We've all seen the horrible images of the violence on the streets of Toronto during the G20 summit (funny, you don't see this kind of thing at the Tea Parties). Over 900 people arrested, though evidently the Toronto police weren't discriminatory, arresting media photographers as well. I'll never understand this kind of violence. What do these people think they are achieving with this?
Thankfully, not everybody falls in with the looters and the thugs.
However, that's not what this blog is about, or at least not totally.
No, it's about this video (thanks to the National Post for the full story):
Language warning - don't be blaring this on your speakers in front of your kids
Look, I can understand the guy's frustration. He made the long trek down to the Eaton Centre just to find it closed. Evidently, they closed because they didn't want any spillover from the unrest downtown to affect the stores in the mall. That's an understandable precaution, though admittedly I don't know how close the mall was to the action (the Post story says "a few blocks"). Still, you can't be too careful.
So this guy rants for a minute and a half about the Centre being closed, including asking "who gave you the right?" in regards to closing their doors. He rants about the public wanting to shop, and that it's a "public place" (ummmm, no it isn't, unless the Government owns it somehow, and even Canada hasn't reached that point yet).
This guy appears to be wandering the world, blissfully unaware of his surroundings (not to mention the difference between public and private). He has no idea of what's going on around him. If he does, he doesn't appear to care about anybody other than himself. Who cares that thugs and losers might run rampant through the Eaton Centre, destroying everything in their path? Damn it, he wants to shop! And it's his God-given right to shop!
It's people like this that make me wonder: whatever happened to the concept of an informed citizenry? Isn't it our civic duty to at least pay some attention to what is going on around us? How can you make a decision about anything if you don't understand what your choices are?
As an aside, human nature rears its ugly head again. If there's a camera around, somebody's going to mug for it.
Wednesday, 30 June 2010
Sunday, 27 June 2010
One Hit Wonders of the 90s (Part 20)
Hello, dear reader. I have a favour to ask you. The original post begins after all of the asterisks, if you want to skip this.
Now that the One Hit Wonders of the 90s series is over, I'm not going to be doing my weekly revisiting of all these posts (I had to do that to add the new post to the bottom). Thus, I won't be able to catch any broken picture links or deleted videos any more. Yet I want these posts to be as good as possible.
Please, if you happen upon one of these posts, or if you take a walk through a whole bunch of them, let me know if you find anything that doesn't work. You can leave a comment, or you can send me a message using that handy "Contact Me" page linked above.
Also, feel free to let me know what you think of the post or any of the videos!
Thank you.
**************************
Wow, can you believe I've done 20 of these already? And over 15 posts for the 80s as well! One would think I'd get burned out on listening to bad music after a while, but I persevere. I really do it for you, you know.
My loyal reader (and really, I do mean that in a singular fashion), I treasure you. Everything I do, I do it for you (cue Bryan Adams). I wouldn't even think of cheating on you with another reader. I'm an honest man!
What? What's that on my collar? No, that's not electronic ink. It's...it's...it's lipstick! Yeah, that's it. No other readers. Just you. You know I love ya, baby.
What's that? Oh, you want me to get on with it, eh? Yeah, that would probably be a good thing.
Welcome to the 20th edition of the one hit wonders of the 90s. We're into the year 1995, and may I say once again "NO RAP!!!" Ok, I can't promise that, but I can say that it doesn't look like there's much, if any. Let's do the Happy Dance:
You can find the list of one-hit wonders here, but be warned. If you go look at that site before I'm done, an unspeakable monster will appear and take you out.
Whoops, sorry. That's the picture of me I submitted for the "Hair Club for Men" brochure. I meant this one:
Yep, truly frightening.
And here we go!
1) 2 Unlimited: "Get Ready For This" (#38)
Oh, yes. You may not recognize the name of this song, but I dare you not to recognize the song itself (or at least the first few beats, which have been played so often that it's entered the cultural zeitgeist). And to think it only hit #38! Who knew it would become so popular after that.
Then again, it does what it's supposed to do. Pump up the crowd, gets the feet moving, and makes you want to go out and dance until you collapse. What more could you want from a song?
Well, besides doughnuts or something.
2) Subway: "This Li'l Game We Play" (#15)
Oh boy! Another one of *these* songs! I know I'm so excited.
Then again, this isn't a bad example of the genre. Are our urban streets overrun with groups of opposite genders singing at each other, though? I guess it's more common than I thought.
This is actually a decent song, with a nice interplay between the two singers, but it's not surprising that this group never went anywhere. Again, they're not very distinctive, are they? You know it's bad when your Wikipedia entry doesn't even say what happened to you. It just stops with the release of their first album.
*sniff* Doesn't anyone care?
3) Jamie Walters: "Hold On" (#16)
Wow, Walters is a one-hit wonder by himself *and* with "The Heights." That takes true talent, you know. And what's with that little scene of him trying to cook as he agonizes over the abusive relationship across the way? Was that put in there as comic relief? I don't know. I do know that the video overdoses on cheese. I'm not belittling the effects of an abusive relationship, but I am abusing this video for wallowing in it.
The song? Eh. It's ok.
4) Dionne Farris: "I Know" (#4)
Another one where I didn't recognize the song from the name. This was a huge song in 1995, though. This is almost a signature song for the mid-90s (because it's not rap, I can't say it's for the entire decade). It is a great song, though, and brings back some great memories, of picnics and barbecues, playing baseball against friends, laughing and having fun.
Oh wait, that was in some alternate universe.
I did hear the song on the radio a lot, though.
5) Martin Page: "In the House of Stone and Light" (#14)
I have fond memories of this song too. It's kind of an inspirational song. The video's full of soft, breezy imagery that is designed to instill those feelings in the viewer as well. I actually do really like the song.
I don't know if I would find my soul in the House of Stone and Light, though. I think mine would more likely be down at O'Malley's Pub and General Carousing.
6) Rednex: "CottonEye Joe" (#25)
Anybody who goes to hockey games (and probably any sporting events) is really *sick* of this song (without the female vocals, though). However, it serves its purpose to get the crowd pumped up, and no matter how annoying I find it, I find myself bopping to the beat.
It's just that kind of song, insidious and invasive and infectious and all those "I" words. But there's one more I was thinking of, but it's just not coming to me. I know I'll think of it in a moment.
Oh yeah. "Insane"
That being said, the band has done a lot of work and has even relaunched recently. You want something totally different (and much better, actually) from "Cotton Eye Joe?"
Here's "Hold Me For a While" from 2000
Or "Wish You Were Here," from 1995
Colour me shocked.
7) Raphael Saadiq: "Ask of You" (#19)
Is this guy trying to inspire those other guys who stay in their basements singing? You, too, can become an R&B star? It's definitely old style R&B, and it's nice to see that he's stayed dedicated to his craft despite not charting since this song (a couple of R&B hits, but no Top 40).
This is really quite a pleasant song, with nothing to really complain about.
Which actually pisses me off. How am I supposed to be funny when I can't make fun of something? ("It's not like making fun of something has ever helped." - The Peanut Gallery)
8) Better Than Ezra: "Good" (#30)
Another Top 40 one-hit wonder who has had some success on other charts (in this case, the Modern Rock chart and the "Adult" chart).
Also another song that's actually kind of good, or at least nothing to throw a stick at. It's bands like this that make me wonder about the Billboard Top 100 and whether it's important at all. I've heard of this band, heard some of their songs back in the day, and enjoyed them well enough. They've obviously had success. So what's the purpose? What's the difference between Top 100 and "Adult?" Are Wombles songs on the Top 100 as well?
Oh, look, there's me getting serious. Can't have that.
Ummmmm...........Booger!!!!!!
And there you have it. This week's (admittedly a bit late) edition of the one-hit wonders of the 90s. I hope you've enjoyed the rap-less music today as much as I have. It makes these posts a lot more enjoyable when the music, while possibly still bad, is bad in an entertaining fashion.
That's it for this week. Time for me to come out of the closet...um, I mean Recycle Bin
And now time for some rhinoplasty.
One-Hit Wonders of the 90s
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7
Part 8
Part 9
Part 10
Part 11
Part 12
Part 13
Part 14
Part 15
Part 16
Part 17
Part 18
Part 19
Part 20
Part 21
Part 22
Part 23
Part 24
Part 25
Part 26
Part 27
Part 28
Part 29
Part 30
Part 31
Part 32
Part 33
Part 34
Part 35
Part 36
Part 37
Part 38
Part 39
Part 40
Now that the One Hit Wonders of the 90s series is over, I'm not going to be doing my weekly revisiting of all these posts (I had to do that to add the new post to the bottom). Thus, I won't be able to catch any broken picture links or deleted videos any more. Yet I want these posts to be as good as possible.
Please, if you happen upon one of these posts, or if you take a walk through a whole bunch of them, let me know if you find anything that doesn't work. You can leave a comment, or you can send me a message using that handy "Contact Me" page linked above.
Also, feel free to let me know what you think of the post or any of the videos!
Thank you.
**************************
Wow, can you believe I've done 20 of these already? And over 15 posts for the 80s as well! One would think I'd get burned out on listening to bad music after a while, but I persevere. I really do it for you, you know.
My loyal reader (and really, I do mean that in a singular fashion), I treasure you. Everything I do, I do it for you (cue Bryan Adams). I wouldn't even think of cheating on you with another reader. I'm an honest man!
What? What's that on my collar? No, that's not electronic ink. It's...it's...it's lipstick! Yeah, that's it. No other readers. Just you. You know I love ya, baby.
What's that? Oh, you want me to get on with it, eh? Yeah, that would probably be a good thing.
Welcome to the 20th edition of the one hit wonders of the 90s. We're into the year 1995, and may I say once again "NO RAP!!!" Ok, I can't promise that, but I can say that it doesn't look like there's much, if any. Let's do the Happy Dance:
You can find the list of one-hit wonders here, but be warned. If you go look at that site before I'm done, an unspeakable monster will appear and take you out.
Whoops, sorry. That's the picture of me I submitted for the "Hair Club for Men" brochure. I meant this one:
Yep, truly frightening.
And here we go!
1) 2 Unlimited: "Get Ready For This" (#38)
Oh, yes. You may not recognize the name of this song, but I dare you not to recognize the song itself (or at least the first few beats, which have been played so often that it's entered the cultural zeitgeist). And to think it only hit #38! Who knew it would become so popular after that.
Then again, it does what it's supposed to do. Pump up the crowd, gets the feet moving, and makes you want to go out and dance until you collapse. What more could you want from a song?
Well, besides doughnuts or something.
2) Subway: "This Li'l Game We Play" (#15)
Oh boy! Another one of *these* songs! I know I'm so excited.
Then again, this isn't a bad example of the genre. Are our urban streets overrun with groups of opposite genders singing at each other, though? I guess it's more common than I thought.
This is actually a decent song, with a nice interplay between the two singers, but it's not surprising that this group never went anywhere. Again, they're not very distinctive, are they? You know it's bad when your Wikipedia entry doesn't even say what happened to you. It just stops with the release of their first album.
*sniff* Doesn't anyone care?
