#Roll to Review

[whovian223]

Blog in Review - 2023

Blog in Review - 2023 @dragonflight @terminalcitycon @OrcaCon @gmtgames @strongholdgames

It’s Monday and 2024 is upon us, almost sneaking up on us like a wily coyote hunting a roadrunner. As is my tradition over the past 4 years or so, I wanted to do an update on how this blog, and my gaming, is doing each year. A retrospective of the previous year is a great way to do that! I’m not going to go into a great deal about the year itself, other than to say that if you’re going to be…

[hamletthedane]

my brother just called me late at night, barely able to get two words out because he was laughing so hard. Finally, through the wheezing, he told me “go google the new Gollum game. Please”

So I did. And now I just spent half an hour on the phone nearly dying. We just kept sending eachother pictures of Gollum from the game and LOSING IT all over again. I haven’t laughed this hard in YEARS.

[girlreviews]

Review #146: Parallel Lines, Blondie

Man oh man oh man. I love Blondie so much. I found this record in the Windsor Oxfam. I don’t remember exactly how old I was, but I remember what boyfriend was with me so that puts me between 15 and 18. Yeah, same guy. I actually don’t remember if he ended up getting his hands on this record or not. I think I still have it. Will rifle through my collection later to check.

Blondie was in the “being cool” wilderness for some absolutely crazy reason at that point, and nobody really gave a shit about them anymore. When I was 17 or 18 they were playing the Reading Hexagon which is honestly still just such an unbelievable insult I’m still annoyed about it. I’ll circle back to that.

Parallel Lines epitomizes the complete and total coolness and badassery of Debbie Harry. I have never wanted to be someone more than I wanted to be her. So much confidence. Such incredible cheekbones. Such commitment to art. No apologies. The voice of an angel one moment and snarling whimsical warnings, like, hey you, don’t fuck with me, the next. Always standing in front of all of those completely non-descript nobody dudes. Yeah they’re playing the music, but who cares, who are they? It’s all her. She is Blondie.

Can I pick a favorite? It opens with Hanging on the Telephone, in which she is really threatening to rip the phone clean off the wall. It might be that one. But we’ve also got the classic One Way Or Another, which needs no comment, and one of my actual favorites of all time, Heart of Glass which never fails to fuck me up, but like, it’s a god damn disco track? Like sure, yeah, let’s boogie away our heart break. And I did. And I have. And I will. And these are all SINGLES. We aren’t even discussing the actual album tracks yet. Just listen to it. Honorable mention goes to Sunday Girl, which I always really loved. It’s cute and it’s kind of sweet in a very teenage girl kind of way that worked for me since I was in fact, a teenage girl. Also, not on the official album release, but there was a version of that track where the latter half was sung entirely in French and I always really dug it.

Okay so circling back to the Hexagon. This is a weird story and I’m still not sure how I feel about it, to this day. As I said, Blondie were playing a show at the Hexagon. I was absolutely obsessed with them, and Debbie Harry. I was also 17 or 18 and spent every penny I had on going to shows, but those pennies were pretty limited. I worked as a waitress at the pub that was two doors down from my house. It was full of characters. One such character was a regular, he was in his late 40s, was very wealthy, didn’t drive, was single, and spent literally every bit of his spare time in that pub. Think on that. He paid a lot of attention to the various young women that worked there. Was he creepy? No not exactly. But did it make you uncomfortable? Yes it did. Because you never knew when he might make it weird. Everyone liked him well enough. One day out of the blue this guy presented me with five tickets to the Blondie show. I didn’t know what in the hell to say or whether to accept them. Or what it meant. Whether there were expectations attached to them. Whether it was okay to take them. I was uncomfortable. I was 17.

Here’s what happened. My Mom, who sort of knew him too, since he was always there, decided it was fine, because she wanted to go. But for it to be okay, she decided he also had to come. So we went, he came, and a few friends too. The thing is though, she never knew him like I did. I saw him every day. I saw him with the other girls that worked at the pub. I saw him drunk off his ass. I don’t know that I ever would have taken the tickets. Or if I did, I’m not sure I ever would have invited him. I feel a bit queasy about it to this day. I think in the end something really off-base happened one night between him and someone on staff and he got barred. That was usually the way it went with regulars who were there that often.

The other thing to note is that Blondie ended because Debbie Harry was with Chris Stein, who was literally dying of some rare autoimmune disease throughout their last tour. There were other factors at play, but essentially, they broke up because he was too sick and she stayed at his side and became his full-time carer. When he was well, he left her. They are, remarkably, still close friends to this day and still perform together. Just never forget that men are dogs, and that Blondie is and always will be Debbie Harry. I love her. To this day she looks better than I do in a mini skirt and I love that for her.

