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My girlfriend has smashed my favourite mug. It was this one:



She's disproportionately sorry about it and the constant heartfelt apologies are, if anything, slightly more annoying than no longer owning an awesome Dredd mug. Problem is, they've sold out in the 2000AD shop, so she can't replace it. I have other mugs, but she's on a mission. So: anybody either have one they're willing to part with for a reasonable price or know where I can lay hands on one?

Whilst mucking about online, I stumbled upon The Great Exhibition 2012 - A site ranking and celebrating British institutions in order of merit (or at least popularity, which - as we know - is almost exactly the same thing). I was both horrified and aghast to see no mention of Tharg's Illustrious Organ in their listings and felt moved to nominate the prog immediately. Thing is, as I only did that this morning, and I'm the only one who knows, 2000AD is currently standing in 290th place, with one vote. That's marginally below Southend Pier and Queens Park Rangers, fact fans.

So here's the thing: I need you to go here and vote for 2000AD. You know it's the right thing to do. Are we not better than Topshop? Better than Outnumbered? Better than Scouting For bloody Girls?  Damn straight we are! So do it for the Tharg! Do it for
Thrill-Power! Do it for fear of a Rigellian Hotshot up the jacksie!

I don't appear to be able to read the forum with Tapatalk any more.
Yesterday, it told me the forum's Tapatalk plugin was out of date.
Today, it can't connect to the forum at all.
I need my mobile thrill-fix!

We've been talking old games in work and for the life of me, I can't remember the name of one old PC game. I'm hoping the Hive Mind can. Google's been no bloody help at all. Here's what I do remember:

• Circa 1993-1994ish
• Colourful third person fantasy adventure, set in a pleasantly sunny countryside environment.
• I think the story was basically "You're lost in a strange place - find your way home"
• Character models (player and monsters) were fairly basic, made up of spheres, but quite nicely animated.
• Monsters were mostly annoying little goblin types, who mobbed you, but there were one or two larger monsters (I seem to recall a minotaur rushing me at one point).
• The player character wasn't much of a fighter and on the odd occasion where you found a sword, you could barely lift the thing.
• Pretty sure there was a sequel, possibly featuring slightly more detailed character models.

I'm ashamed to say I originally found this game on one of those big CDs full of pirate games that did the rounds in the early-mid 90s. In my defence, I've funnelled a lot of cash back into the games industry since then.

Any ideas?

Has anybody got a copy of Dredd's "Let me tell you what I stand for" speech from America? I know Logan has quoted it in the past, but the Search function's down.

Bear with me on this one. It's a bit of a long-winded ramble, but I really need some help making the decision!

I'm three weeks into my current 2-3 month temp contract, and it's going OK. The job's reasonably enjoyable, if desk-based. The people are pretty cool, for the most part. The only down side is the commute. It's ostensibly a journey of just over an hour each way, which I can handle, but rush hour driving bumps that up by anything up to an hour. So that's me knackered on the way in for an early shift and on the way home for a late. Arsebiscuits.

Yesterday, I got a call from a rival agency offering me a six month contract in my home town, just 30-45 minutes away, with a strong possibility of extension. Tempting, but I really don't like the idea of leaving a contract half-way through and dropping my employer in the mire. I went for the interview anyway, out of curiosity and spoke to the manager. He interviewed me a couple of months ago for another role, but I didn't get it. I must have done something right, though, as he remembered me, and seemed keen to get me in. The problem is, it's a three-month contract, with no possibility of extension, as they've got permanent staff coming in at that point. I explained my reservations about leaving my current role mid-contract, which he said reflects well on me and we parted ways on good terms.

Very good terms, apparently. The agency called me back again this afternoon. He's willing to go to six months, and there's a permanent position coming up after Christmas, which I'd be considered for.

I've since spoken to the manager at my current place and explained the situation. He understands the travel is a nightmare, and can't do much about that, but has offered to extend my contract to keep me there longer. He says he's more than happy with my work, and that he'd prefer it if I stayed. He has also said that there are two permanent positions coming up over the next couple of months, and that I'd be ahead of the pack if I were to apply.

My main problem with the whole thing is feeling bad about dropping this job mid-contract, despite knowing full well that it could easily happen the other way round (and actually did at my last place). Either party need only give a week's notice, and I've made my manager aware that I'm happy to give him two weeks if I were to take the other job.

So - what to do?
New job close to home or better the devil you know?

Not sure how to make that any clearer really.

Linky: http://www.aintitcool.com/node/47100

Like the title says: Forbidden Planet are selling their 2000AD books at a discount at the moment. I just stumbled across the offer by accident!


http://forbiddenplanet.com/?tag=2000ad&show=preorders&show=available&size=12&sort=price-asc

OK, I know Tank Girl has divided opinion in the Meg of late, but I thought I'd post this link anyway. Errant art bod Dayglo has done an interview over on Ain't It Cool News.
2000AD only gets a brief mention, but hey, Rufus is a talented artist and generally nice bloke, so go and read it, eh?

http://www.aintitcool.com/node/46884

So, in three weeks time I become an enhanced leisure citizen. The clock is ticking increasingly loudly. I've done the job-hunting thing, and there's very little out there. What there is, I've applied for and been largely ignored (would a "no thank you" email be prohibitively expensive or time consuming?). Then, during a routine sweep of the Liverpool John Moores University website, I saw this:

http://www.ljmu.ac.uk/VacancyDetails.asp?VacancyRef=IRC419IN&VacancyID=4192

Now, I managed to bag an MSc in Computer Games Technology at LJMU back in 2004. It was difficult, stressful and possibly even hazardous to my mental health. Would I be wiser to just walk away and carry on looking for a steady paycheck?

