Hello, everybody! Remember me? The guy who used to write stuff?
Well, I’m not dead! In fact, three things have been occupying my time lately. I know it can get frustrating when I’m only posting Better Call Saul reviews and infrequent installments of Fight, Megaman!, but that’s really because it’s all I’ve had time to do lately.
I’ll explain those reasons right now, but if you don’t care to read them, please skip to the last one. There’s something I’d like you to do, and it’s fun. I SAID IT IS FUN.
Hail Storm: Some of you may know that a couple of weeks ago, the Denver area experienced catastrophic hail. That’s not me being dramatic (for once!); it was literally a catastrophe, doing millions of dollars of damage to homes, businesses, construction projects, and — of course — cars. It probably sounds silly if you weren’t here to experience it, but, sure enough, the hail storm totaled my car. Mine was just one claim Progressive was handling out of 11,000…due to this storm alone. So, much of my time has been taken up by dealing with the insurance company, buying a new car, and getting rid of my old one. Which was kind of sad to me, as I took really good care of that car and it had very low mileage. It deserved a better fate than that. Oh, and, buying a new car is expensive and it sucks so there’s that part, too.
Persona 5: Persona 5 came out, and what free time I have had has pretty much been spent in the company of the Phantom Thieves. I posted about this on the Facebook page as well, so if you ever think I died, check that page to be sure! I have a lot of ideas for essays I could write about it, and I’m sure tempted to, especially now that I’ve finished the game…but, then again, I never got around to writing my Persona 4 essay. Or my Persona 3 essay. Those might still happen, as might this one, but I know better than to promise it. Oh, hey, I had one brewing about Final Fantasy XV, too. I’m sure doing a lot of not-writing for a writer!
5th Annual Xmas Bash: Oh yes, it’s time! Just kidding. It’s not. December is time, and it’s not December. But I was talking to a friend about this year’s Xmas Bash, shooting ideas back and forth, and the next thing I knew, I wanted to get working on the stream. And…most of it’s done, now! I have all of our television episodes and musical interludes picked out and waiting. I still need to insert commercials and, of course, whatever unique material we shoot, but I’m excited, and I know it’s going to be a really great stream. I’ll announce details as far ahead of time as possible, so stay tuned.
And, hey, here’s something you can do for me:
Complete the Xmas Bash survey. It’s only two questions, and all you have to do is pick your five favorite specials and five favorite musical moments from past Xmas Bashes.
Well, you know, “favorites.” Not necessarily the ones you thought were best, but the ones you most enjoyed watching in a Bash context.
That’s it! It would be pretty helpful to me, as I have an idea of what I can do with the results. Again, this year’s stream is largely complete, so don’t worry about me changing anything. I’ll be using this info for something else, and I think you’ll like it.
So, yes, please, vote for your favorites. It’ll only take a moment.
Oh, and if you need a reminder of which song is which, this handy Xmas Bash playlist contains them all.
And I won’t tell anyone if you put Gummibar Mega Mix on repeat. We’ve all done it, and we’re all friends here.
Also, I forgot to mention it’s anonymous. Nobody will know of your undying love for Major Dad.
Thank you SO MUCH for that Playlist of X-Mas Bash songs. Having ready access to Bing Crosby and David Bowie trying to outdo each other, as well as Tim & Eric’s Twelve Days of Christmas (without me having expected either of them to be on YouTube, let alone having gone and looked for them) is priceless. My friends shall call your name in rage, to the sky probably, as I inundate them with terrible, terrible Christmas music at every chance I get. Thank you.
Plus, in hail news, something close to my heart – comics – took a hit when Mile High Comics (a HUGE company selling new and old comics with a massive warehouse store in, you guessed it, Denver) got smashed up by hail. They took $100,000 worth of damage to comics and fittings, but so much of it is irreplaceable. Printings of old comics don’t get redone, and a bunch of one off stuff, like “Variant Covers” are even rarer. No one was hurt, which is an important point, but man, weather just crushes us when it wants to. Reminds us how small we are, be it by destroying cars, or obliterating massive amounts of comics.
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If you want to know more the initial disaster occurring report is here – http://www.milehighcomics.com/newsletter/051017email.html
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The follow up report with more details is here – http://www.milehighcomics.com/newsletter/051217email.html
Oh man, I had no idea they got hit so hard. It makes sense — they’re in the area — but I hadn’t heard this. I was actually just there for the first time about a month ago.
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Businesses got hit really hard by this. Lots of car dealerships are dealing with unsellable inventory right now, and a major shopping mall near where I work is closed until November. November! They already know it will take at least that long to repair whatever terrible damage has been done. It’s pretty crazy.
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It could have been a lot worse for me, and I’m trying to focus on that. I didn’t have my windshield smashed out, like many other cars did. I wasn’t caught driving in it, like many other folks were. I wasn’t hit with any hail, as some of my coworkers were…but, man, I sure wish I didn’t have to deal with a new car right now…
Bloody hell. The Mile High article mentions their skylights getting shattered almost straight away. I can only imagine being hit by them. Yeesh. I hope everyone recovers, physically, emotionally and economically.
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Silver lining – At least you get New Car Smell now!
Picking just 5 musical interludes was tough. At some point we should do a bracket to determine the best special/song of all time.