Theycallmejack's Finest Hour

Jack shouts at the world because no one is listening.

Tag: Gaming

July 27, 2013

Free your mind, enjoy this.

I promised it was coming. Wasn’t sure whether it would. But here it is.

As you may or may not know, I am a huge geek. A geek of international proportions. One of the objects of my geekosity is gaming. And even further into that, my favourite game making company is, of course, Nintendo. Now, Mario is all well and good, but personally I’ve grown weary of his yearly samey adventures. The Legend of Zelda is epic, of course, but once you complete the game, what else is there to do? No, there is one Nintendo series which I adore above all others (though this changes frequently), and that is Animal Crossing. AND before anyone asks, Pokemon is equally love by me, but it isn’t made by Nintendo. GameFreak makes Pokemon and Nintendo publishes it. Surprisingly few people remember that.

Anyway! Animal Crossing: New Leaf was announced at E3 in 2010. Almost exactly 3 years later, it finally launched in the UK. And I have been playing it for nearly a month and a half now. I have now decided to initiate all of my blog readers into the excitement I feel towards this game which most would consider infinitely dull.

I always try to persuade people to get into Animal Crossing, because it is a game of communication. The more people you know who play it, the more fun you can have. However, whenever I tell people about it I always have to begin my speech (rant) with the phrase ‘it sounds like the most boring game ever, but trust me, it’s so much fun when you play it!’ And it really does. The problem is that none of the Animal Crossing games have any real goal. There is no princess to rescue, no world to save, no crops to harvest, no elemental creatures to collect. Just you and a town full of animals.

You start the game as a new arrival in a town populated by cutesy animal characters. A raccoon (or a Japanese mythical Tanooki, if you prefer) loan-shark named Tom Nook offers to give you a residence for a fee. Once you pay his fee, you can upgrade your house by adding rooms and making it bigger. Actually, Tom Nook becomes less of a loan shark in Animal Crossing: New Leaf, but I won’t forget his diabolical plots from previous games. From here, you’re free to do what you please. You can catch fish or bugs, grow trees and flowers, dig for fossils, decorate your house, design clothes, shop til you drop, socialize with the animals and so on. And that is it. Yep, that is everything.

Well, in Animal Crossing: New Leaf you become mayor as well, and have the option to do ‘Public Works Projects’ to customize your town, or go to the island and play mini-games with friends or strangers online. But aside from those features, it’s largely the same set up.

The major ‘goals’ of the series are:

  • Finish paying off your mortgage.
  • Collect every, bug, fish, fossil and art work and put them in the museum.
  • Collect every piece of furniture.

And nothing about that sounds fun does it? But the game is charming. It draws you into it’s warm, loving hold, and once you’ve been caught, you can’t escape. You NEED to go back to town the next day to see if the shop is stocking that last bit of furniture you need to complete your collection, to see if you can hunt that last bug which will no longer be available next month, to keep updated on the lives of the animals. Add in the real-time events, such as Easter, Christmas, and Halloween and you’ve been caught. Hook, line and sinker. Oh, and if you don’t go back tomorrow, the animals will notice you’ve been away, and it will make them sad. And no one wants to make cute animals sad.

So, here is a pictorial introduction to all the fun you can have while playing Animal Crossing, ripped directly out of the time I’ve spent playing Animal Crossing: New Leaf!

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You plant a town tree the first day you move in. It grows throughout you time in town. Keep reading to see how this little sapling grew!

 The big new feature of Animal Crossing: New Leaf is the ability to become mayor of your town. As you can see I was rather charmed to have been made mayor here. If anyone is interested, the animals are both cute and have adorable names and personalities, some of whom get quite irksome. From left to right we have Bluebear, who is incredibly peppy and annoying, I always send her mail to tell her how much I hate her. Then there’s Cyrano the Anteater, who is pretty fly, he’s quite laid back, so we get on well. Then there’s the ubiquitous Genji who is obsessed with Japanese culture. He announced he’s upping sticks and moving to another town at the end of the month. Cannot wait. Hopefully someone cooler replaces him. In the middle is my secretary, Isabelle. She’s alright. Bit too peppy for my tastes though. Then the Hippo is Bertha. She’s nice, but her looks offend me, and I don’t let her forget it. I changed her catchphrase to ‘hideous’. That’ll teach her. Finally, the purple cat is called Bob. I have literally never met anyone as fly as Bob. He doesn’t give a damn about anything. We get on.

