Raithe

Well things have progressed. Several hours in and I get a text message from my sister "btw I forgot to mention he threw up at 7am, you might want to keep a towel handy." But so far no real messes to deal with, managed to keep the sick dog from trying to eat the cat, mom's settled back watching some classic period drama, the weather's still wet, noon time is rolling around.. so I'm grabbing a piece of gran's bread pudding to nibble on, a fresh cup of tea and about to watch a documentary about the "Secrets of the Arabian Nights" narrated by Richard E Grant following the origins and how it travelled to the west and influenced our view of the middle ease.. Should be somewhat interesting.

Got up to grey, wet and generally miserable weather. With a slow-grinding headache, a puppy with an upset stomach.. and city workmen going along the roads with strimmers and equipment to trim back the hedges, bushes and assorted trees along the roadside... Now firmly attending to my first mug of tea for the day.

Yet more "in-universe" advertising...

I still favour Doctor Who's "Timey-Wimey-Stuff" explanation.

So.. they've now released Mass Effect Genesis for the PC and Xbox.. basically a 15 minute or so "digital comic" that retells the story of ME, and gives you the option of selecting the key choices that effect ME2. And yes, they're charging for it. Although it amounts to about $4. Is it me, or is that starting to scrape the barrel just a wee bit?

I'm half expecting someone to turn up with a Mod style Scooter on this thread... Although that might be the clash of division against all these Rocker bikes...

Was that because of the work he did for you.. or because he worked for you? Hey, someone had to say it. There's something about madness that can be a lot more terrifying then gore and blood spill. Edit: Although thinking about it, I might be colored by my first reading of Bram Stoker's Dracula back when I was in Middle School. Harker's descent into madness scared the bejeezus out of me at the time. About the only point in the book that did.

Since I've been looking for some idle reading of late, I've started working my way through some of the Exalted rpg stuff. Which, actually comes across quite entertainingly over-the-top exuberant. I was wondering whether anyone actually has any hands-on experience with it and how it plays? I mean, it's a White Wolf product line that isn't at heart dark, grim, or depressingly anguished. It's almost like Ninja Scroll meets Crouching Tiger pressed with a lot of Western attitudes.

There was just so much that was awesome about that movie in total. I mean, c'mon... Eric Idle, Leonard Nimoy, Orson Welles and Judd Nelson in one film... Throw in some Weird Al Yankovic music..

To be fair, the whole "pink being non-masculine" is a relatively recent phenomena. Well, basically it kicked in in the last.. 60-70 years. Hell, during the victorian era boys were more likely to be dressed in stuff with pink to it then some other more "male" colors. End run of random trivia.

Was that because of the work he did for you.. or because he worked for you?

Forced myself out of bed. Really had to work at that this morning. Deal with dogs barking. Laundry, odd tasks around the house, getting some branches from the beech tree that have been cut down further cut down and removed to the appropriate area.. Annoying postman who rings the doorbell multiple times because you haven't answered in 50 seconds. Some odd moments poking at the pc which seems to be acting up a tad. Check on mom's comfort, make fresh tea. Tried to get hold of a friend whose gone off the grid and I was supposed to be meeting them for lunch at some point.. Ensured the puppy didn't eat the cat. Have some random things remind me about the Ex which makes me ponder when exactly time is supposed to kick in and heal some things. Having some time to trawl the forums, catch up on some webcomics (yes, Schlock Mercenary, Rayne Summers, Exterminatus Now, User Friendly and SLuggy Freelance I look at you). A glance at the Collected Driblets of Baen to see if there's any interesting new chapters being teased. Considering that at some point I need to figure out a new book or two to enjoy in some future idle moments. Actually having one of those mental pauses that's turning into a fuzzy bleh! moment. So have to figure out a few other dealings as noon approaches. So there's the potential for further laundry, hoovering up various fur from the carpets, get some logic problems worked on, see if I can hit the C# books at some point, exercise the dogs so they'll pass out for the afternoon, decide if I'm hungry and what foods available in the fridge, and I'm sure there's a few other things that'll drop on me as I wander my way into the afternoon...

