Board games often provide a sense of nostalgia with many people having fond memories of rainy days in the past playing classics such as Monopoly and Scrabble. But many games are now able to be enjoyed online, due to advancing technology and a variety of gaming platforms.
We’ll explore the differences between traditional games and the rise of online playing methods.
Traditional games
There are many traditional games that were commonly played at parties and gatherings in the past. Some popular ones include Snakes and Ladders, Cluedo and Trivial Pursuit. Chess, Dominoes and Backgammon were also commonly played by people up and down the country and offered a means of building social relationships with others.
The move online
In the past, board games required the use of a physical board or machine and ample space to play, But many games are now available to play online, negating the need for physical items.
Games can be played instantly, at the touch of a button, via mobile and PC devices. Playing online also gives rise to a wider audience and allows for interactivity between two or more players without them having to be in the same room. There are also options for single players to play against the computer.
Playing traditional games online means opportunities to access a variety of games under one roof, wherever you are in the world. Many choose to play while on the move or from the comfort of their own home.
Popular games to play
While there are many newer games that can be played online, some of the most popular ones are the tried and tested traditional ones.
Scrabble: this popular game for two to four players involves placing tiles onto a board to spell words, either in a straight line or diagonally.
Monopoly: this involves moving around a board by rolling dice and buying properties with the aim being to avoid bankruptcy and be the wealthiest player.
Mobile slots: these include a variety of skill and chance games. The advantage of mobile slot games is the ability to play a range of different games on the go.
Bingo: this all-time favourite is not only played in bingo halls, it’s also easily played online with opportunities to win cash prizes and be part of a community.
Chess: this two-player strategy game doesn’t need a board or pieces when you play online via a smartphone or other device and chess tournaments can be played virtually.
These types of online games allow for connection across the world and enable groups of friends to enjoy a social night without the need to travel anywhere.
As technology advances, it will be interesting to see how the future of online gaming takes shape, with interactivity and immersive experiences expected to be at the forefront of innovations.
TikTok is famous for making new trends, and something new goes viral every day. If you are on TikTok, you might have come across a cat in a blue dress with a mushroom hat walking in her vibe. TikTokers and meme lovers have gone crazy over this trend.
However, most people don’t understand what it means when they see this meme for the first time. You are not alone if you are curious about this weird blue smurf cat. In this article, we will learn about the viral blue smurf cat meme on TikTok and its meaning.
What is Blue Smurf Cat?
Whether it’s YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, or TikTok, this weird blue smurf cat meme is everywhere. People are sick of seeing this viral blue cat photo and its memes. The blue cat is a blend of a cat, a blue smurf, and a mushroom. It first appeared on TikTok with a Russian-origin hashtag ‘’Шайлушай’’ which means Shailushai. The viral meme shows a blue cat walking in a forest with a mushroom hat and a snail on its back. Interestingly, you will be surprised to know that this viral blue smurf cat isn’t new; instead, it is almost ten years old from now.
Origin and Evolution of Blue Smurf Cat Meme
The Blue Smurf Cat meme emerged on TikTok and has evolved since then. The meme gained popularity because of its funny appearance, which captivated fans worldwide. However, the origin of the blue smurf cat dates back to 2014, thanks to the creative mind of Nate Hillian, who created this image. The idea behind this image was to elaborate on what actual smurfs might look like, but it turned out to be sarcastic. They shared the image on different online platforms, but it didn’t become famous.
The cat meme first appeared on TikTok in 2020, when users shared an image of a little blue creature that looked like a mix of a cat, a smurf, and a mushroom. As the Blue Smurf Cat meme became famous on TikTok, its trend also reached other online platforms such as YouTube, Instagram, and Twitter. People appreciated the meme’s creativity. Moreover, Allan’s walker famous song “The Spectre” added fuel to fire by playing this cat meme in videos and concerts. The smurf cat has also appeared in many other locations including football pitches and Minecraft video game.
The Blue Smurf Cat meme has evolved and is evident in the remixes that creators and memers are creating every day. People started using the meme in various scenarios, such as in song videos, making animated versions, and even sending it as a reaction image to their pals. The versatility of the meme has led to its popularity. But, inevitably, this trend will also die like many others.
What is the smurf cat meme meaning?
The origin of the blue smurf cat dates back to 2014 when Nate Hillian created this image. The reason behind creating this image was to explain what actual smurfs might look like, but it turned out to be funny as it became a meme on TikTok. The image was shared on various online platforms, but it didn’t get much popularity until TikTok arrived.
Why is Smurf Cat so popular?
