Pop Music

It's amazing how many shitty mainstream pop songs make me physically ill now. I hear them and something inside me twists and I feel like projectile vomit is the only answer. Thankfully I've trained myself to mock the songs incessantly so a bucket or a washroom has not been needed to this day.

Also, I should point out that chrome doesn't think washroom is a word. But aside from "toilet," "washroom" makes way more sense in public. Because if you say you have to go to the "bathroom," there is rarely any baths in public places like restaurants or parks, and a "restroom" really makes no sense because I can't think of any way a public washroom is restful. At least if you say "washroom," a person is more likely to wash their hands or something in there unless you are camping and the portable toilet has no sink, but in that case there is normally hand sanitizer. But are you really "washing" if you use hand sanitizer? It's more like killing germs and spreading dirt around as it absorbs. So really, we need to come up with a better way of saying "I need to go to the room where you poop."

What was the point of this post again?

Oh yeah. I'm going to release the first two parts of Half Life 2 this evening.

Soundtrack Thursday 11

Not sure what I wanted to do today for music, so I decided to go through the list of soundtracks recommended/shared with me that I haven't gotten around to yet. So today we have:

NeiR - I must admit, it was a lot better than I anticipated. Lots of good tracks.

Chrono trigger - A game I've never played, but want to try.

Earthbound - Actually watched a full LP twice. But I want to play it anyway.

LP News!

-I've been busy/lazy in editing Bioshock Infinite and Penumbra (no surprise there), so I posted a couple other videos in the meantime. Shauna has been wanting me to post the Haunted Memories video, so I have done so. It's pretty awful. I get that it was made by very few people, but I have seen MUCH better games (and mods) made by only one person, so really it's not an excuse.

-I have way more Dishonored videos than Half Life 2 ones prepared. How did that happen when I'm planning on posting Half Life 2 first?

-Co-Op Magicka is finished and should be uploaded starting today. I think Voyeur is posting one segment a day for the next little while, so I will link to that once he has started uploading them.

Stock Photos

For the past couple months I have been looking at the same type of stock photos for this one project I'm working on at...well work, and there are some really great caption opportunities. Stock photos have to be some of the most hilarious photos out there, but then you get creepy doctors with vials staring into webcams, or a group of business people that obviously get paid to do nothing all day as they sit around a table building towers out of solo cups. My favourite series of the day was this group of people all in suits in an empty concrete room sitting in a circle. It's like an AA meeting...only the pictures progress into two guys wrestling, and then having a pillow fight, and then one of the guys strangling the pillow, and then a woman with a red foam bat standing over an unconscious man...and I'm not exactly sure what's going on. I have to admit my favourite photo of the day is this. I can only assume this woman snapped from the pressures of the business world and decided to follow her dreams of world domination, taking this poor old man hostage. Just the sheer horror on the old man's face and the delight on the woman's face is just pure gold. (seriously, take a look at the tags and everything and tell me if you'd expect that based off what you see...I love how "communication" is one of them).  

Anyway, I'll take up the hobby of mocking stock photos another day. Penumbra and Bioshock Infinite are coming along slowly. Almost done Penumbra Overture...I have up to part 6 uploaded. Part 6 has some really good bits in it, especially since we didn't expect a few of the events. Bioshock Infinite is fairly good, though I've been fixing some problems with an echo picked up by the mic. I'm going to try and finish uploading Penumbra Overture by the weekend, and then I will (hopefully) bring you Half Life 2. 

Dinosaur Cowboys Guest Appearance

Last night I made a guest appearance in a Dinosaur Cowboys campaign. Let me just say that Oliver deeply regretted shooting the Green Menace in the back and killing him in the first turn. I may have lost my dinosaur and my sharp shooter (IN ONE HIT), but I destroyed everyone but his leader before the end of the game. Too bad we didn't get those extra turns or I would have got the extra coins and won (we were collecting "bits of meteorite" around the board, which were represented by quarters).

