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February 27, 2010

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.

February 24, 2010

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.



February 22, 2010

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 :)

February 21, 2010

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.



February 20, 2010

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...

February 18, 2010

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)

February 16, 2010

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.

February 11, 2010

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

February 10, 2010

The Cerebral Pop Field Guide: Post-Rock


The Cerebral Pop Field Guides are an ongoing attempt to help introduce you to our favorite things within a respective category. It strikes at the very heart of what Cerebral Pop has set out to do, and will hopefully help increase awareness of things that are awesome and help define the new and better pop culture.


This is the new age of popular culture. Although still common, gone are the days of only receiving your new favorites from chart topping hits and MTV music video countdowns. More than ever before you now have the power to really decide what you want to listen to.

That is the essence of Cerebral Pop. Intelligent culture of the masses. This sounds contradicting at first, but I assure you it can make sense. If something is popular both because it is of high quality and noticed for that quality by many, then it follows that free choice can become popular. High quality is up to the artist; aware by many is up to us.

Usually you hear from a friend, "have you heard this, oh it's so great." Many times, depending on the friend, this gives you a bias going into a new music scene.

We are compiling some of our favorite music scenes for you. We're going to be that friend of yours that says, "hey check out these bands." But we're not going to tell you they're awesome. You have a brain for a reason.

Sigur Ròs

The most well known of the post-rock genre, Sigur Ròs has almost evolved out of it. Their last CD, Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust, was a pretty big departure for them -- featuring many songs only 5 or so minutes in length.

While they do sing -- something a lot of post-rock bands don't do -- it is typically in Icelandic or "Hopelandic", a sort of language that the band made up, with no real meaning or distinct words.



Godspeed! You Black Emperor

Three things summarize Godspeed for me.

1. Really long songs. At least 20 minutes on average.

2. Slow build-ups to exploding climaxes.

3. Sound-bytes.

I love all three of these things. Therefore, I love Godspeed.



Explosions in the Sky

Often a first-heard of the post-rock genre, the albums by explosions in the sky have a deep impact on the new listener. With instrumental tracks (aside from samples of calm voices) that tell you a story every time you listen you can almost give each album a theme or a story.

A soundtrack to your imagination; this group fills your head with strength against anything, and the will to use it. This group will accompany you on voyages of the mind, and each listen after will remind you of the feats of those voyages. And thestrum of the electric guitar will sooth your woes and let you finally fall asleep and enter slumberland.

And because of the latter, it quickly becomes the soundtrack to your dreams.

The newest album shows great growth in the band, while the older albums show they they haven't strayed too far from their original sound.



Eluvium

Probably the most wildly diverse of the post-rock bands. Matthew Cooper uses the project as a sounding board for his imagination. The release, An Accidental Memory in the Case of Death, was simply solo piano pieces that he recorded in one continuous take.

Still, his other releases would fit better in this category. It is much more ambient then most of the other bands on this list, but it is wonderful music to put on when you want your mind to wander. Especially late at night.



Jesu

Certainly the most distortion heavy post-rock band I've heard. Most of the time, their sound is made entirely from thick distortion and drawn-out, haunting vocals. It makes an atmosphere that, not only transports you to another place, but dictates your emotions as well.

I usually love listening to this genre of music in the middle of the night when I'm delivering papers and no one else is awake, because it takes me completely out of the menial task.Jesu makes me imagine post-apocalyptic worlds for some reason. Not the monster infested kinds, but the sad and somber, reflective kinds.



Paucity

This is probably the most unknown band in the guide. Paucity hails from Grand Rapids, Michigan.

The slow build-up of bands like Godspeed or Explosions is no where to be found here. Instead, Paucity songs tend to keep the same energy throughout. Still, they come up with some really creative sounds. And for some reason I still haven't seen them live.



