#normally i get more excited over greats than cory's but there's only been like 2 reports of the latter off my county

[ornithological]

watching thousands of shearwaters right now...never seen so many from this viewpoint. a few manx and sooties but all the rest are bigger shearwaters! mostly great shearwaters i assume but it would be awesome to confirm a cory's 🤞

[aimmyarrowshigh]

Dark Greetings this Spooky Season Ms. V. Can we get a list of your favorite Halloween movies and specials? I know you have seen *everything* and I am trying to go beyond my usual rewatches this holiday month.

V. AIMMYARROWSHIGH’S CRITERIA FOR HALLOWEEN EPISODES

Does the Halloween element combine convincingly with the usual universe of the show (ex: Lizzie McGuire 2x09 “Those Freaky McGuires” is not good as a Halloween episode because it changes the rules of the Lizzie McGuire universe, whereas Community 2x06 “Epidemiology” is a GREAT Halloween episode because it manages to logically introduce zombies to the regular Community universe)?

Does the Halloween element advance the plot of the episode/series (ex: the reason Boy Meets World 5x17 “And Then There Was Shawn” is literally the best Halloween episode ever made is that it uses the horror movie tropes it satirizes to provide a CRUCIAL turning-point to the plot of the show)?

Is the Halloween episode in the forefront enough that it’s clearly a holiday episode (ex: HAVING ONE JACK-O’LANTERN ON A DESK DOES NOT A HALLOWEEN SPECIAL MAKE, LAW & ORDER 16x03 “GHOSTS”! You gotta go ALL-IN, like Bob’s Burgers 3x02 “Full Bars”!)?

Does the Halloween theme balance well between spooky and warm-n-fuzzy (ex: Criminal Minds 11x21 “Mr. Scratch” is too fucking bleak, but Criminal Minds 12x06 “Elliott’s Pond” has a joyous/celebratory tone to the ending despite being a genuinely scary episode)?

Is it generally a well-written, acted, and designed episode of television (ex: Saved by the Bell! 3x26 “Mystery Weekend” is seriously, not exaggerating, the worst thing I’ve ever watched in my life; Psych 1x15 “Scary Sherry, Or Bianca’s Toast” is a triumph of the medium)?

THE BEST, bar none, Halloween special ever made is Boy Meets World 5x17, “And Then There Was Shawn.” Period. There can be no argument, except MAYBE Community 3x06, “Epidemiology,” but I like “And Then There Was Shawn” better because the parody and homage as less… biting? And because I think it continues and addresses the emotional core of the regular BMW season better than “Epidemiology” does for Community s3. “Epi” DOES plant the seed (…heh) for the Season 3B major plot arc of Shirley’s pregnancy and Chang Deciding To Murder, but it gets some major minus points for mocking Yvette Nicole Brown’s weight with other characters’ responses to her costume, tbh. And “And Then There Was Shawn” is just fucking iconic. It is THE Halloween episode manual, IMO, if there were to be a textbook on how to write a perfect Halloween episode for your sitcom.

HOWEVER, I also have to give major props to Bob’s Burgers and Psych, as complete series, for their CONSISTENTLY excellent Halloween episodes. A lot of series that have multiple Halloween eps really phone it in after one or two, because they don’t have any more ideas for how to incorporate Halloween pastiches while maintaining the overall feeling of the series (tbh B99, while the Halloween Heists are excellent in general, is/has been coming very close to this line, and I think that if they HADN’T had to switch out the Heist to Cinco de Mayo in s6, they would have jumped their Heist Shark [and I think they know it, too, because it was lampshaded in the episode itself]) or they just straight-up don’t have any more ideas for what or how to have the characters they’re bound to parody or pay homage to a Halloween thing after they’ve already done one or two. And let’s be real: those one or two have probably been either The Shining or Rear Window, because those are pretty much the two that every show starts with.

Bob’s manages to make every Halloween episode feel very fresh and organic to the series, which I think they do have some leeway to do because of the nature of cartoons keeping the Belchers living a kind of loop of never aging, yk, but amazingly they’ve only done the “Tina feels too old to trick or treat, maybe? Nope, she’s not 14 yet, so there’s still time!” thing in a way that felt tropey once (in 3x02 Full Bars). They’ve been able to address Tina being 13/in 8th grade, and worrying about it being almost too late for her to keep trick or treating, in ways that were in-character and added to the overall episode in 4x02 Fort Night, 5x02 Tina and the Real Ghost, and 9x04 Nightmare on Ocean Avenue Street, without me rolling my eyes at the screen and going “TINA, EVERY SINGLE SHOW WITH A TWEEN IN IT HAS ALREADY DECIDED THAT THE AGE AT WHICH YOU MUST STOP TRICK OR TREATING IS FRESHMAN YEAR OF HIGH SCHOOL, COME ON NOW” which… at this point, is a Feat. Because like, I’ve POSTED over a thousand Halloween episodes, right? But I’ve watched and screencapped ::checks folder:: 3,905 Halloween episodes since 2014. Which is, um, a. lot. The ACTUAL BEST Bob’s Burgers Halloween episode is 6x03, “The Hauntening,” which is just… achingly perfect television. I know I’ve posted about it before (probably a couple times tbh) but the way that it aired originally back-to-back with The Simpsons 27x04, “Halloween of Horror,” so that the evening of Sunday cartoons juxtaposed eight-year-old Louise whose family worked so hard to scare her like she wanted with nine-year-old Lisa’s family working so hard to keep her from being too scared and make sure that she felt safe… reader, I FUCKIN CRIED. Little girls being deeply loved while also Spoopy Things!!!!!! IS WHAT HALLOWEEN SPECIALS ARE!!! FUCKIN!!!!!! ABOUT!!!!!!!

Psych, though, has the benefit of not really having any, like… central tone to the series? Beyond “friendship” and “having fun with joking,” tbh? So it’s able to do what a lot of series get docked “points” for in my Foolproof Halloween Special Ratings System That Is Completely Subjective To My Tastes And Mood, which is really just run full-tilt into parody and homage without really worrying about overall tonal connection to the rest of the season or series. 1x15, “Scary Sherry, or, Bianca’s Toast,” while it DOES fall victim to the way-too-common Halloween episode trap of making mental hospitals into a Scary Thing (they are a medical normality and a necessary thing for health for many people and should not be feared), is delightful Spooky Fun AND has the benefit of having Shannon Woodward in it.* We all know by now that if an episode of any show has Shannon Woodward as the guest star, it will by default end up being one of the best, if not THE best, episodes of that series. It’s just how having Shannon Woodward as your guest star rolls. I also really like, with Psych’s Halloween episodes, that quite a few of them understand the underlying thematic scope of Horror, which is “The Monstrous Feminine Is A Thing And All Horror Tropes Are Actually About Women’s Interior Lives Because Men Can’t Write Women And Fear Women Always,” yk, in a way that is neither TOO Actual Horror, which I am too afraid of to Do, or too trite and demeaning, which is the other basic trap that Halloween stuff falls into A Lot. Like, Scary Sherry is very much about women villainizing other women, avenging other women, and being in very specifically-female pain, even though Shawn & Gus are still the lens through which we solve the mystery, and so are 4x04 The Devil Is In The Details And The Upstairs Bedroom and 6x03 This Episode Sucks. But they give their Monstrous Females dignity and breadth, which is impressive, ESPECIALLY since they’re one-off guest characters. Also, 3x15 Tuesday the 17th is just plain funny and well-done, like, just give it props for the title alone.

*(Speaking of Shannon Woodward, another amazingly good Halloween episode is Raising Hope 4x07, “Murder, She Hoped,” which is among my very favorite Rear Window homage episodes and has probably the funniest gag in ANY Rear Window ep, in Martha Plimpton floating across the screen in the Grace Kelly silk nightgown and peignoir and announcing that it was on sale at Walmart, can you believe?! and honestly, yes. Perfection.)

Also excellent:

• The Addams Family (1991) + Addams Family Values (1993) • Scooby-Doo and the Ghoul School (RAISE YOUR HAND IF YOU WERE GAY FOR SIBELLA AS A CHILD!) • Scooby-Doo and the Witch's Ghost (RAISE YOUR HAND IF YOU'RE GAY BECAUSE THE HEX GIRLS!) • Halloweentown + Halloweentown II: Kalabar's Revenge • Mom's Got a Date with a Vampire! • Z•O•M•B•I•E•S (to a lesser extent, Z•O•M•B•I•E•S 2) • Clue (1985) • Coraline • Corpse Bride • 6teen 2x00 Dude of the Dead • Arthur 21x00 Arthur and the Haunted Treehouse • Lamb-Chop in the Haunted Studio • Arthur 8x04A Fern-kenstein's Monster • Arthur 10x02 The Squirrels • WandaVision 1x06 The All-New Halloween Spooktacular (I KNOW YOU, SPECIFICALLY, DEAR @plavoptice, HATE MCU!WANDA AND I DON'T BLAME YOU, YOUR REASONS ARE VERY VALID! But this is a good Halloween special so I'm putting it on my list In General.) • Boy Meets World 2x06 Who's Afraid of Cory Wolf? • Ghostbusters (2016) • Gravity Falls 1x12 Summerween • Leverage 4x02 Ten L'il Grifters Job • The Loud House 2x40 Tricked! • Mockingbird Lane 1x00 Unaired Pilot • It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown! (Classic, etc.)

I'm SURE I'm forgetting some that I'll rewatch this year myself. I'm a big Halloween Baking Championship fan, tbh, which is on Discovery+ now so I recommend that if you like mostly-relaxing nice people baking cakes that look like bats and such.

I'm also IMMENSELY INTENSELY EXCITED for The Muppets' Haunted Mansion on Disney+ next week!!!

[ethanlivemere]

Nobody asked, but here’s my opinion on the CATS-trailer

So it’s been about three months since the CATS-trailer came out and somehow I thought NOW would be a good time to express my opinion on it. It’s quite controversial, but have you ever wanted to hear what a long-time hardcore CATS-fan who has been wanting a CATS-movie for years thinks about it? Probably not, but I went and made this very long post anyway.

1)      Cast

Can’t spell ‘cats’ without ‘cast’ and there’s some big names in the list of actors they’ve released. Some are excellent choices, some are more… questionable.

Ian McKellen as Gus: Now this is something that makes me profoundly happy. Sir McKellen honestly seems perfect for the role, I mean, he practically IS Gus the Theatre Cat (maybe a little younger, and less feline). Great choice, looking forward to it. Judi Dench as Old Deuteronomy: Now here’s one of the more questionable ones. I love dame Dench, that isn’t the problem; it’s just that Old D is supposed to be a large, old, deep-voiced male cat, and dame Dench only fits one of those characteristics. Of course, they could very well change Old Deuteronomy to be the matriarch of the tribe rather than the patriarch, and that would probably be fine. I’m more worried about whether Old D’s singing parts (like The Ad-dressing of Cats) would work as well with a higher, female voice. And of course, they would have to do tweaks to the song Old Deuteronomy itself, and ‘Old Deuteronomy’s buried nine husbands’ doesn’t sound that great. Idris Elba as Macavity: Here’s one that I’m very interested in. I think they might give Macavity a larger role in the film, which is a big ‘heck yeah’ for me, and Elba seems like he could portray the Napoleon of Crime like the menacing figure it’s supposed to be very well. I look forward to both the portrayal, and what the writers do with him. Jennifer Hudson as Grizabella: There’s an old saying that goes: “a CATS-performance is only as good as its Grizabella”. Will this one be any good? I don’t know, we’ll have to see. The bits of Memory we have heard so far sound decent, although nothing will ever top Elaine Paige for me (as you will notice further in this post, I’m a bit of a ‘1998 video version’-purist) It should be noted that her design doesn’t look a whole lot like Grizabella, but that’s a different category. As long as she can deliver a Memory that almost makes me cry, then it’s fine. James Corden as Bustopher Jones: I know a lot of people hate Corden, but I personally don’t mind him. He’s okay in my opinion (I have never seen his late night show, so that might be the reason). Whether he’ll be able to pull of BJ’s almost opera-like singing is something we’ll have to wait and see, because I very much doubt he did the singing in One Chance himself. Taylor Swift as Bombalurina: I have no idea how this will turn out. She can certainly sing (something we can’t say for sure about a lot of other cast members) but I have no idea if she’ll make a good Bomba. Rebel Wilson as Jennyanydots: I’ll go ahead and say it: I wasn’t too fond of the Jennyanydots bits in the trailer. They were a bit too slapstick-y for my likes, and Rebel Wilson isn’t exactly known for subtle humor. Once again, we’ll see how it turns out. Jason Derulo as Rum Tum Tugger: Recent CATS-productions have been changing the classic RTT we know and love to some sort of rapper abomination, and many fans (including myself, as you may notice by that wording) don’t like it. It’s unclear which version the movie will be going for: Derulo certainly resembles the rapper version more, but what we saw in the trailer looks like neither, though slightly leaning towards the classic version. Let’s hope we don’t have to hear RTT rap his own song. Ray Winstone as Growltiger: Look, I have never seen or heard of Ray Winstone, but just seeing Growltiger on the cast list fills me with profound happiness, because that’s the one big complaint I have about my beloved 1998 video version: no Growltiger. Hurray for Growltiger’s return!

That’s the main ones I wanted to discuss. Munkustrap seems unimportant in the trailer (we’ll get to that in a bit) so I won’t discuss him. Victoria mainly just has to be a good dancer, and Francesca Hayward seems to be just that, so no further comment (though more on Victoria later).

2)      Character design

Alright, let’s address the elephant in the room: the CGI. Yes, some of the characters make me very uncomfortable. Yes, I hope they change some things before the final product. But what I want to discuss is the designs themselves.

