Moraites Makes Noyse

The Noyse Magazine has recently featured an interview/q&a with my former and probably future co-conspirator Peter Moraites. What do you do with 67,000+ (and counting) views on YouTube? I don't know either. Maybe Pete does.

Renetto knew what to do with it. Kind of.

And since I'm not going to type another post this evening. I Am Sorry Rat Trap. But I'm not actually sorry about anything, and that's the point. Thanks for being here.

YouTube needs Trackback.

Radio Haze, Anime Phase, Each Passing Day…A Few More Grays

Many thanks to The Swankster for reminding me of how much I enjoyed the heyday of 106.3 WHTG here in the Garden State during the early 90's. I can't really add much more than I mentioned in the comments there, or maybe I can and I'm thinking I'd rather do something else tonight.

Also thanks for posting the Girlfriend video, it's amazing no one has destroyed it with a bad cover in recent years. At least my ears have been blessed by not hearing that hopefully imaginary cover. Girlfriend and Altered Beast are two essential CDs as far as I'm concerned. And I am concerned. (But I am not very concerned about consistency with the use of italics for titles, or what the proper use should be for italicizing titles. I'm making a concerned effort to be concerned…No…I'm not…I'm just full of shit…kind of.)

Since that video and reading an interview with Matthew Sweet talking about manga and anime, I've opened my eyes to that world and basked in the goodness that is Ghost in the Shell, Akira, Cowboy Bebop, and many others. Judging by the comments on YouTube, many others were turned on to anime by Sweet, as well.

Oh yeah, 106.3. The Matt Pinfeld years, those were good. 106.3 today, not so good. Although after commenting at Merry Swankster, I did catch some Dinosaur Jr. on the dial.

I Like My Effigies Filled with Candy.

Me likes Threadless. Me chooses to tell you that $10 shirts are back. I purchased Fiesta Fiasco!.

We've been doing the pinata (the tilde is in my other keyboard) thing for my soon to no longer be preschooler for a few years now. Some people are concerned about injuries. Some are concerned that pinatas (again, the other keyboard) encourage violence against animals. Ok…I don't know if anyone really does. But the thought makes me giggle. And the giggle has stirred up a memory of a Johnny Bravo episode where our lunkheaded hero valiantly attempts to save a pinata (enough already) from its inevitable fate. Of course, it's to impress a girl (an animal activist, naturally, and he thinks it's actually a real animal.

I don't think video games cause real violence either. In any case where video games, music, and movies have been scapegoated. There is typically a psychological profile, domestic environment, or some sort of abuse that is closer to the cause. Needless to say, that doesn't mean people can't find individual video games, music, or movies to be abhorrent (never used that word, thought I'd give it a try, correct me if I'm wrong, ridicule me if I'm ignorant). Sure, that will happen but unless the song, movie, or game is connected to some type of Manchurian Candidate conditioning, then I think we're pretty safe from these artistic endeavors.

Don't tell me video games aren't art. Or tell me that nothing is art.

Beyond Sense and Reason

Why does someone who's got two kids and knows he's got to get up early in the morning still play video games occasionally until 4 am? If I could answer that, would I still be yawning as much as I am today?

I've finally gotten around to the copy of Beyond Good & Evil for PS2 that's been in my posession for some time now. It's a well made game with solid story, good controls, and action at times alternates between stealth, combat, platform, vehicle control, and photography (as a necessary part of gameplay). It was much lauded when it came out, but must not have sold enough to have a sequel. It's a shame.

I recommend picking up a copy if you haven't already. This is not a full blown review (Metacritic can find you some of those), but the mind juices needed a straw stuck in them to get posting again and this is that straw. slurp. slurp.

Further searching on the Internet has turn up an article at jumpbutton from an UbiSoft PR guy explaining why this game didn't sell. If I said it before, I'll say it again, it's quite a shame. Joystiq has posted on this as well.

More Ted Stevens.

This posting should have been up a week ago (or more). I lack the desire to edit this, so I hope it's somewhat cohesive. There must be more Ted Stevens insanity by now. And perhaps even in my bookmarks folder. But in the spirit of quantity, with quality a distant second, here's a posting for you.

It's clearly what the people want. We don't want his legislation. We want him to explain more things to us. Preferrably all technical items. Perhaps he could fill in for Walt Mossberg at the Wall Street Journal for awhile. Maybe he's the next John Dvorak, oh, Jon Dvorak doesn't really write all his material. Could Ted Stevens at least start blogging? Or maybe a podcast. That would totally rock. And there would be no end to the soundbytes DJs and producers could get their hands on for their mixes.

Ok…now that I've started typing this, I've done a patrol around my little internet and found some other people's internets had some interesting Ted Stevens related material. Enjoy the links.

Yep…links. (in addition to those above, naturally.)

Oh, look…he does have a blog. Thank heavens for Theodore Stevens! (liberty taken with pronunciation of the last Stevens, but I've been called a liberal, so I should know something about liberty, right?)

Ted Stevens is selling his internet on craigslist. (Not surprised, it doesn't sound like it works as well as mine. Explains why it's only $19.)

Ted Stevens Internet Fan Club on myspace. This user's mySpace account was previously closed in relation to his song in honour of Ted Stevens. Who's that cuddly fellow that owns mySpace again? No no no, it's not Tom. The other one. Right, Rupert.

Will the real Rupert Murdoch please stand up? (Props to the “Dirty Digger” for his love of the Pixies.)

And here's the fake Rupert Murdoch mySpace page.

No Clue.

Apparently, I have no fucking idea how to set an alarm clock. The controls seem as alien to me as the controls on a VCR did to the previous generation. I've set them before but it's been some time. For years I worked an evening job without need for such interruptions. And then came children. Nature's own living breathing alarm clocks. Right now it seems as if I'd have a better chance of setting them than I would this alarm clock. I've managed to make different abbreviations flash on the display panel, found myself the focal point of some soothing sounds, and moved some numbers around with no clear indication of whether this device will wake me up tomorrow morning or simply wreak havoc on the magnetic forces of our planet. Yes, like Lost. Exactly.

I know when I need to wake up, if my body decides not to get up at that time, then it truly must no deem it necessary. Good night.

Bush and Blair Have a Little Chat

The comedian-in-chief clearly did not ask, “Is this thing on?” with a tap of the microphone. So the world gets a private moment between a couple leaders of the free world. There's a lot of talk about this around the blogosphere, and I'm sure there will be a piece on The Daily Show, followed by its posting YouTube. That's just the nature of these things.

Links:

Guardian Unlimited: NewsBlog

Transcript by Adam Boulton

Crooks & Liars

Ezra Klein

Oh and a little bit of Guess who's coming to dinner. Will the White House open the door to thug/oil baron? The answer may be inidicative of upcoming US policy in the Middle East since Kazakhstan opened airfields to us previous in the US conflict/bombing with/of Afghanistan. (Sorry I get a little slash crazy here and there, and that time it came while I was actually trying to make a point.) But it could also be that there's lots of oil in Kazakhstan. And people do crazy things for that black stuff.