Nosy, nosy Internet.

So taking a break from my usual sulky, petty, whining rants about why perfectly good things aren't up to my pathetically high standards; the stress of trying to find gainful employment for when I leave University; and (most importantly) from the final bit of coursework for this semester, I'm going to take the lead from my good friend Liam.
He's just started his own blog, (over on WordPress, the posh git) and it's good and entertaining... More so than mine, in fact. If you point that mouse of yours up to "Linky Goodness" and look for FallenGeco in that list, I (and I'm sure he) would be very grateful.

In any event, his most recent blog was a sort of adaptation of a YouTube trend that makes the round every year or so, where vloggers answer a string of questions (comically where possible) and share the video. They then ask their vlogger friends to create a response, and so it spreads.

Well, I don't do videos, because of the way my face looks:

What are you wearing?
A sexy black négligée.

Ever been in love?
Yes. Haytham Kenway was a wonderful man.

Ever had a terrible breakup?
Turns out he was a Templar. There's just no forgiving that.

How tall are you?
Like Peter Parker, I hunch.

How much do you weigh?
Don't tell my mother.

Any tattoos?
Not as yet. (If you are of a parental persuasion, that's pronounced "I would never!")

Any piercings?
I used to have my ears pierced, but now I'm relegated to just two piercings. (Again, if you're of a parental persuasion, that's pronounced "I don't really like them, and they'll probably go the same way as my ears")

OTP?
Urban dictionary tells me that this is a term used to describe a pair of people that are perfect for each other in fiction.
... Robert Frobisher and Rufus Sixsmith. Work that one out.

Favourite TV show?
Kill La Kill.
   DEM OUTFITS!

Favourite bands?
This is a LONG list. I'll just advise you to listen to something you won't likely have heard before... Here: linky linky linky

Something you miss?
Oat krunchies. Little pillow-shaped oat cereal. Was there anything better?

Favourite song?
The one that currently has the most plays in my library is Roll the Woodpile Down.
Side note to my family: bet you never saw that coming, did you?

How old are you?
Raef is ten years older than Émile. Brian was born eighteen months after Émile. If Brian was born in 1992, how old - balls.

Zodiac sign?
Leo, in the year of the monkey.
Rwar.

What do you look for in a partner?
I work well both in a team and on my own. Oh, you don't mean in the workplace?

Favourite quote?
"A small pie is soon eaten"
   - Alan Davies

Favourite actor?
Alex Leece.

Favourite colour?
I once did a personality test in which we were asked to name two things that have the colour of our favourite colour. Only afterwards did they tell us that the words we said define our characters...
Fire and blood.

Loud music or soft?
If other people can't hear it, what's the point in earphones?

Where do you go when you're sad?
Middle earth, via Westeros. Usually travelling by TARDIS.

How long does it take you to shower?
Longer and longer whilst the bathroom gets colder and colder.

How long do you take to get ready of a morning?
Morning? What's that?

Ever been in a fight?
Probably. For some reason I come across as a little annoying.

What do you find attractive? (Reworded for a PG audience)
Violinists.

What do you find unattractive?
Old violinists.

Fears?
I laugh in the face of fear!

What was the last thing that made you cry?
Maia standing on my testes.

The last time you said you loved someone?
I probably said it a lot on Sunday. I was very drunk.

Meaning behind you username?
Bill is the short form of William, coming from the German Wilhelm meaning determined protector, and O'Dwyer is an Irish surname meaning of dark hair. The Internet doesn't like the apostrophe, but I think it looks refined.

The last book you read?
The Very Hungry Caterpillar in Japanese.

The book you're currently reading?
Jurassic Park... Clever girl.

Last TV show you watched?
Franklin & Bash

The last person you spoke to?
My housemate/husband.

The relationship between you and the last person you sent a text to?
He's my favourite actor.

Your favourite food?
Lion bars. And if I run out of lion bars... I'll speak to the people that make lion bars, and get more lion bars.
RWAR.

A place you want to visit?
Space.

The last place you were?
Look, I get that you're just an Internet quiz, but this doesn't make any sense. Standing next to my desk chair before sitting upon it?

Do you have a crush?
So help me, if Viggo Mortensen ever finds out, I'll be really embarrassed.

Last time you kissed someone?
Like I say, I was really drunk on Sunday.

Last time you were insulted?
Taking this quiz. It's pretty invasive.

Favourite flavour of sweetie?
I've already said: lion bars. Lion bar flavour.

What instruments do you play?
All of them. Not very well. In some cases pretty damned shitly, to be honest. But all of them.

Your favourite piece of jewellery? 
My watch. It's the only thing strangers ever seem to compliment about me. Other than my négligée, that is.

The last sport you played?
Train-catching. Try it. Assume you're going to make a connection at any British railway station.

Last song you sang?
Star of the County Down. Another shocker for the family there. I bet you think I've grown out of all that ridiculous metal, don't you? I can tell, you know.

Favourite chat up line?
"Excuse me, but you owe me a drink. You see, I saw you and dropped my first one."

Have you ever used it?
All the time. I get all the girls, I get all the girls.

When did you last hang out with someone?
Minus forty minutes ago.


Well, that was fun, wasn't it? I bet you all feel so much better for knowing that about me.
If you read this, I choose you Siobhan Grennan! Respond, wench, RESPOND!

EDIT: And respond she did! Check it out here!

Why I Hate Windows 7

I write this sitting in my parents' dining room, using their computer. It's a good computer: i3 processor, 3GB of RAM so it shouldn't be slacking.
Why am I using it? My Dad has a rather good collection of CDs that I want to add to my own digital library (using Google Play Music - check it out if you like being able to access your collection from anywhere in the world) so I went to copy them and add them. Here we go.

Dear Windows 7,

I am writing to tell you that I do not like you, and the various array of needless complexities that make you so damnably difficult to use. You may believe after reading my letter that I don't give you enough credit, Mr 7, and that I am biased towards a (what you might consider) more complex, or less user-friendly way of doing things. You may also find that I am angry not specifically at you, but at the various organisations who create applications to be used within you. Unfortunately it would take too long to enumerate each of these fools individually, so I'll instead just use you as an umbrella term for these people.

