It’s Another Monday

Good afternoon all! I hope everyone out there on the interwebs is feeling fine today! I want to talk today about the process of writing, specifically having something to write about every day. I am not a great writer by any stretch of the imagination. My vocabulary is limited at best and I am not exactly filled with stirring visions or words that pop off the page with any sort of voracity. My use of words is basic. Not a lot of fancy metaphors or any other writing tricks are in my repertoire.

I started this blog with the hopes of revitalizing my creativity, my imagination. I wanted to have an outlet for all of the creative ideas that are inside my head at any given time. The reality of it is when I sit to type, my mind goes blank. Any semblance of an idea drops off quickly and leave me here sitting dead pan staring into a computer screen. Any given day my focus is blurry at best. There seems like there is so much flotsam and jetsam flying around in my brain, but I can’t seem to tie any of it down. This doesn’t even begin to explain my personal thoughts on how I really don’t feel like I can add anything new or provide some sort of insight to what I am talking about. Why start a blog then? Well that’s a great question. I am hoping I can grow as a writer and I hope to grow my confidence while typing away about whatever I can think of to talk about. You are seeing a work in progress, not just as a writer, but on a small degree as a person.

That’s all I have to say today. Gonna keep it short and sweet on this Monday. Let’s hope the weekend gets here fast!

Take care!!

Friday Night Meanderings

Hello all! We made it to another weekend. I’m sure we all have had a crazy week. Work really drains me mentally. It was one of the reasons I almost didn’t start this blog back up. Maybe it’s more of an excuse instead of a reason. Part of me feels like I have nothing to add to the discussion out here online. My mind the last several years has been drawn away from my creative side. My mind has been filled mostly with all my responsibilities and the self doubt they create. I’m not meaning to whine or provoke sympathy for myself, just stating a fact. I find myself reaching out for something, but I honestly don’t know what it is. I’ve wasted so much time not living or enjoying life. I draw myself up into this tight ball with no outlet for my frustrations or even my happiness. I do believe life is what you make it, but knowing how to make it into something meaningful is the whole problem, isn’t it? It’s not just work, it’s the whole idea that maybe I’m at the crest of my life’s wave and maybe it just goes down hill from here. I think starting this back up is a good thing. I know I’m not the most clever writer and I cannot constantly come up with snarky and super observant content, but I can provide honesty and some occasional humor. Stripping down the facade of illusion is what this is about.

Tonight finds me reflective and somewhat melancholy. Not in a depressive way and not in a self deprecating way either. I just feel a little empty and wanting tonight. Maybe it’s the time of year. I have always had a tendency to get moody when the weather changes. Maybe it’s 48 year old me wishing he was 21 again. I have been thinking a lot about my past and the people I have known recently. It’s all jumbled up like the pieces of a jig saw puzzle, but I have no guiding picture to put the pieces together. Maybe we are not meant to. Your past is just that, the past. Time can’t be reversed and you can only sit back and watch the past. The present and future are what matters in the end. The past makes us what we are now for better or worse. However, it’s not the whole picture. Tomorrow is always uncertain and it will eventually add one more piece of the puzzle to it all.

Honestly I’m not as sad as this post might sound. I’m just reflective and needed to get some of this out. Writing is easier for me than talking these days. It’s very calming and it has a way of making ideas and feelings click in my head.

I hope I didn’t bring anyone down. It certainly was not my intent. I just needed to get these words down.

Take care!

Thursday, Not Friday but Close

Good day all! Well This Thursday finds me here at work and obviously not feeling like working. Like I said earlier this week, I have to be here Saturday, so screw them.

Today I wanted to talk about something that have been swirling around in my head for a bit. Nothing ground breaking, nothing earth shattering, but something I have been introduced too

First off is the video game industry and the state of gaming. I have been playing video games for about 35 years or so now. I have gone from “Pong”, to the Atari, to all of the PlayStation and Xbox incarnations that have been released. (Only has one Nintendo Console , the Wii.) For the longest time, video games were a single player experience. You would immerse yourself into whatever world the designers had created. Later versions of consoles did have multi player, but it was you inviting your friend over to your house and playing on the same console. It was a simpler time, maybe not better, depends on your perspective. Games were simpler, more story driven and left more to your imagination, especially the old text games I used to play on my Commodore 64. I really do miss that system.
Oddly enough, these games were designed around the player actually having fun. They were fully developed ideas and although they may not all be gems, they were completed games and did not ask you to pay for anything extra after you bought the game.

