Still stuck inside with the rest of the world

Just as things were starting to open up worldwide, we unfortunately get hit with a little bit of regression in regards to travel. So just like everyone else, me and my wife have had to make the best of the situation while a lot of things are closed around us. I never thought of myself personally as someone who could go stir crazy (and for the record I’m far from), but I can certainly start to appreciate the freedom I had back in February of this year. Let’s all hope together this ends sooner than later, cause I’m really stretching what I can find out there that’s interesting on the internet that you probably haven’t already stumbled upon yourself being stuck inside like we are!

Let’s start with the mainstream stuff first. Literally one day after my last update, a new streaming service (free by the the way) opened up called Peacock. I’m not in any way shape or form associated with them (or getting endorsed), but I do want to bring them up since they actually have a couple of series “free” to watch on their platform that I have endorsed here on the site. Chiefly, they have the original run of Unsolved Mysteries that runs a staggering 222 episodes! That alone is worth taking a look in my opinion since you’re going to be getting all of that content on a licensed platform at the best possible quality, without all of that icky “potentially pirate” aftertaste that comes from 3rd party “gray” area streaming sites. I can’t recommend it enough for anyone to check out this original series if you want something to run in the background and have nothing better to watch - it might serve as an impromptu history lesson of the culture and world at the time as well. It’s also a good way to see why Robert Stack was such an awesome host, only marginally less charming than Jonathan Frakes on Beyond Belief (but that’s just my opinion!).

Onto some personal news, I want to sincerely thank everyone for pushing me past 1000 YouTube subscribers! Although I have always wanted to make BoxInACorner the main hub for all of my content (and I still do of course), it is still nice to see that I am able to make some type of impact in the massive landscape of YouTube. I did not know of the existence of the community tab (a recently added feature I believe) that allows you to use it as a pseudo news feed, and I want to take advantage of that for the folks that genuinely care about anything I have to say. To this end I will be mirroring the videos that I “exclusively” link on the website over there as well. That way it doesn’t clog up the main channel feed and it will help fill the void in-between major video releases. In the old days most folks would open up a second YouTube channel where they would post content not entirely related to the main theme of the videos being released. I think with the community tab now being able to host videos, it will be a good platform for me to post secondary content. In any case, thank you once again for the 1K achievement, and onward to 2K!

As I’ve mentioned in previous updates, I’m a huge fan of the Yakuza series from Sega. So it goes without question that I am looking forward to the new release Yakuza Like A Dragon that has a worldwide release date of November 13 2020. Although I will not be personally doing a play through of the game (one of my least viewed content on the YouTube channel by the way) I will enjoy it as a fan and hope you do so as well since I still love the absolutely quirkiness of the series set among a crime drama. If you haven’t played or tried the other games in the Yakuza series, the vast majority of them are now on PC and are on sale for half off most of the time. So more reason for you to check them out if you like what you see, and I hope you do.

Since it’s almost mandatory for me to end all updates with something lewd and or anime related (cause most of my visitors came from my YoutTube channel after all), then this is a friendly reminder to take care of your wrists! I personally know a lot of people who have wrist problems (Carpel tunnel) from sitting at a keyboard all day without the proper supports. I also know that some folks get really bad mouse fatigue from using a boring, flat mouse pad. So I always suggest to them (I’m dead serious!) they look into a wrist support mouse pad - chiefly in the form of an “Oppai” mouse pad or similar. Amazon currently carries these mouse pads in droves, but I’m not sure how long before they’re pulled from the “shelves” so to speak due to the political climate we are in at the moment. I won’t (and refuse to) go into those issues on my site, but let’s just say I actually have a small stock pile of these type of mouse pads to use should one ever start to get worn and fail on me. I suggest you look into them while you can and while they’re affordable. They might not be around for long! Don’t worry about the designs as well - they’re is sure to be something that suits all tastes out there. And you can always just use a plain boring single color one!

Live your life today and enjoy the little things

I wasn’t expecting to start off this month’s update with some somber news, but I had to mention it since I thoroughly was a fan of the show Mythbusters back when it was on air. I watched every season from start to finish, and naturally grew closer to the cast by proxy. Although the death of Jessie Combs was also tragic; it can be said that Grant Imahara was part of the show family in a more permanent fashion. None the less, it’s a good reminder to live your life as much as possible while you can now and enjoy all the little things. Rest in peace Grant.

Onto more uplifting news, I stumbled upon a website I think everyone should pay a visit to, and that site deals with artful miniatures. It’s called Minimiam and it will take you down a rabbit hole for hours - I promise. Make sure to turn off your ad-blocker as it will prevent the gallery from showing up properly.

Back during my college days (many moons ago mind you!) I actually was into Japanese miniatures from a company named Re-Ment. Why miniatures you might ask? Well in college it was a relatively cheap, time consuming hobby that took my mind away from the stress of being thrown into the o’l collegiate system. An old professor actually recommended I get into ship building in a bottle as a hobby. Although he made a strong impression in me to give it a shot; I was hard pressed to find an easy source of supplies for the hobby. The actual cost of the tools and supplies was very high as well. Enter Re-Ment and their affordable pre-built model kits that have an extremely high level of detail for what they are. I already recommend a YouTube channel that has some Re-Ment videos on it, so I’ll link one for your reference down below.

Onto more mainstream news, Unsolved Mysteries is back baby! I binged watched the reboot on Netflix and was happy to see the series back, even though it honestly could of been a lot better overall. But this isn’t a show critic site; so I’ll just say you should definitely check it out if you’ve never heard of the original and keep your eyes peeled for upcoming seasons. It’s a mix of crime and paranormal documentaries and is perfect fodder material for those of us still stuck behind doors. I also highly advise you check out the very long original series if you can find it somewhere online. Although very dated by today’s standards in terms of production, a lot of the stories are still fascinating and creepy.

I end this update with of course a waifu just in case people from my YouTube channel spill over and think they’re reading the wrong site. Personally I would skip the anime and go straight for the manga! Happy reading!

© KADOKAWA CORPORATION 2020

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)