The Forum
The Games
| This sort of thing is all too common. |
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Posted by
Psygnal
on 09.03. at 21:53
Excerpts from British Newspapers: 
Commenting on a complaint from a Mr Arthur Purdey about a large gas bill, a spokesman for North West Gas said: "We agree it was rather high for the time of year. It's possible Mr Purdey has been charged for the gas used up during the explosion that destroyed his house." - The Daily Telegraph. 
Irish Police are being handicapped in a search for a stolen van because they cannot issue a description. It's a Special Branch vehicle, and they don't want the public to know what it looks like. - The Guardian. 
A young girl who was blown out to see on a set of inflatable teeth was rescued by a man on an inflatable lobster. A coastguard spokesman commented "This sort of thing is all too common." - The Times. 
At the height of the gale, the harbourmaster radioed a coast guard and asked him to estimate the wind speed. The coast guard replied that he was sorry, but he didn't have a wind gauge. However, if it was any help, the wind had just blown his Land Rover over the cliff. - Aberdeen Evening Express. 
Mrs Irene Grahame of Boscombe delighted her audience with her reminiscence of the German prisoner of war who was sent each week to do her garden. He was repatriated at the end of 1945, she recalled: "He'd always seemed a nice friendly chap, but when the crocuses came up in the middle of our lawn in February 1946, they spelled out "Heil Hitler." - Bournemouth Evening Echo.  (0)
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| Steambirds |
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Posted by
Gawain
on 09.03. at 17:51
The nice gentlemen at Penny Arcade were nice enough to introduce me to; http://armorgames.com/play/5426/steambirds It cost me most of an evening. I accept no responsibility for any impact it may have on your lives. (2)
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| Stephen Fry |
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Posted by
Psygnal
on 07.03. at 06:13
I have been entranced by two TV programmes at the moment. One is Last Chance To See in which Stephen Fry tours the world with a naturalist looking for rare and very-endangered animals. The other is called QI which is a typically British comedy panel show, also starring Stephen Fry, both of which currently air one after the other on Prime on Sunday nights. LCTS is a pretty sobering look at the destruction of the natural environment, and the vanishing of some very unique creatures, such as the Aye-Aye pictured above, from Madagascar. What is appealing about this show, however, is the perspective Fry brings to the table. He's not a naturalist. He's been camping once since the age of 16, and detests the thought of being left somewhere without internet capability. In short, I identify with him somewhat. He trekked to the top of a rather large range of hills with naturalists, film crew and guides to look for gorrillas, and looked like he was about to have a heart attack. While clutching his ample stomach, he said "Imagine how hard this would have been if I wasn't so fit." What he does have, however, is the layman's appreciation of the environment, making him an ideal point of exposition, as those with the PhDs fill him in on the details. LCTS is Stephen Fry totally out of his environment, walking on the edge of his comfort zone. Deep in the heart of his comfort zone, however, is QI, which stands for "Quite Interesting". If you've ever wanted to learn about the pink spitfire that was actually used during World War 2 as a recon camera plane... or were curious about why female pubic hair is apparently quite popular among people who manufacture their own fishing flies, then this is the show for you. It's a raucous, bawdy and irreverent panel of four interchangeable guests, ostensibly under the control of Fry, who discuss, argue, and blatantly lie about things in order to get quite arbitrary points. In short, it's well worth a look, and is one of the few TV shows on at the moment which can make me laugh out loud. It can be found on YouTube, here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XC2RYiaM6WU&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2MrKxzqJhR8 Psyg' (0)
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| Bill Bailey: Part Troll |
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Posted by
Psygnal
on 01.03. at 05:10
Bill Bailey is a standup comic who is probably best known for his portrayal of Manny on the UK comedy "Black Books". This role has probably helped to drive the popularity of his stand-up act. Part Troll is a camera pointing at a stage for Bill's live stand-up routine in Hammersmith, UK. It's been out for a while, but if you've missed it, you really should treat yourself. Bailey describes himself, on-stage with shoulder-length hair and wearing a small microphone, as looking like a Wizard in a Call Centre. So what is Bill Bailey all about? He's something of a social commentator, one hell of a fine musician, loves to play with his audience, and tells jokes that can physically hurt you if you are half way through a cup of coffee when you hear them. Part Troll is a very slick production indeed. Bill runs through his many talents at a frenetic pace, one moment he is Bush-bashing... the next he's singing a rather risqué song... then he's making the audience clap (JUST ONCE!) while he pretends to be a hunch-backed giant breaking a stick. It's all very weird, and very very funny. Part of the charm is Bill's extraordinary ability to express very complex concepts with his rather impressive range of facial expressions. He can go from "Evil Club Pianist" putting subliminal messages ("I live in your eyes!") into cheesy songs, to bewildered druid ambling through the world wondering why it's laughing at him... all in the space of a heartbeat. He also manages to do all this without turning the air blue around him with profanities, which makes a nice change for a modern comic. Having said that, his views on America, Christianity (Well... any organised religion really) and drug use are guaranteed to offend at least a few out of his target demographic. Wrap this up with some extremely clever musical numbers, bad dancing, and a cynical viewpoint about the world ("Three men walk into a bar. One of them is a bit stupid. The whole thing just spirals downhill from there with a tedious inevitability.") and you have an hour and a half of Live Performance DVD well worth the money, with some genuinely amusing video diary footage in the Extra Features. Psyg' (2)
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| Winter Olympics |
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Posted by
Psygnal
on 01.03. at 04:55
