A sporting result that went our way and mounting excitement for the X360 - 30/10/2006

Monday was a slightly easier day at work which allowed me to do a little more research on ign.com for forthcoming games on the X350. It launched last year and I've been keeping a watching brief on the machine and the available games for it. Call of Duty 2 launched with the 360 last year and it looked pretty awesome. It was still early days though in the development of the machine and at the time I wanted to wait a little longer. With Christmas now coming and better games coming out I think an X360 is on my list for myself as a treat. Call of Duty 3 looks incredible as does what is being touted as this Christmas's Halo on the X360, Gears of War. Bringing up the rear is Rainbow Six : Las Vegas. They are all shooters, look great and have specific elements that look impressive. Call of Duty is a first person World War II shooter that seems to have really captured that chaotic frenzy of battle, Gears of War is a futuristic third person shooter that looks innovative and exciting and Rainbow Six is a tactical shooter that as well as being set in Vegas offers a load of really cool shit.

All three are being released mid-end of November and I will be taking a keen interest in the reviews that they get. Of the three I should only really get one of them as you can't get totally immersed with two games at the same time but the temptation is always to have a spare incase the other one was better. The videos/ trailers that ign have been showing or letting you download all look brillo and it really helped re-ignite my desire to get one and have to play over Christmas. The good vibe continued with the knowledge that the next few weeks/months should be good fun. A few DVD's coming out that I wanted to get, some films I wanted to see, the X360, Barcelona and maybe some good nights before Christmas.

Got round at last to changing the home page message from what it has been since I set the site up. I think some didn't understand the irony in the statement so I've tried to make it a little shorter and explanatory. Hit the pool again that night and had a good one. I felt reassuringly tight and knackered afterwards and tried to lock away how good it felt to give me the stimulus on those times where I might be lacking resolve. Saw a girl when I was coming out who personified a part of what I look for in a girl. She wasn't stunning just pretty but I liked the carefree-ness of what she had got changed into. Her hair was still wet and she'd obviously just yanked on some clothes, nothing simple just jeans and a couple of tops but it was this ease and comfort within herself that just shone through. She came across as confident and practical yet still very feminine. Whether she arrogantly knew it or not she still looked good with hastily swept back hair and hurried into clothes. It reminded me of the female lead in Point Break. Even though her body isn't what I normally like I'm just so attracted to that raw sexuality that meant she could peel off her wetsuit, clamber into some cut off jeans without zipping them up and pull on a top and drive off to something more important yet still be so confident and alluring. I'm sure someone else could articulate better what it is I'm getting at but I hope you get the idea.

Early start on the Wednesday as had a client meeting first thing to discuss another potential big job. Getting up at 5.00am was a little tough and I confess to beginning to feel the effects of only having had two days off work this year. I'm not blaming anyone, my bosses are always saying I should but it seems a waste to take it off to sit at home and I don't want to go anywhere major on my own. Besides it's far better to continue saving and bro and I are discussing maybe going somewhere next year. I know the advantages of time off and maybe I'll try and grab a day here or there before Xmas but it feels good when we are busy and those times make me feel more like I've earned the trip to Barcelona and also in a way that I've earned my days of relaxation and excess over Christmas.

Picked up my boss from her place and had to laugh at the morning news while I grabbed a cup of tea. You know my thoughts on Rod Stewart from my rants section so seeing him on the TV talking about how he was ;hanging up his writing pen and going back to his roots' was hysterical. He hasn't written anything original in years and was obviously a plug for his yearly album of covers. We made good time to the clients and wasted some time in the large Tesco's which is nearby. I'd never really looked at the clothes in Tesco's. I'm not a clothing snob but my thoughts of supermarket clothing extend to Asda's George range and you know my contempt for them. Anyway Tesco's range is called Cherokee and I've got to say that they have some nice stuff. They had these cool mocassin, kicker style shoes for only £25 that looked really comfortable and perfect for work or walking in Barcelona. They also had some nice jumpers etc.

The quality looked really good and I'm not really a name person when it comes to clothing so I was sorely tempted. With the meeting in my mind and naturally a lack of my size for the shoes meant I shelved buying anything but I think I will be visiting another large Tesco's soon to get one or two items. This might prove horrifying to some readers and further indication of my getting older but when clothing is unbranded and purely for comfort and function then I don't see the point in paying over the odds. If it's a shirt for a night out, like the Ted Baker ones then it's understandable. If you are having a night out then you don't want to be wearing the same as someone else and are prepared to pay more for the exclusivity but if it's for work or pure leisure then it makes total sense. If I can just get the shoes that will put me in a buying mood and then I might go mad and buy a couple of tops. Crazy eh?