February 09, 2010

Book Ruminations: The Dharma Bums by Jack Kerouac (Part Two)

During my adolescent years, I regarded books as something that "got in the way of video games." As I matured, I realized my folly and began devouring as many books as I possibly could. This is not a review, but merely my thoughts and musings whilst reading The Dharma Bums.




Previously I wrote about Kerouac's writing style, called "spontaneous prose," as if I knew what I was talking about.



I was very wrong.



I've just begun reading Desolation Angels by Kerouac, a book that begins towards the end of The Dharma Bums, and then continues after the events of The Dharma Bums, if that makes sense. Desolation Angels is spontaneous prose. It's basically one long, run-on sentence. It's beginning to make me feel crazy, which is what seems to have happened to Kerouac.



During the course of The Dharma Bums, there are glimpses of insanity in his writing. He doesn't mind that he's showing the reader this side of his self, and in fact it appears this is a way that sort of relieves his mind, helps him cope with...whatever it is that's going on upstairs.



So what is The Dharma Bums? Dharma, as it relates to Buddhism (Kerouac was Buddhist, at least during this portion of his life), is essentially the character of a Buddhist. When you marry that meaning with "bum," you have a pretty good idea of Kerouac. He was a bum, no questions about it. But he also thought of spiritual things, and viewed the world as one great, big void. That is, nothing is really happening. Everything is just a perception of the mind.



The book begins with Kerouac hopping trains, sleeping under the stars, and buying and drinking booze. But he writes about these sort of things as if he is living a life of grandeur, that he is better off because of his bum lifestyle. And you don't realize it at first, at least not until Kerouac meets up with his friend, Japhy, that Kerouac never writes about or views himself as the main character. He's more like a side-character, and Japhy, at least for this book, is easily the main character.


Again, it's something that you don't notice right away, but after a bit you begin to see it.


Before I forget, Japhy isn't really his friend's name. It's Gary Snyder. But Kerouac changes his name, along with own name (Ray Smith, he calls himself), in The Dharma Bums. I'm not sure why, but I can speculate: It gives the book more of a novel feel. Instead of reading about real people, you're reading about real people in some sort of show, always pretending to be someone else. But they're not. They are themselves, but with a different name. Confused?


Back to the grand, bum lifestyle. Without giving the entire book away, Kerouac does several "major" things during the course of the book. Most of the book is a hike that Smith (Kerouac) and Japhy take, right up Matterhorn Mountain. It's quite humorous, but Smith is very near the top and decides to stop. He's tired and he's afraid of falling off the mountain. Japhy of course continues to the top, lets out a shout, and then comes barreling back down the mountain, right past Smith.


At this point Smith has a revelation: You can't fall off mountains!


Smith, following Japhy's lead, begins running down the mountain, feeling ever so foolish for even entertaining the thought of falling off.


I don't want to talk too much more about the book, as I feel that would be giving it away, as it were, but as far as recommendations go, if you're looking for something a bit autobiographical, but with a novel-like feel, pick this book up. Just go with the flow of the prose, and don't worry about the lack of punctuation.


Just don't become a bum yourself. It's not as glamorous as the book makes it seem.







February 08, 2010

Video Round-Up: Reductionist 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.





Rémi Gaillard, French parodist made popular in the States through viral videos, shows off his talent for comedy in this Pac-Man "re-imagining." This is the best video of his I've seen yet. His and his cohorts' unabashed extroversion makes the most out of the hilarious and very public re-enactment. The low-budget-ness of it (and the accidents) only makes it funnier.



If you wish to write off this song as unsavory, first consider that Jonathan Mann (pictured) wrote that song in one day. Or, at least, he has kept up the pace of one song per day for over a year now. Featured on 1UP and G4TV, Mann (aka GameJew) decided to write and record a song a day to (if I understand correctly) figure out his place in the universe. This is just one of many (390+) daily songs. And he doesn't just write in the board-game-pirate-sounding genre, either.



