So about Saturday Nights...

 This post was meant to be posted all the way back in June of this year.  OOPS, I did it again. (Shame on me for the Brittney reference but oh well.) Though this is probably for the best as I went back and looked at the draft and realized I had gotten badly side tracked with a story that should have been (and now will be) another blog topic all together.

I'm sitting here on a Saturday evening in which a few funny things have occurred that reminded me of a few other things.  Have at least a half a dozen if not a dozen things that I need to get done and figured that my blog has been long neglected enough that I should update it with SOMETHING.  
(especially since at least one of my Twitch channel and discord chat server mods have said they are going to at least half-ass hold me accountable for updating this thing as I get the Twitch channel up and running. We shall see on that one.)

Back in June, there was a slight re-write of a past blog here that involves a Spotify playlist that I made based on an old ITunes playlist of mine from circa 2013.  It is referred to as my "Sunday Morning Playlist" and there is an explanation in that blog about the what and why of that title. 

The really short version (though reading the blog is highly recommended for the backstory) is that if a "Sunday Morning Playlist" is about memories and 'regrets' of sorts (again read the blog) then a "Saturday Night Playlist" is about how you got there. Though for me, it is more of a "Late Night Playlist" because let's be honest and admit that those things were just as likely to have happened on a Friday as a Saturday. If we are being THAT honest then we might have to say on any night of the week.

That said... here are the beginnings of my "Late Night Playlist" aka my "Saturday Night Playlist". The list is not complete but most of the reason for that involves finding some of the tracks on Spotify that I wish to have on there.  (A few are flat out not there.)  In fact, I will be adding some things to it (and the Sunday Morning Playlist too honestly) between now and the time that this blog is published. 

Though I wanted to comment on some of the original tracks that I have on the list.

- Midnight City by M83 - This song is going to lead the playlist and nothing changes that.  I first heard the song about a year or so after it released in 2013.  (I am pretty sure I started this list in 2015 actually.)  For me, it is the perfect reminder of several late nights I had with friends back in the late nights both riding around town and doing other things.  There's a lot about this playlist for me that is going to be influenced by late night themes but not all of it.  The vibe is also there that we were not only "waiting in a car" but "waiting for the right time".

- First by Cold War Kids - According to the band's Wikipedia entry, Matt Maust mentions having come up with the phrase "Cold War Kids" around 1997 while traveling in Eastern Europe with his brother.  He mentions thinking that he "was a cold war kid" because he was born in 1979.  In that case, I am definitely one too as I was born in 1975.  It has been on my things to do list to check this band out a bit more than I have but I've not gotten around to it.  As for the song, there's so much in the lyrics here that remind me of people whose paths I have crossed over the yeas.  And who am I kidding, I see myself from a couple of certain time periods and situations in there as well.

- Hollow Moon (Bad Wolf) by AWOLNATION - The Dr. Who reference with the "Bad Wolf" thing aside, I stumbled across this song right around the time that my health issues started getting worse before they knew what was going on with me exactly.  (Honestly, not sure they still entirely know ALL the things going on but I digress.)  There was an element at the time that hit me regarding various people I had been doing film and video work with in the "metro Atlanta" area.  Most of the "so-called friends" from that period barely give me the time of day anymore. To be honest, much of that is for the better.  Nevertheless, it burnt a little bit that when I sent out an email to explain to various "so-called friends" what was going on that I barely heard back from most of them.  Just prior to all this getting worse, there were a couple who had the audacity to say I would be better off dead than remaining involved with the "Atlanta film community".  So the section of the song "(You're all still here) / Motherfucker I'll be back from the dead soon / I'll be watching from the center of the hollow moon" really was a good way of summing up my feelings at the time toward these "fake friends". And the next lines after that "Oh my God I think I might've made a mistake / Waiting patiently was waiting taking up space" also felt appropriate because of all the times people kept saying that 'we had to wait' for this or that thing to happen.  I've a whole vent (or 2 or 3) about the idea of people waiting on the sidelines (metaphorically) instead of being active and getting stuff done.  Again... this song sums it up.

