POW!

Doing a new thing.

Leon and I go for a walk and find... BatDuck?

Took advantage of a lovely October day by having a long walk with The Boy

Slitten Gorge. Sounds sinister. I'm lucky enough to live 2 minutes away from some great places like this.

The Boy, Leon. With umpa-lumpa hair today. This is the site of Slitten Gorge mill. Now it's a little fenced off area. Nice and safe but a little loud because of rushing water sound. The yellow phone goes everywhere.

But, what's this? Hard to see from here, but it looks like... no, it can't be...

It IS! It's BatDuck. Stuck in a muddy puddle. Little wonder the crime rate has been so high around here lately. Hope he finds a way out.

I had forgotten all about these.

Acrylic pantings wot I dun years ago. Recorded here for posterity now that I have closed my DeviantArt account.

A naked lady (it's Courtney Love btw)

This is OK. I ran out of black paint halfway through and tried to fudge it with a lower quality paint. You can see how much of a mistake that was under the planet on the left.

A skull. The only one that didn't get consigned to the bin. Was displayed in Manchesters Afflecks Palace for a few years. The girlfriend won't let it go up in the house so it's under the bed 'til I put my foot down.

Oh, I don't know. Waves or something. Stormy sea? Not sure.

I used to really enjoy painting, regardless of the quality. But I rarely get the time any more. Something to keep in mind for my retirement maybe.

At night they plot to kill me...

A quick plea

This came through my door today. It's issue -1 (thats minus one) of Zero magazine. I'm a fairly serious collector of old video game magazines and was a big Zero fan (as previous posts will attest) but this has me stumped.It's only 16 pages long, has no price point (it says FREE) or barcode. This must have been distributed in some way prior to issue 1, but how? Was it included as a freebie in a different Dennis Publishing magazine? Was it a WH Smith counter hand-out or pick-up? If anyone can shed any light on this I would be extremely grateful as, from a completist point of view, I would like to try to find the original publication that this may have been free with.

Also, "Issue minus one" suggests that there may be an Issue 0?

Again, any info would be awesome.

My PS3 hates me. So I hate it back.

The 2 year old is asleep. Giving me approximately 2 hours of unfettered gaming delight. Here was the plan. Download and install Monkey Island: SE - approx. 20 mins.

Play Monkey Island: SE - approx 90 mins.

Wake boy up.

Have lunch.

Play the "Where's La-La" game.

BUT. Before I sign into PSN store, "A software update is required". Shit.

"Playback of BluRay 3D discs is now supported"

Do I have any BluRay 3D discs? No

Are there any worth owning? No

Do I have a 3D TV? No

How many years til I can afford a 3D TV? About a bazillion.

I've been sat here 5 minutes, typing, and the progress bar for pointless download is at 6%. Now, maths is my weak point but even I know that at this rate I will be able to download MI:SE in approximately a week.

Why, Sony?

Why can I not skip this download and be reminded of it when I slide a 3D BluRay disc in?

Why can it not download in the background?

Sony, you owe Ron Gilbert £7.99 because he's not getting it from me today.

While I'm ranting... that flimsy XMB isn't a patch on 360's dashboard.

And Sonys face is stupid.

...and so's its Mums.

Car Boot

I'm thinking of having a T-shirt printed. It will be my special Sunday morning T-shirt. I shall puff out my chest and wear it with pride. It will be black (for what other T-shirt colours are there?!) with white writing on and it will spaketh thusly.

I DON'T CARE WHAT YOUR CRAP MIGHT SELL FOR ON EBAY!

Actual conversation I have every week.

"Hi, how much is your X"
"30 quid"
"Really? Ok then. bye."
"It's going for 50 on ebay"
"You should sell it on ebay, then"
"Cant be doing with the hassle."

It's simple. If you think you will get more for it on ebay... sell it on ebay. But this is a car boot sale, bucko. And I expect to pay car boot sale prices. And, come 12 o clock (or 10p time, as I like to call it), I expect that grotty PS2 with groove gunk, 3rd party controller and scratched copy of Donald Duck: Quack Attack to be reasonably priced at £3. Because, honestly, what the fuck are you going to do with it? You'll take it home, put it back under the kids bed, THEN light up and start puffing even more fag smoke on it so that when you drag it back to Bowlers (the car boot of choice) next sunday you can set off the smoke alarms with your foul piece of consumer electronics.

Having said that, I actually had a pretty good visit to the boot sale on sunday. Full set of Yu Gi Oh Shonen Jump graphic novels (around 30 in all, great condition) for £4. I felt bad haggling her down from £5. It felt petty because £5 was a really good price but, well it was way past 10p time so I thought I'd chance it. And the piece-de-resistance. Hold on to your hats, retro lovers. Amiga A1200 plus loads of games and extras. £7. Haggled down from £10. Follow link for real irony.

Hmmm... maybe I should rethink that Tshirt idea...

Zero Magazine

My Dad is a legend. Many years ago while working as an aeroplane mechanic he, at my request, took one of my joysticks to work, placed it in the engine of a bloody big 'plane and took a picture of it. I don't remember if he complained or had to be convinced or told me to grow up but he did it. All so I could get my name into the greatest magazine of my youth, Zero. Here is the result.

I make a vow now that if my son ever asks me to do something ridiculous in the name of gaming I will say yes without hesitation. Cheers dad.

The other casualty of my Zero fanboyism was my sister.

Cheers, Key. x

Oh, incidentally... I still have the rest of the issues (even a couple from when it went shit) and if it was still in print I would STILL be trying to get a Zero Tshirt.

I miss how excited I was about games in 1991. Only recently, with XBL and PSN am I beginning to feel those stirrings again. I guess I'm a retro junkie at heart. I'm off to Ebay to find issue 8 (Elvira cover). Luck me.

So I'm a Dad...

Don't get me wrong, I love my son more than I love myself and I value him over my own eyes, legs and thumbs, but, there was a time, a very short, guilty time, when I didn't (Of course I LOVED him, I mean that sudden, rush of love. Mostly I felt scared). Now, they don't tell you this in books, and it's only during the last 20 or so months that it has become apparent that it's not just me, that it's quite common actually. There have been "oh my god, ME TOO!" moments during forum and face-to-face discussions with new dads that have made me feel better and a lot less guilty about what I am about to tell you, dear reader.

I had never been so proud of anyone in my entire life than I was of my girlfriend the day she gave birth to our son. She got to hold him first as he attempted to wriggle his way up her chest. She played with his fingers and touched his cheek. She cried, he cried, I cried. 9 months of being pregnant had ended with a baby. Who'd a thought it. Then it was my turn. I had held a baby maybe once before in my life, and it cried then. I held my baby properly without having to be told to 'support the head' and other such stuff. I've watched TV. I'm not an idiot. And he didn't cry. So there. In your face, Last Baby I Held.

I looked at him, this interloper, this uninvited guest, this meddler of relationships, and a thought took me completely by surprise,

"Hi, Leon." for t'was his name, "I was hoping to have Halo 3 completed before you arrived."

To go from 2-3 hours gaming a day to about that a week is a pretty major adjustment. I had to rethink a lot of my gaming habits of the last 25 years.

My son is ace. He is my little Pokemon. He levels up every day and so do I.

So this is my blog and I'm glad you're here. It's a personal journal about dadding and trying to fit in a little gaming while I'm at it. How hard can it possibly be...?