Midnight

The Lords of Midnight was a game that had me hooked as a youngster. So much so that in my final year of school in 1984 I'd stay up till almost the next day playing it on my Sinclair ZX Spectrum. It was an amazing strategy role playing game that will always stay with me as one of the most influential games I've ever played. Today a friend emailed me to say the creator of that game series had died, his name was Mike Singleton. This report in the Guardian describes the game better than I ever could. I do feel a tinge of sadness at his passing, of course I never knew him or anything about him personally but it was his game that had me hooked on a game genre that I cannot give up to this day, on reflection it really was a ground breaking game.

I fondly remember nights sat peering into a colour portable tv having loaded the game in via a clunky cassette recorder. I'd immerse myself in the game, plan strategies, make notes and replace the game cassette with something like Duran Duran. I still recall listening to The Chauffeur by them whilst playing the game, oddly it seemed to fit the pace and mystery of the game. Happy nostalgic memories, and to Mike Singleton, a true visionary - thank you for those memories and rest in peace.

Westward Bound?

'Move out of the way!' some tracksuit clad yob shouted as he ran down the alleyway in front of me.

I stepped aside slightly, not that I was exactly in his way and mused if he was a thief with the haste he was in. The next road was no better, a cyclist hurtling down the pavement with no regard for anyone. Arriving on the market square my eyes casually scan across it. I see lots of mothers with push chairs, many are of Eastern European origin chatting in their own native tongue that never seems to come up for air. Where ever I look there seems to be underclass type people in tracksuits despite the fact they aren't practical in this cold weather, they shout instead of talking in guttural slang, it barely resembles English. Perhaps I am being one sided here, but it is what I saw, and what I keep seeing on daily sojourns through the provincial market town I live in. In fact I've witnessed a few things recently, none that I can really draw positives from. In some respects it's a sign of the times and getting endemic in most towns across the country.

Reflecting back, I recall these type of people were one of the reasons I left the last town where I lived, not the main reason by any account but one of them.

Do I like where I live? The answer is yes, the simple argument being that there are worse places to live, though that said - there's better. I might be cynical but I really can't see things getting any better, as ignorant generation produces yet more increasingly ignorant generations. The social changes I've seen since I was a teenager have been quite frankly unnerving. I can't deny that I am feeling restless here.

For some time now I've looked to relocating to the coast, the south west coasts of Somerset and Devon really appeal to me for many reasons. The older I get the less interested in town life I am, a small place by or near the coast in a large historical village or small town is what I ideally want. The air would be better for my asthma, there'd be less idiots (though every place has them I confess) and it'd be a better environment generally. When you get older your priorities change and what I wanted before are changing. I don't want somewhere that has nothing but the basics will do fine, a sprinkling of nice pubs, a few shops, bank post office etc, I'm sure you get the idea, quiet and functional yet picturesque. I'm not a snob, I just want to escape to something more 'me'.

I guess this all sounds like a dream, a fantasy or wish, and I concede that in some respects it very much is. The thing is, if I don't look into these type of places, visit them, check them out for suitable jobs then I'll never know or make it happen.

Squander

I'm not going to lie, I don't like the Conservatives and never have done. In my opinion they have always been out of touch with the common man in the street. That said recent backing of gay marriages when a vote becomes available is to be commended by them. 

Anyway, the point I wish to gnash my teeth about is the fact the government is allocating £50 million to commemorate the centenary of Word War 1. I personally find it staggering that almost a 100 years on and in harsh economic times we are going to squander such a large amount.

Do I respect what the servicemen did during the great war? Of course I do, my great, great grandfather fought as a cavalry man in it but I think a war that was mainly about colonial powers jostling and bumping heads should now start to be committed to the history books more. Sure, have the memorials, remember the sacrifices, keep it alive in museums and classrooms so that new generations can understand and learn from it.

Let me put it in another perspective. Outside of Athens, just a short bus ride away is the site of the Battle of Marathon. On the shoreline graced with wooded pines is a triangular area with a hillock, inside that hillock Athenians citizen soldiery are buried that defended the fledgling democratic world from Persian dictatorship and tyranny. The battle of Marathon in 490BC is considered by historians as perhaps one of the most important battles of all time because of the implications of its outcome yet its dead lay in a simple setting and millions worldwide are unaware of their important sacrifice. 

Should we remember and honour our fallen, without doubt but we should also educate to classrooms the senseless slaughter and folly of that war too. We should have services and memorial ceremonies but seriously, in these dark times should we really be throwing £50 million on it? The government seems focused on bigging up Britain at the moment whilst the reality of what is really happening in the country is yet again glossed over.

I'm pretty sure the soldiers who died would want to be remembered and rightly so but they'd also want us to have a better country with money spent wisely.

