Allright, it's time to break up this party and stop smoking.

So yeah, I've tried before but I really have to stop smoking before it's too late. I've only been smoking for about a year or so, and not in huge quantities either, but it's not good for you any way you cut it. With all that said, today I said to myself that this is it, I have to stop. So now it's been a couple of hours since my last cigarette and so far so good. As I said I've tried to stop smoking before and those times I've lasted about a week or so before I've caved in and started again. Hopefully it'll stick this time and last forever, or at least until I die.

With that out of the way, I can tell you that the hunt for achievements in Batman: Arkham Asylum I was talking about in my last post is going... So-so, I've gotten all the achievements related to the predator modes, but I can't seem to get the hang of this freeflow combo thing. I mean it worked fair enough in the story mode, but when you have to reach a certain score to get a medal, it gets a little harder. I haven't even been able to get a single medal in those modes. Then again, I haven't put that much effort into it either, so I guess I just need a little more practice. Other than that I've gotten various achievements here and there, like catching the batarang and so on.

I'm also trying to get into Guitar Hero 5 and Rock Band 2, but it's just not what it used to be. At least in Guitar Hero 5's case, or maybe it's just me who has grown tired fo rhythm games? Or perhaps the choice of songs in them, I don't know. But I'm having a hard time getting into them as much as I used to. Rock Band 2 is pretty much more of the same, which is a good thing. As I personally think that they tend to have better songs to play. Speaking of which, I've come to the conclusion that the difference between GH and RB is that while both have good songs, GH has a majority of songs that are great to listen to, not necessarilly to play. While Rock Band has more songs that aren't so big or that I've never heard of, but the majority of it's songs are great to play and let's be honest, nice to listen to as well. I think that's why GH falls short when you compare the two, or at least it does for me.

Speaking of guitars, today I've finally been able to properly tune mine, which is great because I haven't touched a guitar for months, due to me moving and having no cables for it mostly. So it's been standing there and looking all sad and lonely, without me being able to do anything about it. But today I got it done so I was able to play again, there was a short but well needed warmup time until I got the feel for it right again. So I played what I used to play and learned som new stuff and then played some more, great fun! I just wish I could get better faster. In case you're wondering, I'm using a Maison LPC-190 with a KORG Toneworks AX1500G and a Fender amp. Nothing but low-end stuff here, but you don't need high-end hardware for my skill level and what I'm playing either. I mean if it does the job, who cares? The one in the picture isn't mine but it's the exact same model and color. I tried taking a picture of mine but my cellphone won't connect with my PC so I gave up on it after trying a few minutes. Oh, and apparantly that model is one of the last hand made models that Maison produced. Which is good to know :).

Anyway, until next time, keep watching the skeeeeeeeeees!

The hunt is on!

The hunt for achievements that is. I've been playing Batman: Arkham Asylum since I got it last sunday and I have to say that I'm pleasantly surprised of how good it actually is. It's great from start to finish, great gameplay mechanics, stealth, combat, characters, sound, graphics, art design, presentation, and above all, the setting. Pretty much everything is great about it. Sure it's not perfect, very few games are, but god damn it's good. With all that said, it's obvious to me that this is a game that I'll be getting 1000/1000 from, so since I completed it a few days ago I've been going after the Riddler challenges, all of which are now found. Now it's pretty much only the challenge modes that need to be completed and I still have to find that last Spirit of Arkham Chronicle, but I know where it is, it's just a matter of going there and scanning it. Another achievement I have left in the actual story mode of the game is Party Pooper, which I regret not getting on my first playthrough, because this means that I'll have to replay the entire game to get to that part again. Which is kind of annyoing knowing that I could have gotten it the first time through. But then again, the first time through a game is for enjoyment only, and then you start to worry about achievements. Or at least that's how I see it.

Doing all this, I've sort of ruined my sleeping pattern, since I've been staying up until 6-8 AM playing the game, trying to get all Riddler challenges. It's not too bad of a problem but you know, yadda yadda yadda and I'm really tired today. And it's been like that for the past couple of days, which has put a stop to my plans to go to the unemployment center. Which I really don't mind, because they don't really help you in any significant way, but I still have to go there sometime soon.

