Winter Wonderland Xmas and New Year irl update

Life has been great. I've been working a ton, gaming a ton, playing guitar a ton, and just living life to the fullest every day. It's pretty great! For the Christmas break from school my younger brother came and visited us. It was great having him. It was a real bros kind of a Christmas with the three brothers all together. My brother goes to the University of Chicago and he's a brilliant young guy. He runs a great blog about African/Caribbean history and its tagged on my blog. I like his posts on jazz. Check it out.

Work has been stressful but it pays the bills. I've been working super late shifts and its always a lot of work. But as they say the show must go on even if I'm tired of it. I've almost reconciled the fact that I'm giving up a social life to work but there have been good things that have come out of work lately. Such as...

The other night I met Steve Vai's son, Fire Vai. Don't call his name out in a movie theater! :D
We talked for a bit and I told him about how his dad was a big influence on my guitar playing. He mentioned that Tosin Abasi comes over to their house all the time. Later that evening he came back and gave my friend and I some signature Vai guitar picks, poster, dvd, and a cd! Talk about cool.

Christmas was also great despite the fact that I worked until 11:30 pm. When I got home I got to eat a great Cornish game hen dinner and open my gifts with my family. I got a nuka cola girl blanket, fallout vault boy (pixelated art-style) snapback, n64 anthology book that covers every game made on the console, Ravi Coltrane's latest record, Attack on Titan movie part 2, Warhammer 40k comic, Halo original soundtrack, Hendrix shirt, Megadeth shirt, Ghost shirt, Steam card, and I still have one more gift coming from a friend or two. Talk about an epic fucking loot experience. I spent a lot of money on friends and family this year and they certainly did the same for me. It's great knowing that people care about me and got me great stuff that I will use for the long term.

In addition, earlier this week I jammed with a guitar playing co-worker of mine and we're going to start a project together. Find a bassist and a singer and have a real band that can start gigging. These guys are younger than I am but they are great musicians. The guitar player is a progressive metal player that plays on a John Petrucci signature 7-string. The drummer just likes to groove but he has great technique and fills. He was keeping up with every rhythm I threw at him. It was an incredible jamming experience. With me there things went into improvisatory jazz territory but I could also bring it to prog and metal moments as well.

In terms of gaming I've been playing a lotta stuff with friends. Team Fortress 2, Overwatch, and Heroes of the Storm mostly but since I got Warhammer Vermintide from a friend on Christmas I've been putting in time on that. It's a great game and I'm glad I finally have it because I've been wanting it for a while.

Lastly, its been a real winter wonderland in California this year. Its been the coldest year since I've lived here. Nights get pretty cold in my room but thankfully I have a extra blanket and a small heater.

Things have been good but life also has to be well balanced in order to live a meaningful life. As we go into this next year I will focus harder on living a meaningful life. That is all I can ask for.

That's it for now. See ya next year!

Overwatch plans for 2017

Jeff Kaplan put out a new video talking about Overwatch and plans for the future.

He began talking about how they haven't changed Sombra yet because they think she has a high skill cap and they don't want another overpowered character like the launch of Ana. They introduced Eichenwalde, Arcade Mode, Seasonal Events, and all the other content. It's been a blast.

Looking forward to the new year there's a lot of stuff for the players to be excited about.

Oasis is the new map that's already on the ptr. They're going to release it early 2017, maybe even by the new year.

More Seasonal Events are coming. Some that we'll see coming and some that we won't see coming.

They're working on customization for a communication wheel (ultimate, hello, voice lines, etc). They're going to put like 4 emotes and voice lines and stuff. There's also going to be custom bindings to trigger these. For sprays they're going to add a spray wheel-up to four sprays. By adding this customization it will make a lot of the voice lines, sprays, and emotes more exciting and rewarding.

Minor upgrades include joining team chat right away instead of clicking on it every game.

They're working on a lot of new content all the time but they also scrap a lot of ideas as well. Genji is an example of this because he wasn't working out in the beginning of the creation process. They have a hero that has been worked through the art prototype already. Possibly Doomfist voiced by Terry Crews?

They're working on other maps other than Oasis. These will be shown next year. Some won't see the light of day.

They're always looking for new things to try out for Arcade Mode.

