Here be spoilers. And dragons. Deciding who to side with in the Skyrim civil war isn’t the only difficult decision you have to make in the game. At one point, you’re also put in a position where you have to choose whether to kill a major character. It’s a character who has helped [...]
Entries Tagged as 'Main thread'
Thoughts on Skyrim, pt 3: Plan it, or organic?
January 9th, 2012 · No Comments · Digressions on fiction and whatnot, Gaming, tech & stuff, Main thread
Tags:civil war·ethics·game morality·games vs films·in character·morality·out of character·skyrim·wikis
Thoughts on Skyrim pt 2, or Twitchy gaming
January 9th, 2012 · No Comments · Digressions on fiction and whatnot, Gaming, tech & stuff, Main thread
Like all games developed by Bethesda, Skyrim is buggy as all heck. Some of which is comical initially, but it does start to get a bit annoying when you’re going about your business in town and there’s a dragon, half buried in the ground, twitching. In Fallout: New Vegas, the main quest chain – [...]
Tags:bethesda·bugs·complexity·glitches·markarth·politics·racism·skyrim
Thoughts on Skyrim pt 1, or Running with Mr Foxy
January 9th, 2012 · 2 Comments · Digressions on fiction and whatnot, Gaming, tech & stuff, Main thread
Finally had a chance to cane The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim over Christmas. I’m a big fan of these games from Bethesda Softworks, and the past few years spent many an hour in the grim of adventure in the elaborate fantasy world of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (2006), or the retro-futuristic post-apocalyptic environs [...]
Tags:dongas·fox·natural world·nature·plague pits·skyrim·spiral tribe·st catherine's hill
Dislike a Virgin
November 15th, 2011 · 1 Comment · Main thread, Rome
Real internet continues to elude us in the capital city of Italy, so we’re surviving on a diet of dongles – including one whose software insisted on BSOD’ing my computer – and the tantalising whiff our neighbours’ WiFi networks. All of which makes access to decent radio – ie 6Music and Radio 4, with perhaps [...]
Tags:bryan adams·coldplay·ethics·italy·misogyny·pop·rock·rome·virgin radio
The discomfort of strangers
November 11th, 2011 · 5 Comments · Main thread, Rome
On three separate occasions yesterday, random Italians talked to me in the street. Yikes! Firstly, I’m baffled by this as I doubt I pass for Italian. I may be slightly more moro (dark, of skin and hair) than the average Caucasian Brit, but surely my style and manner is foreign. When we were talking about [...]
Tags:italian·landfill·language·learning italian·misunderstanding·rome·street
Non capisco
November 4th, 2011 · 5 Comments · Main thread, Rome
We’ve been in Italy for just over two months now. I’ve been studying Italian for about eight weeks, for about three hours each weekday. And I’m still utterly, utterly rubbish. In fact, I feel like I’m going backwards. Every encounter with an Italian speaker follows the same pattern – I manage to ask a question, [...]
Tags:italian·language lessons·learning languages·middle-aged·multilingual
Dem bones
October 12th, 2011 · 1 Comment · Main thread, Rome
Exploring Rome, I’ve visited various marvellous churches, from the absurdly ornate Chiese Nuove, to the fascinating San Clemente, with its three tiers of history. The most unusual church visit so far was, however, to Santa Maria della Concezione dei Cappuccini. This church – one of innumerable Santa Marias in the city - dates from the [...]
Tags:Capuchin Crypt·rome·Santa Maria della Concezione dei Cappuccini
From baths to quarry to tourist attraction
September 22nd, 2011 · 2 Comments · Main thread, Rome
Went to the Baths of Caracalla the other day. First impression was that it was comparable with London’s dear old Battersea Powerstation: red brick, massively imposing, not looking its best. It’s certainly a site that dwarfs much of the other extant (or exposed) remains in Rome from the Empire era. I’m very ignorant about ancient [...]
Rats, bats, cats
September 16th, 2011 · 1 Comment · Main thread, Rome
I’ve been living in Rome for just three weeks now, and only in our flat for two weeks or so. Suffice to say, that whole time I’ve been suffering significant culture shock – and climate shock. The transition from 18C English “summer” to 35C Roman autumn hasn’t been easy. There are some elements of continuity, [...]
Moto city
September 7th, 2011 · No Comments · Main thread, Rome
Found a little bike shop in Rome today, near the Campo de’ Fioro, selling various hipster bikes (fixies, old-fashioned town bikes etc) and Bromptons. I’m not convinced they can be doing a roaring trade though, as Rome is very much a city of roaring motor traffic. The only places I’ve seen cyclists pootling about is [...]
Tags:bikes·cars·cycling·moto·pedestrians·rome·scooters·traffic