I’m tired of modern life. It feels like being caught in a loop. I want to talk about the ever-present nature of content. Content is in effect, internet stuff. Online video, online writing, social media activity. It’s all branched under content. I might classify myself as a content creator. Of course, there’s a lot of content creators in our current era. Pewdiepie is a content creator. Some of my favourite YouTube personalities (influencers?) are content creators. I am a content creator. In that comparsion, I feel like a bit of phytoplankton as compared to the whale of an influencer that Pewdiepie is. Maybe even that is an ill-served metaphor. When whales shift, the ocean isn’t hugely affected. I am a content creator. Most of us are in the digital age. We have podcasts, or social media presence, or livestreams. I don’t think everyone gets into this game to be Pewdiepie. However, I think that we there is the hope that we can scratch out a middle class living this way. We are all content creators fighting over scraps.
Twelve Years
Twelve years. That was the number they were left with. It felt like a death sentence. Twelve years to change the world and make sure things would not end up as dire as they could be. Of course it felt like a death sentence pronounced while on the back of a giant sea monster. Sure, things could be changed but the rampaging monster refused to turn back.
It’s a myth. Here’s a snowball.
What did it matter to the high and mighty if this lumbering heat continued? Politicians could retire to their air-conditioned mansions. As the consequences grew dire, they could simply pay to avoid the destruction. Sell their seaside homes and move further inland. These dire days would not affect the rich, they would affect the poor.
Best of Gaming 2018
This year when it comes to picking the best game of the year, I have one major thought running through my head. Why did I trade my PS4 in for a Wii U all those years ago? Another thought ran through my head? Can I include something that isn’t a video game? Why not, right? It’s my list. Writing these lists it has occurred to me how little media I consume compared with critics in these respective areas. However, I’m not a critic. I consume media just the same as anyone else and that perspective is still valid.
Best of Film 2018
As with TV, I didn’t see too many movies this year. The nature of some movies is such that release dates can be tricky to track in Australia if the movie isn’t a blockbuster title. Hence, I saw mostly tent-pole movies this year and mostly Disney properties at that. Chances are I’ll rarely go to a movie unless the buzz is quite high or it’s a movie series that I’ve been following for a while. My understanding is that most tent-pole releases have been pretty bland this year. However, this year did contain some great gems.
Best of TV 2018
I didn’t watch a lot of TV this year. Yes, I’ve heard about that show. Did you see how much YouTube I watched? I do have a couple of highlights but if you watched more than five TV shows, you’ve watched more than me this year.
Best of YouTube 2018
2018 has been a hard year for me. I wasn’t initially going to write a retrospective for this year. I won’t get into all the details of why my year has been difficult but I’m sure everyone remembers the growing pains of leaving academia. There were bright spots. I might explain my feelings in a longer form piece when I feel I’m out of the woods. As usual, I enjoyed my fair share of media. I wrote a ton about media this year too. Usually I begin talking about my favourite song of 2018 but any songs I was drawn to this year were not released in 2018.
However, the sections of YouTube that I frequent had something of a renaissance this year. Picking the ‘best’ video was especially hard. Every channel below released some of their best work in 2018 and elevated the medium in their own way. So I’m going to explore a collection of what you might call honourable mentions but is more like a list of equal first place.
How Civ VI’s Expansions Expands the Ideas of Civilization
I’ve been playing a lot of Civilization VI recently. Civ VI just recently announced its second large expansion for the game. Since Civ IV, each entry in the series has had two major expansions. So, what did Civ VI’s two expansions bring to this entry in the series? The first expansion is known as Rise and Fall and added two major game systems to play with. City Loyalty, which means that cities who become unhappy will rebel and become free cities. After that, they can be reconquered or succumb to foreign influence. The second mechanic is ages. Depending on your achievements within a historical era will determine positive or negative effects on your nation’s growth. So Rise and Fall is all about the internal struggles of a civilisation, obliquely about those who live under the rule of an empire. The second big update, known as Gathering Storm Gathering Storm makes the world more alive with natural disasters affecting your civilization. So, first I want to look at what that could mean for the series and then look at who has been invited for the latest entry in the series.
Robin Hood, Batman and the Myth of the Benevolent Billionaire
So that new Robin Hood movie came out. The one that has been described as a second-rate Batman Begins. The one where knights carry riot shield and the Crusades play out like Zero Dark Thirty. That one. One thing that intrigued me about the new film was the use of Robin’s dual identity as Robin of Locksley to make the Batman parallels even clearer. I just have one question throughout this mess. Why are we expecting the rich to save us? Batman is a billionaire who plays dress up to beat up the poor and disenfranchised. Robin Hood robs from the rich and gives to the poor while remaining a feudal lord. Green Arrow … has a goatee? I’m sure we’ll get to Green Arrow. At least he jumped into politics, although looking at recent blondes millionaires in politics, maybe not so good. So, let’s talk about the myth of the benevolent billionaire.
Revisiting Red Dead Redemption
With Red Dead Redemption 2 coming out recently and with me not having any of the consoles it released on, I decided to revisit its predecessor. Red Dead Redemption is a notable game for me. It’s the first Rockstar game I played to completion. My strongest memory in the game was travelling across the border and riding into Mexico for the first time. I distinctly remember riding my horse to reunite John with his family and as the mournful song played, I got mauled by a cougar and my horse died. So how does it feel returning to this game eight years later?
Remaking Disney Classics
So, the trailer for the CGI remake of the Lion King came out recently. I’m not fond of it. The original film was perhaps one of my favourite films growing up. However, this string of ‘live-action’ remakes isn’t particularly compelling to me. However, there is one exception. The film that started this trend, 2016’s Jungle Book. I think that the changes made in this film are interesting when compared to the original source material. So, I’m about to explore the differences between the 2016 remake and its fifty-one (as of writing) year old predecessor to see how adapting something can transform both texts.
Zach Eastwood - Writer 