Bad hat day for me here...

Bad hat day for me here…

One of the big incentives to keep you playing the obsessive desire to upgrade your housing from a tent to a castle. As such, your characters gets quite excited when he pays his mortgage off. Also, interesting to note, Pelly (the pelican behind me) is one of the few ‘nice’ characters who I don’t hate. Perhaps because her sister, Phyllis is rude, bothersome, and wants a slap, making poor Pelly pale in comparison.

Yes, animals, celebrate my superiority.

Yes, animals, celebrate my superiority.

Every month, there is a competition held in town that you can take part in. Over summer, this competition is the Bug-Off, hosted by Nat the Chameleon who you can see in front of me. He’s the type of chap who refers to people as ‘old bean’. Classy fellow. Goes on a bit, but I like him anyway.  In Winter, the competition is the Fishing Tourney hosted by a beaver called Chip who has the audacity to eat your catches. Chunky so and so. He’s alright though. The object of both competitions is to catch the best creature out of everyone in town.

I suspect Kapp'n is a closetted gay man. Sure, he has a wife and daughter but you know how these things are...

I suspect Kapp’n is a closeted gay man. Sure, he has a wife and daughter but you know how these things are…

One of the new features in Animal Crossing: New Leaf is the ability to go to Tortimer Island and play mini-games either alone, with friends, or with strangers online. Kapp’n (a Kappa in Japanese, but I think he’s called a ‘frog’ or some nonsense like that in English) takes you there in his boat and sings sea shanties like this on the way. It is all kinds of adorable when he sings. He’s a salty seadog, but I still think he’s cute.

Me and Mat arrive home after a long day!

Me and Mat arrive home after a long day!

One of my favourite features of Animal Crossing is playing with friends online. You can bring them round to your town and show them your house and whatnot. Here are me and Mat, sleeping in my double bed in my balloon themed room. It’s all very adorable and charming.

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Pascal the Sea Otter dispenses some deep 'truths' on you when you encounter him.

Pascal the Sea Otter dispenses some deep ‘truths’ on you when you encounter him.

One of my favourite characters in the series Pascal the Sea Otter. He is Animal Crossing’s resident deep thinker, and seems to be high on something most of the time. He’s kind of insane. And he gives you pirate themed furniture in exchange for scallops. Which is a fair deal in my mind. He’s a cool guy. The game is possibly worth playing just to hear the nonsense he comes out with.

Summer Solstice

Summer Solstice

Because the game plays in real time, you get to experience some events that correspond to reality as well. This faceboard was erected for one day only in the town plaza to celebrate the longest day of the year. Mat is modelling some ladder shades which he was given to celebrate. Behind us, you can see the town tree has grown!

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Public works projects can be big and small, and you hold opening ceremonies for all of them. Here are a few of mine.

Public works projects can be big and small, and you hold opening ceremonies for all of them. Here are a few of mine.

One of the big new features for Animal Crossing: New Leaf is the ability to customize your town with Public Works Projects. These can be anything from shops to landmarks, I have a few pictures of each here. The top two pictures are openings of shops on the high street (past the railway line), the third is a Fountain outside the town hall, and the last is a coffee shop run by a shy pigeon. There’s loads of different ways to customize your town. Also, you can see from the pictures the ways that different times of day, and weather conditions are displayed in the game. HNI_0073 HNI_0077

My favourite room in my house.

My favourite room in my house.

Another great thing about Animal Crossing is the way that the game becomes a big extension of your character. As you can see from these pictures, you can customize the house of your house, the inside, your outfits, your hair, even your eye colour! And yes, I AM wearing a Warblers outfit. AND WHAT?!

Nintendo references galore!

Nintendo references galore!

