Strange little day

Hmmm, what an odd day. I have wired in a nice new remote control wall mounted fan above my till point that should keep me cooler and happier at work. That went off without a hitch (well, thus far) and provided a nice sense of achievement.

I’m banging my head against a brick wall with my ecommerce software which is apparently not entirely compatible with Access 2007, something they failed to make clear when I bought the package pack in January. I am bracing myself for a lengthy battle to get my money back if a suitable solution doesn’t present itself soon. Sigh. No achievement there.

I started to replay Soul Reaver 2 for some nostalgia value only to discover the PS3 creates a strange bug where it fails to render one pillar that is vital to the completion of the Dark Forge section which occurs early in the game. Without it you are screwed!

Apparently you can dump your save game on a PS2 memory card, get past the section on a PS2 and then continue without a hitch. Annoyingly you need the USB => PS2 memory card adaptor and I simply can’t be bothered to buy that when I’m already hankering after a Dualshock 3 anyway. Ah well, looks like Raziel will slip back into the void till another time.

If Eidos had any sense they’d port all the Legacy Of Kain games onto the PS3 and stick them all on one shiny BD-ROM. Come one, it’s two PSone games and 3 PS2 games in total, easy. And as a fan of those series I would snap it up and I know four other people off the top of my head who probably would as well. It’s all of the games in one place, would save me room on my shelf and you could fix said annoying bug. Hell, you could even sell them seperately as downloads on the PSN store thus maximising revenue from a simple bit of porting. Fricking genius, I am. Eidos, I am available on a work for hire basis, but the shop comes first.

To top it all off just as I’m reeling from that blow, I discover Srabulous has been removed from Facebook just as Tony and I started a monster new game where we both started with a bingo each! Sigh. I do think Hasbro have every right to protect their trademark though and Scrabulous was a BLATANT rip off.

I’ve added the new Scrabble app and it is shinier than Scrabulous. i know some folks will complain about the corporate monsters takng down the small fish but frankly, copyright violations should be enforced, whether it’s a corporation with a billion patents and copyrights or a small company that is one guy plugging away.

Cry liberty and whine at me all you like but you wouldn’t like it if someone stole your good ideas and made money off them too.

Seriously the day someone creates a perpetual motion machine using two magnets and a cat fed on iron filing laced pet food with a piece of buttered toast strapped to its back, I’m gonna be devastated.

I have diagrams you know.

Ticking along

Hmmm. All’s good frankly. I either gave myself a touch of food poisioning last night or I get heat stroke but I feel fine today. Shop’s doing OK, waiting for a call back from my ecommerce software’s support bods. Ho hum.

Had a very shiny weekend on a shoestring budget which was brilliant. Thanks to all.

Ugh, birthday. Can’t I be 21 again? I’ll settle for 25? Sigh…

Stuff and nonsense. EDIT: And oversharing.

A more whimsical feeling has passed over me. I have just been enjoying The Guild which is a little web series written by and starring Felicia Day about a group of gamers who play a deliberatley untitled fantasy MMPORG. It’s very funny and Miss Day proves she is quite, quite talented.

She was Penny in Doctor Horrible. :)

Seriously check it out - http://www.watchtheguild.com/ - I don’t play WoW, but I love the humour in this series. It is partly self funded with the later episodes funded entirely by donations from fans. They’ve won several online video awards - seriously this is impressive stuff. I once conisdered doing something similar as a serious zombie horror series not unlike The Walking Dead but I was too lazy to bother!

Quick aside for anyone who thinks that was me Wow-hating. The I don’t play that game or indeed any WoW is the same reason as to why I don’t take indulge in any drugs stronger than alcohol or weed (which is kinda past me now anyways). Put simply I have a very prone addiction personality). I can be the stereotypical obsessive boyfriend, I clearly love food way too much and i already log far too many hours on Warhawk. I played Oblivion and that took over my life and nearly ended the relationship I was in at that time. So no, I have no probs with WoW, but I’m gonna pass thank you. :)

So anyway, The Guild. Great fun. Check it out.

Further news, I have started to try to be more sensible with my evening meals in an effort to begin a battle of the bulge. Tonight was cous cous with mixed peppers and red onion and a chicken breast roast in it’s own juices. Which was tasty. And I made enough for a couple more quick simple meals.

The big one to combat is the sirens call of the corner shop when bored and lonely in the shop. Which would be solved by actually preparing proper lunches most days rather than wandering off and buying rubbish around midday.

