Clothes Shopping, or often just the word 'Shopping' is often enough to cheer a girl up and set a sparkle in their eye. There's nothing more relaxing than an afternoon of retail therapy ... NOT!
I was recently forced to venture out into the world of clothes shopping for some new jeans. I've only ever had two or three pairs of jeans at any one time and it just so happens that they both came in hole at the exact same time. So its either clothes shopping or having my foot come out of the hole at my knee every time I take a step (I think I may have exaggerated there just a little, but you get my point).
Anyway, I can honestly say that shopping for clothes that you actually need is way too stressful.
Just A Pair of Jeans
Going out to buy a pair of jeans sounds like a walk, or even an unassisted float in the park, but it isn't. All I was looking for was a pair of ordinary jeans, but the labels on jeans nowadays come in a variety of exciting colours and catagories and usually say something along the lines of ;-
Extra Skinny, Bootcut, Low-rise, Tight-Pocketed, Regular jeans. Great for partying, dancing clubbing, having fun with friends.
And thats just one label! What happened to 'A comfy pair of jeans with plenty of room?' In light of these ever so confusing and un-necessary labels I thought I would have a go at simplifying them. Here's what I came up with ;-
Extra-likely to be so tight that the circulation to your feet will become non-existent and you become paralysed from the waist down, but don't worry, your arse won't look big in them. Cut to go over your boots even though everyone conforms now and wears their boots over their jeans. Low enough to show any kind of underwear, so think twice before going commando. Pockets are tight enough to call people while you walk and send gibberish texts, then they will eat your hands when you try and retrieve your phone. Thoroughly irregular jeans. Great for keeping your legs straight and penguin impressions.
Or something like that.
The Fashion
I am far from fashion conscious, and am rather glad about that. In my opinion, as long as I'm comfy I really don't give a crap. Also I like to make my clothes work for their money, so I keep them until they have holes, have permanent stains or are simply too small. I can't be dealing with people who have to change their entire wardrobe every three months or so because they can't be caught dead in anything but the latest fashions. Pointless, money wasting way of going about things. I usually cringe when I walk into most clothes shops, seriously does anyone else think that most sleeves on tops these days look like the seamstress screwed up on the sewing machine? While most people see a menagerie of wonderful clothes, I see ;-
Clothes so creased that they put crinkle-cut chips to absolute shame, jeans so tight that Deep Vein Thrombosis will soon become 'the price of looking good', belts as thick as pillows with buckles the size of circular bin lids, or at least a decent vinyl record. Skirts that can actually pass of as belts if you wear them high enough, costume jewellry including rings as big as your face and looping ear-rings big enough for dolphins to jump through, and I don't think I even need to rant about Jeggings.
My point here is what happened to just being comfy? I'm sure people do find skinny jeans comfy, but I just don't see it myself.
All I wanted was a pair of jeans :)
Tuesday, 8 March 2011
Tuesday, 1 March 2011
I finally bought an Xbox
I always said that I'd never buy an Xbox. My friends would tell you that my Xbox rants were seemingly never ending. I hated them and I would always be a PS3 girl. Well, now I have an Xbox too.
The only reason that I decided to ignore the catastrophic fail-rate of the console is because I've managed to get my hands on a rather rare RPG that was never ported to PS3 in europe. So I bit the bullet and bought a 250GB 360 slim. So, was I right to rant so much about them, or has my mind been changed?
After owning it for around three weeks I can still say that there are more Con's than Pro's, but I'm still giving a fair review :P
The Design
Not too bad, though finger prints are in-escapable because of the shiny plastic shell, just like with the first gen PS3'S. It's useful that it stands comfortably when verticle, a downfall of the PS3 at least without a stand. Still, despite having THREE ventilation grills (one on either side and one on top), the console still gets hot at the bottom after a short amount of time and stays cool at the top. Mine stands vertically on a hard, flat surface, as does my PS3, so I don't see why the ventilation should be so unbalanced if it is perfectly acceptable to stand it upright.
The touch-sensitive buttons, while they do make cool swishy sounds, are a little impractical. Not so much the power button, but eject button. While reaching for something close to the console, I accidentally knocked the button very very slightly and it opened the disc-tray, costing me half an hours worth of field training. Most annoying with big RPG'S :/
However, I do find the ma-hoo-sive power charger to be rather useful as, supposedly, It allows the console to stay on for an extra two minutes after a powercut. But I'm not sure how much use that really is if the tele has gone off?
Finally, I find it extremely annoying that every time you unplug the console, or switch it off at the main, the date and time of the system reset it self. In my case to 2005. I'm not sure why it can't save such a small amount of information and yet it can save an entirely edited avatar and all your gaming files after a mains switch off?
