Keep Calm And Start Again

Its so bizarre. You can go from having nothing to say to having everything to say. You can go from drifting through life to having to pick yourself up by the scruff of the neck and ploughing through the world. Normally this tends to happen when things get a bit tricky and this time is no exception (that’s a discussion for another post).

I’m currently in that position right now. So many things have happened both in the physical world and in the digital world that I feel I need to commence the writing, but where to do that?

I have been seriously toying with the idea of making Google+ my one stop shop for all my musings, and its still not a bad little shout, however its one place to be used cautiously I feel. That just leaves this little pocket in the interweb. My old Lashings blog, and why not?

So here we go! 2015 and then I’m going to kick this place into gear. Times have changed, I’ve seen certain aspects of things that I once held in high esteem in a totally different light and vice versa. I need somewhere to let off steam, and to just drivel, so why not here?

Lashings of Liam is back, and this time it will be used!

By the way, I’m still getting comments saying that the “forcing Twitter into webpage mode doesn’t work”. Of course it doesn’t. I wrote that when I used to have my Blackberry Playbook, and despite a big disclaimer on that post, I’m still being asked. The tactic no longer works. Sorry!

New Guild for a New Main

No goblins were harmed in the making of this post

For anyone who follows me over on Twitter they will have known that over the last few months since I returned to a part-time role in World of Warcraft that I fell out of “love” with my mage. Whether it was because I got bored with casting, or because I don’t like the way that Blizzard are taking the Mage class, but I was wondering if my return was short-sighted. Would I enjoy myself on the mage? Would I find another class? Or would I quit once more?

In short? The answers to those three questions were no, yes and no.

By ditching the mage after just over 7 years I found a class I now enjoy, hell it’s even melee! Yes it’s a fond farewell to Guillin and hello to my Tauren Monk, Straxxia. Why monk? Well it’s quite simple really. I enjoy it. It’s not like other melee classes. Other melee classes I find to be utterly boring and tedious, but with the monk I find every attack to be fun, from the animations to the pretty numbers.

With the new class, came a new guild. My other half recently switched her mage to horde and I decided to follow. I faction changed my human monk to a tauren monk (because “Moo” right?) and joined “The Royal Kilted Yaksmen” on Arathor EU. It’s one of those guilds where there is absolutely no pressure to do anything, which is utterly fine for me. I no longer have the time to commit myself so having a chilled out guild is perfect for me.

Don’t get me wrong. “Order of the Silver Dawn” on the Alliance side of Arathor EU is still a cracking guild, but it is definitely nice to be back on horde.

Apologies if this post is all over the place. It’s been a while since I blogged properly so might take a post or two to get back in the swing of things :).

Lashings Rebooted

It seems to be a common occurrence with me recently. Even my last blog post in October said how I would be looking to get this blog restarted. Now I finally believe that I am in a position to do so (yes really!), Satan and Steve Jobs are skating to work but Lashings of Liam is back in action.

You wont see a blog dedicated to news, you won’t find a blog dedicated to tech or gaming. What you will see is a blog with my own opinions, my reviews, my own thoughts. Most of my posts (I’d say about 95-97%) will be non-controversial but there may be the odd occasional one which people might disagree with. If you disagree then I welcome that. If you agree? I welcome that too! I’d love to hear feedback/comments  about anything that I write.

There are various ways to do this. The first one is to just leave a comment, the second one is to go to the “Contact Me” page and do, well, exactly what it says on the tin. You can always grab me via various gaming, e-mail and social media outlets (see below). Otherwise. I hope you enjoy what will be written here in the future, and look forward to hearing your thoughts in the future 🙂

Contact Me!

Contact Me Page

E-mail – lashingsofliam@yahoo.co.uk

Twitter – @Guillin

App.Net – @Guillin

Google+ – Here

Battle.Net Tag – Guillin#2592

It’s been a while

Seven months to be exact. I had every intention to create a fantastic new blog focusing on E-sports and everything that they contain. It never happened though, and I don’t regret it not happening. Here’s why.

In March I started a new job, after ten years I left ASDA for pastures new, moving from Telford to Derby at the same and moving in with my other half (and her parents at the time). In July my beautiful son was born (all 6lbs and 13oz of him), and in September we moved into our very own little house.

With all of this that has been going on, I’ve very little time to do anything else. I’m hoping that when it comes to blogging I will be able to squeeze the odd post here and there, they might not necessarily be on any one particular thing, more than likely whatever I feel about talking about at the time, but hey! It’s my blog, I can do what I like right?

When it comes to gaming that’s pretty much come to a grinding halt. I dip into World of Warcraft every once in a while and sometimes a bit of Diablo too, but you’re talking about 2/3 hours a week, if that. When it comes to technology I’ve got some cracking devices now.

