A Penny Saved

via TheGentlemansArmchair

Roomba Pong

This seems like a very creative way to both spill all your beer and ruin your Roomba. Personally I find beer pong kinda gross. That ball is not clean, I don't care if you dip it in water or not. You're really just playing an elaborate game of "I hope I don't get diarrhea from this".

I'd rather just play Bounce Off while drinking a fifth of bourbon. That's how classy people roll.

Tony Hawk Lands 900 At 48!

This is pretty insane. There's not much more to add than what the title suggest. Tony Hawk revisits his most famous trick at the age of 48. I'm not sure if I'm inspired or depressed right now. I turn 40 in like another week and my body feels like it's completely falling apart. I hurt my back late last year and while a month of physical therapy seemed to do the trick, I've totally re-injured it recently. It sucks, my new insurance won't cover the cost of physical therapy so I don't really want to go back and pay $400 a week but at the same time I'm pretty much in constant pain. It's a totally downward spiral because with the pain I'm not as active which really just leads to more pain. I'm trying to quit drinking soda and lose a few pounds but that's not going very well.

Long story short, don't get old kids. Or if you have to get old be more like Tony Hawk.

Game of Thrones Season 6 Thoughts

Welp, that's a wrap folks. Game of Thrones Season 6 is officially in the books. I mean it's not in the BOOKS yet, it's just that it's over. Whatever, I've been sick since Saturday. Also I make fantastic decisions like watching Game of Thrones last night starting at 11pm instead of going to bed early, so I'm so very tired. Also I played a bunch of Overwatch. Why does it feel like I'm on trial here?

Back to the subject at hand, Season 6 of Game of Thrones was highly anticipated because the show has finally passed the books. There were one or two small plot points that still pulled from the books but most of it was brand spanking new. It definitely changed the way I watch the show. I still download it because I don't have that HBO skrilla, but the last few seasons I've read recaps and embraced spoilers before watching episodes. I didn't even watch the final episode until months after it aired. This year I was downloading that ish as quickly as I could though and I'm avoiding spoilers like greyscale.

Overall I thought the season was very good. The last two Fire and Ice books felt like GRRM was just spinning his wheels. Taking as long as possible moving the pieces around for a big finale. Season 6 was also about moving the pieces around for the final conflict, but instead of Tyrion jousting on the back of a pig you had the Battle of the Bastards, which was absolutely epic. It'll be interesting to see how things unfold next season as it will be the second to the last. It feels like everything is about to boil over to the final conflict right now, so I'm interested in seeing how the showrunners draw things out without making it feel like they're drawing things out. They've already confirmed that the last two seasons will be shorter than usual so I guess that will help.

Now if we could just get GRRM to finish up those books. Why doesn't anyone ever talk about how long he's taking? I feel like he should be writing faster /s

Are You Ready? - Steam Summer Sale 2016

Holy carp, this video is amazing. Ser Davos as PayPal couldn't be more fitting. It's like he knows you're making mistakes but in the end is pretty much powerless to stop them. The best he can do is just offer his support. Good on you Onion Knight. I swear GRRM better not kill you off.

Watermelon Links

This Is Exactly The Truck You’d Drive To Save Your Heroin Addict Friend If You Were Also A Heroin Addict And Had A Shit Ton Of Guns With You. Holy crap, look at these rednecks. Yesterday, this truck was stopped in the Holland tunnel by police because it had a cracked windshield and looked just a mite bit suspicious. Turns out there were “multiple loaded guns, knives and ballistic vests” inside and a crew of self styled vigilantes on a rescue mission to save a teenage girl from a drug den.

First off, thank goodness the cops stopped them. There's zero way this wouldn't have ended without some innocent bystander getting shot. Second, cops can pull you over for a cracked windshield? What is this Soviet Russia?

Indie Wrestlers Find Both Struggles And Triumphs On The Independent Scene. Great article on the increasingly popular independent wrestling scene in the states. I don't know much about these millenial hipsters but as long as they like PBR and Wrestling they can't be all that bad.

Turn A Watermelon Into A Keg With A Watermelon Tap. Oh man, I would get sooooo drunk off this thing. I mean, I guess you don't have to put booze in your watermelon keg but WHY WOULDN'T YOU!?!?

Super Mario Maker In Real Life

Youtuber MyNameIsBanks made this Super Mario Maker fan film, or is it more of a fake trailer? Lets say it's a trailer to a fan film. Either way it's impressive. Whenever I see a youtube film like this I'm blown away at what you can do with computers these days. 30 years ago you couldn't pull off these special effects with a $50 dollar budget. We're all going to be living in the matrix in like 20 more years.

