Category Archives: Blog

Are You Making New Year’s Wishes Rather than Resolutions?

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Each year, come December 31st, I hear people talking about their New Year’s resolutions. The most common ones center on weight loss, getting some aspect of their lives organized, or to find their other half. I’m not saying that these resolutions are bad. I simply question whether these resolutions are really made as a goal they are willing to work toward, or if they are simply made in the hope that, by simply declaring it, it will occur with little effort required on their part.

These resolutions seem to center around what is expected of us, unconsciously or not. The best example for this is probably weight loss, a resolution I hear at least twenty times before everyone clinks glasses and shouts “Happy New Year!” Weight loss is not necessarily a bad resolution to make, especially if you are making said resolution due to health concerns. But most people focus on the goal rather than the process.  They note that they want to lose twenty pounds by next year instead of saying that they plan on opting to walk more places rather than drive. They say they want to reduce two sizes in their clothing with no idea of how they will do so. If I heard my friends say they wanted to be more active or eat healthier, I could easily get behind their resolutions and even make suggestions from my own experiences if they appear open to them. But without forethought, without a plan, they aren’t likely to last. And if one gently asks about the same resolution they made last year, you might see a bit of shame in their face. That they failed, but must try, try again.

Frankly, I do not care if my friends are a bit fluffier than they think they should be, if they are disorganized, if they are single, or even in a relationship. I care that my friends are happy. Making resolutions each year and never seeing results is maddening, and we don’t need to create new reasons to feel guilty.

How do we a successfully stick to a resolution over the course of at least a whole year? The most important thing is to not only create a process towards a specific goal, but also to know what to do when the weather is at its worst and all you want is a massive blanket in which to hide under from it all.  If you live in western Washington state like most of us here from Podcast Lost in Space do, the tough time is typically the lovely wet, cold, dark month of March.

A few years ago I let one of my best friends in on a dirty little secret of mine about New Year resolutions. I make at least one “selfish” resolution each year. A resolution just for me, to keep me going throughout the year. I’m not picking out resolutions like losing weight or becoming more organized. I’m also not choosing to eat more chocolate or a larger blanket to hide under.  Instead I’m picking resolutions that will make me happier over the year, even if they may be a bit frustrating at first as I change my normal habits.

One year I made the resolution to find one evening a week to spend on self-care, because I have the bad habit of taking care of everyone else before myself. That one was difficult, but I managed to do it every week! How? I set specific days in my planner, where I had to find three to four hours per week for myself and stick to it, rather than just assume I would find it somehow, then reason my way out of when it didn’t happen. Another year I made the resolution to cook more of my own food from scratch, because I was letting my stressful schedule limit the time I spent cooking, an activity I enjoy very much. I kept to that plan by actively planning one recipe a week I wanted to make. Making an active effort to also eat only a set number of ready to eat meals, or going out to eat, per week also provided the need as well as the time for cooking at home. It became not only a way to de-stress from long days, but it also became part of my natural schedule.

This year my resolution is to make more plans, specifically for fun, with friends. At the time I’m writing this I still have a couple days to figure out the plan that will support my resolution and make it stronger than a wish.  By the time you’re reading this, I’ll hopefully have it nailed down.

This year I offer you a challenge, if you are willing to take it, even if you are reading this after New Year’s Day. Make a resolution, specifically for yourself and for no one else. Figure out something in your life that has been bothering you and make a full resolution with a bit of a plan as to how you will achieve it. Choose how best to make yourself not only better, but happier.

Is Basic Really a Bad Thing?

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“You’re so basic”.  We all hear this from the people around us, and we constantly see it on social media. Most everyone knows exactly what it refers to.  But just incase you don’t, a simple Google search will reveal that a basic white girl is a Starbucks loving, UGG/boot and legging wearing, selfie taking, iPhone using, Instagram posting girl. You can find numerous articles about “things that all basic white girls do” or “signs that you are basic .”

I’ll let you process that one…

Yes, that definition is completely comprised of things that are currently “in style” (for lack of a better word).  The majority of people (at least that I know), men and women, have iPhones. Starbucks is the largest coffee chain worldwide. And being from Seattle, there is one every couple of blocks, so most likely, if I want coffee, I will stop by a Starbucks.

Ultimately, this label that gets put on girls because they like the things that are most common in our society. And the reason that these things are so common is because people genuinely enjoy them.

Personally, I am tired of being called basic each time I want a Starbucks, or wear leggings, boots, and a sweater. I like my style, and if other people have the same taste as me then so be it. It is up to me to decide what I like and I should not be judged for it.

