PixlBit

Well Happy Friday good people of Pixlbit, I hope everyone is counting down the hours until the weekend hits and you get to do something fun like play video games…or sleep. Before I start this week’s Quick Hits, I have to ask, what do people get from waiting out in line for a new piece of tech? I see it with consoles, some games, and currently phones (for you folks reading this while waiting in line for the new iPhone, be safe, there are yahoo’s who try and cut for force their way into the line. And for reseller guy, GTFO!) I guess it’s worth it for you guys/gals who want it right away. I’m more of the lazy guy who strolls into a Walmart two or three months after launch, will buy the phone, and maybe a couple of $5 CDs from the bargain bin. Anyways congrats iPhone 6 owners, I’ll pick my iPhone 6s a couple of months after it’s released.

 

Apple Updates

 

So iOS 8 was released and it was time to update the iDevices.

 

Yeah so I had to find 5GB of space on my phone before I could update it. What the hell Apple. I ended up clearing out a bunch of apps I don’t use (I like hording them!), and removed my Top 200 playlist, and just barely hit the 5.5 GB free mark. I also updated my iPad which already had plenty of space after I removed the TV shows I had on there for my trip to Hawai’i.

 

This one took a little longer than I would have liked but it is also updated.

 

So there are some cool features now like “Hey Siri” and using 3^rd party keyboards

 

I tested out this keyboard where you can add your own pictures and I went with Tupacca. The picture is hilarious, but the keyboard sucks, and I’m back to the default. I never got into Swiftkey for Android so I don’t think I’m going to spend the $1 on it for iOS.

 

Chris likes Netflix

 

I like this service more than Hulu+ because there are no commercials. I went to cancel my Hulu+ subscription and

 

2 months free? Ok I’ll stay on for a bit longer.

 

Anyways I’ve been watching a lot of random TV shows, and I watched my first movie on the service

 

 

How freaking awesome is this movie? I do love the Bond Franchise, and I never got around to checking this film out. Part laziness, part love for television shows were the reasons but I finally saw it and enjoyed the hell out of it.

 

There were so many little references to the other films including the obvious ones from Goldfinger. I was hoping at some point there would be a Zorin Industries blimp just flying around London. I like the nod to being different from previous Bond films, a new start for the franchise. You still get that feeling that Bond is still alone no matter what he does, but getting the new pieces for the same core storyline was exciting. The next Bond film, I will be seeing in theaters.

 

This was the next film I “watched” and well this film is so ridiculously bad, my Netflix killed the feed halfway because it knew I wouldn’t do it.

 

Lady Jaye was the only positive thing about this flick. Why is Hollywood destroying all the cartoons I grew up with? The movie folks need to just shoot a scene for scene live action version of the G.I. Joe Movie where

 

The Mountain from Game of Thrones plays Nemesis Enforcer. Have Roadblock rhyme when he speaks, Duke looking out for his younger brother Falcon, and have a new version of Slaughter’s Marauders. This is what I want to see. None of this bullshit super suit, Duke is in love with Baroness, Roadblock went from Engligh to the Rock, and other garbage they are throwing at us.

 

The Angels are AL West Champions

 

The Angels are back on top of the West! Thank goodness because I was tired of hearing about the Moneyball A’s winning. I watched the game against the Mariners on TV, and then proceeded to watch people watching the A’s game on the big screen at the stadium.

 

Thank you Texas Rangers!

 

Pickups

 

I didn’t buy any games this week, because well, I still have Destiny and I haven’t touched it in a week. To be fair, I haven’t fired up my PS3 in a week. Since I’m superstitious I didn’t play MLB The Show, just so I wouldn’t jinx the Angels’ win streak and their quest to win the West. I will probably take in a level or two of Destiny today. Heck I even let my PS+ membership lapse. I like having the game saves being uploaded and having the free games, but I haven’t fired up the PS3, so I will put it off until I want to play some games.

 

Music

I celebrated CD Sunday by going to the mall, and then realizing that the mall didn’t open for another hour. What the hell?! I spent the next hour visiting the local Community College’s Flea Market, and Book Sale looking through random items, and I went to the Book Sale mainly because it was indoors and had good ol’ Air Conditioning. It was fill a paper bag full of books, pay five bucks. I thought about buying their collection of Brad Meltzer, and Mario Puzo books, but I left them for someone who would actually sit and read through all those books. I would get through maybe one or two.

 

The mall opened and I hit my local music store and found some goodies

 

Every CD was $1.99 except for Q-Tip’s Amplified, which was $4.

 

Two of the albums were alternate covers, which were interesting

 

 

This Janet Jackson album is a fan made cover that was released. The info from Wikipedia says that the first million copies of her 20 Y.O. album would be the four fan made covers.

 

This Technotronic album is a different cover than the one I have as well as some of the tracks are switched around.

 

The next stop was the thrift store on the way home where I usually find some cool stuff

 

I saw this case of cards from the 1990 Topps Traded set. 1990s Chris would have all over it, and before that version of me whipped out the card, I walked away. I do like how the former owner of the case had an eBay auction listed as the reasoning for their price. The thrift store wanted $130. I don’t know if I need 100 copies of David Justice’s Rookie Card. Thinking about it now, I must purchased a couple of these Topps Traded sets from another thrift store earlier in the year.

 

Back to music

 

Yes the shame is real. I bought more Glee. I blame wanting to complete a set of their music, and the sad part is when I went home I already owned the Madonna and Gleese albums. There is a lot of SMH going on right now because this is in my iTunes library.

 

I found a skinny binder of 35-40 Christmas albums for $10. I’ve been wanting to build up my Holiday library because I want to fill my iPod with nothing but Christmas music around the 1^st of November (yep I’m one of those folks). One of the albums that made this purchase a must buy is this one

 

Dogs barking Jingle Bells is easily one of my favorite Christmas Songs.

 

From the Google Play Store, they were offering One Republic’s Native for a buck

 

Counting Stars was always on the radio in Hawai’i. The song stuck in my head, and instead of buying just the single for $1.29 on iTunes, I get the full album for a buck on Google Play Store.

 

Lego

 

While at Target I saw on Reddit that these were hidden in the Halloween Candy section. I’m digging this Batwing model, and I have a nice little collection of Batman mini sets.

 

Sneakers

So after hitting the mall, the local Nordstrom Rack was the next spot. I’ve always had great luck finding cheap sneakers at the Rack. I also noticed that various stores tend to lean towards different brands. Orange County and San Diego have a lot of Nike/Jordan items, while my local store is very Vans friendly. I knew going in that I probably wouldn’t find any good Nike stuff but I do like Vans so it wouldn’t be a total loss.

 

 

I found an awesome pair of John Varvatos Converse Weapons. The leather is really soft and these are a lot lighter than the pair of Weapons I used to own in Lakers Purple and Gold.

 

Internet pic. The same model that James Worthy wore

 

I had this pair but it was a bit loud and heavy after wearing it once or twice. I gave it to a family friend who is a big Lakers fan, so he got some enjoyment out of it.

 

I have some winter sneakers now!

 

The other pair I bought were also all leather

 

I bought some Vans Sk8 Hi’s. The best part about this Rack is that all Vans are $30.

 

This is me yesterday while waiting for my Carne Asada Fries at the local Mexican Food spot.

 

Alright Pixlbit, I am off to continue to work my project, have a good weekend!

 

That’s all for now, more later!

-Chris