This morning as I walked into the kitchen I saw Ebony sat by the back door looking outside seemingly transfixed at something (The doors are essentially made of glass). I took a look and there was a small bird on the lawn quite near the house. Quietly I crept toward the door, slowly turned the key and reached for the handle. Just as I was about to open it and release the feral black lightning, the little tweeting bugger flew up to the fence and then off into the air.

Ebony was seemingly satisfied the bird was off her lawn and went back to licking her paws.

A little anticlimactic really.

Katti says (19:58):
 fniss, I got to say NO U on facebook *giggle*
Dactrius says (19:58):
 I saw. And it made no sense.
Katti says (19:58):
 It did!
Katti says (19:59):
 He said "I bet it's Swahili for anus"
Dactrius says (19:59):
 Okay...?
Katti says (19:59):
 so I said "no u"
Dactrius says (19:59):
 Alright. And...?
Katti says (19:59):
 Think, Liam, THINK!

WAT?

Since Katti has become the only person to talk to me on an IM within any definition of the word regularly, I'm going to find some new friends that will.

Yep. That'll show you all.

We'll see who's too busy when Dac's... er... too busy.

Yeah.

Life on my IM's has slowed to a crawl. Never did I think I'd actually be yearning for someone to talk to.

Did everyone pack up and leave the internet? Is there something cooler now?

Why does nobody tell me these things!? :(

I wasn't quite sure what to expect from Spore. I dunno, it had my attention but I didn't really feel like I would enjoy it too much so I was on the edge about getting it. I finally decided to give it a go out of sheer boredom and all I can really say is that I was not expecting what I got...

( Biography of the A'karan, proud and frenzied race... )

I hate the word 'addicting'.

That is all.

Where the hell is Belisama!?

It's not funny now...

I believe I may have discovered the secret to time-travel.

My kitten seems to have an almost supernatural effect on me when she cuddles up. Several times now I've been curled up on my bed playing with a piece of rope and she's decided to flop on me and take a nap. From that point time seems to almost... stop. I can lay there for an indefinite amount of time in what I can only describe as an almost trance-like state. It's bizarre to experience. It a common ability among cats I have no doubt, but something I guess you have to be close to a cat to witness.

Also, her 'happy purr' makes me sleepy lol.

This just in...

I love my kitten!

I've had Ebony for 10 days now and she's warmed up to me almost completely. She no longer ducks when I approach her, she doesn't struggle when I hold her and even though she hasn't identified her name yet, she will follow my voice when I call her. We've shared endless hours sprawled on the sofa watching telly (Which is something I never did until she arrived). It's brilliant really, she's just so affectionate and curious. I love her to pieces.

My sister got a new pug puppy yesterday and that's been an interesting experience. We all expected Ebony would have a problem with him (Rocky) and she did, but she keeps her distance for the most part and only lashes out at him when he gets within pawing distance. He's very funny to watch as all pugs are, he's so docile and cumbersome yet very loving and playful. They'll be the best of friends eventually, but for the moment Ebony is the queen of the castle and he's a foreign intruder. :P



Sorry about how small and low quality it is, but my digi-cam is missing its' cable. I'll try and score something better at some point. :)

I've been thinking about this a bit and I'm starting to believe being nice and understanding might not be such a good thing for all situations.

I'm not saying my life is bad or anything (Far from it, I consider myself blessed) but sometimes I find myself in a really crappy situation and I notice I'm defending the people that screwed me over. I mean what the hell is that? Why don't I flip out like most other people? Where's all this apparent rage I'm supposed to be filled with? I'm finding too often I'm explaining my problems to friends and ending with "But you know, I can sort of understand their perspective..."

I get told a lot that I'm sometimes too nice. I'm starting to think maybe I keep finding myself left behind because I let people do it. I ain't saying I'm a pushover or anything, but there's a time for understanding and there's a time for making a fuss and I seem to lack any experience on the latter. I dunno, I suppose I just have a lot of growing to do.

I'm just tired of being hurt and then making excuses for the people responsible. It's in my nature to find logic in everything, but I feel like I'm taking that a step too far. I need to start accepting that sometimes people mess up and they don't always do it in my best interest.

Again, I don't have a lot of problems, I'm just tired of repeating the same pattern when I do.

Today my mother asks me if I'd like to go abroad and meet up with any of my friends, all on her expense.

I'm not quite sure she knows me very well. =/

WG has seen an influx in activity this last week and I'm really happy about it. I'm starting to want to be there again. I don't see many of you on IM's so it's about the only contact I have with you and it's nice to see you're all still alive and kicking. Good work team. :D

I'm currently working on the death ray and compilling a list of our demands, so phase 2 isn't quite done yet. Oh and by the by, if anyone has a plutonium-powered influx capacitor, I could really use one. Turns out powering a weapon of mass destruction takes more than a few banana peels and a half-empty can of light beer.

