Blog a Day 64of365: Self-indulgent whinge

Ugh what to write about in this OneADay?

I feel as if I’ve got far too much on my mind today. This week’s been an odd one mentally, especially considering I haven’t slept well in over a week. It’s really not helped.

I’m hoping I can spend the weekend recharging my batteries a bit and switching my brain off. I have got work to go to tomorrow night but it’s only a few hours so that shouldn’t be too bad. I keep feeling rubbish about money anyway so can’t complain.

Otherwise I think I’ll be mostly playing WoW and spending some quality time with the PSP. As well as probably watching a few films at the same time. Not sure what the weather’s meant to be like but I went for a walk today and after work tomorrow, I won’t be up to more walking Sunday :/ Another thing bugging me, bleh!

Regardless of dire money situations, I’m determined to have a takeaway on Sunday night though!

Watching Wedding Crashers earlier did briefly cheer me up at least.

What do you do to get through a rubbish day?

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Blog a Day 63of365: Today I…

…Spent copious amounts of time playing Phantasy Star Zero while laying in bed
…Sent a couple of emails – one to a friend, one to follow up on something that I suspect I’ll never get a reply to
…Ate a far too large bowl of Frosted Wheats for breakfast
…Caught up on the news for the day thaks to BBCNews
…Fed the guinea pigs some bonus hay on top of their usual meal simply because it’s nice to see happy guinea pigs
…Buried a deceased goldfish (I’m pretty sure it’s wrong to bury a goldfish that isn’t deceased!)
…Procrastinated excessively by lurking on various forums
…Did the washing up and dreamt of the day we can afford to buy a dishwasher
…Went shopping and returned with some cheese pasties, a fudge brownie and a much needed HDMI cable
…Popped into work and rented District 9 and Up
…Watched Film 2010 with Jonathan Ross
…Cancelled my Lovefilm subscription
…Watched Get Smart while working
…Marvelled as my HDMI cable gave me the ability to switch inputs at a press of a button rather than having to switch cables
…Played an hour or two of Mass Effect 2 while contemplating various things
…Spent some time doubting myself and my writing ability
…Decided it was best to bury my head in the sand while too tired to think clearly
…Ate a very ‘healthy’ dinner of sausages, beans, mushrooms and hash browns (all cooked in olive oil at least)
…Watched District 9
…Wrote this

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Blog a Day 62of365: World of Warcraft Beginner’s Guide

It’s been an interesting day with mostly nothing going as planned. A lot of it turned out for the better at least so can’t complain! I was meant to be at work tonight but my boss phoned and ‘offered’ me the night off. I could really do with the money but unfortunately when the boss says ‘do you want the night off?’, it’s a rhetorical question.

Anyway, this means I’ve had more time which means this entry will be a bit more interesting in theory. I’ve managed to encourage a few MMO newbies to try out World of Warcraft so this is a very brief ‘newbie’ guide.

First of all, it’s going to seem rather intimidating.

Your first choice will be what server to go on. It’s entirely up to you of course, but a few pointers/jargon busters.

PvE: These servers are Player versus Enemy, there’s no chance of a real person killing you (unless you decide to duel them for a laugh) and the server type I prefer at the moment.

PvP: Player versus Player. This means other players that aren’t on your side (Alliance and Horde are the two sides) can kill you. Personally I find this can get a little irritating when you’re in the middle of something and some annoying person decides to repeatedly follow and kill you. Others however will find this much more thrilling than standard servers. All depends on your personality I guess and what you find fun.

RP: Stands for RolePlaying. I’d love to say RP servers means everyone acts in character but it doesn’t really seem to happen. I have found a slightly better class of people on RP servers though but maybe that’s just me.

After you’ve figured out what server to choose, there’s the choice of what race/class combination!

To put it simply, both Alliance and Horde is fun and the same can be said of all the various classes. It’s a personal choice. For example, I absolutely love playing Night Elf Hunters. I love the independence (I’m quite an anti social MMORPG player it has to be said!) and the fact that my pet can tank for me while I fire arrows from a distance. However others quite rightly prefer to tank outright as a warrior, be a powerful mage or be a friendly all healing priest type. It’s entirely up to you.

It doesn’t take long to level up to level 10 or so, so I’d suggest trying all of them and see which one works for you. The same is true of which race, although do accept that if you choose to be a gnome, people will laugh at you! It’s the law

Take your time, figure out the early quests. Go talk to everyone with a yellow exclamation or question mark above their head. Most of all have fun! Don’t worry if everyone else seems to know what they’re doing, they probably do. It’s a 5 year old game after all so genuine newbies are fewer on the ground than they used to be. Everyone’s got to start somewhere though Do try to be polite though. Others may not be (all online games are plagued by idiots) but it’s friendly to be nice and doesn’t cost anything.

