One man pubcrawl #17

This will be my last entry for this personal pubcrawl...

It's all kicking in this place, which is one of the pubs that has taken the crowd away from the pub I love so much that I mentioned in a previous post.

I got a phonecall from one of my friends to tell me that a member of the drinking crowd in the local village I know has died.

I didn't know him personally but I met with him and drank with him enough to know he was a great bloke and loved his Rugby.

My thoughts are with his family and us as the entire Rugby family as a whole.

One man pubcrawl #16

Fourth pub now... this one has recently shrugged off it's live band slot on a Saturday night for a blanket 70-80s disco where the slightly raised platform that the bands used to play on is now used for boogying drunken people.

I'm undecided as to whether that was a good idea.

Firstly the live bands that played were always awesome, and secondly, since this pub changed it's Saturday night to 70-80s music frolics, when myself and my brother were the only people dancing, from what I saw, everyone else looked totally miserable, maybe there was something in what they were drinking?

Or perhaps that's what austerity has caused? Or they wanted the awesome live bands back?

One man pubcrawl #15

Still in the pub, watching the boxing, during one of the intervals one of the trainers, sneakly it seems to me, poured some water down the boxer's shorts... What was he trying to do? Cool his balls? 

One man pubcrawl #15

20.00 hours and I'm still here on my comy sofa... some rather nice looking women came in a few minutes ago and started to re-arrange the furniture near me, I thought "Uh-ho, need to move" but they stayed where they were and didn't look like they were arranging for a large crowd.

Boxing is still on the TVs, but from what I've gathered some of the staff and the bouncers seem to be following it and the few Villa fans that were here have shuffled off to cry into their takeaways.

Plus there's sod all anyway and no-one in the pub would want to watch the prosiac Saturday prime-tipe tripe the terrestrial channels will be showing right now.

One man pubcrawl #14

The staff swiftly switched channels so that we didn't see the medals/cup presentations, I guess that makes sense - why prolong the agony of the drunken Villa supporters.

In a futile effort to calm things they have now changed channel to some live Boxing... smart.

My comy sofa remains mine for the time being, but now I'm thinking about switching this one for mine at home, relax on it and consume a kebab whilst I watch a recorded Rugby League game between Leeds and Wigan. You know I like to enjoy the small things in life!

One man pubcrawl #13

Ah well, 4-0 and that's a result, Arsenal win the FA cup, that last goal looked hugely offside to me...

The one gooner fan here is running around doing an aeroplane impression, the bouncers clearly don't see him as a threat, they're looking for the stealthly tells of a potential Blues v Villa fans punchup... well it doesn't look like it's going to happen in this pub folks!

Thank god.

One man pubcrawl #12

Well I can imagine that Blues supporters (that's B'ham City Football Club) are laughing their arses off by now.

There is a token Blues fan here, I know that because he is wearing his Blues top, clearly he is after winding up the Villa fans, nothing good can come from that...

It doesn't make me feel any better that Arsenal are going to win the FA Cup because it's a London-based club (a city full of tossers), which has a team dominated by foreign players run by a foreign manager. The only saving grace is that one of the goals was scored by an English player - Theo Walcott.

One man pubcrawl #11

Arsenal 2 - 0 Villa... great strike by Sanchez, to be honest, they are playing a team that narrowly avoided relegation from the premiere league.

Damn I need the bog again, I have a bladder made of rice paper!

One man pub crawl #10

Half time and most of this pub's punters have either gone to the bog or gone outside for a ciggy.

This comfy sofa and table is so mine, I really can't see it being taken in the near future based on how many people are here, it's a bit of a luxury because I'm normally used to having to give ground and retreat to a quieter area to lick my lonesome wounds.

Villa need to step up in the second half otherwise they'll drown in a torrent of goonerness.

One man pubcrawl #9

Blimey, Arsenal score and this pub sounds like it's full of gooners.

A quick trip to the bog whilst they show the replay of the goal then head back to my comfy sofa via the bar, whilst at the bar getting my drink said gooner supporter jumps up and apologises to the barmaid for the excess noise!

Wow, 21st century footy supporters right there folks.

One man pubcawl #8

The bouncers have now arrived and are doing their walkaround, when that happens I always feel that things are meant to 'get real'.

Arsenal are dominating possession, Villa need to replicate what Blues did to them in the league cup final  - defend like a bunch of mental bastards then hit them on the break and get that lucky arse one-in-a-million goal.

