Who's On This Geek's Playlist? - May 2012

So I'm surprised I've never mentioned this, but I am a HUGE fan of the Beatles. This has been the case since I was little, but amplified tenfold when I was about 13. So no matter what format I was using to listen to music, whether it was albums, tapes, CDs, or MP3, there has always been a multitude of The Beatles songs on my playlists. This includes their projects after the band broke up.

Recently, I finally acquired a nice collection of Beatles albums, so I have been making lots of use of my turntable. So which of my new-found treasures are getting the most listening to?

1. The White Album
   This is one of my favorites; there are just too many good songs in this album set! Back in the U.S.S.R, Martha My Dear, Blackbird, Glass Onion, Sexy Sadie... just awesome. On the weird side, there is Wild Honey Pie, and the one song that I still haven't gotten too into, Revolution 9. Otherwise, just a terrific album.
   
   
2. Rubber Soul
   This was actually the second Beatles album I ever purchase in CD format. Now that I have the album, it's songs have made a comeback onto my playlists again. Some of my favorites on this one include: I've Just Seen A Face, I'm Looking Through You, Run For Your Life, and Think For Yourself. (Doesn't mean I like the rest of the songs any less though, haha!)
   
   
3. Abbey Road
   In my opinion, this one is usually a given for ant Beatles fan. I mean, first there is Side 1, with Come Together, Something, Maxwell's Silver Hammer (a surprisingly dark one for Paul), Oh! Darling, I want You... even Octopus's Garden is pretty good, and was actually one of the first Beatles songs I became familiar with as a kid. And the Side 2... Here Comes The Sun... and of course the whole Abbey Road Medley! I've listened to this album so many times and I really don't think I'll ever grow tired of it.
   
   
4. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
   Yet another awesome collection of songs. Some of my favorites: Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band/With A Little Help From My Friends, Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds, Fixing A Hole, She's Leaving Home, and probably #1 for me on this album, A Day In The Life. Just hearing the contrast between Paul and John's songwriting styles and how they made it so prevalent in one single song is just intriguing to me.

I love the rest of the Beatles' albums of course, but these are the ones I've been listening to the most as of late. Now here are some music videos for you! (...well, "videos" with music in them, lol.)

A Day In The Life

Abbey Road - The Medley (full)

Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds

Hope you enjoyed the music!

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Video Game Adventures - Diablo III Beta Weekend

So, Blizzard allowed us Diablo fans to have a sneak peek of Diablo 3 this past weekend, which was pretty neat. The only downside? My computer sucks. I mean, it's only 3 years old, and it's a pretty nice laptop, but it's specs just are not up to par with what is needed to have a proper Diablo 3 gaming experience... which totally blows. But besides that, I'm pretty please with the game itself.

I chose to play a barbarian on single player, and because of my laptop's issues, I only played until he reached level 3. But in that short time, I did develop some likes/dislikes about the game.


LIKES: 

1. The amount of options there are for game view modes, especially that there is an option for windowed mode. So much easier that having to create that option manually, like we had to with D2.
2. The music in-game is pretty good, at least in New Tristram. I've always like the Tristram music in Diablo 1 and 2, so it's nice seeing that Blizzard kept it around.
3. The fact that you can choose a male or female version of each character class. It's a little detail, but still a neat one.
    
4. The character classes themselves. I actually can't wait to play as a monk!... but I will have to wait until we buy the game.
5. The inventory is better organized. I also like that when you mouse over an item in your inventory, like weapons or armor, it automatically opens up another little box showing what stats your equipped weapon/armor has. Very convenient!

There are a bunch of other aspects I liked too, but I'm not sure you want to be here forever reading this, lol.

DISLIKES:

Well, there is really only one. The game's start menu music could have been a little better... it's not horrible or anything, but it's just not really grabbing my attention that much. Any other issues have been caused by my own computer's inadequacies.