ETA: I checked and in fact, I do not still have Parallel Lines in my record collection, but I am quite confident it got lost when I moved back to the US. Also, I’m not 100% certain that show was at the Reading Hexagon. I just know it was a shitty venue not worthy of Blondie. This was 18 years ago. You get the idea.

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Kelly Link's "Book of Love"

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/02/13/the-kissing-song/#wrack-and-roll

Kelly Link is one of science fiction's most important writers, a master of the short story to rank with the likes of Ted Chiang. For a decade, Kelly's friends have traded whispers that she was working on a novel – a giant novel – and the rumors were true and the novel is glorious and you will love it:

https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/book-of-love-9781804548455/

https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/239722/the-book-of-love-by-kelly-link/

It's called The Book of Love and it's massive – 650 pages! It is glorious. It is tricky.

If you've read Link's short stories (which honestly, you must read), you know her signature move: a bone-dry witty delivery, used to spin tales of deceptive whimsy and quirkiness, disarming you with daffiness while she sets the hook and yanks. That's the unmistakeable, inimitable texture of a Kelly Link story: deft literary brushstrokes, painting a picture so charming and silly that you don't even notice when she cuts you without mercy.

Turns out that she can quite handily do this for hundreds of pages, and the effect only gets better when it's given space to unfold.

Hard to tell you about this one without spoilers! But I'll tell you this much. It's a story about three teenaged friends who return from death and find themselves in the music room at their high school, face to face with their mild-mannered music teacher, Mr Anabin. Anabin explains what's happened in frustratingly cryptic – and very emphatic – terms, but is interrupted when a sinister shape-shifting wolf enters the music room.

This is Bogomil, and whenever he speaks, Mr Anabin turns his back – and vice versa. Anabin and Bogomil appear to be rivals, and Bogomil may or may not have been the keeper of the land of the dead from which the three have escaped. There's also a forth, a tattered shade who's been dead so long they don't remember who they are or anything about themselves. Bogomil would like to take the four back to the deadlands, but Anabin proposes a contest and Bogomil agrees – but no one explains the contest or its rules (or even its stakes) to the four dead teenagers.

That's the wind up. The pitch that follows is flawless, a long and twisting mystery about friendship, love, queerness, rock-and-roll, stardom, parenthood, loyalty, lust and duty. There's a terrifying elder god of Lovecraftian proportions. There are ghosts upon ghosts. There are ancient grudges. There are sudden revelations that come from unexpected angles but are, in retrospect, perfectly set up.

More than anything, there are characters. It's impossible not to love Link's characters, despite (because of) their self-destructive choices and their impossible dilemmas. They are so sweet, but they are also by turns mean and spiteful and resentful, like the pinch of salt that transforms a caramel from inedible spun sugar into something that bites even as it delights.

These characters, so very likable, are often dead or at death's door, and that peril propels the story like an unstoppable locomotive. From the very start, it's clear that some of them can't survive to the end, and Link is merciless in making you root for all of them, even though this means rooting against them all. This, in turn, creates moments of toe-curling, sublime horror.

Link has built a complex machine with more moving parts than anyone has any business being able to keep track of. And yet, each of these parts meshes flawlessly with all the others. The book ends with such triumphant perfection that it lingers long after you put it down. I can't wait to read this one again.

[chiyana]

Jon: Damian, I have a suggestion that you're going to hate, but I need you to bear with me and seriously consider it Damian: very well Jon: *takes a deep breath* I think we should go on an adventure with our brothers (Kon and Tim) instead of our dads Damian: *visibly vibrating with anger* *deep inhale* ...eXpLaIn Jon: our dads are constantly talking about responsibility and the importance of a well-balanced SuperBat partnership, working together as a single unit and approaching things seriously Damian: they are respected heroes, above reproach in their conduct and two of the three main founders of the Justice League Damian: meanwhile our "brothers", as you say, have a public history of being reckless and idiotic when teamed up together and are regularly involved in inane, useless shenanigans Jon: they would let us ride laser dinosaurs into battle without question Damian: they- Damian: -later- Damian: father Jon and I are going on an adventure with Drake and his clone boy

[t-hirstreview]

[blatantprinterpropaganda]

i'm not suggesting anything i'm just showing you. these random subtitles that follow each other. i'm doing this for no reason

[solradguy]

I thought the early 2000s "strong yet naked/mostly naked woman kept in her place by stronger, bigger, beast/monster or gang of racist caricatures" trope* was known by basically everyone but I mentioned it as a criticism of this older art book I'd flipped through recently to a friend and it turns out it isn't lol Maybe I've just read too many Heavy Metal issues... It used to be HORRIBLY inescapable in any sort of mature art scene back in the day lmao

*This trope is different from the pre-2000s one because the women usually look like they COULD fight back for at least a little bit whereas the previous trope had them be completely helpless damsels in distress

[askmovieslate]

Mod Notes:

She rolled a 3.

