November’s here and so is my box of varied and unique snacks from Japan.
As usual Japan Crate includes a mini-manga that explains what each item is, has instructions for the DIY kit, and various additional context, pictures and promotion. The bonus item for the Premium Crate this month isn’t food, but a Naruto Blind Box Mini-Figure. Good inclusion to capitalize on the popular anime. One of the items listed in the book (Fujiya Lollipop Bag) wasn’t available in time, so an email was sent out explaining that it would be in next time and that two snacks had been added in its place. Nice touch.
So let’s look at the edibles.
The Excellent
Both replacements were from Glico, and the Cookies & Cream pejoy ended up being my favorite snack of the month. Kind of a “reverse pocky,” these vanilla cream filled chocolate cookie sticks were delicious. The chocolate items were a big hit with me in general, as the Bar-None-like Black Thunder candy bars were fantastic. The other replacement was also great: Hot Chili Salad Flavored Pretz, nicely seasoned pretzel sticks with a decent dose of spice.
The Decent
This month’s Premium Crate’s drink is Chunosuke Water. I got the Apple flavor, and it’s a nice lightly flavored drink. Superstring Q is also a Premium exclusive, and is a 50 inch gummy string with two different types of grape flavored sections. It was decent, although I while I could tell the difference in taste between the two types it was more “sweet and different sweet” than “sweet and sour.”
Meiji Dice Caramel and Glico Man Caramel & Toy are both amusingly packaged caramel candies. They were fun inclusions and the caramel was decent, but in both cases it was a bit too sweet for me.
The DIY kit this month was Funassyi Furi-Furi Shake DIY Kit, which is intended to create a sweet pear flavored milkshake by adding milk and an ice cube to the provided powder. I got almost more of a banana flavor from it personally, but it mixed to a nice consistency and was decent for what it was. “Add milk and ice and shake” is also far and away the least work required for one of these so far.
Another Premium exclusive, Parchishuwa Grape Soda Mix, is one of the most unique candies I’ve tried yet. It’s like a bit a pop rocks mixed in with a powder that fizzes a bit and some chewy pieces for texture. The book describes it as “exactly what grape soda would be like if you could eat it instead of drink it,” and they’re right.
Uranai-KKO Bubble Gum is a nice recreation of fortune sticks. The gum itself is decent and seemed to have a slight cola flavor. The book and blog provide a little to help try to translate the fortunes, but it’s not nearly enough and I found the most I could determine on the sticks I got was good or bad luck. Spy vs Spy Sour Gum contained two identical looking soft sticks of lemon gum, with one much more sour than the other. This was one of the Premium Crate exclusives and I enjoyed both versions.
The Meh
Fluffy Long Neck Marshmallow is a twisted rainbow marshmallow stick. It’s fine for what it is, but a marshmallow doesn’t impress me. I wanted to like the Purple Sweet Potato Sticks, which taste as advertised, but I really didn’t for some reason. So it goes.
Conclusion
This was the weakest Japan Crate so far for my personal tastes, but I still appreciate the chance to try all of these unique snacks. The Premium exclusives continue to provide some of my favorites, and the upgrade is easily worth the additional $5. Despite less to love than usual there wasn’t a lot I severely disliked either, there were still high points, and I continue to be impressed with the variety of selections, not only within each box but across the shipments I’ve received.
I’ve been wanting to do a rundown of my favorite games, but it’s always a bit odd as the list is ever changing as I play new things. I recently came across a wonderful blog entry by Jamey Stegmaier embracing that change and periodically updating his personal list. So I’m adopting his great idea and will likely be checking in every so often with updates to the below.
Ground rules:
This reflects my favorite things to play right now. I love everything on this list. Order is pure personal preference and whole list HIGHLY subject to change, as ten is a small number to cover all the great games I’ve played and something’s bound to be missing.
I need to have played something at least twice for it to be eligible. I think something has to hold up to at least a second play to be considered a favorite. So Imperial Assault, Suburbia, Tragedy Looper, andImpulse (and several others) allget automatic honorable mentions. I expect these the first two, at the very least, to jump into the list next time. I also have several interesting looking games I’ve never played in the waiting pile. Should be fun. 🙂
Expansions I have are considered with the base game and won’t be listed separately.