First of all: head shapes. Apart from some exceptions (Grizabella, Old D, Gus) all cats seem to have a human shape of head, and this bothers me. Usually, Cassandra stands out by her head shape, and so do Cori and Tanto, but here they all have that shape. Usually, RTT has a very wide head to go with his mane, but here? This is my biggest problem with RTT in this trailer (ignoring the threat of rapper-Tugger): the combination of his thin head, kind of small mane and completely different colors make him barely recognizable as Tugger. Many cats look very different: Old D, even ignoring the fact that it’s a woman now, has completely different colors. The same goes for Bombalurina. Maybe this is the ‘don’t you dare change anything’-fanboy side of me talking, but in cases where fur color is the only way to recognize a character, this is a big deal. Macavity also looks completely different, although cool. The hat looks be a bit weird on him though. Also Mistoffelees has black patches on his eyes, not sure how I feel about that.

Overall, the awkward CGI and many changes make character design one of the things I’m less happy about, but oh well.

3)      Sets & backgrounds

I think the backgrounds look gorgeous, although some are very obviously CGI (here we are at the CGI again). But there’s one problem: CATS takes place on a junkyard. I know, obviously they would want to expand a little in the film and include more different settings, and I completely agree: I would’ve been disappointed if they hadn’t. The problem is that I haven’t seen a single junkyard in the trailer. We see streets, a theater, a fancy house, a square, a graveyard, a bar… but no junkyard. Some shots may look like they’re on a junkyard, but trust me: they’re either in the theater, graveyard, or the alley at the back of Bustopher’s favorite club. Again, this is basically me going ‘they changed something reeee’, but come on. It’s like if the Les Mis movie was set in Italy. Tom Hooper, do me a favor and include at least ONE scene on a junkyard.

4)      Story

The musical is, much like Les Mis, 100% singing and talking with music accompaniment, and 0% regular dialogue. From the line said by Victoria at the end of the trailer, we know that they won’t do like Les Mis and completely sing the movie, and I’m perfectly fine with that. CATS’ story has always been a bit unclear for a casual patron who doesn’t know the lyrics and deep lore of the musical, so I’m glad they’re putting in some regular dialogue. If anything, it’ll give us a chance to see the Jellicles’ personalities better.

But speaking of Victoria: it seems like she and Mistoffelees will be the main characters in the movie. This is odd, but understandable. CATS doesn’t have a clear main character. You could say it’s Grizabella, but she’s only in a couple of scenes. You could say it’s Munkustrap, although he is regarded more as the narrator than the main character. However, the trailer has a disappointingly small amount of Munk, and his name is very low on the IMDB cast list. The same goes for Skimbleshanks, who I’m not sure if he’s in trailer at all (unless he’s the cat with the pants) and is even lower on the list than Munkustrap, plus there are no trains or train stations in the trailer. Odd.

Anyway, back to Misto and Vic. Normally, Victoria’s only role is performing a couple of amazing ballet routines, but that doesn’t seem to be case here. I personally would’ve picked Jemima over Victoria as a main character, but I guess her design isn’t as easily recognizable as Victoria’s (have I mentioned how many of the cats look pretty much the same in this version?)

Someone who also seems to have a much larger role is Bustopher. Normally he only appears during his own song, but here he seems to be a more general presence. We’ll see how that works out.

Anyway, if Munkustrap is reduced to just being the cat who sings about the Old Gumbie Cat and maybe Old Deuteronomy, I’ll be mad. (AND THEY BETTER NOT REMOVE HIS FIGHT OVER DEMETER WITH MACAVITY OR I’LL BE VERY MAD) Speaking of Demeter, she’s also very absent in the trailer and low on the cast list. Guess they made Bombalurina more prominent because they got a big name to play her.

5)      Background characters (specifically Tumblebrutus)

As I said in the previous bit, it looks like many characters will be reduced to minor characters, so cats who already were background characters in the musical (like my boy Tumblebrutus) will probably have very little time to shine. I guess that’s inevitable, but I hope they at least make an effort to include the various background characters rather than replace them with generic OC’s. Luckily, I already recognized Pouncival in the background of one of the shots, so there’s hope. But if they don’t include my boy, my all-time favorite Jellicle, the best character in CATS, known as Tumblebrutus, then I’ll be even more mad than if they remove the Munk vs. Mac fight. He’s not on the IMDB list (unless he’s one of the ‘ensemble’ characters) but neither is Pounce and I definitely saw him so fingers crossed I can spot Tumbles when I watch this movie.

Conclusion

Am I excited for this movie? Heck yeah! Am I scared this movie might turn out shit? Heck yeah! There’s really no telling how good this will be (a lot depends on whether the final product has better CGI cats), but I think my viewing experience will be a mix of “Oh my god I’ve been waiting so long for a CATS movie oh look I recognize that character this is awesome oh here comes my favorite song I literally know this entire 2 hour musical by heart” and “Oh my god what is this RTT design where is Tumblebrutus why is there no junkyard why did they slightly alter this one lyric why isn’t this EXACTLY like the 1998 video version I love so much when I get home I’m just gonna watch that version again it’s much better anyway”.

Yours sincerely,

Ethan Livemere, certified CATS-expert and Tumblebrutus fanboy

[cutiecrates]

Cutie Reviews: TokyoTreat September 19

I can’t believe it’s been like 3 months since I last did one of these o_o I mean, it does feel like it’s been some time- but not that long. I’d blame it on Pokemon Sword, but I just got it last week so I guess I can’t. But it did partially have to do with why I was putting this box off, besides a little intimidation because I’m still getting into the swing of things again...

(Warning: melted chocolate pics inside!)

Okay, so as you guys can see for this month we got a paper, which usually only happens when there is an issue going on with an item. Well, for this month, it’s basically saying that they mislabeled the AJ Curry item in the booklet as something else.

The Lucky Treat for this month... do you guys remember? :3 this is the one I actually won! If you want to see the prizes in full detail, check out this blog post! The Prize for the contest features some Dragonball and Gintama figures and candy.

The booklet also features an article on flavors of the month, some basic Japanese, and Pocky!

Watermelon Soda & Melon Jelly DIY

For our fruity theme this month, we got a watermelon flavored soda by Kirin. The drink only contains 15kcal per 100ml, and if I understand this right, the bottle contains 480ml? I can’t really read it- and I suck at math, but that doesn’t sound too bad right?

It smells exactly like watermelon candy/artificial watermelon, and you mostly taste that while drinking it- but the after taste brings to mind a real watermelon. When I was younger I used to love watermelon flavored things, but now that I’m older I find there’s only a few I still like now, so I kinda like this. But I can’t see myself wanting to drink the entire thing either, I’ll probably share it.

Also, I like how the packaging makes it look like a watermelon.

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Our DIY item I’ve reviewed before (I’m pretty sure because I know I had it before), and because of how quick and easy it is, I didn’t see the point in making a whole separate post about it.   

This is a “jelly drink“, in that it starts out liquidy when you mix it, but the more you mix and let it sit, the more... slime-like it becomes. With the color and texture it feels like you’re making a slime rather than a snackish-candy-drink; in saying that, if you’re someone who doesn’t like slimey textured food items, you probably won’t like this.

I have to admit that with its green coloring, I got a little grossed out because of what it reminded me of <_< but I assure it delicious, although light on the melon flavor. It’s also fun to make and play with.

Caramel Corn & Melon Bread Cookies

Next is the ever-so-popular Caramel Corn by Tohato. However, this pack is kind of special because its the last share pack I will be getting in this box! We weren’t supposed to get one at all, but somehow this ended up being my mystery item they included. Luckily I like caramel corn.

If you’re looking for a sweet, crispy snack then I’d recommend trying them. Each little bag of original flavor Caramel Corn is 56kcal, and they come in several flavors for all sorts of tastes, even those you might normally see in crunchy-crispy snacks; like ice cream and soda!

My only issue with these is that sometimes they’re too sweet. I’m used to the normal flavor by now after eating it so many times, but whenever I try a new flavor I can usually just eat a handful before I want something else. But they always taste good :P as long as you eat them within a few days of opening- they go stale pretty quick.

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Our next item is a melon bread cookie pack by Yaokin. These seemingly plain cookies are packed with a melon flavoring; and chocolate, as I discovered after I took the picture.

The three flavors of the melon and chocolate combined with the cookie give the entire taste a light sweetness that isn’t overwhelming. It seems dry but the thin chocolate provides a little moistness, I didn’t feel like a drink was necessary after eating one.

Mint Taiyaki & Chocolate Mint Pocky

I’ve said this countless times but for anyone new, I love mint and chocolate mint flavors~

The taiyaki (a fish-shaped cookie or cake filled with cream) I have had before, and as you can see this one came to be very beaten up. I’m not sure what happened because nothing else was mangled in the box, but I assume it could be because of the airy chocolate insides melting.

It’s still very tasty though, and as you eat it, you feel a cooling mint effect in your mouth x3 each one is 89kcal. These are by the brand Meito, and they come in several flavors so I would recommend trying one if you ever see them.

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Meanwhile, you can also see that the pocky suffered from being in the heat and kept in a box for so long. These weren’t the only thing that suffered in the box.

Anyway, these Pocky come in a 2-set pack, making them perfect for sharing or just giving to someone special or in need of a pick-me-up. The stick is chocolate, while the chocolate cream over it is mint. Per-pack, these are 165kcal.

According to the box, these are good until May, and they taste fine even in this shape. But the flavoring is very light in my opinion, so I’m not sure how I feel about them.

Gudetama Custard Chocolate & Detective Conan Chocolate Bar

Yeah... I think these 2 items got the “heat deformation“ worse than anything else in the box. Surprisingly they are also both by the brand Furuta.

The gudetama bag of chocolates consists of a small chocolate filled with a softer, creamish sort of white chocolate flavored like custard. Each one is 54kcal, and as you can see pretty messy to try to eat as a result of them melting in the packaging.

Honestly, I’m not really into these. They still taste the same as they did back when I opened the box and tried one, but I’m not really crazy about the taste; they kind of remind me of a chocolate brand I really don’t like. They’re not the worst chocolate I’ve tried though.

But I will say that just for the adorable Gudetama theme, they are still worth trying. Especially if you know someone who likes Gudetama. 

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Our next item (which I know is really hard to see in this picture) is very common, because it frequently shows up in the Kawaii Box. These are the chocolate bars that are filled with wafer and chocolate cream, then coated in another layer of chocolate that resembles a log of wood. Furuta makes them for several series, like Sanrio and Disney.

This one featured a Detective Conan wrapper, but it was pretty messed up by the time I got the chocolate out, so I had to discard it. It was also strawberry-chocolate in taste, and it was very yummy! It reminds me of the Apollo strawberry chocolate, which I would also recommend trying. They’re one of the smaller, cheaper Japanese candies you can easily find on Amazon.

Watermelon Gummies & Soda Soft Candy

This box was kind of repetitive in my opinion, because here we are at another candy I’ve had before. These watermelon gummies by Kabaya came in a Kawaii Box a few months back prior to this one. The entire bag is 159kcal, and something I appreciate about them is that the pack is resealable.

I like these gummies because they’re soft, and the sweetness is very light, but you get a lot of watermelon flavor. They have a refreshing quality to them too, so I think they would make a great summer snack.

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Our next item is by Coris, and it is a soft, chewy candy stick flavored after Soda (which is comparable or also labeled as ramune, you can tell the difference between soda flavors and cola because of the coloring. Cola is usually red or brown, while soda will be blue or white). The candy consists of a chewy tube filled with tightly packed powder, both of which have soda flavoring.

Although it’s not as chewy, these remind me a lot of a Hi-Chew. It’s very tasty, and it’s smooth chewiness makes it feel really nice in the mouth x3 I really like it.

Aj Curry, Yaokin Soba, and Petit Kabuki Rice Crackers

AJ Curry is a fairly common snack you can find in various Japanese snack packs or online, as such as I’ve had it a couple times before. Each bag is 38kcal, and you get a bunch so if you’re looking for a little snack I think these would be a good choice.

I will mention that these expired back in December, but when I opened them they didn’t taste stale, although now I’m beginning to notice it. The flavor is fairly light and I would assume by the name they’re going for a curry spice flavor, which I can taste- but they also remind me a lot of Bugles.

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Also by Yaokin, we have this soba snacking noodle and puff pack, flavored after the sauce you would find on soba noodles. You can eat these as-is, or the booklet even recommends putting them on some cooked noodles. Which is something I see a lot of people do, but I never tried it myself.

These expired at the end of December, and they have a weird taste- but I’m not sure if its due to expiration or if its just how they taste. I haven’t had them for a long time. They smell really good, but they have a sort of... fishy aftertaste? To be fair though I haven’t really been a fan of these though, so I’ll probably give them to someone else who I know would like them.

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Our last item in this pic is a pack of rice crackers, and I got very excited to see these; I love rice, and I love rice snacks (especially savory ones). I really wish we got more of them!

The flavor is light with these -it reminds me of soy sauce- and they have a soft-crunch texture. I’ve had them before but I will gladly welcome them again because I really like these ♥

Wasabi Nori & Natto Umaibo

I can’t say I’m a big fan of wasabi or natto- but it’s always fun to try something new (within reason that is, there are things I never plan on eating). Our first item is this Nori (seaweed) stick similar to jerky. I have tried one of these before, but I don’t remember what flavor it was; I will say that they remind me a lot of squid though.

As much as I like eating seaweed, I can’t say this is my favorite form of it. You get the taste, but it’s pretty chewy, and honestly a little unpleasant from the wasabi flavor. It’s not terrible, but not something I would choose again.

