@Nomadgames , Just Nice Ones

Posted by Jam on July 26, 2017
Posted in: Fantasy, Gamebook, Gamers, gaming, RPG, videogames. Tagged: , .

Hark! What is this?

Hot of the Fighting Fantasy gamebook series new release it continues into the digital realm once again with a set of brand new games by the boffins at Nomad Games with Fighting Fantasy Legends. They are also currently running a competition whereby a lucky winner will recieve a free copy of their new game. All you have to do is like and share their posts for a chance to win so why not check them out on Twitter and Facebook today!

Take a look at @Nomadgames’s Tweet: https://twitter.com/Nomadgames/status/889047492142223362?s=09 and watch this promotional video for more.

Scholastic Peril

Posted by Jam on July 23, 2017
Posted in: Authors, books, Fantasy, Gamebook. Tagged: , .

Whilst many of us have still to get our hands on a copy of the Scholastic reissues of Fighting Fantasy, the gang have been circulating enough plot points and pictures to do a personal mini review here. We find that the illustrations are not really what us fanboys turned men (and women heheh) are used to. They are very angular and cheap looking which has come as a downer. The good news is Ian Livingstone’s new adventure is true to his usual form, with an enjoyable yarn in which you need to find a multitude of items to take along the way.

(The Ghoul in Warlock Of Firetop Mountain by Vlado Krizan. That’s a skeleton not a ghoul. “Semi decayed man…”? Theres nothing left of him grrrr!!!)

(Foiled again! Photos by Kevin Abbotts and Paul Berry)

 People are already having trouble with the gold foil in the bookspines. They haven’t had their copies more than a day and its beginning to fray and peel already. All in all, production and design of the iconic book series’ new look is quite a hash. Personally I’m only interested in the new adventure and hope their are more thus I shall only invest in the limited edition of Port Of Peril at this point partially due to Iain McCaigs incredible cover for now. 

I very much doubt scholastic will care to actually give their audience what they want with their daft ‘we are selling to kids of today art’ approach …(this is bum cum, the cover and internal art are no different to some tacky Choose You Own Adventure books of the early 80s they’ve just gone for the cheap option) …while alienating a 30 year fan base of thousands. My gut reaction is this could all fizzle out soon like it did for Wizard books only much faster and that would be a great shame given the writing of the new adventure is on par. I hope not, but I’m listening out…

Sighter Seeing

Posted by Jam on July 21, 2017
Posted in: Uncategorized.

Recently found another gps game app on Google Store called Sighter. It ses to bee like Munzee but based solely of taking photos of the place you’re tracking. I’ll give it a whirl tomorrow. Need to come up with a couple of new game formulas seeings how the last one looks undoable. 46 days left before my new life begins up in Scotland. I’m so excited to see my Vic and little Cassia again. Im even ready packed for FFF2. Talk about commitment. Done a little Euromillions lotto syndicate with the lads at the workshop just for today. Roll on tonight, we’d love to all leave work 😉

#thursdaythoughts

Posted by Jam on July 20, 2017
Posted in: Uncategorized. Tagged: , , .

So far this past few months I’ve been made a daddy, had a book dedicated to me, have my name featured in a videogame and visited Scotland for the first time. The next few months will see me meeting my childhood heroes, my name featured in another book, moving to Scotland and being with my family happily ever after.

Two years ago this would’ve been just an impossible dream. When things got bad for me to the point of #depression a few years ago , I hung in there and started changing my life. Now I’m one of the proudest and happiest men alive and its largely thanks to my wonderful partner. 

I love you Victoria 😉 xxx

@fightingfantasy LTD

Posted by Jam on July 19, 2017
Posted in: Authors, books, Fantasy, Gamebook, Gamers, gaming, RPG. Tagged: , , , .

The artwork for the limited edition of Port Of Peril has been released. From the quills of Iain McCaig illustrator of many Fighting Fantasy pictures comes this lovely sandy toned setting from the titular Port… Port Blacksand. So far two familiar faces have been spotted. Spotted by Ben Parkinson on Twitter…Mungo, the doomed sailor from FF7 Island Of The Lizard King, can be seen in the bottom right hand corner. In the middle distance to the left we also see a FF6 Deathtrap Dungeon Easter egg represented by the elf maid with a boa constrictor. 

This thrilling limited edition of Ian Livingstone’s Port Of Peril is going to be a rarity as only 500 are meant to be printed. They will be available at Fighting Fantasy Fest 2 in Ealing on the 2nd Spetember. Yes, I am going too 😉

George A. Romero

Posted by Jam on July 17, 2017
Posted in: The Walking Dead, zombies. Tagged: , , , , , .

Legendary Living Dead film creator passes into the hereafter. His first three Living Dead films set standards for what Hollywood would call the Zombie genre, (dammit they’re ghouls , zombies don’t eat people-see Night’)

These films would forever be ripped off, sometimes to great effect (Zombie Flesh Eaters), sometimes to bad (Zombie Nation) other times hapily parodied (Shawn Of The Dead). 

​http://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-news/george-romero-zombie-director-dead-10811715?ICID=FB_mirror_main

Sister O’Brother

Posted by Jam on July 14, 2017
Posted in: gaming, geocachers, geocaching, hobbies. Tagged: , , , , .

Finally my geocaching trackable has come back onto the radar after an almost 12 month hiatus. 

Sister O’Brother , aka Roamin’ Catholic, was picked up by a geocacher named Eskil while in Scotland and subsequently taken to Germany. There was an 11 and a half month wait before she resurfaced on the trackable map. Not only did Eskil fail to register this trackables movements, they also appeared to have boycotted reading her mission to reach the Vatican. Now in the capable hands of U.S. geocacher TheLF (who provided the photo above), she is enjoying a little Florida sunshine before they move her along. She has at least been clearly looked after, but how she ended up there is a mystery. Welcome back online Sister!

Happy caching.

My Life – David Jason

Posted by Jam on July 4, 2017
Posted in: Authors, autobiography, books, comedy, Readers, Reading. Tagged: , , , , .

Just finished reading David Jason’s autobiography which my fantastic fiancee gifted me on my 41st birthday several weeks ago. What can I say about it? Well, as Pa Larkin might say…Perfec’. David takes us right back to the 1940s telling us all the things he got up to in post war Britain, then takes us through his early days as an electrician right the way up to his Knighthood in the mid noughties. Several highlights include how many injuries he’s had over the years, having to avoid the advances of a gay actor in a small room, and unwittingly being in a film that turned out was rather rude. But all of this is eclipsed by the admiration he has always had for his own idol Ronnie Barker, and the final page is a beautiful tear jerking testimony to it.

Shellfishness

Posted by Jam on July 3, 2017
Posted in: beachcraft, cooking, fishing, survival. Tagged: , , , , , , .

I’m relocating soon with my fiancee and new baby girl to a lovely harbour town in Scotland. A financial leap of faith with only my final wage and whatever plastic I can still use as I have no work lined up. Due to this, and being so close to the sea, I’m watching as many beach craft videos as I can. (Why pay for a meal when you can get one free!) There’s a wonderful one by Ray Mears demonstrating how to gather and cook different types of shellfish. As where we are going is supposedly a good spot for mackeral, I also discovered Scott Rea’s excellent video on how to fillet them. 

Here are both for you to also enjoy. Jam Out