The Science Illiterate

“If at first an idea does not sound absurd, there is no hope for it.” – Albert Einstein

I hate to start a blog about science with such a cliché quote. Einstein is the de-facto go to guy when you want to sound like you understand science or the scientific method, it happens regularly.

Just as a side example of this sort of thing, there’s this story that passes around Religious communities and forums used for religious debates, it purportedly tells the story of how a young Einstein proves the existence of God during a science lesson. You can find details of this story, and just why it is wrong, here: http://www.religioustolerance.org/culeins.htm

So it is with great pleasure that I admit to you now, before you read too much further into this blog, that I am not a scientist. I have only ever studied science at the G.C.S.E level, never taking it to PhD or higher. I was fairly good at science at school, but was never good enough to take it as a serious career option.

So why am I writing a blog about science? How could I have the audacity to cover a scientific subject without the correct authority?

My understanding and appreciation of both science and the scientific method didn’t really progress much until I reached University about three years ago. Before this point in time, I just accepted certain things that I heard, and went along with the flow of things.

Before this point, I thought a scientific theory was an educated guess, but it wasn’t a proven fact. I heard about Evolution and The Big Bang and accepted them, but didn’t really think about why. They just seemed obviously true, because people had devoted their lives to these things, even though they’d never been proven to be true.

But then something changed. I started University at around the same time I started talking to people that were more scientifically and philosophically inclined. These people took the time to explain anything I wanted to know, easing away certain misgivings and obliterating misconceptions.

Thanks to these people, I went from the belief that “Science is hard to understand, so it’s best to leave it to the experts and just accept what you want to accept,” to the sudden realisation that science was relatively easy to understand, that the evidence behind scientific claims is there for every person in an advanced nation to look at and observe, and that there was in fact a massive difference between a scientific theory, and a theory in everyday speech.

One extra thing that I learnt was that authority was always to be questioned. You couldn’t just accept someone saying something is true, the people making the claim had to show you why and how it was true (i.e., present the evidence to back up their claim, much like you’d expect in a court).

In reality, nothing gives me overall authority to write this blog. I’m not an expert in any field of science; I’m just an avid fan of near enough all of them. The authority that is presented in this blog comes not from me, but from the evidence that I present to you, the reader.

It is up to you if the evidence is sufficient to make you accept what I’m talking about, but do keep in mind that as I am not a scientist I may not always be able to fully explain a concept. If this becomes the case, I will try and link to better explanations, or quote from more eloquent sources. Evidence exists for what I’ll be talking about, it is readily available for any and all of you to check out for yourself, and if you really struggle with it then it is more than possible to find a person with the correct qualifications and understanding of the subject to talk you through it.

That’s one question answered, but why is it that I’m writing this in the first place?

There are people in existence, some of them in the public eye, that remain ignorant of the scientific method and also feel the need to push their misconceptions upon people that don’t really have the time to check whether they’re true or not.

Sometimes these people remain ignorant on purpose, being corrected many times, and continue to push their misconceptions on the public using their position in society to lend the idea some authority; other times these people are ignorant of the facts because they’ve been duped by one of their authority figures.

Creationists are the first people to come to mind, but religious fundamentalist groups aren’t the only ones to use these tactics. Anthropogenic Global Warming (the idea that humans are affecting the climate on Earth) is just as accepted amongst the scientific community as something like gravity, or atoms, yet various groups try to push misconceptions into the public eye that criticise the methods used to detect climate change, among various other tactics.

This blog in particular is going to cover various misconceptions that surround The Big Bang Theory, and the scientific method (along with the burden of proof). It has come to my attention through numerous sources, some close to home and others within the public eye, that so very few people actually understand the fundamental concept behind The Big Bang Theory.

What is worse is that all of these sources are happy to continue repeating their misconceptions, despite repeatedly being corrected on the issue. This is my attempt at correcting these issues.

Something from nothing?

On the 18th of May, I was shown an article on E! Online titled “Heavens No! Kirk Cameron Attacks Stephen Hawking for Godless Views.”

For those of you that don’t know, Kirk Cameron is mostly known for his role as Mike Seaver in the US Television show “Growing Pains.” Along with being an actor, Cameron is a strong supporter of the Creationist or “Intelligent Design” movement, often appearing in videos promoting the belief system and (as I’ve hinted at) using his position in society to push his beliefs as fact.

Cameron wasn’t too fond of Stephen Hawking sharing his opinion that there was no need to invoke a creator when it came to the origins of the universe, and that heaven didn’t exist. I take issue with most of what Cameron is quoted as saying, but my biggest gripe of all comes with his statement:

"Why should anyone believe Mr. Hawking's writings if he cannot provide evidence for his unscientific belief that out of nothing, everything came?"

The idea that The Big Bang Theory states that everything came from nothing is a popular misconception, held by many. Several days after Cameron made this statement, a friend of mine made a similar remark when posting a link to a video showing off the beauty of our universe. He said:

"Check out this amazing video of the stars then tell me which of these statements make more sense...."In the beginning there was nothing...then it exploded." [atheist big bang theory] Or "in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth". [ancient text read and believed by millions]"

So how do we address these statements? There’s obviously so much wrong in both of them, but where do we start?

1 - [atheist big bang theory]



We’ll start with the inane belief that The Big Bang Theory is a concept created by Atheists by going a little into the history of its creation.

In 1927, Georges Lemaître published his paper "Un Univers homogène de masse constante et de rayon croissant rendant compte de la vitesse radiale des nébuleuses extragalactiques" ("A homogeneous Universe of constant mass and growing radius accounting for the radial velocity of extragalactic nebulae") in the journal Annales de la Société Scientifique de Bruxelles (Annals of the Scientific Society of Brussels).

A quick search online will show you that Georges Lemaître was a Catholic Priest, and that when he first proposed this concept it was missed by many astronomers of the time, and even Einstein himself refused to accept the idea of an expanding universe.

This just proves the point that The Big Bang Theory is far from an Atheist idea, given that Einstein is the Atheist (or, if not an Atheist, then a Pantheist), and Lemaître is the Theist.

Science is not, and should not be, governed by religious beliefs, political beliefs, or other such bias. This is why peer review is such a key stage in the scientific method. Whilst bias may slip through occasionally, it is eventually filtered out by the rest of the community.

2 - out of nothing, everything came



It would be some years before Lemaître proposed the idea of the Primeval Atom, instead at first accepting Einstein’s concept of a finite universe.

However, at no point before or after the proposal of the primeval atom is there ever any claim on there being “nothing.”

“Nothing” is a concept that is generally not accepted amongst the scientific community, but this need not even be discussed. At no point is any claim made about what existed, if anything, “before” the primeval atom. At this stage, your guess is really as good as anybody else’s...we have no evidence that there was anything other than the primeval atom.

