boreders

Having spent the last several years visiting the coast and the dune bordered beauty of Formby, we were disappointed that the poor Red Squirrels have suffered a blow from a pox. The virus leaves them unable to eat, basically, leaving them open to starvation, too weak to protect themselves from predators like foxes. There’s no clear evidence where the pox comes from, but it doesn’t help the Reds in their fights against the environment, other wildlife, and especially the burgeoning masses of the Greys.

Still, the weather held out for us, by and large, and we spent a while constructing sand castles down on the beach. The Irish Sea didn’t look inviting enough for a swim; I especially found the brown froth rolling up on the beach a complete turn off. When I last recall wading in the cold sea water, brown froth didn’t threaten to stain my pale and goose-pimple pricked calves.

Anyway… here’s a picture - and some of the music I enjoyed while driving out there…

Witching Hour

Ladytron. Rykodisc 2005, Audio CD, $11.98

How do people make significant career changes? I don’t seem to have enough of an idea how to do it and I think it might well be holding me back.

To my mind, change from one career to a completely different one must mean taking a hit on pay or working conditions. Taking one role in some remote location or a swinging pay-cut might explain why people would take a chance on you despite a lack of the full breadth of skills necessary for a role.

Or, does it come down to personality and a ‘just do it’ attitude? Maybe a gift for bluffing long enough to get your legs under the table? I don’t know. Maybe I should read a book or something?!

It seems like at school you make a choice, and then at university or in apprenticeship you make another, and with each passing year and each moment of experience in a specific role, you build walls and burn bridges. Perhaps certain roles have enough generic skills to mean that you can make a leap without suffering too many negative consequences. I suppose I could well have the skills to make a change, but simply lack the balls or wherewithall to do anything about it.

Currently reading:

The Biggest Secret

David Icke. David Icke Books 1999, Paperback, 517 pages, $18.30

I appreciate the concept of time management; but, I have difficulty keeping to any plans I make for myself. When I sat down at my desk this last Monday, I wrote out a ‘To Do’ list with about twenty different activities on it. I think I managed to do about half a dozen by the end of the week, because I either found myself engaged in other activities or trapped in meetings. I have no big issue with meetings, but they can have a sponge-like effect on free time. Before you know it, a whole day has evaporated and you feel like you have got nothing done at all.

Now, time management isn’t just concerned with work life, either. At home I also find myself with a dozen different small projects, and they get disrupted by the need to engage in ordinary household activities like washing up, ironing, preparing meals, doing food shopping, and sleeping. Amongst my list of things to do at home, I have two writing projects, some research for a third writing project, two websites for charities I support, a Tyranid army I need to start painting for my eldest, a pile of reference books I need to check out to determine their value in completing my writing projects, and a bunch of other stuff I’m likely to forget unless I create a ‘To Do’ list for home, too.

So, does anyone have any advice on ways to better organise work and home time? I know I could do with some help…

Currently reading:

Angels & Demons

Dan Brown. Pocket 2006, Mass Market Paperback, 736 pages, $3.95

Seriously. I could not believe the results today. A-Levels better than last year, for the 325th year in a row (or something like that). I mean, what rot. Anyway, thinking this is ridiculous, the guy on the radio explains that while the A-Levels may not have become easier and the students may not have become cleverer, one reason why they do so well is that there is currently no limit on how many times you can retake your A-Level. Up to 2000 (maybe 2001), you could only retake once; but, now you can retake them again and again. One student said it was quite possible to go from a fail to an A Grade through retakes.

I mean, that’s like when I took my driving test. I passed, as many other people have done. However, it took me three attempts to make it. Now, I may not be better or worse than the next man, but I did have a certain advantage in getting to try, try, try again. If it had to be first time or nothing, I would now be relying on public transport. If I had tried ten times, I might well have avoided several early accidents and dinks suffered.

Repeat attempts just don’t seem fair in some circumstances. I got a B, D, and an E Grade at A-level. Now, I might well have got A, C and a D with retakes… heck, I might have managed to swing three A Grade A-levels and got that place in Durham I was so keen on.

So, having grumbled about the nonsense of grades in the last fews years, I now can’t be bothered with it. I took a completely different A-level to the exam they run today - and when it comes down to it, I’m not going to use my exams to prove anything if I apply for another job.

Currently reading:

Tools of War

Jeremy Black. Quercus 2007, Hardcover, 207 pages, $4.00

Having gone through the newest batch of trailers and seen the likes of ‘Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer‘, I have to say even the campest bloodfest of a horror has nothing on this disturbing guide to turning your kids into a Halloween pirate over at YouTube:

Relevant reading:

The Pirate Primer

George Choundas. Writers Digest Books 2007, Hardcover, 480 pages, $10.94

When I was 12 years old, I had already played ‘Warlock of Firetop Mountain‘ and the other first half dozen Fighting Fantasy books. A year later I would be clutching the purplish box of ‘Middle Earth Role Playing‘ having thoroughly enjoyed several months of D&Ding at school. In that moment, in 1984, I discovered something a bit different… I discovered ‘Maelstrom‘.

I’m not entirely sure whether I would have seen ‘Excalibur‘ at this point or similar fantasy movies that stepped on the boundaries of magic without losing sight of the real world, but that was ‘Maelstrom‘ in a way. The game provided mechanics and a setting that took medieval England and swirled in a touch of magic. Not much… just enough to suit the perceptions of the time that magic existed and was to be feared. The Maelstrom swirled outside of reality, and from there those in the know could harness enough power to bend the world to do their bidding.

The game was simple enough, percentiles mainly with point-allocated character creation. The bulk of the book explained character professions, mechanics of combat, advanced developments, and a solo adventure to guide you through the basics. The book also included a 19-page herbal, which some say went on to influence other games that followed. I certainly referred to it many times over the years when running other fantasy games. All this in a 300-or-so page paperback volume that you could virtually slide into your pocket. Perfect fodder for a quick game with your friends on a rainy afternoon.

Now, 24 years later, ‘Maelstrom‘ has returned. Published by Arion Games under license from Puffin Books, the whole thing can now be yours as a PDF from DriveThruRPG. As if that wasn’t enough, Arion Games also intends to publish adventures and support material, including the entirely free adventure ‘Strange Days in Nayland‘.

Well worth a look… and with the return of ‘Dragon Warriors‘ it almost seems like my childhood has returned once more.

Relevant reading:

The Warlock of Firetop Mountain

Steve Jackson. I Books 2003, Mass Market Paperback, 192 pages, $11.99

OK… fanboy excitement keeps me roaming around for tidbits about the ‘Watchmen’ movie, so when I spotted a few new promo pics on the front of IMDB.com, I had to go check. So, there I find several fine images of the characters… and a bewildered picture masquerading as Dave Gibbons.

This page features an image of Jeffrey Dean Morgan.

This is Dave Gibbons. I know… I have met him on several occasions (and have a fine picture of both Dr Manhattan and Rorschach in my copy of the graphic novel):

And here he is with slightly less hair (if you had a copy of the ‘Watchmen’ from 20 years ago, you’d see a Dave Gibbons with a LOT of hair):

Relevant reading:

Watchmen

Dave Gibbons (Illustrator). DC Comics 2008, Hardcover Comic, 436 pages, $24.94