Words

Writer's Block: Holiday cheer

2009-12-22T09:58:25Z

Do you tend to get nostalgic during the holidays? Depressed? Giddy? How do the winter holidays make you feel?

Christmas isn't really a sentimental time to me. I find it crass and offensively on nerves for the most part, the prostitution of belief to inflate sales of ticky-tack each and every year. I never really used to look forward to it external to the fact it used to mark the summer holidays. It doesn't help that I'm Athiest. There's no spiritual element to it, and it's just too garish and too much to really take seriously.

What I do like though is New Years. It's not really a celebrated thing in this family, but I'd like to think once I have my own place and my own life that I could make a big fuss about it. I do try to make something special of it. I think the first time I recognised new years as something more special to me was welcoming in the new millennium with fireworks on the lake. I'll always remember the time I stayed up all night with a little portable radio to hear Fatboy Slim play at Bondi Beach on the stroke of midnight, or when I managed to talk a new friend into marking the occasion and staying up with me.

There's just something about starting a new year that feels fresh to me. Like it's a genuine chance to let go of the year before and embrace something new and exciting. There's something more worthwhile in celebrating that, rather than an overblown 3 month "celebration" of someone's god that's replaced the celebrations of older, different gods.

I don't mean to sound so bah humbug about Christmas. I think there are things worth recognising and celebrating, I'm just not sure Christmas is one of them.

29th's of February are another day I like to mark, I mean it comes every four years, that makes it somewhat more unique than other days. Doesn't it? I think that's a good reason to celebrate that.

Fray Bard open for business.

2009-08-27T11:23:39Z

Honestly I've been using this more as a personal diary than anything else lately. But I do have stuff I'd like to share with people. So hopefully, with the creation of a writing journal at http://fraybard.livejournal.com/ there's going to be a whole lot of stuff to read in the future. Feel free to friend it if you like, my aim is to post to it every day with all kinds of writing exercises.

fray_joker @ 2009-08-17T19:47:00

2009-08-17T09:47:55Z

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fray_joker @ 2009-06-21T17:07:00

2009-06-21T07:07:53Z

Writer's Block: Get It to Go

2009-06-09T05:11:31Z

What's your favorite thing to order for takeout (or takeaway)?

View 500 Answers

Turkish. Omg. Turkish turkish turkish.

Especially those stuffed pide, though straight up warm pide and dip is heavenly.

My favourite cuisine full stop.

I'm in love again.

2009-06-02T17:13:12Z

Thankyou Nintendo.

Bit of a mixed bag, but enough of the big stuff that I'm willing to put that rocky patch behind us.

Can I just say, I can not wait to see more of the new Golden Sun. Super Mario Co-Op sounds like a fun opportunity, and Super Mario Galaxy 2 should be as magic as the last.

Heart monitor? Yeah that's a wtf. But if you say so, whatever.

But here's one more thing they're going to announce.

An "edgier" game from Nintendo...

And Team Ninja? What have we...

New Metroid Game.

Holy Hell.

...

<3

I guess that means E3 is back to it's former glory.

Wouldn't normally do this.

2009-05-14T07:57:28Z

But I don't think I've laughed so hard in a good long while.

http://twitter.com/kimikoross

Trust me, wouldn't usually recommend this kind of thing at all, but this is too good to pass up.

Since I last wrote. Let's see now:

Missed out on the CSIRO job. *sadface*

Went to Newcastle for a week. Might talk about this one later. *happy face*

Am writing furiously atm while I wait for opportunities to call me on my phone. I call out to them but so rarely hear back. Frustrating.

Haven't been sleeping well again. *sigh*

Hasn't the weather been getting cool lately?

Final Tea Experiment.

2009-04-28T10:43:01Z

Peppermint = 5(Earl Grey > Chai = Lemongrass & Ginger + Honey > Lemongrass & Ginger)

Peppermint > everything.

Thus concludes the tea experiments.

Experiment Tea 2

2009-04-27T10:15:41Z

Earl Grey > Chai = Lemongrass & Ginger + Honey > Lemongrass & Ginger

Experiment Tea

2009-04-26T12:33:12Z

Earl Grey > Chai

A good day

2009-04-23T09:41:54Z

So. How awesome am I?
So, today I was invited out for DDR by the great, magnificent and immaculate... one. Played a bunch of Para Para Paradise as well, and was beaten soundly. (I'll have to reassert my rhythm game dominance some time). But the highlight was easily some of the best DDR I've played ever.

First off (and I'm kicking myself that it didn't save my screenshot) Zodiac. Extreme. Okay so it's 9 foot Extreme, but harder from the comparably rated 9 foot hard. Some FUCKING hard rhythms to keep up with, and nearly lost it at the stream with the double-taps. But I got there.

Next highlight. MAD BLAST oh yes.

10 foot hard song. Boss song in fact. Great step, with some interesting chaos towards the end. As you can see we both took a hit at the same spot towards the end. Thought that was pretty amusing, given we were playing on different difficulties. But oh man I was proud of this.

