Liebster Award Nomination!

 

 

 

I Got a What Now?

Up until a couple of days ago, I had never heard of the Liebster Award, which is not too surprising. I’ve had my blog for nearly five years, but have only recently (in the last few months) been able to redouble my efforts to post more frequently and consistently. Along with that I’ve actually begun to seek out and follow other blogs, written by people with similar interests. The biggest change has been that I’ve made a concerted effort to comment and participate in discussions with other bloggers, which has been extremely rewarding! And now one of those bloggers has nominated me and my blog for the Liebster Award. Before going any further I’d like to offer my heartfelt thanks to Rebekah Lang for the nomination, and an earnest recommendation to all to go check out her excellent blog at rebekahlang.com.

So What Is It?

The first thing I needed to do was actually find out what a Liebster Award is, and it turns out that it’s pretty great. In my own words it is a gesture of recognition and appreciation shared by bloggers with the blogs they enjoy following and interacting with. It also includes an element of networking, as nominees are encouraged to share more about themselves as well as nominate other bloggers. In the end, we all learn a bit more about who the person is behind the posts and even find new blogs to check out.

Liebster is German for what seems to be a variety of meanings including “loveliest”, “welcome”, “dearest”, and “valued” among others. In poking around the internet to learn more about the award I’ve found varied but similar rules for acceptance which mostly agree on a handful of key items: thanking the person who nominated you, answering the 11 questions they posed in the nomination, revealing 11 fun or random facts about yourself, and further nominating additional bloggers, with an emphasis on blogs having a subscriber count on the lower range of the spectrum (I’ve seen less than 3000, 2000 or 200, you get the idea though).

Let’s Get Started!

Rebekah asked the following questions for me to answer, so here we go:

1. You are stuck on a desert island with only five games for the rest of time (or until you are rescued). Which do you choose?

This was a tough one given the vast number of un-played games on my shelf. Who knows how long I would be stuck on the island, I might as well make it count and make it last. The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion would have to be number one. I’ve been trying to play through that game off and on for… holy crap, like 8 years! If I was stuck on a desert island with only 4 other titles I would definitely finish it! Next I would select Red Dead Redemption, one of the most acclaimed open-world games of the last generation. After that, Dark Souls. I absolutely loved Demon’s Souls and would hate the idea of possibly missing out on the rest of From Software’s masterpieces. The fourth game would be my copy of Puyo Puyo Tetris because sometimes you’re just not in the mood to slog through an epic quest, and a good, quirky puzzle game can provide respite. Last but not least I would take Dead Space, which is an unusual choice for me. I’m generally not a fan of horror games and I don’t care for jump scares at all. Dead Space seemed like a good third-person shooter made for people who are not me. I was so uninterested in Dead Space that I didn’t purchase it. However, a good friend of mine liked it so much that he actually bought it for me, despite my lack of interest. I figure that has got to be the strongest possible way a person can recommend a game. I couldn’t live with myself if I never got around to trying out the gift given by a good friend, and desert island or no, I will get around to it.

2. What is your worst gaming pet peeve?

I’m not a fan of games that don’t have a subtitle option, but I’ve got to believe that is behind us at this point. I’m going to have to say bad cameras. When you’re in the middle of a tense action sequence, the camera spazzing out on environmental geometry is the worst. There has to be a better way.

3. How do you choose your topics?

Most of my game-related topics are probably inspired by the other game-related content I consume. By that I don’t mean just playing games. From podcasts and magazines, to blogs and tweets, I tend to follow the video game industry in much the same way as a big sports fan follows their favorite team. Sometimes listening to a podcast discussion I am not participating in will drive me to write about my opinion on the same topic, it’s more effective than trying to talk to my iPod. A preview article about an upcoming game might inspire me to write about why the game is exciting for me or why I think it’s a bad idea altogether. Someone else’s blog post might reveal to me that I have a strong opinion about the same topic, but in a different light and I’ll want to share that.

It occurs to me that most of the things I like to write about revolve around discussion. They are inspired by someone else’s discussion that I was unable to participate in, a discussion I was able to participate in but wanted to continue it down another path, or a subject that is ripe for opposing views. I like discussion, the back and forth. Though I feel gaming has never been more popular or accepted than it is now, I rarely find myself in the physical company of others who share that interest. Writing about it here, and reading/commenting about it on other blogs provides an avenue for those fun discussions to take place.

