2013, Hello, how are you?

I had originally intended to write this around Christmas time to explain the radio silence on the site, but the holidays just get so incredibly busy I just couldn't find the time.  So it's pretty late on New Year's Day and I figure I can write this pretty quickly.

2012 was a helluva year, it was the year I started trying to be a lot more regularly active on this site, writing the articles on Bro-horror and the video game articles about SCP-087 and Self-extension and the horror of Discovery.  Also, a ton of movies.

The House at the end of the Street was probably the most disappointing movie I'd seen.  I really ripped into it, and that may not have been fair but if I had seen this movie on Netflix instant I would have wandered off or found something else to watch.

I didn't write a full post about it, but The Woman in Black impressed the hell out of me.  It was a bit of a comedy of errors trying to watch it, but on the 2nd attempt we got all the way through it and it was a great old-school horror movie.  It had a lot of Thing-In-The-Background, Weird-Shape-In-The-Storm styles of scares.  Almost no jump scares and false scares used well.  I wasn't making nearly as many "Oh look it's Harry Potter" jokes as I was expecting, since the acting was actually not half-bad.  I'm planning on getting this on DVD/Blu-Ray.

In other news I also went to the National Homebrewer's Convention this year.  It was a wonderful experience, and also very educational.  The 2013 Convention is going to be in Philly, and as usual you need an American Homebrewer's Association membership.  If you brew ANYTHING, vinegar, kombucha, beer, wine, sake, etc.  you should get an AHA membership.  It's not expensive and they are doing good things for homebrewer's across the country.

Also in beer I made the official change to all-grain brewing and started kegging my homebrew.  Kegging is much more satisfying than bottling, it's a worthwhile switch.  In 2013 I'm switching from a braid filter to a false bottom.  I recently re-attempted the Chocolate Orange Stout, but won't get to try that until 2013 as well.  I'm also anticipating some sours beginning this year.

2012 also saw me traveling much more than I ever have before.  As mentioned the NHC was in Seattle, so I had to fly there.  I also went to Florida twice, once in February to visit my folks on vacation and then again in October for Halloween Horror Nights in Universal Studios.  It was an incredible collection of haunted houses.  The whole thing teemed of some very annoying people, but with a speed pass it was possible to see everything.  All the haunted houses followed the same basic formula, which really good in some haunts and not so well in others but it was all really professional quality.  I can only imagine the show will get better in 2013, though I'll probably get a multi-night pass and spread the visit out a bit.

However, one of the main reasons I haven't been writing as much is that I started a Youtube Channel.  Currently the only show is is "Let's Drink to Gaming", which is a Let's Play-style show with themed cocktails.  Check it out, the edges are still rough but the quality is improving.  There are a few more things in planning, so stay tuned.  It'll hopefully be interesting.

Anyway, that's some stuff that's been going on.  Now I need to start getting used to writing 2013 on my checks.

--Phil