Month: December 2014

…

Cookies.

I’m going to miss the Happy Cookie Place when the German Market completes :

Those cookies are large. Think 4 inches in diameter (maybe – mine are all gone so I can’t check) and about a centimeter thick. I know ! I know ! Mixing units in the same sentences is naughty.

I apologise. But not for the cookies. They’re awesome. Cupid’s Gift has been liking them too, really glad I picked up on the marble cake hint to prod me into passing on some cookies 🙂

I didn’t escape the house today but hopefully will tomorrow. And then I’ll pick up even more cookies. Other cookies just don’t really compare. And they have cake too. Cake that is bigger than my hand. And to prove that the cake is not a lie :

Yep. Big cakes.

Holiday stuff ?

I’ve been trying to remember how to pilot again … I’ve beaten the combat challenges on the Elite Dangerous tutorials (at least up to the Sidewinder vs Cobra one – got bored after) but it was a bit of a job relearning how to fly … Crikey that’s been a while. Space combat is very different to air flight maneouvres. It’s free in 3 dimensions and the controls in Elite : D at least means you’re pitching up rather a lot (because the turn rate is better in that axis). To follow someone you’ll roll so they’re on that vertical axis and then pitch to get them in your gunsights.

Air combat is totally different – you’re fighting gravity and you’re also interacting with a fluid (the air). So whereas in space combat, going up causes no problems, going up in air combat means you’re turning your speed into height and you’re subject to the g forces that space games forget about. You lose speed, which means you’re likely to stall. So in air combat, it’s either done at range with missiles or you’re rolling and using the elevators to turn. It’s done on the flat rather than in the vertical.

But it’s taking a while to get used to the game again. And … so many keys …

Been listening to music, I’m steadily getting my way through the library. Although, there’s still new stuff appearing in it. I’ve been enjoying listening to the legend that was Frank Sinatra crooning old classics. He was amazing. There’s 588 tracks to go, or 1.4 days of listening. I might get close by the end of the holiday. It’s only been … 14 months so far since I reset the library when I moved it to the Macbook ?

Oh – mentioning that … I get a lot of frustration with my Windows 7 desktop. Things like it not wanting to talk over the network to my phone or the printer. So for the Elite keys, I was printing from the Macbook after giving up on the desktop. Meh. Windows has always been daft when it comes to connectivity.

Cookies ?

Clever dog. Last one :

Gonna have to lose some weight again in the new year. I blame a combination of winter SAD and immobility. But I’ll be walking to the bus again in the new year, so I should shift some of the weight.

Make that a new year’s resolution !

Cya tomorrow 🙂

I’ve already done one Santa pic, way back for day 5 – Red.

But, today – here’s one I’ve been using as an avatar all month :

Dragon Santa !

Had to be done. I’ll use him as my avatar all through December.

I’ve treated myself today. I had a mad moment where I paid the (probably exorbitant) price for Elite : Dangerous. It’s £40 at the moment, which I consider a bit hefty. But I paid it anyway because I remember all that time sunk into the original Elite. Need to get my flightstick out again for this one and to dust off the printer for the keyboard layout.

On gaming, I’ve just watched a lovely chilled out stream from Pippa Warr (@philippawarr) about a game that’s coming out very soon, called How To Build A Snowman. It’s a simple puzzle game, utterly charming. And I got a lovely chuckle when I linked over the Internet Hug pic 🙂 (there was a bauble related reason). I think I may be tuning in for more if she does more.

More pics ?

One more :

Muahaha. Have a good evening everyone.

It could only be …

Return of the Snow Thing !

I made him a number of years ago. We hadn’t had snow for quite a few years, so when it started falling one winter night it was a massive novelty.

So of course I had to head outside at 11.30 to build a snowman. You can probably tell by his size that we didn’t actually get much snow that night. But it had to be done ! I bet I got a few funny looks from the neighbours too, which makes it worth it.

More pic ?

Bill Watterson, creator of Calvin & Hobbes is an absolute legend. And one of the staples of Calvin & Hobbes was always the snowmen scenes in the winter.

Utterly hilarious.

Now for some chilling out – on the telly we have the Strictly Come Dancing finale. I have no clue who’s going to win. Once the also rans were eliminated, it’s been an incredibly strong field with 6 potential winners. I hope Caroline wins, although it would be good to see Mark win as he’s come from nothing to be something pretty special.

And on the desktop, we have Yogscast doing (or trying to do – the game is a bit broken) Civ V on the livestream. That’s usually good for a laugh as they ally, betray and backstab each other in an otherwise friendly game.

But I better wrap – I’ve been hearing the dinner bell going off in the kitchen. Better rescue my munchies before the smoke alarm tells me :

Cya !

Lol – I see – oops

I think Sean *Young* is far better looking though!!!

Haha – that's harsh. Bit wooden but I think that was the part … lol

ably supported by 'Sean Penn'….. Yup – You're definitely tired. You might want to check that again… [lol]

Ah well – having to cheat on this one again :

I have to admit, I don’t go too many places there are pine cones. I do have one of my own pics for tomorrow though.

My Xmas leave starts here ! By golly do I need it too. The physical and mental batteries are drained, the outsides need some healing time and there’s a few things I need to sort out around the house.