So in addition to all of the screencaps I threw into this post, I am also giving you a little gameplay video I recorded on my very own computer! Sorry it's a bit laggy... it's not the video, or the game, it's my slow processor. But enjoy anyway! :-)

D3 GAMEPLAY VIDEO:

So yeah, like I said, the game was VERY laggy on my computer. More so here because I was recording my desktop. But it's still pretty cool. Hopefully I have time to save up for a new PC before Blizzard releases the game!

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Light It Up Blue for Autism Awareness!

As part of Autism Speaks "Light It Up Blue" campaign, we will be changing out our regular front porch bulb for a blue one to promote Autism Awareness. I am hoping that some of my readers, new and old, will do the same. Want to learn more? Visit the Light It Up Blue website at http://www.lightitupblue.org !

I am also hoping to help raise at least $100 by the end of the month for Autism Speaks. Visit my campaign page (http://www.lightitupblue.org/Markslist/campaign/display/profile.do?campaignId=24003) or go to the link below if you would like to help out:

Donate $10 or more to Autism Speaks.

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Has Autism touched your life? I would love to see your stories in the comments!


Thanks for reading, and please don't forget to Light It Up Blue!

Mad Men Season 5 Premiere House Party!

So I have to say, the party was a LOT of fun! I spent a lot of my time making food and taking photos, but for me, that is part of the fun with my parties. My Dad had fun playing with the masks, and insisted on my taking photos of him with each of the male character masks, lol.

I had seen that AMC was supposed to be playing a Season 4 marathon of Mad Men in the hours before the party... and was kind of disappointed to find that it didn't happen. Luckily, Netflix saved the day with that part of the festivities.

I think one of my favorite parts of the whole party was dressing up in 60s garb... although my hair was being a pain in the you-know-what and didn't want to curl (FAIL). But I still ended up looking presentable, lol. As for everyone else, if there had been a contest, I'm pretty sure my friend Heather would have won it. She look awesome!

As for food, I was able to make the chicken a la king and the virgin pina coladas without a hitch, and everyone seemed to enjoy everything. I wish I had gotten the chance to make the Butter Cake a la Mode... it sounded fraking delicious! I'm just going to have to create another event just to make it for everyone, haha,

Everyone loved the neat stuff in the the "House Party" Party Pack that I received from HouseParty.com, the mask being the biggest hit. A couple guests even took door hangers home with them! So glad I got the opportunity to receive such a neat party pack. (^_^)


The best part of the party? The premiere of course! The highlights for me:

• Pete running into the wall and giving himself a bloody nose. It was hilarious, and I'm not a fan of Pete... so it was somewhat satisfying, lol.
• Lane's dancing reenactment for Joan of the events at Don's birthday party. Both because it was highly amusing to see his character like that, and because of the slight creepiness of this moment when thinking of this actor's character on Fringe. (Watch Fringe and you will understand... or just go watch Fringe because I tell you so...)
• Megan singing Zou Bisou Bisou to Don at his "surprise" birthday party. Mostly because the song had everyone at my party laughing and saying, "WTF is happening right now?", haha.

I probably missed a whole bunch more because I was having fun chatting with everyone and tweeting about the party and show on Twitter, but the episode is already online, so I definitely plan on re-watching it!

Anywho, here are some photos from the party, along with a video tour of the Ad Room we set up!

 The Decor

The bar top in the living room :-)

The music!

The Ad Room bar.

The entertainment center.

The Ad Room

The party favors.

More of the Ad Room

The living room bar.

 The Food

Chicken a la King, rice, and Utz chips & dip.

Deviled eggs.

Utz potato chips and pina coladas.

The Guests Having Fun, lol.

Me, as Joan

Heather :-)

Me!

My Dad as Roger

My Dad as Pete

Dan and I <3

My Dad as Don Draper!

Heather!

Everyone watching the premiere! Yay!

  

Draping!

Me!

Heather

Heather photo-bombing my Dad's #draping photo, lol.

My Dad

My Mom

Dan

Even the cat got in on it, haha!

