In what country do people rollerskate through the streets of Caracas on their way to Christmas Mass?

What substance with atomic number 82 was used to manufacture tinsel until its use was discontinued in the 1970s due to health hazards?

The version of "Pennies From Heaven" featured in the movie Elf  is by what singer also known for voicing King Louie in The Jungle Book (1967)?

What ancient Lycian port city (located in modern Turkey) was the birthplace of Saint Nicholas?

Eowyn, a shieldmaiden of Rohan,
Pining for the king without a crown...
Who can kill the Witch King?
He'll say "No man".
But she can do the job when he is down.

Later on, things are dire.
Frodo stands by the fire.
His friends are betrayed,
But Gollum's repaid
Falling with the One Ring in his hand.

• BALTHVS, Harvest / Khruangbin, A LA SALA: these are very similar; loungey, funky, chill, mostly instrumental rock, two dudes on guitar and drums, and a gal on bass and vocals.
• Andrew Bird & Madison Cunningham, Cunningham Bird: a complete cover of the legendary (and unpublished since its 1973 release) Buckingham Nicks, which put them on Mick Fleetwood's radar, whose band they would then join and the rest is history.  Buckingham and Nicks had made sporadic noises over the years about reissuing it, and it does not seem coincidence that they finally did so a year after this stellar cover, which in many ways improves upon the original.
• Andrew Bird Trio, Sunday Morning Put-On: Bird puts together a trio to cover some of his favorite jazz standards (coincidentally including "Django", which was on Buckingham Nicks and thus on Cunningham Bird).
• Nelson Echandia, Tu Creación: the bassist for the progressive joropo (my label) group Compasses puts out his first solo album.
• Garbage, Lie to Me (EP): three good new songs plus a remix from their worst album Bleed Like Me. Add the album they released this year and it seems that every fourth album of theirs is a stinker.
• David Gilmour, Luck and Strange: definite case of old man voice, but he collaborates with his youngest daughter on a couple of tracks to good effect, and his guitar is still amazing.
• Tony Levin, Bringing It Down to the Bass: the master of the bass guitar shows some range in this solo effort.
• Loreena McKennitt, The Road Back Home: a live album where she plays some of her favorite Celtic classics from her busking days.
• Mdou Moctar, Funeral for Justice: more socially conscious desert rock, Moctar agitates for his people and culture.
• Christian McBride & Edgar Meyer, But Who's Gonna Play the Melody?: two double bassists trade leads and share compositions.
• Mogwai, The Bad Fire: the Scottish post-rockers are back; saw them live this year and THEY ARE VERY LOUD.
• My Brightest Diamond, Fight the Real Terror: the title (and title track) are an homage to Sinéad O'Connor.  More of a solo affair, the instrumentation is a bit sparse, but the songs are good.
• St. Vincent, All Born Screaming: a return to form after the self-indulgent Daddy's Home, although it is probably her second-worst album.  She also made an extremely ill-advised companion album with the lyrics translated to Spanish that is best avoided.
• Tragic Lovers, VALENTINE (EP): post-punk from Portland, their compositions are really starting to gel.
• veg., DETONATION (EP): San José's own instrumental metal band.  The songs show more dynamics and breadth from their debut EP.

The winning team had 9 players in flagrant violation of the rules, but we're not going to file a formal protest over a free appetizer, right?

What 2014 film directed by Damien Chazelle tells the story of Andrew Neiman, who attends the fictional Shaffer Conservatory?

What vocal group was formed by the 1961 merger of two friendly rival groups, Otis Williams & The Distants, and The Primes?

What Confederate city was captured after the decisive battle of Forts Jackson and St. Philip?

What are the two non-Ivy "Colonial colleges"?  [10 other schools have historical roots predating the American Revolution and are excluded from the list on bogus technicalities​​​​​​​ because they were not formally chartered as colleges with degree-granting powers, but we're not going to complain about that, either.]

So I recently posted about the idea of creating a TTRPG. I'm still plugging away at it in between art tasks. Not making a ton of progress or anything, but having fun thinking about things, and what I need to include v what I need to keep out.

Tonight, for fun, I sat with my nephew and we created a character for him. He didn't break the creativity bank, but in fairness to him, he's never played an RPG before, so he didn't have a whole lot of experience to draw from. He started with 'like Indiana Jones' and moved into both pirate and ninja genres as we worked through character creation.