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I love umaibo, but would you believe this one reminded me of wasabi way more than the seaweed did? I never actually tried natto before, but I do know there are like... wasabi or musardish flavoring for it from what I’ve seen. I think that’s what I taste while eating it. But it’s pretty light; this expired back in December though so that might have played a part in it.

It actually tasted really good. Nothing comparable to my favorite Umaibo flavor (corn potage), but I didn’t dislike it at all.

Fried Potato Chips & Yuzu Lemon Salt Chips

These are our last 2 items of this box. Our first item is a small pack of fry-style potato chips. They look a bit like the AJ Curry don’t they?

These don’t taste bad, but they’re pretty plain in comparison to the other items in the box. They have a light flavor, but it’s basic, nothing special. They got a nice crunch though, and they don’t taste bad. If you’re not really into unique flavors this would probably be up your alley.

- - - - -

Our last item is a frequent one by Calbee we often get the pleasure of trying :3 and I mean that very sincerely, because I love their chips (I suggest trying the pepper ones if you ever see them!). They range from basic savory flavors to the more adventurous fruity ones, sweet chocolate dipped, and even some spicy ones like wasabi. But they also have basic chip flavors too.

I think I’ve tried at least 5 variants of their chips, and so far not a stinker among them. They have a high calorie count though, which is the one downside; but as long as you don’t eat them all at once or frequently, I don’t think its too bad.

Now, as I discovered from getting this box, lemon-salt is a fairly popular flavor combination. At first it sounded kind of strange to me, but it always tastes pretty good. You get the refreshing sweetness of lemon with a cut of saltiness, so there isn’t usually any sourness.

Which is exactly how you could describe these chips. They taste really good, and the flavor is a bit lighter than usual so if you’re new to it these might be a good place to start. 

♥ Cutie Ranking ♥

Content - 3 out of 5. I complain about repetition a lot, and sadly this box jammed that button hard for me. Only 4 items were extremely new to me, while the rest was either the same flavors or different ones. BUT, if they had to do repeats I’m glad they were items I actually liked. I was also happy not to see a bag of kit kats. I love them but I was getting tire of them <_< and I find it ironic that even though we no longer got share pack items, I still got them from the random item!   Quality - 3.5 out of 5. A fair amount of items were either expired or melted, warped chocolate but to be fair this box is about 5 months old, it’s not Tokyo Treats fault. But in saying that, I’m rating this based on the fact these items aren’t likely to hold over long, but they mostly all still taste the same/pretty good. Theme - 5 out of 5. Well I can’t say the items were fresh by the time I got to them, but they were tasty :P Total Rank: 7 out of 10. I wasn’t very happy with this heavy repetition (for me personally, I know that can’t be helped because there’s a lot of new people who can say they never had these before), but at least everything was yummy. I disliked one item out of everything, and even then it wasn’t unbearable or nasty. I also didn’t like how badly this box handled itself over time, and out of every box I got I think this one had it the worst. Usually they hold up so much better. But it didn’t ruin the box, an with next months box being Halloween based, I can’t wait to see what we get~

♥ Cutie’s Scale of Yummy ♥

1. Rice Crackers - ♥ Very very VERY yummy ♥ 2. Soda Soft Candy - Delicious ♥ 3. Chocolate Bar - I love Apollo chocolate x3 so considering this tasted like it, I really liked this one.  4. Melon Jelly Drink DIY - I usually don’t include the DIY items, but since I reviewed it here I didn’t see a point in excluding it. Very tasty, but the melon is really light.  

5. Natto Umaibo - I was kind of surprised I liked this as much as I did. I wasn’t expecting to.  6. Mint Taiyaki - given its poor shape, it didn’t taste as good as my previous one did. But it was still yummy~ 7. Lemon Salt Chips - I’m not sure they’re my favorite of this brand, but I did like them. They make me think of a non-sour lemon meringue.   8. Watermelon Soda - Initially I didn’t want very much but over time I began to like it more, and it seemed to lose that artificial watermelon taste.  9. Watermelon Gummies - Sweet and soft, very refreshing.   10. Melon Bread Biscuits - Pretty tasty, and I like the chocolate cream. I feel like that added something to it.  11. Wasabi Nori - I wouldn’t choose this again, but I didn’t hate it. 12. Choco Mint Pocky - I thought I would like these a lot more, but they’re not as strong as the chocolate mint I’m used to. 13. AJ Curry - these taste fine, I never disliked them. But they were never my favorite either.

14. Gudetama Chocolate - It’s very cute in packaging but the taste wasn’t the best.

15. Fried Potato Chips -  Nothing wrong with them, but they didn’t offer much.

16. Caramel Corn - don’t get me wrong, I think they’re delicious, but it’s just the same thing with these every time.

17. Yaokin Soba - I never liked this, and i still don’t.

[falloutdialogue]

Commonwealth Postmen

In a random encounter, you’ll come across a dead mailman; not only are they wearing a postman uniform, but they’re carrying letters, too! Each body you find will have three letters, randomized from twelve possibilities. Some of them will put markers on your map.

These postmen are never explained further; where they come from, who they work for. You never meet a live one, and no one mentions them. I wish we knew more. After New Vegas, all I want is to side with the Courier faction!

This post is sponsored by my unofficial consultant:

Note 1 Amy, I know it's been a while since I last wrote you. Things are going well here in Goodneighbor and I have been busier than normal with work. So busy, in fact, that I have some great news. I've saved up enough money to rent out a place here big enough for you and the kids to finally come join me! So start packing your bags! I think I can take a week off to come get you guys moved out here. We can finally be a family again! I love you all so much.

Note 2 Lars, I know there's no easy way to do this, so I'm just going to come out and say it. I'm leaving you. I know doing it by letter makes me a coward, and I'm ok with that. I just couldn't stand being with you anymore. The way you just let everyone push you around and tell you what to do. Grow a backbone! Who wants a man like that? I'm staying with Paulo now. Yes, that Paulo. He may be a Ghoul, but at least he doesn't take crap from everyone. And he doesn't live with his mother like someone I know. Don't write me back, Sharon

Note 3 Campbell, I heard from Mitchell that there's a load of Mentats at that school near West Roxbury. Some story about closets full of Mentats or something. I know there's a bunch of Super Mutants in the area, but I have a plan. See, we sneak into that school at night, get our hands on some of those chems, and then we'll be so smart we can figure out how to get out no problem! Trust me!

Note 4 Cory, I'm telling you, man, this gig is top notch. This place is right near a road and we just grab caravans as they go by, and we live like kings. It's a brewery, for Christ's sake! It's packed with beer! How could you say no? I put in a good word for you, buddy, so just come out here and tell them I sent you. Oh, and I'm going by Crank Shaft now - they won't know who Melvin is.

Note 5 Frank, this letter is to show you that I know where you live. So, for the last time, WHERE IS MY FUCKING MONEY?!? You know who this is.

Note 6 Kristen, You were right! This pen pal thing is a lot of fun! Gives me something to look forward to all week. It can get pretty lonely out here, but now I get excited whenever I see the mail carrier go by! Anyway, I found some more spare wood planks, so I decided to add a "sun room" to the old shack. I mean, pretty much every room is a sun room when you've got a leaky roof, am I right? But I found some patio chairs and a couple of cinder blocks I'm using as a table. It faces the east, so sunrises are just lovely! Maybe someday you'll make the trek out here and see it with me. How are things going with you? Did you talk to that guy you've been eyeing? He sounded really handsome, you should go for it! I mean, what have you got to lose? Anyway, hope this finds you well, and I look forward to your next letter! Your pen pal, Alexander

Note 8 Steph, they know! Don't ask me how, but they found out what you did. I don't think they know where you're hiding, and I hope to God this finds you first, but you have to pack up and get the hell out of there, ok? Don't tell anyone where you're going this time! I'll try and delay them as much as I can, but you'd better hurry.

Note 9 Joel, When the hell are you getting back? I can't believe you left this stupid thing with me. A mole rat is not a goddamned pet! It chews on everything and then craps all over the floor. This is not worth it, I don't care how much you're paying me. Get back here in 10 days or I swear I will butcher the thing and eat it. I'm not kidding.

Jamaica Plain Note The Treasures of Jamaica Plain October 17-23nd, 2077          8am-5pm Daily Come and see the fabulous Treasures of Jamaica Plain! This stunning exhibit will be on display for one week only before these priceless items are sealed away, never to be seen again! Bring the entire family to this once-in-a-lifetime event! Tash - I've been thinking about going after the Treasure. Jesse's game. You in?

College Square Note Look, Cole, I know you're sick of working for Bobbi, but don't leave Goodneighbor. You don't know how good you got it, hon. Steady jobs. Decent place to live. And you got Hancock to bash some heads in if people get outta line. Ricca's taken over the gang here in College Square. She raised the tolls - traders are all taking the west road now. If things don't turn around soon, there's gonna be a mutiny. If things start to go down, I'm taking my caps and getting the Hell outta here. Love, Erris

Easy City Downs Note You heard about Ernie's gang out at the Downs? Some of his boys patch up robots, even race them around the old track there. Sounds like my kind of gig. I'm gonna take Tin Man out there and tool him into a racing bot. Give me a week, then come on out. Fifty caps says he'll be the top robot on the tracks. -Tony

[littlenomo]

The tales of Lombok and the great big volcanic rock

Phew! It's been a busy 10 days in Lombok. However the toughest challenge we faced here (or perhaps ever!) and the most painful for me to have to relive is that of climbing Mount Rinjani, so I'm going to tell you about that first. We did a 3 day trek up the volcanic Mount Rinjani, not quite to the summit, but still 2600m up (and down) and then 600m down (and up!) to visit the lake and hot springs in the crater of the mountain. It was definitely the hardest physical challenge I've ever had and Alex said it was more intense that the Inca trek and probably wouldn't have taken either of us if he'd known how hard it was going to be!! Day 1 - The Climb After our customary 2 hour wait at the hostel, we met our very international group (Finland, Spain, Malaysia, France, and the Lake District) and set off for a 30 minute journey in the back of a truck to our starting point. What started as a nice gradual climb through rolling hills with clanging cows' bells and a little woodland area, quickly torpedoed after lunch as the route got rockier, more treacherous and; most painfully, steeper throughout. It also didn't help my self esteem that our whole group were super humans. The British guy, Cory, had done the 'Lakes in a Day' challenge and seemed to be looking at the whole climb as if it were a race, Ville from Finland was about to begin training to be a ranger out there and Spanish Marija had been on Everest!! Needless to say, they were at least an hour ahead of us at all times. The last three hours (of 8!!!) were hell and I seriously doubted if we were going to make it even with our guide, Bihan, being so patient with us and making me a stick to help me. The last section (when our legs were about ready to give way) was near vertical with loose rocks on a twisty hillside. It gave me vertigo to look back and see how high up we were. However when we came out of that last wooded area, and turned to see a full moon above the vast valley below us, despite my weariness, I was still blown away by the view. The sun was just setting so it was perfect timing to reach base camp, with the full moon surrounded by pinky hues on one side, and then a bright colourful sky on the other as the sun set behind the crater with a glassy, calm lake at the bottom. I felt a brief moment of elation as we collapsed after taking a few photos, but then the pain kicked in. I think my body must have been in shock, as I was having leg and foot spasms, hot and cold flushes (it got cold very quickly once the sun was down), and didn't have much of an appetite; though the dinner was delicious. My only option for relief was to sleep. It was a small tent with a hard mat and a smelly sleeping bag, but I honestly didn't even notice. Day 2 - Hot springs and Lake While the rest of the crazies climbed to the summit at 2am (another 1000m climb), we had a relaxed morning at base camp; I mostly slept, and Alex had some quiet time watching the sunrise. Oh and guarding our tents from dozens of monkeys looking for leftovers! Eventually our group was back (one couple took over eight hours to do the summit - it sounded very precarious!!) and we persuaded a guide to take us to the hot springs. A landslide on our planned route meant we had to try a bit harder to figure out what was happening and what we were able to do, but we got there in the end. The trek down into the crater and back would have been hard on a normal day, but our already aching limbs made it all the harder. At least this one was 50% steep incline and 50% flat(ish) walking! The springs themselves were amazing to behold: steaming greeny blue streams flowing down between huge cream rocks. The water was extremely hot and I only managed to get my feet in (though they appreciated the special treatment!) before I was craving a cool down, so we headed to the lake for a swim. It seemed like a different world, though only 5 minutes away. It was misty and grey so that the lake looked like it went on forever. When the clouds cleared we realised we were close by to the cone (the most active part of the volcano) which was smoking away. It was such a shame we didn't have more time down there so we could really appreciate the springs and the lake. We were certainly wishing we were camping there for the night rather than facing the climb back to our beds, but climb we did. The second night ended much in the same way as the first; my body just willing for it all to end. Day 3 - The Descent Still knackering, and with a few hairy moments, I must admit once we got past the first super steep bit, I almost enjoyed parts of the descent, especially after my Immodium kicked in (yep, tummy still not quite right!) and I'd swapped my blistering boots for some freeing flip flops. I had a moment where I even felt grateful that I'd got to see such beautiful and remote things that lazy people like me usually never get to see. However, as my feet started aching, the last hour dragged and I could feel myself getting more and more worked up so that when I rejoined with Alex at the finish line, I wasn't surprised that I cried (making it a grand total of 4.5 waves of tears throughout the trek, but only one full blown meltdown: A:"You look miserable" N:"I AM MISERABLE!"), this time mainly just from relief that it was all over. In conclusion, I'm probably never going to climb another mountain like that again (not sure I even should have in the first place!), but we met some great people (Jonah from New York with his brilliant hiking hat was the highlight!), saw great things and certainly pushed ourselves to the limit, which I guess is a good test so early in a marriage! Oh and I've never enjoyed a hot shower and a nice hotel room so much in my life as I did that afternoon. The rest of our time in Lombok has been a stark contrast of relaxation, beaches and just your more your average holiday vibes and we were in the perfect locations for it. Firstly in our very plush hotel in Senggigi which had a really nice pool with an incredible view down over the hillside to the sea and secondly by the unbelievably beautiful south coast in Kuta. This time consisted of mainly of sunbathing (/burning), massages, mosquito bites, ice cream, shopping, swimming and Alex did a bit of surfing, but of course there were some highlights... Firstly, the day before we did the trek we were taken by our rather charming 15 year old guide, Ali, to see some waterfalls in Senaru. Alex got a rather harsh back massage from the first one, but it was really the second waterfall that blew us away. It was a crescent of smaller and narrow flows of water coming down a huge curved rock side in the rainforest, surrounding one bigger, more powerful jet that pushed out into the middle. I'm not sure my description does it justice but it really was amazing!! We also had the fun but slightly disconcerting journey back through the tunnels that bring water down to the town from the waterfalls (so that we could avoid all the stairs back, so it was for good reason!). With water up to my knees, it was pitch black in the tunnels apart from the occasional windows to the pathway which illuminated dozens of intricate dewy spider's webs. The ground underfoot was mostly smooth but did have the occasional hole (goodness knows where to!) that Ali skilfully helped us avoid. A really interesting and fun afternoon!! In Senggigi the main highlight was when we went for dinner in a deserted restaurant (as we've grown quite accustomed to; it's apparently "rainy" season here at the moment, though we've had someone watching out for us on that front so far!), so the live band were essentially just performing for us. The singer, Ronnie, came to chat with us in his break and I made sure to mention that Alex was a bassist. Low and behold, he was up playing "Sweet Child of Mine" with them in the next set, it was great. After the gig they then invited us to their house as it just so happened to be the day before Mawlid (Muslim equivalent to Christmas Eve) and they were having a get together at one of their houses. We said we definitely wouldn't want to eat (as we'd already eaten) and Ronnie assured me it would be OK if I didn't want any, but as I suspected this was met with disdain (I felt like a huge bloaty balloon, I couldn't even attempt it!). Either way, it was so nice of them to ask us there and their singalongs and copious amounts of food did make me excited for Christmas with our families, even if Alex was told off for eating with his left hand! I was sad that the woman who had made the meal wasn't part of the socialising itself, despite Alex trying to invite her in. Apparently it was a men only affair (apart from the tourist!). Kuta was, as I mentioned, breathtakingly beautiful. The kind of beaches you see on exotic postcards and perfume commercials. Aside from just riding around on our hired moped and soaking in the scenery (and eating incredible Mexican food!!), we did also have the closest we've had to a night out on the whole trip! Early on Alex was up to his usual chatty tricks and made friends with a local bar owner, Yoko. He helped us with moped hire and took Alex surfing, and it was his bar that hosted the Friday live music night that seemed to attract in the whole town - we haven't seen that many people gathered together in weeks!! It was a good giggle chatting to lots of drunken surfers from all over the world, fighting off, but simultaneously laughing with kids selling bracelets, doing balloons (Alex had another crazy deja vu experience), and having a dance at a safe distance from the crazy locals who were pouring beer all over each other. The final crescendo of the trip was a walk on our last night out to sunset point, which is every bit as romantic as it sounds. It is a set of surprisingly green rolling hillsides (you could believe you were in Cornwall!) on a peninsula that juts out into the sea at the end of one of the particularly beautiful beaches. There are small foot-made paths over the hills which lead to a variety of amazing vantage points of the stretching coast line in magic hour's golden light. On our way out we saw some cows that from a distance looked shimmery and almost waxy, but which, on closer inspection, turned out to be caked in mud from an unexpected mud bath just over the verge of the hill - a cattle spa! And, at the top, we saw a legitimate flying man! I've never seen it before (not even sure what it's called?), but it was a guy quite simply flying over the hillsides in a seat pulled by a big crescent kite which he controlled from levers in each hand. It was scary but amazing to watch him glide gracefully down the slopes and over the shimmering ocean. He managed to stay in the air for about an hour using only the power of the wind. So yeah, it's been great! However, I must admit, I'm hoping Flores, our next stop, will have less pushy salesmanship. It made me so sad seeing kids as young as maybe 6, selling bracelets at all hours of the day and night and one woman started telling me about how she was married at 15 when she was selling us sarongs and I could feel my blood start to boil!! All that aside, Lombok was one of the most picturesque places I think I've ever seen - certainly any honeymooners dream - and we are sad to go.

