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shadowknight465 · 5 years ago

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Sun and Moon

He went back to the tree safe from harm, or what could be harm in his point of view. Nightmare still doesn't understand where the voices are coming from. He brushed it off thinking it was a result of being alone most of the time. Even though his feet were hurt from walking for a long time; he felt the energy coming back as soon he saw light golden cap with arms hugging two deep blue legs. He then took a deep breath as the dry grass tells his brother that he's here. Dream look up and saw Nightmare. Never knowing what Nightmare had seen before finding him.

As Nightmare sat beside him. Even when his eyes were closed he could easily tell that Dream is confused. Nevertheless Dream spoke to Nightmare. "What do you want?" Nightmare respond it with. "Just to talk." Dream looks down again. Nightmare always tells himself that he isn't gonna lie to his brother, but he feels like he needs to stretched the truth for a bit. Hopefully Dream will learn the truth sooner or later.

"Look, Dream,"

Dream turns his head to face Nightmare again.

"I didn't really mean to flip you." Nightmare then makes a fist to try to give his brother an example. "You see. I'm like a water balloon. I can build so much anger inside of me that I could explode unexpectedly."

Now this is the time to lie

Nightmare thought to himself. "And when you mention your friends, I got so mad and lied to you because you have friends and I don't." He then chuckles to himself while rubbing against his skull. "I guess I should get out of my shell more."

"Oh....Sorry." Dream responded, feeling guilty about something he didn't do. Nightmare thought to himself for second on how to make Dream feel better.

Dream always did say he want to cook with me...

"It's Ok, and you know what? I'll give you a cooking lesson. Would you like that?" He asked patting his brother shoulder.

"OK!" The golden eye light shine brightly. Nightmare smile to himself proudly, as he got up not knowing his brother is confused again. "Alright-y then," He said. "But first let me heal myself."

"Alright, brother."

As soon Dream was out of sight. Nightmare took all the wool out of his sleeves and nearly gasped from the blood loss. He's surprised that he didn't faint at least, that's what he thought. He went to his hiding place where he often use medicine practice on himself and took a piece of cloth and wrap it around his teeth.

Please God stay with me.

He then brew a healing spell in his black cauldron, and dive his arm in it painfully. Trying his best not to scream matter how much it stings his arm. As soon he was done. He catch his breath and look for a book about cooking so he and brother can make gumbo or stew. He grabbed the book that he needed and another dropped. He sigh in annoyance and went to put it back up, but when he read the title, he knows he didn't bought the book. The title read "Peace after Death". It didn't said who wrote it, nor did it had any information in the back. He decided when he has time he can read one or two pages see was all about. He pick up the book and hid it under his shirt, then went back to his brother while picking up some ingredients. Forgetting the mysterious book.

~~~~~

"Ok, Dream. Watch the fire while I get the recipe."

"And whatever you do. Don't touch it." Nightmare ordered sternly. It's wasn't because he doesn't trust Dream, it was because every time Dream is around with fire he always want to touch it, 'to feel the warmth.' His brother said as a excuse. After a brief few seconds. He felt something off.

Dream is being awfully quiet. I'm going to check on him

His suspense quickly turn to fear. He turnaround quickly yelling. "DREAM! DONT!"

"OUCH!"

Nightmare walked up to Dream disappointed.

One thing, he can't do one thing?

He thought.

"What did I tell you about touching the fire?" He demanded.

"Don't?" Dream squeak.

"That's right. And what did you do?" He reminded.

"Touch it..."

Nightmare sigh and went back to his studies to get some bandages for Dream. He felt a little lucky that no one has seen them, not because Nightmare will be in trouble. But because Dream will be accused of being a pyro warlock. If there's anything about him and pyro warlocks have in common is their love of fire. He blames the elders for introducing fire to Dream in the first place. Though he can see his brother being one of those pyro warlocks. Which to him it means he has to clean up all his brother's messes. Fire. One of the most dangerous elements known to so many races. Can be used for creation or distraction. It's also known for cooking meals and to guide the lost. But what's fire without its counterpart, water? The very thing that can heal in shape. To be transform into solid or gas. And to heal if you do it right.

~~~~~~

After Nightmare bandaged up his brother's hand. He sat in the back right beside him.

He thought about his deep thinking earlier and he decided he wanted to share that knowledge with his brother. Just in case.

"Dream, I think it's time to tell you the importance of water and fire." Nightmare turns to face Dream. "So listen closely, understand?" Dream nodded.

"You won't believe this, but both of them need each other like the sun and the moon. Let me explain. When water turns to ice, fire can thaw it out. When fire is out of control, water can calm it down. Although they seem different, they are the same in the way. Water was known to drown, to give life, to turn cold, and to heal. Fire was known to destroy, to bring warmth, to bring to light and to guide. They show us without one there can't be the other, they complete each other. Do you understand Dream?"

Dream nodded. "Of course, Brother."

Nightmare then chuckled for a bit. "You know you remind me of fire."

"Hmm?"

"You are always so bright and energetic." He answered. "Well you remind me of water, you are always so calm and gentle." He responded. Nightmare blush. He's not used to complements, not like his goody two shoes brother. "Thanks, I love you my Little Sun." He said.

" I love you too, Moon." Dream said. Nightmare turn to night sky.

Maybe I can teach Dream a bit of my interest.

He thought. He doesn't want to get lonely on most nights anymore. "Want to learn a bit about astronomy?" He asked.

"Yes, please!" Dream answered happily.

after three whole hours of talking about constellation his brother fell asleep on his lap. Nightmare pull his personal book from his inner rib cage. Hey, he got to protect his personal belongings.

June, 17, 1577

The small group of friends I met yesterday turns out to be traitors when they attack me. As they all beat me up one of them use their magic to make me break my own arm. When i was finished, they all wound up together and nearly blinded me by hitting my eye sockets with a big rock. It later cause me to be aggressive my own brother. However something strange had happened to me while I was trying to look for him. A creature I believed to be a massager for someone said they wants me to be their king of darkness, so I'll be safe from everyone's grasp, I however decline. Because I choose not to be like the people who abuse and manipulated us. Even after he left, I still feel like he's watching me from afar to see if I change my mind. And, a few other voices said they want me to be king. I theorize that if it's from being along for so long. When I finally apologized I told him that we can cook together after I tend my wounds. While I was healing up and planing to cook a meal with my brother, I discovered a book that wasn't mine reading "Peace after Death". It is said who or what is from, nor does it have a symmetry. Which made me wonder is this a gift from God or a temptation from Lucifer?

He then put the book away. And went to sleep. Not long after maybe four or three hours, he saw that he was in an starry night like area. He then look that himself and saw that he changed. Not like a demonic way, but like a spirit. Most of his color palette are shades of pastel bluish-purple. He looked up and saw similar lights from when he blacked out. As he slowly walks towards it, he can hear so many voices telling him to go on until he came to a blinding light. When it finally faded he discovered two beautiful gems. One shaped like the sun and the other shaped like the moon.

"Welcome back, Nightmare."

He looked and so heavenly figures each of them are white with a different color hue surrounding them. While their eyes are the same color of the hue and yet nothing no white or pupils.

Nightmare was so amazed that he can't describe it with words itself. "Is this a dream?" He asked when he finally got his voice back.

"No."

Nightmare suddenly got confuse.

"Heaven?"

"No."

Nightmare took a step backwards. "Hell?"

The leader of them walk towards him against his wishes. "This is a forgotten realm is call The Nerco Empire."

He look at everyone in awe. He never heard of such an empire. Especially a empire for the dead. As he was about to ask why they want him to be their king, he saw a humanoid figure dress in regal garments wielding a scythe pointing at him.

As if nobody paid attention, he heard it deep tone of voice saying. "Come."

He went to the opposite direction as far he could while screaming out for help. However as he got to familiar grounds nobody seems to hear him. When he reached to the tree where he and his brother were resting, he saw himself. He pause for a moment trying to think of an exclamation, then he remember why he was running in the first place. And ran straight to his body.

