Random Musings – Page 2

Weathered

It’s been a while since I did a health update… and there’s a reason for that… there’s nothing new to say.

I’ve been doing monthly treatments for my bowels; an infusion through the veins of some drug whose name I can’t recall, but it’s been doing wonders in some ways and aggravating in others. I haven’t felt much pain unless I ate something that didn’t agree with me, but my stools have become a bit less solid, as it were. It also doesn’t help that I’ve had some stressful periods that have hindered recovery at times.

Still, it’s not so bad. Other than a few sour periods, it’s been business as usual. Going about my usual activities, I’ve been getting some stuff done, my appetite has gotten better, and I’ve been able to take some walks without getting exceedingly tired. I’ve had more good days than I’ve had bad, but there are times when it feels like things are regressing.

Isaac Newton Discovered Crapity

So I just figured out why I wasn’t too keen on going back to Doctor Who in its current incarnation – the stories coming out of that camp are kinda shit.

For those who need a refresher, I was one of those folks who got into Doctor Who on a regular basis during the Matt Smith days. I’ve seen some Doctor Who beforehand, I knew of it, and I was even able to catch the revival of the show back in 2005, but never really got around to following it until much later. Man, those were the days when you had a kooky Time Lord in a blue box going on some fun adventures that were also smartly written and thought provoking.

I stuck around for a few years – sat through the majority of the Peter Capaldi run, who ended up being “my” doctor if you want to go there. And then once that was done and we went to Jodie Whittaker, I just sort of lost interest and moved on. Or at least, that’s how I’m framing it nowadays. I honestly don’t know why I didn’t stick with it… or at least, I don’t recall.

When David Tennant came back for the specials, I figured why not? Give it a shot. They were fine and then we went from Tennant to Ncuti Gatwa, who seemed like a promising Doctor at first. And with the return of Russel T. Davies behind the scenes – the man partly responsible from bringing Doctor Who back from the wilderness, it seemed like a no-brainer… but it’s on Disney Plus and Disney Plus as a streamer is fucking horrible. So no buys.

I did end up watching an episode or two. One took place in a barber shop and then there was the last one where they went to a singing contest of some kind… my god, those shows were awful.

Granted, I see a lot of clips of these shows and none of them are the least appealing. One episode has the Doctor fighting a cartoon, another had an evil podcaster (played by a white dude – of course), there’s talk about something called “mavity” that makes my head hurt. As for the Doctor… well, you cast the guy from Sex Education and he’s going to lean into what he knows best, right? Lots of touchy-feely, mushy-mush stuff. Not at all like the Doctor of old who’s supposed to be detached and alien – this guy feels like another lame ass human intended to be relatable… except the Doctor isn’t supposed to be relatable. He’s supposed to be the outsider commenting on the state of the human condition. That’s what worked best about the character. And now you don’t even have that.

See, you’ve got it all wrong, love. It’s not “mavity” or “gravity.”

It’s “crapity.”

I suppose I should be excited that they brought back Susan for a cameo (Susan – played by Carole Ann Ford – one of the original companions and also the Doctor’s granddaughter) or that we have a new version of the Rani (an old Time Lady villain from the classic show that would occasionally pop up in Big Finish stuff) to throw us off the fact that the story housing those bits are fucking atrocious. Hard to imagine that the guy who once spearheaded the return of Doctor Who has become this marble-mouthed idiot who can’t tell a good story to save his own ass.

If the rumors of Doctor Who going on hiatus are true, then it’s a hiatus that is desperately needed to find someone who knows some actual science fiction and is good at telling decent stories worthy of this franchise… if such people even exist anymore. I’m not sure anyone these days knows how to spin a good sci-fi yarn; they’re more interested in going “outside the box” and doing stupid shit like having musical episodes or cosplay sessions aping other forms of entertainment. As if they’re ashamed of being the thing that made those franchises popular and enduring in the first place.

I wish an apple would fall on my head and I can suffer partial amnesia so I can forget this entire dreadful period of Doctor Who and go back to the days when the character was played by Tom Baker. I could use a jelly baby right about now.