Coming up with topics has been something that I struggle with. I do feel like I can write fairly well once I know where I want to go with something, but the hardest part is the starting point. From the advice of a new friend, I’ve taken to pulling out my phone and adding ideas to a list when they come to me. I think this will help immensely.

4. Do you try to hit a certain word count in your blogs? Or do you just wing it?

My posts always start from a specific thought I want to share, and usually include a few certain wrinkles that in my head sound like they would come across well or in an entertaining way. I stop when they feel finished and that’s pretty much it. In fact, they often take off in a completely different direction once I get started, occasionally the final product barely resembles the one I started writing. I quite enjoy writing and can tend to be a bit “wordy”. I’m usually concerned that my posts end up being too long (hello, are you still here?).

Then there’s The King’s Backlog. It feels right to type a little something to accommodate my video posts. I certainly don’t want to just throw the episode up there by itself, there has to be something, right? Well, I soon discovered that it was really hard to think of anything substantial to write about each successive hour of the same video game and an idea took form in my head out of nowhere. Haikus! I had never even tried to write one so I have no clue where that idea came from, but I tried it anyway. My current process of posting The King’s Backlog consists of me introducing the game, expectations I may have about playing it, and any other thoughts about it I want to put into words, all posted along with the first episode. Subsequent episodes are now accompanied by a haiku to summarize or hint at highlights of the episode… or simply make me chuckle.

Long description made short, no word count… but sometimes a syllable count.

5. What one weird talent do you have that no one would expect?

I have worked in the construction industry for nearly all of my adult life, for the last 10 years with a geotechnical construction company that specializes in Cement Deep Soil Mixing. This means that I am always traveling for work as our projects are scattered throughout the US and occasionally beyond. Most people I meet and interact with are in the context of construction work, and that often comes with a certain… I don’t know, stereotype? I will frequently show up looking like this (bottom left), especially in the summer. Depending on the where the project is located, I may show up on this (right). The people I’m close to know better how varied my interests are, the rest are usually completely surprised to learn I can play the cello. I’m quite rusty since my career makes it hard to find the time to practice on the “axe”.

6. You are going to Disneyland: what do you do first?

I’ve actually been to Disneyland once (in 1995) and have very fond memories of the Matterhorn and Star Tours. I imagine some things have changed there in the last 20 years so the first thing I would do is probably make a quick recon to see if there’s anything new I need to check out… then spend the rest of the day on the Matterhorn and Star Tours. Oh, and see if I can find a really big corndog. There’s something about amusement parks makes me hungry for a really big corndog.

I love roller coasters and someday want to make it to Magic Mountain.

7. You have to be immersed in one game world for a day; which do you choose and why?

Wow, this one’s hard! I’m going to go with Tamriel from Oblivion. Part of the reason why I’m nowhere near finishing the game after countless hours is because I’ve been doing so much exploring. I love the look of the world and the different visual style for each region and town. I’m fascinated by the Ayleid ruins and old forts scattered throughout the map and spend way too much time poking around in them. It would be great to drop a bit of gold at a magic shop and be able to shoot fire and lightning from my fingertips. And who wouldn’t jump at the chance to sit down in a tavern to converse with a Khajiit and an Argonian?

8. What is your favorite place you have visited? Why?

I’ve done a lot of traveling with my job and had some great times in some great places. This would have been a much more difficult question for me to answer three weeks ago. Now I can say without hesitation that my favorite place I have visited is Japan, hands down. As a kid who used to love watching old Godzilla movies and later grew up with the excellent 8 and 16-bit consoles the Japanese brought us, there was no more desired a place to go than Japan. As an adult who’s worked for a Japanese company for the last 10 years and become quite fond of my co-workers who call Japan home, my desire to go there became much more than just a geek fantasy. And I was not disappointed, it was AMAZING! I’ll be trying to get a blog post put together about my recent trip very soon, so I’m hesitant to go into the “why” in too much detail right now.

9. If you could be the lead singer for a known band at a huge concert for one day, which would it be? Why?

I have pretty varied tastes when it comes music, with favorite songs across many genres and eras that I love to sing along with. For some unknown reason I’ve been singing “Midnight Confession” from The Grass Roots in my head most of the day, and I wasn’t even born before that song was popular.

