Last month, the long-awaited Millennium Tour kicked off in Los Angeles. The string of shows brought some of the most popular singers and rappers of the 2000s to one big stage. Some of the acts include Bow Wow, Omarion, Ashanti, Pretty Ricky, the Ying Yang Twins, Soulja Boy, and more. With just a week and three shows remaining, Soulja Boy will have to sit out two performances after the promotion company behind the tour decided to remove him from them as a precaution following Young Dolph’s death. The announcement was made through a post the company shared on Instagram.
“In response to the tragic shooting death of rap artist Young Dolph, The Millennium Tour 2021 Tour promoter, G-Squared Events, has determined that rapper Soulja Boy will not perform during this weekend’s tour stops in St. Louis, Missouri, and Memphis, Tennessee,” G-Squared Events wrote in their Instagram post. “To preserve the safety of The Millennium Tour 2021 artists and patrons, tour representatives are exercising caution and want to make a smart decision to be safe.”
A message from a representative at the company was also included in the post. “The safety and welfare of our patrons are the first and foremost priority,” they wrote. “We pride ourselves on bringing high-quality concert experiences to our patrons. In times like this, we will stop at nothing to ensure that everyone that participates in these experiences is healthy, safe, and quite frankly having a good time.”
You can read the full message from the company in the post above.
Enjoying the many national parks that are scattered across our country is one of our greatest and most cherished privileges. The ability to connect with nature is absolutely vital to the human experience. But when you’re a person of color, that can be easier said than done. Last year, the internet got a small dose of the kind bullshit people of color have to deal with while out in nature — Christian Cooper and the Central Park Karen. And that’s merely one example of the disparity BIPOC face when spending time in outdoor spaces, one which only received attention because it was caught on camera.
Pamela Slaughter, the founder of the Portland-based non-profit People Of Color Outdoors (POCO), is trying to address that disparity.
“Our mission at POCO is to help Black, Indigenous and Poeple of Color deepen their natural connection with nature,” she says. “We’re a mixture of ‘Outdoors 101’ and ‘Welcome To Oregon,’ for BIPOC. Most of our members are looking to experience their firsts with us. First hike, first overnight camping trip, first time birdwatching, forest bathing, and canoeing,”
Pamela Slaughter
Through community group organizing, POCO hopes to create a Portland that is more inclusive and safe for BIPOC. With their efforts, the city’s outdoor spaces feel more accessible than ever — a vital step for the city that topped our 2021 Uproxx Fall Experience Guide.
“Generations of people of color have become disconnected from nature due to displacement, environmental pollution and destruction, and exclusion. As a result, there’s a lack of internal wellness in the community that can be at least partially healed by reconnecting with nature. POCO intends to help facilitate the connection,” writes Slaughter in a recent blog post.
To help new hikers and recent Portland transplants fall in love with the bounty of great outdoor spaces in the area, Slaughter hit us with her eight favorite city hikes that offer an inclusive experience that’s both welcoming to beginners and experienced hikers alike. Let’s dive in.
We love the Audubon Society Sanctuary! It’s a wonderful place to go whether you have 20 minutes or two hours. There is a Welcome/Information Center on the west side of the parking lot, and the Wildlife Clinic on the east side. There is a covered walkway with some seating in between. Be sure to start the visit with a stop at the Welcome Center. There, you can see a map that will light up each individual trail, which makes it easy to compare and choose which one to hike. Most will take you past some old growth trees, streams, and over a couple of bridges.
This is a wildlife sanctuary, so dogs are not allowed. The average active first grader can walk any of the trails. The pond and its covered gazebo are temporarily closed. In the springtime, children are delighted to see dozens of newts swimming in the pond. In the summertime, there are lots of frogs. There are stairs leading down to a steep incline that leads to a steep trail.
The entryway to the sanctuary starts at the bottom of the steep trail. This is not a walk for anyone that has trouble balancing.
I personally visit Whitaker Ponds about three times a week, because I drive by it a lot in my other career as a realtor. It’s a 22-acre nature park that borders the Columbia Slough and has two ponds. There is a ½ mile path that loops around the west pond, and several scenic places to stop and bird watch…
Bring your binoculars! We’ve spotted herons, egrets, woodpeckers, and all manner of ducks and geese. We’ve spotted bunnies, muskrats, and otters, and we see fresh evidence of beavers every day. There is a dock for kayakers and canoeists that want to explore the slough. There is no recreation allowed on the ponds. There is a porta-potty that is cleaned frequently by the City of Portland Parks Department, and a gazebo with tables and benches, so bring your tablecloth, wipes, food, and garbage bag and have a picnic, too!
Leach Botanical Gardens is a magical place. Children always end up talking about fairies when they visit. Every time. I’m serious. That is because the manor house (yes, there is a manor house) looks like a magical cottage when viewed from the stunning aerial bridge that lets visitors walk among the treetops. It still looks like a magical cottage when viewed from the valley past the manor house, where Johnson Creek rushes by. This garden is host to an immense variety of plants from all over the world, thanks to the former owners. There is even a yet identified plant growing on the property.
One thing that makes Leach Botanical Gardens special to BIPOC is that Charles Jordan, the first Black City Commissioner of Parks, stopped the property from being released by the city to be sold. Before signing off on the release, Mr. Jordan visited the property. After seeing the spectacular 16 acres with its 1000+ species of plants, original cottage, manor house, and gardens, Mr. Jordan decided that the City should acquire and treasure the property.
This is another easy, lovely walk. (My job is to create love, not sweat, remember?) This is a 22-acre park that is mostly flat and either paved or hard packed. The walk is a loop that takes you past the Columbia Slough, and little waterways here and there. This is a place where you can see deer early in the morning or at dusk.
Children planted most of the trees in this arboretum, hence the name. There are gorgeous trees from all over the world. You’ll see all kinds of birds here, too. It’s another sweet green retreat sitting blocks away from the bustling city.
POCO has at least four outings at Oxbow Park per year. Whether you hike an easy two miles (POCO’s typical hike) or the 7.9-mile loop, here’s what you’re going to see: hundreds of towering, Douglas fir trees, western red cedars, and many other trees and shrubs. Most will be wearing a thick coat of velvety moss. Some wear it loosely draped and hanging off their branches. Others are wrapped in it from trunk to canopy, extending to the end of every branch.
You’ll see ferns. Thousands of them in various shades of green. They grow in the ground, on the trees, in the moss. You’ll see sword ferns, licorice, maidenhair, deer and others. There are more alders, cottonwoods and maples along the riverside parts of the trail. You’ll see birds of all kinds. You might see an osprey, kingfisher or eagle catch a fish in the summer. You might see spawning salmon in the fall. You’re likely to see deer all year round. This 1000-acre nature refuge doesn’t allow dogs.
Oxbow Park is very important to Indigenous people, and always has been. At one point, trees were being logged for timber. That practice was halted by Estella Ehelebe, the first Black Multnomah County Parks Superintendent. Because of her actions 50 years ago, there are still 92 acres of old growth and secondary old growth left at Oxbow. Spotted owls, elk, cougar, bear and other sensitive wildlife inhabit Oxbow, and there are a variety of trails to explore there. Overnight camping is available, too. Parking is $5 per visit, or $30 for an annual pass to all of Metro Parks, including Oxbow.
Tryon Creek is a park with over 650 acres to explore. This park is unique because there are trails that can be accessed by hikers, horseback riders and there’s also a bicycle trail. POCO has always visited to hike, so far. There are short hikes, longer hikes, easy hikes, and moderate hikes. There is a map posted, a visitor center, and bathrooms. This is a beautiful park with streams flowing through it. There are mostly gentle slopes with some hillier trails, too.
The trails that feature bridges are some of the prettiest, but you’re more likely to spot birds and wildlife where trees are denser. There are stunning settings throughout the park, and each season holds its own special beauty. There is a fee for parking and in the summer parking is tight. The park is beautiful all year round, and dogs are allowed, on a leash.
Silver Falls State Park a wonderland of 10 different waterfalls. Some waterfalls are powerful and roar loudly as they tumble out over the drop-off with power and force. Others are more delicate, musical streams of silver dancing over stone and landing in soft splashes on the moss-covered boulders resting in the pool below. The loop to see all 10 falls is just under 7 miles and is moderately challenging.
This is a 9,000+ acre park, so there is a lot to do. There are gorgeous trails that take you past various falls. Children love Silver Falls because four of the falls take hikers directly behind the waterfall. You might get slightly damp, depending on the waterfall, but it’s a treat. There is a lodge, dining, campground, cabins for rent, horse camp, and bike trails. There is a $3 parking fee.
The lodging is often booked up months in advance, but nearby Silverton, OR hosts the Oregon Garden Resort, which includes admission to the Oregon Garden, another place POCO enjoys visiting.
Forest Park is a 5,200-acre city park. It is bordered by the Audubon Sanctuary, so POCO outings sometimes include spending a little time at both locations. Forest Park is exactly that – a forest inside of the city. There are heavily hiked areas and areas where you can hike for 45 minutes and not see another person. There are parts of the park where there are acres of hills and fields.
Elk herds like to hang out there. There are deer in the forest, cougar, bear, owls, caught on webcams, though rarely seen. Balch creek flows through the Audubon Sanctuary and Forest Park. Balch Creek trout have become landlocked there and have adapted to living in the shallow creek. The trout there can only be found at Balch Creek. POCO was fortunate enough to have some amazing BIPOC park rangers guide us at Forest Park, such as Dave Barrios, an Indigenous ranger that taught us the way to get the elusive trout to come out of hiding. A Black ranger (now a supervisor) Vicente Harrison gave copies of his book, “My Nature Exploration”, to children as a reward for spotting and identifying birds. There are a variety of trails to see but be sure to include the trail that walks past the old stone cottage when you visit.
The 1990s was a sweet spot in American history. The stifling Cold War with the Soviet Union had just come to the end in 1989 and it would still be 12 years before a new era of fear after the 9/11 attacks.
The 1990s was also a time of prosperity that lifted up Americans across the socioeconomic spectrum and an era that saw unprecedented peace in the world. In fact, things were going so well in America that President Clinton managed to have a budget surplus four years in a row.
The ’90s was also the last gasp of the analog era when people couldn’t contact you 24/7 and did things for the pure joy of it instead for the likes and shares.
To say that the ’90s was the last great American decade may be looking back with rose-colored glasses but it’s obvious that as we’ve entered this new era dominated by technology, we left behind a lot of things that brought us joy. Many of us wouldn’t mind having them back.
A recent Reddit thread asked “What do you miss about the ’90s?” and the answers will take you back to a time that most of us remember fondly. Will people ever say that about the 2020s? Only time will tell.
1. You made plans without having to text people.
“Before we had mobile phones, my wife and I would plan to meet at a certain street corner at a certain time after work. We sometimes had to wait for the other person to show up, but we knew they would.” — i_will_be_dead
2. The world was clearly changing for the better.
“There was a period between the Cold War and the War on Terror when it seemed like there was hope for the world.” — igetasticker
3. Friday nights at home with the family.
“Blockbuster/Pizza Hut on Friday nights.” — EdwardPackard
4. People left you alone.
“Not being contactable 24/7. Peace of leaving school/work and not having to deal with their nonsense till tomorrow.” — Soma_Tweaker
5. Air travel without the stress.
“Did you know that before 9/11, it wasn’t a massive pain in the ass to go fucking anywhere?! Loved ones could walk you right to the gate. You could bring snacks, sandwiches, and drinks onto the plane with you. The prices at Hudson News were perfectly reasonable, because if they weren’t, you could just walk out of the terminal and grab something.” — GavinBelsonsAlexa
6. The mall.
“Malls were awesome, and I hate that the strip mall style has taken over. Especially up in Canada, where it gets to -40 in the winter. Back in the day you could legitimately spend hours wandering the mall, indoors and warm. Now it is depressing. Maybe the big malls like Mall of America or West Edmonton Mall are still okay, but the ones in my city are shit.” — Lexi_Banner
7. Following a scene.
“In the ’90s I would walk to my local record shop and talk to the guy. He would recognize me and ask about my thoughts on the Offspring album I bought last time I was in, and then recommend something that just came in from some guys called Green Day.
I’d then give a listen on the wall-mounted headphone player and take it home. Then, the whole next week would listen to nothing else… It was kind of great.” — Koro
8. A genuine good time.
“I think people are more concerned with posting something and going viral now. I really hate that you can just be minding your business, doing something with family or friends and enjoying yourself, and somebody will randomly record what you’re doing so they can call you ‘corny’ and get likes and views.” — Enviornmental-Bank81
9. Magazines.
“Everyone had their favorites for whatever hobby or interest you had. For me it was ‘Guitar World,’ picking up the issues with bands I loved and plinking along to the tab on my crappy electric guitar! For my wife it was 17, checking out the most recent trends!” — JackFairy80
10. Hanging out.
“Honestly the thing I miss the most, and the thing that is so hard to explain to modern kids, is ‘hanging out.’ Before cell phones, people used to just go to each other’s homes, or to some public space, and just spend time together.” — Vambot5
11. Making mixed tapes.
“It was so much fun to make them, carefully trying to fit as much as you could in the limited amount of time that you had, but still making each song work with the next. Getting one was just as thrilling, especially if you just put it on without looking at the tracklist (if whoever made it included one) and being surprised by each new song.” — Edgar
12. Music mattered more.
“Music felt more special because you kind of had to take some risks when buying a cd. At best you could listen to it at one of the stations in the store, but other times you might have heard a song on the radio or watched a music video on MTV. I bought some albums where only the song I liked was good, but still tried to appreciate it all.” — plentyfunk66
13. Less pressure to be perfect.
“Nowadays due to social media, especially sites like Instagram, so many young people feel like it’s necessary to always be dressed well, always wear a full face of make-up, etc. Sure, we had unrealistic beauty standards and plastic surgery before, but to me it feels like it’s gotten much, much worse and also much more uniform than before.” — Owezara
14. No 24-hour news cycle.
“Maybe I’m in a minority, but I for one REALLY miss NOT having a 24-hour news cycle. Once that became a thing, it basically prevented journalists from actually doing thorough research before splitting ‘information’ on TV to satiate their corporate owners.” — Minerva_Madin
15. People talked to one another.
“I miss going to coffee shops or bars and being able to meet new random people. I made some of my best friends that way. Now folks just leer up from their phones more often than not.” – Shiller_Killer
16. People watched concerts instead of filming them.
“Concerts weren’t a sea of phones in the air. People are so concerned with people knowing they were at a concert via social media, that they don’t even pay attention or experience the show. It’s so dumb.” — thebestmike
17. Brick-and-mortar stores.
“I still think this is underrated. Yes now we have a much much wider selection of stuff available instantly, but it used to be extremely fun to go out on a Sunday, go to a record store or video rental store with your friends, discuss options and settle on one.” — Humble Shoulder
A member of the Sydney, Australia band Rhysics has pulled the ultimate “Mariah-roll” by singing Carey’s 1994 Christmas megahit “All I Want for Christmas Is You” over Radiohead’s 1994 self-loathing anthem, “Creep.”
On Monday, musician Jordan Siwek posted a TikTok video of him playing an instrumental version of “Creep” on the piano and invited people to sing it with him on the app. “Creep! Duet with Me!” he wrote.
The member of the Rhysics responded by posting a video that began with the ultimate misdirection. He says that every guy in their 20s and 30s knows “all the words by heart” to the song and then instead of singing “Creep” belts out “All I Want for Christmas Is You.”
#duet with @pianojordan It’s so nice when people remember about this song every 12 months or so 🙂 #mariahcarey #alliwantforchristmas
The interesting thing about the mashup is that the music to “Creep” and “All I Want for Christmas Is You” is actually pretty similar. Both have similar chord progressions that move from G to versions of B to C and then, the catcher here is the switch to C minor.
Both songs do the C to C minor switch at the same time, “Christmas” in the first verse on the word “underneath” and “Creep” on the word “cry.” Notice that both songs suddenly get melancholy when the chord flips from major to minor. It’s a jarring change, one that The Beatles used more than a few times.
While the member of the Rhysics’ vocal performance does a great job at bridging the gap between both songs, this isn’t the first someone has made a “Creep” and “All I Want for Christmas Is You” mashup.
In 2019, William Maranci made a mashup of the two songs by splicing Thom Yorke’s vocal over Carey’s music.
Fresh off her last round in an ongoing Jimmy Kimmel feud, rootin’ tootin’ GOP Rep. Lauren Boebert has taken a break from attempting to channel Ronald Reagan and, instead, she’s attacked several of her fellow House members with conspiracy theories while waving the “jihad squad” term around. The lawmaker who got busted for paying rent with campaign funds straight-up accused Rep. Ilhan Omar (without proof) of handing “over a million dollars” to her husband “and not her brother-husband – the other one,” and that was only the beginning of her racially charged rant.
Bobert was all kinds of mad about the censure of GOP Rep. Paul Gosar after he posted an anime video that had been tweaked to show him killing Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and President Biden, and one local Colorado news anchor has had enough. Next on 9 News (from an NBC affiliate) anchor Kyle Clark, unloaded a one-minute rant, in which he slams the “bigoted” things that come out of Boebert’s mouth. And he calls upon the press to start holding Boebert to a customary standard rather than letting her run amok.
“It’s time to acknowledge something that may be obvious by now. We hold Republican Congresswoman Lauren Boebert to a different standard than every other elected official in Colorado. We hold Congresswoman Boebert to a far lower standard. If we held her to the same standard as every other elected Republican and Democrat in Colorado, we would be here, near nightly, chronicling the cruel, false, and bigoted things that Boebert says for attention and fundraising.”
That wasn’t all. Clark declared that, “Our double standard is unfair to all elected officials in Colorado, Republicans and Democrats, who display human decency.” He’s not wrong, and in other news, Boebert’s ex-campaign manager, Sherronna Bishop, was the subject of a recent FBI raid. Bishop’s apparently an ally of Mike Lindell, according to Salon, and she played a role in “stoking unfounded allegations of voting machine problems in the election.” Sounds like she fit right in with the Boebert mindset.
Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick is facing pressure to resign following a report from the Wall Street Journal that revealed he knew far more about the allegations going on within many companies under the Activision umbrella, as well some allegations that have been levied towards Kotick.
Since the report’s release, employees within the company have begun to emphatically demand Kotick’s immediate resignation or removal. An employee walkout was held to further emphasize their demand for Kotick’s removal. So far, Activision and Kotick have chosen to dig in and are attempting to keep him within his role as CEO. This hasn’t quieted employees, who are now signing a petition demanding Kotick’s removal.
Over 500 Activision Blizzard employees have signed a petition calling for the removal of CEO Bobby Kotick. “We, the undersigned, no longer have confidence in the leadership of Bobby Kotick as the CEO of Activision Blizzard,” they write. https://t.co/D75HwxejVS
“We, the undersigned, no longer have confidence in the leadership of Bobby Kotick as the CEO of Activision Blizzard. The information that has come to light about his behaviors and practices in the running of our companies runs counter to the culture and integrity we require of our leadership — and directly conflicts with the initiatives started by our peers,” the letter says.
The petition comes around the same time as pressure for Kotick’s resignation increases outside the company. Both the heads of PlayStation and Xbox have sent internal emails to inform employees of their displeasure with Activision and Kotick’s response to the allegations. Both emails referenced the Wall Street Journal report and admonished Kotick.
Evva Karr was 19 years old and studying neuroscience at the University of Minnesota: Twin Cities when they had an important realization: despite starting with one goal in mind, they found themselves drawn to the world of game development. The only problem was, they weren’t quite sure how to get involved — a struggle they soon found many aspiring games industry hopefuls shared.
However, rather than finding that fact discouraging, Karr — alongside their partner, Nicolaas Vanmeerten — took action, applying for school grants, volunteering to host events and speakers, learning basic game design and development, and finding ways to get actively involved in the industry in any capacity possible. After years of education, contract work, consulting, and immersing themself in the games industry, Karr then figured out precisely what they both wanted and felt they needed to do within games: help those who were also struggling to find their place in an industry not always welcoming to those outside of it.
To help realize this dream, Karr and Vanmeerten established GLITCH, a “creator-led, cooperatively-owned movement backing bold new forms of play and the people who define them.” While the idea of a group existing solely to bolster up-and-coming game developers might seem too good to be true, that is exactly what GLITCH is doing, and is part of Karr’s push for a “revitalized games industry,” where diverse voices, ideas, and people are made to feel welcome.
“I truly believe that there’s a bigger, better, more inclusive, and also a completely revitalized games industry that’s possible. One that’s essentially sustainable, co-creative, and shaped by new types of player experiences,” Karr said. “Right now, if you’re looking at it — and there’s plenty of research out there about it — games is a hundred million dollar media giant. 49 percent of people who game are women, 50 percent of them are people of color. And the majority of the people who are playing games, don’t actually identify as ‘gamers’. But we continue to actually develop, fund, and create a lot of these games for ‘gamers.’”
Karr has a name for this phenomenon: the “gamer myth.” Despite research proving the average person who plays video games is not the young, white, cis male gamer we have been led to believe they are, many AAA studios — and society at large — keep perpetuating the idea that this is the case. According to Karr, this is precisely why we see so much redundancy in blockbuster games such as the first-person shooter series Call of Duty, which releases nearly annually and sticks fairly religiously to its tried and true formula. However, while this model does work, Karr said it’s their belief that plenty of other models work as well — they just haven’t had the chance to try. This is precisely where GLITCH and their Moonrise fund come in.
The Moonrise fund is the name given to the early-stage equity fund created by GLITCH that pools together various angel investors’ capital in order to back game studios creating something Karr refers to as “different modes of play.” As for what that entails, the possibilities are endless — which is part of what makes the fund both inclusive and exciting. While the fund is not inherently intended to fund marginalized creators, Karr said it just so happens many of the ideas that break the mold established by AAA gaming come from women, people of color, and the LGBTQ+ community, folks who have lived experiences not reflected in mainstream gaming. It just goes to show how the “gamer myth” has prevented so many from seeing both themselves and their desires in games.
“That’s what the fund and the DNA of the fund are set up to do: to look for and back people who are thinking bigger and thinking differently about play,” Karr said. “And a lot of them just so happen to be women, people of color, and queer folks because they have different experiences and they have different ways that they’re thinking about play, so that’s just been exciting to us. A lot of people of color, a lot of women, and a lot of queer folks have just some of the best fricking ideas and that’s really cool.”
When it comes to how Karr and the GLITCH team decide how to distribute the Moonrise fund, the company is fortunate to have a board of advisors with years of games industry experience that help GLITCH make the call. In addition, these advisors also help the studios that are inevitably backed by the fund, providing helpful insight on development, marketing, publishing, and more. Ultimately, however, Karr said the biggest thing that determines what teams they want to work with is a slightly unusual but revealing question: what do you believe is the future of play?
“With the Moonrise Fund, we ask people one big question that all of the successful teams have been able to answer with us, which is what do you believe is the future of play?” Karr said. “And the answer to that is very deeply personal. It’s shaped by individual experience and it also shows us a keen eye on their specific market that they might know quite a bit about. Like, do we, for example, know a lot about rhythm adventure games on mobile? No, but we’re actually very keen and excited to learn about them. We’d love to hear that team tell us what makes this different, what makes this unique, and why them.”
This ties into perhaps one of the most important aspects of GLITCH’s mission: backing people, not just products. Karr, GLITCH, and the company’s various advisors and investors first and foremost aim to support talented creatives with compelling visions and a solid grasp on why their work is needed. Earlier this month, we got a look at the first three teams the Moonrise fund is backing, and it’s clear to see just why GLITCH is so enthusiastic to work with them.
The first team GLITCH is working with is the co-op studio Future Club, which is known for its work on titles such as fighting game Skull Girls and RPG platformer Indivisible. The second studio receiving the Moonrise fund is Virtuoso Neomedia, which currently has three projects of varying genres in the works: Radmitton, Killer Auto, and Zodiac XX. Last but not least, GLITCH is also backing Perfect Garbage, the studio behind cyberpunk visual novel Love Shore. While Karr was not at the liberty to reveal any of the team’s currently unannounced projects, they did offer a small teaser on what’s to come at one of the studios.
“You know, I’ll say this,” Karr smiled. “It’s sci-fi, it’s a thriller, and there’s gonna be a lot of stuff about climate change.”
Luckily for us, GLITCH is just as eager to share what they can about their upcoming projects as we are to hear about them. Earlier this year, that desire manifested in the company’s first-ever digital conference: the Future of Play Direct.
Future of Play was born in the summer of 2021 when Karr and the rest of the team reached out to Summer Games Fest host Geoff Keighley with the mission of not only highlighting diverse creators and modes of play but doing so in a way that was both affordable and accessible. Whereas attending industry events such as PAX or E3 can cost studios thousands, creating a financial barrier in addition to the physical one inherent with in-person events, participating in a digital showcase offered Karr a free way to reach thousands of creators and players alike.
However, that’s not to say going digital doesn’t come with its own set of constraints and troubles — especially when you only have six weeks to prepare. According to Karr, that was all they and the team had when readying up for their Summer Games Fest showcase, yet that didn’t stop them from getting ambitious. Rather than presenting their games in a traditional way, GLITCH found themselves inspired by both Toonami and the recent VTuber craze, and elected to create a virtual avatar named Melios to host the event. With the help of Melios and all GLITCH’s various friends in game development, eager to show off all their creations, the team was able to assemble a twenty-minute showcase packed full of interesting indie titles in mere weeks. Even better is the fact that folks and outlets responded so well to it, another one — and subsequently even more fantastic games — is just around the corner.
“Since that was so awesome, since there were so many people who watched it, we had great coverage off of IGN and all these other outlets that were really pumped and excited about the show,” Karr said. “We’re doing another Future of Play Direct happening this year, in December, for the Game Awards. And luckily now, since we’ve had more than six weeks, we did offer an open call. It’s free to all developers. So expect some really fun things for that.”
You can catch the Game Awards (and GLITCH’s winter Future of Play Direct) when the event airs live from Los Angeles’ Microsoft Theater on Dec. 9.
The Lucifer method worked. A few months ago, Manifest fans made enough of a fuss over NBC’s cancellation (of the wildly popular, though not objectively good, series) and that Netflix read the room (and their own charts) and decided to pony up for a fourth and final season. Now, everyone will find out what really went down with Flight 828. Maybe? Fingers crossed.
Mostly, I’d like to see a resolution to all the drama that still overfloweth after five years of humanity continued while the passengers blipped away and didn’t even realize as much. A culty church and broken relationship fallout filled three seasons out, and one of the more disgruntled dudes on the show landed on my sh*t list. That’d be Detective Jared Vasquez, whose motives were not always fantastic when it came to Mick, but the guy who plays him, J.D. Ramirez, seems like an overall nicer guy. To that end, he alerted fans that Season 4 is shooting, and he has the Instagram post to (sort-of) prove it.
“I’ve been working in this business for almost two decades now,” Ramirez wrote. “And I know to land a team of Cast n Crew that is as Collaborative, Dedicated and in my opinion (Most Importantly) ‘Ego Checked’ as these Beautifully Talented Humans are… well it RARELY happens.” He then added that the cast and crew are all feeling appreciative, and “he reality is ALL of This Magic is happening because of YOU guys! You guys made this happen!”
Yep, thanks to the fans (including one Stephen King), there’s another batch of 20 episodes on the way. Collider reports that each episode will have up to a $5 million budget, which is wild for a “cancelled” show. Talk about a detour that worked out well.
That was a simple question posed by a professor to his students. This video initially came out in 2019, but recently was reposted by @thementorhouse on TikTok and has gone viral yet again.
The students began to guess. 8 oz? 12? 16?
Their answers all received a shake of the professor’s head, because the lesson wasn’t about physics. It was about stress.
With a gentle sincerity, he tells the class, “The absolute weight of the glass doesn’t matter. It depends on how long I hold onto it. If I hold it for a minute, nothing happens. If I hold it for an hour, my arm will begin to ache. If I hold it all day long, my arm will feel numb and paralyzed. While the weight of the glass hasn’t changed, the longer I hold onto it the heavier it becomes.”
Nods of agreement fill the room, and the professor continues.
“The stresses and the worries of life are like this glass of water. If you think about them for a little while, there’s no problem. You think about it for a little bit longer … it begins to hurt. You think about them all day long and you’ll feel paralyzed, incapable of doing anything.”
Placing the glass on his desk, the professor concludes, “Always remember: put the glass down.”
This video seems to be a staged reenactment of a lesson originally taught by a female psychologist (or at least, that seems to be how the story goes). However, the moral stays the same: Carrying the burden of the past memories—or fears about the future—causes unnecessary pain. Find a way to lighten the emotional load, otherwise you’ll be weighed down and unable to move freely.
Letting go sounds easy in theory. But it’s often easier said than done. PTSD, chaotic homes and unfair systems make stress next to inescapable. There are some proven ideas for “putting the glass down” though, even when it’s difficult. Things like:
Writing out your negative thoughts
Calling a supportive person
Taking a walk in nature
Cuddling with a furry friend
Listening to empowering, uplifting music
No matter what glass of water you’re holding onto at the moment, setting it aside, even momentarily, whenever possible might be the best way to overcome it. After all, everyone deserves a lighter load these days.
Last year, Arca released the sweeping Kick, which featured appearances from Björk, Rosalía, Sophie, and promised to be the first in a series of albums. Little did we know that the Kick anthology would feature four installments and that the next three would all come out on the same day a year and a half later.
Announced today, Kick iiii will be released on December 3rd, along with the previously announced Kick ii and Kick iii albums. Following the recent release of singles in “Born Yesterday” and “Incendio,” Arca has also dropped “Queer” featuring fellow Queer producer Planningtorock. The interplanetary number is another unclassifiable installment from Arca, and Planningtorock explained that “the lyrics ‘tears of fire’ and ‘queer power’ are words I live by and where we connect,” adding that “I love her so much and I’m so grateful she exists.”
Kick iiii will also feature a collaboration with Garbage’s Shirley Manson, composer Oliver Coates and NYC performance artist No Bra. Arca shared a statement on the final piece of her endeavor:
“kick iiii is an entry of sensual charge in the cycle; my own faith made into song, a posthuman celestial sparkle, psychosexual pulsewidth modulation, queering the void, abyss alchemically transmuted into a deconstruction of what is beautiful, it is a healing spell, recognition of the alien inside, a bursting apart of old skin, fresh new sinew rippling outward from a beating core, the first prenatal kick — proof that there is a sentience with a will beyond its creators’ control expressing itself from within the womb”
Listen to “Queer” featuring Planningtorock above and check out the Kick iiii album artwork and tracklist below.
Frederik Heyman
1. “Whoresong”
2. “Esuna” ft. Oliver Coates
3. “Xenomorphgirl”
4. “Queer” ft. Planningtorock
5. “Witch” ft. No Bra
6. “Hija”
7. “Boquifloja”
8. “Alien Inside” ft. Shirley Manson
9. “Altar”
10. “Lost Woman Found”
11. “Paw”
Kick iiii is out 12/03 via XL Recordings.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Cookie settingsACCEPT
Privacy & Cookies Policy
Privacy Overview
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