The meeting went well and afterwards we popped into Habitat to see what we could pick up as little gifts for some of our clients. The lights in there were great. They had these cool blue Christmas lights that were in the shapes of hearts and squares that would look wicked in a nice, sparse living room. I found myself dreaming about how nice it would be if I had my own place that I could make look good with lights and stuff. Gym that night was knackering and brilliantly I managed to forget my showergel. As I wasn't going on the hairdressers like last time meant I could just go home though I did have to wear an interesting combo of smart shirt and tracksuit bottoms as my gym t-shirt was sodden and I didn't want to replace my trackie bottoms with a pair of jeans.

Thursday and Friday was a lot of brainstorming on this pitch for our client. Brainstorming is good fun but the mental stimulation and lack of physcial activity can slow me down and I do find myself needing to take on crap food to keep me stimulated and energy levels up. More info was released on Gears of War and the other two games to keep my excitement levels peaking as I went into the weekend. Grabbed a couple of DVD's on Friday night along with a stop in to the Frying Pan. Another good chat with the two guys in there. They are really entertaining and sometimes I almost want there to be a delay in cooking the fish so we can talk for longer. They know of my website and demonstrated knowledge that they did by mentioning some bits from it which naturally impressed me. The fish and chips were even better than usual and I tried to wipe my guilty conscious as clear as my plate when I finished them.

Our first DVD of the evening was 2 Fast 2 Furious : Tokyo Drift. Ok it's no Oscar winner but I enjoyed the second film of this series with Paul Walker and found this one equally entertaining. I wasn't expecting high grade, high brow social commentary but it provided the thrills and spills that we wanted. We followed this up with Slither. It is directed by the guy (James Gunn) who wrote the 2004 Dawn of the Dead remake, which I thought was superb. It was good fun. It was a little gross at some points, which did serve the story, and had a similar zombie-ish theme to it. Some of the writing and acting was excellent including Gregg Henry who plays the mayor and delivers some genuine laugh out loud corkers. Nathan Fillion, from Firefly and Serenity, was also in it and similarly very good. Nice to see him getting some decent work.

I knew Saturday would be a long lay in as the sleep bank was feeling very low on resource and needing a chunk of replenishment. 1 and 2's in the morning are fine but the sleep has to be replaced somewhere and the weekends are as good a place as any, well the only place to be honest. I grabbed a solid 12 hours before heading over to the gym. Did my normal 'I'll only give it 20 mins on the running machine' before pushing onto a full 45 mins, 6K and 500 calories. Followed this with weights and 15 mins on the cyclic before collapsing on a crash mat while I regained some strength. Steam room, sauna and shower but this time managed to forget my socks and boxers, meaning had to hit Sainsburys commando style. Not so worried about my tackle as the trousers weren't zipped but once you introduce a non socked foot to a trainer you can be in a world of hurt, especially when it comes to removing it and you accidentally pull out the inner sole etc.

The night was meant to have been a real lash up but we were let down by our usual cab/friend and I ended up driving. I didn't mind and my bro and mate offered to pay for a cab but we were going to Clapham and it would have cost a fortune. Up to mates for 1 1/2 hours of multiplayer Halo and then laughed as they downed a shot of Hapsburg each. I must get in training for this soon as I'm telling everyone at work how we will hit the Absinthe bar in Barcelona yet I've not yet had one of the Hapsburg. Last thing I want is to push everyone into having one and then it completely fucks me up! Headed up to Clapham and Inferno's to meet an old work colleague who was celebrating a birthday. I was wearing my 'Just waiting...' t-shirt. The three of us chucked £30 each into a whip and started drinking. The girl in question turned up. She's an energetic thing and as expected I spoke to her for literally a few minutes before she bounded off to chat to others within her party. Her friends seemed nice but they disappeared even quicker.

We headed upstairs to breath in the oh so familiar stench that must live in the carpet up there. Either the combined scent of everyone that fills up the room or the fact that you just get used to it means it normally dissipates after half an hour or so. The alcoholic drinks were beginning to hit the other two as the numerous Red Bulls were hitting me and we got down to a little boogie-ing. After getting incredibly hot and being bumped by one too many collar turned up 'rugger' twats decided to head back downstairs. Pushed our way onto the dance floor. It was quite busy but we were enjoying ourselves. There were some interesting characters up on the podium's on stage. I wouldn't criticise them for going up there as I've done it before but there were some interesting retro dresses and a complete wanker of a guy in a two sizes too small t-shirt.

We were dancing next to a bunch of girls and I leaned over to one of them and asked which of the girls on stage dresses she thought was worse. We shared a similar catty sense of humour and proceeded to poke fun at the dresses, the wanker in the t-shirt who was on stage and the relentless guys stalking through the crowd desperate to grab hold of a woman. Now I admit I'm always looking around but I'm not the type to pester someone, maul them or stand so close behind them that they can feel my knob rubbing against their bum. Her name was J and I gotta say that she was quite cute. She had a pretty face, sweet smile and a nice figure from what I could tell. We continued to laugh about stuff and I was really enjoying talking to her. It's always difficult as a guy when talking to a shorter girl. You tip your head down so they can talk into your ear but then have to turn your head away 90 degrees so they don't think you are coping a blatant eyeful of their cleavage.

