Help needed!

Err, this is an old (quite disturbing) doodle I found that I did in Paint.NET in its day.

I absolutely love snailmail! It is so amazing! It is almost as good as lights, or as lights in different colours. But yes. You people need to help me out some, and I mean it this time. I need a good concept for my NaNoWriMo in November (and I am totally planning ahead, as usual - even though it has helped me SQWAT! before) But there you go. I am a person of irreversible bad habits, like craving sugar first thing in the morning, always cross the road looking both ways (even though I KNOW it's a one way street). But there you go, again. I can't help myself.

I just better never start smoking. Sorry, I'll stop raving -- now, to the point. Yes! I need a concept, ladies. That's what I'm saying. I am usually never stripped for ideas, I have a couple on hold, but none that seem deep enough if you get me. It has to be a 50 000 word-proof idea. And that proves easier said than done. Every year. It has to be novel material, and I guess that shouldn't be all that hard *cough*TWILIGHT*cough* but at the same time we can't all write swooning romantic vampire novels. I guess that would make us all senile.

So yes. I'm happy to take ANY idea, please. Be it funny, sad, fantastic - yes, or even romantic, if we have to. And usually, the more psychedelic the better. It is easier that way. Please you guys, I really could use some input if you hear me, and it can't be more True Blood, because we all know where that'll take me *cough*. Yes.

My Fable II Adventure

I never thought I was going to be one of those puny nerds that sat drooling over Fable for long, intense hours. It's the roleplayinggames I have ever played - but on steroids. And I am completely obsessed with remaining pure and good. At least as much as I can. And I wouldn't have thought - either - that I was going to get married four times, of which twice to other women, become an artisan blacksmith (which took hours of mindless grinding) - or a parent. Twice.

But there you go. I married a villager that I bought a pleasant house for, and we had a son together. I then went off and married a thug in a dress with a club. I gave her her own house, but I was an idiot and didn't pay enough attention to detail. I'd put them in the same city district. so of course they found out about my bigami, took it very personal and divorced me. AND took the child, too, which I haven't seen since, and that I am still slightly sore about.

Then I married another thug with a coarse voice. She had big earrings and dark, soft hair - and a sword. Built like a carpenter. But it was love. And I gave her a ring, and my lush summerhouse. I paid her an outrrrrageous upkeep of 30 gold a day, and gave her a life way beyond her dreams. I gave her some new clothes, but she wouldn't wear them. She wanted to be my sturdy, slightly greasy and damp monsterwife.

I went away for ten years on a mission to save the kingdom, and my precious thug waited for me! I came back and she was there in our home! With a present! I could cry. The brute just loved me.

But I was hungry for more, I wanted kids, again - though having one womb each didn't make things easier it appeared. And so I married the noble Andrew. Funny and romantic. Gave me books for presents, wore a top hat, even on mondays. I'd just bought a new place - and I was extremely excited. But nerves from the past had me in a jitter, I was terrified they would find out, and it would all end in divorce once more. But even when they met (as I by mistake took Andrew for a romantic weekend in our summerhouse) - he wasn't at all surprised, he didn't even say anything. But my thug, she was furious and unforgiving. She divorced me immediately and left the region. She, who had waited for me for TEN YEARS. I'm a bitch.

I learned my lesson and remained true. I worked hard and bought us a manor that I decorated with luxurious items. We then had a child together and all was well. At least so far. You never know. I want more kids, but Andrew is slightly afraid of me, because I keep hitting the "cast spell" button when I am only trying to find out what his favourite present is again. But there you go. And that just about sums up my summer outside work. Well, with the exception of a few trips to the movies, some pints a concert and some dinners out.

What about you? How was/is your summer?

Happy Birthday!

Thank goodness there is nothing good on tv in the middle of the night. If the distractions of the insanely addictive internet weren't bad enough - well let's just say I'm grateful. And I should be sleeping.

Today has been my birthday! And my 21st. one at that! Turns out my boss had given me the day off because it was my birthday, even though I hadn't asked for it! It was a lovely thing to do, but I should've known sooner and I could've made more exciting plans for the day!

We had a lazy morning, then met Tink for lunch at a Korean-Thai (Asian fusion) place. (No wonder everyone get so confused by the differences in Asian cuisine when all the Asian places serve food from all over their continent but are usually only named after one or two random countries). But either way - Helge and Tink had sushi while I had some really nice spicy green chicken curry with lots of mysterious vegetables. Tink and I then shared a fried banana for dessert, which was luscious. Nom nom!