New Westworld Trailer

While everyone was watching basketball or wrestling last night (according to my twitter) HBO released a new trailer for their adaption of the Sci-Fi classic(?) Westworld. Westworld is on of those movies that I know I've seen but I don't really remember anything about it. I'm far more familiar with the homages the Simpsons, Red Dwarf and Star Trek TNG played to it. Frankly every episode of Star Trek TNG where something goes wrong in the holodeck owes some credit to Westworld. The trailer looks really cool BUT it looks like it has a pretty high chance of becoming a rambling mess like Lost.

Prove me wrong JJ.

Secretly Links

LEGO's BATMAN (Voice) To Host Syfy's 3-Day Live Comic-Con Coverage. Holy balls, that is one tortured title. What they mean to say is Will Arnett is going to host a show from San Diego Comic-Con for the SyFy network. I could care less about Arnett's participation, I'm just glad that someone network is doing a show from SDCC this year. Yeah, in the time it took me to write that last sentence I realized that it will probably cover Movies and TV exclusively but hey, something is better than nothing. I really miss G4's coverage of SDCC. The last two years they were still in business they did a great job. I remember one year I watched it sick from the couch and it was so fantastic. RIP G4.

Oh yeah, I saw the Angry Birds movie the other day with my son and they had the trailer for The Lego Batman Movie and it was pretty awesome. I'm really looking forward to it. Also Angry Birds was WAY better than it had any right to be. It's wasn't on Pixar's level or anything but what should have been complete crap was actually sort of enjoyable.

Say goodbye to the way the game console market works. Here's a nice think piece on just what the Xbox Scorpio and PS4.5 mean to the console market. What's happening right now is a thousand times more interesting than a couple years ago when the Xbox One and PS4 were announced. We're not just looking at new consoles with new bells and whistles we're looking a change in the way they're made, marketed and sold. Yes, you've always been able to pay a bit more for a console and get a "nicer" experience. A bigger HD, extra controller, maybe a game or two thrown it, but you've never been able to buy two consoles with vastly different specs that play the same games.

I'm going to take a shot a couple long form articles on this next week. There's so much to digest, even as someone that's kind of given up on consoles this E3 was really, really interesting.

The Buick Cascada Is A Lesson In How Much New Cars Suck For Small People. I noticed this trend the other day when I saw my mother-in law driving her Ford Escape. She looked like a child in it. I can't believe she can even see over the dash. I wanted to get a stack of books for her to sit on. Car makers need to take note, the second you can't comfortably rest your arm in the open window you've ruined the car.

There’s a shirt that lets you secretly masturbate anywhere. This is a terrible, terrible idea.

Dumb Keith

via PoorlyDrawnLines

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, E3 Trailer

MOAR VIDEO GAME TRAILERS! This trailer for The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (ie. Zelda #22, the quest for more money) looks pretty dope. It's not Skyrim or anything (more on that later) but graphically its a big upgrade from the last Zelda game I played. It looks like there's going to be a lot non-linear, sandbox style of gameplay, which could be a lot of fun. Also the big news here is that there's going to be voice acting! I'm sure plenty of monocle's dropped at Nintendo when the dev team first proposed that.

Interesting thing here is that Nintendo is planning on releasing this for both the WiiU and they're upcoming NX. Sounds like they're going to be doing the same high-low resolution two step Sony and Microsoft are planning. Like I said yesterday, I'm really interested in where this will go. Will early adopters to the new systems regret spending a premium only to play the same games everyone else is playing? Will the current generation of consoles just get tossed aside because they can't keep up with the pack? Will having more tiered pricing options bring more people into console gaming? I don't know, I'm not particularly interested in buying a PS4.5 or Xbox 1.360 or anything but I am super interested to see what this means to the industry. Seems like everyone is betting a lot of cash on 4K and VR gaming.

Battlefield 1 Official Gameplay Trailer

Hey kids, this new Battlefield 1 looks pretty awesome. I'm not sure if there's anything I don't like about it. Old timey tanks, sub machine guns on motorcycles, bi-planes vs tri-planes, blimps exploding, it all looks good. It's supposed to support 64 man battles, I'm hoping that it will be cross platform compatible. I know this trailer is all about the Xbox One but most everything I've seen from E3 this year touts multiplayer compatibility between Xbox and PC. Of course they also have big old Window 10 logos on everything so I'm thinking I'm going to have to bite the bullet and upgrade to that sooner or later. Why not, I mean I've been looking for an excuse to buy a new printer and scanner and web cam and all that other stuff I'll probably find out aren't compatible. YAY!