You are a pretty thing, Mr 7, there's no denying that. The way your transparent borders and animations work are subtle but delightful. As a user of Linux-based systems on a daily basis, I am very much in favour of eye-candy. Making my computing experience look good is something that I enjoy doing, and you did the work for me and came up with something beautiful. For an operating system that one pays in excess of £50 for, one's workflow is (or should be) just as good, if not better than an operating that is completely free and does not have a multi-million pound corporation filled with designers behind it. And I'd say that you've more or less hit that on the nose.
A quick shout-out to Apple here as well: iTunes 11 is considerably better than I first gave it credit for and feels much less bloated and slow than previous iterations.

Sadly Mr Windows 7, the praise ends here. In trying to achieve my task of copying some CDs and then uploading the files to a cloud storage service, you took so woefully long to do this, and were so incredulously obtuse about it that I am forced to be relieved that I only use you for gaming any more. Let me tell you what happened...
Not wishing to confuse and disorder my Dad's own music library and so forth, I created a guest user account with which to achieve my goals. In this process I decided too to try to use Windows-only products, approaching the situation as a new user on a clean installation.
Logging out of my Dad's account (which took longer that it ought to because Spotify demands that it stays open at all times and delays the shutting down process considerably), I accidentally turned the computer off because for whatever reason, you don't assume that I want to log out of one the three users on the computer, no. You assume that I want to shut down the machine and go through the lengthy process of switching it on again - despite the computer's high(ish) spec, for some reason you deem it acceptable to take more than 30 seconds to boot up.
I log into the guest account and I am greeted by a fresh (and almost) blank desktop. Only a couple of icons are there: iTunes and the recycle bin. The taskbar along the bottom has Internet Explorer, My Documents, the Welcome Centre and Windows Media Player. Delighted at how easily you've presented me with the tools that I need, Windows, I click the icons for Internet and Media Player.
The machine whirs and the Internet appears (my, how much Internet Explorer has come along). I minimise the window and wait for your media player to open. I am shortly greeted by a dialogue asking me if I would like to set it up with the default settings. I find this a little baffling, as surely it was set up already when the user was created? But no matter, I allow you to do your thing and insert my CD into the drive.

I wait.

And a bit more.

Nothing happens.

Confused, I search for your menu but come up blank. Finally realising that I have to right-click to access the menu that had for whatever reason been hidden, I navigate to the "play" section only to see that the "Play CD/DVD/VCD" option is unclickably greyed out. Confused, I seek the almighty knowledge of Google (but I correct myself: you want me to use Bing! don't you, Mr 7?). But when I summon up the Internet from its minimised state, I find that I am greeted by nothing but blank pages and error messages. It seems that a number of add-ons want to be enabled, and that three (yes, three) distinct toolbars are vying for my attention under the address bar. I can only assume that all this desperation to grab my attention first has caused the application to crash. I take it back, Internet Explorer: you may have received a makeover, but underneath you're still ugly as sin.
Forced to kill the process rather than just exiting the Internet (because apparently being able to close a crashing program in the normal way would be too easy), I am struck that as a guest user I shouldn't really be allowed access to the processes that are running, much less killing them. In any event, I restart Internet Explorer, and the same thing happens, only this time I am able to tell a few of the add-ons that I don't want them, and cast their dejected forms back to the pits that spawned them. I repeat my previous actions: click the exit button, no joy. Open up the task manager (I still remember the Ctrl+Shift+Esc combination! Do I get some credit for that, Mr 7?), find iexplorer.exe and end it like a bitch.
After three more attempts, after which I have gone no further than being able to type the address of my preferred cloud storage site, and it crashing in the loading process, I give up on Internet Explorer and try to find Google Chrome. I know it's on the computer, since I've used it on my Dad's account. But no, it would seem to have been installed at the user-level, as opposed to a system-level. Being unable to access an alternative browser, and unable to download an alternative because of the shortcomings of your default browser, Windows, I am forced to think that you just don't want people to use you. Perhaps you just want to sit there and look pretty, and make no contribution to anybody's work?
Well screw you. I log out, into my Dad's account and reinstall Google Chrome at a system level (which is not immediately obvious as to the method, apparently Google don't trust Windows users to get it right...) and then log back into the guest account.
At this stage, Mr 7, I've lost my rag with you and just go to use iTunes instead. After another inexplicable "set-up" screen and a rather lengthy installation process (wasn't iTunes already installed) I finally get to the stage of being able to copy CDs into the library. Hurrah.
Part way through this process, several things tell me that they require updates - Java, AVG, Adobe Acrobat Reader and iTunes amongst them. I allow the updates, and then endure each app telling me individually that the computer requires a reboot for each update to work. WHY? WHY? Updating a media player shouldn't require the computer to have to go through a damned reboot! This, Windows, is not the fault of these third party applications. I am more than certain that this is your fault. I don't know how, I don't know why. But I imagine that each of these companies would rather that their users didn't have to reboot after every tiny update. Just sayin'.

Finally, the process of ripping CDs is finished. Here again, I compliment Apple on doing a stunning job. These CDs, I'm fairly sure, aren't even available to buy any more, and it still comes up with the track listing, and all the relevant details. Bravo!
My final problem then, Windows. Browsing through the guest account's folder is apparently very difficult. First of all, to get to a view of each subfolder, rather than just a list of 4 libraries (I understand what you're trying to achieve here, but really. Let's dispense with it and just let people view their home folder, shall we?) I have to go through the start menu, rather than just click the icon you so graciously gave me on the taskbar.
Next, and this is probably more Apple's fault that yours, I have to go through a rather foolish amount of folders to actually get to the mp3s: My Music > iTunes > iTunes Media > Music or something of that nature. I'm writing this part on a separate machine so I can't be certain. But rest assured that the folder structure was needlessly complex, especially for something that is a user's personal data. It should be as simple or as complex as the user requires.

Basically, Windows... You suck the big one. Upon my return to my Ubuntu machine, I can undergo the same process and be done in a matter of minutes, whereas you forced me to take more than an hour to copy 4 CDs, Mr 7. That is unforgivable.

So take care, Mr Windows 7, and I wish you all the success in the world. I hope that your race to the bottom to make your user experience as simple as you can doesn't backfire on you.

Yours sincerely,

A recently validated Linux user.

Why I Hate ___

I've been thinking of interesting stuff I want to do with this blog for some time now. Other than just the occasional and random update on my life - which let's face it is interesting to all of about twelve people - I find myself not really having much of actual interest to say.

So, I therefore decided to write a series of blogs entitled "Why I hate ___". Basically I'll try to be funny about things in my life that have aspects that I dislike (but as I was taught in Year 9: when writing for impact, always go with hyperbole and exaggeration; hence, "hate").* I cannot guarantee that it'll go well, or be even remotely funny. But the idea has been fermenting in my mind like the tea on my desk (perhaps the two are connected and I ought to continue letting the mould grow...) so bugger it.

I have a few ideas about things I could write about but would welcome suggestions and/or requests from anybody that sees this.




*In Year 9 for English we had the delightful Mrs Quayle teaching us, my fellow Holy Family survivors will probably know of her prowess at teaching. In any event, one of our lessons saw us reading a newspaper article about a dog attack, with certain words removed and options provided for what word would best suit the situation. The one that sticks in my mind was from the headline: "Woman ___ by dog" and our options were a) bitten, b) attacked, and c) savaged. I chose b whereas the rest of the class (who may have understood the task better than I did, I'm not sure) elected c as the most suitable answer. I accused them - and my teacher - of fomenting sensationalism, and being basically what keeps people reading such papers as The Sun or the Daily Mail. I'm not sure I deserved that detention.

Well Folk Me Sideways!

Good golly gosh!

I've never been to a music festival before, but I finally made it to one this year. They say that you always remember your first time and phwoar! Cambridge Folk Festival 2013, what a way to take my festival virginity. Plenty of alcohol was consumed (to the point where the festival was drunk completely dry of cider) and lots of antics were had.

Particularly brilliant moments included befriending some Norwegians at 2am on Saturday morning, before wandering off to find a session happening (which my big bro was taking part in); a young magician about the age of nine wandering the crowds and wowing us with some pretty swish tricks and patter; crouched handstands; and a midnight kebab.

Musical highlights were:

Bellowhead were the band I was most excited to see for the entire weekend; and they definitely did not disappoint! (Well, maybe a little... They didn't play my favourite song)

Undoubtedly the group favourite for the weekend: Four Irish fellas playing some amazing tunes with banjos, mandolins, a bodhran and a fiddle at points too... Saw them twice!

Utterly astounding guitarist, best player I've ever seen bar none. Being just one fellow and a guitar, his set was a little avant-guarde at points but folking hell was it good! An inspiration to listen to.


Where to begin? My uncle found us whilst this lot were playing and wandered past saying "I've just seen a young Seasick Steve!" I found myself on my way to see them, unsure what to expect but was totally blown away. The amount of sound coming off these three people was insane! And as the bearded wonder was keen to mention: they had no need of a bass player: all of the bass was played on the guitar at the same time. Incrediballs. (Incidentally, see 0:37 for the afore-mentioned handstands)

A folk quartet from Quebec, they were infectious to listen to. The foot-stomping violinist was awesome and you never see a hurdy-gurdy solo these days...

The amazingness of the weekend can be summed up by the fact that I was ready to commit to Cambridge 2014 within four hours of having arrived.

Result.

My aim for next year: become proficient enough at the guitar and whistle (and probably some other stuff too) to be able to find a session and just go nuts.

Addicted

I will admit that I am just as addicted to my smart phone as the next person. It does all that I could want, and more. It even provides me with an outlet for my penchant for hacking and customising all technology that I come into contact with, all because I'm vain enough to think I know better.

Having owned a smart phone since August of 2012, essentially as soon as I returned from Japan, I have rarely been without it. There was a difficult moment on a plane returning from Prague when the battery died and I was forced to read the in-flight magazine (and discovered much about salt: an epicure's delight). Aside from that, I can't think of a time when I haven't had it on me.

Of course, addiction to my smart phone is more than just that: it's the connectivity, and it's the convenience. Where once I would just use my phone to make calls and send texts, I can update Facebook or Twitter on the go, take high quality photos, check my email, catch up on my RSS reading, search for "useful" information, and all the rest.

And I can't stop.

It has long since stopped being a convenience to check Facebook or my email from the palm of my hand; it has become an obsession. I don't want to have to wait until I can get to my ageing laptop to check my emails or read the next pseudo-intellectual post on Facebook (which, once again, I am guilty of). I don't want to be without the convenience of Google in my pocket, which could mean I get lost trying to find the sorting office in Leeds, or look stupid by not knowing when the Cold War ended.

When I first arrived in Japan I saw many of my fellow exchange students lamenting the loss of their smart phones, and I mocked them. I was astounded to hear them say the words "but what will I do without Google Maps?" or "if only I had my phone, I could Google [Liam Neeson's height]..." How little I knew! I too have become a slave to the convenience of instant access to the Internet. The sorting office? Found it. The Cold War? Ended in 1989 (or 1991 depending on the source).

Before I owned a smart phone and was cursed with easy Googling privileges, I was forced to sketch out a map to somewhere I'd never been before, or get lost, or (and this is the scary one) interact with another human being. Sketched maps are fun, getting lost is how adventures start, and interacting with new people is how crazy stories happen. If I didn't know the date of the end of the Cold War, I'd probably not even have cared enough to find out later, and just been happy in my ignorance. But now I'll find out, just because I can.

Months ago, I went to the theatre to see Doctor Faustus, and I really enjoyed it. But something happened during the interval that scared me: 90% of the audience that didn't go to get a drink or a bite to eat pulled out a smart phone and began checking what had happened on Facebook, Twitter or whatever. I'm ashamed to admit that I did the same. A whole ninety minutes had passed and I had to know what had happened whilst I'd been disconnected.

As it is, when I realised that I had just joined the herd of addicts, I pocketed my phone and went wandering off. It's become a subconscious thing to just pull out my phone and check it when long enough has passed since the last time I looked at it.

And I hate it.

I hate that I'm addicted to my phone. I hate that I can no longer wait until the end of my day to check my emails, Facebook and catch up on all the blogs I follow. And I hate that every time I convince myself that I should spend some time just using an ordinary mobile phone, I can come up with genuine justifications as to why my smart phone is more necessary to have:

• LINE/WhatsApp won't work, and some people only talk to me via LINE/WhatsApp
• What if I get an urgent email/Facebook message?
• What if I want to take a picture of something?
• I don't have any taxi numbers stored in my phone
• I won't be able to listen to music as I go places
• I can't look up Japanese words I don't know
• I'll have to remember where my lectures are
• I won't be able to use a constantly updating, GPS-enabled map to find my way

Some day soon, I'll disconnect. And I'll feel better.

What I'm Listening To
      Go and 'List For A Sailor by Eddy O'Dwyer
My big brother's most recent album. It's a good 'un too! Check it out if you haven't done already... I can guarantee that there is something on here for everyone. Go and listen to it before he gets famous and you can say you liked it before it was cool!