Something I neglected to mention in my last entry was that I'm going with my girlfriend to see Depeche Mode in Malmö in january next year. That will be my second time seeing them, but I absolutely don't mind seeing them again, they were great when I saw them in Copenhagen this summer. And the show in 2010 is part of the same tour, so I expect it to be as great as that was. Speaking of musical events, last monday the tickets for Rammstein were released, so I got up bright and early to get a hold of two tickets for me and my girlfriend. Which I did, eventually, but the site was so full that I didn't get any tickets until 15 minutes after release, and I sat there a good while before the release, so it wouldn't surprise me if it's sould out by now. In either case, that show will also be in Malmö 2010, but in february, but it's going to be awesome! at least I'm fairly certain of it, I mean it's Rammstein, damnit! Not a single live performance I've seen with them (on dvd or whatever) has led me to believe otherwise.

Also, fall is upon us. The leaves are turning a nice yellow / orange color and are starting to fall off their trees. It's getting pretty windy too, so you can feel that crisp winter air that's coming soon. I don't really mind either fall nor winter, I just wish we'd get more snow during the winter, but what can you do?

So... It's been a while.

As the title states, it has been a while, more than a year even. Another year gone by and lots of new things happening. Allright, maybe not a whole lot of new things, but there are some improvements I think.

So I just got home from staying at my grilfriend's place for almost two months now, and while it feels good to be home, I already miss her. That, and I'm bored. See, the plan was for my dad to pick me up at the station after my 4,5 hour long train ride from Stockholm to Malmö, which he did. It also included me picking up three games I had ordered, so I got home, got the order from home and off we went to pick up my stuff. I walked in feeling good about myself, thinking "finally, finally I can play some games". But as I approached the counter with the order in my hand, they guy working there abruptly said "Postal services are closed for the day". Great! Foofin' great! After that, my dad had to do some grocery shopping, so I went with him since I had pretty much no food at all at home, seeing as I've been away for almost two months, so that worked out great. Without my new games, though, I really have nothing to do now except sitting at my PC writing this blog, which is about time anyway, so I guess it kind of worked out allright anyway, huh? In any case, I'll go get em tomorrow instead.

The games I have waiting for me are Batman: Arkham Asylum, Guitar Hero 5 and a long overdue Rock Band 2. These are just a few of the titles this Fall / Holliday season I consider must haves. I'll be so damned broke when christmas comes around, but then again it's the same deal pretty much every year. You have the spring hit, the summer hit and then the 20 hits of the last three months of the year. And this year is no different from any other year in recent memory, even if a lot of the games I had interest in have moved on to an early 2010 release. I still look forward to Brütal Legend, Borderlands, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Dragon Age: Origins, Assassin's Creed II and to some extent DJ Hero. If you put that on top of the big games of early 2010 like Bioshock 2, Mass Effect 2 and Bayonetta... We'll you'll have about half a year of having awesome games but no money. It doesn't even end there, though, the second quarter of 2010 has some big games as well, such as Final Fantasy XIII for example. I personally won't be getting all of these games, mainly because many of them are games I'm not sure about, so thank god for demos! Right? And with limited money you have to prioritize.

WOW! Yeah you read it, World of Warcraft... I'm back in that godforsaken place of magic and wonder. But I do enjoy it, so what's the harm, eh? I got back in while I was at my gf, lack of games I wanted to play combined with a slow PC that couldn't run much at all made me do it. So I payed for 2 months of WoW and I've played on and off there, so now I'm almost at level 79, yay! For those of you that didn't know (which I'll assume is everyone since I'm the only one who reads this blog) I quit WoW shortly after Wrath of the Lich King was released. So it's kind of nice to get back and enjoy the game now that I'm not insanely tired of it. I'm actually having fun with it! I plan to get back in to raiding, although in a more casual manner than before. I'm trying to find a place where I can raid with good, dedicated people while at the same time have a life outside of the game, which can be pretty hard to do.

During my abscence from this blog, I've also gotten myself a PSP 3000. What a great piece of machinery that is, great for listening to mp3s on a long ass train ride for example. I bought it fairly recently, so I've only had it for about two months, around the same time I got to my girlfriend. Actually exactly at the same time, as I ordered it to arrive where she lives and not where I live. I got three games with it, Final Fantasy, God of War and Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters. After that I managed to get myself 4 more games while in Stockholm so I now have a total of seven games for it already. I'm not going to go into details because basically I don't feel like it. But man... Mercury Meltdown is friggin hard! I can't even get passed the fourth or fifth level, I forget which, but it's really early in the game. Luckilly it was only 99:- so it wasn't too bad of a deal.

So yeah, that's a short summary of what I've been up to since the last time, although it mostly covers more recent events, but then again who cares? No one, that's who!