It's the holiday season

Howdy, yall? Thought I'd write a short post late tonight. I haven't been writing much. Not because there's nothing to write about. I've been sick this whole week straight. I'm actually still sick but am in recovery mode from a serious cold. It started as faint flu-like symptoms earlier in the week and lasted the entire week until today...Sunday. 

Sunday Funday, as they say. I'm going in for a late 1am shift again. But this time I won't be sick. So I'll be more up to it. Have a better attitude and all that jazz. Although I haven't been writing as often I've been busier than ever. 

I've been playing a lot of guitar for one thing. Practicing Sequenza by Luciano Berio as well as my improvising skills. I took a break from the jazz duo jam session this week because I was sick but we will resume this upcoming week. 

For another thing, I finished a book in a single day today on my day off from work. I finished reading Ursula K. LeGuin's second novel, Planet in Exile, the second book in her Hainish trilogy cycle. Her first three novels. I'll probably write a post about all three books when I'm finished. Also, I recently finished reading Susan Sontag's second collection of essays entitled Styles of Radical Will. What a transformative informative read that was. 

I haven't even started on any holiday shopping but I'll get it done on my days off later this week. It's truly the holiday season. This time of year always reminds me of Paul McCartney doing that Christmas song, "Simply having, a wonderful Christmas time." Great tune, Paul. 

The job has been really tough this week with the flu/cold. I really wanted to call out four times in a row but sometimes you gotta tough it out and go with the flow. Especially when you need that holiday pay for Christmas gifts.  

I've been listening to a lot of straight-ahead jazz. That's been my spirit music for the longest now. I've given the 60s rock and roll a break. Too much Mothers of Invention and The Beatles. There's only so much Sgt. Pepper, Freak Out, Revolver, and We're Only In It For The Money I can take.

I've ordered a bunch of great books that I plan on reading soon. The list includes Sontag Under the Sign of Saturn, Dante Divine Comedy, Kant Critique of Pure Reason, Kushner Telex from Cuba, Goethe Faust, and more. I want to read more science fiction as well. Perhaps more LeGuin, say, The Dispossessed, or the Lathe of Heaven, heck, why not both? 

As a result of all this reading, my computer time has dwindled down to maybe an hour a day or just not at all. I don't even really play computer games anymore. There's just not enough time in the day if I want to read, play guitar, and go to work. 

That's the end of this one. Happy holidays!

Merry Christmas

Christmas is three days away and the holiday cheer is at an all time high, especially at my work. There's been a lot of 48 hour weeks for me, which is good. I've been playing a ton of Smash Ultimate at my friends' house and I've really upped my skills, especially with Ridley and Starfox. I've already got most of the gifts I wanted to send to my family as well. The only thing that really gets to me is the holiday playlist at work. Its the same playlist every day for the entire month! Its been crazy, to say the least...

I was thinking about treating myself this Christmas and buying some new games. I was interested in Starwars Battlefront 2 (for the graphics and Starwars skin), Battlefield One (WW1 is a great theme with cool archaic weaponry), Dragon Ball Fighter Z on Steam (maybe, my friend has it on the Switch), and possibly Fallout 76 (it sucks but it will get better). I also wanted to get the new World of Warcraft expansion Battle for Azeroth but I know if I do that I'll spend too much time gaming, as well as paying a pesky 14.99 monthly fee. Damn you Blizzard! (Side note: I've been playing a ton of Overwatch lately, and I've become a better player, mostly playing Mercy, Ana, and Moira. I'm still just slightly below Gold Tier level in Competitive but I'll get there eventually)

Other things I was thinking about was computer books through the video game publisher HumbleBundle. They're offering all these computer programming and hardware books for cheap, they're all ebooks. Other than that I was just going to save my money and just get my folks whatever last minute gifts I needed to get them. I have a lot of cool stuff as it is, I don't need anything too expensive.  

There's a lot of bad energy out there going on in the world, especially in terms of politics. I just had a Trump supporter wearing a MAGA shirt say some racist stuff to me at work. I had to let it go because I don't want to lose my job. These Right-wingers are really acting out in the public sphere, its like Charlotteville all over again. There's the government shutdown happening soon because Trump can't get his 5.7 billion dollars for his Wall, despite the fact that most Americans don't want to spend extra cash on a wall. Trump's supporters like Ann Coulter are saying that if Trump backs down and doesn't get the funding for the wall, Trump will be utterly humiliated and will definitely not get re-elected. However, I happen to think that it doesn't matter what Trump does, he won't get re-elected. I think the American people have smartened up, they're no longer willing to be political peons, they're going to fight back against everything that Trump stands for; tax cuts for the wealthy, increasing division against our allies, bad foreign policy, bad deals, ideas, and retaliation in trade, and evil treatment of refugees and those seeking asylum, especially regarding small children. There's a lot to upset about this holiday season! 