A Fiery Death on Evil Train Conductors

This began as a rant on the book of faces but quickly became too long. Enjoy.
Disclaimer, there are more than a few swears below...

Until you have seen a train that is so packed you cannot move to the extent that you don't need any kind of hand rail, and for about five consecutive stops lets on at least triple the amount of people that get off... Then and only then will you be able to say that your train is too crowded.
I don't care what crap you've been through today, I don't care what rules you have to follow: the door was open, there was space for at least another five people (who could've moved down the God damned train!) and you chose to be a pretty man and refuse me entry.
But do you know what? I can even understand why you did that. After all, every job has its awkward rules that we have to follow... But compounded by the fact that I was already late, clearly sprinting to get on the train and then refused entry; you've just earned yourself the top spot on my death list by saying "it's only half an hour until the next train, you can get on that one."
If I am running for a train at literally the fastest pace I can manage, with speed blur and general awesome in my wake, do you not think I have a GOOD FUCKING REASON TO BE ON THE TRAIN THAT IS NOW, NOT IN HALF AN HOUR?!
What if somebody I love had been in an accident and I needed to get to the hospital with all speed? What if I was heading for the job interview of my life? What if there was a deadly computer virus about to wipe out computers everywhere and I was the only one who could stop it?
The overwhelming odds are that none of these would be true, but if they were, on your head would it be, Mr arsehole conductor.
And maybe I was in the wrong, maybe I should've arrived in Leeds just a couple of minutes early?
No. I got to Leeds as fast as I could, riding a train that had been delayed by 8 minutes.
Northern Rail: get your fucking shit together.

Humble Bundle for Android 5 - A review

So for those of you who don't know what the Humble Bundle is, it's a collection of games free from Digital Rights Management (DRM) that for a limited time you can buy for whatever price you feel. You can choose where the money you pay goes, be it to the developers of the game, the people who organised the bundle or to a couple of different charities. So it's for a good cause too :) You have the games forever and can install them on Windows, Linux, Mac or Android so basically all of your options are covered!
As an added bonus, when you buy the games you get the soundtracks for at least some of them!

I've been playing these games on my Nexus 7 tablet, since my laptop isn't all that powerful for gaming. A slight disclaimer: I've not done a thorough try-out of each game, since the humble bundle is a limited-time offer, and if by some chance I manage to convince you to get it, you'll have time.

Beat Hazard Ultra
This is one of the best concepts for a video game I've ever seen! It's a twin-stick shooter, powered by music. You can use the in-game music or your own music to power your spaceship's weapons and collect power-ups as well as cash. It's not a game to relax to: as it's quite tense and sometimes the interface of a touch-screen is a little difficult to manage, but through all that it's amazing!
You can get a lot of variety by using different songs, and it's really entertaining seeing which of your favourite songs are powerhouses of space-shippy goodness. The perks system keeps it fresh too, allowing you the fun of more weapons or of trying to get a higher score.
The warning as you open the game of strobing effects is dead on: the more powerful your weapons, the more bright, flashing lights that explode across the screen.

8/10

Dynamite Jack
I've not played through as much of this as I'd like, but it's not a bad game: Escape from enemy-filled mines by blowing holes in the walls of the mines and distract guards.
It's a fun game, but it gets old fairly quickly.
The controls work well on a touch-screen, and the soundtrack is exciting.
I think I'll play through a bit more of it, but I don't know if I'll play it to the end, it doesn't really grab me. I really like the function of building one's own maps and sharing them online. You can play community-designed maps as well, so there's plenty to do even if you complete the built-in levels.

6/10

Solar 2
Easily my favourite game of this bundle. Start playing as an asteroid, floating through space. Increase your mass until you can become a planet, and then a life-bearing planet. Upgrade your way to a sun, neutron star and eventually even a black hole. Or remain as a life bearing planet and try to dominate the galaxy. As a star, try to accumulate as many planets bearing life as possible and take on other solar systems. Become a binary system, tertiary or even quandiary system!
Take on challenges set by the mysterious narrator, or just follow your own agenda, the choice is yours. Unlock God mode and extra physics options to put a different spin on the game.
The soundtrack is really chilled out and the game-play is magnificent on a touch-screen. This is a fantastic game to just chill out with, as it has the perfect amount of challenge to it.

9/10

Nightsky HD
I'm not sure what to make of this game... It looks like one of these "video games as art" sort of things, which I am totally OK with. The black-and-white-with-hints-of-colour is a delight to look at, and the game is nice and easy to play. The scroll-to-control mechanic. whilst not unique or original feels perfectly natural in this context, and it works tremendously well. The tutorial is very well executed, introducing things at just the right pace to keep it interesting.
Fiendishly addictive, you'll find it hard to put down. Whether or not the introductory story is going to be of any relevance has yet to be determined, but it's not the reason I'm playing.
Replayability is quite good, as the game offers an "alternative" mode for second playthroughs. This isn't really the sort of game that you can just pick up and play, nor is it the sort that you can just play for a few minutes to kill time...

7.5/10

Just to note, the next games can only be accessed by paying more than the average price (which at the time of buying is sitting at $6.82, or about £5)

Splice
An addition from a previous bundle, Splice is a game that you won't forget. I've not played anything like it before, though I don't doubt that there are similar games out there. It's a puzzle game and you control a molecule, trying to get it to split and morph into the desired shape. The piano soundtrack is gorgeous and the game just looks fantastic. This one will have you shouting at the screen in no time at all, but it feels brilliant when you beat a puzzle that's been irking you for hours.
The game offers little in the way of handholding, which depending on your outlook can be a good or a bad thing. Another good "time-killer", I find this a really good game to play whilst on public transport.

7.5/10

Super Hexagon
This game is absurdly difficult and before longs starts messing with your eyes. Just control your little triangle through the spinning maze of hexagons that will end your game if you touch one... Playing on the easiest difficulty, my best time is only about 18 seconds. Addictive as hell, you'll be promising yourself that "this time will be my last time" over and over as you try to improve on your best score.
Bright colours and frantic spinning, this game is good-looking but not easy to look at. This makes for another good time-waster, so approach with caution!

