En el campamento tenemos ya el cerebro tan derretido, que no somos capaces de encontrar un tema original del que hablar, por lo que hemos elegido centrarnos en los plagios y copias más famosos de nuestra cultura popular. Las falsificaciones no acaban en bolsos o relojes de marca. Si has flipado con el Bob Esponja de la Puerta del Sol, se te han ido los ojos hacia los Transformers de los chinos al ir a comprar el pan o has desencajado el rostro al escuchar el jingle del 87 de Alianza Popular, este es tu programa.
Desde nuestra más tierna infancia, se nos ha intentado timar de la manera más salvaje. Desde aquellos juguetes que no triunfaban en nuestro país por el encarecimiento de las importaciones a las versiones de baratillo de los juegos de tablero más demandados, hemos tenido acceso a un buen montón de plagios que en mayor o menor medida, cumplian su cometido.
Los videojuegos han sido siempre campo abonado para la aparición de clones, tanto por la diversidad de plataformas como, en muchos casos, por el reto que presentaba para muchos, programar en su propia casa una versión de su arcade favorito.
El plagio literario es el más extendido, y aunque hacemos un pequeño repaso de algunos ‘errores informáticos’ nacionales, es evidente que en cualquier mercado y en cualquier época se ha sabido hacer buen uso del ‘corta y pega’.
¿Es un pájaro? ¿Es un avión? No, ¡Es una copia! En el cómic el reciclaje, homenaje y pillaje son lo habitual. La fabrica de clones está abierta desde hace mucho tiempo en las dos grandes compañías e incluso en los estudios más modestos siempre han tenido a mano una versión personalizada del catálogo básico de superhéroes.
Sería inabarcable recordar todos los plagios musicales de la historia (que se lo digan a Pachellbel) , pero hemos querido recalar en aquellos que nos han hecho más gracia o que nos han tocado más de cerca. ¿Cuantas notas hacen falta para sablear un riff de teclado? ¡Aprendiendo con el campamento!
El celuloide no se salva de la quema. Estructuras, esquemas, personajes, diálogos… todo es susceptible de incluirse en una nueva película, ya sea como homenaje reconocido, como impulso inconsciente o simplemente para no molestarse en escribir un guión nuevo.
Esperamos que este sea nuestro programa más interactivo, ya que os pedimos que compartáis con nosotros los sablazos más hirientes, los que más os han hecho llorar y los que, a día de hoy, os hacen gritar… ¡UN TIMO!
Each Myers-Briggs personality type reacts to prolonged stress in a slightly different form. While there may be a simple answer for helping each type through a bad day, the solution to helping each type snap out of a rut is slightly more complicated.
We tend to fall into ruts when our first three cognitive functions have failed to aid us in a particular situation and we are forced to rely on our inferior function to get by.* Because we are not used to relying primarily on our inferior function, doing so often facilitates the development of an unhealthy mindset (or a ‘rut’) that we have trouble snapping out of. Each type’s rut manifests a bit differently – and each type requires something different to help turn their unhealthy mindset around.
For a closer look at what your ‘rut’ looks like, find and click on your type below:
*Note: Relying on one’s inferior function is only one of several unhealthy type manifestations. Prolonged stress can also bring about a dominant-tertiary loop, or cause an individual to develop an over-reliance on any one of their four individual functions.
Vecinos y entidades animalistas han hecho una denuncia pública ante lo que califican como «matanza de gatos» en las instalaciones de Navantia.
El astillero cuenta con una gran colonia de gatos a los que algunos trabajadores alimentan a diario, pero la dirección de la empresa está decidida a acabar con ellos, según la Asociación Animalista Libera, que ha criticado en un comunicado las medidas que está adoptando Navantia para eliminar a los felinos de sus terrenos.
Según la entidad, Navantia ha creado una Comisión de Salud que ha contratado a una empresa de control de plagas para cazar a los gatos y trasladarlos posteriormente a la perrera municipal de A Coruña para proceder a su eliminación «tirando por la borda el modelo de gestión y esterilización que durante los últimos años han promovido diferentes colectivos y ciudadanos implicados, gastando su dinero en financiar operaciones para controlar la población animal en la antigua Bazán», apuntan.
Para Libera esta decisión de la empresa evidencia la «ignorancia con la que algunas compañías y un sector minoritario de la sociedad entienden que se debe abordar una problemática que comienza con el abandono de animales», cuando, además, según los vecinos «los gatos nunca han molestado en Navantia».
Aseguran que la presencia de los felinos no impedía el normal desarrollo de las funciones laborales y que «estaban controlados y alimentados correctamente, reduciendo la creación de residuos alimentarios y gracias a la esterilización, se habían convertido en núcleos perfectamente estables».
Libera carga contra Navantia por el gasto que supondrá la eliminación de los gatos y contra esta «estratagema que supndrá un importante coste social, ya que la gestión corría a cargo de personas individuales», en ningún caso de Navantia.