WoW offers a nice benefit in the form of add-ons which you can download to help you in your efforts. I wouldn’t recommend too many at first while you’re learning the game but once you’ve got the basics sorted, download QuestHelper. It’s brilliant and saves so much time! Try not to be too focused on the grind though, make sure you have fun getting to the high end game after all!

On a security note, I’d suggest only getting your add-ons from trusted sources like Curse. There are a few tales of dodgy add-ons so stick with sites that look major.

Another fantastic resource is Thottbot. It’s as old as WoW and it’s great if you’re stumped as to what to do next in a quest.

That’s all that comes to mind at the moment. The main one to take on board is enjoy it! Oh and try not to get too sucked in. I never have but I did the addiction thing with Everquest so maybe I’m immune :p But if you’re feeling yourself wanting to put off important things like work or sleep or your kids in favour of the game, then take a step back and re-assess things.

Feel free to leave any questions in the comments and I’ll turn it into a future entry.

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Blog a Day 61of365: A Plea to Disney

I spent the afternoon watching Aladdin. I was worried it wouldn’t live up to my childhood memories but instead I enjoyed it immensely. It was also borderline disturbing just how much of the script I knew. Certainly a good 99% of it and all the lines of every single song. Even the slightly rubbish one (feel free to guess which one that could be). I watched it probably a good 100 times as a child, no lie. I really did love it.

It reminded me how much I loved The Lion King also. Another film that I haven’t seen in at least 12 years.

I’m slightly desperate for an eventual DVD rerelease or Blu-ray release. It’s bound to happen eventually but I do wish Disney would get on with it. The demand has quite clearly been built to a significant level so Disney, please, just get on with releasing the overpriced Blu-ray Collector’s Edition.

We all know it’ll contain a restored, new shiny improved print of The Lion King. It’ll have a DVD copy included, a digicopy and maybe even a Betamax copy for good measure. It’ll offer countless making-of documentaries that I will never get round to watching, plus a few concept art slideshows that I’ll never see. Maybe there’ll be a few physical goodies too: artcards, a steelbox case or even a cuddly toy. It’ll mostly be pointless tat in the grand scheme of things. But consumerist fool me will still buy it. Just so I can relive the memories. Of course I’ll still fast forward past that scene because it’s bound to cause floods of tears just like before, but I’ll love the rest of it.

It’s been long enough now with no digital copy of The Lion King, so get on with it now please Disney. Right this second now that is.

Actually, not right now. I’m a bit broke after buying the Friends boxset (£23.20!) and I’m still trying to save up to have my sight tested and get new lenses. So erm…….how about May? Is that good for you Disney? Yes? Excellent. Thank you

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Blog a Day 60of365: Boxsets

I work part time for a *puts on fake advertising voice* ‘major high street rental chain’ which must narrow it down a fair bit considering I’m pretty sure there’s only one rental chain left in the high street!

It’s not bad really, great co-workers and it just about pays the bills. The curse is I’m surrounded by all my favourite forms of media. Surrounded by thousands of DVDs and Blu-rays, a good few hundred games and a ridiculous quantity of junk food, there’s a lot of temptation.

I’ve been extremely good for a few months now, certainly since before Christmas. It’s partly willpower, partly due to being criminally broke due to my hours being so badly cut. I haven’t even bought a packet of crisps, or a bottle of water while there. The water probably being a mistake as I always seem to end up dehydrated after a shift!

The main two things that have tempted me in work lately is The Hangover on Blu-ray and the Friends 10th Anniversary boxset. I justified not purchasing The Hangover for now as I can always rent it again (free rentals, hurrah!) and it’s bound to drop in price eventually.

The Friends boxset however has just been too expensive for me at £50 which is annoying as I’d like to have them all rather than rely on the Virgin TV Choices service which only has half a series at a time. That is until today.

I had to pop into work this morning to have a chat with my boss about something. After that was sorted I hung around for a few minutes to have a chat with my assistant manager about games. As I was talking to him I was idly looking at the shelves behind the counter. There I saw it. A pre-owned copy of the Friends 10th Anniversary boxset for £29! Now £29 seems much more reasonable to me and something I could just about justify to myself (especially as I’m working a few shifts this week rather than my usual pathetic one shift!). I resisted being impulsive though. After all that’s how you end up buying crap that you don’t need/really want, right?

I’ve had the day to think it over. I’m in work at 8 tonight and I’m planning to buy it this time round. That’s assuming it’s still there. It’s usually a quiet day on a Monday and it is behind the counter, partially obscured but knowing my luck someone will have bought it! I don’t think any of my co-workers will so that narrows it down a bit. But still, who knows.

So yes, hopefully after my shift at work I’ll have a Friends boxset alongside me too.

Oh and yeah this is a rather uninspired OneADay. Sorry about that!

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