Geeky SKAturday: Gettin' RUDE with the Sybians...

Happy SKAturday, all!  Thank you for stopping by to hopefully make it just a little bit brighter, nerdier, and more skankable with me.

As a reminder, these Geeky SKAturday posts have two main goals this year: (1) Take a look at some great ska and ska-related tunes that have come out in 2025, and (2) Ramble about how to work ideas from these songs into a work-in-progress RPG setting in which the denizens of Skaville (metaphorically) travel through time to protect the multiverse (literally).  Today's new(ish) song: "Naughty Boy (Not Rude)" by the Dutch offbeat purveyors known as the Sybians!

I've just discovered the Sybians this year.  Hailing from Amsterdam, they are self-described as "the new dark horse of 60's reggae," and that seems like a fair description.  The band includes some Dutch veterans of Jamaican music and plays an infectious take on early reggae that hits pretty hard and sticks in your brain.

From here

I went with this song today because I wanted to finally feature one that references that most iconic of concepts in the ska-sphere: the idea of being rude.  Now, that word is thrown around in ska circles, but I would imagine the meaning behind it could fuel many dissertations at this point.  There is a Wikipedia page devoted to the rude boy (and variants)...but it's pretty short, and I would definitely encourage anyone with interest to explore how the term has been used over the years.  In summary...rude boys were originally rebellious young men in Jamaica who became closely associated with ska's first wave in the 1960s.

During the 2 Tone era in the UK, the term shifted to more broadly encompass the subculture associated with ska.  Over the decades in the ska scene, the word rude has taken on a connotation that is almost undeniably positive, but also really hard to pin down exactly.  Being rude likely means you have an appreciation for the music that brings us together, and it might still refer to a questionable association with lawful living, but it also has implications of being courageous and street-smart.  Today's song is a good example of its subtlety of meaning...the subject of the song is naughty but decidedly not rude.

I guess that to me, being rude at this point broadly means sharing some degree of similarity to this archetypal Rudie that has been built up in the lore of ska.  This is part of what makes it perfect for gaming!  Not only is there a story behind the word, there's an aesthetic!  Visually, Rudies are probably represented most prominently by the mascots of 2 Tone bands the Specials and the Beat: Walt Jabsco (based on an early photo of Peter Tosh) and (the) Beat Girl (based on first wave rude girl and trans pioneer Brigitte Bond...go here for some of the great work that has been done in uncovering her story!).

From this Reddit thread about "The world's best relationship"... :)

To get deep in the nerd weeds, in working on a "ska RPG," I've thought about different ways of approaching the concept of being rude.  I made the Rudie class for 5e a while back, and in thinking about a "Big 4' of RPG attributes, I've considered having a set that form RUDE as an acronym, so that I could play the RUDE System (Reasoning, Understanding, Dexterity, Endurance?).  I'm also wondering if Rude/Rudeness should be a completely separate attribute in a game, like Sanity in Call of Cthulhu.  After all, if you look at the classic six stats of D&D, Rudeness is a little bit Charisma, a little bit Wisdom, and probably dashes of both Intelligence and Constitution.  So, maybe it should be its own thing...perhaps even influenced by all of the attributes...?

Eh...like I said...there are dissertations waiting to be written about this historically rich term (and maybe already have been).  I mean...I haven't even gone into how the term is likely still used at times in Jamaican dancehall and various British dance genres...which probably complicates the archetype I'm following here, and maybe even opens up some questions of cultural appropriation (with which I am always willing to engage).  I think I'll just stop rambling about it now.  That's not very rude of me, after all.

Geeky SKAturday: Bad Leavers' "Another Time"

A pleasant Geeky SKAturday to everyone!  (Well...it's barely Sunday here...but pleasantness to all nonetheless!)  Just a quick one today (if I'm actually capable of that ;).  As a reminder, 2025's Geeky SKAturdays are set to include: (1) a ska (or closely related) song that's new this year, and (2) something ideally related to the song that contributes to a growing RPG setting in which ska musicians and their friends travel through time to protect the integrity of human history and prevent catastrophes.  Yep.