Because I genuinely like each and every song in their catalogue and I don’t think I can say that about any other band, I’m going to have to go with Breaking Benjamin. Learning more about the lead singer (Benjamin Burnley) and the phobias he suffers from casts a new light on his work that really draws me in. I was also surprised to learn that he co-wrote my favorite Red song “Shadows”.

10. Carpet or hardwood?

I like them both. Hardwood can be beautiful, but a good carpet is more comfortable on bare feet and to stretch out on. Also, carpeted rooms feel…quieter (I’m not sure that’s the right word, hopefully you know what I mean). That’s how I prefer to feel when I think about a home. So if I have to choose one, it’s carpet. Besides, I can’t imagine wrestling or playing tug-of-war with this little guy on hardwood (Hi Reggie!). I’ve already got quite a weight advantage, he needs the additional traction!

If allowed to choose both, dark hardwood on the ground floor and thick carpet in the basement.

11. Someone has to do a formal painting of you; what do you wear and how do you pose? Inside or outside?

It’s really goofy but I wear a Hawaiian shirt, jeans, my Nintendo controller belt buckle, and my motorcycle boots. It doesn’t make for the classy portrait at all, but it is just so me. I’m sitting in a chair gazing thoughtfully into the distant horizon, because the best pictures of people are the ones in which the subjects don’t appear to be aware of the picture. I suppose “candid” would be the term? Outside, somewhere with natural beauty. Wooded mountainside perhaps?

About Me

And now for 11 facts about me:

1. To partially explain the answer to question 11 above, I wear a Hawaiian shirt every Friday. Rain or shine, in the office or on the jobsite, I wear one from my collection. In the last 8 years I have probably only forgotten to put on my Friday shirt twice. I can’t even remember why I started doing it, but I’m sure I always will. It seems to bring a little levity to work each week. It also makes me easy to shop for.

I love it when my co-workers occasionally join in!

2. I’m allergic to cats, which is great (sarcasm) because I love cats and cats love me. My wife’s cat and I were the best of friends when she still lived with us, but I always struggled to breathe whenever I was home and she wouldn’t leave my side.

3. Growing up in Utah meant that I had only one local professional sports team to cheer for, the Utah Jazz.
My favorite NFL team is the Philadelphia Eagles… I have never been to Philadelphia…
My favorite MLB team is the Chicago Cubs… I have never been to Chicago…

4. It will likely be the death of me but I love my Mountain Dew. I drink a lot of it. When I am eating out, my choice of restaurant is heavily influenced by their soft drink offerings. Unfortunately Coca-Cola is what most dining establishments have available. I don’t care for Coca-Cola, it actually hurts my stomach, but stir in a little chocolate syrup and you have something magical. And the look on a waitress’s/waiter’s face after you’ve just asked them to add chocolate to a Coke and stir until it looks like muddy water is priceless. One waitress even called her friends over to watch me from the kitchen doorway because they didn’t actually think I was going to drink it. Give it a try!

5. As unhealthy as my diet is, or may appear to be, I actually have a favorite fruit! Every year I am very excited when the pomegranate is in season again. I know it’s a lot of work, but please stop trying to tell me about easier ways to eat them, that’s part of the experience. I can enjoy a pomegranate for nearly an entire movie’s length!

6. If I could travel back in time only once, I would choose a crowded theater in 1980 that was about to find out who Darth Vader really is. What a cool reaction that must have been!

7. I hate sleeping in. On weekends when I am not working my alarm is usually set for 6:00 am. My free time is precious and I’d much rather spend the early morning hours playing video games or meeting up with some friends at a disc golf course.

8. I really like musicals. I’ve seen both “

Les Misérables

” and “Phantom of the Opera” live in San Francisco. I love the movies “Paint Your Wagon”, “My Fair Lady”, “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers”, and “Moulin Rouge!” among many others. I especially enjoy seeing local community theatre productions.

9. I still have all of my wisdom teeth.

10. I am the oldest of 6, and the only one with my mother’s hazel eyes. All of my siblings have my father’s blue eyes, defying probability as blue eyes are a recessive gene (thank you biology class).

11. For some reason I can never listen to a song containing in the lyrics the words “memory” or “memories” without my brain automatically replacing it with “mammary” or “mammaries” (which isn’t actually a word). This has made listening to music incredibly strange at times. If after reading this you are also afflicted with this curse, you are welcome.

Who’s Next?

I’d like to nominate Junambo over at Quarter Circle Gaming, one of the sites I’ve recently started following and enjoy quite a bit. Go check it out, there’s some great writing and well thought out reviews over there. Junambo, here are your 11 questions:

1. What 3 games do you think have had the biggest impact on the industry, and what was the impact?
2. Jack Bauer or James Bond?

3. Do you have a favorite classic game that you can always return to, and if so what is it?
4. What accomplishment are you most proud of?
5. Single-player, co-op, or multiplayer?
6. If you could only choose one food to eat for the next six months, what would it be?
7. What do you want to be when you grow up? (I think this question can be relevant at any age)
8. Which mundane, everyday profession do you think would make a good basis for the next great simulation game?
9. You can interview any one person, living or dead. Who do you choose?
10. Which place in the world do you wish to travel to more than any other?
11. What is it about you that people are the most surprised to learn?

Thanks again for the Liebster nomination, Rebekah, it means a lot. And thanks for reading!

Play nice, everyone!

Catching Up… Again…

Welcome back, cave dwellers! I’m still around I’ve just been busy, but it’s time to get back to posting. I know that because I’ve recently spent too many nights lying awake at night, unable to sleep, while my mind races along with a topic I can’t let go. Might as well get it out on paper… so to speak. My hope is that writing about the subjects I’m discussing internally with myself in the middle of the night will help me get some much needed rest as well satisfy my desire to… well, write.

Before we get into all of those, I thought I would take a some time to talk about what’s been going on with me in the nearly two years since my last post. I’ve been working hard on multiple projects, including about 4 months spent in New Zealand. All is well at the house although I don’t spend enough time there, but we do have a wonderful new addition to the family. I’ve made some new friends, tried some fun new hobbies and attended my first geek-centric cons. And of course I’ve been playing video games when I can. It’s been a lot of fun!

Traveling Abroad

I had the opportunity to go to New Zealand to work on a project stabilizing ground damaged by recent earthquakes at the Lyttelton Port of Christchurch. It was particularly exciting as I had never been outside of the United States before. Ignoring the fact that my luggage was lost during the initial trip, it was a fine time. Meeting new people and getting to know new places has always been one of my favorite parts of being a traveling construction worker, but this was a whole new ball game.

The most challenging aspect of my time there by far was just learning how to get around. Even my ride from the airport was both exciting and stressful, watching an unfamiliar world pass by on the wrong side of the street while my brain couldn’t get over the fact that my seat was supposed to have a steering wheel but didn’t. Being on the left side of the road was only the beginning. My company had rented a couple of work trucks to use for the project and they were both equipped with manual transmissions. I’ve had plenty of experience driving a stick shift before but with the steering wheel on the other side of the vehicle I had to adjust to shifting with my left hand rather than my right. Doing this while continually reminding myself which lane to turn into was manageable with the proper focus… until I would signal the turn and the windshield wipers started. The turn signal has to be on the other side too? Although I got pretty comfortable driving around by the time I left, I could never quite shake the sensation of being in a giant blind spot. Because my mind and body instinctively look up and to the right to see the rearview mirror, which in this case resulted in me looking out the door window, I mostly used the side mirrors. Even though I wasn’t there long enough to get accustomed to checking the rearview mirror to the left, I was there long enough that my first car ride back in the states was more than a little unnerving. I had planned to bring my wife over for a visit, but the project duration was unfortunately cut short. The unexpected change in plans also meant that I didn’t get to do as much sightseeing as I hoped, with most of my time spent at the jobsite. My sightseeing ended up being little more than commuting to work and shopping for necessities, basically business as usual, only in a place that has summer during the months that I’m used to having winter! I did learn that the really cool Kit-Kat bars are not sold in the US.







I also discovered that Mountain Dew has a very tasty flavor exclusive to the region, Passionfruit Frenzy! My wife was a little frustrated that I was on the other side of the world and most of the pictures I sent were of candy bars and soft drinks. Overall, it was a great experience! I met some interesting people, saw some incredible new sights and got a brief glimpse into the daily life of the Kiwi. I wouldn’t want to live there permanently though, as they appear to put barbeque sauce on everything! Pizza with barbeque sauce instead of tomato? Wrong! The humble BLT, which I content is where the very idea of a sandwich reaches it’s full potential? Exactly as it should be… except for the addition of barbeque sauce. Wrong!

