Mat Bowles

There now follows an advert. For which I am not getting paid. Because, well, it's for LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean: The Video Game

I think the reason for me posting this video should be apparent to all. It's not available for preorder on Amazon yet. I've checked.

( the full press release )

May is also when I can renew my phone contract so I can get over the immense phone envy I am suffering over Jennie's new N8.
via

Apparently, if I stop posting here, people will start ringing me to check I'm ok, or wondering what I'm up to, or other similar things. This is especially true if I just, y'know, stop writing stuff and stop commenting elsewhere.

Well, I did. It started as a weekend break from t'internet in which I didn't even look at my email, then it turned into a few months where I simply scanned my email for important stuff, occasionally checked into Twitter, but otherwise didn't read any of my reading, friends or feed pages and simply turned off. Honestly? It's been good.

So, what have I been doing instead? Well, making money definitely wasn't one of them. Ah well, that'll have to start changing. What I have been doing is enjoying life in many respects.

Learnt how to bake and cook

I've learnt, not just how to bake (which is quite easy), but also how to actually, y'know, properly cook. I am no longer scared by a recipe that requires I chop an onion. I know what a vichyssoise is (but not how to spell it), and have even made one. My carrot, cream and orange soup, adapted from Mary Berry's recipe, is quite simply gorgeous, and I successfully made baguettes yesterday.

I've been helping miss_s_b in the garden, in which we have potatoes, beetroot, oregano and even scented geraniums growing well. The newly planted garlic is already sprouting, so that'll be nice for next year.

Biggest bestest cake in the world

I've been spending time with amazing_holly, reading, playing games, cooking and having fun. I managed to get her to teach herself the basics of multiplication and division while baking a cake. I even, as a reward for her for sticking with learning to be good enough at Speed Racer to actually beat Mummy in a championship cooked, with her, the biggest bestest cake that Mister Mat has ever made! which has, somehow, now become the biggest bestest cake in the world. Well, she is 6. It was fun making it though, even if it was so big it had gone dry before we finished it.

But also? I've been playing games. A lot of games. For this you can mostly blame liadnan. Y'see, awhileback I had a catastrophic OS failure involving a critical Fx vulnerability and a dodgy porn site, and we gave up on fixing Windows and switched to Ubuntu for the main desktop. I had some problems getting a few things to work, and he pointed me at the wonder that is the world of Linux repositories. So I installed some, to see what I could find.

Open source, extendable games

Mostly, I found games. Open Source, extendable, games. Based on some wonderful classics like Elite, Civilisation, Sin City and similar. I will, I hope, write up the ones I enjoyed, just so I can have a record of them. I may even write up the ones I hated, to remind me not to install them again. In the meantime, I'm back. I've been reading, and even commenting on, most of my reading pages, and plan to completely reorganise them to keep my sanity in place.

In the meantime, enough about me, what've you guys been up to, have I missed much?

This is a pretty good description of my friends list and feed reader this morning:

How about you? Taking Jennie to work for an eight hour shift in abit, then back here—got a bit of a grotty cold so don't want to sit in the pub given we're doing that tomorrow for her birthday anyway. So, come on people, post stuff, amuse me!

OK, how about a meme. Um, Most expensive Xmas present? Most annoying? Most useful? Why?

For me, all three are one. We got a Wii. Well, when I say we, what I mean is Jennie got one and I grudgingly said OK. Obviously most expensive, and obviously, it's a Wii, it's annoying. But most useful?

Can we say babysitting service? Shrub's got the idea I'm completely useless at it already, so accepts that I don't want to play it lots. So as long as I make sure she takes regular breaks and go down to talk to her a bit, I can keep my sanity when she's off school. Yay!

Also? Worms: Space Oddity is cool, even if I can't aim for toffee, and it makes Jennie smile. Making Jennie smile is always fun.

So, the inevitable has eventually happened, and Todd's announced the end of the game at the Temple.

I effectively stopped playing when I moved to London, just never got back into it. While it's not my favourite game, I definitely have to say that the community (not least the Temple itself which I invested a huge amount of effort in for awhile) is one of the best I'd encountered. I got my first adult passport to attend a tournament (and made a chunk of friends there *waves at Arne*). The Greek expedition was linked as well. My only trip to the US? With the_prince, to play Warlord. Sure, I stayed on for another three weeks and wandered around California, but still, wouldn't have gone over if that game hadn't existed. Travelling for events and cons and bracketing a holiday around it is a great way to travel. Sure, I missed the most recent KoHIT (as initially planned, that post now unlocked), but memories of the first will be with me, and I think the friends are keepers

In the CCG world, good games start, they build, they plateau and unless they're really lucky, they run out of steam and die. Some of them keep going for years (my default icon? From a dead CCG that I still love). That Warlord survived as long as it did surprised everyone that knew the industy. That it's finally dead doesn't surprise me at all, I thought it was going to die early last year.