If you’re a Nintendo fan, like me, there’s plenty of references to pick up. Here’s a relatively obscure one, but I’m sure most Nintendo fans will get it!

A reflective day.

A reflective day.

The game grows as you use it more and more. And likewise, this is represented by your town tree. This is what mine looks like at the moment. I’m not sure if it grows any further than that.

So yeah, there is a lot more to Animal Crossing than you see at first, and this blog has only scratched the surface! There’s so much I haven’t had the pictures or effort to explain! But you can all learn and enjoy that for yourselves! Seriously, it’s well worth the investment in my opinion!

Have I persuaded you to give Animal Crossing a try? Or, alternatively, if you have Animal Crossing already, what have been your favourite experiences with it? Let me know in the comments!

Jack out.

PS. Anyone who already has Animal Crossing: New Leaf, you can visit me in Rufford by searching my Dream Code: AC11PPS. Off topic, but I recently competed in a competition with my choir. It was REALLY badly organized, and we were treated very badly by a particularly rude woman. It would be a great way to show her what for if we could get loads of votes, so please consider giving us your vote! You don’t have to sign up or anything so it’s dead easy! And no, I’m afraid I’m not in our photo! http://www.london.gov.uk/priorities/arts-culture/gigs/search-and-vote/absolute-harmony

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January 28, 2013

The Legend of Zelda series and its importance to gaming.


In my tutor group we were asked to basically write an essay on whatever subject we chose, and so this was my effort. It is pretty lazy and ultimately not very good, but my good buddy Dan uploaded his (which you can find here: http://danwillis12.wordpress.com/2013/01/28/choose-religion-or-choose-survival/) and so I thought I may as well upload mine. Dan’s is much better than mine, but notice how he’s copied my blog’s theme. Unbelievable! Haha! Anyway, I hope you enjoy the geekiest thing you’ll read all day! 🙂
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The Legend of Zelda is arguably one of the most importance series of games in the entire history of gaming. Each title in the series achieves great critical acclaim and the franchise is marked as one of the most profitable series of games that Nintendo has ever created, and is the top selling fantasy role-playing video-game (RPG) series throughout the world. However, for a series that has lasted for twenty seven years in February, and with new games appearing on the market all the time, why has The Legend of Zelda lasted so long and what does the future hold?

Part of the answer comes from the ethos of Nintendo, the producers and publishers of nearly every game in the franchise. From the point of view of critics, Nintendo have almost never released a bad game. If one examines a list of the top selling video games of all time, it is clear to see that no other company creates quite as many best-sellers as Nintendo.[1] A lot of this success is down to Shigeru Miyamoto; arguably the best game developer of all time, famous for creating such gaming icons as Mario, Donkey Kong, Pikmin, Star Fox, Kid Icarus, Animal Crossing and of course, The Legend of Zelda. Miyamoto is famous for ‘upending the tea table’ while working on games; deciding to implement improvements even late into development in order to bring out the full potential of the game.[2] It would seem that Miyamoto’s interest is firmly based on the quality of the games he makes, rather than simply having to make a profit from them. So deeply does he, and the rest of Nintendo, care about maintaining a high standard in the games that they make that no matter how highly anticipated a game release is, if it is not up to scratch then it will be delayed. Miyamoto once commented ‘A delayed game will eventually be good, but a rushed game is forever bad’.[3]

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Another possible reason for the continued dominance of The Legend of Zelda in the fantasy RPG market is its focus on innovation. Every game in the series has used the latest hardware to its advantage; something which has often made The Legend of Zelda series on the fore-front of gaming-technology. The fifth game ‘The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time’, for example, was one of the very first open-world games to feature fully 3D polygonal graphics, ‘The Phantom Hourglass’ was the perfect demonstration of the Nintendo DS’ touchscreen, while the most recent game ‘Skyward Sword’ was the first game to fully realize the potential of the Wii Remote Plus in virtual sword-fighting. Every game in the series has made full use of the latest technology and as such The Legend of Zelda series is continually evolving while at the same time maintaining basic familiar elements such as the green-hatted hero, Link, the princess of the land of Hyrule, Zelda, and the evil wizard, Ganondorf. By maintaining familiarity while also giving a completely different experience in regards to which console each game appears on, the series provides new experiences as well as providing an easy to access point of reference for people who have already enjoyed their previous experiences with the series.

