Firefly 2?

Is it even possible? I don't know if it is, but it's nice to dream.

There's a survey asking people if they would contribute to a viewer-funded TV show season. Episodes would be available for download or by mail or by pay-per-view. Honestly, I don't think it would be possible to make a new Firefly season through such means. It requires too many special effects and the actors aren't as small time as they once were. I mean, that's a lot of contributions that would have to be made. Plus, you'd have to collect quite a bit of it beforehand, with really no guarantee of getting a show out of it. Then there's the piracy issue; how much would the average joe be willing to pay to download an episode if they can just get it for free elsewhere?

It certainly does raise questions about the future of television shows. I'm not saying it isn't possible to produce any show in such a way. Get a small comedy or drama that can be filmed on a couple of cameras, with mostly no-names. It'd probably be fiscally feasible then. Of course, you wouldn't have as much up-front support that way. Still, it's interesting to think of television production as a publicly controlled enterprise.

I still signed-up, of course. Just in case. ;)

Shirts for Rollers

Look! Official T-shirts for Katamari Damacy. They're pretty cool, too. If only I wore t-shirts on more than one day out of the week.

No tree?

I think this strip from Player vs Player explains why we don't have a Christmas tree. I can just see Tricksy thinking this.

Gifts

Thanksgiving went well for us here in MN. The turkey turned out well, the fixings were enjoyed and the cleaning was as mountainous as one would expect. Hopefully next year, Emily and I will be in better positions to prepare for the festivities sometime before hand, instead of running around the days before trying to keep up with our schedules. Then we'll get to spend a little more time with family and a little less time in the kitchen.

With Thanksgiving over, that can only mean that Christmas is on it's way. I hope none of you are expecting large gifts from Em and me, as much as we would love to give them. But, f you're looking for some ideas, I can make a few suggestions. I'm not sure about Emily, but I have a few wish lists out there, my favorite (and thus most updated) being this one. Honestly, we'd appreciate money (to pay bills) if nothing else. While you're at it, go ahead and pick up a gift for Child's Play as well.

A little out of tune

I know it's been a while since Sarah nudged my nectarines, but better late than never right?

Here's the deal: List ten songs you currently are obsessing over -- any genre, any format, etc. If you have a blog, do it there; if you don't, do it here. Then tag five people or so. Here are my songs, in no particular order:

Gorillaz: Feel Good Inc.
Beck: Girl
Foo Fighters: Best of You
Weezer: Hash Pipe
Kaiser Chiefs: Oh My God
The Pietasters: Maggie Mae
XTC: Dear God
Strong Bad: The System is Down
Black Eyed Peas: My Humps
Spiderbait: Black Betty

I'll tag Gen, Blake, Emily (oh, double tag), Clint Page, and Erica Ness. What the heck, I'll tag Chris Clark and Carrie too while I'm at it.

Would you like to play a game?

Looking for a little diversion? You could go play some of Orbitz's advertisement games or you could try the new Grow game. Then there's always the addictive yet slightly theraputic games over at Orisinal. Just thought I'd let you in on a little variety, if you're getting tired of Popcap and Yahoo.

JT vs. PA

I don’t know if you’ve been following this, but it’s hilarious. After a few modders and small game developers went through on Jack’s proposal, Jack deemed the proposition as satire and being as such he’s not obligated to come up with the $10,000 charity donation. The creators of Penny Arcade thought that this was a pretty shitty thing to do to a charity, and so made the donation themselves on behalf of Jack Thompson. He took this as an attack on his character (which it was, but not an undeserving one) and is now trying (rather unsuccessfully) to get them arrested. He should just stop before he makes it any worse. He’s not helping his cause, at least not from my vantage point. The gamers are being calm-headed and giving. Jack’s acting like a madman on a vendetta. Which do you see as being more aggressive?

