magictavern

Newsletter #2: December 2021

Added 2021-12-02 19:53:50 +0000 UTC

Hey all! We thought to do a newsletter every once in awhile to let Patrons know what we're up to, share any news we might have about the show and for you all to make recommendations for us in the comments! We hope you enjoy it and thank you all so much for your support!

ARNIE:

November was a bit of a blur (always a good sign when opening a “what I’ve been up to” message). And somehow most of what I remember is from Thanksgiving weekend.

But first…

Animal Crossing update – The kiddo and I are back playing Animal Crossing. We have the coffee shop, we’ve opened about half of the co-ops on Harv’s Island, we have a few gyroid fragments buried in the ground and we’re starting to cook recipes. But Leif won’t sell us wheat! When will he have wheat in stock! Is this a supply chain thing? We’ll probably get the paid update soon but we’re trying to enjoy the new free stuff first.

Other Games – I still play Card of Darkness (possibly an Apple Arcade exclusive?) pretty much every morning. A fun puzzle-y card game with adorable art by Pendleton Ward. I pay for Apple Arcade mostly to continue to play this game I already defeated over a year ago. Also, I downloaded Psychonauts 2 which I’m very excited to play. The original Pyschonauts is one of my all-time favorites. I think about how the level design is an extension of the characters’ psychological state all the time. Also, Brooke Breit keeps telling me to play Inscryption so that’s next on my list.

TV – Succession continues to be amazing and maybe my favorite show. I also somehow still watch Survivor (41 seasons in) and supplement it by listening to the Rob Has a Podcast recaps and strategy breakdowns. This next one is cheating because I watched it months ago but I honestly can’t stop thinking about how great the new show Reservation Dogs on Hulu is. It gets better with each episode. I highly recommend it.

Podcast Appearance – If you want to hear me talk about Calico Critters and doing dumb things as a parent check out my appearance on the podcast Why Mommy Drinks. It’s the November 22nd episode “Weaponizing Wonder.”

Thanksgiving – Visited the family in Ohio for Thanksgiving. Discovered my parents have a bootleg merch Magic Tavern mug in their cupboard. Don’t know how. Don’t know why. I try to bring along some not-too-complicated board games whenever I visit. This year we played Werewords which is a favorite of mine. Basically it’s 20 Questions, but as a social deduction game. It takes a wee bit of explaining up top but it was a big hit. We also played Just One Word, which is a fun clever guessing game but everyone was a little hung up on the fact that “no one won.” I tried to explain that we all won but it didn’t really do it for them. My daughter and her cousins played Magic Labyrinth which is a cool game where players try to race through a maze with “invisible barriers” (magnets are involved).

Christmas music – I actually like Christmas music… some of it… and I like slowly cultivating a playlist of good Christmas music. And I always love discovering new songs to put on the list, but the search for acceptable new songs leads me to try listening to each year’s newly released Christmas albums in hopes of finding one new song… usually I don’t. So my impulse to curate great Christmas music for myself somehow leads to me listening to even more terrible Christmas music than I usually would. But who knows, maybe there’s a hidden gem on this new Shaggy Christmas album!

MATT:

Not a whole lot new I’m afraid. Life is full of work and chores.

Here’ me:
Podcasts
Started listening to Rude Tales of Magic (Adal's suggestion) and finding it to be quite fun. My partner and I are going back and starting The Adventure Zone from the beginning too. Always a blast. Probably should check out something totally different.

TV/Anime
Finished the Sailor Moon anime (90s and 2015 reboot). Eagerly awaiting streaming Sailor Moon musicals over the holiday season. Got back into watching Mobile Suit Gundam Zeta (2nd of the original timeline series) and the original Gatchaman. Also realized that I can watch all of the Halloween Baking Championships on Hulu! Love that Carla Hall!

Thanksgiving
Made four pies and pumpkin soup (thanks, stock pot). Hung out in Michigan and played some board games. I highly recommend Horrified. Played Sushi Go! Party with the extended fam too.

