360

I though, since I had so much fun with wireless yesterday, I'd try to hook up the 360 in my den. It's been dominated by the kids since Christmas but now the weather is improving, they're less inclined to veg out, so I took my chance. I have all intentions of going wireless but thought better of it and plugged in with the cable. Set-up was easy and I was downloading demos 10 mins after plugging in. I bought a gold membership and a few thousand points so if anyone fancies showing me around Gears of War, my gamertag is Gamesauce.

I'll start commenting on the games when I've played for a few days.

Wireless Nightmare

Router went tits today, the first words I heard on entering the house were "no internet", great considering I wanted to work from home for a couple of hours. So, off to PC World. Headed straight to the router wall and grabbed the one slightly "behind the curve" of techmology to ensure compatibility. 15 mins later I was home, 60 odd quid lighter. Then the real fun began.



I thought I could remember my login/pass for BT Openworld but alas, and depite the handy wizard on the router (asked me which country and which ISP) the error log confirmed my worst nightmare "Login/Password incorrect". The routers web light was red and I was red. Red at the prospect of phoning "BTs wordwide web of bullshit" So, starter for 10p (I wish!) Got through to India within about 5 mins on Swan Lake, asked me a bunch of security questions, asked me some seemingly random questions about my BT account and then asked me how can I help today, Sir. "I need my log/pass" I reponded, asked me another few questions (router type, which lights blinky? blinky? etc) then said they would have to tranfer me to another 'department'.I then got though to a yorkshire woman who I did my best to butter up, with some success, she asked me the same shite but in a more disarming manner then put me back in touch with India. Yep, back again (by this time, my first question was "can I have your NAME, your JOB TITLE & the DEPARTMENT you work for please, Sir/Madam" Anywho, ended up back in England after another pointless round only to hear the voice of a *truly* jaded and completely disinterested man, ahhh I thought "a true professional" Sure enough, in 30 seconds, he had reset it all for me and google booted up.

Anyway, all this techmology is far too bloody complicated. If I weren't a bit nerdy and hadn't set up a router before, I wouldn't have had a bloody clue where to start. I had a simple problem with my log/pass, bloody good job I knew the other 10 settings that make it work!

Salt and Pepper's Here!

I bought these in San Francisco at the museum. Deb has since made them a token of how our relationship is going, all is well at the moment as you can see below. She moves them apart when the bricks are down..

Give me the blandest thing on the menu.

First of all, hero's award;


Damo's grindin' - He means it.

Art Alert!


I have to issue a disclaimer with this image. These 2 are very much in love. Brought to you by Cadbury's - Melt in't gob.

IT'S A DEAL

That's commitment.

Shower of gayers.

Takeaway award - China Chef - Doncaster.

Interesting article for developers.

onlamp

Play it again, Ginger.

Work is happening. Had all intentions of going home at 5:50 this evening but since I *have* to drive past the Showroom on my way home (the roads are a mess, Thatchers Britain) innit...I gave in.

Quiet night again, saw Steve McKevit sat down (Ex Gremlin/Developer, now PR, obviously waiting for someone, 'ferritfashon'. As it happens, he was waiting for Ian Anderson, mainly Ginger but he's a dirty bastard so it was a two for one, great success. Had a chat with Steve, only met him a few times but he's a good lad, pretty shy...for a PR guy. Put the dev world to rights in a few strained sentences and sat back, appy enuf. Ian turned up onQ (Wipeout PS1 branding, Can't call him a bright spark as he's Ginger ((you don't have to be Ginger any more....) and lardy) He's bright tho...). Ian drops a sly one in and we're all cracking on. Had a life affirming natter and made the world a smaller, happier place. Winner. Anyway, also met another geezer (turned up mid sentence and was quiet. (Barring the "fuck you" chERman glasses)) Nice lad anyway, kindly sort. Also saw the 'sheila' from DK.Fist, who's moving in (To Sheff), apparently.

I was introduced to a new twenni tonight, by a man of his late twennis with braces on. Here is the daft bugger;



Here's pick of twennis ass, taken by his entirely coincidentally Ginger pal...


And here's his entirely coincidentally Ginger pal...

I know quite a few morissey fanciers but...Ginger! In a Public Place!? Shamless.

Pics ahoy mi harties!
The Queen!

