Top 5 Chrismas Songs

 As heard on the CWK Pourover, here are my top 5 Christmas songs:

5. Santa Claus is Comin to Town performed by Bruce Springsteen (1985)

This song, besides being performed by the legendary "Boss," will always remind me of my childhood and the good times hanging out with my brother.  He introduced me to Rock and Roll and some of the greats like The Boss.  My brother would always get a kick out of Springsteen when he couldn't stop laughing at all the "Ho ho ho's."  Classic performance!

4. Christmas Time is Here by Lee Mendelson and Vince Guaralaldi (1965)

Who doesn't love the Charlie Brown Christmas special?  This program and this opening song to the show wrap up all the feelings of Christmas to me.  It makes me feel nostalgic, it gives me serenity, and it brings me joy.  When I hear this song on the radio, all those feelings come back to me.  

3. It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year by Andy Williams

The hot start to this song brings images of the city all decorated in lights.  I picture holiday shopping, and happy people carrying packages on a snowy night through the streets of the city.  It might be Michigan Avenue in Chicago. The title says it all with the uplifting performance of Andy Williams, when I hear this song, I know Christmas is here!  

2. Silent Night performed by Bing Crosby (1945)

Take one of the most beautiful songs of the holiday season and add one of the most memorable singers of the last 100 years, and you have a song that can change a life.  When I was young, WLS radio in Chicago would play Christmas music from noon on Christmas eve to Midnight on Christmas day.  This was

1. Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas performed by James Taylor (2002)

There are certain songs that resonate with us all year round even though it is a "summer song" or a "break-up song."  This is my Christmas song that stays with me every year.  The lyrics "Let your heart be light, from now on our troubles will be out of sight" speak to me, because I am a person who tends to let my troubles stay with me.  In this Christmas time and anytime really, I need to "be light."  

I hope you all have a Merry Little Christmas and a Happy Holiday in 2020.  And as I think about all of you, I can't help think about the lyrics, "Faithful friends who are dear to us, gather near to us, once more."  Let's use this time to come together in peace for the good of all of us.  

The Krayt Dragon

I have been wanting to share some of my thoughts on season two of The Mandalorian, but I have had a difficult time wrapping my brain around on where to begin.  So, I would like to start with a little monster fun and the Krayt Dragon.  The Mandalorian dons his armor and gathers his "army" to battle with one of the greatest monsters in Star Wars Universe.   

To succeed in this task, Din Djarin needs some help.  He finds an ally in The Marshal of Mos Pelgo, Cobb Vance.  Vance has a suit of Mandalorian armor that appears to be formerly owned by the famous bounty hunter Boba Fett, that The Mandalorian wants to return to its rightful owners.  Cobb Vance offers the armor as a reward if the Mandalorian helps to defeat the dragon. In addition, Din Djarin uses his knowledge of the Sandpeople culture and language to recruit a tribe of Tuskin Raiders to assist in this battle.  Everyone wins if the dragon is defeated, Din Djarin gains a suit of Mandalorian armor, Cobb Vance and the people of Mos Pelgo get peace from the dragon and a newfound truce with the Tuskin Raiders, and the Tuskin Raiders in addition to territorial peace, get a huge supply of meat.  The stakes are high for this epic battle.  

 

We as fans, finally, get to see the lair of this creature and it's massive size.  I was surprised at how quickly the dragon could travel underground during the battle to come at its attackers from different angles.  It even burrows up into the hill to emerge from above where it sprays some sort of bile acid onto the attackers, a breath weapon, I suppose.  This was unexpected if not a little gross!  I enjoyed the "scream" of the creature.  Now I finally understand why the Tuskin Raiders, who were rummaging through Luke Skywalkers landspeeder, ran so suddenly from the mock Krayt Dragon call that Obi Wan Kenobi created in Star Wars: A New Hope.  In the end, Din Djarin makes a sacrafice to save "his people" as he lures the Krayt Dragon to swallow himself and a Bantha loaded with  explosives.  A few moments later, Din Djarin uses his jetpack to fly out of the mouth of the dragon to remotely set off the explosives to slay the dragon in a dramatic fashion.  The battle is won; the hero saves the day.  We also get a quick peek at a celbratory discovery by one of the Sandpeople as they are harvesting the meat of the dragon.  Was that a legendary Krayt Dragon pearl that we learned about in the Knights of the Old Republic stories?   

