After Extra Life

All right I'm going to do a quick recap of the weekend here. I'm currently uploading the Twitch streams from the weekend. I might do a highlight reel from the games I played, but I will also be uploading the full streams...if it actually works. I don't think YouTube is happy with the length of some of these, even though I've seen 10 hour videos on YouTube. It just processes endlessly until it fails. I just spilt up one of the videos to see if that helps but...well we'll see. The Sonic one is live if you're interested in seeing me unintentionally kill Sonic in a lot of interesting ways.

I had to work on Saturday in the morning and afternoon, so Kathleen and her friend started off the day playing some Fallout 4. If you're interested in seeing any of her gameplay, you should be able to find the video for at least a couple days here: http://www.twitch.tv/missswat/profile

Anyway, I joined Kathleen after work, covered in sparkles and bits of that fake evergreen tree stuff because I was putting up Christmas decorations. Kathleen and I played some games from about 7:30pm-2am and then both uh...promptly passed out. Kathleen at least had an excuse as she was feeling pretty sick that day. Kudos to her for toughing it out so long. I just passed out because I have no willpower. If you watch to the end of the Incredibles stream, you'll see me falling asleep at the end. I actually lose consciousness for a couple seconds at the time, resulting in me taking unneeded damage/dying. 

I tried streaming Transistor, but the computer I brought to Kathleen's didn't do so well in terms of Streaming and running games at the same time. So I gave up on that after about 30 mins of trying and switched to Gamecube games, which turned out a lot better as the Gamecube could run them while the computer streamed. Lord of the Rings, The Two Towers was the first game I played. It was...hilarious. I loved playing that game for awhile when the movies first came out. I don't remember their faces being so terrifying when converted to...whatever the hell I was looking at. Gimli in particular was...well you'll see. I switched to an Incredibles game after because I got mad. I managed to finish that entire game in about 3 hours. It was also quite hilarious. I plan to play this game co-op with Michael someday as for some reason, we've played it multiple times through together. Probably do to a lack of good owned co-op games. 

I fell asleep after that and woke up at 7am. I played Sonic Mega Collection for a couple hours and then packed up. I had somewhere to be in the morning, so I left Kathleen's and headed out to that. Almost didn't go anywhere as my car wouldn't turn over initially. I hadn't left lights on or anything, so that was exceptionally concerning. I took a look at the battery and saw a boat-load of corrosion on the battery so I cleaned it off the best I could and the engine turned over when I tried again. I'm likely going to have to get that looked at before weather gets super cold. Anyhow, when I got home after, I streamed Transistor on a better computer to make up for the streaming failures of the previous night. I keep forgetting how much I enjoy playing Transistor. I managed to break the AI a little though in one of the bonus levels. 

Kathleen played a lot of Fallout 4 and dabbled a bit in Final Fantasy 7 (one of her go-to games). I'll have to ask her if she played a lot of other stuff. I think she had something else running on her tablet at one point, but you should hear her ranting about FF7 characters in the background of my videos. 

Overall she raised just under $500 this year. Not as much as previous years, but I'd like to congratulate her on pulling together that much on such short notice. Next year we're planning to advertise sooner, but every little bit counts, so thanks to everyone who donated!

In other news, I started playing some Myst 3 after getting it to work on the old laptop still running windows 7. Windows 8 baffles the 3rd and 4th instalment and the common factor appears to be anything running below directx 10, which both games do. I may continue to play/stream Transistor...because now I really want to play it.

Also decided that I want my December solo LP to be Shadow of Mordor. Because Lord of the Rings. This is providing I can finish Dead Space 2 before then...and have enough hard drive space to work with. So...I have work to do.

Extra Life Announcement 2015 (Also Soundtrack Thursday)

EDIT - Kathleen and I will be playing November 14/15 instead as we have work conflicts.

It's that time of year again, and while we aren't as on the ball as in previous years due to work (Extra Life is this weekend...) we're still going to be doing an all-day streaming event on November 8, 2015. Here is a jittery, spur-of-the-moment- awkward announcement video I did walking to my car yesterday after work: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtrV8vCv7NU

It's like a really awkward found footage video. Oh wait, that's all found footage videos.