See Jack's hypocrisy

This article is too funny. It appears that Jack Thompson is losing what little support he insinuated he had. This is the guy who’s so upset with the “violent” video game industry that he proposed that he’ll donate $10,000 to charity if someone makes, markets, and sells a game about a father so distraught over the death of his son that he goes on a massive killing spree, taking out anything and anyone related to video games. I guess this is the sort of game Jack thinks should be made, not one that promotes cooperation, understanding, and non-violent means of problem solving, but ironic gore-fests.

So many comics, so little time (and money)

The list is complete. IGN Comics has been working on The Ultimate Bookshelf [of graphic novels] for the past few weeks. They’ve gone through all the books that are out there (and some that aren’t yet or aren’t anymore) and listed in alphabetical order which books they would love to have sitting on their bookshelf. I was excited to know that not only have I heard of quite a few of them, but I own some of them, too. The list spans all eras of comics as well as all genres. I thought it was great a list and introduced me to some interesting books I never heard of, as well as explained a few I had seen/heard of but knew nothing about. If you like comics, you should definitely peruse what they have. And if you like me, then you’ll send me a book or 2 from the list.

Wooooooo*2

Wow, what an awesome couple of days it’s been. Sunday we went to the Foo Fighters – Weezer concert and last night we went and saw Serenity. I don’t think it gets any better than that.

The concert was amazing. The opening band was the Kaiser Chiefs, not exactly a sad start to things. If you’re not familiar with them, they’re like a mix of punk/alternative UK bands (Sex Pistols, Bowie, The Who, etc.). Their big single right now is “Oh My God,” you’d probably recognize it if you heard it. They gave a good performance and kicked the night off to a great start. Afterwards Weezer played, who rocked the house like they always do. I have to admit that I wasn’t such a big fan of their new stuff, until I heard it at the concert. They are definitely concert songs that lose a little something when not being sung by a throng of enthusiastic concert-goers. Some of the highlights from the Weezer portion include: the playing of a short portion of Song 2 by Blur, the lit-up Weezer W, the playing of a Foo Fighters song, the selection of a random concert-goer to get up on stage and play guitar with the band (he wasn’t great but at least it looked like he had played the guitar a few times before) after which they let him keep the guitar, the Weezer confetti, and of course Rivers’ mocking of Cherish (she screamed “Wooooo” in a quiet auditorium, to which he replied “wooooo, that was good.” Rumor has it that her life is validated now). After a small break, it was time for the Foo Fighters to take the stage. These guys are the physical manifestation of rock. They just started playing and hardly ever let up. The amount of energy and excitement they create is unbelievable. I was blown away. They are definitely one of the best concerts I’ve been to. Some highlights from their portion: the highflying crowd surfers, Grohl’s run through the crowd and subsequent thanks for not being molested, the switch between Grohl and Hawkins so Hawkins was the lead singer and Grohl the drummer, the color palette choices and lighting effects for most of the songs, and the shout-out to Cannon Falls. Oh, and the thing that made the concert just that much better: it was free. Cherish won tickets for box seating from her work and so gave us the tickets she had bought beforehand. How awesome is that?

Speaking of awesome, go see Serenity. I’m serious. Go now, stop reading and just go to the next showing. This has to be one of my all time favorite movies. I’ll even go so far as to say that it’s my favorite movie. This movie is just incredible. I don’t know if it’s because there’s been a recent lack of decent movies out there or what, but it just stands out in my mind. Let me try to explain how much I like this movie. After we went and saw it last night I was actually reaching for my wallet to buy another ticket before I realized that we had just seen the last showing for that night. I’ll admit that I have on occasion seen a movie more than once at a movie theater, but usually it’s because it’s due more to social causes than anything else (i.e. with friends who haven’t seen it yet). I’ve never understood the people who plan a whole day around seeing a single movie (i.e. Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, etc.) over and over again. But this movie, I’m dying to see again. It’s like watching it only increased my desire to see it. Joss is amazing at creating wonderful worlds with believable characters, how can you not help but follow him. I’m not the only one who thinks this movie is great, if you need a second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, or seventh opinion (the first one by Orson Scott Card basically says everything I want to say in the way I want to say it). If nothing else just go so I’ll stop nagging.

