Wednesday, May 31, 2006
Tuesday, May 30, 2006
Query for DT's Brother
A post from Tatum on our boxing forum:
What isn't he telling us?
I don't fuck anything that has a tail.
Not anymore, at least.
What isn't he telling us?
Monday, May 29, 2006
books : careful with that spellcheck eugene
checking titles today I came across this description from a seller:
"In prestine condition!"
<-_->
"In prestine condition!"
<-_->
Sunday, May 28, 2006
more iPod
from the Guardian.
Some good points, some bad ones.
I think he undersells the technofetish appeal of the iPod's design, for one.
Far from being "much the same as that of a dozen rivals" it's light years better than anything else on the market, in terms of look and feel and interface(always an Apple forte).
Play around with the mp3 display at Best Buy or wherever and the iPod's almost unfair design advantage becomes clear...comparing an iPod to an offering from Creative is like comparing a Ferrari with a Yugo. They both play music, but the similarites end there.
The iPod is just an outgrowth of the way the internet has changed music, albeit mutated to serve Apple. Usenet and more recently bittorrent have opened up the availability of genres and artists outside the conception of the major lables to anyone who cares to search them out. Combine easy digital availability with savvy review sites like Pitchfork et al and you have a consumer in large part liberated from the whims of record executives and mainstream marketing.
That sea change informs some of Apple's iPod culture.
They prefer their own proprietary format, and they make getting music off your iPod a pain in the ass, which is counerintuitive to say the least....but they have to mollify the dinosauric record lables to some extent. I see them walking a line between giving their customers what they want while maintaning plausible deniability with their record company content providers.
Some good points, some bad ones.
I think he undersells the technofetish appeal of the iPod's design, for one.
Far from being "much the same as that of a dozen rivals" it's light years better than anything else on the market, in terms of look and feel and interface(always an Apple forte).
Play around with the mp3 display at Best Buy or wherever and the iPod's almost unfair design advantage becomes clear...comparing an iPod to an offering from Creative is like comparing a Ferrari with a Yugo. They both play music, but the similarites end there.
The iPod is just an outgrowth of the way the internet has changed music, albeit mutated to serve Apple. Usenet and more recently bittorrent have opened up the availability of genres and artists outside the conception of the major lables to anyone who cares to search them out. Combine easy digital availability with savvy review sites like Pitchfork et al and you have a consumer in large part liberated from the whims of record executives and mainstream marketing.
That sea change informs some of Apple's iPod culture.
They prefer their own proprietary format, and they make getting music off your iPod a pain in the ass, which is counerintuitive to say the least....but they have to mollify the dinosauric record lables to some extent. I see them walking a line between giving their customers what they want while maintaning plausible deniability with their record company content providers.
more on drunks
Suggested names for my bro-in-law's proposed 80's cover band:
The Queefs
Queefs of Doom
Team La-queef-ah (are you sensing a theme yet?)
Mike Funk and the Atonal Motherfuckers
None of which measure up to his old free jazz trio Fatal Tank Rampage...but it's still a work in progress.
Suggestions welcome.
/edit
HOLY SHIT
idle googling turned up my fave gig poster from back in the day:
that was the show where they deconstructed Frankenstein by the Edgar Winter Group.
*swoon*
The Queefs
Queefs of Doom
Team La-queef-ah (are you sensing a theme yet?)
Mike Funk and the Atonal Motherfuckers
None of which measure up to his old free jazz trio Fatal Tank Rampage...but it's still a work in progress.
Suggestions welcome.
/edit
HOLY SHIT
idle googling turned up my fave gig poster from back in the day:
that was the show where they deconstructed Frankenstein by the Edgar Winter Group.
