StarCraft Pillow & Music

I first played StarCraft back in... a while ago... 2000? I was working as a camp councilor at the ACE computer camp down at Stanford that summer and I remember staying up late at night delighting in how creepy the sound effects were as I played through mission after mission. I've never stopped loving the Zerg since.

Was totally rocking that SC2 beta back at the very start, and have been playing it off and on since with my friends. I'm no pro (or Gold league even... would call myself a mid-range Silver) and I never even finished the campaign... but I enjoy the game and enjoy my friends who enjoy the game even more. A particular gentleman- the most talented of us lot- has taught Adam and I the delight in watching the league Korean gamers play. Starcraft- the only pro-sport I'll actually watch/follow along. Huh.



Anyway, this friend of ours aged and to celebrate it I made a pillow following this free pattern over at Sew, Mama, Sew!. While he can kick butt as any race, he tends to favor the (boring) Terrans.


Shout-out to my friend Katie for helping me pick out the fabric on super short notice (did you know JoAnne's cutting table closes 10 minutes before the store does?)

I've got enough for another one- think I'll give it a try. The blue would look good in our den. I of course plan to follow up with my own Zerg pillow and then I guess I'm obligated to make a Protoss one eventually... It's Adam's race of choice (figures, yes?)

Yes, this one is... less then ideal. Turns out one should probably applique and *then* cut the square out... because laying down applique straight is a bit "tricky"... Live and learn.

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Speaking of wrapping stuff up that happened last month-- I now feel capable of sharing my Febuary/January 2012 playlist. It's got some songs I knew I liked, but it's mostly new things I've scrapped together during that period of time. While it takes work, I am a fan of combing through Rdio.com's weekly releases listening to random songs here and there. It's labor intensive but worth it for me since things like Pandora never seemed to work out (Last.fm's stations by tag is my other search of choice)

Feburary/Jaunary 2012 Rdio.com playlist

Warning : contains several NSFW tracks

It's the first playlist where I've actually ordered stuff a bit-

• First we start off with a touch of moody music-- I appreciate the yearning sound I hear in Cheerleader, and the sadness of Everybody's Got To Learn Sometime....
  
• That goes on for a while and we eventually end up with Nine Inch Nails, we're finally, like, "Really?" and wrap up that leg of the playlist with Super Saiyan
  
• A confused story begins to unwind... in my mind I feel it's totally reasonable to string together Over At The Frankenstein Place, Cheerleader, Two Against One + more... it's a story of loss, unhappiness, angst, and frustration which life and oneself... culminating with The Hill....
  
• ... after *that* downer, we're, like, "Fuck it, lets turn this up" and lurch over to Touch-A, Touch-A, Touch Me, Bad Girls, and more. So much more. Note the artful transition from "real" hip-hop by Jay Z & Kanye West into delicious Nerd Core tracks. In my mind, they sound the same. Special attention must be drawn to the Former Fat Boys tracks-- a totally random yet delightful find during February
  
• Narratives and energy are hard to maintain so it starts to fumble towards the end... The last highlight(s) would be the two (spread out) tracks from the Arkham City EP which basically sounds like Batman quotes & Dubstep- a fitting conclusion to my confused nerd core leg of the playlist.
  
• Let us note that the playlist concludes with Prelude- the opening track to some random crazy metal album. Why does Rdio have so many of these? I keep wanting to like crazy (death?) metal... but I just can't bring myself to tollerate the screaming for an entire track...