Splinter Cell World Tour, part 3

To recap, the plan is to visit new and exciting locations in the world based on missions that appear in the award winning Splinter Cell video game series. I have no intention of repeating Sam Fisher's antics, but if carried out I would take a more leisurely approach to visiting these locations, especially this next one.

The Caspian Sea

Country: None
Area: 371,000 km²
Population: No fixed population
Language: N/A









Sam travels to the sea to infiltrate a meeting taking place on an oil rig by the nefarious parties uncovered in the Georgian missions. After clambering over, hanging under and crawling through an array of pipes he finally gets the proof he needs and after a short firefight escapes back to base. Not quite what I plan to do though meeting the oil industry in some form is likely as most of the neighbouring countries have significant interests in it's mineral wealth with full towns being built around mining operations.












Again this is a location I'd like to visit because I know very little about it, I knew about it, but mainly because it shares it's name with a certain Narnian prince! The landlocked mass would also be a fascinating place to visit due to the number of cross-cultural links it creates and the diversity of it's ecology.

The sea is home to a numbers of sub-species unique to it's location such as sturgeon, which are in danger because of overfishing for caviar and it's other species such as the Caspian seal are also in danger from overfishing and environmental changes.

The areas surrounding the sea also have a diverse range of environments such as the mining towns, scrub land and even dense forests which would be fascinating to explore. I can't tell you much more as the main interests in the area seem to be mining, but I'm sure there would be plenty to explore!!











Well, that's it for now - where will I go next I wonder?

Word of the post: Frenetic –adjective

frantic; frenzied.

Weekly Quote - W/E 07/11/09

" 'You'd find it easier to be bad than good if you had red hair', said Anne reproachfully. 'People who haven't red hair don't know what trouble it is. Mrs Thomas told me that God made my red hair on purpose, and I've never cared about him since' " - Anne of Green Gables, L.M. Montgomery

A Bad Day at Work

Possibly the ultimate bad day at work captured in this video, it seems that no one was hurt otherwise National Accident Helpline would be having an early Christmas party!!

The video also features a cool baseketball goal and a prank on Taylor swift, enjoy or ignore the commentary as you will.




Word of the post: Blasé –adjective

indifferent to or bored with life; unimpressed, as or as if from an excess of worldly pleasures.

Weekly Quote W/E 31/10/09

"Fiver sat trembling and crying among the nettles az Hazel tried to reassure him. If he was terrified, why did he not run for safety, as any sensible rabbit would?But Fiver could not explain and only grew more and more distressed." - Watership Down, Richard Adams

Weekly Quote - W/E 24/10/09

"And as I sat there brooding on the old, unknown world, I thought of Gatsby's wonder when he first picked out the green light at the end of daisy's dock. He had come a long way to this blue lawn, and his dream must have seemed so close that he could hardly fail to grasp it. He di not know that it was already behind him, somewhere back in that vast obscurity beyond the city, where the dark fields of the republic rolled on under the night." - The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald

Blog Action Day 09

OK completely missed this one - a sign of my hardened heart and less caring about the world or a portent of my making less use of my hotmail account - you be the judge!!

For those not in the know Blog Action Day is an annual event where bloggers all over the world post on a single topic, a different issue is picked each year, always something that has a global impact, such as poverty.

This year's topic was Climate Change, and from all accounts the day was a success - I'll hopefully be up for it next year, but I'll spare you the half-hearted posting that I could make and instead link you to some of the posts highlighted by the team.

Some of the bloggers included

Gordon Brown

The White House

The Spanish Government

Change.org

TreeHugger

and Daily Blog Tips

Have fun reading!!

Word of the post: August –adjective

1.	inspiring reverence or admiration; of supreme dignity or grandeur; majestic: an august performance of a religious drama.

2.	venerable; eminent: an august personage.

Weekly Quote W/E 17/10/09

"I would fight a duel for a trifle, for an insult, for a blow; and the more so that, thanks to my skill in all bodily exercises, and the indifference to danger I have gradually acquired, I should be almost certain to kill my man.' - The Count of Monte Cristo, Alexander Dumas

Gandalf - no, not that one.

Here are a few images of my snake, who I had for many years. He was a Garter Snake from America and I had him because he was the only reptile my Mum would allow because he didn't eat dead mice or chicks as most lizards and snakes seem to do!!

As most snakes are he was quite solitary but it was fun to watch him slide gracefully around his tank and we got to do some fun things to - here are some pictures of him enjoying his favourite hobby, swimming in the bath!























One real advantage to having a snake was that you got to see cool things happen, like the flickering tongue as he prowled around. Another cool thing was that they shed their skin, leaving behind a fun memento for you to keep as an owner. Snakes usually use something to help them 'slough' as it is called, in this case a rock and a toilet role tube we used to add a bit of environment and variety to his tank, we also used palm trees from an old 'Tracy Island' set!!


