So today we have the song "Another Time" by the band Bad Leavers (the Bad Leavers? not sure...).  I'm excited about finding this band as they're from my home state of Georgia!  It warms my heart to know that there's still new ska being created and enjoyed down in Atlanta.  They have a sound that's very familiar but also not exactly like anything else I know of.  The lead vocals have a definite punk influence (I hear echoes of Tim Armstrong, and maybe even Shane MacGowan), but there's an interesting counter in how nicely he harmonizes with the other voice (voices?) in the band.  Overall, there's a bit of a 2 Tone feel that I really dig.  Reminds me of Johnny Too Bad & the Strikeouts, if that means anything to anyone reading...!

Anyway, their EP Give and Take just dropped a couple of days ago and is very much worth checking out.  Here's "Another Time":

----------

Maybe it's obvious, but besides just liking this song, I picked it because of how nicely a song called "Another Time" fits in with a time travel setting.  So, on that...

How is time travel achieved by the Agents of SKA?  Portals?  Magic?  Terminator-style naked-within-a-sphere time jumps?

I'm really leaning toward fairly a fairly classic time machine trope here.  But of course I want to tie in the ska theme.  So, how cool would it be to have a time machine that looks something like this...?

I don't know that they were all this mobile, but sound systems played a huge role in early ska.  Pic from (and more information found) here.

And of course, a smaller model, built for just one or two travelers, might look something like...

Sticker available here (no connection between me and the seller, but I'll happily testify that she has a bunch of cool items in her store!)

And heck, if I really want to go nuts with Japanese themes when it comes to the first agent, Haruto, I guess I could have the vehicles occasionally capable of transforming into robots...or combining into a giant robot.

I don't want to run the risk of someone thinking this setting is silly, though... ;)

Geeky SKAturday: Dr. Woggle & the Radio + more on Haruto Suzuki

Welcome to another Geeky SKAturday, all!  It's crazy how I can blink and suddenly it's been...what, three weeks since I did one of these?  How is it possible that this has been both the fastest AND the slowest year ever to enjoy/endure?  Anyway...today, I want to take a few minutes to fill out the character of Haruto Suzuki, the first Agent of SKA in the creation queue.  But first...some fresh new ska...!

Dr. Woggle & the Radio are a German band that plays beautiful traditional ska.  The song I'm sharing today came out earlier this year, although it isn't their most recent release.  (They seem to be releasing a song or two at a time and including all of the previous tracks from this presumed eventual album with each release.  I kinda like this because it keeps them on my radar, and I dig their tunes.  I know it complicates things for the nice people who attempt to curate new ska releases for the rest of us freeloaders on r/Ska.)  At any rate, even though it's an earlier song, I believe this one deserves attention because it might be my favorite ska/ska-adjacent tune that's been released so far in 2025.  I could listen to "It's True" ad nauseam and it would never get ad nauseam:

 

Here's a live version too...not the best audio and video quality, but it's fun to see them do their thing.  Those beautiful harmonies...!! :)  (And...shamefully omitted when I first published this post...I should note that this song features the amazing guest vocal talent of Jenny Yeboah...!)

----------

I don't have a lot to say to tie this one to the RPG setting at the heart of these posts (the one where ska musicians and their friends travel through the ages to protect the timestream from greed and destruction).  It's just a great song and was worth posting on its own.  And...y'know...LOVE and all.  I do want to talk about Haruko Suzuki, though.

Last time I wrote about him, I rolled for his stats and decided that he would be of the Three Minute Hero class (the musical stars of the setting).  Today, I'm imagining what he might look like as a full 1st level character (I'm assuming here that the Three Minute Hero is the class that ends up the closest, among the Agents of SKA classes, to the Rudie I wrote about way back when), also throwing in some biographical details along with the info my buddy Jake wrote about him.  Further expansion (and possible correction) of the class(es) I discuss these days is coming soon.  I kind of almost promise!

