The title pretty much says it all...after what was perhaps the saddest year in my life, especially around the holidays, things have done a 180 in 2013 already, and I'm loving life. Pretty much since New Year's Eve, I've been making a point to be extremely social, I've been writing music again with my buddy Adam (trying to get a new band off the ground), I've been dating a lot, and work's even picked up, to the point that I'm running out of slots to teach people (which is both a good and bad problem to have).
All combined, out of the 31 days in January, there were only FOUR days where I didn't do something social at all (not counting work, of course). Sure, I'm probably spending way too much money, but whatever...considering I'm not traveling like I used to with Suzi, I'd say it pretty much balances out.
And I'm happy...so there's that. =)
Friday, February 1, 2013
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
The Dø - Both Ways Open Jaws
Perhaps the most appealing thing about Both Ways Open Jaws is the wide stylistic variety between tracks without losing a sense of unity amongst them. You've got moments that sound a lot like The Smashing Pumpkins' chiller stuff, others that sound a bit like Philip Glass and Terry Riley, and even others like Ethiopian jazz. If this sounds interesting to you, you definitely owe it to yourself to give The Dø a shot.
Highlights: "Dust It Off"/"Too Insistent"/"Bohemian Dances"
Rating: 5/5
Monday, January 28, 2013
Why I Hate My Next Door Neighbor
Back to blogging. Leave it to anger and hatred to fuel it! ;) Honestly though, being able to vent a little might be one of the few true upsides to having a privatized blog now, as I was always too worried before that the person I was writing about would have ended up seeing me shit-talk them! =) This actually happened on at least one occasion, and it didn't turn out well, so here's hoping I'm okay even writing this one!
[Note: This is a long, ranting blog, so I totally understand if you don't want to check it out. It's really not that juicy or anything, I just kinda needed to get this shit off my chest.]
So, the only real downside to living at my loft-style condo building is that, like any other lofts/apartments, I have neighbors that CAN hear through the walls/floors if I'm being loud enough (which honestly isn't that loud), and though I tend to listen to my music 95% of the time through headphones (thanks to another whiny roommAtE back in the day), my gay neighbor to my left (who's been here as long as I have) always finds a way to bitch at me once in a while. I point out that the guy is gay not because I have anything against gay people at all, but because he happens to harbor one of the worst qualities of being gay (being a total bitch) without redeeming it with one of the best (being lots of fun...which he absolutely isn't), thereby making him a particularly shitty person to have around a lot of the time.
Fortunately, I don't have to interact with him very often, as our schedules are very different, but here are some situations where he's definitely pissed me off:
- Texting to tell me to stop recording vocals at 10:30 on a FRIDAY night because he was asleep and trying to get over a cold. Look, I don't care what your situation is, 10:30 is WAY too early to be complaining about noise on a weekend night, especially when that noise is related to my career. Regardless, I should be able to have a party over here more often than I actually record vocals, and even that shouldn't be an issue until after 2am on a weekend night.
- Obnoxiously knocking on my wall when an ex was making too much noise in sex one night. Not only is this unnecessary, as it wasn't a regular thing, but it was HIGHLY embarrassing for both of us. He should have kindly approached me in person about it later, not while she was over.
- Shadily switching rates that he charges me for sharing his internet literally out of nowhere, even refusing to prorate the amount for the half month when he arbitrarily decided to switch it. I was so pissed at him for this and other things that I was seriously considering taking a little hit by getting my own internet connection so that he wouldn't get to split his with me. This is only exacerbated by the fact that the router/modem is in his place (which I have no access to), and the internet often goes out without him there to reset it, sometimes for as long as a week.
- Texting me an hour ago (yes, this is why I am riled up) to tell me once again that he's sleeping and wants me to shut off my music. Yes, it was 10:30 on a week night, but still...I only had it on for a few minutes while I was cooking, and it was pretty early, regardless of the night of the week.
Anyway, I think I've got it out of my system now. Were he to offer me an opportunity to confront him further about all this stuff, my response would definitely include the fact that he should feel lucky he isn't me, being situated next door (on the other side) to a crying baby for two years and then a lead singer in a band who has his music on ALL THE TIME and who constantly has parties. I feel like he's got it way better off having to only deal with my "noise" once in a blue moon, but again, he's a bitchy asshole, so I guess there's nothing I can do about it short of putting up with it until he moves.
[Note: This is a long, ranting blog, so I totally understand if you don't want to check it out. It's really not that juicy or anything, I just kinda needed to get this shit off my chest.]
So, the only real downside to living at my loft-style condo building is that, like any other lofts/apartments, I have neighbors that CAN hear through the walls/floors if I'm being loud enough (which honestly isn't that loud), and though I tend to listen to my music 95% of the time through headphones (thanks to another whiny roommAtE back in the day), my gay neighbor to my left (who's been here as long as I have) always finds a way to bitch at me once in a while. I point out that the guy is gay not because I have anything against gay people at all, but because he happens to harbor one of the worst qualities of being gay (being a total bitch) without redeeming it with one of the best (being lots of fun...which he absolutely isn't), thereby making him a particularly shitty person to have around a lot of the time.
