So I have some Wizard Of Oz cards and the cups from. The machine that I played in another state. I have since moved and my local D&B only has the Star Trek coin pusher.
I would figure I could use the cards at that location since they just scan them in and the system reads them but like for the Wizard Of Oz version the green and red chips you get at D & B are not D & B branded where as the Star Trek ones are and I worry the employees would give me problems saying they are not branded with D & B and since they don't have the Wizard Of Oz one they might not know they don't come branded with D & B on them or are they treimd to know all of this?
Can I still turn everything in at this location as this is the only location in my state.

So,
Last week I was on holiday with my mother and my cousin to the famous English place, Skegness! So during my stay in Ingoldmells just on the edge of Skeg, my cousin and I decided to go and play at the arcades as my mother didn't feel too well and wanted to stay inside.
So as we went, my cousin and I parted and I went to a 2P Pusher to play for something sparkly for my mother! As a few moments pass I run out of coins and just as I did my cousin came over, I gave him a pound coin and he went off to get me more.
Whilst I was waiting, I noticed a young girl say around 5? she was playing on a machine a small way from me. This young girl looked at me, leaned back looked at my tray to see no coins, I just assumed she wanted to see what I was playing for.
I didn't take too much notice myself until I notice her standing next to me holding out HER coins! This little girl! thought I didn't have any more coins so she offered me hers! I look down and I had the BIGGEST smile on my face and it was the sweetest moment. I knelt down a little to her level and I said.
"Hey! I'm okay, you should keep your pennies for yourself to win a prize! what are you trying to win?" I asked her. This young girl just smiled so brightly and she pointed to the small alien things in the plastic egg thing. So I said to her "Oh wow! that looks so fun! keep all your pennies and win that alien!"
I went back to my machine and my cousin turned up with a few bags of coins. So I take the bags and I lean over to the young girl and ask her where her mummy was. She pointed her out and I just went and found this young girl's mother. Coming up to her I smile.
"Hey, so your daughter, is the sweetest little angel! she wanted to give me some coins because she thought I didn't have any, so she can have these coins, and I just wanted to tell you what an amazing little star your daughter is, so kind!"
The smile on the mother's face was priceless and her older sister smiled too and hugged her little sister. The mother replied "Oh wow, thank you! So much!" and she bent down to her daughter and gave her the coins and I just couldn't help but smile! But that's not the end of it!
So a little later on I saw she had used all of the coins and she wandered off back to her mother, so I went to the machine and started playing on it, after a moment she came and started to play on the machine I was first using. I eventually won an alien and it took a few to get it but I did! So I grabbed the toy and saw the younger girl and bent down with it.
"Look what I managed to get for you!" the smile on her face as she gently took the toy was the best! So after that, I walked back off with my cousin to play on this other game and then the little girl bounded up to me and she said.
"Excuse me... I uh, I tried winning you what you were after but I couldn't but it's really on the edge now so you can get it!"
At this point, I nearly cried! I didn't have the heart to tell her I just used my last pound. So I told her to thank you and she was a very sweet young lady and she then ran off to her mother and I just looked at my cousin trying not to cry with how amazingly sweet this young girl was!
I even texted my mother what happened and it is by far one of the most heartwarming and wholesome thing I have ever been apart of and to that little girl, you deserve the world and you deserve all the happiness too!
Thank you for reading and I TRULY hope this made you smile and warm just as it made me feel happy and warm!

For those of you who don't know, Fun Factory is a chain of amusement centers found in shopping centers throughout my state.
The basic idea is that you go in and trade your money for tokens, which cost $0.25 each. Then you can spend these tokens to play any of the video and mechanical game machines they have available. These games give you a limited amount of tries, time, or lives per play, so you gotta pay tokens again when they run out. Some machines give out small prizes or push out free tokens if you're lucky. But pretty much all machines give out tickets, based on how you scored in the game. At the end of your visit when you run out of tokens and don't wanna buy any more, you'd go to the prize gallery and spend your tickets on toys, games, electronics, or candy to take home.
When I was young, the tokens were real metal coins and tickets were actual printed slips of paper, and all games were 2 tokens ($0.50) per play. But except for coin pushers, every game since 2010 uses a plastic card that has your tokens and tickets stored on it. Ever since they started doing that, game prices became atrocious. Now it's like 4.4 tokens ($1.10) to 9.8 tokens ($2.45) per play depending on the machine, and those decimals make it so you always have leftover tokens you can't use. Also the prizes are all cheap pharmacy crap now, when they used to be name brand goods.
I'd seriously ROFL if a AAA game company decided to make a FF simulation game. Where the tokens are microtransactions and you can win virtual prizes. It'd be an EA wet dream. Just bundle together some fun simple games and use Fun Factory as the hub map. As an FTP game, it might be tolerable. But if they actually charged a whole $59.99 for that game it'd be hilarious.
Who's ready for Fun Factory: The Game?

TL;DR I want to learn how to use my sick new gear to spin up content quickly but I’m losing my mind. Does anyone have any favorite practice-management/workflow-focused learning resources, tactics and strategies of their own, and/or personal wisdom-from-experience for making and performing beat-and-loop-type psychedelic music* with samplers and drum machines without dying of stress-induced cardiac arrest? Would be glad to hear from other beginners struggling with workflow as well.
obligatory disclaimer: tl;dr used ironically here. please, don’t reply if you don’t care enough to read or can’t relate to any of this. I know I’m verbose and digressive and I’m sorry. It helps to be candid and cover the bases, n I’ve bolded and italicized (sadly no underline on reddit, ha) for ease of scanning. Telling me to it's chill out or stop overthinking everything is familiar advice that I do my best to follow every day. If you have specific strategies for limiting cognitive load while working, I would love to hear them. Remember that other people might care to invest their attention, have similar struggles and questions, or simply find it fun to engage respectfully. If you wanna be cold or give me "hard facts of life" like how it'll never be easy if I'm so sensitive so I should suck it up and grind, just move along. Please and thank you.
statement of problem
I'm a newbie to solo production and performance with synthesizers, samplers, and digital workstations (and reddit.. Hi!!) and I get easily tripped up, overwhelmed, and stressed out when trying to jam with myself and put beats/songs together on the little setup (described later in post) that I’ve put together. I invested in a Korg Volca Drum synth and a Roland SP-404SX in Autumn of 2019, thinking I could just simply up and channel my love of beats+loops-type psychedelic music (I know that’s vague.. see *bottom for where my tastes sway, though it doesn't have to be relevant to your own exp) through these exciting new tools and eventually marry that with my comfortable method of playing spacey downtempo guitar parts to myself, all in the ultimate hopes that I will animate the stuff I loosely envision in my idea-brain that I’ll then be happy to rehearse and perform. That learning curve has been bumpy so far, to put it lightly. OscillatorSink.com, RickyTinez.com (VCF on Spotify), and SPvids (Gone12 on Spotify) are my favorite helpful content creators thus far, and I credit them immensely for what fun I’ve had with my new gear the past 8 months — if you appreciate them and have some coin, throw them a donation on their easily-googleable sites — but I still have a difficult time learning from videos and forum-scouring in general. That’s due to mostly learning from active mentors my whole life, but also due to some mental obstacles with executive function (namely focus and memory) that I’m sure many people reading this share with me, more or less. The points of confusion add up quickly, I haven’t so-far found someone I could spend serious time in-person with on this stuff, and I’ve never had the social constitution to reach out for help on the internet until now. Naturally, it’s been slow and rocky figuring out and committing to strategies for generating content — my ‘Ultimate Vision’ doesn’t matter all that much to me rn — I just want to figure out how to “think smoothly" with this type of gear, and chase that smooth process/workflow without letting it stress me out to the detriment of my ability to relax and actually enjoy music-ing.
my setup (yes, I’m currently too broke and dayjob-less and car-troubled to continue buying more gear to magically fix my music-making habits. no, I don’t need GAS right now)
a lil Soundcraft Notepad 12-channel mixer, through which I run:
— aforementioned Korg Volca Drum mini-synth for sequencing drum +/or melodic sounds. Mostly I just have fun making sounds via the synthmata platform that oscillatorsink made for it (google it if you have one). There are programs and kits littered throughout its memory, my DAW project files, and the SP’s pads. I’m not sure yet of the best balance/combo for me between performing live with it while other parts loop on the SP and pedalboard, and just using it at home to provide loops and sounds to be triggered or performed over on another piece of gear.
— aforementioned Roland SP-404 for sampling and effects. Admittedly, this thing can be fun to trip out on but I sadly have been avoiding it lately for fear of the various technical confusions I’ve faced and how weird the freedom of the sample pad/bank layout is for me. SOOO many possibilities, and I don’t know what works for me yet. Thing is DAUNTING, yet strangely limiting, not that limits don’t breed creativity and all that. The pattern sequencer has been mad confusing, but so far I’ve sooorta gotten a decent hold of the resampling+finger drumming method with samples of stuff I do with the volca, imported drum one-shots, little guitar riffs I inevitably forget, and funny textures or voice clips that I’ve found. Most all of that is the un-serious byproducts of my bumbling learning process. I guess I could be chopping my favorite jazz tunes up and just finger drumming over it with the vinyl sim and DJFX looper, but that lofi hip-hop stuff hasn't ever held my attention in attempted practice. I have a couple jams in that style that I’m over now. If you think that’s worth developing for my means tho, I invite you to make the case. I just waste enough time already. Also… I don’t wanna just make a whole beat or song, put it on a pad or two, and play my tracks back. I like to shred and this is my music and I want to busy myself with more performing than running effects on playback. Whatever balance I eventually find between volca jamming, SP-freaking, and guitar-ing, I just want to find it without hating the process of finding it too much. I’m asking for any-and-all advice on streamlining my approach/strategy, not an easy way out of performing or working in general.
— a 6-string or 4-string (bass) guitar, into several guitar pedals, that are usually just at my feet and running into a loud amp on a 2x12 cab. I have a cool analog delay on the table with the mixer that I just figured out how to route through and send a clock signal to from the volca. fun so far, after one long night of tinkering.
Note: I’m decent at guitar. yes, I could just focus on that and play solo guitar music with some occasional other backing stuff underneath it. But that doesn’t seem like what I want to make or do, though. To the objective of this post, I’m really trying to figure out how to get comfortable with the new gear enough to not freak out and implode when I get distracted for 4 hours messing with a drum sound, trying to make a pattern in my head work, chasing a simple troubleshooting roadblock, or just trying to arrange+assign parts intuitively and memorably for live performance with the new synthesizer and sample junk.
— lastly, a 2015 MacBook with Logic Pro X and Scarlett 4i4. Bottom line here is: I want to keep it SIMPLE on this front. I’ll definitely be performing DAWless with no computers in the dancing/performing area. I’ve had LPX for like 3 years. I have several wack beats and loops, guitar songs I’m long-tired of, and even a couple unmixed minimal demos on the grid right now, but I cannot understate how overwhelming and slothful the process of becoming comfortable arranging and composing in this workspace has been so far. I’m ok at it, I have a satchel of entry-level recording and mixing experience, but it’s the only digital workspace I’ve ever used aside from iMovie for tv/video class in high school. This type of computer work has always been far less intuitive to me than just jamming and rehearsing parts out together in a garage and eventually getting a friend to help us by recording and mixing it. I’ve backseat-engineered with friends in Pro Tools and Ableton, but I don’t know why I’ve always been so prone to getting overwhelmed with minor troubleshooting hurdles and option paralysis working by myself in a digital composing, recording, arranging, mixing environment. Again, I’m aiming to use LPX simply and cleanly to record parts or performances, trim them up and/or loop them, maybe bounce and resample them with other stuff within, and export for triggering. If some minor mixing and effects are needed for technical reasons, I’ll occasionally spend a night on battles like that. Rather be playing tho.
additional context of varied importance
—I started self-teaching with drums a couple years ago but I would only make myself professionally accountable to a committed group playing the electric guitars/basses that I have 8-12 years of experience with (since 8th or 9th grade) practicing, writing, and performing in a few bands of varied success that lived between 1.5 and 3 years. I’ve been solely responsible for the ‘vision’ and management in only one of those bands, and partially responsible in 2 others. I like sharing the pressure.
—the way I’m used to working on my music is starting with the seed of a rhythmic or harmonic idea, sitting with my instrument I’ve been playing, and just hammering it out until it feels as fun and rewarding as possible to me emotionally. That process takes long and requires a lot of memory but inevitably begets variations, and I’ll just re-apply those until the seed becomes a sapling of sections that I’ll by this point be too attached-to but also too tired-of to find any confidence in what the song really wants to be; after which, I’ll teach it to whoever I have convinced to spend time writing and rehearsing with me and get their take on it, and jam it out until we’ve got a cohesive thing that we’re proud of.
—What I WANT to be doing as I get into practicing with jams and writing is putting memorable ideas together between whatever combinations of the [sampler+fx / drum synth+sequencer / guitar+pedals+amplifier] setup that I have together and just playing whatever layer wants to be improvised or embellished, managing the rest of the mix and effects. I’ve actually found this minimal setup to give me sounds that I do really love, provided the patience and decisiveness to grind my way through that process of becoming attached and investing in fleshing out ideas. But a grind it surely is.
Q: “Why not enlist bandmates like you have before? Why even get into this whole new world of techniques and musical roles? Why stunt your output by trying to learn multiple new instruments at a time when they’re clearly giving you trouble? Why all the pressure to “have a developed workflow” in only your first year?
A: I’ll try to be as succinct as I can be in answering these at once, to the original point of the post: I have been in some fun bands, made a few neat records, played a lot of fun shows, and even sold some neat merchandise to caring folks. In the aftermath of the widely differing dissolutions of those projects thus far I’ve found that my reliance on the band dynamic for my own productivity and well-being has been unsustainable beyond a couple years per project thus far. Honestly, at this point I think it would be irresponsible for me to expect anyone to commit themselves to making music with me anyway unless I have the productive capacity to hack it on my own and be a reliable and engaging source of content. And y’know, this type of format is what dominates my only exciting musical ideas and vision lately! So, in a big way, this new long-term goal of developing a flow at this new style of music-ing is integral to my ability to continue making art that I am proud of. At least, for the past couple years and the foreseeable future. I understand that it will take time. I’m just at a loss for strategies right now.
concluding notes (can you tell that I’m trying too hard yet?)
I have limited social resources and I’m borderline desperate at this point to figure out how to Stop Worrying So Much and Just Have Fun With It\*TM*. I know there must be many kindred souls that have been through or are going through similar struggles, and I’m all ears for any words of wisdom or tried resources (i.e favorite articles, techniques, applications of certain limits.. time-boxing for example has been difficult to stick to without hating the result, but worth the few tries I've made) beyond “it’s easy, just do it all the time and you’ll pick it up eventually” I already know that part. Implementation is key.
Regarding why I put so much care into this post when I know that many of you will just tease me (or worse, offer disingenuous advice): Well, I wouldn’t have written this embarrassing post if I wasn’t genuinely worried about the severity of running into constant stifling stress while spending time on my spiritual connection to the world. I'm gonna try regardless but It's lately been tough to enjoy the learning curve, and I don’t know how to be a functional adult when I’m not enjoying the creation of music. Because I'm such a slow person, my limits on time are very real. Truth be told, this is all killing my sleep and negatively affecting my relationships. I want to bring joy to myself and others with my music again.
Cheers, and warmest gratitude.
*****My idea of the “beat+loop-type psychedelic music” that I’m obsessed with involves like, somewhere within the Aphex-Twin/SqPusheBoards of Canada/AkiraKosemura/Spool/KashiwaDaisuke realm of things, but naturally also through the lens of bands such as Tortoise/DMST/AmCo/HaveANiceLife, since I enjoy brazenly amplifying electric stringed instruments, usually in basements and skate shops and bowling alleys and stuff like that. And bc I love standing in front of Ampeg fridges. Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will.. If you like similar stuff to all that and want to throw me recommendations, that would be more helpful than acting a jerk/fool or staying silent! The more people weigh in, the more this can become less about me and serve to help as many people as possible. I’m arguably a better music-nerd than I am a music-maker as long as no one’s hatin’. That’s when I leave the chat.

