The Wanderer's Lair

It's been a while since I posted.

I should probably stop saying stuff like that when I start a blog, cause I post so infrequently that it ceases to be relevant.

Christmas was good. I received a lot of alcohol and books. The alcohol was my usual vice. Jack Daniels, and the boos were a new vice. The entire Night Watch tetralogy by Sergei Lukyanenko, which have recently been translated to English from the original Russian. I'm nearing the end of book 1 and I am very much enjoying it. I've always been a fan of epic fantasy or science fiction, and this is suitably epic... and suitably bleak in tone. It is a Russian novel after all, but there is a vein of optimism running through it. I love the fact that the "Others" (Magicians, Vampires, Werewolves and Shapshifters) whether they serve the light or dark are not shown as out and out good people or for that matter evil people (though both do exist in the novel) Most of the characters morality is covered in a really bleak shade of grey probably a result of living for centuries with the truce between Light and Dark which is at the centre of the novels back story. There were a couple of films named after the first and second novels (but the story that spans both films only covers the first novel), and they are very good too, if you can handle a high budget Russian film. They were made by Timur Bekmambetov, best known in the west for the film "Wanted" starring Angelina Jolie and James McAvoy.

Been watching copious amounts of Stargate SG-1 too. Yeah I enjoy Stargate, it's not exactly the best TV, but it is a guilty pleasure.

As for music... well i've been listening to a lot of alternative rock recently. Well I've been listening to alternative rock all my life actually, but I mean some of the newer stuff. In amidst all the samey Emo stuff where you could honestly expect the same singer and guitarists to be playing for all the bands they sound so alike... there have been a few good acts that have "broken out" of the scene that I enjoy. A few years ago I started listening to My Chemical Romance a lot. Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge was awesome and I knew they were different from their peers with that album. Then the Black Parade came out, and they are just leaps and bounds above everyone else... and surprise surprise are not doing derivative work. their music is unique to them while embracing different genre within the rock field. That of course was years ago.
Recently I have discovered the work of Coheed and Cambria. A sort of new wave of prog rock band. They too have blazed their own trail away from the Emo sameys that litter the alternative rock landscape. It is pretty much unlike anything I have heard before (in a good way) That is of course what I want in an alternative band... for them to be different. Hey i'm all for rocking out with Megadeth and Maiden... but you know what you're getting with them. Coheed and Cambria... you never quite know what you are gonna get, but it's damn likeable and their melodies are stunning. It also helps that all their albums have been concept pieces that tells a grand space opera story in the Lucasian genre. I heartily recommend checking them out.

T

So it's December and I haven't posted since the ass end of October...

I've got a fairly solid excuse however.  I was on a Med and North African Cruise for most of November and then I had my grandfathers 90th birthday at the start of December.  It was all hands to pumps for that.  Lets not talk about getting snowed in and having to dig the car out of a block of ice and then the subsequent sinus infection I developed.

Anyway i've been totally neglecting most casual things in my life on account of Warhammer: Age of Reckoning... aka WAR.
Man I love this game.  It really is like the Warhammer world of my childhood is now there for me to wander through and kill stuff with great abandon.  I won't compare it to the other big fantasy MMO, cause I've never played it... not even a trial.  What I will say is that It is a game that is really for the PvPers of this world.  However the really shocking thing is the fact that it has made converts out of Care Bears like myself into rabid PvP hungry smite machines! 
Primarily because by its very nature the PvP in Warhammer is called Realm v Realm or RvR.  There is no "duel" type 1 on 1 combat that inspires elitism and general fucktardism that I have seen in PvP in other games.  It is literally an army versus an army.  Sometimes 15 a side smashing into each other and cutting each other to shreds in "scenarios" which are like instanced RvR battle areas.  Or and this is no joke several hundred v several hundred players fighting for a castle in an "open RvR zone"  My god what a rush taking a keep is or even just defending one.  The other night it was like reenacting the battle of Helms Deep at the end of the Two Towers flick.  Our guild hasn't quite got to the battle of Pelennor Fields in Return of the King yet... but that will likely be the seige of Praag in tier 4!  Yeah yeah im confusing my fantasy elements but hey im just trying to paint a picture here!

Seriously if you are at all into PvP, you would be mad to miss out on WAR.  I've even seen the greatest Care Bear fall to the RvR bug, and turn into a slavering warmonger demanding we run more scenarios while doing PvE stuff!