Kathleen and I will be gaming together and separately, playing a variety of things. I'll be bringing the old gaming laptop that may or may not die at the slightest provocation, my capture card and Gamecube, and of course, a lot of caffeine. General Delta and the rest of the LAG crew will be streaming with me off and on that day as well (likely early on and then later at night).

Games you'll likely see:
-Borderlands 2
-Left 4 Dead 2
-Fear 3
-Transistor (I'll be playing this solo)
-Mario Party (Gamecube)
-Lord of the Rings, The Two Towers (Gamecube)

Other suggestions welcome. I will even venture as far to play a horror game. I have a few to choose from.

Here's my soundtrack picks for the day.

Life is Strange Episode 2 - I really like the last song.
Witcher 3 - I was informed this is a good soundtrack, so I listened. I liked it.
Django Unchained - Was a suggested video on the side of Witcher 3
Kill Bill - Guess I'm on a Tarantino binge now.

PS - Holy balls this orange is sour. Why did you betray me orange?

PSS - THEY HAVE THE DUMPLING TRUCK OUTSIDE

PSSS - Also vegan shepard's pie isn't half bad.

PSSS - Grape and pumpkin kit kats are tasty. Not sure what to think about this fish almond snack.

PSSSS - This has been a weird food day. None of the above is related in any way...other than being consumed in the last 24 hours.

My Socks Keep Falling Off - Soundtrack Thursday Revival 2

Seriously, these things are awful. I'll pull them up and then they'll just slide off my foot in my boots. Every time I get up and walk they slide off my foot and get bunched up at my toes.

Battlestar Galactica - A throwback to another STT. A long time ago...
Mass Effect Trilogy - The person who posted this is "Filip Hrdlicka." I'm an immature POS and was giggling for a good few minutes. Also this was a 6 hour compilation so I mixed it up after awhile.
Life is Strange Episode 1 - Cause why not? Maybe I'll post one of these each week. (the first track with lyrics is weird to listen to knowing what happens).

I've got a decent video schedule lined up for November/December and holiday season. Not just LPs, but a bunch of music videos, some silly compilations and some unreleased multiplayer content. One thing I need to note is that YouTube's policies are changing with that YouTube Red thing. As a result, they are reviewing some of their copyright BS and now some of the videos I have currently posted will no longer be available in the United States including some older compilation videos. I will need to be very careful with music videos moving forward. Some of these I'm not going to change/take down unless my account copyright status is affected, but any videos that will no longer be viewable in the US will be uploaded to my personal public google drive folder. You can access them and other random videos with the link at the top of this page.

PS - I have had no reports of issues with that Google Drive link, but if you do have issues accessing it, PLEASE LET ME KNOW. Just personal message me on YouTube, hangouts, or leave a comment here and I will do what I can to fix it.

PSS - My office may be on Canadian news tomorrow night, or at least Alberta news. Not...for anything bad don't worry. I swear.

I SWEAR.

PSS - Kathleen and I will be playing for Extra Life on November 8 instead of November 7. I will post more updates when the time comes.

Soundtrack Thursday Revival

I just realized I'm working regular hours on a Thursday in an office again. I can revive soundtrack Thursday!

I totally forgot about it until about 11am today so I missed out on an opportunity there. I'll post what I listened to up until this point and continue with soundtrack Thursday afterwards.

Random Crap:
SAIL - Awolnation
Afraid - The Neighbourhood
Little Lion Man - Mumford and Sons 
Weekly Epic Music 17 (GODZILLA)

STT:
Hard Corps Uprising - Playlist
Professor Layton and the Curious Village

And to finish off the day...


In other non-soundtrack related news:

Kathleen and I are doing Extra Life this year again on Nov. 7/8 (timing depends largely on Kathleen's work schedule). I may chat with her and suggest starting it on her behalf to try and raise money, but I will update you on that sometime next week.

In the meantime, here's her donation page: http://www.extra-life.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=donordrive.participant&participantID=141562

All proceeds going to the Alberta Children's Hospital.

