Echoes Of Wisdom! Today!

Today! This game is out today!

The Legend of Zelda! Echoes of Wisdom! Is out today!

Did I mention that this game is out today?

Because it is! Out! Today!

Can't blog...must go pick up pre-ordered copy...today...

Today!

Final Footage

Although principal photography for Hold My Beer wrapped two months ago, we still had a little bit of camera work left to do. You may recall reading in this blog post from last month the details of when we shot some B-Roll footage in and around downtown Vancouver. One thing we had on our shot list for that day was a bird's-eye-view of the city skyline, featuring Smith Tower, the convention center, and the its-days-are-numbered (probably) I-5 bridge. Unfortunately, we couldn't access any of the taller buildings, because they were mostly all closed on Sunday.

One place that we really wanted to get into was the historic Arts Building on Main Street, which was once, about a century ago, the largest building in Clark County (Washington, not Nevada or Ohio). It was in a good position to get the shot we wanted, and there appeared to be what looked like a nice rooftop area from where to shoot. It too, however, was closed. But after a few weeks of having to do other things, we found ourselves with a day where the stars aligned: it was a weekday so the building would be open, we had a free hour, and it was nice and sunny (to match the scene, shot in June, that this footage would serve as an establishing shot for). And, as luck would have it, the stars further aligned when the property manager graciously allowed us access to what we thought was the roof but was actually a deck area adjoining her office (Her: "I can't let you on the roof, but you can use this spot." Us: "Oh, um...great!")

So we got the footage we wanted. Yatta (yay!) And that, combined with a very brief pickup shot we did a day earlier (we'll let you guess which one it is when the film comes out - we're hoping no one can tell), puts a definite bow on filming. Now, back to the edit bay!

Anime Roundup

That's right, it's time for another Anime Roundup! Let's see, the last one was in...October of last year?? How can that be? I mean, I feel like I've been watching just as much anime as I always do, although I guess based on the fact that I only have four of them to talk about this time around, maybe not. After all, I have been a little busy with a film project you might've heard of...

Tonikaku (anyway), here we go!

Delicious in Dungeon

A D&D-style party of adventurers go into a dungeon and fight monsters and then...eat them? Yup, you heard that right. A lot of the episodes end with them going through the steps of preparing and cooking the various creatures they just vanquished, with recipes that seem like they could actually work in real life. In fact, I think my bass player/director of photography even tried one out, using chicken or beef instead of harpy or basilisk meat. Oh yeah, there's also a plot involving a rescue mission - the party isn't simply on a dinner run (even though that part alone is fun to watch).

The Quintessential Quintuplets

Another entry in the "multiple girls inexplicably fall for the same boring dude" sub-genre of anime, in this one the girls are quintuplets, and the guy is their classmate who is initially hired to tutor them but then ends up becoming their object of affection despite his apparent lack of interest. Maybe it's that lack that makes him attractive to them? Who knows. Anyway, it's a light-hearted, fun rom-com that eventually had me asking my TV "who will Futaro choose??" (if you watch this show - there's two seasons plus a full-length movie - mild spoiler: the answer may shock you. Or not.)

Rising Impact

Like Naruto, but with golf! Seriously. The main protagonist is a short blond boy who has a seemingly unrealistic goal (Naruto: to become the leader of his village, Gawain, from this show: to be the world's best golfer), there's a brooding friend/rival (Naruto: Sasuke, this show: Lancelot), people have individual specialty powers (Naruto: various jutsus, this show: various unbelievable golf shots), and the hero, as he progresses in his journey, encounters other groups of people who are like him but their strengths escalate along the way (Naruto: other villages, this show: the other golf schools). As a big fan of both Naruto and golf, I approve this message.

The Rising of the Shield Hero

Netflix: You're gonna love this one.

Me: I dunno...it looks like a standard paint-by-numbers isekai portal fantasy where some average dude gets transported to a D&D-type world and then fights monsters and saves the day.

Netflix: Trust us.

Me: It doesn't seem like anything special. Plus, I already have a show with the word "Rising" in the title lined up for the next Anime Roundup. Why don't I check out Terminator Zero instead?

Netflix: Sure, but believe us, you'll want to come back to this.

Me: (sighs) Fine.

* watches show *

Me: Whoa...I can't stop watching this! But, I mean, why? It's basically what I thought it would be. And yet, it's so compelling. Is it because of the protagonist's chilly, anti-hero personality that he develops only after being wrongfully accused? The underdog nature of him being the only hero without an offensive weapon? (By the way, Captain America might have something to say about shields being non-offensive weapons.) Could it be the catchy and awesome theme song that I'd heard before in anime song mixes? No idea, but - you were right, Netflix. I'm not sure how you do it. It's pretty scary, actually.

