PODCAST PARLAY

Where I tell you about the podcasts that I have taken a shine to. For me a good podcast should be something you can listen to while getting other stuff done, for some it is hitting the gym but for me it is more likely to be trying to sleep or playing World of Warcraft. 

Game of Owns – A Game of Thrones/Song of Fire and IcePodcast

A Song of Fire and Ice is in my top 5 of book series so it was always on the cards that I would be on the lookout for a podcast about it. I had heard about the Game Of Owns website for awhile but when I saw they were making a podcast I decided to try it out. The format is fun covering the episode itself as well as more general news and related stuff.

The makeup of the panel is good too a mix of fans of the books, people who have started the books and those who have just seen the series. Did I mention they are funny? Believe me they are, not to mention their enthusiasm shows through the podcast.

The Secret Diaries Chat – A podcast about The VampireDiaries and formerly The Secret Circle

This podcast pretty much sold itself I am a huge fan of The Vampire Diaries and I was willing to give The Secret Circle a chance. It is a fun discussion podcast and really gets into the details of each episode and deconstructs them. Also I can recommend the two shows in one podcast as a model it makes for interesting comparing and contrasting.

Edition – A podcast about friendship

I came to this mainly because of one of the hosts also being on Game Of Owns. I’ve just started it but it is really about friendship, it sounds cheesy but it isn’t. It is a group of three young enthusiastic professionals that talk about things they like.  It is difficult to explain it is easier just to take a chance and listen the episodes are short and punchy which is a welcome thing.

World of Warcraft: More Money Mischief

Yes, next month Mists of Pandaria will be shipping or downloading as the case maybe so I thought I would bless the general public with my amazing plans and tactics for generating some gold  and hopefully not get caught napping.

STORAGE

First I will talk about storage. After all it is pretty hard to do stockpile stuff if you have nowhere to put it (some people use the mailbox storage method but that is not for me). Bank slots are just not enough if you want to make an impression a guild bank will help lots and is easier to deal with (though not necessarily cheaper) than getting loads of profession bags.

I have two guild banks and two of my characters. One is a level 1 with 4 tabs and the other is a level 7 with 5 tabs, the second one cost me a cool 10k but I think it was gold well spent as I have decided that stockpiling is a better idea than trying to go into MOP with a large bankroll. Not that I don’t intend to gather as much gold as possible.

STOCKPILING

So now you got all that room surely you need something to put in there.  Here are my ideas they may not work for you, heck they may be completely wrong but every little helps:

Netherweave cloth – I love the Shattered Sun Offensive and I like to use it when levelling alts. Combine a daily run with through Heroic Magister’s Terrace (still not got the phoenix or the Chocobo) and the result is oodles of the stuff. Uses include Netherweave Bags, Arcane Dust and Imbued Netherweave Bags.

Saronite ore – Stockpile when cheap (on my server that is less than 70 silver each). Saronite shuffle still has its good points. Infinite Dust still sells well 3-5g each, bars can be sold at a profit and transmuting to Titanium can even yield decent profits.

Herbs – Cataclysm herbs are reasonably cheap now 30g a stack so I grab them up as I can find them. I am also levelling a Druid with skinning and herbalism so all the cheap herbs she picks that won’t sell I send into the banks to be later turned into Inks.

Obsidium/Elementium ore – For me whichever is the cheaper is worth picking up. My main use for this is as enchant fodder as the gem market on my server is pretty much kaput. I will be prospecting in order to gather the gems needed for the first few levels in Jewelcrafting post MOP launch after all every little helps.

UPDATE

Saronite is SCARCE

Yep somehow it seems the saronite ore market is a little tight which has resulted in the price going up 500% and seemingly being sustained at that level. I think this has to be at least slightly down to the release date confirmation and people getting ready in their own way. Or it may be the dupe stockpile running out. Who knows?

World of Warcraft: OPERATION STOCKPILE

So today I managed to pick up some additional storage space in the form of a level 5 guild. Bit pricey but I feel like it was a solid investment in the long run. Pretty much cut my investment capital in but now I am going to spend time farming mats to hold onto when MOP hits then start spreading around the AH hoping to take advantage of all the fresh and returning blood.

How are you continuing to prepare for MOP?

IN THE NEWS

Looks like Blizzard are giving those of us interesting in the gold trade little wriggle room to get out of levelling archaeology. Something which I have gone nowhere near but not I see it is linked to one of the Factions, and the one that gives you the updated belt buckle plans.

As if making more than half the decent pets available for real money wasn't enough of a kick in the teeth. It would be nice if someone could remind them that they run the subscription model despite all the evidence to the contrary.

TV Review: TRUE BLOOD

I can only hope that True Blood can arrest the fall from grace that took place in the complete clusterfuck  that was the last episode entitled "In The Beginning". There were so many things wrong I don't even know where to start, this whole Authority thing had some promise when it was announced but the execution was all wrong, anyone who didn't smell something fishy with Salome within 5 minutes of her appearance was either not paying attention or not breathing.

Somehow perhaps through a rare alignment of the stars Tara's storyline is one of the least sucky of the bunch, unfortunately the same can't be said of Lafayette - possibly the most dynamic characters in Bon Temps always saddled with the most horrendous of nonsensical storylines.

I have to say the karaoke did make me chuckle up until the born from blood nonsense, so maybe that is some sort of brief highlight. Yes I know I haven't talked about Sookie, Alcide or Sam, that is because they are not worth mentioning and god knows what is going on with Jason, I thought they were making him into a real character.

The start of True Blood this season was so promising but I have begun to notice that this tends to happen almost every season, two episodes or so of EPIC then everything slowly falls apart. COME ON TRUE BLOOD DON'T LET ME DOWN AGAIN.