He jolted up then looked around him to see a sleeping Dream. He sigh and released thinking it was a nightmare, then carry his brother back home.

~~~~

After he sat Dream down on his bed. All bright yellow and some hits of gold and later went to his bed he felt a sharp pain on his back. He brush it off as maybe he was hit on the back and need some rest. When he got back to his own bedroom which is different shades of purple he felt his right hand Burning up. He took a look at it and saw the sun-cut gem.

So it wasn't a dream after all...

He thought. He put it in one of his drawers and head back to bed.

Whatever he went through it'll be over soon right?

#daybreak #nightmare!sans #dream!tale #uncorrupted nightmare #my art

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adamwatchesmovies · 6 years ago

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The Worst of 2018

Before we dig into my Worst of 2018 list, let’s make something clear. Making movies is hard. I may be criticizing people’s efforts but am fully aware that they’ve all accomplished far more than I have by making an actual movie. Even the worst film on this list is still a fully-functional production that someone somewhere might enjoy... theoretically at least. If you were somehow involved in anything made on this list, I know you can do better. With that said, I sat through all of these, some multiple times and suffered so it’s time for me to get my revenge. How many were on the list I made halfway through the year, and how many new entries have we got?

10. 2.0

I typically reserve my #10 spot for a movie so bad it’s good and 2.0 is just that. Part techno-horror, part supernatural thriller, part superhero adventure, part sci-fi action movie, it goes in all sorts of outrageous directions. This one’s a gem, a picture I’d like to bring home and show to my friends on our weekly movie nights to hear their screeches of disbelief. I had a blast with it but legitimately good? Nah.

9. Show Dogs

I have some affection for this film as well. It’s awful, even as low-grade children’s entertainment. The plot has no idea what it’s doing and can’t figure out its own rules. The special effects are dodgy, premise idiotic, and jokes bad. And yet, I treasure seeing it in theatres. Soon after its release, a specific scene stirred uproar within parents and critics alike. This prompted the studio to re-edit the film. The scene in question concerns Ludacris’ character, talking police dog Max getting ready for the dog show he needs to infiltrate in order to discover who has kidnapped a baby panda. His partner, FBI agent Frank Nicholas (Will Arnett) explains that part of the competition involves the dogs getting their genitals inspected by the judges. In real-life, it’s to ensure the animals are capable of breeding. Finding the idea of someone fondling his junk without his consent intolerable, Max is told to escape the situation by going to his “zen place”. I didn’t take offense to it but understand why others would. I doubt the scene is available in the home release’s deleted scenes menu so I count myself among the few who saw the original cut.

8. Selfie from Hell, Slenderman & Truth or Dare

I’m lumping these three together because they all suffer from the same problem. They were doomed from the start. “What if a game of Truth or Dare… was fatal?” What if you could only take 13 selfies before a supernatural entity came after you?”, “What if severe head trauma caused H.P. Lovecraft’s intelligence to plunge and he set “The Call of Cthulhu” in the 21st century?” seemed to have been the opening pitches for these would-be spookfests. None featured any scares or compelling characters. I doubt anyone will remember any of these by the time 2019 ends.

7. Robin Hood

Many of 2018's films ended by assuring us that more was yet to come. Robin Hood should've saved itself the embarrassment of being yet another aspiring franchise which failed to take off and been self-contained. It failed because it tried to be a superhero film when it should’ve simply been a movie about Robin Hood. This story by Ben Chandler steals so many ideas from Batman you almost forget to criticize the costumes, the impossible action sequences, and Jamie Foxx’s bad performance. It’s dripping with “tries too hard”.

6. Life of the Party

Boy does Melissa McCarthy need a new Agent. Her and Tiffany Haddish actually. Life of the Party is all-around lazy. It hardly has a plot. Instead, it throws one scene after another, praying something will stick. This film about a newly-divorced mother who goes back to college to reconnect with her daughter can’t even get its characters right. In some scenes, McCarthy’s Deanna is mousey and unable to give a speech to the class. In others, she’s such a partier she ends up wrecking everything for everyone around her. I hated the film’s conclusion worst of all, a deus-ex-machina of an ending which has nothing to do with anything and feels like it was hastily shot when director Ben Falcone and co-writer/spouse McCarthy realized the film they made wasn’t amounting to anything.

5. Fifty Shades Freed

Fifty Shades Darker was terrible. It began by immediately undoing the ending of the previous film but at least it was building up to something while introducing us its equivalent of the Legion of Doom, a trio of villains all of which would converge and attempt to ruin the relationship between Anastasia Steele, and Christian Grey… or not. This third and final chapter struggles to find something to do for the first three quarters and then suddenly introduces a thriller element before rapidly concluding it and showing us the end credits. The unrated version released on home video filled in a couple of holes (such as Kim Basinger’s disappearing character) but those holes shouldn’t have been there in the first place. Between the un-erotic sex scenes, we’re treated to lame melodrama and further proof this trilogy is completely oblivious to matters of love and relationship. Even if it had been well acted and gave fans some satisfaction by adequately tackling some of the bigger questions the series posed, it would’ve still been bad.

4. Venom

I didn’t want to listen to people who proclaimed Venom would never work. The character has appeared in solo adventures before. There’s nothing to say a talented writer couldn’t make one of Spider-Man’s most well-known archenemies work on his own. Or maybe not. This is an appallingly written film full of plot holes, vaguely defined powers, bad humor, and illogical actions. In many ways, it reminds you of films like Ghost Rider and Catwoman. In a way, it’s worse than either because everyone involved should’ve known better. Making its flaws doubly apparent is the film Upgrade, released earlier during the year. It essentially did what this film wanted to but better, funnier and more inventively. It’s extra funny that Upgrade features Logan Marshall-Green, who looks a lot like Tom Hardy, making the pair a perfect double feature if you like to compare bad movies with good ones and discuss them with friends.

3. A Wrinkle in Time and The Nutcracker and the Four Realms

These Disney films, the first directed by Ava DuVernay and the second by a combined effort by Lasse Hallström and Joe Johnston, wanted to be empowering female-led fantasy adventures. A Wrinkle in Time is historic in that it’s the first $100 million+ film directed by a woman of color. This makes it extra disappointing because it’s awful. Both tales are filled with developments who inspire you to say “but I don’t care”. Overrelying on visual razzle-dazzle, neither of these had any substance whatsoever. I blame the writers, who took the original stories and tried to make them into something they weren’t. Much of AWiT could’ve worked if the story had kept some of its novels' Christian themes. Then the evil black cloud who does evil for evil’s sake would’ve simply been Satan and wouldn't have seemed nearly as lazy and underwhelming. By attempting to force The Nutcracker and the Mouse King into the same mould as Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland (another bad film), you robbed the ballet of any potential charm. In many ways, these are worse than most of the others on my list because you keep hoping something would turn around and because they’re not obviously bad, at least not at first. They fill you with false hope.

2. Life Itself

I should’ve known this Dan Fogelman creation was trouble from the advertisements, which built it up as this epic tale containing all of the universes’ deepest truths. I sat there aghast as one corny development followed another. This tries to be poetry in motion, this grandiose tale about the bonds which connect us and not one second works. It’s utterly ridiculous, so bad it might be funny except you’ll be bored by its nearly 2-hour running time.

The Runner ups:

Nobody’s Fool & Night School

Both featured Tiffany Haddish who is rapidly burning through any goodwill she might’ve earned with her breakout role in Girls Trip.

Holmes & Watson

Bad movie but it made me laugh more than the other films on this list

Book Club

A film I’m kicking myself for not being harder on when I first reviewed it but take comfort in the fact it seems to have dropped off the earth completely.

1. The 15:17 to Paris

Agonizingly dull, The 15:17 to Paris was well-intentioned. That doesn’t translate to “entertaining”. Most of this film’s 94 minutes are spent watching the real life Spencer Stone, Anthony Sadler and Alek Skarlatos vacationing through Europe, periodically flashing back to the time when they met and were the real-life non-actors were played by equally bad child performers. I hated this flat slab of propaganda masquerading as entertainment so much after it was over I had to turn to the other people around me and ask them what we just saw.

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lookinghbo · 6 years ago

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'Looking' Made Raúl Castillo A Sex Symbol. Sheer Force Made Him A Star.

In New York, in the middle of July, if the fickle subway system allows it, you’d be wise to arrive at a destination 10 minutes early. You’ll need that time to let the sweat evaporate, to stamp out the damp spots that have betrayed your outfit.

Raúl Castillo forfeited his chance to cool down before shaking my hand at a Manhattan hotel restaurant on a sweltering Thursday morning. I didn’t mind. It was an honest mistake.

The “Looking” star was running slightly late and looking slightly frazzled when he bounded toward our table. He’d confused this hotel for another within walking distance where, the previous night, Castillo had attended a screening of the new Alexander McQueen documentary with his girlfriend, the costume designer Alexis Forte, who has the late fashion maverick’s biography at their Brooklyn apartment.

It’s cute to see celebrities frayed, even ones who are still building their marquee value. Castillo is the type who hasn’t yet abandoned public transportation when navigating the city, even though it’s becoming harder to do so without attracting strangers’ gazes. While trekking home from the “McQueen” event, a Latina teenager tapped him to say she loved “Atypical,” the Netflix series in which Castillo played a charismatic bartender sleeping with Jennifer Jason Leigh’s married character. The teenager’s mother loved “Seven Seconds,” the Netflix series in which Castillo played a narcotics detective tending to a racially charged investigation.

Raúl Castillo: a guy you can bring home to Mom, punctual or otherwise.

It’s his voice that people recognize, the 40-year-old actor said, a modest notion considering his breakthrough role as the sensitive barber Richie on “Looking” made Castillo a veritable heartthrob, despite the HBO show’s modest ratings. But it’s true that his warm baritone gravel is a distinguishing trait. Earlier this year, when I saw “Unsane,” Steven Soderbergh’s scrappy iPhone thriller set inside a mental institution, I recognized Castillo’s intonation before his face appeared onscreen.

That’s a significant feat. Castillo mumbled so much as an adolescent that a teacher recommended he see a speech therapist. He refused, instead reminding himself to enunciate or else using the impediment as a defense mechanism. “I have all these things wrong with my voice,” Castillo said, though few today would agree.

Castillo’s cadence may be growing familiar, but fame hardly seems like his long game. This is, after all, a guy who studied playwriting ― hardly the creative pursuit that commands the brightest spotlight ― at Boston University, after which he paid about $300 a month to live in a garage in Austin and perform local Chicano theater. “We the Animals,” a Sundance indie opening this weekend, marks the first time Castillo is the one generating a project’s star power. He portrays the father of three tight-knit boys storming through a wooded town in upstate New York. The movie, adapted from Justin Torres’ autobiographical novel of the same name, combines elements of “Beasts of the Southern Wild” and “Moonlight” to capture a domestic home life that’s equal parts tender and volatile, where abuse and affection are equally common.

Castillo’s enthusiasm about “We the Animals,” and about the possibly of again working with its director, Jeremiah Zagar (“Captivated: The Trials of Pamela Smart”), speaks to his ambivalence toward the celebrity ecosystem.

“He could be like Tom Cruise without the child slavery,” Zagar said, roasting the “Mission: Impossible” moneymaker’s Scientology association (and its alleged history of forced manual labor). “Raúl’s that kind of a dude. He’s a perfect-looking dude, and yet he’s incredibly real and honest and true. There’s never a false note. He’s also incredibly collaborative. As a director, that’s a wonderful thing. I didn’t know what I was doing, really, because I had never directed a narrative before, and Raúl had a way of making me feel comfortable and confident in my own beliefs and my own material. He’s so seasoned and so clear about what he needs to do to make a scene work and a character work and to elevate other people around him.”

It’s a small movie with grainy aesthetics and an impressionistic lyricism ― in no way the kind of thing that will make a killing at the box office. For someone who first fell in love with theater by discovering the plays of Puerto Rican and Mexican writers like Miguel Piñero and Luis Valdez in his high school library, playing the complicated patriarch of a mixed-race family feels like a destiny fulfilled. (Sheila Vand, star of the Iranian horror gem “A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night,” plays Castillo’s wife.) At this point, opportunities to extend his commercial footprint ― guest spots as a cannibal on “Gotham” and a music teacher on “Riverdale,” for example ― will find Castillo one way or another.

“I’ve always felt that I was never cookie-cutter,” he said. “For as much as I tried to fit my square peg into round holes, constantly, my whole career, I could never do it. Whenever I read ‘We the Animals,’ I didn’t think I would be cast in that film. [...] I felt viewed more as a Richie. People think I tend to find those roles easier than I do a role like this, ’cause it’s harsh. I knew that I could do it. I’m so grateful for both Jeremiah and Justin, who did see that in me.”

Born in McAllen, Texas, a midsize agricultural town that sits on the Mexican border, Castillo’s triumphs were born out of people believing in him at the exact right moments. He belongs to a first-generation immigrant family, even if home was a mere 10 miles down the road. Castillo didn’t feel othered, but his dual identity instilled a sort of anti-establishment fluster.

“I just saw a lot of bullshit in the structures that were established for me,” he said. “I found a lot of hypocrisies. People valued money, and I think when I was very young, I valued money and I didn’t have it. I think I hated myself for it.”

Slowly shedding the Catholic mysticism that once awed him, he took up bass and played in punk bands. When his friend Tanya Saracho, who would go on to write for “Looking” and “How to Get Away with Murder,” likened his GPA to a lifeline out of McAllen, Castillo decided to care about school. But in Boston, he was suddenly the minority. His “bad attitude” kept him out of second-year acting courses, until mentorship from a professor of color let Castillo understand that he shouldn’t punish himself for being subjected to an overwhelmingly white institution. And when he moved to New York in 2002, his pal Mando Alvarado, now a writer for “Greenleaf” and “Vida” (on which Castillo will soon appear), posited presentation as a mark of self-worth; if he didn’t put care into his résumé and headshot, why should anyone put care into hiring him?

Of course, when success takes years to manifest, it’s easy to forget the lessons you’ve learned. Living with four or five roommates at once, Castillo worked his way into the Labyrinth Theater Company, an experimental off-Broadway troupe founded by Philip Seymour Hoffman and John Ortiz. He still wanted to be a writer ― in high school, Castillo only ever acted to impress girls anyway ― but in 2006 he found himself starring in a Labyrinth production of “School of the Americas,” a play by “Motorcycle Diaries” scribe José Rivera. The acting bug stuck. In 2009, his play “Knives and Other Sharp Objects,” a multigenerational drama about class in Texas, opened off-Broadway, earning a mixed review from The New York Times.

Still, nothing quite lasted. The business side of things was grueling, and his coffee-shop gigs were getting old, even if he did count Lili Taylor and RuPaul as customers. An agent sent him on auditions for “huge” Hollywood movies ― which ones, Castillo wouldn’t say ― but dropped him after none proved fruitful. He was ready to give up altogether when “Looking” came around. Castillo had starred in the short film that became a prototype for the series. Its director, Michael Lannan, called him to audition for Richie (the character he’d initially played) and Augustin (a more prominent Latino character who worked as an artist’s assistant). He didn’t land either role, even though he’d originated one of them.

But by the time “Looking” was a week away from shooting, a Richie still hadn’t been cast. The producers called Castillo to read for Andrew Haigh, the gifted English director who shepherded the half-hour dramedy. Haigh had seen Castillo in an indie mystery called “Cold Weather” that gave him “street cred.” Crashing on John Ortiz’s couch in Hell’s Kitchen, wondering what else he could do with his life, Castillo was at a bar one night when he received an email with a contract attached. He had no representation to negotiate his salary, but it didn’t matter: After living check to check, he was on HBO.

“I was like, ‘Yes. Take my soul. I don’t care. Pay me. I need money,’” Castillo recalled. “I needed not just a paycheck but the affirmation. I needed something artistically that I could sink my teeth into that had value to it. Something that was substantial. Something that had a real point of view. I needed a character that gave me a platform to do what I do in a really great scale in the best way possible. And it ended up being that. That show was such a great gift to me.”

All of Castillo’s ensuing fortune can be linked to “Looking.” It made him a sex symbol, a love interest, a fan favorite, a rising star whose claim to fame meant a great deal to anyone hungry for frank depictions of queer intimacy. Richie was the good-natured, self-righteous ideal ― a perfect counterpoint for Patrick (Jonathan Groff), the series’ unsettled protagonist. It became gay viewers’ great disappointment when they learned that Castillo, their anointed hunk, was in fact straight.

“His inability to be fake as a person translates directly into his acting,” Groff said. “There is nothing extraneous or false about Raúl, and he brought a grounded, honest integrity to the character that absolutely no one else could have. He’s also just innately magic on screen and has that ‘it’ factor.”

Perhaps it was Castillo’s dual identity as a Mexican-American that helped him shine as a gay, blue-collar Californian who was sure of himself despite being rejected by his family. It’s certainly what lets him shine as the cash-strapped paterfamilias, caught between unremitting love for his kin and an inescapable pattern of violence, in “We the Animals.” This dyad comes at time when Castillo sees his identity splashed across the evening news.

McAllen houses the U.S. Border Patrol’s busiest hub for detaining immigrants suspected of entering the country illegally. While Castillo was vacationing in Europe and playing make-believe on sets, children were being ripped from their parents’ arms in his hometown.

“I would always have to explain where McAllen was, and now it’s this name you’re seeing constantly in the news for all these reasons that represent, for me, everything that’s wrong with this country,” Castillo said. “It was paralyzing. I was sitting in a beach in Europe, wondering why I deserved to be there. My parents had access to this country in ways that people who are coming from longer distances don’t. We had the great gift of citizenship, which is an incredible privilege. But my parents were immigrants, and they navigated that dynamic our entire lives. I saw my mom and my dad deal with all the insecurities and all the precarious nature of what being an immigrant in this country is. [...] Having grown up going back and forth across the border throughout my whole life, it’s disheartening and upsetting to see what’s happening. And then to think about this particular movie that deals with children, who are especially in that age when their minds are being formed and their view of the world is taking shape, to think about [the ones] locked in cages is enraging.”

