2/3rds through 2023, Halloween Playlist (a little early for me) and end of August

    So, August is winding down.  It feels like it just got here, like just yesterday I was seeing the Mariners play the Padres, watching Logan Gilbert put on the pitching performance of a lifetime and seeing a cardboard cutout of Nezuko at Uwajimaya.  But, they say time speeds up as you age and I'm 34, so I guess rushing to 2/3rds of the way through 2023 is normal at my age.

    I met my nephew for the first time this past weekend.  He is adorable and he smiles whenever he looks at me.  However, the enormous responsibility my brother and sister-in-law need to care for him, plus the fact that he will scream without warning shows me that I am in no way ready for fatherhood.  Caring for a small human being just seems highly stressful, and my own life is already really stressful and chaotic just handling appointments, entertainment, bills and family matters.  I thought making a family was in the cards for me at multiple times in my life, but right now, I think I'd rather be an uncle and maintain control of my own affairs while interacting with my nephew as it works with my life, rather than excessively strain myself caring for someone else.

    The Mariners are amazing right now, in first place for the first time in I don't know how long.  It feels unreal and part of me is thinking it's all going to collapse, which is also how it feels about the indictments.  Both of those fronts have been battering cruelly for so long it's hard to think anything good can happen, especially with pundits, reporters and people praising those you don't like or hate in your face, which makes you hate them more because you can't escape them.  But another part wants to hope, wants to think it will stop, however, it would rather focus on smaller, easier to obtain goals, like playing Smash Bros., Gigabash with Godzilla or Blazblue Crosstag Battle with Yang and Blake or Mitsuru and Elizabeth, both voiced by Tara Platt.  Speaking of, she has a cool-looking independent film project, "The Way of Things" on Seed and Spark, and I want it funded, not just because she's in it, but because it has a creature with a deer skull head probably playing a part like the horned fawn in "Pan's Labyrinth" by Guillermo del Toro, a film I watched with friends about fantasy and conquering darkness.

Here is how my favorite music stands at the 2/3rds mark of 2023:

1.)    Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)-Daughtry feat. Lzzy Hale
2.)    Peace like a River-Dolly Parton, Dionne Warwick
3.)    Lose You-Sam Smith
4.)    Who We Love-Sam Smith, Ed Sheeran
5.)    This Is Why-Paramore
6.)    The News-Paramore
7.)    Running Out of Time-Paramore
8.)    I Finally Do-Erika Harlacher
9.)    You Are The Music (Live 5/16/1992)-Trapeze
10.)    Way Back to the Bone (Live 5/16/1992)-Trapeze
11.)    Coast to Coast (Live 5/16/1992)-Trapeze
12.)    Midnight Flyer (Live 5/16/1992)-Trapeze
13.)    Die For You (Remix)-The Weeknd, Ariana Grande
14.)    Still Alive-Demi Lovato
15.)    Heart Attack (Rock version)-Demi Lovato
16.)    Confident (Rock version)-Demi Lovato
17.)    Sorry Not Sorry (Rock version)-Demi Lovato, Slash
18.)    SWINE-Demi Lovato
19.)    FLOWERS-Miley Cyrus
20.)    Thousand Miles-Miley Cyrus, Brandi Carlile
21.)    Violet Chemistry-Miley Cyrus
22.)    Muddy Feet-Miley Cyrus, Sia
23.)    Wildcard-Miley Cyrus
24.)    Wonder Woman-Miley Cyrus
25.)    Flowers (Demo)-Miley Cyrus
26.)    Used to be Young-Miley Cyrus
27.)    Out of that Truck-Carrie Underwood
28.)    Give Her That-Carrie Underwood
29.)    Take Me Out-Carrie Underwood
30.)    I Miss Strangers (Acoustic)-Death Cab For Cutie
31.)    I’ll Never Give Up On You (Acoustic)-Death Cab For Cutie
32.)    All-Star Jam-Metal Hall of fame All-Stars
33.)    Eye for an Eye-Rina Sawayama
34.)    Winner Takes All-Nita Strauss, Alice Cooper
35.)    Through the Noise-Nita Strauss, Lzzy Hale
36.)    METAL KINGDOM-BabyMetal
37.)    Divine Attack-Shingeki-BabyMetal
38.)    Mirror, Mirror-BabyMetal
39.)    MAYA-BabyMetal
40.)    Believing-BabyMetal
41.)    Monochrome (Piano version)-BabyMetal
42.)    The One (Unfinished version)-BabyMetal
43.)    METALI!-BabyMetal, Tom Morello
44.)    Everybody Needs Someone-Noah Cyrus, Vance Joy
45.)    The King of the Koopas-Brian Tyler
46.)    Peaches-Jack Black
47.)    Superstars-Brian Tyler
48.)    Neon Knights-Paul Gilbert
49.)    Kill the King-Paul Gilbert
50.)    Country Girl-Paul Gilbert
51.)    Man on the Silver Mountain-Paul Gilbert
52.)    Holy Diver-Paul Gilbert
53.)    Heaven and Hell-Paul Gilbert
54.)    Long Live Rock N Roll-Paul Gilbert
55.)    Lady Evil-Paul Gilbert
56.)    Little Wing-Jenn Ford
57.)    Gold Dust Woman-Jenn Ford
58.)    Nothing Compares to You-Jenn Ford
59.)    Whipping Post-Jenn Ford
60.)    Turn the Page-Jenn Ford
61.)    Hotel California-Jenn Ford
62.)    Black Hole Sun-Jenn Ford
63.)    Eagle Flight-Revolution Saints
64.)    Talking Like Strangers-Revolution Saints
65.)    Need Each Other-Revolution Saints
66.)    Set Yourself Free-Revolution Saints
67.)    Save it All-Revolution Saints
68.)    Heart Wants What It Wants-Bebe Rexha
69.)    Call On Me-Bebe Rexha
70.)    I’m Not High, I’m In Love-Bebe Rexha
71.)    I am-Bebe Rexha
72.)    Seasons-Bebe Rexha, Dolly Parton
73.)    If Only I-Loud Luxury, Two friends, Bebe Rexha
74.)    One in a Million-Bebe Rexha and David Guetta