“Before” the big bang is another concept that, at this stage, doesn’t really work. The word before implies a length of time, and so far as we know (and as far as all the evidence suggests), time only began to exist when the primeval atom began to expand. Time and Space are connected; the primeval atom was an infinitely dense construct with all the most basic building blocks of the universe in one spot.

The idea of there being a point “before” the existence of both Time & Space is one made out of the human minds inability to grasp the concept of an infinitely dense object.

What I’m explaining here is a very, very, basic explanation behind it all. For a better explanation, you’re probably better off reading Hawking’s latest book “The Grand Design”, in which he explains that tiny quantum fluctuations in the early universe are what is responsible for the creation of the universe that we know and love today.

Isaac Newton’s First Law of Thermodynamics simply states that energy can neither be created, nor destroyed, only transferred from one state to another; yet further evidence that it is accepted amongst the scientific community that the universe cannot be created from “nothing.”

3 - which of these statements make more sense...."In the beginning there was nothing...then it exploded." Or "in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth"



I’ve already shown that it is an erroneous belief to say that The Big Bang Theory states that everything came from nothing. So let’s cover the next two parts of this statement in one go.

I briefly explained that The Big Bang Theory states that the primeval atom expanded, due to tiny quantum fluctuations in the early universe, to form what we know today. This is not an explosion. You’d be forgiven for thinking the theory is talking of an explosion, given the name, but this is once again failing to look into the history surrounding it.

On the 28th March, 1949, Fred Hoyle spoke on BBC Radio’s Third Programme of his disagreement with Lemaître’s hypothesis. He spoke of his own hypothesis, the Steady State Universe, and simplified Lemaître’s concept of an expanding universe by calling it The Big Bang.

The name caught on, but sadly gives people an entirely wrong idea of just how the universe was first formed.

So we now know that The Big Bang was not an explosion, just a gradual expansion.

We have evidence of this, from the Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation, to the distant stars and galaxies slowly moving away from us. For more information on the evidence supporting The Big Bang Theory, head over to here: http://www.talkorigins.org/indexcc/CE/CE420.html

So let us consider the next piece of the statement:

"in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth"

It is often argued that everything that exists has a creator, the universe exists, thus it must have a creator.

The people that use this argument are often ignoring the biggest obstacle facing them. If the creator exists, then the creator must have had a creator, and if that creator exists, then that creator must have a creator. We fall into the trap of infinite regress, with each creator having their own creator in an infinite stream of creators.

The people that argue this will use a case of special pleading, stating that their creator (whichever they have chosen to believe in) has existed forever and did not need to be created, applying a further concept to their god or gods without first proving the existence of their god or gods.

We’ve all heard of the concept behind Occam’s Razor, even if you’re unaware of the name itself. Often the simplest explanation is the best or, the explanation that makes the least amount of assumptions is the best.

I’m getting into a theological argument here, something that I am only doing to point out the major flaw in thinking behind the statement to which I respond.

With Occam’s Razor in mind, and the information I have provided in support of The Big Bang Theory in plain sight, I think it is time to reword the initial statement to fit the evidence.

“Which statement makes more sense:

‘The basic building blocks of the universe were contained in a simple yet infinitely dense particle, which then expanded due to tiny quantum fluctuations to form the universe we have today.’

Or

‘An infinitely complex entity that is beyond our understanding, and beyond measure and observation, created the basic building blocks of the universe that were contained in a simple yet infinitely dense particle which then expanded due to tiny quantum fluctuations to form the universe we have today.’”

The statement is longer, but I feel it accurately portrays both sides. A statement like this is often backed up with arguments of the universe being too complex to have arisen by chance or accident, once again ignoring that a creator or creators are also complex entities that either have no creator, or were created by yet another set of complex creators (ad infinitum).

Occam’s Razor can break this down for you. It takes far more assumptions to accept that a creator is behind everything, than it does to accept that the universe came from a basic system and grew in complexity as it expanded.

If it must be argued that one of these items has to be infinite, then would it not be simpler to apply the concept of an infinite state to the early universe? Though, then again, infinity implies time, and I have shown that we cannot be certain whether or not time existed (if anything at all) without the expanded universe.

4 - [ancient text read and believed by millions]



This is both an Appeal to Age (argumentum ad antiquitatem) and an Appeal to Popularity (Argumentum ad Populum).

There is little that needs to be said about this to be honest.

It is an inane argument that states that because this text is ancient, it is more truthful than others, and that because it is believed to be true by many millions of people, it must be.

It is simply argued against by pointing out that at one point it was widely accepted that the Earth was the centre of the universe, that mental illnesses were caused by demonic possession, that the Earth was flat, that tectonic plates weren’t real, and many hundreds of thousands of ideas and concepts that have since been proven false or true.

The number of people that accept something to be true, or right, does not automatically make it correct. The value is in the evidence, not the support.

5 - Why should anyone believe Mr. Hawking's writings if he cannot provide evidence for his unscientific belief



And so I finally come to what started me off on this blog, and the concept of the scientific method and the burden of proof.

I have shown throughout this blog, and will list several more resources for your perusal, that this is ample evidence in support of The Big Bang Theory. Hawking gives plenty more evidence throughout The Grand Design, evidence that is readily available for anybody to look at and research themselves.

I have shown that the remainder of Cameron’s statement is also flawed and inaccurate in numerous ways.

However, I find myself asking a simple question of Kirk Cameron (and all who agree with him), where his evidence of a god or a heaven is?

Evidence is king, I have shown this. This is a concept that is widely accepted by everybody in their day to day lives, but one that is often abandoned when it comes to something with which they disagree.

If a person makes a claim as to the existence of something, then it is obvious that you will ask for evidence to back it up; the greater the claim, the greater the required evidence.

If I were to state that I had an apple in my bag, then to prove my claim to be true I would need only produce the apple (and perhaps show that it was indeed a real apple by slicing it, sharing it, etc). However, if I were to make the claim that in my bag I held a device that allowed me to manipulate reality and travel through time; I would need to produce more than just a device that happened to look cool enough to do this.

I would have to show that the device could indeed manipulate reality and travel through time, among numerous amounts of other evidence.

Hawking, and other astronomers and physicists, have provided the evidence to support their claim. They continue to search for more evidence, and repeatedly test the evidence they have collected against new data, to make sure it shows the same results each time.

If Kirk is going to lay down the claim that a god or gods exist, where is the evidence? If Kirk is going to lay down the claim that heaven exists, where is the evidence?

Arguments have been made in support of a god or gods, and of a heaven, and supposed evidence has been presented to people that do not believe, but it is often lacking in every way conceivable. When preparing to present evidence for the support of a claim, ask yourself ‘Would this stand up in court?’