Castillo may be miles from that crisis now, but he’s done more to better the world for brown people than he can know. His goal hasn’t been to diversity Hollywood roles written for white ensembles; it’s been to find work that naturally accentuates the grooves of his Latino heritage. He saw almost no Chicano role models in popular culture growing up, and now he is writing and starring in artistic endeavors that paint all shades of the human experience ― gay, poor, brown, cannibalistic, whatever ― with a dynamic brush.

Which isn’t to say everything’s gotten easy. He was slated to play the lead in “Mix Tape” (a musical drama set in Los Angeles) and appear on “One Day at a Time” (the Norman Lear reboot), but has since exited both series and would rather not disclose why. I got the sense, during our two-hour breakfast, that Castillo is still protective of how he is perceived. Maybe he always will be. He’s comfortable reflecting on his upbringing and his relationship with race ― concepts he’s spent his whole life processing ― but being candid about recent setbacks, as routinely asked of celebrities in interviews, does not yet come easy.

It’s the “ego business bullshit” that still eats at him. It’s what eats at most of us. But when someone makes a name for himself, that burden slowly fades to the periphery, replaced by a newfound comfort, even power. The man who once served RuPaul coffee now shares an agent with the drag dignitary.

“For so long, it was all feast or famine,” Castillo said. “I just took work when I could take it. And at this point, I’m in a new place where I want to be more thoughtful about the roles that I take on from here on out. The projects, the roles, the people. I’ve learned so much in the journey that now I want to apply all that and also honor my experience, because at this point I want to work with people who challenge me in all the right ways and push me to become a better actor and a better artist.”

#looking hbo #looking #raul castillo #press #!

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mysterylover123 · 6 years ago

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My Top 10 Favorite Series of All Time

Mysterylover123, to my followers.

This list, of course, could change. At some point in the future, I could always discover a new series that topples the competition - but for the moment, here they are. My top 10 favorite series of all time - mostly comics or television, but also film, and a few novel series made the honorable mentions list.

Of course, these are all just my personal favorites - that’s the key word. While I did consider objective quality when making the call, I mostly went with my gut and listed series I love for whatever reason - maybe sentimental value, pushing my personal buttons, or just characters I adored. I also made myself list the things I don’t like about the series as well, just to avoid gushing too much and remember that all but one (my #1) series out there are at least, a little, flawed, but nonetheless still lovable. With that in mind, here they are:

#10. CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (2000-2015)

Type: Live-Action TV show

Genre: Crime/Mystery; forensic drama, police procedural

Favorite character: Catherine Willows (Marg Helgenberger)

Favorite episode: “Grave Danger”, Parts 1 & 2 (Season 5 finale)

Favorite Season: 7

Favorite villain: The Miniature Killer/Natalie Davis

Bad points: Weak later seasons, forced romance subplot, copious amounts of filler

Why it’s here: CSI is nostalgic for me. I watched it during my early crime drama loving years, and found out that as much as I liked the premise, what made the show for me was the cast. That was the first time I realized how essential characters are to creating intriguing drama. CSI is still my favorite traditional crime/mystery show, since in seasons 1-8, it maintained a good balance of character drama and mystery-of-the-week. Season 7 is a high point, balancing an ongoing story with lots of fun one-offs and an emotionally explosive payoff. Later seasons, however, wear down the show’s quality for me. Too many beloved characters left and the series becomes too reliant on filler, ending with a thud that is the series finale. But the best of CSI is still enough to land it here for me.

(Just to clarify, I mean Las Vegas)

#9. Futurama (1999-2003; 2008-2013)

Type: Animated TV Show + movies

Genre: Sci Fi Dramedy

Favorite character: Philip J Fry (Billy West)

Favorite episode: “Jurassic Bark”

Favorite season: 4

Favorite villain: Bender

Bad points: Sexism, weak later seasons, bad 2nd movie

Why it’s here: Futurama came to me during a phase of depression in my life, and the show’s combination of humor and cry-your-eyes out tragedy kept me going. I’ve seen it through five times, and it’s always a blast. To me, Futurama is better than The Simpsons. Simpsons is funnier, but only for seven years or so. Following those seven years are 21 of mediocrity, whereas Futurama thankfully cuts it short. While some of the later seasons are weaker than the early Fox years, they still have quality gems and the show’s unique flavor. The series speaks to me so much; it’s a mix of hilarious comedy, serious character drama, and high sci-fi concepts that all mesh together in a unique experience. This is a series that’s not afraid to try new things, to experiment and let the characters age and grow. My personal favorite part of the series is the friendship between the core trio, Fry, Bender and Leela. Any episode starring them is a-ok by me.

Favorite memories: Binge-watching the series during a period of unemployment.

#8. Death Note (2003-2004; 2006-2007)

Type of series: Manga/Anime

Genre: Supernatural Crime Thriller

Favorite Character: L Lawliet (Alessandro Juliani)

Favorite Episode: Episode 2, “Confrontation”

Favorite Arc: The first one

Favorite villain: Light Yagami (Brad Swaile)

Bad points: Weak second half, so-so character development

Why it’s here: Death Note is a dark, twisted, engrossing thriller, which under normal circumstances shouldn’t be re-watchable. But I keep coming back to it, regardless of how many times I’ve seen it before. It’s a digestible 37 episodes and 108 chapters, for one thing. It introduced me to two characters that endlessly fascinate and frustrate my analytical brain. The antagonists, Light and L, are two of the most brilliant characters I’ve come across in fiction, and their dynamic with each other is endlessly engaging. Well, it should have been through the whole series…if not for certain incidents. But no matter; we have what we have. Flawed, yes. Terrifying, certainly. Death Note scares me like no other story. But what frightens me in DN isn’t so much there gruesome deaths, but how effortlessly it portrays the banality of evil.

Favorite memories: Watching the show during the winter holidays while on vacation, and contemplating the series during the drive home.

#7. Spider-Man (1962-)

Type: Comic book; various mediums of adaptation

Genre: Superhero

Favorite character: Mary Jane Watson

Favorite Storyline: The Night Gwen Stacy Died, #121-122

Favorite villain: The Green Goblin

Bad points: Weak later issues, lots of filler, “One More Day”

Why it’s here: Spidey is still my favorite superhero. He was me in high school (I got into Spider-Man in high school, incidentally), the everyman, the representation of my nerdy outcast struggle and need to both escapism and greater responsibility. But what really drew me to the comic, and still does, was the vast and multifaceted supporting cast. In the great eras of Spidey (Ditko, Romita, Conway, and late 1980s), the supporting cast make the series. Whether it’s Peter’s various complex lady loves, the endless cavalcade of memorable villains, supporting dude-friends like Flash and Harry or my personal favorite, mainstay Mary Jane “you just hit the jackpot” Watson, the cast of Spidey was majorly influential with good reason. The series loses it’s skill in the 1990s, thanks to the Clone Saga and general 90s comic badness, and plummets into an irretrievable black hole in 2007, never to return. But fortunately, there’s still thirty years’ worthy of fascinating comics to draw from before that insanity begins. And those stories have in turn fed fantastic adaptations, whether it be the sentimental 90s animated show, a few of the films, or the superlative Spectacular cartoon.

Favorite memories: Reading Spider-Man comics after high school, while waiting to get picked up. Also, watching the 90s show as a little kid, even if those are kinda dim.

#6. Gravity Falls (2012-2016)

Type of series: Animated TV Show

Genre: Supernatural

Favorite character: Mabel Pines (Kirsten Schaal)

Favorite season: 2

Favorite episode: “Not What he Seems”

Favorite Villain: Bill Cipher

Bad points: A few filler episodes, some odd messages, so-so ending

Why it’s here: I love a good spooky story. Gravity Falls caught my attention around Halloween in 2016, 8 months after the series finale; I binged the whole series through in a weekend. The series remains one of the all-time best I’ve ever watched. With one or two exceptions, there are no outright bad episodes. Everything is either entertaining or incredibly entertaining. The characters feel real, the messages really hit home, and the creativity on display is astounding. Gravity Falls has something in every corner - great character development, compelling drama, laugh-out-loud comedy, and a truly engaging mystery that doesn’t disappoint. I wish the franchise ran a little longer, but I’ll give it props that unlike nearly every other show on this list, Gravity Falls doesn’t over-stay its welcome. Two seasons of brilliance, wrapping up with a strong, though not perfect, finale, before the series had a chance to go on too long or burn out the creators. It’s a welcome treat to watch again, and again, and again. It’s mostly low on this list, not because of the few weak points, but because I don’t have as much emotional attachment to the series as I do to my top 5 pics.

Favorite memories: Watching the show with my dad and brother on vacation. Both of them are very surly and nit-picky, so presenting them with a show this good meant no cause to complain.

#5. Frasier (1993-2004)

Type: Live Action TV series

Genre: Sitcom

Favorite character: Niles Crane (David Hyde-Pierce)

Favorite season: 4

Favorite episode: “Something Borrowed, Something Blue”

Bad points: Weaker later/early seasons, sometimes annoying

Why it’s here: Frasier has a record for the most Emmy awards won by a single show. And rightly so, in my opinion. This is one of those series with astonishingly top-notch writing all around. It’s a sitcom that banks it’s humor on taking down pretentious snobs and prejudiced jerks; the jokes stay funny because, like all good humor, they stay relevant. This series feels kind of timeless; despite coming out in the instantly dated 90s, the characters’ fashions, mindsets, and relationships feel like they could be written today or twenty-forty years earlier. My heart belongs to the series’ ongoing love story between uptight, snippy Niles and eccentric, lovable Daphne (Jane Leeves). I have yet to see a better executed TV romance, one that pulls out all the stops like this one does. If I were to compare Frasier to anything, it would be to a Jane Austen novel. It has the same social satire, the same sardonic humor, the same understanding of romance and human psychology. That, to me, is what makes a great comedy.

Favorite memories: Discovering Frasier out of Sideshow Bob on The Simpsons - and coming to realize which of the two is truly the better comedy. (Sorry to take another potshot at Simpsons; I do like the early seasons, I just think the show is overrated).

#4. The Marvel Cinematic Universe (2008-)

Series type: Live Action films and TV

Genre: Superhero

Favorite characters: Tie: Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) and Loki (Tom Hiddleston)

Favorite film: Captain America the Winter Soldier (2014)

Favorite phase: Phase 3 (so far)

Bad points: Occasional weak/so-so film, lack of representation

Why it’s here: I first watched only a handful of MCU films; after Avengers, I gave it up and focused on other things. I loved it the first time, but when I came back and screened every picture in the lineup till the present, that is when I fell in love with the franchise. I was missing out on some of the series’ best characters. And that’s what makes the MCU special to so many people: the characterization. The series is at it’s best when it’s giving it’s multi-layered cast focus and development. Marvel comics have always been a favorite of mine, so naturally their best known adaptation is one of my favorites in general. I’ve found something to enjoy in just about every film in the franchise. The biggest surprise hit for me was the Captain America films - a part of the franchise I never dreamed I’d love, but which won me over with the stellar writing in the 2011 film, the indelible Winter Soldier, and the stunning, heartbreaking Civil War. I’m almost afraid of what will come next, as the franchise is heading towards a finale.

Favorite memories: Watching the films over a long, bitter summer, as my only source of joy while working a thankless job and living in a place with bad internet reception.

#3. The Buffy-verse (1997-2004) Series Buffy the Vampire Slayer & Angel

Type of series: Live-Action TV shows

Genre: Supernatural

Favorite characters: Buffy, Cordelia, and Spike

Favorite season: Season 5 of Buffy, Season 2 of Angel

Favorite episodes: “Once More with Feeling” Buffy, “You’re Welcome” Angel

Bad points: Weak later seasons, Season 6, some bad filler

Why it’s here: If I was going on sentimental fandom value alone, the Buffy-verse would be number one. I still squee over this franchise years after I first discovered it; the characters have that special Joss Whedon flair that makes them stand out over the crowd, the series’ core relationships are so fascinating I’m tempted to write fanfic about them, and the philosophies and emotional moments in the series have shaped my life. I would never have known what existentialism was, for instance, if not for Whedon’s show. Angel’s line about “ all that matters is what we do” has helped motivate me ever since I heard it. But looking at the series’ quality (and diversity), I will admit that out of my top 3 favorites, it has the most problems. Both shows have one season I can cheerfully proclaim to be outright terrible, (Season 4 for Angel, Season 6 for Buffy), and very shaky first seasons that take a while to find their feet. There are some plot decisions I just can’t forgive, and some truly weak arc villains. But there is also so much that this franchise does so well, whether it be stellar standalones, bold plot moves, and of course, the character arcs.

Favorite memories: Rewatching the show on vacation in France.

#2. Avatar: The Last Airbender (2005-2008)

Type: Animated TV series

Genre: Fantasy Steampunk

Favorite characters: Zuko, Azula and Sokka

Favorite season: 2

Favorite episode: “The Guru”

Bad points: Forced romantic subplots, The Great Divide, odd conclusion

Why it’s here: You may have heard, if you’ve spent any time on the internet, what a fantastic series ATLA is. I try to avoid such phrases when attempting to sell the show to people, because describing a series that way is usually a bad move. But rest assured, it’s warranted. Avatar The Last Airbender is a stellar show in every possible way. Aside from the few bad points I mentioned above, ATLA does everything right. It has the best world building I’ve ever encountered. The animation, storytelling, emotions, messages (sometimes), plot points, philosophies, individual episodes, comedy, drama, action, epic sweep, surprise reveals…(several hours of listing things later) all of these things are pitch perfect. But as always, what makes this show is the cast. My lord, what a cast. These characters are so embedded in my mind, their arcs, personalities, development and entertainment value all stand out a cut above the rest. ATLA is a stunning masterpiece, one that no adaptation could capture, and that even it’s own creators have yet to follow up on, with either the sequel or the comics. But no matter. The original is there, it always will be, and more people discover it every day.

Favorite memories: Nothing quite compares to seeing ATLA for the first time. I saw it in 2014, one of the worst years of my life. Once again, my miserable experience was improved by a fantastic story.

Before #1: The Runners-up.

Game of Thrones: I used to adore GOT, but it started losing me after season 3; I lost respect for the show in season 5. still, those early seasons are still crucial parts of our culture and should be remembered.

Harry Potter: I grew up with these books and I still enjoy parts of them; overall, however, they strike me as being just a little less than they could have been.

Percy Jackson: I binged through the whole first book in a few hours, and loved these novels as a teen. As an adult, they don’t hold up as well, but I still appreciate the things they do right.

The Legend of Korra: The sequel to ATLA is spotty in many ways, but contains enough moments I absolutely love to make it at least a runner up.

South Park: Another series that got me through a bad time in my life and helped me deal with certain aspects of myself (especially episode 1507.) However, the early and late seasons are pretty bad, and the show doesn’t age very well.

Neon Genesis Evangelion: A bizarre little anime that nonetheless really stands out to me for how crazy it gets and how unique the story is.

Hannibal: A guilty pleasure - definitely a show that gets too far up it’s own butt in later episodes, but nonetehless appealing and interesting in the subjects it’s willing to tackle.

Parks and Recreation: My other favorite TV sitcom besides Fraser - it’s a strong runner up for the list but not quite sentimental enough.

Steven Universe: 3 great seasons, followed by a lot of recent mediocrity. Great when it’s great, bad when it’s not.

Code Geass: an immensely ambitious series, that doesn’t quite realize it’s goals but god damn if it isn’t a beautiful try.

Daria: Another show that really spoke to me in high school

Firefly: This was the biggest runner-up for the list. Firefly is 14 amazing episodes of television cut short too soon, giving us amazing characters and great world building in a short amount of time. The series has some bits that haven’t aged well, and those were enough to keep it off my top 10.

And now, the moment you’ve all been waiting for…

#1. Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood (manga: 2001-2010, anime 2009-2010)

Series type: Anime/Manga

Genre: Sci Fi (I think)

Favorite character: Edward Elric

Favorite episodes: “Flame of Vengeance”; “Backs in the Distance”

Bad points: None

Why it’s here: I’m gonna be brutally honest: FMAB is here because I can’t find anything wrong with it. It is, without question, the single most perfect piece of fiction I’ve ever come across. It almost frightened me when I first finished the series. Surely there must be some major, glaring flaw, some bad installment or weak character, that I could point to and say Look! Here’s the flaw! This was made by human hands after all! But nope. Many, many rereads through, and I still haven’t found one. FMAB stands supreme. This series has everything. The most fleshed out and real-feeling cast of characters I’ve ever come across (even minor background characters have spectacular arcs and feel like real people). The best pacing and plotting of an overall story arc. The best world building, aside from ATLA. The best exploration of social issues, the best feminism, the best use of mature storytelling. Everything comes back around. The themes, the mystery, the overall tone and story structure. I feel like an engineer gushing over the most perfectly calibrated car ever made each time I watch it. But Fullmetal is even more than just expertly made. It’s appealing. It’s popular. It’s the kind of story you can write essays on or write fanfic for. FMAB can be enjoyed in every capacity. I recommend taking the time to read the Manga first (that’s what I did), then watch Brotherhood. There really is nothing quite like FMAB. (oh, BTW, it has the best series finale of anything e ver. Period.)

Best memories: Watching Fullmetal while coping with death for the first time in my life. There is no better series when it comes to dealing with this subject.

#top ten list #CSI: Crime Scene Investigation #tv show #futurama #Death Note #L Lawliet #spiderman #gravity falls #frasier #marvel cinematic universe #Buffyverse #Avatar The Last Airbender #Fullmetal Alchemist

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borggolf · 4 years ago

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My 2020 Golf Year

