Local shops - 0 Amazon - 1

I decided to get myself an Xbox Elite and will pass on my Xbox 360 to nipper, she should be OK though as it's got a 120gb drive, 2 controllers etc so not a bad spec.

Anyway I noticed a couple of adverts had been playing on the TV for almost a week now, apparently Currys and Comet both had Xbox Elite deals.
Currys were offering the Elite with 2 controllers and 2 games for £179, Comet offering similar for £189 so I decided to part with my money to one or the other.

I popped into the local Currys and ... hmm no offers, they had "Xbox 360 Elite for £199" errr nope thats not the offer - I looked around and not one single poster or offer on display for the alleged TV advert.

So Currys, sorry lads but if your not going to bother then your not getting my money and by a stroke of irony this was probably the only time I've been in Currys when some 12 year old hasn't barged up to me and asked if he can help.

Anyway, the Comet offer sounded just as good although to be fair I'm not a great fan, they sell games often twice the price of anyone else - you only need to see the poor displays they have to realize they can't be bothered to tempt you in.
So in I go and as with their competitor no offers apart from an Elite with 2 games for £259 !
Quite amazing how both stores seem to have posters that are older than the bricks their buildings are made of.

It seems neither store wants any business to be honest, if they did then I would have expected some posters or signs up offering a deal relating to the TV.
Even better neither store even had a console on display, just a sign and a poor selection of games.

Feeling sorry for Comet which will no doubt close down soon due to poor sales I decided to fuck it all off and not bother so I used T'Internet.

Off to a couple of web sites and everyone beats those lamers hands down.

I settle on Amazon for £189, with the entertainment pack (2 games plus extra joypad) plus I packed Left 4 Dead 2 on top and I've got free delivery Saturday.

No doubt the local Currys and Comet will soon close down to be replaced by either Pizza hut or a worthwhile business.

I went out with the intention of spending my £189 or even £199 but neither seemed the least bit interested to compete with the internet.
Even now Comet have an "offer" on line, the Elite plus Burnout Paradise, Trivial Pursuit, Connect 4 (Which I believe is a download item) and a "free" white controller, all for a mere £234.99 - I would laugh but to be honest I feel sorry for them, the three games are worthless, if you go on Ebay you can get them for a few pounds so you would be better off buying an Elite and getting them seperate.
Argos beat them as well so they almost got my money.

They say a fool and his money are easily parted, I say try sticking a decent offer up and show some interest otherwise I'll just keep shopping on the internet and let someone else earn a living.

Now where's my Frying Pan ? (L4D2)

Sweet - it's the best I make.

Seeing as I'm enjoying COD Modern Warfare 2 so much I celebrated by cooking sweet and sour chicken.
I share with you the best recipe yet for sweet and sour, it's taken years to find it and it's the only one I use now.
I forget where I found it so apologies to whoever was decent enough to put it on the web, the secret is NOT to use pineapple juice, apparently this is an American twist on sweet and sour and although this has Tomato sauce (Ketchup) in it I presume it's to save making a tomato base for it, you realize anyway that Ketchup has all the same ingredients in anyway.

Ingredients.

Sauce - Enough for 3 - 4 adults, makes 400ml.
100ml sugar (just measure white sugar until it reaches the 100ml mark)
100ml Tomato sauce (I use cheap tomato sauce i.e Tesco/Asda own brand)
100ml White Vinegar
100ml water

A GOOD squeeze of tomato puree, probably 1/4 of a tube, depends on your taste.
Some cornflour (mixed with water), a couple of tea spoons should do but more will make a thicker sauce.

For the Chicken batter - Mix to your liking, we like it thick (we make about 250ml but depends on the consistency you want).
About 5 table spoons of plain flour
1 table spoon of cornflour
1 teaspoon of baking powder
Cold water to mix - mix until it forms a thick coating batter, if you don't like the batter heavy then use more water.

If you like a very crisp batter then use less flour but substitute with cornflour, i.e half and half with cornflour, the corn flour will provide a firm "bite" to the batter.
You can use all cornflour but the batter is very firm and not how we prefer it as it tastes "dry".
A bit of experimentation will let you pick a batter you prefer, if you want a "bread like" batter then and add one egg, this will produce a thick batter which forms a fluffy dough center and crisp outer coating, if you find your batter is not crisp on the outside then add more cornflour next time you make it.

Chicken - About 500g of chicken, trim it so any nasty bits are removed but do NOT dice it up at this stage, we use chicken breast.

Other items.
1 medium saucepan (about 2 litre) with simmering water
1 small saucepan (about 1 litre) to make the sauce in.
Pan for deep frying, we use a large frying pan with about 1 inch of sunflour oil.
Hungry mouths.

Making the Sweet and Sour.

Mix the batter until it is at the consistency you like ( a tip here is you can drop some in the hot oil to test the batter, coat a mushroom for example and test fry it, if the batter needs adjustment then do it before adding the chicken).

Place the chicken in the simmering water and poach for 15-20 mins until cooked.
Remove the chicken and allow to cool (if your in a hurry then cool under running cold water)
Once cool cut the chicken into pieces suitable for deep frying (about 1cm cube).

In the small pan add the sugar, tomato sauce, vinegar and water - gently bring to a simmer whilst stirring all the time to ensure the sugar dissolves.
Reduce heat and cook for about 10 minutes to allow the vinegar to reduce it's intensity.
Add tomato puree, stir well and taste, if needed add sugar etc to balance, a tip here is if the sauce is sweet enough but the vinegar is still a little strong then add a bit more puree, this balances the vinegar but it's best to do nothing and let it cook out for about 15-20 mins, the amounts here work fine.

Let the sauce simmer for about 20 mins in total, you find there is a point the strength of the vinegar suddenly changes, a quick taste will tell you it's right, you should get a sharp bite of vinegar then sweetness from the sugar and the tomato.
Sometimes we add a tablespoon of honey as well but it's fine without it, a point to note here is you want the sauce to be quite strong, when you add the cornflour in a bit the flavors mellow quite a bit.

Keep the sauce on a low heat so it's nice and warm - I add the cornflour just before serving.

Take your diced (cooked) chicken and coat in the batter, your looking for the fat to be hot enough to cook the batter in about 2 minutes, remember the chicken is already cooked so your after quick cooking time but enough to cook the batter through if you make a bread type.

Drop several pieces at a time but don't over load the pan, cook until brown and crispy, remove and drain.

To finish the sauce, make sure it's simmering i.e just at a low boil, stir well while adding cornflour and water, the sauce will change colour to pink rather than deep red, stir briskly to ensure the cornflour does not clump up, if it does then pass through a sieve and continue.
Add cornflour until the sauce is the consistency you require, you will also find adding the cornflour further reduces the intensity of the sauce so you need to balance thickness with flavour, we like ours so it sticks to the chicken and hardly drips off .... mmmmmm.

Depending on your personal taste you can either put the sauce in a serving bowl and add the chicken (I think this works best if you make the bread type batter with egg in it) or we prefer to serve the chicken in a side bowl and you dip it in the warm thick sauce yourself.

It's taken me years and years to find this recipe, it's amazing how much you can adapt the sauce or batter to your liking but still retain a very close match to the original.
We like it so much we can't help but use any remaining batter on mushrooms, onion rings etc it's far too good to waste !

Try it and I'm sure you will like it, I no longer buy packet or ready made sauce, this one takes only a few minutes to make and costs virtually nothing, once you try it I'm sure you won't go back to packet sauces either.
If you need more sauce just remember to use EQUAL quantities of sugar, vinegar, sauce and water, then use puree to taste.

Get cooking ...

How copy you ? Solid Copy on all !

Got my hands on MW2 for the Xbox 360 but the question in everyones mind including my own was "is it better than Operation Flashpoint Crap Rising" ?

The shameful, bug ridden filth written by Code Masters led me to wonder if this was going to go down that path or hopefully continue the COD genre further.

I played COD World at War but didn't enjoy it as much as COD 4, likewise I know people who play COD 4 and don't enjoy it as much as World at War so it was a delicate time when unwrapping this treat.

First impression was someone had stolen my manual from the box but I found it hidden behind a 48hr gold subscription, the manual is literally three or four pages, it just tells you the controls and game modes and that's it.

In reality none of this matters as I never read the manuals anyway, I once finished a game only to find there was a move I could have used but had no idea of that it existed.

Firing up the game Soap makes an appearance, your given a quick run through aiming (only takes 2 mins) then it's straight into the assault course to check you know how to use weapons.
Anyone who played COD 4 will remember the amazing kill house that starts you off, times can be posted on the web showing your skill and prowess.
This is no different although it's mainly outside, I found I could do it a lot quicker armed with 2 pistols rather than sub machine guns.

Moving into the game takes you into dribble land, you find strange wet patches on your shirt, table and joypad then realize you have forgotten how to control your basic body functions due to the stunning game.

Unlike the Code Crappers Flashpoint where your forced to have one terrible weapon through the entire game on Co-Op or forced to have less than useful weapons in single player COD either gives you the right tool for the job or a selection of mouth watering weapons.