Haruto Suzuki

I know his bio says he's a pacifist. But this is what happens when you piss him off.

Born: Tokyo, Japan, 1981
Class: Three Minute Hero 1

STR    DEX    CON    INT    WIS    CHA
11(--)  9(--)   9(--)   17(+2) 12(--) 12(--)

HP 4 Move 30 ft. (6 units)
Attack Bonuses (with proficiency) +1

Proficiencies
Skills: Performance, Insight, History, Animal Handling
Talents: Trumpet, Trombone, Voice, HVAC Repair
Languages: Japanese, English, Spanish
Saves: Wisdom, Charisma
Weapons: Simple weapons
Armor: None

Haruto Suzuki was born to blow that horn.  (I'm still workshopping that opening sentence.)  He's always known he was meant to be up on stage, making people move.  Lately he's found out that he's also apparently meant to be a time-traveling sentinel for humanity.  He's a punk, a pacifist, and a handyman for an animal welfare organization in Tokyo.

Today, like most days, Haruto is having natto for breakfast.  He loves the stir of the sauce and the mustard, and he likes that it’s slimy.  He likes slimy things.  Later, he’ll go to the studio to practice his trumpet, but first he’ll hit the 7-11 for cigarettes.  At night, his band Ringo SKARR has a show at Salt Peanuts.  He’s not feeling his best, but he’s gonna give it a go.  Ganbarimasu!

Soundcasting: Haruto can channel the energy and spirit of ska to affect the world in profound and arguably magical ways.  Specific capabilities known as sounds follow the general rules of spellcasting by other classes.  He may cast unlimited Cantrips (level 0 sounds) and has two slots daily for level 1 sounds.  Sounds known:

Cantrips: Ball of Fire, A Message to You Rudy

Level 1: Don't Let the Bastards Grind You Down, Moon Hop, Rudie Can't Fail, Skankin' to the Beat

Pick It Up: The upbeats give life!  On his turn, Haruto can use a bonus action to regain hit points equal to 1d6 + his Three Minute Hero level + his CON bonus.  This ability can't be used again until after a short or long rest.

Wasteland Wednesday: The Post-Apocalyptic Misadventures of Bluey and Peppa Pig

Okay...so, I don't have kids, so I need to be clear that the following has not been proofread by an expert.  However, I'm pretty sure I have most of the details correct regarding these IPs that have caught my attention over the past several years (and that I'm actually a little surprised I've never mentioned on the blog).

Laura likes to find aggressively pleasant children's programming to throw on the TV every once in a while.  She likes how it can be calming, centering, and oblivious to the shitshow that is the world right now (and maybe has been forever...?), and it usually does its job well.  As I felt with Pokémon Concierge, most of the time these shows are best described simply as delightful.

Two of the programs Laura has found that have really drawn me in are the British show Peppa Pig...

...and its Australian companion show Bluey (all images from their Facebook pages btw)...

I write "companion show" not because it's almost a dog joke, which I just realized, but because -- as far as I can tell -- these two programs are parallel views of a future post-apocalyptic Earth in which anthropomorphic animals have become the dominant species on the planet.

Peppa Pig (the show) is quite a bit older than Bluey (the show) and gave us our first look at a world rebuilt by walking, talking nonhuman (or maybe partially human?) animals.  It seems to take place in what used to be the UK and features a pretty wide variety of species.

There are very few humans.  It definitely looks like a Kamandi type situation.  And of those people that have been shown, I suspect that Father Christmas may actually be a spirit that simply chooses to take human form, and another -- Queen Elizabeth II -- is most likely a clone that was created to raise morale and provide leadership in the post-apocalyptic world.  While it wouldn't be a trivial undertaking by those in power, making copy after copy of one of Earth's more beloved 20th and 21st century leaders would probably be worthwhile to give an extra measure of hope to the survivors, especially when she's commonly seen doing things like having fun in the mud with her subjects.

Bluey, meanwhile, is seemingly set in Australia, and it appears that on this continent, all of the sapient creatures that remain after the global catastrophe are dogs, usually of recognizable breeds.  Bluey, her sister Bingo, and parents Chilli and Bandit, are a family of Australian cattle dogs known as the Heelers (seen three pics up)...clearly a surname given to them in the recent past simply based upon their phenotype.

I think other animals show up only in non-anthropomorphic form, and as far as I know, there are no humans.  It's unclear if these differences between the shows are a matter of geography or focus, or if they might actually reflect that the programs depict different eras of post-apocalyptic Earth.

And really, that's part of what's so intriguing about these shows: the mystery.  We don't even know what caused the fall of humankind!  Was it bombs?  Aliens?  COVID-29?  And is it possible that these are animated documentaries, sent back from a desperate future with the hope that we'll change our ways?  If so, I think they're failing on that front.  Honestly, life in Peppa and Bluey's world seems pretty spectacular.  Families love and accept each other and enjoy spending time together.  There's very little fear and nothing that even resembles hate.  I wouldn't mind falling asleep in a bunker and waking up to that world.

And of course, as a Yank, I wonder what America looks like in that future time.  I believe there's a possibility that what we know as an early animated short, Steamboat Willie, may actually be a similar documentary showing life on the Mississippi River early in Earth's rebuilding stage.  This would be an interesting set of information to add to our knowledge of the post-apocalypse, especially since it appears that some non-anthro animals have undergone other genetic alterations in that timeline.  (A goat whose tail can be cranked to make it sing like a phonograph is probably the best example of this.)

As with Peppa Pig and Bluey, though, specific details are scarce.  It is entirely possible that other "fictional" works we have encountered (including the proto-Kamandi story by Jack Kirby that I wrote about here several years ago) are similarly influenced by actual messages from future sources.  However, it's going to take some real effort to separate truth from myth.  I will be keeping my eyes open for clues toward laying out an accurate future history of Earth.  If you have any insight, I would love to hear from you.

Elphaba and Glinda freaking killed it

It's been a while since the Oscars have been very exciting to me.  I had a period in my youth when I was really into movies and tried to see all the Best Picture nominees that I could, and the show was an event that I even looked forward to (that and the VMAs, for some reason...!).  So, I didn't watch last night, but when I realized that Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande had performed, I checked it out ASAP.  And holy shit.

I am a fan of Oz in general.  It's quintessential American fantasy that I grew up with.  I looked just now and was a little surprised that the only time I've even mentioned it on here is when I referenced it fairly vaguely in a discussion of the history of interplanar portals.  But I dig it in a lot of the forms in which I've consumed it, and last year's first installment of Wicked is honestly one of the most immediately captivating movies I've ever seen.  (It did win awards for costumes and production design last night, both for very good reason.)

Anyway, the fact that Elphaba and Glinda also perform songs from The Wizard of Oz and The Wiz makes this an even more interesting performance.  And they...freaking...killed it.  What's that?  Oh...no, I just have something in my eye...  (As did Michelle Yeoh at the end of that clip, which is really sweet.)

Honestly...and this might be hyperbole that I rethink once it's sat with me for a while...if you had to pick out a few things to show an alien species as representations of humanity's achievements, you could do a lot worse than showing them this clip.  I mean...the Einstein field equations probably have to be in there, and maybe a selection of different expressions of the Golden Rule or something.  But if you want to show that we're a beautiful species who made beautiful art?  This'll do.

----------

I don't think I've ever gamed in Oz at all, although I've thought a lot about it.  I backed Double Critical's Adventures in Oz Kickstarter and have enjoyed looking through the campaign PDF.  Unfortunately, unless something has changed or changes, it doesn't look like some (maybe any?) of us are going to be getting the physical rewards we signed on for, which is a shame but one of the hazards of taking part in crowdfunding.  So, I can't necessarily suggest picking up the book because there are creators who follow through who probably deserve your cash more...BUT it's a cool sourcebook, and I could easily see myself using it eventually.  Maybe the Monstrous Matters team will encounter some flying monkeys at some point...

A flood of new research on Martian geological history... (That was a water-on-Mars joke.)

I found it sort of interesting that two of the new research papers whose publication I happened to catch over the last few days were studies on Martian geology and reminders that the Red Planet once had conditions that may well have enabled Barsoomian warfare.  That's probably overstating it a little bit, but I do marvel sometimes at how, when I was a kid, I was under the impression that the idea of life on Mars was an outdated and overly fanciful notion, and the longer I've lived, the more we've seen real evidence that liquid water (indicating conditions suitable for life) existed on the surface of Mars in the past and...who knows...maybe it's still there somewhere (probably a stretch, but see the thesis of this sentence).

The first paper came out on Monday in the highly regarded PNAS and covered radar imaging from China's Zhurong Rover, which indicated a history of plenty of surface water and lots of space for living things to grow.  You can read about it at Penn State's website here; here's the quote of the article, from the university's Benjamin Cardenas: "We’re finding places on Mars that used to look like ancient beaches and ancient river deltas.  We found evidence for wind, waves, no shortage of sand -- a proper, vacation-style beach."

Then on Tuesday, Nature Communications published a paper that gives a nontraditional view of why the planet is red, and which indicates that its current chemical structure reinforces a history of "ancient cold and wet conditions on Mars."  You can read more about that at the Discover Magazine website here; the image below is yoinked from that article.

Again, not my image; it came from here

These papers remind me how much fun is still left in speculating on the life history of one of our closest cosmic neighbors.  Mars has played into so many works that influenced my views of science fiction and of the world in general; it's easy to dismiss "Mars stories" as old-fashioned, but sometimes old-fashioned stories still have a lot of life left in them...

In continuing with that little reminder, don't forget this table from OD&D book 3, The Underworld & Wilderness Adventures:

Haruto Suzuki, Three Minute Hero

Okay, it's time to get serious about creating some Agents of SKA.  First up is Haruto Suzuki, who came to be thanks to a little randomization and AI decision-making.  He's a trumpet player from Japan.  His band?  Hmm.  I reserve the right to say this is one that he was just in for a few weeks in high school or something, but let's go with Ringo SKARR.

Yep, still faceless.  I mean, he has a face.  Just not an official one yet.

Because I like to come upon RPG specifics that aren't critical to the story at hand via (1) randomness, (2) undeniable destiny, or (3) other people's ideas that I can bring to life (all perhaps pointing more toward laziness than a devotion to principle), I asked my buddy Jake, who lives in Japan, to write a brief background for Haruto.  Jake isn't an RPGer and probably had a bit of a wtf reaction to the request, but he was gracious enough to toss that aside and help me out.  I found out Haruto was born in 1980.  Some more details:

Haruto Suzuki loves natto for breakfast. He loves the stir of the sauce and the mustard, and he likes that it’s slimy. He likes slimy things. Later, he’ll go to the studio to practice his trumpet, but first he’ll hit the 7-11 for cigarettes. At night, he has a show at Salt Peanuts. He’s not feeling his best, but he’s gonna give it a go. Ganbarimasu!

Stats (3d6+1 in order, no rerolls): STR 11  DEX 9  CON 9  INT 17  WIS 12  CHA 12

Class:  Hmm.

Pretty sure I want classes for this game, but I don't think everyone should just be a Rudie.  So, I'm looking at basing them all on classic ska (and related) songs:

Monkey Man - The big bruiser.

Gangster - The clever rogue.

Three Minute Hero - The magical charmer.

Keasbey Knight - The paladin of making the best of life with your friends.  (Thanks for the idea to whoever it was who has/had that as their handle on some forum or platform...!)

Maybe some more.  I'm thinking about a Special Brewmaster/Brewmistress (but probably not).  I also think the negative connotations of the Monkey Man class may require a rename (or scrapping it).  We shall see.

Haruto is a Three Minute Hero.  He's a star!