I'm a strange one...

I often find myself reading some of the most bizarre things, and not for any reason, per say. I was not assigned these readings bey a teacher or professor, nor am I required to read things for work. No, I genuinely enjoy reading some of the most "boring" things on Wikepedia. For instance, I just finished reading the - in my opinion quite interesting - entry on the International Civil Aviation Organization's airport and aircraft identification and naming conventions.

I genuinely find these types of things interesting! Am I weird? Perhaps. But I think we all have interests that are a bit off the beaten path, existing on the fringes of what might be considered "normal" or "mainstream" and I think that that is wonderful. Let me know what you think.

Thanks for reading,

- Dave

Review: Imitation Game (2014)

Breaking the unbreakable German code in World War II might seem like an impossible feat, but Alan Turing (Benedict Cumberbatch) is up for the challenge. Playing a socially awkward and misunderstood incarnation of the real man, Cumberbatch leads the cast of stellar characters that make up this film. While being predictable at times, the film still managed to throw me some twists that I didn't see coming, and entertained me through the entire movie.

The Imitation Game is about the life and work of British mathematician and computer scientist Alan Turing, and follows his journey of attempting to break the "unbreakable" German code during World War II. The film explores his childhood, as well as the events after the war, and also looks at the personal relationships Turing built while building a machine that he hoped would be able to crack the code.

Turing's machine is considered to be the first mechanical computational device, and as such he is considered to be "the father of theoretical computer science and artificial intelligence." (Beavers, Anthony 2013)

The film is a period piece, of course, and the sets and costume design was beautiful and, from what I can discern, fairly accurate. In addition, the overall production design was well done, and I really believed that the action was unfolding in mid 20th century England.

The acting was superb. By far the best part of the film, in my opinion, and Benedict Cumberbatch truly did an amazing job - not to over shadow the other actors in the film, however. Keira Knightly did a fantastic job as well, as did really the whole primary cast.

While the shining moments of the film are the highlight of the film, there were a few things that I was not as thrilled with, like the somewhat predictable plot (though some parts of the film did catch me by surprise) and the decent (but not amazing) score detracted a bit from the film, but not enough to prevent my recommendation.

Is it, as some have said, the "best British film of 2014?" Maybe, I'll be honest, I haven't seen that many British films this year. But is it good? Yes, yes it is. I would say that, despite the minor issues, and they are minor, this is well worth the watch.

The verdict?
7 out of 10 - Heartily Recomend

Merry Christmas!

I am not one for celebrating the holidays, but there is something about this time of year that is just very exciting. And, since it IS December 25, 2014, I thought I would make a quick post to say, happy holidays, merry Christmas, and I hope you all have an amazing holiday season! Here is a Christmas song I am a little
hooked on right now.



Talk soon,
- Dave

Chvrches

It is almost shameful that I have not written about this band before, as they are currently one of my favorite bands and well worth a post here on my blog. Chvrches, and yes, that is spelled correctly, is a Scottish electronic band that I have fallen in love with over the past few months. The band consists of Lauren Mayberry, Iain Cook, and Martin Doherty and currently have 1 studio album, The Bones of What You Believe which was released in 2013.

For some reason, Chvrches is a band that manages to check off just about every item on my list of what makes a great band. Their music is great, they are good live (according to my extensive YouTube research) and they seem to just be really cool people, (again, YouTube research!)

So why them over so many others? Because they are different. I honestly don't think there is another band with quite such a unique sound. Sure, artists like Owl City and Lights have an electronic slanted pop sound, and artists like M83, David Guetta and Madeon lean heavily towards an electronic sound. However, there is not, to my knowledge, another artist or band that really blends the two (vocal/pop and electronic) quite so seamlessly and in such a beautiful way.

The other reason that I like the band is because they seem very down to earth, recording their music in a basement studio in Glasgow, as well as being active on social media and proactively interacting with fans.

Also, did I mention that their music is really good!?!?

Enough chatter, here is some of their music for you to enjoy!

 



Thanks so much for reading, and I will talk to you soon.

- Dave

Review Info

I often do film, music and TV reviews here, and as such have decided to create this post to explain my process. First, I will look at 1 main thing in whatever it might be I am reviewing. Did I personally, enjoy it. Yes, as with all reviews, the verdict will inevitably be based on my own taste and knowledge, however I do my best to explain my reasoning for those who care.