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Equally, this combination of new and old in each game is built into the storyline of the series. As the game is a ‘legend’, it has often been stated by Nintendo that there is no particular timeline to the series, and, like with all legends elements have been altered as they have been passed through time. Therefore, there is no need for all story elements to be the same throughout, but equally successful parts of the game are easily maintained. With this formula, Nintendo are easily able to craft stories that are both simple and complex. Almost every game in the series involves the hero having to save Princess Zelda and the world from destruction at the hands of Ganondorf, and yet even despite this some games have included incredibly deep, immersive storylines; ‘Skyward Sword’ charts the origins of various elements of the series, while 2006’s ‘Twilight Princess’ had a hugely complex story involving seeing the Hyrule from ‘Ocarina of Time’ hundreds of years in the future.

Another key element to the success of The Legend of Zelda series is its use of a silent protagonist. The hero of the story, Link, can be named anything the player chooses, and speaks only in the occasional grunt or gasp; this method is particularly useful for immersing the player in the game. Miyamoto has often argued that by making Link a silent protagonist, players can imagine that it is they who are exploring the world of Hyrule, fighting villains, and saving the kingdom, thus creating a more immersive and exciting game.

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However, with technological limitations hampering the Wii, many have written off The Legend of Zelda series, and Nintendo in general, in favour of games with better graphics and more powerful engines, such as Bethesda Studios’ ‘Elder Scrolls: Skyrim’, and Vigil Games’ ‘Darksiders’. Whether The Legend of Zelda series will be able to re-assert its market dominance is yet to be seen, however, from a recent Nintendo Direct presentation [4]we can safely say that Nintendo is not resting on its laurels and is fighting to make sure The Legend of Zelda holds its grip on the fantasy RPG market by reassessing all the key values of the series. There have even been hints that the upcoming game for the Wii U will have a multiplayer element. Whatever the case, it is hard to see The Legend of Zelda series losing the reputation and respect it has earned through its twenty six years on the market.

[1] Wikipedia, List of best-selling video-game franchises, <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_video_game_franchises&gt; [Accessed: 27/1/2013]

[2] Nintendo, Iwata Asks: Super Mario Galaxy: Volume One: The Producer and Director: 4. 5 to 95 <http://www.nintendo.co.uk/Iwata-Asks/Iwata-Asks-Super-Mario-Galaxy/Volume-1-The-Producer-and-Director/4-From-5-to-95/4-From-5-to-95-230131.html&gt; [Accessed: 27/1/2013] (Paragraph 2)

[3] Simon Parkin, Shigeru Miyamoto: A rushed game is forever bad, Guardian Blogs 27th April 2012, <http://www.nintendo.co.uk/Iwata-Asks/Iwata-Asks-Super-Mario-Galaxy/Volume-1-The-Producer-and-Director/4-From-5-to-95/4-From-5-to-95-230131.html&gt; [Accessed 27/1/2013] (Paragraph 2)

[4] Nintendo, Nintendo Direct: 23/1/13, <http://www.nintendo.co.uk/Misc-/Nintendo-Direct/Latest-Nintendo-Direct/Nintendo-Direct-698557.html&gt; [Accessed 27/1/13] (Video 4 on carousel)

 

 

I hope you enjoyed that! I’ll be back for a real blog when I can! Much love, dear readers!
Jack out.

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June 9, 2012

Nothing ever seems like it used to be…

My my my! I haven’t blogged in a while…

I honestly don’t know where on earth I’ve been all this time, so if any of my readers were remotely interested in such a tale, I’m afraid this blog will come as a disappointment… I actually looked at my last post and was surprised to see that it came from the misty past of April the 10th! I’m sorry, hands of time, but it does not feel as though you’ve traveled so quickly…

I have actually returned to the old Theycallmejack’s Blog a few times since then and attempted to write something worth reading, but I found that I was incapable of doing this to my own satisfaction so I didn’t. I’m not saying that what I usually write is much worth reading either, nor am I saying that this will be either, but still! Writing is good for the soul.

