After thinking it over for a bit, I've decided that I might as well do a proper underrated 3DS game rec list. I'm a bit of an ATLUS junkie and that's gonna be pretty disgustingly apparent in this list, but it's not my fault that they released hit after hit and all of them were duly ignored.

Due to tumblr's 10 image limit (and my struggle to keep motivated to do one thing for more than three hours) I'm definitely gonna have to break this up into parts and I'm fairly certain one of these lists is just gonna be MegaTen games lmao but I'd like to let people know about these excellent titles and see if I can't at least get people interested in them so they can get more traction.

So, without further ado:

Some 3DS Games that were criminally slept on (part 1)

Monster Hunter Stories

God, where do I begin with this game. Well, the basics: It's a JRPG spinoff title of the now widely successful and popular Monster Hunter series featuring a different take on interacting with the varied and intricate monsters populating the world: Riders.

Yep, instead of hunting the beasties, you play as a young rider who's completed their intiation ritual and can now bond with 'Monsties' as they've cutely labelled the usually ferocious monsters of the wilds. The great thing is that you still fight Monsters--tons of them in fact but this isn't a paid review and in my humble opinion, the most impressive thing about this game is the visual style. The landscapes, the armour, the way they redesigned and 3DS-ified the classically hyper realistic and monstrous beasts to not only be absolutely adorable but still capable of being intimidating when the time calls for it, the stellar animation of special moves and combination attacks--it's delicious, nutritious, stupendous, I can and will consume it like it's part of my recommended caloric intake.

It's very akin to Pokemon in the way its basic gameplay premise is set up, however, instead of catching--or even indeed befriending--the Monsties in the game, you rummage through their nests and steal their eggs, later hatching them and getting yourself a brand new lightly kidnapped monster pal!

Other general things about the game:

Pros:

The armour and weapon sets for both male and female characters slap along with the general character customisation options. They're incredibly diverse (though limited in body type) and you can switch around traits and features whenever you want from your house.

The POGS--these porkers are everywhere and they serve as tiny little achievements for exploring every odd and end of the world. Also they have little outfits. They're so cute. 🥺🥺

You can actually ride the Monsties. All of em. Or, at least the ones that you have available to be your buddies. They all have exploration skills and traits that not only make exploring much more interesting but encourage you to swap out your active Monstie and play around with your options a bit.

Y'all breeding Monsties is complicated and I live for just how intense and ridiculous you can get with optimal builds for these things.

The story is really competently put together! The characters, character designs and even the internal conflict with your starting trio of characters is really compelling along with the mystery of the blight that's infecting Monsters across the world. It's not anything worth awards but it's compelling and it makes you care about the characters if that's what you're in the market for.

Amazing sound design, expansive world, everything about the presentation of this game oozes that Monster Hunter charm even if the art is cutesier than usual. You'll never get bored of its stellar visual presentation!

Available for around twenty quid on the Google Play store, so if you want, you could actually get the full game on your smartphone or tablet. Note though that it would be a battery nuker.

Cons:

If you're on a regular 3DS, frame rate drops are a given. This game kinda pushes the visual capabilities of the 3DS to its absolute limit--a lot like Okamiden did back on the DS.

One save file :( It's pretty much for the same reason as above but still.

If you're playing as the girl, you can't get male armour and vice versa. Since there's only one save file, you'll never be able to have all of the armour sets in a single playthrough and that's criminal because both of the sets for the genders are absolutely breath-taking, thank you.

I 👏can't 👏make👏my👏 own 👏Palico👏

Multi-player for this game is pretty dead seeing as it's almost five years old by now and never got much press or traction. Usually this wouldn't be an issue - this game is 99% singleplayer and you don't really need to fuss about with multi-player to have fun, but if you want to collect all the Monsties, you'll need it since the only way to get Glavenus is through pvp achievements. :/

Final thoughts: Play it if you find yourself getting tired or disappointed with 3DS Pokemon games but still want something that feels as fantastical as Pokemon. It outshines the 3DS Pokemon games at every turn and I will never be over just how thoughtfully put together and fully realised these games are. Of course, if you've ever played Monster Hunter, then you know just how intensive these games are with the lore, biology, cultures and world of their Monsters but seeing that translated into JRPG format was just very sobering and it's a game that, to this day, continues to awe me with just how much love and attention went into it.

Last note: If you're still unsure about it, there's a demo available on the e-shop of the 3DS that allows you to play through the entire initial area of the game. Your data does carry through to the full release and to give you an idea of how much I've been able to squeeze out of it - my playtime for that demo is currently sitting at 22 hours. Make sure to get a hold of that Cyan-Kut-Ku!

7th Dragon III Code: VFD

The title may sound intimidating but the premise is not! A mysterious disease called Dragon Sickness spread by the Dragonsbane flowers that have cropped up all around the world. You and your team are recruited by the Nodens game company after you display extraordinary prowess in their hit virtual reality game 7th Encount. As you go through the adventure, you are tasked with finding out the truth behind the Dragon Sickness and asked to stop both it and the Dragons that are destroying the world.

This game is fun. It's another turn-based JRPG however, in this game you create all of your characters yourself from the myriad of classes available to you from the jump. Different classes of course have very different specialisations - Samurai focus on high powered cutting damage with their swords, Duelists are summoners who can influence the element of the battlefield as well as summon monsters from each element, Agents can hack into your enemies and inflict a barrage of nasty ailments, just to name a few - and you are given three teams of three characters each to experiment with different team comps and find the balance that works for you. There's also a wide variety of Dragons to hunt and kill in the game, which directly affects how infected your world is with the Dragon Sickness causing Dragonsbane. Along the way you will also come into contact with many interesting characters, concepts and confrontations that will make the task of saving the world all the more imperative.

Pros

1. The character creator and differing classes give way for tons of experimenting and playing around with your own unique approach to combat and carrying out your missions. Granted, 'character creation' is generous, it's little more than palatte swaps but the classes are really where VFD shines. Eight main classes may not sound like a lot, but the expaniveness of the character skills, their synergy with their fellow classes and the uniqueness of some of the classes in and of itself allows for so much flexibility and creativity in approaches to even tougher bosses. It also encourages the switching about of your party members to really finagle with the options available to you.

2. God this game is pretty. The locations, the character art, the creature design - all of it is gorgeous and this game capitalises on every bit of the 3DS's presentation limitations as it can.

3. You can romance anything and everyone - yes, you can even be gay/lesbian/poly in this game. In fact, one of the main characters - Julietta - is gnc and he's a constant source of joy as well one of my personal favourite characters, right behind Yuma.

4. Exploration is very very forgiving as the game has healing spots and teleport nodes all over the world to allow for quick, seamless travel between quest points without feeling like anything is too much of a hassle. There are also special enemies that allow for quick grinding as well as quick farming of money. In general, the game does a really good job of making sure that the grind is never unbearable or inconsiderate of your time.

Cons:

1. This is the fourth game in a series the West has never seen any other title for, and from the looks of it, will probably never see any other titles for. Because of that, there are some elements that may seem confusing or revelations in the plot that may seem to come out of nowhere.

2. While the visuals are great, the OST of this one is pretty short making for a lot of reused soundtracks that can get really annoying if you're like me and need your audio to be interesting or consistent so it doesn't distract you too much.

3. This one isn't really a con but it is divisive: This game gets pretty difficult at times. A few of the main dragon enemies including and especially the final boss can give you a serious run for your money in the annoy-o-meter in terms of the kind of absolute JRPG fuckery they can pull out of their magic bag of bullshit movesets and while I generally enjoy that kind of thing, I know it's not for everyone. Most regular combat shouldn't be too tricky once you have a team comp that works well together but you also need to pay attention since the same team that carries you to victory one time might be worth beans against another dragon.

Final thoughts: This is... a really good game. Interesting story, really interesting characters, pretty world and a battle system that really makes you sit down and think. There's also a demo for this available in the e-shop and while your data doesn't carry over - you do receive multiple perks for carrying over your demo data including some exclusive items that, while not game breaking, do help a ton in the early stages of the game.

This isn't a final list by any stretch of the word; I only have the energy to do these two right now, but the next games up for coverage are Ever Oasis and Stella Glow! If you're interested in my full plan of games I want to cover here then my current lineup includes: Theatrhythm: Curtain Call, Project Mirai: Deluxe, Culdecept Revolt, Alliance Alive, Radiant Historia: Perfect Chronology, Etrian Odyssey V, Devil Survivor 2: Record Breaker and Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse.

Finally, if anyone has played any of the games I mention, cover or plan to cover PLEASE REACH OUT TO ME, I AM SO LONELY IN MY FORTRESS OF SAND. On a serious note, I'd love to hear what other people who've played these games think!

Thanks for reading,

-Ginger

PS: @feralpeacock Because a million years ago, on my first underrated games post, you asked that I remember you. :D

You Gotta Lose? Hell, Some Of Us Ain’t Dead Yet by Mary Leary

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0fz3FVBlOE

NRBQ has done so many amazing songs. I never thought much about “Roll Call,” from Tiddlywinks - for one thing, it has a lighter, almost Billy Joel sound that’s more about latter day Terry Adams style than what I think of as the classic Q. Yet just as Adams’ work has grown on me, this track has made its way into my consciousness. The lyrics speak to me more in 2020 than they did when Tiddlywinks was released in 1980, before the D.C.-area music scene had lost Robert Goldstein (Urban Verbs), Kevin MacDonald (brilliant visual artist and scene stalwart who helped me design and layout [The] Infiltrator), Danny Gatton disciple/guitar maverick Evan Johns, bassist Michael Maye from the original H-Bombs, Rick Dreyfuss (Half Japanese/Chumps/Shakemore), Libby Hatch and Michael Mariotte  (Tru Fax and the Insaniacs), Sally Be/Berg - REM/Egoslavia/SHE/Robert Palmer), Nurses member Marc Halpern (heroin, 1982), Lorenzo (Pee- Wee) Jones (Tiny Desk Unit) and hybrid rocker Jim Altman (HIV, 1990s).  Goldstein, Dreyfuss, Maye and MacDonald succumbed to cancer, while Evan Johns’ deterioration followed years of touring, hard drinking and pushing himself past the limit.

(Top to bottom: Tommy Keene, Kevin MacDonald, Susan Mumford)

Those named above have been joined by Tommy Keene (the Rage/the Razz/solo/Paul Westerberg/Matthew Sweet - cardiac arrest at the age of 59; 2017), TDU’s Susan Mumford (cancer, 2018), David Byers (Psychotics/H.R./Bad Brains), and Skip Groff (Yesterday and Today/ Limp Records/Dischord - seizure, 2019).  This is just an imperfect/incomplete naming of D.C.-area losses - I’m sure journalists from other cities could make lists. A horde of New Wave and early alternative musicians have died within the past few years. Whether through the stress of hard living/poverty, substance abuse, cancer or Covid-19, we’re seeing artists pass much earlier than I, anyway, expected them to.

(Top to bottom: Fred "Freak” Smith, Michael Maye with Evan Johns, Tru Fax and the Insaniacs)

We’re already past the loss of all the original Ramones. All the Cramps less Poison Ivy. Joe Strummer. Robert Quine. Hilly Kristal. Lou Reed. As of July, 2020, since 2018 we’ve also lost Andy Gill, Ivan Kral, Genesis P-Orridge, Adam Schlesinger, Danny Mihm, Ric Ocasek, Daniel Johnston, Kim Shattuck, Lorna Doom, Mark Hollis, Keith Flint, Ranking Roger, Mark E. Smith, Glenn Branca, Randy Rampage, Hardy Fox, Pete Shelley, Matthew Seligman, Bill Rieflin, Dave Greenfield, Florian Schneider,  Ian Dury, Benjamin Orr, Kirsty McColl and David Roback.

(Top to bottom: Sally Be/Berg, Ranking Roger, Danny Mihm)

Talking about the deaths of talented, gifted creatives is a helluva way to start a column. But here we are. Older performers don’t always get the attention afforded newer, so the rest of this piece shares and celebrates artists from the original New Wave/punk scenes who are still around and active. Many are from the D.C.-area cornucopia I know best, while others have just come to my attention, or seem especially noteworthy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MED9_XK_JVQ

The Zeros’ Javier Escovedo has been steadily emitting tasty Americana-ish rock while occasionally dropping some Zeros sturm-’n’-drang - most recently with Munster Records single “In The Spotlight” and a track on Burger Records’ Quarantunes compilation. Quarantunes is a seven-album affair featuring 140 alternative/punk performers old and new, all of whom wrote songs between March-April 2020. A cursory listen to Volume 2 reveals the recorded version of a good night at a very wild bar, with Zeros still handily kicking ass of all ages.

https://velvetmonkeys.bandcamp.com/album/legacy-of-success?fbclid=IwAR0lJyS0YDE4e3o7LJiITEtw1lhBWMkUX47Vuag1Lf9fs2QozJJKD1lwkes

Velvet Monkeys/B.A.L.L. player and Sonic Youth/Teenage Fanclub producer Don Fleming reports, “We’ve put out new tracks ‘Theories of Rummanetics’ and ‘Legacy of Success.’ Jay has written a few ‘modules’ and Malcolm and I are having fun doing the music,” adding, “I play some electric six string on the new Rob Moss album - it’s fun to be on, with lots of guitar slingers from the DC daze.”

Yup, Rob Moss of Skin-Tight Skin has solicited contributions from Fleming and from Marshall Keith (Slickee Boys), along with a pile of talent including Stuart Casson (Psychotics/Dove/Meatmen), Franz Stahl (Foo Fighters/Scream), Billy Loosigian (Nervous Eaters, the Boom-Boom Band), Nels Cline (Wilco) and Saul Koll (the guy who made guitars for Henry Kaiser and Lee Ranaldo). The set is called We’ve Come Back To Rock ‘n’ Roll.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XdIB8a_0Q4c

Chumps/Workdogs/Jam Messengers player Rob Kennedy apparently has too much energy to throw in the towel - he’s kept recording, performing and making various sorts of lo-fi, DIY mischief that never loses that fresh, ‘70s feeling. Jam Messengers released Night And Day on vinyl in 2017. One of my fave Kennedy tracks, “A Low Down Dirty Shame” speaks to this moment as well as any.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-CRBEGVLE4

Former Tiny Desk Unit/Fuji’s Navy/Rhoda & the Bad Seeds members Bob Boilen, Kevin Lay, Michael Barron and Bob Harvey have released a new Danger Painters joint, Thank Speak Love This Record. Lay joked, “I have a voice made for Morse Code” before revealing his recent work with Rhoda and the Bad Seeds material, released June 30 as Live at Nightclub 9:30. Boilen continues to introduce artists both vital and obscure via Tiny Desk Concerts and All Songs Considered/NPR.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejQ1GajwfB0

I’ve seen David Arnson play recently and can attest to his proclivity for unfettered growth via Insect Surfers, the instrumental group that originally had some trouble establishing cred. with younger D.C. punks. The Surfers’ most recent release was Living Fossils (2019). Arnson celebrated the band’s 40 years of existence with a European tour in 2019.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SkIuWIZVkM

Jad Fair says, “Half Japanese will have a new album released in November on Fire Records.” Jad’s art was recently featured at the Hiromart Gallery/Tokyo, while David has created a Facebook page where fans can pick up his colorful images for, well, mere bags o’ shells, as far as we can see -  https://www.facebook.com/David-Fair-Painting-107055447700859/

Despite health issues for several members, Bad Brains has collaborated with Element to make BB themed skate wear https://www.elementbrand.com/mens-collection-bad-brains/ and added some killer live tracks to its YouTube channel.  