75.)    Meant to Live (Our version)-Switchfoot
76.)    Peaches (Bowsette Version)-Cristina Vee
77.)    This is the Song-Duff McKagan
78.)    Pass You By-Duff McKagan
79.)    It Can’t Come Too Soon-Duff McKagan
80.)    Lighthouse-Duff McKagan
81.)    Kaleidoscope Jesus-Lauren Daigle
82.)    Moon River-Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck
83.)    Ain’t Enough Rocks-Brandy Clark, Derek Trucks
84.)    Dear Insecurity-Brandy Clark, Brandi Carlile
85.)    Northwest-Brandy Clark
86.)    Breakfast in Birmingham-Tanya Tucker, Brandi Carlile
87.)    Home-Brandi Carlile
88.)    Closer to fine-Brandi Carlile and Catherine Carlile
89.)    Damage Gets Done-Hozier, Brandi Carlile
90.)    Rescued-Foo Fighters
91.)    Under You-Foo Fighters
92.)    But Here We Are-Foo Fighters
93.)    The Glass-Foo Fighters
94.)    Show Me How-Foo Fighters
95.)    Rest-Foo Fighters
96.)    If you’re Blue-Joan Jett and the Blackhearts
97.)    (Make The Music Go) Boom-Joan Jett and the Blackhearts
98.)    So Hyper (Live)-Grace McKagan
99.)    Checkmate (Live)-Grace McKagan
100.)    Jimmy (Looking Like Trash) (Live)-Grace McKagan
101.)    Surrender (Live)-Grace McKagan
102.)    Everybody knows Everything-Joel Hoekstra’s 13
103.)    Crash of Life-Joel Hoekstra’s 13
104.)    Torn Into Lies-Joel Hoekstra’s 13
105.)    Far Too Deep-Joel Hoekstra’s 13
106.)    Not Tonight-Joel Hoekstra’s 13
107.)    I Would Cry for Love-Joel Hoekstra’s 13
108.)    Find A Way-Joel Hoekstra’s 13
109.)    Revelations-Kim Petras
110.)    Minute-Kim Petras
111.)    Coconuts-Kim Petras
112.)    Adrift-Laura Bailey, Ashley Johnson
113.)    Challenging a Queen-Laura Bailey, Mary Elizabeth McGlynn
114.)    Cast A Spell-Laura Bailey, Allegra Clark, Rahul Kohli
115.)    Worthy (Bmblb pt. II)-Jeff Williams, Ariyel
116.)    I am a Huntress-Casey Lee Williams
117.)    Maybe That Girl is Enough-Jeff and Casey Lee Williams
118.)    Born to Raise Hell-Girlschool, Biff Byford, Duff McKagan, Phil Campbell
119.)    Plans-firerose and Billy Ray Cyrus
120.)    Jumpin’ Jack Flash-George Lynch and Jeff Pilson
121.)    Come Together-Durga McBroom, Jackie Lomax, Snowy White
122.)    I Want You (She’s So Heavy)-Arthur Brown, Steve Stevens
123.)    You Never Give Me Your Money-Graham Bonnet, Rick Wakeman
124.)    Move-Idina Menzel
125.)    Dramatic-Idina Menzel
126.)    Paradise-Idina Menzel, Nile Rodgers
127.)    Make Me Hate Me-Idina Menzel
128.)    Royalty-Idina Menzel
129.)    Perhaps-Guns N Roses
130.)    Rock Star Cheater-Hurricane
131.)    Under Pressure-Hurricane
132.)    Behind Your Shadow-Hurricane
133.)    Innocent Girl-Hurricane
134.)    Don’t Change Your Love-Hurricane
135.)    I’m on to You-Hurricane
136.)    Disconnected-Hurricane
137.)    World on Fire-Dolly Parton
138.)    We Are The Champions/We Will Rock You-Dolly Parton
139.)    Bygones-Dolly Parton, Rob Halford, John 5, Nikki Sixx
140.)    Let it Be-Dolly Parton, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Peter Frampton, Mick Fleetwood

