Touch Some Grass

Audio Blog

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Audio Blog ♪

Let’s do our best to get you outside this month away from your phone or computer. As always the written portion of the blog is made with brevity in mind, so please listen to the audio above if you want the full details and nuance with this month’s update. If any links I provide to you do not work, I would consider getting any VPN local to your region and setting a server somewhere in the United States.

Contrary to what my YouTube channel content may suggest, I’m actually someone who really enjoys being outside for the most part! My hobbies in video games and pop culture came as a side effect from being quite poor when I was younger. You would think outdoor activities would be cheaper than other hobbies, but this assumption would be wrong if you factor in the potential costs of getting injured. And as someone who was born in the United States with a health care system that must be purchased for any type of assistance, you can see why my parents forbade me to do anything even remotely dangerous and stay indoors where they could see me.

None the less my childhood was a few decades ago, and as an adult I try my best to encourage everyone I meet to keep a healthy balance of indoor and outdoor living when they can. The stereotypes of outdoor activities usually come in the form of playing sports, or doing something that involves a lot of active participation. In reality taking a simple walk and appreciating your local surroundings is just as good for your physical and mental well being. And once more as someone who grew up in poverty, believe me when I say I knew the dangers of walking around a neighborhood that can be considered “less than friendly”. But I got around these limitations by going out at the break of dawn, where most honest folks were getting ready for work and dishonest folks were slipping into bed after a long night meandering. No matter the circumstances, you always have the opportunity to go outside and “touch some grass”.

One of my favorite tv shows of the past is called Survivorman. I was shocked to find out the host Les Stroud owned all the rights to the show, and even more surprised that he graciously posted all of it on his YouTube channel for free for everyone to watch. So in the theme of getting outside and experiencing mother nature, what better encouragement to than watch a show about situations that can go horribly wrong and put your life in danger! I’m probably not the best salesman right now for getting out, but I still want you to do so. At least if you watch all of Survivorman, you’ll have the knowledge to know what to do in case the worse comes to pass. Remember to use a VPN of your choice in case you can’t reach the YouTube channel and get an error about it not being available in your region.

I found another YouTube channel that deals with people walking around with a camera. And of course it’s going to be in Japan since it’s one of the safest places to do so! For those of you who are long time visitors to my site, explaining the history of my childhood and my fascination with the outdoors may help shed some light on why I like these type of videos so much. I really hate being locked indoors too long, and often need some time to stretch my legs. I encourage all of you to do the same, and just take a stroll around your town or city casually for a bit. If your safety is ever a concern, I always humbly suggest going out at sunrise which “allegedly” is the safest time in most cities and suburbs to be walking about. You could also go to a well established shopping center or district in your locale. I know I sound a bit paranoid right now offering such advice, but you have to remember I’m American and this comes naturally to us!

I’m not going to mix words. I’m knee deep in Space Leaper Cocoon at the moment in terms of mobile games. It has made me retire Revived Witch and every other little side game I was keeping on life support out of pity and sunk cost fallacy feelings. It’s very refreshing to come across a game that has a lot of personality to it and tries to be somewhat unique from a sea of copycats. I know there may be inspirations where Space Leaper Cocoon takes from, but that’s leaps and bounds (no pun intended) better than most who seem to be replicas of one another with a different coat of paint. And as someone who has to dredge through a sea of gacha games for testing on a month to month basis, I do not give out my praise lightly. I understand that pragmatically the biggest thing holding back the game is the art direction, but I really want to emphasize that even if that isn’t necessarily your cup of tea; at the very least try the game out to see what I’m talking about when I say it’s a “refreshing” game to play. Because maybe in the future a copycat of Space Leaper Cocoon will come out with an aesthetic to your liking, and frankly I’m ok with that if they kept everything else the same!