Incidentally I named him Gandalf before the films came out, so definitely a case of 'before it was cool!' for the ol' snake.

Word of the post: Vapid –adjective

1.	lacking or having lost life, sharpness, or flavor; insipid; flat: vapid tea.

2.	without liveliness or spirit; dull or tedious: a vapid party; vapid conversation.

Weekly Quote W/E 10/10/09

" 'It is required of every man,' the ghost returned, 'that the spirit within him should walk abroad among his fellow men, and travel far and wide; and if that spirit goes not forth in life, it is condemned to do so after death.' " - A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens

Unlimited Bowling

Yesterday I rediscovered the joy of unlimited bowling. I hadn't hit the lanes for quite a while, partly because of business and partly because the prices have skyrocketed over the past year or so to make a game of bowling a rare occasion if at all attempted.

Now having time (and fortuntely money) on my hands I decided to hit the lanes with a friend during the day time and see how much we could get out of the Unlimited bowling.

For those unfamiliar with the concept it runs like this: you pay a set price and for that you get three games of bowling, but if the lanes are still available (and if you go just after lunch like I did they usually are!) you can keep on playing until the bowl gets busy.

We expected to pay around the usual price for three games (an extortionate £13!!) but actually got the deal for £9, which was quite good we felt. We carried on for a record 18 games straight, giving us a value of 50p per game!! It was great fun and after a shaky start we managed to recover form and averaged about 100 points a game with my top score being 130, still shy of my personal best 170!

Anyway, if you're free in the day time it might be worth checking out - there are also discounts for booking online which I hadn't noticed before, which also give pretty good prices.

Well better go now - my hand and arm are really achy!!

Weekly Quote W/E 03/10/09

"A resolution to avoid an evil is seldom framed till the evil is so far advanced as to make avoidance impossible." - Far From The Madding Crowd, Thomas Hardy

Dreamscape

Well on my degree we did look at dreams and how they can inspire and reveal stuff about your psyche and all that. I don't often dream, or at least I don't often remember my dreams, and usually they're just nightmares about having to repeat my teacher training or somesuch. Anyhoo I have had one or two more interesting REM sessions of late and I thought I might share some with you to fill the void between quotes - so here's one I had recently: I've added my own thoughts as to the mystic interpretation.

I was starting a new job, which I didn't really know anything about (1), nor did my colleagues, who seemed to be mostly made up of old school friends of mine. It was hard to keep up with the talk and demands of our boss who seemed to be, for all intents and purposes, Ricky Gervais. (2)













We were all sent to meet up at a location to start work, but I wasn't really paying attention when the directions were given out and everyone scattered before I could ask for a lift. I got into my car, trying to remember where to go. I drove off and in a guess I entered STOKE into my Sat Nav - which also activated the Hyperdrive in my car, transporting me there instantly (3)












Once I arrived in Stoke it was clear this was not the place, I drove around to check, then phoned one of my friends to get directions. It actually turned out that we were on some kind of farm in an obscure Welsh village (one beginning with 'Llan') and I tried to hide my lateness, but of course with hyperdrive technology even being slightly late was big trouble with the boss.

Soon after I woke up!

Interpretations:

(1) I am currently unemployed
(2) I watched The Office and Night at the Museum recently
(3) Star Wars and Mass Effect have a lot to answer for!

Word of the post: Facet –noun

1.	one of the small, polished plane surfaces of a cut gem.

2.	a similar surface cut on a fragment of rock by the action of water, windblown sand, etc.

3.	aspect; phase: They carefully examined every facet of the argument.

Weekly Quote W/E 26/9/09

"Outside, the garden was drowned in a blue light, heavy with the scent of stock. An eyelash of a moon hung in the sky. Far below, on the beach, the sea whispered." - The Shell Seekers, Rosamunde Pilcher

iStuff

OK so I'm having fun with this iGoogle business after I decided to get myself a brand spanking new Gmail account, mostly because my other e-mail addresses are very random an not the most suitable for contacting prospective employers with!

The iGoogle page you can get with your account is pretty fun too. I can now read blogs, while checking my mail, and look at the weather while deciding whether the 'word of the day' is suitable for a blog post. Having all these things together makes it much easier and it's quickly become my homepage.

One thing I like is having 'themes' to the page, you can decorate your homepage with themes on a range of topics, from comic books to TV shows to gardening. These things go across the top and bottom of your page and look something like this.























What I like is having 'Theme of the Day' which changes and features a new, often famous, designer. I've mostly had bands and female fashion feature as themes, but it is a fun way to discover new things.

One thing I have discovered and enjoyed is Scott Draves, a software artist who uses 'fractals' and computer algorithms to create art. An ongoing project is 'Electric Sheep' where home computers network together in a type of SETI project to create branching and developing algorithms to propogate and continue the artwork, creating new and exciting pieces. I don't quite understand how it works, but the results are stunning.