These games give you a limited amount of tries, time, or lives per play, so you gotta pay tokens again when they run out. Some machines give out small prizes or push out free tokens if you're lucky. But pretty much all machines give out tickets, based on how you scored in the game. At the end of your visit when you run out of tokens and don't wanna buy any more, you'd go to the prize gallery and spend your tickets on toys, games, electronics, or candy to take home.
When I was young, the tokens were real metal coins and tickets were actual printed slips of paper, and all games were 2 tokens ($0.50) per play. But except for coin pushers, every game since 2010 uses a plastic card that has your tokens and tickets stored on it. Ever since they started doing that, game prices became atrocious. Now it's like 4.4 tokens ($1.10) to 9.8 tokens ($2.45) per play depending on the machine, and those decimals make it so you always have leftover tokens you can't use. Also the prizes are all cheap pharmacy crap now, when they used to be name brand goods.
I'd seriously ROFL if a AAA game company decided to make a FF simulation game. Where the tokens are microtransactions and you can win virtual prizes. It'd be an EA wet dream. Just bundle together some fun simple games and use Fun Factory as the hub map. As an FTP game, it might be tolerable. But if they actually charged a whole $59.99 for that game it'd be hilarious.
Who's ready for Fun Factory: The Game?

TL;DR I want to learn how to use my sick new gear to spin up content quickly but I’m losing my mind. Does anyone have any favorite workflow-focused learning resources, tactics and strategies of their own, and/or personal wisdom-from-experience for making and performing beat-and-loop-type psychedelic music* with samplers and drum machines without dying of stress-induced cardiac arrest? Would be glad to hear from other beginners struggling with workflow as well.
obligatory disclaimer: tl;dr used ironically here. please, don’t reply if you don’t care enough to read or can’t relate to any of this. I know I’m verbose and digressive and I’m sorry. It helps to be candid and cover the bases, n I’ve bolded and italicized (sadly no underline on reddit, ha) for ease of scanning. Telling me to it's chill out or stop overthinking everything is familiar advice that I do my best to follow every day. If you have specific strategies for limiting cognitive load while working, I would love to hear them. Remember that other people might care to invest their attention, have similar struggles and questions, or simply find it fun to engage respectfully. If you wanna be cold or give me "hard facts of life" like how it'll never be easy if I'm so sensitive so I should suck it up and grind, just move along. Please and thank you.
statement of problem
I'm a newbie to solo production and performance with synthesizers, samplers, and digital workstations (and reddit.. Hi!!) and I get easily tripped up, overwhelmed, and stressed out when trying to jam with myself and put beats/songs together on the little setup (described later in post) that I’ve put together. I invested in a Korg Volca Drum synth and a Roland SP-404SX in Autumn of 2019, thinking I could just simply up and channel my love of beats+loops-type psychedelic music (I know that’s vague.. see *bottom for where my tastes sway, though it doesn't have to be relevant to your own exp) through these exciting new tools and eventually marry that with my comfortable method of playing spacey downtempo guitar parts to myself, all in the ultimate hopes that I will animate the stuff I loosely envision in my idea-brain that I’ll then be happy to rehearse and perform. That learning curve has been bumpy so far, to put it lightly. OscillatorSink.com, RickyTinez.com (VCF on Spotify), and SPvids (Gone12 on Spotify) are my favorite helpful content creators thus far, and I credit them immensely for what fun I’ve had with my new gear the past 8 months — if you appreciate them and have some coin, throw them a donation on their easily-googleable sites — but I still have a difficult time learning from videos and forum-scouring in general. That’s due to mostly learning from active mentors my whole life, but also due to some mental obstacles with executive function (namely focus and memory) that I’m sure many people reading this share with me, more or less. The points of confusion add up quickly, I haven’t so-far found someone I could spend serious time in-person with on this stuff, and I’ve never had the social constitution to reach out for help on the internet until now. Naturally, it’s been slow and rocky figuring out and committing to strategies for generating content — my ‘Ultimate Vision’ doesn’t matter all that much to me rn — I just want to figure out how to “think smoothly" with this type of gear, and chase that smooth process/workflow without letting it stress me out to the detriment of my ability to relax and actually enjoy music-ing.
my setup (yes, I’m currently too broke and dayjob-less and car-troubled to continue buying more gear to magically fix my music-making habits. no, I don’t need GAS right now)
a lil Soundcraft Notepad 12-channel mixer, through which I run:
— aforementioned Korg Volca Drum mini-synth for sequencing drum +/or melodic sounds. Mostly I just have fun making sounds via the synthmata platform that oscillatorsink made for it (google it if you have one). There are programs and kits littered throughout its memory, my DAW project files, and the SP’s pads. I’m not sure yet of the best balance/combo for me between performing live with it while other parts loop on the SP and pedalboard, and just using it at home to provide loops and sounds to be triggered or performed over on another piece of gear.
— aforementioned Roland SP-404 for sampling and effects. Admittedly, this thing can be fun to trip out on but I sadly have been avoiding it lately for fear of the various technical confusions I’ve faced and how weird the freedom of the sample pad/bank layout is for me. SOOO many possibilities, and I don’t know what works for me yet. Thing is DAUNTING, yet strangely limiting, not that limits don’t breed creativity and all that. The pattern sequencer has been mad confusing, but so far I’ve sooorta gotten a decent hold of the resampling+finger drumming method with samples of stuff I do with the volca, imported drum one-shots, little guitar riffs I inevitably forget, and funny textures or voice clips that I’ve found. Most all of that is the un-serious byproducts of my bumbling learning process. I guess I could be chopping my favorite jazz tunes up and just finger drumming over it with the vinyl sim and DJFX looper, but that lofi hip-hop stuff hasn't ever held my attention in attempted practice. I have a couple jams in that style that I’m over now. If you think that’s worth developing for my means tho, I invite you to make the case. I just waste enough time already. Also… I don’t wanna just make a whole beat or song, put it on a pad or two, and play my tracks back. I like to shred and this is my music and I want to busy myself with more performing than running effects on playback. Whatever balance I eventually find between volca jamming, SP-freaking, and guitar-ing, I just want to find it without hating the process of finding it too much. I’m asking for any-and-all advice on streamlining my approach/strategy, not an easy way out of performing or working in general.
— a 6-string or 4-string (bass) guitar, into several guitar pedals, that are usually just at my feet and running into a loud amp on a 2x12 cab. I have a cool analog delay on the table with the mixer that I just figured out how to route through and send a clock signal to from the volca. fun so far, after one long night of tinkering.
Note: I’m decent at guitar. yes, I could just focus on that and play solo guitar music with some occasional other backing stuff underneath it. But that doesn’t seem like what I want to make or do, though. To the objective of this post, I’m really trying to figure out how to get comfortable with the new gear enough to not freak out and implode when I get distracted for 4 hours messing with a drum sound, trying to make a pattern in my head work, chasing a simple troubleshooting roadblock, or just trying to arrange+assign parts intuitively and memorably for live performance with the new synthesizer and sample junk.
— lastly, a 2015 MacBook with Logic Pro X and Scarlett 4i4. Bottom line here is: I want to keep it SIMPLE on this front. I’ll definitely be performing DAWless with no computers in the dancing/performing area. I’ve had LPX for like 3 years. I have several wack beats and loops, guitar songs I’m long-tired of, and even a couple unmixed minimal demos on the grid right now, but I cannot understate how overwhelming and slothful the process of becoming comfortable arranging and composing in this workspace has been so far. I’m ok at it, I have a satchel of entry-level recording and mixing experience, but it’s the only digital workspace I’ve ever used aside from iMovie for tv/video class in high school. This type of computer work has always been far less intuitive to me than just jamming and rehearsing parts out together in a garage and eventually getting a friend to help us by recording and mixing it. I’ve backseat-engineered with friends in Pro Tools and Ableton, but I don’t know why I’ve always been so prone to getting overwhelmed with minor troubleshooting hurdles and option paralysis working by myself in a digital composing, recording, arranging, mixing environment. Again, I’m aiming to use LPX simply and cleanly to record parts or performances, trim them up and/or loop them, maybe bounce and resample them with other stuff within, and export for triggering. If some minor mixing and effects are needed for technical reasons, I’ll occasionally spend a night on battles like that. Rather be playing tho.
additional context of varied importance
—I started self-teaching with drums a couple years ago but I would only make myself professionally accountable to a committed group playing the electric guitars/basses that I have 8-12 years of experience with (since 8th or 9th grade) practicing, writing, and performing in a few bands of varied success that lived between 1.5 and 3 years. I’ve been solely responsible for the ‘vision’ and management in only one of those bands, and partially responsible in 2 others. I like sharing the pressure.
—the way I’m used to working on my music is starting with the seed of a rhythmic or harmonic idea, sitting with my instrument I’ve been playing, and just hammering it out until it feels as fun and rewarding as possible to me emotionally. That process takes long and requires a lot of memory but inevitably begets variations, and I’ll just re-apply those until the seed becomes a sapling of sections that I’ll by this point be too attached-to but also too tired-of to find any confidence in what the song really wants to be; after which, I’ll teach it to whoever I have convinced to spend time writing and rehearsing with me and get their take on it, and jam it out until we’ve got a cohesive thing that we’re proud of.
—What I WANT to be doing as I get into practicing with jams and writing is putting memorable ideas together between whatever combinations of the [sampler+fx / drum synth+sequencer / guitar+pedals+amplifier] setup that I have together and just playing whatever layer wants to be improvised or embellished, managing the rest of the mix and effects. I’ve actually found this minimal setup to give me sounds that I do really love, provided the patience and decisiveness to grind my way through that process of becoming attached and investing in fleshing out ideas. But a grind it surely is.
Q: “Why not enlist bandmates like you have before? Why even get into this whole new world of techniques and musical roles? Why stunt your output by trying to learn multiple new instruments at a time when they’re clearly giving you trouble? Why all the pressure to “have a developed workflow” in only your first year?
A: I’ll try to be as succinct as I can be in answering these at once, to the original point of the post: I have been in some fun bands, made a few neat records, played a lot of fun shows, and even sold some neat merchandise to caring folks. In the aftermath of the widely differing dissolutions of those projects thus far I’ve found that my reliance on the band dynamic for my own productivity and well-being has been unsustainable beyond a couple years per project thus far. Honestly, at this point I think it would be irresponsible for me to expect anyone to commit themselves to making music with me anyway unless I have the productive capacity to hack it on my own and be a reliable and engaging source of content. And y’know, this type of format is what dominates my only exciting musical ideas and vision lately! So, in a big way, this new long-term goal of developing a flow at this new style of music-ing is integral to my ability to continue making art that I am proud of. At least, for the past couple years and the foreseeable future. I understand that it will take time. I’m just at a loss for strategies right now.
concluding notes (can you tell that I’m trying too hard yet?)
I have limited social resources and I’m borderline desperate at this point to figure out how to Stop Worrying So Much and Just Have Fun With It\*TM*. I know there must be many kindred souls that have been through or are going through similar struggles, and I’m all ears for any words of wisdom or tried resources (i.e favorite articles, techniques, applications of certain limits.. time-boxing for example has been difficult to stick to without hating the result, but worth the few tries I've made) beyond “it’s easy, just do it all the time and you’ll pick it up eventually” I already know that part. Implementation is key.
Regarding why I put so much care into this post when I know that many of you will just tease me (or worse, offer disingenuous advice): Well, I wouldn’t have written this embarrassing post if I wasn’t genuinely worried about the severity of running into constant stifling stress while spending time on my spiritual connection to the world. I'm gonna try regardless but It's lately been tough to enjoy the learning curve, and I don’t know how to be a functional adult when I’m not enjoying the creation of music. Because I'm such a slow person, my limits on time are very real. Truth be told, this is all killing my sleep and negatively affecting my relationships. I want to bring joy to myself and others with my music again.
Cheers, and warmest gratitude.
*****My idea of the “beat+loop-type psychedelic music” that I’m obsessed with involves like, somewhere within the Aphex-Twin/SqPusheBoards of Canada/AkiraKosemura/Spool/KashiwaDaisuke realm of things, but naturally also through a the lens of bands such as Tortoise/DMST/AmCo/HaveANiceLife, since I enjoy brazenly amplifying electric stringed instruments, usually in basements and skate shops and bowling alleys and stuff like that. And bc I love standing in front of Ampeg fridges. Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will.. If you like similar stuff to all that and want to throw me recommendations, that would be more helpful than acting a jerk/fool or staying silent! The more people weigh in, the more this can become less about me and serve to help as many people as possible. I’m arguably a better music-nerd than I am a music-maker as long as no one’s hatin’. That’s when I leave the chat.

