Ben's Blog

Drunken and Disorderly

2007-01-14T19:14:00.000Z

Ok, so no I wasn't drunk and disordely exactly... well the disorderly part anyway.

Anyway, I haven't had the best of weekends. Our venutre into for money poker didn't exactly go to plan with too many people playing, with most not really being up to a level of being able to compenently play. I lost most of my money on a hand with two pairs, Ace Jack and a high card of 6. I got beat by an Ace Jack with a 7. What's the chances of that.

Anyway the Friday equalled it more than enough out to salvage the weekend. However, I ended up absolutely plastered (See picture) and eating pizza while sat in the middle of the road... not the smartest move I've ever made but meh, it was funny at the time.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to getting absolutely hammered at Luke's and hopefully I won't throw up this weekend...

I Passed!

2007-01-11T12:55:00.000Z

Waahhooo! I passed my driving test yesterday! Unfortunately there was no celebration to be had last night since I was stuck working... same again tonight so I'll be heading out on Friday in order to make sure that I get absolutely hammered.

Hopefully it shouldn't be too long before I'm insured on a car and driving. My mum is due to take delivery of her brand new Punto Grande ActiveSport soon and surprisingly it's only going to cost me £400 for the year. Surprisingly because it's sport model and because I've only just qualified.

Either way, I'm still going to be doing my Pass Plus since I'll be driving back and too to Hull quite often so learning to drive at night and on motorways is crucial the way I see it.

Oh The Weather Outside Ain't Snowing...

2007-01-07T23:21:00.000Z

Right, spank my bottom I've been a naughty boy and not posted for ages... but to be fair it's been Christmas, i've been spending valuable (and all to rare) time with Anita as well as spending a fair bit of it getting pissed, throwing up, getting even more plastered, forgetting what happened and then throwing up again... rinse and repeat. It's the Christmas (or Piss-tmas) season after all.

Anyway, an update...

1) I love Viva Pinata... I've been playing on this game when ever i've had the chance... well up until recently because...

2) I finally got a Wii... and ouch my arm hurts.

3) I've got more freelance work and best of all its regular. You can check out www.pocketgamer.co.uk and www.pocketpicks.co.uk for my work...

4) I still can't drive... I still can't afford to drive... I still haven't taken a re-sit...

Anyway, i've let you get back to skiving...

Christmas Party 2006

2006-12-17T14:01:00.000Z

I think a very big thank you is in order for Jonnie Bryant and Big Boy Barry, aka Alex Varrey for last nights, well, what can only be described as a Roman feast. Okay, so it was Korean BBQ but that's not the point. The metaphor wouldn't work as well otherwise.

Anyway, to cut a long story short, we went out to Jin Korean Resaurant & BBQ in old London as part of what is becoming our annual games industry Christmas night out. We spent last years in Wagamama's near Regent Street, carrying on the well, slightly less than Christmassy theme.

Cue a three hour conveyour belt of food, food and more food. Sure we were stuffed by the end of it, and we couldn't even get drunk (oh, we drunk... Hell, we drank the place out of all their Korean and Japanese beer and half their Western stuff) but the sheer amount of food meant that our measly efforts amounted to nothing.

Well, nothing except one of the best nights out. Aside from meeting up with some of the great friends I already am lucky to have including Keri Allan, Ben Talbot, Luke Newcombe, Gareth Williams, Chris Easton and Emma Irving, I also got to meet Dan Griliopoulos and Alex Verrey, two people who I know I'm likely to become good friends with... I hope.

We also got treated first to a man whose love of food surpases even mine... Alex. I've been lucky to meet the people that I have in this industry, people who are genuinely selfless individuals who are more than happy to bend over backwards to help people get ahead in this industry. Luke, who I will never be able to pay for all the help, assistance, advice and opportunities he has offered me over the past two and a half years I've known him, it is literally because of him that I am where I am today; Keri, who constantly puts up my bad jokes, jokes which she's probably 15 times before i've dragged myself out of bed in time to get online for 9am and more than anything I always willing to take 5 minutes out her day to help me... Taking a whole day every week would be the least I could do to repay her; Gareth to whom I owe a massive amount to as well. Short of stature he might be but of willingness to give advice, support and help, he stands among giants (although it looks that way when he stands next to Luke anyway). Also a massive thankyou must be given to Jonnie who despite the fact that I still haven't managed to review Civilisation 4 and it's expansion pack because everytime I go on it to remind myself of what it is like, I get dragged down into the depths of its addiction, still fed me, and well also have been a great example of how games PR people should be. But Alex... Well, wait until the video goes up. He is easily one of the most welcoming, charismatic and friendly people who I have ever met. Although we only met for the first time last night, I could tell that we'd hopefully be working together in the future.I also have to say a big thanks to Dan Griliopoulos who Ben managed to drag out as well. Easily the person who I spoke to most last night, Dan just made me more determined to get a job on OXM360... Or at the very least do more freelance for them and go down to the office to a) meet up with Dan and Ben and b) show Gary my pristine condition 1991 and 1992 Sonic the Hedgehog yearbooks.Anyway, that's enough for today... I'l get the video and pictures up asap for your viewing pleasure...

