I've been having fun with The Last Stand 2:

http://armorgames.com/play/1443/the-last-stand-2

I think my highest "Zombies put to rest" count so far was 1297.

I'm going to read more into this quote than probably intended:

"Tennant has been confirmed to star in the lead role for a number of BBC One specials next year. The fifth series, with Bafta-winning writer Steven Moffat at the helm, is scheduled to be broadcast on BBC One early the following year. Moffat is to take over from current writer and executive producer, Russell T Davies, from 2010.

It's the first line "Tennant has been confirmed to star in the lead role for a number of BBC One specials next year. "

"a number of BBC One specials" - so maybe not 'all' of them.

I don't think Tennant will be the Doctor when Steven Moffat starts weaving his magic at the beginning of Season 5.

I also agree with some of my friends that Steven Moffat should bring back one of his own creations as the Doctors Companion - Sally Sparrow.

Doctor Who Finale Watched by 9.4m (BBC Online; Sunday 6th July 2008)

Just got back from the midnight showing of The Mist, which has only just been released here in the UK despite being released last September in the States! It seems like it won't be on for long either as the local cinema had two showings this week 11.40pm Friday and Saturday night!

Anyway, daver2323 suggested it so he, crookedmonkey, dredd_bob and myself headed through the late night mean streets of Finchley (ahem) to watch the film.

Now before I go into the film I'd just like to say that I generally am not a fan of Stephen King - his books nor the film/tv adaptations based upon them. Sure there's been one or two over the years (The Green Mile is a fantastic film) but generallly, no. The Mist is based upon one of his novels so I wasn't sure although the Director, Frank Darabont, was also the man behind The Green Mile so worth a shot I guess.

Damn right it was worth a shot.

I think The Mist may be the best film I've seen all year at the cinema so far. I'm going to sleep on that but my current top two are Iron Man and Cloverfield and The Mist certainly beats Cloverfield for me and is giving Iron Man a good run for its money.

I loved it. The creatures were awesome and the film was eerie. Certainly beat the lacklustre 'Hancock' that dredd_bob, larva and myself saw this morning.

Dave and me (geeks as we are) spoke about what roleplaying game it'd be - he reckoned Cthulhu "The Stars Are Right". I reckoned Torg, with the film being the initial cosm-invasion.

I won't say much more about it right now (especially as it's now almost 3am and I have to be up in 6 hours to get ready to go and see Kung Fu Panda with the guys - yes, this weekend is fairly cinema-heavy) but the other thing that impressed all of us was the incredibly bleak ending. It's great to see the rare bleak endings that American films seem so adverse to providing us.

Brilliant movie.

Now that the RTD slate has been wiped clean, perhaps Steven Moffat can bring back one of his own creations, Sally Sparrow, as an assitant.

For I has just seen it! Overall quite fun, and a monster 65 mins long. I wonder if that's a try-out for later stuff? (They're all "specials" next year, I think.) So what can I say without getting lynched? In no particular order:

(spoiler)The Daleks, in the end, do not get things entirely their own way.(/spoiler)  :D

It was nice to see all the supporting cast gathered together and doing stuff. And there's a nice bit near the end about that. Davros gets a pretty good showing too.

The big extra-complications stuff I thought might be happening this episode? None of it did. Except maybe for one thing right near the start, which was almost a given. Well, it's nice to have been surprised.

We find out what bad thing happens to Donna, as telegraphed all series, and it is indeed a bit harsh. But she gets to have some good moments too.

In the end I found it a little bit less satisfying than I hoped to, basically because of the RTD approach we've learned to expect. Lots of Big Stuff happening, fantastic visuals, lots of emphasis on character stuff, but too much reliance on the deus ex machina and the connection that makes no sense. Sometimes its the grand pantomime at the expense of story. Don't get me wrong, it's only a minor niggle. (It'll be interesting to look back on Moffat's stint in a similar way. Atmosphere at the expense of story? Who knows.) And I do give him props for all the earlier bits from this series and the previous ones that foreshadowed what happened - or are made to look like they did.

kickinthenuts has designed me an 'alternative' take on my usual 'Once More With Feeling' default userpic with the Southern Comfort bottle that I usually use.

