Things Cooling Down Before Summer Heats Them Up

I’m sure the past couple of months have been trying for a lot of folks the world over; but I want to say that it has been especially taxing on those of us living in certain parts of the United States. As a resident of one of the areas heavily affected by these events; I just want to say I’m glad it’s mostly behind us and the we can all move forward with our daily lives in a (hopefully) constructive manner.

A personal physical foot injury has made me a little late in June’s update (could barely walk for a week!), but to be frank there hasn’t been a lot of “good” news to report of anything off the beaten path. When society tends to become a little more pessimistic overall, the usual “weird but harmless” news dies down a lot, and the people interested in the more abstract and artful way of life also get consumed by the same noise. So I’m going to take the time to get “retro” on you and recommend something that I have already done so for years over on The List which is Coast to Coast AM with George Noory. The reason I’m bringing this back up is because the staff over at that site have an excellent way of digging up really fascinating and wacky news events from around the world that are paranormal or just plain weird. I think we can all use this time to take a break from the ordinary and I highly suggest you visit the Coast to Coast Articles page and get lost in some rabbit holes you never thought you would go down.

The next YouTube recommendation really doesn’t need an introduction, but some of you out there might have been living under a rock for the past few years. His name is the Lock Picking Lawyer and he does the world a public service by showing you how inept and laughably bad most locks are constructed now-a-days that are meant to protect your valuables and bodies. A must watch if this is the first time you’ve heard of him, as his library of videos will make you question every purchase decision you ever made regarding security in a static form!

I’m also going to take this time to share some further love for Jake Williams over at BSF and his upcoming documentary “Closed for Storm”. I’ve been looking forward to the release of this for quite some time now but unfortunately due to the recent world events unfolding, the indie / theatrical release was indefinitely pushed back as Jake (the director of the film) had to look for alternative options in releasing it in digital format as a premiere. You can watch the trailer below.

I’m going to end the June update with another audio blog to round things out. It may seem a bit rambling so I apologize ahead in advance, but it’s been a bit tiring since the last update. Hopefully the rest of June until July will be more exciting and uplifting for all parties invovled. Have a cheerful summer Isabelle from Animal Crossing! (Artist is Kajjura)

Artist: Kajijura / Patreon

Blasts from the past good and bad

Sticking to the indoors a lot can bring up memories good and bad. It’s important to realize a lot of the “great” stuff you see today in media and entertainment had it roots probably somewhere else; somewhere still reachable if you look hard enough. Although I do welcome the new wave of creativity the internet has fostered in the last decade; I can’t help but be an old sentimental fool when it comes to serialized TV series of yesteryear with the talent to match it up. So if you don’t mind the slightly cornball acting and ridiculous plot, I welcome you to watch a series of my childhood on IMDb TV (it’s free if you have an account - also free to create) called The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr. If anything the younger folks out there might wonder why a lot of boomers like Bruce Campbell and hold him in such high “geek” regard and how hot Kelly Rutherford really was during her time on the series!

I’m trying something different starting this month with an audio blog about a topic I’m posting. This one in particular has to do with a developer I have a history with (a good one) and I hope you find it interesting enough to listen all the way through. For background information, the developer recently got in some hot water with Google and had his account disabled - presumably preventing him from further updating and maintaining his game on the Google Play platform. More details in the audio clip below!

Speaking of space games, if you got some time to kill and want to play a kick-ass shmup you probably never heard of if you’re under the age of 21; then I have a treat for you. It’s called “Tyrian” and sparked my love of shmup games ever since I was a little child. Better yet it’s completely and legally free to play and is available on various ports. Click on the image below to visit the open Tyrian website.

I always feel like I need to include some obligatory waifu content in all my posts, but this month’s theme of “retro” stuff is really making me strain my brain connecting the two. So I’ll end this month’s update with my first “official” waifu that started it all - Katt/Rinpoo Chaun from Breath of Fire II! If you haven’t played the game yet, it’s a decent jRPG that unfortunately hasn’t aged particularly too well (tons of random battles and relatively slow combat system), but it’s still solid enough for an extremely lazy day if you are so inclined. The game is officially playable on the New Nintendo 3DS eshop, but you can also scour the internet for the Snes / GBA variants. Until next month, stay safe!

Artist: メタ太 (metata)

Travelling without going anywhere

Another month stuck at home, another chance for all of us to expand our horizons into other people’s lives. One of the things I always wanted to do with the blog was to make sure to highlight the obscure but awesome out in the world. In this month’s update let’s talk about historical odd balls and the living odd balls first before the obligatory gaming stuff most folks know me for from YouTube.