The Smurf cat meme became popular because of its funny appearance, which captivated fans all over the world. It first appeared on TikTok with a Russian-origin hashtag ”Шайлушай’’ which means Shailushai. Due to its whimsical appearance, this meme gained several million views and likes on all social media platforms. The idea behind this image was to elaborate on what actual smurfs might look like, but it turned out to be sarcastic.
Conclusion
The blue Smurf cat, created as an imaginative character to depict what Smurfs might look like, has now become a meme. It has become a social media trend, taking the internet by storm. Social media users have loved this viral meme, while others, including me, seem sick of this trend. However, memes and trends are like flying termites who appear in great numbers after rain and soon die after a short period. So, either if you love this Viral Blue Smurf Cat Meme on TikTok or get freaked out seeing this, don’t worry; this trend will finally end like many others.
Two retellings, a dive into ancient Italian history, two tales of intense Jewish family dynamics, and the exploration of whatever ‘postcolonial’ means make up our ten recommendations for upcoming books you should be adding to your list in March.
In this slim and thoughtful novel, a woman wakes up one day to no sound in her right ear before she’s supposed to fly to Italy for a friend’s wedding. The doctors shrug their shoulders, and our narrator decides to simply keep score for the following year; she speaks with assistants, filmmakers, artists, and friends who spill wild stories and information, some useful, some not, all documented. In dreamlike, state-of-consciousness free-flowing prose, Eliza Barry Callahan’s debut novel is unpredictable, warm, and artistic.
In an outsourced effort to translate her magnum opus, world-renowned author Irina Rey invites eight translators from all over the world to work on her masterpiece. But days after they arrive in a forest at the border of Belarus, Irina disappears, leading the translators to work while searching for their acclaimed author. While they dig deep into her past, they start to learn more about Irina and her work that might reveal secrets and lies spanning the length of her career.
Camp counselor Cory Ansel is aimless in life when all of a sudden her father offers her an alternative to traditional work — hot-shot CEO Rolo Picazo offers Cory a childcare job at his luxurious private island, where she can self-soothe to her heart’s desire with opiates. Her mother, however, senses something is wrong and hurries to collect her daughter, alternating between different viewpoints in this modern and intense retelling of the myth of Persephone and Demeter.
Born the day her parents landed in Australia so as to get immediate citizenship, Girl has always felt the looming expectations of her family behind her. Writing a novel about postcolonialism — picked out by her because the word seemed scholarly — and a dissertation on Sylvia Plath, Girl heads to Scotland for a fellowship with other writers and artists. She quickly feels at odds with the other students and meanders around town, sitting for a pompous artist’s portrait instead of writing her own work. Before her big presentation she switches gears and begins to write Pillar of Salt, a retelling of her own family history, to the thinly veiled comments of her peers. In this semi-autobiographical telling of art, friendship, the musings of Girl will be relatable to anyone subjected to the absurdity of the world.
Burdened with a child her husband doesn’t want and feeling socially adrift in Los Angeles while disconnected from her Russian grandmother, Zhenia is not doing too well. She gets a call from a pet medium to explain that Zhenia’s great-grandmother, a Russian Revolutionary, has asked him to transmit her story to her grandchild, confessing what happened to her from the other side. Suddenly, Zhenia is made well aware of her history, but she might disregard it in favor of a life where she doesn’t have to confront herself.
Billed as a book not about getting better, but instead “living better with illness,” Polly Atkin’s second nonfiction work is a response to a life changing diagnosis in her late 30s, finally explaining years of pain, fractures, and exhaustion. Returning to England’s Lake District, which inspired poets like William Wordsworth, Beatrix Potter and Taylor Swift, she refinds herself via the art of poetry and the simplicity of nature. Juxtaposed with scenes highlighting medical ableism and the desperate need for an upheaval of practice, Some of Us Just Fall isn’t a resignation, but an examination of living with what you’re able to.
A historical retelling of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn from the enslaved James’ point of view, recent rising star novelist Percival Everett infuses humor and social satire for his latest novel. The unlikely duo of Jim and Huck Finn must evade storms, floods, and con artists, as the newly-minted main character must face the burden of lying with the weight of his family and continuing on. Everett spins a classic tale on its head in a brilliant and sharp new way.
Brimming with history and tension, Toby Lloyd’s debut Fervor is the story of a devout Jewish family come undone by their past threatening to emerge. When Hannah Rosenthal prepares to publish an account of her father-in-law Yosef’s time in Europe as a Holocaust survivor, her daughter Elsie begins to panic, and, eventually, disappears. Her brother, Tovyah, isn’t sure what to think — is it a breakdown stemming from a family that has too much emphasis on rituals and traditions, or is the family just reading too much into things? As he starts to acclimate to Oxford, he must work through whatever is engulfing his sister — a horror-tinged intense tale of family drama and mysticism.