01. Exotica 02. Coronation 03. Quiet Village 04. Forbidden Island 05. Ore (God Of Vengeance) 06. La Pampa Y La Puna 07. Flamingo 08. Hypnotique 09. Miserlou 10. Caravan 11. Escales 12. My Grass Shack In Kealakekua, Hawaii 13. Jungle Drums 14. Taboo 15. The Enchanted Isle 16. Similau 17. Bingo Oiwake 18. Stardust 19. Martin Denny On Martin Denny (Interview)
Martin Denny est l'inventeur de l'Exotica, ce style qui marrie "easy listening" ou "lounge music", musique latine et musique hawaïenne.
Cette musique prend son essor dans les années 1950 aux États-Unis. Sorte de Muzak de l'ère pop, cette musique ne cherche pas l’authenticité des sons et des ambiances. Elle combine inspiration de sons exotiques ou tropicaux arrangés pour orchestres classiques dans le but de créer un dépaysement pour l'homme blanc moderne américain... le but ultime étant de créer chez l'américain moyen une forme directe d'évasion tout en buvant un drink dans son salon.
On l'associe souvent au "space age pop" de part les liens que ces musiques entretiennent avec la musique électronique naissance et dans un contexte futuriste né de l'avènement des technologies de pointe de l'ère nucléaire.
Martin Denny est l'un des grands représentants du genre aux cotés de Les Baxter et Esquivel.
Research outfit Gartner tracked a 9.5 percent decline in shipments in the second quarter of this year compared to the same time a year ago, posting a tally of 68.4 million units.
In diverse with the situation in my country nowadays (key word: dramatic) my spirit's quite alright. After all I get to used to it with all that shit... I belong to the "lucky" 40% of the population that still has a job but we have to fight for all the others that sank long ago and their lives are deep in misery... I think my beautiful family and rock & roll are some real strong weapons to keep me agile and sane...
Anyway,Tina Lucchesi was and still is the coolest/greatest rockarollah of my generation! She drummed, sang and wrote some seriously catchy songs and oh, she supervised a way cool label for more than fuckin' two decades man! Don't wait up from me to tell you the tale, I'm here to provide just a piece from the brilliant route of she and her many outfits.
And so that is The Bobbyteens! An hormone driven underground "supergroup" with all eyes on boys and bubbleglam pop with demented Chuckster licks, sweet and wet 60s girl group vocals ala Shirelles and an full on attractive amateurish delivery. Imagine an updated Nikki and the Corvettes version with a lot of The Dictators early spirit!! If you still trust my taste (and you should, I've never let you down) believe me this is better than Joan Jett and you know what, I LUV Joanie... Ultra classic 90s debut with Joey Ramone / Greg Shaw 100% approved teen rock & roll!
Las vacaciones significan tiempo. Y aunque para muchos son sinónimo de no hacer nada, hay muchas personas que prefieren dedicar el verano para retomar ese hobby olvidado o darle un repaso a lo que ya saben. Para eso, internet es todo un aliado: a la ventaja de no tener que hacer - en muchos casos- un desembolso económico se suma la comodidad de adaptar las tareas a nuestro tiempo libre y romper con la tiranía de los horarios.
Los tutoriales para aprender a hacer cosas online subidos por los usuarios existen desde hace años pero cada vez hay más páginas web y universidades internacionales que ofrecen cursos, lecciones sueltas o MOOCS (Massive Open Online Course). Muchas de ellas son gratis. Esta es una selección de algunas de ellas, el nivel de dificultad lo marca cada uno:
Aprender idiomas: Uno de los retos de ayer-hoy-y-siempre para el que existen numerosos recursos en Internet. No importa si lo que quieres es aprender inglés o árabe. Siempre hay un curso para ti. Tampoco pasa nada si prefieres aprender desde tu navegador, hacerlo a través de temas específicos o si te gusta más descargarte una aplicación en el móvil. Otra gran opción es practicar con nativos conectándote a videoconferencias.
Crear música propia o tocar un instrumento: Atención artista en potencia, nunca es tarde para aprender. Elige un instrumento, introduce su nombre en un buscador de Internet y a practicar. Puede ser el ukelele, la batería (para disgusto de vuestros vecinos) o el clarinete a lo Woody Allen. Si además de músico quieres ser vocalista, también existe la posibilidad de aprender a cantar. O más bien, si ya tienes ese don, saber como modular la voz y no dejarte las cuerdas vocales en el intento. La producción puede ser otro camino hacia el éxito. Aquí tienen una guía completa para ser el nuevo Jay-Z. Y si lo que quieres es triunfar como DJ, existen aplicaciones y vídeos para aprender a pinchar.
Programar y sacar partido a todas las funciones del ordenador: Aprender código HTML, PHP y Java resulta útil sobre todo para ciertos perfiles profesionales. A nivel amateur, dominar el Photoshop y un editor de vídeo puede tener mucho recorrido. Si con todo esto no es suficiente, es posible volver al principio y construir de cero un ordenador o entretenerse tecleando eso de q -w- e- r- t para poder escribir sin mirar el teclado. También puedes enfrentarte de una vez por todas a esa gran cuenta pendiente: Excel.
