Tag Archives: videogames

Ups and Downs

No doubt that this is a really hard time.   For me, for sure, but for everyone.   But yeah, I’ll say I’ve got a bit of an extra heaping of bullshit that can overwhelm me at times.   I had a bad Wednesday.  It was not good.  My friends helped me out of it.  I would like to say I’ll avoid getting into that mindset again, and I’ll certainly try – but that kind of feeling kind of is just hard to avoid 100% of the time.  Anyway, I guess that’s enough to let you know that I’m trying my best to keep going and I can do so because of my friends and certain parts of family.   Enough said I guess there.   I’m just going to post some fun pictures and tell some stories briefly about good things that have been going on, fun stuff I’ve been watching or playing, howza bout that?

Crossrope:  I added jumping rope to my exercise activities.   So in addition to my daily yoga (I’m up to 126 days straight! go me! Thanks Yoga with Adriene!) I now will either do some jump rope routine or I’ll do the Bodyboss band system.   Hopefully that’ll help in the long run.  I need the cardio and the strength training.

The jump ropes are really good and assist in making it easier.  I had bought some junky Amazon rope and it was totally the wrong length and material.  Anyway, here comes my swimsuit body, lolololol.

2 weekends ago (June 14), I met up with my PwC friends and coworkers out at Valley Village park in North Hollywood.   We were nicely outdoors and socially distanced, and it was great to see people again.   It was a really wonderful day, perfect weather, and we got to celebrate Mel’s engagement from the day before!  It was the first time I’d been out to a social gathering of any kind since the lockdown.  Crazy.

While at the park above, Mel & Josh (her great fiance) brought a cool Bose portable speaker.   I was jealous and bought one online right then and there as my roofdeck needs something and the Beats Pill that Larry had got so long ago back in Silver Lake as a way to get that AT&T phone extender is getting gross and totally dead.  So, problem solved.  I highly highly recommend it if you’re in the market.  The sound is fantastic, bluetooth, etc.

Very exciting recently was Michancy came down last weekend (June 18-21)!   I’ve missed her so much and it worked out for her to drive down and we indulged in drinking everything, watching all of Picard, playing Ticket to Ride, drinking more, inviting Nicki over for rooftop fun and games, cooking wonderful meals (filet mignon on Friday night, and spaghetti carbonara the next even though I had basically passed out after daydrinking, managed to wake up and motivate myself as I knew the ingredients were there and goddamn it came out good), playing Just Dance and burning off alcohol, and overall, just having a fantastic time with BFFs while the world continues it’s march to destruction.  YAYYYYYYY.

After Michancy left on Sunday, I admit I think it was hard to come back down to reality and be alone again.  Maybe that was why my Wednesday was so hard?   Combination of reality check, my mom isn’t doing that great and keeps falling (I ended up buying a whole new bed after I had already bought her a whole new bed when moving her in March), and I really really miss Larry still.  I’d give anything to have him be here to get through all this with – whether it’s the pandemic, the issues with mom, my resentment of a lot of my family, the political nightmare that is our presidency…any one of those things would be enough to justify my alcohol consumption, but all of them at once?  And the fact i’m still grieving Larry and stuck alone for most of it?   It’s hard.   The good times pre- his final descent are what keep me smiling, but I can remember those last 3 months vividly and it wrecks me.  What he went through and to witness it.  It’s just fucking not fair and I fucking hate everything at times. Most times, really.

My friends talked me from the ledge Wednesday and on Thursday, as we had a nice zoom call and I can’t tell you how much I love them.   We’ll get through this all together.  I think Nicki probably recognized that maybe I might need some friendship and I recognize I do, so I invited her over this weekend to hang out, so we did.   It was a fun day and a half – we hung out and enjoyed the roof deck yesterday and I introduced her to the game of Mastermind, which is an old favorite my mom and I used to play way back in the day.  It’s a classic, and perfect for 2 players.  Then we watched two seasons of Search Party and damn, that show is something else.   It’s funny as hell and I love the characters, but it is a show that goes to some surprisingly dark places and there’s really no way it doesn’t continue to get darker.  The 3rd season is out now, so I guess we’ll be able to catch up.  We also watched a super fun movie on Netflix:

Eurovision, ABBA, Will Farrell, Rachel McAdams… hot Russian backup dancers and promises of even more great European songs?  I was in long before this came out, but holy shit, the final product is fantastic.   I really liked that it didn’t make fun of Eurovision – the original songs are like, really good.  Anyway, Jaja Ding Dong!

