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Reviews and Feature Writer

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Notice: Cubed3 are no longer accepting new reader blogs (as of 17th January 2015). Existing blog entries will be available to read, archived below.

Oh God, not him again.

Now Playing: around with my CCPro.
Now Listening to: Loads of Pokemon tracks.
Now Watching: myself in the mirror going nuts.
Annnnnnd here's another one folks! Yep, your friendly neighbourhood Lankyman Phoenixus is back once more to lay upon your eyes tales of woe, excitement, and whatever else is cooked up from the depths of imagination and/or frustration. Let us dive in, but don't forget your life preserver, there'll be no floating in this pool. /Maniacwriter

Okay then, finished my week off but a few days ago, and went back to work yesterday. Will begrudgingly admit that I missed everyone, even the humourless manager that likes to bombard me with tickets like some kind of fetish or something.
So, I get in (after a 5 mile walk), and see the rota. Upstairs again as usual, not entirely unexpected. What is though, is that I'm alone for my whole frickin shift. 6 mother****in hours in a dry dusty stockroom with no-one and nothing to talk to, except myself, and the most frickin irritating beeping ticket machine you'd ever hear (that I can't even mute else I'd get a 'written warning', Bastards). It got busy too, which didn't help one single bit.
To top that off, the girl I've gone absolutely crazy for lately was downstairs, and whilst that was a good thing in the event of me needing to avoid seeing her, the problem was that one single quick glimpse on the downstairs monitor that we have hooked up. That was all it took, and I was crushed again, and mentally begging to see her on the screen once more every time I went past it. Smilie
Not only that, but upon finishing at the end of the day, I had a look at next week's rota that was put up. My bloomin hours have been slashed as if Freddy Kruger had a go at them; I'm now back down to Contract hours, which with Bills and that Dental Money I need to save up, I honestly can't afford to live on.
So, long story short, I'm actively hunting job positions again. got a few things in the pipeline, and am looking into apprenticeships again, so we'll see what comes of that.

Personally, I'm not in too good a way right now. I won't bore you with whining details (which I'm trying to avoid anyway after coming off the Citalopram), but yeah, that week off hasn't done me much good. It was a much needed break from the crappy worklife to be sure, but dang if I didn't put on a spare tyre during it. Got a week now to try and slim it down before mah big staff night out next Sat. I'm on a mission for reasons I'll put below.
and this is below. Quite frankly, I'm being driven absolutely bonkers not having a special someone alongside me. I've stopped giving a rat's ass about playing Games (strangely enough I still enjoy reading about and reviewing them, so there is that Smilie), and now that it has finally been drummed into my head that the one at work isn't interested, and therefore is not worthy of me, I'm looking elsewhere during clubbing next week. Adding to that is a little 'incentive'. Ya see, I'm going to test how frisky my Mojo becomes after a week of starvation, if you could call it that. I've no idea what will happen, as I have an incredibly high drive if I do say so myself, so I may have to wear extra-baggy jeans next week. Smilie

Libido aside, most else is fine in Shane's World. Staying relatively fit (resisting temptation to post pic of biceps here Smilie), socializing a bit more, going on Facebook a bit more often, counting the pennies when I'm not using them to stuff my face with, and as mentioned, I'm finally off the pills. There is no doubt that the Anti-depressants helped at first; the immense hyperactivity they gave me was awesome, and I felt like I could take on the world; as such, I'd tell anyone feeling as down as I was to immediately book an appointment with their GP, and ask about them.
Thing about the Citalopram though, is that it did gradually stop working after a period of time, as my body grew used to having it in the bloodstream. By that point anyway, I had long since realised that it wasn't some magical little tablet giving me all this confidence, it was all inside me, just being given a gentle push. Now, at the point where the pills actually have the opposite effect and make me feel down instead, I'm doing that push myself without any help.
As such, I no longer need them, and if I can get out of that depressing stockroom before the end of the summer (as that was what triggered the whole problem in the first place), I'll never need them again. Go me! Smilie

Welp, thanks for reading, you awesome people (and by people, I mean Keven, since it seems like he is the only one Smilie), and see ya next time. Need to end on a high note, so here you are; (fun fact, he shops at the same Poundland that is near me Smilie)

-Insert Wiitty Title Here-

Now Playing: around with Imageshack, to hell with Photobucket
Now Watching: Newest Bleach episode; they've finally run out of fillers! :D
Ah, back into familiar territory! Haven't been around much lately, apart from posting this and that in threads such as Last Post Wins, so am gonna take a minute or five to collect my thoughts, scrunch them all up into a gooey ball of indescribable proportions, and chuck it into the blogs sections. We cool? Righto then.

