Sandeberg Rising

Well, after six over-long weeks, it’s time for a gaming weekend again! And this time it’s Vampire! Yay!

I just have to finish waking up, acquire some caffeine and breakfast and then see how early I can get to the pub while still getting everything done that I need to…

Andy, if you’re reading this on the morning of posting, it’s 1pm we meet. As always. And don’t forget your Vampire and WoD books.

Also quite pleased that I’ve found a Valpolicella that you can buy in the UK that doesn’t give me a headache in the morning. Unfortunately, buying it means breaking my more snobbish instincts as it is a Radcliffe’s. Yes, that’s right, it’s Threshers own brand. And it’s surprisingly adequate.

Considering I’m in the process of changing jobs and still need to do some clothes shopping so I actually look presentable in a proper business environment, the last thing I need to do is spend money on something frivolous that I don’t need.

Like this 1Gb MP3 player for £50.

Whoops! Too late!
Well, it is pay day after all…

I’ve strayed away from talking about the ongoing lawsuit against the designers and publishers of Grand Theft Auto – San Andreas. Especially as every other blog and every single webcomic seems to be commenting on it right now. But what the hell, the weight of public opinion seems to be behind this one.

For those people who have been living on the moon, gallivanting across the country with visitors or just generally don’t care about video games, here’s the summary for you. The successful newest incarnation of GTA, San Andreas, in which you play a street hood who can start his own gangs, steal cars, shoot people, buy and sell drugs etc. Recently a hacker found that there was actually a sex scene encoded in the game, but you needed to hack the code to unlock it. The result? An outraged public have demanded that the game be raised from a rating of Mature (17 years or older) to Adults Only (18+). The US Senate is debating the depravity of the computer games industry. A granny is suing the company because she bought the game for her 14 year old grandson and is now worried that he may have been corrupted. After all, you wouldn’t want to risk a child seeing computer graphics having sex. For a start it might distract him from killing hookers and stealing cars!

So aside from the fact that this game should be only sold to 17 year olds anyway and you need to breach the End User License Agreement first by hacking the game, the whole collective of the morally indignant is quivering in further indignation that such a repulsive sex scene could be found in a game about being a criminal. Violence and theft are good. Sex is just unacceptable, apparently.

I liked the summary in The Register: So, while US teenagers can, in the words of one Reg reader, “pimp hos, pop a cap in a drug dealer while driving a car stolen at gunpoint”, they may not indulge in sexually explicit acts with their virtual girlfriends because “that threatens the very fabric of American society”.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/4720863.stm

The IRA has formally ordered an end to its armed campaign and says it will pursue exclusively peaceful means.

Who’d've thunk it…

Will it last? Is it real? Will it cause half a dozen angry splinter groups to sprout of the ground, like angry weeds?

Personally, I think much of this is motivated by the desire to not be associated with the other terrorists.

So, as previously covered, Bryce has a new blog and is actually writing heavily on it; And in the same day this is announced, Andy updates his blog not once, but twice! And in one of them declares that he ate and somewhat enjoyed eating fish!

Now, I can’t account for why Andy’s much-prized hatred seems to be evaporating in the sun, but as for all the dedicated blogging going on, either I’m living in a twisted Bizarro world or it was all Andy’s doing. That’s right, Andy telling everyone that they hadn’t read his blog (that he had told few people about) has actually generated a flurry of activity that even he has been infected by. Andy, the trendsetter and muse? Maybe it is Bizarro world after all…

http://www.wkyc.com/news/ne ws_fullstory.asp?id=37982 – This is the kind of story you tend to find on hoax sites

http://www.theregister.co .uk/2005/07/27/uw_dell_napster/ – Corporate whores!

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2 005/07/27/otto_terror_blog/ – More tongue in cheek than a man with toothache

In other news, Bryce has a brand new and shiny blog! Check out the links on the sidebar. He’s already aiming for the prize of World’s Longest Blog Entries. But does he have the stamina to succeed? Will the Way of the Wreckferret give him suitable endurance? Will he figure out how to enable comments on his blog? Only time will tell.

Work is ridiculously busy today. As if I don’t have enough to do dealing with my issues, the issues of the Younglings I’m training and a few side-projects; Now I have executive interest in one of my issues, which means I spend more time writing progress reports than actually doing work. Apparently this is to inspire me to work harder for this particular customer. I can just feel my morale soaring; everyone knows how much i love bureaucracy for it’s own sake.

At least the day started well. Penny felt inspired to rush off to Tesco to procure eggs and croissants for breakfast. Combined with a cup of coffee, I was well set up for the day! Just as well really! Perfect timing there on Penny’s part.

Last night involved playing Munchkin Fu (I won by virtue of being luckier and more evil) over a bottle of wine, and watching the rest of Oceans 12, which was awful, especially compared to the first one.

Beyond that, I’m continuing to do prep work for Saturday’s Vampire: The Requiem game, and I’m finding rules loopholes that you could drive a herd of cattle through. The game itself should be interesting; three veteran Vampire players (two of which played in my Vampire games at uni), one newcomer to Vampire (though he has played some other games over the last year) and one complete newcomer to roleplaying. Hopefully I’ll be able find the time to write up the summary of the story so far and it’s personae dramatis.

Yes, I’m leaving LJ for Blogger. I’m leaving a community with many people I’ve come to know, for a corporate blog site that doesn’t have a convenient friends page. All for a little simplicity, an act of putting the past behind me and the ease of email blogging without having to pay for it.

Maybe you’ll come and visit me at my new home: http://sandeberg.blogspot.com