Jane

I'm so sorry. I hope she's at peace and the trip brings a little comfort in some shape or form.

I found out today my book's got a Dutch co-edition! I also learned that the Dutch for "Hedgehog" is "Egel"... https://knnvuitgeverij.nl/artikel/hallo-egel.html

Always torn between wanting to see/read his stuff (bit more open to scary stuff if it's clever/aesthetic/well designed) but also knowing it'd freak me out a bit if I tried.

Yep - we didn't get to take ours out and about much because my parents knew it ate batteries (plus, with no saves, we knew it was basically a huge gamble ). I have a memory of Lucy and/or me being tethered to the wall by the adapter, hoping desperately that we'd manage to finish the last level of Sonic before dinner was ready. The GG was so impressive with the full-colour screen! But the Game Boy definitely did win in terms of how portable it realistically was. I never had an original Game Boy but it was so cool to be able to take a console with me when I eventually got a Game Boy Color.

Yeah, I know... but I hold on to consoles for a long time and only get ones where I know I'll get a lot of use out of it (i.e. Nintendo basically, haha) so don't mind a slightly higher initial outlay for something that's cute or cool-looking. My DS Lite and 3DS were both shades of pink, but I've never had a themed one. It'd have to be nice enough to spend the extra, I guess, so we'll wait and see. The other thing is that I know that either way I'd want a newer Switch model, rather than the old ones they'll be selling off - replacement joycons/controllers are expensive. I'm hoping the Switch Lite will have the recently improved build quality too, but if not then all the more reason to trade it in after 6 months. Oh yeah, Nintendo Direct today/tonight! Not sure we'll get to watch it as we need to go to bed early... plus I'm never sure how many details I want to know about the stuff I'm hyped for, and it seems like this'll be that sort of direct.

I'll try.

We just played this game (Switch version) - it was so flipping cute. The story/platforming aspect is very easy and pretty short (but very sweet and engaging), but the rhythm game parts are surprisingly difficult, which means scope for practicing post-game to do more than scrape a pass! But we watched the trailer and were pretty instantly sold on the adorable pixel art, character design, music and general birdyness. Would definitely recommend for a rainy afternoon or two, and will definitely be keeping an eye out for a sequel/anything similar by the same team!

I know, right? I found it nostalgic and refreshing at the same time.

So at the weekend I just preordered a Switch Lite... :x Reason: when Pokemon comes out I know Woofie and I both going to get a copy (1 sword, 1 shield, not sure which yet)... so it really is probably the time to get another Switch of some kind. I'd rather have a full-size Switch in the long run - among other things, I'm definitely going to want to play ACNH on my own Switch, both handheld and on the TV.... but I want to wait and see if there's going to be an Animal Crossing themed full-sized Switch, or joycons at least (which I'm pessimistic about - it seems more likely to be a themed Switch Lite). So in the meantime, I'll get a Lite and just take good care of it so I can trade it in and get a full-sized and/or themed Switch in six months or so. It really is annoying that Nintendo don't have a better setup in place for households that have a full-size Switch and a Switch Lite, though. If I want to play a game both handheld on my Lite and on my TV using the main Switch, it's going to be really awkward thanks to the complicated way the primary/secondary Switch stuff works. Seems like if they want to encourage multiple switches on one Family group they should make it easier to, well, switch.

I think it was probably playing Mario/Duck Hunt on a friend's NES, and also occasional last-day-of-term goes on friends' Gameboy (Tetris) or Atari Lynx (who knows what game)... then the friend who had a NES got a game gear, and Lucy and I were obsessed so got one as a joint present for Christmas. Sonic GameGear version jungle level 4eva. We had the AC adapter, and I remember Lucy and I taking turns to try and finally complete the game - it was such a huge accomplishment when we did.

Totally getting this on Switch. Let us report back with our goose accomplishments

Lucy and I have a long last name, so my parents wanted short first names - and they wanted to choose names that were classic and timeless but without being too popular at the time (e.g. Laura or Rebecca - nice names but so many of them in our generation!). Plus my mum loved Jane Austen and, I think, Jane Eyre so that may well have been a factor in my case.

A couple of wild boar flavoured dog treats - not long back from a walk. Comet's not the kind of dog who will pester you constantly until all the treats are gone so I sometimes forget to take the leftover ones out of my pocket. ?

HELLO! ...I've been taking a social media break, more or less, for a lot of reasons (partly mental health and needing to be creative, partly birthdays and holidays, partly dog getting sick and looking after him). Catching up and checking in now!

Share songs that have low to zero street cred but that you actually like. I'm imagining that a lot of the time these will be well-put-together pop songs or great melodies so no guilt allowed! (ok, you're permitted to feel a bit weird about a song if the performer in question has gone all Morrissey or something, but no shame based on perceived taste.) Oh yeah - and even though this is guilt-free, reacts are encouraged. E.G.: for "you're right, this is a pretty good song" for "I LIKE THIS TOO" or "I THOUGHT THIS WAS JUST ME" and for "outside of this thread you should be sorry" "why did you subject me to this" and "now I'm going to have this in my head all day, tyvm". I'll start. This song is brilliant and I'll never understand why it wasn't sent as our Eurovision entry the year it came out: Steps - Scared of the Dark

Don't think I've replied to this thread properly yet, but I just had a gin with some Fanta Pink Grapefruit, and it was nice.

We're playing Splatoon 2's last ever Splatfest (Final Fest) this weekend... it's kind of sad! It's been fun having regular events. The theme is "Order vs Chaos" - apparently the side that wins will help influence the future of the Splatoon universe... intriguing.

Ha, good point! Will start reading.

Awesome!! ...not the being deeply unhappy bit. But if you have a direction to go in based on something you're excited to learn, that's brilliant. Really hope you enjoy the journey! You'll do great, keep us posted as to how it all goes.

Is that where my copy came from?? We've had a copy sitting around that I knew I hadn't bought, but I thought it must have been from my mum's house (I inherited most of the family's Discworlds and have read many of them a million times but not GO yet). I'd offer to return but you've just said you're waiting on a new one... On that note - anyone who's seen/read both, any thoughts on if it'd be better to read the book or watch the series first? We don't have Amazon Prime, and I'm thinking of activating the free trial thing in August so we can watch the series when we're on holiday, and contemplating whether to read the book now or wait til after then.

It looks really cool! thoughts below:

Happy [belated] birthday! Hope it was great!

I'll be around for the Nintendo one tomorrow.

I do! There are similarities and differences to HP but that just means I can recommend it to people who love HP and those who don't. I think you'd probably really like it - just make sure to read the original three books before the prequel that was released last year. I didn't hate the Golden Compass movie as much as a lot of people did - maybe because I saw it a while after it was released and had been expecting a lot worse! The main problem was that you had a director who wanted to do the books justice, but the money people were fighting him at every turn and, among other issues, the ending ended up seriously nerfed (they filmed the proper ending of the book but were basically forced to cut/change it to make it happier and supposedly more palatable to the market they were going for at the time). I was confused as to how they could simultaneously get a lot right but some things so wrong until I read about the struggles during its development. It was a shame, as there was a lot to like about the film IMO, and the director might not have faced the same challenges these days. Having said all that, I am SO STOKED for the new series. Looks like it's going to be great, so definitely give it a try!

I didn't like the OotP film much as to me it just felt so rushed. But the Dumbles and Voldy fight was really good IIRC. Have you read His Dark Materials tho??