So, latest thing on Phoenixus' agenda. Mah teeth. At present, they're off colour, and my front one is still dodgy despite the braces fixing the orientation of all the others (so thankfully, not as bad as this guy's Smilie). In short, I have two choices to proceed in my magnificent quest for the Perfect Set of Nashers. A: To have the dodgy one taken out and allow the gum to heal for three months (giving me a huge gap to deal with in the meantime) and then having dentures to wear to fill in the gap - total cost at 320 british ones. Or B: Have the tooth taken out, and a false one made to my exact specifications screwed in in its place. My dentist advised that B would be the best option, and I find it tricky to disagree with that, although the bill, which I can't get NHS help with, is rather daunting, sitting pretty at a 4-digit mark. Smilie So, I've decided to put up with the current Graveyard-like state of my mouth for the time being (and try out some home-whitening kits) while I save up the two grand necessary for what I need. Needless to say, that means I'm gonna be counting the pennies for a good year or so, and buying games is almost completely out of the question now, so thank God for the reviews. Smilie

Am still without a significant other, and probably will be now for a while, but to say my hormones have gone insane in the last few months in quite the understatement; ah can't stop thinking about girls, which any emo teenager reading this would roll their eyes at and mutter 'well duh, that's normal. What, you just hit puberty or something, ug ug.', but yeah, when I say thinking about, I mean practically every second of every day. It gets far worse when I get into work and she's there; every time I see her I feel elevated, like on cloud nine. And when I lose sight of her, I feel crushed. Not quite sure if this is just some warped sense of lust driving me, or whether it is indeed the real deal, but I'm inclined to believe the latter given how long its been happening.
Still, the feminine side of the human race can't keep avoiding me forever, I've nearly got a six pack, so we'll see how strong their resistance is. Smilie

On to work now, or the current lack of it since I'm on a week's holiday from it! Wahey! Smilie
It's still rather crap to be honest. Thankfully the management are starting to wake up to the fact that somebody stuffed away upstairs without any human contact for hours on end, in a dusty stockroom with only an irritating bleeping machine for company, and now minus a radio as well, needs to feel even just a little appreciated for a day's good work at the end of it. Only took them a year. Smilie
In truth, am still looking elsewhere to see what I can find, although with the current employment situation it looks like I'll be staying put for a little while longer.
In light of that actually, does anyone else feel like putting a foot through their TV screen everytime the word 'Politics' or anything associated with it pops up? We've got another month of those jackasses sucking up to us like leeches, and I'm sure as heck none of them are getting my vote. Honest to God, instead of bickering at each other like children and wasting all that cash on campaigns and crap, can't they band together like civilized people and actually tackle problems that way? Why three parties when they could just be one. Complete human idiocy. Smilie

Update on my Japanese self-study. In short, it has stalled a bit. I've learnt the main important parts, like numbers, months, colours, etc, and am now trying to form sentence structure, which when you consider where to use particles like Wa, Wo, To, and the like, is rather tricky.
One part I was hoping would help, namely importing Heart Gold, has actually done the reverse, in both playing that game, and learning Japanese. I can translate what is written, but as for understanding it in english terms, I draw a complete blank, and it is rather disheartening not being able to learn about all the new stuff in the game, or the attacks being used. Using the online features is going to be a pest, probably to the extent of not bothering altogether, and I was lucky in managing to get the Pokewalker going.
So, to counteract this little problem, I've done what I always do when I want to extend a game's lifespan, and ordered a little 'help'. I won't be using it to raise levels, or teach creatures moves they shouldn't know, but just to find the creatures I actually want to train, like Charmander for instance. It'll help until White and Black get here, which I certainly won't be importing from Japan, and I certainly won't be using help for.

Phew, huge wall of text! Have used gifs to separate them out to keep your interest going, and as a treat here's a vid to finish with.

Well then, I'm off to my parent's house for a few days, where there isn't any Internet Access, so I'll be AWOL. Don't worry Mike, as long as what you've sent me arrives in the next few hours I'll be 'taking care' of it while I'm there. Smilie

Ciao! Sayonara! Piss off! Bai Bai! Smilie

iPhoenPod

Now Playing: around in the App Store
Now Listening to: Dark Gaia Phase 2/Endless Possibilities (thanks for the Game Music thread Marz! :D)
Now Watching: Absolutely Nothing! Which is what you are about to become...
Well, you've clicked on a Blog name that is fairly odd and ever-so-slighty cocky when you figure it out, but yah, it's another of Phoenixus' chocolate-covered long-winded posts! You'll all get fat at this rate. Smilie

