What’s On The Shelf | Games, Music & Culture

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  • Heroin – Jessie Murph

    Jessie Murph’s Heroin turns heartbreak into a haunting cycle of longing, relapse, and emotional addiction — a soft, chilling confession wrapped in raw vulnerability.

  • A Golden Era for Gamers, a Brutal Era for Developers

    A golden era for players is proving to be a brutal era for developers. Six of 2024–2025’s biggest hits generated billions in revenue, yet publishers like Sony, Square Enix, and Microsoft cut thousands of jobs. Here’s how corporate greed is reshaping the industry behind the games we love.

  • Baby, I Love Your Way – Peter Frampton

    A timeless acoustic love song from Peter Frampton, pairing gentle imagery with unwavering devotion. Warm, easygoing, and unforgettable.

  • Baseball Hall of Fame Ballot (WOTS Edition)

    The Baseball Hall of Fame ballot is equal parts sacred ceremony and deeply broken popularity contest. With Beltrán and Andruw Jones finally in, I’m throwing my own WOTS ballot into the ring — ten picks, zero restraint, and a healthy disrespect for pitcher wins.

  • My Happiness – John and Fiona Prine

    A beautifully simple love story sung by John and Fiona Prine, My Happiness is a tender reminder of how powerful straightforward lyricism can be — and how much music has changed since 1948.

  • Punch-Out!! (NES) – Little Mac, Big Memories and Bigger Asterisks

    Punch-Out!! for the NES is one of my earliest gaming memories—an endlessly replayable boss rush of patterns, timing, and wildly dated stereotypes. Little Mac may be the underdog, but this game still punches way above its weight.

  • Sixteen Tons – Tennessee Ernie Ford

    A foot-tapping baritone with a gut-punch message: “Sixteen Tons” turns coalfield economics into a four-minute warning about work, debt, and dignity. From company stores and scrip to modern debt traps, this Lyrics of Labor entry digs into why the song still feels uncomfortably current.

  • Ethics in Video Game Consumption

    Video games are built on crunch, consolidation, and compromise. Is ethical consumption even possible—or is it just a question of how much you’re willing to ignore?

  • Lost Kingdoms (Day 5) – Master of Puppets

    Katia crosses a beautiful bridge full of horrors, gets yelled at by a king in denial, and descends into crystal-lined mines filled with monsters, cowardly soldiers, and moral quandaries. Runestone secured. Card missed. Progress questionable.

  • Vampire – Olivia Rodrigo

    Olivia Rodrigo’s Vampire tears into the aftermath of a toxic relationship with clarity, venom, and catharsis.