Microsoft at E3

Posted on June 15, 2011 by HippyDave

In between the news of high-tech releases from Apple, Nintendo and Sony Playstation, Microsoft seemed to be lacking any hardware headlines, which as an Xbox fan boy did leave me a little disappointed but not surprised. Microsoft had stated previously that any new console wouldn’t be out for a couple of years yet, so I guess they will just be adding to what they have now until then, which in the main is their Kinect.

The good news is they are bringing hardcore gaming to the Kinect, which means I may have to kick the other half off it, because at the moment she uses it for exercise. The Kinect seems to be getting more and more uses, according to Mike Channell, deputy editor of Official Xbox 360 Magazine; it has been “something of a consolidation year for Microsoft.” He also said: “Finger tracking and object scanning have been discussed as possibilities since Kinect was first announced as Natal and while Kinect Fun Labs are tech-demo widgets, they’ll be backed up with libraries so that games developers can take advantage.”

One game I am looking forward to is Forza 4 which is also Kinect compatible, although I am not 100% how it works; I don’t think it will be like some of the other Kinect driving games where your hand movements are tracked but rather your head, from what I have seen. Either way should be good will let you know more when I find out more.

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Online dating struggles

Posted on June 12, 2011 by HippyDave

Don’t worry, from the title, I have not got rid of the other half and joined a dating website, for those of my loyal followers who may worry. My brother has come out of a long term relationship with his partner and is looking at jumping back into the dating world however he is finding gay dating to be quite hard.

He has found that a lot of people use dating websites, probably gay or straight as, well a kind of hook-up place, to meet people for a quick fling or one night stand. In fact he has said a lot of men he has contacted through various dating sites aren’t actually that bothered about a long term relationship, contrary to what many of them put on their bios.

I suppose once you get a few eager replies and end up hooking up, the thrill of been single and able to do that, gets the better of some people who may have originally joined with the intention of finding a relationship. One thing my brother has found is that some sites are better than others, for example he has found Parship the best, after having successful dates from there.

I suppose it’s just something he has to get used to now, in the modern world of dating!

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New Wii Console announced

Posted on June 9, 2011 by HippyDave

I do consider myself quite a gaming man, and have a Xbox 360 with Kinect, as well as a Wii, (mainly for the other half is the Wii and Kinect) so I think my gaming needs are covered, for now until Xbox have their next console out. However the other half noticed the new Wii console had been announced, the Wii U, which is described as Nintendo’s new ‘hands on’ console.

Probably because I am a bloke, I can’t really see the appeal of the new Wii U other than improved graphics, Nintendo seem to have finally discovered HD. The new ‘innovative’ Wii remote allows users to interact with their console through the TV and just play with the handset alone. Which for families I can see the appeal. However for hardcore gamers like me, Nintendo don’t really offer anything for us.

The idea I suppose is good, especially for young families, or people who have to share the TV but other than that it does not offer much on top of what it already did. You still need the controllers like before to capture motion, which after the advent of the Kinect seems a bit redundant. The other half barely plays on her Wii now, she used to use it for work outs but finds the Kinect much more accurate and I find the Xbox much better for gaming, so it’s a win, win there.

I think like the Wii Nintendo are just a bit too late, if this came out 5-8 years ago then they would be laughing, but now most other consoles have had great graphics and games for so long now it left the Wii a bit behind, and now that both Xbox and Playstation have motion sense, but with much better graphics, this new offering from Nintendo is just, well in my opinion behind the times.

Anyway here is a video of it in action, make of it what you want; after all I am just one, bloke who in general is stuck in his ways!

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Manx Racing

Posted on June 6, 2011 by HippyDave

Well it’s that time of the years again for the Isle of Man TT, so far I’ve already heard about 3 deaths, 2 in a sidecar practise on Thursday and one today in a race. It’s shocking to see how many deaths there are including the 3 that have happened this year there have been 234 deaths which are riders and sidecar passengers. This number of deaths is from the Snaefell Mountain Course, which also includes deaths from the Manx GP. Yet only 2 spectators have been killed. There’s a certain lure that pulls riders to do the TT and to be honest if I could ride a bike then I’d want to go and have a rider round, but after watching some of the race for 2011 then I’m already drawn in to making the trip to watch next year, I’ve put some YouTube videos below.

I think you’d need nerves of steel though to do it at the speeds these guys do it, I’d need some time to really clear my mine if I was to attempt it at even a normal speed that you see bikers doing in country roads, it’s not one of those things that I could do if I’d been on the herbal highs the night before.

I had a BBQ last weekend and again it was a great hit, Dave brought round some of his homemade marinade which went down a storm and we actually ran out off towards the end of the BBQ as it was been slapped on steaks burgers everything.  Everyone managed to leave pretty early which was nice for me as I got an earlier night, but what bugged me was someone has stood on my brand new digital scales which cost like £80 arghhhhhhh. But I’ve found out who it was as there’s a nice imprint on the casing and I know whose shoes they are. Anyway before I got a chance to call them they sent me a txt saying they think they stood on my scales, and that I should be receiving some this weekend.

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Looks like a scorcher

Posted on June 3, 2011 by HippyDave

Well this weekend looks like it’s going to be a scorcher, which means I shall be outside most of this weekend outside in my garden and out and about. I am also quite tempted to head to a beer garden tonight after work and relax with an ice cold beer. It does feel like it’s about time the sun got out, however I will need to keep an eye on my plants and make sure the soil doesn’t get too parched! Plus also after only a couple of warm days, we then get the doom and gloom reporting of there will be a summer drought and a hose pipe ban, which always annoys me!

I can’t decide though where to go this weekend, the problem is because the weather is nice, and it’s the school holidays so everywhere will be busy, I haven’t been to the coast for some time however I always find whenever we get a bit of sun in the UK everyone heads to the coast. Alternately I could go to the countryside, pack a nice picnic and go for a walk.

Either way one thing for sure is that I will be spending my time outside!

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GP Sunday

Posted on May 27, 2011 by HippyDave

Well it’s the Monaco Grand Prix this weekend so my Sunday afternoon will be spent in front of the TV stuffing my face with a lovely Sunday lunch cooked by my other half and a nice herbal blend in a smoking pipe during the race to finish things off, I’ve got a few new tobacco alternatives to try over the next few weeks so I’ll make a start by chilling out to some on Sunday.

Hopefully it will be an interesting race on Sunday although they seem to think that the super soft tyres won’t last that long doing a good pace and the harder compound will soon drop off as well so will it be a parade or will it be an eventful race only time will tell.

I can’t believe either that Giggs is trying to sue twitter and all its users for naming him, what a fool.

Since it’s another bank holiday this week I’ll be trying to have a BBQ if the weather is nice on Sunday evening or Monday. Since the other one went down a storm I’m itching to get one organised.

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Good work appreciated

Posted on May 19, 2011 by HippyDave

I’ve had a nice little surprise this week as I have been bought a vapir no2 by my mate, which was really nice of him. I’ve been doing a bit of building work, for him as he couldn’t really afford to get a builder in to sort it, so I said I didn’t mind doing it as it gets me out. Anyway when I got home yesterday there was a parcel waiting for me and I instantly got “what’ve you been buying now” from the other half, my mate then sent me a text saying have you got the parcel.

I was surprised to see a lovely vapir no2 inside, these usually retail for around £150 because I wasn’t really expecting anything from him but then it did take me a few days to do this work for him. Usually i wouldn’t have gone for a small handheld vaporizer but it’s pretty good and i can’t complain since i sort of got it for free. I’m looking forward to another heat wave this weekend and I’m expecting a hot dry summer, since local rivers already seem to be drying up slightly

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Football fun

Posted on May 16, 2011 by HippyDave

Well what a weekend, I would say there were a few surprises with the results this season, but there really weren’t, shocker, Man U won their nineteenth title although after the way the teams behind them played in the run up to the final I’m not surprised it’s like Chelsea and Arsenal gave it to them, both with poor games, although for Chelsea they have got second place. Arsenal on the other hand could lose third to Man City after their poor performance over the weekend.

Another big shock (not) that many saw coming was the relegation of West Ham, who for the past few season have sat on the cusp of relegation popped down to the Championship and not surprisingly said good bye to Grant who was finally for some fans, sacked!

The Championship play offs at least could be exciting at Wembley with Swansea fighting back against Forest at the weekend which means they could play against their south Wales rivals Cardiff if they beat Reading which should be a cracker to watch!

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The parties here!

Posted on May 11, 2011 by HippyDave

I had bit of a party at the weekend since the weather wasn’t too bad, i managed to source a new BBQ which turned out to be rather tricky as Argos where pretty much out of stock of larger BBQ’s so I ended up travelling around 40 miles to another Argos which had them in stock, this soon turned my £40 half oil drum BQQ in to an £80 half oil drum BBQ. Anyway I was close to a big wholesaler so I popped in there to get some cheap burgers and sausages. Ok it cost me about £25 but I got loads more than I would have done if I’d gone to the local morrybeggers or ASDA.

Anyway when I got home I started building the new BBQ which didn’t take too long out of my life. My only thought is that it seems to take a lot of charcoal but hey ho you can have a omelette without breaking eggs.

Everyone came round on Sunday to a smoking BBQ which was pretty easy to light since I poured loads of lighter gel on it, to get her started. Most people brought beers and spirits round so we were up pretty late I went to bed around 12 but I left a few close mates outside drinking, I heard them leave around 2 I think. The house was pretty clean when I got up on Monday morning but it’s really surprising what people forget after a few drinks. Anyway they all know the rules if it’s not claimed within the week it get’s trashed or I keep it if it’s useful. So currently I’ve got a Rizla rolling machine which I’ve already got one but they are pretty god damn useful so I’ll probably keep that. But then there was a manky old converse trainer, which is been returned to Chris who left it and a snuff bullet which you might think is a strange thing for me to keep but I’m sure that after a good clean and sterilise that I’ll be ok using it.

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Stag weekends

Posted on May 8, 2011 by HippyDave

This summer a couple of my close friends are ending their lives effectively, well getting married so I have a couple of stag do’s to attend, in the past many of these have been a night on the lash followed by a dodgy curry and a visit to an equally dodgy strip club. However now times have changed and the stag do has evolved into something more fun, less seedy if you so wish and of course bigger and more expensive.

One of the stag do’s which is coming up involves a weekend away, out of the way, with all sorts of manly activities to do, which no doubt my unfit body will hate and be unable to do! However it won’t all be hardcore outdoor activities, or so I am told, there is of course the obligatory drinking and other highs to be had as well as plenty of laughs and hopefully the odd joke pulled on the groom. I of course won’t be being that mean to the groom after all I am not yet married and do not fancy facing any of the same consequences if I ever tie the knot.

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