[Unreal]

Posted on by March 2, 2022

Hello? Is this thing on?
Press… word? What word should I press?
What?
Oh, okey, yea of course, I remember. Gotcha.

Well Covid seems to be on it’s way out. At least the pandemic part of it. Vaccines got developed (I had three doses of it, 2 of Pfizer and 1 booster shot of Moderna) but even though they seem effective at preventing death, they don’t do such a great job at preventing, you know, getting the bloody thing.

It seems like Covid will still be around, flu-style and we’ll be getting yearly shots or crystals or whatever they come up with.

However, after the end of ’21, Covid mutated , again, into the scary sounding, super-spreading OMICRON VARIANT.
After a while though, it turned out that Omicron , even though it was way spread-ier, was significantly less deadly. As a result, millions and millions of people got it, were ok , and got immune. This created the much needed herd immunity.

There’s been a lot that changed this past two years. Mask and social distancing mandates made life different. Idiot conspiracy theorists who opposed masks and vaccines because they are part of a planned genocide or something crawled out of the woodwork (seriously, EVERY family had at least one. Some families were completely on that side).

So let’s do one more check of the total numbers. Hopefully we are at the tail end of the curve. Fair warning though… the numbers are quite scary.

5,959,306 dead. I am not sure what Petros of two posts ago would think of that number. But that Petros is quite some way away.

I am so happy to be done with the past two years. Two years of, luckily for me, slow burning anxiety and despair, but no Covid yet, and more importantly, no covid cases for my parents. The future is still unknown , but it seems bright and it feels like the world had a pretty shitty time the past two years.

Let’s not dwell in the past though. This is a time of joy, we are out of the woods people, we made it!
The light is shining bright on our skin, let us all bask in it.
Wait… the light is getting brighter. A bit too bright.

Ouch, why is my skin feeling hot?


Eh, I am sure it is nothing.


~Garret

[Real]

Posted on by March 23, 2021

I forgot there was a exactly a year since my last post. I accidentally checked my blog today, just to see what was going on there (not much, it turns out).

Well… dear reader who I am sure has been aching for some updates from this wonderful site. Let me read the last post to see where we left things…

…oh…

OH…

umm… yea things are quite different. Actually, things have been the same for so long that they have become quite different.

Covid is still very much a thing. The deathcount that we left at… umm *checks last post* 14,652 . Yea, it’s a bit higher now. Let’s check today’s number … 2,725,607. Almost three million people dead from Covid.

The world is been in various forms of lockdown and covid-fear with a mix of covid-denial for over a year now. Air travel is basically non-existent

[ Surreal ]

Posted on by March 24, 2020

That’s the word I’ve heard most people use about these weeks.
For me it’s just the second week of staying indoors, still everyone I know is fine.

The US is just now starting to take more measures, but given how non-existent their healthcare system is, I have a feeling it’s gonna get much worse for them before it starts improving.

So, I was wondering about this “Surrealness” and why most people describe our times like that. My current working theory is that this is a combination of two “apocalypses”. One is mild, the other not.

The mild one is the phyiscal. While this has been definitely a pandemic ( 14,652 deaths at the time of writing), it is not really this kind of Old Testament, real Wrath of God type stuff. Fire and brimstone, rivers and seas boiling, fourty years of darkness, human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together, MASS hysteria. Rather it’s a pandemic that requires us to stay indoors and wash our hands more often.

What it has shattered though, is the illusion that the way humanity has been operating so far is not sustainable. I have no idea how many millions are living paycheck-to-paycheck, but with a total lockdown for weeks or maybe months, it seems like the VAST majority of people won’t be able to go to work, or find their work standing when they emerge blinking from their vaults.

That is what I think people are struggling to understand, myself included.

We’ve seen sick people before, we’ve been sick. We know that one sick person can mean a sick group.
Now we are realizing that prosperity works like that too.
Once a group of people lose their job, security and health overnight, society soon might follow.

