Growing older and still playing video games – Part 1

I am a 44 year old female who loves to play video games. I am particularly fond of first person shooters. When I tell other adults they tend to turn their noses up and sometimes push their children behind them as though I might whip out a knife and a fork and begin to devour the little darlings. I guess their surprize is compounded by the fact that I use an electric wheelchair due to Spinal Muscular Attrophy Type 2. It is just another one of those things adults are not expected to do especially a disabled adult.

I have never understood all the judgment we adults tend to heap on each other. I mean it is ok for adults to drink until they can’t stand up, smoke cigarettes till they can’t breath, take mood altering drugs of many various types until they can’t think but let me mention that I get my aggressions by playing video games that allow me to practice and perfect my head shots and suddenly I am looked down upon.

The fact that I place first person shooters doe not make me more prone to going “postal”. I simply means I enjoy escaping from a world in which I have little control to one in which I have the capacity to rule.

Let me pause here and say I do not believe children should spend hours in front of video games. I also do not believe parents should mindless indulge the children by buying any and every game they want. Some games, many in fact, are simply not appropriate for children. Do your homework read the reviews, learn the ratings and even rent the game and give it a try yourself while the kids are sleeping to see if you as a parent think it is appropriate for your child’s age and maturity level. In short become a parent and do a parent’s job. You won’t have to worry about the government setting limits if you do it yourself.

Will I play forever probably not but I will play as long as my weakening arms and hands will let me. There is nothing quite like a good round of Quake or Medal of Honor to get my sluggish old heart pumping. Nothing quite as satisfying after a frustrating day in the real world as making that head shot from 100 yards.

How video games affect our lives

I have been an online gamer for some time now. I started with Everquest, watching over my sister’s shoulder as she played her Dark Elf Necromancer. I stayed in her room, just patiently waiting for her to let me combine pottery ingredients and if I was really lucky, actually play my own little level five.

If she was at college, I would come home, clean up her room (and I’m not just talking bed making and a quick sweep up) then fire up the computer and sit through that ten minute loading screen. I was excited. I had made friends in the game over time, I was in two guilds, and in my opinion I was a pretty good gamer. A lot of that though would have to come from my communication with the other players.

I remember in school being set up at a desk, a dusty computer looming overhead and a keyboard on the screen. It was a typing class, and I was intimidated. I could hardly read right, now they expected me to type well?

I guess what I’m getting at is that without my online video games, I definitely wouldn’t be able to spell, write, and definitely not type as good as I can today.

That’s just one of the positives and this may sound strange, but I feel I’m more outgoing in real life than I used to be, having to have formed groups and all of that gaming jazz. Here’s something else. Since World of Warcraft, I definitely manage my money better, thanks to a little something called the Auction House.

As for the bad, there’s always the occasional slip up of gaming speak into the real world, and of course popping something into the microwave to continue on with your play. Don’t forget the “Chug down those energy drinks, this is an all nighter!”.. I’m guilty of that, but as long as you are aware that too much of that can be unhealthy, you can make a change for the better. I know I have, and I remain gaming happily!

Recipes: Fruit salad

“Filipino Style Fruit Salad” is my favorite fruit salad of all time ! Probably because I am a Filipina and I maybe I am a little biased about this one. When I was younger,my family could not afford to buy ingredients and make some fancy dessert like this one. So during fiesta I get so excited because I get to eat the fruit salad for free:)any

Now, I still enjoy eating the salad and even started making one for me and my family:)

Here’s the recipe:) enjoy:)

*Fruit Salad*

Ingredients:

1 can Nestle Table Cream ( can be found in Asian store)

1 pkg. ( 8 oz.) Cream Cheese

1 can Pineapple chunks

1 can Very Cherry Cocktail or regular fruit cocktail

1 apple, diced

2 bananas, sliced

2 Mangoes, cubed

1 bottle Coconut Strings( Macapuno)( can be bought in asian Store)

Procedure:

1. In a large bowl, beat cream cheese & table cream together until fluffy.

2. Add apples, mangoes & banana. Mix Well.

3. Add in Pineapple Chunks & very cherry Cocktail. Mix well.

4. Add the Macapuno then mix well.

5. Chill for 2 hours or overnight.

6. Serve & Enjoy:)

I hope that you will try this one:) I’m sure you will love it!

Bottoms Up – Bartending Lesson, Skyy Citrus Cosmopolitan

Bartender Chris Bokelberg teaches bartending lessons in Bottoms Up. Chris and Natalie make Skyy Vodka Citrus Cosmopolitans. Bartender Chris Bokelberg teaches bartending lessons in Bottoms Up. Drink mixing, bartending and cocktail recipes made simple and easy. (more)

Farnham RUFC TV – Drinking Games Part 4/5

Farnham RUFC TV – Drinking Games Part 4/5

Downloadable game review: Eternal Eden, by Blossomsoft

Downloadable game review: Eternal Eden

Rating: 5

Eternal Eden is an interactive role-playing game created by the newest developers to enter the video game realm: Blossomsoft. The video game should appeal to a diverse audience and its thematic elements are easy to recognize by the average gamer. The game design follows a traditional role-playing (or RPG style) which allows the game-player to control the movements of one character through a series of levels and mazes.

