Twilight
July 21, 2008 | Category: Everything | 2 Comments
When Tim came home last night, one of my presents was a copy of Entertainment Weekly. Woo! Er..
He picked it up because he saw The Twilight Saga was on the cover and he thought that it was talking about the Twilight Watch movie based on the novel I just finished reading. But it wasn’t.
It’s the movie coming out based on the book, Twilight, part one of a saga of books called, you guessed it, The Twilight Saga.
I had heard about but hadn’t looked into it so I did and it sounds pretty cool. I looked on Amazon and the first novel was only $6 in paperback and with free delivery I figured even if it sucks I can’t lose.
So I ordered it and it’ll arrive on Tuesday. I’m quite excited to read it because everywhere it’s mentioned seems to be saying only good things.
The movie isn’t out till December but hopefully it’ll be good as well, it starts Robert Pattinson who played Cedric Diggory in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. So even if it’s crap, Ill have something to look at for two hours.
2 Comments | PermalinkTags: amazon, Books, harry potter, twilight, twilight saga
Universal Wish List
July 21, 2008 | Category: Everything | Leave a Comment
Amazon added a really cool feature to their wish lists recently.
You can now add items from any website, not just Amazon’s. You do this by using a bookmarklet and when you’re on the page of something you want you click to add it to your list. It adds the item like regular Amazon items but instead of going to the Amazon page it links to the external page.
It’s a pretty neat feature for having one list with everything you want on it. It’ll come in handy at Christmas when I’m at home and can add things from UK websites like Game and Play and then next summer it can just be a regular wish list.
Leave a Comment | PermalinkTags: amazon
Woot!
July 20, 2008 | Category: Everything | 1 Comment
Jason and Soco got me turned on to this Woot Shirt thing. Basically they sell a different t-shirt every day for $10.
Most of the t-shirt designs are really cool so I can see myself ordering a few of these.
I don’t know whether it’s a good or bad thing that it’s only $5 shipping to the UK…
Today’s t-shirt was the picture on the right and I ordered it so hopefully it’ll be here by the beginning of next week.
I can’t wait to see tomorrow’s!
1 Comment | PermalinkHey, so glad you could make it
July 20, 2008 | Category: Everything | Leave a Comment
Since Tim was away I invited the guys over last night for some games and then a sleepover. I didn’t actually think anyone apart from Jason was gonna turn up since nobody else confirmed until yesterday.
In the end it was me, Jason, Alex, Soco and Woody. It was a load of fun. Soco brought two of the Buzz games for PS2 so we played the both of them. I won the first game which was a general quiz and Jason won the second one which was moviecentric.
After that it was Rock Band till 4AM when we all went to sleep.
In the morning Jason, Soco and myself walked round to Krispy Kreme’s and got some doughnut for breakfast. Man they were tasty!
After we’d walked back and hung around the house some we went over to Toys R Us (which I didn’t even know existed) and it turned out the power for the block down there must’ve been out. All the traffic lights were off so it was pretty crazy.
I bought Beautiful Katamari for just under $9. Can’t go wrong with a game for $9 eh?
When we got home the guys headed off and I played some Beautiful Katamari and some Rock Band and now I’m waiting for Tim to come home. Which should be soon since he finally landed just now, nine hours late.
Leave a Comment | PermalinkTags: beautiful katamari, buzz, games, gaymers, holiday, ps2, rock, Seattle, Sony, tim, xbox 360
Loner in the home
July 18, 2008 | Category: Everything | Leave a Comment
Tim’s off in Chicago just now so I’m all alone in the house. It’s eerily quiet. I’ve taken the downtime to finish my book, Twisted, which was really good. I hope Jeffery Deaver releases another short story compilation soon.
I watched all of Dexter season one which I really enjoyed. That show is really well written and I can’t wait to watch season two with Tim when he gets back.
I also watched Hellboy tonight which was pretty good. I’ll have to see the sequel at some point.
I just finished Battlefield: Bad Company. It was a pretty fun game but it had a few glaring flaws. The “instacure” injection you get whenever you want to cure yourself seriously hampers any attempt to make the game a real shooter. As does the fact that you have unlimited respawns and when you respawn all the enemies you killed previous, stay dead.