Maybe I should spend this blog trying to work out what I’ve been doing since the 10th of April and give you a fascinating insight into my life. I’d love to try such a thing, but then it occurs to me that I’ve done very little of note since then so I can see this being a disappointment… nevertheless, I shall bullet point the things I’ve seen, done, and thought of late that I can remember…

  • Finished reading The Hunger Games series. I was greatly impressed. So much so that I recommended them to a customer at work when she asked for a good read! They’re very good.
  • While we’re on the subject of books, though this isn’t in chronological order following the previous bullet point, I bought Madeline Miller’s excellent ‘The Song of Achilles’ on Sunday and have been avidly reading it ever since. I’ve actually had to force myself to put it down in order that some revision for my A levels is actually achieved. It’s such a brilliant, evocative story of Achilles’ life, told from the point of view of his best friend and lover, Patroclus. Honestly, give it a read and you shan’t be disappointed! It’s a really beautiful book, and a great read!Image
  • I had my drama A level exam on the 31st of May, and spent quite a lot of time annotating my exam script in preparation for that leading up to the exam which was a lot of fun. It went reasonably well I hope, but I won’t tempt fate by saying how I thought it went.
  • I watched the finale of Glee. I wasn’t greatly impressed I must say. I got confused by the episode where everyone body swapped because I couldn’t work out why other people were playing other characters as it seemed to have no real reason in the storyline, I felt the Nationals episode was underdone and slightly wet lettucey, and the final episode grated simply because Kurt didn’t get into NYADA and Rachel, despite failing her audition in the most spectacular way possible somehow did… mystifying! I’m aware this won’t mean much to the casual non-Glee-watching reader, but it is an event that happened.
  • Oh, I left college. I suppose that’s quite a big one isn’t it? Yeah, that was all rather fun! I performed in the Leavers Service in front of a huge audience with a play which we’d put together in about two and half hours? Nerve-wracking but it was a lot of fun and a nice way to end college. Then me and the drama lot went out and got a bit drunk. I was very drunk. More so than I’ve ever been. Embarassingly so. I believe I may have loudly whispered that the manager in McDonald’s looked like a man when she was standing beside me. Awkward. Shan’t be doing that for a while.
  • I discovered my Xbox was broke so I’ve had to buy a new one which arrived today and is very snazzy. There’s no buttons on it, you just hold you finger over the things that look like buttons and then it makes a little jingle and does what you want it to! It’s the little things in life that impress me most! Image
  • Spent a frankly atrocious amount of time watching The Jeremy Kyle Show and Come Dine With Me. I don’t even like either of these television programmes so goodness only knows why I’ve watched so much of them…
  • Revised. Talking about revision is almost as dull as actual revision so I won’t go into it.
  • Did spend quite a good proportion of my time playing Mario Tennis Open on my 3DS! It hasn’t got THE greatest review scores so I was a bit dubious about buying it, but it’s a lot of fun and very addictive, so it has my recommendation! Image
  • Spent a lot of time writing. I’ve been churning out my latest novelette at a ridiculous pace recently. I’m really getting into it, and I’m loving it! Back in the days before college wore me out so much, I used to write all the time, as any long time readers of this blog will know, but I haven’t in ages, so this new urge to write is very good indeed! I’m actually pondering whether to brush up a couple of my old things and publish them in somekind of anthology on Kindle… it’d be nice to get the feedback if nothing else… Image
  • I’ve sorted out a lot of university stuff, so I hope I get in. I really can’t be bothered doing the whole shebang all over again!
  • All the general going out with my friends and my boyfriend and the like…
  • Watched, and was slightly disappointed with the Nintendo E3 conference. My favourite part was when they revealed all those surprise announcements. <—– Sarcasm. Still, I did enjoy this little guy’s appearance quite a lot, and I hope he gets his own game: Image

And that is all I can remember. Phew. I actually started this blog by saying that I wasn’t going to write about where I’ve been for the past 2 months and that’s exactly what I’ve done. You never know what you’re gonna get with me… madness! Anyway, I hope you’re all well and alive!