Hi JapanTravel, I just got back from Japan about a week ago, and I’m writing this report for my own future reference and in case it helps anyone else who has similar interests.
Japan is an unbelievable country, even better than I could have imagined. I started planning my next trip there while I was still on the plane ride home...
Background My girlfriend (26) and I (27) finally booked a trip to Japan after having had it on our bucket list for 6 years. Our priorities for this trip were: * food * nightlife * entertainment / activities * outdoors * getting an insight into modern Japanese life. * We didn’t care too much about temples or museums. Even after seeing them in Japan, I’m slightly bemused as to why they seem to be recommended by everyone as places you must see. * I’m a big fan of cyberpunk & dystopian imagery, and was interested in finding as many neon-lit neighbourhoods and Blade Runner-esque alleyways as possible. I wasn’t disappointed - Japan is the absolutely the best country in the world to visit if you’re into this, and is so photogenic. Some of my favourite shots from my trip:
Dotonbori, Harmonica Alley, Shinjuku, Shinsaibashi
Our itinerary
6 days in Tokyo (we had planned 9, but our flight was delayed for 3 days due to Typhoon Hagibis)
2 days in Takayama
5 days in Osaka
Things I wish I’d known

• Learn as much Japanese as you can. It’s not strictly necessary to get around, but I found that the more I learned, the more experiences became available to me and the more I could connect with the locals.
• Japanese bank notes are really tall, height-wise, so bring the tallest/largest wallet you can to fit them or they’ll fall out.
• If you have an iPhone 8 or later, you can get the Suica iOS app - you can then tap onto the subway with just your phone, and top it up with Apple Pay on the go - a lot easier than buying a physical card. Just be careful that your phone doesn’t die, because it’s also your subway ticket.
• It’s considered rude to eat or drink while walking - you’re supposed to eat right next to the place you bought your food from. Occasionally we had to break this rule so that we could get to where we were going, but people didn’t seem to care. I think the etiquette around this is changing.
• Craft beer and wine are very expensive in Japan, especially beer due to taxation laws. If you’re on a budget, stick to shochu mixers like Strong Zero. Be careful though because they will hit you like a bullet train once you have a couple.
• If you’re taller than 6’2 or your shoe size is bigger than US11, you can forget buying shoes or most clothes in Japan. Even the “big & tall” stores didn’t stock my size.
• Everyone says to bring a good pair of shoes, but not many people talk about socks. Buy a couple of pairs of good hiking or trailrunning socks, as they will make a huge difference over the 15-20km you will be walking each day. (Also, bring at least 2 pairs of shoes, no matter how comfy your main pair are - they’ll probably get wet at least once and you’ll need a backup)
• One of the reasons that travelling in Japan can be so tiring is that you are standing so much. There were often no seats available on trains, and there were rarely places to sit at train stations, parks, and public places. Be aware of this and take a moment to rest when you get a chance.
• I found shopping to be overall underwhelming - most prices were much more expensive than I was expecting and no clothes fit me (mainly my fault for being too tall).Even Don Quijote I found to be overpriced and cluttered.
• An exception to this was LOFT - a really well-curated gift and merchandise store with unique Japanese items. But my favourite store overall, which I hadn’t seen discussed here before, was MUJI, which had a fantastic range of Japanese-inspired gifts, housewares, clothes and travel goods at really good prices. We discovered it completely by chance on our last day and bought almost all our gifts for friends there.
• One of the hardest things for me to figure out was how much to spend on my accommodation without overspending. Spend too much and you’ll waste money you could have spent on gifts and food on a room that you barely spend time in. Spend too little and you’ll sleep badly and won’t have enough energy to enjoy the next day properly. It’s tricky to get right - I’d say I probably should have spent slightly more on nicer accommodation if I could do it again.
• Pocket wifi isn’t necessarily required. I could use my data plan from home in Japan for $5 extra per day, then create a hotspot from it. A lot of plan providers have this option now and it turned out to be a lot cheaper than hiring a pocket wifi, as well as having one less thing to keep charged and carry everywhere.
• All the sockets we saw in Japan were Type A, which meant my adapter didn’t work as it had a Type B plug with a 3rd prong. Make sure you get an 2-prong adapter that plugs into a Type A socket!
• Smoking is extremely common but only allowed inside, which is the complete opposite of most other places. If you’re asthmatic you might want to avoid izakaya and standing bars.
• In Tokyo they stand on the left on escalators, but in Osaka and Kyoto it’s on the right. Can anyone explain this? I thought I was going crazy.