I spoke to Ross tonight, he’s off to Ayers Rock next week. I’d love to photograph the landscape around there. Me=jealous.
A couple of the guys are coming round tomorrow night which should be fun. I’m debating maybe going to the cinema in the afternoon to see either Hellboy 2 or The Dark Knight. I probably won’t though cos I think it’s quite a trek to the cinema on foot.
I’m heading to bed now to read some of my next book, Death Message by Mark Billingham. I’ve really enjoyed all the previous Tom Thorne books so hopefully this one will continue the trend.
Leave a Comment | PermalinkTags: Books, games, hellboy, holiday, jeffery deaver, Movies, ross, Seattle, the dark knight, tim
Sony and Nintendo E3 Conferences
July 15, 2008 | Category: Everything | Leave a Comment
Sony and Nintendo caught up to Microsoft today with their E3 keynotes and as always there was excitement and disappointment abound.
I don’t know much of what Nintendo put out, mostly because I have little to no interest in what they’re putting out anymore. Sure Wii Fit is great and all but it’s not a game. Nintendo is catering too much to the casual crowd and as such is bringing out nothing of interest to me.
Sony on the other hand has piqued my interest with their line up for the next year. They have some great looking games coming out on PS3 (God of War 3, inFAMOUS, Resistance 2, Killzone 2, Little Big Planet) and PSP (Star Wars Force Unleashed, LocoRoco 2, Patapon 2, Resistance) but they didn’t have anything else unfortunately.
I was hoping for an EU price cut to make the prices a bit more fair. You can get the PS3 80GB in the US now for $399(?£200) but the cheapest PS3 in the UK is the 40GB for £299(?$600). Something isn’t right there. I know the EU usually pays a bit more but come on, that’s just playing silly buggers.
Hopefully they’ll at least upgrade it to the 80GB for £300.
Leave a Comment | PermalinkTags: microsoft, nintendo, PS3, PSP, Sony, wii
Refurb
July 15, 2008 | Category: Everything | 3 Comments
I’ve been wanting a new theme for a while now since I’ve had the old one forever. I could never find one I liked but I’m pretty set on the one that’s on now.
I can change the header every now and then whenever I take a photo that I like, or change it to suit the months (summer=sun, winter=snow) or some such.
I need to work some more on the text and layout stuff, but what do y’all think of it? 
The Stone Monkey
July 14, 2008 | Category: Everything | Leave a Comment
I finished yet another Jeffrey Deaver Lincoln Rhyme novel on Friday. The Stone Monkey was pretty good, very different to the usual thread of the books. Had a lot of interesting insights into Chinese culture too which was cool.
I started on Twisted on Friday night and I’m about halfway through it. I love the short stories because they are totally unpredictable because all bets are off.
After I’m finished Twisted I think I’m gonna read Jeffrey Archer’s As The Crow Flies which I found in Tim’s library. Sounded interesting so we’ll see how it is.
Leave a Comment | PermalinkTags: Books, jeffery deaver, lincoln rhyme, twisted
E308 Aftermath
July 14, 2008 | Category: Everything | 2 Comments
Well the Microsoft keynote is over and I have to say I’m pretty chuffed with some of the stuff.
Awesome holiday lineup: Viva Pinata 2, Gears of War 2, Fallout 3, Fable 2, Call of Duty 5. Another stellar line up for the holiday means I’m gonna be a poor boy cos January. Maybe I can convince my family they don’t need Christmas presents….
Dash refurb: When it launched, the Xbox 360 dashboard was pretty good. But now that there’s a lot of content and most people have games, movies, tv on there it’s too difficult to find stuff. It’s also painfully slow nowadays. Thankfully Microsoft listened and are revamping it completely. Which is great for useability, but what about all the themes people have spent money on? Thankfully I’ve never bought a theme but there’s likely a few people who might be a bit peeved when they realize.
Mii…Avatars: Pretty much just the same as the Wii’s Mii’s, Avatars are little dudes you create and then can use in some games. It’ll be interesting to see if Microsoft can keep making games to use them in or whether it’ll go the way of the Vision Cam and just fade into the background.