I'm not normally a big fan of the winter olympics, and I'd have to admit that I didn't watch a great deal, but a number of things stuck out. 1. The snowboard races. I don't really rate snowboarding as a proper sport. It's a short step from skateboarding, and that's about as much of a proper sport as pole dancing, in my opinion... regardless of attempts to get the later into the next Olympics. However, the downhill 4-man snowboard races were quite nailbiting, and were surprisingly watchable. I was off work sick for a day, and being completely bored, I turned on the telly and spent a few hours watching the snowboarding. I may even watch it again, next time it's on. 2. The Pairs Skating. It's girlie. You can't even attempt to justify this... it's girlie. Even if you wrap it up in cowboy outfits or mummy costumes, and throw in some heavy metal or hard rock music... it's girlie. It's two people... each about as effeminate as the other... who are dancing their arses off to the tune of whatever they think will win them the most points... and they're doing it on metal sticks on frozen water. Admittedly, some of the female skaters are extremely hot... but even leaving that aside, the sheer competitive nature of this makes it vaguely interesting. It's not the sort of sport I'd go out of my way to watch, but if there's nothing better on, the channel might not get changed. As for the negative things about the Winter Olympics this year? Oh, I'm sure there were plenty. Cruin was telling me about some of the negative things happening locally, but all I can go by were what I happened to catch on TV. Primarily... the closing ceremony. It was certainly flashy, and I'm all for national pride and patriotism and so forth... but you just don't insult the other attending nations by inferring that they're a bunch of untidy yobs... even if they are. "The swiss army knife... no attachment for picking up after yourself!" Canada... get over yourself. Great country and all, but honestly, I thought that part of the closing ceremony was just totally unnecessary, and probably could have been dropped from the schedule. As for the rest of it... Having William Shatner and Michael J Fox turn up was a nice touch. Some of the singers were just crap... but in all, a nice effort. Psyg' (0)
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| Pistachio |
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Posted by
Psygnal
on 27.02. at 05:15
So, I hadn't arranged a present for Valentines Day for my wife. That is to say, I had, but there were a couple of things getting in the way of me actually getting my hands on the damn thing. That has since been resolved, and Carolyn was thrilled to discover, in the back yard, a large two storey rabbit hutch, and occupant. Please meet Pistachio B. Rhubarb III. Carolyn's been after a mini-lop bunny for a while now, and I figure that actually getting her one might be a great way to avoid endless wistful trips to the pet shop. Plus, the little bugger is actually quite cute. The cats don't seem too enthused, however. Psyg' (6)
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| Remastered StarTrek |
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Posted by
Psygnal
on 26.02. at 07:04
The original series of Star Trek had its ups and downs, but it really showed its age. Purists will claim that the shoddy - by modern standards - special effects are part of the charm. I'm a big believer in upgrades. The digitally remastered Star Trek has a lot going for it if you're not too mired in the concept of being a die-hard purist. Many of the special effects and some of the audio has been revamped, and to quite good effect. So far, all the space shots of the Enterprise orbiting planets is brand new CGI. The planets are crisp, clear and realistic, and the ship looks just fantastic. Not a plastic model on a bit of string. Phaser shots have been upgraded, and they really do look the part now. I'm pretty impressed by that. The let down is that they've mostly only worked on bits that they could edit in and out in place of existing effects shots. That's fair enough, but it would have been nice to have had some work done on the horribly fake planetary landscapes. These, they have not changed. I'd have loved to have seen backgrounds that weren't originally there... or critters just being part of the environment... but they're untouched. This isn't too much of a problem. I'm glad they didn't go the route of George Lucas and change stuff that didn't NEED changing... turning Mos Eisley into a clowniversity, for example... but a wee touch up here and there to hide the set wobbles and the styrofoam rocks wouldn't have hurt. Sure... the Gorn blinks now... but how cool - and expensive - would it have been to have completely replaced him with a realistic CGI reptile? In short, if you don't have the original series on DVD yet, I can recommend this collection. It's a nice, albeit minor, upgrade to the original series without losing any of the charm - in my opinion anyway. Psyg' (2)
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| LARP |
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Posted by
Psygnal
on 24.02. at 22:09
Look very carefully at the above picture. It is as you'll know unless you've been living in a cave, from the movie Avatar. Cool, isn't it? Right... now... Compare... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yk2vR8w2sjc I'm moderately sure that this is a sketch. I will admit that I haven't done my research either way... but it made me... 'chuckle' is perhaps not the right word. 'Choke on my own sick' might be closer. 
Psyg' (7)
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| And let there be more change |
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Posted by
Cruin
on 24.02. at 13:14
Well, it seems CCP is at it again. (Here if you want to read it yourself. Plenty of geeky technical gibberish.) With last years bump from the Classic client to the Premium client, came a few graphical goodies to sate our appetites; T3 modular ships, new star fields, new effects and most noticably upgraded planets. According to a CCP artist, the art director wasn't happy with how several of the ships looked with all the newer graphics. The ship itself didn't feel like a nasty big battleship, nor did the textures really work well on it anymore. If you're already on the task of rebuilding a ship from the ground up, why not improve all of it while you're at it. It took the art team awhile to come up with a new method of encoding the textures and shaders to work with the existing client. The good news is that for a file roughly equal in size to the old files, the game will now be able to display ships with crisper textures and colors (this should mean no more washed out colors on the factional ships). To start off this whole new agenda they've rebuilt the iconic Caldari battleship: the Scorpion. It has both new textures as well as a whole new look and feel. All the factional and tech2 iterations have also had their textures redone. Feeling left out because you're ship isn't changing? They've stated that they will now be working on refreshing all the ships with the new process. It doesn't state if they'll be reworking any other ship designs like they have the Scorpion. Time will tell. Either way it will take some time and they hope to have some of the new ships packed in the summer expansion: Tyrannis. (If you haven't heard about it, info is here.) (10)
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