And, though I wanted to wait until September 17th, here is my Halloween Playlist for 2023:

1.)    Bark at the Moon-Ozzy Osbourne
2.)    Black Sabbath-Black Sabbath
3.)    Paranoid-Black Sabbath
4.)    Methademic-Black Sabbath
5.)    Into the Void-Black Sabbath
6.)    Crazy Train (Live)-Ozzy Osbourne
7.)    Exciter-Judas Priest
8.)    Eat Me-Ozzy Osbourne
9.)    Trashed-Black Sabbath
10.)    Born to Raise Hell-Girlschool, Biff Byford, Duff McKagan, Phil Campbell
11.)    Guardians/Rising from Ruins-Judas Priest
12.)    End of the Beginning-Black Sabbath
13.)    Bygones-Dolly Parton, Rob Halford, Nikki Sixx, John 5
14.)    Methademic (Live)-Black Sabbath
15.)    Hell-Bent for Leather-Judas Priest
16.)    Patient Number 9-Ozzy Osbourne, Jeff Beck
17.)    End of the Beginning (Live)-Black Sabbath
18.)    Immortal-Ozzy Osbourne, Mike McCready
19.)    Ace of Spades-Motorhead
20.)    Mistreated (Live 1977)-Rainbow
21.)    Neon Knights-Black Sabbath
22.)    Breaking the Law (Live 2015)-Judas Priest
23.)    Cochise-Audioslave
24.)    Bark at the Moon-Adrian Conner
25.)    Into the Void (Sealth)-Soundgarden
26.)    Fly On The Wall (Live)-Miley Cyrus
27.)    METALI!-BabyMetal, Tom Morello
28.)    Parasite-Ozzy Osbourne, Zakk Wylde
29.)    Winner Takes All-Nita Strauss, Alice Cooper
30.)    Sorry (Not Sorry)-Demi Lovato, Slash
31.)    Mr. Darkness-Ozzy Osbourne, Zakk Wylde
32.)    Born to Raise Hell-Motorhead
33.)    Neon Knights-Paul Gilbert
34.)    Necromancer-Judas Priest
35.)    Enter Sandman-Motorhead
36.)    Hot Line-Black Sabbath
37.)    The Fallen-Black Sabbath
38.)    Kill the King-Paul Gilbert
39.)    Starbreaker-Judas Priest
40.)    Stormbringer (Live 1975)-Deep Purple
41.)    Vincent Price (Live 2014)-Deep Purple
42.)    Iron Man (Live 1983)-Black Sabbath
43.)    Separate Ways-Daughtry, Lzzy Hale
44.)    Man on the Silver Mountain-Paul Gilbert
45.)    NIB (Live 2013)-Black Sabbath
46.)    Rainbow in the Dark-Dio
47.)    Iron Man (Live 2017)-Black Sabbath
48.)    Degradation Rules-Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi
49.)    Into the Void (Live 2017)-Black Sabbath
50.)    Paranoid (Live 1983)-Black Sabbath
51.)    Burn (Live)-Black Country Communion
52.)    Stormbringer-Whitesnake
53.)    Nothing Else Matters-Miley Cyrus, Andrew Watt, Robert Trujillo, Elton John, Yo-Yo Ma, Chad Smith
54.)    Darkside Blues-Ozzy Osbourne
55.)    Sabbath Bloody Sabbath/Paranoid (Live)-Black Sabbath

I am planning to see Geoff Tate in Everett on October 13th and buying Stray Gods in September, as well as getting Carrie Underwood, Duff McKagan and Dolly Parton's albums.  Purchasing will be a little strained due to buying Christmas and Birthday gifts for my family.  I'm also trying harder to take care of myself by putting food and medication first and giving people space, focusing on me.  I am the only person I can for sure make happy, so I need to focus on that, but be honest about what I think is wrong and right and hope others agree.  It seems to be working so far, I feel freer and more rewarded.  I hope this leads to better things in the future.  Take care of yourselves and I'll see you next post.

The weight of fear

 The weight is so heavy, I can't stand it.  I found catharsis and people scream at it and me.  I just want the people I care about, the funny, creative, exciting people of various orientations, religions, nations and backgrounds, to be safe.  I would put them all in a fortress of protection if I could, illustrated by the pause after Chapter 9 in the Black Eagles route in Fire Emblem; Three Houses and my dream based on it where I put the characters in a similar safe place, a Church where no one with bad intent would enter, my home Church up here in Bellingham, Garden Street Methodist, where we did a lesbian wedding in June 2020 between two funny women who are adorable together, now living somewhere in town with their cat, maybe more than one, I'm too stressed to remember.  I want the LGBTQ+ community safe, they've been through too much, I want all people who've been through additional roughness beyond the normal difficulty of life safe, life is hard by default, racism, homophobia, transphobia, abuse, misogyny, religion-based bigotry and all other prejudices and assaults just make what is already hard worse.  I wish the norm was to be as cozy as Tara Platt and Abby Trott's voices and Twitter pages are, to present that strong care, excitability and exuberance that meshes so well with the relaxation centers of my brain.

If I were on a desert island, those would be the six pictures I would want with me, my family was fractured by my parent's divorce; the stress of a shared bank account and wildly different purchase priorities made my Mom and Dad angrier than they would've been otherwise.  I'm also still learning purchase priorities, it gets really hard when most food seems $2 more than you think it was, making you make mistakes more than you want because you think things are cheaper than they are.  The spending adds up.  This is not a call for handouts, I just want to feel like someone's listening.  In the end, that's what we "woke" people want, to be heard when we speak, so people can consider our feelings.  There is nothing wrong with wanting to be heard when you feel unheard, unseen, unconsidered.