Set in Syracuse, Sicily, during the Peloponnesian War, Lampo and Gelon are just two men who enjoy drinking wine at a nearby bar, picking up women, and the plays of the Athenian Euripides. There’s just one problem: anyone who could remember any of his plays is trapped in the bottom of a cave in Sicily as a prisoner, hungry and cold. One day, the pair get the idea to produce two of his plays, leaning on the memory of the Athenians, who are promised meal scraps and wine in exchange for their acting. Haphazard and scrappy, the two get food, props, costumes, and sets from around the city in preparation for opening night, but all goes wrong when other members of the town aren’t so satisfied with platforming the imprisoned Athenians as anything more than scum. Heartfelt, deeply researched, and great fun, Ferdia Lennon’s wholly original debut is as much of a history lesson as it is a meditation on art, memory, and culture.
Alexandra Tanner’s existential, absurd and deeply funny debut novel Worry is likely the best simulation of being online I’ve read in literature. Its protagonist, Brooklynite Jules, is thrust into living with her sister, Poppy, in a cramped apartment — both are floundering, trying to find meaning in their lives and careers. As a creative writer for a buzzy astrology app, Jules finds success in being overly snippy in her recommendations for Scorpios, but while she’s at home, she’s glued to her phone, watching the horrors of everyday life with apathy and humor. The Instagram moms she follows will deny vaccines and tout chunky sweaters in the same breath, and Poppy and her friends start to aggravate Jules in a way only sisters can. Hilarious, dynamic, and compulsively readable, Tanner’s debut is one you’re going to want to start telling friends about.
ATB is one of the most iconic names in dance music, having produced the classic 9 PM, which has remained in our heads since its release in 1998. To talk about his latest single, Take A Moment, featuring David Frank, ATB joined us for an interview.
Take A Moment marks your latest release, featuring singer-songwriter David Frank. Can you share insights into the creative process behind this single and the collaboration with David Frank?
I first heard David’s voice last year and was immediately struck by its distinctiveness. Shortly after, he and his team sent me the initial version of the vocal melody for “Take a Moment,” which greatly inspired me. From there, we exchanged stems and ideas, and while refining the song, I felt a need for a change in the B part. David and his team responded brilliantly, and that’s how the final version of the song came to be. Despite never meeting in person, David and I collaborated remotely, a common practice in today’s world.
You’ve accumulated over 1.5 billion streams on Spotify and have had a successful career for over two decades. How do you perceive the evolution of your sound and style over the years, and how does Take A Moment contribute to this evolution?
Well, over 20 years is quite a stretch. Right at the onset of my musical journey, I harboured the concept of blending danceable beats with emotional melodies, a fusion scarcely found in the early 90s. As time progressed, I honed my unique ATB sound. It all began with the iconic guitar riff in 9 PM, which became my unmistakable signature. However, I eventually set the guitar aside, going deeper into evolving my ATB sound. To me, the ultimate compliment is when listeners encounter a new track of mine and exclaim, “That sounds unmistakably like ATB.” As a musician, you’re always striving to reinvent yourself while preserving your distinct essence. It’s a delicate balance, but I believe Take A Moment encapsulates the essence of ATB while embodying a contemporary sound that doesn’t belong to the 2010s.
In 2022, you received a Brit Award nomination for international song of the year. How did this recognition feel, especially considering your extensive career, and how did it influence your goals and aspirations for the future?
Naturally, I was thrilled by the nomination. German artists rarely make appearances at the BRIT Awards, so it felt like a great acknowledgement for the revamped version of 9PM. However, my primary motivation has never been about winning awards. Back in the mid-90s, my goal was simply to continue making music successfully for two decades, and I’m hopeful to keep that momentum going for the next 20 years as well.
Electronic dance music has undergone significant transformations over the years. How do you navigate these changes, and what are the key elements that have contributed to your enduring success in the industry?
Indeed, electronic music has undergone significant evolution over the past 30 years. In its early days, it was a niche, relatively insignificant genre, but it has since cultivated a dedicated fan base for its passionate artists. As the years went by, the music became increasingly mainstream and overground. While this expansion opened doors, it didn’t always serve the musical quality. Throughout it all, I’ve endeavoured to remain true to my style, resisting the urge to chase every trend simply because the record company or the scene deemed it necessary. Maintaining my signature sound has always been paramount to me, and I must wholeheartedly stand behind every song I create. There have been occasions where I’ve declined potentially promising collaborations because they didn’t resonate with me. Ultimately, my feelings and intuition have guided me through these shifts and changes in the industry.
With more fan interaction than ever, Take A Moment demonstrates your commitment to producing music. How do you balance staying true to your signature style while experimenting with new sounds and genres?
In this regard, I place great trust in my instincts. This approach ensures that I never lose touch with my musical identity. And I collaborate with other incredibly talented producers, such as Max Riehl (Barkley) in this instance. Together, we’ve crafted numerous tracks, sparking creativity in each other. This collaboration enables me to preserve my unique sound while incorporating new influences into my music. It’s a strategy embraced by many of my DJ colleagues, including Tiesto and David Guetta, who frequently engage in collaborative efforts to invigorate their music.
As 2024 is well underway, what are your plans for the year?
I’ve released more music this year than I have in a long time. Just recently, my remix of the upcoming summer hit MWAKI by Zerb was released. Additionally, the next single, serving as an anthem for a highly recognized series of events, is set to be released in a month. On top of that, I’m currently in the process of working on my twelfth album.
On 2022’s Car Therapy Sessions EP, Faye Webster recruited a 20-piece orchestra to deliver new versions of songs from her last two albums. It had the effect of underlining both her vocal abilities and the understated richness of her arrangements, but that’s not an approach she seeks to emulate on her latest album, Underdressed at the Symphony. Strings do occasionally make an appearance, but only in a way that mirrors Webster’s occasional visits to the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra – casual and impromptu, an escape amidst a flurry of thoughts rather than the main attraction. The center of attention sounds like the last thing Webster wants to be in her new music, despite retaining the freewheeling, relatable honesty of 2019’s Atlanta Millionaires Club and 2021’s I Know I’m Funny haha. Early recordings of Symphony were slathered in AutoTune, the kind of vocal processing Lil Yachty wears so naturally on ‘Lego Ring’, but which her friends and bandmates found “distracting or something” when applied that prominently on her voice.
She keeps it on ‘Feeling Good Today’, a charming vignette about finding comfort in small, daily victories that still can’t conceal a pervasive sense of anxiety, like when she admits it’s weird her neighbours know the name of her dog. Underdressed at the Symphony isn’t quite a feel-good album, but coming from a songwriter known for cleverly mixing humour and vulnerability, it’s also unusually and pointedly reserved for a breakup album. Webster still feels compelled to sing about the things she wants to sing about, but she now does it without divulging that many details or even really singing about thema. Maybe it’s a result of fame, or maybe it just reflects the mundane, empty spaces of going through heartbreak, the need to hide yourself from the world when it’s clearly the only thing towering over yours. The opening ‘Thinking About You’ ambles on for six minutes, but Webster doesn’t tell us much about the subject of her thoughts beyond a couple of intimate exchanges she’s aching to hold onto.
Yet it’s often not even clear what stage of the relationship Webster is reflecting on, as if there’s a mismatch between the moment she’s thinking, writing, and singing about. Maybe it’s the details our brains scribble out when things don’t quite pan out how you thought they would, the way separation muddles your definition of “a lifetime,” leaving you aimless and confused. “I used to be self-conscious/ Well really I still am/ I’m just better at figuring out why,” she sings on the self-consciously titled ‘Wanna Quit All the Time’. Webster doesn’t seem as intensely conflicted about her occupation as, say, Mitski in ‘Working for the Knife’, but a confluence of factors – being in the spotlight, but also melancholy, boredom, and perhaps just pure musical instinct – have caused her to slip into an even more naturalistic style, writing songs like the slumbering ‘eBay Purchase History’, where the one new thing in her life – learning, funnily enough, the word “anonymity” – comes into contrast with the line, “I’ve been listening to the same thing again/ Close my eyes I can smell my old apartment/ It’s kinda nice to have familiarity.”
Faye Webster may be playing it more low-key than ever, but she also has less of a filter, which makes the record subtly dynamic. She can lean on the deceptive silliness of ‘Feeling Good Today’ and ‘He Loves Me Yeah!’ because she stretches out the sentiments behind the longer songs, and she can write a song about wanting a Lego ring because she packs an album’s worth of romantic push-and-pull on the highlight ‘But Not Kiss’. And ultimately, she can end the album on a track as lighthearted and seemingly barren as ‘Tttime’ because when she sings about getting lost in a song, it’s not for lack of trying to make ones we can use for the same purpose. Its malaise feels earned after the genuinely pensive title track, in which she confesses, “I’m depriving myself of happiness/ Something I’m really good at.” You wonder if, in pulling back as a means of self-protection, Webster is denying some of the pleasures of cutting through the routine of it all, but Underdressed at the Symphony proves she’s capable of making personal and powerful music while stepping a little to the side. She makes herself comfortable, passes the time, and makes songs about how she manages it. Yet there are enough glimpses of lingering unease, of trying repeatedly to fashion yourself out of a wrong situation, that it can feel like a triumph.
The estate of the late Sinéad O’Connor has issued a statement condemning the Donald Trump campaign for using ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’ at his recent rallies.
“Throughout her life, it is well known that Sinéad O’Connor lived by a fierce moral code defined by honesty, kindness, fairness and decency towards her fellow human beings,” the statement reads, according to Variety. “It was with outrage therefore that we learned that Donald Trump has been using her iconic performance of ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’ at his political rallies.”
The statement continued: “It is no exaggeration to say that Sinéad would have been disgusted, hurt and insulted to have her work misrepresented in this way by someone who she herself referred to as a ‘biblical devil.’ As the guardians of her legacy, we demand that Donald Trump and his associates desist from using her music immediately.”
Over the years, the number of artists have spoken out against Trump’s use of their music, including Rihanna, the Rolling Stones, Guns N’ Roses, Neil Young, and the estates of Prince and David Bowie. Most recently, Johnny Marr blasted Trump for using the Smiths’ ‘Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want’ at an election rally.
Los Angeles-based indie pop artist Vicky Farewell has announced a new album called Give a Damn. The follow-up to her 2021 debut Sweet Company is set for release on May 10 via Mac DeMarco’s imprint Mac’s Record Label. Lead single ‘Tern Me On’ is out today alongside an accompanying video, and you can check it out below.
“I needed to embrace vulnerability in order to meet my deeper self,” Farewell said of the album, which was self-written and produced from her Los Angeles apartment. “These songs came from a real place.” Of the new song, she added, “I recorded an improvised take of myself playing and babbling nonsensically until somehow the blueprint for ‘Tern Me On’ was born.”
Give a Damn Cover Artwork:
Give a Damn Tracklist:
1. Intro (Remember Me)
2. Semi Auto
3. Make Me
4. Push It
5. Textbook
6. Isn’t It Strange
7. Tern Me On
8. Luxury Hellscape
9. Love Ya Like Me
10. Always There
Leyla McCalla has unveiled a new single, ‘Love We Had’, taken from her upcoming LP Sun Without the Heat. Originally written and performed by Ethiopian artist and activist Ali Mohammed Birra, the track follows the previously released ‘Scaled to Survive’ and ‘Tree’. Listen to it below.
McCalla’s new LP is out April 12 via ANTI-. “Usually, I go into the studio and have the songs and the framework already in mind,” she said of the recording process. “But with this album, we built the frame in real time. It was an intimidating process, but it also helped me realize how held I am by the musicians I work with.”
Grieving have released ‘Puritans (The Weight)’, the latest single from their upcoming debut album Everything Goes Right, All at Once. It follows January’s ‘Tarpaulin’, and it features ex-Lonely the Brave vocalist Dave Jakes. Check it out below.
Everything Goes Right, All at Once is set to arrive on March 15 through By The Time It Gets Dark.
Throughout the week, we update our Best New Songs playlist with the new releases that caught our attention the most, be it a single leading up to the release of an album or a newly unveiled deep cut. And each Monday, we round up the best new songs released over the past week (the eligibility period begins on Monday and ends Sunday night) in this best new music segment.
On this week’s list, we have ‘Von dutch’, the chaotically defiant lead single from Charli XCX’s dance-inspired album Brat; Cloud Nothings’ driving, infectious ‘Running Through the Campus’, the first single from their new album Final Summer; Bully’s piercingly vulnerable piano ballad ‘Atom Bomb’; ‘Bite Down’, the hypnotically introspective title track from Rosali’s upcoming album; New York-based singer-songwriter Hannah Pruzinsky’s new single as h. pruz, the poignant, textured ‘I Keep Changing’; Armand Hammer’s Benjamin Booker-featuring ‘Doves’, a haunting addition to last year’s We Buy Diabetic Test Strips that moves and glitches its way across nine minutes; electronic duo Clothing’s first single, the vibrant, shapeshifting ‘Kingdom’, featuring former Dirty Projectors vocalist Amber Coffman; and the Ophelias’ emotive, fiery new track ‘Black Ribbon’.
The Hearing Test
The Extinction of Irina Rey
Fruit of the Dead
But the Girl
Mother Doll
Some of Us Just Fall: On Nature and Not Getting Better
James
Worry
