My Watch History

I’m always interested hearing about people’s journey through hobbies they have, what interests them about their hobbies, where it started, and where it ended. Because of that I thought that a great way to start my channel would be with a short video about my history with watches ranging from the first watch that I remember owning to the watch that really led to me diving head first into watches again.

This starts from the Freestyle USA Shark watch, a staple of surf culture in the 80’s and 90’s all the way to the Hamilton Khaki Mechanical, which I got to help me remember to slow down and calm down during the high anxiety moments caused during the beginning of Covid.

I hope you enjoy the video and if you want more feel free to check out www.watchcastage.com which will take you to the youtube channel.

New Channel: Casio AE1200WH Review

Welp, I’ve done it. I started ANOTHER YouTube channel. I have been planning to start a watch YouTube channel and was going to wait until I got final artwork in and had 3-4 videos in the pipeline, but then i thought “Why wait? Let’s start now”, so here we go. You can find the youtube channel by going to www.watchcastage.com

Today I review the AE1200WH, a $20 - $30 budget world time / GMT watch from Casio. This thing is extremely feature packed with the ability to have 5 time zones set, 5 alarms, a countdown timer, a stop watch, a very usable backlight, 100M water resistance, and a 10 year battery. For the money, it’s hard to beat the features of this watch.

Buy the Casio AE1200 (Affiliate Link)
Silver: https://geni.us/a1200
Black: https://geni.us/AE1200WH1A

Manual for Casio Module 3198 and 3299: https://support.casio.com/storage/en/manual/pdf/EN/009/qw3198.pdf

Bandrew's Favorite Things November 2020

Time for another list of my favorite things for the month.

First up is a pen; the Fisher Space Pen AG-7. I have raved about the bullet in the past, but this is a full sized pen, and this is the actual model that was taken into space. It uses the same cartridges and fits well in the hand, making it a great option for writing all day for work.

Next we have the complete series box set for Dan Harmon’s Community, one of the greatest sitcoms ever made. This is 6 seasons and 110 episodes telling the story of a study groups journey through community college with oh so many tangents. It has some of the most lovable and relatable characters at times, but the thing that stands out the most is it’s ability to make you laugh and then feel something. It’s exactly why Spaced is one of my all time favorites as well.

Then we have two Timex watches. 1st up is Timex’s new Peanuts Thanksgiving watch which has Snoopy and Woodstock in pilgrim hats with a brown dial, and a brown strap and an orange seconds hand. It’s 40mm, quartz, has indiglo, and just like all timex weekenders has the loudest ticking of any wristwatch ever, but I still enjoy it because it helps me get into the mood for the season. And 2nd we have the Timex Q Reissue, a reissue of a quartz diver style watch at 38mm, with a 12 hour bezel to set a second time zone, a day date complication, and an amazing vintage aesthetic, but it lacks in the water resistance department at 50M.

Lastly I picked the Electro Harmonix Op Amp Big Muff Pi Fuzz Pedal. This is the fuzz tone I’ve always wanted. A mix between Muse and Smashing Pumpkins and Hendrix. It just does everything and it’s affordable and built crazy well. I love fuzz. Fuzz is tight.

00:00 - Introduction (https://www.geeksrising.com)
00:17 - Fisher Space Pen AG-7
01:14 - Community Complete Series
02:34 - Timex Thanksgiving Watch
03:38 - Timex Q Watch
05:08 - Electro Harmonix Op Amp Big Muff Pi Fuzz Pedal
07:50 - Outro

Affiliate Links
Fisher Space Pen AG-7: https://geni.us/fisherag7
Community Complete Series: https://geni.us/communitycs
Timex Thanksgiving Watch: N/A
Timex Q Watch: https://geni.us/timexq
Op Amp Big Muff: https://geni.us/opamp

I made 6 videos last week?

I unintentionally made 6 videos last week, and figured I’d share all of it with you. I will have a more in depth analysis of one of these videos posted in a couple of days, but here is a breakdown of the content that I posted in one week.

1. PRESONUS PD-70 REVIEW

On Tuesday, I put out a review of a new “broadcast-style” dynamic microphone the Presonus PD-70. In general it was a tolerable microphone, but at the $100 price point the competition is incredibly steep and if I had $100 to spend, I would likely pick a different microphone. I don’t watch other reviews of gear before I produce my review. After wrapping up my video, I went and watched a bunch of other video reviews on this and I was shocked that I’m alone in the conclusion that it is not the best option at the price point. Most of the other reviews were positive. Pretty interesting.

