FreddysHouse - Blogs

Dead Beat: Jim Butcher

Ezteq — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 12:41:06 GMT

http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/b/.../dead-beat.htm

Dresden files...I cannot get enough!

I really like this series, Harry is such a great hero (and a much more likeable character than the other wizard harry...) and his supporting cast are great.

This book features a LOT of zombies and Butters the bumbling pathologist, who is also in training for the polka off in Ocktoberfest...which also happens to coincide with halloween and the influx of said zombies.

It really is a good book, the only problem I have with JBs writing is that the bad guys are always more powerful than ever before, the beautiful women and always more beautiful than ever before and the peril harry is in is always worse than ever before...

But, this book has a chapter in it that I would gladly dedicate my life to have written where Harry has to get in and fight evil necromancers so necromances Sue from the Chicago Field Museum and rides off into battle on the back of a t-rex.

Awesome, amazing, fun and thoroughly entertaining stuff!

aaargh!!! uuurgh!!! nggggh!!!

TdC — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 22:48:54 GMT

ok erm well, just thought I'd quickly document this a)before I forget, and b)so the rest of the interpipes will know, but here it is:

I have a Sony Vaio Z21. it's a laptop sculpted of carbon beauty. if it vibrated I'd never leave the house again. anyway, it contains some music. because I value the length of my epeen and am as exhibitionistic (is that a word?) as can be, I like people to be able to view my incredible super awesome musical taste.

my computers contain lots of music, but since I acquired an (imo) very nice stereo, I want to play said music through an apparatus and speakers worthy of such a task -and at the same time flaunt my assets for all to see and admire-. so, the last.fm thingy was a must. for many days I searched in vain for an audio streamer proggy thing that had last.fm support. some have it, but only for music played on the local machine, which kind of defeats the point of an audio streamer and made me imagine that I'd come up with a desire for something that existed only in my own mind (which I tend to do now and again, no biggie) but I am not a programmer so I can't make one. bahs.

anyway, enter the laptop. it has an HDMI port. my hifi unit has several HDMI ports. my ps/3 is connected to said hifi unit via such a port and cable. a small thing, and easy, to remove the cable from the pissthree, and stick it into the vaio you'd think. and lots of swearing ensued.

so, after plugging the cable in there was no audio over HDMI. try as I might, nothing. oh, the lappy sees my NAD hifi, in fact, it can even output visuals through the NAD onto my HD tv, but no audio. I decide the culprit must be the Realtek HDMI audio driver in the lappy. Bloody Taiwanese faffers I cry, have you no inkling of my blood pressure and general well-being? I set about to destroy every vestige of the driver in my Vaio, and reboot.

sure enough, bloody windows 7 gamely puts the driver back causing even more swearing and general malheur, this time directed at idiots based in Redmond. Now to take out the knives, so I go into the hardware manager and delete the HDMI audio device, which windows promptly replaces -after a scan for new hardware- with the Microsoft HDMI driver. Sorted! Not sorted! still no F&^#*@G audio to grace my ickle earses with pretty sounds! FFSWTFBBQ!

well, after some serious usage of the search engine beginning with G, I discover the following: for some reason, the laptop/windows/driver/whatever, will not allow audio output over the HDMI jack if the internal speakers exist as a device. not even if you tell windows in EVERY POSSIBLE WAY that the HDMI is primary sound output. the driver doesn't care.

so, go into the properties of your audio, find the tab that shows you the entries of your onboard speakers and the HDMI audio device, select the speakers and switch the pull-down tab there to "disable", proceeding to get rid of every device *except* the HDMI audio device. then, after tears, swearing, wishing death on all Taiwanese, Americans, panda's, killer whales, dogs, wasps....wait, I hate most dogs and despise wasps anyway. got a bit carried away there. Ahem. anyway, after doing all that, suddenly I have sound coming through the NAD, out of my speakers, into my pear like ears, and listed on last.fm.

SORTED!

