A few days ago, during my lunch break, I was reading an article about how vinyl is growing in popularity again. It's still a niche interest but apparently sales haven't been this high in the UK since the early 90's. So I decided to look up the price of some vinly re-releases and fuck me, who's paying these prices? £25-35 to pre-order some re-releases? Mental.

So scrap the vinyl idea. I did realise that it's been a few months since I last got any albums on CD. I'm one of those people who still buys CDs. What was originally only meant to be a couple of albums (Ride the Lightening and Rust In Peace) turned into 12.

1. Iron Maiden - Piece of Mind
2. Iron Maiden - Powerslave
3. Iron Maiden - Somewhere In Time
4. Iron Maiden - Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
5. Iron Maiden - No Prayer for the Dying
6. Municipal Waste - The Art of Partying
7. Municipal Waste - Massive Aggressive
8. Municipal Waste - The Fatal Feast Waste In Space
9. Megadeth - Rust in Peace
10. Megadeth - United Abominations
11. Metallica - Ride the Lightening
12. Hamerex - Rites of Passage (No idea what this is aside from it's metal. Was going cheap)

I've been playing some computer games recently too. Mostly the PC port of State of Decay. Surprised at how good this game is for the price. Really enjoying this one and it feels like something that I'll end up playing multiple times. If you like open world zombie survival games (single player) then check this one out. It has base building type stuff along with resource gathering. Oh, and if any of your characters die, they stay dead.

Also decided I wanted to try playing something a bit different to my usual stuff, so gave the Diablo 3 trial a go and really like that one too. Conveniently it was on a 50% off deal this past weekend so got the full game. So far I've only finished Act I on normal difficulty, but I can see this being something I'll gradually chip away at and come back to play on the harder difficulties.

Oh, and apparently it's almost Christmas. They year has flown by for me. Been at my job for almost a year now. Work Christmas night out / party in a few weeks, so hopefully that'll be fun.

Fun fact: I've apparently watched 80 films this year so far.

Ever since I got the PS3 back in January I've gradually been getting more and more films on blu-ray. Currently I think I have 84 films on blu-ray which seems pretty mental considering I originally only intended on getting a select few. I've tried films that I'd never normally have chosen to watch, like Alfred Hitchcock's stuff. I've finally gotten around to watching classics that I'd never seen, like Alien/Aliens, the original Indiana Jones trilogy, One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest (love this film), Pulp Fiction, Taxi Driver and so on. I've re-watched films I previously disliked and found out that now I love them, like Lord of the Rings. Reason I disliked Lord of the Rings being that when I was younger and DVD was becoming a more affordable option, my Dad's girlfriend at the time bought a DVD player with the LotR films and I had to sit through the entire thing in one sitting. At least, I think I did. I just remember being stuck there watching these boring films that seemed to go on forever. I never wanted to see them again, until recently when I decided I was going to watch all the extended editions of the films and then realised how much I like LotR.

That brings me on to something else I've been doing more regularly recently. Reading. I've read 4 books this year, 2 of those I actually read last month. Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, The Shining, Fahrenheit 451 and Brave New World. Still, 4 books in a year is 4 more books than I'd normally read in a year. I'm currently about half way through a 5th book (The Humans by Matt Haig) and plan on re-reading The Hobbit before trying to get through the LotR books. I got a really nice set of LotR book for a decent price on Amazon (might include a picture of it below if I remember). If I do get through the LotR books, it'll easily be the biggest thing I've read. At present, I think The Godfather is probably the biggest book I've read. But if I do make it through LotR and still feel motivated to read, I think I'd like to try the Song of Ice and Fire series. It's pretty massive but everyone seems to be into it and it encouraged a lot of people to start reading, so it seems like it might be worth a shot if I think I'll be able to stick with it.