One man pubcrawl #7

Everytime I see camera shots of the Villa fans I can't help but think of the word 'Alroight' [said in a thick Brummie accent{

One man pubcrawl #6

You know it's occured to me that, sat alone in the pub as I am, I have my smartphone to keep me occupied and to help make others think I'm not some weird loner because they think I'm chatting to someone via sms (or Failbook, Twatter etc.)

I wonder what people like me did back in the time in pubs before smatphones and the Internet? Did they keep reams of newspapers on hand to pretend to read? Did they just sit there and stare, making others feel uncomfortable? Did they take a place at the bar and engage the bar staff in conversation? Did they circulate the place looking to some poor sod to corner and bore to death with talk about their hobbies? Perhaps they even got lucky and spent the night shagging? All of the above and more I suppose...

Ah who knows, or cares. I've got my pint, a comfy sofa, a pub that is not packed (so I keep my sofa), and sport on the TV that is not horse racing... and my smartphone.

One man pubcrawl #5

Or it could also be that 40-odd thousand Brummies are actually at Wembley thereby causing the knock-on effect that would reduce the amount of people in this pub. A butterfly flaps it's wings and all that...?

One man pubcrawl #4

22 minutes until kickoff and this pub has stalled, I would have thought that there would have been loads more people in by now... perhaps the other pubs in the area are becoming filled to capacity and this one is an overflow? Strange really, that or people in the Birmingham area are  having home FA Cup Final parties and are partaking of off-licence beer prices?

Having said that, four women just walked in, then walked out, maybe they found it too 'strange', 'boring-looking', 'not kicking enough' or 'oh god they're showing that football game, lets go to Apres'... I don't know, women's intuition is not something to be trifled with.

One man pubcrawl #3

First piss after two-and-a-half pints, about par for the course for me... pub is now filling up nicely and I'm beginning to think that I'll have to go into mobile mode soon as I doubt I'll keep this comfy sofa and table on my own. The law of the pub jungle I'm afraid - the packs take the seating, the loners are forced to stand and keep moving.

Pity I can't place a crest, like in Reign of Kings, that would stop people siting there when I'm at the bar!

Pundits now talking on the TV, I want to slap Alan Shearer's bald head!

One man pubcrawl #2

Third pub now... and guess what? More fucking horse racing!

I thought there were high street betting shops for these people? About the only horse race I am mildly interested in is the Grand National and I don't always go to a pub to watch that so being in one where every.fucking.TV.screen has it on is somewhat disappointing.

This pub has been refurbished, nice decor, and, funnily enough painted in a colour scheme not exactly favourable to Villa fans, kinda makes me wonder if they'll notice when they file in for the game a bit later.

The management has remodelled the place into a 'Sports Bar' and have decked the walls with 'signed' photos of stars from around the sporting fraternity, but to be honest, they aren't going to do very well by showing horse racing, all they'll do is alienate punters. I know this because my mother and her friend came to this pub with the intention of watching a Six Nations England game. When asking the barmaid "if they could change the channel from horse racing and show the game" their response was: "we'd better not upset them"... 'them' being the old fucks sat there who were regulars, probably propping up the pub's profits, and who preferred to watch, yes, you guessed it, horse racing!

They left and watched the game somewhere else, two punters lost because of old gits monopolising the TV.

Now I look around the pub, it is a bit busier and few are watching the horse racing... oh hang on... as I type this, they've changed the channel! I guess the masses have won over against the minority... but, said minority can all shuffle off to that high street betting shop I suppose.

This pub smells too much of paint, not what I'm used to it smelling of as I've spent many a drunken evening here on it's dance floor. I can remember a time when the dance floor here was packed every Friday and Saturday night. Then the place went down hill due to crap management and other, better pubs opening in the general area. Now they're attempting to revive it, fair play to them I guess.

But despite that this pub does hold a special place in my heart, I've always felt comfortable here and I think that is important with pubs. I've been in places where I've instantly felt 'wrong' and not settled until I've left, this place doesn't do that, even if I'm on my own, like now.

So cheers!

One man pub crawl #1

So my afternoon of solo drinking and watching sport has begun... and it didn't begin well, the first pub I went to wasn't showing the Guinness Premiership Final, which I consider to be way more interesting than the FA cup. So I drank my pint and left... this second pub is only showing horse racing and seems to have a combined average age of 80.

Interestingly, this is the pub I watched that abysmal game England played against Algeria is the 2010 World Cup. Back then the average age seemed to be around 17, they were all very drunk and not best pleased. So much so that I thought at the time the TV would soon be on the receiving end of an empty pint glass!

