I got confirmation from a GM in WoW today that the characters used for Beta testing won't be ported into the Final release ...
:| :( :cry: ...

As Ponja commented on the post below I also think Lula's hot cuz all the male dwarfs and gnomes I met stopped by and asked Lula if she needed help :lol: ... then starting either dancing or blowing kisses :lol::lol:

At some point I tagged along a Hunter Dwarf and was quite impressed by him. His gun was blasting monsters in no time ... and whatever was left of it when he was recharging was teared appart by his pet. So I strongly advise Dwarf / Hunter / Mining / Engineering (cuz mining + engineering allows you to develop your own guns and bullets ;) )

Justice ... PM me your Guild name, Lula might join ;)

From the chat I had yesterday in game it seems that the current Beta Characters WILL NOT be ported onto the final release. I wish at least the names could be reserved so that I can keep my friend list and my characters' name!! .... same for the Guild's. Litterature on the subject is surprisingly difficult to find !!?

Lula is my latest new born in WoW ... just 1 day old and already level 9!

I somewhat beleive that the Gnome Warrior world at the beginning is significantly easier than the Night Elf one. Quests are much simpler and shorter,. Howver I felt quite alone as obviously Gnome is not the race of choice ... In fact only maximum 10 other players were leveling up along with me and after chating with all of them I realised they were all doing like me : experiencing a different race / class / profession prior to the final launch.

So here is Ms. Lula :D

I am now a level 12.8 Druid and still did not learn any shapeshifting form yet ... I am trying to finish off the quest in Telnadril first but the more I complete the more I get! That's unbeleivable the amount of quests to perform. So far most are quite basic (find this for me , go get that for me ... :( ) But the setting is so great that I found myself sometimes standing on a high point and just enjoying the view.

I did some leveling up yesterday and I beleive I am one of the highest level in the area I am in now (and I have been saving quite a lot of new players caught in the wrong place desperately trying to out run level 12 giant spiders (until they cast spiderweb on them ...)). This means I baselically need to move out of the Night Elf grove and start exploring the world.

However I do not have a party yet so I might stay a bit more to try to find some people that I can play with (and who play intelligently - that's the hard part so far for what I have witnessed ...)

On the profession side I am progressing quite fast ... that's actually where I spent most of my time yesterday (picking up herbs, preparing potions , etc ...) I 've learned Herbalism, Alchemistry, Cooking, First Aid and am now looking forward to move to Darnassus (the NE capital) to learn Fishing ... and the shapeshifting hability.

I actually saw a level6 Druid who was able to shapeshift to Bear ... and I am quite puzzled about it cuz it is supposed to be available to lvl10 Druids min only ...

Finally !!! The Final European Beta Test opened its doors to all the poor frustrated players who were eagerly camping at the gates of the WoW world :D

I have "created" Pris Micalh .. shortened to PrisMicalh for we cannot use SPACE characters in writin the name :( . Too bad but hey ... that's ok I am in for about one Free month of extra playing ... while many other people are still waiting for the game to be released (woaw I am so lucky ... my first time on a VG test ! ).

After about 5 hours of playing Pris Micalh is a happy Level 6 Night Elf Druid, who mistakenly kill a poor rabbit (he was young and wanted to see if he could get XP from it ...:( how silly ) but also slained about 150 beasts while learning how to move around in this beautiful forest scenary of Teldrassil (Night Elves homeland ...).

So here is how I look like in the game :

I finally received a few pictures (just 4 though) from the small mountain bike raid we've done along the Catumbela river in November (Cf. previous Journal entry below :) ). Just looking at these pictures I feel Angola sick again ...

This was one of the critical part on the trail. The path is just 20cms wide and at the very end (where I stand with a yellow shirt and a red shortpans) you have to climb down a 7 meters ladder with the bike on the back ...

And for those who've read my journal but still do not have a clue where is that place I am talking about :

I subscribe to a Music review called The Inrockuptibles. It provides excellent critics over a wide spectrum of arts from music to litterature to cinema. Once a month along with the review comes a 15-track CD with a selection of little know artists on the upward slope. I like these CDs because they allow me to check out new sounds in musik categories I am not necessarily attrackted to.

I received the latest CD last week. This time the review chose to bring forward hybrids group with classical instruments as a binding element (like violins, orchestras, etc ...). I mechanicaly put the CD in my car player on my way to a store some 15 kms away from the house. All songs were great but did not touch me enough so that I would buy the albums they were extracted from.

