PixlBit

Last night, I finished the behemoth that is Assassin's Creed: Syndicate, in terms of its story mode and most (but not all) side missions. It lasted a little longer than I would've preferred but as an AC game in the current mode, it's quite the winner. It doesn't change a lot of the trademark mechanics although there was some nice additions to traversing buildings with the hookshot-like device (thanks for the fast travel points) and some of the more hated kinds of missions (follow some goobers as they have a conversation) have been trimmed down or made easier. I really was invested in the story line concerned the sibling assassins and thought they were great characters. I liked how both controlled differently: Evie is suited for stealth (my style) and Jacob is more confrontational and aggressive. Some of the side missions from famous dead white European males (Charles Dickens, Karl Marx) were incredibly dopey but not impossible. 

As with most/all games, I didn't strive for all the trophies. In the end, I got about 50% of them. I was done when I felt I was done. I'm not saying that I think trophy/achievement hunters are looney tunes; just that it's never been a pursuit of mine. Besides, now I've got to figure out which game in my backlog I need to tackle...

Some recent views/plays:

The Hateful Eight: I failed to see this film in the theater (huge regret) back in late January but better late than never. The more that I've thought about this nasty, expansive piece of work, the more I admire it. I love that it takes the western setting, throws in a mystery/murder plot and throws in plenty of angry racial tension and commentary. Every character is kept in the grey: no heroes in this mix. The story is the bleakest that Tarantino has ever told and lacking in any history revisionism to take the sting off its message. Oh, and it's also a bloody mess.
All The President's Men: I recently renewed my Amazon Prime subscription so the first film I watched was one of the greatest 70's films, a celebration of good journalism and perfect in every way. Nails the newsroom enviornment perfectly. 
Justified series finale: Also on Amazon Prime. I just wanted to re-watch this amazing conclusion to a series I still miss.  

Podcast listens/recommendations:

Pistol Shrimps Radio: I'm a fan of anything comedian Matt Gourley is involved in in audio form (Superego, I Was There Too, James Bonding) and this show is nuts: he and colleague Mark McConnville provide play-by-play for the Pistol Shirmps, a team of the Los Angeles Women's Rec Basketball League. Neither of them have much knowledge of basketball so they make it up as they go along and the result is some of the funniest shit I've listened to recently. I also recommend Gourley's other podcasts.
TV Guidance Counselor: Ken Reid and a guest discuss television watching habits of their pasts and how its shaped their careers. Reid has apparently collected a lot of issues of TV Guide and implements them in the discussions. The episode he did with Greg Proops was great.
Wrong Reel: a film podcast that focus on film industry news, recent releases, selected films from the past, films of a certain subject or retrospectives on a filmmaker. Some great topics recently: a guest discussed boxing (and some MMA) and used Raging Bull and When We Were Kings as his fav picks; an episode on 70's grindhouse cinema; the collaborations between Werner Herzog and Klaus Kinski; and the best films of Lucio Fulci. 
The Chuck Series Companion: I'm a fan of the tv series Chuck and Jason Walstrom of Entertainment Landfill is taking it upon himself to provide recaps of every episode of the 91 episode series run. He's halfway through season 2 now and his recaps are dependably entertaining love letters to the show.
Nerds Without Pants: I loved the Final Fantasy XI Online episode and while I never played the game, I respected the passion that Julian and his guest gave for the game and found their enthusiasm affecting. 

I gave Deftones' recent release, Gore, another full listen and I think they hit it out of the park. I just love this band.

In real life news, both softball and soccer wrapped up these past two weeks so so long to sporting events for a few months. It'll be peaceful for a while.