Super Mario Odyssey Part 3

Bowser's Kingdom

1.5 years later, and I STILL have not 100% completed this massive and largest 3D Mario game!

The truth is that life is busy, and I am content with having beaten it in a normal way already. As of this writing, I have about 500 Power Moons out of the 999 in total, which is just about halfway through, technically.

Collecting those remaining Power Moons, it's all about exploration, discoveries and receiving joy out of them, most of the time. Some of them are uniquely placed and obtainable, others are scattered throughout the kingdoms, and a few have repeats offering slightly harder challenges.

Revisiting the kingdoms and doing them in various portions is perhaps even more fun than seeing them the first time, as exploration is expanded as you touch the moon rocks. There is also a Hint Toad which you can pay if you are unable to find any Power Moon in the current kingdom.

Odyssey's design is just amazing in general, such as being able to keep collecting Power Moons without have to reload the sandbox level every time, the level design as previously said in Part 2, Cappy's absorb skills as said in Part 1, and just the ambition of it in general.

Nintendo really blew everyone away with this one, and I would welcome a sequel towards it without question. After the release of Super Mario Maker 2 last year, rumors have appeared this year since Super Mario's 35th anniversary is coming up, that they are developing a best of, HD remastered port collection of Sunshine, Galaxy 1 and Galaxy 2, maybe more.

Perhaps that will happen, perhaps not. As money keeps coming in for them with the success of the Nintendo Switch, perhaps we won't see another 2D or 3D platformer until the next console or handheld. In any case, I am happy with Super Mario Odyssey, which is just one of the latest reasons to love and keep in touch with Nintendo.

Internet Meme

I remember a life without internet, without smart phones, without social media, without.... internet memes. Life was more simple and more peaceful back then, growing up as a child in the 90's. From around YouTube's emergence in 2005, these cultural collections evolved.

The word meme I believe originated from Richard Dawkins's The Selfish Gene, which I have read, and is meant for a biological context. However, the purpose of the internet meme is to attempt to gather a current event, shape it up in a humorous way, and attempt to make it go viral.

It's a rather young concept that tends to grow and evolve further, while basically by now, every major human topic has been approached by internet memes. From politics and religion, to corporate work ethic, science, technology, entertainment, pop culture and identity, nothing remains untouched.

They can come and go, become more or less relevant as time goes by. They can also come in different shapes, one of the most well known is of a particular image and 2 sentences being readable, 1 from above and 1 from below.

Internet memes can also be collections of a certain character, whether fictional or real, and they can be used during digital conversations such as WhatsApp, imageboards, social media and even now in modern chat software such as Zoom and Microsoft Teams.

Pepe the Frog is a noteworthy meme example because although it's original intention as a cartoon creation for comics has stayed the same, people have used the character during political events such as elections and protests, changing Pepe's symbol constantly, like a zeitgeist.

It just shows that while internet memes can have a general meaning, nothing is stopping people from attempting to change it's original meaning, or merely interpreted it differently in a different perspective, while conversations will go on.

They can mean many things. Personally I like to laugh at them if possible, as they can be one of the most effective forms of humor for me in this vast and rapidly changing world in a technological and social way.

Conveying the feeling of being cozy, like Pepe depicts above, that's how I feel nowadays about them. It's absolutely insane as an concept, but I am glad that they are part of internet culture now, and it seems that they will stay, in one form or another.

Downloadable Content: Splatoon 2 - Octo Expansion

A good expandable expansion to play through, Octo Expansion is worthy enough for single players.

You play as Agent 8, and go underground using a metro to traverse between several subway lines, searching for 4 objects called "thangs" in order to reconstruct something which will bring you towards "the promised land" as told by a talking telephone.

While Captain Cuttlefish is searching for Agent 3, the protagonist of the original Splatoon, Pearl and Marina will assist you through radio communication between all of the tests you will undertake for this journey.

Tests range from defeating enemies, towards guiding 8 balls, towards stealth, mini games, time attacks, puzzles, experimenting with weapons, and overcoming certain objectives to get through. Most of the tests where fun, however some of them were tedious or a bit too difficult or annoying to pull off.

Luckily, there is a skip option available, but at the beginning, it is expensive to use it. You also don't need to do all of the tests either to beat the game. Octo Expansion also gives out a new soundtrack and some gear.

As said, it's worth playing, there is enough content for about 7 to 9 hours, and I enjoyed it.

The New Confessions of an Economic Hit Man

An update of the 2004 book, Perkins reflects back and realizes that the American empire has become much worse, full of fear and debt.

“False economics. Threats, bribes, extortion. Debt, deception, coups, assassinations and unbridled military power. These are the tools used by the corporatocracy' - a vast network of corporations, banks, colluding governments and rich and powerful individuals - to ensure that they retain and expand their wealth and influence, growing richer and richer as the poor become poorer.”

With 15 new chapters to upgrade, The New Confessions of an Economic Hit Man unveils and reminds that economic espionage's remain booming business, all for the elite to consume and become more rich, while others succumb.

He doesn’t believe in a large conspiracy, but more in smaller ones, it’s all in the details. New technology including mass surveillance, drone strikes and rigging poll elections all serve to meet the economical, political and social targets of those who uphold authority and power.

John describes the current Western model as a death economy, and argues that China as a rising superpower is attempting to emulate it. Instead of pursuing globalization, capitalism and neo liberalism, maybe it’s time for a new live economy, which is fair for all, instead of the 1 percent.

At the end he gives out things that students, adult, elderly and corporations can do in order to make the world a better sustainable, peaceful and loving place, with action points filled out. It’s not just about having a positive mindset, it’s about activism and inspiring actions too.

John’s personal life as an Economic Hit Man was interesting to read again too, as he learned much about how countries work and serve an interest for the United States, such as Panama, Ecuador, Iraq, Indonesia and Saudi Arabia.

The New Confessions of an Economic Hit Man reminds that greed is of all times.

 Rating: ***

Chess

In my teenage years, after I was done playing baseball, swimming around and doing tennis, somehow I joined a chess club called Vegtlust (Nowadays found via https://www.schaakclubvegtlust.nl/), and here I learned how to play this old board game.

I learned the basics; the values of the pieces, the openings, the tactics, the strategies, and eventually attempting to play mind games and look ahead in long term as to what possible moves could be done next between each round.

Eventually I obtained about 5 or 6 diploma's, each representing a piece of the chess board. In between, not only would I get homework every week in order to solve certain chess situations and answer questions, we would play competitively each week as well, 1 on 1.

Occasionally, seniors would be playing against juniors like me on certain nights, and I remember how overwhelmed I was by the skill gap at some points. However, I did pretty well in general against teens from my age, and eventually I reached a high position or score at the club.

Someone at the club would also be reviewing each match being played out, and they would publish this then as a little newspaper, which would be distributed among members. I remember how fun it was to read back what they wrote about me and the tactics and skills they saw in me.

Finally, the chess club would also collaborate with my school back then to organize tournaments against other schools. We would form up as teams of 4 or 5 people and go up against others then. I don't remember much about that period, I'm sure it was exciting and thrilling, and the only thing that sticks out is that we were told that 1 chess player is better suited against another depending on the way he or she plays out the game.

Chess is a thinking board game which is centuries old, accessible from young to old, from beginner to master, and apparently, the possibilities between each round are uncountable as to how they will end each time.