Summer Thread Shopping

With the whole of Sunday morning free Rebecca and I wanted to head into town to do a bit of clothes shopping. Specifically some Summer threads as last week was a real omen for things to come so I got myself a new pair of shorts and a very fetching linen shirt so I can stay breezy. We had a bit of time to turn the house around before some chums cam round for a Sunday hangout. It started off as a movie night, Speed was on the menu - but then it migrated into a couple of games as well. In stark contrast to last weekend, I spent a lot of time with other humans the last couple of days - the Ying and the Yang.

UK Games Expo

Gathered our clan in the car and drove up to Birmingham for the UK Games Expo. It's my first convention that I've attended in a while and this one was all about board games. Walking into the first hall was nothing short of overwhelming, the sheer amount of stuff on display, ready to buy or play was actually staggering. We wanted to try and see everything on offer first before we settled into anything so we embarked on what can best be compared to an extended amble around a Christmas market... All about board games! That ended up taking most of the day, but we snagged a few good freebies before setting into a couple of quick and easy games - some with demonstrating staff and other just by ourselves. 

If I went again I would definitely carve out more time for playing games, but I wouldn't change a thing about my first time there - we saw a lot of cool stuff and I got to do it with some good friends - is there a better way to spend a Saturday? 

Mina the Hollower

A game I've been eager to get my hands on finally launched today and there's seldom anything I love more in life than waking up early to get a head start on a new release. Mina the Hollower is from the same team who gave us Shovel Knight and we are continuing to eat good - mostly because this new game is inspired by the Gameboy Zelda I remember playing too many moons ago. I was hooked on this new game though, I actually did very little else today than play it which is a rare an honest treat. I'll pace myself better after today of course, but let a fella have his big blowout day.

Albert Chat

I continued to get my money's worth out of the earplugs I brought for our Canadian flights. Rebecca is still working in the only cool room in the house while I beaver away at little bits. It feels like she's always on work calls on in meetings, thankfully my handy earplugs made her voice sound like she was about four rooms away from me and I could focus up on my work. 

An old colleague got in touch with me tonight about sustainability paperwork which I was only too happy to sit down and go through. Before we knew it two hours had flown by as we were just catching up and venting about projects. Didn't expect my evening to be hoovered up with chatting but it was actually a really nice time. 

Venba Gets Food

Forgot to share out my latest YouTube video here. I'm pleased to present Venba Gets Food - a video essay about a recent cooking game and why it deserves its place alongside the great foodie stories. I wrote this one back in 2024 and it felt a shame to let a good script go to waste, with a bit of time off I had the chance to get it ready for the world - hope you enjoy.

 

Hot Bones

The bones of the house have heated up now. No amount of curtain closing will save us now. Only thing for it is to camp out in the coolest room in the house (the dining room). Just a shame that Rebecca has the same plan, and with two bodies panting in there it ain't much better than the other spaces we have. 

But we got an excuse to head out in the early afternoon. Rachel's birthday was today and we all headed into the park to sit under the biggest tree we could find and have a BBQ. Since I brought 16 burgers to cook I ended up being the fella with the tongs who smelt like smoke. The food went down really well though - a lot of Rachel's buddies are foodies and they all said to the group how good the grub was. I was just glad to do my part in making Rachel's birthday memorable. 

Love Exposure

I mentioned that the curtains have been drawn in my house for most of this long weekend in order to combat the rising temperatures. It worked perhaps a little better than I had anticipated because when I stepped out into my garden to gauge the heat it was like stepping off the plane on holiday! I suggested hanging out with Dan today and even he was like 'arw you sure?' I opted for the lowest effort thing possible - a pint on his doorstep and an ice cream chaser before retreating to his flat for a board game. 

Before all that though I woke up early to catch the worm. Specifically to watch the final long movie of my weekend marathon, and no film is more fitting than Love Exposure - a four hour work of bombast and depravity that was too intoxicating to deny the joys of. The four hours melted away into nothing but I still felt like a different person when I emerged on the other side of it. I spent virtually the rest of the day processing exactly what I just bore witness to - when I eventually construe my thoughts on LetterBoxd I'll hopefully be a little wiser to my own opinions.