Ding 48!

By Shamus Posted Saturday Aug 24, 2019

Filed under: Landmarks 50 comments

Wait, ANOTHER birthday? I just had one a couple of… Well, okay. I guess that was about a year ago. That makes sense I guess. Still, it feels like these things are getting closer together.

I’m trying to stay in shape. Someone suggested I should get into cycling. So I’ve been watching Global Cycling Network and Seth’s Bike Hacks. I even watched the exhausting run as Kilian Bron fought for 1st place in a field of 1,400 riders in MEGAVALANCHE 2019. I also watched a couple of guys try to tackle the 1903 Tour de France on period-appropriate bikes, although that one almost did me in.

I haven’t lost any weight yet. Am I watching the wrong videos?

My wife asked what I wanted for my birthday. I told her I wanted Cyberpunk 2077 to come out now. Instead she got me a cool LED clock. The clock is nice, although I wonder why she bothers asking me for gift suggestions when she never gets me what I ask for. She did the same thing last Christmas when I asked for EA to stop grinding studios down with mismanagement, and instead she got me some nice things for my home office.

It’s my day off, so I’m going to keep this entry short. I’m making a point of relaxing today, so I’m taking a break from the cycling videos. I think I’ll play some modded Minecraft. I got a version with raytracing working, and that’s pretty cool.





Thanks for reading.

 


From The Archives:
 

50 thoughts on “Ding 48!

  1. Ralph says:

    Happy Birthday old bean :)

    1. Nimrandir says:

      In the interest of keeping the comment thread neat, I’ll toss my birthday wishes in here. Hope it’s a blast!

  2. Wangwang says:

    I spent 15 minutes to think of a clever suggestion for your weight, and came up with nothing. So happy birthday you funny sag of dice.
    Now where are our birthday gifts?

    1. Syal says:

      Try to find videos with lots of hills. Also bursts of speed will burn more than a steady pace, so you want to turn the video to 2x speed every so often.

      1. Mikko Lukkarinen says:

        I’ve heard lifting weights is another good way to lose weight, so maybe a pick a video with a very heavy subject matter, like starvation in Africa or human trafficking.

        1. Sleeping Dragon says:

          Roll dice, lots and lots of dice.

          1. Nimrandir says:

            If only this truly counted as exercise. Maybe i would be inclined to stop playing spellcasters who make other people roll dice.

  3. Narkis says:

    Happy birthday Shamus!

  4. Thomas says:

    Happy birthday!

  5. Zaxares says:

    Happy Birthday, Shamus! My own birthday is coming up in less than a week, and I’m on the cusp of the big 4-0 myself. Not really looking forward to it. >.< I'm at the stage now where each birthday feels less like a celebration and more like a "Death is one year closer…" feeling.

  6. baud says:

    Happy birthday Shamus!

  7. RFS-81 says:

    Happy Birthday!

    Those are some pretty screenshots, I didn’t expect that realistic lighting would go so well with a stylized game like Minecraft.

    1. Simplex says:

      Me neither. The lightning is so realistic, that even a “camera obscura” effect is present. It’s pretty mind blowing.
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opCDN2jkZaI

  8. Christopher says:

    Happy birthday!

  9. krellen says:

    Congratulations on surviving another transit of the sun, Shamus!

    Still, it feels like these things are getting closer together.

    That’s because they are. Our perception of time is relative, not absolute, and so every time period is shorter than the one the preceded it. Your last birthday was 1/47th of your life from the one before, and this one was but 1/48th of your life. Your brain doesn’t care that both periods were 365.2422 days; 1/48th is smaller than 1/47th, so it seems like less time has passed.

    1. Philadelphus says:

      I also read a suggestion by a biologist this year that we literally process things slower as we age. To make a bad gaming analogy, it’s as if kids are experiencing life at a thousand ticks per second, so time seems to pass slower, while older people are only experiencing it at, say, 60 ticks per second so the same amount of time subjectively seems to go by faster since there are fewer ‘ticks’ in it.