Righto then, kicking things off is both a) the inspiration behind the blog title, and b) the reason for my somewhat noteable (if you aren't glued to the screen playing the not-interested-because-of-XII-Final Fantasy XIII) absence in the last few days, is this beaut;

Now, I'm not about to become a walking, talking, eating advertisement for Apple or anything (unless they start paying me for it, then it's gloves off), but this thing is just awesome. Can't say I'm too fussed about the lack of Phone ability, because with all the Apps available, the instant and flexible Internet Browser that means I need my crappy laptop a little less now, the music of course, the kickass display for vids and iPlayer, and just how compact and useable it really is, I'd highly recommend it to anyone. My only gripe is with the included earphones; diminished quality of sound from my older ones, but I can live with that, given the incredibly handy remote feature on them. Nah, I just don't like the fact they can't stay in the ears like my old rubber-tipped ones can. Still, free is free.
And on that subject, I'd like to give some recommendations of Apps to get for other newbies too, based on my own playtime with them;

Canabalt: Without a doubt, GET THIS. It is one of the simplest, yet utterly awesome and addictive games you ever play. A little dude is running for his life through and atop buildings in a apocalyptic city, and you have to tap the screen to make him jump at the correct time; sounds piss easy, but gets excruciatingly difficult when obstacles get in your way and the game speeds up. Great music helps too.

Flight Control: I'll be very surprised if you haven't heard of this one in some form; draw a path onscreen to guide coloured planes and helicopters to their landing zones. Simple, yet highly addictive.

Meteor Blitz: An Arcade shooter that makes great use of controls and looks fairly good too.

Resident Evil Degeneration: Or at least the demo of it, just to see how well a Resi 4 setup works on a unit with no buttons (granted, it isn't perfect, but worth a go for free)

Facebook, Tritterific, eBay: All self-explanatory, highly useful, and best of all, free. The Wikipedia one is worth a mention as well.

Broken Sword- Director's Cut: Haven't actually got this myself yet (although the inner fanboy in me will get it eventually like he has for all platforms it's been out on before Smilie), but I'm kicking myself as it's the upgraded version that was released on Wii & DS, minus the awkward motion control of the Wii one, plus its Voice acting that was missing from the DS game; i.e. the perfected Director's Cut. Around three quid, I'm gonna wait until hopefully some offer pops up before I get it.

and runners-up I guess are Sonic the Hedgehog (which I really don't wanna buy again given I got it for iPod Nano before), and the newly released Street Fighter 4, which if user impressions are anything to go by, works very, very well.


Anyway, enough of the Apple-loving, what else is on the agenda? Hmm...
Ah yes, GDC. Woke up this morning to see the results of Sony's conference, and hoo boy, Samey is up to their old tricks again. Microsoft has a free pass on this one, given how notably different Natal is, but Sony might as well have popped down to the shops, bought a twin remote set, and hotwired it for some generic souless garbage (which is probably what they did). Of course, later software will more than likely be interesting, as the Wii managed, so I'll hold my judgment off for now, but at the same time I'm disappointed that they couldn't at least have tried to hide an obvious copying attempt.
If a certain new C3 member's hype-inducing comments are to be taken with more than a pinch of salt, Nintendo should have something good soon, and my guess for that is a handheld compliment to Metroid: Other M, but we'll see on that one.

Didn't make a blog about it at the time, so now seems a good moment to natter about my Imax London trip a little while back. Long story short, apart from the travel itself, it was awesome. That Imax just blew me way; the screen was at least 5 times bigger than what I'm used to, and Avatar itself was just mindblowing; in effects if not so much story. Anyways, pics of my trip into the heart of London are on Facebook if you wanna see them .Smilie

Monday saw the removal of my Braces, an achievement I'm still not used to yet, although that does mean I'm one step closer to that perfect smile I so desperately want; one month until the gum examination around the tooth, then it comes out; cue me dancing about the dentist chair in joy. Smilie

Okay, gonna finish up now, but can't go without mentioning two last things about mah iPod Touch. Firstly, and this is mainly to you Superlink/Lyra, with a certain something called Jailbreak, I really won't need to shell out for a Christmas PSP now. Smilie
And second to all, have a guess what I'm gonna do with my old 4th gen iPod Nano? I'm giving it to one of you!
...nah, just kidding. Smilie Actually, I'm giving to my Mum as a birthday gift in a couple of months, accessories and built-up library of songs by my own hand included. I'm losing a little money I'd have otherwise got from selling it, but hey, ah love mah Ma. Smilie

A gif, on the house, for all my darling readers. Smilie

Phoenixus' Pokemon Heart Gold Impressions Blog

Now Playing: Pokemon Heart Gold
Now Listening to: Alones, by Aqua Timez
Now Watching: Eddie beat the hell out of Richie

Okay then, as many of you keeping up to date in the Latest Purchases thread, and around C3 in general may be aware, I recently acquired the Japanese version of Pokemon Heart Gold, and after extensive playtesting, I'm ready to share my thoughts on it.