As the 90th minute approached I found myself edging closer to one of the pub's bouncers and when the final whistle went I couldn't get out of there fast enough! Seems strange that I'm now sat exactly where I was back in 2010 and the atmosphere is considerably less hostile, the TV is still intact too.

I'll finish my drink here, leave the old gits to their nags then head off to the next pub, which, from what I've been told, has been refurbished... knowing that pub, about time!

Ah! Good old Rugby!

What with all this shit being slung about over football at the moment, whilst on the cross trainer at my local gym I was watching a Super 14 match between the Sharks and the Rebels... it was refreshing to see a good old violent têt-a-têt involving two opposing forwards consisting of a slap to the back of the head which was replied with a solid right hook to the face followed by a series of blows that would have felled a Kaiju...

The ref was swift in issuing justice - a yellow card for the instigator and a red for the wannabe boxer. This is the thing I enjoy about Springbok Rugby, they're all hard as nails, don't take any shit, play great Rugby and there's always the potential for a row, great stuff!

Certainly better than having to watch those tossers doing their love-in over Sepp Blatherer.

FIFA - same old shit...

I simply cannot believe that dickhead has been re-elected... clearly the retartedness within FIFA runs much deeper than just those officials that were arrested.

They close ranks and issue a big F.U. to the rest of the world, despite having the entire might of the FBI threatening to come down on them, it defies belief!

So what will be on Sepp Twatter's 'To Do' list beginning tomorrow morning? Hmm, maybe:

1. Laugh loudly in the mirror, shout "TOP KEK", get dressed then get chauffeured in his gold rolls-royce to FIFA centre for a round of verbal blow jobs with his lackeys
2. Plan a crafty series of "Sweep it all under the carpet" protocols
3. Initiate his trusty "Do nothing and hope it all blows over" campaign, which has worked many times before
4. Count his millions

Tosser.

Cast Adrift!

One of my friends has cancelled getting together for a few beers to watch the FA Cup 'cos he has had a better offer.

So I'll be going on my own...

Being in a pub on my own is nothing new, I'm used to that... but I'm bloody annoyed as I was so looking forward to it with people I know! I mean, come on, it's the FA Cup Final!!

Might just go on my own anyway even though I have an offer from others to go elsewhere to watch the game.

If you see me, I'll be the Mr No-Mates in the corner, by the bar...

I'll have a pint please... no, just the one.

F. U. FIFA!

Ahh, it's about time someone took the lead in bringing these corrupted money-grabbing cockroaches down.

Well done FBI.

To Sepp Blatter… they're coming for you too.

More Football WTFs

Yet more managerial sackings... it's going totally crazy in the world of professional football

Three articles, one above the other showing in Google News, each one on the subject of managers being sacking, or threatening to be sacked.

I totally don't understand it, in any other job getting sacking from your job is a major black mark that makes it extremely difficult to get another job yet these managers will walk into another multi-million pound managerial job. It's not their fault, they're just doing their best as the situation allows... it's these retarded owners that cast them aside like some child with a unfavoured toy.

Pisses me off.

I have the most random thoughts sometimes...

We all know about website like ancestry.org where you can study the genealogy of our families… well it occurred to me just now that, say in a hundred years' time, what if some future member of my family is looking up our family's past and sees me listed on the tree, I wonder what the obituary information would say?

After all, that's what we each become - an entry in a family tree with lines connecting us up, down, left and right.

Bizarre thoughts, I'd best get back to work…

Hey, maybe this entry will be listed amongst the info on me!!

Shoehorning Windows 10 onto a MacBook #2

This is an update to my previous blog entry about 'shoehorning' Windows 10 onto my MacBook...

SUCCESS!! After updating to Yosemite I was finally able to get Boot Camp to recognise the Windows 10 x64 ISO and begin the process of copying the installation onto a USB stick.

To recap, the problem I had was that I could not get Boot Camp in OS X 10.8 or 10.9 to recognise the ISO, it would simply error and say it needed a "Windows 7 or higher ISO" to work. Makes sense really as Windows 10 wasn't out when either of those two OS's were released whereas Yosemite is more actively being developed by Apple, they probably would have patched Boot Camp appropriately.

I'm glad I did this rather than try some of the ugly sounding hacks people were posting, especially the one that potentially breaks Boot Camp.

So folks, if you want to use Boot Camp to kick off a Windows 10 install use version 5.1.4 (500).

A message to all artworkers out there...

Please supply artwork that is meant to be print ready with fonts outlined…

Here, I've highlighted the option below:

It's really easy, takes seconds to do, saves time, avoids the legal complexities of exchanging fonts and, most importantly, prevents your printer/sign manufacturer from getting grumpy.