Ampliar el currículum. La oferta de cursos es muy variada y las páginas especializadas en ellos se han popularizado en los últimos años. En esta academia online proporcionan ejercicios prácticos de arte, astronomía o macroeconomía a los que acceder libremente. Colaboran con la NASA, el MOMA y tienen también recursos para padres y maestros. La UNED ofrece gratis lecciones de Derecho, Psicología o Educación Víal dentro de su programa de cursos abiertos. ¿Qué siempre quisiste estudiar en el MIT? no problem. ¿Buscas hacer tu CV más atractivo? Fórmate en energías renovables o procesos de urbanización en América Latina. Ese quebradero de cabeza llamado matemáticas no tiene misterios para este canal donde te hacen el favor de explicar y resolver cientos de problemas. Si no te asusta el inglés y eres una persona visual, en el canal de TED dedicado a educación encontrarás un poco de todo.
As previously posted, Pope Francis plans to chew coca leaves and already drank tea infused with coca, the raw ingredient in cocaine, during his visit to Bolivia.
Psychedelic historian Michael Horowitz points out that Francis is following in the footsteps of Pope Leo XII who appeared in an advertisement for the coca-infused French wine Vin Mariani, popular in the late 19th century. Read the rest
Last night the best and brightest of the comic book industry gathered for the 27th annual Eisner Awards, celebrating the best and brightest of comics. Want to find out who took home the awards? Here’s the full list of winners.
"Delight in book collecting, and in showing off one's book collection, is common, if not universal, among readers and would-be-readers. The biggest reason we spend money on books is because we want to read them (eventually), but that isn't the only reason: we also like to look at them, and to look at other people looking at them. While moving into my new apartment this month I found myself casting long, admiring glances at my full bookshelves, straightening out folded pages and making sure the spines were perfectly lined up. I have devoted most of my moving time to arranging these shelves; books accounted for probably 90 percent of the weight I had to lift up three flights of stairs into my apartment. When I move out in two years, I will have to do it all again. Why do I—why do we—devote so much time, energy, space and money to these $15 hunks of paper? Why do I risk compressed discs every time I move into a new apartment? Or, to put it another way: Why don't I just buy a Kindle?"
El pasado jueves, 2 de julio, la empresa juguetera CEFA decidió dar una alegría a sus seguidores nostálgicos anunciando en Facebook el relanzamiento de uno de sus juegos más míticos, En busca del Imperio Cobra. La noticia tuvo una genial acogida: la publicación ya supera los 900 compartidos y más de cien comentarios. Estos son, en su mayoría, mensajes de alegría y nostalgia, aunque también los hay de reproche. Algunos de los fans reivindican la figura del creador del título, cuyo nombre ni siquiera aparece en la caja: Pepe Pineda, el hombre tras todos los juegos de mesa de la empresa durante los años 80 y mediados de los 90.
"De todos los juegos que creé, creo que mis favoritos son Movies, Calle Morgue, Misterio, Dagon y, por supuesto, En busca del Imperio Cobra", enumera José Pineda, de 59 años, en una entrevitas telefónica a Verne. Entre título y título hace una pausa para recordar. "Es que fueron muchísimos", se excusa, "no sólo hacía juegos de mesa, también diseñaba la colección preescolar y los juegos de acción [a caballo entre juego y juguete]. Entre todas estas familias hacía unos 12-14 juegos por año. Eso, durante más de diez años, son muchos juegos". Es complicado no haber desenvuelto otros de sus éxitos durante algunas navidades entre los 80 y los 90: a él se deben Alerta Roja, El Palé (solo rediseñado por Pineda), Distrito 21,Intelect (solo rediseñado), Marco Polo,Sinai,La ruta del tesoro (solo rediseñado), Isla Cobra, El Templo de Cristal, Héroes Cobra, Defensores de la Tierra, Dracos, E.T. El Extraterrestre, Imperio Cobra II, Cotilleos, Dicho y hecho, Drácula, Sibarity, El Cetro de Yarek...
Pepe Pineda se trasladó de su Barcelona natal a Zaragoza, centro neurálgico de la juguetera CEFA, en 1980. "Yo trabajaba en una agencia de publicidad y tuve algún encargo de CEFA", cuenta. "Quedaron contentos conmigo y empecé a colaborar con ellos periódicamente hasta que al final me contrataron y me mudé a Zaragoza a trabajar en su sede”. Allí, cogió las riendas del apartado creativo de la empresa, trabajando "desde en la creación y diseño de juegos de mesa hasta en la elaboración de catálogos, logotipos y anuncios para televisión". Para ilustrar las cajas de algunos títulos infantiles, llegó a utilizar a sus hijos como modelos. "Para eso no había dinero", explica, "así que me tocaba tirar de la familia".
¿Cómo se le ocurrían a Pineda los juegos que meses después ocuparían las tardes lluviosas de los españoles? "Era cuestión de buscar inspiración en cómics, revistas, películas, lo que había hecho la competencia o lo que se hacía en otros países y luego darle muchas vueltas, echarle imaginación, paciencia y ganas". Después, llegaba la parte divertida: probarlos. "Antes de sacarlos tenía que jugar con mi mujer o con los vecinos, que me daban sugerencias: esto es muy complicado, esto debería cambiarse..."
