Chrimbo time-acha

Hey folks,

Just a quick message, firstly to apologise for the lack of activity for a while here. I've been having many crazy ideas about what to post here, and things I want to be doing, but have just failed to get round to them. My plate has been very full of late, so had very little time, or motivation to post regularly. Fear not however, I'll get to my list of things to post about soon, and then the fun can begin all over again! :)

However, I really just wanted to post to say that I hope all those I know who read this blog - be you friends of friends of friends, or my closest and dearest - have a fantastic festive season, and that you enjoy every moment. Christmas can be an exciting time for some, and a harrowing affair for others, so regardless of which pot you fall in to, I wish you all the best for the festive season, and hope you all enjoy yourselves immensely.

Don't be afraid to pop a wee hello comment on here over the festive period if you get bored/drunk/want to rub in your cool presents or in general are just making a nuisance of yourself :)

Enjoy folks, and see you soon.

B

Nuke Dukem...yup that's right...

Ok, I'm a little late on the bandwagon here but I've been meaning to post about this for a while.

For any of you that pay attention to anything that happens at E3 you're likely going to know that this years E3 was not exactly the most successful. According to what's been said, and what I've seen so far, if E3 had been in a race, it would have come 9th out of 10, only just beating the Arthitis-riddled, I.V. dragging pensioner in lane 1.

However, weeding out any of the interesting bits leaves you with a great number of appaulingly "yawnable" presentations and conferences based around existing technology and fixes for things that should have worked correctly first time (see: Nintendo's Wii sensor fix).

However, by and far the worst example of E3's outrageously mediocre line up was the Duke Nukem trailer! No, before I go any further, let me just say I am a huge fan of the games. I've more or less loved every incarnation (the latter version being the least in that chart rating). As a result, I was keen to see what we could expect from Duke Nukem trilogy.

This is what they delivered:




Oh dear succubi-on-high, what an immense pile of shit! If I had wanted to see a 5 minute rotation of 10 year old pixel banners and shoddy flash work, I would have made it myself (believe me, I'm qualified!). E3 is supposed to showcase those pioneering companies out there pushing the boundaries of gaming and all things hardware related. Instead, we were subjected to this feeble excuse for a trailer?

Get it together E3 peeps - what exactly were you thinking?!!

speedtest.net = Gurn's Nemesis

I've ragged Gurn stupid over the last few years about my speed of net connection in comparison to his lowly 2mb virgin line.

Well recently, after a violent fall out with BT which resulted in my telling them to go and violate themselves on a fencepost, I signed up to Virgin XL. Man - what a connection.

I showed Gurn a wee speed test the other day there, just to rub it in, and thought I'd share it with ya :)



:-D - Yeah Baby!

dabman is back baby...dabman.net that is....

I mentioned some time back that the reason my blog looked like the instead of a rats cage was because 123reg.co.uk had messed up and transferred my domain away so I didn't have control.

Well, no thanks to them, I've finally got it back, though I had to purchase it all over again, which stuck in my throat a bit.

I'll have to get my £10 transfer fee back (which they did nothing for) but aside from that, all is again correct in the land of dabman.net :)

Okay Okay, I know

I know I'll likely get shit from some of you because I've gone and blurted out random posts this morning without even talking about my holiday away with TBarb and The Gurnster.

I will post on this, I promise, but for now, I need to compile photos etc so I'll get to it in time.

Additionally, you may not that CFOM is looking...well shit really. That's because there has been a major fuck-up at my domain provider and they have inexplicably transferred my domain away and I have now lost control of it. It's in recovery mode at the moment and I'm waiting until I can purchase again (28th June) and fix all the broken links.

It's irritating I know, but hey, it happens....

Dollhouse with a Fringe....yes please...

I've been lacking something tv worthy to get my teeth into lately. My most recent obsession was Reaper, which TBarb and I watched religiously until the end of the season, but now I am somewhat lacking in shows that capture my interest. I've still to catch up on BSG (I'm working on that!), but that aside, nothing; nadda; a donut hole.

Perhaps until now (well in terms of looking forwards!)...