[press-a-repeatedly]

Zul’s Top 9 Games of 2018

By Zul Edwards

Heyyy it’s me. I’m back! What a year! 2018 has come and gone and many awesome games have been played by everyone here at PAR. The votes were tallied, the results are in, and I am included in that bunch. However, some of the games I played and loved this year were no-shows on our list. Some AMAZING games that I think deserve a little love on our corner on the internet.  So, I thought, if you out there reading this were interested, (spoiler alert, nobody is) here is my OWN personal top nine games of 2018.

So, let’s get this thing started with my number 9!... oh yeah, I only played 9 games in 2018. heh.

9) No Man’s Sky – So I was one of those gamers who was excited for NMS when it was first announced a few years back. Thought the idea of exploring a quintillion planet was awesome. Then the game came out, I heard it sucked, and I ignored it. Enter a couple years later when it was on sale, had a ton of updates and new features: true online with friends, customizable characters, base building, and a brand-new story. However, it wasn’t enough to keep me hooked. Don’t get me wrong, I liked exploring the various galaxies and doing various side quests, engaging in dogfights with pirates and mining for space gold, but overall it just still felt so empty, so repetitious, and so… blah. I guess I still prefer quality over quantity, even if the quantity is in the quintillions.  

8) The Alliance Alive – The first on the list of “Games only Zul played this year”. The Alliance Alive is a 3DS game from the creators of the classic “Legend of Legacy”, literally a game I borrowed from Justin, played for all of 30 minutes, then promptly returned to Justin never to be spoken of again. So, to my surprise when he told me the same studio was making another game, The Alliance Alive, but it was helmed by one of the writers of the Suikoden franchise, I was cautiously optimistic. Much to my (pleasant) surprise, the game was good! A blend of classic JRPG turned based battles with flairs of modernization: skills learned through fighting, increased stats based on the location of fighters in battles, and a darker story not usually found in those classic SNES/PS1 RPGs this seems to emulate.  While the main characters fall into some pretty cliché tropes, the side characters really shine. From giant axe-wielding lizard men that remind me of my own D&D character, to a demon-dog-man butler, to a mad child genius scientist who rides a duck robot, this game has a lot of flavor. I really should go back and finish.

7) Chasm – While it’s no secret that I love Castlevania games, I think it’s fair to say I’m not really a giant fan of Metroidvania games. I prefer the simpler side-scrolling action of Castlevania, constantly moving forward towards a goal of smacking Drac in the face with a metal whip, to the backtracking and map completing chore of most Metroidvania games. With that said, something about the less intense and simpler format of Chasm kept me hooked till the end. I didn’t mind backtracking and completing the map in Chasm because it wasn’t as vast or complicated as other games in the genre. It was colorful, had great music, stellar pixel art and a fun yet challenging battle system and platforming. Overall it was a blast to play, but it just got overshadowed in a year filled with superior games.

6) God of War – “WHAT THE FUCK?” I hear you slam on your keyboards as I place the unrivaled GOTY in a paltry 6th place. Don’t get me wrong, this game is good. In fact, it’s VERY good. However, for whatever reason, I guess this game didn’t hook me like it did for everyone else. I only have a passing familiarity with the GoW series. Even though I’m a diehard SonyBoy, I only ever played GoW 1 and never beat it. Kratos and Atreus are some of the best written and best-acted characters to come out of a video game in this year or any year. Hell, if we had a “best new character” category again this year, I would struggle to not put Atreus in the top 3. The music is amazing, the writing is fantastic, the scope, cinematography and the constant one camera perspective were all stellar achievements in the medium of gaming, not to mention I’m pretty much obsessed with all things Norse… BUT. I dunno. Little things kept taking me out of it. Atreus’s sudden, jarring mood swings. The poor pacing in certain parts. The sudden introduction of major characters and/or story elements, that felt kind of brushed over and/or rushed. The lackluster side content, the padding and the empty worlds. The game is good. But it never felt great to me. Most games that I love, I think about when I’m not playing them, then I rush home from work to play them because I want to complete them, either for the story or because the gameplay is addicting, but this game felt more like a chore sometimes. I didn’t even buy it, I just borrowed it from Butch earlier in the year when it came out. I’m sorry Cory. I tried but I just didn’t love this game.

5) Moonlighter – Now here’s a game I absolutely adored. Flew under my radar and was recommended by Nick. By day you’re a humble shopkeeper, selling various wares and curios. By night, (by… MOONLIGHT) you explore dungeons ala Link to the Past style in a top-down view, into randomly generated maps. Each area has different items to collect & new materials to find, which you bring back to the shop to sell, which with the money you earn, can craft new weapons, which will get you further into dungeons, which will mean you find more items to sell which means you make more gold to spend on armor and weapons, which means you can get better materials to keep delving deeper, WHICH MEANS… ahem. Ah yes. That classic feedback loop. It sucked me in. It’s simple but effective in keeping me engaged. Coupled with a great art style, fluid beautiful pixel graphics and a surprisingly good amount of story for this type of game, Moonlighter took a nice chunk of my time early in the year.

4) Ni No Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom – Another entry in “Games only Zul played this year”, NNK2 was a surprise hit for me. I never played NNK1 and heard rather negative things about it from Nick over the years. I bought NNK2 on a whim months after it came out because it was on sale and I was craving a good JRPG, and it did not disappoint. I loved pretty much everything about this game. The music, the story, the beautiful not quite Ghibli, but practically Ghibli art style, the characters, the mechanics, the town building, the combat… it was everything I was looking for. There were certainly parts in the middle that lagged a bit, and the general “go to town > solve town’s problem > make an alliance with the town” could be considered cliché or predictable, but every town felt unique and its inhabitants all felt genuine. Recruiting citizens into your kingdom and assigning them all a role in your castle was a time sink I didn’t realize I would be so into, but I think I spent more hours on that than anything else in the game. And it also gets marks for being the other child in a video game besides Atreus, King Evan, that I didn’t want to strangle, and in fact by the time the credits rolled, he’d probably be #2 or 3 in Best Character of the Year for me.

3) Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age – Now as far as JRPGS go, Dragon Quest is the ultimate grand-daddy, even more so than Final Fantasy, but it was a series I never really got into. I played some previous games in the series and found passing enjoyment in a couple titles but never enough to ever want to complete a game or seek out other entries in the series. That all kind of changed when I played DQ 11. DQ has never really strayed too far from its classic turn-based JRPG roots. “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” would be their mantra I assume, and I love it. In a time when the turn-based system is all but gone from genre giant Final Fantasy, DQ has instead chosen to stick with it, and fully master the dying style. It was hands down the best JRPG I’ve played all year, and probably one of the best I’ve played in several years. It has everything: a great story, compelling characters, awesome music, amazing art style, engaging combat, fun side quests, a challenging yet fair difficulty curve, and it’s actually, really funny on top of all that. While the length might scare people away, (I clocked in right around 120 hours after getting the platinum trophy for 100% completion of the game) it’s some of the best time I spent gaming in a long time. It’s a classic in a modern era. It’s weird, if you said to teenage Zul “one of your favorite JRPGs ever will be Dragon Quest 11, and one of your least favorite JRPGs will be Final Fantasy 15”, he would never have believed you… but here we are.

2) Monster Hunter World – Ah yes. The one oddball in my gaming repertoire. I think we all have one of these, right? That one game/series that for whatever reason, sits outside your normal gaming habits, yet you love it, nonetheless. Maybe you love Halo and FPS games, but you also really like Animal Crossing for some reason. Or maybe you’re a diehard Dark Souls series fan but just can’t get enough of Cooking Mama as well. Variety is the spice of life they say, and while I’m primarily a “character & story first, RPGs, video games are art” kind of dude, something about smashing Monsters in the face with a giant hammer has kept me hooked on the Monster Hunter series for nearly 10 years. I love the challenging but fair battles, the deep customization, the various weapons and armors for both male and female hunters, the varied and unique monsters that all have their own ecology, musical themes, and battle styles you must learn and adapt to if you want to survive. It’s also linking up with friends (or even strangers online) and tackling a beast as a team. For all these reasons and so much more, this series sunk its claws in me from the very first time I played it, and it hasn’t let go. Monster Hunter World is the next-gen, beautifully realized game I’ve wanted for years; and it took the story, art, gameplay, and fun I’ve come to expect from this series to another level.

1) Red Dead Redemption II – I honestly don’t know how to write about this game. I can say all the other things I’ve said up until now about how great the music is (it’s amazing), how varied and alive the characters feel (they’re amazing), how stunningly awe-inspiring the scenery is or how fluid and lifelike the character animations are (they’re amazing), how the story and personal journey of Arthur Morgan literally brought me to tears more than once (he’s #1 in Best Characters btw. And they’re amazing), how rich every side quest is, how fun the mini-games are, how great the dialogue is, or any of the other truly breath-taking aspects of the game, but I don’t think I could do them justice. Hell, I don’t even know how to put them into words myself inside my own head. To me, this is one of those games that surpasses all of that. Yea, it has flaws, every game does, everyTHING does, but to me, it’s perfect, warts and all.  I can’t give it much higher praise than that, and it is absolutely the best game I played in years. When a game can give me an extensional crisis during some of its final moments, I think it’s safe to say that It’ll stick with me and has undoubtedly set a very high bar for all future games. The team at Rockstar outdid themselves and have my thanks for bringing this game into the world.

