January 26th Entry: First Month of 2019

GuuzakaTube                                                                                                  2019-01-24

January 26th Entry: First Month of 2019

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And here I am with the first blog post of 2019! 😄🎉 Or in the other words, the final year of this decade. If there's one thing I should mention that's going to be exciting for 2020, is all the all-electric vehicles we're going to see! Rivian and Bollinger are two exciting startups that come to mind. I have heard of others like Atlis and even Havelaar, but I do not think they will have products released for 2020. Havelaar in particular, has been silent since 2017. 😶 Are they still even doing anything? 🤨

Anyways! Let us just proceed to discussing the latest videos! 😎

Asphalt 9: Legends

Admit it, this video probably surprised you, didn't it? After quitting Asphalt 8 all the back in July 2018, you probably may have thought that I would be forever done with the Asphalt series entirely and completely. Well, after taking a good, long break, I've decided to come back to their newer Asphalt 9 series. This time with a much more mature, responsible mindset. From that day and onward, I've learned to never put so much time and effort into something not worth the sweat. 🕒💧 So with that said, I play Asphalt 9 very casually and lightly, meaning that I will not become an elite anytime ever, nor will I even try to get anywhere near there.😉

If you can remember back in 2018, a lot of people insisted that Asphalt 8 was far better, and that Asphalt 9 was all graphics and shine, and no actual fun. Or perhaps it was just the vocal minorities that gave me that impression? 🤨 Either way, I honestly think that Asphalt 9 is a good game. In fact, better than Asphalt 8. Yes, I said that and here's why:

1) All cars are buildable with blueprints. At first, that seemed like a horrible idea, but seeing as though blueprints aren't hard to get a hold of, it's actually good

2) More events for tokens and credits. Seriously, tokens are far easier to get in this game! In Asphalt 8, they were such a damn nightmare! 🦂🕷🕸 Well, I don't know how token-demanding this game is yet, so we'll see if there's catch here. I have noticed that you can actually buy token with your credits! 🤩 Dang, they have really taken the community's backlash from Asphalt 8 seriously with this game. 👍🏾

3) The graphics. This is something you cannot deny. In fact, many sources say that Asphalt 9 actually has the best graphics to date, for a mobile racing game. Now that is a serious accomplishment. 🏆

4) Ads are far less intrusive. Nuff said.

5) Progression is easier. They've managed to do it in way that it does not make them game itself easy, but also not painful like Asphalt 8.

6) With the exception of certain vehicles like trains, it seems like traffic doesn't get you murdered.

Overall, I'm liking it better and I can see where they've listened to the community with the gripes they had with Asphalt 8. Now if only we could have manual acceleration, and 1080p@60FPS for all high-end devices, and not just the iPhone XR, iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max. Seriously, there are phones with gaming modes meant for this. Some phones are even centered around gaming. Razer Phone 2 and Asus ROG anyone?🎮

Unboxing BlackBerry Passport Seidio Surface Cases and Holsters

I really do wish that stores still kept dual layer holster kickstand cases in stock for the BlackBerry Passport, but nope! ☹ The Seidio Surface was the closest thing I liked, so I went with two of them. Really wanted it in blue, but couldn't justify the price for it on Amazon. 😵 How am I liking them? They look nice, but I certainly wouldn't be clumsy with them. They don't look like they can take a serious fall or beating. And yes, their colours do not come off when they come in contact with alcohol or vinegar. 😆 

Unboxing and Installing Illumishields on iPhone and BlackBerry

You already know that the video is about me unboxing and installing these screen protectors, so I won't bore you about that. What you want to know is how well they hold up. I can tell you that the clear versions are indeed nearly invisible, and do not mess with your smartphone's digitizer. However, they have a big drawback -- they're fingerprint and smudge magnets! 😲 So even though the quality and clarity is amazing, you're going to need to wipe them occasionally in order to keep your screen clear. This is where their matte versions come in hand. I'll discuss my time with one further into this blog.

