I’ll think of a title soon, I swear. But in the meantime, link dump! This one is a bit all over the place so, please…
…bear with me.
This video comes from what is, pound-for-pound, my favorite YouTube channel. “Every Frame a Painting” is a series created and narrated by Tony Zhou that delves into the nuts and bolts of film-making with a special emphasis on cinematography. My post on Akira Kurosawa featured one such video. In the following clip, he shows you why Jackie Chan is a film icon and explains the difference between his style and most of his contemporaries and how that sets him apart in the best of ways. I have been a lifelong Jackie Chan nerd and I could probably give this multiple viewings (ed. note: I already have):
Here’s a good read. Politico is a go-to for my daily news-in-politics fix, but they also throw in great history lessons like this one.
FDR during one of his “Fireside Chats.” Named so because Eleanor said he had a hot ass.
Three big moments put American foreign policy on a path that we’re still on today. If you guessed that all three of those moments were wars, then you win a piece of candy of your choosing. The last big moment of the three was of course, World War Two. This particular article focuses on the run-up to World War Two and how FDR was posturing himself in such a way as to break away from the isolationist sentiment that held sway in the American public prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor. The piece is written by author and history professor Josh Zeitz. If you’re a history nerd or you are fascinated by foreign relations and want to know how and why we got to where we are today on the world’s stage, have a look-see.
I’m not the most avid of board game enthusiasts, but when I play a particularly good one I feel the need to pass it on. If you have too many players for Settlers of Catan and you’d rather not play something especially cruel like Shadows over Camelot or drawn out like Risk, then maybe I have something for you.
Robo Rally was gifted to me last year riiight before I left for the summer so I never cracked it open until this past autumn. Suffice it to say, it was a great gift.
Robo Rally
The basic gist of it is this: You set a course for your robot with the objective of reaching a checkpoint. However, other players are trying to get there too. You go step by step in revealing your paths as a group and your robots, especially with a larger group, will, in all likelihood, run into each other, push each other off course (potentially into a pit or even off the board), and/or shoot at each other. You set your course five steps in advance and every player reveals a step in their plan at the same time, so if you get knocked off course during the first step, the next four can blow up in your face or with a lot of luck you can even slide back-asswards into victory.
As I said, the game is chaotic and even more so with more players (maximum eight). So my recommendation is to have as many as possible for the greatest likelihood of carnage and laughs.
And for the closer, here’s some Run the Jewels for you (yer welcome). This track is the closer from their second album, the critically-acclaimed Run the Jewels 2. I love these guys, and I’ve been listening to Killer Mike off and on since his debut album Monster came out in 2003 (I sound like such an ass). The hooks are out of control, as Mike’s stage partner El-P handles the production and together they’ve made arguably the best rap of the former’s career. Their stuff is political, ideological, confrontational as hell but most importantly, good. Even if you don’t care for their message, it’s damned hard to deny that they have chemistry, excellent lyricism, and top-notch production. Without much further ado:
BigFootInMouthDisease 