Another week down for Blaugust, though I am not at all actively trying to reach any goal for that. I am not even properly promoting my posts in the Blaugust Discord.
But now I’m pushing more filler t the bottom of these posts, with links lists that used to be separate posts. So I got that going for me.
Games
If I were still theming these around games in the title, it would be “What I’m Not Playing Edition.” Though I think I used that one before.
I uninstalled Overwatch, again, again, again, again, again, again… Ok, this isn’t supposed to be a 1000 word post. I wasn’t really as frustrated as usual, but I found I was really really passively aggressively irritated, a lot. And I just, wasn’t having fun. The game is riddled with cheaters (derankers, smurfs, aimbots, etc) and every match is just a one sided bull shit fest. I have talked about this before. Anyway, the only way to make myself stop playing is to remove the game, and Battle Net, so there is a large barrier of entry.
I also am kind of done with Pokemon Yellow, for now. I borked my save file while jailbreaking my 3DS. I think I will instead focus my Pokemon efforts on one of my other half finished Pokemon Games (Silver, Black2, UltraSun, Moon, whichever it is I have.)
In what I am playing, I picked up Beatstar again. Because its closing down. I guess Duolingo bought them out, but it seems like an aqui-hire moment because the game is ending in October. In the next two months, the game is basically now completely free to play, as in, there is a daily gift of 10,000 gems, which after a week is probably enough to buy every song. Hell maybe even after a few days.
It seems weird recommending a closing down game, but if you like rhythm games, this is one of the best ones on mobile and there is not a better time than now to play.
Music
Speaking of music, not much new, but a lot of new coming up soon that I am stoked for. Taylor Swift recently announced Life of a Showgirl, which is ch seems like its going to be a bit closer to 1989 in tone. I already like 1989 the most, so hopefull that means the new album will be amazing.
Dodie recently announced her new alsbum Not For Lack of Trying. I mostly hope that more of the tracks feel a bit more complete, but I have hopes it will be good.
Sigrid has a new album as well, Fort Knox, which has a single available with Jellyfish. i am looking forward to that.
No word yet, but the non RSD release of the 10th anniversary for CHVRCHES’ second album Every Open Eye should be coming up pretty soon. No more word on CHV 5 yet, but I doubt it comes out until next year.
Basically, its going to be a good next few months for new releases for artists I am into.
Projects
Hey, a newish section. This is gaming adjacent this week, but its way more of a project. The previously mentioned 3DS mod, has opened up a rather fun and interesting world of possibilities.
I talked before about dumping my old Red save file which I really wanted to do. With this new firmware, I found I was able to dump my Pokemon Diamond save file.
This is HUGE. Back in the days of Diamond, I played a lot. And moved Pokemon forward and I have one of every Pokemon in the boxes on that games. Literally one copy of every one, placed in order, in my boxes.
I can do so much with this, especially with PKHex and other tools to copy Pokemon around easily. My plan was originally to get to a point in Black where I could transport my Pokemon forward, a few at a time, which also would strip them from Diamond permanently. Then from there I could move to Bank and then to Home.
There is a good chance now I could just straight move everything, quickly, and keep them in Diamond for posterity.
I also pulled my Black (maybe its Black 2) save. I wonder now if I can inject it back in, after modding it and putting my Diamond Pokemon into it.
This all also makes me more irritated I don’t have my Fire Red, Emerald, or Heart Gold carts anymore. They may be around somewhere buried but they went missing a while ago and I suspect they were stolen.
Toys
Oh yeah, technically I got new toys too. LEGO and LEGO like specifically. First off is real LEGO, with this 2Fast2Furious Honda S2000. Its probably my favorite car in the whole series still and I almost bought one a while back on Amazon but they were sold out. Then I never saw it in stores, so I assumed it was probably just popular and I’d never find it. But they seem to be popping up at Walmarts now so I just went for it.
It’ll go great with my other two F&F LEGO sets (Dom’s Charger and Brian’s Skyline). Though Dom wasn’t in 2Fast2Furious and never met Suki. It’s kind of disappointing they never brought her back at all but apparently the actress retired from acting.
