Grrrrrrr......

Not so much a musing as a rant though one with, hopefully, a purpose as a try out for a new line of post as part of the whole enforced hobby break thing. A view from the sidelines if you will.

Nothing wrong with a rant as long as it has a point to make. I've read quite a few that I've enjoyed greatly and have made me have a good think.

So today's subject is re-blogging. Some time ago I chatted on about competitive blogging having noticed a number of offenders afflicting various blog groups / rings etc.

Recently I've noticed the phenomenon of re-blogging as a single post as in a post that's a link to someone else's post. Originally I was unimpressed seeing such an act as hijacking someone's time, effort and insight. All in all a further mutant strain of the filler post.

My ire has been liberally fuelled by the fact that I've regularly scrolled through TGNs blog roll to find the original two down from the re-blog. Grrrrr.....

Being a quizzical / sucker sort of a chap I've still continued to follow through on a few of said posts that had caught my eye. I have to admit that I've stumbled upon a few posts and blogs that I was rather pleased to find and seen my watch-list grow such as THIS ONE!!

So hypocrite or convert? Feel free to let me know :)

To me it seems, as ever with the blog- o-sphere a matter of quality and repetition. By this I mean primarily on the part of the re-blogger.

Do they offer their own quality product? Do they need to if the link leads you to the end of a rainbow?

How does the original poster feel about the whole thing? Is this a form of flattery or battery?
I've been linked to a couple of times and been quite chuffed :)

What's the motivation? Share the love or pad the profile out a bit?

Does anyone (else) care??.............

Only H.U.M.A.N

Should set out my stall now and admit to the first instalment of a two part vaguely related post.

Bolt Action....in action!

Made it down to the club last Tuesday for the first time in a while. Bit of a test run for how my recently extended hobby commute might work out. Was only about for a couple of hours in the end but enjoyed catching up with the toys-boys (no innuendo, no Zs).

When I've been explaining my miniature affliction to a "normal" I've almost always attempted to draw attention to the social side of what might otherwise appear to be a rather solitary hobby.

It suddenly occurs that video games are far more reclusive, offline definitely online on slightly less so, where the proper nerds need to congregate and, possibly, not just for mutual protection.

But I digress which might become more of a regular feature :)

So in short I didn't roll any dice but still got to immerse myself for a bit. The 40K infestation reared its head briefly as I sought out and then flicked through the Chaos Codex wondering how viable a cultist base force might be.



I feel the pain!



Flicking through the various unit entries considering their relative stats points and special rules I realised that I didn't have the blindest clue anymore when, some years ago, I had the second sight that allowed me to pick out worthy vassals from the pages themselves.

Not so sure that's such a bad thing :)

A few of the guys were running through some Bolt Action action four to the table learning as the game played through. Positive human experience +1.

Two of the 40K games featured Gaurd deployed behind Aegis Defence Lines which I'm aware are now part of the army list.

I was then joyfully informed by one such player how "We've already broken this game!" and how scenery can be traded in for groups of static quad autocannons. I scurried away as he informed his how "we've worked out that I could get 21 on the table!"

I closed the codex and gratefully returned it to its owner. Positive Human Experience -1. Or am I being a bit harsh??

So back at the apparent point a lot of this geek-tastic hobby revolves around actual human interaction which to some might be something of a surprise. The quality of that interaction, and its relevant importance to those engaged within it, may vary but it's always there.

Live long and prosper my friend :)

That was the month (and a half) that wasn't

Hello people!

So as some of you may have noticed September was an utter non-event on here. I have now moved and the vast majority of my stuff is now in boxes up a loft. As such I can pretty much guarantee non more Painting Points this year. Bit of a shame in some ways well worth it in other non-hobby / geek related areas :)

Yes it's all about a girl! Not a boast post (honest!) but relevant because WE are in the process of buying a house. Three bed with conservatory and garage. Further relevance is that I've been guaranteed a games room of some description probably by doing some work on the garage.

So recently I've been reduced to being a browser rather than a blogger whilst contemplating how to keep things spinning along on here. I've finally had the epiphany of providing a view from the fence during my enforced hobby abstinence preferably when I have something relevant to comment upon.

So without further ado I took a lunchtime breath of air around Leadenhall Market the other day and took a wander into Waterstones to browse the graphical novels only to find this lot proudly displayed at the front of the store. Bit of a mix along the nerd-o-meter I grant you but I still never expected to stumble upon Magic and Zombies!! and Warhammer Invasion in my nerdiest of dreams.

So the question; Is geek becoming more mainstream? Is it just a case of more.... ahem.... exposure? Do we all owe Big Bang so much to be able to come out of the closet more freely.

Over the past few months I've discovered a few nerds-in-arms at work mainly when caught browsing at lunch. Somehow it seems so much more socially acceptable. Is there more of a divergence as more "traditional" board game offerings make more headway into the hobby from Settlers of Catan to Zombiecide and many tabletop conversions to board-top and card game?

In offering some form of conclusion I'd suggest that geek in general has become somewhat more acceptable or at least we're less afraid of coming out from behind the lead mountain. Surely this has to be a good thing.... :)

Just out of interest this is my first blog by app! No internet at the current abode :( Not sure if I've uploaded the photos properly but were about to find out and I'm sure I can fix bits on the work stand-alone at lunch tomorrow. Assuming I can get everything to work then blogging while travel will become a regular thing.

So without further ado.......

EDIT: Only thing seems to be that Blogger app sticks all the photos at the bottom of the post or at least I haven't worked out how to put htem anywhere else.......yet. Minor victory!!