Who's Bad?

The next villains (yes, that’s plural) to star in Spiderman 3, according to a slip of the tongue by Kirsten Dunce, are Sandman and Venom. Don’t get me wrong, I love both of these villains, but do we really need 2? Didn’t we learn anything from the Batman franchise? Two villains means two origin back stories crammed into one film, which gives less time for exposition, character development, and conflict. Maybe they’ll devise some story that combines the creation of the two, which doesn’t really do justice to either of them. Speaking of which, I know they won’t do the real origin of Venom but most probably some variation on the Ultimate Spiderman explanation. That’s understandable, but Venom himself would make a great movie, I think adding Sandman into the mix will just make it too “busy.” It’s not like they’re running out of time (if the want to keep using Tobey Maguire then I guess they are). There are talks of a deal to do 3 more movies after this one, THREE. Do they really need to pack in the villains?

Oh, and for those of you wondering, she also leaked who would be taking on the roles as well. Thomas Haden Church (of Ned and Stacey) will be playing Sandman. I have no problem with this. I think he will do a good job with the role. He has a knack for playing characters seriously with a light hearted touch. Plus he already has the looks for the part. Venom will be played by none other than Topher Grace. That’s right; Foreman from That 70’s Show will become that strong, slobbering, spleen-eating psychopath we’ve come to love. I just don’t see. It’s going to take some massive costuming and special effects just to make him look Venom, but that’s not going to help with his acting. I like Topher, ok let’s be honest, I don’t mind Topher, but I really don’t think he has it in him to become Venom. I just don’t see him being sinister or maniacal, maybe he’ll prove me wrong. The movies have been good so far, I’ll just have to trust that Raimi knows what he’s doing.

While we’re on the subject of comic book/movie villains, there are rumors that the next Batman villain will be none other than the Clown Prince of Crime. And while I do enjoy Burton’s take on Batman, Nicholson’s Joker just never really satisfied me. It’ll be interesting to see how they handle the Joker. I think they’ll do a good job. Oh, Lachy Hulme, Paul Bettany, and Sean Penn are rumored to be up for the part. Honestly, I think Bettany has the best chance, if they are actually seriously considering any of these people.

You say you want a Revolution . . .

The news has been broken, and I’m sure most gamers have already read about it from any number of sources. I’m very excited about what I’ve read. I know some might have misgivings about it, but I think it’s just uncertainity about new things. I’m going to agree with Nintendo on this one. I think this will be a revolution (of sorts). At the very least, it will certainly cause people to rethink the way controllers function. Nintendo did it before with the D-pad when they introduced their Game and Watch product line. Before then people had to use joysticks. If you want a more recent example, there’s the Gameboy DS with its touchpad (among many other controller innovations). It took a while, but now you’re starting to see some decent games that take advantage of these. This new controller though, it’s just going to make game playing more intuitive. How many times have you seen someone (especially young kids and noobs) jerk their controller up and over when trying to get their character to jump. Now it’ll actually help. People are already wired to use a controller this way, Nintendo just decided to change the controller instead of forcing the people to change. That’s what good design is all about.

It’s going to open up the gaming market even more. Back in the 80’s, it wasn’t uncommon to see parents playing videogames with their kids, that was due in part to how simple and fairly intuitive games were back then (that and more available free time, but that’s another topic). Now controllers have a D-pad, 2 analog sticks, 4 to 6 face buttons, 2 to 4 shoulder buttons, and up to 2 triggers as well. And each button has some sort of function assigned to it. It’s no wonder the casual gamer gets confused. Hell, it’ll take me a while before I can get the hang of most games. Pick-up and play was almost a thing of the past. I just don’t see how you can’t be excited for the industry with this coming. Way to go Nintendo!