Also checkout Ben's and Luke's blogs for their opinion of the night or check out my flikr account for more pictures...

Wow...

2006-12-17T13:58:00.000Z

Wow... I just managed to catch the repeat of the X-Factor final and wow... She just outclassed Take That everywhere... It just makes you realise how good she is...

Anyway, I'll have a post later today about Friday night and also a video if you all behave yourselves.

Such a failure...

2006-12-09T15:37:00.000Z

So I had my driving test last week and unfortunatley I failed. Granted the reason why I failed wasn't my fault since at a junction a Jaguar ahead of my hesitated at the lights and just as I went to move off the lights began to change to red. I was stuck over the line and so got a serious. Had the Jaguar not hesitated I would have gotten across fine however, while it was not my fault I got stuck over the line, my lack of judgement was... so yer, i'm not entirely blameless. Anyway, i'm not one to lie down and take it, I've already booked my retest...

It's been another busy week of editing video and preparing stuff although I finally got to let my hair down last night by going down to the new Wetherspoons. Arriving late for once (seriously, i'm usually one of the first there and would have been except for an error with a video on my part) I found everyone had ordered 20 minutes before me so was left with having to order a Panini... while they all tucked into steaks. Anyway, it wasn't a great night out because no-one really got drunk because of all the food we had ate... I get the feeling it's going to be one of those events that happens every one or two months. We'll probably do it again before Christmas when everyone is back but it just doesn't have the atmosphere (or cheap beer) that the Wine Bar does.

A mad weekend

2006-11-28T01:49:00.000Z

Ok, so i've just about recovered from the weekend. Alas, no it wasn't excessive alcohol consumption although there was plenty of that... it was more the late nights followed by the early mornings that took it out of me.

Anyway, Friday as always was a great night. It was a pity Mike, Steph and of course Anita couldn't be down but we had a good time regardless. Dave, Tim and me all headed down the pub at about 6pm but because it took us 40 minutes to walk down we weren't the first to arrive... ok so we we're by like 2 minutes at most. Cue 5 hours of drinking and a slightly tipsy ending and you had the reicipe for a great night...oh just don't forget the cheeseburger and carton of apple juice that I devoured. And yes you read that right, I retired at 11pm, however, it was with good reason.

Saturday morning came (not that I particularly wanted it too (the morning, not the events that followed) and I soon found myself out of bed at the unearthly (well for me anyway) time of 6:40am. Cue shower, breakfast, dressed and a rush for the train and I was on my way down to Birmingham's NEC arena to cover Matchbox360's inaugral XL LAN (XL for Xbox Lan and Xtra Large.

I got down there and found myself in a surprising big queue... which I had to wait in... boo, but I'm not one to push and flaunt the fact I was there as a VIP Guest. Anyway, once I got in I scoped out the place and set up my equipment (camera and videocamera). I was soon snapping away and filming the action.

Unfortunately due to an unforeseen event, Luke couldn't make it down (well unfortuneate for me, not so much Luke since he owes me a drink), but I along with several other Matchbox360'ers got on with what we were there to do. Them, run it and me, document it.

You can check out the rest of the pictures on my Flickr account (there is 150+ of them) and i'll post up the video once it's edited and sorted, hopefully by Thursday/Friday at latest: it'd be up earlier but my DV cable is up in Ormskirk with Mike since he needed it to edit the latest episode of Herman Munch).

Unfortunately I had to leave at 6:20pm because a) by that time I was tired and b) i didn't fancy waiting at Crewe with over £1000 worth of video and photographic equipment for over an hour for the next coach (Runcorn station looks like it's being repaired) so off I went, and caught the coach back to Runcorn in time for 9pm and an early night.

Sunday rolled around an as usual, I was dragged into work and unusually shoved on Petrol. It wasn't long before I was back on Checkout though and supervising. 4pm rolled about and I had a driving lesson so I got out of work and then went for a lovely *argh... brain dead after 6 hours of boring supermarket work" (I will stick to the fact that I only still work there to keep a constant income coming in in addition to my freelance etc) drive which went surprisingly well... oh but I found out that Micra's don't like going at 70mph...when they manage to go that fast.

Anyway I got back and then it was off down to Cuddington for a pub meal for my Dad's 49th which was yesterday (27th) before eventually getting back in time for the works do.