Sunday at the Calgary Entertainment Expo 2015

Final day at the Expo. It was an amazing (albeit tiring) weekend. I am seconds away from passing out in my chair, but I don't have too much to report on this evening. Regardless, had a lot of fun today! I decided to start this off with the highlight of my day:

Got to get my picture with Hayley Atwell! Such an amazing woman and I love Agent Carter. You can tell I was flattered to meet her as my face was much redder than normal...

Shortly after arriving at the con, I met up with Kristy and we queued for our photo op. I have to give the organizers and volunteers props here as they've done a fantastic job at organizing the lines, crowds and fans. The volunteers in our area were super friendly and fun (and will initiate spontaneous Spice Girls sing and dance numbers). We got our picture with Ms Atwell and wandered the Big 4 for awhile looking at the vendors.

We headed outside shortly after to get food from the food trucks. Out of all the amazing trucks and choices of food we opted for two large bags of mini doughnuts. Seriously these things were like 6 dollars and I still have half a bag (which would be a full $5 bag at Stampede). Meandering back into the BMO centre we hear an announcement after walking through the doors that Hayley Atwell's panel was about to start. We both turned around and ran back outside to the Corral to watch.

My pictures are terrible. This is the best one. But it did not matter, because Ms Atwell was extremely entertaining. The questions were quite intelligent (the most awkward one being "When did you know you were so perfect?"), which was nice as they can be pretty awful. Again, a Spiderman kid was there...but I wasn't sure if it was the same one since it was a different costume. Kid was still incredibly adorable.

Best stories included Ms Atwell telling us about what they'd do to keep awake while they set up the lighting and sound systems including chair jousting and throwing grapes and catching them in their mouths. She also told fantastic stories about her playing party games with Chris Evans and wearing Evan's fake legs for his running scene (and how no one noticed). I really loved hearing her talk about Peggy Carter though because it seems like while her personality leaks into her character, a lot of Peggy leaks back. Was really neat.

After the panel we met up with Oliver, Jay and Hayley and we wandered the Expo hall together while Kristy did some shopping. I was a little burnt out at this time, so I didn't go out of my way to ask cosplayers for their pictures (though there was still a lot of amazing costumes to be seen).

We did a tour of the adjacent hall and checked out the LEGO display again. We found out that Ninjas beat Pirates. Kristy didn't buy it. Also Jay told us about how they changed the display every day to reflect the battle that was being decided by people voting on the outcome. I did notice that the ships were facing the other direction and all the pirates had been chased off the island. Also hee hee the Groot in the background.

After we fed Kristy to the orcs and decided to call it a day. We left the con, said goodbye to Jay and Hayley and went to wait 30 mins in line at Peter's Drive Thru for a milkshake.

All in all, great day at the con. I am very tired and going to pass out as I need to somehow get out of bed tomorrow morning for work. Fantastic con this year Calgary Expo people. You did a great job (despite some grumpy weapon and prop check people) and I will look forward to coming back next year!

Friday at the Calgary Entertainment Expo 2015

Friday at the con is usually pretty low-key for me. I don't go for long because I REALLY need to save energy for the Saturday. I'm still experiencing quite a bit of fatigue, so I only went for a couple hours again today in the evening. One of these days I'm going to have to try and watch the Parade that precedes the show on Fridays. I've never actually gone to watch.

Not too many pictures to share today. Don't know why, but I was pretty shy today, so I had to build up a lot of courage to ask people for pictures. It's easier to take pictures of merch, because merch doesn't have feelings or reactions to photos...UNLESS IT DOES.

Arrived on the grounds by train today. I wasn't interested in paying a ridiculous parking fee today, so I got uncomfortable on the train.

Not sure if it was because it was the last couple of hours, but it wasn't all that busy this evening. Definitely had more people milling about, but they were all spread out enough that it didn't fell claustrophobic.

I found the LEGO display that I somehow missed in my travels yesterday. I actually thought they didn't show up this year, but I obviously skipped over their aisle by accident. The display was as impressive as always.

Finally built up the courage to ask some people for their photos. This is always much easier when I'm also dressed up...and actually with people. Feels weird when I'm on my own asking. These costumes were amazing though. Some of my favourite so far (Lucina!).