If you're still reading, I have some good music to list from last week's releases.  Idina Menzel released her album "Drama Queen," which, like Miley Cyrus and Bebe Rexha, is a disco-inspired pop explosion.  My favorite track is "Royalty," which is a good "mission statement" song like the Glenn Hughes-Dead Daisies' "Born to Fly" or the Joel Hoekstra-Revolution Saints' "Set Yourself Free," but every track on this album is a good one.  Dolly Parton has a cover of The Beatles' "Let it Be" with Paul McCartney on backing vocals and piano, Ringo Starr on drums, Peter Frampton on electric guitar and Mick Fleetwood on percussion.  BabyMetal and Tom Morello (Audioslave, K.Flay) teamed up for an electric new song called "Metali," one of the best ever from BabyMetal yet.  Guns N Roses have a good new song called "Perhaps," Demi Lovato released a rock version of "Confident" for her new album of re-imaginings, there's a new live version of "Rag Doll" by Aerosmith and Graham Bonnet and Rick Wakeman teamed up for a cover of The Beatles' "You Never Give Me Your Money."

I'm looking forward to the upcoming albums by Duff McKagan and Dolly Parton (I already paid for them on Amazon, in fact) and the deluxe edition of Carrie Underwood's "Denim and Rhinestones." (also already paid for)  I also plan on getting "Used to be Young" by Miley Cyrus, out Friday, next week.  I'm not sure what other music I'm going to get for the rest of the year, but getting music, whether in purchase or Spotify, is a good way to escape the tension of the world right now, regardless of genre.  It can be rock, pop, country or an orchestral soundtrack, so long as it lets me forget the tension of politicians and the super-wealthy against women, racial minorities, working-class people and the LGBTQ+ community for a period of time.

Stored in case the C-buttholE-O bans me

 Don't think just because I said "Edelgard, Annette and Rise Kujikawa are my three main comfort characters" I'm immune when someone messes with someone who's not Tara, Abby and Laura. You steal from Xanthe and Erika, it's like hearing you assaulted two kind women, because you did.  AI doesn't hit me as quietly as theft, more like assaulting someone until they couldn't fight back then using their card to rob their bank account and urinating on their body while they're still conscious. That is the disrespect you're showing voice actors.  American society is being re-written by the fascists that women only exist to make children and if they refuse you, "Mr. Manly," something's wrong with them and they need to be "beaten into their place." I'm seeing it every day in AI and how DeviantArt treats Gal and Amber.  Hate speech is not free speech and using people's image or voice to show dominance over them as the Internet does REGULARLY, will not be tolerated and you should end up in prison for life for doing this so callously. This is irreligious, this is mostly misogyny and "control" mixed with some idiot notion that "manliness" means you breed with every woman and if they refuse you, you assault them, humiliate them and murder them in public!

Welcome to August

               Well, August 1st was one of the most stressful days of my life.  It was hard to disconnect from Major League Baseball’s website and also hard to get my mind off finances.  I tried playing video games, but that didn’t work, though stress might be making me better at them; I was dying less and scoring more points in Splatoon 3.  Ultimately, I realized I was wanting way too many things, so I just bought Gigabash with the Godzilla DLC and Cassette Beasts, with the intention of buying Stray Gods when it gets released on August 10th.  I also only bought a ticket to the Geoff Tate concert in Everett in October (exactly 6 years after I saw Billy Ray Cyrus at the Snoqualmie Casino) and will buy a ticket to the Pride event (assuming it doesn’t sell out) next month, though it may be this month if I’m at a position where I think I can do it without it hurting.  That isn’t likely, but I want to keep the option open.

