Things I've Done Today (and the Hot Spoon Game)

1. Left little post-it notes in all the cupboards and the fridge saying "You like mudkips!" to keep my parents occupied.

2. Told my mum to complain to my brother's school about his maths GCSE exam being at 6am. Seriously, how the fuck do they expect students to pass maths at 6am? O_O At that time of morning I can barely remember my own name, never mind solving for X.

3. Pantsed my sister. ^^

4. Killed a few hundred bad guys on Endless Online.

5. Worked for 6 hours.

6. Almost fell asleep after working for 6 hours even though it was only afternoon. :P

7. Shaved my head. Mmmm shiny.

8. Posted this lame list of things I've done. :P


On to the Hot Spoon game. See, my philosophy on life is that to stay young, you need to remember how to play. People who stop playing cease to be young and become old. So I like to invent little games to keep everyone around me on their toes. Hot Spoon is the latest of my wonderful little games. It's pretty simple. Make a hot drink, be it coffee, tea, hot chocolate, whatever. Stir the drink for a while. Wait for a passing victim. Whip out the spoon and plant it on the nearest bit of bared skin.
HOT SPOON! :P
Guaranteed to get hilarious reactions. :)
It's one of my favourite games yet.

Random stuff and 'everyone loves a plinky'.

So I was clicking the "next blog" button here on blogger which is designed to take one to a random blog. It works, I'm not disputing that, but it's too random, in the sense that it doesn't discriminate by language. Turns out there's a lot of Spanish bloggers about and I don't hables espanol, or whatever. So that got boring faster than Carwash Tycoon. No wait, I lie. Nothing is that boring.
But at the same time I am so happy to see my random readers turning up one by one, without me having to go drag them here kicking and screaming with sharp objects embedded in them so I really wanted to provide something of substance.

And then I stumbled across Plinky.com. I say stumbled... Blogger recommended it so it was more a case of being nudged in that direction. Anywho, it's kinda like the 'answers' deal we're all oh so familiar now with yahoo and google prolly being the most widely known. You sign up and random questions are posted which you attempt to answer, but in the case of Plinky, it's more generic questions where there is no right or wrong answer, but opinion. It's like crossing the 'answers' system with a forum I suppose. But I was looking around and thought, hey, I don't need to sign up for this because I'm quite lazy and have enough sites to visit as it is, but these are interesting things that I can blog about. :D Cher-ching!

Then I read a bit further and started thinking. Turns out it was far less interesting than I first thought. Seems people are kinda boring. So I thought, maybe I'd ridicule some samples?

"List any magazine you read".

Seriously, like anyone cares what magazines I read.

"Have you ever gone a day without your cell phone?"

O_O How sad is that? I'm lucky if I remember to plug my cell phone in to charge every so often. I haven't called anyone for months.

"Describe your favourite room."

WTF?

That's about where I got bored and gave up. I know that no matter what I tend to write about people take at least some interest in it but I think even I would struggle to hold your attention whilst describing a room.

Oh no wait... :D Actually, I always wanted Mad Murdoch's cell from the A-team CYOA books. It had a velcro ceiling...and a velcro suit. ^^ Yeah ok so a fully velcroed room, that's what I'm talking about.

"Name three songs you could be convinced to sing at a Karaoke bar"

Anything off Drowning Pool's Sinner album. I can't sing and yet, I think I can mimic that reasonably well. Or at least better than any other songs.

I got bored there and closed the Plinky page. But it got me thinking, why is it that no one ever actually asks me interesting questions? :S So I'd like to make it known that I will try to answer any question posed by my readers. :P Just so you're aware.

I dunno how long this is now. Kinda hard to judge what with blogs in general getting notably thinner. I blame CSS. Or maybe web 2.0. I don't know. Everything's just not as wide as it used to be. Except TV, which is now too wide so unless you own a fucking enormous television bits get cut off the sides.

Nah that's it. I've run out of steam. If you want more then why not drop by and ask me something mildly interesting?

*wanders off*

Good Things Come - poem

Good Things Come

Let me wrap my words around your heart
Like a gentle, silken ribbon
So you'll always have a memory
When the rest of me is hidden

Every second that I'm not with you
Eats me like a virus from inside
If I didn't know you loved me too
Then I surely would have died

Every silence speaks your name
Every darkness sparks your eyes
I see your face in every cloud
When I'm gazing at the skies

And when I dream, as I often do
It's always you I see
And the happiness that awaits us both
When we're together, you 'n' me

© Charon 2009

My Videogaming Credentials

As part of a fun challenge on another site I have compiled a list of every videogame I've ever owned at some point, including brief ownages due to trade-ins and whatnot. It's quite comprehensive and for the sake of anyone interesting in seeing it, here it is in its entirety. Proof that I am indeed, a gaming addict.

