Owning up to an Unnecessary Rant—Sunday Ink for July 30th, 2023

I don't have a picture or a screenshot for this post and know how links on social media go for the first applicable image, including video thumbnails, I decided to give another video of the week to John Rogers with a thumbnail that is thematically relevant. I'll probably get around to watching it tomorrow... 

I'm not fond of using social media to complain about petty issues about the day nor do I like being too harsh in reviewing a piece of media, professionally or otherwise. Of course, we're all human and I found myself composing a thread on Mastodon a couple of weeks ago that bashed the podcast, Threedom, which I recommended in a previous blog post. I deleted the thread shortly after since, again, I felt like I was being too critical in a way that was highly unfair and projected my own cynicism onto people who might not have contempt for their audience. 

Also, I did genuinely enjoy the first episode I listened to—and for someone who is not the biggest fan of stand-up comedy, this says something! 

I think a part my reaction from the Mastodon thread in question was my own self-consciousness at barely knowing any stand-up comedians outside of CheapShow guests, Jon Oliver*, British panel shows like Mock the Week and Would I Lie to You, and of course the controversial players** in American stand-up who frequently punch down and usually promote misinformation. 

So to hear what I thought was contempt for their audience in "3 Chuckies" with (I believe) Scott's remark about how their "[...]audience should be grateful that we do this podcast standing up," and what I took to be them being privileged enough to alienate a potential audience with Lauren's remark about how if she had to introduce herself one more time on the pod then "F— you" (yes, I'm still paraphrasing) in the Threevisiting episode, "Do You Even Know Gyms", made me believe that American stand-up mostly consists of either complete jerks or those political grifters who trended on Twitter for being "against the status quo" in all the wrong ways.

I truly believe that is not the case and if you know any American stand-ups that I should watch or listen to, feel free to suggest them in the comments! 

Those remarks, though, also brought me to the MsMadLemon video that I mentioned in the Mastodon thread where, among other things, she noted about some content creators react to gifts sent in by fans. And I linked the wrong one in the thread, so here's the actual video in question...

The bit I'm referring to starts at the 6 minute mark and, while the discussion is mostly unrelated, I would still give it your consideration—alongside the follow up video. Maybe it's because of how I've been mostly drawn to indie creators—whether it's podcasts like CheapShow, or musicians like Pocket Vinyl and Banjo Guy Ollie—that I took it personally more than I should have. That remark and the Threevisiting "F— you" still rile me up when considering how every independent artist and content creator goes to great lengths to promote their work to others and appreciates their audience—even more so when considering how the community behind said work gives that admiration back twofold.       

Maybe I picked the wrong episodes to listen to when trying to get back into the podcast, but I get the feeling that the Threedom and Comedy Bang Bang style of humor is not for me. I actually considered buying the Comedy Bang Bang book that recently came out figure said style out, but my gut told me no, more or less. Other opinions are available and it goes without saying that CBB probably has some sort of community out there. 

I'll leave that ramble there and move on to more positive things...

Additional Pods in the Queue?

• Shrink the Box, in which Ben Bailey Smith and Sasha Bates do some psychoanalytic literary theory magic on television's protagonists
• The Channel84 Variety Show in which Tom and Rob geek out about whether it's sci-fi, nostalgia, television and film, or even the goings on in their own lives

I unfortunately don't have a link list so I'll leave it there for now. Have a good evening!   

An Updated Review Timeline and a Brief Amiibo Addiction—Ink for July 28th, 2023

Urban planning makes the best of geographic oddities. —Captured on Switch (Handheld Mode) 

I'm changing the timeline again with regards to rest of summer's reviews partly because of the usual culprit—although that's game's mostly wrapped up (for now)—but also because of one addition to the roster.   

I'm still working on reading through Goldeneye 007: The Making of an N64 Classic by Alyse Knorr and should still be on target to have a review written and published here next month. Islets will also be a review for late-August (or early September), but I'm also tacking on another game which evokes the same laid-back, summer feel. It also revolves around islands with a related namesake, Islanders: Console Edition, and was recommended to me by Ivenne, a friend of the blog and the creator behind the [Un]Official CheapShow Magazine! 

I'm aiming for somewhere between 750-1250 words for the combination review and there will be scores. (Spoilers: They're both fun!)   

As for the last item in the queue, I'm aiming to read and review The Good Luck Girls of Shipwreck Lane sometime in September.    

So that's the admin done, I thought I'd talk about what the Tears of the Kingdom shenanigans hath wrought... 

