Quick Hits: Reality Shows/Randoms/Pickups/And Band Camp

On 08/22/2014 at 05:10 PM by goaztecs

Happy Freaking Friday Pixlbit Nation! Oh I am so happy to see this day because there is a ton of Simpsons on right now*

*It’s like the Friends episode where Chandler and Joey get free porn but they don’t want to change the channel just in case the free porn disappears, I’ve had the Simpsons running constantly while doing other things.

If you haven’t heard FXX is running every Simpsons episode ever. I think I’ve seen them all but I’m watching anyways. So what is new? Any big plans this weekend? Share’em! As for today it is Friday, which means Quick Hits with Chris!

Reality Show Mania

Yes it is official, during the summer I don’t think I watch any scripted shows (yes I know the majority of reality TV is kind of scripted). Oh actually on Sunday I watch True Blood. The show is terrible but I like Deborah Ann Woll

Anyways I added a new reality show to the mix called Sisterhood of Hip Hop.

The plot of the show revolves around five women who apparently rap. The show is really bad. It reuses a lot of stock scenes of the participants, apparently they are “famous” and there really is no point in this show. Why do I watch? It’s so bad that I want to see what dumb things they do next. One of the girls is a college student who wants to graduate while building their career. She hired her mom as her manager, who has no idea what she is doing, but wants to hang out (she scheduled a performace the same day as a midterm knowning about it months in advance. Talk about a real piece of work. I guess she is the only character you want to root for but overall I really just don’t care about any of them.

Since I added this show (actually I don’t know if I will watch every week) here is my current lineup:

Monday: Masterchef

Tuesday: Hard Knocks

Wednesday: Big Brother

Thursday: The Quest, Big Brother

Friday: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders: Making The Team

Saturday:

Sunday: Big Brother

I also have a couple of seasons of Top Chef and Below Deck on Hulu. I save these for the gym.

Band Camp

On my one or two visits per day on Facebook, I saw that this week was Band Camp week at SDSU. The alumni page did a turn your profile pic to your old band pic, which I did. It amazing that this year’s group was born the year of my first college band camp (SMH). They get to march on a field with yard lines and its field turf! When I marched we had just the markers on what was the old Softball field. They also got new drum corps looking uniforms, even though the ones that had before were only 7 years old. Man oh man it must be nice. Anyways I wasn’t a fan of band camp, but I did like the performances and playing the pregame. If you folks are going to band camp, enjoy it!

Random Toys

I do like walking through the toy aisle at Target because of well…The Lego. While taking a trip through the other aisles I spotted these

When did they start selling these figures at retail spots? I saw these blind boxes and they’re cool, I figured they’d be maybe $4-5 bucks, but when I scanned them they were $10. TEN FREAKING DOLLARS! Holy cow, for $5 more you get the fancy package and you get to pick out your favorite player. Ten bucks is too steep to pay for a figure that most likely will be a Jacksonville Jaguar. Its bad enough you get that two-tone helmet but you also get a Jacksonville Jaguar.

Cleaned Out My Nexus 7…Again

My Nexus was running really slow especially when installing some Humble Bundle games. I check my storage and I had 1 GB free while having something like 5 or 6 GB tangled up in Misc. Thanks to Google I found this app called Clean Master

This bad boy got rid of all the Misc. files, which freed up a ton of space. I also got rid of a bunch of screen shots for past blogs, and uninstalled a bunch of games. That shot is my current status and my tablet runs just as fast as the day I bought it. I do want to get rid of some apps because I’ve shifted the majority of my web surfing, and other Internet based stuff to the iPad Air. The N7 will be more game oriented.

Tablet Gaming

A couple of games I’ve been playing that have taken up a lot of free time

The Simpsons Tapped Out has added a new quest where they “borrow” from Clash of Clans, which they call Clash of Castles. You build up your castle, and attack other users.

I made a mini Kings Landing with my main castle.