Spider-Man PS4 E3 2016 Teaser

I guess this was inevitable. Sony has the movie rights to Spider-Man, Sony makes the PS4, Sony decides the new Spider-Man game is going to be exclusive to the PS4. The odds of me getting a PS4 are pretty much one in a thousand billion so I guess I'll never get to play this game. Looks cool, most people on-line hate the new suit but I sort of like it. In my opinion it's a lot better than the new one he's sporting in the comics these days. I imagine since this is a video game in the year 2016 you'll be able to unlock all his other suits with some DLC or seasons pass bs.

Welp, that was a short console generation.

At E3 today Microsoft made it official, their new console codenamed Scorpion, is set for a launch of Holiday 2017. Microsoft is calling it the most powerful console ever. Sony confirmed just a couple days ago that they would have something about their newest console at E3 too, so I guess the next gen console is now your last gen console.

Now in theory this doesn't mean you have to throw out your Xbox One just yet. They said that all future games would be compatible with the Xbox One, Xbox One S (also just announced) and the new Xbox Scorpio. Essentially this is more of an upgrade to the Xbox One that would allow 4K and VR gaming. In PC terms they're upgrading their video card but not doing a clean install.

It's an interesting strategy, even if it's not the most innovative. From the beginning PC gamers have been mocking the Xbox One and PS4 for low framerates and less than 1080p resolutions. When both consoles launched PC's were just starting to dabble in 4K gaming, the fact that neither produce 60fps at a "lowly" 1080p resolution didn't bode well for their longevity. 4K Televisions aren't that expensive anymore, people are looking for 4K content and if Microsoft and Sony don't provide it someone else will. It's smart that they've revamped their machines to take advantage of it.

The interesting part here will be the backwards compatibility for the Xbox One. How long will developers and consumers want to be handcuffed to the old hardware. This has been one of the complaints over PC gaming for years, by programming for the minimum specs you cut yourself off at the knees when it comes to throwing more bells and whistles into a game. My guess is it will start with special Scorpion editions with more content or textures "optimized for Scorpion". Then exclusive titles or DLC will follow, before you know it they only thing new being released on the Xbox One will be Madden and the new Skylanders game.

Should be interesting stuff, without looking a bunch of stuff up on wikipedia I don't think we've seen a jump in console hardware this drastic this quick.

The Rebellious Origin of the Video Game Easter Egg

Warren Robinett, the programmer behind Adventure for the 2600, is credited with creating the Video Game Easter Egg. Here's the story behind it.

Big ups to the creators of this clip, Great Big Story. This video is entertaining and straight to the point. I like videos on old games, or the history of video games but often they can be really long and boring. Anything longer than 5 minutes and I start skipping ahead. This is the year 2016, no one has time to watch your 10 minute video. You know how many corgi gifs you can fit in 10 minutes? A THOUSAND!

Don't Step Through That Portal

via PoorlyDrawnLines

Pussy Noodle!

I know this is a fake commercial for some TV show on Netflix called Lady Dynamite but I desperately want it to be real. Lets all pretend it's real.

Lego Dimensions Year 2!

Lego just announced a sequel/expansion to it's toys to life game Lego Dimensions, Lego Dimensions Year 2. Looks like they're not pulling any punches, including properties like Harry Potter, The Goonies, Adventure Time, ET and the freaking A-Team.

Spoiler, I'm going to buy all the Lego A-Team sets.

My son just started playing Lego Dimensions last week. We've had it sitting in the closet for a couple months now while he earned the game, it was torture. The game itself is ok, I'd give it a solid B. By no means is it the best Lego video game and at it's original list price of $99.99 it was way too expensive. The Lego sets however are all they're cracked up to be and more. We only have two expansion packs so far, Doctor Who and Joker/Harley Quinn, they're really cool. The figures have a lot of detail and the vehicles they come with might be small but they're interesting builds with a lot of features. Hopefully with the Year 2 stuff coming out this fall I'll be able to pick up all the expansion packs I missed for relatively cheap. I'm not made of Lego money.

Phoenix Comicon 2016 - Cosplay Music Video

Vic Rincon and Katie Owens put together a pretty nice cosplay video for last week's Phoenix Comicon. There's some pretty good costumes in there, my personal favorite is Kip from Napoleon Dynamite. Napoleon Dynamite is cool again, right? I know there was a while there where it was sort of played out but I think it's cool again. It's not like it's been "yeah baby-ed" to death like Austin Powers has. Man if ever there was a case of a movie being crippled by it's own popularity it's Austin Powers.