The above clip was created by Laosduude over on the Destiny Child discord Nikke subsection (check the pins). Obviously as much as I’m singing praises for Space Leaper Cocoon, the elephant in the room we’re all waiting for is Nikke Goddess Of Victory. I’ve been in 2 closed beta tests at this point, and the most recent one showed a lot of refinement and progress on an already amazing looking product. Even though Nikke is suppose to be out by the end of this year, there is always a rumor in the air that development may take a little bit longer before official launch and that the game might be pushed back until 2023. Either way, I just wanted to throw a reminder for all the folks out there that I am indeed waiting patiently alongside the rest of you for Nikke to finally drop, sway, and bounce into our lives (hopefully) later this year.

Monthly shout outs to YouTube community members who answered the call! Special thanks to g3nm4, Humphry Cobbledick and Noids Edstrom for my Mommy Bear request!

Emotional Roller Coaster (NSFW)

Audio Blog

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Audio Blog ♪

It’s time to get a little laughter and somberness into your diet. As always the written portion of the blog is made with brevity in mind, so please listen to the audio above if you want the full details and nuance with this month’s update. If any links I provide to you do not work, I would consider getting any VPN local to your region and setting a server somewhere in the United States.

I wanted to focus this month’s update on the human condition. More specifically, I wanted to show you how some of us manifest our life experiences into ways strange and bizarre. Some outcomes we can take a laugh at, cause it’s obvious we know its self inflicted and delusional. Others we might pity or be highly sympathetic for, cause we know the outcomes is not necessarily a fault of their own doing. Either way, what I really want you to do this month is to get a good laugh and then some perspective on our fellow human beings on the planet.

Let’s start off with some laughter. I made references in my June 2022 update on a fantastic documentary on MMA and the psychology of the sport. If you haven’t watched it at this point, I highly recommend you do so cause it’s much more than it seems at a surface level. But now I want to bring you a look into those who don’t really fight for a living or a cause; more so they “fight” because it’s a lifestyle choice and identity they’ve cornered themselves into. The above documentary into martial arts frauds takes a very loose (and humorous) look into some of these characters and their sordid history. It’s important to understand the background on how these folks got to their prominence rather than the key figures themselves. Because the “absurdity” of it all is just as much their fault as it is ours for enabling them to do so. Ultimately I want you to laugh at collective bullshit we all created and are all responsible for.

Switching gears completely in the opposite direction, it’s hard to put into words what the Margie & Scott documentary is. There’s so many subtle ques about addition, alcoholism, and non-verbal signs of abuse to ever put into words that have any weight. You just have to watch it as a story about two struggling people doing the best they can with what they can. It’s not a commentary on poverty, politics, social welfare, or anything related. It’s a story about two people. Keep in mind this documentary is a slow burn, so I would advise watching it when you have a lot of time to just take it all in at your own pace. Believe me when I say there’s no “tidy ribbon” to tie everything together once you’ve finished. It is what it is, but I hope you get some perspective from it at the end of the day.

Always a friendly reminder that I’m not the only soul on the planet that answered the call. The call to talk and show lewd things in a non judgmental, “take it for what it is” fashion. More importantly, if you think what I do on my YouTube channel is remotely cheeky in the face of society at large; then let me introduce you a channel that in every sense blows me out of the water. Just a warning there’s going to be a lot of animated nipples, genitals, jiggle and K-Pop in your foreseeable future. Please watch when and where appropriate so you don’t get fired or forced to sleep on the couch.

Finishing off this short update, I did a couple of backend fixes. I’ve redone the “about us” & “contact us” pages to be more in-line with what the site is actually about now. I also added a “Weekend Synthwave” section for music posts that I link on my YouTube community as well as occasionally in my blog posts. I’m seriously thinking about adding a gallery showcase page, dedicated to all the artists I’ve linked to in the past (and future) as a way of encouraging people to check them out. The only reason I’m hesitant to start one is because it’s a lot of work, and I need to make sure I do it in a way where I’m not stepping on anyone’s toes. I need to make a system where I properly cite and link to the artist’s social media and “funding” pages, while making sure not to turn the gallery into a depository instead of a showcase. So I might limit the amount of images I have from any artist up to 3 at all times as an example. In any case, things are always in the works here and I just wanted to give you a little look into the workshop. That ends this month’s update, and I’ll see you in the next one!

