Osborn Fiber Studio

I’m trying something a little different this month. Rather than my usual making round-up at the end of the month, I thought I’d share a bit about what I’m reading, watching, and listening to. January is a relatively non-busy month when I have lots of time to craft and consume various types of media. But I don’t take a lot of time to reflect on or discuss what I’m taking in, at least not in proportion to its sheer quantity. In fact, I’m a little terrified to reveal just how much media I consume! But honestly, this is how I exercise my brain and (as an extrovert) find a lot of enjoyment in a life where I’m mostly at home. So, shall we?

Podcasts

I’d better start by listing some of the podcasts I most regularly listen to. As my friend Francis said to me once, “We live in a golden age of podcasts.” I love to have something to engage my brain, especially during my more tedious chores. These podcasts also reveal a lot about my interests other than crafting, which might surprise you. So here they are, in no particular order. Since some of y’all listen with kids around, I’ll include info about which are kid-safe listening.

Triple Click: Something I’m not sure I’ve discussed here is how much I like video games, and video game journalism in particular. I find so much in common between video games and the modern world of crafting, as they are both interactive created experiences that cross all kinds of barriers and engage the imagination. More on that anon, but I have to shout out Triple Click as my favourite video game podcast. Jason, Maddie, and Kirk invented the term “small g gamer,” which I immediately identified with – this is a show for gamers in their 30s and 40s, who maybe don’t have infinite hours to play, who have other lives and stuff, and who like to play all kinds of different ways. I’ve gotten a kajillion game recommendations (and other recommendations) from them that have given me a lot of joy. They’re just very welcoming and have a vibe I like a great deal. They are not a swear-free podcast, but they are not big potty-mouths.

The Besties is another conversational video game podcast. All four hosts, Russ, Chris, Justin, and Griffin, were (I think) among the founding members of Polygon (an online video game news website), though none of them works there anymore. This podcast is a little more nerdy, a little more niche, a little more swears, but in general coming from a similar pitch as Triple Click. The guys tend to be very silly, and while I don’t get as many recommendations from them, they’re nice to listen to and hang out with. Vicariously through them, I experience a lot of bigger games that I would never bother playing.

Post Games: One of the Besties, Chris Plante, recently spun off his own solo podcast as a full-time gig after he was no longer Editor in Chief over at Polygon. This is more of a This American Life “magazine” style podcast, with long, in-depth interviews with really cool people. It’s less about recommending games to play and more thinking about video games as a medium, art form, and industry. I think it’s all really fascinating, and I enjoy his style of reporting very much. It’s not heavy on swears, but they are allowed, and sometimes he broaches very adult topics.

Sawbones was my first McElroy podcast, which took me deeeeeep down that McEl-rabbit hole, and it’s still one of my favourites (and is the only one that I got Jared to also listen to). Sidney is a doctor, and she and her husband Justin (whose job is basically podcasts and being funny) talk about medical history stuff. The episodes are short, jovial, and educational. They tend to debunk a lot of “wellness” trends, explain a lot of the science behind things like vaccines, do biographies of interesting characters from medical history, and sometimes just take bizarre detours into things like pink paint in prison cells. This is also a family-friendly listen; my kids love it and sometimes want me to send in their weird medical questions.

Wonderful! is another McElroy family marital special, in which Griffin and Rachel just talk about “things we like that’s good that we’re into.” They’ve covered everything from crayola crayons to some reality TV show they like, and they highlight “small wonders” like some weird sound their kid is making this week. As someone who genuinely finds everything interesting, I vibe with them so much. This is a swears-allowed not-for-kids podcast.

Wool n’ Spinning Radio: It would, of course, be silly for me not to mention the audio podcast on which I am a regular contributor. We’re a monthly podcast (all the above are weekly), and we’re usually having longer conversations, almost always about spinning or something adjacent. Rachel, Dionne, and myself will pick a topic, or often we’ll have a guest we’re quizzing about something. Recording these is a highlight of my month, and is it weird that I listen to them when they come up on my feed, after they’re released? I think we’re a pretty chill hang, and I always imagine our listeners are there in the room with us, knitting or spinning while they listen.

More podcasts will come up as I continue this post, but these are the ones I listen to quite regularly no matter what, that I look forward to every week. They accompany on walks, doing dishes, in the car, doing dishes, weaving, doing dishes, and also while doing dishes.

Video Games

Here’s what we’ve been playing this month!