Former WGTB programmers John Paige and Steve Lorber have been presenting Rock Continuum on WOWD-LP FM 94.3 since 2017.

Mike Stax continues to give excellent motivation for hunting down a pair of Beatle boots - Munster released the Loons’ 7” EP, A Dream In Jade Green, last year. The latest issue of Ugly Things, said by Stax to be heavily focused on the Pretty Things’ Phil May, was reported in early July to be nearing publication.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6jSc7gEAv0

Razz (the) Documentary will tell the story of how an uncommonly combustible rock band - especially with the Bill Craig/Abaad Behram line-up - helped spread the Flamin’ Groovies gospel while throwing down oddly compelling originals and taking the two-guitar thing up several notches - the producers are purportedly seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. Whether anyone can ever recreate the experience of being in an altered state via obsessive, sometimes conversational repetition of certain chords, anchored by Ted Nicely rethinking just what can be done with a bass guitar, given girth by Doug Tull’s intuitive drumming; with Mike Reidy the heat-seeking missile somewhere near the center... well, I doubt it. ‘Cause at this point you’re feeling no pain and it’s not about drinking; there is no room for anything but water - the beer will be knocked over when you’re this busy matching David Arnson’s other-side-of-the-front-line’s leaps into joydum while PCP’d out yahoos from the sticks learn the hard way that hugging Marshall amps can lead to lifelong repercussions. There (in case nothing I want to say about [the] Razz makes it into the film) - I’ve said it.

Discussions among old friends have confirmed that I’m not alone in being happily surprised at this development - we never expected our actions - which led to the hardcore explosion that’s received a lot more attention... would ever make it into any history book. Yet coverage of many of the D.C.-area musicians featured in this piece also comes with Punk The Capitol, A History of D.C. Punk and Hardcore, 1976-1983. Spring 2021 is the projected date for streaming/DVD release.

Ivan Julian came back from a scary 2015 bout with cancer to do a show in New York in 2016. The cancer has returned. Friends have organized a GoFundMe to raise money for surgery and basic needs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDB_3by-xkI

The Shakemore fest also refuses to fade, promising “eight hours of streaming steaming video” on August 1. Sounds will be provided by R. Stevie Moore, Velvet Monkeys, Tav Falco’s Panther Burns, Half Japanese, Johnny Spampinato, Weird Paul and the Chumps, among many, many others.

Despite having played at CBGB and other alternative venues in 1979, at the height of the New Wave, Gary Wilson’s work is so distinctive, he’s rarely been included with any musical genre other than the oft-vague “experimental” category. Folks were too unmoored by his visceral performances to get behind him. Wilson’s 14th album, Tormented, was released by Cleopatra in February.

Paul Collins recently published a book that he wrote with Chuck Nolan; I Don’t Fit In: My Wild Ride Through the Punk and Power Pop Trenches with the Nerves and the Beat (Hozac Books).

As “Heath,” Michael Layne Heath, a journalist who contributed to (the) Infiltrator and many other ‘zines, published My Week Beats Your Year: Encounters with Lou Reed in May (Hat & Beard Press).

In April, X released its first album in 35 years; Alphabetland.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZ1I-laItPI

As exciting for me as any of the above is Richard Hell with the Heartbreakers’ 2019 release of Yonkers Demo 1976. Hell’s “You Gotta Lose” is one of my picks for best punk/new wave singles of all time. The Heartbreakers version is, predictably, messier than the Robert Quine guitar-spiked classic. Its more excessive charms are growing on me...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48QnsysCN_A

This piece could go on and on - compiling it has been exhausting. The best part has been the response to my social media call for any info I didn’t have re: the D.C.-centric scene I left for New York in 1983. Musicians anxious to keep their compadres’ names alive have hammered that post with 138 comments to date. Urban Verbs percussionist Danny Frankel, who’s played with a colorful spread of artists including Beck, Marianne Faithful, Lou Reed, John Cale and k.d. Lang, made a point of being sure I knew about the passing of Marc Halpern, a source of obvious pain. People were worried I wouldn’t mention John Stabb (Government Issue - 2016), rockabilly player Billy Hancock (2018), Fred “Freak” Smith (Strange Boutique/Beefeater - murdered in Los Angeles, 2017), John Hansen (Slickee Boys - 2010), record store owner/Wasp Records starter/music supporter Bill Asp, Jimmy Barnett of The Killer Bees, and David Byers.

One of the hardest for me to write about is Chris Morse, whose 1984 passing from a drug overdose wrenched so many - I managed to get an obituary into, I think, The New York Rocker (that physical trek was part of a long-ago blur; a very hot day of traipsing over steaming concrete in a narrow-skirted dress to deliver the copy). Chris popped up in my dreams for years - one “visitation” pushed me to write a poem about it in the ‘90s. Morse, who played in Rhoda & The Bad Seeds and worked as a doorman at The Pyramid after moving to NYC in the early ‘80s, was on one of the Urban Verbs’ early flyers. I’m on another.

(Top to bottom: Me in an early Verbs flyer/photo shot at the Atlantis; Chris Morse on another Verbs flyer)

I ended up getting so burnt out on the responsibility of populating this sad roll call, I’ve started a memorial page for them all on Facebook. The nature of truly alternative music is such that many of its lights still fail to fill the pages of major publications. Many of these lights gave a great deal of their lives, if not everything, for the art they believed in. It’s good to remember them, and those heady early days. It’s good to enjoy what we still can.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cA3IfK76mmI

Star Wars - The Last Jedi

A wierd, different, unexpected, uneven, but ultimately satisfying episode in the franchise.

****SPOILERS**** this is going to be looooong….

The Good - The filmmakers took a lot of chances and risks here and I am happy that they did. They showed us new things that we’ve never seen before, and presented a plot that subverts your expectations to lead the characters to new journeys and arcs. - Luke was terrific as a dejected former jedi master who’s past failure led him to exile. Some fans may have wanted him to remain some kind of power fantasy character who just uses the Force to… blow Star Destroyers up or some shit, but here he plays a believable interpretation of a teacher who failed his students and is suffering from deep regrets. He came to that isolated island “to die” as he says, but his arc here follows the theme of “learning to pick yourself up even in the face of terrible failure". Despite being an old curmudgeon now, he is still recognizably Luke Skywalker. Mark Hamill gives his best performance here. And his final “battle” at the end is badass, surprising and clever, not to mention showing us a new use of The Force (which in my mind totally makes some sense). If the dead can project their image through the force, why can’t a living jedi? That Luke acts quite dramatic when facing Kylo Ren as a “hologram” is just funny. Luke’s journey ended in ROTJ. Here he plays one final part in the story of this galaxy. “See you around kid” he says to Kylo. Perhaps he is saying it to us as well. - Leia has a lot of unexpected scenes here… namely, her use of the Force to save herself from what would have been a deadly experience! This felt at first like it came out of nowhere, but Leia has previously shown to possess some strong connection to the Force. Her character is out of commission for a chunk of the movie, but Carrie Fisher does give a very subtle and poignant performance here. How they will reconcile Fisher’s passing for Episode 9 will remain to be seen… - Rey and Kylo’s journeys here compliment each other and are amazing. You honestly don’t know how things will turn out, since they tease both of them being pulled away from their respective sides of the Force often here. Their direct connection to each other through the Force was new, and gave us some very interesting scenes where they talk and interact despite being worlds apart. Kylo gets much more development here, and does some rather unexpected things. He is both sympathetic, and detestable. He is still very much a tortured young man lashing out at the galaxy. Rey mostly plays the role of the student in search of a teacher. She goes looking for Luke, finds him, but he ain’t having it at all, and just lets her hang around for a bit to her disappointment. She eventually takes her own initiative and sort of earns Luke’s respect for it. - We perhaps learn who Rey’s parents are, and it was as I wished: they are nobodies who sold her off as a kid then died in a shallow grave on Jakku. I would have HATED if they were somehow someone we already knew… Rey’s importance isn’t through blood but through her own initiative. She even admits to knowing all along but being afraid to admit it. Daisy Ridley is still fantastic as Rey. I like her even more than before! Kylo can satisfy the Skywalker bloodline requirement of the series in this new trilogy. Let someone else be the hero for a change. - Kylo just straight up murders that silly CGI Supreme Leader Snoke and I love it. Snoke was just Palpatine-lite, and Kylo is clearly the more interesting villain the new series should focus on. Who cares who Snoke was… nobody really cared who Palpatine was in ROTJ… he too was just an evil overlord who gets killed by his apprentice (until Lucas devoted 3 movies to him…). This feels like Rain Johnson cleaning up after JJ Abrams. Snoke was silly and I’m glad he dies unclimactically after only 2 movies. - Poe is a lot more hot-headed here than in the first movie, though we didnt really spend much time with him in TFA. He gets an arc here too though, which also fits in with the themes of the film. His actions get a ton of people killed and essentially cripples the Resistance, but he learns from his mistakes eventually and becomes a better leader for it. - The general theme of the movie being moving past one’s failures is interesting here since it let the filmmakers subvert so many tropes. Most of the plans the Resistence people enact all lead to disaster. In fact, their desperate flight from impending doom through the entire movie felt quite harrowing. Unlike ESB where the rebels successfully escape Hoth to live and fight another day with minimal losses, the Resistance here is absolutely wrecked and continue to be destroyed through the entire runtime. How they will recover from this remains to be seen, and we now know nothing about where this story will go in Episode 9 because of how screwed they are by the end… Meanwhile the First Order suffers from their own failures, but appear too smug about themselves to see their own hubris. They could have easily wiped the Resistance out, but choose to slowly chase them, as if to let the rebels witness the loss of all hope. It doesn’t exactly backfire, but instead renews the rebels fire to fight back. - There is a lot about the Force here that evolves the Star Wars mythos a bit. From the old Jedi texts, to Luke admitting that the Jedi doomed themselves long ago in the prequels, we see Star Wars moving past Jedi and Sith and becoming something different. I’m glad they didnt rely so heavily on what only was shown before with respect to the capabilities of a Force user or the nature of the Force in general. People may not like this, but the change is welcome. Also… YODA!!!! Slightly crazed puppet Yoda!!! He’s still teaching Luke new things. Wished ghost Obi-wan also appeared somehow… but that may be going too far. - The battles and duels in this movie were spectacular. The lightsaber fight in Snoke’s throne room? One of the best fights in the series… it was exciting and realistically choreographed, flashy without being excessive (like the prequels). A good balance between the fights in the OT and prequels. Seeing Rey and Kylo battling Snoke’s guards in a long take, shot clearly with the static angle… magnificent. Plus we get to see Kylo at full strength as opposed to crippled in TFA. He takes on multiple enemies at once, while Rey struggles with one guard. - The cinematography here is in general quite lovely. Rian Johnson loves his wide shots, and fills them with a beauty not often seen in these movies. There are some gorgeous shots here… from Holdo’s weaponized Hyperspace maneuver, to Luke’s standoff against the AT-ATs, and his final scene looking to the twin sunset that recalls the similar shot on Tatooine long ago… the use of color throughout makes for a very pretty movie. - We get flashback scenes here oddly enough… which we never got in other episode films. Plus, Rian wasnt afraid to venture into other types of shots and scenes, like a minor use of slow motion. They let the filmmmakers inject their own style into the movie. - The porgs were thankfully not too obtrusive. They are just sorta there to annoy Chewie. Chewie roasting some for dinner while they watch horrified was great and rather morbid. - Seeing Luke on the Falcon again, and his scene with R2… very poignant, and melancholy. They somehow manage to use Leia’s old message to Obi Wan to further Luke’s character development. - The battle on the salt planet Crait was neat. They make you think there will be some Hoth style battle against the AT-ATs, but its ultimately subverted by having the Resistance not even have a remote chance at all of doing any damage due to their lack of useful weapons. Finn tries the heroic sacrifice but… eh… Rose saves him and ends up letting the First Order blast a hole in the base. The hopelessness is really driven far here. - It took until the ending for me to realize Poe never was introduced to Rey ever. Also, did Rey steal the Jedi texts from that tree Luke planned on torching? You see some books in a drawer that Finn takes a blanket out of on the Falcon. Perhaps Rey will use them to help revive the Jedi order? - The last scene of the movie was an odd one to close out on… some orphans talking about Luke Skywalker like some legendary hero… then one of them uses the force to grab a broom? The Force is alive in others! Hope always survives! A bit on the nose but it makes you contemplate the future beyond the current heroes. The Bad…. - Finn and Rose’s entire subplot was superfulous and kind of terrible… I could see how it ties into the theme of the movie (hatching a clever plan to fight the First Order that ultimately fails spectacularly, but they keep fighting anyways), but that didnt stop it from being rather dull. Canto Blight felt out of place… like you were watching Harry Potter or the Hunger Games. And the whole animal horse chase thing fell kinda flat… - Benicio del Toro is in this… he plays some wierdo hacker (slicer?) with a stutter. He ultimately amounts to very little. He’s played convincingly, but only added to the superfulousness of Finn and Rose’s subplot… - In fact… that whole subplot was what damaged this movie severely. It is clearly the weakest part of an otherwise interesting film. How they come up with the plan to infiltrate the First Order ship to disable their hyperspace tracking device thing felt halfbaked. Finn and Rose spout some technobabble that feels straight out of Star Trek, then decide to gungho this odd mission. They threw Maz Kanata in there for a moment for no reason… why would Finn and Poe ask her for help? Finn barely met her. Does Poe even know her at all? All of this coulda been avoided if Vice Admiral Holdo just told Poe about her and Leia’s secret plan at the start! - Rose is gonna be divisive…. she feels like a fan stand-in character. She fangirls over Finn, goes on an adventure with him, and is suddenly in love with him? Sure I guess… i suppose i could buy that, considering she was previously some unseen common worker for the Resistance meeting a “celebrity”. Finn didnt seem to react much to her kiss though. His heart seems out for Rey. - Rey just casually dropping herself off at Snoke’s ship felt a wee bit too convenient… then after the battle in the throne room she just… appears back on the Falcon. Jarring, despite the attempt to explain it. - Phasma is used so little i wonder why they bothered making her a unique character at all… to sell toys? She gets a badass fight where she dominates Finn, but then seemingly dies in a fiery pit. Maybe they will make it a running gag that she keeps coming back? I hope she survived and returns later anyways. We get to see Gwendolyn Christie’s… eye. Yay? - The music here plays off established themes from the OT and TFA, which is fine, but otherwise there really isnt anything new here. Rose gets a new leitmotif at least. They use Palpatine’s theme during some Snoke scenes too, but is it meant to suggest they are related? - Honestly, the middle of the film just drags too long, and its all due to the Finn and Rose scenes. I get they needed to have Finn do something, but was that Canto Blight stuff necessary? That they just fly off somewhere then return to the fleet chase later kinda trivialized the whole scenario. They also introduce an idea that weapons manufacturers are profitting off the perpetual war between empire and rebellion. Neat, but they don’t really explore it further… feels like that belongs in a different movie… - The beginning of the movie focused a lot on Rose’s sister despite us not knowing much about her. Just kinda an odd choice? Those rebel bombers that just drop bombs on top of the dreadnught are also kinda dumb… most of the rebel fighter craft are decimated right off the bat. Summary: It may take more viewings to see where this truly stands qualitywise in the series. The Force Awakens definitely flowed better and had better pacing, but this one was more inventive and introduced us to newer concepts and was less predictable. Apart from the weak Canto Blight subplot and some other plot goofery, the film works. For now, I think it can give it an 8.5/10.0. I respect the hell out of them for doing some ballsy things that they know will rile part of the fanbase. Franchise rankings (out of 10): ESB & ANH 9.0 (fresh and with a truly lasting legacy) TLJ 8.5 (for evolving the franchise) RotJ 8.25 (a good close to the OT but imperfect) TFA 8.0 (overly familiar beats but still fun) ROTS 7.0 (flawed but sort of gives more weight to what happens in ROTJ) Rogue One 6.5 (very flawed, kind of a mess) TPM & AOTC 5.0 (some parts of it i like, the rest is nonsensical or dull) People seem to forget how different ESB was from ANH. This is the case here compared to TFA. I think its neat how each trilogy has its own unique feel and energy. I only hope JJ Abrams grows beyond his shortcomings in Ep. 9 and gives us something also unique and fresh.