Posing right before my unit (hiding behind that fence there) killed his dinosaur. I was very pleased about that.

Anyway, check out the Dinosaur Cowboys game that my friend created. It's super fun and you don't need anything fancy to play. You can also see a summary of the campaign I joined for the evening, and the progression of the game (there were two parts of the campaign running at the same time...the other being a naval battle in that blue portion behind me). 

Soundtrack Thursday Episode 10

I figured out what's been creeping around in my backyard in the middle of the night. I heard leaves rustling again so I peered out the window and waited. Then, in the light of the walkway lamp I saw a black and white creature waddling away. Yep. The skunk still lives around here. I think it likes hiding under our deck. Maybe that's why White Cat hasn't been around. The skunk and White Cat must have had a duel to the death over the deck's underbelly.

Today is the third Thursday of March which means...Hans Zimmer day for soundtracks!

The Last Samurai - first single-movie compilation I found on YouTube. It's not bad so far. I'm finding it fairly neutral.

Sherlock Holmes: Game of Shadows - Excellent tracks. Enjoyed this one so much that I'm going to listen to the Sherlock Holmes (original movie) soundtrack.

Shorter list today, but I was distracted by dogs. Coworkers brought their dogs in today and they were too adorable to ignore. I will post a picture later when I get emailed the shots.

Quick Update

Item 1: I've decided to alternate posting Penumbra and Bioshock Infinite, mostly because that is taking up the majority of the space on my drives, and they are cooperative projects with Shauna, meaning I want to get them posted quicker.

Item 2: I have not moved Half Life 2 footage off the computer I recorded it on yet. I am not done recording, but I think I will finish recording the entire LP before I post it, giving me time to upload the other content. This actually ties in with...

Item 3: I have a new hard drive. I caved yesterday at the store and purchased a 3tb hard drive, which should finally resolve my space issues. Though...I said that when I purchased the 2tb...

Item 4: I am terrible at Dishonored, but I am loving it. This will be the last LP posted out of the 4, and it is completely blind. I'll let that sink in. Yes...it is MESSY.

Spring Schedule

All right, so I had a busy weekend. I got a lot of recording and video editing done, which surprised me. I'm not sure what my time is going to be like this week, but I'll have a lot to post to tide you over until my next recording session. I have completed and processed LP footage from:

Bioshock Infinite (an adventure in floating things and creepy religious overtones played with Shauna)
Penumbra Overture (an adventure in puppies and tunnels played with Shauna)
Left 4 Dead 2 (campaigns and mods played with various people)

I have recorded, but unprocessed footage from:
Half Life 2 (which may require a little bit of extra editing as the combination of Fraps and my computer results in catastrophic results...Fraps is a little unstable with HL2 for some reason)
Dishonored (which is a Blind playthrough. I am loving it, but am outrageously terrible at being sneaky)

I am debating whether to just stagger footage (ie alternate posting the videos from different games) or fully posting an LP before I start to post another. The advantage to the former is that I focus more on one game at a time. The advantage to the latter is you won't have to wait long for videos from a particular game you want to see. There hasn't been too much interest in the Left 4 Dead 2 material, so I'll probably hold that in reserve and focus on Bioshock Infinite and Half Life 2. That is my plan, if you have any comments or requests on posting, let me know.

With this in mind, you should start seeing new videos by tomorrow or Wednesday.

Dark Souls will probably be a summer LP at this rate.

ALSO: after like...3 months, Magicka has I think two chapters left. This is mostly my fault for the delay...heh.

Soundtrack Thur---I mean Friday

Yeah, so I forgot yesterday because I had a dental appointment. If it makes you feel any better, my gums are sore and my wallet is significantly lighter. Regardless, here are today's tracks:

The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug
(smAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUUg)

Sovengarde Song (as an interlude of sorts...it's soundtrack related...)

Dishonored Song (wait for it...there's a clever segue here)

See?