Pubchat

Interesting night. I was ready to get home this afternoon after being pretty tired from last night but work was cool so I stuck around. Ended up having 2 more than I should have in the Showroom with one of our bravest programmers. We've been trying to get ahead of the curve on DS, something that comes pretty naturally to us in theory. In practice, we're a small team that knows pretty much everything but can only act on 20% of it, we've got to be careful if the mortgage is going to get paid regularly. Good session actually. I think we've cracked the next stage and have a good idea how long it will take and, after a bit of "personality scheduling", who's going to do it. Ahh, another wasted evening in the pub ;) Met some earnest 'chermans' in there. Chermans can be German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian or Fins (possibly others but my geography is crap). In this case they were Dutch, and had an admirable vocabulary (the word "insult" came up in the first sentence). They were over here setting up a documentary festival in Sheffield (DocFest...or .DCFST or DC.fist or somefin'...) They all looked happy & knackered by the whole process anyway. They seem to think it's important so I'll post a link when it appears on the conveniently perforated flyer in the Shroom.


Duckfesters

Also saw Legzeplin' and had to post the resultant glory. Frances' gain is Englands loss. Rock on baby!


Frances' gain is Englands' loss.

Leopard Jam

I play guitar on Sunday afternoons at the Leopard Jam and last night was a cracker. Things started off slowly, we didn't set up till about 5:30 and there weren't many in. Deb stayed, not much of a mothers day present but she had a blast anyway (actually took the car home and got a taxi back she got that excited :) After 5 grolsh, I got a bit over enthusiastic with the new camera but don't think I pissed anyone off too much... I remember being on the floor video'n "Ego Parade" (one to watch..just signed to EMI I believe).


Daft poles.

For anyone that fancies a play, the jam is every Sunday around 4:30. The resi band keep the punters interested with everything from AC/DC to Floyd and the rest of the gang play all sorts of stuff, original and otherwise. It's a real mix and match (Russ, Jam organiser) generally puts people together that know similar songs and it's a friendly atmosphere as long as you leave your ego at the door!

Gold Dust

The Gold Dust bar on Powell is just my kind of place. Full of character (apparently built in the 20's and not decorated since) and full of characters. I was introduced to the place by Ben from Babel, he popped round to Foleys to see where all the brits were and I tagged along later and met up with a buddy of his. The house band have been playing there for around 8 years, 6 nights a week. They play blues with lots of Johnny Cash featuring. They also do a great line in banter, gentle and biting in equal measure and always with a grin. The accoustics in the place are great, the band has their own (standing room only) area behind another bar and the drums are masterfully played at reaonable volume.


Drunken Kazaks!

Some highlights for me were;

First night in the place, had a great time with Ben and Graeme from Blast.
Meeting 2 Kazakstani girls at lunchtime one day (great success!, pity I didn't have my "Very Nice - How Much" T-shirt on)
Listening to the bartender recounting tales of Jack Nicholson and Hunter Thompson (apparently, Hunter was too crazy even for Jack)
The friendly and very funny, swearing Irish barmaid, fu**in' egits!

Pure gold.

SFMOMA

SFMOMA - Go here now, take plenty of dollars (preferably £ so you can do 2 for 1)

I'll start with this. I'll have to take a few pics of the objects I bought at the Museum shop. It'll help me test out my new Sony Cybershot without a shakey hand...

The Matrix

San Francisco is a very busy place, especially if you're a tourist/sheep. Matrix bar (Fillmore) is initially an Oasis. The tinted glass reflecting pizza orgasmica is facade to the matrix of human experience. Basically, there were many rich, pretty people dancing and swaying to superb musical acompanyment without a care in the world. My teeth have never seen some much UV light and the 'beautiful people' smiled and cheered back. Very encouraging.

Gurning Itis

Dicky Chipchaser & The Comfort Zones.

From the moment I heard that Bradford accent, I knew it was going to be a good night. Since I moved from Bradford a few years ago, I've lost contact with all aquaintances and only see friends a couple of times a year so it came as a pleasant surprise to meet a fellow Bradfordian in an Irish bar in the middle of San Fransisco. Was was even better was that he grew up about 4 miles away and went to a "rival" school. Richard works in the biz and we soon got chatting about old and new. It was top to have such fun and brilliant that the banter was punctuated by random jungle calls like

"Cloud Nine!"
"Dollars and Dimes!"
"Adidas Samba shined with black boot polish"
"Farrars!" (Even uncle Tony liked that.."Farrars were great!"
"Dukes & Silks!!"

