Appreciations of the day

[Arakawa]

Went to Japan (Tokyo + Kyushu) and back again. Language skills turned out adequate. More writeup later.

[Anastasia]

Awesome. How long were you there?

[Arakawa]

A mere 12 days, although that was enough to get a handle on talking to people and switch to getting annoyed at myself for being illiterate :P

Yanagawa was a real highlight which I knew about from the movie http://www.nausicaa.net/wiki/The_Story_of_Yanagawa%27s_Canals

[Merc]

On vacation for this week, not having to think about work or the company acquisition going on this week (my company sold its engineering branch to another company, and today was first day with new company name, badges, email, etc and I am missing all of that nonsense).

[Arakawa]

Sometimes I just really become amused by phishing spam.

One common genre is "your great-uncle Engr. <your last name here> who you didn't know you have recently experienced a gruesome misadventure in Africa". Somehow the tone of it always makes me think of Indiana Jones rather than anything in real life.

But it's the simplest things that are the best and make me laugh. A recent email opens thus:

Hello, I am <blah>, an officer at a reputable financial institution.

Well, if it's a reputable institution, I guess I have to trust you, right?

[Merc]

Really digging Cadence of Hyrule.

I'm TERRIBLE at it, and keep wanting to focus on killing minions instead of following the beat, and then getting screwed for it, but really digging it nonetheless. It's way more forgiving than Crypt of the Necrodancer too from what I remember of that game, and I could just spend all my time exploring/listening to the music and not minding the occasional death since it doesn't have permadeath enabled by default (I believe it is an option for veterans of Necrodancer though).

[Anastasia]

Whazzat, Merc?

[Merc]

Cadence of Hyrule is that mix-up between Crypt of the Necrodancer and Zelda franchise that was announced a while back in the Nintendo Direct with the Link's Awakening remake and Mario Maker 2.

Here's a playlist of the music which is pretty fun: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yDpACm-WDeA&list=PLwDEuPBgBi4OZJEtqx-eN86ndand3_sGV&index=33

[Dracos]

There is just a flood of lovely games being out.

[Anastasia]

There really is. I'm tucking into Bloodstained right now and it's great.

[Anastasia]

Mario Maker 2 is here. Yaaay.

[Merc]

Mario Maker 2 is here. Yaaay.

Seconded. I've mostly just been playing bits of story mode so far, haven't really explored user stuff. I did favorite some streamers to check out their levels in future.

[Anastasia]

Dogs are awesome. That is all.

[Dracos]

Hawaii is nice.  Internet is on.  Off to beaches.

[Anastasia]

You're in Hawaii? Awesome. Enjoy the trip, Drac. Don't sunburn!