This year I've also picked up quite a few comics/graphic novels that I've still not got around to reading. In particular there's quite a lot of Batman stuff that I'd like to get through at some point. I've read Year One and still have The Long Halloween, Dark Victory, Knightfall, Hush, The Dark Knight Returns and The Court of Owls to read. Really want to read this stuff but just haven't gotten around to it. Earlier this year I did make it about halfway through Watchmen and halfway through Superman Birthright.

Usually it's video games I tend to talk about but I actually haven't  been playing all that many. For a while I was playing a lot of Battlefield 4 but since I got back from Germany I've not played it much at all. I don't have a TV set up in my room anymore either, so my older consoles aren't getting used either which is a shame because I'd like to get back to playing some SNES again but a TV takes up too much desk space. Been debating putting the 3DS to use and playing through some of the games on that. I bought it a while ago along with a few games and I've barely played it. I made decent progress with Ocarina of Time on it, but other than that, it hasn't had much use. I still have A Link Between Worlds sitting there unplayed.

So yea, not really much to talk about hence all this pish you've just read (assuming you actually read it). Just thought it was sort of odd that I've gone from being someone who played video games in a lot of my spare time to someone who barely playes video games anymore and spends a lot more time watching films or reading.

And I just remembered something really cool. The 1966 Adam West Batman TV series is due to be released in a couple weeks time. I've had the blu-ray set on pre-order for some time now, so it'll be awesome when that finally arrives. Obviously it's a show that was way before my time, but I still have childhood memories of it being something that I used to watch on Sunday afternoons. Comes with a Hotwheels Batmobile too, so what's not to love?

Went to Munich, Germany. Drank beer by the litre. Saw a ton of German cleavage. All in all, not a bad month.

Well fuck, we're already half way through the month and I forgot to do another one of these posts. As usual, not got a whole lot to say anyway. Think my trip to Germany is 2 or 3 weeks away at this point. Guess that'll be fun although some recent suggestions made me a little less thrilled about it.

I was actually going to write some pretty lengthy post here about my past 9 months of learning IT Support on the job but I must have re-written it about a million times and it always lacked structure. Short version is that it's quite strange having people depend on you to carry out a job that you're learning to do as you go along. Thankfully it's still something I really enjoy but I feel like I should make more of an effort to start learning about more than just the things I deal with day to day. There's still so much to IT support and being a sys admin that I'm completely unfamiliar with.

I've been listening to The Sex Pistols a lot recently, so here you go:

I don't have a whole lot to say.

Been watching Alfred Hitchcock movies.

Been watching Twin Peaks again now that the blu-ray set is out.

Been playing Morrowind.

That pretty much sums up my recent activity. Here's a nice song for you:

So I've been working at my job for 6 months now. How time flies. It really don't feel like 6 months have passed already and to date I've only taken a week off. Although I work flexi-time which means I build up enough credit to take the occasional day off, which is always nice. But I'm currently on 2 weeks of annual leave and it's nice to go back to how things were before I had a job. Nothing but free time. A chance to piss about all day and play video games. I guess I've missed being able to do this but at the same time, I haven't found myself missing it. Guess I'm one of those lucky people who has a job they actually enjoy.

Oh, I'm going to Germany in October. I just recently paid off the holiday so I have that to look forward to. Will be in Munich for the final few days of Oktoberfest and will they have a few days after it's over to just do whatever people do in Munich. I'll probably be sat in pubs. Going with 4 other guys so should be a good laugh and it'll be my first time leaving the UK for a few years. Not even sure if I still have a valid passport. Should probably check that.

Haven't really been up to much of interest lately. Still gradually trying to get used to driving again. Getting there but still don't feel totally natural when driving. I still find myself concentrating on what I'm doing at certain points. Admittedly I haven't been doing much driving. Driving to work and back is 10 minutes each way and that's about the extent of it. I don't really have anywhere to drive to. Nowhere I want go. Still don't have a picture of the car yet either. I'll possibly be giving it a wash in the next few days so might get a picture of it then and stick it here.

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away... I passed my driving test. It think it will have been 5 years come September. After passing my test I drove probably no more than 3 times, I had my own car too, but I just never felt all that confident driving on my own, especially after running a red light at a crossing just as people were about to cross.

I'm one of those people who thinks something through a hundred times before doing it. I think of all the things that could go wrong and run through all those scenarios in my head, wondering how they'd turn out. These days I'm a bit less like that although still find myself doing it on occasion.

Since I started working back in January I've commuted using a mixture of public transport and lifts from collegues. It's a perfectly fine way of getting to work but I don't particularly like having to depend on other people for something like that and standing at a bus stop waiting for people to turn up isn't particularly fun. Now felt like a good time to get a car again, especially seeing as I have an income and no real financial commitments. I was shown a car last week that was just what I was looking for, paid the deposit and picked it up 2 days ago after work. It's a 2011 Volkswagen Polo and as far as I'm concerned it's a great fisrt car (well technically it's my second car but I barely used my previous one).

This weekend I think I've driven almost 100 miles trying to get used to driving again. I already feel as though I'm a better driver than I was back when I was 17/18. I worry less about what might go wrong and feel more in control. I'll even go as far as saying I actually find it fun. There are still the occasional moments where I'll drop down a gear a bit too soon or over rev when I'm pulling out but I guess that'll stop being an issue over time as I get used to the car.

As of yet I've still to drive anywhere alone. Every time I've been out driving so far I had my mum as a passanger. I'm thinking that tonight I'll take a drive to my work place alone, just to get a feel for it before doing the "real thing" tomorrow morning. Roads will no doubt be busier in the monring as everyone heads to work but my over-thinking brain can only really come up with two places in which increased traffic might make things slightly more awkward. A junction that has me pulling out onto a 60 MPH road and a really narrow road that I have to take to get to work which has parked vans taking up half the width of the road.

So yea, I'm driving again and have my own car. I'd include a picture of it but I don't really want to be stood out infront of my house snapping pictures of my new car whilst everyone is sat in their gardens enjoying the sun. Maybe I'll get one later in the month.

I recently acquired something that I've wanted for a long time but never thought I'd get; a Super Nintendo. For those who aren't familiar with me, I have a reasonably sized game collection. There's probably 650+ games. Something that I always felt was missing from that collection was a SNES. To me, the SNES seems like one of the most iconic video game consoles. Everyone seemed to love the SNES and I never had one. I never thought I would have one. In the UK, the SNES must be one of the more expensive popular consoles to collect for. The system isn't particularly cheap and neither are the games and that's why I never thought I'd get one. They just didn't seem worth the price, especially in the UK where we missed out on several of the now classic SNES titles.

However, now that I have an income I can afford to indulge in stuff like this, so I did. I certainly never got a bargain on this SNES but I got it for under what I decided I'd be willing to pay. The SNES itself is in pretty nice condition with only some minor yellowing. It game with the official power cable too, which is always nice. But more importantly, it came with the two SNES games I wanted most of all; Super Metroid and A Link to the Past.

I've been playing some Super Metroid this morning and as far as I'm concerned, this game is worth getting a SNES for. I beat the original Metroid last year, as frustrating as that was, so ever since then I've been wanting to play Super Metroid and so far it feels like such a vast improvement. It does away with the fristrating difficulty of the original and feel more in favour of exploration and finding hidden passageways. I just enjoy this game more so far.

Anyway, now that I have a SNES I don't feel like there are any other systems I really want to add to my collection. Maybe some day I'll get a Dreamcast but the only reason I want one of those is to play the Shenmue games. A  NES might make a fun addition but again, the NES is a pricey system and the 8-bit era was before my time, so I find it slightly harder to enjoy the games as much.

Last month I tried something new on this blog. I started that "Goals of the month" section which I have mixed feelings about. It was useful in that it tried to make me spend my free time achieving something rather than just aimlessly browsing the internet. However, I realised that it was going to be difficult to complete everything on that list because my interests changed. I wasn't so interested in reading last month so I didn't read any of the graphic novels and I wanted veered away from Ocarina of Time to play other games. Everything on that list appealed to me at the start of the month, but as days went by I became less interested in those things and more interested in other things. Plus, giving myself a list felt like more of a chore.