Anecdotal Evidence barely stands up in court. Human perception is often skewed by their own bias, or numerous other things. Simply stating that you have felt god, or met god, or witnessed god, is not an argument for the existence of god; it is simply an argument that you had an experience that you could not explain (and thus decided to explain anyway).

Suggesting that because you cannot explain something, or that nobody else can explain something, means that a god or gods exist, is also not evidence. Being unable to explain something is not an explanation.

And the list goes on. It is just simple common sense, though I’m certain that people will refuse to accept this and put it down to me having a different standard of which evidence to accept.

So let’s go back to my reality manipulating device in the bag situation. If I walk up to you and say that I have this device, you will ask for me to prove it. Instead of providing the device, and the evidence of it working, I simply introduce you to other people that I have shown the device to.

These people corroborate my claim, they say that the device is fantastic and that they have personally witnessed my manipulation of reality and time with this device.

Do you believe these people? Why?


Thankyou for taking the time to read this lengthy blog. Please let me know if I’ve explained something poorly, or have gotten something completely wrong, I will try my best to fix any mistakes.

For further reading, or viewing, follow these links:

An Index to Creationist Claims - http://www.talkorigins.org/indexcc/list.html

From The Big Bang to us, made easy - http://www.youtube.com/user/potholer54#grid/user/DB23537556D7AADB

The Scientific Method & The Burden of Proof - http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~edmin/Pamphlets/Pamphlet%2003%20-%20Scientific%20Method%20and%20the%20Burden%20of%20Proof.pdf


References:

Kirk Cameron (IMDB) - http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0131647/

Heaven’s No! Kirk Cameron attacks Stephen hawking for Godless views - http://uk.eonline.com/uberblog/b242570_heavens_no_kirk_cameron_attacks_stephen.html

George Lamaitre - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georges_Lema%C3%AEtre

Fred Hoyle, Rejection of The Big Bang - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Hoyle#Rejection_of_the_Big_Bang

Conservation of Energy - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conservation_of_energy

Appeal to Age - http://atheism.about.com/library/FAQs/skepticism/blfaq_fall_novelty.htm

Appeal to Popularity - http://atheism.about.com/od/logicalfallacies/a/numbers.htm

Occam’s razor - http://science.howstuffworks.com/innovation/scientific-experiments/occams-razor.htm

Big Bang Theory evidence - http://www.talkorigins.org/indexcc/CE/CE420.html

Big Bang not an explosion - http://www.talkorigins.org/indexcc/CE/CE441.html

Lara Logan: Sexual Assault in Egypt

Lara Logan, a reporter with South African heritage, was in Egypt the day that Mubarak stood down from ruling the country. She made her way to the celebrations, hoping to catch the historic event. After the battery in the camera started to go, the mob turned on the crew.

The crew were separated, leaving them to fight for themselves. Lara and her bodyguard remained close for a while, but as the mob turned violent and sexually assaulted Lara, tearing her bodyguard away from her.

The following video is her account of what happened. You don't see anything, not even any images of the aftermath, but her testimony alone is enough to make me feel sick...so be warned.



Time and time again we hear of rape being blamed on the woman, or generally on the victim (believe it or not, men can be raped by women), and the argument of what they were wearing or how they were acting is brought into it.

"Oh, she was dressed like a slut...she clearly wanted it."

"Oh, she was flirting with him, she clearly wanted it."

So I have to ask, what is the response to this? This woman wasn't flirting with anyone, she was a journalist covering an event. She wasn't dressed provactively, she was wearing trousers and a jacket, multiple layers.

What happened to Lara, and what happens to thousands of women (and men) every year in Egypt and all over the world, is a sickening thing. This is something that person should ever have to go through, and to have it then be blamed upon the victim? That's adding insult to injury.

There is little more I can say about this except that I am sickened to the very core...

Thanks to ZOMGitsCriss for linking this on her blog [HERE]

Writing in an errant style

I came to my University course in Journalism thinking that writing was easy, that it was something I was quite good at, and that the course would just hone my skill. Never before have I felt so incorrect and during my final year whilst taking my Feature Development unit, I thought now would be a grand time to reflect on just why I was incorrect.



Over the course of this unit, we have been expected to write a set of features between 800 and 2,000 words in length, with each feature being about a different niche market.

We've been expected to write articles on sports & hobbies, Interior Design, Investigative reporting, and various other areas of interest. Needless to say, these were not areas that I was used to writing about. I can write about a film or a game, I can do an in-depth piece of a director or a developer, but ask me to write about Interior Design and I begin to question how I can write 800 words on cushions.

Surprisingly, however, with a bit of hand holding at the start and a push in the right direction afterwards, feature ideas and interviewees started to flood out of the woodwork.

The feature I am by far the happiest with is my investigative health piece, and it also happens to be the longest of my features. I had always had an interest in writing investigative pieces, but any I had attempted before this would quickly fall apart under the pressure of poor interview choices, or no interviews at all. This piece paid testament to the idea that a good interviewee or a good quote could make the article.

The piece, about a specialist clinic in Gloucestershire that dealt with young girls with severe anorexia, allowed me to gain access to the location I was investigating and gave me the chance to do a face-to-face interview with the manager of Althea House. The fact that the interview was face-to-face was a big enough event for me, let alone the ability to visit the location I was reporting on.

Despite having been on a Journalism course for almost the full three years, I had only ever conducted interviews via e-mail, or occasionally over the phone. The only thing that had ever come close to a face-to-face interview was grabbing people off of the street for Vox Pops in the early period of my very first year, and people on the street rarely want to say more than 10 words at any given time.

While conducting the interview, I finally felt like a real Journalist. As my interviewee spoke to me, new questions formed in my mind and I was able to have a back and forth with her, taking the interview into new places that I hadn’t considered before arriving at Althea House.



After I had conducted the interview at Althea House, and gained a quick tour of the location to get a good feel for what the place was like, it was time for me to type up the actual interview (handily recorded on a Dictaphone).

This was another obstacle I had never faced before. Obviously with most of my interviews conducted via e-mail, it was quicker for me to just cut, copy, and paste the interviews into the required spaces in my articles, whilst with phone interviews I was always in front of a computer or laptop, able to type up any given responses. This time, I had to take the time to re-listen to my interview (over an hour in length) and type up the lengthy discussion we had.

I realise that this is something that a professional Journalist would have to go through on a regular basis, either typing up the notes they took whilst at a press conference or giving an interview, or transcribing what was recorded in a video or on a Dictaphone, but this was a process I had never spent too much time thinking over.

