Changes & The End of the Shenanicast

I'm really good at updating this thing, aren't I?

I know it's been a bit since I last updated the blog. Mostly it's that I keep forgetting to. Anyways, if you didn't hear the announcement in the most recent Shenanicast then you may not yet know that the Shenanicast itself is now over.

24 Episodes is not the longest running podcast ever, but it taught us a lot in the making and going forward we're taking those lessons to heart, as we do with all of our projects. 2016 is going to be the year of improvements for us here at Final Show Films, and that means changes to our normal schedule.

For starters, the Shenanicast is being replaced with a Tabletop discussion show - One in which we play tabletop games prior to recording, and critique the game during the recording. There are other shows that talk about tabletop games and perhaps review them while playing, but we're hoping that our in depth analysis and critique of systems will be a fresh perspective and something worth listening to.

In addition to that, Two Guys One Camera is going from twice a week to once a week. Quite frankly, we were burning ourselves out time-wise trying to shoot two episodes a week. It's not that we couldn't come up with the ideas, just that with our currently busy schedules it was difficult finding the time to film both. Cutting one of the Two Guys One Cameras out will actually give us more time to work on different content.

Included in all of this is a change to our Patreon page as well - We're going to be cutting the fat, removing unnecessary milestone goals and updating it as we change the content we provide. So, stay tuned, and I'll try to remember to update this blog more often.

"Senstaku"

Catharsis

So today we follow up yesterday's shorter blog by talking about catharsis. To be precise, catharsis is relief obtained through emotional release - Crying to feel better, screaming or punching things to feel better, et cetera, et cetera. It's the human race's number one stress relief method and it comes in many forms; Music, gaming, writing, working, whatever you can do that provides an emotional pressure valve for built up stress inside you. For me, music and gaming are two of the biggest sources of stress relief.

Whenever I'm feeling stressed out, I turn on my new favorite album or one of my favorite Pandora channels or Spotify / RDIO playlists, pull up a game I've been playing recently and turn the volume down, and just turn my brain off. I let the music wash over my mind and lose myself in the game. With this, the game distracts me from whatever is stressing me out, and the music helps me deal with the pent up emotions that the stress caused, allowing me to calm down and approach the problem later.

Sometimes that's hard to do - I may not be at home at the time, and thus not have those options available to me; I may be in the middle of an activity and not be able to deal with whatever is causing me the stress, or the game I'm playing may be the one causing the stress in the first place. In situations like that, I tend to just bottle it up and push it away - Which, eventually, results in all of that stress boiling to the top in an emotional volcano which is something I don't enjoy experiencing.

We all need that pressure valve, that catharsis, that keeps us from bottling our emotions up. Whatever it is, own it, and don't let it become the thing that stresses you out. 

"Senstaku"

 

Anger Management

So, you may not know this readers, but I am a very passionate individual. I got a double dose of it with my heritage, being both Cuban and Italian. I'm hot blooded and very easily swung from one emotion to another, and the ADHD on top of that doesn't help. I started the paragraph that way so that when I say I felt like I was going to have an actual heart attack earlier this evening you have an inkling why I might be more afraid of that than other people.

In addition to all that high blood pressure coursing through my veins, I carry my stress in two places - my shoulders and my chest - so when I get particularly stressed out it causes a lump of pressure in my chest cavity which can sometimes be painful, as it was today. So stressed out was I that my body was apparently trying to force all of the blood into my heart at the same time, or at least that's what it felt like. The pain it caused made me think I was on the verge of a heart attack, and when that didn't come I was able to let go of some of the stress.

That's all I had for today really - so, my wise words for the day: Try to resolve whatever in your life is causing you stress, because life is unforgiving and wants to tear you apart from the inside out.

Don't let it.

"Senstaku"