Archive | April 2008

Noctis Personæ: The Beginning

Apr24

Well in just under 140 minutes, Noctis ’08 AKA Wintercon, begins.

We’re starting off with a nice little welcome dinner at the Duke, but the real festivities begin tomorrow.

A whole pile of interstaters are heading in, have headed in and a lot of people are going to get drunk and party.

And just because I could, I decided to buy something special for this weekend.

My werewolf Rahu is a bit of a metal-head, so he likes his leather and spikes, and I figured it was about time I upgraded his wardrobe.

So I went and bought me a nice new metal studded vambrace which can be found here.

I was a bit concerned that the upper diametre was going to be a bit much for my arm, but it actually fits rather well. Still not sure on the appropriate method for lacing them up.

Still things should get interesting. All going well on Saturday I’ll be able to arrange a couple of cakes for the Apostate meeting.

Much fun to be had.

Beerkips: The Returning… Fuck Yeah!

Apr19

Well as posted previously, tonight was Beerkips night.

I arrived there later than intended as I need to take the rubbish out, then go and buy some basic consumables (you cannot have sammages without bread.)

So I got there after 8, now this may not seem all that late to you, but it’s later than I planned as I walked all the way from Richmond Station to the base of Eureka Tower.

Why did I walk all that distance, you ask.
The answer is simple, emos. Or rather one particular ex-emo who decided that playing Chicken with trains was a really good idea.
Protip: When a large hunk of mainly metal is heading towards you at around 100k/h, move to the side. The Train always wins.

Official reasoning for the delay for Defective Signals, and it was even suggested by the train-driver to catch a tram the rest of the way.

What a brilliant idea this was. Except the number of people who decided to follow his advice. Packed trams are not fun for someone who doesn’t like being around people to that level.
Trams obviously weren’t an option.

Unlike some people, however, I chose not to walk along the tram-lines off into the city.
Instead I decided to cross the river and follow it to my destination, also on that side of the river.

Things I learned on my journey: People like wearing Essendon football tops. The river curves multiple ways. People who watch Korn in concert all look the same. And Templestowe is around 43 kilometres from the Arts Centre.

Eventually I got to my destination, there I found the following: R4N, Zardoz, Wolfmother, Sando and Deadeye.
There may have been some others but it’s not important (if you feel offended I missed you from this initial list, harass me on IRC or something and I will add you.

Later on we got Hider and his furfag friends (yes, they are furries, and furries are bad, but not as bad as plushies, as at least furs aren’t plush toys), Miniwalks, Zwan, Ithuriel and Spectre (again if I missed you out, tell me.)

Many shenanigans were had and talked about and such serious topics as these:
If you mix beer with anti-beer you get fire, and then ninjas can’t catch you as you’re on fire.
Is the original Castle Wolfenstein 8 bit or not?
You just lost the game.
Rick Astley
Tone-deaf karaoke.
Chocolat beer.
Why won’t TC learn that he can’t win if he keeps antagonising Miniwalks.
Etc.

Eventually everyone left except Zardoz, Ithuriel and myself.
Around that time my good friend z_brutalis and his girlfriend showed up, it has been her birthday and I finally got to meet the girl who’d made him her bitch.

Last drinks were called and we decided to relocate towards the food on Swanston street.

On the way, just outside the beer cafe, z_brutalis proposed to his girlfriend, and she said yes, levelling up to being his fiancé.

We made our way along the river to where we could ascend to street-level and discovered something amazing: there are real live fish surviving in the Yarra!

Eventually we made our way to where we could obtain biomass, and the newly engaged z_brutalis offered to drive me home, rather than me catch the Niterider.
Thus I spent some more time hanging out with the two engaged youngsters.

You have not experienced anything as frightening as being in a car that decides to keep pace with 4 other P-platers at speed… I just don’t trust what other drivers will do.

Eventually we made it back to my place, chatted for awhile, and they left off to their next destination, and I came in here, and well started blogging this.

There will be moar beerkips in future.

And congratulations to you two, you know who you are.

Upcoming events of gaming type nature.

Apr15

I figured that with the small presence I’ve managed to attain here without having to spam all the time, that people might pay attention to a few things.

First up, this Thursday at the So Bar, 270 Russell street Melbourne Australia, we have a chance to just chill.
These are the nights when a bunch of us gamers just get together, watch anime, play some wii and just hang out.
Things generally start around 6 or 7pm, and go on towards midnight.

Then on the Friday night, at the Belgian Beer Cafe, we have Beerkips: The Returning (Fuck Yeah!)
Well it’s not really an official sequel, just a different bunch of gamers hanging out and drinking and stuff, as covered in my previous post found here.
This supposedly starts around 6:30pm

Nothing really planned this weekend, though I think my parents will be in town, and I suppose being sociable with them would work nicely.

Next week we have similar events, So Bar on the Thursday, and probably Beerkips: Because Moar on the Friday.

But this is where things get mixed up a bit, I probably won’t be attending either of these drinking nights for one simple reason: Noctis Personæ 2008!

Starting on the Thursday night with a welcome dinner and stuff (if I get bored I might head to the So Bar anyway), then with games such as Mage: The Awakening and Changeling: The Lost all weekend, finishing on Monday with a farewell dinner.

If you’re a member of the Camarilla (sounds wanky doesn’t it when I put it this way) and you’re going to be in town, and have some time spare time, go and register here and help us get the numbers up.
There’s a timetable and everything.

If you’re going to be playing more than 2 sessions (as in more than 1 genre) I suggest shelling out for the All Sessions Pass, as beyond 3 sessions it’s the most economical.

If I get bored I’ll probably head home or something early I guess.

Anyway, that’s what’s coming.

AmK

Lain, how awesomely mindfucked you are.