2. RAMONES - PET SEMETARY COVER

For a couple of months I was doing a great job at releasing a new music focused video on the BandrewPlays channel. I was using this as an excuse to get a video done every week, and to test out microphones in a more fully fledged recording. After a while I fell behind and didn’t put anything out for a while. Last week I felt the urge to record a cover of Ramones song Pet Semetary because it’s just so damn good and I found myself humming it around my house non-stop. I used the Lewitt LCT-840 and recorded an Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar, and Vocals using the mic and the Bass was recorded as a D.I.

3. FAVORITE THINGS OF NOVEMBER 2020

Over the past few months myself and the geeks rising crew have been putting up videos sharing some of our favorite things over the past month or so. I put out another video this week discussing my favorite things for November which included the box set for Community, a Fisher Space Pen, a couple of Timex Watches, and an Electro Harmonix Fuzz pedal which was TIGHT! I go into a full breakdown of this gear and these videos in the next couple of days if you’re interested in that.

4. CASIO A158W WATCH REVIEW

Over the last 6-7 months I have gone deep on the watch rabbit hole and have acquired more watches than I care to admit with the intention of eventually reviewing them, and sharing my journey into the watch world, that time has finally come upon us. I just put out a review of the Casio A158W, a $20-$25 digital wrist watch which is an absolute amazing deal. This is the first of many watch reviews to come in the future, and there will be mainly affordable watches because that’s something I find very interesting, but also some more expensive watches.

5. MEMBERS ONLY PODCAST

Unfortunately I’m not able to share this with y’all because it is exclusive to members of the podcastage youtube channel, but if you’re a member of the channel on YouTube you can check the community tab on the Podcastage page.

6. BANDREW SAYS PODCAST #239

Like always I published the weekly podcast. There really was minimal news this week so it was more of a loose episode responding to input from those who watched last week and had something to say, but in all honesty those are some of my favorites. A large portion of the show was dedicated to discussing YouTube’s decision to monetize all videos on the platform, including those that are not a part of the YouTube Partner Program, meaning those channels will not receive money. It was a fun episode but I’m fairly certain that folks are going to be ticked off by my takes.

5 Watches That Make Great Gifts 2020

I was working on my podcastage gift guide for this year and found myself wanting to include a watch or two in a “non-audio gear” section. I decided that still would not be fitting, so I opted to make a quick video with 5 watches that I really enjoy so that I can allude to it in my podcastage gift guide and say “if you like watches, I made a video about 5 of them over there”. This maintains the focus of the podcastage channel and allows me to share something else that I’m also really excited about.

I am not a watch expert, I'm just a guy who enjoys watches and wanted to share 5 watches that I think would make great gifts for someone in your life who enjoys watches.

Casio F91w
Buy it on Amazon (Affiliate Link): https://geni.us/cf91w

Orient Mako II
Buy it on Amazon (Affiliate Link): https://geni.us/makoii

Seiko SRPE67
Buy it on Amazon (Affiliate Link): https://geni.us/srpe67

Hamilton Khaki Field Auto
Buy it on Amazon (Affiliate Link): https://geni.us/hamauto

Sinn 556a
Buy it on Watch Buys - Strap: https://www.watchbuys.com/store/pc/Sinn-556-A-on-Strap-18p1542.htm
Buy it on Watch Buys - Bracelet: https://www.watchbuys.com/store/pc/Sinn-556-A-on-Bracelet-18p1543.htm

As an amazon affiliate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Favorite Things of October 2020

This year has been extremely weird and I have not been able to get into the Halloween spirit like I normally do. Because of this I wanted to share 3 things that have helped me get into the spooky spirit over the last month.

Midnight Spookshow by Calabrese is an EP from an Arizona based horror rock band and it offers an incredibly catchy, misfits inspired 6 songs. I also wanted to share a Halloween countdown calendar by the talented artist Cody Schibi. Lastly, I had to recommend the recent scream factory box-set release of Friday the 13th, which has all 12 friday the 13th emovies.

Affiliate Links
Midnight Spookshow: https://geni.us/calabrese
Friday the 13th Collection: https://geni.us/fri13th

Geeks Rising Podcast # 2 Hang Out!

