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Written by Rob Schultz (human).

Los Angeles, CA USA

Every hour of 2017

January 11, 2018  /  Rob Schultz

I saw this thing online last year where some guy kept track of how he spent every hour of 2016. So I gave it a try.

I expected that keeping track would make me more accountable to my time. It did not. I did find it helpful to see what I was doing on a given day, and it's both more convenient and less cumbersome than leafing through a diary to see what I was up to. Still, my logging tapered off until I gave up sometime in October for no reason.

Click to view the thing in the thing with the thing!

My version of the chart also includes notes on what TV show or movie or game or book I was consuming, or what project or job I was working on. Your version is just a broad strokes of my year. Each color represents a kind of activity. To wit:

  • Sleep
  • Media Consumption (TV, Movies, Podcasts if that was mostly what I was doing, comics, probably some light reading)
  • Comedy (performing or producing)
  • Work (for others, for money)
  • Wasted Time (mostly involving the internet)
  • Family
  • Gaming (video games, board games, room escapes, that sort of thing)
  • Books (a maligned category that wasn't distinct enough from Media)
  • Productive (work on personal projects, errands, exercise, cleaning, etc)
  • Social Events not covered by the above
  • Other (originally code for 'can't remember', eventually code for 'didn't bother')
  • Time Travel (mostly through zones)
categories / Life, Pictured

Escape Room Reviews: Black & White

January 10, 2018  /  Rob Schultz

Company: Escape Room Cleveland
Room: Black & White
Date Played: 12/27/17
Player Count: 3
Success:  Success!

Premise: You’re trapped in an escape room where everything is black and white.

Immersion: This escape room looked just like an escape room. Except that there was no ceiling. Escape Room Cleveland feels a little like a science fair, booths set up in a gymnasium. You can hear people talking (or frantically yelling) in the other rooms, although once we got down to business, it wasn’t much of a distraction. 

Highlights: This is a very puzzle-y room. ERC’s hardest, according to one employee. I was happy that an object I thought was useless decoration turned out to have a valuable purpose. 

Lowlights: Very little in the way of wonder or delight. This is a workmanlike room focused on a series of tasks. A few too many of those tasks are pen-and-paper, activity book types of puzzles. One prop was broken and we didn’t interact with it correctly until prompted by the GM. The big uncomfortable futon actually is useless decoration.

And Finally:  If you’re into some heavy puzzling (like we are), this room will scratch that itch. I think I’d have a hard time recommending it to non-enthusiasts though. I want to be clear that I didn’t -dislike- this room, just that there are better games out there, so out of 41 games played, I’m ranking this one at #29

How to book this room yourself: Visit https://www.escaperoomclev.com/black-and-white-2/

categories / Escape Rooms, Life, Review

Kickstarter Monday: Failure Edition

January 08, 2018  /  Rob Schultz

You know what’s a good way to start a new year? By reflecting on failure! I’m not going to tell you I always bet on the winning horse. This month, let’s check out some of the Kickstarter projects I wanted to back, but not enough to make 'em happen.

It’s a Month Giant Calendar - It’s just a big wall calendar. I don’t really like those, but this one appealed to me and almost 200 other people. Maybe $26k was too big of an ask. 

The Lost Skeleton Walks Among Us - Larry Blamire is the writer, director, and co-star of a series of wonderful pastiche comedies in the style of 50s b-movies. I’d love for him to be able to make more. Maybe $410k was too big of an ask.

Mutant League Football - a silly football game for the Sega Genesis was up for a remake a couple of years ago. I probably backed out of nostalgia. Maybe $750k was too big of an ask. 
(I think they ended up making the game anyway, but I haven’t played it.)

That’s Not Funny - This was a documentary about comedy. I have no idea why I would have backed it. Looking at the page now, I see that some people I know were interviewed. Maybe they filmed a little bit at an open mic I used to go to or something. All I really know about it now is that a) they sent out so much email and b) $50k was definitely too big of an ask. So they did that really suspicious thing where they restart the project for a tiny fraction of the original budget. Having only raised $30k, the second project set a goal of $15k instead of 50k. And it raised...$15k.

This is the third scummiest move you can do in crowdfunding, after faking a disease or having anything to do with indiegogo.

categories / kickstarter, Life, Review