4th of July has lost all meaning

I used to enjoy the 4th of July. Growing up, I rode on the back of the fire trucks, went to the picnic, and watched the fireworks. It was a time that it felt good to be an American. We used to be proud of our heritage and our history.

Those days, are sadly over for me, never to return.

The recent events of the last few years have really soured me on this holiday and all that it stands for. So many Americans have lost fundamental rights, and even more rights for many are on the line – all due to the actions of 6 people bent on turning our once-great country into an ideological wasteland have done this. This was the plan of a group of people over the last three decades that have finally been brought to light. This group of people who lied under oath to gain their power has now laid bare their plans of stripping freedoms from as many people as possible.

I’ll never celebrate the 4th of July again, and neither will many others. When we see our veterans cutting up their VA cards and burning their uniforms, as well as active-duty military personnel seeking to leave the service, you know things have gone horribly awry in our land.

Will it ever come back to being good in any way, shape, or form? I doubt it’ll be this generation that’ll make it happen. This is damage that will take many generations to clean up – if ever.

Who Am I? I Am Me

I am my own person.

I know……….many people have said that, so it should be nothing new.

I’ve gone through many phases in my life……many experimentations. I’m from the Gen-X crowd, which seems to be the only one that really applies, since that’s when I’m from in the grand timeline of the universe. Through all of the times in my life, I’ve never experimented with anything dangerous or unhealthy to me, so that’s a plus.

I went through the punk/new wave age of the 80’s, and it was fabulous. The looks may have faded, but the music appreciation lives on. I was exposed to the musical vibes of artists and groups like Lene Lovich, Nina Hagen, Toyah, Hazel O’Connor, The Cure, The Smiths, and so many many much more than that;. I’ve gone through record stores, flipping through record covers to find the ones that caught my eye, and I would snag those. Of course, not all of them were winners – there were stinkers in there too, to be sure.

The art of getting myself into character from the new wave era transitioned to the drag experimentation stage, as have known, and still know a number of people who helped encourage me to embrace the beauty and make it my own expression. That was another fun time – probably because Halloween is one of my favorite holidays, and I figure every day should be Halloween. So no matter if it was drag or new wave, it was another character I could just pour myself into. It was a way for me to step out of my “normal” mode and be something else. Not everyone encouraged what I was doing, depending on where I was, but I still did as I chose.

Through these experimentations and lifestyles, even sometimes wondering what my identity really was, I bounced from here to there, and in this age of so many different gender identities, I kind of got confused as to where I really was – what I really am as an individual. I’ve had some different character names – a few of which I still use online, but as far as who and what I am in the real, physical world of this life, only one thing remains………..

I am me. I am my own person. I am myself. All layers removed from the complex facets of my life, there is only me at the core, and I’m good with that.

Why Do We Continue To Idolize The Past? Time To Look Forward

We are not enlightened. We have not evolved to where we could be – where we really should be.

We are clinging to ideals of the past, believing it to be the only way forward, but it’s really not. What happens when those that are shaping the world are gone? What is it that we truly leave behind? A world where the past is only way of thinking going forward, or do we rise up and try to be a better world for all humanity?

A wise friend told me once upon a time to live in the now – live for today. She’s not wrong.

I see these rulers of the world holding on so desperately to the ideals and society of the past, that they just cannot see letting go at all, no matter what. They think it’s their way or no one can live. That’s such a narrow view of the world, and a narrow legacy that may well poison the world for generations to come. So much of the world has moved on beyond ruling by an iron fist, and embraced making the world better for all of those under their leadership. At some point, those views will eventually fall by the wayside to make way for future generations……….but how will they look back on what was done before them? Will they see the keystones laid for future growth, or will they see the shallow visions that just about destroyed them?

I guess the recent conflict in another part of the world has really made me think about this whole thing. We’ve seen the single-minded wants of one man who, as far as I can tell, woke up one day after having tea, and said ” I’m going to rebuild the society that I grew up in, and I’ll just get rid of anyone who stands in my way” – so he went off and started waging war on a neighbor – a neighbor filled with people who shared ancestral roots, a shared culture, but these people have chosen to embrace change, and looked forward to a bright and prosperous future.

