Insufficient Funds: Jordan Jesse Go!

Insufficient Funds is a regular post in which we feature a free, or very close to it, piece of media that you can enjoy without overdrafting your bank account.

I'm trying to get away from always featuring games with Insufficient Funds, but I didn't feel like searching out any pay-what-you-want downloadable CDs or short films on YouTube. Instead, I'll turn to what I know, and I know podcasts.

Jordan Jesse Go has no real set purpose to inform or to educate, only to entertain. Any topic of conversation is on the table with Jesse Thorn, host of The Sound of Young America, and Jordan Morris from the deep cable channel Fuel TV.

Hilarious guests like Chris Hardwick, Paul F. Tompkins, and John Hodgman add to the show, but Jordan and Jesse are the main draw. With improv backgrounds, they can easily play off of each other completely unprompted.

I started listening around episode 90, and have recently gone back and downloaded all of the back episodes. I am now into the 80s, and have enjoyed every second. Even episodes several years old are still hilarious, which means you've got 125 to work through should you need entertainment on a long, long, long car ride.

But I lied before when I said they didn't inform. I've certainly been informed of amazingly ridiculous things like this from listening:



Subscribe in iTunes here or go to the website.

Music Review: Shearwater's The Golden Archipelago

Shearwater have a masterful ability to hold themselves back, straddling just on the edge of bursting into some sort of euphoric splendor of sound. They reserve themselves to a hauntingly touching beauty, almost ready to explode forth, and then when you almost start to think they won't, it all comes out.

Started as a side-project by Jonathan Meiburg and Will Sheff of Okkervil River as an outlet for their "quieter" songs, they have really grown into their own sound. Meiburg's low, soulful voice fits the music perfectly, and while I wouldn't say they've left the "quieter" label behind, they certainly aren't afraid to be upbeat now.

I only discovered the band on their 4th full length, Palo Santo, and while I adored that CD as well as it's follow-up Rooks, I think The Golden Archipelago is my absolute favorite. I just can't seem to take it out of my CD player. I just let it cycle through again rather then putting in a new CD. I would venture to say it is their most accessible to date, and highly encourage new fans to start here and work their way back.

Score: 5 out of 5
Confused about our scoring system? Read this explanation.

Video Round-Up: That Just Happened Edition

Video Round-Up is a weekly post collecting an assortment of videos from around the web. Whether they be music videos, creative viral marketing, just plain cool, or just plain ridiculous, they will all be found on Video Round-Up.

More in the vein of psychedelic drug-induced hallucination, this stop motion is also unique because of its dry-erase-board canvas. It allows the artist to do some funky animations, and the high frame rate increases the quality even more.




It's an honest satire, this one. I wonder myself why manufactures don't just switch to new templates and mass-produce stuff more people will like. But instead of simple, straight-edged, black picture frames -- which are en vogue -- I still see disgustingly garish, fake-gold, ornate ones. And also: This video is hilarious.




After watching this video, did you expect what you saw? That the video imitated Coldplay's; that it mostly took itself seriously; that it's solemn message at the end was quite poorly written; did you expect any of that? To me, it's quite good. It makes me wonder why more video editors haven't tried to put a serious spin on a frivolous franchise in AMV form. I'd like more of these. Although this one could certainly be better, it has merits.




This is one of my favorite Super Bowl commercials this year. Which was your favorite?




Lastly, I've shown you a video whose production quality put the rest to shame. Sorry other videos: You're all great too, but this one is original and high-quality. The unique interpretation of music creation might scare you or inspire you. Either way, don't thank me; I'm just the messenger. No wait, thank me. I like praise :)

Music Review: Thunder Buffalo

All that is old will eventually be new again... or something. What I mean is, lo-fi is a way to describe an artist that purposely records their music on inferior audio equipment, or adds heavy distortion or hum to the sound. It's a scene my cousin is deeply steeped in as part of his obsession with 70's soul/garage/psychadelic music.

Thunder Buffalo is very lo-fi, and slightly grunge. It is a sound that may initially turn off new listeners due to the sound quality they are used to in modern music. I had no misgivings about the band's sound as I've become accustomed to similar music from the aformentioned cousin and garage bands like The Dirtbombs out of Detroit.

Still, if you are under 40 and have yet to be introduced to this type of music, I don't think you need much help getting adjusted. Most of these bands have enough of a soul influence that anyone can enjoy it on first listen, and Thunder Buffalo is no exception -- as I write this, my two year old daughter is on my lap dancing to the CD.

I would highly recommend checking the band out to judge for yourself on their MySpace, and should you enjoy it, picking up their self-titled debut on Amazon or iTunes. I've certainly been enjoying it the last few days.

Score: 4 out of 5
Confused about our rating system? Read this explanation.

Bonus! Video proof that my adorable daughter Emerson also loves Thunder Buffalo now.

Game Review: Critter Crunch (PSN)

The animal kingdom is a ruthless hierarchy. Wherever a creature treads, there is sure to be another, stronger creature, waiting to helplessly devour it. The never-ending cycle of the food chain is around us and now the harsh realities of it all have finally invaded the puzzle genre in Capybara Games' Critter Crunch.

Originally made for the iphone, Critter Crunch has been ported over to the PS3's online service, the Playstation Network (PSN). The game has received a definite upgrade in visuals in comparison to its iphone counterpart. The graphics are both vibrant and colorful lending itself nicely to the deceptively cute innards of the game.

Continue Reading...

Oscar Predictions Battle

The Academy Awards telecast has radically changed from year to year, from style and content to format and presentation. The biggest change this year was to allow 10 nominees for Best Picture -- aside from the standard five -- in an obvious bid for ratings, but also to allow films that might not get a nomination otherwise to have the spotlight. Make no mistake, it's mostly for the ratings.

Remember last year when The Dark Knight was widely considered a lock for at least a Best Picture nomination and didn't get it? So did the Academy; Heath Ledger's nomination was probably the biggest reason there was a rise in viewership after 2008's lowest-rated year ever. Now imagine what would've happened if Dark Knight HAD been nominated.

If anyone has followed the Oscars for longer than five years then they know that the show is a huge tug-of-war between artistry and popular opinion. Artistic (and more deserving) films have been getting the lion's share of Best Picture nominations lately and this is probably what has lead to the decline in viewership. Popular opinion usually factors in when Academy members are unable to see EVERY movie nominated and rely on advertising, word-of-mouth and the opinions of their peers to cast their vote.

It is this exact battle between art and popularity that usually cloud a lot of Oscar predictions. Ask a family member who hasn't seen a movie in eight months and they'll tell you that Avatar will TOTALLY win because, well, it made a billion dollars, riiiggghhht?!?! This is essentially how the Academy works and it can get a little frustrating when something that's largely considered Good wins over something considered Amazing. But that's life.

In order to recreate this eternal struggle (and to help illustrate what the 5,000+ members of the Academy are usually thinking) Alex Cronk-Young and I will be going over who we believe will be winning this year's main categories in the feature below. As these are just our guesses (some more educated than others) please do not take this as an excuse to run out and place bets with your local bookie.

This will just be a simple look at who's nominated, who will probably win and who will be stuck in their seat, straining a fake smile for five minutes, while someone else gets the award. If you're curious on the non-major awards, they're at the bottom. I fought to get the Original and Adapted Screenplays in the top but Alex is a rat who thinks the written word is a dead art. THAT PHILISTINE!

On with the show!

Trailer Park: February 19th

Trailer Park is a weekly post, every thursday, where we feature trailers for the upcoming weekend movie releases.

Two pretty big releases this week. Thriller fans rejoice, as each film is of the drama/mystery genre. Both look rather good with two very different plots. If you're heading to the cinema this weekend you should definitely check out one of these two.



First up is Shutter Island, the latest effort from acclaimed director Martin Scorsese. It stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo and Ben Kingsley. Two U.S. Marshals are sent to a mental institution for the criminally insane to investigate the escape of a murderous psychopath. The film appears to become much more of a psychological thriller than a straight forward cop story. It is definitely one to look out for.



Next up is The Ghost Writer. Directed by the controversial Roman Polanski and starring Pierce Brosnan, Ewan Mcgregor and Kim Cattrall. A ghost writer is given the task of writing a former British Prime Minister's biography. During his work he uncovers a conspiracy that endangers his life. It certainly seems to be a tense, edge of your seat ride.

Other Releases:
Happy Tears
The Good Guy (LA/NY)

Video Round-Up: Muse Edition

Video Round-Up is a weekly post collecting an assortment of videos from around the web. Whether they be music videos, creative viral marketing, just plain cool, or just plain ridiculous, they will all be found on Video Round-Up.

I'm happy I live in an age when any artist can broadcast his work without the help of patrons. It's even better when the art comprises video games and optical illusions set to chill electronica. Reading the notes for this video, the artists says he created the image with white construction paper; which is why he probably isn't kidding saying it took fifteen hours to complete.




The cousin of stop-motion animation, flipbook, is employed by this artist. The title is misleading, but it's otherwise Monty Python-influenced goodness. Offenbach included.




While the story of the original Final Fantasy is well known as rather shallow, this video puts a School House Rock spin on it to make it fun! Duane and Brando have made some other classic viral videos in this same vein, and I recommend those too. (I normally wouldn't say anything, but "prophecized" is not a word. It's "prophesied." Always. Unless you're using magic to turn things into prophecies.)




Oh, misunderstandings. You always know what someone isn't saying. Thank you for creating presidentially absurd situations.




Check out Cerebral Pop's Field Guide to Post-Rock for more information on Sigur Ròs. This is one of their many amazing songs, "Gong," to which a video has been put for a competition. This guy apparently won second place, and I don't contest that judgment. It might seem borderline pretentious, but all hatred aside, I'm genuinely impressed by the editing and how the tone of the video and the song match so perfectly.

Adam "Atomic" Saltsman Interview

Adam Saltsman, a.k.a. Adam Atomic, is the indie game developer behind the bare bones game Canabalt, among others. Canabalt stripped down gameplay to it's most basic element, 1 single button press to jump. Yet, in doing so, proved that by concentrating on making the most simple of gameplay fun, the rest of will fall into place.

Adam was nice enough to exchange a few emails with me. We talked about the minimalist approach to game design and whether the big developers could learn from it as well, the social network integration trend in gaming today, and the assumed story in Canabalt.

Continue reading...

Trailer Park: February 12th

Trailer Park is a weekly post, every thursday, where we feature trailers for the upcoming weekend movie releases.

Another week with something or everyone. You've got your monster movie for guys, your chick flick for dates, and your preteen fantasy flick for, well, preteens. Then there's the indie drama for those who feel above the rest. Don't have any plans for the weekend? You might as well get out to the theaters. You'll probably get your money's worth.



I keep going back and forth on this movie. The original trailer looked unbelievably cheesy, but this one is pretty good. But then, that picture up there is pretty cheesy. Either way, it's probably worth a night at the movies, even if it ends up being pretty cheesetastic.



Oh, you kids and your Harry Potter-esque books. I thought Hollywood was going to stop this mindless greenlighting of preteen fantasy books after Golden Compass failed to catch on. Considering I've never once heard of this series of books, I'm thinking they didn't stop mindlessly greenlighting, though I hadn't heard of Twilight when that first movie was announced, so I probably just don't know what I'm talking about.

Other Releases:

Valentine's Day
My Name is Kahn