I'd Like To Thank....

They Like Me! They Really Like Me!! I think. But anyway, I was just talking about my reddit.com/r/makinghiphop Weekly Cypher Competition Submissions and how last week I didn't even make the voting thread... boooo!

Well, I came back hard, it wasn't the easiest week because it was 'no theme' which I usually struggle at. (I like the weekly themes, helps my writing if I have an general idea, or 'theme' to work off of each week,) but I felt my entry was pretty good nonetheless, and apparently the vast majority of MHH voters felt the same way and gave me the victory for the week!

It's probably been 5 years since I last won a Cypher, so this was truly exciting, in a nerdy white rapper kind of way. Winning does not grant me much, I do get to pick this week's beat and theme and even get a cute little golden mic next to my name on the subreddit, but all in all it's strictly a confidence booster and a bragging right. Hell, I'll take it. I also chose to be a judge for this week, I didn't want to have to outshine everyone again and keep winning over and over and over (ok, i think the confidence has blown up a little much...)

So that's all. Here is a link to the Award Winning Song Entry!

https://soundcloud.com/therealghosttea/tea-2019-mhh-cypher-12-prod-by-brian_something-bran

The Obsessive Cycles Continue

My obsessions go from one to the other at a rapid pace, it seems like yesterday I was head-over-heels obsessed with VR, then it jumped quickly into the MCU, while both of these obsessions have diminished slightly they are still prominent. The newest obsessive cycle to spin back around into my life is music, hip hop in particular.

The passion for getting back and writing lyrics and making beats was swelling up for a couple weeks, and last week I decided I wanted to jump back in, and so I jumped back into what helped propell me a few years back, the reddit makinghiphop subreddit weekly cypher competitions.

In my opinion this is the perfect way to ease my way back into music again and shake the rust off. I entered 2 competitions so far, I got no votes in my first entry (which was a Thanos' perspective tale of redemption (keeping the MCU obsession alive!)) and my second entry, which I thought was pretty good (the theme was appearance vs. reality) and I didn't even make the damn voting thread. This kind of irked me, but it gives me some drive to improve my work and keep going from here.

The newest cypher theme will be posted either today or early tomorrow and better believe I'll be jumping in and bringing as much fire as I can.

Other than the cyphers, I've been listening to some classic hip hop and some newer albums and artists that I missed out on my hip hop absence. I also have some ideas for new songs and albums. Been toying with the idea of making an album that... umm... well, i'll hold off on divuldging that info just yet... but I got ideas. Will I have the drive, energy and time to get anything done? Maybe.

2019 Q & A

Q: Hey Dummy, this blog isn't about coffee at all, is it?

A: That's barely a question and no, it's not about coffee. If you could read maybe you would've seen that in the byline.

Q: You took another long absence from this blog, what's up with that?

A: Was just busy eating, sleeping, watching movies, watching TV, having more kids, making music, playing games, eating, transcribing the holy texts of the god of underwater cloud people, and sleeping.

Q: ...having more kids?

A: Yep, we had another little girl, Kenzie, who is now 9 months old and is my second world! My first world, Sydney, is already 4 years old.

Q: Who killed Tommy's Boy?

A: Yes

Q: You mentioned you were making music? I haven't seen that to be true... is it true?

A: Well, yes and no. Obviously with a hectic schedule and 2 younglings, I haven't had the time I used to have for making music, but I've been dabbling a bit here and there. I plan to soon release an unreleased (and unpolished) E.P. I made a few years ago.

Q: You seem interested in Comic Book movies and Virtual Reality. Are you mentally challenged?

A: Far from it, in fact I'm intellectually superior to a vast number of peons, normies, jabronis and mouthbreathing neanderthals.

Q: Why are you breathing through your mouth right now?

A: Uh, well, that's an unrelated head-cold. Leave me alone.

My Top 3 Podcasts Of All Time (and a few others that aren't Top 3)

3 is not only the magic number, but it is also the magic number of podcasts that I listen to. There are only 3 and 3 are the only ones. There is 2 but there is also another one, which is 3. There are no 4, although 4 has come and gone before it has not remained which leaves us right where we began at 3. These 3 are the ones of which are the ones (meaning the threes, or 3.) 5 is just out of the question.

I do indeed highly recommend the following podcasts to... well, myself, whether you choose to listen to them or not is inconsequential to anything except that maybe you'll like them, but if you don't, I will still continue to like them.

