March 2020 Picks - Stuff That's Keeping Me Sane in Quarantine

Yelena Lightfoot
Apr 3, 2020
5 min read

Updated: Apr 4, 2020

I thought I'd do something a little different for this week's post. I had the idea of doing a sort of "wrap-up"/favourites post, a summary of all the things I didn't get a chance to review for whatever reason (or didn't think deserved its own post) as well as a sort of "highlight reel" of the things that I reviewed that I liked most. Basically, this is just a bunch of crap that I watched/played/read during the month of March that I really enjoyed. Almost everything on this list is easily accessible from online retailers or can be found/purchased digitally, so I linked everything below so that folks can stay inside and keep quarantine. Be safe everyone!

VIDEO GAMES

Animal Crossing: New Horizons for the Nintendo Switch

It seems like everyone and their mother is playing this game already, but I'll summarize what it's all about anyways, for folks who might be out of the loop: Animal Crossing: New Horizons is a life sim where you construct your own town on a deserted island, which gradually becomes home to a multitude of animal villagers. What's great about this game is that it can be played at any pace, it's undemanding in terms of difficulty (unless you want it to be) and there's a large creative component to it, which includes clothing and furniture design as well as the ability to customize your island to your heart's content. In such a stressful time, this is a relaxing and pleasant game that I'd recommend to anyone that can get their hands on a Switch, even if video games aren't typically your thing.

The Jackbox Party Pack 3 (Trivia Murder Party)

Jackbox is usually something that I reserve for parties and other social gatherings with friends. It's a pack of 5 multiplayer games that are played using smartphones as controllers. The two best games in the pack (in my opinion), Quiplash 2 and Fakin' It, aren't the most friendly for playing with your parents. Additionally, Tee K.O and Guesspionage aren't the funnest ones in my opinion, so if you're quarantining with parents and/or older family (which, if my audience is like me, I would assume that you are), I'd go for Trivia Murder Party. It's essentially exactly what it sounds like: a trivia game that's set within a horror movie context. If you get a given question wrong, there's a punishment attached to it that the "killer" (i.e., the voiceover that guides you through the game) chooses. It's not as scary as it sounds - and it's a lot of fun! Plus, it has the added bonus of being a really good distraction from the world around us while still allowing folks to potentially learn something new.

MUSIC

We Need Medicine - The Fratellis

With a painfully real name for the way the world is right now, We Need Medicine has been a good grab-bag of simplicity in these complicated times: it's a lyrically plain album with a catchy, nostalgic 60's sound. In all honesty, I don't usually like to listen to albums as a whole, especially not in the intended order, but this one flows so well that lately that's just what I've been doing. There are, of course, some songs that disappoint (such as the title track), but there are enough that negate this disappointment by hitting the nail on the head so hard (my picks are below). Additionally, I'd usually be critical of an album like this due to its simplicity, but this is purely The Fratellis sound, and it's easy listening with a few highlight songs that punch it up enough for me to include it on this list.

Highlights of this album: Halloween Blues, She's Not Gone Yet But She's Leaving, Rock N Roll Will Break Your Heart

COMICS & BOOKS

Scooby Apocalypse: Volume 1

This is one that I'll gloss over since I obviously did a full review on it already, but I wanted to bring it up again just because it was a major highlight for me this month. I've yet to read the rest of the series, but as soon as I get my hands on it, I might review the rest of it in one larger post. For those that are unfamiliar with the series, I'll insert a quote from my review of volume one: Scooby Apocalypse is a series published by DC Comics that takes the Mystery Inc. gang we all know and love and re-imagines them as the last survivors of a technological apocalypse. Read my full review of it here.

MOVIES & TV

10 Things I Hate About You (1999)

I haven't actually watched a ton of Netflix or Disney+ this month. In fact, I've yet to open either of those streaming services during the quarantine at all. However, earlier this month while I was studying for exams, I took a day to procrastinate and ended up watching one of my favourite guilty pleasure movies of all time, which is (surprisingly) on Disney+ right now.10 Things I Hate About You is, in my opinion, teen rom-com excellence. I think that adapting Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew into this type of movie is a concept that is just absurd enough to loop right back around to being great. Even without knowledge of the source material, this movie is a classic. It's simply adorable and makes for great escapism.

Also, it's WAY better than the Romeo & Juliet film adaptation that came out three years earlier. End of discussion.

EXTRAS

An Afternoon with Eevee & Friends: Eevee Figure

This one might be a little bit more niche, hence its placement in the "extras" section of this post. I purchased this figure from the Pokémon Center website, (which, unfortunately for us Canadian fans, is a hassle due to the site only shipping product to the U.S, but with the help of a P.O box I was able to get my hands on it). The Afternoon with Eevee & Friends line is a sort of spiritual successor to the A Day with Pikachu figures, which were produced by Funko and saw a new figure released each month, starting in March 2019 and ending this past February. The Afternoon with Eevee & Friends line, also produced by Funko, is set to do the same, however the figure will be of a new Eeveelution each month. Additionally, the figures will all connect into a larger diorama. While I much prefer Pikachu as a character and I don't plan on purchasing all eleven figures, I ended up picking up these little guys simply because they're so adorable and reminded me of my dogs, especially since the figure features both a male and female Eevee. Plus, Funko really does know what they're doing when it comes to crafting well-made, adorable plastic toys that I don't need.