Oh no she didn't

So, I'm at work and a co-worker of mine comes by and asks me, "Do you think Mary's a dyke?" I respond that it wouldn't surprise me. She has short, doesn't dress overly girly, frequents gentleman clubs and kind of gives off that vibe . Honestly, it doesn't really affect me either way and I could care less. Here's the part that really threw me for a loop though. My co-worker then comments, "I'd just like to know ahead of time, in case there's a blackout." What the hell? What is that supposed to mean? She basically implied that if the lights went out she'd be groped by her co-worker. I responded,
"Why? In case you need her to change the light bulb?"
"No. I'm just concerned."
"You're surrounded by all of these hetereo males and you're not concerned about them?"
"No, the guys don't worry me."
Again, what the hell? Maybe I'm just niave (in many cases I probably am), but most of the stories/cases/anecdotes I've heard involving inappropiate touching involve guys, and of the straight persuasion. But oh no, she's not worried about them. I'm just always so surprised at how ignorant people can be.

Stupid email

I dont' know if you've read this before or not, but I got this at work (this is actually the 2nd time I've received it so far) and it sparked a rant. Here's the email:

WOULDN'T IT BE GREAT TO TURN ON THE TV AND HEAR ANY U.S. PRESIDENT, DEMOCRAT OR REPUBLICAN GIVE THE FOLLOWING SPEECH?

My Fellow Americans: As you all know, the defeat of Iraq regime has been completed.

Since congress does not want to spend any more money on this war, our mission in Iraq is complete.

This morning I gave the order for a complete removal of all American forces from Iraq. This action will be complete within 30 days. It is now to begin the reckoning.

Before me, I have two lists. One list contains the names of countries which have stood by our side during the Iraq conflict. This list is short. The United Kingdom, Spain, Bulgaria, Australia, and Poland are some of the countries listed there.

The other list contains everyone not on the first list. Most of the world's nations are on that list. My press secretary will be distributing copies of both lists later this evening.

Let me start by saying that effective immediately, foreign aid to those nations on List 2 ceases immediately and indefinitely. The money saved during the first year alone will pretty much pay for the costs of the Iraqi war.

The American people are no longer going to pour money into third world Hell-holes and watch those government leaders grow fat on corruption.

Need help with a famine? Wrestling with an epidemic? Call France.

In the future, together with Congress, I will work to redirect this money toward solving the vexing social problems we still have at home. On that note, a word to
terrorist organizations. Screw with us and we will hunt you down and eliminate you and all your friends from the face of the earth.

Thirsting for a gutsy country to terrorize? Try France, or maybe China.

I am ordering the immediate severing of diplomatic relations with France, Germany, and Russia. Thanks for all your help, comrades. We are retiring from NATO as well. Bon chance, mes amis.

I have instructed the Mayor of New York City to begin towing the many UN diplomatic vehicles located in Manhattan with more than two unpaid parking tickets to sites where those vehicles will be stripped, shredded and crushed. I don't care about whatever treaty pertains to this. You creeps have tens of thousands of unpaid tickets. Pay those tickets tomorrow or watch your precious Benzes, Beamers and limos be turned over to some of the finest chop shops in the world!

I love New York.

A special note to our neighbors. Canada is on List 2. Since we are likely to be seeing a lot more of each other, you folks might want to try not pissing us off for a change.

Mexico is also on List 2. President Fox and his entire corrupt government really need an attitude adjustment. I will have a couple extra tank and infantry divisions sitting around. Guess where I am going to put em? Yep, border security. So start doing something with your oil.

Oh, by the way, the United States is abrogating the NAFTA treaty - starting now.

We are tired of the one-way highway. Immediately, we'll be drilling for oil in Alaska - which will take care of this country's oil needs for decades to come. If you're an environmentalist who opposes this decision, I refer you to List 2 above: pick a country and move there. They care.

It is time for America to focus on its own welfare and its own citizens. Some will accuse us of isolationism. I answer them by saying, "darn tootin."

Nearly a century of trying to help folks live a decent life around the world has only earned us the undying enmity of just about everyone on the planet. It is time to eliminate hunger in America. It is time to eliminate homelessness in America. It is time to eliminate World Cup Soccer from America. To the nations on List 1, a final thought. Thanks guys. We owe you and we won't forget.

