Vampires and Ghouls

Go away, you sad people who come here looking for advice on Vampire Wars! Read the friggin’ help file! Sign up for the damned Facebook groups!!! Use your brains!!!!

Wedi Blino!

You know Murphy’s law. This week is proof positive that it exists. I’ve mentioned, I think, that I was stupid enough to extend at work to cover the time until my replacement arrives (not that it matters. I’ve got six weeks max, and she’s not even been processed for approval). That means, of course, that I have to drive to the office every day. Mark is spending four days in the States. He is scheduled to return a few hours after I leave for Munich on Saturday. What happens on the day he’s supposed to leave? Rufus gets sick. The poor pup has a very bad cold and cough. I end up staying home using leave I don’t have and need elsewhere while Mark sets off on his trip all worried. We have two more doc appointments for immune booster shots, one is Saturday at noon. The other one requires me to skip lunch tomorrow so I can leave early. And I wasn’t even supposed to be here today!

That’s all well and manageable, if you get appropriate rest in between. I took a great bath yesterday, read a bit, relaxed a bit, walked the pups with Anke and Daisy, went to bed early. Schmusi whined. All night. After having whined all day already. Then it started raining like crazy. Then a humming from the living room nearly drove me insane. Then I got up and checked on Rufus (he was sleeping soundly on his pillow). Then the alarm went off. Murphy, you old bastard, I’ll kill ya! Now you all need to excuse me while I go looking for some matches I can use to prop open my eyelids…

Cry, Baby!

Last night, I said goodbye to the Lily Pad. I’m going to miss it. It was a great place. We had two comfortable years together.

I’m still at work. Every day, I wish I could hit someone. Mostly myself, for being stupid enough to offer an extension to cover my company’s ass until my replacement arrives. Turns out, it’s highly unlikely she’ll even make it by my firm “no more of this crap” date in November. And I’m stuck. Beam me up, Scotty!

SSIW is having a launch event at the Senedd in Cardiff in December. It kills me that I won’t be able to go. This would really mean something to me.

But then I console myself with the fact that in a week, we’re going to the Night of the Museums. Then we’re having a pumpkin carving party. Then it’s Halloween. Then Thanksgiving. And then… throw off the shackles just in time for the holidays! If that’s not a silver lining!

Canned Crap

Aka spam. It’s been coming. People think I’m stupid enough to auto-approve comments. Tsk, tsk. You REALLY think I need some idiot generating German language bullcrap under a fake name that points to a porn site? Or a gambling page? Get a grip. Get a hobby. And get lost. Echt.

The Little Girl and the Sea

If you’ve paid attention to European news during the last couple of days, you’ll have taken notice of 13-year-old Laura Dekker from the Netherlands who wants to take two years off from school and sail around the world. Perhaps people would just kind of coo and say something admiring, if she weren’t planning on doing it alone. Laura wants to beat the world record for the youngest person to circumnavigate the Earth solo. Her parents firmly support her wish. The Dutch government, however, has pointed out that she is obligated to attend school, since she is a minor, and has threatened to take her away from her parents. The enraged parents, in turn, have stated that if their home country attempts to prevent Laura from sailing, they will leave and go to New Zealand, where the girl was born (incidentally, on a boat).

Opinions are pretty much split down the middle. One half of all comments calls the parents idiots and unrealistic dreamers, point out how dangerous it is for someone that young to just gallavant off by themselves for two years, and more along those lines. The other half adopts the rather American attitude that individual freedom should weigh more than the supposed needs and wants of a government that should rather keep its nose out of people’s private business.

If I were a parent and this were my daughter, I’d be supportive too. But I’d also be scared. 13 is very young. Girls (and boys, for that matter) at that age are still children, no matter how mature or knowledgeable they may appear. However, I am not familiar with the rules and regulations of this kind of adventure. Perhaps “alone” wouldn’t really be “alone”. Laura would need supplies, for example. At some intervals, she would have to have contact with other people, seafarers or otherwise.

I’m not convinced that something like a solo trip around the world gets any less dangerous the older you get. Perhaps it also depends on the route you take, but as we know, Amelia Earhardt, Roald Amundsen and a host of other famous explorers disappeared, despite their experience.

It’s also not true that Laura would simply abandon school for two years. With the help of satellite connections, she apparently has developed a plan for remote instruction. So schooling and homework remain part of her life. She would not necessarily fall behind on anything. Here, it is merely the rigidity of the Dutch school system that is keeping her from a more flexible way of getting her education – somewhat ironic in a world that makes the demand of flexibility of adult employees.