Netflix: You're welcome.

Hold My Beer Poster

Hold My Beer now has an official poster!

Big thanks to graphic designer extraordinaire Dave Born (whose other projects have included the Beer & Ramen EP cover and Spectrum Life Magazine) for doing an awesome job!

Fun fact that I learned during this process: the standard size for movie posters is 27"x40". Apparently, this has been the official size since around 1990 (it was 27"x41" before that) and is so because it's large enough to draw attention without being overly expensive. Or something like that. Either way, it bugs my OCD-brain because it's not evenly divisible by any common factor (is that the right way to word it? I haven't done real math in years) besides one.

Show Recap

We (Second Player Score, that is) had a great time playing our first show in (checks notes) over a year?? at Ole's Outpost, Loowit Brewing's second location this past Saturday.

Big thanks to Tom and everyone at Loowit for inviting us to be part of the festivities, and also to our friends who came out! It was a little different from most of our shows in that we were playing with our garage setup, with Kyle on his electric drum kit and me and Dan on our smaller practice amps. But it was still a lot of fun, and actually sounded better to my ears than a number of other shows I've played in the past - I could hear everything, especially my own guitar (people in the crowd kept telling me to turn the guitar UP, which, to a guitar player, is like a "Whaaat? Seriously? You're giving me free beer?*" kind of situation).

* And speaking of free beer, the bands had open tabs at the bar, which was a total chef's kiss situation seeing as how Loowit beer is so darn good

For posterity's sake, here's the set list from the evening, which consisted mainly of SPS "standards" (i.e., songs that we remembered better than others):

Liberty's End

Daily Grind

Ragged Town

Winner Takes It All

Demon's Kiss

Game On

Falling Forever

Eye of the Needle

Comets

And as a bonus, we started around 8pm, played until 9pm (which is when most bar shows begin), and got home at an hour that is much more compatible with my cat-affected sleep schedule.

Hopefully it won't be another year before we play again!**

** It won't be. We're scheduled to perform at Loowit's original downtown Vancouver location in a few months for an exciting special event. More details on that to come!

SPS @ Ole's Outpost

A reminder, in case you needed it (we kind of did): Second Player Score, in addition to being a multimedia production team, is also - gasp - a band!

Yes, after literally months of not picking up our instruments due to being busy with Hold My Beer, we are once again going to be cranking out some tunes. And what better occasion to dust off the cobwebs than the grand opening of Ole's Outpost, Loowit Brewery's second location!

If you're in the Vancouver area, check it out this Saturday, August 24th, starting at 6pm (we'll be going on at around 8pm, but come early for the beer, food and raffle). Ole's Outpost is located at 11202 Fourth Plain Blvd, Vancouver WA 98662. Hope to see you there!

B-Roll For Hold My Beer

Well, now, that didn't take too long to get back to Hold My Beer, did it?

This past Sunday, my bandmates/production team partners in Second Player Score went around downtown Vancouver, getting shots of various Vancouver landmarks for use as opening credits background scenes as well as other establishing shots (meant to orient the viewer as to where the characters are).

We started out by driving up the I-5 freeway and getting footage of the "Welcome to Washington" sign that motorists see shortly after they cross over the Columbia River from Portland, Oregon. We then got off on Exit 2, turned back around, and headed for Fort Vancouver where we filmed a sign that says "Fort Vancouver" as well as some drive-by scenes of Officer's Row.

From there, we headed into downtown proper, where we shot the "Vancouver" sign you see above as well as a nearby mural at the corner of C and 6th Streets. After that, we drove up to Main Street where we got shots of Kiggins Theatre and a couple of brewpub storefronts. We tried to get into one of the taller buildings nearby to shoot a bird's-eye-view of the area from the roof, but we discovered that all the taller buildings in downtown Vancouver are closed on Sundays (except one, see below).

It was a nice and sunny day, so then we decided to walk instead of drive down to the area near Smith Tower, where we took shots of it as well as the clock tower at Esther Short Park. The Hilton Hotel and Convention Center across the street from Loowit Brewing was open, but they wouldn't let us up past the second floor despite our best Axel Foley-ish attempts at talking our way up to the top floor. Oh well.

After that, we figured we each needed to get more exercise, so we continued walking all the way down to the Waterfront, where we got some great footage of the, well, water (Columbia River) as well as the I-5 bridge between Vancouver and Portland, of which some local official had recently said we all should take some last good looks at before it's demolished to make way for a new bridge.

And that was our Sunday afternoon, capped off by (what else) a couple of beers. More updates to come!