the ending feels (more) like an ending and isn't horribly depressing (pretty much every other of the six books I've read fails on one or both counts). It's the usual walkthrough someone's somewhat strange life and this particular book says a lot about self-image and what it's like to be over-weight. As I was on the heavy side until I hit university (although not to the extent of the heroine), I found I could empathise somewhat with the central character.
- Duff Ticket Woman - I'm occasionally reminded that most Londoners are actually pretty good about train delays, tube delays and general transport problems. Usually because I come across someone who isn't. On Wednesday I was travelling back from Leeds to Ashford. Coming into Kings Cross, the obvious thing to do was to take the tube to Vauxhall and catch my train from there. Arriving at Vauxhall, there was a queue to get into the main station. The reason was that only three of the machines were working. The fourth had the only guard trying to mend it. Eventually the guard managed, moved through and was immediately followed by a woman whose ticket failed to open the gate. The guard called back to try another machine and so this woman immediately switched barriers, pushing in front of me to try the next machine. That didn't work either. Now this happens from time to time and pretty much every traveller I've seen it happen to moves to one side to summon the guard to deal with them away from the stream of people. This woman didn't. Despite the fact that there were already only three machines working (Vauxhall usually runs on four or five at that time of day) she continued to block one by refusing to move and calling the guard to her machine. Fortunately for me, I was let into the next machine queue and caught my train. However, whilst I was annoyed with her selfishness, it also highlighted just how many people don't do this - it's a very rare event.
- Torchlight - I've also finished this (the main game at least) and have moved on to the extra dungeon at the end. For those who don't read (or perhaps don't remember) zandev's LJ, Torchlight is a type of budget Diablo II that you can get from Steam. It isn't nearly as good as Diablo II (IMO) as I found it felt repetitive really early (I'm not quite sure why, but I think a mixture of fewer power types and repetitive quests), but a fairly good way to relax for an afternoon if killing demons is your preferred approach. One big downside - it crashes a lot on my machine (at what seem to be regular intervals).
- The Running Man - Despite the age and cult status of this, I finally saw it for the first time this month. It's a really good action movie, really 80s (but in a good way! And it reminded me a little of various fighting games on arcades at that time due to the bosses) and unless you're allergic to Arnold Schwarzenegger, I'd recommend it. It's described as "loosely" based on the Stephen King novel (written under another name), but having not read the book I don't know how loosely.
- City of Ember - A night out with chrestomancy was spend at his local Thai (called Bridge Inn - it's the pub closest to the station), which I'd recommend (I had duck and the yellow noodles). We chatted about life, the universe and everything and drank red wine. Afterward, we went back and watched City of Ember. It's post-apocalypse and stars Bill Murray. It's about an hour and a half long and benefits from not having any slack in it. It's a nice concept and I liked the whole thing and thought it was almost like a roleplaying one-off (the leads were a couple of teenagers who Found The Plot Item).
Time for another update, I think.
- Law Society - Last week I had a first-thing meeting at the Law Society. It was scheduled for "The Reading Room" which I discovered was a coffee shop with decent coffee and in rather lovely surroundings. The tables of choice appeared to be against the two side walls in the more alcovey parts and above them there were stacks of books. It had something of an "old college" feel to it. Next time I have a meeting there, I might try to arrive earlier still and take a book or game notes along to have with my coffee before the others arrive. It really was a room in which to appreciate life and plan roleplaying.
- February films - Insomnia was a rather good thriller with three main cast members, played by Pacino, Williams and Swank. The main story was very interesting; but it was rather spoiled by a set-up scene with too much visibility at certain points and a rather unrealistic ending. Still worth a look though for the three main performances. The other half of the months's offering was The Aviator in which I thought DiCaprio and Blanchett also did a good job (as did Beckinsdate - who I didn't recognise). I really enjoyed the story, but felt the length (about 3 hours, I think) and also would agree with bateleur - that I prefer made-up stories in general as they tend to have more in them.
- Pellinor - A while back I wrote a short review of The Gift. I've now finished the series - four books long. I can confirm that it keeps the same style and the same quality. I don't think it's going to be hailed as the greatest fantasy of the decade (not least because it'd be up against Curse of Chalion / Paladin of Souls), but it's worth looking at (and, unlike certain series', it finishes).