A Moral Regret

I was in town today, sat in market place drinking coffee outside Starbucks, coat buttoned up against the cold whilst talking to a friend. We noticed a man hovering around near us and when we paused in conversation he came forward and politely asked if he could ask us both a question? We both nodded and smiled and the man told us he was a Dutch guy who was over here with his girlfriend but had run into a problems. He went on to add he'd stayed at York and used his bank card with no problems whilst in a hotel, however he'd since been unable to find an ATM machine that would dispense money to him. He went on to enquire if we knew of any banks that would help him?

We pondered for a moment and then pointed out the major banks in our small town, the HSBC bank being the most well known internationally. He said he'd tried that one and they were unable to help. At that moment his girlfriend returned, they spoke quickly in Dutch and then thanked us for our help, adding he'd called home for assistance. His phone then rang and they wandered off.

Sitting musing the situation my friend and I pondered things. I added maybe if they were struggling I could have got them a coffee each, after all it was a cold day and a couple of coffees don't cost much. As we mused more questions arose, such as why didn't they carry cash or other cards? After all if you are going abroad there's many ways to carry cash in different forms. I'm not saying these guys didn't seem genuine, in fact they had probably just ran into bad luck and not prepared for their journey that well. I love Dutch people, they spoke in Dutch, I have a Dutch friend, in fact there seemed little to doubt.

A few minutes later they passed by us again at a distance and waved and smiled before vanishing from view, maybe the phone call he received was good news? My overriding thought was I wished I'd asked them to join us for a coffee and regretted not doing so. Was it right to be wary and cautious, I believe so to some degree but couldn't help feeling 'What if I ever needed help when abroad?'. As it happens I have, in Thailand once, and a Thai man helped me more than I could have imagined and yet today I felt at a loss after for not helping more apart from offering some advice. It's really funny how life throws us these little moral dilemmas at times and how they play on our minds after.

Tolkien Week #5

Well Tolkien week is coming to a close, there's been lots of coverage in the media and especially on the internet. The new 'The Hobbit' trailer has been released and celebrations over the book have been world wide. The new movie is literally weeks away and hopefully Peter Jackson will deliver a great experience that finally brings the book to life. So, in closing I leave you with the new movie poster for The Hobbit!

Tolkien Week #4

So today is where it all began 75 years ago with the publication of The Hobbit. As Tolkien would say 'The road goes ever on' and indeed it does with the forthcoming The Hobbit movie. Below, to celebrate the book are a selection of Hobbit covers past, present and foreign.

Tolkien Week #3

So the new The Hobbit trailer has arrived at long last. Duration wise its a massive jump on the first teaser trailer released back at the end of last year, this one being two and a half minutes. Though it is longer Peter Jackson has still been canny with the content in it. It does feel like we've got an expanded version of the original teaser in the fact we've got more of the same with a few extras and nothing much being given away really. However that said we do get a few more lingering moments on characters and places such as Radagast the brown wizard and Dol Guldur in Mirkwood. All in all its a pleasing little trailer and I hope we'll see yet another trailer before the movie release because the content is there and I can't help feeling Jackson is holding back on some characters such as Beorn, the Goblin King and many others, not to mention Smaug.

My only bone of contention is the content really. Being a purist of the novels I did grind my teeth at what went into the Lord of the Rings and what was omitted. I suspect with The Hobbit not being anywhere as voluminous as its sequels this may not be a problem this time around (I hope).  

There is some talk from critics that because the film has been shot at a very high quality (I forget the tech term for it but it's on the movie blogs) and that this reveals too much detail in outfits and prosthetics which detracts from realism. Firstly, I'm not yet seeing that myself, much like with any fantasy genre movie you know ultimately prosthetics are used if CGI isn't, so I've got my head around it in that respect. That said I don't know what effect the high quality detail will have over the duration over the film, it may indeed be a point I flag up, though as I'll only be watching it in 2D I hope not, it remains to be seen though I guess.

I remain optimistic and hopeful Peter Jackson will deliver. He certainly has a great story content there, a whole cast of great actors and most likely some of the best production people in the business. Right up until the end credits role I will have reservations but right now I think its shaping up well.

Click HERE for the new trailer on itunes, its trailer 2 by the way.

Tolkien Week #2

I think it will be two years next month that I've been playing Lord of the Rings Online or Lotro as it's abbreviated as. During that time I've made friends with people from all around the world, in what is a really friendly game community with an international flavour. I play several characters in the ever expanding online world of Middle Earth which relates (I think) to the books by Tolkien.

Part of me loves the gaming side of it but a part of me loves the chance to actually role play characters in such a richly detailed world. The new expansion for Lotro is released next month which opens up most of the Rohan area to explore and adventure in. I don't doubt that I will probably be playing Lotro in another two years time. Here are a few screen shots of my adventures.

Tolkien Week #1

So Tolkien Week begins worldwide. It's seventy five years since the fantasy novel 'The Hobbit' was first published. The American Tolkien society first proclaimed Hobbit Day and Tolkien Week back in 1978 and it's been going over since, getting quite a bit of recognition by all accounts. Hobbit Day falls on the 22nd September and for those of you who haven't read the Lord of the Rings it's the joint birthday of hobbits called Bilbo and Frodo Baggins.

I first fell in love with Tolkien's works back in the early 80s. How or why I came by the book titled The Hobbit is lost to memory now. I do know I found it in the school library aged around 14, of that much I am certain, whether I stumbled upon it or someone suggested it remains clouded in the folds of time.

Back then I wasn't the most academic of students but I read The Hobbit pretty voraciously being enthralled by the fantasy world Tolkien had created containing hobbits, dwarves, trolls, elven kings and mighty dragons. It awakened something inside me that stimulated me to read more and develop an interest in writing. My English went from strength to strength and I do recall coming top of my English class that year with my exam result. My English teacher was a lovely man and he encouraged me immensely though I was just at the beginning of a very long journey.

Next I read the Lord of the Rings. I remember taking all three volumes on a family holiday. We stayed in a farmhouse in the rural village of Scalby in North Yorkshire overlooking the coastal town of Scarborough. Every spare chance available I busily read through the many chapters. I can remember long walks with my dad, uncle and cousin Ben through forests and over hills and they were the perfect compliment to Tolkiens world and imagining it. Though I can't recall every detail of that holiday thirty years ago I can remember a good deal and it seemed magical.

Here I am all those years later, still reading, still writing and still in love as much as ever with Tolkien's books.

J.R.R. Tolkien I sincerely thank you !

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Back !

Yes I know, I've been absent without leave! I've been concentrating on my other specialised blog and neglecting this one a little. This is my 'life' blog yet I guess life has been getting in the way a little!

So hopefully over the next week or so I'll ease back into this one and bring readers (those that are interested!) up to speed on what has been going on an my opinions on things etc. Stay tuned!

I'm Only Happy When It Rains

Today the Olympic torch passes through my town. As I look outside the sky is dark and foreboding, it feels like night is encroaching instead of it being the middle of the day. There is the odd growl of lazy thunder, gloom stained rain clouds hang low and rain is steadily falling. I'm happy.

The reason I am happy is because people out there who are going to watch the flame will probably give a thought to millions displaced from their homes by past and indeed future Olympics.

I feel the real spirit of the Olympics has gone, it originated in Greece and should stay there in my view, Greece certainly would benefit from being host right now with the financial hard times they are having.

I heard last week of the horrific charges for refreshments during Olympic events from a friend who knows someone involved in the catering for it, the prices are staggering. Hotels in London have hiked up their prices, many doubling them, it's all greed based. Sport fans are in for an expensive and crowded London and they'll have to deal with its antiquated transport system - good luck to them!

Will the London Olympics be a great sporting spectacle, I hope so for sports fans. Will it be a good advert for London as a capital? I guess that remains to be seen. I'd certainly be interested in what visitors think.

Flawed Diamond

So here in Britain we celebrate the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II this weekend, which is also a bank holiday. The irony is most of the populace are more interested in the extra days off instead of pondering the royal family and their alleged importance.

The media cover it relentlessly as the Queen shuffles from one public engagement to another and it's called 'public service'. I like to think I'm a patriot albeit in my own way but I cannot venerate a Queen that I no longer identify with. 

All this fuss by the middle and upper class to pay homage to someone that brings some extra money in via tourism. A woman that likes to race horses, watch Polo matches and does all the things the upper class revel in, has she really got anything in common with the average man in the street? Is she really representative of the total populace of this country?

The monarchy isn't really needed any more. People could argue that the royal family bring much money into the nation via tourism which states plainly to me she is more tourist attraction than any real use. She may visit places, she may cut ribbons and perform ceremonies and for that she gets paid far too much.

We need to wake up and smell the coffee, realise that the monarchy is a relic of the past and we no longer need it. As a nation we still have much to offer without them, hundreds of places of interest and beauty and we should look at promoting these over nostalgia of an empire, an empire that has long gone.

Other European monarchies are more low key, Scandinavian ones and Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands and that is the direction we should head. We won't though of course because we are too indoctrinated and wrapped in all of this nonsense to see beyond it. 

Am I filled with a sense of pride this weekend as the nation reveres the monarchy? No, not at all, I will remember the people who did and still do make this nation what it was and sometimes still is. They are the workers, the artists, the builders, the poets, the engineers, the scientists, the authors and countless others that have influenced and inspired me - none of them royalty.