Video Game Outsiders - One of the earliest podcasts in existence, probably. It started in August 2005, and I started listening not too long after that. Back in those days there weren't many options for podcasts, so upon searching for 'Video Game Podcasts' this one came up. I liked the hosts so I kept listening. It is either underrated, or just under-known, but I'm glad that I over-know it, because I over-love it.



Comedy Bang! Bang! - The next podcast that I listen to regularly... this one started way back in 2009 (although sorry CBB but Video Game Outsiders beat you by like 4 years!) It started as Comedy Death Ray Radio, which was an offshoot of a UCB comedy stage-show of some sort. The dude, Scott Whaterman is hilarious, and he has guests on, who aren't really guests but are "other" guests and it's ongoing, but not like a serial, but sometimes it is. If you don't know, well then you don't know, but check it out. You'll laugh, or at least, I laugh.

Hollywood Handbook - Way back in 2013 is when this gem of a podcast started shining. Sean and Hayes are real people who are funny, but they also play characters who are funny too, so it's all mixed up, and although they started by giving us a glimpse at the "backdoor hallways and carpeted spots of Hollywood" (or something), it has evolved into a whole different, although similar, type of thing. Hilarious isn't the word for it, but, it's the one I use. I like this one the most... sometimes.


These three podcasts are interchangeable as my favorite podcast, sometimes it's 2 that's 1, sometimes 3 is 1, often times 1 is 1 but they are all 1 in my book, so technicalities be damned!

Some mentionable 4's that sometimes try to creep into my 3 (which would then be my 4, so it just wouldn't work) are:

Stuff You Should Know - This one is OK, sometimes they dig into the history of stuff or the theory of things or the way things work, and sometimes it's interesting and fun. Good hosts with a good rapport, although they talk about a lot of topics that I couldn't not care any less about, so they will never make the 3 by doing that.

Rebel Force Radio - Star Wars stuff. I like the hosts, but near and around the release of the new sequels, which aren't very good, they kept saying that they were very good, and I said to myself, "uh, nope," so that became the end of that one (for me.)

Big Brother Gossip - Again, the hosts are what make the shows. There's a few hosts on this, and they are funny, witty and full of snark. This is very niche for a podcast because it's all about the niche reality show, Big Brother. Unless you like Big Brother and unless you like snarky hosts who talk a lot about Big Brother, you probably wouldn't like this. I do, so I do. Since it's seasonal (Big Brother Seasons) it'll never make the 3 either, but it's worth the mention.

There are a few other podcasts I sometimes frequent, but for the most part I only listen to an episode here or an episode there based on guests or topics... those podcasts will remain secret.

VR REVIEWS: Pixel Ripped 1989

This game has been on my radar since I got my Oculus Rift, yet with the vast number of apps and games I had already acquired, it kept getting put on the backburner.

Yesterday I was in a nostalgic mood and even went in and replayed (or at least started to replay) a few old classic PC games. I then remembered Pixel Ripped, which I heard great things about. Without much hesitation I decided to grab this off of the Oculus Store and booted it up.

My immediate reaction upon entering the Pixel Ripped-iverse was, 'Wow, this is going to be awesome,' and for the most part, yes, yes it is.

The basic premise is simple, you play as a pixelated dot in an old school side-scrolling platformer
game, jumping about, collecting 'pixels', shooting enemies which eventually leads to a boss battle. But wait, there's more... you also play as a girl sitting in school, playing these games on her game-boy type device, avoiding harassment from the teacher as you cause distractions in class.
In the game she's playing you have to defeat more enemies and the main villain, who as it were, has taken control of a magical stone and is now combining the game world and the girl's real world (all while you are playing this in a virtual world... it gets a tad confusing.)

The gameplay absolutely transports you back to the 80s/90s and the games you play in the game have a perfect (albeit generic) mechanic and give you the feeling of playing an actual game-boy game of the time.

There are moments you are transported either deeper into the game itself, or times when the game is transported into the girl's real world, or a combination of both. To avoid spoilers, I will just say you get immersed in many different ways when playing Pixel Ripped and there is a lot of jumping around between the different dimensions.

The main gripe I have thus far is the length of the game. I started this game last night, and (unless I'm missing something) it appears to only have 3 main levels. I had almost gotten to the end of level 2 after an hour or two (if that) and it will probably only take another hour tonight to complete it. For the price-tag ($25) it is a hard pill to swallow, but the overall experience of the game is definitely one to try for any VR enthusiast who either remembers or wants to get a taste of gaming in the late 80s/early 90s.

On my scale of Almond to Filet Mignon... this game comes in at a clear Chicken Pot-Pie.