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Congrats to you both!

Awful news. RIP rider.

I'm up for a herf, I've started breaking into the humidor lately. I can't make the 26th though.

Gnomoria steam key up for grabs.

7QWFJ-0B0EF-AV9HN

Avernum: Escape From The Pit Steam key

2REPC-2826E-PKZGG

Fair enough, whatever works for people.

Sure it'll be fine just wear loose jeans/trackies for a bit. Cling film for first 3 days. Touch up if needed.

I want my knees done. Not sure if they're too knobbly though. I'd quite like a roaring bear or a tiger or one of each. Worried would be a bit wizard of Oz though (I do also already have a lion as part of my right sleeve)

Cling film for three days? I've never kept cling film on for more than an hour or so after a tattoo. As far as I know, it's to keep it from weeping and sticking to your clothes when it's fresh; I've always gone home and washed it up with soap and water. Aquaphor or similar for a day or two depending on the size and then just lotion. Keep it clean, give it air and treat it like a minor skin abrasion has worked brilliantly for me over all the body I've covered.

Maybe the knees are different, but that seems like it would keep a tattoo from healing. I've never touched up a tattoo in over twenty years and certainly not from the healing process.

PMd

I have a couple Steam gifts as well. Friend me on Steam and tell me which you'd like. SteamID is The Notorious P.U.G. and my avatar is Lemmy.

The Ship (x2)
Shattered Horizon (x3) NOTE: Shattered Horizon are guest passes that let you play the whole game for three days.

I've got some Steam and Origin keys I can give away.

PM me with which game you would like (NB: To the best of my knowledge, I haven't activated any of these but I may have forgotten where I got my copy from). I'll probably do this a few times so it's easier for me to answer PMs.
**
Steam keys**

Avadon: The Black Fortress Steam Key (x3)
Sword of the Stars II: Enhanced edition (x2)
Machinarium
Waking Mars
Awesomenauts
Hotline Miami
Pid

Origin keys

Dead Space
Burnout Paradise: Ultimate Box
Mirror's Edge
Batman: Arkham Asylum GOTY

RIP Rider. Such a terrible waste.

Nice one, I'll see you there.

Anyone else going to the cigar and whisky tasting at SWC tomorrow?

It's a good selection for both. I'm looking forward to it.

What do you use HGH for?

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1724606/pdf/v037p00100.pdf

Come at me, bro.

I would expect to see the weight gain from muscle exceed the weight loss from fat for the first few weeks, after that I would expect to see an overall weight loss or it might be worth having a think how your fuelling yourself! Unless your taking some special supplements!

Nothing too special, just the typical whey protein, human growth hormone and whole milk.

I should have written that I've seen that at stages, rather than continuing to go up. Overall, my weight is down, but there are times when it plateaus or inches up while my belly measurement would shrink.

It makes sense. My weight has gone up with weight training and watching what I eat, while my waist shrunk. Muscle, tendons, bone heavier than fat and all that.

or how about you stop being a pussy and start Bioshock Infinite again except on hard mode.

Why you gotta be so mean and hurtful?

Everything I've heard about the hard mode is that it increases how many bullets it takes to kill bad guys. I hate that kind of 'hard' mode; I'd prefer to have more enemies, better AI, limited resources etc, but it's easier to just increase baddies HP.

And the combat has improved a bit the further on in the game I got. I can't just melee everybody in one hit now but using Charge and a shotgun for up close and a hand cannon at a distance seems to be the obvious solution for everyone.

Perhaps it's merely personal preference that story-driven games aren't your forte?

It's definitely personal preference, as most people enjoyed Binfinite. I do love good story-driven games. System Shock 2, Deus Ex, Mass Effect, Bioshock 1 etc. It's not that, and I'm not completely hating on Bioshock Infinite, just that there are so many missed opportunities.

My complaints are all with the game design: removing player agency; a completely empty world once the actual game starts; whichever faction I'm fighting feels the same; I'm moved from one scene to another to advance the plot rather than feeling like I'm doing it myself; and levels that involve going all the way down to the basement/back room/whatever and then walking all the way back out with a slightly different scene.

I think it could have been done better and I'm disappointed that the franchise has turned into the M. Night Shyamalan of games.

But it's cool, Ed. We'll always have Fallout.

Been jumping between a few games and I think that helps me appreciate Bioshock better when I revisit it. I'm still frustrated at a lot of game design choices, but it sure does look pretty and the vigors do add a bit of variety. But still, I couldn't play through it all in prolonged sittings.

On a happy note, I've played a bit of Trine. An older game I picked up in a bundle and never got around to till now. It's delightful. A 3D side-scrolling platformer for players who aren't platformers. It's gorgeous and quite charming. It's a nice break from games with guns and frenetic pacing.

Mine was OG, first printing. Thought the curse was a feature of the later runs.

Nope.

Also, shoes. I seriously recommend weightlifting shoes if you're doing Starting Strength. Or just doing squats and deadlifts, really.

Okay, I just read the article and I don't disagree with it. Interestingly, I don't know about the cult of Starting Strength as I go to the gym and train: I've honestly never struck up a conversation with a 'bro' there. I have limited time at the gym and have no patience to chat with dudes in Gold's Gym string tank tops.

I first heard about Starting Strength at my cycle fit with the Bike Whisperer. He recommended it to me. I had never heard of Mark Rippetoe before that.