Itinerary Day 1: Shibuya, Yoyogi Park, Shimokitazawa, Kanda * We started off the first day with phenomenal sandwiches from Camelback in Shibuya - their specialty wasabi tamago sandwich was insanely good. * Coffee Supreme next door was also by far the best coffee I had in Japan, although I ended up having to downgrade to konbini coffee each day because espresso coffee is so expensive across the country. * We met up with a friend to walk through beautiful Yoyogi Park then headed to Shimokitazawa. Unfortunately most of the stores in Shimokitazawa were closed until the afternoon/evening, and the ones that were open were very overpriced so we went to some food stalls and had a drink at Blue Monday.
TIP: Go to Shimokitazawa in the afternoon/evening - it’s mostly closed before then. * Headed back to Shibuya to check out the Mad Dog Jones exhibition at Diesel Art Gallery which was fantastic, then stopped for a drink and to rest at a random izakaya, which is when we made our first big mistake of the trip - we didn’t ask about the cover charge at the place we went to. * We ended up having to pay a 1000Y cover charge each (!) meaning that two beers and a bowl of popcorn was almost $40 USD.
TIP: Be wary of the cover charge (“otoshi”) in a lot of touristy areas, especially izakaya (small bars). If you’re not sure, a simple “Otoshi wa arimasu ka?” will give you a yes/no answer. * We headed to Kanda for dinner which was one of my favourite districts for neon lights, and found a random kushikatsu place, exhausted but happy. * Walking back to our hotel, I saw a bunch of drunk salarymen stumble out of an izakaya, and took my favourite photo of the trip which made me wonder what a Reservoir Dogs / Blade Runner crossover movie would be like. * Best meal: Camelback Sandwich
Day 2: Teamlab Planets, Ginza * The bacon & egg onigiri from 7/11 is amazing for breakfast, as is the sweet pickled plum (umeboshi). Try all of them, even the plain seaweed one is great! * Teamlab Planets was UNBELIEVABLE, just a completely magical and spellbinding experience from start to finish. I felt like a little kid again in some of the exhibits. We went around 1:30pm and were lucky to have barely anyone else there.
TIP: If you go to Planets, wear shorts and shoes that are easy to remove. For girls, avoid wearing dresses as the floor is mirrored in parts of the exhibit (unless you’re into that kind of thing)
TIP 2: After talking about Borderless with friends that had been, I would recommend Borderless if you’re more of a visual/passive person, and Planets if you’re more of a sensory/active person. Or just do both. * Before the trip, we had fallen in love with Gudetama (a Japanese cartoon character based on an egg who is too lazy to do anything) so next we decided to head to Sanrioworld Ginza which was the Gudetama flagship store. This was a mistake as it was tiny, understocked and overpriced with barely any Gudetama products. Luckily we found a much better range of products later on in the trip.
TIP: If you’re looking to get any sort of character merchandise (Hello Kitty, Gudetama, Doraemon, Totoro etc.) we surprisingly found the best range and prices to be at the airport duty-free. Otherwise, go to Don Quijote, Loft, or Daiso. The exception to this is Pokemon merchandise, which is best bought at a Pokemon Centre. * We waited 90 minutes for Sushi No Midori on the recommendation of a gentleman we’d met at TeamLab Planets. I don’t like waiting very much, but luckily there was a whiskey bar directly across the road and it was happy hour, so we passed the time sipping on cheap and delicious highballs.The meal was well worth the wait as the sushi was absolutely phenomenal, and in the top 3 meals we had in Japan. * Best meal: Sushi no Midori
Day 3: Harajuku, Ghibli Museum, Kichijoji, Tokyo City View/Mori Art Museum * Harajuku was much more fun than I expected, and Gyoza Lou was the best value meal we had in terms of quality per dollar - it came out to about $10 each for tons of gyoza and beer. * The Ghibli Museum was next. While I'm glad we went, I actually think it is slightly overrated (an unpopular opinion on this sub I'm sure!). It was way smaller than I anticipated - it’s essentially three rooms, a kids area and a theater, and the exhibits aren't particularly mindblowing. * Luckily the short film included in the ticket price made the experience worthwhile. It was one of the most beautiful short films I’ve seen, with zero dialogue, and made me realise the parallels between Ghibli and Pixar in terms of their power to tell a story through animation. * Tokyo City View was worth visiting for a 360 degree view of Tokyo. We were lucky to catch the Shiota Chiharu exhibition included in the ticket, which was a weird and fascinating experience. * Best meal: Harajuku Gyoza Lou
Day 4: Shinjuku, Golden Gai, Ikejiri * We had a late breakfast at Motenashi Kuroki in Akihabara. As the only tourists there with no clue what we were doing, the locals in line showed us how to buy a ticket from the vending machine and after a short wait we had by far the best ramen of our lives and probably the best meal of the trip. I honestly didn’t know shio ramen could taste so good, and every single ingredient was perfectly placed and balanced. * Shinjuku was next and quickly became our favourite neighbourhood in Tokyo. The overwhelming visual stimulus alone was an incredible thing to experience. We passed the entire day wandering around, playing arcades, coin pushers, claw games and blacklight bowling at Taito Game Station and Humax Pavilion. * We then had an adventure exploring the alleyways of Golden Gai, a highlight being Deathmatch in Hell which had a great crew of tourists from all over the world inside. * We caught the subway one stop away to a neighbourhood called Ikejiri where a friend of mine had recently opened a cocktail bar. The bar is called LOBBY and is one of the best bars I’ve ever been to - the bartender really knows his stuff. It was crazy going from paying 700 yen for a small beer in Shibuya, to then travelling a single subway stop away to an area with no tourists and paying the exact same amount for one of the best handcrafted cocktails I’ve ever had. Definitely take the time to visit if you are in the area. * We went out after that to Ruby Room in Shibuya - a really fun small club that we were lucky to stumble across. One of my favourite Japanese DJs made a surprise appearance and it capped off one of the best nights of the trip. We walked home in the rain in the early hours. * Best meal: Ramen at Motenashi Kuroki
Day 5: Akibahara, Asakusa * Really late start due to being hungover (although one of these little beauties cut the hungover in half) but managed to drag myself to a sports bar to watch my team lose in the Rugby World Cup. * We went to Senso-ji at night which was absolutely gorgeous. * We stumbled across Hoppy Street in Asakusa afterward, a street food stall area which looked like a ton of fun. I would definitely eat there next time I’m in Tokyo.
Day 6: Nagoya, Takayama * Shinkansen to Nagoya, where we bought a Takayama-Hokiriku Area Pass.
TIP: This pass will save you a bunch of money if you’re planning to go to both Takayama and Shirakawago, and then onto Osaka (or the same trip in reverse). It covers all travel between Nagoya and Osaka including buses to and from Shirakawago. Just keep in mind that you need to keep going up through Shirakawago to Kanazawa and then down to Osaka to stay in the pass area. * We caught a Hida Wide View train from Nagoya to Takayama for an really picturesque journey through the mountains. * Takayama was MUCH bigger than I thought. It’s quite a large town and not the tiny mountain village I was expecting. It was also packed with tourists, but still had a nice charm and was a welcome break from Tokyo’s intensity. * I accidentally booked a hotel that was actually a hostel, and didn’t even have showers - instead, we had to bathe in an onsen that was open to everyone with zero privacy. It was a weird experience but strangely liberating once we committed to it. * In Takayama, we had dinner in a really cute tempura restaurant called Ebihachi run by an older couple. They were so sweet, and after making conversation with them and telling them how much we liked the food, they gave us a paper crane each from behind the bar. They’re now prized possessions, hanging from our fridge. * Best meal: Tempura at Ebihachi
Day 7: Hida Ichinomiya, Higashiyama Walking Trail * We hired bikes to ride to the next town over, Hida Ichinomiya. It was really fun cycling through the alleyways of the old town. * We sat and ate delicious supermarket sushi by a quiet river - a very peaceful experience. * The Higashiyama walking trail was extremely beautiful in an eerie way - it felt like I was walking through Ilex Forest. I did the trail loop backwards and didn’t see a single other person - when I reached the start of the trail I saw a sign that explained why I was the only person there...
. Day 8: Shirakawago, Osaka * Shirakawago is absolutely gorgeous, straight out of a Ghibli film.
TIP: Take the first early bus there so you have an hour before the throngs of tourists arrive. Arrive at least 20 minutes early for the unreserved bus as the seats fill up quickly. * We made it to Osaka that night and instantly loved the city. In fact, we actually preferred it over Tokyo due to it being way easier to get around, more friendly, cheaper, and with noticeably less tourist fatigue from the locals. * We ate delicious sushi at Sushi Sakae, and an older local couple bought us a selection of fugu, eel, and squid to try when they saw we were visiting. Another example of how friendly Japanese people are. * Went to Space Station to drink beers and play retro arcade games, then capped off the night at Bar Nayuta - one of the best (and hardest to find) bars I’ve ever been to. The bartenders are absolute wizards - you just tell them what flavours you like and they make you a custom cocktail from scratch. * Best meal: Sushi Sakae)
Day 9: Day trip to Kyoto, Arashiyama Monkey Park * After reading about how crowded it gets, my expectations for Arashiyama Bamboo Forest were extremely low, so I actually ended up enjoying it as a result - it really is a beautiful place. * However, some of the tourist behaviour there is just ridiculous. We saw people trampling off the path into the bamboo and disobeying signs just so they could get the perfect Instagram shot. One group even blocked people from walking down the trail so they could get a shot without anyone else in it. * The hike up to the monkey park was worth it for the view alone, and the monkeys were great to watch. Definitely preferred seeing animals in their natural habitat rather than in a zoo or cafe. * AMAZING meal at Okonomiyaki Sanpei, a one-man restaurant where the chef cooks your okonomiyaki right in front of you. I’d had okonomiyaki before but not like this. Definitely one of my favourite meals of the trip. * We had another great night playing bar games and drinking good beer at Rock Bar Cherry Bomb, run by an American guy who was incredibly friendly. If you’re after friendly company and some English conversation I can’t recommend this place enough. * Best meal: Okonomiyaki Sanpei
Day 10: Shinsaibashi Shopping Street, Mame Shiba Cafe, Round 1 Stadium * We soaked up our hangover at Shake Shack - a nice break from Japanese cuisine. * We got suckered in by the cute billboards and spent an hour at the Mame Shiba cafe which I had mixed feelings about. Animal cafes in general are not good for the animals, with very few exceptions. * I highly recommend visiting a Round 1 Stadium - they are all over Japan. It’s multiple floors of arcades, sports games, bowling, karting, roller-blading, claw games, gachapon - a really fun way to spend a couple of hours.
TIP: Try a Coolish from the freezer section of a konbini - it’s basically a frozen vanilla milkshake in a bag. Absolutely delicious. * We had Tenkaippin Hozenji for dinner which I had heard a lot of hype about on this sub. Unfortunately the broth was so thick that it made me feel slightly ill. I usually like a thick broth but this was more like drinking sauce - wouldn’t really recommend it unless that’s what you’re after! * Best meal: Shake Shack
Day 11: Nippombashi, Shinsekai, Tennoji, Keitakuen, Tempozan, Dotonbori * After delicious breakfast at the Kuromon Market (our favourite spots were this spot for sushi and this spot for okonomiyaki), we activated our Osaka Amazing Pass and set out to get as much value as possible out of it. Almost everything we did today was free with the pass, including transport. * The Tsutenkaku Tower in Shinsekai is really over-the-top in a glorious, trashy way - I enjoyed the experience but it’s a laugh how much they play up the view and then the observation deck is barely 15 stories above the ground. * There are a bunch of shrines to Billiken, who I was surprised to find out was originally an American theme park character that was eventually adopted into Japanese culture as a god of good fortune. * We decided to walk through Tennoji Zoo to Keitakuen Garden, as it was quicker and the zoo entry was included in the pass. BIG mistake. The zoo was in shockingly bad condition and the polar bear in particular was in a putrid concrete enclosure, clearly in a terrible state. The black bears were pacing back and forth with clumps of their fur coming off. It was heartbreaking to see and made me wonder how a country so advanced in a lot of ways could let this happen to animals. If you’re an animal lover I strongly suggest avoiding this zoo (and most zoos in Japan, from what I’ve heard). This was the first time I was disappointed in Japanese culture as this would never be acceptable where I'm from. * Keitakuen helped us get our mind off the zoo, as it was one of the most beautiful gardens I’ve ever seen. * Next stop was Tempozan - I was excited to go on one of the biggest Ferris wheels in the world. It was phenomenal and gave a great view of Osaka. The top was actually so high up that I started to get nervous. Luckily we had brought some more Strong Zeros on the ride to help calm the nerves. * I was excited to check Legoland out, but that soon turned to embarrassment when I realised they don’t let adults in who don’t have a child with them. Something to keep in mind if you don’t have kids. * We headed back to Dotonbori in time for our Jazz River Cruise. It was one of the most unique and enjoyable experiences I’ve had on a holiday to be listening to live jazz while floating down a neon-lit river. One of my favourite memories, and it encapsulated everything I loved about Osaka. * We ended up getting about 4500Y value out of the 2700Y one day Pass, so I highly recommend it if you plan your day around it. * We finished our night at a sushi place called Jinen Unagidaniminamidoriten which we noticed was filled with locals - it was unbelievably good and staff were friendly to us even though we were the only tourists there. * Best meal: Sushi at Jinen Unagidaniminamidoriten
Day 12: Nara day trip * We hired electric bikes from Yamato Rentacycle near the JR station and rode through Nara’s backstreets to the Deer Park. I was really glad we had booked electric bikes as they make the journey much more efficient and allowed us to see more of the area in less time. * We stopped at a hidden gem for lunch called Kinari Pizza. They do a Japanese spin on Italian woodfired pizza - absolutely delicious and the staff were so happy to have us there. I promised the chef I’d tell my friends to visit his restaurant. * Todai-ji was really overrated in my opinion and not worth the hype at all. Kasuga-taisha was better, but my favourite temple was one we wandered off to on a little side trail - not sure what it was called. It was magical walking through the forest with no one around, deer appearing in the forest and coming up to us for food. * We made our way back to Osaka and had dinner at Itamae Yakiniku Otto, where you grill your own high-quality beef. We had really wanted to try Kobe beef and it was every bit as delicious as people say. However, I can’t quite justify the huge cost - we paid almost $100USD for three cuts of meat and were both still hungry afterwards. Skip this if you’re on a tight budget. * Best meal: Kinari Pizza
Day 13: Osaka * Last day in Japan, we went to Loft and then stumbled across MUJI (which ended up being my favourite store in Japan) to buy gifts and souvenirs. * We also went by a supermarket chain called Super Tamade to pick up ultra-cheap snacks and alcohol to take home - if you’re a fan of neon signs you must visit a Super Tamade grocery store. It’s the most vividly-decorated store I’ve ever seen in my life. * We had a last delicious okonomiyaki meal at Houzenji Sanpei in Dotonbori then headed to the airport. I was shocked at how good the duty-free section was - next time I’d probably save all my gift shopping for the airport. * A final Strong Zero for good luck and our trip was over. Couldn’t have asked for a better holiday. * Best meal: Okonomiyaki at Houzenji Sanpei
Mistakes I made:

• Not splurging on a ryokan in Takayama with a private onsen (and not visiting more onsens in general)
• Not staying in any AirBnBs. It would have been great to get a taste of living like a local.
• Not making it to Kawasaki Warehouse, Kawasaki Velodrome or the G-Cans giant underground cavern. Unfortunately, we had to cut these when we lost a couple of days to the typhoon.
• Going to a shiba inu dog cafe, which we did on a whim. Japan has a problematic relationship with animals in general and we found the dog cafes to be on the cruel side. Don’t get me started on hedgehog, snake, and particularly owl cafes which are essentially for-profit animal abuse.