 

               The first month of the second half of 2023 had more good music than I was anticipation, with songs by Nita Strauss with Lzzy Hale, Demi Lovato with Slash (!!!), Alice Cooper, Laura Bailey with Ashley Johnson (for Stray Gods), Lindsey Stirling and the RWBY volume 9 soundtrack leaving the best impressions.  August will have new music by Bebe Rexha, Billy Ray Cyrus with firerose, Mammoth WVH and Idina Menzel, and it is also the 50^th anniversary of the first Lynyrd Skynyrd album on the 13^th.

 

               I’m having difficulty being honest with even my family because I don’t know how they’d react to statement I’ve seen about old entertainers.  A lot of public figures from the 1980s to the 2000s are in support of the Republican Party’s descent into fascism, mostly due to their homophobia; Chuck Norris, Kirk Cameron, Dean Cain, Franklin Graham, Curt Schilling, Michael Sweet, Kevin Sorbo and Johnny and Donnie Van Zant.  Johnny Depp assaulted Amber Heard and at one point beat her until she couldn’t fight back, then shoved a whiskey bottle into her private sexual part, I believe this story because it sounds too horrifying to be a lie to discredit the man.  Worse was that these beatings apparently occurred during the recording, release and mini-tour of the Hollywood Vampires, a classic rock cover album orchestrated by Depp and Alice Cooper with Joe Perry, Slash, Joe Walsh, Zak Starkey, Dave Grohl, Paul McCartney and Christopher Lee guesting on the album.  Last night I had a dream that my brother and I were with my Mom, Harry Potter came up, and we had to tell her about the acronym “TERF,” which means “Trans Exclusionary Radical Feminist,” the only feminists who will side with Republicans against trans people, J.K. Rowling is one of them.  I don’t want to feel alone bearing this, but I don’t know who to trust.

Short comfort story and August start thoughts (slightly not safe for all ages)

 

               He was laying on his bed, what was becoming more and more default for him.  Another day, 27 more stupid things read or felt; whether it was reporters belittling his favorite sports team, the possible acquittal of a dangerous, rapacious criminal, his struggle to understand an appropriate single, straight, male, Left Wing Christian sex drive when he would feel gross and guilty after writing scenarios of fictitious characters and celebrities that tended to end in climaxes, his favorite American film series hijacked by a man who took a supporting character and made him the star, the wrongful verdict against a single-mom-pun-master because of the cult surrounding her ex or his belief his enjoyment of anything not explicitly Jesus-related was either making him obsessed and crazy or sending him to Hell when he died…he didn’t want to face the world anymore.  His apartment and bedroom door opened.  Fuck, was it another neighbor who thought this one was his, hers or someone else who they’d threaten with violence?  He heard a familiar calm voice instead.

 

               “I hear you’ve had it rough lately.” She said, gently touching his arm.  Great, another thing for his brother to ridicule him about or suggest he seek help for his delusions.  “Nice figurines, and you have my best friends and I in plush form.” The woman smiled.  She picked up two, holding the one that looked like her and handing the other off to someone at her side.

 

               “Hee-hee, that Jupy knows how to make ‘em.” The second giggled.  “Oh, El, that little one looks like your—”

 

               “I know, I’m glad to see it, too.” Replied the first.  “ ‘If you were to face a shadow in your current state, your power would not be sufficient enough to fully beat the snot out of it.’  ‘I’m famous on the inside, that’s good enough for me.’” She said and sang, holding the little figurine.

 

               “Someone call for an idol?” asked a youthful voice that the man knew very well, like he heard it on a certain weekday every week.

 

               “I think our fan needs to relax his toes…” enunciated the first.

 

               “All the way up to his nose…” added the second, doing similar enunciation.  The three placed their hands on his back, the first performing chiropractic healing on his neck and shoulders, popping the air bubbles in his spine and reducing the tightly wound tension.

 

               “We don’t have all the answers you want.” She said.  “But you have people you can open up to about these things.  You’ve come a long way, further than anybody anticipated when you were a child.”

 

               “You played it twice to get me with her and beat various superpowerful beings and dragons across the last 4 years!” smiled the second.  “You Got This!”

 

               “You have wonderful taste and a kind heart.” Said the third.  “You are an extremely determined man, one who fights for others and simply needs to remember not to fight sometimes so you don’t get consumed.”

 

               “I hear that part saying, ‘but what about…?’” added the first.  “Forget your mistakes, if the God you pray to is real, He doesn’t chisel your sins down in stone unless it becomes your lifestyle.  Rest your mind and soul, and know you can always call on us if you need to.”

 

               “You’re never as alone as you feel.  You have us in your head, your family in your phone and your friend every 2-3 weeks.” Added the third.  They rubbed his back, releasing the tension stored in it, then kissed his cheek, helping the stress leave.  It’d be back, it always will be, but for now, it was gone, allowing him to drift off into a much-needed nap.

 

 

 

               So, August begins.  July was rough on me, it started with paranoia the Supreme Court was going to make murdering LGBTQ+ people legal so long as the killer could quote Leviticus 20:13 from memory.  Writing about that on Twitter and Facebook did not help, and Twitter became unbearable for a time since I needed mental comfort and rest and it looked like Tara Platt was leaving, making me deal with the hate, scrutiny and personal doubts listed above alone.  My Dad reminded me that I am the one ultimately in charge of my happiness, which made me think I needed to leave Twitter because it was less fun and I thought not just Tara, but the main people who offer mental comfort and rest were going to be gone.  It doesn’t help that the CEO of that place is a deranged, self-absorbed, homophobic fascist.  Tara still being there and liking my pictures of a Funko Pop convinced me to just cut back and try to not talk about things that would result in aggressive arguments, or if I do, make sure I’m careful about what I say and where.

 

I spent a good portion of my time trying to arrange my entertainment purchases for this month, right now, all I can say is I plan to buy about 30 more songs, or rather, $42 worth of music because not every music purchase is equal, a DVD of Evangelion episodes 9-11, which includes my 2 favorites of the series (pending price), 3-4 video games depending on budget, $25 of costs for the Mariners-Padres game next week and maybe 3 concert tickets.  All of this depends on budget and personal desire since I failed my bank account in July despite an increase in funds.  I’m not sure how things will pan out, but I’m hopeful I can prioritize taking care of myself and arrange my entertainment ideas priority well.  There’s a Hell’s Belles (all-woman AC/DC tribute) concert in Seattle next month with an all-woman Soundgarden tribute opening, Geoff Tate at the Everett Theater in October and a Pride Music Celebration next June.  The games are Gigabash, a monster fighting game with Godzilla DLC, Final Fantasy IV, a classic that my brother played when I was young, Cassette Beasts, a game with not just Tara Platt and Yuri Lowenthal in it, but also Allegra Clark (Shamir and Dorothea), Aleks Le (Zenitsu in Demon Slayer) and Liz Morey (Nel in Fire Emblem Engage), and Stray Gods, a musical RPG with Laura Bailey and Ashley Johnson, as well as others.

 

The trade deadline is here, and the Mariners got rid of two players I had seen at the game I went to on July 21^st.  However, it made sense to get rid of Pollock due to his severe underperformance, and Sewald fits the phrase “got to spend talent to get talent.”  What doesn’t make sense is the rumor of trading Teoscar Hernandez, as he is 2^nd on the team in Home Runs after Julio Rodriguez (and a good friend to Julio, as well) and the Mariners this season haven’t had much offense, why trade away what works in an area of need?  Admittedly, it was him being with Julio on this year’s World Baseball Classic’s Dominican Republic team and tweeting Bible verses (though in Spanish, so I couldn’t read them) endeared him to me, making this feel like the Deadline surrenders of Randy Johnson, Cliff Lee, Ichiro Suzuki and Dustin Ackley, all who were personal favorites.  However, I think the Mariners’ future is bright and aim to see them play the Braves and Mets next year.