Monte Carlo

Hmm thanks for that. I thought it would be a fun MP game but I like to be able to play SP too. I might get Modern Warfare to see what all the fuss is about.

You need to move into a Sorority House with lots of rich, hot chicks. Seriously, it has to be worth thinking about.

BG1. My mighty Chaotic Neutral Barbarian is now level 5 and reaving up and down the Sword Coast. Am about to disband my core group of whiny Jaheira and her useless husband for Shar-Teel and Branwen.

Is Left for Dead 2 any good? Never played the first one. It's silly-cheap.

It needs some coke, ice and a slice of lime. This looks a bit too Gaming-as-Excel-Spreadsheet for my plebian tastes.

Just saw dumb-ass comedy 21 Jump Street. It was actually very funny. Johnny Depp's cameo was cool and Ice Cube just shouts and swears for a change. Channing Tatum is quite happy to send himself up, and pulls of the gag nicely, but FFS Jonah Hill looks double-spooky now he's lost all that weight. It reminded me of any number of High School comedies with a dollop of Hot Fuzz.

Again, there are so many schools of thought on this. One (which I don't follow, but can see the sense of) is to put the moFo away for three months. Then come back to it with a fresh pair of eyes. I edit as I go along, some people think it's crazy but it works for me. At the end I then do a final edit (like games, books are never actually finished). I re-read actively and get very choosy about every word. Is it necessary? I then (ruthlessly) apply the "show don't tell" rule to every chapter. I make plotting spreadsheets and timelines. I revise characters armed with the knowledge that I know what happens at the end. An agent will employ professional readers to comb your script. They are looking at plot, structure, grammar and commercial nous. They are utterly freaking unforgiving. Getting as far as getting a reader rip up your script for arse-paper is an achievement, let alone give you a 'ready to present' rating (I got that once). PM me and I will give you an email to send me the first three chapters.

Girls don't like boys, girls like cars and money.

* pulls up chair* Are there tunnels?

The Expendables 2 trailer has Schwarzenegger and Bruce Willis in a Smart car. It looks great.

Baldur's Gate 1 in BGT. Jesus I forgot what a munchkin I am... modern games are so freaking easy. I've had my arse kicked getting to level three with my barbarian. Kagain the dwarf was gibbed by a wolf and Jahiera dies every other round. Khalid's morale snaps every other battle. The corroded metal means that our weapons break frequently and our armoury of magical items consists of a +1 dagger and a +1 quarterstaff. An undead thingie in Ulcaster is unbeatable. It's great! Bring back games like this!

...and I just realised that, FFS, Chuck Norris is in it. This is an almost religious action-movie moment.

The Expendables 2 video game looks so bad it's good, a sort of Diablo with assault rifles and helis. The franchise (of which I am an unashamed fan) is perfect for video games IMO. http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2012/07/10/a-crews-missile-to-the-face-the-expendables-2/

I am finally going to install BG1 & 2 and BGTWeiDU and mod the hell out of it and play a mega non-stop level 1-50+ BG marathon.

^ I've got one of those in my garden.

Just bought Divine Divinity,

Fallout: NV Diablo 3 Medieval Total War 2 (Custom Campaign mod)

When and if my book comes out you must all buy it. Please.

Why not write a book about a guy trying to write a book so he goes to Vegas to concentrate? The Shining meets Fear and Loathing... meets The Hangover.

Screw that, I bet they have great comic books in Korea.

In other news, I have decided that the Monk is at least ten times more fun that the Barb. And is it just me, or do Monks seem to get far more health globes spawning during battles? They're all over the place. Killed an annoying cave-bat-thing in the start of Act II and got a pair of legendary trousers, too.

I think Zoraptor has hit on something there with a gifting system on Steam. It's like corkage in a bring-your-own wine restaurant. You get to drink your own booze, which is cheaper than buying it in the restaurant. OTOH, you pay a small corkage fee to the house to make up for the privilege. It's a win-win. Steam should be the same, if I want to give or more importantly sell a game I've bought on Steam through Steam it makes sense that the house might want a fair cut to represent their service and infrastructure.

B1 Stealth with the wings cut off!

Hmmm. Stephen King. Hmmm. I suppose if you write that much it's going to be hit or miss. And I'm kinda meh when it comes to horror. My advice is to get Skeleton Crew, the anthology of his short stories. King is an especially gifted short story writer, and some of them are good. A pretty good Stephen King starter for ten.

Nah, I have an agent and I've had two books with publishers. One is dormant for now, the other being considered.