This is excellent. So is the album. As JP himself implies, it has been a while since I heard a pop album that felt like it stood out as an object of bliss *and* contemplation. This and Stromae's last album. Masterpieces both.

I wrote about Rosalía's "Lux," martyrdom, and our collective gastrointestinal health johnpaulbrammer.substack.com/p/eat-me

Me, asleep on a plane, being woken up by the attendant asking if I want a bag of nuts

A new review up on @meeplemountain.com this morning, for the excellent Crownfell from @weheart.games. This is a sharp two-player abstract with some killer art. www.meeplemountain.com/reviews/crow...

Conversely, it would be a terrible time to *be* the NYT ombudsman.

What. A. Photo.

I once emailed Dr. McMillan Cottom an article from NYRB about country music and race, assuming she had probably come across it already. She replied by thanking me and telling me she hadn't seen it. I consider this, without exaggeration, a significant achievement in my life.

The best movie not from this year that was new to me was either SMILES OF A SUMMER NIGHT (effortlessly hilarious, and more honest about relationships than most movies made in the 70 years since), APOCALYPSE NOW (not a personal favorite, but a staggering thing to behold), or

The games listed at PAXU's Indie Market look so cool that I'm sad I will be *in Finland* during the convention.

Why on earth have Synapse Games decided to continue packaging Compile: Main 1 in that awful clamshell case? They changed it for Compile: Main 2! It's so much better for both retailers and customers!

You'd think after Trump that they'd have learnt this lesson already.

It's really too bad Fryx Games used AI art for Kingdom Legacy. I picked up a review copy at Essen without realizing the art was AI, started playing it, and the game is excellent.

I have learnt so much about the paleontology community today as a result of all of Asher's posts and reposts on the affirmation of Nanotyrannus. Spend about ten-to-fifteen minutes reading around to get caught up and you too will find Mark's post extremely funny.

When I started working at a hotel that employed a large group of Egyptian refugees, largely in other parts of the hotel, I responded by learning a little Arabic. Challenge people to be curious, my dude.

Love when contemporary news events give me an opportunity to tell my partner about the Night of the Long Knives.

Two years ago, I saw Brian d'Arcy James in Adam Guettel's musical adaptation of Days of Wine and Roses. Yes, I should include the bookwriter's name. No, I don't remember who it was. No, it doesn't matter, the book was abysmal.

Wait has anyone made a "What would Barthes think of AI" joke yet

If you’re like me, you sat up on your chair when S-tier character actor Kevin Tighe turned up in ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER. I had a wonderful conversation with him about it for The Reveal: thereveal.film/interview-ke...

@lainenooney.bsky.social The "Prospective Ph.D." page on your website rocks. Just thought you should know that.

I think this looks *very* cool.

Burned is a terrific two-player hidden-movement game. It has a new Gamecrafter campaign that's launching today, and you should absolutely take a look! Here's hoping third time's the charm. And shoutout to @sowronggames.bsky.social for putting it on my radar. www.meeplemountain.com/reviews/burn...

I've worked a lot of retail jobs in my life. Every now and then I would think about the fact that, right up until the moment I accept your money, I would be within my rights to set everything you were about to buy on fire.

A new review up on @meeplemountain.com today for The Dealer's Tarot, currently in crowdfunding from @level99games.com. While I did not find the games in the book to be particularly memorable, I love that books of card games like this are still being made. www.meeplemountain.com/reviews/the-...

@halfrobot.com Hey Naomi, my name is Andrew Lynch, I'm the Assistant Manager for The Brooklyn Strategist. Would you mind following me so I can send you a message?

Annoyingly put-together guy getting way too chatty with the busy baristas at the coffeeshop this morning: "Billy Joel is like the perfect music for this morning." Barista, slammed, in the midst of making tons of drinks, incredibly flat affect: "This is Bob Dylan."

I opened my review of Earthborne Rangers with a story of exploring the woods around my childhood home. After I'd just about finished the review, I opened the rulebook and saw, for the first time, a note from head designer Andrew Navarro talking about...exploring the fields around his childhood home.