Who knew?

Every couple of weeks or so, Katti and I go through the motions about the decline of activity at WG. Most often the chief reason brought up is "People have lives". This is about as valid as it gets, most regulars have jobs and families that need seeing to. But if we're honest, everyone has at least some free time and if WG was worth visiting then it would be spent there. I know that used to be the case.

A few times in the past I've gone on a rant about WG in this journal, trying to warn people that it was declining in activity and changing in ways that weren't so good. Irregardless of that, I think we can all agree it's not really the happening place to be that it was before. I've gone over various ways to maybe spice the place up with quite a few of you before, but nothing's ever really taken off. And it's a shame, because I know deep down it's the home away from home for a lot of us.

It doesn't matter how busy we are, if WG was bustling with activity we'd make time for it. As it is now, most people don't see the appeal.

So I've been thinking about it. 11 thousand members and hardly a soul in sight. Why? What's so different than other forums? We have a mass appeal for mature gamers which if we're honest is the holy grail in gaming. We're sitting on a gold mine, so what's the problem? It's not the fact that nobody is ever there that worries me, but why.

First of all - Expression. This is what I tell Katti is my biggest problem with the place. I feel so restricted there. No avatars, no signatures - and why? For arguably the most mature place I've ever found on the internet, why do I feel like I'm not trusted? It's a good target site for abuse, granted, but the self-moderation on that forum is fantastic and even the appointed moderators do their job better than most. I still side with the idea of a European moderator or two, but it's not in dire need I suppose.

Secondly - Subject matter. Katti made this point this morning. Why do we never talk about games? I don't mean negative stuff like how women are treated in MMO's, or lackluster sales of PC games compared to consoles - I'm talking about the specific aspects of games. I'm tired of the Lolcat thread always being at the top, I don't want to know what 3 minute song you're listening to right now (Without a Youtube link it's useless anyway). I want to know what's hot on the Wii according to WG'ers. I want to know if there's any decent PSP RPG's on the horizon that regulars think I would like. I want silly threads full of banter that make us giggle. I want innuendos that would make even Brummbar blush. Where did it all go?

Anyway, that's just what I'm thinking. What I propose is we start with my first point. I know I would be at WG more if I had control over how I appeared to other members. To some, avatars and signatures are a novelty that means very little or nothing at all. To others it's more than that and a way of communicating who we are seperately from our posts. But more importantly to me, I'd like to be treated like an adult by the staff there (Who I know mean well and are looking out for the site's best interest, but come on. Countless webmasters give a forum full of 12 year olds the ability to express themselves, why can't a forum of adults be afforded the same privelage?)

So tell me what you all think. I was pondering sending a mail to the WG staff about this (Even though I've asked about 5 times already and constantly got returns of "We'll think about it") but I think it'll hold a bit more weight if I can say with honesty that's it's something more than just I want. On the flip-side if you don't like the idea, say so. Every thought counts.

The latest questionnaire doing the rounds of LJ. You know the drill, click if you're inquisitive... or y'know... bored.

The game is basically, type what you would call a certain object. Note for readers of this particular entry, below are the actual English answers. All you Americans are ruining the language with your teeter totters and your carts! Stop making stuff up!

1. A body of water, smaller than a river, contained within relatively narrow banks. Stream.

2. What the thing you push around the grocery store is called. Trolley.

3. A metal container to carry a meal in. Metal? I guess you mean plastic... Lunchbox.

4. The thing that you cook bacon and eggs in. Frying Pan.

5. The piece of furniture that seats three people. Settee. (Not sure on the spelling)

6. The device on the outside of the house that carries rain off the roof. Err... (?)

7. The covered area outside a house where people sit in the evening. Porch, I think. Although... that sounds a bit American.

8. Carbonated, sweetened, non-alcoholic beverages. Pop!

9. A flat, round breakfast food served with syrup. Pancake.

10. A long sandwich designed to be a whole meal in itself. Impossible.

11. The piece of clothing worn by men at the beach. Grin.

12. Shoes worn for sports. Pumps I guess?

13. Putting a room in order. Tidying.

14. A flying insect that glows in the dark. Firefly.

15. The little insect that curls up into a ball. I have no idea.

16. The children's playground equipment where one kid sits on one side and goes up while the other sits on the other side and goes down. See-saw.

17. How do you eat your pizza? Put it in my mouth.

18. What's it called when private citizens put up signs and sell their used stuff? We don't do that here.

19. What's the evening meal? Tea.

20. The thing under a house where the furnace and perhaps a rec room are? Basement I guess.

21. What do you call the thing that you can get water out of to drink in public places? Water Fountain I think.

And yes, ketchup does go on pizza. And anything else warm.