PHEW. Well, that’s it. Top 9 games of 2018 according to Zully Boy. Another great year in gaming for me personally and here’s to another great year in 2019! Lots to look forward to, and hopefully some hidden gems that’ll surprise me along the way. Happy Gaming everyone!

[yuniesan]

Glitter and Stardust - Chapter 16

Glitter and Stardust: (Cross Posted to WattPad )

Synopsis: Sixteen-year-old Riley Matthews got the shock of her life when she realized that her best friend Maya Hart had feelings for the boy Riley had been in love with since middle school. Instead fighting for the love her Lucas Friar, Riley stepped back so that her friend would have the chance at a relationship with him. The only problem was that Riley was hurting on the inside. Riley decides to hop onto the first train the Philadelphia to go see her Uncle Josh in hopes of gaining perspective on where she should stand in the relationships between the two people she cares about the most. Or will this trip cause more heartache for her?

Chapters [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [8.5] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15]

Chapter 16 – Acceptance Letters

January quickly turned to February and then March came, their lives had been uneventful and normal for the first time and Riley was savoring it. There was no drama but there were a few surprises, Maya’s mom had announced at a Valentine’s Day party that she and Shawn had been secretly dating and that Shawn had proposed. Maya was excited but once everyone had calmed down she also told them that she was pregnant. Riley thought back to that night when they decided on having an impromptu sleepover. Lucas was okay with them canceling the rest of their date so that she could help Maya process everything that had happened.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

“Maya you’re going to be a sister,” Riley said to her shocked best friend. “You’re getting a dad and a new sibling at the same time.”

“But college is coming up, and I don’t want to disappoint my mom… Riley what am I going to do?”

“Maya we haven’t even picked out what college we’re going to go to, we haven’t gotten any letters yet. I know that even if you go away to college you’re going to be a great sister, remember Facebook exist, and you can skype of facetime, there’s a million ways for you to be able to be a good sister. You can set an example for your future brother or sister by graduating college.”

“You’ve thought a lot about this haven’t you?”

“Yes because remember I too am going to be a big sister… well I already am but you know what I’m saying. Plus, that kid already has a best friend because both of our moms are friends. They’re going to be the next Riley and Maya,” she said with a big smile.

“I hope not, I want them to be their own people, but I do like the friend thing, it’s cute.”

“It is cute,” Riley said hugging her best friend.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

In the weeks after that night their mothers set up all of their appointments together as well as planning shopping days and baby rooms. Shawn and Katy decided on getting married at the court house and waiting until after the baby is born so that they could have a real wedding. Maya had calmed down and started painting little canvases filled with the sky and the sun to put up in the baby’s room. Riley was smiling all the time because everyone around her were happy, Lucas was always close to her looking at her being happy. On the inside Riley was still worried about college, she hadn’t heard anything back but her friends were getting letters from NYU, Columbia, Rutgers, but Riley hadn’t gotten anything.

“Everyday,” he said.

“What?” she looked at him.

“You’re so happy, I like it but I also know you’re worried about something so tell me.”

“I haven’t heard anything from any school, maybe I’m not good enough for college. You’ve gotten into five different schools and I haven’t heard a thing. Maya got into four art programs, Smackle and Farkle got into every ivy league school and a couple of others, and Zay got letters from all three of the schools he applied to,” she said looking down at her books.

“Riles you’re at the top of our class.”

“No I’m not,” she said.

“Well not compared to Farkle and Smackle but you are at least in the top ten. All of our teachers’ have given you great recommendations and you’re in a ton of extracurricular activities. They will all love you, stop worrying.”

Riley tried to stop worrying but when another week had passed and nothing showed up she didn’t know what to do. It was the beginning of April by the time she had given up on college completely.

“Hey Riley,” Auggie said as he sat down next to her. “Can we play together?” he said showing her a video game.

“Sure Augs, let’s go play,” she said.

“Yay,” he jumped up and down. “Will the new baby want to play with me?”

“Augs you’re going to be an incredible brother, the new baby will love you.”

“But if you’re gone how will I be any good to this baby, I can’t be a good brother if you’re not here.”

“Don’t worry Auggie,” she said because she had given up on college but she didn’t want to tell her brother. “You will be an amazing big brother and I will be here to help you.”

“Really,” he said excitedly. “That’s great Riley.”

“Okay now let’s go play this game,” she said hugging her brother to her side.

The two of them played until their parents got home. Her father went around picking up their laundry as her mother began cooking dinner. Auggie was helping their mom, while Riley started on her homework. The intercom buzzed a few minutes later making Riley look up.

“Who is it?”

“Everyone you know,” Lucas said. A few minutes later her friends were sitting in the living room with a box of treats and smiles all around.

“Why are you guys here?” she asked.

“We’re here to cheer you up, and to eat all of these cupcakes,” Maya said to her.

Riley knew that Lucas had told them about her fears but she was glad because her friends are there to cheer her up. She smiled at him and said a silent thank you as they sat around the living room. Her mother made sandwiches for all of them since it was easier than cooking a big dinner and called her father and brother to come down to eat. Auggie showed up first but her dad hadn’t come down yet.

“Cory come and eat please,” she yelled.

“I’m here,” he said as he came around the corner. “Auggie can you explain why these were at the bottom of your laundry?” he said holding up a pile of letters.

“That’s not where they go?” he said trying to look innocent.

“What is that?” her mom said.

“They’re all addressed to Riley, but judging from the size of them they’re her college acceptance letters.”

“What?” Riley said looking at her brother.

“Riley I think Auggie was trying to keep you here,” Lucas said smiling at her. “He didn’t want you to leave.”

“Is that true,” she asked her brother.

“I was afraid of being a big brother, and losing you at the same time,” he started crying. “I don’t want you to go.”

“Auggie, you’re not going to lose me. You can call me and text me and video chat, and you will be a great big brother,” she said pulling him close to her.

“Okay, I’ll try my best,” he said with tears in his eyes. “I’m sorry Riley.”

“It’s okay, I know why you did it but next time just talk to me,” she said hugging her brother.

“Okay so which one do we open first,” Zay said breaking the silence.

Riley smiled and said, “All of them.”

Everyone took an envelope and ripped it open, but Riley took the one for Pennbrook because it was the one school that truly interested her. Anyone could go to a big name school but sometimes you want to follow someone else’s legacy and see where it leads you. As she looked around everyone smiled at her, she knew that she had gotten into every school that she had applied for. Her parents looked over at her and smiled as proudly as they could, she wanted to follow in their footsteps and make them proud while paving her own path. She had a decision to make, and so did her friends.

[27emailsicantsend]

GMW Episode 1 Brain Dump

I was recently going over a save GMW post about how meta Episode 1 is. I also know that the writers have said that there are hidden messages from episodes we STILL haven’t caught yet. So I am just going to give you my entire analysis of episode one. This is presuming episode one is one of the most important, if not THE most important episode, to the entire series. Some of these theories may feel far fetched and some may seem straight on. Some of these theories are ones I have heard of from other people whereas some are my own. This will be an entire recollection of my thoughts regarding GMW episode one. Are you ready? Let’s go.

The first scene starts off with Maya and Riley trying to sneak out onto the subway, only to be caught by Cory and Topanga. Cory gives a short speech about what he wants more than anything, is for Riley to make the world hers. Fast forward to GMGoodbye, the very end scene, when Cory is outside and discovers the world is his. He knows his purpose in the world. He is married and knows where he wants to go with his life. Riley is still in 9th grade. She isn’t decided on who she will marry, what she will do with her life, and where she wants to settle down and start her life. I believe the phrase, “make the world yours” implicates a certain amount of maturity that comes only in adulthood. You may not know everything about your life, but you have some major life questions answered so you can focus on the smaller parts of life with greater detail. You can truly make the world yours and what you want it to be, because you are at a point in your life that you have already discovered a lot of what it has to offer (marriage, career path, ect.). Even though this post is a brain dump of episode one, I feel like a lot of this episode foreshadowed where MJ wanted to go with the show, but it was cut off dramatically too soon.

The next scene shows Riley and Maya on the subway. Maya says, “Oh, yeah? Well let’s see how cool you can be when you look at him”. Talking about Lucas, implying she finds him attractive. For those of you who think Maya didn’t like Lucas from day one, think again. It’s more of a “Mr. BOING” crush than anything, because she doesn’t know Lucas at all, but she definitely thinks he’s attractive. However, she gives him over to Riley. She even says, “You’re really cute”. This is something that always gets me. I think this is a huge part in Maya stepping back. She is giving Lucas to Riley here because she wants what is best for Riley.

Now watch closely when she is talking about her and Lucas dating. If you listen closely, there is major foreshadowing as to what their relationship is going to be. They try to be friends post SL2 but they are not the same. No joking, no banter. They can’t be just friends, not really. Because they don’t know how. They only know how to flirt. The only reason they were awkward was because of Riley and the triangle so they felt wrong for dating. I think once Riley realizes she needs to be with Farkle and they get together, then Lucaya can happen and normally too. There are also some posters above each girl’s head when they go to talk to Lucas. Above Maya is “long lasting” and Riley is “two months only” (some may argue that Riley’s head does fall under the long-lasting sign, but it covers up the words. There had to have been multiple takes and for not one to show the words speaks volumes to me because when Maya is by Lucas the 2 months only is covered up as well). Did anyone try to get a timeline for how long post-ski lodge to Good-Bye was? Because if there is anyway to look at it, I am generally assuming their relationship was about 2 months. (Ski Lodge is November-ish, notice the leaf colors, and the GMACM is obviously in December, followed very shortly by GMGoodbye. Coincidence? I think not).

Also, take note of Lucas’ face when Maya leaves. He looks confused and a little upset. I think he was just as excited to have an attractive girl hit on him, but upset to see her leave. That doesn’t mean he wasn’t excited about Riley falling on his lap, but I think if Maya would have stopped after, “we should hang out sometime”, I think Lucas wouldn’t of opposed because he was attracted to Maya too. Not full on liking each other, but there is definite attraction there without both having to say it.

The next scene is Riley and Maya in Mr. Matthews class. We see them take their seats. I know seating is a big deal and in the first episode only Riley and Maya have switched spots. After that (until season 3) they switch. I seriously have no idea why this is, any suggestions or theories my fellow Tumblr’s?

After this, Farkle explains that he loves both Riley and Maya. Then he says, “Some may say the great mystery of the universe is who ends up as Mrs. Farkle”. I never caught this until now but there is some meta underneath this line. Farkle is the genius. He is the one who wants to solve everything in the universe through science whereas Riley is taking on the universe and discovering how to make it her own. I think that when Riley is “Mrs. Farkle” she will have discovered how to make the world her own (mostly, implying the first scene from earlier) and Farkle will solve the universe’s greatest question, through head and heart. He loves both girls equally, even with them being so different, because he loves them equally in different ways. (Loves Maya as a friend just as equally as he loves Riley as in deep, non-platonic love).

Riley then asks Cory who she is, and Cory says, “you’re just like me”. Then Riley says, “oh yeah? Would you do this? No homework, more freedom!�� The writers are breaking BMW assumptions from episode one. Showing Riley does not want to be like her dad, she wants to be her own person. (Obviously neglecting the fact that this entire episode is dedicated to Riley trying to be like Maya).

Farkle then goes, “My education or my women? My education or my women? My education or my women? It's happening again, sir!” This introduced Farkle not understanding how to choose between head and heart. He then passes out. Farkle cannot physically understand how to mesh love and logic together which causes his body to comedically collapse in this episode. But it speaks volumes about how torn Farkle is understanding that in order to be happy and have success, he needs to have both.

Small side tangent about the next scene: Riley admits that she is trying to be like Maya. I have noticed that in every episode, aside from Ski Lodge, with one of the girls trying to be someone else, they know exactly what they are doing. They go full-throttle into being the other person. Ski Lodge is the only freaking episode where Maya is confused and doesn’t understand that people think she is trying to become Riley or has become Riley. She wasn’t making an effort to become someone else. “I’ve always been me, Riley!” If she was trying to be Riley, she would have made it known, like in Yearbook.

After this is the lunchroom scene, where Lucas tries to sit down and Farkle sits in between Riley and Maya with the lunch line dilemma of sloppy joe or chicken pot pie. Notice that Farkle has both on his tray, sits in between Maya and Riley, and says both foods the same way. He is torn. He hasn’t figured out that he loves one girl over the other yet and it will take him time to realize this. (A couple seasons worth I might add). But when Lucas sits down, what’s on his tray? Sloppy Joe... the same as Miss Maya Hart... eh hem. I mean, Hunter.

The next classroom scene is Cory asking the class if they believe in something so strongly they are willing to fight for it. This isn’t much, but I thought it was a nice cheeky reference for us to remember as we are fighting Disney to get GMW back. Do we believe in it strongly enough? Then let’s fight for it!

Riley then says she doesn’t believe in homework so she is Maya. Then Cory says, “Guess what, Riley? That doesn’t make you the same as Maya, at all”. Just because they do something that is similar doesn’t make them the same! Riley has values in this episode because she gets rid of them it makes her a worse person, not misunderstood. Maya changes her lifestyle and gets better grades and matures, that makes her a better person, but doesn’t mean she is quirky and different like Riley. These two mesh well, but aren’t each other.

Sidenote: Farkle climbing all over Mr. Matthews still cracks me up to this day! hahaha

Maya tells Mr. Matthews that she goes to far because she has no one at home who helps her with her homework. That’s why she lashed out. Maybe this can explain more to her character and other charcters than we think. There is more than what we see on the surface. There is reasoning behind all actions. Don’t think MJ makes these characters the way they are with no reasoning. They have things to change and grow, they have depth, and they are real. It makes me wonder about Lucas being a bad boy back in Texas. Why was he that way and what made him change? He is not a stale character like I have seen him become accused of so many times. There is more to him than meets the eye and we won’t know what that story is unless we get more GMW.