I honestly cannot believe that it has been over a year since we did a Geeks Rising podcast / hangout session, but it has been. Sometimes you just get sucked into a vortex of shit with everything going on in the world and it makes the time fly by while simultaneously drag on. It seems like 10 years since the first hang out, and also like a day since the last hang out.

But with that unnecessary nonsense out of the way, I have to say that I’m honored to know every single person on the Geeks Rising podcast network, they are some of the best people in the world who are constantly working on positive stuff and just being uplifting. In the hang out we talk about what we’ve been working on, what we’ve learned over the last year, what we’ve been enjoying, and how to maintain a healthy work / life balance. If you want to check out any of the podcasts on the network (which I highly recommend you do) here are some links.

On The Subject: https://www.geeksrising.com/onthesubject
Stuck Listening: https://www.geeksrising.com/stucklistening
Tourette’s Podcast: https://www.tourettespodcast.com/
Sunshine & Powercuts: https://www.sunshineandpowercuts.com/
Bandrew Says: https://bandrewsays.com/

Favorite Things of September 2020

This video is not going live until next Friday, but I thought I would share it here a little bit early here. I was chatting with the Geeks Rising folks and we decided that it might be cool and refreshing to start sharing our favorite things every month or so. We may not all make a list of favorites every month, but we will be sharing some of our favorite things regularly so that there’s some positivity being shared.

I started for September 2020, and my list is pretty straight forward. Seinfeld’s Complete Series on DVD (not bluray), Popular Mechanic’s Essential Survival Guide, and the Seiko SNK795 with a basic Barton Watch Strap on it.

Nothing in this list is particularly special, but it’s a bunch of items that have kept me entertained over the last month. That’s the post. It’s not about affiliate links. It’s not about traffic. It’s about sharing what I enjoy and hopefully introducing you to something cool…oh and also, I kind of needed to have a post this month as well.

200,000 Subscribers

I hit 100,000 subscribers on the 9th of April 2019. This is 4 years after I launched my channel. About 1.5 years later, and I surpassed 200,000 subscribers on the 22nd of August 2020.

It needs to be noted that 2020 led to some growth that was out of the ordinary. While a large number of people were forced to work from home, my videos seemed to get a little bit of a boost in viewers as the offered people a solution to recording at home or getting a microphone for their conference calls. I don’t think I would have hit 200,000 subscribers in 2020 if I had not seen this growth. Thank you for the amazing support over the year.

I Guess I'm a Watch Guy Now

Hamilton Khaki Field Watch

I’m talking about watches because I want to. I’m going to walk through the watches I remember having and why I have fallen back in love with watches.

MY HISTORY WITH WATCHES

When i was a kid the only watch I remember having was a Shark, which is a watch specifically made for surfing, diving, and swimming. I stopped caring about watches for a long while, but when I was in college I was turned into that weirdo who was wearing a golden Casio calculator watch. How quirky, eh?

Then I wore a fitbit for a while but I wasn’t fit so they made me throw the watch in the trash. Following this I was sent a Seiko automatic watch by my father (SNK805). I wore this for about a year and a half until I went all in on the Apple watch for 3 years. It was so convenient to have perfect time, controls over music and podcasts, and the ability to ping my phone when I lost it. However, you had to charge it every night (and sometimes it wouldn’t sit right on the charger and you’d be without a watch the next day), but more importantly it tracked EVERYTHING about.

At the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, I saw a bunch of announcements that Apple was going to begin rolling out contact tracing and my paranoid brain started screaming. I took off the Apple watch in March and haven’t looked back since. I put on the old Seiko I had, and then somehow YouTube knew I had gone back to mechanical watches and they started recommending me a whole bunch of watch content and it really brought this love of mechanical watches out of me.

WHY I LOVE WATCHES?

In 2020, everything is digital, everything is connected, everything needs to be charged, and everything tracks you. Simply put, I love the idea of having one last piece of technology that does not require firmware updates, does not track you 24 hours a day, doesn’t push notifications to you all day, doesn’t keep you available for contact whenever someone wants, and something that WILL work as long as I spend 15 seconds winding it (or moving my wrist).

For some reason, no matter how stressed I get at work, or how deep into an excel spreadsheet I get, taking a few seconds to look at the watch it gives me a little bit of a reminder that nothing really matters and we’re all going to die anyways.that was a joke…kind of. It really does ground me and reminds me to slow down.

That’s the blog post. I wouldn’t be surprised if I make a video about some clocks or watches or something in the future.