Atari something or other.
Dig Dug
Q-bert

Spectrum ZX 81
Apostrophe
BlockBusters
Dangerous Dan?
Kong (back when Mario was a carpenter not a plumber)
Waxworks

Amiga 500
Addam's Family
Alien III
Alien Breed
Alien Breed II
Altered Beast
Another World
Back to the Future III
Bart Simpson vs the Space Mutants
Battle Chess
Body Blows Galactic
Boulder Dash
Captain Planet
Chuck Rock
Cyperpunks
D Generation
Days of Thunder
Desert Strike
Double Dragon III
Dragon's Lair
Fatal Fury
Final Fight
Fire and Ice
Gods
Golden Axe
Harlequin
Heimdall
Home Alone
International Karate +
It Came From the Desert 3
James Pond
James Pond II: Robocod
James Pond: The Aquatic Games
Jungle Strike
Kid Gloves
Lemmings
Magic Pockets
McDonalds
Megalomania
Micro Machines
Oh No Not More Lemmings
Pang
Paperboy
Pinball Dreams
Pinball Fantasies
Pole Position
Prince of Persia
PP Hammer
Rainbow Islands
Road Rash
Robocop
Robocop II
Robocop III
Rolling Ronnie
Soccer Kid
Sonic Boom
Speedball
Star Wars
Star Wars: Adult Version
Stunt Racer
Switchblade II
Swiv
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Turrican
Turrican II
Wonderboy in Monsterland
Xenon II: Megablast
Zool
Zool II

SNES
Animaniacs
Battletoads: Battlemaniacs
Bubsy II
EarthWorm Jim II
Hebereke's Popoon
Judge Dredd
Killer Instinct
Mortal Kombat II
Pilotwings
Street Fighter II
Super Bomberman
Super Mario Kart
The Incredible Hulk
The Smurfs
Theme Park
Unirally
Worms
Zombies

Playstation
Alien Trilogy
Armoured Core
Battle Arena Toshinden
Bishi Bashi
Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain
Breath of Fire III
Breath of Fire IV
Broken Sword
Broken Sword II
Bushido Blade
Chrono Cross
Chrono Trigger
Colin McRae Rally
Command and Conquer: Retaliation
Crash Bandicoot
Crash Bandicoot II
Crash Bandicoot III
D
Destruction Derby
Destruction Derby II
Die Hard Trilogy
Discworld
Discworld II
Discworld Noir
DragonBall Z Ultimate Battle 22
Driver
ESPN Extreme Games
Ehrgeiz
Fifa 96
Fifa 98
Fear Effect
Final Fantasy 1
Final Fantasy II
Final Fantasy IV
Final Fantasy V
Final Fantasy VI
Final Fantasy VII
Final Fantasy VIII
Final Fantasy IX
Final Fantasy Tactics
Gran Turismo
Gran Turismo II
Grand Theft Auto
Hardcore 4x4
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
Hercules
Hogs of War
Intelligent Qube (aka Kurushi)
International Track and Field
Jade Cocoon
Koudelka
Lego Racers
Marvel Vs Capcom
Metal Gear Solid
Micro Machines V3
Monster Rancher
Mortal Kombat Trilogy
Need for Speed III: Hot Pursuit
Oddworld Abe's Exoddus
Parappa the Rapper
Pandemonium
Pandemonium II
Pitball
RPG Maker
Rally Cross
Rayman
Reloaded
Resident Evil
Resident Evil II
Resident Evil III
Ridge Racer
Road Rash
Sheep
Sheep, dog, n wolf
Soul Blade
South Park: Chef's Luv Shack
Spiderman
Spiderman II
Suikoden
Suikoden II
Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo
Supersonic Racers
Syphon Filter
T'ai Fu: Wrath of the Tiger
TOCA
Tekken
Tekken II
Tenchu
Tenchu II
Thrill Kill
Time Crisis (And also that other light gun game? Point blank castle or something?)
Tomb Raider
Tomb Raider II
Tomb Raider III
Tomb Raider Chronicles
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater II
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater III
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater IV
Ultimate DOOM
Urban Chaos
Vagrant Story
Vandal Hearts
Vandal Hearts II
Vigilante 8
WWF Attitude
WWF SmackDown
WWF SmackDown II
WWF War Zone
Warriors of Might n Magic
Wild Arms
Wipeout
Wipeout 2097
Wipeout 3
Worms
Worms: Armageddon
Wu Tang
Xena: Warrior Princess
Xenogears