I have never seen it so busy before... it was probably something to do with the offer of monetary prizes but meh, it was a good night. Unfortunately my university days are catching up with me and after 9 pints I was still stone sober and slightly gutted. Oh well, there is always next time... Either way... one of the busiest weekends i've had was over and to bed I crawled... well I crawled anyway... a lot of my friends went off for a bar crawl around Warrington till 5am on Monday...me? Too tired... oh well.

MySpace... Its MyAddiction

2006-11-21T01:37:00.000Z

I've increasingly found myself login onto Myspace because i've been bored over the past few weeks and the more and more I do it the more and more I feel I am becoming addicted; but why?

I get the impression that as I go out more and more with my friends and find ourselves taking funny pictures (see opposite), and equally making more and more short movies that I can't help but log on to see whether new pictures that in my drunken stupor I may have forgotten about or just plain can't get enough of, the more and more I become addicted. It's not a bad addicition, not like becoming addicted to tabbaco, nicotine, beer, drugs or videogame forums, its still gripping that little part of my life.

Oh well, if its helping my social life which has perked up 10 fold in the past month, then it can't really be that bad of a thing...can it?

Get The Motor Running

2006-11-10T19:46:00.000Z

Woohoo! Ok so maybe it's not as big a deal as it will be when I eventually pass it, I've just booked my first driving test for the 7th of December. Of course, even if I do pass that one my learning won't end there. I'm still planning on doing my passplus before I buy a car and insurance even though I managed to get a quote for £700 odd quid the other day on a Daewoo Matiz which is one of the cars I like to buy.

Oh well, fingers crossed I should pass it! Anyway, it's time to head out for a couple of drinks down the Wine Bar...

Herman Munch - Episode 5

2006-11-09T23:08:00.000Z

I've just been treated to a special preview of the latest episode of Herman Munch, The King of Diamonds and although you could say I am a bit biased, I'm still gonna say its a corker. It'd be up now except for some technical issues with GoogleVideo. I'll give everyone the heads up when its up.

EA Makes My Day

2006-11-03T00:04:00.000Z

Despite the hate that gamers have for Electronic Arts (some of it earned, some of it not) I do have to say that occasionally they come through and today is one of those day because buried in the anals of their latest financial report is the news that a new version of Simcity is in the works! Huzzah for EA. I can't wait to find out more details about it.

Darn it... Didn't Get It...

2006-11-02T00:10:00.000Z

...not that to, to be honest I was expecting to, but alas, today I found out that I didn't get the producer role at Pro-G TV. Congratulations to the guys and girls who did get through to the last five though. I really hope the best man/woman gets the job because what the guys at Pro-G have planned is nothing short of extraordinary and could revolutionise games TV forever.

I think I'll have a Wii

2006-11-01T17:56:00.000Z

I've been debating whether or not to get a Nintendo Wii when it launches next month. On the one hand there are games like Red Steel that I can't wait to go hands on with... on the other its another £250+ that I could spend on other things.

Don't you just wish you had more money...

All Hallows Saturday Eve!

2006-10-29T23:12:00.000Z

After the hangover from Friday I wasn't too sure if I was going to head out to the Halloween party I'd been invited to, I decided to anyway albeit steering clear of the drink. I'd had a pretty good night out on the Friday down Runcorn's Old Town (pictures to come) and didn't particularly want to ruin that by suffering any more.

I'm grateful that I did though because I had another good night. The decorations were amazing, and everyone was in a pretty good mood despite the fact that some of them had just got out of work. Anita's costume was amazing. It's been good to take some time out at the weekends; so much so that I think that I'm going to do it more often. It'll be good to let my hair down at the weekends. Keep an eye out for more pictures to come over the next couple of weeks because you're in for some corkers, especially when those from Friday night.

Hello Mr Munch

2006-10-29T22:42:00.000Z

Finally the fourth episode of Herman Munch is available for your viewing pleasure. Man did we have a lot of fun filming this one. A day out in the town park with plenty of equipment and ideas floating round so don't hesitate, press play.

New Beginnings... Well, After A Rest

2006-10-26T15:42:00.000+01:00

Ah ha! It's working. Curiosity got the better of me and I decided to try Blogger Beta, alas some of my own html editing meant that it just wouldn't bloody work. At least it's working now...

Speaking of working I've been taking a few weeks off work. Partly for personal reasons, partly because the job had become a chore and that wasn't why I was doing it. I've had some time off now and i'm looking forward to starting on some new stuff over the next few weeks.

Time for you guys and girls to catch up with what's been happening.

From Hull Back To Runcorn, Every Pub That I Go In, I Just Go On And On...

2006-09-28T22:06:00.000+01:00

Good news! I've got an interview! Bad news! It's tomorrow and I have at least 2 hours work left to do... Arggghhh... I've obviously never heard of the concept of having an early night before an interview. Yay! Not to mention the fact that part of the fun tomorrow is flat hunting! Double yay!