We did something funky this year at Christmas and had pretty much our only gift to the kids (and each other) be a Nintendo Switch (1). It’s been over ten years since Jared and I have had a console, and as the kids get old enough to game, we find ourselves playing co-op games all on different computers in different rooms in the house. If we’re going to game, why not together? Hence the Switch. Overcooked! 2 was one of the first games we got, purely because I wanted it! It’s a chaotic co-op cooking game. First off, this game was harder than I expected! Jared and I enjoy the heck out of it, but the kids find it very stressful. So, sometimes Jared and I play it by ourselves for an evening to get enough stars to proceed, or to beat a hard level, then Dooner will join us. The other two kids won’t even play it! But out of all the Switch games we’ve bought so far, this is the one I like best.

Out of all the Switch games we’ve bought so far, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is probably the one we’ve played the most. Jared doesn’t enjoy it as much, but when he’s out of town, the girls and I play it without him! Probably the best feature in this game is the option for auto-steering, which levels the playing field dramatically. Still, there are some tantrums when someone loses, and in general this has been one of the games that gives us lots of… um… opportunities to work on expressing our feelings appropriately.

In my heart I am still a PC gamer. I have a Steam backlog that might make your eyes water, and I’m still a sucker for a sale. I picked up Strange Jigsaws during the Steam Winter sale (on a Triple Click recommendation) and Jared and I played through it in about three evenings. It’s simple enough that all the kids also played it individually, though they have learned how to pull up a hint guide on my second screen, so there’s that. Kids these days! This was a clever way to bake your noodle a little bit, and there’s literally nothing you can say about it without spoilers. It’s strange jigsaws. There are jigsaws in it. They are strange.

On Jared’s trip this month, I informed the kids I was going to share an oldie but a goodie with them, so I made them play through Sam n’ Max Hit the Road. I have so many memories of the hours I spent banging my head against this game as a kid. Figuring out the weirdest solutions after hours of trial and error. Is it a good game? I’m… honestly not sure. We played Full Throttle a couple months ago, and I spent most of that game going “No kids, this is really great!” I spent most of this game going “Egh… um… yeah you just gotta do this. I know it makes no sense.” I guess you just can’t replicate the experience of being ten years old and finally figuring out after hours of getting nowhere that you’re supposed to throw the eggplant in the shape of John Muir’s head into the hot tub. But, like making the kids watch the original Star Wars, I feel I have done my cultural duty.

The Cave is a weird, creepy little game. It’s one of many that I wishlisted on someone’s recommendation, forgot why it was there, bought it when it was a couple bucks on sale, and it sat there for years. It was Stringbean who pulled it up and started playing it one day, so in the end I played it on her recommendation. Also because, after making her play Sam n’ Max, she really wanted the experience of telling me how to solve puzzles. In The Cave, you have the choice of playing three out of seven characters, each of which has a special ability to get you through the long puzzle-platformer that is this game. There are a few areas that you always get, regardless of the characters you choose, but for each character you do choose, they have a long level that you can only get to when you play as them. I picked three characters that Stringbean hadn’t picked, so she helped me through the common areas, and we figured out the new ones together. It’s got some mild horror, and the general theme is that each of these characters has a dark secret you’re supposed to figure out. The moral being, I guess, that everyone is a terrible person? In a cute way? The story does not bear up under much examination, but they were going for colour and interest rather than philosophy.

Next is a game that is absolutely going for philosophy. I started playing Wanderstop because of Griffin’s strong recommendation on both Besties and Wonderful (see above). It’s basically a game about burnout, about how hard it is to rest, and about how our psyches have become so defined by productivity and accomplishment. The impressive accomplishment of this game is that it uses its mechanics to deliver its message as much as the story: achievements are just random moments. There’s very little gamification. You’re just making tea, growing weird plants, and having conversations with eccentric people. There are some stories that come to light along the way that are pretty affecting. I haven’t finished it, so I don’t feel I can fully judge if the story will stick the landing, but I think it will. This is the one game I am playing by myself, for myself, so I don’t get a ton of time with it, but I do love the time I spend with it.

Jared I just started Escape Academy last week, and we’ll probably finish it tomorrow night. If Wanderstop is a deeply affecting story, this game is its opposite. I had to look up where I heard about it – I wishlisted it from a Triple Click recommendation three years ago, and bought it during this last winter sale. It’s a point and click puzzle game where you’re solving escape rooms. That’s it! The game knows its story is just a silly series of constructions to get you to do a bunch of escape rooms. The escape rooms themselves are clever and twisty enough that we can usually solve them on the first try without hints, and feel really clever about it. But what is BEST about it is that the game chunks itself into convenient, satisfying 20-30 minute pieces. So if it’s 9:15 and we’ve only just gotten the kids into bed, we know we can play a room and get to bed on time. That is worth a lot right there. This game has approximately a million expansions which we will probably scoop up when they’re on sale.

