Cooking: Roasted Pears

Fruit trees seem like a great idea until you have a mountain of the stuff that nobody's interested in touching. In an effort to chip away at this fruity Kilimanjaro, I had a look around on the net for some pear recipes and went for this one.

I didn't manage to get to the "crisp-tender" stage, but I don't think the type of pears we have are actually suitable for cooking. Still though, they were pretty nice, if a bit rich. Worth trying out, I'd say.

World Rally Fever Video

World Rally Fever is a old DOS racing game from Team 17, the Worms guys. I picked it up as a blind buy in 2001 and I was presently surprised by it. It's not the greatest racing game in the world, but it's good fun and I have a soft spot for the soundtrack.

I was searching on YouTube a few weeks ago for some videos to add to the game's Listal page and I was disappointed to discover that there weren't any with the music intact. So, I went and made my own. I had to rip the music from the CD and add it to the video mind you, but it's now there for your enjoyment.

Metroid Prime 3: Mission Final

So, I finally finished Metroid Prime 3 last night. My stats aren't anything to write home about as you can see above, but I thought I'd capture the moment for posterity anyway. :) Overall, it was a really enjoyable experience, but not without it's faults. I might put together a review when I get the chance (EDIT 14/02/16: Yeah, how's that coming? :D), but for now let's bask in my achievement. *starts basking*

Bargin Hunting 23/10/08

I went into GameStop yesterday for a quick rummage around the used PS2 games. It may be predominantly made up of old sports games games now, but there's still a gem or two to uncover if you look around for long enough. I managed to grab the copy of Final Fantasy XII that I've had my eye on for a while for €14.99, as well as picking up Jak & Daxter for €3.99.

Seeing as I'm working on FFX-2 on an on/off basis at the moment, FF XII is going right on my backlog. I've been playing Jak & Daxter a bit though. So far, it looks to be a nice, solid platformer. The graphics still hold up well IMO, but I'm a bit let down by the music.

For me, the music in a platformer needs to be a big, bold expression of fun. What I've heard so far in J&D is a couple of inconsequential, almost ambient tunes. It's a little disappointing, but it's not going to put me off too much. I guess I'm just going to have to hum some tracks from Super Mario Galaxy while I play. :)

Free Stuff: Download.com Music

The other night I was listening to some Joy Zipper and I started wondering if they had any free tracks on the net. So, off I went off to Google.The band's site was gone, seemingly replaced by their MySpace page (Ugh, why does every band's MySpace page look like shit?). I didn't manage to find anything there, but in my search, I came across one on Download.com Music. Now, I've used that site to get hold of freeware and such before but I never knew this section even existed.

There's actually quite a nice selection of artists up there, with most having at least one DRM-free MP3 to download. Some of them are alternate versions or remixes but there's also plenty of proper album tracks available. By searching around, I was able to grab free and legal tracks from the likes of Rilo Kiley, Antony and the Johnsons, Patrick Wolf, Crystal Castles, Jenny Lewis, Klaxons, Super Furry Animals, We are Scientists, You Say Party! We Say Die! and more.

I think it's fair to say that the downloads available do veer a little more towards indie and alternative music, rather than chart stuff. But if that's what you're into, hypothetical reader, it's well worth a look.

Zack & Wiki Get!

Well, Internet, I finally caved into your peer pressure and picked up a copy of Zack & Wiki for the Wii today. :) I might be a bit late to the party, but so far I'm really enjoying it. It's bright and colourful, with a funny, light-hearted story and just like they've all been saying, it puts the motion controls to pretty good use.

Like some of the Wii games I've played, it can take a while to get the motions the game requires exactly right. Once you do though, the sense of immersion is wonderful. Look! Look! My movements are effecting that thing on screen!

New Fragile Trailer

Out of the three current gen consoles, I only have a Wii. While the last two years have been a bit on the patchy side as far as third party games go, there's a massive influx of promising new stuff coming out of Japan for the console. One of the games I've been following is Fragile, a neat looking action RPG from Namco, set in a post apocalyptic future. I'm kind of worried that the combat will let it down but the atmosphere and soundtrack look like they're going to be something special. I just saw this trailer and thought I'd share it. Damn, just listen to that music! (Wait until around the 0:50 mark.)

And We Ride

So there I was, heating up some curry and I thought to myself "Hey, you have some things of marginal interest to share with the world. Why not start a blog?". And here it is. *fanfare*

What will be about? Anything random that takes my fancy. When will it be updated? Infrequently. In fact, I'm guessing updates will be the very definition of infrequent. :)

I'll see you guys later.