Well, here it is; big bloated box holding the essence of gaming goodness deep within; a new Pokemon game, and a handy little gadget I'll address later. Confusing gibberish aside, it's what you'd expect a Pokemon game cover to look like, and the Euro release should be very similar (cardboard box might be bigger though to accommodate the shitty bigger DS cases EU has to put up with Smilie)

Down to business; ripping the plastic foil like a man possessed, and opening the case, I find a black cartridge; slightly disapointing given I expected a Gold colour, but hey, maybe that'll change with the overseas release.

Out comes My Japanese Coach that has been stuck in my DSi for months on end, and in goes mah new Pokemon game. Brief white screen where I'm praying this is a legit copy, and bamn! Pokemon, Gamefreak all rights reserved etc. Phew! and then the intro starts; loverly art and music. get to the start screen, and the game teases me of how awesome a handheld pokemon game would be in 3D with an awesomely detailed Ho-Oh flying on the bottom screen.
Touch the screen it says, so I do, and at this point, I know exactly what to expect given the countless hours I poured into the original Gold. Prof Oak appears, talks about 'the world of Pokemon, we live together in harmony' and all that cheesyness; all in Japanese of course, but I doubt he was cursing my mother or anything.

First big difference between this and the original; choosing a boy or girl trainer. Naturally I pick the bloke, and in keeping with the intentions of importing, I call him シネ, or Shine as the Japs would pronounce and spell my name. With that done, my new character gets a case of the minish and shrinks down to playable form; the game is underway people!

The adventure begins in a standard bedroom, with a Wii in the corner and probably loads of adult magazines hidden under the mattress if its anything like my own, but enough of that, we've got beasties to enslave! Heading downstairs, I bump into the Mother, who I believe mentions something about Professor Elm wanting to see me, and she gives me the Poketech, which shall be very useful in time. I head out, and bump into the Female trainer I neglected to choose earlier! She has a Marril, and what I got from the gist of her speech is that I needed to see Elm. Well dur! Anyways, she scampers off, and I head into the lab, all the while aware that a Red-haired reject is peering in the window...

Hi Elm! A Parcel? Sure! Just gimme one of your balls. No, not those, one of the three on the table over there. And thus I am reunited with my traditional choice; Cyndaquil. Good to see ya again buddy! Hmm, don't wanna stay in the ball eh? Don't blame ya.

Okay, now I'm outa the lab, and onto the next town. get into a few scraps on the way, and anyone who has played any of the previous DS pokemon games will be instantly at home with the layout; battles are speedier than Diamond/Pearl's sluggish brawls too. Meet people on the way, can't understand what the hell they're saying, so I carry on, and end up in the town.

Instantly grab the attention of this old geezer that looks as if he's on speed, and he shows me around each feature of this town and future others; The pokecenter, Pokemart, the sea, etc. Then he buggers off home, but returns with some Running Shoes! Hooray!
This handily brings me to something I wanted to highlight; touch screen useage;

In short, it has been implemented incredibly well, so well that you can play the game by D-pad and Touch screen alone. Touching the shoes makes running automatic so you never need to hold B again, and menu options, not to mention moving Pokemon around in storage boxes, is now an absolute piece of cake. Diamond, Pearl and Platinum may have been the true DS pokemon games, but HG and SS work far better.

Later on, you can fill that gap with any two items, key or otherwise, of your choice for instant access, a blessing for Pokeradar or Bike usage.
The pokedex is now far easier to navigate also; I can't really understand much of it at the mo, but it is undeniably more swift.

And while we're on the subject, this may not look much better than the previous 'mons, but HG is definitely one of DS's visual highlights, in character, animation, and spirit. I honestly can't wait to see how Kanto has been spruced up.