10.Alhambra
A point that will pop up several times in this list is that I love games that are both accessible and deep. Alhambra shines in these respects. The basic mechanics of purchasing tiles and placing them in your own area with the player with the most of each type scoring points is easy to grasp, but the differing distributions and changing costs of tiles keeps things varied and challenging. There are numerous expansions containing several modules that can be swapped in and out to customize things even more exactly to your group’s particular preferences. This is one of my go-to gateway games.
9.Castles of Burgundy
Castles of Burgundy is unlike any other game I’ve played, and it shines in the unusual way uses dice to determine both which tiles a player can buy and which purchased tiles can be placed on their personal player boards. There are a lot of “moving parts” and things to keep track of, but it’s all logically laid out and intuitive once you get the hang of it. There’s tons of replayability and different viable strategies, even before considering the numerous different player boards available.
8.Pillars of the Earth
Pillars of the Earth is one of those games that looks VASTLY more complicated than it is. There are a lot of components and mechanics, but it all fits together seamlessly and makes sense. The use of worker cards and execution of resource management is perfectly balanced and well constructed within the theme. Pillars also has the best expansion I’ve ever seen for any game. It adds depth and challenge to the game without losing anything and makes every aspect it touches better. This is always a big hit with my groups and one of the first “heavier” board games we introduce people to.
7.Euphoria
Stonemaier Games’ second offering, a fantastic dice-as-workers game with an incredibly unique theme of trying to achieve prestige and status in a dystopian world. Little touches like artifact cards depicting objects from today’s world and trying to keep your workers happy and stupid bring the theme to life and it’s very well intertwined with gameplay. Also, the production quality is absolutely unreal, with realistic resources, wooden commodity pieces, wonderful art, etc all making this as great to look at as it is to play.
6.Anima
It can be hard to capture the feeling of exploration and combat in a card game without getting too bogged down or complicated. Anima and its expansions walk the line perfectly, creating a framework where you’re leveling up your team, gradually facing tougher monsters and opponents, and preparing to defeat the great evil and win the game in a natural progression without needing 100+ page rulebooks. This is the best “simplified” role playing experience I’ve found, and I continue to adore this game years and years after my first play.
5.La Citta
La Citta is fifteen years old and feels so timeless and classic I’m actually surprised it’s not older. Wonderfully thematic game that combines tile laying and resource management as players try to build the most attractive cities and lure the greatest population (the game’s victory points) to them. Details like needing water sources to grow beyond a certain point, having to produce enough food to feed your population, and a changing priority system signifying what people value most in their cities each round make this a fantastically deep, balanced game.
4.Viticulture
The debut game from Stonemaier, which instantly made them one of my favorite publishers. Beautifully realized worker placement game that is just completely infused with the unlikely theme of winemaking. The Tuscany expansion adds several great aspects that make it even more amazing, and the game scales incredibly well and feels like the same game no matter the player count. As usual with Stonemaier the production quality is absolutely unreal, with individually shaped building pieces and gorgeous art elevating the immersion.
3.Ghost Stories
Fantastic co-op game that’s fairly easy to teach but has a lot of variation and depth. Best on its own or with Ghost Moon (Black Secret has fallen flat with my group so far). Notorious for its difficulty, but we’ve found it challenging rather than frustrating. The changing board, player powers and enemy cards make every game significantly different, which greatly aids its longevity. It’s also great to have a go to co-op game on hand, as many of my “non-gamer” friends have really enjoyed trying something that has them working with, rather than against, the rest of the group.
2.The Duke
I amazed how quick this skyrocketed up my list. The Duke is an incredible two player game with elements of chess reworked into a much more accessible and variable experience. The vast number of movement patterns allows for deep gameplay, yet the smaller board and limited starting pieces keeps things manageable. The combination of each piece having its movement grid printed on it and the fact that the pattern is different on each side is just fantastic, and makes this both incredibly new player friendly and deep.
1.Princes of Florence
Despite tough competition, Princes of Florence is still my favorite game of all time. It incorporates what’s usually one of my least favorite mechanics (the auction) in a quick and enjoyable way that enhances the balance of differing strategies greatly. The combination of resource management, strategic choices and maximizing opportunities is just perfect and I could (and probably will) play this a million times.
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And that’s a wrap. Will be interesting to track how this list changes in the future. What are everyone else’s favorites?
Having too many awesome games to play and try out is a good problem to have. Here are a few games I’m anxiously awaiting an opportunity to try. Each of these has some new twists on established mechanics that seems extremely interesting.