TIP: If you want to visit an animal cafe, I recommend Neco Republic for cats or Hogoken for dogs, both of which are adoption centres that allow patrons to meet and play with their rescue animals. * I wish I’d bought more souvenirs for myself and to give to friends and family, especially ones specific to towns we visited like Sarubobo in Takayama. * Completely forgot to go to Ichiran Ramen!
Top 3 meals: 1. Motenashi Kuroki Ramen, Akihabara 2. Sushi no Midori, Ginza 3. Okonomiyaki Sanpei, Dotonbori
Other notes:
Don’t feel that you have to visit a lot of temples.
Unpopular opinion I’m sure, but I found them to be overrated. Yes, they are beautiful (particularly Senso-Ji at night), but we found it difficult to really appreciate the beauty with so many tourists everywhere. They’re also all very similar to each other. If you’re not a temple fan, don’t feel that you have to visit them - I feel like there’s so much more to see in Japan!
Over-planning is just as bad as under-planning.
I was guilty of this, and I realised that it prevented me from really appreciating what I was doing. For the first day or two I felt like I was just travelling around ticking off boxes. I’d done so much research that I already knew what everything looked like, and it wasn’t as impressive as it should have been. We relaxed our schedule to just do 1 or 2 things per day, with time to explore neighbourhoods around our destination and live more in the moment.. I had a much better time.
Cost
The total cost for me was USD$2200 all up. This was quite a bit less than I was expecting to spend. Spend breakdown was: * 15% on flights * 30% on accommodation * 40% on food, shopping and activities * 15% on public transport within Japan (metro, bus and shinkansen).
Feel free to ask any questions about anything else we did :)

