Oh Glorious Pixels!

Much like sports, there is a video game off-season which occurs during late spring and summer. I guess it makes it sense with the kids having school off. There are also conventions like E3 which is like the owners meetings for sports leagues. It is basically a very sparse time for new games. There might be one or two that come out that might be worth picking up (i.e. Overlord) but usually it's where bad games are dumped in the hopes that the desperate gamers will pick it up simply to play something new. Wise gamers though know not to fall for that. They know that during the off season is when you put aside your budgeted video game funds in preparation for the video game season. Around mid-August the video game season picks up again. It usually always begins with the new Madden game followed by a slew of games for the Holiday season, and then a few more during those cold winter months of the new year.

This season is actually looking to be one of the bigger seasons. I've got my list to thirteen games that will be released between now and Christmas that I'm either instantly going to purchase, or have a strong interest in. Warning: Some of the videos have some strong violence. Stranglehold being the worst of the lot.

The List:

Is probably my most anticipated title of the year. Any game that claims Atlas Shrugged as a major influence is clearly not your average first person shooter. This game has me expecting a game of the year spot at my end of the season list.




Apparently a lot of people have played the first two games. Should be worth checking out.










A video game sequel to the John Woo movie Hardboiled? I've played the demo about five times. Is it revolutionary? No. But there is something about sliding down a banister in slow mo and taking out bad guy by shooting signs and air conditioners to collapse on them, and then when you reach the end of the banister you can then jump on a cart and slide along and take out more bad guys. Then tack on a multiplayer where you can do this all against your friends. I'm in. Just a warning Sam. There are in fact headshots in this game.



This game and Bioshock are neck and neck in my most anticipated games this year. Because Bioshock comes out next week, it gets the win. Mass Effect is by the same guys that did Knights of the Old Republic and Jade Empire. I really don't need to say any more.





Yes, in the span of one month two games full guitar rock goodness will be released. That's over 140 songs for me to "pretend rock" to. That doesn't even include the albums that Rock Band will allow you to download. And a wireless guitar! Good grief I'm giddy.



Here's the rest of the bunch I'm looking forward to:

Mercenaries 2: I'm looking forward to being able to demolish everything and I mean everything.

Time Shift

Army of Two

Assassin's Creed

Kane & Lynch

Beautiful Katamari

Half-Life 2 Orange Box

Life Lesson #419

Never have your teeth cleaned by woman going through a bitter divorce.

Is it Time to Pack it in When Sesame Street Parodies You?

Rock N Roll Questionnaire or (Fun with Album Covers!)

See if you can follow along kids with this experiment. Please leave your answers in the comments. If you have another answer, please feel free to include those.

So you are going to take an trip to another planet.
1. What is your spaceship of choice?

A. Boston's guitar spaceship that apparently has the power to fire a blue blaze of rock?









B. Electric Light Orchestra's Simon spaceship from Out of the Blue.









C. ZZ Top's part classic Chevy part Space shuttle from Afterburner.









D. Parliament's mothership from the Mothership Connection. Durability might be an issue.









Now that you have your spaceship you need a someone to fly the darn thing.

2. Who is your pilot?

A. Marc Bolan from T. Rex's The Slider.








B. David Bowie from his Aladdin Sane album. Previous space missions could be a red flag.









C. Elton John's Captain Fantastic.









D. Steve Miller's the Joker.









3. Who is your crew?

A. The group of misfits from The Doors' Strange Days album.









B. The Bee Gees from their Children of the World album.









C. Manowar.









D. Barry and Glodean










Space travel isn't the safest so you are also going to need weapons.
4. What is your killing device?

A. Foo Fighter's retro laser gun.










B. Molly's Hatchet









C. GZA's aka The Genius' Liquid Swords.









D. The big ass gun from RZA's Bobby Digital in Stereo album.










Having a pet could also help ease the pains of space travel.
5. What will you bring along as a pet?

A. The three legged dog from Alice in Chains self-titled album.










B. The metal falcon? from Judas Priest's Screaming For Vengeance album.










C. The goats from Pet Sounds.










D. This ape thing from Fleetwood Mac's Mystery to Me album.










6. What planet are you going to?

A. The land on the album cover of Yes' Relayer.










B. Asia's Alpha album cover.










C. Styx' Land of Illusion










D. Public Enemy's Black Planet.










You have reached the end of this questionnaire. Please put down your pencils and close the book.