I also use a rating system that is a scale of 1 to 10, however I will almost never give anything a 1 or a 10. I will never give anything a 1 because no matter how I feel about something, someone put a lot of time and effort into creating it, and as such I do not believe it is really worth so little.

I will almost never give a 10 because I believe that everything can be improved upon and even the best art can someday lead to even better art. If you see me give something a 10, GO BUY/WATCH/LISTEN to that thing IMMEDIATELY!!!

One note is that, to keep myself from going insane and to make everything a little more even, I will only give whole number scores. No 6.5 or 7.3 bullshit. Basically, I will give something a score of 2 through 9 and rarely, very rarely, a 10.

Scoring is as such:

2 to 4 = Not Worth It

5 to 6 = Average / Worth Experiencing

7 to 8 = Pretty damn good / Recommend Heartily

9 to 10 = Amazing / Must Experience ASAP

As with all my posts, feel free to comment with any questions you might have.

My Review of Forev (2013 Film)

Forev is a film that was released more than a year ago, but for me, it recently came across my radar. I have been aware of, and a fan of Noel Wells since she was a cast member of Saturday Night Live for the 39th season. However I was not fully aware of her non-SNL work until recently. After finding out about this film, and then discovering that she was the lead character, I just had to watch it!

All things being considered, I feel like this was an all around good film. Not great, but not bad either. The story was good, and while introducing some original ideas and concepts, at its core I feel like it was a rather typical love story. Was it unique enough to keep me watching? Absolutely. But I could not help thinking about how I felt like I had seem much of it before, in one form or another. That is not, however, to say the story was bad. In fact, I found it quite charming, especially when combined with the acting, which I will get to in a moment.

The main concept is that a guy and a girl find themselves engaged after only a few hours as they embark on a road trip through Arizona. I will not go into detail here, both to avoid spoilers and to preserve the overall story for those of you who decide to watch the film after reading this, and also to prevent those of you who have already seen it from becoming bored or disinterested. Suffice it to say that the story was engaging enough to keep me interested, but was also generic enough that I saw just about every turn coming, and clearly at that.

Now for either the best or worst part, depending on your own taste; the acting. I found it charming and, for lack of a better word, "real," however I could also see it coming across as either fake or forced, as there were certain characters who were a little hard to believe.

That being said, I found the interaction between Sophie and Pete to be charming, believable and, at times, extremely funny. I think that all three leads, Noel Wells, Matt Mider, and Amanda Bauer all did fantastic jobs, and I cannot think of a better casting selection for this film, as all three worked so well together on screen, and their characters were believable and endearing.

On a more technical note, I think the editing, cinematography and production design were spot on. I have lived in Arizona, and I can appreciate the production team creating the look and feel of that area of the world. Granted, the likely filmed much of it on location in such areas as these, but still, well done. I also enjoyed the editing style and the overall atmosphere of the film. At times a tad loos in the editing, but for the film it worked, as a faster cut would have come across much more urgent than the film was.

And, it's an independent feature, which for me is a bonus. I find myself more and more enjoying films made independently of a major studio, and while such films can be a tad difficult to get your hands on, they are often well worth it, as in my experience, independent films are often the incubators for major changes and developments in the industry as a whole, and as such deserve and need our support so that filmmakers can continue to make advancements in an industry that is currently so focused on solely making money.

So what is the verdict on the film? That depends on you. For me, I liked it a lot. While there were flaws, such as a somewhat generic love story and a few missed opportunities for experimenting a little more, the film, as a whole, worked well, and told a story well, which is really all one can ask of a movie.

Was it the best film ever, no. It was a good attempt at a new approach to a love story that just fell a little short. I do recommend it, however, as a good film that tells a good story, with good acting and good production design and execution. Get my general feel for the film yet? Yah, it was good. Simple as that.

At the end of the day, all one can really ask of a film is that it tells a story in an entertaining and engaging way, and Forev does just that. It is an overall well made film that kept me watching throughout, even if I could often tell what was about to happen.

The verdict?
Pretty damn good / Recommend Heartily

7 out of 10

Beach House

It's probably not what you think. Beach House is not referring to a relaxing home quaintly located somewhere in a coastal region. Although the result is similar; a beautiful respite from the day to day troubles and worldly issues that plague our lives. And yet, also, a reminder of them.