Between Two Cities
Stonemaier Games previous two games (Viticulture and Euphoria) instantly became favorites of mine, and despite being the first of their games not designed by their founder Between Two Cities looks to keep up their extremely impressive track record. It combines tile laying and drafting, but the real innovation is a concept of “competitive co-op.” Each turn you choose two tiles from your hand and will play one into each city on each side of you. Your opponents will do the same, so you are cooperating with those players to build the cities. There is only one winner however and your score at the end of the game is that of your LEAST valuable city, so balancing things is key.
The idea is fantastic and playtesting feedback and early reviews are very positive about how well it was executed. The fact that other players will always be placing tiles to “your” areas at the same time you do brings discussion and bargaining into the game, which should be a refreshing additional element.
Dark Moon
I’m a big fan of co-op games with hidden traitor roles, although they can be tough to balance. In addition to having a great, atmospheric sci-fi theme, Dark Moon plays around with different elements of such games in ways I haven’t really seen before. The “uninfected” players are trying to survive through a certain number of game events. The secretly “infected” players are trying to destroy the outpost and doom the crew. When there are more than 1 infected players, they won’t know who each other are. This brings up interesting possibilities of deception and/or working at cross purposes.
But the really interesting part of Dark Moon is that the “voting” system consists of contributing dice to attempt to complete actions or quarantine suspected players. Dice are rolled in secret, but the one you choose to contribute is always public information. This seems to provide a lot more to go on when trying to identify the traitors than normal games of this type, and I’m excited to see how it plays.
Mysterium
Mysterium is a co-op centered around a group of psychics trying to solve a murder and set a wandering ghost’s soul to rest. All of the co-op games I’ve played so far have either been symmetric (outside of individual player powers) or asymmetric with one player being the villain or game master and the rest working against that player. This is a completely cooperative asymmetric game. There are no traitors, villains or gamemasters among the players, but one player will be the ghost of the departed and is trying to provide clues to the psychics to help them solve the mystery. The theme and setup of the game sound great and I adore the unique take on asymmetry game roles here. Really looking forward to trying it out in both roles.
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Just a quick look at some innovative and intriguing games in the pile. Hope to be back with reviews in the not too distant future. 🙂
I recently picked up Suburbia based on strong reviews and good word of mouth, but didn’t know a lot of details about it going into my first game. We tried it with three players, and all found it as accessible yet satisfying as advertised.
Suburbia is one of those games that might look daunting at first given the numerous components but is quite straightforward at its core and easy to pick up once you start playing. Nearly every turn consists of picking a tile from the current real estate market (or taking one of three always available basic tiles) and placing it in your play area. That simple. The depth and appeal of the game come from balancing the benefits and drawbacks of each tile, along with the changing cost as they move along the real estate market track. Wait a bit and you could get a great deal on a powerful tile, but you’ll miss out on it if an opponent decides it’s worth the extra cost.
Different buildings affect your “income” and “reputation,” which both affect your ability to grow your suburb. All of this combines to draw people in, and “population” is the victory point system for the game. The theme is extremely well integrated and fairly intuitive. For example, airports provide greater income the more airport there are in play, but will “upset residents” and damage your reputation if you place them next to living areas. It’s a nice touch that makes it easier to really get sucked into the game.
In addition to using the buildings as is, there a couple more options. For just the cost on the real estate track (not paying the base cost of the building) you can take a tile to use as a lake. All tiles have lakes on their backs and all lakes are identical – it gives $2 per adjacent building (other lakes don’t count). Not only is this an interesting strategic income choice, it allows players to “pass” in a way if they need to or potentially block an opponent from getting a valuable building. Each player also has three investment markers to use during the game, which can double the effects of one of their buildings.
The game plays until a certain tile, always placed towards the middle of the final stack, is flipped. When that happens the current round finishes and then everyone gets one more turn. So everyone gets a chance to make a play once they know the game is ending, and all players end up with the same numbers of turns. The number of tiles used varies depending on the number of players. There are also both public and secret bonuses for achieving certain things at the end of the game, like lowest income, most blue buildings, etc. Highest population wins.
I’m glossing over some details in the mechanics, but I’ve hit the gist. I loved the balance and the strategic choices present while still having some chance involved that forces adaptability. Having some buildings depend on the total number of similar buildings in play, including in your opponents areas, makes you focus on what they’re doing as much as what you’re building. The combination of tile laying and resource management really worked for me, and I can’t wait to play this one again.