And oh boy, the next Subway scene. First off, the “new long lasting” poster has been replaced with a map, which makes me have even more reason to believe that poster was not coincidental. Also, I know so many of you say this show is about ships, but remember the lady from Sister, Sister who was in this episode and in demolition? Maya tries to tell Riley that Cory is going to end the friendship and the lady asks, “where’s your hunk?” Riley tries to tell her that the most important relationship is friendship and the lady responds with, “You ain’t got no hunk, you ain’t got no story”. Friendship is important and it is the basis to the show, but relationships can evolve from friendships and can help tell an important story. It was a funny line, but a lot can be taken from it.

Last random side note: The two girls at the end that Farkle said, “Ladies!” to are both brunettes. I’m hoping that’s some foreshadowing. ;)

Ok, wow. If you got to this part, congratulations! I am sorry if there are typo’s because it is just a brain dump... but seriously watch this episode closely next time. There was so much more I wanted to say but didn’t know how to word it so this is the best you got from me. Again, not everything I noticed is from me noticing it first personally. Things like the posters and sloppy joe vs chicken pot pie were other theories from other people (that I can’t remember exactly where I got it from. YouTube, I think?)

Let me know your theories and if you have any more suggestions for GMW brain dumps for me. I am considering a Sweet Sixteen/Goodbye one so let me know if that is something you want. Also, I am always up for asks so feel free to ask me anything!

Thanks!

~iloveboyz27

[reneeacaseyfl]

Coco Gauff Draws a Crowd Even Without Wimbledon’s Pageantry

WASHINGTON — In her first stop after four matches on Wimbledon’s biggest courts, Coco Gauff and her rising star illuminated the Citi Open on Saturday in the nation’s capital.

Gauff, 15, won a first-round qualifying match in front of a crowd of about 3,000, the largest in memory for the tournament’s qualifying rounds, which rarely feature players familiar to casual tennis fans.

“I just think it’s crazy how literally four weeks ago not a lot of people knew my name, and now a lot of people do,” Gauff said in a news conference after defeating Maegan Manasse, 6-4, 6-2.

The crowd vocally supported Gauff, whose given name is Cori, throughout the match, and gave her a standing ovation upon her victory.

She built her fan base at Wimbledon with a star-making first-round victory over Venus Williams, eventually losing in the fourth round to Simona Halep, the eventual champion.

Gauff’s father and coach, Corey, said the reception afterward in her hometown, Delray Beach, Fla., was more than he had expected.

“I would love to come home with a trophy,” he said. “But they just wanted to express the support, and we were really appreciative. Everyone was really nice. I guess she’s kind of the local celebrity right now.”

Gauff’s celebrity is, at a minimum, nationwide. The turnout in Washington was particularly impressive given the short notice: She learned she would play at the tournament only a day earlier.

Tournament organizers could not grant Gauff a spot directly into the main draw because she has used the maximum number of wild cards into tour-level events, as limited by the WTA’s age eligibility rule. And the tournament’s entry deadline came before Gauff’s ranking soared 170 places, meaning she had to use her pre-Wimbledon ranking of 313th.

Gauff had been more than 15 spots away from qualifying as recently as a week ago, and appeared unlikely to reach the qualifying draw. Tournament organizers still planned to feature her on Sunday, in a kids�� day event and an exhibition match. But improbably, enough players withdrew before the draw was made — including the defending champion, Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia, who said she was unable to obtain a visa — to allow Gauff in.

The Citi Open is likely to be the last tournament Gauff plays before the United States Open, which begins in New York next month. She hopes to optimize the few remaining chances she has to play on tour this year, and to get used to her newfound fame.

“It doesn’t feel normal at all,” she said. “I’m still getting used to it. I don’t know when I’ll get used to it or if I’ll ever get used to it, but I’m super grateful for all the people that are cheering for me.”

Corey Gauff said that even as requests rolled in for his daughter, knowing that she still has room for improvement has kept him from being distracted by the deluge of interest.

“It’s easy for me to stay grounded: You’ve got to go back to looking at film, you’ve got to go back on the things you need to work on to continue to improve,” he said. “When you start thinking about the work you’ve got to do, it’s easy to be oblivious. We get a lot of phone calls with requests, but she can’t do everything.”

Many within tennis have been reaching out to Gauff, including Frances Tiafoe, 21, who was also called the “next big thing” in American tennis after success as a teenager.

“She’s doing unbelievable,” Tiafoe said. “I just DMed her and I said: ‘I know your phone is blowing up, and I know everybody in the world is going to know about this, but hey: Get used to it. You’re a superstar in the making. This is your level, and don’t be satisfied now.’”

Her father said he knew there would be “many ups and downs along the road” for his daughter to navigate as she progresses.

“She’ll have great wins, and she’ll have devastating losses that she’ll recover from,” Corey Gauff said. “If she wants this to be her career, she can play 20 years — or she might just play 10 and decide she wants to do something else with her life. It’s perfectly up to her.”

On Saturday, there was a lot of excitement for those years ahead. Gauff said she was already able to learn something new from the match: how much slower the court is at this tournament compared with the hardcourts she trains on in Florida.

“I feel like I have so much more time,” she said.

Credit: Source link

The post Coco Gauff Draws a Crowd Even Without Wimbledon’s Pageantry appeared first on WeeklyReviewer.

from WeeklyReviewer https://weeklyreviewer.com/coco-gauff-draws-a-crowd-even-without-wimbledons-pageantry/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=coco-gauff-draws-a-crowd-even-without-wimbledons-pageantry from WeeklyReviewer https://weeklyreviewer.tumblr.com/post/186594112812

[velmaemyers88]

Coco Gauff Draws a Crowd Even Without Wimbledon’s Pageantry

WASHINGTON — In her first stop after four matches on Wimbledon’s biggest courts, Coco Gauff and her rising star illuminated the Citi Open on Saturday in the nation’s capital.

Gauff, 15, won a first-round qualifying match in front of a crowd of about 3,000, the largest in memory for the tournament’s qualifying rounds, which rarely feature players familiar to casual tennis fans.

“I just think it’s crazy how literally four weeks ago not a lot of people knew my name, and now a lot of people do,” Gauff said in a news conference after defeating Maegan Manasse, 6-4, 6-2.

The crowd vocally supported Gauff, whose given name is Cori, throughout the match, and gave her a standing ovation upon her victory.

She built her fan base at Wimbledon with a star-making first-round victory over Venus Williams, eventually losing in the fourth round to Simona Halep, the eventual champion.

Gauff’s father and coach, Corey, said the reception afterward in her hometown, Delray Beach, Fla., was more than he had expected.

“I would love to come home with a trophy,” he said. “But they just wanted to express the support, and we were really appreciative. Everyone was really nice. I guess she’s kind of the local celebrity right now.”

Gauff’s celebrity is, at a minimum, nationwide. The turnout in Washington was particularly impressive given the short notice: She learned she would play at the tournament only a day earlier.

Tournament organizers could not grant Gauff a spot directly into the main draw because she has used the maximum number of wild cards into tour-level events, as limited by the WTA’s age eligibility rule. And the tournament’s entry deadline came before Gauff’s ranking soared 170 places, meaning she had to use her pre-Wimbledon ranking of 313th.

Gauff had been more than 15 spots away from qualifying as recently as a week ago, and appeared unlikely to reach the qualifying draw. Tournament organizers still planned to feature her on Sunday, in a kids’ day event and an exhibition match. But improbably, enough players withdrew before the draw was made — including the defending champion, Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia, who said she was unable to obtain a visa — to allow Gauff in.

The Citi Open is likely to be the last tournament Gauff plays before the United States Open, which begins in New York next month. She hopes to optimize the few remaining chances she has to play on tour this year, and to get used to her newfound fame.

“It doesn’t feel normal at all,” she said. “I’m still getting used to it. I don’t know when I’ll get used to it or if I’ll ever get used to it, but I’m super grateful for all the people that are cheering for me.”

Corey Gauff said that even as requests rolled in for his daughter, knowing that she still has room for improvement has kept him from being distracted by the deluge of interest.

“It’s easy for me to stay grounded: You’ve got to go back to looking at film, you’ve got to go back on the things you need to work on to continue to improve,” he said. “When you start thinking about the work you’ve got to do, it’s easy to be oblivious. We get a lot of phone calls with requests, but she can’t do everything.”

Many within tennis have been reaching out to Gauff, including Frances Tiafoe, 21, who was also called the “next big thing” in American tennis after success as a teenager.

“She’s doing unbelievable,” Tiafoe said. “I just DMed her and I said: ‘I know your phone is blowing up, and I know everybody in the world is going to know about this, but hey: Get used to it. You’re a superstar in the making. This is your level, and don’t be satisfied now.’”

Her father said he knew there would be “many ups and downs along the road” for his daughter to navigate as she progresses.

“She’ll have great wins, and she’ll have devastating losses that she’ll recover from,” Corey Gauff said. “If she wants this to be her career, she can play 20 years — or she might just play 10 and decide she wants to do something else with her life. It’s perfectly up to her.”

On Saturday, there was a lot of excitement for those years ahead. Gauff said she was already able to learn something new from the match: how much slower the court is at this tournament compared with the hardcourts she trains on in Florida.

“I feel like I have so much more time,” she said.

Credit: Source link

The post Coco Gauff Draws a Crowd Even Without Wimbledon’s Pageantry appeared first on WeeklyReviewer.

from WeeklyReviewer https://weeklyreviewer.com/coco-gauff-draws-a-crowd-even-without-wimbledons-pageantry/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=coco-gauff-draws-a-crowd-even-without-wimbledons-pageantry from WeeklyReviewer https://weeklyreviewer.tumblr.com/post/186594112812

[weeklyreviewer]

Coco Gauff Draws a Crowd Even Without Wimbledon’s Pageantry

WASHINGTON — In her first stop after four matches on Wimbledon’s biggest courts, Coco Gauff and her rising star illuminated the Citi Open on Saturday in the nation’s capital.

Gauff, 15, won a first-round qualifying match in front of a crowd of about 3,000, the largest in memory for the tournament’s qualifying rounds, which rarely feature players familiar to casual tennis fans.

“I just think it’s crazy how literally four weeks ago not a lot of people knew my name, and now a lot of people do,” Gauff said in a news conference after defeating Maegan Manasse, 6-4, 6-2.

The crowd vocally supported Gauff, whose given name is Cori, throughout the match, and gave her a standing ovation upon her victory.

She built her fan base at Wimbledon with a star-making first-round victory over Venus Williams, eventually losing in the fourth round to Simona Halep, the eventual champion.

Gauff’s father and coach, Corey, said the reception afterward in her hometown, Delray Beach, Fla., was more than he had expected.

“I would love to come home with a trophy,” he said. “But they just wanted to express the support, and we were really appreciative. Everyone was really nice. I guess she’s kind of the local celebrity right now.”

Gauff’s celebrity is, at a minimum, nationwide. The turnout in Washington was particularly impressive given the short notice: She learned she would play at the tournament only a day earlier.

Tournament organizers could not grant Gauff a spot directly into the main draw because she has used the maximum number of wild cards into tour-level events, as limited by the WTA’s age eligibility rule. And the tournament’s entry deadline came before Gauff’s ranking soared 170 places, meaning she had to use her pre-Wimbledon ranking of 313th.

Gauff had been more than 15 spots away from qualifying as recently as a week ago, and appeared unlikely to reach the qualifying draw. Tournament organizers still planned to feature her on Sunday, in a kids’ day event and an exhibition match. But improbably, enough players withdrew before the draw was made — including the defending champion, Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia, who said she was unable to obtain a visa — to allow Gauff in.

The Citi Open is likely to be the last tournament Gauff plays before the United States Open, which begins in New York next month. She hopes to optimize the few remaining chances she has to play on tour this year, and to get used to her newfound fame.

“It doesn’t feel normal at all,” she said. “I’m still getting used to it. I don’t know when I’ll get used to it or if I’ll ever get used to it, but I’m super grateful for all the people that are cheering for me.”

Corey Gauff said that even as requests rolled in for his daughter, knowing that she still has room for improvement has kept him from being distracted by the deluge of interest.

“It’s easy for me to stay grounded: You’ve got to go back to looking at film, you’ve got to go back on the things you need to work on to continue to improve,” he said. “When you start thinking about the work you’ve got to do, it’s easy to be oblivious. We get a lot of phone calls with requests, but she can’t do everything.”

Many within tennis have been reaching out to Gauff, including Frances Tiafoe, 21, who was also called the “next big thing” in American tennis after success as a teenager.

“She’s doing unbelievable,” Tiafoe said. “I just DMed her and I said: ‘I know your phone is blowing up, and I know everybody in the world is going to know about this, but hey: Get used to it. You’re a superstar in the making. This is your level, and don’t be satisfied now.’”

Her father said he knew there would be “many ups and downs along the road” for his daughter to navigate as she progresses.

“She’ll have great wins, and she’ll have devastating losses that she’ll recover from,” Corey Gauff said. “If she wants this to be her career, she can play 20 years — or she might just play 10 and decide she wants to do something else with her life. It’s perfectly up to her.”

On Saturday, there was a lot of excitement for those years ahead. Gauff said she was already able to learn something new from the match: how much slower the court is at this tournament compared with the hardcourts she trains on in Florida.

“I feel like I have so much more time,” she said.