I've been checking up on some of the new shows looking to hit the street and something I've been interested in is Dollhouse. Naturally, my curiosity was peaked when I discovered it was a Joss Whedon project. Being a fan of Buffy, Angel and laterally Firefly/Serenity, I was immediately drawn in, and so far, it's looking interesting.

The show basically consists of a group of people who are regularly mind wiped, and then have their brains patched with a set of memories which allow them to carry out a certain task, for a fee. That task could be assassination, a date, espionage etc

In true Whedon style, we've got an Actor that we've seen in his works before in the form of Eliza Dushku. I wasn't a big fan of Tru Calling I have to admit, however I did like Dushku as Faith and I'm hoping she'll impress me as much as she did then.

Take a look at the trailer:



The other show that is peaking my interest is a new J.J. Abrams linked show named Fringe. It's a bit of an X-Files rip off with a twist, but then if you're going to model your show on a previous one, there are few better examples the the 'Files'.

I like the fact this show is headed by a virtual unknown (Abrams has a habit of picking good ones) and is supported by better known, cool actors like John Noble (Denethor - Lord of The Rings).

Take a look and see what you think for yourself. This one will make its Fox Premiere in December, and so far I haven't seen a confirmed date for Dollhouse.



Perhaps further weeks of my life in front of a tv screen? Time will tell......

Return of the Mac

Hey hey!

Yes yes, I know, I've not blogged in a while - hey that's the way (uh huh uh huh) the cookie crumbles.

It's all been down to a new job really. Moving from the world of the great unwashed to a working, earning member of this cruddy civilisation had taken it's toll on me initially and I was spending most of my free time just trying to stay awake. Coupled with rekindled love of the gym (TBarb and I got memberships to Greens) and my intention to get out and about, and that left the old computer unused for a time.

I've adapted now however and I'm getting my life back a bit now :)

So what's been going on then?

Hmm, well as a wee celebration at my new job (and my first pay packet in some time - which was larger than expected) I took TBarb to Koi, which is a Tappanyaki restaurant new Edinburgh University.

The food was excellent even though I wasn't quite brave enough to go for the calamari. Instead I watched TBarb devour hers with an animal passion (that is she devoured with an animal passion, I didn't watch with same :)). Still I enjoyed a fantastic meal, and we fully intend to go back.

What else? Well, I've been applying for a few different jobs to compliment my studentness, but nothing as yet.

I bought me an xbox eventually! :-D

I've finally achieved what I had wanted to for so long. I've successfully bought myself a Wii (well split in part with TBarb), an Iphone and now my X-Box Elite. *rocks*

I've been absolutely glued to GTA4 and more so, Gears of War. I'm just about done with the latter though it makes a great co-op game so it'll be getting kept as opposed to being traded in. I'm also delighted because I can use it a stream all the tv series and movies on the PC to the TV, rather than moving the portable HDD about all the time. Needless to say, I was suitably smug once the 'leet was set up and running smoothly.

I've got plenty else to tell you, but since I'm at work just now, I'll leave it be for the moment.

I'll be back with more nonsense :)

Norwich? Swaffham I say!

Disclaimer: It's a biggy! No! Not that (although....anyways) it's a long post :)


So recently TB and I took a trip down to Norwich, motherland of the barbie herself.

TB has family and friends down there and since it was high time she visited, yours truly was dragged along for the ride.

Now I had heard all sorts of wacky things about this country bumpkin city of Norwich so I was looking forward to exercising my piss-taking skills to the max.

Saturday morning came and off we went to pick up the hire car. I had fully invisaged problem upon problem (just because I was being pessimistic) but much to my surprise, 1 hour later we were on our way to Norwich (which I now pronounce Nor-witch). We were expecting an 8 hour trip all told so we prepared ourself for the long haul by stopping and picking up supplies at a local service station before hitting the motorway proper.

6 hours later and we were in Newark and making excellent time. We stopped at a service station to pick up some petrol and let me relieve my aching bladder, to find a great big "Out of Order" sign on the toilets.

Fuckbucket!

I spotted a cafe/shop/sheepmarket/childseller to the left and decided that they must have toilets.