Playstation 2
Armoured Core II
Carwash Tycoon
Gauntlet: Dark Legacy
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
Lego Batman
Lego Indiana Jones
Lego Star Wars
Lego Star Wars Trilogy
Metal Gear Solid II: Sons of Liberty
Metal Gear Solid III: Snake Eater
Primal
Prince of Persia: Sands of Time
Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones
Shadow of the Colossus
Shaun Palmer's Pro Snowboarder
Suikoden IV
Suikoden V
Tenchu: Fatal Shadows
Tenchu: Wrath of Heaven
Timesplitters: Future Perfect
Tony Hawk's Underground
Tony Hawk's Underground II
Total Overdose
Wipeout Fusion
World Rally Championship

PC
Baldur's Gate
Beneath a Steel Sky
Call of Duty
Civilization IV
Command and Conquer
Command and Conquer: Red Alert
Command and Conquer: Red Alert 2: Yuri's Revenge
Command and Conquer III: Tiberium Wars
Counterstrike
Counterstrike Condition Zero
Counterstrike Source
Endless Online
Half Life
Half Life Source
Half Life II
Hitman
Lure of the Temptress
Monkey Island
Monkey Island II
Monkey Island III
NeverWinter Nights
Planescape: Torment
Planeshift
RPG Maker VX
Sensible Soccer
The Sims II
The Sims Castaway
The Ship
Theme Hospital
Warcraft II
Warcraft III + Frozen Throne
Wolfenstein Enemy Territory

GameBoy
Galaga
Galaxian
Gargoyle's Quest
Krusty's Fun House
Pokemon Red
Pokemon Silver
Pokemon Trading Card Game
Pokemon Yellow
Sneaky Snakes
Super Mario Land II
Tetris

Internet Fame

In my spare time I do crawl around the internet, reading, observing and just generally lazing about. I've been a lot of places and met a lot of people, virtually that is. And so it was only a few minutes ago I was idly reading a blog, got redirected to a forum and watched a little internet war spill out. It got me thinking, thinking about 'internet fame'. That is to say, people who are well known not in real life, but on the internet. These are people who tend to be famous in certain circles. For example, hordes of fans on Youtube will have heard of Applemilk, just as hordes of people on 4-chan hate her to death. And it's specifically this I want to discuss.
It seems internet fame has one very simple route with two possible endings. It starts with a person regularly contributing to a specific website, be it a big place like Youtube or Myspace, or a smaller place tied to a particular activity such as a forum for a game or movie series, whatever. This person becomes well known for their contributions or maybe even their personality and for a while at least, everything is fine and dandy. The person has the respect of their peers and that's nice, maybe even a little hero worship, possibly a friendly neighbourhood stalker or two. And then it goes downhill. Either the person becomes mundane, losing their special appeal and thus their fanbase, or they become the target of someone who hates them, someone who for whatever reason, can command just as big a following without any real effort with the end result that the person loses their internet fame from lack of respect or being forced into inactivity.

Internet fame is fleeting at best. Standing out from the crowd only puts a bigger target on one's back. This I know from experience. First hand experience from the days when I created and ran my own website and second hand experience from seeing the hate, often misplaced, aimed at some of the more well known people on the 'net.

It's saddening to see so much hate aimed at people who don't deserve it, just as much as it is saddening to see fame grabbed by people who don't deserve it and the internet has equal shares of both. It's weird to know that there are always people who will remember you and to know which of those remember you fondly and which of those see red at the mere mention of your name. It's maddening to know that in the case of the latter, you can never change their mind and that trying is a futile exercise.

In closing. I am often glad that I'm not so well known that I'm hated. :) Obscurity has its rewards. Being in the firing line means you're always one bullet away from death.

Actually no, that was a crappy metaphor, scratch that. I'm done warbling now. What are your thoughts on internet fame?

Poetry. Did ya miss it?

