brizzislander

Lives near Bristol, born on Isle of Wight. Fan of darts, LARP, Newcastle Utd...

[brizzislander]

As far as double-one checkouts go...

…the one I threw on Monday night wasn’t too bad at all. Pretty good actually. Because that double-one got us through into the cup semi final, beating a fellow 3rd division team 5-4.

I’d won my singles’ leg earlier in the evening with a double-16, which levelled the match at 1-1, only for both teams to trade legs until the deciding pairs’ leg. I hit a well-timed 140 in that leg, while the opponents immediately hit back with a 121 of their own.

With 20 left my teammate scored 18, which left me with the double-one that I somehow hit with only the second dart.

We now await the draw to see who we play in the semis. Can’t wait :)

[brizzislander]

Empire E4 2014 - a newbie's account:

I was not prepared for just how amazing the whole thing was. From sitting with Highguard discussing (and being mostly confused by) battle, and sampling their drinks around the fire, to witnessing the various rituals, to meetings with the Admiral to discuss the possibility of a new Navy, to the awesome hospitality of the Spire of the Auric Horizon and taking their coven bond oath just before Sunday time-out. Amazing, each and every thing. I hope that I can do Auric Horizon and Urizen as a whole proud. I now feel like I'm part of a passionate group of people who are all pulling together for the same outcomes. Positives: - Bodyguarding Marius on Friday night, being OC completely awestruck by the effort that everybody has made to create the town of Anvil and gaining various pieces of information about the game. - Experiencing the Conclave was something that will stick in my mind. - Being taken in by and swearing my coven bond oath to Auric Horizon after my IC trip in convoy from Cargo - their camp and their hospitality were just something to behold. Top effort by everyone involved to make it look beautiful. - Being invited to the Auric Horizon bar crawl and the meeting with Highguard to drink more and occasionally discuss battle. Not losing poise (though I did get perilously close) was an achievement here, I felt. - Experiencing a broadly successful battle, being struck down by a Druj from behind but having the good fortune to be stood next to a healer at the time. - Witnessing rituals at the regio, and still being of use handing water around on a hot day. - All those memories from the entire event! Negatives: - Having my appointment at the Sentinel's Repose rearranged three times, for various reasons of booking confusion, being double booked with battle, and simply running late. However when I did eventually have my appointment after Sunday battle, the treatment was outstanding and helped so much. My back is the only thing that does not hurt right now! - Being pretty much useless in battle. Firing two shots with a cumbersome longbow and losing five arrows when they fell out of the quiver. - Accidentally missing out on Saturday monstering, not being made aware of it until it was too late. Overall it was a fantastic experience for me and I'm so glad I jumped in with both feet. I'm still buzzing from it all and once I learn better how things work within Anvil and when things like battle are scheduled for, I will hopefully not have to rearrange appointments in the future. I do need a pen and paper to write on - a number of times I felt lacking. It was great to make new friends and to meet again those friends from the Bristol Frothmeet. Thank you all once again Urizen for being awesome and for helping to make my game a success.

[brizzislander]

Eight sleeps...

…until I join a crowd of 1,200 people on a battlefield in character as an archery-mage from the port town of Cargo. Longbow arrived at my door yesterday, and I also have a dagger and two-thirds of my costume. Getting a touch excited for my first event :)

[brizzislander]

Do you have any brothers or sisters?

Anyone else would think that an easy question to answer. But let me tell you into a little secret: for me, it isn’t. I was born the youngest of three, and I had two older sisters. 30 years on and I now have one older brother.

My eldest sister passed away aged 37. She twisted her knee while at work and within a few hours started to suffer with constant pins and needles. She had a pulmonary embolism which was operated on, though unfortunately it moved to her heart and they couldn’t get to it in time. She died within 48 hours of twisting her knee.

A couple of years later the middle sibling (my sister at the time) decided on having a “gender realignment”, I believe it’s called these days. He is now going through the final operations to complete that process and has never been happier.

As for me, well I’m a man and always will be. There are rare occasions when I wish I wasn’t, for reasons that I won’t go into here, but I certainly don’t want or need to change that drastically as I am generally happy in myself. I suffer minor mental issues that no doubt will be managed with a course of CBT. I identify as polyamorous and I have a kinky streak, but that’s about it for me.

Anyway, it’s a bit of a ramble, but I do have a point to it. Be prepared for an unusual answer, even if you ask the simplest question. You never know, you could be surprised.

[brizzislander]

Pub Barbecue

Well my back muscles held out. Just.

Had a lovely barbecue followed by games of darts with various members of the team, of which I won more than I lost. However when I was struggling to reach the doubles near the top of the board for back pain I called it a night.

[brizzislander]

Well then...

Hey, hello, come in! Welcome to my humble abode! It’s a bit bare in here but I have only just moved in. I’m Gary, otherwise known as brizzislander. I’m a resident of Bristol (well, sort of) and I’m from the Isle of Wight. Hence the name.

This is my new blogging space that I’m going to be using for sharing, um, stuff. Over time you’ll get to know more about me, my life and my hobbies. You lucky people. I'm not going to hide anything here - if something needs saying, I'll say it. So if you don't want to read about depression, kink or LARP, look elsewhere :)

Right now I’m having a lazy Bank Holiday Monday. I’m looking out of the window to a miserable and overcast morning, contemplating my second coffee of the day, and how much of an effort it will be given an earlier tweak to a back muscle.

I’m due at the pub at 4pm, for BBQ and a darts competition - again depending on if I can actually move.