Oh, the pain, the pain of it all!

I got hit with one of those 24hr bugs which resulted in me being sent home from work on Friday after the matinee and then having a horrible night of aches, pains and constant shivering. On the plus side the incredibly painful sore throat I had went pretty quickly and it does seem to have been only 24hr hours of feeling like I’d run into a brick wall, over and over.

Things that have helped this experience be less painful:
1) Futurama, the ultimate feel good cold cure.
2) Reading ‘Starship Titanic‘ by Terry Jones, who can’t be cheered up by random little gems like this?

“They lay there waiting for the forever-ending explosion that would terminate their brief affair. But, unlike the two overs, it didn’t come.”

3) Late night ‘phone calls to mummy

In honour of this experience I’d like to call ‘hell’, I’ve written a little ode

Ode to the 24-hour ‘Flu Virus

I want a cup of tea
I want a hug,
but most importantly
I want my mum.

Game Addiction

I’m sure I’m not the only one to find that certain games take over your life and don’t let it go until you (a) completed it on ever possible difficulty setting (b) completed every little side quest and unlocked everything (c) remove it from your computer/console to prevent you ever going near it again (or for a reasonable level of time).

I think I’m somewhat fortunate in that MMORPG’s aren’t really my thing otherwise things might get rather ugly. Although that might be broken by ‘Star Trek Online’, before then though I need to move into a bigger flat so I can build myself an awesome desktop computer that will run it.

The first game this happened to for me was ‘Simon the Sorcerer’ when I was about 9/10yrs old, it was also a time when my dad was home on leave (he’s a systems engineer in the Navy… incidentally, Lt. Barclay is a systems engineer on the Enterprise) and trying to take an active interest in what his kids were doing – it failed as he soon got very bored.

A little while later I’d completed the game and moved on to a game that my uncle recommended called ‘Civilisation II’ (he even bought the ‘Ultimate’ edition for Christmas, it included the massive strategy guide, scenario’s & guide as well as a giant wall poster of the achievements tree) this one my mum (she’s a programmer) took an interest in and we spent hours together playing it. I own ‘Civilisation III’ but I don’t think I love it as much as the second one, I also have ‘Alpha Centuri’ which is fun but not as good. My mum had to do something about this game as part of her Computer Sciences degree she did whilst I was in my last few years of secondary school, not quite sure what the project was about but playing computer games with your mum is fun.

I have vivid memories of playing ‘Theme Hospital’ so much that every time I closed my eyes I saw doctors with little dollar signs above their heads! When I got my first laptop (in ‘04, a rather shit refurbsed thing) I bought the game as part of one of those 3 for £10 deals… many nights staying up trying to get to that last level!

Other games that took over my life were ‘Star Trek 25th Anniversary’ (actually this still has control of my life, it’s a permanent fixture on my hard drive!), ‘Fallout 1 & 2′, ‘Starfleet Academy’ (there’s still a level I was never able to get past and sadly I no longer have the game), ‘Ripper’ (it was one of those real-actor games, starting Christopher Walken… I thought it was ace) and ‘The Lost Files of Sherlock Holmes: The Case of the Rose Tattoo’.

Currently, ‘Black’ (a FPS for the PS2… ooh, abbreviation fun) has control, each level takes between 50 – 90 minutes to complete and it’s driving me up the wall! I will defeat the game! It’s made more frustrating by the fact I’ve had to lower the difficulty setting – I like to play a lot of my games on ‘Hard’, it gives you a nice challenge and I find it’s more fun and you definitely learn strategy (ammo’ conservation and the use of cover are lessons everyone should learn in FPS’s) but this game I’m really struggling with… so it’s down to ‘Normal’ and I don’t think I’m going to be able to complete this one on ‘Hard’.

I’ve played the game so much in the last few hours that my left arm is killing me, I’m a little worried I’ve pulled the ligaments (they’re weak from a previous non-gaming related injury). That wouldn’t look good when I go back to work on Monday, “sorry guys, I can’t lift the battery for the Genie. I pulled the ligaments in my arm playing a video game.”

Replicator Technology Needed

There are many times during my every day existence that I wish that there really were things like Replicators, not for feed-the-world-wipe-out-world-hunger reasons (although those are good reasons to want one) but for entirely selfish reasons.