Credit: Source link

The post Coco Gauff Draws a Crowd Even Without Wimbledon’s Pageantry appeared first on WeeklyReviewer.

from WeeklyReviewer https://weeklyreviewer.com/coco-gauff-draws-a-crowd-even-without-wimbledons-pageantry/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=coco-gauff-draws-a-crowd-even-without-wimbledons-pageantry

[daniellethamasa]

Hey all, Dani here.

This post is one I have been so totally anticipating and dreading at the same time! Writing up these posts twice a year has been so interesting, but I never struggled as much with figuring out my list as I did this year…and that’s because I have read so many great books so far in 2019. Normally by the time I reach the end of June I have 8 or 9 solid choices on my list and then I look through everything I’ve read to fill in the last 1 or 2 spots. Not this year. No, this year I had 15 books make my contender list. This means that I’ll be giving you all 5 honorable mention books, because yay, let’s talk about more books.

So the rules for my top ten lists are pretty simple. It has to be a book that I read during the six months I’m covering–so for today’s post that is January-June 2019. I cannot include re-reads on this list, because obviously if I’m reading it again then I really liked it. Also, I tend to read quite a few ARCs, so I can only include an ARC in the top ten if it has been released by the time the list goes up.

You can check out my past lists by going to these links: 2016-1, 2016-2, 2017-1, 2017-2, 2018-1, 2018-2.

Oh, and as always, if I’ve written up a review for the book, I will also include a link back to that post.

Haha, so I just paused in writing this post to look at all of my previous top ten posts and wow, I have really stepped up my reading game this year. In the 2017 and 2018 first half lists I complained about narrowing 50-60 books down to a top ten favorites list. I’ve read something like 111 books in the first six months of 2019. Clearly past Dani has no idea what kind of reading life she is destined to have.

Okay, I have a lot of books to talk about, so let’s get started with the honorable mentions.

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King of Scars by Leigh Bardugo This is a book featuring Nikolai, who is one of my favorite characters in the Grishaverse. And there’s more with Nina. I won’t say more because of potential spoilers for the previous two series, but I really enjoyed this book. While I wanted it to be in my top ten, I wanted to showcase other titles more.

Warrior of the Wild by Tricia Levenseller I enjoyed this book, which followed an awesome female warrior who gets exiled because of underhanded maneuvers by jealous boys. She grows, learns, and adapts, and I just found her warrior’s journey and her growth into a true leader to be very compelling.

Wundersmith: The Calling of Morrigan Crow by Jessica Townsend This book is full of so much fun and whimsy and, while I loved the first book in the series, this one was better. Magic school setting–do I need to say more?

Once & Future by Amy Rose Capetta and Cori McCarthy Futuristic sci-fi King Arthur retelling, wherein Arthur is now Ari (yay, lady King). This book was so interesting to me, and I loved all the queerness in it. Plus I love Arthurian Legends as well. I am definitely counting down to the release of the concluding novel.

The Tiger at Midnight by Swati Teerdhala Another great read. I was absorbed into this world and these characters pretty quickly, and I have to say that I loved the cat and mouse chase between the two characters, especially since who was cat and who was mouse depended on the situation and the perspective we were following at the time.

All right, and now for my top ten reads of 2019 so far. As with previous posts, these books are listed in chronological order of when I read them, not a least favorite to favorite ranking system or anything.

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Foundryside by Robert Jackson Bennett This was one of my first reads of the year, but it has stuck with me since then. I had purchased a couple other books by the author but hadn’t gotten around to them. But this book I kept hearing about, and it was blurbed by Brandon Sanderson. So I picked it up…and that was it. I didn’t want to put it down. The magic system was so intriguing to me, and I loved all the character dynamics and the politics of the city and world, and I found myself obsessed with this book. I’m excited about reading the sequel…and about reading my other Robert Jackson Bennett books soon-ish.

A Curse So Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer I love adaptations of Beauty and the Beast, and I love Brigid Kemmerer as an author. So I had high hopes and high expectations for this book, and I am so glad that it delivered. Yes, there were one or two twists and/or revelations that were fairly predictable, but that did not take away from the enjoyable reading experience. And there are people who are finishing reading ARCs of the sequel already, and I am so incredibly jealous. I want to read the sequel…but I guess I’m going to have to wait.

Again, But Better by Christine Riccio Unlike the previous book, this one I did not have high expectations for. I hoped it would be good, but I’ve read some books by internet celebrities and have been less than impressed with them. So I was pleased that instead of just reading a chapter or two and setting it aside, I was sucked into this book so quickly and so thoroughly that I finished it in like a day, or maybe two. I now own two copies of it (B&N Signed Special Edition and Target Exclusive Edition) so I can have all of the extras, and am feeling a need to re-read this book. It was wonderful, and I am looking forward to reading more by Riccio in the future.

The Philosopher’s Flight by Tom Miller This book surprised me with how much I enjoyed it. I had requested it on NetGalley because the cover was cool and the concept sounded interesting. And then I waited until over a year later to actually pick the book up. I read it so quickly. The alt-history of the story. The gender flipping. I was so completely invested in the life of Robert Canderelli Weekes, and I’ll be reading the sequel in the next couple of days, so that’s exciting.

Sky Without Stars by Joanne Rendell and Jessica Brody Of course, with every one of these posts, I seem to have at least one book that I haven’t yet reviewed, and this futuristic sci-fi adaptation of Les Miserables is the one I haven’t gotten around to. There were so many great little references to the original source material, and I found the characters and the world to be both different and similar at the same time. I should write up a proper review for this book, because it is great.

The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang There was so much hype around this book that I didn’t want to pick it up at first. And then B&N had a sale and I was able to get the hardcover for half-price. Best decision ever. I ended up thinking that this book is utterly amazing, and totally worth the hype, and I’ll be reading the sequel very very soon (thank you NetGalley), so I kind of can’t shut up about this book.

Seven Blades in Black by Sam Sykes Speaking of books I can’t shut up about, I feel like I’ve been talking about this one a lot over the last month. What can I say? This was definitely an amazing tome to pick up, and I will most certainly be picking up more books by Sam Sykes soon. This book had action, adventure, magic, romance, story-telling, and there was just so much awesomeness going on that I already want to read it again.

Crown of Feathers by Nicki Pau Preto This was supposed to be the first in a duology, but now it is the first in a trilogy, which is absolutely exciting…so long as we don’t end up with second book slump syndrome. I’m hoping that won’t be the case, because I really enjoyed the story of the animages and the Phoenix Riders, and I want to be glad that I’m getting more story set in this world.

Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson Magical libraries, wonderful descriptions, and some really interesting character dynamics and relationships made this book an utter delight. Okay, I was sold by the concept of a girl who literally grew up in a library. I know I’ve wished for that most of my life. But we were given an entertaining adventure with just the right amount of intrigue, action, magic, and just a few hints of romance. I definitely enjoyed this more than her first book, and I’m not going to lie, I wish this wasn’t a standalone. I think a duology would work for me, or at least a companion novel. Basically I want more, especially considering how this one ended.

Going Off Script by Jen Wilde Wow, only two contemporary novels on my list. Not bad, but I think Jen Wilde has hit my top ten posts with each of the three books she’s released so far. It’s safe to say that she has become one of my favorite authors. I love how main characters from her previous books make small appearances in her newest ones. And I especially love that most of the characters are geeks. I just adore a good geek story, and Jen Wilde’s releases definitely fit the bill.

That is all from me for today. I hope you enjoyed this look at my favorite reads so far this year. What have been some of your favorite reads so far this year? Let me know in the comments. I’m off to read now but I’ll be back soon with more bookish content.

  Top Ten Reads of 2019 (So Far) Hey all, Dani here. This post is one I have been so totally anticipating and dreading at the same time!

[thrashermaxey]

Ramblings: Defense Pluses and Minuses, Finding Value in Lower-Tier Goalies (Feb 4)

Defense Pluses and Minuses, Finding Value in Lower-Tier Goalies, plus more…

In the Canadiens’ 5-2 win over Anaheim, Jeff Petry scored twice on five shots on goal while blocking five other shots in over 27 minutes of icetime. Nearly 13 of those minutes were on special teams alone, which tells you how much he’s being leaned on while Shea Weber is still out. Petry has 13 points in the 19 games since Weber’s injury, with 10 of those points coming in his last 11 games. Weber is expected to be out at least another week or two, so Petry (17% ownership in Yahoo leagues) might be a decent short-term pickup.

Whether or not you add Petry might depend on whether your league counts plus-minus, though. At minus-24, Petry’s stats haven’t been immune to the Habs’ struggles. Most of that was before Weber’s injury, though, as Petry has “only” been a minus-2 since January 1.

Jonathan Drouin was taken to the hospital on Saturday after taking a Karl Alzner slapshot to his back. The good news is that he didn’t suffer any broken bones, although his status for Sunday’s game is up in the air. It’s an early one, and sometimes injuries hurt more the day after, so I’d place his availability on the doubtful side.

Speaking of which, if you’re wondering if there are any NHL games on Super Bowl Sunday, there are three. But you’ll need to have your lineup set very early, as the first game (Vegas @ Washington) starts at 12:30 p.m. ET (9:30 a.m. PT) and the other two games (Ottawa @ Montreal, San Jose @ Carolina) start at 1 p.m. ET (10 a.m. PT).

Confirmed starting goalies for Sunday:

Philipp Grubauer, WAS

Mike Condon, OTT

Carey Price, MON

For the latest updates, check out Goalie Post.

*

Nick Leddy has pushed the boundaries of red hot and ice cold as far as they can go. Remember his fast start? On Saturday he scored his first goal since November 24 – a span of 30 games without a goal. Leddy also snapped a four-game pointless drought and entering Saturday had just one assist over an 11-game stretch.

Leddy has been an anchor in the plus-minus department as well with a minus-27 this season, which is pushed by a minus-28 over December and January alone. Only Oliver Ekman-Larsson has a worse plus-minus this season. Hopefully you don’t own both OEL and Leddy in a league that counts this stat. But hey, this is a year in which both Brent Burns and Erik Karlsson are sitting at a chilly minus-24. Have you had enough of plus/minus yet?

*

As horrible as Petry and Leddy have been in plus/minus, Zdeno Chara continues to pile up the pluses even at age 40. With a plus-2 on Saturday, Chara’s plus-27 is tied for the league lead with William Karlsson. Chara has not been a minus player since the 2006-07 season, his first with the Bruins. With his hits and blocked shots totals, Chara still has some value left in multicategory leagues. But with just 14 points in 50 games, he’s no longer worth owning in pure points leagues.

With his goal on Saturday, Patrice Bergeron now has 12 goals in his last 14 games and 22 goals on the season. Linemate David Pastrnak also scored a goal and is currently riding an eight-game point streak. The two Bruins’ snipers haven’t skipped a beat with Brad Marchand still suspended. New temporary linemate Danton Heinen has fit in well, adding two assists on Saturday. Marchand still has one game left on his suspension and will finally be back on Wednesday.  

*

With his three assists on Saturday, Travis Konecny now has 16 points (7g-9a) in his last 16 games. Playing on the top line with Claude Giroux and Sean Couturier continues to provide a major uptick to Konecny’s value. He’s still unowned in over 60 percent of leagues, so if he’s still available there’s a good chance that he could be a better option than at least one of your forwards (at least at the moment). He and the Flyers play four times next week, so the sooner you can add him, the better.

*

There are signs of life from Cam Atkinson. With a goal on Saturday, Atkinson has points in each of his four games since returning from a foot injury. Even more encouraging is the fact that Atkinson fired eight shots on goal on Saturday, giving him 20 shots on goal over those four games. Given his lackluster production before the injury (13 points in 32 games), Atkinson should be viewed as a great buy-low target.

*

On one of my fantasy teams, Jake Muzzin was a late-round pick that I thought would be a casualty of my normal waiver-wire usage. Not only is he the lowest pick still on my roster, but he is one of fantasy hockey’s hottest blueliners since the calendar turned to 2018. Interrupted by a brief stint on IR, Muzzin was riding an eight-game point streak that was finally snapped on Thursday. But with his goal and two assists on Saturday, Muzzin now has 11 points over his last 10 games. It’s also worth mentioning that Muzzin has already surpassed last season’s point total (just 28 points last season) and is on pace to reach 40 points for the third time in his career.

*

Cory Conacher – remember him? With a penalty shot goal on Saturday, he now has six goals in 20 games, including three goals over his last two games. Perhaps he is a true “Quad-A” player (to borrow a baseball analogy), as he has scored at close to a point-per-game pace over his AHL career, including this season. I wouldn’t get too excited about him at the moment, as he plays on the Bolts’ fourth line with only limited power-play duty. But if an injury or a line shuffle places him in a better spot on this powerful Lightning squad, he could be a sneaky waiver-wire pickup down the stretch.  

*

Saturday’s “that helps no one” player was Travis Zajac, who scored two goals and added an assist. Zajac had gone nine games without a point. At the center position, you simply can’t afford to wait that long for a player to come around.

The Devils might be a better team, but they’re a one-man army when it comes to scoring. Despite missing five games, Taylor Hall is ahead of the team’s two second-leading scorers (Jesper Bratt and Nico Hischier) by a full 20 points.

*

Now, onto the goalies.  

Tonight's goalies include: Korpisalo, Halak, DeSmith, Kinkaid, Sateri, Howard (B2B), Lehtonen, Markstrom, Glass, Wedgewood

— Michael Clifford (@SlimCliffy) February 3, 2018

this is going to be wild

— Michael Clifford (@SlimCliffy) February 3, 2018

I bet at least one of them gets a shutout tonight

— Ian Gooding (@Ian_Gooding) February 3, 2018

  Hmmm… let’s see how well my reply aged. (Looks up scores) Darn, no shutouts in the group. Your shutouts came from your more established names, like Connor Hellebuyck, Carter Hutton (if you’re talking since mid-December), and Darcy Kuemper (who even as a backup was too strong to make Clifford’s list, I suppose).