This process delayed my writing of the feature a little bit, as I hadn’t planned ahead to include the time it would take to transcribe my interview. However, whilst it took me longer to write up the interview, this time and focus on what the interviewee said gave me the chance to think about where the feature would go, what order I would use the quotes I was picking out of the interview, and various other little details that I think I probably would have missed if I had just done an interview over e-mail.

With my first feature out of the way, I felt far more positive about the rest of this unit than I had when I started. Whilst I still wasn’t sure what I could write for Interior Design (I had now moved onto constant thoughts of frills on curtains), ideas were starting to come together for my other, more specialised, areas.

A profile piece, a hobby or sport piece, and finally a piece on Interior Design.

I had numerous ideas on who to interview for my profile piece, but the only person to respond positively was an old friend and independent author Matthew Bellingham.

Unlike my first interview, I dealt with Matthew via e-mail, so I no longer faced the same problems as before. However, I was faced with a personal issue that Matthew had recently been through, which caused me a bit of concern over how to proceed with the interview over such a delicate time.

I was once again faced with an obstacle that I had never encountered before, that of remaining professional whilst interviewing Matthew, but also keeping myself polite and kind enough to not cause any distress or further problems.

Thankfully Matthew and I spoke about his issue, and he remained comfortable enough to continue to be interviewed for the small profile piece I was writing about him, and everything went smoothly from there. Understandably this problem was eased by my being good friends with the interviewee, so future interviews may not go as easily as this did, but hopefully with the right attitude at times like this, it won’t ever become too much of a problem to handle.

My next piece, on Sports & Hobbies, was relatively easy for me to do. I happened to be taking a trip to London to go to a convention for Comics and Computer Games, Kapow! Comic Con was the first official Comic Con to be held within the UK and offered me the perfect opportunity to write up a small feature on how it all went. I was lucky enough to be good friends with a member of one of the main sponsors of the event, so a short interview with him and a handful of Vox Pops from attendees made covering the event easy enough. I’m keenly aware at this point that this was easy for me because I had an interest in the subject area I was covering, and contacts at the event gave me better access than most attendees.

Having someone with me to take lots of photographs also helped, as these photographs can later be added to the article itself and add an extra layer of personality to my coverage, instead of trying to find stock photographs at a later date.

Finally came the Interior Design piece, the feature I had been dreading ever since I had read about it in the unit outline. However, upon looking through the articles I had written or researched already, I felt a sudden wave of inspiration.

Aside from the investigative piece, all of the articles focused strongly upon the geeky or nerdy subculture. This realisation inspired me to look into Geek Design.

Geek design, to me, is the collection of comic prints that a comic fan will hang on their wall, or an original piece by a well known game artist that hangs in the living room, or perhaps a coffee table that doubles as an arcade cabinet so the avid gamer can get a quick game of Pac-Man in before they head to bed.



This feature was slightly harder for me. Previous features had relied on contacts that I had already made, or friends of the family, whilst this one was entirely new to me. Whilst I knew a great number of artists already (whom would be perfect to interview about print collecting), I knew nobody that designed or sold the large electronics that could fill the dream home of a geek like myself.

Thankfully a brief search online resulted in various manufacturers and designers, like the above image, that have given me a great step towards interviewing the right people and making a new set of contacts for the future.

Captivate 2011 - If I were there...

Every year, Capcom hold an event in far off lands to showcase their future releases. This event is called Captivate (get it?), and Capcom are offering a chance to go there (over 18's only, with a valid passport!).

To be in with a chance, all you have to do is tell them (in no more than 200 words) what game you'd love for them to be showcasing.

Well, "who better to go than myself?" I ask. With any luck, noone at all...

My Dream Game - My entry for the Captivate Competition

Given my username, and my somewhat massive obsession with the Resident Evil series, you might be expecting me to tell you how great it'd be to get my hands on Resident Evil: Revelations, or just a quick glimpse at The Mercs 3D...but where's the fun in that?

No, my fun comes from seeing the glint of joy cross my fiancée's face, that glimmer in her eye as I present to her something that she's always wanted but never had the chance to get, so I saw this question and the answer popped right into my head.

The only game I'd like to be presented at Captivate 2011 would be Ace Attorney Investigations 2, the follow up to a series that my fiancée has played so much that she can recite lines like a shakespeare play, or giggle to herself as she remembers a joke about her dearest Edgey-poo.

To present Lindsey with the knowledge of its release date would brighten up both of our days; hers for finally knowing when the game will be grasped in her hands, and mine for finally getting some peace and quiet from the almost constant tirade of "Ask Capcom when AAI2 is getting released!"


So there you go...my dream game at Captivate 2011, and my reasoning why.

For more information on the competition, follow this link: [CLICKY]

30 Days of Gaming - Day Twelve

So there's this thing going around on facebook at the moment, where you post a picture a day that fits within a specific theme. I've chosen, for my first 30 Days, to go with Gaming.

Day Twelve - A Game Everybody Should Play

It took me a few minutes to figure out which game I thought everybody should play. But here it is:



One of only a few games that are directly based on H.P. Lovecraft's weird-fiction, it is by far my favourite. A First Person Shooter with a twist; you spend at least half of the game without a weapon.

Apparently it was meant to be a part of an entire series, but this one was so badly recieved that all plans for the future were dropped. Oddly, however, everybody I've spoken to that has played the game has loved it.

It's got a fairly intriguing storyline, a mixture of several of Lovecraft's best pieces, but the most prominent feature is the gameplay.

The main character is scared of heights, for instance, so every time he nears a ledge he panics and the screen goes blurry. Spend too long at the ledge, and he'll go crazy. Gameplay elements like this crop up all over the place, making the game far more inventive than any other FPS at the time (with the exception, perhaps, of the System Shock series).

The health system is based upon damage of the body parts, much like Fallout 3. If the character breaks his legs, you have to splint them and take pain killers to carry on...don't have splints of pain killers? Yep, you're pretty much screwed, and you can try and walk all you want but it won't get you very far.

There are many more reasons for why everybody should play this game, but I don't want to spoil much, so I'll just leave you with the trailer and move along.

30 Days of Gaming - Day Eleven

So there's this thing going around on facebook at the moment, where you post a picture a day that fits within a specific theme. I've chosen, for my first 30 Days, to go with Gaming.

Day Eleven - Gaming System of Choice

This is a ridiculously hard one for me to cover, because I like gaming...not games consoles, thus I see all gaming platforms as having Pros and Cons.

No gaming platform is perfect, and very few have been completely non-functional, they all fit the needs of whoever wants them.

So how do I go about choosing which is my favourite gaming system?

I could, possibly, go by which I have the most games for, but this would be inaccurate. I have many games for the PC, but that's because they are often cheaper. There are many games for each platform that I'd love to get my hands on, but cannot yet afford.

