The Patent Dragon's Zone of Soul Retraction

Hmm. Another messed-up evening. Some more Ultima Online. A late blog post (in progress) - and I've not managed to get much writing done...

Some motivation is lacking, and I'm buggered if I know why that is.

Well, that was nice - a good old-fashioned tavern session in Ultima Online. However, it did still take up most of the evening...

Development News... That's close to another chapter done for the Traveller/Adventurers' Guild of Kraan crossover; a bit of type-up, and it should be done, leaving just two chapters of pretty much wall-to-wall action to see the story to its conclusion.

Mission 101 News... If I can cram in SIX episodes of The Prisoner between now and 23:59 tomorrow, I'll have a completed Task to add to my list (96). If not, I'll have absolutely nothing to show for February. Sucks.

Still no Ghost Rider - Spirit of Vengeance. Fantasy movies are definitely getting the elbow...

Development News... That's another chapter completed for the Traveller/Adventurers' Guild of Kraan crossover - and although it's a chapter that doesn't take the story much further forward, it's important stuff, as will become clear soon enough.

Damn it, just where did the evening go to? One minute I'm sitting down with a laptop... in my lap, the next, its heading towards midnight. And this is after a work-day in which there was bugger all work. Crazy.

Oh yeah, Ultima Online; that's the reason. Heh. That's been getting a whole bunch more fun lately.

Thought for the day: Nothing kills a "let's go for it" purchase quicker than excessive postage charges...

Development News... So, that's me almost at the end of another pen, which means I have been putting it some serious pen-and-paper work lately - and which probably contributed in some small way to the flash-drive fatality earlier in the week. Bed-time sessions are the most productive, and the time required for type-up isn't wasted either, as I quite often carry on writing once the last of the type-up is done, and that might be due to the (usually) comfortable writing environment downstairs. It's certainly far better for, well, everything than The Office right now. Lunchtime sessions are probably the least effective, being type-up and not much else, probably 'cause of the ready availability of Teh Interwebz...

I'm presently halfway-plus through Chapter 2 of the Traveller/Adventurers' Guild of Kraan crossover, the "official" next phase in the current storyline. Plot elements seem to be cropping up almost spontaneously - a potential sticking-point became the spring-board for advancement and the welcome appearance of just the right character...

Things are looking very good.

UO News... This recent resurge is even more surprising given that Ultima Online is in something of an ascendance lately. The uninspiring tavern sessions, usually involving me, my neighbour and an associate of his, suddenly took on a different flavour last Tuesday, when I attracted a few customers from the returning player community. It was nice to have some new faces around, and hopefully we'll see more of that this week!

*sighs* I'm going to struggle to fit any Mission 101 stuff in at this rate. I think I'll have to assign an evening to crafts and such if I'm going to make any progress soon..

Hmph. Sod all football on the radio last night, but there is today, taking place right now. I've moved the radio out of the bedroom to allow me to make use of the main PC for tonight's Ultima Online session, then it'll be back to the bedroom, I'm thinking...

Other than this, today has been quite underwhelming. The TV has been utterly dreadful, and hasn't helped my enthusiasm. I have done some type-up following yesterday's development work, but that's about all. I'm rather disappointed, following the good work leading up to New Year - perhaps that intensive schedule did more harm than good.

Today's Burning Question...

Why are KISS still not inducted into The Rock 'N' Roll Hall Of Fame?

I mean, COME ON. Every year, this makes absolutely NO SENSE AT ALL.

Development News... None. I was going to expand on the early stages of The Last Ride Of House Glitterthorn at lunchtime, but I'd only just switched the netbook on when an expected phone call came through. Needless to say, I'm reclaiming that 15 minutes of lost lunch on my next time-sheet.

Writing hasn't been easy lately, mostly due to the run-up to Operation Funplex. That event was never going to be the "creative retreat" I've had in mind for even I can't recall how long, but I did manage to get a few pages done, bringing the main cast back into "the fold". However, it's what comes next that's the problem - I'll see what I can pull together tomorrow.

Oh, and this goes out to Chuck Norris. I couldn't care less about *gags* World of Warcraft. Ultima Online for life, bitch.

Given that I haven't posted any comic reviews in AGES, I just thought I'd share my current "pull list" (with a few comments)...

DC
GREEN LANTERN
GREEN LANTERN CORPS
GREEN LANTERN - NEW GUARDIANS
RED LANTERNS
- I've read the first three issues of this now, and I like it. I'm interested to see how the other Corps are expanded upon. A definite "keeper" out of The New 52.
BIRDS OF PREY
- This isn't the comic it used to be, but I'm withholding judgement until the first 3 issues are properly digested...
VOODOO
- I took the plunge out of curiosity, and to step outside my usual GREEN LANTERN/AVENGERS comfort zone. So far... not entirely grabbing me...

IMAGE
SAVAGE DRAGON

MARVEL
AVENGERS
AVENGERS ACADEMY
- Simply the best Marvel title right now.
NEW AVENGERS
SECRET AVENGERS
CAPTAIN AMERICA
CAPTAIN AMERICA & BUCKY
ANNIHILATORS: EARTHFALL
- Marvel needs to revitalise its "cosmic" characters, and recover some of the glory from the last few years. The team in this title is powerful, but not exactly endearing. The previous GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY had a fun line-up, and a strong first half of its run...

IDW
GODZILLA - KINGDOM OF MONSTERS
- Seriously considering dropping this. It doesn't really do Godzilla justice. The background to the monster battles is patchy, and seems to be taking this piss. I'm surprised Toho gave this the go-ahead.

DYNAMITE COMICS
WARLORD OF MARS

DAIKAIJU ENTERPRISES
G-FAN (magazine, quarterly)
- an excellent fan-publication, possibly the best of its kind. A quality production by people who genuinely care about the giant monster genre *winks in IDW's direction...*

Okay, now for some Ultima Online...

Sucky Sports News... So, the Redskins drop a must-win against the Eagles, and Vettel streaks away from pole-sitter Lewis Hamilton to win the Korean Grand Prix easily...

Weather News... More sodding rain coming, and rumours of SNOW some time this week. Oh. Joy.

The only brightspots today: apple crumble for pudding (mmmm...), and a rare drop in Ultima Online. So not all bad, then.

We lost our power earlier (until past the start time for CSI Miami), and that cost me an Ultima Online session. As a result, we paid an unexpected, but warmly received visit to my nephew, in perhaps the only house in the street with power.

Any catch-up tomorrow's gonna have to take a back seat to my going to see Apollo 18 - pity that Troll Hunter seems to be "MIA", probably until DVD release. Next up is most likely the prequel to The Thing, which will really have to go some to beat the '80s genre-defining version - is CGI really going to be enough? It won't be long 'til we find out.

So, that's the evening pretty much knackered, then. Let's try this again tomorrow.

Quick Review! Doctor Who 609 "Night Terrors" - "Fear Her", anyone? 7/10

And The Rest... Household "jobs" rather ate the day, and Ultima Online scoffed most of the evening. Hey, here comes Monday all over again!

And finally... Friday looks pretty good - could Saturday be the perfect day for Task management...?