The Patent Dragon's Zone of Soul Retraction

As promised, some bonus material from

- The "Extras". Images taken directly from my trusty Notebook of Awesomeness!

Release Notes... This entry was a last minute addition. Seems like a fitting way to wind up Season Six.

Meanwhile... No thanks. I don't want "BBC Alba" on Freeview, if that means losing a bunch of radio channels. The latter are far more likely to be of any interest.

Oh, and there was something of a "whooops" this morning - I flipped the wrong switch on my alarm clock, and it never went off. Still made it to work "on time" - hooray for flexible hours!

It's nearly the weekend, and that means it's time to start marshalling some stuff for relocation. Gonna have to get serious now...

Funny day, this. I should have been working today, but I decided to give myself something of a safety margin, and told the exams office not to count me as available for Saturday OR Monday. THEN I felt unable to follow through on big SPIRITWALK plans, as it was one week after Rush, and managed to pass on word to one of the exams staff that I would be able to work today... but I heard nothing. Okay, thinks I. Extra day off...

Posted the REIGNFALL final chapter. Semi-zoned out in front of Rise Of The Silver Surfer. And that was about it.

Oh, and enquiries were made about removals. Tomorrow marks one month before the buyers move in. Holy crap - The Move is becoming more and more REAL with every passing day.

Out My Window Just Now... A fabulous rainbow, and a tree in the neighbours' garden that's getting the crap kicked out of it by the wind...

reaches its penultimate chapter - and as the story says "...the sky is full of gods."

Review: Pirates Of The Carribean - On Stranger Tides... Okay, Blockbuster Season continues, and Jack is back...

( Ahoy mateys, these be fine spoilerin' waters! )

The Bottom Line... Enjoyable, but lacking in spectacle. Not exactly sparking the excitement that came in anticipation of "Dead Man's Chest" and "At World's End"... Score: 7/10

Next up... X-Men First Class (June 1st)!

continues as our heroes prepare themselves for success or disaster. Friends arrive, bringing hope, whilst others manoeuvre into the positions intended for them - and The Emperor is waiting.

Development News... It's been a busy day, writing-wise, as I complete Chapter 2 of TDD-701 "A Star Is Rising", and break ground on Chapter 3, with the help of some characters from way back. Some intriguing plot-strands are taking shape!

And what about the actual WORK...? All is going fine - and is so much more enjoyable than January. That sh8y weather really did a number on things...

Thoughts on SPIRITWALK... An event requiring Mission 101-based attention is fast approaching - I'm meaning

65 - Celebrate each and every Spiritwalk (May 22) and Patent Saturday (December 1) like they really mean something (which they do!) (1/3, 1/2)

and I have NOTHING in mind that I can feasibly put into effect in time. Again, The Move bites into my plans - or so the excuse goes...

SPIRITWALK 2011 will be the last of these personal events to take place as what is so far my only home, and I'm thinking of just taking things easy, possibly with a modest present that I will have to order VERY soon. It might be an idea to complete a few Mission Tasks, too...

Okay, it's story post time, as

continues - The Traveller and his companions prepare for their part in the plan to liberate Mystalorn... Brighthawk makes some new friends... and there are some welcome new arrivals on Darkhawk's side of The Emperor's barrier!

Development News... Slow progress again, but a section of Chapter 2 is done. I do have something a little more urgent on my mind right now, namely Operation Rush Hour, and I still have stuff to pack...

Talking of which... According to the latest set-list for the current tour, there are still *gasp* a few songs I'm not familiar with... and once again, that lack of availability for Amazon MP3 download gift cards rears its ugly head. If I have time before the show (and I certainly expect to), I may just check every possible outlet for said cards, and grab a decent-sized one at the first opportunity. I enjoy being able to get music (almost) instantly, and without the hassle of checking out!

However, the balance on my existing card just got almost halved as I tracked down a song from my "Must Track This Down" list - a cracking version of Thin Lizzy's classic "Emerald" by folk-metal band Skyclad...

Meanwhile... Yay - Grandmaster Bushido for Thrax, and all done last night, despite the thankfully brief UO server down-time. That's one landmark of several attained!

Okay, time for more Mission prep. Be posting later to keep the streak alive while I'm out of town!

Move News... Well, that's another "stop and drop" carried out, as things step up a gear. There are still concerns about total storage space at Site B, but with some juggling, it may just work out - expect some photo-essays on the "recompression" effort as things get crazy(-er)!