This has apparently come about because Mike, my boss at leisuregames, somehow thought that my icon was of a ketchup bottle??? And I'm the one who wears glasses!!!!!

Anyway, many thanks Sean for making this for me. I will treasure it deeply...

 The Old                                         The New
                    

So, after LJ being quiet for the last hour or so I guess my friends page will now be inundated with loads of comments about the season finale of Doctor Who :p

Looking forward to Victorian-era cybermen though ;p

I wish a very happy celebration day to all sons and daughters of hated American Global Hegemony! To celebrate with the amusing comics of Kate Beaton! YES!


Read more Kate Beaton genius at beatonna, she's quite amazing actually. I do hope that the Americans reading this have a great day. Party on, USA!

This is genius and just goes to reinforce my opinions of many who apparently belong to the same human race as I allegedly do:

Control Room: "South Wales Police, what's your emergency?"

Caller: "It's not really. I just need to inform you that across the mountain there's a bright stationary object."

Control room: "Right."

Caller: "If you've got a couple of minutes perhaps you could find out what it is? It's been there at least half an hour and it's still there."

Control: "It's been there for half an hour. Right. Is it actually on the mountain or in the sky?"

Caller: "It's in the air."

Control: "I will send someone up there now to check it out."

Caller: "OK."

The mystery was soon solved, as the exchange between control and an officer at the scene, makes clear.

Control: "Alpha Zulu 20, this object in the sky, did anyone have a look at it?"

Officer: "Yes, it's the moon. Over."

Went to dinner last night with friends, who treated me for my birthday.

SteveB and Kathy picked me up around 6:35 pm or so last night, and said that dinner was going to be a surprise. I thought that we were going to eat Chinese, but it turned out that we were going to The Keg. I love that restaurant, but haven't been there in ages!

When we got to the restaurant, I was shocked to find that Nick, Tom, Joanne, their spouses and significant others, and several other folks were there. My goddaughter, Ellie, was there, and the others had brought some of their older kids, so... We were a party of twelve! Kathy had said that she might try and set me up with someone for my birthday, but I was actually rather glad that she hadn't. The food itself was absolutely terrific, and the conversation was quite scintillating. I had a very good steak, with salad, baked potato, and steamed vegetables on a platter, while the others all had assorted foodstuffs from The Keg's solid menu. I indulged a little bit, but didn't have any wine, sticking to water and decaf iced tea most of the evening. The piéce de resistance came with dessert...a magnificent chocolate mousse confection with whipped cream and cherries. SteveB, Ellie, and I split one slice of the superb chocolate treat, and washed it down with decaf coffee.

After dinner, everyone split up, what with work commitments the next day and all, and SteveB gave me a lift back to my place. We talked about all sorts of stuff, and made plans to go to several of the concerts during the 11-day Ottawa Bluesfest that started yesterday.

It was a lovely evening, and I want to thank SteveB and Kathy for such a nice treat on my birthday, and for the good company and discourse as well. I'm also glad that I only have a birthday once a year, 'cause I don't think I could handle eating like that more often! Thanks again, guys. :)

Current Mood: good

Happy USA Day to Americans!

This year's 4th July is brought to you by superhero comics, Dungeons and Dragons, tea bags and Koko the gorilla.

Please feel welcome to contribute good things about America.

I would like to wish all the folks in the United States of America, and all of my American LJ friends a very Happy Independence Day this Fourth of July.

This day is about enjoying life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, and I hope that each of you is doing so today, and every day, in your own way and with your own passion.

Enjoy the fireworks and other 4th of July celebrations. Be safe, and be happy. :)

Current Mood: calm

An interesting article about the report  on the third World Trade Center Tower to fall (Tower #7) is due to be published in the States this summer.

"The official explanation is that ordinary fires were the main reason for the collapse of Tower 7. That makes this the first and only tall skyscraper in the world to have collapsed because of fire. Yet despite that all the thousands of tonnes of steel from the building were carted away and melted down."

"Avery points out that Tower 7 housed some unusual tenants: the CIA, the Secret Service, the Pentagon and the very agency meant to deal with disasters or terrorist attacks in New York - the Office of Emergency Management."