To whom it may concern,
The us open is here. I am excited about this, and have written up the first round as usual. This year it looked like Novak was going to be a heavy favorite but with his hiccough in the Cincinnati Open and Nadal's dominant performance in Canada I am going to be going away from my Wimbledon pick of Novak and taking Nadal. He has a tougher draw but given Novak's possible elbow concerns it's going to be tough for him to be in peak form for the finals and Nadal has avoided Federer which I believe is the tougher matchup for him on hardcourt at this point. For the women's I like Andreescu or Kenin and would really enjoy seeing someone new take the event. I live about 15 minutes away so I may stop in and catch a few matches, but for now here are my thoughts :
​
Djokovic Carballes Baena : Had Novak not lost to Medvedev in the finals this past week in Cincinnati there wouldn’t be much question that he was the favorite to win the US Open. His level has been so high the past few months that we’ve ceased asking if he’ll lose and are rather looking for possible elbow injuries in order to consider that he might lose a match. I don’t see him having a difficult match until the semifinals, and this is a perfect warmup. RCB is a claycourt specialist who relies strongly on his movement and ability to push the pace. These aren’t attributes that help against a guy like Novak who will happily play all day. RCB’s serve isn’t big enough to net easy points and this should be over in straights. Novak in 3.
Querrey Londero : Sam Querrey has had a similar return from injury to Wawrinka, looking at times back to normal but not quite back to his peak. The US Open has been one of his best tournaments in the past and the only issue that he’ll have here is he’s been a bit careless on the backhand side in the past couple matches. Londero is a claycourter but fights for every point and has good accuracy on his serve. While I think the match is on Querrey’s racquet I’m excited to see if he’s able to put in the solid three sets of work it will take to dismiss Londero. I’m guessing no but I do think his serving should push him through. This would be a good match to watch to gauge Querrey’s level for the next round, but given Novak sitting in wait this will be a 2nd round exit for Querrey. Querrey in 4-5.
Kudla Tipsarevic : Janko hasn’t been terribly active and Kudla hasn’t been terribly good. A quick 2-4 start to the hardcourt season and straight set losses in all his losses don’t spell success for Kudla, and Tipsarevic isn’t looking much better on the opposite side of the net having played one event and gotten a donut from our boy Radu. Very fortunate for either player to get a winnable match in the draw, and playing into the winner of Lajovic/Darcis is really a gem for whoever can push through here. Kudla’s played more ball and Tipsarevic is the better player. I’m not sure who’ll find their form first, Kudla’s backwards hat or Tipsarevic’s space glasses. Tipsarevic in 5.
Lajovic Darcis : Two years ago Darcis gave Lajovic a quick beating on the hardcourts of Bejing, and that might be his last win over a top 50 player. Steve is a skillful player who harkens back to the days of wooden raquets with his adept slices and smooth swings. This is the tailend of his career though and while I’m confused how he got direct entry here, I’m sure Lajovic is delighted to reverse the result and get to the second round. Lajovic isn’t enjoying the best season ever and he’s coughed up losses in a ton of close matches, but Darcis is coming into this tournament without a hardcourt match at the ATP level, so you have to expect Dusan to hold court here, most likely in a closer match than would be expected given the trouble Darcis has given him in the past. Lajovic in 4.
Wawrinka Sinner : Sinner was all but out of the event in the 2nd round of qualifying with challenger nightmare Galovic up a set and a break, then later on serving for the match in the third at 5-3. The youngster fought through though, and now he gets his first hardcourt taste of the ATP tour. Wawrinka has been resurgent after an injury, and while the tour has advanced a bit, he still has enough racquet skill and power to keep anyone on the court for 3 hours if they want to beat him. Sinner has a big serve and big groundstrokes, and reminds me a bit of Zverev before he decided to become a pusher. The errors will punish him in this matchup though, and Wawrinka is in a pretty decent spot in the draw, especially with Hurkacz likely being a bit fatigued after a title run this past week. Wawrinka in 3-4. I only suggest 4 because Sinner swings so free and the adrenaline will pump if he’s able to break Stan who is highly susceptible to throwing in a service game of 4 straight winners struck out by a few inches.
Hurkacz Chardy : Mysterious matchup as Chardy has had a middling 2019 and Hurkacz has been brilliant. The mystery in this match is simply Hurkacz’s physical ability after a full week of matches. As a young player I do expect him to bounce back and 2 days off should be enough for him to pull through in at least the first round. Chardy hit maybe 15 balls before walking off in Winston Salem and while many players withdrew I don’t think his shotmaking will be sharp after playing very little hardcourt tennis. At some point Hurkacz is going to hit a wall and his serving will be the first thing to go. Until then, Hurkacz in 3.
Djere Kecmanovic : Kecmanovic was a crusher on the challenger tour and was consistent week after week. His ATP debut has been no different. Simply put, he has beaten guys he was not expected to beat and in between those matches hasn’t lost the unexplainable match that would make you question the results. His only blemish this hardcourt season has been a loss to Gombos and the power that Gombos strikes the ball with could really take the raquet out of anyone’s hands. Djere is a great claycourt player, and a ball machine, but it seems as if he’s suffered a bit of burnout after clawing his way into the top 50 last season with consistent play. I saw some bright points in the first set of Cincinnati against Schwartzman but not enough to think he’ll be anything more than exhausting for Kecmanovic to push past. Kecmanovic in 3.
Anderson Svajda : Why hasn’t Anderson played since Wimbledon? Can an unranked junior champion take advantage of a player who is clearly suffering some sort of injury? The answer is yes, unfortunately Svajda’s first taste of the ATP tour will be against a guy who is the answer to “who can play annoying tennis that will frustrate a junior player into errors and create pressure situations late in the set that will allow him to steal wins.” Enter Paolo Lorenzi, who I promise I will stop painting in such a negative light. The guy is an incredible competitor and remains on tour past his prime in a similar fashion to Stephane Robert, where you really just expect him to lose all the time but marvel at his ability to control the pace and flow of the match. I haven’t watched much of Svajda but he’s been competing against a level of player 2-3 full levels below Lorenzi, who almost beat an in-form Jiri Vesely in the qualifers. The crowd will get behind the youngster but I fear so will Lorenzi. Lorenzi in 3.
Opelka Fognini : If tennis were a video game these would be two characters they’d invent. Opelka’s serve is so good he is actually able to remain on tour when he physically is a second behind the pace of the tour in almost every rally. I lamented his errors as unforced for a long time watching him come up but it seems that his size really doesn’t allow him to make the minor adjustments once he begins his footwork/swing. Fognini is the guy you point at when your mother says “don’t judge a book by it’s cover,” and the swaggy tool is as flippant about competing as he is sexy. It’s hard to tell a guy to play hard when once he does he takes sets off Nadal, and it’s hard to predict a match with a grown man who still hasn’t found control of his temper. Opelka is unlikely to earn many breaks of serve once Fognini gets in a groove and Fognini is unlikely to wrinkle his shirt trying to chase Opelka’s serve. This will come down to whether Opelka can get to tiebreakers, because if he can then Fognini is the one likely to cough up errors as he tends to hit the ball very low over the net. I’d hesitate to predict any outcome with a servebot but I do think Fognini will recognize this is a very good spot in the draw and bring a good level. Fognini in 5.
Munar Koepfer : Ew. Munar losing to Lloyd Harris doesn’t inspire much confidence, but I think many people have underestimated Harris and expected his error-prone game to remain so. He has had some good results and his brief time at the ATP level has shown him making progress that should be acknowledged. I know many people lost dollars with Federer in straights against him and rather than chalk it up as a fluke it should be noted that the guy belongs on the tour. Munar has the competitive nature to be a threat on hardcourt but it seems his game has not formed yet. Koepfer rolled in qualifying and had one of the more difficult lineups with Harrison (who I guess they’ve finally stopped giving wildcards to keep on tour), Mahut, and Uchiyama. He’s been playing great tennis since the beginning of the grass season and has nabbed a finals spot in a challenger event leading up to both Wimbledon and the US Open, losing to Steve Johnson a few weeks ago in Aptos. Given his form and Munar’s failure to put it together yet, Dominik should continue his run here and hopefully crack into the top 100 very soon. Koepfer in 4.
Berdych Brooksby : Who? Jenson Brooksby came seemingly out of nowhere to qualify, and his win over Sugita was a solid performance by a guy who most likely will make his way onto the tour by the end of next year. Berdych has gone from the guy who looks amazing but loses helplessly to anyone in the top 10, to a guy who doesn’t really win 2 matches in a row anymore. He’s played sparingly with injury this season, and is fortunate to get what should be one of the easier first rounds. Brooksby hasn’t played anyone of the caliber of Berdych yet, and Berdych’s power is something that’s hard to prepare for, as many saw when he famously derailed the De Minaur hype train last year. Brooksby’s 3 setter with Portero doesn’t lend itself to the idea that he can really beat a top tour player, even one with questionable fitness. Berdych may take a bit to warm up, and has shown the inability to put together multiple sets lately. Berdych in 4.
Fucsovics Basilashvili : This is one of the more unfortunate first round draws. Both of these guys are amazing athletes, hit the fuzz off the ball, and compete against anyone who appears on the opposite side of the net. Both of these guys also draw the worst spots in the draw over and over again. I’d say only Khachanov on the ATP has had more nightmare first rounds than these fellas. With 4 matches against each other just in 2019, it’s tough to expect this one to be over in straight sets in either direction. Marton has won 5 of their 7 matches, and all three on hardcourt though. Basilashvili’s form of late has been great with a title win giving him back to back Hamburg’s, and wins over struff, lajovic, and close matches with an in-form Rublev and Zverev mean that this likely will not be as simple as some of Fucsovics’ former triumphs. Hard to go against history though, and Fucsovics defense coupled with his solid past performances at the USO (skill level, not results) may give him the edge. Fucsovics in 5.
Fritz Lopez : Can’t they both lose? Fritz has been playing great since the beginning of the grass season and you expect it to continue here. Lopez has been hanging around the tour via grass season points but you can see him beginning to become more of a doubles specialist and while the weather should be cool in Flushing, it’s hard to see him winning a 3/5 test against a guy with the wingspan to return serve and whose main attribute is being able to hold serve quickly. Fritz decided to go to bat on twitter for Tommy Paul when he did not receive a wildcard, and I’ll tell you why this bothers me. The wildcards awarded to US players have propped up and kept a number of guys in the top 100 at the expense of challenger level guys who were/are better players, and while they may eventually get there and you want to cultivate young talent, Fritz should understand that he is one of those guys who along with Donaldson/Harrison/Tiafoe/Young/Opelka/etc were throwing up straight set losses and netting ranking points for a majority of their appearances. The second reason is Tommy Paul then appeared in the qualifying and got a straight set beating from Portero who since 2016 has 0 hardcourt tour wins. The third reason is that he was correct in his reasoning, Tommy Paul was ranked ahead of and has been playing better than the other guys who received wildcards. I don’t like being reminded of how inept US tennis is at cultivating US tennis, Taylor. Please just thump aces and wear cool headbands. I promise to apologize after he beats Lopez. Fritz in 3.
Nishioka Giron : Nishioka had an injury withdrawal in Cincinnati in an event where he looked like he was rolling, but claimed it was due to illness. If that’s the case, then he’s going to be a bother and a half to beat in the US Open. He has a way of making the match a grind and in tennis being a lefty is just the absolute best. Giron has had some solid wins on the tour but mainly grinds away at the challenger level, and recent losses to RCB and Koepfer suggest that he’s not quite there yet with the offensive game necessary to hit through Nishioka. Nishioka in 4.
Soon Woo Kwon Dellien : I put his whole name because Soon Woo Kwon will be on the ATP tour for the next ten years and you should remember it. This guy hits with a measured depth and is an absolute ball machine. He was in two deciding sets in qualifying and I’d chalk this up more to the difficulty of playing as a heavy favorite. He is already playing guys who he can play safer tennis and beat and playing them in that fashion, but twice he turned up his level in the final set to ensure the win. I’ll stop gushing now. Dellien hasn’t played a hardcourt event and hasn’t really been crushing the challenger tour on clay either. At this point in the season a lot of the clay guys are about done picking up points with the indoor swing being their worst surface, and Dellien will compete here but this entry is mostly about picking up the check that he has rightfully earned. Kwon in 3.
Medvedev Gunneswaran : The young old man has had the most exciting hardcourt season, and it seems he’s beginning to look like the Dominic Thiem of hardcourt with many calling him the heir apparent when the big 3 release their strangehold. A win over Novak who was possibly nursing an injured elbow is a good confidence builder for the Russian, but if you’ve heard him in interviews you know that he doesn’t need to build confidence. Daniil is grounded at all times, loves playing tennis, and competes in a stoic manner that means when he’s able to win, he wins. His opener here against Gunneswaran is just that type of match. A skilled lefty with huge shape on the forehand and a solid serve, you can expect Gunneswaran to get to a tiebreaker in one set but that should be the biggest hurrah. Medvedev’s returning is at a solid level right now and his serving/decisionmaking are top 10. Medvedev in 3.
Federer Nagal : Sumit was down a set and 4-1 in his final qualfying round, and having taken Menezez for the match, I turned my computer off and headed out to enjoy my day. Nope. The fighter kept fighting, and earned his first US Open appearance with it. His reward is half punishment because he’s playing Roger Federer in a major, but also he’s playing Roger Federer in a major. This is a great opportunity for him to showcase his aggressive and compact brand of tennis against a guy who famously starts his tournaments slowly. Nagal swings for his groundstrokes like he’s not scared to miss, and he could pressure Roger early if nerves don’t get the better of him, which they will. Roger in 3.
Benchetrit Dzumhur : Dzumhur has had a baaaaaaaad 2019. The aggression and skill that he brings to the court have hurt him at times as the tour’s overall defense has really improved leaps and bounds in the past two seasons, and although he had a few wins in Winston Salem, there’s not a lot to be excited about. Benchetrit may actually be the favorite here, and what may hurt him here is having not played Dzumhur before. An array of dropshots coupled with aggressive netplay may take him a bit out of rhythm and over a 3/5 match Dzumhur will likely find a break or two. Still, the internet exists and Benchetrit and his team will have done their homework. It’s starting to look like the tour will pass Dzumhur by, so this is a spot he needs to capitalize on. Can he? Idk. Benchetrit played very solid in qualifying and won’t go down without a fight. Benchetrit in 5.
Mannarino Evans : I could watch these two play all day, both being supremely skilled and unique tennis players. Mannarino has had the better hardcourt season with a few solid wins over Kukushkin and Coric (who’s been useless). Evans looks excellent at times and can step up his game in big moments. There’s a story floating around of the British team setting up a money match between Evans and Norrie and Evans absolutely rolling him. Still, you need to win often to be ready to win on tour, and slumps tend to continue. Mannarino pushed Goffin in Cincinnati and has beaten Kukushkin twice, which means he’s playing with the type of consistency you need to beat Evans. Mannarino in 4-5.
Pouille Kohlschreiber : Hello. You. Yes you. You know who is going to win this one. I don’t. I have watched Luca Pouille play tennis for 5 years. I don’t know when he’s going to win. When he looks excellent and I think I know, nope. When he’s been slumping and I think he’s slumping, haha jk he beats Khachanov. While Khachanov was suffering from fatigue, Pouille has to be feeling confident coming into this matchup against an aging champion who he did defeat in their last hardcourt match in 2018. Haha. See? There I go trying to predict it again. Don’t listen to me. Kohlschreiber? I don’t know. When I first saw him I thought wow here is a guy who is great at tennis. Then he’ll loses in 8 events in a row. Oh, he must be on his way to retirement. Wait what? He beat Djokovic? Well fuck. I don’t know who’s going to win this one. Pouille is going to win this one though. Pouille in 4.
Carreno Busta Pella : This will be one of the best matches that no one will watch. From serve #1 these guys are going to play exhausting baseline tennis. I want to say PCB has been getting his form back, but has he? Paire seems to have turned around PCB’s dominance over him, and while it’s refreshing for PCB to win some matches after really losing everything after returning from his shoulder injury, he’s really only beaten Simon, Copil, and Isner to note. Sonego was a nice win but he’s shown he’s really at his best on clay. Simon sometimes just doesn’t show up. Copil is a threat indoors but not really against a good returner. Isner is a flip of the coin against anyone on tour holding a racquet. Still I am excited for this match because this is a legit test of PCB’s return. If he can beat a player like Pella who gives you no errors and tests your fitness, he may be poised for a decent run here. Pella has been winning though. He’s beaten our boy Radu, he’s beaten Dimitrov, Kwon, Goffin, and played tight with Nadal in Canada. He’s the favorite here until he loses, and after a tough week in Winston Salem I don’t know if PCB turns it around in time. Pella in 4.
Berankas Vesely : Berankas looked great in his challenger win last week. He is a main tour player, and he looked so against the challenger level despite some tight scorelines. For that reason he has a chance here against Vesely. Vesely fought hard through qualifying and Jung and Lorenzi are tough outs, but they aren’t exactly the most dominant servers and Vesely’s inability to break more often troubles me. He certainly had break points but lack of execution can build up scar tissue during an event and on the opposite side of the net, Berankas has been swinging free and experiencing almost immediate results. Berankas may pull the upset here being the fresher player. Ricardas in 5.
Norrie Barrrrrere : Barrere was excellent on serve in the qualifiers, and is starting to look like a regular in the majors with his continued qualifying success. Up first is Cam Norrie, who at times this season would look like a lock in this match and in other times lost to Dennis Kudla. Losing to Dennis Kudla isn’t the end of the world but it will give Barrere hope to avenge a key factor which is his 7-6, 6-0 loss to Norrie just a few weeks ago. Hard to gauge the fatigue level after three difficult qualifier matches but Barrere was hitting the ball past Galan effortlessly in the final round and I do expect Norrie to have a slow start. Still, it’s tough to overcome history against a fresher opponent. Norrie in 4-5.
Moutet Goffin : Moutet is pretty exciting to watch. He fights for every point and is lefty which gives him a chance against anybody. An heroic victory against Dimitrov in Wimbledon is probably his biggest claim to fame, and it may remain so. A quick exit in his only hardcourt main draw appearance against Steve Johnson doesn’t indicate that he’ll do much to trouble an in-form Goffin, who should be rested up after his first Masters 1000 finals appearance. Goffin is classic for lapses in level in early rounds of majors, but he should get the job done in 4 or less. Goffin in 4.
Coric Donskoy : Coric has been struggling. Donskoy has been on and off the tour. This is a good matchup for one guy to really get their confidence back. For Donskoy a win against Coric would summon the type of fistpump that says “I’m still here.” An aggressive player who hits a very fast and flat ball against a stubborn baseliner whose forehand disappears and who can be lockdown on defense but hit the ball into the net at any time with an offensive opportunity makes for a tough call. Coric is the heavy favorite for bookmakers, but I suspect this one will be a bit closer. Donskoy in 4 sad sets or Coric in 4 sadder ones.
Seppi Dimitrov : “Who am I,” he thought, staring at his reflection in the lake. “Maybe a headband,” he guessed, trying one on. “Is this it?” “Surely this must be it” A single tear made it’s careful way down his cheek, never to be seen again. He felt heavy. He was angry. He was tired. He was … Dimitrov. The good news is Grigor has avoided a third first round match with Wawrinka, and plays a guy who isn’t the greatest hardcourt player in the history of hardcourt players. The bad news is Seppi’s consistency and big match experience will have him poised to capitalize if Dimitrov does have a mental lapse or a serving episode. Seppi has one hardcourt match, and it’s a loss to a lost-in-space Berdych, who returns to tour every few months looking like he’s been eating mushrooms in the mountains of Tibet. Dimitrov will get his US Open started with a good fought win here, and I think although there’s nothing to predict it the atmosphere of playing for a big crowd will get him into it. Dimitrov in 4.
Sockpocalypse Cuevas : Big Jack Sock is back on the tour. Wildcards for days! While he hasn’t won a match yet this year, he also won’t win one this year. The problem here is just getting matches under his belt, as his level is decent but his conditioning is still a bit suspect. I was a big fan of skinny Jack Sock and want to see him return, and while a claycourt specialist like Cuevas is a good draw, Cuevas can play you in tennis for the next ten hours without getting fatigued. In a 3/5 format I have to believe Sock will get fatigued and Cuevas’ athletic ability and offense aren’t exactly nullified with the surface change. He has a great serve, one of the best backhands on tour, and if he finds his form this will be a long battle that I can’t say Sock is ready for until he shows us he is. Cuevas in 5.
Raonic Jarry : The kind of guys they invented the elbow rule in beer pong for, this is a great match. Jarry has been disappointing on hardcourt despite his huge serve, and Raonic’s body seems to be made of the same material they make those crumbly ass Nature Valley granola bars from. As difficult as it can be to watch either of these guys lose, I really do want both to win. Jarry has a great attitude and goes after his offense regardless of the score which is great for the fans, and Raonic has the kind of smooth style that makes tennis on tv a beautiful thing to watch. Raonic has to be a pretty big favorite here until Jarry proves himself, and a quick loss to Andujar last week isn’t doing that for me. Raonic in 3 unless he’s still carrying the glute injury from Canada in which case Jarry in 3 and shame on him for not withdrawing.
Garin Eubanks : I’ve noticed a few pundits backing Eubanks to win this one. He famously beat FAA a year ago but outside of that I haven’t really seen him win on tour. He’s got a big serve and big groundstrokes if he’s given time to produce them but I don’t see Garin allowing that. Garin is consistent, a better athlete, and has more experience winning on tour. Garin in 4-5.
Herbert De Minaur : Herbert is that guy that is always being counted out of matches while he quietly plays his offense and advances to the next round. Last year at this event he had absolutely taken Kyrgios apart until Mo Leyani decided to do what he does best and interfere in a match. De Minaur is that guy who simply does not look back if he has the slightest edge on his opponent. These two have very contrasting styles and personalities, and while De Minaur is likely favored here I’m hard pressed to say why. His results have mainly been beating pushers and outworking servers. Herbert is neither. The weather isn’t likely to be a big factor in NY this week, and the slower conditions may make it difficult for De Minaur to hit through Herbert. The problem for Herbert is 5 straight first round losses on tour. Somebody in 5.
Monteiro Klahn : Imagine being Herbert and De Minaur playing each other and seeing Bradley Klahn playing Thiago Monteiro in the same round. Life isn’t fair and neither are tennis draws though, and both these guys will be savoring this matchup. Klahn has been serving very well of late but his ceiling looks to be around 90-100 in the world, and Monteiro isn’t at his best on hardcourt but he does have a great deal of experience and is capable of the upset. If Klahn wants to remain on tour this is one he needs to win, and I think he will, but it won’t be easy. Klahn in 5.
Nishikori Trungelliti : Great turnaround for Marco against Griekspoor who has been in really good form this month. Kei has had two tough losses recently but likely won’t have one here. The hot weather at the US Open has hurt Kei in the past but it looks cool for this week. Nishikori in 4 or 3 if he serves his first serve over the net.
Tsitsipas Rublev : It’s a good thing this is a long match as there will likely be a lot of great momentum swings in this one. Tsitsipas will need to play his top level to win this match and Rublev is almost guaranteed to show up with his. McEnroe has said that he thinks Rublev is a future #1 and so these past two weeks may be signs of a steady level increase from the angry lil nugget. If orange yarn was angry at me I wouldn’t give it a tennis racquet but somebody did and thank glob because watching Rublev smash away at the ball is a lot of fun. Tsitsipas is coming off a few deciding set losses and that could play a role if this one goes deep. This match sits on Tsitsipas’ serve to me as if he gets into a lot of rallies with Rublev he may be forced into errors given the slower pace he prefers to play at. Rublev in 4-5.
Fratangelo Simon : I’m not a big fan of Bjorn’s game but he can look solid when he gets on a run. Simon seems like a much better version of what Bjorn is trying to be, and while neither player is in the best form of their lives Simon did beat Bjorn in straight sets earlier this year at the Australian Open. Simon in 4.
Hoang Mayer : Mayer has played 0 hardcourt events leading up to the US Open and this gives Hoang who is an up and coming Frenchmen a pretty good chance to get off to a good start. Mayer is classic for going deep in early rounds and this one has a good chance to get there. With the lack of activity there is a decent chance Mayer is coming into this one injured so it’s hard to say who is really favored here.
Johnson Kyrgios : Johnson has no backhand. Kyrgios has no class. I’m not trying to watch this shitty remake of the Wizard of Oz.
Berretini Gasquet : Prior to his loss to Federer Berretini was having one of the best 2019s of anyone on tour. A quick loss to Londero coupled with Gasquet’s return to 2017 form doesn’t bode well for him to pick up a win here, but with his serving ability it will be hard to count him out in straight sets. Gasquet seems to have found his form and always plays his best at majors. Gasquet in 4.
Sousa Thompson : Thompson does what Sousa does but with less offense and a better backhand. Sousa is definitely going to serve at a higher percentage here and that shot make this a winnable match for him. Given the effort level both these guys put in and the lack of major weapons you would expect this one to go deep, but Thompson seems like his best chance is for this one to take place in the evening on one of the smallest courts. Thompson has had the better hardcourt season as his losses have been close. Someone who’s going to lose to Gasquet the next round in 5.
Popyrin Delbonis : Popyrin is not getting much hype but the youngster from Australia has a great serve and excellent pace on his shots. He’s nabbed wins when he was able and hasn’t generally lost in straight sets too often which is a good sign for the future. Delbonis can put it together at times on hardcourt but lacks the defense to keep Popyrin in this match. There will likely be some tiebreakers in this one as both players should hold serve fairly well but Popyrin should come through as the surface and conditions favor him. Popyrin in 4.
Kukushkin Bautista Agut : This is a tough draw for Kukushkin because he’s really been bringing his best stuff in the majors. RBA leads this H2H 3-1, and that 1 was 9 years ago. Kukushkin hasn’t been crushing it this hardcourt season, and it likely will continue here. RBA’s loss to Gasquet a week ago was actually some of the best tennis I’ve seen, and I expect him to make a good run at this event. RBA in 3.
Ramos Vinolas Monfils : Will Monfils play or quit or be injured or try or not try. I’m actually pretty sick of watching at this point. ARV on the other hand plays the exact same robot game no matter what, but can’t really beat anyone on hardcourt who doesn’t beat themselves. Monfils in however many sets he feels like playing.
Humbert Copil : Copil has been struggling for wins on tour and Humbert has been nabbing them where they aren’t even expected. Breaks will be hard to come by in this one but I expect youth to be served. Humbert in 4.
Laaksonen Cecchinato : Cecchinato finally got a win last week. Laaksonen lost to Duckhee Lee and hasn’t played any hardcourt tennis, but beat Cecchinato badly in their only meeting last year. This one is a major coinflip and with the winner of Shap FAA waiting, it doesn’t matter who wins.
Shapovalov FAA : Shap finally got some wins this past week at an event that most people did not bother playing a full match of tennis at. He kept the ball in the court for a while until reverting against the pressure of Hurkacz who was fatigued but made sure to keep his errors down. Felix hasn’t exactly been a worldbeater on hardcourt as he was on clay and grass but he is the more consistent player and will feel at home in this matchup. As far as mental toughness one kid makes faces at his mom while losing and one of them hasn’t changed his expression since he was 16. FAA in 4-5 sets and criticism of Shap’s inconsistency and attitude aside this will be a great match to watch.
Edmund Andujar : One doesn’t sleep with girls because he heard “they’re trouble.” The other has many lovers and only takes a break from them to win two tournaments in a row before returning to once again restore happiness to the village and provide food for everyone on the mountain. Edmund hasn’t really risen to the heights in 2019 that he did in years past but he will roll in this match. The beatings from Medvedev are good practice and the prospect of playing a lower tier player with fewer weapons will be a relief that is easy to play through. Edmund in 3.
Sonego Granollers : Probably the coolest names in the first round, and the most unique styles on tour. Granollers leads the H2H 2-0, and with both having relatively few hardcourt matches and relatively few hardcourt wins, it can be expected that this may continue. Sonego’s got a big serve but Granollers plays solid annoying defense and generally when you struggle to beat a defensive player there is a reason for it. Granollers in 4-5.
Fabbiano Thiem : Fabbiano is good and this is Thiem’s worst surface but his hardcourt game is constantly improving and he’s put together some good performances at the US Open. Thiem in 3-4.
Bublik Giraldo : Bublik did well to get some wins on grass early this year but he’s been slumping on hardcourt since then. It seems that his game is just not completely together yet, and Giraldo is the right player to take advantage of this. There may be sparks of greatness for Bublik but this one likely goes the way of the dinosaurs. Giraldo in 4.
Zverev Our Boy Radu : This one is too close to call. Given Zverev’s struggles and recent losses and Radu’s excellent form this one could go to Albot quickly, but Albot will need to get to net and capitalize on every short ball that Zverev gives him as his weight of shot tends to keep him in matches and the long rallies don’t favor either opponent but the backhand to backhand exchanges favor Z. Zverev’s serve has been poor in 2019 but he hasn’t been giving up in matches and so he is likely still a favorite here. Someone in 5. Hopefully Radu.
Karlovic Tiafoe : Tiafoe won a few matches in Winston Salem ending a really poor losing streak. Unfortunately, the jury is still out on whether he will reach the levels projected. Karlovic will get to some tiebreakers, but this is one that Tiafoe cannot afford to lose. He probably will though. Karlovic in 5.
Kovalik Bedene : Bedene had a nice week taking home a challenger in his country, and somehow these countrymen have never played. Kovalik has been playing on a protected ranking for what seems like a very long time, and clay is his best surface so this is a tough ask. Bedene in 4.
Schnur Paire : Paire should have time to recover for this one, and while Schnur showed some bright spots in the NY Open last year, he’s had few results since then so there’s no reason to think he’ll beat a motivated Paire. Paire in 3.
Schwartzman Haase : Haase has played some good singles in the past two weeks, but this may be too much for him in the 3/5 format, despite leading the H2H 5-0. Diego will likely excise his demons here, but given the H2H it should be a close one. Diego in 5.
Harris Gerasimov : Lloyd is unlucky to draw one of the better players from the qualifiers here and a guy who beat him last year. While I do expect Gerasimov to win, Harris has improved leaps and bounds and has recently taken sets off of Feli Lopez, Ivashka, and beaten Berankis and Munar so he won’t go down without a fight. Gerasimov in 5.
Tsonga Sandgren : Tsonga hasn’t been very active or very good, but he plays a similar but bigger version of tennis to Sandgren. Tennys does wake up with a high level in majors so I wouldn’t be surprised if he grabs a set but he will likely just grab the Frenchman’s hand after an hour and 45 minutes to say good game good luck. Tsonga in 4.
Pospisil Khachanov. Pospisil almost nabbed Chung in a challenger a week ago and that’s nice. Khachanov in 3.
Isner Garcia Lopez : Isner has been bad. Garcia Lopez wasn’t broken in the last two rounds of qualifying. This one goes to tiebreakers and I wouldn’t be surprised if Garcia Lopez nabs the win here. Isner has been extremely poor of late. Someone in 5 tiebreakers.
Struff Ruud : Casper plays great one event and poor the next. Struff is a worldbeater until he plays someone who can put the ball on his backhand wing and then is trapped into errors. Ruud is simply not that player. Struff in 3.
Krajinovic Stebe : Steve’s comeback trail has been solid and Kraj hasn’t reached the levels he did in his breakout season, but he should be too consistent here for Stebe whose name I always type as Steve. Krajinovic in 4.
Klizan cilic : cilic is so timid. anything scares cilic. anything makes cilic nervous. i won’t capitalize anything in this paragraph so he doesn’t get startled. i like cilic. i want cilic to play good again. cmon cilic. you can do it. klizan hasn’t played any hardcourt tennis and is going to swing for the fences but doesnt really have the game to beat cilic for three full sets if marin plays decent. cilic in 4 non-threatening pressure free nobody expects anything of you it’s ok buddy sets.
Verdasco Kamke : Verdasco’s lack of activity bothers me, and Kamke is playing at a high level and is a standout athlete in a sport full of standout athletes. This one will go deep and I believe Kamke will win at least one set, then win two more. Kamke in 4-5
Chung Escobedo : Bad time to be playing Chung. He looked dominant in the qualifier and although Escobedo hits big and brings it every time, Chung is a top 50 player returning to an event where he has “unfinished business.” I expect a good run from him here and it starts with a 4 set victory over Escobedo. Admittedly I haven’t watched much of Ernesto this season so this prediction may be a bit optimistic.
Kokkinakis Ivashka : Ivashka is a better player than Kokkinakis. Coming through qualifying may give him a bit of a disadvantage but he’s been in great form lately and Kokkinakis has been stuck on the challenger tour. Ivashka in 3-4.
Millman Nadal : Millman wins this one easy. What’s that? You’re still reading? Ok. Nadal in 3.