Next we have Doop. Yes. Doop. My most favourite of all Bantu's steps that I've been dying to play on an arcade machine since I got it x years ago.

Ugh, first off I should say that I really shouldn't have bumped player 1 here to medium. But easy was 2 foot. So I figured it'd be too easy. Miracle he got as far as he did.

This song on hard though, oh man. Quick, furious, chaotic and plenty of jumps. Everything that it should be, this was a sound step that I was finally able to give a sound thrashing.

Last game I played I decided to really push myself. Click Again (about 25% jumps), Doop (still stupid fun) and Tricky Disco (yeah...). All on hard. I honestly wasn't expecting to pull it off. I had the worst stitch by the end of Doop, leaving me unoptimistic that I'd even make it halfway through Tricky Disco. But holy shit. HOLY SHIT.

586 steps. More mines, jumps and tricks then anything else I can play. This is not a hard step (which should clock in around 400), this is suicide, especially when I was as tired as I was. But I wanted to play my three best songs one after another, a "perfect set" to end the day on. This screenshot doesn't quite do justice to how hard I nailed this song. My highscore before was about 81%. I went psychotically happy when judgement came up and I saw 85%

Single best game of ITG2 I have ever played. Period.

Talk about just what I needed. Been down the last couple of days, but damn I'd be lying to say I wasn't still buzzing about this. Great fun.

This is why I love a Cally.

2009-04-18T14:16:51Z

She takes this.

And turns it into

Isn't she just a wonderful person?

I felt it was my duty to share it to the world. All both of you reading this.

hum-tum

2009-04-13T12:22:39Z

I have to have something worth saying.

Not just yet. Promise I will soon though, I'd like to start updating this damned thing once again.

I've almost written a book, The Quiet Disunited, it's pretty good. Not quite ready to share it yet, it has to first undergo a shiteload of revision before I share it with people generally.

If people are interested in a bit of world lore I'm happy to post some of that though. I've been working very hard on it so I'd love to share if people want to listen.

Still unemployed. Stopped studying for now. My life's kinda been dull for the last 5 or so months.

Good chance it'll pick up soon I'm sure.

...

2009-04-12T05:31:36Z

fray_joker @ 2008-07-16T04:07:00

2008-07-15T18:23:36Z

Well. Nintendo. What can I say?

I mean seriously. Animal Crossing, Wii Sport 2 and Wii Music and that's it? I mean it's good you want to try new things. I'm glad other people are having fun with these new games, but I'm just not. Thing is after a while these games become chores, not to mention they're insultingly lacking in what I as a gamer want. Not to mention you're taking a step backwards here. Wii Speak and the new 1:1 motion dongle? That's just chucking a bandaid on and hoping it's enough. It's not. In the same sense that now you've been doing it a couple of years, it's no longer innovative.

I mean look at the Xbox 360! Fallout 3, Mirror's Edge, Dead Space, Resident Evil 5, Prince of Persia and a few others beside them. And they managed to cram in a little bit for the casuals. Which is nice of them, I mean it is a step in the right direction. But now I'm looking at that list and I find myself thinking, well why can't I have nice things like that? Especially since those guys can have both.

Well? Waiting for an answer, and tie it to a game this time.

fray_joker @ 2008-07-07T03:02:00

2008-07-06T17:03:33Z

http://www.lhcountdown.com/

...

What?

...

Yeah. I'm still here, alive and well and all that.

Writer's Block: Nicknames

2008-05-21T13:25:18Z

What's your nickname, and how did you get it?

View 501 Answers

I've had lot's of nicknames. Currently I'd guess my 'nickname' is Cody, but only because that isn't legally my name for now. In the past I've had:

Chas: My initials. I sign my email's off that way and to some people, it stuck.
Chook, Chooky, Chooken, Evil Chook of Death and variations: I get this most from my parents (who else but my father could devise a pet name like that last one?) and Cally as well as a couple of others. Never had anything against it, always loved chickens so they tend to stick.
C-Dazzle: Admittedly only ever been called this once, but I laughed so hard I may as well include it here.
Grim: I do get this from time to time, from grim_chook, my old user name. I daresay I'll get Fray from those same people now.

Had a few gaming nicknames as well:
The Chook: Because you just got pecked. Probably my first online persona, when all I used the internet for was playing online NOLF.
Target, Roadkill, Creampuff: Creations of my Dad and my Uncle I adopt from time to time. The idea is to have a name with a certain edgy quality to it and would result in a humiliating kill. That is, no one cares if you killed Roadkill, but it's hilarious if Roadkill kills you.
Oscar Wilde: Q3A tradition :D, I think it just came from a joke from Uncyclodpedia.
Colfer, Astrin, Sarenta: Original characters whose names I steal from time to time for heavy fantasy games. No particular reason, just like the sound of them.