The one man didn’t like that – he wanted it all back the way it was – a society that ruled by the will of one man with no care of anyone else who thought differently – he would just get rid of them.

That world……….is DEAD. It’ll NEVER come back that way again, and their neighbors are in the fight of their lives to make sure that it DOESN’T happen. There has been a unity that has come about between peoples and between countries that have seen the failures of the past, and have banded together to make sure that the future is free and bright – not dark and desperate.

Yes…….I’m speaking of the attempt of Russia to invade and take over Ukraine – a nation that has been peaceful and prosperous, and the jealous neighbor next door didn’t want that to happen – he’s planning on taking back this country and make it back to the old Soviet days. Those were the days of the Cold War – of barriers and barricades, preventing the free will of people that thought differently of the state.

Those were horrible times, and a horrible way of living. People these days don’t really want that to happen, yet people are suffering and dying because one selfish individual – one that sees himself as being above all men, yet so much smaller than that because that world – that way of thinking is so small and so closed that it suffocates imagination and inspiration. Because of all of the lies and atrocities that have been committed because of the……….I’ll say it – CRIMINAL actions of one man who is throwing a massive temper tantrum because he wants to get his own way, even people in the same families are being ripped apart, and treasured relationships have been damaged in so many ways, that they may never recover.

But……..that one man doesn’t care. He wants his way. ONE…….person. The will and wants of ONE……person. This isn’t the will of a government……..this is because of ONE…….person that wants to exert his will over millions of people.

People are suffering.

People are dying.

When……..when will the ways of the old world finally be laid to rest, and make a way to the future – one that inspires, encourages, and makes possible a future that is better for future generations to all.

It’s time to step out of the past, and step into the future, and see how the future generations shape this world. It’s time to lay down the weapons of the past, and look for the common good in others, as let’s face it……..we’re all part of the same human race, no matter where we have come from. We can all work together to make things better.

The journey needs to start now. The first steps need to be taken to making our whole world better for everyone – regardless of where they are from.

A New Page

So it’s been a while since I posted on here, but it’s been a crazy time……..going through re-learning who I really am, and what I want to do with my life. I’ve figured out that these different personas I’ve been going through aren’t really who I am – it’s just cosplay -a screen for my life, and at this time, I don’t need those anymore.

We’ve gone through the worst year and a half imaginable, and battling a war on two fronts – neither of which we seem to be gaining any ground on, and this is the legacy that we’re leaving to the future generations to figure out. As a Gen-X’er, I’ve been seeing both sides of this war – from the Silent Generation/Boomers and the Gen-Z/Millennial side of things, and I feel like I’m somehow caught up in the crossfire between both sides. All I want is for a peaceful life and be able to learn something new every day – that’s how I started the whole “Get Random” on my YouTube page is all about – learning something new, and perhaps trying something new too!

One of the things I’ve learned is that there is no such thing as “too old to learn something” – that’s the lazy way out. You’re never too old to learn something new. I’m glad I grew through the progression of technology, because that’s enabled me to learn things like building PC’s, streaming, and making/editing videos – something I would not have been able to learn when I was younger……….because the technology wasn’t there yet!

Do I still do crazy costumes and makeup? No……that’s pretty much behind me – mainly because I’m too fat to really look good in outfits like I used to (that’s my own criticism on my self-view – not anything on plus-sized people). I’m hard on myself that way – that’s my fault. I don’t need a facade to be who I am – I’m fine the way I am now, even though I could stand to lose quite a bit of weight. That’s the next battle.

If you can’t find at least one small thing of happiness in one day, then you’re not looking hard enough.

The Journey Continues – YouTube does have a good community!