Games now have evolved into these money grabbing, micro-transaction laden money pits. Publishers use the idea that a game will be improved later by using a “road map” as the industry likes to call it. This “road map” lays out the evolution of a game, which in my opinion, should be a finished product before it is even released. On top of that, they throw in loot boxes that improve your game play or are just reasons to spend even more money inside your game. The single player experience is slowly dying as publishers see the money signs grow with the idea of the “on-line service” as a concept. They want you to spend your all of your time and money on their game. It is a disturbing trend that is only growing as these companies rake in insane amounts of profits.

I know I am only writing in generalities. I am not video game journalist, just a fan who does not like what he is seeing this medium turning into. To really see how big of scum bags these companies are, take a look at The Jimquisistion on YouTube. I highly recommend his videos. He throws a bunch of humor in, but there are tons of facts behind every episode. It has really altered my view on how and where I am purchasing future games.

Talk to you later!

Tuesday Night Deadline

Well I almost didn’t make my post today. It’s been a pretty uneventful day really. Did see the trailer for “Sonic the Hedgehog”. It makes me want to give up all hope. Although it still looks better than the Ghostbusters remake from a couple of years ago. I suppose they are trying to compete with the upcoming Pichachu movie. The character itself looks scary. They have turned him into some or of human hedgehog hybrid and the result is very disturbing. This one I will watch once it hits Netflix, which probably won’t be very long after it’s release.

In general I’m unhappy with the state of movies in general. It’s not the worst period of movies we have ever seen, but it’s pretty close. It’s hard to find any original ideas out there. Everything is either a reboot of a known product or something so bland and unoriginal that you forget about it an hour after you watch it. I’m talking about you Aquaman.

Well tonight is a short rant. Tomorrow I plan on seeing End Game. I’m sure I’ll do a review for it.

Take care!!

Monday Morning Blues

Good morning all! First I wanted to start off apologizing for not having a post yesterday. My goal was the post every day when I started this back up and I have let myself and my one to two readers down. In my defense I will say I spent an enjoyable Sunday between video games and napping, so it wasn’t a total waste of time!

So we all made it to another Monday. Back to the drudgery and soul sucking that is the work week.  So to try and avoid this same feeling of dread, I decided to post on the company’s time this morning. (Plus I have to work 5 hours Saturday for training, so if they take 5 hours of my time, I am taking 5 hours of their time). I find as I get older, time is just as much of a commodity that has value as anything else. You do not realize that when you are younger, I certainly didn’t. As I have gotten older and hopefully a little wiser, I have realized that my free time is valuable. It has much more worth to me than money. This overtime for Saturday, doesn’t mean squat compared to my time away from work. That’s not saying I can’t use the money, I can, but eventually life becomes more about money and what you can earn. It is about what you can leave behind, what you can create and leave out there for other generations to see. Always remember, your time is worth more than anything else. You can’t get it back.

On to something a little less depressing. Did not get to see End Game this weekend. My wife and I are going this week. I want to see it before I get slammed with Spoilers on Reddit and Twitter. I will probably add my review to the millions that will be out there. Hopefully the crowds will be a little small er during the week. Mini rant here. Is it me or are people just the worst in theaters these days? Between cell phones and screaming kids, any enjoyment is usually drained out by the time the trailers end. Can’t you stay off your phone for the 2 hours it takes to watch a movie? How important is your life that you just have to reply to a text or tweet as soon as you receive it? Keep the phones put up people. It is not much to ask. I am not even going into the whole child issue. I will just say, parents keep your kids on a leash and shut them up. That is not asking much for two hours either.

Well i guess I better get on with my day. I will probably post again later. Everyone have a good one!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Saturday Night’s Alright For…Albums Reviews?

Tumbleweed

Good evening all! I thought I would try a little album review tonight. Music being one of my passions, I thought I would add some insight and maybe shed a little light on some albums that no one has heard of or have given little to no thought to in many years. I am not really into the technical side as far as sonics, mastering and other such items. I am more into what moves me, what makes me feel emotions and makes me think.

There is nothing quite like a well crafted pop album. Something you can sing along with, enjoy, escape and have some level of emotional connection. I am using the term album in the sense of that is a collection of songs that go well together and explore various ideas and emotions. 99% of my music collection is on CD. I do have a few albums, but I am not a real audiophile. I appreciate vinyl, but for convenience and being able to blast my music, give me the CD any day.