Fortunately, I don't have to interact with him very often, as our schedules are very different, but here are some situations where he's definitely pissed me off:
- Texting to tell me to stop recording vocals at 10:30 on a FRIDAY night because he was asleep and trying to get over a cold. Look, I don't care what your situation is, 10:30 is WAY too early to be complaining about noise on a weekend night, especially when that noise is related to my career. Regardless, I should be able to have a party over here more often than I actually record vocals, and even that shouldn't be an issue until after 2am on a weekend night.
- Obnoxiously knocking on my wall when an ex was making too much noise in sex one night. Not only is this unnecessary, as it wasn't a regular thing, but it was HIGHLY embarrassing for both of us. He should have kindly approached me in person about it later, not while she was over.
- Shadily switching rates that he charges me for sharing his internet literally out of nowhere, even refusing to prorate the amount for the half month when he arbitrarily decided to switch it. I was so pissed at him for this and other things that I was seriously considering taking a little hit by getting my own internet connection so that he wouldn't get to split his with me. This is only exacerbated by the fact that the router/modem is in his place (which I have no access to), and the internet often goes out without him there to reset it, sometimes for as long as a week.
- Texting me an hour ago (yes, this is why I am riled up) to tell me once again that he's sleeping and wants me to shut off my music. Yes, it was 10:30 on a week night, but still...I only had it on for a few minutes while I was cooking, and it was pretty early, regardless of the night of the week.
Anyway, I think I've got it out of my system now. Were he to offer me an opportunity to confront him further about all this stuff, my response would definitely include the fact that he should feel lucky he isn't me, being situated next door (on the other side) to a crying baby for two years and then a lead singer in a band who has his music on ALL THE TIME and who constantly has parties. I feel like he's got it way better off having to only deal with my "noise" once in a blue moon, but again, he's a bitchy asshole, so I guess there's nothing I can do about it short of putting up with it until he moves.
Sunday, January 13, 2013
Jay-Z & Kanye West - Watch The Throne
Fortunately, Watch The Throne, though not as artistic as My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, is definitely a slight return to form, being a lighter-hearted, shorter album with little real fluff. Sure, I might not like every track on it, but what I do like IS pretty strong (including, surprisingly, the somewhat Jesus-y "Made In America"). Now, you've probably noticed at this point that I've virtually ignored the fact that Jay-Z is supposed to represent 50% of this album... Well, that's because, despite his presence doing half the LP's raps, you can tell that he had nothing to do with the music itself (short of perhaps getting Beyonce on a track), and as such, it really does feel more like a Kanye album. Still, as always, Jay-Z continues to deliver here, virtually outshining Kanye's rap abilities every time, both in terms of lyrical content and style, but then again, Kanye's no slouch with his lyrics either.
Highlights: "No Church In The Wild"/"Niggas In Paris"/"Made In America"
Rating: 3/5
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
Best Ever Albums
One of the things that doing the HiFi reviews had done for me (whether positive or negative, I'm not entirely sure), was having me pay more attention to critical opinions of albums from the past year, often in the form of official year-end best-of lists not too unlike the ones that I've contributed to at HiFi. As such, I ended up leaning on a few seemingly-reliable sources for music criticism, including the likes of Rolling Stone, SPIN, Pitchfork, NME, and the like, eventually getting to the point that I compiled their year-end lists to form a sort of master list to aid my search for good, new music that I might have missed in the previous year.
Well, one site that immediately seemed like a godsend for this search (but actually wasn't quite what I thought) was the poorly-phrased Best Ever Albums, which purports to take the albums that people like best from any given year and compile them in a master list, much as I had. Little did I know though, that their source wasn't a select group of critical reviews, but simply regular people who signed in, picked their own list of 50 greatest albums of all time (not just that year), then extrapolating a ranking system (by year) with this data. So, though it might not exactly be what I was looking for, it definitely achieved a desirable result of some sort.
Anyway, last year, I listened to clips from every album on this list, as well as those of more time-proven sites, numbering perhaps over 200 or so titles, and I would say it was worth it, despite all the time it took. First off, if nothing else, the experience gave me a good glimpse into what critics liked that year; but perhaps more relevantly, it ended up providing me with at least ten or so albums that I did end up buying for myself, which might not seem like a lot given all the hard work looking into things, but at least I knew I had chosen my favorites after having looked into plenty of competition...
As such, I'm currently in the process of listening through an even bigger list this year, having consulted eleven year-end lists (including Best Ever Albums), and I've already found a handful of albums I'm excited to check out further. I'll try to remind myself to update you on how successful it all ended up being this time around...
Well, one site that immediately seemed like a godsend for this search (but actually wasn't quite what I thought) was the poorly-phrased Best Ever Albums, which purports to take the albums that people like best from any given year and compile them in a master list, much as I had. Little did I know though, that their source wasn't a select group of critical reviews, but simply regular people who signed in, picked their own list of 50 greatest albums of all time (not just that year), then extrapolating a ranking system (by year) with this data. So, though it might not exactly be what I was looking for, it definitely achieved a desirable result of some sort.
