Ark's Ark » My Life http://www.arksark.org/blog Massively Multiplayer Online Gaming, Current Affairs, and Random Stuff! Tue, 03 Jan 2012 19:10:32 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 An Overly Personal Growth.http://www.arksark.org/blog/5404/an-overly-personal-growth/ http://www.arksark.org/blog/5404/an-overly-personal-growth/#comments Mon, 25 Jul 2011 14:34:16 +0000 Arkenor http://www.arksark.org/blog/?p=5404 I’m sorry I’ve not been posting much here recently. Truth be told, I’ve had a lot of other things on my mind. While I have gotten some gaming in, I’ve not really felt much like saying too much about it.

I was hoping that I was going to be able to write a relieved post today about how it turns out I don’t actually have cancer after all. Unfortunately, after my hospital appointment today, we still don’t know, and so [...]

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]]> http://www.arksark.org/blog/5404/an-overly-personal-growth/feed/ 10 Fingerbobs – A British Children’s Television Classic!http://www.arksark.org/blog/5382/fingerbobs-a-british-children-s-television-classic/ http://www.arksark.org/blog/5382/fingerbobs-a-british-children-s-television-classic/#comments Mon, 13 Jun 2011 16:03:15 +0000 Arkenor http://www.arksark.org/blog/?p=5382 The 70′s. A time when my young mind was subjected to every sort of strange talking animal or household object that television producers could think up. I’ve shared the terrifying Animal Kwackers with you before, but not every show from back then evokes such horrifying memories.

Fingerbobs was great. At its core, it was trying to encourage children to take up simple craft projects. Sometimes it succeeded, as the joys of making things out of stones and toilet rolls had [...]

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]]> http://www.arksark.org/blog/5382/fingerbobs-a-british-children-s-television-classic/feed/ 4 In Which I Get Some Feathery New Neighbourshttp://www.arksark.org/blog/5278/in-which-i-get-some-feathery-new-neighbours/ http://www.arksark.org/blog/5278/in-which-i-get-some-feathery-new-neighbours/#comments Wed, 06 Apr 2011 15:59:16 +0000 Arkenor http://www.arksark.org/blog/?p=5278 I’m really excited. I’ve been living here three years, and for the first time, it looks like I have some birds nesting in the nesting box at the bottom of my garden. I only have one decent tree, and it is the same one I had the flock of Bohemian Waxwings in in January.

I think it’s a pair of blue tits. They spent a few days in March clearing out what was probably a bit of a mess in [...]

In Which I Get Some Feathery New Neighbours is a post from: Ark's Ark

]]> http://www.arksark.org/blog/5278/in-which-i-get-some-feathery-new-neighbours/feed/ 2 Dizzy.http://www.arksark.org/blog/4921/dizzy/ http://www.arksark.org/blog/4921/dizzy/#comments Thu, 27 Jan 2011 15:58:46 +0000 Arkenor http://www.arksark.org/blog/?p=4921 I’ve just started some new medication, and it’s giving me some fairly impressive dizziness and nausea. It’ll most likely just be for a few days while my body is getting used to it, but it does mean that I’m less than eager to go running around in phase 5 of Rift’s Beta test. Hopefully we’ll pick up the liveblog in phase 6.

This post is far too short. Help me out, Mr Reeves!

Unbelievably, that’s really the only video [...]

Dizzy. is a post from: Ark's Ark

]]> http://www.arksark.org/blog/4921/dizzy/feed/ 0 Scatman’s Worldhttp://www.arksark.org/blog/4812/scatman-s-world/ http://www.arksark.org/blog/4812/scatman-s-world/#comments Thu, 13 Jan 2011 13:41:50 +0000 Arkenor http://www.arksark.org/blog/?p=4812 I’m still alive! Just not feeling very opinionated at the moment. I’m working on a couple of little bits and bobs that might come to light at some point, and, of course, the Rift Beta will be heading into phase 5 on the 25th of January and I’ll be there to tell of what I encounter in another episode of my Beta liveblog.

In between all that, I work on my [...]

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]]> http://www.arksark.org/blog/4812/scatman-s-world/feed/ 4 In which I am a Guest on Claims of the Normal!http://www.arksark.org/blog/4685/in-which-i-am-a-guest-on-claims-of-the-normal/ http://www.arksark.org/blog/4685/in-which-i-am-a-guest-on-claims-of-the-normal/#comments Thu, 06 Jan 2011 03:12:10 +0000 Arkenor http://www.arksark.org/blog/?p=4685 Mr Breki and Mr Petter were kind enough to invite me on as the special guest for the relaunch of their Claims of the Normal Podcast.

It was the first time I’d done anything quite like it, and there’s probably several minutes of me just going “Ummm”. I also say “Basically”, “actually”, and “pretty much” vastly too often. Valuable lessons were learned, and I had a whole lot of fun. My thanks to my fine hosts for making me feel [...]