- The Bea's first competition - OK, bateleur has already written about this. However, as I managed a rare attendance (I took a day of leave from work) being the second parent, I thought I'd comment too. I was nervous at the start as I was worried that Bea would develop high expectations (she didn't) or mess up completely (again, she didn't). However, once it was over I felt it was fun to watch, and fairly fun to watch the other dancers. I had more scope for looking around than bateleur as I could go into the changing rooms and the overall feel was of a production line of preparation along with a central area for last minute practice. It's amazing how polished the various children were - I could totally see that this was the training ground for the stars and cast of musicals, etc, of the stage. Incidentally, if anyone wants to see the every-two-year show this time around (bateleur wrote about the last one); it's going to be at the end of Whitsun half-term week (the one beginning 31 May).
When I read this story, the first reaction I had was: is Christine Pratt breaking a confidence here? If I rang a "bully" helpline, I'd expect my concerns to be treated in confidence. Is this breaking a confidence or have the staff member(s) given permission for her to come forward?
I personally find that at least as interesting as the details of how Gordon Brown behaves towards his staff. Am I the only one?
I personally find that at least as interesting as the details of how Gordon Brown behaves towards his staff. Am I the only one?
Small Pandas and the Big Ariel Photograph
Feb. 3rd, 2010 09:42 pmFebruary - it's cold and dark and I alternate between busy period at work and trying to hibernate back home. I want spring to get a move on.
- Lunch with Alistair - Despite meeting on a weekly basis in places such as the rogues' camp, Kurast and Hell, we decided to meet up in person and in London as it turned out we only work about ten minutes apart. The conversation covered Dragon Age, Torchlight and Mass Effect with occasional updates on the lives of mutual friends (such as verlaine's about-to-be-daughter). We compared our opinions of (PC) classes, reminisced about Baldur's Gate and I was again urged to play Planescape Torment. And the best thing of all? Turns out that I'm not the only person in London who likes a dessert course to my lunchtime meal.
- The Gift (very mild spoilers) - Having just finished the first Pellinor book by Alison Croggon, I got onto the internet and ordered the other three. It's been a while since I found myself so absorbed by a new author and there's not been enough fantasy in my life. Although it's hard to read on the train because the various meal descriptions make me hungry! It's not flawless - the heroine reeks of special (and suffers from the problem I think someone else raised recently - the difference between writing books about ordinary people being heroic and those about people doing super-human things because they're powered). Also, I liked the Lord of the Rings feel, but I know it's annoyed other readers who see it as plagiarism. One final comment, a word of warning to anyone who was caught by The Wheel of Time - I don't know if four books ends the sequence.
- Jigsaws - I received an envelope from venta about a week ago and opened it to find a mystery child's jigsaw. About half an hour later, a pair of pandas gazed up at me - Bea loves pandas, so I'll be passing it on to her next. Following this, I made the 455 piece one that my parents-in-law bought me. That was hard as all roads and houses look much the same from a certain height. However, I finally finished it and can now see Ashford from, I assume, a light aircraft height.
- Duplicity - Last Friday's film may be my favourite Julia Roberts film (although I was also fond of Pretty Woman). It's fast, funny and has plot. She's also great in it (I'm not usually a huge fan of her).
- Blood - Last weekend, for the second time, it turned that my blood doesn't have enough iron in it (an irritating score of 123 when 125 would have been OK). This was particuarly annoying as it was ro have been my tenth donation. I'm hoping to be back over the limit in the spring when I'm next able to go. Fortunately, I hadn't taken the duo along this time - it would have really confused them.
Heroes season 4 - episode 3
Jan. 20th, 2010 05:30 pmIn case anyone is wondering, I've renumbered the episodes to match with the numbers in the episodes. Meaning that the original double-length episode (Orientation) was 1 (not 1 and 2), Ink was 2 and this is number 3.
Last Sunday's BBC 3 offering (which I watched because it's moved to an earlier time; so the next new one for me will be next Sunday).
( Acceptance - Spoilers )
Last Sunday's BBC 3 offering (which I watched because it's moved to an earlier time; so the next new one for me will be next Sunday).
( Acceptance - Spoilers )