In the past several years around late February into March I would watch the weather forecast every day, hoping for a high near 50 degrees with no snow on the ground. Many people believe I’m crazy for wanting to golf so early in the season. Once a worker in the clubhouse told me on a 50 degree day in February that he wouldn’t be out there playing “even if a $100 bill was on the first hole’s flag.” But I just can’t wait to hit the links after the long offseason, at least most years. 2020 was much different.

Still recovering from a sore shoulder and with the COVID shutdowns beginning around mid-march, I had little desire to golf. Even when the courses opened up for walking-only, there were a few days that were quite warm but I just couldn’t get myself to put the clubs in the car. Not so much that I was worried about the virus, but more in that my shoulder still hurt and I was afraid that swinging a club again would make it much worse.

It wasn’t until May 1st when I finally decided to play a round. I’d actually put the walking cart in the trunk, but the state just started allowing motor carts to be used. My score that day and most of my rounds in May were atrocious. I didn’t card a respectable score until mid-June. I’d just gotten my handicap under 15 near the end of 2019 and it ballooned up to 20 by the end of June. But there was an unexpected silver lining: the shoulder pain not only didn’t get worse, it greatly improved.

I’m not really sure how it worked as my orthopedic doctor, my physical therapist, and my chiropractor all told me I shouldn’t golf as long as I’m still experiencing pain. But the first few rounds significantly helped the aching I’d been experiencing over the entire off-season. The pain was still there, and it would worsen a little as I did what I said I shouldn’t and started playing 4 rounds a week again, but nowhere near as bad as it was last year or even the year before. Possibly the best thing I did, which could have culled the situation had I started doing it in 2018, was I iced my shoulder immediately after rounds. I was finally feeling better about my golfing health, until my golfer’s elbow returned with a vengeance.

Around 4 years ago I was golfing nearly every day and developed what’s known as “golfer’s elbow,” very similar to tennis elbow. I’d purchased a compression band for my arm to wear during golf rounds for the remainder of the year, and the pain went away during the offseason not to return until this summer. This time it was much worse, making the elbow tender and my forearm sore, as well as my wrist. It got so bad that it hurt to simply pick up a glass of water with my right hand. Seeing as how my company’s on-site clinic closed down, and remembering how many thousands of dollars I spent on doctor bills for my shoulder last year, I decided to treat my condition with nothing more than ibuprofen, a new compression band, and ice. Along with reducing my golfing to 2-3 rounds a week in the fall, that seemed to work well through the rest of this year. I only hope that much like 4 years ago, it gets better in the offseason and doesn’t come back next year. Unfortunately I will be one more year older.

Despite getting a very late start in the season, I ended up playing about the same amount of golf as I did last year thanks to unseasonably warm weather in the autumn. Usually when the weather gets colder my game goes to hell, but surprisingly some of my best rounds of the season came in October and November. Previously my lower temperature threshold for golfing was about 46 degrees. Since I was playing so well this fall, I was on the course several days when it was 37. And I wasn’t the only one. During the first two Saturdays in December, golf courses in the area had full parking lots. Grand Geneva even decided to open up The Brute despite it being closed due to all of the Christmas decorations spread out on the 17th fairway near the resort entrance. It’s clear that people were looking to take advantage of continuing outdoor activities as long as the weather allowed during the pandemic.

The biggest drawback to the golf boom of 2020 was the fact that a lot of people who rarely or never golfed before started playing a lot more rounds. It’s great that more people are discovering their interest in golf, but it seems like training sessions need to be held for these people, and I don’t mean lessons. Etiquette has been on a decline already, but this year you had newbies that either don’t understand or just ignore the rules (written and unwritten) of the courses. 18 hole golf rounds in some places went from 4-4.5 hours to 5-6 hours. People seem to be louder on the course than ever. Most venues did not have rakes out for the bunkers, which makes sense to help eliminate virus transmission, but now all of the inexperienced golfers are learning that they don’t need to rake the sand. I’m not saying I’m an expert on etiquette, but I’m learning more and more by golfing with more experienced players.

One of the many things I love about golfing is spending time with my dad. He’s now in his late 70’s and can’t swing anywhere near as well as he used to. In 2019 we’d played 11 eighteen-hole rounds together and 4 nine-hole rounds, but this year he wanted to scale back. We still got in 16 rounds together, but most of them were just nine holes. During the eighteen-hole rounds, he was popping ibuprofen like candy. My brother asked me to ease back my golf rounds with dad, and it looks like I’m going to have to do just that. It is just as well though, as I’ve developed a desire to play nicer, more expensive courses when dad thinks Glen Erin is almost too fancy.

Much like how I enjoy trying a variety of different beers, I really enjoy trying out golf courses I’ve never played, as well as often rotating the courses I play every weekend so I’m not always golfing the same places. This year I golfed at 38 different courses in the area, 14 of them being new to me. Some of the notable new courses were in the Rockford area, which I used to consider ‘out of my range’ to travel for golf, were Aldeen in Rockford, Oak Grove in Harvard, Prairie View in Byron, and I revisited Timber Pointe in Poplar Grove. I also made quite a few trips north of I-94 to try out Scenic View in Slinger, Deertrak near Oconomowoc, Naga-Waukee and Western Lakes in Pewaukee, and Fairways Of Woodside in Sussex. Back in Walworth County I finally was able to play the elusive Gary Player course at Geneva National as well as both Grand Geneva courses, and the hidden gem Nippersink near Twin Lakes. The courses I’m most looking forward to playing again next year are Naga-Waukee, Nippersink, Western Lakes, and Oak Grove.

I did not renew my membership with Majestic Oaks at Lake Lawn this year, but they still got a large portion of my golf spending as I played 22 rounds there as well as a fair number of range balls. Not too surprisingly my 2nd most golfed course was just up the road at Evergreen where I played 10 rounds (I only played it once last year), and then Delbrook with 6 rounds. Still, my favorite courses are Morningstar & Broadlands in Waukesha County, Hawk’s View in Lake Geneva, and Shepherd’s Crook & Thunderhawk in Zion, IL. I love the Geneva National and Grand Geneva courses, but I only play them when their rates are lower.

I mentioned earlier that I’ve been traveling greater distances from my home to golf. I started keeping track of miles driven to golf courses in 2017. While the number went up in 2018 (2376 miles), it went down to under 2000 miles in 2019. This year I racked up over 3700 miles. Much of that was possibly due to playing many fewer rounds at Majestic Oaks (22 this year vs 52 last year) which is only 2 miles from my house, but round trips to Slinger, Hartford, Pewaukee, Byron IL, and Zion IL really roll over the odometer.

Along with breaking from my self-imposed temperature and mileage limits for golfing, I broke through my spending limits. Many of the new courses as well as my favorite courses were outside of what my price range was just a few years ago. I often spent over $50 per round this year when previously that price would make me cringe or at least hesitate to agree to make the tee time. In 2018 I’d spent a lot of money on greens/cart fees ($2582), but I scaled that back in 2019 ($1742) by taking advantage of more discounts. This year I’d spend $2944 on greens/cart fees. While choosing more expensive courses might be a large reason for the big spending, I also take into account that I often would leave for vacation 2-3 weeks during the year but 2020 canceled that. Instead I spent many of my vacation days golfing on nice days in the fall.

I was disappointed that I once again wasn’t able to beat my best round ever carded in 2017 (+7 for 18), but I did have a notable round with my dad this year at Bass Creek where I scored +1 for 9 holes. My best score of the year was +9 at Prairie Woods, but really my best round was when I scored 82 at Western Lakes the first time I played it. I may never know how I managed it, but that day I had a lifetime-long 290 yard drive down the middle of the fairway on hole 16. One day in late October I took the afternoon off work and played two 18-hole rounds at Delbrook, scoring 85 & 81 (that 81 being my lowest calculated handicap differential of the year - which ranks your score with the difficulty of the course). Finally, one of my most memorable rounds of the year was in late November where I played the Gary Player course at Geneva National for the first time and carded an 85 from the hybrid tees. I’d never scored better than 102 at the other two GN courses.

As I’m someone that enjoys variety, I’m the same when it comes to golf balls. Much like my taste in different styles of beer, my taste in which balls to play over the years changes. In the past I’ve preferred mid-level 3-piece balls like the Srixon Q-Star Tour and the Taylormade Project(a). This year my favorite balls were the more expensive Bridgestone Tour B RXS, my old favorite Callaway Chrome-Soft, and the Taylormade TP5 & TP5x. I tried the new Bridgestone B12 and had a few very good rounds with them, but I didn’t love them. But my most pleasing golf ball find this year was how well I played with Callaway SuperHots, even in cold weather. I already bought a few more boxes of those this offseason.

I didn’t make any major equipment purchases this year besides a new rangefinder, so at least I managed to keep my hardware spending down under $500, which was mostly balls and new grips. I’d also managed to sell off some of my old equipment, which helped my budget. I’m strongly considering a new golf watch next year, and the one I’m eyeing up is $400. Along with my newfound desire to play more expensive courses, more expensive balls, and the potential need to replace a club or two out of my bag, it’s my guess that next year I’ll be breaking spending records on the sport.

You don’t need me to tell you 2020 was a garbage year. But despite not cracking a score into the 70’s and no eagles, it was a good year for me on the links. I was voted to be in charge of our company golf league which went well, my game started badly but showed consistent improvement through the season, and my shoulder has improved to the point where I no longer feel I will need surgery. I also broke personal course records at five frequently-played courses. It’s hard not to be optimistic for 2021, but really the most I can hope for is to stay healthy....and finally get a hole in one.

Photos:

My league opponent’s ball stuck in a tree, hole 9 Majestic Oaks

Looking down hole 7 Majestic Oaks during pandemic closure

1st green, Majestic Oaks (17th green in background)

4th fairway, Bass Creek

Hole 16 Towne Country Club

Hole 14 Naga-Waukee War Memorial Golf Course

Small crane in front of #2 green, Hawk’s View

#1 green, Deertrak. Alderly Millpond dam

Practice green, Aldeen

Byron Nuclear Power Plant cooling towers in background, Prairie View

Morningstar

Hole 14 Shepherd’s Crook, looking down on landfill

#2 North green, Evergreen, Thanksgiving Day

Hole 13 Gary Player course Geneva National

Hole 10 Gary Player course Geneva National

Hole 7, Western Lakes

Sunset over Delavan Lake, Lake Lawn driving range

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ladyhawk-s · 7 years ago

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“Hidden Gems”

Relationships: Katsuki Bakugou/Uraraka Ochako; Katsuki Bakugou and Uraraka Ochako

Characters: Katsuki Bakugou, Uraraka Ochako

Rating: G

Word Count: 1015

Inktober Prompt 1 - Searching

Summary: When Ochako can't find a certain item, a certain someone knocks on her door.

A/N: So apparently I can’t do summaries either ahahaha but this year I decided to participate in a writer’s inktober and I wanted to wait until November to share my writings with you all so I’m finally posting them now! I really tried to challenge myself by writing smaller things and I guess I somewhat succeeded but who knows. I hope you like this small drabble I did of these two! I know it’s not long or has much of a story but I hope it’s still cute!

Read on Ao3 ; Read on FF.net

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“Where did It go, where did it go, where did it go, WHERE DID IT GO!?” Ochako chanted over and over, desperation filling her voice as she threw her room inside out, causing objects to reach the ceiling as she discovered places that were initially a mystery to her. “Where could it have gone!?” she began to call out, speaking out her thoughts so her mind could be tracked in one way to find the missing gem that used to reside in her pockets.

Before moving to UA, her family gave her a golden locket that was passed down from her many great grandmothers that was crest by golden gems that brought out the family name. It was a priceless heirloom that resided within the family that was known to bring good fortune to those who carried it’s name. It’s heaviness in Ochako’s pocket is what got through the UA exams, what got her through the tests that the hours of studying could never stick. The weight in her pocket got her through her toughest ordeals and the emptiness of it gone grew a spark of panic within her heart, electrifying the nerves that zapped in quick succession in her mind.

Soundings of ancestors began to ring in her ear as Ochako ripped through her pockets again, disappointment filled her eyes to see only the coins of Yen that had been left from a previous purchase. Even scavenging through her stained and dirty fabrics came up with nothing and tears began to quicker in the corner of her eye as she felt her heart go down deep into a despair of hopelessness. Words of discouragement began to fill themselves in the cervices of her brain and her muscles tightened under the pulsating amount of quirk use as she gravitated and degravited items, causing a small crash of sounds as they flopped onto the wooden floor. With clothes piled on top of each other and cracks found in favorite mugs, the room began to reflect the horrific and distorted look Ochako had on her face and the stages of grief began to roll in her mind as she determined the item lost forever.

With whimpers escaping her lips and buds of water reaching the tips of her eyes, it took her a second to realize that there were heavy knocks pounding against her door. Slowly turning her body towards, an internal debate occurred if she should open it or not. There were positives and consequences to either side and possibly staying silent could be one of her better options. However, it seemed futile as a gruff voice accompanied the loud poundings on her door, completely shaking it on its hinges as demands were needing to be met. Surrendering to the man behind the door, Ochako allowed breaths to be inhaled deeply into her lungs, filling up the nerves with fresh air before she removed all emotions from her eyes and plastered her usual smile on her face.

Leaping over the fallen objects strewn across the floor, she grabbed onto the door handle and gave one last breath of intoxicated feelings before she slowly slid it down and greeted the man at the door. “Hey! What’s-“

However, her words were silenced as her eyes caught onto the object dangling in front of her chocolate eyes, reflecting against her irises as she felt herself becoming mesmerized by the familiarity of the gems. Time froze for Ochako and everything except the object became blurry as her eyes focused in on the object that had been a treasure within in her life.

“Hey, this is fucking yours, isn’t it??” Katsuki growled out as he continued to dangle it in her face, eventually then shoving it into her hand so the responsibility could be transferred over. “I fucking found it in the gym floor after you were throwing yourself in there earlier. Fucking, if you’re going to shove shit in your pocket, you better be fucking careful with it.” He lectured to her, though annoyance defiled his tongue as he noticed that she wasn’t even paying attention to the words that were coming from his mouth. Her mind seemed lost and that only boiled Katsuki’s irritation even more. “Oi, are you even fucking listening or are you lost in your own fucking mind?” He snapped at her, getting his chest more dominantly close to her.

Yet, a small tinge of regret crossed across his face as he noticed the tears flowing down Ochako’s face, her eyes creasing as her mouth shaped itself into a disgusting mold of drool and whimpers. Within her hands, she twisted the locket within her fingers, allowing her paws on the tips of her fingers to reminisce against the memories the locket had been through and the time it traveled. With ease, she opened the locket and burst more into a heap of a relieved mess as she saw the image of her late great grandmother, the memory of the stories attached to the photograph ruminating in her mind as she vividly saw the image of her as a child seeing it for the first time. Just as she opened it, her fingers slowly closed it, allowing the small click to give reassurance of her action.

After a few seconds, she snapped her head away from the treasure buried in her hand and zoomed into Katsuki for a hug, winding her arms around the bulk of chest as she buried her face into the cervix of his shoulder, allowing to fit into the hole that was meant for her and her alone. Weeps escaped from the holes of her face as she continued to grip onto him tighter, repeating her voice of gratitude over and over as Katsuki’s hand tried to shove her off, curses of invaded space conflicting against her hearty attitude. However, after seeing for a bit that his efforts were futile, he just let go of the tenseness built in his muscles and allowed Ochako to release the emotions rooted inside of her, deciding to save his questions and yells for another time.

#lizwrites #kacchako #bakuraka #kacchako fanfiction #katsuki bakugou #uraraka ochako #urabaku #bnha #mha #bnha fics #bnha fanfiction #inktober #inktober 2017 #uravity #katsuki bakugou x uraraka ochako #katsuki x ochako #bakugou x uraraka #drabble

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skriak · 7 years ago

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Top 5 great game franchises that got shit

There are bad games, and then there are bad games that come in the wake of great games. The following is a cautionary list highlighting five games that disappointed in a major way and failed to do their pedigree justice. So like a phoenix, only the exact opposite.

Dead Space

Controversially, I don’t really like Dead Space 2 either, but Dead Space 3 took the atmosphere and frantic action the series was known for and stomped it to death in the name of a few dollars. The new emphasis on co-op might not have been inherently bad, since it was at least something new, but the universal ammo system killed whatever tension was left because you’re always free to use your favourite weapon, and other than one or two decent setpieces the level design is remarkably fond of boring corridors, not helped by a story that’s simultaneously wafer-thin and convoluted. Dead Space 3 isn’t the worst game around but EA’s meddling (including the infamous “pay real money for ammo” scandal) may well have killed the series and ultimately the developer Visceral.

Sonic the Hedgehog

Surprisingly, it’s not Sonic 2006 or Sonic Boom that inspired the blue hedgehog’s entry on this list. Instead, I’m going to burn a few bridges and assert that Sonic Adventure has always been overrated. Even back in the day, there were plenty of better 3D platformers around. Every time I’ve tried to get into Sonic Adventure, I’ve found the levels confusing, the gameplay mindless and the production values mystifyingly low. Don’t even get me started on the fishing segments that seem specifically designed to bring the pacing to a halt like a hedgehog getting hit by a Ferrari. The nicest thing I can say about Sonic Adventure is that it has a certain so-bad-it’s-good charm, including some hilariously weird cutscenes, but I’ve always been perplexed by people who want the series to go back to this format; that’s basically what Sonic 2006 did and look how that turned out. These aren’t the kind of blue balls I want from a Sonic game.

Dark Souls