I’ve watched a relatively decent amount of war movies, specifically WWII movies, so I went into watching ‘Dunkirk’ with both curiosity and hope that it wasn’t being overhyped. I have a tense relationship with WWII movies in that I love studying WWII but also have trepidation entering a movie and how it would portray the events, how it glorifies or demonizes, how it exploits or emotionally manipulates. That being said, I actually really liked ‘Dunkirk’ for specific reasons:

1. Its non-linear storytelling, which at first confused me but then really fell into place well as you realized how the film would achieve it. And it makes sense too why Nolan would choose to portray the week’s span of the army on the beach versus a day at sea versus an hour of a pilot’s time. You wouldn’t want to introduce characters too late or spend little time on their narrative if you did the film linear, which would then sacrifice a lot of the portrayal of the people on the civilian rescue boat and the RAF pilots. And ultimately, its how it works: the soldiers stuck in Dunkirk were out there for a stressful long time of waiting, while it takes a short while to sail a boat across the channel to rescue as many soldiers as one can and a pilot only has an hour or so worth of fuel in their plane. and the way Nolan weaved the timelines, made them intersect before you knew they were intersecting, hinted to events happening in the present of one’s timeline that is actually the future of another’s, was not at all in your face about it but subtle, from a distance, and yet significant. 

2. The script was sparse. It did nothing to move the plot forward and did little to develop its characters. Normally I dislike those kinds of scripts but for a war film it really fit. Most war films nowadays focus on a singular hero character, whether fictional or real, and focuses all its energy in developing that one person while the war sort of just happens in the background. But for a film like Dunkirk there is no singular hero, and I think it would be a waste to focus on a singular hero. It instead is snapshots of the choices and survival and rescue of a couple of unnamed or simple people rather than larger than life heroes. It sort of is like a happy medium between classic Hollywood storytelling--a singular superhero-focused narrative--and a let’s call it classic Soviet storytelling--the heroic efforts of the nameless, non-individual masses. There is no singular hero, as ‘Dunkirk’--and ultimately WWII--was a group effort of individual brave people. 

2b. Because of the sparse script, instead of a single story that almost portrays as if the entire war revolved around this particular event, the film elegantly portrayed what can best be described as the day in the life of a WWII soldier. In an almost documentary style the film, albeit not the camera, takes on almost an observer role, following characters not to plot-oriented events but rather to their next stop, their next attempt for survival, and then the next, and when that failed, the next. The audience follows the characters through both the drama and the quiet inactivity. They walk alongside the characters on the beach. And at the end of the movie, the audience knows fully well that the story is concluded but the war itself is not--there are five more years to go of even more hardship. 

2c. The characters are very well-acted, and their writing is very generic and simple. They could be anyone, which is the point. These soldiers were just about everyone, and because they have blank backstories for the most part you the audience color in the spaces. They become who you subconsciously want them to become--they can, in a sense, become you, as you invest yourself into their survival. 

3. Some films are very exploitative of their violence (lookin’ at u, Mel Gibson), others are very emotionally manipulative and forces you to hurt. ‘Dunkirk’ does not try either, or at least, not explicitly. There is violence, but it does not sicken your stomach with flying guts and busted heads to force a reaction out of you. There is of course, death--a lot of deaths, particularly a lot of drowning, but it does not linger on the horror and does not, for the most part, force you to watch young men slowly die, although it also does not let you look away, either. It is not playing a folksong on your heartstrings in order to reiterate that war is hell, but quietly point out the facts with a shot of a hand that stops struggling, or a closed door hatch, and trusting the audience to understand that the sinking boat was full of injured soldiers. The fact that war is hell does not always have to be a heavy handed lesson. 

There were some things that makes the movie a little less perfect, which is expected. The film I think does a great job in historical portrayal, and where it falls short is not in its manipulation of facts but rather in its omission. Critics point out that the film does not give any indication that there were actually a significant number of Indian troops on Dunkirk serving with the British (as far as Hollywood goes, it goes without saying that I found two poc in the film, and they were all in the French army for 2 seconds). Our current perception of history is often shaped by the way the stories are told to us, and when people of color are omitted, we will forget that they were ever there at all, even though in reality they had a significant presence. For example, just about every Elizabethan movie you will ever watch will portray a very white England, which at first sounds rather sensible, since this was before modern day travelling and immigration in our senses, but in reality there was a significant presence of people from Africa (also known as ‘Moors’ at the time) living in London in the 1600s. Long story short, perpetuating the singular color of England in history is not by nature historically accurate. I also know that critics were pointing out the significant lack of reference to the French army’s contribution and effect in the events. French troops--albeit not all, of course--were actually evacuated as well, and of course while Britain was pulling off this evacuation France was suffering a takeover. The French were holding ground while the British were being evacuated, so in a sense this could not have been pulled off without the French’s help, which was unfortunately not acknowledged, and probably isn’t doing much for British-French relations, however that is in the current day. 

I also thought that the movie could have tried to at least have at least one (1) minute without Hans Zimmer’s otherwise great soundtrack. I think they used music a lot to encourage tension but the actors’ eyes are so really amazing in communicating emotion that I felt like they could have done it on their own without the help of music.

All in all, I am surprised I liked it enough to write a damn long text post about it. 

My Magikarp brings all the boys to the pond

Before I say anything else:

Voltorb is a real bastard.

I used to like this little shitstain. Now I see it for what it is: The laziest design in the entire Pokemon universe. Out of the 802 Pokemon in existence, this little pathetic ball is #1 in the worst category you could ascribe to them. I had to Google that number, and I don’t know about half of them, but I know this to be true regardless.

Someone will say otherwise, but they’re wrong. And after playing enough Magikarp Jump on iOS, I expect zero voices of dissent that Voltorb is also a total bastard.

Voltorb doesn’t deserve its own game, and as of a week or two ago, I might’ve said the same thing about Magikarp, but boy was I wrong. I tend to think of the Pokeverse as a mirror image of real life; The Pokemon Company picks a handful of ‘mon like Pikachu and Charizard and they become the one percenters, the ones that are on all the boxes, posters, basically every piece of merchandise in existence. Would it shock any of us if photos were leaked of Pikachu doing blow off the sexy back of a Machoke in a Japanese high rise? Of course not. We all know Pikachu runs the show.

But Magikarp? Magikarp, in all its floppy, laying-on-its-side ways, is sort of the embodiment of “all of us.” We are all Magikarp. It’s the Weird Twitter of Pokemon. We adore it because we kind of pity it. We like it because we know it’s sort of useless. We collect it because, after 400 goddamn candies in Pokemon GO or a whole lot of level grinding in the main series, we’ll eventually get our hands on a badass Gyarados.

Until recently, Magikarp would never have dreamed of starring in anything. And yet here we are; Magikarp Jump is rocking the iOS and Android charts as a free download and people largely seem to love it.

I’m one of them. I love it. Mostly because its short-sighted, lackadaisical control styles match the useless nature of Magikarp itself. The game actually sort of sucks, but it doesn’t! I could quit it at any time, but I don’t want to!

The big difference now being that Magikarp is glorious. Behold:

FABIKARP.

Yes, Magikarp come in all sorts of patterns now, and among the rarest are the golden fishies, which are beautiful and take the concept of “shiny” Pokemon to the next level.

This is a good time to pause and talk broadly about mobile games. Touch games have copied one another’s general trappings for years: You have the typical match-threes, the “endless” runners, the doodle jumpers, and so on.

That last one is where you’d expect Magikarp Jump to fall, but it doesn’t. Rather, every action in the game is summed up by singular button clicks. Magikarp Jump is only a few skips away from Cow Clicker in its non-entertaining, blatant click-a-couple-times-then-wait-to-do-a-thing nature. Feeding your Magikarp by clicking on food makes sense to me. Simply tapping a button to get your Magikarp to leap in the air, albeit funny, does not. Tapping one button to see how hard your Magikarp trains by flopping against an assortment of objects extremely-does not. Where some of these events could feature some kind of quick-time event or mini-game, Magikarp Jump bypasses all that for button-clicks and hidden dice rolls.

And once you get past that shred of disappointment, it’s fine. Magikarp doesn’t give a damn. The thing jumps sideways, for fuck’s sake. Do you think it has enough of an attention span to let you tell it when to flop into a balloon pump or a tree? Of course not.

So, my relationship with this game is pretty simple: Open it up, do all the things, turn it off, then come back later to do more things, like any other free to play game. This one feels quite friendly, in that I haven’t spent a dime and have beaten three leagues and reached trainer rank 16 -- I stopped writing this for roughly two days and now I’m at 23.

By many standards, Magikarp Jump shouldn’t be considered a good mobile game: The buy-in for diamonds in the microtransaction system is way too steep relative to their usefulness, the game’s animations are supremely sub-par, the aforementioned actions are repetitive and not very entertaining, the game slams into a wall of grind come the mid-levels, and some of the more useful pieces of info and upgrade systems are buried in some not-so-intuitive menus.

Magikarp Jump is kind of a mess. And I adore it for that, because no game bearing the Poke-fish’s name should be anything more than a belly-flop that manages to get high scores from the App Store’s user review judges.

This game is the ultimate indicator that The Pokemon Company as well as Nintendo and its affiliates could put damn near anything on the App Store and it absolutely will be a smash hit. Not only does it appear to be one of the worst mobile games I’ve ever been hopelessly enjoying on a regular basis (but not at all the worst I’ve ever played, which is an important distinction), but it stars one of the ironic-to-like afterthoughts in one of the most consistently popular brands on the planet. And the user reviews for this completely underwhelming game are equally amazing. Here are some choice quotes from a few of the 1,300+ (!) five-star reviews:

“This is an amazing piece of software. The overtones of games from Nintendos legendary past vibrate through this game providing feeling of nostalgia that have never been known to most.”

“This game is flawless.”

“This game has really opened my eyes that Magikarp is not a weak Pokemon but a strong Pokemon trying it’s best to win battles.”

“From tricky life choices to a plethora of potentially catastrophic decisions, this game has excited and entertained the karp out of me!”

Just fucking amazing, right?

Speaking of catastrophic decisions: Voltorb, and to a lesser extent Pidgeotto, are a couple of assholes. The game triggers random events, such as one where I’m positive this kid is giving my trainer weed, and evidently you sell the “nugget” he hands you for money, because you’re definitely a drug mule now.

Other events give players a choice to put Magikarp at some varying level of risk with the benefit of increased jump points, diamonds or coins on either branch of the proverbial decision tree. One such event features a tree full of delicious fruit that Magikarp might leap in the air to eat, which frequently results in a Pidgeotto swooping out of the air to steal your fish away. Another event, the one my glorious FABIKARP fell victim to, features a mysterious Pokeball fake-out in which a Voltorb zaps your Magikarp, forcing you to get a new one.

Now, let’s clarify something here: Any given Magikarp you own can be “retired,” either manually or by reaching their maximum level and losing in a league jumping battle (the max level dictated by your trainer’s level, which actually sounds unnecessarily convoluted now that I typed it out). Those “retired” Pokemon drift through your Magikarp pond like the ghosts of your fish-training past, ever-present as you move on to the next fish, and the next fish, and so on.

But those victims? You’ll never see them again, ever. The game doesn’t explicitly say it, this is a Pokemon offshoot after all, but they are most certainly dead as hell. A fucking Voltorb definitely *killed* my golden beauty. My scaly, sun-kissed child. My gorgeous, mouth-breathing, aquatic idiot, literally electrocuted to death as the result of mere curiosity. Voltorb is a dirty fuck.

In some ways, particularly after learning over time which events are more likely to result in complete and breathless fatality, Magikarp Jump rewards playing it safe a little too much, which is probably the worst thing a chance-filled video game can do. I’m able to sit back, safely raise my ‘karp, never spend a dime of this game and get by just fine. Even by free-to-play standards, there are some pretty lackluster design decisions going on here.