I wasn't disappointed, but I have to admit, it was difficult to ignore the 250 signs on the approach to the bathroom letting "patrons" know that if you didn't buy anything in the shop, you would be charged 30p for use of the toilets.

30p!! £30p to piss?!! I think not!

With my eyes learning to swim, I skipped into the bathrooms, pissed and headed straight back out, waving to the woman behind the till on my way out.

30p! Jokers! And they say Scottish people are tight!

The 1 hour trip between Newark and Norwich was spent finding amusing alternative meanings for the ridiculous place names en route. My favourite was "Swaffham" which I pronounced with as strong a Scottish accent as I could muster pronouncing it Swaff-im and implying it was some action one would take in Glasgow when you wanted your mate to take someone else out with a bottle.

We got into Norwich with no issues and got ourselves in the hotel. Norwich was well prepared for my arrival and when looking out the hotel window I saw this:



Holy Shit (I proclaimed). We were in a hotel next to the Starship Voyager!!!

It turns out that it was actually the bus garage that they were building when TB last visited, but I called it Voyager from that moment on.

My interest peaked when I realised that Voyager was taking aboard a number of earthlings cleverly concealed within buses. The buses were clearly colour coded to seperate the strong from the weak and I was facinated, snapping pictures of every different coloured bus I could find.






There was a double decker blue bus (which clearly had the very important people in it), but the slippery little bastard kept avoiding my lens, first by hiding in Voyager and secondly by waiting till I was distracted momentarily before speeding away at top speed to escape. It even taunted me on the last day in the city centre and I wasn't ready for it.

I'll get you blue bus!!!

Anyywwaayyy.....

The rest of the trip was spent meeting TB's parents as well as most of her friends, and they were all really cool. Spent more time with Rick than anyone else, and I was pleased to find he's as bonkers as I am.

I mean really, you couldn't very well say that this man was sane, could you? :




The last bit of the trip was spent visiting what TB insisted was Norwich castle, but having driven passed it on the way into Norwich I assured her it must be a prison.

I mean come on!:




We were lucky to get the "pop in for a pound" deal because we were in the last hour of opening time, and boy was I glad. It wasn't a bad visit, but there's some odd shit happening in there!

For instance, I stumbled across a section of the prison which had some visual aids for visitors (of the non residential kind of course) but on closer inspection I realised I was looking at a video feed of the archway directly in front of the screen.




In the words of the french - "Ques que le fook?"

I did like some of the eerieness about the place though. This well placed knight in the window looked more than real from across the other side:




There was a section in the prison which detailed a nomadic people who's name now eludes me (I'll check with TB) and this just raised more questions.

I mean, take a look at this:




What's HE waiting for eh? The less said the better me thinks.

After getting lessons on how to be a Roman...




...I was introduced to Norwich's idea of Virtual Reality:




That was the last straw and I had to leave - quickly :)

So all in all, a fun trip, full of nonsense, oddities and good people. Just my kind of trip :)

Better late than never.....

I realised that, due in some part to Yahtzee being off to GDC two weeks ago, I have forgotten to post the last two vids published. So here they are:

27/02:



21/02:

The One Armed Man

Every now and then, the oddest, and most serious of days leaps upon you in fashions you never even expected.

Today was one such day and opened my eyes to many things.

As some of you will know, my sister Heather was departing on her sojourn across the world today, to return in no less than 2 years, if ever. I knew it was coming, and I was delighted for her given this was something she'd intimated she had wanted to do for a very long time.

Even given that time to prepare, even given my happiness and pride at her taking on the challenge, my mood was affected in ways I could not have forseen today. I was levelled with nostalgia, pummelled with the need to rehash the past, and driven to think of all the people whom I miss from my life these days - family or not.

As you might imagine, that hardly leaves one in a state of stratospheric happiness, nor, in my case, did it leave me solidly in a gutter somewhere. Instead, I was somewhere inbetween, sporting the bruises of a person who was neither wildly happy, nor unhappy; but of someone contemplative enough to recognise a number of mistakes, and to reprioritise some things that he had perhaps taken for granted.

