Well, I have successfully made it back from my journey up to Port Pirie, and got a decent amount done while I was up there, which was nice. :)

The trip up was good, although I was busy answering all the messages people were SMSing me on my Birthday to tell me how terribly OLD I am now, and make several derogatory remarks while they were at it. We drove through a couple of dead-spots - no reception for my mobile - so it took a lil' while to get 'em all down and sent off successfully. Drive up there took about two and a bit hours, so it was nice to be able to relax in the back seat and let others do the concentrating on the road. *grin*

Once we got up there, we managed to grab some lunch (had to do some shopping to buy the food and all - joy!) and then settle down into our meeting. Myself and a few others are trying to draw up some SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures) for a lot of the activities we do as RAT members. The setting up of the Hall for Disco's at Angaston, the equipment we need to put out and when, that sort of thing. We got about four hours into it, before we all started to REALLY get on each other's nerves, and we took a break.

Dinner in the evening was at a friend's place up in Port Pirie. We ended up having Lamb Yiros that were cooked on the barbecue, and some good cheese and fruit platter type things. The meal was good - as it SHOULD have been, given that I ended up cooking it! My skills on a Barbecue are known throughout the land - I am often called upon as Tong Master to help cook a meal for another. :P

Sunday proved to be much the same. We managed to spend another few hours working on the SOPs before we needed to get going back to Adelaide. Drive back was much the same, except less with the people calling me old part - which was kinda nice. Managed to end up cooking another barbecue that evening - some sausages, steak, onion and potatoes. Was still good, and nice to relax in the evening for a bit before work the next day.

So all in all, it was a fairly productive weekend. Everyone survived, no-one killed each other, and we got some work done, only to discover we had a lot MORE to do yet. Ah well... We'll get there eventually. :D

Prolly should make some NON-RL related Journal entries while I'm at it, I suspect. More another time, people...

is something we all have to deal with. Unfortunately, I'm staring at the reality of this while we speak.

Yup, it's my Birthday on the 8th of January. Same day as several OTHER celebrities out there. :P

Feel free to send me gifts, people. My Wish List should give you some ideas. *grin*

Well, I'm not gonna be around here at Gamespot much this weekend. As it happens, I'm heading up north and going to Port Pirie for the weekend. I have some friends up that way, and myself and some other people are going up there for the weekend to have a couple of meetings and generally spend a weekend away.

I'm actually going up there for some St. John stuff. One of the things I'm involved in with St. John is a group known as RAT (which stands for Recreational Activities Team). We help organise activities for the Cadets in St. John to keep 'em amused, and are very involved with a Cadet Camp held once a year in the town of Angaston. (Don't know where Port Pirie or Angaston are? They're in South Australia, Australia. S'Ok - most of you have never heard of my State, let alone any of these towns. *shrug*)

So we're heading up to Port Pirie to have a few meetings to plan some stuff for the Angaston Camp, and generally plan things for 2005. Should be a fun weekend. Point is, I leave in the morning, so I won't be online for a couple of days until I get back.

Don't get up to TOO much mischief while I'm away, kids! CYA when I get back! :D

is that it's a bit TOO flexible at points. What am I on about? Lemme explain...

There's always a difference in time, no matter where you look. I mean, most of the people I chat with here are on the other side of the planet. Which means the timezones don't always mesh up nicely. So when it's 2330 here in Australia, for example, it's about 1330 in Belgium. (Give or take an hour or so) So it means when I'm getting ready to get some sleep (occasionally) Europe is still in the middle of the day. Makes it tricky to have conversations with that sort of difference. On the plus side of things though, it means I am contacting people from the future - and that's kinda kewl, actually. *grin*

Other time issues? Well, I'm sure you've all noticed at some point or another how time seems to flow at different speeds occasionally. You know what I mean. You're sitting at work, trying to look busy while your boss walks past. You're watching the clock, hoping the end of the day would come sooner rather than later. And you swear you can watch the second have slow to a crawl. :(

On the flip side of that? You're enjoying a great game, or a good conversation, or movie, or whatever. Next thing you know, four hours have passed and you can't explain where the time has gone. I had a recent experience with that on Battle for Middle Earth - lost about five hours of my life there. :D

And then of course there's the other sorts of time differences. Like the difference between the time I should have been at work this morning, and when I actually got there. That'll learn me for staying up so late mucking around on the 'Net, won't it? :P

It's all got to do with Time differences... *grin*

Ah, the alliteration of it all! :D

On to happier topics. One of the games I picked up recently was Burnout 3 - Takedown. Now, having read through the journals of Mr Znuggles who has also played (and I believed finished) this game, and checked out the review, and seen MANY other positive references to it here at Gamespot, I figured I would give it a go.

To be honest with ya, I'm having difficulty playing NEthing except the Crash mode. What could be more fun than driving a vehicle at high speed into a busy intersection and SMASHING everything in sight, in one fell swoop?