Much love,

Jack out.

PS. Here is a picture of some cheerful Pikmin to brighten your day! 🙂

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November 8, 2010

I’ll plant you the seeds of a tree, so you can start your climb away from me.

I’m back. I need a subtitle. ‘Theycallmejack: Retribution’? ‘Theycallmejack: Returns’? ‘Theycallmejack: Reloaded’?

I’ve been trying to avoid blogging for a while because we’re coming up to a pretty big landmark in my blogging career and I wanted that one to fall on my birthday! Which is this Wednesday in case anyone was wondering…

I can’t say I’m especially excited for it to be honest. I mean, I’ll probably be excited on Tuesday night, but at the moment, I’m rather uninterested in the whole thing. Honestly, my friends are more excited for my birthday than I am! It’s completely ridiculous! Haha! But I do love my friends!

I went out with them all on Friday night, which was horrible for reasons which I won’t go into, but then we all went out again on Saturday night which was pretty god damn awesome! We went to a bonfire to celebrate Bonfire Night (which was actually on Friday, but y’know…) and the fireworks were awesome and I took some nice pictures. Not saying they were good pictures… but they were nice ones!

My friends are good to me. They miss me. I barely know some of my friends. But they miss me. Which is nice of them! I’ll come back for them in a while, when I’m better!

I beat my highscore on Doodlejump today. Its a tiny little thing with no real significance at all, but I’m happy that I managed to do it! Pretty impressed with myself! And my sausage roll was tasty as well! It’s been a pretty good day. Peppered with flickers of sadness, but that’s bound to happen.

I guess it’s being lonely. I haven’t been lonely in too long now, so I forgot what it felt like. But who needs someone who’s all yours when you can beat your highscore on Doodlejump and have tasty sausage rolls?

I didn’t really have much else to say. Well, I did. But I can’t be bothered writing it and you can’t be bothered reading it. My heartbreak is something that we’ve all heard before, so I’ll let you get away from it for a bit! But I do have one request for you! New story on the other blog, please please please check it out! And subscribe to that one too if its not too much trouble, I think it’s a story which we can all relate to in some way… Episodes 1 and 2 are already up, and 3 and 4 will be coming in the next two months. Here’s a link to it: http://bluescarfblogging.wordpress.com/2010/11/08/the-best-of-us-episode-2/

I’m also really really excited about the series which I’ve got lined up for December! We’ve got some guest writers joining me, and I’m really excited for it. Its the series about being a teenager, and ooh! The pieces that I’ve recieved for it so far are really really well written! They will make you cry! Also, this series is open for contribution by any of my teenage readers, the only rules I have are that:

1. It’s got to be about a serious issue which has affected you in some way. (Except I made up one of issues which I wrote about… woops!)

2. It’s got to be between a page and two pages of A4 typed in Times New Roman, font size 12.

3. You have to be a teenager to enter a story.

Other than that, its down to you! If you have a tale to tell then drop me a comment and I’ll tell how to submit your piece! You have until the end of November to enter if you want to! No prizes, just a chance to exorcise your demons, or just a chance to show the world your writing! Come on! DO IT!! You know you want to!

Ooooh! I just thought of another thing! I have been set this thing from college, to learn a new skill, or put an already learned skill into practise! So I have no idea what to do! I can think of two things at the moment, one is to create a video trailer for my new zombie drama short story series, and the other is to learn to sing. I know what song I’ll be singing as well! I think… I can’t decide between ‘Birds and Boats’ by Gregory and the Hawk, or ‘Teenage Dream’ by Katy Perry… hmmmm…

Anyway, other than that, just get yourself on Google and listen to the song that I stole the title from! Awesome tune! And much love, readers!

Jack out.