I had planned to go to the airport with my other sisters and my brother-in-law to see Heather off, and this realisation simply made the determination to be there greater.

Seeing Heather off was harder than I had expected. I'm not good at the personal stuff face to face, I never have been, and I've gotten worse as the days of my life have passed. I don't suppose I appeared to anyone around me as if I was much impacted by my sisters departure, but I was. My sisters' subsequent reactions were enough to make me realise how much I was going to miss Heather, and how much the three of us still here would have to stick together in her absence.

Technically I only have two blood sisters, Lorraine and Heather, but for as long as I can remember Nancy has been there, and for me there is no distinction strong enough to convince me to think of Nance as anything less than family.

For me, myself and my sisters have always been like 4 people making up the parts of one person.

Lorraine is the temperance and the calm.
Nancy is the compassion and understanding.
Heather is the brains and the lover.
And I am the fire and the recklessness.

In some ways I feel a little like a person who just lost a part of his brain, or more closely an arm or a leg. I've been prepared for the operation for a long time, and still my body is in shock.

However, all that said, I would gladly give that arm for Heather to achieve what she wants to achieve. I'd give my entire being for any of them to get what they deserve from life. Heather was always the one who was going to do the brave things. The revolutionary and the free of heart and so, deep down, it doesn't surprise me that we have to say goodbye to her, even on a temporary basis.

To Heather, and to all of my sisters, I love you all dearly. You are my conscience, my strength, and my heart - without you I would be lost. With you, I can leap large buildings in a single leap.

Nietzsche says "Family love is messy, clinging, and of an annoying and repetitive pattern, like bad wallpaper".

I'll take that mess, annoyance and repetition any day of the week.

Da-B-Man : Student Extrordinaire

Yes that's right B-Fans I have forsaken the loving bosom of working life (and this incessant search for a suitable job in the marketplace I formally worked in) and become a student once more.

I suppose I should make the point that I am doing a distance learning course (purely to avoid spending another 4 years at University) and as such, I'll still be working, but what I'll be working as in the short term is yet to be decided.

So Big B, what is it you could possibly be learning?

A good question folks. I will be entering the not so lofty realm of web designers as I study my CIW Master (what a name!) course which, when completed, will leave me a fully accredited and internationally recognised Webmaster - which should go nicely next to "Universally accepted wanker" and "Internationally recognised photo stealer" plaques hanging above this here desk :D

According to the institution I am studying this through, I should be able to pick up some work through them well before reaching the lofty height of "CIW Master" and that should break me into an industry early.

Joking aside for a moment, it's been a long time since I've felt any sense of purpose in my life, and I haven't felt a real desire for many jobs in my hunt over the last year, but this move has given me what I can only descibe as a new lease on life. I'm driven, I'm excited, and most importantly I'm positive.

I love it :)

So, hopefully I'll be able to take my newly nurtured talents and get myself into a decent job, not to mention actually spending some time getting this blog up to scratch :)

Yahar!

P.S. Why did I change the banner? Cos I can baby!!!

Chrimbo cheer, fat stories and other assorted gubbins....

Merry Christmas folksies.

I hope all of you have had a fantastic Chrimbo morning, and get stuck into many a box of chocs and assorted food later this afternoon.

I myself was looking forward to a Christmas without the lurgy. Alas, the gods have worked against me and on Christmas Eve I developed a horrendous cough. It's translated over to today, along with a roughness that only comes from a fitful sleep. Still, I'm damned if I'll let it spoil my Chrimbo.

On a side issue, I was very proud to see that one of my sisters, Heather, had wangled her way into the papers yesterday and I'm delighted to present the article online here

You'll see her photo and the link to the article at the top of the page. I'm very proud of her and she's become something of a spokesperson in this field. It should be noted, however, that she didn't "lose 9 stone for HIV" as much as she's planning a round the world trip to assist in the fight against that horrific disease as a result of having lost 9 stone and given herself a new lease of life.

This whole scenario is a testiment to her tenacity as a person, her determination to achieve her goals, and the huge heart that beats within that, now quite small, chest. She now looks to devote a large portion of her life to helping the less fortunate than herself, and as far as I am concerned, there can be no greater legacy.