Dicky joined us the day after for a spot of pirate impersonation and was great value throughout. Nice one kid.

AARRgggghhh! Mi Harties!

I used to envy extroverts, I am now a fully paid up extrovert.

Despite me being fairly confident with people over the last 15 years (Before "creating stuff" I used to do what I hated and hated what I did) I've always had trouble with the idea of relaxing. I've always had the idea that sitting in pubs, drinking beer and chatting, was an escape, a diversion from the worthy cause. Not any more.

It all depends on where you are sitting, what you are drinking and who you're chatting with.

I had the pleasure of having an afternoon with a few industry buddies friday afternoon in SF. We arrived early, drank enthusiasically, chatted/convinced/cajoled/fought/laughed and cried, generally putting the world to rights. On its own, a fairly ordinary night in the pub This was San Fransisco tho... So..... we were dressed as Pirates (Hats, ear rings, hooks, guns and crucially, communially draped in a flag) We we're sat around Pier 43. The weather/temperature was "womb-like". Around 200 people passed us (AArrgg Mi Harties!). 30 Bikers (replete with harleys, leather and "chicks") drove into town (AArrgg Mi Harties!). It was great. We had the mix of personalities, the ideas, the energy, the will, and the desire to have a bloody good time, and we had it.


To the band of merry pirates : I salute you.

Highlights of the day for me were;

Craig climbing on the fire engine "Prepare to repel boarders"
Running halfway down the block, pretending to rob a strangers' phone when she asked "Could you take a photograph of us?"
Uncle Tony, well out of his comfort zone but just couldn't leave because it was so much fun.
The many strangers that passed, Darwin knew they would smile/laugh and shout "AArrgg Mi Harties!" but still...
Craig, climbling and thusly claiming, the high rise carpark opposite the bar, "Pirate Property"

Kiss my Flickr
Arrr Mi Harties

Growing & Showing

Nice day today despite horrible network (and therefore staff) problems. The bug count on our latest DS project is around 25 A's and 50 B's (Beta due today). The publishers producer sent us a doc with their/our beta requirements, completely unprompted. it was to the point and a single side of A4. This demonstrates a good understanding of dealing with small teams. We're busy doing and since we're pretty hand to mouth, a short and acheivable document such as this focusses the team on the primary goals of work for hire;

1. Get the job done.
2. Squeeze as much quality in there as time/budget will allow.
3. Get the invoice in.

We're nicely on track and since the game is smallish, we've got time to polish/be happy with it. I'll let you know what it is when it's announced.

So, on to my list...

Maybe it's not a road to nowhere after all...

Wowa Weewa!

San Fransisco was a fantastic experience. I've been a couple of times before but had chance to dig much deeper this time, partly due to large gaps between meetings after Tuesday but mostly due to an experienced guide (thanks Martyn!) From the moment I hit the first bar on sunday evening, to the brief farewell to the lads in "Lou's Diner" I was grinning naughtily, from ear to ear.

The format of a blog like this is too restrictive for me to willingly describe even 20% of the time, so much happened. I've decided to filter out the mere sensational from the truly heavenly by boring the lads at home with the highlights and recounting them as I try to hone the delivery. I'll be doing this in the pub and we're really busy so I'll probably be banging on about it for months or at least until Prague!

I'll get some personal statements down to serve as an ongoing chapter list and take it from there;

AARRgggghhh! Mi Harties!
Dicky "Is't Matrix bar really a swingers club?" Chipchaser
Matrix Bar
Gold Dust bar
SFMOMA

I left my heart........

Oh Bugger!

Had a really awesome night in the Matrix bar last night with the lads, we were joined by a crackin fella from Capcom who was very savvy and very high on the fun-o-meter, great success. The Matrix bar is a great place to go and was welcome respite from the casual games event which was noisy and rammed with people. I can't see the point in having an event set in a place like that, nobody could hear anyone talking so the networking was rubbish. By contrast, the Matrix was warm, cosy and relatively serene. We sat around the huge "Jenga fireplace" and had some very interesting conversations and plenty of jamesons, we hit the all night diner around 2:30 to find it full of SF cops, despite them looking pretty serious, one of the lads was getting a little restless so we moved a couple of tables away from them so as not to be overheard. Of course, this was taken as some kind of snub and we got a few withering looks. Thankfully, it all went off without a hitch, craig was mumbling to himself through half the meal which was a giggle.