Anyway, I've been in Hull for the past week and I've had fun. It's weird this years since I'm not a student. It's also pool because it means I can't get into the student nights unlike last year.

Anyway, nothing stops the fact that Hull Uni has some of the best Union bars in the country! Seriously. Sure Liverpool John Moores has a cool pub but it really pales in comparison to Hull's Student Union at Asylum. Oh and Emily, Emily, Emily... Hangover from hell was it? Lets see...

Ah Yes...

* Adversion to light - Check
* Get the camera out of my face look - Check
* Ouch my head hurts look in eyes - Check

Equals... yep you guessed it! 24 Hour Hangover! Whooo!

Anyway, I managed to get back from Hull to Liverpool just in time to get my head chopped. So what does it look like? Well... Drum roll please...

O, Oh... It's a MySpace pose... Sorry couldn't help it, ah, Ben's hair's been cut! He must have an interview... laugh all you want, I have an interview and my hair has been cut. My life is complete... ok, so it isn't but we can all dream.

I'm back in Runcorn until Saturday morning when my recently repaired camcorder and other recording equipment shall be making the trip up with me to Hull. I'm still not sure if I want to take the Xbox 360 with me to do some work since it's heavy and very expensive. Plus it's one more thing i'll have to carry back. Oh well, enough of my blanant time wasting. I must get back to the work at hand before it becomes too late. Goodnight folks and wish me good luck. I'm really hoping I get this job, it'll mean the beginning of a new phase in my life, that's for sure. Until next time...

New Beginnings

2006-09-18T18:01:00.000+01:00

While I can't reveal anything about what happened last week, I can say that good things are coming of it. A move might be on the cards as well as a new job. Obviously I don't want to say much about it just incase it falls flat on its face but i'm quietly confident because it's exactly what i've been doing for the past few months except working for them directly instead of freelancing.

I've also got two weeks off from the trivialities of Runcorn in the next few week thanks to Anita going back to university on Saturday. It'll be nice to get away from everything aside from the work I enjoy.

Don't worry, I'll keep blogging over that time.

It's been a bad day...

2006-09-12T00:20:00.000+01:00

...a bad, bad day...

I'll let you know what happened when I can, until then...

*sob*

The Trouble With T-Mobile

2006-09-07T14:41:00.000+01:00

It's now been 3 weeks that I haven't had my MDA Pro and I'm starting to get very irritated with T-Mobile. Don't get me wrong; I prefer their service to anyone else I've been with, plus it doesn't hurt that I get half price line rental but constantly having problems with my phone is starting to make me lose faith in their ability to deal with customers effectively.

Basically what happened what that I got the MDA Pro back in November of last year. By January it was broken needing 7 or 8 resets a day because of crashes. It was sent off for repair and replaced with a new unit. Problem solved? No... come July it was broken again and this time wouldn't let me make outgoing calls. I took it to my local T-Mobile shop to be sent off. One week later another new unit... 30 minutes that one is back at the shop having to be sent off because that one was broken too. Great...

Now two weeks after it being sent back off i'm still waiting on HTC to check the
phone personally then send it off to T-Mobile for them to check before sending it off it me safe in the knowledge that its working. Lets have a raffle on how long it will be before it breaks again.

Anyway, as you may have realised, my contract is up for renewal on the 8th of October, just over a month away. So what am I going to do? Well, I'm going to find out what deals I can get... I know what I phone I want though. As far as I know only T-Mobile and Orange have it so far. O2 will likely get it too but I definately won't be going with either of them too unless they have a can't refuse deal... i.e. flat rate unlimited internet access ala Web'n'Walk with around 400 minutes at least for around £25 otherwise i'm staying with T-Mobile. Oh and on that note, when it comes to upgrade i'm going to get the T-Mobile Vario II and Web'n'Walk access free otherwise i'll take my business elsewhere. What makes me think i'll get that? Well I'll be damned if they let someone who spends at least £130 a month with them every month walk away like that.

Black Ice and Revelations

2006-09-05T15:53:00.001+01:00

Ok, so its been nearly a month since I last posted properly. My bad but I've just been overloaded with work lately. It's strange that I suddenly seem to be doing more just over a month after I graduated than I was just before I did. Maybe its got something to do with my ever increasing workload, maybe it more to do with fact that I'm trying to spend as much time with Anita before she goes back to university again.

Not the Saturday just gone but the Saturday before that I was down in Newbury covering the World Cyber Games UK Qualifiers for the Official Xbox 360 Magazine. I have to say thanks to Ben Talbot for the opportunity and I'm looking forward not only to seeing my name in print but also working with him and other magazines in the future. It's totally different to working on the internet despite me also working from my home office.

