Watched the classic 1946 film noir movie The Postman Always Rings Twice. Hitchhiking is no big deal, a random drifter’s hired without references, there’s an attempted murder by ball bearings, and gas station attendants wash windows and put air in the tires. It’s wild.
Big Trouble in Little China is free to watch on YouTube right now, so I took a little walk down memory lane and yes this movie holds up. I was 15 in 1986 when this box office bomb now cult classic came out, and I loved it then and now.
Originally written as a “weird Western” set in the 1880s, rewrites moved the setting to modern day San Francisco China Town and turned it into an urban fantasy action comedy. Because of this movie, I visited that area in the 1990s, though most of the film was actually shot in Los Angeles. I’d hoped to have a Little China adventure of my own.
Director John Carter previously worked with star Kurt Russell on Escape From New York and The Thing, both classics that inspired a generation of Gen-X video game developers. Echoes of these movies can be seen in games like Among Us, Dead Space, Starfield, Fallout and the Metal Gear series, and in anything inspired by William Gibson’s cyberpunk novel Neuromancer, which took some inspiration from Escape From New York.
“One of Metal Gear creator Hideo Kojima’s favorite movies is Escape from New York and he has often confessed its influence on his series, from sharing protagonists named Snake to having his characters infiltrating impenetrable fortresses.” – Screen Rant
Big Trouble in Little China featured a cast of talented Asian-American actors, including Victor Wong (Tremors, The Golden Child, The Last Emperor), James Hong (Everything Everywhere All at Once, Wayne’s World 2, Kung Fu Panda), and Chao Li Chi (Falcon Crest, The Joy Luck Club, The Prestige).
Check it out while it’s free on YouTube, I highly recommend it.
~ J.L. Hilton
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“It’s the most wonderful time of the year…”
No, not Christmas, Halloween! I always feel a huge surge of energy and inspiration when the weather cools, the nights lengthen, leaves change color, and I eat too much candy…
Last night I attempted my first “Twitchy Tarot” livestream using the same setup as Maker Mondays, but instead of making jewelry or crafts I did tarot readings and talked about tarot. The tarot deck I use is the same one I started using 40 years ago.
Most of you know me for video games, writing and jewelry, so if you’re wondering “what the heck’s the deal with tarot cards?” here’s a bit of background: I’ve had a lifelong interest in things like fortune telling, ghosts, runes, mythology, fairy tales, history and religion, and I also have a degree in psychology with an unofficial minor in religious studies (never declared but took a lot of classes at university, wanted to do a double major). I view tarot not so much as a “supernatural” thing but as a psychological prompt, cultural artifact, and fascinating artistic representation of the human condition.
Plus, it’s fun. The folks in the chat room seemed to enjoy themselves so if there’s an interest, I might do it again sometime.
We bid farewell to FALLOUT 3 last month and I started a 2nd playthrough of THE OUTER WORLDS. How long have I been saying I was going to do that? Seems like ages. Well, it’s finally happening now on YouTube where I stream most days between 3-6pm EST.
The art in that game is so gorgeous, I’ve been making some sweet thumbnails. (You can see a few of them here.) Probably spending more time than I should making those, but I’m having a good time.
I mentioned in my September update that I might livestream a movie trivia contest but the loading screens are so long in THE OUTER WORLDS, I’ve started asking the questions there while we wait instead. So it’s not just a game with DLC, it’s a game with trivia, too!
The Halloween giveaways are still ongoing, too, and we’ve had several winners already. This is open to everyone around the world, while supplies last. To enter, just let me know by comment, email or DM that you’re interested, that’s all you have to do!
Supporters can now join my Discord, where there’s chat, behind-the-scenes exclusives, and watch parties. Last month we watched The Last Unicorn, a Rankin/Bass fantasy classic, and The Guns of Navarone, which inspired the Operation Anchorage DLC in FALLOUT 3 and the 1981 game Castle Wolfenstein.
Also, just as a little Halloween treat, if you’re in the US, I’ve got a 10%-off code from OldTimeCandy.com for you. I bought their 1980s candy box for my husband’s birthday last month and they gave me this code to share with friends. I don’t get a kickback and they’re not sponsoring me or anything, they’re just a good website and it’s a good deal so I wanted to share it with you!
Coupon code: OTCNewFriend (use at checkout)
I hope you have a spectacular Spooktober!
~ J.L. Hilton
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Just thinking about my grandmother who was born in the 1930s, whose best friend in elementary school disappeared when US citizens of Japanese heritage were forced into camps during WWII, and who endured bullying and social stigma because her parents were divorced.
My grandma lived through the Depression, WWII, McCarthyism, Korean War, Cuban Missile Crisis, Civil Rights, Kent State, Vietnam, Cold War and Gulf War. Through it all, she was a strong, independent, working woman who dared to leave her abusive, alcoholic husband during the “Mad Men” era of the 1960s when no-fault divorce didn’t exist and women couldn’t even get credit cards on their own.
And I’m thinking about how I phoned my grandmother the morning of 9/11 in tears, holding my 1-year-old firstborn daughter, watching live TV after one Trade Center tower & then another fell. It felt like the whole world was falling down. It was too deeply, profoundly horrifying to process.
Yet Gma C seemed so chill, so “yeah, shit happens…” Not that she made light of things but at that point she’d spent 70 years dealing with an endless onslaught of tragic personal and world events and this was just one more.
In a weird way, it was comforting. Not comforting in a “this too shall pass” sort of way, because it never really passes, but comforting with a clarity of purpose: You’re either a person who does shitty things or you’re a person who tries to cope & help others cope with shitty things. Such is life.
~ J.L. Hilton
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I’m playing THE OUTER WORLDS again, this time on hard mode and with the DLC “Peril on Gorgon” and “Murder on Eridanos.”
This is something new for me! It’s a cooking video with my interpretation of Sierra Petrovita’s “Mississippi Quantum Pie” from FALLOUT 3.
There’s a thing called a “Mississippi Mud Pie” in the US, but it’s chocolate, which didn’t seem similar to Nuka Quantum at all so I assumed Sierra used something like mutfruit or Dandy Boy Apples, even though she didn’t ask for those ingredients during her quest.
She also has a brahmin outside her home in Girdershade, so she probably used butter, too, even though she didn’t mention it. The “Brahmin Butter” I used was just regular unsalted butter, cut into cubes.
I tried to make my Mississippi Quantum Pie look like a cross between the Pipboy icon and the item as it appears in FALLOUT 3. The Pipboy icon looks very similar to a hand held fruit pie or turnover, not a dessert in a pie pan, and the in-game item looks like a mirelurk cake if you drop it from your inventory.
The “Nuka Quantum” I used in this video was Jones Berry Lemonade Soda, the official Bethesda promotional soda that was available for a limited time during the relase of FALLOUT 4.
I made the mutfruit and some of the other props that appear in this video. If you want to make your own Fallout props, check out these links:
Purified water: https://www.deviantart.com/otrixx/art/Purified-Water-Fallout-4-571750244
Nuka Quantum label: https://www.deviantart.com/paigeouttahistory/art/Nuka-Cola-Quantum-Label-661435842
Dandy Boy Apples: https://www.deviantart.com/emptysamurai/art/dandy-boy-apples-box-210381568
I couldn’t eat it due to the gluten in the flour but my husband said it was delicious. I tasted the filling before it went into the crust and it sure was tangy and sweet.
I hope you have as much fun watching as I did making it!
~ J.L. Hilton
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I made this for my friend Brian. Olde Fawkes Premium Whiskey. “When a calm heart must prevail.”
~ J.L. Hilton
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My 2000 subscriber celebration is officially over. It took me awhile to wrap it up but all Steam keys and gift bundles are now claimed.
Congratulations to the winners!
~ J.L. Hilton
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I was so goth as a kid, when I read the myth of Hades and Persephone, I begged my mom to buy me a pomegranate so I could eat the fruit of the Underworld and remain there forever. I was 9.
~ J.L. Hilton
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