I do love the emphasis on full-body compound exercises. I still do a few other exercises such as chinups, pullups and barbell rows, but otherwise I do hew closely to his routine.

The only criticism I have of that link is that the author discounts Rippetoe's emphasis on the deadlift to focus on the power clean. Yes, that's in there, but he does present it as a more advanced move and it isn't part of the beginning routine.

However, I do agree that his description of the power clean is partly lacking. I don't think that is a fault of Rippetoe, but just that this is a damned hard exercise to do. I struggle with it and feel it's my weakest; I know my form isn't perfect but it's fecking hard to try to sort that on your own, or from a book. I would **fucking love **to read something that set me straight and made me perform that better.

A bit of the criticism in that article felt a bit silly to me. Sure, this is nothing new and I don't think Rippetoe acts like he invented all of this. I like the fact that it's nothing new. There are way too many fitness fads. Show me what the hard-assed bastards did 50 years ago that is still applicable and you have my attention.

Overall, it's a good read. I don't think he really exposes any flaw in Rippetoe's method. He is targeting the power clean, the most difficult move to try to explain in text, and focusing on the cult following he's gained. Neither of which is his fault nor a reason to think that Starting Strength is lacking.

He does give him credit for focusing on compound, full-body moves and ditching the silly bodybuilding fads. Overall, it's an interesting read, but I don't think a real critique of Rippetoe.

I would love to learn how to power clean properly though. I am very much aware of that three times a week.

Dissenting opinion.

It's hard to lose weight and build strength at the same time. Running a calorie deficit affects recovery, tends to exhaustion and increases the risk of error/injury. A lot of people doing strength training alternate building and cutting, for these reasons.

Thanks for the link, I skimmed it but will read it in full later. I'm up for learning more as I certainly won't pretend to know all the ins and outs of fitness and nutrition.

And my comment about not losing weight was probably not written well. I fully don't expect to lose weight if I'm adding muscle, that's why I was talking about my waist measurement. For me, the number on the scale isn't a big deal. I'd rather feel good and be fit to do the things I want to do. Admittedly, if you're goal is to climb Ventoux, than adding weight as muscle might not be a good idea.

Still, Starting Strength has worked well for me and I enjoy lifting weights. I like feeling stronger, and am vain enough to enjoy looking better, even if it doesn't move the number on the scale down. But I should temper my recommendation; it depends on whatever your goals are and YMMV etc.

I thought about it, but from what I've heard it just makes the enemies more bullet spongy which seems like the opposite of interesting to me.

I just don't think it's for me. I constantly feel like I'm being corralled from set piece to set piece. I don't like they way they tease with an interesting world that shuts down and everybody disappears from as soon as you start to play. And god, the quick time events and cinematics for everything. How many times do I have to see a cinematic to push an elevator button? I want to play and immerse myself in this world and I'm constantly having my control taken away from me.

I don't like the game design more than it being a difficulty issue.

Spending time this week trying to get my diet in order, and actually getting up in the morning.

Reading the Starting Strength stuff, very interesting. Think I'll give it a go. Not sure when to start though, as I really struggle to work out the amount I should be eating when training. Before I never cared, and sure I gained strength but also a fat stomach :P

Food breakdown:

Net Calories Consumed* / Day 1,582 cal/day
Carbs / Day 20 g
Fat / Day 123 g
Protein / Day 99 g

but that's with no exercise at all. I work from home so don't even cycle these days. I've no idea what to change that to if I start doing SS (and some cycling inbetween). Thoughts ?

Starting Strength is good; Rippetoe knows his shit. I highly recommend it to anyone, and really read through it all. Some of it might seem overkill, but it's easy to miss stuff and end up doing it wrong.

I've been doing the program for a little while. I haven't lost much weight, but I did lose 8 cm on my gut and look like I've lost significant weight. I'm constantly adding weight to the exercises, although I'm starting to hit plateaus that take a bit to punch through.

Picked up a few games on the Steam sale, but haven't bought much. Really want Monaco to go on sale.

Now for my contrarian rant.

I got Bioshock Infinite off Green Man when they were undercutting Steam. I've played about 5 hours or so. The first hour was, 'wow, this is pretty'. The rest has been progressing from meh to boredom to actively being irritated by it.

I haven't finished it, so no spoilers. But I must be close to halfway through and, Jesus, is it getting tedious. The combat is abysmal; I easily melee everything to death. There is no consequence to dying, as Elizabeth brings you right back, right in place just a couple silver dollars lighter. In fact, it's hard to die when she keeps throwing me ammo if I get low, throwing health if I'm wounded and guess what happens if I run low on salt for my vigors? Am I going to be facing a bunch of baddies? No worries, Liz can pop a turret, mechanical patriot or barricade out of nowhere.

I appreciate the previous Bioshock games were on rails, but perhaps because this hints at a bigger world, it's glaringly obvious how I'm just being funneled from one locale to another to advance the plot.

Columbia started out interesting, full of people who all disappeared as soon as I had to be Mr. Gun Shooty Man turning it into a shooting gallery rather than a real place. It's nice to find the touches in the real world - posters, graffiti, recordings - that give a bit of feel to it, but that's about all that I can really say now. I'm losing interest in the story because of how bad the gameplay is.

I am really disappointed in this game, especially given the plaudits it got. Thank Xenu I bought it cheap.