Goodbye Steve McLaren...
Friday, 23 November 2007
... and good riddance.
This is my 100th post! Since January. That's really not good at all - I should post more.
Anyway.
Watched the game the other night and, my god, what a dismal performance. The first half was, sadly, typical of recent England games - especially since our nice run of 3-0 victories, mostly against the minnows of our group, fizzled out.
What I don't understand is that, when the 4-4-2 formation was starting to come to some sort of fruition - Barry and Gerrard in midfield linking up especially well - he decided to change the system for a crucial match. I'd like to have been in his head for the moment he decided to abandon a relatively successful system for an untested one that paired together two midfielders that everyone in the country knows can't play together.
It was the usual boring, static, tedious, tentative and nervous-looking England performance that practically invited the opposing team - that's any opposing team, even the tiny countries we should be dominating - to attack and try to score. I also don't understand playing Scott Carson. Sure, Robinson is in a bad vein of form - but he has international experience. Third choice goalkeeper David James is (mostly) over the mistakes that earned him his calamitous nickname, and also has oodles of experience. Putting a 'keeper in for a debut in such a crucial match set himself up, really, for a fall - which came in the 8th minute.
He should have saved it, but I do feel quite bad for him. The rest of the team didn't help, and he made a couple of decent stops later on but, crucially, he should have had the first shot. A Sunday League goalie should have had the first shot.
Changes had to be made and the decision to bring on David Beckham was - as many of his detractors will barely admit - almost a masterstroke. He charged around the pitch, pinging his trademark passes and looking, despite his lack of fitness, a class apart from the lacklustre millionaires who fill up our squad - and look bored about being there. At least Beckham, for all his money, is the only one of them who looks bothered about pulling on the three lions. He sprinted to corners, track back and tackled, worked up and down the wing. I couldn't see any of the rest of the team doing that. Statistically, he covered more in his 45 minutes than any other player did in that amount of time - and would have been the most active player had he taken part in the entire match because he possesses an attribute that the rest of the team - along with any technical skill - seem to have lost: the stamina to play for a full 90 minutes.
Talking of the lack of skill compared to our opponents, imagine the second Croatian goal. Three English defenders dallied around the attacker, scared of even attempting to dispossess him. He wasn't even in our penalty area and yet, no tackles were to be found. He managed to squeeze a pass through the striker who deftly took the ball around Carson and passed it into an empty net. Compare this to some of the English players: badly controlled balls, over-hit passes, tame shots. Steven Gerrard was terrible all night and still pranced around the pitch like Captain Fantastic - which is, clearly, Beckham's role - trying to inspire the team to instill some passion into their performance. I think he should find some first. Frank Lampard was named Man of the Match for scoring a penalty - because I can't think of what else he did during the 90 minutes to win this accolade.
Beckham, again, was the difference, sparking the revival after half-time by injecting some much-needed pace into the English attack, which is the sort of pace that the team should always play with. Fit or not, playing in the MLS or not, I couldn't see any other player in the squad delivering the kind of cross that Beckham did for Peter Crouch to control and awkwardly poke home - especially not his replacement, Shaun Wright-Philips. Incidentally, the Chelsea winger's father, Arsenal legend Ian Wright, wrote in his newspaper column that he favoured Beckham to start the game, and I entirely agree. Who cares if he's the wrong side of 30 and playing for LA Galaxy to support his wife's fame habit: he's the best right winger, the best set-piece taker, the best passer and the best crosser in the squad, and surely an asset like that can't be ignored. I hope he gets his hundredth cap and I'll be glad when he does.
I'm also glad that we haven't qualified for the European Championships. It would have been nice for the team to go, but I'm almost certain that it would have merely produced Eriksson-like performances of stunning, mind-blowing mediocrity that would have seen us to the quarter-finals and then dumped out, with plenty of time and money wasted. It can be claimed that the squad, and McLaren, has been unlucky with injuries - which is a fair point. But none of the players in the team, whoever they are, should seem so bored and lifeless on the field when representing their country, whether first-choice pick or not.
Now we have the chance to bring in someone who should be managing the national team - someone dynamic, intelligent, exciting and full of passion for the team, the fans and the job at hand. I'd prefer it to be an Englishman - I'm hoping for a radical new name like Alan Shearer who, I've heard, really wants the post - but doubt that Boring Brian Barwick would go for something that would ruin England's style of coma-inducing football. I'd even be willing to have a foreigner take the post if they were the right man for the job, so that wouldn't be a problem.