Improvements for esports will be coming for sure-particularly for spectator viewing. Professional broadcasters and observers have been helping them with this.

The last thing which they mentioned at BlizzCon is that they want to give us a way for us to find custom games. They're creating a server browser so people can see a big list of custom games and players can create them and make them public for people to join. This is the top requested feature and its very common in first person shooters. They're going to have a solid version 1.0 running in early 2017 and they're going to expand upon it later.

The developer updates will keep coming and we'll learn more as time passes.

Oh yeah, Tracer was revealed as being gay in the latest Overwatch comic. Cheers love, the gays are here!

Evolve, Left 4 Dead Studio working on new co-op fps

Evolve was a bit of a failure of a co-op multiplayer experience. Support for Evolve officially ended earlier this year and Turtle Rock studios has moved on to a new IP. It's going to have a dark fantasy vibe.

A studio rep told gamesindustry.biz that they're collaborating with free to play publisher Perfect World Entertainment. Their works include Star Trek Online and Black Light Retribution. He went on to say:

"We are developing a new franchise set in an all new universe that leverages the style of gameplay our community loves and expects from Turtle Rock Studios," according to Phil Robb, the studio's co-founder. "We're focusing on what we do best - heart-pounding moment-to-moment online co-op FPS action, and with Perfect World as our partner, we will always make sure that our players come first by listening to them and growing the game based on how they play and interact over what we hope are many years to come."

Sounds pretty sweet, right?  The President of the company Steve Goldstein also said the game will be focused on co-op play and that it will have a strong dark fantasy element. There will be no zombies nor will it be apocalyptic.

Evolve wasn't a bad game. But it died hard. These are great gaming developers. They created one of the best co-op experiences in gaming-Left 4 Dead. I think this new IP will be pretty great especially since it will be in a fantasy universe. I'm hoping that there's magic and elves and stuff. This new game will be out in 2018 at the earliest. 

Is Terry Crews gonna be the voice of Doomfist?

In a tweet earlier today Blizzard announced that Terry Crews has visited the campus for unknown reasons. People are thinking its because he's going to be the voice of Doomfist. This seems highly likely, as I don't think he would've been there just because he's a fan of pc gaming.

In an Overwatch subreddit titled "If Doomfist becomes a hero I'd be so hyped if Terry Crews voice acted for him" Terry Crews responded  "I would LOVE TO PLAY DOOMFIST." He's really into pc gaming and he has to do this for the fans, the devs, and for himself. He would be a great addition to the game.

I know Terry Crews mostly from Everybody Hates Chris, a Chris Rock comedy sitcom about when he was a kid. Terry Crews plays Chris's dad in that show and he's a great actor. I also know him from Brooklyn Nine Nine, a goofy show that delivers the laughs.

Blizzard loves their fans so it is entirely possible that they might hire a voice actor based on thousands of Reddit upvotes and one piece of Reddit gold.

If you didn't know who Doomfist was you can read all about him here.

Overwatch Christmas Update Is Live

     So the Christmas update for Overwatch has gone live. The new update brings a bunch of cool new skins, a Mei only 6v6 brawl, the changes they made to Symmetra from the ptr, and a new social features that allows you stay as a team together after games. So much stuff but we all know you're only here for the cool new skins. Here they are!

     These new skins are pretty terrific if I do say so myself. I already got the Nutcracker Zenyatta, Scrooge McCree, and Santa Torb. I'm hoping to pick up the Yeti Winston because that one is just badass. It looks like Winston has a manly beard mane, its pretty freakin' awesome. I'm definitely going to farm up more loot boxes and see what I can get. I will probably end up buying the other ones with the currency I have saved up.

     The game has changed a lot. Symmetra is a lot stronger now with her projectile shield and the new social feature to stay as team makes finding games a lot faster. It works especially well with a good team you played with in competitive mode. However, the more I play competitive the more toxic players I encounter. Like players that leave after the first minute of the game that say, "fuck you guys" and leave. It's an epidemic that the devs must fix.

     It's always great to see the holiday spirit reflected in our favorite games. For some this is a hard time of perhaps even suffering. If we can find joy in the things we like than maybe that really is the Christmas spirit.