Recovery

It’s been a little over a month since my recent hospitalization. If you haven’t heard, I suffered a pulmonary embolism and a relapse of Crohn’s. I won’t go into the details here; there’s a Bite Commentary that I posted last week which pretty much has that covered. I implore you to read it because it paints a clear picture in terms of health.

So I’ve reached the point to where I’m more or less back to the same state that I was before. I’m breathing a little better, I’m moving a little better, I’m back to my usual daily routine (for the most part), I’ve been continuing my meds and even got my first major treatment a week or so ago, which went by rather smoothly.

I want to say that I’m in a better place right now, but at the moment, I’m just… not quite where I need to be. Hell, I’m not even sure if I’ll ever get there… but one day at a time, I’ve been told. We’ll see…

A Word Of Recovery

Added this for the Youtube crowd, but figured I would repost it here.

A new video review thing is coming tomorrow… and also a health update because it never occurred to me to do that here. Long story short… I’m feeling better than I was last month, starting some treatments to take care of stuff that needs taking care of. Slowly but surely getting back to the old routine… appreciate the few well wishes I get. The road to recovery continues…

Yeah, it’s all I’ve got.

In other blog-related matters, I do have a Bite commentary coming up that talks about my recent health scare. It should be up on Thursday. Do check it out when you can because it brings you up to speed on everything.

My Gripe With The Old Video Reviews

How about some fun behind the scenes stories or something? Because I’ve honestly got nothing else to talk about at the moment and if I do, I’m saving it for a later date.

I make no qualms about the fact that I tend to not like my earlier video stuff. Granted, I was just starting off, I was learning what I can, and I was trying to be cute at times… which took a few years for me to get out of that particular habit. So I have no real issue in getting to a point where I want to revisit a game that I covered ages ago and give a fresh new look with a fresh new perspective based on a little more insight.

The other side of that equation is that a lot of those earlier video reviews were basically video versions of what I had written on GameFAQs, only slightly tweaked so that there’s no arbitrary scoring system. Those GameFAQs reviews, written years earlier and with even less quality or care, have not aged well. A lot of those reviews are also not very relevant; if you were to go back and read those reviews, especially those posted in the early 2000s, they do not reflect my feelings on said games today. Something to bare in mind is that those reviews were written quickly and briefly – usually to satisfy some word limit imposed. And during those early days of video posting, YouTube usually imposed a 10-15 minute on how much video you can actually post until said limits were eventually removed. Since those written reviews were short enough to cover the bases, I just used those.

In hindsight, not the smartest idea, but I worked with what I have.

In some strange way, I miss the days when you were only allowed a certain amount of time to upload video. I know people prefer the more longform videos that let you people go into every nook and cranny about stuff, but the video limits often forced you to be creative in how to present your material. It’s easy to run off and talk about a game for hours on end, going into the history of this, this, and that… but to me, a review has always been and quite frankly, should always be about “What’s the product, what are the good points, what are the bad points, and who does this appeal to?”

In terms of that particular scope, it should not take you more than ten to fifteen minutes tops to get those points across. You don’t need an two hour essay to determine whether Mega Man 2 is a good game; that’s being overly superfluous. Hell, even in terms of covering something bigger like an RPG, a straightforward review does not need to be hours on end. Context can be helpful, but all I care about is whether something is worth my investment or not and why. When you had a runtime limit, that forced you to be creative and more cohesive in your thoughts. It forced you to determine what the key points were that people needed to know about something.

That’s something I try to maintain. I don’t dwell into every detail. I try to hit the points that seem relevant, I keep my thoughts as brief as possible – or at least, try to – and I try to keep it short. That’s always been my thing.

So nowadays, I write this stuff on the side. I have a lot of things written and sometimes, I give it space and leave it laying for a bit before going back to it and seeing if there’s anything that needs to be updated. I’ve had reviews that started one way and turned into another. The Symphony Of The Night review – which languished for years – became a thing that was different from its original inception, which was much simpler and much shorter… but apparently, I had a lot to say about that one.