- Zombie by Bad Wolves - Alright. I loved the Cranberries back in the 90s and into the early 00s. Had this version not come out, I would have probably included the original version.  It gutted me learning of Dolores O'Riordan's death.  Hearing this song as a tribute was a bit cathartic. As I understand it, Dolores had been intending to do some vocals on the cover when she died.  This version came out great either way.  About the song itself, it is one of my favorites of their songs though not my favorite.  (I might go back and add the favorite to the list but not sure.)  Aside from the actual meaning of the song, it is a protest song relating to stuff in Ireland from decades ago, there is the slang meaning of the word "Zombie" as "A person who accepts the status quo because of fear and/or lack of conviction." which is a great way of looking at the perspective of some people both then and now about various things.

- Centuries by Fall Out Boy - To my knowledge, this is the only song by Fall Out Boy that I like. I will also admit that it is largely here due to the "David vs. Goliath" narrative that is played up in the video as well as the technical contribution of Suzanne Vega to the writing of the track.  Aside from that, the opening lines of the song "Some legends are told / Some turn to dust or to gold" is a great comment about storytelling to me and about how stories are told.

- Sunglasses at Night by Corey Hart - This song is a bit of a guilty pleasure of mine. Good if somewhat cheesy 80s fun here.  It is also included in my 80s Music Memories playlist. It is included here though for a few different reasons.  1) Corey Hart is said to have described this song as "a tour of [his] creative subconscious" which totally intrigues me and I totally get as a creative person myself.  2) I'd long had this idea for a script that I was working on and this song always seemed fitting as a end song for the film. and 3) Last but not least, I use to wear those transition lenses glasses when I was younger. You know the ones that darkened in sunlight.  Well mine were tinted enough that they looked a little dark even at night under the right lighting. I miss those kinds of lenses on my current glasses but it would have been way too pricey to add them on my current glasses prescription.

- The Sound of Silence by Disturbed - Opting for a cover over the original again here but for different reasons.  At best, I have a love / hate relationship with Simon and Garfunkel and their song catalog. To this day, I can't put my finger on why I have the feelings that I do but they are there.  As I mentioned to someone the other evening, there are artists who I like some of their songs but only when the songs were covered by other artists.  Normally, Simon and Garfunkel is one of those artists.   That said, I love this song even when it was the original recording.  The lyrics are much like some of the thoughts in my head during my college years at West Georgia and definitely several nights since then. The song is a warning against 'social isolationism' which was relevant to me.  Honestly, it is still relevant to a scary extent (a topic for another time perhaps).  Additionally, the band covering is Distrubed whose music is a much different genre than the original artists.  They have done some other interesting covers over the years but this one 

- Twilight Zone by Golden Earring - The Twilight Zone is one of my favorite TV series of all times if not my all time favorite. (The fact that I have not watched the new updated version is not lost on me. I plan to check out CBS All Access over the holidays this year just to watch the first two seasons.) This song just as much evokes some of the sentiment of classic film noir (a favorite genre of mine) as it does the 60s iteration of the series. It is great for late night car rides as well. Trust me on that, speaking from personal experience (okay the Waffle House coffee helped too).  

- Domino (pt 1 and 2) by Genesis - It is divided into two parts, "In the Glow of the Night" and "The Last Domino." Both parts haunt me.  According to Tony Banks, the lyricist for the song, it is about the 1982 Lebanon War.  I didn't know that the first time I heard the song and it hit me completely different and knowing what the song is about hasn't changed that.   There is a much longer explanation for this that involves some people whose names would have to be changed.  The short explanation for the inclusion for this song is that, for me at least, this song about is about finding yourself in situations and even relationships that you subconsciously know you are going to 'leave a mark' and the things that wind up reminding you of those marks. 

Like I said, I intend to add several more songs to this list. And as I said said, I will likely have added more to the list by time this blog publishes.  (It is sat to publish on the Saturday after I am finishing up writing it.)  

Till next time.  Cheers. 

Jargon, slang, lingo, and / or expressions I've picked along up the way.

