Ben McKenzie

Does he know abot the public transport matches?

I love that this implies a hierarchy, where chicken flavoured chips and BBQ shapes are worth twenty times as much as salt and vinegar chips and cheese and bacon shapes.

New on Enough Trope, the podcast: Mikaella Clements and Onjuli Datta talk about 'The Chosen One' and their horror novel, Feast While You Can (perfect for Hallowe'en listening!) www.enoughtrope.com/podcast/the-...

Stoked to have scored one of only fifty(!) “CAPtinues” as a way to further support the work of @continuemag.bsky.social. Here’s me imagining an arcade machine asking “CONTINE?”, which I reckon I will do every time I put it on. Cheers conts!

Issue 1 of @continuemag.bsky.social arrived in the mail this week, and it’s a blast! A delightful mix of familiar and new names, stories and games. Really enjoying reading it, and excited for more!

Anyone got a tip for how to find depreciation info for a computer monitor? ATO website is…not super navigable for this.

All of Grant’s tiny games are great, but The Witch is Dead is probably my favourite one. Avenge your witch as a small magical creature!

New project: I’m the producer of the @enoughtrope.com podcast! In each episode, a guest author discusses a genre trope: what it means, how it fits into culture and society, and how they’ve used it in their own work.

I learned years ago that there’s always a double rainbow, but the second one is much fainter. You can usually see it if you know to look. I saw one this morning. “Look for the second rainbow” feels like an aphorism, but “when you see a good thing, look for another one” doesn’t feel very profound…

Melbourne! Do you love kinky queer smut as much as you love mossy green forests? Do you want to attend a church invented by a tired, middle aged artwitch, sexworker and weirdo? Come to Dirt Church! www.melbournefringe.com.au/whats-on/eve...

Avery Alder has made some of the most interesting and influential RPGs of the last decade or so. My fave is The Quiet Year. I just bought her recent sitcom game, Going for Broke. (I’m hoping to play it with my comedy students!) If you’ve never played or read her games, now’s a great time.

Dolly Parton's family asked that, in lieu of flowers, fans make a donation to the singer's Imagination Library. Here's what the charity does ⬇️ www.rollingstone.com/music/music-...

Nearly every Australian engages with arts and culture. Politicians should pay attention theconversation.com/nearly-every...

Great to see the other Ben McKenzie doing local media about the documentary, just as we’ve released the episode of @bridgertonpod.bsky.social where I appear as a guest and mention it… www.bridgertonpod.com/episodes/59-...

Optimist: the cup is half full Pessimist: the cup is half empty Creative arts teacher: who filled the cup? What were their influences? Where is the cup from? Is that really water? What does your own cultural capital help you understand about it? Reflect on your experience of the cup in 800 words.

Now free to read for all subscribers.

Writer and artist friends, I get it, changing platforms is daunting. But Substack has a number of longstanding serious problems and you don’t need to use it. This site by @seankilleen.com has more info and options for alternatives, and if you need help, reach out. leavesubstack.com

Teaching a summer class on fixing everything that's wrong....in your first five pages. I know. I wish I could teach you how to fix everything that's wrong in the damn universe. But I can definitely help your manuscript kick some serious ass. www.theshipmanagency.com/classes/firs...

GNU Bill Oddie. In the liner notes for a Goodies anthology, he (jokingly) wrote: “I would like to thank the other two Goodies, but I really can’t: it would have been so much easier without them.” It’s a little harder without you, Bill. But what a life, and now you return to the nature you loved.

Post a perfect album from the 90s that isn’t Nirvana, Soundgarden, Pearl Jam or Alice in Chains… I mean, how could I stop at just one? (There are many more.)

I gave up on the game (too much AC nonsense) but when working on a pirate game myself, I listened to the sea shanty soundtrack on repeat for months. I’m sure I read that the singers got slightly drunk before recording so they’d be slurred and occasionally just a little off key. I hope that’s true.