Apr14

Well just recently I managed to get my paws on a copy of Serial Experiments Lain, and even though I’m only up to episode 10, I can see just how awesome it is.

This isn’t your typical action, huge swords, fire and kung-fu grip.
Instead this is more likely to do your head in from the inside outwards, it’s just so awesome.

The whole premise of the series deals in the evolution of humanity to another plane of existence as shown by their equivalent of the internet, known as the Wired.
Eventually we’re meant to be able to reach the point that we no longer require our fleshy shells and move onto a pure digital existence.

Such a theory has been covered in other settings, all the way to Stargate, where people ascend to a pure energy form once they achieve the required knowledge or evolution.

It’s even covered somewhat in the White-Wolf roleplaying game, Mage: The Awakening, where one of the goals can be to try and gain access to the Supernal Realms and become something more than you are.

So basically such themes have been brought up elsewhere.

But things that make Lain different, are the colour-palettes used, such as shadows containing blue or red splotches, possibly hinting at the blood within, and the digital world above.
There’s also a distinct lack of violence and confrontation.

The art style is quite pleasing and solid.

This is one of those series that keeps me wanting more. That’s a good thing.

All in all I highly recommend Serial Experiments Lain to anyone who likes thought provoking material.
Maybe not so for the DBZ crowd who like things simple and explosive.

AmK.

Beerkips… fuck yeah!

Apr12

Well tonight I did something different, rather than staying at home watching anime and playing video-games, or hanging out with a cool Cranbourne bird, I decided to mix things up a little.

I decided to go to my first Respawn Drinks Night, aka Beerkips, or Moar.

Now my first challenge was simple, locate the Eureka Tower. Not as easy as it might seem.
You see I have an unusual form of domestic blindness, unless I’m specifically looking for something and have it pointed out to me such as on a map or with pictures, I’ll just totally over-look things.
Such was the case with the Eureka Tower.

I’ve passed by it many times, yet until tonight had never seen it, despite it towering over it’s nearest opposition in a manner that’s hard to miss, yet miss it I did.

So I googled and so on and got pictures and planned out my route.

Next task was simple, food.
I chose the lazy but smart option: I called the local Fish & Chippery and placed an order of Flake for me to pick up on the way to the station.

Not only did I time it well, I timed it excellently, arriving at the station at roughly 1 minute remaining.

The trip into the city was uneventful.

Eventually I got into the city, stopped off for some cash at flinders and elizabeth, then proceeded through the underpass, across a bridge and around some corners to the base of Eureka Tower.
The Belgian Beer Cafe was right in front of me and was indeed my destination.

Upon arriving I was spotted by one Tankii, who waved quite emphatically, drawing my attention to the motley crew of Respawn admins, regulars, and some people I’d never seen before.

There were many shenanigans, what with the size of Zardoz lenses, Spiteful’s body armour, Sando’s being a Genuine Asian Male, and R4N’s contagious state of being.

A lot of photos were taken, a lot of beer consumed, and the one known as Deadeye drank what he called a Period, it was red with cranberry, and he’d been assured it’d help with it’s namesake.

There was much rickrolling to be had, with R4N’s phone being hijacked.

There were some card-games where Sando, Spiteful, some guy who compared a drink of tasting like anus, and myself abducting cards… many lulz indeed.

Eventually though we got to the 1am mark, were booted out passively and started going our separate ways.
Some caught taxis, the rest of us journeyed to the Swanston KFC for food, where upon I opted out along with Spiteful and we caught our respective taxis.

Nightrider trips don’t change much, though there were a couple of german girls opposite me.
Which leads me to here, where I’m home typing a blog entry.

There will be photos of beerkips no doubt online soon enough and I shall link to them.

But in future, we need more for the beerkips, because moar!

I go to bed now.

AmK.

[edit]
Pictures can be found at here
[/edit]

New domain, is all mine, muahahahaha…

Apr11

Yup, that’s right kids, today I purchased this wonderful brand spanking new domain address, isn’t it awesome?

I figured that after all these years of piggybacking on someone else’ domain, that I might as well pick up one for myself.
Now my nameservers aren’t the most awesome as they don’t seem to support cnames, but other than that fairly good.

So now I can post generic crap about most things onto a place that’s my very own.

And speaking of generic crap:

Once again on a Thursday night I hung out at my friend Bruno’s bar, the So Bar (at 270 Russell street in the CBD, available for functions).
I got to have a few games of Super Smash Brothers Brawl, teaming up with Bruno vs the CPU and pwning.

Of course naturally no Thursday night would be complete without a dose of Family Guy and American Dad and a little SGA.

Also I watched me some new Bleach 166 action. Not the HD rip, never the HD rip as mentioned in my previous post, it is a troll and will cause physical pain and isn’t amusing in the least.
Poor Grimmjow Jaggerjack, didn’t realise he was going to get pwned at full Resurrecion level.

But what is it with anime and fight-scenes that requires you to have an inexhaustible supply of pillars or mountains, rocks and so on? Smashing them repeatedly is meant to show you’re hard-core?

I guess so… and now methinks it’s time to smash something up myself, maybe a little Soulstorm, or maybe some Hellgate, haven’t decided yet.

AmK.

Fuck you Dattebayo, just fuck you…

Apr11

Ow my eyes… the pain, the pain…

Basically I made the foolish decision to snag Dattebayo’s HD release of “Bleach”.
Bad decision on my part.
If you’re epileptic, whatever you do, do not watch the HD release of bleach 166… you will most certainly have a seizure.

What do you think happens when you have a 1920x1200p black and white flashing screen with text stating they’ll “never release shit in mkv”? you have pain, that’s what you have.

It still hurts.

Unnecessary troll is unnecessary.