R.I.P. Ruby

Yesterday evening we learned that our cat Ruby had been found dead on a main road not far from our house. She had been missing for almost 48 hours and we'd been searching non-stop, posting on social media and posting missing flyers through local letterboxes.

The way the story played out is as follows; Jet and Ruby both escaped through an open window in the middle of the night. They were both seen by neighbours and even captured on a neighbour's CCTV footage between the hours of 6AM and 7AM. Jet came back home around lunchtime - I heard him howling at the door; he'd made such an effort to force his way in, he'd ripped half of the seal off the door actually. We now know some time between 7AM and Jet coming home, Ruby was ran over and her body was found by council wardens on the 24th of May.

We only learned this fact because we posted a flyer through the door of the mother-in-law of the man who picked her body up. He had thought it had been her cat, as they too had a small all-black cat. As soon as they realised it was Ruby, they phoned my mam - whose number we'd put on the flyers, as well as mine. Mam came over and told us as soon as she could. So the whole day we'd been searching on the 25th, Ruby was already dead.

But I'm glad I know. I'm glad I found out. If I hadn't, I would have been left wondering forever.

Shelly wanted her body to bury, but we weren't allowed it; as she was killed on the road, she was classed as roadkill and thus was a biohazard. I didn't want her body, I didn't want to have to see her in that state. Shelly is one of these people who doesn't fully believe something until she can see it for herself, however.

Another issue we currently have is Jet. I don't know if he was there when Ruby was killed, or if they separated before it happened - but he is very sad. He's constantly looking for her and going around the house howling and crying for her. He's also being a lot clingier than usual with us - wanting way more cuddles and attention. Because we haven't had Queenie that long, she didn't know Ruby long enough to form an attachment to miss her. I'm sort of glad of this, as she's not sad like Jet is. I wouldn't want both cats to be sad.

I don't blame anybody. It's nobody's fault Ruby was killed. Admittedly I'm most annoyed at her for going onto the road in the first place - but I don't know the full circumstances; she could have been chased or frightened and unknowingly ran into the road.

Gallery: Ruby & Jet
(Click to enlarge)

We got Ruby around two weeks after we got Jet - so they have both grown up together from being kittens. We celebrated Christmas with them and both of their 1st birthdays in March. They were always a pair - it's going to be hard on Jet himself probably more than it is on us.

Everybody liked Ruby because she was small and cute, as a result of feline dwarfism. She was smaller than an average fully grown female cat - and was part-Persian, so was very fluffy and soft too. She had a very fussy personality and had no problems with meeting new people. She was quite bold too - several times she'd wandered into next-door's when they'd left the kitchen door open.

It makes me quite sad that we have way more photos of Jet than we do of Ruby - but Ruby hated her photo being taken. She knew when you were trying to take one and would move - so we'd get a lot of blurry pics. Being all-black, she was also a less photogenic cat, often it could be hard to make out her features. But we do have some great photos, funny videos and most importantly - awesome memories.

Gallery: Ruby
(Click to enlarge)

Here's some things I'm going to remember most about Ruby:

• On a night, she would lay in the crook of your back or on your bum cheeks and fall asleep.
• When she was in a good mood, she would lick your lips, giving lots of Ruby kisses.
• After making a sandwich, she'd beg for the spoon to lick the mayonnaise off.
• Her favourite tidbits were ice cream and yogurts - God help you if you wanted to eat those in peace with Ruby around.
• She liked to climb to the top of their cat tower and stare down at you like a queen; at the top she'd be stood at around 5"10 off the ground, almost as tall as Shelly.
• Ruby reacted in a really funny way to catnip; she'd nibble on the plant we had in the kitchen then roll around on the floor for hours, acting silly.
• If the litter box wasn't clean enough for her, she'd let you know by peeing in front of it.
• Despite being best friends, Jet would often bully her as he was bigger; stealing her food and sitting on top of her in their hammock.
• When you came back home, she would sit in the bay window and smack her front paws against the glass, trying to reach out at you.
• She was amazing at catching insects - she made mincemeat out of spiders and moths and we once saw her catch a fly with her paw - piercing its wing with a claw then eating it nonchalantly.

Ruby

20/03/15 - 24/05/16

You were taken from us too quickly babes.

R.I.P.

Unboxing & Taste Test: UK 24-Hour Military Rations - Menu #19

I'm a big fan of YouTubers like Ashens who do unboxings and taste tests of food - especially food that's a bit different from what we normally eat on a day-to-day basis. After watching a few unboxing and taste test videos of military rations, I decided I wanted to try one too.

I found tons of them for sale on eBay - despite the box being covered in warnings that it was the property of the Ministry of Defence and wasn't to be resold. Oh dear.

Anyway, I scrutinised the menus rigorously, as I didn't want one that came with baked beans - as I can't stand them. I ultimately decided on a menu #19 box and ordered it. The box was £5, and the postage was a couple of quid on top of that - so I got it for just under a tenner. Not bad, considering it was a whole day's worth of food that I did actually eat.

Here's an annotated photo of the entire contents of this ration pack:

1 - Pack of tissues
2 - Stormproof matches
3 - Water purification tablets
4 - Spork
5 - Antibacterial wipes
6 - Coffee sachets
7 - Tea bags
8 - Sugar sachets
9 - Creamer sachets
10 - Tabasco Green
11 - Caramel flavoured hot chocolate drink
12 - Dental chewing gum
13 - Grapefruit flavoured drink powder
14 - Orange flavoured drink powder
15 - Blackcurrant flavoured drink powder
16 - Apple flavoured energy drink powder
17 - Fruitful museli
18 - Chicken in yellow curry with rice
19 - Potato and leek soup
20 - Sticky toffee pudding
21 - Cookies & cream cereal bar
22 - Ginger oat biscuits
23 - Chili beef jerky
24 - Nuts cocktail
25 - Fruit pocket (apple, blackcurrant & raspberry)
26 - Melon, mango & pineapple fruit mix
27 - Squeezy peanut butter
28 - Fruit & nougat bar

So I made two videos documenting this little foray into the world of military rations; an unboxing video and a taste test video. I even ate all of the food out of a partitioned metal tray with the provided spork for added realism. Admittedly I cooked my food pouches in a pan of boiling water on a gas oven rather than an open fire - but I don't trust myself near open flames to be honest.

Unboxing Video:


Taste Test Video:


Included with my ration pack was a feedback form, which I also filled out:

Honestly, some of the stuff in there was AMAZING. I could totally live on the chicken curry, sticky toffee pudding, nougat bars, cereal bars and nuts cocktails. The oaty biscuits and peanut butter weren't bad either, and very filling. The only food I didn't really enjoy were what I predicted anyway; muesli, as I'm not a big fan of it, dried fruit, same story and beef jerky, because it tastes like salty old shoes. The drinks were a bit lacking, but then I subsist purely on fizzy pop, I'm not really familiar with powdered juice mixes.

I'm keeping an eye on the eBay listings - if I spot any other ration packs that look good and are a decent price - I will be more than happy to try them. I wouldn't mind sampling some from other countries too. :)

Pokémon That Are The Same Height As Me...?

I'm what some would call vertically challenged. I'm 5"3, which isn't even at the average height for a female in this country, which is 5"4. Everybody in my family is taller than I am, even if it's by an inch or two - I've always been the smallest. This became even more apparent when I got into a relationship with Shelly, who stands at fucking 5"11. However, Ash is only 4"9, so I get to call her an elf/goblin/hobgoblin/pixie/gnome etc. - hey, everybody else did it to me!

I went a long while thinking I was actually 5"1, until I got measured properly at the nurse's office - turns out I was two inches taller than I thought - I left that day feeling two inches more confident!

Anybody who is a fan of videos by YouTuber TheJWittz will probably have seen his videos where he outlines why Pokémon sizes are nonsense. Obviously, Pokémon is marketed towards kids. Most kids who play Pokémon games are probably between 3"00 and 4"8 - I guess... Thus, any big, scary Pokémon are going to be taller than they are - but adults like us, learning that we're the same height or even taller than the huge, imposing creatures - especially if they're legendary - it's just bizarre!

So, here is a list of Pokémon that are vertically challenged at 5"3, like I am. 

Blastoise

Do you not think it's weird that what we've all thought as an amazing fully evolved starter Pokémon that we all kicked some serious arse with, armed with its massive water cannons is only 5"3? Doesn't seem as menacing now, does it?

Golbat

Now this is one that surprised me. For anyone who has seen real bats, well, they're about the size of mice. Larger ones can be up to the size of big rats. Imagine a massive vampire bat with teeth that are probably as long as your fingers and a mouth your whole head could fit inside! Forget the annoying random encounters, if these were real, I'd never set foot in a cave once.

Machamp

I'm not sure if I'm surprised at this or not; I kinda imagined Machamp would be taller than I am, I had the image of like a 6"2 real-life bodybuilder. But then again, they are monsters and not people. This is another one where the size is somewhat underwhelming...

Tentacruel

What the actual fuck?! Real jellyfish are scary as hell. Once while swimming in the ocean I came within a metre of swimming into a massive group of them just hanging out on the water's surface. I've never been stung by a jellyfish, but sources tell me it stings like a bitch. Imagine a sting from a 5 FOOT jellyfish!

Slowbro

I think Slowbro is quite a cute Pokémon - and he has the face of a friendly stoner. I just want to grab him and give him a big hug. Knowing how tall he is - this sounds possible. :)

Hypno

You know what Hypno's backstory is? It kidnapped a child. This little nugget of information becomes even more disturbing when you visualise Hypno standing at the height of a human...

Zapdos

Now Zapdos makes sense to me. Sure, its a bird and there's not many 5 foot long birds around - but remember, it's a legendary Pokémon. All of the legendaries should be pretty big and threatening, in my opinion. But think about it this way, if you were to teach it Fly, it probably wouldn't be able to carry an adult, we're probably taller and heavier than Zapdos itself.

Noctowl

Noctowl is another one on this list that surprised me. After all, it could be one of your first experiences of evolution in Pokémon Gold/Silver/Crystal - it's just a bog standard stage 1 evolution normal/flying type. And it's a bloody owl! Yes, there are some pretty big owls in existence, but none that are 5 feet tall!

Gardevoir

I'm sure the Poképhilia community are happy at this news. Gardevoir stands at the height of slightly shorter than the average female. This one doesn't really surprise me much, what with it being a very human-like Pokémon, just like I wouldn't be surprised at creatures like Mr. Mime, Jynx and Alakazam having human-sized statures.

Dusclops

Looking at the backstory of Dusclops, this is pretty creepy - people who look inside of Dusclops' body will get sucked inside! Knowing how big it actually is, this becomes oddly more feasible...

Some other Pokémon that are 5"3 include Haunter - a human-sized ghost head and hands, Rampardos - the massive fossil Pokémon, Gallade - who kinda makes sense, like Gardevoir does, Magmortar - the 2nd stage evolution of the Magby/Magmar line and fucking METAGROSS. I'd understand it being 5 feet wide - but 5 feet TALL? Bloody hell.

(The cartoon simulacra of me is courtesy of the somewhat-outdated comic-creation app Bitstrips, fuck off, I still use Bitstrips, it's awesome.)

Ash's Birthday Cards: Character Collage

This is a somewhat different birthday card designed by Ash - for my 20th birthday she presented me with a card that featured a collage of some of my favourite games characters.

From left to right: 

Link (The Legend of Zelda), Leon (Resident Evil), Wario (Mario/Wario series), Mona (Wario Ware Inc.), Jimmy Hopkins (Bully), The Prince (Katamari), K.K. Slider (Animal Crossing), Subject Delta (Bioshock), Princess Peach (Mario series) and Cloud Strife (Final Fantasy VII) - complete with the cake from Portal as the often-included birthday cake. :)

I laminated the card and blu-tacked it up on my wall. :)

Unboxing: Arcade Block April 2016

It's time for my sixth monthly Arcade Block!

As I've previously explained; for a fee of $20 CANADIAN per month, Arcade Block will send you a lovely box of gaming merchandise, including a T-shirt. Shipping costs vary, depending on where you live, and larger T-shirt sizes cost a few $ extra - overall, my boxes including shipping, work out at about £24.

This one was shipped on the 25th of March and arrived on the 9th of May. Slightly longer than before, but it is coming all the way from Canada.

One thing I also noticed about this Arcade Block is that it had a different customs label; normally things shipped from another country needs to have a brief outline of what it is and how valuable it is - which in a way can potentially ruin the surprise of a mystery subscription box - but this one didn't say at all!



Let's take a closer look at the contents:

The Legend Of Zelda Mutlitool

Glow-in-the-dark Fallout 4 T-shirt

The Legend Of Zelda: Majora's Mask mousemat

Assassin's Creed blind bag mini figure

Borderlands Claptrap Funko Pop figure

Battleborn pin badges

After I filmed my unboxing video, I signed into my account to see about the mobile phone cases. Turns out there was also a box to fill in your shoe size and UNDERWEAR size! What on Earth. I hope I get some cool shoes and some sexy underpants. Though I shall NOT be modelling THOSE for my Gamer's Wardrobe segment! :)

Stay tuned for next month's Arcade Block!

Mog Anarchy Visits The National Media Museum's GAME LOUNGE!

So, on Sunday I took a trip down to Bradford to visit the National Media Museum. It's a massive building that is full of media-related history - including TV, cinema, the Internet and of course, the floor I  was most interested in: VIDEO GAMES.

The 6th floor is home to the GAME LOUNGE; which is a big room filled with refurbished arcade cabinets and old consoles you can actually play on. I'd like to add that they're all free to play too - except Space Invaders (which costs 10p) and Point Blanc (which costs 50p) - admission into the museum is also totally free.

The cabinets included:

Space Invaders, Point Blank, Gauntlet, Donkey Kong, Defender, Asteroids & Frogger

The console games included:
Super Mario Kart, Pong, Manic Miner, Prince Of Persia, Goldeneye 64 & Sonic The Hedgehog 2

The whole Games Lounge is nicely decorated with full wall-length murals of classic video game iconography and even features these lovely Tetris-block seats to sit at to play the table-style arcade cabinets and console set-ups.

It also features a classic staple of virtually every British museum and tourist attraction - the penny press! Basically you pay a £1 coin and a 1p coin to flatten out the 1p coin and stamp a design onto it. Here's the two I got made - a Pac-Man one and a Space Invaders one.

To round this blog off nicely, here's a compilation of the videos I filmed during my trip; my guided tour of the Games Lounge and several videos of me being way too overexcited trying out the games and arcade cabinets - even losing my ZX Spectrum virginity, playing Manic Miner for the first time!

They also sold a wide array of gaming merchandise in the gift shop - including an awesome messenger bag, Tetris stickers, books, Pixel Bricks and more!