Retiring The BlackBerry Q10 After 5 Years of Use

I originally had plans to make this "retirement" video more like a review of the BlackBerry Q10, but I decided to just make it a Multiple Platform Mobile Gaming Video instead. It has now been over three weeks since I retired the old Q10. Do I miss it? Not really, actually. Even though it had a number of hardware features that are grossly missing from today's smartphones, the itsybitsy screen and underpowered processor were getting long in the tooth. Did I mention how dull the screen is? Oh right, I said that numerous times in the video. 🤣 Seriously, now owning a Nokia Lumia 1520, iPhone 6s Plus and BlackBerry Passport, I honestly have to ask myself why I made myself go so long without buying proper flagship(s)? 🤔 Wait I know the answer to that question: 😅😶😳

Needless to say, since the day I bought the Nokia Lumia 1520, it taught me to never buy anything that isn't a high-end flagship ever again. 😎 From all the videos and photographs I shot, the places I've been, and how it pioneered the channel during the ATA1201058 days, my BlackBerry Q10's fingerprints will not be forgotten. And speaking of photographs, there are numerous pictures I took before retiring the device. Therefore, if you see #ShotOnBlackBerryQ10 on Instagram occasionally and you read bothered to read this blog post, you'll know why and won't be confused as to whether or not I really retired it. 📚

Unboxing SanDisk 128GB Extreme UHS-I microSDXC Memory Card with SD Adapter

Can you hear it? The distortion and screechy sounds? This is exactly why I have been hesitant to film videos with the iPhone 6s Plus, ever since the day I discovered it was doing that. 😣 I'll have to find a video editor compatible with MOV files, or see if there's a certain setting I'm supposed to use. Or maybe there's an application that allows you film in stereo and produce the video files as MP4s? Who knows.... 🙄 I hate how dependent iOS is on 3rd party applications.

Anyways! Even though I've had the microSD cards in my BlackBerry Passport and Nokia Lumia 1520 for weeks now, I have not done extensive filming or application loading with them yet. The biggest thing you probably want to know, is whether or not I achieved the 90 MB/S they're advertising. The answer? No, and neither did I expect to. The average speed I got was 69 MB/S, while rarely hitting 74 MB/S. This is honestly not too bad. While some people might consider being short of 21 MB/S a flaw, the most important thing to consider is consistency. I made sure to not only bold that, but also highlight it. A card can boast 2 GB/S, but what good is it if it only goes that fast 3% of the time? While most people probably won't be transferring gigabytes of files frequently, unless you're media heavy like myself, that would be considered a serious flaw.  

Speaking of media heavy, I do wish I got the 400GB version, but that price tag tho... 😱 And then there's the fact that I have no idea if the Nokia Lumia 1520 would recognize it. The BlackBerry Passport would, but it's not a device I bought for extensive photography and videography.

Installing Nokia Lumia 1520 Illumishield Anti-Glare Matte Screen Protector [3-PACK]

I wanted to return this screen protector and exchange it for the original clear HD version. But then I decided to just use it for a little longer, and abandoned the idea of returning them. I still do much prefer the clear HD, and will only buy those from there and onward. I'll just keep the matte screen protectors I already bought as emergency backups. So my word of advice: if you aren't sure whether or not to get a matte screen protector or a clear one, go with the clear version. Unless, of course, you really hate glare and fingerprints that much.

Casual Instrumental Noise Session Episode #17

The 17th Episode, but the first of 2019! ⭐ Unfortunately, during the time gap between #16 and #17, I have not been playing the tenor recorder very much. As a result, the obvious suffered: tone and playing skills. 😳 Quite badly, too. 😳😳😳 Not to the point that I couldn't read sheet music and play all the notes on the tenor recorder though, so that's good. 😅 The only way that'd happen anyway, is if I were to not play for like a year or something. Even then, I'd probably still be able to simple music, because it's not like recorders are unfretted string instruments or something. That's not to say that they're a cake walk that can be played with a lousy approach, but they are definitely easier to get started on, that's for sure.

As for this episode itself, nothing super special. Just played some songs and poked fun at the objects portrayed in the video. 

SanDisk 128GB Extreme, Rico Cork Grease, Sony 64GB USB Flash Drive, SanDisk Cruzer Edge 64GB, Blue Fidget Spinner, Staples White Vinyl Eraser

What's Next & Other Ramblings

What's next? YOU are next! 🤪🎉🔥 Kidding. 😶 Ok, so let's talk about my video resolutions. I believe from some point in 2016 up to either late 2017 or early 2018, my videos have been optimized for 1920 X 1080 screens. Now, they are optimized for 3840 X 2160 screens! 😎 That's right, 4K. While they have been 4K since I figured out why they weren't being exported in that resolution from August 2018, I've done more tweaks to keep them that way throughout. Of course, the screen recorded videos from the iPhone 6s Plus or BlackBerry Passport are exceptions, since no device can currently record the screen at that resolution. Maybe the Sony Xperia XZ3 Premium will change that? 🤔 Or can the current Sony Xperia XZ2 Premium already do that? 🤨

