Raithe

Hey, that's the only way to say the Empire. Kind of like making sure to roll your R's when saying "Laboratory" just like Boris Karloff used to do. But seriously, I'm going to have to persuade you to read some Tom Kratman or John Ringo at some point. I'm sure they'd amuse you. Edit: On another note, my Blu-Ray "Tron / Tron Legacy" just arrived. So I shall have to find some time this week to enjoy that...

Pondering on that immortal question , contemplating exactly what point should you step back from being the considerate and polite gentleman and start being more of the selfish and demanding bastard. That, and the question of principles versus desires. On a totally seperate matter, I've been having to get up about 2 hours earlier then normal to look after my sister's puppy when she goes to work. Which means technically I've been running on about 5 hours sleep a night for the past week.

Trying to alter my mood by going for the slightly bizarre assortment of B-52's music.. You have to admit, they could be amusing and weird... Although they had nothing on the classics of the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band The Intro and the Outro

Hey, don't laugh about that. If the DM knows what he's doing, Kobolds can be really dangerous, vicious little gits....

Once you get past the series of events that allows North Korea to take over most of Asia and North America.. The story makes sense once you get going. But it's just a snapshot of the resistance rather than anything more. If you were expecting to play the game of "Red Dawn" you'd be disapointed

Don't get me wrong, the basic story is fairly well done for what's there. And the background events can really push the mood of it all. The mass grave incident can hit a few buttons. But what you're left with is this short story of And then it ends on a partial cliffhanger kind of note.

Yes, as a first person shooter only the mechanics are solid. The trouble is. the single player lasts about 4 hours. And the way they'd pushed some of the pr and advertising for it had suggesting there'd be a bit more to it then just a linear "point a to point b" shoot em up. They'd made a point about going on about how there would be consequences to your actions, and wotnot.. which (to my mind at least) suggests you'd be able to actually make some choices in it such as in Freedom Fighters where you could select which missions you did in what order and that would change what you might face. As it is, 4-5 hours of no choice, just run forward following a companion and shooting people.. and then the whole "we're going to tell the rest of the story in dlc you pay for and sequel games." I don't mind stories being told in continuation like that.. but when they're that flipping short in a single game, it cheeses me off a bit.

Paradox. First in a run of 5 Sy-Fi film adaptions of the Paradox comics. Kevin Sorbo, Christopher Judge, Steph Song.. and the rest the "I know that face" cast of background actors. Basically your alternate reality where magic is real and science is myth, but basically all the key points of culture and history are the same as the "real world". Kevin Sorbo's maverick detective investigating a series of baffling murders that turn out to be commited using "science" which leads to an ominous plot. Interspersed with occasional "comic panels" to shift from one scene to another... In many ways it has the feel of an episode of Sanctuary - the whole cgi background and lots of close in scenes rather then broad expanses. It does have that pulpy-detective-noir-adventure style and the typical mix of ropey dialogue to suit that approach. Sorbo does show off his ability to do decent acting even when other things are being a tad "budget sy-fy". It all comes across as a decent idea with some entertaining moments, but a bit of a mess that has something missing.

Ah hah. I've got the urge to wipe out a bottle of port.. and I've got that batch of cigars a friend of mine keeps stocking up from his trips to Mexico.. But so far resisting that. Temperance and all.

Yikes, I would've thought it was quite cheap in England. What was the pricetags? The straight out retail price over here is

If you're wow on that.. make sure to also check out the Author's Reaction to it all... In fact, he endorsed things like tshirts with the phrase "Oh John Ringo No!" and sold them off to raise money for one of those charities that supports "fallen women" and the like trying to get out of the sex trade..

I finished off the Amazon Legion by Tom Kratman.. which follows on from his Carnifex and A Desert Called Peace. (Heh, they might interest Wals actually...) It actually makes me curious how Baen managed to mix so many quite..right-wing ex-military sci-fi authors with liberal fantasy authors..and keeps them all working as one happy family.. I'm almost in the mood to go and re-read John Ringo's Keldar stuff. Now that's done as pure over-the-top pulp silly mysoginist adventure that is quite an amusing read. If you can put up with the "Oh John Ringo No!" moments that is. books to make my flist's heads explode

And for the classic line from Lee Evans "Wh-where did he learn to n-negotiate like that? " Or to put in in context

Pushing the day along. Having the spaniel and alsatian playing dominance games and snapping at each other this morning. Although trying to keep the puppy from annoying the cat and getting an eye clawed has proven a bit of a hassle. Enjoying a stabbing headache that is making me reach for the ibruprofen in a minute.

