There is nothing quite like a Zombie apocalypse to bring a couple closer together.
My girlfriend and I have been busier than usual over the past couple of weeks with work, writing, photo shoots and event planning. But between all of that and attending various gigs and events; we have still managed to find time to come together and feed our minor addiction to the survival horror games Left 4 Dead and Left 4 Dead 2 on the XBOX 360.
The premise of both games is pretty straight forward. Four characters are stranded in any one of a number of Zombie invested environments, and must make it to an evacuation point by overcoming various obstacles; namely a horde of Zombies that wish to rip you apart.
I’m fortunate to have a girlfriend who not only tolerates my geeky interests and gaming, but occasionally joins in; and when she does, boy does she get engrossed. Her normal polite, sweet persona quickly vanishes as she transforms in to a determined, raging, gun-toting killing machine whose only goal is to survive at any cost (Even if it means leaving the other survivors behind!).
I cannot pretend to be any better. I am one of those people that like to win everything; and sometimes forget to keep my competiveness in check. But I think our combined determination makes playing more enjoyable; as we can laugh at one another when we get annoyed for letting our characters die so close to end. Simple pleasures for simple minds!
We will have to put any further post apocalyptic fights with the Undead on hold this weekend, as tomorrow evening sees the first of a new bi-monthly Burlesque and Caberet club night in Norwich, which we will be attending; and I will be writing about it for Nova Swing. If the weather holds on Sunday we’ll be heading out of the city for an all day BBQ/party with some friends which is sure to be fun.
The break will undoubtedly be good for us both, because you know when you close your eyes and see Zombies that you’ve been playing too much!
Friday, 20 August 2010
Thursday, 12 August 2010
Meteorite Tango
Look to the skies, the heavens are falling! The Perseid meteor shower is swiftly reaching its peak. So those of us in the northern hemisphere, who look toward the sky this evening, will be rewarded with a spectacular sight!
Between 60 and 80 meteorites travelling at speeds of around 135,000mph will carve up the night sky in one of the most impressive and regular meteorite showers visible to the naked eye. Unfortunately I happen to be living in a region forecast to be cloudy, so it is unlikely that I will see anything. Fortunately this event, having already been witnessed for around 2000 years; is likely to occur for at least another 2000 years to come, due to the current orbit of the meteors parent body around Jupiter. So I may have better luck next year.
I find it interesting to look at how far we have advanced since the first sighting of the meteors, and how our understanding of the universe has grown with the development of technology. It’s strange to think that even with the knowledge we currently possess, we still only know about 1% of what makes up the universe.
I wonder how much further humanity will have advanced in another 2000 years. Perhaps some of our descendents will monitor the Perseid meteors from colonies on the moons of Jupiter; Europa and Ganymede, whilst others explore the outer most regions of the solar system. Where ever they may be, I am sure they will be paying close attention to the parent body of the meteors; the comet Swift-Tuttle, because in around 2000 years time its orbit will bring it very close to Earth. But having had such an advanced warning I have to believe a defence toward any potential impact would have been developed.
Any sort of large scale planetary defence would require cooperation from world governments, but what would Earth’s political landscape look like in 2000 years? We are already seeing the beginnings of change, as economies such as India and China continue to grow at a faster rate than those in the west. Will the ever decreasing supply of natural resources and growing dependence on eastern markets lead to a complete shift of power? Even if it doesn’t, surely those countries with the strongest economies will have the resources and capital to develop strong space programs and potentially win the race to develop and deploy the technologies needed to claim off world territories.
It would be nice to think that the prospect of taking humanity out into the stars would give people a common goal to work toward and unite. Unfortunately I cannot see personal greed and desire for power having been overcome by that time, and feel another arms race would actually be the motivation for advancement. The goal being for every capable nation to claim as much as they can before their rivals make landfall.
It would be an interesting time to be alive, if only I had the means to survive that long!
Between 60 and 80 meteorites travelling at speeds of around 135,000mph will carve up the night sky in one of the most impressive and regular meteorite showers visible to the naked eye. Unfortunately I happen to be living in a region forecast to be cloudy, so it is unlikely that I will see anything. Fortunately this event, having already been witnessed for around 2000 years; is likely to occur for at least another 2000 years to come, due to the current orbit of the meteors parent body around Jupiter. So I may have better luck next year.
