This Week's Favs: August 18
This week's been all over the board. But, seeing as I said that last week, I guess every week is all over the board. If it isn't, then it'd be a little suspect. I tried to find mostly happy things, but with the events that took place in Charlottesville, I wanted to be sure to include a really impactful video and a more feel-good story involving a WWII war vet.
Listen
Polygon's CoolGames Inc
I was looking for a new podcast or two to listen to the other day and I came across CoolGames Inc. Now, I haven't listened to any of the newer episodes yet, instead choosing to start from the very beginning and work my way up, but if the first few episodes are anything to go off of, this is a really funny, completely ridiculous podcast that's great for anyone who loves gaming and comedy.
Shangri-La - VIXX
Today marks the first day of 2017 KCON LA, which I won't be attending. BRB as I cry. Anyway, to celebrate VIXX being one of the 12 artists performing this year, I decided to include one of their tracks. While they have so many great ones to chose from (and I'm sure I'll feature more in the future), I decided to show off their latest title track. If you like it, I'd definitely suggest checking out their dance practice video, where you can hear exactly how coordinated they are with the fans. It's seriously impressive.
Watch
Logan & Allison's Jazz Performance - SYTYCD
There were so many good routines this week that it was hard to pick just one to feature (I was also considering Dassy & Fik-Shun's Bollywood and Mark & Comfrot's Jazz), but I finally settled on Logan & Allison's routine, simply because some of the things Logan does in this routine are insane. It's really hard to describe it beyond that, so you'll just have to watch.
Atypical
I'm only a few episodes into Netflix's new show, but I can tell that I'm going to like it already. It centers around Sam, a high schooler with autism, jumping into the world of dating. Along with Sam's journey, though, the show also fleshes out its side characters, like the other three members of his family, his sister's love interest, and even Sam's therapist, to an extent. I'm a huge fan of shows that make everyone seem human and real, not just the main character (or characters), so Atypical has been a hit for me so far.
Charlottesville: Race and Terror - Vice
This was a rough video to get through. A lot of people I talked to about it actually couldn't watch the whole thing. Seeing such unabashed hate is really disturbing. I don't really have much to say about this one other than everyone should watch this video in its entirety.
Read
73 Years Later, WWII Veteran Returns a Fallen Soldier’s Family Keepsake
When there's so much sad news in the world right now, it's nice to read about something that happened thanks to the thoughtfulness and goodwill of others. This WWII vet, Marvin Strombo, held onto a fallen Japanese soldier's keepsake flag for over 70 years until he was finally able to track down the owner's family and return it to them. Seeing something like this, where a soldier in a war still respects their opponent and treats them like a human, really warms my heart. War is an ugly thing, but soldiers should never forget that the people they're fighting have families and homes as well. We're all human.
Splatoon 2 Tops Best-Selling Games List In The US For July 2017
Aside from Splatoon 2 topping the July list, which in and of itself is something to celebrate, this article on the video game industry's monthly breakdown explained that year-over-year, video game sales have increased 17 percent. That's an impressive number for such a popular industry. At least, in my mind it is. Either way, all these numbers seem good and I love it!