Yes, ok, I know this is getting quite tenuous now but the pictures are so pretty. Last one, promise.

Play PORTAL!

Still I speak to people who haven’t played portal yet. What’s the deal with that?

Forget what you’ve read and the trailers you’ve seen.

Not only is Portal canonical to the Half Life universe, but it also has a story of its own. This is way more than a puzzle game. It has everything you’d expect from a FPS and even more still.

If you haven’t already - Play it!

I love and hate recommending music to people. Music is a very personal thing and most people (including myself) are set in their ways and will only listen to a particular genre, subset of artists or songs from some long gone era back when vinyl was the dog’s bollocks.

Thanks to a certain app on Facebook used to “compare people”, I am well aware that I have terrible taste in music (but then again, it also says that I have the best hair and that I’m the most dateable of all my friends).

So if you don’t mind transgressing into my world for a second, you must listen to the music of Emma Pollock formerly of The Delgados. She has recently released her debut album, Watch the Fireworks. Once again, no reviews from me - I’m not that deep or sophisticated. Just listen and hopefully you might like it.

You can hear a few tracks for free on her website.

Earlier today, watching good ol’ British TV, I was intrigued by a feature on The One Show about brain gender.

Some researchers say that men can have ‘women’s brains’ and that women can think more like men.

Fascinating stuff, I know.

Anyhow - as I am a bit of a girl sometimes - I was overly curious to know my own brain gender. I took their online test and I think I received someone else’s results. The test placed me perfectly in the centre of the male brain classification and they made the following insights based on my answers:

• I fight well because of the way I cross my fingers.
• I can’t empathise.
• I have really manly hands.
• I like girls.

I do like the girls.

Preloading complete; I am excited.

I am only two thirds as excited as I should be though, as it feels like Team Fortress 2 has already been out for a month. However, I’ll be sure to make up for that empty space inside of me by playing Half Life 2:EP2 twice (to hear the commentary track of course).

As a black box owner, I do not share the frustration of having to re-buy the earlier games that you orange boxers are forced into. Better yet, my black box came free with my new ATI card.

So consider this a big, fat, massive gloat to all of you.