My pride knows no bounds.

Any support any of you can offer will be greatly appreciated.

The Search Continues

So, the search to find daBman a decent job continues. I had an interview in the middle of the week that I feel went relatively well, and I am hoping this has been the break I've been waiting for.

It's not for lack of trying I assure you, and a number of colleagues have told me I should be easily employable with my skill set, but its just not been happening. Not to worry though, it'll take more than the pesky lack of a job to stop daBman - oh yes it wil - oh yes...coochie coo, oh wait.

Regardless of all that though, today is a chill day. It's been a busy week and I am taking some time out to enjoy the fact that the Gurnmeister has a half day today. We'll mostly be engaging in our usual online nonsense involving Counterstrike and a number of other gaming possibilities.

I might even have a few beers! *calms the gasps in the audience*

However, duty calls upon me once more. Its child sitting time as my nephew requires a guardian for a few hours this afternoon whilst my sisters take a quick visit to el hospitalo.

Yaroo - a chance to play with Bionicles without judgement. :D

B

Digital Decorating pt4

A good bit of work done on the old blog today.

Managed to distract myself from my foul mood by working away on here. Nice to see I have gotten somewhere.

Nice new and fresh banner, which I am relatively pleased with, and some additional graphics.

Some of the graphics are a little scratchy, but I was in no mood to work too feverishly on them today. Nothing is linked as yet, and there are still more cast members to be entered (as soon as I can secure photos (watch out y'all!)), not to mention my piss poor quote.

Is my inability to think of an amusing personal quote down to my, until now, unrecognised lack of a sense of humour?? Someone help me!!

Answers on a postcard peeps.

Digital Decorating pt3

Well, I decided, eventually, to do a bit more work on the template to see if I could pretty-it-up a bit. You'll see from the side section what I am thinking of doing, but the images are a little too big, and I need to balance them up.

Still, the HTML elements are in now, so its just the simple task of working with the artwork a little to try and scale and balance.

It's feeling a little more homey now :)

Flight, we are go for launch

This year brings a number of new things and new perspectives for me at Christmas time, and in an unprecedented manouver, I am actually smiling. Christmas has always been one of my favourite times of year, but I admit to feeling a little "Bah-Humbug!" up until this point this year.

I don't imagine that's out of character considering the bad news I have had recently concerning jobs etc, but still I feel like smiling. Why? Well mainly because, it is my belief that, if you can smile at no other time of the year, if you can find no other time to put all angers and haunting, arguments and quandries to the side, then you should do so at Christmas. Not because of any religious or morale grounds, but simply because it's one of the few times where families get together and enjoy time in each others' company. To someone like me, family is the most important thing, and so Christmas holds a special significance for me. Despite it's lead up to January, my least favourite month of the year for many reasons, I can find time to smile, love and occasionally, and surprisingly sing (though not in anyone elses company :P).

So I give my best Christmas wishes to all those people who have touched my life. My family is not always those who share my blood, and whilst some of those ties have been weakened, broken and are being reforged recently, but I spare no thought for the bad - and instead I wish you all the best of times.

May you all enjoy this time of year, enjoy the warmth created by your families, and come out of it with a new understanding of what life, whether it be painful or not, can offer in those small times when we are all together.

I'll be incommunicado over the next few days as I enter a communication blackout household (fancy-speak for no internet) but will return on the 26/27th.

My love to you all...and a very Merry Christmas.

Houston, this is B-Man, signing off.

Digital Decorating pt2

Well, with the help of Gurn, I have located some very nice sites which focus on blogger templates and how to change them.

With a little bit of work, I have changed the general look, and made things a little more to my liking. Comments don't work on peekaboo (need to look at that) and the title image etc are still very simple, but this should suffice until I can get sat down and create some cool stuff.

Thanks to the Gurn for the assistance provided.

B

Digital Decorating

So it seems I might have a new home. No, I am not moving again (hopefully), I meant this place. I still have a LJ account, but there are things associated with that I would rather avoid, and so I come back to blogger. Plus, I have to admit I do like the free range you have with the template over LJ's set templates.