I find it interesting to look at how far we have advanced since the first sighting of the meteors, and how our understanding of the universe has grown with the development of technology. It’s strange to think that even with the knowledge we currently possess, we still only know about 1% of what makes up the universe.
I wonder how much further humanity will have advanced in another 2000 years. Perhaps some of our descendents will monitor the Perseid meteors from colonies on the moons of Jupiter; Europa and Ganymede, whilst others explore the outer most regions of the solar system. Where ever they may be, I am sure they will be paying close attention to the parent body of the meteors; the comet Swift-Tuttle, because in around 2000 years time its orbit will bring it very close to Earth. But having had such an advanced warning I have to believe a defence toward any potential impact would have been developed.
Any sort of large scale planetary defence would require cooperation from world governments, but what would Earth’s political landscape look like in 2000 years? We are already seeing the beginnings of change, as economies such as India and China continue to grow at a faster rate than those in the west. Will the ever decreasing supply of natural resources and growing dependence on eastern markets lead to a complete shift of power? Even if it doesn’t, surely those countries with the strongest economies will have the resources and capital to develop strong space programs and potentially win the race to develop and deploy the technologies needed to claim off world territories.
It would be nice to think that the prospect of taking humanity out into the stars would give people a common goal to work toward and unite. Unfortunately I cannot see personal greed and desire for power having been overcome by that time, and feel another arms race would actually be the motivation for advancement. The goal being for every capable nation to claim as much as they can before their rivals make landfall.
It would be an interesting time to be alive, if only I had the means to survive that long!
Tuesday, 10 August 2010
Reconciliation
I can’t say I was too surprised to find, that after many failed attempts and a password reset; I logged into my blogger account to find that my last entry was over six months ago.
I started to blog because I love to write, but struggled with motivation and discipline. Having a platform such as this, on which I could set myself a target to write and self publish regularly, seemed to be a good idea. It worked to begin with. But I soon fell into the trap of making the blog my priority over producing writing with commercial value.
Setting a target of publishing entries that people would find interesting every other day meant that I was soon struggling to find anything of note in my life to write about. This eventually bred an annoyance and frustration toward writing which soon spread to all of my creative outlets.
Unfortunately my inability to write consistently and produce anything of note was not my only problem at the time. Any reader of my previous entries would have undoubtedly picked up on a few of the issues afflicting me at the time of writing. I was suffering from insomnia, which was affecting my work and social life, and I had come to feel quite isolated from people; which lead to all sorts of other problems.
Fortunately I was able to work through things and by the time of my last entry was much more comfortable with life, my writing still suffered; as the lack of any activity here may have suggested. But, as I mentioned in my last entry; I had actually achieved many of the goals I had set myself in the previous year, and was looking at making similar progress this year. So I wasn’t too concerned.
At it happened, my goals did change pretty shortly after my last entry. I found a new focus in life and through my very supporting girlfriend a new drive to succeed. This has now allowed me to return to my writing with enthusiasm and confidence. With it I hope will follow a return to blogging, on a less structured basis. Because I find it to be such a fantastic way to gain insight into people from all over the world, and the communities around it are a great place to share and develop ideas.
I started to blog because I love to write, but struggled with motivation and discipline. Having a platform such as this, on which I could set myself a target to write and self publish regularly, seemed to be a good idea. It worked to begin with. But I soon fell into the trap of making the blog my priority over producing writing with commercial value.
Setting a target of publishing entries that people would find interesting every other day meant that I was soon struggling to find anything of note in my life to write about. This eventually bred an annoyance and frustration toward writing which soon spread to all of my creative outlets.
Unfortunately my inability to write consistently and produce anything of note was not my only problem at the time. Any reader of my previous entries would have undoubtedly picked up on a few of the issues afflicting me at the time of writing. I was suffering from insomnia, which was affecting my work and social life, and I had come to feel quite isolated from people; which lead to all sorts of other problems.
Fortunately I was able to work through things and by the time of my last entry was much more comfortable with life, my writing still suffered; as the lack of any activity here may have suggested. But, as I mentioned in my last entry; I had actually achieved many of the goals I had set myself in the previous year, and was looking at making similar progress this year. So I wasn’t too concerned.