I work hours that are described in my job description as ‘unsocial’, basically I start work at 5pm Mon – Wed and finish at around 11pm, Thurs I do 10am to 11pm and Fri – Sat is 12noon to 11pm. I pretty much start work as other people are coming home from work, and I only get one day off a week. A lot of the time my lunch consists of a sandwich or if I’m feeling adventerous I have beans on toast or something (cooking is not my strong point), dinner however is often a microwave meal either from Tescos (and from there it usually tastes like cardboard) or if I have the money from Marks & Spencers (where it tastes a bit more real)… sometimes I get a great baked potato from ‘Dinner Jackets’ in Covent Garden but really, you can’t have a baked potato everyday! Often by the time I get home I’m peckish and too tired too cook anything that’s remotely considered ‘food’, right this second I’m cooking a piece of chicken because if I don’t cook it today it’ll go off and that’s a waste of food… I was going to cook some pasta with it but I’m tired and want my chicken to be just ready so I can make a sandwich with it.

What I need is a Replicator. Then I can have something different, tasty or whatnot every day without having a limited selection. It would also be great on Sunday’s, really my cooking skills are limited – I can do a few set meals but usually require the help of a sauce packet or jar, I own a few cook books (including a Star Trek one) and ironically got a ‘B’ at GCSE Food Technology (which btw, has very little to do with actual cooking). Perhaps to improve I should cook more but having one day to do it is a bit… naff.

So, come on science boffins! Stop playing around with particle accelerators and make a Replicator… although after typing that I have a feeling the two are connected in some strange complicated way. The Starfleet Technicial Manual makes it all sound so simple.

All Hail Abandonware!

Legally this is a grey area, technically it is still owned by a copyright holder but as the game is no longer being sold or supported by the copyright holder the law tends to ignore the abandonware sites that are up on the Internet.

I’m a gamer, I love nothing better than settling back and getting absorbed into a wonderful game – usually an excellent FPS, RPG, strategy or simulation. I’ve never really done online gaming as WoW or any of the other major online games really appeal to me and I’ve heard a lot of them don’t really have a n00b friendly atmosphere going on. I imagine it’s like anything else – anominity + the Internet = arseholes.

As I’m not really in a position to get stuck into some of the current greats I’ve been revisiting my back catalogue, starting of course with my all time favourite games ‘Theme Hospital’, ‘Simon the Sorcerer’ and ‘Fallout’ – some of these run a little funny on Vista and I had a right time getting ‘Simon the Sorcerer’ to install! But overall, I was happy and got to play. There are two other of my all time favourite games that I’ve not been able to play for a long time though, ‘Ripper’ (one of those interactive live action games, believe it rocks) and ‘The Lost Files of Sherlock Holmes: The Case of the Rose Tattoo’, it’s a little sad when I want to play these favourites but can’t but I’ve found a way to fill the void they have left in my life.

For my 13th birthday (I think it was that one) I got given a box-set of Star Trek games (‘Star Trek: 25th Annivsary’, ‘Star Trek: TNG’, ‘Star Trek: Generations’, ‘Starfleet Academy’) most of these I enjoyed (‘Generations’ sucked) and I was particularly taken with the ‘25th Anniversay’ game and ‘Starfleet Academy’ – I can’t find ‘Starfleet Academy’ to play but I did find ‘25th Anniversay’ (possibly the greatest Star Trek game ever) on Abandonia, along with it’s sequel ‘Judgement Rites’ (which I’d never heard of).

Not only was I able to return to my Trek gaming routes, but I found the first ‘Lost Files…’ game, along with ‘Constructor’ (I was slightly addicted to this), ‘Castles’, ‘Dune’, ‘Dune II’ and several other games I had played when young (or already knew about). I plan to dedicate some more time to explore some past masters that I missed growing up or didn’t really get too much of chance to play – who needs the fancy graphics of today when you’ve got the great storylines and gameplay of yesteryear?

Incidentally – Oddword has been re-released! My brother had ‘Oddysee’ and ‘Exodus’ on his PS2 and I was a massive fan of Abe and his adventures, I had no idea they’d ever been released on the PC though! (Nor that there were more games). I had a bit of an issue with Steam (nothing compared to the hassle I had with the EA Games Downloader, least said about that the better) but I think I need to try again, particularly if little gems like Abe are going to be released on there.