This was a cinematic monster episode that portrays as Din Djarin as the brave knight, literally, in shining armor.  I like this image.  So far we have seen the Mandalorian as a bounty hunter, a gun fighter, a shadowy infiltrator, but this is a keystone battle as a knight for the good of a society.  I have to wonder if this is a change for Din Djarin.  Has picking up and caring for The Child changed his thoughts on what the galaxy has in store for its people?  I don't know, it is something to think about, but for this experience, we need a mythical creature like the Krayt Dragon.  Monsters play such an important role in storytelling.  They give us the antagonist we need to bring out the best in our hero.  Here it seems this monster helps to highlight the heroic qualities of the Mandalorian.  

What are some of your favorite monsters of Star Wars and what do they add to the story of our heroes in a galaxy far, far away?   

Top 5 Star Wars Card Trader 2020 Insert and Award Cards

I have written several posts about Digital Card Trading recently, but this week I want to highlight my Top 5 SWCT 2020 insert cards.  I am filtering my collection to just the 2020 cards, and looking at Epic, Super Rare, Rare, and Uncommon cards.  I am also including award cards for this list.  I am only looking at cards that are in my personal collection, so there may be cards in your collection that you have that are not in mine.  I would enjoy hearing what your top 5 or top cards are for 2020, leave a comment below with those or tag me on Twitter @draftline with images of your favorite cards.  

5. In Disguise - Standard - BB-8 in disguise as a First Order Waste Bin *Uncommon

I really liked this set, but this card stood out, because it was unexpected and it made me laugh.  

4.  Valentine's Day 2020: Red - Millennium Falcon *Rare

There is something about Chewbacca spreading the love.  

3. Original Artwork: "Poe Dameron" by Derek Laufman *Award Card

If Poe Dameron wasn't cool already, this artistic rendition screams "Poe Dameron is cool!" 

2. The Mandalorian - From the Outer Reaches - Bounty Hunter *Rare

I just love the vintage feel of this Mandalorian set, but especially this particular card of our favorite Mandalorian.  

1. Topps Women of Star Wars: Myrna Velasco as Torra Doza *Super Rare

The Women of Star Wars set might be my favorite set of the year, but I find the art of The Resistance to be really cool, colorful and fun.  I really like the color in this card.  I like the confident stance of Torra Doza, and I like that I was able to get a digital signature of the electric Myrna Velasco!  

Did you like this list of top 5 cards?  Let me know, and I will continue with a series of Top 5 2020 cards in other Topps Digital Card Trading apps.  What are your top SWCT inserts and awards of 2020?  

Digital Card Trading: Part 3: The Community

Part of the fun of collecting cards as a kid was trading doubles or trading a fist full of cards for the one "holy grail" card that you wanted because it was a certain Chicago Cub player, or Boba Fett, or that final card to finish a set.  Trading gave a whole new value to having duplicates of cards.  There were really only two things to do with a duplicate card.  One was to put it in the spokes of your bike to make that buzzing sound that made us feel pretty cool, or the second was to trade those cards with friends.  

I never really thought of community much as a kid, but the friends we hung out with as kids were our community.  This, being a part of a community, is part of the fun digital card trading. We find a few people who are really fair traders, we make a few trades and we start creating a community.  Even better, the community isn't limited to who is in your neighborhood or school, it could be anyone around the world who shares the passion for cards like you do.  

Topps Digital Card Trading seems to understand this and has created ways for us to easily make connections.  We have the ability to search user names and follow friends and fellow card traders.  When we follow someone, we have the ability to see their collections and a couple different lists: a wish list and a trade list.  Most importantly, we have the opportunity to trade with those we are following.  This is the best way to have fun and finish sets.  I found that when I started building my followers list, my set completion jumped.  When I found my community, I have found that we are all pretty generous.    

