For the love of all things fraggable!!!!

Being the egotistical person that i am, I again made a search in Goolge for the word 'dickybod', that I might bask in the glow of internet recognition. 2 results in particular made me choke on my Ribena.

1) MSN Sex searches

This one was due to my repeated use of the word 'sex' in my post mimicking Mr Tarantino. The next result however was, like the URL, not right.... not right at all...

Have a look. I have no idea why its on there, and I really DON'T want to know... also, those of you of a sensitive nature (or my parents) may not want to look at the ad to the right of it. You have been warned.

Underage Dolls search results (DON'T ASK)

For my own sanity I am avoiding the other results, and after this post is complete I shall find wherever I used the phrase and erase it. To think that my blog is used for evil!

Damn that Otis...

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So, to the post. As you will probably be aware, Contact: Badminton was fun on Wednesday. I look forward to Wednesday. Not only for the joys of Contact: Badminton and the possibility of mimcking the video on Teradud's blog, but also since 4 months since I racked up a masive bill on the phone. Twas worth it though m'dear!

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Speaking of the Teradud, his latest post r0xx0r3d my b0xx0r2 so much, that I will now steal his idea. What's that? Oh yes, i meant 'I was inspired to do the same, since he was so original'. Copyright Pending.

My Own Obsessions

The Lord Of The Rings

I mean, come on, do I even need to explain this? Obvbiously I will, for all those braindead hicks who thought Legolas sounded like someone who should have been drunk the whole time. Cretins. So what is it I love so much about this trilogy? Settle down, and let me tell you a tale.

In the run up to the first film being released, I decided to read the book. I am a firm believer in the age old idea that the book is invariably better than the film. So, I pulled the musty copy of The Fellowship of the Ring down from it's shelf, and opened. Now, I'm not going to go into the old cliché of "I opened the book, and from the very first page I was hooked!" because thats a load of tosh. In fact, the book bored me to death. I almost gave up for good once it got to Tom Bombadil (sorry you Tolkien nerds). But, not wanting to see the film before I had finished the book, I persevered, and by Amon Hen and the Breaking of The Fellowship, I truly was hooked. I instantly went onto the Two Towers, again loving the brilliance of the writing and the world Tolkien had made. Helm's Deep left me still hungry for more, so out came Return of the King. What a finish. Truly amazing. Then, I remembered the point of reading the books, and I needed to see the films.

As it turns out, I never wen't to see the film. I had to wait to borrow my friend's copy of the original on DVD to see it for the first time, and once again, the magic was there. The Two Towers was, if anything, better than the Fellowship. Watching the fight for Helm's Deep was something truly special.

I believe it was December the 17th that Return of the King opened. Me, Dave, Jon and Lewis (I think...) went via the dreaded public transport to see it, on the first day it opened. Not only was it the first day of public release, it was also the first time I had cinema Nachos. Very nice they were too. But how could i type the sheer, raw emotion i felt at every moment of the film? The prologue, showing Sméagol finding the Ring, the journey through Shelob's Lair, the raid of Osgiliath, the orcs marching from Minas Morgul, the battle for Minas Tirith, Sam's fight in Cirith Ungol, The Black Gate, and the destruction of the Ring. True moments that left me breathless.

I haven't seen the film since. Not that I don't want to. I am waiting for the Extended Edition slowly and patiently. The gap of a year means that watching it again will just bring out the same feeling of joy, fear, sorrow and love I felt the first time around, and it's those feelings I never want to lose...

Swords

Yeh, this one. I think this one is a spin off of the above obsession. I mean, Orlando Bloom made Archery the number 1 sport in England after it came out, but theres something about swords i've grown to love. The obsession began in Yr10-11 english ('opf boys'). With no learning to be bothered to be done, I would doodle on a notepad I had acquired for a poetry lecture. Eventually, my technique grew to a rather astonishing degree, and I was spewing them out with ease. Eventually, I believe i reached my apex with this page. Yes, this is a link. The bottom 2 are crap, the other three I rather like.

But eventually, even drawing them wasn't enough. I'd be swinging sticks around, and when Labyrinthe reared it's ten-sided dice head, I was in awe. SWORDS!!! But alas, latex lacks the weight and sheer coolness of the real deal. I had nailed it. I-wanted-a-sword...

And thus my answer was found here (link will now be at side). I have spent far too long looking and drooling, and I have found the sword i want. Strangely enough... it's made of wood... but less than 7 quid!!! Drool...

But, it may never be. Simply for the danger factor. Still.... drool...

