TL’s World

As the title states, ‘Happy Christmas’ and a properous New Year to my reader (if I’m lucky then it’s more than one).

Here’s hoping that all your wishes and/or aspirations come true.

You couldn’t make this up!  In fact, I had to check it wasn’t April 1st.  It appears that Burger King have brought out a male fragrance called “Flame” presumably because of their flame grilled products.

According to BK © you can “Behold the scent of seduction, with a hint of flame-broiled meat.” 

Why not just work there or stand as close to the kitchen as possible, for that authentic burger aroma?  You can imagine some orange-skinned woman from the perfume counter at Boots asking “Do you want that with fries?”

However, all of the 360 owners who have ever played Fight Night 3, have an added bonus.  If you go to the Flame website (link later on), click on the FLAME tin and after the fourth time, you have the BK character sprawled in front of a fire…LMFAO!  for those of you who are to busy, below is the image;

Website for FLAME

Starring John Travolta and Nicholas Cage, ‘Face Off’ is one of my favourite films. Lately, it has become more ‘Face On’ than ‘Face Off’ in real life!

In Cleveland, Ohio, there was an almost full face (80%) transplant. A woman patient who had suffered for some time with facial disfurgements from an injury. This left her unable to eat or breathe of her own accord. Bone, muscle, nerves and blood vessels were transplanted from another female donor.

There may be possible psychological and immune system problems later in life but it really is amazing.   More on the story at the BBC

Although the Internet has increased what people can see and share, there will be content that will clash with your own morals.  When you stumble across an item that is objectionable to yourself, should it be either removed or should it be censored?

Most recently, a page  was censored by the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF).  Not just an offending image but the text as well.   It concerns the album by The Scorpions which was released way back in 1976 (most metalheads will know of this album cover) and only now was it censored by Big Brother.  More of the story from here.

My own personal view is that everybody should have the freedom of choice. However, if something is illegal, does it have a place on the Internet?  I’m not for censorship of any kind, as folk will always find ways and means to share whatever it is they want to share.

Birthday Wishes go out to my missus who is fourty-four a year older today (why were you born so close to Christmas?…Must have words with your parents).

Hope you had a lovely day Love from me xxx

It was brought in with almost all the stealth of a B-2 bomber.  Online retail giant Amazon is now offering MP3 downloads at a very reasonable price.  Not only that but it comes without Digital Rights Management (DRM). So now you can move your purchased tracks between your PC, MP3 player, burn it onto disc or play it on your iPod!

No doubt, just as cassettes and video were touted as the ‘beginning of the end’ of the music industry, so will downloaded digital music be responsible for its demise…I don’t think so.  Even EMI’s Senior Vice President stated “We’re excited about their DRM-free store coming to the UK and we believe that this will be a very positive development for digital music buyers in Britain.”

But why pay to download music when there are file sharing programmes out there?  Two reasons spring to mind without having to think too hard.  They are;

1. Keep the music industry alive by providing revenue for artists.
2. No nasty surprises from peer-to-peer programmes (are you absolutely 100% sure your machine is not a ‘bot’? Or will your AV /malware/spyware programmes pick up that Trojan in the keygen?

It remains to be seen what is the response from Apple and iTunes but it may well be a bonus for the consumer.

‘Promise Me’ is the latest book that I have just finished reading.  It is another title by the author Harlan Coben.  What I like about him is that the pace is fast, characters are brought to life and it’s full of twists and turns.  For those who are already fans of Harlan Coben, this novel features the return of Myron Bolivar, Win and a few of the others.

I have now began ‘The Woods’ which should take me up to my annual book token fest’ (or Christmas as it’s known) and I’ll spend a few hours browsing in Waterstone’s.

If you have not had the pleasure of reading his work (and begrudge spending money on a novel you may not like) then read an excerpt of Promise Me.

On November 19th there was a New Xbox Experience.  This has resulted in a number of changes to the old style dashboard (no more blades) and a few more features added.  Basically, it’s a new 3D interface or environment…and very nice too!

I suppose the best aspect is the use of avatars. You are able to customise these, from facial features to the clothes that you wear.  You are also able to take a ‘photo of your avatar and use it as your gamertag.  There are those who say they (the avatars) are uncannily like those on the Wii…called Mii’s!

I can’t let this pass without a post of my avatar, which is how folks on my friends list see me;

Muuuhaaaahaha!  Who said the usual hairy-arsed gamers on the 360 wouldn’t ‘go’ for the new avatars?

I dialled 123 to ensure that my timepiece (that’s a watch to you) was accurate.  Instead of being greeted by the warming tones of Sara Mendes da Costa, there was this awful “Hi, it’s Tinkerbell, at the third bell..”

What a bloody annoying Disney pile of shit piece of commercialism I found that to be.  Is there nothing sacred anymore?  Or as Lester Haines so adequately wrote;

“Middle England should prepare to drop its trousers, bend over the table and accept the painful truth that if anything in this Sceptred Isle was ever sacred, it isn’t any more.”

Rousing rendition of Jerusalem quietly fades away in the background….

No, it’s not the latest acquisition from Ann Summers but an award to what I consider the best game ever on Xbox.  Unsurprisingly, I’m not alone in thinking that way.

These Golden Joystick awards are voted for by the public and Call of Duty 4 (developed by Infinity Ward and published by Activision) won;

• Ultimate Game of the Year
• Online Game of the Year
• PC Game of the Year

I’m still playing this online but not sure about the next in the series (Call of Duty |World at War) as it regresses to World War Two….