Hm, and I don't know if this has been picked up on, but in a gameinformer podcast q&a about ME3 they mention that characters can start at the maxed out level 30 (if they ended ME2 at that level) and it proceeds from there. So no reset to powerlessness. Skills will be increased in length, and the "alternate" options for skill ranks will happen multiple times. Ah, and the whole "human reaper" thing, isn't that bizarre. The logic is.. all reapers have something like that (in the form of some race they've blatted) as the "core" being, inside the shipshell we all know and recognise ala Sovereign / Harbringer. Heh, so now there's some in-game-logic (so to speak) of the weirdness that was that.

Most likely this. So far the only things I've heard about ME3 are that you can shoot stuff, it will be more streamlined for the mass (but with more rpg in it) and that you can bang even more stuff now. And apparently they're aiming to make Biotics useful again... I guess we'll have to see how it'll go.

Paying attention to the Endeavours launch via live feed at the moment (http://questforstars.com). There does seem something a little sad about the lack of crowds these days for the shuttle launches. Especially as it's going to be one of the last. A few more months and all the shuttles will have been retired from service. Edit: Currently on a hold at T-20 , Launch now estimated at 0856 est.

Free love and anti-war protestors? Hm.. wait a minute... Although I did find it a little bit amusing that kgb files after the USSR fell contained some hints about having provided funding to various liberal arts/media/journalism universities in america prior to the Vietnam war. Hm, although I'll have to try to remember where I found that reference.. And free love was never free. It just had unforseen consequences...

Ah, sonics or something? I'm keeping an eye on the time, see if I can remember to catch the live cam of the Endeavours launch at 0730 est. (or about 20 minutes from nowif I get my time zones right)

Slightly random natural science.. Tarantula's eject silk from their feet Thus.. Spiderman makes a lot more sense..

Hm and here I thought there weren't going to be any romances as such in ME3, just fallout from romances in the previous two games..

It's this sort of thing that causes everyone to hate you Shryke. You do realise that?

Just can't seem to get into a gaming feel at the moment. I've got a couple of unfinished games (Fear 2, The Witcher, GTAIV) that have been laying around for a few months if not more now, but I just can't seem to stir the enthusiasm to get back into them to wrap them up.

Am I the only one who is worried by what exactly you might be calling "hippy love crystals"?

You physics-stirrer you.

Chalet Girl. One of those UK Film Council films made with money from the national lottery and assorted others. So it has that fairly light look to it. Typical mix of comedy romance about a tomboy who was a prodigy skateboarder until her mother died, then ended up in a dead end job looking after her dad (played by Bill Bailey). Opportunity turns up when she manages to get a catering/chalet girl job at one of those ultra-exclusive ski chalets in the Alps. While there she discovers snowboarding and you get a lot of nice visuals of mountains and assorted ski / snowboard runs. Add in the rich family that use the chalet , headed up by Bill Nighy and Brooke Shields with the typical handsome son (played by one of those guys from Gossip Girl) about to get engaged (the obvious romance issue) and the big end-of-season snowboarding competition with some serious prizemoney.. and it heads through the usual tropes and trials of such a movie. Light, winsome, although a little slow moving at the beginning and it has a certain amount of British understatement. It's pretty much well-acted all the way around with some nice lines scattered around. Although the sight of a wet, nearly naked Bill Bailey towards the end of the film might put some people off.

Realised I'd actually made it through yesterday without eating anything more than a single eccles cake and a scotch egg. Hm, always kind of dangerous when you're not feeling hungry and time blips past without you noticing that. Multiple cups of tea really can keep you going strong. Went with a big fry up tonight which might not have been the healthiest, but was certainly tasty. Had a glance through a C# Pocket Reference I'd picked up, caught up on a couple of tv shows that I've had stored awhile, and found an out-of-print rpg supplement I've been keeping an eye out for. Arranging a lunch meet up this week with a friend I haven't seen in a few months, and I'm considering whether I should take the opportunity to look around for a new suit. Potentially have a formal job interview coming up over the next month, and the one I've got hanging up is getting on a bit. Even if it is a rather nice Pierre Cardin. Of course, then I'll have to start worrying over whether my father will pick up on the home care for mother... now he's retired he should be able to pick it up (and is why i've been trying to get back on the work horse). I'm just kind of hoping that the only reason he hasn't been doing much of it so far is that I'm still around the house. The joys of family politics....