Sorprendentemente, el trabajo más célebre y exitoso de todos los de Pineda en los catorce años que estuvo en la empresa fue su ópera prima: En Busca del Imperio Cobra. "Fue el primer juego que lancé y también el gran boom de la compañía", explica orgulloso Pineda, que contó con el ilustrador Isidre Monés para el apartado gráfico. "En CEFA no estaban nada convencidos de sacarlo porque por aquel entonces el rollo colmillos, garras, monstruos... No estaba de moda, y pensaban que iba a dar miedo a los jóvenes. Al final se atrevieron y fue un pelotazo, se vendieron más de 300.000 unidades".
Fueron muchos los juegos o juguetes vinculados a Imperio Cobra que saldrían tras el éxito del primero: La huída del Imperio Cobra II, Isla Cobra (una versión infantil del juego original), Héroes Cobra... Incluso Pineda, una vez retirado de CEFA, pensó en continuar la saga junto a su hijo. “Jonathan y y yo íbamos a hacer un nuevo Cobra", explica. "Mi hijo me propuso intentar lanzarlo por crowdfunding, pero no me convenció porque era mucho dinero y también mucha responsabilidad”.
En busca del Imperio Cobra costaba en los 80 "unas 1.200 pesetas" (poco más de 7 euros). Hoy, a través de páginas de segunda mano, supera holgadamente los 40 euros e incluso los 100 si está en perfectas condiciones. Su última reedición fue de 2005 y, desde entonces, han sido muchos los jugadores que han reivindicado su relanzamiento, valiéndose desde de una petición en Change.org a mensajes a CEFA, como ellos mismos admitían en su publicación de Facebook.
Finalmente, CEFA ha escuchado a los fans nostálgicos y reeditará el juego, aunque sin Pineda: "Desde que me fui en 1994 no han contado conmigo para ninguna reedición, y esta no ha sido una excepción", se lamenta. El creativo reconoce que acabó "tan quemado" que no conservaba ninguno de sus juegos en casa hasta que su hijo Jonathan Pineda "se interesó en recuperar algunos". A pesar de todo, todavía saborea con placer las historias de todos aquellos que disfrutaron –y disfrutan– de sus juegos. "Cada comentario en mi blog o mensaje que leo en las redes sociales alabando mi trabajo o diciendo 'yo todavía juego con mis hijos' es para mí, de verdad, como un orgasmo. Es un lujo y una enorme satisfacción tener gente que te respeta y te quiere así. Y todo por haberlos hecho disfrutar jugando".
"El Parlamento Europeo ha escuchado las preocupaciones de los europeos y ha decidido rechazar la sugerencia de limitar el derecho a hacer fotografías en espacios públicos", señala el organismo en un comunicado.
Otro aporte exclusivo para el blog de parte de G69 para el deleite de toda la familia, agradeciendo al blog Proyecto Dinosaurios.
La colección de Dinosaurios salió allá por 1993, después del boom que produjo Jurassic Park. Venía con un contenido más que interesante, en el que íbamos conociendo las distintas especies de dinosaurios, info de paleontología, y unas imágenes en 3d (monocromáticas) que se podían ver con unas gafas que incluía el primer número. Además, venían de regalo esqueletos para armar que brillaban en la oscuridad y un juego de cartas.
Originalmente, la obra sería de 52 fascículos encuadernables en 5 tomos. Recuerdo que en el número 5 o 6 venía una especie de encuesta en el que había que calificar las secciones de la revista, y escribir sugerencias para los futuros números. Una vez hecho se enviaba por correo a Editorial Planeta, en España. El punto es que cuando estaba por terminar la colección apareció un anuncio que decía "La colección continúa", expandiendo a 26 números más la enciclopedia. Además comenzaron a ampliar información de animales prehistóricos y de temas en relación a ellos.
En fin, la colección siguió y fueron 3 tomos más los que se agregaban a los 5 originales. Por si esto fuera poco, cuando parecía que ahora sí se terminaba la colección se anuncia que otra vez se expande la colección (aclaro que no lo sé, me baso en lo que dicen usuarios de otras páginas que completaron la colección). Así que en total fueron 104 fascículos, que conformaban 11 tomos.
Les cuento que por estas latitudes, la historia fue un poco distinta. Aquí se suelen reeditar colecciones agregándoles nuevas cosas o más fascículos. Eso fue lo que pasó con Dinosaurios, ya que la colección se editó tres veces. La primera en 1993-94, que era de 52 fascículos, desconozco que traían de regalo puesto que no la coleccioné en ese entonces. Luego en 1995, fue una colección de 78 fascículos, con el Tyrannosaurus Rex y el Triceratops, más el juego de cartas. Yo empecé a juntar los números en esta edición, lamentablemente sólo conseguí 29 y creía que no iba a terminarla nunca. Pero en 1998, se lanzó por última vez en Argentina, y "tiraron la casa por la ventana". 104 fascículos, 4 esqueletos para armar (Tyrannosaurus Rex, Triceratops, Stegosaurus y Pteranodon), el juego de cartas, 12 posters y unos supuestos fósiles que venían en las 10 primeras entregas.
Idioma: Español. Editorial: Planeta de Agostini Año: 1993-1998 Escaneadores: Proyecto Dinosaurios Maquetación de varios números: G69 Archivos: 109 Tamaño: 1.52 Gb Formato: CBR.
Ya está disponible la versión digital de Splendor tanto para iOS como para Android.