Hey folks! To cover some big legal costs related to my mum's passing, I've decided to make all Weird Age's titles 50% off for July only! You can check out a full bundle here:

Games Not (Only) By Cis-Dudes 🧵 (list in progress I keep on my phone & pasting here) * Apocalypse World * For the queen * The quiet year * Yazeba’s bed and breakfast * Seven part pact * Kagematsu & A single man * Tales of the Fisherman’s Wife * Steal Away Jordan * A Mending * Field guide to memory

i accidentally let a bookmarking program I subscribe to lapse, meaning I lost a bunch of links I bookmarked for research, which is annoying. Can anyone remember a recent article or piece of research that looked at anti-queer bias in mainstream media?

GNU Sam Neill. Two whole countries are broken hearted today I reckon.

Do I know anyone using the “slow social media” app Roost? It sends messages via virtual “pigeons” (various unlockable birds and other creatures) which take variable amounts of time to arrive, based on a speed stat and users’ actual distance. It sounds cute. But I’ve no-one to send messages to.

I am very proud of our time travel audio comedy #NightTerrace. I think it’s very good and funny, and you can get it here: nightterrace.com I don’t plug it often because we’ve been struggling to finish a third season for many years. But I’d love more folks to enjoy the first two seasons.

Finally, I can see the more famous Ben McKenzie’s film! Tempting to get up at 4 AM to ask a question…

I’ve been trying to learn the current state of Bandcamp, but there’s very little reporting since the union-busting of 2023. All I can find from the last year are one subscriber-only Substack post, and one AI-written guide to using it from a generic “advice for musicians” website. Anyone know more?

I don’t even know if we have Intersection at PAXAus (I’ve not been able to go since pre-Pandemic) but “welcome home” has to apply to everyone if it’s to mean anything. That means proper support, especially now, especially in the US. I hope the PAX folks see that.

I have now reached the “hey Dad I broke my phone” scam text stage of life. (I don’t have any kids.)

We did it 🤑✨ our EOFY appeal for Parallels '26 didn't just hit the goal. We sailed right past it. Because of your generosity: working artists can afford to come, tickets are cheaper for everyone, and WE'RE LIVESTREAMING so no-one misses out. 💛 artists.australianculturalfund.org.au/s/project/a2...

“Dressing up as a sci-fi wizard won’t relieve tough pain when it hits. Just stop at [famous pharmacy chain] for [famous analgesic brand].” An actual ad I just heard on an actual podcast. No further context. The podcast was not about “sci-fi wizards”. Not even an LLM would write that, surely?

We are also excited because we are that podcast! Leena will be discussing the 1999 videogame Discworld Noir with us. Please send us any questions you want us to tackle ASAP! #Pratchat94

Good morning! Are you ready to discover the full extent of your power, figure out what's _really_ going on, and maybe take down the forces of oppression? Run for it! #PsiRun2e #ttrpg #PBTA www.kickstarter.com/projects/117...

I suspect I already know the answer to this, but is it a known, common neurodivergent behaviour to only get admin stuff done while walking or otherwise semi-occupied with something else?

Big Important News Alert! The Drifter is out *right now* on Switch and Switch 2! 🗡️ www.nintendo.com/us/store/pro...

🚨On Monday July 27 at 2pm AEST, every phone in Australia will get very loud. 🚨 If you are vulnerable, with a phone as part of your escape plan, please make sure that you take steps to protect yourself. If you aren't vulnerable, please help get the word out to protect those who are.

There is a corner of the internet where I dwell, and believe me, everyone in it is absolutely feral with excitement for this upcoming tabletop roleplaying game. It’s gonna be amazing.

God of War: Laufey has me all excited so I’ve fired up Ragnarok to finally try the Valhalla expansion, and maybe knock off the last two side quests I had left. Unfortunately they’re the two hardest fights in the game and I am soooooo rusty. Need a training mode! Which I guess Valhalla sort of is?

Some solid picks here from Ed Power, but it’s telling that if you asked ten other #TerryPratchett fans (including me) you’d likely get ten quite different lists. There’s much more agreement about the bottom ten, I reckon! And this isn’t even including his non-Discworld work.

So, funny story. I scripted this video on why I love Call of Cthulhu so much before I got hired by Chaosium. I actually had to re-record it after the announcement. 😂 Anyway here's why y'all should be playing Call of Cthulhu: youtu.be/BGMU4uC9sjk