Sim City nostalgia

When I was in school my Godfather Paul worked for apple. So he had the coolest computers I'd ever seen. In my house we had a BBC computer. This is what it looked like:



My Godfather used to bring his black and white laptops with him and let me play with the drawing programmes on it. Later he also let me play the very early versions of Maxis's Sim City. I was amazed. Then, for my birthday one year he actually gave me my very own colour Mac desktop computer and a little computer desk to go with it. The first thing I did was to get Sim City 2000. Paul and I called each other with tips and tricks. I love to cheat. Over the years I moved up to Sim City 3000 and then recently got Sim City 4 which I hated. I had forgotten what Sim City 2000 actually looked like - so when I stumbled across this youtube clip it really took me back - the music - the annoying pipe flow problems.



Sim City 3000 was a lot slicker but as far as I remember didn't have the brilliant 'fixer' games of Sim City 2000. I loved getting a city with lots of derelict buildings and turning it around or fighting fires in a town with no fire stations. And what happened to the space age buildings? Those huge things from Sim City 2000. Loved those.



Now I have Sim City Societies or something and it's shit. SHIT! What happened???? It's just like the Sims. So much better in 2.

Oh and aren't our generation always harping on about what computers were like when they were young? Suppose we don't have a world war to harp on about.

Will the real Lady GaGa please stand up?

An enterprising guy called Veik has recreated all of Lady gaga's most gaga outfits for Barbie. Check out his photo stream on Flickr. They rock! Here's a little selection for you to feast your eyes on. Again props to Madam Lamb. Love your blog.






http://www.flickr.com/photos/veik11/

re-art-ified

I won't lie to you now, I stole this video from Madam Lamb's blog coz I loved it so much. Only problem is the video is better than the song. Without further ado I give you "hold your horses's new video for "70 million".

70 Million by Hold Your Horses ! from L'Ogre on Vimeo.

Pixel power!!

Seedwatch 2010

Last year my Creative partner Liz and I got serious gardening fever. This year she has again got the seeds planted and is good to go.
I however have been a wimp - while the weather is cold I don't even open the door to my balcony! I have brought in a few choice precious plants for the winter and the rest have to fend for themselves.

Boris (named after London mayor Boris Johnson) the crazy ivy plant has taken over a whole corner of my flat. I never water him. How he survives is beyond me. He has lived with Fiance and I for 4 years now. He really is my baby.

Manwell the mini orange tree ( a gift from my friends Liz and James) spent a lot of last year suffering from a serious case of red spider mite. He required 4 or 5 far too generous doses of chemical pest killer (the spray says only use 2x at most) and a spell out in the snow before he finally shook off his unwanted guests. He is now back in the warm and has burst back to life with a beautiful crop of mini oranges which I won't be eating because after that much chemical spray they are probably poisonous.

Florence the white flowery tree thing (so you might have guessed I'm not big on knowing the correct names of plants) is doing well. She is the latest edition to my front room nursery - a gift from my lovely friend Laura. She requires a lot of watering but then I should have guessed - she looks high maintenance.

Outside on the balcony we have a miniature rose - (a gift from my gorgeous friend Hollie)- Rosalind - after the Shakespearean character from As you Like it. Rosalind was very ill last spring. She was out on the balcony and developed a serious case of black and green fly. After research I found you could kill these pesky quick-breeding creatures with a fairy liquid mixture. She required at least 8 treatments and careful monitoring. Most of her leaves fell off before the battle was won. Maybe it was the lack of places fro the greenfly to go that finally did the trick. She has however come back to life and put in a magnificent effort with her re-growth so props to Rosalind. She's a survivor. I must remember to bring her back inside before the warm weather kicks in.

Bailey the Bay tree has done nothing. NOTHING! Since I had him last summer. He is very small and grew from my Dad's humungous Bay tree. Bay trees are worth a lot of money. Bailey isn't because he's too small and he's obviously home sick since he refuses to grow. Maybe I'll feed him some baby bio...

Then after that we have my climbing passion flower. I had three originally - cut offs from dad again. One has done pretty well. I am very surprised since she survived the snow and all the freezing weather. She looks so delicate and tropical it really is a miracle. She doesn't have a name yet. Probably because I was sure she would die. But maybe I could call her Patricia.

So the plan for this year? Chillies and more tomatoes - like last year. And I will be looking for hardy plants that can survive droughts.

apps wonderful apps, cold jelly and custard....no actually just apps

In recent weeks I have been in app central. I got my first iPhone and downloaded like mad. I also have some expert advisers on hand to make sure I pick the best ones. Here is my top 10 pick (and my handy advisers' picks) for your app-enjoyment. Appsolutely Fabulous!

Toobz - Free or 59p- As recommended by me. This is a fun game! Or is it that I just have nostalgia for the Pipe dream game I played for hours on end on my very old Apple Mac? Race against the clock to build a network of pipes before the tap is turned on.


Eat it Now - Free - This nifty app lists all your local deliveries so you can order from the comfort of your sofa - no need to keep that drawer of takeaway menus that come through the door any more! Fill it with old batteries instead.


Sccope to save - £1.19 Check you're getting the bestest bargains on every purchase - be it TVs or tea - you can see where to get it cheapest and if the price has gone down recently. Power to the people!



Tuneinradio - £1.19 - lists every radio station you could ever desire so you can just click and listen. You can also bookmark your favourites. Nifty.



2Do - Free or £3.99 for the full version - If you like writing lists (and I most obviously do) you'll love this app - note down all your to do's for the day and enjoy ticking them off - you can synch it with your calendars and even create alarms. Nice for the chronically unorganized. Nice for the organized obsessive. Plus it has won a bunch of awards for design and usability.



Vouchercloud - free - actually when you write free you should actually write the amount of money this app has managed to save you after a month - or a year! Fancy a meal? It finds you vouchers for local restaurants, fancy going shopping - save 20% off a boutique. Ahh so good. What's not a good idea however is to merely eat somewhere because there is a voucher on voucher cloud. Fiance and I did this on sat night and had one of the worst meals on record in Auberge. Note Auberge is not a good chain. Stick to Pizza Express or Strada.



Skype - free - this is so obvious - get all your friends on it and when you have wifi access you can all call each other or message for free. FOR FREE!



Whatsapp - 59p - Another freebee. Get all your mates on it and you can message eachother for free no matter what country you are in. WOoohooo! Chat all day for all I care!



Sleep Cycle - 59p very interesting concept - get this app then leave your iPhone on your bed all night and it uses motion sensor to monitor your movements to tell when you are in light sleep. It then wakes you up when at the right time so that you feel refreshed. Doesn't however work if you have an annoyingly fidgety Fiance in bed with you as I have found out. maybe better if you're single.



Plants vs zombies - £1.79 - This game has been given a full five star rating by people who've bought it and I LOVE the desktop version. Plant plants strategically to fend off the zombie invasion and avoid getting your brains eaten. Mmmmm brainsssss. So addictive that I played it for 4 hours straight and gave myself backache.

iPhone musical genius