For dinner last night, we made Larry’s arroz con pollo recipe and it really is just a stupendous dish and it was nice to make that, hopefully with Larry smiling in satisfaction somewhere out there.

What else have I been watching or doing?

  • Detroit: Become Human – I heard about this game by seeing a picture of this cute guy from it and because i apparently can’t help but be distracted by hot guys, I read into it.  Saw a sale for it on Steam, bought it, and wow, I’ve been so entranced by the game.  So much fun, and I find myself playing it far longer than I probably should some nights.   It’s a cool story game about androids gaining sentience, and the androids are of course all attractive.   Anyway, I Heart Connor forever and always. 
  • Twin Peaks: The Return: I’ve raved about this plenty before, and it’s just so good getting to the end section The Return.  Still hard to believe Larry & I went to Seattle and did a Twin Peaks day just after the conclusion of the show.
  • Control:  A really cool videogame about the ultimate terrible office building filled with possessed-by-demons humans and you have the only way of defeating it.  Trippy environments and a relatable protagonist help make this a really fun play.   Occasional challenging to the point I have to walk away and think about it.
  • Anno 1800:  This game is just gonna be an always-playing situation for a while.  It’s so good and mesmerizing.  I’m nowhere near done or at the endgame, which is what it’s all about.

Anyway, I guess that’s it.   Maybe I’ll update more often – maybe that will help my emotional state.

2016: The Highs & The Other Stuff

Larry asked me yesterday what my favorite movie of the year was, which led me to thinking about other highlights, and of course, lowlights, throughout the year.  So, with no particular order in mind:

Favorite Movie:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

La La Land, by a lot.

Other Notables:

  • Arrival
  • Star Trek: Beyond
  • Rogue One
  • Zootopia
  • 10 Cloverfield Ln
  • Secret Life of Pets
  • Moana

Disappointments:

  • Jason Bourne – UGH
  • Girl on the Train – bored ugh
  • Independence Day: Resurgence – just…why?

Favorite Song:

I love this damn song.  From the first time I heard it while eating breakfast to even now, still love it.

Other notables:

  • Cake by the Ocean, by DNCE
  • Make Me Like You, by Gwen Stefani
  • Hold Up, by Beyonce
  • Can’t Stop the Feeling, by Justin Timberlake
  • The Riddle of the Model, from the Sing Street soundtrack
  • We Know the Way, from the Moana soundtrack
  • Another Day of Sun, from the La La Land soundtrack

Favorite TV:

Obviously, Jeopardy! gets a nod.

  • Game of Thrones; the last episode where Cersei goes and makes her move?  Woah.
  • Westworld:  Wasn’t sure if I was going to like the show, but yeah, definitely liked the show.  Just have to wait 2 more years for more.
  • Crazy Ex-Girlfriend:  Everyone should be watching this hilarious, musical show.  Rachel Bloom is mesmerizing, and all the attractive men she has cast in the show opposite her is brilliant, as it keeps us tuned in!  White Josh and Greg 4eva.
  • Broad City:  In it’s 3rd season, it’s still fucking great.
  • $100,000 Pyramid & Match Game:  ABC brought these back over the summer and they were fucking great.  Time to consider my next game show move!

Not so good?

  • Scandal:  We are in the hate-watch zone.  Get your shit together.
  • You’re the Worst:  I don’t know, we couldn’t get past the 1st episode of the new season, and so, maybe we’re done with it.
  • American Horror Story:  Not sure if it’s bad yet, but it really was all over the place this season.  Sometimes it was good, but a lot of times, not?  I liked last season’s Hotel.  Maybe next season will be good.

Fun Video Games I Played:

There’s plenty in this list.

  • The Witcher 3:  Hot damn, this game is amazing and gets you involved immediately and doesn’t let go.  And it’s freaking huge.  I still am not sure how far along I am and I’ve played a LOT.
  • Rise of the Tomb Raider:  So glad that the Tomb Raider franchise has been brought back successfully.  It’s so damn fun too, and they’re telling great stories while providing a wonderful action experience.
  • Prison Architect:  I totally got obsessed with this game for a while.  So well done.
  • XCOM 2:  A really hard game that I couldn’t stop playing.  I did finish it, surprisingly.
  • Flame in the Flood:  Another of these random games I got obsessed with for a good while as it was such a relaxing game play rhythm.
  • Uncharted 4:  I just finished this one and man, what a beautiful and fun game.

