Monday, June 23, 2003  

I meant to blog yesterday -- I really did! -- but two of the things I talked about in the last entry rather took up all of my time.

The first, and predictable one...



Yes, I got (and finished) Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. No, I won't spoil the contents of the book. I will say that it was probably the best of all the Potter books thus far. It's probably the Empire Strikes Back of the series, where it switches tack somewhat, ups the stakes and brings in a whole load of backstory to set up a killer finale. Very enjoyable; now I have a nagging urge to read the other four books again to catch some of the subtle details to the latest one.

Mind you, on Saturday morning I didn't think I'd get it at all. I was worried that Royal Mail might not be able to get it to me in time, and my fears were confirmed when a single piece of mail (spam) dropped through the slot with nary a "knock knock" to indicate that there was a package waiting outside. I bounded to the door to check and be sure, and then chased down the postman to ask just where my books were. He said he only had the one book and that he didn't think they'd be sending anyone else out with books. I figured it wouldn't come until Monday and vaguely debated running to a bookstore and buying a copy now. Half an hour later though there WAS a knock at the door and a postman did appear with my Amazon.co.uk box... and about six others, all precariously balanced in his arms. Probably my last order with Amazon.co.uk, for whom I've been a frequent and very satisfied customer. And why not? Everything is cheaper, and next-day shipping costs no more than £2. It's really hard to beat that in terms of price or convenience.

The second, and surprising thing to take up my time was Midtown Madness 3. It's ridiculous how much fun I'm having with this. I'm having four to five hour online multiplayer sessions and the whole thing is a blast. Voice chat working perfectly helps too; it makes the whole experience feel less anonymous and it adds to the proceedings by having what is both a running commentary of sorts (the cheers and/or insults can give you an ideal picture of happenings if you're on the other side of the map) and a lot of trash-talking, which is always fun to hear and an integral part of any multiplayer game.

8 days left! AARGH!

Posted at 5:09 AM

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