TV with Shaft

In which surprisingly there is talk of TV based shenanigans. 

EUREKA

It has come to an end. Such a great show, I can just about remember way back to when it started, this new show announced to a fair bit of hype. Back then it was “A Town Called Eureka” and it was notable because it got a start on Sky here in the UK either at the same time or very close to it premiering in the US. A big step up from having to wait a year or more to get a show to cross the atlantic.

The show itself was something new obviously comedy but with a lot more science fiction than was popular at the time. The show took awhile to find its legs but all good shows do especially those with the often expanding ensemble tasks.

The only issues I had was the huge shifts that used to happen at the end of seasons. Like Jack being a Jack from the future and going back to save time. There was A LOT of time travelling in Eureka which made a complex and sometimes confusing plot even more so.

So if you were a fan like me be thankful for a well written show and hope against hope that networks won’t give up on creative shows and leave us swimming in a sea of scripted reality shows.

Well I’m still watching and it is still the weirdest, funniest supernatural show out there. All the crazy dreams and the personal drama that manages to take place even with all the fur, claws and scales. The thing that works so well about this show is that it is really about a couple of losers who somehow get way above their High School social caste. One guy gets his dream girl while the other pines for hers, the werewolf stuff is just great extra flavour.

The only issue I really have is how ridiculously bland they are making Derek’s pack I can’t even remember their names and furthermore I’m too lazy to IMDB it, other than the fact that I can’t take my eyes of Gage’s character they are not memorable in the least and lack depth. Look at the depth of Stiles for instance that dude is DEEP, we need to see a little more about those three hopefully with the show returning there will be a chance for that although I kind of think one or two of them might be dead before next season.

I can’t tell you how awesome it is to know that next time Teen Wolf is going full length season. I don’t know how things will change but I am fairly happy with how the writers are doing things so with more time I am fairly sure they won’t mess things up.

Have you started watching Teen Wolf yet? Definitely consider this a time to get caught up.

So those are two shows that I thought were worth mentioning, if you guys and girls out there in blog land have some shows you think I should check out or talk about then leave it in the comments.

BOOK REVIEW: The Pledge by Kimberly Derting

The Pledge is the first in the new book series by Kimberley Derting who is well known for her Body Finder series. The paperback was published by Allison & Busby on 15^th November 2011. I won this book from a competition as part of the Morganville Vampire ReadingChallenge.

PLOT

In the violent country of Ludania, the classes are strictly divided by the language they speak. The smallest transgression, like looking a member of a higher class in the eye while they are speaking their native tongue, results in immediate execution. Seventeen-year-old Charlaina has always been able to understand the languages of all classes, and she's spent her life trying to hide her secret. The only place she can really be free is the drug-fueled underground clubs where people go to shake off the oppressive rules of the world they live in. It's there that she meets a beautiful and mysterious boy named Max who speaks a language she's never heard before . . . and her secret is almost exposed.

Charlie is intensely attracted to Max, even though she can't be sure where his real loyalties lie. As the emergency drills give way to real crisis and the violence escalates, it becomes clear that Charlie is the key to something much bigger: her country's only chance for freedom from the terrible power of a deadly regime.

WHAT I THOUGHT

I really didn’t know what to expect from The Pledge, although apparently Kimberly Derting is quite well known for her Body Finder books. It was a very quick read one of the fastest reads I have ever done. The story is very different from what might be described as the usual ideas of a dystopian setting but that makes it more interesting.

The setting is seemingly America in the future where the government and ruling classes have been changed so now that all the major powers around the world are ruled by Monarchies with Queens at the head. Add in a little magic and there seems to be a lot of room for growth in this series.

I can’t really review this book without talking about ‘Languages’. In the world of The Pledge languages serve as sign of your class, they can be thought of as levels of hierarchy as people cannot understand or speak the language above their level. Furthermore it is a tool of rigid control as to even look at someone speaking a language superior to yours would mean certain harsh punishment. It is a very interesting premise and not something I have seen before and it keeps things interesting.

Charlie the protagonist seems to be able to understand all the languages she hears and her sister who should have already started speaking is seemingly mute and these are secrets that must be kept hidden.

I can definitely recommend this book as a quick read and an interesting beginning to a series. A lively and engaging setting with characters that have a real sense of authenticity I am definitely interested to see how things will work out.                                                                                                                 

COOLEST THING I FOUND ON THE INTERNET

In the last few weeks or so.

Would have to be this picture of Felicia Day as a sexy Librarian. Pretty awesome find if I do say so myself. For me it is not just her flame haired awesomeness that pulls me it is the fact that she is a very talented and funny lady.

I first noticed Felicia Day when I started watching The Guild (I’m a World of Warcraft player) I know she appeared in Buffy The Vampire Slayer’s end run but by then it had lost its special place in my heart so I didn’t recognise when I caught the first episode of The Guild.

I only caught the first season of the Guild I think the Microsoft sponsorship might have something to do with it but then I have a bad track record with web series generally. Recently though you can see Felicia doing her geeky, socially awkward non-threatening gorgeous female best on Eureka.

I also really like her work on The Flog a YouTube feature which is part of the Geek and Sundry Brand.

Click here for a link to a Flog Playlist

BUT WAIT I FOUND YET ANOTHER COOLEST THING ON THE INTERNET

(I too was surprised)

So I was just looking over my Twitter feed (@shaftsword) if you were wondering, and I feel that  I can say I have never seen anything quite like it. Thanks goes out to Janina Gavankar @janina of True Blood famem who shared this awesome little video. Do you like Rage Against The Machine? Do you like University marching bands? Then this works.

And just in case you forgot who Janina Gavankar is let me remind you with this visual aid.

Good lord!