When the game begins, the game-player is introduced to Noah, who is asked to open his eyes by a strange figure. Although the voice sounds familiar to Noah, neither Noah (nor the game-player) can see the identity of the mysterious figure. Noah begins to ask the mysterious figure a series of questions to help him (as he cannot remember where he is, what happened to him, or what he is exactly supposed to do). The mysterious figure will help him remember by allowing you (the game-player) to move Noah around the screen through various levels that resemble a maze. Noah can only survive the game by searching for hidden items on the levels and defeating enemies that he encounters on his journey. A small exclamation point will appear over Noah’s head when he has found a hidden item.

Gamers maneuver Noah by using the arrow keys on the keyboard. When you reach the edge of the current onscreen map, you need to move Noah in a different direction. The game screen resembles a maze and the game-player moves Noah up, down, left or right. The paths are simple to follow, but expand as Noah advances in the game. To help Noah advance through the screens faster, the game-player can make Noah dash onscreen by holding the Shift key.

During his journey, Noah may begin to feel weak. If Noah drinks a mid tonic, he will regain his strength. To check the status of his health, the game-player will need to view the Menu screen. The Menu screen will list any items Noah has found, as well as his skill level, equipment and status. The game-player can also save or exit the game using this screen.

Noah will encounter dangers on his journey. When you encounter an enemy, you engage combat mode. You cannot return to field mode until the battle is complete. You have two options: fight or escape. You can switch from one to the other by using the Escape key on the keyboard. The game-player has to watch Noah’s health meter. If it falls to zero, Noah dies. As with most games, you can also see your opponent’s health

Video Game reviews: Nethack (various)

Most mainstream gamers have never heard of Nethack, which is a pity, because they are missing out on one of the most complex, challenging, and fun games designed for any system, ever.

The game itself is simple in execution. You are an adventurer, who enters a randomly generated dungeon filled with treasure, monsters, and items. At the start, you create an adventurer, with choices including some stock fantasy stereotypes (Wizard, Barbarian, Priest, Rogue), along with some more unusual types (Tourist, as a nod to Twoflower in Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series, or Archaeologist, complete with bullwhip and fedora), and you enter a dungeon with a few meager supplies, and a pet dog or kitten to assist you. Your goal is to descend the levels to retrieve the Amulet of Yendor, a powerful magical artifact craved by your patron deity, and then return to the surface clutching it. Like so many goals, this does not prove to be as straightforward as it sounds…

Nethack is simplistic looking, to say the least. The dungeon is represented from a top down view, as if you were perusing a map, and is displayed entirely in ASCII graphics. Your character is shown as a white @, and other creatures with different characters from the alphabet. A rat would be shown by a brown lower case r, an ice troll by a white upper case T. Items are similar; for instance, a magical potion would be shown with a ‘!’, in various colors depending on its effects (If you’re wondering why a ! would look like a potion, consider the symbol upside-down).

Initially, when you enter the dungeon, much of the map is unexplored, and the screen mostly dark. As you move around, you reveal more of the map, much like how many real time strategy games have a ‘fog of war’, only revealing details after you explore.

The game has been around since 1987, and is regularly updated with new features and tweaks, to the point where a ubiquitous phrase among its devotees is simply “The Devteam thinks of everything”, a view rather hard to dispute. Consider an example. Your adventurer finds a room containing a sink (Which came into the game a few years ago, after someone commented how the game included everything but the kitchen sink). There are various things you can use this for. You can drink from it, and water is only one of the possible fluids which might gush forth. You can give it a kick, and possibly dislodge a random magical ring from its drain. After all, we all know these items tend to go down the plughole.

Bottoms Up – Bartending Lesson, Licor 43 Dreamsicle

Bartender Chris Bokelberg teaches bartending lessons in Bottoms Up. Chris and Natalie make Licor 43 Dreamsicle cocktails, a unique, fruity, vanilla sweet drink. Bartender Chris Bokelberg teaches bartending lessons in Bottoms Up. Drink mixing, bartending and cocktail recipes made simple and easy.

One Man Drinking Games Cover

Me playing one man drinking games by mayday parade. and yes i know im playing it a half step up. its just easyer for me to sing. and yes i know im not the best singer.

Drink recipes: Brass monkey – Part 2

“Drink Brass Monkey – here’s how you feel, put your left leg down – your right leg up,tilt your head back – let’s finish the cup” The Beastie Boys were singing about Brass Monkey back in the mid 80s..”We’re offered Moet we don’t mind Chivas, wherever we go we bring the Monkey with us.” It’s referring to an alcoholic beverage that is a favourite with college kids trying to get drunk. “I drink Brass Monkey and I rock well, I got a Castle in Brooklyn that’s where I dwell” The Brass Monkey they are talking about consists of 3 parts Malt liquor and 1 part Sunny Delight mixed together.

The Brass Monkey cocktail that is usually served, however consists of equal parts dark rum, light rum and orange juice, stirred together and served over ice. The combination of the orange juice and the dark rum leaves a brass colour to the cocktail which is what led to it’s name.

Another alternative recipe combines 1 part light rum, 1 part vodka and 1 part orange juice.

So come on everybody and “Drink Brass Monkey.”

Next Page »