State of the Something

A Day In The Life..., Anime, Cas Had A Good Day?, Health and Exercise, Music, Pets, That Other Blog of Mine, Video Games 4 Responses »
Apr 262010

Oh hai allzzzzzzz…

Health and Exercise

I’m apparently still slimming down… at least, according to my co-workers. The last few weeks have been hell so my diet hasn’t been great, but I think I managed to eat smart most of last week… just that I was dead on my feet (to the point of skipping Dynamis last Tuesday).

I went to bed early-ish last week and it did me a load of good. (Case in point, I went to bed at 11:00 last night and I feel like crap.) Early bed on Tuesday’s not an option, but I’m hoping to stay on track for the rest of the week (including tonight).

Car

We brought the car in for a tune-up two Saturdays ago, and we found out that the water pump needed to be replaced as it was leaking. So that, and the tune up, cost $660. Ow.

I’ll admit that I’m somewhat disappointed in this car. It feels like it’s more cheaply built than my old Corolla, but they don’t make ‘em like they used to. It did save my ass in that stupid car accident, though, so it can’t be all that bad.

I don’t want another car loan, seriously. I haven’t run this car through the ground yet, and in the coming years, we may need more than one vehicle…

Pets

Reese is doing great, but I have to drive to Saint Albert to buy him another grass hut since he utterly destroyed the one he has right now (he likes toppling it). Eris is okay, too.

My fish, however…

My fish themselves are fine, except for two otos that got caught by the powerhead intake (we’ve now taken steps to prevent this). But I have a nasty algae problem again, and there’s a ton of crap at the bottom of the tank… and I’ve only had this setup for two weeks! I’m going to need to check to see if it’s a filtration problem or something.

Anime

I started watching the anime adaptation of Fairy Tail; I hated it at first because the opening theme just does not fit with the series at all, and the style was more “cartoony” than I liked.

The soundtrack, however, is what got me loving the series. It’s a mix of celtic rock, Newfie-style music (I’m not joking) and hard rock (the type that you hear in Japanese fighting games). It’s glorious and it works. All of the Natsu-related themes are all Celtic-esque, and they’re oh-so-incredible. Next Amazon Japan order I make, I’m definitely buying this!

Renovations

We’re hoping to finish everything this weekend. I’m going to buy a nail gun sometime this week so we don’t have to worry about rushing to return it, and I’m borrowing the air compressor from work.

Final Fantasy XI

As mentioned above, I skipped my first Tuesday Dynamis last week and I feel like crap about it.

I’ll fully admit that I act girly in a sense that I like putting Dar in clothes that make him look good. The motivation behind my town gear for SCH (that black coat and pants) was entirely for looks, though I got a nice nuking body out of the deal, so yay for me. I hit DRG 70 the other day, and the Barone set caught my eye; it’s got “okay” stats, but there’s better elsewhere… however, I look amazing in it, so yes, I’m spending over a million gil to make my character look pretty. Sigh.

I’ve got everything but the helm (don’t want) and the feet; the latter is painful because it costs about 800,000 gil to make them, but they commonly sell for 400,000 gil on auction. There’s a guy, however, that’s trying to sell a pair for more than that — I tried up to 480,000 at one point and couldn’t buy them — so I’m holding off until I’ve got the money (I’d have to borrow again if I wanted them now).

Saturday, we got Ithan-Yuran and Mielle Lufaise/Misareaux access so we can go ahead with Myrna’s FFXI wedding on Friday. I still have to finish off the script since I’m the one officiating the whole thing (eep).

Sky was fond of “stab shit in the face” jobs in WoW, and he felt there was no outlet for that in FFXI. I suggested DRG, and seeing that his was 10, we synced down and with Ithan-Yuran in tow for heals, we started tearing stuff apart in Tahrongi as DRG DRG RDM. Myrna soon joined in with her DRG (with Anrym as plevel), and we moved to Buburimu. Over the course of three hours, we brought Karm from DRG 10 to 19 by just casually roaming and decimating stuff… and I hit level 71, meaning we got about 30,000 exp in that time, without rings (ours burned off really darn fast). And it was DAMN FUN.

I hope he likes DRG, but I’m not going to push him to level it if he doesn’t, seeing as he has other stuff he wants to level (BLM, SMN). If we do decide to duo (well, trio), though, this will be my ticket to getting DRG to 75 in a heck of a hurry, which means I can merit SCH.

That’s about it. I’m planning on making a “State of the RP” post on That Other Blog of Mine, so keep an eye out for that!

Current Mood:Okay emoticon Okay

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State of the Cas

A Day In The Life..., Cas Is Thinking Too Hard, Health and Exercise, Music, Pets, That Other Blog of Mine, Video Games No Responses »
Sep 302009

I won’t talk about FFXI in this post, so those of you who are sick of me talking about the game, read on.