In less exciting LEGO-like acquisitions, Five Below had this little desk set for $1. There were a few others like a camera and a boom box but this desk seemed the most useful, and I just stuck it in one of the empty modular rooms.
Interesting Stories and Links for this week…
Brief Summary: “Illinois has become the first state in the nation to offer a legal hotline for LGBTQ+ people.Democra”
Personal Notes and Commentary: “Once again, Illinois leading the way on what the country really should be.”
Brief Summary: “‘Virginian Luxuries,’ a satirical painting from about 1825, probably from New England, hidden on the”
Personal Notes and Commentary: “Spoiler space, it was. “
Brief Summary: “Gov. JB Pritzker takes questions from the news media at the Illinois State Fair on Wednesday, Aug. 1”
Personal Notes and Commentary: “”
Brief Summary: “New Yorker writer Jessica Winter says MAHA moms are taking back seat to poisonous pesticide makers a”
Personal Notes and Commentary: “Yeah, I’ll beleive it when it happens. Actions speak louder than words.”
Brief Summary: “Thanks to the reunion of a certain band from Manchester, 2025 has seen the transition from Brat Summ”
Personal Notes and Commentary: “TODO”
Brief Summary: ” Unlike Hollywood constantly remaking, reviving and rebooting movies for a new audience, it actually”
Personal Notes and Commentary: “This looks pretty nice, almost makes me want to play the game again.”
Brief Summary: ” 34-year-old Mitch William Gross of Iowa was sentenced on August 24 to four months in federal prison”
Personal Notes and Commentary: “I guess this si what whales look like in these games.”
Brief Summary: “CHICAGO, Ill. (WCIA) — Governor JB Pritzker signed a bill into law Thursday that aims to protect jo”
Personal Notes and Commentary: “”
Brief Summary: “Wolf Alice have taken over the new issue of Dork, available to order today (Thursday 21st August) – “
Personal Notes and Commentary: “”
Brief Summary: “They call it a result of “deliberate rip-offs.” Vinyl buyers are discovering their $38 albums contai”
Personal Notes and Commentary: “I don’t understand why they don’t just press double albums. Or even triple if nneeded. Granted, they would cost more to buy.”
Brief Summary: “US OPM // Google MapsErin In The Morning is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and”
Personal Notes and Commentary: “”
Brief Summary: ” The Voting Rights Act turned 60 years old this month. It’s a landmark piece of legislation desig”
Personal Notes and Commentary: “”
Brief Summary: “Sigrid is set to release her third studio album, ‘There’s Always More That I Could Say’, on 24th Oct”
Personal Notes and Commentary: “:)”
Brief Summary: ” Republishe”
Personal Notes and Commentary: “I’ve mentioned these sort of numbers a few times or just how tiny of a group of people Trans Altheles are for the stink these assholes make over them.”
Brief Summary: “Laws, rules or regulations ban trans athletes from competing in sports consistent with their gender “
Personal Notes and Commentary: “Yeah, because of course it does. Despite what they claim they can’t actually “always tell”.”
Brief Summary: “dodie has released the video for new single ‘I Feel Bad For You, Dave’, which features a cameo from “
Personal Notes and Commentary: “The funniest part of this is the 11 year old Youtube account with this username and one short video about a laser and the comments he is getting.”
Brief Summary: “Hayley Williams has released a new video for ‘Glum’, co-directed by her Paramore bandmate Zac Farro.”
Personal Notes and Commentary: “”
Brief Summary: “If you’re interested in developing for and programming on MS-DOS and other variants of the venerable”
Personal Notes and Commentary: “Pile on the ‘Maybe one day i will try this’ pile.”
Brief Summary: “It’s hard to argue with nostalgia, but you can toss a bucket of cold facts over it. In the case of t”
Personal Notes and Commentary: “I bought a mini, but I’m not sure of the usefulness of a more expensive larger model TBH.”
Brief Summary: ” Now that Congress has passed a bill that will defund the Corporation for Public Broadcastin”
Personal Notes and Commentary: “”
