A-Town's Bookshelf: The Year in Books, 2024

We've reached a new year, and with it another annual recap of books read and listened to (but mostly listened to). As I mentioned last year, I'm well aware that my measly little statistics are nothing compared to those who (allegedly) read (but probably listen to - on 2x speed) over a hundred books a year without breaking a sweat. I'm not here to compare. In fact, I know that probably less than a dozen people will ever even look at this post. So I'm mainly just posting this as a way to track my reading habits, year over year. With this being the second year of my annual "A-Town's Bookshelf" recap, we'll start to see a bit more clearly whether I'm actually doing anything impressive or not.

I somehow made it through 68 books this year, which is insane. That's probably about how many books I had completed in my entire life, prior to, like, 2015. As I looked back on this list over the past few days, I was shocked to see and remember some of the stuff I'd finished. Overall, I'd say that most of it was pretty good stuff. From science fiction and fantasy to celebrity memoirs and the rabbit hole of American history, I listened to (and occasionally physically read) some pretty fun literature during 2024.

One fun thing that I've been doing as I've been crushing audiobooks since the birth of my second son in 2023 is keeping track of how much money I'm saving by using Libby and maintaining an Audible subscription, as opposed to buying books or audiobooks at full price. I thought I could crack it by New Year's Eve (and probably could have - I've got two unused credits on Audible right now), but I'm sitting about $100 short of the $2,000 mark, which is absolutely crazy. Two thousand dollars in books?? Sheesh.

I do have to give a few shoutouts quickly, before I get going - because I'm going to try not to ramble on too much, once we get into the actual statistics of it all.

If you're kind of a nerd and into pop culture like me, I would highly, highly recommend the "Magic 2.0" series by Scott Meyer. These were my favorite books of the year. I wouldn't say they were the best books of the year, necessarily, because there were some really, really good books out there, but this was definitely the most fun I had, and I do occasionally look back and miss the series. It's just so silly and fun and doesn't have a lot of swearing, which was really nice. If you're down for a laugh about a bunch of computer nerds who decide to become wizards in the Dark Ages, you've got to check these books out. The audiobook narration was tremendous, as well, and I was constantly cracking up at some of the voices of the characters. Cannot suggest these books to you more highly.

I finally took the plunge into Bill O'Reilly's "Killing" series, which I had seen on bookshelves but had always kind of scared me because of titles like, say, "Killing Jesus" (which I haven't listened to yet, but want to). I know that O'Reilly is a bit of a star in the conservative political sphere, but I try not to get myself too involved in that stuff, so I didn't really have any preconceived notions about his work. Surprisingly, the books stay almost completely apolitical, so he pretty much just presents the facts without giving his opinion on anything, which I appreciated. His books gave me a great look into the lives of Elvis, John Lennon, Muhammad Ali, John F. Kennedy and even the Salem witches, and I was so fascinated the entire time. If you're wanting to delve into the depths of American history, these books were great.

I didn't know anything about "Project Hail Mary," other than that they're making a movie with Ryan Gosling and that it was written by the same guy who did "The Martian." With that little context heading in, I absolutely loved the book. I gifted it to my wife for Christmas, and she's right in the middle of it as we speak. Recommend.

And finally, my wife and I started listening to the "Harry Potter" series again in 2024. We started Book 4 on New Year's Day, so we're still chugging along, but man, what I wouldn't give to be able to go back and read this series for the first time. I don't think we had any idea how world-changing that little wizard boy was going to become. Great, great books, no matter your stance on public restrooms.

Also, ENORMOUS thanks to Goodreads, the site that made this entire post possible.

All right, here you go. Take a gander at which books I finished in 2024. Maybe you'll find something that you're curious about. I'd love to chat with you about any of these books or any recommendations you have for me!

Thanks for reading.

Books Read

Here is a list of all of the books I completed in 2024, along with my star rating:

1. Firefight (The Reckoners #2) by Brandon Sanderson, 4/5 stars
2. Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid, 5/5 stars
3. Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story by Bono, 4/5 stars
4. Starter Villain by John Scalzi, 3/5 stars
5. The Mark of Zorro (Zorro # 1) by Johnston McCulley, 4/5 stars
6. None of This is True by Lisa Jewell, 5/5 stars
7. The Giver (The Giver # 1) by Lois Lowry, 4/5 stars
8. I Found You by Lisa Jewell, 3/5 stars
9. Gathering Blue (The Giver # 2) by Lois Lowry, 2/5 stars
10. The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave, 3/5 stars
11. A Deadly Education (The Scholomance # 1) by Naomi Novik, 1/5 stars
12. Atlantis (Jack Howard # 1) by David Gibbins, 3/5 stars
13. Making It So by Patrick Stewart, 4/5 stars
14. The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson and the Olympians # 1) by Rick Riordan, 3/5 stars
15. Star Wars: Inquisitor: Rise of the Red Blade by Delilah S. Dawson, 3/5 stars
16. Be Useful: Seven Tools for Life by Arnold Schwarzenneger, 3/5 stars
17. Off to Be the Wizard (Magic 2.0 # 1) by Scott Meyer, 4/5 stars
18. When I Was Your Age: Life Lessons, Funny Stories & Questionable Parenting Advice from a Professional Clown by Kenan Thompson, 4/5 stars
19. The Downloaded by Robert J. Sawyer, 3/5 stars
20. Marvel's Midnight Suns: Infernal Rising by S.D. Perry, 2/5 stars
21. Star Wars: The Eye of Darkness by George Mann, 4/5 stars
22. Spell or High Water (Magic 2.0 #2) by Scott Meyer, 4/5 stars
23. The Horse and His Boy (Chronicles of Narnia # 5) by C.S. Lewis, 2/5 stars
24. The Return of the King (The Lord of the Rings # 3) by J.R.R. Tolkien, 4/5 stars
25. Recursion by Blake Crouch, 5/5 stars
26. Calamity (The Reckoners, # 3) by Brandon Sanderson, 2/5 stars
27. An Unwelcome Quest (Magic 2.0 # 3) by Scott Meyer, 3/5 stars
28. Dark Matter by Blake Crouch, 3/5 stars
29. Dune (Dune # 1) by Frank Herbert, 3/5 stars
30. Fight and Flight (Magic 2.0 # 4) by Scott Meyer, 4/5 stars
31. The Singularity Trap by Dennis E. Taylor, 3/5 stars
32. Star Wars: Jedi: Battle Scars by Sam Maggs, 1/5 stars
33. Out of Spite, Out of Mind (Magic 2.0 #5) by Scott Meyer, 3/5 stars
34. The Frugal Wizard’s Handbook for Surviving Medieval England by Brandon Sanderson, 3/5 stars
35. Killing the Legends: The Lethal Danger of Celebrity by Bill O'Reilly, 5/5 stars
36. The Vexed Generation (Magic 2.0 #6) by Scott Meyer, 4/5 stars
37. And There Was Light: Abraham Lincoln and the American Struggle by Jon Meacham, 5/5 stars
38. Star Wars: Defy the Storm by Tessa Gratton, 2/5 stars
39. Friday Night Lights by H.G. Bissinger, 3/5 stars
40. Will Save the Galaxy for Food (Jacques McKeown # 1) by Yahtzee Crowshaw, 3/5 stars
41. The Chase (Isaac Bell # 1) by Clive Cussler, 5/5 stars
42. House of Blades (Traveler's Gate # 1) by Will Wight, 3/5 stars
43. Star Wars: The Living Force by John Jackson Miller, 3/5 stars
44. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy # 1) by Douglas Adams, 2/5 stars
45. The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece by Tom Hanks, 3/5 stars
46. Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir, 5/5 stars
47. The Magician’s Nephew (Chronicles of Narnia # 6) by C.S. Lewis, 4/5 stars
48. Killing the Witches: The Horror of Salem, Massachusetts by Bill O'Reilly, 4/5 stars
49. The Last Battle (Chronicles of Narnia # 7) by C.S. Lewis, 4/5 stars
50. The Chronicles of Narnia (The Chronicles of Narnia # 1-7) by C.S. Lewis, 4/5 stars
51. Raising Good Humans: A Mindful Guide to Breaking the Cycle of Reactive Parenting and Raising Kind, Confident Kids by Hunter Clarke-Fields, 3/5 stars
52. The Wrecker (Isaac Bell # 2) by Clive Cussler, 3/5 stars
53. Fan Fiction by Brent Spiner, 2/5 stars
54. The Last Outlaws: The Desperate Final Days of the Dalton Gang by Tom Clavin, 3/5 stars
55. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (Harry Potter # 1) by J.K. Rowling, 5/5 stars
56. The Crimson Vault (Traveler's Gate # 2) by Will Wight, 2/5 stars
57. The Mystery Writer by Sulari Gentill, 3/5 stars
58. Feel-Good Productivity: How to Do More of What Matters to You by Ali Abdaal, 5/5 stars
59. City of Light (Traveler's Gate # 3) by Will Wight, 2/5 stars
60. Casino Royale (James Bond # 1) by Ian Fleming, 4/5 stars
61. Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Carol S. Dweck, 3/5 stars
62. Outland (Quantum Earth # 1) by Dennis E. Taylor, 3/5 stars
63. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Harry Potter # 2) by J.K. Rowling, 5/5 stars
64. The Search for WondLa (The Search for WondLa # 1) by Tony DiTerlizzi, 4/5 stars
65. Killing Kennedy: The End of Camelot by Bill O'Reilly, 5/5 stars
66. Ready Player One (Ready Player One # 1) by Ernest Cline, 4/5 stars
67. A Hero for WondLa (The Search for WondLa # 2) by Tony DiTerlizzi, 3/5 stars
68. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Harry Potter # 3) by J.K. Rowling, 4/5 stars

Other Stats

The A-Town Awards

Best Book of the Year: Off to Be the Wizard by Scott Meyer

Honorable Mention: Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir; Killing the Legends by Bill O'Reilly; Killing Kennedy by Bill O'Reilly; Recursion by Blake Crouch

Worst Book of the Year: Star Wars: Jedi: Battle Scars by Sam Maggs

Honorable Mention: Marvel's Midnight Suns: Infernal Rising by S.D. Perry; A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik

Best Audiobook Narration: Luke Daniels (Magic 2.0 series)

Honorable Mention: Ray Porter (Project Hail Mary, several others)

Yearly Comparison

2024: 68 books read

2023: 48 books read

*****

There you go! Did you discover anything new? Find anything you want to check out? Do you either strongly agree or disagree with me about anything? Do you have a book in mind that you think I'd love? I'm always down for suggestions. Let me know in the comments below, on Twitter (here and here) or on Facebook.

Until next time.

Nintendo Year in Review 2024

Guys, this is going to be a sad, sad little post. It's honestly pathetic, but I have to write it up anyway. For posterity. I did not play very much Nintendo this year. Sort of. I'll explain.

As I explained last year, Nintendo only tabulates its stats through the end of November, so - just like last year's report missed out on a lot of my "Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom" and "Mario Wonder" play time - this year's report is missing a significant amount of my time on the Switch for 2024. And that's a real shame, because I had been putting in WORK on "Super Smash Bros. Ultimate" before Christmas, just to find out that none of that time was being tracked. Great. Honestly, I probably played more in the first two and a half weeks of December than I did during any other entire month of the year, so I'm quite bugged by my recap for 2024. It... doesn't look good.

But I'll give it to you anyway because I know that there are so many of you out there who are dying to find out what I've been playing. Let's break it down.

First Game of 2024

You're going to start sensing a theme here.

Gameplay Totals

Only 38 hours?? I played more on my top game of 2023 last year than I did in all of 2024 combined?! That's just disappointing. I am disappointed in myself, and I am truly sorry. I promise to be better next year.

I might be better than that in January, just for the sake of it.

Top Games

So my top game of the year is an exercise game. How many people can say that? I am proud that this indicates that I have tried my best to stay active, which is great.

But "Civ 6" was my second most-played game of the year (four hours) and I played it for like three and a half hours on my birthday in November, so that's... impressive, I guess?

I played "Mario Party Jamboree" a handful of times after we gave it to our son for his birthday in late October. It's a great game and will probably be a highly played game next year, once it has a full 11 months of availability for my Year in Review.

Gaming Trends

I assume that "Fitness Boxing 2: Rhythm & Exercise" counts as "action," "boxing" and "training."

Monthly Breakdown

I can thank my birthday for this. I had planned on playing a bunch of Playstation on my day off but ended up playing the "Civilization VI" on the Switch most of the afternoon. This probably accounts for a lot of my "Mario Party" play time, as well.

[December was not calculated]

All Games Played

• Fitness Boxing 2: Rhythm & Exercise
• Sid Meier's Civilization VI
• Super Mario Party Jamboree
• Pokemon Violet
• The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
• Super Mario Bros. Wonder
• New Pokemon Snap
• Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
• Trombone Champ
• Mario Party Superstars
• Mario Golf: SuperRush
• Mario Strikers: Battle League
• Dorfromantik
• Pokemon Cafe ReMix [Editor's Note: This must have been Stockton.]
• Super Mario Odyssey
• Luigi's Mansion 3

Observations:

• I play a lot of Mario games, I guess.
• I started playing "Fitness Boxing 3: Your Personal Trainer" once it came out in December, so "Fitness Boxing 2" is now a thing of the past. RIP. It served me well.
• "Trombone Champ" is a very strange and somewhat funny game that really annoyed my wife for a couple days. It only cost me like two bucks, so I thought it was worth a shot.

Favorite Game

There are two or three games that could probably qualify as potential games of the year. "Mario Party Jamboree" is incredible, but I don't think I played it quite enough in 2024. Watch out in 2025, though! I think that there is one correct choice for me this year, all things considered.