I just hope the FA learn from this and appoint someone decent, relatively quickly - as opposed to spending three months chasing 'Big' Phil Scolari around the Mediterranean and then claiming that McLaren was their first choice all along. The squad needs to be revamped - hell, the whole system needs to be revamped. The performance against Croatia and, to be honest, throughout the whole qualifying campaign, has been pretty dire - so the changes have to start soon and be drastic.
I just hope someone has the grapefruits to make the right decision down at Soho Square.
This is my 100th post! Since January. That's really not good at all - I should post more.
Anyway.
Watched the game the other night and, my god, what a dismal performance. The first half was, sadly, typical of recent England games - especially since our nice run of 3-0 victories, mostly against the minnows of our group, fizzled out.
What I don't understand is that, when the 4-4-2 formation was starting to come to some sort of fruition - Barry and Gerrard in midfield linking up especially well - he decided to change the system for a crucial match. I'd like to have been in his head for the moment he decided to abandon a relatively successful system for an untested one that paired together two midfielders that everyone in the country knows can't play together.
It was the usual boring, static, tedious, tentative and nervous-looking England performance that practically invited the opposing team - that's any opposing team, even the tiny countries we should be dominating - to attack and try to score. I also don't understand playing Scott Carson. Sure, Robinson is in a bad vein of form - but he has international experience. Third choice goalkeeper David James is (mostly) over the mistakes that earned him his calamitous nickname, and also has oodles of experience. Putting a 'keeper in for a debut in such a crucial match set himself up, really, for a fall - which came in the 8th minute.
He should have saved it, but I do feel quite bad for him. The rest of the team didn't help, and he made a couple of decent stops later on but, crucially, he should have had the first shot. A Sunday League goalie should have had the first shot.
Changes had to be made and the decision to bring on David Beckham was - as many of his detractors will barely admit - almost a masterstroke. He charged around the pitch, pinging his trademark passes and looking, despite his lack of fitness, a class apart from the lacklustre millionaires who fill up our squad - and look bored about being there. At least Beckham, for all his money, is the only one of them who looks bothered about pulling on the three lions. He sprinted to corners, track back and tackled, worked up and down the wing. I couldn't see any of the rest of the team doing that. Statistically, he covered more in his 45 minutes than any other player did in that amount of time - and would have been the most active player had he taken part in the entire match because he possesses an attribute that the rest of the team - along with any technical skill - seem to have lost: the stamina to play for a full 90 minutes.
Talking of the lack of skill compared to our opponents, imagine the second Croatian goal. Three English defenders dallied around the attacker, scared of even attempting to dispossess him. He wasn't even in our penalty area and yet, no tackles were to be found. He managed to squeeze a pass through the striker who deftly took the ball around Carson and passed it into an empty net. Compare this to some of the English players: badly controlled balls, over-hit passes, tame shots. Steven Gerrard was terrible all night and still pranced around the pitch like Captain Fantastic - which is, clearly, Beckham's role - trying to inspire the team to instill some passion into their performance. I think he should find some first. Frank Lampard was named Man of the Match for scoring a penalty - because I can't think of what else he did during the 90 minutes to win this accolade.
Beckham, again, was the difference, sparking the revival after half-time by injecting some much-needed pace into the English attack, which is the sort of pace that the team should always play with. Fit or not, playing in the MLS or not, I couldn't see any other player in the squad delivering the kind of cross that Beckham did for Peter Crouch to control and awkwardly poke home - especially not his replacement, Shaun Wright-Philips. Incidentally, the Chelsea winger's father, Arsenal legend Ian Wright, wrote in his newspaper column that he favoured Beckham to start the game, and I entirely agree. Who cares if he's the wrong side of 30 and playing for LA Galaxy to support his wife's fame habit: he's the best right winger, the best set-piece taker, the best passer and the best crosser in the squad, and surely an asset like that can't be ignored. I hope he gets his hundredth cap and I'll be glad when he does.
I'm also glad that we haven't qualified for the European Championships. It would have been nice for the team to go, but I'm almost certain that it would have merely produced Eriksson-like performances of stunning, mind-blowing mediocrity that would have seen us to the quarter-finals and then dumped out, with plenty of time and money wasted. It can be claimed that the squad, and McLaren, has been unlucky with injuries - which is a fair point. But none of the players in the team, whoever they are, should seem so bored and lifeless on the field when representing their country, whether first-choice pick or not.