Still tiny steps, yay me.

Anyone thinking this is pathetic or some other fitness Nazi, fat-hater bs can jog on. I’m been wrestling with me weight since I was about 15. I hit my target weight at 18, split with my first serious girlfriend, went to uni, failed to fend for myself and ballooned to a MASSIVE size. Then there was an incident and I had a mild breakdown.

Since then I have yoyoed back and forth. At one point I could wear a medium shirt and was feeling good. Then I got into another messed up relationship and threw away all my hard work. My fault, no one else’s. Now I wear an XXL again.

I’ve tried several different diets, hypnotherapy, antidepressants and regular cardio. Nothing seems to last. I’m just wired oddly. Basically, I have found that the only source of pleasure I can ALWAYS rely on is taste. Everything else is subjective and has at some stage let me down. See addicted to food. What a dick.

I’ve been trying to embrace exercise that I enjoy rather than hideous gym routines and plan my meals and eliminate snacking. After about a month they say things become routine and it should take less conscious effort.

This was going well after I quit Swin City and started to plan for myself. I hit the pool in Swindon about 3-4 times a week and loved it. I had a routine of situps morning and night and I was eating more sensibly. Sadly, adjusting to six day weeks and the lack of a pool here has made that difficult to continue. But I’ll keep on trying.

Another quick aside. Yes, I know about the Lido but the weather had been so unpredictable everytime I took my swim kit into the shop it would piss down. So I kinda gave up. Roll on the reopening of leisure@cheltenham frankly.

Right. Well that was a scary overshare on my part. But fuck it. I’ve been dealing with this shit almost entirely by myself for over a decade. It feels could to write about it. If Kevin Smith can ask fans to knock burgers out of his hand, I can share my little issues with food too.

Dr Horrible's Sing-A-Long Blog. Some rambling musings.

Spoilers follow.

Last week it was everywhere on the internet. Those of us who are of the mind to follow Joss Whedon’s repetoire where treated to three acts of supervillain musical glory.

Now I’ve read a lot of chat from people who were dissatisfied with the final act. There were also grumbles from folks who were unhappy that Joss killed another likeable character as if this has become his signature.

I can sort of see their point. I’m a fan of Whedon’s work but I’m not blind to his faults (I’m looking at you season six of Buffy and season four of Angel). That said I’ve been thinking about Dr Horrible quite a lot recently.

A lot of the plot revolves around making Dr Horrible a likeable character despite being a villain. Neil Patrick Harris is experiencing a renaissance as a comic actor at the moment which is fantastic and frankly he does a lot of the heavy lifting when it comes to selling us Billy as our protaganist. Nathan Fillion helps by playing Captain Hammer as a total “corporate tool” and a huge prat.

That said, the writing team have rooted Dr Horrible’s motivations in frustration with the world around him. He was probably bullied as a child so being victim to Captain Hammer’s humiliation must seem like old hat. This is a guy who’s become so fed up with getting shat on by life he’s turned to the life of a supervillain in attempt to change the status quo. Because as he points out the status is not quo.

That’s true. Joss has similarly seen the worst Hollywood can dish out and has retained enough of his humanity to see that the world is a mess. We can all relate to that. Anyone who has been reading these blogs of mine can see I’m certanly getting fed up with feeling like I’m being trod into the ground by the heel of modern society.

Billy is at pains in Act Two to disregard violence. He wants to be a mad scientist evil villain and reformat the world in his image, not become a psychotic murderer. It’s only when Captain Hammer provokes the jealousy within the Doctor that he vows to kill the superdouche. But even then he hesitates at the final moment.

So perhaps this is Whedon’s message in Dr Horrible. Life shits on you and it will try to make you bitter. You may change your views and embrace a darker path. But you get out of life what you put into it. Or something, Wait, my mobile’s ringing.

Hey Joss. How’s you? Oh, you’ve been reading my latest blog. Uh, how? I haven’t clicked publish yet. Oh, eeep. Is that what Bad Horse’s terrifying death whiny sounds like?

What’s that? We’re reading too much into a 45 minute musical? It’s just something you and your family did as a laugh during the writer’s strike?

Sometimes a dead Wiccan lesbian is just a dead Wiccan lesbian?

Wait, you’re just messing with me aren’t you? Hello? Joss? Hello?

Hmmm, he’s gone.

Well, screw it. I loved Dr Horrible and that’s the moral I’m going to try and derive from the story. If you let the horrible and depressing parts of life grind you down and make you hard you will end up lonelier and bitter.

