Random Update 3/19/15

On 03/19/2015 at 12:06 PM by Ranger1

Good morning, Pixlbit Nation! How is everyone on this fine day? We're on day two of howling winds and cold temps, but I don't care. My great-nephew Gabriel was born this morning at 6:58, and I can't wait to meet the little guy! I'm hoping to make the trip down this weekend. There will be much spoiling of this child on my part, I have a feeling.

It's been a fairly mellow week on my end, unemployment benefits ended up being half of what I was originally told they'd be, so I'm back to living on the bare necessities until that first paycheck from the park arrives three and a half weeks after I start. Sometimes being paid biweekly sucks. Whatever. It'll all be fine. I start in ten days and I'm so ready to be back. One of the guys behind the butcher counter at the grocery store where I do my shopping can't wait until I start, he tells me it's his sure sign of spring when I go back to the park. One of my favorite clerks at the hardware store say the same thing.

And today marks a long run of birthdays here on Pixlbit (actually, I think I may have missed a couple other March birthdays - feel free to shout 'em out in the comments) - Larry's (Homelessrook) is today, mine is Saturday, Joe's is Monday, and I think there might be a couple more. June must have been a busy month for our parents...

Watching: Finished Claymore. I liked it, but I think it might have made a better movie than a series. Watched the first episode of Cowboy Bebop. I like it so far. Watched a documentary called Tiny, about the tiny house movement. Some of the people in the film were cool, others were kind of smug, sort of like some Prius (and other hybrid car owners). That "look at us, we're better people than you" attitude annoys me. I like tiny house living, my ideal tiny house would be about 100 square feet larger than what I have at the moment (400 square feet), though. Watched more episodes of the Hawaii Five-0 remake, and caught up on the current TV shows I watch - The Originals, Agents of SHIELD, Hell's Kitchen, Supernatural, Backstrom, and The Blacklist. Of the bunch, The Blacklist and Agents of SHIELD are my favorites. Oh, and NCIS, too. That's the only one I watch as it airs, as CBS doesn't show current shows on Hulu PLUS, and their streaming service sucks. More commercials than when the show actually airs, I'm pretty sure. I also watched The Hunt for Red October for the umpteenth time. I love that movie.

Reading: Taking my time with The Iliad. Also going through the bins of books I salvaged from my grandmother's garage last fall. Any that I'm not overly attached to are going in the donation pile for the library's book sale. I've snagged a couple that I'll read and then donate. I started one, a two-in-one by Mercedes Lackey and Ellen Guon - Knight of Ghosts and Shadows and its sequel Summoned to Tourney, and have realized that it's not really that good and decided not to waste my time with it. Also found The Lions of al-Rhassan where it had fallen under the futon and started reading it again.

Playing: Still doing side quests and trophy/title hunting in Tales of Xillia 2. I think I've advanced the story two chapters since last week. When side quests and trophy/title hunting start boring me, I'll finish the game off.

Listening: It's been an awesome week for music. Jason and I went to a concert last Friday by Anna and Elizabeth, two young ballad singers. I know Elizabeth from some of the folk events I go to, but this was the first time I've seen her and her singing partner in concert. Not only do they sing, but they use "crankies" to illustrate many of the songs. Crankies are a historic art form that were known as moving panoramas in the 19th century. Check out the video, it's pretty cool, and they make all their own crankies themselves. I also bought their new CD Anna and Elizabeth, it has a lot of the songs from the concert on it (as well it should, as this was their CD release tour). My friend Ernie also released a CD recently, and I've been listening to that a lot, too. And tomorrow Jason is taking me to a concert by a folk trio called Meteora for my birthday. Saturday, I'm going to the monthly shanty session in Portsmouth, which coincides nicely with my birthday.

Anna and Elizabeth

Ernie Johnson

And thus ends this week's edition of Random Updates. See ya on the flipside, Pixlbit Nation!

Matt Snee Staff Writer

03/19/2015 at 12:56 PM

Crankies, eh? learn something new every day.

Ranger1

03/19/2015 at 01:15 PM

They're call crankies because you crank them. I like names that make sense :)

03/19/2015 at 01:21 PM

that's funny because I like things that don't make sense.

03/19/2015 at 01:22 PM

like life -- no sense there!

Super Step Contributing Writer

03/19/2015 at 01:00 PM

Crankies are cool and I liked that West Wind song.

I'm currently doing a bit of trophy hunting myself. I think with a lot of time and effort I might be able to platinum Rayman Legends. Currently looking at all my games and trying to get at least all the "rare" trophies.

I should probably read the Illiad ... haven't been doing much reading, but probably will be reading some research here soon for the thesis.

I'm currently watching the Notre Dame-Northeastern game online. I picked Notre Dame for this one in my bracket and I'm hoping they win with it being St. Paddy's Day week and all. Lumberjacks play on TruTV later at the oddly specific time of 6:27PM CT.

Cowboy Bebop is such a great style-over-substance series. And I take it you have seen the South Park episode with the smug cloud? lol

I'll be sure to wish you a happy birthday Saturday and congratulations on the great grand nephew!

03/19/2015 at 01:19 PM

The Iliad is either a great story or a colossal bore depending on what translation you read. My friend Shawn recommended the Robert Fagles translation, which is excellent. It even has a pronouncing glossary in the back that doubles as a way of keeping track of who's who.

Nope, never seen that South Park episode. Just a lot of experience with overly-smug people.

03/20/2015 at 12:51 AM

Well then you might appreciate this.

03/20/2015 at 08:50 AM

Thank you! Made my morning!

goaztecs

03/19/2015 at 01:24 PM

Yay for the new grand nephew! Wow so many birthdays in March, Happy Birthday to all March Pixlbit Babies!

I'm digging SHIELD, and Hell's Kitchen. I'm currently rooting for Chef Sarah because she doesn't seem like a pain in the behind like everyone else is.

I've never tried the CBS app but I heard that they are charging for content which turns me away from their service. I already pay for Netflix and WWE, and I don't want to add another service into the mix.

03/19/2015 at 01:50 PM

I already have permission to teach Gabriel how to be a Badass snowshoe racer, and he's parents are both fellow geeks, so he's going to be one cool kid.

I like Chef T, she seems to know what she's doing and doesn't seem to get involved in all the squabbling.

You can watch the most recent couple of episodes on CBS.com for free, but if you want anything older than that, you have to get the app. It's slow and crappy and anyone who would pay for it needs their head examined.

KnightDriver

03/20/2015 at 02:15 AM

I love the crankies! So beautiful! Folk music like The Devil's Nine Questions brings a tear to my eye. Not sure why, only that it's so direct and honest.

My Dad was born in March, my Mom in April. My sisters in April and June. I'm an October baby.

03/20/2015 at 08:54 AM

You're in Virginia, aren't you? Anna lives in Baltimore and Elizabeth lives in a small town in central Virginia. Keep your eye on their website and maybe you can catch them live somewhere. Definitely worth it.

03/20/2015 at 03:46 PM

South Eastern Pennsylvania

03/20/2015 at 04:08 PM

Right. It's Kevin (who didn't make the jump with us) who's in VA. Well, they may play somewhere you can see them. Just keep checking the tour section of their website.

03/21/2015 at 03:25 AM

Happy Birthday!

03/21/2015 at 10:21 AM

Thanks!

leeradical42

03/20/2015 at 07:54 AM

Congratulations always nice to have baby's to spoil :) yes you missed my Birthday the 6th of march but I'm 49 so you can miss mine lol!! Just checking in and saw your blog less the 2 weeks for my surgery and I'm terrified and sorry it's still cold there were in the 70s plus here take care...

03/20/2015 at 08:56 AM

Thanks! Hey, you're not that much older than me.

Ah, the weather. It's March in Maine, it'll do as it pleases. We did have some weather above freezing earlier in the week, so at least the snow is melting. Slowly, but it's melting.

Don't stress the surgery. Hip replacements are pretty routine these days.

VisuaLIES

03/20/2015 at 11:02 AM

Happy birthday! Saturday is my anniversary too (6 years).

My wife is fascinated by the tiny house show, but it's not for me. I'm all for being environmentally friendly, and yes, we as a society have become too materialistic and wasteful, but those houses are so cramped. I live in a small house as it is, and I hate having to maneuver around furniture, piles of laundry, my kid's toys, etc. I don't need a big house but I hate not having personal space. And no, living in a small house doesn't make you a better person. A smug SOB in a tiny house is still a smug SOB lol.

03/20/2015 at 12:00 PM

There are many different sizes of tiny houses. Some of them are pretty good-sized. If I ever have the money, I'd love to build one of these, probably one of the slightly bigger ones with the optional second bedroom.

PixlBit