%$*@ing Battlefield 2! £%&@ing Xbox live!

Beena bit of a write-off afternoon. Firstly a cancellation on the part of a friend of mine denied me an evening of beer. I set off for home early with the intent of making up for this with a session of gun-related violence on Battlefield 2. However, this was not to be either, as the sodding system continues to deny that the servers are available.

It's fairly pathetic I freely admit, but having relatively unfettered access to live network play for the last few months has shifted it from being a privelige to a right, and I now feel I am being denied a feature of my life every bit as fundamental as free speech or cable TV. Effectively I've become the screaming German kid of internet lore, chucking a right eppy of a tantrum because of a mild inconveniance to a non-essential luxury. Still, that's the way things go - I still shudder at the thought of losing internet access for a few days, or my mobile running out of battery over a weekend. Time to toughen up and get a bit more Ray Mears about life in general I think.

Anyway, have found the perfect calming influence in this charming tale of baby hippo and giant tortoise.