Hi there! I’ll be filling in for Henn on this week’s Resident Spotlight. You can find last week’s here.
This week, the spotlight’s on @NewGoldman, who’s been around in the South Pacific since 2020, and a legislator since that time as well (with some breaks). They’re also a frequent poster over on Discord!
Alright, let’s kick things off. What got you into NationStates?
The Drewpocalypse back in 2020. I had been a subscriber of his for a little while now back then. Nations, flags and geopolitics always intrigued me, especially since I love history.
Fun fact though: New Goldman wasn’t my first nation. I had an earlier one. I don’t remember the name now, but I made it in early 2020. After a bit, I abandoned it since I found it boring. I picked up NS again in July 2020, and that’s where New Goldman was born.
Heh, that makes two of us who can’t remember the name of our first nation. Has New Goldman always been a South Pacifican nation?
I started out in a feeder region, of course, just like any other newly founded nation on the platform. I then moved and stayed with the region called 10,000 Islands, or more popularly known as XKI.
I stayed there for a while, until…some issues propped up that I was banned from the region, and temporarily held up in The Rejected Realms. I finally settled in TSP not long after.
What enticed you to join TSP and to stick around?
Well…when I first joined the Discord server and told everyone of my situation not long after, the atmosphere was very welcoming. I, for a while, wanted to apologize to XKI, and quite frankly, I still do. But some members told me that TSP was my home now, and I just felt at peace after that. I felt like I belonged.
Thus I stayed ever since. Even when I took a hiatus from NS for a while and voluntarily resigned as Legislator, I made sure to keep New Goldman from CTE-ing and stayed in TSP.
We’re certainly glad to have you here!
Shifting gears a bit — what are some of your favorite… things? Songs, movies, food, sports, what floats your boat?
I’m a ravid Los Angeles sports fan. Lakers are my number one love, and I have been a fan of the team for 10 years now, starting from 2013. Basketball was the first sport I watched on TV too back then, and I idolized both Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant (RIP to the Mamba).
Aside from hoops, baseball is my second sport, and as you can see fron my profile picture, I’m a Dodgers fan. I had actually discovered baseball through an anime actually, which was called “Major”, which I highly recommend if you like anime and sports. I became a Dodgers fan by around 2016 since the Lakers were terrible by then :P.
I’m also a newer fan of the NFL and the Rams by around 2019-2020. I got into the NHL last year in 2022 with the LA Kings, and I finally decided to take SOCCER seriously this year with Los Angeles FC.
Outside of sports, I like war movies. My genre of song is actually “oldies music” from the 1950s and 60s, mostly thanks to the Fallout game franchise, and also some modern ones like Sabaton.
Interesting! Do you have any special attachment to Los Angeles, or do you just happen to be a fan of some of their sports teams?
I actually don’t live in Los Angeles in real life. Actually, I’m not even American. I’m from the Philippines in Southeast Asia.
Since becoming a Lakers fan I just felt the need to stay in the city when it comes to my fandom in sports. It would be kinda weird if I was a Lakers fan, and I backed a team like the New York Yankees who’s like the opposite of LA, wouldn’t it?
Yeah, that does make sense. I guess it’s good that you picked a city with plenty of sports teams to branch out! 
Let me revisit your music tastes for a bit; is there a song you’d recommend to readers — maybe a favorite of yours, or one that you think introduces the genre well?
I’m a fan of history, and if some of our readers like history and songs, I’d recommend the Swedish heavy metal band called “Sabaton”. I already mentioned them before, but basically their entire genre is revolved around history and historical events.
My favorite song of theirs is, without a doubt, “The Last Stand”, which was the main song of the album of the same name they released in 2016. It’s about the Sacking of Rome in 1527, and even if you don’t know history, I promise it’s a damn rocker to listen to.
I’m playing it now, and I certainly agree. To our readers out there, definitely worth a listen!
(Editor’s note: you can find “The Last Stand” on YouTube or wherever you like to listen.)
And last but not least, you know I gotta ask: cake or pie? (Or ice cream?)
Cake is overrated, and I have only tried Pie a few times. It was decent…but eh.
Ice Cream is the one for me.
That makes it the third Resident Spotlight in a row for ice cream, and I can’t say I’m complaining.
Well, that’s all I got. Thanks so much for joining me! It’s a pleasure to get to know you a bit better. 
A very great honor to have been interviewed! Thank you so much for the opportunity and I’m looking onward to what’s coming for us and our region. Good day!
Stay tuned for the next Resident Spotlight. . .