Topic: The Chit-Chat Thread

@Pastellioli sometimes I can be way too tired to chat. I’ve just woken up. It’s 7 am Haven’t had my tea or water yet.
Actually I drank water after I typed that so that statement is now outdated.
I hate sleeping in the middle of something, I wake remembering nothing and feeling like I might’ve missed out on a fun night.
I can’t say my life is devoid of excitement, I’m just a tough crowd. Cool stuff happens but my silly little brain always treats them as isolate events when they’re over rather than fun memories. Now, I CONSCIOUSLY acknowledge them as fun events, but my SUBCONSCIOUS doesn’t. So I want to stop feeling nothing, but it’s not something you can stop on command.

But it really was fun. Actually I should talk about it. Visited family I haven’t seen in a while. My family is big, especially on my father’s side. On my father’s side I have six uncles and countless cousins and my gramma ofc. There’s family gatherings at the diwaniya (this term I’ll explain later cuz it’s complicated without context, it’s basically a room for family guests, but it’s really just a space to chill, but it’s still formal so there’s etiquette to follow but generally it’s in the middle of the two. Maybe google can help explain it. There’s a Wikipedia article). We’ve had Aish (rice) and Lamb. Drinks were Laban (yogurt drink I mentioned before), water, cocoa cola and sprite/7-up (tbh they’re the same). Couldn’t take pics cuz it can be kinda weird to do that but found this… sadly blurry image that thankfully still shows what it looks like. A side dish would be usually marag, which is a tomato-based stew with a ton of potatoes. Very tasty. We also eat with our hands, it’s part of the proper etiquette. My favorite way to eat rice is to pour marag on it, cut some of the lamb and pour Laban all over my portion. Makes it into my favorite thing to eat.

I wish I could improve my sleep as well. Oh well. At least i just opened the fitness app yesterday though I do dislike its reliance on your phone being with you at all times. Well at least I set it 160 cals a day which I hear is a respectable goal.

No I can’t really say I’m a YouTube freak, per se.

Huh, face beef jerky scam. Thankfull I’ll never be scammed on beef jerky, because i don’t like beef jerky. It’s a jerk (and so am I).

Wait, it’s 8 am now. And just had my tea. Now twi other earlier statements outdated. Man… I fell off.

Actually I can’t remember what spices I added cuz it’s been marinating for two days so I packed them the day before, and kinda in a hurrr too cuz I had something. Ah, lesse…. Cinnamon poweder, turmeric, a Kuwaiti rice spice mix… or was it Saudi? Or was it a chicken Spice mix? Actually I also don’t remember what else I added there besides salt. I’ll cook it in an hour or two after I’m finished typing this out.

@Yousef- That’s understandable! It’s fine if you can’t. Sometimes I have received messages from people but I’m way too sleepy or already asleep to respond and I do not start talking until time has passed when I’m full of energy. I also hate sleeping through stuff and not remembering it after too.

Sometimes I brain does that too. Sometimes when I talk to my mom and brother I bring up memories of mine and go “if only anything memorable happened as of late” but one of them told me that it was probably because my brain blocks any recent memories or older memories out and just random stuff that isn’t worth remembering. I’ve forgot a lot of fun stuff from that and also because I focus way too much on negative memories too. It’s only negative memories I can really remember because of how much I bring them up.

Woah, your family is really big! I have a sort of big family on both sides but because they don’t live with me and my main family I don’t talk to them and I have no idea what’s going on in their lives. The only one I really talk to is my grandma but via texting on the phone. A few years ago I did attend a wedding for one of my relatives on my mom’s side, and that was great. I remember drawing a gift for the occasion and giving it to my relative and her husband.

The dishes you guys ate sound delicious. The only foods you guys ate that I have had was lamb, water, and the sodas you listed. I don’t usually drink soda a lot mostly cuz I’m not into it, but when my mom had bought packs of Zero Sugar Sprite and Coca-Cola me and my brother were just so obsessed with it. I do wish American cuisine and the foods common here were more interesting like other cuisines in other countries but American cuisine tends to be very same-y for me and a bit boring. It’s why I do get a bit excited when I get to eat cuisine from any non-American restaurant here cuz it’s different, plus the foods common in American dining and restaurants are unhealthy.

I don’t eat beef jerky a lot anymore, I think it tastes good in snack packs that have both beef jerky and a stick of cheese, but I just randomly thought about that beef jerky scam and found the video going over it to be super interesting. Even though Kobe beef is a really liked and expensive meat, I honestly don’t really care about Kobe beef jerky if it did exist, I most certainly wouldn’t drop a bunch of money on it like how the other people did when they first thought the crowdfunding was real.