In truth, and this is reinforced as I read more glowing user reviews, Magikarp Jump is considered good by the grace of its own existence. It’s good because we have it. Because we are able to open it and play it, so it is a good thing. It’s enjoyable because it’s Magikarp, and kind of dang cute. By real-ass video game merits, it’s the turd in the punch bowl that we’re all happily scooping our way around. In some ways, I want to shout “no, don’t drink the Kool-aid,” but it’s equally fun to kick back and enjoy the show for a while, even embrace the chaos. I enjoy this crappy game, even though I shouldn’t.

Where do we go from here? Well shit, I think it’s been sufficiently proven that Nintendo can now effectively dump out any crummy game on iOS with a treasured brand attached and backstroke in the depths of our starving nostalgia. To kick-start this inevitable process, here’s a couple ideas:

A Metroid game, except instead you buy outfits and dress up Samus and don’t fucking play actual Metroid at all, what would you even expect.

Yoshi’s Cookie, except you’re just feeding Yoshi cookies every few hours to get it to lay and hatch eggs with the option to buy packs of cookies using in-game currency that you purchase with real money (the valuation of each being intentionally staggered to encourage you to buy more, like hot dogs and hot dog buns in Father of the Bride Part 2).

F-Zero “endless” racer where you purchase parts for your hovercraft using in-game currency that you purchase with real money (the valuation of each being intentionally staggered to encourage you to buy more blah blah blah).

Literally the exact same thing as Magikarp Jump, but with Zubat or some shit.

There is no good reason for you to download Magikarp Jump, but here’s a link to its listing on iTunes so you can do exactly that. You can get Gyarados in this game after “cracking” your karp’s Everstone by tapping on it repeatedly:

Some folks are already waxing poetic about that, but ultimately Gyarados’ appearance isn’t very special and is more of a missed opportunity than anything else. Let’s not shit ourselves, this isn’t a good game. It’s just not! But it actually super is, and everyone should download it to push one stupid button and catch a Magikarp themselves.

If I were forced to grade this game, fuck it, I’d give it five stars. Let’s lean in to this madness.

Truth or Dare- Poe Dameron

Pairing: Poe Dameron/OC

Request: A Poe request for you: on the odd quiet night, in the wee hours, drinking games are played among pilots and mechanics. Someone starts handing out “truth or dare” styled challenges (whether that’s a game that exists for them or not is up to you). Tipsy and overly-honest first kisses ensue.

Warnings: Fluff

A/N: Ugh I loved this. I would love to write more Poe <3

I opened the hatch of the X-Wing and sucked in a deep breath of fresh air, expelling the stale cockpit air from my lungs. Despite having landed more than a full five minutes ago, my nerves were still tingling, a childish grin plastered on my face. It was always amazing to me how that feeling never changed…I must have flown a thousand flights since I’d first started flying, over a decade ago, and that feeling of adrenaline never grew old. I hoped it never would.

I carefully climbed over the side of the cockpit and dropped to the ground, landing on my feet. I could feel my hair sticking beneath my helmet and pulled it off, running a hand through my tangled locks.

“Nice landing!” A familiar voice shot through my thoughts, the light, playful tone instantly erupting my stomach into a swarm of butterflies. Damn him.

Trying to maintain an air of total calm and coolness, I tucked my white helmet beneath my arm and turned to see none other than Poe Dameron, leaning against the side of his own ship. He was giving me a cheshire grin, the very one that had made me fall into his trap in the first place. It was one thing for him to be an amazing pilot, but he was also annoyingly handsome. And also sweet and charming, and funny, and-and…I cleared my thoughts. Oh hell, there I went again.

“Nice of you to notice, Dameron.” I quipped back, pleased when my tone came off just as casual as his.

He pushed away from the ship and sauntered toward me. “Hard to miss. Can’t help but feel I better watch my back, or the title of best pilot in the resistance might find a new owner.” His tone was still playful, his brown eyes warm and friendly as always. Yet another thing that was impossible not to notice. He seemed almost oblivious to all the things that made him irresistible to me. And I was sure I wasn’t the only one.

“Would it be rude to say I’m looking forward to that day?” I teased back, and his grin grew even more, if possible, crinkling the corners of his eyes.

For as long as I’d known Poe, there was one thing I was even more envious of than his skills as a pilot…his optimism. There was so much bad in the world. So many things that were wrong and seemed unchangeable, yet he never, ever doubted his belief that change was happening. I both envied and admired that about him. Optimism was such a rare notion anymore.

I felt my breath catch as he reached out and tugged at a strand of my hair. “Not at all. I love a good competition.”

I swatted his hand away gently, the corners of my lips curling into a grin that could’ve rivaled his own. “As do I, Dameron.” I poked at his chest, and his eyes danced with amusement. “I’m sure you recall the night last week when—“

He let out a groan, closing his eyes. “How many times are you gonna bring that up, huh?”

I laughed. “How can I not when you’re still such a sore loser?”

It’d been during one of our late night drinking escapades, a ritual where all the resistance pilots and mechanics gathered for a night where war, battles, and the resistance in general, seemed not to exist. We were just a group of friends, spending time together and laughing. The games were consistently changing, though I was still the champion of the game Coins…where you bounced a coin off of a flat surface in an attempt to make it into a glass. I was normally terrible at drinking games, but for some reason, this was my niche. Poe and I had battled it out the week before, and while it’d been close at first, by the end of the game I’d wiped the floor with him. He’d been very adorably drunk by then…smiling lopsidedly and eventually falling asleep with his head in my lap. We hadn’t spoken about it since, but I could still remember being considerably tipsy myself and running my fingers through his hair.

Maybe that was why my pulse seemed to suddenly have a mind of its own whenever he was around. Although that wasn’t the entire truth. Poe Dameron had always had a significant effect on my vitals whether I wanted him to or not.

“I’m planning on redeeming myself one of these days. You coming tonight? I gotta flask full of whiskey with your name on it.” He offered.

I pretended to look thoughtful. “Hmm…I suppose I could be persuaded.”

“I’m going to take that as a resounding yes.” Poe said with his crooked smile, taking a few steps back from me. “Duty calls, but tonight?” He asked again, still walking backward away from me. I could see the nose of the nearest X-Wing in his path, but just smiled, waiting to see if he would miraculously side-step it or bump into it.

“Tonight!” I agreed, and couldn’t help but laugh as he did bump into the ship, stopping short. A frown appeared on his face as he looked over his shoulder, as if to see what the hell had dared get in his way. When he looked back at me, there was a sheepish smile on his face. He shrugged, before turning around and disappearing among the rows and rows of ships. I watched until his back had disappear and then shook my head, unable to dispel the embarrassing giddiness I felt after one simple conversation.

I’d been warned about Poe Dameron. Handsome, charming, sweet. And  I’d been so certain that those three words weren’t enough to effect me. Then I’d met him, and I could instantly see why people were drawn to the pilot. His charisma was contagious, his smiles impossible to ignore. And while his passion for the fight was unmatched, he was also the first one to insist that the fight be forgotten during their nights of games and relaxation.

And then there was the way drunk Poe had so easily laid his head in my lap. Looking up at me with his dark eyes, smiling sleepily. And it had been impossible to resist the urge to softly drag my fingers through his hair, despite the fact that I knew whatever happened would be forgotten in the morning.

And still, it was a trap I wanted to get stuck in all over again. 

#

I wasn’t until darkness had settled across the planet, and the night had gone cold and quiet, that I’d heard the voices and laughter. At first, it had seemed like such a strange thing. That anyone could laugh or even smile when there was entire war raging outside. But I’d quickly learned, as we all did, that if not for the occasional bit of laughter, hope was nonexistent. I wanted to believe there was a world that could exist outside of the orange jumpsuits and calls to battle. Maybe one day, I’d even live to see it.

I trailed down the dimly lit quarter until I’d reached the landing bay, where tucked in the furthest corner from the wide doors, was a corner filled with mismatched chairs and smiling faces. A couple of familiar voices called out my name as I approached, my cheeks turning pink as I shrugged them off and sank down onto a stool near the edge of the gathering.

Immediately, though I didn’t want to initially admit it, my entire being was on alert for Poe. Looking for his easy smile, and listening for his laugh. I found him almost immediately, our eyes meeting for a fleeting instant before looking away. It was ridiculous, how aware of him I was. There were at least a dozen other people there, but I felt his presence as if her were standing right next to me. My eyes were drawn to him like a magnet…

“Nice of you to finally show.” Jess said, giving me a sideways smile.

I rolled my eyes and held out my hand. “Come on, don’t be stingy. Who has the booze?”

Of course it was Poe who leaned across the circle toward me first, handing me a silver flash. “I did promise you whiskey, right?”

He flashed me a smile, and I felt myself automatically smiling back before pressing the bottle to my lips and tilting my head back. The warm liquid ran down my throat, burning its way down to my stomach and filling me with warmth. I made a face before handing it back to Poe, who was looking at me with amusement. I wasn’t sure if my cheeks were burning because of him, or because of the liquor.

“Alright,” I began, clapping my hands together in anticipation. “What’s the game tonight?” I said, looking around at the small crowd of mechanics and pilots. A motley crew to some, but one that had become somewhat of a family to me.

“Not coins!” Someone chimed in, and the rest of the group broke out in laughs.

I rolled my eyes, leaning forward and resting my forearms on my knees. “Fine, fine. So what then?”

Another pilot, blonde with a mischievous smile, grinned. He looked around the circle before eagerly declaring. “Truth or dare?”

This suggestion was followed by a chorus of groans and cheers. I was one of those groaning, shaking my head. “Oh come on! What are we? Teenagers?”

“Might as well be, with all the damn rules around here!” Someone hollered, and it was followed by a chorus of laughter.

Tash, the young pilot who had suggested the game, stood. “Hands up if you’re in agreement?”

I looked around curiously, and raised my eyebrows when almost every hand went up. After a few seconds, the rest of the hands (including mine) slowly followed.

“What are the rules?” Jess asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

Tash shrugged. “Suppose we’ll find out along the way. Who’s first?”

Almost automatically, I felt myself shrink back. Truth or dare was not my choice of game. Too bold, too honest. The wrong question could lead to trouble, as I’d witnessed far to many times before. Thankfully, someone else bravely volunteered, raising their hand high in the air.

“Truth or dare?” Tash asked the mechanic, auburn haired with bight, kind blue eyes though her name escaped me.

“Dare.” She said with ease, and a chorus of “ohhhs” responded.

I chuckled under my breath, resisting the urge to roll my eyes. I heard my name being said quietly beneath the chatter and glanced up to see Poe smiling knowingly at me, holding out his flask again. I took it from him and had another drink before passing it back. His eyes held mine, our fingertips brushing as he took it from me. I tried not to let my gaze linger on him too long, worried what I felt would become more apparent. And even I wasn’t completely ready to accept what that meant quite yet.

I turned my focus back on the game, laughing at the ridiculousness of it all, cheering when someone accepted their dare or truth, and chanting for them to drink when they refused. Reality seemed to drift away for a little while, which is why I was so sure we had cemented these kind of nights into existence.

Poe and I continued to pass the flask back and forth across the circle, until I felt a pleasant warmth. I felt tingly from the tips of my toes, to my fingers. Tipsy, but not drunk. Buzzed but still aware enough to be nervous when it was finally my turn.

“Truth or dare?”

My heart thudded against my ribcage, feeling every pair of eyes on me. A few voices shouted out suggestions, but I just grinned, shaking my head.

“Umm…dare?” I finally said, uncertainly.

It was another pilot, Zolan, who smirked at me from across the circle before leaning forward and asking. “I dare you to…” he paused for a moment, carefully looking around the room as he made his decision. “I dare you to kiss the most attractive person in the room.”

This was followed by laughter and whoops of excitement. I felt my eyes grow wide. “Didn’t we just agree to nothing sexual?”

“It isn’t sexual,” Zolan said with an innocent smile. “It’s romantic. Much different.”

A few people let out shouts of encouragement. I swallowed hard, my heart pitter pattering nervously against my ribcage. My eyes very purposely avoided Poe. Who was, in my opinion, by far the most attractive person on the planet.

“And what if I say no?” I asked tentatively, lifting my eyes to Zolan.

He grinned and lazily shrugged his shoulders, knowing I was caught. “Then it’ll be truth. Which could potentially be much much worse.”

And judging by his mischievous smile, I knew he was right. I inhaled a breath and let it out slowly, letting my eyes wonder around the small crowd of people. As if I was carefully making my decision. My hands twisted nervously in my lap.

“Are you sure I have to? This seems silly.” I muttered after a moment.

Jess laughed next to me, elbowing my side encouragingly.  “Come on, it’s just one kiss. It doesn’t have to mean anything.”

She didn’t know it, but she was wrong. If I did what Tash asked, and kissed the person I found most attractive, it would mean something. Oh lord, it would mean a lot of something. I cleared my throat and wiped my palms on my pants as I stood. I could feel every single eyes following me. Including Poe’s. I inhaled deeply, trying to expel some of my nerves with it as I crossed the circle of people.

Poe was sitting on an overturned bucket, flask in hand. I refused to meet his eyes until I was standing in front of him. And when our gazes locked, his brown eyes went wide. With disbelief, amusement, or something else, entirely, I couldn’t be sure. I knelt on the ground in front of him, hesitating a moment before reaching out and resting my hand against a cheek. Someone behind me let out a low whistle, making my cheeks burn.

I hadn’t fully admitted it to myself. Even now, it was difficult. But I liked Poe. He made me feel something I hadn’t felt in a long, long time. The idea of kissing him now, in front of everyone, felt foolish. Yet the idea of kissing anyone else, seemed like a waste. So every so slowly, I leaned in. His dark eyes flickered across my face. My thumb brushed across his cheek, and before I could chicken out, I leaned in the rest of the way and pressed my mouth to his.

Immediately, my stomach dropped. My heart was pounding loudly in my ears, his lips soft and warm against my own. I meant for it to be nothing more than a quick, brush of lips, but it was suddenly hard to pull away. I felt his hand slide into my hair, keeping my pressed against him as his tongue brushed over my bottom lip. Tentatively, I parted my lips and let his tongue caress my own, sending my heart soaring into my throat. For a moment, I almost forgot where we were, or who was watching. Too caught up in the honest feeling of his mouth against mine.

There was suddenly a series of low whoops and cat calls, quickly bringing me back down into reality. I abruptly pulled away. My skin on fire, no doubt the color of a ripe rose.