To the nations on List 2, a final thought: You might want to learn to speak Arabic.

God bless America. Thank you and good night.

If you can read this, thank a teacher. If you are reading it in English, thank a soldier.

My answer to this is, No, it would not be great to hear this. In fact, this speech represents all that is wrong with America and to hear this speech come from a President would be a nightmare. Bush isn't even dumb enough to give this speech, or at least his advisors are smart enough to prevent him. Lord knows he probably wants to give this speech. God people, grow some intelligence. Do you really think we could survive if the only countries we dealt with were the UK, Spain, Australia and Poland ("Don't forget Poland"). Where are you going to get your cars, your clothes, your TVs, your computers, hell your energy. Yes there's oil in Alaska, but there's not enough oil in the world to keep us going for decades at the rate we're using it. Oh, and this whole world-hating of the US is a fairly recent thing. After 9/11 we had the most support we've ever experienced; now we barely have any. I wonder why? *cough*Bush*cough* Some days I just can't stand Americans.

Oh, and stop sending this crap to me at work.

Oh wow

Ok, so it's been a while since I posted, but I've been really busy. So has Emily. See, I got another job. So that's a total of 3 for me. Ok, maybe more like 2.5 or maybe just 2 if you added up all of the hours. Anyways I got the assistant manager job at the local movie theater. I'm all in charge of people and money and keys, very scary/exciting. Emily also has 2-3 jobs as well. She's the lead cashier at the local coop, she's helping out at the ArtOrg with children's classes, and doing the occasional babysitting gig. So it looks like a financial situation is starting to turn around. YEA!

Speaking of yea, check out this internet radio station. It freaking rocks. I love most of the songs they play, and just like all the others. Plus they've got cool little movie/TV clips that they play every once in a while as well. Oh, and you can vote on the songs they play, so that after a while all the good songs get played more and all the crappy ones just slowly disappear. And they're listener supported, so if you like donate. (But you probably knew all this already if you listen to them).

Oh, also, Firefox is cool and so is BitTorrent. Again, I'm sure some of you already know. But I'm just spouting off here. Oh, and I've been using Wikipedia a lot more recently and have grown to appreciate it the more I use it.

What else, oh, 2 of my favorite webcomic sites have started up rival guilds on a particular server on World of Warcraft. Now, I've wanted to play this for a while now. It seems to be a really good game. All the webcomics I read rave about it and it's still going strong even after almost a year of being around, which is really good for a MMORPG. The comics are popular enough that basically the whole server is full of fans, which is cool. This is how a MMORPG is supposed to be played. Sure there are a bunch of different guilds, but they are all united under one alliance and work together to some degree. Plus, the chances of running into unhelpful bastard player is drastically reduce. If it weren't for the money and the time (especially the time) I would go out and buy the game just to play on that server. That is, if there was still room on the server/world. (These two are notorious for crashing websites just by placing a link on their posts. Man, can you imagine having that much influence? It's gotta be kinda weird.)

Ah, before I go. I found these t-shirts and thought they were pretty cool. Oh, and if any of them have it, then yes, I do have a wishlist there. I have wishlists all over the internet.

A Few Things

• I saw Batman Begins on the IMAX a few weeks ago. What an awesome movie. Christian Bale is the best Batman by far. Actually, just about everybody in it was awesome: Gary Oldman does a top-notch Gordon, Michael Caine with a superb Alfred, and Liam Neeson was just marvelous. (Katie Holmes did well enough to at least not harm the film, which I feel is the most you can ask of her right now.) But what makes the movie so good is that the movie doesn’t gloss over Bruce Wayne. It’s not just Batman and the guy who dresses up as Batman. They're actually interested in the man behind the mask. Plus, the villains were well fleshed out and not just crazy caricatures of over-the-top evil doers. The color palate used for Gotham was also a nice touch, dark and dirty but realistic. I think the movie made Batman into a more believable character. I hope they continue on with this.
  
• If you haven't checked out this video of the most realistic zombie game yet, then do so now.
  
