Entertainment | Daddy Mojo

Ma: The Japanese Secret to Contemplation and Calm, 18 essays on pausing life

Tsundoku is the Japanese word for buying or collecting books, intending to read them later. In the meantime, they form paper based, scaled down mountains that range in colors and thickness. I use that word as more of an activity, or something I do, rather than an affliction. Ma is a much more subtle Japanese word. It can mean ‘negative space’, untapped potential, or any pause in life that you intentionally do. Ma: The Japanese Secret to Contemplation and Calm is a collection of 18 essays and photographs about the concept of what isn’t there.

Ma: The Japanese Secret to Contemplation and Calm: An Invitation to Awareness is 18 essays on intentional pauses, negative space, and stillness to makes action more powerful.

Essays that will help you see what isn’t there

The Dragon Con Family is a name we had heard, and it rings true for anyone

The Dragon Con family. It’s a strange thing referring to a major fan convention of 75,000+ as ‘family’, but it’s not an inaccurate title. This was the first year I consciously heard the phrase, but it’s highly likely that it was used around me over the past 15 years. Dragon Con, in and of itself, is a unique thing to experience and comprehend. It’s a massive celebration of pop culture that happens over Labor Day in Atlanta.

What to expect from Dragon Con? What’s not to expect from Dragon Con? After 15 years it better each time.

Fear not the Dragon Con-and don’t expect any dragons

Exploring Ghibliverse: The Ultimate Guide to Studio Ghibli

Ghibli is so ubiquitous that I accidentally started typing this in Ghibli font when I was trying to save the document under the same name. Yeah, there’s a font named after the iconic animation Japanese studio. Studio Ghibli is a filmmaker’s animation studio, much like bands that paved the way for other bands, such as The Gits or Pylon. Ghibliverse: Studio Ghibli Beyond the Films, books, music, manga and more-a guide to a magical world is a reference book with an opinion. It’s a research love letter featuring photographs of famous animators, hundreds of stills from movies and television shows, and dozens of images from the Ghibli Museum, showcasing an animation studio that produces work with its own distinctive style.

Ghibliverse: Studio Ghibli Beyond the Films is an accessible look at the animation kingdom.

You know the style, this book is encylopedic in its details

Dying to Ask: 38 Questions From Kids About Death delivers the dead goods

Death happens. It’s a scary, unknown thing that is an absolute final, unless you see a ghost, then that’s scarier. Kids have many questions about death and that can be frustrating because nobody really has the answers. Adults try to avoid the topic. Kids can become frustrated because they’ve had contact with it through a family member. Dying to Ask: 38 Questions From Kids About Death is exactly what its name entails and is so much more than you think it is. It accomplishes this through a combination of the questions, the illustrations that accompany each question, and the tone in which they’re answered.

Dying to Ask: 38 Questions About Death From Kids manages to be respectful, funny, insightful and heartfelt on this sometimes taboo subject that touches everyone.

Let’s talk about death, no really

Pink Floyd at Pompeii, a must-see for musicphiles and Floyd cinephiles

My first time was the winter of 2010. It was snowing outside, and I was on the computer, trying to write something funny, listening to music on YouTube while it did its algorithm thing. Pink Floyd at Pompeii came on. I was typing something and wasn’t paying attention to what was on the screen for the first couple of minutes. The music I recognized as Pink Floyd, but the recording was a live one that I hadn’t heard before. Once I switched over to the visuals of Pink Floyd at Pompei,i I was hooked for life and it became a staple of our viewing once a month for the past 15 years.

Pink Floyd at Pompeii has finally been re-mastered. It’s worth the wait and shows the gothic beauty of the area with laser clarity and sharpens the music to where it’s the sonic screwdriver we all need.

Believe the hype

Seven Little Ducklings: A Fun Counting Adventure

The palpable joy of the pre-k or kindergarten audience who knows a problem with a story must be caged, bottled, or otherwise sold to the late afternoon crowd. They know that the princess lives in a tower, so the audience is curious when the princess’s home is revealed to be a swamp. They’ll laugh as quietly as they can and squirm in their seats as they try not to be loud. Seven Little Ducklings delivers that same story time charm because kids think that they know the story, only to have it twist in ways that are unexpectedly cute or funny.

Seven Little Ducklings is the super cute, semi-counting illustrated book that channels the fun and enjoyment you want ages 3-7 to take away from kidlit.

These are the ducklings that you’re looking for

A Minecraft Movie, tween and teen greatness in a mindless wrapper

There are certain markers that define cultural zeitgeists. A Minecraft Movie is one of those instances. As a video game launched in 2011 it has a built-in fan base of millions of kids. Some of them will be knee-deep in their appreciation and fandom, others are about enter it and some stopped playing it in lieu of other games. Our family has two kids in the Minecraft interest world, both of whom had different reactions to A Minecraft Movie.

A Minecraft Movie is not for you. This is for middle through high school, maybe even college ages who played the game and want some silly.

This movie is not for you, unless you’re in middle or high school

70 Puzzles You’ll Get Wrong: Insights from Puzzle Me Twice

The subtitle to this puzzle book by Alex Bellos is so true. I’m a relatively clever person so I approached each of the set ups in Puzzle Me Twice with, what I thought was, a calm head and a clear mind….and I got most of them incorrect. I rationalized it by saying that they were incorrect because once I read the correct answer I realized my response was too quick. Had I really taken my time the book would have confirmed to me the genius that I think I am. However, in my self-imposed course of humble pie, I jumped in the rabbit hole of Alex Bellos’ other puzzles and have lowered my genius peg down to humble puzzle novice.

Puzzle Me Twice is jammed with 70 deceivingly easy puzzles you’ll get wrong, but have fun doing them.

This is not the bad puzzle book that you seek