In truth, I have gotten a lot further than this point, but I wanted to avoid possible spoilers, and just felt a need to give initial impressions; feel free to ask questions if you have them and I will do my best to answer. Smilie

Before I go though, I do need to address this little wonder;

Small pic, small device. Smilie This here is the pokewalker; much like the Pocket Pikachu of yesteryear. Using the pedometer built-into the device, you can send a Pokemon of your choosing to it, and take it out for walks so to speak. Each of your real-world steps accumulates watts, which you can then use in one of two ways; 3 watts lets you hunt for items in the grass (6 patches of grass, and two attempts to find the patch hiding the item; kinda fun but feels a little cheap), and 10 watts lets you hnut for Pokemon. Finding one initiates a little battle of sorts, where you can either attack, dodge, or throw a pokeball and hope you get lucky. Your creature and whichever wild one you find each have 4 bars of health, and much like its bigger brothers, lower health increases the chance of capture. Up to three items and three captured creatures can be stored until you transfer them back, and up to 15 different courses, each with different Pokemon and items (some are Pokewalker exclusive too) can be found in each. Oh, and the biggie, steps equals experience (I leveled my Hoppip up 2 levels today Smilie)
This all may sound underwhelming for the increased cost of the overall package, and a cheap gimmick of sorts, but believe me when I say it all works very well, and is a great way of raising levels and happiness of those difficult-to-train creatures (Hoppip being a prime example). Also, clipping it to your belt makes you feel like a real trainer!...in a sad nerdly kinda way. Smilie

Anyways, now at the bottom of the page, I now leave you with a trailer to whet your appetite for this game's Euro release very soon. Ciao!

こんばんわ C3!

Now Playing: Bleach: The Third Phantom
Now Listening to: Alones, by Aqua Timez

Yah, look at me, being all fancy-pants Japanese! Completely memorized all Hiragana, now nearly done the same for Katakana; as The Mask would say, Somebody Stop Me!
...or rather not, given I don't have a frickin clue how to use a keyboard to type in Japanese and had to go to an external site for the characters you see above (oh the pain, oh the pain of it all Smilie ).

So then, how was everyone's Feb the 14th? Mine was brilliant, was practically swimming in admiration letters and gifts, couldn't believe how many there were; one from that chick from work I still like, one from Jessica Alba, another from Emma Watson, one particularly cute one from Emilia Fox, heck, even Jewel Staite took the time to write. Yup lots of cards, nearly got killed when picking them all up because of the dinosaur that busted through my front room. Was okay though, I woke up then. Smilie
...Seriously though, was kinda a sucky day. Didn't expect much, which was lucky, considering I got bugger-all anyway. Smilie

Boo to the misery though, my Laptop's keyboard is screwed!...wait, that doesn't help either, for F*** sake. Smilie
Long story short, I, like the clumsy twit only I can be, spilt milk (anybody making puns will be shot) on my unit's keys, and they are, to put it bluntly, completely rat-assed. So, I've ripped them out, and am now having to use a USB one with my computer, which thankfully survived the soaking intact.

Hmm, what else...Oh yeah, work is going well, they're finally letting me interact with customers! Yay! So much better than my normal position it's not even funny, even when complete chavvy arseholes come up to collect their crap (5 decent people for every one twat, I always say).
Just between you and me though (and the entire Internet I guess Smilie), I think I'm starting to fall for someone; that girl I liked before (and still do tbh) just wants to be friends, so moving on is necessary I guess, and now I'm starting to see someone else in a new light. Trouble is, she already has someone, and this someone is actually a good workmate of mine, so I'm screwed in that regard. Will have to try and avoid her so mah feelings don't develop further, would be the best idea methinks. Smilie

Okay, back to Japanese stuff, or to be more precise, Anime. Who else here is keeping up to date with Bleach? Personally, i thought the Zampakutou anime arc was fairly interesting; would like to see the sword manifestations in a game sometime, but I wish the animators would get back to the manga plotline, it's really starting to heat up now (Hinamori, nooooooooooooooooooooooo...). Especially since it looks to be yet another filler arc we're starting now. Smilie

Been playing Sonic 3 & Knuckles lately (thanks Superdude Smilie), and have felt like a kid again; joyously grabbing that game case, yanking out the cartridge inside, ramming it into the Mega Drive, and stuffing Sonic 3 on top of it.
Playing this game though reminds me of how disappointed I am of Sonic 4's reveal. Due to the masses of idiots circling the web crying 'no new characters, no new characters!', Sonic 4 will almost certainly not truly be Sonic 4, looks and feel aside. Sonic 1 introduced the Blue dude himself, 2 had Tails, and 3 & Knuckles was the debut of the red Echidna. The latter two have shown that it is possible to bring in a new character that is well-liked and not over the top, and even recent Sonic games have been able to do it; Sonic Rush for instance. 4 is still a mystery at the mo, maybe there will be a new, well-developed character, but not making them playable is a huge mistake.
Disclaimer: Don't even think about arguing this with me, it's an opinion and I'm sticking with it. Am also tired of people whining about Sonic games so I'm going to ignore them from now on.