6/10

Dungeon Defenders
This is a huge game. From the looks of it, it was originally a PC game, but has been ported to work on touch devices. Sometimes the touch interface feels a little less than intuitive, but by and large it works well in this medium. This is a tower defence game with plenty of RPG elements to it. It looks great and performs really well (I like the option to tweak the graphics for better performance).
It takes a while to install, as it has to download a ton of data the first time you play. Don't be put off though: you'll get to play a game that can be played online with other enthusiasts, or alone to level up your hero and hone your skills. The learning curve is a little steep, but RPG old hands will be in familiar territory.
The cut-scenes and graphics are just beautiful and the soundtrack is good fun too. You'll be addicted in no time, but this is most definitely not a game for the casual gamer.
A slight niggle that I have is the in-game purchase option: you can buy in game cash by using real money from the real world. Lots of games do this, which is something that I tend to disagree with. Purchasing items like pets or potions from the in-game shop isn't cheap, so to get ahead, one has to spend real money to buy imaginary money to buy imaginary tools. I understand why it's a thing, but I don't like that it is.

8/10

Crayon Physics Deluxe
This is another one that's a repeat from a previous bundle. I haven't done much with this game as yet, but it's good fun.
Visually, Crayon Physics stunning and the soundtrack is nice and chilled. The game looks as if it's been drawn on brown paper with crayons (who'd have thought it from the title?) and involves collecting stars with a little red ball. Using your finger as a pencil, you have to get the ball to the star by drawing lines, boxes and other such objects.
A really nice game to relax to and the level editor option is a nice add-on too.

7/10

Sword & Sworcery EP
I just don't think I get this game. But then, I've never really been into point-and-click (or in this case tap) adventure games. The concept is really good, but the twitter-integration is a little strange. I suspect this is another "work of art" but like most art that isn't a picture or a painting or a sculpture... I just don't understand it. I first played this on my computer, but it works so much better in the touch medium.
It only takes about half an hour to finish, but the point isn't to complete it as quickly as possible.
The soundtrack is intriguing and the minimalist design looks really nice.
This is an adventure game through and through, and it definitely has an air of mystery about it... The quirky story-telling is entertaining, and I think I'll come to enjoy it the more I play. For now though, it's not for me.

5/10



Head over to https://www.humblebundle.com/ to buy your humble bundle, play some games and give a little to charity! Let me know what you think of these games in a comment below :)

NB. At the time of writing this bundle has a little over 5 days left on the clock, so act fast if you want to  get yours!

Facial hair

So my foray into the realm of growing facial hair has come to an end. Genetics have failed me and the sporadic growth that I didn't so much as trim for two months came to be about 2cm long and as scraggly as you like. It didn't look great.
However, in the various Skypings (you know who you are!) I did whilst having this potential home to all kinds of unpleasant wildlife on my chin, the quality of the picture did make it look like I had a much more luscious beard. This led me to two potential solutions:

1) Never shave my "beard" again, but also never leave the house and conduct all future social interactions via Skype.
Not actually a bad idea, I wouldn't have to venture out into the cold and I could continue lying to myself that the vegetation on my chin actually looked good.

2) Shave off my "beard" and carry on doing so until such time that I can cultivate a much grander specimen.
Probably the best option, since one of my New Year's Resolutions was to take more pride in my appearance...

So, congratulations to all who raised objection time and again to the vegetation on my face: you have succeeded once more in persuading me to shave it all off. Yes, I'm looking at you Elsie.
Actually, in a sporadic fit of passion, I took the electric razor to it on Sunday night, so I can't actually provide photographic evidence of how terrible it actually was! Oh well!

See you next time!
x


What I'm Listening To
     Do Me A Favor by Stone Sour
I discovered Stone Sour properly just before they released their last album (A House of Gold and Bones Part 1). The album is just amazing. It's not for everyone, since the metal is strong with this one. Part 2 to the album is coming this April, and the song above is the first single. I only just found out that it's available, and I like it the more I listen to it. The metal is not so strong as the rock with this one, but it's still damned good! The only problem is that when watching the above video (that's a link up there if you didn't realise) I get really confused over the American spellings of most of the chorus... It's kind of annoying!
What I've Been Watching
     Should You Eat Yourself by Vsauce
There'll be a blog coming soon with my favourite youtubers (thanks to Siobhán for the inspiration on that one!), and this guy is definitely one of them. Have a watch and learn some amazingly cool stuff! Obviously there is the eponymous question of whether or not it's a good move to eat yourself, but there's also how your hair knows when to stop growing, what are those eye floaters and how much does wikipedia weigh? A really entertaining video that's only 7 minutes long, I urge you to watch! Just click the link above.
No really, click it.
Go on.
Click it.
It's right there.
Do it now.
Click it, come on!
What I've Been Reading
     1Q84 by Haruki Murakami
Still reading this badboy, but I'm almost half-way through it now and it's starting to get really interesting... Another moon has just appeared in the sky and the two main characters' backstory is getting really fleshed out and the links between them are becoming more and more clear... Also something that I can really recommend that you buy!


PS. If you enjoy my blog, please recommend it to a friend!

PPS. If you don't enjoy my blog, but read them out of some masochistic self-punishment, recommend it to someone you don't like!

And so, as the hair on my chin inexorably grows towards something not even remotely resembling an actual beard, and the clock on the wall ticks towards the inevitable doom of us all, I will end this blog.

Follow me on twitter:    @b_odwyer
Circle me on Google+:  +Bill O'Dwyer

Resolution Update

If you have no idea what my new year's resolutions are, and find yourself even having a modicum of care, go peruse my post about that, which can be found here.

So we're into March now, and I'm failing at most of my resolutions with the exception of the press-ups and Maia's lullaby...
I'm up to 66 press-ups per day, and it's get kind of gruelling, so I think I'm going to have to separate them out into clumps of thirty-something over the course of the day maybe. I'm quite keen to keep this one up, because it's giving me muscle definition that I've never experienced before!
Maia's lullaby is going fairly well, I've transcribed it into a bit of music-writing software so that I can tweak it more easily without a piano... It doesn't sound great played as MIDI, but it's a step up from just humming it to myself and trying to guess the right notes!

Let's see... Pride in my appearance is failing dramatically. I need a haircut, should probably shave this hideous growth on my chin into oblivion and I think I have spent more days unshowered than showered so far this year. I'll make more effort, oh gods of resolutions: I promise!
Practising Japanese is also going nowhere fast, despite my thinking to myself several times a day that I really ought to get some kind of system into place. So, in the interest of having a plan and sticking to it, I'm going to tell the Internet at large (not that large, the most views any one of my posts has received is about 50) that come the easter break (that's in about 12 days' time) I am going knuckle down, get myself a system together and stick to it. As the Internet, you have permission to punish me for not sticking to this promise.
Skills and hobbies... Well, I did sign up to a gym last week, but since then I haven't been back (planning to go this evening though). Also, I've found that playing Halo 4 online with a group of friends is considerably less depressing than playing it alone. Neither of these are really something interesting though, so I'll keep trying, shall I?

