The Boredom Blog

The Amazon Fairy

I do enjoy getting home to find the cardboard Amazon box sitting in the hallway that is the sign that the goody fairy has been. I bought a few records this week:

• Ed Rush, Nico, Trace, Fierce - Torque.
• Ed Rush & Optical - Out of the Box.
• Andy C - Nightlife.
• Drumsound & Simon Bassline Smith - Nature of the Beast.
• Led Zeppelin - I
• Led Zeppelin - II

Now the first four records will tell you that I like drum 'n bass. Well I do, I just haven't bought any in ages and although I used to follow what was going on, I'm totally in the dark these days. I know 'Torque' from days of old (originally released in 1997) and it is a quite staggering album. Probably one of my favourites of all time. It's absolutely unrelenting in its starkness, dark and totally without colour. Brilliant.

Had a cursory listen to the other LPs whilst importing into iTunes and they all sound fab. The Drumsound & Simon Bassline Smith shows real promise (better than I expected) and the Andy C mix session is technically flawless from what I can hear. Will listen more over the coming days. And of course the Zep albums are there to help bolster my collection and new found love for the dinosaurs of rock. Just as well Zep II is chocka-full of riffs direct from Hell then. Cool.

Happy Easter.

New Who

The much anticipated new Dr Who series begins on the BBC this coming Saturday. A fair many "Whovians" (Who fans) didn't believe it would ever happen, but it has, the BBC have commissioned a new series.

Those who follow such matters closely (not me) have made it clear that the writing team behind the new series is second-to-none. Also it looks like the choice of key actors in Chris 'Jug Ears' Eccelstone and Billy 'Piss-Head' Piper are good ones, the former in particular having an excellent reputation (and I liked him in 28 Days Later). The latter I only know as a friend who worked in the Pop Music world once fished her mobile out of a ladies toilet after Ms Piper dropped it in their whilst inebriated.

Yes I did buckle and watched the first episode that was leaked (probably deliberately) and have to admit it was good. Not brilliant, but very solid and a sign that the full series will be in all likelihood the best Dr Who we have seen since Tom Baker. The first episode seemed like an extended trailer really, designed to sell the thing abroad. Still, the performances were largely flawless and the script (apart from a few embarrassing moments - the burping bin?) flowed nicely and pacily. Looking forward to more.

Mario64 DS

I've become quite addicted to Mario64 DS now. And actually it's the mini-games that are hooking me in. The two in particular I can't put down are the Wario sling-shot one (high-score about 65,000) and the Mario trampoline game. I now spend about 30mins on the mini-games and about 15 on the actual proper game itself.

Once you've got the hang of the thumb-control the game really opens up and becomes frighteningly close to a real console game. Indeed, it's better than the N64 version in just about every area. The graphics are rendered superbly on the small DS screen, they look sharp and crisp and contain plenty of detail. Equally the sound is superb, from both the background music and spot-effects and the DS is proving to have an excellent sound system with the surround-sound option working well on its stereo speakers.

Gameplay is vintage Mario64 and those who played Super Mario Sunshine on the Gamecube will instantly recognise the mechanics. It's not as varied as SMS, but in some respects this is a good thing as the balance of Mario64 was always spot on, never too difficult or frustrating. Some of the complexities in SMS let that title down a tiny bit. The camera works well, especially in touch pad mode where two buttons can be used to swing the camera around the player, and all the jumps and special moves are present and easily executed. Overall the current must-have for the DS, just leave those damn mini-games alone if you want to make progress. :-)

Led Zep Update.

Well I've been listening to the three albums over the last two weeks or so, those being Led Zep IV, Physical Graffiti, and Houses of the Holy. To be honest I love all three, but IV is the one that takes the prize in my opinion. The sound is, I dunno, ethereal, and where most bands who attempt Folk would sound ridiculous, Zep make it sound classic. I'm now starting to see what all the fuss was about and my initial reservations on the other LPs have vanished. Now gonna investigate the early work.

Michael Moorcock - Elric

Nearly finished the full collection of Moorcock's Elric saga and have to say it was excellent. I started off somewhat 'Meh' because it was too Swords & Sorcery and most of the imagery and concepts appeared cliched and old. Then I realised the first story was published in 1961 (for some inexplicable reason I thought these works were from the 70s) and suddenly one realises what a genius this guy is.

