WHAMAGEDDON: RAGNARÖK

Faithful readers will recall my previous experience in the 2019 Whamageddon trenches, as recounted here. Since that entry I have wandered the liminal spaces of Whamageddon, lost in the twilight, half alive, essentially a ghost.

Yesterday changed all that, though. Walking through the common area of the building where my studio is, I half-heard an NPR broadcast on the radio that discussed… classic?… Christmas songs from various decades. Why they chose this particular track in that context I have no idea, but in any case, a few seconds of Wham!’s “Last Christmas” represented the 80s— like seriously, four seconds of it!— and my 2019 Whamageddon campaign crashed and burned, just like that.

It’s like my friend Carrie says:

“That was me last year. Brian Oake played it on purpose without any warning. People were pretty pissed. Even listeners who didn’t know the game thought it was mean spirited.

”My favorite comment was ‘I just discovered I lost a game I didn’t even know I was playing.’”

For everyone out there who’s still standing, I urge you to stand strong. We’re all rooting for you from Whamhalla. Make us proud!

WHAMAGEDDON LIMBO

If you’re not already familiar with the concept of Whamageddon, feel free to get up to speed. And if you feel like you’ve got what it takes, join the fight! It’s the easiest game you’ll ever play. In fact, the less you do, the easier it is.

I’m facing an odd situation in my own particular Whamageddon experience this year, though. Here’s the deal.

The other day (either Dec 1st or 2nd, I don’t remember which, though I know it was one of those, so it’s in-bounds according to the rules of the game), on the way through the atrium of the downtown Target here in Minneapolis, I just barely caught the strains of “Last Christmas” on the way out the door. It wasn’t very distinct— the PA system wasn’t very high fidelity or anything— and I even went back inside to make sure that was what I’d heard. It did seem to be, and I was disappointed to have been Whammed so soon.

But then I wondered: was this the original version, or a cover? Given the lo-fi playback and low volume, plus the fact that I have only a passing familiarity with the song, I really wasn’t able to tell what version of the song it was. And if it’s a cover version, then it doesn’t count. So I have to wonder: if I don’t know whether I heard the original version or not, have I truly been Whammed?

What do you think?

SOUND DESIGN + MUSIC LAYER BY LAYER: HOLIDAY CARD 2018

Above: a layer-by-layer presentation of my sound edit, musical composition and mix on the animated holiday card that Caitlin Cadieux and I put together at the end of 2018. This video isolates voiceover (performed by me) + background, sound effects, and music (which I composed), finally playing back all the elements mixed together.

Here’s the complete holiday card if you want to see/ hear it.

More sound design and music by Mike Hallenbeck for animation

More animation by Caitlin Cadieux