So in the coming weeks I shall be revamping this template to make it my own. Already working on some graphics etc and will be speaking to the Gurnie-One to get some assistance on a couple of things I have not yet worked out. I need to get rid of this damned lighthouse nonsense though, because it doesn't quite fit the image I am trying to put across :)

With all the other stuff thats going on, it might take me a wee bit of time (will update you on that later) but I'll get there.

For now - Itterashai

KG

B and The Lurgy

I have the lurgy - damn you lurgy!!!!

It seems that every year, around this time, I catch a cold of varying severity. Last year I caught a minor cold which I had over the Christmas period, the year before that I was hit with flu in early December and had managed to thin that down to a nasty cough come Christmas day, and the three successive years before that I had tonsilitis.

The weirdest thing is that, for the most part, I am fine the whole rest of the year. This is the first cold I have had all year, and last year I was healthy all the way through the year before dreaded December hit! Grrr….

Not to worry, I am still plodding on, despite my sniffly, heavy headed demeanor.

In order news, I have again submitted some work to Wizards of the Coast for consideration. I am still in negotiations over a short story piece with some other more established writers, however this most recent submission is different. This is a Forgotten Realms piece. The three submissions I have put in previously have all been for my own world, at the behest of the company. However they have opened their doors to unsolicited Forgotten Realms material and so I have taken up the challenge.

I would be incredibly proud to have my own world published by Wizards (or anyone else for that matter) and would consider it a massive achievement on my considerable list, however there is also an overwhelming appeal behind having my name listed next to writers like Elaine Cunningham, Richard West, and of course R.A. Salvatore as writers of the realms. To be able to contribute to an already fantasically written world (one which, through the medium of novels and roleplaying I have come to love) would be a dream come true. My ultimate goal, should I be successful in being printed, would be to be one of those fortunate "up and coming" writers to be involved in a multi-author project, like those who worked on "The War of the Spider Queen" project. To be able to work with other more established writers in the creation of a story, overseen by Bob Salvatore himself, would be an honour I would gladly except, with a real sense of awe.

However - little steps. That's all a pipe dream until I manage to convince those peeps at Wizards that I am, in fact, worthy of their time and effort. Until I can do that, I can't hope to achieve anything like those experiences mentioned above.

Alongside this, I am still looking in to going back to Uni. Sometimes I look at myself in the mirror and wonder whats going on inside the void that is my head, since I was fairly disenfranchised with the whole University scene first time round. However, I would love the opportunity to do something like English Literature and Creative Writing in order to expand on my current strengths. I suppose it might well be considered one of those useless degrees that will never be used in the real world, but if it brings me closer to my dream of being a writer, then it's good enough for me. I still have many different things to consider before committing to this course of action, however to even be contemplating it at this time is a bonus for me.

Family life, for all its ups and downs, is getting better. My folks are not out of the woods yet, but they seem to have been shown a possible exit, which was completely closed to them previously. The relief in my dad's voice when I spoke to him was enough to settle my already racing heart for a bit, in the hope that they might just make this. Whilst it's got on top of me on occasion, the whole thing has served to strengthen my resolve about aspects of my own life, and some of the more spectacular mistakes I have made in the past - so much so that I have a plan!! Yes, I know, a plan!!!!

I know what I want. I am not 100% sure how to go about getting it just yet, but I have a way forward and that works for me. It's time to start working towards those things that I want from life, and I think I know how to begin that too. It's odd. I think it would be fair to say I have never been the same since Shona broke up with me all those years ago. I think at that point, any plans I had for life went right out the window with the relationship, and I never really managed to get those plans back.

Things are different now. I know what I want. I have the strength, determination and means to get it.

I never thought something so simple could be so inspiring, so compelling. It's not like a momentary euphoria, like the burst of endorphins after a spike of pain, it's something more, something almost tangible. It's something that can drive a person to become all those things they wished they could be. It can drive them to take in all the elements surrounding them, formulate ideas, plan events and generally find a direction to travel in that takes them where they want to be. It's something more powerful than anger, than hate, than violence.

It's hope.