And you won’t feel.

A thing.

So keep your head up billy buddy...

So, better day.

Gemma came down from Swindon and we took off into town in search of Subways and cinema tickets. We went to see Mamma Mia - I do have a weakness for musicals and Doctor Horrible’s Sing-A-Long Blog has only served to exacerbate that prediliction. Sorry, word of the day toilet paper again.

Anyway, I would’ve looked a bit odd going on my own, but going with Gem means I could just point at her and go, “her choice, her fault” whilst secretly being chuffed too! It’s like folks who enjoy taking their niece/nephew to see say WALL-E (which is awesome btw) so they don;t feel silly.

The film was OK, good fun but I don’t think I’d watch it again. It’s not in the same league as Phantom, Hairspray or Moulin Rouge (which I think I’ll have to rewatch this week, it’s been a few years) but it was entertaining. Gemma really enjoyed it and it was nice to catch up. She’s been busy doing up her house to get it on the market befoe it slumps anymore. She’s emigrating to New Zealand around the end of the year. I’m gnna miss her, friendships with ex-partners aren’t usually this laidback and enjoyable.

In fact, most of them are a chuffing nightmare.

So that definitely helped drag me out of my recent funk a bit. Daft happy singing, a good friend and a chance to show off the recent changes in the shop to someone who knows and appreciates how much work has gone into that damn place.

The shop is like my child and right now it’s in its difficult teenage years. I still remember the love I had for it when I first got it and when it took its first steps but it is rude and sullen these days. At least I can be fairly sure it isn’t on drugs…

Wow, this blogging stuff is starting to make sense. Huh. Inner monologue is fine but where is the line between that and talking to yourself? Then how long before talking to yourself becomes something a tad more concerning? :)

Right, I have the house to myself for a week, so if I start to go nuts again you;ll see it on here I’ve no doubt. But I intend to keep busy and I have One Man Star Wars to look forward to on Thursday, many thanks to Husky and Lou.

Slighty less melodramatic, slightly more drunk, pretty much the same computer...

So, should really sign off on a positive note.

It’s not all rubbish, The shop is AWESOME. I thjink it looks great - most people seem to agree. I’ve hit the target for reservation customers I set myself when I opened two months early. Trade is good and considering the desperate media attempt to create a recession out of the credit issues (I hate “credit crunch”, they were right on Mock The Week it does sound like a breakfast cereal), this even more impressive.

And I have met some great folks here. Quick name check to the nice folks I’ve met (in no particular order) - Charlie, Lee, Sarah and Andy, Alex and the gang, Rob W, Emerson, Rich and Lex, Reep, Tony and Adie, Simon and KJ, Glenn, Laura and the Blockbuster crew, and assorted folks from Cineworld!

The thing about real life - ie, not uni - is there aren’t social events where you meet people or get chance to re-engage with people outside of the professional setting. And being so painfully British and stuffy, the transition from acquaintance to friend is something I seem to do slowly. Dumb, huh?

Plus, everything seems to have rocketed up in price and my money goes nowhere! WAH! A problem we all face I guess, but back in the day I’d have been in our local rock club most nights getting to know peeps. Now I pop out maybe once a month. Usually to Judder, as over the past 5 years it has built up a near mythical status amongst friends I know who have moved to the area, so I kinda have to check it out!

Finally want to name check Dave and Emma who despite having a lot on their plate recently have reached out. Friendship is not defined by geography or eroded by time. Thanks guys. :)

Plus Matt and Krysia, who have to weather my current state of self loathing and depression. The concern shown has been appreciated and not suffocating. Thanks kids. Hope your LARP is going well.

I am using their absence to wander the house naked.

Psych. :D

NB: the author of this blog accepts no liability for your current mental images. Not even that one. You can’t pin that on me, that one’s your own sick, twisted fantasy writ large across your grey and squishy braincicle.

PS - I blame Joss Whedon for my bad dialogue and Brian Blessed for my voice.

PPS - me sleepy. Me sleep now.

The Anti Blog, Part 4

Mind you, I do the song lyric thing from time to time anyway,

Sigh. I will find a blog style.

And maybe some endorphins.

How happy chemicals, where have you gone?

Still I achieved something this week. I levelled up on Warhawk. Jeez, that’s sad.

Hmmm, I suspect that just as you shouldn’t so the food shopping when hungry, you shouldn’t blog when a tad pissed off.

Seriously, really connected.

Complete alone.

The Anti Blog, Part 3

Hmmm, or perhaps I could just post song lyrics…

Any dolt with half a brain
Can see the human kind has gone insane
To the point where i don’t know
If I’ll upset the status quo
If I throw poison in the water main.
Listen close to everybody’s heart
And hear that breaking sound
Hopes and dreams are shattering appart
And crashing to the ground.
I cannot believe my eyes
How the world’s filled with filth and lies
But it’s plain to see
Evil inside of me is on the rise.

(taken from Dr Horrible, Act Two)

The Anti Blog, Part 2

So.

Short. Vitriolic.

Here goes.

Love. Money. Companionship. Less stress. Not too much too fucking ask is it?

The chance to walk down the street without a car/moped full of chavs crusing past and a barely heard torrent of abuse streaming out. Give me a high powered velocity rifle and try that again. Better still - walk up to my face and say it.

Duelling pistols at dawn would certainly thin the herd.

You sir, I call you out. Just you. The rest of your shellsuit wearing mongoloids can wait till tomorrow. Let’s reintroduce a sense of fair play and see how far you get you little shits.

I should get a cat.

We can take over the world together.

The Anti Blog, Part 1

Wow, I am so bad at this blog malarkey. I used to actually have friends to talk to so blogging seemed kinda pointless but since life is kinda lonely here in Cheltenham I should get up to speed with this cyber diary stuff.

Don’t kid yourself folks - blogging is just that. Girly dear diary faff posted on the world wide interweb for many to see.

And now I have joined in.

Don’t get me wrong. Some blogs are ace. I’ve read some great entries and learnt a great deal.

But the vast majority are blah blah blah. Pick up a phone and call someone folks - or share your emotions and thoughts with friends down the pub.

I saw an episode of Supernatural where a demon/creature could fake phone calls, online chat or e-mails/SMS from dead loved ones, gaining their trust before luring them to his feeding ground.

He said that centuries beofre he had to lurk in the forests at the edge of villages and try to beckon people to him at night. Most of the time other villagers would intervene and he’d starve, getting maybe one meal a year.

But in modern times people are so connected with technology and yet so isolated. No one to look out for them or care for them, despite a friend list of over 500 on Facebook or a SIM card full of phone numbers.

It is true. I’m really feeling this at the moment. I know lots of people and yet I’m sat here feeling a bit lonely.

And pathetic.

And i’m blogging like a sodding hypocrite.

Heck, my last post was a whiny, fucked off post too. I’m turning into Warren Ellis with less piss and about the same amount of vinegar!

I should also resort to short braindumps of vitriol.

Hmmm…

Now, dance fucker, dance.

Ugh, what a day. Pissy wet weather to start with. Then Diamond tell me they fucked up and I’ll be getting my large (and I mean HUGE) graphic novel reorder tomorrow along with my normal delivery. I will drown in stock…

Diamond offer this service called a ‘prompt pick’ on all orders over a certain value which means you get it the next day. Well I put one in Monday and it’s not gonna arrive till Thursday, work that one out. Prompt? Fuck off.

9 times out of 10, Diamond fuck up like this. I could go into the reasons why the two Forbidden Planet chains in the UK get better service, but it’s boring for those outside the industry and it boils down to a simple case of an old boys’ network. Once again not what you know but who.

That kids is why brown nosing ass bag fuck dicks will always do better in life than people who work hard.

The thing that really grinds my gears is that Diamond make no effort to offer customer service. I have to give good customer service - I can rarely say what I’m really thinking when people are obnoxious and shitty over simple things whilst at work. And sadly I seem to carry that into the rest of my life. But that’s for another blog.

Diamond know they need to do nothing as they have an unchallenged monopoly. They are the only comic dsitributor of note these days. So they can happily fuck up and as independent comic shops we have to smile and take it as they slip their dirty veiny cock further down our throats.

My games supplier Esdevium know they have competition in the UK so they make more of an effort to keep me sweet and fix any problems. They are ace, big shout out to Esdevium. We had a big delivery of excellent board games for the relocated and shiny Gaming section today. That was brilliant. And arrived the day I expected.

So, the day’s a wash out and I’m gonna slip off and see Kung Fu Panda tonight to cheer myself up. I may even treat myself to dinner at Apres. Who knows.

The one good thing was I finally heard some tracks off new album from The Offspring and it tempted me to shell out for the album.