The FINAL Weekly Quote

Yes it is!

I think it's time to call it a day with The Place That Is. Over the past few weeks I've been struggling to come up with stuff to write and to justify this blog's place on the bloggosphere. I've had the odd bust of inspiration here and there, which I'm proud of, but of late I've found there just isn't anything to write about.

I'm not really a tell-all kind of guy I don't feel the need to Tweet away my life's minutae or go on at length about my opinions on matters of importance, as many bloggers are skilled at doing. But rather this was just a place for me to hang out and post a few thoughts here and there. But increasingly I've been posting for the sake of keeping the blog going, rather than enjoying it - as Joss Whedon said, there's a point when it stops being rescussitation and turns into necrophilia...

...of course he was talking about the excellent TV show firefly which he did manage to resurrect as the movie Serenity and is still ongoing as a comic book series. Anyway, this blog didn't quite seem worthy of those efforts.

I think I might have a few loose ends to tie off before I close down completely, but for now...

"Jack Firebrace lay forty-five feet underground with several hundred thousand tons of France above his face. He could hear the wooden wheezing of the feed that pumped air through the tunnel. Most of it was exhausted by the time it reached him." - Birdsong, Sebastian Faulks

Weekly Quote - W/E 25/09/10

"Love itself is what is left over when being in love has burned away, and this is both an art and a fortunate accident." - Captain Corelli's Mandolin, Louis de Bernieres

Splinter Cell World Tour, part 6

As I continue my imaginary world tour we've actually completed the first game with a large chunk of the action taking place in Myanmar and Georgia. They were great locations to play in, and I'm sure fantastic ones to visit. Pandora Tomorrow, the second game gives a wealth of settings to visit, which adds to the fun.

I do like the world travel side of the early Splinter Cell games, the latter ones, including the superb Conviction have excellent levels to play through, but largely take place on Sam's home turf. But not to worry, there's another video game series that features a lot of roaming around so the imaginary world tour will continue!!

Dili
Country: East Timor
Area: 14,874 km2 (East Timor)
Population: 150,000
Language: Tetum



Sam undertakes a mission in Dili, East Timor in response to a terrorist attack on the U.S. Embassy there. The mission is rife with opportunities for Sam to show off his split-jumping, pipe-shimmying and shadow lurking as he gets closer to the threat and his target. Being an Embassy, this adds to the stealth action as Sam is restricted from using lethal force or leaving any sign of his presence.

Dili is the capital, an independent country in the Indonesian archipelago, half of the landmass of the island it occupies is taken up by West Timor, an Indonesian province. It was once a province of Portugal and carries that influence to this day, with Portugese being a primary language spoken. It was also occupied by Indonesia, but became an independant state in 1999.

However the violence has resulted in a large portion of Dili's buildings being severely damaged or destroyed. But a few significant buildings from the Portugese era remain, such as the Portugese Governor's office, which now houses the Prime Minister and also statues such as the Cristo Rei of Dili which is a major tourist attraction (pictured below)












It looks a fascinating place and like all the other locations it has the appeal of being a far away place. The appeal of Splinter Cell for me is that it doesn't rely on set-pieces in America (though it has some great ones) or show 'the world' with a few shots of Big Ben and the Eiffel Tower - it really takes you around the world. I'll finish off with something I've neglected - putting Dili on the world map.










More content soon.

Word of the post: Reconsider –verb (used with object)

1

to consider again, esp. with a view to change of decision or action: to reconsider a refusal.

Late Weekly Quote

sorry about the lack of content, I blame the summer holiday which, while bringing more free time, also brings a lack of structure which interrupted by blogging schedule.

"Orr would be crazy to fly more missions and sane if he didn't, but if he was sane he had to fly them. If he flew them he was crazy and didn't have to; but if he didn't want to he was sane and had to. Yossarian was moved very deeply by the absolute simplicity of this clause of Catch-22 and let out a respectful whistle." - Catch 22, Joseph Heller

Weekly Quote - W/E 31/7/10

"I'm tired of saying, 'how wonderful you are! To fool men who haven't got one half the sense I've got, and I'm tired of pretending I don't know anything so men can tell me things and feel important while they're doing it." - Gone With the Wind - Margaret Mitchell

Funnier at the time...

On a trip to the Manchester Science Museum a friend and I came across this, an occurrence which is probably quite common, but at the time seemed hilarious.














A man polishing a bin - hah!!! What next people cleaning toilets?!!

Also funny is this weird piece of architecture.














OK so it ain't the leaning tower of Pisa, but the Manchester Hilton still looks like a precariously balanced child's Lego brick construction to me.

And soon after this I ran out of battery so I have nothing really to show you of the Museum, but it is well worth a look.

Word of the post: Welcome –verb (used with object)

3

to greet the arrival of (a person, guests, etc.) with pleasure or kindly courtesy.

4.

to receive or accept with pleasure; regard as pleasant or good: to welcome a change.

Weekly Quote Late Double

falling behind again...

"Harry dived. Defore the dragon knew what he had done, or where he had disappeared to, he was speeding towards the ground as fast as he could go...he had taken his hands off the firebolt - he had seized the golden egg." - Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, J.K. Rowling

"It was now too late and too far to go back and I went on. And the mist had all solemnly risen now and the world lay spread before me." - Great Expectations, Charles Dickens

back on track now.