And then if you don’t like the things that comprise the so-called basic identity then you are considered “weird” and “unfashionable.”  It is just a never-ending cycle of judgment and no one can ever win.

In this world of social media there are so many things out there that make people self-conscious. We need to change that and make it ok for everyone to just like what they like, no labels needed.

So think about this, why is it so wrong for a girl to be basic? Is it really so wrong for people to like the same things? In each generation you see these trends happen. And for some reason our generation has decided to make that a bad thing.

What people wear and like should not take away from the fact that each and every person is unique. By calling someone basic you are choosing to ignore that fact. Just because you might not like something that others do, does not give you the right to label them and think less of them.

To all those girls out there reading this, it’s ok to be called basic just as long as the things you buy and do are what you genuinely love. Be who you want to be, it doesn’t matter what everyone else thinks.

 

Doctor Who and the Zygon Cease Fire

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Welcome to Earth. Time period: Now. Population: Approximately 7 billion H umans and 20 million Zygons, plus sundry and assorted other aliens. Universe: Doctor Who.

Hey Everyone! It’s finally time [no pun intended]. PLIS is finally going to post in the elusive “TV” tab. And of course, as tradition would have it, it’s going to be nerdy, political and written by me. So let’s get nerdy.

In the finest traditions of Cold War paranoia, the Zygons (first introduced in 1975) were a race of shapeshifting aliens who can steal the identity and memory of their victim, provided they remain alive. In a time where the fear of the Other became obscured by the fact that the Other could be anyone, the Alien Infiltration trope gave birth to classic sci-fi such as the Invasion of the Body Snatchers or Robert Heinlein’s The Puppet Masters. The Zygons remerged in 2013 as part of the 50th Anniversary Special Episode “Day of the Doctor” and only the intervention of the Tenth, Eleventh and War Doctors prevented catastrophe. As part of the treaty brokered, the President of the World aka The Doctor  agreed to accept 20 million Zygon refugees provided they disguise themselves as humans and live incognito amongst humanity. Refugees who were created as a result of the Time War—a great cataclysmic war fought between the Doctor’s species (The Timelords) and the ‘perfect warrior race’ the Daleks that spanned time and space itself, trashing across the universe. This is where it gets good.

While the “Day of the Doctor” brokered a deal in which Earth accepted war refugees from a war only the Doctor himself can claim direct connection with, it didn’t explore the ideas any further. The ninth season (counting from the reboot) returns to the Zygon plight in the two-part arc “Zygon Invasion”/”Zygon Inversion”. The episodes aired on October 31st and November 7th of 2015 respectively… just a week before the November 13th terror attacks in Paris. The truce brokered in “Day of the Doctor” is breaking down. While the majority of Zygons wish to live in peace, a radical splinter group, primarily made up of younger Zygons, has become fed up with the conditions of assimilation they live under. This splinter group begins pushing for a change to the treaty, to allow them to live as they want (un-shapeshifted) and “Truth or Consequences” becomes their rallying cry. You later find out that Truth or Consequences is also a town in New Mexico where a young Zygon had accidentally reverted back to its natural form, only to be killed by twitchy Americans and starting a whole war. The splinter group plans to unveil their own existence to the world, backing the majority of the peaceful Zygon population into a corner where they’ll be forced to either join their movement or die, either at the hands of the splinter group or the humans. Shenanigans happen, Peter Capald as the Twelfth Doctor finally gets to have his moment, in which the true nature of this incarnation of the Doctor shines through and the fans can start to understand him. (Seriously, I’m going to link to the speech, it’s that amazing) And in the end, tensions are dismantled and the splinter group returns to the fold but lives remain lost.

Does this sound familiar yet? In a brilliant bit of prescience and political astuteness, Peter Harness managed to encapsulate our current immigration and refugee crises while also exploring the nature of radicalization. The two-part comes complete with commentary about the effect drone strikes can have on their operators and civilians, a fake country called Turmeszistan and sleeper cells having infiltrated UNIT (the global earth defense force). It explores American paranoia of immigrants. The splinter cell uses a bold, easily tagged logo (Top picture) to mark its own operations. Even more impressively, Harness uses the now familiar imagery of Al-Qaida and Daesh propaganda videos with prisoners reading prepared statements and being executed and those videos being posted to the internet to reach their intended audience. The entire arc, and its conclusion especially (see video) are a scathing condemnation of our current societal panic and fear of the hidden enemy while also being a companionate warning about the horror and futility of war itself.

