Vlog Ep. 186: Eating Japanese

This episode of #BaduyPride was all about Japanese food! We've been starting to dedicate our Tuesdays to food-related topics for one reason or another, but it does make for fun episodes. And Japanese food has certainly been something Tobie and I have always enjoyed together as part of our food adventures.

It was nice to not just talk about particular dishes we like, but also some of the stories around them. I hadn't thought of my first few forrays into enjoying Japanese food in years and I was happy to share those stories. And Tobie always has a unique perspective on things and the earlier years when Japanese restaurants were a lot more exclusive. 

While we chose today's topic, we're always open to suggestions! If you have ideas for future video discussions, feel free to fill out this Google Form and your idea may be featured as the focus for an episode!

Vlog Ep. 185: Unfair But Not Un-Fun

Today's #BaduyPride episode is about a game that totally delivers on its title - UNFAIR, created by Joel Finch for CMON Limited/Good Games Publishing. This 2-5 player card game allows players to build the theme park of their dreams, provided they manage to survive the Unfair events combined with other players trying to mess you up.

As much as there's a lot about this game that frustrates me (Rocky) a lot, I still play it and hope that things go another way. Given its modular deck approach, beautiful card art, and rich theming, there's a lot to love about this game. You just have to get over the harsh PVP element and the punishing second half of the game, unless you call for World Peace and play a much friendlier game.

This was a community-contributed topic originally shared by our friend, Mitch! If you have ideas for future video discussions, feel free to fill out this Google Form and your idea may be featured in a future video.

Vlog Ep. 184: Tobie's 2nd Quarantine Birthday

We decided to use tonight's #BaduyPride episode as a venue to celebrate Tobie's birthday, albeit virtually. And as is the way of such episodes, we didn't have a concrete plan or flow - we just wanted to see where the conversation with friends viewing the show would take us.

And while Tobie's actual birthday is still on Sunday, it was nice to celebrate with friends regardless. And I want to extend my thanks to everyone who made time to drop by the stream today, especially those folks who don't always have the time to watch the show regularly. It means a lot to both of us.

Until the time we can celebrate such festivities together in-person but safely...

While we chose today's topic, we're always open to suggestions! If you have ideas for future video discussions, feel free to fill out this Google Form and your idea may be featured as the focus for an episode!

Vlog Ep. 183: Horror Tabletop Games We Love

This was definitely one of the most Tobie topics we could tackle for #BaduyPride as we celebrated an aspect of gaming that will always be close to his heart. His love for the horror genre goes well beyond movies and TV and is really best seen in how he embraces the genre as it is depicted in games, particularly tabletop role-playing games. We already explained in the video why board games don't quite do as well with this genre, but at the very we still recommend Nyctophobia. 

And despite the large stack of books that we accumulated on the table during the show, this is but a taste of the extent of Tobie's passion for the genre and our shared love for the tabletop gaming hobby as a whole. The number of systems he's familiarized himself with still surprises me and I'm glad that we dedicated this episode to let him really geek out about these types of games. 

While we chose today's topic, we're always open to suggestions! If you have ideas for future video discussions, feel free to fill out this Google Form and your idea may be featured as the focus for an episode!

Vlog Ep. 182: We Scream for Ice Cream

We're been half-experimenting with more food topics for #BaduyPride on Tuesdays, thus today's Tobie-centric episode was all about ICE CREAM. Tobie's love for this particular dessert has always been a  prominent part of our relationship and I always love the joy he experiences when he discovers a particularly interesting ice cream flavor combination that really delights his palate.

I'd like to think we did a pretty decent job of covering the length and breadth of ice cream as a topic. We started with definitions and then dived into flavors we liked. We talked about toppings and we talked about favorite ice cream creations at different restaurants. We talked about our favorite "frozen delights" and shared opinions on fast food ice cream options along with the best soft serve options. So yes, we totally managed to spend an hour just talking about ice cream. 

While we chose today's topic, we're always open to suggestions! If you have ideas for future video discussions, feel free to fill out this Google Form and your idea may be featured as the focus for an episode!

Vlog Ep. 181: Delivery Adventures with Galaxy Trucker

This episode of #BaduyPride is all about Galaxy Trucker by Vlaada Chvátil and published by Czech Games Edition (CGE). We're happy that we were able to share the joys of the 2012 Anniversary Edition, which is how we broke into the hilarious world of this game universe.

We're celebrating a lot of the things that Tobie loves this week as a lead-up to his birthday on Sunday, and this is definitely a game that has always been near and dear to his heart. I will always remember how excited he was to finally get a copy of this game even though I had never heard of it before. But that didn't prevent me from falling in love with it as well and I rarely turn out a chance to fly a crazy ship barely holding it together just to see if I can.

While we chose today's topic, we're always open to suggestions! If you have ideas for future video discussions, feel free to fill out this Google Form and your idea may be featured as the focus for an episode!