That's it, I'm signing off.
I'm not going to do a "What I've Been _______" this time, because this was just meant to be a quick update, and there's many more blogs in the pipeline!

Incidentally, I can recommend using an RSS reader so you can subscribe to all of your favourite blogs, and mine. I use google reader, and it's really quite useful - all of the posts of the blogs I read are collected into one place. If you do decide to use google reader, don't use the web-app as it's awful to use. Instead, use the android app as it's so much nicer!

Ciao for now.
xx

I've gotta theory...

I've no doubt in my mind, that since you're reading my blog, you are a highly intellectual and scientifically savvy sort of individual. You, therefore, do not need me expounding my theory on how to sort of explain solids, liquids and gases using concerts and can casually go about your business reading The Origin of Species or updating your own, superior blog with your most recent analytical thoughts about Doctor Faustus as being performed at the West Yorkshire Playhouse.

But, if you are feeling inclined to read on, perhaps do not prepare to be overwhelmed... But nor should you be underwhelmed. Perhaps, could you please be just whelmed?

Imagine you've gone to see your absolute favourite band in the whole wide world in concert (anybody who thought of Justin Bieber can stop reading: I will never be able to teach you anything). You are very excited to see them and you arrive with all of your friends so you can get a good position to see them from (because, obviously you are my sort of person and standing tickets are the only way to go).

First, however, you have to listen to two support acts...


Solid
The first support act is relatively unknown by most of the crowd (except for those strange lot who came to see just the first support act and will then quietly dissipate into the back of the room), but are not terrible. You watch them attentively, perhaps bopping your head to the catchy rhythm, but you and your group of friends with whom you're standing in a clump are content to do just that. Movement is out of the question: Your excitement is currently fairly low, so you don't really fancy exerting yourself.

You stick together, in your own little group and stay that way. You are fairly unexcited. You are a solid.

Liquid
The first act has finished and the roadies for the second act are setting up the stage. The room is filling and the CD playing generic tunes is playing in such a way that more or less entirely fails to catch your attention. The second band is a little more famous than the latter, and the excitement in the room builds collectively, perhaps a screaming teenage fan-girl is weeping with happiness. By and large, you're looking forward to the rest of the show now that you know what's in store. As the wait for the second act goes on, the excitement in the room increases, and people start to move to the front of the room, as close to the stage as they can. This of course, leads to much of the rest of the room following them: even if you don't care about the second band, you must be in a good position to see your favourite, and you don't want to be stuck behind everyone and their dogs. The band comes on and does their thing, and the late-comers trickle in and join the crowd too, getting as close to the front as they can, without trying to occupy the same space that I wouldn't allocate to a disproportionately large rat.

You and your friends have moved to the front of the room, along with everyone else. You are moderately excited. You have filled your container according to gravity (yes, in this analogy, the stage is the source of all gravity's power). You are a liquid.

Gas
The time has come! Your all time favouritest band of amazeballsness is just about to start playing and the excitement in the room explodes as the lights go down for their entrance onto the stage, and the pre-recorded entry music cuts through the screams of fans like a wire through so much cheddar. The band starts and the crowd goes wild, dancing and scream and moving.

You and your friends have likely been separated, hoping for a reunion at the bar after the show. You are so excited you think you might never be able to stop your face from contorting into that thing you call a smile. You and the rest of the crowd are bouncing off each other as you dance. The gravity of the stage has little or no power over you any more, and you move around like the headless chicken we all are and bounce off one another. You are a gas.


And so concludes today's lesson. For more questions or potentially ridiculous theories on how to explain sciencey stuff to nobody in particular, consult me through a comment below!


What I'm Listening To
     The Cloud Atlas Sextet by Tom Tykwer
I watched Cloud Atlas the other night and utterly loved it (it has been made clear to me that it has not yet been released in the UK, so do go watch it when it's on in the cinema). The film itself is a cocophony of confusion and interweaving characters and storylines. Complexity abounds but so too does beauty: the music from this film is emotive and powerful. This, then, is the music from my dream.
What I've Been Watching
     House M.D.
Yes, I'm still making my torturous way through the entirety of Hugh Laurie's most well-known role. I'm coming to the end of season 6 (and have indeed been stuck on the same episode for a number of days) and will soon be free to watch other things!
     Doctor Faustus at the West Yorkshire Playhouse
Ha, I bet you thought I wouldn't come back to that passing reference back up in the opening paragraph, didn't you! I went to see this last night (Monday) and very much enjoyed it. An Elizabethen play, set in the modern day (indeed, two of its four acts were put into mordern syntax) about a fellow who sells his soul to the devil for power and knowledge. I definitely want to see some other versions of it, but this one was fantastic as well. The ambiguity of the ending is fantastic, and was the source of much discussion amongst the group I went with (helpful hint: if you must go to see a classic play with two English Literature students, be prepared to have the crap analysed out of whatever you saw). £5 for an under-26 ticket and only about £12 for a normal one. Definitely worth a watch!
What I've Been Reading
     1Q84 by Haruki Murakami
A Christmas present from that red-coated old jelly-belly, which I am only about 11 chapters into. The book is slowly starting to reveal its nature and where the plot is going, but thus far I have come to adore both of the central characters and at least two of the slightly less central ones too. So far, it's an all out thumbs up from me... Thanks Santa!



PS. If you enjoy my blog, please recommend it to a friend!

PPS. If you don't enjoy my blog, but read them out of some masochistic self-punishment, recommend it to someone you don't like!

And as the small, grey squirrel of inexorability buries the sacred chestnuts of time, I realise it is time for me to depart these lands and toddle off towards something resembling sleep. Good night my pretties!

Is there a noun form of "generic"?

I wanted to call this post genericity, but that doesn't even look like a word, much less sound like one. So if anybody knows how to make a noun from the adjective generic, let me know in a comment!

So it's coming to the end of the first week of February, and I've been a very bad blogger this month.
Firstly, it's been over a month since my last post, and secondly, my last post was an angry tirade against one of my favourite blogs. For which I apologise.
It's troublesome finding stuff to write about, as I want to entertain, rather than just have a rant occasionally, or update the Internet at large as to what's new in my life. Because let's face it, of all the people whose blogs you would genuinely love to read, I am not amongst them. (Stephen Fry and Derren Brown instantly spring to mind, but there are likely to be more!)

Firstly, since it's the start of the month my resolutions update (if you don't know what mine are, have a look at my blog on that):

1. So far so good, there've been a few close shaves, but I've succeeded in doing my press-ups every day. I'm up to 38 now!

2. Thus far I've not done tons to look my best, and I do miss the occasional shower. On the whole, I don't think I've totally failed at this. Nor have I fully succeeded either.

3. I have not been practising Japanese anywhere near as much as I should be doing. And I keep telling myself I'm going to change it, but a lot of it involves being anti-social. Which I don't want to do.

4. Once again, I've done no work towards this except map out a few ideas in my head (I suppose that actually does count!).

5. A few years ago I decided I was going to learn how to write computer programs. I stopped very quickly but I'm going to start again soon. With the idea towards having more to talk about or making myself more interesting, programming is probably right up there with watching paint dry or licking windows. So I'll be looking for a few more.

I don't suppose trying to get 100% of the achievements for the Mass Effect trilogy counts, does it?

Beyond that little update that you all care about so, so much, I really don't have much to talk about... Which is a shame. Because I came at this with such optimism that I'd produce a thoroughly entertaining post! Oh well, there's always next time I suppose...

Something new that I'm going to try with each of my posts is the following:
What I'm Listening To
     All Along the Watchtower - Bear McCreary (Battlestar Galactica Soundtrack)
This is a really good version of the song most often wrongly attributed to Jimmie Hendrix - it's a Bob Dylan one folks! McCreary's version is really, really good and I can highly recommend it!
What I've Been Watching
     House M.D.
Watching House makes me both a bit happy and a bit sad. Happy because it's a brilliant bit of television and a really good evolution of Sherlock Holmes. A bit sad because it reminds me that at the moment I'm quite far from the path of fulfilling my dream of becoming a doctor. But more on that later!


Ciao for now!


PS. If you enjoy my blog, please recommend it to a friend!

PPS. If you don't enjoy my blog, but read them out of some masochistic self-punishment, recommend it to someone you don't like!

Toodle pip!

Tirade

I'm a big reader of tofugu.com, they're a really good fun source of information about Japan in general, as well as tips for studying and all sorts. However, they've enraged me somewhat with a recent blog entitled "5 Reasons You Shouldn't Major In Japanese (and 2 You Might Consider It)"

I began this blog post as a comment on Tofugu's post, but soon realised it was lengthier than my... *ahem* The point is, I felt that to get more people to read it (and indeed get them to read Tofugu's article) I should make it into my own blog post. So I put my keyboard-warrior helmet and sword on, and prepared a counter-blog.

It's probably advisable for you to read Tofugu's post before reading this one (or at least, have a quick skim so you can see what their points are), and it can be found here. 

-----------------

Sorry, but I'm inclined to disagree with all of these.

Studying alone is all well and good, but at some point you need somebody who can point out where you're going wrong and show you how to put it right. For language learning, it's simply not enough to self-study. Furthermore, the skill-level of the graduate massively depends on the student. People who've graduated from Leeds University, where I'm studying Japanese, have completed N1 at JLPT before even completing their final year. It's simply not fair to say that a degree in Japanese will produce incompetent speakers. I don't want to get into insults, but any lack of ability you have is down to you alone, and not the people who taught you. And if you were such a good student, that would mean that you self-studied a lot, right? Then why did your Japanese not benefit from all of your good-student-iness?

I can see where you're coming from saying that other languages are more useful, but in all fairness it's very subjective. Not everybody learns a language for the purposes of business, and you don't necessarily need to do a job that relates to your degree. I know lots of people who aren't studying Japanese for the purposes of business (it's most assuredly not the reason I'm learning it!), and I know a lot of people who went on to do jobs totally unrelated to their degrees (eg. Masters in `criminology, goes on to be a fireman. Work that one out!) I don't know about America, but certainly in England it is often enough to show that you have a degree to a prospective employer. If you're worried about the employability (or apparent lack thereof) that may or may not come from studying Japanese, you should attend careers fairs at your University, you should speak to careers advisers and you should get in touch with Alumni from your course. Find out what all your options are before making such sweeping generalisations as that.

The debt issue is something that I really want to talk about. Whilst I'm fairly certain that the system for paying off student debt in the UK is completely different that that in America, saying that you shouldn't do a particular degree because you'll get into an unspecific amount of debt (again, assuming that's the system in America: in the UK everyone has broadly the same amount) is like saying I won't make ramen because it'll make a load of washing up. Everybody will end up in debt at some point in their lives, and personally I think it's better to get into debt doing something that you enjoy, rather than something that may or may not be useful further down the line. In England, thanks to Nick Clegg and David Cameron, the cost of University tripled in September 2012. This means that the most a University can charge in tuition per year increased to around £9000, and the government withdrew much of the funding they provide. And yet, the intake of people into Leeds University to study Japanese is still notably high. At the age of 18, people shouldn't be worrying about debt to the point of choosing a different degree. I asked my personal tutor, and in the last five years or so, of the people graduating from Leeds University's East Asian Studies faculty, over 90% were employed within six months.  This is kind of tied in with my above response: you don't need to do something related to your degree for a career.

Now, I will agree that it's hard to learn Japanese and that it's certainly not for everyone. BUT, giving it as a reason not to try it at University is ridiculous. Physics is hard, law is hard, computer science is hard. And in exactly the same way, these subjects aren't for everybody. People should relish the chance to learn something because it's hard, because so much of education in this day and age is completely spoon-fed and overly easy. The challenge of Japanese, like you say, is the writing. But in learning the writing, you completely rewire your brain and have to learn to think in a completely different way, and THAT is something hugely beneficial to a prospective employer, or even to just learning something else. It shows that you can take this completely alien concept and wrap your head around it. 

The advice my Dad gave to me when I was little and didn't want to practise the piano because it was too hard was "If it was easy, everyone would do it." That is the single best piece of advice I have ever had, so thank you Dad - you are a wise man.

If you want to be like everybody else, give up when something's too hard. Don't bother sticking at it, because hey, you might fail. And then, when life gets to difficult, why don't you just not bother at that as well, you lazy, half-arsed fuck.

I will say at this stage, I have been luckier than most, to be learning Japanese in school since year 9 (that's the age of 13). And it was hard back then, and it's hard now. But guess what? I love it. I love the language, I love the country, I love the people I've met through learning Japanese, and I love the challenge that Japanese presents. 