October 2015’s Arcade Block is here, as always in its awesome retro NES style box.
The advertised exclusive for this month was a physical version of Retro City Rampage, complete with SNES style box. A code for the downloadable version is also included. Fun old-school style game and a great inclusion. Another nod to the retro crowd is a fantastic baseball cap with the Atari logo and a breakout background.
The toys this month are a fun pair. Never played Fallout but it’s instantly identifiable an I like the mini-figure I pulled from the blind box. We also get a Titanfall K’Nex set, which is aweseme.
The T-Shirt this month is a striking Call of Duty Black Ops III design from ShirtPunch.
Conclusion
More great variety and value from Arcade Block. This is easily my favorite mystery box subscription of all I’ve seen/tried.
This month’s Nerd Block items were identified as “Tricks” and “Treats,” with three of each.
The “Treats” consisted of a Bob’s Burgers Mad Libs, an exclusive Moe the Bartender coaster, and a Jem and the Holograms comic (Annual #1) with an exclusive Nerd Block cover. I live in a bubble so have never heard of Bob’s Burgers, but Mad Libs are always amusing. The Jem comic features a series of short stories with the cast interjected into various other famous properties, and was cute for what it was. The Moe coaster seems sturdy enough to actually use for its intended purpose (ie its not cardboard or paper) and I sure I know a Simpsons fan or a hundred who’ll love it.
The “Tricks” featured monsters of all kinds. The exclusive Ripley and Big Chap Xenomorph Vinyl 2-pack seems of good quality and looks good (through the box, which I won’t be opening). Zombie Hunter Dog Tags are another decent inclusion and the type of collectible I expect from these kinds of boxes.
Finally we have the monthly t-shirt, a Peltzer’s Pets design featuring Gizmo that changes to a Gremlin via glow in the dark. Cool idea.
Conclusion
I have to admit Nerd Block’s been an odd experience for me. The variety of both properties and products is great, and the items all seem of good quality. But they just aren’t appealing to my particular tastes, and I will likely be giving everything here away. NB’s Arcade Block offering is FAR more suited to me. I’m not disappointed with having tried Nerd Block classic, but personally I can’t see anyway I’d renew my subscription after my next and last block.
Day 2 of Shimmer’s 10th Anniversary weekend was Sunday October 11 and it continued right where Saturday left off, providing more surprises, fun, and great wrestling. Before any action the Canadian Ninjas came out and hilariously surveyed the crowd for potential partners for Portia’s last match. Later an amusing series of vignettes was played showing some of the efforts of both captains gathering members. The full teams were kept secret until the match though.
Godzilla wins!
The compressed schedule on Sat forced one match to be skipped for time, so the tapings started with the delayed match being taped for volume 77. It was Thunderkitty vs Hiroyo Matsumoto. A lighter match with comedic overtones that still had solid action. Kitty tried to claim Hiroyo’s Godzilla mask, which didn’t end to well for Granite Cheesecake (ugh) as the Lady Destroyer (much better) lived up to her nickname and won with the backdrop driver.
MATSUMOTO! HIROYO! DESTROY!
Volume 78 proper got underway with a spotlight on two newer talents in Solo Darling vs Amanda Rodriguez, followed by a couple of emphatic wins for mainstays Lufisto and Allysin Kay (over Veda Scott and Shazza McKenzie, respectively). The matches were fine and featured interesting style pairings.
Leva Bates was back in full cosplay for her match with Rhia O’Reilly, portraying Batman’s most enigmatic foe. She posed several riddles throughout the match, including an amusing spot where Rhia was tied up in a submission hold and thought the answer to “What has hands but can’t clap?” was “me!” This was a bit long for what it was, and Leva needed to be louder on the riddles and answers to make it work to its full potential. Still, it was a cute idea for a comedic match and was fun overall.
The finals of the tag tourney to name number one contenders was excellent, with Slap Happy (Evie and Heidi Lovelace) overcoming Vanessa Kraven and Tessa Blanchard to earn a shot at the Kimber Bombs once Cherry’s healthy. On top of the great in ring action, Kraven’s knowing indulgence of Tessa’s posturing and bossiness is pitch perfect and highly entertaining. The slowly building tension and eventual feud should be a joy to watch unfold. Slap Happy (how I love the team but hate the name) vs the Bombs will be great too.