Disappointment:

  • Fallout 4:  I really really really wanted to love this game.  And I played it a while, hoping it would get me.  But nope.  They have too much around settlement creation and management and let the story be incidental.  I want to have the option to take the story slow if necessary, but not like this.  Kind of a bummer.
  • King’s Quest:  Once it was clear that you couldn’t easily restart and were stuck with decisions, plus the game gave very limited guidance, I kind of lost interest.  There are 3 more chapters to play through and I’m not sure I ever will?

Life Stuff Highlights!

Okay, I guess I should talk about some of the things I liked about 2016.

  • Larry & I got married!  There may have been a lot of stress and a not insignificant amount of money spent, but damn, the event and surrounding days were so worth it.  The weather was perfect, the venue was perfect, the wedding and reception were perfect, seeing all the family and friends was perfect….it was just amazing.
  • Honeymoon in Europe!  This trip was much needed and a welcome return to traveling somewhere outside of the country with beautiful surroundings to soak up and lots of food and wine to savor.  Would go back in a heartbeat if we could.
  • We got a new niece, Rachel, in July of this year.  It’s a wonderful addition to Alyssa & Jon’s family and of course to all of ours.  It was also nice to be back east for that little bit of time too.
  • Hollywood Bowl is always fun, as is going to the theater and seeing some shows.  Seeing Beautiful and Cabaret were definite highlights, as was the various shows we saw at the Bowl, including Diana Ross and the Sound of Music.  Also glad mom was able to join us for many of these!
  • Being on Jeopardy was certainly a wonderful adventure and something I can always remember.  I’ve also been able to meet and be part of a very select group of individuals, those who have also been on Jeopardy.  It’s quite an honor.

The negatives:

  • Certainly not happy with how the election turned out.  I’ll cross fingers and toes that perhaps I’m wrong about my fears.  Based on a certain Twitter feed though, I’m fairly convinced the incoming man on Jan 20th is frightfully immature, unfit, and unprepared for the job.  Buckle up your seatbelts, it’s gonna be a bumpy ride.
  • Work, well, it’s certainly something right now.   Here’s hoping for a more productive and illuminating 2017 in that realm.
  • Turning 40.  Eh, I guess it’s not the end of the world, certainly.  But kind of a bummer, nonetheless.  And to have that one-two punch with that and the election made November 2016 one of the shittier Novembers I can remember!
  • A lot of these actors and musicians and artists and entertainers dying….I think I’m reaching that age where a lot of the people I did grow up with seeing out there are reaching that age.  But some?  Some are way too young.

Honestly, I just want to not be afraid of what the future holds, whether it’s for myself, Larry, family and friends, the country, etc.   I want to be an active participant in making things better, whether that’s my personal happiness, or if I can, be an advocate for making things better on a larger scale.  I don’t want to be afraid of making a change just because it’s a scary thing to do.  Life’s a one-time thing, so why not make it what I want it to be, and not just grin and bear whatever comes my way.  So yeah, that’s kind of where my head is at when it comes to a mindset for 2017.  Call it a resolution, call it a philosophy, but yeah, 2017, here I come.  Here we all come.

I’m making a cake for 2017 New Year’s Eve.  Larry & I are staying in again, as previous NYE outings have kind of gone to shit.  Last year we stayed in, and it was great.  Doing it again, and happy about that as it’s raining this evening.  Fuck that noise.

A Fascinating LEGO Death Star Video

Someone put together the official LEGO Death Star construction kit and made a simply fantastic time-lapse video of it – what’s kind of cool is it’s not like a blocky-transition video, everything is very smooth.  Plus, as each room gets completed, a demonstration of what the room does as well as corresponding audio cues from the movies can be heard.  SO. COOL.

Still working on the next pictures post from Europe.  I got distracted this weekend by wanting to get out of the house….and also playing Anno 1404 like it was crack.  That game is a fun combination of city-building and renaissance themes much the same way Tropico 4 was….which means it’s eminently playable and addicting.  We also went out and saw The Girl on the Train and it was absolute garbage.  Okay, “absolute” is too strong a word, but it was such a waste of time and money.  Talk about a bad way of telling a story.  Recommendation:  PASS.   And then of course we had the second presidential debate yesterday evening and jesus, what a shit show.  It’s clear Donald Trump knows how to play to his base but once you get past the 90s-based attacks and listen to his word salad, it is just shocking he became the nominee for the GOP.  I’m still happily voting for Hillary Clinton and I love that he said we’d be getting a 3rd Obama term with her!  I WISH!