(Actually, in real life - I don't think I could think of NEthing worse. But this is the Game World, so it doesn't really matter, does it? On another aside, this is another time where I really hope gaming consoles just aren't portal generators that give us control over aspects of another reality entirely. I'd HATE to live in a world where evil Gods cause terrible vehicle accidents, over and over again... No, I'm not getting enough sleep at the moment. I'll stop now. *grin*)

Back on track again... The Crash mode of Burnout 3 (and Team Crash when you have a mate playing alongside of you) is GREAT fun. I believe there's a racing component to the game as well, and some Takedown type races (which I had a look at as well - also good fun), but I think I'm gonna stick with smashing up Semi-Trailers, and Motorhomes, and Tankers, and Taxis, and Compacts, and... Well, you get the idea.

Znuggles, once I get myself on X-Box Live, you and I have to get together and cause some mayhem together my friend! Whatcha reckon? You up for it? :D

Now, I know my last Journal entry finished on a good note, and I'd like to keep it that way. So this Journal entry will be fairly short.

*mumble mumble* Stupid install Disc 2 on Bloodlines.

*sniff* WHY won't it install???

Yeah, I weakened people. As you may have noticed, I purchased Vampire the Masquerade - Bloodlines (again) on the PC a day or so back. And have since spent the last day or so trying to install it. I WANNA play this game (and now I feel like a two year old throwing a tantrum 'coz Mummy took his favourite toy away... *sigh*). Bloodlines just has other ideas as to whether I'll be able to play it or not.

So here I sit and sulk. Feeling jealous of those of you out there (*looking pointedly at Bam*) who CAN play this game.

Right. Done sulking. On to other, less depressing topics, I think! :D

Well! I'm a bit of a happy chappy today (well, yesterday actually - but do you think I could get near my 'puter last night to go online? I think not!) Why, you may ask? Well, I'd be pleased to tell you... :)

As it happens, I managed to do a bit of shopping during the day on Wednesday. I had the day off from work, and needed to get some groceries, pay some bills and other such things. Now, whilst on my wanderings through the local shopping centre, I also managed to do some game shopping, which is always good fun.

Local David Jones store had a 20% off special on all PC and console games, so I managed to pick up Vampire - Bloodlines (again), and a copy of Burnout 3 - Takedown for the X-Box. I even (somehow) managed to score a discount on Takedown, so I actually ended up only paying half price for the game! So I was already in a pretty happy mood when I went on to some more shopping...

Next, I dropped by my neighbourhood Electronics Boutique. They know me pretty well there, as I tend to pop in at least once a week and bother them about some game or another. (STILL trying to track down Katamari Damacy on the PS2 - NEone know if it's ever being released in Australia?) I've had some bits and pieces for the X-Box on layby there for a week or so now, and figured now was as good a time as any to pick 'em up. So when I dropped by, and picked up my carry case bag thing for my X-Box console and a new cordless controller (and I gotta say, those things ROCK!) I managed to score myself a 25% discount on the controller, and 50% on the bag! So here I am, walking away with all these goodies, having basically paid about half what I otherwise would have. *grin*

Sometimes you just have a good day. :D

Hmmmm... I seem to have acquired a Butterfly for my Profile sometime in the last couple of days. This is something different for me and has something to do with my friends I have made here at Gamespot, I think. Does this mean if I send out THOUSANDS of random Friend requests, I can get MORE Butterflies to add to my Profile?

Hold me back! Let's start at "A" and work my way through. :P

Well, my holiday have finally come to an end. Yup, I don't have NEmore weeks off like I've had over the Christmas period. While this is upsetting, it DOES mean I'll be going back to work again (tomorrow in fact) and therefore earning money again.

Casual work, while flexible, has it's problems. You don't work, you don't get PAID. Double-edged sword, really. *shrug*

NEhow, this means my game playing will slow to a crawl again, so no more will I be completing two games in a week. I'll still be playing games, but at a slower pace. Just as well I managed to finish up Third Age when I did, 'coz otherwise I might NEVER have completed it. *grin*

It also means my Journal entries and other posts might become a bit more sporadic, so to my friends out there in Gamespot-Land, your understanding is appreciated. I shall endeavour to keep up the level of involvement I have had over the past couple of weeks, but we'll see how we go, eh?

Wish me luck, people! :)

Well, I figured I'd give this whole reviewing thing a go. Now while I'm not being published (like certain Norwegian friends of mine... :P) I'm still pretty happy with the effort. Took me a while, but then again I tend to write a lot (as some of you may have noticed. *grin*) and I DID have a lot to say.

If any of you are interested, check out my review of Third Age - a game I've only just finished, so I figure I have a fairly good take on it. Feel free to review my review if you so choose. :)

NEhow, I might have to get into doing this a bit more for some of my other games, so keep an eye out for more commentary from Mr Matt as the mood takes me!

More another time, people...