"It is me, Peach! (Tee-Hee-Hee!)"

~ Princess Peach - August 2nd & 24th, 1981

​

Fasten your seat belts, ladies and gentlemen. It's Princess Peach Pandemonium.
It's not about Pac-Man Fever or Going Ape Over Donkey Kong anymore. Now, it's Pure Princess Peach Pandemonium.
Chills! Thrills! Test Your Skills!
Shrills! Spills! Make A Killin'!
Summer Of 1981-1982 - Queen Of Peach: Gambling With Pure Quarters.
It's Princess Peach's Day To Shine. And YOU Get To Have A Piece Of HER Pie.

SUPER PRINCESS PEACH: THE PRINCE RESCUE

A once-legendary kingdom has fallen. Where it used to be all flowers and sunshine, is now a ruined, wilted, cold and gray wasteland of its former glory. Its quiet, peace-loving inhabitants known as the Flower People turned into mere stones, bricks, and even flower-eating fungi, and the Flower Kingdom in which they lived peacefully transformed and turned on its head into an apocalyptic, nuclear-fueled and -driven industrial district. Who would be able to redeem this fallen kingdom in such a sorry, sad, and irreparable state? Well, the Flower Prince, of course.
Well, if the Flower Prince could. Unfortunately, however, there was something, or rather, someone else, among the havoc of the kingdom. The evil, tyrannical Koopa Turtle King. You see, he took the Flower Prince, and held him prisoner. Now literally all hope and chance of his former Flower Kingdom has been lost.
That was, until someone else came along. A beautiful maiden. A daughter of royalty also. A Toadstool Princess, whom we now know as the Peach Princess today.
But there's something else among the plight of the Flower Kingdom that is even much more disturbing to her than the actual crisis itself. A much-coveted, life-completing relationship that she had held for dear life and had maintained up to this very point.
The handsome Flower Prince just so happened to be Princess Peach's life-long boyfriend.
That's right! This time around, you're not the brave carpenter, or even the knight in shining armor, for that matter. Now, you ARE the beautiful maiden yourself!
"HELP! HELP!" cries the handsome prince as he is held captive in Bowser's Palace, awaiting the knight, or rather, dame, that will come in time to rescue him and his kingdom, and sweep him off of his feet. "ROAR! ROAR!" Foreboding music warns of the eventual doom that awaits the poor prince and his fallen kingdom, lest he somehow be miraculously rescued, and by some cosmic chance, have his kingdom rise again from the very ashes of Bowser's wrath. "But, wait! Fear not, fine prince. The young Princess Peach, the Toadstool Princess, is coming to you in a shining dress of armor, to rescue you and your kingdom from this terrible turtle and sweep you off your feet, this very moment."

