loveme4whoiam

Indeed, EA can go do something unpleasant, possibly to do with bowel movements, I am lezving 2142 well alone. Unfortunately, some guys in my clan want to get it as a stop-gap for ETQW because everyones tired of not playing any more :s

I've just polished off Pandora's Star by Peter F. Hamilton, and I have to say it was one of the most satisfying reads I've had in many years. The characters are wonderfully solid and thought-out, and the storyline is perfectly paced. I thought at the start that it was a bit jarring to have so many minor characters introduced, but about half-way/two-thirds of the way through everything suddenly clicks and you understand why he didn't wait to introduce them. Some sections which focus on a single subject, for instance the explanation of the "main" aliens in the book, are exceptional in bringing comprehension swiftly to the reader. I would heartily recommend it to anyone and everyone, even if they aren't sci-fi fans. Now, if only my library stocked the sequel Judas Unchained I'd be set - as it is, I have to buy them both from work :P Also finished reading A Regimental Affair by (Brigadier) Allann Mallison. I think I would have been better served by starting at the beginning of the Matthew Hervey series, as Mallison doesn't put a great deal of explanation of the past into the story; compared to Cornwell, who does enough that anyone could pick up any of his books, out of order, and instantly comprehend the characters and their histories. The language is also a shade jarring, being exceedingly 19th century. While I don't mind it - indeed, I enjoy reading a book of that style - it does interrupt the flow of the story a little, and would certainly spoil the book for anyone who doesn't "get" the style of writing quickly. Also, there is very little - actually, there is no action whatsoever in the book. Perhaps I've been spoiled by the excellence of Bernard Cornwell's falir for action sequences, but there is nothing in the book that comes even close to that level. Again, perhaps I should have read the first two which sound like they would contain a bit more vigour. As it is, while I enjoy the characters (I think the period writing style makes it all the easier to hate Lt. Col. Towcester) I wouldn't re-read this book - but I would read its follow-on, or a prequel.

Guess you won't be interested in the tasy-looking new sequel Stampede :P I'm currently subjugated the Illyrians in Rome: Total Realism mod for RTW. I have plans to expand into Thrace and mayeb Macedon, thanks to a strong naval blockade keeping Carthage well and truly bankrupt :D Arm-chair generalling is fun 8)

Really? Everyone I've talked to about it says its pish - I haven't summoned the energy to see it yet. On the "youth in WWII" theme I read a book years ago, called something like "Land of the Rising Sun", about a lad whose parents are killed in Shanghai and then being somehow sent to an internment camp. As I recall it was an excellent book, well worht the read. If only I could remember its name... :)

I found this mildly amusing. I was wandering around Anvil's docks after finishing a Fighter's Guild quest, and spoke to a random NPC and noticed a NPC's name as a topic (Thorindle, something like that). Apparently, he was "a very confused young man; docile though". Not thinking much of it, I proceeded to carry on down the docks in time to see a fist-fight start between a random Khajiit and, of course, this Thorindle. Ah, the amusement :D

My friends are huge fans of The Subways, they saw them last year in Bristol and said they were great, but frankly on their album they sound terrible. I'll probably get dragged to see them unless there's someone else I want to see then. Wolfmother aren't bad, I've listened to about half of their album and it sounds fun. Then again, the show-stoppers of last year are going to be hard to beat. Queens of the Stone Age, Foo Fighters (Dave Grohl drumming, hell yeah) Iron Maiden :ohmy:, Marilyn Manson (although for the entire show he had an, erm, itch in his crotch area :mellow:), they were all great showmen, and the headliners for this year are a bit naff in comparison. Muse will be good though, as long as they do their old stuff as well as stuff from their new album. And oh yeah, The Killers last year were terrible. Spot-on musically, but all the charisma of a constipated dog. They said about 5 words to the crowd - it would have been better to stick a stereo on the stage than have them play. Avoid :D

I just discovered that I can go to Reading Festival this year, the greatest (probably) rock music festival in the country - well, if you excuse Download, which was a bit harcore for my tastes, and apparently Guns 'n' Roses were awful :P So right now I'm currently hunting fown as much music of the smaller bands that are playing as I can, for research purposes. So far, Anti-Flag, Millencolin, The Like, and a couple other ones sound good. There's loads of girl-fronted bands this year, which I'm all for as I like the sound of female voices backed up by hard-core guitars, something you don't hear too much of. Then there's the bigger names - Franz Ferdinand (although headliners? Give me a break), Kaiser Chiefs, Muse (yay!), Coheed and Cambria (oh baby), Jet, Hundred Reasons, Killswitch Engage (under all these other bands :o) Slayer, and so many other. Check out lineup and go green with envy because the tickets are all sold out :D: http://www.meanfiddler.com/displayPage_rea...58&URLID=67 Damn, this post soudns like an advert. Don't ban me, please!!