Come on join the WAAAGH!!!! and pick up WAR!

T

Yeah go ahead and laugh.

How many false starts have I had this year?

Seriously how appropriate was the post below this one... was it that long ago. Man the summer just hit me like... something that hits really hard.

The truth is that I could have updated the blog more often, but like always I get sidetracked and then it goes undone.

So what have I been doing with myself?

( Read more... )

I think I can be a terrible friend to people.
Let me put it this way.

I am primarily a solitary creature.  Have been all my life.  It's not that I don't have friends, even close friends.  It's just that I relish the opportunity for alone time more than being sociable.  A loner is the distinct impression you would get from me if meeting me in person.  The trouble with that is the idea that being a loner is somehow bad.  Too often you hear of atrocities committed by loners and indeed there is a history of high profile stalker cases and what not... despite the fact that the vast majority of evil acts in this world are the result of groups of people.  This is of course because the majority of people in this world need to feel a connection to other people to define themselves. 

Theres nothing wrong with being sociable of course, and I would never judge a person for wanting to belong, and because I am actually a member of the human race there are times I want to be sociable.  However the majority of the time I prefer my own company.  Of course this all boils down to one major fact in my life.  I am an only child, and was raised accordingly.

However I have noted a tendency with me all my life that my favourite characters in books etc also tend to be loners and generally anti hero types.  I guess this is because I can relate to them in some way.  It all carries over into my relationships with other people.  I tend to only phone people when I need them.  I rarely if ever phone a person to chat... "just because"  This is not because I don't care but because naturally (for me) if someone wants to say how they are doing... then they will say.  I guess it's a fault in me, but generally I don't give a crap about a persons private life unless they say something.

The reason I say this is because once again it has come to my attention recently that there is a peculiar phenomenon that follows me around, and it's related to something that my dad once noted about me as a teenager.  I am apparently a natural leader and can generally motivate people into actions with ease and enthusiasm.

A few days ago I was called "gravimetric".  I guess this means that my personality attracts people to me, and much to my surprise it seems that some people seem to look up to me.  I don't mean to blow my own trumpet or anything here, but it's been a few days since this came up and its been itching at the back of my mind.  It worries me a little, because when I think of natural leaders who are gravimetric and motivational... then there are very few positive examples in real life or fictional life for that matter.  For example you would say that Hitler possessed such qualities.  Generally speaking dictators tend to be able to rule effectively by being just that.  The most immediate positive example I guess would be Jesus Christ... but then you could say he had God to help out.  Nothing like having an all knowing, all seeing deity batting for you.  I mean you could argue Doctor House off the TV show is kinda the middle ground.  Very few people really "like" him.  However the character possesses the very same traits that have been applied to me over the years and it makes me worry.

As I get older I find I do ask more about people, and in my immediate circle of friends I do care about their welfare.  Yet I think of all my friends who I don't speak to.  Not out of dislike for them at all.  It just  seems to be if they don't talk to me I don't talk to them.  Tomcat one of my oldest and closest friends, I haven't spoken or even communicated with in over a year.  Of course even he ascribes to the fact that communication goes both ways.  I am terrible at answering emails.  I got one a month ago from my mate KV and I only just answered it today, which prompted much of this entry.  Is it just scatterbrainedness?  or is it a systematic failure on my part to keep in touch.  I could have answered that mail with a free 5 minutes at any time over the last month, and while I do have email problems It has been fixed for a week or so.  Do i update this blog as often as I would like?  No, but then I maintain my life is so boring that I often don't have anything interesting to write.

In short.  If you feel i am ignoring you... get in touch.  It's not that I don't like you.  Trust me you'll know if I do.  I'm not that subtle... just really tardy when it comes to keeping in contact with folks.

T

Well more a bluey grey...

However.  Looks like the writers got a semi decent deal, so I'm happy for them.  It also means this blog is getting back to normal, but I kinda dig this theme, so I might keep it around for a bit.  But no promises right?

Been busy doing nothing.  This is the reason the updates have been slow for a bit.  Just nothing really to write home about it. Or write to you lot either!  However I am trying not to abandon this place again, and maybe one day I will do regular posts.  I wouldnt take out any bets on that though.

I really should write more though, so i'll think of things to do sooner or later.

T