I have become quite attached to the Douglas Adams inspired sub domain, but, it isn’t all that easy to remember for new visitors let alone telling it to someone over the phone and having the simpler “42.figmentgames.com” just doesn’t have the same geeky appeal

I’m moving the blog to the easier to remember “blog” sub domain, “http://blog.figmentgames.com”. The old “00101010″ sub domain will remain active for the foreseeable future with a 301 redirect in place, so existing links and subscriptions should remain valid.

That said, if you do subscribe to this blog, I’d recommend you update your feed url from “http://00101010.figmentgames.com/feed/” to “http://blog.figmentgames.com/feed/” along with any back links you may have in place.

Having just watched the final episode of season 7 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, I’m not sure what to think. On the whole, I felt it lacked something, although I’m having trouble putting my finger on it.

Perhaps it was the “UberVamps” appearing to be a lot less “uber” in this episode than before. I could accept the slayers been able to easily kill the “UberVamps” having fought them in the past and learnt their weaknesses, but the non-slayers been able to do so much damage didn’t feel right. Perhaps if some form of additional help had been granted by Willow for the non-slayer crew it would have made more sense.

I’m sure this was probably a case of Josh Whedon having to choose between making an epic finale to the Buffy series with lots of action and vamps been killed left, right and centre, or having longer fights with just a few “UberVamps”. It’s pretty obvious which was more fitting for a final episode

Maybe it was Buffy going from stabbed and dying to full of fight in short order?

Perhaps I’m just been too hard on the final episode and suffering from that “The End” feeling that tends to accompany the close of any good series or movie trilogy. It certainly had that epic feel to it which did justice to an overall great series and allowed each of the main characters a chance to play a sizeable part in the final outcome especially Willow, Spike, Buffy and the slayers.

Looking back over all seven Seasons, Season 5 stands out for two reasons. Firstly, it seemed to be a pivot point in the style of Buffy episodes. Although having occasional moments of that classic quirky humour so prevalent in seasons 1 to 4, overall, it had a much darker feel to the episodes which only continued to increase throughout seasons 6 and 7.

I’m not really sure if I liked the darker feel of the last three Seasons, although it did work wonders for season 5. Which, having now finally viewed all 7 seasons, brings me to the second reason Season 5 stands out. I’d have to say without doubt it stood head and shoulders above the rest. Aside from the gradual build up each episode brought, the 100th episode and Season 5 finale “The Gift” made for a awesome and moving end to a great season. I was literally stunned after watching that episode to the point of sitting through the end credits.

After that though, the dark edge to the episodes went a little overboard in my opinion. I liked Buffy for its quirky humour the core characters were notorious for in Seasons 1 to 4. Although the humour still crept in now and then in 6 & 7, it was either not quite as often or otherwise drowned out by the darker feel.

Still, I’m glad Seasons 6 and 7 were made, otherwise we’d never have had a chance to watch the (imho) best ever individual TV episode “Once more with feeling”. I’ll admit, it wouldn’t have been quite the same without all the ground work of Season 5, but, out of every TV series I’ve seen to date, it’s my favourite, which is saying a lot considering how many good episodes Babylon 5 had.

Overall a very enjoyable series to watch, still not enough to beat my opinion of Babylon 5 though, but never the less a noble attempt

If you haven’t seen Babylon 5 or Buffy yet, what are you waiting for. You can now get Babylon 5 : The Complete Universe on DVD, all 5 seasons in one box set. You can also get Buffy The Vampire Slayer - Series 1 - 7 on DVD as well.

That time of the year is slowly drawing closer, the time that sees people hunker down inside their homes laptops, typewritters or even that archaic instrument of old know as the pen and spew forth 50,000 words of elegant prose[1]. For those that havn’t already googled this posts topic, it’s the Nanowrimo Novel in a month 2006 event.

Nanowrimo has been running since 1999, although I’ll admit I only heard of it 2-3 years ago and despite thinking it would be neat to take part, I’ve never done so. As I’ve blogged about in the past, a large proportion of people want to write a novel “some day”, very few actually attempt to do so and even fewer actually finish it let alone produce a sellable novel. I’m certainly in the would like to but know I’ll probably never actually get around to it camp.

Writing a novel is hard, it can take years of effort (in some cases almost a lifetime), so why is there this insane idea that people can write a novel in a month? One word, “quality”, or more to the point lack thereof. This is one situation where it’s all about quantity rather than quality. The point of nanowrimo is to write “something”, 50,000 words of “something” to be precise, not something good, great or world changing, just plain old something.

I’m still not 100% sure, but this year I’m very tempted to actually give Nanowrimo a go. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve no delusions of grandeur. I’d be very suprised if I managed to make it to 10,000 words within the 30 days of November and that’s simply 10,000 words, not 10,000 elegant words that will leave you waiting for the missing 40k. Think of it more like 10,000 words that will never see the light of day, but, they’ll be my words, my characters, my world (perhaps with a healthy dose of other peoples ideas It’s a way of getting that novel you’ve always wanted to write, written, but with no commitment that it actually has to be any good

So assuming I do decide to go ahead with this, here’s hoping I reach my target even if it isn’t the official nanowrimo 50k target. Oh, and don’t worry, I won’t be publishing my efforts on this blog nor anywhere else in public for that matter, I’m not expecting the results to be all that pretty.

[1] in most cases 50,000 words of elegant tripe. Tripe created with great care, sweat and effort but tripe none the less. Remember quantity not quality