 A Video Tour of the Ad Room! :-)

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Men Men Pre-Premiere Party Post!

I'm throwing a Season 5 Premiere party for the show Mad Men (On AMC) tomorrow, and I am SUPER psyched! I was lucky enough to win a VERY cool party pack from House Party, which is going to make the party all the more fun. Not to mention that my parents were awesome enough to offer to have the party in their home, use their cable connection to watch the premiere, and decorate their house with a bunch of their neat 60's memorabilia and collectables.

Of course, there is also the premiere itself to be excited for! And since I am the only person in my group of friends and family that watches Mad Men, I am also using this as an opportunity to introduce everyone to the show. Thankfully, AMC will be having a Mad Men marathon all day before the premiere at 9pm, so I won't even have to queue it up on Netflix. Talk about convenient, haha!

That about all I have to say about the event until tomorrow. Expect to see a lot of excitement, photos, and video after tomorrow. And most likely a lot of squeeing on Twitter (Follow me! @shantellevye)

Until then. (^_^)

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Happy Pi Day and Albert Einstein's 133rd Birthday!

In honor of both Pi Day and Albert Einstein's 133rd Birthday, here are some fun facts!

Pi Facts:

• Pi is the most recognized mathematical constant in the world. Scholars often consider Pi the most important and intriguing number in all of mathematics.

• Pi occurs in hundreds of equations in many sciences including those describing the DNA double helix, a rainbow, ripples spreading from where a raindrop fell into water, superstrings, general relativity, normal distribution, distribution of primes, geometry problems, waves, navigation....
  
• In 1706, an English mathematician introduced the Greek alphabet pi (π) to represent the said value. However, in 1737, Euler officially adopted this symbol to represent the value.

Here is a video with some more facts about Pi!

Now for some fun facts about Albert Einstein!

• Einstein Failed his University Entrance Exam
• In 1895, at the age of 17, Albert Einstein applied for early admission into the Swiss Federal Polytechnical School (Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule or ETH). He passed the math and science sections of the entrance exam, but failed the rest (history, languages, geography, etc.)! Einstein had to go to a trade school before he retook the exam and was finally admitted to ETH a year later.
  

• When Einstein was five years old his father gave him a pocket compass. It was this compass that sparked Einstein’s interest in science. The fact that the compass pointed in the same direction no matter how it was turned made him curious about understanding the force behind it.
   
• Einstein was offered the Presidency of Israel in 1952 but declined it.
  
• After Albert Einstein’s death in 1955 his brain was removed without approval from his family and an autopsy was conducted. Thomas Harvey conducted this autopsy and eventually it was discovered that Einstein’s brain had large portion of glial cells in the region that synthesizes information. Other studies also indicated that Einstein’s brain did not have a particular kind of wrinkle and this allowed the neurons to communicate better with each other.

Here is a full BBC documentary about Albert Einstein:

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Hulu Plus Now Available On The Wii! Decisions Decisions...

Yes, Hulu Plus became available on the Wii as of yesterday. (See here) I was super excited about this, because there are shows available through their service that are not available through Netflix, which I've been using on my Wii for the past year or so. The problem now is, which one should I keep?

The thing is, most people I know fit pretty well into two categories: avid TV show watchers who like movies but when given a choice would usually choose TV, or movie watchers who when given the same choices would choose movies over TV any day.

I do not fall into either of those categories... making the Netflix/Hulu decision kinda tough. I am a huge TV fan, but I love a good movie at least once a week.

I'm pretty sure most of you might know this, but to clarify for those who don't, Netflix has a wider selection of movies than Hulu Plus, while Hulu Plus seems to have a better selection of newer TV shows. However, in signing up for the two week free trial of Hulu Plus, I have noticed that when it comes to Syfy Channel shows they have more available than Netflix, which I like... but they don't even make full seasons available, which I find very annoying.