Someone mentioned in a comment that rescue, should it become necessary, would be expensive. Who should pay for it? This somewhat caustically assumes that a teenager will most definitely get herself into trouble, whereas an adult (or an older teenager) would not. I’m quite certain that whatever insurance Laura’s parents have will have something to say about that, and that her parents, experienced sailors themselves, have considered this extensively. Whatever the cost would be, it would be the same for any other sailor in distress and is therefore, in my opinion, not an argument against this trip.

Despite all this, though, there are only two arguments for Laura’s cause: first, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, truly. She will never be 13 again, and the chance of beating this particular record will never come again for her. Second, sailing is in her blood. It is her passion. I believe that even with 24/7 supervision, taking her away from her parents and locking her up in a home will damage this girl or turn her into a juvenile delinquent.

Still, forming a valid opinion is nearly impossible. Of course, the media only represent the barest of facts in the case. No side is being argued out but in hints here and remarks there. The decision on what will happen to Laura is scheduled to be made tomorrow.

Kinotag, Heimkino and a bump on the Head

Where have I been all week? Sweating with the oldies! It’s HOT in Germany, don’t you know. But you won’t hear me complain, nu-uh. In case all those whiny krauts haven’t checked the calendar lately: it’s August. It’s supposed to be hot.

But moving on…. I don’t feel like a complete post to review Ice Age 3D, because it’s been a week since we went to see it. I will say this, however: for about 90 minutes, it was good entertainment. The story was ok, although I’m sure I’ll forget it as quickly as I did the two predecessors. It was about friendship and family and the fact that we’re all a little patchwork. This was my first 3D flick, and I’m looking forward to the next one. Since you’ve read this blog long enough, you can guess what it’s going to be. Yup. G-Force! Since I can’t seem to catch the 3D versions in OV anywhere, I suppose I’ll have to forego hearing Bill Nighy (big fan, me, in case I hadn’t made that clear previously) and just live with whatever German actors they scrounge up.

On the homefront, I wasted $2.99 on iTunes to rent Paul Blart – Mall Cop. Sadly, this movie marks a return to early Adam Sandler films, all of which can be collectively forgotten, unless you’re very young or immature enough to enjoy fart jokes and being whacked over the head with a stupidity hammer. Watching Paul Blart was a similarly excruciating experience as the one time I made the mistake of paying money to see Dennis Spade in Joe Dirt, although as far as I know, Adam Sandler cannot be blamed on that one (his company produced this thing). Sorry, Clifford, but I have to disagree with you on this one. It’s not a complete catastrophe, however, because Kevin James (Paul) and the adorable Jayma Mays (Amy) actually have chemistry. Next up on the home movie front: The Edge of Love. For the heck of it.

Otherwise, I am dismayed about being stuck at lesson 20 in Welsh. I am attempting to correct minor listening mistakes before they accumulate, while at the same time I can’t seem to muster the concentration to really get through the lesson. I’ve started three times and abandoned it halfway each time. There are only six more after this. So close, and yet so far…

Vampires, you are sucking my blog life!

Ok, for all those Vampire Wars-fans who seem incapable of finding the help files: I will explain the skill point/favor point thing again. After that, go back to Facebook and look up some of those VW-groups. There’s about a half million, and most of them not only let you recruit free clan members, but also offer tons of advice on how to play better. Here’s a little side tip from me on how to increase your clan: if someone claims a bounty on you, often they will give you good judgement or leave you a little comment to be nice. Ask those people to join ranks. I’ve also invited two of my hapless victims because they bit me. Both accepted.

On to skill points: whenever you creep up one level, you get free refills on everything, plus one favor point, plus five skill points. Depending on which level you are at, you might want to use some of these skill points to increase your energy (for missions), your health (for getting beat up), for rage (for beating people up, but careful: one step up in rage costs you two skill points!), or to increase your defense or attack strength (though that doesn’t seem to make too much difference). You also receive one skill point for every fifth trophy you win. There are currently about 70-some trophies, so that gives you a maximum of about 14 skill points you can gather that way. I think you can now also purchase skill points for favor points, but unless you’re way up the ladder, don’t waste your favor points on this crap.