Half-inched from Belle who similarly relieved it from the previous owner.


In other news it's too damn hot in this house! Where did winter go!? I liked her. She was cold and vindictive. My favourite.

I've just been reading an old WG thread, and couldn't help but notice how sickeningly cheery I used to be. Seriously, I was like... happy.

What the hell happened to those days? To me?

I actually cringe at my old posts. What a suck-up.

A few days ago I found a transparent box of cookies in the kitchen. The chewy kind, that you can tear apart with your fingers quite easily. Choc-chip of course and super yummy.

Thing is, since I discovered said box and began very slowly devouring my way through them, I've seen cookie comments everywhere. People asking me about cookies, people talking about cookies, cookies cookies cookies.

It almost feels like a temporary era of cookie-ism until I inevitably finish the contests of this plastic haven of chocolatey goodness.

Hmm...

I wanted to post about Crysis earlier, after about half way through the game. I felt I'd seen enough to know what my impressions were and figured I'd witnessed most of what was on offer. I can say now in retrospect that that would have been a massive mistake. Because you see, until the credits roll you ain't seen anything. Crysis is the game that never stops delivering.

When I first heard about this game, my initial impression was; "Interactive engine demo". I mean, the game looks drop dead gorgeous. It boasts technology never seen before in a game. They could have made it incredibly mundane and it would have still sold by the packet, because it just looks that damn good. But here's the kicker: The game is actually freakin' awesome. I have never in my life witnessed (In games or otherwise) an atmosphere as thick as this one. You could actually choke on the tension sometimes. Nobody actually plays Crysis, you strap yourself in and pray to God you'll still have control of your mental functions on the other side.

So okay, I'll explain a bit. For those not in the know (And I'll keep this spoiler-free) you play as a lone Special Forces operative code-named Nomad. Aside from some obvious military training, your edge over the bad guys (In this case North Koreans) is a multi-million dollar nano suit with several body-enchancing functions. For example at the press of a button you can have the strength of six men, or the speed of a gazelle. You can even go invisible for a duration. Your suit in Crysis is what bullet time was to Max Payne, or what the shadows are to Sam Fisher. It gives you an advantage that without you simply wouldn't survive. The plot deals with the American response to Koreas settlement on an island way outside of their territory. It's essentially an act of war so Uncle Sam sends in a team of nano-assassins to knock some heads. Well, there's something about some archaeologists too but all we really need to know is who to point a gun at right?

Speaking of which, Crysis features a rather intuitive weapon modification system. The default rifle you start the game with comes with a laser sight, a torch and a dot sight. For a while that's your lot. But should you eventually find an enemy rifle with a scope on it, you can wrench that sucker off and slap it on your own U.S-brand puppy and start clocking heads. There isn't a tsunami of upgrades available but there are enough to make the feature warranted and that's enough for me.

But above all it's the gameplay itself that makes Crysis a must-buy. The game is just a joy to play, from beginning to end. Well, except this one level but we don't talk about that. It has a brilliant mix of stealth-based sneakery, long-distance sniping and full on bullets-in-your-face mayhem. And like I said until the credits roll, the game does not stop throwing new surprises at you. I don't think my jaw ever actually closed the whole way through.

If your computer can run this game (And it's worth trying the demo as it's not as strainful as it seems) and you're an FPS fan in even the slightest degree, you owe it to yourself to play through this. Crysis makes my top three games of all time, I have no apprehensions making that claim.

I want to dedicate this particular journal entry to what I consider the best TV series ever made, Scrubs. Now the title isn't very imaginative and I suppose the setting isn't particularly brilliant, but the chemistry that makes up that show is for want of a better word, incredible. There's a lot of characters in there that I really love, but the two that stand out for me (And possibly most fans) are the protagonsit J.D and his 'mentor' Dr. Cox. The characters are played exceptionally well and I love that about them, but what most captivates me is the relationship between them that forms over the years the show takes place. When J.D first arrives at the hospital, Dr. Cox treats him like a typical facelss intern and constantly makes fun of him, yet over the course of time begins to see in him a little of himself and a very clear bond is formed. Cox never, ever loses that condescending attitude (Which is a good thing really) but on the rare occassion he really connects with his would-be protegé.

I want to link a few Youtube videos here of clips from the show that I found particularly amazing. For a comedy, it has some of the best dramatic moments I've ever seen in TV history and I'd like to share them. If you've never seen the show, or found it not to your liking I still urge you to watch the following clips and see just why exactly it is I like so much it.

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Scrubs has the perfect blend of comedy with the occassional spout of drama and that seems to be what makes it so addictive. These 4 clips are only my favourite scenes, there have been many others like this over the seasons. I'm quite sad there's only one series left to go, but I'm sort of glad they're going out on top. I really hope they end it with a powerful ending.