3) Jamie Walters: "Hold On" (#16)
Wow, Walters is a one-hit wonder by himself *and* with "The Heights." That takes true talent, you know. And what's with that little scene of him trying to cook as he agonizes over the abusive relationship across the way? Was that put in there as comic relief? I don't know. I do know that the video overdoses on cheese. I'm not belittling the effects of an abusive relationship, but I am abusing this video for wallowing in it.
The song? Eh. It's ok.
4) Dionne Farris: "I Know" (#4)
Another one where I didn't recognize the song from the name. This was a huge song in 1995, though. This is almost a signature song for the mid-90s (because it's not rap, I can't say it's for the entire decade). It is a great song, though, and brings back some great memories, of picnics and barbecues, playing baseball against friends, laughing and having fun.
Oh wait, that was in some alternate universe.
I did hear the song on the radio a lot, though.
5) Martin Page: "In the House of Stone and Light" (#14)
I have fond memories of this song too. It's kind of an inspirational song. The video's full of soft, breezy imagery that is designed to instill those feelings in the viewer as well. I actually do really like the song.
I don't know if I would find my soul in the House of Stone and Light, though. I think mine would more likely be down at O'Malley's Pub and General Carousing.
6) Rednex: "CottonEye Joe" (#25)
Anybody who goes to hockey games (and probably any sporting events) is really *sick* of this song (without the female vocals, though). However, it serves its purpose to get the crowd pumped up, and no matter how annoying I find it, I find myself bopping to the beat.
It's just that kind of song, insidious and invasive and infectious and all those "I" words. But there's one more I was thinking of, but it's just not coming to me. I know I'll think of it in a moment.
Oh yeah. "Insane"
That being said, the band has done a lot of work and has even relaunched recently. You want something totally different (and much better, actually) from "Cotton Eye Joe?"
Here's "Hold Me For a While" from 2000
Or "Wish You Were Here," from 1995
Colour me shocked.
7) Raphael Saadiq: "Ask of You" (#19)
Is this guy trying to inspire those other guys who stay in their basements singing? You, too, can become an R&B star? It's definitely old style R&B, and it's nice to see that he's stayed dedicated to his craft despite not charting since this song (a couple of R&B hits, but no Top 40).
This is really quite a pleasant song, with nothing to really complain about.
Which actually pisses me off. How am I supposed to be funny when I can't make fun of something? ("It's not like making fun of something has ever helped." - The Peanut Gallery)
8) Better Than Ezra: "Good" (#30)
Another Top 40 one-hit wonder who has had some success on other charts (in this case, the Modern Rock chart and the "Adult" chart).
Also another song that's actually kind of good, or at least nothing to throw a stick at. It's bands like this that make me wonder about the Billboard Top 100 and whether it's important at all. I've heard of this band, heard some of their songs back in the day, and enjoyed them well enough. They've obviously had success. So what's the purpose? What's the difference between Top 100 and "Adult?" Are Wombles songs on the Top 100 as well?
Oh, look, there's me getting serious. Can't have that.
Ummmmm...........Booger!!!!!!
And there you have it. This week's (admittedly a bit late) edition of the one-hit wonders of the 90s. I hope you've enjoyed the rap-less music today as much as I have. It makes these posts a lot more enjoyable when the music, while possibly still bad, is bad in an entertaining fashion.
That's it for this week. Time for me to come out of the closet...um, I mean Recycle Bin
And now time for some rhinoplasty.
One-Hit Wonders of the 90s
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7
Part 8
Part 9
Part 10
Part 11
Part 12
Part 13
Part 14
Part 15
Part 16
Part 17
Part 18
Part 19
Part 20
Part 21
Part 22
Part 23
Part 24
Part 25
Part 26
Part 27
Part 28
Part 29
Part 30
Part 31
Part 32
Part 33
Part 34
Part 35
Part 36
Part 37
Part 38
Part 39
Part 40
Thursday, 24 June 2010
Brilliant Alan Wake parody video
And you don't even have to have played the game to find it hilarious.
A little while back, I did a post on Game Informer Online about the seemingly endless "collection" quests that so many games have us do, inspired by an audio that Talk Radar did making fun of the whole thing (as well as other aspects of Alan Wake).
The guys over there decided to post this awesome piece on Youtube, so here it is!
Not that there are any sensitive ears here, but consider yourself warned that there is a bit of salty language in it.
Any Xbox player who hasn't been living under a rock probably has a basic knowledge of what the story is about, with Alan being a writer with writer's block who takes his wife to a secluded town in Oregon, and has to fight off dark nasties and find his wife when she disappears.
It's well worth the 5 minutes, even if you've never played it. I haven't. And I still laughed my ass off, even the second time I heard it. Even if you don't play games, you may still find it amusing.
A little while back, I did a post on Game Informer Online about the seemingly endless "collection" quests that so many games have us do, inspired by an audio that Talk Radar did making fun of the whole thing (as well as other aspects of Alan Wake).
The guys over there decided to post this awesome piece on Youtube, so here it is!
Not that there are any sensitive ears here, but consider yourself warned that there is a bit of salty language in it.
Any Xbox player who hasn't been living under a rock probably has a basic knowledge of what the story is about, with Alan being a writer with writer's block who takes his wife to a secluded town in Oregon, and has to fight off dark nasties and find his wife when she disappears.
It's well worth the 5 minutes, even if you've never played it. I haven't. And I still laughed my ass off, even the second time I heard it. Even if you don't play games, you may still find it amusing.
Wednesday, 23 June 2010
The elusive, but very common Internet beast - the troll
What do you think of when you hear the term "troll?" I guess it depends on your mindset, but almost universally in modern times people know it's referring to those irritating Internet idiots who post intentionally provocative comments on blogs, discussion forums, or whatever. They are loathsome beasts, and like the trolls of the Fantasy genre, they regenerate so easily that even a killing blow doesn't put them out of our misery.
Brenna Ehrlich and Andrea Bartz have an interesting one-question quiz on CNN, "How to tell if you're a comments troll."
It's an interesting question, but doesn't really delve into the psychology of the troll.
The options they give to answer the question they ask are interesting, and give a good indication of what kind of Internet information consumer you are.
But the brief article doesn't really get across just how horrible trolls actually are.
To me, they are down almost to the level of the Spammer. The only reason they don't quite reach that level is that, generally, they're not invading your email inbox (unless they're on a mailing list you are subscribed to). These people post outrageous things just to see what kind of reaction they get (the term "troll" was originally coined because these people were "trolling for reactions" just like fishermen troll for fish).
The most recent example I saw was for somebody who had posted a Youtube video of Rob Thomas' excellent song "Her Diamonds." The user had lovingly included the lyrics in the video. The song is about Thomas' wife and the illness that she has to live through every day, and how helpless he feels when she is held hostage by it. Her tears are like diamonds.
Anyway, some troll in the comments field started spouting off about how racist Thomas is because this song is clearly about the diamond trade in Africa.
WTF?
What's worse is that so many people took the troll bait and responded to this guy that he kept it going and the comments section of this nice little video became a flame war of massive proportions.
Attention people:
Yes, that means you.
The worst thing you can do to a troll is ignore them. Their very purpose in life is to provoke reactions. If no reactions are provoked, they won't have any sustenance and they will go on to greener pastures. Too often, though, enough people react that they get their fun and games in.
Their lifeblood is controversy. Sometimes, they come back and add fuel to the fire, while other times they drop their turd like a dog in the middle of the room and then waltz away to go on to their next yard.
Wikipedia has a great history on the word and what they truly are. Despite the fact the mainstream media is just becoming aware of this phenomenon, it has been around since the dawn of the Internet (if not longer). Hell, there used to be a couple of "good" trolls on the Star Trek newsgroups I read back in college in 1991.
Getting back to the CNN article, trolls are much more than the authors let on. Perhaps they didn't have the room to really expand on it, but if you only read that article, you would think that trolls are *reactive* to something they read on the Net. That's far from the case. Trolls are actually *proactive*, going from site to site, forum to forum, and spewing their nonsense to trap the unwary. They may be inspired to troll an article after reading it, but it's not because they had a negative reaction to it.
Not all trolls are inherently evil, though even the most benign are annoying to no end. Back in college, I had a Prodigy account (wow, that really dates me, doesn't it?) and I frequented the Star Trek forum there. There was a guy there who regularly trolled the group blasting Star Trek: The Next Generation. He was very obviously an Original Series fan, but his comments about TNG were obviously just trolling. A non-troll might chime in occasionally, but would probably restrict his discussion to topics that he *is* interested in.
We got to talking in private conversation and I discovered that he lived in eastern Iowa somewhere near Davenport, and I asked him if he wanted to go shoot pool at Miller Time Billiards one weekend I was home. He was a pretty cool guy in private conversation, and we had a great time shooting pool. We were there for 4-5 hours. I discovered that he actually liked a few episodes of TNG. While he didn't like the show itself, his feelings were nowhere near as strident as he portrayed them on Prodigy. When I asked him why he was like that, then, he said "it was fun."
The troll is elusive to pin down, but he's easy to spot (though I suppose there are female trolls, I haven't seen any that I've noticed). The best thing you can do is ignore him. No matter how provocative they get, deny them the food of controversy and they'll go away.
Sadly, not enough people follow that rule.
Brenna Ehrlich and Andrea Bartz have an interesting one-question quiz on CNN, "How to tell if you're a comments troll."
It's an interesting question, but doesn't really delve into the psychology of the troll.
"So you're surfing along on your favorite website when you see something that gets your plasma boiling -- so much so that that pulsating vein above your eye is about to burst.
The cause of this Web-induced stress could be an opinion that just doesn't jibe with yours. It could be that author's pompous head shot. Either way, your twitching fingers scroll to the bottom of the page -- past whatever useless garbage you have just consumed. You're going to the comments section -- that oh-so democratic zone of the internet."
The options they give to answer the question they ask are interesting, and give a good indication of what kind of Internet information consumer you are.
But the brief article doesn't really get across just how horrible trolls actually are.
To me, they are down almost to the level of the Spammer. The only reason they don't quite reach that level is that, generally, they're not invading your email inbox (unless they're on a mailing list you are subscribed to). These people post outrageous things just to see what kind of reaction they get (the term "troll" was originally coined because these people were "trolling for reactions" just like fishermen troll for fish).
The most recent example I saw was for somebody who had posted a Youtube video of Rob Thomas' excellent song "Her Diamonds." The user had lovingly included the lyrics in the video. The song is about Thomas' wife and the illness that she has to live through every day, and how helpless he feels when she is held hostage by it. Her tears are like diamonds.
Anyway, some troll in the comments field started spouting off about how racist Thomas is because this song is clearly about the diamond trade in Africa.
WTF?
What's worse is that so many people took the troll bait and responded to this guy that he kept it going and the comments section of this nice little video became a flame war of massive proportions.
Attention people:
Yes, that means you.
The worst thing you can do to a troll is ignore them. Their very purpose in life is to provoke reactions. If no reactions are provoked, they won't have any sustenance and they will go on to greener pastures. Too often, though, enough people react that they get their fun and games in.
Their lifeblood is controversy. Sometimes, they come back and add fuel to the fire, while other times they drop their turd like a dog in the middle of the room and then waltz away to go on to their next yard.
Wikipedia has a great history on the word and what they truly are. Despite the fact the mainstream media is just becoming aware of this phenomenon, it has been around since the dawn of the Internet (if not longer). Hell, there used to be a couple of "good" trolls on the Star Trek newsgroups I read back in college in 1991.
Getting back to the CNN article, trolls are much more than the authors let on. Perhaps they didn't have the room to really expand on it, but if you only read that article, you would think that trolls are *reactive* to something they read on the Net. That's far from the case. Trolls are actually *proactive*, going from site to site, forum to forum, and spewing their nonsense to trap the unwary. They may be inspired to troll an article after reading it, but it's not because they had a negative reaction to it.
Not all trolls are inherently evil, though even the most benign are annoying to no end. Back in college, I had a Prodigy account (wow, that really dates me, doesn't it?) and I frequented the Star Trek forum there. There was a guy there who regularly trolled the group blasting Star Trek: The Next Generation. He was very obviously an Original Series fan, but his comments about TNG were obviously just trolling. A non-troll might chime in occasionally, but would probably restrict his discussion to topics that he *is* interested in.
We got to talking in private conversation and I discovered that he lived in eastern Iowa somewhere near Davenport, and I asked him if he wanted to go shoot pool at Miller Time Billiards one weekend I was home. He was a pretty cool guy in private conversation, and we had a great time shooting pool. We were there for 4-5 hours. I discovered that he actually liked a few episodes of TNG. While he didn't like the show itself, his feelings were nowhere near as strident as he portrayed them on Prodigy. When I asked him why he was like that, then, he said "it was fun."
The troll is elusive to pin down, but he's easy to spot (though I suppose there are female trolls, I haven't seen any that I've noticed). The best thing you can do is ignore him. No matter how provocative they get, deny them the food of controversy and they'll go away.
Sadly, not enough people follow that rule.
Tuesday, 22 June 2010
Best friends - going the way of the dodo?
Almost all of us have one, or at least had one, growing up. That friend who you tell everything, and who tells you everything. Your partner in crime, your soul-sister or brother, that one person who will always be there for you, through thick and thin. The one who will be your Best Man or Maid of Honour (or something really off-beat if you're both different genders) in your wedding. The shoulder you cried on or the laugh that made you feel good even when you were down in the dumps.
How can that be a bad thing?
It seems some educators and child psychologists think that it is.
According to this New York Times article, some educators and child psychologists are trying to discourage kids from having a "best friend."
Colour me flabbergasted (I'm not sure what colour that is, but whatever it is, that's what I look like right now).
Am I the only one who sees something wrong with this?
I am all for inclusiveness, and having a wide circle of friends, and I'm definitely against bullying and cliques. But we are all drawn to certain types of people more deeply than others, somebody we can bond with and form that special relationship that transcends the years. No matter how many friends you have, not all of them are confidantes. Some of them are friends for certain reasons or through certain activities, but you don't share your entire life with them.
Who in their right mind is going to be that way with a whole bunch of people? Are all of these people going to be with you throughout your life? Think of the cost of all the wedding ceremonies! Not to mention how unwieldy your weekend fishing trips will be.
I'm not a child psychologist, and I don't play one on TV either. But this sounds completely wrong to me.
Don't even get me started on the "play date" concept that's also briefly mentioned in the article.
I don't believe this.
Thankfully, not all have sampled this Kool-Aid.
Exactly. When you stretch the net too thin, whether it's for fishing or friendship, you're never going to get anything that's really meaningful.
This idea is so disheartening, and yet another way that we're not letting kids be kids anymore. This time, it's not in the name of their physical safety that their growth is being stunted. It's their emotional safety.
If this attitude takes precedence in child-rearing in the near future, I really don't want to be around to see the adults that these kids grow into.
How can that be a bad thing?
It seems some educators and child psychologists think that it is.
According to this New York Times article, some educators and child psychologists are trying to discourage kids from having a "best friend."
"Most children naturally seek close friends. In a survey of nearly 3,000 Americans ages 8 to 24 conducted last year by Harris Interactive, 94 percent said they had at least one close friend. But the classic best-friend bond — the two special pals who share secrets and exploits, who gravitate to each other on the playground and who head out the door together every day after school — signals potential trouble for school officials intent on discouraging anything that hints of exclusivity, in part because of concerns about cliques and bullying."
'I think it is kids’ preference to pair up and have that one best friend. As adults — teachers and counselors — we try to encourage them not to do that,' said Christine Laycob, director of counseling at Mary Institute and St. Louis Country Day School in St. Louis. 'We try to talk to kids and work with them to get them to have big groups of friends and not be so possessive about friends.'
'Parents sometimes say Johnny needs that one special friend,' she continued. 'We say he doesn’t need a best friend.'"
Colour me flabbergasted (I'm not sure what colour that is, but whatever it is, that's what I look like right now).
Am I the only one who sees something wrong with this?
I am all for inclusiveness, and having a wide circle of friends, and I'm definitely against bullying and cliques. But we are all drawn to certain types of people more deeply than others, somebody we can bond with and form that special relationship that transcends the years. No matter how many friends you have, not all of them are confidantes. Some of them are friends for certain reasons or through certain activities, but you don't share your entire life with them.
Who in their right mind is going to be that way with a whole bunch of people? Are all of these people going to be with you throughout your life? Think of the cost of all the wedding ceremonies! Not to mention how unwieldy your weekend fishing trips will be.
I'm not a child psychologist, and I don't play one on TV either. But this sounds completely wrong to me.
Don't even get me started on the "play date" concept that's also briefly mentioned in the article.
"'I don’t think it's particularly healthy for a child to rely on one friend,' said Jay Jacobs, the camp’s director. 'If something goes awry, it can be devastating. It also limits a child's ability to explore other options in the world.'"
I don't believe this.
Thankfully, not all have sampled this Kool-Aid.
"'Do we want to encourage kids to have all sorts of superficial relationships? Is that how we really want to rear our children?' asked Brett Laursen, a psychology professor at Florida Atlantic University whose specialty is peer relationships. 'Imagine the implication for romantic relationships. We want children to get good at leading close relationships, not superficial ones.'"
Exactly. When you stretch the net too thin, whether it's for fishing or friendship, you're never going to get anything that's really meaningful.
This idea is so disheartening, and yet another way that we're not letting kids be kids anymore. This time, it's not in the name of their physical safety that their growth is being stunted. It's their emotional safety.
If this attitude takes precedence in child-rearing in the near future, I really don't want to be around to see the adults that these kids grow into.
Sunday, 20 June 2010
Walk and chew gum at the same time
Some people can multi-task while others have a hard time doing that. Then there are some of us that are fine at multi-tasking but don't have the ability to spread their interest around multiple "fun" activities at the same time.
For me, that happens in respect to video games.
For me, that happens in respect to video games.
(Is this guy a gaming multi-tasker?)
What the heck am I talking about? I just don't have the ability to be involved in multiple video games at the same time. I'm not talking about arcade-type games, like Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2, Zombie Apocalypse, or any other arcade-type game. I'm talking about games with any kind of story, where you can honestly reach a point where you can say "I completed that game."
I can't take, for example, Mass Effect 2 and Red Dead Redemption and alternate playing them. Playing one game for a little while and then sticking the other one in and playing it for a while is just against my programming. I'm a Compulsive Completer; I have to finish a game before I can go on to the next one. I may play an arcade game in the middle of that if circumstances warrant, like I only have 30 minutes to play and I don't want to be in the middle of a mission or something like that. But that's the extent of it. I'm even getting that a little bit right now, where I'm playing Magic: The Gathering and trying to complete all of the Campaign games before going on to Mass Effect 2 (which I was holding off on because I got RDR at the same time).
All of the gaming systems are in our living room, so I play them while my wife works on the computer. Sometimes I'm getting frustrated with a game and she'll turn to me and say "play something else." Now that I have a few arcade games in my library, I can actually do that. Before, though, it was basically impossible. I would either just stop playing completely (maybe time to read a book instead or watch TV instead?) or continue battering my head against whatever situation was frustrating me. When I went to turn on the game system, I would sometimes think "Hey, maybe I should stick Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood in and see how that goes before coming back to finish CSI: Hard Evidence. I would literally stop and think for a few seconds before finally I just hit "play" on the game that's already in the console.
This kind of reflects back to my post on replaying games. That's one reason I generally don't replay story-based games; there's always something waiting in the wings, something I've either already bought and am not playing or something that I've been waiting to buy because there's no point in it until I'm ready for it.
I think back to the post in the Game Informer forum about "which games didn't you finish?" and remember some of the answers where people said they were 10-20 hours (or even 30) in two or three different games. My mind just boggled at the concept.
I do kind of make an exception for a multiplayer mode that I particularly like, though even then it's tough. I finished Call of Duty: World at War and played a lot of multiplayer on it. However, when I bought a new game, I didn't play it nearly as much, to the point where I did finally stop after a while.
When I think about alternating games, I almost feel like this is going to happen.
And we don't want that.
So are you a Compulsive Completist? Or are you one of those who can be involved in multiple games at the same time?
One Hit Wonders of the 90s (Part 19)
Hello, dear reader. I have a favour to ask you. The original post begins after all of the asterisks, if you want to skip this.
Now that the One Hit Wonders of the 90s series is over, I'm not going to be doing my weekly revisiting of all these posts (I had to do that to add the new post to the bottom). Thus, I won't be able to catch any broken picture links or deleted videos any more. Yet I want these posts to be as good as possible.
Please, if you happen upon one of these posts, or if you take a walk through a whole bunch of them, let me know if you find anything that doesn't work. You can leave a comment, or you can send me a message using that handy "Contact Me" page linked above.
Also, feel free to let me know what you think of the post or any of the videos!
Thank you.
**************************
It's Father's Day! Happy Father's Day everyone (except to you badass Zombie fathers, who can just go right back into your graves and rot away, unless you want a double-shot of 12-gauge action applied right to the head) (that's an ode to my Mother's Day zombie-themed one-hit wonder post) (and yes, I'm using up my annual parentheses allotment early for no good reason this week).
Where was I? I'm actually kinda dizzy right now (Peanut Gallery: "That's the understatement of the year!")
Oh yes, time for the weekly dose of one-hit wonder goodness that you all know and love (when I say that, I'm really only speaking to Randy, who's hiding in the back behind the tall girl) (why the hell am I using so damned many parentheses?)
This week, we're heading into 1995, and having done a cursory look at the year ahead, I don't see much (if any) rap! I think the "good" rap artists had established themselves and kept producing records while the wannabes stopped, or at least were never good enough to get even one hit. I'm really hoping that this trend continues. My head always hurts after one of these.
See what I do for you? I am really looking out for you. Kinda like this guy.
Whoops! That's from my private collection. I meant this guy.
You know you're safe when he's around.
As usual, you can find the list I'm taking these from here. Do you ever get tired of me saying that? I do too. However, you know the one time I leave it off, everybody's going to want one, and there will be lots of wailing and screaming and gnashing of teeth, just because I didn't tell you where to go.
So anyway, on to 1995!
1) 20 Fingers (Featuring Gillette): "Short Dick Man" (#14)
Language Warning!
Wow, that's...kinda vulgar, actually. Not exactly ready for radio play. Even cutting the "naughty" word out, that leaves a lot of empty gaps in the song for hearing it on the radio. In fact, they changed the title and the words to "Short Short Man" which, when you think about it, makes no sense. What, is she against midgets? I would assume it went to #14 because of people who didn't hear it on the radio. You think?
I'm not offended by this song, but it is boring and repetitive, which does annoy me. It was kind of funny the first time or so (though not as funny as it wants to be) but after that? Ugh. It feels like my brain is a record that's skipping.
2) Deadeye Dick: "New Age Girl" (#27)
From the Dumb & Dumber soundtrack (a popular, but very stupid movie),this video appears to follow the movie's direction in being very stupid. However, the song is actually kind of cool. It's one of those mid-90s rock songs that just grabs you by the head and says "you know what? you might actually enjoy me."
It's a very polite song in that way.
But for some reason, I'm getting this strong urge for pumpkin pie.
3) Corona: "The Rhythm of the Night" (#11)
Dance music! By 1995, I wasn't really going to clubs, so I wasn't really into this kind of music. Feel that synthesizer beat, though! It's got me grooving in my seat, making me want to go out and lose myself in the lights and pounding, pulsing beat of the music on the dance floor, gyrating and grinding until I get slapped.
Or have a coronary because I'm not built to dance like that anymore...if I ever was.
This is still what you wear out to the clubs, right?
Yeah, that would be me. But with more chest hair.
4) 4 P.M.: "Sukiyaki" (#8)
Not bad. I applied to the group to do harmony on this song, but they kicked me out after the Dog Swarm of 1995 overran the studio. Somehow, they blamed ME for it. Can you imagine?
It is a pretty good song, but again it doesn't really distinguish itself from all of the other songs like this that were just better. And longer (that was a short one!). The guy's got a great voice, and I love the crooning vocal group in the background. Definitely not a song to turn off, but it's not really one to look for, either.
5) Andru Donalds: "Mishale" (#38)
The poor guy looks so sad, doesn't he?
I can't believe this only went up to #38, because I really like this song (like I'm the arbiter of whether a song should be popular or not?). I love the line "If loving you is heaven, then missing you is hell."
Yeah, kind of corny, but I like it. Everybody knows I'm a cornball anyway, right? (Don't answer that)
Just one question: why is she buried right in the middle of the path? Wouldn't the bike riders and walkers get a little pissed off at that?
6) N II U: "I Miss You" (#22)
An ode to moms everywhere (yeah, I know it's Father's Day, but I didn't choose it).
What? Why am I crying? I'm not...there's just....uh....something in my eye. Yeah, that's it.
7) Vince Gill: "House of Love" (#37)
Ummmm, why is this on the list? This isn't a Vince Gill song. It's an Amy Grant duet featuring Vince Gill. Is this a sympathy inclusion just so Gill can be on a Pop chart? He didn't have any other crossover hits (he's big on the Country charts).
I'll include it anyway, though. It's not a bad song, not a great song. Grant is a great singer, I'm sure Gill has his appeal.
There you go. Something to rival the "why did VH-1 include THAT song?" controversy.
8) Des'ree: "You Gotta Be" (#5)
I didn't recognize this song from the name, but now that I'm hearing it, I have fond memories of it.
They sure saved on the production costs for this video, didn't they? You could probably do that for about $100 nowadays.
You have to love the encouraging message this song has. And presented in a very listenable format, too. Des'ree has a great voice and this is just a pleasant song.
But really, does love ever save the day?
OF COURSE IT DOES! WHAT A STUPID QUESTION!
Ahem. Sorry. Lost control there for a minute.
So there you have it. The first of four installments of the one-hit wonders of 1995. And not a rap song in sight! I'll keep a look out for them, maybe see if we can steer clear of any that are coming upon us. I'll need to dress and equip myself appropriately, though.
Wow, that thing *chafes*.
One-Hit Wonders of the 90s
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7
Part 8
Part 9
Part 10
Part 11
Part 12
Part 13
Part 14
Part 15
Part 16
Part 17
Part 18
Part 19
Part 20
Part 21
Part 22
Part 23
Part 24
Part 25
Part 26
Part 27
Part 28
Part 29
Part 30
Part 31
Part 32
Part 33
Part 34
Part 35
Part 36
Part 37
Part 38
Part 39
Part 40
Now that the One Hit Wonders of the 90s series is over, I'm not going to be doing my weekly revisiting of all these posts (I had to do that to add the new post to the bottom). Thus, I won't be able to catch any broken picture links or deleted videos any more. Yet I want these posts to be as good as possible.
Please, if you happen upon one of these posts, or if you take a walk through a whole bunch of them, let me know if you find anything that doesn't work. You can leave a comment, or you can send me a message using that handy "Contact Me" page linked above.
Also, feel free to let me know what you think of the post or any of the videos!
Thank you.
**************************
It's Father's Day! Happy Father's Day everyone (except to you badass Zombie fathers, who can just go right back into your graves and rot away, unless you want a double-shot of 12-gauge action applied right to the head) (that's an ode to my Mother's Day zombie-themed one-hit wonder post) (and yes, I'm using up my annual parentheses allotment early for no good reason this week).
Where was I? I'm actually kinda dizzy right now (Peanut Gallery: "That's the understatement of the year!")
Oh yes, time for the weekly dose of one-hit wonder goodness that you all know and love (when I say that, I'm really only speaking to Randy, who's hiding in the back behind the tall girl) (why the hell am I using so damned many parentheses?)
This week, we're heading into 1995, and having done a cursory look at the year ahead, I don't see much (if any) rap! I think the "good" rap artists had established themselves and kept producing records while the wannabes stopped, or at least were never good enough to get even one hit. I'm really hoping that this trend continues. My head always hurts after one of these.
See what I do for you? I am really looking out for you. Kinda like this guy.
Whoops! That's from my private collection. I meant this guy.
You know you're safe when he's around.
As usual, you can find the list I'm taking these from here. Do you ever get tired of me saying that? I do too. However, you know the one time I leave it off, everybody's going to want one, and there will be lots of wailing and screaming and gnashing of teeth, just because I didn't tell you where to go.
So anyway, on to 1995!
1) 20 Fingers (Featuring Gillette): "Short Dick Man" (#14)
Language Warning!
Wow, that's...kinda vulgar, actually. Not exactly ready for radio play. Even cutting the "naughty" word out, that leaves a lot of empty gaps in the song for hearing it on the radio. In fact, they changed the title and the words to "Short Short Man" which, when you think about it, makes no sense. What, is she against midgets? I would assume it went to #14 because of people who didn't hear it on the radio. You think?
I'm not offended by this song, but it is boring and repetitive, which does annoy me. It was kind of funny the first time or so (though not as funny as it wants to be) but after that? Ugh. It feels like my brain is a record that's skipping.
2) Deadeye Dick: "New Age Girl" (#27)
From the Dumb & Dumber soundtrack (a popular, but very stupid movie),this video appears to follow the movie's direction in being very stupid. However, the song is actually kind of cool. It's one of those mid-90s rock songs that just grabs you by the head and says "you know what? you might actually enjoy me."
It's a very polite song in that way.
But for some reason, I'm getting this strong urge for pumpkin pie.
3) Corona: "The Rhythm of the Night" (#11)
Dance music! By 1995, I wasn't really going to clubs, so I wasn't really into this kind of music. Feel that synthesizer beat, though! It's got me grooving in my seat, making me want to go out and lose myself in the lights and pounding, pulsing beat of the music on the dance floor, gyrating and grinding until I get slapped.
Or have a coronary because I'm not built to dance like that anymore...if I ever was.
This is still what you wear out to the clubs, right?
Yeah, that would be me. But with more chest hair.
4) 4 P.M.: "Sukiyaki" (#8)
Not bad. I applied to the group to do harmony on this song, but they kicked me out after the Dog Swarm of 1995 overran the studio. Somehow, they blamed ME for it. Can you imagine?
It is a pretty good song, but again it doesn't really distinguish itself from all of the other songs like this that were just better. And longer (that was a short one!). The guy's got a great voice, and I love the crooning vocal group in the background. Definitely not a song to turn off, but it's not really one to look for, either.
5) Andru Donalds: "Mishale" (#38)
The poor guy looks so sad, doesn't he?
I can't believe this only went up to #38, because I really like this song (like I'm the arbiter of whether a song should be popular or not?). I love the line "If loving you is heaven, then missing you is hell."
Yeah, kind of corny, but I like it. Everybody knows I'm a cornball anyway, right? (Don't answer that)
Just one question: why is she buried right in the middle of the path? Wouldn't the bike riders and walkers get a little pissed off at that?
6) N II U: "I Miss You" (#22)
An ode to moms everywhere (yeah, I know it's Father's Day, but I didn't choose it).
What? Why am I crying? I'm not...there's just....uh....something in my eye. Yeah, that's it.
7) Vince Gill: "House of Love" (#37)
Ummmm, why is this on the list? This isn't a Vince Gill song. It's an Amy Grant duet featuring Vince Gill. Is this a sympathy inclusion just so Gill can be on a Pop chart? He didn't have any other crossover hits (he's big on the Country charts).
I'll include it anyway, though. It's not a bad song, not a great song. Grant is a great singer, I'm sure Gill has his appeal.
There you go. Something to rival the "why did VH-1 include THAT song?" controversy.
8) Des'ree: "You Gotta Be" (#5)
I didn't recognize this song from the name, but now that I'm hearing it, I have fond memories of it.
They sure saved on the production costs for this video, didn't they? You could probably do that for about $100 nowadays.
You have to love the encouraging message this song has. And presented in a very listenable format, too. Des'ree has a great voice and this is just a pleasant song.
But really, does love ever save the day?
OF COURSE IT DOES! WHAT A STUPID QUESTION!
Ahem. Sorry. Lost control there for a minute.
So there you have it. The first of four installments of the one-hit wonders of 1995. And not a rap song in sight! I'll keep a look out for them, maybe see if we can steer clear of any that are coming upon us. I'll need to dress and equip myself appropriately, though.
Wow, that thing *chafes*.
One-Hit Wonders of the 90s
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7
Part 8
Part 9
Part 10
Part 11
Part 12
Part 13
Part 14
Part 15
Part 16
Part 17
Part 18
Part 19
Part 20
Part 21
Part 22
Part 23
Part 24
Part 25
Part 26
Part 27
Part 28
Part 29
Part 30
Part 31
Part 32
Part 33
Part 34
Part 35
Part 36
Part 37
Part 38
Part 39
Part 40
Saturday, 19 June 2010
NCAA Football 11 - Demo First Impressions
Those who have followed this blog for a while know that I'm a big fan of EA Sports' NCAA Football video game. There may have been a few obvious hints of that.
So it's no surprise that I can't wait to get my hands on NCAA 11 when the final roster updates are out in August (there's no real purpose in buying the game in July, when it first goes on sale, if you want to use the "real" rosters that volunteers create for the game). There's supposed to be a lot of cool new stuff in the game, including a complete overhaul of the physics and AI systems. Linemen actually blocking intelligently for the run? Who woulda thunk it?
The demo for NCAA Football 11 came out the other day, and I downloaded it as quickly as possible. Will it live up to the hype?
It is kind of hard to make a judgement on that based on playing a game with two minute quarters, but I was able to get some impressions in my first couple of games with it.
These are in no particular order. Keep in mind that some of this stuff may just be in the demo and may not apply to the actual game. We'll see.
1) We have the same announcers (Brad Nessler and Kirk Herbstreit) except the "The Coach" Lee Corso is no longer providing colour commentary. I can't say I'm upset about that, as his voice and "jokes" quickly wore on me. Especially when they were repeated over and over and over and over...well, you get the idea.
Which brings us to...
2) Granted, I only have a couple games in, and this may only be for the demo, but I heard absolutely *nothing* new from the announcers. Or at the very least any additions/changes were very slight. I recognized almost everything the announcers said from last year's game.
That's not very encouraging considering that was one of my major annoyances last year.
3) The graphics look incredible, though once you're actually playing the game, they don't look *that* much different from last year. They're crisper and cleaner, though, and there are a lot more gang tackles. Teams have their own unique entries into the stadium, which adds to that college atmosphere. I didn't get much of a chance to see this, with only eight teams in the game, but it's still a nice touch.
While the crowd shots also look impressive, it would be nice to see more than the three or four that I saw in my two games. Hopefully there will be more variety of shots in the real game, too.
4) The play-calling system is very different from last year, though you can make it what you're used to by choosing "advanced playcalling." Even so, the playcalling choices are in one line rather than a square of 4 plays, thus limiting mistaken play calls (at least by me).
Even better, though, is you have a much wider choice of plays when you call an audible at the line of scrimmage. Much better, though, is that when you call a hurry-up at the line, you don't automatically run the same play again (unless you audible out of it). Instead, you get the full range of plays to call. This can be a bit slower than in the past, but it's worth the slight bit of extra time. If you do want to call the same play, that's what it defaults to when you approach the line.
5) One play-calling annoyance that I *really* hope they change before the game comes out (but since it's coming out July 13, I doubt it) is the lack automatic defaulting of certain plays based on the situation. For example, in previous games, in obvious punting formations, the basic Punt play immediately came up on the playcalling screen. If you wanted to go for it, you just went and found another play. It was very handy to just have to hit the "A" button to call the Punt.
Now, it doesn't do that. It defaults to the previous play, no matter what the situation is. You can press "Y" to go to the Special Teams menu, but that's still an unnecessary extra button-press that shouldn't be needed 9 times out of 10.
On the good side, though, when you do call a Field Goal, it will tell you what the distance of the kick will be. That's *very* handy when you're not sure exactly what yard line you're on.
6) The Locomotion momentum-based engine looked pretty good in the couple of games I played. The players moved a lot more fluidly. I didn't get a chance to see if another major problem from last year's game manifested itself: namely, the momentum of the opposing team's receiver carrying him backwards on a pass play, resulting in an 8 yard loss on what should have been either a no-gain or the gain of a couple of yards. Last year, when the receivers ran back toward the line of scrimmage (like on a hook route), their momentum usually results in them losing yardage even if they caught the ball. Haven't seen similar plays yet in this game, so I don't know if the Locomotion system fixed that or not. Here's hoping
7) Finally, one of the main statistical problems last year was that the game considered some Option plays as passes, even when they weren't. Thus, you'd have statistical anomalies of an "incomplete pass" going for a touchdown.
Since you don't get stats in the demo, I don't know whether it will do that again this year. I do know, however, that I did an Option play and Kirk Herbstreit talked about me passing.
That does not bode well.
I'm really looking forward to seeing some of the stuff that's not in the demo, such as the supposedly improved Dynasty system (with much better recruiting) and the ESPN presentation. I haven't heard anything about a weekly College Football scoreboard show or anything like that, and I continue to believe that the game needs something like that to really put you "in the game" (or, in this case, "in the atmosphere"), but supposedly they've really decked the game out in ESPN stuff.
I also hope that, if you're playing in the National Champtionship game, it actually feels like it, rather than feeling like another home game.
As for Road to Glory mode? I haven't heard anything about it, yea or nay. I don't even know if it's in there this year. If it is, let's hope it's been massively improved too. Last year it was a joke.
I can't wait to see it!
So it's no surprise that I can't wait to get my hands on NCAA 11 when the final roster updates are out in August (there's no real purpose in buying the game in July, when it first goes on sale, if you want to use the "real" rosters that volunteers create for the game). There's supposed to be a lot of cool new stuff in the game, including a complete overhaul of the physics and AI systems. Linemen actually blocking intelligently for the run? Who woulda thunk it?
The demo for NCAA Football 11 came out the other day, and I downloaded it as quickly as possible. Will it live up to the hype?
It is kind of hard to make a judgement on that based on playing a game with two minute quarters, but I was able to get some impressions in my first couple of games with it.
These are in no particular order. Keep in mind that some of this stuff may just be in the demo and may not apply to the actual game. We'll see.
1) We have the same announcers (Brad Nessler and Kirk Herbstreit) except the "The Coach" Lee Corso is no longer providing colour commentary. I can't say I'm upset about that, as his voice and "jokes" quickly wore on me. Especially when they were repeated over and over and over and over...well, you get the idea.
Which brings us to...
2) Granted, I only have a couple games in, and this may only be for the demo, but I heard absolutely *nothing* new from the announcers. Or at the very least any additions/changes were very slight. I recognized almost everything the announcers said from last year's game.
That's not very encouraging considering that was one of my major annoyances last year.
3) The graphics look incredible, though once you're actually playing the game, they don't look *that* much different from last year. They're crisper and cleaner, though, and there are a lot more gang tackles. Teams have their own unique entries into the stadium, which adds to that college atmosphere. I didn't get much of a chance to see this, with only eight teams in the game, but it's still a nice touch.
While the crowd shots also look impressive, it would be nice to see more than the three or four that I saw in my two games. Hopefully there will be more variety of shots in the real game, too.
4) The play-calling system is very different from last year, though you can make it what you're used to by choosing "advanced playcalling." Even so, the playcalling choices are in one line rather than a square of 4 plays, thus limiting mistaken play calls (at least by me).
Even better, though, is you have a much wider choice of plays when you call an audible at the line of scrimmage. Much better, though, is that when you call a hurry-up at the line, you don't automatically run the same play again (unless you audible out of it). Instead, you get the full range of plays to call. This can be a bit slower than in the past, but it's worth the slight bit of extra time. If you do want to call the same play, that's what it defaults to when you approach the line.
5) One play-calling annoyance that I *really* hope they change before the game comes out (but since it's coming out July 13, I doubt it) is the lack automatic defaulting of certain plays based on the situation. For example, in previous games, in obvious punting formations, the basic Punt play immediately came up on the playcalling screen. If you wanted to go for it, you just went and found another play. It was very handy to just have to hit the "A" button to call the Punt.
Now, it doesn't do that. It defaults to the previous play, no matter what the situation is. You can press "Y" to go to the Special Teams menu, but that's still an unnecessary extra button-press that shouldn't be needed 9 times out of 10.
On the good side, though, when you do call a Field Goal, it will tell you what the distance of the kick will be. That's *very* handy when you're not sure exactly what yard line you're on.
6) The Locomotion momentum-based engine looked pretty good in the couple of games I played. The players moved a lot more fluidly. I didn't get a chance to see if another major problem from last year's game manifested itself: namely, the momentum of the opposing team's receiver carrying him backwards on a pass play, resulting in an 8 yard loss on what should have been either a no-gain or the gain of a couple of yards. Last year, when the receivers ran back toward the line of scrimmage (like on a hook route), their momentum usually results in them losing yardage even if they caught the ball. Haven't seen similar plays yet in this game, so I don't know if the Locomotion system fixed that or not. Here's hoping
7) Finally, one of the main statistical problems last year was that the game considered some Option plays as passes, even when they weren't. Thus, you'd have statistical anomalies of an "incomplete pass" going for a touchdown.
Since you don't get stats in the demo, I don't know whether it will do that again this year. I do know, however, that I did an Option play and Kirk Herbstreit talked about me passing.
That does not bode well.
I'm really looking forward to seeing some of the stuff that's not in the demo, such as the supposedly improved Dynasty system (with much better recruiting) and the ESPN presentation. I haven't heard anything about a weekly College Football scoreboard show or anything like that, and I continue to believe that the game needs something like that to really put you "in the game" (or, in this case, "in the atmosphere"), but supposedly they've really decked the game out in ESPN stuff.
I also hope that, if you're playing in the National Champtionship game, it actually feels like it, rather than feeling like another home game.
As for Road to Glory mode? I haven't heard anything about it, yea or nay. I don't even know if it's in there this year. If it is, let's hope it's been massively improved too. Last year it was a joke.
I can't wait to see it!
Friday, 18 June 2010
Xbox Live: more cash cows than Farmville?
I saw this article linked on Facebook (how many people are saying that nowadays? A lot!) and found it really interesting.
While everybody talks about Zynga Games and Farmville and stuff like that, you know who's raking in the money from virtual goods? Microsoft.
According to Oliver Chiang at Forbes:
Chiang says that (doing the math) Xbox Live gets roughly $625 million dollars in subscription fees as an estimate. A recent report said that the sale of virtual goods, whether it's game DLC, avatar clothing and accessories, XBLA games, or Zune music and movies, has overtaken the income from subscription fees.
In other words, we're talking more than a billion dollars (yes, that's with a "b") in sales, just over Xbox Live. Forget all of that other stuff, like the games themselves.
That just blows the mind. I know it was lucrative, but I had never really put a number on it.
Now that Chiang has, I think I need to sit down.
I would love to know how much of this is Avatar stuff since the their creation. As somebody who has sworn never to spend money on them, and who can't really understand the desire to (maybe some of you can explain it to me?), I can't imagine it taking in *that* much money.
But I can't imagine spending money on Farmville either, so who am I to talk?
Excuse me while I go lie down for a moment.
While everybody talks about Zynga Games and Farmville and stuff like that, you know who's raking in the money from virtual goods? Microsoft.
According to Oliver Chiang at Forbes:
"Microsoft's Xbox Live service available on the Xbox 360 has quietly grown its own virtual goods business -- and it is making more boatloads of money than Zynga. Currently, we conservatively estimate Microsoft to be making at least $625 million in revenues a year from sales of virtual goods on Xbox Live."
Chiang says that (doing the math) Xbox Live gets roughly $625 million dollars in subscription fees as an estimate. A recent report said that the sale of virtual goods, whether it's game DLC, avatar clothing and accessories, XBLA games, or Zune music and movies, has overtaken the income from subscription fees.
In other words, we're talking more than a billion dollars (yes, that's with a "b") in sales, just over Xbox Live. Forget all of that other stuff, like the games themselves.
That just blows the mind. I know it was lucrative, but I had never really put a number on it.
Now that Chiang has, I think I need to sit down.
I would love to know how much of this is Avatar stuff since the their creation. As somebody who has sworn never to spend money on them, and who can't really understand the desire to (maybe some of you can explain it to me?), I can't imagine it taking in *that* much money.
But I can't imagine spending money on Farmville either, so who am I to talk?
"It's clear Microsoft has learned well the lessons of Zynga, that people are spending money on virtual goods. This also serves to highlight just what is at stake with Microsoft Kinect, the company's add-on to the Xbox 360 that allows users to play games and other media using only their hands and gestures. Kinect is aimed at capturing a broader audience of players for Xbox 360 and Live -- both more potential paying subscribers, but also more potential purchasers of virtual goods."