Some additional backstory on some of this can be found here regarding some backstory on my interest in professional wrestling.  There's a lot more that I could have said there. There's a reasonable chance that I probably will say more in the future.  Today is about one specific thing that includes my interest in that and many other things.  That thing is "professional jargon" as well as other slang and lingo related to various fields and interests.

Over the years, I have had the fortune (and at times misfortune if I am being honest) of making some interesting acquaintances.  Some of those acquaintances have become friends or I have least remained friendly with, some have become folks who have fallen into the category of "someone that I use to know", and a few have been relegated to certain categories that are best summarized as "ways to ruin an otherwise decent day".  I'm not naming name to any of those as it is not the point.

My general rule of thumb has always been that I will do my best to try to support my friends in their various creative or sports endeavors.  Truthfully, I should say any endeavors but there are some places that I still will not shop at, eat at, or frequent simply because I have a friend who works there. (Most of those friends know it is nothing personal.)  Nevertheless, I have become more of a wine and mead fan in the past year or so than I ever thought I would be due to my best friend and his fiancée beginning to make their own homemade wine, mead and occasional home brewed beer. I've gone to pro-wrestling shows that I had no interest in more times than I can count so I could support friends who were on the card. Oh and I've gone to a few REALLY BAD indie film screening so I could support friends who involved as cast and crew.  So... I mean... stranger things have happened.

Part of that general process for me is trying to learn a little more about what the heck it is that they are doing.  I'm not saying that I try to become an expert on it but I do like to try to know enough that if my opinion were asked about a topic then I would know what they were talking about. At the very least, I like to know enough to be able to follow what is going on with what they are involved in doing.  To some extent, I like to be able to put things into terms that might be recognizable to them if I have to explain something that they are not familiar with or to be aware of terms that might have a different meaning for them than it would for someone in another field.  

For the most part, it is not uncommon for a lot or lingo, slang, and jargon from various professions to become part of the mainstream vernacular.  I'm quite aware of this and I'm also aware that it can be as much a good thing as a bad thing.  There is also some overlap at times where terms used in one profession might mean something different in another.   As I said, I've picked up stuff along the way over the years from working in restaurants, retail, and journalism as well as from other friends and their ventures.  There's also a lot of things that I have not fully picked up on that I probably should have by now.  For example, I have no idea if I use the "Kappa" emote correctly on Twitch. Half the time I just make the assumption that I am and hope for the best.  The other half of the time is where I generally don't care if I am using it right because "eff 'em if they can't take a joke".  The biggest problem for me is tech jargon and tech stuff in general.  I tried keeping up for a while but I kinda gave up on it about ten years or so ago.  I manage to pick up on stuff here and there to where I am not completely tech illiterate but I am by no means "on top of things" nor do I expect to be anytime soon.  Truthfully, I have no explicit desire to be on top of things tech wise either.  

I've by no means managed to keep all that knowledge inside my head over the years either.  I mean we are talking a few decades worth of stuff to be jumbled up in my old brain.  (I turn 45 in a few weeks so go figure. A few of my pro-wrestler friends and acquaintances remark how their memory isn't great due all the shots they have taken to the head.  I usually respond, "at least you all have an excuse".)  That said, I have picked up on various jargon, lingo, and even expressions over the years from various places.  Most of the jargon I use is related to either film and television production or journalism but there's a good bit of jargon that I use from professional wrestling (for better or worse). And that is relating to the stuff that I know I consciously use... I am quite sure that I use other stuff as well. 

Though here's the thing: As much as I know my rationale for my interest in jargon and lingo, etc, I am also quite aware that some folks might be a bit caught off guard with some of the lingo and even expressions that I regularly use in conversation. I may very few apologies for this but I wanted to make a post explaining a bit of the backstory on why things are that way with me. I encourage folks to ask if they don't get an expression I use and I will try to explain it the best I can.

Oh yeah!  I am planning a future post which will involve some of those expressions and jargon that I use regularly.  And that post will likely be edited over time as I know there will be new things that I get asked about or I feel necessary to add.  So yeah, stay tuned.  

Cheers.