Now we have the chance to bring in someone who should be managing the national team - someone dynamic, intelligent, exciting and full of passion for the team, the fans and the job at hand. I'd prefer it to be an Englishman - I'm hoping for a radical new name like Alan Shearer who, I've heard, really wants the post - but doubt that Boring Brian Barwick would go for something that would ruin England's style of coma-inducing football. I'd even be willing to have a foreigner take the post if they were the right man for the job, so that wouldn't be a problem.
I just hope the FA learn from this and appoint someone decent, relatively quickly - as opposed to spending three months chasing 'Big' Phil Scolari around the Mediterranean and then claiming that McLaren was their first choice all along. The squad needs to be revamped - hell, the whole system needs to be revamped. The performance against Croatia and, to be honest, throughout the whole qualifying campaign, has been pretty dire - so the changes have to start soon and be drastic.
I just hope someone has the grapefruits to make the right decision down at Soho Square.
The Royal Mail. Useless.
Sunday, 18 November 2007
As of last week, I'd been expecting a package for quite a while. It was from an American gaming site I review for and contained two games - Enemy Territory: Quake Wars (as well as a nice strategy book) and Loki: Heroes of Mythology. It'd been sent quite a while before but hadn't arrived.
Had a card through the door at the end of last week telling me that £16 of custom charges hadn't been paid and I needed to go to the depot and pay the outstanding money before they'd let me have the package. I was assured that the correct fee had been paid on the American side so there shouldn't be a problem, and told that the site had only had 1 problem with customs in 8 years.
Nevertheless, I went to the depot office at 1:30 on Friday afternoon, but they were closed. at 1.
What office closes at 1pm on a weekday?
Anyway, we went down the next morning - at about 8 am, as they open at 6:30 (wtf?!)) and got the package, although the guy on the desk told us that only some packages get checked as they go through customs - they pick them out at random, according to him - and loaded with the correct fee. So, in fact, it's purely chance.
This is an organisation that used to easily and efficiently provide 2 postal deliveries a day to most people in the country. They then cut down to 1 delivery a day - which I can see the logic of, with less being sent in the mail - that arrived at 8am or about then in the morning. And now - with, presumably, even less post to handle - they barely manage to deliver to my street by midday. In Aberystwyth they arrived at 4pm once.
I know they've had a strike - about a month ago - and so they could wheel out the excuse that they're still sorting through backlog. But everything I had caught up in the strike, I've received - so I don't believe them.
They're just lazy and useless.
Had a card through the door at the end of last week telling me that £16 of custom charges hadn't been paid and I needed to go to the depot and pay the outstanding money before they'd let me have the package. I was assured that the correct fee had been paid on the American side so there shouldn't be a problem, and told that the site had only had 1 problem with customs in 8 years.
Nevertheless, I went to the depot office at 1:30 on Friday afternoon, but they were closed. at 1.
What office closes at 1pm on a weekday?
Anyway, we went down the next morning - at about 8 am, as they open at 6:30 (wtf?!)) and got the package, although the guy on the desk told us that only some packages get checked as they go through customs - they pick them out at random, according to him - and loaded with the correct fee. So, in fact, it's purely chance.
This is an organisation that used to easily and efficiently provide 2 postal deliveries a day to most people in the country. They then cut down to 1 delivery a day - which I can see the logic of, with less being sent in the mail - that arrived at 8am or about then in the morning. And now - with, presumably, even less post to handle - they barely manage to deliver to my street by midday. In Aberystwyth they arrived at 4pm once.
I know they've had a strike - about a month ago - and so they could wheel out the excuse that they're still sorting through backlog. But everything I had caught up in the strike, I've received - so I don't believe them.
They're just lazy and useless.
The iPhone - huh?
Sunday, 11 November 2007
When it was launched in America, the iPhone was something of a revelation - people queued for hours, and the first iPhone mugging was committed live on television, although I think it serves the journalist who was waving the damn thing about in public right.
It's just come out over here - Friday, in fact - and the launch was something at a damp squib. Sure, there were people milling around the Apple store in London, trying to look trendy in the minimalist haven of all the plain, white-cased products that aren't good value unless you're concerned with a logo. There were about 300 customers at the London event, being 'whipped into a frenzy' by Apple staff. Compare this to console launches that attract thousands of people - and even the American iPhone hype - and behold the majesty of what could become the dictionary definition of a damp squib.
At the official UK retailer, the Carphone Warehouse (who are, surely, in need of an updated name) the system designed to handle with the predicted deluge of apple-hungry consumers froze, like a deer in headlights, as soon as anyone tried to purchase one of the damn things. After the initial shock, the software then decided to throw all of it's toys out of the pram and slam his bedroom door shut, refusing to come out and play.
