“Alright! It’s Saturday night, I have no date, a two-liter bottle of Shasta and my all-Rush mix tape. Let’s rock!”

Posted by brame

So, what have I been up to lately? Nothing. Seriously.

Just thought I’d share with you folks some of the classic gaming I’ve recently began taking part of… again.

First, Chrono Trigger. And yes, I did name the frog “Blood.”

Slurp Cut!

Second, when I was about seven years old, I went to my grandparents house and played a little game called Wolfenstein 3D on four floppy disks. At the time I didn’t realize I was playing a groundbreaking game, but I’ve since come to find out. I downloaded it the other day. It’s fun, but not as fun as when I was seven. For some reason, I remember being much better at it.

I’m taking all of Hitler’s gold.

In any case, play both of these games. Not just classics, but still incredibly fun.

Seriously, this is not an update.

Posted by brame

I must say, we haven’t updated in a while, and this isn’t really even an update. This post is really a quick rundown of the new music I’ve been listening to. I must say, some of these bands I would’ve hated as of a year ago. Weird, I know. I’m on a bit of a weird quasi-metal period, so most of these bands will be some sort of harder music, whether doom metal, screamo, or metalcore. If you’re not into that you may navigate away from the page or visit another post that may suit your interest. So here it goes:

Trivium – “The Crusade”
Chasing Victory – “I Call This Abandonment”
The Sword – “Age of Winters”
Fear Before the March of Flames – “The Always Open Mouth”
Mouth of the Architect – “The Ties That Blind”
Converge – “No Heroes”

I’ve also been playing a lot of Guitar Hero II. Quality.

Awesome Blossom. Extra Awesome.

Posted by brame.

This post is about two things:
1) The Office
2) How awesome I am.

Number one, The Office is returning soon. Rumor has it that we get to visit Dwight’s family beet farm and meet some of his family. I think I’ll watch everyone of them in hopes to see this episode. Actually, I’ll watch them all anyways. Point is, there’s always that show or that movie that wins all those awards, be it Emmy’s or Oscars, that sucks really bad. And everyone from Hollywood (or wherever it is they make this crap) go around ranting and raving like it’s the greatest thing to ever happen. Of course, being that I tend to want to see things that get good reviews (for the most part), I go and watch said crappy show or movie that received such awards and reviews. Movies like Titanic (that movie blew so hard) constantly get these awesome reviews and I watch them (though it did take me like seven years to see Titanic). The point is that these movies all end up sucking real bad, minus a few. The entire reason for that explanation was to say this, The Office is one of those few exceptions. Although it got so many freaking awards, the show deserves them. I don’t think I can think of a better show on television right now. Or atleast one that I continually watch and rewatch and rewatch. I’m just saying that you should watch it. September the twenty first at eight thirty, post meridiem.

On to item two. To make it blunt, I designed a shirt. Sort of. More like a potential shirt. It can only be a shirt if people like you (who obviously either know me or care enough to keep reading this far) vote on it on the website. If it wins the ongoing competition, I get lots of money. Ponit being, go vote for it. Here’s the link in a fun picture.

Here’s a hi-res picture on deviantART:
Click it.

You know we always listen to funk before we go to bed!

Posted by brame.

I play bass. I hope you know that. And if you didn’t then you do now. I’m a sucker for essentially anything that has some good bass licks in it (with a few exceptions). I might add that this cd has some wicked bass lines. It may seem that I’m behind on this band, but that’s because I had no idea what they sounded like until I bought the cd on a whim. The band I am speaking of is Jamiroquai. And the cd, “Travelling Without Moving” I’m more than a decade behind, I know. Perhaps this is good though. Perhaps their popularity is over and gone.

I have never heard funk quite like this. A sort of funk/acid jazz/rock melded together. At first a lot of the tracks sound the same but then you realize that they all have a specific flavor. Typically a band sticks to a single sound throughout a record (except genre-bending bands like Green Day and Nickelback). Jamiroquai tends to mix it up for lack of a better term. The sound varies from funk-rock to even reggae vibes in songs like “Drifting Along”. Some songs even pull from dance and trance beats, but these beats are certainly not predominant.