Shoutout to Ryan Ring! / Artist is trinity-fate62

Sunny Summer Memories

Audio Blog

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Audio Blog ♪

Last month I wanted you to expand your horizons a bit. This month we’re taking a break to remember a few older things out there in the world. As always the written portion of the blog is made with brevity in mind, so please listen to the audio above if you want the full details and nuance with this month’s update. If any links I provide to you do not work, I would consider getting any VPN local to your region and setting a server somewhere in the United States.

We’re traveling back to the magical land of Japan again for a mixture of urbex and retro. A lot of folks may associate Japanese culture with many things, but for me it will always be the greatest place on Earth for…vending machines. Japan has the highest concentration of vending machines in the world per populace, at a ratio of 1 machine to 23 people. To put that number in perspective, every public interior you’ve ever been in your entire life (each room) would theoretically have 1 vending machine in it. To make things every more fascinating, some machines are out in the open in rural areas in direct sunlight. They are never heavily fortified or chained down as you would see in other countries. There are even videos of people buying drinks in the middle of nowhere, often along long stretches of highway running up and down the country. Some tourists (like myself hopefully one day) actually visit Japan just to take a long road trip living exclusively off of vending machine or convenience store food and recording the experience. If this quirky topic interests you, there are a ton of YouTube videos (often foodies) that have put their adventures online. The one I’m linking you below is a look at a huge gathering of machines in one location.

Following the retro and urbex theme for the month, let’s get you out exploring some abandoned places with people way braver than any of us. Uncharted Travel is a YouTube channel I’ve been following for quite a long time now but somehow conveniently forgot to mention in past updates. As with a lot of my dead mall related content, I always feel a fascination with largely abandoned mega complexes and industries of old. Although I don’t really appreciate the often times over dramatized adventures of people who are seeking attention than paying respect to what they’re exploring, there are folks who do it simply for the love of archiving sights and sounds largely forgotten to time. Before I start waxing poetic about the entire thing, let’s just watch a cool guy do cool stuff together shall we?

As much as I like looking at old rotting buildings, I just as much equally find it cathartic to see things being restored to their former glory in some degree. Unfortunately it is not possible to film an entire mall complex brought back to life, but you can watch various small items being taken from the brink of destruction back to near pristine condition. I’m not sure how many of you are familiar with “restoration” videos on YouTube (or mainstream TV), but it’s quite a large (albeit still niche) group of people bringing things back to life via hard work and some ingenuity. I typically prefer the sights and sounds of the repair work with minimum narration or music, but if you’re inclined to hear every detail of every step along the way; there are channels that cater to that as well. In any case, let’s look at a bread cutter brought back to life.

Onto a little bit of gaming news. In terms of the mobile gacha front, there’s not much of notice this upcoming month to talk about. All of us are still collectively holding out for Nikke, so to that end may I suggest you take a look at an indie game that is coming out in July that may spark your interest. The game is called Sexy Mystic Survivors, and it is a complete clone of the popular indie game Vampire Survivors. You’ll need a steam account to look at (and of course play) the game, but if you rather not bother at the moment; just look at the video below of someone who played the early access beta. If there are no delays in release date, it should be out on July 22. Keep in mind the video is showcasing the “censored” version but is the same exact game minus the lewd stuff. The developer has promised an aftermarket official patch to convert the censored version to uncensored version for those that live in regions of the world that prohibit adult games or media. That fact alone makes this game a day 1 purchase out of principal!

