Day two: Bitey the fox slayer

Today is my fist official day of game play. There is a video introduction where Biteys origins are revealed. The Night elves are the oldest ‘race’ in World of Warcraft and our mission is to defend Darnassus, the capital city of Biteys people.
I start out at my own little base camp. It is very log cabin-esque, kitted out with a table and some pots, just the basics. I venture outdoors. I am amazed at the quality of the graphics. In front of me I see a vivid 3D land in a forest like setting. It’s night time, I think. Everything seems to have a purple tinge to it.


I can see other characters. Their names are displayed above their heads. Apparently I can talk to them, them being other players from all over the world. I’ve also heard that people use this site to find love. Like online dating, only scarier. Bitey doesn’t need a boyfriend, she is far too mystical. I keep to myself and run around to practise using the controls. I play around with various items I seem to be pre equipped with. I kill an animal. A fox maybe? I couldn’t tell.
Apparently I’m not already in Darnassus, so I spend the best part of an hour trying to get there, completing quick and easy tasks or ‘quests’, practising my spells and earning some cash… These tasks included killing ‘grells’ and ‘night sabres’. I then figured out that I can sell the things that I kill at a big tree… Don’t ask. I had my first real yet quick conversation with a human called Orgo123. He referred to me as ‘noob’ and gave me a few pointers; Find a trainer, learn a profession to earn some money, buy armour.

Addiction level: 3/10

Day Three: Gnarlpine Ambushers

Today is very busy in the internet café and it smells like socks. The boy next to me is playing WOW. He is clearly more advanced than me. His character is jogging around slicing people up with a sword. I log on and there’s little Bitey with her purple hair and magical looking attire.
I continue on my journey to Darnassus. I arrive in a place called Dolanaar where I am offered the chace to train in either cooking, herbalism, alchemy or first aid. I have always been good with blood and took all my High School tetanus injections like a man, so first aid sound like it’s right up my alley

After completing some more quests in Dolanaar, I head on out and pretty soon I encounter a mob of night elves who offer me a quest called ‘The Road to Darnassus’. Jackpot!
For this quest I have to Kill 6 Gnarlpipe Ambushers. They are mean and scarry.

Addiction level: 5/10

Day four: The murder of Rageclaw

I am now at level four and I’m feeling really good about it. I’m starting to get confident. I’m actually starting to enjoy myself. Until I am clubbed to death by what seems to be an orc. I tried to defend myself by typing, “that’s not very nice!” That didn’t’ get me very far. Eluzionist666 replied “I ownz you noob!”
I resurrect at a nearby graveyard and head back to my body to continue game play. I am invited to join my first group! I feel like a bit of a loser for feeling excited as we head into a place called ‘the den’. We have to fight off bad guys and do some quests. I kill a dude called Rageclaw with my crazy night elf kung fu skills.

After a string of quests where I defeated ‘mossy tumors’ and ‘harpys’I finally arrive in Darnassus hwere I find another trainer and I decide to take up the profession of bore skinning. Probably the grossest thing I have ever heard of, but apparently that’s where the moneys at.

Addiction level: 7/10

Day five: Night Elf dance?

Today is my last day as Bitey. Although I am sad to see her go, I am kinda over the weird internet café smells and judgmental stares at my faithful track pants.
In the land of Darnussus Bitey has come far, completing quests with ease and running a lucrative killing and skinning business on the side. She has flash new armour and is now a level ten. I know if I was to embark on further adventures, we could go all the way.

Highlights of the game for me were the interactive and detailed landscape and quests. This aspect of WOW sucked me right in. I also became quite attached to Bitey, an online representation of my true inner self. Another highlight was my discovery of the creepy yet sultry female night elf dance which I found on youtube. I don’t understand why this feature exists in the game but I love it…

The low points of the game would defiantly be that it gets a little tedious and repetitive and freezes up sometimes. I would rank myself a solid 7/10 on the addiction scale, although I can defiantly see how someone bored with real life could become very heavily dependant on WOW for mental stimulation.