I didn't realise so many people, in the States, felt that Bush and his government were hiding something over the attacks (53% according to the New York Times) or that a third of another poll believed that government officials either assisted or allowed the attacks to take place.

Anyway, here's the BBC's article:

The Evolution of a Conspiracy Theory (BBC Online; Friday 4th July 2008)

In addition to this Saturday's cinema trip to Hancock (see below for details) it appears that Liana and I, at least, will be going to see Kung Fu Panda on Sunday at the North Finchley VUE. The film starts at 10.40am so we're meeting at the cinema at 10.30am.

Hope to see some of you at one or both of the cinema trips this weekend!

Hancock: Saturday 5th July

We're meeting outside the VUE North Finchley at 10.45am for the 11am screening.

NAME OF GAME:
Hot War

AUTHOR:
Malcolm Craig

PUBLISHER:
Contested Ground Studios

ILLUSTRATORS:
Paul Bourne

PRICE:
$28/£15

PAGES:
204

SIZE:
Digest

DUE FOR RELEASE:
Pre-order from Indie Press Revolutionduring July 2008 (order the hardcopy and get the PDF free, pre-order period begins during the week of 7th July), see it at GenCon US (14-17 August 2008) on the Play Collective booth

DESCRIPTION:
A game of friends, enemies, secrets and consequences in the aftermath of a horrifying war.

Features stunning and terrifying artwork by Paul Bourne. Many elements of information in the game are shown through propaganda posters, protest sheets, memos, diaries and documents, giving a real feel for the world.

This alternative history/horror game for three or more participants has players dealing with life a year after the apocalypse. You'll confront hidden agendas, sinister factional machinations and see the changes in relations with friends and enemies.

Hot War allows both short term and campaign play, with a system that allows the group to work out exactly the kind of game they want to play amongst the wreckage of 1960s London.

You can find out more about the game on the CGS forums.

Well, after reading the story and seeing this video, I don't think I will be complaining about the Canadian medical care system again.

What a mess, and a truly disgusting situation this is!

Current Mood: disgusted

Poo. The Black Industries Warhammer FRPG site now redirects to its new home at FFG, but the nice library of free fan-made scenarios isn't there. I was going to see if I could find one for my gaming group on Sunday. I have grabbed some already, but was looking forward to prospecting. 

I've come to the conclusion that actually there isn't a vast amount about Warhammer that grabs me apart from the ease of use and availability of material. It's fine and it's well done but the grottiness of the setting doesn't float my boat and the system doesn't cause interesting things to happen. Great as a pick-up/fill in game though.

We just have the very end of one of these scenarios to do this week, then whatever else I come up with. Then we need to work out what we're playing next. The summer's all a bit uncertain, with one of our small group away for some or all of it.

Thread at RPGnet: '[PDQ] What are you doing with it?' Folks doing all sorts of funky stuff - Chad, go see! Gratifying that my stuff gets some nice mentions too. 

I remember it, etc.

What amuses me right now is the large amount of rain we're having, combined with the Urban Beach that'll be near my office for the next two weeks.

While today is my birthday, there's also something else...

Today, this LiveJournal is two years old. Yes, I started this LiveJournal on my birthday in 2006, and so it's got a bit of history to it now. To be honest, I never really thought that I would have all that much to say in the Journal, and yet, I guess things occur that one wants to write down for posterity, that one wants to be able to re-read at some time down the road, just to see how one has changed over time...hopefully for the better.

Frankly, I've never thought of myself as being a supremely interesting person, and feel myself to be quite mundane for the most part. As such, I never really expected folks to read the Journal, let alone comment on some of the entries (and to be truthful, there aren't a lot of comments on my Journal, at least not as many compared to some others I've seen), so it is good to know and see that someone actually reads the oft-times drivel that I write here.

So I want to take this time to thank everyone who reads this LJ for doing so, for commenting sometimes on the thoughts that I jot down here, and for being my friends, even only in a virtual sense (although there are some of you that I know outside the virtual environment).

So on to the third year's worth of journal entries....

Current Mood: pleased