Guitar hero for the DS (lite) review

Initial impressions look good; the grip that controls the game play looks solid and securely fits against then hand. However I found to securely fit the grip to my hand using the Velcro strap it was best to hold the grip without the DS attached.



One you are comfortably attached to the grip it is then simply (with the DS lite) the case of inserting the connecter into the game boy advanced slot.


Then your ready to start, wait where’s the pic? This was my other issue, I keep putting on the grip without taking the pic out of its holder, it is then slightly tricky to remove the pic in situ but it’s a minor issue.

Game play at first seems impossible, although the in game tutorials are a great help.


In easy mode it was possible to complete all 25 of the stages within about 4 hours. The easy mode does not however utilise all the keys, the blue key (for a right handed user this is the blue key) is left to one side. Easy mode is not challenging but gives you that warm fuzzy feeling that you have within 4 hours completed the game in the first mode!

All other levels (medium, hard and expert) use all 4 keys including the dreaded blue key.

This is where the pain sets in!

In honesty the game puts you in a completely unnatural position, forcing you to perform repetitive movements, that are equally unnatural.

Pain is inevitable, there are a few in game tips on avoiding the dreaded repetitive strain injury (RSI or should that be DSI!) but in reality there is little you can do.

From the options menu it is possible to select lefty mode, this flips the screens so that the console can be held the other way up with the left hand strumming and the right hand in the grip. When the pain set in I attempted to play in lefty mode, which for me as a right-handed person was impossible. Moral of the story, don’t try and be left-handed if you are not.

Over all the game is highly addictive, the increasing difficulty levels drag you in and keep you hooked, as soon as you start you don’t want to stop. That is of course until the pain becomes too much and you are forced to stop as you can no longer press the buttons. On a serious note the safety of this game does concern me, I followed all of the health and safety suggestions and all I can say is my hand hurts and my little finger does not want to work.

Merry christmas one and all!

I just really wanted to wish all the readers of DOAM a vary merry festive season, no matter what it is your celebrating or if your not!

 

So anyway its Christmas eve tomorrow and I shall be spending vast amounts of time rapping everyone's presents, as I generally haven’t yet. 

 

I'm like a very immature big kid at Christmas I love it, and as usual I am very excited I love the whole thing with presents and can honestly say I like watching other people opening their presents probably more than my own and seeing how pleased they are with what I brought time. (Hopefully) 

 

Of course the sheer excitement of not knowing what is wrapped in the shiny paper is all to much for me, I love shiny things because they are really easy to see and catch the eye so all the wrapping paper gets me very excited as soon as I see a present I want to open it! 

 

I have to also confess that I have brought myself a little Christmas present in the form of a very shiny and very lime green trimmed cricket bat. Its a very nice but not to expensive Kookaburra bat with lime green livery and grip, so hopefully when it is on the sidelines I will be able to find it easily, also it was available with a long handle and choice of weights so that is also good, it will probably be waiting for me back at halls. The only slight downside is that I will be missing the next training session because I will be in Paris so I don’t get to give it a spin for 2 months!

Cricket video

my dad has just revealed that he took a video of me practising batting at blind cricket so here it is. He did not know how the zoom worked so i shall inform you that I am the pink thing.

I heart blind cricket!

I’m happy, I just came back from blind cricket and it was really good.

As you may already know I am a very sporty person despite being very unfit and all my bone issues.

Anyway cricket today was really good, I did really well, I really struggle with bowling, and I’m not really strong enough to throw the ball the entire length of the crease. So this time rather than trying and solely focusing on trying to get the ball to the target, the coach told me to come about 4 feet further forward, so I did.

The result was amazing! I got 2 bowlers out and was 100% more accurate. Now I am forgetting about my pride and shall just move forward!

My batting was also really consistent which was good, we did not score many runs in my partnership but we both where hitting well.

So I think I have found my sports calling, there is still a very special place in my heard for woman’s football but its not something I can compete in.

I love cricket, I do however currently have a slight problem I have not got my own bat, so this means I use my clubs bats, there bats are perfectly adequate and fine but it does mean I get a different bat each time I play, I might use say 4 in a session.

This is a bit of a problem as it means I am using bats that are different weights, are different sizes and have different grips and handle lengths.

That means it makes batting really difficult as all cricket players will know all of the things I have mentioned will affect my batting posture and swing.

So I am now saving up to buy a bat, I need one that is standard size with a long handle I have decided so I will be shopping around for either a really cheap one or a second hand one or one in a sale. Probably can’t afford to buy a new one although that would be nice.

Disability Discrimination-it's still happening

Today I went out for a lovely meal with one of my very best friends, we had a great time and it was very nice over in Gunwarf Quays this evening. There was a brass band playing Christmas hymns lights up everywhere and a generally nice Christmas atmosphere. However all of my Christmas spirit disappeared thanks to a security guard. 

I was in Boots in Gunwarf, when the security guard asked me to leave, repeatedly.   I had done absolutely nothing wrong, I was stood with my friend looking at toothbrushes, and Gus was sitting at my side good as gold.