*swoon*
dialing drunk
a late night phone conversation with James, reconstructed to the best of my ability:
me: dude were you passed out?
james: kinda...I was lying in bed drunk with my guitar.
me: courtney sent me your address, I have a bunch of good fights to send you.
james: right on....hey, what do you think of UFC?
me: not my thing, it always looks like two drunks fighting outside a bar.
james: i think it would make a good reality show, like the contestants are trying to fight their way into a nightclub, past these bouncer guys....and if they get inside, they get up on the stage and sing a song and win a million dollars.
me: shit....I'd watch that.
james: hell yeah!
me: dude were you passed out?
james: kinda...I was lying in bed drunk with my guitar.
me: courtney sent me your address, I have a bunch of good fights to send you.
james: right on....hey, what do you think of UFC?
me: not my thing, it always looks like two drunks fighting outside a bar.
james: i think it would make a good reality show, like the contestants are trying to fight their way into a nightclub, past these bouncer guys....and if they get inside, they get up on the stage and sing a song and win a million dollars.
me: shit....I'd watch that.
james: hell yeah!
Saturday, May 27, 2006
neat downloadable hand shadow book
check it.
especially interesting to me because a hardcopy reprint toddled through the store not too long ago.
especially interesting to me because a hardcopy reprint toddled through the store not too long ago.
understanding compression
high tech but readable guide.
Now I can add compression to the laundry list of stuff I know just enough about to get myself in trouble...
Now I can add compression to the laundry list of stuff I know just enough about to get myself in trouble...
Friday, May 26, 2006
oh this is lovely...
Bahah.
At first you're not sure if it's funny or just stupid, but it raises it's game to inspired heights at about the midway point.
At first you're not sure if it's funny or just stupid, but it raises it's game to inspired heights at about the midway point.
worst tech products of all time
according to PC World.
Bobo will be happy to learn Windows ME made the list- the OS that broke his computer on install.
I'm fond of several other entries, including WebTV.
I got a book order once from somebody with a @webtv.com email address and I had to muster all my professionalism not to ask him how much it sucked.
Bobo will be happy to learn Windows ME made the list- the OS that broke his computer on install.
I'm fond of several other entries, including WebTV.
I got a book order once from somebody with a @webtv.com email address and I had to muster all my professionalism not to ask him how much it sucked.
Thursday, May 25, 2006
music: motorhead
One side effect of the recent iPod invasion is sorting through all my old CD's looking for ammo. Some of this stuff I haven't listened to in years...one of the consequences of marriage is a certain restriction on your viewing and listening habits. Not that the wife strikes a pose with a frying pan and makes proclamations, but my enjoyment of a lot of stuff is environment dependent.
It's not much fun to tuck in to a wire-fu classic with someone who's not on board for arterial spray and ninjas sailing through the forest on giant spinning blades, for example (she's lucky that way, because I'm as down for a minimalist subtitled Swedish tragedy of manners as a movie chronicling the various adventures & swordfights of a deposed Shogun's disgraced executioner).
Same goes for Motorhead...they're a delicate flower that needs a receptive audience to fully blossom.
Today the wife is gone, so I threw on a platter I haven't heard in far too long- Rock n Roll, home to Eat the Rich, one of their greatest tunes.
The album as a whole isn't a career-defining high point like Orgasmatron, but it delivers the rock with a minimum of pretense & only one AOR-friendly power ballad (which is worth a listen just to just to hear Lemmy rupture something vital while straining to sound tender and caring).
So, listening to it nearly 20 years on (yes, I owned the original on vinyl) I noticed something odd that didn't register on the fresh pink shells of my youthful ears- this is the only metal album I've heard with slide guitar solos. There's one capping Eat the Rich and another couple tucked away in various corners of the album.
Motorhead being one of the most straight-ahead hard rock outfits ever, it's an unexpected bit of flavor that stands out to my mature (some might say 'grizzled') musical palate...and an excuse to make the wife listen to it!
"no, no wait...you gotta hear this slide guitar thing at the end...."
bonus music note:
TV on the Radio's latest drops sometime next month. I'm all aflutter....
It's not much fun to tuck in to a wire-fu classic with someone who's not on board for arterial spray and ninjas sailing through the forest on giant spinning blades, for example (she's lucky that way, because I'm as down for a minimalist subtitled Swedish tragedy of manners as a movie chronicling the various adventures & swordfights of a deposed Shogun's disgraced executioner).
Same goes for Motorhead...they're a delicate flower that needs a receptive audience to fully blossom.