Top: A Solid Cast of Links—from the 8-Bit beginnings (rightmost) to when he composed music at sea (leftmost)—with a spider-esque robot lurking nearby.
Bottom: A Better look at the Windwaker Link & Zelda alongside the princess from her Skyward Sword days. —Both taken with an iPhone 8    

One of the things I didn't expect to do while playing this game was to break out the wallet for additional Amiibo figurines. These Amiibos have a Near-Field Communication (NFC) chip located at the base designed to interact with the NFC chip on a Joy-Con or an official Switch Pro controller to allow players to further enjoy additional features with particular games. In both Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom, they provide a cache of resources alongside a treasure chest containing either a normal weapon or shield, a gemstone, or an exclusive piece of armor related to the Amiibo in question.

Thing is, even if they said there was a restock on Zelda Amiibos upon the game's release, I never thought to take advantage of it. Then again, I wasn't really in the market for them beforehand—I had the 8-Bit Link one already alongside an 8-Bit Mario figure, the Metroid Dread dual-pack, and Mr. Game & Watch—since most of the games I played either didn't use them or had Amiibo-only features that I felt like I didn't need. The ones I already had were close to the regular retail price that the Nintendo Life article lists for the reissued Links (around US $14.99) with the exception of the Metroid dual-pack that was closer to US $30.

But when I found the Link from Majora's Mask on Amazon for around US $38 when it scalpers usually sell it for way over US $100, I can't say no to a figurine from what is my favorite Zelda game of all time! 

Here's the thing, you don't need these Amiibos if you're looking for exclusive armor and weapons in Tears of the Kingdom. You can find chests in caves and the Depths where you can net them without having to shell out money to a scalper or braving a games store as someone over thirty looking for what could be called a kid's toy. Without spoiling anything, the trek is worth it alone no matter how you end up finding them!

...and that concludes my Tears of the Kingdom ramble. Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!    

Red Team Blues—A Literary Fork in Proper Sterling

I love the book covers for Cory's books and this one is no exception! —Taken with an iPhone 8 

From Bitcoin to the Blockchain and Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs), Web3 is a source of both fascination and scandal throughout the past decade. Yet much like the moniker itself—which advocates say is a fork of Web 3.0*—the concept behind these solely digital “artifacts” is a task that only becomes more complicated as one tries to break down and define them. With cryptocurrency in particular, there have been reporters who documented its history—Nathaniel Popper wrote an account on Bitcoin in his 2016 book, Digital Gold—but what happens when you put crypto in a fictional setting where the “coins” take center stage?  

Red Team Blues is the latest novel from science fiction author, Cory Doctorow, which is also his first foray into thrillers with a reverse-chronological twist. It is a book that gives cryptocurrency the coin toss into the world of fiction with the help of its main character, forensic accountant Martin Hench. He might have a monotonous-sounding occupation, but his career has been anything but courtesy of his “red team” approach—seeking the weak point in security systems in order to expose scams and frauds for his clients. While his career may have been low-key, this book shows him at his peak as he contemplates retirement from his $800,000 tour bus, the Unsalted Hash. Yet, he finds himself with one more gig for his old friend and client, Danny Lazer, who wants Hench to find some cryptographic keys lying around on a laptop's hard drive.

Even when he finishes that job, its not truly over and Hench finds himself under the threat of his retirement being whisked away.

Cyberpunk novels may suffer from complicated, technical prose for reasons that cannot be helped, but Doctorow managed to keep me in suspense without getting bogged down in jargon. Hench, may be more of a tell, don’t show person, but it keeps the narrative anchored and moving while keeping the technical explanations as simple as possible. Not for a moment did I feel lost in this book and having Hench and Lazer explain cryptocurrency in a discussion was a huge help—not just in explaining the concept in full, but how it drives Martin Hench’s career alongside Lazer’s. Everything that would otherwise be a complicated mess gets linked together in the closest thing to a graceful looking daisy-chain of cables.   

The same thing can be said for how this books lays out Martin Hench’s life, but substitute the shortfalls of cyberpunk with the lack of an info-dump deluge. Everything about Martin Hench’s life—his friends and personality—makes sense throughout the narrative with just his monologue and ongoing conversations alone. I ended up being invested in Hench’s personal relationships as he fought for his life and it made the ending even more satisfying.

 Red Team Blues is a novel that manages to provide a clear glimpse into the life on a forensic accountant in what would be the last book of a normal trilogy without spoiling too much, if not anything. Hench’s speciality in dealing with cryptocurrency helps break down what these “coins” really are without the need to scrawl through social media chatrooms and web forums, or reading historical accounts like Digital Gold. Both of these aspects make Red Team Blues into a book I would recommend to anyone who wants to give cyberpunk a fair shot.   

In Sum: If this were any sort of currency, it would be solid gold—5 out of 5 Stars

If you already enjoyed the book, or like Wil Wheaton, he does the narration for the audiobook! 

*Or some sort of fork from the World Wide Web whether it's Web 1,2, or 3.0.