Lips: The one I really wanted. Lips is Singstar for 360. BUT you can import music from your iPod. I can’t wait. Wireless mics with motion sensing. Definitely be picking this one up.
Final Fantasy for 360: This’ll be a huge blow for Sony since Final Fantasy has been synonymous with them for some time now. But Final Fantasy XIII will be launching simultaneously on 360 and PS3. A huge win for Microsoft.
Install games to HDD: This is a feature I don’t know that I’d use but I know a lot of people want it. It’s been very hit and miss on PS3 but that’s because it’s always been mandatory which it won’t be on 360. If it significantly speeds up games then I’ll look into getting a bigger HDD.
1680×1050 support: When I bought my monitor a few months ago, I tested it out with the 360 but it couldn’t do the highest resolution capable on the monitor so it didn’t look great. However Microsoft’s gonna be changing that and so I’ll be getting another monitor when they do.
It’s gonna be an interesting rest of 2008. Hopefully Sony and Nintendo’s keynotes are equally as exciting.
2 Comments | PermalinkTags: avatars, final fantasy, games, microsoft, PS3, wii, xbox 360
E308
July 14, 2008 | Category: Everything | Leave a Comment
The Microsoft E3 press conference is just about to start in LA. What’s gonna come out of it?
My big hope is that the Lips rumour is real. I really want Singstar for the 360 with achievements and Xbox Live.
I also like the idea of a squad game based in the Halo universe. Sort of Rainbow Six/Star Wars Commando but with grunts and elites. I think it’d be ace.
Microsoft definitely needs to pull something big out of their asses because they’ve already been overtaken by the Wii and are close to being last again.
Leave a Comment | PermalinkTags: games, microsoft, nintendo, PS3, Sony, wii, xbox 360
Wii Fit
July 13, 2008 | Category: Everything | Leave a Comment
Yesterday we went out to go to Kerry Park and on the way home we stopped at Best Buy for Tim to get Sid Meier’s Civilization Revolution for the Xbox 360, which it turned out they didn’t have.
They did however have Wii Fit which he’s been after cos he says it’ll make him do exercise.
Well after he’d done the weighing and BMI stuff he decided to get for a nap so I did the weighing and BMI and set a target weight and a time frame and then did 45 minutes of the Yoga, Strength Exercises, Aerobics and Balance Games.
It’s actually a lot of fun but at the same time you can feel it’s actually exercise. Since yesterday I’ve lost 1.3lbs and brought my Wii Fit age down from my inital 34 to a rather better 22.
Hopefully doing 45 minutes each day for a couple weeks will help me to achieve my target weight and make the rather mean trainer man shout at me less.
Leave a Comment | PermalinkTags: games, nintendo, wii, wii fit
Pileup
July 13, 2008 | Category: Everything | Leave a Comment
Last night we drove down to Puyallup (pronounced Pew-lup, not pie-a-lup as I thought it was) to have dinner at a co-worker of Tim’s.
It was 80ºF+ so the drive there (about an hour and a half with traffic) but the area around where they live was very picturesque and I’ll be sure to make Tim take me down there another time with my camera.
When we got there we sat out on the deck for an hour or two and chatted in the last of the sunshine. Then around 8 we had dinner of salmon linguini which was very tasty.
I’d never had salmon before but it was very nice. I didn’t eat the shrimp tho cos I don’t do shrimp. For dessert there was key lime pie which was alright but I probably wouldn’t eat again.
After we’d chatted for another two and a half hours or so, we left and drove back. All in all it was a good fun evening and I met another two lovely people from Tim’s workplace.
Leave a Comment | PermalinkKerry Park
July 13, 2008 | Category: Everything | Leave a Comment
Yesterday Tim and I got up and headed out to Kerry Park. It’s called Kerry Park but the grass is about the size of my living room at home.
But it does offer beautiful views of Seattle. A lot of the shots you see in Seattle are shot from here cos you can get both the mountain and the Space Needle in the shot.
I wanna go back at some point when it’s night time or just darker and the lights in Seattle are on. I think it’d make a great HDR photo.