Its a political shitstorm alright. Its hard not to get angry at the direction the country is going. These Trump supporters are really coming out of the woodwork and they're not afraid to show off their racist and misogynistic views. Its hard not to talk and think about this stuff as a young progressive American citizen. Sure I live in a nice neighborhood and I'm safely sheltered unlike most Black Americans, but I believe in the progressive model. Old white men have always told me that the older I get the more I'll realize that being Republican is the smart thing to do. However, I think that's just their wishful thinking. I think the Democratic agenda is much more realistic, more humane, and will reduce the drastic gap between rich and poor regarding income inequality. In short, I believe the Democrats will help me more than the Republicans in life. I believe, if the Republicans had their way, that nobody would receive government benefits without working a certain minimum amount of hours, passing drug tests, and applying for jobs within a certain time period. Its already like that in certain states. This place has really gone to the dogs. However, its the only land I know, and love. 

But that's enough about politics. I read the news everyday and the everyday events of the Trump Whitehouse is infuriating but not shocking in the slightest. We have a long way to go in electing intelligent and thoughtful politicians (Obama anyone?), that despite their political ideology, can unify our blessed nation into a cohesive whole, especially after devastating shootings, natural disasters, and at the very least pay respects to our fallen soldiers. The Republicans are putting up with Trump because he's their guy; this is their last hour of power in Washington, if the government is going to be shut down because Trump didn't get his wall, then government be damned. As said in a popular Washingtonpost op-ed: The rats (Republicans) eventually tend to jump off the sinking ship (Trump agenda).

But all that aside the holidays this year hasn't been too bad. It hasn't been too crazy at work or in general. Life is good. I'm getting a lot of reading done and still playing guitar. Lately, I've been reading this book on computers; How Computers Work by Ron White, this book from 2008, that covers a lot of material, mostly hardware and software, how it all works. I'm getting a lot out of it and plan on reading more about computers. 

Its interesting because at first when I started reading it I thought it was boring and that I wouldn't be able to get into it. I returned it and then re-checked it out again, but this time the information stuck. It reads like a manual with a lot of diagram pictures but it makes sense and isn't too difficult to comprehend. One thing I've learned is that if you want to be good with computers you have to learn a lot of advanced mathematics as well as have a lot of patience. It would be super difficult for me to learn computer programming because I'm terrible at math and don't have a lot of patience. However, I think I can understand how hardware works and perhaps learn to be able to fix most problems on my computer with more knowledge and experience under my belt. My plan is to eventually build my own PC. I think that would be a great conclusion to my computer knowledge and experience. 

Happy Holidays to you and your family. Thanks for reading my blog and supporting my writing, whoever you are and wherever you are. And despite your politics, God bless you, and God Bless America.

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Gift Ideas

Here I'd like to outline some ideas I have for friends.

Friend 1: Nintendo eshop card, something related to cars, fancy coffee and/or chocolate/sweets, guitar related equipment like my pick that lights up when you strum with it (comes with rechargeable usb), heavy metal CD, heavy metal shirt, Nintendo 64 anthology of games book (already own), Gamecube (already own)

Friend 2: comedy/tv show shirt, indie band shirt, indie CD, TV show DVD, movie DVD

Friend 3: PS4 game, Overwatch memorabilia (shirt, stickers, etc), Fix his Bass Guitar, Bass Guitar amp (smallest and cheapest one available, used)

Friend 4: Xbox one game, Xbox one controller, beer (chocolate beer possibly), Mountain Dew beer, gaming shirt (related to Call of Duty)

Friend 5: Nintendo eshop card, Nintendo shirt/memorabilia, gaming art book, historical art work book, art work supplies

Friend 6: Steam game, Magic The Gathering cards, Smashup Board game (already own)

Friend 7: Magic The Gathering cards (at Fire and Dice when we're together so he can choose a rare) 

Dad: book (of his choosing), Coffee bean card, California Pizza Kitchen card

Brother 1: PC game, gaming art work book, food gift card, gas card

Brother 2: African/Caribbean studies book (Naipul, Cornel West, etc), straight ahead jazz CD, book on Jazz

Mom: money ($20-$30 at most), book on Zen (already own), Holiday card, call, keep in touch through email more often

Myself: All I asked my bro and dad for was the AACM book, The AACM: A Power Stronger Than Itself. It's a 700 page scholarly book on the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians, an experimental black music collective from the 1960's that spawned The Art Ensemble of Chicago, one of my favorite bands. 

If I play my cards right I shouldn't have to spend too much money. Some gifts are things I already own that I haven't used and can be re-gifted for better purposes. I'll probably start buying things as early as next paycheck so I don't have to buy everything all at once. As you can see I have a lot of people to attend to! 

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 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

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.