And so, as we dive deeper into this review recycle, there may come a point where earlier reviews are revisited and we might give some of these things another look… sometimes, you revisit things that you thought were bad and years later, you’re like “Maybe I was too hard on this.” Or maybe it’s vice-versa.

Yeah, it’s usually vice-versa.

There’s an idea I’ve been toying with for the October set of reviews – a possible revisit of the Castlevania games, with some added perspective and experience tossed in for good measure. If it doesn’t happen this year, it might be next year. I’m using the time off that isn’t spent dealing with healing and family stuff to get some stuff together for the sake of having stuff ready to go in the event that another episode happens, so at least, there’s SOMETHING going on.

But on a whole… yeah, I’ve been feeling a bit better these days. The struggle continues, but one step at a time.

And on a final note… happy birthday, Dwayne. Go fuck yourself.

Later.

A Personal Request

To anyone who is subscribed to the WWE Youtube channel, I want you to do me a big favor.

If, at any point, WWE decides to upload the entirety of Triple H’s Hall Of Fame induction speech on their Youtube channel, do me a favor and send me a link. That way, if I ever have trouble falling asleep, I’ll know where to look.

Thanks. Much appreciated.

Easter Musings And Other Updates

First off, a happy Easter to those who celebrate. I’ve just finished my morning doses and I’m prepping for a turkey dinner with the family later in the day that has me a bit anxious, but… we’ll see how that goes.

For the moment, I’ve been feeling fine. I’ve been largely experimenting with what I can and cannot eat, mostly in terms of what gives me bad bowel movements and what does not. For the most part, I haven’t had the serious pains or bouts of diarrhea that had been a thing for the past few months, but I’m not ruling out that possibility. What I’ve got is a temporary fix that can get my life back on track… and yet sometimes, I wonder if it’s actually worth the effort.

Forget that last part. I’m thinking the quiet part loud there.

Beyond that, not much else going on. I’ve managed to finish rendering a couple video reviews that should be going up some time this week. I’m also uploading an old review from years ago that somehow never made it to the Youtube channel for some reason, so those folks are getting a bit of a bonus. There’s even a brand-spanking new edit of another old review that really, really needed it.

I was planning on watching Wrestlemania 41 Part 2 later tonight, but considering that Part 1 was largely a slog to sit through, I’m debating whether I should hold off until Monday morning, since I’m going to be off for the next couple weeks to recover from my recent episode. In any event, there will be a new Ramblemania this coming Wednesday and possibly a RAW After Mania musings since that’s also a thing that we do regularly around here.

That’s your Sunday sermon, as it were.

Later.

A Good Friday

Been a couple days since I’ve come home.

I’ve been mostly doing stuff around the house.

I’ve been cuddling my pup that I haven’t seen in over a week.

I’ve got a Dracula Blu-Ray that’s waiting to be played.

And I’ve got gimmicks to play with.

Later today, I step outside to see how that goes.

And then I got a dresser to build.

They call it Good Friday.

I think it applies today.

Hospite Stay 4

The latest Youtube Post…

“Hello there… a quick update of sorts…
Assuming nothing else comes up, I should be heading home sometime this week.
I’m still on the mend and it’ll be a while before things get up and running ’round these parts…
But the worst has come and gone… now begins the healing process.
Will update soon…
Later…”

Yeah, so… a rather uneventful weekend… a few check-ups, a few blood tests, but if nothing else, I’ll be treated externally and should be headed home some time this week.

Someone figured that I wasn’t eating their veg and maybe I shouldn’t be sticking around… can’t say I blame them.

I’ll be perfectly fair here; the staff at the hospital has been nothing but pleasant. Sometimes, they get a bad rap because of a piss-poor excuse for a public health system and yeah, I may have been a bit… reactive in a prior post… but they’ve kept good care of me both physically and mentally, they’ve been largely friendly and helpful, largely complementary, and while I might not always be the easiest patient to deal with, I will never find myself at a point where I would slag on the people working here for being uncaring pricks. They just work for a system that is largely run by uncaring pricks.