Poe caught my eye, looking at me in a way that seemed both curious and awed. I ducked my head before swiping the flask from his hand and taking a drink. I didn’t mind the burn of alcohol as it slid down my throat. By the time I was back in my seat, the whistles and teasing had subsided. There were gazes, though, that lingered Especially one in particular. I hesitated a moment, lifting my eyes. He tilted his head softly to one side, his expression one of hope, giving me a rush that made the world around my tile, even without the alcohol. The game moved on, but I suddenly found it impossible to look away from him, and all the reasons why scared me half to death.

The game went on until the liquor bottle in the middle of the floor was empty and everyone’s flasks were dried up.

“Oh come on, that can’t be it. Can it?” Tash asked with a frown.

A tipsy giggle escaped my lips, causing him to eye me with an amused smile. “Sorry.” I said, though wasn’t sure exactly what I was apologizing for. Members of the group began drifting off in groups and pairs, headed off to bed or more private conversations. I was still very much aware of Poe, sitting across from me. I snuck a glance, seeing he was distracted, in conversation with one of the mechanics.

“I think I better be off too.” I said, standing suddenly and stretching my arms over my head. Tash began to protest, but I waved him off, heading in the direction of the wide open, landing bay doors.

Outside, it was dark. Dozens of stars and planets glittered in the sky above, almost teasing and beckoning. There were night I could sit outside for hours, craning my neck toward the sky and creating a mental map of all the places I wanted to go before my time was over. I just hoped I had enough of it left. I was standing in the middle of the runway, head tilted back, when felt someone sidle up beside me.

“Anything interesting out there?” He asked, his shoulder brushing against mine.

Poe. My pulse leapt as I immediately thought back to my dare, to the feeling of his lips against mine. I swallowed hard, wondering if I should try and make a joke or pretend it never happened.

“Lots.” I answered finally, smoothing back my hair. “Probably more than I’ll ever get a chance to see.”

“You can’t know that for sure.” Poe said gently. I felt him press something into my hands and realized it was his flask. I gave him a suspicious look and he shrugged. “No one ever asked if it was empty.”

I took a sip before handing it back to him, though there was already a pleasant buzz that had taken hold of me. Maybe that was where my boldness was coming from as I suddenly took his hand and started towing him along the walkway.

“Come on, the night’s not over.” I said. “Me, you, a flask of whiskey. What could go wrong?” Even I recognized the blatant teasing in my voice and whatever small sober part of me that remained had the decency to feel embarrassed.

Poe just laughed, though, his eyes crinkling in the corners in that adorable way. “Where are we going?”

“I don’t know.” I answered honestly. “Somewhere else.”

I bravely slipped my hand into his, something I knew I’d never be brave enough to do sober. His fingers curled around mine, squeezing my hand and making my heart lift. I led him to the end of the runway, before veering off the solid, concrete path and onto the soft grass. I plopped down onto the ground in a space in-between a few small, newly grown trees, a huge expanse of black, star scattered sky in front of us.

Poe sat next to me without complaint, long legs stretched out in front of him and leaning back on his hands. “Truth or dare?” He asked after a moment of silence.

I felt myself smile through the contentedness of my buzz, only the slightest of nervous feelings rippling through me. “How in the world does this game work with just the two of us?” I asked curiously, sending him a sideways glance. He was watching me with such intensity that my stomach dropped, my heart flinging itself against my ribcage.

He nudged his shoulder gently with mine. “Just answer…say truth.”

I perked an eyebrow curiously, but didn’t argue. “Alright…truth.”

“Why did you kiss me?”

I felt myself freeze for a moment, the unexpectedness of his question stilling every muscle. He was watching me so earnestly. In a way that made me both terrified and excited. My mouth felt dry, secretly terrified. “Well, it’s difficult to say… I mean we were playing a game and—“

Poe’s hand suddenly found mine in my lap, his fingers curling around my own. “Was it just the game?” He asked in a low voice, filled with tentative hope.

My heart swelled, lifting my eyes to look at him. His gaze was filled with the kind of honest hope that would’ve made anyone crumble. And yet it was me he was looking at. No one else. My heart hammered as my tongue twisted and tried to form the right words.

“It wasn’t just the game.” I finally admitted.

Poe’s eyes lit up, a boyish grin lifting the corners of his mouth. “Knew it.”

I rolled my eyes, hoping maybe that would hide the fact that I was blushing. “Cocky much?”

He ignored the question, angling his body to face me with his hand still clutched in mine. “Truth or dare?” He asked again, although after a moment he added, “Say dare.”

Giddier than I’d thought i’d feel, i answered the way he requested. “Dare.”

He cupped my face in his hands, leaning closer to me. “Kiss me again.” He whispered, his breath whiskey sweet against my skin.

A shy giggle erupted from me and I clapped a hand over my mouth. Poe looked merly amused, giving me a smirk. “Or should I kiss you?”

I shrugged, ducking my head, feeling the full effects of the alcohol rushing through me. I felt his fingertips on my jaw as he gently tilted my head toward him. Our eyes met for a fleeting moment before mine were fluttering shut. His breath was warm against my face, his lips teasingly hovering over my own before gently kissing my nose, both cheeks, my chin, until I let out a groan.

“Poe,” I murmured.

“Just teasing, love.” He said with humor before I felt his mouth on mine. Warm, inviting, making everything else in the world feel so utterly insignificant compared to him. I wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling myself closer to him. His hands cupped my face, kissing my more deeply, more slowly. He kissed me with the kind of slow intensity that had every inch of me begging for more.

When we finally pulled away, I was dizzy and lightheaded…and sure it had nothing to do with the alcohol. He brushed his nose against mine, capturing my lips in another quick kiss before pulling away. For a moment, I was caught in a daze, caught up in the handsome face, the jawline, the thick, wavy hair, the…everything basically.

I kept my eyes closed a minute longer, feeling the world tilt underneath me. “This is real, right?” I asked.

He chuckled, his hand curling around my thigh and pulling my legs across his lap. “I hope so. If you don’t remember this in the morning, I feel I’m obliged to remind you. With more kissing.”

I grinned, a tipsy, happy grin. When I opened my eyes, he was smiling back at me. “Poe Dameron.”

“Yes?”

“Nothing. I just like how it sounds.” I shrugged, waving my hand in the air absentmindedly. I giggled, letting my head fall against his shoulder.

“You, are something else entirely.” He murmured, though his voice was fond.

“What’s that mean?” I asked, nuzzling my face into the crook of his neck.

His arm came around my shoulders, pulling me even close.

“It means where the hell have you been hiding all my life?” He asked in a husky voice.

The breath was stolen from my lungs momentarily, and it was with sudden, drunken shyness that I pressed my lips to the soft skin beneath his ear.

“Here, I think.”

He groaned in response, wrapping both arms around me and pulling me completely into his lap. “Truth or dare?” He asked again.

I wrapped my arms around my neck, my entire buzzing with a pleasant warmth as I curled into him. “Does it matter?”

“Maybe not.” He murmured, nuzzling his face into my shoulder and trailing kisses up my neck. “As long as you say you’ll be mine. Do you know how long I’ve wanted this…how long I’ve wanted you.”

My heart beated wildly against my ribcage, a thrill rushing through me. Imagining all the times he’d walked with me to my room, only to dismiss me outside the door, all the time he’d waited for me after a mission to make sure I was alright, and all the time we’d left a game night together, wandering the halls and paths of the base, trying to make the night last as long as possible.

“I think I have an idea.” I murmured, cupping his face in my hands and admiring the strong line of his jaw and the softness of his lips.

“You know, I had half a mind to give you the cheek in there.” He said suddenly, a soft smile pulling at one side of his mouth. When I looked at him in surprise, he went on. “I was hoping when I kissed you, it wouldn’t be obligated…or dared or any of that. Just something you’d let me do when the time was right.”

His words were teasing, but sweet and caused a giddy smile to form on my lips. “Maybe that was the right time. Although I didn’t like everyone watching.”

“No one’s watching now.” He murmured, his hands sliding around my waist and pulling me close.

I grinned, though the mischief in his eyes made me flush. “Dameron.”

“Poe.” He corrected, pressing his lips to my temple.

“Poe…”

“Enough talking…” He muttered, his breath warm against mine.

My eyes fluttered shut as I tilted my head to meet his lips, his name echoing in my head, knowing without a single doubt that this was something I’d remember in the morning…something I would never, ever forget.

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The Story Of How I Proposed To Robin

from He Spoke Style - Men's Style, Fashion, Grooming, Tips and Advice

It’s a good one…

This post is sponsored by GIA.

I realized recently that although I’ve meticulously taken you through everything that I wore on my wedding day (as has Steven), that I had neglected sharing anything about a very special moment central to getting to that day–the proposal. Of all the things I’ve planned in my life, I have to admit that I’m pretty darn proud of how well this particular event came together and unfolded. And today, I’m pleased to share the story!

Where to begin? I think, first, it’s important to know that for the first three years of our relationship, Robin and I lived in different cities. She was in New York City. And I was in Baltimore. Far from being a hardship, it was actually quite romantic. One weekend she’d come to visit. And then I’d spend my weekend with her in NYC the following weekend. As she used to work on Madison Avenue, I’d take an early afternoon train up and check in with my friend Robert at Davidoff–I said it wasn’t a hardship–until she collected me after work and we’d find someplace to have dinner and, typically, after dinner drinks.

Those were fun times. Exploring the city together. Having some amazing meals. Plus, since we were living apart, each moment was extra special.

Eventually, however, distance does start to wear on you and since we were very serious together, Robin decided to move to Baltimore so we could be together. It was a big decision for her, especially because NYC is a great place to be in the field of advertising. She moved down in October of 2017 and that’s when I started to hatch The Plan.

Prior to Robin leaving NYC I asked her what, if anything, had she regretted not doing while living in NYC. She had a few things on her list, but the one that stuck out to me was never going to see an opera at the Met. I filed that away. It would become a central part of my entire scheme. However, before getting on with that part of the story, there is something that is, quite frankly, incredibly important to any proposal–finding the perfect engagement ring.

There are lots of things to think about, but the most important thing is that you absolutely have to know what she likes and wants. If you’re serious with someone, it’s a topic that will likely come up casually in conversation. And I guarantee that your lady will know what she wants…

It’s important that you do your research as well, because the shape and size of a diamond are only two of many aspects you should be thinking about. GIA, which is an independent organization dedicated to impartially assessing gems and delivering detailed information on them, actually highlights four categories that you should consider. These are the 4Cs of Diamond Quality–Color, Clarity, Cut, and Carat Weight.

Color refers to the color, or more precisely, the lack of color of the diamond. The scale ranges from D-Z, with D being the most desirable (colorless) and Z being the least desirable. Typically, if you’re shopping for an engagement ring, you’re not going to see the end of the alphabet at any reputable retailer.

Clarity is another important factor. This refers to the number of inclusions in the diamond. An inclusion is basically an imperfection. The scale here runs from Flawless, Very Very Slightly Included, Very Slightly Included, Slightly Included, Included. Throughout this process, I looked at a lot of diamonds and the Clarity of a diamond plays an immense role in how bright and shiny it looks.

Next, we have Cut, which is different from the shape and focuses on how well your diamond is cut. The GIA Cut Scale assesses the overall cut quality of each diamond individually, taking into account such features as proportions, table size, polish and symmetry. If you want a lot of sparkle in your diamond to sparkle, then look for an Excellent cut grade.

And finally, Carat Weight, which is self-explanatory.

Choosing the perfect engagement ring requires you to think about not only her wishes, but what you are comfortable with spending personally. Knowing the 4Cs of Diamond Quality can help you out a lot. For example, you can find exceptional diamonds that aren’t D Flawless, but that look almost as stunning without the price tag if you stay higher in the Color and Clarity ranges. The best thing to do is to look at as many as possible and compare, which is exactly what I did.

Another trick? Carat Weight. You’ll see a big price jump once you get to a 1.5 carat diamond. So look for something as close to that as possible–like a 1.47, which is what I found for Robin.

Since the 4Cs influence price, And whenever or wherever you buy a diamond, you want to make sure that you are getting some sort of independent, unbiased report on the gem. This is not an appraisal of its value, but an objective report on the stone’s quality from someone who has no stake in game–an institute like GIA, for example. GIA provides a Diamond Grading Report, which is the scientific blueprint of a stone’s exact quality characteristics. It kind of gives you the same peace of mind as having a Carfax report when buying a car.

So I’d found the ring, now what? Well, I knew that I wanted to propose in NYC. And my ruse for getting Robin up there was to get tickets to the Met for Christmas. We’d make a weekend out of it. To her, it was a thoughtful gift. To me, it was just the beginning.

The opera was in January, and by the time I’d given her the present, I already had everything worked out to a ‘T’. We’d go up to NYC for the weekend. Stay at a fancy hotel. And have a nice meal at the restaurant (and table!) we had our first date at, after which, we’d go back to the hotel and I’d propose there. I had arranged much of this two months in advance.

In November, we were going to have brunch at Little Prince in Soho. There was a wait, so I told Robin to stay there while I went around the corner to check if Hundred Acres (our first date restaurant) had a table. It was then that I told the hostess that I would be coming back in January, the reason for the visit, and the table I wanted. Oh, and it was supposed to be “unplanned”. They were kind enough to oblige. The “plan” was that we’d be casually walking around the West Village and I would suggest going to Hundred Acres and, magically, we’d sit at “our” table.

However, Robin likes to plan and not having a reservation on a Friday night in NYC was, in her mind, a risky proposition. Robin had gone up early and was working from NYC office that day. I can’t even tell you how frustrated I was riding up on the train trying to fend her off, telling her, “I’m taking care of it!” while sweating that she’d inadvertently foil my plan. Eventually, I don’t remember how, but I got her to believe me… Of course, I didn’t do anything because I already had a “reservation”.

When I arrived I immediately went to our hotel, the Four Seasons Downtown. I knew the PR girl there and she knew what was up. We scrambled and I brought them up to date on the plan. I handed off the ring in a nondescript bag and off I went to fetch Robin.

Miraculously, we ended up in the West Village–imagine that!–and before I could say anything, Robin suggested we go to Hundred Acres. When we arrived, she saw that “our” table was available and asked the hostess, “Can we sit there?” It kind of worked out really nice that way since she thought this whole event was her idea! The meal was decent–the restaurant had changed cuisines since we’d last been there–but the company was the most important part.