I’ve spent far too many articles looking for an excuse to gush over the original Dark Souls, so I’ll just say that it’s a beloved classic known for its immaculate level design that rewards caution and swiftly punishes cockiness. So along came Dark Souls 2, the hotly anticipated follow-up that, while not without its moments, overall feels like it was designed by a committee of people who were dimly aware of why Dark Souls was popular but had never played it themselves. Stock enemies, rehashed story and generic locations create an atmosphere that’s at best a pale imitation of the crushing oppression that the first game seemed to craft so effortlessly. It’s a game spread too thin with not enough creativity to go around, so that even the interesting moments feel like they were placed at random. Dark Souls 2 still has a few sequences worth remembering, but as a decidedly average sequel to a cult classic its flaws are painfully apparent.

SimCity

Disclaimer: I must confess I’ve never played SimCity 2013 myself, but why would I? Absolutely nothing about the game seems to have been received well. SimCity is the sort of franchise I like to sink a Sunday afternoon into, and it seems like a hard formula to fuck up, but even its devoted fanbase couldn’t forgive the game I insist on calling DRMCity. Even ignoring the always-online connection the game required in order to work, and the disastrous launch problems which that shitty inclusion caused when EA failed to provide enough servers, DRMCity offers a pathetically small map size in comparison to SimCity 4 from almost a decade earlier, and the much-touted simulation aspect that allows you to follow individual vehicles to and from their jobs ended up creating more problems than it was worth; the AI would do things like insist on taking the shortest path no matter what, causing hilarious traffic jams on dirt roads while pristine motorways went unused. Much like Dead Space 3 that very same year, DRMCity seems to have been a game smothered by EA’s management style, and the PR disaster surrounding its release probably contributed to the closure of Maxis. So yes, EA can go suck a sewer pipe.

Metal Gear Solid

I absolutely adore MGS3 and MGS5 is probably my favourite stealth game of this generation. But what about MGS4: Guns of the Patriots? Well, other than a few interesting themes and some improved controls, MGS4 is such a spectacular mess that it’s almost worth playing with a friend just to get drunk and angry. Hideo Kojima has always been fond of overwritten plots, but this PS3-exclusive instalment features hours upon hours upon HOURS of cutscenes in which characters discover things we already know, or make decisions that contradict what their established personalities. Even the gameplay isn’t a straight-up improvement due to some surprisingly linear levels and an over-reliance on forced action sequences. The gem of a good idea is buried waaay down under all the pretentious prattle and lame boss fights that feel like inferior rehashes of previous showdowns, but it’s not worth it unless you’re morbidly curious. There’s no better microcosm of everything wrong with Guns of the Patriots than the scene where the game boasts that the magnificent power of the PS3 means you no longer need to change discs between levels…then immediately spends 10 minutes installing data from the disc before you can continue.

And if you enjoyed this post, I have many other similarly fabulous game articles you might find pleasurable.

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drink-n-watch · 5 years ago

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Are you a loyal anime fan? Do you stand by those shows which have brought you joy?

Lately, I’ve read a few think pieces on how people’s preconceptions can colour our enjoyment of a show. How going into an anime with preconceived notions or expectations based on other people’s experiences, inevitably affects what we end up getting out of our watching experience. But what about the reverse case scenario.

it’s a reverse harem!

Have you ever stumbled across a title you’d never heard of before and thoroughly enjoyed, only to discover that your hidden gem is widely reviled by the anime community? Do you remain faithful to your new love or do you disavow it? Are you suddenly ashamed to admit you enjoyed the show? Do you go as far as downgrading it in your own mind, admitting to yourself that is was indeed riddled with flaws, or do you feel compelled to defend it against accusations you don’t really believe are true?

What if you thought a title was really so-so but endlessly see it described as a classic, a masterpiece, an undeniable work of art? Do you pretend to like it? Do you add it to your top 10 lists just to fit in? Do you avoid giving any opinion or at least try to soften the blow with excuses like: “I was really young when I saw that”?

I know I do.

It’s stupid of course. I end up getting nonsense recommendations for new shows because it’s based on skewed data. Or I find myself sitting through movies or shows I know I won’t enjoy because I somehow didn’t manage to scrape together the microscopic amount of courage required to admit that I don’t like a particular director or studio. On the flip side, I also can’t gush over whatever silly, stupid little show is making me super happy at the moment because I’m afraid people will judge me. Despite the fact that I know no one cares about my anime tastes, at least not enough to actually have them affect their opinion of me.

yes, yes tell me more of this awnimou you like so much – everyone I know

I want to watch shows I like – and I want those types of shows to get made, but people won’t know that unless I tell them. So? Well…As my own feeble attempt at some kind of earnestness, I give you my top 9 animes I’m either ashamed of liking or embarrassed of not getting. Let’s all celebrate our lack of good taste together!

In random order:

😊 The Royal Tutor

I’m not as stupid as I look. I realize this show is just a lighthearted excuse to bring together a flock of beautifully drawn bishies and cash in on the hormonal audience ready to devour it. The animation is minimal, the historic setting is laughable and characters and storyline are all more or less surface level but that’s not what this show was for… It’s paced well, the easy humour may be uninspired but it’s familiar and comforting. What it did do, it did well. The pretty pretty characters are super likeable for all their lack of developments and by golly I would watch another season the second it came out. I would leave work early and everything.

☹ Sakamoto desu ka

When this show came out there was so much hype, even I heard of it. This was recommended to me by just about everybody – the one friend that watches anime, blogs, youtubers even MAL. Everyone told me that this is comedy gold – one of the most hilarious shows to come out in recent years and well, I didn’t get it… My sense of humour is important to me, it’s the one quality I’m actually proud of. I am quick with a laugh and need very little to find the funny in a situation and although Sakamoto wasn’t bad I just didn’t find it that funny and ended up dropping it after 6 episodes or so. I’m very worried that I’m growing dull.

😊 Black Butler II

Black butler, in all its iterations, has long been a guilty pleasure of mine. I am honestly ashamed of liking this show so much. It’s just sooooo emo and gothicky and teenage angsty and I love all of it. At least it’s fairly popular except I’m a black sheep even among Black Butler fans because my clear favourite is season 2. Most fans will stop talking to me at this point, I understand. But, I adore Alois, I think he’s the perfect embodiment of the cheesy gaudy charm that BB brings to the table and the sarcastic ending was the best. Soo yeah – I’m a lost cause.

☹ My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU

People love this show, I see artwork from it all over the place and I will admit it’s quite pretty. It also has the word SNAFU in the title which is automatic extra points in my book. But everything else never resonated with me. The comedy fell flat, the drama felt fabricated the pace was off and the characters were irrational. I fluctuated between bored and depressed throughout most of it yet still felt the need to watch both seasons, waiting for it to finally pick up. It did not. I did like the orange haired girl’s front cross strap bra thingy….

😊 Alien 9

OK – I can’t explain this one. It’s a mess of a show but I lurve it so much. One of the few series I’ve both watched and read and reread. I could defend it to you guys. The intriguing parasitic/symbiotic alien aspect with a sort of magical girl deconstruction feel. The jarring violence and real suspense but in all honestly even those high points aren’t fully realized. I can’t tell you why it’s better than people think it is but it is. I’m going to go watch it right now.

☹ Azumanga Daioh

I like the Slice of Life and Comedy genres quite a lot (although looking at this list, maybe I don’t?) and Azumanga Daioh is considered by many, a classic. The intro should be! It has its moments to be sure but I just didn’t find it that funny. That aside, what really put me off was the use of a teacher’s predatory and continual sexual harassment of students as a running gag. The show treats it as cute and funny that an adult teacher is clearly trying to grope or see his students naked all the time. I’m afraid that I’m being a stick in the mud or that I somehow missed the distinction between ridiculing bad behaviour rather than humanizing it, but it always skived me out and I just couldn’t shake the feeling. Apparently, I’m the only one who has a problem with this. This scene always made me laugh though:

youtube

😊 Cheer Boys!!

I’ve written a post about this unsubtle cash grab of a show and how I can’t seem to hate it. In fact I’ll just say it, I really like it. It’s indefensible so I won’t even try to but sometimes we just want empty calories. This show won’t bring anything new. There are so many better sports animes out there and you should watch them all before this one. But once you’re done with all the “good” shows….

☹ Spirited Away

Yes, yes, I know – Ghibli, yes genius, yes Myazaki, yes I think he’s really hot, yes this movie is brimming with wonder and charm… I can see the quality but, I mean, so what? Do I remember anything about Chihiro as a person? About any character at all? I don’t, they just didn’t leave a mark on me. I can clearly see the images of what people and things looked like but they have no personalities beyond that for me. I would show this to a small child or an animation student who wants to admire the technical know-how and maybe I should rewatch it. I just didn’t find in it the depth or meaning of earlier titles like Mononoke or the graceful ache of Totoro and I would write more except I don’t remember anything about it…

😊 Cute High Earth Defense Club Love!

Let’s end it on a happy note. Eminareviews named this as the anime she was embarrassed of liking and it suddenly dawned on me that maybe I should be embarrassed too. Sure, the jokes are super easy and the premise is paper thin but what can I tell you guys, this show had me smiling from start to finish. I realize that given the fact that Shinji Takamatsu (of Daily Lives of High School Boys and Gintama fame) was behind this, expectations may have been sky high for some and disappointment was inevitable. I also see that the writers went for some low hanging fruit here, and that they would have been capable of much subtler and more cutting humor but just because it’s a little lazy doesn’t mean it’s not funny. Season 2, now that was not funny….

This is one of the disadvantages of wine: it makes a man mistake words for thought

Suggested drink: Confidence Builder, alternatively you can throw it in the other person’s face but that would be such a waste…

Every time someone tells you your favorite anime is derivative – drink

Every time some says “I use to like that show before I knew more about anime” – drink

Every time someone gets real nitpicky about an unimportant aspect of your favourite show, like the color palette for example – drink

Every time someone says you should what X instead – it’s so much better – drink

Every time someone tells you, you’ll get it when you learn a bit about… – drink

Every time someone tells you the manga was better – drink

Every time someone says, well I’m more into story driven narratives – drink

Every time someone tells you it’s a poor man’s version of… – drink

Every time someone accuses your show of being cliché – drink

Every time someone accuses your show of being pretentious – drink

Every time someone says aren’t cartoons for children? – go home

Anime confessions Are you a loyal anime fan? Do you stand by those shows which have brought you joy?

#Alien 9 #anime #Azumanga Daioh #Bad idea #Black Butler #cheer boys #Cute High Earth Defense Club Love!#Essays #Guilty pleasure #Lists #sakamoto #snafu #spirited away #The Royal Tutor

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spicynbachili1 · 6 years ago

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The 300 Week 47: New Game Plus

By which we go above and past 300 films in 2018

Get up, Crono, it’s time for The 300, my radical dream to see greater than 300 films in theaters in 2018. I’ll be watching new releases, classics, hidden gems, and competition movies to expertise the vast world of cinema in all its kind. With a lot moviegoing selection, there’s in all probability one thing you’d be fascinated with as effectively.

As at all times, there are three guidelines for The 300:

The film have to be at the very least 40 minutes lengthy, assembly the Academy of Movement Image Arts and Sciences’ definition of a characteristic movie.

I have to watch the film at a movie show, screening room, or out of doors screening venue.

Whereas I can watch films I’ve seen earlier than 2018, I can’t depend repeated viewings of the identical movie in 2018 a number of instances.

I hit 300 films in final week’s installment of The 300, which implies I’m beginning this week north of the purpose. Contemplate this a victory lap. I’m undecided what number of films I’ll see past 300 given the vacations and journey plans, however I’ll proceed to trace my full 12 months of filmgoing every week by means of 2018. This in all probability means I’ll write a prime 50 films of the 12 months fairly than a prime 20. Additionally, if I hit a sure variety of films by December 31, I’ll even get the dinosaur ending.

A bit strapped for time this week, however I’ll have some further ideas on this prolonged movie-watching expertise within the December installments this sequence. The top of the 12 months is at all times a fantastic excuse to look again earlier than trying ahead. For now, it’s again to the grind.

And so, onward.

301 of 300: Nonetheless Strolling (2008) (aka 歩いても歩いても; Aruitemo aruitemo)

Director: Hirokazu Kore-eda Starring: Hiroshi Abe, Yui Natsukawa, Kirin Kiki, Kazuya Takahashi Nation: Japan Seen at The Movie Society of Lincoln Heart (New York, NY) Wednesday, November 21st

It made sense to observe Hirokazu Kore-eda’s exceptional After Life (The 300 Week 46) with some type of playful pun. Therefore the primary movie after 300 is Nonetheless Strolling, one other deeply affecting Kore-eda film. This film is firmly in Kore-eda’s wheelhouse, specializing in the trivia of household dynamics and what that has to say about our connections to people who find themselves near us. On a sizzling summer time’s day, a household comes collectively to commemorate the loss of life of the eldest son 15 years in the past. In only a single afternoon and night, we perceive the contours of the totally different relationships on display, and the interpersonal and generational frictions of those well-rendered, imperfect folks. I discovered myself notably drawn to Nonetheless Strolling’s exploration of familial disappointments. Youngsters typically fail to reside as much as their mother and father’ beliefs, and vice versa. What then? We maintain going, clearly.

It’s fascinating to see this movie after seeing Kore-eda’s Shoplifters on the New York Movie Pageant (The 300 Week 39). We’re instructed in Shoplifters that the households we select are typically preferable to those we’re born into. What I see in Nonetheless Strolling is the troublesome, begrudging love we have now with blood relations, and the way these bonds are maintained even when they’re so bothersome. I additionally see the thought of households we construct ourselves handled with unbelievable heat in the way in which Ryota (Hiroshi Abe) and Yukari (Yui Natsukawa) work together; he’s her second husband, and she or he has a toddler from the earlier marriage. I’m tempted to rewatch Kore-eda’s Like Father, Like Son to intensify this exploration of familial connection, and the way this kinship might be about blood relation on its floor however is finally about a lot extra.

On this lengthy 12 months of filmgoing, Nonetheless Strolling additionally jogged my memory of how a shot might be completely accomplished by the passing of a prepare. It’s a thought that I first had whereas watching Chantal Akerman’s hauntingly unhappy Les Rendez-vous d’Anna (The 300 Week 43), reified by Kore-eda just a few weeks later. In my thoughts this notion is sort of a prepare experience began a month in the past, accomplished solely simply now.

302 of 300: PlayTime (1967)

Director: Jacques Tati Starring: Jacques Tati, Barbara Dennek Nation: France/Italy Seen at Metrograph (New York, NY) Saturday, November 24th

PlayTime is a continuing sensory delight from starting to finish. Whereas a monetary failure on the time of launch, the film is Jacques Tati’s comedian masterpiece. This was my first likelihood to see the movie on the massive display, and I used to be struck by how a lot I caught when the film was projected massive. PlayTime covers a day within the lifetime of an ultra-modern Paris, touring from airports to expos to flats to stylish eating places. The skinny plot is secondary to the dense, layered pleasures of simply watching.

PlayTime makes a sport out of the act of watching the movie. The primary sport is within the airport. Can you see sure quirky background extras as they reappear? The film is populated with false Monsieur Hulots, Tati’s comedian persona that’s a bit like a suaver Charlie Chaplin and a extra agile Mr. Bean. The following sport is discovering these faux-Hulots. There’s one other sport about monitoring a blue folder, the figuring out mark of the person the actual Hulot should discuss to amid the confusion of a busy cubicle-filled office. Later PlayTime video games are about figuring out trigger and impact, and utilizing your reminiscence, and making an attempt to note one thing in a shot you’ve by no means observed earlier than.

PlayTime’s major philosophical focus is on the world’s unavoidable homogeneity and dehumanization as a consequence of know-how. Journey posters for various international locations characteristic the identical oppressive brick of a skyscraper dominating the native taste. Extra real human interplay and cultural aptitude have been misplaced to the grey tastes of the fashionable world. But significant connection can nonetheless be discovered amongst folks, even in the way in which the fashionable world refracts the beauties of the pure world. Contemplate how the bulbed stems of metallic avenue lamps bend just like the bowed heads of bellflowers. Perhaps one solution to treatment the malaise of modernity is to interact in a type of energetic, empathetic type of day by day play; and, when attainable, to view a few of the world as if it had been a grand image ebook we’ve occurred to stroll into.

303 of 300: The Sisters Brothers (2018)

Director: Jacques Audiard Starring: John C. Reilly, Joaquin Phoenix, Jake Gyllenhaal, Riz Ahmed Nation: USA/France Seen at Roxy Cinema Tribeca (New York, NY) Sunday, November 25th

The Sisters Brothers is completely high-quality, although I hoped for extra. A bit bit revisionist western and somewhat bit darkish comedy, the movie follows Eli and Charlie Sisters (John C. Reilly and Joaquin Phoenix), two employed weapons on the tail of somebody who’s cheated their boss. Eli is a delicate soul who’s turned gunslinger to look at over his drunken screw-up brother. Because the movie unfolds, the film explores a want to depart the vary life, and the cruelties out on the open path. Among the notes in regards to the Wild West vs. pastoral domesticity jogged my memory of John Ford’s The Searchers, one among many style touchstones allude to by director/co-writer Jacques Audiard. And but I felt just like the story might have gone father though it sustained my curiosity, or might have mentioned extra.

Then once more, possibly the film merely is what it’s, and it’s a nice showcase for Reilly’s appearing vary. Eli is a captivating brother’s keeper kind, and appears obsessive about higher-minded and extra romantic concepts about being a gunslinger. Whereas stopping by the city of Mayfield, Eli’s awkward roleplay-foreplay with a prostitute feels chivalrous fairly than kinky. It’s such a humorous but so human (and subsequently unhappy) scene, and Reilly’s voice and infantile frustration and physique language talk a lot so effectively. Perhaps I’d identical to a film about Eli given how a lot I like Reilly as an actor.

304 of 300: Creed II (2018)

Director: Steven Caple, Jr. Starring: Michael B. Jordan, Sylvester Stallone, Tessa Thompson, Dolph Lundgren Nation: USA Seen at AMC Village 7 (New York, NY) Monday, November 26th