Excuse me while I go lie down for a moment.
Thursday, 17 June 2010
Email or Facebook?
A while back I did a post on social media obsession, asking whether you did things like tweet from the bathroom (25% of people in that survey said yes!).
Mashable has another article asking yet another good question, with some statistics to back it up. What do you check first: email or Facebook?
I have to say that, when I get up, I find myself checking Facebook, my blog and stats, and then checking my email if I remember. Sometimes I actually forget to check my home email address on work days (though now that I'm mainly using Gmail, I do check that regularly at work). On the other hand, I have to find out if anybody has reached out to me through Facebook, Twitter, the blog, or wherever. So I guess I fall into the latter category.
The study Mashable quotes found that Facebook is the first thing checked for 11% of the US population, and that email still rules at 58%.
Check out the Mashable article for even more interesting stats.
What kind of Internet users are you? Do you go to your email first, or do you hop on the social media wagon and take it for your daily spin?
Or do you go somewhere else?
Inquiring minds want to know!
Edit: What a weird typo on the title! Obviously it's not the Email *of* Facebook. I've now changed that.
Mashable has another article asking yet another good question, with some statistics to back it up. What do you check first: email or Facebook?
"If you check e-mail first, the company said, you tend to be more task-oriented and only interact with brands online when you need something, such as researching a deal, getting information about promotions or finding new product information.
However, if start your day with a visit to Facebook, you might welcome “extracurricular” content from brands, such as interaction and entertainment that isn’t directly related to a purchase or business transaction."
I have to say that, when I get up, I find myself checking Facebook, my blog and stats, and then checking my email if I remember. Sometimes I actually forget to check my home email address on work days (though now that I'm mainly using Gmail, I do check that regularly at work). On the other hand, I have to find out if anybody has reached out to me through Facebook, Twitter, the blog, or wherever. So I guess I fall into the latter category.
The study Mashable quotes found that Facebook is the first thing checked for 11% of the US population, and that email still rules at 58%.
Check out the Mashable article for even more interesting stats.
What kind of Internet users are you? Do you go to your email first, or do you hop on the social media wagon and take it for your daily spin?
Or do you go somewhere else?
Inquiring minds want to know!
Edit: What a weird typo on the title! Obviously it's not the Email *of* Facebook. I've now changed that.
Wednesday, 16 June 2010
The trials and tribulations of the PS3
or "what happens when an attempted update continually crashes your system?"
I've been 2 weeks without my PS3. Not that I've really noticed, since I don't really play games on it. But I do like to watch some Blu-Ray movies on it, and I have a couple of PS3-only franchises that I love. So getting rid of it is not an option.
Early last week, I turned on the PS3 for the first time in a couple of months. The 3.30 update was out and it wanted to download it and install it. I'm like "sure, whatever" and went ahead.
I sat myself down for a bit of a long haul. In the past, system updates have taken multiple attempts to install. Most of the time it took 2 or 3 tries before finally succeeding. The first time this happened, I panicked and checked the web, until I saw some people say that this happened to them a lot too.
So when this one failed too (the install, not the download), I didn't think anything of it. Just tried it again. And again.
And again. And again. And again....well, you get the picture.
The strange thing was that this update kept on failing at exactly 66%. Finally, I emailed Sony about this after looking around Google and finding out that, while there were some reported problems with the update, nobody had mentioned anything like this.
I got a fairly quick email back from Sony (kudos to them for that) suggesting that I do the system update via a USB memory stick after booting the PS3 into Safe Mode. No problem!
Or so I thought.
I followed the instructions that they provide on their web site for booting the PS3 into Safe Mode.
Doesn't work. Instead, it goes right back to the "Attempting to install update again" screen, where again it crapped out at 66%. I did this a few more times, same thing. I finally gave up.
We bought the system on Ebay, and I'm sure it's way out of warranty. Even if it wasn't, we don't have the receipt anyway (it's one of the big models, not the Slim). So I was thinking of trying somewhere local to see if it could be fixed.
Before I did that, though, the wife suggested seeing I could give it a "hard reboot" of some kind, something that would reset the whole thing (I don't have any saved games on there anyway). She found me a web site with something I could try.
While the site's suggestions didn't work, they did encourage me to hold the power button down a little longer, letting the thing beep like crazy.
Suddenly, the system went back to the "attempting to install" screen but it wasn't on the HDMI settings. It was on the basic resolution (and looked damned ugly, to tell you the truth). It went on and on, counting up toward that fabled 66%. However, somewhere in the 50s, it just went black and I could see the disk light flashing.
Suddenly, a message stating that an HDMI connection has been detected and would I like to use it for audio/visual settings prompt came up. I quickly said "yes" and voila!!! The PS3 dashboard came up.
The thing's working like a charm now! I tried a Blu-Ray and a PS3 game just to make sure it is reading the discs properly, and they all work fine.
I am so relieved. I know I don't use it a lot, but I still want it working for when I *do* use it. I may have to go out and buy a game just to celebrate.
Questions for you PS3 users out there:
1) Is it normal for an update to require multiple attempts to install?
2) Is it normal to want to kiss your machine when you see the dashboard come up?
I've been 2 weeks without my PS3. Not that I've really noticed, since I don't really play games on it. But I do like to watch some Blu-Ray movies on it, and I have a couple of PS3-only franchises that I love. So getting rid of it is not an option.
Early last week, I turned on the PS3 for the first time in a couple of months. The 3.30 update was out and it wanted to download it and install it. I'm like "sure, whatever" and went ahead.
I sat myself down for a bit of a long haul. In the past, system updates have taken multiple attempts to install. Most of the time it took 2 or 3 tries before finally succeeding. The first time this happened, I panicked and checked the web, until I saw some people say that this happened to them a lot too.
So when this one failed too (the install, not the download), I didn't think anything of it. Just tried it again. And again.
And again. And again. And again....well, you get the picture.
The strange thing was that this update kept on failing at exactly 66%. Finally, I emailed Sony about this after looking around Google and finding out that, while there were some reported problems with the update, nobody had mentioned anything like this.
I got a fairly quick email back from Sony (kudos to them for that) suggesting that I do the system update via a USB memory stick after booting the PS3 into Safe Mode. No problem!
Or so I thought.
I followed the instructions that they provide on their web site for booting the PS3 into Safe Mode.
Doesn't work. Instead, it goes right back to the "Attempting to install update again" screen, where again it crapped out at 66%. I did this a few more times, same thing. I finally gave up.
We bought the system on Ebay, and I'm sure it's way out of warranty. Even if it wasn't, we don't have the receipt anyway (it's one of the big models, not the Slim). So I was thinking of trying somewhere local to see if it could be fixed.
Before I did that, though, the wife suggested seeing I could give it a "hard reboot" of some kind, something that would reset the whole thing (I don't have any saved games on there anyway). She found me a web site with something I could try.
While the site's suggestions didn't work, they did encourage me to hold the power button down a little longer, letting the thing beep like crazy.
Suddenly, the system went back to the "attempting to install" screen but it wasn't on the HDMI settings. It was on the basic resolution (and looked damned ugly, to tell you the truth). It went on and on, counting up toward that fabled 66%. However, somewhere in the 50s, it just went black and I could see the disk light flashing.
Suddenly, a message stating that an HDMI connection has been detected and would I like to use it for audio/visual settings prompt came up. I quickly said "yes" and voila!!! The PS3 dashboard came up.
The thing's working like a charm now! I tried a Blu-Ray and a PS3 game just to make sure it is reading the discs properly, and they all work fine.
I am so relieved. I know I don't use it a lot, but I still want it working for when I *do* use it. I may have to go out and buy a game just to celebrate.
Questions for you PS3 users out there:
1) Is it normal for an update to require multiple attempts to install?
2) Is it normal to want to kiss your machine when you see the dashboard come up?
Tuesday, 15 June 2010
Social Media in Our Culture
The wonderful and inspiring Mansi Bhatia asked me to do a guest post at her great blog "First Impressions dealing with social media and how it is affecting our culture.
You can find it here. It's pretty good, if I do say so myself (and I do!).
Many thanks to Mansi for asking me to be a part of her blog. You should definitely check out the rest of her stuff, as it's all top notch.
This is the third time I've had a guest post on somebody's blog, and it's really gratifying when somebody asks me to do that.
If anybody else would like a guest post on their blog, drop me a line! I'm available for birthday parties, anniversaries, bar mitzvahs and the like. I do draw the line at Stipper-grams, though.
Oh, ok. Even those. Though I may have to demand payment for something like that. The rest I'll do for the fame.
Enjoy the post!
You can find it here. It's pretty good, if I do say so myself (and I do!).
Many thanks to Mansi for asking me to be a part of her blog. You should definitely check out the rest of her stuff, as it's all top notch.
"The term “social media” is becoming so prevalent that even those who don’t partake in it have some idea of what it means. That’s how you know something has infiltrated the culture.
We are becoming increasingly a world community, where who we associate with online is almost as important Social media infilitration as who we associate with face to face.
Companies that want to succeed need to have an online presence of some kind, and that used to mean just a web site. Now, successful companies need to have a Facebook account or fan page, and it’s very helpful to be on Twitter as well."
This is the third time I've had a guest post on somebody's blog, and it's really gratifying when somebody asks me to do that.
If anybody else would like a guest post on their blog, drop me a line! I'm available for birthday parties, anniversaries, bar mitzvahs and the like. I do draw the line at Stipper-grams, though.
Oh, ok. Even those. Though I may have to demand payment for something like that. The rest I'll do for the fame.
Enjoy the post!
Monday, 14 June 2010
Is Chatroulette losing its already limited appeal?
And I mean "limited" in the sense that you must probably like male genitals if you're hanging around the site for long.
Chatroulette is an interesting concept. Basically, it's totally random, totally anonymous, chatting with people. It appears that it requires a webcam of some sort, though it doesn't require a microphone (though it would certainly help!). There's no way for anybody you hook up with to identify who you are, unless you tell them, so your anonymity is assured. The idea is that this will make people less inhibited to say and do things.
Sometimes that's a bad thing.
If you've heard anything about Chatroulette, you've probably heard how prominent the male sex organ is on it. A lot of guys seem to love the anonymity because it gives them a chance to jerk off in front of somebody and they will never know who it is. It's kinda sad, actually.
If you do a cursory web search, you'll find sites that have the "best chatroulette videos" posted (yes, while you are anonymous, you can be recorded if the person has the right software, so beware). These usually don't involve male genitals, though they do sometimes involve female nudity (for some reason, nobody wants to post male genitals for posterity...I can't imagine why).
But most of the time, these "best" screenshots or videos just involve general weirdness, like somebody dressed up like a cat:
There have been some interesting Chatroulette stories popping up, like Ben Folds doing a concert on Chatroulette (you can see the various videos on Youtube with just a simple search). Some people really love the site (like Katie Baker from Wired).
But it's just so hard to wade through the junk to get to anything even remotely resembling good.
So what made me decide to blog about it today? Mashable has an article up, "Will People Still Visit Chatroulette if They Can't See Penises?"
In the article, they talk about how the 17-year-old Russian founder of the company behind Chatroulette, Andrey Ternovskiy, would like to get some investors involved. Meanwhile, traffic on Chatroulette dropped 7% in May.