The Snow level for example gives you a silenced sniper rifle complete with heartbeat sensor - your already drooling over the special effects, now you get a weapon that actually gives you a chance to complete the level. You and your AI partner smoke a couple of bad guys each on the way around the outside of the camp then he goes to high ground armed with a thermal scope while you move into the compound itself.
Stunning does not do it justice, the quality of the levels, their size and the speed the whole game runs at are nothing short of wizardry.
I sense the development team have sold their souls to the devil in exchange for the most efficient and mind blowing game code possible, absolutely everything is moving or doing something, the wind changes and blows flurries of snow, you see peoples breath, tents etc move, fans on desks, air vents etc etc

There was no need for this level of detail but it shows exactly what the Xbox can do when it's in the hands of some people who know how to use it.
Co-Op is in the form of Special Op missions, instead of trudging for 30 mins over a largely barren map (take note Flashpoint) then having an all out war (or in the case of Flashpoint, getting shot because you can't see the enemy), COD MW2 takes you straight into selected battles from the single player missions.

This is such a simple and stunning idea, you need to complete the game on single player to see the whole game but can do the battles together.
To say these are intense is an understatement, one has you driving a skidoo at breakneck speeds to your destination whilst firing a machine pistol at anything in front.
Others have you hunting snipers, clearing villages, fighting heavily defended positions etc etc.

On line death match is mind blowing, you can equip more variety of weapons than ever before, have 2 attachments, customize your power up or rewards, the list is endless.

I found it was so fast it took a few minutes to adjust to the new speed of things but the fluid and dynamics programmed in are so good you are immersed in it in no time at all.
Multiplayer maps are MASSIVE often you can wander around an area without seeing anyone, this allows teams to form tactics to use these areas to flank you or try a different attack rather than the map having only one or two choke points.
You get bonus points now for doing almost anything, you might shoot someone and get a bonus for the kill itself plus one for stopping someone on a killing spree and perhaps even another for payback if they killed you earlier.
This allows the less experienced to gain points and progress through the ranks even if their kill count is not too high.
I would not classify myself as an outstanding player on COD 4 my brother often gets 25-29 kills on a round, I may get 15 and occassionally 20.
On MW2 I've found different ways to get kills or subtle changes in the equipment to allow it to be more tailored to the way I want to play, this meant in many games I've been top scorer or 2nd highest on far more games.

So to sum it up, was it worth it ?

A stunning game with immense jaw dropping quality, fluid and natural dynamics, things happen how you would expect them to happen, no messing about, no complaining about terrible guns etc. The size and quality of the levels is beyond anything I have seen, turn your volume up and you can feel the bullets and shells whizzing by, call in airstrikes and the house shakes.
Death match and on line play is staggering, from Day 1 the servers appear to be capable of taking the load and I can't wait to see if we get map packs etc for Special Ops.

If you don't own it then go and buy it, if you own it then you chose wisely.

It's the sort of game where you would score 100/100 because you simply cannot fault it, I would score 98/100 to allow them to publish any updates or map packs with the remaining 2 points, as it stands possibly the best game of it's kind ever written and a demonstration in how this should be done to anyone thinking of doing similar.

P.S I would love to get in one of those tanks on Multi player death match Pleeeeaaasssseee (then you will get 100/100).

£1000 should do it

I read with delight today that Britain apparently has a £1000 + rail ticket, it's actually £1002 and is for a walk on return from Newquay in Cornwall to Kyle of Lochalsh in Scotland.

I'm not the least surprised and would expect this to be followed up promptly by the £250 cheap day return to a town of your choice within 25 miles and a £400 super saver.

Having used the train system in Germany ours is reminiscent of a horse and cart from the middle ages, I laughed as a Midland Mainline train carried a sticker proclaiming "T Mobile Wi-Fi hotspot" and wondered how I could use it whilst standing face to face with everyone on a train later than the recent deceased Mr. Jackson.

An old lady in Germany was telling me how she was traveling from Frankfurt to Munich some 300km and all for less than it costs me to get a return to my local town.

In some ways I think the Victorians etc had it right by having a large wooden hut on wheels pulled by several frantic horses, the trip to London would have taken mere moments longer than the dirty things we're forced to sit in.
Food will have been supplied at Taverns on the way and amusement found in shooting any highway men or vagabonds on the route.

My solution is simple, get all the post workers on strike and send them off for a nice trip on any UK train, odds are we'll not see either again and they will most likely starve to death with the horrendous snacks on offer or will suffer fatal head injuries due to stones thrown by teenagers.

Just in case you wondered, no I don't have any sympathy for them either - perhaps they would like to piss some more of my post around and still suffer massive job losses anyway when a rise is agreed but somehow has got to be paid for despite customers walking to competitors....

Hmm must go, I seem to notice some people outside with flaming torches - I wonder if the bastards have my post ?

Diddley Dudley

P.S ignore any dates on the photos, the cameras never been right since it was dropped !