The above is sarcasm.

This brings me to my next point. The rhythm section (the drums and bass) is amazing. I guess you could consider turntables a rhythm instrument in this instance. They are used to power the dancey beats that compliment the drums and usual guitar wah. Back to how awesome the bass and drums are. They are so tight. Not tight as in cool or hip, but literally tight as in “together” as if they have been played by robots that have perfect rhythm and the instruments have been played perfectly. Stuart Zender is the brilliant mind behind the bass on this album. You may recognize his name from other artists such as Lauryn Hill or Gorillaz (another band with a sick rhythm section, but that’s for another day). His style reflects that of such bands as Weather Report meets a some punk nonsense. Still he blends so well with the jazzy rock that is Jamiroquai.

To add to the jazz flavor, Jamiroquai even incorporates such instruments as trumpet, flute and trombone, which rarely appear on their newer releases. The point is, that the band pushes the limits of its limitless genre.

The only downside to the album is the shallow lyrics. I have listened to much worse though. And by listened I mean heard. To say the least, they are all written by the lead singer, Jay Kay, and not by some phony who has produced that same pop nonsense ten times over and still writes about the same crap over and over, but somehow it sells whether it be Britney Spears, Backstreet Boys, N*Sync, or any other pop artist who knows nothing about writing music. (Exception: Kelly Clarkson)

“Travelling Without Moving”

The future of Futurama

Posted by brame.

Futurama, as you may know, is coming back. Comedy Central (whose original shows are rarely comedic) has said they will air at least thirteen new episodes of Futurama in 2008. While the “entire” cast is already onboard as well as the necessary Groening, it is yet to be discovered if all the writers are returning. Billy West, who is “the voices of a couple of cartoon characters,” says he has an idea of which writers will return but hopes all of them. Read interview.

Furthermore, youTube has a PSA for Gore’s new movie “An Inconvenient Truth” that was produced by David X. Cohen. See it. I don’t support Gore’s views in any way shape or form, but I enjoy the Futurama flavor of the ad.

More exciting news: apparently Groening is working on four direct to DVD Futurama movies alongside Cohen and Ken Keeler. This is even more exciting than the promised single movie from Billy West about a year ago.

With brame the newest entertainments

Posted by brame.

Topics to discuss:

1) “V for Vendetta” release
2) Showbread’s “Age of Reptiles”
3) Protest the Hero’s “Kezia”
4) My renewed love of ska (a preview of the next article)

First off, “V for Vendetta” is coming out on dvd August 1st. Can’t wait another 2 hours, it is seriously one of the greatest movies ever produced by mankind. Mainstream? Yes. But I can deal with that. It’s one of those movies that I see the preview for and think “that looks pretty good,” then I watch it and it is frickin’ awesome. Point is, behind “Darko,” greatest movie ever created. (Scatterbrained, I know.)

2) The new Showbread album, “Age of Reptiles,”is also being released the same day as “V.” I wanted to get a jump start, so thanks to Demonoid, I already have it. If I could do the review of my first impressions in one word it would be: disappointing. After the brilliant, melodic, harmonious screams of Josh and Ivory on “No, Sir,” you would think the band could only get better. Instead they revert to less screaming, nearly no screaming to be exact. Just listening to the album infuriates me. There are seriously only three tracks I enjoy. They are: “Oh! Emetophobia,” “Centipede Sisters,” and the title track “Age of Reptiles.”

 

Lazored. Since I’m a Photoshop guru, I threw together this picture of “No, Sir” lazoring “Age of Reptiles.” Signifying my extreme hatred for Showbread’s new album comparatively to the last one.

3rd – Go buy Protest the Hero’s latest album “Kezia.” Even though it is a year old, I just found them thanks to Matt. I don’t really like metal except for some of the more technical stuff. These guys throw down some tech metal. Next to BTBAM it is truly some of the best I’ve heard.

