Originally published at Now Is A Long Time Too. You can comment here or there.

My boots are falling to bits - mainly by wearing through the inner soles to the, uh, structural stuff below, but also developing some tears in other places. Therefore I wish to buy new boots. I don't much want the pain of breaking in Docs or the like. New Rocks are too expensive, somewhat impractical, and make me look like a combat-specced dwarf. I'd like them to last well, and be comfortable. I'm not much bothered about how they look (beyond the desire not to look as if I should have braids in my beard) - work has no dress code whatsoever, and if I need to look respectable, I have Respectable Shoes for just that purpose. I would prefer black to brown or grey, but that's a minor point.

Should I just go buy myself some hiking boots, or is there another brand or type I should be looking for?

Originally published at Now Is A Long Time Too. You can comment here or there.

Big Easy players - how many of ye will make it tomorrow evening? , you still on that course?

Locksmith's Folly players, no game this week, but if you want to get details about any aspects of Elsaive, or anything else that requires a lengthy response from me, now is a good time.

And we need to coordinate a time for the next Kingfisher's Way game, too.

Originally published at Now Is A Long Time Too. You can comment here or there.

Nights are drawing in, there are pumpkins and masks in the shops, the mornings are misty, that means it's that time of year again: Gaelcon!

Who's going? And are you planning to be anti-social and play scheduled games, or wander round and play pickup stuff in a sociable manner? Pub quizzing, or available for some food thing one or more evenings? Planning to buy vast quantities of stuff, or is it just going to happen anyway?

Originally published at Now Is A Long Time Too. You can comment here or there.

I've just found a fantastic gallery of photoshop brushes on deviantart. These are the ink-stamps of the digital world, and these ones are really good.

Originally published at Now Is A Long Time Too. You can comment here or there.

An interesting essay by David Hayward on Photorealism in Videogames.

Originally published at Now Is A Long Time Too. You can comment here or there.

In order to get back into the swing of using Photoshop and similar tools, I threw together a wallpaper tonight. You can see it on deviantart here - and some others there as well.

Originally published at Now Is A Long Time Too. You can comment here or there.

The Art By The Inch thing I'm doing for November is for 10,000 square inches of art. I'm discounting work things for this, as that feels like cheating.

I'll be working with wallpapers and icons, campaign world maps, and sketchbooks - which will be abstracts, scenery, and still life/details.

An A4 page in a sketchbook is about 96 square inches, give or take a bit, so 104 such pages will add up to the total on their own, if fully covered. A 1024×768 pixel wallpaper, at 72dpi, is about 140 square inches, and a 100×100 livejournal icon is just short of two square inches - 11 of them makes 20 square inches, basically. And the usual size I work with for mapmaking is A3, which is 192 square inches all on its own, but inevitably has some blank space, so I'll call it 150 square inches.

That doesn't look too hard, right? Two sketchbook pages, and a wallpaper every day, with some icons and maps thrown in. Suggestions and requests welcome.

Originally published at Now Is A Long Time Too. You can comment here or there.

I'm in for - I don't do enough visual stuff.

Originally published at Now Is A Long Time Too. You can comment here or there.

The more I work in design, the more I notice the damn stuff everywhere. A few collected comments…

O2's graphic designers have clearly discovered Bryce, and they luurrrrve it. That, or one of their advertising execs thinks Bryce's desert-and-moon landscapes are really, really great. I've been seeing them in game publications for years though, so they end up looking a bit naff to me.

Paddy Power have chutzpah. There was a billboard ad for their casino site a couple of weeks ago, featuring the Last Supper, with the table covered in cards, roulette tables, and so on, with text “There's a place for fun and games”. Some either clueless or paid-by-Paddy-Power churchman did a whole lot of protesting and complaining, and the ad got coverage in national newspapers. Eventually, under a storm of protest from various quarters, they retracted the ad - and replaced it with one reading, in big red text on a plain white background, “There's a place for fun and games, and apparently this isn't it.”, and a url you can go to to see the ad.

Finally, the power of the window display never fails to amaze me. I had the notion that this season's A-Wear lines (yes, I do in fact notice these things) were much better than usual, and yet looking at the clothes proved that actually, they're no better than usual. This mystified me until I saw the backdrop images in the windows - white and gold baroque rooms. Nothing to do with the clothes, but a direct line to my sense of taste.

Originally published at Now Is A Long Time Too. You can comment here or there.

I've been mystified for most of my life by the way in which people object to spoilers. And over the last couple of days, I've seen some fine examples of giving out, complaining, and outright temper tantrums over Serenity spoilers. It's becoming clear to me that other people don't watch films - or plays, series, novels, or anything else like that - in the same way I do. And, to be perfectly honest, I'm starting to think they're missing out.