Usually when we marinate chicken we let it sit for a night and cook it much later the next day. The chicken is more flavorful that way, more than taking defrosted chicken out, placing it on a tray with tinfoil and putting dry seasonings on top, since sometimes the seasonings can burn when being cooked in the oven. I hope that your chicken turns out well when you cook it!

@CaleBoi25 @Novamii @Pastellioli thank you all for words of encouragement. For real it means a lot 🙂
i just have been really sick and also trying to get through some hard conversations but i'm trying to recover the best i can. Thx yall!❤️

Yo!
I have watched Transformers One at my local cinema for two times.
I have a plan to watch again on next week.
Who have watched Transformers One?

I miss having a cinema near me.

I would be interested in an outside opinion on this...

So I'd say I'm as much of a Queen fan as I am a Nintendo fan. I love their catalogue of music but there's been a bit of controversy regarding their latest product:

They've announced a big fat 7 disc box-set for their debut album including demos, live performances etc. One of the discs specifically is a brand new 2024 mix of the whole album, the first time a Queen album has been re-mixed.
They have released one of the newly-mixed songs as a single and many have been quick to point out that pitch correction has been used on Freddie Mercury's voice during certain lines. This is far from the first time they have done this, (they have deployed similar techniques for live concert releases and previous demos) but it has reignited a fiery rage among some fans who are outraged that they are "messing with his voice".
I can't imagine this will be a massive issue in the grand scheme as Freddie was a fantastic singer but tbf he was young and still trying to find his voice.

But the question remains, is it right to pitch correct these performances and deny listeners of an 'authentic' listen, or isn't that the whole point of a remix? To make use of technologies which weren't available at the time🤔

@Pastellioli With a couple of exceptions like the 3D Metroid Prime games and (possibly) Conker eventually, I'm not really into shooters for various reasons. I do appreciate franchises like Splatoon and Overwatch bringing some variety to the table though. The muddy, realistic color palettes when they started becoming all the rage on consoles (CoD, Halo) got old fast. I am glad you get a lot of enjoyment out of them!

I didn't watch the PS5 Pro reveal live, but the pricing....Ouch. I'm more convinced than ever to go the PC route now; one of the reasons I'm waiting was to see what Sony came up with. Keep in mind the American price doesn't include tax, whereas EU pricing usually does include it. So it probably pans out to about the same once currency is converted. Whether someone finds a console worthy of their time and money is up to them lol. I certainly have my preferences, but I won't knock people for having their own.

Microsoft really dropped the ball with the XBOne back in the day. It doesn't surprise me those moves cost them some of the market. I do think Phil Spencer has helped turn the brand around a little. And this is from someone who isn't very fond of him.

@jedgamesguy Seems like we both had similar takeaways regarding the PS5 Pro. Definitely NOT something I'm rushing out to buy.

@Tyranexx I think shooter games are super fun when played online, but cuz I don’t have a lot of time to play online, I always have to play offline. And speaking of Conker, I should specify that the remake version has more of a big focus on the shooter aspect of the game, cuz I think I forgot to mention that it’s multiplayer mode there is a shooter instead of the different multiplayer genres in the original. I haven’t played a shooter as of late, but tomorrow I am with a friend! We had a nice discussion today and I am hoping he is awake and ready to play by the time I wake up tomorrow.

I watched the reveal live just cuz I was bored but when the pricing dropped nearly everyone I was with in the live chat went “I’m not buying this” and left. I definitely don’t mind people having preferences and what games or consoles are worth their time. The Pro is definitely not for someone like me, but it probably is for someone else, and that’s good. It doesn’t bother me unlike some people on the internet who are intolerant of other opinions and preferences.

I'm a big Queen fan too and it goes without saying that the most unique part of the group was Freddie's voice. He was a brilliant singer and techniques used to alter his voice in any way are... in my opinion, a complete perversion of what made him so great.

When it comes to remastering old media (games, music, film) there's a fine line between using modern technology to improve visuals and sound, and flat-out redoing them entirely. This is what Queen appears to be doing. It feels like a Star Wars situation, where people are going back and rectifying issues that didn't really exist.

@Tyranexx I'd stick with the base PS5 if you ever consider getting one, especially since they're getting a small price reduction. Least the base one comes with a disc drive.

@jedgamesguy I think that's a good way of looking at it. They seem to be overly anxious about tarnishing the reputation Freddie has of being this "perfect singer" whereas, in reality, it's his emotion and vulnerability in tone which many, like us, find so appealing not to mention his range and songwriting ability.

I'd be interested to know if similar things have occured with other posthumous releases from other artists.

@Nintoz Sounds like it to me, these new engineers don't seem to appreciate what people really enjoyed about Freddie's singing in particular. I like his voice because of the rawness, incredible range and his dexterity across so many different songs.

Freddie himself said "do whatever you want with my music, just don't make it boring" and I feel like this is one of those "boring" moments. I'd have thought the other band members would fight it given how perverted it is.

@Pastellioli That could in part be why I'm not into shooters; I've never really played them online with others. Not that I haven't TRIED them, but my first experience with CoD (Call of Duty: Black Ops back in the day) wasn't fun since the console's owner pretty much threw me in the deep end without knowing how the controls worked. At least they didn't put me in with live players. I'm not into the gritty realistic military stuff, no matter what era it takes place in. Ah, so Conker's remake is more shooter-focused. Gotcha. I do think the original would be more my speed from our previous discussion. I hope you have a great time playing with your friend.

The PS5 Pro definitely isn't for someone like me. I could afford it in time, but the sticker price would sting. I'd be much better off investing that money in a PC at this point. Or a regular PS5, but I do want a decent PC that can render graphics from 3D game engines since I want to start experimenting with them again. May as well make the machine gaming-ready while I'm at it.

@jedgamesguy IF I decide to properly invest in Sony's ecosystem, I'd definitely go for the base PS5. At least it doesn't feel like they're price gouging with that one. As mentioned above though, another reason I'll likely invest in a good PC instead is I want to use it for more than gaming....But that will require a decent graphics card, which means it'll work for gaming purposes too. My current laptop works fine but is getting along in technological years. Furthermore, Windows 10 support ends in October 2025, and I'm unable to update my machine to it (Nor, admittedly, do I want to, but Microsoft's gonna Microsoft - the company that said Windows 10 would be their last OS, one that they'd continuously update...heh).

@Tyranexx Yeah, I think shooter games are super fun when played online but you always have to know what you’re supposed to do before jumping in. A lot of online games aren’t very fun when played offline. The multiplayer in the Conker remake was very boring, also because they took down online servers long ago before I actually got to play it and the main focus on the remake was its multiplayer, so the main focus not being there anymore sorta makes the multiplayer boring, paired with the fact that it’s very washed out and has a gritty theme. Playing the game with bots was so frustrating, I put the mode on the easiest level and the team I sided on kept losing every single time, and it wasn’t until I went on the opposing team that I kept winning. I think the only way to play the multiplayer with people is by doing system link, but I know nobody nearby who has a copy of the remake and an Xbox. I do love the original multiplayer a bit more cuz it was more goofier and there was a wide variety of game genres they used for the modes. There was this War multiplayer in the OG that is very different than the war shooter they included in Live and Reloaded, and I played the OG War multiplayer with my brother and it was such a blast. Playing with someone else really makes a difference in the game experience.

I did play with my friend today and it was fun, but it wasn’t a shooter game. We initially were going to play Perfect Dark Zero, but for some strange reason I couldn’t play online without purchasing an Xbox Live Gold sub, when I already had an online sub, and what makes it weirder is that Live Gold was discontinued, so that was frustrating, also because I love Zero’s multiplayer from the many bot matches I’ve done. What we played instead was Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge because the sub I had included that game, and it was very fun. We and a few other players got through a good chunk of the game and I finished the rest of the game by myself. It’s a really good game, I did play it last year but I never finished it until now. I love TMNT, but the only piece of TMNT media I remember consuming in recent years that wasn’t Shredder’s Revenge was a 2012-2017 show that aired on Nickelodeon. I do want to play with him again tomorrow, but I think it’ll be another game, but I certainly wouldn’t mind playing Shredder’s Revenge again cuz I loved the feelings of that game. Luckily we didn’t have issue with our time

@Tyranexx Even stupider for someone in your position is that Sony's putting their best games on PC, decentivising people from actually buying into that ecosystem. Sure it'll jack up sales for the games but who's gonna go and buy a PS5 if the best games are on Steam anyway.

In any case I think some of the PS games on Steam are fantastic, and especially with a sale on right now it's worth a look; Last of Us, Uncharted 4, the Spider-Man games, Ghost of Tsushima, et cetera. That coupled with a PC refresh means even more gaming opportunities.

Had a nice surprise yesterday, DreamWorks released a Trolls short. While the animation is different than the movies, it is a smaller budget production, I'm really, really happy to get some new Trolls content. I love this, hope they do more with other songs.

Yeah, that is the difficult part about online friends, they're usually in different parts of the world. I live in the northeast US, while some here are in other parts of the world. Honestly, it's still neat to be able to play Mario Kart 8 with others here.