Finally, a preview: Back in the day I listened to a band known as Five Iron Frenzy. They are dead, RIP. They really got me into ska, but not until after they were gone did I look into other ska bands. Anyways, I’ve come to discover quite a few. Including some of what one might call “skacore” (ska with yelling). I’ve come to respect the genre and it makes some of the greatest live music. Point is, I’ll give you the full story next time, with some of my skaggestions (lolololololololololz).

Push it to the Limit

Early morning humour.

posted by Jamie and brame.

Since we were bored as crap at 1:30 in the morning waiting for adult swim to loop, we decided to look for some hilarious vids on you tube. Here’s what we found:

Tripped : A kid gets tripped, best five seconds ever.

Ownd:  Fat Mexican kid gets ownd by his friends.

MK II: Every Mortal Kombat II fatality to some Metallica song.

8@115: A kid gets kicked. Might be fake, but looks like it hurts either way.

Cat/Dog “fight”: This is funny because the cat wails on a dog that looks like Dakota.

That’s all we got for now. I’m sure we’ll find more and let you know about them.

“Come on in. The door’s unlocked.”

posted by brame.

“A Scanner Darkly,” in a few words, is “Fear and Loathing” in suburban America. The movie was quite good, I thought. Not only did I think it, but I also said it. Though I never read the book, the script was apparently a good representation of the it. I plan on reading the book (after I finish South of the Pumphouse and now Emma), but I’m yet to purchase it. Anyways, Terry Gilliam (the mastermind behind “Fear and Loathing”) planned on making this film years before Linklater picked it up. Gilliam’s ideas were scrapped, but it seems Linklater’s script may have been somewhat influenced by the dialogue of Hunter S. Thompson (or Raoul Duke, whoever you wish to refer to him as). The movie’s script is now a major selling point for me. I thought I would be impressed solely by story and animation, but the script truly takes gold to animation’s silver and plotline’s bronze.

Moving on, the art direction (I hate to be that guy) was insanely awesome. I believe Brad agrees with me on this one. He said on the way out he really liked the animation. And apparently cel-shading is much harder to accomplish than normal CG animation. So I beg you Disney/Pixar, stop making bad CG children’s films. All of them are crappy minus two (“A Bug’s Life” and “Toy Story” if you must know). Anyways, toy bugs aside, the cel-shading was perfect for this movie. Elements such as “scramble suits” (a suit cops wore to protect their identities that constantly change their appearance) and the opening “bug scene” were balanced perfectly between a cartoonish imagination and a realistic portrayl of the future. Perhaps the film’s animation style will open the door for even television series to work with this concept. More from Wired.


Scramble suits

Freck and the “bugs”

Although I said before that Linklater had not found his niche he certainly pulled this one off very well in my opinion. His portrayl of the characters was flawless. When I walked out of the theatre there was not a character that I thought was underdeveloped. All of them also well acted. I was especially impressed with Robert Downey Jr.’s portrayl of James Barris. Let me tell you, I hate Robert Downey Jr., but I can’t say any other character was acted better that his own, James Barris. He is the character that you are supposed to love and hate, but I only loved him. He was such a douche, yet he was a hilarious douche.

“I could be mur… dered.”

I would highly recommend this film to anyone who wants to see drugees get angry with each other with a couple of plot twists. I called them both, but they may be unexpected to some. Still, just the dialogue is worth my five dollars. Hilarious, period. Not truly what I expected, but still great on so many levels.

“We meet again… Star Fox.”

The flower would also have been acceptable.

Posted by brame.