There is something else from this arc that I fell in love with and that’s how it depicts the Osgoods. A UNIT scientist Osgood finds herself duplicated in the aftermath of the “Day of the Doctor” and the two of them, coexisting as Zygon and Human consider themselves neither Zygon nor Human and come to embody the spirit of the treaty. One of them is later killed by the Mistress (the Doctor’s arch-nemesis and foil). Throughout the arc, various characters, including the Doctor, try to figure out which Osgood survived. Osgood however rebuffs the questions by simply replying “I’m Osgood”. Osgood gently but consistently demands the right to define her identity herself, pushing off the rest of the world’s attempts to define her as either Human or Zygon. This self-determined identity even rebuffs the Doctor’s attempt to logic his way to an answer, when Osgood reveals that the rules have changed and the host ‘body print’ doesn’t need to be alive if the Zygon has spent years sharing the identity.  We leave the story with the Doctor finally accepting Osgood’s chosen self-identity and I think it’s a beautiful subplot. Now as a cis heterosexual male, I’m not about to make any sweeping claims about how closely Osgood’s struggle to define her own identity mirrors the struggles of the LGBTQ community but from my own point of view, I found it a great analogy for the side of the struggle I’ve seen. I’d love to hear other people’s thoughts on this, so drop a comment below!

I ended up watching this arc on November 14th and in the newly sparked American panic about refugees, terrorists and Muslims it stuck with me. Because of the context it was left to stew in, I think this might actually be my favorite two-part in Doctor Who. It was poignant and timely that I think very few other moments can match it.

 

A Basic Study Guide that is Hopefully in Time for Finals

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As a person who made it through high school not really needing to study, one of the most daunting parts about the transition to college was finding study habits that work best for me. Professors, peers, and parents all told me to make note cards and pair up with someone and quiz each other. Well, this doesn’t work for me because I hate notecards.  So if you are like me, and don’t enjoy the more traditional ways of studying, here’s some tips that I have found work for me!

 

  1. Study in small chunks—this is probably the most important thing I will say— through a period of a week or so. Whatever you do, do NOT start studying 3 days before your test! I just had a huge art history test where I had to know 30 works of art, where they are from, the date they were created, what they were made out of, and who made them. There was no way I could’ve known everything if I had started a couple days before the test. So what I did was everyday, if I was bored or had some free time, I would flip through my notes and review some of the works of art.

 

  1. Make connections. Everyone always says “learn don’t memorize.” But that’s easier said than done. I have found that the more I can relate the content to my own life the better I can understand the idea. Relating to the content can be through your own experiences, or through talking to your fellow classmates to find connections there, or by turning it into a story.

 

  1. Find patterns. Studying becomes so much easier when you can group the information into smaller groups that way it is not so overwhelming. This can also be a great way to stay on top of cumulative classes. You not only learn the information but how it connects to previous information that you have learned in the class. This is especially helpful the more advanced the subject is.

 

  1. Repetition is key. If you have to know a certain order of something, it helps to just go over it again and again in your head or saying it out loud. Even if you are going over your notes and you feel that you kinda know it all, keep going over it until you don’t even need to look at your notes to say it.

 

  1. Talk about it with someone. If you have a boyfriend/girlfriend, or just a person that you can talk about random things with, enlighten them on the topic that you are studying. Be like “Hey, did you know…” this allows you to recall the information and “study” in a very informal way. Informal teaching, or explaining, is also a great way for you to understand and retain said knowledge. And hey, you can make your friend smarter!

 

  1. Find a buddy. It does help to have a classmate in which you can bounce concepts off of or ask questions to. You don’t necessarily need to study with them all the time, but maybe once during your study time meet up with them and just discuss what you are studying. Another option could be simply talking to them about a specific topic that you were having issues wrapping your head around right before or after class. Save this for smaller ideas though, in case your or your classmate has to run off to another class, or work, or if class is about to start. If more topics arise it may be time for a formal study session together. Ireally does help to say things out loud.

 

  1. Take breaks! Studying can be extremely exhausting. Try to study for 45 min – 2 hours depending on how you are feeling, and then go eat, go to the gym or go to the mall with friends. That way, you can come back with a refreshed brain!

 

  1. Mix and Match. Study by using a combination of methods and by using your notes as well as the book. Don’t feel as if you have to stick to one method of studying.

 

 

Studying shouldn’t be a daunting thing, take it one step at a time. If these things work for you, then great! If not, that’s ok too, we are all very different, and learn in all different ways. These are just some things that I’ve found help me succeed! If you were curious (or not, I’m still going to brag, hehe), I got a 96%  on my art history test!!