Following dinner, we returned to hotel. Upon arriving, someone at the desk greeted us and handed me a bag, telling me, “Mr. Sacawa, this arrived for you while you were out.” Robin didn’t think anything of it. Next, I told Robin that we needed to go up to the second floor before going back to the room because there was a really great place to take a photo and I wanted one there. Again, she didn’t think anything of it.

So we ascended the staircase to the second floor landing and I said, “I think that’s the room over there–through those two doors.” We entered a dark ballroom, lit only by candles, which were all over the room–Sydney had outdone herself. Robin thought we had stepped into someone’s special party room and that we shouldn’t have been in there. Until she saw the cocktail table with the bottle of champagne chilling. I think that’s when it hit her.

You know how the rest went. It was an incredibly special moment. In fact, I’m tearing up now thinking about how perfect it was.

Thanks, as always, for reading.

Stylishly Yours,

Brian Sacawa He Spoke Style

The post The Story Of How I Proposed To Robin first appeared on the men's style blog He Spoke Style - Men's Style, Fashion, Grooming, Tips and Advice

from Wellness http://hespokestyle.com/how-to-propose-ideas/ via http://www.rssmix.com/

Hey! Nathan from Project Hatch - Recently spoke to Ricardo Evangelho about creating a Dungeons and Dragons Campaign Setting.How did Hit Point Press come about?Hit Point Press builds and develops third-party gaming accessories for tabletop and role playing games. We started out as a company making unofficial tokens for Magic: the Gathering (M:tG) before branching out into other tabletop and roleplaying games.ImageThe product you've just launched is called “Humblewood.” How does it work with Dungeons and Dragons?Humblewood is a world in which you get to play as birdfolk and other forest animals instead of the usual human, elf, and dwarf races.Humblewood was made to be compatible with the 5th edition. Wizards of the Coast released an Open Gaming License (OGL) which allows creators like us to build within a defined scope. As a result, we can use the specified subset of 5th edition rules to create our campaign setting.You launched Humblewood on Kickstarter. How did you get so many pledges?We’d been building the Humblewood community for almost a year before launching the Kickstarter. We previewed the campaign using teaser images and a free early playtest document. Additionally, we have garnered experience through previous successful Kickstarters. We invest in our community and because of that, we are lucky to have a group of people that have backed us on multiple projects.Our backers also enjoy how collaborative the Humblewood project is. We have a Discord channel that is quite active. We use the Discord to listen to community feedback and share previews of some of the content we’re building.Additionally, we work with 30+ artists - the artists are very engaged with the work and have been invaluable in the development of the visual language for Humblewood. We are so lucky to have such a strong artist team who are excited about the project. The Humblewood team actually found a lot of our artists through their social media or creator channels so it is extremely rewarding to have them, in turn, post and share their Humblewood work with their fans.What other forms of marketing do you use?Our main method of marketing is Youtube sponsorships. We sponsor channels that talk about role playing games. We also enjoy actively seek out newer channels that have a passion for roleplaying games.Towards the end of the campaign I saw you made $150k in a single day and the total campaign reached over $1 million. How did you manage that?!Again, really, this goes back to our amazing community. Getting a $150k in one day was in large part because of community members and content creators supporting us. The Humblewood Kickstarter reaching over a million dollars was all thanks to them. We had a sizable group right there with us on the Discord chat, cheering the campaign on.Updating the stretch goals on the fly was also a big help in getting the campaign to $1 million. I think promising that we would immediately begin work on a follow up to Humblewood if we hit $1 million dollars helped. Some existing backers told us the commitment to a Humblewood sequel motivated them to increase their pledge to the $300 tier.It was an emotional day for us. We spent every second we could communicating with the community. I will admit though, a last minute advertising push didn’t hurt.How did you push the average pledge value up?It is going to sound like a broken record but it comes down to understanding and listening to what your community wants. We don’t design the campaign, launch it, and forget it. The team continued to engage with our backers and regularly update what we offered at the different tiers based on the feedback.With our Kickstarter, we also incentivized backing at higher tiers with strong savings. Normally, the Humblewood book will retail for $50 and while it was offered to backers for $30. The box set was also offered to backers for $30 under the retail price. It’s important to us that we acknowledge those who believed in the vision from the start.Furthermore, we offered a limited edition box set at $100 that was only available through the Kickstarter. The box set included the contents of the base box set, but had an alternate foil cover for both the box and book. Collectors especially like the exclusivity of items like these.Finally, we had a $300 tier that included everything that the campaign was offering.You received a lot more pledges for the Humblewood campaign than your earlier Kickstarters - What lessons did you learn from your earlier campaigns?Our other Kickstarter campaigns helped us get our sea legs and helped us deliver a solid Humblewood campaign for our backers. In a previous campaign, we didn’t properly account for shipping rates. During the fulfillment of another campaign there was an unannounced customs inspection and so we learned to incorporate surprises like this into our timelines. The other campaigns, each increasing in size, helped us work out logistical kinks, and therefore, when we had a campaign as successful as Humblewood, we were seasoned. Even on Humblewood, there were some new lessons learned. Every Kickstarter is definitely a learning experience!Did you actually make a profit on that first campaign?This may sound a little strange but we don’t expect to make a profit on our Kickstarter campaigns. We use them to raise funds for the production. We think of it a little more like a pre-order. The campaign for Humblewood raised over $1 million but most of that was already allocated for the production of books, miniatures, art, writing, and the additional commitments unlocked through stretchgoals.We usually recover and, if we are careful, make profit afterwards with our post campaign sales.You almost use Kickstarter like a launch pad then?Exactly! The Kickstarter helps us pay for the initial production. When the campaign ends, we typically try to purchase enough inventory to cover double the amount of orders we’ve received. That way we have some product to sell after the campaign.How do you go about building a game and testing that people will actually want to play it?We knew Humblewood was a significant undertaking and it’s why we offered a free playtest through our website six months prior to launch. We thought Humblewood was special, but needed to know if this was something people wanted.Every time we updated the playtest, everyone got sent the new version as a free update. Overall we released five different versions of the playtest, which were downloaded over 20,000 times.Providing these playtests allowed us to build a community, as well as get good, constructive, feedback from them about what was and what wasn't working.What is it that tips the balance? What would make you say we're going to dismiss this idea? And have you dismissed an idea in the past?Usually ideas get dismissed before we even start sharing them with the public. We do a lot of behind the scenes research and prototyping, only putting an idea out to our community if we feel confident about it.We've had many projects where we'd start, talk, create prototypes, and then discontinue the project entirely. There are even projects we haven’t taken the first steps with and are sitting on a list of “things to explore.”It’s been a few months since the Humblewood campaign finished. Have you shipped? How are post-campaign sales?For the base book and box set, we're still on track for our projected goal of October. Right now we're preparing the final assets and getting them sent out to the printers. After that, our miniatures will be ready for November.Post campaign sales have been encouraging and we anticipate that during the holiday season will be really busy. After backers have gotten their rewards we will be refocusing on post-campaign sales. Going to PAX Unplugged this December is part of this refocus and will give us the opportunity to get a sense of how the community is receiving Humblewood.Are you working on other projects at the moment? Or are you working on reinforcing this game and its sequel?We actually have about ten other projects on the run at present, not all of them related to Humblewood.We have dedicated Humblewood team working on the Humblewood Kickstarter stretch goals that were unlocked. The Humblewood artists are also working on style guides and more art.At the same time we have others exploring new concepts and building ideas for future projects.How did you break into the industry?I started Hit Point Press (previously Cardamajigs) as a company that focused on M:tG. I began by selling my own designs as tokens and giving them away free as a downloadable printable PDF.I had another full time job when I started Cardamajigs, so as sales started to pick up I brought in someone to help with fulfillment. Being an avid D&D player, he suggested that we use the newly released OGL to create reference cards. His thoughts were, even if the project didn’t succeed, at worst, he would have reference cards for his own campaigns.To gauge interest, in-house, we printed 500 test sets and mailed them to interested players around the world. That helped us understand who our audience was and enabled us to see if the reference cards were something players would use.How do the unofficial Magic: the Gathering tokens sell now? How is that part of the business doing relative to Dungeons and Dragons?Comparatively, the tokens are now a fraction of the business. Most of our team is now focused on the 5th edition content we're building. That being said, given my love for the game, I don’t think the M:tG side of the business will ever go away.You're based in Canada, I guess you sell a lot to the U.S. and nationally within Canada. Where are your other markets?Eighty percent of our market is the U.S, eight percent is in Canada, four percent is in the U.K, two percent in Australia, and it dilutes from there.‍Day to day, what apps do you find useful running the business?For communication we use Discord which allows us to talk with our community and internally with our team and collaborators.For building, we use Adobe Suite. Without it, we couldn't build our projects.For e-commerce we love Shopify, it's a great sales platform we use for all of our sites. Plus, it’s Canadian!For project management we use Teamwork. This software helps us organize the many projects we're building simultaneously and keep in contact with our remote team members.Are you looking into launching into any other games apart from Magic: the Gathering and Dungeons and Dragons?There's always new games coming out. It's a matter of finding where we fit in with the game’s community.Right now, the market we're in aligns with our vision so we want to keep expanding our existing offerings.My final question, would you ever sell the company or is it a project you really love?I am really in love with the work I do. Hit Point Press is 100% passion for me. Loving my work is important to me and I believe it shows in what I make. So, at the moment, I couldn’t dream of selling Hit Point Press. I am too excited about what we are doing, about our community, and I wake up everyday reinvigorated because I have the opportunity to build new things.If you enjoyed this post, the original post is here.

Who said that? Teacher’s Edition

Earlier this week, I had written a post and pulled a number of comments from this blog. It was fun to look through and grab them. I never figured that I’d write this post so I didn’t formally keep track of who said what when I copy/pasted them although I think I know. I do have someone who is only happy to correct anything I do so I went back and made sure that I got things right. Where the commenter had a website or blog listed beside them, I’ve included a link back if their comment inspires you to read their blogging.

Some folks recognized their writing and responded but there was a request for the answers. So, here goes.

Looking back at 2018, I smile at some of the wonderful comments that have appeared on this blog in response to some of my posts.

Do you see yourself in there? Do you see others?

1 I had forgotten about that commercial! Thanks for the umm… blast from the past, Doug! I was surprised that it did have a “violent” part. That part didn’t stick in my memory, but the “blue” light did! Sorry to hear of your incident! Here’s to more uneventful walks with the dog..  I had a good smile with Andrew’s comment too. I have searched youtube to confirm quotes and lines from TV shows and movies as well… just to be sure   A recent attempt was: “It’s cold enough out there to freeze your Winnebago!” Like Aviva, I have always wondered about how graphic a message needs to be to stick. I worry that it goes too far at times, especially in consideration of young children. I guess there might be individual differences in regards to what will “hit home”, but…

Sheila Stewart – sheilaspeaking.wordpress.com

2 Oh, going to have to try this one out – looks like a lot of fun! (and I will suggest it to some people I know, since I don’t have a classroom to play in right now). Thanks, as ever!

Lisa Noble – madamenoble.wordpress.com

3 Thanks for including me Doug. Still fighting that bug, but class back up to 65%! Listened to the show (twioe) last night…awesome as always. Got a chuckle over Stephen’s mention of “the Good Room” and all the banter between you, as always. Keep on keeping on!

Ramona Meharg –mymonkeysmycircussite.wordpress.com

4 Love the post. It made me think about what my role is. Probably a lot more Bluesman than thought leader I guess. But really I started to think that is just important to do what I can do and let other people think about labels. I’m just a teacher with opinions and a blog. That’s good enough for me I think.

Alfred Thompson –http://blog.acthompson.net

5 Hi Doug, and all:) Here is my addition – if I ever hear the word Wheelhouse again it will be too soon. Also I will probably get in trouble for this but I don’t like all the Like a Pirate business. For heaven’s sake. Pirates are real. They steal and murder people. I am working on another blog post, a more thoughtful consideration of the word “modern” – which really has an existing definition and has been co-opted more recently to mean “contemporary.” I know, I am so fussy:)

Anne Shillolo

6 I like Broadway http://fontsgeek.com/fonts/Broadway-Regular, but I have a weakness for art deco fonts. It’s too decorative to read though, but good for posters and titles. For reading I usually go for arial but recently have been preferring Trebuchet https://www.myfonts.com/fonts/microsoft/trebuchet/?gclid=Cj0KCQiAiKrUBRD6ARIsADS2OLn1B3-UN6EjbTMRsPmw2xTQWIwFrCXNtyTxAmFoh7p_XYxWjXX_lzYaAlJVEALw_wcBit’s nice and clean. Oddly, if I’m going for a computer styled font I use something like Courier which is a web friendly way to imitate those old fixed width fonts https://www.myfonts.com/fonts/microsoft/courier-new/?gclid=Cj0KCQiAiKrUBRD6ARIsADS2OLnfMx1LblHmfXsmRm32zv_x9kHDMf5_ySTNErPWQ_7GmrGvY-qQCsMaApnbEALw_wcB If you’ve never messed around with fonts, you’re missing something.

Tim King-plus.google.com/+TimothyKing

7 My teaching partner and I used to do ‘a theme’, back when themes were a thing in kindergarten, around EGGS at Easter time. We did different experiments with eggs each day – how many books can we stack on a raw egg before it breaks, what happens when you soak an egg in vinegar, sinking and floating eggs, spinning eggs (raw eggs wobble, hard cooked eggs spin) and so on. We read lots of books about animals that hatch from eggs. My favourite was always “Chickens aren’t the only ones” by Ruth Heller. Like you, many of our children didn’t celebrate Easter but they were seeing eggs and bunnies everywhere in stores and on TV.

Lisa Cranston – educationandinspirationblog.com

8 Thank you for capturing two days of amazing learning and connecting for us Doug. It was a pleasure to finally have some conversation time with you and I am glad Steven Hurley didn’t beam us up with his modern day transcorder. Appreciate the power that comes in building bridges in this business and you sir are a bridge builder. Looking forward to our next conversation. W

Will Gourley –escheweducationalist.wordpress.com

9 Our mornings begin with the fragrance of espresso filling the air. Milk is heated, the espresso is added to the hot milk and voilà, the magic potion is ready. When we go out, we seldom stop to buy coffee anywhere. We caddy thermos cups of our home brew. If we run out of the elixir…tea it is. When we have friends join us for a formal meal, we usually end the meal with a demitasse of espresso…except for the tea drinkers. We like it that espresso has a lower caffeine content than drip coffee: https://recipes.howstuffworks.com/question645.htm Of course, current science might draw different conclusions.