Waiting for it to get that dark in the summer could be fun tho…apparently they’re buying a cable car to go from Kerry Park down to EMP (which is downtown pretty much) for shoppers. It could either be really good or ruin the view and be really bad.
The rest of the photos can be viewed @ Flickr as usual.
Leave a Comment | PermalinkTags: flickr, kerry park, photos, Seattle, tim
Red Faction: Guerilla
July 11, 2008 | Category: Everything | Leave a Comment
Red Faction was the first game I ever bought for my PS2 and I absolutely loved it, and not just because you could blow things up.
It had a really great storyline too which I’d never experienced in a FPS before. The multiplayer was also good fun and I remember me and Ross spending many an hour killing each other in it.
Then Red Faction 2 came along and while it was alright, it was by no means better than the original.
Red Faction: Guerilla looks to put the series back on track tho. Set on Mars again at the scene of another mining revolution, the game is free roaming this time round which should make for some fun passing time by simply blowing things up.
Gamespot released their first hands-on with the game which was positive and they also have the first footage which is actually just behind the scenes stuff but still shows the destruction possible this time round with the power of the 360 and PS3.
The game isn’t due to hit until some point in 2009 but I can’t wait.
Leave a Comment | PermalinkTags: games, ps2, PS3, red faction, xbox 360
Internet Explorer 8
July 11, 2008 | Category: Everything | Leave a Comment
I was looking at my stats for my blog to see how many people have visited it using Firefox 3 (it was a rather disappointing 734 visits) and I was looking down the list at what other browsers there are.
At the top is IE6, Firefox 2, IE7, Firefox 1.5 then you’ve got Safari, Vienna(?!), Camino, Opera, the usual suspects.
But right at the bottom is Internet Explorer 8, which I didn’t even realize was that far into development. I don’t think a public beta has been released which means it was somebody developing it who visited, but who?
I know soco works at Microsoft but I don’t think they’d deploy a beta onto all the computers throughout the offices.
Curiouser and curiouser.
Leave a Comment | PermalinkTags: firefox, internet explorer, microsoft, safari
Max Payne
July 11, 2008 | Category: Everything | Leave a Comment
The first trailer for Max Payne was “leaked” yesterday and I have to say I’m excited. It looks like it is sticking with the dark art style of the games, two of my favourite shooters ever, and Mark Wahlberg looks the part.
Hopefully the storyline can keep up with the action and turn this into a somewhat decent videgame movie.
Leave a Comment | PermalinkTags: games, max payne, Movies
This text is of no relevance to the cause of the light
July 10, 2008 | Category: Everything | Leave a Comment
It’s been a month since I arrived here in Seattle and it some ways it feels like it’s been a month, but then in other ways it feels like it’s only been days. Time is relative right?
We went out for dinner last night for Emily’s birthday. I got the bus downtown so Tim didn’t have to drive all the way home to pick me up then drive all the way back down.
I ended up getting off one stop after I meant to but as I was walking back around I walked into Jon, who was coming to dinner, and so we went over to his place while he got changed and then walked up to the restaurant.
I’d never been to Jon’s place before, it was nice. A bit stupidly laid out (the actual building tho, not how he’d done it) but he’s made good use of the space. His TV is even bigger than Tim’s at 52″ (Tim’s is a mere 50″) but I think it fits in well where he has it.
The restaurant we went to had a bar and a restaurant bit and you could order food in either so we were gonna sit round the bar side on the more laid back couches. However the guy came over and asked for ID and as I was under 21 we had to sit round the other side.
Which you know is fine, I’m under 21 and I accept that. But they could take their drinks round the other side, and order more drinks round there so what difference does it make? It just seems so stupid.
For dinner I had an almond crepe which was really tasty and I also ordered paté which was disappointedly not. I was looking forward to having a dessert crepe but by the time I’d finished eating my regular crepe I was full up so I passed on dessert and we left.
After dinner the guys and Emily were gonna head over to a bar and see We Were Scientists. It was all ages so I could’ve gone but Tim wasn’t going and even tho Soco offered to drive me home I knew I’d have felt bad him having to drive me home at like midnight and then drive back over to Bellevue and then get up early for work. It was nice of him to offer but I wouldn’t have felt right taking him up on it.
