Aviously

Song Of The Day – Playlist

@iAmAviG

August 27, 2014

Song of the Day is a song that I post every morning on Twitter.

I’ve talked about it before on here and decided to make a playlist of all the songs I’ve done since I first started.

While the number is only in the mid 100s, and it’s been happening for a lot longer than that, the reasoning is that I took breaks at times, and I’ve also repeated songs (although not frequently).

One last thing about this playlist, is that it comes with a SPOILER ALERT as some of the songs on there are scheduled to be the #SongOfTheDay in the near future, but haven’t been yet.

SOTD

Madden 15 – Review

@iAmAviG

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August 26, 2014

Over the last couple of days I got a chance at some early access looks at Madden 15, playing it on the Xbox One, and overall I would give the game a 6.5 out of 10.

PRESENTATION

May as well start off with the best part of this game. The presentation is superb, from the opening package straight through the final snap, with halftime reports, on-field reporting, showing Phil and Jim in the booth, and the statistics presented on screen as the game progresses, just an outstanding job.

GAME PLAY

*Yawn*. Boring. Madden 13 was the last Madden game that I bought and played more than once, and the reasoning is simple. The gameplay has just gotten stale. Sure, they’ve added in a few new things, such as telling you which players have better probabilities for receptions based on ratings and defensive pairings (on both sides of the ball), and making it easier (using overhead commands) to break through the offensive line…But overall, it’s unexciting, from when you actually snap the ball until you finish the play, it just doesn’t feel as exciting as Madden used to.

Maybe it’s because I used to play on All-Madden, and the computer just doesn’t live up to it anymore…but I’ve never felt NHL get stale from EA…

COIN TOSS

Sure, I may sound like I am getting picky…but why did Madden GET RID OF THE COIN TOSS?!?! It seems so minuscule, but personally, I like to start off on defense when I play, and they’ve taken that option out of my hands. Whilst I am uncertain if my team won or lost the coin toss in each game I played, I was always the receiving team off the top, which is an option that should be simple enough for me to make myself.

FINAL THOUGHTS

I’m saving my money for NHL 15, and not putting a dime into the Madden Universe until they liven up the actual gameplay, and not just the frosting on top (presentation).

Thankfully, EA has provided me with Madden 25 for free…so if I have any football urges, I’ll be more than content with that.

And on the plus side, I’ve been hearing a lot of good things about the new presentation in NHL 15 (after working together with the NHL on NBC)…and if it’s anything like Madden’s, that game is going to be incredible.

Red Band Society – Review

@iAmAviG

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August 25, 2014

Over the last few weeks I have been seeing a lot of ads for Red Band Society, and with each passing ad it made me want to watch less and less. They seemed to be pushing for the Glee crowd, and whilst the show may have similar age range of the characters, the similarities in this dramedy, at least to me, end there.

This past weekend I watched the Pilot for the show, and was very surprised to enjoy it, quickly adding it to my queue.

The show revolves around a group of teens that are all in a hospital for an extended stay, be it for numerous reasons, including cancer and eating disorders.

It is narrated by Charlie, otherwise known as “Coma Boy”, and has other memorable characters, such as Leo (“The Rebel”), who is short a leg, but not short on character; Kara (“Mean Girl”), a high-school ‘popular’ cheerleader who is found to have an enlarged heart; and Jordi (“The New Guy”) who refers himself to the leading Dr. at the hospital, for cancer treatment.

Amongst these are also some notable stars…Octavia Spencer, of The Help fame, who plays Nurse Jackson (“Scary Bitch”), the ‘warden’ of this particular hospital wing…and Astro, who made his rise on the X-Factor, playing Dash (“The Player”), the trusty sidekick of Leo.

The show also does a nice take on the “Send Pizza Room 4112” story that flashed across the internet a few years ago (STORY HERE), as it is one of the things that Charlie really wants, the smell of pizza.

I would rank the pilot as an 8 out of 10, and will definitely give the next few episodes a fighting chance to stay in my rotation of shows.

Luck isn’t getting what you want, it’ surviving what you don’t want. – Charlie

Life is full of black holes and the only person that can pull you out of it, is you. – Nurse Jackson

Your body isn’t you. Your soul is you. And they can never cut into your soul. – Leo

“Yolo” – Dash…And these kids are making the most of that once.

Charitable Decisions

@iAmAviG

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August 21, 2014

I like to think of myself as a pretty charitable person, and set aside weekly from my paycheck for that purpose.

The biggest issue I think is of who to give the money to.

I try to give to places that have an impact on things surrounding me, such as:

Organizations that have had an impact on my life
Donating to support someone else’s goals (like running a marathon)
Organizations that truly need it

With some of these, I frequently come across them again, and wonder how often I should give to them.

Because of this I tend to make a few days a year when I focus on giving charity, such as my Birthday, right before New Years (Rosh Hashana) and right around Purim. Of course, if things come up in between, the door is always open.

As for how much I give, this depends on how often I think I will be giving to an organization…If I think I will be giving often, I make an approximate number for the year and divide it up throughout. Another factor could be how much a connection I have to what the organization stands for vs. why I am giving to them.

While it is none of my business, I think everyone should set aside a portion of their paycheck, a set %, that they take out weekly, immediately upon receiving their money. Personally, I have a separate checking account (as well as a spreadsheet) in which I keep track of the money and know how much I have to give when requested.

Saddleback Leather Continues To Shine – @SaddleBackBags

@iAmAviG

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August 20, 2014

In the past I have talked about my little leather addiction, and today I wanted to follow up on the great customer service that Saddleback Leather has provided.

To recap: Saddleback Leather (saddlebackleather.com) makes all sorts of leather products, right here in America, and the quality of them is amazing.

But recently I had an issue with my iPad case, where the straps would make a weird popping sound upon opening. So I contacted them via Twitter, just to make sure my case didn’t have any real issues:

@SaddlebackHelp Hi Tim! I have the iPad case…sometimes the straps make a loud pop when moved. Is that the leather or the stitches popping?

— Avi Greenberger (@iamavig) August 6, 2014

Their response was immediate, saying that they had had issues with the treatment of leather on some of their cases, and they would send me out a new one, free of charge (before I sent mine back, that way I would always have protection for my iPad).

When the new one arrived (just a couple of days later), it was a gorgeous piece of fresh leather, but unfortunately one of the holders for the iPad was a little large and came bent out of shape.

Upon telling them this, and showing them a picture of the flaw, they sent out a third one, again at no charge, while I still held onto the first two, so that once again, I wouldn’t be without protection.

I am happy to say that the new one is just as great as the first one (with the added bonus of the fresh smell of leather).

If you ever need something leather, you should most definitely go to saddlebackleather.com and if you ever need some help you should contact them via Twitter and get the lucky opportunity to talk to Tim, the bearded wonder (below), or even Keenan.

New York City Is Always Watching

@iAmAviG

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August 19, 2014

We live in a time when there is always someone watching, and if you live in New York City, and plan on driving somewhere, expect them to know where you are every step of the way.

Let’s start of on the simple base level: Security cameras.

Besides for all the private ones that people have on houses (including private lines and Dropcams) the city has security cameras on many corners, including the ones installed by SW24 around the Midwood area of Brooklyn and the Diamond District in Manhattan.

And don’t forget the Lower Manhattan Security Initiative.

We then move up to: License plate scanners.

This one is quite simple. Ever notice those strange devices on the back of a cop car?

They read license plates as they pass, filtering through the cop cars computer, and returning immediate results on wanted cars, expired plates, and the likes.

This system is NOT supposed to be able to keep track of the numbers though, simply reading and forgetting…but if we are supposed to believe that…

The last step I’m gonna mention: EZ-Pass Scanners.

Yup, that’s a thing. And they exist on most corners of the city.

Now according to city documents, the readers are meant to help improve congestion, merely taking in the data, and seeing traffic speeds (point A–>B), traffic patterns and helping the city better time their lights and such.

Once again, this data is supposedly not saved, merely analyzed and your specific info is thrown out…which we are supposed to believe of course.

Now, me personally, I don’t worry about any of this. If they want to follow me, then go right ahead.

If someone isn’t doing something wrong, their really isn’t anything to worry about.

Stuck Up People vs Normal People

@iAmAviG

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August 18, 2014

At that event that I mentioned in last Wednesdays’ post, I ran into a lot of people, some of whom I hadn’t seen in a few months, or even a few years.

While most people act normally when seeing someone they haven’t seen in a while (generally: “Hey, how are you?”), some people don’t seem to know how to react around others.

I am referring to people just flat out ignoring you, as if you don’t exist (even if you have had conversations in the past) or purposely avoiding eye contact, so that they don’t need to say hi.

On the flip side you have people that behave normally under these circumstances, and the most common example is married couples.

I think this is because they understand that life is a bigger picture than just the bubble around them, and that other people exist in their world, besides their closest friends and family.

Another reason possibly could be that they are used to coming in contact with other human beings (namely their spouses) and as such, remember how to behave, using real words and emotions.

One more reason that these people should pop out of their shells/bubbles, is that one day you may need a favor out of someone…and ignoring them in the past won’t weigh in your favor.

Thoughts on Robin Williams and Depression

@iAmAviG

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August 14, 2014

Every morning since Monday, I have gone online and read more stories about the greatness of Robin Williams and everything he did for people, to make them feel comfortable or to make them look good in the eyes of others.

Two easy examples are Norm Macdonald’s first meeting with Robin (HERE) and Jim Norton’s wonderful piece for Time (HERE).

Everyone this week that I have talked to about Robin’s death has sounded somewhat similar, usually “I can’t believe he would do that to himself” or “Didn’t he realize how many people liked him?”

‘YOU’ for the next few paragraphs refers to a depressed person.

I don’t think people fully understand the affect that depression has on people…it doesn’t matter if people say “We are here for you”…it doesn’t matter if they try to help you…it doesn’t matter if you take pills or not…it all comes down to the mind.

The mind plays horrible tricks on you, and drives you into a dark place. And the more you try to pull out of it, the more you contemplate what put you in this position in the first place…and it just digs the hole deeper.

Robin Williams needed to close his eyes and listen to some music or comedy on his iPod, not to try and fix himself…but to try and pull himself through it. And I think that after years of doing just that, he couldn’t, or wouldn’t, make himself fight it any more.

And the strongest thing to listen to in that mind state…is Robin Williams.

Holly Thomas has a great piece in The Independent (HERE), criticizing the Academy’s tribute to Robin, and she is 100% correct. Here are two quotes that stood out to me from her article.

While someone who is not suicidal might look at the picture of the genie and find comfort, someone whose mind is weighed heavy by depression may see something dangerously different.

Had Robin’s death been the inevitable end of some physical illness, The Academy’s message would have been appropriate. But while his fate today is irreversible, on Sunday it was not. His passing was the conclusion of a terrible thought process which convinced him that he had just one way out. And any suggestion that suicide might be an agonised mind’s only route to peace must surely break the heart of anyone now battling to help a loved one see a different light.

The world is really going to miss him.

I am going to miss him.

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