The storyline also has Bart who acts like a goblin, and has a cardboard castle

Lisa has a recycled materials castle. I haven’t unlocked the rest of the items to create a castle because she’s currently on a 24-hour quest. This new multiplayer quest is easily the most enjoyable update in a while.

This game was released yesterday and it’s free to play

From what many are saying, it’s Star Wars meets Clash of Clans. It’s free to play, but you wait a lot to earn cash and iron.

The interesting thing is you play a mission with the Empire and the Rebellion before picking a side

I went with the Empire, because c’mon now going into battle with AT-AT’s is always a good thing

This is my current base on Tattoine.

Pickups

This is the stuff I’ve picked up over the last couple of weeks.

Games

Some games I bought at Best Buy

I added another Metorid game I wanted to try and

A cooking competition on the Wii? Yes! Yup I’m going to be swinging my arms around like a crazy person

Some good ol’ fashion iPad freebies

I think you get one case for free and then you pay for the rest (BOOO!!!!)

Another game to try because you get one case for free

I also bought the Sega Mobile Bundle. Sonic controls are clunky, but I just checked it out. Hopefully I can adjust it to make it more interesting.

Music

Some vinyl

This was on clearance at Marshalls. Nothing fancy, but now I think I’m missing the Sexyback album to have all his stuff on vinyl as well as CD.

Some $1 vinyl

I added some new Sound of Music stuff. I’m have a mini collection of the different releases of the Movie Soundtrack. The only difference is the packaging. I have the basic slip in sleeve, a gatefold sleeve where both sides is thick cardboard and the record slides out of the right side.

This version has a thinner gatefold sleeve where the cover art is, and the record slides out of the left side.

A soundtrack for The Wizard of Oz, and a replacement copy of Elton John’s Madman Across The Water. My copy has a lot of water damage but the album is fine. This one has a nice cover but the album has some scratches. I’ll swap it out and add it to the stack of stuff I’m donating.

What is nice about that Elton John album is that it opens up and has a nice lyric book with tons of pictures

Really cool stuff I didn’t get to see on my copy because of the water damage.

Final vinyl pickup is a 12” of Shannon’s Let The Music Play. This is one of those must play songs from my high school dances.

Some CDs

First my dollar pickups

Nothing fancy, just adding to the library.

These are from another thrift store where the CDs are $2

I wanted to see what the big deal is with Cats. On the way out I spotted a basket with a ton of CDs that the thrift store wanted to keep an eye on because a lot of their stuff gets stolen. It was full of rap and metal albums so I look through the basket and found some stuff I wanted

A little bit of Too Short with some up and coming rappers, and a Curtis Blow compilation

Ahmad and Kittie. Ahmad because of this song

I’m not big on Metal, but I do like Kittie. There isn’t a lot of yelling in this album, which is good.

Some Lloyd Banks and DJ Tiesto

Big Pun and a replacement copy of DMX. This copy is in better condition than mine (it has a complete case).

And some R&B

Other Stuff

My replacement battery for my Headphone Amp came in. Actually it was a really fast delivery from Target. I ordered it on Saturday or Sunday morning, and it arrived on Tuesday.

My amp is back!

This is my iPod and Headphone Amp earlier.

Well Pixlbit, there is a ton of Simpsons on so I am going to take some of it in.

That’s all for now, more later!

-Chris

Oh I almost forgot, for you folks moving in at college or starting school, GOOD LUCK and enjoy it!

Also Thanks Nick for geting Pixlbit up and running!

xDarthKiLLx

08/22/2014 at 05:15 PM

Yeah, you'd BETTER go with the Empire.

Otherwise, you'd have one pissed-off Sith Lord here at PixlBit. ;)

goaztecs

08/23/2014 at 03:33 PM

The Empire has so much more good stuff to use, how do you not go with them.

mothman

08/22/2014 at 06:26 PM

Madman Across the Water is one of my favourite albums of all time. EJ up to and including Yellow Brick Road was pretty amazing stuff.

