misterdaniel

So I figure one good use of a blog is to post about the things I unashamedly love. A chance to be positive and be me. For the first of these reflections, I want to talk about theme songs. I love a good theme song; completely and unashamedly.

I have never before taken the time to mull over as to why.

The concept of a theme song seems to date back to the 1930-40s with the advert of radio and then TV shows. However as programming became more sophisticated/commercialised, so too did theme songs. As a child of the 1980s and 1990s, I think we were especially spoiled by the proliferation of quality theme songs and the work of such composers as Mike Post and Shuki Levy.

But why do I love theme songs so much? Here are a few thoughts:

1. Its Just Good Music In many ways, and in many cases, there are theme songs that are just straight up bangers or otherwise good tunes. I mean, take "The Devil's Gallop" which rose to prominence as the theme to the BBC radio serial 'Dick Barton'. That seems to be a case of a show co-opting some epic music. There is no shame at all in recognising that "I'll Be There For You" would be an entirely solid pop song even without the association with Friends.

But that leads me to my second point...

2. Association A theme song does not exist in a vacuum. It is, by its very nature, associated with the show that it foreshadows - and that's powerful. In the days before pausing/recording TV, the theme song was a siren to come sprinting to where one could experience the show. The music was associated with beloved characters and emotive storylines. It has the weight and power of nostalgia on its side. When you - or at least I - hear a theme song, its not just good (or just halfway decent) music, its a gateway to memories and simpler times. And I am a sucker for that.

3. Tone / Narrative One of the things that marks out theme songs from other music is that, by design, they are intended to set the stage, the tone and - in some cases - set up the story of what is to come. It has to musically make a promise that the subsequent show has to keep. The 1980s were rife with shows that featured an introductory narrative to bring the casual viewer up to speed before kicking into some up tempo (often synth) tune. It was not just music, it was a story (and if you know me you know I love stories).

So if you are riding in a car with me and my playlist offers up a theme song, this is why.

And just for fun:

Diary of a Games Demonstrator

So at the weekend I did games demos at the ReRoll Board Game cafe in Leicester. Lovely venue, very friendly staff, great decor, good games selection and tasty foods.

I was given three games to demo so I thought I would do some brief reviews.

1. Survive The Island (aka 'What If Forbidden Island Was PvP not Co-op'). In Survive The Island, you need to get as many of your treasure hunters off the island and to safety before they are either eaten by sharks, sea monsters or consumed by volcanoes. Where the island sinks is in the hands of the players so its very common to find your person who thought they were safely inland suddenly floating in shark-infested waters.

Stats: 2-5 players and I agree with the box that it is for 8+ and plays in around 45 minutes.

Review:This is a 'family game' for a family that can have a good laugh at the catalogue of misfortunes befalling their team and others. It played well with my family, was well-paced and did not outstay its welcome. Plus you can build a different island every time. If you have a chance to play I recommend it. Also it has a 3.5 minute 'How to Play' video that is extremely well put together in both teaching the game and building hype. Recommended

2. MLEM: Space Agency (aka ' Why You Don't Put Cats In Charge Of A Space Programme'). In MLEM, the players choose a cat astronaut (catastronaut?) to put aboard a rocket and then dice are rolled to see how far out of the solar system they can travel, ideally without crashing. Spoilers: Cats crash space rockets with alarming regularity. The dice use a 'push your luck'-style mechanic which is great for that whole "Yeah, but maybe we can make it just a little furt... nope we crashed" energy.

Stats: 2-5 players and also good for 8+ and plays in 45 minutes

Review:Another 'family game' as tested on my family and well-received. The art is cutesy and the core game plays well. The game also comes with a wealth of add-ons, bonus rules and features to add further complexity which I have yet to test but which may increase the games longevity. I will happily play this game with anyone. Recommended

3. Inori Inori is a 'worker placement game' where you place your meeples upon the great tree and try to earn the favour of the spirits. Compared to the previous two, the gap between 'game' and 'theme' was bigger. Thankfully the game itself is very solid and once I started to get the hang of it there were a wealth of options available.

Stats: 2-4 players with a 30-45 minute play time. Box suggests 10+ age and I would agree.

Review:Another recommend but you definitely need to play with someone who has played it at least once as - for me at least - it needs easing into. However, the art is beautiful and when it gets going the game is very engaging. I will be interested to see how it plays with the family.


OVERVIEW: When I was demoing, MLEM was by far the easiest to pitch as a concept and to pick up in terms of showing people how a typical turn plays.

= Star Wars: Skeleton Crew =
The acquisition of Star Wars by Disney has had something of a spotted history. 'The Force Awakens' was an exciting return of the franchise to the screen deliberately designed to push feelgood buttons hard enough to hide just how much of a re-tread it was of the first trilogy. However, it had all that was good about JJ Abrams but - notably - all that is bad about JJ Abrams (i.e. mostly a lot of mystery boxes with no payoff). The wheels wobbled with 'Last Jedi' and 'Rise of Skywalker' for well-litigated reasons. 'Rogue One' was good. 'Solo' was OK.

On TV, the Mandalorian has been solid entertainment. Other projects have been mostly fine (Book of Boba Fett being the worst, imo) with 'Andor' being an elevated and fresh perspective on the Galaxy.

All of which brings us to Skeleton Crew. I love Skeleton Crew.

It could have been dreadful, starting with four child protagonists. However, the kids are very well played and if they have annoying moments it is well-judged and dare-I-say accurate. They squabble, they dream, they goof off when they should be serious - and they are a mix of brave and terrified.

The pitch may be "Star Wars + Goonies" and thats true to a point but its more. The Treasure Island references are strong with pirates galore, a droid called SM33 which is meta in an acceptable way, and then there is Long John Silver or rather Jon Silva. Jude Law is crushing it with this character, playing it with more layers than twenty cakes. He has grandiose highs and terrible lows. Is he a surrogate parent? A black-hearted villain? All of the above and nothing?

He has no business being this good in a "kids show". And thats the lie. Skeleton Crew is not a kids show. Its an all-age show with kids in. The comedy is funny. The Chekov plot devices are well woven and pay off well. Its clearly set in the War Wars setting but is not beholden to other Star Wars content.

I just hope that it sticks the landing.

So, after the SHIELD experiment, a somewhat curious notion occurred and appeals to me:

The idea of running an event in which people are invited to turn up as themselves, and be themselves. Only, as outlined through the brief/chargen process, they are actually Something Else that is attending the social occasion in the guise of their everyday self. Evil twins... Robot doubles... We all know the tropes.

In terms of building an immersive setting, reality has to rate as a viable tool, right?

Plus, if participation is optional, then the social occasion is open to non-game-participants who will happily represent the masses ignorant of great hidden secret factions with pitch-perfect briefing.

Also, the possibility that this LJ entry may have something to do with the prior LJ entry would be a matter of pure speculation...

Well, survived the weekend...

( Thanks to... )

OK, so the whole "Project: Open Eyes" is taking shape now.


( "Event Structure" plus request for specific NPC roles )

Well, so far Duncan has received a message from Nick Fury asking if he would like to work for SHIELD. Consent to be indicated by putting a picture of a 3-eyed robot in his bedroom window to be seen by SHIELD Agents. This was duly done with some enthusiasm, I have been told.

Tomorrow Duncan receives his Mission Briefing Pack, including ID card.

Meanwhile, big thanks to the awesome avantman42. Not only for pointing out a handy child-friendly ROT-13 tool, but also in setting up a couple of websites for Duncan to "hack" (by getting clues to the passwords). Russ assures me that his motives are not selfless as any foundations laid now will benefit Douglas in the not-too-distant-future. Nevertheless...

Interested parties may wish to observe the work in progress courtesy of:

SHIELD: http://www.justec.co.uk/shield/
Password: James Bond

HYDRA: http://rpbook.co.uk/hydra/
Password: Thrush

Some development work is required if anyone feels like providing some (age appropriate) content for links. The current links are placeholders and right-click opens existing PDFs that have been done for the briefing pack.

Thanks to others who have expressed willingness to help. I'm still developing the framework/plotline, so its all up in the air.

As to it being Awesome, well, I hope so. My main motives are to stay sane in the care of three children, which is naturally best done by pretending to be secret agent. I believe it work for Vin Diesel, or something. I suspect there are a bucket of awesome ideas that will not be implemented this time around, but this is a prototype/work-in-progress with no requirement to be an isolated event. In fact, the ultimate hope is that it won't be.

This may take a few posts. One of them will be a more measured look at the last event and the game.


( This is not that one. )

In General:
The fuzzy nature of the ending, with almost everyone's plans being thwarted to a degree, created a fantastically nebulous state onto which pretty much anyone can project their "perfect ending" onto the game. I guess, at that point, it becomes a truely "player-led" end to the campaign.

[Cross-posted from Rule 7]

OK, so this is going to be a bit of a novelty. For the first time in over three years, I'll be posting a mostly honest set of froth. Past froth has either been oblique or in the category of "factually accurate, if deliberately misleading". With one event left, I hope people will forgive me if I lower the old FOIP settings a little (whilst still saving stuff for the post-Event 4 party).

( The froth )

At some point, the Empire Wiki goes live. Its still a work in progress. I had written more blog entries but I think the wiki may make some of this redundant. So I am putting them on my LJ for my own interest. They are about the three foundation pillars of our LRP religion with no overt deity presence, which were:

1. Revelation
2. Moral Authority
3. Power

This is the Revelation one...

( Blogging again )