So here we are in 2018.  My goodness…..where did 2000 go?  Time seems to move faster as you get older, so right away I will say……live each day as fully as you can, and be thankful you get up the next day, as not everyone is granted that blessing.  Things are never set in stone from day to day – anything can happen, so I’m grateful for every morning I open my eyes to greet the next day.

So what on earth does any of this have to do with YouTube and social media in general?  I think part of is has to do with the community and the people you interact with.  At first, I was a little apprehensive about starting to make videos.  I mean, after all, who wants to watch some big random dude make videos about whatever?  Well………..surprise of surprises, there do seem to be segments of the world population that actually do!  When I began my journey, I thought it would just be a fun fling once in a while, as I’d always dreamed of doing my own TV show.  Back in my youth, getting to be on a TV show was pretty much a pipe dream unless you new people, so it was a nice change to be able to actually produce something that I dreamed up, made, and put up there for the internet to see!

Now granted……..did I think I was going to get ANY traction at all whatsoever?  No, of course not.  I kinda felt like one of my inspirations, JayzTwoCents.  I didn’t think it would work at all.  I thought it would fall flat on its face and no one would want to watch……..but that didn’t happen.  I started to realize what many other creators realized….if you have something people find interesting, they will come and see what you are doing.  If they like it, they’ll subscribe and come back for more!  At this time, in May of 2018, I’m actually getting close to 300 subscribers!  Now….some may say “well, that’s not a lot”, but here’s the thing…….it’s 300 more than i was expecting.

I don’t expect to be huge and big – I’m not the next WatchMojo or PewDiePie – far from it.  I’m just some guy who likes making videos.  I now have a decent enough machine to be able to make them the way I want to, so…….now all that’s left is putting forth the effort and imagination to get it done.  I’ve found a number of people in the YouTube community that have been super supportive, helpful, and encouraging – people like JayzTwoCents, Barnacules Nerdgasm, Tech Deals, Science Studio, BitWit, Paul’s Hardware, and Hardware Canucks just to name a few!

If you have ever thought about embarking on making your own online videos, and have any fears about if it’ll be accepted and embraced – the only thing stopping you is yourself and the desire to give it a go.  You’ll never be successful if you don’t at least take that first step.

State of the Channel Address 2018

I don’t write as many blog posts as I used to, but I figure this was a good excuse for me to write out something.

2017 has been an exciting year for me on YouTube and Twitch.  I’ve “met” (online) a lot of really interesting and cool people, and have learned quite a bit!  I’m excited for 2018, and have a lot of ideas floating through my head that I just need to put into a sequence of events and execute them.  Of course, it’s a lot of random stuff, like you’d expect, but some of the things I have in mind are………….

CPU Resuscitation project – seeing if we can bring a Ryzen 5 1600x back to life from the bent pin graveyard!

Make A Test Bench The Brute Force Way – seeing if I can convert a case by magical (or mechanical, more accurately) means into a suitable test bench on the cheap!

The BioHazard Sandy Bridge build – can a Chinese knockoff motherboard power up a good workstation PC with an i7-3820??

Retro-Rescue:  Atari 2600 Paddle Jitter – how to make those old-school paddle games smooooooth once again!

Xeon and on and on! – Let’s try a build using a monster Xeon CPU and find out what all it can really do!

That’s a very high-level summary of things I’d like to get done this year, along with a spring project where we go around the local area and compare how things look now with how they looked 25 years ago!  Yes………I actually did do a videotape that long ago and didn’t record over it!  How did that happen?

I do hope you all stick around, subscribe to my channel, and share the randomness around with anyone who’s interested!  See you all out there!

-MB

Battling The Upgrade Bug

I got myself bit by the upgrade bug this year, as I was not satisfied with how my computer was running games I wanted to play, so I did what comes naturally……well, in a nerd sense – I built a new computer from the ground up.  Yes…… this is what I built. 