My trainers have been rubbing the back of my feet, I'm doing a lot of walking. I got up this morning with quite nasty pain in my lower leg and a quick look at it confirmed it is infected. I managed to get in to see Doc Savage on Post St around 5 minutes after calling them. One initially painless injection later and a packet of anti-biotics and I was on my way. He also gave me a new cream (Elidel) for my psoriasis, he reckons it's the latest greatest next gen treatment so so I'll have a go with it. He also gave me a letter to hand in at the airport on sunday to get an upgrade! Winner. Of course, the downside is....sob...I have to be tee-total till sunday...NOOOOO!

GDC Day 2

Had another cracking night last night, the irish bar on O'Farrel was buzzing with industry types and everyone was in very high spirits. Finished around 3 again and then went on to a great little diner for a full breakfast. Martyn was actually squint eyed at this point and the waitress got some undeserved flak. Got back around 4 for a well earned kip. I'll be uploading the photos to Flickr later on so check em out.

One down..

Having stayed out till about 3:30 this morning, I was glad to hit the hay, great night but tiring, especially since Martyn has a habit of appearing to know where he's going so I walked down town to meet him, only having to bleedin walk back up to about 100 yards from my hotel to eat chinese, which was also excellent. I've never seen a restaurant as big as the one we went to last night, it was HUGE. We mistakenly ended up on a floor (it's got several) where there was a new years banquet going on. As the lift doors opened and I peered round the corner into the vast room filled with 650, yes 650! diners. I couldn't believe what I was seeing.


A church in downtown SF, nice.

Also, had a bit of "alarm fear" this morning, I must have turned it off at 6:45 and slept till I awoke with a start, bolt upright in bed, thinking I had missed half my meetings argh! Thankully it was only 7:30 so I made the show in good time and set the stall up. Meetings start at 9 and continue to 6:30 so I had 18 to go at. All turned up fairly promptly and the day went off without any problems. The event format is great and really well organised so it was a pleasure to do and I made some excellent new contacts as well as catching up with some old ones, there's a lot to go at when I get back and there seems to be a fair appetite for our work so I'm confident of converting the good leads into contracts.

Touch down!

Well, I arrived at San Fran airport an hour ago and enjoyed the default jazz in the taxi on the way to the crown plaza. It's about 17 degrees here but since it's cold in the UK, it feels more like 27! I managed to get around 6 hours kip on the plane so I'm feeling pretty good at the moment.


I'll be meeting up with a friend who arrives in a few hours, then it'll be off into town no doubt. San Fransisco rocks!

My Flickr

Here's a link to My Flickr , check em out.

Ready for off?

Well, last night at home so tying up a few loose ends before heading off to San Fran. I took an hour to mess around with flickr so i could upload photos while I'm out there so check em out if you get time.

Dirty Deeds

I reckon by about 7:30pm tomoz, I'll be sat with a few friends by the bay, looking out onto Alcatraz and the golden gate bridge with only the prospect of beers, friends, laughs and blues to look forward to! Catch you later people!

Friends, Romans & Farting Priests.

Had the day off today as a good friend came over from Rome and stayed last night. Of course, given I hadn't seen him for over six months, it was a heavy night. We kicked off in The Showroom bar in Sheffield mid afternoon (a very friendly place, despite the slightly austere decor, a regular haunt of mine), had a couple of beers with Stefano & James, who's a producer at Gamesauce. Strange that no matter how much time passes with absent friends, 10 minutes sorts it all out and you're back to zero. In our case, back to zero involves a bit of cheery (if a little edgy) banter with whomever has the misfortune to be around at the time. We sat and chatted for an hour and set off back to donny to start the night proper.

After being introduced to Guitar Hero II (Stef is a great guitarist!, he loved it, and hated the fact :) we settled down to a pizza and watched "The Pick of Destiny". A few beers later, we were pretty spent and only youtube was really going to crack the happy sedation, which is where the "Farting Priest" comes in...Brilliant night.