Heh heh - Moving Pictures. How oddly appropriate.

Talking of which... The ear-wax thing is a work in progress, which I am very much hoping will be dealt with by, at the latest, Friday night. I seem to have a bit of a history with medical problems almost "the night before" big events - a dose of the "squirties" before my first pre-Christmas London trip, a problem I can't properly recall before a festival, a dodgy knee on the eve of the last time I saw Rush...

And then there's... the next REIGNFALL chapter. Don't panic, dear reader - that gets its own post.

Keeping me out of trouble... some more Ultima Online as Thrax continues the push to Grandmastering Bushido. 98.5 and counting - thinking the Ogre Lords in Despise Dungeon will be quaking in their loin-cloths for at least one night more. 1.5 worth of skill gains is achieveable...

Also, I'm thinking of pushing ahead with my "craft project to finish", and there's the matter of a "wish list" for what needs upgraded/replaced from a Move perspective. Mmmmm - big(ish) TV... aaaaah.

No, I didn't forget...

continues, as The Emperor grants one of our heroes an audience, Darkhawk makes an unexpected discovery, and the plan to liberate Mystalorn advances as The Traveller makes a deal...

Meanwhile... Agh, no - thunderstorms on Saturday??? Please, don't...

Riiiight. So, where to begin?

Hardly an exciting work day - are they ever? Still managed to do some solid writing at lunch-time, and pretty much reach a conclusion for TDD-701 "A Star Is Rising" Chapter 1! There was a stack of comics and a "well done on REIGNFALL" present waiting for me when I got home. Caught a repeat of "Day Of The Moon", whilst doing some more "sampire" training in Ultima Online.

"But wait! There's more..." (to quote Blue Oyster Cult) I happened to come across IMDB's list of movies to come, and 2012 is actually shaping up to be rather interesting. December this year sees a second try at Judge Dredd, in Dredd, then its the Ghost Rider sequel/reboot in February - now hold on, is that a movie of intriguing book Cloud Atlas as well? - John Carter of Mars in March (enjoying the comics right now), then it's AVENGERS in May, followed a couple of weeks later by Alien quasi-prequel Prometheus at the start of June, Star Trek II (or whatever they're gonna call it) later that month, then to round things off for now, Amazing Spider-Man and The Dark Knight Rises in July!

That looks pretty solid to me, but it's still not a patch on this year (but I might revise that if they really get the proposed new Godzilla movie to screens next year). I mean, take another look at the list...

***** THOR...
*** 1/2 Pirates... 4...
**** X-Men First Class...
***** Green Lantern...
**** Transformers - Dark Of The Moon...
*** 1/2 Potter 7.2...
***** Captain America - The First Avenger...
*** 1/2 Super 8... (Cloverfield prequel...?)
(maybe) Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes (Andy Serkis might just tip this one for me)
*** 1/2 Dredd.

All of a sudden, I rediscovered the fun in Ultima Online - training up a samurai, with a view to creating the monster-slaying juggernaut that is a "sampire" (top-of-the-line samurai with added Necromancy). That's not an excuse for reduced writing output - that's really the result of not really knowing where the new Season is going so far. I so desperately want to avoid the "take a deep breath, then back to intergalactic war" kind of thing, and so the way forward doesn't exactly pave itself. A "plotting weekend" may be required - this weekend might work, as there's a Grand Prix coming up, and most likely some limited Saturday Move-stuff.

Next weekend, of course, is right out, 'cause I'll be out of town, on a "Mission mission" - yup, it'll be time for "Operation Rush Hour". I am still working on TDD-701 "A Star Is Rising", as that's "prologue" of a sort - "cool-down" from REIGNFALL, one might say.

There are other stories to tell, which don't depend on anything being written in the form of "bridging" material, but still I need to thrash out a few ideas. Stay tuned for some interesting developments!

Meanwhile... Just ordered myself something I guess could be called a "complete REIGNFALL on schedule" present, and my loooooong search for "street boots" might just be over...

And so...

begins. Our heroes react to the incredible events they have just witnessed, and the sacrifices some of them may feel they now have to make. The universe holds its breath...

Release Notes... At last, we get to the start of a story almost eight years in the making. Events in past seasons have been building to this - and we have only just begun.