Star trek online

Z^^ — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 15:21:31 GMT

http://www.filefront.com/15695727/pewpewpew.rar/

sosa me and caracca playing some . :D:flame::lol::drink:

A Whispered Name: William Brodrick

Ezteq — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 16:37:45 GMT

http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/b/...pered-name.htm

Umm... OK we'll start with the facts, this book is about a monk who encounters someone in the monsetary grounds who is asking after another monk who died a little while ago. The monk (not the dead one..) does some digging about and uncovers surprising facts about the dead monk that he was in WWI and involved in a court martial trial which seemingly resulted in someone being given the death penalty.

Now for the non-factual bit, in other words...My Opinion!

I got about 1/3 of the way through and almost died of boredom so I did what I very very rarely do and gave up because the story was dull, the way it was written was not (imo) very good, he would put narrative in amid bits where people were talking and not use " which was a bit confusing and the characters were unengaging.

This might be an excellent book past section 3 but in all honesty I don't care, it's dull and every time I tried reading it I went to sleep and for the last few nights I have simply gone to sleep because I couldn't even be bothered picking it up (and I always read before bedtime, and at any other opportunity when I have a spare few minutes).

Try it if you like,or if you have insomnia and tell me what you thought of it.

Gym stuff.. [Running]

Overdriven — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 20:08:51 GMT

On the 31st of Jan I quit smoking.
On the 1st Feb I (re)joined the gym.
On the first of feb, I realised that smoking had kicked my ass and handed it back to me.
My goal is to keep on going, to get slimmer and just to see how far I can go before I give up.

Reasons for quitting and going back to the gym? Health implications, am sick of not being able to run any more. Freedom is awesome. Become slimmer and generally feel better about myself and of course, for Miss O.D.

Just a place to write down stuff which I've done.

Running:
Started at (maximum distance): 800m
Started at (maximum speed): 8.0km/h.
Started at (incline): 0

Currently (maximum distance) 4000m
Currently (maximum speed) 9.5km/h
Currently (inclune): 1
Date: 25/2/10
Time: 26 minutes.

800m [8/0] - First attempt after quitting.
1200m [8/0]
1500m [8/0]
1800m [9/1]
2500m [9/1]
3200m [9/1]
3710m [9/1]
1680m [10/1] - Left leg pain, bad night.
3000m [9.5/1] - Got a consultant meeting on Wednesday[24th Feb @1:30] to work out a plan for me.
- This workout I stopped at 3km, the change of .5km/h actually hit me, was nice. Will try and break the 3.7k record I've done, at that speed 4km should be fine. Results to come..
2000m[9.5/1]
4000m[9.5/1] - Limiter removed on the tredmil I always use, awesome :D
6000m[9/1] - Best fucking run ever.
4610m[9.5/1 + 9/1]
3010m[9/1] - 11:30am run, no food. Was knackered before I even hit the 1.5k mark.
3000m[9/1]
6010m[9/1] - First run in a while where I actually felt like I'd worked out properly, good session. Nice to be back above the 4km mark. Improving on other aspects too, 4x8 140kg leg presses, 3x8 50kg back press, 4x8 70kg outer thigh, 4x8 65kg inner thigh, 3x8 50kg abs
1960m[9.5/9/1] - Went, wasn't in the mood, left after 20m.

[Edit: Would like to thank Chet for reminding me to stretch properly]
[Edit: 6k run did my left ankle in and both calf muscles. Might be an idea to stick to the mid 3k mark]

Startrek online...

Z^^ — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 21:20:52 GMT

http://www.filefront.com/15574895/4sosa.avi/

YouTube- 4sosa

The Scarpetta Factor: Patricia Cornwell

Ezteq — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 12:36:36 GMT

http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/c/patricia-cornwell/scarpetta-factor.htm

I get a bit confused by PC's books because the characters seem to go ahead and do stuff in the space between books that never gets explained so a new character or something will just appear with no background or reason.

I also get a bit miffed because pretty much every book there is so much envy, paranoia and anger. I like the characters I really do but they are all so paranoid and whether this comes from PC's own personal paranoid tendancies I am not sure but seeing as scarpetta actually seems to be PC I suspect it does tbh.

The books used to be quite able tostand alone but now they delve so far back into the history of the series that if you tried to read this one without knowing the background you'd be a bit buggered.

