PixlBit

Good morning Pixlpeeps! So the past couple of days here in sunny Southern California it has been toasty, with the temperature hitting low 90s, and last night it dropped because we are getting a lot of wind and the local news folks said today it will be in the 70s with a really good chance of rain. Oh you crazy weather. So how are you good folks? Anything big going on? Are you all caught up in the Overwatch Beta that folks on Facebook have been talking about? I downloaded it yesterday after having to download the Battle net application. Why do I need so many apps just to run games? Coming in as a console gamer I figured everything ran through Steam but it is just like consoles in the PCMR where there is Steam, GOG, Origin, and Battle net. There is probably others that I haven’t run into yet.

Anyways after the initial download I gave the Beta a spin and it isn’t bad. In fact it is a lot of fun. I don’t know if its $60 fun but it is fun. The surprising thing is that it runs well on my laptop when in battery mode. The graphics drop a bit but the gameplay is still smooth even after the website Can My PC Run It said it didn’t meet the specs. Since I’m not that great at these games I went to the controller and had my lunch handed to me which is not a big deal. Anyways congrats to you folks who will buy this game and play the crap out of it.

Speaking of gaming (this is a random topic for a Quick Hits) while roaming around the .99 cent store to pick up a bottle of Shasta Tiki Punch so I have something to drink while roaming around Goodwill I spot these items

 

The Thor figures have been there before, but it was interesting to see Bioshock Infinite “collectable” blind bag figures. I guess it comes with a figure and a game piece. I didn’t pick one up because for that .99 I could get a bottle Shasta Tiki Punch. Anyways for you Bioshock fans who have a .99 Cent Only store nearby go check it out.

 

I haven’t been watching much TV this past week. There really is no reason, I just haven’t been in the mood. I did watch some Archer on Netflix instead of catching up on Daredevil and Jessica Jones like I should considering there is a big superhero movie being released today. Speaking of maybe I should check to see if there are tickets available for the first showing.

 

Ooh my favorite seat J16 is open (bottom far left). I don’t get why folks want to sit in A,B,C when you are close to the screen, but whatever floats your boat. I will probably go Monday when it isn’t full. Oh so going back to what I was writing about…TV.

 Yeah I did catch the episodes before the season finales of Marvel Agents of SHIELD and Quantico. For SHIELD the past couple of episodes could have been resolved if they would have brought in a Superhero or at least had help from Maria Hill who I think last time we saw her was working at Stark Industries. As for Quantico I’m sticking with my theory that Booth is the bomber because his name is Booth and is related to a certain John Wilks Booth.

WWE Payback – WWE Network

 

Last week was the next in line of Pay Per Views. Quick rant: If the WWE wants to make these pay per views more special either drop the length of Raw to two hours or add another hour to the pay per view. It should be just as long as or shorter than an episode of Raw. Back to what I was writing about, the only matches I cared about was Sawft (Enzo and Cass) vs The Vaudvillains for the right to face The New Day at Extreme Rules, and the Women’s Title between Charlotte (WOOOOOOOO) with Ric Flair in her corner vs. Natalya and Bret Hart in her corner. Everything else wasn’t a big deal for me. The tag match ended early when Enzo suffered a concussion, and the women’s match mirrored the Montreal Screwjob where Natalya got a fast bell on her. The match that was really good was Zayn vs Owens. Lots of acrobatics, crazy stunts and just good old fashion story telling. Another surprisingly good match was between Roman Reigns and AJ Styles. The only thing I didn’t like was that the WWE isn’t making Gallows/Anderson come off as unbeatable heels. They’re dressed similar to nWo, and act similar to them, why not push them like a new Hall and Nash?

In my final TV/Movie related item, how have I never noticed the AI names on Rocket League during the run in Season Mode

 

A little bit Top Gun, famous Ghosts, Game of Thrones, and Apollo 11. Well played Rocket League.

 

In my music listening I’ve been neglecting my playlists a bit by catching up on podcasts, and enjoying the 90s Radio playlist I have. Also I’ve been listening to some news radio. I did add a couple of records to my iTunes library and I will probably add another one once I finish this latest blog entry. Yesterday I decided to add Madonna’s Like a Virgin to my library and I found a song I really liked from it

 

Being on the same album with Material Girl, Angel, Like A Virgin, And Dress You Up it is easy to get lost but I dig it, and it looks like Like A Virgin will be added to my Must Find CDs. Anyways speaking of my iTunes library last week the unplayed count was at 12,481 and this week the number is at

 

I need to add that this number has moved as much as normal but I did add some new music, and ripped some vinyl. I’m currently charging up the iPod Touch because I’m going to be listening to some stuff today while enjoying the cool weather.

