Fierce_LiNk

Go as Norman Bates from Psycho. Just...wear a wig. Ta-daa. Or, you could wear a dress and the wig. Maybe some earrings, too. A nice necklace.

I'm a bit worried about the Arsenal game. Purely because the team will have a point to prove. Maybe they'll to take out their frustration on the pitch. The good thing is that they've got a game in Europe before then. Also, several players will be missing, and the rest will probably be knackered. Well, I hope so anyway.

Fuck, that was a pretty great performance. Smalling looks like he's been playing right back at United for most of his life. Also, Ashley Young has settled in really, really quickly. Thought the whole team played well. The goals were well worked, the highlight being Anderson's goal. He had a pretty great game, as well, a contender for Man of the Match. Tottenham did pretty well in midfield when the game was 0-0 but they badly need a striker. 3-0 was harsh on them because they played ok, but they need to get a player or two in there. Also: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/14623543.stm Glad his Father is safe.

The problem is that you can't really easily quantify something like gameplay by saying that x game isn't really worth 6 times the price of y game. For example, I paid about 12 quid or something along those lines for Monster Hunter Tri. A few weeks later, I also purchased Trauma Centre: Second Opinion for about 3 quid, preowned. Now, Trauma Centre is a single player and Monster Hunter Tri is a massive online-focused experience. If I spend 200 hours on Tri and only 10 on Second Opinion, does that mean that Second Opinion should cost 20times less? (obviously, I'm being hypothetical, because these games are not recently released. Monster Hunter Tri was at a sale price and Trauma Centre was second hand, both games are in different genres. ) It's hard to quantify these sorts of things. I do think handheld gaming should be cheaper, something along the price of 20-25 quid is fair. But then, many people buy their games for that price anyway, new. If you pay 35.99 from hmv or something for a new handheld game, you're a mug.

Your Mum's your Dad? What the hell does that mean? Is it the same as saying your Mum has a penis? Anyway, we just say Mum. Or Mother. I say Mum, I think my Mum says Mum, and the majority of people that I know say the same.

I don't really mean a wide player, because ideally this player would be playing through the middle. Maybe they could go out wide, to offer something different during the game. But, what I'm talking about is going with two up front, a main striker and then one to act as a foil. The three players mentioned would be good additions to Arsenal. Jags is quite versatile, so Arsenal could do well to get him.

What about going with two up top? Maybe somebody to hold the ball up for Van Persie to run on to. Also, if something does happen to Van Persie, he could then lead the line. Van Persie's role could then be done by Chamakh. It would give Arsenal an extra dimension to their play. Although, in order to do this, the midfield needs to be strong. So, you'd need somebody strong in the centre to control that midfield.

St Anger is awful. It's just abusive to the ears. It just doesn't sound musical, whereas the majority of the other albums do. Take the title track, St Anger, it just doesn't work. :/ Master of Puppets is great. The Thing That Should Not Be and Orion being too tracks that I have a secret pleasure for. Battery is brilliant. A great introduction for that album. Been a good while since I've listened to some Metallica. I pretty much live on Spotify these days and they haven't got any Metallica on there, which is a shame.

On paper that looks good, but will either Drogba or Torres enjoy playing out wide? Also, if they're out wide, they have to be relied upon to track back and defend. I can see Drogba doing that more than Torres, but ideally you'd want both of them up front harassing defenders rather than wasting their energy defending. You play one up front, but then when Van Persie is injured or off-form (it happens to every striker somewhere in the season), who will lead the line? I thought Chamakh had a good start last season but I'm not sure what Arsenal fans think of him. Also, if you buy those three players, that will be nigh on 50 million you're talking. (M'Vila for somewhere between 15-20, Hazard 23-26, Jagielka is English so about 17 or something million for him, maybe more) So, that is the equivalent of Wenger going mad. I can see Hazard going. Everton would be foolish to let Jags go, as Moyes said he is the best defender at the club. But, they're in dire straits so need the money...hope they don't sell him for their sake. M'Vila, not really sure. Could go either way. If Arsenal land all three, that's a massive boost. If they can keep Nasri in the process, then Wenger has done very well.

The "Is This Normal?" video made me laugh. Loved the ending as well.