Vlog Ep. 180: Meditation & Destressing

Today's Sunday episode of #BaduyPride was all about meditation and other ways to de-stress, even outside of the whole global pandemic situation. And while we're not super experts on the subject, I feel like we were still able to have a pretty healthy discussion on the subject.

Ultimately, there aren't too many "wrong" ways to relax and center yourself amid difficult and stressful times. But as long as you put in the effort and do what helps you feel better and feel more relaxed, then you're on the right track. There are so many methods available to try (and we only covered a few of them in this live stream), so there's bound to be something that will work for you.

This was a community-contributed topic originally shared by our friend, Kenny! If you have ideas for future video discussions, feel free to fill out this Google Form and your idea may be featured in a future video.

Vlog Ep. 179: Digital Tabletop Gaming

This episode of #BaduyPride was all about our various efforts to continue to play tabletop games online given the need for social distancing during the pandemic. We had talked about long-distance board gaming before, but this episode was a lot more specific and felt like a more robust deep dive into our gaming misadventures. 

It was nice to really break things down versus the last video. So we talked about how to play RPGs online, we talked about the different ways to play digital versions of board games and wrapped things up with still finding ways to play with physical copies of games using online solutions to bridge the gap. It's a hearty 90-minute discussion, but I honestly hope that it comes in handy for other geeks wanting to celebrate the joys of board games again.

While we chose today's topic, we're always open to suggestions! If you have ideas for future video discussions, feel free to fill out this Google Form and your idea may be featured as the focus for an episode!

Vlog Ep. 178: 90s Cartoons

Tonight's episode of #BaduyPride is the last of four requested videos to cover cartoons of different decades. And this episode had us exploring the cartoons of the 1990s - apparently, a decade that I had more to say than Tobie did. But it's all good stuff and we had a lot of fun.

I feel like we need to do special episodes to celebrate some of the notable products of this era like MTV's Liquid Television or maybe even deep dives into Cartoon Network's Cartoon Cartoons or Oh Yeah! Cartoons, all of which were amazing opportunities for different animators to get their stories out there. I don't think we've seen anything of its kind since then beyond people posting their own stuff on YouTube or something.

This was a community-contributed topic originally shared by our friend, David! If you have ideas for future video discussions, feel free to fill out this Google Form and your idea may be featured in a future video.

Vlog Ep. 177: Cupcakes, Muffins, and Cakes!

This #BaduyPride combined two separate viewer requests that all had to do with the (mostly) sweet stuff - hence today's discussion on cupcakes, muffins, and cakes was born. Come for the definitions and delineations between these different types of desserts. Stay for Tobie's brain going into total overdrive as he comes up with even crazier dessert ideas.

Food topics are becoming more of a regular thing on the show for some reason, which is kind of ironic since we're typically well within our intermittent fasting window when record the show. So, it's a lot of talk about food that we like but can't actually indulge in because (1) fasting and (2) I'm on keto. But hey, we still enjoy these discussions and we hope everyone had fun, too!

While we chose today's topic, we're always open to suggestions! If you have ideas for future video discussions, feel free to fill out this Google Form and your idea may be featured as the focus for an episode!

Vlog Ep. 176: Mariposas Migrations

This episode of #BaduyPride is all about the Mariposas board game by Wingspan designer Elizabeth Hargrave. This game about the migration of butterflies from Mexico to North America and back supports 2-5 players and plays fairly quickly, albeit with a lot of randomness as part of the gameplay mechanics. 

It was only right before we started today's live stream that we confirmed that the game was by the person behind one of the most beautiful love letters to birds we have ever played through as a game, which really just gave our discussion a starker point of comparison. It's a good game but not as great as Wingspan is, and that feels a little disappointing given what we know she is otherwise capable of. Oh well.

While we chose today's topic, we're always open to suggestions! If you have ideas for future video discussions, feel free to fill out this Google Form and your idea may be featured as the focus for an episode!

Vlog Ep. 175: Moments of Courage

This episode of #BaduyPride was all about Moments of Courage, whether big or small. This was our way of wrapping up this week's mostly thematic posts tied to the Day of Valor holiday last Friday. And we enjoyed exploring the different moments where we found the need to be braver or more courageous in order to move forward.

Topics like this can get a little lofty, but I certainly felt good after recording today's episode. We can only hope that everyone who joined us or will get to watch this in the future will share our appreciation for what we discussed today and the value of trying new things, no matter how scary. 

While we chose today's topic, we're always open to suggestions! If you have ideas for future video discussions, feel free to fill out this Google Form and your idea may be featured as the focus for an episode!

Vlog Ep. 174: Heroes We Admire

This episode of #BaduyPride was all about personal heroes or however you want to term people that have done something to merit one's admiration or even just appreciation. Terms like "heroes" can be rather loaded terms and we totally consider the implications of throwing such statements around. Personally, this is also why I don't really claim to have too many people that I openly admire because of my complex feelings on the subject.

But that is not to say that we don't have heroes or people worth admiring in our lives, and it was nice to celebrate a few of them in this episode. Beyond the people we cited, we super appreciated those who choose to share their own stories of personal heroes that have made an impact on them as well whether it involves a family member or someone more publicly familiar.

