So, finally..

Well here it is - an extract from the stuff I've been writing for the last year. I don't really want to give too much away at this point, so you're going to have to be content with quite an OLD draft of the prologue and intro to the first chapter.

I would have given you more, but I don't want to go spoiling things just yet (plus I'm mean like that).

Suffice to say these sections have been reworked many times since this snippet was done, as has the majority of the story arc, so any lack of detail will likely have already been addressed in the latest incarnation. As to the poor formatting; well, you can blame the mac I started writing it on for that. No decent word processing tools what-so-ever.

Google docs link

Peace out!
- Skie

Long Time No Speak...

So I realise I haven't been keeping this as up to date as I'd intended. Well, here's what's been occurring recently:

I've had a long required week off from work. Massively relaxing (read not at all) and allowed me to get on with a number of other side projects I've had on the back burner for quite some time. These mainly consist of a dynamically generated content rpg with a user controlled and implemented combat system (yes, I know that sounds weird - I will explain more when it's more finalised) and finishing of the writing on my first epic story.

Now, the story is something I've been cooking up for a long time. It's an amalgamation of a number of different works and short stories that I have done in the past - some published online and some not - combined together into a more coherent and lengthy singular piece.

I'll be posting a small snippet of it, say a couple of chapters or so, in the next few days. Suffice to say these snippets will be old drafts of the work, as I want to keep the finalised versions quiet for now. It's a break from what I normally write and falls more into the realms of psychological/crime thriller more than anything else. It'll be interesting to see what sort of reception it gets.

Apart from the above it's been business as usual. Apart from going to the cinema. Not been in years and now suddenly I'm trying to go every week with a friend. It's been great to just get out of the house for something other than work.

Oh, and I've decided to go to a lot more gigs this year. Alestorm next month, Andrew W.K in Apil and DJ Yoda (after his fantastic set at the company Christmas party) in May. And that's just for starters.

Well, that's it for now. Have another cat.

Has it really been that long?

"Great God! This is a terrible place."
- Robert Falcon Scott, when surveying the South Pole 100 years ago today.

After 2 months of hardship, Scott and his team were the second team to navigate their way to the South Pole - narrowly edged out of first place by a Norwegian Team lead by Roald Engelbregt Gravning Amundsen a month earlier. This was a tale of trials and tortures, as none of the brave 5-man team that departed from Cardiff in June 1910 would return; they would instead slowly perish one by one on their return journey - some just 11 miles from their final depot.

This was a story that entranced me as a child. How could one man lead a team into the depths of the wilderness, make an 800 mile trek across frozen wastelands, yet still be clear of mind enough to write letters to his wife and loved ones in the few hours before his death.

This man and his team were heroes and on this centennial anniversary they should be remembered. I know I'll be raising a glass to them tonight and remembering Captain Oates' immortal words "I'm going outside and may be some time..." - brave words of a man knowing he faced certain death, yet still though highly enough of his companions to give them some false hope that he would return.

What to do with a week off?

Or, rather, "What can I do on a week off with only an hour (max) of sleep per night?"

So I've finally broken away from work for longer than a weekend. This is new to me. Anyone who has worked alongside me enough will likely state that I pretty much live at work. I'm 'that guy'; the one who is meant to work 8-5, but is in work 6:30-7 on most occasions. I love my job, so all this sudden freedom has me a bit confused and intimidated.

What do you mean I don't have to get up at 5am? Are you sure I don't have to go to sleep by 11? Wow. Just wow. I never knew that time actually continued to function from the times of 11-5am. I always thought the world just stopped until I woke up.

So, as it has been many years since I last had this amount of time off, anyone got any suggestions on things I can do? They must be possible on only an hour or so sleep and not cost the earth. I would have continued with my own project game (TLSW) but lack of sleep is not conducive to programming work.

Suggestions of sleeping more or watching daytime telly will be met with derisive comments and suspicious/dangerous packages in the post. Just thought I should warn you.

Now, have another funny picture.

In search of of a Lua compiler

So, recently I decided to start doing some Lua programming on an old macbook I dug out of the cupboard during my bi-monthly tidy-a-thon. Big mistake.

I decided to opt for tools that I already use in my day job, so installed the mac version of Eclipse and then started looking around for a decent pluging and compiler for it. First of all I looked at the sponsored plug-in, Koneki, but that turned out to be an utter pain to install and then refused to allow the creation of a simple Lua project. Next I looked at LuaEclipse, which showed real promise...


.. that is until you find out that you still need to install the core binaries of Lua in order to get the interpreter to work. Syntax highlighting and project creation? All there. Ability to run the script you've created? No, no, no - you need this extra bit on top to work.

Now I liked the way LuaEclipse was a quick install and worked pretty well, so I started looking into how to get the Lua binaries and build myself the interpreter. Again another big mistake. Turns out I need to install XCode and a few other bits and bobs before I can even create the Lua program. I did find a decent tutorial on how to install it all (once I have XCode) but that will have to wait until I get XCode.