Why you should join the rest of the world and watch soccer

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When you think of the biggest sports in America, the “Big 4” come to mind: football, baseball, basketball, and hockey. But when you look at the “Big 4” for the world, it is a much different list: soccer, tennis, cricket, and rugby. While most people in America have at least heard of soccer, it doesn’t even crack the top 5 with a lot of the time Nascar taking the fifth most popular ‘sport’. This is quickly changing, though.

Domestic soccer started in 1968 with the North American Soccer League having 64 unique teams play in the league through their 16 year existence. But more recently the professional league has been Major League Soccer (MLS), which started in 1996 with 10 teams. Over those 20 years, the league has grown to 20 teams with 4 more teams being added within the next 5 years. However, whenever you talk to someone about MLS they take it as a joke. Being a soccer fan I have heard more often than not “I only watch soccer during the World Cup” which means every 4 years. They get sucked into the world-wide hype when it is the biggest sporting event going on and then they stop caring until the next one.The latest World Cup held in Brazil in 2014 was the largest one yet for popularity in the US. 26.5 million people watched Germany’s extra-time win over Argentina which blew the previous viewership out of the water. This past summer, the Women’s World Cup took place in Canada. The USWNT (US Women’s National Team) made it to the final to play against Japan—which I had the great pleasure of attending . That game had the most viewership for a US match, men’s or women’s, of all time having 25.4 million people in the US watch that game.

With every World Cup there is always a boom in MLS popularity. With 14 of the 23 players on the 2014 World Cup roster playing in the MLS, this year had the largest increase of fans in recent memory. And this is an exciting time for US soccer with a lot of our US team stars being younger players. One of the biggest stars from this World Cup Deandre Yedlin, is only 22-years old who is currently playing on loan for Sunderland in the English Premier League, arguably the best league in the world.

Even locally in the MLS big name stars are being attracted to come play in the US. With soccer legends Frank Lampard, Kaka, Steven Gerrard, and David Villa all making the jump across the pond within the past year; and rising stars like Sebastian Giovinco, Fabian Castillo, and Gyasi Zardes getting looked at world-wide all playing here in our growing league. Many big name players have expressed interest in coming to play in America, and within the next 10 years the MLS is projected to be competing for one of the most popular sports in Americaand have the type of talent that you see in Europe.

So instead of only getting soccer fever once every couple years, go support your local MLS team. If there is a team near you look around and I’m sure you can find a team that will suit your interest. With the playoffs winding down now is the time to see what MLS has the best to offer. The MLS Conference Finals start on November 22 with the MLS Cup Final being played on December 6th.

It is about time that America caught the same fever that has captivated the rest of the world for years.

 

Dream Remake: Mortal Kombat

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Warning: You are entering a zone of extreme nerdiness and fan boy passion

In 1992, ninja assassin disguised as a game developer, Ed Boon, delivered unto us a game so violent that the ESRB rating system was invented to keep the video game world from being the wild west of pop culture. That game was Mortal Kombat. In 1995 we got a film adaptation of the same name that could quite possibly be the first and only successful video game movie, just to have it ruined by the diarrhea hurricane that was it’s 1997 sequel Mortal Kombat: Annihilation. What made the first film so enjoyable for fans was its embrace of the wacky lore of multiple realms, vengeful ninja story lines, and mystical powers that contain no logical sense what so ever. In 2010, Kevin Tancharoen released an 8-minute short film as a pitch for a more realistic depiction of the Mortal Kombat universe. This brilliant reimagining of the franchise would allow Tancharoen to do to Mortal Kombat, what Christopher Nolan did to Batman. This caused me to suffer from a disease only know as Fan-Boner Extremis. Unfortunately for me, when the Kevin Tancharoen was given a YouTube series instead of a feature length film, the original lore was included which caused its logic to spin out of control once again, but now with a strange serious tone that absent of any fun. This wasn’t a terrible depiction of the MK universe but it could be described a less fun retelling of the video game series. The point of movie or series adaptations is to have the source material “adapted” to the new media form which provides the fresh spin people like myself enjoy seeing. If I wanted a whacky Mortal Kombat, I would have played the video games. Right now, I know what you’re thinking, “Doc. How do we fix it? How do we make a Mortal Kombat movie ground and set in the real world?” Here’s how:

The Tournament is an Underground Street Fight (not the game street fighter):

The key to the success of its game series was its unique characters. Each character had incredible powers but was usually an over-the-top example of extremely good or extremely evil. For the game, that’s all we need when we can distract ourselves by upper cutting people through the ceiling. A modern movie adaptation can’t use these pieces without feeling ridiculously campy, and we really need to see the moral ambiguity and emotional conflict of when Jax rips the arms off of Reptile.