And the winner is...

Please do not underestimate the fact that my December stats were not counted. I had a couple video game nights with my neighbors where we played "Smash Bros.," then I went home to beef up my stats on my own console. I believe that I have now played with every character at least once, which is something that I couldn't say a month ago, and I even came up with a new preset for match rules that made the game way more fun for me. Once January 1 rolls around here in about seven hours, I'm going to crush some more "Smash Bros." to solidify its status as a game I love in 2025.

Prior Years Comparison

Hours Played

• 2024: 38 hours
• 2023: 169 hours

Top Games

• 2024: "Fitness Boxing 2: Rhythm & Exercise," "Sid Meier's Civilization VI," "Super Mario Party Jamboree"
• 2023: "The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild," "Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope," "Metroid Dread"

Game of the Year

• 2024: "Super Smash Bros. Ultimate"
• 2023: "Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope"

*****

What were your top Nintendo games of 2024? You can gather your stats here (for a limited time), if you haven't done so already. Let us know how you fared in the comments below, on Twitter (here and here) or on Facebook.

In the meantime, stay tuned for a couple more Year in Review blogs forthcoming in the next few days. Stay safe out there and have a happy new year!

Until next time.

A-Town Playlist: Top Spotify Songs of 2024

It's the most wonderful time of the year! It's the time that I look forward to all year long and the time for which I unabashedly try to adjust my habits to give me the least lame results possible! It's End of the Year Blog season! First up this year is my Spotify Wrapped report, which (allegedly) gives me an accurate breakdown of how much music I consumed this year, as well as which artists I listened to the most.

Of course, my music stats for the year are just a tiny little drop in the bucket for the rest of you. I know that I only listen to a small fraction of what the rest of you guys are posting. I know it, I acknowledge it, and I am going to just keep typing this blog anyway. I've done it for like half a dozen years and I'm not going to stop now, dang it!

(Also, I have never heard of almost all of the bands you guys are getting in your Top Artists, which is very strange, but just wait until this year's PlayStation Wrap-Up, when I put you all to shame.)

Anyway, I digress.

As I'm sure I've whined about in the past, I'm not sure how accurate some of this stuff actually is, but it is always interesting to look back on how I spent my time, even if it's only, like, 85% believable. Let's go ahead and break this stuff down, as we have in the past, noting that Spotify took out a bunch of fun stats like "top genres" and a few others... but we'll do the best we can with what they gave us. Here we go!

Spotify Wrapped - Top 10 Songs

1. 
   "Werewolves of London" - Warren Zevon
2. "Mr. Blue Sky" - Electric Light Orchestra
3. "All the Small Things" - Blink 182
4. "The Middle" - Jimmy Eat World
5. "Could Have Been Me" - The Struts
6. "Good Tonight" - Daniel Pemberton, Anthony Ramos
7. "Brown Eyed Girl" - Van Morrison
8. "Thnks fr th Mmrs" - Fall Out Boy
9. "Seven Nation Army" - The White Stripes
10. "Holiday" - Green Day

Analysis: Yeah, this is the year that my kids officially swayed my Spotify Wrapped.

I blame 1, 2, 6 and 7 100% on Stockton. In fact, I said several times throughout the year - out loud - that "Werewolves of London" was going to be my top song. I just knew it. My four-year-old son Stockton loves "Werewolves of London." He'd ask for it on repeat. And he'd sing along. So I love that song for me this year, too, and I'm totally ok with it.

Those other songs were also frequently requested (AKA "demanded") in the car because they come from animated movie soundtracks. Each time "Mr. Blue Sky" came on, Stockton would elatedly scream, "SUPER MARIO BRUDDAS!!" It's a good song. He's a smart kid.

"Good Tonight" is from the movie "The Bad Guys," which is a solid movie, and it's a fun dance scene, and it was probably the first song that Stockton could ever really sing along with. I, personally, would have loved to keep this one out of the Top 10, but it is what it is.

And then "Brown Eyed Girl" was always greeted with a squeal of "MINIONS!!" Again, a great song, and I'm ok with that one, too.

I have no idea where "All the Small Things" and "The Middle" came from. They're bangers and take me back to my college days, for sure, but I don't know what they're doing in my Top 10. "Seven Nation Army" is another one. I certainly listened to it a few times this year, but should it have cracked the leaderboard? I mean, like, Spotify... Dudes. I need to know: what qualifies as a "song play"? If I listen to it for three seconds and skip to something else, does that count?? I need to know!

Editor's note: This has become a running joke in my family and something to keep an eye on every year - Weezer's "Island in the Sun" came in at #16 this year (Weezer's highest song on the 2024 playlist), and there is just NO WAY that I listen to that song that much. It's practically an immediate skip if I even hear two notes of it because, for some reason, Spotify thinks it's my favorite song of all time... which IT'S NOT! Something ain't right! Stop ranking this so high every year, Spotify!

It's always nice to see The Struts in the Top 10, and "Could Have Been Me" 1) is their best song and 2) is no stranger to the top of my yearly recaps, so that wasn't a surprise to me. "Thnks fr th Mmrs" and "Holiday" are solid. No complaints there.

If I could have picked my top 10 favorite songs from 2024, this wouldn't have been it, but all in all, I'm just pretty proud not to have anything too cringe on the list this year. Woo.

Minutes Listened

My minutes listened took a nosedive last year due to my increased interest in audiobooks - and that's still the case, and I still work from home with my boys "large pets" - so I tried to make a more concerted effort this year to get in some extra Spotify time when I could. I bounced back a little in 2024, clocking in at 8,251 minutes (137 1/2 hours), which isn't too shabby. Let's review how that time has stacked up over the years:

• 2024: 8,251
• 2023: 7,205
• 2022: 9,000+
• 2021: 6,918
• 2020: ?
• 2019: 30,613
• 2018: ?

Spotify says that my busiest listening day was October 19, when I listened to 328 minutes of music. That's more than five hours of listening, which is awesome. I have no idea what I was doing on that day, other than that it was a Saturday, so I was probably running errands and working out at the gym, which is prime earbuds time for me, so that probably accounted for a lot of it.

Apparently, I listened to 1,055 songs this year. I don't know what to make of that number, but... I think that's good?

I was in the top 0.05% of listeners for "Werewolves of London," which is quite the prestigious honor. I listened to it 15 times (ONLY?!), starting on March 17.

I like using Spotify's DJ feature (although his song choice does occasionally become a bit repetitive). I spent exactly 800 minutes with him this year.

Spotify Being Weird and Making No Sense at All

Spotify didn't give us top genres or several of the other fun statistics that they've given in the past. Nope. But new this year, Spotify categorized several months of my listening with some ridiculous, nonsensical descriptions. Here's what they said about me:

May was my "Apocalyptic Old School Metal Rock" phase, featuring artists like U2, Muse and The White Stripes.