Happy holidays

China passes loot box law

Loot boxes are a thing in many video games. You level up and you earn boxes or you can buy them for a set fee. Inside you can find many a in-game items. For example, in Overwatch you can get character skins, emotes, sprays, etc. Right now we have no idea what our odds are of getting items we want as its usually always random.

Well, China passed a law that's going to be a game changer. Starting May 2017, developers will have to start disclosing the probabilities of what could be inside the boxes in games like Overwatch, Counter Strike, and Hearthstone. 

Here are the stipulations (as translated by NeoGAF user chillybright):

2.6 ...Online game publishers shall promptly publicly announce information about the name, property, content, quantity, and draw/forge probability of all virtual items and services that can be drawn/forge on the official website or a dedicated draw probability webpage of the game. The information on draw probability shall be true and effective.
2.7 Online game publishers shall publicly announce the random draw results by customers on notable places of official website or in game, and keep record for government inquiry. The record must be kept for more than 90 days. When publishing the random draw results, some measures should be taken place to protect user privacy.

This doesn't mean that we will be able to choose what we get in our loot boxes or see the probabilities because this law is only going to apply in China. However, that doesn't mean that it couldn't reach the Western hemisphere. This could be huge for developers and us gamers who feel like loot boxes are kind of a crap shoot gambler's audition. It is kind of messed up when we put in time into a game and we don't get the items we want out of these loot boxes.

This looks like a good step in the right direction for gamers and loot boxes. Hope it comes to the West.

Will Ferrell Starring In Esports Movie

Will Ferrell will be starring in a movie about esports. ESPN says it “will have similarities with the role he had in Talladega Nights”.

"His schtick, as exciting and unexpected as you may find this, will be that he’s an old dude playing in competitions where nobody else is over the age of 30, and esports powerhouses Evil Geniuses and Fnatic are both “in discussions to participate in the film”." (Kotaku)

I tried looking for the trailer but it doesn't appear to be online anywhere-meaning that the fact that most gaming publications and gamers know this is pretty cool. I wish I could see the trailer and get the pre-giggles. I'm a big fan of Will Ferrell and his comedic antics.

The fact that he's doing a movie about esports is a major win for us gamers. Whether you're semi-professional gamer (or super hardcore) like myself, pro gamer that gets paid and wins tournaments, or just a casual player that plays when they have the time we can all appreciate the fact that gaming has become a huge phenomenon and has been unleashed upon the general populace like a bat outta hell. 

I think gaming used to be a bit taboo when I was a kid. It meant you were a basement dweller who didn't have a girlfriend and still lived with your mom. But now everybody is a gamer. Hot girls are gamers (gamer grills), weight lifting jocks are gamers, dads are gamers, and even old ladies (see story about 80-year old granny who streams Skyrim). Gaming has become a part of the mass media culture in many aspects. This means that its no longer as exclusive as it used to be but things are much better now that everyone can be accepted and initiated with the rites of gamerdom.

Esports has made gaming even bigger and its great. I do enjoy watching gaming tournaments on Twitch from time to time and I can see that the gaming community has widened in race, gender, class background, and age. Gaming has also brought people together who otherwise would've never known each other in a million years. I've met countless friends through online gaming, it's pretty cool.

If this movie hits the major box offices (and I'm sure it will) it will be a huge win for gamers and the gaming community.

Gamers are really funny people. Just talk to me or any of my friends. 

Xmas gift ideas

I thought I'd do a brainstorming session for ideas for Christmas gifts.

For my friends I was thinking things like video games, t-shirts, hats, etc. I could become more specialized and get them things more interesting. For one friend I could get him something car-related. For another I could get him a metal album. For another I could get her something food related like a restaurant gift card. For another I could get him art supplies.

For my mom and other family things get even more specialized. For mom I was thinking something quasi religious relating to zen Buddhism (because she practices that) or I could send her flowers and a card with some money.

For my younger brother I will probably get him some sort of interesting science fiction novel. Maybe even one I already own LOL.

For my dad things get a little complicated. I will probably buy him something that he asks me to get for him.

For my older brother the obvious choice is a game. A less obvious choice would be comic books, art books, gaming shirt, and I was even thinking of getting him a cool Marvel figurine that they sell at Gamestop.

Then there's other people I might have to get stuff for. For them I will just get like little snacks or trinkets, things you can buy at places like Homegoods.

Then there's stuff for myself. But maybe I shouldn't even bother with that.

Marvel Vs. Capcom Infinite Revealed

So we've all heard about it and seen the trailer. There's going to be a new Marvel Vs. Capcom game called Infinite. If you haven't seen it check it out here. In the gameplay trailer you can see Iron Man and Captain Marvel squaring off against Megaman (X) and Ryu. They do some cool combos and show off the power of the Infinity Stones, which will be featured in the game. The Infinity Stones are these gems that give the users God-like powers. They're from the Marvel universe and they're important in the comics as well as the movies. Thanos has like five of those suckers.

"Captain Marvel has the time stone, which gives her the ability to dodge attacks, while Ryu has the power stone, which bathes him in a pink light and makes his punches even punchier." (Kotaku)  So these different stones will give them different abilities to turn the tide of battle.

The game has more of a straight Street Fighter feel by the looks of it rather than a Marvel Vs. Capcom play-style. Marvel Vs. Capcom is supposed to be more like a flurry cluster of crazy attacks and combos but this looks more paced and balanced-like Street Fighter V. The matches will be played 2v2 and there won't be assist attacks or combos where other characters can do an extra attack.

I am a huge Marvel Vs. Capcom fan  but I am a little disappointed by many aspects of the game already. For one thing we know for a fact there won't be any X-men characters because of licensing issues. So that tells me already that they're going to focus more on Street Fighter, Capcom, and other non X-men related Marvel characters. Also, there's the fact that they've changed it from 3v3 in Mvc3 and 2 to now only 2v2. I prefer the triple comp teams that can be made, it adds a lot of spice and variety to the series. Lastly, the fact that there's going to be no assists in the game pretty much means its going to be a straight up normal fighting game. However, I could be wrong. It could be great!    

Its due to be released sometime late next year on pc, xbox 1, and ps4. 

Animals as Leaders, The Madness of Many

I finally listened to some heavy rock and roll music after about a week of nonstop classical music. A new co-worker told me that the new Animals as Leaders was out and sure enough it's on YouTube. The Madness of Many is AAL's fourth record, released in November 2016. The album features Tosin Abasi on guitars, Javier Reyes on guitars and bass, and Matt Garstka on drums. This is the longest and most stable lineup for the band and they've been going strong for years. The album reached number ten on some New Zealand chart and 56 on the US Billboard 200.

I can tell you right now that from hearing the first couple tracks on this album that this is the best AAL album they've done thus far. You can tell that they worked together on every detail of the songs and music. In their past records we can clearly see where this is a Tosin song, that's a Reyes song, or that's a Garstka song. They've finally achieved democratic band mode where they give it their all while working together and the end result is bloody brill.

What can I say about the music? This music sounds like Meshuggah (Swedes have a monopoly on metal) had a black jazz baby that grew up to become a rocket scientist that works at Nasa. This is like space age progressive metal riffery at its finest. It djents (djent, new style of metal based around chugging in odd meters on bass strings) like all hell but it swings hard like jazz fusion (jazz-rock) does all the while maintaining an originality to it that is exclusively Animals as Leaders. They've developed a style and they've honed that style and made it better and better over the years performing and recording together.

Although this album has some complicated meters (rhythms) it never becomes too intelligent to the point where it would bore the non-musical listener who doesn't know what a 32nd or 64th note is or sounds like. While it is complicated music it somehow has a natural feel to it as well. It's hard to explain but the fact that they've achieved this on record is amazing. I don't think they could've done it without working together on every aspect because on previous albums the music gets lost awash in complicated musical ideas that ultimately sound exciting as a guitar player but might bore the average non-musical listener.

Another thing to note about this album is that because I've listened to all their previous albums there are moments on this album that sounds like previous songs. Bands tend to do this. It sounds great hearing familiar riffs and territory ventured once again.
They go through all kinds of complicated jazz changes, metal riffs, and drum beats but it all sounds like some natural planned out jam. It's pretty impressive. Tosin and Reyes' guitar playing is through the roof and Matt's drumming keeps everything tied down through tribal-like shamanistic beats. It's almost metaphysical. If this is the direction that metal is going I would like to see it continue to move forward in this manner. Metal music is so stale and bland these days that I almost can't stand it. There are many times when my friends turn on some metal music and I just want to leave the room. The last couple metal bands I was into weren't really metal in the traditional sense but were still really heavy bands. The idea of having heavy moments in between other styles is really cool and should definitely be explored more.

Metal needs to progress in order to keep from getting stale. This metal band has ascended above and beyond the average musical abilities of most metal groups. They're like jazz musicians at this point. Very cool to see great young players creating great inspiring music and catching the progressive metal zeitgeist at the same time.

The album obviously has a point to make with the album cover of the man going up a flight of stairs inside a human head. They're trying to make some sort of social or mental commentary but honestly I think it would go above most peoples' heads because this is an instrumental record with no vocals. However, you can make stories through instrumental songs. Although AAL is a great band I don't think they've achieved that level of artistic mastery yet. 

This is what intelligent metal sounds like. Not all of us headbang so hard that we hurt our necks.

Enter the second circle of elo hell

After two days of continuous play and farming wins I made it out of the first circle of elo hell and got promoted to silver. I've got my old rank back. It's a great feeling when you're playing well and winning games consistently in solo queue. I've finally got it figured out and now people always want to play with me because they say I'm a great healer. I usually add these randos (randoms) I meet through these pubs (public games) and grind games with them. Some of them talk a lot but we communicate well as a team and win mostly every time.

So you've made it out of the first wave of elo hell but you can't rest easy on your laurels just yet. This is just the beginning. The players will get better and games will become harder to win depending on your team, comps, maps, and situational awareness.

I've learned a few tricks that help me win games most of the time. For one thing if you get a team of idiots that only want one healer, one tank, and the rest dps I always go Lucio in that situation. When we get into fights I minimize my deaths at all costs-basically stay alive most of the time to just keep healing. That's the best thing Lucio can do in this situation. Lucio is the best for this because his healing is pretty good and speed boost is just too good to pass up. During the off season I played tons of games (Quick play) where I was the only healer playing Zenyatta. That wouldn't work so well in competitive.

In other situations where there's another healer I do things differently. If somebody else rapid fire picks Lucio right away (this hardly ever happens) I will mostly always (sometimes Mercy) go Ana for the nanoboost as well as for her super amazing single target healing. If you call out your nanoboost on the mic and ping it people will get the idea and time it with their ultimates. If you position everything right you will get teamwipes and/or three or more frags (kills, eliminations) everytime. Ana's nanoboost got nerfed hard (lost the speed boost) but its still super effective in the right hands.

In those situations where somehow two people rapid fire pick healers (this hardly ever happens) I will go dps (damage per second) heroes. Lately, I've been playing a lot of Soldier 76 and Pharah. I think I'm going to focus on playing those two for this season. I think because I'm at a pretty low level Pharah can run amok on these low level teams. You just gotta find the right positioning and just rocket the hell out of them. Soldier is just a great hero in general. But generally I've hardly been playing dps in competitive.

I plan on continuing to climb the ladder and reach gold soon. If I play enough I might be able to hit plat. If not this season, there's always a season 4 to look forward to. I'm also looking forward to the Christmas patch update that will probably hit the servers sometime soon.

I'm still in elo hell, just a slightly less casual pleb version of it.

Season 3-Elo Hell or just the right spot?

Tonight I'd like to discuss Season 3 of Overwatch and the fact that a lot of people feel like they've been gypped when it comes to their Season 3 ranking.

First, I'd like to talk about my own personal experience. I played all my placement games yesterday and I won eight out of ten games. I somehow got placed into bronze league (scrub league) despite the fact that I was gold last season and silver in season 1. Now, I've seen plenty of videos that try to explain that Blizzard is purposely placing people lower than usual because last season too many players placed too high and into gold and platinum. But even after playing ten of some of my best competitive games ever I get bronze? You can bet I felt gypped.

But all is not lost. Earlier today I did a marathon session and went from 1250 to 1450 in a mere two-three hours. Forty-nine more points and I'll break into silver. I plan on doing that tomorrow morning but here's the kicker, I'm possibly stuck in elo hell.

What is elo hell you ask? "What it actually seems to mean is the level at which people feel they can't at all rely on their teammates. What they use it to mean is the level that they're better than but can't get out of "'cause of those baddies"." (Shinnyshin, League of Legends forums)

Basically I'm placed at a level where the players are so bad its very difficult to climb the ladder in solo queue. I've been playing solo queue since the launch of the game because I don't have many friends that play as often as I do. Thankfully, I was able to go up by some 200 points today because I'm a fantastic Lucio and Ana player. I had a lot of people friend me because I'm great at healing and they wanted me to play with them to ensure wins. This ended up helping me a lot because I found that its a lot easier to win games when you're working with people you know who have communication skills (always using a mic).

For example, part of the reason I won most of my games today was because I played Ana a lot and whenever I had my nanoboost I called it out on my mic and asked if anybody had their ultimates. I timed my nanoboost with dps and tank's ultimates and it resulted in teamwipes most of the time. Although Ana's nanoboost has gotten more difficult to setup it is still an effective teamwiping tool in the right hands.

The fact that I've been annihilating pretty easily seems to show that I'm a lot better than bronze. But because I'm in bronze I will probably lose more games because of elo hell. Part of me thinks this is what Blizzard wants in a way. They want us to think we're better than the rank they gave us as an incentive to keep playing more and climb the ladder to the highest spot you can. That's the point of having seasons, to challenge ourselves in this way during a specified period of time.

So is it really elo hell or is it just the right spot? 

Overwatch Wins Game of the Year

Overwatch took the high honor of becoming Game of the Year at this year's The Game Awards. It beat Doom, Inside, Titanfall 2, and Uncharted 4.

When he accepted the award, Blizzard’s Ray Gresko said, “While we’ve been very happy with how the game has been received, we’re also extremely proud that this game and the world that we’re building has a message and it’s a message about heroism. It’s a message about diversity. It’s a message about a bright and positive and hopeful future. And these are all things that we really believe everyone needs a little bit of right now.”

Overwatch to me is one of the best games of our modern gaming era. I, myself enjoy the game as much as I enjoyed Starcraft II, Diablo II, Heroes of the Storm, World of Warcraft, Smash 4, Project M, Melee, numerous Final Fantasies, and Marvel Vs Capcom 2.  All those games are top notch.

What makes the game so great is that this is about heroes (and villains to a lesser extent), a more hopeful future, it brings more diversity to gaming, and it brings people together through the interactive multiplayer. They've created a masterpiece at Blizzard and the fact that they can bring joy to many people in what is seen as a dark period of history is downright amazing. Kudos to them.

The Game Awards’ other winners were:

• Best Mobile and Handheld Game: Pokemon GO
• Best Family Game: Pokemon GO
• Games For Impact Award: That Dragon Cancer
• Best Independent Game: Inside
• Best Multiplayer Game: Overwatch
• Best Esports Game: Overwatch
• Best Action-Adventure Game: Dishonored 2
• Best Action Game: Doom
• Best VR Game: Rez Infinite
• Best Fighting Game: Street Fighter V
• Best RPG: The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - Blood & Wine
• Best Strategy Game: Civilization VI
• Best Sports/Racing Game: Forza Horizon 3
• Best Game Direction: Overwatch
• Best Art Direction: Inside
• Best Narrative: Uncharted 4
• Best Esports Team: Cloud9
• Best Esports player: Marcelo “Coldzera” David (Counter-Strike: Global Offensive)
• Best Performance: Nolan North, Uncharted 4
• Trending Gamer: Boogie2988
• Most Anticipated Game: The Legend Of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

What's in your earbuds? 12/2 Edition

Lately, I've been listening to a lot of new music. For a while I was really into black metal, particularly from Sweden. Sweden is one of my favorite countries because of their black metal scene in general but also because I really dig Abba. Bands like Opeth (not black metal but still great band), Tribulation, and Ghost were played nonstop for a long time while I played Heroes of the Storm.

But with the exception of one techno album I listened to yesterday (which was ultimately forgettable because I can't even remember the name of the album or band) I've been listening to classical music. Mostly baroque stuff. I've been turning on YouTube playlists of Vivaldi, Chopin, Mozart, Liszt, Bach, and Beethoven. It really calms me down after long tiring days and I love the harmonic complexity. Although I can't explain what the composers are doing I understand the sound, the intervals, the scales, the harmony, and rhythm. It comes with being a musician for a long time and listening to music a lot. You expect certain cadences and resolves within the harmonies and it happens. The music is beautiful too.

One thing to realize is that classical music can be really heavy and brutal like metal too. There's a lot of shredding in classical music. There's a lot to it other than just pretty violins, timpani, and horns. The more I listen to it the more I get drawn in to listen more and learn more about music theory in the future so I can understand how these brilliant composers came up with this stuff.

As Frank Zappa said,"All the good music has already been written by dudes with wigs and stuff." I couldn't agree more. Even John Coltrane and Eric Dolphy studied classical etudes and classical music and harmony. They studied all the old dudes with wigs and stuff and expanded upon the musical foundation. It's quite a tradition, this thing we call music.

My friends listen to a lot of metalcore, rap, and rave music but honestly I get tired of that stuff. I've heard it all before and the new stuff all sounds like the old. I wish jazz could develop and do more interesting things but you'll only find the innovative jazz musicians in the free jazz scene. Until then I'll be kickin' it old school in the Baroque era with my homies Beethoven and Vivaldi.

Ah, you kids today with your techno music. You should enjoy the classics like Hasselhoff. 

Play Titanfall 2 Free This Weekend

EA is hosting a free multiplayer trial of Titanfall 2 this weekend, beginning on November 30th for Origin Access members and December 2nd for everybody else. From then on until December 4th all maps, modes, and weapons will available to everyone. This includes the Angel City's Most Wanted DLC that comes out December 3rd.

The fact that EA is doing this shows that despite the nearly cut in half sale price that went on until Cyber Monday that the game is not selling well. It came out at a bad time. Season 3 in Overwatch just started and everybody is still playing tons of Battlefield 1. Although I do think Titanfall 2 is a better game than Battlefield 1 I think Battlefield 1 has a cooler atmosphere being World War 1 and all. However, I will probably get both games at some point. I'm obligated to as a pc gamer. :D

If you choose to play the trial version and pick up the game your saved profile will carry onto your Origin account when you buy the game. The fact that a triple A title game like this has to rely on a free trial to get more people to buy it shows that big company games can sometimes get out shined (mishun compree!) by cheaper indie game companies. I can tell you right now that I've been watching my brother play Titanfall 2 on Xbox 1 and the game is terrific. In fact, I think its so good that I'm surprised they're doing a free trial for the weekend to get more people to buy.

I'm definitely going to try this out this weekend. Playing it on pc might be more fun than on console because I prefer shooting in fps's (first person shooters) using a mouse and keyboard. I was born and molded by the keyboard as a wee little middle schooler playing Diablo 2 and Starcraft Brood War. Good times. 

Play it this weekend!

Bad Santa 2, Try Not To Get Tea Bagged

Yesterday I went out to go see Bad Santa 2 with my friends. It's an enjoyable Christmas season movie. Even though it was still November (29th) when I saw it I definitely felt the Christmas spirit. It's not exactly a smart, serious, or even good movie, but a movie none the less. If you saw the first one the same characters come back with the Bad Santa dude, the fat dumb kid, the midget black dude, and Santa's mother. The story revolves around Santa, the midget, and his mother working at a benefit place for the poor and stealing money from their safe.

This movie makes use of foul language a lot. I think every other sentence has the word fuck in it. It's pretty stupid. But its still not as stupid as Sausage Party, that movie was super lame. Even though this movie definitely isn't very good I can say that it definitely delivers in terms of laughs.

The laughs are what makes this movie a franchise. At the end the black midget is stuck in a hospital bed from being run over by the mom and the Bad Santa dude totally teabags him and takes pictures of it. He then proceeds to upload them to the internet. Hilarious. They showed a pair of fake balls on his face in the pictures. If you didn't know, tea bagging is when a guy puts his balls on another guys' face. The ultimate troll and disrespect move in fps (first person shooter) games, although it does seem a little gay.

Try not to get tea bagged physically or figuratively folks. There were a lot of other funny moments but the tea bagging at the end is the only thing worth writing about honestly. That was really funny.

There's a certain degree of seriousness to the movie as well. In the beginning the Bad Santa dude tried to kill himself using his oven but when that took too long to heat up he tried hanging himself. But then the dumb fat kid came inside his house. And that's when the movie picks up. 

I wasn't expecting a work of art when I went to see this movie but I did leave with a smile on my face. If a movie can do that what more can you ask?