One thing he is talking about doing is doing something that will filter out all of the male genitals on the site. But will "legitimate" users take their place? Or will traffic plummet?
Sadly, without some kind of change to the service, as well as something that will attract "normal" people to it, I don't see this ultimately succeeding.
It looks to me like a flash in the pan.
Chatroulette is an interesting concept. Basically, it's totally random, totally anonymous, chatting with people. It appears that it requires a webcam of some sort, though it doesn't require a microphone (though it would certainly help!). There's no way for anybody you hook up with to identify who you are, unless you tell them, so your anonymity is assured. The idea is that this will make people less inhibited to say and do things.
Sometimes that's a bad thing.
If you've heard anything about Chatroulette, you've probably heard how prominent the male sex organ is on it. A lot of guys seem to love the anonymity because it gives them a chance to jerk off in front of somebody and they will never know who it is. It's kinda sad, actually.
If you do a cursory web search, you'll find sites that have the "best chatroulette videos" posted (yes, while you are anonymous, you can be recorded if the person has the right software, so beware). These usually don't involve male genitals, though they do sometimes involve female nudity (for some reason, nobody wants to post male genitals for posterity...I can't imagine why).
But most of the time, these "best" screenshots or videos just involve general weirdness, like somebody dressed up like a cat:
(with thanks to Buzzfeed)
There have been some interesting Chatroulette stories popping up, like Ben Folds doing a concert on Chatroulette (you can see the various videos on Youtube with just a simple search). Some people really love the site (like Katie Baker from Wired).
But it's just so hard to wade through the junk to get to anything even remotely resembling good.
So what made me decide to blog about it today? Mashable has an article up, "Will People Still Visit Chatroulette if They Can't See Penises?"
In the article, they talk about how the 17-year-old Russian founder of the company behind Chatroulette, Andrey Ternovskiy, would like to get some investors involved. Meanwhile, traffic on Chatroulette dropped 7% in May.
"What is Chatroulette really about, though? Is Chatroulette a social utility for people to meet each other through video? Is it an entertainment tool for groups of friends? Or is it just an anonymous network where anything goes?
These are important questions for Ternovskiy to answer before a turnaround becomes possible. Legitimizing the service by weeding out the genitalia may make it more viable to investors, but it could potentially accelerate its decline, not reverse it. It all depends on how people want to use the service. Changing a user’s habits is one of the most difficult things to do. Getting people to buy into Chatroulette as a useful social utility might be a very hard sell."
One thing he is talking about doing is doing something that will filter out all of the male genitals on the site. But will "legitimate" users take their place? Or will traffic plummet?
Sadly, without some kind of change to the service, as well as something that will attract "normal" people to it, I don't see this ultimately succeeding.
It looks to me like a flash in the pan.
Magic: The Gathering
I can't believe Magic: The Gathering came out 17 years ago! I remember playing it with one of my friends who got me hooked on the game, though I was never very good at it. The interest kind of waned for some reason, and since it was only the one friend I played with, I ended up selling my cards when I stopped playing.
While I was aware that the game was still going strong, I never really payed that much attention to it. Until I did my post asking for XBLA Arcade suggestions. That's when Rack (from Game Informer Online) suggested getting the XBLA version of Magic: The Gathering and playing that. Now I'm kind of hooked on that, though I haven't played it online yet (I'd like to unlock all the decks first).
Sadly, this card isn't in the game, but it should be!
I'm worried, though. I know how expensive the hobby can be, and reading up on it, I doubt I'm ever going to get serious about it. Getting involved in Magic fandom looks to be a complete lifestyle choice! And just playing it with friends and not getting involved in all that stuff requires friends who are playing the game.
Who am I kidding? That requires actual friends in the first place.
But I feel the urge pulling at me a bit. It's saying "You want to go buy a starter deck and return to the fold. Do it. DO IT!!!!" (are they even called "starter decks" anymore?)
So I take a look around the web, and I am just totally baffled at how I would get started in the first place. Which is probably a good thing, as it's keeping me from getting started! There are so many expansion sets, new editions (up to 9 now? with a new core set on the way?) and other things that just add to my confusion.
How does a newbie get started? And it is something you even want to start to begin with?
I need your input. Convince me that I either should or shouldn't dive in and never come up for air.
Also, as a side question: are the two expansion packs for the XBLA game worth getting?
While I was aware that the game was still going strong, I never really payed that much attention to it. Until I did my post asking for XBLA Arcade suggestions. That's when Rack (from Game Informer Online) suggested getting the XBLA version of Magic: The Gathering and playing that. Now I'm kind of hooked on that, though I haven't played it online yet (I'd like to unlock all the decks first).
Sadly, this card isn't in the game, but it should be!
I'm worried, though. I know how expensive the hobby can be, and reading up on it, I doubt I'm ever going to get serious about it. Getting involved in Magic fandom looks to be a complete lifestyle choice! And just playing it with friends and not getting involved in all that stuff requires friends who are playing the game.
Who am I kidding? That requires actual friends in the first place.
But I feel the urge pulling at me a bit. It's saying "You want to go buy a starter deck and return to the fold. Do it. DO IT!!!!" (are they even called "starter decks" anymore?)
So I take a look around the web, and I am just totally baffled at how I would get started in the first place. Which is probably a good thing, as it's keeping me from getting started! There are so many expansion sets, new editions (up to 9 now? with a new core set on the way?) and other things that just add to my confusion.
How does a newbie get started? And it is something you even want to start to begin with?
I need your input. Convince me that I either should or shouldn't dive in and never come up for air.
Also, as a side question: are the two expansion packs for the XBLA game worth getting?
Sunday, 13 June 2010
Blogging update
Many of you have probably noticed the combination this week of slow blogging *and* that when I do blog, they seem to be about video games (that extends to the last two weeks, actually). There are a number of reasons for that, ones that I'm hoping will not be so prominent next week. But we'll see.
The first is that I've had a bad cold this week and I just haven't had the energy to do *anything* except rest and play video games. I have had no attention span, which is what makes gaming while sick so easy. I've been home since Wednesday, though I could have gone in on Friday if we weren't doing an all-day First Aid course instead of actually doing our jobs. I could have muddled through being at work, just taking a rest here and there as needed. But I didn't have any breath to use on those training dummies and the thought of being there, active (even if we're just observing and listening at times too) all day just wore me out.
Today is the first day that I've felt myself.
The second thing is a minor "what the hell am I going to write about" barrier that I've hit once again this week, which was probably partially fueled by my being sick. I get into these phases, sometimes where I can't think of what to write about, and sometimes where I know what I want to write about but I just don't have the desire to form the words. Even today's one-hit wonder post was a bit difficult, though once I got going it was a lot easier (something I've found with writing a lot...starting is much harder than finishing).
As for the subject matter of recent posts, as I mentioned on Twitter and Facebook last week, I've joined the Game Informer Magazine's community web site. They've done a really good job of making it a site that people can join and feel a part of a community that shares common interests (something I've blogged about before). Members can discuss things in the forums, but they can also post blogs, and I've been doing that since the beginning of June. Unless they've been GI Online specific, I've been copying them over here as well. Since I've wanted to establish myself over there a little bit, I've wanted to do a post a day. When you're lacking writing motivation, it makes it a lot easier to just use those posts here as well than it is to come up with *two* postings.
Now that things have calmed down over there a bit more, it will be easier. There will still be some video game stuff here, but maybe not as much as there has been the last couple of weeks. So those family members who don't care about that stuff can start reading again.
If you're a gamer, I encourage you to join me over there as well. It caters to all gamers, not just Xbox or PS3. Ok, you do have to be a *video* gamer, but not everything is about video games.
We talk about pretty much anything in pop culture.
So, hopefully, we will be back to more normal programming in the near future.
The first is that I've had a bad cold this week and I just haven't had the energy to do *anything* except rest and play video games. I have had no attention span, which is what makes gaming while sick so easy. I've been home since Wednesday, though I could have gone in on Friday if we weren't doing an all-day First Aid course instead of actually doing our jobs. I could have muddled through being at work, just taking a rest here and there as needed. But I didn't have any breath to use on those training dummies and the thought of being there, active (even if we're just observing and listening at times too) all day just wore me out.
Today is the first day that I've felt myself.
The second thing is a minor "what the hell am I going to write about" barrier that I've hit once again this week, which was probably partially fueled by my being sick. I get into these phases, sometimes where I can't think of what to write about, and sometimes where I know what I want to write about but I just don't have the desire to form the words. Even today's one-hit wonder post was a bit difficult, though once I got going it was a lot easier (something I've found with writing a lot...starting is much harder than finishing).
As for the subject matter of recent posts, as I mentioned on Twitter and Facebook last week, I've joined the Game Informer Magazine's community web site. They've done a really good job of making it a site that people can join and feel a part of a community that shares common interests (something I've blogged about before). Members can discuss things in the forums, but they can also post blogs, and I've been doing that since the beginning of June. Unless they've been GI Online specific, I've been copying them over here as well. Since I've wanted to establish myself over there a little bit, I've wanted to do a post a day. When you're lacking writing motivation, it makes it a lot easier to just use those posts here as well than it is to come up with *two* postings.
Now that things have calmed down over there a bit more, it will be easier. There will still be some video game stuff here, but maybe not as much as there has been the last couple of weeks. So those family members who don't care about that stuff can start reading again.
If you're a gamer, I encourage you to join me over there as well. It caters to all gamers, not just Xbox or PS3. Ok, you do have to be a *video* gamer, but not everything is about video games.
We talk about pretty much anything in pop culture.
So, hopefully, we will be back to more normal programming in the near future.
One Hit Wonders of the 90s (Part 18)
Hello, dear reader. I have a favour to ask you. The original post begins after all of the asterisks, if you want to skip this.
Now that the One Hit Wonders of the 90s series is over, I'm not going to be doing my weekly revisiting of all these posts (I had to do that to add the new post to the bottom). Thus, I won't be able to catch any broken picture links or deleted videos any more. Yet I want these posts to be as good as possible.
Please, if you happen upon one of these posts, or if you take a walk through a whole bunch of them, let me know if you find anything that doesn't work. You can leave a comment, or you can send me a message using that handy "Contact Me" page linked above.
Also, feel free to let me know what you think of the post or any of the videos!
Thank you.
**************************
It's Sunday morning, it's cloudy, this massive green roof is staring at me in the distance, and the room is quiet. Which of these things is the most important event of the morning?
None of them! That was a trick question. Instead, it's the one-hit wonders! Yes, that increasingly irreverent (and massively futile) list of the one-hit wonders of the 90s that has you all tantalized and mesmerized and circumcised...wait, forget that last one.
But it is lulling you to sleep! Though that might just be a defense mechanism for bad music, I don't know. I know that it usually has that effect on me.
But I persevere! Because you seem to like it. I'm nothing if not dedicated. And desiccated too. I think. I love using words when I don't know what they mean.
Anyway, this special brand of insanity is brought to you by this man.
And the number 3.
Hey, that looks like a former boss of mine...nah, it couldn't be.
As usual, the list I'm taking these from can be found here. However, if you take a peek at it before I'm done, then I may just have kill you. Or even worse. Give you a Justin Bieber haircut.
Here we go!
