For all the Golden Locks

It was last year around April we heard some sad news that a family member was diagnosed with Cancer.  As a child I had a friend who passed away at an early age from Oligodendroglioma, but we together as a scout troop when he was diagnosed shaved our heads for him.  It was rather comical to see the eight of us gathered around, and from what I could tell it made him happy to have us all be a part of that with him.  I decided that since as a child I had joined my friend in a time of need by sharing something with him, that my family member deserved respect as well.  This time though instead of deciding to shave my head and join most of the family I grew my hair out to donate to Locks of Love.

If you haven't heard of the program I really do suggest that you look into it.  It has been a rather interesting journey of growing out my hair.  I am sure that those of you who have seen me have noticed that I keep it basically pulled back in a ponytail.  I couldn't figure out what to do with my hair, most men in our culture don't maintain long hair as often and style is just over my head.  I tried to see what male models were doing, but their hair looked horrible and I couldn't handle trying to impersonate someone I wasn't.  So long story short I just brushed it used oils and products to keep it healthy and took a lot of biotin to speed up the process.

I always have had strange hair for an Idahoan, so it wasn't that big of a deal to see me with long hair.  So below I have a picture of me at the beginning back in April of 2012 and a couple of photos of before and after below.  It is strange to think how quickly time can go by.  I hope that all of you who have joined the program or have benefited from the program have enjoyed your journey and result as much as I have.

The was from Warped Tour in June 2013 (if you can't tell I am the tall guy with dark black hair standing behind Aubrey)

This was from Charley's Wedding, Aubrey lost her shoe

And here was the fateful moment of when my hair was cut off and packaged up to be sent in.

And this is what I looked like after the cut.  I can tell you my head felt lighter.

Lastly this is what I look like 2 weeks after donation day.  Nothing extreme like my hairstyle I had when I was engaged, or the one I had when I got married, but still looking much better than day 1 after the cut.

This is 2 weeks after the donation day.  I feel much more like my old self, and I think I look younger as well can't go wrong with looking younger right?

Also just to relive the past here are a few pictures of my hair (Along with other fun events of my life hope you enjoy =])

This is from High School back in 2006.  My hair looked terrible after I had requested to get highlights.  She took it for bleach my entire head...

This was a Road Trip to go to a friends wedding, but we couldn't find the address and wound up eating pie and visiting the love interest (who in turn ended up being my Wife) back in 2009

Still from 2009 this was around Warped Tour

A band pic from Fake Safety Tips in later 2009

Our engagement Photos from March 2010

This is from our Reception, yet again another hairstyle in 2010

Spent a night on the Town with a friend 2010

This is me at work back in the beginning of 2011

Brie and I went to Lagoon, and my job was cool enough to let me have 3 colors in my hair 2011

This was around the time we decided that I was going to grow my hair out.  We were at the Idaho Falls Museum in 2012.

I couldn't resist posting the pirate pics, cause my hair totally reminded me of Pirates of the Caribbean Halloween 2012.

Anyway I hope that you enjoyed reliving my hairstyles of a past life, and I hope that I can continue to bring something fun to table every time you see me.

2nd Sucks

The Title taken from an amazing Day to Remember song, I can only agree that getting 2nd place in a video game is the worst.  I know it has nothing to do with the actual song, but the video shows kids playing a Mortal Kombat type game in an underground arcade.  Also at the beginning of the Song it says "Fight" just like they do in Mortal Kombat.  How great was that old Super Nintendo game by the way?

Anyway that has nothing to do with this post at all.  I have to confess a recent addiction to all of you.  I once dabbled into it a few years ago from a suggestion by a co-worker.  At the time he said that he said that it could be a problem in the future, but I didn't seem to care.  I dove right in and started trying it out.  At first I thought that it would be time consuming, and decided to stop for a while, but recently the itch began to resurface and I had to finally cave into my minds desire.

I am addicted to Bloons Tower Defense 5 by Ninja Kiwi

It is horrible how fast you can drain away a day trying to pop Balloons with Dart Monkeys, or missiles, or whatever you can afford.  You over see a path that the bloons travel on, and your goal is to pop them before then can go from point A to point B.  It doesn't sound like much, but if you have ever played a tower defense game in the past you know the basic logistics of it.

You have a few options of how to play if you are interested.  You can always Play the game in a web browser for free on Ninja Kiwi's site Here is a link

Or if you are like me you can buy it for your tablet or iPad.  I don't suggest playing on a phone because it is extremely tiny if you try that (I attempted on my Galaxy S2 and it wasn't really worth it) though you can use the iPod touch or iPhone for it I still wouldn't suggest it.

Available for iOS

Available on Google Play

Wii will rock U

Lately I have been perusing the inter-webs enjoying Google+ Commentary on new gaming systems that are on the horizon, including the PS4 and XBox One.  I am not going to lie, they look like great systems.  Though the part that truly bothers me is that the Wii U is completely disregarded by people.  I understand that no it doesn't have the highest specs that the PS4 is toting around, but who can argue with the proprietary games that Nintendo has published on their devices.  Ranging form Metroid to Zelda I can tell you that I am not feeling buyers Remorse.  Though most of the titles I do want are not yet released, I can tell you that I am anxiously engaged on Nintendo's forums and adds.  They have me hooked.  I can't wait for the new Smash Bros release, or the new Zelda (Or even the Zelda Wind Maker HD Re-release).  There is quite a bit of titles to get excited about.

I do feel sad for those game developers that are claiming the Wii U is under powered for their engines, even though a year ago some of the those companies released titles and claimed that the Wii U was so much easier to develop for.  I follow kickstarter regularly though excited when I see a new game that gets labeled with the Wii U as a stretch goal.  The future, though it seems to be bleeding with anger and hate from the online forums, seems to be a bit brighter for my little box of joy.  Another point to think about is price.  Nintendo made the device very affordable from the start, and recently pulled it down by fifty dollars.  The Wii U also has more titles released for it than the new consoles will have when they get released, and this year Nintendo has pumped out a ton of new titles for us all to enjoy.  Christmas is starting to look bright for those nerdy kids like me.

The Tablet controller was kind of different at first, I am not going to lie, but now I can't stand not having a map in the palm of my hands while playing other games.  I sat down on a PS3 the other day and tried to play Assassin's Creed, or Deus Ex Human Revolution, and started to get frustrated from the lack of controller functionality.  The screen gets cluttered with push a to see more menus or press here for your map.  I can say that having that second screen made gameplay on my HD TV look that much better.  I can't wait for Deus Ex to get released later this month.  If you haven't heard about it I will link a Trailer right here.

They upped some of the graphics, and that tablet support that debuts at the end just looks gorgeous.

Last point and I promise I am done being annoying.  My virtual titles purchases now have an HD upgrade.  All my already previously owned Wii titles work just fine with my Wii U.  I am glad that I never got any GameCube games, but come on who actually bought a game cube?  Once again that is another point to bring up, Nintendo has had bad systems in the past that flopped but the Wii U is stacking up nicely for those who already own a Wii.  I love having HDMI and better graphics.  I play Nintendo Land on a frequent basis and have had a tough time playing through ZombiU as well.  If you are one of the spec junkies you just wants the highest of the high then no you shouldn't get a Wii U, but if you like good graphics for a reasonable price then yes you should buy one today.

I hope that you all have a good week, good luck getting over the Tuesday Blues because yesterday was a holiday.

Still Alive

This was a triumph.
I'm making a note here
Huge success.
For the good of all of us
Accept the ones who are dead.
- Johnathan Colton

I hope auto correct didn't slaughter the spelling of his name.  How good was that song at the end of portal one bt the way?  Talk about a triumphant finale.  So I'm Still Alive.  I'm sorry I haven't blogged for so long.  I'm sure you were all on the edges of your seats waiting for more news from me.  Well nothing too cool going on.  My book is now almost 60,000 words written and fake safety tips CD has 12 songs partially recorded.  We have our up 2 lyric videos on YouTube and I can tell you that it has been a good journey.

Well a ton has happened over the past little bit so I am not going to play the whole catch up thing, if you want to know more let me know In the comments below and I will post updates on your requests.

I decided though that I am in love with my new chromecast.  If you have yet to see one I suggest to visit googles play store and snag yourself one for 35 bucks.  Its a steal for what it can do for you.  No need for a smart TV anymore I'm glad that I didn't spend the extra cash for one.  For those of you that are still confused as to what it is I will post a couple of pictures below, and a link.  Happy summer and I will start keeping you all more updated.

Chromecast link