Humans don’t like sand. It’s coarse and rough and irritating and it gets everywhere. Marbles, on the other hand, love sand. Their smooth surfaces make it hard for grains to stick to them, so they can glide across the dunes … Continue reading MarbleLympics 2019: Event #11 – Dirt Race
Ao-chan Can’t Study is an ecchi comedy manga series about a studious tsundere high school girl who has a crush on her handsome classmate but also has doubts about the purity of his intentions. Moreover, her father is a famous … Continue reading Weekly Japanese Pop Culture Thread (May 22nd, 2019)
(Apologies for the abbreviated writeup. Typing on a laptop on a hotel bed isn’t exactly conducive to penning good prose.) This is it: the twisty, shifty, mindbending marble maze (brought to you by Hubelino!) There is no strategy here. No … Continue reading MarbleLympics 2019: Event #10 – Hubelino Maze
We’re back with more exciting MarbleLympics coverage! This time, the marbles are facing hurdles. No, don’t worry, they don’t have to jump or anything; they just have to push a series pendulums out of the way. These are metaphorical “hurdles” … Continue reading MarbleLympics 2019: Event #9 – Hurdles Race
Hey folks! Welcome to your weekly Japanese pop culture thread! Ramen. Savoury broth. Fresh veggies. Juicy meat. Flavourful seasonings. And perhaps most importantly, bouncy, chewy noodles. Over at Mothership sister site The Takeout, Mike Satinover has an article about what … Continue reading Weekly Japanese Pop Culture Thread (May 15th, 2019)
Moving to the outdoors is a tricky proposition. There’s no way to account for all of Mother Nature’s vicissitudes, and physical conditions can radically change in the span of minutes. In the past, lesser sporting events, such as the Summer … Continue reading MarbleLympics 2019: Event #8 – Summer Biathlon (Triathlon)
We’ve had tests of speed. We’ve had tests of agility. We’ve had tests of endurance. Now finally, it’s time for a test of raw strength. Block pushing is back, baby! This event dispenses with the usual tournament format and instead … Continue reading MarbleLympics 2019: Event #7 – Block Pushing
Hey folks! Welcome to this week’s Japanese pop culture thread. Rilakkuma and Kaoru is a stop-motion animation series that debuted on Netflix last month. It follows the daily life of Kaoru, an office worker living in Japan, and Rilakkuma, a … Continue reading Weekly Japanese Pop Culture Thread (May 8th, 2019)
The Relay Run isn’t just a test of speed; it’s also a test of finesse. Having clean, quick handoffs is just as important as attaining high velocity. In fact, sometimes attaining too high a velocity can cause the next marble … Continue reading MarbleLympics 2019: Event #6 – Relay Run
Heya AvoGamers! We’re planning to record the next episode of the AVoCADo GamesCast this upcoming weekend (the 11th or 12th of May), and we’d love for you to join if you’re available. Some potential discussion topics, depending on interest/preferences, could … Continue reading AVoCADo GamesCast-ing Call #48
Competition is heating up at the 2019 MarbleLympics, and it’s time for a classic: it’s Usain Bolt’s favourite event – the 5 meter sprint! This appears to be the simplest event of the tournament, but looks can be deceiving. There’s … Continue reading MarbleLympics 2019: Event #5 – 5 Meter Sprint
My apologies for getting this up a day late. Our marbles have no time to waste in this event, yet another race. But this time around, there’s a twist: it’s a team race! Teamwork is required to get three of … Continue reading MarbleLympics 2019: Event #4 – Gravitrax Slalom
It’s the first day of May, and it’s beautiful and sunny outside, so what better time is there to talk about the night-time urban fantasy manga series Midnight Occult Civil Servants? Everyone knows that government jobs are super-exciting, but they … Continue reading Weekly Japanese Pop Culture Thread (May 1st, 2019)
Historically, balancing has been one of the less interesting events of the MarbleLympics. The whole point of the exercise is, well, not to fall off. The stakes aren’t particularly high; falling a few centimetres isn’t going to damage a marble. … Continue reading MarbleLympics 2019: Event #3 – Balancing
Sarazanmai is the latest work from the twisted mind of Penguindrum creator Kunihiko Ikuhara. This anime series is a magical boy story that tells the tale of three delinquent middle-schoolers who get transformed into kappas. The series is currently available … Continue reading Weekly Japanese Pop Culture Thread (April 24th, 2019)
“Funnel Race” is more than a bit of a misnomer. The point of the event is to finish last, which if anything makes it the exact opposite of a race. But semantics don’t lessen the excitement of what is one … Continue reading MarbleLympics 2019: Event #2 – Funnel Race
Heya Guacs! It’s episode #47 of the AVoCADo GamesCast. In this episode, we chat about GTA V roleplaying, talk about how to train for a speedrun, throw shade on some memes, debate the validity of the “gamer” label, and have … Continue reading AVoCADo GamesCast #47: It Turns Out We Don’t Live in a Society
Hello folks, and welcome to the start of what might become regular coverage of the Marblelympics at The Avocado, depending on reader interest. We begin with the opening ceremonies, a relatively sedate stop-motion affair compared to what’s about to follow. … Continue reading Marblelympics 2019: Event #1 – Underwater Race
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Fruits Basket is a shōjo manga series about an orphan girl who goes to live with some of her male classmates, only to discover that they’re possessed by animals of the Chinese zodiac. It is one of the best-selling manga … Continue reading Weekly Japanese Pop Culture Thread (April 17th, 2019)
Carole & Tuesday is the new anime series from Cowboy Bebop and Samurai Champloo mastermind Shinichirō Watanabe. Set in a future where humans have colonized Mars, it tells the story of two girls from very different backgrounds who meet and … Continue reading Weekly Japanese Pop Culture Thread (April 10th, 2019)
Heya Guacs! In this episode of the GamesCast, I chat about Google’s new Stadia platform, Microsoft’s and Nintendo’s business strategies, and EA Game Changers with Lovely Bones, Ben, Wolfman Jew, and our faithful editor, The Kappa. Enjoy! You can listen … Continue reading AVoCADo GamesCast #46: Ludic Combinatorics