In my mind, this is a good thing. People shouldn't be buying the iPhone.
In the US, the handset is known as the 'JesusPhone' - so perhaps we should nail it to a cross and burn it as an example. I just can't see, to be honest, this new technology living up to the ludicrous amount of expectation ladled upon it by Apple-hungry consumers who are more concerned with the brand image and kudos it nets them rather than what their product does.
Plenty has been said about the fancy new Internet browser that, instead of optimising web pages for viewing on mobile phones by skimping on content like movie clips, sounds and images, allows you to view web2.0 masterpieces in all their glory by intelligently zooming content in or out to fit the iPhone's impressive screen. Except the function behind the form is a little bit broken. Apple have stated that they don't want to include 3G services on their phone until it's fully functional - so the iPhone is a 2G device that struggles to load anything that dares to include a medium-sized picture and grinds to a halt, scared, if confronted with anything that a broadband-enabled computer would easily take care of. Sure, it can handle mobile websites and RSS feeds better than most other phones on the market - but you'd expect that. It's a market-leading piece of brand new technology.
Another statistic that may have escaped the marketing is that the EDGE network provided by o2 - the new mobile Internet network that's supposed to bridge the gap between 2G and 3G - only has 30% coverage. Over two-thirds of the country will be subject to even slower connections. Not exactly top-level performance for a phone that costs £279 and demands a minimum monthly contract of £35.
The iPhone, thankfully, comes with built-in wifi connectivity as Apple strive to take a slice of Blackberry's business-user pie - but comes across as something of an amateur compared to the corporate knowledge of their competitor. Decent web surfing and connectivity, though, is hugely reliant on the connection you have and where you're located. So much for the huge technological step forward that the iPhone addicts would have you believe this new phone is offering. Sadly, there's also no Instant Messaging or VoIP services. And my Samsung e720 offered Instant Messaging programs three years ago - and they've been a common sight on several phones for longer than that.
Another feature common on most mobiles - especially those with a business slant, like the aforementioned Blackberry range - is the ability to synchronise data, like your calender, address book and contacts, with your computer, meaning that you're never going to be confused with several sets of information. The iPhone can't do this or, it seems, take decent pictures. Modern mobile phones have upwards of a 5 megapixel camera attached and can rival dedicated digital cameras. The iPhone comes with 2 megapixels - a meagre amount.
The iPod is built in to the iPhone but offers nothing new - it still links to the tremendously restrictive iTunes, will only play certain types of iMp3's and is iAnnoying, especially when you consider that Sony's Walkman phones are superb music players and phones combined which also let you change the memory(the iPhone is locked at a paltry 8gig) and other companies like Creative offer mp3 players that are good, if not better, than the Apple brand that's becoming the name for an music player in much the same way that 'hoover' has become synonymous with a vacuum cleaner. Sony are also soon to release new Walkman mp3 players that should be excellent, if previous products are anything to go by - remember how they original Walkman revolutionised portable music with the CD.
Much fuss has been made over the touch screen which, to give the interface it's due, is pretty innovative. Why deposit sweat, grime and dead skin onto buttons when you can smudge the screen instead, eh?
The iPhone has been heralded, mostly by Apple boss Steve 'everyone's best friend, buddy' Jobs, as a true Smartphone. It's anything but. Ergonomics go out of the window when you consider the handset has all the styling of a concrete breeze block, and the features that could have been revolutionary when all crammed into the same phone are hugely reminiscent of another Apple product - hugely average, concerned with style over features, and annoyingly unable to be tampered with.
Consider PC's that, unlike Apple computers, are easy to upgrade. Other mobile phones have thousands of third-party applications to choose from, ranging from lifestyle tools to games - Apple voids the warranties of any phones that are modified, in any way, to potentially be more functional. Wounded pride, much?
Yes, the interface may be kind of innovative, but I've already gotten calls from people who managed to get hold of an iPhone and accidentally - using this genius new interface - phoned me by mistake. They even had the audacity to still 'mention' that they dialled the wrong number specifically on their iPhone. But it's no good being able to show off in the pub as you navigate to the various features if everyone else already has an iPod, your camera can't pick out any detail, you can't check out your favourite new website or probably collaborate with your PC or any other relevant gadget.
I know lots of people like the iPhone, so I'm sorry. Just my opinion and all that.
