The DNArcade

Shotgun - No more complaints.

2005-09-04T01:14:25Z

http://www.shotgunguide.com/

Grimm

2005-08-19T03:20:12Z

The Brothers Grimm is going to be the best movie to come out this year, I'm calling it. Terry Gilliam is a genius director, with movies like Time Bandits, The Adventures Of Baron Munchausen, Brazil, Twelve Monkeys and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas under his belt...Not to mention all his work in Monty Python. BAD ASS.

Additionally, World of Warcrafts test server is up again, and that means the patch is coming soon. BAD ASS.

Pimping Is A Challenging Endevour.

2005-08-14T22:33:31Z

FOO FIGHTERS CMON!

Well, I had written a nice entry about the Foo Fighters concert, but it got deleted somehow. My computer went into stanby while I was out of the room and when I came back, all the programs were closed, including what I use to update my journal. Anyway, Foos last night, rock and roll. I don't think I've liked any other band longer than these guys. Ten years, that's crazy! Since I was twelve, hard to believe.

The show was great. I didn't think a Foos concert would be that heavy on special effects or anything, but the lighting was amazing. Two oddly shaped TV screens hung over the band as they played in front of a mountain of old broken amps and speakers. The lights. lasers and video gave all the songs a nice mood. It was awesome, straight up.

High points of the show were "I really like this song because...well, I fuckin' wrote it" and "Did anyone see me fall off my drumset? I'm a fucking retard."

Behold:

In Your Honor
All My Life
Times Like These
My Hero
Up In Arms
Learn To Fly
Best Of You
The One
Stacked Actors
Tired Of You
Everlong (soft version/solo)
The beginning of some Van Halen song
D.O.A.
This Is A Call
Breakout

*Encore
Cold Day In The Sun (Taylor on vocals/guitar, Dave on drums)
End Over End
Monkey Wrench

Opening for them were the Constantines, which I knew were coming, but also, Canadian rock icons Sloan. I had no idea they were going to be there, and I really enjoyed their set. I'm not positive about it, but their setlist was roughly as follows.

Losing California
Try To Make It
The Good In Everyone
The Lines You Ammend
Sensory Deprivation
Money City Maniacs
All Used Up
The Other Man
The Rest Of My Life
If It Feels Good Do It

Thats probably out of order, but I think that's how it went.

BUT FUCKIN FOO FIGHTERS FUCKYEAH

Okay I'm going to post this for fear of losing it again.

Oh wait, what's the deal with girls wearing belts for any reason other than holding pants up? Like, when they wear them over their shirts or something? What the hell is this? Don't disrespect the belt in my presence.

Oh yeah, After the show, Brent and I tried to scalp our tickets. No one thought it was very funny. We also got the old train annoucer say "Last stop, Oakville. Bus connections to Burlington, Hamilton and Aldershot. ...FOO FIGHTERS!"

Classic.

Such Great Candy

2005-08-01T04:03:17Z

The Postal Service's "Such Great Heights" appears in the latest M&Ms commecial, only it's not sung by them and its FUCKING RETARDED.

I mean it's one thing when Gomez uses "Shot Shot" in the Mitsubishi commercial, but at least thats how the song appears on the CD. This "Such Great Heights" is just awful. The song has nothing to do with the following things: chocolate, small chocolates, talking chocolates, the letter M or ampersands.

This is almost as bad as the time I heard some shampoo or commercial use lyric's "In the sun I feel as one" from Nirvana's "All Apologies" way back when. That commercial was taken off the air so fast, I think I only saw it once or twice.

No Spoilers! (and movies)

2005-07-21T02:57:53Z

It’s not a good day to be both an internet user and a Harry Potter fan, that’s for sure. I’m not going to put the infamous “spoiler” on my page, but lets just say by choosing not to, I’m part of a minority.

Some people are hard to the core Harry Potter fans. I work with one, actually. This woman drove to London to meet up with a bunch of people she talks to on message boards to see Prisoner of Azkaban on an IMAX screen. I should not that driving on highways terrifies this woman. Probably the biggest fan I know outside of...I dunno, Kayla? I should ask her how mad this made her so I can gauge the actual effect this has on fans rather than non-fans.

When Rosie O’Donnell gave away the ending of Fight Club on national television, I swore I would hate forever (which isn’t that hard) even though I did not see that particular broadcast, and managed to see the movie spoiler-free. I find that the Internet has a way of making people far more evil than they are normally capable of, with the exception of Rosie O’Donnell and her black cold heart. I mean yeah, she stuck it to Bush by being all gay and married but come on. Like that makes up for ruining Fight Club.

So, until you are done reading the Half Blood Prince, don’t go on any message boards whatsoever. Avoid any links you have been sent that say “Harry Potter fans go here!”. Be careful of chain letters that come into your mailbox. Also, according to one site I saw, when you buy the book, cover your ears as you leave the bookstore, because there might be people waiting outside to ruin it for you.

**

“David Fincher needs to make a new movie” I said.

Well, apparently he is. it’s called Zodiac, and it’s about a bunch of investigators tracking down a serial killer. Wow, what an original premise. I wonder if it’s going to be like Seven (sorry, SE7EN) only instead of killing by the deadly sins, the killer kills by the zodiac. That could be interesting but also a terrible rehash. Then again, what isn’t these days, and Fincher is a damn good director.

Robert Downey Jr., Jake Gyllenhaal, Gary Oldman, Mark Ruffalo. I’m interested!

Speaking of directors, Darren Aronofsky, god bless him, Brad Pitt and Kate Blanchett bailed on his new movie and he went and filmed it anyway, thank god. The Fountain, which is in POST production (meaning it’s coming soon) has replaced the leads with Hugh Jackman of Kate and Leopold fame.......okay okay he was also WOLVERINE...And Rachel Wiesz who I’m not familiar with.