Maybe that’s the apocalypse we are struggling to come to terms with.
As they say: It’s easier to imagine the end of the world, that it is the end of capitalism.


Don’t miss our next issue: IDIOTS in the end times.

~Garret

[So there’s Been a Pandemic ]

Posted on by March 22, 2020

Hey reader, what a way to make a comeback eh?
I am gonna just link this Wikipedia article for COVID-19, but I am sure by the time you read this, hopefully after all this plays out, it might look quite different.
Here’s a screenshot for reference:

As far as me and my family are concerned, we are all good, healthy and quarantined in our houses.
I am quarantined in my house for about a week now, it’s been a couple of weeks since the pandemic reached Ireland, and so far so good.
But oh boy things sure escalated quickly.
I remember hearing about this thing in China when I was coming back from Christmas holidays, and now, here we are.

The world still feels like it’s somewhere between mild panic and despair, but slowly figuring things out. Tons of businesses are simply gone overnight and the more this thing lasts, the bigger the change

I am still not sure how things will end up for me, but hey at least it got me back in the blog. I think I’ll try keeping a semiregular journal again, for posterity and cause I have a ton of free time in my hands.

If it’s still not enough, I think the only way I start writing again is if aliens invade. With writer-creating ray guns.

~Garret

[ Quiet Friday ]

Posted on by March 31, 2019
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VA-11 HALL-A VA-11 HALL-A

So, after quite some time, I had a nice and quiet night in. I live in a new house, (sharing it with 3 other humans actually) which is something I have not done since Manchester (but turns out, it is quite fun so far).
I was looking forward to spending a night like this. The last few weeks were pretty intense, I was in Berlin for Jenny’s birthday last week, spend quite an exhausting Friday out two weeks ago, so staying in this weekend actually makes good sense.

I am playing VA-11 HALL-A, a really nice cyberpunk… bartending… game. That description alone was enough for me to buy the game, turns out, the game is pretty awesome. You are Jill, a bartender in a bar in Glitch City, you wake up every day (not necessarily morning) , check your phone for news while you have something to eat, and head down to the bar. The people that walk in the bar are characters one might glimpse walking with glowing umbrellas in Bladerunner, or hanging our in the bars case used to go in Neuromancer.

One of these characters walks in a bar... One of these characters walks in a bar…

The generic origins of the characters is perfectly counterbalanced by the writing, which is quite sublime so far, way better than what I expected. The customers, if you give them the drinks that they need (not necesserily the ones they ask for) pour out their heart, and tell you their stories and sorrows. Your only input as a player is the correct mixing of the drinks.
The art style is delightfully like 80s sci-fi anime, and the music is 100% appropriate.

Speaking of cyberpunk, or at least sci-fi, while playing this game, I was also on a call with Paris and Aris, two old friends of mine, one in the Netherlands and the other currently in Washington D.C., we were watching the Quarterfinals of the League of Legends 2016 World Championship. This whole setup, me playing a game while talking to friends half across the globe while playing a game really makes me think how sci-fi our lives actually are. The future creeps up on us!

~Garret

[ Enter Ukanef Mk. V ]

Posted on by November 28, 2015
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Well, today I ordered a PC.
Getting back in the start of the new cycle of owning a PC, last time I was in this phase of the PC Ebb and Flow was in 2009.

Two thousand and nine! What was I doing back then? Third year of University. Twenty-one years old. Playing Bioshock, Portal and World of Warcraft.
Ukanef Mk. IV ended up lasting me quite a few years, although I have to say that after moving to Manchester a couple of years ago I kinda left him to decay. The coup de grace to my faithful old cyber companion was dealt last summer when I took one of his monitors to be used for the future pc, the pc I ordered today.

Saving money has proved to be way harder than I thought it would be. The super high rent of course is not helping but I have not been frugal in my expenses either. I haven’t cooked a thing (something that in Manchester I used to do at least twice a week), I have not resisted the odd board/video game purchase or the second (or N+ in anyway) drink in the weekly night out. It was with the help of a generous birthday present chip-in from my parent’s that I managed to get Mk. V.