Coming next entry which, actually, is when I can be bothered to write it (hopefully tomorrow): the hopeless organisation that is the Royal Mail.
Enjoy! And please comment with your iPhone-related thoughts.
It's just come out over here - Friday, in fact - and the launch was something at a damp squib. Sure, there were people milling around the Apple store in London, trying to look trendy in the minimalist haven of all the plain, white-cased products that aren't good value unless you're concerned with a logo. There were about 300 customers at the London event, being 'whipped into a frenzy' by Apple staff. Compare this to console launches that attract thousands of people - and even the American iPhone hype - and behold the majesty of what could become the dictionary definition of a damp squib.
At the official UK retailer, the Carphone Warehouse (who are, surely, in need of an updated name) the system designed to handle with the predicted deluge of apple-hungry consumers froze, like a deer in headlights, as soon as anyone tried to purchase one of the damn things. After the initial shock, the software then decided to throw all of it's toys out of the pram and slam his bedroom door shut, refusing to come out and play.
In my mind, this is a good thing. People shouldn't be buying the iPhone.
In the US, the handset is known as the 'JesusPhone' - so perhaps we should nail it to a cross and burn it as an example. I just can't see, to be honest, this new technology living up to the ludicrous amount of expectation ladled upon it by Apple-hungry consumers who are more concerned with the brand image and kudos it nets them rather than what their product does.
Plenty has been said about the fancy new Internet browser that, instead of optimising web pages for viewing on mobile phones by skimping on content like movie clips, sounds and images, allows you to view web2.0 masterpieces in all their glory by intelligently zooming content in or out to fit the iPhone's impressive screen. Except the function behind the form is a little bit broken. Apple have stated that they don't want to include 3G services on their phone until it's fully functional - so the iPhone is a 2G device that struggles to load anything that dares to include a medium-sized picture and grinds to a halt, scared, if confronted with anything that a broadband-enabled computer would easily take care of. Sure, it can handle mobile websites and RSS feeds better than most other phones on the market - but you'd expect that. It's a market-leading piece of brand new technology.
Another statistic that may have escaped the marketing is that the EDGE network provided by o2 - the new mobile Internet network that's supposed to bridge the gap between 2G and 3G - only has 30% coverage. Over two-thirds of the country will be subject to even slower connections. Not exactly top-level performance for a phone that costs £279 and demands a minimum monthly contract of £35.
The iPhone, thankfully, comes with built-in wifi connectivity as Apple strive to take a slice of Blackberry's business-user pie - but comes across as something of an amateur compared to the corporate knowledge of their competitor. Decent web surfing and connectivity, though, is hugely reliant on the connection you have and where you're located. So much for the huge technological step forward that the iPhone addicts would have you believe this new phone is offering. Sadly, there's also no Instant Messaging or VoIP services. And my Samsung e720 offered Instant Messaging programs three years ago - and they've been a common sight on several phones for longer than that.
Another feature common on most mobiles - especially those with a business slant, like the aforementioned Blackberry range - is the ability to synchronise data, like your calender, address book and contacts, with your computer, meaning that you're never going to be confused with several sets of information. The iPhone can't do this or, it seems, take decent pictures. Modern mobile phones have upwards of a 5 megapixel camera attached and can rival dedicated digital cameras. The iPhone comes with 2 megapixels - a meagre amount.
The iPod is built in to the iPhone but offers nothing new - it still links to the tremendously restrictive iTunes, will only play certain types of iMp3's and is iAnnoying, especially when you consider that Sony's Walkman phones are superb music players and phones combined which also let you change the memory(the iPhone is locked at a paltry 8gig) and other companies like Creative offer mp3 players that are good, if not better, than the Apple brand that's becoming the name for an music player in much the same way that 'hoover' has become synonymous with a vacuum cleaner. Sony are also soon to release new Walkman mp3 players that should be excellent, if previous products are anything to go by - remember how they original Walkman revolutionised portable music with the CD.
Much fuss has been made over the touch screen which, to give the interface it's due, is pretty innovative. Why deposit sweat, grime and dead skin onto buttons when you can smudge the screen instead, eh?
The iPhone has been heralded, mostly by Apple boss Steve 'everyone's best friend, buddy' Jobs, as a true Smartphone. It's anything but. Ergonomics go out of the window when you consider the handset has all the styling of a concrete breeze block, and the features that could have been revolutionary when all crammed into the same phone are hugely reminiscent of another Apple product - hugely average, concerned with style over features, and annoyingly unable to be tampered with.