It’s defiantly an experience I will never forget. R.I.P Bitey.

Sex, Politics and A Fake Goatee??

She’s lewd, crude and crazy and coming to a city near you. Peaches is the quirky Canadian electroclasher that will blow your mind in concert. If you love music and want to hear an original blend of electronica, indie, hip hop and pop from a sex-crazed madwoman all packaged up in pink hot pants then this is the gig for you.

If you’ve never heard Peaches check out her latest album ‘Impeach my Bush’ and get ready, there’s another one on the way. Prepare to be shocked at her performance it will involve on-stage costume changes and crowd nudity among other outrageous on-stage antics. Her lyrics express her strong opinions on the issues feminism, sexism, politics (latest album, ‘Impeach My Bush’, is in fact a direct reference to George Bush) and gender. Peaches makes all her backing tracks with her trusty Roland MC505 Groovebox (she calls it MC5 for short). This results in rather minimal yet heavy and pulsating beats. Her diverse voice fills in for whatever’s lacking. She first made it big in 2002 with her debut album the Teaches of Peaches, with Rolling Stone magazine saying “Trent Reznor, Courtney Love and Foxy Brown should all be very, very afraid"-Rolling Stone.(2002).' The next breakthrough album to follow was Fatherrfucker(2003). When asked about the name she replied “We use it in our everyday language[motherfucker], and it's such an insanely intense word. I'm not one to shy away from these obscene terms that we actually have in our mainstream…But if we're going to use motherfucker, why don't we use fatherfucker? I'm just trying to be even.” Her most recent release is abum the Teaches of Peaches(2006), which has seen her music progress yet still stay true to the Peaches staples. Her success has seen her collaborate with big names such as Iggy Pop, Feist, Joan Jett, Garbage and even Pink.

Peaches has freshened up her live gigs with new backing band, Berlin-based Sweet Machine (taking over the Herms). Plus, fantastic support act, NZs Ladyhawke. Concerts will be 20th & 21st of September. Well chosen venues will ensure that you will be up close and personal with Peaches. Friday’s concert will be at Auckland’s Powerstation and on Saturday at Wellington’s San Francisco Bath House. For further information see http://www.peachesrocks.com/

Wolrd of Warcraft?!

For one of my latest assignments, our class is creating an Ezine or online magazine about fantasy and escapism in Hmailton. My part in this was to play an online game and keep a diary...

I'm not going to lie, I had alot of pre conceived ideas about online gaming and the poeple that play, so this was an interesting excersice for me. I chose to play World of Warcraft for five days (short attention span...) I'm gonig to poast all of my diary entries on here and eventually a link to our finished Ezine! Yehaa..

World of Warcraft or ‘WoW’ is the biggest online gaming phenomena the world has ever seen. Launched by Blizzard entertainment in 2004, WoW now boasts 10.9 million international players (40% of them are supposedly clinically addicted…). WoW took five years to create and was universally praised by critics. People have literally died from playing this game because they simply couldn’t stop playing it. Personally, I’ve never been one for gaming. But after reading reviews and articles about WoW, I was officially intrigued to the point of putting on some comfortable pants and spending a week in front of my computer to see what all the fuss was about…

Day One:

World of Warcraft is defiantly a crafty business. You have the pay to play. There is no getting out of it. Luckily I managed to score a free 14 day trial. But if was looking for the full gaming experience, I would need to spend about thirty dollars. In other words I got the crap trial version. It’s not like I can tell the difference anyway!

To start off with you have to register, and then you get to create you avatar which will act as a virtual representation of you in the game.

Being somewhat concerned about my looks, I spent quite some time playing with my avatar until I was satisfied with her appearance. I got to choose her race (elf, gnome, human the list goes on), her hair cut, her skin tone and a whole bunch of other stuff which I knew nothing about,. … After doing a quick online search to find out what race is best I decided I would like to be a night elf. I named my avatar Bitey because she looks like she would bite someone if given the chance.