At it happened, my goals did change pretty shortly after my last entry. I found a new focus in life and through my very supporting girlfriend a new drive to succeed. This has now allowed me to return to my writing with enthusiasm and confidence. With it I hope will follow a return to blogging, on a less structured basis. Because I find it to be such a fantastic way to gain insight into people from all over the world, and the communities around it are a great place to share and develop ideas.
Sunday, 7 February 2010
2010 Issue #01
Hello, remember me?
I used to loiter here, write down random thoughts and then stick them all over the walls. But I grew increasingly absent and ended up taking an impromptu hiatus broken only by a brief reappearance in the later part of 2009. But the incident was so poorly recorded that I was mistaken for Bigfoot and filed away with other unexplained phenomenon in a dark government basement.
I eventually managed to facilitate an escape and now, like a weary marsupial, groggy from a long hibernation; I have tentatively ventured out of the darkness to see what world awaits me and another of my thoughts I hereby stick to the wall:
But what is this? A one shot post, born from a desire to write but having no idea what to write, or the making of a comeback? I simply don’t know. What I do know is that I find myself with a real desire to write, so write I shall.
As I pen this entry, I am sat in a sparsely populated train carriage that is rattling through the East Anglian countryside in the early hours of a grey, morose winter’s morning. A fine, lazy rain is falling half heartedly. Like it thought it ought to make an appearance to be socialable, but would really rather be elsewhere, and did I mention a drunk murmuring to himself in an alcohol induced sleep?
It’s quite dark outside, so the solitary line of dirty luminescent lighting from the central aisle of the carriage appears strangely welcoming. The thought reminds me of the numerous occasions, when; sat on an empty country station platform; waiting for the last train home, I would watch the lit carriages on other tracks appear in the distance as tiny specks of light, growing steadily before speeding past and shrinking back in the darkness; Leaving no sign that they had ever been there, or had existed at all.
There is something about that scene that I find captivating. Perhaps it is the way in which the carriages appear to be tiny worlds existing within a greater realm of darkness. Tiny bubbles of light and life speeding relentlessly through time.
Talking of rushing through time, it’s February 2010 already. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again; time really does just slip past quickly.
I have goals this year. I had goals last year, and largely achieved them. Unfortunately I did derail myself toward the later part of the year and I didn’t end up exactly where I wished to be. But still, progress is progress, and I intend to build upon it.
I used to loiter here, write down random thoughts and then stick them all over the walls. But I grew increasingly absent and ended up taking an impromptu hiatus broken only by a brief reappearance in the later part of 2009. But the incident was so poorly recorded that I was mistaken for Bigfoot and filed away with other unexplained phenomenon in a dark government basement.
I eventually managed to facilitate an escape and now, like a weary marsupial, groggy from a long hibernation; I have tentatively ventured out of the darkness to see what world awaits me and another of my thoughts I hereby stick to the wall:
But what is this? A one shot post, born from a desire to write but having no idea what to write, or the making of a comeback? I simply don’t know. What I do know is that I find myself with a real desire to write, so write I shall.
As I pen this entry, I am sat in a sparsely populated train carriage that is rattling through the East Anglian countryside in the early hours of a grey, morose winter’s morning. A fine, lazy rain is falling half heartedly. Like it thought it ought to make an appearance to be socialable, but would really rather be elsewhere, and did I mention a drunk murmuring to himself in an alcohol induced sleep?
It’s quite dark outside, so the solitary line of dirty luminescent lighting from the central aisle of the carriage appears strangely welcoming. The thought reminds me of the numerous occasions, when; sat on an empty country station platform; waiting for the last train home, I would watch the lit carriages on other tracks appear in the distance as tiny specks of light, growing steadily before speeding past and shrinking back in the darkness; Leaving no sign that they had ever been there, or had existed at all.
There is something about that scene that I find captivating. Perhaps it is the way in which the carriages appear to be tiny worlds existing within a greater realm of darkness. Tiny bubbles of light and life speeding relentlessly through time.
Talking of rushing through time, it’s February 2010 already. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again; time really does just slip past quickly.
I have goals this year. I had goals last year, and largely achieved them. Unfortunately I did derail myself toward the later part of the year and I didn’t end up exactly where I wished to be. But still, progress is progress, and I intend to build upon it.
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