The tournament, as depicted in the game series, is a fight to see who controls Earth realm. Participants from Nether Realm, Outworld, and other metal band names all want it to expand their control. While if any of Earth’s warriors win, Earth Realm stays safe till the next tournament. What kind of messed up reward structure is that? Now let’s scale it down and add a bit of logic.

The Deacon City is rotting from the inside out with gang violence and criminal activity. The criminal syndicates with in the city are growing strong and taking more control of the city each day. When a rival gang is wiped out their territory becomes open, and rather than having a war across 4 different syndicates, all gangs agree to have a tournament financed and organized by the leader of the Brotherhood of Shadows, Shang Sung. Each gang provides 4 fighters, and the last team standing wins.

Who is participating in this tournament:

Little is known about the Brotherhood of Shadows. All we know is that they have nearly limitless funding. Informants have revealed that they are buying up tons of weaponry from the Black Dragon clan, and that there is someone above Shang Sung who is the really mastermind with an unknown motivation. Their known accomplices are the unlikeliest group of criminals that would be expected. First is a cannibal who was born with his skin inside out. His scaly completion led him to adopt the name Reptile. Next is a plastic surgeon who went insane and turned the knife on himself. He sharpened his teeth to fangs and inserted sharp pieces of steal into his forearms. He now goes by the name Baraka, an ancient African word that means “The Devil’s Servant”. Then there is Devin Ermac, who is a recent escapee from Deacon City Insane Asylum. A master of 7 different martial arts styles, who was locked up for multiple personality disorder. Each personality clamed ownership to a different style of combat. Lastly is Quan Chi. The newest player in this gang of misfits but the most dangerous. He was specifically chosen to work alongside Shang Sung to assist in fulfilling the will of the Brother Hood of Shadows.

The Black Dragon clan has been plaguing Deacon City for years. Their leader, Kano, has been moving weapons in and out of the city. The Black Dragon has been arming two warring factions, the Lin Kuei and Shirai Ryu, and is single handedly to blame for the increase of gun violence within the city. What makes them an even bigger threat is Kano’s right hand man, Kabal; Kano’s childhood friend and personal assassin. After barely surviving a car bomb, Kabal wears a specially designed life support that was personally developed by Kano. He is loyal, lethal, and hard as hell to kill.

The Lin Kuei is a Japanese gang similar to the Yakuza, and Deacon City is their most prevalent location for criminal activity. They have had their hand in everything; racketeering, drug trafficking, etc. They are rivals to the Chinese crime syndicate, the Shirai Ryu. In response to the deadly war between the 2 factions, the Lin Kuei formed an elite team of assassin’s, all with codenames to conceal their identity. There is Sektor, a demolition specialist and an expert with explosives; Cyrax, an interrogation specialist known for capturing enemies and sawing off limbs for information; Smoke, a master of stealth and camouflage; and their leader Sub-Zero, an assassin who utilizes a liquid nitrogen system that runs through the sleeves of his jacket and releases the gas from his palms. He is known for freezing an enemies arm or leg and ripping it off in one motion.

The Shirai Ryu is a recently destroyed Chinese syndicate. Only one man was left alive, Hanzo Hasashi. After barely escaping death from the attack on his clan, Hanzo finds out that not even his wife and child were spared from this deadly attack. After time recovering and healing his wounds, he seeks the man responsible. All he knows about the man in charge of the attack was that he was able freeze people and objects with his hands. With his family and clan dead, his territory becomes the location up for grabs in the next Mortal Kombat tournament. He decides to adopt the mantle of “Scorpion”, the name of an ancient warrior from his home village.

 

Who are our Heroes:

The main story will focus on Sonya Blade, a rookie recently added to the Deacon City Criminal Task Force lead by Jax Briggs. She is the third member with the other being Kurtis Stryker, the best shooter on the force.

Intel has revealed that the tournament will be happening within the city. Their mission is infiltrate the tournament, and confirm its destination so a SWAT team can breach the location and arrest all the killers in one fell swoop. More intel has revealed that Hanzo Hasashi has been sent an invitation to compete in the tournament. Hanzo is recruited by the Deacon City Task Force to enter the tournament after being given evidence that Sub-Zero will be there. Together, they enter the tournament as the new Shirai Ryu.

The following events focuses on what happens to Sonya as she has to mentally cope with brutally killing people in one-on-one fist fights and staring down death at every turn. The city is being held ransom by Shang Sung leaving her no choice but to push aside her faith in traditional justice by commit violent acts in the name of protecting the city. Not to mention Sony has the added pressure of seeing her superiors Jax and Kurtis fall in the line of duty and leaving her to be the last bastion of a better future for the city.

