B.A. Baker's Blog, page 6

MSPA Reread 2023: Starts March 8th

The MSPA Reread 2023 draws near. Are you ready for it?

That’s right. 12 years after my last full reread and 8 years after the last MS Paint Adventure ended, we’re bringing this thing back, baby.

Starting March 8th, on the Official Quinlan Circle Discord, we’re going to be reading through the entire MS Paint Adventures saga, to celebrate Problem Sleuth’s 15th anniversary and to catch up on the extremely large behemoth of big size known as Homestuck.

You can follow along on the Discord, o...

The Anime Countryside… And My Long Walks Around Japan

About a month ago, I saw this video, “The Anime Countryside,” for the first time:

It’s very good and extremely worth watching. A free-form rambling mood piece that floods you with warm feelings of rural Japan, as seen from the perspective of an American outsider looking through bits of nerd media. This is one of the long Youtube video essays that makes me yearn to make videos of my own.

I love it. “The Anime Countryside” is the kind of thing that would have made me yearn greatly ...

The Great Desensitization

Over the past couple years, I’ve been really fixated on the idea of the Great Desensitization.

I noticed it one year ago, when the Ukraine invasion first began. I tried not to give in and obsess over it at first, but as I am wont to do, it happened anyway. I kept a tab open on all my devices for the Reddit live updates page, where something like 100,000 people were all watching as the posts came in. The world was watching as the invasion looked to be a horrible conquest… But then the reports ...

Ted Cruz Zodiac Killer: The Truth [2010s]

There’s one important thing about Ted Cruz Zodiac Killer as a conspiracy theory. One extremely important thing that people often overlook when asking the question of if the Ted Cruz Zodiac Killer theory is true.

The thing is:

Ted Cruz fucking sucks.

He’s a fucking loser and nobody likes him.

And the whole deal with his serial killer thing as a joke isn’t funny because in the end, the man himself isn’t actually angered about it. He’s even played along with the damn thing.

Happy Ha...

Vader Puppy, 2008-2023

My last childhood dog, Vader Puppy, passed away this week. At the ripe old age of 15, which is crazy good for a Labrador. I’m glad for him. I don’t usually talk about stuff like this, but I wanted to briefly commemorate the life of a very good boy.

My family somehow got this new dog, a puppy of a few months, but I don’t know how many months, in summer of 2008, when I was starting 8th grade. I was too focused on my teenage histrionics to really remember the story now. But my friend Jesse set u...

Xenogears Turns 25: One Day I’ll Play It

I found out that Xenogears turns 25 this week. The Playstation classic RPG that launched Monolith Soft, the almost-Final-Fantasy-VII about cool mechs, is now old enough to get cheaper insurance in the U.S.

I still haven’t played it. Which means that this Xenogears turns 25 article is the second time I’ve waxed poetic about media I’ve never tried out myself. But for some reason, this game sticks with me in a huge way.

Back in America, I actually own a copy. I, in fact, own a copy of ev...

I Still Failed At Dating Apps

A small and inevitable update to my last post, is that I’ve failed at dating apps, yet still. This is a Valentine’s Day post because I’m a cruel mood-killer.

I did my best for a few months after that post. I genuinely really tried to meet people and go on a few dates. And it actually worked briefly! I went on a few dates with a very nice woman who I was very fond of. It’s the first dates I’ve been on since I came to Japan, and that itself is a pretty big achievement.

But it didn’t work out...

5 Hidden Takeaways from the February 2023 Nintendo Direct

I bet you’re looking for some takeaways from the February 2023 Nintendo Direct, and I have sure got some takeaways for you. Other websites may have some obvious analysis and some might even give you their “hot takes” or whatever word journalists use as shorthand now, but not here. Here on B. A. Baker’s website, you’re getting the esoteric takeaways from the February 2023 Nintendo Direct. You’re getting the ones that nobody else is gonna talk about. Get ready.

If you’re a longtime blog reader,...

I Wish I Could Make Long Youtube Video Essays

Sometime pretty early in 2022, I got hooked on long Youtube video essays. Especially video game ones.

I always bemoaned the fact that Youtube videos were getting longer and longer, were getting less focused and bigger scoped. I was already not quite into the 20+ minute video game overviews of people like Nitro Rad and Scott the Woz, although I sure did watch a lot of them. But I was CERTAINLY not into the multi-hour ones.

And then… Something happened. I dove one time too many into the abys...

The Goddamn Dirt Road and Political Anguish

The goddamn dirt road’s still there, I bet.

Back in the 2020 election, I found a really good, really striking quote from an article about Jaime Harrison. He ran for U.S. Senate in South Carolina against Lindsey Graham, and came tantalizingly close to actually winning. But he didn’t.

Here’s the quote:

While canvassing for Vincent Sheheen, a Democratic candidate for governor, a few years earlier, Harrison had spotted a shotgun house down an unpaved road. He pulled up to the property and ...