In some vinyl news I’m debating on thinning out my library again. I own the CD versions of some of the records I already own, and there really is no reason to own both unless I’m a huge fan of the album. I’m still debating.

 

Pickups!

Games

So last week I went to Best Buy to pick up Call of Duty Advanced Warfare for the PC because it was $10. As it turns out it was a one day sale and the game jumped back to $30. I was bummed but it happens, but I did remember that GameStop had a PS4 copy for $13.

 

I think I finished the single player in a little over a day. I started on Friday night, finished Saturday night, and replayed the first mission and collected everything for it on Sunday. I might give multiplayer a try before uninstalling it and moving on to another game.

 

I think two weeks ago Slickdeals posted that Doom BFG collection was on sale on Amazon for $3 but it was out of stock but you could still order it and when it was back in stock you’d get a copy. Two weeks later and it arrived in my mailbox

 

The interesting thing is that it came with a Steam code as well as the game on disc. I used the Steam Code and the disc currently sits in a pile of PC games that are going back into the game/sneaker closet.

 

I added a couple of bundles to the Steam library. First from Bundle Stars for $3

 

I wanted Dust Force but there was a bundle for an extra $1.50 or so, and I figured why not. That’s how they get you to build up a Steam backlog!

Then on Cuatro de Mayo I saw GOG had a Star Wars bundle that I thought about buying but I checked out Steam first and they had an even better bundle for $2 more. For $22 I added the following to my library

 

I wanted the Knights of the Old Republic I & II and everything else is a bonus. KOTOR was on sale on the Apple App Store but it wasn’t something I wanted to play on the iPad but on the PC it works for me. I first tried out Battlefield II but it was acting up. After a couple of hours trying to tinker with it, I uninstalled the android app Andy on my PC, and sure enough Battlefront II worked flawlessly. It won’t recognize my controller but the keyboard and mouse isn’t that bad. I own some of the games on consoles so it’ll be fun to go back and play through those games.

 

Music

From the local Goodwill which has become expensive I found these CDs

 

Jackie Evancho was still sealed. She has an amazing voice.

 

Yeah Goodwill is starting to creep into Amazon prices. Van Morrison was $4. Who doesn’t love the Disney film Coyote Ugly? Hell No H2O! Hell No H2O!

 

From the thrift store across the street who’s CDs are still reasonable

 

On the left is Mindi Abair’s Stars. She is a heck of a talented saxophonist and she is going to be here locally at a Jazz Festival, and I might go check it out. I bought the Katharine McPhee album because I thought it was one of those fancy HD CDs I (I forgot the actual name) that I was trying to collect the entire run of 100+ albums. Anyways it turns out its just a different case of an album I already own. I might just keep it instead of placing it on the donate pile.

 

While typing up the section about Madonna earlier I forgot I had $5 in Amazon credit for downloading a Sodoku game on my Android Tablet so I bought the CD copy of Like A Virgin

 

I also added True Blue just add to my Madonna library and it came out to $4.31.

 

My cousin alerted me to an Amazon goof where the John Williams Ultimate Star Wars Collection (Episodes I-VI) soundtrack was $4 for digital download. I was actually at the mall listening to a podcast when I bought this album

 

I already owned episodes I, III, IV, and V, so this filled in the rest, and it looks like I need to buy VII now.

For some vinyl love at Goodwill I added these three albums

 

I do like bag pipe music. It’s an odd thing for me to have on an iPod next to 90s West Coast Gangsta Rap.

 

This album The Brave Bulls: La Fiesta Brava by Banda Taurina is freaking awesome. It starts with this amazing march with a big marching band sound with this very epic Spanish sound. I added it to my phone because it is my current favorite album and listening to it reminds me of concert band in high school when we would play marches like this.

 

 

I haven’t listened to this album yet but the main reason I bought it is because they are Hawaiian, and it was recorded in Haleiwa Town in Hawaii (its where the North Shore is) If you remember awhile back when I was in Hawaii and a turtle swam up and hit my leg, I was in that town.

 

Alright Pixlpeeps I am off. There is an impromptu trip to the mall that I must take to check out the latest and greatest at the mom and pop music store. Have a good weekend!

That’s all for now, more later!

-Chris

 

For today’s song of the week, I went looking on YouTube for a song I played in High School Honor Band, Amparito Roca. I found this band’s version and it brings me back. I played the Baritone Sax for this song so I had the bass line but I memorized the Alto Sax portion anyways.

 

This is about the speed I played the Alto Sax version