I take on anything that has a narrative in a non-linear - or at least multi-dimensional - way. I sit there, and I suspend disbelief at the same time as I take note of everything. The order that elements arrive in my mind is not as important as the gestalt - and there's definitely a gestalt. I'll flip forward in a novel, then go back a few pages and read a segment again. I'll read the entire script of a movie - and two fan-written alternates - before I see it. I'll listen to a recording of a symphony before I go to hear it played live. I'll happily read up on the history of a set-designer before I see a play (ok, haven't done that last in years, but the principle's there).

There's the argument that the event should be arrived at without prejudice, so that you see it all as the author intended it. Which I have to label nonsense, because there is no work in existence that is perceived as the author intended. You can't do it. You enter any work with your own pre-conceived ideas, stereotypes, archetypes, and concepts. The tragic figure may be amusing to you. The comic relief may be tragic in your mind. The awe-inducing scene at the beginning may bore you. You may hate the theme music, and think it anachronistic, even as the author thinks it sets the scene perfectly.

And I have to ask, if the linear arrival of the elements in your mind is so important, what about preludes, cut-scenes, flashbacks, multiple points of view? There are plenty of fantastic books and films out there that tell you the ending in the first scene. The obsession with remaining spoiler-free, as far as I can see, does nothing but inhibit the enjoyment of the event itself, and give you all sorts of hassle in the process.

About the only place where I can see the argument for remaining spoiler free is the first-person experience - the videogame, the RPG, the LARP, where the very point is that you don't know what's happening next. In any other case, you reduce your experience of the event by not preparing for it.

Although as it happens, I don't yet know the spoilers for Serenity. I'm not going to go looking for them, because I've done my speculating and am now content to wait, but if someone tells me, I won't be in the least worried - and I'll be reading transcripts of Firefly and Buffy, and interviews with Joss and the crew between now and then.

Originally published at Now Is A Long Time Too. You can comment here or there.

Since starting to try to lose weight, I've knocked off about two stone. This is having the desired effect of letting me buy cheap clothes, but it's having some other odd and in many cases unexpected effects too.

First, I'm losing my insulation, and it's getting cold. I'm having to go over a number of old meditation routines and alter out the ones that deal with bloodflow and keeping warm, which is weird. I used to be able to stand in the old “beer garden” in Fibbers and keep three other people warm, though, when I was smaller before, so I know it can be done.

Second, while I have more energy at the start of the day, when I get tired, I go down like a poleaxed bullock, thud. No reserves of energy anymore.

Third, my body is developing all kinds of weird planes and angles where there were none before. There are inward curves at points on my arms and thighs where there weren't before, and they look fundamentally wrong still. I suspect the shape of my face is changing under the beard as well.

Fourthly, I can now keep up with silly-fast walking pace, even while carrying a full gaming kit.

Originally published at Now Is A Long Time Too. You can comment here or there.

Yesterday, courtesy of a birthday gift from , I took possession of two CDs and a novel. The CDs got MP3′d immediately, and listened to through the day, as music from Tangerine Dream and The Future Sound of London goes well with coding. However, this morning, listening to them again on Meeces as I walked across to Lansdowne Road, I decided that ambient was made for walking and MP3 players. I shall be seeking more of this stuff.

Originally published at Now Is A Long Time Too. You can comment here or there.

An image archive, with textures. Useful.

Originally published at Now Is A Long Time Too. You can comment here or there.

It's immensely difficult to search for anything Victorian on the web without running into Martha-Jane's Victorian Christmas Site and similar twee sanitised items. However, what I'm actually looking for at present are the typefaces used in Victorian and Edwardian publications, posters and catalogues, and the little flourishes that you see around the headers.

An elderly relative of mine used to do these in type, like this:
~oO Title Goes Here Oo~
… but even if that's kinda cool and retro, it's not going to cut it in design these days.

Anyone know where I could find graphics for these things? Even Dover-type books that I can scan will do the trick.

Originally published at Now Is A Long Time Too. You can comment here or there.

? Can I draw your attention to Dance Dance Immolation?

Originally published at Now Is A Long Time Too. You can comment here or there.