Another way that Topps Digital Card Trading started building community was with "Watch Parties."  The first watch party my family took part in was the Disney Collect party for Onward.  Both of my girls downloaded the Disney Collect app and as we watched Onward, we collected the cards that dropped, and then we traded to complete the set that accompanied the Watch Party.  During the movie, we watched the community comments, and I was super impressed with how positive the community was in talking about the movie.   We had such a good time that when it was announced that there would be a Frozen II watch party, we were on board.  We started collecting as many credits as we could, so we could go crazy buying packs to finish the set during the film.   I have noticed that the watch parties have crossed over to Star Wars Card Trader, Marvel Collect, and Slam.  I really appreciated the efforts of the Bunt team to do watch parties during the MLB playoffs this year.  I watched more MLB playoff games than I normally do, to take part in the conversation with other fans of baseball.  

Finally, card collectors have built their own communities on social media.  One such community that connects to SWCT was started by the host of The Rebel Base Card podcast, Greg McLaughlin.  He created a community on Twitter around the hashtag #cardsquadron.  Greg often does a Friday check-in, to connect with his community and keep the conversation going.  It is pretty common for a newcomer to the app to join the card squadron and ask for a little help getting started.  Everyone jumps in and sends trades.  When sets are about to be completed, the community helps out with making connections to help members finish the sets.  Every now and again, I get random trades in my favor from members of #cardsquadron just because.  If SWCT is your thing, search out #cardsquadron and you will quickly discover the community, and you will be a part of one of the most positive and helpful groups out there.

When we are looking for positive ways to connect to others, the Digital Card Trading communities connect people with similar interests.  This is a fun way to build a collection and celebrate fandom with others who share our passions.  Get out there to collects and connect!  Have fun.  

What are some communities you are a part of through Digital Card Trading or even with print cards?  Who do you trade with?  What other ways do you celebrate the community of card collecting?  Share your thoughts, experiences, and ideas below.  

A Daily Reminder from "The Child"

 Some days it is just too much.  I'm sure we've all been there at some point this year.  Some days it is just too much toxicity in social media, on other days it is too much division in politics.  Some other days are just filled with too much responsibility or too much stress.  Whatever it is, we need Chewie to put up the front deflector shield to protect us from the onslaught.  The truth is Chewie is not sitting next to us, and we don't have the Millenium Falcon's deflector shields to protect our front.  When times become overwhelming, we seem to lose hope.  

This week a good friend of mine gifted a tiny figure of The Child to me.  As seen in the picture, it is a recreation from an episode in season one when the Mandalorian, IG-11, Cara Dune and Greef Karga are trapped in a cantina while being assaulted from the street by an Imperial garrison led by Moff Gideon.  Gideon sends an Incinerator Trooper with his flame-throwing weapon into the cantina to finish off the Mandalorian's team.  When the flames blast into the cantina, The Child steps up and uses the Force to deflect the flames back upon the trooper.  It is a climactic moment as The Child saves the team for the moment, and we all took a deep breath as they get a moment to regroup.  

I set this little figurine on my desk below my monitor because he is quite cute.  Besides being cute, he also reminds me that when the toxicity, stress, overwhelming responsibility come at me, I can handle it.  I can use the Force in me to decide to not participate in comments or become emotionally involved in controversial issues.  I can use the Force in me to decide that I'm not going to participate in social media until I feel better and more prepared to face it.  I can use the Force in me to take the stress of the day and find a positive way to break my tasks apart and tackle them one at a time.  I can use the Force in me to say "no" sometimes, and that's okay.  

There is so much in this life to bring us down.  Look for the positive in every situation, but when it becomes overwhelming, think about The Child and how he uses the peace of the Force to face the worst.   

Digital Card Trading Part 2 "Hoarding"

The Topps Digital Card apps have become a big part of my life as I carry those apps on my phone with me
wherever I go. Which means I also get to carry my card collections with me everywhere as well.  Notifications let me know when new sets or new cards of marathon sets are released.  It is great!  I get to celebrate some of my favorite things from Star Wars, Marvel Comics, and baseball.  I get to share the fun of card trading with my kids with the Disney Collect app, and I get the sheer joy of cracking open packs in an app that doesn't necessarily appeal to me in the WWE SLAM app.  I still don't know why I collect those cards except it is just fun to open packs and see what's in there!  