Sunday Morning Playlist

The origins of this blog have to do with a few things: a past blog, a Counting Crows album, and some general personal bits that may or may not ever be gone into here or elsewhere.  I am posting the stuff in order (with a few assorted updated notes in parenthesis with italics.)

The Original Sunday Morning Playlist blog - 10/11/13
Alright, quick backtrack: last Saturday, I got an unexpected couple of visitors.  The first was Rob who is the son of my dad's third wife.  The second was Jeremy who is an old friend that I have not seen since our freshmen year of high school.  Apparently, Rob and Jeremy are best friends and served in the military together.  Rob still considers me like a step-brother even though we hardly ever see one another and our respective parents have not been married in over 20 years.  Jeremy and I were friends in elementary and middle school but we were never that good of friends.  He's a good guy, though.

As a result of that drop-in, I am now about to head to a cook-out tomorrow (Saturday, 10/12/13) at Rob's mom's house.  She lives in a private boat club where coincidentally my grandparents use to own property as well.  (Not coincidentally, my father is going to this cook out as well.)  I suspect we will watch whatever other college ball game is on since the UGA game will be done.  What is certain is that we will all be drinking a round or two.  I suspect more than that in the case of my dad and Rob.  We are planning on being there for the night. 

My weekend plans are not the point here.  The point is that I will be at the boat club Sunday morning and I miss that old place.  I have a lot of fond memories of that old place.  As kids, my cousins and I use to take random walks at all sorts of hours in that place.  I've been wanting to take a camera into that place if this one spot down on the lake is still there and record me reading some spoken word.  I wrote a few of the earliest pieces that I wrote down at that spot.  I hope it is still there.  I've not been to that boat club in about ten years. (and not been back since for various reasons...) 

For the past few weeks, I've been contemplating the 'perfect Sunday morning playlist' to put my Ipod.  I was partially motivated to do this because of the idea behind the Counting Crows album "Saturday Nights and Sunday Mornings".  In Adam Durwitz's words, "It is about really wanting to mean something and failing to do it. You want your life to mean something. You want to be somebody and then what you turn out to be is so much less (or more) than what you thought you were going to be."  In a nutshell, "Saturday Nights" is about living your life and "Sunday Mornings" is about the 'regrets' you may wake up with one day.  

I am especially fond of the "Sunday Mornings" portion of the album.  So a few weeks ago, I started a playlist on my ITunes to put on my Ipod with the track "On Almost Any Sunday Morning" as the lead off track.  I've added two Smashing Pumpkins songs to the list since then, another Counting Crows track, and two tracks by The Gathering Field (a band you've probably never heard of but should have.  The album "Lost in America" was a favorite of mine in college and remains to this day.)

This Sunday Morning (10/13/13), I will be taking a walk down to a certain spot on Lake Lanier and taking a moment to sit down, probably finish a beverage, and listening to the songs I have so far.  In particularly, I will be remembering a particular regret whom Jeremy had me thinking about by time they left last weekend.  And when I get to that second Counting Crows song, "Goodnight Elizabeth" then I might just do an early morning shot just for her.

June 2020
    That was written 7 years ago.  I've since moved the list over to a Spotify playlist and got it to a place where it is complete.  I might should say as completed as much as it ever will be completed. I mean I could keep adding songs to the list but who wants a never-ending playlist.
 
Here's my list so far, there might be additions someday:
1. "On Almost Any Sunday Morning" - Counting Crows
2. "Goodnight Elizabeth" - Counting Crows
3. "Black" by Pearl Jam
4.  "Hey Jealousy" by The Gin Blossoms
5.  "6th Avenue Heartache" by The Wallflowers
6. "Thirty Three" - Smashing Pumpkins
7. "Through the Eyes of Ruby" - Smashing Pumpkins
8.  "Country Feedback" by R.E.M.
9. "Kody" by Matchbox Twenty
10. "Girl Like That" by Matchbox Twenty
11 "Private Archipelago" - Sordid Humor
12. "Doris Day" - Sordid Humor
13 "Lost Coast" by Grey Eye Glances
14. "And All I've Loved, I've Loved Alone" by Grey Eye Glances
15. "The Blower's Daughter" by Damien Rice
16. "Lost in America" - The Gathering Field
17. "Bound to Be" - The Gathering Field
18. "Tower of Song" by Leonard Cohen
19. "You Wanted More" by Tonic
20. "Its a Shame About Ray" by The Lemonheads
21. "The Wanderer" by U2 and Johnny Cash
22. "Daffodil Lament" - The Cranberries

Don't get me wrong here for I am not looking for songs about unpleasant regrets.  

