Brennan's Top 5 Hypest Workout Tracks

What's going on Otaku Faithful?  This is the GREATBLACKOTAKU who has FINALLY made his way back from the glitz and glamour of his tiny YouTube channel to the domain he paid good money for with a highly requested list of what I listen to when I work out.  So heres a list of my top 5 songs currently on my workout playlist.

For those who don't know, as a football player, when I'm not practicing or studying the game I am generally in the weight room, especially in the off season where working out is essentially my job.  Needless to say the daily 5-6 hour grind goes a lot faster when listening to some of my favorite tunes.  But first, I'll start off with some "situational honorable mentions".

Best "Alarm Clock" Song:

I sleep pretty hard, and need about four alarms strategically staggered to get me out of bed.  All different songs, but this is the one is the last line of defense.

Fly Away by TeddyLoid

Fast start, and too loud to ignore.  Loved the tune since I first heard it on the show.  Also one of my favorite OSTs.

Best "WAKE UP GET HYPE" Song:

I wake up pretty early in the morning to start my day, so after an energy shot I need a good "WAKE UP GET HYPE" song to listen to on the short car ride to the stadium.  Usually a song that I can sing along to and get the brain firing.

Movin' on without you by Utada

Don't judge me.  This song has been on my iPod for literally 10+ years.  I know all the words.  Dat voice.  Dat chorus.  Based Hikki.

Best Rehab Podcasts:

A solid chunk of my work days this off season consist of rehab outside of the weight room.  I always liked talk radio, so podcasts were a natural transition during the more boring parts of my day.  I've got a solid weekly rotation, but three are set in stone.

Monday: Solomonster Sounds Off here

Tuesday: Super Best Friendcast! here

Wednesday: Houston Wrestling Radio here

If you're into podcasts, these come highly recommended.  Also, if you want to listen to a podcast I'm semi-regularly on, check out the Kings of Things here!

Onto the actual top five!

5. Before My Body Is Dry by Mika Kobayashi

The perfect song for when a set is beating you down.  By the time you hear "DON'T LOSE YOUR WAY" you feel like you can lift a mountain.  A great addition to my play list from day one.

4.  MARIA&JOKER and Etsuraku Camelia by Nana Mizuki

Technically two songs, but because they are right after one and other on the Ultimate Diamond album, I don't think I've ever listened to just one in a row.  MARIA&JOKER gives me my jazzy Cowboy Bebop fill without being too mellow with killer vocals.  Etsuraku Camelia (which I guess there is no trace of on YouTube) sounds like a much more traditional Japanese song, with face melting guitars that rounds out a great one two punch.

3.  Gianism Shichi by Nightmare

The first riff draws you in and doesn't let go until the songs over.  Funky, hard hitting, and up beat, this has consistently been one of my favorite Nightmare songs since I started listening to them, and great during cardio.

2.  Ascended Master by Versailles Philharmonic Quintet

I used to always say I've been a Versailles PQ fan since before they were "Philharmonic Quintet".  Now I have to say I've been a Versailles fan since before they were not a band (T-T).  Anyways, I always have had a thing for symphonic metal and Versailles did that wonderfully with a visual kei twist.

1.  Kagerou by Sadie

This was a tough one, seeing as any Sadie song from UNDEAD 13+2 or MASTERS OF ROMANCE could have made my top five, considering those albums have been on my pre game playlists since high school.  At the moment, Kagerou is the hypest, though that changes from year to year.

That just about wraps it up, hopefully you enjoyed my list and found some new artists to listen to!  Be sure to suggest more blogs you'd be interested in reading, because I think thats going to be the new direction for this site.

GREATBLACKBLOG on Google Glass: I NEVER ASKED FOR THIS

Hola Otaku faithful, I know we've been gone for a while but your favorite member has returned to the Blog with a new series for you, GREATBLACKBlog reviews Google Glass. Last week I applied to become a Google Glass Explorer. The application was fairly simple name, e-mail, address, and where and how I intended to use it. A week later I received an e-mail saying I had been approved to become an Explorer.

There is my gorgeous mug with my Google Glass Explorer Edition 2.0. I chose the white model because I'm a sucker for sci-fi tropes, future things HAVE to be white duh. It does come in a couple different colors, there's the white, black, grey, blue, and tangerine. There are also a number of frames you can stick onto the front, however unless you need the prescription lenses I don't think they warrant the $225 a pop. Now after my initial trials I think there are a few things worth noting, the first is that the Google Glass DOES NOT operate on the LTE of the connected device , meaning you either need a wifi connection or the ability to turn your phone into a hotspot to be able to use it to its full extent. It should also be noted that your contacts do not transfer unless you have them linked to a Google account, since I have an Iphone this proved to be a pain so I made account for the important people and synced them to our next subject. MyGlass, the Google Glass companion app, while the app is entirely functional I've always had trouble using Google stuff on my Iphone, the interface is extremely sensitive and feels wonky. Aside from that the interface itself is really fun, I was happy to find out the hands free "wink to take pictures" is actually totally functional and doesn't trigger every time you blink I was also really happy to find out Google's voice control is a lot more accurate than Siri. I also made a phone call on it in its vanilla state which worked fine, and again with the earpiece included with it and that was even better. All in all my only real issue with the hardware was that it seems to need very good lighting, especially since my room is generally dimly lit. All in all I'm very happy with the product, BUT and its a big but, we must address the elephant in the room, the $1500 price-tag for this early access model is pretty steep, I would definitely suggest waiting for the retail model, but if you're a technophile like me, it could be worth it if you get accepted to be an explorer.

If you wanna keep up with my discoveries playing around with Google Glass feel free to subscribe to my twitter, @MoMoneyBillson or just stay tuned with to the blog I plan on doing an in depth Google Glass App review once I get a chance to test a whole bunch out.

-MB