1. Throwing fate to the wind, risking life and limb, or for worse, young Princess Peach tries desperately, and with all her heart and soul, to infiltrate the 8 vast worlds of the glorious Mushroom Kingdom she presently and proudly resides in, to rescue her Prince Charming from the scaly hands of the evil King Koopa, and restore his beloved kingdom to its former glory. Young Princess Peach must face all manner of evil and obstacles head-on-- Little Goombas, Koopa Troopas, the rest of Bowser's diabolical army, and of course, what a certain little Mario in our just-recent past had to face himself, fireballs, plummeting beams and a barrage of exploding barrels fired at her by a certain Donkey Kong somewhere else in her world.

Your challenge here this time around? Maneuver young Princess Peach through a most terrible, dangerous obstacle course, avoiding the very hazards that block her way to victory, such as bricks, question blocks, and even terrible turtle cannons, all while avoiding and toppling over the very turtle tribe army that comes her way. Along the way, you'll encounter all manner of very powerful, yet somehow very strange, power-ups in the Mushroom Kingdom itself.
Magic Mushrooms make Princess Peach grow big and Super and allow her to take a fatal hit once without perishing where she unfortunately would otherwise had. Fire Flowers turn her all hot and Fiery, and allow her to shoot fireballs down at a 45-degree angle to strike her enemies, or use a certain kind of block as a fireball mount to her greater advantage. Starmans turn her into a immortal human being herself and prevent her from ever getting hurt or killed at all for only a very small duration of 15 seconds. And the Life Mushroom gives her another chance at life, literally, by giving her an extra life to be reborn from whenever she tragically perishes in battle, by her soul reclaiming her spot at the beginning of a land or at a claimed checkpoint. Oh, and of course, by the way, Golden Coins are scattered everywhere too -- the lost treasury of Princess Peach and the Prince Flower scattered everywhere and about by the evil, fiery vengeance of the evil Koopa King. More Power-Ups are present in this strange new world, hers for the taking at any point in her quest. But you will need to explore diligently and gallantly in order to find every magic Power-Up this Mushroom Land has to offer.
All in all, you have to fight your very way through 8 dangerous Mushroom worlds, with a total of a whopping 32 lands -- 4 each world -- for her to conquer and reclaim from Bowser for herself.
Therefore, it is your job, or rather, quest, to get young Princess Peach to the Prince by seeking him out throughout these 8 different, strange worlds. For as the texts have before foretold, it is there, and only there, that the valiant young Princess Peach can throw the mighty, steel-resolve King Bowser Koopa out of his throne, send him to his mortal doom once and for all, and give rise to the Flower Kingdom once again, along with ultimately and once-and-for-all, her newly rescued Prince Charming -- Prince Blossom.
So, why are you still sitting around doing absolutely nothing while the Flower Kingdom wilts and suffers under Bowser's cruel rule? If you really want to participate in this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity -- Witnessing the epic quest of a first in female protagonist video gaming as you finally get to see a girl save a boy, and his kingdom, from a terrible, tyrannical, fire-breathing dragon turtle, in a vast, beautiful medieval kingdom setting, rather than the other way around like you've ALWAYS seen before in the miserable pile of secrets that is presently your life -- look no further than the original Super Mario Bros. adventure -- Super Princess Peach: The Prince Rescue.
Accept NO substitutes, and DON'T be fooled by blatant imitations.

The story and accolades are without a doubt a beautiful prologue to what is already going to be a truly historic piece of alternate history. Truly a gem among the rest of alternate history, including human history and video gaming history.
But I've come here for another reason that's more important here. I've just got a project started in Microsoft Small Basic that will become the foundation for a project that will predate Super Mario Bros. by almost 5 years:
Super Princess Peach: The Prince Rescue.
You probably won't recognize what I'm talking about here at all first and may think I'm just plain out of my mind here. And yes, you would probably be correct. It is for this reason, therefore, that I first get the entire basic point of SPP:TPR out of the way first.
SPP: TPR will essentially an early alpha/beta-esque primitive arcade version of the original NES Super Mario Brothers, built before Super Mario was even a thing and a true limit-pusher that not only ruthlessly defied early 80s computer hardware limits, like an entity rising against its fellow king, but also established its place as among one of the very first advanced video games, after the simpler ones from the 70s and at the beginning of the 80s, and as a truly unique, big experience for every single video gamer out there at that faithful time, compared to the rest, which was just mere video challenges to see who could beat the high score, or maybe something else, but they were still merely just that: video games. And not much different than from a board game like chutes and ladders and your average outdoor game such as jump rope and obstacle course runs, at that. SPP: TPR, however, essentially established a trend that our classic games of the yesteryear would've virtually never been able to fill by themselves. Of course, being a primitive version of SMB, it wouldn't go on to establish any new main paths for video gaming itself as a whole at the time, as SMB did. It DID, however, establish the foundation of what would revolutionize video gaming in 1985.
So you could safely say that SPP:TPR was only the foundation of SMB, while SMB itself was the whole shebang.

In light of that, now, let's discuss what will actually be in the game, especially when compared to NES SMB. First, the very basic core differences between SPP:TPR and NES SMB.

1. As mentioned, I'm currently building the game in SmallBASIC, and of course since the game itself will ultimately be built from Donkey Kong, I would have to adhere to the arcade machine's limitations.
2. Also, because of said limitations, I cannot use true smooth movement in SPP:TPR. Instead, I'll be using an innovative workaround: Pseudo-Smooth Movement, movement with its "raw" value that would otherwise govern true smooth movement restricted to the console, and then ceilinged up to a true integer data number along with a few other calculations to get a rough, primitive "smooth movement" system, akin to that of a moving car shifting gears.

My next topic will be on the basic features of the game itself, but on a higher level than the previous point, since it will discuss features aside from that from the very basic technical aspects of SPP:TPR especially when compared to NES SMB.

First, the fourth Super Form of Peach herself: Super Fiery Peach, and the Magic Fire Flower.

1. Princess Peach in SPP:TPR will feature a fourth Super Form for Peach herself, which from Regular, Super, and Fiery, will be Super Fiery. Peach acts exactly the same as Fiery Peach as Super Fiery Peach otherwise, but has one final extra ability added to her arsenal.
2. If the player holds down the Run Button in-game, where normally just pressing it would have her shoot a single small Fireball, Peach can charge a Fire Blast. Releasing the Run Button when it's fully charged will cause Peach to release the fire blast.
3. This most powerful standard permanent weapon in the entire game of SPP:TPR will not only plow through entire armies of enemies, particularly weak enemies, but upon impact, will also destroy a straight (not diagonal) 3x3 cross of Brick Blocks, even allowing Peach to dig through bricks much more easily that she ever could've otherwise.
4. Although the fire blast will unfortunately still not be able to affect Buzzy Beetles at all like with fireballs, unlike fireballs, fire blasts are not destroyed upon impact on a Buzzy Beetle. In fact, literally nothing happens. The fire blast just simply phases through the Buzzy Beetle(s). While this may seem mundane and completely useless, the kicker here is that this will literally allow the fire blast to take out a majority of a larger enemy army without any worries whatsoever, even though they may end up connecting with a Buzzy Beetle or two or more.
5. With fireballs on the other hand (quite literally), you may literally be unable to handle the enemy army at all offensively simply because the Buzzy Beetles just so happen to prevent your fireballs from ever being effective in that sort of situation.

Next, the Magic Crystal.

1. The Magic Crystal is considered a Very Rare item; in fact, only appearing in specific courses throughout the entire game compared to the rest of the game's items and power-ups. There are only two magic crystals on one course of each world in the entire game, with two of those appearing in all 4 courses of both the 7th and 8th worlds, totaling up to a mere 32 Magic Crystals throughout the entire game.
2. Collecting a Magic Crystal will increase Peach's power twofold. With the Magic Crystal, Peach will be able to jump much higher than normal (Luigi's jump height in SMB:TLL), and possess the opposite of incredibly poor traction (again, Luigi from SMB:TLL), meaning, much stronger traction than normal.
3. Peach will also gain the ability to hover (like in SMB2USA), allowing her to cross and skip over enemies and obstacles that would've potentially given the player trouble otherwise.
4. Also, all her usual power-ups and forms will be powered-up while under the influence of the Magic Crystal. Aside from her enhanced core platforming mechanics mentioned earlier, Regular Princess Peach will be able to break Brick Blocks normally from below with her fist without the aid of a Magic Mushroom first, break Hard Blocks as Super Peach, shoot larger fireballs than usual that are blue/cyan that are able to take out bricks on their own as Fiery Peach, and Super Fiery Peach's fire blasts can now even bust the same 3x3 cross upon impact out of Hard Blocks instead. The fire blasts can also now plow through regular bricks without ever disintegrating upon impact, making Brick Block barriers a complete breeze to bust through.
5. In addition, literally all power-ups, including non-power-up items, in the entire game, will be boosted as a result. The Clock will grant Peach 100 extra seconds instead of the normal 10; the Wings will allow Peach to "swim" or fly through the air, as per usual, but all natural "air" resistance will be eliminated, permitting Peach to move most effectively while under the influence of the Wings themselves, as if she were on completely solid ground; the Anchor, again, works as normal, but all natural "water" resistance will be eliminated as well, allowing her to perform completely normal platform movement outside of water levels, compared to her normal self, where some water resistance is felt with the Anchor; and the Pink Hearts and Golden Hearts will have their points increased twofold and tenfold respectively. The Pink Heart will award 10000 points, but the Golden Heart on the other hand -- if you're incredibly lucky and just so happen to stumble upon both in that order -- will award an incredible 100000 points. There are many more power-ups that won't be listed here right now that are boosted by the Magic Crystal, but this should give you the very basic idea here.
6. Also, Peach can take a hit from a single "negative power-up", without it negatively affecting her at all. These include but are certainly not limited to: Poison Mushrooms, Cursed Clocks, and Ztarmans. However, she loses the Magic Crystal's Superpower in the process. Oh, and by the way, DON'T even think about the possibility that you're gonna get 1000 points by having the audacity to take a negative power-up to the face in exchange for your Magic Crystal Power. You will NOT get anything in return at all, or the 1000 point bonus you might've been expecting.

Now, my third point. This time, we'll be discussing the addition of Secret Exits, how Warp Zones, the game's Plus Mode (Hard Mode), and the game world as a whole, will be changed an affected in SPP:TPR, and the secret 100% bonus ending to the game itself, among others like those.

First, Secret Exits, since that was mentioned first.

1. Pipes that would normally lead to an underground or underwater section at the end of a course during an intermission can be accessed from the top instead, which is that course's secret exit. From there, a Special World will be accessed. These Special Worlds will be based off of past Nintendo games (at SPP:TPR's time in 1981), which are Radar Scope, and Donkey Kong, and essentially concepts for future games, such as Wrecking Crew and Mario Bros., in the same way that essentially a tech demo for Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker, was showcased in Super Mario 3D World, to ultimately become its own standalone game.
2. WARNING: Now, this next bullet point is gonna be a spoiler. So if you wish to discover all this on your own in the finished product of SPP:TPR, please do not click the spoiler below.
3. If you complete the main game on Plus Mode without ever using Warp Zones (Normal Mode is fine. In fact, performing this on Normal Mode but not on Plus Mode will STILL void access to Mario's Palace and the secret 100% ending. In fact, you'd be wasting your time if you DO foolishly decide to use the Warp Zones in Plus Mode anyway: Each and every Warp Zone in their normal locations in Normal Mode (except for that in 4-2, which is actually a Backward Warp Zone; that normal Warp Zone normally there is in 6-2 instead) will only take you to the next world, and in fact, it's even possible to get unlucky enough to end up with Snake Eyes and go through BOTH Backward Warp Zones in a row in the entire Plus Mode, which are in 4-2 (to 1-1) and 8-4 (to 5-1) respectively), accept the Second Quest to play both modes all over again, but this time, play through only the secret retro levels throughout the entire game, Prince Blossom will inform you that a portal to Mario's Palace has opened up, and that as it turns out, Mario has been expecting Princess Peach this entire time to repay her in her entirety for the pain and suffering that she had caused him in his entire life, since she rejected Mario in marriage, and wanted to be with Prince Blossom forever instead, turning him into the cruel, heartless sociopath he was at the time, taking out all his anger, sadness, and frustration on animals instead of humans, namely Donkey Kong and the rest of his Kong crew. From there, Princess Peach must enter the portal to Mario's Palace