Anyway, last year, I listened to clips from every album on this list, as well as those of more time-proven sites, numbering perhaps over 200 or so titles, and I would say it was worth it, despite all the time it took. First off, if nothing else, the experience gave me a good glimpse into what critics liked that year; but perhaps more relevantly, it ended up providing me with at least ten or so albums that I did end up buying for myself, which might not seem like a lot given all the hard work looking into things, but at least I knew I had chosen my favorites after having looked into plenty of competition...
As such, I'm currently in the process of listening through an even bigger list this year, having consulted eleven year-end lists (including Best Ever Albums), and I've already found a handful of albums I'm excited to check out further. I'll try to remind myself to update you on how successful it all ended up being this time around...
Monday, January 7, 2013
Nardwuar (The Human Serviette)
Sometime last year, I became mildly obsessed with the YouTube interviews of wacky, Canadian music connoisseur Nardwuar, The Human Serviette, so I figured I would share with you some of my favorite interviews and tell you a little about how they go down.
Nardwuar is basically this extremely dorky guy who wears a plaid tartan cap (and sometimes a weird outfit to go along with it), but who also manages to interview virtually every interesting musical act that he comes across in Vancouver, ranging all the way from barely-known indie groups to the likes of Lady Gaga and Jay-Z (in fact, it was the awesome interview with Pharrell Williams above that got him the Jay-Z opportunity). While his interview style IS unique, asking lots of fill-in-the-blank questions and doing extensive research on odd trivia for each artist, it's his gift-giving that really makes each interview special... Check out some of these clips here and you'll get an idea.
Danny Brown
Drake
Wheelchair Sports Camp
Ultimately, it appears that despite his somewhat off-putting and/or confrontational interview style (which sometimes results in celebrities getting angry), Nardwuar has built up a sort of cult following, to the point that even big name celebrities look forward to being interviewed by him (especially Canadians...see Drake above). Anyway, totally looking forward to more Nardwuar action, and maybe if I'm lucky one day, I could get the Nardwuar treatment!
Saturday, January 5, 2013
The Ting Tings @ Variety Playhouse
The opener that night was a solo electronic artist called MNDR, whose set I caught only a few songs of and generally wasn't too impressed by. More notable was the crowd that was there that night...instead of being either a bunch of hipsters or at least some teeny boppers, I seem to remember The Ting Tings' local fans being both older than I had expected AND largely gay, which didn't really seem to be the case standing outside in Vancouver three years earlier. Whatever...I was there for the music.
Unfortunately, although they played well and the mix was good, The Ting Tings' show itself was kinda a letdown, largely because they played a lot of material from the new, suckier album, and partly because my interest in them had simply waned over the intervening years, especially with me standing there sipping on a beer by myself. Sometimes being alone at concerts isn't really that big of a deal for me (especially if the venue is small), but this night it kinda got to me.
Unquestionably the best thing about the show though, was how hot lead singer Katie White looked (just Google image search "Ting Tings" and you'll see what I mean). I mean, this girl HAS TO BE one of the hottest lead singers in music today, and combined with her outfit that night, I definitely had enough eye candy to get me through the show, even if it was a letdown... ;)
Kasabian - Velociraptor!
Ultimately, Velociraptor! had that unfortunate combination of very few tracks I genuinely liked (arguably not even all three listed below) with enough tracks that I actively disliked, resulting in a well-deserved low rating. And unlike the Björk, it lacked any significant artistic merits, so it doesn't even have that... Oh well.
Highlights: "Days Are Forgotten"/"Goodbye Kiss"/"Switchblade Smiles"
Rating: 1/5
Friday, January 4, 2013
Battlestar Galactica: Miniseries+Season 1
As possibly the last complete TV show season that I was able to watch before Suzi and I split (therefore leaving me with no streaming Netflix), there couldn't have been a much better way to go out than Battlestar Galactica (BSG), a franchise which I had chosen to ignore all these years due to confusing it with Babylon 5 (which was supposedly way worse). And boy am I glad I finally let myself get into BSG, as it's pretty awesome.
I began, as virtually anyone would, with the three-hour TV miniseries, but I was unaware at the time that that's what it was, so by the time an hour-plus had passed into it, I started to wonder what was going on, or if perhaps I was watching some sort of movie version of the franchise. Regardless, I was immediately caught with how professional the show was in comparison with even the better Star Trek iterations out there, and I immediately noticed how strong of an influence BSG was on the Mass Effect world, including featuring at least a couple of the show's chief actors (Tricia Helfer and Michael Hogan).
Apart from this, the miniseries really just felt like two long episodes of the first season, and as such, it's a bit hard to tell them apart in my memory. In fact, though I loved that first season, I really don't have too much to say about it other than that I liked it so much that I had to force myself to watch another TV show after the last episode was over, so as to simulate having to wait for the next season to arrive, leaving the cliffhanger at the ending weighing on me. Unfortunately, due to Suzi and my breakup, I didn't get around to watching the second season, but I plan on getting streaming Netflix for myself one of these days, and I'm sure it'll be one of the first things I watch.