I dunno if its in a series, although I think it might have something to do with a vampyre book he did a while ago, I'm not sure - I don't deal with the kids section :D Theta and karkarinus, that sounds about right, more fool me for not recognising it :D Fortunately I've now found a new author who is ace, Peter K. Hamilton. I'm currently reading Pandora's Star and, as the blurb reviews say, he makes intelligent space opera work. I would recommend it to anyone - don't be put off by the size of it (800+ pages in the hardback) you really don't notice it, and the sci-fi terms are so much better handled than D ick, it feels so natural. Anyways, that's that one. I have a question though, has anyone read Tom Clancy, and if so what do you think of his works?

Erm, too lazy to do an exact quote :D but its generally used in the context of describing someone as old, but more as the stage post-growing old, possibly some sort of life-extension process. Its a bit hard to explain, especially since the author *string of top-row-of-the-keyboard-symbols* doesn't say anywhere in the book, just dropping it in and expecting the reader to know what it means.

Okay, I finished Cantata-140, and I've got to say, I'm pretty disappointed. It was pretty short, as I said, but I got the feeling that Monsieur %&$! (other string of Shift-Num symbols) didn't know if he was writing a short story or a novel. He adds in quite a bit of side-stuff that would be good in a novel as they could be explored further, but in a short story seem tacked on and makes the rest of the story unwieldy. Added to that, he steams through the story at a breakneck pace which makes comprehension of the instant changes to the storyline, not helped by the aforementioned "tech-lingo" (even now, I'm still not sure what a jerry is). Theres some attempts at philosophy in terms of racial differences, but if that is supposed to be the main "message" of the book it comes across garbled and half-cut. The characters are inconsistent in their behaviour (especially in the latter stages of the story), or at least exhibit behaviour that would have been understandable had the author taken the time to explain it. Overall, a bit naff unfortunately. Its probably wrong to judge an author by a single book (for instance, I took a disliking to Terry Pratchett after reading Truckers when I was 7; look what a mistake I made there :D) but I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone. Perhaps I should read one of his more famous books, Minority Report perhaps, to see if those are better. Those links turn up bad by the way karkarinus, but I had a glance at the page after searching Wiki. An, erm, interesting man to say the least.

The Darren Shan books have been pretty popular in sales, and the final one (I think) called Slawter (Darren Shan may be a good author, but not a good speller :P) has just been released. My sister is reading through them, which is damned surprising since she hardly reads anything, so I guess that's something in their favour. Just started a Philip K. %&$! story, fairly short by my standards but thats not a bad thing, called Cantata-140, as it was the only one in the local library :dry: So far, seems interesting. He instantly jumps into the story and expects the reader to pick up the intricacies (poor sp) of the story and sci-fi tech-terms very quickly, which can be a bit jolting. I've only just realised that the 'scutter this character is repairing is not a robot hoover, but in fact a teleporter :huh:. Like I said, not much in the way of explanation. I shall inform further when I've finished :D

We have loads of Iain M. Banks stuff in store (Waterstones - your local book store :P), and that was one of the guys I knew I'd left off my list. Cheers for the reminder of Dan Simmons, and for the recommendation. I only mentioned them because the covers are shiny and good-looking :blush: Never really liked the look of Stephen King - I'm not one for horror movies or books, although I have it on good authority that Rats by James Herbert is scary as hell. C.S. Lewis enjoyed something of a rebirth in sales when the Narnia film came out, but nothing like as spectacular as LotR did, of course. I'm thinking about reading one of his religious texts just to see what he was going on about.

Thud! is one of the best books I have ever read - no book apart from that one has actually made me cry out "NO!!" whilst reading at 2AM. It even knocked off Men at Arms as my favourite Pratchett book. So I'll stop now before I get going :P I am a total Bernard Cornwell fan - I love the Sharpe books, they are the reason I'm going into the career I am, and the new Uhtred series that he is writing now. And what's more, I might even meet him in August if our shop manages to win negotiations with HarperCollins :D I'm currently looking to diversify what I read - I'm such a completist with the two above authors that I haven't read much else. I read Da Vinci Code (like everyone else in the country, apparently three times over judging by the sales :dry: ) I prefered Angels and Demons to DVC as it took a more even-handed look at the Church (not that I don't mind DVC's attacks on it) and kept the reader twisting and turning a bit more. I'm not generally into thrillers/conspiracy theory stuff so I can't really judge it in the genre. I've just read two David Gemmel books, apparently the "master of heroic fantasy". And I'll admit, he's pretty good at that. The most recent one I've read reads just like how one wishes online RPs would play. However, he rushes through the story a bit too fast for me, especially in Sword In The Storm - that book could have been double the thickness and not suffered a jot. Maybe that's just my taste though. I'd like to read some David and Leigh Eddings books (because there are so many it'll take me a while) and maybe some sci-fi, Isaac Asimov or... damn, can't remember the guy's name. Wrote Hyperion at any rate. Can anyone recommend something in those genres? Oh yes, and I want to read some of Macdonald Fraser's Flashman books, just because in the blurb of them Flashman is described as a "cad and a bounder". Nothing with a character description like that can be bad :D

*Waits 'til the mods see this one and remove the evil and corruptign topic from the forums :P* In seriousness though, good luck with the TC. I would offer my services but I'm currently working on my own project. Keep us up-to-date with the development :D (assuming the mods allow this unholy subject to be talked about :P)

You have faith in DICE and EA? Fair nuff dude *makes cookoo noises*

A guy in my clan has already shown me two links in the totalbf2 forums listing just dumb stuff that has occurred through the vehicle air-drop feature. To echo all of those wise gamers, and myself when I first heard about the feature - Unthought-out gimmick. I'd be disappointed if I hadn't expected EA to screw the game even more. I wonder if BF 2142 will sell a single copy....