Which brings me to favor points… you’ve already seen how can get those. Every trophy you win also gets you one favor point. Therefore, you can max out your favor points from trophies at about 72, or however many there are right now. My advice is: save those for the good stuff. If you’re having a hard time increasing your clan, you can purchase more (under Elders) for about 20 points. Do NOT use the link to add members from your Clan tab! You only get one additional member for the same price.

Another good thing to save up for are special abilities. You’ll need 35 favor points to buy one of those (they vary), but they will make a huge difference in your attack and defense posture! Believe me, I’ve tried to beat up enough low-ranking, no-clan-owning vamps who had no trouble fending me off because of a (as in, one) special ability.

What does ranking do for you? I have no idea. Stroke your undead ego, I suppose. I’ve seen people online with an unreal number of missions completed and fights won. The only thing I can figure is that they’ve played VW since its early beginnings (which is way too long for me. It’s a bloody game! And not even a particularly engaging or interesting one). If it’s your goal to become the number one supervamp some day, you’re going to have to keep whacking people, stealing their blood, etc. to climb up the ladder. When you get to the top, let me know what it’s like. I have no ambition.

Now go and read those daggone help files already!

All the Things She Said

Wow, it’s hump day again! Hamburg beckons in only a couple of days…

Let’s do a short wrap-up of stuff that’s been mentioned over the past week:

1. The Hairdo
Remains undone. Instead, I went to the river with my husband, our friends and our dogs (yes, it’s OUR river, too!). I will sacrifice my lunch hour tomorrow to get a trim at the place with the young woman who cuts hair like an old lady. C’est la vie.

2. The Movie
As yet unseen. We could not get decent seats for last night anymore, so we took a look ahead and booked for next Tuesday instead.

3. The Welsh
I have conquered lesson 13 and got halfway through 14 before a technical hiccup tried to force me to start over. I’m hoping to finish 14 today sometime. Only one month to go until the visit… if you googled “Wales” and “mixxt”, you were probably looking for -hold on to your seats now!- wales.mixxt.de. Come join us there. We have folks writing in German, English and Welsh; that covers all our bases and leaves nobody out.

4. The Vampires
Seriously, if you still haven’t figured out the basic rules like how to waste favorpoints on readjusting your stats, you need help. Read the Help section already! Here’s some advice: don’t fight anyone who’s got more clan and a higher ranking than you. Never be too cheap to have someone hitlisted, it’s good revenge for zapping your rank. Use your favorpoints for the useful stuff, play Santa to your clan members, gamble with Akem every day, spin the wheel and share the joy, and be prepared for LONG friggin’ stretches of no mission fun! I’m stuck in combat hell for three more levels. It sucks.

5. 4th Street Traffic
The boys are playing a gig in Cardiff in a few days. Check their MySpace site for tour dates. While you’re there, sign up for the newsletter. And download the toolbar, so you don’t have to check back all the time.

The weather is grand, I wonder why I’m here (*sigh*), and I think that’s all I wanted to say about that.

Off Road

On the off chance someone actually finds their way here to an unannounced blog post: I’m very, veeeery sleepy today… after three cups of coffee, that’s an accomplishment even for me. Let’s just sum up today as “feels like a Monday” and leave it at that. Tomorrow, I will tell you what I thought of Ice Age 3. Deal?

Satisfy the Reader

I would like to take this opportunity to satisfy two recent reader inquiries.

1. 4th Street Traffic’s album Kick the Habit can be purchased online at amazon (mp3), amazon UK (download or CD), from iTunes, at Tesco stores in Great Britain, in person at any of their gigs, and I’m sure at many other venues I have not investigated. It’s been out for a couple of months now and contains these seven songs:

Second Thoughts
Astray
Friend of Mine
Perfect Circle
White Lies
If You Go
Giving It Up

2. In Vampire Wars, you need blood to purchase things like abilities and minions (which in turn give you more blood). You also need it to enhance your abilities, which you can do once a day. To protect your blood from assailants, stick all of it in the bank and draw out only what you need when you need it. You can also win trophies for depositing certain amounts of blood or dominating a certain number of minions (mostly applicable to college frats, law firms and escaped mental patients).

Whenever you receive a trophy, you also receive a favor point. Every fifth trophy gets you a skill point, as well. Use skill points to enhance your health, energy, defense, attack strength or rage. There is no point in hoarding skill points. The best practice for favor points is to save them for important stuff like additional clan members or extra blood. Don’t waste them on health or rage refills, especially since you can use blood to refill your health! There are currently 71 trophies, with more being added whenever the designers come up with a new idea.