I was on the highway and just 2 kms away from the exit to reach the store. Then comes this song Un Nuevo Dia Brillara by an artist called Luz Casal. That voice ! I just trancended! The song is a remake of a French song I think from a few years ago. Not my type of music, really. But her penetrating voice, and the new form of this melody I knew just got over me. Completely.

In fact I was so much into that song, ... that I lost 3.30 mns of time !!! The song ended and I thought : "Wow great song! ... Man where am I !?" . I had to look around to realise I passed the exit by 5 kms !! I was completely somewhere else during 3.30 mns ... while driving at 110km/hrs !

So I took an other exit, turned twice left to get back on the highway and catch the right exit. Pushed the back button on the player to listen to that song and that voice again. Just too addictive.
Once again, I get high just listening to this ... and wake up too late to take the exit !! Unbeleivable !!

I had to make an other U-turn to finally get to the store ... and then stayed on the parking lot listening to the song in loops for 20 minutes. Beware that's a dangerous song ... if you are affected as much as I seem to be by female voices. :P

Here is the song for those who speak spanish ... nothing exceptional ... but the voice !! That's got to be her voice that does this to me ...


UN NUEVO DIA BRILLARA
(Luz Casal)

---

El horizonte se perfila oscuro sin opción
los cuerpos que antes fueron uno rompen esa unión
dejaron paso a la indeferencia y decepción
ya sé que era parte de un acuerdo efímero.

Quiero ver el rojo del amanecer
un nuevo día brillará
se llevará la soledad.
Quiero ser el rojo del amanecer
el sol de nuevo brillará
se llevará la soledad
que en mí se quiere instalar.

Acuden a mi mente imágenes de tí, de mí
son tan intensas y reales que me hacen sufrir
no sé cómo consigo soportar la situación
de un juego con final previsto entre tú y yo.

Quiero ver...

I spent the weekend in my dear old mountains in the South of France. They are called Massif Central. I was right on time for the first snow storm of the season. With winds up to 100 km/h and small icy flakes that mark your faces like needles. Such a good feeling, that's my home ;)

Friday was quieter and I went off for a 10k hike around a lake (not yet frozen unfortunately). The whole countryside was covered in snow. After so many years in Africa, close to one of the driest place on Earth (the Namibe Desert) it feels really good to be here.

I just can't wait for my next time off so that I can take my old Murow out for a ride down the slopes! I haven't snowboarded for 2 years now. Man I am going to look like a beginner ... again ..!

and by popular demand ...

A short week is just ahead of me.

In France, thanks to the "RTT" (litteraly "Working Time Reduction" a socialist law passed a few years ago and aimed at creating more employments - in fact not creating much new employments but fostering delocalisations and productivity boosts) ... thanks to the RTT so, this week is just a 3-workday week for most of the froggies.

I'll size the opportunity to travel down to the South of France ... back to my homeland of Lozere.

Lozere and its highlands, ... in winter ... with the dark heavy skies just above. The heavy clouds full of snow. The negative temperatures far below zero at night. The deep forest with names that appear driven straight out of a Tolkien's novel : The black forest, the forest of the dead, the valley of hell (these are the real names ...!).

I just can't wait to go there Thursday morning !! That's such a magical place ...

Well I am back ! But there is more to my return ...

I had to change my flight from Wednesday night to Tuesday night to match my work requirements. And fortunately I managed to find a seat on Tuesday AF flight Luanda / Paris. Otherwise I was booked on the TAAG (Transportos Aeros Angolanos) the Angolan air company for a Wednesday flight.

And this morning I read off Yahoo France that the very plane I was supposed to take yesterday has landed off track in the CDG airport in Paris. According to the communique the accident is due to ... human error (no surprise there for TAAG is not really spearheading the industry in terms of HSE). The pilot had too much speed when his B747 - 300 reached the ground. Fortunately no injuries were reported but according to 2 of my friends that were onboard that flight it has been a rough ride when the plane reached the field area after the track.

I guess I am lucky to be a work-alcoholic, even though somehow (since it is a minor incident) I would have liked to test what an off track landing feels like ... :P

The link to the article (in French sorry) :
http://fr.news.yahoo.com/041104/85/44lq3.html