Some odd dreams about the ex which put me in an odd mood.. And then the dogs and cat start acting up this morning. The spaniel getting "over protective" of toys that are the puppies..the puppy wanting to play with everything, nibble on everything, and chase the cat.. and the cat teasing the puppy. Lots of snarls, yips, hisses and snaps. Which is just a touch draining on top of it all. Which is leaving me in a bizarre sort of listless melancholy while trying to get assorted things done. Kind of the switch off brain and run autopilot through some of the standard chores.

Had to take my keyboard apart. So a chunk of my afternoon got spent dismantling it..sorting the keys out, clearing crap out of it..fixing it..then putting it all back together again. Of course, since half the keys are worn smooth so you can't read what they say... I also had to spend time labelling them so I could put them back in the right spots. And then after putting it back together I found the spacebar was acting funky..so had to go through it again (well, partly) to get at it. Keyboards with around 20 screws to open it up.. It always amazes me how much crap actually ends up inside your keyboard....

... The puppy keeps trying to chase/play with the cat. And then takes a dump in the hallway about 10 minutes after being out in the garden. The fun thing is my sister keeps sayign when she takes him out around her friends he's clearly already housetrained because he'll whimper at their doors to go out.

Talking of Sucker Punch... I just watched Elektra Luxx (see, segued in via Carla Gugino). A little disjointed in someways, but.. bizarely amusing in places.

As much as I'm generally a bit of a Royalist.. I have to say I'm beginning to get a touch annoyed with all the blather about the upcoming Royal Wedding. Of course, that might be because I'm a tad suspicious/meh about the bride and her family. Not to be snobbish or anything. I just find the whole concept of a girl who chose her university purely on the basis of wanting to be able to meet the Prince.. the Uncle who is a well known drug supplier living in Spain.. and the parents who run an online party planning/suppliers and have the sheer taste to start producing tacky "royal couple" items to include on their website..... (Also, as a few reporters have noted.. given what said company accounts say they make..the parents are living a bit beyond their means...) Ah well. Mid-vent on that over and done with. Tis a sunny day and various things are getting done at a slow pace.. but pushing ever onwards... (and making sure to have a fresh cup of tea to stimulate).

Hm, just had a copy of Rogue Trader turn up in the post. It's amazing, even with getting it shipped over from the States it's about half the price of picking it up locally. Although for the moment it gets put on the shelf for later reading when I'm in the proper mood for it.

Well here's to the day turning better. And to it just being the one night like that.. When it's multiple nights that really drags you under..

Wait until you see them with a pair of kids playing. That just really cuts into you. So for the platitude.. Enjoy the fact it's not that bad yet.

Tachyon: The Fringe... sure it blends into the general space-sim style, but it has Bruce Campbell doing the principle voice and it makes it just enough campy-space-opera fun to be worthwhile. If you can take the rough translations from russian and the cheap voice acting.. the various Space Wolves games aren't too bad. Which reminds me, one of these days I'll have to dig out dosbox and replay Privateer and Privateer 2...

Mondays are always so much fun to start on about four hours sleep... The puppy chases the cat around.. and the cat teases the puppy (I could almost swear he's getting the dog's attention, springing some place the puppy can't get to and then blowing raspberries at him...). I'm wondering how long till they figure out some sort of detente. Edit: And then the puppy pukes on the hall carpet. The joys of cleaning...

Yes, the sun seems to be hitting the south coast quite firmly at the moment. Been getting some house cleaning and wotnot attended to. Which included having to declog the vacuum cleaner... Having some idle moments to poke at some Exalted books to spark random creativity. Although I've realised that if you don't count a couple of phone conversations and exchanging words with the checkout people while dealing with groceries.. I haven't actually spoken to anyone outside the house in over a week...