Noeline Laccetti – nlaccetti.wordpress.comx

10 … that look of betrayal on my wife’s face when I mentioned that I am trying to quit with coffee. She, up to several years ago, hated the stuff. Hated the smell, the taste, the satisfied look on my face as relaxed through my second or third cup in the morning. I guess it was my fault. Someway somehow, she now can’t start her day without it. My attempt at scaling back my caffeine consumption has put my life is in danger. I shouldn’t have mentioned it. I shouldn’t have even written this post. If my blog goes dark for a while its because I am in hiding. Tell my wife, I was wrong … oh so wrong …

Chris Cluff

11 Hi Doug, thanks for sharing your learning from the Ontario Summit. To add to this already great resource, here is a link to all of the presenter’s resources from the weekend: https://edtech.team/OntarioResources18 – Lots more goodies there!

Emily Fitzpatrick

12 I saw this presentation at SIGCSE and left with mixed feelings. The session was pitched as ML for CS teachers with little CS knowledge. The pizza app is cool but I left thinking that there was a big missing piece which was the actual under the hood ML. It looks great as a tool where the teacher is already knowledgeable but I don’t know how much serious mileage a class will get out of it beyond being a cool demo if the teacher doesn’t already know the subject.

Mike Zemansky – https://cestlaz.github.io

13 I love to sew, but hardly have the time. I go by feel when choosing fabric for any project or any “already made” clothes. I don’t care what it’s called – I only care about how it feels and how well it will wash. I do not remember the fabric you’re talking about, though I feel as if I should. My mom used to see for me, so I likely had many things made from it.

Lisa Corbett –alotalot.wordpress.comx

14 Morning Doug, this brought to mind attendance tracking of students and how if they are going to leave or walk out consequnces mean nothing. The reason you give them to stay is far more powerful. I think folks need to understand the purpose but more importantly if you leave the impression, regardless of this is it’s purpose that people’s whereabouts are what we are starting with and not the culture of a welcoming, inclusive and non intrusive learning environment, the same thing will happen as it does in a secondary school…they opt out as it is no longer about the them but the system they exist within.

Kelly @thebeastedu 

15 Good morning Doug! (and Jamie) I’m glad you guys keep your eyes open when you’re out for your walks. There’s no doubt that keeping an eye out for other vehicles, cyclists, and pedestrians (and dogs) is a critical responsibility for motor vehicle drivers. I was pleased to read your “exit, stage left“ quote, And even happier when I saw that you had included a picture of SnagglePuss. You are smarter than the average bear.

Andrew Forgrave

16 I don’t remember exactly when Chrome came out, but I do for Gmail. I went straight to eBay and bought an invitation so I could join. It cost me $5. The invitation also included another new Google service. Do you remember what it was?

Peter Beens –beens.org

17 I noticed this too when watching cartoons with my nephews. There also seemed to be a whole lot of yelling. Okay now I’m sounding like the old guy who just wants the kids to get off his lawn. I loved the old Hanna-Barbara cartoons from the mid-60’s. Space Ghost, Frankenstein Jr. and The Impossibles, the original Scooby-Doo, Dastardly and Muttley in Their Flying Machines, The Herculoids, The Banana Splits Adventure Hour – that one was pretty weird, but I did teach some of my grade 6’s the theme song, Jonny Quest and the Jetsons. I kind of thought we’d be living like the Jetsons by now. At least I thought they would have finished repairing all the roads.

Colin Harris –plus.google.com/+ColinHarrisdigitalnative

18 Hey Doug, As always your posts seem so timely. Today on my way home from church I noticed a few trees in the neighbourhood who have started to show your beautiful fall colors. I couldn’t help but recall several projects that I had to complete as a child where we would go out into the neighbourhood and find several fall leaves. We then needed to place the leaves in between two pieces of wax paper and iron them . To be honest, I don’t recall what the intended learning outcome was… But what I do remember was that it was a project that my mom and I needed to do together (hot irons and safety) . Sometimes it is those unintended outcomes (special time with a parent) which are just as meaningful as the curriculum outcomes.

Sue Bruyns –susanbruyns.com

19 I have never heard of Qwant until you mentioned it. I also gave it a try and I must admit that it is a very impressive search engine. I used the Brave web browser in the past; I had no issues with it. In my case, I utilise the Google Chrome web browser, because I use certain extensions. The Brave web browser loads quickly.

Renard Moreau –renardsworld.wordpress.com

20 Hey! This is the fourth time visiting now and I personally just wanted to say I truley enjoy reading your blog site. I’ve decided to bookmark it at reddit.com with the title: %BLOGTITLE% and your Web address: %BLOGURL%. I hope this is alright with you, I’m trying to give your great blog a bit more coverage. Be back shortly.

superstar femme orange (Trick question – this is from spam caught and someone who doesn’t know how to use their software – notice the spam format of the message. I won’t share the URL that they claim to be from)

21 Do you worry about free services going away after a while? = Sometimes. I’m still wounded about the closing of Bitstrips for Schools (which I liked waaaaaay better than Pixton – sorry, Pixton). It went so fast that I couldn’t collect all the old comics I wanted to archive (so Jacob, if you are reading this, please let us grab our files for a quick, one week period, please!) What is your contingency plans in case that happens? = Wish I had one! Do you backup your online presence in case it goes away? = I print my blogs as a birthday gift to myself once a year. I did a Twournal for the first part of my tweeting, but I’d love to back up all my Tweets in a print format. Now you’ve got me paranoid Doug!

Diana Maliszewski –mondaymollymusings.blogspot.ca

Thanks to those who took time to share a comment throughout 2018. I hope that I can write on topics that will continue the efforts in 2019.

So, how many did you get right the first time?

Who said that? Teacher’s Edition published first on https://medium.com/@DigitalDLCourse

A Medieval Break in Camelot

Go back in time and visit this unique theme park, which is great for younger children

We’d been to Disneyland, Euro Disney, Gulliver’s Theme Park and the Alice in Wonderland Park. And every Easter break, summer break and half-term, we grudgingly took our three small daughters to the local funfair near our home, spending 20 quid in 20 minutes on rides, slides and candy floss. 

But no matter how many theme parks or funfairs we visited, they kept on screaming for more. That’s how we found ourselves driving up the M6 to Camelot Theme Park, the largest theme park in Lancashire that prides itself on its medieval atmosphere. 

Josie, six, was hoping for a roller-coaster ride, while four-year-old Tilly loves anything that goes around and around. I was just hoping for some peace and quiet – hardly! 

Checking in to the hotel I found my worst fear realised – we had been given the themed Basset suite, sponsored by the Basset sweet company. The walls were painted in lurid pinks, greens and yellows – all the colours of a box of All Sorts – and packets, rolls, bags, pouches and tubes of sweets were cleverly hidden around the rooms – underneath the pillows, in the bedside table drawers and on the wardrobe shelves. 

The children were in Kiddie Heaven – and I have to admit, it was cute. Even baby Clementine, not yet two, sensed the excitement and scrambled to find a little bag of her favourites, Dolly Mixture. But after five minutes of indulgence, I was in my own version of Parent Hell – how can you keep three kids on an even keel with literally mountains of sugar freely available everywhere? 

We managed to calm the kids down, partly by distracting them with the equally lurid bathtub, built with fluorescent pink glass tiles. I cleverly decided not to show them the Cadbury Room next door, and before they had a chance to say ‘hyperactivity’ had marched them outside to the sweet little playground (no pun intended), where they amused themselves happily before going for a quick swim in the pool. 

The hotel has 140 rooms and we stayed in what felt like a small, rustic wing accessible by a winding garden path. Our suite was more than comfortable, with a sitting room, two bedrooms and two baths. So comfortable, in fact, that we were reluctant to leave for dinner. Being American, I chose Sam’s Diner, which has a US theme. Unfortunately, the food was far from brilliant – even the girls’ hot dogs were overcooked, which, I know from experience, is difficult to accomplish. 

They loved their ‘cocktails’, however, while I diplomatically decided not to create an international incident and send my badly cooked chicken fajitas back south of the border. 

Next morning we had a decent breakfast (I managed to stash most of the sweets in my suitcase) and set off for the Park. One of the hotel managers told me that in a few years’ time plans are to demolish it to make way for a new housing development, although the hotel itself is expected to be enlarged to accommodate the growth in the area. 

So we made our way to Camelot with a bit of nostalgia, and it did seem like stepping back in time to a Carnival-style playpark. There were lots of rides the kids enjoyed, especially the dragon roller-coaster, the log flume and some of the small kiddie round-abouts. 

Camelot is a lot bigger than it initially appears, even discounting some off-the-beaten-path places Duncan discovered, where dusty mannequins and broken rides stand forgotten behind clusters of trees. And the food court wasn’t that dire, although we did wish we had brought our own lunch. 

There were laughs when we watched the jousting match – even Clementine sat quietly with her mouth wide open – and tears when we visited the indoor playcentre at Merlin’s Playland only to find an incredibly strict 16-year-old park attendant decree that Josie was too tall to play in the small children’s playpark and Tilly too short to play along with the big kids. 

The girls liked Squire Bumpkin’s Farm, loved the Cup & Sorcerer ride, and were gravely disappointed they weren’t big enough to go on some of the more death-defying rides. Best of all, the weather was fab and the queues almost non-existent.

All in all, everyone had a good time and we were in and out – and back to the hotel – within five hours. Calling it a ‘Land of Great Knights and Amazing Days’ might be going too far. But if you want to experience a kinder, gentler theme park, come to Camelot – before it all comes rolling down. 

Top tips: We had to bring our hotel registration card to use the swimming pool. Josie, Tilly and I arrived at the pool without it and had to trudge back to our hotel room, where Duncan and the baby were asleep, to retrieve it noisily from the bottom of my bag. The woman at the pool reception told us that this rule was written in the hotel literature for ‘safety reasons’ but when I looked there was no mention of it.

Some of the rides at the theme park have height restrictions, but don’t assume a ride is safe just because your child is allowed to ride on it! I took Clementine on the water flume and the entire time was scared to death she was going to fall off, even though I had my arms tightly clenched around her. Luckily, just after we boarded one of the young men working at the ride told us where to sit and moved us around. If we had stayed where we had originally sat – which another young guy seemed to think was fine – she could have fallen out as we advanced up the steep ascent.

On-site facilities: The hotel has a modern health and fitness club called Vitalia, which has a nicely-tiled pool suitable for children with fun water slide, as well as a more adult pool where grown-ups can do laps and get some exercise. Adults can also take advantage of the steamroom, sauna, whirpools and computerised and air-conditioned gym, which has modern equipment and offers a variety of classes. Vitalia has many different treatments and beauty rooms but it’s advised to book in advance.

We were in the area for only a short visit, so didn’t take advantage of much except for the hotel’s swimming pool, outdoor play areas and, of course, the theme park itself. However, there are loads of pubs in the area – including one down the road with a children’s petting zoo. But I assume most people come to see Camelot.

Kids say: ‘The best thing was finding sweeties and eating them,’ says Josie, six. ‘I loved everything. I loved all the sweeties especially and I loved watching the baby dinosaurs hatching from their eggs,’ adds Tilly, four, referring to a display outside a roller-coaster ride.

Getting there: Camelot is in Charnock Richard, Chorley, Lancs, junction 28. For special Camelot short break offers at Park hall Hotel visit www.parkhall-hotel.co.uk or www.camelotthemepark.co.uk or call 01257 455000. Dinner, bed and breakfast ranges from L58 to L78 based on two people sharing, depending on season (up to two children stay free), cheaper for bed and breakfast only. Price includes entrance to Camelot, please check opening dates when booking. Entrance to Camelot only is L16.50 per person, or L56 for a family ticket of four. Children under 1metre tall are free.

*Wendy Sloane is the Travel Editor of entertainthekids.com. She divides her time between writing and taking care of her three daughters, Josie, Tilly and Clementine.ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED 2006

Hyperallergic: Charlie Ahearn on Documenting the Rise of Hip-Hop

Charlie Ahearn, “Scratch DJ (Blue Slee)” (2017), silkscreen on canvas 24 x 34 inches (all images courtesy the artist and P.P.O.W.)

Before hip-hop became popular worldwide, Charlie Ahearn was there with his camera, taking pictures and documenting the nascent art form. The artist and filmmaker, freshly transplanted from Binghamton, New York, plunged into the downtown Manhattan scene, but constantly found his attentions drawn uptown, in the Bronx. “There were, especially in the area of hip-hop as a musical art form, so many things happening in the summer of 1980 in the Bronx that seemed to me to be radical, avant-garde creativity going on among a high school-aged subgroup,” Ahearn remembered over a recent phone interview.

P.P.O.W. is sharing Ahearn’s memories in its exhibition Charlie Ahearn: Scratch Ecstasy. Celebrating the director and artist’s over-25 years of show promotion, filmmaking, and publishing, the exhibition provides a ground-level glimpse of the birth of hip-hop. The centerpiece of the show is a 20-minute, eponymous slideshow “Scratch Ecstasy,” featuring over 300 images from hip-hop parties at the now-defunct Bronx club Ecstasy Garage, scored with an original mix from DJ Grand Wizzard Theodore. While the majority of images come from the pre-1981 birth of hip-hop, there are a few snaps from a 1983 trip to Japan to promote Wild Style, Ahearn’s narrative feature chronicling the scene and the work of graffiti artist Lee Quinones. Ahearn also combines some slide images into silk-screened paintings made in 2017 representing some of the era’s biggest names on canvases as big as 4 by 5 feet. Video pieces from 2005 to 2016 round out the show by providing contemporary portrayals of rapping, b-boying (breakdancing), and writing (graffiti).

To celebrate the opening of this look back at the origins of hip-hop, Ahearn — along with DJ Grand Wizzard Theodore, who is featured on the film’s soundtrack — will present a May 24 screening of Wild Style at the Lower East Side’s Metrograph, a venue with special resonance for Ahearn.“Metrograph is really close to Lee Quinones’s murals,” he explains. “That theater is in what I consider one of the most amazing cultural neighborhoods that I’ve ever seen in my life.”

Shortly after putting the finishing touches on pieces for the exhibition in a New Jersey studio, Ahearn shared the knowledge and perspective on hip-hop culture that made him a player in its spread around the globe.

*   *   *

Charlie Ahearn, “Dota Rock (Bam Yellow)”Data Rock (Bam Yellow) (2017), silkscreen on canvas, 24 x 34 inches

Jon Hogan: After moving to the city in the ’70s, you formed the Colab (a shortened version of “Collaborative Projects”) artists’ collective with your brother. What niche did you hope to fill in the New York art world of that time?