June was a "Nerdy Fantasy Soundtrack," starring Daniel Pemberton and Borislav Slavov.

And July came up as a "Witchy Rhythm Games Classic Rock" phase, leaning heavily on Warren Zevon, Bob Seger and Creedence Clearwater Revival.

I have no idea what to make of any of that.

Top Artists

I listened to 536 artists this year, and these were my top five:

1. 
   Weezer: Weezer has been my top artist every year except once since I started keeping track of these stats, so their return to the top of the charts comes as no surprise this year. They are, after all, my favorite band. Congrats again, gentlemen. Spotify says I was in the top 2% of Weezer listeners for the year and... quite frankly... I could have done better.
2. The Strokes: The Strokes are another of my favorite groups, so I'm happy to see them here. Their 2001 album "Is This It" is basically a no-skip record for me, so it makes sense that I would have spent a lot of continuous time listening to them.
3. U2: At one point, back in my high school days, I would have said that U2 was my favorite band, and, although I wouldn't say I'm a consistent listener of theirs, every once in a while, I do get on a U2 kick. They've got some great stuff from the past several decades. U2 bounces up two spots from coming in at #5 last year. Nice.
4. Elvis Presley: Elvis! Yes! Welcome to the top five, King! I was obsessed with Elvis as a kid and love his stuff, so I'm proud of this one!
5. Billy Joel: Billy Joel was a staple of my youth. He and Elton John were my first concert, and he's one of only a few artists that I've seen live more than once. His entry into my top artists of the year is proof that a few days of binging albums goes a long way for my stats. Billy also remains in the top five from last year. Impressive.

Other Fun and Notable Songs in This Year's Top 100

There were many other songs that I enjoyed in 2024 that didn't crack the top 10, so I want to take a second to give them some love. Here were some of my other favorite tunes from the past 12 months:

• Jessie's Girl - Rick Springfield (#23; featuring a guitar solo that I would absolutely slay if I could actually play the instrument)
• I Wanna Be Sedated - The Ramones (#26; a song that Stockton learned some of the lyrics to - much to the shock and dismay of both of his grandmothers)
• I Wanna Be Like You - Big Bad Voodoo Daddy (#29; frequently requested in the car)
• Liar - Jelly Roll (#36; the first song I had ever heard by the man who confidently calls himself "Jelly Roll")
• Look At Us Now (Honeycomb) - Daisy Jones & The Six (#39; a fake song by a fake band)
• Party Hard - Andrew W.K. (#44; a certified banger)
• Bathwater - No Doubt (#64; honestly shocked that this wasn't higher on the list)
• Dancing in the Moonlight - King Harvest (#73; way better than the cover version that Spotify so often recommends to me)
• ...Baby One More Time - Tenacious D (#76; a cover by Jack Black, the national treasure)
• The Fox (What Does the Fox Say?) - Ylvis (#80; one of my boys' favorite songs to dance to)
• The Other Way - Weezer (#89; my old radio theme song)
• Heaven - Live (#96; an oldie but a goodie)

Bonus Tracks

Why not fully embrace my "Apocalyptic Old School Metal Rock" phase from this summer (when I was introduced to Dungeons & Dragons and "Baldur's Gate III" by adding two songs from the BG3 soundtrack to my list of top songs of the year? They apparently didn't get listened to enough to make the leaderboard, but I certainly spent a long time listening to this stuff while preparing my first D&D campaign. As you'll find out in an upcoming post, I spent PLENTY of time playing "Baldur's Gate" on my Playstation, so this is only fitting.

• Baldur's Gate III: Down by the River - Borislav Slavav
• Baldur's Gate III: The Power - Borislav Slavav

Condensed Playlist (embed)

And last (but not least), I created a condensed 52-song playlist by which to remember the year in music, 2024, including the entire top 10, whether I, personally, liked them or not. Behold and enjoy:

That brings us to the end of this year's Spotify Wrapped. From all of us here at Signs of the Times, we hope that your own Spotify statistics were to your liking and that, most importantly, your children didn't jack up your top songs too much.

If you feel so inclined, leave a comment on this post, follow us on Twitter (here and here) or drop us a line on Facebook. And, of course, keep it right here for all of the upcoming "Year in Review" posts.

Until next time.

Grunkaylo and the Protection of Direwatch

 

Direwatch was a small, close-knit village nestled deep within a dense forest, known for its strong sense of community and self-sufficiency. The villagers were primarily carpenters, hunters, and gatherers, living in harmony with the natural world around them. They built their homes from the sturdy timber of the forest and relied on the land for their sustenance.

The egalitarian society of Direwatch contributed to the well-being of the community. They held regular gatherings to discuss village matters, celebrate festivals, and share stories. The citizens valued hard work, cooperation, and mutual respect. They were also deeply connected to their traditions and heritage, often adorning themselves with tribal warpaint and participating in ancient rituals to honor their ancestors and the spirits of the forest.

One of most prominent citizens in the village was named Grunkaylo - a towering half-orc standing at 6’5" and weighing 250 pounds. Grunkaylo, known as “Kaylo” to his close friends, was an intimidating presence, with his green skin and long, black hair tied in a ponytail. He wore dark tribal warpaint on his face and chest as a symbol of his heritage and a reminder of his past.

Grunkaylo lived a simple life as a carpenter and handyman, using his strength and skill to build and repair homes, furniture, and tools for his fellow villagers. He was well-loved by his community, known for his kindness, generosity, and unwavering sense of duty.

One fateful day, Direwatch was attacked by an enemy army - a ruthless band of mercenaries known as the Ironclad Legion. The Legion was notorious for their brutal tactics and unwavering loyalty to the highest bidder. They were a diverse group of warriors, including humans, orcs, and other races, all united by their thirst for power and wealth.

The motivation behind the attack on Direwatch was twofold. Firstly, the Legion had been hired by a powerful noble who sought to expand his territory and control the valuable resources of the forest. Direwatch, with its rich timber and strategic location, was a prime target. Secondly, the Legion aimed to instill fear and assert their dominance over the region, using the attack as a demonstration of their strength and ruthlessness.

The attack on Direwatch was sudden and unprovoked, swift and merciless. The villagers, caught off guard, fought bravely to defend their home, but the Legion’s superior numbers and combat experience overwhelmed them. The villagers, though caught off guard, quickly rallied to defend their home.

Despite the chaos and destruction, Grunkaylo stood his ground. Armed with his great club and battle axe, Grunkaylo took charge of the defense, his imposing figure and fierce determination inspiring those around him. He fought valiantly to protect his home and loved ones. His bravery and strength turned the tide of the battle, and although there were tremendous losses on both sides, Grunkaylo’s heroism saved many lives.

As the battle raged on, Grunkaylo found himself facing the Legion’s commander, a formidable orc warrior named Korgath. Korgath was known for his brutal combat skills and had already cut down several villagers. The clash between Grunkaylo and Korgath was intense, with both warriors exchanging powerful blows. Despite being outmatched in terms of combat experience, Grunkaylo’s sheer strength and determination allowed him to hold his ground.

In a moment of desperation, Grunkaylo used his great club to shatter Korgath’s shield, leaving the commander vulnerable. Seizing the opportunity, Grunkaylo delivered a devastating blow with his battle axe, striking Korgath down and turning the tide of the battle. The sight of their fallen commander demoralized the Legion’s forces, causing them to falter.

With renewed vigor, the villagers, led by Grunkaylo, launched a counterattack. Grunkaylo’s presence on the battlefield was like a force of nature, his warpaint and battle cries striking fear into the hearts of the enemy. He fought with unmatched ferocity, cutting through the Legion’s ranks and rallying his fellow villagers to push back the invaders.

In the final moments of the battle, Grunkaylo and a group of brave villagers managed to corner the remaining Legion soldiers. With a final, coordinated assault, they drove the enemy out of Direwatch, securing a hard-fought victory.

The battle, however, came at a great cost. Among the notable casualties from Direwatch were:

• Eldrin, the Village Elder: A wise and respected leader, Eldrin was known for his deep knowledge of the forest and its secrets. He fought valiantly to protect his home but was struck down while defending a group of children.
• Liora, the Huntress: Liora was one of the village’s most skilled hunters, known for her sharpshooting and tracking abilities. She played a crucial role in the defense, picking off enemy soldiers from a distance. Tragically, she was overwhelmed by a group of Legion soldiers while covering the villagers’ retreat.
• Thorn, the Blacksmith: Thorn was a burly and strong blacksmith who crafted weapons and tools for the village. He fought alongside Grunkaylo, using his hammer to fend off the attackers. Despite his strength, he was mortally wounded while protecting his forge.

The village was left in ruins, with many homes and structures destroyed or damaged. The survivors, though grateful for their lives, faced the daunting task of rebuilding their community from the ground up. The loss of Eldrin, Liora and Thorn left a void in the village’s leadership and skills, making the recovery even more challenging.

Despite the devastation, the spirit of the villagers remained unbroken. They banded together, drawing strength from each other and the memory of those who had fallen. Grunkaylo played a crucial role in the initial efforts to rebuild, using his skills as a carpenter and handyman to repair homes and structures. His presence was a source of inspiration and hope for the villagers, who saw him as their protector and hero.

However, the attack on Direwatch had a profound impact on Grunkaylo. The loss of his neighbors and friends, coupled with the destruction of his home, left him with a deep sense of grief and a burning desire for justice. He felt a strong responsibility to ensure that no other village would suffer the same fate as Direwatch.

With this in mind, Grunkaylo decided to leave his village. He became a wandering adventurer, driven by a mission to protect those who cannot protect themselves. He began to travel from town to town, offering his skills as a carpenter and handyman, while also standing ready to defend the innocent from any threats that may arise. His journey is one of redemption and purpose, driven by a desire to protect and serve those in need.

And so, Grunkaylo ventured forth...

A-Town D&D Landing Page

FanX 2024: Ernie Hudson discusses the lasting impact of 'Ghostbusters'

During FanX Salt Lake Comic Convention's opening press conference for its 2024 convention, I was able to ask a question to Ernie Hudson, who is most famous for playing Winston Zeddemore in the "Ghostbusters" movie franchise. Hudson, who was in a great mood that Thursday morning - and looking absolutely JACKED, for a 78-year-old - gave a thoughtful response to my question (and others) during the few minutes in which he sat at the microphone.

Here's what he had to say.

Signs of the Times: Hey, Ernie. My name’s Aaron, and I’m running the Twitter account for the convention this weekend. First of all, I just wanted to say thank you so much for coming.

Ernie Hudson: It’s great to be here.

SotT: When I was younger, I loved "Ghostbusters" - one of my favorite movie franchises - and now, as a parent, it’s so fun to introduce these movies to my own children. I have a son that’s almost four, and I was a little nervous to get him into "Ghostbusters" - I thought it might be too spooky - but he loves it. So, I was wondering if you could just touch on […] the longevity of that franchise, obviously, being one of the main Ghostbusters in the '80s, and now, being kind of a caretaker or steward of the franchise, moving forward.

EH: You don’t realize, you don’t plan those things, or you don’t even understand the impact that it would have. I think if studios knew how to make a hit, all the movies would be hits, but you really have no idea how people will react and respond. It’s one of those things that… I think we all have this sort of fear of what’s to happen. As I get older, I count friends who’ve "transitioned." We know that it’s not a forever thing. I think we’re always aware of that, throughout our lives. Little kids are concerned about who’s in the closet when the lights go out. I mean, it touches some primal part of us, and I think the movie does that in a way that’s comedic. It’s funny. We can laugh at our fears. But it crosses generations in an amazing way. Not all movies do that. “The Crow” was a movie that was very popular, at a certain stage in life, but then the older people didn’t necessarily respond to it, or little kids, but there’s a time in life, you know? There’s a period. But “Ghostbusters,” it’s sort of… I think I was watching the 30th anniversary showing in Chicago, and there were older people – [in their] 80s, 90s – little kids, and they were all laughing at different things, but they all found something in it that they responded to. […] I’m just very, very thankful to have been a part and that it still stands.

*****

This is the first of several posts with exclusive content from FanX 2024. Keep it here for all the good stuff. You can also leave a comment below, follow us on Twitter (here and here) and try to find us on Facebook for more pop culture conversations.

Until next time.

MLB TV Viewing Stats - 2024

Another baseball season has come and gone, which means that it's time for me to crunch some numbers and, for no other reason than to satisfy my own curiosity, see how many games I watched this year. This is the (*counts on fingers*) SEVENTH YEAR?!? that I've done this, which is crazy, but it actually is a pretty helpful way of helping me determine whether I'm getting any value out of my subscription.

I won't go into great detail to explain a lot of how and why I do the things that I do, but if you're really curious, you can go back and check out some of my older MLB TV blogs.

Anyway, let's get down to business.

Stats Tracked on the Spreadsheet:

Basically nothing changed on my spreadsheet this year, although I did add one extra column to (hopefully) help me more easily keep track of whether I watched the home team or the road team's broadcast. Here's a quick refresher on what I kept track of for each game that I watch:

• Road team
• Home team
• Home or Road Broadcast
• Winning team
• W/L result of the team whose broadcast I watched
• Duration of viewing
• 1-2 innings: "Minimal"
• 3-4 innings: "Partial"
• 5-7 innings: "Most"
• 8-9 innings: "Full"
• Any interesting notes about the game

Persisting Factors that Affected Viewing Habits:

• All Arizona Diamondback and Colorado Rockies games are blacked out in Utah. It still makes no sense.
• Any nationally televised games (FOX, ESPN, TBS, etc.) are not viewable on MLB TV.
• I work from home and have two young children whose first priority of entertainment during the day is not watching sports.
• I've been married for five years now, which means that my first priority of entertainment at night can't be watching sports, either.

