Weekend Chatterbox

Top 5 vodka mixers:

Lucozade
Tizer
Irn Bru*
Gin and Lime cordial
Tomato Juice and Tabasco

*I've never tried it, but I reckon this would definitely be the right place in the list.

The only time I drink vodka is if its in a Harvey Wallbanger:

Ingredients
 
1 1/2 ounces vodka
4 ounces orange juice
1/2 ounce Galliano L'Autentico Liqueur

Running through the forest to this music



(the Ravel orchestration of the Pictures at an Exhibition is one of my favourite pieces of classical music)

You think those drinks are real?

What is real? How do you define 'real'? If you're talking about what you can feel, what you can smell, what you can taste and see, then 'real' is simply electrical signals interpreted by your brain.

"Lunch": "Beef Flavoured" "Super noodles"

Yup. The fam fetched them back from camping (unused in the packet) and I just had to have them. They were a bit disappointing and bland, much like my face. They're certainly not up to Pot Noodle or Soba standard.

Obviously all of the above only really happened in my mind as that's what the matrix programmed me to think.

You should have gone the Cypher route

OTTM, making chilli con Carne and following a hairy bikers recipe for a change. Well nearly, I thought I had some kidney beans but the cupboard says no. So will replace with either butter beans, chickpeas or bollotti, or a combination of two.

It's all go go go here.

Superb interview at the end with Root (on sky). Nas was nearly blubbing. Talked about the mental strain of captaincy and how it was affecting his home/family life due to the scrutiny. None of the usual bullshit where he's having the defend or explain a poor performance by the team, just talked about him, his batting and the game. I know he's got a job most would love and he gets paid to play sport and travel the world, but it obviously was damaging him mentally. He looked like the cheeky schoolboy again in this test. A magnificent innings. And, whilst alot of people, me included, have criticised his captaincy, he has carried England for the last two years in terms of the batters. I agree, I think he could score even more now he's not captain, which is ridiculous when you look at what he has already done.

Tldr; nice one, Joe.

I started playing the Wii original a long time ago and didn't get very far because I also had a hard time with the battle system. Never wanted the 3DS version because I found the format ridiculous for this game. I'm now about 160 hours into the Definitive Edition on the Switch and enjoying a lot. They've improved the menu and I've found it much easier than before to get my head around the various systems. You are getting tutorials surprisingly far into the story because they keep making the battle system more complex and refined, but in my experience one can fudge it a bit until one's used to it.

If you have no patience to experiment with the wide range of battle moves (arts), using a guide can be a great time saver (I myself use game8.co/games/Xenoblade-Chronicles-Definitive-Edition/archives/289556 but don't consult it until you have more arts than slots or you might spot a spoiler).

Bosses can be tough but for quite a long time they are just there to teach you another mechanic, so you basically beat them by mastering that technique. I've now reached a point where I'm a bit overlevelled, so the last boss fights have been relatively smooth sailing. The only problem I've encountered so far was a boss fight that due to my party setup I could neither win nor lose (both sides were constantly regenerating health), but it's a known issue and eventually I managed to get out of the endless loop.

It's a beautiful and engrossing game and I can't stop playing it.

Indicating is a sign of weakness.

It gives others a chance to see and disrupt your plans, rather than to react to your victory.

They've got a live band down hereabouts. Fantastic. I am now a wee bit drunk.

A four piece band, 2 guitarists, 1 drummer and a chap on the sax. Wonderful.