Five Years Of Blogging!
I almost forgot! As of the exact day that I re-ignited my blog (January 1st), I also achieved my five year anniversary of this blog (though I've been blogging for various other personal blogs since 2004)! That's kinda a big deal, right? Sure, I DID take an eight month break in there, but let's not get technical: in the span of those five years, I wrote 1,463 posts (averaging out to almost 300 a year), so I would say that's still pretty successful...
Anyway, thanks for your continued reading (if in fact you are once again reading!), and here's to another five years!
Anyway, thanks for your continued reading (if in fact you are once again reading!), and here's to another five years!
HiFi Magazine Update
As you may recall back at the start of 2011, my blog had been randomly discovered by the editor of an upcoming web-based music magazine called HiFi Magazine, and he had asked me to start contributing album reviews and such for publication. Well, up until now, I've avoided publishing links to any of this, as I wasn't entirely sure how to handle the whole thing with my blog being public. But now that it's private, and considering that things at HiFi have settled down considerably in 2012 due to some sort of rough year for the editor, I figured I'd go ahead and point you in the direction of the articles I've done thus far.
First off, undiscovered by me until right now, all of my articles that didn't get published on the HiFi website as webpages (and the ones that did), can be found in one of three digital magazine issues, with links below:
HiFi Magazine (Digital): Issue No.1
(includes 4 album reviews, pages 36-39)
HiFi Magazine (Digital): Issue No.2
(includes 5 album reviews, pages 35-43)
HiFi Magazine (Digital): Issue No.3
(includes 9 album reviews, pages 43-53 + contributions to Top Albums of 2011 List, pages 32-37)
Or, if you would prefer not to flip through the rather professionally-realized digital magazines above, you could view a small selection of the above articles on the website itself by looking under my name here. This includes 5 of those 18 album reviews above, plus contributions to lists for the Top Albums of 2012 and a Valentine's-themed Favorite Love Songs post.
As you can see, the editor didn't have me do a single album review in 2012, presumably only due to the stuff he was dealing with back in Birmingham (and not my writing skills...), because he clearly invited me back to write for this year's recent Top Albums list. Ultimately, I had mixed feelings about not writing this past year, as it's an enjoyable process and I'm proud of my work, but it's also A LOT of unpaid work. So, now that he and I are back in touch, we'll see if 2013 brings a return to regular review writing. Honestly, I could go either way on this...unless he wants to start paying me in something other than free album downloads! ; )
First off, undiscovered by me until right now, all of my articles that didn't get published on the HiFi website as webpages (and the ones that did), can be found in one of three digital magazine issues, with links below:
HiFi Magazine (Digital): Issue No.1
(includes 4 album reviews, pages 36-39)
HiFi Magazine (Digital): Issue No.2
(includes 5 album reviews, pages 35-43)
HiFi Magazine (Digital): Issue No.3
(includes 9 album reviews, pages 43-53 + contributions to Top Albums of 2011 List, pages 32-37)
Or, if you would prefer not to flip through the rather professionally-realized digital magazines above, you could view a small selection of the above articles on the website itself by looking under my name here. This includes 5 of those 18 album reviews above, plus contributions to lists for the Top Albums of 2012 and a Valentine's-themed Favorite Love Songs post.
As you can see, the editor didn't have me do a single album review in 2012, presumably only due to the stuff he was dealing with back in Birmingham (and not my writing skills...), because he clearly invited me back to write for this year's recent Top Albums list. Ultimately, I had mixed feelings about not writing this past year, as it's an enjoyable process and I'm proud of my work, but it's also A LOT of unpaid work. So, now that he and I are back in touch, we'll see if 2013 brings a return to regular review writing. Honestly, I could go either way on this...unless he wants to start paying me in something other than free album downloads! ; )
Björk - Medúlla
So, here we have Björk's highly praised, mostly-vocal sixth album, Medúlla, which, despite coming out in 2004 and being on my must-listen list ever since, I didn't get around to buying until late 2011. Even then, after taking one or two good listens to it, I knew I wasn't really digging it that much, so I kept putting it off until 2012. Well sure enough, though putting a CD into my actual in-car listening regimen often changes my opinion of it over time, I ended up not really warming up to Medúlla on a visceral level, although I highly respect the artistry in making it. In fact, it was kinda hard picking my Top 3 highlights below, as the album left me with very few stand-out moments. So, though I'm sure a bunch of my artsier friends out there probably think I'm crazy for scoring this album so low, it's just how it left me... Admittedly though, this could be partly because my attention span has shortened a bunch since my academia/art-music days... =/
Highlights: "Where Is The Line"/"Desired Constellation"/"Triumph Of A Heart"
Rating: 1/5
Thursday, January 3, 2013
Delocated: Seasons 1+2
Onto one of the better shows of the year, an Adult Swim faux-reality-show about a man and his family that's in the Witness Protection Program (yes, those two ideas don't make sense) after he witnesses a murder by the Russian Mafia. To spice things up, the same production company that's producing Delocated (in-story) is also producing a similar show about the mafia hitman who's trying to take him down (entitled Yvgeny). One further ridiculous bit is that the lead character (played by Jon Glaser), refuses to ever take off his balaclava (ski mask) or that voicebox thing that lowers his voice (like on crime shows), adding a sense of mystery to the guy that is totally unwarranted given his absurdly nonchalant behavior.