Untracked Games:

As was the case last year, I can't remember any games that I watched that were not broadcast on MLB TV. For the second year in a row, I didn't go on a baseball trip, so I didn't watch any MLB games in person. Maybe next year.

Total Number of Games Watched and Cost Per Game:

• I'll use the same basic explanation that I gave last year: if all 30 Major League teams play 162 games a season, and if each single game counts as two "games played" (one game for the home team and one game for the road team), that equals a total of 4,860 games played.
• Accounting for ReGiOnAl BlAcKoUtS of the Arizona Diamondbacks and Colorado Rockies, as well as nationally televised games, I have been lowering the maximum amount of games I would have had access to down to 4,356 games per season.
• I watched a total of 61 baseball games this season, or a total of 122 "games played."
• This is 10 more games than I watched in 2023.
• Based on the approximate number of 4,356 "games played" that I had access to, I watched about 2.8% of those games, a 0.5% increase from last year.
• This year's MLB season ran from March 28 - September 30, a duration of 187 days. For the past two years, I have been using the guideline that I could "reasonably" watch one baseball game per day. I mean, I probably could. Do I watch one game per day? Of course not. But I probably could. For most of this season, it would probably reasonable for me to watch one game per week. But we'll just keep going with it, I guess.
• I watched a total of 61 games throughout the 187-day season, which is 32% of the maximum number of games that I reasonably could have watched - a 5% increase from how much I watched last year.
• Here is the evolution of that percentage since 2018:
• 2018: 11%
• 2019: 26%
• 2020: 29%
• 2021: 17%
• 2022: 31%
• 2023: 27%
• 2024: 32% - A new record!
• This year, I ended up paying the full cost of the subscription (my brother Austin is a big Dodgers fan but currently lives in South Carolina, which would have him staying up until like 2 in the morning any time he wanted to watch a game on the west coast, so I don't really blame him for not wanting in this year). As usual, I divided the cost of my subscription by the number of games that I watched, which came out to about $2.42 per game.

Let me take a break here and say something. I am extremely proud of myself for running this cost down this year. I realized in about mid-August that I was not watching much baseball - and that my cost per game was, at that point, more than $6 per game watched, which would absolutely not make this subscription worth it in the future. On August 25, I watched my 24th game of the season, meaning that I went on a freaking tear and watched at least a minimal part of 38 games in 36 days. In that span, I lowered my cost per game by almost $4 per game, which is absolutely crazy. Heeeeeeeeck yeah. Anyway, very proud of myself. Now, where were we?

• Here is how my cost-per-game ratio has developed over the years:
• 2018: $2.85/game
• 2019: $1.85/game
• 2020: $1.97/game
• 2021: $1.83/game
• 2022: $1.14/game (split cost)
• 2023: $2.94/game
• 2024: $2.42/game

Duration of Viewing:

The following is a breakdown of how long I watched each game, based on the definitions I established many years ago, in order of duration:

• Most (5-7 innings): 21 games (34%)
• Partial (3-4 innings): 18 games (30%)
• Full (8-9 innings): 13 games (21%)
• Minimal (1-2 innings): 9 games (15%)

Times Watched on the Team's Local Broadcast (Out of 61 Games Watched):

Here is this year's leaderboard for how many times I intentionally tuned into a team's local broadcast:

1. Texas Rangers: 23
   
2. Cleveland Guardians: 6
3. Seattle Mariners: 5
4. Atlanta Braves: 3
   Baltimore Orioles: 3
   Los Angeles Dodgers: 3
   Washington Nationals: 3
5. Cincinnati Reds: 2
   Miami Marlins: 2
   Philadelphia Phillies: 2
   San Diego Padres: 2
   San Francisco Giants: 2
   Tampa Bay Rays: 2
6. Kansas City Royals: 1
   Los Angeles Angels: 1
   Toronto Blue Jays: 1

Times Watched (Total, Out of 102 Total Teams Watched):

Here is a breakdown of how many times I watched all of the other teams play, regardless of which broadcast I tuned into:

1. Texas Rangers: 23
   
2. Seattle Mariners: 10
3. Cleveland Guardians: 7
   Tampa Bay Rays: 7
4. Chicago White Sox: 5
   Oakland A's: 5
   San Diego Padres: 5
5. Atlanta Braves: 4
   Baltimore Orioles: 4
   Los Angeles Angels: 4
   Philadelphia Phillies: 4
   St. Louis Cardinals: 4
   Toronto Blue Jays: 4
   Washington Nationals: 4
6. Chicago Cubs: 3
   Detroit Tigers: 3
   Houston Astros: 3
   Kansas City Royals: 3
   Los Angeles Dodgers: 3
   Miami Marlins: 3
   Minnesota Twins: 3
7. Boston Red Sox: 2
   Cincinnati Reds: 2
   New York Mets: 2
   Pittsburgh Pirates: 2
   San Francisco Giants: 2
8. Milwaukee Brewers: 1

There were three teams that I didn't watch a single time this year: the Diamondbacks and Rockies (because I couldn't), and the Yankees (because I hate them).

Overall Win/Loss Record:

• This year, teams I tuned in to watch went 36-25, which is all right with me. The teams I watched had some hot streaks and some cold streaks, but I feel like I got to see some pretty good games, overall. This was my second-highest winning percentage since I started tracking this stuff, and my best season since 2019.
• Running W/L percentage tracker:
• 2018: .534
• 2019: .625
• 2020: .410
• 2021: .492
• 2022: .404
• 2023: .490
• 2024: .590

Home/Road Split:

• I tuned into 25 home broadcasts (41%) and 36 road broadcasts this year (59%).
• When I watched a team's home broadcast, those teams went 20-5 (.800), which is totally insane.
• When I watched a team's road broadcast, those teams went 16-20 (.444).
• Regardless of whose broadcast I watched, the home team went 40-21 (.656).
• Regardless of whose broadcast I watched, the road team went 21-40 (.344).

Editor's note: For the record, that was probably the fastest that I have ever done that math.

W/L Records for Teams Whose Broadcast I Watched:

1. Los Angeles Dodgers: 3-0 (1.000)
   Philadelphia Phillies: 2-0 (1.000)
   San Diego Padres: 2-0 (1.000)
   San Francisco Giants: 2-0 (1.000)
   Los Angeles Angels: 1-0 (1.000)
   Toronto Blue Jays: 1-0 (1.000)
2. Cleveland Guardians: 5-1 (.833)
3. Atlanta Braves: 2-1 (.666)Seattle Mariners: 3-2 (.600)
4. Texas Rangers: 12-11 (.522)
   
5. Cincinnati Reds: 1-1 (.500)
   Miami Marlins: 1-1 (.500)
6. Baltimore Orioles: 1-2 (.333)
7. Kansas City Royals: 0-1 (.000)
   Tampa Bay Rays: 0-2 (.000)
   Washington Nationals: 0-3 (.000)

W/L Records for Every Team I Watched, Regardless of Broadcast:

1. Los Angeles Dodgers: 3-0 (1.000)
   Minnesota Twins: 3-0 (1.000)
   Boston Red Sox: 2-0 (1.000)
   San Francisco Giants: 2-0 (1.000)
   Milwaukee Brewers: 1-0 (1.000)
   
2. Philadelphia Phillies: 3-1 (.750)
   St. Louis Cardinals: 3-1 (.750)
3. Cleveland Guardians: 5-2 (.714)
4. Detroit Tigers: 2-1 (.666)
   Houston Astros: 2-1 (.666)
5. Texas Rangers: 12-11 (.522)
6. Atlanta Braves: 2-2 (.500)
   Cincinnati Reds: 1-1 (.500)
   New York Mets: 1-1 (.500)
   Pittsburgh Pirates: 1-1 (.500)
7. Los Angeles Angels: 2-2 (.500)
   Toronto Blue Jays: 2-2 (.500)
8. San Diego Padres: 2-3 (.400)
9. Chicago Cubs: 1-2 (.333)
   Miami Marlins: 1-2 (.333)
10. Seattle Mariners: 3-7 (.300)
11. Baltimore Orioles: 1-3 (.250)
12. Oakland A's: 1-4 (.200)
13. Kansas City Royals: 0-3 (.000)
    Washington Nationals: 0-4 (.000)
    Chicago White Sox: 0-5 (.000)
    Tampa Bay Rays: 0-7 (.000)

Man, what a horrible year for the Rays. Yikes.

Miscellaneous Stats or Other Interesting Things That Happened:

• The first game I watched this season was former Rangers color commentator CJ Nitkowski's first game as a Braves broadcaster. I knew I recognized that voice!
• I saw big innings, like the Rangers scoring 10 runs in the second inning in a game early in the season. I saw bad defense, like the Astros' back-up third baseman having four errors in a span of three or four innings.
• I saw controversial calls! I saw walk-off wins and losses! I saw blown leads to terrible teams, including the Chicago White Sox - the worst team in MLB history! I saw big comeback victories! I turned games off that I should have kept watching! And I almost certainly kept watching games that I should have turned off!
• I saw the Braves get shut out for the first time in over a year.
• In a rather strange series of events, I turned a game on in the third inning and the first two pitches I saw were hit for home runs by the opposing team. Lovely!
• I teams' season opener. I watched a game on Father's Day. I watched a Dodgers game last week that my parents and brothers were attending.
• I watched a Guardians game in which Emmanuel Clase tied the franchise record for saves.
• And speaking of history, most impressively, I was watching the game when Shohei Ohtani passed the 50 home run/50 stolen bases club, in which he posted an absolutely ABSURD stat line of 6/6, 3 HR, 4 R, 10 RBI, 2 SB. This performance pretty much single-handedly saved my fantasy baseball season and led me all the way to the championship, so... Shohei? Thank you. From the bottom of my heart.

Final Thoughts:

Last season, I ended my blog by saying, "Next year, I better either split the cost or just watch like a dozen more games to make me feel better about myself." Well, I watched 10 more games this year than I did last year, and I feel pretty good about myself. I feel good about myself because I really, really slacked this year. I don't know exactly what the cause was - probably that the WORLD SERIES CHAMPION TEXAS RANGERS just weren't very good this year - but I realized in mid-August that I had a long way to go in order to make this subscription worth it. And you know what? I think I did a pretty good job, there in the final month and a half of the season.

That's about it. I'll be watching the playoffs a little bit, most likely, but not with anywhere near the anxiety or engagement as I did last year. As long as the Astros don't win, everything will be ok.

Until next time!

FanX Flashback - Andy Serkis Panel Highlights (FanX 2023)

 

FanX 2023 was a very strange convention. The SAG-AFTRA strike was still (somehow) going strong, which prevented pretty much all of the celebrity guests from speaking about any of their work. This led to some very strange questions during panels and, in retrospect, makes some of the audio we recorded borderline unlistenable.

One of the standout panels of the weekend, however, was Andy Serkis - arguably, one of FanX 2023's headliners. Without going into too much detail about his most famous roles (Gollum from "The Lord of the Rings," in particular), Serkis gave some great and very thoughtful responses to the cornucopia of "Favorite Childhood _________" questions with which he was bombarded during his 45-minute spotlight. This post contains some snippets of some of our favorite moments. Enjoy!

What was the plan if acting didn’t work out?

Andy Serkis: I never, ever intended to be an actor. I actually started off studying art. Literally, from the age of six or seven, I was given my first set of paints, and I started painting, and that really became what I wanted to do, up until the age of 18. I went to college, and it was only when I was in college, in Lancaster University, in the north of England… In the first year, you had to do another course, and I wasn’t even aware of that. I was going to study visual arts, and I thought that’s what I was going to do. And no, you had to do this first-year, other course, and there happened to be a Theater Studies department, and so I started designing props and making sets and posters for the shows and using my artistic skills, thinking that that would help with my Visual Art degree. Then, I started acting in plays – very small roles – and then they gradually got bigger and bigger. And then, by the end of the first year, I played a part that was a really significant role, and that literally changed my life. […] When I went to Art college, my parents were horrified. They were horrified. And then, at the end of the first year, I said, “It’s ok, I’m not going to do art anymore – I’m going to become an actor!” And they’re like… [mimics his parents’ reaction, audience laughs]. Silence on the other end of the phone. Total, total silence. They were terrified for me. They just thought, “What is he doing?” It took them a long time to figure out, actually, that it wasn’t too bad of a profession.

On misconceptions about motion-capture acting:

AS: There’s a whole misunderstanding about what motion-caption – or “performance-capture,” as it is known now… Motion-capture is born out of the medical industry, actually. It was a way of tracking injury – tracking, like, if you’d broken your ankle, it could track your gate – put markers on the broken points and see how your recovery, your rehabilitation was working. Then, it started to be used in the video game world, to track athletes’ and martial artists’ movements, and so on. So, that’s why it was called “motion-capture” – it was literally capturing physical motion. But when we started using it in the film industry, it became, very quickly, “performance-capture” because it was allowing an actor to see an avatar version of what they were doing on a screen. The very first time I actually had the opportunity of working on a character using the technology, [I] could lift my arm up, and then I would see the avatar character lift his arm up. It was a huge kind of epiphany for me that this was a way of becoming the marionette and the puppeteer at the same time. You’re driving this digital image so that it copies everything that you’re doing. When facial-capture came along, which was the next stage – a crucial stage – of becoming “performance-capture” – that was literally tracking every single facial expression. And then, when you’re capturing audio and physicality and [facial expressions], all at the same time, that was when it became “performance-capture,” and that happened over the course of maybe three or four years.