But I was really mad when i heard this movie was canned, I’m glad to see it came through anyway. Make me a happy man Darren.

**

These strawberries are awesome.

I want to see The Island, it looks interesting.

Gallo Hair, Concerts, Whatevs

2005-07-19T00:35:04Z

I gotta write in here more.

So,

I wrote this in my other journal but it works here too, but to avoid it appearing twice on your friends page I will LJ-cut it.

So my hair is at that crossroads of long and short, and I have to decide whether I’m going to cut it back short (mohawk first of course) or keep growing it out. I really wasn’t sure what I was going to do until I remembered that I’m going to dress up as Billy Brown for Halloween (See; Buffalo ‘66) and for that I will need longer hair. And a pair of red cowboy boots. And lots of green eyeshadow for whichever lucky lady gets to come with me to be Layla. I like the idea of having a date while being in character because it means I can be a total jerk all night and she will still fall in love with me.

And I can say choice lines like:

"You know why they call you Goon? Because you're retarded. And you're ugly. You're an ugly retard. And they call you Goon because you're ugly and retarded. And you'll always be Goon. Goon, Goon, Goon. And that's what I'm gonna call you for the rest of your life, is Goon. Goon, Goon, Goon, Goon, okay? So fuck you."
All night long.

I’ll have to hit as many parties as possible so people who can pick up on obscurely referenced costumes can say how cool I am. I need to find a popular girlfriend.

By October. No rush.

**

Foo Fighters this August, rock on.

**

PAX not this August, rock off.

**

System of a Down and Mars Volta tickets are on sale...they sold out yet? I'd go to that. Also, Death From Above, Queen of the Stone age and Nine Inch Nails? Interesting show. I'd deal with all the lame NIN fans to go to it too, just to see QOTSA. But I don't care about NIN and I know that show is going to be retard central. I was permanently turned off by anyone claiming to be a NIN fan when I heard a girl say, honest to god, "Trent Reznor is so sexy, even if I was his daughter I'd fuck him." CLASSY DAMES!

I seriously wonder how many rock stars legitimately believe in their "pain". I mean I felt like that when I was 16 I guess. Is it that they got famous at a young age and never really grew up and stayed stupid for the rest of their lives, or are they just following the formula of tortured artist = record sales?

I also want to go to the Hillside thing too. Arcade Fire and Stars and other indie-even-though-the-Edge-plays-us bands. Should be neat. I need more details other than "It is in Guelph."

**

Arguing anything with some people is like trying to tell 50 Cent to stop making rap music, so now I just agree with everything everyone says. It's awesome, people seem to like me more now.

**

My WoW evolution continues. I'm in it deep enough that I actually use Ventrilo to talk to the people I play with. How I can get by without having to wear thick glasses is beyond me. I play a bit too much, but I love the game. All women can close the window now.

**

Someone comment with a list of things I should be really excited about excluding the above concerts and my upcoming nervous breakdown.

**

Hello I love you

Island Show etc.

2005-06-29T01:23:03Z

I went to the Island Show on Olympic Island with Jess and Corey and it was spectacular.

The ferry ride over to Olympic Island was brutal. The line up was a good hour or so, with no shelter from the sun, here in the hottest June we've seen since the early 90's. We eventually go to the island where the shade was cool, and the pizza was expensive yet extremely good (better than normal Pizza Pizza standards. That extra money I paid must have gone towards making the pepperoni spicier, thicker and crispier.)

I normally expect to see people I know/used to know at big events like this, but I was surprised at the sparse "run-ins." Last year at Curiosa I couldn't take two steps without seeing someone.

Michele was there, but I did not see her. I saw somebody from my band days on the ferry (Matt Maidens) but I didn't say hi because I know I'd have nothing to say really. Also, when Do Make Say Think were playing I just so happened to be standing in front of Emily from Whitby (for those of you who know who this is.)

At least I didn't run into anyone I DIDN'T want to see.

Anyway, music!

Do Make Say Think - Good I guess. I'm not that big a fan, but I guess they are good for what they are. Instrumental post-rock. Not really my bag, but I'm glad I saw it. Corey punched me when I called them Do Make Say Stink.

Metric - Also known as the Emily Haines Underwear Showcase. Set was good, but I've always been a little annoyed that they don't play anything prior to their most recent record, and insist on playing a lot of unheard material, some of it which isn't that good. The songs I knew were good though, as always. Metric is always nice enough.

Broken Social Scene - Highlight of the night. With well over ten people on the stage at any given time, it was more like watching a group of friends jamming and enjoying themselves. They played Stars and Sons which lead to clapping craziness, and Anthem For A Seventeen Year Old Girl, Almost Crimes, Lover’s Spit and a lot of new material, some of which was very very good. The guy from Apostle of Hustle played with them on seventh guitar, and Feist was there as a thirteenth vocalist (numbers exaggerated.) The band is awesome, I bought a shirt and it is soft. Apparently I wear a mens small.

Modest Mouse - We were tired so we left after four or five songs by these guys. Jess was the biggest fan of the band, whereas I was the...smallest, and it was her call to leave, so I had no problem getting a head start on the long ferry ride home. I dunno. They're okay.

**

The day before this Brent and I went to Brent's old Welland home to join a few of our friends for a long overdue Game Night. Smashes were smashed, karts were dashed, monkey in balls were bowled, good times. Still trying to put together the PAX trip to Seattle, and we might make it a three person trip. It's still in planning.

