Dontcha just love it when you spend too much money, panic about it and then realise you actually had more cash than you realised so actually the overall impact of your reckless abandon is negligible? That was pretty much the sum total of my Saturday.
There was only one thing on my mind Saturday morning; pretzels. This after having slept for nine hours btw and still feeling ¾ dead so naturally, my first thought was something arcane. As my last blog post indicated, I was toying with the idea of Borough Market but I knew that if I went, I’d just spend a load of cash in Utobeer. In my groggy state, I vaguely formulated a plan of starting in Camden so that I might go to Melissa’s bakery (at least) and working my way south through central London. Like many of my spontaneous plans, it went totally organic and I ended up…doing something completely different.
Starbucks have dropped the Cheese and Marmite rolls – most disappointing. Another post EU-exit casualty (given the hysteria over price rises for the yeast extract product)? But that’s where I started my day, looking at all those about to go to and come back from the gym judging from all the tatty sports bags on display. Why they thought I’d need four sachets of HP to go with my breakfast roll I don’t know. Meh, whatever. Hopped on the tube and considered where I might change to get to Camden. But for some reason, I just didn’t feel like changing trains at Warren Street or Euston. So instead went to King’s Cross and decided to walk through my old stomping grounds. Glad I did because I hadn’t appreciated the changes that the last couple of years have wrought. Former building sites are now fully fledged apartments or offices, shops have gone, new ones are in their place. Not much has changed of Barker Drive though; this was pleasing and I felt a hint of nostalgia as I passed by the old flat.
First stop on the tour was Game. Actually no, the first stop was the bank, then to Game. I made up my mind that I was going to splash out on a copy of Return to Arkham even though it’s only an HD remastered version of Arkham Asylum & Arkham City albeit with all former DLC bundled in. But it’s been a while since I last acquired a new Xbone Game, the last being Zombi which has barely been touched. Game were selling it at £40 which I point-blank refused to pay, not least as Sainsburys’ were retailing it for £32. So instead went to Cex up the High Street and found a second hand copy (not unexpected) for £30. Sold!
After buying the aforementioned pretzels at Melissa’s, I decided to harass Xian and bullied him into a visit and for tea. He had what looked to be an impressive hangover but we caught up. It’s been ages since I “dropped in” on anyone, these days visiting friends tends to be done by appointment only (not least so you can pretty-up the homestead). So was nice to be a little different.
Forbidden Planet next stop – I’m weaning myself off of comics and about the only titles I’m still buying are Back to the Future, Simpsons and Futurama (whenever you can find the damn things) and Batman DKR 3: The Master Race. Star Wars I stopped after Lucas sold out to evil, Star Trek (or at least the Kelvin-verse) has come to a natural end with the destruction of the Enterprise in the last film so I’m quitting those. He-Man finished ages ago and I haven’t seen Munchkin for a while. Anyway, picked up BTTF and Part 6 of DKR3 as well as an expansion pack to Resistance (the “Avalon” pack – it was the only one in the store) and some more card protectors. Ran into Dr Do(o)m and the girls in the comic section though I’d actually walked right next to them earlier and they completely failed to spot me.
Late lunch in Herman ze German (delicious), birthday present for Brendan in Hotel Chocolat, then stuck in traffic on the bus home because of the wretched Million Mask March. And I’d noticed that FP had unsubtly put the Guy Fawkes masks in prominent display… kinda think that takes the P-One Fifty-Five (sometimes I’ll swear, sometimes I’ll be oblique and cute). After waiting thirty minutes in traffic, I got off and went to Embankment to get the tube home although I detest changing at Kennington just to go one stop. Why didn’t I walk? Goddam ankle AGAIN. At least I’ve finally registered for a GP, just need to book the appointment when I confirm I’m not a spambot or whatever. Then fired up Batman and settled in for the evening.
So Batman: Return to Arkham. Only played Asylum thus far (as of last night, I’m about to start the Killer Croc lair section). The HD graphics look wonderful; a great deal of detail on the characters and the lighting is really good – you can see so much detail on the background scenery. When you’re going from the Batcave to the surface in that section where you can’t use the Batgrapple (is that its name?), the difference is stunning. I can’t wait to see Wonder City in the next game, I’m sure it’ll be spectacular. The first Scarecrow interlude was also wonderfully eerie. I didn’t notice much different from the sounds or v/o.
I noticed that Joker is now a playable character in the challenges (I’m sure he wasn’t before, or not on the 360 but I could be mistaken). But have stuck to the main game for the most part. On the downside, a couple of the cutscenes still have ropey animations, almost as if they were Claymation (I’m thinking of the Harley Quinn/Electric Floor interlude). But that really is the only downside. More when I get around to Arkham City.
Sunday: mostly chores, a little obscenity in the evening. Monday: work, home, sleep. Nowt worth reporting.
Imperial Centre 