Dishonored - the last song caught me by surprise. I can't decide if I like it...or if I'm creeped out by it. I think both. Still, I was happily writing emails when suddenly CREEPY CHILDREN. Okay I'm convinced I need to play this asap now. It's my level of creepy.

Bioshock Infinite - since we're playing it and all.

And after lunch....

We'll flip the tone on its head.

Frozen - good movie, good soundtrack. Still not fond of the snowman though. Also, I really wish we saw more of Elsa. She seems to have the most room for development.



HOLY CRAP. It's pi day. I must have pie to celebrate.

HAH "homail"

I figured out why my PSN account has been non-functional. So, on the PS3 I entered an email for my account, 4(ish) years ago. Either from the beginning, or when the PSN had that credit card issue and it was down for a month. I wasn't too upset because I don't go online much and I got some free games out of it (yay Infamous). Anyhow, my brother and I purchased a PS4 and I went to activate my PSN on there and it told me I had an invalid email. I was confused because it worked fine on the PS3 all this time, and it wouldn't accept my birthday to change the password...so I got mad about it and put off fixing it until later.

Yesterday I was on the PS3 and decided to look into it as my username and password are saved on there. I tried accessing the account options, which requires a password...so I did password recovery and sent it to my email. I didn't receive one, and after a few minutes I got fed up, and watched a movie. Afterwards, I tried it again and immediately I noticed a problem, which incidentally was also the reason I never got an email. I was using "homail" not "hotmail" for god knows how long. This is why the PS4 said I had an invalid email, only the PS3 ACCEPTED it. 

So I had no choice but to remember what password I used. I remember when I changed it I sat there saying to myself "hell I'm never going to remember this" and then promptly forgot to write it down. Hasn't been an issue because the PS3 had my password saved. So I tried a few combinations because I knew it was some combination of the same word phrase. I FINALLY got it, which actually was a lot more simple than I expected, and got in.

Point is, I have fixed my PSN, and if anyone would like to add that account, you may send a private message to me on YouTube or Google+ (or if I have you on Steam or something similar, just ask me there). 

ugh.

Busy Busy Busy

Half Life 1 LP is almost complete (finally). I have very little left to record, just need some time to sit down and be patient with the final chapters. There will probably be rage. I'm not the greatest at FPS. My aim is terrible and these levels get incredibly confusing, so I hope you enjoy my agony.

I have a lot of options for LPs after this, but frankly, I think I'm going to buy some time with some other random videos as I have really been focusing on my writing the past few days, plus I have work and other activities keeping me busy. The main reasons for wanting a little time off is to a) Play games I don't have to worry about LPing, and b) So I can allocate some real time to writing. The one LP I'll probably dabble into at least a little bit in this time will be Half Life 2.

In the near future I still want to do:
Dark Souls
Dishonored
F.E.A.R.
A bunch of other stuff that I referenced in other posts and am too lazy to go and find mainly because I need to go edit a document that I'm putting off because I'm tired.

Co-op:
Hunted: The Demon's Forge
Unreal Tournament 3

Magicka is close to being finished.

Soundtrack Thursday 8 ROBOT MOVIES

Yes, Robot Movies. Mainly just because I wanted to listen to Pacific Rim, that is the theme today. So I'm listening to tracks that look roboty and interesting to me, plus I'm taking suggestions from other people as to what's good. So...

