MY THOUGHTS - Broadband is GO and other stuff

Broadband is here FINALLY. The initial speeds are pretty good but I guess they may change overtime. One thing I have noticed just from occasionally checking the local wireless networks that a lot of neighbours are on Sky too, them and Talk Talk really have a foothold in the local area. Switching to Broadband is initially an expensive step but it should be cheaper in the long run no more running out of bandwidth at crucial points when I am trying to do work or just do some gaming.

Plus the bonus means I can watch TV episodes whenever I want and I will hopefully no longer suffer from excruciating lag when playing World of Warcraft. That is a major plus in my opinion and it really helps keep on top of things like writing this blog and contributing to various online communities.


World of Warcraft: Cataclysm
So I am thinking it is going to be another two weeks before I can buy the expansion, as a guy who likes to get off to a quick start it is really irking me to have to wait and constantly read about realm firsts and the ludicrous gold making that can be had in the first few weeks of a new expansion. Also I know people who are already raiding perhaps my bad luck for knowing overachievers but it still leaves me feeling seriously left behind.

Other stuff
Broke is the word of the day if not of the year as it comes to an end. Hopefully I will finally get some employment with some decent hours early next year and go about building myself a proper life of actually being able to sleep at night wake in the morning go to work and all that exciting stuff. I don't need to earn loads just something to break even and get rid of the debt you know? Anyway I don't want to bore you readers to death check back in a few weeks when I start blogging about my own Cataclysm experiences.

Books
Finished the final Hunger Games book - Mockingjay. Short review of the series - it is the most depressing book or series that I have ever read I kept on hoping in the end that something redeeming would happen but no it was just unrelentingly depressing and negative. After finishing it I really do sit here wondering what the heck all this hype was about. The first book was awesome but things seriously just go down from then on. If you haven't started the series yet and don't like thoroughly depressing books I would steer clear.


EVERYONE OUT THERE, BE WELL! 

World of Warcraft - BACK TO THE DRAWING BOARD

So all my carefully laid plans have gone up in flames it seems I thought that by now I would be happily running or more accurately flying around Azeroth by now fishing, questing and trying to hoard items as much as possible to sell later. Instead I find myself writing this article offline only to try to upload it on my phone’s meagre Internet connection whenever I get this thing finished.

Already as I check out the WoW related blogs I have seen that we already have our first level 85 indeed by now I would suspect there are dozens across the various regions of the world where Cataclysm has been released. I doubt there are any gathering related world firsts left on my realm. But enough complaining obviously things are going to change in my Cataclysm schedule.

First up I don’t have a fixed date for buying Cataclysm all I can say for sure is that I will do my best to buy it before Christmas so I have something to do on the day. I have finally got a phone line installed at the fortress but unfortunately for me broadband won’t be active on the line till near the end of next week. What am I meant to do till then? Well as it is so near Christmas finances are incredibly tight with the purchases of a phone line and broadband.

So there won’t be a whole lot in the way of World of Warcraft content on my blog for the next couple of weeks, instead I will be sticking to other areas of interest including a couple of book reviews and general discussions.

CURRENTLY READING - SUZANNE COLLINS - Mockingjay (Hunger Games 3)

TV SHOWS - Misfits

So here we are well into the 2^nd season of Misfits a British Sci-Fi drama shown on E4 in the United Kingdom. When I first started seeing the trails for the first season of this new drama I couldn’t help dismissing it as Skins with powers lots of drug and sex references and not a lot of anything else. After catching the first season I felt fairly vindicated it was nothing special but maybe did a little something to examine the idea of what real characters might do when they discovered they possessed super powers.

The end story of season one was interesting though with a young girl going around converting people into her upstanding morally strong slaves and the appearance of a mysterious masked rider who saves one of our intrepid heroes.

After coming to the end of the season I thought it was OK but certainly not anything special and I did not anticipate it getting renewed but here it is and strangely enough I find myself watching again. The initial episodes were more of the same and I began to wonder how they managed to get renewed but then it threw out a surprise or two. Time travel, the emergence of a real superhero and a super powered villain of the week has definitely improved things as well as the existence of a new future story arc in the Misfits universe.

The writers have succeeded where many other sci-fi shows with far more money and hype behind them have failed. The show has managed to improve on itself in the 2^nd season and give its viewers a reason to watch so let us hope they keep us this good work to the end of the season. I will see you there!

The Shaft’s Word Blog also reviews Movies and Books in case you were wondering as well as charting my experiences playing the Multi-award winning MMORPG World of Warcraft and acting as a personal blog.

World of Warcraft - MOAR Gold

So GOLD, never quite seem to have enough of it and this is more than apt for saving up gold in World of Warcraft. I have recently come to the conclusion that I do not have enough gold saved up for the launch of Cataclysm and unfortunately it seems I do not have enough time to really do much about it. I am not just giving up though in fact I have jumped on my DK equipped with Mining and headed off to Northrend to just clear quests and sell the gear I got out of it.

I foolishly tend to compare myself with more established raider friends of mine and I am shocked by how much gold they have managed to stockpile especially as they do not tend to play the AH and have 4 guild banks to their name.

I am still clinging to the occasional bag sales now that the glyph market has totally dried up on my server I really hope Cataclysm revitalises the economy otherwise I do not know what I will do. I am nervous I guess at the moment with Cataclysm upcoming it doesn't help that it is also the same time as I have just ordered my new phoneline which I need to take the broadband step. Hopefully everything will work out though.

Still not ordered Cataclysm yet still having a close look at the old finances will update you guys soon. If you want to know anything else or see what I get up to on a more regular schedule follow @Shaftsword on Twitter. I'm out for now the temperature is dropping and I need to go wrap up warm in my bed.

A Mixed Bag

World of Warcraft

So the Shattering has finally come to World of Warcraft and I finally managed to log in late this afternoon after dealing with some I had to do outside of Azeroth. First impressions there is so much to take in all the changes to Orgrimmar for instance. Plus as personal anecdote the fun of getting your freshly level 68 Hunter from Nagrand back to a City. Hmm no portals in Shattrath what fun, eventually flew all the way to The Dark Portal and discovered the portals there that they use for reinforcements now work (did they before?). I didn't have any time to prepare some bags for my two new alts on my main realm.

Got some new ideas on things to be getting on with, now for instance it is much easier for my Paladin to finish out her Crusader grind with the new Tabard system and somehow I expect especially given the number of Trikes I have seen around today I guess you can go to lower level dungeons and still get rep. Hopefully tomorrow I will get the chance to try out at least one of my alts might go with the BE Warrior first as I know what I am doing.

Anyway also I recently had a second post of mine appearing on the newly revamped Just Another Goblin Community Blog which was a proud moment for me I hope that you the readers found it at least somewhat useful.

Books

At the moment I have two books on the go. At night to calm myself down (issues with ongoing pain and insomnia) I am working my way through Night Star by Alyson Noel the latest installment of The Immortals. I love the series but Ever annoys me like I am finding a lot of the female leads of the YA stuff I read don't even get me started on one Rose Hathaway. Anyway I digress the other book I am reading is Violets are Blue by James Patterson. I'm a huge fan I started with Double Cross so I have been picking up earlier editions as there is a deal at the local covered market where you can pick up 3 for £5 which is pretty sweet. The books just seem to get better and better really immersing you in the world of Washington showing all those places they don't mention in the tourism brochures.

Just in case you were interested books I have recently read include The Lost Hero, The Hunger Games and Catching Fire. Keep your eye on Heaven, Hell and Purgatory I have written a review of The Lost Hero which will appear in 3 weeks time, I like the blog and they have reviewed books from some of my favourite series namely Morganville Vampires, House of Night and The Immortals.

LIFE

I recently took the plunge to ensure my continued Internet connection, yes I am getting a fixed landline a pricey option you may point out which is very true but recently I found out that BT dropped their installation cost from £128 to £30 which I think you will agree is some decent savings right? I will not be signing up for Broadband with them though and I would point others away from their rip off deal. A 10GB limit which may sound like a lot but really isn't you'd be surprised how much crap Windows downloads in the background while you aren't paying attention. Add that to an online game like World of Warcraft (which I play if you hadn't noticed =)  ) and you'll soon be way over your limit and getting fined. I am going for Sky Broadband though I am not recommending it yet till I have actually experienced it.