One day when I finally have a place of my own I want to build myself a brilliant gaming computer, create myself a little cubbly hole where I can just go get lost in other words. Since I’d own the flat I could decorate it like I want… maybe a nice Star Trek theme (but I’d definitly not do what that bloke did by turning his entire flat into the bridge of Voyager) in the furnishings… possibly Star Trek cross with Sherlock Holmes – does that count as a ‘cyberpunk’?

Sometimes it just has to be done…

There’s something inherently relaxing about dressing up in a Star Trek uniform (I have a TNG jump suit, a VGR shirt and just won a TOS shirt on ebay) at around midnight on a Saturday. It’s something that I’ve always, always, always wanted to do (not necessarily at midnight on a Saturday) but haven’t had the funds to the ability to avoid my parents somewhat despairing looks. Now I live on my own and happen to be many, many miles away from my parents (and recently had a promotion at work) so I CAN INDULGE!

I’ve never taken part in any sort of cosplay and I think I’ve missed the boat with the Star Trek conventions taking place in the UK but I know there are a few general science fiction conventions going on around the UK over the end of this year and next year. I think I’d rather go to a dedicated Star Trek convention so I can geek out with a fandom I know fairly well, I am a fan of general science fiction but I’m very much a n00b in that area, I am a fan of Isaac Asimov but haven’t read the entire ‘Foundation’ series (read all his robot stories and am a huge fan of his Elijah Bailey/R. Daneel stories) and my other sci-fi readings are on the slim side (trying to rectify that!)… I hated ‘Firefly’ and only recently got into ‘Battlestar Galactica’ – that’s the mainstream sci-fi dealt with, my knowledge of obscure (usually ’70s) sci-fi you could fit on the back of a very small postage stamp. No, I think I’d be out of my depth at a general science fiction convention, I now have to hope that with the new Trek film coming out in May next year that there will be a resurgence in the British Star Trek scene (maybe we can be the new home for ‘Star Trek: the Experience’).

For now, I can be a complete dork and spend my evenings pretending I’m on a Starship*

*(Disclaimer: I have never done this)

Off on me Hols!

After almost 5yrs of not having a ‘going away’ holiday I’m going to Penzance for three nights on the 21st, I’m very excited! I’ve booked a ‘Marine Discovery‘ tour to go out on a boat and see if any wildlife wants to have it’s photograph taken (cross your fingers for a basking shark!) and I plan to take the ferry over to the Isles of Scilly to see the Puffins – one of my evenings I want to go over to Land’s End and watch the sunset as I imagine there is not greater place to watch a sunset.

It’s a pity that I can’t afford to stay for a week but it gives me a definite excuse to go back there.

New Toy

I’ve been thinking about getting a new laptop for awhile, despite the fact mine is only 3yrs old. Well, after a problematic weekend which is going to involve me getting it repaired professionally I bit the bullet and spent money on a brand new spanking system.

Old System:
Windows XP Home
Intel Celeron M 1.5Ghz
512MB RAM
40GB hard disk
15.3″ screen

all for about £600 three years from PC World.

New System:
Windows Vista Home Premium
Intel Pentium Dual-Core 1.7Ghz
2GB RAM
120GB hard disk
15.4″ *widescreen*

and what am I bid for this? £349. How fantastic is that?

I was originally scared that Vista was going to be this big evil monster that was going to leap out of my keyboard and drink all my tea but so far it’s been fine. There are a few annoying things (such as why make is complicated to play a DVD?) and it’s need for constant reassurance but apart from those things I’m pretty happy with it.

In fact, just because I’m really excited here is a completely dorky picture:

Dream a little dream…

Firstly let me say that I think the whole predicting nature of dreams and the stuff about your deepest darkest secrets is a load of phooey… doesn’t mean that I haven’t enjoyed a good dream. I seem to lean towards the more rather abstract, particularly ones that would make rather good films (or at least mediocre horror films that gain a cult following).

Just as an example, these are some of the odder dreams I’ve experienced in the last few years.