New Games

   

     With this great Christmas I just had a got a bunch of cool new games. My Steam collection is now up to 50 games and with my friend's family shared account I have something like over 200! Of course not all of them are installed on my computer, the hardware capacity would have to be insane for that. But I have been thinking about getting an external hard drive soon. Sho 'nuff. I actually got a lot of gaming stuff for Christmas. I got Xenoblade Chronicles X for Wii U, Skyrim, Skullgirls, and two $20 Steam cards. I used the Steam cards to get the following games: Axiom Verge, Fallout 3, The Witcher, Rust, The Ship, Spelunky, and Ghost in the Shell Standalone Complex. I'd like to talk a bit about each of these games but if you're a gamer chances are you're familiar with all of these.
     Axiom Verge is an indie title that was totally inspired by 2D sidescrollers like Super Metroid. It's like a modern day Super Metroid. The game is fantastic. The sound effects are amazing and the pixelated graphics are a joy to look at. The game has some challenging puzzles and bosses (so far, I'm still in the beginning), and lots and lots of rooms and corridors (Super Metroid anyone?). I just can't get enough of this game. It's a science fiction game so its right up my alley. I prefer the cyber punk style over the medivel stuff. Which leads me to my next game.
     Skyrim is simply one of the best PC games money can buy. With all the mods that are available for the game, you can have quite possibly the greatest PC gaming experience. I'm not really a medieval RPG slaying dragons type of guy but now that I have this game I totally am! Skyrim is one of the greatest rpg's ever made and the PC version of it is made even better by all the great mods that the community has made. It's an instant 10 out of 10.
     I booted up Xenoblade Chronicles X and got to see the introduction video. It was fascinating. Here's a great jrpg science fiction game that has over 60 hours of gameplay. But I couldn't play too much because of a faulty wii u gamepad. I'm currently working on getting that fixed as we speak. Going to send out my gamepad to a Nintendo authorized repair shop tomorrow. It's actually going to some place closeby out here in California. This was my main xmas gift I would say and I can't wait to really get to play it.
     Skullgirls is a great 2D 1920's female fighting game. The game reminds me of Marvel vs Capcom 2, which is probably the greatest fighting game in the world to me. There's a lot of crazy combos you can do in this game and it seems like it has a steep learning curve. I'm currently trying to buy my friend's fightstick mainly just for this game, but also for Street Fighter IV Ultra and Marvel vs Capcom 3.
     Ghost in the Shell Standalone Complex is an early access first person shooter that is just super fun. People die in this game super easy and the action is fast paced compared to something like Call of Duty where people seem to move and shoot slowly. The game features hero and class systems and you can choose abilities and stuff, something similar to a Call of Duty loadout but this game is more fun than Call of Duty if you ask me. It has a lot going for it, mainly just the fact that it's based off the Ghost in the Shell series. The graphics are pretty good but not great. It's mainly the gameplay that kept me playing this game today. I would say that this game is getting me back into first person shooters at the moment.
     I haven't played the other stuff yet because I was busy enjoying Heroes of the Storm, Axiom Verge, Skyrim, and Ghost in the Shell today. But I'll get to those other games eventually. I'm not actually done with this Steam Winter Sale. I might as well pick up a copy of Fallout 4 for myself. Or quite possibly maybe even Metal Gear Solid V. Or maybe The Witcher 3 for $30? So many great options. While it does feel great to have all this new content and all that I'm still bummed about not being able to play Xenoblade or even Smash 4 for that matter. Smash 4 is like my lifeblood as a gamer man! Practicing in Smash and going to tournaments daily has given me so much as a gamer and it's been great to be apart of the SoCal Smash community. To think that I won't be able to play Smash for another week-2 weeks just bums me out. Oh well, at least I can take an arrow to the knee in Skyrim! 
    

Christmas, a Retrospective

     Christmas this year was really great. I exchanged gifts with co-workers, friends, and family. I got some cool things as well. My brother got me Xenoblade Chronicles X and a $20 Steam card. I also got an Ornette Coleman album and a Vijay Iyer album. In addition, I got a lot of fundamental stuff like socks, underwear, t-shirts, etc. I got my older brother Fallout 4 and my younger brother saxophonist Kamasi Washington's record The Epic, as well as two jazz books. I got my dad a Henry Threadgill album, his latest one in fact. It was a good Christmas. I hung out with my friends late into the evening and then came home and opened my gifts with the family late around 10 pm. Most people open gifts when they first wake up but my family's a little bit different. On Christmas Eve I went to a Super Smash Bros 4 tournament. I got beat but not too badly this time. I'm definitely getting better and all my friends at the tournament told me I'm getting a lot better.
     In other news, last night my Wii U Gamepad crapped out on me so I won't be able to play my Xenoblade game or Smash 4 until I send it to Nintendo and they repair it. That's OK because I have plenty of games to play on my PC. Hope you all had a great Christmas with your friends and family. Thanks for continuing to read the blog. In 2016 I will go even further in making this blog more interesting, enjoyable, and keeping the content coming!