F1 TV

As a huge fan of Formula 1 racing (go team Ferrari!), I was thrilled to discover F1 TV. If you’re willing to wait a couple days after the race to watch it, it’s just $3/month to watch any race going back decades, all the way up to the current season.

Tool’s “Fear Inoculum”

After well over a decade, Tool has released a great new album. It’s definitely a great experience to listen to in its entirety, but it somewhat lacks any great singles like Aenima and 10,000 Days had. What it does have is great asymmetrical time signatures (5/4, 7/8, etc), providing some awesome rhythmic grooves.

If you like Tool it’s worth checking out. The “deluxe” sort of CD offering is long gone/sold out, and now the price to get one is even more absurd than the $37 that they were offered for brand-new… but the mp3 album is great and goes for $12.

Green Rooibos

I drink a lot of tea, and while I’ve enjoyed regular Rooibos tea (or “red tea”) as a caffeine-free plant to drink, it has an extremely mild flavor.

On the Tealyra website I came across green rooibos, which is the same plant but processed much like regular green tea. The flavor is stronger, with a spicy peppery note and grassy flavors.

I definitely recommend it for a flavorful herbal tea.

BBE Sonic Maximizer

Late last year I purchased a BBE Sonic Maximizer, for both recording music and enhancing music I listen to from my PC into my stereo. While I haven’t recorded all that much music lately, the difference with the Maximizer on or off is astounding.
The bass is boosted without becoming boomy, the stereo separation is dramatically enhanced, and there is a treble and/or presence level EQ enhancement that really clears the sound of music.
It sounds particularly amazing with techno and electronica. My device version is the 882i.

Finally Beat “Abzu” on PS4

It didn’t take long to beat Abzu out of difficulty, but rather losing interest for quite a while. The visuals are beautiful, and it’s a fun experience, but there’s basically zero difficulty and no way to lose.

Overall I’d say it’s a mediocre game, and far less interesting than “Journey”, made by the same developer. And while I’d like to play Journey again, I don’t think I’ll be playing Abzu a second time.

Nonetheless, having found a deal on the PlayStation store to buy it for $5, I’d say it was well worth the money.