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October 31, 2010

It’s just a jump to the left! And then a step to the right! Put your hands on your hips and move your knees in tight! But it’s the pelvic thrust that really drives you insane! Let’s do the time warp again!

TRICK OR TREAT!!

And yeah, I know that’s the longest title I have EVER used for a blog! But the time warp seems appropriate seeing as it is Halloween tonight!

Now, let me make it clear right now that I am a huge fan of Halloween!! I find it all so much fun and there’s really something for everyone! Like, at Christmas, everything starts to lose the magic when you get older… you have to worry about buying presents, cooking the big meal, keeping everyone happy… But on Halloween EVERYONE can enjoy it! For the children there’s Trick or Treating, and then when you get older you can still dress up, go to parties, and watch scary movies! It’s such good wholesome family fun!! And everyone is happy!

I’ve just seen a Facebook group called ‘The magic of halloween dies a little every year :/’ NOT TRUE!! I have had one of my best Halloween’s this year! Last year was better, but I don’t think I was quite as excited last year as I was this year! And my pumpkin was much bigger this year! No. That isn’t a euphemism. Despite the euphemism being true as well… But yeah! Halloween – win!

Except I had to work… but it was ok! The pub where I work was all decorated in Halloween stuff which was really cool, everyone was jolly and mucking around with costumes and stuff, and there was almost no one ordering food, so I managed to get home relatively early, which allowed me to play some Animal Crossing!

I don’t know if anyone else has Animal Crossing: Let’s Go to the City (It’s called Animal Crossing: City Folk in America, which I think is a much better title…) but it’s this game which always sounds really lame when you describe it, but is actually really addictive! You get a character who then moves into a little town, then you basically have free reign. You can spend your time collecting all the different varieties of fish, or bugs, you can plant loads of flowers, you can go shopping and decorate your house, you can play games with your neighbours, and you can get on the bus to go to the city for even more things to do! But basically, on some real world holidays, there are special events! For example, Halloween, Christmas Eve, Thanksgiving, Easter and a few others! But these special events all have special music and special goings on, so it’s always fun to check them out! It might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but I really enjoy it, so y’know 🙂

I think I’m going to have to quit my job soon though. I can’t stand working there anymore. I don’t like it at the best of times, but it’s becoming unbearable. All the waitresses were really excited and wanted to know all the details when I started dating a few months ago, and the guy who I wash dishes with knows him, so just being there reminds me of when we started dating… ahhh I miss him so much.

I always wonder if he misses me this much…

But still! Keep positive!! My pumpkin was awesome today! I’ll upload a picture to this blog sometime soon so that you can all marvel at my awesome pumpkin craftwork! Haha!

Now I’d better go to bed because I start back at college tomorrow so I need my beauty sleep since I have to get up at half six! No rest for the wicked eh?

Jack out.

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August 18, 2010

I don’t care what you do to them, just be good to me!

Eurgh. I have to change my shift at work if I wanna go to Pride… disappointing…

In other news, I actually can’t remember if I did a blog last night to tell you all about the giant murderous catfish which was found in the lake at work… That was basically it, it was 8 ft long and over 100 years old. And no, American readers, I will not change feet into metres for you, even though I too would find that more convienient as I also work in metric, however I cannot be arsed finding out how much 8ft is in metres…

So, random question, am I a bad friend if I don’t really care how my friends treat their friends, as long as they’re still all nice to me? That’s where the title came from… also a song that I had in my head all yesterday… But its like as long as my friend is ok, and they’re not properly upset, I really don’t care how they treat their other friends. I’m not quite sure whether thats a bad thing in the sort of ‘don’t care’ kind of way, or a good thing in the ‘its none of my business’ kind of way.

Who knows?! One thing’s for sure though! I use far too many exclamation marks and ellipsis’…

Ok, so I said I’d spend all day writing today, and see if I could get Madmen finished, and I am going to try to but I honestly don’t know if I can be arsed… I wanna get out of the house! I know I’m going out on Friday and Saturday so I really can’t afford it! But I’m feeling the need to get out!! Still, the weather is pretty horrible, so on second thoughts, I’ll stay in… but I may have a play on the old Wii!