Still got lot’s to learn it would seem.

Anyway, tis a time of celebration, the dawn of a new machine. I haven’t been able to get excited about new game releases for a while now, at least for the cutting edge ones. I am gonna enjoy the feeling of knowing I can play a modern game in ultra settings.

Truth be told, I am kinda thankful (did someone say thanksgiving?) for my lame PCs over the past few years. If it weren’t for them, I would probably have ignored games like Life is Strange or Her Story.
But now is the time to indulge in Anti-Aliasing, High settings on shadows and smooth 60-fps framerates.

More updates once the thing is actually here.

Probably.

~Garret

[ Life is Strangely Nice ]

Posted on by November 28, 2015
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Έχω μία εβδομάδα άδεια. “Αναγκαστική”, είχα 5 μέρες που έπρεπε να πάρω γιατί ο νόμος λέει πρέπει να πάρω 20 το χρόνο. Αν δε τις πάρω δε ξέρω τι θα γίνει, ίσως η Riot πάει όλη φυλακή; Με θυμάμαι να σκέφτομαι πως δεν είναι δυνατόν να φτάνουν 20 μέρες μόνο το χρόνο, δουλεύω για να ζω, δε ζω για να δουλεύω. Και να που με βρίσκω σχεδόν Δεκέμβρη να “πρέπει να πάρω άδεια”. Δε ξέρω τι ακριβώς έγινε, αλλά έγινε.

Τέσπα, αυτή την εβδομάδα την περνάω με πολύ απλούς στόχους: Να μείνω σπίτι. Να παίξω παιχνίδια. Να βάλω σκούπα.

Με ευχαρίστηση αναφέρω πως έχω πετύχει και τα τρία, και η εβδομάδα δεν έχει τελειώσει ακόμα.

Life is Strange is Nice

Life is Strange is Nice

Μιλώντας και πράγματα που τελειώνουν, έπαιξα το τελευταίο επεισόδιο του Life is Strange αυτή την εβδομάδα. Θυμάστε που είχα γράψει ένα ποστ για το πρώτο επεισόδιο όταν είχε βγει; Πως περνάει ο καιρός.

Το Life is Strange έχει μπει με περίσσια άνεση στο top 10 των παιχνιδιών που έχω παίξει. Με εξαίρεση μια-δυο περιπτωσούλες που το gameplay γινόταν χαζό, το όλο παιχνίδι είναι μια υπέροχη ιστορία με χαρακτήρες που είναι αληθινοί και μια αισθητική που είναι τόσο ειλικρινής που ακόμα και όταν δεν “συμπαθούσα” τους χαρακτήρες, ήταν τόσο καλογραμμένοι που τους αποδεχόμουν όπως είναι. Όσα πολύγωνα και να έχουμε στη διάθεση μας τη σήμερον, πόσα λίγα παιχνίδια μπορούν να το καταφέρουν τέτοιο καλό γράψιμο ρε παιδί μου. Αναρωτιέμαι γιατί. Η κοστίζει πολύ ή δε πουλάει, πολύ φοβάμαι το δεύτερο, για αυτό και χαίρομαι που το Life is Strange χαίρει τέτοιας μεγάλης, για τα δεδομένα του, επιτυχίας.

Είναι μια ωραία ιστορία, μια ιστορία που μόνο μέσα από ένα βιντεοπαιχνίδι θα μπορούσε να ειπωθεί. Η τελευταία επιλογή του παιχνιδιού είναι σπαρακτική, μέχρι και ο τρόπος που είναι γραμμένη, ενεργητικά και όχι παθητικά είναι εκεί για να ενισχύσεί το impact του παιχνιδιού.