We used to watch more TV in the evenings, but we especially enjoy playing puzzle games together. And I really enjoy putting my video game journalism hobby to use by curating games for my family.

Movies

I have always really loved secondary sources. Even in graduate school, where we had to read both primary and secondary sources, I really loved reading the secondary sources. Of course we’re supposed to exercise our brains and do our own original interpretation of life, the universe, and everything, but I think so much better when I’m building off someone else’s thoughts. It feels like we’re understanding it together. Did I see the same things they saw? Do I agree or disagree? So that’s why, under these subsequent headers, podcasts will keep coming up: the best ones are my secondary sources of choice.

A couple years ago, Maddie of Triple Click (above) changed my life when she brought up Blank Check. It started over ten years ago, with these two weirdos watching the Star Wars prequel trilogy like ten times and talking about it for ages, pretending they were the first movies and the original Star Wars trilogy didn’t exist. It was the silliest nonsense you’ve ever heard, but it was my nonsense – those movies were so deeply coded into my teenagerhood, you have no idea. I got every joke like it was written for me.

Anyway, after thirty episodes of that ridiculousness, they switched gears and became a podcast about directors’ filmographies. They will watch all the movies by a certain director, in order, and load you down with tons of movie geekery and context. I used to watch all the DVD extras (back when that was a thing) and who enjoys movies as made things. I also like to engage with media in series, in an orderly and complete fashion. So Blank Check has been fabulous for me over the last couple of years. I’ve watched through a lot of directors filmographies with David and Griffin (different from the other Griffin above). Over the past few years I’ve watched all the films of the Wachowskis, Stephen Spielberg, Michael Mann, and a few others. At the moment, Jared and I are very slowly watching the films of Christopher Nolan. I usually watch movies during the day, when I have a lot of crafting to get through and the kids are at school. With Jared, it takes us two or three nights to get through a movie! And it’s so often easier to just zip through an escape room and go to bed. This is why we’ve only watched one Nolan movie this month. And do I really need to say anything about Inception?

We try to have a Friday night movie night with the kids as well. It’s been a fun opportunity to introduce them to some of our favourites, like Clue. I think the kids liked it. It was hard to tell because I spent the movie cackling so hard. I always forget about the dog poop joke in the beginning that just keeps going. There are so many fabulous throwaway jokes, and so much lore to tell the kids about. “Did you know when it was originally released, you only got one of the endings? It was supposed to make you want to go see it more than once, but it backfired horribly!” Anyway, I had so much fun watching this with the family after quite a long time. And the kids really did get a giggle out of it.

On the same day that we watched Clue in the evening, I watched the first Knives Out movie. So I had a real comedy mansion mystery day. Oh my word this was so delicious. Not least because there was a subtle political- cultural vibe throughout that was very cathartic. I don’t know if the subsequent movies are any good, but if they pop into a service I happen to be subscribed to at some moment, I will find out!

Finally, last Friday with the kids, we decided to share another childhood favourite. Twister was in my VHS collection growing up, and I must have watched it a hundred times. Watching again, this is such a well-paced movie. It communicates its aims so well, it builds perfectly, and has such a satisfying conclusion. Helen Hunt is a legend, as is Cary Elwes even though his American accents are so unfortunate. A young, joyful Philip Seymour Hoffman gives me the feels, and even Bill Paxton is unrepulsive. The kids really enjoyed the ride. We’re going to watch Twisters tonight, and while I don’t expect to like it, I’m ready for it to cash in on my nostalgia.

Blank Check just started a spinoff podcast that they are calling Critical Darlings, in which Richard and Alison talk about Oscar-y movies and the season leading up to the Oscars. I’ve always been interested in the Oscars, but felt I was late to the game. So this podcast, which scratches the exact same itch as some kind of sports commentary podcast, is perfect for me. I know Oscar movies (especially Best Picture nominees) are not for everyone; they’re often esoteric and VERY adult. I also know that not all the Oscar movies are for me. But I’ve always been curious about this scene, I love movies in general, and I love watching movies with intelligent commentary, so this is right up my alley. I’ve watched a few of the contenders so far, and hope to fit in several more in February.

One Battle After Another was one of the biggies. Clearly I had no idea what to expect out of it. All I had seen was this poster with a guy I really thought was Pedro Pascal, and then I was super confused when it was just Leo. But yeah, this movie left me shook. Not because of the plot or acting, but because of the setting, which felt like near-future-but-maybe-present, thanks to all the news coming out of Minnesota. As for the film itself, it’s sort of the anti-Taken – incompetent dad trying to rescue competent kidnapped daughter. Sean Penn is deliciously evil, the ending is just exactly right. Benicio Del Toro was at his finest. Gosh I love watching that weird dude. A movie that feels like it could be happening in real life tomorrow, or even right now.