So that is all from me for now as I sit here watching the latest UK episode of The Event, entertaining enough not sure how it has not been cancelled already though.

GENERAL POST - The End of an Era???

Well it seems so people. After three days I believe that for whatever reason the lovely and mostly reliable public wifi I use for the majority of my Internet connections has gone forever. How will this affect (YES AFFECT grammar is IMPORTANT) your humble blogger, well for one my World of Warcraft exploits are screwed until at least Monday when I might be able to go and purchase some Mobile Broadband time. At the moment I am pretty up to date on my other Internet projects so they can be left to their own devices for now still it is almost a shock to see how I took my Internet connection for granted it is a HUGE component of how I communicate with the outside world. For instance I pay two thirds of my bills online as well as manage my bank account and credit card statements add to this applying for the majority of jobs via e-mail and this is more than a minor setback for me. This is leaving out the fun downloads and reading of online comics and forums that I spend my free time considering. Whatever shall I do? Truthfully no idea but for now I have been regretfully watching some day time television ( has it started to suck even more since last time I had to watch it) and do a lot more reading at home whereas usually I tuck into a good book while freezing my ass off in the laundromat on chore day.

Wow this post has started a little negatively but let us move onto happier places, at the moment I am pretty healthy and pain free which is always a big plus and a rare occurrence also I have written a review for a YA book review blog, not sure if it will be published I will just have to see but I was happy to just be asked. I am also working on a novel for Nanowrimo though there is no way in hell I am going to manage even half of the 50k word count needed thanks to all the fun and frolics with my New Deal stuff. The idea though of Nanowrimo is a sound one and this time I have decided to go for a very different sort of book, which is a story about your average joe who goes on a quest to meet his celebrity. I was partly inspired by this weird sort of comedy documentary about this dude who wants to go out on a date with Drew Barrymore (at least he has taste) and also by Scott Pilgrim, the film adaption of which I was very impressed by different to the comic but still excellent on its own merits.

I have only just started cranking it out and I promise to share an excerpt or two provided I get to at least five thousand words anything less and I don’t think that I have done enough work on it. Moving onto published books by people you might have heard of there are a lot of books I want coming out in the next 3 months with releases by Alyson Noel, Richelle Mead and  PC & Kristen Cast. Night Star which is the next in the Immortals series is one I am eagerly looking forward to and The Fledgling Handbook a companion piece to the House of Night series is already out in stores in the UK as I type this I have high hopes for this as I want to soak up the background and lore of the world that PC & Kristen Cast have created including the religious aspects of the Vampyre world. Then there is the end of the Vampire Academy Series which is going to be huge, while I myself do not care for Rose Hathaway the series itself is captivating and I can’t wait to see how it ends though I tend to think that perhaps this won’t be the last time we see this universe but who knows.

Well enough talk from me I have to figure out a long term solution to my Internet woes that WON’T cost me like £175 initially and god knows how much a month in a direct debit.

PS. Using software to make this post whereas usually I use the Blogger editor I am interested to see how things turn out. Also this post was delivered through an incredible 10k net connection oh the speeds.

Lost Girl

Is anyone else giving this show from the white North the props it deserves? The show is awesome if Canada is creating shows like this why have we not seen them before. I think shows like Heroes and The Vampire Diaries have finally opened up the schedules to the fantasy genre and Lost Girl shows that the execution can be tight and the show entertaining.

Ksenia Solo is a revelation, gorgeous and incredibly funny see really helps carry the show in my opinion. I hope the show hangs around for a few seasons it is definitely worth taking the time to at least check out the first say three episodes before rendering a judgement.

[should have been an image here but my internet is being silly]

I can only hope the mostly evil and foolish network people will not kill this little gem of a show but hey maybe Canadian networks are different to American ones.