This Scorpion/Sub-Zero side story is actually best kept to its video games routes. Sub-Zero has actually been framed for the death of Scorpions family as part of a much more elaborate and sinister plan. Our movie demonstrates the hubris that falls upon Scorpion for fighting only for revenge. Scorpion’s pursuit of Sub-Zero only leads to his self-loathing and dishonor as he finds he has been so easily manipulated the man who really killed his family. After an epic fight between the world best assassin’s Sub-Zero exposes proof that he wasn’t responsible for the killings and that Scorpion’s only reason for living is a lie. Scorpion finds no justice and only has himself to blame.

This is the movie we could have got 5 years ago, which is a movie I would spend money on time-and-time again. Of course, movie executives would not run the risk of making a film that places a realistic spin on a violent game franchise, which robs us of ever seeing Jason Statham as Kano, the robotic-eyed gun runner, or Lateef Crowder as the murderous fang-toothed plastic surgeon who has amazing martial arts skills for no explainable reason, or even a sequel movie that has Chris Pratt as Johnny Cage, the cocky actor who was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Unfortunately for me, this is a movie that can only exist in my own head, making me the biggest fan of my own fan fiction.

Warframe Community Article

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WarframeWarframe. A one sentence description of it could sound like “a free to play third-person mission based co-op space ninja shooter” but even that doesn’t do the game justice.

A game is so much more than what one does in the game or what the game lets you do; games are defined by its community. We all make judgements and assumptions about games based off of the community that has chosen to make that game theirs. Games like League of Legends are well known for their toxic community. A player may spend more time worrying about what kind of teammates they’ll que up with instead of what roles are going to be fulfilled and what the battle strategy is.

Warframe is a game that tends to have an overall welcoming community that does not mind helping guide both new players and seasoned vets in making gameplay decisions. There are members that make it their specific goal to guide the new players in discovering the parts of the game that aren’t completely explained in the tutorial mission. There are also high-level discussions between long time players about what items or tools work best in the highest tiered missions as well as great theorycrafting about the lore and the story behind the game play.  No one says no in Warframe, instead they say things like “I haven’t tried that before,” “lets see how that works” or “this is an interesting mechanic, let’s explore further”.

This type of welcoming and thoughtful community is heavily aided by the developers (Devs). The Devs created an in-game organization called the Guide of the Lotus (the main in-game helping hand voice in the head character) specifically designed to make players that want to help new players easier to spot and to give them better resources to help them with.  The Devs also are very active on the game forums: reaffirming theories, discussing bug reports, or asking for input on new design concepts. This allows players to feel connected to the people that make the game they enjoy so much. Often times there is a large gap in communication and face time with some developers of large companies and it makes it feel like the player is forgotten or alienated. But in Warframe there are numerous live streams throughout the week players are able to put a face to each of the Devs and understand that they (the Devs) also play the game that they make. This is a big deal because it lets the community know that the Devs see the players side of any problem.

The Devs make a strong effort to go and meet the players wherever they are. They attend conventions all over the world holding panels and hosting after parties so players can feel connected and engaged with the Devs. They’ve been to Seattle’s PAX, New York’s Comic Con, Germany’s GamesCon, and even to a small convention in their hometown of London, Ontario. There is always a Question and Answer part in any of the panels or after parties, and this gives players the chance to get a direct answer and have ongoing discussions with the Devs in person.

All these things are to say, simply, that Warframe the game is heavily reliant upon Warframe the community for its continued success and expansion. It relies upon the min-maxers to find cases of op or broken weapons or enemies. It relies upon the content creators to craft an album of breathtaking art and sculptures helping maintain in the game and outside of the game. It relies upon the explorers to find new areas and holes in the maps and new vantage points or hiding spots. It relies upon the fan-boys and girls to come out to Cons and show the Devs how much of an impact they’ve had on their lives. And it relies upon having a community that loves the game so much they can’t wait to invite new players and show them all the wonderful and exciting things in store for them.

Warframe.

A game you come to for the gameplay and stay for the community.

Extra Life: A Brief Primer

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If you’re a fan of the podcast, you’ve probably heard us (me) talking about the big Extra-Life Event coming up. Hopefully you’ve gone into the show-notes for the link to our extra-life team, but if not you’ll get it again. For those you who join us primarily on the blog, you have no idea what I’m talking abut and that’s what we’re here for now.

