Housetastic!

It's been a while, as the last week has been so damn hectic. We've finally got a deposit down on a house. Whilst not perfect (one of the rooms is pretty small, so it'll be in the lap of the gods as to who gets it), it's really nicely decorated and with the absence of any Polish hurricanes this time round, it may well stay that way. Moving in date: next Saturday, if all goes well. That will then give us another week to shift remaining stuff over there, and clean up the existing place. God knows what Kasia's room is going to look like...from the outside looking in, you can barely see anything thanks to the perpetual fog of cigarette smoke lingering in the room like a Jehovah's Witness who just won't take a hint.

Decided to boot up Final Fantasy 8 again, and instantly lost myself for 2 and a half hours this afternoon. They could easily make a spin-off based around the card mini-game in it, that alone could eat up hours of your life. Then again, maybe they have. I'm not as up to date on the gaming scene as I once was. Maybe when I finally get enough cash saved for a new PC, things will be different. But along with a PC, I could really use around 6 months holiday a year. That would be nice.

A Clash of Kings progresses well. The start was a little slow, as Martin is trying to re-introduce all the characters again. I'm sure it'll kick in soon though. The new Henry Porter book was released yesterday to gaggles of screaming teenagers, some of whom had been queueing for up to 18 hours. Yes, EIGHTEEN HOURS in a queue, just to get a damn book. Now THAT, my friends, is the power of marketing. By all accounts, the reviews are not pretty. "Chundering", "stale" and "disjointed" are what I've heard so far, which tallies up with the state of the last book. Luckily, I won't need to buy it as Gilly pre-ordered hers about 3 months ago. Still, old J.K. can rest assured in the knowledge that even if the last book bombs, she'll still have over half a billion quid tucked away for a rainy day. Not bad for someone who has had just 6 books published. Apparently Book 7 may be some time because the movie franchise needs to catch up (they are currently 2 books behind, if you take into account that film 4 is out this year). Methinks a change of cast may be needed, unless you want 17 year old Henry to be played by a middle-aged chap with drooping jowls and a water retention problem. OK, so the actors may not be that old by then, but I've developed a taste for hyperbole and I'm going to wield it like a member of the Opposition.

Anyway, I think I may head up to the White Bear with Andy for the quiz a bit later and see if I can inject some monetary adrenaline into my flagging bank account.

Toodle pip.