Saturday of success

Had my alarm set for 8.15am so I'd have plenty of time to wake up, get up, get onto the computer and wait for 9am. Why? Bon Jovi tickets for June 2010 were going on presale and I had an O2 code. This make for a happy me. So, 9am comes, I click on the link, go to ticketmaster and add 2 tickets to my basket (best available for £65 each), (I know!). For this price you'd expect to get really good seats and you'd have a night to remember... You'd be wrong. Row U in the back section! Total price... £149! Rip off!! Now I know it's not Bon Jovi that set the ticket prices, but it still pisses me off and puts me of seeing them in the future.

Anyway, on with the rest of the day, ticktless.

Home alone on a Saturday, what to do. Obviously, play PS3. Batman: Arkham Asylum. With only 3 tropies left to get (all connected, so I get one, I'll get the other 2 as a bonus) I played my ass off. And, you guessed it, I got the 3 trophies, completing the entire game and all achievables. It's both awesome and sad when this happens. Great because it's the culmination off my hours "hard work", but sad because there isn't anything new to do. I guess it's time to go back to Guitar Hero. Not a bad thing.

The gym followed the PS3 win. 10 minutes on the treadmill, 20 on the weights, 5 on the treadmill. Got through most of a Pendulum album (good music for the gym!). Not bad work out, now aching like a... really... achy thing.

Now home, showered, writing this (unexpectedly long) blog post, with an Oz on my lap (one of my two cats), watching Halloween (2007, Rob Zombie) and feeling hungry. Lunchtime.

M

PSN Portable ID

I am such a geek!

I found out about the "Official PlayStation website: My PlayStation®Network" and I had to set it up, me being a gaming/PS3 fan and all. So here it/I am:

This is not static either, this will change the more I play/achieve. Which is nice.

M

EDIT: After posting I've noticed that my layout doesn't allow it to be shown in full... Will investigate.

EDIT: Changed the layout of my blog to take full advantage of the width of the browser window. Temp change? We shall see.

Review - Cross Country (James Patterson)

James Patterson's 14th Alex Cross adventure takes him across the globe in search of a gang of killers that murdered an old college friend of his who was writing a book on the political corruption going on in Africa. Sounds like it going to be a good one... Or maybe not.

I've been trying to not think of the Alex Cross series as going downhill, as I have read many people believe, but this latest instalment (to my reading list) is showing to prove the theory.

While I can't really fault the book for being a page turner (a James Patterson speciality) it did seem that there were chapters for chapters sake. There was quite a pattern of 2/3 pages chapters, many of which lead right on from each other.

I'd love for this series to go back to the days of the first 7-10 books, but I'm not sure if it's going to happen.

We shall just have to see what Mr. P throws at us next in "I, Alex Cross"

M

New training PB... Sort of

10 minutes with an average speed of 9.3km. Less time at a faster pace. Hopefully can get to around 9.5-10kmph and then start increasing my time.

Also did about 15 minutes of weights. Think I'm starting to see slight changes in my body. Should document it with photos... We'll see.

M

Review - Batman: Arkham Asylum

So, the latest Playstation 3 game to take up too much of my time is Batman: Arkham Asylum. In a word, it is... Awesome!

To pick up and play this game is really very simple, kind of like all those years playing Street Fight II Turbo, button mash until you learn that you can do much more damage if you actually take care in what you are doing. It is very fluid moving, easy to learn the techniques and tricky to perfect them. After all, you don't want it being too easy to fight off 20 guys all hell bent on beating the crap out of you.

The story progresses through Joker's 'escape' into Arkham Asylum, with a little help from his friends, if you can call them that. It is up to Batman to restore order and bring down Joker. As you progress you will meet different characters, both good guys and bad, picking up characters bios as you go. These I found very interesting as I didn't know half of them! You can even listen in on patient interviews conducted within the asylum. The ramblings of Joker, The Riddler, Scarecrow, Killer Croc and more can prove a nice little break from the game.

If/when you complete the story mode, there are a number of challenges for you to complete. These are split into free fighting and predator (stealthy take-down style) modes. Both of which help hone your techniques to be used in the story mode. There are set levels of completion for each of the challenges and an online leader board to compare your efforts against.

The PSN offers some free downloadable content (which is always nice) for you to check out too. These are more challenges and the chance to play as Joker, which is well worth a go.

Throughout the game, both story and challenge, there are a number of trophies to be earned. These range from completing part of the story to performing a set number of moves in combination when fighting off Arkham crazies. Keep your eyes open for 2 in particular though, if you miss them during the story mode, you'll have to start all over again. But then again, that is not a bad thing with this game.

M

File sharing, my 2-clicks worth

Now, let me say this right from the start, I am a Lily Allen fan. Good now that we've got that out of the way, what is the little hypocrite going on about?!

She says that it's increasingly tough for new music acts to break into the scene with more and more file sharing... This coming from someone who made it by publishing her work on myspace... Ok then. As I see it, the easier people are allowed to pass around music, the more likely you music is going to be heard. If it were down to just radio play alone like it used to be, then I wonder where Ms Allen would be today.

When it comes to piracy, I agree that if people stop buying music, going to gigs/festivals, buying merchandise, going to the cinema, buying DVDs/Blu-rays &c, then the companies that create these enjoyable forms of media are going to be going out of business and there will be a lot less to choose from. But I really don't see this happening anytime soon.

I will continue to go to the cinema, buy films and music that I think is good enough for a purchase. I'm sure there are many that will, and many that won't. The only way to stop file sharing is to stop the internet. That is something that is just not going to happen.

And to finish off, a nice and amusing visual aid. Enjoy.

M

So many thing, so little time (right now)

Right first thing, training. Did a solid 13 minutes of the treadmill last night, average speed 8.9km/h, distance 1.92km. This is good. It had been 5 days since I last went to the gym, I don't want to be leaving it so long between sessions.

I finished American Psycho today, good book. Will go on my in-mind book shelf next to The Diceman. Great book, if you can handle the random ramblings of a guy who take note of what everyone around him is wearing while thinking about his last victim that he has massacred. Random, extreme violence that isn't for everyone, but I enjoyed it. (See previous blog about dark side of personalities, A Line Through Cross)

My next book is going to be Cross County. Getting back to Alex Cross and his dragon slaying. Yay!

Still got to review Guitar Hero 5 and now Batman: Arkham Asylum (my new obsession), and comment on the whole music file sharing thing that might be going on, not really sure. Then again, if it's not in the media, swine flu doesn't exist/isn't a threat anymore either.

But for now, it's back to the trenches with me. Ta ta for now.

M

Autumn is here

I LOVE Autumn. It is my favourite time of year (and not because it includes my birthday)(*cough*November 3rd*cough*).

I've been meaning to blog for a while now about a few things: the Lily Allen/music file sharing debate; a review of Guitar Hero 5; and a few more, none of which I'm going to do now.

I'm just making this entry to ensure that I have to blog about them later on. Kick my own ass activated.

I've pulled a muscle in my back, assuming it was during a session at the gym recently, my first injury, not including the blisters on my feet from running.

Other than that, all is well.

A journey to Essex this weekend, birthday celebrations to be had, Chinese food to be eaten. Good times.

M