Today the wife is gone, so I threw on a platter I haven't heard in far too long- Rock n Roll, home to Eat the Rich, one of their greatest tunes.
The album as a whole isn't a career-defining high point like Orgasmatron, but it delivers the rock with a minimum of pretense & only one AOR-friendly power ballad (which is worth a listen just to just to hear Lemmy rupture something vital while straining to sound tender and caring).
So, listening to it nearly 20 years on (yes, I owned the original on vinyl) I noticed something odd that didn't register on the fresh pink shells of my youthful ears- this is the only metal album I've heard with slide guitar solos. There's one capping Eat the Rich and another couple tucked away in various corners of the album.
Motorhead being one of the most straight-ahead hard rock outfits ever, it's an unexpected bit of flavor that stands out to my mature (some might say 'grizzled') musical palate...and an excuse to make the wife listen to it!
"no, no wait...you gotta hear this slide guitar thing at the end...."
bonus music note:
TV on the Radio's latest drops sometime next month. I'm all aflutter....
Wednesday, May 24, 2006
Tuesday, May 23, 2006
free wireless for the USA?
kooky startup is promising just that.
And they apparently have some smart money backing them up.
Intersting.
And they apparently have some smart money backing them up.
Intersting.
iPod unease
I already feel a little creepy about joining Generation iPod.
I remember all the crying and whining about the dangers of portable listening the first time around when Sony Walkmans were the product du jour, so that's not it.
It's that the iPod provides such fertile soil for the blossoming of the unhealthy technofetishism latent in even a hardened anti-capitalist like myself, or in a confirmed Luddite like the wife.
Cases, headphones, chargers, adaptors...all that stuff's bad enough.
Then there's this.
I weep for my country...
I remember all the crying and whining about the dangers of portable listening the first time around when Sony Walkmans were the product du jour, so that's not it.
It's that the iPod provides such fertile soil for the blossoming of the unhealthy technofetishism latent in even a hardened anti-capitalist like myself, or in a confirmed Luddite like the wife.
Cases, headphones, chargers, adaptors...all that stuff's bad enough.
Then there's this.
I weep for my country...
god bless the internet part XVXIIX
So we screened the fantastic Hearts of Darkness* the other evening with a friend who'd never seen it in spite of being obsessed with Apocalypse Now.
For my money it's the best 'making of' documentary ever, getting a leg up over most of the competition by keeping it's focus more on the creative process of the director than the easily quantifiable nuts and bolts of production (aka the "dvd extras format").
So it uses some Orson Wells voice-over from the Mercury Theater production of Heart of Darkness, which got me thinking.
Old, out of copywrite radio plays must be available for download somewhere, right?
right.
Bonus:
Heart of Darkness is even available on in mp3 format.
*
which has apparently never been released on DVD...criminal!
also...suck it Nexflix junkies! No adding this one to your queue. =P
For my money it's the best 'making of' documentary ever, getting a leg up over most of the competition by keeping it's focus more on the creative process of the director than the easily quantifiable nuts and bolts of production (aka the "dvd extras format").
So it uses some Orson Wells voice-over from the Mercury Theater production of Heart of Darkness, which got me thinking.
Old, out of copywrite radio plays must be available for download somewhere, right?
right.
Bonus:
Heart of Darkness is even available on in mp3 format.
*
which has apparently never been released on DVD...criminal!
also...suck it Nexflix junkies! No adding this one to your queue. =P
Monday, May 22, 2006
Sunday, May 21, 2006
Saturday, May 20, 2006
Hot Links!
stolen roller coaster.
What do you think they'll do with it?
Castro to live to 140
Good news, Anner!
how to write screenplays. badly.
It's the anti-Syd Field...only funny!
best ipod site I've found so far.
What do you think they'll do with it?
Castro to live to 140
Good news, Anner!
how to write screenplays. badly.
It's the anti-Syd Field...only funny!
best ipod site I've found so far.
Wednesday, May 17, 2006
Decline of Western Civilization pt 400
rally for the ball!
I'm sympathetic to folk having their different pet projects and all, but this is dorky.
Actually, on second thought it reeks of marketing. Slip some money to a dude under the table to make a big deal about how you're changing your corporate logo and voila, the next thing you know whiners like me are giving you exposure on their blogs...and also the whiners at the LA Times.
I'm sympathetic to folk having their different pet projects and all, but this is dorky.
Actually, on second thought it reeks of marketing. Slip some money to a dude under the table to make a big deal about how you're changing your corporate logo and voila, the next thing you know whiners like me are giving you exposure on their blogs...and also the whiners at the LA Times.
I love brits (blog edition)
Tuesday, May 16, 2006
i-y-i-y-i-y-iPod
I didn't realize there was such a huge profusion of aftermarketeers for the iPod.
I guess it makes sense, given the fetishistic appeal of the sleek little buggers, but it complicates the process of kitting it out (Bobo warned me "they scratch if you breath on them", another friend amended that with "no, you don't even have to breathe on them...they scratch themselves!").
And I was excited by the prospect of hooking it up to the car for mad tunes, but Ivan warned me off the wireless FM solution and suggested a cassette adapter...alas, I'm all futuristic and only have a CD player in the ride.
On the positive, I think I've found the protective case of my dreams....
I guess it makes sense, given the fetishistic appeal of the sleek little buggers, but it complicates the process of kitting it out (Bobo warned me "they scratch if you breath on them", another friend amended that with "no, you don't even have to breathe on them...they scratch themselves!").
And I was excited by the prospect of hooking it up to the car for mad tunes, but Ivan warned me off the wireless FM solution and suggested a cassette adapter...alas, I'm all futuristic and only have a CD player in the ride.
On the positive, I think I've found the protective case of my dreams....
Monday, May 15, 2006
Aftermath
Ok, so mixing sake with gin (and a little port) wasn't the best idea I've ever had.
But give me some credit, at least I was smart enough to get Sunday off for hangover maintainance.
I loved every moment of the dinner, as my cowardly friends fled the advancing line of raw fish for the tepid embrace of teriyaki chicken, sukiyaki and tempura shrimp and vegetables.
Actually, Bobo's sukiyaki was the most spectacular dish of the evening- with it's own giant stone pedestal and campfire it looked like a roadside shrine from one of the Lone Wolf & Cub movies.
My favorite was the seared pepper albacore tataki....beautiful.
My neice loved the sticky rice, she created ever-changing Rorsach designs on her face and then called for the attention of the table to witness her creation.
And I opted for saki instead of my usual Kirin due to age restrictions- if I drink enough beer to matter these days I invariably wake up at 6am, still miserably tired but entirely unable to sleep. The saki was great (I picked a cold one at random from the middle of the price spread- very tasty, with some nice floral accents), but my decision to chase it with gin gimlets at home was not so well considered.
I'm fully recovered today, thankfully.
Thanks to all my guests for making it a fine celebration of old age.
But give me some credit, at least I was smart enough to get Sunday off for hangover maintainance.
I loved every moment of the dinner, as my cowardly friends fled the advancing line of raw fish for the tepid embrace of teriyaki chicken, sukiyaki and tempura shrimp and vegetables.
Actually, Bobo's sukiyaki was the most spectacular dish of the evening- with it's own giant stone pedestal and campfire it looked like a roadside shrine from one of the Lone Wolf & Cub movies.
My favorite was the seared pepper albacore tataki....beautiful.
My neice loved the sticky rice, she created ever-changing Rorsach designs on her face and then called for the attention of the table to witness her creation.
And I opted for saki instead of my usual Kirin due to age restrictions- if I drink enough beer to matter these days I invariably wake up at 6am, still miserably tired but entirely unable to sleep. The saki was great (I picked a cold one at random from the middle of the price spread- very tasty, with some nice floral accents), but my decision to chase it with gin gimlets at home was not so well considered.
I'm fully recovered today, thankfully.
Thanks to all my guests for making it a fine celebration of old age.
Saturday, May 13, 2006
boxing meets performance art
concretizing the relational metaphor.
I'm sure it plays better than it reads, but boxing is packed with enough metaphor that this is gilding the lily.