Creed II was an okay rehash of Rocky II-IV, however Adonis Creed (Michael B. Jordan) was the weakest a part of his personal movie. Consider it like this: Rocky Balboa is a lovable underdog who received’t surrender, kind of like Joe Frazier; and Apollo Creed was the charismatic showman who jabs with phrases, kind of like Muhammad Ali. Adonis Creed, who lacks a real-world analog, is like an offended teenager with daddy points. That isn’t all that compelling to me. Rocky is extra compelling right here, with Sylvester Stallone seeming to say goodbye to the franchise. The identical goes for Bianca Taylor (Tessa Thompson), who’s juggling a profession and different tasks whereas Adonis goes by means of his private disaster. I even discovered the story of Ivan and Viktor Drago (Dolph Lundgren and Florian Munteanu) extra compelling given how a lot they’ve misplaced, how strained that father-son relationship is, and possibly even how underwritten their elements had been.

I’m wondering if my disappointment stems from the screenplay, which Stallone co-wrote. I discussed above that this appears like Rocky is leaving the franchise for good, and balancing the development of Adonis’s character with the exit of Rocky Balboa is a troublesome job, particularly with how a lot plot is within the movie. With out Ryan Coogler as director, Creed II doesn’t really feel fairly as massive because it may very well be. The fights aren’t as effectively finished, the drama not as high-stakes, and whereas there are some transferring emotional highs, there are many lulls. Creed II is a by-the-numbers sequel that goes the space, by no means hitting fairly as arduous as I hoped regardless of some nice concepts to work with.

Present runtime of The 300: 31,877 minutes (22 days, three hours, 17 minutes)

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righthererightzao · 8 years ago

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[OOC] An observation of my own.

Hmmm.. So I made a post about this earlier but I think.. It’s best to make a seperate one dedicated to the topic at hand.

Like my post with regards to the issues faced when I opened up my tumblr and received a load of... unkind and even threatening anon messages.. I’m not much of a known entity in the RP community, at least.. I don’t think I am. I’m a very shy individual, too shy for my own good some might say, and I often keep to myself. Honestly the way I see it.. It doesn’t bother me if I am or ever will be a known entity, but this post isn’t about me, it’s about the Community in general.

I’ve been.. a little disappointed these past few months. I’ve seen a significant increase in drama posts and in general.. just flat out negativity. Now I’m not gonna point the finger and say who’s to blame and what not. There were posts from some people who just had a steaming mess dropped on their front door and naturally they needed to deal with it. However.. It’s getting to the point where the negativity was getting.. out of hand. I feel that others were of the same opinion because not long after the recent batch, I started seeing loads of people rebloging the “Say something positive about a blog you’re following” meme as well as that one thread where you had to follow people as well as suggest people of your own. (This last one I’ve discovered some really awesome blogs and I thank the OP of that thread for starting it off) and the Thank Yoshida project that was going round.

The Final Fantasy XIV community holds the claim that they’re are the friendliest and one of the most welcoming communities around, yet last month especially.. that claim could not have rung more hollow... It pains me to say that.

We have a new expansion set coming to our game it’s being advertised everywhere and it means people from the outside are going to want to join, and they are going to be shining lights over all aspects of the community. Do we really want those people and especially those who are already a part of the community, to see nothing but the sheer ugliness that’s been going around as of late?

I do think it’s high time that we stop and take a hard look at things and try to improve them. Best way I can think of this is what some are doing already. Spread as much positivity as we can. Instead of focusing on the negatives and casting shade on one another or making sweeping generalisations about the community as a whole, we should be looking for the gems in our community and help them shine through.

I get when some people have had an unpleasant experience with certain groups or individuals, they need to vent... but there are other ways to vent. To me there’s no better way to invalidate the unpleasantness of a group or individual than just not giving them any mention. Say to yourself “I’m not going to give them the time of day or the satisfaction of mentioning that they’ve inconvenienced me and instead I’m going to focus on the truly amazing people amazing people and let others.” Starve the people who feed off negativity and drama by giving them nothing, not event a single mention, and help promote the people who do some truly amazing things.

My task to everyone, no matter how popular you think you are, is this. Put an end to this “ hate-hype train ” as @meandering-mind rightfully called it, that’s been going at full speed as of late. Put the breaks on it, pull it off the tracks and smash it to pieces. Use the energy that drove it on and turn it into something great.

Sorry, it’s a bit of a long post this one ^^’

Just wanted to highlight that this is a problem and that we need to fix it. We’re all part of the community, we owe one another to show everyone both outside and in, the best we have to offer. Not bring out the worst.

Thank you for reading.

#Final Fantasy XIV #OOC #Mundy Thoughts #Long Post

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iris-sistibly · 8 years ago

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4R’s: Encantadia Season 2 (March 27, 2017 episode review)

Episode 181

(Iris-message: Listening to a shit ton of upbeat songs to lessen the heavy feeling while writing this whole review, last night’s ep was sick af)

Recap:

E correi diu, Avisala meiste: Wahid and Lira

Lira mourned for the death of Mira.

Lira however didn’t even had the chance to give Mira a decent funeral, she had to getaway from the hands of Asval and Andora. She went ivictus with Mira’s corpse, Lira was remorseful and repeatedly asked for apology to Mira for failing to save her. Asval and Andora found her, fortunately before the two even lay a finger on Lira, Wahid came to the rescue, Lira was able to escape, Andora followed her, Asval fought Wahid. Though Wahid is a really skilled warrior despite being cowardly, Asval was much stronger and was able to inflict a fatal wound on Wahid, the barbaro fell, torned between life and death, but the excruciating pain did not hinder him from stopping Asval. The latter though gave him one last chance to live—that is if Wahid choose to surrender and become one of them, and as for love, he’ll find it in another woman. Wahid recalled all of times he spent with Lira and came to a realization how much he loves her, in the end, Wahid still chose to protect Lira. “Hanggang wakas!” those were his last words before Asval gave the final blow and finally taking Wahid’s life.

Andora caught Lira once again, and though the former was fully aware that she cannot kill Lira that easily, Andora was still free to hold her as captive and torture her as she pleases until she discovers a way to finally kill her. Amarro and Lila Sari appeared, Andora ordered the two other Mashnas to take her away, Lira begged Lila Sari and Amarro to let her go, but the two cannot be persuaded, there were hints of concern in Lila Sari and Amarro’s voices as they tell Lira to just surrender and go with them, but being stubborn is typical for any sang’gre, Lira was left with no choice but to fight for her freedom.

Ariana and Muyak took a different direction just like Pao Pao and Luna. Ariana remembered Lira and became worried about her, something told her she had to go back, despite of Muyak’s disagreement, Ariana went on her way. She found Lira, single-handedly fighting the vidaljes, Ariana quickly hid herself behind a huge rock and witnessed everything. Lira would have taken down the two Mashnas, but a shocking turn of event led her to an inevitable fate. Lira was shot by a foreign weapon, a weapon that the goddess Ether ordered to get from the mortal world, a weapon that is beyond what Lira’s blessing can shield—a gun. Lira held on to dear life as she tried to escape from her perpetrators, Asval shot her, again, and again, and again, Lira’s life was slowly ebbing away as her body received more bullets, Lira saw a vision of her mother…in Devas. Lira smiled as Asval shot her for the last time, she accepted her death to finally be reunited with the mother she always longed for. Ariana saw everything and was pained at the sight of Lira’s dead body, when the four Mashnas left, Ariana cradled Lira’s body, and mourned for her death.

Imaw and Wantuk were thankfully alive, terror struck the two as they saw Gilas’ corpse, they had to seek help to save the remaining guardians, using his balinatataw, he sent a message to Hara-Durye Cassiopeia to let her know what is happening.

The monster from Etheria

The humongous monster is called Kubur, a beast created from the air, spirit and earth gems. It was as tall as Lireo’s towers, and a very dangerous animal, it’s strength can break anything even the barriers of Lireo. Pirena tried to defend the palace by using her fire gem and blasted infernal flame to it’s body, but the monster seemed unaffected. Alena used her water gem to create a tidal wave, it shook the Kubur, but it wasn’t enough to drown it to death. Alena and Pirena tried combining their gems’ powers but it did not even affect the beast. The diwatas sensed that Avria must have created the monster from the three gems in her possession which is why it cannot be killed using the fire and water gems. Pirena proposed to fight the monster using sheer force and weapons, Ybrahim and Cassiopeia agreed. Aquil and Hitano were tasked to facilitate an escape route for the other encantados, while Ybrahim ordered Mayca to get an airship and prepared to attack from above. All of a sudden, Pirena felt something strange—her daughter’s presence. Pirena was relieved that she wasn’t there and hoped that Mira and the rest are safe.

Pirena, Cassiopeia and Ybrahim simultaneously attacked the Kubur. Ybrahim accidentally got swatted by the monster but was saved by Alena’s water gem, they noticed that they seemed to only inflict light scratches to the animal. Alena noticed that the monster seemed to have no power or skill on it’s own, it only mimicks their actions and counterattacks by returning to it’s enemies whatever is inflicted on it, the diwatas thought of using their powers once again, if they shoot tremendous amount of energy towards the monster, like continuously filling a glass with water, it will overflow thus it will be too much for the Kubur and will eventually die. But two gems weren’t enough, Alena quickly retrieved Adhara and Mine-a’s staffs from the armory and used it along with the gems, with the scepters and the brilyantes’ powers combined, the monster was taken down thanks to Alena’s quick thinking. It was a success for the diwatas, but then Cassiopeia saw a floating energy ball, she knew it was from Imaw and felt something was not right, Hara-Durye immediately left Lireo leaving the sang’gres puzzled and having a very bad feeling about it.

Rave/s:

💎 So many character deaths tonight, but for their final performance, Andre, Mikee, Jake and Kate deserve a huge shout out for portraying their characters so well. It was very touching how Wahid’s love for Lira turned him into a brave man, ready to defend his beloved until the end, I would love to see the more badass side of Wahid, and development with his relationship with Lira, but sad to say I will no longer see that. I’m gonna miss his comical and idiotic stints, thank you Andre for being one of the show’s happy pills. Lira, Encantadia’s ray of sunshine, I’m going to miss your contagious smile, your stubbornness, your havey punchlines, kudos to Mikee for making me love Lira more than ever. I rooted for Mikee since her first appearance and although there were some days where she disappointed me the most, Mikee proved that even a newbie like her can be a stand-out performer. Mira, I haven’t gotten over your death, I haven’t gotten over all of your deaths, but I’m gonna miss you big time, at least you’re still with your bessy right? Keep on slaying Kate! And Jake, your stay might be too short, but it was sweet, you showed Gilas’ bravery and determination and it’s very inspiring especially to the young viewers. I have no idea what’s gonna happen next, Lira and Mira really died in the original series, but Lira returned from Devas in the final saga so I’m kinda hoping it will be the same for Lira ’16. Maybe, just maybe Lira, Mira and Gilas will permitted to return to Encantadia even just to fulfill their roles as saviors of Encantadia.

💚 On a lighter note, I am very surprised at how Alena is becoming so witty and snappy when it comes to battle strategies, yay Leny! So happy that she’s finally owning it. That aside I am having this feeling of where this whole Lira death arc is going—Ariana will become guilty for not being able to help Lira thus she will carry this burden and do everything to make it up to Ybrahim, I don’t know in what way is she going to do that, but it will pave way for them to become closer, sharing the same pain of losing their daughter for the second time, although Ariana is still unaware that she is Amihan version 2 OR Alena will sympathize with Ybrahim and will become his friend and some sort of spark will rekindle thus making way for a possible AleBarro reunion which I’m praying to the gods not to happen, I would rather see them maintain a friendly relationship with each other, and Alena seemed to not care anymore and Ybrahim is still thankfully uninterested af, but yeah, “love” will take advantage of Ybrahim’s fragile state big time, and with Manik as the asa boy in this whole love square thing, this will surely drive everyone nuts.

💜 I’m comforting myself with the idea of Lira returning to Encantadia, in book three she broke Emre’s rules and escaped Devas thus making a huge comeback in Enca. Maybe Lira will do the same especially when she finds out that Ariana is Amihan’s sarkosi and Encantadia is once again in great danger, knowing Lira, I have high hopes for her comeback, preferably with Mira and Gilas…and Wahid.

Rant/s:

😢 I am really, really disappointed at Ariana! How can she just watch Lira die in the hands of Asval? I’m so sorry but I am beyond disappointed and angry. It was implied in the earlier episodes that she felt some sort of connection between her and Lira yet it didn’t surface in this episode, it was the perfect time for her to feel that urge to protect Lira at all cost yet she did NOTHING, absolutely nothing. At this point, I have lost all hope, and all the enthusiasm with the story. The cast was splendid, but like I said in my previous post I don’t like how the story is “progressing,” nakakawala ng gana, why choose Lira and Mira as gem keepers if they’re just going to die anyway? Why did Cassiopeia hailed Lira as the savior of Encantadia if she hasn’t really proved it yet? She reunited the four sang’gres, but it was Amihan who saved Encantadia. I was kinda hoping during the first week of season two that Lira will become a sang’gre that is of the same level as her Ashtis, but seeing her being mercilessly killed, without being able to properly defend herself is NOT something heroic. She’s a heroine, born from a clan of the most powerful diwatas and Sapirians who are masters in combat. Her death was pathetic, and nothing is more painful than seeing her in that state. I am angry, so angry. I feel bad for both Pirena and Ybrahim for losing their most treasured daughters because of Cassiopeia’s stupidity. How can she not remember that big mistake? How can fate be so cruel to Ybrahim? He lost his father, his beloved Amihan, and although she returned she had no idea who she was and worse is that she is betrothed to someone else, and now his only reason to live is gone. How can destiny be so evil to Pirena? All she ever wanted was to be with her daughter and guide her all the way, and maybe watch her with pride as she ascends the throne of Hathoria or even Lireo if Lira becomes queen of Sapiro. I don’t like this twist, I am shook in the worst way possible.

Best performer/s for this episode: Everyone 💎

Rating: 10 out of 10💎s (that’s for the cast!)

Photo credits: From Twitter: @GMAEncantadia (Encantadia 2016-2017 official twitter acct) @gmanetwork (GMA Network); official website: gmanetwork.com @GMADrama (GMA Drama)

From Facebook: Encantadia 2016; official website: encantadia.com.ph

Video credits: GMA Network via YouTube & dailymotion

#tv series #encantadia #encantadiadalamhati #pirena #ybrahim #mira #wahid #4Rs

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panic-in-tarir · 8 years ago

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One year in review

That’s it! The OH IT’S BEEN ONE YEAR post is here!

The closer my first anniversary was, the more excited I got, and the more thoughts I gathered for one “summary” post. Now that it’s time, suddenly, bam, all of them gone. :’> *wipes sweat*

Recently I had someone asking about my progression and how I managed to get there (???? where? derp). Well, I guess, I could just start telling about my first deeds in GW2, and then see if I can add something.

This might or might not be relevant, but I come from Wakfu, a colorful 2D game with turn-based combat. It’s cool visually, but also has terrible management issues, lack of developer care, one of the worst customer supports ever, list goes on.. I played it since 2012, and year by year, only grew angry, disappointed and hurt. That was like an abusive relationship I couldn’t get out of. I refused to try different genre and engine games. Finally, @aketan / @flame-squad / Rika got me lowkey interested in GW2 (she was commenting expressively while playing, and I peeked over her shoulder), I decided to try it. And stayed. Migrating to a real-time 3D game wasn’t easy! Yet, it was my lifesaver decision. GW2 has everything that I wish was there in Wakfu. It took me several months, if not a year, to get fully “healed”, to recover from the bad game and start believing that good games exist. When I had to contact GW2 support, I was touched to tears.. Everything and everyone is so nice here.

That wall of text was a foreword! Or explanation why I’m so excited and grateful about every aspect of GW2.

I started without putting too much thought into the char creation, as a result, now I have yet another main whose name is literally foreign language swearing or pun. GG me. After having been completely lost and confused by the controls (I LITERALLY ran backwards and yelled), after having a short but comprehensive lesson from bff, I started derping around on my own. I think I was only guided until lvl 5 or so, then my buddy let me do whatever I want. I come from a sandbox-wannabe game so it didn’t take me forever to get comfortable and set my first goals. Of course, I had a shit ton of questions, which I didn’t hesitate to spam Rika with. It’s cool to have someone ready to explain you the basics and patiently show you things. :D My several first days, or even weeks, were intense. I didn’t rush levels, but was eager to see the world. It was so amazing to me that I was spending 8-10 hours a day, running around, completing maps. I started in Metrica but quickly wandered away to Caledon (”oh! a portal?!”), where I spent a handful of time then.

With such a desire to discover and observe, and after having seen the title you’re awarded for 100% world map completion, I set it as my first ultimate goal. I approached it rather seriously, and had an incredibly fun time, at least until I had only Orr left undiscovered. x’D As a squishy (and slow, and dumb) ele, I was frightened and a bit discouraged by the amount of, well, deaths here. If I recall correctly, I still wore yellows at that time, although I was 80. Rika helped me and accompanied me for a bit. Orr was tough and I legit cried out of anger and frustration when I was alone, but that was the only unpleasant moment in entire year, and only because I wasn’t good at the game yet.

In the meantime, I was leveling my first alt, human engi. Do you actually remember that f2p accounts only allow 2 chars? Later, after buying HoT, I finally got loose.

They say, you always remember the place where you finished your first world map. For me, and oddly enough, for Rika, it was Field of Ruins. We reached the last POI at the same time, and, boy, did it feel great. My first big accomplishment. It dropped like.. Like a norn fart in a moot (c) Jory \o/ I still use the title btw, “been there, done that”. \o/

Then, there was a relatively dull period before buying HoT. I focused on doing my personal story, maxing out my alt and getting into crafting. The latter quickly became addictive to me. It’s so smooth, fun and exciting in GW2. Artificer was my first discipline, and after getting the hang of it, I breezed through 100-500 in a single day’s course.

That’s what the progression of my first 4-5 months looked like! I still was f2p, did only open world content and had one person to play with. I’m my own boss so it’s up to me to decide if I want to spend 30 minutes or 8 hours ingame.

HoT was a blessing in every aspect possible! I never regretted buying it, never regretted taking my time and not buying it earlier though - I needed that f2p scrub time to learn the basics, and to appreciate all the convenience and QoL improvements that come with HoT.

That’s where the real game starts, if I could say that. Core Tyria is by all means amazing, but you can go only this far if your account has those market and mail restrictions.. I used to enjoy playing market in Wakfu (while it was still alive) and I was excited to try it in GW2. When I bought the expansion and got my account fully functional, I got some skins and dyes ahead of all, then proceeded with crafting since I was really addicted to it and excited to max all the disciplines as my medium priority goal.

GW2 is encouraging altoholism! So I found myself leveling a third character (tried revenant and didn’t notice how I got her to level 20-ish and it was too late to delete), then fourth, fifth, then more char slots.. You see my weakness. I quickly realized the perks of having alts: storage, gathering, alternative personal stories, so on. When you’re an altoholic, plus you have yet to finish gearing up your main, plus you can barely hold yourself from leveling another crafting discipline.. RIP GOLD. I never had more than 30-100g at that time period.

Since market and wealth are one of my biggest passions ingame, I learned ways to earn me some coins, one by one. It’s not that hard if you’re a patient gatherer like me. Just run around, chop trees, collect ore and herbs.. I enjoy it so much, maybe it’s grind for someone, but I find it relaxing. Also it brings you gold. \o/ I found a few niche crafts that I could keep making and selling, then got familiar with market flipping, still not doing it like “big daddies” do, I might be too inefficient and lazy at it. But still, I found my own stable sources of income. Not gonna lie, the game just seems to like me and spoils occasionally. I don’t wanna brag, but there was like 4 precursor drops for me, 2 from mystic toilet, 2 practically dropped from the sky. I might be a little luckier than the average player. But that’s well deserved given how much suffering I had in Wakfu. :’D

When we talk about luck, we can’t avoid mentioning gambling. I learned about mystic toilet quite early, but never was a slave to it. Tarrktun has a bit more power over me, but I’ve never lost too much, only gained little by little. Black Lion Keys are the most evil gambling aspect if you ask me, I’ve spent quite a bit of money on those, though sometimes got nice things in exchange. Either gold to gems or gems for real money, I don’t mind spending it on Anet since they very, very well deserve it.

Given my passion, patience and luck, you must think I should be filthy rich by now.. Hah. :’DD Sadly, I’m just as good at spending as I’m at earning! I blew a lot of money on my own “needs” and “wants” and “why not”s, I keep investing into long term sales, I also often buy gifts for my buddies, mostly Rika. Money comes, money goes. GW2efficiency says my account is worth 14k gold currently. Not a bad progress for a year, I suppose.

So.. My biggest interests and playstyle are gold wars, fashion wars, altoholism.. I became quite a lore geek, completed PS, LS2, available LS3 episodes & most of current events, most of HoT? I should finish it but I procrastinate for some reason.

My current achievement number is 7610, mastery rank is 129 iirc. I’m not a casual derp anymore, but still too afraid to fail in front of strangers so I don’t really do dungeons or fractals. I mean I DO, when my bff literally holds my hand and goes there with me, then 3 strangers vs two of us is tad bit less scary. My combat skill, my reflexes and reactions are rather pathetic, even if I got significantly better after HoT and LS3 maps. I must train more, so recently I made a tanky character to practice, I hope to get good enough to clear story mode dungeons and low level fractals alone. Maybe I’m being too hard at myself, but combat skill has practically the biggest influence in this game, so I must git gud, at least acceptable, so I don’t feel ashamed to play with other people and don’t let them down. :’D

I’m a pve trash. Tried WvW and don’t mind coming here again, but not too much. PvP is a big no-no. Just.. Not my thing. Never. Not with my current skill and mindset (people = stress).

I’ve still got a mind-boggling amount of things to do. Personal goals, mere achievements, secrets and mysteries I’m yet to uncover, lore things to read. Maybe I’ll play GW1 one day, if there’s ever a discount sale. \;w;/ I’m super curious about every tiny bit of lore, also want some skins that are exclusive to GW1. That pleasant, sweet feeling that there’s so much interesting things ahead. I will take my time and never grind anything to frustration, for example, I’ve been working on my first leg, Sunrise, on and off and I’ll wait several months more, until I get all the clovers from the monthly chest. I don’t sweat it and just enjoy the game however I see it. Feelsgoodman.

I hope I managed to answer that person’s question, how did I get where I’m currently? Just took my time, learned my own pace and enjoyed every minute I spent online. Love the game, and it will love you back. \o/

#blast from the past #whew that was quite a novel hahahaha #gw2 #guild wars 2

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williamsjoan · 6 years ago

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DualShockers’ Game of the Year 2018 Staff Lists — Logan’s Top 10

As 2018 comes to a close, DualShockers and our staff are reflecting on this year’s batch of games and what were their personal highlights within the last year. Unlike the official Game of the Year 2018 awards for DualShockers, there are little-to-no-rules on our individual Top 10 posts. For instance, any game — not just 2018 releases — can be considered.

As the Reviews Editor here at DualShockers, all forms of criticism and opinion-based content on video games pretty much begins and ends with me. I’ve been placed into this role because after comprehensive research conducted by our staff, we found that my own opinions on video games are without fault. In fact, the things I say about video games aren’t even opinions — they’re facts. With this all being said, I have a few things to share with you about the year that was 2018.

As a whole, 2018 was just an okay year for games. While I think many of the best games of this entire generation released this year, a lot of the more standard releases that we’ve come to expect every few years seemed to be in decline. Shadow of the Tomb Raider, Battlefield 5, NBA 2K19, and heck, even the disaster that turned out to be Fallout 76 were all pretty disappointing to me. At the start of 2018, I thought this year looked like a monster on paper, but there ended up being far more duds than I would have initially expected.

Luckily, this weaker slate of games finally allowed me to return a bit more to my backlog and play some titles from past years that I’ve been putting off for far too long. Simultaneously, this lack of new games that interested me also led to me falling into a MOBA hole for the first time ever and folks, lemme tell ya, that ain’t a fun place to be at. Fortunately, as the year wraps up, I think I’ve finally figured out how to balance my newfound MOBA addiction while still playing plenty of other games that interest me. I’m in a good place in my gaming life heading into 2019, and I’m excited to see what this next year will bring.

As always with these year-end lists, I didn’t play everything in 2018 that I would have liked to, so take that into account before you yell at me in the comments and tell me that my list sucks or whatever. As for the games that I did play, here are my 10 favorites that I spent time with in the Year of Our Lord 2018, whether they released in this calendar year or not.

10. Asuka 120% Burning Fest. Limited

I’m coming out of the gate firing this year, folks. Asuka 120% Burning Fest. Limited is likely a game you’ve never heard of. Heck, it’s a game that I didn’t know existed until about a month or so ago myself. But after discovering it with some friends while going through a back catalog of Sega Saturn games, I immediately fell in love with this schoolgirl anime fighter.

For being over twenty years old, it’s amazing just how much the mechanics of Asuke 120% hold up all of this time later. The game’s small roster of characters all feel incredibly balanced, each boasting their own unique playstyles and moves — shoutout to baseball girl (I don’t know her real name). While I only played Asuke 120% for about a three-day span over the course of one weekend, it was some of the most exciting, pure fun that I’ve had playing any video game with friends this year.

Asuka 120% is easily the most enjoyment I had with a fighting game in 2018, or even the past few years for that matter. Sorry, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

9. The Messenger

Easily the most slept-on game of 2018, Sabotage Studios’ The Messenger won me over after the first five minutes that I saw it back at PAX East. Not only does it have some of the tightest controls and gameplay mechanics out of anything I’ve played this year, but the twists and turns that this game takes are also something you’d never expect upon first glance. The Messenger isn’t just an homage to the sidescrolling games of yesteryear, it also trailblazes a new path for the genre as a whole moving forward.

Also, shoutout to Rainbowdragoneyes for The Messenger’s phenomenal soundtrack that I’m still bumping constantly months after release. The way in which the music transitions between 8-bit and 16-bit sound effects is still one of the single coolest things I’ve seen in a game all year. I could keep going on about how much I love this game but I’ll just keep things succinct and stress you to pick it up for yourself. I promise that you won’t be disappointed.

Check out the Dualshockers review of The Messenger.

8. Shadow of the Colossus

I said in my review of Shadow of the Colossus earlier this year that it was likely one of the best remakes ever made. About ten months later, I still vehemently believe this to be true. The graphical work that Bluepoint Games was able to accomplish in Shadow of the Colossus still astounds me and I really do think it might be one of the prettiest video games ever. Not only is the game gorgeous though, but I’m glad that one of gaming’s greatest achievement has now been made all the easier to revisit.

Shadow of the Colossus remains such a special game thirteen years after its original release on PS2, and it’s a game that I think everyone needs to play for themselves before they die. I’ll likely continue to revisit this gem every year or two and I hope that other remakes on the horizon can live up to the standard that was set here. I’m looking at you, Resident Evil 2.

7. Guacamelee! 2

Guacamelee! 2 is some of the purest fun I’ve had with a game in 2018. Throughout the entirety of its runtime, I was laughing nonstop thanks to the hilarious writing and goofy situations that I was placed into. Not to mention, it just feels really good to play. Suplexing enemies into oblivion is great.

While it might not be a major departure from its predecessor, Guacamelee! 2 is just a jolly video game that I adore. If you’re a fan of Metroidvania games whatsoever, make sure you get around to playing this one.

Check out the DualShockers review of Guacamelee! 2.

6. PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds

Every year, I’ll get bitten by maybe one multiplayer game that I’ll play endlessly with a group of my friends for about a month or two straight before bouncing off of it and never really returning. In 2018, that game ended up being PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds which I played probably close to every single night in the months of January and February this year. Even though I was playing on the crummy Xbox One version, I still loved every minute of my time with what is factually the best battle royale shooter.

PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds wasn’t so much a game that I loved playing–although it is a ton of fun–but it instead became a lobby for me to hang out and talk to my friends. In between conversations of, “Should we drop at the prison? Or how about the military base?” we’d be catching up on one another’s personal lives and chatting about life. Even though PUBG as a whole is full of moments built with stress and tension, playing with my buddies that I grew up with made for a hilarious and joyful experience that I don’t find in video games very often.

Check out the DualShockers review of PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds.

5. Assassin’s Creed Odyssey

Months after finishing Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, I’m beginning to think that it’s probably my new favorite entry in the long-running series. Not only is Greece a gorgeous location that I loved running around in for dozens upon dozens of hours, but AC Odyssey scratched an action-RPG itch for me that I’ve so desperately been trying to scratch for years now. While it’s an Assassin’s Creed game in name, Odyssey instead feels like the BioWare games that I grew up playing as a kid.

Assassin’s Creed Odyssey‘s vast world, surprisingly engaging story, and stellar leveling system kept me entertained longer than any other single-player game that I experienced in 2018. As of this moment, I’m still looking for a reason to dive back in, and that might just result in me purchasing the game’s season pass sooner rather than later.

Check out the DualShockers review of Assassin’s Creed Odyssey.

4. Dark Souls III

No, Dark Souls III didn’t release this year, but 2018 was the time I finally found the chance to go back and finally play it — and boy, am I glad that I did. With Bloodborne having already been one of my favorite games of this generation, it stood to reason that I’d be just as enthralled with Dark Souls III and that proved to be true mere minutes after I first booted it up.

Look, I now understand why this series is revered like it is. Dark Souls III, much like Bloodborne, is now one of my favorite games of this generation and is likely one of my favorite action games ever made. The secret boss fight against the Nameless King, in particular, is likely one of my favorite gaming moments from this entire year.

Not only did I play Dark Souls III this year, but I also finally played Dark Souls Remastered after it came to PS4 and I dug that a whole bunch as well. While it took me somewhat longer to get to than many others, I’m glad I finally experienced most of this franchise for myself. Even if it’s maybe referenced a bit too much, Dark Souls really is as important as it’s made out to be and I’m now a FromSoftware fanboy. Bring it on, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice.

Check out the DualShockers review of Dark Souls III.

3. Marvel’s Spider-Man

I said earlier in the year after first playing Marvel’s Spider-Man that it had a chance to be one of my favorite games of all-time. After playing it following its release in September, I’d say that statement holds true.

As a massive fan of Spider-Man since I was a kid, Marvel’s Spider-Man is one of the single best stories centered around the character that I have ever seen in any medium. Not only did Insomniac Games absolutely knock it out of the park in their first go-around with the Spider-Man license, but they also proved that they know and understand this character on a level that many storytellers do not. For that reason alone, Marvel’s Spider-Man is a special game to me.

While I do have some complaints and issues with the game from a critical perspective, those qualms are so easy to overlook thanks to fantastic combat and a swinging system that is easily the best gameplay mechanic of 2018. I think what excites me the most about Marvel’s Spider-Man though is that it feels like simply the first step in something much bigger, not just for Spider-Man, but for Marvel video games as a whole. I cannot wait to see what Insomniac does with the all-but-guaranteed sequel to Marvel’s Spider-Man.

Check out the DualShockers review of Marvel’s Spider-Man.

2. League of Legends

Lord, please forgive me for even listing League of Legends at all here, let alone so high. As much as I may hate myself for this, I can’t deny for a second that League is likely the game that had the biggest effect on me in 2018. I’ve gone from making fun of the game and all of my nerdy friends who have played it for years to now pouring a fair number of hours into it every week myself.

Furthermore, I became obsessed with the League of Legends pro scene this year to the point that I was waking up at 4:00 AM nearly every day in October to watch the World Championship live as it happened in Korea. League of Legends has turned me into someone that I don’t really recognize, but I’m kind of okay with it. I’m curious to see if I remain as obsessed with League as we move through 2019, but as for this year, it stands as the game that captured my time and attention the most.

I’ll see you in the Jungle.

Check out the DualShockers review of League of Legends.

1. God of War

God of War is my favorite action-adventure game since The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. If you know my gaming tastes (OoT is my favorite game ever made), then you understand how big of a statement that is coming from me.

What’s crazy is that coming into God of War, my expectations weren’t that high. Personally, I didn’t care for the original God of War games on PS2, PS3, and PSP. While everything that I had seen of this new iteration of Kratos greatly interested me, I still knew that deep down I had no great love for this character. Now, I think Kratos is one of my favorite characters in the history of video games, and God of War likely stands somewhere amongst my 5 or 10 favorite games ever made.

God of War‘s masterful storytelling, combined with some of the best action gameplay I’ve seen in years, makes for an experience that I’ve been dying to play. Even though I love games like The Last of Us and Uncharted, I’ve always found that the gameplay in those examples was never able to match their masterful storytelling. God of War, on the other hand, finally proved to me that just because you place story at the forefront of the gaming experience doesn’t mean it has to come at the cost of enticing, fluid combat mechanics. This marriage of gameplay and narrative delivery I think is the greatest achievement that we saw in gaming in 2018 and makes for the best all-around experience of the year — as seen with our Game of the Year honors.

God of War wasn’t just my favorite game that I played in all of 2018, it’s now easily my favorite game of this console generation. While 2019 is looking great on paper, it’s going to take a whole lot to unseat Kratos from this throne.

Check out the DualShockers review of God of War.

Check out the other DualShockers’ staff Top 10 lists and our official Game of the Year Awards:

December 17: DualShockers Game of the Year Awards 2018 December 18: Lou Contaldi, Editor in Chief // Logan Moore, Reviews Editor December 19: Ryan Meitzler, Features Editor // Tomas Franzese, News Editor December 20: Scott Meaney, Community Director December 21: Reinhold Hoffmann, Community Manager // Ben Bayliss, Staff Writer December 22: Ben Walker, Staff Writer // Chris Compendio, Staff Writer December 23: Eoghan Murphy, Staff Writer // Grant Huff, Staff Writer December 26: Iyane Agossah, Staff Writer // Jordan Boyd, Staff Writer December 27: Max Roberts, Staff Writer // Michael Ruiz, Staff Writer December 28: Noah Buttner, Staff Writer // Rachael Fiddis, Staff Writer December 29: Steven Santana, Staff Writer // Tanner Pierce, Staff Writer December 30: Travis Verbil, Staff Writer // Zack Potter, Staff Writer

The post DualShockers’ Game of the Year 2018 Staff Lists — Logan’s Top 10 by Logan Moore appeared first on DualShockers.

DualShockers’ Game of the Year 2018 Staff Lists — Logan’s Top 10 published first on https://timloewe.tumblr.com/

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lavinia-blogs · 7 years ago

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I think there is nothing more magical and thrilling about travelling than letting yourself wander on streets you don’t know, not following handy maps, travel apps or anything as such… and just seeing where the paths lead you. This couldn’t have worked out any better in Edinburgh as we stumbled upon hidden and unexpected gems.

We let ourselves drown into the mysteries that the old stone roads of Edinburgh brought, not knowing what would sit behind the corner, stopping at every passageway staring down the narrow dark corridors.

We came across so many interesting little shops, local markets filled with interesting souvenirs and gifts, lots and lots of cosy traditional pubs, and just overall amazing architecture. Edinburgh is a very hilly city, and it’s very impressive to look at all the different layers of the buildings, sometimes situated even on the same street! Oh, we also came across the oldest building in Scotland 🙂