The security Guard came over and pointed at Gus and said ‘not allowed in here’, his English was by all accounts terrible.   I explained that Gus is a Guide dog and that he is allowed in shops, the security guard, either did not understand or simply ignored me pointed again and said ‘not allowed in here’.

At this point I informed the guard that he was breaking the law and asked to speak to the manager. He said that the manager was not there and walked off.

This is the first time I have ever been asked to leave a shop, and it was because of one member of staff’s complete lack of disability awareness.

It really upset me, big time; I was shaking with a mixture of anger and sorrow at the time. I will be phoning the manager tomorrow morning to inform her of what has happened.

It really hit home also that I know some Guide Dog owners face this kind of discrimination every day, everyday they are stopped from going about there business by peoples complete lack of understanding.

Given all the press coverage that The Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) has got all over Brittan and the steps that companies have to take to make sure there services are accessible I am disgusted.

This example proves that disability discrimination is still a problem in the UK.

Asking me to leave with my guide dog is just the same as asking a wheelchair user to leave their wheelchair outside.

As a major chain Boots should know better, they should be training all their staff in all aspects of The DDA. Furthermore their staff should be able to communicate in and understand English, as I am sure this contributed to the issue I faced today.

Well there we have it a day ruined by the misunderstanding of one person.

I am a very passionate campaigner for disability rights and do all I possibly can to educate people on my own disability so that hopefully they can gain a better understanding of the barriers faced by people who are VI.

I thought we had moved on passed the stage where people are regularly removed from shops due to the presence of an assistance dog, apparently I am mistaken.

Panic over

Well panic over as of  last night our internet connection and phone line are back up and running, I hear however we are the lucky ones as many people still have no phone line.

Really put into perspective how much I use the internet for everything, I was without connection for 2 days and struggled to cope.

Signing off!

I'm heading into the dark age abyss that is Gosport at the moment.

Don't get be wrong I really enjoy going back home and seeing all the people and places I know, catching up with friends, dog walks and a coffee by the sea, but recent events have plunged Gosport back into the dark ages.

Some cretins have been going around Gosport in a no doubt dirty white van stealing peoples phone cables. My house is one of around eight thousand that has been affected.

Some would say this is the credit crunch rearing its ugly head, forcing people into desperate measures around Christmas. 

I'm understandably annoyed by this I don't mean to sound in any way patronising but it has left my disabled mum without a phone line or internet connection for 14 days I think it is now.

I really can't think how someone that has gone around stealing phone cables just before christmas can live with there self. Its a horrible crime that has no doubt left thousands of possibly venerable people without a working phone, for many cheesy as it sounds it may be their lifeline.

BT have said they hope to have all the faults fixed and working again by Christmas day

On a different level it has pissed me off and will leave me rather disconnected with the online world I know and love so much so for possibly quite a long time this is Jemma Brown signing off!

I GOT A JOB

Ok excuse me for being incredibly hyper about this but wow I have managed to get myself a job.

 

Not only that but it’s a job I am feeling incredibly positive about; you are indeed reading the words of a volunteering ambassador!

 

I start in January and I am just so pleased about it.

 

Lets look at my employment history, its not great I have had one paid job which was the summer after my GCSE exams secured by my dad working in an office.

 

For every job I have ever applied for which must have been hundreds until now I received a negative response.

 

I had until now never had an interview for a job or anything. So my first interview for a job and what happens I get the job.

 

I have written on here about discrimination and the potential ways in which employers can avoid the disability discrimination act (DDA) previously and I am very pleased to report that I think maybe times are changing, maybe the DDA is having an effect, or maybe I am being naive

Ive done 76 out of the 132 stupid things (but I might have got the math wrong!)

Do this and repost it with the title:
I've done X out of the 132 stupid things.

(I'm not quite sure how some of these things are stupid, but never mind!)

Level 1
(x ) Smoked A Cigarette
( ) Smoked A Cigar
(x) Kissed A Member Of The Same Sex
(x) Drank Alcohol

SO FAR: 3

Level 2
(x) Are / Been In Love
(x) Been Dumped
( ) Shoplifted
( ) Been Fired
( ) Been In A Fist Fight

SO FAR: 5

Level 3
(x) Had A Crush On An Older Person
(x ) Skipped School 
( ) Slept With A Co-worker
(x) Seen Someone / Something Die

SO FAR: 8

Level 4
(x) Had / Have A Crush On One Of Your Facebook Friends
(x) Been To Paris (i'm going in January so it counts)
( ) Been To Spain
(x) Been On A Plane
( ) Thrown Up From Drinking

SO FAR: 11

Level 5
( ) Eaten Sushi
( ) Been Snowboarding
( ) Met Someone BECAUSE Of Facebook
( ) Been in a Mosh Pit

SO FAR: 11

Level 6
( ) Been In An Abusive Relationship
(x) Taken Pain Killers 
(x) Love/loved Someone Who You Can't Have
(x) Laid On Your Back And Watched Cloud Shapes Go By
(x) Made A Snow Angel

SO FAR: 15

Level 7
(x) Had A Tea Party
(x) Flown A Kite
(x) Built A Sand Castle
(x) Gone mudding
(x) Played Dress Up

SO FAR: 20

Level 8
(x) Jumped Into A Pile Of Leaves
(x) Gone Sledging
(x) Cheated While Playing A Game (the game WAS Cheat...)
(x) Been Lonely
(x) Fallen Asleep At Work / School

SO FAR: 25

Level 9
( ) Watched The Sun Set
( ) Felt An Earthquake
( ) Killed A Snake

SO FAR: 25

Level 10
(x) Been Tickled
( ) Been Robbed / Vandalized
( ) Been cheated on
(x) Been Misunderstood

SO FAR: 27

Level 11
(x) Won A Contest
( ) Been Suspended From School
(x) Had Detention
( ) Been In A Car / Motorcycle Accident 

SO FAR: 29

Level 12
( ) Had / Have Braces
(x) Eaten a whole pint of ice cream in one night
( ) Danced in the moonlight

SO FAR: 30

Level 13
(x) Hated The Way You Look 
(x) Witnessed A Crime
( ) Pole Danced
(x) Questioned Your Heart
(x) Been obsessed with post-it-notes

SO FAR: 34

Level 14
(x) Squished Barefoot Through The Mud
(x) Been Lost
( ) Been To The Opposite Side Of The World
(x) Swam In The Ocean
(x) Felt Like You Were Dying

SO FAR: 38

Level 15
(x) Cried Yourself To Sleep
(x) Played Cops And Robbers
(x) Recently Colored With Crayons / Colored Pencils / Markers
(x) Sang Karaoke (does Guitar Hero and Rock Band count?!)
(x) Paid For A Meal With Only Coins

SO FAR: 43

Level 16
(x) Done Something You Told Yourself You Wouldn't
( ) Made Prank Phone Calls
( ) Laughed Until Some Kind Of Beverage Came Out Of Your Nose
( ) Kissed In The Rain

SO FAR: 44

Level 17
(x) Written A Letter To Santa Claus
( ) Watched The Sun Set/ sun rise With Someone You Care/Cared About
(x) Blown Bubbles
(x) Made A Bonfire On The Beach or anywhere

SO FAR: 47

Level 18
( ) Crashed A Party
( ) Have Travelled More Than 5 Days With A Car Full Of People
( ) Gone Rollerskating / Blading
(x) Had A Wish Come True
( ) Been Humped By A Monkey (WTF?!)

SO FAR: 48

Level 19
( ) Worn Pearls (I don't suppose they were real)
( ) Jumped Off A Bridge
(x) Screamed "Penis" or "Vagina"
( ) Ridden an elephant

SO FAR:49

Level 20
(x) Got Your Tongue Stuck To A Pole/Freezer/ice Cube/ Ice Lolly
( ) Kissed A Fish
(x) Worn The Opposite Sex's Clothes
(x) Sat On A Roof Top

SO FAR: 52

Level 21
(x) Screamed At The Top Of Your Lungs 
( ) Done / Attempted A One-Handed Cartwheel
( ) Talked On The Phone For More Than 6 Hours
( ) Recently stayed up for a while talking to someone you care about

SO FAR: 53

Level 22
(x) Picked And Ate An Apple Right Off The Tree
(x) Climbed A Tree
(x) Had/Been In A Tree House
(x) Been scared To Watch Scary Movies Alone

SO FAR: 58

Level 23
(x) Believed In Ghosts
( ) Have had More Then 30 Pairs Of Shoes
( ) Gone Streaking
( ) Visited Jail

SO FAR: 59

Level 24
( ) Played Chicken
( ) Been Pushed into a pool with all your clothes on
(x) Been Told You're Hot By A Complete Stranger
(x) Broken A Bone
(x) Been Easily Amused

SO FAR: 62

Level 25
( ) Caught A Fish Then Ate It Later
( ) Made A Porn Video/got asked to make one
( ) Caught A Butterfly
(x) Laughed So Hard You Cried
(x) Cried So Hard You Laughed

SO FAR: 64

Level 26
(x) Mooned/Flashed Someone
(x) Had Someone Moon/Flash You
(x) Cheated On A Test
(x) Forgotten Someone's Name
( ) French Braided Someone's Hair
(x) Gone Skinny Dipping (not since I was a kid, mind you!)
( ) Been Kicked Out Of Your House
(x) Tried to hurt yourself

SO FAR: 70

Level 28
(x) Rode A Roller Coaster
( ) Went Scuba-Diving/Snorkeling
(x) Had A Cavity
( ) Black-Mailed Someone
( ) Been Black Mailed

SO FAR: 72

Level 29
(x) Been Used
(x) Fell Going Up The Stairs
( ) Licked A Cat
(x) Bitten Someone
(x) Licked Someone

SO FAR: 76

Level 30
( ) Been shot at/or at gunpoint
( ) Had sex in the rain
( ) Flattened someone's tyres
( ) Rode your car/truck until the gas light came on
( ) Got five quid or less worth of gas 

TOTAL: 76