We then proceeded to do pretty much nothing. I fell asleep at some point. Then I was awoken by Helge and that we had to leave for our table reservation at six thirty. It was a completely random idea grown from the discovery of a tiny restaurant called "Smia" ("The smithy"), which is not far from us and that we found randomly once when on a walk. It was the menu that got us interested. A very short, seasonal menu with some very ... different flavour combinations. And, obviously - covered in snobbery, serving desserts like "Pineapple carpaccio" which was raw pineapple thinly sliced on a plate (but delicious!).

And yeah, so - we had dinner there! Helge had the entrecôte, while I had whale, he had the carpaccio for dessert while I had the pavlova. Honestly - it has been a long time since I've eaten something so expensive, but at the same time it was a lovely place, the mood was right, the service was great. And the food was different, but delightful. Very inspiring. And because it was my birthday I was given a wrought iron rose! What do you know?

When we came home we were so full we wanted to die, seriously. I played Deathspank! Which was awesome, and I got to answer all the greetings on Facebook and we listened to the rain outside. Thanks everyone for having my phone buzzing practically all day, absolutely lovely.

Happy birthday, Tora!

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

Oh delight! Oh Joy!

There is definitely a lot of The Wind Waker in this one, the cell-shading, the bright colours and something about the lightness of atmosphere. But still all we can see here is gameplay related and there's nothing on the story yet! The puzzles in Zelda have always been the best bit, but solving them wouldn't have felt so important if the story hadn't been so immersive. So I am very excited about that, the story in Twilight Princess was stunning and beautiful and I cried at the end :(

I am so happy they are going along with the cartoonish cell shading, I loved the theme and the freedom of The Wind Waker, I spent hours just roaming around in the boat on the massive seas - feeling the wind in my ears. And I totally fell in love with the look - it was a very daring move at the time - as far as I recall it wasn't very popular, even with the fans, but most were able to set the graphical appearance aside and still appreciate it for the excellent game it was.

Skyward Sword has already received a lot of praise for its graphics, especially from Vooks.net that seems pretty in love after giving it a go hands on at E3. Crystal clear, sharp cell shading, with divine colouring. I'm excited about the music as well, nothing makes the cockles of my heart jiggle like the intro to Zelda: Ocarina of Time. The psycho theme of Major Mask can really make me shiver. And so many of the tracks for Twilight Princess were breathtaking too. Zelda is always a full package for me. Interesting level design, great puzzles, weird characters, polished gameplay, wonderful music and a delightful atmosphere.

Now we just have to think of a way to make the time pass while we're waiting....

Zomg! Brink and Distant Worlds... and Deathspank!!!

Goodness me, does the gaming world offer a lot of goodies indeed. Even I am slightly excited about the single-multiplayer combo "Brink" - which has an incredible trailer (please go enjoy here). And what can I say? It's a highly customizable shooter, a shooter! I can't explain why, but this just looks very very good. And if I'll ever work up the nerve - I'd gladly give it a go! So smooth! And I love the graphical style a lot, it's got a little "Team Fortress" - maybe a splash of "Borderlands" I figure it even catches some "Mirrors Edge" - because of the consistent theme of the scenery.

There'll be character appearance customization, weapon, class, skills customization - there'll be factions and lots of level-based tasks to perform. It just seems to me they are really on to something when combining classical shooting with more mobility ("Mirror's Edge" kicks in here too!), strategy, class and faction specific tasks - more interaction with the actual levels (opening up new paths, hacking computers etc.) and of course its futuristic, catastrophic setting. And back to that bit on character appearance - the size of your character will mean something to the game, if you're small you can traverse more difficult terrain, climbing and jumping. While if you're a big guy, well, you get to play with the bigger guns. Finally, a touch of sensible logic (not harming gameplay (hopefully)) might kiss this genre. Mmm! *rubs hands* I hope they nail it!

And good news for all Wookies: There's yet another Star Wars MMO coming out, this fall. It'll be closely related to the animated "The Clone Wars" and will be free to play. I don't know what to say to that. Something along the lines of: Good for you - I'll be over here.

Splendid weather today! I bought a porcelain cupcake that I can put things in. I really needed it, so don't come here and tell me anything else. Such a practical household item, you wont do without it, sir!

Also for being the only creature on our planet (I am sure) that loved the space-exploration part of "Spore"! I might dabble in "Distant Worlds" an immensely complicated space-based real-time strategy game (actually graphically described by gamer.no as "a science fiction-version of Microsoft Excel and a reasonably unstructured collection of marbles") But I am not put off by that at all - I must say, honestly, it intrigued me! It is known to be vastly complex and refreshingly dynamic - and though it looks really ugly (really) I wont judge this book by its cover. No sir. "Distant Worlds" here I come!

And then there's "Deathspank".

