Since I am unable to solve this problem, I have been forced to move over to LiveJournal.

My new blog address is http://freakyhobbit.livejournal.com/ 

Hope to see you over there. 

Kind regards

Frodo

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Dizzy is one of my favourite computer game characters.

In case you are wondering, Dizzy is an egg.  Yes, an egg!!!  But not only that, he is an egg that wears boxing gloves. 

Created by the Oliver Twins in 1987, he began life on the Spectrum computer, and quickly became a household name.  We meet him for the first time in a game called ‘Dizzy, The Ultimate Cartoon Adventure’.  The story is that the evil wizard Zaks is running amok and it is up to Dizzy to put a stop to it.  Here are some screenshots of him as he goes about his mission -   http://www.mobygames.com/game/zx-spectrum/dizzy-the-ultimate-cartoon-adventure/screenshots .  

After the success of his first adventure, there followed a whole series of Dizzy games - Treasure Island Dizzy, Fantasy World Dizzy, Magicland Dizzy, Spellbound Dizzy, Dizzy Prince Of The Yolkfolk, Fantastic Dizzy, and Crystal Kingdom Dizzy.  His fame grew, and his adventures became available on other platforms such as Commodore, Amiga, pc, and a few more, as well as the Spectrum.  As more games were created, we were gradually introduced to his friends and family, who were known as the Yolkfolk (you will find many puns in the Dizzy games).  We soon came to know and love characters such as the evil wizard Zaks (Dizzy’s arch enemy), Daisy (his girlfriend), Grand Dizzy, and more.  Each game followed the same basic forumula where Dizzy has to defeat an enemy (usually the wizard Zaks), and either save the Yolkfolk Village where he lives, or rescue one of the Yolkfolk.    Various ‘Special Edition’ versions of his games have appeared on cover tapes for several magazines, as a special treat.  Dizzy has a unique way of jumping and  somersaulting around, which is where he got his name from. 

As well as all his adventures, Dizzy also starred in several spin-off games.  Fast Food Dizzy (a pacman clone), Kwik Snax (maze game), Dizzy Panic (fit-the-shapes-in-correct-holes), and Bubble Dizzy (action arcade) are not so much Dizzy games, but just games that happen to have Dizzy in them. 

The Oliver Twins stopped making Dizzy games in 1992 - Crystal Kingdom Dizzy being the last one.  But the fans wanted more!  There is an ongoing petition to bring Dizzy back - http://www.yolkfolk.com/site/petition.php . 

Until that dream becomes a reality, there is many Dizzy fangames and fansites scattered throughout the internet.  In 2007, Alexandru Simion & Christina Simion created a new engine called DizzyAge.  This engine is free for anyone to use.  It allows you to create authentic-look Dizzy games with ease.  Since the creation of DizzyAge, many excellent fangames have been made.  You can play these games, and find more information on the DizzyAge website - http://www.yolkfolk.com/dizzyage/index.html .

So let’s give one more thought to Dizzy, and his arch emeny Zaks. 

I came across this interesting site - http://www.chriswetherell.com/hobbit/

Just type in your real name, and it will reveal your hobbit name.  Easy. 

I am Myrtle Sackville-Bracegirdle (hee hee)

So what is your hobbit name?

In both cases, their story starts with a care-free life in The Shire.  Then they are introduced to a very different life full of dangers outside The Shire. 

Bilbo went off with some dwarves (who didn’t even appreciate the many times he saved them) to find some treasure.  He found the One Ring in Gollum’s dark cave, and brought it out into the world.  No-one knew then just how dangerous the ring was.  Frodo ‘inherited’ the Ring from Bilbo.  It was then discovered that this is indeed the One Ring, forged by the evil Sauron himself.  Frodo’s quest is now clear - he must destroy the Ring at all costs. 

Bilbo faced off against goblins, giant spiders, Gollum, Smaug the dragon, and many more nasties.  He defeats them all (sometimes with the help of Gandalf), and the dwarves reclaim their treasure in The Lonely Mountain.  A grand battle between dwarves, men, elves, goblins and wargs ensued, and the good guys won!  The dwarves stay with their treasure in The Lonely Mountain, and Bilbo returns home to his old life in The Shire. 

Frodo faces a very different challenge.  He has to destroy the One Ring in order to save not only his beloved Shire, but also the world as he knew it.  He has his friends with him, who are a lot more supportive than the dwarves were for Bilbo, but he also faces much greater enemies.  He must fight against trolls, Ringwraiths, Shelob the spider and even Sauron himself.  He is seriously injured by the Ringwraiths, but is saved by the elves in Rivendell.  Unfortunately, the wound never fully heals.  He carries on to Mount Doom to destroy the Ring, but the power of the Ring is too much for him.  Gollum snatches the Ring from Frodo (biting off his finger in the process), but then falls into the fiery pits below.  The Ring is destroyed, but Frodo still suffers from his injuries, and is haunted by memories of all he has been through. 

Both hobbits have suffered, and they have both proven themselves a hero.  They sail west into the Undying Lands, where they can finally find peace and be happy. 

I can sit here in front of my computer, and I can communicate with people from all over the world.  Just think about that for a moment.

Take this blog, for example.  I am writing it in Bonny Scotlaned, but you could be reading it from anywhere!  I’ve ‘met’ people from America, Finland, Netherlands, Croatia, Australia, and loads more places.  Norway, France and Germany don’t seem so far away anymore.  I just find that SO amazing!!!  The world is not really such a big place, is it?

Who would have thought that the internet could bring people together like this?

We truly live in a digital age! 

Start the day with breakfast in bed.

Now sit back, relax, and enjoy yourself.

This day only comes along once a year, so make the most of it.

How about this for size (pun intended, lol)

Welcome to Freaky Little Hobbit Heaven.

Well this is my first blog, and it’s looking pretty empty at the moment, so I need all you bloggers out there to help me fill it up.  Lol.

I want to start by talking about an old computer game.  Do you remember System Shock?  It’s a fantastic rpg \ adventure \ fps type game about a hacker trapped on a space station.  The Artificial Intelligenge that controls the space station has gone insane, and is determined to wipe out humanity. 

Well the game is pretty old now, and it’s very tricky to get working on today’s computers.  Luckily, there IS a version out there that works on machines with Windows 95 all the way up to Windows Vista.   Strangebedfellows has ‘rebuilt’ the game using the original source code, so it works on modern machines.  You can find an excellent review for it on Reloaded (I may be a wee bit biased here, lol) - http://www.reloaded.org/download/System-Shock-Portable/369/ 

You can also download the game itself from Strangebedfellows website - http://www.strangebedfellows.de/index.php/topic,211.0.html

Have fun defeating Shodan.  Hehe. 

Until next time…