What I think I'll do this month is record what I get through, rather than giving myself a list of stuff to get through. I did like the addition of a song of the month though, even if I am probably the only person who'll listen to it.

So guys, what's your opinion on the SNES and stuff?

Song of the Month

The Macc Lads - Desperate Dan

The title of this news post is pretty deceptive. See, you read it and thought I'd been fooled but you're the one who has been fooled. Nobody fooled me but I fooled you into thinking someone fooled me. So how'd ya like them apples?

Anyway, another month where I don't have much to say. Just now life generally consists of working all day then chilling for a few hours at night. Repeat that until the weekend rolls around, which generally consist of pub, films and video games. Sometimes I do wake up wishing things were like the used to be, when I had unlimited free time. Not that I dislike work or anything but, you know, something it's just nice to sit around and now have to do anything.

I've decided that in these news posts I want to start setting myself goals. Goals, you say? Yea, it's nothing terribly exciting. I just want to put together a small list of stuff I want to get done each month. Generally it wont be anything producting and will largely be based on me finishing various forms of media. You'll see what I mean below.

The reason I want to start doing this is because, as some of you are probably aware, I have a pretty massive collection of media. In particular, video games, and I have so many sat there that I've still not even played. Hopefully by setting myself some goals each month, it'll help me get through some of them. Obviously I want to try and keep my goals realisitc given the amount of free time I have in a month. I'm slowly starting to aquire other forms of media now (one of the perks of having an income) and I'm starting to get a backlog of other stuff too. Movies I'm not so bad with, since I generally tend to watch them not long after getting them. Graphic novels are starting to build up a little, but I don't really get those too regularly so it wont be too hard for me to get through those.

Goals of the Month

1. Complete Ocarina of Time (3DS) [ ]
2. Complete Resident Evil (PS1) [x]
3. Finish reading Watchmen [ ]
4. Read The Walking Dead vol. 7 [ ]
5. Watch season 7 of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine [x]
6. Watch Inglourious Basterds [x]

Song of the Month

No idea what happened. I'm 14 days late writing this news post. Usually I like to try and write one of these things on the first of the month. No real reason for it, it's just sort of become a habit. I guess work is keeping me busy and I just forget about these things.

Anyway, I've not really done much worth talking about since the last update anyway. Been trying to watch films more regularly and build up a blu-ray collection in the process. Idea being that I end up with a set of films that if I were to pick one at random, I'd always get something I enjoy watching. Watched The Shining again recently, for the second time. Enjoyed that film considerably more than I recall liking it. I also saw Pulp Fiction for the first time the other day. Not quite what I expected from that legendary film but a fun watch none the less.

I've also been getting back into reading comics. Although "getting back into" probably applies I was really into comics at one point in time, which isn't true. I just used to read the occasional Walking Dead volume when I had the money to spare. I've picked up a few more volumes of that, been reading Watchmen and some of the really old Judge Dredd stuff. Have a few other random trade paperbacks ordered. Hoping to read some more of the big Marvel/DC characaters.

Video gaming is what I've always considered my primary hobby, although these days it seems to be taking more of a back seat. I still try to game when I can (playing Arkham Origins just now) but I'm starting to feel as though films and comics are a more entertaining way to spend my free time. I'm just starting to enjoy them more than I enjoy playing games. Thing is, I don't even know why I find games less appealing these days. It's not the newly released games that are the problem, because those aren't the games I tend to play. I have a ton of games that I think look awesome, yet no desire to start playing through them. Knowing that some of them are probably 50+ hour long games probably puts me off, especially when I know that I can only really spend a couple hours playing them each day.

In gernaral though, things are going pretty well for me. Just starting to miss all the free time I grew used to having.