Lathany

Things over the last week:
- C's cat Cooper has learned how to get onto the top of the door. Sadly, he has not learned how to come down (other than to yowl until a human gets him).
- Dom bought me roses. The orange ones are all "Yeah! Let's go!" The yellow ones are "OK, we'll open a bit." The red ones are "Shan't."
- We had our first visitor last Thursday. Martin came over for food and to look through old photos from our childhood.
- Kentucky Route Zero continues to be weird, I might post some screenshots from the acts so far. I don't know how to describe it other than a bit not-quite-text-adventure and knows it. Also, a little bit dark.
- We had our road dug up and new gas pipes put in. Fortunately the weather had warmed a little, so losing the heating for most of the day wasn't a problem.

A lively wildlife morning just outside. A cat fight outside the front door (Reeve watched from the window) and then a fox in the back garden.

Most years, I buy a calendar. For 2018 I looked around for one on falcons or eagles, but didn't find anything. So instead I bought owls. This became a family hit when Dom took one look at February owl and burst out laughing (February owl had ears). Each new month began with an inspection of the latest owl, or owls, and were usually reviewed: none quite topped February owl for Dom, not even the other ones with ears whilst Bea liked the baby owls and Ryan the night one.

Consequently, after last year's success, I bought another owl calendar this year. This month's, the July owls, are nicknamed Sinister Owls because of the wonderfully evil expressions they are pulling. Bea has voted them her favourite owls to date. And so this evening, I'm wondering what sort of owl or owls tomorrow is going to bring.

On Thursday night I accompanied venta, Martin, Frances, Chris and another (whose name I have forgotten) to a gig/play called All We Ever Wanted Was Everything. It was eighty minutes of rock music and story about two children growing up from birth to 31. It explored parent/child interactions, promises, hopes and dreams and consumerism in a rather dark way (and there was an asteroid heading to wipe out life on the planet). I enjoyed it, it was well-done, interesting and different. I'm not sure I took any greater meaning from it, but that was fine too.

Our television watching has recently been the first season of Marvel's Agents of Shield. This was fun, interesting, had some nice dialogue and decent plot. It's all about not-quite-superheroes, although some of the main Marvel stars make a brief appearance (or, much more often, are name-checked). It's both story-of-the-week and also ongoing plot and development. I particularly liked Sky and Coulson (and I think you're supposed to) and some of the weirder things they investigated.

Finally, much to my satisfaction, the holly bush has produced berries this year. It did two years ago, but not last year. So I've taken some leaves and berries and brought them inside.

I'm continuing to make my way slowly through Secret World Legends (the relaunched The Secret World). I'm now in Transylvania. Consequently, I've met one of my favourite quests again where the character becomes a dead monk with a different power set.



It's still a great quest. And the new version gives you an owl pet as a reward.



In other news - the blackberry and I had another fight. I may have won that battle, but I think it's winning the war.

Today I found a construction kit on top of the recycling. It was a little wooden kit that said it would be a dinosaur in 30 minutes. It seemed a shame to throw it away and so I asked whose it was. Bea recognised it as the sort of kit she and Ryan had received as stocking presents some years ago, but was sure it wasn't hers. Ryan didn't think it was his.

Consequently it became mine.

It took nearer 45 minutes than 30 and I found that the included sandpaper was needed. I'm not quite sure of the final result - but I do have a sense of pride that I completed it.



Next time I think I'll get myself one automatically.

I've also been working in the garden for an hour before lunch. This was partly to plant the (no longer flowering) bulbs I got for Xmas as per their instructions. Also, I started this year's fight against the blackberry.

We have finally had some work done on the garden. There is now a lot more grass and a lot less concrete. At some point I might take a picture, but perhaps after I've done more about the blackberry and other overgrown parts. I have trimmed the holly slightly and we now have some in the dining room pretending to be flowers.

King Machine (by bateleur) is now out on Steam. So far, I've made my way through three levels (and a fourth, but I clearly need to revisit level four). I'm enjoying it and have managed to get properly to grips with the create controls. For me, it's a game to be played when I'm fully awake, so is more of a weekend thing than an after-work thing.

We have now seen the third season of Orphan Black. The series continues to be good. The third season started rather wobbly and, for a while, looked as though it wasn't going to cover any new ground. Fortunately, by the end it had made an advance on the grand plot and - for once - had actually killed a couple of characters.

As we do, roughly every couple of years, we went to Kempton Park for the grand firework display set to music. Probably because November 5th fell on a Saturday this year it was even more crowded than it usually is. The display, as ever, was excellent although the music was initially too quiet to hear (it got louder as the display took place and turned out to be classical).

Having mostly been watching Orphan Black we've seen only one new film recently - Ex Machina. This was very interesting and very self-contained with a small cast. I was glad I had seen it, but I found it rather sad. For those who have not seen it, it's about creating an AI that can pass for human.

I ran the Vibius Warhammer 40K game last Saturday. The party:

• Took a brief vision/visit to the Golden Throne.
• Got arrested on return to Alanius Eyrie.
• Have been left on Alanius Eyrie whilst their Inquisitor has been taken for trial at Saturn.
• Investigated another Inquisitor's estate (the version of investigate that includes blowing up bits of it).
• Are now watching both the Inquisitor's estate and the estate of Kalin (the apparent reincarnation of Saint Alanius).

Ryan has asked why I've started making Christmas cake in November. Bea, meanwhile, has already scheduled the "putting up of the Christmas decorations" (although she did pick a December date).

Today I mowed the lawn and tried to trim the worst of the back garden. It's a little better, although you have to really look around to spot the improvements.

I've been replaying Glass Rose this week (which I reviewed some years ago). This time, Bea watched and seemed to enjoy the story progression. I've also played Richard and Alice for the first time. I've put a longish review on GameFAQs but the short version is that it's a point-and-click adventure game set in a dark, snowy future which has an interesting story but is extremely depressing.