What I like best about this video from the 90s in which Joan Rivers interviews Gwar isn't the ridiculousness of this statement; it's more that it makes a historian's passion for analyzing the past that much clearer to me. Watching this at the time might have seemed strange enough, but watching it now sums up so much of 90s America to me. The bland, formulaic talk show (host, set, etc.), the clothing, the absurd extremes of "heavy metal" culture. Heck, even the camera quality is a window into the past. But just as interesting is the conversation. It's really entertaining.



Does stop-motion animation ever get old? What's great about it is that the low frame rate is the point, allowing pretty much anyone with a camera and a unique idea to make a video worth watching. While this is no Fantastic Mr. Fox, it's excellently simple. And way to keep that amazing SMB3 soundtrack!



We end this week's Round-Up with more satire -- this time quite overt. This news segment about news segments pins down the formula perfectly, with charming results. Or is it just cynical? Maybe a little of both. This video only makes my bias toward BBC programming stronger. Incredibly funny, this one.

February 05, 2010

Honest Movie Posters Part 2: Watching Trees and Racist Old Men


Honest Movie Posters is a weekly post in which we look at a world where movie posters tell the honest truth about the movie it concerns. As always, click an image to enlarge it.



The Happening

For an hour and a half you will watch trees, then... the credits will roll. Nothing is Happening


Gran Torino

Clint Eastwood is: A Racist Old Man...Who Learns to Love


Thanks to Chani over at listal.com


Insufficient Funds: Time Kufc


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.


Time [Constant changing combination of the letters K-U-F-C], which we will just call Time Kufc for consistency (I can't think of any real word those letters make.), may look like your run-of-the-mill puzzle platformer with a twist, but the narrative offers so much more. If you want to go into it fresh, then just go play it now. It should only take you about 20 minutes, a time that factors into the game itself.

The basic controls are simple enough. Arrows to move left and right, space bar to jump, S to pick things up, and A to switch dimensions. The last part is obviously where the majority of the puzzle element comes in. You have to figure out how to make your way around the level while switching dimensions, sometimes mid-jump, so you'll have a platform to land on.

The story is where it excels, though. It all starts with you, telling past you, to go into the cardboard box lying in the street. While you navigate through one screen puzzles and attempt to get to the portal to the next level, your future self harrasses you from a few levels ahead.

Everything is foreshadowed by your future self, and you'll start to see changes to your character as you progress. It's the writing that makes it unbelievably creepy. It doesn't start out that way. You'll hear plenty of time related jokes in the first few levels, with surprisingly little repetition. Eventually, when things turn to talk of 'Steven', it starts to get unsettling.

Oddball lines, turn to strange lines, and disturbing lines, and eventually borderline threatening lines.

"Steven is growing. His little legs tickle my brain. How the years fly by."

"I found the way out, but Steven informed me that I'm a failure and I shouldn't be alive... so now I'm dead. You die in the next room."

"I think I'm in the same room that you are, can you see me? I'm looking at you from a crack in the monitor."

"Please stop playing this game. Every room that goes by is simply a reminder of my failures. I want to go home now and I can't till you give up."

For the sake of saving a few things for you to discover yourself I won't go any further, but once the game started to break the 4th wall, it actually started to creep me out. A hard task for a video game to accomplish, let alone a flash game.

I feel like I could go play through it all again, even without the temptation of Kongregate achievements. Even loading up the game for this article made me notice some brilliant foreshadowing of the ending within the title screen itself. Another homerun for Edmund McMillen and crew. Take the time to go check this game out.

February 04, 2010

Trailer Park: February 5th


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

You've got your won't-remember-it-in-a-year's-time action flick, and your Notebook-esque chick flick. This week seems like the most cookie cutter movie release schedule ever, but never fear. I am here to stear you in the right direction. But first, we must wade through the muck. The thick, dirty, John Travolta-laden muck. Get your galoshes on, you don't want any Travolta in between your toes.