Iornforge is the night elf world on WoW. Iornforge is a mystical eerie place set amongst snowy mountains and is featured in the picture above.


I can already tell this is going to be confusing. I feel myself hesitating as I turn off the computer, I am anxious to see Bitey in action but I must resist addiction!

Weddings and Birthdays...

As someone who has recently experienced both a wedding (not mine) and a birthday (almost mine), I feel like I am in a position where I can offer my up to date opinion on both, with the feelings and associated emotions still fresh in my heart.

Weddings are great. Especially if the bride and groom are actually in love. Especially if you are a guest who gets to smile at the pretty dresses, cry at the vows and drunkenly stumble (dance?)around to the band at the reception...

I recently attended one of those weddings. It was beautiful. My girlfriends and I held hands and shed a few tears as we watched our totally hot friend/bride strut down the beach and get married to her long time boyf. As they said 'I do', I felt a surge of happiness for them.

Movies these days are really taking the piss. One minute a couple is getting married, next minute the best friend/ex/orthodontist pops up and says 'wait! I love you!' and BAM. Wedding off. Old finance out, new guy in. I mean, thats gross. You don't get married if your not 100% in love and committed in a forever kind of way, at least thats what my mother taught me.

For two simple words, 'I do,' can inspire some pretty full on emotions. Imagine how the bride and groom must feel. Imagine how brides and grooms everywhere must feel when they say it in todays society, where marriage has a somewhat damaged reputation.

Has marriage gone out of fashion? Has it become one of those things only some people do for real, like recycling? In todays society where independence is a survival instinct, people are losing their respect for one of the most sacred and beautiful traditions of all time.

Marriage isn't for everyone, but for those who chose it, it's one of life's most important events.
Dispite the high divorce rate, people still really do fall in love, get married and live happily ever after, no matter what you learnt on the E! channel.

Read this, I don't know how I feel about her first sentance....


Birthdays are so much better when you are five. All you have to do is open presents, attend your party and eat the cake. These days, if you don't organize it, it probably won't happen. If you do organize it, it probably wont happen right.

The best birthday I went to this year was yesterday. One of my posse turned 20. We didn't plan anything, we just did exactly what we felt like doing at the time. (we ended up at the beach, we ate, we drank, we made business cards...) Admittedly we did plan a few surprises for her.

The worst birthday I went to this year was a big party which was planned and agonized over for months. The poor birthday girl ended up in tears because at the last minute her DJ pulled out, the catering was all wrong and she ended up deciding, right before her grand entrance, that she hated her dress. To top it all off, only about 50% of the people she invited came. L-A-M-E.

Don't get me wrong, I have experienced lots of successful birthdays, but i guess what I'm trying to say is that a birthday should be about good times. A birthday shouldn't be turned into a 'who can throw the wildest party' competition.

Anyway thats just a page out of my brain on what I've bee thinking/feeling today.

People I stalk online

Every time I'm online, I systematically hit up the same bunch of web pages (a habit which delicious and bloglines have revolutionized for me). I check for updates, I re read old updates, and sometimes I feel kinda like a stalker.

I feel especially like a stalker when it's someone's personal page, eg their blog. However, I don't feel bad or creepy. Stalking online is encouraged. We live in a world where you can stalk freely and anonymously. We can 'poke' strangers on face book, we can 'comment', 'add' and 'message' anyone we want. ANYONE. Basically, the Internet is just a big stalk-o-thon.

I embrace the future of technology, blogging and social networking (too a degree.. I still know how to pick up the phone). So here is a list of people and places I enjoy stalking online and why;

My sister

My sister Jen is a fine arts student at AUT in Auckland. Not only is she my BFF, she takes awesome photographs, does amazing work and has amazing insight into human emotion. I often head to her blog for inspiration or to cure homesickness.

Htown.co.nz

This is the site I go to when i want to know what is up in the way of local music and gigs.It has the low down on all things musical and is a great resource.