Really depends on if he buys during the transfer window. I would be surprised if he doesn't buy, but he may try to prove a point by not "panic buying" and going with what he has. If he keeps the same squad, with Nasri leaving for City, I think 6th is a good estimation. Although, I think Spurs will need to get a striker soon if they want to aim for a top 4 spot. With the way things currently are, the top four will be United, Chelsea, City and Liverpool. But, football doesn't always go to plan.

If I were somebody like Daniel Sturridge, I would feel pretty worried. Chelsea have Drogba, Torres, Anelka and Lukaku who all play in that position, and there are others who can probably fill in there, too. He impressed last season, so it must be worrying for him at the moment. If they have 3 up top, Maddog, that's assuming that they play three in midfield. Who would those three be? Malouda - Obi Mikel - Lampard? Malouda gets forward often, as does Lampard. So, that leaves Obi Mikel to man the midfield alone. Unless Mata and the other player tracks back to help out. I can't see that working against some of the harder or more energetic teams.

You'll be good, but Dzeko and Aguero caught my eye today. They looked really good actually. Dzeko looks more comfortable having someone up there with him. Two strikers are needed for every team, imo. You need that partnership up front, with the midfielders joining in to assist and get goals. United have Rooney & one of either Hernandez, Berbatov or Wellbeck (most probably will be Hernandez). Liverpool have Suarez and Carrol, City have Dzeko and Aguero. Chelsea had Drogba and Anelka, but it might be Torres and someone else now. Spurs and Arsenal are two of the top four contenders who don't really have a strike partnership.

I think he wants quality but at unrealistically low prices. Not really sure how much he is really willing to spend on a player. Also, I don't think anybody really knows the "type" of player that he wants. Not sure if he knows.

Hurrah \o/ Your family is going to get even bigger.....sheeeet. Also, TeeDee, if you're not happy in your relationship, then perhaps its time to end it and re-evaluate what you what. Or, re-evaluate first before you end it. Yeah, do it that way, its better.

I was thinking of that when I made the post. I was so confused by this. I wasn't sure if the part where he rubbed his face was sped up or not, so I had to watch, pause, rewind, watch (repeat). Its still bugging me! Also, lets be honest here: Arsenal were never really in for Mata.

In keeping with that bass theme... My entry for the BISH. Its the bass line from There Is A Light That Never Goes Out by The Smiths. Only did the verse and chorus because the rest of the story really just repeats. Aaand, why not eh, a drum vid: Too bad it sounds like arse. This is the first time I've ever recorded myself playing, also the first videos I've ever uploaded onto youtube. The bass stuff is ok since you can hear it fine, but the drum stuff, you can't hear shit. There's some nice double strokes that get played when the snare hits in (the little fill between the snare and toms) but you can't hear it, it sounds like empty space. Boooo. Also, with the bass stuff, I use my fingers normally but the camera phone wasn't doing a good job of picking up the sound. So, I either had to turn the amp volume reeeeally high up (which would've pissed off housemates, the street, etc) or use a plec, which I don't really like doing for bass. So, I went with the plec in the end.

Actually felt really sorry for Wenger during the match and in the interview afterwards. It looked like he wanted to burst into tears. He must also feel let down by his team, especially when he's giving starts to youngsters like Frimpong and Gervinho, who then go and get themselves sent off in consecutive weeks. I imagine he's tearing his hair out.

So, it's a system to favour those who are not so good with the game. As you say, "to stop them getting demoralised." The system in ExciteTruck is better. It's called Be Better At The Game. If you're better at the game, you're more likely to win, yes. In theory. However, Mario Kart doesn't rely on theory or logic. It relies on random. You know that if you're in last place, you're going to get a Bullet Bill to push you all the way up the track. Multiple routes and shortcuts are good, but there are only a handful of tracks that are actually fun to play. When you take into account the number of racers, the number of human opponents (if you're online), the overdose of weapons (bullet bills, lightning strikes, clouds, etc) and the actual track design, it makes the races more chaotic - and not in a good way. It was pure overkill. It had the makings to be a classic, but it really isn't. It's not even the best Mario Kart, as Mario Kart DS was a better game with better tracks, and that had online (not a great online system, but it still had it). Bikes. That's another thing. From what I remember, you are FORCED to use them in the game, if you want to unlock characters and more tracks. As an optional extra, great. But, why should you be forced to use vehicles you don't want to use? If you played it only once, then you have done yourself a massive disservice. It is a fantastic game. Also, why would you hate using the wii remote on its side? You don't even have to think about it in ExciteTruck. You just do it. Its natural (well, closer to actual driving natural), much more so than using an analogue stick and shoulder buttons. Mario Kart may have all these great control options, but what's the use if the actual game isn't that fun to play anyway? Obviously, you're entitled to your opinion and all that. But, I didn't have that much fun with it. Every now and again, it is quite fun. But, it's not consistently awesome. Brawl is consistently awesome. Mario Kart DS was. Mario Kart Wii is most definitely not. If you had some kind of option to turn the weapons down, like in brawl, the frequency of it, then that would be great. But...it's a fucking mess. So much so that I didn't even buy it. Ine's got it.

