Will English's Blog, page 7

Sick Will is sick.

Sorry guys, I got nothing today. I'm getting over a cold, but I'm not quite well yet. I'll have a proper post for you guys next week. See you Later.

Youtube Channels that everyone should check out: Alternate History Hub.

Last time I showcased a Youtube Channel a few posts back, I showed you all the excellent History channel; The Great War. In keeping with that similar theme, I'm going to direct your attention to another History Channel. But unlike the Great War, this one doesn't focus on any one event, and instead focus on a multitude of events, and asks a very interesting question: "What if?"

This is the Alternate History Hub: https://www.youtube.com/user/AlternateHistoryHub


Started in 2012 and updated weekly, host Cody takes a look at one historical event and examines what the world might be like if said event had gone differently. These events range from what you would expect like, "What if the South had won the Civil War?" (see video). To less talked about historical events such as "What if Iran won the Iran-Iraq War?" 


In addition, Cody will also sometimes make videos that examine alternate history scenarios that already in exist in fiction, Such as my personal favorites, Phillip K. Dicks, The Man In the High Castle, The lore to the video game series Fallout. And  World War Z . Really, that video was actually pretty good, so I highly recommend checking it out. Anyway, Cody also does videos that examine scenarios based on popular culture, such as What if Godzilla was real?...Cody, sir, my inner 10 year old approves highly of that one lol.

It's worth mentioning that Cody makes it clear in every one of his Alternate history videos that what he's predicting isn't a 100% certainty, as there is no real way of knowing what would happen if an event turned out differently. That it's merely speculation. But you know what? That's why Alternate History Hub is such a good channel, it makes you think about history and how lucky (or unlucky in some cases) we are that things turned out the way they did.

Overall, yeah, Alternate History Hub is a great Channel. I don't know what else to say except give it a subscribe. You might learn something.

And I'm out. Thanks for reading =).      

Let's Play Bloodborne Part 22: Secrets Revealed. The Old Hunters Part 5.

I'm working on a better post, but it's taking longer than I thought it would. In the meantime, well, check out my latest video. Hope you all like it. =).

Will try to get the real post up by the end of the week, or next week by the latest.

See you later, Dear Reader. Enjoy the video.

-Will.

Youtube Content ID woes.

Well, I should have seen this coming. This morning I received an email from Youtube that said a video I made of the game Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen had had a Content ID match put on it by the games publisher, Capcom (see video on the left). What this means is that, while my account is still in good standing and the video is still available to view, all of the ad revenue generated from it will be going to Capcom. Not yours truly. And while I'm glad that they didn't file a Copyright Strike against it (which would have put my account in bad standing), the claim, however, seems strange to say the least.




While the dispute is being reviewed, it receives no revenue for anyone.Before I continue, I should make clear that I don't suspect anything malicious on the part of Capcom, as there is no evidence to suggest it. And that Content ID claims are largely automated, and,while harmful, don't affect your channel like a Copyright Strike would. With that said, however, I still filed a dispute against the claim because I don't believe that my video violated any copyright. The audio from the game itself is so quiet that it is almost muted, and my voice over can be heard clearly throughout the video, and half the time I am talking about the game in a way that is meant to educate people who are playing it for the first time or need a walkthrough for a certain section. Under American Fair Use laws, I am perfectly within my legal rights to do this and get paid for it. The section of the video they are claiming, though, is a cutscene that lasts a grand total of  2-3 minutes. Three minutes out of a video that runs for one hour and sixteen minutes.

Now, I'm not saying that Capcom, or any other company, shouldn't fight copyright infringement if it is genuine. But as I have said already, I don't believe that I violated their copyright by making this video, or any other videos of their games I may make in future. By my understanding it, my video fits nicely under the Fair Use umbrella and I should therefore receive that ad revenue seized by Capcom.

I'm not going to weigh in on the problems of Youtube's copyright claim system, as I feel other youtubers such as Totalbiscuit (see video on the right) and Jim Sterling have adequately done so in the past. And it's worth mentioning that Youtube itself has taken baby steps to protect videos that are clearly Fair Use, but that more work needs to be done. Least of which is addressing problems like mine.