Health and Exercise:

This comes as no surprise to most of you, but DAMN am I ever tired. The yo-yoing temperatures here (+30°C one day, 5°C the other) are completely destroying me.

I’ve completely fallen off the workout bandwagon and I’m totally feeling it. I haven’t gone up a size, but stuff feels tighter on me, and I generally feel unhealthy. I’m not quite sure how to get back on track, though… (Exercising at work is no longer an option.)

Writing:

NaNoWrMo starts in 31 days and I’m barely prepared. I’ve been trying to write more to get the creative juices flowing, but it’s not helping much. I keep joking that FFXI stifles creativity, but that might not be too far from the truth given that I’m having a hard time coming up with non-FFXI stories. Anyways, I’m posting stuff sporadically on That Other Blog of Mine, if you care to look.

Money, Money, Money:

My dream of paying off my Mastercard evaporated when Eris got sick, but I’m slowly chipping away at it again. I’m back down below my original limit, and I should be able to put another $700 on it next month. Hopefully I’ll have it paid off by the end of January (that’s the next three paycheque month for Sky).

I managed to pay off my air conditioning, so now I have the Sears card in case I need to buy a new washer/dryer… which, judging from the sounds of things, might have to be soon. However, I’m a little dismayed at the SIZE of the appliances these days; I don’t need a washer that can fit 5 loads! We do relatively small loads due to colours, and something that big seems like a gigantic waste of water (yes, I know you can control load size). Anyways, hopefully I won’t need one right away.

I’m… actually being responsible and opening an RRSP next week. I’m not going to put much in it — maybe $50 per month — but I want the option to be there for if I need to bury some money come tax time. (I still don’t understand how I could owe money last year.)

Pets:

Eris is doing okay. She’s back on dry food in the morning and canned in the evening (the latter coming with her meds). I’m seeing bigger stools, but nothing like it was before. That vet food is horribly expensive, though ($55 for a 10lb bag?!), and I’m hoping to take her off it completely soon.

Video Games:

I’ve lost interest in Dissidia and I’m not quite sure why. I honestly don’t think it’s FFXI, but more that the English version seems to have removed the shiny factor for me. Also, I CAN’T STAND Zidane’s English voice; I really love Paku Romi’s performance and the English voice just ruins the character completely.

I’ve been watching Sky play Persona 4 and I’m enjoying the story so far. The characters don’t seem forced or trite, and I find it easy to sympathize with them. He’s only halfway through the game and he’s played 65 hours so far, which kinda puts this game in the “Dragon Quest” category of Extremely Long Games.

Music:

For some reason, I’ve started listening to some Yonekura Chihiro again. Her songs are really uplifting!

That’s about all I can think of. Tired Cas is tired, so I’m going to flake out until Sky gets home.

Current Mood:Morose emoticon Morose

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Video Games Live 2009 (Edmonton)

Music, Video Games 5 Responses »
May 192009

People have been requesting this, so here’s the list of pieces they played at Video Games Live 2009 here in Edmonton (I’ll post a review later). All pieces played by members of the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, with supplemental players noted:

1. Intro – Classic Video Game Medley
2. Metal Gear Solid – Theme of Metal Gear Solid 2 (choir by Kokopelli)
3. Final Fantasy – Piano Arrangement (featuring songs from FFI – FFX) (performed by Martin Leung, the Video Game Pianist)
4. Mass Effect – Main Theme (choir by Kokopelli)
5. Audience Game #1 – Space Invaders
6. Video – First television footage of the first video game / Live interview with Ralph Baer
7. Kingdom Hearts – Hikari (Orchestral)
8. Beyond Good and Evil – Main Theme (choir by Kokopelli)
9. Tron – Main Theme Suite
10. The Legend of Zelda – Orchestral Suite

- Intermission -

11. Need For Speed Undercover – Main Theme / On My Own (performed by the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra and Splitting Adam)
12. Warcraft – Main Theme Orchestral Suite (choir by Kokopelli)
13. Super Mario Bros. – Orchestral Arrangement
14. Super Mario Bros. – Piano Arrangement / Forest 3 (performed by Martin Leung, the Video Game Pianist)
15. Tetris – Main Theme Piano Arrangement (performed by Martin Leung, the Video Game Pianist)
16. Audience Game #2 – Guitar Hero Aerosmith – Sweet Emotion (supplemental electric guitar by Tommy Tallarico)
17. Final Fantasy VII – One Winged Angel (electric guitar by Tommy Tallarico, choir by Kokopelli)
18. Halo 3 ODST – Main Theme (electric guitar by Tommy Tallarico, choir by Kokopelli)
19. Halo – Main Theme (electric guitar by Tommy Tallarico)
20. Halo 2 – Main Theme (electric guitar by Tommy Tallarico, choir by Kokopelli)
21. Halo 3 – Main Theme (electric guitar by Tommy Tallarico, choir by Kokopelli)