Final Fantasy

Yes, shameful to admit it. Let me tell you another tale. Twas June 11, 1999. I had recently turned 11, and thus had been bought by my parents a Playstation. The only games I actually had at that point were Grand Theft Auto and GTA: London. I was returning from somewhere with my mum, and we entered West Wickham High Street. From little more from one person at school hyping it up, in WHSmiths I got my grubby hands on my very first gaming impulse buy. Final Fantasy VII. How little the name meant then. So, I started to play, and quickly got into it. Then, over 6 months later, I had heard tell of the sequel's imminent release. I had loved every second of FFVII, and I knew that VIII could only be better. One flaw remained... I never had completed VII. I had got to the second form of Sephy, and had been wiped out instantly. Time for action methought. After a weeks solid levelling up and materia breeding, I entered the North Cave for the second ever time. I did even worse than the first time. Deeply enraged at this upset, I loaded my game and went back. I wasn't giving up. VIII was out in a matter of weeks! I went back to Sephiroth, and stayed standing tensely in front of our living room television for a solid 3 and a half hours, all the time healing, defending, getting the odd attack in. Then, the One-Winged Angel dissolved into the ether, and I sat down. It was over... Then the third fight began. One on One. Mano a Mano. Hero vs. Villain. Cloud vs. Sephiroth. I watched the Limit Guage fill... and pressed O twice. How deeply satisfying that was. 13 attacks, each cut accompanied by that shrill SHWING sound effect, but DAMN did it feel good...

And thus, VII came to an end. After a brief rental, I bought VIII. Then, less than a year later, IX, which I wasn't to complete until later. Then VI, if only for the demo of X. Then X itself. And how X rocked. VIII and IX sure, had been great, but X was the first since VII that made me feel such sheer pleasure from every moment of play. How could they mess it up? After the purchase of IV, V, I and II, Square-Enix showed me precisely how that could mess it up. X-2. Shudder...

And so, here's to March, and the pain or joy that only Final Fantasy XII could bring. Will it be another VII? Or will it be the game that everyone mistook X-2 to be called? Could it echo the mediocre IX? Most importantly, will I want to care? No. This is FF! Who cares how crap it is? A crap Square-Enix game almost equals the best any other developer has to offer.

Writing/RP'ing

I know, I'm a geek. But there's a simple joy ot be had in writing something, be it the factual posts of this blog to the bizarre fantasies of a good roleplay. My love of RP began as a spinoff of FF, in that I was able to shape the fantasy worlds I loved in the games into my own vision, or create my own worlds and characters entirely. And thus came the pinnacle of my RP life : Heliotopia. Itself a take on the world we had created via NationStates, the humble band of 10 we created in mere minutes went on an adventure were we knew nothing of what would happen, but that we knew we could affect what happened in that situation. And for two months Dave, Jon and I (to a lesser extent Baz) wrote what became a massive adventure, which I have decided to read again. I have it saved on Word, and damn is it long. 32,215 words, 97 pages (at size 9 font), 17 chapters, 30 characters at start, less than 10 at the end and all of it has drastically affected our nations. My hat off to Heliotopia. What a masterpeice. How fantastic it was to be a part of it...

I may post the current one i am doing with Dave. Again, to do with our nations. Valmar has invaded Pisylvania, for reasons yet unclear, and the result unknown. We structure it by playing a game of Worms 2 against each other. Then, we take the 8 worms's names, make them soldiers in our military and post a more detailed version of it. Currently, Valmar has won all 5 games, but with some near losses. Dave has yet to write up the latest battle, but I am looking forward to writing the reply to it. I love reading the posts as much as writing them, since there's some charm in it's amateur nature.

DC is another. I just love it, full stop. And I don't know why. There's just just some fascinating charm in it. I don't know. But damn, is it fun!

Sarah

Well, not really an obsession. But she does deserve a mention

[NAUSEA INDUCING STATEMENT CENSORED]

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Ok, better stop now. Downloaded GIMP today, and I am having much fun with it. Hopefully i can persuade Dave to teach me it's usage, since he is damn fine with it.

G'late sunday evening
Jihr/Valmar

(haven't done one of these since 10/11/04. Blimey...)

Playing: Killzone
Reading: Heliotopia
Listening to: 'Discovery' (album) Daft Punk
Watching: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Annoyed with: My inability to find employment via my own incompetence
Confused about: How my head works
Mood: Peaceful
Song currently stuck in head: 'In Me Burberry'
Favourite Song of the Minute: 'Drifting' - Four Non-Blondes