I was excited to catch Sinners. Not because I like horror or vampires, but because the story of this movie getting made was pretty cool. Long story short, Ryan Coogler and Michael B. Jordan got to make the movie they wanted to make in the way they wanted to make it, and were able to fund it and make their own money from it. To have it be an enormous blockbuster, successful and breaking Oscar nomination records, is enormously gratifying. So I was happy to see it. I think I can say I enjoyed it. Horror isn’t my favourite, but the music – and the part that music plays in the story – is profound. Miles Caton about blew me away.

Horror is going to be a theme this month. Because I had a particular subscription already, and I saw it was on there, I watched Weapons. This movie I could appreciate the quality of, but I didn’t enjoy it. Aside from the fact that I love Benedict Wong, who did an eyes-open crazy-stare like I’ve never seen before. Is that all there is to say about it? It was cool as a mystery, it was cool the way the story was told. If you like horror, you’ll like it?

Books

Let’s talk about horror some more. Speaking of podcasts that go through topics systematically and offer brilliant commentary, I’ll introduce Just King Things. Their mission: read all the books of Stephen King, in order, once a month. I was curious; Kurt of Triple Click likes this show.

Here’s the thing: I don’t think I’ve ever read a Stephen King novel. I didn’t even really register that so many of his books have been made into iconic horror movies, none of which I’ve seen. I like thrillers, and the line between thriller and horror is sometimes fuzzy. I love sci-fi, and within that setting I can usually deal with a fair amount of horror (I love the Alien and Predator franchises). So, with a good podcast to hold my hand, I was willing to try. I was going into these iconic books completely blind, which in itself is a bit thrilling. As such, I didn’t read or listen to any introductions or forewords, which assume that the reader is already familiar with the story and are full of spoilers.

I started out with Carrie on audiobook, which I enjoyed a lot. It’s short, incisive, epistolary, and relatable. It was gross, sure, but you could see what was coming. If this kind of wild ride is what I could expect from Mr. King, I was down to clown. It helped that Cameron and Michael of Just King Things had really thoughtful and intelligent commentary, and highlighted the types and tropes that I could expect to turn up regularly in King’s work.

‘Salem’s Lot was a little more challenging, but I still enjoyed it. Still on audiobook, I didn’t even register the Dracula-looking guy on the cover, so I didn’t even realize it was a vampire book until pretty far into it. There’s some serious nastiness in here, but what impressed me about it was how human nastiness was written with the same tone of horror as the supernatural nastiness that occurred. That, it seems to me, is when horror is most impactful – when it highlights, exposes, and interprets the real human evil around us.

Moving onto The Shining, which even I had heard of, I had a much harder time. I got it on my kindle from the library, and reading a book fits into my life quite differently. What really confused me about was how much time we spent in Jack’s head. Having never seen the movie, I genuinely did not know any of the plot, so I truly did not know whether Jack would ultimately be redeemed or not. That was powerful for me – I identified with Jack, with his obsessiveness and selfishness. So when it became clear that he would not be redeemed, I wasn’t sure what to make of the seemingly endless time we had spent in his head. I don’t want to understand the villians that well, especially one who isn’t really that sympathetic in the end. To say nothing about how being isolated in a winter setting hits a little close to home!

So now I’m reading Night Shift, King’s first collection of short stories. I read a couple, and they were very good, but I’m taking a break. Instead I’m reading Sunrise on the Reaping, a Hunger Games prequel. I’m a big-time Hunger Games fan, but I haven’t dug into the prequels. I’m theoretically reading it with Stringbean, but of course she read it in a day and I’m halfway through it after a week. I’m pretty slow when I’m reading with my eyeballs instead of my ears.

I think I will go back to Night Shift after. After Carrie, and liking the first couple of stories, so far I like King best in short form. Plus, Just King Things’ criticism has been brilliant throughout, and has thorough content warnings I can check out before I even start reading the books. I know horror isn’t for everyone, and I certainly don’t have to dig into it, but it’s a genre that a lot of people up north really connect to. So, since I feel ready to check out this genre of fiction, which often has a great deal of contact with my beloved science fiction, I will continue to do so in measured doses.

How About You?

What have you been reading/listening to/watching/playing this month? I’d really love to know! Do you enjoy round-up lists like this? If you made it this far you probably don’t find them repulsive – I find them a new way to connect to another creator, or sometimes just a pleasing little look into someone else’s brain. I am a bit horrified by the sheer quantity that I take in, but I’ve been doing it for a while, and it makes me awful happy to reflect on it for a minute and see it in one place. So, if you’re still reading, thanks for coming along!