I love my Wii! He’s called Terence! No joke! I love it! And tbh, I need to get on Wii Fit Plus cos I have put on quite a bit of weight over the holidays… WOOPS! When I say quite a bit, I haven’t become a hulking behemoth who eclipses the sun, but I have put on about 1/2 a stone. And yeah, I don’t work in metric for my own weight, be quiet.

Maybe I should make a list of things that I DO work in metric for… hmmm…

But once again, I just cannot be arsed, so if anyone was sitting there on the edge of their seat gunning for an explanation of what I work in metric for I’m afraid that you’re going to be going away disappointed… I say that jokingly, but there are people out there who’s lives all revolve around interesting Jack based trivia, which I enjoy depriving them off! It’s all part of my badass Jackittude!

Yeah, thats a real word.

Hey I was watching this programme called ‘The Monster Hunter’ on TV the other night, and it got me thinking, I wonder how many large undiscovered creatures there are left in the world… I’d love to find one! It’d be such an adventure!!

It has occured to me that I’m basically just waffling because I have very little to say… Disappointing effort. Ohh but Results Day for A level students is tomorrow, and GCSE results on Tuesday! So good luck to absolutely everyone who’s getting their results in the coming days! Including me! I need it… I just touched wood.

The kind that comes from trees. Dirty mind.

Anyway, I’m gonna go and get some breakfast/lunch… hmmm… I’ve started changing my diet around a bit, so that lunch is breakfast, tea is lunch, and then I’ll have a meal late at night that becomes tea! Simples! It’s because I get up later and stuff…

Now I REALLY have run out of things to say so I’m off!

Jack out.

2 Comments
March 23, 2010

Keep your feet on the ground, when your head’s in the clouds.

Eurgh. I’m so confused/angry/happy/sad/interested/excited/bored!! It’s crazy! Oh, and while I remember, the title of the blog has nothing to do with the theme, I’ve just wanted to use that song lyric for a while now…

Anyway, it occured to me as this window was loading that I haven’t asked how you guys, my wonderful readers are recently! So, how are you? I really hope you’re all having nice Marchs 🙂

Back to the actual blog though! I was considering last night how strange relationships are. I mean relationships in the sense of friends, enemies, lovers, haters, relations, everything! Cos, I was thinking, there are only 2 people in my school who I really really can’t stand whatsoever! And yet those 2 people used to be my best friends in the world… Ouch. And yesterday someone had a go at me over a tiny little joke.

It wouldn’t have been so bad either, but it was someone who I used to really look up to as well… I used to think ‘when I get older, I wanna be like that guy, cos he seems to have his head screwed on right!’ But now I just… don’t understand the people I used to care about so much…

Is it me? Or is it them? Confusing times!

And on a complete different, far more nerdly note, Nintendo have supposedly announced their new handheld console today… and for some reason I feel upset… I don’t know why but it just seems like DS has been such big part of my gaming life these past 5 years and it seems kinda strange to be potentially just a year away from replacing it… Plus this new one is all in 3D hence the name of the console being Nintendo 3DS, and I’m a little apprehensive about that…

On the other hand, I am having a very Nintendo related weekend… well when I say that, I mean slightly Nintendo related Saturday… basically I’m going into Preston to buy the new Pokemon game which I am then going to play in Subway with my friend. Because I am the coolest thing since sliced bread 🙂

And then I might be off to the cinema with G, which should be fun as well 🙂

Oh, and by the way, today’s friend fact file is on Alice Waddington, mainly because she asked me to write one for her. Alice is stupid. There’s no question about it. She’s probably the stupidest person I’ve ever met. Quote on quote: ‘I love your eyes Jack, because they scare me!’ I’m not even joking! But that said she is very lovely as well and she never fails to make me laugh! Also she cools because every time she talks to me in French I tell her to shut up before continuing the conversation, and she never minds! Another fun fact about Alice is that I used to call her Ducky because in Year 7 I thought her name was Alice Waddleington. And that’s everything you need to know about Alice!

Have a good night!

Jack out.

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