For me, I've always said that nearly every one of my regrets have names rather it involves friends and lovers who have been left behind or gone away.  It also includes places you can't go back to for whatever reason.

I'm looking for songs that remind you of those sorts of memories. 
Do you have enough to make a "Sunday Morning Playlist" of your own?

Oh and as an aside... I'm making a "Late Night Playlist" for Saturday nights (and Friday) as well.

 Cheers.

A Not so Random Sims Post

     Those who have known me for that long will know that I have had an interest in games and gaming for a number of years.  And those who know about my interest in games and gaming are probably aware that one of my favorite game franchises of all times would be "The Sims".  To be honest, I could go back and include Sim City but I definitely have enjoyed The Sims more than I ever did Sim City. (Not to mention I sucked at Sim City for the most part.)

     The first Sims game was a belated college graduation gift to myself (due to the release being shortly after I graduated).  And I played it for hours at a time with both my own characters and with Sims I downloaded from the internet.  I seem to remember some other modded content that I used as well besides just Sims but I won't get into all of that.

    I didn't get to play much of Sims 2 and Sims 3 but I did try the various console versions. I also tried a knock off version of The Sims game that I remember being on Xbox based around The Playboy mansion as well.  (Thank goodness for the days of renting games from Blockbuster for THAT one as it wasn't all that great though there are a few things from it that I wish were in Sims 4. Okay, one thing and I will cover that in a bit.)

      Just to be up front and honest with people, I didn't get to play much of The Sims 2 because I didn't have a gaming PC at the time.  I had just gotten rid of my old PC and was using alternating between using a laptop and a mac.  I tried getting The Sims 2 for the mac when I ventured off to do film school stuff and quickly learned that I didn't like gaming on a mac all that much.  (Honestly, I think a large part of my disinterest was that I couldn't find as much CC on the mac as I did on the PC back then.  To be fair, again, I'm not the best at finding the stuff and not the most confident installing mods on games in general due to past experiences.)   For many of the same reasons, I didn't get to play The Sims 3 either when it released.  In fact, I didn't get to play The Sims 3 till over a year after I had started playing The Sims 4 in 2016.  I've not played much of it and there are things I noted about the game while playing it that made me honestly prefer The Sims 4.  (I know a lot of folks will disagree with me on this but oh well.)  Sims 4 was one of the first games I purchased after I got my new gaming PC in 2016 (which was the first PC that I had owned since 2004 but more about that another time).

     All of this is mentioned because of a brief exchange... a "conversation" if you will... that I had with one of the Sims 4 / Maxis Producers this morning on Twitter.  The "Sim Guru" (as they are called on The Twitter) is a guy by the name of Dave Miotke who also answers to SimGuruNinja and was about a question I had on the game.  In short, I had wondered if the amount of traits being limited to 3 instead of 5 was because of technical issues or if was something that might be addressed down the road.  He said it was not due to technical issues and that it was something he personally "absolutely LOVE to do a deep dive overhaul/addition on traits" which gives me and others a lot of hope that the team will get around to doing so at some point.

   That said, I'd love to have 4 or 5 traits per Sim but it is really toward the bottom of my "wish list" for stuff in the Sims 4 game.  I said "number 5 out of my top 5" but I don't even know if that is accurate. (I don't do well with "Top 5 or Top 10 lists or any sort of top whatever list like that.)  Nevertheless, I felt like writing this blog and commenting on a few things that I wish / hope might make it into the Sims 4 game.  And despite sucking at "top whatever lists", I am going to number the items just for the sake of keeping things orderly.