Now keep in mind the timeframe here…….this was right near the Ryzen launch, so while I could have jumped on the AMD bandwagon right then, I didn’t, as I didn’t quite trust the new platform yet. I went with something that had a mature platform and had lots of use. I am quite happy with this setup, but now I’m looking into little tweaks and bling upgrades to make it even nicer – like gong from a 240mm cooler to a 280 with a sweet water block. This is equal parts form and function, so it’ll be worth it. 

The one thing I stayed away from was RED.  Not red like AMD, but just the color. Egads, is that color played into the ground like Kokomo was on the radio in the 80’s!  Seriously?  I don’t get the whole fascination with this angry color, but hey……to each their own, I guess. Eventually, I plan on a nice light blue Tron-style theme. It’ll get there eventually. 

Now that Ryzen has been out a while, it is a nice series of processors, but for gaming, I still like my choice. Is it as smooth?  Most of the time no, but my tolerance for it is higher than a lot of people. Heck…..consoles get more hitches and stutters than this! I saw the Skylake-X launch and thought “That’s nice for those who need it. ” – same with Threadripper.

With Coffee Lake coming out, I’m thinking that they should have done this instead of Skylake-X, as it’s more for the mainstream user, but I understand why they did it. Does this mean I’m just dying for Coffee Lake?

No.  Why?  I have a nice, working computer now, and it does what I want. Besides……not every user can jump in and upgrade when the new shiny thing comes out.  Heck…..people are still rocking computers much older than this, and are perfectly happy.  So…..when you see the new thing come out on the market, ask yourself this one question……..

Is it something you need……or just something you want?  Don’t forget to take care of your necessary expenses in life first though!  It does no good to have a beast of a computer if you have no place to live. 

Societal Regressions

I guess I just don’t get the world these days. 

It seems things that used to be commonplace last generation are forgotten relics these days – simple things like manners and common courtesy are strangely absent in the society landscape at this point. I drive from point A to point B, and there will always be some example of humanity driving like a baboon, jerking from lane to lane, cutting off anyone who gets in their way.

You walk through a supermarket, and rather than letting people out of a side aisle, they form this gridlock line and heaven help you if you try to get out – you’ll be stuck there a while. 

People these days even form message boards and groups just for the sole purpose of how some person or some company sucks and should be done away with!

It’s sad!  It’s almost getting to the point where I don’t hardly want to go out anymore because I don’t want to run into another person who thinks the world revolves around them, and that everyone else is a lesser human being. 

If you go to a restaurant and have an issue with the food, they look shocked if you’re polite!  That should be expected! I can see people getting frustrated from time to time, but when your first response is to want to knock someone on their can, I just can’t respect that. We should have come farther as a people than this, yet we still just can’t play nice in the sandbox. 

Random Game Reviews!

Lately, I’ve started up a new series on my channel called “Random Game Reviews”.  I started this by looking for interesting games on Steam for cheap, and then letting people know what I think of them, along with a rating system that has been taking shape. I usually rate them 2 thumbs up, 1 thumb up, mixed, 1 thumb down, or 2 thumbs down. 

Most recently, I’ve started getting even more random with it! It started with a free game I won in a giveaway by Tech Deals, who does a really cool channel about technology, game performance, and how to get the most bang for your buck. The best part is that it’s very clearly done, plus it’s family friendly, which is great, because I don’t want to have my kids watch tech videos learning about computers that are filled with cursing.

After I reviewed that game and put it up, I received another one, as he enjoyed that video, so I did one for that one too!  I’ve started getting my kids involved with it too, as they enjoy making videos with me.  It’s been a lot of fun, and it gives us something to do on the weekends. I appreciate the games that have been sent to me by Tech Deals a lot, and he has a fun sense of humor. 

I think this will be an ongoing series, no matter where the games come from, so I hope people enjoy watching them!

If you want to see great tech videos about computers and performance, just check out his channel here! (Tech Deals YouTube channel).

CableMod cable extensions – ketchup and mustard BEGONE!

I had a ton of fun making this video. When I did the reveal segment at the end, I was trying to figure out the perfect music, and the music in Filmora fit in perfectly!