Nineteen For Me - April 2023

I successfully filed my taxes on the last day again. And did them wrong.

Yes, I will be continuing to recycle the same image indefinitely because I hate adding pictures to blog posts.

Gaming News

The U.K. blocked Microsoft’s attempt to acquire Activision-Blizzard.

Jedi Survivor, the sequel to Jedi Fallen Order, is the biggest release I see in this time period. I wasn’t amazed by the first hour of the first one, so I doubt I’ll look at the second one any time soon. (It was framed as a Souls-like and it wasn’t a Souls-like; it looked more like an Assassin’s Creed-like.)

Far Cry 5 (PC)

I finished the Henbane River region (the Faith region) in Far Cry 5, so that’s two out of three done since I started that game in January of 2022.

I didn’t like how it forced you to fight the final boss at the exact moment the resistence meter filled, wherever you happened to be. I wanted to finish all the side missions and then go fight the final boss to clear the region, because the game gets considerably less chaotic after the region boss is down. The chaos your character attracts from just standing near any road is one of the most fun things in the game, and without it, getting through the rest of the side missions is a bit dull.

Also there’s a side mission in the Henbane region that requires three grizzly bear skins and I couldn’t find grizzly bears anywhere, and searching for grizzly bears is incredibly dull.

Ghost of Tsushima (PS5)

All progress stalled as I’ve completely lost interest in the game (again). I think I’ve said this before but it’s a beautiful game to look at, but quite shallow to play, which is a disappointment. PS5 games have to be so good that they’re worth hurting my thumb for me to play them.

Miscellaneous Games

Steam had a puzzle game sale, which coincided precisely with my waning interest in playing anything else, so I got a few titles. I looked at Escape Simulator and The Room, which are both fun in short bursts (I mean, if you like solving puzzles). Also Palindrone Syndrome: Escape Room, which isn’t very good, and Machinika Museum, which is a decent clone of The Room.

Playing those games reminded me that I miss the days when games had puzzles in them. I suppose nobody bothers anymore because everyone just Googles the answers.

I was thinking about resuming a replay of Baldur’s Gate with the Enhanced Edition, for the third time since 2021, but instead I tried Eye of the Beholder. It’s an AD&D-branded clone of Dungeon Master–from the so-called Gold Box Classic AD&D CRPGs. Unfortunately it’s nothing but wandering around a dungeon hacking and slashing and resting, so I quickly lost interest.

Video Production

Still uploading Resident Evil videos in Unlisted mode because they aren’t that great.

Very little done except tweaking the Python scripts that split and render OBS videos I record. I still record a 4K panel that includes the game and two webcam feeds, then splits them into separate videos and renders it all down to 1080p afterward. Haven’t uploaded any of these videos. Kind of lost interest in the whole thing. All the kids are into their TikToks and Twitches anyway.

Media Consumption

Taskmaster Series 15 religiously. Richard Osman’s House of Games occasionally.

Paused Critical Role to watch Dimension 20’s Neverafter, which is, as expected, good. (It’s funny that they tried to make a horror season and it quickly became hilarious instead of frightening.) Minor editorial: Dimension 20 is the best “actual play,” because it’s a real show, not just a camera pointed at people playing D&D.

Installed Google Podcasts to occasionally listen to the Taskmaster Podcast, and resume listening to It’s A Thing again, which is my favorite podcast about Gen-X people trying to keep up with Millennial and Gen-Z hipster culture.

Day Job

Nothing particularly noteworthy to report. Continuing as before–learning new stuff, waiting to start on the next interesting project, half-expecting to be the next casualty in The Great Tech Industry Purge of 2023. I somehow became responsible for a dashboard that I don’t need or want, because I’m the only one who dealt with it before.

Health and Wellness

Routine yearly doctor visit. He didn’t see any obvious problems with my left ear and referred me to an ENT about hearing loss in that ear. He offered no opinions about what might be causing the occasional minor pain in or around the lower ribs of my left side. I didn’t mention the occasional pains in the ligaments of my right knee. Blood extracted for labwork, which I forgot to do last year.

World Context

• Violence broke out in Sudan between rival military factions, and the U.S. evacuated its embassy, prompting some Americans to take the radical step of looking up where Sudan is on a map.
• Dominion settled it’s defamation lawsuit against Fox News, winning for truth, justice, and the American way… and a cool $700 million payday. Shortly thereafter, Fox News announced Tucker Carlson was leaving the network, but it was apparently unrelated.
• The Twitter blue check apocalypse finally happened. Then it was immediately undone I think? Who even knows or cares anymore?
• The Supreme Court stayed a lower court decision, preserving access to abortion drug mifepristone. Legal battles continue.
• Celebrity Deaths: Jerry Springer.

P.S. Wasn’t into writing this one. It’s the first one of these new “newsletters” for 2023 that felt like a massive chore that I didn’t want to do.