El juego cuesta en ambas plataformas 6.99€ y pretende transmitir al mundo digital toda la emoción de este reputado juego de cartas, aquí os dejo los links de las descargas:
Pope Francis was none to impressed when Bolivian President Evo Morales handed him a crucifix mounted on a carved wooden hammer and sickle during an official gift-exchange ceremony in La Paz today. His response, captured above: "That's not right."
Morales, it seemed, had assumed that because Francis has embraced a message of social and economic justice, he would also be willing to embrace communism itself. But the pope was noticeably distressed when he first saw the gift, and looked embarrassed and uncomfortable as Morales spoke during the exchange.
Morales later explained that the figurine was a replica of a similar cruficix made by Father Luis Espinal, a Jesuit priest who was kidnapped and murdered by Bolivian death squads in 1980. The pope had honored Espinal earlier in his visit, stopping to deliver a prayer at the site of his assassination, in remembrance of "a brother of ours, the victim of those who did not want him to fight for freedom in Bolivia."
But despite that history, it's hard not to see the crucifix as an attempted "gotcha" moment by Morales, an effort to force the pope into publicly embracing a symbol that literally fused catholicism and communism. That's in keeping with Morales's brash and often extreme approach to leftist politics. But it is not in keeping with Pope Francis's approach, which has avoided political ideology in favor of a broader, more pragmatic message of social justice and economic equality.
Broadly is a women's interest channel coming soon from VICE. Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
As states have started to adopt varying degrees of marijuana legalization and the humble plant has gone mainstream, women have found themselves the sudden lynchpin of an industry that is rapidly growing (wink). Going on record as "stiletto stoners,"
Broad City–inspired slackers, or "marijuana moms," women are taking part in the new cannabis economy for both business and pleasure. Where historical tropes of dude stoners like Jeff Spicoli or Tommy Chong have enabled marijuana's reputation as "a guy thing," the recent clapback from women who have openly professed their love of pot is carving out space for stoner girls in the present. Every archetype of the female toker has been forced out of the marijuana closet and the banal secret is out: Women smoke weed.
Because
of this, the rising phenomenon that is cannabusiness, including the industry's "ganjapreneurs"
and other unfortunate portmanteaus, has brought on a surge of brands and small
businesses to cater to weed's new lady demographic. While women in the industry
are more than passive consumers, heading up cannabis businesses and shaping
what the young industry will be, some brands in the marijuana space are focused on making a play for women's dollars, upping marijuana's sex appeal and marketing weed for women.
Take, for instance,
Sexxpot,
which exists simultaneously as a large-scale brand and as a branded strain of
weed purported to be a particularly effective aphrodisiac. Both are the
brainchild of Karyn Wagner, a savvy marijuana marketer in Humboldt County,
California, who introduced the world to
weed Tupperware parties. For the uninitiated, Humboldt is almost exclusively a growing
town;
a fifth of the county's population is involved in some form of marijuana
growing. If Humboldt is the marijuana capital
of the United States, then Wagner is its mayor, though she likes to refer to
herself as the community's mother hen.
When Wagner arrived in Humboldt in 2010 she was tasked with
raising the profile of the county's local growers in the face of large,
corporate grow houses that sought to cash in on California's
"green rush," as full
legalization in the state seemed imminent at the time. "Everyone came to me
with the idea of branding the weed they were growing since I had a marketing
background," Wagner says. She created Tea House Collective, the first branded grower
collective in Humboldt. Then, she launched First MC Processing, an
all-grower-owned processing collective that handles weed from the farm to the
dispensary, another first for Humboldt. In addition to those growing
organizations, Wagner dreamed up the brands SuperCritical THC and Sexxpot to
sell what her growers were bringing in. While the former is geared toward the
"edgy" toker, the Sexxpot brand makes a bid for women, and so far, the brand's
sole strain is its namesake. With a name like Sexxpot and the tagline
The flowers she really wants, the strain
does pique the interest of the marketers' Modern Woman, who would gleefully
prefer an eighth to long-stemmed roses.
Would a Sexxpot by any other name smell as sweet?
Originally, Sexxpot was not Sexxpot but Mr. Nice, so called after one of the
biggest pot smugglers in British history, Howard Marks. Due to its high demand,
the strain now exists under many monikers, each of which caters to a different
market. Sexxpot is just one of them, packaged with feminine appeal, highlighting
the reality that most branded cannabis is simply that: branded. "We knew that
women wanted something a little bit different from what men wanted," Wagner
says of Sexxpot's origins. "That's generally the case in our culture, not just
in cannabis culture. Women tend to want something in cannabis that's a little
less forceful, if you will, and the women that try [Sexxpot] say it's great for
a night at home or sharing a conversation... The strain is a little bit more
mellow and easier for women."