Extra Life is a charity that mobilizes thousands of gamers every years to help raise money for local Children’s Hospitals. Started back in 2008, the community has managed to raise over $14 Million for their local hospitals and this is one of a dozen major charity events and programs that the gaming community takes part it. The marque event of the Extra Life campaign happens on Saturday November 7th in a mass culmination of 24-hour gaming marathons. Much like the Relay-for-Life the idea is to raise funds and donations while providing entertainment.

So what are we going to do? Well, it’s all still up in the air but our rough plan is that we’re going to go live around 10am on Nov 7th and I go to bed around 10am on Nov 8th. Seneca will be around a bit on stream, making food (recipes forth coming) and playing games. We’re going to have former guest and friend of the show Joedor_ hanging out from something like the Start of the stream to bout 4pm when he goes off to do his own stream. Everything else, is a mess that we’ll figure out. Come watch us (me) slowly go insane and have fun, pass a few dollars on for the kids and get some entertain in the process.

Check out Our Team, and Donate!

You can watch us on Twitch!

 

All Hallow’s Eve: The differences Between Celebrating as a Kid and as a Young Adult

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As a kid All Hallow’s Eve, better known as Halloween, my nights of costume-infused mayhem used to involve a party at a friend’s house in the suburbs with pizza for dinner and trick or treating for our dessert. The candy bars were always enormous and I had friends to trade candy with before I went home. When I was a freshman in high school, my father ended the trick or treating tradition and I was pulled into the job of handing out candy while hanging out with friends or watching Halloween-themed movies. This abrupt change may have occurred because of my dad worrying about what kids my age would get up to with little supervision, but who knows.

As a young adult at college I didn’t have the constraint of a parental figure keeping me in at night. So all of a sudden, my version of Halloween changed significantly. I was invited to parties that were an excuse to drink, costume get-togethers with friends who lived off campus, and events on campus that were made to entertain the thousands of young adults that call this town home.  Of course, staying home with a movie and passing out candy was still an option if I so chose to do so.

For myself personally, I didn’t really care how my evenings changed for that one night of the year because I was more interested in hanging out with friends than causing mayhem. Especially since I live in the Pacific Northwest. Halloween here is usually a pretty cold night of the year, which means that most costumes involve jackets over them if they are store bought. Even if they aren’t store bought it was all too frequent that I’d want to find a way to involve a jacket that I could put on or take off depending where my evening took me.

Honestly the largest change for myself over the years has been the costumes I’ve been able to get. I was raised by a single father so most of my costumes were store bought. When I became a young adult and started to go out again I had the money to create my own costumes that weren’t just Pacific Northwest appropriate but also were versatile enough to work in cold or warm situations. This not only made the holiday more enjoyable for me, but it also meant that I got to enjoy the holiday for longer than just one night. Instead, I got to enjoy the holiday for almost the whole month while I looked for random pieces of that nights outfit in local thrift shops, talked to friends about how I was going to pull said costume together, and of course the conversations weeks prior of how my friends and I were going to spend the night together. Even if it meant finishing a 25 page paper before I actually needed to, just so I would be able to enjoy my evening without worrying about what I had to do the day afterward.

Costumes: How They Can Make or Break Your Halloween

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With All Hallows’ Eve fast approaching many people are likely deciding that the classic store bought costume may not fulfill your costume dreams. This could be due to the fact that you’re liable to see the same costume on other people that evening, the price point is daunting for the flimsy so called fabric, or just the fact that it is an all too real fear that you might actually catch hypothermia in said outfit if you spend more than 30 minutes outside (thanks for that fear parental people).

Well, despite the fact that we are still figuring out our own lives, we have some people on the team who know a thing or two about how to make your own costume! Although their costumes are more often worn at conventions than saved specifically for a night of mischief, ghouls, trick-or-treating, or pumpkin spice parties their tips may be able to help you figure out an outfit that will scream Halloween without busting the bank or causing you to worry if your mom was right about the risk of hypothermia in such an outfit.

First we have Doc Von Derwin giving his rundown of Halloween costume creations.

Halloween. A time where people throw caution to the wind and ingest pounds of sugar filled sadness bars and I am filled with misery and guilt for succumbing to the power of the Reese’s peanut butter cup. This strange time of year is not just treating ourselves to the forbidden desire of chocolate covered guilt nuggets but also a time to acknowledge our fears and further our ability to conquer them so we can be stronger the other 364 days of the years or frighten kids, I am not sure which is more important. So before you can have your shame glazed cocoa balls, we need one thing; a costume. The metaphorical badge of honor that says “Hey, give me candy”. However, you shouldn’t wear just any costume, but the right costume that suits you for your evening.