Mostly, he was responsive to things I suggested and his own flights of fancy.

My intent is to have him make up a couple more characters and I'll take him through a small 'adventure' (a couple of scenes) with all of them so he can learn about keeping separate characters in his head and go from there.

So far, the system is heavily influenced by the OSR, Knave 1.0, and several others like Shadowdark. KISS is my starting point, but it already feels like I'm making it too complicated, so I will probably do several rounds of cuts after I get the rough draft completed.

ETA: Our December Kickstarter is up and funded! Check it out to see the finished cover! (below is an early version)

Working on this month's Kickstarter book cover. Gone Sleighin' will be a cozy side quest / one shot where your party can take part in a sleigh race with different kinds of animals pulling for fun and prizes.

ETA: Related question - what do you guys think - with snow (light blue) or without?

I don't watch or draw anime. Like, ever.

So, of course, that's the only kind of drawings my nephews seem to want. 😂

This one is, as you might have guessed from the subject, a character called Kokushibo Demon Slayer. I've never seen the show or movie, and I willfully took some liberties when drawing my version, but... what the hell. 

If you're an 'anime person', feel free to tell me all the ways I'm wrong!

And for those who like process videos...

Hmm, looks like i missed a couple of years.

Andrew Bird, Outside Problems: the companion album to 2022's Inside Problems.  Instrumental improvisation, collected and curated.

Depeche Mode, Memento Mori: the twist here is band member Andrew Fletcher dying before its release.

Peter Gabriel, i/o: he couln't decide on the final mix so he released two versions, his first album since 2002.

Garbage, Witness to Your Love (EP): four tracks, including the title track which was first released in 2008 on a fundraising compilaton, and a Siouxsie and the Banshees cover.

Béla Fleck, Zakir Hussain, Edgar Meyer feat. Rakesh Chaurasia, As We Speak: Banjo, tabla, double bass, and bansuri. More genre-busting stuff from Fleck and Meyer.

Rodrigo y Gabriela, In Between Thoughts... A New World: the arrangements continue to become more elaborate as they grow in their craft. 

Ballaké Sissoko & Derek Gripper, Ballaké Sissoko & Derek Gripper: Gripper is known for playing kora tunes on guitar.  Here he pairs with a kora player and the result is magic. We somewhat randomly saw them live and it was so good.

Sphinx Virtuosi, Songs for Our Times: The Sphinx Organization is a group that supports underrepresented classical musicians and composers, and their Virtuosi is their top echelon.

Takénobu, Sushi Tapes Vol. 1, 2, 3: a collection of his YouTube cello improvisations.

3rd Secret, The 2nd 3rd Secret: Krist Novoselic's band added Kim Thayil and Matt Cameron halfway through the previous album. This one's better and more even, mellow rock with female vocalists.

Katie Wighton, The End: a quick pop album from one of the members of All Our Exes Live in Texas.

Just watched a YouTube video that some my my linquistically oriented nerdy friends might really enjoy. I certainly did. The channel seems like something I'll be paying more attention to going forward in large part because of this video.

Edit: Hmmm. Looks like the link for videos isn't working (I tested the url). Well, ye olde copypasta should work (just add your own https://)...

youtu.be/UAT-eOzeY4M

I've wanted to create a TTRPG for a while now. I'm using the fact that my nephews are coming for Thanksgiving as an excuse / motivation to Do the Damn Thing.

My intent is to make it:

• Uncommonly simple - we are talking about kids (2 teens and 2 pre teens) so attention span is a thing. Also, this is without a screen and doesn't beep, so... challenging. I'm not trying to make it a one page (there are many out there) but... close.
• Universal - I'd like to make it flexible enough to be used for any genre of game play.
• Flexible - I want the players to have more input into their skills / abilities once they're comfortable with the system. As long as they keep balance in mind, they can make up things like spells, skills, and ancestral abilities.
• Fun - I mean, it's a GAME. But more specifically, here, I guess I mean 'cinematic' (though I HATE the generic nature of that term). I want to try to create those moments at the table where the whole group roars when one of the players rolls a 20, and they feel the story that their teammates tell...

Anyway, I'm working on a very rough draft, but I know some of you are gamers, so if you're interested in seeing what I've got so far, let me know, and I'll share a (Google Docs) link.