I opened my review of Earthborne Rangers with a story of exploring the woods around my childhood home. After I'd just about finished the review, I opened the rulebook and saw, for the first time, a note from head designer Andrew Navarro talking about...exploring the fields around his childhood home.

A pair of glowing reviews up on @meeplemountain.com today. The first is for Karnak from @dvcgames.bsky.social, a game whose frankly astonishingly aggressive depths reveal themselves over time. www.meeplemountain.com/reviews/karn...

I’m translating some of Victor Klemperer's diary from 1933. He talks about listening to a bit of one of Hitler’s speeches on the radio, and calls it “Hitlerrede.” There’s something wonderfully insulting about that as an English speaker, like he’s calling it “Hitler talk.”

What do you suppose that conversation looked like? [Taylor walks into the living room where Travis is sprawled across two sofas pushed together.] “So. Don’t be mad. I wrote you something.” “Oh yeah?” “Yeah.” “Is it about how much you love me?” “It’s about how much I love a part of you, yes.”

"Okay everyone, tuck your pants into your socks."

For today's article, I'm just griping about why "fun" is a bad word for critics. spacebiff.com/2025/09/30/a...

I don't deluxify, but I would absolutely pay for these.

I had a dream over the weekend in which Oprah interviewed a Sith Lord. She chose to open the interview by having a mock lightsaber fight (with real lightsabers) with the Sith Lord, who, of course, killed her.

Feel like somebody in board games Bluesky can help with this.

I wrote a blog entry that feels like it completely fails at getting at what I’m trying to say, which is probably mostly a function of the fact that Yi-Yi says thing you couldn’t say without making Yi-Yi. www.andrewjacksonlynch.com/the-cost-of-a-basket-of-fish/2025/9/25/yi-yi

A new review up today, for Re;ACT: The Arts of War from @brotherminggames.bsky.social. This is a sticky one, a brutal and unforgiving system with a high skill ceiling for those willing to commit themselves to it. www.meeplemountain.com/reviews/reac...

There's a fascinating epistemological difference between how Jewish people relate to the Torah and how Christian people relate to the Bible. From the Council of Nicaea forward, Christianity had bound itself to a literate tradition - by which I mean that they view knowledge as closed, not open. 🧵

A new review up on @meeplemountain.com today, looking at David Thompson and Trevor Benjamin's General Orders: Sengoku Jidai, which refines the mixed results of the first game into an excellent experience. @ospreygames.bsky.social www.meeplemountain.com/reviews/gene...

Two new reviews up today on @meeplemountain.com. The first is for Winter Rabbit, a finalist for the 2021 Zenobia Award. Despite some gorgeous character designs and a promising worker placement system, this one never managed to hang together. www.meeplemountain.com/reviews/wint...

Her saying "This is *my* city" hit me pretty hard.

It would appear, based on the incredibly large number of honking cars with Guatemalan flag wraps outside my window at 11:00 at night, that the Guatemalan polity of New York City has decided to celebrate their independence by declaring war on the rest of us.

@patblanchfield.bsky.social Hey Pat, would you mind following me back for a DM?

@unddieregel.bsky.social Would you be willing to follow me back so I can send you a DM?

Saw Pulp at Forrest Hills last night. If they put the "Alright" graphic that was on screen before "Babies" on a t-shirt, I personally would buy ten. I recognize this will never happen. Nevertheless.

My man can I introduce you to the book Challenger by Adam Higginbotham.

Not to distract from the bad things this indicates, but he looks like a hotter version of me, and I don't want to be the fascist poster boy.

I wanted so badly for the man removing the letters from the wall to simply swap out the "D" and "E" for an "O" and an "F".

Two new reviews up on @meeplemountain.com today. The first is Embers, from @buttonshy.bsky.social, which is on crowdfunding now. As I mentioned yesterday and mention in this review, Embers is a good game and a great design, showing how much 18 cards can evoke. www.meeplemountain.com/reviews/embe...