Pacific Rim - This soundtrack makes me so happy. The main theme especially. I replayed that twice before moving on. (Thx ME)

RoboCop - Never seen the movie. Soundtrack was pretty decent, but wow that synthesizer.  (Thx Sean)

Speaking of synthesizers...Transformers 1986 - Short, sweet and 80s. (Thx Matt)

Moving away from the 80's...Real Steel (it's in Playlist form though because no compilation appears to exist yet). Tracks are more down the action-inspirational road...which isn't surprising for Rocky with Robots. Some parts actually remind me of Bastion (Thx ME)

Not sure if this really qualifies, but it's an awesome soundtrack and it was suggested to me so...Tron Legacy is the next one up. Screw the rules, I have Daft Punk. (Thx Vince)

And because Rachel is trolling me: Iridescent. Transformers 3 made me weep. They were the tears of disappointment. Not in the movie...oh no I expected that to be awful. This is disappointment with Linkin Park. The song choice was just so...wrong. Nearly ruined the song for me. I'm still mad about it. I am however, still, a Linkin Park fan. Even if they do sell out. THX RACHEL.

Also, quotes of the week:

"I've had two cups of coffee, I feel so..."
"Wingaly dingaly ding."
"Yes, that."
Apparently the wingaly dingaly ding was part of the "Row row row your boat" tune already in progress inside Michael's brain. Whatever. All in the timing.

"Know each other for two weeks, get married, have llamas."
Meanwhile Cherry cola shoots out of Chris' nose. Yeah, you don't get context on this one. Do with it what you will.

WAT DAFUQ IS THIS?

So I searched my name because I was trying to figure out what I used as my login for a site (haven't used it in like...a year) and THIS showed up:

What. The. Hell. Seriously? Is this for real? A) What the fuck. B) Who added me on here? C) What the fuck. Also, I like how there's a "Stalk" option. Do I need to start checking my bushes for creatures other than injured deer now? I'm hoping that whatever this site is just snagged my name off of my facebook or something.

Oh internet...you scary.

Home Again

I never mentioned it but there were no uploads over the weekend because I was not in the country. I went down with some people to Montana IN AMERICA, to ski for the weekend. Quite a memorable weekend. Here are the highlights/main events:

-Got a total of 4 Tim Horton's cups and won nothing out of the 8 roll-up rims (2 per cup for 50th anniversary)
-Saw two golden eagles within a kilometre (or a mile as we were IN AMERICA) of each other feasting on the carcasses of two deer
-I tried "Cheez-its." At first I was like "meh," then suddenly an entire box was gone. Not sure what happened
-Counted 11 sightings of the ten commandments (which some people decided to turn into a drinking game)
-Encountered -40C weather without windchill. Decided skiing that day was a poor life choice. Pipes burst in 5 places in our building. Water was pouring from the garage area. We had no water for a day. The condo was very smelly.
-I only used my face to stop twice...less than 3 minutes apart. Hilariously enough it's also the same run I slid 1/3 of the way down on my back last year. I fell back on my skis and couldn't stand up, so I was just sliding and giggling the whole way, bouncing over moguls. Too bad that one wasn't on camera...
-Canadian Stage Charades was invented as we arrived at a pub, commandeered the entire second floor which happened to have a stage (they opened it as our group was 14 people), and someone suggested we play stage charades. Random people came upstairs to watch including the bar tender from downstairs who randomly decided to don a temporary mustache tattoo. The server also ended up participating. We weren't sure if the staff was amused or terrified
-A drunk man investigating the noise upstairs invited us to feel his jacket. He insisted it was silk. It was actually corduroy.
-We broke something nearly every day. A glass bowl nearly met its untimely end on the last day
-"RELEASE THE FARTS" is screamed and suddenly Mike and Ikes are launched from a bowl across the room (I'm not even sure of the context on this one...I walked in at the last second)
-The farts were released
-Apparently ice sculptures were constructed on the balcony after I went to sleep
-AMAZING POWDER AAAAAAA
-Holy crap you Americans have a lot of flavours of pop. Our group's main purchase in the U S of A may or may not have included Cherry and Vanilla coke. Because we don't get that here. Not cheap at least.
-Grapes were on sale, so I bought a bag of them for the weekend. I then forgot about them until we left and I remembered that fruits and vegetables at the boarder are not so great to have. So I ate an entire bag of grapes in an hour so they wouldn't be wasted. Never again. My colon is still refusing to forgive me.