"but is it in your conscience that your after, another glimpse of the madman across the water"

08/23/2014 at 03:35 PM

Oh nice, so far my favorite is the Captain Fantastic album. I can't wait to give this album a spin on vinyl.

Matt Snee Staff Writer

08/22/2014 at 06:45 PM

sweet vinyl this week.

I've been thinking of getting one of thos Nvidia Shield Android tablets. I've read it's a powerhouse, and I'd love to stream games from my PC to my living room and out back to play on the tablet. Plus, I kind of want an android device. And apparently it has a sweet Dreamcast emulator.

08/23/2014 at 03:37 PM

Thanks!

The Shield is such a cool tablet. Tons of gaming options plus it's a solid Android tablet. If/when I get back into PC gaming I want to get one as well and try the streaming feature.

Wz'n

02/28/2015 at 07:13 AM

I have one and just WUV it. Screen is great. All emulators run fine. No bloatware. I got the 32 gb and loaded it up with 100's of apps... 47+45 games currently installed, and anything runs smooth as butter. I use Folder organizer to organize apps by category, and put folder shortcuts on home screen. I did root it (and turned off updates, to avoid screwing up all my precious games, and keep stuff backed up). Using stock ROM and nvidia is friendly, they just dont want overclocking. This thing runs like greased lightning with its K1 so who needs overclocking. Great all around tablet. Very comfy. I play music on it too, and sounds great, and a good flac file with free HF Onkyo app and headphones blows me away. (Bandcamp site is great, lookup Holmquist's Smash Hit OST). Runs any game, looks great. Has its own keymapper for its controller and I also use Tincore and sixaxus for other controllers, but mostly I'm a lazy touch tablet gamer with games and emulators. I haven't done anything yet with pc gamestreaming or tv console mode, but others love them.

03/02/2015 at 04:06 PM

Cool, thanks for your opinion. I dabbled a bit with rooting on an older tablet, but since I went with the Nexus 7 tablets I've been strictly stock. It was fun being able to do a bunch of different customizations on a rooted device though. Overclocking was always interesting in my case. The big plus about having a rooted device was not having to worry about updates. Man I had so much fun playing Real Racing like that.

I think if I went with the Shield I would probably use it as a dedicated gaming system but its good to know I can throw FLAC on there (but damn that would eat up a lot of storage space)

jgusw

08/22/2014 at 09:42 PM

That dude on the end is a chick? DAMN.

That Ahmad song always depressed me. I use to have that cd.

This weekend is going to be Fallout:NV, Persona 3, and Devil Survivor Overclovked. Tomorrow I'm making popcorn balls and Sunday morning, monkey bread. Hell yeah!

08/23/2014 at 03:40 PM

Haha, I refered to her as the male Justin Beiber while talking to one of my friends

That's what I like about music. Just listening to a song can bring back emtions.

Dude popcorn balls sound good. Never heard of monkey bread but from the description on Google, it sounds REALLY GOOD.

08/23/2014 at 03:43 PM

what is monkey bread, J? I'm very curious

08/23/2014 at 08:42 PM

It's biscuits cut up, coated in cinnamon & sugar, and then put in a bundt pan. In a skillet, melt a stick of butter, brown sugar, & sugar and then pour it over the biscuits in the bundt pan. Put pan in oven for 35min. Flip pan over onto a big plate and enjoy. Recipes vary but that's the gest. Awesome stuff. My mom taught how to make it. I think the recipe is on biscuit cans now.

Super Step Contributing Writer

08/22/2014 at 09:56 PM

If only I had FX or cable ... 'cept I honestly don't care to have cable given what I'd get for the cost; happy with Netflix for now. I do have a season 4 Simpsons DVD though.

I've met one of the Assistant Directors on True Blood, who gave us a speech at the Getty in my L.A. class. I need to find that call sheet he gave us. Was supposed to get that framed Have you seen that naked dating show? Maybe it was you who showed me that.

I was never in band, but I do remember the band kids saying it was a lot of heat and exercise.

I'd still like to play Metroid: Other M and need to pick up my copy of Ace Attorney. I have those same Linkin Park CDs.

08/23/2014 at 03:45 PM

I too am too happy with Netflix to cross over into cable....we'd be paying upwards of 80 bucks and not getting any of the premium movie channels. As it stands, if I can't watch it on Netflix, I head over to Project Free TV and watch it there. That site is awesome.

08/23/2014 at 03:51 PM

Project Free TV? I'll check that out.

08/23/2014 at 05:17 PM

I think what my dad pays for Time Warner is outrageous.

08/23/2014 at 03:49 PM

Oh there is so much Simpsons overload right now. I needed a break and found college football on TV. I'd like to be a cord cutter but I watch a lot of Jeopardy and local news.

You know I've checked out a couple of minutes of naked dating but I haven't sat through an entire episode. I thought the premise was cheesy, but I do like that so hopefully I can actually find it on TV.

That's cool that you met an Assistant Director. Did he share any interesting stories from the set?

Yeah band camp was hot, and it was always Field Practice where we learn pregame and the first half time show in the morning, Break into sections to learn music, lunch, full band practice, and then back on the field. Rinse.Repeat. That was college band for me.

Ace Attorney is going to be my "rental". If I like the game, I'll stop playing it on the iPad, and pick it up on the 3DS.

08/23/2014 at 05:23 PM

Pretty sure Jeaopardy and local news are on over-the-air TV. Unless it's different where you live or you just mean watching those over and over again. Cable does have that game show channel from what I recall.

You hear about the Naked Dating woman who's suing them for showing a second of her vagina without pixelation? Saw that story on The A.V. Club. I figured it was satire, cause The Onion was the one sharing it on Facebook, but nope. "From our sister (non-satirical) publication The A.V. Club."

He might have said more about the show while I was getting food, but it was mostly a talk about getting jobs in the industry, since that's kind of what the class was about. I do remember him saying he literally shoveled horse shit as a P.A. starting out.

That's why I think basketball was my sport as a youngin'. Indoors is nice. lol

08/25/2014 at 12:34 PM

It is but I the current cable packagae is bundled with the Internet and HOA. The service isn't bad especially since we get the HBO's and Showtimes's, and I can use the channel's apps, along with the TV App for the rest of the cable.

If I ever switch or move, I'll probably go cord cutter

02/28/2015 at 07:22 AM

Get a roku and any broadband, tons of free stuff on it. We use huluplus and amazon prime instead of netflix, cheaper and there's lots of stuff. Plus what's on basic cable like History and food channel.

02/28/2015 at 05:27 PM

I have two months of Hulu Plus free right now thanks to PSN+, but I just hate how many commercials are on it. It feels worse than actual TV! Whereas Netflix has tons of stuff I want to watch, including their original series, uninterrupted.

Amazon Prime does seem like a good service though. My friend had that and Crackle on his 360 for a while though.

03/02/2015 at 04:02 PM

That's the thing with Hulu+, so many commercials, and the main reason why I quit the service. Yeah Chromecast, Roku, and Apple TV (which I use) all have the TV apps as well as your consoles are all really good at broadcasting these streaming services. I tried Amazon's service a year ago and wasn't a fan.

KnightDriver

08/25/2014 at 02:29 AM

Love that Simpson's Clash of Castles and Star Wars Commander.

08/25/2014 at 12:37 PM

Both are so much fun. I'll probably change my tune a bit once my Commander station is attacked.

08/27/2014 at 02:55 AM

Sony's "Commander Station" was attacked last week. That's how they should've said it.

Chris Yarger Community Manager

08/25/2014 at 08:17 AM

Heads up, that's the best Kittie album in my opinion. It's kind of neat though to listen to that album, then listen to their first album to see how well Morgan Lander has progressed as a guitarist/singer. She's really added some killer touches to her musical styles

08/25/2014 at 12:38 PM

I really like this Kittie album. I've listened to maybe half and one song didn't get a four star rating from me (four and five call the iPod home). I have Spit, and there is a lot of improvement in the vocals.

PixlBit