By the end of this year, the emerging weed industry is
projected to reach a value of
$3.5 billion
according to CNN, and selling to women is just one way to cash in. In the face
of brands poised to be monoliths—like
Marley Natural, which comes with
the blessing and the caché of the Bob Marley estate as well as ample investment—something
like Sexxpot is relatively small-scale. Nevertheless, women who enjoy smoking
up are already wary of the proliferation of weed products "for her" and have
little desire to see the trend get any bigger than it already is. A sex
journalist I spoke to compares cannabis products that push hard for women's
attention to the rhetoric of magazines like
Cosmopolitan. "I like the idea of a weed girl culture
because when I was growing up weed was always seen as so dude-centric... but
the way these products are being sold with this
Cosmo mag sheen is just
creepy," she says. "Talk about a bad trip. Who wants to think about arousal or
your diet," referring to Real Housewife Bethenny Frankel's proposed
SkinnyGirl Weed, "when they're just trying to chill
out?" With magazines like
Elle instructing women on how to throw a
"
classy cannabis party" in a way that's uncomfortably similar
to
etiquette videos from the 1950s, she's got a point.
LA-based poet Mira Gonzalez, who formerly
worked at a weed dispensary (and is, full-disclosure, a friend of mine), echoes
these concerns. "I remember walking into a dispensary, and they had this one
strain of weed dubbed, 'Pretty Princess,'" Gonzalez says over the phone,
sounding like she's still offended to this day.
Pretty Princess was printed in pink on the jar of weed's label,
sporting a crown. "It's insane to see weed that sells women their sexuality or
treats them like toddlers. Weed is just weed."
The cannabis oil
Foria is another pot product branded specifically for the ladies.
Not quite a lube, Foria is presented as a "sexual enhancement designed for
women" that you can spritz on your clitoris or inside the vaginal canal without
any psychoactive effects. The largest size retails for over $88 and is packaged
in a bottle that would look at home on the shelves of Sephora or at any spa.
Men as well as women also benefit from the effects of applying it rectally.
Since Foria is just a pure blend of cannabis and coconut oil, anyone could ingest the stuff and feel its intended effects. But
the company has decided to focus on Foria's uses for women, extolling the
product as "the first marijuana infused personal lubricant designed for female
pleasure." A prominently featured video of a woman having an orgasm amid crisp,
white sheets drives home this message. Presumably, a "rectal weed spray for
anal sex" is a harder sell than a sensual vulvic mist derived from the "female flower of the marijuana plant."
With all Foria's women-centric rhetoric, it might be surprising
that the man behind the brand is... a man. Mathew Gerson entered the cannabusiness
sphere after founding a contraceptive company that focused on bringing condoms
to areas of the world with little access to them. When Gerson moved out to
California, he combined his background in sexual health with the new world he
was immersed in: marijuana. "Coming from the condom industry, when I heard
about an oil-based cannabis I immediately thought of lube," says Gerson. At the
same time, he happened to be reading a book called
What Do Women Want?Adventures in the
Science of Female Desire
—written
by a man, by the way—that, to paraphrase, highlights the need for a female
version of Viagra. From the book, Gerson latched onto the concept of
hypoactive sexual desire disorder,
which controversially regards a lack of sexual interest as a mental disorder.
He started theorizing on the ways marijuana could inhibit any mental blocks
that kept women from enjoying sex. "I knew that cannabis had helped a lot of
people that I'd known enjoy sex more," Gerson says. "That was the simple peanut
butter–and–chocolate moment where cannabis, as a 3,000-year-old
aphrodisiac, helps enhance sexuality." He sums up Foria's inception as a mix of
pop psychology, testimonials from friends, and the age-old tradition of humans
getting stoned and banging.
While products like Foria and Sexxpot might be rooted in the
gendered adage that sex sells, there's reason to believe that women are more
sensitive to the aphrodisiac effects of cannabis than men. "There's a lot of
evidence in pre-clinical trials [on animals] that corresponds with what happens
in humans," Dr. Ziva Cooper, an assistant professor of clinical neurobiology at
Columbia University, explains to this skeptic over the phone. "There seems to
be a divergence between males and females. For males, marijuana seems to
decrease the ability to perform—erectile dysfunction and decreased libido—where
in females it produces a facilitatory effect. In the animal trials you see that
the females are more willing to be approached."
For
all this talk about women's need for sexed-up weed, the industry's response to
other issues on the women's health front is pretty weak. In addition to her
horrifying run-in with Pretty Princess, Gonzalez has experienced the disappointing downside of
marijuana packaged as women's health when she was in search of a weed-based
solution for menstrual cramps. "Once I bought
this bottle of 'menstrual cramp pills' at my dispensary, but it wasn't an
effective painkiller at all," Gonzalez says. "Realistically, the same extract
[for the menstrual cramp pills] is probably just put in a different pill, in a
different bottle and packaged as the cure for something else. They're all just made of a cannabis
extract that's high in CBD."
Cannabidiol
(CBD) is one of the known cannabinoids in weed that has no psychoactive effects.
(As opposed to tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, which does have them.) CBD has
been praised for its therapeutic effects, but as Dr. Cooper tells me, those
reports stand on shaky ground. Most clinical studies on the effects of
marijuana focus on THC, and little is known about its non-psychoactive
counterpart. "You hear a lot about CBD, but there's very little data on its
therapeutic effects," says Dr. Cooper. "It's so minimal, it's almost
speculation. Obviously this is a big business right now, but any claim made by
someone who is marketing a CBD-based product is like going into a health food
store and getting a vitamin that says it will help you lose weight." Because of
this and experiences like Gonzalez's, the FDA has started to crack down on CBD
products, like therapeutic oils, due to false claims on the part of the
manufacturers. In a lot of cases, products that claim to contain CBD actually
don't.