So in a fit of rage I closed the macbook and went back to my PC, where it was all readily available online. I will try again another day.

Still, at least I'm using the Moai lua cloud space to store a chunk of what I'm working on, so I can use both development computers when the time comes.

So, here, have a picture of a cute kitten to brighten your day after reading this.

Correspondents

Need to give them a bit of a shout out after they appeared at the work Christmas party back in December. Thoroughly entertaining, if only for the dance moves.

B-B-B-B-B-HORNETS!

This is just ridiculous. Poor bees...

Quest For The Perfectly Easy Roast Gammon

So last Sunday I was presented with a bit of a challenge: We had a gammon joint left over from the Christmas period that required eating, but nobody had much energy to devote to cooking it.

Cue me putting on my experimental chef's hat and entering the room, ready to find the quickest and easiest way to get a roast gammon joint or to fail horribly and be left with the shame of calling for take-out.


Ingredients/equipment:
Stage 1:
• 800-1000 ml Apple Cider (you can use apple juice if you really want)
• 1000 ml water
• Gammon Joint, skin intact

Stage 2:
• 50-100 ml water/cider (if there's any left from stage 1)

Stage 3:
• 2 tablespoons smooth apple sauce (or normal apple sauce with the chunks removed)
• 4 tablespoons English mustard (can be substituted for whole grain for a crunchy crust, but less heat)
• 2 tablespoons clear runny honey - MUST BE RUNNY

Instructions:
Stage 1
1. First of all we need to soak the gammon joint in order to remove any excess salt from the curing process. What you will need to do is place the joint in a bowl large enough to contain it and then cover with water. This will then need to soak for a minimum of 2 hours per 450g/1lb (If time is available, I recommend soaking all joints overnight for best results).

2. With the soaking done, drain the joint and then it's time to get on with poaching. Get a saucepan that is large enough to fit the joint inside and then pour in the apple cider - making sure that the liquid covers the joint. This will then need to be brought to the boil and then covered and simmered for ~25 minutes for every 450g/1lb of gammon. Please be aware that you may need to adjust the liquid levels when poaching the joint, as it will evaporate and any sections of the meat outside of the poaching liquid can (and probably will) dry out if left uncovered for an extended period of time.


3. Now that the meat has finished the poaching process, you will need to leave it to cool in the poaching stock. Optionally, you could let it go fully cold by leaving it overnight.


Stage 2
4. Preheat your oven to 180C / gas 4 / fan 160C.

5. Now that the meat has been poached and cooled, it's time to remove the rind/skin and get ready for roasting. Feel free to remove some fat from the joint along the way, but make sure there is enough left to cover it.

6. With the joint skinned take a sharp kitchen knife and score the fat in a diamond pattern, making sure not to cut too deeply into the meat else it may dry out in the roasting process.


7. Now that it has been skinned, scored and the oven has reached temperature it is time to roast it. I would highly recommend putting a layer of tin foil across the base of the roasting pan that you use, just in case any glaze later on the process burns to it. Plus it makes it far easier on the washing up. With this done, place the joint into the roasting pan, fat side up, and pour over any remaining cider (roughly 50-100ml) or water if there's no cider remaining, followed by placing it into the over for around 45 minutes to an hour with a foil tent over the top to prevent burning and drying out.


Stage 3
8. Now that the meat has been roasting for 45 minutes - 1 hour, it's time to get on with glazing it. Mix all of the ingredients listed above for this stage in a bowl, making sure it is properly mixed.

9. Once done, remove the joint from the oven; discard the foil tent, increase the oven temperature to 200C / gas 6 / fan 180C and then carefully pour some of the glaze over the top of the meat - making sure to evenly coat it all over the top.


10. Once the oven has reached temperature, return the roasting pan back into it for another 15 - 20 minutes or until the glaze has turned a lovely dark brown (not burnt!). Feel free to top up the glaze on top of them eat at the 10 minute mark if you don't think it's covered enough.

During the glazing process, ~10 minutes in the hot oven.

Stage 4
11. Now that the meat is cooked, the glaze is nicely browned and the meat has rested, it's time to start thinking about a sauce for it. In a saucepan mix the remaining glaze, the juices from the base of the roasting pan and any leftover cider that you may have. Bring this to the boil then simmer and reduce until it has thickened slightly. You can assist this by using cornflour, but Ive found this to make the sauce slightly cloudy.


Finally, carve the meat and serve with whatever seasonal vegetables and sides you might have prepared alongside this.


Here are a few images of my gammon joint after serving. Suffice to say, the local take-out place was down one customer that night and we all went to bed nice and full.

Small plate for my wife, as she was skeptical of this new glaze.

And the cook gets the majority of the meat. Very tasty!