A rather disappointing finale and a few irritating plot gaps made this book a rather damp squib, even worse the main this that attracted me to the series (lets be hoenst here...the gore) seems to have pretty much petered out and while you do still get a wee lesson in the technical aspects of forensic science all the good information and juicy gross bits were pretty limp.

Not a great offering, a bit like being served a bowl of hot water when you were expecting stew.

The Gates: John Connolly

Ezteq — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 11:23:54 GMT

I thought I'd do something new and include a web link for the book (if one is available) so that if anyone is actually reading this blog they can see what I am on about and hopefully will keep an eye out for the stuff they like the sound of.

So here is the link (from an excellent fiction website that we use at the libraries, where you can find info about pretty much everything)
http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/c/...olly/gates.htm

The book, as you see is called 'The Gates' and I think it is written for teenagers but tbh the man writes so well that it'd be very unfair to neglect this book if you are over a certain age, and anyway all that really means is there are no boring romantic sub plots getting in the way of the story.

A young boy and his dog go out early trick or treating to try and corner the market but when they visit a neighbour they see that instead of throwing a tupperware party they are opening the gates of hell...with a little help from a glitch in the LHC at CERN. As you can imagine no one believes him...until bad things start to happen Oo

Brilliantly written, I have read several of JCs books and they are all dark and wonderful, this one has a really good sense of fun to it, helped along by the great commentary that accompanies the story in the form of foot notes, and there are some excellent little literary in jokes with respect to street and character names. Its not a long book but that doesn't mean it is not substantial, I am certainly glad I read it and think it's a wonderful piece of fiction mixed with real life events and theories.

Great, dark, stuff!

Ten Big Ones: Janet Evanovich

Ezteq — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 17:29:51 GMT

omg I have to stop reading this series lol she's a bountry hunter, she's crap, her family are mad and she's torn between the handsome yet dangerous cop and the handsome yet dangerous mercenary...

They are pretty much all the same but I just can't quit them! Mind you in this one the heroine gets gang humped buy a pack of dogs (3 of which are female) and tbh it's pretty funny (if vacuous) stuff.

U is for undertow: Sue Grafton

Ezteq — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 11:05:45 GMT

lol poor sue, I don't think she planned ahead when she thought up this series. I mean the first few (a = alibi, b = body, c = corpse or something like that) the titles actually had something to do with the story but now she's gotten to the dark side of the alphabet she had to make some tenuous link by having her main character gazing out to the ocean and thinking about an undertow Oo

Anyway the title aside, I rather enjoyed this book. If you don't know the set up the series is about a female PI called Kinsey Millhone how lives in california and is set in the 1980s, so there's no technical stuff to deal with but kids reading it might need a dictionary to look up things like microfische and index cards because I'm sure they no longer use them lol.

The plot (as usual) has two elements, theres the crime then kinseys personal life, the crime in this case was a kidnapping that happened in the 60s and a witness comes to kinsey after remembering something that may solve the case the story flips and flaps back and forward via flash backs and we follow Kinseys efforts to track down the main players in her time; then the personal bit is about her family situation (she thought she was all alone in the world then found that she actually has relations!...sound familiar?) and her dilemma about whether or not to actually let them into her life.

Again, I have to point out that this is not great literature, it's entertaining and well written but if you are lookign for a plot that will have you tearing your hair out and losing sleep over then go elsewhere my friend, but still it aint bad and the characters are well written, kinsey is always interesting to read about because she is as close to a 'real'person as I think any author has got in a series like this, she is just a normal gal doing a job that sometimes gets her into difficult situations.

And after reading books where the action/drama/comedy/romance/horror whatever is played to the hilt, it really makes a nice change to read about something small and real...ish

good times bad times

fl3a — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 13:47:15 GMT

good times!
got some good hardware for my computer (kept the ram and mobo, upgraded from 8800gts 320mb and c2d e6400 to hd5770 1gb and c2d e8500) and its working awesome, running all the shit ive been wanting to play at max awesomely.

so far ive passed all the exams ive taken, which is nice. one more exam and then all thats left is to wait for the results for some that i havent got yet.

have been spending some happy times lately by myself and with roommates since i got my bong back, i had forgotten how nice it feels to do that stuff.

oh, and next semester i will only have 4 subjects (since ive done so much in advance) and that means one thing: FOUR DAY WEEKENDS! fridays and mondays off, with the weekend in between, its gonna be so awesome.

what about the bad times? who knows. i might fail some stuff, or i might get hit by a car or something? anyway its all looking awesome right now!

Under the Dome: Stephen King

Ezteq — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 16:49:16 GMT

Well, they said twas going to be an epic and at over 800 pages it certainly is!

There is a cast list of about a hundred characters and SK has devised a whole town geography, social mechanics and local history for this story to take place in and it really is brilliant.

The story is about a town which is chugging along nicely, people all busy with their little lives, when all of a sudden a huge invisible dome drops down over the whole town. The book is fast paced and tense from start to end, I did not find it harrowing to read but I have to say the finale was a shocker and because SK is such a bloody great writer I really cared about the characters and what was happening to them so did find bits rather upsetting.

Saying that though, this is not a depressing, bleak book. There are moments that really made me laugh out loud and touching glimpses into human relationships along with the frightening aspect of seeing how people might behave if they thought they were untouchable.

I only have one criticism of this book, there were 4 sodding bits where characters were referred to by the wrong name. This might seem a tiny, petty thing to be annoyed about but when you are in the middle of a gripping story, actually feeling like you are living the story with the characters to suddenly be pulled up short because of a silly mistake is a real pain in the bum...but I'll live with it and damn the proof readers!

I recommend this book to all and everyone because it has a bit of everything and demonstrates (once again) that SK is a master of diversity and can (after about 40 books) still produce work that is fresh and surprising.

Gawd bless ye Mr King!!
:drink:

Rounding the mark: Andrea Camilleri

Ezteq — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 12:47:43 GMT

I think this is like no. 7 in the inspector salvo montalbano mysteries, this one has a story line about human smuggling into europe and how children are smuggled in, Salvo stumbles across the smuggling ring when another investigation gives him a connection to something seemingly unrelated.

But, as usual for me it is not the main story that is the most interesting (though I have to point out here that this is not at all because they are weak, the story lines for these books are very good and stand up well against other mystery and crime authors who are more well known) it is because the character development is so well done and the cast are so fun and intesreting that I always want to read more to see how things are going in that 'quiet' corner of Europe.

The Willows at Christmas: William Horwood

Ezteq — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 15:29:40 GMT

OK so I loved the wind in the willows, great book by kenneth graham...this was pants.

The guy who decided to take it upon himself to carry on with the willows and their adventures took most of the irritating character traits of the characters and just played upon them, so toad who was a nutter to begin with is just an annoying selfish git and badger and ratty and insipid and mole is a bit of a pain too.

This is such a shame because people reading this book...this very annoying and irritating book (which I actually skim read through some pages and I never do that!) may think wind in the willows is more of the same and avoid it which is just so wrong it should not ever be contemplated.

Horwood, leave things alone, you are not very good and this book really sucked the fun and adventure out of a set of lovely original characters...go and invent your own stuff and screw that up man!

Full Dark House: Christopher Fowler

Ezteq — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 11:41:05 GMT

This is a peculiar book, it is a detective story set in flash back mode and starts with one of the duo being blown up then through flashbacks we see how they met and began working on their first case, which is linked to the blowing up of said detective at the start.

The pair met in WWII working for the peculiar crimes unit, seeing as all the other chaps had been sent off to fight the war the home office thought there needed to be a unit devised that would deal with crimes that could damage the morale of the remaining citizens and the crime that brought our duo (Bryant and May...yes) together is a series of mur...sorry Murrdahs in a london theatre, not only do they have to contend with these but there are also bombings nightly and scepticism from higher ups that threaten to close them down.

It's rather a long book but it is interesting and funny in a quirky, whimsical way. The detectives at the start of the book are old men but when we go back to the war with them we see them as young fresh faced and just staring out in the world and it brings home (to me at least) just how damn young people were during the war. I know that sounds stupid but really they were, people I consider kids at 20 were heading police units and had veteran status in fighting platoons.

Anyway there is a series of these books which continues to document the cases worked by Bryant the odd one who consults with arcane arts to get the job done and May the technology savvy straight man. I'm quite looking forward to seeing what they next get up to.