Now I'm really sorry, but I don't even know where to begin with this one. I am so excited I might cry. I really could cry right now. *Gasp* Cry. Really. But... Well, here goes, I will try and keep it nice and short for you, so we don't get any inappropriate dribble on your desk.

"Deathspank" is the odd cousin of all the games we've ever loved - "Psychonauts", "Grim Fandango", "Curse of Monkey Island" and "Secret of Monkey Island", even - all the LucasArts gems. Brilliant, intelligent, stunningly funny, random, captivating. I might need a pause to breathe. And "Deathspank", ladies and gentlemen is an action-adventure of massive proportions - told to be about 15 hours of insane gameplay. Lots of hack n' slash - strange enemies hitting you with fish, even more strange quests given to you by locals - a witch, an artefact - and a humour that has been told (as well) to be closely related to that of our beloved Terry Pratchett.

The hero, "Deathspank" himself - wears a purple thong beneath all his armour and is described as such: "Charming. Intelligent. Enigmatic. These are just a few words that nobody ever uses when describing DeathSpank. He doesn't shoot first and ask questions later. He doesn't even realize there are questions". This is not a game that takes itself seriously - and not because it is trying to excuse why it sucks - but because it is just too flippin' awesome to be pompous. Even their newsletter is called "Deathspam" - I mean, how is that not funny? There are tons of different weapons and armours to use, a gigantic map with bright pop-up book scenery with lots of purple in it and hopefully - the game story of the year. Do enjoy yourself with some madness on their website - Deathspank.com while you're waiting, but I can't wait. I really can't wait. And all I know is that "it is coming soon". GAAaah!

I just have to stop there, and I'll go shake a pigeon out the window until the abstinences pass for a bit. Because this will be so much fun! Too much fun, really. I might die, that's how fun it's going to be.

"So why do you need orphans anyway? Build a house?"

Oslo Expansion Pack

"Barcode" in Bjørvika, a series of new buildings, both office space and apartments in Oslo.

"Nordenga" bridge, crossing the railway from Bjørvika to Grønland.

"Tjuvholmen" at the very tip of Aker Brygge.

"Kværnerbyen" apartments (that's the creek with stepping stones! I'll have to take a picture myself it seems).

Oslo is halfway in many aspects. We have half a good public transport system, we have half of a good shopping centre, we have a half a green city with parks in it, half of it is dead ends and half is shabby. At one intersection down the street - the road is lined with four different kinds of fences. It never seem to have occurred to anybody to build this city consistently, new bits are just being slapped on without much thought to what was there before, or what surrounds it.

Just like those new blocks that are across our street. They're all modern and square, painted in a communal barn-colour - with as much charisma as a car crash. There are lots of ugly blocks here, including ours, so to say, and they're surrounded by all those delicious wooden houses that are traditional of this area. Some blocks are really nice, and have been done up really well, but most are no. It's all over "old-town", and it's weird that they haven't been able to find some kind of middle-way between unflattering modernism and impractical nostalgia. It just looks weird and half-assed.

Major parts are under construction, and the bits that are not are often quite messy or unfinished as it is. Helge and I took a walk down to Kværnerbyen the other night (literally, night. We were home at 4 in the morning) just to look at the apartments down there. Kværnerbyen is literally a ditch, seriously, it's down in some dent, surrounded by hills, and filled with lots of concrete and roads and trains. It hasn't got a lot of appeal in other words.

The apartments are just blocks of brick, set in concrete - hardly very charming. But then it's not finished yet - and the renderings online look as usual very promising. How they are going to turn the place into what they are imaging I don't really understand. But that's the way with these sexy architectural illustrations, they always contain about twice the amount of trees and happy children to what will eventually exist. There was, however, one nice thing about the area, a constructed creek of water with square stepping stones that went along the east side of the buildings. This sizzled magically, especially at night, when it was so quiet elsewhere. So I really fell in love with that, but the rest still needs a spark of allure - it's hardly very homely there at the moment.

Oslo is really changing though, the buildings along Bjørvika are all really futuristic, so are those on Tjuvholmen. The massive bridge ending in Schweigaardsgate, "Nordenga" is anything but Norwegian, and the new Nationalmuseum at Vestbanehallen will be very modern too. It's called the "Forum Artis", I would tell you what I think of it, but it's really hard to tell from those crappy renders they have released, it does as far as I can tell - look square and angular, so I guess that's why we're going for it. As usual.

But I will stop whining now, sorry. I really hope Oslo will be more whole one day, as it is oddly unfinished right now. We are lucky to have some visionaries who are at least trying to create something better out of what we already have, especially in Bjørvika.