While we chose today's topic, we're always open to suggestions! If you have ideas for future video discussions, feel free to fill out this Google Form and your idea may be featured as the focus for an episode!

Vlog Ep. 173: Virtual Petz

Tonight's #BaduyPride episode was all about our experience with virtual pets, although more specifically with virtual Petz, because that was a thing in the 90's. It's interesting that Tobie and I had little experience with the big virtual pet franchises like Tamagotchi units and Neopets but we had both spent time interacting with PF Magic's Petz Dogz and Petz Catz, at the very least.

This episode got me thinking about whether or not gamers today have become overly distracted by the "game" elements even in casual experiences and don't always play for the sake of playing. This is not to say everyone is achievement-driven, but it does feel like there aren't too many games that celebrate an experience in a simpler fashion without too many bells and whistles. And that's part of the elegance of the original Petz games - they just worked.

This was a community-contributed topic originally shared by our friend, Mitch! If you have ideas for future video discussions, feel free to fill out this Google Form and your idea may be featured in a future video.

Vlog Ep. 172: Swimming in Hot Pot

Tonight's #BaduyPride discussion was all about the diversity of hot pot cuisine, including a quicker effort to try to define just what hot pot is and why it turns out to be something you may have already eating given the different terminology used across Asia. It's a good thing that Tobie and I had just finished dinner before starting this episode since it was quite a hearty good discussion indeed.

I really do miss the social experience of hot pot, something I really came to appreciate more whenever I'd visit Singapore for work and/or family reasons. Tobie and I have had a few experiences here but it's never quite the same (where is my tofu skin?) But one of the good things to come out of this episode is the discovery of all the local hot pot options that we may try to explore this weekend. 

This was a community-contributed topic originally shared by our friend, Mitch! If you have ideas for future video discussions, feel free to fill out this Google Form and your idea may be featured in a future video.

Vlog Ep. 171: And the Seventh Hero Is...

Tonight's episode of #BaduyPride is about the repeatedly reskinned and re-licensed card game Seventh Hero or Rent a Hero, as designed by Kuro. This 77-card game supports 3-5 players in their efforts to become the titular seventh hero to win the day.

This was a relatively small game for a full episode, but it felt timely enough to feature it this week with the Day of Valor coming up on Friday. And the game certainly has its charm. It still checks a lot of boxes in terms of an interesting card mechanic, supports a good number of players for a card game its size, and it plays very fast. And so it still has a relatively warm spot in our collection.

While we chose today's topic, we're always open to suggestions! If you have ideas for future video discussions, feel free to fill out this Google Form and your idea may be featured as the focus for an episode!

Vlog Ep. 170: The One About Eggs

Today's episode of #BaduyPride was a light one all about eggs! Naturally, we started on the subject Easter Eggs given the holiday today but we kind of went crazy beyond that point. But that's just how these episodes go. And man, people go bananas over food-related discussions - I guess it has to do with the time of the night and people feeling snackish. 

Eggs are wonderfully versatile and admittedly this discussion did make me miss the nuanced experience of hotel buffet egg stations. Man, when we all feel safe enough to go out and eat at places like that again? And egg station eggs feel so intrinsic with travel and interesting resorts and all that fun stuff. Oh well, one day again.

While we chose today's topic, we're always open to suggestions! If you have ideas for future video discussions, feel free to fill out this Google Form and your idea may be featured as the focus for an episode!

Vlog Ep. 169: A Long Weekend with AnTuTan Says

Last night's #BaduyPride episode was an EPIC discussion with the fabulous drag artists of AnTuTan Says - this being the collective of Queen Anita, Turing Quinto, Mrs. Tan, and Samael Says Cünt. This episode marks the first time we've had Anita and Samael on the show AND the first time we've had a drag king as a guest as well. 

We spent close to 4 hours talking about everything from how the group got together to all the quirks of online drag performances. We really appreciate the time they took to hang out with us and we definitely hope to get an opportunity to do so again in the future.

While we chose today's topic, we're always open to suggestions! If you have ideas for future video discussions, feel free to fill out this Google Form and your idea may be featured as the focus for an episode!

Vlog Ep. 168: Shoes...Footwear...OMG

This episode of #BaduyPride wasn't meant to be an April Fool's sort of thing, but we did end up talking about shoes and all kinds of footwear more because of certain religious practices associated with Maundy Thursday for all you Catholics out there. But in typical Baduy Pride fashion, we opted to keep things light and just run with the topic to see where it would take us.

The quirkiness of episodes like this is that one can never tell where we'll end up when we subject any particular subject to significant enough scrutiny. And I totally love how Tobie and I just bounce ideas off one another and just see how things go. Fun, fun all around.

And also, obligatory reference to this classic YouTube video. 

While we chose today's topic, we're always open to suggestions! If you have ideas for future video discussions, feel free to fill out this Google Form and your idea may be featured as the focus for an episode!