Wandered outside shortly after and watched a Viking murder some other Vikings in front of the coke stage. I decided to head back towards the Big 4 and see if there were any good cosplayers in there. A lot of cosplayers head over to that building when they want a break as it is less busy and there is food. It's a great place for photo ops.

For instance...I found the Ninja Turtles actually eating pizza. I'm going to assume it was planned.

I left them in peace and returned later when they were ready for pictures again. I think I saw them with an April...but I didn't get the photo of them again...as it would have been even more weird.

Found where the gaming section was. I remember the one year it was in the BMO centre and people were crammed in there like sardines and everything was hot and uncomfortable and they looked hot and uncomfortable. Anyway, I enjoyed the group wearing wizard hats.

Back outside, I sat down for awhile to rest and enjoyed just watching people pass...and enjoyed getting their street passes on my DS. I was there for a good amount of time listening to Harley Quinn talk about her friend and continuously have to abandon her smoke for photo ops. Meanwhile the Joker was having trouble enjoying his coffee. I got many street passes and then decided to head back to the BMO centre to join up with some friends that were getting autographs (yay not a loner anymore).

Passed this amazing cosplayer on my way back and then...

I spotted Mayor Nenshi getting his picture taken with the Vikings. I snapped my own terrible shot and attempted to get closer, but then they finished and broke it up. I passed by a game of quidditch being played by a bunch of small children and a couple of incredibly bored looking teenagers, and entered the BMO centre again.

Was super excited to see Groot, Rocket and Drax while my friends were talking to Spongebob, so I got their pictures. I don't know what it is about Groot...but he kind of creeps me out here. Don't get me wrong. It's an amazing cosplay...

Maybe it's the frown.

After my friends got all their autographs, I bid these three lovelies a fond farewell and headed for the train.

Now I'm just at home, preparing for tomorrow. If only I could find that DAMN LIPSTICK.

Thursday at the Calgary Entertainment Expo 2015

Well here we go again ladies and gents. Here is the beginning of my comic con 2015 experience. Thursday is usually my solo day, where I just wander around, get my shopping done and see what's going on at the con. It's the day all the vendors have the most merch, so it's always fun to browse, even if I don't buy.

But I did buy. And I accidentally purchased a couple issues of books I already have...

Anyhow, I did some shopping in the afternoon (some last minute pick-ups for Saturday) and headed over to the grounds to get my wrist band.

Parked my car and began walking over to the Agrium building to get my wrist bands. Spotted the Thursday line on my way in. Looks deceivingly long as by the time I got my wrist band, the lot of them were already inside and wandering around. But before I could even contemplate that line up...

I had this one to contend with. This was the line to get in the line so that I could line up for actual events (aka the wrist band line).

Though deceivingly long, it actually only took me about 5-10 mins to get through, These guys got a system.

It's a bit blurry as I only had about a second to snap it, but I'll let you guess what destiny I chose
(hint: it was the awesome one). But enough of the line-ups! That is not what we are here to see!

Spotted the food trucks on the way in. I plan to make use of those either Friday or Saturday as it's supposed to be really sunny and warm outside. Super stoked. They have Tako Yaki at one of them! Then there's mini doughnuts and bubble tea and viet subs and tacos and coffee and pizza and pho and...I'm going to stop now because I'm getting hungry.

Wandered by the Viking demonstration again. They're back this year and have set up their viking camp in the usual spot. Shauna apparently knows one of them, so I paused for awhile longer to see what they were up to.

I apologize for the quality of some of these pictures. As I was traveling alone and taking pictures of random merch, I didn't want to draw too much attention to myself. Don't want people to know how unintentionally creepy I was. Regardless, the Tower of T-shirts was back as usual. Great landmark to find people at on Saturdays...only the volume of people on said Saturdays makes the entire area and uncomfortable experience...especially if someone decided to forego their personal hygiene routine. This year I was impressed by the selection of belts that they had. I shall gauge how busy the con gets by the number of belts left at the end of the weekend.