Consider PC's that, unlike Apple computers, are easy to upgrade. Other mobile phones have thousands of third-party applications to choose from, ranging from lifestyle tools to games - Apple voids the warranties of any phones that are modified, in any way, to potentially be more functional. Wounded pride, much?
Yes, the interface may be kind of innovative, but I've already gotten calls from people who managed to get hold of an iPhone and accidentally - using this genius new interface - phoned me by mistake. They even had the audacity to still 'mention' that they dialled the wrong number specifically on their iPhone. But it's no good being able to show off in the pub as you navigate to the various features if everyone else already has an iPod, your camera can't pick out any detail, you can't check out your favourite new website or probably collaborate with your PC or any other relevant gadget.
I know lots of people like the iPhone, so I'm sorry. Just my opinion and all that.
Coming next entry which, actually, is when I can be bothered to write it (hopefully tomorrow): the hopeless organisation that is the Royal Mail.
Enjoy! And please comment with your iPhone-related thoughts.
A week? Jeez.
Friday, 2 November 2007
I've not blogged for almost a week, which is odd, and sorry!
Works' been really busy so I'll throw in a few links to things I've done here and there.
The major thing is a feature I've done for Custom PC Magazine's website entitled the Top 10 Scariest PC Games of All Time that I'm very proud of - go over and have a look and comment on it!
I've done a review of MotoGP 07 for Rewired Mind. Bloody difficult game.
For Gamersinfo.net I've had a few reviews and previews go live - namely a preview of top-down monster-munching alien combat title Shadowgrounds: Survivor, a preview of turned-based strategy title Fantasy Wars and a review of a fantastic indie game called Venture Arctic that involves you building, managing and maintaining an arctic ecosystem. It's amazing and I've also done an interview with the developer, Andy Schatz, so that'll be online soon I hope.
As well as my monthly gaming column for God Is In The TV I've started doing album reviews for them: online now are verdicts on Alter Bridge and Matchbox Twenty.
I've done a politically-motivated piece about speed cameras for the excellent Eyebrow Magazine, and I'm going to be doing more with them I hope.
I've also done a review of Evil Days of Luckless John, an odd adventure game, for Strategy Informer, who I've started writing for now.
I think that's about it as well as the newspaper stuff which is a weekly thing.
I've also just finished doing my maneuvers in my driving lessons, having almost sorted my reversing around corners - so hopefully I can take my tests sooner rather than later and pass and get a car! Which will be very cool. Grandad's finding me old used Escorts, Mondeo's and Sierra's every week in the paper, the legend.
Pretty certain now that I'm going up to Aber in December and so I'm really, really looking forward to that. A lot. Can't wait to see everyone again.
Please go and look at my various writings around the intarweb supermotorway, I'd love to know what anyone reading thinks about them!
Works' been really busy so I'll throw in a few links to things I've done here and there.
The major thing is a feature I've done for Custom PC Magazine's website entitled the Top 10 Scariest PC Games of All Time that I'm very proud of - go over and have a look and comment on it!
I've done a review of MotoGP 07 for Rewired Mind. Bloody difficult game.
For Gamersinfo.net I've had a few reviews and previews go live - namely a preview of top-down monster-munching alien combat title Shadowgrounds: Survivor, a preview of turned-based strategy title Fantasy Wars and a review of a fantastic indie game called Venture Arctic that involves you building, managing and maintaining an arctic ecosystem. It's amazing and I've also done an interview with the developer, Andy Schatz, so that'll be online soon I hope.
As well as my monthly gaming column for God Is In The TV I've started doing album reviews for them: online now are verdicts on Alter Bridge and Matchbox Twenty.
I've done a politically-motivated piece about speed cameras for the excellent Eyebrow Magazine, and I'm going to be doing more with them I hope.
I've also done a review of Evil Days of Luckless John, an odd adventure game, for Strategy Informer, who I've started writing for now.
I think that's about it as well as the newspaper stuff which is a weekly thing.
I've also just finished doing my maneuvers in my driving lessons, having almost sorted my reversing around corners - so hopefully I can take my tests sooner rather than later and pass and get a car! Which will be very cool. Grandad's finding me old used Escorts, Mondeo's and Sierra's every week in the paper, the legend.
Pretty certain now that I'm going up to Aber in December and so I'm really, really looking forward to that. A lot. Can't wait to see everyone again.
Please go and look at my various writings around the intarweb supermotorway, I'd love to know what anyone reading thinks about them!
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