So Tim and I came home and I watched a couple episodes of Stargate and then we headed to bed.
I also finished The Twilight Watch yesterday which was a really good read (I’d thought it would be since I enjoyed The Day Watch) but it didn’t feel like the end of the trilogy. A quick look on Amazon and I discovered that’s cos it’s not, there’s a fourth book coming out. Eh?
While on holiday in Scotland, visiting a macabre tourist attraction, ‘The Dungeons of Edinburgh’, a young Russian tourist is murdered. As the police grapples with the fact that the cause of the young man’s death was a massive loss of blood, the Watches are immediately aware that there is a renegade vampire on the loose. Anton - the hero of The Night Watch and The Day Watch - is detailed to this seemingly mundane investigation, but on arriving in Scotland begins to realise that there is much more to the story than a wildcat vampire and a single murder. Aided by Thomas, the head of Edinburgh’s Night Watch, Anton investigates and ruminates, and becomes aware that a team of unlicensed Others are hunting for a fabled magical treasure, hidden in the sixth level of the Twilight by Merlin himself.
It could be alright but it seems kinda like the guy is just milking it now. Oh well, who wouldn’t?
Leave a Comment | PermalinkTags: Books, gaymers, Seattle, stargate, tim, TV
iPhone 2.0
July 9, 2008 | Category: Everything | Leave a Comment
With the iPhone 3G releasing on Friday, some early reviews from some of the big players are starting to come in. They all seems to be saying the same thing: meh.
It’s good but it’s pretty much more of the same. But faster. And with less battery. There also seems to be a lot of bitching all round about a lot of the new pricing tariffs introduced by AT&T to counter the subsidized price.
Oddly though in the UK it’s actually cheaper all round since the phone works out cheaper than the US equivalent (£99=$195) where before we got shafted. The tariffs are also a better deal this time round with more texts getting added for the same price.
I’m guessing it’s due to the fact that the iPhone wasn’t successful on the same scale as the US, mostly due to the price. In Europe we’re used to getting our phones for free or cheap and not a lot of people were willing to pony up £250 for a phone that had EDGE which only worked in 20% of the country.
Of course the people who did are now completely screwed. Now that the iPhone supports 3G (which is a lot more widespread than in the US) EDGE won’t be improved any so they’re stuck with what they’ve got. And while widespread 3G is a great plus for UK buyers, it’s only a new thing in the US and isn’t as widespread so a lot of people won’t see much of an improvement.
So it’s a mixed bag as always with Apple. Yes it’s a cheaper phone, but the battery life isn’t that great anymore and it’s actually more expensive for most.
Where my interests lie are how this affects the iPod Touch. Now that the iPhone is only $200, who is going to buy a gimped iPhone (the iPod Touch) for $299? Hopefully Apple will cut the price in a couple months once the iPhone mania has died down a bit.
Leave a Comment | PermalinkDoctor Who Season Four
July 7, 2008 | Category: Everything | 1 Comment
So Doctor Who season four finished on Saturday with an extended, companion filled episode that had the potential to be the best episode of the season. Was it?
In some ways it was. Donna was turned into part timelord and became really smart and pwnd the Daleks. But then she had her memory wiped and the Doctor dumped her back at home. Donna was an excellent companion, Catherine Tate really earned my kudos as an actress for the performance, and I see her getting some nods when it comes to award time. For her to be ditched after only one season seems a bad choice in my opinion. The series needs a stable companion after the change from Rose to Martha to Donna. Whether it was Catherine Tate leaving to do something else or whether she just wasn’t asked back I don’t know but it makes me sad.
After the excellence of episode 12 ending in the shock regeneration, after the Doctor was shock by a Dalek, I couldn’t wait for episode 13. It just didn’t live up to my expectations. It was too busy with all the companions and there were distracting side stories (did anyone ever give a fuck about the Osterhagen key? No, we all just wanted to see Martha die) and then the Daleks were destroyed with what seems like no effort at all and it was time for the poignant farewells to all the companions. Which with there being so many of them took up most of the episode.