• It looks like I’ll be working at the small movie theater in town here as Assistant Manager. It doesn’t pay much and I will only be working like 3 days/nights a week, but every little bit helps. Plus free popcorn, soda, movie tickets, and video rentals. Oh, and it’s a pretty easy low-key job, so very little stress.
  
• I read the article Emily mentioned. Really, I have mixed feelings about it. I fully support the drive to make stores more accountable in regards to selling mature games to kids. I have nothing against the $5,000 fine. I do have a few misgivings though. This is all built upon a mod for the game. In otherwords, some people got together and decided to create a new feature for the game, without Rockstar’s permission. It’s really hard to argue for the fine when you’re basing it on a feature that isn’t even included on the game, and was never intended. Also, why is it that it takes a “sex” mod on GTA to spark all this? Were the nude models for The Sims not graphic enough? I mean, if people want to add nudity and/or sex to their games, they don’t have to start with an M-rated game. I’m also concerned that this will just spark a huge debate (and by debate I mean the screaming contests that our news programs seems to thrive off of) that will just get people pissed off at games/gamers (and gamers pissed off right back at them) and not really accomplishing anything. I guess we’ll just have to see how this goes.
  
• I don’t know if you’ve noticed this or not, but science seems to be melding with religion and magic lately.
  

Not Again

I can't believe this is still an issue. I came across an article while surfing the web about violence in video games. They talking about one in particular, 25 to Life, which is an urban game about gangsters versus cops. The article laments how violent the game is and how you go around shooting cops. Of course, it never mentions that you can also play as the cops, who go around shooting gangsters. Here are few of my favorite parts of the article:

"It's outrageous that a company like this would try to desensitize our children," Lynch said.

I'm not positive, but I'm pretty sure their goal is to sell games and make money, not desensitize our children. Which brings up another feature I enjoyed about this article.

"It's like ghetto-ish, I like that," said Bronx seventh-grader Jesus Martinez, 13.
Brooklyn seventh-grader Nashalie Ledesma said she would try the game "just for the fun of it, to see how it is, explore the violence."
"It's just a game," said Ledesma, 12. "It's not like I'm gonna do it in real life. I don't have the guts to do it."

I really don't think the opinions of some preteens needs to be added to this article. They just really don't matter. They don't even matter in the calculation of how many games get sold, at least they shouldn't. This game is rated M for mature, which means it's the equivalent of an R rating. Would you ask a 12 year-old if he thought Apocalypse Now is worth seeing? I hope not.

Also, can we get past the whole shock value thing here. Just because it's pushing the bundaries of decency, doesn't make it a good game (ditto for movies). There are a lot of FPS (first person shooter) games out there, but there's only one Half-Life 2.

On a more positive side: I came across this article. It's all about how scientists have study the effects of gaming on the brain and have discovered that it's actually beneficial.

Gee's studies show that players learn pattern recognition from puzzles and enemies or bosses; they learn system thinking, i.e. they learn how a game is structured, or how an enemy is attacking, or how to solve logic or physical puzzles. They even learn patience.

See, so go let your kids play videogames, just be mindful of what they're playing.

From the Mouths of Jesters

I was reading through my webcomics the other day and came across this one. Now, I'm sure some of you already know about what the comic was talking about, but I didn't. I had to learn about it from a comic strip. How sad is that? You'd think that it would be newsworthy material.

Save Big Bird

For those of you who haven't yet, go here. I guess congress feels that it's not worthwhile to fund public broadcasting anymore. Congress is thinking about cutting funding to NPR and PBS. I guess they can't stand that there are some media outlets out there that they don't have under their control. Oh, and the best part about all of this is that they plan on starting the cuts with commercial-free children's programs. I guess they can't stand that there are some kids out there watching educational shows and not half-hour commercials.
Don't these cuts go against the right to free speech?

Sweetness!!

Ok, I know I'm a dork, and this shouldn't excite so much, but I just got inserted a links section on my blog. Yea! I don't have too much there yet, but I will add some of my favorite sites later. Look over there and check it out.
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