It was summer magic in Somerville

So many wonders and marvels to unveil and explore in this small, splendid town

May 30, 2023

Dear hopeful reader,

Last weekend was the best time in a long time. After several weeks of my body misbehaving on me—naughty, naughty—it decided to give me some respite at last. “For your troubles, have a nice weekend. But don’t relax too much just yet!” I did everything I wanted to do, and I also did a lot of nothing.

My Friyay evening started with me finishing Planet of Lana. It’s a visually stunning hand-painted side-scrolling puzzle platformer developed by a Swedish indie developer Wishfully. In Wishfully’s first game, you play as Lana whose sister and the tribe she lives with in the village of Novo get captured by robotic faceless aliens.

You take off on a journey to find and free your sister and the villagers. Along the treacherous yet thrilling adventure, you stumble upon a small feline creature named Mui. You help each other through obstacles and create diversions for the mechanical enemies. And sometimes you take in the breathtaking views, temporarily forgetting your planet was invaded.

Planet of Lana is an immersive, exciting, touching experience. It’s the visuals that tell the narrative and push the story forward. Speaking is sparse, and the language spoken is alien; however, you come to understand it more through repeated actions. The AI enemies aren’t always predictable. There was a puzzle—or two—I had to restart several times because I was met with a worthy foe who surprised me with their acute reactions.

At the end of the journey, I tried so hard—I don’t know why—to hold my emotions in. But a tear or two got out. Anyone who adores well-made puzzle platformers will love Planet of Lana. Anyone who wants to start gaming may want to begin with this game. It’s challenging but not cumbersome. It’s free with Xbox Game Pass and now $17.99 on GOG.com.

On Caturday, my husband and I watched Only the Strong, a 90’s martial arts film I never heard about, per my dad’s recommendation. The foremost reason why I wanted to watch it in the first place is because it features Capoeira. And we have a lot of friends who do or have done Capoiera in the past, so through them we were somewhat rooted in the community and culture of this beautiful Afro-Brazilian martial art for a while. And I just love love love seeing martial artists kicking butt. I live vicariously through action films, and often feel empowered by them.

Mark Dacascos and Mestre Joselito “Amen” Santo

In Only The Strong, Louis Stevens played by Mark Dacascos returns to his hometown in Miami after his military service in Brazil. He notices his old high school has become a breeding ground for gangsters and drug dealers. After seeing a student there being bullied by a drug dealer, he shows a lesson to the baddies on-site with his agile Capoiera skills.

Taking note of the impact this has on the students, his beloved former teacher, Kerrigan, played by Geoffrey Lewis, advocates for Stevens to teach Capoiera to their at-risk students. But that’s not the only risky undertaking. He has to face the local drug lord Silverio Oliveiras, played by Paco Christian Prieto, who is also a skillful mestre in Capoiera, but who uses it for bad.

The takeaway from the film is if you want to teach someone, teach them in a way that they can relate to. For instance, one of the students carries a boombox with his mixes. He made a mix of music Stevens uses for Capoiera classes that blends modernity with tradition, enabling the students to be more open and receptive to learning.

I remember absorbing learning better in high school and college when my teachers integrated storytelling, personal experiences, humor, music, cinema, illustrations, and practical teaching in their lessons. Even hard sciences like Mathematics can be better digested if the the problems can be made funny or poetic—or so I think.

And Capoiera is a multidisciplinary martial art that combines singing, dancing, playing instruments, performing acrobatics, and spiritual way of being, living, and thinking. It’s a highly communal martial art and teaches others the value of cooperation, trust, discipline, and self-expression. Through Capoiera training you become more confident, stronger, creative, and more. No wonder the students in Only The Strong eventually grew to love Capoiera and incorporated what they learned in their everyday life.

If I didn’t convince you yet of watching the movie, maybe this listicle will. You can watch Only The Strong for free on YouTube. Just add the Adblock Plus extension to avoid the ads and you’re good to go. That’s the only way I’ve been watching YouTube!

And now for le plat de résistance, mes chers: Sunday was a fun day, too. My husband and I went to Somerville in New Jersey. It’s a lovely little borough in the Somerset County. It boasts numerous great bakeries, cafés, and restaurants if you’re a foodie and/or coffee lover.

I love getting a Matcha Latte (I quit it but also didn’t quite) or London Fog in Ambee Coffee Co. The ambience there is chill, fun, and sexy. If you love arcades, YESTERcades is the place to go. You can play old-school video games, pinball machines, physical games like tabletop air hockey, and modern games too. Show off you’re not scared of TLOU’s Shambler, and maybe the next ticket is on them. (I can neither confirm nor deny the latter statement.)

If you’re an antiquarian, an antique aficionado, or want to laugh at weirdlings like in the photograph above, stop by Elysium Antiques. Don’t forget to pick up my business card on your way out. Please don’t tell the owner I sneaked it in there. For dinner, take your partner to Kuay Tiew Noodles & More. The staff there are so hospitable, and their Mee Krob and Pad Preaw Wan are absolutely delicious.

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What is even more magical about Somerville is the nature in the park areas of the town. Particularly how it changes with time, how humans interact with it. This year we saw what looked like trees either engaging in intercourse or doing Capoeira, coincidentally. We saw flowers we’ve never seen before. We saw altars of rocks, of seashells. We saw graffiti under a bridge, a stump of a tree on top of a loveless well. We even saw and captured some pesky, persistent photobombers.

There are so many wonders and marvels to unveil and explore in this small, splendid town. They have fun and strange statues too. We’ve only scratched the surface but look forward to more magical sightseeing again. And to witness the changes.

If you live in New Jersey or you’re visiting and love small-town atmosphere with a bit of a bustling energy, Somerville should be on your list of destinations to go to. Other small NJ towns I adore are Newtown, Cranbury, Lambertville, Princeton, obviously. While New Hope and Yardley are PA territory, I also want to include them.

On our way to Somerville and back, we were listening to one of Initial D’s soundtracks. I was already a fan of Eurodance, but Eurobeat is life, my friends. It is what pure freedom and happiness sound like. I’m especially obsessed with Dave Rodgers’ music. His voice is gorgeous and alluring. Just listen for yourself.

Despite my corporeal vessel paining me every moment of my conscious hours, at that moment in time, my soul felt free and happy. Pain be damned. With the music, with the winds, what makes me the true I took to the air.

What are your beloved towns? What makes you feel free?

Yours hopefully,

Nadia