Shoehorning Windows 10 onto a MacBook

It literally is as the title suggests…

I thought I'd be clever by doing it but, so far, everything has worked against me.

Firstly, when I ran bootcamp I got an error saying my USB thumbstick needed to be FAT formatted even though it is FAT formatted.

Then, after pointing to the Windows 10 x64 ISO in Boot Camp, I get an error about it needing to be "Windows 7 or higher ISO", and then after a couple more attempts: "It needs to be a x64 ISO for this type of machine" error message, despite that fact that the ISO is 64bit and there would be no reason for there to be a mixture of x64 and x86 components in the image because Microsoft only offer two types - x64 and x86 so why would they make the x64 ISO mixed ffs!!

Hm, perhaps the ISO is corrupt? I do a openssl sha-1 check of the ISO via terminal, it returns a match to the same hash value next to the x64 ISO listed on Microsoft's website... so the ISO is good.

So I go into work the next day and try again on my iMac, think maybe the ISO is faulty and I need to try one downloaded via a wired ethernet connection but it fails to work on that one either, except that this time it's mainly the "Windows 7 or higher…" error message. So my thinking is that OSX 10.8 and 10.9 versions of Boot Camp - on my works' iMac and home MacBook respectively - don't recognise a Windows 10 ISO properly.

So my next step is to bypass Boot Camp and create a bootable Windows 10 installation on a USB thumbstick using Windows 10 running as a VM in Fusion on my works' iMac.

So I get the ISO copied over and put in a folder on C:, fire up "Diskpart" command in an elevated command prompt, I put my thumbstick into the Mac's USB port, Fusion prompts "which system do you want to connect the drive?" I choose "Windows" … and guess what, Windows 10 doesn't recognise the drive… at all.

aaaarrrrgghhh!!

Next up - upgrading my MacBook to Yosemite… I don't want to do it but when needs must. My thinking is that Boot Camp in Yosemite may be patched to recognise a Windows 10 ISO.

I am really fucking hating this prompt...

Windows 10 Technical Preview - Spartan Browser

I updated to build 100074, which contains the new Project Spartan Browser (or Microsoft Edge as it's soon to be known), tried it out for a few minutes… then installed Chrome!

A short while later whilst doing further testing with Spartan (I felt I had to give it a go), it hung loading Microsoft's MSN page (oh the irony!) and made the entire system unresponsive, so much so that even Task Manager hung!

This is why it's not a good idea to run an evaluation version of Windows on your production PC's people! My version is running in a VM.

New Parliament Seating Arrangements

Some Labour MPs have been 'displaced' from their regular seats during the first new parliament session, apparently the SNP lot arrived early to bag their seats.

I'd have come in early and placed a bag on the space next to me, then pointedly look the other way when someone approached… seems to work for the 'tards that I regularly see doing it on the train.

Windows 10 Technical Preview - users know where to hit Microsoft hard!

Ohh, that's painful!

LOL

Windows 10 Technical Preview - Insider Hub Image FAIL

Whilst messing around with my copy of Windows 10 and waiting for it to update to the latest build, I loaded the Insider Hub app to read about all the latest updates. I discovered a link to a page showing the differences between Microsoft's homepage in 1995 and now… funny thing is the comparison images failed to load properly, pretty much like they used to do when browsing on a crappy 56k dial-up connection, ah the irony!

Reign of Kings

I downloaded Reign of Kings via Steam yesterday and spent the the afternoon playing it... a couple of my mates play it and they persuaded me to give it a go.

Aided by one of those two mates I was able to get up and running with some armour, tools and a small dwelling in no time, I guess I'm lucky in that respect as it saved me that period of running around the wilderness half naked with a piece of driftwood as a makeshift axe because that's all you get when you start!

As an alpha release (£14.99) it's pretty darned stable, the 'create your character' screen (male only at this point) has loads of options to change body shape, size, face, hair, even tattoos and voice! Once you're finished with the customisations the game plops you onto a beach wearing just a loincloth and an rudimentary axe.

From then on it's the usual scavenging for resources and building... although the building is a means to an end because if you quit the game then log back into the same server you were on you will have to recreate your character. To prevent this you need to build a bed and place it in the world somewhere, building one requires find the necessary resources to build one so whilst you're doing that it makes sense to place that bed inside a construction of some sort, so you can see that as soon as you start the game you're pretty much in Minecraft mode!

The game is very much like Minecraft in the order of construction - find materials, create a workbench, create better tools for 'mining resources', then create material blocks from 'Blueprints' found in your inventory, place those blocks to create a building. Although it's not possible to dig down, at the moment there are no plans to include this.