I know there are a few boarders here that have done PhDs, or that know people who have. Advise me, Hive Mind!

I know there are others on the board who take part in YouGov surveys (not least because it was House Of Usher who got me into it in the first place).

Today, I stumbled across www.tellyougov.com. This is a new function where, after the standard survey, YouGov users give their opinions on anything they like. Said opinions are then reflected in a vast nationwide leaderboard of bias. Naturally, I decided to big up Tharg's mighty organ. Fnar, etc

Anyway - I suggest everyone gets over there and vote 2000AD sharpish - we're currently languishing down on page 6 of the table, just above Michael Winner and rap music, with a paltry score of 8. Surely the prog deserves better than this?

Get out there and do it for thrill-power!

[Fiery Intensity Of A Thousand Suns Chilli!]

Having noted the division caused by food in the "I don't understand the appeal of..." thread, and having just finished cooking my tea (I know, bit late to be eating - I'll make up for it by going to bed extremely late), it occurred to me that every squaxx should have a signature dish. What I want to know now is: what's yours?

Here's mine, ripped off from an improved version of Anthony Worrall Thompson's recipe, I give you my Fiery Intensity Of A Thousand Suns Chilli!

Ingredients

A generous splash of olive oil
500g-1kg beef mince or stewing steak (diced)
200g mushrooms, quartered
2 large onions, diced
2-4 cloves garlic, crushed
2 chillies, finely diced
Red pepper, diced
Yellow or orange pepper, diced.
1 bay leaf
1 tbsp ground cumin
1 tbsp ground coriander
1 tbsp dried oregano
1 tbsp paprika
2 tsp cayenne
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 tbsp tomato purée
2 tins chopped tomatoes
250ml beef stock
1 tin baked beans, drained
1 tin tinned red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
small bunch coriander leaves, roughly chopped

To serve

Basmati rice/chips/wedges, maybe a corn cob or some onion rings - knock yerself out. Some sour cream couldn't hurt, either...

Method

1. Heat a large pan (I use a big wok) until hot then add the olive oil, beef and mushrooms. Fry until the beef is browned, then remove from the pan and set aside.
2. Add the onions, garlic, chillies and sweat for 5-6 minutes until golden. Add the diced peppers halfway through.
3. Add all the spices and fry for one minute.
4. Return the beef to the pan and stir to combine.
5. Add the tomato purée, tinned tomatoes and stock and bring to the boil. You may need to split the mixture across two pans by now - there'll be a lot of it!
6. Reduce the heat and simmer for 1-1½ hours or until very tender.
7. Add the chocolate and beans and simmer for a further five minutes until hot through.
8. Check the seasoning before adding the coriander leaves and serving.
9. Remember to wash your hands several times before picking your nose/rubbing your eye/scratching your balls/interfering with your other half. Seriously.

Well, it's only four days away. Is anyone going to any parties/piss-ups?
Fancy dress? What are you going as? As much as I'd like to have re-used last year's Hellboy outfit, my inner geek saw it as a cop-out, so I'm now putting the finishing touches to my new "trailing-the-zeitgeist-by-several-years" evil zombie pirate ensemble.

Go on then - what will the Hive Mind be doing for the season of the witch?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAc6QEZtOLQ

I've got a shitload of old progs* sitting in my living room, waiting for an owner. It's not 100% unbroken, but it runs from the 300s to about 1300-1400ish, with loads of doubles (and even triples in many cases). They're mostly in pretty good condition. Any boarder who needs them to plug gaps in their collection and doesn't mind coming to get them is welcome to help themselves. I'm in Liverpool, for those who don't know.

I'd have put this in the Classifieds section, but I can't be arsed selling them. Too much like hard work.





*Many thanks to erstwhile boarder and nouveau-antipodean Thinky for giving me the majority of this thrill-mountain *ages* ago. I've finally sorted through them and swiped the ones I needed!

Ain't It Cool News have posted Jock's poster for next year's big-screen adaptation of The Losers:

http://www.aintitcool.com/node/41810

Good, eh?

Dave Gibbons is in the news again.




What? Go and read it for yourself. What am I? Trevor McDonald?
 //http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7979334.stm

I don't know if this is just my local store or if it applies to all, but Asda are having a sale on console games.
I just picked up Fallout 3 (Xbox 360) for 20 quid, and there's a load of other titles on all platforms marked down.
Might be worth a look?

If it is just my local, scouse squaxx might want to have a look in the Smithdown Road branch...

Apparently Coke are giving away free MS points to Xbox Live users.
Not entirely sure when this offer starts or how you access it, so any tips would be appreciated.

More here: //http://www.computerandvideogames.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=90812

How good does this look? Apparently it's a UK-made film that hasn't been picked up for distribution in the US.
Opens Feb 20th.

Just watch this turn out to be crap now I've mentioned it...

I'm trying to find a picture for use in a Christmas card, and all the usual places have let me down.
I need a picture (either illustration or photo - doesn't matter which) of a Victorian winter scene, containing at least two people (preferably just the two, preferably a man and a woman).

Any ideas?