Not very good.

It's OK, her luck is pretty high. She'll be OK.

[sky-lia]

I was quite busy but better late than never !

Merry christmas and happy holidays !!✨

Sorry I don't have anything special to share ;w;

But here something, if you made a fanart of the  Joey Drew All Star Music Review, don't hesitate to tag me so i can like and reblog it !! :D

It make me even more happy to see artists drawing the ink demon in the silly rick roll clothes ! XD And yes, I made this gif and feel free to use it !

[rinkopatateneko]

As I made the video edit of Joey Drews All Star Music Review, I don't have any art to share BUT!! I made some funny GIFs for you all :D

(The @ on the GIFs are the Twitter ones)

Link the original video: https://youtu.be/U5aCMAc8TXw

Art by: @sky-lia @halfusek @angelofthepage

[another-little-hippie]

Guys what is this? It’s saved to my camera roll. Why is it saved to my camera roll? i have no memory of saving this. I can’t find the original in any of my like histories on any of my socials. Please help me. I need to find the creator of this masterpiece and I want all the albums.

[redlettermediathings]

[lisamarie-vee]

[theatrical-penguin]

I saw 10 of the new shows this year (3 Revivals and 7 New Musicals). So I decided to rate and rank them:

1 - Suffs 10/10 - What an incredible show! Such a talented cast and I want the soundtrack immediately! I had tears streaming down my face at the end of both acts. Shaina Taub and Hannah Cruz are particularly great. And Grace McLean as Pres Wilson is hilarious. The set is excellently done to evoke the locales and move things along. Strong direction all the way. My pick for Best Musical.

2 - Water For Elephants 9.5/10 - amazing cast; should get an award for ensemble; nice use of puppets - Rosie reveal was perfect. Grant was incredible as was August. Went up in rank as the week went on because the music really stuck with me and I wanted to hear it again.

3 - Outsiders 9//10 - loved the choreo. Ponyboy is great. The gravel stage and flashlights were particularly effective. Best lighting design and use of rain

4 - Merrily We Roll Along 8.5/10 - was slightly concerned by Groff’s flat affect in first scene until it became clear it was a choice as he became more vibrant as time moved back. Daniel was perfect and the friendship between the 3 leads really came through. His Franklin Shepherd Inc is worth the Tony on its own. I can only assume I was supposed to hate Gussie because I totally did.

5 - Cabaret 8/10 - confession: I had never seen Cabaret in any form and I didn’t research the plot so I had no idea what was happening between the KitKat numbers. Really good production- excellent staging, never felt left out in the round. Eddie Redmayne was creepily intriguing. Sally seemed more broken than I would have thought from hearing songs from previous productions. Dark and moody; not a huge fan of the immersive preshow. No program pic bc they covered all phone cameras with stickers on the way in (before giving us a shot of really bad schnapps)

6 - The Wiz 8/10 - bright and fun! Excellent performances especially the 4 leads. LOVE the Lion. Costumes are gorgeous and the dancing is fabulous. Does Wayne Brady have to be there the whole show since he’s not on til Act 2?

7 - Gatsby 8/10 - bubbly and fun; loved the opulence of set & costumes; great dancing and some really good songs; loved Jeremy Jordan’s Gatsby - the insecurities coming through the glam

8 - Notebook 7.5/10 - Heartbreaking performance by Old Allie especially. What is with that water on stage this year?

9 - Hells Kitchen 7/10 - great dancing. Lead actress was great but maybe im too old to identify with her instead of her mother. Again with death of a supporting character.

10 - Back To The Future 7/10 - Roger Bart is hilarious - definitely the reason to see the show. Set was actually a little underwhelming - too much reliance on projections. Some fun numbers but no real standouts.

Overall: no shows I disliked this time. VERY strong season. Some really creative use/resuses of minimalistic elements this season. Other season trends: full size cars and actual rain. And death - so much death

[w0w0zella]

Hey ! guys !! Guys !!! hhahah!! hahaahhh!!