There
are
various strains of weed that have been anecdotally reported to help with
menstrual cramps, but as Gonzalez notes, it's still a struggle to find what's
actually effective. "When I had a job at a dispensary, women would come up to
me all the time and ask for recommendations on what to buy for cramps, and I
honestly couldn't recommend anything that had worked for me," she says. The
marketing frenzy around sexy pot, cannabis vagina sprays, and flashy pink branding
may sway some female customers, but it turns out what all women really want
from weed is something that works.
Are you a sucker for the great Cthulhu? Do you also have a soft spot for steampunk, Pokemon, Minions or Totoro? Then you need to visit Kutuleras' Etsy shop where you can grab plush versions of Cthulhu overtaking all your favorite geek icons.
Of course, Cthulhu plushies aren't the store's only offerings. You can also purchase cute versions of Totoro dressed like Pikachu and vice versa, Godzilla or even a Minion version of Freddie Mercury.
I for one welcome our new crochet plush overlords!
I’m not exactly sure how to write this review. Splendor is a card game which I’ve owned and played since it was released back in 2014. My kids love the game, as do many of the guys in my game group. I, however, do not love Splendor. In fact, I barely tolerate it. It’s not a bad game by any stretch, it just doesn’t push any of my buttons.
The app, however, is nearly perfect. Other than the lack of online play, it rivals every other digital board game out there, even what many would consider the grandfather of digital board games, Carcassonne.
This isn’t the first time I’ve been this conflicted. The previously mentioned Carcassonne is a game I’d prefer to never play again, but the app is one I would easily recommend to gamers looking for a digital fix. Splendor isn’t even the first Days of Wonder app where I’ve had this feeling. I loathe Small World with white-hot passion, and yet I cannot deny the app is a marvel. Of course, I didn’t have to write a review for either of those.
So, how to rank Splendor? Come follow along as I talk my way to the stars at the bottom of the page. I can’t promise it will make any sense, but if you’ve been reading my stuff for this long, that shouldn’t be a surprise.
I think the first thing we need to talk about it the game of Splendor itself and why I don’t like it. Now, you have to realize that I’m definitely on the outside looking in on this one. Hell, Splendor is so well loved it was one of three finalists for last year’s Spiel des Jahres award. It’s ranked in the top 100 games ever on BoardGameGeek (currently at 68), and when you zoom in on just Family Games, it’s ranked in the top 10 (currently at 7). There’s some serious love for Splendor out there.
Splendor puts you in the shoes of…well, it doesn’t put you in anyone’s shoes. It’s an abstract game with a veneer of theme so thin it would shock Reiner Knizia. There are three decks of cards, levels 1-3, with the level 1 cards being the cheapest and level 3 being the most expensive. The cost of the cards is shown at the bottom in different colored circles, and it needs to be paid with gems of the corresponding colors. Each card corresponds to a gem of its own, however, and the gee-whiz mechanic of Splendor involves building this engine of cards that let you buy the more expensive cards as you go on. Don’t worry, it will make sense soon.
I get why they represent gems as chips in the cardboard version, but why here?
Each turn you can take one of three actions. You can grab “chips” that represent the five gem colors. You can either grab three different colored chips, or two chips of the same color. You can only do the latter if there are a certain amount of that color still available in the stock, however. You cannot, for example, take the last two white chips. The second action is reserving a card. Here you simply select any card on the table and place it in your hand. This act will also nab you a gold coin, which is simply a wildcard and can act as any color gem. The final action is to buy a card, either from the table or from your hand. Here, you use the chips and all the cards you’ve bought to purchase new cards. The chips you’ll need to discard, but cards remain in your tableau, giving you consistent buying power as your tableau grows. The goal in Splendor is to get to a point where you can buy cards without needing chips, thus increasing your tableau each turn without wasting turns grabbing chips.
In Splendor, I’m usually happy with 2nd place
You’re probably asking what the point of all this is, and the answer is that staple of Euro games: Victory Points. Some of the cards will have a number on them indicating how many points that card is worth in your tableau. There are also nobles along the edge of the play field who will come to visit the first player who fulfills their requirements. For example, a noble may have images of four red and four white cards, so the first player who collects four red and white cards in their tableau will also get the VP from that noble. Splendor is a race to get 15 VPs, but sometimes even 15 points isn’t enough. Once someone reaches 15 points, that turn continues to the end so everyone has the same number of turns. If one of the remaining players can top your 15 points, they’ll walk away with the win.
It sounds great. In fact, writing about it made me wonder if I was crazy for not liking it, but then I went to play another game and it all came rushing back. Goodness, this game is dry. Chess looks like a tall drink of water next to Splendor. Remember that scene in Three Amigos where Martin Short drinks from his canteen and is rewarded with a face full of sand instead? Splendor wishes it were only that dry. It’s a set collection game that is just a set collection game. There’s no frills, nothing exciting, it’s just blah. Like I said earlier, I don’t hate Splendor, I just find it to be dull. Oh, and I should mention that I’m terrible at it. I’m routinely crushed by my kids, and I’m pretty confident that I’ve never won a game, so it’s quite possible that my lack of Splendor love is simply because I suck at it. I’m willing to accept that. That said, I’m not driven to try and get better. In fact, I’m looking to sell my copy. Cheap.
