Music: Leeni, Spamtron, Trash80 03.02.2010

A few nights ago, I went down to Ground Kontrol to see Leeni, Spamtron, and Trash80. It was a new experience for me; I don't really know the first thing about chipmusic, but I stumbled across some of Trash80's material a while ago, and I think it's pretty terrific. Apparently, the folks that are behind this show, 2 Player Productions, are going to be doing more events on a regular basis. As much as I enjoyed the music, though, I don't know how often I'll be attending - the shows at Ground Kontrol seem to be strictly over-21 affairs, which is a fucking drag. Anyway, this is Trash80's "Missing You," the song that first caught my attention:

Film 2009

First of all, a few caveats. Since Elias has been born, I haven't seen nearly as many movies as I used to - at one point, I think I was easily seeing something in the theater at least once a week, but now I frequently miss films entirely, or only see them on video years after the fact. Despite having spent the last month trying to catch up on 2009 films, I can still think of quite a few that I still haven't seen, including The Hurt Locker, A Serious Man, Thirst, Inglorious Basterds, Drag Me to Hell, Observe and Report, Rudo y Cursi, Public Enemies, Cold Souls, and The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus. Also, I don't doubt that there's a film or two out there that's flown completely under my radar, and I'll only realize how great it is years from now. Such is life. That said, here's my top ten for 2009, with three-line reviews:

10. The Road
While it proved to be something of a disappointment, it's hard for me to imagine a better way to film the book. After seeing The Proposition, I was pretty optimistic about John Hillcoat as a director, and I stand by that - he has a gift for the unrelentingly sorrowful and grim.

09. Duplicity
I'm a sucker for Tony Gilroy's contemporary take on political dramas like The Candidate, and Duplicity has a delicious black humor, much of it stemming from the vendetta between Paul Giamatti and Tom Wilkinson's cosmetics magnates.

08. Paranormal Activity
While it's not for everyone - more than a few folks I know didn't care for it at all - I thought Paranormal Activity was terrifying. It succeeds mostly on the strength of ratcheting up its tension so deliberately, and by leaving so much to the imagination.

07. Coraline
This is the film that sold me on the new 3D technology. Seeing Laika's handcrafted work presented so vividly was a real treat, and the film itself was a shadowy and frightening and wondrous fairy tale.

06. Up in the Air
I hated Thank You for Smoking and liked Juno in spite of how proud of itself it clearly was, so I wasn't sure what I'd think of Up in the Air. I shouldn't have worried; it's easily Jason Reitman's best - and warmest - film, with terrific performances from everyone involved.

05. District 9
The first third of District 9 is easily the strongest part of the film, but don't let that dissuade you from watching it to the end. It's an overtly allegorical summer action movie, and strikingly, the first film I've ever seen that's clearly been influenced by the vocabulary of electronic games.

04. Fantastic Mr. Fox
While the animation in Fantastic Mr. Fox isn't as polished as that in Coraline, that somehow lends itself well to the film as a whole, with Wes Anderson's characteristic melancholy humor and familial strife. And three Beach Boys songs!

03. Ponyo
While I like all of Miyazaki's work, I have a particular soft spot for his films about younger children, like My Neighbor Totoro and Kiki's Delivery Service. Ponyo is in the same vein, with a warmth and amiability that's a complete delight.

02. Moon
I still think Moon is best seen with as few preconceptions or expectations as possible, so let me just quote from my original post about it: "it's a rough-hewn, evocative , unassuming, atmospheric piece of science fiction, and I recommend it unconditionally."

01. Up
What to say? Along with Toy Story 2 and Ratatouille, one of Pixar's most human films. I didn't realize it beforehand, but the script was by Tom McCarthy, who can do no wrong in my book. In retrospect, it makes perfect sense.

Play 2009

Board Games

I recorded 202 plays in 2009, a significant increase over the 108 I had in 2008. A lot of that was due to a conscious effort I'm making to play more often, but the bulk of my play lately has also been with very short games, many taking less than half an hour to finish. Finally, Elias is old enough now that we've started to play together this year, and as you might imagine, it's a development that I'm absolutely delighted with. Anyway, here are my five and dimes for the year:

Bananagrams (35 plays)
Far and away the game that ended up with the most plays, but that comes as little surprise: most of these have only run about five minutes, and it's an accessible game with pretty broad appeal - I like being able to play pretty much anywhere, and with friends and family members that might not care even for lighter designer games. Also, I logged all of these plays since the beginning of November, when Joanna and Katrina introduced it to me on a family vacation. If Bananagrams proves to have some longevity, I could be discussing a substantially higher playcount at this time next year!

Once Upon a Time (21 plays)
Like I mentioned above, Elias and I have started playing games together, and this is the one that's seen the most table time so far. Personally, I think of it as more of a story game than a conventional board or card game, but I love it. The fairy tale theme and collaborative storytelling mechanics, of course, are both things that I'm quite fond of, and the fact that Elias enjoys playing so much tickles me to no end.

Dominion (15 plays)
I know that I don't have nearly as many plays as some folks, and I doubt there's anything I could say about Dominion that hasn't already been said, but man, what a terrific game. I received my copy at the end of 2008, and while I've enjoyed it from the beginning, seeing the various cards in action has only deepened my appreciation for it. Probably my favorite game right now - I'm more or less always down for playing.

Coloretto (14 plays)
Another game that plays in a matter of minutes, and that I've been able to successfully introduce to a variety of folks. We've played it a lot as a filler, or while waiting for other folks to show up. As a result of liking this so much, I picked up a copy of Zooloretto, but it hasn't hit the table yet.

Pandemic (14 plays)
The folks that I play with are pretty fond of cooperative games - when I first started getting into designer games, we were playing Shadows Over Camelot pretty much every time we got together, and right now I'm in a group that's getting together for monthly games of Battlestar Galactica. Pandemic, though, is probably my favorite cooperative design at the moment - it's tight enough that even when we lose, it feels like just one more turn would have been enough to win, and it plays quickly enough that I'm always willing to get in two or three games if other people are up for it.

Adventures in Oz (6 plays)
Cara and I have read perhaps half a dozen of L. Frank Baum's Oz books to Elias, so he was pretty excited when we found a copy of this game. I'm afraid I don't have much to say about it; it's a pretty simple roll-and-move kids game, but Elias really enjoyed it, and I was happy to play.

The Kids of Catan (5 plays)
A birthday gift for Elias, though I'm afraid he hasn't taken to it as much I'd hoped. Then again, it's not a terribly interactive game, either - everything is pretty much predetermined by die rolls, so there isn't much in the way of interesting decision-making. It is gorgeous, though.

Memoir '44 (5 plays)
I actually don't remember playing very much Memoir this year, but apparently I did. Anyway, it's an enjoyable diversion, but I've never quite been able to get into it as much as some people. Perhaps that would change if I played with a bit more frequency...

Mystery Garden (5 plays)
Another game that I've played exclusively with Elias, Mystery Garden is more or less a dressed-up version of Twenty Questions, but I have a soft spot for Ravensburger games, having played them a bit when I was a kid.

Finally, a few other games of note: The monthly Battlestar Galactica game that I mentioned above has been a pleasure - it's been great to have a regular group with which to play a long game consistently, and to really grow familiar with the game. The Fury of Dracula game I played last fall was an unexpected joy. And Conflict of Heroes is a light wargame that I'm excited to play more of in 2010.

Roleplaying Games

While I loved RPGs as a kid, and I've been playing in off-again, on-again games of D&D since 2004, 2009 was the year that I really started roleplaying again in earnest. A big part of this stemmed from sitting in on some of the panels at Gamestorm and really starting to think about the kind of play I want from my roleplaying. In turn, that led to diving into all of the terrific new small press games that have come out in the last few years, and meeting a few local folks through GoPlayPDX that have been really helpful as I began to test these new waters. I haven't been able to get in much of the longer, multiple-session games that I'm looking for yet, but I've done a lot of reading that's really changed the way I think about my play. More importantly, I've been able to try out a raft of games that have shown me those innovations in action - especially Dogs in the Vineyard, Dust Devils, Lady Blackbird, Mouse Guard, and PTA - and I'm looking forward to playing even more this year.