What I'm Listening To: Freelance Whales

Continuing the unexpected whale theme, I offer up Freelance Whales. I swear their style sounds familiar but I cannot for the life of me place it. But they have an eclectic song compilation and it's quite likely you'll find something within that suits your fancy.

What I'm Listening To: Noah and the Whale

Noah and the Whale is another band I stumbled across via Spotify's recommendation system. Seriously, if you don't already own Spotify you should go get it. It's free and a great way to discover new music and listen to the stuff you already like. And for $9.99 a month you can take it on the go (the free version for your mobile phone will only let you use the radio feature), which is so much better than blindly looking for a local radio station on road trips.

Anyways, Noah and the Whale. My first impression upon listen to their entire discography was that about half their songs remind me very strongly of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. They do mellow rock quite well, though I'm not sure if that's an accurate description of their genre. Whatever it is, I enjoy it. They have a nice mix of upbeat and melancholy songs, so you should be able to find anything for your mood.

'L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N.' - A good example of the Tom Petty flavor they carry


'5 Years Time'


'Lifetime'

What I'm Playing: The Walking Dead (#43)

LET THE GAMES BEGIN!

The first game I've scratched off my play list is actually one I just bought. The Walking Dead is an episodic adventure game series (5 episodes in all released bi-monthly) based on the comic book of the same name.

They're produced by a company called Telltale Games that has been doing an excellent job of resurrecting the adventure game genre. Back in 2006 they revived Sam & Max as an episodic series and then followed that up with The Walking Dead in 2012. In 2013 they came out with The Walking Dead: Season 2 and The Wolf Among Us, the latter based off an excellent comic book series called Fables. These games will undoubtedly be on next year's play list.

But I digress.



While The Walking Dead is based on the comic book series, the story arc is completely new and unrelated. You play as Lee Everett, a university professor, who ends up rescuing a young girl named Clementine, left alone after the zombies struck. The game revolves around you trying to take care of your new ward while surviving the zombie apocalypse, often by making a LOT of hard choices which drastically alter the path of the story.

You'll meet a ton of characters along the way with whom you can strike up alliances, or just their faces if they get too uppity for your liking. And since this is a zombie game after all, you can expect a sizable chunk to meet their grizzly fate while in your company. MWA HA HAH HA HA!



I sat down on Tuesday to play an hour or two and ended up playing seven, which got me through the first two episodes including a number of do-overs where I went back to see what would happen if I made different dialogue choices. The game is fantastic and I'm glad I waited so long to pick up it because it means I can play through all five episodes without having to wait for weeks to find out what happens next.

As the game has been out for some time now you can usually find it on sale somewhere for cheap. I think I picked it up off of Steam for like seven dollars. I highly recommend you keep an eye out for it and do the same.

Final Judgement: BUY IT.


Image Sources: [1], [2], [3]

2014 New Year Resolutions

First up on the "exciting things to discuss" menu are my New Year Resolutions. My record with these have always been spotty, so as extra motivation this year I'm upping the ante by literally upping the ante.

I'm going to post a video to Facebook and allow my friends to bet on whether or not I will succeed a each of my ten resolutions. If they bet that I succeed and I do, then I will donate $25 to a charity of their choice. If they bet that I fail and I do, I will donate $50 to a charity of their choice.

So worst case scenario, I fail every metric and donate $500 to charity. Best case scenario, I succeed at everything and become a more well-rounded individual (hopefully) AND I dontate $250 to charity. BAM!

So without further ado, I present to you my 2014 New Year Resolutions:

1. Perform 20 hours of volunteer service.


2. Take at least 4 more months (16 classes) of tap lessons AND either an additional 2 months (8 classes) of tap or ballroom lesson.


3. Read 12 classic works of literature.


4. Go to the gym for at least two uninterrupted 3-month blocks, 3 days a week.


5. Visit four new places outside of Los Angeles.


6. Play at least 4 hours of every computer game I own (~42 games).


7. Watch every movie in the AFI Top 100 Films of All Time. (~68 left).


8. Go to 10 live musical events (ideally at 10 different locations).


9. Be on budget for at least 5 months.


10. Cook something new every two weeks.

BONUS: Finish at least one of my two music videos (Touch My Brownies or Joe's House of Raccoon).

Starting the New Year right.

Happy New Year, everyone! There are lots of exciting things to discuss, but first things first. Here is your first corgi fix of the New Year!