I do, however, have something to say to Capcom: I have no desire to fight you. If anything, I would be willing to work with you, to avoid a similar situation in the future.  I have been a fan of your games since the days of the NES, and any videos, whether they be reviews or Let's Plays, I make of your games I do so out of love for your products, not because I am trying to infringe on your copyright.  I hope that you will see this and do the right thing. There's no infringement here. only love.

That's enough out of me for today. Thank you for reading. See you next week. =).                                                    

New Dark Souls Let's Play Video.

I don't have anything prepared today. It was a long, hard weekend that I don't really want to talk to about. So here's the latest video in my Dark Souls Let's Play. It's really long, like 2 hours. So sorry about that. But I hope you all enjoy it anyway.

Book of Mormon and a Bloodborne video

I don't have anything prepared this week. Although, I did see the Book of Mormon the other night....my god it was hilarious. Trey Parker and Matt Stone just ooze funny like slime oozes out of frog's back. Just listen to this number from show (language warning):


I'm not going to do a full review of it or anything, not right now. But I do highly recommend seeing it, if you get the chance. You'll thank me later.

I also finally got the next part of the Bloodborne Let's Play out yesterday. If you're into that sort of thing, then please feel free to give it a watch:

 

That's enough out of me for this week.
Thanks for reading. See you next week.

Personal rant: Saying Goodbye.

Those of you who follow my youtube channel have probably noticed that I haven't uploaded the next part of my Let's Play of Bloodborne or Dark Souls, or really anything of note after the Tales of Zestiria video yet. There is a reason for that; and it's not because I took time off for the holidays (even though I did). The reason is...well...family tragedy.

I was telling a half-truth when I said that my holidays went great a few posts back. My Great Aunt (on my mother's side) Hazel died of old age on Christmas Morning at the age of 103 at her home in Florida. As if that didn't rock our family enough, just last Monday (January 4th, 2016), my Grandmother (on my father's side) Ione died at her home at the age of 93. I won't sit here and pretend that I was super close with either of them, I wasn't. But seeing people who have been apart of your life since you were born die...well it's never easy. Forgive me if I start rambling, but if you would just indulge me for a moment, I just want to talk about them for a while.
My Great Aunt Hazel (in the blue shirt) with her sister, My grandmother(mother's side) Ruth (1911-2003).I rarely got to see Hazel. As I said, she lived in Florida and, especially in her later years, traveling became difficult, and then it pretty much became impossible as her health deteriorated. But when I was a really young kid, my mother would take me, and my older sister up to Lake Burton in the North Georgia mountains for a reunion of her side of the family (some of her relatives had two vacation homes up by that way). This would happen about once a year during the summer, but these reunions were always somewhat tortuous for me. I was a very young, very naive boy and my mother's side of the family was (and still is for the most part) devoid of men under the age of 30...And all but maybe one or two of my female cousins were older than me...the image of a cat and a wounded mouse comes to mind. The times I was able get away from my tormentors, Hazel and her sister Charlotte (who would die some years after the first reunion that I remember) would be the one who would talk to me, she'd tell me the stories of the old days, she'd listen to me, even tried to teach me how to play Rummy, but I could never get the hang of that. She was a sweet woman. I eventually stopped going to the reunions regularly when I got older. But while we were never that close, Hazel was always nice to me when I saw her. One of the last times I did actually see her was a few years ago, when I went down to Florida with my mother and sister for a visit. By then, her health had started to deteriorate, and her mind was scattered at the best of times, and we all thought that she was nearing the end. She took one look at me and, to everyone's shock and surprise, her eyes lit up, her face became more animated, and she said "Is that Will?" My mother would say later, that maybe that visit, and all of us there (me included) put a little life back into her, and that was one reason that she lived as long as she did. I don't know if that's true myself, but who knows, right?
"Not bad for an Old Broad."
-Ione English (1922-2016)
My Grandmother Ione was one of a kind. A southern gal with a no-nonsense attitude and a yankee wildness that never left her, even in her twilight years. Back in her day, she was a model and an off broadway actress, before settling down and marrying my Grandfather. Even then, she kept acting in Atlanta when she could (for a while at least), even snagged the starring role in Theater Atlanta's production of the musical Auntie Mame with her son, my uncle, back in the 50's. I never knew that growing up, that she and my uncle had done that. I knew she had acted and that had been to New York, in her later years, she wouldn't have let you leave without telling you that. She had dreams, but she exchanged them for family. But she would also say "At least I did it." And that, dear readers, is the advice we all remember her by. "If you want to do something, go do it. Just go do it" If you had met her, she would have come off as arrogant, self-centered. But I think in her own way, she did care, just didn't know how to express it perhaps.

