Make Your Case: Two Great Things You Need to Recommend

[Dannyalcatraz]

I will go far afield for #1: ReacTable. Especially ReacTable Mobile.

Welcome |

The Reactable was conceived and developed in Barcelona by Sergi Jordà, Martin Kaltenbrunner, Günter Geiger and Marcos Alonso.

reactable.com

Reactable Mobile |

An incredibly addictive music app - the intuitive interaction design of the award winning Reactable is available for iOS and Android.

reactable.com

ReacTable is a visual synthesizer. You play it by placing/removing, connecting/detaching, rotating, shifting and even min/maxing pieces around on a table- a paradoxically analog experience with digital technology. The full size instrument is thousands of dollars. But ReacTable Mobile delivers essentially the same experience (pared down, of course) on a tablet or smartphone for a fraction of the price.*

It’s not particularly new- Bjork had a musician in her lineup using one when she appeared on Later..with Jools Holland. I can find vids of it and the mobile version going back a decade. But it’s really, really good, and once you get familiar with it, powerful. Not only does it come with presets, you can generate your own...and share them with others. It can even use your devices’ microphones to incorporate sounds from your environment into your performances.

Essentially, you get a fully functional synthesizer you can carry in your pocket or briefcase. ReacTable Mobile is an instrument for everyone, anytime.






* I purchased the app and its expansions back when it was new for my iPad 2, all for under $100 then. It’s much cheaper now.

 

[Dioltach]

I'll recommend a couple of boardgames, which I feel are an underappreciated hobby among roleplayers.

First, Nemesis. It's Aliens with the serial number filed off. A spaceship that's falling apart, hostile aliens and backstabbing crew members: it's all there. The first time I played, I died in round 3, but it was so much fun to watch the others try to survive. (None did.) Shut Up & Sit Down review here.

Second, something completely different: Bargain Quest. The town is under attack from goblins/bandits/trolls/a dragon/whatever. And here are the brave heroes to fight them! And you, lucky player, get to sell them their gear. If they survive, that's great. If not, you'll always have their nice shiny gold to remember them by - and there are always more heroes to send off into combat with lighter purses and gear that might or might not be useful. (There are some lovely touches that you only notice if you're paying close attention. For instance, if the enemy is the Dragon, between rounds you have to choose whether to discard a shop assistant or a shop extension. Essentially, the Dragon attacks the town, and either burns down your shop or eats your staff.) Shut Up & Sit Down review here.

(I realise that I'm actually making four recommendations here: the two games, boardgames in general, and SUSD. Oh well. I doubt I'll lose any sleep over it.)

 

[DammitVictor]

Jupiter Hell (Early Access on Steam) - What if DOOM were a procedurally generated, turn-based dungeon crawler with customizable character development-- three classes, dozens of traits-- variable and modifiable loot, and over a dozen game-altering challenge modes. It has the strategic depth of traditional rogulikes, while a single gameplay takes less than an hour and the controls fit neatly into a standard gamepad. I've got hundreds of hours into it already, I'm nowhere near done, and neither are the sharp lads at ChaosForge.

Resident Alien (Season 1 is on SYFY.) - Based on the Dark Horse comic (which I haven't read), Alan Tudyk kills as the homicidal, homesick alien that is impersonating the late Dr. Harry Vanderspiegel in a quirky Colorado mountain town. Relatable characters, relatable human drama, and a constant sense of comedic tension with devastating payoffs. Not sure how Season 2 is supposed to work, but they're going for it...

 

[R_J_K75]

Expedition: Back to the Future
I watched this on the Discovery+ streaming service. 4 episode mini-series where the DeLorean Time Machine is the real star. Really interesting how much work and detail went into bringing that prop to life on screen. Worth the watch. The Discovery+ service is well worth the $5/month for the 15 or so channels you get access to.

Law & Order: Organized Crime
Law & Order: SVU should be called L&O: ICU because that shows been on life support and should’ve been cancelled at the very least 2 seasons ago. The new series is only 2 episodes in so still getting the feel for the show and the characters. Though I like what I’ve seen so far, seems grittier and hope it breathes new life into the franchise. If you are a fan of L&O I’d recommend to watch at least a few episodes.

 

[DrunkonDuty]

A documentary called White Riot. It's about the Rock Against Racism movement in the UK in the late 70's. A good doco, even better if you like old punk rock. It was released in 2019 but as is the way of low budget cinema it's making its way slowly through the cinema circuit and only showed up here in Australia a few weeks ago.

Wellington Paranormal. It's part of the What We Do in the Shadows universe. Follows the Paranormal unit of the Wellington Police as they investigate weird happenings in and around Wellington. The central characters are the same two cops from the movie; the ones who show up at the vampire's house. Very dry and understated humour.

 

[Cadence]

I was so hoping it would just be all time great anything (something like "five great things: places, shows songs, albums, books, movies, and/or plays that are still visitable, watchable, or readable"). All the new to me shows are superheroes or reruns.

 

[Zardnaar]

La Revolution on Netflix. French Revolution + pseudo vampires. Yes please.

I've been eyeing that up.

On Disney+ I really enjoyed White Collar while a bit older it's gone up in the last year or so.

And Criminal Minds FBI procedure type show but better than expected.

Shadow and Bone on Netflix. Fantasy, east Europe/Russia type theme.

 

[Zardnaar]

Recommendation numero uno: Japan Sinks
Anime by the same artist who did Devilman Crybaby. Disaster story squarely focused on the characters. Beautiful, heartfelt, and gut-wrenching. Best anime I've watched in a while.

Recommendation numero dos: Cobra Kai
Timeline gets a little strange for this one with YouTube vs. Netflix, but I was genuinely surprised by how well it balanced weaponized nostalgia with telling its own story. It's a show that had no business being as good as it was.

Cobra Kai is brilliant. Somehow it's better than it's source material and ticks all the boxes for old/new etc.

That season 2 cliffhanger ouch.

 

[fba827]

I’m not claiming this to be ‘the greatest ever’ by any stretch. But Ghosts on CBS in the US is light hearted silliness ( it’s based on a British series but I haven’t seen that so can’t compare it) that I look forward to every week lately.
A couple inherit an old manor it has a bunch of ghosts in it that only the wife of the couple can see. It’s not about paranormal, despite its premise, really it’s basically a sitcom about a bunch of cooky roommates trying to cohabitate.
It’s simple but it’s fun. Though I’d only recommend it if you can see it from the beginning because some of the ghost residents have a little character revelations that might not make 100% sense if jumping in the middle, or at least the premier 2-parter where some of the show’s basic rules get established

 

[Zardnaar]

I’m not claiming this to be ‘the greatest ever’ by any stretch. But Ghosts on CBS in the US is light hearted silliness ( it’s based on a British series but I haven’t seen that so can’t compare it) that I look forward to every week lately.
A couple inherit an old manor it has a bunch of ghosts in it that only the wife of the couple can see. It’s not about paranormal, despite its premise, really it’s basically a sitcom about a bunch of cooky roommates trying to cohabitate.
It’s simple but it’s fun. Though I’d only recommend it if you can see it from the beginning because some of the ghost residents have a little character development that might not make 100% sense if jumping in the middle.

That's what the thread is for lol.

Doesn't have to be "epic" TV shows.