Speaking of the Bombs, Kimber Lee had the unenviable task of facing Jessica Havok. Another strong showing for Lee, and Havok is just perfect in her role. Hard hitting matched expected from these two, along with the also expected light comedy from both Kimber and Cherry (on the outside). Havok terrifies Cherry from ringside and, left without distractions, finishes Kimber with a chokeslam.
Kimber’s quite happy… before her opponent is announced.Cherry’s making a poor decision.
Newcomers Liberty and Kellyanne English both looked great facing Courtney Rush and Kay Lee Ray, respectively. English in particular made quite an impression on the Shimmer faithful over the weekend. And allow me to once again profess my adoration for Rush’s new gimmick and the work she did with it. Fantastic reinvention of herself and there’s tons of potential there.
Nicole Matthews and Mia Yim had a great contest that was matched in intensity by the crowd’s heckling of Matthews. She hit the roof over “Where’s your title?” and “Former champ” chants and Mia played along and egged her on exquisitely.
Continuing the angle from 76-77 of Yumi Ohka’s heel turn and abuse of Makoto, Ohka came out with new ally Cheerleader Melissa to face Makoto and Hiroyo Matsumoto. Yumi was clearing having a blast with her new character: copious use of the whip she brought to the ring, taunting, booing the fans on her way out, etc. She and Melissa make a phenomenal team.
The reffing was frustrating (do not STARE at the heels when they’re cheating, and give some sort or reason for not DQing them when/if they grab you!!!), but a very good match otherwise which firmly established Ohka and Melissa as a dominate, reviled tag team. Makoto took her second Kudo Driver of the weekend (!) to end this one, and again looked strong despite the losses given the level of her opponents and partner.
In the semi-main spot Sonoko Kato faced Kellie Skater. This was as good as would be expected from two top tier athletes. Lots of back and forth momentum swings and Skater gets a huge win to keep her near the top of the contenders list.
Madison Eagles’ first Shimmer title defense was the main event of volume 78. Nicole Savoy has been incredible in her Shimmer appearances, and her two big victories on Sat leading to a title shot here was a wonderful way to capitalize on her momentum.
The match was fantastic, highlighting Savoy’s potential and ability to hang with the very best. Besides the expected brutal strike exchanges, the grappling was excellent, and really felt like both combatants were constantly trying to gain/press the advantage and win the match. I found parts extremely reminiscent of Timothy Thatcher vs Zach Sabre Jr from Evolve 47, another fantastic match. This was definitely one of the weekend’s highlights.
After intermission volume 79 opened with Shimmer’s throwback wrestler facing another old style character in Charlie Chaplin. Leva’s costume and act were spot on and Thunderkitty’s swooning was highly amusing. This was kept short and sweet and started the volume off well.
A couple of establishing victories followed, as Kraven continued to be built up as a singles threat with a win over Lufisto and Makoto got the first win of her debut weekend against Marti Belle. Marti’s temper tantrum over Makoto’s streamers was an added bonus.
Chokebomb for the win.“I SAID NO STREAMERS!”Victory!
Some decent matches with foregone conclusions were next as new wrestlers and teams faced more established stars. Jessica Havok beat Sammi Baynz, Yumi Ohka and Cheerleader Melissa continued their partnership and defeated KC Spinelli and Xandra Bale, and Kay Lee Ray defeated Liberty. Good weekend for all of the newcomers overall.
The next four-way match was kind of crazy. The crowd had been on Andy Long’s back all weekend as usual, and it was getting worse thanks to some particularly poor officiating in tag matches. Veda Scott had been riling people up by complaining that us booing her made her heart hurt. During the intros here Veda expertly exploited both things, giving Andy a hug during boos and generating an insane level of heat. The fired up crowd was now fully invested, and kept up the boos as Allysin Kay was introduced and managed to get even louder with cheers for Shazza McKenzie and Mia Yim. They made the most of the atmosphere and the match was a blast. The crowd remained super-hot for the rest of the day.
Kellyanne English continued her impressive debut weekend in a competitive loss to Heidi Lovelace. Then in a brutal match that ranged all over the arena (someone really has to come up with something better than “ref’s discretion” to explain why they start counting people out and then stop for 10 minutes before continuing to count whereever they left off), Crazy Mary Dobson scored the upset of the weekend over Saraya Knight. I predict severe fallout from that.
Four matches and four international superstars as opponents for Nicole Savoy makes me VERY happy. For volume 79 she faced her second Joshi opponent for the weekend in Sonoko Kato. As with both athletes other matches this was excellent. I’m amazed at the skill and poise Savoy has at this early point in her career. Having Kato in Shimmer was a great treat and I really hope she returns.
Rhia O’Reilly tried, but her semi-main appearance ended up as just another victim of Godzilla’s path of destruction.
Main event time and Shimmer’s last match for Portia Perez. Danger (as non-wrestling captain of the opposing team) brought out Madison Eagles and Lexie Fyfe to start her team. The first shock of the match was next as Kellie Skater came out… accompanied by recently retired 3G partner Tomoka Nakagawa !!! Nice! 🙂 Tomoka was in street clothes and serving as a second for the team. Another surprise as the final member of Danger’s team was Tomoka’s other tag team champion partner and one half of the very first Shimmer’s main event, Daizee Haze (who has been retired / on hiatus for quite a while)!
The Ninjas had a counter surprise in the form of the other half of Shimmer’s first main event (and also long retired) Lacey! Tag champion Kimber Lee rounded out Portia’s team, with Cherry Bomb seconding them. This was a fun spectacle, focusing more on antics and personalities than all out action (and rightfully so given Portia’s condition and the number of regularly inactive wrestlers involved). Portia appeared to sneak a win with illegal leverage, but the refs restarted the match and Daizee rolled Portia up for the win in a fitting finale for one of Shimmer’s best heels.
Portia and Danger exchanged awkward stares and words after the match, and then Portia gave a retirement speech consisting of “I hate you all. Now I’m leaving.” It was fitting, if disappointing. I understand the desire to kayfabe to the bitter end and it’s her choice, but I personally wish she had let it up a bit during the Q&A on sat and here for her goodbye.
“You know this is awkward, right?”
As usual I had a wonderful time at Shimmer, and the weekend was a fantastic celebration of its 10th anniversary. Here’s to ten more years! 🙂
Pic with (most of) the Joshi contingent for the weekend.
This October’s Shimmer weekend was an even bigger deal than usual, as it fell on Shimmer’s 10th Anniversary. It’s been a great ten years and volumes 76-79 were a wonderful celebration of that, presenting numerous surprises, special events, and of course phenomenal wrestling.
Saturday started with volume 76 and a battle royal to determine the number one contender to Nicole Matthews’ Shimmer title. This is only the second battle royal in Shimmer and a nice treat to open the weekend. Top contender Madison Eagles had a strong showing, but was sabotaged by the champion and her partner Portia Perez (a lot more on her to come). Cheerleader Melissa looked to have won, but Candice LeRae returned from the outside (she had gone through the middle ropes, not over the top) for the surprise win. Great use of the format to tell several stories and vault someone new into title contention.
Sonoko Kato had a great debut weekend and left a strong impression.
The Joshi contingent this time consisted of two returns and two debuts. Though new to Shimmer, Sonoko Kato is a twenty year veteran and it was wonderful to see her come to the US. For volume 76 she faced the always game Kimber Lee in a fun match that saw Kato jawing with Cherry Bomb on the outside in addition to the excellent in ring action. Was nice to see Cherry, who was recovering from surgery for a collarbone injury just two weeks prior. She was in good spirits and served as a manager for her tag team champion partner throughout the weekend.
Glad to get to see Cherry Bomb and that her recovery is going well.
I adore Courtney Rush’s new look and gimmick. She never really connected for me previously, but her total commitment to the vicious, crazy edge of her new character is absolutely captivating. She had a good match with Shazza McKenzie to establish it.
Welcome to crazytown.
Portia Perez came out for an interview and announced her retirement due to needing neck surgery. It was a bit odd as she never broke out of her heel character and at first I thought it was part angle. Danger came out and set up an eight-woman tag as Portia’s final match to main event volume 79.
Kellyanne English had an impressive little match with Mia Yim in Kellyanne’s debut match. She looked great all weekend and would be a wonderful regular addition to the roster.
Another debut saw Makoto facing a fellow Joshi talent in the returning Yumi Ohka. Makoto looked good in the somewhat overmatched underdog role before falling to the dominant Ohka, who was really going after the younger talent and showing a bit of a vicious streak.
Hiroyo Matsumoto returned to singles action in Shimmer after being out with injury to face up and comer Nicole Savoy in the first dream match for me of the weekend. Fantastic contest that skyrocketed Savoy up the card when she achieved a rare pinfall on the Lady Destroyer.