Anyway, I don't remember the two individual seasons we watched all that well except that the first was particularly short (with only seven, eleven-minute episodes!), so the bulk of the story we saw was in the second (with twelve, half-hour episodes). Highlights definitely include anything to do with Yvgeny (played by Eugene Mirman) or the Russian Mafia in general, and the in-story show's producer, Mighty Joe John: The Black Blond. Definitely a great show, though it did take some getting used to. Looking forward to checking out the recent third season sometime!
Anyway, I don't remember the two individual seasons we watched all that well except that the first was particularly short (with only seven, eleven-minute episodes!), so the bulk of the story we saw was in the second (with twelve, half-hour episodes). Highlights definitely include anything to do with Yvgeny (played by Eugene Mirman) or the Russian Mafia in general, and the in-story show's producer, Mighty Joe John: The Black Blond. Definitely a great show, though it did take some getting used to. Looking forward to checking out the recent third season sometime!
Calm White Noise/Pacific UV @ Drunken Unicorn
And here's an example of a show I can barely remember: seeing local bands Calm White Noise and Pacific UV at Drunken Unicorn one night when Suzi and I spontaneously decided to check out who was playing without first looking up the bands (this was special because it's pretty much the only time we ever did this, especially considering Suzi's general distaste for seeing live shows).
Though I can't remember the music all that well (other than going back and listening to it now), I do remember us having a good time and that Suzi particularly liked something about Pacific UV, even picking up a free compilation sampler with them on it and listening to it in the car. Also, Calm White Noise was a band I had already seen with my ex-drummer Spangler due to one of his good friends being their drummer, so I found it particularly random that, out of all the shows we could have stumbled into, there'd be a band there that I actually knew.
Anyway, after the show, we ended up doing MJQ (the hipstery danceclub) and had a blast. Sometimes spontaneity is awesome!
Though I can't remember the music all that well (other than going back and listening to it now), I do remember us having a good time and that Suzi particularly liked something about Pacific UV, even picking up a free compilation sampler with them on it and listening to it in the car. Also, Calm White Noise was a band I had already seen with my ex-drummer Spangler due to one of his good friends being their drummer, so I found it particularly random that, out of all the shows we could have stumbled into, there'd be a band there that I actually knew.
Anyway, after the show, we ended up doing MJQ (the hipstery danceclub) and had a blast. Sometimes spontaneity is awesome!
Friends With Kids
Now this one I remember a little better. Friends With Kids is one of those ensemble cast romantic comedies (though not of the scope of a Love Actually or Valentine's Day), but the twist here is that everyone's coupled up EXCEPT for the two lead characters (Parks & Recreation's Adam Scott and Jon Hamm's real-life girlfriend Jennifer Westfeldt) who end up deciding to have a baby together as friends instead of letting themselves fall in the perceived pitfalls of raising a kid in a committed romantic relationship. Naturally, everyone thinks this is crazy, but when it starts to prove everyone wrong, things get more complicated (including both leads eventually dating significant others of their own).
Anyway, the film was definitely pretty solid for its genre, and the cast worked together really well (I think I love virtually anything Kristen Wiig is in, even if she's kinda a bitch like she is here).
Mass Effect 3 (Multiplayer)
Though I'm not entirely sure when exactly in my blogging timeline to attribute the playing of Mass Effect 3's life-sucking (but therefore highly addictive) multiplayer portion, I figure now's as good a time as any, just to mix it up from too many movies/TV shows in a row. So, as you may recall, one of my big (and only) video gaming experiences this year was BioWare's somewhat controversial conclusion to the Mass Effect trilogy, but this time around, in addition to a lengthy and amazing single player campaign, they included a fully-featured (though Horde-Mode-only) cooperative multiplayer portion. Honestly, though I wasn't expecting myself to ever get deeply into ANY game's multiplayer action, ME3 did it in spades, to the point that I'm actively choosing to stay away from multiplayer on future games as best I can, as they can be ridiculous time-sinks that never end...especially when you factor in the seemingly limitless amount of new content in the form of DLC that the company keeps releasing.