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]]> http://www.arksark.org/blog/4685/in-which-i-am-a-guest-on-claims-of-the-normal/feed/ 4 In Which The Best Is Yet To Comehttp://www.arksark.org/blog/4481/in-which-the-best-is-yet-to-come/ http://www.arksark.org/blog/4481/in-which-the-best-is-yet-to-come/#comments Wed, 29 Dec 2010 14:40:05 +0000 Arkenor http://www.arksark.org/blog/?p=4481 I’m back home after a fun time with my Dad, a few pounds heavier, and laden with swag. I hope everyone had a great Christmas, and is feeling recovered enough to face the New Year. It was a bit of a hellish journey home, with trains being cancelled to the left and right, but the reward of sleeping in my own bed again was worth the replacement buses and hikes between stations.

The Rift beta NDA has dropped while I’ve [...]

In Which The Best Is Yet To Come is a post from: Ark's Ark

]]> http://www.arksark.org/blog/4481/in-which-the-best-is-yet-to-come/feed/ 0 In which I meet my Waterloohttp://www.arksark.org/blog/4462/in-which-i-meet-my-waterloo/ http://www.arksark.org/blog/4462/in-which-i-meet-my-waterloo/#comments Sat, 18 Dec 2010 11:58:01 +0000 Arkenor http://www.arksark.org/blog/?p=4462 It’s going to be slow posting for a little while, while I visit my Dad for Christmas. His computer is a little primeval, and oddly, he tends to expect me to not spend all my time on it! That’s the oldsters for you!

So I’ll probably not be doing too many gaming posts, and certainly won’t be making any gaming videos, but I might be able to squeeze in a few pictures. Here’s some I took on my journey here, [...]

In which I meet my Waterloo is a post from: Ark's Ark

]]> http://www.arksark.org/blog/4462/in-which-i-meet-my-waterloo/feed/ 2 A Strange Flockhttp://www.arksark.org/blog/4382/a-strange-flock/ http://www.arksark.org/blog/4382/a-strange-flock/#comments Sat, 11 Dec 2010 09:20:05 +0000 Arkenor http://www.arksark.org/blog/?p=4382 I had some interesting visitors in my back garden for a little while this morning.

I have no idea what these birds are. They were around the size of a starling. Notably, many of them seemed to have a head-crest.

You can click the picture for a rather larger version. As usual, my cheap camera utterly failed to get a decent picture.

Update: After a little research, it looks as if they were Bohemian Waxwings, not commonly found in [...]

A Strange Flock is a post from: Ark's Ark

]]> http://www.arksark.org/blog/4382/a-strange-flock/feed/ 1 In which I Agree (as usual) with Optimus Primehttp://www.arksark.org/blog/4301/in-which-i-agree-as-usual-with-optimus-prime/ http://www.arksark.org/blog/4301/in-which-i-agree-as-usual-with-optimus-prime/#comments Mon, 06 Dec 2010 21:28:05 +0000 Arkenor http://www.arksark.org/blog/?p=4301 I’ve been feeling a little low as so many of my friends are brimming with excitement over World of Warcraft’s Cataclysm expansion that is coming out in the next few hours. I’m not particularly jealous of the game itself, but that “Night Before Christmas” feeling is something I haven’t really felt about a game or expansion release in a while. Am I getting old and jaded beyond repair, I wonder?

But then I look at Optimus Prime dressed as Father [...]

In which I Agree (as usual) with Optimus Prime is a post from: Ark's Ark

]]> http://www.arksark.org/blog/4301/in-which-i-agree-as-usual-with-optimus-prime/feed/ 1 In which I go Christmas shopping and meet Santa!http://www.arksark.org/blog/179/in-which-i-go-christmas-shopping-and-meet-santa/ http://www.arksark.org/blog/179/in-which-i-go-christmas-shopping-and-meet-santa/#comments Wed, 01 Dec 2010 19:30:33 +0000 Arkenor http://www.arksark.org/blog/2007/12/19/in-which-i-go-christmas-shopping-and-meet-santa/ Originally posted December 19th, 2007.

So, I head into Norwich to do some Christmas shopping, and who should I meet?

It’s Santa! Not just any Santa, but Playmobil’s Santa! Doesn’t he look cheery as he shills for some other Santa’s grotto? To be honest, I think he looks a bit uncomfortable, but I suppose he has to pay for all those holidays in Tahiti somehow. Luckily I met him again after his shift.

There now, he’s much happier! [...]

In which I go Christmas shopping and meet Santa! is a post from: Ark's Ark

]]> http://www.arksark.org/blog/179/in-which-i-go-christmas-shopping-and-meet-santa/feed/ 1 The Return of the Card Strahd.http://www.arksark.org/blog/3868/the-return-of-the-card-strahd/ http://www.arksark.org/blog/3868/the-return-of-the-card-strahd/#comments Wed, 06 Oct 2010 20:09:46 +0000 Arkenor http://www.arksark.org/blog/?p=3868 Just a quick post. I was chatting about Ravenloft on Twitter, and I happened to mention that I owned a lifesized Strahd von Zarovich that used to sit next to my gaming table as I terrorised my players in an AD&D campaign each week.

Now, you can’t go around making such incredible claims without providing some sort of proof. Thus it is that the Cardboard Count has returned from his exile in an upstairs cupboard, and once again roams my [...]

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