I'll find a better way to record it and do a proper version. I cringe watching these videos because I can do better than this. You can't really hear the triplets in Song for the Dead (in the intro and at the end). I played back some of the recordings on my phone and I couldn't really make out much because of the sound quality. Also, the hi-hat is meant to be played with 8th notes, but I went for quarters because when I was messing around with some stuff earlier, I realised that it sounded too overpowering on the recording, when it should be more subtle.

Musically gifted - Play amusical instrument (no plastic guitars!); extra points for a video clip! - 20pts [not singing, as that's another BISH ~j7] + - "I have the X Factor!" - Sing - 30pts [video bonus available! ~j7] Bass - Practicing Around the World by the Chilli Peppers. I didn't look at a tab for the chorus so just improvised it on the spot. Also, did this in one take, so its not very pretty, I'm afraid. - I was actually going to do Wake Up by Rage Against The Machine, but the phone camera couldn't put up the (Low) E sound. So, I had to go with this instead. It's There is a light by The Smiths. Learned the chorus about 5 mins before I filmed it. Again, one take. Guitar + Singing (if you can call it that) (bear in mind that this is an electro-acoustic going through a bass amp) - The Newton Faulkner version of Teardrop. Quite enjoy this, but I can't sing for shit. - Heartbeats by Jose Gonzalez. The amp and camera picked up a lot of fret noise, which is a shame. Also, my laptop battery was dying in the background, which you can hear. Prizes for guessing what I mutter at the very end. - the intro for Under the Bridge, love it. Drums - Toxicity by System of a Down. With an on the spot floor tom fill/intro at the beginning. - Chop Suey, by System. I haven't actually listened to these songs for years and I learned them along time ago by ear. Sorry for the quality. The camera was actually perched on a spare snare drum on top of a spare floor tom, as that was the only way I could get the height required to film it. So, there drums resonate which affects the sound quality. ehh, why not. May as well post these two: - Practice a song for the dead. I only did this one in one take so it's quite messy. - disappointed how this turned out. You can't really hear the accents and ghost notes on the snare. It all sounds like a mess. The camera/video quality isn't good at all on this one. Also, can I have bonus points for playing more than one instrument? It's also worth pointing out that the drum kit isn't mine, it's at my school where I work. So, I drove up there, on a Saturday Afternoon to film it. Total: Previous 560 + 20 + 30 New Total = 610

Fucking Ramsey. Ok, how many points do you lose when your fantasy team player scores an own goal?

Nandoooooh! Come on, man. Give eet a chance. It's fun as hell.

... ExciteTruck is exhilarating. There's a real sense of speed and the Wii controls, for such an early game in its lifespan, were awesome. It was simple, but it also had a lot of depth to it. It wasn't just a simple case of getting from point A to B, but how you got there. You could smash into other trucks for points, drive close to the trees (I can't hear a siren anymore without thinking of this game) and the massive aiiiiiir. I spend more time driving through the air than on the ground. Its brilliant. Mario Kart is overkill. It's far too random and unpredictable. You feel screwed out of victories and it quickly stops the game becoming fun. Also, some of the tracks are just not simply fun to drive through, because there's either too much going on, or simply the track design doesn't suit the game. ExciteTruck absolutely destroys Mario Kart in terms of track design, handling and fun. If you win a race, it is because you are awesome. If you lose, it's because you sucked. In Mario Kart Wii, you cannot say that. If you win, you got lucky. If you lose, you were probably screwed by a blue shell, inches from the finish line. The only thing that Mario Kart has over ExciteTruck is that it is far better in multiplayer. It has online. That's the only thing that stops the game from being absolutely perfect.