bilbodwyer's recent activity

  1. Comment on What are your thoughts on the next gen consoles from Xbox and Playstation? in ~games

    bilbodwyer
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    Nope, I've never been an early adopter when it comes to consoles, and I don't plan to start now. I like there to be a bit of an ecosystem of games about before I take the plunge. Although with...

    Have you preordered a system?

    Nope, I've never been an early adopter when it comes to consoles, and I don't plan to start now. I like there to be a bit of an ecosystem of games about before I take the plunge. Although with that said, the Xbox Games Pass makes it a way more tempting proposition!

    Which system do you think looks best to you and why?

    I've (by sheer chance) alternated consoles for each gen since the PS2, and as luck would have it, I'm now all about the Xbox Series S. £250 for a console is a steal, and I as I don't like having too much physical media lying around. I've never cared about being able to play on the highest settings, so the lack of 4k doesn't bother me. I just wanna run around in a cool Cyberpunk universe for a few days.

    Has Microsoft re-claimed any of their lost momentum from the Xbox One launch?

    I feel like PS4 won the console war for that generation before Xbox was even out of the gate (amongst my circle of friends they never really recovered from the "always online" and "no second-hand games" debacles). Xbox seems to be the front-runner at the moment, at least to me. Although the range of exclusives available for the PS5 are looking much better. Microsoft are definitely looking better than they were at this point in the last generation, but whether they'll "win" remains to be seen.

    If you aren't planning on buying at launch, is there something you are waiting for?

    Reviews, a better idea of what games are available, and a list of things people actively dislike about the Series S and Games Pass as a service. Whether I take the plunge and buy a new console any time same is a toss-up. I'm about to move house to a place where I won't have a TV, so buying a console will also require buying a decent TV, which will significantly ramp up the price.

    4 votes

  2. Comment on Let's talk about taking notes in ~talk

    bilbodwyer
    Link Parent
    This is cool! I've never really thought of divvying up a page in that way, but it makes sense to have some structure. What size of paper do you tend to use for this?

    This is cool! I've never really thought of divvying up a page in that way, but it makes sense to have some structure. What size of paper do you tend to use for this?

    3 votes

  3. Comment on Any interest in putting together a Tildes Best of 2020 music roundup? in ~music

    bilbodwyer
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    I'd definitely be keen! I've been doing my utmost to listen to more new music this year, and I have a fair few albums I'd want to put forward for sure :)

    I'd definitely be keen! I've been doing my utmost to listen to more new music this year, and I have a fair few albums I'd want to put forward for sure :)

    4 votes

  4. Let's talk about taking notes

    ~talk Ask (survey)
    I've been thinking about note-taking a lot recently. I'm not a particularly great note-taker myself, though I do use a calendar and a to-do list. My SO is a habitual digital note-taker, but also a...

    I've been thinking about note-taking a lot recently. I'm not a particularly great note-taker myself, though I do use a calendar and a to-do list. My SO is a habitual digital note-taker, but also a hand-written journaller too. I do neither of these things (and don't feel the worse for the lack), but I am curious about how my fellow tilderen feel towards notes in general, and journalling to a lesser extent.

    Are you a note-taker? If not, why not? If so, how does it add value to your life? Do you prefer a digital or a pen-and-paper notebook, or even a hybrid approach? And do you have a system?

    24 votes

  5. Comment on The Mandalorian season two official trailer in ~tv

    bilbodwyer
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    I'm trying to keep my expectations... not low, but tempered. I loved season 1 of the show, and I'm really hoping that they hold onto the case-of-the-week format, rather than trying to eke out a...

    I'm trying to keep my expectations... not low, but tempered. I loved season 1 of the show, and I'm really hoping that they hold onto the case-of-the-week format, rather than trying to eke out a single plot over 10 episodes.

    3 votes

  6. Comment on Starting a zine in ~creative

  7. Comment on The end of dispersed camping in ~enviro

    bilbodwyer
    Link Parent
    I clocked a couple of those badboys the other week out at my SO's place! It was at once quite amazing and also a tad disappointing. A reminder of the progress humanity has made in so short a time,...

    These days, you get to take in StarLink satellites too. If you stare at the night sky for a while, you'll see a series of satellites (they reflect the sunlight, so they look like stars, but moving) following each other in a low earth orbit (so they appear to be moving relatively fast).

    I clocked a couple of those badboys the other week out at my SO's place! It was at once quite amazing and also a tad disappointing. A reminder of the progress humanity has made in so short a time, but also a reminder of our apparent lack of care for the beauty of the natural world.

    It is legal in Scotland and on Dartmoor, both of which are beautiful places to visit.

    I didn't know this! I'll be sure to get out before autumn properly sets in in that case.

    2 votes

  8. Comment on The end of dispersed camping in ~enviro

    bilbodwyer
    Link Parent
    Close, it's the A15. My brother hates driving on it because he thinks it's boring. But I find there's something slightly romantic about the idea of a road existing in one form or another for close...

    Mind if I ask which road? Just curious. Was it the A17?

    Close, it's the A15. My brother hates driving on it because he thinks it's boring. But I find there's something slightly romantic about the idea of a road existing in one form or another for close to 2 millennia.

    3 votes

  9. Comment on What have you been listening to this week? in ~music

    bilbodwyer
    Link
    S&M2 by Metallica Metallica finally released the album for their Symphony and Metallica shows last year, and it's... fine. I was disappointed by how many tracks were repeated from the original,...
    S&M2 by Metallica Metallica finally released the album for their Symphony and Metallica shows last year, and it's... fine. I was disappointed by how many tracks were repeated from the original, and how the arrangements haven't changed on that front either. There are some new additions which are welcome, and in particular Moth Into Flame is a standout track. But overall I found it dull.
    I Disagree by Poppy Well this was a weird discovery. Industrial Pop Metal, reminiscent of BABYMETAL in the sort of cutesy vocal style. At times filthy and amongst the heaviest stuff I've heard in some time, and at other times approaching K-pop. It's very strange, but very, very fun. Highlights of the album include the title track, Anything Like me, and Bite Your Teeth.
    Pray for Villains by DevilDriver DevilDriver have been putting out new singles ahead of an album release in October. The singles are pretty good, but it put me right in the mood to listen to my favourite of their albums again. This is melodic groove metal at its finest. I've Been Sober, Bitter Pill, Teach Me to Whisper, and the title track are just some of the highlights. There's a couple of filler tracks, but in general the album is a rager throughout. Thoroughly recommend for metalheads who like the groovier stuff.
    Old Stock by Ben Caplan I saw Ben Caplan live at a festival last year, and was blown away by him. He looks like an old wizard you might meet in a Discworld novel, and has an utterly insane vocal range. This album is the soundtrack of his recent stage show by the same name, and tells the story of a couple of Jewish immigrants to Canada. The music is a madcap mishmash of klezmer, blues, country, rock, folk, and jazz... It's very hard to define, but absolutely, thoroughly enjoyable. It's been back in rotation this week, and it never seems to get old. My personal favourites are Truth Doesn't Live in a Book, Plough the Shit, You've Arrived, Widow Bride, and Lullaby. I cannot recommend this album enough.
    The Race for Space for Public Service Broadcasting Another old favourite that's back in rotation this week. I picked up the vinyl some months ago, and stuck it on over the weekend while I was stoned out of my mind. The band takes indie-rock style instrumentals, and uses publicly available recordings from the era of the space race, and layers them over the top of the music. It all comes together to create something that's slightly other-worldly, but completely original and memorable. Go! and Gagarin are the singles, and are of course excellent, but Fire in the Cockpit and The Other Side are stunning tracks as well.
    2 votes

  10. Comment on The end of dispersed camping in ~enviro

    bilbodwyer
    Link Parent
    This time last year I was driving to my brother's place late on a Friday night. The route I take goes down this old Roman road. It's straight as an arrow, and in the middle of nowhere. There's not...

    How many people have never seen a full night sky?

    This time last year I was driving to my brother's place late on a Friday night. The route I take goes down this old Roman road. It's straight as an arrow, and in the middle of nowhere. There's not a town or city for miles, and the light pollution is some of the lowest in England by all accounts. Since it was already well past midnight and they weren't waiting up for me, I took the opportunity to pull the car up, switch the lights off, and sit out on the roof for a few minutes, just taking in the stars. It was a genuinely moving sight, and at that moment I felt at absolute peace with my existence. It really put things into perspective.

    Or spent a night alone in the woods more than a mile from any other soul?

    Not gonna lie, this sounds both exhilarating and utterly terrifying! I'd be tempted to try it, but perhaps not completely on my own. I suspect it's more difficult to manage in the UK than in the USA though: wild-camping isn't strictly legal over here.

    5 votes

  11. Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games

    bilbodwyer
    Link
    Over the weekend my SO and I played Azul for the first time, and we loved it. Azul had been on my to-play list for ages, and I'm glad to have finally gotten it. We must have played at least 10...

    Over the weekend my SO and I played Azul for the first time, and we loved it. Azul had been on my to-play list for ages, and I'm glad to have finally gotten it. We must have played at least 10 rounds in quick succession, and each time we both took to the strategy and the solution to the puzzle a little more. There were some great snooker moments where one of us left the other with a stack of 6 tiles they couldn't place, so they had to go onto the "floor" (the negative points zone). For a simple game it has a remarkable amount of depth! Really looking forward to trying it with 4 players rather than just 2! The game is wonderfully tactile, and I really like the quality of the pieces. It's a fun game to just handle which I think is going to keep it in rotation for a long time.

    On Friday night I played Escape From Aliens in Outer Space which I had slightly more mixed feelings on. I wasn't too great at the game itself, as I'm not a particularly strong bluffer, but one of the main disappointments of the game was that it just discourages talking between players. Another is that while it's pretty simple to play, there is the option for a lot of complexity, which has the potential to break the secrecy of the game somewhat (people unsure of what their particular character can do, unsure of which items do what, etc). On the other hand, the game had some top-notch moments of revelation, and in particular one shouted exchange as a human player was one turn away from winning and got killed by an alien. The game itself is gorgeous and minimalistic. The cards are all black and feel very high-quality, as do the map books. I would definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a different kind of large-group board game experience.

    2 votes

  12. Comment on Conlang critic: Toki Pona in ~humanities

    bilbodwyer
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    Learning toki pona has been on my to do list for a long time, I think it might be time to actually sit down and learn it :D Are there any good communities online for practising?

    Learning toki pona has been on my to do list for a long time, I think it might be time to actually sit down and learn it :D
    Are there any good communities online for practising?

    1 vote

  13. Comment on Looking for melodic instrumental metal bands! in ~music

    bilbodwyer
    Link
    Perhaps not quite as melodic as you're looking for, but I really rate Russian Circles. Long, slowly paced tracks that they really take time to build up into a climax. It's excellent stuff.

    Perhaps not quite as melodic as you're looking for, but I really rate Russian Circles. Long, slowly paced tracks that they really take time to build up into a climax. It's excellent stuff.

    5 votes

  14. Comment on The Mandalorian Season 2 to premiere on October 30th in ~tv

    bilbodwyer
    Link Parent
    More of the same to be honest. I don't want them to shift away from the "case of the week" approach to a single story arc. Naturally there was an over-arcing story in season 1, but each episode...

    More of the same to be honest. I don't want them to shift away from the "case of the week" approach to a single story arc. Naturally there was an over-arcing story in season 1, but each episode was like a standalone adventure, which I adored. It was one of the things that felt the most fresh about the show to me, because it didn't demand that you binge it in one go.

    3 votes

  15. Comment on Goodbye to the ‘Pret economy’ and good luck to whatever replaces it in ~finance

    bilbodwyer
    Link Parent
    Great idea! You could take that to festivals as well :D

    Great idea! You could take that to festivals as well :D

  16. Comment on Goodbye to the ‘Pret economy’ and good luck to whatever replaces it in ~finance

    bilbodwyer
    Link Parent
    Oh is it? Apologies, I didn't realise! I've put the article text up now, I assume this is permitted by Tildes rules?

    Oh is it? Apologies, I didn't realise! I've put the article text up now, I assume this is permitted by Tildes rules?

    4 votes

  18. Tell me about your experience with martial arts

    ~health Ask (survey)
    As life slowly returns to normal in the UK, I've felt the need to look after my fitness more. I lacked discipline throughout lockdown to workout at home and keep my fitness. As a result I've got a...

    As life slowly returns to normal in the UK, I've felt the need to look after my fitness more. I lacked discipline throughout lockdown to workout at home and keep my fitness. As a result I've got a nice COVID-gut, and my endurance and strength are shot. I swam regularly before quarantine hit, at least 4 times a week, and I'm keen to get back into that. But I'm also looking at picking up a martial art, for a more intense workout and fitness, as well as just to pick up a new skill. However I have no idea where to begin with martial arts, so I figured I'd start a thread for some inspiration, and go from there.

    So are any tilderen martial artists? If so, tell me about it!
    What do you practice?
    How long have you done it?
    How does it benefit you?
    Do you attend classes or practice solo?
    Would you recommend your martial art to a beginner?

    16 votes

  19. Comment on I want to talk about Bill and Ted Face the Music in ~movies

    bilbodwyer
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    I'm super excited to see this movie, and I'm very grateful to everyone in this thread for spoiler-tagging their comments <3

    I'm super excited to see this movie, and I'm very grateful to everyone in this thread for spoiler-tagging their comments <3

    8 votes

  20. Comment on A tale of two ecosystems: On Bandcamp, Spotify and the wide-open future in ~music

    bilbodwyer
    Link Parent
    I feel like the vast majority of people I know don't care to listen to albums any more. They would rather have a playlist of varied music on like a radio station. I can't blame them, 9/10 times...

    You can stream from it, I always point out – just album by album rather than playlist. But I can see their attention has already wandered.

    I feel like the vast majority of people I know don't care to listen to albums any more. They would rather have a playlist of varied music on like a radio station. I can't blame them, 9/10 times the Spotify album creates a really good mixture of stuff, and especially when you're opting for music to be background noise, it's a great "fire and forget" solution.
    Albums are, to my mind, becoming more of an enthusiast/audiophile medium. I love to stick an album on over my good speakers, with a glass of whiskey or maybe a spliff and just listen. You get the deep cuts that don't normally make it onto Spotify's mixes, and you get to hear the flow of the album as the artist intended. It's an active listen, rather than passive, which is something that I think (and - as a musician - worry) people are opting less and less for these days.

    13 votes