Word of the post: Taciturn- adjective

saying little, especially usually

Weekly Quote W/E 19/09/09

"She...pushed back the door which opened slowly...then she slipped through it, and shut it behind her, and stood with her back against it, looking about her and breathing quite fast with excitement, and wonder, and delight." - The Secret Garden, Frances Hodgson Burnett

Under Water

Struggling for ideas so I'll resort to pictures. These are some pictures I took in the Blue Planet Aquarium on my 22nd Birthday. They're not great (Tim!) But they are interesting and show off the cool underwater tunnel which features a moving floor so you can observe the ocean life while being carried along.


























































Hope you enjoyed!

Word of the post: Defunct –adjective

1.	no longer in effect or use; not operating or functioning: a defunct law; a defunct organization.

2.	no longer in existence; dead; extinct: a defunct person; a defunct tribe of Indians.

Weekly Quote W/E 12/09/08

"Life was such a wheel that no man could stand upon it for long. And it always, at the end, came round to the same place again." - The Stand, Stephen King

Digital Kid

I've become aware over time that I really am a product of the digital age; blogging, e-mail and the internet are the norm for me and are more present in my lifestyle. One factor in particular has made this clear...

I'm rubbish at sending letters!!

I can write them OK, though I rarely do - it's the posting them part I get stuck on and when there's a parcel, letter or document that needs Royal delivery I have to ask for help! I'm not a complete ignoramus - I do know how to get envelopes and seal them and can find my local post office fine and even use the red box!

But where the address goes, what corner to put the stamp in - no idea whatsoever. I know they both need to go on the envelope, but each time I try to put pen to paper I know it's in the wrongf place and eventually I have to give up and get help, usually from a family member, but hey there might be some online!!

Yes there is!

But it does worry me about our progress as a nation. I'd say I was one of the first generation of the digital age. The internet, e-mail and all the rest of it were invented during my childhood and teenage years so I grew up and adapted to this technology as it came out. Children are now growing up with e-mail and internet as the norm before they were even born, they are taught to use e-mail in primary school and half of the year 5 class I was working with recently had Facebook accounts. What will posting a letter mean to these people, who won't even have contact with a post office unless they buy sweets there?

strange times huh?

Word of the post: Redundant –adjective

1.	characterized by verbosity or unnecessary repetition in expressing ideas; prolix: a redundant style.

2.	being in excess; exceeding what is usual or natural: a redundant part.

3.	having some unusual or extra part or feature.

Single of the Week

I've posted before about my hesitancy to spend money on music, especially music that's not already familiar to me and that I'm comfortable with. I've also mentioned Single of the Week when I stated that I'd bought an album by The Gaslight Anthem after downloading a free single through iTunes.

I'm really getting into this iTunes business and I'm enjoying being able to download new music at no cost or damage to myself. Bands I encountered first through this medium are starting to make a name for themselves in the charts, bands such as Friendly Fires being notable, and chart topping debuts such as Empire of the Sun have also featured.

I'd really recommend it as a way to explore new music, you may download a song and hate it - so what, delete it then, it cost you nothing. I've got a stack of songs I never listen to because they don't appeal. I've also got several I like listening to, but wouldn't stretch to buying, that's the beauty of the system, not to mention it's 100% legal and promoted by the bands themselves. You downloading their free song raises their profile and makes them more money, so you aren't harming the muic industryt at all - in fact the reverse.

And once in a while you come across something that you realise you just have to get your hands on. I find this quite an organic process. I download all these songs and leave them on iTunes, I listen to iTunes and over time a song will stick out, one that I want to play over again each time I log on, eventually becoming a favourite, after this I start keeping my eyes open for it on the shelves and CD racks (I'm a purist).

You guessed the fact that I found a band - the group I like are The Airborne Toxic Event. I liked the single 'Sometime Around Midnight' for a while, but unfortunately couldn't get the album in HMV or my usual haunts. I eventually dug it up in an indie music shop in Cambridge and it's fast becoming a favourite.










I won't attempt a review, instead I'll let you hear for yourselves.



Another single that's growing on me is 'Crystalized' by The XX. I'm finding I flick to that song every time I open iTunes, I suspect it will be bought as I can see it on the shelves more commonly and as soon as money comes in as well as out I'd imagine I'll pounce on it quick! Another band I'm enjoying are Solid Gold. I might post up some songs, but I don't want to clog things up so I'll leave it there for now - check them out online.

Word of the post: Heuristic –adjective

1. serving to indicate or point out; stimulating interest as a means of furthering investigation.
2. encouraging a person to learn, discover, understand, or solve problems on his or her own, as by experimenting, evaluating possible answers or solutions, or by trial and error: a heuristic teaching method.
3. of, pertaining to, or based on experimentation, evaluation, or trial-and-error methods.

Weekly Quote W/E 05/09/09

"Are we not all flung into the world only to hate each other, and therefore to torment ourselves and others?" - Ana Karenina, Leo Tolstoy