Anyways, out of rage mode, and into happy mode; have got a brand-spanking new copy of Pokemon Heart Gold on the way! Might take a few more days, if not a week, to arrive, but that presents an ideal opportunity to brush up on reading comprehension and common Japanese words. Am also hoping it is a legit copy, as I ordered it from a Canadian company on ebay, but the swines are having it sent from Hong Kong (uh oh); I will say that they do have a very good feedback rate though, so here's hoping. And if it isn't legit, they will feel my rage more than Cero Espada Yammy ever could compare to. Smilie

Thank you for joining me in yet another delightful Blog post Ladies and Gentlemen. A toast to me! Cheers!

Phoenixus' 'Pokemon Heart Gold fund'; Please Give Generously!...or else...

Now Playing: Tatsunoko vs Capcom
Now Listening to: Wrapped in Black
Now Watching: Big Bang Theory Season 2

Okaaay, that's stretching it a little; I wouldn't threaten you guys. Smilie
...unless you started on me first of course. Smilie

Hmm, anyways, another blog post, another bit of natter, and for this marvelous piece of literary excellence, I'm doing a bit of advertising. Am currently selling a bunch of games to build up some money for an import copy of Pokemon Heart Gold, and it would be a big help if you guys are interested in any of the following;

I've just sold M vs C 2, and Star Ocean, so best not ask about them.
I'm hoping for something in the region of;

5 quid for Blue Dragon.
A tenner for Punch Out!!
6 quid for Bleach.
and also 8 quid for Power Stone 2.

Any interest, give me a Pm. And remember, you'd be helping me a lot. Smilie

Current goings-on and blah blah blah blah blah blah blah *gunshot*

Now Playing: Metroid Prime Trilogy, The World Ends With You, Samba de Amigo, Batman: Arkham Asylum, Mario Kart 64, My Japanese Coach, Life
Now Listening to: Bleach Music
Now Watching: Shrek 2 (mah DVDs look feckin awesome on this TV :D)
Hey all, glad to see ya again! Haven't been around much lately, as per mah usual working and pretty-much-doing-anything-else regime, but allow me to spill my collective guts out here on recent events and whatnot.[/British].

Anyways, just finished writing another C3 review, 4 days later than I said (damn my git laziness), and will soon get absorbed back into Samba de Amigo (when the feeling in my arms comes back) and Metroid Prime Trilogy. The latter, although there is no need for me to tell you this but I will anyway, is feckin AWESOME. The controls completely obliterate Dual Analog for First Person games, and although Echoes feels as tedious as ever (bit more stylish though) I enjoyed every second of the MP1 playthrough. Smilie Samba is better than I expected, though some swift arm movements are needed to compensate for the jittery controls; aside from that though, it's one of the best bargains I've found lately. (5 POUNDS AT TOYS R US, YOU HEARD IT HERE FIRST, unless you've already seen Latest Purchases, in which case YOU HEARD IT THERE FIRST).

Have been making use of all the holiday wage I busted my ass for too, with a Super-Special-Awesome new 37" HDTV. Tried my 360 on it, brilliant picture (Mazuri has NEVER looked better), Wii not so much (aside from Mario Galaxy), but I'm yet to get Component cables so hold that train of thought for now. Anyways, super awesome new TV, lots more couch potato time. Smilie

Not to say I'm gonna get fat and slobby anytime soon though, far from it. In fact people, I've drafted together, somewhere in the vast membrane of my mind, a personalized fitness regime. Half an hour of exercises every morning without fail or excuse, consisting of situps, pressups, leg splits and stretches, top-to-toe stretches, squats (thanks Crisis Core, they work really well Smilie), and pushing and pulling with a Power Bow I have. So, after 4 months or so of this, I now have proper muscles, and now am only left with a chubby stomach stuffed with Christmas pudding, and hesitant abs to deal with, then I'll be the next Arnold Schwarzenegger!...Maybe.

Work-wise, it's all good. Still secretly fancy the hell out of one of my co-workers, but she just wants to be friends, so I'll leave it at that (better that than lose her completely I guess Smilie). Still stuck upstairs running around for every ungrateful Joe Schmuck downstairs, nothing different there.
Walking with my brother into the city the other day, we went by the Fire Station, and he jokily mentioned that as a possible career choice for me. Funny thing is, that was quite the idea for me when I was younger, and can't for the life of me work out why I gave it up. I've got the right physique, and am the right age for it now, so might look into it. Would be a damn fun job, and I'm already prepared for it anyways; we risk life and limb on those damned ladders at Argos every day. Smilie

Phew, okay, now I'm rambling, and my fingers will soon be in the same state as my arms, so I'll call it a day. Thank you for your time ladies and gentlemen, and please don't hold the applause.