Watching an unaugmented fight will reveal the same lessons about human interaction minus all the philosophical heavy breathing and art-school posturing.
I'm sure it plays better than it reads, but boxing is packed with enough metaphor that this is gilding the lily.
Watching an unaugmented fight will reveal the same lessons about human interaction minus all the philosophical heavy breathing and art-school posturing.
Thursday, May 11, 2006
Bizzaro World Wiki
China launches a self-censoring Wikipedia ripoff.
Pure comedy.
Well, unless you live in China I suppose.
just another reason Japan is way better.
Pure comedy.
Well, unless you live in China I suppose.
just another reason Japan is way better.
Wednesday, May 10, 2006
this is the hot fiya
second annual Myspace stupid haircut awards.
One of the greatest things ever posted to teh internets.
(and don't miss the first edition...it was also an epic, gut-busting laff-fest.)
One of the greatest things ever posted to teh internets.
(and don't miss the first edition...it was also an epic, gut-busting laff-fest.)
Tuesday, May 9, 2006
Monday, May 8, 2006
fun with visitor stats
The clientele here at the Baxblog is generally a small and happily predictable one- old IRL friends and e-buddies from the various epochs of my internet existence (which began exactly 6,000 years ago).
But I get the occasional surprise.
A whim led me to check my referrers today, and I discovered a visitor from Germany who had been sent here via a Google search for 'Realdoll'.
!
Have Realdolls even had any previous appearances on the Baxblog?
If so, how relentlessly would you have to pan the Google stream to uncover the gold nugget of the Baxblog, where 20 visitors in a day sets off a celebratory cannonade and outfield fireworks display?
Never let it be said that Germans are less than thorough in pursuit of their particular interests.
But I get the occasional surprise.
A whim led me to check my referrers today, and I discovered a visitor from Germany who had been sent here via a Google search for 'Realdoll'.
!
Have Realdolls even had any previous appearances on the Baxblog?
If so, how relentlessly would you have to pan the Google stream to uncover the gold nugget of the Baxblog, where 20 visitors in a day sets off a celebratory cannonade and outfield fireworks display?
Never let it be said that Germans are less than thorough in pursuit of their particular interests.
Sunday, May 7, 2006
link-o-rama
scans of Action comics #1
Eugene Jarkei's excellent documentary Why We Fight is up in full on Google (for now, at least)
you might want to download it in the event of a copywrite disappearance. Here's a handy plugin for Firefox users
gadgets, then and now
Hooray for miniaturization!
windows error message generator
Hours of fun for the whole family!
how tennis balls are made.
neat-o video.
Behold, the Computer Bed!
Looks like something you'd find in Le Corbusier's college dorm room.
Just one problem: the computer would take care of the pr0n, but where would you hide the booze?
Last FM, the penultimate internet radio solution.
Probably deserves it's own post. You input a bunch of stuff you like and it tailors a playlist for you. Totally bitchin'.
Eugene Jarkei's excellent documentary Why We Fight is up in full on Google (for now, at least)
you might want to download it in the event of a copywrite disappearance. Here's a handy plugin for Firefox users
gadgets, then and now
Hooray for miniaturization!
windows error message generator
Hours of fun for the whole family!
how tennis balls are made.
neat-o video.
Behold, the Computer Bed!
Looks like something you'd find in Le Corbusier's college dorm room.
Just one problem: the computer would take care of the pr0n, but where would you hide the booze?
Last FM, the penultimate internet radio solution.
Probably deserves it's own post. You input a bunch of stuff you like and it tailors a playlist for you. Totally bitchin'.
Boxing: follow up
What a night of unrelenting carnage!
The HBO card was solid but unspectacular, unless you count De La Hoya's surprising seek-and-destroy elimination of Mayorga. For the record I thought DLH would dominate the fight, but I was surprised at the ferocity and agression he put on display in dispatching the tough, limited Mayorga in six.
The real fireworks came after we flipped to Showtime for their "free" card featuring a flyweight (115lb) title fight between champion Luis Perez and Dimitri Kirilov and a super welter (154lb) title scrap featuring Alejandro Garcia vs. Jose Antonio Rivera.
Kirilov's nickname is "baby", which fits if the baby in question somehow developed a thousand-yard stare. In the middle rounds Pelf commented "if I ever need to hire a Russian hit man, I know who to talk to".
THe action was fast and furious, and fought at a high level of skill. I had Kirilov dominating 7/10ths of the fight, befuddling Perez with spectacular defense and landing hard shots in combination. Late in the fight it looked like he was going to cruise to a dominating decision win....but of course this is boxing, and he suffered one of those sudden, totally unexpected momentum shifts that make it the only sport worth watching.
Out of the blue, Perez caught him flush with a right hook and sent him down HARD.
He beat the count, but was wobbly for the rest of the round, and the rest of the fight was back-and-forth action. I thought Kirilov still won a fairly wide decision, but he got jobbed by some blind refs. He won over the large crowd, and also the handful of boxing fans I was watching with...I'll definitely tune in for his next bout.
The main event was what they call a "pier six brawl" between two big, strong dudes who could punch and didn't much bother with dandified refinements like 'defense'. I think it totalled six knockdowns between the two guys, and even though it ended up being a one-sided win for Rivera it never seemed like Garcia was totally out of the fight.
It was such a relentless flood of boxing that I was a little worn out afterwards and had to lie down.
Oh, and next time we get together for a card the refreshments are on the Pelf.
After DLH's surprise knockdown of Mayo in the 1st round he said "I could not have been more wrong about this fight".
heh.
The HBO card was solid but unspectacular, unless you count De La Hoya's surprising seek-and-destroy elimination of Mayorga. For the record I thought DLH would dominate the fight, but I was surprised at the ferocity and agression he put on display in dispatching the tough, limited Mayorga in six.
The real fireworks came after we flipped to Showtime for their "free" card featuring a flyweight (115lb) title fight between champion Luis Perez and Dimitri Kirilov and a super welter (154lb) title scrap featuring Alejandro Garcia vs. Jose Antonio Rivera.
Kirilov's nickname is "baby", which fits if the baby in question somehow developed a thousand-yard stare. In the middle rounds Pelf commented "if I ever need to hire a Russian hit man, I know who to talk to".
THe action was fast and furious, and fought at a high level of skill. I had Kirilov dominating 7/10ths of the fight, befuddling Perez with spectacular defense and landing hard shots in combination. Late in the fight it looked like he was going to cruise to a dominating decision win....but of course this is boxing, and he suffered one of those sudden, totally unexpected momentum shifts that make it the only sport worth watching.
Out of the blue, Perez caught him flush with a right hook and sent him down HARD.
He beat the count, but was wobbly for the rest of the round, and the rest of the fight was back-and-forth action. I thought Kirilov still won a fairly wide decision, but he got jobbed by some blind refs. He won over the large crowd, and also the handful of boxing fans I was watching with...I'll definitely tune in for his next bout.
The main event was what they call a "pier six brawl" between two big, strong dudes who could punch and didn't much bother with dandified refinements like 'defense'. I think it totalled six knockdowns between the two guys, and even though it ended up being a one-sided win for Rivera it never seemed like Garcia was totally out of the fight.
It was such a relentless flood of boxing that I was a little worn out afterwards and had to lie down.
Oh, and next time we get together for a card the refreshments are on the Pelf.
After DLH's surprise knockdown of Mayo in the 1st round he said "I could not have been more wrong about this fight".
heh.
Saturday, May 6, 2006
books: celebrity "autobiographies"
speaking of Art Pepper....
(rolleyes)
Piper’s memoirs are only the latest evidence of a phenomenon sweeping the publishing industry: books written by people who don’t normally write books, bought by people who don’t normally read books, being sold in places, such as supermarkets, that did not, until quite recently, sell books.
(rolleyes)
boxing: the DANGER ZONE
yeah...you heard me!
My sucker, er, pal the Pelf subscribes to the Myth of Mayorga and nearly demanded we make a friendly wager on the outcome. Since pizza always tastes sweeter when someone else is buying, I accepted, more in the spirit of a charitable donation than a bet.