Encore – Castlevania – Theme Arrangement (electric guitar by Tommy Tallarico, organ by Martin Leung, the Video Game Pianist)

Encore – Chrono Trigger/Chrono Cross – Wind Scene (600 A.D.)/Frog’s Theme/Scars Left By Time (Chrono Cross Opening Theme) (electric guitar string plucking by Tommy Tallarico, acoustic guitar by Jack Wall)

Current Mood:Artistic emoticon Artistic

What I Did On My Spring Vacation

A Day In The Life..., Cas Had A Bad Day, Cas Had A Good Day?, Cas Is Thinking Too Hard, Health and Exercise, Music, Pets, Video Games 1 Response »
May 192009

We’re getting 15 cm of snow today, so there’s no way I’m using the word “summer”.

This vacation was… interesting, to say the least. It was a roller coaster, that’s for sure. So here’s what happened:

THE BAD:

A Day in the Life:

  • As previously mentioned, got into a car accident. I actually haven’t heard anything since I put in the claim. However, the damage is apparently $2500 to my car, mostly because they’d have to replace the bumper and all the lights etc. I can fix it myself for $40, so I’ll do that and get the passenger side mirror replaced.
  • To add insult to injury, got a flat tire on Wednesday, front passenger side, unrelated to the accident (was a nail). We luckily noticed about 8 feet from home, so we put a snow tire on and got the all-season fixed within an hour, which was nice. Only $40, too.
  • The toilet is leaking. Tried to do a fix on it but it’s not working, so we need to replace the pipe from the tank to the plumbing. Shouldn’t cost too much, but ugh.

Health and Exercise:

  • Was sick. Massively sick. I spent the first few days puking (which disturbed Sky and Hunter). I lost a few pounds from it, it was that bad.
  • Had to give Eris a bath for various reasons (mostly that she got sick), and she ended up digging her claws deep into my back. I’m okay, but… OW.

I Hate Computers:

  • Sky was getting some weird lag issues in FFXI. We replaced the CPUs (see below), but it turns out it’s a video card issue (part of his video RAM fried), so there’s another $200 down the drain. Sigh.

THE GOOD:

A Day in the Life:

  • Got my patio set. It’s fricking gorgeous! Special thanks to Hunter for building it for me!
  • Stained my deck, finally, and not a moment too soon. It took forever and we missed a few spots, but we did it in one day (and it finished curing right before my party). We’ll touch up soon.
  • BIRTHDAY PARTY! It was awesome and we played Magic: The Gathering most of the night. I got the funniest card ever from Dragon Dancer, too!

Health and Exercise:

  • On the bright side, between the doctor and my pharmacist, we figured out what the problem is…

    Wait for it…

    … allergies.

    Yes, allergies. So I’m on Cotridin syrup for emergencies and to sleep, and I’m on plain ol’ Claritin right now, which is solving 99% of the coughing. I still cough with temperature changes, but it’s not as bad as before. I have an inhaler, too, but it doesn’t seem to do much.

    But why can’t I sneeze like normal people? Sigh.

FFXI:

  • Finished Rise of the Zilart. I finished a storyline in FFXI. ME. Had issues with AA Elvaan (!@#$%) and Freak Boy #1 with a few wipes, but it was AWESOME. I had so much fun and I’m really looking forward to more story!
  • Got Hexa Strike. That’s awesome in itself, but I also got Club to 230 and got my Stick of Suck Club of Trials, which I broke last night. We just need to fight the NM and I’ll have Black Halo! (ME. Having a high-level WS. ME.)
  • Got WAR to 21. It’s nice not having to worry about keeping people’s health up, but it’s still freaky. But this opens the door for me to level THF and NIN…

I Hate Computers:

  • Despite the issues above, got new CPUs, so woot. Won’t have to upgrade for a very long time!

Music:

  • Video Games Live! The first part was meh, but the second part… oh my God. Chrono Cross. CHRONO FRICKING CROSS. I sobbed like a little girl. I’m quite tired this morning since I only got home at 11:30, but it was worth it. I’ll blog more about it later!

That’s all I can think of. Hope you’re all doing well!

Current Mood:Okay emoticon Okay

Tagged with: ,

Mmf.

A Day In The Life..., Music No Responses »
Dec 042008

Video Games Live tickets for May 18th, 2009 ninja went on sale. I got really shitty seats this time over… at least, compared to last year and the year before. This year, we’re in Right Centre K, 58-59.

At least the crappy seats aren’t as expensive, and it cost me $127.80 with all the Ticketmaster BS.

Still kinda miffed, but there’s really no helping it!

Current Mood:Blah emoticon Blah

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