The Atomic Bomb and the Gaming Store

Issue #55: Here we go again

So here we are with another week. Welcome back to another exciting issue of The Otter Limits! Exciting might be pushing it. In fact, yeah, it’s pushing it. But in any case, thanks for coming back and if you are new, thanks for tuning in.

A few weeks ago, in issue #53, I had mentioned that I had enrolled in a free online history course in Russian history. I finally started that course earlier this week. The course is called Russian History: from Lenin to Putin and, as the title might suggest, starts with the time period in Russia that is right before the Russian revolution. So far, I am enjoying it.

Also, about a month ago, my wife and I decided that we needed to start exercising more. On my part, it is mostly because of my diabetes and exercising is a way to try and keep my blood sugar levels stabilized and, of course, to try and get my weight down as well. Anyway, we joined a gym but after a few weeks, we have realized that the gym is kind of boring and it has been really hard to motivate each other to actually go. So we’re going to cancel that membership and look into doing something else. We are talking about maybe buying some bicycles and doing some riding. Might be a little more fun than just going to the gym. Hopefully.

On Rebel Rock Radio, DJ was joined by Donovan of F Class Heroes to continue the Are They Real series. This time around, they talked about ghosts in pop culture. The tunes that were played this week came from Snow Coats, Kill Me, and Achings.

Punk Lotto Pod did an episode about the 2000 Offspring album Conspiracy of One. Generally speaking, I am not a fan of the band but there were a couple of decent tracks on that album.

This is a new segment that I decided to start doing. Hopefully you will enjoy it.

As far as video games go, I haven’t been playing a whole lot. When I have played, as least lately, I have been spending a lot of time playing Civilization VI on my XBox. I remember playing a lot of Civilization 2 when it was first out and it was always one of my favorite PC games. So I saw that Civ 6 was on Game Pass so I had to try it out and I have to admit that ever since, I have become kind of obsessed. I even wound up buying the expansion pack so that I could play as more world leaders. Great game. Definitely recommend if you are into games like this.

In other gaming news, a new gaming store opened up here in Norman. It is called DMDave’s. Unlike other game stores in the area, this one focuses almost exclusively on table top role playing games. There are no Magic the Gathering cards. There is no Warhammer (although, there is small area of the store devoted to a miniatures game called Battletech). It is a pretty cool store. It opened this past Monday (the 17th of July). It is actually still in its “soft” opening stage. So why am I writing about a gaming store? Well, you see, I liked this store so much when I went in on opening day, I wound up applying for a part time job there. I can use a little extra money and working at a game store could be pretty fun. Anyway, I got the job and my first day was this past Saturday evening. I think it’s going to be a pretty fun place to work.

I re-watched the 1992 comedy Buffy the Vampire Slayer a few nights ago. I remember watching it when it came out but at the time I wasn’t familiar with Joss Whedon. This movie does not feel like something that he would have written. I enjoy the movie though. It’s funny. Pee Wee Herman as a vampire. Classic. I totally forgot that Luke Perry in this movie and watching in him in this film, I realized how much his son Jack looks like him.

After watching the new Transformers movie last weekend, my wife and I realized that we had never seen the Bumblebee movies from 2018 so we watched that one this week. It wasn’t horrible but I can’t say that my life is in a better station for having seen it. I kind of think it wasn’t really necessary for the franchise.

I also finally got around to watching the 2017 Christopher Nolan film Dunkirk. I’m not sure why it has taken me this long to watch it. It was a good movie but something about it didn’t feel like a Christopher Nolan film to me. I’m not sure what it was.

At the theater, I watched Oppenheimer. I have been waiting to see this movie since it was first announced sometime last year. I’m a history nerd and I love historical-based movies. And the fact that Christopher Nolan directed this one made me want to see it even more. If you aren’t already aware, the movie is about the scientist who is credited as the father of the atomic bomb. So I saw it Friday and I liked it. I’m not sure if it’s going to be everybody’s cup of tea so I’m not sure how well it will do at the box office. It is a tad long (it is exactly 3 hours long) so I’m not sure if most people will have the attention span for it. But then again, that comment is coming from somebody with a very short attention span and I made it all the way through. Anyway, I enjoyed it.

In case you are wondering, I have no plans to watch the Barbie movie.

I finished listening to that Sellout book that I mentioned last week. I liked it quite a bit. Here is my review of it on Goodreads:

I enjoyed this one quite a bit. There were a few chapters that told stories of bands that, to be honest, I don't care about or don't like but I still listened to their stories. Overall, a really great read and I recommend it to anybody that is interested in music history.

I also started listening to the audio book of Punk Paradox by Greg Graffin. It is a memoir written by the lead vocalist of punk band Bad Religion.

Not much on my pull list for this week:

• Doctor Aphra #34

I have been listening to a lot of Fugazi this week. I had forgotten how good Joe Lally is as a bass player and I really think that he is incredibly underrated.

So anyway, here is a link to the Fugazi Essentials playlist on Apple Music: