Book of Life (movie). I happened to be scouting through the movies available on HBO Go on November 1 to see if I could find anything the struck my fancy and I found the Book of Life. The Book of Life is a beautifully animated film that is set in small town in Mexico with the backdrop of Dias de los Muertos. Is the story a little bit formulaic and predictable? Yes, but that didn’t stop the feels in me. The movie had two big things going for it, at least for me. 1) It is gloriously animated. The style, beauty, and creativity of the animation is overwhelming and unusual. 2) It connected me to a part of my own culture that I don’t know too well. Book of Life suggests that part of Mexican culture is a great reverence for your ancestors and it is important to remember them so they can continue to “live on” in a way. As you know, if you read this blog, I’ve been doing quite a bit of genealogical research on my Mexican family. It makes me happy that in some small way that I’m honoring their memory and allowing them to continue to celebrate in the Land of the Remembered. Just watch the film and you will understand why that is so cool.

Twitch Creative Announcement. Twitch is a streaming video platform focused on video games. They’ve had a section on the site labeled “Creative” where a motley crew of streamers have worked on a variety of creative projects on their channels. It was largely unsupported by Twitch itself and the rules about what was allowed were sketchy. Just this past week that all changed when Twitch announced that they are fully supporting their Creative community. They are allowing a whole range of streaming broadcast, including sewing, creating cosplay, cooking, makeup, and many more. This is exciting because I’ve been considering expanding my online empire (lolz) into video game streaming on Twitch, but I haven’t been sure because most of my video game play already gets edited and put on YouTube. With this new opportunity of Twitch, I really see a place for me there BECAUSE I DO ALL OF THAT STUFF. And I end up doing a lot that you don’t see on this blog or on my YouTube because, you know, testing. So you might see me on Twitch SOON! In honor of all this you can see a stream of Bob Ross and his happy little trees.

Fallout (video game). So I know I just said that most of my gaming is packaged up and put on YouTube, but that doesn’t include Fallout. Fallout games are so big and massive and I have so many ongoing series at the moment that this one has been just for me. If you don’t know anything about any of the Fallout games, they are a series set in a post-apocalyptic USA where you basically have to survive, scavenge and fight to stay alive. It’s built on a quest system in which you have to choose sides, take chances, make decisions, be evil or good (I always choose good for some reason). I’ve played some of Fallout 3 and just picked up Fallout: New Vegas and have been playing it every free minute. But I am the most pumped for Fallout 4 which comes out next week. IT TAKES PLACE RIGHT HERE IN NEW ENGLAND. Though, there is a dog in the trailers. I hope the dog is ok.

Walt Disney Animation Studios Short Films Collection. More animation! I’ve really come to appreciate the work that animators put into their work, even when it is a short little piece that may never see wide release. This Disney Short Films Collection is all about that. It’s just 90 minutes of beautiful, lovingly made animated shorts and the Disney creators, who put them together, talking about their work. Standout among the films are Paperman and Feast, for their perfect animation style and wonderfully touching stories only told through music and visuals. I won’t say more because I want you experience it all for yourself.

Ted Talk: Colin Stokes, “How movies teach manhood.” Ted.com is filled with amazing, informative, inspiring and creative videos about our universe and our place in it. I could speak volumes about what I’ve learned from the people of Ted, but instead I’m just going to highlight a video every so often that I truly think is worth your time. Today that video is a talk at TEDXBeaconStreet given by Colin Stokes, director of communications at Citizen Schools. I’m starting you off with something about men and women and movies, all somethings you might be able to relate to. He discusses Star Wars, the Wizard of Oz, the Bechdel Test, Disney Princesses, and how all that influences and shapes the way our children, particularly boys, grow up and interact with each other and the opposite gender. It’s just under 13 minutes long and will definitely get you thinking about the movies that you watch.