10 point blog post

Hey, if can do it, so can I ...

1. Gosh, I'm tired. Fencing last Saturday and Wednesday, Kobudo last Sunday and Thursday, garden mowed and tidied last night. Bruises on my forearm from sai arm locks, bruises on both elbows from freeplay on Wednesday and a slightly wrenched elbow from when Sensai demonstrated a lovely yawari stick wrist lock and throw combo on me. I also had a slightly disturbed night with odd dreams (see point 2) and an early morning (see point 10).

2. Bioshock is stunning. Not just the graphics, which are extraordinarily good in HD with rippling water reflecting fire and electricity, not just the hugely atmospheric 5.1 soundtrack which mixes dialogue, environmental effects and disturbing calliope music. It's the evocatic sense of place which I haven't felt since playing San Andreas. Rapture feels solid, huge and strange - a mix of art deco futurism and apocalyptic decay, with everything down the art on the walls, the discarded detritus of a community gone very, very badly wrong and the overpowering pressure of the water outside the walls leaking in in shimmering jets. This is a game that must be played and savoured.

3. If you don't fancy going out to buy an xbox 360, then you could always play Tetris with countries or Bloxorz an absorbing and infuriating puzzle game, reminiscent of one of the flash games from the Nokia Game several years ago.

4. While I'm linking to things, if you like listening to music on Pandora then you should check out Musicovery which puts a web 2.0 spin on the idea of linking bits of music together by themes and selections that you choose.

5. It seems that in a world threatened by global warming the most pressing issue for the Archbishop of Canterbury is whether Prince Charles should be "Defender of Faith" or "Defender of the Faith, which is a little bit like worrying what music the band should play whilst the Titanic sinks.

6. Still, at least we won't have chewing gum stuck to our shoes.

7. I always had my suspicions about Facebook. I was talking to Dungeonmaster Rob Sedgebeer a while ago, and his opinion was that they are just one step short of asking for your mother's maiden name and PIN number when you sign in. Is it any wonder that Google are supposedly eager to buy such a huge repository of personal data?

8. I am Iron Man. Should make Ozzy some royalties, if nothing else ...

9. As "da kidz" are wont to say nowadays, gratz and big ups to and for joining the ranks of the yellow sash scholar massif. Or something.

10. We has a new kitteh!