I didn't feel the need to remind him that he was making the very same arguments in favor of Mayorga before the Trinidad fight (Mayorga is crazy, Mayorga has power, Mayorga has a granite chin, Tito has been inactive...all it meant to me was more free pizza.)
There's some kerfuffle among the business elite of the sport due to a conflict with Game 7 between the Lakers and Suns. I see boxing as the ur-sport with all others being pale shadows of the real thing, so there's no conflict for me.
It should be an entertaining, if one sided, bout.
A full report will follow.
My sucker, er, pal the Pelf subscribes to the Myth of Mayorga and nearly demanded we make a friendly wager on the outcome. Since pizza always tastes sweeter when someone else is buying, I accepted, more in the spirit of a charitable donation than a bet.
I didn't feel the need to remind him that he was making the very same arguments in favor of Mayorga before the Trinidad fight (Mayorga is crazy, Mayorga has power, Mayorga has a granite chin, Tito has been inactive...all it meant to me was more free pizza.)
There's some kerfuffle among the business elite of the sport due to a conflict with Game 7 between the Lakers and Suns. I see boxing as the ur-sport with all others being pale shadows of the real thing, so there's no conflict for me.
It should be an entertaining, if one sided, bout.
A full report will follow.
games: jihad a mod
sorta thematically keeping with the post about the guy who logs in to America's Army so he can recite the names of casualties from Iraq, today we find Middle Eastern mod-makers remixing BF2 so that the good guys wear turbans and the bad guys ride in low over the surf in Wagner-blaring Hueys.
I wonder what those researchers would "suspect" about America's Army?
SAIC executive Eric Michael said researchers suspect Islamic militants are using video games to train recruits and condition youth to attack U.S.-led coalition forces in Iraq.
I wonder what those researchers would "suspect" about America's Army?
Friday, May 5, 2006
improv everywhere vs. Best Buy
cool idea, fun result.
I've run across these guys before, I think I've even linked them before...but this is their coolest stunt so far.
Minimum wage corporate drones freak out when you short circut their expectations.
I've run across these guys before, I think I've even linked them before...but this is their coolest stunt so far.
Minimum wage corporate drones freak out when you short circut their expectations.
Wednesday, May 3, 2006
gaming: ah, nostalgia!
While looking around the net for ALC I came across this paen to my old CS strategy guide...in French, no less!
Ah, e-notriety....
Ah, e-notriety....
Birthday Incoming
The big Four Oh approaches on stealthy rat-paws.
By request from folk who don't know what to get me (as if my well-documented obsessions with cooking, boxing and gaming didn't provide enough ammunition to supply a battalion) I threw together an Amazon wish list.
And while I'm philosophically opposed to overtly monetizing gifts, I make exceptions for Amazon gift certificates because I love burrowing through the strata of their products with house money. =D
By request from folk who don't know what to get me (as if my well-documented obsessions with cooking, boxing and gaming didn't provide enough ammunition to supply a battalion) I threw together an Amazon wish list.
And while I'm philosophically opposed to overtly monetizing gifts, I make exceptions for Amazon gift certificates because I love burrowing through the strata of their products with house money. =D
gaming : calling all Tards
Bobo's setting up some forums pending the release of the new Ghost Recon.
If anyone knows how to get hold of ALC, JD & Doc Death, tip them off about the impending co-op akSHOWN.
here's the linky.
If anyone knows how to get hold of ALC, JD & Doc Death, tip them off about the impending co-op akSHOWN.
here's the linky.
customers : remus
a drunk skinhead in a wheelchair just asked if we had any Uncle Remus books.
because he reads them to kids.
because he reads them to kids.
Tuesday, May 2, 2006
books : unfortunate cover
Looks more like he's slipping in the shower than striking a virile martial arts pose.
video game activism
This one's pretty interesting even if you're not a gamer.
This cat logs into AA and types the names of casualties until someone caps him.
This sorta ties in with a queasy feeling I've always had about AA, and pretty much all contemporary war FPS's...it seems perverse for a game to ape something that's actually happening.