Plans :

Head up to see the mum & dad at some point for the Xmas day festivities;
Hopefully see Cupid’s Gift again if she’s free (am missing that chuckle);
Watch lots of movies and recorded stuff;
Perhaps see a few movies with the Crazie mob ?

I’m kicking it off tonight with pizza and by watching Blade Runner. It’s a Ridley Scott directed movie from the 80s and it is … stunningly beautiful in its own dingy way. I have the blu ray edition Final Cut and for an old movie, it does look amazing still off the bluray. The sound isn’t maybe as good as bluray quality but it’s still really good.

Harrison Ford leads this movie incredibly well, ably supported by Sean Penn (ed – erm, make that Sean Young). And the soundtrack by Vangelis is out of this world.

Still tired though. I may not be up long after the movie finishes.

I’ll hibernate over the weekend but I will head out early next week. There’s a few errands I have to do. Like get my jacket fixed ! There’s not much damage but the zipper has gone which means … coooold. It’s an old jacket and I may actually retire it …

I also need to get HMV to sort out a couple of blurays I bought. Plan A tonight was to watch XMen Days Of Future Past but the girl in the store was too confused to remove the anti-theft tag. So early next week will see me visit the store (with receipt) to sort that out. Ha ! First World Problems.

Back to the movie 🙂

Whatever could we use for stockings …

Well, I can think of something that ends up being very photogenic in stockings …

Haha – I suspect you were thinking of something different …

Ok. You thought it, you asked for it (beware mental scarring again)

Yogscast strike again 🙂

Gotta admit, I’m really flagging at the moment. It must be the after effects of yesterday’s Xmas party but I’m quite drained now. Definitely looking forward to the Xmas break now. Just one more day to go. So what happened yesterday ? Can’t remember what I wrote actually (brb).

I drank wine … That doesn’t happen too often. I tend to avoid alcohol due to unfortunate ill tendencies … I was the only one on our table drinking the white wine and ended up having maybe 4 glasses, most of the bottle.

Oops. I wasn’t ill or anything. I didn’t actually notice the wine too much. I definitely noticed the freebie rose wine we had before going in for the dinner.

Nah – it’s the walking that got me. I went on a rather strange route, Google reckoned it was 2 miles, I reckon I must have walked at least 3 on that leg, plus another mile after that. It just happened to take me past the Happy Cookie Place again … All those miles have settled into my legs and made them rather stiff and sore today.

However … one thing I’m happy about is that I’m able to do that indefinite walking thing again. That would have been difficult a month or so ago when there was still swelling in my legs and ankles. Pretty much all of that’s gone now. Hurrah ! I’m still looking like I’ve been dragged through that thornbush but at least I have most of my mobility back again.

Wow – this post has ended up longer than expected. Tiredness meant I thought I’d just post the pictures and run. But not before saying …

I may be tired, fatigued and waiting to collapse tomorrow night but – Cupid’s Gift is still making me laugh out loud with the random text messages.

Beware – I may end up being insufferable with mentions of Cupid’s Gift 🙂 The image of her lovely bubbly chuckle is one I’m desperately trying to retain in my mind !

Before I go, if anyone sees me doing this at work tomorrow :

Or just tell me there’s been a text come in from Cupid’s Gift. That’ll wake me up.

Crikey.

This could be one of those weird posts where I make absolutely no sense whatsoever. Whaddya mean ! That’s every post. Ok. Guilty as charged.

Favourite holiday movies ? There can only be one absolute favourite :

It has to be that ultimate anti-holiday movie. Guns, explosions, crazy people. And it’s set at Xmas.

What else ? There’s a bunch of favourite movies with a Xmas connection for me :

Fifth Element. That riotous frantic headlong flight through an Earth of 500 years hence, all brought to us by the vision of Luc Besson. He’s something special as a film maker. I add this one because we usually watch it in the Crazie Anti-Xmas gathering that we have a few days after the 25th. Hopefully that’ll happen again this year. Perhaps a certain little Cupid’s Gift lady could come along too ? I’m sure the Crazies would make her welcome, although it depends on our busy little lady’s availability.

Hoping to see our Cupid’s Gift again soon. The memory of that magic bubbly chuckle she has fades too quickly.

More movie !

When I was growing up, the Star Wars movies (original versions!) were the definitive Xmas day movie. They were on every year. I may do a run of all 6 movies this holiday. I need to clear space on the box first though (too much Doctor Who and ST:TNG).

I may well watch these guys too :

Minions are awesome. And somehow, I’ve not watched my copy of Despicable Me 2 yet.

The Lord of the Rings films have been an annual staple of Xmas too, albeit in the cinema and not in the small screen. I don’t own the Hobbit movies yet but may watch the LOTRx3 movies over the break. I suspect Star Wars will be the Xmas movie of the next few years, judging by the timings.

Oh my, tiredness and incoherency are threatening to come down on me. Although I’m fighting it … My route home happened to take me past the Happy Cookie Place, so of course more cookies appeared. As well as, one of the Cakes Larger Than My Hand :

It will not last out the night.

PS You can see two signs on my hand there … it’s my right hand which has the natural Vulcan salute. I must have broken fingers at some point, although I can’t remember. You’d have thought I would ? The second sign is some of the psoriasis spotting on my wrist. It’s improving, honest !