You like scary or freaky stuff? I do too. It’s even better when it actually happened. The series I’m about to recommend you is called True Nightmares and is actually based on historical events that took place. Todd Robbins sells the show with his narration, while the actual tales themselves should grab their hooks into you. The trailer below doesn’t really do it justice (it’s just a montage of clips from one of the episodes) but unfortunately it is the only official trailer I could find and use. Off the record the show has quite the following, so a lot of its episodes are on YouTube “in the wild”; just pretend you didn’t hear that from me.

Next up let’s talk about theaters. You know - those places that are completely closed off for the time being for “social distancing” initiatives. Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to go to a theater and watch from the comfort of your car while observing that mandate? As a matter of fact when I was a younger lad, I am certain things like that existed. There are good folks out there trying to keep these places alive, and the focus of my next suggestion in a documentary called At the Drive-In. I won’t spoil much about the film on films; but I will be happy to note that it’s currently “free with ads” on sites Vudu and Tubi for the time being.

Growing up enjoying all things mechanical but absolutely sucking at all things math related; I am always envious of those who make a living dealing with such things. If you ever grew up with arcades like I did, then Pinball might be something you may of passed on by or even played during your formative years. Although not a hardcore fan or hobbyist myself, I do appreciate the medium. This little documentary is a bite sized introduction into that world and I hope you find it as interesting as I did.

If you somehow stumbled upon my blog coming over from my YouTube page, you’re probably expecting giant anime breasts to burst out on the screen. In that regard you might be both disappointed that I’m interested in a lot of other stuff; (I mean that too, check out the past updates!) but also in luck that I am constantly on the look out for games “on the lewder side” that actually have decent game play. Something that I came across recently is Eiyuu Senki War Wonder (英雄*戦姫WWX) which is a Japanese DMM game that is grid based strategy mixed with Waifus similar to the great Last Origin I’ve talked about extensively on the channel. That being said I want to warn you that playing this game is a daunting task as it requires you to blindly navigate DMM Japan’s site for the game and to register an account. Luckily DMM JP now allows foreigner registration for an account (you don’t need a VPN to play) but that doesn’t mean the game is translated. You’re going to have to flail about on your own, but at the very least there’s this wiki here that should help you out. If your heart is filled with burning passion for more waifus out there (as it should be) then you’ll square your shoulders for the daunting task at hand and figure things out to play the game. Good luck solider!

I know it sucks staying indoors amid the current conditions out there. I just want to remind you to take this time and fully explore things you probably didn’t have time to in the past or never thought of examining in detail. You might just find something you really like that was there all along. As always I’ll see you guys next month with (hopefully) new things to talk about.

Getting Older And Not Wiser

March is birthday month for both me and Clover, and we get to celebrate it by washing our hands vigorously and wearing face masks while trying to blow out candles on a birthday cake? Joking aside, it’s been a good year so far (regardless of world events) and we’re happy to bring in yet another year of age.

Starting off with the real life stuff - it’s a good time to remind folks out there to appreciate what you already have and not what you want. I say that since I’ve been really digging a TV series as of late called Real Detective that is one of the best produced non fiction crime dramas I’ve seen for quite a while. I always try to look at the brighter side of things when it comes to life, and if I need to remind myself I’m not “one of those folks” going through what is portrayed on the show. Since a lot of folks are going to be indoors for a while, I highly recommend you take a look at the series if you need something to pass the time.

Moving onto game stuff I’m a little late to the party for the following 2 entries, but they are unique experiences none the less. The first one is Atelier Ryza: Ever Darkness & the Secret Hideout which is an older game from last year that I never got to experience for a couple of reasons. None the less I was happy to find out the PC port of the game (which is the superior one in my opinion) supports modding and of course high resolution textures and effects. An in-game screenshot of my own applied mods below hopefully will peak your interest in checking it out.

The next game recently came out on mobile but was actually out sometime ago on the PS4. It’s called Earth’s Dawn and was on sale on Fanatical (fantastic website for PC game deals) for $1. For that price, I naturally had to try it out and it wasn’t as bad as the reviews said it was back on the PS4. That being said, I wouldn’t pay more than $5 for it and that’s actually the every day price on the Nintendo Switch version. I hope the game’s developers in the future make a new game based on the foundations of Earth’s Dawn as there’s a lot of good ideas at the root of it. Below is an excellent review from AGR.

Moving onto anime stuff that Clover watches, this month we have a pretty funny and wacky anime called Murenase! Seton Gakuen. I won’t spoil the anime too much since you need to watch it to enjoy it, but let’s just say if you like animals, high school and poop jokes - it’ll be right up your alley.

That’s it for this month’s update. The next rare time Clover streams, wish her a happy birthday! Be generous with those Twitch bits and subs too - cause we need money to buy soap and napkins.