I did enjoy Pokemon Rumble World, it's been years since I last played it. It's actually been quite some time since I last played my 3DS too, or even my Wii U. Last time I played that was to play Splatoon before the servers closed, I should find time to play it again since there are games I do like playing on it. Which Pokemon mobile game are you thinking of? On 3DS the only game I remember having a mobile version was Pokemon Shuffle, I really enjoyed that puzzle game. Lion King 1 1/2 was really a fun movie, it was kind of neat seeing everything from Timon and Pumba's point of view. I think I also seen Fox and the Hound 2 (which I got with the Fox and the Hound DVD), and the Little Mermaid sequels on Disney+. I haven't seen too many of the direct-to-video Disney sequels, I do remember seeing these.

From the sounds of that, I'm really surprised that the Nintendo 64 was less censored than the Xbox one, considering how Nintendo use to have strict guidelines a very long time ago when it came to content in games. Wait, Conker's Bad Fur Day originally planned to have a Pokemon reference? This is the first time I'm hearing about this one.

Yeah, I imagine older games would be tamer when it comes to the violence, even if they were once considered over the top during their time period. Playing Doom 1993 is different than playing Doom 2016.

That reminds me, the near 100 year old theater I was talking about actually owned a drive-in theater. During the pandemic, they actually were making money even when the theater was closed. I remember during that time I remember reading more were going to drive-in theaters. That actually sounds like a good time to do it too since people weren't able to go to the theater and you can do improvements to it.

Apologies for double post, but congrats to @CaleBoi25 on getting featured in the mailbox.

Also, "Call of Warfare Battlefield Duty Grand Auto Theft" made me laugh.

@Sunsy
Oh, Poppy was singing Stronger by Kelly Clarkson?
Still curious to see Trolls 4 in the future.
What kind of music theme they will bring for the fourth movie after boyband theme on the third movie?

Btw, did you watch Transformers One?
I have watched the movie two times last week, I will watch again for the third time during this week while still being aired at my local cinema XXI.
Transformers One was pretty good in my opinion.
Kinda interesting to see the history of their feud between Autobots vs Decepticon was started from their friendship between Orion Pax (Optimus Prime) and D-16 (Megatron) when they were younger.
I personally not a huge fan of Transformers franchise but I have some interest with the cartoon series of Transformers, not the live action movies (their robot design looked pretty unappealing for me).
After watching Transformers One, I tried to watch the cartoon series from YouTube to getting know more about them.
My favorite so far was from Robots in Disguise 2015 for having the best robot design in my opinion, Rescue Bots Academy for the preschool version without engaging in violence,.
The Transformers animated series 2007 was pretty Teen Titanish design as I found the similarities from their design.
Also, I played some Transformers games on both Nintendo and PlayStation machines (Prime on Wii U, Devastation on PS3, Battlegrounds on PS4, Earthspark on PS5)

@Anti-Matter Yup, pretty much the music video, plus Branch and Viva returns too. We'll probably have to wait and see, if DreamWorks ever does announce a fourth movie.

No I haven't and don't plan to because I'm not into Transformers. The movie isn't even out in the US yet either. I'm glad you liked the movie.

@Sunsy They released a Pokémon mobile game called Pokemon Rumble Rush that was open for a year or so and was quickly closed a year later. I can remember downloading it back in November and I enjoyed playing it a lot even though a ton of people hated it and thought it was a bad game. Sad that the Rumble games often get poor reception cuz they are really fun beat em’ up games in my opinion.

Yeah, I definitely agree that the Lion King prequel is awesome. While I do think a lot of the direct-to-video Disney sequels and prequels weren’t good mostly from a writing and sometimes animation standpoint, a couple of them had lots of effort put into them, I think the Lion King prequel was one of them. Disney+ does have a lot of the direct-to-video sequels and films on there. I still don’t know why I watched The Hunchback of Notre Dame II twice on there a few years ago when it’s a clearly bad film. Guess I was bored at the time.

It was a bit surprising, cuz a lot of the time content like that would be censored excessively, but nowadays some of the content that was found bad back then is not considered like that anymore, or is at least considered tamer.

Yep, Conker was going to have a reference to Pokémon during this scene with a weasel mafioso but was cut per Nintendo’s request, unsurprisingly. I need to find the slightly restored scene, but if I remember, there’s a Pikachu tail that is shown moving around underneath the table that the weasel mafioso is sitting at. He tries to catch it and keeps missing it and then says the Pokémon series’ slogan “gotta catch ‘em’ all.” It’s been a while since I saw the cut scene, so I’ll try to find a link to it.

EDIT: Good ol’ Unseen64 has come in handy! Found the link on there.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=QvjAcjLAQXk&embeds_referrin...

The Pikachu tail and the Pokémon reference pop in around the 2:25 minute mark if you want to see the reference.