Tomorrow, we (as BBoW) plan on attending the newest Richard Linklater film, “A Scanner Darkly.” Within the next few days we will probably review the film in either one whole review or three smaller ones. Not to begin the process prematurely, but I have a question for Mr. Linklater. Why? Why did he make this animated “sci-fi, drama, thriller” that I hope is amazingly brilliant. A brief history of Linklater’s film career will have anyone else pose the same question. His career began with a decent success in “Dazed and Confused,” but was followed by multiple flops including “Before Sunrise.” Still he began with an indie hit, “Slacker.” These are his early works. Today Linklater is most known for his most mainstream hit with Jack Black, “School of Rock.” Given, he also contributed to such films as “Clerks” (a movie which needed no sequel) and “Kill Bill Vol. 2” (a movie which need not exist). My best guess is between these two options: Linklater wants to be that Burton-esque director who can do it all, or he is yet to find the genre in which he fits best. Either way, his latest endeavor is sure to be a cult hit.

In more future news, I recently purchased Les Claypool’s “rookie” novel. The book is sure to be no Catcher in the Rye (my personal favorite novel), but I hope Claypool’s musical genius spills onto paper. The book originated as a screenplay, but evolved into a novel. Still, South of the Pumphouse appears as though it will be a compelling and under-read title.

An Album I Should Have Bought Years Ago

Posted by brame.

I recently stumbled upon a huge music sale that included old Tooth and Nail cd’s for as low as five bucks. Given the oppurtunity I thumbed through the mass of crap to find that some of it was actually worth my time and money. Apparently compact discs such as As Cities Burn, Joy Electric, Haste the Day, andmewithoutYou are worth no more than a few dollars profit. Anyways, I continued to flip through I’d say atleast five hundred cd’s to find about 20 T & N cd’s in a row.

Now, I bought the new mewithoutYou the day it came out (October 5, 2004). I thought it was the most genius thing I’d ever heard at the time. Since then I’ve listened to more artists similar to their “genre” (such as Tiger Bear Wolf). I contemplated buying the old one, “[A --> B] Life,” multiple times. But! when I would stumble upon it in Best Buy, it would cost $14.99 or whatever insane price the store decided to slap on it. Plus, I had only heard two songs off thecd (“Gentlemen” and “Bullet to Binary”) and the latter song I was not very thoroughly impressed with.

Enough with the not so recent past and let’s jump forward to July, 18 2006 or the day I found “[A --> B] Life” on sale for $6.99. I don’t know why but I immediately grabbed it thinking “They can’t be frickin’ serious. Six dollars and ninety nine cents.” Oh, but they were serious. Very serious. I preceded to buy a few others as well. Most impressive of course is this “antique” mewithoutYou record I was so oddly excited about. I brought it home and listened to it twice through without stopping and thought to myself, “Why didn’t I buy this two years ago”? I’ll tell you why: it cost as much as a bottled water in Venezuela. Venezuela aside, I like this album better than “Catch For Us the Foxes.” Why? Well, I’ll tell you.

One, it’s raw. It doesn’t sound overproduced and as studio quality as the second record. It sounds as if they’ve recorded the record in a garage or storage unit. Songs like “Silencer” hold the bass that I loved on “Leaf” from “Catch For Us the Foxes,” but add a grungey (?) guitar effect and catchy hum in the background vocals. Don’t get me wrong, the second album has it’s raw flavor but nothing like the crunchy tone of the instruments in “[A --> B] Life.”

Second, the album art is sweet. A matter of opinion, yes, but be it that I nearly never download music, an album with good artwork is a necessity. And to be brutally honest, I tire of these new-fangled, no artwork, cardboard, oversize pieces of crap. (Yeah, stop doing that Morrissey). Enough about Morrissey though (he sucks), I like the basic two-fold layout they use and the color scheme, it is enough to be satisfying and not overbearing. Still no album art will top either of the “O’ God the Aftermath” releases.Original and Deluxe

The final feature that I believe tops “Catch For Us the Foxes” is the flow of the songs and the energy in the music. “Foxes” tends to put me to sleep. This endeavor however obviously has been created by the same Aaron Weiss who guest-starred in “Memphis Will Be Laid to Waste.” Here’s to you, past Aaron Weiss, I commend you on your past album and hope everyone that reads this will go buy it as well as the new record “Brother, Sister” on September 26, 2006.