It pre-dates D&D and all the associated fantasy genre spin-offs. Although the Tolkein influence is obvious, Moorcock's stories are far darker and more menacing. Indeed Elric is an anti-hero, a flawed largely unpleasant character who kills on a whim, is fickle in love, and worships Darkness. And yet the reader is drawn in and made to feel sympathy, mostly driven by the central conceit of Elric's power being drawn from Evil. Without Evil, he's nothing. So the choice is clear, total weakness, or power with no soul. Excellent stuff.

Nintendo DS!!

The DS is launched in Europe today and most of the press in the UK seems to be covering it. Indeed there is a buzz surrounding this hand-held which is both surprising and quite pleasing at the same time. I've had a US import for about a month now and must say I think the DS is rather wonderful.

Looking beyond the slightly plasticky build, everything with the hardware is solid and feels good. The D-pad, buttons and shoulder buttons feel like they will take some abuse and the ergonomics of the whole machine are bang on. Battery life is exceptional and this is the first gaming machine of its type where I'm not at all worried about the charge. It just lasts.

Anyone looking for initial games should plumb for Mario64 which is frighteningly good, WarioWare, Zoo Keeper, Project Rub, or Asphalt Urban GT. All of those will keep avid gamers busy until some of the new triple-A titles arrive during 2005.

Audioscrobbler.

See right under 'Current Links'? Well, Audioscrobbler is a must for those who listen to music via their computers. It's a plug-in that keeps running stats on your listening habits. I'm on there as GeeZa and those curious to check my tastes will be able to see that I am indeed listening to Zep at the moment. Really, Audioscrobbler is a wonderful little app, is free, and most importantly is great fun.

Wow! WoW.

Decided to shell out on World of Warcraft last week and have been playing it this weekend, pretty solidly. I'm aghast at the depth and scale of this game so far, it's quite incredible. The art direction is beautiful. It has been commented on but the design of the cities, characters, objects and landscapes sets a new standard. It feels like a world, like a living and breathing universe in which one can exist and live a virtual life.

I'm on the Dragonblight server in Europe and although this is officially sparsely populated there seems to be a good number of players milling around. I'm pleased to say most are friendly (PvP is disabled by default) and the social aspect of this game is astonishing. I've been helped in quests, given advice, had idle chats, and hidden from raiding Horde. Brilliant, absolutely brilliant. The career of my Gnome Warlock 'Moonblud' continues at a steady pace.

Aren't Led Zeppelin Good?

Call me a shit head, but despite being a rather big fan of rock, and 70s rock in particular, I've only recently begun to get into Led Zeppelin. Now this is of course an enormous oversight for anyone who considers themselves a muso, or indeed a head, but my only excuse is that I never found time to get into the albums.

"Babe I'm Gonna Leave You" is probably my favourite of their tracks and is off their debut LP, "Led Zeppelin". Despite the beguiling nature of a fresh-and-youthful-faced band photo on the rear cover, I've instead decided to go in at "Physical Graffitti" and "Led Zeppelin IV". These are widely regarded as their classic LP works so I've decided to get these outta the way first. And I'm left somewhat dazed and confused.

Graffitti comes in at 15 tracks and so far I'm having a tough time truly enjoying it. It sounds distinctly rocky to me, and supremely confident, but I'm just not digging it. Christ knows why, the only thing I can say right now is that the tracks so far are lacking a certain personality. I'm wrong, of course, so time will tell if it grows on me.

Zep IV however blew me away from track 1. Stunning record. Just about the right balance of blues, rock, pomp, and folk to give the LP a whole personality of its own. Much prefer it so far and will endeavour to post a more formal review of the two records in due course. When I say 'formal' I don't mean 'formal' you understand.

Blog goes live!! :-)

Well this has taken a while because I'm a bit of a web newb, but at last this blog goes live. I know nobody will be reading it but really that's not the point for me. It's purely and simply a way to waste time and combat the perennial boredom we mostly all suffer. So expect to see a variety of comments on things, stuff, and general guff.

Boredom!!!!

I'm bored. Really fucking bored. So here's a blogsite.