I also thought that if you had a subscription to Hulu Plus, you wouldn't have to see commercials during the shows. I was wrong... and to tell you the truth, that's a misstep on Hulu's part. I understand having commercials play during free selections for non-subscribers, but if I was giving them $7.99/month, I would want those ads either completely gone, or maybe have only one ad played before the show/movie you select even starts.

On the plus side for Hulu, their video quality is a lot better than Netflix, even on the Wii. So they have that going for them at least.

Still, I have a dilemma: Should I keep Netflix and cancel Hulu Plus after my 2 week trial? Or should I get rid of Netflix and stick with Hulu Plus? Both cost only $7.99/month, a pittance compared to the price of even basic cable. But until I find work, I can only afford one. GAH! I hate decisions! :-\

Well, I will be thinking about it. I'll let you all know how that turns out in two weeks time, haha. :-)

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RIP Whitney Houston, 8/9/1963 – 2/11/2012

As almost everybody knows already, Whitney Houston passed away yesterday. This news saddened me for a few reasons, and I just felt the need to voice some of them here.

First off, I loved her music as a kid, so I feel like a piece of that time is just gone. I remember when I was little, I would watch The Preacher's Wife around Christmastime on Disney Channel. I always sang along with the music in that movie... :-( 

And when Prince of Egypt came out, Disney would play Mariah Carey and Whitney's duet "When You Believe" from that movie A LOT, and though I never got to see the movie, I LOVED that song. I still listen to it on YouTube every one in a while.

On top of that there is all over the other wonder music that I have grown up with that came from her. I don't even have to give you a list... even people who didn't enjoy her music know at least ONE song of hers. That kinda says something in itself...

What make this passing the saddest is watching someone as talented as Whitney go down the horrible path they did, and never have the chance to make a true comeback. In the back of my mind I was always hoping that she would someday be able to clean up, get her life back in order, and come back on top like the true diva she was meant to be. And maybe, if that happened, she could become a source of inspiration for others who have ended up on the same road she was on... to show them they CAN get better, and they CAN have their lives and dreams back.

But that never happened  for her. So I grieve not only for her, but for the chance she never got in the end.

Rest in peace Whitney, you will be missed. :-(

Whitney Elizabeth Houston, August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012

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Comments welcome and appreciated.

New Year, New List... and a Party!

So New Year's 2012 is almost here and like most people, I have a small list of things I would like to have happen next year. Unlike most people, some of things I have included on my list aren't exactly resolutions... just things I kinda want to get done. My list so far, in not particular order:

I mean seriously, this wallpaper is just not pretty. :-\

• Get an awesome job.
• Write a new song.
• Actually play guitar more than a couple times a month.
• Finish watching Farscape and Legend of the Seeker.
• Learn something new. (Language? Art? Games? Anything!)
• Lose even more weight (Doing well so far on this one!)
• Complete at least a couple of my many unfinished video games. (Especially since I started yet another one... *sigh*)
• Start drawing on a regular basis again. (Already got a head start on this one!)
• Buy a car. (The awesome job might help with this, haha)
• Put some money BACK INTO my savings. (Hello awesome job? Can you hear me?)
• Spruce up my house... for example, get rid of the ugly-ass wallpaper in my living room. *blech*
• Find a way to put my degree in computer science to use. (Like with an awesome job of some kind...)

So yeah, that's my list so far.

Other that the list making, I have been preparing for the hopefully-super-fun New Year's Eve shindig my boyfriend and I will be throwing at our place. Food, movies, music, and video games... fun, right? But in the typical crazy Shantelle fashion, I decided to make a turkey dinner for our party. An 18 pound turkey. With potatoes, stuffing, cranberry sauce... yeah, you get the idea. Half of me is saying, "WTF ARE YOU THINKING!?", while the other half is saying, "Mmm... turkey.... *insert Homer Simpson gurgling sounds here*." It should be fun though, even if I went a little overboard. I'm pretty excited for the most part, haha.

Well, that's all I have to ramble about for now. Until next time!

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