Ramblings (Partial Days of the Week Edition)

Sunday Robert and I played a little Guitar Hero. After playing the rhythm guitar part of Free Bird on the hard difficulty session I wonder if I'm strengthening my wrists and fingers or am I destroying them. In five years am I going to have to replace my hands with prosthetics?

Saturday I went to see Anne's new place in Silverlake. It's a great little place. It also was so nice driving only a half hour to see my sister.

Also, while eating at Mallie's (?) with Anne and Ben we saw Bret McKenzie of Flight of the Conchords fame. Unfortunately, Ben and Anne have not had the pleasure of seeing the show. Luckily, the lady sitting next to us had, and was extremely enthusiastic about seeing him. So it seems the ladies love Bret, and the guys like Jermaine.



Thursday was my last physical therapy session. Sigh. I've been trying to work a monthly massage now into my budget. But I still don't think it'd be the same without the therapist. Apparently, if I hurt something else I can go back. Hmm.

Monday some coworkers and I went to go see the Simpson's movie after work. Rather than give some long review about the movie, let me talk about something else: the overlaugher. Sitting right behind me was the overlaugher. I despise the overlaugher. In fact the overlaugher is in the upper echelon of people I despise. Are they scared to appear as if they don't get every joke? Do they want to make sure that everyone knows what the funny parts are? Why do they have to be the loudest person in the theater? I will hate a movie just out of spite because of the overlaugher. I hate you overlaugher. I hate you.

This Saturday marks the beginning of my second season as a Tottenham Hotspur supporter. I actually think Spurs have a chance to break into the top four this season. High hopes.

I wish I was as creative in real as I am in my dreams. Also, is everyone's dreams as excellently edited and have as great frame composition as mine? Technically, my dreams are top notch.

Movies That Suck Sunday II

Conquest (There is a trailer but it is unfortunately NSFW)Quote of the Night: "Speeeeeeeeeeeeed!"

There was also much rocking.

Ramblings (Just Post Something Please! Edition)

I've been daydream shopping again. The daydream part involves me having any musical talent at all. The shopping though has been rather realistic. I've found myself wanting a miniKORG. See, that's reasonable. It's fairly cheap and small enough to fit into my apartment. I'd also need a drum machine but I need to research that a little more. Part of me thinks that I might be able to somehow piece together a simple synth-dance-pop track after maybe five years. Why am I the only one in the family that didn't get the musical gene?

The Cubs are en fuego. Unfortunately, so are the Brewers.

This Sunday there will be another Bad Movie Night. I think there needs to be a more clever official name to this event other than Bad Movie Night.

I only have three more visits to the physical therapists office. I'm really down about this. I can't wait till I'm wealthy enough to hire a full time masseuse. My back aches just thinking about the lack of massages.

Is it only a month till Anne Marie moves out here?

For the first time in almost four years I wrote actual pages for a script.

I've found this lack of psoriasis is affecting my spending. Not having to wear a hat everyday has to not only needing to get my hair cut, rather than cut it myself, but products like face lotion with sunscreen. Things that were unneccessary before. I also have gotten over the phantom hat pains. For the first month or so I would constantly reach to remove or adjust a hat that wasn't there.

I'd like to recommend a free computer program called Simplify Media. You know how you can listen to other peoples iTunes that are on the same network that you are like school or work. Well simplify media allows you to do this and not have to be on the same network. So I can listen to Mandy's iTunes, or I can listen to the music I have on my home computer while at work. The only problem right now is that you can't listen to protected files like the ones you buy from iTunes. They apparently are efforting a way around that. Did I mention it's free?

Finally, I am Flunky the Clown.

Simpson Me...kind of

So Perhaps It's Not That Bad

Much like the Kubler-Ross model on grieving, I'd like to offer the Iten model for physical therapy. To help with remembering them they all begin with the letter "A."

Awkwardness: I've already covered this first stage here.

Acceptance: This is clearly when you come to terms with the fact that a stranger is touching you and that they sometimes have to touch you in inappropriate areas (i.e. buttocks). You also come to accept that these strangers will have to observe you while putting you through exercises and sometimes these exercises will put you in uncomfortable situations. The key to reaching the acceptance step is that you actually start feeling better. The joints don't hurt as much. You start being able to move around a little easier.

