That Time of Year

Hallowe’en Formal tickets have been booked which can only mean it’s that time of year again — time to mould a new pair of fangs! Okay, I’m aware this might not strike everyone as a common occurance, let alone an annual ritual, and it isn’t really for me either. However, since my old set have been broken for some time I’ve picked up a pair of the latest Scarecrows for this year’s Samhain. To avoid the inevitable questions on the night, here’s how they work. The box contains two shaped caps with hollow interiors. The powder capsules create a quick-hardening substance that will take a perfect mould of your teeth, allowing the prosthetic to quickly and easily snap on and off. Hence they hold tight with no adhesive and no lisp-inducing rubber filled mouth. However, although they are fine to drink with, they are not really suitable for eating. I may document the moulding process in full here if you want a sneak peak before the night.

I have never been a huge fan of the Rainbow Six games, which I always felt were somewhat limited by their control systems and continuous featureless corridors. However the latest incarnation, set in Las Vegas, is looking rather good. I have probably warmed to the series due to how much I loved GRAW. This leads me to understand the continued use of the “Tom Clancy” prefix to the host of related games, despite the fact these arenas of conflict are now well established in their own right. Splinter Cell hardly needs the name of a no-longer-terribly-prolific author attached to shift copies. However, it does provide an umbrella which joins these otherwise somewhat disparate titles. If you enjoy sneaking as Sam Fisher, it suggests, perhaps you might like stopping militant rebels as a soldier of the future. And they were right; I did. Sure, it results in some rather silly protracted game titles, but at least it made me consider revisiting a series that I’d already written off.

Finally, here’s a recommendation for those of you having trouble sleeping at night. It won’t check under your bed for monsters, but assuming your problem is a less immature, Sound Sleeping may be the antidote. This site allows you to mix several ambient loops in order to create a soundtrack that you find relaxing and condusive to sleep. If nothing else, there’s something godlike about being able to control rain, songbirds, the ocean and thunder. Especially if you have an enormous sub…