Anyway, the basic premise of Horde Mode (which originated in the very popular Gears Of War franchise) is that your team of cooperative combatants has to fend off increasingly difficult waves of enemies until you reach a certain goal (here, it's eleven waves). Though I wasn't too impressed with this at first, and it DOES get more interesting as you get better at it, the real draw here is the leveling system based on Magic: The Gathering-esque booster packs that you earn after successfully completing full playthroughs of matches. Now, though you CAN level your guys up via experience points, this really has a limit, as there is a level cap of 20 and there is further incentive to wipe your team clean (back to level 1) in order to boost your N7 ranking. So, what the booster packs actually give you are weapon upgrades, weapon mods, extra storage, outfit unlocks, and even new soldier types (of which there are almost too many to tell apart, counting at 53 as of today), all of which add up SLOWLY over time, but in the kind of way that keeps you coming back for more.
Ultimately, I never got anywhere NEAR full-completion with ME3's multiplayer, especially once they added in a whole new Challenge system that didn't take into account games prior to its release, but I still might have played almost as much multiplayer as I did the single player campaign, and that's saying something. In fact, the two experiences were so different that I'm probably going to count them as separate games with regards to my year-end wrap-up (and yes, I'm pretty sure that I never wrapped up 2011...).
Anyway, the basic premise of Horde Mode (which originated in the very popular Gears Of War franchise) is that your team of cooperative combatants has to fend off increasingly difficult waves of enemies until you reach a certain goal (here, it's eleven waves). Though I wasn't too impressed with this at first, and it DOES get more interesting as you get better at it, the real draw here is the leveling system based on Magic: The Gathering-esque booster packs that you earn after successfully completing full playthroughs of matches. Now, though you CAN level your guys up via experience points, this really has a limit, as there is a level cap of 20 and there is further incentive to wipe your team clean (back to level 1) in order to boost your N7 ranking. So, what the booster packs actually give you are weapon upgrades, weapon mods, extra storage, outfit unlocks, and even new soldier types (of which there are almost too many to tell apart, counting at 53 as of today), all of which add up SLOWLY over time, but in the kind of way that keeps you coming back for more.
Ultimately, I never got anywhere NEAR full-completion with ME3's multiplayer, especially once they added in a whole new Challenge system that didn't take into account games prior to its release, but I still might have played almost as much multiplayer as I did the single player campaign, and that's saying something. In fact, the two experiences were so different that I'm probably going to count them as separate games with regards to my year-end wrap-up (and yes, I'm pretty sure that I never wrapped up 2011...).
Like Crazy
And thus begins yet another small dilemma for the blog: what to do about movies, concerts, and the like that I know I saw, but that I can't really remember all that well! Well, the obvious answer is, give a short summary of what you do remember, and get it over with, as we've got a lot of ground to cover. And clearly, if whatever it was WAS in fact good enough to remember, then there's no problem!
So here's out first entry in that category, the 2011 romantic drama Like Crazy, starring the new Star Trek's Anton Yelchin, some British girl named Felicity Jones that I know nothing else about, and Jennifer Lawrence (the girl who plays Katniss in The Hunger Games). I seem to remember it being a sweet enough story about a young, nearly real-world-bound couple dealing with the reality of going their separate ways, but it didn't really do a whole lot for me.
See...short and sweet. =)
Grant's "Bro Ball"
Well, as you can see, I had no problem finding an appropriate "costume", as I legitimately used to wear this stuff back in my Indiana days (albeit, in a less douche-y way, one would hope...). Hence, you've got the backwards Hurley hat, the Nike armbands, the college T-shirt, my grenade belt buckle (perfect for making a trashy joke about pulling my pin...), some baggy shorts, and probably some ADIDAS sambas with high, black socks. Oh, and add in a DX-inspired "SUCK IT!" gesture and a shit-eating grin, and you're pretty much there.
Anyway, the party was small but fun, and though we weren't really sure what to expect, we ended up having a good time, especially once the photo session was underway. By the way, I will probably continue using the occasional "we" in reference to things I did with Suzi, largely because she was in fact my girlfriend at the time, and because I'm not worried that any new dates or whatnot will end up reading this, as I've more-or-less privatized my blog.
Wednesday, January 2, 2013
Terminus?
Which brings us to the name change for the blog: Ryan In Terminus. This is an easy one...
In order to preserve the privacy of the blog, I had to change the name, so I simply substituted Atlanta with the city's original name back in the day...Terminus. I would've gone with simply "Terminus" or even "New Terminus", but both of those were already taken, so this is what we've got!
If you don't know, Atlanta was originally called Terminus due to being a railroad end-point (i.e. terminus) that was otherwise so uninteresting that they didn't bother coming up with a better name. After that. the city's only other name was "Marthasville", but there was no way in hell I was gonna name my new blog "Ryan Is In Marthasville"! ; )
In order to preserve the privacy of the blog, I had to change the name, so I simply substituted Atlanta with the city's original name back in the day...Terminus. I would've gone with simply "Terminus" or even "New Terminus", but both of those were already taken, so this is what we've got!