**

I'm never going to see Mr. and Mrs. Smith, and if I do, I'm making sure I never pay for it. Fuck this movie and it's stupid media hype. "OH BRAD BROKE UP WITH JENNIFER OVER THIS I HAVE TO SEE IT." Staged staged staged publicity publicity publicity. So retarded, and people are eating it right up. If I wanted to see Brad Pitt in a good movie I'd go watch Fight Club, if I wanted to see Angelina Jolie in a good movie I'd go watch Gia. if I wanted to see Vince Vaughan I'd go watch any movie thats come out in the last year. It doesn't even matter if the movie is good or not, celebrity hype is just so ANNOYING. WHO FUCKING CARES. FUCK. I SAW AN AD FOR A SHOW CALLED I WANT TO BE A HILTON AND I WOKE UP IN A POOL OF MY OWN PISS AND BLOOD. I HATE POP EVERYTHING!

**

These salami and bacon sandwiches will be the end of me.

PAX?

2005-06-21T18:24:06Z

Brent F. Watson and myself have made some gigantic plans for the end of August. It's in the works still, with rocky details, but we really are going to make a solid effort to attend the Penny Arcade Expo this year. PAX is in its second year, and is basically a gathering for gamers of all genres and platforms to get together and play, party, preview new material, learn about the industry, and most importantly, COMPETE. I should also note that Nintendo is going to have a booth set up there. That's pretty big. Microsoft was there last year and they previewed a playable version of Halo 2 months and months before it ever saw a release. I can only imagine what Nintendo will be showing with Revolution on the horizon.

http://www.pennyarcadeexpo.com/

We both just need to secure the time off and save up a little bit of cash.

Aside from it being an expo for game nerds (I don't even care, I like it.) it's also a trip to Seattle. I can't see us spending every hour of our time there at the expo, so we'll probably check the place out. Seattle is one of the few places left in the United States that I have yet to see.

I hope it all falls into place.

**

Billy Corgan wants to revive the Smashing Pumpkins?

http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/news/05-06/21.shtml

Hm. I liked Siamese Dream and Melon Collie and the Infinite Sadness alright, but unless they are going to make music like that again, they really shouldn't bother. Their last efforts were pretty unremarkable, not to mention that the face of music has changed since all the great stuff they did was successful. Now they'd probably have to write music that sounds like Billy Talent to keep afloat. Riding on the wings of nostalgia only go so far, and we all know how well Machina sold.

But hey, maybe they can re-invent rock and change the face of the industry.

No CDs, MuchMusic is Stupid, Engrish

2005-06-20T21:50:42Z

I've lost the cord that connects my iPod to my computer for uploading/editing my music, so I haven't had a chance to listen to much new music in a while. I have no car CD player and no CD player at work (except for the computers, but playing CDs kind of BREAKS THEM somehow.)

So i have had the new Gorrilaz album (sent by Danielle) and the new New Pornographers album (sent by Jordan) in my gmail for a while now, and unless I listen to it on my computer, I'm not going to hear them. I don't really listen to much music on my computer, because it tends to slow everything down a bit (read: World of Warcraft), although I've since bought new RAM so it might work out.

**

I watched a repeat of the MMVAs this afternoon since I couldn't really find anything on, and I came to the following conclusions:

- The MMVAs are embarassing to everyone involved that isn't playing music.
- MuchMusic sucks so badly now, catering to nothing but pop music and pop culture like some grinning yes-man
- All the new VJs i've never seen before are retarded, and the old ones that are still around are lame (Rick and Jenn.) I don't watch Muchmusic at all anymore, I'm guessing Amanda, Rainbow and George have ran for their lives.
- It looks like no celebirty at the MMVAs gives a shit about where they are or whats going on.
- The Arcade Fire gave a really, really good live perfomance, as did Alexisonfire. I think I might give those guys another chance.
- The crowd shots of the screaming digusting girls singing along to Billy Talent and Ashley Simpson and Ciara or whatever her name is made me barf. I think girls should should have the equivalent of castration done to their screaming organ at birth, unless they are born to be in a horror movie.
- Land of the Dead looks awesome
- I haven't seen Batman begins yet, and I should.
- I'm hungry
- I need to go to Hearthglen to pick up that Libram for the Heroes of Darrowshire quest before I go to work
- Wait, what am I talking about.

Muchmusic sucks.

**

I want to learn how to do one of those jumping spinning kicks where your whole body goes horizontal and you're kicking almost stright up, and then your other leg whips up and joins your other foot so now its like you're kicking with both feet, straight up, and your body is like an L in the air and then you land all graceful and shit.

Does anyone know who can teach me that? I don't want to take a class and learn excercises and forms and whatever, I just want to learn that kick and that's all.

Oh also, to break concrete by punching it. I can see that coming in handy in every day situations.

**

Priceless.

For those of you who don't read Penny Arcade, an English teacher made this "creat a comic" excercise for his Japanese students. The page is here and is a goldmine for anyone who enjoys a good helping of Engrish. You can't duplicate this unless you are Japanese translating English. It reminds me of the great Pokey the Penguin, actually.

**

The ending is come, it is not a secret.

Foo Fighters!

2005-06-18T00:56:50Z

New Foos.

Well, what can I say other than...

Everything in the world is preventing me from hearing this album!

I can't find the cord that allows me to upload the CD from my computer to my iPod, so I can't listen to the CD in the car. I can't find time at home, because something else is usually going on in only room with a CD player (like my mmom watching TV.) or my attention is focused elsewhere. So I tried listening to it at work on one of the computers and the computer crashed. I don't know if this is directly related to the Foo Fighters CD, but the computer is pretty broken right now and will not start up. I will claim that it was like that when I got to work. I got the CD out though, hide the evidence!

But I did hear the first few seconds of the first song.

Uh, so, haven't heard it yet.

Top Ten Foo Fighters Singles, GO!

10. Best Of You
09. Have It All
08. The One
07. Learn To Fly
06. Breakout
05. I'll Stick Around
04. Times Like These
03. This Is A Call
02. Everlong
01. Monkey Wrench

Foo's played a live concert at Lee's Palace last night and The Edge brodcasted the whole thing. It was really good, I listened to it while driving. Good band to drive to. Wish I won tickets though.