1) Some sort of "Historical" pack.  I am hesitant to put it as a "stuff pack" but the core idea of this pack came from simply wanting decorative items from eras like "Feudal Japan", "Victorian England", "Ancient China", "Medieval Europe", "The Old West: and other historical eras The US and other places. That was the original idea but then I thought about it a bit.  There is also a lot of "lore" to The Sims (in a manner of speaking) and it might be fun to expand on that even more with content also related to Sims Lore.  Why not have a game pack or an expansion pack that might involve exploring some of the "History" of The Sims Universe.

2) More Vacation spots.  In Sims 2, there was the "Bon Yoyage" expansion and in "Sims 3" there was World Adventures. (Heck, The Sims has a Vacation expansion too now that I think about it.)  In tune with the previous item, how about some places to explore that might get our Sims out and into 'the world".   I would love to have my Sims household visit foreign cities and towns.  I have seen some folks even bring up amusement parks.  There are plenty of options and it is a part of the Sims 4 that hasn't really been utilized.

3) More Strangerville but not Strangerville.  Okay what?  I loved the Strangerville game pack.  It was one of the few packs that pulled me immediately out of building stuff (which I tend to do more of than playing the game) and playing through the 'storyline' nearly in one evening. I loved the idea of having to solve a mystery in one of the neighborhoods that affected the Sims living there.  I'm an old film noir fan and detective movie fan, etc, so that should be a given.  My point is that Strangerville was some unexpected fun and great game play.  It felt like new ground in the game to me.  I would love to see more of it.

4) Another blank neighborhood or two... or three... or however many. Newcrest is great as a blank canvas neighborhood but it has its limits.  For starts, it feels like an extension of Willow Creek for the most part. A bigger issue for me is that some of the more recent packs have had neighborhoods and worlds with very little space to build.  I don't want to bulldoze all the stuff in Sulani, for example, but I would love more beach and island lots to build new builds.  (In fact, I don't like the notion of getting rid of any of the Sulani lots.)  The same goes with the "Get Famous" and "University" expansions though moreso the former.  Don't really want to get rid of any of those lots (except maybe your 64x64 'celebrity house' because it isn't all that great). And some more "City Living" style lots would be fun too. In fact, that would be a fun community poll, what new blank neighborhoods might the Sims Community as a whole be interested in at some point.)  I need some more 20x20 and 30x30 lots personally.

5) I know people have been all about the University Expansion until you released it. I have heard people now starting to clamor for some sort of "Farm" pack.  Umm, okay.  With all the options given in the latest community survey, I think the 'Science & Tech' group would lend itself great to some sort of Cyberpunk or Sci-fi pack.  (Plus I want to create Cyborgs in game not just servos.) Wow... here I am at number 5 and not even to the traits.

6) This is probably the most minor one of the bunch.  A "Private Investigator" that functions basically like a "freelance detective" career.  With as much film noir related stuff as you get to go with it. (Bonus points, so to speak, if it related to any films made by Humphrey Bogart or books by Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett.)

7) Well yeah, more trait slots.  I feel like my Sim needs at least 5 slots to be done as well as I would like it to be done and that is just with the current options.  In all honestly though, I have a similar issue with most of the households I have attempted to make (which doesn't happen often and this is one of the reasons). That said, more aspirations would be nice... especially when the athletic aspiration only has one thing under it.

8) And one last thing... this goes back to the allusion I made about the "Playboy Mansion" sims knockoff.  "Celebrities in Sims".   It is well known that there are some "celebrities who play Sims" and a few of them have Sims created and curated by Maxis on the Gallery.  I wouldn't mind seeing some more of them and the existing ones updated on the gallery to reflect more current content and be treated like actual celebrities in game.

bonus) More items for building that involve plants for indoor and outdoor decor.  More Carpet options (color and style!).  This is from someone though who loves building more than playing the game more oft than not (but oddly doesn't feel he can decorate for anything). More off the grid options for wall lights.   you get the idea.

Anyways, thanks for reading if anyone has read this. 

Till next time,
Cheers.