Sunday in November

I’m so behind yet again on posting, but I think I’m no longer the guy who can post nearly daily, unless if it involves Big Brother.

Freakin’ Inside Out

INSIDE-OUT-8-1940x1092We watched Inside Out again today, this time on Blu-Ray at home.  It’s so so so so so so so good.  Even knowing the story beats that are to come, you can’t help but get overwhelmed by the emotions of the story and the characters.  Bing Bong kills your emotions every time.  Every time.

Finishing Sleeping Dogs

7995-This game is just so good.  I can’t get over how good the story was and the gameplay was so well-done and the environment of Hong Kong was extremely immersive.  I’m curious how close to the real city that it is – I wonder if it’s more of an amalgam of things like when Grand Theft Auto V does Los Santos, a “version” of Los Angeles that is pretty close but ignores quite a bit of the non-glamorous parts of the city.  Anyway, I ended up finishing the game this morning, but noticed that there’s some additional game modes.  It’s actually additional single-player content, one called “Nightmare on North Point” which gets supernatural and involves ghosts of all the Triad you killed and zombies they raise.  Goofy, but again, really well done.  And a nod to Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” video, which is pretty awesome.  I finished that this afternoon too, and started up another mode called “Year of the Snake” but I’m realizing I need to calm down on this game a little bit.  Well, actually I want to finish it up so that it clears my plate completely for…..

Fallout 4

2884112-fallout4_e3_cityvista_1434323956Oh man, it begins.  Fallout 3 came out seemingly so long ago, and it feels like a lifetime ago as it came out when I was in West New York in 2008.  Crazy long ago.  Anyway, the game looks beautiful and is compelling so far, with a story set in Boston 200 years after the bombs drop. I haven’t made it there yet, as I’ve been getting acclimated to the new game systems and just exploring the upper northwest corner where you start.  You can craft and mod your weapons and armor with junk from everywhere, so you collect tons of shit to make better things.  You can also use that junk to update and create settlements – not sure what the purpose is except to be a good guy, but it’s still addicting.  And man, I have not even gotten into the real world yet of the game, I know.  Give it time….  And oh yeah, you get a German Shepherd canine companion almost immediately who is pretty bad ass.  Great great fun so far and I know plenty lies ahead.

More From a Monday

So this weekend was pretty fun as Mom’s birthday was on Saturday night and we took her to Benihana’s!  Needless to say, I probably ate more than I should have, but it was totally worth it.  Double fried rice is never a bad thing.  So happy birthday, Mom!!!  We love you!

1-DSCN2055On Friday night, a great big group of us ol’ NBC folks, past and present obviously, got together and celebrated Nicki & Carey’s 29th birthdays.  Carey is pictured above in the middle while I didn’t get any pictures of Nicki, seemingly.  Hmmm.  Possibly because I drank quite a healthy amount?

mdn-IMG_7422Tomorrow is finally the day!  It doesn’t seem like forever ago when I bought the tickets, but apparently it was!  Tomorrow night (a school night!) we’ll be headed to the Forum for some fun and what looks to be my chance to FINALLY hear Madonna sing “Material Girl” in concert!!!! FINALLY!

280235I’ve been addicted to this videogame, Sleeping Dogs, for the last two weeks or so.  It’s effectively a Grand Theft Auto for the Hong Kong area and the Chinese Triad, so while it sounds derivative, it helps that the game does it very well and is ridiculously entertaining.  Also, I recently updated my graphics card and the visuals are just amazing.  Anyway, I need to wrap this game up as two biggies are on their way, Fallout 4 and Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate.

newwebsiteFinally, Larry & I just created a new website that will be grand central station for any and all wedding information for the amazing day coming in April 2016.  It’s creatively titled www.hobieandlarry.com and it is not in it’s final form just yet, but we’ve at least got the site up and running.  Can you believe that domain wasn’t taken?  Much appreciation goes towards FatCow.com, my web host, for having a nearly effortless set of tools to buy the domain and then install WordPress on it.  Super easy.  Soon enough now, you should be able to see the piece of art that Larry is creating for our Save the Date cards.  It’s awesome.