We carried on walking aimlessly and decided to venture outside the ‘main’ tourist-y area. We headed down a steep stone hill only to see more streets right beneath, and more and more waves of roads further in the distance. We stopped to take it all in and were deeply stunned by the beauty of this new-found place: Victoria Terrace.

It portrays the description of the city architecture I was trying to express earlier perfectly! Houses on top of houses, streets on top of streets, terraces on top of terraces.

Little did we know what we had stumbled upon.

I was completely mesmerised by the beauty of this street, by the perfection of each building, the vivid colours of each shop-front… I couldn’t control myself and decided I needed (yes, NEEDED) to descend and walk down that road.

So there – done. I was simply stunned and overwhelmed. This street and the architecture are so impressive with the buildings stretching for the sky – won’t deny it, I must have tripped 100 times while walking down here simply because I couldn’t stop looking up 😀

And then I saw it… the only thing that could have made this street even better.

A Harry Potter shop!

For those of you who don’t know, Edinburgh is the birthplace of the famous Harry Potter story. J. K. Rowling wrote the books in Elephant Cafe, right in the city centre of Edinburgh. Definitely a good place for a Potter-head to go grab a bite to eat and (I know it’ll sound odd) but please do visit the toilets – they’re the best part! (I know, I warned you, but here’s proof)

The entire bathroom walls are filled with Harry Potter motives, quotes and puns.

Fun fact about me (if not discovered by now) – I’m a huge Harry Potter fan 🙂 So you can only imagine my excitement and pure joy when I literally stumbled (I told you I tripped A LOT) upon this shop, full of novelty souvenirs, special edition books, collectibles, wants and whatever else you could imagine. My only disappointment – it was only 2 stories. Not going to lie, I could have kept going on and on 😀 Also found out that magical street out there was actually the inspiration behind Diagon Alley! This is the real-life Diagon Alley! I was so stoked!

After more than an hour spent in this small magical place, I somehow managed to ‘de-tangle’ myself from it and throw myself back into the real world. But guess what – it still felt magical and looked a lot like this. If you want to, feel free to imagine it full of witches and wizards mingling and running around purchasing supplies for Hogwarts 🙂

Another fun little gem we came across while wandering the streets was the Camera Obscura, which is right next to the castle. It’s a very exciting and interesting place to visit, a place of magic, illusions and brain twisters.

We explored the entire tower (you can go all the way to the roof and get gorgeous panoramic views of Edinburgh), ventured through mind twisting exercises, illusions, crazy inventions, spinning bridges, mirror mazes and much much more!

Here’s an example of what you can experience inside. Here’s my head served on a platter 😀

‘Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one’ – Albert Einstein

The gift shop was pretty interesting as well 😀

And since this post has been all about the magic of Edinburgh, I cannot end it until I mention the magical Scottish food :D. So many small traditional places, pubs and taverns with live folk music, all to make you feel as if you’ve stepped back in a different time and emerged into the Scottish Highlands…

I’m definitely still emerged…

Until next time…

I think there is nothing more magical and thrilling about travelling than letting yourself wander on streets you don't know, not following handy maps, travel apps or anything as such... and just seeing where the paths lead you. I think there is nothing more magical and thrilling about travelling than letting yourself wander on streets you don't know, not following handy maps, travel apps or anything as such...

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mikeyg1985-blog · 7 years ago

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Top 20 Albums of 2017

Another year; another top albums list! I was both eager and hesitant to start off 2017, but I trusted that music would be the only thing that got me through the year - and for the most part, it did. 2017 was a pretty eventful year and the music was no exception. There were a ton of anticipated releases from some of the biggest artists and some very strong debuts - even though, aside from Kendrick Lamar's DAMN. there was no clear blockbuster. Here is the list of my favorite albums to come out of 2017.

20. Incubus - 8

Incubus has been a staple in my musical journey for many years, but by the time the band got to 7th album, If Not Now, When?, Incubus sounded nothing like the band who burst on the scene in 1997 with S.C.I.E.N.C.E. - they sounded old and tired. 8 doesn't necessarily sound like the band who gave us classics like 'Pardon Me,' 'Drive', or 'A Certain Shade of Green', but Incubus did come back from their hiatus sounding excited, inspired and fresh. A happy return.

Check out: 'State of the Art'

19. Eidola - To Speak, To Listen

I was introduced to Eidola's To Speak, To Listen from a new blog that I'd discovered over the spring. I'm embarrassingly ignorant of the many different sub-genres that Eidola might be categorized under - but I do know when I hear something that I like. To Speak, To Listen is one of those albums that sounds fresh no matter how many times you listen to it, because there's always something new to discover. I've been spinning it for the better part of the year and I still don't know it like I know the back of my hand. The album has recently been released in its instrumental form. A stunning album from start to finish.

Check out: 'Tetelestai'.

18. Sampha - Process

When Sampha released his breakthrough album, Process, I was feeling pretty vulnerable as I'm pretty sure a lot of people were feeling in the earlier months of 2017. I was looking for something that I could really relate to, emotionally. I latched onto Process because of its honesty of family, friends and ultimate love of music. 'Kora Sings' and '(No One Knows Me) Like the Piano' take me back to being in my room all day and recording my little 'albums' on a boombox. Sampha's voice is a breath of fresh air from a lot of the other voices clouding up the airwaves. Process is a fantastic debut.

Check out: '(No One Knows Me) Like the Piano'

17. Lindsey Buckingham/Christine McVie

I wasn't too excited for the release of this collaborative effort between Lindsey Buckingham and Christine McVie. First, because Christine McVie was finally back in the band and yet Stevie Nicks just couldn't be bothered to make a new Fleetwood Mac album because she's supposedly focusing on a new album and touring - again. So, while we have hundreds of iconic artists dropping like flies, we have to hope no one passes from the most successful line-ups of Fleetwood Mac and wait for another album. I also think it's stupid that they can release a Fleetwood Mac album if it's just Lindsey and Stevie - but not Lindsey and Christine?!? Secondly, I wasn't too impressed with first single, 'In My World'. However, Lindsey Buckingham/Christine McVie proved to be one of the most surprisingly enjoyable albums of 2017. It may be a bit too much of a Buckingham project, but McVie (who was always the sweet balance to Buckingham and Nicks) shines through. Although there is nothing groundbreaking (when you create albums like Rumours and Tusk, do you really need to prove anything?) Buckingham/McVie feels like visiting old friends.

Check out: 'Red Sun'

16. Beth Ditto - Fake Sugar

Beth Ditto's Fake Sugar was a largely overlooked album this year - but it's a gem. Ditto says that this is her 'Southern album' - largely inspired by the music she listened to growing up. Fake Sugar's hooks and sweeping sonic palate is impressive for The Gossip front-woman's first solo effort. With bops like, 'In and Out' and 'We Can Run', it's a shame that Fake Sugar got pushed under the rug.

Check out: 'We Can Run'

15. Dreamcar - Dreamcar

The self-titled debut from super-ground Dreamcar (No Doubt minus Gwen Stefani and AFI's Davey Havoc) was the soundtrack to our summer. Dreamcar's appeal is that it is a low-stakes album and the band have no shame in creating some of the best '80s inspired hooks since Duran Duran's Rio. First single, 'Kill for Candy' should have been a sleeper summer hit - but alas, that went to 'Despacito' and Charlie Puth.

Check out: 'Kill for Candy'

14. Tyler The Creator - Flowerboy

Flower Boy was not on my 'anticipated release' radar, but I really respect Tyler The Creator's honesty throughout the album. Over the course the album, Tyler gets to the core of his isolation as he comes face to face with what has molded him in the man he is today. He spews wisdom to younger generations while taking his own advice and finally lets himself shine. Flower Boy is a lot more complicated than its surface suggests, but as the album continues it is evident that Tyler has found the perfect balance.

Check out: 'Where This Flower Blooms'

13. Beck - Colors

Colors was one of the most highly anticipated releases in 2017. When Beck took home the Grammy for Album of the Year with his album, Morning Phase, I was just as shocked as everyone else - mostly because I didn't even know that he was still making relevant music. When 'Dreams' was released as the lead single in 2015, I was really excited to hear more! Who knew we'd have to wait until the fall of 2017 for a full album?!?!

Colors is not a perfect album - although it did meet my expectations. The album suffers from being inconsistent and the first batch of songs fail to really keep the listener's attention. The better material is found on the album's B-Side where Beck shows off his pop hook chops without shame. It may not be his most consistent album, but he's never sounded happier.

Check out: 'Up All Night'

12. The War on Drugs - A Deeper Understanding

Another hotly anticipated album of 2017 was The War on Drugs' A Deeper Understanding - and it did not disappoint. When the 11-minute lead single, 'Thinking of a Place' was released in early 2017, I was thrilled because 2014's Lost in the Dream was one of my Top 5 favorite albums of that year. On A Deeper Understanding, Adam Granduciel and Co. refuse to dial back on their major-label debut and offer the ultimate Los Angeles album. The only reason that A Deeper Understanding doesn't rank higher on this list, is because A Deeper Understanding expands the sound found on Lost in the Dream - making the sound feel more like home instead of something fresh and new.

Check out: 'Holding On'

11. Linkin Park - One More Light

I understand if anyone wants to argue if wants to quit reading about my musical opinions after seeing One More Light on this list. First off, I don't think it's a perfect album - it's arguably the laughing stock of Linkin Park's catalog. However, once you get over the simplistic pop sheen and structure - it's not half as bad as it sounds on paper. When you take into account that these were the last songs to be released by Chester Bennington, they become a lot more real. What made Linkin Park one of my favorite band's is that Chester was a voice for those of us who felt we couldn't scream, shout or cry out. He made it acceptable for male rock singers to emote.

One More Light is on this list because after you strip away its pop sensibilities, it is Linkin Park through and through. It's flaws make it only better over time.

Check out: ' Talking to Myself'

10. St. Vincent - MASSEDUCTION

MASSEDUCTION is the closest to pop as you're going to get from St. Vincent. Although the indie-songstress had toyed with pop hooks on her 2015 self-titled album, Annie Clarke went balls-to-the-wall pop when she stuck model Charlotte Kohl's ass, clad in bubble-gum pink tights on her album cover. Everything screamed Pop, with a capital P, in anticipation for MASSEDUTION. The truth is - St. Vincent does what she does best with a more pop-leaning sound. It's not completely pop in the same way that Beck went pop on Colors, but it's just pop enough that you know Taylor Swift is going to steal it for the masses to eat up on her next album.

Check out: "New York"

9. Silverstein - Dead Reflection

There's nothing more depressing than seeing a band beating a dead horse. Thankfully, Silverstein isn't one of those bands! Aside from a few albums, I never kept up with Silverstein's career and only stumbled upon Dead Reflection from the hype on various music blogs. What I discovered was yet another reason why my-scene-was-so-much-better-than-yours for all of the younger music fans who are infatuated with the new 'scene' bands (Yes, I'm arrogant about my emo bands). Scene wars aside - Dead Reflection is an impressive album from a band who can still pull a few new fans. It's also one of their strongest efforts - you can tell that Shane Told poured his heart and soul into every lyric. There are also more pop hooks abound, making Dead Reflection the perfect companion to their sophomore album, Discovering the Waterfront.

Check out: 'Lost Positives'

8. LP - Lost on You

I was absolutely thrilled that LP was releasing full-length album, Lost on You, this year. I had no idea that the album had already been released in 2016 everywhere else except the US. Imagine my surprise that the song, 'Lost on You' had become a global hit everywhere except The States! That's no surprise though.

I fell in love with LP's last album, Forever for Now, so much that it depressed me that I had no one else to celebrate LP's music with, because no one knew who she was. I am so happy that LP has had success all over the world because her music is so deserving of success.

If there was one downfall with Forever for Now, it was that the sound and LP's unique vocals were constantly battling for room - and it was a bit overwhelming at times. Lost on You sheds that big sound allowing LP to branch out with different sounds while still keeping her pop sensibilities at her core. The album's center is 'Lost on You', and while there are multiple standout tracks along the way - nothing really tops the successful worldwide single.

Check out: 'Lost on You'

7. Lorde - Melodrama

Lorde had a lot to prove with Melodrama. Her debut album, Pure Heroine, not only made her a superstar, but also helped the songstress win a multitude of awards at the young age of 17 - making her one of the most promising artists since Adele. That's a lot to live up to. She's supposedly also good friends with Taylor Swift - so everyone is constantly comparing them and while Swift continues to break sale records, Lorde's Melodrama proves that she's yards ahead of her peers. Instead of getting super experimental, Lorde settles her analysis of the drama within a single house party - what else is a 21 year-old really supposed to be worrying about? There are tiny missteps along the way ('Hard Feelings/Loveless') but no complete stumbles on the album. From start to finish, Melodrama more than lives up to Lorde's promises.

Check out: 'Green Light'

6. Paramore - After Laughter

There was nothing more awkward than Paramore's out-of-thin-air video for lead-single, 'Hard Times'. Here was pint sized Hayley Williams singing about dark clouds and sadness over music that has never sounded more jolly and happy. I had very little expectation for After Laughter, because there are only so many line-up changes a band can have before they become a figment of the band that they originally were (The Motels, anyone?). But, I can honestly say - although Paramore sound nothing like the teens who gave us All We Know is Falling - After Laughter blew me away because it was the music that I really needed to hear at the time.

America - we've been through some shit recently, and 2017 was unbearable, at times. After Laughter is a whirlwind of depression, anger and forgiveness. Everything that I was basically feeling in 2017. I couldn't hang on to the bad - I had to acknowledge it and then let it go in order to move forward. After Laughter was the perfect soundtrack for that. I don't know what kind of demons Hayley Williams had to get out of her system - but I'm glad she did.

Check out: 'Told You So'

5. Kendrick Lamar - DAMN.

I love DAMN.

It's an album that I really had to wrestle with all year. But, I had to do that with his last album, To Pimp a Butterfly, as well. The best music isn't always something that instantly fall in love with. It's the music that opens itself up to you the more that you spend time with it. Lamar explores his role as celebrity while trying to stay grounded and true to himself on an album that can be interpreted in different ways; it's a completely different album if you listen to it from finish to start. What I take away from DAMN. it's that whenever rap music genuinely touches music listeners and the artist tries to use their platform for 'good' - there are always people trying to pull them down by using the same bullshit they've been spewing for years about rap and hip-hop being a bad role model for younger listeners. I've never been the biggest rap/hip-hop fan, but I know how to stop and listen to what is really being told to me.

For a year with no clear Blockbuster album - DAMN. is more than deserving of that title.

Check out: 'DNA'

4. SZA - CTRL

Hands down, 2017's most important breakout artist is SZA.

SZA begins CTRL informing her negligent boyfriend that she slept with his best friend on Valentine's Day. Elsewhere, SZA touches on the loneliness and utter despair of being the unwanted woman - in a way that other artists could not deliver this year. Never before, has the exploration of modern love sounded so groundbreaking and fresh. SZA is an important artist to keep your eye on because she has been bubbling under the surface for years. It's hard for me not to believe that much of the sound of Rihanna's ANTI was largely inspired by SZA.

Check out: 'Love Galore'

3. Acceptance - Colliding by Design

No one told me that Acceptance's Phantoms was such a beloved classic in the pop/emo music world. I remember the album very well - I loved it, but then they broke up. I may have heard that they got back together for a reunion tour but I had no idea they had recorded a new album when I saw Colliding by Design under the Spotify new releases tab - but I'm so glad that I decided to check it out.

Colliding by Design never left my rotation this year. While it is a re-introduction to a band that I really enjoyed when I was 20 years-old, it was also a testament to how much our lives change in any amount of time. Colliding by Design felt like catching up with friends I hadn't seen in twelve years and finding that their stories were my stories as well. Here's to new beginnings!...and put Phantoms on vinyl!

Check out: 'Come Closer'

2. The xx - I See You

I See You was the first great album of the year - if not one of the first big albums to be released in 2017. I've never been a big fan of The xx - but I was really intrigued with first single, 'On Hold.' Jamie xx really gives the band new life by finally coming to the forefront of the mix alongside his band mates. I See You is an album that I've enjoyed all year, as well. It was an album that I could put down at times and revisit whenever I was overplaying some other artist or album. I'm actually very surprised that it hasn't charted higher on other 'Best of 2017' lists. I think it's The xx's strongest album by far.

Check out: 'I Dare You

1. Manchester Orchestra - A Black Mile to The Surface

No opening line to an album has haunted me more than: 'I notice you when you're noticing me'. Manchester Orchestra's A Black Mile to the Surface is my choice for top album of 2017 because - to me - it's an honest look at the terrors and joys of marriage and fatherhood. With its vulnerably honest lyrics and cinematic sonic landscape, A Black Mile to the Surface is breathtaking and beautiful.

Opening song, 'The Maze' brilliantly analyzes the parent/child relationship and how each is 'a maze' to the other. I was a stay-at-home dad for 2 years, and there is nothing more frightening than realizing that your child picks up on every little thing that you do, whether you realize it or not - and your behavior shapes them. What makes the song more brilliant is that most of the lyrics could be from the perspective of the child or the parent.

At its core, A Black Mile to the Surface is a great analysis of relationships and how, as you get older; as you become a husband/wife/partner or parent - you realize how important all of these relationships are - how you must prioritize them; nurture them. Once I became a parent, I realized how precious time really is - and how your words, actions and the work you put into those relationships truly affect the people in them.

There is a re-occurring line that pops up in different songs, 'There's nothing I've got, when I die, that I keep' - and as selfish as we find ourselves, that's a very important lesson to learn in life. The materialistic things that we have; that we acquire throughout life - cannot go with us when we die. How we treat each other; the relationships that we build and nurture throughout our lives - that's what lives on. That's what people remember.

Check out: 'The Gold'

I created a playlist of all the tracks that's I've recommended from each album. Enjoy! HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

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