I replace my Lenovo “Ultrabook” with a Samsung Series 5 laptop (with monster specs). It was purchased second-hand from CEX, but the price was a steal for the machine! When it comes to mobile phones, I’ve gone from Sony Xperia Z to iPhone 5 to Nexus 4 to Samsung Galaxy S4 (the latter being my favourite one of the bunch). I’ve even got rid of my Nexus 7, and replaced it with a Samsung Chromebook at the weekend.

Speaking about the Chromebook, I love it! It does exactly what I need from a “laptop” at the moment. Being so deep in Google’s ecosystem meant that the Chromebook felt like an extension of what I do anyway and not like a new product. It’s fluid, smooth and well just a joy to use. £229 well spent!

Anyway that’s you caught up with me so far! Fingers crossed I can pump the odd occasional post of randomness out for you guys to read. I do miss writing so hopefully I can jump in every now and again.

Time will tell.

Competitively Zerged is live!

For the last few months I’ve been trying to figure out how to “redefine” my blogger experience. I’m not the greatest of writers but it’s something that I enjoy doing from time to time.

A brainwave started to develop in my head a few weeks ago “why not a website focused mainly, but not exclusively on competitive gaming”. What do I mean by that? Pretty much what it says. The main focus of the website will be to focus on gaming on a competitive nature, but I won’t ignore important tech or general gaming news.

The other thing that I want to try to do over there is highlight those who might not be in the professional spotlight. I feel with any sport (especially e-sports), that without a solid semi-pro/grassroots base, then the professional scene would never be as huge as it could potentially be.

To start with it’ll be just myself posting, but if anyone ever feels like guest posting, then I will always welcome them!

So what is the future of Lashings? I’m not going to take it down, and will save it for those rare occasions when one of my rants might not fit into a gaming/tech category. 🙂

I’ve just started the ball rolling over there, but please check out and add Competitively Zerged as I hope it’ll mature into something to be proud of.

Thank you for your time 🙂

Starcraft 2 Team “Roar Gaming” launched today!

 

Today on Sunday 24th Feb 2013, a new UK-based Starcraft 2 team launched. The e-Sports arena in the UK is one that is growing has the potential to be a pretty big scene. The people behind Roar Gaming recognize this and will be looking to encourage e-Sports to grow.

You can follow them on the following outlets

Twitter – https://twitter.com/roargaming

Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/RoarGaming

TwitchTV – http://www.twitch.tv/roargaming

If you are interested in Starcraft 2 or the e-Sport scene as a whole then please show these guys support and follow them. It’ll be greatly appreciated.

Read below for their launch statement

GAME “Farewell to Wings of Liberty” Tournament

 About a month a go I noticed a post on Google+ where UK Game retailer, GAME was asking those in the UK what their opinion was of E-Sports after linking an article from the Guardian about the Blizzard World Championships. An interesting (in my opinion) discussion arose and the impression that I got from them is that they are genuinely interested in E-Sports and developing E-Sports in the United Kingdom. Low and behold today the good folks from GAME sent me some new on Google+ that for the next few weeks they will be hosting an amateur Starcraft 2 tournament.

Read below for the information from their Facebook page. (TLDR? Non-professional Starcraft 2 player? Fancy a tournament? Carry on reading)

Shalcast (Bronze & Silver Starcraft 2 Commentary)

A good friend of mine, Stalthis (@GKickStalthis on Twitter), has started to cast Starcraft 2 VoD‘s. Now I know what you are thinking that these casts are a dime a dozen nowadays, but Stal does things slightly different. He doesn’t go after the big fish. He doesn’t cast the Platinum and Grand Master players. What he does is cast those from the Bronze and Silver leagues, those who are very jagged around the edges. In the commentary you get the normal commentary, his own opinions and tips and advice.

The first video of his is up now on his Shalcast channel on YouTube.

Also if you’re a Bronze or Silver league player in Starcraft 2 and want a match or two of yours commented on then feel free to buzz him on Twitter and I’m sure he’ll give you contact information on where to send your footage.

Below is his first cast. Please excuse the poor gameplay from the red Terran. 😉

Carbon for Android is finally released

 Yes you are not seeing things, no you have not stumbled into an alternate reality that only Sheldon Cooper could explain. Yes I am typing this and no I’m not drunk.

Long thought to be vapourware, Carbon for Twitter has finally be released. Initial reviews have this as saying that

Its so aesthetically pleasing that no other app could beat this. Its functional, switching between accounts is a breeze and the best I’ve seen.

Click on the link below to give the app a go, just remember to give the devil a wave as he skates to work.

Carbon for Android

Two one-month App.Net (ADN) trials to give away

My posts are just like buses. Nothing comes then all of a sudden you get three at once (well within 24 hours but you catch my drift).

Checking my account on App.Net yesterday I noticed that I’ve been granted three more one-month trials. My other half has already stolen one so that means I have two left to give away. Just DM on Twitter (@Guillin) with your email address and i will fire you one your way as soon as I can.

Last time I did this, I gave the three trials away with half an hour, so get in quick to try it.