Design Rating - 6/10
The Interface
I actually really like the Xbox interface. Everything is big, obvious and easy to use and it's very easy to navigate :P
Interface Rating - 10/10
Xbox Live
I'm afraid that I can't offer my opinion on this one. I have no intention of paying 30-40 pounds a year just to play online multiplayer, but thats my choice. I know that you pay for the quality, as it apparently outstrips the PS3's online capabilities, but I'm not prepared to pay for it.
The Controllers
Yet another money-making aspect of the Xbox. I brought a spare controller with my console, and while the one I bought charges it's own battery pack from the console, the one that came in the box runs off batteries. Now, I did get some duracells with it, but they cost a bomb to buy after that at like 5 quid per pack, and everyone I'm sure prefers duracell to most other battery brands.
My point here, is that if the extra controllers that are sold separately are able to charge from the usb port on the console, then why not make them standard issue? If you're caught mid battle or mid mission and your batteries go and you don't have anymore, what can you do?
Anyway, the controllers aren't as bad to use as I thought. I've found them quite similar to the Nintendo GameCube controllers that I used to/ still use alot. And they seem to have slimmed them down to match the console. Always a plus.
Controller Rating - 4/10
Well, that pretty much sums it up. It's a bit better than I expected but not as great as everyone seems to say it is. I've given it a good chance and a fair review. I enjoy playing it (though I think thats more the fantastic RPG than the console) but there are alot of impractical aspects about it on the whole. I think I will always prefer a good PS3 =)
Overall Console Rating 6/10
The only reason that I decided to ignore the catastrophic fail-rate of the console is because I've managed to get my hands on a rather rare RPG that was never ported to PS3 in europe. So I bit the bullet and bought a 250GB 360 slim. So, was I right to rant so much about them, or has my mind been changed?
After owning it for around three weeks I can still say that there are more Con's than Pro's, but I'm still giving a fair review :P
The Design
Not too bad, though finger prints are in-escapable because of the shiny plastic shell, just like with the first gen PS3'S. It's useful that it stands comfortably when verticle, a downfall of the PS3 at least without a stand. Still, despite having THREE ventilation grills (one on either side and one on top), the console still gets hot at the bottom after a short amount of time and stays cool at the top. Mine stands vertically on a hard, flat surface, as does my PS3, so I don't see why the ventilation should be so unbalanced if it is perfectly acceptable to stand it upright.
The touch-sensitive buttons, while they do make cool swishy sounds, are a little impractical. Not so much the power button, but eject button. While reaching for something close to the console, I accidentally knocked the button very very slightly and it opened the disc-tray, costing me half an hours worth of field training. Most annoying with big RPG'S :/
However, I do find the ma-hoo-sive power charger to be rather useful as, supposedly, It allows the console to stay on for an extra two minutes after a powercut. But I'm not sure how much use that really is if the tele has gone off?
Finally, I find it extremely annoying that every time you unplug the console, or switch it off at the main, the date and time of the system reset it self. In my case to 2005. I'm not sure why it can't save such a small amount of information and yet it can save an entirely edited avatar and all your gaming files after a mains switch off?
Design Rating - 6/10
The Interface
I actually really like the Xbox interface. Everything is big, obvious and easy to use and it's very easy to navigate :P
Interface Rating - 10/10
Xbox Live
I'm afraid that I can't offer my opinion on this one. I have no intention of paying 30-40 pounds a year just to play online multiplayer, but thats my choice. I know that you pay for the quality, as it apparently outstrips the PS3's online capabilities, but I'm not prepared to pay for it.
The Controllers
Yet another money-making aspect of the Xbox. I brought a spare controller with my console, and while the one I bought charges it's own battery pack from the console, the one that came in the box runs off batteries. Now, I did get some duracells with it, but they cost a bomb to buy after that at like 5 quid per pack, and everyone I'm sure prefers duracell to most other battery brands.
My point here, is that if the extra controllers that are sold separately are able to charge from the usb port on the console, then why not make them standard issue? If you're caught mid battle or mid mission and your batteries go and you don't have anymore, what can you do?
Anyway, the controllers aren't as bad to use as I thought. I've found them quite similar to the Nintendo GameCube controllers that I used to/ still use alot. And they seem to have slimmed them down to match the console. Always a plus.
Controller Rating - 4/10
Well, that pretty much sums it up. It's a bit better than I expected but not as great as everyone seems to say it is. I've given it a good chance and a fair review. I enjoy playing it (though I think thats more the fantastic RPG than the console) but there are alot of impractical aspects about it on the whole. I think I will always prefer a good PS3 =)
Overall Console Rating 6/10
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