Charlie Ahearn: Colab was a really interesting group of friends. We were organized to pool some of our creativity in group projects. This culminated for me in the Times Square Show, which was happening right south of 42nd Street, off of Broadway. Well over 100 artists were pooled from all boroughs. Richard Goldstein wrote an article in June of 1980 and promoted it as a watershed for what would become the art of the ’80s. It’s not that it encapsulated the ’80s, but it certainly was one of the primary aspects of what the art of the ’80s became: this interaction between art and creativity in the streets.

JH: With a Super 8 camera, you created the kung fu film The Deadly Art of Survival. What drew you to the nonprofessional actors of the Deadly Art of Survival martial arts school in the Alfred E. Smith projects?

CA: I never thought of it as using nonprofessional actors. They approached me to make a film, and they were already martial artists. And they were already doing live narrative martial arts scenarios in front of audiences.

The Deadly Art of Survival allowed me to work in [the Lower East Side], and I learned a lot about the culture from making that. I became very intimate with looking at Lee Quinones’ murals. When we were organizing the Times Square Show, I had met Fred Brathwaite [the rapper and cultural promoter known as “Fab 5 Freddy”], who had seen my posters for The Deadly Art of Survival. We started to hatch a plan to make a movie that later became Wild Style.

Charlie Ahearn, “Battle (Orange)” (2017), silkscreen on canvas, 54×48 inches

The most important plan, for him, was to bring Lee to the Times Square Show the next morning and for them to make a mural out in front of the building. I got some spray paint for them, and they knocked out a nice big Fab 5 on the side of the wall. You have to understand that this was the middle of the street in Times Square, and this was not our building. It was just the way we did everything at the time. You didn’t ask if it was okay. You just did things.

JH: Did you or Quinones select the work showcased in Wild Style, and what was the deciding factor?

CA: The main thing I was focusing on was his handball courts. And of course the movie opens with him climbing over the top of a handball court. He was coming down a rope as if he were Spider-Man or some kind of outlaw superhero artist entering the subway yard.

JH: The film’s hip-hop performances — one of the first documentations of the art form — are often intercut with action. For instance, you can hear a hushed Busy Bee performance in the background while Fab 5 Freddy and Quinones play three card monty in an office, and the camera often cuts to the stage at full volume. What was your thinking in interweaving action with music?

CA: In the film, I wanted the performers to be stars, as important as anything in the narrative. You’re seeing real performances. The performers are never background in the movie. Yes, you cut to that scene in the office, but what’s going on onstage has its own story. You see a battle between Rodney C. and Busy Bee. You see the whole thing. You don’t just see it as backdrop for narrative. Most of my favorite parts of the film take something that could have been described in an interview and manifest it with a musical scene.

Charlie Ahearn, “Rock On (Busy Bee) (ManvPink)” (2017), silkscreen on canvas, 26 x 38 inches

JH: The exhibition Charlie Ahearn Scratch Ecstasy boasts pieces with original scores from DJ Grand Wizzard Theodore, who appears in Wild Style. What did Theodore bring to the table?

CA: One of the keys to the exhibition is the slideshow, which is a recreation of something I was doing live at the Ecstasy Garage quite a bit. I’m using that as a focal point because it’s not the most well-known place in the Bronx. I thought that it was an amazing laboratory for creativity. The audience was primarily high school students. You had MCs in groups hanging out onstage taking turns at the microphone. You had DJs like Grand Wizzard Theodore or DJ AJ or Mean Gene performing for several hundred kids in the room. They may each have only paid $4 or $5 to get in. It was very cheap, and I thought what they were getting was incredible.

In a way, [the slideshow] is the first wave of hip-hop as it’s coming from local clubs and becoming something that’s seen by the world. I worked for months with Grand Wizzard Theodore, and he would play me countless pieces of music from his collection. Every once in a while, I’d go, “That’s it! I remember that song playing and how people responded to it!” He was recreating the [Ecstasy Garage] sound for me for the slideshow.

It doesn’t mean that what you hear in the slideshow is what you’d hear in the club, because you had rappers getting on the mic. It’s not exactly the real thing, just like Wild Style is not actually the real thing. Like moviemaking, it tells a story that is very concentrated.

Charlie Ahearn, “Rapture (Scratch)”

JH: And it’s a bit of a curated experience, too.

CA: Yes, it’s what I’d like people to see.

I always shot slides because some artists shot their work on slides. There were other artists at the time, like Jack Smith or Nan Goldin, who were using slides as artwork. I would look at the slides and say, “Oh, damn. This one’s out of focus” or “I love this image, but it’s too dark.” It was perfect when I started to think of scratching words or images into the slides.

Even though the scratching looks kind of like punk art at the time, I thought the process was very much like hip-hop. You’re taking things that nobody wants and making something new with it, like graffiti on a broken down building. Even the scratch mixing is taking records people haven’t heard in a long time.

JH: In your mind, what are the standout images in the slideshow?

There are some moments in it where you see the high school-ness of the place. Someone shooting pictures for a magazine or something might not have shot these types of things because it looks so humble and so high school, but I like those kinds of images.

Charlie Ahearn Scratch Ecstasy opens at P.P.O.W. (535 W 22nd St, Chelsea, Manhattan) on May 18 and continues through June 24. Charlie Ahearn’s Wild Style is screening at Metrograph (7 Ludlow St, Lower East Side, Manhattan) on May 24. 

The post Charlie Ahearn on Documenting the Rise of Hip-Hop appeared first on Hyperallergic.

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Who said that?

Looking back at 2018, I smile at some of the wonderful comments that have appeared on this blog in response to some of my posts.

Do you see yourself in there? Do you see others?

1 I had forgotten about that commercial! Thanks for the umm… blast from the past, Doug! I was surprised that it did have a “violent” part. That part didn’t stick in my memory, but the “blue” light did! Sorry to hear of your incident! Here’s to more uneventful walks with the dog..  I had a good smile with Andrew’s comment too. I have searched youtube to confirm quotes and lines from TV shows and movies as well… just to be sure   A recent attempt was: “It’s cold enough out there to freeze your Winnebago!” Like Aviva, I have always wondered about how graphic a message needs to be to stick. I worry that it goes too far at times, especially in consideration of young children. I guess there might be individual differences in regards to what will “hit home”, but…

2 Oh, going to have to try this one out – looks like a lot of fun! (and I will suggest it to some people I know, since I don’t have a classroom to play in right now). Thanks, as ever!

3 Thanks for including me Doug. Still fighting that bug, but class back up to 65%! Listened to the show (twioe) last night…awesome as always. Got a chuckle over Stephen’s mention of “the Good Room” and all the banter between you, as always. Keep on keeping on!

4 Love the post. It made me think about what my role is. Probably a lot more Bluesman than thought leader I guess. But really I started to think that is just important to do what I can do and let other people think about labels. I’m just a teacher with opinions and a blog. That’s good enough for me I think.

5 Hi Doug, and all:) Here is my addition – if I ever hear the word Wheelhouse again it will be too soon. Also I will probably get in trouble for this but I don’t like all the Like a Pirate business. For heaven’s sake. Pirates are real. They steal and murder people. I am working on another blog post, a more thoughtful consideration of the word “modern” – which really has an existing definition and has been co-opted more recently to mean “contemporary.” I know, I am so fussy:)

6 I like Broadway http://fontsgeek.com/fonts/Broadway-Regular, but I have a weakness for art deco fonts. It’s too decorative to read though, but good for posters and titles. For reading I usually go for arial but recently have been preferring Trebuchet https://www.myfonts.com/fonts/microsoft/trebuchet/?gclid=Cj0KCQiAiKrUBRD6ARIsADS2OLn1B3-UN6EjbTMRsPmw2xTQWIwFrCXNtyTxAmFoh7p_XYxWjXX_lzYaAlJVEALw_wcBit’s nice and clean. Oddly, if I’m going for a computer styled font I use something like Courier which is a web friendly way to imitate those old fixed width fonts https://www.myfonts.com/fonts/microsoft/courier-new/?gclid=Cj0KCQiAiKrUBRD6ARIsADS2OLnfMx1LblHmfXsmRm32zv_x9kHDMf5_ySTNErPWQ_7GmrGvY-qQCsMaApnbEALw_wcB If you’ve never messed around with fonts, you’re missing something.

7 My teaching partner and I used to do ‘a theme’, back when themes were a thing in kindergarten, around EGGS at Easter time. We did different experiments with eggs each day – how many books can we stack on a raw egg before it breaks, what happens when you soak an egg in vinegar, sinking and floating eggs, spinning eggs (raw eggs wobble, hard cooked eggs spin) and so on. We read lots of books about animals that hatch from eggs. My favourite was always “Chickens aren’t the only ones” by Ruth Heller. Like you, many of our children didn’t celebrate Easter but they were seeing eggs and bunnies everywhere in stores and on TV.

8 Thank you for capturing two days of amazing learning and connecting for us Doug. It was a pleasure to finally have some conversation time with you and I am glad Steven Hurley didn’t beam us up with his modern day transcorder. Appreciate the power that comes in building bridges in this business and you sir are a bridge builder. Looking forward to our next conversation. W

9 Our mornings begin with the fragrance of espresso filling the air. Milk is heated, the espresso is added to the hot milk and voilà, the magic potion is ready. When we go out, we seldom stop to buy coffee anywhere. We caddy thermos cups of our home brew. If we run out of the elixir…tea it is. When we have friends join us for a formal meal, we usually end the meal with a demitasse of espresso…except for the tea drinkers. We like it that espresso has a lower caffeine content than drip coffee: https://recipes.howstuffworks.com/question645.htm Of course, current science might draw different conclusions.

10 … that look of betrayal on my wife’s face when I mentioned that I am trying to quit with coffee. She, up to several years ago, hated the stuff. Hated the smell, the taste, the satisfied look on my face as relaxed through my second or third cup in the morning. I guess it was my fault. Someway somehow, she now can’t start her day without it. My attempt at scaling back my caffeine consumption has put my life is in danger. I shouldn’t have mentioned it. I shouldn’t have even written this post. If my blog goes dark for a while its because I am in hiding. Tell my wife, I was wrong … oh so wrong …

11 Hi Doug, thanks for sharing your learning from the Ontario Summit. To add to this already great resource, here is a link to all of the presenter’s resources from the weekend: https://edtech.team/OntarioResources18 – Lots more goodies there!

12 I saw this presentation at SIGCSE and left with mixed feelings. The session was pitched as ML for CS teachers with little CS knowledge. The pizza app is cool but I left thinking that there was a big missing piece which was the actual under the hood ML. It looks great as a tool where the teacher is already knowledgeable but I don’t know how much serious mileage a class will get out of it beyond being a cool demo if the teacher doesn’t already know the subject.

13 I love to sew, but hardly have the time. I go by feel when choosing fabric for any project or any “already made” clothes. I don’t care what it’s called – I only care about how it feels and how well it will wash. I do not remember the fabric you’re talking about, though I feel as if I should. My mom used to see for me, so I likely had many things made from it.

14 Morning Doug, this brought to mind attendance tracking of students and how if they are going to leave or walk out consequnces mean nothing. The reason you give them to stay is far more powerful. I think folks need to understand the purpose but more importantly if you leave the impression, regardless of this is it’s purpose that people’s whereabouts are what we are starting with and not the culture of a welcoming, inclusive and non intrusive learning environment, the same thing will happen as it does in a secondary school…they opt out as it is no longer about the them but the system they exist within.

15 Good morning Doug! (and Jamie) I’m glad you guys keep your eyes open when you’re out for your walks. There’s no doubt that keeping an eye out for other vehicles, cyclists, and pedestrians (and dogs) is a critical responsibility for motor vehicle drivers. I was pleased to read your “exit, stage left“ quote, And even happier when I saw that you had included a picture of SnagglePuss. You are smarter than the average bear.

16 I don’t remember exactly when Chrome came out, but I do for Gmail. I went straight to eBay and bought an invitation so I could join. It cost me $5. The invitation also included another new Google service. Do you remember what it was?

17 I noticed this too when watching cartoons with my nephews. There also seemed to be a whole lot of yelling. Okay now I’m sounding like the old guy who just wants the kids to get off his lawn. I loved the old Hanna-Barbara cartoons from the mid-60’s. Space Ghost, Frankenstein Jr. and The Impossibles, the original Scooby-Doo, Dastardly and Muttley in Their Flying Machines, The Herculoids, The Banana Splits Adventure Hour – that one was pretty weird, but I did teach some of my grade 6’s the theme song, Jonny Quest and the Jetsons. I kind of thought we’d be living like the Jetsons by now. At least I thought they would have finished repairing all the roads.

18 Hey Doug, As always your posts seem so timely. Today on my way home from church I noticed a few trees in the neighbourhood who have started to show your beautiful fall colors. I couldn’t help but recall several projects that I had to complete as a child where we would go out into the neighbourhood and find several fall leaves. We then needed to place the leaves in between two pieces of wax paper and iron them . To be honest, I don’t recall what the intended learning outcome was… But what I do remember was that it was a project that my mom and I needed to do together (hot irons and safety) . Sometimes it is those unintended outcomes (special time with a parent) which are just as meaningful as the curriculum outcomes.

19 I have never heard of Qwant until you mentioned it. I also gave it a try and I must admit that it is a very impressive search engine. I used the Brave web browser in the past; I had no issues with it. In my case, I utilise the Google Chrome web browser, because I use certain extensions. The Brave web browser loads quickly.

20 Hey! This is the fourth time visiting now and I personally just wanted to say I truley enjoy reading your blog site. I’ve decided to bookmark it at reddit.com with the title: %BLOGTITLE% and your Web address: %BLOGURL%. I hope this is alright with you, I’m trying to give your great blog a bit more coverage. Be back shortly.

21 Do you worry about free services going away after a while? = Sometimes. I’m still wounded about the closing of Bitstrips for Schools (which I liked waaaaaay better than Pixton – sorry, Pixton). It went so fast that I couldn’t collect all the old comics I wanted to archive (so Jacob, if you are reading this, please let us grab our files for a quick, one week period, please!) What is your contingency plans in case that happens? = Wish I had one! Do you backup your online presence in case it goes away? = I print my blogs as a birthday gift to myself once a year. I did a Twournal for the first part of my tweeting, but I’d love to back up all my Tweets in a print format. Now you’ve got me paranoid Doug!

Thanks to those who took time to share a comment throughout 2018. I hope that I can write on topics that will continue the efforts in 2019.

Who said that? published first on https://medium.com/@DigitalDLCourse