The rest of the undercard was as impressive as the matches I’ve spotlighted, featuring great wrestlers and interesting matchups: Lufisto vs Taylor Made, Cheerleader Melissa vs Crazy Mary Dobson, and Kellie Skater vs Kay Lee Ray. A mini-tournament to determine number one contenders to the tag team titles (which weren’t being defended due to Cherry’s injury) was also started with Slap Happy (Heidi Lovelace and Evie) vs Saraya Knight and Rhia O-Reilly.
LeRae made good use of the main event opportunity resulting from the earlier battle royal, looking great despite a losing effort against Matthews. A post match attack by the Ninjas lead to Eagles making the save and a big pull apart brawl. Matthews vs Eagles for the championship was set for volume 77’s main event.
Due to scheduling issues saturday’s tapings began and ended early, so there was no intermission between volumes. Interesting start for volume 77, as wrestlers who didn’t appear outside of the battle royal on 76 made up 5 of the 6 competitors in the first three matches. Shows the depth of talent assembled for the weekend. Veda Scott vs KC Spinelli, Saraya Knight vs Xandra Bale, and Liberty vs Sami Baynz (both debuting) were all decent contests telling different stories, and built things up a bit for some mayhem in the way of a fun six-woman match with Kay Lee Ray, Allysin Kay, Candice LeRae, Kellie Skater, Marti Belle and Sonoko Kato.
Courtney Rush continued her winning ways, but she didn’t intimidate Crazy Mary Dobson much. Kimber Lee snuck out a victory against one half of her potential future tag team challengers in Heidi Lovelace after Cherry faked aggravating her injury to distract the ref. Slap Happy’s opponents for the next day in the mini-tag tourney were set as Vanessa Kraven and Tessa Blanchard defeated the Lucha Sisters (Mia Yim and Leva Bates). Tessa’s posturing and Kraven’s reactions were great. It’s going to be glorious when Kraven eventually gets sick of Tessa and squashes her like a bug.
In another dream match for me Jessica Havok faced Yumi Ohka. It was a great, hard-hitting affair. Ohka showed some edge again and frequently bent the rules trying to get an advantage over the larger Havok. Jessica eventually caught her in the chokeslam for a big victory.
Makoto faced more tough competition in the form of Cheerleader Melissa. She had a good showing but again fell prey to the onslaught of a relentless, more experienced foe. Melissa broke out a rare Kudo Driver to get the victory though. Given the level of her opponents Makoto looked strong despite these defeats. Melissa attacks her after the match and Ohka comes out to “save,” but instead completes her heel turn and helps Melissa destroy Makoto. They leave together in an apparent new alliance.
Kudo Driver. And that’s it.
In the semi-main spot Nicole Savoy picked up another huge win over Evie in a fantastic back and forth match. Savoy is so “on” right now it’s almost scary and displays instincts far beyond her experience. It was wonderful seeing what she could do over the course of the weekend against high level, veteran opponents. Evie herself is also incredible and I’d love to see these two wrestle again.
The main event had been building for quite a while, as layers for the feud between Eagles and Matthews were being established even before Matthews threw a fireball into Eagles face to win the title. Given their history this Shimmer Title match was no-DQ. This was the appropriate war we all wanted, and they threw everything they could at each other (including Kay Lee Ray at one point). Eagles defeated Matthews with a Hellbound to a chair to become two-time Shimmer Champion and provide the perfect finish to the first day of tapings for 10th Anniversary weekend.
After the tapings was a special Fanfest and Q&A held nearby the venue. It was quite nice as there was more time (and space) to meet the wrestlers and get merchandise and pictures. The Q&A would have been a bit smoother with some prepared questions, but it was fun and interesting overall.
Was great to meet and get a chance to chat with Nicole Savoy. She just keeps getting better and better and is definitely one to watch going forward.
A suitable celebration of the 10th Anniversary of a phenomenal wrestling promotion. And that’s only day 1. 🙂
Day 2 thoughts to follow.
Photo op with Lady Destroyer Hiroyo Matsumoto, while wearing a shirt of hers designed by a friend of mine.
This past Sunday I attended Food Network’s NYC Wine and Food Fest, an incredible celebration of delicious food and beverage featuring endless tasting booths of the highest quality ingredients (I’m still drooling over the lobster roll and kobe beef samples) and masterful live cooking demonstrations by professional and famous chefs.