If you don't know, Atlanta was originally called Terminus due to being a railroad end-point (i.e. terminus) that was otherwise so uninteresting that they didn't bother coming up with a better name. After that. the city's only other name was "Marthasville", but there was no way in hell I was gonna name my new blog "Ryan Is In Marthasville"! ; )
Why I Stopped Blogging (Part 4)
And the concluding entry to this series... After committing to exercise, dealing with my father's decline/passing, and pulling the blog from the web for Suzi, the final nail in the coffin that kept me from getting motivated to start the blog back up again was that, shortly after my father's passing, Suzi began getting very paranoid about my fidelity (which never was an actual problem), starting a month-long battle for us to hold our relationship together after me giving her four or so chances to prove that she can trust me (every time failing harder than the last), ultimately ending in us breaking up on my birthday. So yeah, that sucked. Though this trust issues WAS huge, it was something we could've worked through, and considering how absolutely, madly in love I was with her 99% of the time, I was devastated that it all came crashing down. And no, we never got back together to try it out again, and it looks like we never will.
So, though I could've jumped back on blogging, even if with restricted, members-only access or by changing the address and limiting search engine results (as I have here), I failed to do so because of how demoralized I was at this point in the year. By the time my birthday rolled around in early August, I had already been absent from blogging for over two months, and I just didn't have it in me to kickstart it back up again.
But, this is a new year, and though it's technically no different than the last day of December, I feel motivated to set things right again. So, here we are...I'm back to blogging, and I'm moving forward with my life. Sure, I still care a ton for Suzi and honestly never wanted it to end, but this is the hand I've been dealt, and now I'm finally down to start playing.
Happy New Year's, everyone. =)
So, though I could've jumped back on blogging, even if with restricted, members-only access or by changing the address and limiting search engine results (as I have here), I failed to do so because of how demoralized I was at this point in the year. By the time my birthday rolled around in early August, I had already been absent from blogging for over two months, and I just didn't have it in me to kickstart it back up again.
But, this is a new year, and though it's technically no different than the last day of December, I feel motivated to set things right again. So, here we are...I'm back to blogging, and I'm moving forward with my life. Sure, I still care a ton for Suzi and honestly never wanted it to end, but this is the hand I've been dealt, and now I'm finally down to start playing.
Happy New Year's, everyone. =)
Why I Stopped Blogging (Part 3)
And here's the big one. Obviously, Suzi is someone I've blogged a bit about on here, but naturally, I've never done it super-candidly, because she was a frequent reader and the blog was public (it no longer should come up in search results, and I hope it stays that way). Like any relationship, Suzi and I had our problems, but then again, those with Suzi were sometimes of a totally different calibre, as is the case with regards to my blogging. The short version is that Suzi had a very unhealthy, codependent, and emotionally abusive relationship with her mother (who evidently was a bit of an alcoholic), and as such, her mother Google-stalked Suzi CONSTANTLY, to the point that Suzi had multiple internet aliases and otherwise went out of her way to make sure her mom found out as little about her as possible.
Well...(and here we go!), one of those things was my very own LAST NAME.
For the entirety of the time Suzi and I dated up to the week of my father's passing, her parents thought my last name was Burns, all done to keep her mom from finding this very blog and then going through its extensive history, digging up all sorts of things about ex-girlfriends, the fact that I admitted to losing my virginity late in life (her mom still thought she was a virgin), and other random things which her mother would supposedly use against Suzi as leverage in their somewhat frequent arguments.
Well, Suzi and I had a long history of debating the level of public exposure my blog had, and gradually I weakened, giving in by removing my last name from the site, getting Google to reset its cache on the blog, and ultimately, pulling the blog from the web as a last-ditch effort to avoid confrontation when her parents found out my real last name. I know this all sucks and it kinda makes me a pussy, but I didn't do it without putting up a fight for a long time, and I never was really comfortable with the situation, limiting my freedom of expression instead of her dealing with her mom issues.
But...more on Suzi in the next post.
Well...(and here we go!), one of those things was my very own LAST NAME.
For the entirety of the time Suzi and I dated up to the week of my father's passing, her parents thought my last name was Burns, all done to keep her mom from finding this very blog and then going through its extensive history, digging up all sorts of things about ex-girlfriends, the fact that I admitted to losing my virginity late in life (her mom still thought she was a virgin), and other random things which her mother would supposedly use against Suzi as leverage in their somewhat frequent arguments.
Well, Suzi and I had a long history of debating the level of public exposure my blog had, and gradually I weakened, giving in by removing my last name from the site, getting Google to reset its cache on the blog, and ultimately, pulling the blog from the web as a last-ditch effort to avoid confrontation when her parents found out my real last name. I know this all sucks and it kinda makes me a pussy, but I didn't do it without putting up a fight for a long time, and I never was really comfortable with the situation, limiting my freedom of expression instead of her dealing with her mom issues.
But...more on Suzi in the next post.
Why I Stopped Blogging (Part 2)
Pumping a lot out tonight...I guess I really missed doing this!