So about the commentary videos...😅 I've been mentioning for some time that XXX batch may have one, but never ended up recording one. Why? They take more time to put together, and not being on YouTube's payroll doesn't exactly make you motivated to want to put too much time into videos. Don't get me wrong. I do love filming videos, and I do care about making the videos high quality, but don't like editing and putting them together. 😐 "So why not hire an editor to do the dirty work for you?" No. If I hated it that much, I wouldn't even bother with it in the first place.👀

Man, with all the electric cars coming between now and the next 1-3 years, I seriously got to start pulling in some big cash for them! ⚡🤑⚡ For far too long, an all-electric truck has been such a fantasy, but the next decade is FINALLY changing that! 🤩 YES! Now trucks, commentary, and resolution aside, I'm not entirely sure what videos will be in store for February. Let's just hope that 2019 will be an awesome, exciting, healthy year. 🙏🏾

January 22nd Entry

2018-01-19                                                                                                   GuuzakaTube

January 22nd Entry

Yes! I love how these three videos I'm about to discuss, each represents the channel's major theme of games, commentaries and outdoor things. Too bad I didn't get to upload this post alongside them from the weekday period of 15-19, hence the date difference in the original writing and title. So this aside, what's been happening lately? Well, quite a bit. 😬😐 I'll discuss them in "What's Next & Other Ramblings" like usual, so let's just dive into the details on these videos!

Top 10 Cars I Want Added to Asphalt 8 Airborne

These videos are fun to sit back and watch, but boy! I sure do hate syncing up the audio with the slides! Not sure if I hate editing the audio more or syncing it, but anyways! This is not an "I hate Editing" post. You're here to read the additional details about this video, so I'll feed you with that information. Let us start with what has inspired me to make this video: the suggested/wanted cars polls in the Gameloft forums. While I have yet to directly post my wanted cars list there, it was enough to inspire making this unique list of mine. Whether or not this video will have an impact or not, it was fun coming up with the list of vehicles I really wanted to see. Ok, so let's be honest here: this video likely won't have a big impact due to the obscurity of the channel, but it certainly won't hurt to get it out there! 😅😬 Anyways, I recorded two attempts with this video: the 1st where the microphone was 30cm away, and the 2nd where the microphone was probably only 10cm away. I liked the stronger and louder audio of the 2nd attempt, so I of course went with that. The problem? I still haven't gotten a pop filter for the Snowball. Therefore, there were a few times here there, where the audio distorted a little, but it wasn't too bad thankfully.😓 Aside from this and a few of the slides having awkward scaling, I love how the video turned out. "Can you tell us about that annoying/lame/wonderful/interesting background music you had playing throughout?" Uhhh, well, since you didn't actually ask, I do not have to answer! 😜

Saint Francis of Assisi Catholic Elementary School

For real though: why was I so darn headstrong about getting this place covered? There was a part of my conscience telling me to just chill that day, but I couldn't chill!❄🌴 I was determined to go outdoors and do something, despite the risk of having my electronics fail to capture anything. Thankfully, there were no frostbites, injuries or anything, but both of my smartphones did shut off. I was concerned about them not saving their videos after the shut offs, but they surprisingly saved them. Of course, I wouldn't have known until I looked into them when I got home, but was worried that the BlackBerry Q10, particularly would have just been like "PAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! Can't save this!" Really glad it did not do that!😅 The Lumia did alright, but was hoping that it would have held up the whole time. So cold and smartphone business aside, how did I find the place? I found it to be really interesting, actually. It's just too bad that the bone-chilling cold, just happened to take place that weekend. I could have simply just gone another day, but determinedly chose that weekend, and got it done anyway. This area really did have a lot to see around it, with the fields, the building itself looking presentable, and other grounds that I didn't manage to cover on camera.

Subway Surfers Cairo January 2018 - Running With Princess Jasmine!

The 2nd gameplay video of the 2018 Cairo run. This time, I finally got Princess Jasmine unlocked, and made her the focus of this episode! 👸 Would have been interesting to have that Emirati prince also run in this episode, but it's too bad that he costs nearly 1,000,000 coins to unlock! 🤯 Yeah, so he's not going to be unlocked anytime soon. Or ever??? Why do I say that? Because Subway Surfers has now brought on the Chicago 2018 Tour, which I also believe is all-new, and yet I don't see it when I launch the application? 🤨🤔 Have they pulled the plug for Windows 10 Mobile? 😬 I know this was done to Windows 8.1 and older, but since they've relaunched the game for Windows Mobile as a Universal Windows Platform application, I would hope that this would allow for much longer support. Due to this suspicion, I will no longer be playing Subway Surfers, unless I see that they are actually supporting Windows 10 Mobile. ☠

What's Next & Other Ramblings

Yeah, so it's been 22 days into 2018 so far. Quite a bit has already happened in the headlines all over the world. And of course, this would definitely include YouTube! 🤒 Sheesh, where do I start? What should I discuss? How long should I make this part? So many questions, so little answers, but here we go! 

Whether you've been trying to avoid it or not, we're all aware of that Paul Logan controversy. The reason I suddenly mention this is because after it took place, there's been a storm of reactions all over the Internet! He has apologized from long time, and looked very sincere and sorry about it. Was he actually sorry? Or is he just doing this to desperately cover his butt? Either way, YouTube has announced that they will be taking more measures to make sure so-called "inappropriate" content doesn't have monetary advertisements playing on them. 🙄 Fantastic! Just what we needed, eh? YouTube making it even harder for people to get money off it. Did they not already so something like this last year, all thanks to people uploading racist, hateful, disgusting, abhorrent content? Why, yes! Yes they did. I even remember doing a commentary on this too. Thankfully, 98% of my videos haven't been demonetized, and I would like it to stay that way. Others, haven't been as lucky, while some get away with even more than I do. Let's keep things fair, and not try to make everyone suffer all because of those that can't stop being so vulgar!😠

The weather! For those of us in Southern Ontario and surrounding areas, temperatures have been such a roller coaster for the past 22 days! You'd have some weekends where it'd sink down to a bone-chilling -20°C, and then you'd have days at like +6°C. 😵 Talk about aggressive inconsistency!

Donald Trump! I know, I know. You must be tired of hearing about this man, but I've got to discuss him! So as we likely all know by now, during a meeting in which involved immigration talks, that I believe took place on the 11th, the President grew frustrated and then called certain Latin American, Haiti and all of Africa 💩hole countries! 😵😠😡😳😱🤯😬😰😩😭 Some claim that he did not say this, while others say that he did, and that he also said it repeatedly! What's the real story here? Well, there is honestly no 100% certainty, but he very likely did. He is desperately trying to cover it up, after being heavily criticized by the media and other nations about what he said. What we know for certain, is that Donald has on many occasions made derogatory remarks about other countries, particularly Latin American and African countries many times. Whether you support this man or not, these are solid facts, that have been recorded. Funnily, when he was asked if he was a racist at a later point, he didn't answer and tried to make his way quickly out of the room. During another day, he of course went on to later claim, "I am not racist! I am the least racist person you have ever interviewed!" 😐 I have an extremely hard time believing that. He even tried to defend his "tough language" which only just adds more evidence to the belief that he did say 💩hole. Mister Trump, actions speak louder than words. If you want people to believe that you're truly not an inflammatory person, you've got to watch what you say! For instance, one cannot say that they love cats and then proceed to routinely kicking them. Actions and words ought to be aligned with one another.

Let's discuss the cars shown in January 2018. At both the International Consumer Electronics Show and Detroit shows, there were a lot of cool cars seen. The ones that have my interest most are of course the electric cars like the Faraday Future FF91. There was also the Byton, which is a Chinese all-electric crossover concept car. Not sure if it'll ever end up on North American shores, but it does look quite cool. The Lexus LF-1 Limitless is a crossover, that may or may not end up being all-electric. I really hope that they make it an all-electric car. It's high time we see a pure electric car come from Toyota's luxury brand, Lexus.

So! That does it for this entry, and now I am out! Be sure to check out last week's videos in case you missed them!
The Emoji Movie: Commentary & Discussion
Asphalt 8 January 04 2018; Opening So Many Boxes, Maxing and Buying!,
Subway Surfers Cairo January 2018

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October 11th Entry: Lexus, Volvo and Land Rover

GuuzakaTube                                                                                                   2017-10-10

October 11th Entry: Lexus, Volvo and Land Rover

Ok, it's time to discuss the three mainstream luxury brands you see in the title for this entry, as well as that other outdoor video. Let's dive into it!🌊⬇

Lexus of Lakeridge (Immaturity)

Ah, Toyota's luxury division. Some people might criticize Lexus vehicles as just being dressed up Toyotas, which is true from a mechanical point of view, but have you seen a bunch of fresh Lexuses in-person? They are sharp, mean, sporty-looking and have that confident luxurious vibe on their front fascias. They do not look like your run-of-the-mill Toyotas, but thankfully, most people know that. I haven't compared the interiors between the two brands, but it's safe to assume that Lexus obviously has the upper hand there. So now let's discuss my experience here: great! The dealership originally opened back in December 2016, but I don't film these types of videos during cold weather because it's a pain to do so. So! I waited till next year to come back to Achilles Road and explore the newer openings. Being new and all, it had a very fresh appearance, and was very neat and presentable. It's not an overly huge place, but there were enough Lexuses present to film and photograph a decent amount of content. Oh yeah, and that train track though... wasn't aware that the back of the dealers in this area were so close to a train track, but it's clearly there on the map, so that shouldn't have been a surprise. So Toyota, what's the likelihood of getting an all-electric, full-sized pickup truck? I predict less than 1%, but ya never know! 😸🚗⚡ An all-electric Lexus LX 570 would be interesting too. Another thing to note is the presence of Endras Infiniti right next to it. All the newer dealerships in this area are "of Lakeridge" but the older ones Endras. Does anybody know why? I assume it very likely has to do with who owns them.

Volvo Cars Lakeridge (Immaturity)

Volvo. Volvo is one of those brands that I don't have a ton of interest in, but I can say that they're very sophisticated-looking cars. Aside from knowing that they're Swedish, I'm not familiar with the names at all. I don't even know who truly owns them - looking it up brings results of Geely, Volvo Personvagnar Holding AB and Volvo Car AB? So half of the company is owned by Chinese Geely while they own the other half? Who knows. Maybe you do, but I don't. Now because this dealership was really small, there wasn't a ton to film and photograph, but I still managed to produce some content. In fact, it may very well be the smallest dealership on Achilles Road, because even the nearby Land Rover seemed larger than it. Small or not, the place is new, open and ready to serve you apparently. Now normally when I discuss which vehicle I'd like to see electrified from a particular car brand, it's normally a wishful dream, but apparently, Volvo is actually taking the electrification of it's cars seriously. So an all-electric Volvo XC90 probably won't take 10 years to wait for. While I also looked up clarification of the name, I also discovered that Polestar is the official Volvo Cars performance company and brand. Did you know that? Because I certainly didn't until now. Pretty neat. Oh yes! Let's also not forget that Volvo is often viewed as the safety brand, but how true is it? Tesla vehicles and certain others have proven to do amazing in car crashes, but do modern Volvos still hold up to that? A quick searching tells me that they apparently still do well in crashes. How well compared to others? Not sure, but I hear they do pretty darn well.

Land Rover Lakeridge (Immaturity)

Land Rover and Jaguar! Even though it wasn't the biggest dealership around, it was the one that I was most excited to see that day, when I went to explore Lexus and Volvo. Why? Hello?! They're British luxury cars! Sure, they're no Rolls-Royce, Bentley, McLaren, or Aston Martin, but do you see how good they look? They look so feisty, confident, luxurious and ready for adventure! Unfortunately, they're also said to have very poor reliability, which is rather embarrassing for a brand that touts itself in being so classy and capable. By the way, I was talking about the Land Rovers right there, but I believe Jaguars were also said to have poor reliability as well. I do not know how true this is for 2018 Jaguars and Land Rovers, because some are saying that they've become much better, while others insist that they remain miserable and expensive to repair. The verdict? Do your own research! Now let's discuss my experience here: excellent! Though I would have much appreciated if it weren't so cloudy that morning, but whatever. I got to check out luxury British cars, so I won't complain too much. With this place also being very recently built, it also had that fresh, tidy appearance similar to that of Lexus of Lakeridge and Volvo Cars Lakeridge. "of Achilles" would have made much more sense for the title given that its on Achilles road, but they chose Lakeridge because? Who knows. Even "of Salem" would have made much more sense, but who cares. Despite what I'm saying about these names, I don't actually have a problem with the "of Lakeridge" in the name, but just find it a little odd considering that Lakeridge Road is further from it, while Salem road is connected to Achilles. Anyways! Enough of that and let's discuss the models I want to see fully electrified: Land Rover Range Rover L and the Jaguar F-pace - Wait! Jaguar already has plans to release an electric SUV: the Jaguar I-Pace! And in 2018 too, and not 2028, so we'll see it "soon"! I would have preferred to see a larger all-electric SUV from them, but the I-Pace is looking sharp, so I won't give them too much flak for it. Great work, Tata Motors. Makes you wonder why Toyota hasn't had an all-electric vehicle available in Canada by now, considering how big they are on the global scale, when groups like Tata Motors aren't as big. Fiat Chrysler? Oh dear... Give it 2050 for them! 😝😜🤣

Diagnosing The Racketing Sound Outdoors in Whitby & Oshawa

In all honesty, I wasn't entirely sure what to name this video, because truth be told: less than two minutes of this 22-minute video involves examining the smartphone for a possible cause of the racketing sound. The rest of it is an adventure to find the coastlines off from Thickson Road South. So truthfully, it's a mix of a diagnosis, experiment and adventure, but largely an adventure. 

Though it was obvious that it was the kickstand making that horribly annoying sound, why didn't I ever consider closing it, as soon as I heard it? Because I couldn't... That's right; it's impossible to hear the sound until when the video has been recorded and played back from a device. The reason behind this is because my ears are very away from it, so it comes off as being very subtle to non-existent. The Nokia Lumia 1520's four microphones literally sit only 6cm away from it! 😱 Four microphones and only 6cm apart... no wonder the sound becomes so exaggerated upon playback! So because the issue was taken care of in the beginning of this video, the video is freed from the racketing issue. From here on, regardless of which smartphone it may be, I must be very wearing of parts with excessive motion when operating the video camera on a smartphone. It doesn't matter whether it's a kickstand, chain, rubber, anything! This galloping horse sound is too unpleasant to put up with. Out of the 11 videos I have "in the queue" that need to be edited, I'd rather not think about how many of them have been potentially plagued with this problem. The solution of removing the audio and overdubbing it is dirt simple, but can be very disappointing to lose the original audio sometimes. Alright, that's enough rambling about this, so I'll now proceed to typing the What's Next & Other Ramblings section. Aren't these photographs so fabulous?! 🤣😜

What's Next & Other Ramblings

So what's next? Nothing special for this week aside from regular day-to-day things, and continuing with getting all the older videos with their blog posts up within the next week or two. Must get back on track! So I guess with that said, you'll be seeing a lot of outdoor videos pop up, but what about games and commentaries? To tell the truth, they might not be on the horizon for October. Rejoice? Cry? Well, don't worry because as nicely as the school videos perform for such a low-traffic channel, I realize that putting up too much of them without exploring other outdoor categories will get very boring to some. Videos like the one with the "diagnosis" will you give you your proper outdoor fix. As well as the comedically-edited dealership videos. Well, they're not "proper", but it's a different theme. Oh, and let's not forget that unexpected figure video coming soon!

GuuzakaTube

September 4th Labour Day Entry

GuuzakaTube                                                                                                   2017-09-04

September 5th Post-Labour Day Entry

*It was Labour Day at the time of this writing, but I didn't finish this in time for it to justify that title, so I've changed it to reflect reality.
Today, is Labour Day in Canada and I believe the U.S.A? There may be other countries that are celebrating it too, but I'm not 100% sure about that. What are my plans for Labour Day? Well, nothing special. I went places on Saturday and Sunday, but don't have anything extraordinary planned for Monday. Let's discuss the latest videos on the channel. Wait, before we do that, I think I ought to address that slide that pops up right after the silly intros....

So yeah. First it was the issue of accidentally filming in 4K at All Saints Catholic Secondary School, running out of space after filming Colonel J.E. Farewell Public School, didn't have a paperclip to remove my Lumia's microSD card tray, and now the lack of OIS in a bunch of the latest videos? 😱 Not good! Really need to look into getting a good 128GB microSD card. I'm thinking of going with the SanDisk 128GB Extreme PLUS, Samsung Pro+ 128GB, Samsung EVO Select 128GB or maybe even the Lexar Professional 1000x 128GB. We'll see. 

iLLumiShield – Nokia Lumia 1520 Screen Protector Unboxing

So you've seen the video, but how is the screen holding up for me? Very well. The screen truly is an ultra clear, premium plastic as both the company and reviewers who've used this product claim. I'm really glad to see that it's holding up to it's high standards. Ok, so it's only been 12 days since I've had it at the time of this writing, but if you've had any doubts about it, I can tell you that it's very good. And since this was used on a Nokia Lumia 1520, I should also talk about potential screens issues associated with using screen protectors on this device - none! That's right; none for me. Some people have claimed that putting a screen protector over the Lumia 1520 will cause it to act weird, or worsen the phantom touch problem if the phone has it. Thankfully, my phone does not have that problem nor did it act weird. So the takeaway is that it is not normal for the Lumia 1520 to behave crazy when you put a screen protector on it! It should function like a normal phone! If it does have the phantom touch issue, or otherwise misbehaves from digitizer related issues, then it means the you need to get the screen digitizer replaced. Period. I've said this before, and I'll say it again: It is extremely risky and unwise to use a smartphone without a screen protector, so buy one from a reputable brand if you haven't at this point! ☠

All Saints Catholic Secondary School

So even though it was alarming to see the 4K video of this school eat up my Lumia's internal storage, I loved the sharpness, but hated the shakiness and frame skipping at some parts. 😖 Complaints aside, this place was fairly interesting to explore, with the building itself being a large place to walk around. Then there was the track, Donald A. Wilson across the street and a lot of other things to see. Oh yes, and now would be a good time to clear up something that wasn't brought up: at the end of this video, Donald A. Wilson Secondary School (sort of), and Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses, why did I use the footage of me walking to these places as the ending slide, rather than have them in the beginning like usual, with a skipper slide for those not interested in seeing the walk? Because I felt that it was already bad enough to have a wordy excuses slide, and then show those that may have taken the time actually read it a skipper slide. "Oh my gosh! How much crud and excuses am I going to have to through on ine video?!" You might say. Therefore, I omitted it until when the time came to edit Colonel J.E. Farewell Public School, I realized that I could have easily solved this dilemma by simply putting the time to skip to on the intro image I used at the beginning of the videos. 🤦🏾 I know. Should have been an extremely obvious solution. Anyways, enough of that and let's go ahead and discuss the high school that neighbours it from across the street.

Donald A. Wilson Secondary School

Ok, so to get this out of the way, that giant white thing was indeed a dome. It's called the Whitby Dome and it's a part of the Whitby Iroquois Soccer Club. Should have been obvious, but oh well! Anyways, so like it's Roman Catholic counterpart across the street, Donald also had a fair bit of things surrounding it that made it interesting to walk around and photograph. It had the dome, and an interesting sports field that I explored in the ending segment, and some other nice areas. So! This brings it down to the ultimate question: which of these two high schools was the more interesting one to explore?  I..... apparently don't know. Sorry. 😐 Alright, I gotta give the edge to All Saints Catholic Secondary School. 😅

Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses (Rossland Whitby Congregation)

You know? I think this might just be my first time filming a Jehovah's Witness Kindgdom Hall. I've done Roman Catholic Churches, Adventist Churches, Community Churches, Reformed Churches, Methodist, and Latter Day Saint Churches, but don't recall ever covering a Jehovah Hall. Have I done Presbyterian, Anglican, or Orthodox churches yet? Don't think so. There are tons of other denominations out there, and plenty in Canada that I haven't filmed yet. For now, let's just discuss this particular location in Whitby. It was a small, but nice place to film and photograph. The area was surrounded by a lot of greenery, and is very close to Otter Creek and a trail that I assume shares the same name. Don't quote me on that though! 😐 Though the gentleman that happened to be there didn't know where it was when I asked him, I was able to find it very shortly after coming towards Rossland Road away from the property. 

Colonel J.E. Farewell Public School

So who exactly was this J.E. Farewell man, and what did he do so significant to earn himself that title? I have no idea, and like me, you probably don't care? As we can all see from the beginning of the video, the front looked as though it were recently paved, but thankfully, it was hard enough to walk on. Still, that was a risky move. 🤐 Anyways! This place was an average place to explore. If you read the All Saints entry from above or watched the video, you'll know that this is where the storage on my Lumia became so low, that I had to film the ending segment on my shakes-like-an-earthquake BlackBerry Q10 camera! 😰 Seriously, that thing shakes so ridiculously bad when you walk with it! Like holy smokes! If you can recommend me a smartphone that has extremely good optical image stabilization for people that like to film while they're walking, please! Tell me the name of it! I suspect that it's probably the Google Pixel or iPhone 7, but let me know what else. Can't believe I had the guts to bother making videos with that garbage for so long! Well, truthfully, I could have just stuck to games and commentaries, but no! I really wanted to incorporate outdoor videos, so I just made the best with what I had. 👌🏾 Anyways, on a final note, Guthrie Park has proven to be a good choice for using it as the ending segment, rather than doing my traditional on-the-spot rotation. There's nothing "spectacular" about it. Just found it to be a pleasant place to walk through.

The Salvation Army Whitby Community Church

Looks like a familiar title right? Well, that's because there's an Oshawa location called The Salvation Army Oshawa Church. So now this leads to the following question: how many Salvation Army churches are there? Who knows... Based on my time spent filming and photographing the locations of both churches, I can tell you that the Oshawa location is the larger of the two. With them both being Salvation Army churches, they also have the same emblem, as you'll see down below the photos. How did I like it? Well, it didn't have the space and hills that the Oshawa area had, so there wasn't a ton to film, but plenty to photograph. The Mcquay Boulevard & Bonacord Avenue location it sits at was quieter than the Thornton & Rossland area.

Mercedes-Benz Durham (Immaturity)

When I was first looking into this place, I was like "Wow, this looks like a small dealership" When I got there, it really did appear to be fairly small. That is, until when I did the Honda video and discovered that they had a new extended lot where they keep additional vehicles. Makes sense. For this to be the only Mercedes-Benz and SMART dealership in the entire Durham Region, there had to be more to it in order to explain the number of Mercedes and SMARTs I see on the road sometimes. And of course, they're obviously not as common as pickup trucks, but for a luxury brand, I do see them a fair bit in some areas. Oh yes, and did you personally know that SMART was German?! I didn't figure that out until I believe two days ago! 😱 For all these years, I've never looked into it, nor have I even been curious about it, because I dislike that brand. But after filming this place, it made my curiosity rise a little more, which lead me to the interesting discovery of learning that it's German. Wow. So for German cars, you have Mercedes-Benz, Audi, Porsche, BMW and apparently SMART. Who would have thought? Maybe you knew that, but I didn't. This is what I like about doing these videos: it allows me to have a better understanding of the cars I see everyday, by seeing them up-close and in-person, with plenty of them next to each other for accurate size comparisons and trim details. While we're on the topic of cars, when will the Mercedes-Benz EQ come to Canada? You know, that all-electric crossover of theirs that they've been talking about? I'm hearing rumours of 2018 or 2019, but could that really be true? Should be interesting to see! 

Whitby Oshawa Honda (Immaturity)

Honda! One of the most famous Japanese automakers around, so it was only a matter of time before I covered a Honda dealership. This one was conveniently located right next to the Mercedez-Benz dealership, making it easy to head over to it and get business done. As you can expect, there were a lot of Honda Civics, minivans and Honda Ridgelines. Other models were plentiful, but I don't recall seeing any Acuras at all. Maybe I missed them? Maybe there was none to begin with? Who knows. I'm aware that while some Honda dealerships do have Acuras in their inventory, Acura happens to also sell by itself in dedicated dealerships, like how Lexus doesn't sell with Toyota, and how Infiniti doesn't sell with Nissan. Anyways, it was a large lot with plenty of vehicles to choose from, and in many colours. For some reason, I felt that it was going to have mostly grey and white vehicles, which it did, but offered more blues, reds, and even dark purple and hidden greens, than what I thought. Unlike the Mercedez-Benz dealership where I was the only one checking it out, the Honda dealership had a few others checking out some of the cars. I wonder if they knew that the video I made of the place was about to turn into a comedically-edited tour? 😜🤣 Probably not, because they hardly even batted an eye or did not care as they were likely too busy looking for golden Acuras! Kidding! They just wanted to take a look at them in-person and then drive away in their Acura NSX 2017. No, they don't actually have that. Or do they? Ok, that's enough Acura shenanigans for one post. Wait, one more! When will we see a full-sized all-electric Acura pickup truck??? 🤔 2025 or never?

Other Ramblings & What's Next?

Alright, so let's be honest and just come out with the fact that I'm annoyed at how I did not finish this on the same day that I typed this! GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! Ok, finished raging. 😁 So! I normally do not explicitly tell you what exactly is to come for the videos, but because I already made a strong reference to it in one or most of the videos above, I might as well spill it: an unboxing video, Captain Michael Vandenbos Public School, Saint Luke the Evangelist Catholic School, Williamsburg Public School and Cochrane-Whitburn Trail. "Oh my gosh! Why did you just spill everything so openly?!" Some of you might say. Well, I already mentioned that I was supposed to film the schools north of Country Lane and Rossland, so it was already leaked anyways. You could argue that not everyone would have known that, or that not everyone watched or paid attention to the moment when I said that, but hey: some of you will pleased to know exactly what's to come this week, especially if you're actually familiar with those places, or enjoy unboxing videos. If you're curious about what I will be doing outside of YouTube related business, you'll be bored to know that I plan to carry on with day-to-day things. Why is it raining now? Anyways, I'm out! Yay the sunshine came back now! 😎🌞