Challenges change the rules
So, that brings us to the app. First of all, it exudes polish. I’m not sure there’s a better looking board game app on the market. Everything is clearly laid out and controls with simple taps exactly where you’d expect them. It’s highly intuitive. There is the ability to play pass-and-play games, and I’ve done a few with my kids. Pass-and-play works, but as a game of Splendor moves on, the turns become one-click card buys, so the iPad really started flying around the table. There’s almost too little to do on each turn for pass-and-play to feel comfortable.
Solo play is where the app really shines. There are multiple AIs that definitely feel different from each other. Instead of having AIs denoted by their difficulty level, each one is, instead, named after its play style. You can choose AIs that play randomly or more balanced. You can choose specialized AI, but I’m not sure what that means, only that I got my butt kicked when I played against two specialized opponents. The app will also randomly select your AI opponents if you’d like.
I do love me some challenges.
Besides solo games vs. AI, the game also offers up a Challenge Mode, which I’ve found to be my favorite part of the app. These are solitaire puzzles set up with the Splendor components, but using different–and sometimes crazy–rules. All of them have some goal to “win”, like getting 15 points in 20 turns, but the rules can vary how many chips are available to how the cards are displayed on the table. Most of the challenges I’ve tried haven’t been too tough, requiring a retry or two to get it, but there are a couple of scenarios that I’m calling impossible. I’ve tried so many times, and keep ending up just short in the end. Somehow, the challenges have made me want to play Splendor, which is saying something.
If we’re looking for reasons to dump on the app, the lack of online multiplayer is the biggest problem I have. To be honest, I don’t mind so much, but that’s only because I don’t really care to play more Splendor. The other issue I’m having is the animations can sometimes slow the game to a crawl. It’s not terrible, but there’s a definite lag between turns ending and the next turn beginning.
In the end, I would say that Splendor is a pretty robust addition to my online game shelf. Here’s a game that I don’t particularly care for, and yet I want to head back into it and finish the different challenges. That’s something. Considering that most gamers adore this game, I’m guessing most of you will adore the digital version as well. The app certainly doesn’t get in the way of the gameplay, and actually enhances it by making it easy to play and beautiful to look at.
En el campamento tenemos ya el cerebro tan derretido, que no somos capaces de encontrar un tema original del que hablar, por lo que hemos elegido centrarnos en los plagios y copias más famosos de nuestra cultura popular. Las falsificaciones no acaban en bolsos o relojes de marca. Si has flipado con el Bob Esponja de la Puerta del Sol, se te han ido los ojos hacia los Transformers de los chinos al ir a comprar el pan o has desencajado el rostro al escuchar el jingle del 87 de Alianza Popular, este es tu programa.
Desde nuestra más tierna infancia, se nos ha intentado timar de la manera más salvaje. Desde aquellos juguetes que no triunfaban en nuestro país por el encarecimiento de las importaciones a las versiones de baratillo de los juegos de tablero más demandados, hemos tenido acceso a un buen montón de plagios que en mayor o menor medida, cumplian su cometido.
Los videojuegos han sido siempre campo abonado para la aparición de clones, tanto por la diversidad de plataformas como, en muchos casos, por el reto que presentaba para muchos, programar en su propia casa una versión de su arcade favorito.
El plagio literario es el más extendido, y aunque hacemos un pequeño repaso de algunos ‘errores informáticos’ nacionales, es evidente que en cualquier mercado y en cualquier época se ha sabido hacer buen uso del ‘corta y pega’.
¿Es un pájaro? ¿Es un avión? No, ¡Es una copia! En el cómic el reciclaje, homenaje y pillaje son lo habitual. La fabrica de clones está abierta desde hace mucho tiempo en las dos grandes compañías e incluso en los estudios más modestos siempre han tenido a mano una versión personalizada del catálogo básico de superhéroes.
Sería inabarcable recordar todos los plagios musicales de la historia (que se lo digan a Pachellbel) , pero hemos querido recalar en aquellos que nos han hecho más gracia o que nos han tocado más de cerca. ¿Cuantas notas hacen falta para sablear un riff de teclado? ¡Aprendiendo con el campamento!
El celuloide no se salva de la quema. Estructuras, esquemas, personajes, diálogos… todo es susceptible de incluirse en una nueva película, ya sea como homenaje reconocido, como impulso inconsciente o simplemente para no molestarse en escribir un guión nuevo.
In diverse with the situation in my country nowadays (key word: dramatic) my spirit's quite alright. After all I get to used to it with all that shit... I belong to the "lucky" 40% of the population that still has a job but we have to fight for all the others that sank long ago and their lives are deep in misery... I think my beautiful family and rock & roll are some real strong weapons to keep me agile and sane...
In diverse with the situation in my country nowadays (key word: dramatic) my spirit's quite alright. After all I get to used to it with all that shit... I belong to the "lucky" 40% of the population that still has a job but we have to fight for all the others that sank long ago and their lives are deep in misery... I think my beautiful family and rock & roll are some real strong weapons to keep me agile and sane...