We chatted about stuff like where she lived, what we did for a living etc. I was aware that her two friends were close by and I did try to involve them but they didn't seem as chatty. She told me she was 25 and I intimated that I was in my 30's but didn't specify. It was frustrating I enjoyed talking to her but didn't want to drag her away from her friends or seem pushy by offering her a drink. She was being nice and we were chatting, no need for me to start getting heavy like so many other arseholes. After about 40 minutes her mates looked really bored and they decided to head off. She said goodbye and told me I'd been a 'real breath of fresh air' which was a lovely thing to say. I expressed disappointment that she was going and then offered her one of my cards.

I'm glad I did as it means there is a chance she could email me but it must have looked cheesy. You can't win really can you. The cards are cool and a little bit different than the norm of giving your number. This way she can have a look and see what I'm really like but the fact that I keep them in a card case to prevent them getting mashed up makes it look like I regularly hand them out. The fact that they also look really cool implies that I've gone to masses of effort, when in reality working for a design agency means I got them done where I work. It was only the third card I've handed out all year but I probably came across as a player. Oh well, you never know, if she hasn't thrown the card away she might check me out.

We must have stayed for about another half an hour before heading off ourselves. As usual the late night munchies fuelled by their drink and my racing metabolism after the ten or so Red Bulls demanded we grab something. McDonalds was rammed so headed onto KFC. Pulled up to the drive-thru and ordered a sensible three piece crispy strip meal x 2 and a zinger burger meal. Naturally having drunks in the car meant that the request of anything else was met with a demand for a 12 piece variety bucket regardless of cost. Took our booty back to my mates flat and attempted to eat the mountain of chicken. I think in total we had nine portions of chips, ten crispy strips, eight pieces of normal chicken, a large popcorn chicken and three cokes. We gorged but I hit the wall close in and needed to resort to deep breaths as I felt my expanding stomach beginning to encroach onto my lungs. It was a lot of tasty chicken and my bro managed to put loads away.

The Colonel's secret blend of herbs and spices certainly had an effect on me on Sunday morning as I woke with the mother of all dry throats, which a large amount of water managed to remove. Settled down to watch the final race in the MotoGP series. Nicky Hayden who pretty much led through the championship had been taken out in the last round by his team-mate and was now 8 points behind Valentino Rossi, 8 times world champion. Vale was on pole and normally cool and decisive under pressure. Vale is an undoubtedly great rider and I have a lot of respect for his talent but I do tire of his ego and stifling domination of the series. Bro and I were both supporting Nicky though being back in 5th he had little chance of success.

The race started and Vale got a bad start while Nicky surged ahead. Vale was in 8th by the second lap but always has the knack of laying down a couple of storming laps and coming right back at the field. As Nicky pulled himself up to 2nd and continued to push hard we waited for Vale to start his attack. Amazingly the pressure got to him or there was something wrong with his bike but he made an unforced error coming into a corner and the bike slid away from him. He managed to recover it from the gravel but was way down in 14th. Bro and I screamed with delight. Ok we don't want to see Nicky win this way but after the last race's disappointment this was incredible. Vale tried to come back but couldn't make up any places and even though Nicky came in 3rd it was enough of a points gap for him to win the championship. We were chuffed to the max. Nicky always comes across as an honest, genuine and sincere guy who at least had the balls to stand up to Rossi and now he'd achieved his dream. It couldn't have happened to a nicer guy and hearing him choked up when the camera's talked to him was genuinely moving. Rossi demonstrated what a big man he was by congratulating Nicky as they did the 'cool down' lap. It wasn't a token tap on the back but a proper look him in the face and wish him well gesture.

Ah, at last, a sporting event that we were watching that went our way. We couldn't believe it and it felt great to have seen it. Way to go Nicky. Spent the remainder of the afternoon doing some washing and watching Warrior King which I'd ordered on DVD. To those that have read previous entries, or the movies page, I'd seen this at the pictures about six months ago and it blew me away. It's impact had not been lessened in those intervening months and the violent creativity left me giddy again. If you want an arse kicking martial arts film that truly delivers the goods then I don't think you can go much further than this.

Followed this with Dog Soldiers after tea. Still such a great film. I think it has to be my favourite British film. Some people talk about Lock stock or Four weddings but the writing in this is just how real British blokes talk and the fact they play it straight, rather than hamming it up, only adds to it. I love the action scenes, the frenetic pacing, the cleverness of the script and the humour. It rocked my world when I saw it at the pictures and it's still just as good a film.

Talk soon.