The game gives a player the chance to be King and, as King, can charge a tax for every resource the other players on that server collect (so if the tax is 20% and you collect 100 wood, 20 of it goes to the King and you collect 80). The tax can be between 0% and 20%, the server I'm on the King has it at 0% although from SMS texts sent from my mate some sort of coup happened overnight so probably when I log back in today that tax may have changed! No matter, I'm quite happy to pay the tax for the time being as I'm very much in 'build mode' where I need to get stable roots down before I start mixing it up with other players plus I don't think the wooden armour my character is wearing will stand-up against some of the steel-clad players I've seen!

When seeing other players the general etiquette is to unequip your weapon and wave to them, then engage verbally by pressing 'v' if you've got voice setup. Some servers have rules about PvP, such as on ours where players aren't allowed to attack on sight, you must communicate first. Unfortunately hacking is rife at the moment and some players are not averse to raiding your dwelling whilst you're offline so it's advisable to try and construct it as securely as possible and make it hard for them by using harder building materials, locking doors, raising the structure on stilts and building high, thick walls. My friend took me on a tour of his castle (and it literally is a castle, he's done a great job) and has hidden all his resource chests inside the walls and only he knows where they are!

Graphically it's beautiful if you're lucky enough to have a powerful GPU, sun streaming through the trees anyone:

So tranquil!

Anyway, that's enough reviewing, don't know why I am to be honest as I'm still a n00b in this game... I'm off to discover if my menial dwelling is still standing and if the political situation on the server is stable!

A completely innocent faux pas...

I went to go get my car serviced today and part of the process of getting it booked in for servicing was that me and the girl serving me needed to go and do a pre-service check for scratches, dents etc. So we headed outside and when we neared the area where I'd parked the car I mentioned that "The driver side door has a big ass scratch on it...".

Now, this girl was very nice, very professional and she just happened to have a very nice but very big ass. At the time it didn't even dawn on me what I'd said, I'd even go as far as to say it didn't even come from subconscious thoughts that I don't have any control of, it was just something that seemed to fit in the context of what I was trying to express.

She just laughed and we continued out to the car where we went round it and she picked out various small scratches/nicks etc. I couldn't tell if she'd noticed what I'd said but in the scheme of things I probably wouldn't have been surprised if she'd turned round and punched me in the face, she certainly looked like the type that doesn't take any shit when the professional demeanour that's required of her job comes down at the end of a working day.

After handing the keys over I left the dealership in search of a Wetherspoons greasy spoon breakfast, it was during that journey that it slowly dawned on me what I'd said, I almost felt like heading back to explain what I meant however if I'd done that a nice shiny shovel would have appeared behind her, beckoning me to dig my hole just a little deeper.

By the time I'd reached the pub I'd convinced myself that she hadn't noticed and that she's probably not at all insecure about her backside, she was very nice which is probably why I felt bad, even though I absolutely had the most innocent of intentions in saying what I said.

Anyway the car got serviced, she seemed fine and she served me with the usual efficient, polite, professional manner I've come to expect from that dealership that I go to... unbeknownst to me she'll probably be kickboxing an effigy of me later on this evening.

My Friday evening...

Watching Return of the Jedi on Blu Ray whilst browsing the web on my MacBook Pro...

Can't get much more geeky than that.

It could possibly get more geeky if I decide to get Reign of Kings on Steam though...

Printers… aaargh!

Printers are the bane of my life… not piddly inkjet desktop things that gather dust on your desk next to your monitor screen but the big wide format types that, regardless of manufacturer are often over-engineered by enthusiastic Asian genius types.

They come with all kinds of calibration methodologies, that are only understood by a privileged few that have to pass them onto poor unfortunately sods like me, whom they seem to think have loads of time to spend using them to troubleshoot print quality problems that arise.

I use these calibration methods and they never seem to work, in fact, they often make my test prints worse, forcing me to set them back to what they were. It's a proper Sod's Law situation because there I am, trying to do the correct procedure by doing what I've been trained to do and it doesn't bloody well work! Kind of like trying to lose weight only to find you've gained weight next time you weigh yourself.

So now I'm forced to print a job uni-directionally which takes twice the amount of time… and no solution to my problem.

Fucking hate printers.

Poltergeist

Blimey, is nothing in Hollywood sacred anymore, even Poltergeist has been remade...

Allez Allez Allez

Leicester... we're coming to get you!

Eventually...