It was then I realized I forgot to purchase my photo op...so I turned right around and walked back outside to the Big 4 building. Ran downstairs, used up the majority of my cash on the photo op, then had an epic battle with the ATM machine for more cash. Two cards and three declines later, I had more money and went upstairs to browse artist's alley. Or at least half of it. This area was incredibly enjoyable as there was hardly anyone in there and I could actually breathe. I don't think the artists were as pleased as I was.

Came across these two as I wandered that area. I actually arrived around the same time as Judge Dread as he was putting on his costume in the parking lot. I was going to ask for a picture then...but again, trying to cut down on the creepy. These two were really good about me taking their photo though.

I stopped by a couple of the booths there, picked up something for cosplay on Saturday, and made my way back towards the door.

Spotted this on the way out. I have no idea what it is or why it's there, but I have decided that Sarah and I need to return and get a picture riding it. It's happening. They were setting up at the time, so I didn't bother them and continued my journey.

Outside I heard a series of explosions and went to investigate. Beyond the Viking encampment, I discovered a Wild West show which included dudes with guns shooting balloons off a spinning wheel. I got there in time to watch him shoot the last balloon. Some lady next to me wasn't expecting it and started complaining loudly about how it gave her a heart attack.

Snapped a photo when I got back inside, mostly so I can do a comparison when I take photos over the next three days. Usually I determine how busy it is by my level of discomfort. I do not like crowds normally.

Spent the rest of my time wandering up and down the aisles, stopping whenever I saw something interesting or amusing. I'm not exactly sure what they did to Frodo here or what this is supposed to be...but it looks uncomfortable. His eyes...they stare into my soul.

There's the Tower of T-shirts! Ahhh so spacious.

Found the Harry Potter vendor in my travels. I took this picture while waiting for some girls to get out of the way. Because they had drawn my attention to this:

Mesk. I have done it. I have found the shirt of your dreams. Unfortunately I think that trio of girls were interested as well. It may be gone before you are united.

Then I walked a little further and made this discovery. Look what's back again this year!

These guys were here last year, but they've upped their game. Not sure if they had the turrets there last year, but I remember the armour. The Iron Maidern I'm convinced is new though. They also had a kick-ass set of armour off to the right...that I didn't get a picture of yet because the dude running the booth was giving me a disapproving glare.

Next I found an abundance of medieval and Viking merch. Someone at the drinking horn table was talking about how Game of Thrones has done wonders for their sales. Sure enough, I took a closer look at those drinking mugs and the sign said they were GoT inspired.

WARNING. CHOKING HAZARD. HAH. HAH.

As always...there was a lot of cool stuff to look at. The metal work was really quite impressive.

I was pleased with this cosplay. It made me very happy.

Continued by journey of sneaky pictures and arrived at the wall of slightly disturbing anime body pillows. I think someone raided hks' basement. I shall call it Loli Tower.

Found a table Shauna would really like. Complete with Assassin's Creed, Last of Us and Bioshock t-shirts and other merch.

And then I found this and my weekend's quest was set. What did I see here? Well. Let's take a closer look.

Ah yes, Good old Professor Snape. This weekend shall be the great hunt for Snape. I will have you know, he was also on a mug at this place.

Hee hee dancing Groot. Also I'll have you know that just off screen to the right, that is a Supernatural Clue game. I'd play it, but I would call dibs on playing Castiel.

Passed a shrine to Tankgirl Sarah on my way with its various offerings of Skulls. And then I turned the corner and found these lovely cosplayers:

I was lucky to come across them when I did as I didn't see them again for the rest of the time I was there. Perhaps they'll be around in the days to come.

Finally caught up with the Vikings, who were posing for a bunch of people right beside something very bright...

At this point, I was ready to head out. As I'm still not feeling 100% I got tired after two and a half hours of walking. On my way out, I spotted one final photo opportunity:

Excuse the arms as it was a last minute snap as I was heading out the door. Just remember to take Macleod to 12th. Also I like the photo within a photo there.

I headed back out to my car, collapsed into my seat, drank the tea I didn't finish from earlier because it was thermonuclear hot and headed home. There I discovered I accidentally purchased some things I already have. Oh well. I'll be back tomorrow with my recap of Friday (which will likely be shorter as I need to save energy for Saturday).

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