I'm also well into learning to drive. Today I did roundabouts. It wasn't the roundabouts themselves I was struggling with, it was the gears as I was approaching them. I really wish I could buy a car and learn to drive in my own time in that but I just can't justify the cost of the insurance when one of the main reasons I'm planning on doing Pass Plus straight after I pass so I can get lower premiums. Oh well, I suppose I'm best just asking to do two lessons a week after next week.

Oh well, i'm best getting back on with work before the boss shouts...

Now Live (Again)

2006-08-09T10:20:00.000+01:00

After moving the Xbox 360 downstairs I had been off Live for about 2 or 3 months but no more! I'm back thanks to the new wireless network I've installed in the house.

Now I've just got to find time to play the games. :( These 13 hour days are killing me.

A Slight Copyright Infrigment!?

2006-08-06T21:40:00.000+01:00

Well if you're going to do something you may as well go the whole hog...

Lets just say Sony will be getting a letter in their inbox informing them of this infringement. Sure I might dislike Sony as a company but if there is one thing I can't stand above anything else it's Gypsies.

Prior Engagements...

2006-08-06T21:29:00.000+01:00

And so it eventually happened.

I proposed to Anita, on Goodrington Sands, Paignton on the beach after the sun had gone down, with me down on one knee in the sand. Oh romantic me...

Burn Baby Burn

2006-08-06T21:22:00.000+01:00

Having had a day to recuperate from the my holiday, after a 6am start and 5 hour train journey I feel much better, oh boy did I needed it.

Me and Anita have just got back from Paignton on the English Rivera and well, believe it or not it did earn that name this week despite the weather being no where near as hot and sunny in the rest of the UK. However, despite staying in the same country never mind time zone I still feel jetlagged. Not from my sleep patterns being mixed up but from not being constantly involved in the games industry. I wouldn't feel so out of touch apart from the fact that apparently mobile internet has yet to be invented in the south west of England. Funnily enough it's only when you're away from something that you begin to realise how much of your life it makes up. For me, journalism and gaming seems to make up almost every single hour of my day that is free. All I can say is thank god for holidays.

Anyway, so how was the holiday? Good, very good. I believe an appropriate song for my back would be so bloody burned. For god sake I was born and grew up in Australia. I can control my body temperature better than most people (for example I can walk around in a winter jump in the middle of 30C heat and not sweat a drop nor feel uncomfortable) but I can't stop getting burned. Well, at least not on my the back of my neck or back of my waist. Everywhere else is fine except for those parts of my oh so traffic light red back. Luckly despite me peeling where my shirt has rubbed against my burnt skin I'm still tans as a serial sunbed addictee, just without the orange skin. As my family will tell thee, give me a month in the sun and I'll be as black as an african so it's not really that much of a tan for me.

So we had a good time, messed about at the sea, went to the waterpark and just relaxed. Sure there were funny parts like when I went out in my 3 man rubber dingy and managed to get blown out to sea. Well, at least out to the edge of the rock pools where my dingy got snagged on the seaweed. I had to get out and swim back... not fun. I also managed to get the shits, shakes and aches either from swallowing sea water or eating undercooked food from a pub near the beach. What every it was it was horrible and ruined a day of the holiday. Still, at least it made me appreciate the other days more.

Oh and Virgin Trains, I don't know what you guys where thinking when you only put on a train to Paignton from Glasgow and vice versa when you knew full well that you'd need at least eight. Deny it? Tough, even your staff admitted the train was meant to be 8 carriages. Thanks to your incompetence you had people piled up in the walkways between the seating areas and people fighting over booked seats when people were sat in them. Great customer service guys!

A Life Defining Week...

2006-07-28T17:08:00.000+01:00

Woah, over a week of me not posting. Hmmm... That'll be because I've been so damn busy.

So what on earth have I been doing? Well for one, last friday I had my first driving lesson, and I've just got back from my second. Its going ok, I'm getting used to changing gear on the move. It's weird because although I felt in complete control of the car in the first lesson (probably out of sheer fear), the second lesson felt more sureal.

And speaking of sureal. I graduated university on Wednesday. It was one hell of an experience and one that despite the three years of incredibly hard and often boring work was worth every second. It was over too quick.

The best metaphor for the experience is being on a roller coaster. You wait ages, watching everyone before you experience the thrill of the ride, then suddenly it's you up next. The attendees are checking your gowns and cap to make sure they're fitted correctly and sitting right, then the ride begins.