The betrayal of the Daleks by Dalek Khan was a shock tho, and the destruction of the Daleks by the second Doctor seemed a bit rash and violent for a Saturday night show. It seemed more suited to Torchwood’s dark themes.
Oh and speaking of Torchwood, if Martha and Mickey replace Tosh and Owen I certainly won’t be watching. Did the BBC sign Freema on for many years or something? It seems like they’re bringing her back constantly simply because they have to. The fans never liked her so I don’t see any other reason than contractual obligation.
Season Four topped season three on so many levels (the only good thing to come out of season three was Blink) and while I’m excited to watch the Christmas Special, it’s only because I can watch it live with Tim since he’ll be at mine. I’m more excited for 2010 (tho the tv specials do have potential, I just won’t hold my breath) when the Moff takes over.
1 Comment | PermalinkTags: doctor who, tim, torchwood, TV
What was and what will be
July 7, 2008 | Category: Everything | 1 Comment
We were supposed to go up to Tim’s friend Rob’s cabin this weekend for the 4th weekend. There was gonna be camping and fires and bathing in rivers. However Saffie somehow hurt her leg last week so in the end we couldn’t go. Which sucked, but she needed to get better.
So instead we stayed here and did a couple of things we’ve been meaning to do for a while now. On Friday we got up early and went to the 10:40 showing of Wanted. I really liked the film and think that some of the scenes in it topped The Matrix. Tim didn’t like it so much tho.
The rest of the day we hung out in the house cos it was a rather miserable day outside. In the evening we ordered Chinese food for dinner, played some Rock Band and then started on Stargate SG-1 season 9. So far I’m enjoying it but mainly due to Vala, who now seems to have gone. I know she’ll be back though cos she’s in the two direct to dvd movies.
On Saturday we again got up early and this time we headed out to Ikea, with a brief detour to Starbucks, to get bookshelves. We got the bookshelves and I also got a bedside table, a lamp, an apple corer, a milk frother and a little plush hippopotamus.
We also bought some frames to hang in the hall and some frames and pictures to hang in the bedroom. However when Tim was putting the picture in one of them it smashed so we have to take it back.
We were initially gonna do a corner unit of bookcases but it turned out that Tim’s house is crooked so we had to abandon that idea. But we got them put together and now we just need a battery for Tim’s wall gizmo that allows you to find where to attach them to the wall.
On Sunday we got up and headed down to Best Buy with plans to buy ink cartridges for Tim’s printer to print pictures for our frames. However they were hella expensive so we decided to just do it online since we’ll likely not need more than one set.
I had a gift card that I got from soco for my birthday so I bought myself a 500GB external hard drive for $120 so that I could back up my MacBook to it. I’m always paranoid something’s gonna happen. Anyway I partitioned it in two and one is my Time Machine backup (Billy) and one is just an external drive to store things on (Eddie). It’s very pretty.
After we got back from Best Buy and Target Tim started his Lego Y-Wing while I read some of my book. I finished it last night when we went to bed, it was actually really good. I wish they would release the third one in paperback already. Aha! A quick check on Amazon UK and it’s apparently releasing in paperback in the UK on September 1st. Yay!
After we’d had a dinner of burgers, we decided to play some Phase 10, the brilliant card game we played just about every day at Tim’s parents’ over Christmas. We only did a couple of rounds before Tim went in a huff because I was beating him.
After he finished his lego Y-Wing we watched P.S. I Love You. I’d already seen it on the plane and there are still good bits and there are still really annoying bits because they deviate too far from the book. As always the book was much better than the film.
So that was our weekend, a bit different from what was planned, but fun nonetheless. We haven’t got anything planned for this week I don’t think. We might be going out to dinner on Wednesday for Emily’s birthday and on Saturday we have a bbq at one of Tim’s workmates.
A week tomorrow is Jimmy Eat World (woo!) and then Tim heads off to Chicago for four days. I come all the way over here to visit him and it seems all he can do is head off on trips! Yeesh.
1 Comment | PermalinkTags: games, ikea, macbook, Movies, rock band, Seattle, starbucks, tim, wanted
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