Anyhoo, Phoenix Comicon looks like a lot of fun. I'd like to go one year. Of course it might be a bit more fun if it was in winter, not the start of summer. Who wants to go to Phoenix in June? It's like 130 degrees down there right now.

The Hypothetical Blockbuster Budget

This video from Vanity Fair (wait, that can't be right.... ok, it's really from Vanity Fair. I didn't know that was a thing that could happen) shows roughly how much money everyone that has worked on a $200 million blockbuster would make. I can't believe the cat made like 10 times what the intimidating bouncer at the nightclub made. That's probably racist.

Basically what I learned from this is that there's good money to be made being like a Key Grip, or a makeup artist. Sure you have to live with the nightmare that is not knowing when your next job will be but it beats digging ditches for a living. Unless you're the lead ditch digger for a movie, I hear those guys make bank.

American Ninja Warrior Superwoman

Jessie Graff, stuntwoman on Supergirl AND a former college pole vaulter absolutely killed the American Ninja Warrior qualifying course. It's a pretty impressive run, especially how easily she navigates both the warped wall and that newer ledge hang thing. I like that she dressed up as Wonder Woman, my favorite part of the original Ninja Warrior was following the guys with regular jobs or wacky characters, like the gas station attendant or the octopus man. Man I really miss the original Ninja Warrior. Do they even still do it? If only there was some way for me to look up things like that.

Donezo

Ricochet Vs. Will Ospreay, Best of the Super Juniors

New Japan Pro Wrestling is in the middle of something they call the Best of The Super Juniors Tournament. It's basically just a tournament for the lighter-high flyers of NJPW. This match between Ricochet (ie Lucha Underground's Prince Puma) and Will Ospreay set the internet ablaze. A few fans and pro-wrestlers were critical of the style, saying it undermines the believability of the sport but most praised it for the amazing display of athleticism. If you have a few minutes to spare check it out. They're definitely pulling off some video game level ish.

Heath McNease - Groundhog Day

Here's a music video by indie rapper Heath McNease. It's not really new and there's a chance I might have posted it once before but it's a good song and I don't have anything else to post today so here we are.

Have I mentioned at all how bummed I am that my new car doesn't have a line-in jack anywhere? My old car didn't either BUT it had a tape player so I could use a tape adapter and hook up my phone or mp3 player to it. I'm back to making mix CDs. Who does that anymore? It's like I'm living in 2004 but the traffic is worse.

Monster Trucks: The Trailer

Holy shitsnacks guys, this has to be the stupidest movie ever. And I've seen at least two movies that star Harlan Williams. There's a monster living inside his truck you see, and that monster makes the truck super cool and there's a monster truck race and the monster truck does flips and oh I don't know, lets have Superman fight a giant spider in the third act!

Nice Links

The Official Ranking of the Most Bullshit Characters in Overwatch. Good list that really emphasizes one of the points I was trying to make yesterday. Every character in Overwatch is just the right amount of fun and frustrating. Of course I would have put Hanzo higher on the list. Shooting through walls is total BS, every time.

Seattle burlesque dancer cries misogyny after JetBlue deems her shorts inappropriate. Those are some really short shorts. I mean they're not really obscene or anything but it does look kind of like she's just walking around in underwear, or maybe some sort of Cosplay. The weirdest thing I took from this article is that the pilot gets final say on what the passengers can wear? That seems really arbitrary. Jet Blue should just have some sort of official dress code, leaving it up to one person seems like you're asking for trouble. Frankly, I think she should put on some longer shorts for her own health. Airplane seat do not get cleaned very well, they're kind of gross. Who would want to sit on those with bare skin. Yuck.

Shane Black On ‘The Nice Guys,’ Mel Gibson, And Why A Female ‘Iron Man 3’ Villain’s Gender Changed. I've heard the Nice Guys is really good. I really want to check it out.

FX Orders 8 Episodes of X-Men TV Show, Legion. Wow, have fun with that. Legion is a super weird character. I can't imagine anyone reading a couple stories with him in it and thinking "this character is just made for a TV show". Let's see how Wikipedia describes him:

Legion is the mutant son of Professor Charles Xavier and Gabrielle Haller. He takes the role of an antihero and has a severe mental illness, including a form of dissociative identity disorder, with each of his personas controlling one of his many superpowers

Yep, that sounds like him all right. Legion is a fun character and all, but I can't imagine reality warping powers and split personalities will make for the most accessible show. He's one of those classic X-Men foils where he can do pretty much anything right up to the point where the X-Men discover just the right MacGuffin that allows them to stop him. Your guess is as good as mine as to where this one goes.