I found it difficult to keep away from screens outside of work as I had mentioned I was going to do last week. I had already planned to see Star Trek at the cinemas on Wednesday (which was great, I was even teary-eyed during the opening sequence. I'm such a pansy sometimes). I also went to my sisters place for dinner, and of course they had to watch a regular TV show while I was there, but both those were of a social nature. I did get a bit of reading done, about a book and a half. I also discovered Hashi in a Sudoku book I had lying around, which I quite enjoyed. In the same book I also finished my first Kakuro... after about 3 hours total worth of time invested.

I wasn't avoiding the screen because I'm sick of it, just thought it might be better for my eyes (as such I had less time to comment on blogs, but I have read those from this week). Aside from reading and good old pen and paper puzzling I pondered what else I would do, and we have certainly come to rely on computers. Generating a list of my Magic cards to sell them off? Needs to be done on the computer. I thought about writing again... but handwriting? No thanks. Want to research something? Need the internet (ok, could go to a library, but that lacks convenience).

I broke on Friday and started up the computer. I don't think the monitor liked being off for most of the week, and and it punished me for the neglect by not working when I turned it on, making whiny noises from inside, and lacking the 'gauss' noise that should happen when it turns on (old school monitor). Smacking it about did not fix the problem (I had nothing to lose). Luckily I've been able to borrow my housemates while her computer is off being repaired. Suppose I need to go buy another one, darn it.

I think I'm done with Bionic Commando Rearmed. I'm up to Area 6, and I land in the water every time. Not to mention that it seems near impossible to avoid the fire of the first few enemies you meet in the level. Yes you usually recover the health from other enemies, but it still feels dumb. I tried to persevere, but if I'm no longer having fun, what's the point? I considered doing a Sequel Me This on it, but my main request is this should have been on the Wii. Aim with a reticule, press a button, swing there. Or at least use the second analog stick to aim the bionic arm. It feels like it stuck too true to the original gaming conventions when it should have been reimagined. Maybe I should change the difficulty to easy, apparently they give you extra platforms to work with in some locations.

I'm not sure what I did in Fallout 3 to become such a bad character. I mean, I know I stole some stuff from some people. But otherwise I've helped people out in most encounters. I came out of a building and was immediately greeted by bounty hunters out for my head. Those guys don't much about. I had to reload a few times. Can anyone give me some insight as to whether I may have stuffed up collecting the Declaration of Independance? The first time I met Button (or whatever that robots name is) I got my arse kicked and high tailed it. I went back later, and he was somehow dead. Is it behind the door that I can not currently access (as I don't have the skill)? Or is it possible that someone else wandering the world has beaten me to the punch? Just realised I could go and ask the coot who sent me on the mission to answer that question...

Forgot to mention in my last blog that I broke my Rock Band drum pedal, and it is outside of warranty. I went on the EA forums and acknowledged it was out of warranty but asked if they sell them separately. Nope. A look on ebay and ringing a couple of local gaming stores indicates no one seems to be selling them in Australia and I will have to get it shipped from overseas. Lame. Does the GH : WT drum kit foot pedal work with the Rock Band (1) kit? If I need to spend all that money (looks like about $60 for a replacement third party drum pedal on ebay from overseas), perhaps I should just get that instead, and I will still have two working drum kits. Thought number 2. I know the kits themselves are platform specific, but are the drum pedals? i.e. If I buy a PS3 drum kit, will that foot pedal work with my 360 Rock Band kit? A friend has GH : WT with guitar on the PS3 so this would let us play the game in a band environment should I take this path (if able).

There are many parentheses (the brackets that this sentence is in) in this blog. Sorry. (Hey, it's better than saying 'as an aside').

(Note : This footer is an excuse to add more parentheses.)