Goodbye, Hazel. Goodbye Grandmother....I love you both.

Oh, and in case you all are wondering about the next Let's Play Video, relax. It's coming.

Thanks for reading.          

                                     
   

One of those weeks.

My life right now...everything blowing up in my face. 

Showing off my new stuff.

Hey everyone, hope you all had a great Christmas/Holiday. Mine was great, I got a lot of stuff (games, DVD's, Japanese and American Junk food and books mostly), but the big thing I got was a TV:
My new PC set up with my new TV.

Ok, it's not a big TV, and I have no cable connection in here, but considering that my room is stuffed to the gills with books and such already; I don't really need a big TV, nor do I have the room (or the desire) to set up a cable box. I will say that I LOVE typing on this thing. It's so much better on my eyes than my laptop monitor. Now I don't have to squint and lean in  to see anything, which I had to do a lot before. So yeah, I'm very happy with it.  And just for the hell of it, here are some of the other things I received from Jolly old Saint Nick: 
Top row: Godzilla the animated series DVD, Trigger Warnings by Neil Gaiman and The Sleeper and the Spindle by Neil Gaiman and Chris Riddell.
Bottom Row: Godzilla (2014) DVD, Speculative Japan Volume 3 (short story anthology),  Love and Profanity (short story anthology). There goes my social life, thanks a lot EA and Bioware.
Feel the Rush...still waiting on the return of a Surge 12 pack in Publix, Coke Cola. yum, chocolate Koalas snacks
My next video will cover this, actually.






 Now, some of you will think that a 30 year old man showing off what he got for Christmas is a bit childish. Well to that, sir or madam, I must quote a certain mad man in a Blue Box: 
Well Put, Doctor. Well put. 
Well, that's enough out of me for today guys. I hope you all have a Happy New Year. See you in 2016.  Thank you for reading. 

"War on Christmas" my ass (rant).

I'm not a religious man, but I no qualms in saying that I LOVE Christmas. I get stuff, I get to be with the people I love and, most importantly for me, it's the one time of the year that I truly can go back to my youth, back to a time when the world was a magical place and everything still made sense to me. It's a wonderful holiday...so why do some people think that others want to destroy it? Why, year after year, do some people think that there is a "War on Christmas?"

Let me back up for a bit here just in case some of you don't know what I'm talking about. The whole "War on Christmas" is an idea put out there by mostly right-wing Christian advocates, who believe that because some corporations and governments want to be inclusive and acknowledge that, ya know, other cultures exist within the country and be as neutral as is possible about a month that has a rather diverse set of religious holidays in it, that they are out to destroy Christmas, Christianity and everything associated with it....somehow. It doesn't really make any sense. Although, to be fair, some of this inclusiveness does get out of hand at times, Just as an example is there any real reason to change the name of a "Christmas Tree" to  "Holiday Tree?" The answer is no. No there isn't. You know why? Well, if you all look it up, then you would find that the Christmas Tree doesn't actually have anything to do with Christmas or Christianity...kinda.

My Christmas Tree this year.I don't have time to go into a detailed history of the Christmas Tree; but the short of it is that the Christmas Tree as we know it today has nothing to do with Jesus or his teachings, It's a custom that comes from 18th century Germany, and said custom evolved from Pagan tree worship that was repurposed by the Church to help explain Christian ideas during the conversion of Europe after the Fall of Rome. Regardless if this was intentional or not, The Christmas Tree is as associated with Christmas as the nativity. And let's be honest, if you want to be culturally sensitive about it, changing the name is the last thing you want to do. Everyone knows what it is and what holiday it represents, and it's a largely inoffensive symbol. Changing the name is just gonna piss people off and turns you into the culturally insensitive prick you're trying not to be.  

By the same token, however, dose changing the name of, say, "Christmas lights" to "Holiday Lights" or having cards saying 'Happy Holidays" instead of  "Merry Christmas" also make the Governments and Corporations mentioned above "Culturally Insensitive" to Christians?  No. No it doesn't.  Why? Well, remember what I said about December having a diverse set of holidays attached to it? Well, here's the complete run down of the major holidays happening this month (and for completeness sake, I am including holidays that are not widely celebrated in the United States as a whole. And yes, I am aware that when Ramadan happens changes from year to year. But, unless my source is in error, then during this year, 2015, it's happening during December, feel free to correct me if I am wrong):

1. Ramadan (Muslim)
2. Eid al-Fitr (Muslim)
3. Saint Nicholas Day (Christian)
4. Eid'ul-Adha (Muslim)
5. Fiesta of Our Lady of Guadalupe (Mexican)
6. St. Lucia Day (Swedish)
7. Hanukkah (Jewish)
8. Christmas Day (Christian)
9. Three Kings Day/Epiphany (Christian)
10. Boxing Day (Australian, Canadian, English, Irish)
11. Kwanzaa (African American)
12. Omisoka (Japanese)
13. Yule (Pagan)
14. Saturnalia (Pagan)
(source: http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/lesson/lesson246.shtml#sthash.cRUgIdxO.dpuf)
                              
Fourteen Holidays, that's a lot guys. Now you tell me, If you run a business making general winter holiday decorations, does it make sense from a business standpoint  for you to go through your entire inventory just to make sure that every little decorations you make list of all the holidays happening in December. The answer is no. Unless you know the exact date of each holiday (which outside of one or two of them is unlikely, since some of these happen on different days from year to year), or you are targeting a very specific demographic (which, spoiler, the corporations in question are NOT), you have as much chance of turning a profit as a fox caught in a trap dose of getting away with its leg intact if you try to make everyone happy. So instead they need a general term that will encompass all of them, fortunately we have this magical phrase for that, "Happy Holidays" or just "Holidays." And this is what gets the ones who believe in the "War on Christmas" knickers in a twist, because they feel that just because we don't see Christmas and Christian iconography, and the words "Merry Christmas" aren't everywhere, that this constitutes an attack on them and their religious beliefs and freedom.

War on Christmas. Bah Humbug. No it dosen't you ***cking butt hurt idiots. Are these corporations or the government shutting down and destroying your places of worship? No. Are they having you jailed because of your beliefs? No. Are they rounding up and murdering you and your family because of those beliefs? No.  Are you being legally or culturally marginalized because you see "Happy Holidays" on a card or whatever instead of "Merry Christmas"? Good God, no. This is not Nazi Germany, nor is it ISIS; this is the United States, where you are free to worship and celebrate whatever holiday you wish. You are NOT being persecuted simply because Christian iconography doesn't dominate the month of December anymore. I mean for gods sake, the term "Happy Holidays" has been used in common speech for YEARS! And only recently you decide to get offended by it!? What kind of a moron are you!?

Oh, and speaking of the government and Christmas, yes War on Christmas Believers. Christmas is a federal holiday, so what? So is New Year's Eve and Day, is it the federal government's job to pay for ball dropping in New York City? No. And nor should there be a nativity scenes at government-run schools and public places. And no, that's not a War on Christmas, nor is it being "Politically Correct", that's the government not favoring one religion over another, which according to the Constitution, is what it's supposed to do. If someone comes along and vandalizes your decorations on your front lawn, or a religious display at a place of worship gets destroyed, then that's one thing, And it's another thing entirely for the government to tell a public school or whatever to remove religious iconography from its halls. That's not a shot fired in a war, that's the government being as religiously neutral as possible.

I'm not saying that Christians, or any group for that matter, shouldn't cry foul when they feel they are getting a bum wrap, this was merely my two cents on this matter.

And that's all out of me. I hope you all have a Merry Christmas,  A Happy Holidays, and an even better New Year. See you in 2016.