Ratfactor? Seek help. Immediately ;D The only really amusing story I've had so far (aside from the usual mistakes one makes while swinging a sword about; they should know better than to stand near me) was when I rode out of Chorral (I think), and just as I rode past a boulder an arrow whistled out of nowhere to stick out of my horse's flank. After a second to marvel at the AI, I got off, at which point the horse barrells over and clobbers the hapless bandit to death. So once I've looted the body, I turn around to get back on the road, when I notice a second bandit, who'd apparently had a tiff with the bow-wielding one, lying dead in the road clearly riddled with arrows. That was good for a laugh.

I was too green a gamer to be around for the Diablo 2 wave, so this hasn't got me any more excited than, say, a mild encounter with that girl from Accounting who keeps giving me the eye. Nothing a brisk jog won't sort out. Still, a new game is a new game. Looking forward to it, although I find the prospect of Fallout 3 a little more exciting (lap-dance, then a cold shower); I didn't play that either, but it looks like a game more up my street.

I had a chance to play DOD:S at a friend's casa who raved about it, but frankly its just another deathmatch game. Knowledge of a level and quick reactions are all you need, I prefer something more tactical in my games. That's why I like BF2, when you play as a clan for wins rather than points, its the best online experience I've had (aside from a little tet a tet with a mistress of the night, but kets not speak of that here :P) Good point about the difference between skill and gameplay I suppose. Although if you get an evenly-matched team it comes down to skill just as much as DOD:S, if you call twitch-sniping a skill (which it is, of course).

A music student friend of mine had some TSO on his Ipod, unfortunately it was a really bad sound on the tiny headphones or something. If I can find some demo stuff I may get it, since I like alternative stuff like that. is it wierd that I haven't heard of 2/3rds of these bands mentioned? Is it because they are all retro, or is t because I know about the music scene as much as I know about the anatomy of wood-lice?

*Sidles on* Ahem. May I direcy everyone to these: 85.236.100.27:17703 85.236.101.18:16867 85.236.101.63:17167 Open 24/7, well admin'ed and an friendly atmosphere (although dodge [Ew] Greeny if you can ;) ). These are my clan's servers, and I'd be loath to let an advertising opportunity go begging. Sorry if this is in bad taste :blush: , I've no doubt everyone who played on the GS servers loved it, if they were anything like the forums they had some great players on. But so do ours :D

Coheed and Cambria are great, excellent and original (at least, I've not heard stuff like it before) guitar riffs, and a quality lead singer. I'm currently ploughing through my Winamp playlist. Current most-played are selected tracks from the two latest *D'oh - you know who I mean - curse you Malchik and your vigilance :D * albums, the whole Richard Cheese collection (absolutely fanastic, get Down with the Sickness and Enter Sandman to hear quality swing/jazz music along with well-know lyrics) and The Strokes, while I wait for their new one to be released. Oh yes, and the great She Has A Girlfriend by Reel Big Fish to amuse me. More bands should have female lead singers, they ad a great deal of depth to a band.

I'm currently playing (my sidebar notwithstanding) N, which is a Flash platform game that is wickedly addictive (the level designer is both Satan and Jebus Himself), and Battalion, an online conversion of Advance Wars, I'm given to understand. It's alot of fun, and free to boot. I tell you, when I get my new PC I'm locking myself in a room with the best games of the past six months and not leaving. I shall have my meals delivered through a hole in the wall, and I shall train rats to entertain me when my eyes feel like they're going to melt. PC game withdrawl symptoms are harsh...

Is it made with the same engine (or whatever the jargon is for CGI film graphics) as Spirits Within? I'm not a Final Fantasy player at all, it sort of passed me by, but the film was a fairly entertaining watch even if you did shut off your brain to enjoy it. I gather it had little to do with FF at all (no enormous Pokemon-inspiring creatures and a lack of Japanese manga hairstyles was the giveaway) but I'd really like to see it, especially if this new film is as pretty as Spirits Within. Is it coming out in cinema or just DVD?

Silly?! They are a way to keep score, to be better if you will, than your peers :P I'm too young to remember MWC so my posts weren't effected. Perhaps as a sort of celebration on the day of release of Oblivion Dark could reset the whole membership's post counts to zero... Any takers :ph34r: ;D Hurray for fantastic smilies, they live again :D