I am chewing gum.

Music I Like and Music I Do Not Like

2005-06-17T02:01:12Z

So I bought Sloan's "A Sides Win" Album today.

A lot of people I know really l like Sloan's radio singles, but no one I know own a Sloan album. I've always really liked every single Sloan song that I've ever heard on the radio. This album is the first "best of" kind of album I've ever bought by any band. I wouldn't be able to tell you any other non-single song that Sloan has ever written, let alone even the names of any of their albums (with the exception of "One Chord To Another.")

The album is 16 tracks long, and 12 of them are spectacular in my opinion. The exceptions are "500 Up" which I have never heard prior to today, so I have no love for it yet, "All Used Up" which hasn't stood the test of time really, "Try To Make It" which is also a new track I've never heard and can't love yet. "If It Feels Good Do It" Is probably the only single they've released outside of "All Used Up" that I can't tag as spectacular, but only marginally, because it's good.

In any case, this a is a five star album. I love it. Each song takes me back to some period in my life.

"Underwhelmed" has always been brilliant,
"People Of The Sky" has always been catchy,
"The Good In Everyone" and "Money City Maniacs" have always rocked...I mean who DOESN'T know these songs? Summer camp.
And "The Other Man" is probably my favourite Sloan song.

Very good release. If any band deserves a best of album, it's these dudes.

**

Other bands that have singles I like, but I otherwise don't care about/like the band at all. These are kind of embarrassing, but oh well.

Thornley with "Come Again"
Justin Timberlake with "Rock Your Body"
The Killers with "Mr. Brightside"
Theory of a Deadman with "No Surprise" (ugh I know.)
Coldplay with "Clocks"
U2 with “Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me” (Everything else blows, I don’t like Bono, Sorry Ireland.)
The Tragically Hip with a lot of their songs. Same situation as Sloan really.
Matthew Good with "Load Me Up", "Apparitions" and "Rico" (Otherwise, he is very unremarkable and so many of his songs sounds exactly the same to me. He would be a great "Best of" kind of guy too [Not as good as Sloan though] I have friends that are batshit for this guy and I never understood why really. I understand he’s smart, well read, politically active, very in touch with his fans, etc., but his music....lacking.)

That's all I can think about right now.

**

Bands that I otherwise like that have singles I can't stand (anymore.)

Snow Patrol with "Run" (Holy shit I hate this song, I just barely like this band, like maybe two of three songs, but do I ever hate this song.)
Franz Ferdinand with "Take Me Out" (I swear there was a month where I heard this song 100 times a day)
Garbage with "Only Happy When It Rains"
Portishead with "Sour Times"
Green Day with “American Idiot”
The White Stripes with “Blue Orchid” (I’ve only heard it a few times, but I think it’s pretty bad. Boring, not catchy.)

I should have thought this one through more. I know I could fill a journal with bands here.

**

Bands I think are not very good that other people love.

The Stills - How BLAND is this band. Uninspired and boring, not one part of "Logic Will break Your Heart" is memorable, and yet I hear them touted as being great, let alone good. Give me a break, they stink.

Audioslave/Velvet Revolver - Good bands + good bands = not good bands. Two rights make a wrong! Chris Cornell and Scott Wieland are trying to ride a wave generated by the nostalgia their voices bring around. By the time you buy the album, you realize, hey this isn’t Guns and Roses, this isn’t Soundgarden, this isn’t Rage, this isn’t Stone Temple Pilots, its kinda stale, and more importantly, comparitively BAD. Why would I want to hear new bad when I can still enjoy old good.

Weezer - I like the first two albums, but when the majority of your albums are not good, you become a bad band, and It’s really too bad.

Alexisonfire - I’m still really not sure how these guys got to be so popular. it’s not they are bad or anything, they just aren’t that great. So many people are so gay for this band, and it’s weird enough that they are local, and people I know actually know them personally and all that, but its even weirder because of the genre of music they play. I can’t really wrap my head around it. More power to them though.

Billy Talent - Okay, I broke the rules here because i don’t know anyone who really likes this band, I just want to make it absolutely clear that these guys are probably the worst thing to happen to Canadian music since...oh lets say Nickleback. So god awful. The guys voice sounds like someone skinning a cat, only instead of painful yelps that can’t be understood, it comes out as shitty lyrics about generic teenage bullshit that 12-14 year olds will eat off a hot plate. Hmm, dad doesn’t like me track, check, girl broke up with me track, check, suicide/no one likes me track, ooh double check, hey Three Days Grace, can we tour with your? We can call it the DROP A BOMB ON US tour.

**

There's an ad on the radio for the Mod Club in which they describe it as it being “The Future.” you know, those ads where they just talk really fast like “Firdaynightsladiesinfreethehottestclubaround! 1300 ROADSTREET WEST! ITS THE BIGGEST EVENT EVER! GET ON THE GUEST LIST! DJ FRANCIS UNIVERSE SPINNING OFF HOT CUTS!” Step into the future? It’s just people getting drunk and dancing? Isn’t it? How do people fall for this? Clubs are so boring, I know from boring experience.

**

I didn’t win Foo tickets, but I got the new album and I’ll listen to it later.

My Shirt, My Nights, My Not Winning Anything Ever

2005-06-15T01:10:26Z

I was getting some pizza for lunch yesterday, and one of the guys working there kept staring at me. Finally he said "Dude, that is a sweet shirt." Of course I was wearing my Natural Selection t-shirt, assholes.

Don't act like I don't represent.

**

On Saturday I got a chance to catch Raising The Fawn in Toronto as part of North By North-East. I was treated with the company of dark_ink and blank_page, who tipped me off on the show in the first place. The thing started at 1:00 in the morning, and since I had gotten up at 9:00am that day, and had a very long, hot, tiring day of bad customer service, sweltering highway driving and fake-beating someone up for a movie, I was in one of those hilarious moods. I got in for free too, which was a nice plus. I was also eating pizza at the time. It was a pretty solid night.

Raising The Fawn is one of those bands that you know are talented, but when you see them play live...they really really prove it. Theres a difference between what you hear on a CD and what you see and hear during a live performance. A very strong realzation that these guys might just be better than you think they are, and their potential is extreme.

Local from St. Catharines I believe. I've missed them around town enough times, I'm glad I got to see them in the big city.

**

I've been trying to win Foo Fighters tickets all night, wish me luck.

**

I bought a PayDay lottery ticket too because I like to waste my money, pray that I lose!

Television!

2005-06-09T14:32:18Z

If anyone wasn't aware, my mom met Keifer Sutherland on Sunday night.

**

I think I'm going to write a comprehensive essay on why Futurama is better than The Simpsons, just so I know how to properly word it the next time I have an argument with somebody.

**

I'm going to make an effort to get up earlier than normal on Saturday, so I can see the state of Saturday morning cartoons. Last time I was up that early with the TV on, I was not at all impressed. I know for a fact that the current blasphemy that is the newest version of "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" is terrible (at least every one I've seen), but I'd like to do a bit of a comparison, since I remember all the good cartoons that used to be on.

Shows like the old Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Batman: The Animated Series, X-Men, Spiderman, hell even Pokemon was better than these current "card game" cartoons. How stupid are these? Seems like cartoons made to sell things. I know a lot of shows have merchandise but I think this crosses the line. I remember when Honey Nut Cheerios or Sugar Crisp had a string of cartoons that had some sort of story line in between every new commercial. Some of these cartoons are kinda like that.

**

Last night my mom was watching 60 minutes, and one of the features was concerning the medical conditions concerning the Amish community. Conditions that don't even have names yet. This involved a fair amount of Amish people breaking a very strict tradition of shunning technology as they were filmed and interviewed for this piece. I thought that was pretty interesting.

The problems within the community are genetic related disorders, and 60 minutes did a very good job of dancing around the term "inbreeding". It's not surprising, when a group of people live amongst each other in a sort of exile, they will eventually all become related. If something is not done about the style of the Amish community, there's a chance they will breed themselves into retardation and/or extinction.

**

"The depressing thing about tennis is that no matter how much you play, You'll never be as good as a wall. I played a wall once. They're fucking relentless."

- Mitch Hedberg

Ten Song Albums Etc.

2005-06-01T21:44:26Z

There is something special about an band that releases a 10 song album where every song is enjoyable.

Great albums with only 10 songs

Weezer - s/t (Blue)
Weezer - Pinkerton
The Postal Service - Give Up
The Arcade Fire - Funeral
The Mars Volta - De-Loused in the Comatorium
Apollo Sunshine - Katonah
Hot Hot Heat - Make Up The Breakdown
The Fiery Furnaces - EP
The Prodigy - The Fat of the Land
The Shins - Chutes Too Narrow
Hum - Downward Is Heavenward

neonsunflower reminds me
Interpol - Antics
Radiohead - Kid A
Metric - Old World Underground, Where Are You Now?
Mates of State - Our Constant Concern

Contribute to this list...if you dare.

**

About Hum, if you haven't heard this album, please look into it. The band has long since broken up, and the album is about seven years old at this point, but it's so ridiculously good, every song rocks, it's very 90's, and I can't believe how little people know about it. The album only sold something lie 38,000 in two years. That is nothing, when you think about the big picture of music. It's especially nothing considering how good it is. It's good enough I bet even maialie would like it (says a lot if you know maialie's particular musical tastes. I've been wrong about this before though)

**

Albums that I have been listening to lately.

The Decemberists - Picaresque and Her Majesty
I like these, but you wouldn't if you don't like meloncholy rock and deep storytelling in songs.

The Dillinger Escape Plan - Miss Machine
I like this, but you wouldn't if you dont like methodical, tight, well written hardcore

Stars - Set Yourself On Fire
I like this album, but you wouldn't if you don't like soft voiced synthy songs about love.

Apollo Sunshine - Katonah
I like this album, but you wouldn't if you don't like upbeat fun bands that don't take themselves too seriously and make their keyboards sound like old nintendo games

Bloc Party - Silent Alarm
I like this album, but you wouldn't if you generally don't like a lot of the the newer wave rock and European accents

Boy - Every Page You Turn
I like this album, but you wouldn't if you generally don't like a lot of the the newer wave rock and Canadian accents

Menomena - I Am The Fun Blame Monster
I like this album, but you won't if you don't like dark solemn brooding yet soothing deep slow piano songs

Pavement - Slanted and Enchanted
I like this album, but who doesn't.

The Fiery Furnaces - EP
I like this album, but you won't if you're a retard who just had a lobotomy.

Hum - Downward is Heavenward
See above.

Mind Your iPod

2005-05-31T22:32:52Z

When I'm at work, I tend to listen to my iPod on shuffle most of the time. I listen to it over the radio with the iTrip. If anyone else is in the room, I am usually considerate enough to avoid either playing it too loud, or playing the abbrasive music like Blood Brothers or Converge at all.

However, sometimes I leave the room with the iPod still playing.

As I was returning to my computer just now, I found that the cleaning lady had been in the room for almost an entire Dillinger Escape Plan song. The look I got from this little old lady...Wow.

Wow.

I'm Gellin

2005-05-29T05:09:48Z

These "gellin" commercials for Dr. Schol's have to stop. Enough is enough.

"Was he yellin?"
"No, he was GELLIN"

I wish I was that cool in grade school.

The kids breaks the guys plasma TV and he doesn't care because of how comfortable his feet are. At least bring it into the realm of possibility. Maybe they could have re-written the commercial so the guy beats the kid unconcious with his shoes and the only reason the kid survives the beating is because the gel insoles cushioned a lot of the crucial hits to the temple.

I would give a lot to have access to a hidden camera that shows me the board meeting where they come up with this shit.

Haha okay that's all.

**

Also I'm sick of any and all creative tampon commercials.

A Few Short Things

2005-05-27T22:39:35Z

I'm going to have to say, while I thought the fourth season of 24 was not only good on a whole, but also consistently good, i still think season three was better. The season finale for 24 was pretty good. Not as fast paced or intense as the last, but still, I felt satisfied.

**

I read an article on the Revolution, and it's looking like there will be a seperate four controller ports built into the back of the console to allow you to plug in your old Gamecube controllers. This leads me to believe that the new controllers are going to be so, dare i say, Revolutionary, and so completely different from the Gamecubes, that this option has been designed to allow you to enjoy the games as you would on the Gamecube. I see where they are coming from. Backwards compatibility is nice, but I can't play GBA games on a DS because of the layout. Sometimes new doesn't really work for the old.

But talk about getting me interested in the controller. It's not even a game! It's how I will be playing games in the future!

**

I'm going to the show on Centre Island in Toronto in June, is anyone else? Broken Social Scene, Modest Mouse, Metric, and other bands...but the kicker is it's only 35 dollars! That's why I like NOT liking really popular music. How much is a U2 concert these days? couple thousand? Fuck you Bono.

I hope Emily Haines lets me feel her up.

24, E3, WoW

2005-05-23T18:17:48Z

Ladies and gentleman, tonight is the night. The two hour season finale of 24.

I've been a fan of the series since the first hour of the first day, and this has been a pretty good season. The best season? I haven't made up my mind about that one. I'm cutting this more for length than anything. I think i do a pretty good job of not spoiling anything (though if you haven't gotten into 24 yet, you should be ashamed and deserve all the bad things life has in store for you, including spoilers.....also, why would you read this if you weren't a fan? Get outta here.)

Season One:
Well, it got me hooked, that's for sure. The days problems consisted of a plot to assassinate a presidential candidate, and the prison break (even though he wasn't in prison, whatever) of a notorious terrorist. This season was pretty strong considering it was the very first, and still had to keep people interested for 24 hour-long episodes. 24 episodes is long for any season, let alone a show's first. Low points include Teri Bauer's amnesia episode and Kim's constant over-stupidity (but at the time, it becomes a key character trait so, oh well). High points include appearances by the Great Lou Diamond Phillips and of course, Dennis Hopper.

Probably my favourite moment:
Victor Drazen: My sons are soldiers.
Jack Bauer: Then they will die for nothing. We know about the rescue plan. It was scheduled for 7:20. We stopped it. We've called in for backup. If they try again, sir, they will die.
Victor Drazen: Then you have nothing to worry about!
Finally, the episode ended with not only a giant plot twist, but a key character death, which told viewers that 24 does not fuck around, and that if you are expecting a happy ending where everything just works itself out, don't hold your breath and keep watching.

Season Two:
The weakest of the four seasons in my opinion, but only if you look at the whole season as a whole. To show aging with characters, just add beards! Season two opens with a threat of a nuclear bomb detonating somewhere in Los Angeles. The season had pretty good momentum for the first half of the "day", but near the end, the intensity that had me locked in front of the TV seemed significantly less. I can barely remember what even happens actually. The first season is burned into my memory so much more. Low points include the season's anti climactic ending, and Kim's pointless and annoying storyline, in which she's dumber than ever. High points include the character George Mason's development as he deals with radioactive poisoning. Still the trademark plot twist of characters turning out to be not what they appeared, not to mention a very strange ending.

24: The Game is going to be set in the time frame in between season's two and three, which apparently will go into detail about what happens following the cliffhanger ending of season two, which goes almost unaddressed in the following season. We'll probably also find out when Kim got her lobotomy and somehow scored a job as some sort of technician at CTU while still being dumb as a post.

Season Three:
Between this and the current season, I don't know what the best one will end up being. I'll let the season finale tonight go by before I say anything, but I really really liked this season. If the motif is absolutely insane things happening in the course of one day, this one takes home the prize. Prison breaks, flying to Mexico, betrayal after betrayal, multiple soldier storms of buildings, traitors everywhere, death death and more death.

Speaking of death, here's some fun trivia I found:
59 people are killed in Season 1, 113 people are killed in Season 2 and at least 800+ people are killed in Season 3. Over the entire series to that point, Jack Bauer is responsible for at least 50 of these deaths, give or take a few depending on what you deem "being responsible for" really means.

This season involves a terrorist threatening to release a deadly virus somewhere in Los Angeles. Low points include...well I guess my only complaint is that some of the situations the characters were put in were so absolutely insane they became kind of hard to believe, but hey, thats TV. High point includes pretty much the whole season. Poor Guyel...however you spell his name.

Season Four:
When you've got Jack Bauer breaking a prison in Season 3, it's kind of silly to see him holding up a convenience store in Season 4. I just thought that was funny. This season made it very clear that the writers of 24 love to torture characters. There was a lot of it in past seasons but holy hell, I think someone get tortured in every second episode of this season. The guy who plays Richards must have wanted so extra screen time.

The season seems to go off on many different plot elements. It seems like, after each failed terrorist attempt, it doesn't matter because according to the terrorists "it's all going according to plan." While confidence is very scary coming from a terrorist, it also makes me wonder if that's just their version of PR trying to make everything look okay when CTU just ran in and fucked them up the ass.

The season finale is tonight, and we're going to see if everything did all go according to plan. There's a missile in the air heading to an unknown location. Tony Almeida had been taken hostage after him and Michelle reconciled. Habib Marwan has escaped and is still at large. What ever happened to Behrooz? I noticed that the camera never actually showed Dina Araz getting killed. The Chinese are finding out the truth behind the attack on their embassy and the death of their conciliate.

Two hours! It's going to be a party. Yes, three people is still a party if there is cake involved.

**

A lot of the E3 coverage has me believing two things: Nintendo didn't show much except what the new console will look like, and Zelda. Sony showed the PS3, but nothing was actually done except big list of big numbers and other media hype for stuff that doesn't exist. The Xbox 360 has a very nice controller. If anyone is interested, www.ign.com has a decent write up of the event, as I'm sure a million other sites do.

**

If anyone playing World of Warcraft has been waiting patiently for the patch, but has been curious as to what the new Battlegrounds are like, I strongly suggest downloading the test client and trying them out. It's a lot easy than I thought it would be, and it's really, really fun. Yeah it's PvP but theres a lot more to it. Also, since it's the test server, there are people all from different servers in the world. It's like a retreat or a summer camp. You'll play with people you'll never see again. ALSO since there so many people playing, it's pretty much guaranteed that a game will be going when you get there. When this goes live on servers, it will probably be a lot more difficult to have 20 players in your level range looking to play when you are.

I definitely its worth the time to check out Warsong Gulch and play a little capture the flag. It's just too fun to pass up.

Nintendo's New Controller Cont'd

2005-05-23T01:16:23Z

After doing a little searching, it's coming up that the image I posted as Nintendo's possible new controller is a fake, and just made up by some wishful thinking gamer. The idea is still very interesting, that's for sure.

In my searches, I found this image.

I'm not sure how real this one is either. That particular picture was shown alongside a picture of what the new console will look like, which looks nothing lake the console showed at E3. This leads me to believe that this is either not real, or an outdated/scrapped idea.

I'm not too crazy about the inclusion of a some kind of motion sensor that makes tilting or turning the controller control aspects of a game. I'm sure I'm not a alone when I say, when I get into a game, I am tilting and turning the controller feverishly. I don't want to worry how straight or at what angle my controller is.

A lot of people are talking about some sort of touchscreen controller, but I'll leave it to the rumor mill to filter out all the falsies.

Falsies like this gem

I don't know who would have believed that one.

Decemberists @ The Phoenix

2005-05-22T17:14:16Z

Well, the Decemberists put on a very very fine show last night at the Phoenix in Toronto.

Here's the set list as far as I can remember. It's probably pretty wrong, and I will update it when I find a completed list somewhere on the Internet. I'm only assuming they started the set with July July!, because they had already started when we got there.

EDIT: I'm not going to attempt to write up a setlist from memory, so here are some of the songs they played. I'm probably forgetting a few.

July July!
The Sporting Life
We Both Go Down Together
The Bagman's Gambit
The Engine Driver
On The Bus Mall
16 Military Wives
The Chimbley Sweep
Song For Myla Goldberg
Everyday is Like Sunday (Morrisey cover)
Red Right Ankle
The Mariner's Revenge Song

The Decemberists, who were the headlining band, started playing at 7:30pm. I've never been to a show that early before. It was still light out when the show was over and we had a full night left to do what ever. The set was neither too short to be unsatisfying, nor too long to leave us exhausted. It was the perfect length, with the perfect selection of songs, playing everything I wanted to hear, and doing it near flawlessly. This show was a really really good one. I very much enjoyed crouching down on the ground with everyone else for no reason during The Chimbley Sweep, and even moreso enjoyed screaming like I was being swallowed by a whale during The Mariner's Revenge Song. A special thanks to Jordy (housebroken) to telling me about the show in the first place. I later saw him and Mike and Sean at the show (docarcane and havenwood respectively.) And a special thanks to Jess (dark_ink) for being lovely and coming to the show with me.

I really like the Decemberists. The music they make sounds more like literature put to music rather than just songs. Most of their songs tell a story, inviting you to pay very close attention to the lyrics and really give you a reason to get into it. The songs are written, both musically and lyrically, at an expert level. Easily one of the best bands I've gotten familiar with this year. They are good enough that I feel silly for not being aware of them sooner.

The Decemberists Tonight

2005-05-21T21:23:56Z

I'm off to see The Decemberists tonight with Jess (dark_ink) Their newest album, Picaresque, is one of the best albums I've heard in a while. I'll definitely be reporting on this.

If you have the chance, pick up or download this album.

Lightsabres, And Other Things You Can Hold In Your Hands

2005-05-21T17:47:38Z

On Thursday at 12:10 am, on a whim, I went to see Star Wars Episode 3: Revenge of the Sith. I'll cut this for people who don't want to hear about the movie.

Well what can I say? It's Star Wars. Don't expect a lot out of the dialouge, it's quite terrible, if it's meant to be that way or not. It's a CG masterpiece of course, so completely that there are times where the soldiers are completely CG and when they take off their helmets, their glaring human heads are the only real thing in the shot. It's a mishmash of very short scenes and the entire middle of the movie is a blur in my memory, when I can't remember the sequence of events. It's darker and more violent than any Star Wars before it however, and it also the most well done of the three new generation films.

On Lightsaber battles:

While I'm gay for lightsabre battles, and while there were many, many, many of them, I found that a lot of them lacked the intensity of previous movies.

For instance:

Obi-Wan Kenobi vs. General Grevious
The potential was breathtaking. When Grevious pulled out the four sabres, I lost it. And then the movie reminded me, painfully, that Grevious was CG (I forgot this a lot), and the battle kind of suffered because Ewan MacGregor wasn't really fighting anything when they shot it, probably. And THEN, Obi-Wan drops his lightsabre and finished Grevious off with a blaster? What epic deaths in Star Wars ever revolve around a blaster? And there was no significance in him losing the lightsabre in the first place. One of the soldiers just hands it to him later.

Chancellor/Emperor Palpatine vs. Mace Windu
Chancellor/Emperor Palpatine vs. Yoda
Both fights here suffer because the actor who plays the Emperor is lacking the agility and flexibility of the younger actors. The fights seemed slow and stalled, even when a body double/CG was used. With Yoda, it left him much less opportunity to just go to town like he did in Episode 2.

None of these fights were BAD, I just thought they could have been better. The fight with Dooku at the beginning should have been longer, and the fight at the end got a little ridiculous (although part of me ate it right up).

On Anakin's transition to the Dark Side:

I understand that he only wanted to save the life of Padme, but I really had a hard time swallowing that fact that, immediatly after the death of Mace Windu, he shuts down all reason and thought and starts saying "Yes, my master" and killing a bunch of children. HOWEVER, I can let all of this go because I will believe that his love for Padme (read: his attachment to his emotions), weakened him to the point where he could be easily influenced by the Emperor. He was far to emotionally unstable, considering he couldn't go two seconds without crying his face off in Episode 2. I am just now appreciating that foreshadowing.

The scene where Anakin gets the mask placed on him for the first time, and you hear that very first breath...goosebumps.

On the death of the Jedi:

I would have liked to see some more epic deaths. Most of them just got shot in the back by their own soldiers. I'm not saying getting shot by 10 guys at point blank range shouldn't kill you, but...I dunno. I didn't like it. Except for when the big headed Jedi went down. I didn't like him.

Anyway, that's all I got, I enjoyed the movie. It didn't feel as long as the second one. I'll have to check the running times between the two.

Also, while I have your attention, axeeleven posted a comment in my journal with a mock-up of a possible controller design for Nintendo's new system. Check it out.

That is insane. Brent made a very good point that when a person is "mad gaming" you might want to let the controller go to drink something or to eat some pizza, and this controller would prevent that. I think that as long as there is some sort of option to dock the two pieces together, this might just be awesome. Look man you can hold them like guns! You can rest in the most lazy position possible! Now when you really get into it...no more instnse hunching over!

I hope this get's finalized. Hell, I hope it's even true! It will certainly beat out Playstation 3's stupid boomerang criossant controller.

Nintendo

2005-05-21T17:07:42Z

I had a pretty lengthly discussion about this while I was at work last night with two of my co-workers. One of the people I work, Dave, plays console games a bit more avidly than I do. We both bought a DS, we both watch 24, we both loved Resident Evil 4, he doesn't like Warcraft. The other one, Stephen, claims he used to play computer games a fair bit in the past, and hasn't really done much console-wise since the N64.

Nintendo has never needed raw processing power to sell any of their systems, nor have they ever needed to tout it for promotion. Even back in the day when Sega Genesis commercials when aggressively attack Nintendo, and claim they were the fastest system around using "blast processing" to make Sonic go faster and all that. Its because Nintendo knows gaming is not about all that.

Lately, Nintendo has been on a real kick with backwards compatibility and re-issuing old games, not to mention their constant creation of new games with old franchise characters. They have a very healthy niche market. Nintendo's using old NES and SNES etc. titles to boost their sales is not a bad move at all. People like Stephen, upon hearing about the backwards compatibility of Nintendo's new system, became very interested in it. This kind of thing will lure old gamers into the new world with promises of nostalgia, and then while they are there, the idea is to hook them again. Nintendo seems like a company run on their players' love for old, tried and true characters and games. Link is on his 11th adventure, (give or take a few if you want to count the Four Swords games and Master Quest,) and people are still foaming at the mouth to keep playing Zelda games. Nintendo does not have to rely on the hottest newest software to keep gamers interested. Well not the original ones.

Recently, the gaming world has been kind of turned around.

For a lot of people, games like Grand Theft Auto and Halo have been "first games" to a lot of people who never were really gamers before. These games drew in a whole new crowd of gamers into the market, making it a much more popular thing than it was previously. Now it's either Sony or Microsoft, Playstation or Xbox. Mario who? Oh shit I just stole this sweet car. Now that more and more of America is getting into games, the industry is doing what America does with just about everything. More power! Bigger better stronger! Pow pow pow! Just like SUVs and Burger King's new giant fattening omelet 10 pound sandwich.

I don't like that gaming is so "cool" now.

Now, with all the stuff Playstation and Xbox are bringing to the table, this is all the media and the market cares about. There is so much more money and population in the market, and very few of these people give a shit about what Nintendo is doing. So, while I still believe Nintendo does not have to use superior processing power to sell a good game, part of me is forced to believe that they can't afford it anyway. This is why they have to pick up the slack with the Game Boy Advance, or moreso, why they are very happy it's selling so well.

**

As far as the new systems go, I've said before I'll be buying Nintendo's for Super Smash Brothers, but aside from that, should I have the money to invest in it, I'll probably go Playstation 3 just because I really don't like the Xbox and what it has to offer the gaming world, and Metal Gear 4 will probably be a treat. The only thing that keeps me interested in the Xbox at all is the moding potential is has, and that you can do one up to download and rip games, DVDs, music, any game you can find, and play it from the Xbox's stored memory. You are essentially exploiting Microsoft with its own system. My cousin Nick has one of these modded Xboxes and it's neat. Nick has always hated Xbox as well.

I don't really care about processing power and graphics when it comes down to it. A good game is a good game and it always will be. After playing games like Resident Evil 4, I wonder how much more room for improvement there needs to be, graphics-wise. I don't want to feel like I'm playing a movie. I also sometimes think: better graphics = less content.

In closing, I'm for Nintendo all the way. Even if they are only making enough money to keep themselves afloat in the industry, as long as I can play and love their games, I'll be happy. And if this system happens to be their swan song, then at least I got my Smash Brothers.

Comments to this entry can be found in my main journal where it was originally posted
http://www.livejournal.com/users/dna/311645.html

New comments are welcome