The second major reason for why I stopped blogging was that my dad's health had been steadily declining since Christmas 2011, and seeing him multiple days a week at in-home hospice care, using a feeding tube, down to 125 or so pounds, and having to sleep in a hospital bed, wasn't exactly uplifting. If you don't already know, my father had an eight-year battle with the same rare form of cancer that Steve Jobs had, and he eventually ended up passing in late June. Fortunately, most of those eight years were decent enough, with the rough part not really hitting until this past Christmas. From that point on, our family was more-or-less on watch, fully aware that he could go at any time, so Suzi and I stopped planning trips, I visited him every week like it could be his last, and we were all kinda on edge.
As you can imagine, this took a subconscious toll on my blogging life, with me coming home every day a little bit more depressed and unmotivated to do much more than relax and play video games. I really wasn't even socializing that much during the first half of the year, so the blogging was just a small part of that...
Anyway, I'm sure I'll talk more about my father's passing in another, dedicated post, but at least this lays the groundwork for what's been going on with me this year. By the way, thanks for all of your support (if you were aware of the situation, of course) all year round. I'm sure I couldn't have gotten through it nearly as well without it. =)
The second major reason for why I stopped blogging was that my dad's health had been steadily declining since Christmas 2011, and seeing him multiple days a week at in-home hospice care, using a feeding tube, down to 125 or so pounds, and having to sleep in a hospital bed, wasn't exactly uplifting. If you don't already know, my father had an eight-year battle with the same rare form of cancer that Steve Jobs had, and he eventually ended up passing in late June. Fortunately, most of those eight years were decent enough, with the rough part not really hitting until this past Christmas. From that point on, our family was more-or-less on watch, fully aware that he could go at any time, so Suzi and I stopped planning trips, I visited him every week like it could be his last, and we were all kinda on edge.
As you can imagine, this took a subconscious toll on my blogging life, with me coming home every day a little bit more depressed and unmotivated to do much more than relax and play video games. I really wasn't even socializing that much during the first half of the year, so the blogging was just a small part of that...
Anyway, I'm sure I'll talk more about my father's passing in another, dedicated post, but at least this lays the groundwork for what's been going on with me this year. By the way, thanks for all of your support (if you were aware of the situation, of course) all year round. I'm sure I couldn't have gotten through it nearly as well without it. =)
Tuesday, January 1, 2013
Why I Stopped Blogging (Part 1)
And here we go! The good news about detailing WHY I stopped blogging is that it will kinda kill two birds with one stone by simultaneously filling you in on the major things that were going on in my life over the past eight months or so. So, I figure I'll tackle the reasons why I stopped blogging in more-or-less chronological order...
And thus, all you have to do to arrive at the first reason is go back a few posts...namely "Getting Back In Shape." For the first half of the year, I was finding myself decreasingly motivated, either to be social or productive (and all for a reason I'll tackle in another post), so in an effort to lift myself up a bit, literally getting my ass off the proverbial couch, I began a strict exercise regimen doing 5-6 days' worth of alternating weights and cardio. And while this WAS a successful lifestyle change, one downside was that, considering how hard it was to get me to do ANYTHING every single day without fail, I made a sort of bargain with myself that I could lax up a bit on the blogging...
Ultimately, it was a dumb reason that fed into the more direct reasons for the lapse, but it was definitely part of what was going on. Fortunately, the exercising regimen is something I'm still committed to, and as such, it might be one of the few totally positive things that made 2012 particularly special. On that note, I DO plan on doing a year-end wrap-up, but I'm not sure if I'll save that for when I've caught you up on everything, or as a sort of table of contents about what I'll be writing about shortly. We'll see...
And thus, all you have to do to arrive at the first reason is go back a few posts...namely "Getting Back In Shape." For the first half of the year, I was finding myself decreasingly motivated, either to be social or productive (and all for a reason I'll tackle in another post), so in an effort to lift myself up a bit, literally getting my ass off the proverbial couch, I began a strict exercise regimen doing 5-6 days' worth of alternating weights and cardio. And while this WAS a successful lifestyle change, one downside was that, considering how hard it was to get me to do ANYTHING every single day without fail, I made a sort of bargain with myself that I could lax up a bit on the blogging...
Ultimately, it was a dumb reason that fed into the more direct reasons for the lapse, but it was definitely part of what was going on. Fortunately, the exercising regimen is something I'm still committed to, and as such, it might be one of the few totally positive things that made 2012 particularly special. On that note, I DO plan on doing a year-end wrap-up, but I'm not sure if I'll save that for when I've caught you up on everything, or as a sort of table of contents about what I'll be writing about shortly. We'll see...
A Big Return For 2013!
To those of you select few readers that had been keeping up with my otherwise fairly regular blog up until it seemed to fall off the face of the world wide web back in late April, my sincerest apologies. The reasons for this silence are somewhat lengthy to relate, so I'll save that for upcoming posts, but for the moment, all you need to know is that I'm back, and I plan on doing what I can to catch up on the highlights from 2012 that I missed, while not getting horribly behind (which might be easier said than done).
Thanks for your readership up through April, and here's to a new year with no more major lapses!
- Ryan
Thanks for your readership up through April, and here's to a new year with no more major lapses!
- Ryan
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)