General Election 2015

Well, well… I didn't expect a Tory majority, but gives them a chance to continue working on the green shoots appearing in our economy, I think that if Labour had come in they'd have bulldozed it and slung us back to 2008.

That said, I think Labour looking to rebuild itself is a good thing (even though I voted Tory) because it's important to have a healthy opposition to keep the Government on it's collective toes!

It's a shame Nigel Farage didn't get his seat, never afraid to say what he's thinking he's the kind of guy to have added extra colour to Parliament sessions. Still, Boris Johnson is back so he can take up THAT mantle!

Darts

I've never been a massive fan of Darts however I had a great time watching a live event of Premiership Darts at the NIA recently.

We got a great table near the front and everytime they came out I got up to the front so I could get some pics and videos. I loved the way the players were introduced with great fanfare, pretty much like Wrestlers do (but without the posturing and fake violence).

The one below is a bit shaky but that's due to me filming one-handed because I had a pint in the other hand... I was a bit pissed too.



I don't think I've consumed so much beer in such a short time, certainly not recently! The general plan with these events is to meet in the pub early, get as much lager down you as possible before it starts, then continue to do so during the event whilst waving a huge foam hand with 180 stamped on it every time one of the players scores 180.

The beer scooter got me home, aspirin, water and junk food got me through the day after. Great fun!

More IT Facepalm

One of our PC's at work fell over recently, we came in to see no image on the monitor and all the fans inside running at high RPMs.

After some troubleshooting I got it back up and running, it's an old PC which we use as a RIP workstation for one of our printers. I've got a backup RIP system I can switch to so it wasn't an immediate panic to get it up and running.

I suspected that it was either temperature or voltage that caused the problem so I went about delving into the depths of Intel's website to find some hardware logging software that was compatible with the PC's motherboard.

After a few failed attempts to find the right version I found LANDesk v6, which made sense as the motherboard for this PC is, after all, a server spec board.

So I install it, configure it, restart the PC then launch it…. it reports everything in the green so I leave it for a day. Next day we try to process a job on it and bang! The monitor image goes off and the fans start going crazy. I then go through the process of getting our other RIP up and running as, clearly, we can't rely on it.

After I get the backup RIP working with our printer, I go back to the troublesome PC, part of my effort to get it back up and running is to remove the cover and check all the connectors inside and this time I leave the cover off. It then starts-up and boots into windows… "Great" I think, "LANDesk's log should hopefully shed some light on the problem…"

Not so, I load the log and what does it show? Read below:

"07 May 2015 11:33:59 The cover was recently removed from the computer"

…and that's it.

It's Vote Time

The day has finally arrived where most of us go to our local polling station and put an 'X' next to the best of a bad bunch. I say that because that is what the exit polls seem to reflect - that we as a nation are not entirely enamoured with our politicians at the moment.

I'm going to go vote after work and like most Brits, will patiently wait in a queue to do so as queueing is part of our way of life. That and moaning about the weather…

I'm not going to say who I am going to vote for and I'm not going to tell others who they should vote for, after all it's a democratic process. I will, however, post my feelings on the outcome after tomorrow, when we should get a general idea of how much political chaos we'll be enduring over the next 6 or so months.

Destiny - House of Wolves Expansion

Apparently Bungie are releasing another expansion pack for Destiny called 'House of Wolves'.

So that's another £20 on top of the £59.99 I paid for the game originally, well they can fuck off… £60 should be all I should have to pay for a AAA title. I've spent enough time grinding through the same old shit to get to the level my character is at and now I have to pay more? I'll bet that if got that expansion after an hour's worth of playing I'll be back to the same rinse and repeat grinding because it won't have enough content.

Fuck off Bungie.

That's what I think!

Yeah, I don't think so

A fictional TV drama series about Hip Hop (which I hate) and viewers complaining about it having too many ad breaks (which I hate even more)…

Yeah I think I'd rather take a cheese grater to my nut-sack than watch that show

Photography #101

Here's another example of using a telephoto lens, it's of a Chaffinch feeding with a Robin looking on in the background, I'm pretty surprised the Robin didn't chase it off 'cos they're aggressive little buggers when they want to be. I took it whilst holidaying at Centre Parcs back during Christmas time...

Oi! Get off my barbecue!!

Message to NASA

Stop faffing around sending probes to planets like Mercury and start properly planning on getting humans on Mars. I know it's hard, it's quite probably as hard as rocket science but that's no excuse for preferring to send 'easier' pilotless probes to various places around the solar system.

You're all dead clever and quite able to to a manned mission to Mars so stop gassing about the complexities of it or pooh poohing everyone else's attempts (like Mars One) and get on with it!