1. Preparation: If you are reading this on October 22nd, or even later, you are a little late to the game for designing something elaborate. Thankfully that is not an issue. Retail stores provide plenty of clever options that will allow to become a discount version of anything you actually wanted to be. So wave goodbye to Freddy Krueger, and say hello to Bad Dream Melty Face who will disrupt your REM cycles as he attacks you with his spoon hands. If you find yourself complaining about only having Swan Ronson and General Canada to choose from, then you should have planned ahead. Self-created costumes routinely take roughly 2-3 weeks to get ready when accounting for material gathering and construction within your daily routine and that is if you have decided on a costume ahead of time.Doc Von Derwin

2. Setting: The setting will dictate the proper costume choice for you in a big way. Are you at a party? Is it inside or outside? If you will be in a warmer setting then you want something light weight and has minimal layers. The large amount of people confined into a small space will crank up the heat making your Judge Dredd or Black widow costumes the sweatiest and most uncomfortable leather you have ever worn. Anything makeup or paint based will also become an issue as your sweat begins turn your sexy vampire into an emo high school who can’t apply makeup. Masks will make things way too difficult by limiting your visibility turning you into a bumbling buffoon, but also making sure no drink touches your lips, leaving you sober enough to remember every awkward conversation you have. Cold temperature locations will clearly encourage almost opposite scenarios. Heavy clothing becomes a strong ally, allowing you to point and laugh at the person freezing their butt off in a yellow bikini that they are wearing to be a sexy Pikachu. Masks and make up will also become saviors as they conceal your identity on your inevitable fleeing from law enforcement. That’s the typical Halloween experience, right?

3.Costume Choice: Once you have nailed down your setting, you can choose a costume that not only fits the setting but also to who you are. The options can literally be anything. This isn’t a convention where people expect pop culture references with great accuracy and the undying passion of a thousand suns. You can be classic movie monsters, pop culture characters, elaborate avantgarde jokes, or even a giant fruit. Your costume is in some way a reflection of yourself in that it shows others what you think is cool and what you are interested in. Highlight your wackiness by being a giant Banana, or express your interest in sex appeal by being a shirtless lumberjack. Pick a costume that is for you, not your audience.Booker and Eliz (1)

4. Materials: When your costume idea isn’t sold at your local Halloween store, you will need to think outside the box and craft your own. Any discount clothing store can be your best friend. The hidden treasures of your local Good Will or thrift store can provide more than you would expect to create a great costume. Even if you don’t have a specific idea in mind, you can take the most bizarre items of clothing possible and generate your own crazy character. This allows to not only dress for the setting directly, but it also makes it unique to you and your needs.

5. Crafting: Crafting a costume can be dangerous yet rewarding. Anything that takes serious crafting will make you the bell of the ball but you run the risk of having it back fire. Costume pieces that are crafted run the risk of falling apart in the middle of your evening leaving with the option to either ditch the piece or continue without the costume being whole or bail on the evening because the costume is more important than being with friends with inferior costumes than yours.

6. Have a good time: As you may have guessed, I have had my fair share of blunders when it came to Halloween costume choices. These mistakes can lead to very annoying evenings that distract from the good time you can have with your friends. Halloween is such an interesting time of year where people express themselves in a very unique and special way (or they don’t. Everyone is a snowflake). I had to piece all this together through trial and error, so this is my call to action for you: keep it simple, make it special, and enjoy the new temporary you for the evening.

Our second costumer, Sheena, had some computer malfunctions prior to this article. However she still managed to write up a few of her suggestions and the ticks she has found effective for herself.

Sometimes all you need to do to make a costume is to look in your own closet or that of a friends. Borrowing where you can will save you a small fortune when it comes to costume making. For example, let’s say you would like to be a witch for Halloween. Maybe you have a black dress that can be added onto. Personally when I do this and don’t want to destroy my clothing by sewing, I use safety pins on the inside of the clothing to secure the additions. They aren’t very noticeable and can be easily covered. If you can’t find everything you need in the closets of your friends and family, secondhand shops sell very cheap clothing and those pieces you buy can easily be modified without the worry of being destroyed because they were bought for that reason.

With simple costumes, it’s easier to borrow or buy secondhand, but sometimes you don’t want to wear a simple or generic costume. When it comes to these you might need to make certain pieces specifically for your costume. If you can modify existing clothes by doing some slash and hack work (aka cutting them up) that is an easy way. However when that doesn’t work, starting from scratch is your only option. And let me say…..bedsheets are your friend! They come in many colors, can be found in secondhand stores for fairly cheap, and have large amounts of fabric (in case you mess up).