Beach House is a band from Maryland, formed in 2004 and consisting of Victoria Legrand & Alex Scally. The band has a unique sound that Wikipedia classifies as "Dream Pop" and as we all know, if it is on Wikipedia, it must be true!

The duo creates the type of music that one might listen to at first and think, "alright, this is good," but by the end of the song, the thought process is more like "wow, that was [insert feeling/emotion/other thing that songs evoke in human peoples here.]"

It is hard to explain the feeling that accompanies bands like this. I think the best thing I can do is embed some of their songs, and let you be the judge.





Enjoy, and thanks for reading.
- David

Explanations and Excuses

Sitting in Starbucks, I realize that I am far, far behind on this blog. Why? I have no idea. Nor would I attempt to utilize half baked excuses that do little to right the wrong that is me not posting content to this blog. O.K, perhaps not quite so dramatic, however I do feel a sudden desire to post something here and to explain myself and my long absence.

As for the absence, I have begun the fall semester here at school, and, although exciting to think I will be graduating soon, the coursework and number of classes that I have to take in order to graduate when I want to is steadily growing. As such, things like this blog and my YouTube channel have, sadly, taken a back seat. Today, however, I am filled with optimism as I recently got A's on a paper and 2 exams, and realized that perhaps the semester is not all that bad, and I may, just may, have the time required to devote more of myself to endeavors such as the Daily Digit.

In addition, I have, for a long time now, wanted to share my love of all things media with the world through my YouTube channel, however because so mush of what I am interested in is intellectual property of people who are not me, the things that I am able to post on my channel are quite limited in that department. Because of that, I have decided to make this blog all about media, such as film, TV shows, music and the like, and my channel will be dedicated to design, software and educational things (like video tutorials,) as well as, of course, occasional random vlogs and videos.

As we move forward into the fall, I hope to become active once again both on this blog and my YouTube channel. Anything you would like to see either here or there is greatly welcomed as a suggestion, and I would love to hear your thoughts on what I should post here and make videos about over on YouTube.

Thank you all for sticking with me, and I hope to make the long wait for my return will worth the wait. Thanks, and I will talk to you soon.

- David

Subway Map Tutorial

So, I recently posted this video tutorial over on my YouTube channel, so I thought I would post it here as well! Let me know what you think!


Thanks for reading / watching and I will talk to you on Wednesday.
- Digit

Music & Emotion

There is a moment while you are listening to a song that you can understand exactly what the singer / songwriter was feeling when they wrote it. All that emotion and energy and feeling is almost palpable. Which asks the question, do songs need to be positive? I think not, but I also wonder what the effects of negative songs might have on society.

Let me explain. A song that I recently heard for the first time is one of these such songs. Negative, depressing and all too catchy. When I first heard the song, the context of what the song meant and the overall feel of the video was different, and I was left thinking, “wow, that is a catchy song, let me look it up,” which I promptly did.

Yes, the song is catchy, but after watching the video, and the remix video, I was left feeling sad and depressed, a strange feeling after listening to the song which, musically, is rather upbeat (especially the remix.)

So what, I asked myself, keeps me clicking replay. Admittedly, the video is well made, and the song is catchy, but why would I want to repeatedly listen to a song about drinking away the pain of a breakup? I honestly don’t know. You might say that it is because the song is so catchy. True in part, but there are plenty of catchy songs in existence with much more positive lyrics, and any number of these is available for me to listen to. So I ask again, why?

I think, for me, it has to do with emotion. When an artist writes songs like these, they do so because they feel something. That emotion and feeling translates itself to the music, which becomes relatable to a listener because of shared experience, or simply because of the human ability to empathize with the artist.

I think that, while negative and depressing songs like this can make a listener feel down, they are important because they allow artists to express their emotions and feelings freely and without inhibition. Do I feel depressed after listening to this song? Yes. But, I also feel a connection to the song and artist on a more human level, and that, I think, is one of the great powers of music in our society. We are able to connect with artists and each other through music.

So, stay high on music my friends, and break the habits that lead to the emotions that end up as songs like this. Without further ado, here is the music video for Habits by Tove Lo as well as the remix video, entitled Stay High.

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Let me know what you think, as well as your thoughts on music and society.

Thanks for reading, and I will talk to you on Monday.
- Digit

Technical Support

I had every intention of writing a nice long blog post all about a new song/music video that I recently found, but ended up finding myself knee deep in the world of computer troubleshooting.