The same applies for which has the most titles that I've enjoyed. I've played many more games than I own, and it's about equal for all of the platforms I've tried out.

Perhaps I should judge by which platform I have played on the most? This option seems like the best I have so far, but does fall prey to the very same problems as above. If I've only got access to certain games, then of course I'll go for the platforms they are available on.

I think, though, that anybody reading this will be getting annoyed at my apparent procrastination over this subject. Why can't I just hurry up and choose a damned platform that I prefer over any other?

So, without any further delay, I'll get it over with and say:



Yeah, I know, I'm cheating again, but asking me to pick just one platform out of the multiple options open to me? That's just cruel.

This is one of the many reasons why I cannot stand Console Specific Fanboys.

30 Days of Gaming - Day Ten

So there's this thing going around on facebook at the moment, where you post a picture a day that fits within a specific theme. I've chosen, for my first 30 Days, to go with Gaming.

Day Ten - Best 'Gameplay'

Until very recently, the word 'gameplay' didn't appear in the dictionary, and even now the definition can be rather vague.

Dictionary.com says:

the plot of a computer or video game or the way that it is played

I disagree with the first part...storyline has nothing to do with gameplay, but the second part? I'd say it's mostly right, but is open to a vast number of interpretations.

For instance, it could mean the type of controller you use to play the game, the rules that are expected in how to play the game, the actual controls within the game, etc.

For this blog, and I assume the entire '30 Days' process wherever you may find it, I gather that it means "the videogame that has the best controls."

So, after that little thought, the game I have chosen is:



Heavy Rain, by the creators of Fahrenheit, is a Playstation 3 exclusive that plays more like an interactive movie than the average videogame.

Does this mean it is bad?

A lot of critique surrounding the game focuses on how it is less like what most people consider to be a videogame, and more like a movie. But this is not new, is it?

Think of a Point & Click adventure, or a game like Capcom's Ace Attorney, and you'll soon realise that Heavy Rain is nothing more than a modern Adventure game.

Now why did I choose this game over any others?

Simply put, the use of the Playstation 3's Six-Axis controller is quite unique, along with the general layout for the standard controls you use throughout. Character control is no longer through the D-Pad or the Analogue sticks, but through the triggers.

You move forwards with the triggers, and the analogue stick controls the direction that your characters head is turned. Turn the head to face left, and slowly the character will head left, etc.

Fight sequences, puzzle sequences, chase sequences; all of them have their own unique way of being played or solved, and each time it just feels intuitive and all-round just makes sense.




What about you guys, could you pick better?

30 Days of Gaming - Day Nine

So there's this thing going around on facebook at the moment, where you post a picture a day that fits within a specific theme. I've chosen, for my first 30 Days, to go with Gaming.

Day Nine - Saddest scene

This one was quite hard for me. I mean, I really had to think long and hard about this one.

Very few games have really tugged at my emotions, and I can honestly only think of one game that has really made me feel sad (though there is one other that came close).

So, here's my choice:




Yup, it's Ico again.

So, I don't really need to go into the storyline again. Instead, I'm giving you the ending video. If you have yet to play or complete this game, then do not watch this video.

I cannot stress this enough.

Needless to say, this ending is the saddest scene I have ever witnessed in videogaming.



Honourable Mentions



The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, the ending. Again, spoilers...but I found it to be quite sad.



This is from Killzone 2. It's less sad than epic, but it was a bit emotional. I never really liked the first game, but the storyline of the second was pretty damned good.

30 Days of Gaming - Day Eight

So there's this thing going around on facebook at the moment, where you post a picture a day that fits within a specific theme. I've chosen, for my first 30 Days, to go with Gaming.

Day Eight - Best Videogame Soundtrack

Once again, I'm sorry guys, I have to cheat on this entry.

There are two game soundtracks that I can ick out for this, and there's no way I can pick one over the other.

My first choice is unsurprising for anybody that has been paying attention to my previous entries:



Silent Hill 2, by Konami, has a brilliant soundtrack. Composed by Akira Yamaoka, it is yet again one of the many reasons why this game is considered to be not only the best in the series but one of the best games available on the Playstation 2.

The soundtrack is highly emotive, managing to fit in perfectly with what is on screen at the time.

By far the best track is Theme or Laura (reprise):



My second favourite videogame soundtrack is from this game:



The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker was, believe it or not, my first ever Zelda game. Released for the GameCube in 2003, it was everything I had ever wanted from a fantasy game, it was fun, it looked great, the controls were perfect, great storyline, and one of the best soundtracks I'd heard in years.

Each island within the game had its own theme, and then there were themes for certain characters and locations. Each track perfectly portrayed the mood and feel of each specific item, with one in particular standing out as my favourite of them all:



Brilliant stuff.

So those are my favourite videogame soundtracks, what about yourself?

30 Days of Gaming - Day Seven

So there's this thing going around on facebook at the moment, where you post a picture a day that fits within a specific theme. I've chosen, for my first 30 Days, to go with Gaming.

Day Seven - Favourite Gaming Couple

I don't like the vast majority of romantic couples that appear in videogames, as they always seem quite bland and purely there for fanatics to write fan-fics about. So, instead of that, I've taken this to mean "2 people that spend a lot of time together" or something similar.

With that in mind, I went for a game I've mentioned before. This game wasn't recieved well, but is a bit of a cult hit (with 73 on Metacritic).



This is Jen and Scree from Primal, released in 2003 on the Playstation 2, and they are my favourite gaming couple.

Both characters start off uncertain of eachother, cracking awkward jokes and very much disagreeing with the way eachother goes about things, but by the end of the game as details have been revealed about the characters' histories, they just meld together so perfectly.

If I haven't said it enough already, this game is perfect in so many ways, with the characterisation of these two being one of the bigger points.

Sadly the voice actor for Scree, Andreas Katsulas, passed on just three years after the release of the game. It is unlikely that Sony will ever continue the series from the mild cliffhanger ending, but we can always dream.

This is my favourite gaming couple, how about yours?

30 Days of Gaming - Day Six

So there's this thing going around on facebook at the moment, where you post a picture a day that fits within a specific theme. I've chosen, for my first 30 Days, to go with Gaming.

Day Six - Most Annoying Character

So, there were a fair few characters I could have chosen for this. They were all floating through my head and I just wasn't entirely sure which one to...hang on, my phone is going, be right back.



Oh just fuck off Roman, fuck off and die. Why do you always phone me right in the middle of something?

Look, hey, I'm sorry if it dissappoints you that I can't hang around with you and all of your other friends whenever you feel like some attention, but I'm busy trying to get you out of the damned mess you got yourself into.



Yes, yes, "American Titties" are all nice and good, but how about you wait for me to ring you instead?




