Decent Albums of the 90s: Wish You Were Here by Mark Wills

This is a late addition to the series.  1998's platinum album Wish You Were Here by Mark Wills.

i avoided placing this on the list for reasons.  Yes, a girl was involved.  She was a little bit country and i was a little bit pop.  i asked her to listen to 98° and Rising by 98°.  She was not a fan but kind of liked one of the songs "I Do (Cherish You) and heard it on country radio.  She asked some country DJ based out of Wyoming who the song was by.  After she found out, i bought this on a whim from "world famous" Rodeo Records.  

Even though "Truly Madly Deeply" (Savage Garden) was in the running, i considered "I Do (Cherish You) to be "our" song.  For a long time, it was hard for me to listen to the album.  Though i had to admit that Mark Wills had some vocal talent (the twang and weird "country guitar" thing i could have done without).  Yes, this was the first country album i ever bought.  i got rid of this album after the BU but replaced it years later with a Greatest hits album (and bought MP3s of some of the other songs, i think).

Singles: (Chart position US country / chart position Billboard Hot 100)

Just Saying 9

Solstice has come and gone once again.  This year i bought myself 4 LEGO sets - one of them kind of threw my Solstice budget off, but i didn't expect it to go on sale (though it did go on sale cheaper after i bought it).

Only one of these LEGO sets was under 2,000 pieces (Indiana Jones at 1,545 pieces).  i think 3 of these are now retired (Viking Village is expected to be retired by the end of 2025).

The manuals are now printed with garbage paper.  So much worse than it used to be.

This took a little while to post.  i also got a record 11 puzzles this year (2 of which did not have all the pieces).  i spent two weeks on a 3,000-piece puzzle to find it was missing 3 pieces.  

2025 Movies to Eventually Get From the Library (if possible)

Well, it is time again for me to look at the IMDB movie release schedule and see what upcoming movies from 2025 i am remotely interested in (though modern movies kind of suck).  Date format is US (2/14 if February 14th).  No movie is worth overpaying at the theater, so i'll wait until the library or Hulu gets it.  That and it is kind of hard for me to sit through a movie in a theater nowadays.

Billion Dollar Jackpot Post 12/27/24

So, it turns out there was another billion-dollar jackpot for Mega Millions.  Actually, it was for Xmas Eve, but it jumped up to $1 Billion right before the drawing.  Nobody won so now it is up to $1.15 Billion ($516.10 Million cash option, which almost every potential winner would take - as 30 years is a long time for a payout). 

i would kind of like to win this (and be the sole winner), though the way i estimate is is probably on the low side - use 30% of the cash option, though i hear it could be as high as 75%.  i could use $153 million, though it would be a nightmare to get and set up checking/savings/investment accounts (fiscal logistics).  

Reminder, in April, the cost of Mega Millions tickets will be going up to $5 a ticket.  i hated the increase to $2.  Needless to say, i will be buying fewer tickets.  The proposed changes suck and are not worth the increased cost.  At that price, the jackpot would have to be over $1 Billion for me to even buy a ticket.

i like to buy tickets for Friday the 13ths (one in 2025), birthday, Halloween, Xmas, New Years, before Black Friday, or sometimes when i feel like crap.

Happy Solstice and other things

Another solstice is upon us. Unfortunately, the next one will really, really suck. i cannot overstate how much i hate summer.

Well, the solstice presents have been opened. Let's say the Solstice Abominable Snowman delivered them (that is a bit wordy though).  All i really wanted for Solstice was a winning Mega Millions ticket.

- Someone slipped a Vanilla Visa gift card under my tree.  Have i ever mentioned that Vanilla Visas are a pain in the ass (cash is always better).  You want to check the balance - just what i've always wanted another f*ing "system error".  Last time i had one, i gave up and traded it to someone else (it took them hours to finally use the thing).

Xbox Year in Review 2024

i kind of used to use a Video Game "blog" thing, but don't play as much as i used to.  Kind of a down year of playtime for me (played 920 hours in 2023 and only 640 in 2024).  Maybe because i only had Game Pass for 4 months.  Also, lots of Hulu streaming.  Apparently, i didn't play that many games i "own" this year.

So here are my stats for 2024 (not sure they're completely accurate), subject to change a little bit before 2025:

* Time Spent: 640 hours

* Achievements Earned: 457

* Gamerscore Earned: 13,452

* Games Played: 55

* Preferred Platform: Console (531 hours)

* Genres: Role Playing (40%), Action/Adventure (23%), Card/Board (17%), Family/Kids (8%), Other (12%)

Most Anticipated Game of 2025: Lunar Remastered Collection (Spring 2025). Not a stat they would know, but it is true.

Hulu Anime Binge

So, the Hulu $.99 a month deal was ending and i decided to see what the deal with anime was. So, i decided to watch a bunch of it. Here is my list of stuff i "watched" in the last year (incomplete, some are no longer on the service).  i think 12-22 episodes is the sweet spot. Some of the longer running ones really pad the episode totals. Black Clover was better at most at not padding episodes.  Though, to be fair, these were not meant to be binged like i did.  Mostly watched dubbed versions.

i "grew up" playing JRPGs and wanted something different than the US sitcoms. Some of these are weird.  Not all of these are winners, though i would like a next season on a bunch of these (also Chivalry of a Failed Knight).

My current $.99 a month account does not have the same watchlist (different account) - so list is for my benefit.  Household trade off on subscription services: i had Hulu in 2022 and just got it this year (2024) on a Black Friday deal.  Someone in the household paid the $.99 a month for 2023.

Numbers indicate through episodes.  Some series use an episode numbering scheme (Season 2 of a series that had 12 episodes in season 1 would be 13.  Pretty sure Bleach does this), some are more traditional (Season 2 Episode 1, is just that regardless of Season 1 episodes).