      Regardless, happy birthday! Would you mind sharing a link to those working ray-tracing shaders? :)

  10. Mark Cheverton says:

    Looking sharper than ever Shamus, maybe once you’re a hundred, you’ll have achieved godhood and ascended into a higher plane of existence where you have moved on to critique and commentate on the entertainment and media of the Outer Gods

    1. BlueHorus says:

      the entertainment and media of the Outer Gods

      “Frankly, I couldn’t make heads nor tails of ‘Ftagenn Ap Facenschlappa’ by Cthulu. As fas I could tell, it was just incoherent gibberish and tentacles hitting people. Though apparently, that’s the kind of film he likes to make, according to his fans.”

      “Though I am looking forawrd to ‘1000 Sacrificial Virgins And Only One Profane Altar: A comedy, by Tzeentch’.”

      In other news: Happy Birthday, Shamus.

      1. Asdasd says:

        How many Chaos Gods does it take to change a lightbulb?

        One. Tzeentch. He’s the god of change.

        Happy Birthday Shamus!

  11. Duoae says:

    Happy birthday, Shamus! Enjoy the ray-traced minecraft! :)

  12. Paul Spooner says:

    If you’re looking to get your heart rate up, the right kind of videos are the political ones. Or that other kind of video that starts with “p”.
    The Ray tracing does look good! Happy birthday.

    1. BlueHorus says:

      Exactly so. Go for that classic Youtube Engagement. You definitely won’t be alone.

      Then, you can ask your wife for a personalised puchbag with the face of [INSERT CHOSEN POLITCAL FIGURE/VIDEOGAME COMPANY CEO/YOUTUBE TROLL HERE] on it for your bithday and do a workout in your office!

    2. Nimrandir says:

      Or that other kind of video that starts with “p”.

      Seriously. When I think exercise, I think polka.

      1. BlueHorus says:

        Well, it could be pilates videos…or pole-dancing ones?

        1. RFS-81 says:

          Cold … cold … cold … HOT!

        2. Nimrandir says:

          Ooh! A Pensacola performance of Pirates of Penzance!

  13. Steve C says:

    Happy Birthday!

  14. Hal says:

    Ray tracing in Minecraft seems like putting a spoiler and nitro on a Honda Civic. Enjoy!

    1. Nimrandir says:

      I actually knew a fair number of people in high school who were really into fixing up Civics. These were always the hatch models, though, which I’m not even sure Honda still makes.

  15. Drathnoxis says:

    Happy Birthday, you should treat yourself to Outer Wilds (not Outer Worlds) an amazing space detective groundhog’s day adventury type thing. It’s as if they mixed No Man’s Sky, Mario Galaxy, Groundhog’s Day, and some sort of detective game like Return of the Obra Dinn. You go planet to planet solving the mysteries of what happened to the precursor race that existed in your solar system thousands of years ago and what the heck they were up to before being wiped out. It’s great!

  16. Zeta Kai says:

    Happy birthday, Shamus. May you have many, many more such surprising anniversaries.

    Also, the key to weight loss is Diet & Exercise. Nothing else works, & there is no cheat code. If you are working out & you still can’t lose weight, then you will need to eat healthier food less often. I recommend intermittent fasting, as I have had very positive results from it. If you have the willpower to exercise regularly, then you have the self-discipline to maintain a calorically-negative diet. It may take some adjustment, but I have confidence in you. Good luck, & we’ll see you (less) a-round next year.

  17. Ionami says:

    Happy Birthday!

    Regarding weight loss – I’ve lost 70 pounds in just under a year simply by tracking daily calories. Everyone always has suggestions and ideas for diets and weight loss but quite honestly if you’re looking to lose the biggest thing is just to watch your caloric intake. (Plus exercise of course.)

    If you’re serious about it I recommend using a program like MyFitnessPal or something similar to help track your calories and progress day to day.

    /sales pitch over

  18. Xeorm says:

    Happy birthday as well. Have you thought of asking for things she’ll want to give you instead?

  19. Galad says:

    Happy Birthday, Shamus! I hope you continue feeling reasonably happy with your life’s status quo :)

  20. pseudonym says:

    Happy birthday Shamus!

    Some unsollicited advice: exercise works best when it’s a daily routine. The good news: walking (for at least 20 minutes at a steady pace) is also exercise. For example “walking to office” everyday by taking a walk around town before starting work and walking back at the end of today.
    More good news: the desire for food tends to be balanced with the need for calories above a certain level of exercise each day. The guideline is 40 minutes. So no need to worry about weight extensively when there is a daily exercise (walking) routine.
    The important thing for doing something daily is to enjoy it. You have written on this blog that you enjoy walking around town telling stories, so I hope this advice was sound. Maybe Isaac or Heather would like to walk with you?

    I used to think about sports and never get to it. Now I just take my bicycle everyday and cycle to one station further on the track. It makes my commute slightly longer, but I really enjoy the cycling and I get much more exercise each week than I would from a sports class. It works for me, although I am aware it might not work for everyone.

  21. ObsidianNebula says:

    Happy birthday, Shamus!

    And if it makes you feel any better, I looked at the title of this article and also thought, “Already? Didn’t he just-?” So clearly, I am not prepared to turn 20 in a few months.

  22. Amstrad says:

    Happy birthday Shamus! Gratz!

  23. John says:

    Happy birthday, Shamus!

  24. tmtvl says:

    Happy birthday, young ‘un. Do you eat a lot of lettuce? It fills you up despite consisting mainly of water, so it helps you keep calories under control without really having to track ’em.
    It might also help to get into the habit of nervously pacing around when you’re thinking. Bonus points if you can get a nice swooshy cape.

  25. Kyrillos says:

    Happy birthday Shamus! Mine was yesterday, and I always forget how close my day of birth is to my favorite internet sorta celebs.

  26. Mistwraithe says:

    Happy Birthday! And thanks for gifting us some laughs with this post.

  27. Lino says:

    Happy belated birthday! I wish you lots of good health, happiness and luck!

  28. ccesarano says:

    Gratuitous happy birthday wishes.

    I admittedly twitched an eye when you mentioned someone recommending cycling. My town is full of boomer cyclists that clog the busiest roads with their slow-moving bicycles, causing major traffic issues despite there being plenty of nice parks and trails in the vicinity they could ride instead, and then they come into the coffee shop and commandeer a whole corner of the place, typically where there are outlets that laptops require for power.

    I understand that this is not every cyclist. But if you wanted to negatively stereotype boomers like people negatively stereotype millennials, then I can think of nothing more wholly representative than what a cohort and I have simply titled The Boomer Cyclists.

    Glad to know that you’ve been enjoying the hobby from the comfort of your chair.

  29. Adrian Lopez says:

    Carnivore diet will help with weight loss

  30. Mephane says:

    Happy birthday, Shamus!

  31. Back in the late 1990s I belonged to a gym that had a stationary exercise bicycle with a large screen attached to the front of it. It had a variety of CGI videos to select from, such as rolling hills, flat road, etc. and the bicycle would increase/decrease the pedal tension based upon what was on the screen. It was clunky and the videos were a bit ugly in that late 90s blocky fashion, but I still had fun working out on it.

    Maybe you can ride a stationary bicycle while playing Cyberpunk 2077 and pretend that it’s 1998? :-D

    Also… HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

  32. Jamey says:

    Happy birthday!!!

  33. Liam says:

    I did a bit of a double take when you mentioned GCN and Seth’s Bike Hacks (I actually had a GCN video playing on my tv when reading your post on my phone) as I wasn’t expecting such a crossover.

    Bike riding can be fun and rewarding, however I’m not the best example as I broke my collarbone, got concussion and ended up with ventricular tachycardia after a mountain bike crash recently, so there are potential downsides as well.

    Anyway, happy birthday!

  34. LCF says:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MuJA5WwaL_A
    The Crüxshadows – Birthday

    Warm wishes of wellness.

Thanks for joining the discussion. Be nice, don't post angry, and enjoy yourself. This is supposed to be fun. Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked*

You can enclose spoilers in <strike> tags like so:
<strike>Darth Vader is Luke's father!</strike>

You can make things italics like this:
Can you imagine having Darth Vader as your <i>father</i>?

You can make things bold like this:
I'm <b>very</b> glad Darth Vader isn't my father.

You can make links like this:
I'm reading about <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darth_Vader">Darth Vader</a> on Wikipedia!

You can quote someone like this:
Darth Vader said <blockquote>Luke, I am your father.</blockquote>

Leave a Reply to Paul Spooner Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published.