*sigh*

I don't care anymore. I just. Don't. Care.


Honourable mentions

Claptrap - I actually got bored of playing Borderlands, to be honest, and one of the most annoying things about it was Claptrap. He's a character I'd love to love...but he's got so few lines that he gets repetitive and annoying.



Sherry Birkin - The daughter of one of my favourite characters happens to be one of the most annoying characters around. If you run too far ahead of her, she stops and sits down...in the middle of a zombie outbreak. ARGH!




So what about you guys? Most annoying character?

30 Days of Gaming - Day Five

So there's this thing going around on facebook at the moment, where you post a picture a day that fits within a specific theme. I've chosen, for my first 30 Days, to go with Gaming.

Day Five - Game character you feel you are most like (or wish you were)

I spent a lot of time thinking over this, and there aren't honestly any characters that I can think of for either possibility (are like me, or I want to be).

So I decided to focus on a character that shared one quality with me, and this is what I thought:



For those of you that don't recognise where this is from, this is a screenshot from the cult-hit Playstation 2 title ICO.

My main reason for choosing this game? Ico (the boy with horns) is put in an unknown and dangerous situation, where he meets a strane girl (Yorda). Randomly, for no reason other than it being the right thing to do, he releases her.

Upon being released, it becomes clear that the same force that was waiting for Ico to snuff it is also keeping tabs on this girl.

Ico and Yorda work together to attempt to escape the ancient castle they are trapped in, all the while faced with the overwhelming feeling that they could fail at any time.

By the way, spoilers ahead for anybody that cares.

Towards the end of the game, Ico and Yorda are split up. Just as they are about to escape, something happens to stop them from doing so, Yorda is captured, and Ico plummets down a cliff-face and into unknown territory.

At this point, Ico could easily just turn away and find his own way out. Forget about Yorda.

But what does he do? He keeps going, finds his way back into the castle, and tries his best to save Yorda.

The ending is horrificly upsetting, but also heartwarming and completely worth it.

Play again for a second time and it's even better.




Why do I make the claim that Ico and myself share a specific personality trait?

I'm a bit of a hopeless romantic, and I'd like to think that in a similar situation I'd do the same. I already do everything I can to make sure my fiancee is happy, and I would be more than willing to give up what I have to make her happy.

I'm rambling a bit now, but basically that's the similarity I want to focus on, my willingness to go the extra mile to help others out.




What about you guys?

30 Days of Gaming - Day Four

So there's this thing going around on facebook at the moment, where you post a picture a day that fits within a specific theme. I've chosen, for my first 30 Days, to go with Gaming.

Day Four - My Guilty Pleasure Game

I have no need to cheat for this one. I've known which game would appear here since I read the list.

My guilty pleasure is no secret to those that truly know me, but I cannot help but admit that this game is amazing fun:



I bought this game not long after it came out, it was a Christmas present for my then girlfriend. Well, turns out I'd enjoy it more and actually spent more time playing than she did, and even managed to complete it before she did.

It was nice, for once, to play a game that was just fun, you know?

You literally just roll around as Helloy Kitty, battling block-like enemies with your wand, and occasionally fight a boss. You even get to unlock new outfits for Hello Kitty, and profiles of all her friends.

It's lighthearted, clearly intended for children, but I found it fun.

It is my guilty pleasure...what's yours?

30 Days of Gaming - Day Three

So there's this thing going around on facebook at the moment, where you post a picture a day that fits within a specific theme. I've chosen, for my first 30 Days, to go with Gaming.

Day Three - A Game That is Underrated

There are so many that I could list here today, but I decided that I cheated yesterday so should make an effort to just note one game that I think is criminally underrated.

My choice for this game?

None other than...



ObsCure by name, obscure by nature.

Created by a French development studio, ObsCure is an excellent near-parody of Teen Horror movies. Set in a school after hours, a group of students are caught up in a massive conspiracy involving several members of staff and...some weird looking plant things.

The game made several new steps for the survival horror genre that have mostly been ignored since. Steps that really shouldn't be ignored.

Enemies were harmed by light, and eventually it was possible to combine torches with your weapons to create more powerful weapons. Similar to what was introduced in Alone in the Dark: A New Nightmare, but vastly improved upon.

The best two features were the ability to play as all 8 main characters throughout the game. You could swap and change at any given point (by heading back to the main hub and actively talking to other characters), always having control of 2 characters.

Depending on who survives the game, the ending changes to reflect which characters are still alive.

The best part of the game was the introduction of a second player, a first for the survival horror genre. Just plug in a second controller and away you go. It had a few issues, sure, but it was a step in the right direction.

The game was well made, with good controls, and it even had an interesting setting & storyline. It was meant to be cheesy, and it managed to pull it off without coming across as goofy or childish. Each character was unique and even possessed unique abilities that could help in certain situations (one was good at lock picking, another strong with melee weapons, etc).

Despite how underrated the title is, there was a sequel released , ObsCure 2. Sadly, I haven't had the chance to play the title, but have been wanting to for many years.

I doubt it'll truly live up to the greatness that was the first game, but I can't imagine it being too awful.

ObsCure is a game I can recommend for anybody that wants to try out something new, innovative, creative, and entertaining.

Honourable Mentions

Ok, cheating a little bit. There are still a few other games that I'd love to briefly mention.

Primal for the Playstation 2 was a brilliant Action Adventure RPG-esque game about multiple-dimensions that have been brought out of balance by a war between two gods. It's got a Heavy Metal theme, and a strong, independant, and attractive female lead character. It was the first in a planned series that sold so badly it was soon scrapped. The voice-actor for the secondary character also died several years after release, so I don't think a re-launch to the series would be very good without the guy.

Mark Ecko's Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure. It's a long winded name, and it sounds quite rude when you think about it, but it was still a good game. You play a graffitti artist trying to make a name for himself in a future that has been turned into a Police State. One of the best ways to fight back is by tagging or painting over their propaganda. It was a mix between Grand Theft Auto, Prince of Persia, and that DreamCast game about graffitti (I want to say Jet Set Radio?). It sounds a bit naff, but the storyline is brilliant, as is the gameplay. Oh, and the soundtrack is superb.

Forbidden Siren, otherwise known as Siren in America, is a Japanese Survival Horror that scares the bejeezus out of me. Typical Japanese style, they decided to make it as hard as possible (made even harder for the second game, then eased off for the relaunch on the PS3), by introducing enemies that cannot be killed and forcing you to play as characters that cannot see, or cannot fight, etc. Despite its many shortcomings, it is a brilliant Survival Horror title, and vastly overlooked for the much easier to play Resident Evil or Silent Hill games.



Well, that's me done for today. What about you guys? Most underrated game? Or games?

Let me know!

Thorpe Park 'Haunting'

An apparent haunting at Thorpe Park forces a planned ride to move location...

I hate to be covering this, but there's just so little room in a Facebook or Twitter update to fully convey my amazement at something like this being true.

I mean, I really hope it isn't because I can't find it on Reuters (thankfully) so it could just be something that was quickly churned out by one paper and spread like wildfire.

Anyway, let's get onto the main stuff here shall we?

Here's a Google News search for the story: [CLICKY]

And here's the article I'll be mostly refering to: [CLICKY]



So, workers at a construction site for a new attraction at Thorpe Park have apparently been experiencing some strange phenomena. According to Sky News:

Staff building the water ride at Thorpe Park said they had encounted several strange phenomena, including what appeared to be a headless monk.

There were reports of objects being moved, workers feeling like someone was watching over their shoulders and sudden cold feelings being experienced.

There are 3 ways you can deal with a situation like this:


1 - Tell the workers to grow up. At this point you run the risk of offending your workers if they seriously hold the belief that they are being haunted, and in this day and age we all know that offending your workers beliefs can lead to massive financial loss on the part of a company.


2 - Get a Scientific team in. At this point, you're pandering to the beliefs of your workers, but you're doing it with an un-biased and objective group, they will go over the evidence and reveal their results. It may or may not be effective in convincing the workers, but would probably work out cheaper than being sued or by moving the entire construction location and delaying construction by a number of days.

3 - Call in Ghost Hunters. This is possibly the worst option. You're pandering to the beliefs of your workers, you're using a heavily biased group to provide what they consider evidence (photographs of dust, funny feelings, and wiggling a piece of plastic around on a board), and you're spending even more money.

Guess which one they went with?

A paranormal detection agency was called in by park bosses to carry out tests and found that an ancient burial ground or settlement could have been disturbed.

Managers at the theme park decided to relocate the ride to another area and also called in a forensic team to carry out further investigations.

So, here's the end result:

- Thorpe Park Bosses have to spend money on delays to the construction of their new attraction.

- Thorpe Park Bosses have to pay for a group of Ghost Hunters to check out the area, and "confirm" the fears of the workers.

- Thorpe Park Bosses have to pay for a Forensics Team to come in and check out the original location, and no doubt check out the new location.

Do you know how they could've saved most of this money?

Well, you tell me...what exactly is the difference between a Forensics Team, and

2 - Get a Scientific team in.

?

Exactly...


But money issues aside...why did this go this far anyway? Why did nobody sit the workers down and explain reality to them? Why, after doing this, did they not just ignore the rest and tell them to get back on with their work?

Have we really come to a point in our society, a point that many might consider full-circle back to the Bronze Age, where construction work (infact, any work) is delayed by FEAR. OF. GHOSTS?

30 Days of Gaming - Day Two

So there's this thing going around on facebook at the moment, where you post a picture a day that fits within a specific theme. I've chosen, so my first 30 Days, to go with Gaming.

Day Two - Your Favourite Character

I've taken this one to mean any character that appears in any game, not just a main-playable character, which opens the field up to so many possibilities.

I've spent most of my life playing videogames, so I've gotten to know so many well developed characters (and quite a large number of shockingly under-devloped characters), so this one is very hard for me to decide.

Because of this, I have decided to narrow it down to my Top Five Videogame Characters. I know this is cheating, but it makes it easier for me, and gives me a chance to show you the varying games that I am a fan of.

So, here goes (these are, by the way, in no particular order. They are just Five characters that I think are the best).

James Sunderland - Silent Hill 2



The only main character I'm picking for this, because there's no way I cannot bring this guy up. Silent Hill 2 is often cited as being one of the best games of it's generation, and the effort put into creating the characters is one of the reasons behind this.

Without spoiling too much of the storyline for the game, James is heavily fleshed out by notes found throughout the game, the world itself, and the other characters and enemies that he encounters.

With a shocking twist at the end, James is revealed to be a surprisingly well thought out and developed character.

Urdnot Wrex - Mass Effect



Who wouldn't love this guy?

Wrex is a badass...but a badass with a heart. Ok, yeah, that heart is deep within a body encased in thick scales and exceedingly tough armour, but it's there somewhere.

For my playthrough of Mass Effect, I got to know Wrex better than any other Human in the galaxy, taking the time to unlock the mysteries of his personality.

Underneath all the machismo is...more anger and violence than any human could truly understand, but also a degree of intelligence that lends a certain degree of honour to his character.

If you took that option towards the end of the first game,you are truly heartless.


William Birkin - Resident Evil 2 & Resident Evil 0



William Birkin was probably my first favourite bit-character. I don't really know why...I just liked him.

He's devoted to his work, devoted to knowledge, and somewhat devoted to his family.

He only appears briefly throughout the Resident Evil series, and even then he's only a human for about 1/4 of that time, but Capcom have managed to flesh him out just that little bit with files and reports.

A child prodigy, he was working for Umbrella Corporation by the age of 16, and his time there was spent perfecting the T-virus and discovering the entirely new G-virus.

There have been rumours since the end of Resident Evil 2 that he may return one day, as Albert Wesker may have stolen a sample of his corpse, but these rumours have yet to be proven true.

Challus Mercer - Dead Space



A lot of people won't recognise this guy, as he appears only briefly in Dead Space, but I really liked how crazy he was...

He's a Untilogist and a Doctor, someone that spent far too much time studying The Marker, and he likes to spend his time in the game making your life a misery.

His end is messy, but it's not at your hands...


G-Man - Half Life



And finally, a recognisable face for most people that are interested in gaming.

The G-Man is the myserious puppet master of the Half Life series, making an appearance in every game so far.

Throughout the first game, you spot him in various odd areas that leave you questioning his intentions and his possible power, and then you get to the end.

He's the 'man' pulling the strings, and we still don't quite no why. Heck, we don't even know who or what he is.

Hopefully Valve will make an announcement soon on Episode 3, and we can finally get some answers about this guy!



So that's my Top Five videogame characters. There are more I could've listed, but I felt that these were the main five that I like the most.

So what about you guys, can you list just the one? Who is it? Or, who are they?

30 Days of Gaming

So there's this thing going around on facebook at the moment, where you post a picture a day that fits within a specific theme. I've chosen, so my first 30 Days, to go with Gaming.

Day One - Your First Videogame

This one is a bit of a guess for me. I have fleeting memories of playing various un-named games at a very early age, on both the Commodore 64 and the ZX-Spectrum.

I had the added help of having a mother that was capable of programming games for me to play, so this meant I got to lay my hands on games that were only available through buying specific magazines.

But the one that sticks in my memory, that stands out as my first memorable gaming experience, is this:



The Hobbit text adventure was great, though it is very clearly a dated game, I mean just look at it:





I'm not one to focus on graphics, don't get me wrong, but this is very clearly an old game.

Released in 1982, it mostly follows what happens in the book...but given that it is a "choose your own adventure" style game, it can verge off of the beaten path.

I'm pretty sure that this is the game that got me so obsessed with Point & Click Adventures like Broken Sword, Monkey Island, etc.

That was my first game, and a bit of a hint at future titles that may appear over the next 30 Days. What about you guys? What was your first game?

A Fairly Reasonable Letter...

...In an attempt to defend Common Sense, Evidence Based Logic, and Reason.



So I'm certain that most of you have heard of the latest addition to our Zodiac. We've apparently moved from 12 Zodiac symbols that govern our lives, to 13 Zodiac symbols that govern our lives.

I'm not going to tread around this lightly, I'm happy to push away a small portion of possible readers here when I state that Astrology is utter bollocks.

The movements of stars, planets, and other "heavenly" bodies are supposed to affect each individual human to the extent that other humans (that are clearly more blessed than us) can predict what will happen to us from one day to the next.

We all know this is bollocks...some people like to hang on to it for as long as possible, but they can never really stand up to the studies. Oh yes, the studies...they've been done. There is no evidence to back up any of the claims made by Astrologers, except maybe that there are enough people that are easily duped into believing this claptrap because they lack the common sense to truly question how the movement of bodies billions of lightyears away from us can effect our lives.

Well, anyway, Professor Brian Cox hosted a show on the BBC a few weeks back called Wonders of the Solar System. On this show, he had the guest star of Dara O'Briain.

The excellent Irish Comedian/Skeptic/Atheist and the wonderful Professor/Skeptic/Atheist made a few remarks about Astrology, and how much bollocks it truly is.

Uh-oh! People using common sense and reason on TV? Stating their view on national TV?

Yep, somebody has complained.



The Astrological Association of Great Britain have gotten themselves all worked up, and are demanding an apology from (at the very least) the BBC, where they state that they do not agree with what Brian and Dara have stated.

So I took the time to sign the petition, using the name given to me by the great celestial gods (clearly): "Youreallidiots Thisisutterbollocks"

And, oh look, they've even put up a template for a Letter to send to someone at the BBC. So I took the time to change a few things and make my very own version to send off.

Here it is for your own reading pleasure, I do hope you all do the same:

Dear Secretary,

I would like to take this opportunity to express my satisfaction at the BBC for airing the evidence based views of Professor Brian Cox and Dara O'Briains on astrology which was aired during the programme Stargazing Live on the 3rd January 2011.

Their comments were a fair representation of astrology and I would like to request that that the BBC continue to take a stand for Common Sense, Reason, and Evidence Based Logic and do not make a public apology. I hope that they can also make a statement that they do support the evidence based views of Professor Brian Cox or Dara O'Briains on the subject of astrology. I would also request that the BBC continue making this fair and balanced representation of astrology when aired in the future.

Heck, if it comes down to it, I would greatly anticipate a show devoted to a debate between top Astronomers/Skeptics/Scientists and Astrologers. It could, after all, pave the way towards a great series where Scientists/Skeptics/Professionals within the field debating Science Deniers/other deluded people.

I greatly anticipate your response,
Yours sincerely,

Andrew King (note: I signed the astrology petition under my secret name that was gifted to me by the High Celestial Priesthood that governs the Zodiac “Youreallidiots Thisisutterbollocks”)

I think if this petition does kick off and get a strong following, the Secretary of the Editorial Standards Committee will greatly appreciate seeing something new...

I Don't Mind Getting Old...

...aslong as I can do it with dignity.

So I'm reaching the very end of my time at University. In 4 or 5 months time, I will no longer be a Student, but instead I will be a "productive member of society."

[Just to note, I'm not implying that Students aren't productives members of society, I'm simply stating that once you've left education, you become more productive, since you don't have your education holding you down.]

By this point in my life, I'm already considered "grown up" because of my age. I've already gained the occasional nickname of "old-man" from my fellow students, because whilst they're only just hitting their twenties, I'm reaching the mid-point. Ok, not a huge gap, but still a gap.

I have family and friends that are hitting, or nearing, the thirty mark that sometimes feel worried about their continuing march towards that particular point in your life when people expect you to no longer be interested in childish things and to take life seriously.

I assume this is what they worry about anyway, as it's what always worried me.

At what age, for instance, do I stop hanging around on forums and debating the intricacies of a Videogame storyline, and instead start debating the intracies of Tunisian Politics?

I've come to realise, however, that none of this particularly matters.

As I grow old, I will do so with dignity. Growing old with dignity means that I still get to do what I want to do, I still get to make my decisions, like what I like, love what I love.

Even if that means I come across as crazy or childish.

If I reach beyond the age of Seventy, I will still play videogames, I will still debate with friends over the intracicies of a Videogame storyline, and I will be happy.

The great thing about the human mind is that we have the ability to learn new things, gain new information and knowledge, and experience new things all the time...but at the end of the day, we also have the option to follow the things we're greatly interested in, and stick to them for the rest of our lives.

Who cares if one or two of my interests are childish in nature?

Life is short, and if we can't laugh at ourselves sometimes, then what on earth is the point?

I sincerely hope that when I reach Seventy, my future wife is still surrounded by cuddly toys...because the day that she abandons those is the day that she abandons everything about her that I truly love.

And so I ask myself...

...what does it all mean?

Welcome to The Way of Things, my second blog.

You'll notice a few things different from A Life of Sci whilst reading these entries, and perhaps browsing the blog, so I'll go ahead and explain everything now.

Unlike A Life of Sci, this blog will be aimed at...well, everything really.

A Life of Sci gives me a chance to review and preview (and occasionally rant) about things relating to Science Fiction and Fantasy. It's an entertainment blog. The Way of Things will be designed to cover life, in general.

I will be using this particular blog to jot down my experiences in day-to-day living, and also to promote pieces that I write that have no right to take up the space in A Life of Sci.

If anybody happens to stumble upon this by visiting A Life of Sci, they may be wondering why I've done this and not bothered updating my first blogsite in months.

I'll stand up and say honestly, right now, that I have commitment issues...

Not in a bad way, honestly. I'm a University student, I'm on the final stretch of my final year, and I have a lot of work to get done. This leaves me little spare time to write up reviews or previews, or even regular rants.

There is a lot I want to do with both blogs now, and will hopefully get the chance to do so in the following weeks, but I set no promises.

Until my final year is over, I may only post a blog every 2 or 3 weeks. I will aim for more, but cannot promise anything.

Anyways, I hope you all enjoy my future entries, and I look forward to reading your responses.

TZM