So go drill a hole in your skull. Not doing something because it's hard is fucking dumb.

On to why Tofugu says that you should consider it then!

Anybody that's seen Harold and Kumar Go To Whitecastle will have heard the line "And if you're hung like a moose, it doesn't mean you should do porn." - Kal Penn (Kumar).

Being super good at something is no reason to do a degree in something. In fact, I would go so far as to say it's a good reason not to. How many times have we all thought "I'm good at this subject, so I don't need to revise for this exam" or something similar. If you're good at something and you know it, you're much more likely to get complacent and not work at it. I know this, I've been there and I'm still there: trying to learn new things is difficult because I don't remember the learning, all I remember is being good at them.

Don't go to University to do something just because "you're super good at it" - go to University because you want to. Go to learn who you are as a person. Go to get away from home, and learn to fend for yourself. Learn something completely different, and that little bit unusual. Because guess what? Doing a degree in something that you are already good at is not hard, it's easy. And we all know what I feel about that.

The final point of your post is good: combining a language with extra skills is always useful. The more marketable you can make yourself to employers the better, but sometimes even only a vague grasp of a language can be enough to set you apart from the crowd.

This article has really annoyed me, because a lot of people who might be wanting to study Japanese may well have just been put right off by the things you've said. You were quick to blame your education, when actually it might be you that's to blame for your Japanese ability. You were quick to say that there are little to no jobs available that involve Japanese, but at Leeds Uni there are whole days devoted to the careers one can choose after taking a degree in a language like Japanese. Will they all be related, or will you definitely use your Japanese in each and every one? No, but these people are actively seeking someone who has studied Japanese, Chinese, Thai, Arabic or any other of the so-called "hard" languages. Clearly, we have something that the French-speakers do not.

My point is, that your opinion on this matter is going to be read by an awful lot of people, and I think that you owe it to them to tell them that their education is what they make of it and if they choose to mess around and not work hard for however many years, then their Japanese (or any other ability they've gone to Uni for) will suffer.

My final argument (and then I'll be done, I swear) is that this post could apply to so many other degrees than Japanese, and not only that but with much more accuracy *cough*Philosophy*cough*. 

So anybody that read John's article that has been kind enough to read mine and stick with me all the way to the end, don't let him put you off. I love my Japanese degree. Yes I have my doubts, yes I sometimes wonder if I shouldn't have kept at trying to become a doctor. But this degree has been, is and will continue to be amazing. And if I come out of it £20,000 in debt, with no job prospects and no Japanese ability, and regretting not choosing an easier degree... Well, then I will come back and write an apology of equal or greater length than this endless rant of mine.

/rant

-----------------

Well, thanks for sticking with me on that one folks!

As an interesting, slightly embarrassing side note: the last essay I wrote was just under 3000 words in length and took me the best part of about twelve hours in total to write.

The post you have just read which is only about half the length, took me around an hour to write. Go figure.

Keyboard warrior helmet and sword have been removed, I can go back to revising for my Japanese exam tomorrow.

EDIT: I welcome all keyboard warriors to have their say in the comments below, or write a counter-blog of their own. I also welcome abuse via Google+ and occasionally Facebook. I will hand out my email only to those the blog is specifically about.

In some cases (I'm looking at you, Stephen Fry and/or Scarlett Johansson) I will even hand out a phone number.

EDIT: If anybody wants to read about what it's like to study Japanese, here's an article written for The Independent by a student in the year above me.

Resolutions

It's that time again, and I figured that I might as well do a short blog about my New Year's Resolutions.
I dislike the enormous amount of celebration for New Year, since it's amongst the most arbitrary of all the things we like to celebrate. However, it is convenient to use the fact that we're back to January to start a new thing, and quite frankly it's a good excuse for me to sort my life out!

So, my New Year's Resolutions in no particular order, and some more important than others:

1. A press-up for every day of the year
This is something my brother-in-law did last year, and managed to get about half-way through before failing* if I remember rightly. Essentially, I'm going to do a press-up for every day of the year that has gone so far. So on the 1st of January I did one press-up. Yesterday I did two, and today I'll do three. I suspect that when we get towards April, this one will start to get difficult!

* Upon reading this my brother-in-law (who incidentally forget that he is such) would like to make it known that he didn't so much "fail" as "stop because doing press-ups was not a priority that day in June when he was curled in a ball hallucinating after a whole night of projectile vomiting and explosive diarrhoea." Sorry for the confusion Andy, that sounds much better.

2. More pride in my appearance
I don't spend much time in a morning making myself look presentable, but I want to change that for a couple of reasons. The first being that the vast majority of people will judge you based on what they see, so I want them to get a good impression before I open my mouth and ruin all. The second is that it just never hurts to look good, and I find that I actually enjoy looking my best. I've already been doing this one slowly but surely over the past six months or so: cutting my hair and losing my flesh tunnels chief amongst the changes I've made. I'll be shaving more often and trying to get fitter with this one as well.
The nice advantage to this resolution is that I'm easing myself in. By the time getting fitter actually becomes an issue, I should have a little more will-power stored up to succeed!

3. Practise Japanese more regularly
At the moment I'm still on holiday, though the days remaining are running short and I could do with getting some revision in. But I want to start revising every day: a grammar structure, or a set of words, or a thirty minute conversation; whatever it takes to just keep my Japanese ticking over.

4. Finish Maia's Lullaby
Maia's Lullaby is a piece of music I've been writing on the piano for the best part of two years and it's high time that I got it finished. If I get my act together, I can have it done, tweaked, written out neatly and recorded in time for her second birthday. And that's the target I'm setting myself.

5. Learn a new skill, or get a new hobby
This is probably the most generic of resolutions out there, but hear me out. Whenever I talk to my brother, I'm struck by how many things he has going on: he tinkers with cars, he plays most instruments you care to name, he plays Bloodbowl, and fiddles around with magic; all the while still managing to go to work; feed himself, his girlfriend and their menagerie of animals and generally get on with life. And right now, if somebody asked me what my hobbies are, I'd be able to say music and occasionally blogging. So I'm going to learn a new skill, or rediscover an old one. I'm going to make myself more interesting!

I think five resolutions is enough to be getting on with. And I also think, that in the first week of every month, I'll do a resolution update, to let the Internet at large know how it's all going and if I've given up on any of them yet.

Tally ho!