X Games Minneapolis 2019

August 4, 2019, 11:12 PM PDT by Parkzer • Photo Album, Tempo, Travel

This post is over 6 years old and may contain information that is incorrect, outdated, or no longer relevant.
My views and opinions can change, and those that are expressed in this post may not necessarily reflect the ones I hold today.

This is probably pretty obvious from my blog posts from the past few days, but in case you’re reading this standalone—I traveled with Tempo Storm to X Games Minneapolis 2019 because our Apex Legends team was competing in the EXP Invitational.

Unfortunately, I can’t actually watch first-person perspective gameplay, as I get severe motion sickness. But, I decided to attend anyway for two main reasons: (1) Jordan King was attending and I don’t get to see him in person too often, and (2) I got excited about the greater X Games event, broadcasted on ESPN.

I’m sure this goes without saying, but I enjoyed checking out the other X Games events better than the EXP Invitational, because I was able to actually watch and experience them, instead of just looking away from the big screen during Apex Legends gameplay and taking quick naps in hopes of not vomiting from getting too dizzy.

Tempo Storm’s Apex Legends team fell short of earning a medal, as we placed 5th, two positions shy of bronze. However, there were 20 total teams competing, so I guess I can’t be too upset, as things could’ve ended up being a whole lot worse. This fifth-place placement was with a substitute player as well—our regular in-game leader lives in Mexico and could not get his visa sorted out in time—so with all things considered, I actually probably shouldn’t be upset at all.

Full album: https://www.flickr.com/photos/adamparkzer/sets/72157710145589612

Hello St. Paul

August 3, 2019, 11:57 PM PDT by Parkzer • Photo Album, Travel

The EXP Invitational – Apex Legends at X Games Minneapolis 2019 is taking place in full force, but the games don’t start until later on in the afternoon. Although I’ve mostly been a night person all my life, I started waking up quite a bit earlier, and this morning, I joined my friend Jordan Kelly (who also accompanied me on my hiking trips in Las Vegas) and visited St. Paul, Minnesota.

I’m pretty terrible at using public transportation, so I just followed Jordan around as he brought me on a train and got me accustomed to using the Lime scooter rental system. We went and visited a handful of historic landmarks and other points of interest.

Usually, I’m not really a fan of “old stuff,” but after visiting St. Paul, I realized that old stuff can have its own kind of appeal. Those who know me closely know that I essentially ragequit my former Master’s program because my university forced me to take a ton of history classes that I was not interested in, as a mandatory requirement for my degree. Even with that kind of mindset, I felt like what I saw in St. Paul was rich and deep enough to pique my interest.

We wanted to get back to Minneapolis in time to watch Tempo Storm compete, so we were on a pretty fast-paced exploration path and I didn’t really get to remember where we went. So, unfortunately, I don’t have labels or captions for any of these photos, as I don’t quite recall what anything actually was.

Full album: https://www.flickr.com/photos/adamparkzer/sets/72157710146931707

Road tripping from Lincoln to Minneapolis with Jordan King

August 1, 2019, 11:53 PM PDT by Parkzer • Travel

It’s very rare for there to be an esports event in the Midwest—they’re generally held around Los Angeles and sometimes in Las Vegas, and usually the “weirdest” place you can find a tournament is in Texas or on the East coast. So, when ESPN announced the EXP Invitational – Apex Legends at X Games Minneapolis 2019, Jordan King, a resident of Nebraska, was interested in attending, seeing as it was nearby.

I don’t get to see Jordan too often, so I decided to fly out from Las Vegas to Nebraska and road trip along with him. I arrived two days early (which was when my “hello Omaha” photo was posted), and August 1 was road trip day.

The road trip started relatively uneventfully—we set out at around 9 AM CDT and drove towards Fremont to have breakfast at the Polymath Café and Market. Unfortunately, when we arrived, we found out that they seemed to have gone out of business, as there was a “For Lease” sign in the front window. Instead, we drove around until we found a McDonald’s and had breakfast there instead.

The next leg of our road trip was to Sioux City, Iowa, but it took a bit of time to actually get there. Not only did my phone lose GPS signal twice and I took two wrong turns, but there was also a lot of road construction along the way, and we did a whole lot of stopping.

At one particular construction zone, I had to follow a pilot car to the other side of the single-lane road, which is something that I had never done before. Usually in Las Vegas, a construction worker just flips the Stop sign to Slow and we navigate ourselves, but I guess these guys wanted to be extra safe.

After a quick break in Sioux City, we headed to our next stop in Windom, Minnesota to refuel the truck. When I hopped out, I realized that, while driving through Iowa, I had collected a few cups worth of bug guts and about 20 dead butterflies in my grille. It wasn’t something I was expecting, so it was quite the sight.

Our final stop was in Mankato, Minnesota where we headed to Riverfront Park to take a look at the Minnesota River. Apparently there were invasive species in that area, and the water looked particularly dirty.

After finally making it to Minneapolis, we went to all-you-can-eat sushi at Kyoto Sushi. I picked this particular restaurant out because it had something extremely rare—they offered sashimi on their all-you-can-eat menu. It was probably the best all-you-can-eat sushi experience I ever had—I ended up eating 65 pieces of sashimi, and the fish was actually decently-sized and pretty good quality.

Our first day of X Games is tomorrow; more pictures to come soon.

Hello Omaha

July 30, 2019, 10:39 PM PDT by Parkzer • Travel

Hopefully the grasshoppers from the Las Vegas infestation didn’t follow me here

Nautical twilight in Las Vegas

July 19, 2019, 9:04 PM PDT by Parkzer • Las Vegas

This post is over 7 years old and may contain information that is incorrect, outdated, or no longer relevant.
My views and opinions can change, and those that are expressed in this post may not necessarily reflect the ones I hold today.

It’s the middle of summer, so naturally, it’s getting blisteringly hot. To keep the heat out, I’ve lately been closing my blinds beginning in the late morning and don’t open them again until the sun sets—usually around civil or nautical twilight.

Pacific Ocean from Redondo Beach Pier

July 5, 2019, 11:56 PM PDT by Parkzer • Travel

I’m in California once again—though it’s actually been a handful of months since I’ve last been here, possibly the longest I’ve spent not visiting California ever since I moved to Las Vegas. It’s unlucky that I missed the fireworks show at the Stratosphere in Las Vegas, which I would’ve been able to see from the balcony of my condo, but I got to see the fireworks from the rooftop deck of the Tempo Storm team house, which I guess is good enough.

I’m in SoCal for Anime Expo, but I spent Independence Day staying around Beach Cities. I went out to Redondo Beach Pier with a few of our players; I didn’t bring my actual camera, so here is the Pacific Ocean in potato quality from my phone.