My Daughter recently went as a Zoo keeper for the day at Dudley Zoo - it's not a zoo we've been to before although I used to stay at a hotel quite often that was next to the castle so somewhere I've been near to but not had the chance to go to.

It perhaps didn't help it was a cold miserable day as well but after the Sat Nav (I decided not to use motorways and wanted to see if it would take us on a more direct route) decided to take us towards South Wales and was promptly turned off we arrived ready for the day.

She was greeted by two keepers as there was another girl her age also being keeper for a day.

Basically for your money they spend the entire day (minus 1 hr lunch) going through a variety of animals and tasks.
A quick bit of housekeeping to start with, cleaning out the animals in the childrens farm, getting close to the animals and feeding them with plenty of hands on - this takes most of the morning then its up to the restaurant for some dinner (nice home made soup by the way) and then it's off for the afternoon surprises.

While she was cleaning the animals out in the morning and having a general good time we explored, although the Zoo is showing it's age you can see they are making steps to improve and change it, the small monkeys now roam free in a large walk through enclosure which is brilliant, plenty of small monkeys running around and generally making a racket.

The Lemurs are in a large open compound as well although we ran off at high speed when the entire pack (what's the collective for lemurs?) started growling/howling and baring their teeth - I can only presume they didn't like my brothers Camera.

Anyway after a quick explore of the castle as well we have dinner and in the afternoon parents etc can go around with the zoo keepers (although you can't go in the animal enclosures).
A trip to the Tapir was next where they took part in some grooming and hands on then off to the Giraffes, most people were asking how they can get in and feed them so lots of jealous kids around that day. The keepers take you to a special platform where you hand feed the Giraffes and get some serious hands on.

A quick wander through the scary Lemur wood now where they start howling again (damn those cameras) and we find ourselves at the Penguins.
The keepers all go down to the water and during a presentation speech they actually get to feed the penguins as well.

If this wasn't enough it's then into the discovery center for some private hands on.
Out comes a tame rat first, followed by a bearded lizard, a grumpy but friendly enough Chinchilla, a corn snake and then the room clears as the tarantula comes out.

Now as reviews go that doesn't sound a lot for your money and anyone prone to reading my blog (yes I'm talking to you .. the one person who actually does) I can in some areas be rather negative, although when praise is due I will dish it out in large chocolate coated pieces.

First the negatives.
Yes the Zoo is a little old and in some areas looks worse for wear, you can see old viewing platforms now crumbling although it would be great if they were fixed and back in service.
The cable car to the top of the hill is closed but they do put a land train on.
It's not a massive Zoo.

Now the positives.
The setting is unlike any zoo you have been in, you can explore the zoo and the castle together so it makes for a great day out.
The Land train is worth making use of, the hill is a steep one for the less fit amongst us.
The Lemur wood and Monkey attraction are great, your right up next to the animals even if they do have the odd temper fit etc.
Food is good and decent, if you eat in the take away then a burger is about £2.00, we ate in the main restaurant where the coffee and food was fine, no problems there and we made good use of it.

When being keeper for a day you get one adult entrance included in the price, the child gets a goody bag and the bag/contents are top notch.
Mine got a brilliant backpack (printed with "i've been a zoo keeper at Dudley Zoo" on it), a baseball cap (with the same printing), a drinking cup with long swirly straw (also printed), a notepad and pen (yup you guessed it, also printed).
I would say all in all perhaps £20 of stuff and none of it crap.

Take the adult entry as well and you get a fair chunk of the admission on these two items alone.

Add to that they spend from 10:00am until approx 16:00pm (we actually finised at 16:30pm) and your child gets a full day out as a keeper.
The dedication of the staff accommpanying them is beyond question, they love their job and are totally commited to animals.
Taking the children (and us) in for the hands on at the end of the day was unexpected and something that most children would consider a treat on it's own.
Include the Penguin feeding, hands on Giraffe feeding and going into the Tapir enclosure etc then by daughter was buzzing when she left.

If your looking for something unusual for a birthday gift then this gets our total seal of approval, when the zoo and staff are this dedicated and commited then you can't help but support the work they do.

The gift shop stayed open a few minutes to allow us to run down the hill and spend some more money, the prices in there were more than reasonable so again no complaints there.

For the money this has to be the best present our daughter has had, she has already asked to go back again next year and has said she would like the other girl who was there to come back as well. The zoo kindly said if they do book they can arrange the same date.

Top marks to Dudley Zoo, you may not be the biggest or the shiniest zoo but it's the people that count and we left feeling you had given our daughter a perfect birthday present.
We will be going back without question and I know someone who's counting the days until she can.

http://www.dudleyzoo.org.uk/home.htm