Advice for Argos Shopping - The Most Boring Blog Title EVAR!

Now Playing: The World Ends With You, My Japanese Coach, Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword, Professor Layton, Final Fantasy VII, Klonoa, and Sonic Adventure. (*Phew!*)
Now Listening to: Someday, and Twister from the TWENY soundtrack. - Fantastic songs.
Now Watching: Hmm, Vertical Limit is on in a minute...Goody. :D

Hey all, just got back from another fantastic, awesome, enjoyable, and not at all irritating ([note: I am lying]) day at work, and I felt that with the holiday season coming up, I could bestow my 8 month-strong Godly knowledge of Argos custom upon you all. Well, either that, or provide you a cheap alternative to Horlicks (no, not the hooker kind, you dirty fiend).

This'll mainly read as an irritations list from yours truly, but there is some valuable tibbits of info in there for ya;

1) This is most important, so I'm placing it at number 1, and therefore underlining it: Never, ever, ever, ever shop on a Sunday. The common consensus is that Sunday is the lazy day of the week; everyone's either at church, or snoring into their pillows, no-one could possibly think of shopping on a Sunday, surely.
A valid thought to be sure, but the trouble is, everyone thinks that way, every Tom, Dick, Knobcheese, and Harry. Sunday is by far the busiest day for any Argos, so unless you enjoy queuing, and love waiting around for your stuff while the old bat in front of you yaks about her pension, stay away.

2) Please spare a thought for those collecting your goods behind the scenes, as they never get the kudos (trust me, I know), and please please for goodness sake, don't stand near the counter with a miserable expression on your face, as chances are there's a camera looking your way for a screen only the picking crew can see, and it isn't a face we like to see, for obvious reasons.

3) Argos staff (at least the ones you'll see), are generally the nicest people you'll ever meet and/or work with, so don't have any reservations about talking with us. Seriously, I get on with everyone at my place. Smilie

4) Be glad you've never had to deal with SOB tickets, they are the bane of my existence. Dunno if you guys know how the system works, so I'll summarize it here; Person places order, ticket with item name and location prints out of machine with the World's Most Annoying Beep, Worker Ant scuttles off to find item, and sends it down the conveyor belt. SOB tickets are like orders for the shopfloor, except a shitload of them print out at once, often when you're alone. And while that doesn't sound like a big deal, quite honestly, they are a nightmare.

5) The heads of Home Retail Group (the owners of Argos and Homebase), are masters of concealing their newfound cheapskate ways. Giveaways include cutting the time stores are taking on Christmas temps (and therefore causing more problems with inexperienced people running things), cutting the store lights power 20 minutes before closure, taking away provisions for staff consumption (where is my effin ORANGE JUICE, Boss!?), and of course, understaffing in general thoughout the year. Measly gits. Smilie

Happy Shopping, just make sure you take care of Christmas matters before December; only a true div would shop anywhere near C.Eve. Smilie

I...sound like that!? Awesome!

Now Playing: My Japanese Coach & Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword FTW!
Now Watching: Smallville Season 8, Episode...6 I think. :P

Hey all, just ikkle ol' me popping up again for another round of epic blogginess! Things to get off me chest, to empty from the bottomless pool that is my mind and stick into the Pensieve that is Cubed3. And no, I'm not drunk, because I don't drink; that's why I'm thirsty all the time. *boom boom*

Anyways, just so happens that I have of this moment managed to get my head together after the knowledge onslaught that is the Access to Writing Course I'm on. Today was particularly full-on, as at first we had to research layout examples or a chosen type of writing (mine was novelization, so I looked up one of those old fashioned Chapter-Picture-Text prints, so piss-easy really Smilie). Then, we were told to take a scrap piece of paper, write a random inanimate object name on it, and pass it on to the next person. Strange request, but I went with it, and put down 'Window', since I had an odd urge to leap out the one adjacent to me. Smilie
Turns out though, that we were meant to write a 40 minute piece based on that word. Oops! Still, lots you can do with 'Window', metaphorically and statistically (Windows 7 anyone?). The word I got however was a little more tricky; I mean, how much can you do with 'Cheese-Grater'? Smilie I later felt sorry for the bloke I heard that ended up with 'Sex Toy'. Smilie
Where was I? Ah yes. So, avoiding the obvious angle of 'serial saw-type killer that slaughters with a Cheese-Grater', I found something else. Typed it up, all nice and dandy, and guess what? Microsoft Word goes completely kaput on me. Smilie I had to rewrite the whole thing, which thankfully I remembered the direction and events, but still a nusiance. Funny thing is though, I think it ended up all the more better for it. Smilie Yeah, anyway, the lesson ended not long after, and now the story has to wait on my memory stick for two whole weeks before someone can apprecate it. But that's where you guys come in. Let me know what you think, m'kay? Constructive, not damning, criticism pulease!