The beginning of the end of CS for me was 9/11...capering about as a terrorist trying to blow shit up lost much of it's savor. I've grown to appreciate more escapist escapism, be it faux superheroics of CoH or the faux Orwellian dystopia of HL2.
Of course, my bone-deep hatred of UbiSoft would be much more likely to stop me from picking up the latest Tom Clancy spec ops game for some co-op akshown with my pals than any faint rumblings of morality.
All the same, given the option I'll take fantasy or alternate reality over some rough approximation of the real thing. Probably the reason I prefer genre fiction over straight literature (much to my wife's dismay).
This cat logs into AA and types the names of casualties until someone caps him.
This sorta ties in with a queasy feeling I've always had about AA, and pretty much all contemporary war FPS's...it seems perverse for a game to ape something that's actually happening.
The beginning of the end of CS for me was 9/11...capering about as a terrorist trying to blow shit up lost much of it's savor. I've grown to appreciate more escapist escapism, be it faux superheroics of CoH or the faux Orwellian dystopia of HL2.
Of course, my bone-deep hatred of UbiSoft would be much more likely to stop me from picking up the latest Tom Clancy spec ops game for some co-op akshown with my pals than any faint rumblings of morality.
All the same, given the option I'll take fantasy or alternate reality over some rough approximation of the real thing. Probably the reason I prefer genre fiction over straight literature (much to my wife's dismay).
Hotlinks!
What's better than still photos of stuff getting shot?
super slow mo video of stuff getting shot!
mammoth archive of early 20th century news photos.
(the interface sux, but it's huuuuuge!)
hey kids...first taste is free!
This is partly why I hate corporations.
How the fuck does Napster still exist?
If a business owned by an individual had lost a huge lawsuit and subsequently 95% of it's userbase, it would have folded.
But years on, here's Napster still shambling around like a zombie, trying on different outfits like a change of clothes can mask the stench of dead, rotting flesh.
game developers sound off on Nintendo's console name change.
I don't much care about consoles, but I'm enjoying all the hubub over this.
super slow mo video of stuff getting shot!
mammoth archive of early 20th century news photos.
(the interface sux, but it's huuuuuge!)
hey kids...first taste is free!
This is partly why I hate corporations.
How the fuck does Napster still exist?
If a business owned by an individual had lost a huge lawsuit and subsequently 95% of it's userbase, it would have folded.
But years on, here's Napster still shambling around like a zombie, trying on different outfits like a change of clothes can mask the stench of dead, rotting flesh.
game developers sound off on Nintendo's console name change.
I don't much care about consoles, but I'm enjoying all the hubub over this.
games: speaking of CS....
I linked this webcomic previously, but the recent chatter in comments about old-timey CS action reminded me of this excellent run of strips:
un
deux
trois
quatre
cinq
Guaranteed laffs for anyone who ever played the game on a pub server.
/edit
HAW!!
more and funnier, later in the sequence:
a-one
and-a-two
and hit "next" a few times.
geek humor, gotta love it.
un
deux
trois
quatre
cinq
Guaranteed laffs for anyone who ever played the game on a pub server.
/edit
HAW!!
more and funnier, later in the sequence:
a-one
and-a-two
and hit "next" a few times.
geek humor, gotta love it.
Monday, May 1, 2006
grilling season!
Weather has been gorgeous the last couple of days...it's making me want to grill!
Unfortunately, I loaned James my grill for his birthday a few years back and it vanished off the face of the earth.
Does anyone have suggestions for a good light use two-person summer grill?
I don't need a bombproof 40" Weber, just something I could grill a few burgers or a cut-up chicken on that isn't too flimsy and annoying.
Unfortunately, I loaned James my grill for his birthday a few years back and it vanished off the face of the earth.
Does anyone have suggestions for a good light use two-person summer grill?
I don't need a bombproof 40" Weber, just something I could grill a few burgers or a cut-up chicken on that isn't too flimsy and annoying.
politics: propaganda
A lengthy, fascinating, in-depth piece on the administration's propaganda efforts in support of the Iraq war.
An involving, worrying read.
An involving, worrying read.
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