My latest bit and pieces

Two weeks ago we were off for what I believe is rather irritatingly known as a 'stay-cation'. Still, it was just nice to be at home, get some bits and pieces done and relax. We were going to do some day trips that week, but the weather had been so unpredictable we didn't bother going far. However, on the Thursday evening we drove over to our friend Toria's house for dinner. It was lovely to see her (and her two cats - their antics are always fun to watch!) again after a long time, and the meal was very nice. During chatting, the series "Sapphire and Steel" came up in the conversation. I hadn't seen the show in ten-forevers, so I was intrigued to watch it again as I have found memories of it, even though at the time I found it very creepy! So I ordered it from dvd.co.uk and it came last week. We started to watch it the other night and I have to say although its a bit 'stagey' (like a lot of old British TV shows - see 1970s "Doctor Who" for example) the premise is very interesting. I like the two leads, David McCullum ('Steel') and Joanna Lumley ('Sapphire') a lot. Anyway, a short documentary on the show can be found here, and this is the DVD box set. I also ordered the two "Grange Hill" DVD box sets that the BBC released a couple of years ago. It will be great to see Tucker Jenkins again! I also picked up the DVD of Ridley Scott's "American Gangster" which I thought was a very enjoyable and well made drama. Loved Denzel Washington in the role of the drug lord and Russell Crowe played the goody-two-shoes New Jersey cop excellently, although I wasn't to sure about his accent. Also, nice belly Mr. Crowe! Staying with DVDs, I've done some more video tape recordings to DVD conversions over the last week or two. Many more to go..... Amongst the gems found recently were a 2005 documentary about "War of the Worlds" (mainly concentrating on the Tom Cruise/ Steven Speilberg film) and loads of old early 1980's adverts, including this television advert for Parker Bros. Atari games!

I enjoyed reading my friend Mary Jo's 'Star Wars Celebration V' detailed convention reports recently, which can be found on her blog link from this page (see right). Sounds like she had an amazing time in Orlando and got loads of great stuff. I have another pal, Jason Joiner, who went as well.

Oh, to round of this entry, a 'Happy birthday' to all of my friends who were born in August (there are a few!)

The Lords of Midnight and old video games!

I've discovered an old Sinclair ZX Spectrum computer game available on-line. It's called "The Lords of Midnight" and was one of my favourite titles from my Spectrum gaming days of the 1980s! The game is a graphic adventure/strategy hybird and is simply *FANTASTIC*! The version I'm playing is an update - graphically at least. The gameplay is pretty much identical to the original. The plot concerns a group of "good" kingdoms who are trying to defend themselves against an evil overlord (and his armies of darkness!) who is trying to invade and conquer them. As you would expect it is set in a mythical "Lord of the Rings" style time and place, so there are dragons, towers, mountains, magical swords etc. It's quite fun sending your characters, such as 'Luxor the Moonprince' and 'Rorthron the Wise' around the huge map, finding things, recruiting lords, raising armies and defending keeps and towns. What made the game so revolutionary back on it's 1984 release was that it could generate (for then a staggering) 32,000 different views from the point of view of the individual game characters. The programmer, a chap called Mike Singleton, developed a process called 'Landscaping' to achieve this. As you move the characters around the kingdoms, you can see objects (such as a ruin or forest) getting closer and the landscape revealing itself, as well as armies on the horizon. Very atmospheric: the gameplay is involving and the graphics are wonderful!

The game version I'm playing can be downloaded here at the excellent Tower of the Moon site.

A newer update can be found here at Frozen Empire - looks like they've expanded the graphics and gameplay!

"LOM" is one of many video games from the past that I love to play! Others include arcade classics like Pac-Man, Space Invaders, Battle-Zone, Defender, Amidar, Donkey-Kong etc. Talking about Kong, there is a new documentary about two video game egos battling each other for the world championship high score. Its called "The King of Kong" and looks wonderful! Hopefully I can get it on DVD soon and can review it then!