To close out the blog for July, let’s look at an event that almost died out completely. I’m talking about E3, the gaming expo that (most) of us grew up with gaming wishing we could all be there. E3 was cancelled out completely this year in 2022 to strategize their assets and vision moving forward. One of those aspirations was the return to a physical event for 2023, which would make it 3 years since the last one they held back in 2019 in person. I have a lot to say on this topic personally as I feel I have more in-depth perspective on the whole situation since I graduated with a marketing degree. Unfortunately it’s way too long to put into words for the written blog, so I’ll just summarize as best I can my thoughts on it. I think the “general public” really does not understand the importance of in-person events and the lasting impression it makes over time. Coming from 3 (onto 4) years of online only media that has been extremely over-saturated even before the pandemic broke out, most folks basically take content today online “in one ear and out the other”. 2023 serves as one of the best opportunities in the last 5 years to really make an impression on a public largely fatigued from “online only” shows and events. Those that take advantage o this will (in my opinion anyway) really reap something useful out of it than most people give credit for. In any case, if you want to see the whole actual in-person experience at an E3 before the world changed forever, please watch the LGR video I’ve linked below when he attended back in 2019. I can assure things will never be the same again like that show, but hopefully it might morph into something more impactful in-person and less “media circus” as it once was.

That’s it for this month’s blog! A quick shout out to my YouTube community members who’ve been active. In no particular order for this month: Gabe, Henriq, Ben Is, Dig Tekken, Raven, Victory, Omega Xis, Morgan Mox, Unkxz, Noids Edstrom, Cool Dood, DL Kentarou, Doraver, Alos Kun, Mister’s Gaming Channel, Kyfpm 21, and Franc 3115. (Shout outs were recorded earlier in the week. Everyone I missed on the June 29th update I’ll get you in the next month!)

Thought For Food

Audio Blog

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Audio Blog ♪

It’s rare for me to have an update with so many diverse topics, but even rarer is when all of them have a slight tinge of philosophy attached. So if you’re ready to dive into the real deep end this month, I highly suggest you come back to these topics when you have the time to do so. All of them are slow burns best viewed after a long day of work, or a quiet weekend morning with nothing else to do. As always the written portion of the blog is abridged for the sake of my visitors who want to dive right into the links, but I always recommend listening to the audio blog for the full nuanced experience.

Artist is Sho / wnmf3234

First - a quick shoutout to my loyal YouTube followers on the community tab. I asked for a mini “call to action” on my May 21st "Weekend Chill” music post. Ryan Ring, OmegaXis, Noids Edstrom, Doraver, Humphry Cobbledick, Seventh and Gabe (will get you on audio next month!) ~ thanks for answering the call! As a mini aside, YouTube is constantly removing my posts or content without warning due to the nature of my channel and it’s community warning status. So please forgive me if “phantom” notifications happen to you if you’re a subscriber or turned on that function. Sometimes posts get deleted in 1 minute, sometimes it takes up to an hour. Either way know that it’s equally frustrating for both parties involved (me and you) and I just wanted to note a small hiccup in the system. It seems that the automated bots that censor or remove my posts can’t seem to recognize anthropomorphic characters. In other words, it has a hard time discerning what’s human and what’s clearly a caricature or cartoon. So sometimes I have to post monster / furry / abstract waifus in place of regular anime waifus to bypass the system. It’s just something fun I thought you would all like to know. The picture above of Eimi from Blue Archive was instantly banned when I tried to upload it once as an example.