From Paris with Love


I kind of respect John Travolta. When his career was tanking before, it took Tarantino to save him. Now, he could easily go the Eddie Murphy route and keep doing Wild Dogs and Old Hogs, etcetera etcetera, or he can do things like this. I'd much rather watch bald angry Travolta, then I would family friendly comedy Travolta.

Dear John



Countless Iraq War movies have come out, and countless have failed. Now we're seeing filmmakers wise up. I don't even know if the guy in this movie is deployed in Iraq, or some fictional war, but by concentrating on the romance part of the story it will draw in a completely different type of audience. Maybe once they are there, they'll get a little bit of those war movies that Hollywood really wanted to get out there several years ago.

District 13: Ultimatum



If at all possible, this is where you should be spending your money this weekend. Back in 2004, District B13 helped bring parkour into the mainstream. Starring the creator of the, I guess we'll call it a sport, the movie showed off stunts that were done with no wires or CG effects. Now all involved parties are back for a sequel. Yes, it has a limited release, but you are guaranteed to see much better action in this movie than you will in that Travolta one up there. Seek it out and hopefully it will expand in the coming weeks.

Other Releases:
Frozen
Red Riding: 1974

What will you be seeing?

February 03, 2010

Game Character's Six Word Memoirs



Stuck in my mother-in-law's car with an ipod and no way to listen to it's contents, I resorted to NPR for the day. The benefit to this was a story on the six word memoir. I had actually heard of this concept before, but I guess they were talking about it again because they were releasing a second book.

Basically, they are life stories summed up in only six words. You can find it all here. I started to think of my own, then some for famous people, and my thought process lead me right to video game characters. So I decided to come up with some six word memoirs, and make the answers a guessing game.

As revenge for this little stunt, the person with the most correct guesses in the comments with win a freestyle, auto-tuned, rap from Andrew Hiscock. This rap will be personalized to the winner.

1. Boobs were surprise. Now Citizen Kane.

2. Like a pale, deadly ribbon twirler.

3. In better shape; Still second place.

4. Time traveling leaves you mostly speechless.

5. The original 'tude. Constantly reinventing self.

6. I DON'T LOOK LIKE MEG RYAN!

7. Kill my kind, steal their parts.

8. I'm totally not a Dino rip-off.

9. If camouflage worked, my torso'd float.

10. More family friendly then Hitler was.

February 02, 2010

What do Children Write About? The ABC's of Nintendo!



Did anybody else have Young Authors in Elementary School? This is probably what first got me interested in writing. I thought I would share one of my video game related Young Author books. Because, clearly, I wanted to get beat up REALLY badly. Actually, I'm pretty sure this is the book that won the trip to the convention or whatever it was. Obviously my town didn't have a lot of good writers if this thing got me in.

Click this link... if you dare...

Video Round-Up: Historical Celebrities 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.



We'll start you off with an appetizer. Here's 9 seconds of Keanu Reeves' acting. That is, studies show, just enough time to prove that he ranks among the worst actors ever. His character Neo in The Matrix trilogy is undoubtedly awesome. But don't confuse Neo with Keanu. Seeing his inability to fake sneeze, I wouldn't be surprised if he literally couldn't act his way out of a paper bag. Poor guy.

HELLO! - watch more funny videos


Dom Joly is up on his current events this time. This is a classic Joly bit, although this time he needn't exaggerate the size of the device he's parodying. Therein lies the irony, and the comedy.



Moving back into truly "historical" times, this clip from the movie Downfall has been translated...let's say differently. Endless parodies of this very scene can be found on YouTube, including one in which Hitler gets upset about Republican Scott Brown's election. But who cares about politics? Let's talk about video games!



Eighteenth-century history is re-imagined in this amazing music video. The hyperbolic insanity reminds of a less-famous The Lonely Island. (That's a compliment.) Not something you necessarily have to "get" to enjoy, but perhaps this style of comedy could be called "niche"? In any case, I hope you Roll On the Floor Laughing at this choice.



The farewell for this week's Round-Up won't be as poignant as the video above. Conan O'Brien, as we all know, ended his contract with NBC as host of the Tonight Show, the result of a drawn-out legal battle, after only seven months hosting. It's a shame because Conan is, in my opinion, the prime-time comedic voice of the new generation. No offense to fogies who like Leno better, but come on. O'Brien reveals some emotion here during his final minutes as host of the Tonight Show, and if you haven't seen it, you should: It is, after all, bound to become part of history.

January Music Wrap-Up


The Music Wrap-Up is a monthly summary of my favorite and other notable new releases. The songs are for sampling purposes only. Artists or labels notify me with any complaints and I will remove the song as soon as possible. Please support these musicians as that's the reason I'm featuring them in the first place.


Hooray! The Music Wrap-Up makes a triumphant return in the new year. Still, it's going to have to be different from the old ones. I used to be able to pick out specific songs that I enjoyed most from each CD, upload them to a file hosting site, and embed players. Doing this was in no way giving access for people to pirate these tracks -- I even dealt with a record label that didn't ask me to take them down -- yet the file hosting site still banned me for breaking their rules, even for local bands that had given me permission. So I'm stuck to searching through YouTube videos for embedding. Not ideal, but it'll have to do.

January is hardly bursting at the seems with great new music, but there are definitely some gems. A new Vampire Weekend and Spoon CD for one, as well as some other solid releases. Plus, I've thrown in some earlier releases since I didn't do a wrap-up in November or December. So, without further ado, let's get into the music shall we?

Vampire Weekend - Contra

It's easy to hate these guys. Just look at them! They look like the snobby rich kids from every single college movie that we are clearly meant to despise. Still, there is no denying that they put out great music. Maybe a lot of stupid people like it, but it's good stuff. I don't feel ashamed jumping on the bandwagon.

Hit the jump for songs and the rest of the releases...


February 01, 2010

Book Ruminations: The Dharma Bums by Jack Kerouac


During my adolescent years, I regarded books as something that "got in the way of video games." As I matured, and as adulthood approached, I realized my folly and began devouring as many books as I possibly could. This is not a review, but merely my thoughts and musings whilst reading The Dharma Bums.

I've traveled up and down the west coast many times in my life, which is important to note, I think, because The Dharma Bums chronicles the real life adventures of Jack Kerouac; someone who also traveled to many different places, most of which happen to take place on the west coast (at least in this book).

It helped the book become relatable, as I either knew of or had been to the places Kerouac wrote about. Perhaps this is one of the main reasons I enjoyed Kerouac's book. Or perhaps Kerouac just led an interesting life, I'm not quite sure.

What I find intriguing about Kerouac's work is he wrote in a very unique style. He coined it "spontaneous prose," a term that speaks for itself. Imagine reading a book filled with run-on sentences, combined words, and a general disregard for the rules of grammar, and you'll have a pretty good idea of how Kerouac wrote.

Still, this doesn't make it a poorly written book; on the contrary, I believe this style helped capture my attention, forced me to change the way I read a book. It has a certain rythm to the way you read it, and if you try to read Kerouac's work like any other book, you'll be sorely disappointed. Go with the flow, follow the leads, and just read. Once you have the rythm in your head, it's hard to shake it.

I was ill a few weeks ago, and whilst reading this book at 2 a.m., I felt as if my mind was traveling faster then the rest of my body. I could hardly sleep. When I did sleep, my mind was constantly on the story of The Dharma Bums, imagining myself there with the characters.

It wasn't a pleasant experience; although now reflecting on it, I wish I were back there, indulging Kerouac's work for the first time. Such are the reflections upon many great authors, I suppose.

I hope I haven't bored any of you too much, as I plan on going more in-depth next time when we continue discussing The Dharma Bums.