People my age want to see someone put a foot on Mars in our lifetime ffs!!

Or perhaps even the moon!

Well played Wasps

I watched Wasps beat Exeter 36 - 29 at the Ricoh today, that keeps them in 6th, still in with a shot at Europe next season.

Next game - against Leicester, again at the Ricoh and I shall be there, beers in hand, to cheer them on!

Go Wasps!

The players do a tour after the match to thank the fans...

A message to Paddypower

Stop sending me sms messages about betting... I AM NOT FUCKING INTERESTED.

A violent introduction to DayZ

I've started playing DayZ.

£11 via Steam looked like a good deal, plus I've got a couple of friends into it so it was a no brainer really, however the gameplay certainly isn't.

I'd seen plenty of people play it via Twitch and read many strategy articles so I knew that when I spawned into my first game my priority was to start looking for loot... it was pitch black so I could see sod all but I could hear the sea behind me so I cautiously made my way off the beach towards what looked like a structure of some kind and was immediately set upon by two Zombies... I didn't survive long.

The next two attempts I survived long enough to scavenge a hard hat, some work gloves and an iron bar, which help me survive a couple of Zombie attacks but I bled out and became unconscious so I had to respawn and try again, and again, and again...

In fact, that is pretty much DayZ is - repetition, repetition, until you are lucky enough to survive long enough to collect enough of a variety of food, water containers, medicines, weapons (and a backpack to carry it all), to help you survive. Until, of course, some nob comes along and snipes you with a headshot from a distance and steals all your shit because as well as dealing with bloody hard NPC Zombies there are other gamers on the server and they're all looking to rob you senseless

It's a pity they have that attitude but from what I've gathered a collective element of pure distrust has manifested in the game since it was launched. So much now that if gamers see each other they shoot first and ask questions later, rather than in the early days when they helped each other (or so I was told).

Anyway after playing it of a couple of hours today, my friend and I have collected a sizeable amount of loot between us so I'm hoping that we can survive enough in future sessions to see more of the DayZ land!

Google Earth Day - What animal are you?

I just took the test and apparently I'm one of these:

I can has Goatgurgers!

Not sure what to make of that to be honest… I had hope for being a Snow Leopard because they are awesome. Probably if I answered the questions untruthfully I'd become a sloth or a platypus or, knowing my luck, some sort of icky blob of puss.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens

To celebrate the release of the latest teaser trailer and to prepare myself for what can only be an awesome December when the film hits the cinemas, I am going to geek myself out on a diet of Stars Wars stories on my Kindle between now and then.

I feel like I've lost touch with the Star Wars universe since Revenge of the Sith came out and I need to get my knowledge up to scratch!

Stargate Question

Hm.. if the Wraiths from Stargate Atlantis fought the Goa'uld from SG1, I wonder who would win?

That just popped into my head, thought I'd share.

Ding ding! Round One!

Elder Scrolls Online

ESO is now free to play apparently, bit of a kick in the bollocks for me since I paid £60 for the Imperial version last year plus several months of subscriptions but hey ho, I'll take the hit and try and claw it back by studiously researching the next bunch of AAA titles bound for the Xbox One, then make a careful and informed decision to buy based mostly on whether or not the devs/publishers are looking to rip me off.

That paid off recently when I decided not to get Evolve because it's one big ripoff (I think I blogged about that but can't be bothered to look).

Anyway, despite it being free to play now I let the automatic renewal fee go through so I could stay as a premium member, which gives me some additional luxuries, such as the awesome mount my character has got in the pic below. ESO has a new in-game currency called 'Crowns' and as a premium member I get a monthly allowance to spend in the online shop, this beast cost a fair few crowns but it's worth it to enhance the awesomeness of my character.

I should point out that there's nothing in the new online shop that give players' skills, abilities and weapons an advantage, it's all just cosmetic.

Whoa boy! Where's that tin of Whiskers?

Extensis, you fail.

Over the years I have used various versions of Extensis Portfolio to catalogue the vast collection of graphical goodness we have on our works' network however I lost touch with it for a while due to other commitments.

So today, when I'm wasn't busy I decided to revisit using Portfolio to create newer catalogues of our archives and integrate it with our newer, updated IT systems.

I was somewhat disappointed to see that Extensis had discontinued the standalone version of Postfolio back in mid 2014. Not only that, but they'd vastly increased the price of this supposed 'newer, reinvented' version, restricted the number of sharable catalogues to a measly one and restricted the users to a measly three, this is for around £1500, and that doesn't include any kind of support either!