Ταιριαστή μουσική, ωραίοι χαρακτήρες, ιστορία που δε πατάει σε κλισέ. Πολύ μεράκι βαλμένο μέσα σε κάθε γωνίτσα του παιχνιδιού.
Μπράβο στην DONTNOD που το έφτιαξε και στην SQUARE ENIX που το έκανε publish, θέλω και άλλα τέτοια.

Τα λέμε,

~Garret

[ Θεσσαλονίκη με Θεσσαλονίκη ]

Posted on by November 26, 2015
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Πριν απο δυο χρόνια είχα πάει στην Θεσσαλονίκη να δώ, μαζί με άλλα πράγματα, και τους τελικούς της Season 2013 του League of Legends. Είχα περάσει πολύ ωραία, είχα δει τη Νικέλα και είχα φάει στο Κουρδιστό Γουρούνι. Θυμάμαι πως το βράδυ μετά τους τελικούς χάζευα στο PC της Νικέλας το blog του qb και το Fully Ramblomatic. Τότε ήταν που πήρα και την απόφαση να φτιάξω το Attic, κάτω απο τη στέγη του οποίου βρισκόμαστε αυτή τη στιγμή.

Χωρίς να μπορώ να το τοποθετήσω ή να το εξηγήσω επαρκώς θεωρώ πως αυτή μου η απόφαση ήταν η αρχή μιας πορείας που κατά κάποιο τρόπο με οδήγησε εδώ.
(Βέβαια θα μου πεις, όλες οι αποφάσεις μας είναι οι αποφάσεις που μας οδηγούν στο σημείο που της συνειδητοποιούμε, ο Ντετερμινιστής μέσα μου θα συμφωνούσε στη στιγμή). Έζησα στο Manchester, συνέχισα να γράφω σε αυτό αυτό το blog.

Πριν από ένα χρόνο είχα γράψει αυτό εδώ το ποστ. Ήταν ένα ποστ μέσα στην αχανή ερημιά που έχει περιέλθει στο blog ετούτο δω η οποία συνεχίζει ακόμα. Η αρχή της ερημιάς ήταν γιατί δεν ήθελα να γράφω για της συνεντεύξεις μου με τη Riot, η συνέχεια, που φτάνει μέχρι και το σήμερα, είναι γιατί… δε ξέρω ακριβώς. Το έχασα; Μπορεί. Δεν έχω χρόνο; Δεν ξέρω κατά πόσο ισχύει αυτό, αφού όταν γυρνάω από δουλειά βλέπω καμιά ταινία μασουλώντας McDonalds ή παίζω κάνα game με τα παιδιά. Ίσως είναι απλά κούραση, who knows? Not I.

Ένα χρόνο λοιπόν μετά από το τελευταίο ποστ του Mancunian Garret, είμαστε εδώ. Κλείνω ένα χρόνο στη Riot Games.

Έχω γνωρίσει κόσμο, έχω κάνει καινούργιες παρέες, έχω μάθει ένα σωρό πράγματα. Οι γονείς μου είναι ήσυχοι και χαρούμενοι που έχω βρει δουλειά και που “στέκομαι στα πόδια μου”. Γενικά η ζωή πάει καλά για τον Garret.

Πριν από λίγες μέρες είχα πάει Θεσσαλονίκη να δω τους τελικούς του της Season 2015 του League of Legends. Πέρασα πολύ ωραία, είδα τη Νικέλα και έφαγα στο Κουρδιστό Γουρούνι.

Αν μου έλεγε κάνεις στους τελικούς του 2013 τι θα κάνω στους τελικούς του 2015, θα τον κοπάναγα με έναν πυροσβεστήρα.

Και δε θα τον πίστευα επίσης.

Here’s to next year!

Πάμε να το κρατήσουμε ζωντανό το μπλογκ ρε!

~Garret

[ Star ]

Posted on by October 17, 2015
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Citizen scientists, and the rest of us, will have to content ourselves with longing looks at the sky, aimed between the swan and the lyre, where maybe, just maybe, someone is looking back, and seeing the sun dim ever so slightly, every 365 days.

~Garret