WARNING, WARNING...DANGER, WILL ROBINSON!!!!
I'm seeing lots of Rap ahead...sorry.
1) M People: "Moving On Up" (#34)
Though no rap on the first song.
Wow, a 90s disco song! At least the music sounds like disco. It's actually a pretty cool song too, with a great sax solo as well. The video's actually not that pointless, either. Ok, the lizard looks like he was meant for a western video and made a wrong turn, and that "club" they're in is smaller than my apartment. But other than that...
I actually quite enjoyed this song. A welcome toe-dipping into the harbor before the crap that is to come...
2) Ahamad: "Back in the Day" (#26)
It started off *so* well. Then the whining starts. What could have been a cute ode to childhood quickly becomes tiring and annoying. The chorus is repeated *way* too much and Ahmad's voice *really* gets on my nerves (what? Yes, I do have stock in an asterisk factory...why do you ask?)
Does it say something that I'd rather listen to a William Hung song instead?
3) The Puppies: "Funky Y-2-C" (#40)
(The one actual video has horrible quality, unfortunately there is no saving the song)
If there's anything more annoying than rap, it's kid rap. At least regular rap is trying to say something (though usually it's rather stupid). What's the point of this crap? Ok, it's cool for the kids, though kids nowadays would probably find this type of music as silly as we all do.
This one barely made it into the top 40, and it would have been better for everybody if it only reached #41. At least it would have been for both you and me!
Where's that off switch?
4) Public Enemy: "Give It Up" (#33)
Public Enemy is *the* rap group of the 90s. While it's just like most rap as far as its annoyance factor, I have to admit that the video is quite creative and interesting. I love the attempted white rappers. And it's got a nice message too, about putting down the guns and picking up a book. And who hasn't wanted to do that to Bill Clinton?
Not only did I make it through the whole song, but I actually kind of enjoyed that.
Who would have thunk it?
5) Candlebox: "Far Behind" (#18)
Couldn't they afford a full set, or was it such a rush that they couldn't finish building it yet? That "artist" looks seriously disturbed, too. And why is the lead singer holding his microphone like a CB radio?
These are the questions that come to mind when I see this video, mainly because listening to the song is kind of painful. There has to be a point to it, but I couldn't fathom what it is (is this where millions of people chime in with how simple the message really is? Yeah, like this blog has even a millionth of that number actual readers).
Trivia note: Wikipedia says that this song charted in 1993, reaching #18 in January 1994. So who's right? Wikipedia or Wikipedia? It's the battle of the ages!!!!! Live, on Spike TV. Bring your popcorn.
6)Lucas: "Lucas With the Lid Off" (#29)
Is the world ready for Dixieland Rap? What an interesting fusion of great music and crap "singing"! At least he's trying something interesting with the format. And I have to admit that, as I watch the video and listen to the song, it's starting to grow on me. It's cute and I love the music. It would be even better if Lucas would just shut up, but you can't have everything.
In fact, I feel like bubbling up for some reason. I can't really explain why. Shall we all blow some bubbles?
7) B.M.U. (Black Men United): "U Will Know" (#28)
I normally don't include the "special event" compilation songs, because they are by definition "one-hit" (the people come together just for the purposes of this song). However, I think this song is an important one, as it was created as a charity song to stop the inner city violence that was so prevalent in the 90s. It was also from the film "Jason's Lyric"
So I include it with no comment.
8) Ini Kamoze: "Here Comes the Hotstepper" (#1)
This song made it to #1? In December? Wow.
I normally kind of like Reggae music. Not enough to choose to listen to it, but when I hear it, I usually like it to some extent. This one, though? I don't know what it is, but it's totally turning me off. I think there must have been a collective delusional episode in the United States during December 1994.
Was this the year that Santa actually manifested himself, appearing on the White House lawn and holding a press conference?
I think it was.
Ok, *that* image I don't remember. Santa, say it ain't so!!!!
So there you have it. The year 1994 ends not with a bang, but a whimper of horrified ears and the gnashing of teeth. I'm beginning to see why I abandoned popular music in the 90s. It was for my own sanity.
Hopefully 1995 will be better, but I'm not holding my breath.
I went looking for a funny video to add here at the end, but got stuck in an Evanescence loop and was gone for about 15 minutes. So instead of what I had originally planned (which was pretty much nothing, since I walk that tightrope without a net), here's the song that captivated me when I first heard it and forced me to listen to it again when I happened upon it today.
And it's even got lyrics so you can follow along!
Don't say I never give you anything.
Until next week, adieu!!!
One-Hit Wonders of the 90s
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7
Part 8
Part 9
Part 10
Part 11
Part 12
Part 13
Part 14
Part 15
Part 16
Part 17
Part 18
Part 19
Part 20
Part 21
Part 22
Part 23
Part 24
Part 25
Part 26
Part 27
Part 28
Part 29
Part 30
Part 31
Part 32
Part 33
Part 34
Part 35
Part 36
Part 37
Part 38
Part 39
Part 40
Now that the One Hit Wonders of the 90s series is over, I'm not going to be doing my weekly revisiting of all these posts (I had to do that to add the new post to the bottom). Thus, I won't be able to catch any broken picture links or deleted videos any more. Yet I want these posts to be as good as possible.
Please, if you happen upon one of these posts, or if you take a walk through a whole bunch of them, let me know if you find anything that doesn't work. You can leave a comment, or you can send me a message using that handy "Contact Me" page linked above.
Also, feel free to let me know what you think of the post or any of the videos!
Thank you.
**************************
It's Sunday morning, it's cloudy, this massive green roof is staring at me in the distance, and the room is quiet. Which of these things is the most important event of the morning?
None of them! That was a trick question. Instead, it's the one-hit wonders! Yes, that increasingly irreverent (and massively futile) list of the one-hit wonders of the 90s that has you all tantalized and mesmerized and circumcised...wait, forget that last one.
But it is lulling you to sleep! Though that might just be a defense mechanism for bad music, I don't know. I know that it usually has that effect on me.
But I persevere! Because you seem to like it. I'm nothing if not dedicated. And desiccated too. I think. I love using words when I don't know what they mean.
Anyway, this special brand of insanity is brought to you by this man.
And the number 3.
Hey, that looks like a former boss of mine...nah, it couldn't be.
As usual, the list I'm taking these from can be found here. However, if you take a peek at it before I'm done, then I may just have kill you. Or even worse. Give you a Justin Bieber haircut.
Here we go!
WARNING, WARNING...DANGER, WILL ROBINSON!!!!
I'm seeing lots of Rap ahead...sorry.
1) M People: "Moving On Up" (#34)
Though no rap on the first song.
Wow, a 90s disco song! At least the music sounds like disco. It's actually a pretty cool song too, with a great sax solo as well. The video's actually not that pointless, either. Ok, the lizard looks like he was meant for a western video and made a wrong turn, and that "club" they're in is smaller than my apartment. But other than that...
I actually quite enjoyed this song. A welcome toe-dipping into the harbor before the crap that is to come...
2) Ahamad: "Back in the Day" (#26)
It started off *so* well. Then the whining starts. What could have been a cute ode to childhood quickly becomes tiring and annoying. The chorus is repeated *way* too much and Ahmad's voice *really* gets on my nerves (what? Yes, I do have stock in an asterisk factory...why do you ask?)
Does it say something that I'd rather listen to a William Hung song instead?
3) The Puppies: "Funky Y-2-C" (#40)
(The one actual video has horrible quality, unfortunately there is no saving the song)
If there's anything more annoying than rap, it's kid rap. At least regular rap is trying to say something (though usually it's rather stupid). What's the point of this crap? Ok, it's cool for the kids, though kids nowadays would probably find this type of music as silly as we all do.
This one barely made it into the top 40, and it would have been better for everybody if it only reached #41. At least it would have been for both you and me!
Where's that off switch?
4) Public Enemy: "Give It Up" (#33)
Public Enemy is *the* rap group of the 90s. While it's just like most rap as far as its annoyance factor, I have to admit that the video is quite creative and interesting. I love the attempted white rappers. And it's got a nice message too, about putting down the guns and picking up a book. And who hasn't wanted to do that to Bill Clinton?
Not only did I make it through the whole song, but I actually kind of enjoyed that.
Who would have thunk it?
5) Candlebox: "Far Behind" (#18)
Couldn't they afford a full set, or was it such a rush that they couldn't finish building it yet? That "artist" looks seriously disturbed, too. And why is the lead singer holding his microphone like a CB radio?
These are the questions that come to mind when I see this video, mainly because listening to the song is kind of painful. There has to be a point to it, but I couldn't fathom what it is (is this where millions of people chime in with how simple the message really is? Yeah, like this blog has even a millionth of that number actual readers).
Trivia note: Wikipedia says that this song charted in 1993, reaching #18 in January 1994. So who's right? Wikipedia or Wikipedia? It's the battle of the ages!!!!! Live, on Spike TV. Bring your popcorn.
6)Lucas: "Lucas With the Lid Off" (#29)
Is the world ready for Dixieland Rap? What an interesting fusion of great music and crap "singing"! At least he's trying something interesting with the format. And I have to admit that, as I watch the video and listen to the song, it's starting to grow on me. It's cute and I love the music. It would be even better if Lucas would just shut up, but you can't have everything.
In fact, I feel like bubbling up for some reason. I can't really explain why. Shall we all blow some bubbles?
7) B.M.U. (Black Men United): "U Will Know" (#28)
I normally don't include the "special event" compilation songs, because they are by definition "one-hit" (the people come together just for the purposes of this song). However, I think this song is an important one, as it was created as a charity song to stop the inner city violence that was so prevalent in the 90s. It was also from the film "Jason's Lyric"
So I include it with no comment.
8) Ini Kamoze: "Here Comes the Hotstepper" (#1)
This song made it to #1? In December? Wow.
I normally kind of like Reggae music. Not enough to choose to listen to it, but when I hear it, I usually like it to some extent. This one, though? I don't know what it is, but it's totally turning me off. I think there must have been a collective delusional episode in the United States during December 1994.
Was this the year that Santa actually manifested himself, appearing on the White House lawn and holding a press conference?
I think it was.
Ok, *that* image I don't remember. Santa, say it ain't so!!!!
So there you have it. The year 1994 ends not with a bang, but a whimper of horrified ears and the gnashing of teeth. I'm beginning to see why I abandoned popular music in the 90s. It was for my own sanity.
Hopefully 1995 will be better, but I'm not holding my breath.
I went looking for a funny video to add here at the end, but got stuck in an Evanescence loop and was gone for about 15 minutes. So instead of what I had originally planned (which was pretty much nothing, since I walk that tightrope without a net), here's the song that captivated me when I first heard it and forced me to listen to it again when I happened upon it today.
And it's even got lyrics so you can follow along!
Don't say I never give you anything.
Until next week, adieu!!!
One-Hit Wonders of the 90s
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7
Part 8
Part 9
Part 10
Part 11
Part 12
Part 13
Part 14
Part 15
Part 16
Part 17
Part 18
Part 19
Part 20
Part 21
Part 22
Part 23
Part 24
Part 25
Part 26
Part 27
Part 28
Part 29
Part 30
Part 31
Part 32
Part 33
Part 34
Part 35
Part 36
Part 37
Part 38
Part 39
Part 40
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