ADAL:

This year is ZIPPING by. November maybe went quickest of all the months yet. Jemma and I had a wonderful time in Puerto Rico. We spent most of our time hiking the beaches (weirdly very treacherous beaches there) and got to sit in the ocean for a bit and soak up all the Jurrasic Park looking scenery. We had an incredible meal of mofongo at a place called Pena Blanca.

This Saturday (Noon CST) I have an online podcasting workshop if anyone has been looking to get into podcasting or workshop ideas for a show:

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/podcasting-workshop-with-adal-rifai-tickets-206491330127

If you take the workshop I’ll also guest on your podcast! (Fools….I would have guested regardless!)

Not much else is going. My last day of teaching at UIC is tomorrow so it’ll be nice to be home more and continue to try and fix up the place and get this basement tiki bar going.

I started a new podcast with some friends and am trying to figure out the best/easiest way to distribute it. I’m in need of a logo and theme song if anyone out there is interested! Maybe reach out to me on social media and let me know your rates?

December should be exciting. Jemma and I are taking my mom on a trip to Charleston next week. I’ve never explored the city so looking forward to that and thank you to everyone who sent me recommendations! I’m also going to New Orleans for a day this Sunday as well as going to NYC mid-month with Jemma to see Hadestown for our 5th time! (I splurged on front row seats since it may be the last time we get to see some of the original cast members) We’re also going to see the new mounting of Company and a musical called Caroline or Change which is supposed to be great. AND I’ll be going to LA for a few days at the end of the month. So I’m pumped to be able to travel a bit and catch up with friends!

Oh! Jemma and I got a Peloton so we’re excited to start using that!

Here’s what media I consumed in November -

TV:

Only Murders in the Building - so much better than I thought it would be. Very much worth checking out.
The Wheel of Time - at time it looks like there budget was 400 millions and at times it looks like the budget was $40. I don’t think I like it but I’m curious enough to keep watching if for no other reason than figuring out if it’s worth reading the books.
Drag SOS
Hawkeye
The Purina National Dog Show - always a delight to laugh at dog breeds I didn’t know existed
Yellowstone Season 4
Mayor of Kingstown
The Beatles: Get Back
Ken Burns: Baseball
The Mind: Explained
Dexter: New Blood
Swap Shop
Taste The Nation: Holiday Edition
Tiger King Season 2
Dark Side of the Ring
Big Mouth Season 5
Hard Knocks: In Season

Movies:

Mandy
Tick Tick Boom
Eternals
The Sparks Brothers
Ghostbusters: Afterlife
King Richard
The Humans - my sister originated the Amy Schumer role in the theater production so we watched this together
The Help
South Park: Post COVID
BasketBall

Other Stuffs:

I got the new Mario Party: SuperStars on Switch and it’s a blast. Mario Party is Jemma’s favorite game and this is a mix of all the best games dating back to the Super NES version.
I very much enjoyed the podcast Too Scary, Didn’t Watch w/ guest Dan Lippert with Dan talking about his experience filming the new Paranormal Activity movie. Great behind the scenes stories about his time on set.
Atlas Obscura podcast had an episode on House on the Rock which is one of my favorite places on earth. Big fan.
I went to two of the Big Grande live shows here in Chicago which was a real treat. Highly recommend seeing these dudes if they’re ever in your city. Also would love to team up and do a tour with them sometime. Backstage Drew told me about his somewhat recent appearance on QVC to promote his family’s candy business and I highly recommend everyone search that out to watch on YouTube.
I went to CIC Theater to see my friends improvise in a show called FELT. It’s almost like an Avenue Q type puppet show. If you’re looking to see improv in Chicago I’d recommend you go to CIC! Let me know if you’re going and I might hop over there as well to see some shows and say hi!
I had a board game night with Kelly and Emily Kardamis and we played two games I’d never played before: Medium and Photosynthesis! Both very enjoyable although admittedly with Photosynthesis I was flying blind for the first 30 minutes and kind of lucked into winning. If you ever hang out with Emily you must DEMAND her brown butter chocolate chip cookies. I was very upset with how good they were.

I guested on the following podcasts!