Cons Ahoy!

In September of 2013, Salt Lake City hosted its first Comic Con! When my wife called to inform me of this I was a bit surprised. This is because when we were newlyweds she often expressed a measure of embarrassment to be seen in public with me wearing my Nintendo controller belt buckle and goofy, nerdy t-shirts, so imagine my surprise when she said, “I think we should go!” I feel my best Emperor Palpatine impression was more than justified, “Your journey to the dark side will be complete!”

The organizers had clearly not anticipated the level of enthusiasm there would be and didn’t make use of enough of the expo hall to accommodate all the attendees, however. Getting from place to place was a claustrophobic’s nightmare as the isles resembled Japanese commuter train cars during rush hour. At one point I was full on rubbing bellies with Quailman (it was actually a pretty good costume) while trying to make my way through the teeming mass of nerd flesh. And the unique, aromatic delight resulting from the combination of so many different odors…? Sorry, I almost passed out for a minute. All of that aside, we had a great time! Checking out all of the vendor booths, creative cosplay and celebrity guests was so much fun! While taking a break in the hallway we witnessed a flock of several dozen Deadpools appear out of nowhere, parade through the hallway, and suddenly vanish. My wife got to meet an actor from one of her favorite TV shows (Brian Krause from Charmed) and I got to meet Kevin Murphy! If you don’t know who Kevin Murphy is, shame on you! Stop reading right now, go watch some Mystery Science Theater 3000 (he’s Tom Servo), and then come back. I can say he is truly a class act!
















We also ended up attending the following event in the spring, Salt Lake Comic Con FanXperience, which was billed as a different but similar event targeted at a much broader range of interests. The reality is that it was basically a second Comic Con, which was fine by me. The entire expo hall was opened up for the event allowing for much easier and less stressful navigation. I was even able to connect with a good friend I haven’t seen in about 16 years for a photo op with Nathan Fillion!















This past July marked the first annual FantasyCon, which was originally planned to occur in Las Vegas but ended up in Salt Lake City for reasons I don’t entirely understand. It shared a lot of similarities with Comic Con and FanXperience but trending more to the fantasy genre side of geek fandom. A new friend of mine runs a local animation studio and helped put the event together so we were more than happy to show up in support. His studio (Too Many Legs Animation Studios, Inc.) was sketching willing participants at their booth, mine is included above in the intro. Like the previous events there was a wealth of celebrity guests and cool vendor booths among other fun things to see and do.

 
Wait, What Golf?

Remember that new hobby I mentioned over 1,200 words ago? I started playing disc golf! Technically this began during my time in New Orleans way back when the PlayStation Move was first released. Some of my co-workers and I would play Sports Champions for many hours over the course of several weekends, specifically the “Disc Golf” portion. It was a great multiplayer experience for a few friends to just get together and have fun. At one point someone said, “You know, we can go play actual disc golf.” Of course with the travel for work and usual daily life stuff that tends to happen to us all, it took a few years to finally make that a reality. Now I have my own discs and I meet up with a couple friends to play when I’m in the Bay Area, which has been pretty often as of late. Each weekend we check out a different course. By now we’ve just about exhausted all of the local courses, so we’ll have to start circling back to our favorites and occasionally expand our search a bit further away.

In my humble opinion it is a great, simple and cheap outdoor activity that just about anyone can enjoy. It has a low-cost initial investment. My first 3-pack of discs cost me about $25 and we’ve only played at one course that required any kind of payment, a $2 parking fee. I’m not very good at it but I’m much better than when I started and it’s something I enjoy that keeps me active. It’s just like hiking, but with a  purpose! By the way, don’t describe it that way to someone who likes hiking…

Meet Sir Reginald!

Last but certainly not least, our new family member is this sweet, lovable hairball! Reggie is a Maltese Poodle mix, or Maltipoo (which is a ridiculous word), and he is just wonderful! He was having a hard time with his previous family and we offered to take him in a give him a good home. How could you say no to that face?

 
To those of you who got all the way through this, thanks for sticking around! I really didn’t realize this post would end up so long when I started it. Come back soon and we’ll talk about video games, I promise.

Play nice, everyone!