So my first album I would like to review is Tumbleweed Connection by Elton John and Bernie Taupin. Released on October 30, 1970, It is one of the best examples of the chemistry between John and Taupin. The music is heavily influenced by the American West and South. The vocal performance is beautiful. John really finds confidence with his voice on this album. The lyrics are straight forward, nothing really complicated. They all tell stories of different characters from a long ago time. The music perfectly intertwines with the vocals. All of the songs inspire images of flowing down some lazy river. Picture riverboat gamblers, steamboats and a simpler time in life. Even the cover, shown above, reflects the out of time nature of the album. It is a beautiful piece of music. No real “traditional” singles are on it, but that is just fine. This is an experience. It is a little slice of Heaven that you can just put on and enjoy. It’s not trying to say anything, it just invites you to listen and enjoy. Some outstanding tracks, in my opinion, “Amoreena”, “Country Comfort” and “Where to Now St. Peter?”

Try it out sometime if you can!  

Thanks for reading!

Track listing

Hodgepodge

Happy Friday all! Today I am going to just ramble on a bit. I am just getting back into the swing on posting after a very long hiatus. There is so much out there to write about. So much good and bad. Today let’s start out with some positive thoughts to get the weekend off to a great start.

I am excited to go see “End Game” this weekend. I generally tend to like the Marvel Movies, although the whole super-hero genre is starting to wear a bit. I am sure it will be a solid movie, although 3 hours is a bit of a run time. No large sodas for this one. I am curious to see what direction they decide to take the Avengers after this. The whole Marvel Universe is pretty well crafted and there have been some really decent story lines, but I believe some of the actors are going to be done playing these parts after this? Time will tell.

Well as mentioned yesterday, I love video games, music and movies. Not necessarily in that order, but it really depends on my mood. Right now I am focusing more on games and movies. I am not on the cutting edge of gaming by any means, I just have an XBOX One and a PS4. I rarely buy brand new games. $60.00 is a bit steep, especially with the way games are not creeping towards “the online service” model. I personally like single player games and have no desire to play a game online with a bunch of strangers. This is probably because of my age. I always loved “escaping” into a video game, into a world I could discover and explore. I didn’t want or need to socialize. (Yes I do see the irony of me at 48 putting myself out there to a social platform). I think in later posts I will go into more detail about “online services” in reference to video games. it’s very interesting and something I have really started paying attention to. A shout out to Jim Sterling and his YouTube channel (The Jimquisition) for doing to some awesome reporting on this. Check it and his sight out.

I think I will expend on movies and music on a separate post. Still trying to feel this out and see where it goes. I don’t want to babble on too long until I really find my voice.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Let’s Try this Again, Shall We?

Hello all! Looks like I am jumping in headfirst again into the world of blogging. Granted everything has moved more towards YouTube, Vine, Twitter and the various social media outlets that are out there these days. I however, have decided to start over at a slower pace and hopefully build myself up into this giant media platform where I can add my inane opinions to the others that are out there in this murky void.

I want to talk about various subjects. Fun things like video games, music, movies. Also I will sometimes go down the darker path of politics and the world around us. I know I will be setting myself up for a barrage of comments from trolls, if anyone ends up actually reading any of this, but I figured might as well go all the way!

A little about me. I am 48, married and find myself in a unique situation where I still enjoy all the distractions I did as a younger man, but I am looking at them with a different viewpoint. No longer am I this giant fanboy of the things I love, but see them now with a more cynical eye. I am not expert on anything. I just have my opinions and ideas I just want to share. I will obviously back serious ideas with facts and not go off half-cocked, but there will be quite a lot of rants of things that bother me that I see in everything around me.

The plan is to post something everyday. I am trying to create a schedule of topics and try to bring a unique perspective to them. Eventually, I would like to have a podcast and more outlets to spread the love. I do have a Twitter handle (@MLCTaskforce) that I will be posting on as well.

That is all for now! There will be more to come!

Take care!

After the Gold Rush

Ever have a day that felt like a song? Maybe it is just the music, maybe the lyrics, maybe both. Today is “After the Gold Rush” by Neil Young for me. Maybe it is the melancholy mood I am in. The change of seasons always make me feel a little sentimental for past times. This song always puts me in this sleepy, reflective and thoughtful mood. It is not a bad feeling, it just does make me miss some of the days that have gone by. I won’t make this a long post, just thought I would share. If you ever have a day like this, feel free to share. I would love to know about it.

Take care,

Lefty