We know how hot Hutton is and how he has swiped the starting goalie job away (at least for the time being) from the struggling Jake Allen. But does Kuemper have any chance of at least forcing Jonathan Quick into a timeshare? Probably not, but you can’t deny how hot Kuemper has been. Kuemper has posted shutouts in each of his last two starts to improve his record to 8-1-3 with a 1.76 GAA and .943 SV%. Prior to last season’s injury-shortened campaign, Quick had averaged 70 starts over his previous two seasons. But with Kuemper unexpectedly proving to be one of the league’s top backups, Quick might have trouble reaching 60 games in 2017-18. For what it’s worth, Quick has allowed five goals in each of his last two starts.

Another goaltending battle to watch is in Colorado. Semyon Varlamov started for the first time since being placed on IR, stopping 29 of 31 shots he faced in a 3-0 loss to the Jets. Don’t assume Jonathan Bernier’s hot run automatically made him the starter, as a higher-priced starter generally doesn’t lose his job because of an injury. But we’re going to see a lot more of Bernier than we expected. This is one where you’re going to have to check Goalie Post every time.

*

If you’re the owner of both Tuukka Rask and Pekka Rinne in a head-to-head league, you’ve been dominating your goaltending categories for the past few weeks. With wins tonight, both goalies have racked up seven consecutive wins. In fact, Rask has not been tagged with a regulation time loss dating back to November 26 (21 games), which is money if your league deducts points for goalie losses (mine only dings for regulation losses). With these recent runs of success, Rask and Rinne have both pushed themselves into the conversation as fantasy hockey’s top goalie.

*

Give Jaroslav Halak a medal. He stopped 46 of 49 shots he faced in earning a win. The Islanders might fancy themselves to be a playoff team with their high-powered offense, but no team gives up more shots per game (35.4). That alone makes Halak a risky play. He’s only best used if you’re chasing wins, as his ratios (3.15 GAA, .910 SV%) clearly earn him a spot in Clifford’s goalie group.

*

For more fantasy hockey information, follow me on Twitter @Ian_Gooding.

    from All About Sports https://dobberhockey.com/hockey-rambling/ramblings-defense-pluses-and-minuses-finding-value-in-lower-tier-goalies-feb-4/

[junker-town]

Rookies hit a ton of home runs in 2017, but it wasn’t the all-time best season for rookie dingers

Which season had a higher percentage of rookie home runs than any other? The answer .............. might surprise you.

There were a lot of reasons for the baseball card boom of the 1980s, but I submit to you that nothing was more responsible than the overwhelming quantity of badass rookie cards available to a kid in 1987. Maaaaybe these are just the ramblings of an old man who’s had one too many nips from the nostalgia flask, but there was nothing like cracking open a pack of wood-paneled 1987 Topps and watching the rookie cards fall out: Will Clark, Ruben Sierra, Cory Snyder, Barry Larkin, Rafael Palmeiro, Bobby Bonilla, Benito Santiago, Kal Daniels, Andres Galarraga, Kevin Seitzer, Kelly Gruber, Wally Joyner, Danny Tartabull, Pete Incaviglia, Jose Canseco, Mark McGwire, Barry Bonds ... my god, it’s beautiful. I want a pack right now.

ANYWAY, the point is that there a lot of fine hitting rookies back in 1986. Some of them flamed out, and some of them got better and better, but it’s not out of place to suggest that there was something of a youth movement that year. Of the 3,813 home runs hit in ‘86, nearly 12 percent were hit by rookies.

Is that a lot? I wanted to find out. Not because of 1986, but because of 2017. This was the year of Aaron Judge and Cody Bellinger, sure, but it was also the year of Rhys Hoskins, Matt Olson, and Paul DeJong. It felt like with every roster I looked at, there was at least one rookie in double-digit homers*, and it got me wondering about the homer-happy rookie seasons from the last 50 years.

Which seasons from the past 50 years have featured a higher percentage of home runs hit by rookies? Here are the top five:

5. 1982 — 3,379 total home runs, 427 by rookies (12.64 percent)

Oh, there are some names here, but this is partly a function of the low-power ‘70s bleeding through into the next decade. There were nearly half as many home runs hit in 1982, and while some of that had to do with there being 26 teams instead of 30, it was still the anthesis of 2017. If you brought someone from ‘82 immediately to Game 5 of the 2017 World Series, well, he or she would suffer the same fate as the panelist from Scanners.

There are names you recognize, of course, like Cal Ripken, Kent Hrbek, Gary Gaetti, Tom Brunansky, and Chili Davis. But there were still only 12 rookies to hit double digits in home runs, and a third of those were Twins (including the other Randy Johnson).

The ‘82 season doesn’t show up because it was a harbinger of homer doom, but because it was a sad skeleton of a dinger golem.

4. 2017 — 6,105 total home runs, 798 by rookies (13.07 percent)

I really thought this would be the winner. It was the inspiration for the Play Index rummaging that consumed hours, and it’s always fun when those searches don’t bear fruit. I thought this would be a sign, a trend.

Extra, Extra (pronounced “Ex-tree”): Kids are swinging harder and getting bigger, and what with the computer modeling and travel ball, this trend is here to stay, boy, howdy!

Of course, we’re talking percentages. When it comes to raw totals, there were more rookie home runs in 2017 than ever, and second place is more than 100 homers away. If you’re looking for the greatest rookie dinger season in history, regardless of context, this is it. Ten different rookies had 20 homers or more, which broke the previous record by four.

3. 1972 — 2,534 total home runs, 341 by rookies (13.46 percent)

A question I get a lot is if I’m ever going to write a baseball book. It’s a tricky question, because when I’m not watching baseball or writing about baseball for my day job, I retreat into a bunker that was developed by NASA scientists to keep baseball from coming in. There is not a single neutrino of baseball that can penetrate this fortress of solitude. I love baseball, but I have my limits.

But if I were to write a baseball book, it would be about baseball in the ‘70s. It’s so gnarly. Attendance is awful. There’s Astroturf all over the place. There’s baseball in strange, new places that haven’t quite taken to it yet. There are riots because of both cheap beers and disco records. And the game is pretty boring, at least by home run standards. There were more home runs hit through the middle of June this year than were hit in the entirety of 1972.

That written, the rookies had a chunk of them. There were just 11 rookies in double digits, but they were led by Dave Kingman, followed by 29-year-old rookie Bobby Darwin, who sure looks like a player who got hosed by the high-strikeout stigma of years past. After that, there were Carlton Fisk, Greg Luzinski, Dusty Baker, Don Baylor, and Ben Ogilvie, all future thumpers.

Mostly, though, it was just a down year for home runs because the ‘70s was an unspeakably dumb baseball decade.

2. 2015 — 4,909 total home runs, 691 by rookies (14.08 percent)

Even with Bellinger and Judge, this is the real recent champion. Kris Bryant and Joc Pederson led the way with 26, which means they didn’t even combine to hit as many homers as Judge in his rookie season, but it was a deep roster of rookies. There were 26 of them who hit double-digit home runs, from the 30-year-old Clint Robinson to Mark Canha to Alex Guerrero to Preston Tucker.

Note that this was before the juiced/slippery/low-seamed baseballs, too. This rookie surge didn’t have a lot to do with a general spike in the home run rate. There were just a lot of hard-swinging rookies compared to normal.

Just four rookies had 20 homers or more, which isn’t a big deal. That was the case in 1977 (Wayne Gross, Ruppert Jones, Mitchell Page, and Eddie Murray), so the good showing in these rankings wasn’t concentrated at the top. It was in the middle. There were 26 rookies with 10 homers or more, which is more than any other season, including 2017.

If you’re looking for a larger trend, here are the top three seasons in baseball history when it comes to rookies with 10 home runs or more: 2015, 2016, 2017. That probably means something more than “there sure are a lot of home runs these days,” but I’m not smart enough to figure out what.

1. 1969 — 3,119 total home runs, 446 by rookies (14.3 percent)

Surprised? I was! There are a couple of things going on here:

There were two new expansion teams, which meant a lot more at-bats for rookies

The mound was lowered after The Great Offense Suffocation of 1968

I’m not sure why that second one would help rookies specifically. Work with me here.

It’s not like there was a bumper crop of rookies that year, either. Bobby Murcer and Nate Colbert had long, productive careers, but it’s not like Bill Melton, Larry Hisle, and Coco Laboy set the world on fire after their strong starts. I’m willing to file this under “just one of those things.”

My original question was if more home runs were hit by rookies in 2017 by percentage than any other year. The answer was no, but it was close. I’m pretty sure I asked the wrong question, but the research was done, so, here, have whatever this article is.

When it comes to rookies hitting 20 homers or more? There’s never been an era like this one. Even though there aren’t kids today who are experiencing the thrill of the rookie dinger boom through the wonder of jaw-exploding gum, maybe they’re just as exciting about all these rookies while playing MLB: The Show, and it’s basically the same feeling.

Maybe.

I still love those 1987 cards, even though I’m still mad at Topps for making it so that it wasn’t Mark McGwire’s real rookie card. If they’re going to do that, where is the Will Clark Olympic card? I have a lot of thoughts about this, and it’s a long offseason, so buckle in, pal.

[readingsanctuary]

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly list prompt hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. The theme for this week is:

August 15:  Ten book recommendations for ______________: (Skies the limit here…examples: for Hufflepuffs, for fans of Game of Thrones, for people who don’t normally read YA, for animal lovers, for video game lovers, etc.

Hi everyone, sorry I’ve been absent for the past week or so, catching up on everything at work left me more tired than expected. Then at the weekend I had a fall down some stairs that left me a bit battered and bruised. Basically, some bad luck on my end, although I did manage to get some reviews drafted, so they should be up soon. Right now, in honour of my recent reading slumps, I’m back with a list of books that I recommend for getting out of a reading slump. These are books that either helped me overcome a reading slump, or I found so compulsively readable that I couldn’t put them down.

  1. Moxie – by Jennifer Mathieu

This is a recent read that really helped me power through a recent reading slump. I felt so powerfully about what was going on throughout the book that I simply could not put it down. The book resonated with me as a girl and as a feminist, and I really like the tone and overall message. Also it’s relatively short, which I find helpful because actually managing to finish a book can be a big help when you’ve been in a slump for a while. I have a full, gushing review for this book here if you’re interested in my more in-depth thoughts.

2. Letters to the Lost – by Brigid Kemmerer

I read this in a single day, in the car, even at the cinema where I was most disappointed when they turned the lights down to start the trailers when I only had eleven pages left! The point is, I couldn’t put this down, because I was so drawn into the story. With letters/emails at the start of most chapters, and the chapters being quite short, it was really easy to keep saying to myself, just one more chapter.

  3. Harry Potter – by J.K. Rowling

It’s a classic, for many people it’s a childhood favourite, and that can be just what you need if you’ve been in a slump for a while. The nostalgia factor combined with the simple comfort of an old favourite can really help get you back on track. I’m well overdue a reread of this series.

4. Queens of Geek – Jen Wilde

This book is such a quick read, it takes place over the course of a weekend, which makes the story quite fast paced. Plus, it’s so cute. The characters are awesome and there is some amazing representation here. This book was easy to get into and impossible to put down, and I got so invested that I really want more books about these characters!

  5. One of Us is Lying – by Karen M. McManus

This YA mystery thriller kept me tuning pages, at first for answers, then for the characters as well. I really enjoyed the way social media and public perception was used, not to mention how this book kept me guessing up to the very last minute. I would also recommend this if you like pretty little liars, I’m only on season 4, but it has a very similar vibe. I have a full review here if you’re interested in more of my thoughts on this one.

6. Witch Town – by Cory Putman Oakes

This is another book that really helped me find the joy of reading again recently. Witch Town is a relatively short book set in a world where witches are real and are pretty much forced live in segregated towns. The story takes off when the main character and her mum arrive at one such town, with the aim to rob it. It’s a really interesting idea, I loved the magic system and combined with the mystery element, this book was a real page turner.

7. Ms Marvel: No Normal – by G. Willow Wilson & Adrian Alphona

Graphic novels can be great for tackling reading slumps, and I highly recommend Ms Marvel. This is my favourite ongoing Marvel title, with loads of fun teen superhero antics. This series has been going from strength to strength, and it’s great to see some representation too.

8. The Upside of Unrequited – by Becky Albertalli

Okay, there is a definite trend here, but I find contemporary books can be great for beating back a reading slump. They tend to be short, fast paced, and quick to read. This one is one of my favourites. I really related to the main character, and there is loads of great diverse representation throughout the book (some of it is ownvoices). I have a detailed review here if you want to know more.

9. Starflight – by Melissa Landers

So this book is just a really good time. It has space travel, a hate to love romance, and even space pirates! It’s exciting, and at times absolutely hilarious. I have so much love for this book, and it’s a relatively short on too.

10. Frostblood – by Elly Blake

This is SUCH a quick read, while it’s not the most original YA fantasy out there, it is so easy to get into. The plot moves quickly, and there is a lot going on, and it keeps you guessing enough that you won’t want to put it down. This book definitely helped me leave my reading slump behind. My review can be found here.

A surprising amount of contemporary’s made this list, but I genuinely find them to be quick and compulsively readable. I’m definitely a convert to them since I started picking them up this past year. If you have any YA Contemporary recommendations, please let me know, I’m certainly on the lookout for more to add to my TBR!

Want to chat, places you can find me:

Twitter @reading_escape

Instagram: @readingsanctuary

Goodreads

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  Top Ten Tuesday – Recommendations to Defeat a Reading Slump Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly list prompt hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. The theme for this week is: