PixlBit

Well good morning Pixlbit Nation! Since it is Friday, I got a late start to the morning, and decided to get up at 8am instead of the usual 6ish-7am times. So how are you good people this morning? Anything fun planned for the weekend? The temperature has jumped back up to more normal readings and today we can expect triple digits which usually sucks but at least the humidity hasn’t kicked in yet so its manageable. Anyways let’s get started with Quick Hits because I want to run some errands and maybe check out a sculpture garden.

 

Chris Listens To…

Podcasts: Since I’ve caught up with my usual stuff and Adam Carolla went with some one-on-one stuff that I usually skip I went looking through iTunes for a couple of one off’s and hopefully finding something new. I found three to check out, hoping they would all make the cut but one of them I just had no interest in, so we’ll start with this one.

Throwing Shade: This podcast is about two hosts, a man and a woman who discuss recent topics, and from the title I thought there would be some trash talk. After 10 minutes it didn’t have my attention and I was already looking for something else to listen to.

The Nerdist: I listened to the interview with Richard Lewis and even though I’m not a big Richard Lewis fan, I found his story to be interesting. I’ve decided to keep this podcast for now on the playlist.

Superhero Roundup: I just started listening to the episode about the season finales of Agents of SHIELD, and Arrow. So far it isn’t bad but I might have to check out the other episode about the season finale of the Flash to make sure this is something I want to listen to.

 

iTunes: I’ve been slowly sorting through the songs on my smart playlists, to drag the songs I really want to listen to on my iPod. For a little background when I’m listening to something on iTunes, and it reminds me of a particular time, I will tag it with four or five stars. When I sync my iPod to iTunes, I see these stars and I group them by event that the song takes me back to (high school, growing up, sdsu, 2010, etc.)

 

I love this movie!

It’s kind of like this except there is no way I would ever sort my physical music like this. The purpose behind all of this is so I don’t skip songs on my iPod.

On my iPhone I also changed out the monthly playlist of songs last night. I try and do this every month since I’m using my phone more and more as a music player when I’m out and about.

 

 

Chris Watches…

Hell’s Kitchen: Apparently I missed an episode after the black jackets were handed out. I saw the outcome on the recap before the last episode. Out of the final five I have an idea on who’s going to be in the finals and I think it’s a solid duo. Anyways for this past episode it was the usual have the final five run the pass while the Sous-Chefs sat in the dining room

 

It’s funny to see them in regular clothes.

Daredevil: I jumped back into the show after getting shocked about the violence of a particular episode. I’m currently on episode 9 and I’m enjoying the show. My one complaint is I don’t like the dialogue delivery by Kingpin. It seems like he’s trying to force every word out. The staggered sound just bugs me. I do however find Vincent D’Onofrio’s portrayal by far the most interesting character on the screen. Also there should also be more of the dynamic between Foggy and Karen (while looking up Karen’s name on Google I saw a spoiler. Thanks Google.) Despite the spoiler I’d like to see how the last couple of episodes builds up to start Season 2 next year. I’m glad I didn’t give up on this show because it’s getting good.

Wrestling: I heard that Ring of Honor is coming to Destination America and will eventually replace TNA Impact (such a terrible product.) Since I’ve only heard about ROH I decided to check out their product and from what I saw on their webpage, I think it might be an improvement to TNA but not by much. Hopefully their television product will be better because the 20-minute match I watched wasn’t good, and bordered on campy.

This past episode of NXT I wasn’t too thrilled with. It seemed like every match other than the women’s match was star against jobber. The main event was basically a build up for the next feud of Samoa Joe vs. Kevin Owens. The usual tactics of Kevin Owens is becoming stale and he’s heading down the same path of Dean Ambrose with the same old moves every week. If the writers want to keep certain things in their arsenal fresh, don’t use them all the time. As much as I don’t like Kevin Owens gimmick, I did find it hilarious that he’s just trolling John Cena with his antics which to his credit is making this weekend’s match in the Elimination Chamber that much more interesting, especially if I really don’t care for either wrestler. It’ll be a good match.

 

Chris Takes Pictures

This past week I decided to try nighttime shooting. I bought a tripod a while back but never had a reason to use it other than some daylight backyard shots. Anyways I didn’t take any crazy or interesting photos because I spent most of my time in the front of the house and the occasional car would drive by, but a couple of my test shots I actually liked and I thought I’d share them with you good people

 

It was a bit breezy so the plants on the side are a bit blurry but I do like the walkway light and green plant look.

 

I just like how this picture came out. Since I had some positive shots, I’ll probably try a couple around the neighborhood when I get some decent moonlight.

 

I took this shot of my new sneakers a couple of minutes after UPS guy delivered them last week

 

My final picture of the week is something I saw a couple of days ago while eating breakfast outside.

 

This little guy was a good model because as I got closer and took pictures he just stayed there like it was no big thing.

 

Pickups! Pickups! Pickups!

Games:

This past week I added a couple of Nintendo games to the library, starting with some 3DS love

 

This game sounded interesting and I was surprised that it was already released when I walked into GameStop. I do love me some puzzle games and it seems to be similar to the Marvel game I used to play on the Nexus 7. I’m slowly making my way through World 2, and I think I am at the end but I’m getting my lunch handed to me, so I might need to further upgrade my “team.” I haven’t tried the regular Puzzle Dragons Z yet, and I’ll probably play that once I finish the SMB side.

A couple of inexpensive finds in the Wii section

 

SMG is complete, and was at the top of my budget for Wii games at $17 (I already bought the two big expensive Wii games in New SMB and Mariokart and there is no way I can justify $55 for the Mario Anniversary game.) The employee raved about how good Ghost Squad is and when I checked my game out at home I spotted this

 

I also have a manual to Colin McRae Rally. I guess it’s a sign for me to look for this game at the Swapmeet.

 

Super Swing Golf looked like the golf game on the PSP I liked so I picked it up. I guess someone on the Fatal Frame games also worked on this game, so there are a couple of FF folks in the game. Anyways can’t go wrong for a $1.

Funny Story about when I bought SMG and SS Golf: I bought them from one GameStop and the employee must have started that day because she was nervous, super nice, and handed me the cases…without the games. I was halfway out of the store before I realized this and went back. She apologized and went to search for my games. She placed both discs in their cases and preceded to hand me the empty SMG case and a complete golf game. I mentioned to her that she gave me the empty case again. She looked confused and then looked at the other complete case, and still preceded to try and give me the empty case. She finally opened it and realized her mistake. I said no worries and I was on my way.

 

My next game is for the PS4. Best Buy had a Memorial Day sale where the game dropped to $20 which was the price I was waiting for and got the First Edition that apparently comes with some extra DLC (message boards told me this)

 

I played through both on the 360 but I wanted a physical copy and I think I now own all four Saints Row games spread over the 360 and PS3/PS4. This play through I’m playing all the side missions first so I can just dominate the storyline missions.

 

The last game is a freebie on iTunes that I saw this morning

 

A Tomb Raider runner? Hell yeah I’m going to play it!

 

Music

I went to local mom & pop with the intention of just browsing but the Buy 5 Get 5 wall was calling me, so I had to look, and I found 5 albums I wanted

 

Apparently I already own Kansas’ Greatest Hits. Oops, I really need to check out my list while looking through CDs.

 

I don’t know much about Belle & Sebastian but I do remember a girl in my graphics class talking about how great they are. Since I had some room on my free list I picked them up.

 

I’m slowly picking up a lot of Paul McCartney stuff. I actually remember when this album was released and I got the deluxe edition with DVD.

 

I now have a physical copy of Fun to replace the freebie digital copy I got from Google Play.

 

I’ve never watched the show but I’m willing to listen to the season 2 soundtrack. So far I’m almost finished with the first CD and it’s not bad. I do like how the local radio station sells their CDs to the mom & pop. In one of the thrift stores they seem to always get the “For Your Consideration” DVDs of current shows and year old movies. Apparently someone local is a voter for the Academy Awards.

 

Bruddah Iz I bought in the Hawaiian section for $4 and Onyx was a Best Buy pickup. There is a bunch of good stuff in their $5.99 section, because Onyx is heavyweight and still undisputed!

 

Oh high school music…

 

Lego

Ok so at the Ghetto Walmart this set is hovering around $50 and I’m waiting for it to drop. When I went to the local Target to look for my Fast and Furious Hot Wheels (I don’t think they added any new stock in a month) I saw two of these sets in the Clearance section

 

I went to scan it and I got the Out of the System so I brought it to the electronics section to get scanned by an employee. Apparently the final price was at 50% off so it came out to $40. I was hoping for 70% off but no dice, but $40 isn’t bad especialy since it comes with 8 minifigures including Batman.

 

I never add the stickers in case I want to use the parts in other builds

It’s a solid set and the bonus is that one of the bricks included a code to use in the video game to unlock the little outback guy.

 

The sides slide up to reveal the interior that has some weapons, a cable to drop down one of the robots, and in the back a jail cell.

 

The reason why I wanted this set (other than the figures) is to put some legs on it

 

You get the idea

I’m thinking about buying the parts required to build the AT-AT legs and slapping them on here. The body’s of both are similar, and even though the set is solid as a flying vehicle, I think it would even be better as a walker like my AT-AT.

 

Alright Pixlbit, it has been an hour and I got caught up in Spike TV’s Gangland Marathon, so we shall end out chat here. Hope you all have a good weekend!

 

That’s all for now, more later!

-Chris