The moderator mentions how early Disney movies used to bring in live actors for the character motion, then animate over them.

AS: It’s kind of a more-21^st-Century version of that. That was called “rotoscoping.” For instance, [the character] Snow White, as you may know, was performed by an actress who danced [for the dancing scenes], which was then, frame by frame, drawn, and then those movements became what drove the animation.

 

On who he feels has influenced his career:

AS: I’ve been inspired by countless actors [and] directors, over the years. […] I’ve been a huge admirer of Charlie Chaplin, a huge admirer of Lon Cheney and Charles Laughton… Over the course of the years, you realize that the craft of acting goes back such a long way. As actors and performers, […] you pay homage to previous… If you’re film-directing, you’re looking at other people’s shots, you’re looking at other people’s… things that you’ve really committed to, emotionally. So, in terms of filmmakers, Martin Scorsese’s pictures… I remember seeing “Apocalypse Now” when I was 14 years old, and it was the thing that made me want to become a filmmaker. It was such a powerful movie. You sort of end up being a magpie along the road in your career. You end up taking little bits from here and there. Your taste is a sort of sum of so many different, other, previous, brilliant artists’ work. Whether you’re conscious of it or not, you do. That becomes your version, as it were – the culmination, the accumulation of all of those things becomes how you want to express or tell a story.

 

Reflecting on groundbreaking developments in cinema:

AS: You think back to films like “The General” – Buster Keaton – where some of the most extraordinary stunts were created, for real – "Ben Hur,” all of those films. And now, of course, we live in a world where so much can be created digitally, and there’s a lot more safety, as a result. But I look at those films in complete awe, in terms of the management and the skill and how those big stunts were pulled off.

 

On whether he does any good vocal impressions:

AS: I recently did a series of readings of Tolkien’s books… [Audience cheers] The books… It would be fair to say that I channeled some of the actors. [Audience laughs] I’m not an impersonator. I’m actually not a good mimic. My wife, actually, is a very, very good mimic. That’s a fantastic skill, and I really admire it in people. I love people who can really just get a tonality absolutely right, just by observation. Apart from that experience of sort of channeling people, I’ve had to play people in the past […] – and, again, we can’t talk about the specifics [because of the then-ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike] – but I’ve had to play real people in the past, and I’ve studied them. It’s interesting, when you’re playing someone in history or someone who’s existed, because you have to find a way of making them your own, so that you’re not just an impersonation, because that would be wrong and not really servicing the story that you’re telling. So, you find a way of bringing them to you and meeting that character so that it feels real to you, vocally, and, [for] the audience, they shouldn’t have to imagine that it is anything but that character. So, actually, it’s a meeting of you and that character.

 

On where he considers “home” to be:

AS: Basically, really, whenever all my family is together – wherever it is in the world, wherever we are – as long as we are all together, that is “home” for me. […] We’ve reached that phase of our lives, my wife and I, where all of our kids are just leaving home. It’s such a strange, bizarre… I’m sure many, many people who are listening here have gone through this at some time… but it’s this curiously, kind of wonderful thing because you’ve done part of your job – your job as a parent never ends, of course – but they’ve gone off and started to make their own lives and live their own lives. You let them out and let them out, and now they’re gone. And yet, you want them to come back! It’s this curious thing. It’s quite delicious, being at home when it’s just the two of us, and then you think, “Aww,” and you think about your kids all the time. And then they come home, and it’s just, like, “Go away. Get married.” [Audience laughs] It’s this amazing sort of push and pull between “They’ve got to go off and do their own thing” and “Um, you know, they haven’t texted me for four days.” It’s a very curious, curious thing. “Home” really is when we’re all together.

 

On his favorite books when he was younger:

AS: Some of the very early books that I read were The Phantom Tollbooth. I love that book. I love that book. The Hobbit was one of the first books I ever read, and Animal Farm, which is one of my favorite books. I suppose they were all that had a fable or a fairy tale or had fantasy elements – not surprisingly – but were fables – strong stories with underlying messages. When you first start reading books which have adult themes but they’re for young people to… they work on lots of different levels… those are the sorts of books that I love to read, I suppose.

 

On whether he collected anything as a kid:

AS: I loved Spider-Man and I love Batman and “Joe 90” and all the “Thunderbirds” puppets. I had connected models of all the monsters. I had those kits – those model kits – of Godzilla and King Kong, all those amazing model kits – Mummy and Frankenstein. One of the things my mom had… she collected dolls from all around the world. We sort of travelled around quite a bit, when I was growing up, because my father was Iraqi, and he lived in Baghdad, and my sisters all grew up in Baghdad. When I was born, my mom decided she wanted to come back to England, but we used to go back and forth to Iraq, when my dad was working, all the time. So, she used to travel a lot around the world, and she used to collect dolls. I was quite fascinated by this collection of dolls from, literally, all around the world, where my parents travelled. I think it left a marked impression on me because I’ve always loved figures and making stop-motion, really short movies with figures. It’s very strange to get to a point in your life where you start to see figures of [yourself] – that’s kind of weird – all of the characters you’ve been involved in. But it is fun. Like today, you’ve all brought them along for me to signs, and that’s kind of a strange thing because it’s like the stories that you’ve been involved in, having another life as a character that means something to you that you bring back to the actor that’s played that character… It’s a very interesting circle, for sure.

 

On rumors that he would drink a special juice to help him do the voice of one of his most iconic characters:

AS: People think of me as a “voice actor,” and, actually, I’m really not a voice actor because the voice is a part of creating a character. The voice is linked to physicality and the voice is linked to psychology, so I never think of myself as someone who just does a voice or picks a voice. It’s always connected to the way a character moves or thinks or feels. It’s an interesting perception that people have. But, that aside, the “juice” side of things, I do, when I’m working and it’s a particularly demanding role – which, will eventually, if you don’t lubricate, then it’s going to cause you damage… So I did create – for a certain character which we can’t talk about [because of the strike] – a juice that’s made lemon, honey and ginger, and so on and so forth, which I just kind of had to drink constantly, just to keep things going, really. And that is, yeah. And it was named after the character that I played, which we can’t talk about – it was what I called that juice. It was the “Hmmmmm” juice.

*****

Serkis will be a featured guest at FanX 2024 next week, along with his LOTR costars Elijah Wood, Sean Astin, Billy Boyd, Dominic Monaghan and John Rhys-Davies.

If you missed any of our other FanX 2023 content, you can still catch up on a "Star Wars" reunion panel, an "Indiana Jones" reunion panel, and an exclusive chat with John Rhys-Davies.

We hope to rub shoulders with a few more celebrities next week, and we'll certainly have some audio transcriptions from some of the fun panels and events going on. So, for all of your FanX needs... you know where to keep it.

In the meantime, leave us a message in the comments below, chat us up on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter (here and here).

Until next time.