Trying to update here more regulary, not many people read it i know but im looking to exercise the part of my brain that writes stuff good, so i can tap it at will.

On the READING FRONT

Scott Lynch’s Locke Lamora is an anti hero that really manages to be neither Anti or Heroic, and is all the more readable and interesting because of it. Locke’s world is dark and forboding born to utter destitution and poverty his life takes a turn for the worse when the district his family lives in is struck by plague. Surrounded and set alight the district burns, a few children survive thrown by parents into the neighbouring canal waters and are quickly snatched up into servitude by and old thief. Locke takes to the streets like a duck to water his innate skill at thievery is something almost but not quite mystical and the score’s just keep getting bigger.

The world itself that Lynch paints is brilliant, humans live in the decaying shadow of Giants, the Eldrin. Long gone from this world in a way never explained the Eldrin left their machines and citys behind and humanity lives a life of relative squalor to their greatness in the ofttimes decaying ruins of this empire. It here in the shadows of the great and mighty that Locke lives his life, part of a band of thieves, what guy ritchie might coin as a firm, he robs from the ritch and keeps it. He robs for the thrill of it and he robs because it is all he knows.

I liked this book. I liked it so much that half way through i went and bought the second book just so i could continue reading and following the plot lines. Lynch links the main story threads with a deft touch. The sly conspiracy of the meta “bad guys” the magi is sparingly revealed and by the end of the book you believe fully in their power and fear for Lockes safety, above all Lynch portrays real characters without scumming to the “tragically flawed but still gonna fight” cliche that seems to be everywhere in Sci-Fi and Fantasy these days.

Im going to give this one

On The ROLE PLAYING FRONT

Hopefully i might be picking up the old dice again and attending a roleplaying game this weekend. Unhallowed Metropolis is the game world and i gather its set a couple of hundred years after the Zombie Apocalypse, Humanity survives by eeking out and existence in walled cities subsisting on a kind of algae. Science and religion are all but gone and in its place is a weird steam punk like pseudo science that seems to achieve the impossible. I’ll be playing with some old friends and maybe some new ones. Its been a while since I’ve stretched the old RPG muscles so i hope i don’t suck.

Out
- dont touch the bubble

Tuesday sucked, i was not into work, and i wasnt even  into talking to my girl. I couldnt tell you why.  This morning was different, i didnt want to leave her side. She had come to bed sometime after i had crashed,  and in the night i remember rolling over and cuddling and then this morning i just didnt want to leave her. I remember this fierce feeling of love and possesiveness coming over me when i looked at her, and i just thought not today, today we stay in bed. Reality soon broke in taking the form of Lilly Cat demanding to be fed and soon set me straight.  After that i got up and entered a quick gladitorial contest, killing my enemies and making a throne from their remains. Not that i felt the need to compensate or anything.

On the ‘Straya DAY FRONT

We spend Australia Day out at Barry’s farm. Barry is married to Nats Aunt and owns the finnest wool producing sheep in the world. No joke. Check out Highlander Ultrafine Wool in a google search see what happens. It was a bitter sweet day, nats uncle died some time ago, he had when he was young put a child up for adoption, that child Jason recently made contact with Nats living uncle and made it known that he’d like to know the family. Nats family rallied around and invited him to come out to Barrys farm and introductions where made all around. There where tears of joy and panicky moments as the many children out at the farm that weekend did the insane things that children do.

The food was good the beer was free and the company excellent. So all in all i had a good Australia Day.

On the WRITTING FRONT.

I keep getting distracted, monday (A public holiday her in the land down under) was to be the day that i sat down and really started smashing through the chapeter outlines and maybe even get the first draft of the first couple of chapters done but i just procrastinated, and installed the Windows 7 Beta instead. I know this story, i think it will rock, all i have to do is get it written, which is easier said than done. I have to wonder how real writers approach a problem like this.

On the FITNESS FRONT

I am a truley a fat bastard, i havent been to the gym for over a week, mind you im still paying for it, im just not going. I need to get my large arse to the Gym and start working out. It should be easier now that Nat will be going with me on a regular basis, im hoping to start dropping some dramatic weight pretty soon.

On the WORK FRONT

With 0r1n’s help i’ve decided on a path of study for work. I want to get my MCITP: Server Administrator but i havent actually done any MS courses before, my previous employers have all been happy enough if i learnt from fellow workers enough to do the job at hand. So while i can reasonably call myself a server administrator with a straight face i cant really ask for more money untill i have the qualificationson paper. So i decided to go about it the logical and slightly more time intensive way. I plan to do the 70-620 exam which is a sort of indroduction to the microsoft exam process and then do the 70-622 exam which is the MCITP: Enterprise Support Technician and then focus on the much harder exams that lead up to the 70-646. By the by 0r1n wrote the 70-646 book himself so if i run into any problem areas he has volunteered to help out. Good blooke that 0r1n.

Work has agreed to buy the books, so all i need to do now is knuckle down and study.

Works also settled down now im not travelling the between the holy trinity of australian government every day and have settled down now into a pretty good routine. Allowing co-incedently some time for study.

Out
- dont touch the bubble

I hate Mondays for whatever stupid cliche reason i always feel sick on Mondays im only ever 5 minutes less in the shower away from calling in sick.

On the READING FRONT

Finnished up Marine over the weekend it was a good informative read, the modern logistic train must have to be seen to be believed. A MEU(Marine Expeditionary Unit) is by and large a self contained fighting unit, they carry everything with them on board to fight for (depending on the nature of the fight and how heavy the fighting is) up to a week. After that they have to resupply, which has to come from America. To make matter worse that equipment most likely is either made overseas or at least is partly made overseas. You begin to see the problem here.

Im now reading John Keegan’s The Mask of Command and im finding hard going, this isnt a popular philosphy book, this is hard-core serious philosphy. It will do me some good to read it, it is essentially a book about the major command styles and gives examples in history of each of them. It also presuposes that arrival of a new command style to suit the information age, this last bit in particular is of interest to me. 

On the RELATIONSHIP FRONT

Women are funny, seriously funny. My dearest beloved will not go to bed without me, but thinks nothing of falling totally unwakebly asleep on the couch, so that when i go to bed i have to go alone. I’m just waiting till we get our new couch then we can both fall asleep on it.

 On the WRITTING FRONT

 This writting thing is hard ey? I’ve never tried to structure my writting before, but then again i’ve never seriously attempted to write more than one story, and i got stalled 6 chapters in on that one. Does anyone want to be my editor?

Out
- dont touch the bubble

Heading over to Adam and Bec’s engagement party soon after i write i this, just finishing up dinner… that was cooked on my new barbeque.

On the RETAIL FRONT

So thats the new BBQ its an Everdure Neo Grosso and its pretty friggen good. Im loving the variety of plate and the options for cooking outside this gives us. Thats the first meal being cooked on it you see there. Lamb Rump Steak, Sirloin Strips and a few Snags. Where going to cook a roast in that and ill let you know what its like.

Thats our new fridge, we picked it up a few days ago and were quietly happy with it. It keeps things cold good. Its a samsung something or other and its white.

So thats my new TV 50″ inch of pure kick arse picture its a Panasonic 50″ model is the PZ 80 A and its all mine.

On the READING FRONT

Im trying to get a reading order for the polity series, im also trying to find a copy of Generation Kill, and the book that Buffalo Soldiers was based off, but at the moment im still on the books i was readin yesterday.

On the MEDIA FRONT

New battlestar comes out in the states today… jeez i wish someone would invent something that allowed me to watch american shows shortly after they come out in america…. that man would make a million dollars.

Out
-dont touch the bubble

So Im just going to go ahead and steal Murphs format for blogging, it seems to work for him.

On the HOME FRONT

Things are going along nicely with Me and Nat, it scares me sometimes when i see how far and how fast we have developed our relationship, the mutual trust we seem to have almost instictively for each other, is i can honestly say… joyous. It fills me with joy to be with her, to have earnt her trust and to be loved by her, and with apologies to everyone who reads this. She makes me want to be a better person.

On the PHYSICAL FITNESS FRONT

Joined a Gym yesterday, and im still walking a little crooked from the joining fees, first month, last month and weekly deposits. Still I really need to loost weight i weighed in at 134.75Kilos (thats 290 pounds to you Americans) which believe it or not is not the heaviest i have been. Still that means i need to loose about 40 Kilos(88 pounds) to be happy and Fit. On an amusing note, i continue to defy medical science. I do not have high blood preasure which ninty something percent of people my size do have, nor have i developed any type of diabetes, and my blood work shows that im not at risk of developing it. So YAY for me.

On the READING FRONT

Currently working my way through some Tom Clancy books that i got from Luke over at Cantys Book Store (its in canberra and is the best place in the world to find obscure refrence texts, out of print sci fi and fantasy and general fiction), The books are Marine, and Special Forces both these books are in the way of refence material learning more about the logistics of how a large force is deployed and maintained in the field. The idea is to know this materiel well enough that people wont be able to spot the amatuer author. For the Australian perspective im reading Delta Four by Garry McKay, it details the last tour of duty by Australian troops in vietnam, and surprisingly deals with a lot of issues, Including the Vietnamese perspective, and the American one. For my own fun im re-reading Paladin of Souls by Louis Master Bujold, pretty standard fanatasy but written well which is to be expected by this author, id recomend it if you can find in a second hand store…. like Cantys

On the WRITTING FRONT

So i ditched or put on the back burner the two main stories i was writting, i really dont have the experience to write them however much i try, so i’m trying my hand at a short story in fan fiction genre. Specifically in John Birminghams Axis of Time series. The Story is set 50 years after the events in Axis of Time and follows the descedants of one of the original crew. The plot outline is down and im going to start wrting more specific chapter outlines and character outlines. Im going to try for 10,000 words and then edit it down or up from there.

 On the FRIENDS FRONT

Bec and Adams engagement party is tommorow incase any of you dogs forgot, so be extra nice to them and get them some sort of pressy, they are asking aparantly for cash or myer vouchers to help them pay for a new set of white goods and the wedding, i leave that up to you blokes, im going to buy Adam a set of ear muffs, he’ll thank me later.

 Out
-dont touch the bubble