Every single time I take a look at my analytics for website visitors, I’m always shocked how many of you are not from within the United States. All of you come from all over the world, and it’s humbling as well as baffling how my site ended up being “popular” with folks outside of my own birthplace. None the less, a common thread that binds young modern society is pop culture, memes and social media. And even as a middle aged man far removed from most of these things, I understand the value it has being a lexicon of understanding across cultures. The Simpsons is a rather popular pop culture series across the globe, watched in over 100 countries and is familiar enough to be recognized by most people in the last 2 decades. More importantly however, it’s a symbol, representation, and satire of America; something often overlooked at first glance or face value. When you dive deeper into the meanings of the episodes produced, you get a lot more than you bargain for. I came across (what I thought at first) a look into a particular Simpson’s episode that was well received by fans. It turns out the episode was far more reaching than I had ever imagined, and YouTuber EmpLemon does a fantastic job dissecting what makes it one of the most memorable (if not impactful) to date. The video is a long one (as all of my links this month) so get comfortable before you set off. For those who want to dive right into the philosophical / sociological portion of the video, it beings at 14:24 chapter “My name is Frank Grimes”.

Also a helpful tip for those who aren’t fluent in English, YouTube CC (closed captions) now can auto translate to the best of its ability. Simply select it via the “settings” button when you’re watching something on YouTube. It’s not perfect, but it may help those who might struggle with English words not commonly used. The above picture I created should help illustrate further how to turn it on. Finally I would highly recommend you check out other recent videos done by EmpLemon as he’s fantastic at talking about in length on completely arbitrary factoids about the world around us.

Moving onto a mainstream gaming topic, I once again can’t stress how something on the surface looks self explanatory ends up being something else. Star Citizen is a topic in gaming that needs no introduction. I’ll spare you the drama around it. I’m more focused on the reason “why” the game even exists, and more importantly how it affects a wide range of emotions in both players and developers alike. To the point, the video I’ve linked above is more an outline on “Star Citizen” and a commentary on the relationship between players and developers. If there’s anything I want you to take away from watching it, it’s that every story is a lot more complicated than it seems, especially when it involves much more than its premise makes it out to be. For all of you who have visited this site from my YouTube channel or are a “gacha” style gamer yourself, I want you to really pick up on the parallels expressed in the video to “our own” genre. I hope you realize it’s eerily a lot more alike for comfort.

This is the real meat and potatoes of the June blog. I was absolutely blown away from this documentary on the history of MMA since it was so different from what I was expecting. It really dives into the philosophy and nuance of the sport. As someone who has a sister-in-law that dabbled in MMA, and 3 years of Taekwondo myself when I was younger; I always had a respect for people who dove into the deep end of combat sports (including boxing). But this particular documentary really combines a lot of historical aspects of the sport that cumulate into its evolution (and subsequent devolution). Get comfortable and put on a good pair of headphones, this video runs 2 hours long and it’s worth every minute. Ironically, those who never had a single interest in MMA (or combat sports) should also watch this documentary as it specifically breaks down the “human” side of why we do such things in life. I can’t stress enough how well done this was made; credits to Felix Biederman, Jon Bois and the channel Secret Base for their hard work.

Music is a very personal thing, so I do my best not to impose my particular tastes on anyone. But to those who share a similar appreciation of the same beats, you will often find an ally like no other. But beyond the tracks, sometimes we find another genuinely good person along the way that we can relate to, and that makes the entire experience even more uplifting than the chords and beats we’re already bobbing our head to. Enter Jonathan Belle, a fascinating person I came across randomly one day searching the great archives of YouTube for some new tracks to listen to. His YouTube channel focuses on community voted tracks that he checks out on a pretty regular basis. But if you take a moment to visit his website, you’ll find out what makes the man tick should you so be inclined. If anything, I really want you to read his essay on kindness. It’s a respite of good vibes from an increasingly negative and cynical online world. I can only hope my website gives off the same positive vibes Jonathan’s does.

Artist is Krokobyaka

That’s it for this surprisingly long update. Knowing my track record, next month is going to probably be content thin, but I’ll take my victories when I can. As a reminder once more, due to my current YouTube situation, you may all see more monster / anthropomorphic / furry girls in the future whenever I post music updates. Don’t read too much into it, I enjoy waifus from all walks of life, but YouTube (for now) doesn’t have enough culture to recognize those particular types. Therefore if they’re able to bypass the censorship filter, than so be it. See you next month, take care of yourselves!