The door opened without effort, and blasted a cool breath of air into the Girl's face. Not expecting to see much content, she looked around the fridge space, and gingerly reached to the back for a lump of cheese. Grabbing it, she closed the door tight, and took the cheese to a plate on the Kitchentop. As she held the slab in place, and rummaged through the side-drawer next to her, a loud bleep from the next room started her. The Girl downed tools and went to look.
A flashing box on her computer's screen was the source of the noise, and the girl instantly knew what it meant. Sitting down and replacing the Laptop on her knees, she started typing.
'U're back quite soon, miss me?' she put down, both with amusement and hopefulness in her words.
'Taxi delayed, wanted to check on U' came a swift reply. 'What U havin for Lunch?'
The girl hesitated, then answered truthfully, 'Just some Dairy, gotta keep it all going, right.' And when she added, 'I'm not very hungry', her stomach growled, as if to repute this claim.
There was a quiet moment in the chatroom, as both speakers fell silent. Then Mentor, the name by which the Girl knew this man, added a very stark line, within it a hint of finality to the exchange. 'Good, defin keep it up, LoneGal18. U'll be a model in no time at all. Have to go now, its arrived. Smilie' And with that, she was left alone in the room.
The Girl closed her Laptop, set it aside, and went back towards the kitchen. The lump of cheese was waiting, but she knew it would have to do much more of that, as it would be a long time before it was finished. She picked it up, took out a Grater from the side-drawer, and used in on the Cheese, spilling flakes onto the plate below.


Oh yeah, about the title. In the afternoon, we had to try out some mock interviews. I was paired up with the class hottie (subsequently the only girl in the whole group Smilie), and I pressed her (ho ho) on her chosen subject of University (which all of us on the course are encouraged to look into anyway). I'm thinking you guys can guess what subject she quizzed me on (starts with G, ends with ames), and I guess that went okay. Thing was, between both talks of Interviewer and Interviewee, there was a Tape Recorder taking down everything we said. And at the end, we had to listen back to it. Cringe!!!!
...or at least I thought. Listening back to your own voice is always an out-of-body experience, and I hated mine when I tried to make that 'Sonic & The Secret Rings Beginning and End Speed Comparison' Video a while back, but after listening to it again today...I kinda like it now. :O Well, either that or I have a shit Microphone. Smilie

Back to College! (...in a sense anyway)

Now Playing: Life. It's a very fun game, bit too realistic though.
Now Listening to: Knight of the Wind. Seriously, this might goad me into getting Black Knight.
Now Watching: Gameswipe; awesome stuff.

Well now! I believe this to be my first staff blog, and considering the content it is quite fitting.

Lately (as of today in fact), I've started on an Access Course at my local Adult Learning Center. Full (and slightly tedious) name for it is Access to Higher Education in Journalism, Poetry, & Creative Writing, and really it's a case of so far so good. It's normally a 1 year course full-time, but since I have work to consider, then I'll be doing this for two loverly years.
Which is a bit of a pain tbh. Since I (only I'm part-time on this too) can only do half the course this year, have a guess which of the four modules has been pushed to next year? Yup, Creative Writing. Gits, I really wanted that this year. Smilie
Ah well, what we've done so far has been surprisingly interesting. Case Studies takes care of the basics like analyzing text, and the Maths and other important side subjects. Journalism has left me with a begrudging respect for sleazy columnists and reporters, except for the gorillas that run The Sun and Daily Star. The 5Ws (who, what, where, why, when) and the structure of a piece that (at this point anyway) looks to be the complete opposite of my regular writing style. I can't deny that I'm interested in how this'll work out; might even try integrating it into news pieces here too! Sorry lads, I'd sneak in a Page 3 chick, but jb would get busted so I better not. Smilie

Aside from that, got another review impending of something that is surprisingly decent for a side-game, and I'll be helping out a little with the Mod duties, so watch out spammers 'cos I'll be having some fun wit' cha. Smilie

Aside from that, I'm still progressing with Japanese, still occasionally strumming a guitar and learning how to properly play it, am now working out everyday and expecting some equipment for Christmas, and just generally doing a bit of everything outside of (what is getting increasingly demanding) worklife. Better go do some of that actually, Ciao!

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