Our first September film turned up this week - Repo Man (1984). It's weird - comedy and action covering satire, aliens and the repossession of vehicles. It was watchable but I wasn't particularly taken with it (despite it apparently being one of the highest rated films in 1984).

Finally, Bea and I tried making a leek and mushroom lasagne with lots of cheese - it was a storming success!

Last Tuesday I met up with friends (former work colleagues) and saw the Brunel Museum, followed by a wander and a pub lunch. Then, on Wednesday, the whole family travelled up to Royston and saw Royston Museum, again followed by lunch. Both were small, run by enthusiastic volunteers and could be seen within an hour.

The Brunel Museum is tiny and is mainly about watching the video. I suspect a visit is best combined with either one of the Guided Walks to the Thames Tunnel or the Midnight Apothecary (cocktails with herbs), but what I did see was very interesting. It tells the story of father (Sir Marc Brunel) and son (Isambard Kingdom Brunel) and the various things they constructed (including the Thames Tunnel and Paddington Station). I particularly liked the small reproduction of the construct used to dig the tunnel. We went on from there for what was probably a 20-30 minute walk to The Anchor Tap. It was a beautiful pub with lots of different little rooms, but the food was a bit meh and had that mass-produced-and-then-reheat feel to it.

Royston Museum is slightly larger than the Brunel Museum and on two floors. The ground floor contains pieces from Royston's history (including a rather marvellous printing press) while the upper floor displays private collections and the Royston tapestry (which is not as exciting as it sounds). Whilst a town museum, it was a good place to take Ryan and Bea as there was an "exhibit hunt" designed for children which they both got to solve (and were given little stickers for completing). Again, I suspect Royston Museum is best combined with a visit to Royston cave, but worth a look if you are ever in the town. We went from there to the nearby Thai which did wonderful food and a cheap lunchtime menu.

Yesterday we had a new sofa delivered. This means that our lounge has more seating space than it used to, particularly until we bin the red chair. Reeve sniffed around the arrival and then settled on the window sill. However his new snooze spot was disturbed by a fly - which I assume came in with the delivery - and so a very angry cat could be seen chasing a winged insect around the room. Reeve lost the chase - which did not improve his mood (the fly cheated by using "up" a lot). bateleur and I sat on the new sofa last night to watch Iron Man (from LoveFilms) and are agreed that it was better than the black sofa as it did not shed cushions so easily.

Normally, I'd be hacking my way through ancient Egypt on a Wednesday evening (Titan Quest). However, this week my partner in crime heroism has stood me up (that's Alistair J), possibly for The Secret World (which I haven't yet looked at, but was created by Dreamfall's Ragnar Tørnquist, so is likely to be impressive). So instead I'm writing an LJ update and trying to ignore the fact that I might be half-way through my annual leave already.

On the virtuous/work side (also known as I like a cleaner house than I tend to live in), I have managed a fair bit of housework in the last week-and-a-half. I've cleaned both bathrooms fully, washed the kitchen floor, de-moulded and cleaned a number of windows (along with washing numerous net curtains), done more clothes/bedding washing than I care to think about and a tiny bit of vacuuming. The house could still do with a lot more. In addition, I've been able to do a fair bit of cooking which I enjoy when I have the time.

On the sofa-bound/leisure side, bateleur and I have spent more time watching films on the television than usual in the last week. This is mainly because I finally got around to buying the last two Harry Potters.

( The two Deathly Hallows films and Equilibrium )

I'm not sure whether this ends up counting as leisure given it was bloody hard work, but after several days of trying (limiting myself to a couple of attempts per day) I finally took down the end boss of Diablo III. I've mostly covered this in a previous post - but it was difficult, time-consuming and, after learning the strategy to do it, I had to turn the video quality down to reduce the game lag to succeed. It'll be a while before I try any of the other character types (my completion was on the standard difficulty using a wizard with the Templar as my follower).

After much swearing at Diablo III, I decided my next PC game had to be easier. In this, I have succeeded. I chose Drawn which turns out to be aimed at Bea's age group and she and I have been playing together. It's a pretty fairy tale type of game, quite fun, rather mini-game heavy and mainly point and click (although, as the title suggests, provides opportunities for me to prove that I can't draw for toffee). I've also been playing a bit of Dynasty Tactics 2 on the PS2 for contrast (it's a turn-based strategy game). When Bea goes off to Sherwood with Ryan and my parents I'll pause Drawn and start on one of various horror games I have lined up: Dark Fall: Lost Souls, Penumbra Collection and the recently bought Darkness Within collection which is apparently "for Lovecraft fans". Darkness Within arrived with a soundtrack which I am now listening to (and may use in a future roleplaying game).

bateleur's game Revolution is continuing (the local gaming group - sessions are two or three hours long roughly once a week on a weekday evening) and we are slowly learning more about the plot. And developing higher levels of paranoia. We've identified the local weapons merchant and found there is a cordon around our town.

Following a sudden flux of roleplaying posts (mainly OxCon), I'm thinking more and more about my GMing plans post-Meteor (which I expect to complete before the end of the year). I have a copy of Dark Heresy which I have been ignoring while Meteor was still to run. It's been a long time since I ran anything with a published system and so I think I'd like to use one for once. Whether it will be a one-off or a mini-campaign will depend on what I think of the system once I've read it. Also, I'm starting to get ideas for various one-offs and I'm writing them down with the aim of coming back to them when I'm ready to plan something. With the exception of Ghost Hunting at the British Museum, I haven't run a one-off in years. When I do games, it tends to be campaigns, so I think that when Meteor ends, it might be a good time to run a few one-offs for once.