Bridget Saunders

Saunders is responsible for the spy section

in the Sunday Herald. Surprisingly, there is more to her blogs than juicy gossip. It can be funny, interesting and opinionated.

Tegan and Sara

This is my favorite band...

Urban Outfitters

This is one of my favorite online stores, I especially love the apartment section. They have specials and sales almost daily, so I always check back, just in case the grey couch which I will eventually own gets marked down...

Too Pure

This is where I go to read about international music, learn about new bands...

Beauty and the street

I like to know what's going on fashion, music and culture wise on a global scale.

MIA's blog

One of my friends from high school...(lying) She's become really famous so I like checking back to see what she's up to. I can hear her talking in that UK accent even when she writes! I like reading her blog because she writes in an uncensored 'fuck the world' kind of way. I'm pretty sure her blog is under construction again, so check back soon.

I'm going to leave it there for now, I'm super tired.

Geocaching

Whilst looking around online at hobby related websites (research for the e-zine) I came across Geocaching. I was excited and a little frightened by the idea of a world wide treasure hunt..

Geocaching (pronounced geo-cashing) is basically orienteering on a global scale. Anyone can participate, providing they have a global positioning system. The point is to find a cache (a container type thing?) using GPS locations posted online by the cache owner. A cache contains a log book with visitor notes and supposedly valuable information. A cache also contains treasure such as CD's, toys, currency or trinkets which if you take, you must replace it with something of equal or higher value.

This picture is of a cache found in Germany

Geocaching also has elements of extreme and bad ass. Bomb squads have been called in to destroy caches which members of the unsuspecting public have mistaken for weapons of mass distruction. Geocaches are often questioned by the police for suspicious behaviour. It's hide Hide and seek with an edge.

You can join in this treasure hunt by registering on the geocaching website, buying yourself a sweet GPS, learning the lingo (waypoints, cache, geocions, travel bugs), seeking cache co ordinates online and going to find the sucker.

Geocaching loves you.

Instinct or impulse?

A month or so ago I walked into JB Hi-Fi and picked up a CD. I felt a connection to the image. It was pretty and I wanted it to live on my shelf. The music of Santogold would be amazing, I could feel it. I went with my instincts and payed the $25 to make it mine , without any knowledge of the content.

I got home and excitedly slipped the CD into my computer. The sweet combo of Indie and electro filled my ears, mouth and mind. This was a great CD. I felt a wave of appreciation and affection for my instincts, which had just helped me pick out my new favorite CD, minus the drama of pre-purchase research.

Last night, while listening to 'star stuck' by Santogold, I began to think about human instincts. In a way, I guess our bodies have a mind of their own. We automatically pull away from something if it's too hot and we scratch itches in our sleep. We buy CDs because we think the cover looks cool...I started to picture my hand with it's own little brain, thinking away down there next to my wrist.

I stole this little snippet from the book 'Human Instinct' by Professor Robert Winston:

"What drives a happily married man to fantasize about pretty, slim young women seen on a tube train? Why does a seriously injured, semi-conscious and dehydrated mountaineer battle against impossible weather conditions, refusing the comforts of sleep, to spend three days crawling down to the safety of base camp? How is it that so many thousands of people spend their week entirely focussed on whether their team will win their next crucial match? What stimulates that urge to press the pedal as hard as possible at traffic lights to make the fastest getaway? And how is it that so many people still hold religious views when the notion of an all-powerful being is irrational? All of these impulses are driven by our human instincts - sexual drive, survival, competition, aggression and our search for knowledge."

Instincts are unlearned. They are built into us. They are inherited, fixed patterns of response to certain stimuli.

I believe my CD purchase was fueled by the human instinct to 'search for (music) knowledge'. I have always possessed a deep-seeded desire to unearth new and amazing music before everyone else finds out about it.

I ended up back in the lap of my sexy old friend, bbc.com and took a human instincts test which i recommend, just for kicks.

Go here to 'test your morals" : http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/humanbody/mind/surveys/morals/

Go here to blow your mind: http://www.myspace.com/santogold