LJ Interests meme results

1. barbara hambly:
   Hambly is one of the best writers I know of, consistently combining fantastic prose, compelling settings, and sympathetic characters. Her work influences my writing and world-building more than any other writer - although a lot of it is at levels where it's hard to see.
2. cities as creatures:
   The notion of the city as organism, with its own internal systems, ecological footprint, life-cycle, and so on, is one that fascinates me. I've seen it dealt with in fiction and metaphor, and I think there's a fair argument to be made for considering it thus scientifically.
3. dragons:
   Dragons are the iconic creature of fantasy, as far as I'm concerned. I tend to think them as massive, majestic and aloof, for the most part, and one of the few things I really dislike about D&D is the way in which they're just another monster.
4. geology:
   I did some geology in college, and have been very keen on it since. Not only does it allow understanding and thinking on a very long timescale, but it indulges my collecting and hoarding instincts as well.
5. ireland:
   I live here - how could I not be interested? Ireland has come from being a second world nation when I was born to being definitely first world; except that that first world nature is only a few inches deep. Dublin in particular is becoming as cosmopolitan a city as any in the world, and in a better, friendlier way.
6. luis royo:
   Luis Royo is probably the artist whose works I spend the most time looking at, along with Tony DiTerlizzi. The attention to detail is the thing that appeals most, at first, and his subject matter; beautiful people, archaic and futuristic weapons, monsters, and ruins, all appeal as well. There are very few of his images I don't like.
7. orrery:
   The orrery represents a more generic interest in old mechanical devices, from astrolabes to clocks. There's a beauty to early mechanics - and even into early electronics - with wood and brass fittings, decorative touches, and craftsmanship, that's absent from the modern forms. The fact that orreries tend to be huge, and do astronomical stuff is no harm.
8. reading:
   Well, duh. Take away my reading, and I'd be left very confused. I don't think this requires much explanation.
9. spices:
   Spices - and herbs - make cooking from a prosaic thing into an art form, and one that I'm not bad at. A few carefully selected spices can transform a dish.
10. weather:
    Weather might be more of an obsession than an interest, really. I grew up in a place where you can see weather approaching for ten miles or more, and the art of predicting what was going to come over the flanks of Mount Leinster next was one I got good at at an early age. I associate weather with magic, too, not least because it's the form of magic I'm best at - and do try to use least, because it's a very wide effect.

Enter your LJ user name, and 10 interests will be selected from your interest list.

Originally published at Now Is A Long Time Too. You can comment here or there.

We're looking for a Junior Graphic Designer. The real requirements are that you're good at design, and smart with Flash. Also, according to one of the existing designers, “with a bit of commercial cop on and who doesn't mind selling her/his soul to the devil”. If you want in, send me a CV - ashiel at sportsinteraction dot com.

Originally published at Now Is A Long Time Too. You can comment here or there.

Autumn brings out the pyromaniac in me. Even more, I mean, I'm already fascinated enough by fire. But I really feel I should be geting together large piles of wood which will burn at this time of year. ' mother kindly brought in some bags of timber for us a couple of weeks ago, and I lit a fire on Thursday evening last with some of that, only to be baffled. I'm not sure what the wood is; on initial examination, it looks to be a softwood of some kind, but it's hard as the hob of hell, utterly resistant to a hatchet, and only burns when completely surrounded by other burning material. Then, though, it goes for hours. Eventually, surrounded by flaming turf briquettes, it got going. I shall experiment with kindling and other burny things.

We've had roast beef two weekends now - first an ordinary supermarket-bought beef roast, and then, this weekend, a good rib roast from a butcher in Dun Laoghaire. The difference was incredible; last week's was good, certainly, but this week's was fantastic.

We picked blackberries on Saturday at 's house (and got well fed, while we were at it, which was very much appreciated). The picking involved crossing a river, scrambling up a small cliff, and proceeding around a reservoir. It was pretty successful; we ended up with about 2kg of berries, and the season clearly isn't fully in yet, so we'll go back in about two weeks time. We picked some rosehips as well, for experimental purposes, and I note that it'd be a good place to look for elderflowers, for anyone so inclined.

I made jam from the blackberries yesterday, and made blackberry crumble. The crumble is absolutely excellent, although I'm not entirely happy with the jam - it set so hard it's almost chewy, which is not a problem I've had with blackberry jam before. I'm going to reduce the sugar content for the next batch, I think, or use a mix of jam sugar and ordinary sugar.

The first batch of pickled cucumbers that put down a while ago were deemed ready for eating, and they're great. I like pickles, and since they do nothing in terms of adding weight, I can eat them until I turn blue if I want. I'll be pickling more cucumber, and also some peppers, onions, and more experimental goods later this week.

And some of the rosemary I dried during the summer has now been deleafed and put into a jar, and a fresh bunch brought in. I'll be making some rosemary oil, and anyone who wants some dried rosemary should let me know; I'll have more than we can use in about a month's time, and we tend to use fresh anyway.

Originally published at Now Is A Long Time Too. You can comment here or there.

I just uploaded 10 more WoW screenshots to flickr.

Originally published at Now Is A Long Time Too. You can comment here or there.

The Sportsbook Redesign project has been officially closed off, having logged 22.5 days of my working time. If you’re interested, you can see the results here. There’s a fantastic feeling in seeing that final “Closed” label pop up in the project management tracker, before it vanishes. I can finally start thinking about other projects - a new CMS, and a Knowledge Base being foremost among them.