Fear not, as after a few hours I was able to resolve the issue (my printer is a jerk) however I lost the time that I had set aside for writing this post. So, I have decided that tomorrow (Saturday) I will post the music related entry that I had planed to do today, and today, you get this video from the IT Crowd (cause, tech support and stuff)



Thanks, and I will talk to you tomorrow.
- Digit

Building a Website

I am in the process of creating the website for Purple Owl Media, a design and digital media company that I started a few months ago. I have found, however, that I am far too ambitious with my ideas. What I mean is that I start designing a site with so much promise, only to find that I have created tons of pages that I have no content to fill! WHY? Well, I have no idea. However, I do know that I would prefer an over ambitious approach to an under ambitious one, although I have found that both have their disadvantages.

I know this is a short post, but I thank you for reading and I will talk to you tomorrow.
- Digit

We're Back!

Hello all! It has been a few weeks now, and I have been less than bored these recent weeks. After a week out of town for work and another right after that for vacation, I am exhausted! But, I must return to the Daily Digit, as I have missed crafting these crudely made blog posts.

What have I been up to? Where have I been? These are questions that I plan on answering in the coming days, but for right now, I wanted to say, Hi, I am not dead, and I will talk to you tomorrow (or Wednesday, as I have a 10 hour drive tomorrow and may forget to post something due to pure exhaustion.)

Thanks for reading, and I will talk to you all soon.

NOTE: Temporary Break

Hello all.

This is a quick update that I will be taking a week or so off from writing on this blog, as my work schedule just changed, and I will be working a bit more than I expected. However, blog posts may appear randomly in the next few weeks, so keep checking in!

Thanks, and I will keep you updated as to when normal posting will resume.

- Digit

I am tiredness and such things as these and such

I am tired. I am tired. I am tired. I am tired. I am tired. I am tired. I am tired. I am tired. I am tired. I am tired. I am tired. I am tired. I am tired. I am tired. I am tired. I am tired. I am tired. I am tired. I am tired. I am tired. I am tired. I am tired. I am tired. I am tired. I am tired. I am tired. I am tired. I am tired. I am tired. I am tired. I am tired. I am tired. I am tired. I am tired. I am tired. I am tired. I am tired. I am tired. I am tired. I am tired. I am tired. I am tired. I am tired. I am tired. I am tired. I am tired. I am tired. I am tired. I am tired. I am tired. I am tired. I am tired. I am tired. I am tired. I am tired. I am tired. I am tired. I am tired. I am tired. I am tired. I am tired. I am tired. I am tired. I am tired. I am tired. I am tired. I am tired. I am tired. I am tired. I am tired. I am tired. I am tired. I am tired. I am tired. I am tired. I am tired. I am tired. I am tired. I am tired. I am tired. I am tired. I am tired. I am tired. I am tired. I am tired. I am tired. I am tired. I am tired. I am tired. I am tired. I am tired. I am tired. I am tired. I am tired. I am tired. I am tired. I am tired. I am tired. I am tired. I am tired. I am tired. I am tired. I am tired. I am tired. I am tired. I am tired.

Yes, yes indeed. I am ready for next week off! I need to catch up on some sleep! I will write a full blog post on what I have been doing this summer sometime next week, and let you all know what my experience has been. Despite the tiredness, there is a lot of great things about this job, so I will elaborate after the completion of work this Friday (2 days and counting!)

Talk soon,
- Digit

A Plan + About Monday...

Hello! The first thing that I want to do is talk about yesterday. Yah, sorry about the short, useless post but I felt weird not posting anything, so I decided to do a short post just to let you know that I have not forgotten.

With that out of the way, however, it is time to talk about a plan. Yes, a plan. You see, for the past few weeks (about 7 weeks, to be exact) I have been working as an overnight camp instructor at a great technology summer camp and I have been having a blast. That being said, I have literally no time, no life and am 100% exhausted 100% of the time. For that reason, I am not able to dedicate the time that I would like to things like this blog, or my YouTube channel.

But, this is week 7, and thus is the end of the summer. So, I will shortly be having a bit more time to put into developing my internet presence, specifically the "This is Digit" and "Daily Digit" brands. So, I have devised a plan of attack for next week, as well as the near future.

O.K. First off, I am notorious for NOT adhering to a schedule, so I will not make one. I will instead create a template or outline that I will use to guide me in my creative process. So, Monday through Friday, I will be posting here on the Daily Digit, as it is really quite therapeutic and I have really enjoyed it thus far.

Over on the YouTube, I will be posting 2 videos per week, with the potential for more. However, 2 is the number that I will be aiming for. As far as the blog posts for those days, they will relate to the video posted, and if a video goes up on a weekend day, there will be an extra blog post for that week.

So that is my plan going forward, and I am really excited to get under way.

Also, fear not, as I will post again really soon about music, so expect that.

Thanks so much, and I will talk to you tomorrow.

- Digit

Too Tired

Hello all. I am too tired to write anything intelligent tonight, so I will talk to you all tomorrow. Thanks,

Ahh, rest.

I am coming off a week of really tiring work, and there is something to be said for simply being able to sit back, relax and watch a video or two, without knowing that you have to wake up in the morning. I dislike morning time not because of the fact that is is morning. But more because it is the beginning of the day, whereas evening is the end.

Now, you might be asking yourself, "Why does he like the end more than the beginning?" Well, because the end is the culmination and conclusion to the story, or in this case, the day. The morning is great, because it starts off everything, but the evening and night are my favorite because they are the times when the world is asleep (Not literally, of course, due to the Earths rotation and such, but you get the point.)

This magical time when you are the only person crazy enough to be awake is one of my favorite feelings. To take a walk at 2 AM is an experience like none other. But there is another reason that I love the night time, and that is because it is a time of sleep and rejuvenation. I love sleep, and the night is generally when sleep happens.

So yah, the nighttime, and rest, are pretty darn awesome!

Thanks for reading, have a great weekend and I will talk to you on Monday.

Live Music

I know that in this world of perfection, we can often lose our appreciation for really good live music. I have been thinking a lot about this lately, as I myself have looked at different show tickets for some of my favorite artists and thought, "But that is so expensive, I can just listen to their album." But what is lost, you might ask, by listening to music solely on a digital disk or the internet?

This is a question that I have been asking myself recently. When listening to music on the web or in a polished, well produced medium, we hear exactly what the artist and production team want for us to hear, right? Well, yes, but we also lose the chance to see AND hear that song. Sometimes I wonder if the real experience IS to see that song preformed live. There is no false sense of perfection, and there is no disconnect between the artist and the listener. So, maybe the real experience is the live performance, and not the finished track.

I know that shows are expensive and that they require far more effort on your part to actually drive to a venue, find a parking space, actually get tickets, and all the rest that goes with a live show. But even that is part of the experience. That, I think, is the real difference. When listening to a song on a CD or YouTube, you get just that, a song, not an experience.

That is my thought process, anyways. I hope you enjoyed reading this, and I will talk to you tomorrow.

Quick Update and a Song

I am typing with no idea what to type about. So, lets begin, shall we? Ok. Welcome to Wednesday! I know this is being posted late, but I have had a rather hectic day. I currently work as a camp counselor, and as such I work with kids. Almost all the time, they are great, but with each week comes a new group of kids, and lets just say that every now and then, you get a few, well, difficult ones.

This week is no exception, and sadly, there is more than one. Because of this, I am extremely stressed and tired and exasperated at the end of every day, an therefor cannot really think straight. This blog is actually helpful, as I am able to combobulate my thoughts and get them out to the world. So for those of you reading this who would rather just jam out to some music or, in other words, forget about this somewhat downer of a blog post, here is a video you can check out. Thanks for reading and I will talk to you tomorrow.

- Digit

Lyrics and Melody

I realize this may get a bit personal, as in my opinion, music says a lot about people, especially when the lyrics really hit home. For me, music is mostly about melody and sound, and the lyrics and meaning come secondary. But lets all be honest, the really great songs do both really well. But therein lies the issue, because not everyone will have the same musical taste, and not everyone will have the life experiences required to relate to any given set of lyrics.

This is an issue that I run across often, because I listen to so much music. I often listen to a song that really speaks to me, but musically is just not quite there. The opposite is also true, and there are some great songs out there that have a really great beat, but the lyrics are not relatable. So, I am always excited and impressed when I hear a song that meets both requirements.



Florrie is a British singer who has a fairly small discography, and as such, it is rather unlikely that I would stumble across her music. But I did, and, well, wow. Her first single is a song called "Little White Lies," and here is where it gets a bit personal, because the lyrics speak to me on an almost personal level. No idea how she is able to capture all of that in a song, but she has. At any rate, if your personality is anything like mine, you will easily relate to the lyrics.

The tune is also stellar, and that is a potent combination in a song. Lets just say that I currently have the song on repeat as I type this very blog!

So enjoy, dear readers, and also get a small insight into my own psyche. Thank you so much for reading, and I will talk to you tomorrow.

- Digit

I almost forgot this one!

I really just blanked on one important fact relating to this blog. It is, in fact, Monday, a day on which I am to post to the daily digit! At least, it is according to my own rules. At any rate, I guess I am still stuck in the weekend, as I completely forgot! But not all is lost, as I remembered in time, as as such, here we are!

Today, I want to talk about something that has been on my mind for a few days. That is, the school season. For some reason, I am oddly excited for the fall semester to start at my university, and I think that the reason for that is three fold. First, and perhaps most importantly, the classes that I am taking, while potentially difficult, are all in all, quite fun classes. Or at least, they should be, given I have a decent professor who actually tries! But that is only one reason. There are a few more as to why I am so excited.

Another reason for my seemingly baseless excitement for the return to school is the fact that I only have one year left. What! You might ask! Yes, only one year or two more semesters and I am done with by Bachelors degrees. Insert excitement here! I am stoked to be finally finishing up with a degree that has been five years in the making. Yes, I beat around the bush at community college, taking random classes at first to test the waters and see what I enjoyed doing. But still, I am ready to be out of school, at least for a while. I may go back in the future and get a masters, but well see.

And finally, the last reason that I am excited to return to the classroom is the fact that I will get to be back on a college campus. I am not sure about you all, but for me, a college campus is a magical place of learning and knowledge, and the peace and quite one can find on campus can be one of the most relaxing and tranquil experiences ever! Yes, I know I am a little odd!

At any rate, I am excited to pick up the books, pack the bags, and hunker down for the last two semesters of college. I wont be sad to leave, but I am not all that sad to stay, either.

Thanks for reading, and I will talk to you tomorrow.

Christina Novelli

Oh, YouTube, you have a persistent need to introduce me to new and interesting artists. I am not faulting YouTube in any way, far from it, in fact. I am one who, lets be honest, tends to listen to music more than is really ever required, and my musical taste is really quite boundless. Yes, there are tracks by certain artists that I am less than fond of, but by and large, I love almost every kind of music.

Therefor, it should come as no surprise that when YouTube and other sites offer me suggested music or music videos to listen to or watch respectively, I jump at the opportunity to potentially discover a new favorite artists, or at least, to hear a song that I think, wow, that was worth it.

This time, however, I did not just listen and think, wow, that was worth it. I listened to several songs, several times, and am doing so as I write this post. Have all those songs and all those listens been a worthwhile use of my time? In a word, yes.

Christina Novelli is a relatively unknown singer from Hertfordshire, in the United Kingdom. As of now, she has quite a list of collaborations with others, and although she does not have an album, I am quite hopeful that she will come out with one in the future.

Novelli's voice is both powerful and clear, and mixed with the dance and techno tracks by collaborative artists like Gareth Emery and Craig Connelly, the result is something that for a music lover such as myself, is pretty near bliss.

The very first song that I heard was the collaboration with Gareth Emery on the track Concrete Angels, which is an amazing song in and of itself, but also has a creative music video, and yes, I pay attention to such things! Here is the video:


Another great song and video come from her collaboration with Craig Connelly on the track Black Hole, which again incorporates great visuals into the video, which helps tell the story of the song. Here is that video.


And because I really just want you to get the full sample, I shall now include one more video, which is not a video, but simply an image with music. Still, I recommend you give it a listen.


Well worth a listen, I cannot think of a better way to spend a few minutes of you time. Fair warning, however, a few minutes may look a little longer when you finally realize that you have been listening to songs for the better part of an hour. Still, the answer is yes. It's worth it.

Thanks for reading, and I will talk to you tomorrow.
- Digit

Some Pictures about a Campus

Today, I had some time to walk around my local university and take some photos. I picked a few that I thought turned out rather well, and decided to share them with you. These are not edited at all, just straight from the camera, so I realize they could be better, but anyways, enjoy!

An emergency call station at dusk.

A Tree

A Rusty Railing by a dumpster.

A Flower on a bush.

Art Dept. Staircase.

Art Dept. Lockers.

I hope you have enjoyed these photos, and I will talk to you tomorrow! Thanks for reading,

- Digit

10 minutes

I was issued a challenge earlier today, to write a bad horror video game based story in 10 minutes. Well, here is the result. Enjoy!

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Soda and Head Crabs

As I walked across the road, I saw something strange. Happily, I strolled, every day for six years. However, this time, something was amiss. There was some sort of pod that had seemingly been dropped from the sky, and inside and around the pod were some bizarre little creatures. They reminded me of headcrabs from half life, but that was clearly imposs… no, nope, they are actually head crabs, my neighbor Horton just got attacked. Oh, my, this is not good. Things took a turn just then, ok, will, i should run. Still, I could go for a soda, there is a vending machine around here somewhere.

I found it, a vending machine, but after I inserted my money, the machine dispensed an empty can. Strange, but I guess. . . OH MY GOD, ANOTHER HEAD CRAB!

Running, running and bloody, no idea what the blood is all about, I don't remember getting cut, oh, it is just grape juice, thank goodness, I guess I can take this shortcut, Ouch, now I really am bleeding! Those head crabs can’t smell blood can they? I dont think so. “Yesss, they can,” said the slender man, standing in the shadows. He is there every day between 4 PM and 6 PM. What he does, I do not know, but [he is a bit odd. He has nothing to do with the missing people. obviously, just thought I would point that out, you know, to clarify. Actually, now that I think about it…

Ok, better. I have escaped the head crabs for now. Could have been worse, obviously. Anyways, I really am bleeding pretty bad now, should find some help, but I might meet some more head crabs, better to just bleed out here, in this cozy dark depressing and slightly smelly alleyway, well, I have lived a good… Well, I have lived a life, so ...yah.

Death is better than one might think. There is a lot of juice, apple. orange, grape, OH NO, GRAPE! I AM STILL BLEEDING. Then out of nowhere, jumps a headcrab. Seriously, in heaven. I am dead, and I still have to deal with this. Seriously, I am dead.

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Let me know what you think, and have a great day!

lol

This will be a short blog post, as I am tired and slightly loopy. At any rate, I must post, so here goes. Today I was re introduced to a game called League of Legends. You have probably heard of this game, in some form or another, and I have had experience in the past, but have not played for several months.

Fear not, however, because I am now back in the thick of things, as it were. I am working at a tech/computer summer camp, and a group of staff and campers all got together and we played some LOL! It was a great deal of fun, and I realized how important people are while gaming, even when you might not think that.

So get out there gamers, and everyone for that matter, and keep building those human bridges.

Like I said, a super short post, but I hope you enjoyed reading it, and I will talk to you tomorrow.

Fire N Gold

Why do I listen to music so incessantly, day in and day out? No idea. That being said, I do tend to stumble across a neat video or a cool song from time to time. However, the place is usually YouTube or Pandora. This one is different. I was sitting in Starbucks, and this song played. In the back of my mind, I though that I had heard the song before. So, I did and one does on such occasion, and whipped out the amazing SoundHound app, which allowed me to search the song based on the melody, and, well to be honest I think there might be a little witchcraft involved, seriously, I have no idea how the app searches the music.

At any rate, I searched the song, and discovered that I had never in my life heard of the artist, Bea Miller, or the song, Fire N Gold. So, as dictated by the musical YouTube gods, I listened to the song about 5000 times, (not really, but you get the point,) and as such felt compelled to share it with all of you here on the Daily Digit. Let me know what you think!




Thanks for reading,

- Digit

Foxes

I have recently been obsessed with the new album by Foxes. Why? I do not know. However I do know that this is an artist that, in my opinion, will go very far. For one, her style, while keeping with the somewhat traditional indie pop sound, tends to add a unique style that sets her music apart from the rest.

My first exposure to her music, much like most of America, was with her collaboration with Zedd on the track Clarity. A fan of the song, it did not get me all that excited about Foxes, and I spent about 2 months not giving her a second thought.

Then, I somehow stumbled across the music video for her single, Youth, and I was hooked. I love the way that her music is able to conjure up images of the things she is singing about. While watching the music video, I really was transported into the world that she had created, both with the song and the video.

After watching this video, I, as one does, watched all of the videos on the official Foxes VEVO channel, as well as way too many lyric and cover videos that I was able to scrounge up on the deep dark sections of the YouTube.

As I continued to explore her music, I realized that her combination of a unique style and a seemingly great personality (I also watched some interviews and such) I was a fan.

So I am writing this post to say that if you have not already, check out her music. You may just discover a new artist that is making some pretty great music.

Thanks for reading, and I will talk to you tomorrow.

- Digit

The Daily Digit! Wait What?

Hello all!

Welcome to the daily digit, a blog about anything and everything. My name is David, but here on the inter webs, I go by Digit. This blog is so that I can share my thoughts and opinions with all of you, and so that I have a place where I can further develop my writing and editorial ability. Note, I may have a slight bias and write mainly about music, video games and movies. Just saying.

Along with this blog, I have a Twitter account, a YouTube channel and a Twitch TV account where you can find me if I am not here. Many of these social media outlets are in their early stages of development, so check back in a month or so to see more content.

As the title implies, this is a daily blog, but every now and then, I may take a day or two off, but I will do my best to forewarn you about any absences that may occur.

Thank you in advance for giving this blog a moment of your time, and I will talk to you tomorrow!

A crash in an airplane - FSX

I love flying around my home airport in Microsoft's Flight Simulator X (FSX), however there are some things that even the most avid gamers can't grasp. For me, that is landing a plane in FSX.

Almost every time I come in for an approach, something seems to happen that results in me, well, crashing. From time to time, I do sort of land the plane, but more often than not, my landings are less than perfect. This can be aggravating, as all I want is to be able to successfully land a plane! But it is something that requires practice and skill, things that are less than apparent in some other games these days.

This is, after all, a simulator. Well, technically it’s a game, but the underlying physics and gameplay make it seem like a simulator. Yes, one could jump into the cockpit and just apply some throttle, but the truly dedicated spend hours perfecting the art of simulation. They practice takeoffs, landings and everything in between. Why? Because they love the experience and the process. The goal of many is not simply to fly an airplane from point A to B, but rather to capture the experience of flying, with all it’s challenges and rewards.

So why can I not land an airplane? Perhaps because I suck at the game. Or perhaps, because I have not given it the time, dedication and respect that flight simulation demands. Either way, I love this game

Icon For Hire

It almost seems rare in this day and age to stumble across something new, something that you had not heard of before. And completely by chance! While watching a YouTube video recently, one of the recommended videos caught my eye. "Get Well" was the song, and Icon For Hire was the band. As I enjoy just about every genera of music, I thought, "Why not, it might be good." Well, turns out that it was good. Quite good!

I am writing this blog post roughly eight hours later, having listened to one of their albums twice, and this song more times than I care to admit. So I thought that I would share the video with you, and who knows, you might like it.

Thanks for reading, and click here to see the video.

New Challenge

I am not sure if this is something many experience, or just me, but I have reached a point in my life where I realize that I just want to do something. I am tired of just sitting in my room doing homework and watching movies. So I have decided to take it upon myself to start doing. What I mean by this is that, although I have many interests, some stand out as being on the top of my "favorites" list.

Some of the items that top this list are listening to music, watching TV shows and films, as well as video production, and writing. I thought that it would be a great idea to incorporate all these loves into one project, and while that seems a little much to ask, I thought that I would at least use this blog to write about film, TV and music.

In addition, I am writing short stories and scripts, along with the occasional comedy sketch and things of that nature.

How will I do with this challenge? We'll see. If nothing else, you can expect more media related posts here on the blog, along with some short stories, fiction, sketch comedy pieces and other randomness. I hope you enjoy!

- Dave S

one song (or 2)

Every now and then, I come across a song that I just cannot seem to get out of my head. Partially because it is just s really good song, but also because I have the habit of always playing the song, over and over and over. When I find a song or two that I just really like, I will play that song over and over, and I never seem to get board of it. What can I say, I like music I guess.

What is your favorite song right now?




BYE!

Dumb Charicters

So I will admit, I am an adult who still enjoys a good day of vegging out in front of the TV and watching Disney and Nick shows. What can I say, I just enjoy them! But recently I have been getting really annoyed by all the dumb characters that appear on these types of shows. I realize that they are there for comic relief, but after a while, they all just seem like the same, idiotic cop out that writers use to make their jobs easier. I feel like it is quite possible to make a good, funny show that does not use such cheap tricks as dumb characters in shows.

Now in some cases, these "dumb" characters are written well, but the overall consensus for me is that these dumb characters are overused and an unnecessary addition to many TV programs.

Let me know what you think,

BYE!