Friday, March 21, 2008

On entertainments

So, here I am, well over five thousand mile from where I grew up. I'm actually reading less, what with housework, but that's beside the point. What would you suppose I would be missing most, in terms of entertainment?

Top Gear? I have BBC America. They show little else. No, Top Gear is not the answer.

Test cricket? I have the internet, which allows me to listen to TMS online. No, Test cricket is not a problem.

Rugby Union? No, there are plenty of places I could have watched the Six Nations had I wished.

My book collection? No, the Lovely Attorney (to whom I am married) has books I have yet to read.

My computer games? No, I'm just waiting patiently to be able to go and collect them. A fair number will work on the Mac Mini, too.

Darts? Surprisingly, no, although I would like a set of 24 gram soft-tips so that I could use the electronic dartboard in the rec room. Even though it isn't susceptible to my usual wire-bending. I would like to have access to a proper bristle dartboard, but it's OK.

No, gentle reader, what I miss most is the Daily Telegraph crossword. Anyone feeling like going to Amazon and asking them to send me the compilation books, I would not be unhappy at all; be they quick or cryptic. I'd be happy with a gift subscription to the Telegraph's online Crossword Club, too.

Of course, all this post really is, is begging, but American crosswords just aren't right for me. I miss the need to actually figure out words. I dislike the ability to give up on a clue and later on, fnd out that oh, hey, I did it anyway by getting other clues. I don't go much on the formalised rules of American "cryptic" crosswords (most of the ones I've tried are of a challenge level roughly on a par with the Telegraph Quick), and prefer the deviousness of the Telegraph's compilers. Besides, the Telegraphs's CC includes their clueless crossword, which is beautifully challenging; I've had to brute-force cryptanalyse it on the train to work before now. I seem to recall someone pointing me at an online automated clueless of the daily persuasion, once. Sadly, that was on another computer and I never bookmarked it anyway. Anyone got any suggestions? The LA loves sudoku, but I really don't find that fun myself, so I'll stick with my crosswords and clueless crosswords - if I can find them!

And now, I should get back to packing for Utah.

5 comments:

  1. So why are you whining about not having the Daily Telegraph crossword? It costs only £30 per year. Which seems pretty cheap. On the other hand, if you go to a big bookshop there's usually foreign newspapers you can buy. They cost a lot but we can buy the D.T. here for about $7.

    Alternatively, maybe the library gets it and you could photocopy the crossword if the £30 is too pricey. just a thought...

    I also really don't get why everyone is so pissed at LJ. I don't spend a lot of time there so I don't read the political rants complaining about things that the LJ administration is doing.

    I guess it doesn't bother me because for every blog, there's some control freak diddling around with rules. But LJ's rules really haven't interfered with anything, have they?

    I hope you like California. It's too crowded for me, but then I'm a Canadian and "allergic" to big city hassles like traffic, smog and life so far from the quiet countryside.

    Cheers, Paphos

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  2. I don't have 30 pounds to spare right now (nor do I have the right keymap to type it handy), but I am probably going to go buy it when I DO have the money.

    And $7 daily for a newspaper, just so I can do the crossword? As for the library... hello, copyright.

    As for LJ, I was getting frustrated with a bunch of stuff over there, but the Russian Mafia's behaviour is apparently an attempt to get rid of users who remember before it was entirely about screwing money out of people.

    So far, I love California. I'll probably like it even more when I move up to the somewhat less urbanised Bay Area (or New Albion, as I shall insist on calling it).

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  3. Hi... I follow some blogs here (my brother is also here on blogspot), but I haven't sussed out the "friends page" equivalent, which is rather a PITA.

    I suppose I should get off my keyster and learn to use RSS.

    I don't pay for LJ and I don't plan to pay for LJ so when free blogs dissapear, so will I. Until then, I'll stay.

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  4. Speaking of entertainments...Fallout 2 is driving me bananas. It has far too many ordering problems in its quests. I'm resorting to walkthroughage on the first pass (which should be a CRIME): http://user.tninet.se/~jyg699a/fallout2.html just because otherwise far too many quests seem to stuff up.

    Right now, I'm discovering that if I want a wrench without trekking halfway across America on foot (bad idea, given that spirit-dude has been nagging), I'm going to have to reload to before I released Joshua, which means redoing the Gecko reactor. Funfunfun.

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After some particularly vile spam showed up, I have disabled the ability to comment as a nonny-mouse.