Been a busy week. Our most exciting activity was getting new doors and windows. At 6 below F with no window blinds it’s a bit cool near the windows, but given all the leaks that finally went away because the old doors and windows were so loosely set (they pre-date us) the lack of drafts makes it almost balmy. They’ve got some staining to do and a city inspection and then we can worry about blinds/treatments and moving on to bathrooms, floors, and the basement washroom. Among other things. The goal is to sort of get it all in order for the next 22 years. I’m not sure if we’ll live her that long with a split level and Pooteewheet’s knees, but it’ll at least be ready to sell.
Caught The Champagne Drops at Crooner’s on Thursday. Leslie and Emily were great and we hauled along Kyle and Lisa for dinner, drinks, and music. Pooteewheet was happy they did Perchta about the Christmas witch Lisa regaled us with stories about how a drink on the menu was known as “Russell’s Nuts” in her youth (because of the filberts...and Russell).
Last night we went to the Icehouse to see Sarah Morris. That was COLD. It was cold last year parking in that neighborhood for the Icehouse. I think it’s trying to one-up itself every year. -1F by the time we left. Packed crowd. I almost didn’t get seats and I went after tickets pretty early. We were way in the back, but it was a raised table with no one on the other side, so a great view. Not as good as eye to eye with Sarah’s Mariah Carey doll last year, but still excellent. The woman who started the conga line last year sat next to us and started it up again this year. I figure Pooteewheet can’t participate with the faux knees, so I don’t get involved. The couple whose yard we go to concerts at during the summer were there (we saw them at Leslie’s album launch at the Parkway as well) and we talked for a while about gin versus bourbon old fashioneds, the yard series being on hold because of a disgruntled neighbor, and them having lived in York (UK) at one point. They’re looking at an alternate place in their neighborhood and they have a cabin they can host at, but the latter sort of excludes all the kids and neighbors who can just wander over for free music. I’m glad my neighbors and I like each other. Admittedly, I don’t throw music in the yard events (well, once, and my neighbor hosted it for the kid’s graduation), but we have neighbors who have dozens of cars show up for family feast days and it’s a blast even when the music runs a little late. It was a great gig at Icehouse with the Sometimes Elves, Annie, and Hayley Rydell. I think Pooteewheet was dubious about a Christmas concert and music the first time we went – not her thing – but she really looks forward to it every year now at the Icehouse or Hook and Ladder.
Been playing Stray Gods: the Role Playing Musical the last few days. Interesting story driven game with some of the regulars from the role-playing scene in it (Felicia Day, Laura Bailey, and others). It’s amusing because Pooteewheet and I are watching The Mighty Nein on Amazon and the same folks show up as voice actors. I’m really enjoying the game, but it’s less game and more animated comic book (in my opinion). Given I read graphic novels from the library on my computer, it’s my cup of tea, but with extra sweetener. Additionally, it has a very War for the Oaks (Emma Bull) vibe to it, particularly when Pan shows up in Grace’s apartment near the beginning. Full on Seelie Court urban magical realism tone. If I see the Witch’s Hat in the game at some point, I wouldn’t exactly be surprised. I do think it tries to force a little interactiveness in places it doesn’t have to. When you see a room full of things, you don’t click on those things, but pick them from a list and it describes them, often with no option to do something in relation to that object. And the choices – almost like a Choose Your Own Adventure – are definitely interesting, although you can’t always tell if a decision had a specific impact compared to other possible decisions. The roll-back time mechanism in Life Is Strange (love that game) is a little more interactive. Speaking of rolling back time, I never think about Life Is Strange without also thinking about Riley Rewind with a young Anna Akana (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLyVaF6bvPQ-RTWiPtOaC2CdvqhY53UFWF). Don’t trust my teen movie / series taste, however. I loved Sadie’s Last Days on Earth and The Map of Tiny Perfect Things and only one of those two is considered watchable.
The game is musically driven and you make some choices mid song with a timer. The voice actors do the singing, so think of the quality as akin to the musical episode of Buffy or Scrubs. Not Neil Patrick Harris Singalong Blog level, but the amateur (and I mean still WAY better than me) nature of it definitely reinforces that urban magical realism vibe in the sense that a muse is pretty much nudging people into heartfelt song about the moment.
There’s a bit of a Boyfriend Dungeon (another great game) to it as well in that sometimes your choices come with an aspect of romance, although I haven’t been leaning in that direction (in Boyfriend Dungeon the goal is to hook up with the weapons, although some just become friends) and have pursued the “clever” storyline for Grace in the first act.
Don’t know if I mentioned it, but I’ve been teaching myself guitar. It’s going well. I swear I have sausage fingers, but that must not be unique. I’m six chords into it and focusing on the transitions, steady strumming, positioning (when I pluck each string on a chord is it unmuted and obviously working with the chord – that can be hard with an A where I have to stack my fingers close), finger strengthening, callouses (obviously – amusingly, playing keyboard games is harder if you callous over your fingers and try to use AWSD for directions), and some simple songs that leverage what I know so far. I’m not sure playing guitar is a comprehensive retirement plan, but I’d like it to be in that mix somewhere.
