2023 Sneaker Round Up

I’ve been “into” sneakers now for five years. My first pair of Adidas Inikis in 2018 were a spark that has turned into a wildfire. I’ve arrived at a more “mature” state now where I am a lot more thoughtful about what my next pair will be. That said 2023 has been sneaker heavy. Mostly in my immediate family’s closets, not mine. But stepping back and becoming the pusher, enabler, and shoe devil on their shoulder has it’s merits too. Last years round up.

Nike Air Max 1 Patta Waves (Me)

These dropped in 2021 and I have been eyeballing them ever since. I went in for them on the app, in every color way, but never hit. This year I decided to treat myself. The price was never going down and I still wanted them. They are mega comfy and look great on foot. Easily my favorite shoe I got this year.

Nike Dunk Day of the Dead (Wife)

Bonus drop that she won on the app and ended up loving.

Nike Air Max 1 Have A Nike Day (Wife)

I mentioned in our travel log to Cape Charles that my wife saw these in person on the trip and had to have them. These originally dropped in 2019 and new pairs are becoming hard to find, but we snapped up a pair and they look cool as hell.

Nike Dunk Sashiko (Son)

These were the first pair of shoes my oldest bought with his money. I mean ultimately it is birthday or allowance money, but he sought them out and picked them up. He has since caught the full sneaker bug. Asking me about upcoming drops, showing me shoes he wants on GOAT, and scheming to make the money he needs to make his shoe dreams a shoe reality.

Union x Nike Dunk ‘Passport Pack Argon’ (Wife)

I’ve been eyeballing the wildly expensive Union x Jordan 4s in every colorway for a while. When my wife came across these I was just little to a lot jealous of her getting them and not me. Union does cool stuff with Nike and these are a great example. They have lots of slick little touches that make them feel like they came right off a sewing table.

Jordan 4 Red Cement (Son)

I love the idea of a Jordan 4, but can’t pull off a high top in shorts to save my life.

Nike Dunk x Yuto (Me)

There are only so many lucky hits the universe bestows on us when it comes to shoe raffles. Sometimes those feel wasted on a SNKR app hit for a shoe that is actually not that limited and still in stock two weeks later. Sometimes the gods smile upon us and we win a really cool and rare shoe. These were my sneaker god gift this year.

Nike Air Max 1 Spring Mix (Wife)

My wife wanted these from the dumb app, but neither of us hit on them. Ten minutes later they were for sale on GOAT for just $15 more than retail. Sneaker people are weird. In any case she picked them up and they are dope as hell. These fall into the category of shoe I admire, but couldn’t pull off.

Nike Dunk Red Panda

The panda is for sure the most ubiquitous Dunk, high and low, out right now. It feels like I see a pair every time I go out into a crowded location. The red panda is related, but very different. Lots of interesting textures and patterns used in it’s construction. My wife and I both got a pair, not our intent to have matching shoes, but we both wanted and “won” them.

Nike Terminator (Wife)

These sit somewhere comfortably between a Dunk and a Jordan 1 low in terms of similar silhouette. Originally a high top basketball shoe released in 1985 the low version coming out in a few colorways this year looks sharp. And the prices aren’t bad either.

Nike Dunk Athletic Department (Me)

I don’t know what the move is from Nike on these, but they were super easy to get on the draw and the price has stayed reasonable on them. I viewed it as a chance to get another practical sneaker I could wear out and wear to work. Not every shoe I get fits both of these bills.

2023 Shows Round up

Round 1 (2022) of “Shows” was enlightening. I mentioned there that after tracking everything I watched, it turns out I watch a lot. And 2023 is no different, shows on shows on shows, ranked and sorted. Enjoy!

Scavengers Reign (S+) Wow, wow, wow. I considered just three wows as my summary, but it feels a bit Borat. Watch this. Insane creative world building in a complex and symbiotic ecosystem animated beautifully. Maybe on a short list of the some of the best Sci Fi ever?

Blue Eye Samurai (S) This is S+ stuff right up there with Scavengers, but the ending was a fumble on the 1 yard line in favor of setting up a second season. Who cares though, the story it did tell was incredible. It is beautiful to watch, brutal in it’s use of sex and violence, and has charming characters.

Severance (S) - This was right at the top of my “return to it in 2023” list last year. Well it didn’t take long. The first two days of 2023 were a binge of what ended up being a contender for my favorite show of 2022.

The Haunting of Hill House (A+) Spooky shows, books, and games aren’t normally my jam. When they are excellent stories told in a delicate nest of time hoping meshed with fantastic character development though. Those can be my jam.

Last of Us (A+) Videogames don’t have a great track record of being converted to shows and film. But it turns out games deeply inspired to tell cinematic stories have a shot. This was more than a shot. It was

Straight A’s

  • Taskmaster series 14, 15, 16 (A)

  • Slow Horses (A) season 1

  • Jury Duty (A)

  • Midnight Mass (A)

  • Silo (A-)

Buh buh buh B’s

  • Ted Lasso (B+) season 3

  • Fall of the House of Usher (B+)

  • Wednesday (B+)

  • Physical 100 (B)

  • The Bear (B) season 1

  • Break Point (B-)

  • I Think You Should Leave (B-)

You can still play sports

  • Vinland Saga (C) season 1

  • Mandalorian (C) season 3

  • MLS Season Pass

Mom and Dad are concerned

  • Pokerface (D)

  • History of the World Part 2 (F)

2023 Gaming Round Up

Last years round up yielded some good games and one great one. This year by comparison was one of those rare stand out years in gaming. 2004, 2007, 1998,...2023? So many great games came out this year and it felt like there wasn’t enough time to play them all, but I sure tried.

Baldur’s Gate 3 (S+) They did it! They turned everything I’ve loved for over a decade about Dungeons and Dragons into a intricately crafted video game. The “it” being the creative problem solving and sense of agency most video game RPGs never even sniff at. Had they done that alone this would already be a triumph. But they did the “it” plus great graphics, excellent voice acting, and a compelling story + side stories that will stick with me for a while.

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (S) Breath of the Wild is an all time great game for me. Some how they made the sequel just that much better. The verticality above and below introduces another facet of the world to explore. Embracing the communities breaking of the first game with the powers via Ultrahand in the second was a stellar.

Cyberpunk 2077 & Phantom Liberty (A+) What a world. In 2012 Cyberpunk gets announced. 8 years later it is essentially dead on arrival. Bug-ridden and unplayable on last gen consoles. In 2022 after countless fixes and balancing I gave it a shot and it was good, not great, game. Jump to this year and they did a complete systems overhaul with the 2.0 release, and dropped the first and only story DLC and it is my third favorite game this year, behind what might arguably be two top ten in the decade games.

Dave the Diver (A) A peach of a game that is one part platformer (scuba diving), one part restaurant sim (sushi), and all parts fun. This was the perfect mashup of genres and excellent on the Steam Deck.

Super Mario Bros. Wonder (B+) A new 2D Mario in 2023, sign me up. All of the ever green platforming that I love with a big batch of fresh ideas baked inside.

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor (B+) This was the last big story driven open world game I played this year. I could have been burnt out and quit on this were it a subpar game, but that was not the case at all. A game sequel that surpasses it’s predecessor in mechanic and story is not a given, in fact it is rare.

Dredge (B+) I don’t know if owning a Steam Deck means I try more indie games, enjoy playing them more, or if this was just a great year in indie gaming, but Dredge is a another great one. Cthulhu themed insanity in an arcade fishing business simulator.

Cocoon (B+) Good puzzle games should make you feel smart when you untangle the ball of twine they hand you. That endorphin release layered in with the nesting of worlds within world within worlds was what made Cocoon excellent. It is also what made it bend my brain it’s second half to where I felt no shame in looking up a guide or two to continue to progress.

Dome Keeper (B) The first game I played this year was a fun mashup of mining/resource collection and retro style laser defense game. Another banger on the Steam Deck. It’s only fault was the sense that it was balanced a bit too on the easy side.

Hogwarts Legacy (B) A friend from work tragically passed away in late 2022 and a few months later a group of us played this game book club style in his memory. He had expressed interesting in playing it as a return to video games. An insignificant act in the grand scheme of things, but it was a drop in the well of grieving with friends that helped.

Atomic Heart (B) They just aren’t making that many immersive sims anymore. A bummer for sure, but a real treat when they do show up. Even if they have some rough edges like Mundfish’s first game did.

Last of Us Part 1 (B) - I jumped back into this remaster of a remake of the original game I finished in 2013 because the TV show was so damn good. They did this on the Last of Us 2 engine in 2022. It looks great, looked to capitalize on the release of the show, and I lost interest before I could finish it for a second time a decade later.

Fortnite (B-) Finally gave fork knife a real go in the grasping throes of trying to find a Call of Duty replacement. No build mode makes that possible, but doesn’t solve for the lack of combat depth and some how too much complexity in the map and seasonal features. Not for me, but I already knew that.

Kingdom: Eighties (B-) Fresh coat of paint on a chill 2D tower defense game I have played a lot over the years.

Diablo IV (C) So long in development, the nostalgia was not strong enough, and there wasn’t much new on offer. Looks great, plays boring, and introduces the worst question a game can pose, “why am I doing this?”.

Spider-Man 2 (C) Bit of a bummer this was so similar to Spider-Man 1 (2018) and the stand alone Miles Morales DLC (2020). Both games I loved. Swinging around the city never got old, the combat wore out it’s welcome, the story was a bit boring, and the side activities were mostly sub par.

Tails of Iron (C-) An indie souls like with mice. Charming concept and art, the combat was either too hard for me or missed the mark. Can’t really tell, but the result was not for me.

Call of Duty & Warzone (D) Three years is a really long time to play a game. But I still don’t know if it was me burning out on Call of Duty this year or the strong possibility that battle royales have run their course. In either case I haven’t really played either since March and I have zero interest in this years annual offering. Hell I just looked and I gave last years game a D too.

FRIDAY YOUTUBE WRAP UP - 12/15/23

A light wrap up this week, but next week I’ll be posting some end of the year round ups like I did last year. I have been tracking my shows, games, and shoes all year and recently spent some time writing on each topic.

Action Bronson Finds Out

I’m really digging all three episodes of Pablo Torre Finds Out every week:

  1. Investigate journalism/story telling

  2. Share & Tell with two guest talking about interesting articles they read

  3. And interesting interview, like this one

Bronson being introduced to Accidental Bronson a twitter account of post that sound like Action’s lyrics is good. Convincing him to read them and react is even better.

Friday YouTube Wrap Up - 11/10/23

Busy week here, but not so busy that I can’t regretfully acknowledge Harry Kane lighting the Bundesliga on fire. 19 goals in 15 matches (all comps) is pretty wild.

Friday YouTube Wrap Up - 11/3/23

New month and still going strong with this concept. I find myself most nights dropping in to the YouTube app on my family room TV and partaking of the latest offerings from channels I subscribe to and whatever the algorithm wants me to watch.

Friday YouTube Wrap Up - 10/13/23

A spooky edition? Nope, just more videos worth watching on Friday the 13th.

Turns out watching a bunch of off road videos gets you overland videos in the feed too.

Yup this tracks, we did Blue Apron a million years ago and ended it before the first year.

Last week tonight is back and the main story block at under 20 mins on YouTube is just my speed.

FRIDAY YOUTUBE WRAP UP - 10/6/23

New full episodes of Taskmaster on YouTube again! Previously I’d switched to buying them on Amazon Prime (series 12, 13, 14, & 15) once I ran out of the free stuff on their channel. Now all of that plus the early episodes of series 16 are free and available now. New Map Man videos are coming out again too! My cup runneth over.

FRIDAY YOUTUBE WRAP UP - 9/29/23

One, two, three, four, four weeks ah ah ah.

Jumping from generative AI fill in Photoshop to After Effects with AI tracking.

This podcast within a podcast might be my favorite part of this podcast at this point.

It is tech gadget week, but you can keep your iPhone 15 camera reviews, I’ll take a tour of a delivery truck.

Take your medicine!

Friday YouTube Wrap Up - 9/22/23

Does three make it officially a thing? Probably not.

The best explanation I’ve seen to date on wages + transfer fees + FFP rules.

Whoa! Been tinkering this week with the generative AI tools in the last update.

I wish NBC did more of these, I see loads of this kind of content online, but no one has rights to use game footage.

Gin is fun.

There will probably be a Vox video every week here. They are just too good not to include.

Jamie Griffin is the defending champ, and you can tell why.