Pretty sure that covers the whole bloody lot of them. I like having nicknames. :D

Stole this from Dark_Pheonix, sue me

2008-05-19T15:19:08Z

VALVE meme

Favorite Half Life 1 enemy? Marines. It was bad enough having hordes of angry aliens coming after you but to then have members of your own species trying to kill you as well? The thought was chilling. Special mention to those bad-ass ninja fellas towards the end because, bad ass ninjas!

Favorite Half Life 1 ally? Labcoats. I'm sure there were people wearing them, but I only loved them for their spiffy white coats.

Favorite Half Life 2 (including the episodes) enemy? Hunters look awesome.

Favorite Half Life 2 (including the episodes) ally? Can I say Gordon Frohman? I think I can say Gordon Frohman. Otherwise Dog or Father Grigory

Blue Shift or Opposing Force? Blue Shift was terrible, Opposing Force.

Counterstrike - great or not great? Great, but not even remotely as great as people make it out to be.

Favorite Team Fortress 1 or 2 class? Before I saw http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xuHumXoeV0 it was the medic. But then I fell in love with the firestarter, twisted firestarter. In all honesty though, I'd probably play as the scout the most. Agile units for the win.

GlaDOS is...? One of the most striking characters to come out of any game ever.

Writer's Block: Anthropomorphic buddies

2008-05-18T07:07:25Z

Have you ever named or befriended an inanimate object? What did you call it?

View 502 Answers

I'm typing this up on River, with Alyssa sitting at my side. I'm looking at Wesker and wondering if I'd like to play a little more Metroid Prime 2.

Surely everyone name's their electronics right?

River and I are also good buddies most of the time, everyone around me knows that XD.

THIS LOOKS IMPORTANT

2008-05-12T14:03:55Z

Iron man is awesome.

That's all I've got to say for now.

Life's shiny again, time to start looking for a job.

Writer's Block: Cinco de Mayo

2008-05-05T15:18:14Z

Are you celebrating Cinco de Mayo?

View 500 Answers

Well since it's been the sixth of may for a little over an hour I guess I'm not.

...

*sighs*

fray_joker @ 2008-03-21T23:57:00

2008-03-21T12:59:11Z

Oh clever boulder puzzle. Don't you know I've played way too much Zelda to fall for a cheap trick like that?

Getting closer :D

--EDIT--

FRACKING HM MOVES. WHY THE HELL WOULD I CHOOSE TO TEACH WATERFALL? IT'S CRAP. I USE IT TO CLIMB 4-5 WATERFALLS MAX.

Waste of time and space. *Escape ropes to fetch another hm whore to uselessly take up space in her team*

--EDIT--

Made it!

Elite Four smashing team needs serious grindage. But at least I made it! :D

fray_joker @ 2008-03-21T13:55:00

2008-03-21T03:17:24Z

Posting to break strike.

I mean really. Getting grumpy at a commercial organisation for making a profit? There's better things to throw a temper tantrum at.

fray_joker @ 2008-03-19T21:40:00

2008-03-19T10:41:25Z

"No one dared to disturb him or interrupt his thoughts: and presently he turned his back upon the dwindling Sun."

Here's to one of the greatest minds in science fiction.

fray_joker @ 2008-03-06T19:55:00

2008-03-06T09:14:24Z

Well today was a day of epic win. You get a little older and people like to make a fuss, fantastic!

In Poetry of the Universe we finally got a lecture from the philosophy lecturer, Jason, who did a fantastic job of leaving an impression. He arrived late, played System of a Down loudly over the speakers (first lecturer I've had who had his own theme tune), and proceeded to deliver one of the most fascinating and chaotic lectures I've ever attended. Really truly awesome fellow XD

Then was time for Science Communications (no bears this time I found DEMS alright) and we had a guest speaker who delivered a lecture on essentially why people need to know about science and why they don't know that. It was again one of the most enlightening, fantastic lectures I've ever had the pleasure of attending.

So then I had four hours to waste. I ended up spending them in the fantastic company of the ever so lovely Julia. She gave me a card with MONEYS on it for BORDERS (seriously, what a fantastic notion)! I had a fantastic lunch today (eggplant, sd tomato and chicken roll *drools*) and we hit Civic for bumming around fun. Lolling our way through impact (new Buffy tomorrow! :3) and ending up in Borders it came to my attention I actually wanted to buy half the fracking store. Settling on the Glass House book and a fascinating narrative on the history of science instead. Juice was consumed, DDR was played. Then there were tutes to attend.

Tute was just awesome fun. I think I'm a little too aggressive in discussions, but that seems to do little more but provoke more discussion. Also, Magzaviercat. It was hilarious.

Tonight I acquired total sum of a whole lot of monetary units and a bus ticket (BEST PRESENT EVER!) and a feast of hamburgers was enjoyed.

Time to kick back and get a bit o typing done.

Oh! I almost forgot to mention. I got my last gym badge on the way home :D. Just want to make a few adjustments to my team then it's off to destroy the Elite Four. I love how the badges shine *_* *polishes compulsively*.