So I haven't posted any poetry for a while. Why? Mainly because, as always, I've been trying to improve upon what has come before. Specifically there are two main areas I've been trying to work on. Those are, better metaphors in an overall sense and a more structured approach to internal rhyming, both intended to build upon my own style and push it closer to the level of skill displayed by my own personal poetic hero, Martin Walkyier.
It's not an easy task though and with that in mind I present this piece. I'm not that happy with the overall feel of it, but I think it showcases well how I'm trying to pull the internal rhymes together. The rhythm of the piece itself is stolen, or should I say borrowed, from Mr Walkyier and fits a few Skyclad tunes that I've been paying attention to such as Polkageist! and Something to Cling To. :)

Succubus

She wore the shadows like a cloak
Reeking of desire
Her voice was darkness when she spoke
Her eyes sparked tongues of fire

She promised me with honesty
All that my body needed
But her final words of warning
Were the ones that went unheeded

Succubus, you devil woman
Sent down here to tempt me
My heart is full of lust and thus
You always offer plenty

But I wished I listened as you hissed
My soul would be the cost
If I'd only known from that first kiss
My spirit would be lost

So every night, to my delight
My carnal hunger sated
I'll pay the price in the afterlife
For love I should have waited

Succubus, you devil woman
Sent down here to tempt me
My heart is full of lust and thus
You always offer plenty

© Charon 2009

Just an update on our trading efforts.

It took an hour and a half of marketplace negotiating to find a buyer for our plundered armour. We eventually sold it for a hefty 160'000 gold pieces. I immediately spent 30'000 of my share on a sword known as the "Saw" which is the best sword going on the game. :)

Here's a picture of Blaze showing off her new sword. The blue girl to the left is Mizore. The guy in black is just some random.

Kicking it with the pros.

An amazingly successful day on Endless online for my alter-ego Blaze and Pete as Mizore.

There are various monsters on endless that have a tiny percentage of dropping extremely rare and expensive items. Usually those areas are camped by high level characters, repeatedly killing the monster and taking the items, leaving them unattainable for low level characters and thus they change hands for very high sums of gold. Basic economics. Supply and demand.

So today, Blaze and Mizore headed down into the gnoll caves. In what can only be described as an epic tussle we eventually managed to wrest control of one of the gnoll spawn points and, amid the jealous cries of "OMG NOOBS!" we took down five gnolls and in doing so, grabbed ourself an item called "Archery Armour". :) One quick price check at the market later and we discover that they are changing hands for 125'000 to 200'000 gold pieces. :D We plan on selling ours on for around 150k upwards, netting us at least 75'000 gold pieces each. Not bad for an hour's work. And we could get plenty more if we had a third party member!! :P

Indeed. Today was our most successful day on Endless yet. We also met a nice guy called Saeger who kept the other minor monsters off our back while we fought the gnolls so we handed control of the spawn point over to him when we left. ^^ Teamwork rocks.

What will tomorrow bring? :D Why not make a character, join us and find out!

Endless Online

So as you know, I'm a pretty avid gamer. My opinions on "pay to play" or games touted as free but with 'premium' services are well documented. So I'm always on the lookout for any games that are genuinely free, or require only a one off payment. Over the last few weeks, Pete and I have been looking for a fun game to play for free and after trying some pretty awful fare we finally found Endless Online.
It's free, in the fullest sense of the word. I think it's best described as an anime-esque 2D MMORPG. And most importantly, it's pretty good fun. ^^
You can sign up for free and create up to three characters, customizable with two genders, four skintones, twenty hairstyles and ten hair colours. The game has a basic class system, choosable at will, with the ability to switch between classes to learn a varied skillset. It also features a vault system for storing those precious items and a party system and friends list for your social needs. All in all it's pretty fantastic for the price, which is free. :)
So. If you have some spare time on your hands and want to come stab various monsters with myself and my brother then download the game client from here.
http://www.endless-online.com/client.html
Due to the amount of players you will have to be creative when choosing your username and naming your characters as most obvious names will be taken already. Sign up, create, log on and come and find us. Who knows, we may even have some spare equipment to start you off on your adventures.
You can find me playing as either Blazescarlet or Charonicus and Pete as either Mizoreswan or Marimoheader. Don't be put off if it seems confusing at first. We learnt the ropes in a couple of days and we can get you up to speed much faster.
Here are some screenshots for your enjoyment. Click on the pictures to view them full size in a separate window as they are slightly cut off.

First. Blaze, modelling the female ninja outfit and dark blade.



Attacking a sheep.



Casting the spell, small thunder.



And Charonicus, resting his weary feet in the hatshop.



Stood up to show off his green boots... those are temporary. ¬¬ I'm saving up for black ones. :P



And swinging his chain. That too is temporary until I can afford something better. It was given to me by another player. :)