Ah well. At least my choice for what CCG to buy into if I ever go back that way is easy now.

ETA: There are some comments from other players on the imported Facebook note as well, including Arne, the KoHIT organiser.

Mr mapp has a question:

I'm wondering whether or not it's time to churn out some more stuff for this game. I'm not sure what MCIHTY 3^rd edition will be like

That would be My Character Is Harder Than Yours [2nd Edition] for those new around here.

Go on, it'll only encourage him...

Caveat: I'm not getting involved, I don't do that sort of thing any more--but there's a chunk of you that might be interested...

Quoth mapp:

you'll probably beat me on this game, what with "zones" as your opening word.

I reply:

yeah, Zones was a good one; OTOH, Jennie recently hammered me with 3 bingoes in one game, things can turn around quickly.

Facebook | Scrabulous:

Last move was MANKIER by Mark R for 73 points

Did I call it there or what? (By the way, that last link won't work until the game is over, which may be awhile, I need to plot). OTOH, I may be a bit distracted for a bit...

D'you know what the very first thing I ever did on a PC was? We're going way back now, before I owned my own, before hte internet was common, we're talking '95 or '96. I was working in Games Workshop Torquay, and one of our part timers invited me back to his to play some games. So I didn, he had two PCs, and he taught me how to play Warcraft II. I was hooked; it became a regular thing, most weeks after work, I'd give hima lift hom, his mother would cook us a meal and we'd play one of the best early RTS games.

Then Starcraft came out. Oh boy. We played it regularly, and at one point a bunch of us hired a local cybercafe (again, before the internet was common) for a weekend, and played it pretty much constantly. Considering I didn't ever get to play except at Sy's, I got to be pretty good. Eventually, I got my own PC, and bought a budget pack with both WarII and Starcraft with Brood War. I still play each of them occasionally, and my PC has the two-headed ogre We're ready master / I'm not ready as the boot up sound. I don't play World of Warcraft because a) I don't have a good enough connection and b) I know what I'm like, and you'd never see me leave the house ever again. Those Korean guys that are found dead in 'net cafes? I relate to those poor gits; there but for the grace of bloody strong willpower go I.

The point of this article? I'm doomed. No, really, I'm in real trouble. There's so much cool stuff, and the even have some videos! (via)

I suspect my fairly new PC will be below spec for it, but so much pretty! And, let's be honest, I'll spend at least a few games building every unit possible and clicking on them until they say something silly. Because I'm like that.

See, I'm trying to cut back on CCGs. I'm trying to not get back into anything expensive, trying to do different things with my spare time and money. I've even been discussing why CCGs fail in the UK at L5R-UK. But then shakalooloo goes and posts a link to the new trailer for the next Legend of the Five Rings expansion (larg(ish) Quicktime movie). There is some damn good looking art in that set. And they killed the emperor? The Shogun is at war with the Lion, and the Khan is making his claim? Külness.

Maybe I could just go read the story and look at the spoilers...

Oh Michael? Look what I found:
Yup, it's my Elf team. The first miniatures I ever bought, and amongst the first I ever painted. Scarily, of the figures I own, they're also the best painted unit, even though I last redid them when I was 18, way before I'd spent 10 years working for the company painting figures every day. My Cawdor gang for Necromunda is quite good, but these just rule.

Anyway, the point of all this? Well, after last weeks debacle, I have gone through all the gaming crap piled on the storage shelf and dug out the team I know I can win with. So, firstly, a rematch my friend. When?

Secondly? londonbloodbowl. Only just set it up, no posts, or rules, or anything. If Mike and I are going to be playing regularly, might as well organise something, right? I've sent invites to those who expressed an interest, but anyone else, feel free to join and we'll see what we can arrange.

Dude. Dude!. Pinnacale have switched to Wordpress as a CMS, and have a nice little survey going. What games have you played of ours, and, um, what would you like to buy next. One of the options is a CCG.

Pinnacle want to know if we'd like a Deadlands themed CCG.

Now, my ever humlbe and loving friends list. Don't all queue up at once. Go tell them yes. Now. PLZKTHX.

And for those wondering what the hell I'm talking about, and those wondering where my icons/personal avatar bloke come from, that'd be it. Doomtown. Best damned CCG ever released.

Which reminds me, really ought to mail them anyway to check out if they can give me any image files for the new DT site I'm sortof building in the background...