You slowly make your way up to the first dip, then you see it. You have the top taunting you because you know it's so close or in our case a runner telling us to hand the card to the speaker and smile all the way across. Then comes the drop, you walk up the ramp, hand the card to the speaker, they announce your name, everyone claps and screams, shake hands with the Vice Chancellor and Pro-Vice Chancellor then it's down the stairs, shake hands with the course leader, collect the alumni badge and it's back to your seat to wait for everyone else to finish. That's it, only thing left to do is wait for the Vice Chancellor to ask all graduands to stand and be proclaimed graduates. The outside for the group photo (which in our case the photographer didn't wait till everyone was outside and took it early (wanker) meaning not only me but a third of the graduates missed the photo).

Anyway, we (my mum, dad and Anita) all went to see my younger brother who works in Minksy's on Bold Street, Liverpool and then on to a posh restaurant. That was the day over and done with pretty much then since we headed home after that. Everyone had gone with their parents. Some i'll see again, others I won't. It's strange the feeling that you'll never see someone you've spent the last three years with seeing and talking to. It is sad, and can bring tears to the eyes but that's life, its time to move on an go into the big bad world.

But before that I have my holiday so once again I won't be posting because I'm on holiday away from the net as much as I am from home. Until next week when I'll have a major announcement to make ;) so stay tuned.

Step Through The Portal

2006-07-19T12:50:00.000+01:00

This is one game that over the past few weeks that has really caught my attention.

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I should be getting Chromehounds and MotoGP'06 through soon to review because we had a backlog of titles recently on news0r.

Purchase wise I should be getting Dead Rising soon unless I manage to pursuade either Neil or Luke to let me review it... which isn't likely to happen.

A Week To Get Things Done

2006-07-19T12:42:00.000+01:00

So I've really been making progress with the many things I've been putting off for months now.

Last night I gutted the cupboard in my desk... to cut a long story short I spent an hour and a half this morning shredding documents such as bank statements, mobile phone bills and various other financial stuff related to university and such.

Anyway, I finally booked a driving lesson. Friday 6:30pm so i'll let you know how I get on when I get back after that. Should be fun getting behind the wheel after so long of just thinking about it and putting it off because of extortate insurance quotes.

I also I have an opticians appointment later on today. My eyes over the past 10 years have alternated from being short sighted to long sighted and back again. I'm going Specsavers because I can't be arsed to go to ASDA (from which I'd get discount) because its the other side of Warrington... a good hour and a half worth of travel. I'm getting ready to pay out £125 to get a pair of designer glasses and sunglasses... not that I particularly want to pay out that much but I have a habit of losing them and the way I see it (sorry, bad pun), I'm more likely to take great care if they've cost me a lot of money.

I just have to order Anita's 21st Birthday present and sort out my freelance letters to Imagine, Future, DNA and Uncooked Media before the end of the week. Shouln't take too long now... i'm just glad most of its over and done with now.

Oh yer, and I graduate a week today :s

Ebuyer... Why Are Thou So Slow

2006-07-17T10:23:00.000+01:00

I'm looking at upgrading (read ripping apart and starting a new) my PC from what it was upgraded to Christmas 2004. At that time it was a monster PC...

AMD Althon 64bit 3500+ with 1GB Dual Channel RAM, an ATI X800XT 256mb graphics card with very little else seen to apart from upgrading the motherboard. Now its time to start a new (well, start saving anyway).

However, I'm trying to research component prices but am having no luck. I bought last time from overclocker but after having a bad experience with them trying to return something and get a refund (I eventually had to threaten them with trading standards to get them to do anything), i'd rather not use them again.

Oh well... back to the fun of waiting for it to load.

Word Up!

2006-07-14T19:21:00.000+01:00

So I've been using the second stage beta version of Microsoft Office 2007 which includes Word, Publisher, Outlook and co and so far I have to say I'm pretty impressed. Timed just right (for me at least anyway) is the total revamp and redesign of the software which now resembles something you'd expect to see on a Mac rather than PC. A nice new background and new navigation system mean you'll have to get used to the little difference but don't fret, the majority of them are all good.

Oh, and its a damn sight nicer to look at for hours on end too! Hurrah! Anyway, when you're staring at a screen for upto 8 hours a day it helps to have something nice to look at, especially when you're playing crap games like I had to put up with today.

So I'm getting used to dealing with the camcorder having a funny tint to it... Don't understand what I mean? I'll show you. So thats both the viewfinder and LCD screen like that. Fun times.

Anyway, two weeks to tomorrow I set off down to Dorset with my girlfriend's family for the week. Hopefully it'll be a good laugh and a nice opportunity to get away from it all.

Oh, and one last thing before I go. I've recently got back into playing Garry's Mod, a (you guessed it) mod for Half-Life 2 that sees you manipulating the environment and objects to your own end. It's by far the most fun i've had online for a while, and probably will remain that way for the next couple of weeks. There is just something enjoyable about making a plane out of a bunch of junk and a tank out of a dumpster on wheels. Whoooooo!