It was during one of the latter that the unexpected highlight of the day happened for me. At the beginning of Andrew Zimmern’s demo (featuring an interesting fusion dish and a wonderful discussion of Mexican food), two seat numbers were chosen at random for a couple of amazing prizes. I sadly did not win the trip to Mexico, but tickets to the premiere of the new movie Burnt starring Bradley Cooper did just fine. 😉
The screening was at MoMA, and was definitely a bit of a surreal experience. The theater was downstairs off of an entrance a couple doors down from the main museum one and looked to hold about 300 people. There were tons of photographers both at the door and inside around an area set up set up in a hallway for pictures/interviews as the stars entered. Ticket holders were directed behind it and downstairs to the theater. Most of the cast was in attendance and was introduced by the director before the show.
The movie itself was fantastic. I adore glimpses into the cooking world, and Burnt is a love letter to that world, celebrating the drive and skill that goes into the art at its highest level without shying away from the problems and pitfalls that come with wanting to be the very best. The story of Cooper as a disgraced chef making a comeback to earn his third Michelin Star unfolds wonderfully and is anchored by a myriad of amazing performances and cinematography that draws the viewer right into their world. The director stressed that they had researched and trained extensively with chefs of the highest caliber and that all the actors did their own cooking. It really shows, adding an impressive feeling of authenticity and making the movie even more compelling.
A movie about the attempted comeback of a down and out chef won’t appeal to everyone, but I loved Burnt and highly recommend sharing Cooper’s journey when the movie comes out next week. Huge thanks to NYCWFF for the unique opportunity to attend the premiere.
October’s here and my usual box of varied and unique snacks from Japan has arrived.
As usual Japan Crate includes a mini-manga that explains what each item is, has instructions for the DIY kit, and various additional context, pictures and promotion. The bonus item for the Premium Crate this month isn’t food, but a Food Dog Gashapon. Yes, little keychain figures of puppies inside food items. So odd, but it’s a suitable inclusion that will amuse some.
Now let’s look at the 11 edibles.
The Excellent
As I’ve mentioned before I adore soda flavored candy, and this month provided me with a lot of it to enjoy. Mysterious Soda Balls (gotta love that translation), one of the Premium exclusives, are like soft Skittles flavored like various Japanese sodas. Poifull Soda Beans are excellent soda flavored jelly beans.
Another great Premium exclusive is Sour Fruit Gummies. There was just a hint of sour to these, and the flavor and texture was fantastic. Vitamin C Lemon Drops are exactly what they sound like – a lemon flavored hard candy loaded with Vit C. Interesting and cool inclusion.
Moving on to the savory side of things, Tohato Caramel Corn is what would happen if Cracker Jack replaced the popcorn with carmel flavored cheese puffs. Quite tasty. Chocolate Mini Pancakes is another snack exactly as advertised. Tastes just like two tiny pancakes with chocolate filling between them.
The Decent
This month’s Premium Crate’s drink is Bireley’s Orange. The book explains it’s a drink that originated in California but was discontinued and is now only made in Japan. The origin makes sense, as this kind of tastes like a soda version of Sunny Delight. Rich Cheese Scones are exactly as described – essentially Cheetos with a more creamy and buttery cheese taste.
I got Strawberry Soft Candy (Rum Raisin was the other possibility), a pleasant chewy candy in the described flavor. Grape Gummy Ribbon has a nice, slightly tart grape flavor and a very unique soft, almost dough-ish texture.
The DIY kit this month was Chitto Soda DIY, which is intended to create mochi with a ramune flavored glaze. This was an intriguing one and I had fun attempting it. The texture was a bit odd, but that was likely due to me having some trouble mixing all the powders properly (my candy certainly didn’t turn out particularly pretty). It was a little bit bland, as the glaze needed a stronger flavor, but a neat experiment with a fine end product overall.
The Meh
I give Gyutan Umaino Stick points for trying, and letting us sample the cow tongue flavor is exactly the type of absurdity I want from Japan Crate. But while the airy corn stick did actually manage to capture the flavor of cow tongue, I found it an odd combo and these were also way too salty for me.
Conclusion
Still really enjoying my Japan Crate shipments. Even the snack I didn’t like was interesting to try, and there were a lot of great things in this month’s box. The Premium exclusives continue to provide some of my favorites, and the upgrade is easily worth the additional $5. I continue to be impressed with the variety of selections, not only within each box but across the shipments I’ve received. Highly recommended.
Derailments of Thought 