Addiction: I've found myself reaching this step last week. The highlights of my week now are that hour and a half every Tuesday and Thursday. That's right I look forward to having someone touch me. I think it's more than me being completely infatuated with my physical therapist. It's also more than not having my back lock up after I brush my teeth or wash my face. I think it is also the fact that I believe it is enhancing my socializing skills. Try carrying on a conversation with someone while your butt is flapping in the breeze let alone a stranger massaging it. It's like training camp when they fire blanks over the recruits while they scurry under the barb wire. If I can carry on a thirty minute conversation under those circumstances, I can do it anywhere. The point is that for all the reasons stated above I'm dreading the point where the doctor says I'm finished with physical therapy.

My Favorite Movies of the First Half of the Year 2007

Public Embarrassment No. 235

During my last year in the rare five year program at Cedarville I had the pleasure of taking a cake class called History of Rock Music or Modern Music or something like that. Maybe it was just History of music because I'm pretty sure they covered more than rock n roll and Cedarville would never allow a class called History of Rock n Roll. I think it was the first time the class was offered. Anyway, my thinking was that a class where all you did was listen and talk about music seemed like the perfect class to boost my grade point average up to the Mendoza line. Also, the professor once toured as the trumpet player for Three Dog Night. That clearly put him in the top five professors at Cedarville.

It was a great class except for one thing. The final project you had the option to either write a paper or give a speech. Because I'm a master at public speaking *cough* I decided to do a speech. Yeah, I have no idea what I was thinking. We had our choice of any subject to choose from. I chose to give a speech on the history of the rock band Journey. Yes, go back and read that last sentence. Are we finished laughing? Good. Let us proceed. I had recently bought the Journey box set. I'll wait again. The problem is this isn't the embarrassing part. Let me remind you I was still in my infancy in learning about music. In that box set was a booklet detailing the history of Journey. I was thinking this was perfect. I just change some words around and I can just recite the bullet points of this booklet.

The night before my presentation I wrote out my notes, and practiced my speech in the mirror. I pictured exactly how the classroom was set up and rehearsed and rehearsed. I would say I was pretty confident that I was going to nail this speech. As you can tell it all went horribly wrong. Most would point that it all went wrong when I decided to do a speech or when I chose Journey as my subject. At that moment though it all went wrong when I walked into class and saw the classroom was completely rearranged. It was no longer as I pictured it in my head while practicing. That was the moment I really started sweating. The second thing that went wrong was the speech I had to follow. Before me a student's speech was on how to line dance. What the hell? First off, why didn't I think of something that easy? Half of her speech time was taken up with teaching us the electric slide. Why didn't I think of doing a speech on something like the running man or the New Kids Dance? Second, how can I follow up a class participation speech with just me talking about Journey and playing a few songs? I was so screwed. Then the CD player didn't work right. Then my eyes were blurring. Then I just kept my eyes on my paper and read straight from that. I refused to make eye contact with anyone in the class. Realizing how bad I was tanking, I decided to try to save it. To pull this awful display out of the gutter and rescue it. On the last few lines I decided to say it like I meant it, like I believed it. The last line went something along the lines of blah and blah "shows that Journey belongs in the annals of rock and roll." Unfortunately, what came out of mouth was, "shows that Journey belongs in the anals of rock and roll." Yeah. Brilliant. I then scurried to my chair and hung my head. Eric and Adam, who had the pleasure of being in the class, still take joy in reminding me of public embarrassment No. 235.

It Does Feel a Little Like 1984

June's Real Heavy Rotation

About a week after I posted the previous June's Heavy Rotation, I realized my mistake. By saying it was June's heavy rotation I was basically prediciting what I was going to be listening to in June and that's ridiculous. In reality it was May's Heavy Rotation because those were the songs I was listening to most often in May. So here is the real June playlist. Some of you might notice that some of these songs don't fit what I usually post on here. That's right I've gone on somewhat of a binge. I blame that really late night a few weeks ago where I stumbled across site like BigStereo,
BibaBidi, missigtoof. This has lead to a slight devouring of current dance music, which is very un-me. Anyway, enjoy or don't or enjoy some of them or maybe a lot of them. Also, for those who might have written off the HBO show Flight of the Conchords as simply a musical ripoff of Goodness please give the show a chance. Last night's show was very funny. Video after the playlist.





Steve!

I Guess I Just Care Too Much To Be An Evil Overlord

Early last week I picked up the game Overlord. I was becoming concerned that the consistent playing of Guitar Hero was going to ruing my wrists. I decided to pick up game played with your standard controller, so I could return to ruining my thumbs.

In Overlord you are a well...um...an Overlord. You have been brought to back to life by your minions. Your job is to eliminate the lords that have taken over your land. You do this with minions of course. The game is basically Pikmin except rather then direct little creatures to harvest and such you use minions to fight, gather, and even sacrifice for you. Basically they are willing and supposed to die for you. The problem is I become attached to some of them. There are red, green, blue and brown minions at your disposal. Red throw fire balls. Green are immune to poison and have slight stealth abilities. The blue heal and won't drown in water. The brown minions are your grunts that handle most of the man to man combat. The red, green, and blues I don't really care about. It's the brown minions that I've become attached to. They are the ones that have the personality. They have the habit of picking up anything they can get their hands on and wear it everything from a chef's hat, to a DoDo bird's head. So when my minion wearing the DoDo bird's head or the one wearing the red scarf die I feel a slight twinge of loss. The longer they survive the more attached I become to them. So much so that when they die I will go back to my last save point to try to get them through it alive. I even end up doing a lot of the flying so they won't die. What kind of Overlord is that? Aren't I supposed to be a heartless and cruel ruler? If one dies, I can easily summon two or three to replace it. Yet, I love those little bastards.

The game on whole is fun. Sending your little minions wiping out the country side can be a lot of fun. There is nice sense of dark humor to the game. It moves smoothly even with twenty-five minions running all over the place. Because you control your minions with the right joystick that leaves only the left joy stick to move the Overlord. That means the camera can get a little wonky sometimes leaving you looking in the wrong direction and easily flanked. Also, during the big battles it can get pretty chaotic directing your minions to where they need to go. Your minions can get stuck sometimes. Even with all those problems the game is still a fun diversion, and a nice change of pace.

Oh, You Also Missed This...

For Those That Missed Bad Movie Night...

You missed this last night:


And this (You only need to watch the first minute):

I Need An Explanation

I have yet to find a satisfactory answer to this question. Why is it musical groups from France, Sweden, Italy, etc. can sing with perfect to near perfect American accents but can't talk that way?

Ramblings (It's Been Such a Long Time. I Think I Should Be Going Edition)

I would like to blame an exciting and busy life for my lack of blogging. Unfortunately, it would be a lie. But let me give you an update on the mundane that is my life.

It's been three days now in a row that I haven't worn a hat. The Enbrel's working well. Now if everyone would stop pointing out that I'm not wearing a hat I'd be set.

My therapist was thrilled when I showed up at the office without a hat. It's the happiest I've seen her during our sessions. She still pauses for extended periods of time in order to force me to carry the conversation. It drives me a little batty to the point that I just want to throw out something like: "I've found myself becoming more distracted and forgetful. Like this morning I completely forgot to put out the new air fresheners I bought last night. All day I was stressed out that someone will smell the dead body in my closet."

Speaking of therapy, I've come to terms with the massages for my physical therapy. It helps that the aide that gives me the massages is cute, and either really likes me or is easy. I guess either way that's a win. Still, if I ever did actually ask her out she would have the upper hand considering the vulnerable position she has me in twice a week. I should wait till after I finish physical therapy.

As promised, I picked up the new Blitzen Trapper album Wild Mountain Nation. It's been stuck in heavy rotation since I picked it up. I guess you could call them a psychedelic country rock group, but they hit on other genre's too like the indie pop of Futures & Folly, the Beckish Sci-Fi Kid, or the Supergrassed glam of Murder Babe. Things is they cross from genre to genre effortlessly and with such joy that it works. There is still that twang and oodles of slide guitar that makes me keep this band in the psychedelic country rock category.

Saw the movie Once, and really enjoyed it. The scene where they first play together in the music shop caused the room to get a little dusty. That was then followed by numerous scenes where the dust in the room kept building up. It's such a simple and joyful film. I do have one question though: Is this movie a musical? It's loaded with music and the characters in the movie sing the songs on screen. It's just that when they sing it's natural. They sing when they are writing or playing a song, not out of the blue the whole cast breaks into song norm of the standard musical. I don't think it is a musical, but some reviewers list it as a musical. I just don't want to admit I like a musical.


This weekend the horror movie you've all been waiting for opens in LA and NY. Get ready because it's coming soon to a theater near you. Well, except for Mandy. I doubt your little theater is going to book this.


Sometimes weird just works in a music video. I kept waiting for one of them to screw up.

If I Were Loaded...with money

Sometimes I wonder what I would be like if I happened to create a hit TV show that spawned two other hit TV shows. What kind of person would I be if I could retire simply on the residuals from said TV shows? This is my boss who makes at least three times what I make in just her residuals alone.

I could go on to say where I would donate my money, and how I would help those less fortunate than me. I could give detailed accounts of specific charities and what not, but that's kind of boring. The interesting question is in what eccentric ways would I spend my money. I also don't mean for instance having my own airplane or some ten room home in Beverly Hills where every bathroom has a 42" plasma. Though that would be suhweet!

Anyway, first off we need a car. I could go with a classic mustang or some classic with suicide doors. Boring. What I really want is this:Yeah! Ever since I was a kid I've been a fan of the Datsun/Nissan Z series. This '76 is exactly what I'm looking for and it comes in orange! The nice thing is that a pristine one of these is about a third of the price of a pristine Mustang so I could get three or four of these!

Next I would like to build a recording studio in the basement or garage. Besides the basics that every recording studio needs, I'd like to have it stocked with a bunch of unique instruments. Actually, how about we just stock with all the musical instruments I could. What would be the point of this. I would like to write one brilliant pop song a year. I know I'm not musically inclined, and I would need a few years to get a handle on what all the various sounds I can get out of the instruments. Still, I have melodies run through my head every now and then. I also have a whole family of musicians to work with. I could make it work, and then every New Year's Ever at the stroke of midnight I would release that song of the year. They would be so brilliant that a hardcore fanbase would form. These hardcore fans would then have New Year's Eve parties all in anticipation of that one song. Of course the song would be free, because I would be doing it for the love of music and for the world.

Then there is the mini-Wrigley Field built in my backyard. The kids could play wiffle ball. I think someone did this already only it was Fenway. Not the most original idea, but I'm making it happen.

Finally, I want to have a small collection of different film cameras that I would use to create home movies. Nothing huge, just some 8mm and 16mm film cameras. I've always liked the romantic image of watching home movies on a projector. I know we are in a digital age, but if I have the money why not go film? Of course that means having to edit the film. I hate editing. Maybe I can hire someone or go digital for the editing?

That's a few of the ideas I have running through my head once I create that monumental TV show that will turn me into an eccentric old fool.

The Time It Took ...

to regret wasting my time watching the last season of Sopranos: 1 hour 2 minutes and 59 seconds.

to become exhausted by John from Cincinnati: 24 minutes and 16 seconds.

to decide I was going to buy Blitzen Trapper's new album: 34 seconds into the song Wild Mountain Nation.

to forget Ocean's 13: 0000.1 seconds. Has there ever been a movie franchise that while fun to watch has absolutely no lasting effect?

for the home plate umpire in last night's Cubs/Braves game to screw over the Cubs and completely tax the bullpen: 10 pitches. If Lilly meant to hit Renteria, why did he wait till the third pitch in the sequence?

June's Heavy Rotation

Some Musical Notes

Nothing much is going on, so I thought I would throw out a couple albums that have recently caught my attention.

First off, I stumbled across the pure joy album of Lucky Soul's album The Great Unwanted. With groups like the Pippettes it seems reinventing the 60's girl group sound is the upcoming niche of choice. Lucky Soul fits into that category, but there sound isn't twisted with modern day irony or modern musical flair. From the opening track "Add Your Light To Mine" to the closing "The Last Song" it is simply an album chock full of great happy/sad love songs. My current favorite track is "Struck Dumb" with its timpani in the chorus. Unfortunately there is no video for that song, so here is one for the title track "Add Your Light To Mine." I apologize now for getting the song stuck in your head.



On the other end we have the new album from The National called Boxer. This is one of those albums that you have to let grow on you. It's not as uptempo as Alligator. This albums just creeps in on you till it won't let go. It's in the running for album of the year.



Also, next week Rhino is releasing an Afghan Whigs retrospective called Unbreakable. As a hardcore fan there are songs I'd like to be added, but that's always the case. It is though a very good selection that covers their whole history even their Up In It album and Uptown Avondale EP. For those who might be interested in a nice starter for the Afghan Whigs I highly recommend it.

Finally, do you remember...