I noticed a certain culture develop in the Star Wars Card Trader app pretty early.  It is a culture where people try to collect as many duplicates (or dupes) of a certain card.  This practice is called Hoarding.  I don't know why, but I found myself looking for a card that was my favorite to try to hoard for the fun of it.  If you take a look at my BATTLEJUMP SWCT account in the 2015 set, I attempted to hoard Darth Maul.  My attempt got me to 695 copies of this card.  I will say this is quite a small hoard as I have seen many card hoards in the upper 1000's, but I would not be surprised to see some hoards over 10,000.  This is a really interesting and in my eyes a fun and silly way of collecting.  For a few years and sets, I would find a card or two and start collecting as many as I could.  Then, I started collecting and hoarding teams.  One year I collected all the Rebels, then stormtroopers, etc.  Of course, the more cards I try to "hoard," the more difficult it becomes to accrue a large number of those cards without spending a ton of time trading.  

I have started using this concept of hoarding to try something new with my collection.  I don't actively go out and trade for as many of certain cards anymore (okay maybe a little), but I use the workshop to help shape and curate my collection.  For example, in my CYCLELIBRARIAN account in the current 2020 card sets, I am collecting as many of the animated (Clone Wars, Rebels, Resistance) cards as I can. 

Then, to get those cards to the top of my collection, I "workshop" any base cards that aren't animated to try to get those to drop below all of my animated cards, and when I look at my collection, I choose to look using the duplicates settings, so the cards with the most dupes are at the top.  

I know this is all pretty silly, but it makes for a fun way to curate your collection and it brings some fun to collecting "just" the base cards.  So, here is one more thing I am playing with the Disney Collect app.  In the base tier 1 collection, I have been able to separate my curated dupe collection from the rest of the collection by a large span of cards.  There is a 30 card separation between my top dupes and the rest of the collection.  So now using the Workshop, I'm going to start putting in order my favorites of the "favored" cards.  It is one more level of curation so that my very favorite card is at the top and then in descending rank they will show up by the amount of dupes each card has.  For example, right now I have 136 Kristoff cards, 128 Sven cards, 122 Elsa, 116 Olaf, and 107 Anna cards.  I would like Elsa and Anna to be at the top of my collection. 

So I will probably trade to get Anna's count up and then start workshopping Kristoff and Sven so they drop below the 122 count.  Wow!  That's a lot of work for Tier One cards, but, hey, they are Tier One so why not have some fun with "throwaway" cards now that I have the award for the set.  

What do you think?  Do you hoard cards in the digital card apps?  Do you hoard print cards?  What do you think of using the idea of hoarding and the workshop to curate a collection?  Leave a comment and let me know what your largest hoard or card count is.  Want to trade?  Check part 1 of my Digital Card Trading posts for the card apps that I am in and follow my user ID's.  Have fun!  

Digital Trading Cards Part 1

 I love trading cards!  I have collected trading cards on an off since the 1970's.  Over the last 5-6 years, though, my trading card fascination has taken a new turn as the Topps Company, who happens to be my favorite trading card company, has moved into digital card trading.  

Star Wars Card Trader was the first digital card trading app to which I was introduced.  I was at the Indiana Comic Con with my friends from Coffee with Kenobi, Dan Zehr and Cory Clubb, when I downloaded it and entered into a new world of card trading.  I will never forget standing in lines at the Indianapolis Convention Center collecting Star Wars cards with Dan and Cory while figuring out all the different aspects of digital card trading.  Since then, I have added Huddle, Bunt, Marvel Collect, Disney Collect and most recently SLAM.  

I plan to write more about digital card trading here on Seeking Positivity in the Galaxy because there are so many positive aspects to card trading.  If you are interested in trading with me in any of the apps mentioned above, I would enjoy swapping some cards for fun and for collecting sake.  Here are my user names:  

Bunt:  BATTLEJUMP

Disney Collect:  BATTLEJUMP

Marvel Collect:  CYCLELIBRARIAN

SLAM: CYCLELIBRARIAN

Star Wars Card Trader:  JEDIGROSS

I am almost always up for a trade of dupes, and you can look at my base card collection to see what cards I tend to "hoard."  Actually, "hoarding" will be the topic of my next post on digital card trading.  What card apps do you actively collect?  What are some of your favorite features of the card apps by Topps?  Leave a comment below.