Update 2.0

     This is just a general whats up kinda post that I wanted to do. I haven't written for a couple days and I don't the blog to get too stale. I gotta keep up the content to keep things interesting. Life has been good, better than usual. Last couple of weeks have been rough at work because I was getting over 40 hour weeks with one day off or no days off. It was all good though because of that money! This week is super relaxing and I've got a couple days off to boot. I even got to hang out with friends earlier this week and today I was chillin' at my friends house playing the Overwatch beta.
     In terms of music I've been listening to all kinds of stuff. I got my Ipod loaded up to the max with rock, metal, and jazz music. Right now I'm listening to Yngwie Malmsteen's 1996 album Inspiration. The album opens up with a cover of Kansas' Carry on Wayword Son, such a good song! I remember in high school doing a marching band show while playing trumpet and opening up with that tune. Brings back many memories. It sounds so much more bad-ass and neo-classical when Malmsteen solos over the changes. There's even a sick cover of Hendrix's Manic Depression on this album. Malmsteen does a sick Hendrix impersonation!
     Speaking of Malmsteen, I have his autobiography. I got it not too long ago but I haven't finished. The beginning part of it is all about how he was such a great musician but nobody noticed him in his native Sweden. It wasn't until he came to the States and played with some bland hair metal bands that his talent was appreciated. Other stuff I've been listening to is Eric Dolphy, Coltrane, Ornette Coleman, Symphony X, etc. All the standards that I've come to know and love over the years. I'm always searching far and wide (through the net) for new music to listen to. It comes in any and all forms really. Lately my new thing has been electronic music, which is a little strange for me because in the past I'd always hated electronic music because I thought it sounded bland and soul-less with no musicality. But tastes change as time goes by. Who knows, maybe there will be a time when I don't really want to hear the sound of post-bop saxophones?
     Lastly, gaming has been fun. Last night we had a smash-fest at our friends house. We were playing five player smash for a bit and it was really fun! I've played eight player smash before and that is just absolutely stupid because there's too much going on and you can't even really see the screen and what your character is doing. Once we started playing 1v1's I absolutely dominated, defeating everybody in the room convincingly. I would say my neutral game with Bayonetta has improved a lot and I've learned to switch up my style mid-match more if my opponent starts baiting and reading me. The weekly smash tournament at Fire and Dice is tomorrow (today, technically speaking) and I'm excited to go and try out my newfound skills on people there. The people at Fire and Dice are really good, some of them are even way better than me but I can still beat them if I play a nearly perfect game or pull a rabbit out of my hat. It's going to be rough but I'm going to give it all I've got and see what happens.
     I've also been playing a lot of Heroes of the Storm and Diablo III. Today I got most of the set items for Immortal Kings, a good set for Barbarians in the game. It gives me all kinds of buffs, its really sweet! In addition, I want to get back into playing more Street Fighter V but I just haven't been up to it lately. Maybe I'll play a bit tomorrow after the tournament. Life just moves so fast and there's only so much gaming you can get in on a busy day when you still have other commitments. For a while I was focusing on playing only smash but I felt like I burned out pretty quick. I have to get a variety of games in otherwise I just don't feel it. I'm still working on the Fire Emblem Fates Conquest campaign and I gotta say that the game is hella difficult. Chapter ten took me three tries to beat and all it was just a hold out mission where you had to hold out for eleven turns. Doesn't sound difficult but it took everything I had just to win. Looking forward to more chapters like that lol. I've also been watching a lot of anime at night. That's it for now, sayonara!