So anyway, I bid you adue for another day. I shall now head down the pub with my mates when they get back in from work about 8pm tonight from Manchester and East Runcorn. Ah the life of a games journalist and not having to commute.

Tickets

2006-07-12T12:49:00.000+01:00

Ok, first of all, sorry about the lack of posting over recent days. No other reason than I simply had too much to do to post.

Anyway, so I finally got my graduation tickets through in the post today, and the best thing about it is i'm one of the very few people to have gotten a 3rd ticket. Now I just have to work out who else to take... Anita, my nan etc... difficult choices to make. However, it isn't like whoever loses out won't be able to watch. LJMU as far as I know is one of the few universities that broadcast the ceremony live over the net, so if you want to watch check out this page on Wednesday 26th of July at 11am.

Besides that, my camcorders gone a bit funny with the viewfinder and LCD screen breaking. They still display the image albeit with the green or red tint to everything depending on the light. Doesn't affect the image recorded but it does mean that I'm going to have to put up with it throughout my graduation and holiday since the place which deals with Panasonic repairs said it could be weeks before the part comes through if they need to order it in. I'd rather not take the chance of missing the two things I mainly bought the camcorder for.

Oh, and Anita very kindly bought me the Scrubs season boxset 1-3 for my graduation so guess what i'll be watching later. Anyway, best get on with work.

Celebration Time; Come On!

2006-07-08T11:32:00.000+01:00

HELL YES!!!!

I just got my university results through (odd since it is a Saturday and I wasn't expecting to get anything through till Monday at least). I'm glad to say I passed: I got a 2:2 BA Hons in Media and Cultural Studies... thank god, I don't think I could bear another year.

Also, in the post came my copy of New Super Mario Bros... an hour later I had already passed where my girlfriend was up to (i've never played Mario before) despite her having the game for over a week. Now, literally an hour later i'm on world two... at this rate I might finish the game before the end of the day... god, sometimes I hate being so good :p (just kidding, as Luke will tell you i'm usually crap)

Anyway, off to start celebrating!

I hate waiting on things...

2006-07-07T23:40:00.000+01:00

I am meant to be at a party right now but...

Waiting for my university results have put me on a permanent downer for the past few weeks. I want to know what I've got and I want to know now!

Also, I'm still waiting on a couple of job applications, one company still hasn't gotten back to me to confirm they received my application.

Bummer...

Ouch

2006-07-07T15:34:00.000+01:00

Petrol+Diesel x cut finger = OUCH!

It's Fate I Tell Thee...

2006-07-06T00:33:00.000+01:00

I had a great day out today, really refreshing to get away from the computer and out of the house. The day didn't start off brilliantly with Anita leaving her phone at home despite telling me she'd ring me when she was up Halton Lea. So I got bored of waiting around, and decided to head up the there anyway... the way I figured it is that i'm looking for a wireless router so that I can do my MobGames stuff downstairs where it's more attuned to working rather than upstairs where a lot of my entertainment stuff is like my gaming PC and TV etc.

So after walking there (it's only 10 minutes away from mine) I arrived in Argos and low and behold there was Anita with her mum and her two nieces. Fate, must be. Either way we eventually set off around a few of the shops with Anita looking at some last minute holidays. Not sure if we'll be going abroad this year together since we're going on holiday later this month. I might be a bit strapped for cash to with my mates pestering me to come with them to either Riga or a small town 90 miles north of Oslo in November. If we do go away it might only be to Dublin or Paris for the weekend, which will be nice.

We had already decided the day before we were going to go back to mine with Macey (Anita's eldest niece who is 17 months old since her younger one, Mia was going to have her needles done). Anyway, the point is today I finally got to test out the Rode Videomic and Velbon DV7000 tripod properly for the first time. Both performed beyond my expectations. I had a little scare with a bit of feedback when I was playing the footage back in the editor the first time but when I tried it 20 minutes ago without the mic attached to the camcorder it was fine, must be something to do with the mic being plugged in. Other than that crystal clear and nice and loud sound was what I wanted and what I got. Sure there is some worry with the GS250 not being about to monitor sound but with both the Mic and the Camcorder set to low cut it wasn't too much of a problem.

It was nice to finish off the day spending time with Anita's younger sister and Macey messing about in the paddling pool. Its really nice spending time with the kids because I missed that when I was growing up with my family really strict about other kids holding babies and toddlers. It's also a great learning experience for later on in life when me and Anita finally get round to having kids of our own.

Like A Kid On Christmas

2006-07-05T11:07:00.000+01:00

So I finally got round to having a play with the Rode Videomic. Despite thinking it might be too big (read look stupid) but its actually quite smart. I'll stick some pictures up later with a more comprehensive review.

I'm going to be busy today, I didn't get to sleep till 4:30am this morning and I was up at 10am because of content... fun. I'm aout with Anita and her niece Macy today so I should have a nice day out with them later.

Sweat Fest...

2006-07-04T18:20:00.000+01:00

Phew, just got out the shower (second in a day) because in the half an hour it took me to install the sound surround in our conservatory I went from being bone dry and well kept to a sweating hulk of a man desperate to get out of furnace that is my conservatory.

I might have survived temperatures of 42C+ in Australia but that bloody room is something else... anyway, time for a rest...

Manic Mon... oh, wait, its Tuesday

2006-07-04T15:42:00.000+01:00

Oh what a day so far.

I finally got the content sorted on time. Thank god for that, but that was only to be told that I had no more preview content because we're up to date at least till next week. Oh well, I suppose I can't complain, it just means £30 quid less for me.

And to make things worse, my boss, Luke has just been winding me up because he's got two press events over the next two days. Splinter Cell tomorrow and Call of Duty 3 on Thursday... some people have all the fun.

On a more somber note though, I'd once again like to express my condolences to Luke and his family who i'm good friends with for the loss of his father who I never had the pleasure of meeting. From what Luke said of him he sounded like a great man and I'm sure Luke and his family will give him an absolutely stunning and appropriate funeral on Friday. Once again, my condolences Luke.

On a brighter note, my Rode Videomic arrived earlier today so now that i've just got to go and buy a battery (tight arses) and then i'll finally give it a blast.

Other than that i'll have a bit more of a mess around with VideoStudio 10+ later after I've sorted out some stuff with my bedroom (like tidying it for one) as well as moving the sound surround system downstairs to where the 360 is in the conservatory.

Once it's all done I'll be back... and the chat will continue.

And Now, Goodnight Mr Anderson...

2006-07-04T02:13:00.000+01:00

Oh, just one last quick post before I hit the sack...

I just finished downloading the trial Version of Ulead VideoStudio 10+ and from what I managed to play around with so far its is amazing how much smoother it runs that pile of crap Pinnacle Studio turned out to be... thank god I didn't have to pay for that.

I'll give you guys a quick run down tomorrow after I've finished the content and hopefully I'll have a little video post up later today. Now, I'm really going to bed now...

Oh what a day...

2006-07-04T01:22:00.000+01:00

Anyway, first proper post...

Yesterday wasn't the best of days for me... I slept in till 11:30am after I was meant to wake up at 10am. It was Anita's fault, she lost the main TV remote which is sort of like my morning boost of caffeine (since an actual boost of caffeine could kill me but that's for another time). Nothing to wake you up like News24.

Anyway, I eventually got up and booted up the PC after getting some breakfast for me and Anita. DND was what was up for review today... its ok, sort of like a fast paced shoots and not a title suited to being played on a S60 emulator, yes, thats right, a little secret, we review games on an S60 emulator to ensure we are handset agnostic. However, today was not one of those days since the emulator only works on the numbers above the letter keys and the game was set out for definite use on a mobile phone... now I couldn't do it on my phone which is a Windows Mobile 5.0 based T-Mobile MDA Pro so I had to borrow Anita's which in the interest of being handset agnostic won't be revealed. Lets just say the game got a whole lot better when I played it with a mobile phone.

Preview... Oh, the preview was funny. Now we were handed a long list of games to preview with enough for two weeks and a days worth of previews. As sods law would have it, the last preview is the game that is due for review later today. That game, Giana Sisters is a carbon copy clone of Mario Bros albeit with Mario and Luigi in drag. Either way, I'll bring you my opinion of the game later today when it's published on MobGames, which will naturally be after I've wrote it... naughty boy.

The other thing that was a major thing, well problem today was the stifling humidity. Yep, I might be Australian but that doesn't mean I don't feel the humidity any less than you do... Heat I might not be so bad with but humidity is irritating. I mean it isn't so bad with what I was wearing today but even so when I went to go out to the shed before I had to pass through the conservatory; one word... OVEN. Walking through there saw me turn from someone who was coping with the heat and humidity without any major problems thanks to my fan to someone who looked like they had just taken a bath with their clothes on. Thank god it wasn't too bad later on when it cooled down... shouldn't be too hard to sleep tonight.

Speaking of sleep...

Welcome

2006-07-04T01:19:00.000+01:00

I've finally got around to doing a proper blog and I firmly plan on maintaining it considering how much effort I've put in. Believe me, its far from finished, and in the next couple of weeks/months many things may or may not be changing.

Anyway, not point in long winded explanations about who I am and what I do... you'll find that out soon enough...

Just one little thing about this blog in particular. I'm planning on doing a weekly round up of things that have happened using video, so yes, I suppose I really should refer to this as my vlog. Over the next few weeks I'm going to be experimenting with a variety of video hosts to see which is best... you know the crowd, photobucket, youtube, googlevideo etc.