There are two other versions (Enterprise and Professional) that enable you to share unlimited catalogues and have more users but, by the looks of it you would have to take out a small mortgage to afford it or be one of the 'Fortune 500' companies that have Portfolio that Extensis coo about on their website, tossers.

Bloody ridiculous Extensis, there's no fucking way any small business would be prepared to pay that much when that kind of money could pay for a half decent server or a kick ass Mac/PC.

So I didn't bother because, as a small business living on the breadline after years of austerity (yes Extensis, drag yourselves out of your perfect world bubble and realise no-one has any fucking money), we have to prioritise our IT spending on other equipment/software. What I DID do though was get Portfolio 8.5 running on one of our XP boxes and started it cataloguing our new archives, and from what I've seen so far it is doing a pretty good job, albeit slowly!

I'll bet there are millions of photographers out there that rely on Portfolio to make it easier to go through their image libraries and that have now dropped it due to the cost.

So, shame on you Extensis, you've alienated individuals and small businesses by doing what you've done.

A Healthier Diet

Recently I've been readjusting my diet, for two reasons: 1. To accommodate my medical condition and, 2. To help lose weight.

Part of it has been experimenting with fruit and vegetable smoothies.

Up until now I've stuck to safe variations of bananas, yoghurt, apple etc. but they can often be loaded with sugar so I've turned to more vegetable-based smoothies and I read about one that combined Beetroots, Carrots and Pomegranates.

So I get the ingredients, wash them thoroughly, chop them up (which included an interesting dissection of a Pomegranate and it's seeds) and blend them together, the result was a very red fibrous liquid that looked disgusting and guess what? It tasted fucking disgusting too…

Back to the drawing board with that one, I think it's the amounts I put in rather than the combination itself, probably less Beetroot and more Carrot to try and get rid of the earthy taste.

I've also cut down on how much sugar I have in my tea, and, guess what? Tea taste's fucking disgusting now but I shall slog on regardless!

Awesomeness Transcendation...

There's something that transcends awesomeness… and that's the sight of Samuel L. Jackson with an Uzi on a movie poster ;) and he's 'The President'… apparently.

Photography #101

Meanwhile, here's a picture of some ducks... took at an undisclosed location near a river in Shropshire.

BLACK BEAN SAUCE!

Pubs #2 - Solo Drinking

The other problem with solo drinking in a pub is being hounded off the table by a bunch of bald-headed shorts-wearing dickheads, who proceeded to plonk their gay bottled beer and shorts combinations down on the table I was sat at in a unified show of herd mentality that me, being on my own and with an almost empty pint glass on show simply had to give ground to as I needed to go to the bar.

Leaving my jacket on the chair wasn't an option and arguing with them probably would have got me thrown out, or worse.

So I conceded, got two pints and headed to a quiter area of the pub, they've won the battle, but not the war. I have reinforcements coming in an hour or two! 

Problem with this quieter area is I can't see the Rugby or the Grand National coverage.

I need to finish one of these two pints, then drift back inside without making it look like I'm an alcoholic in front of the nice people sat at the table next to me.

Ah heck, who am I kidding? Plus I'm in an Aussie themed pub for God's sake!

Grand National

It's the Grand National today and whilst I'm not a gambler I do enjoy a good horse race! Our Grand National is like no other for suspense and action, people really do get worked up about it!

It's the start that does it - start, false start, start, false start, arguments, finger pointing, start, false start, stater steward is an idiot, start... YES! THEY'RE OFF, rumble, rumble... and they cross the Melling Road for the first time... etc etc, it's great! And if course the Chair and Canal Turn Jumps, they make, or break, a horse and jockey's race.

So good luck to all involved and I hope that all the horses are okay afterwards.

Pubs #1 - Solo Drinking

The main problem with drinking solo in a pub, especially a busy one, is that you have to be mobile.

Being mobile means carrying everything with you to the bog because there's no 'wingman' to look after it whilst you're there.

It also means that any seat you get is lost when you return and you have to start again, i.e. head to the bar, get another drink, then wait to strike like a praying mantis when a seat becomes available but only to lose it again when nature calls!

Sometimes I'll get two pints instead of one, for two reasons: 1. It looks like I've got someone on their way and I'm getting one in for them and 2. It saves me an additional trip to the bar, I can also leave both pints there when going for a piss and it lessens the chance my seat gets taken 'cos people think more than one person is sat there... also, and this is dependent on the time and the pub's location, I'll leave my jacket too.

Yep, solo drinking certainly has it's strategies.

Brum kick's London's ass

A great article on 32 reasons why my beloved city kick's ass: