Weekend Review: Feb 16th & 17th

Every weekend there are new sights, sounds, and taste to consume. There are other sensory inputs that tickle my brain too, but saying there is stuff to feel sounds creepy. This is a weekly journal of my weekend endeavors. Enjoy!

The Room
I picked up The Room this weekend. A well reviewed iOS game from the Fall of 2012. A 3D puzzle game that creates very elaborate and beautiful puzzle boxes and sets you at them. So far I really like it. Every time I open it up I get the urge to waste an hour on image searches of actual puzzle boxes. The puzzle aspect of it isn't so much of a puzzle though. I never get the squirt of dopamine I have come to expect from finding a solution. I don't feel like I am solving a puzzle, more like I got to see a creative thing someone designed. It is satisfying in a different way and that is still a good feeling.

Pitch Perfect
I wanted to hang out with my wife Friday night. I gave her the stink eye when she got out her laptop to work and suggested we watch a movie instead. My pick was Skyfall, which would have meant I'd be watching it on my own while she slept. So we watched Pitch Perfect instead. In the vein of college movies that has very little to do with actual college (think Stomp the Yard) this film focuses entirely on an acapella club. It started out with just enough humor for me and enough singing for her. The character arcs where pretty hard to get invested in though. So when the comedy well dried up midway through and the singing covered no new ground, we both considered turning this film off.

Apple Genius Bar
The pretentiously named help desk at every Apple retail store is the butt of many a joke. If you know to schedule an appointment ahead online though, the reality is much different. My speakers blew out on my four month old iPhone 5 Wednesday evening. On Thursday I schedule and appointment for noon on Friday. When I walked in the place was a mad house. To their credit, I walked up, checked in and was talking with some the second my appointment started. They diagnosed my problem and estimated it would take 15 minutes to fix, even handing me a laptop to play on while I waited. Ten minutes later they handed me back my phone, speakers replaced, under warranty and a smile on my face. I stay for the app ecosystem (I'm heavily invested), but it is nice to get stellar customer service too.