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”

Gameboy Love, Part One

Posted by Brad.

Why gameboy love? Well, because with all the fuss over the new consoles and the DS/PSP, it should be realized that gameboy still has some lovin’ left to do. That and I love the gameboy advance so very much. I can say I’ve spent more time playing gameboy games than any other games… Several of my games have over 100 hours actual gametime on the clock.

So enough about my lack of a life up until a few years ago, let’s get to these new little pieces of love.

First we have the stateside release of Summon Night: Swordcraft Story. Brought over by Atlus, it’s a rock-solid dungeon crawler with heavy emphasis on weapon creation, as the name suggests. It’s pretty hefty, as I’m about six hours through it and I feel as though I’ve only finished about a quarter of the storyline. After that there’s apparently plenty of play value in collecting weapons, and finishing the 100 level basement. Overall the controls are tight, the gameplay good as gold, and on the whole of it has a feel of Tales of Phantasia. The casting system is easy to use, and the whole thing just flows. Seldom do I feel so compelled to play a game, just to get a character stronger. In that sense, it’s got a sort of MMORPG growth feel to it. Little storyline to accompany the action, but the game doesn’t need it, and in that it’s spot on.

This time I actually provided my own images!

Next we have the wonderful, wonderful bit generations series. I’ve picked up the titles Digidrive and Coloris from my friendly neighborhood importer, and they are very fun despite being described as basic.

Digidrive is my favorite game among the second installment in the bit generations line. It’s a game based on directing traffic. The controls are simple, the only buttons used are the D-pad and the occasional press of the A button. There exists a playfield resembling a four-way intersection, where pixelated traffic comes and goes. It’s your job to direct the traffic into the correct lanes with icons of the same type. When you get five of a kind stacked in a lane, the affinity of the lane is made to that icon type. Continue to get stacks of five of that type, and a gauge fills. Muck it up with a different icon, and your gauge is kaput, and drained into other gauges you may have running. If you have no other gauges, tough luck. The progress of the game is displayed on the right, where you have disc and a sort of rotor thing. All guages that get put into play propel the disc forward away from the rotor fiend. The rotor moves forward with time. Gauges are put into play either through a trance stage or an ambulance. A trance stage occurs when all four lanes hold an affinity. Traffic moves swiftly, making it your job to sort through them. All icons go directly to the gauge, rather than waiting for four of their comrades. This mode is excellent for building gauges, and it’s over when you mess up (and you will, it gets speedy quite quickly). The gauge you mess up is put to propelling your disc, and you’re rewarded with an ambulance piece. Ambulance pieces allow you to put any lane into play you choose. Simply press A to activate your piece, and put it into the lane you want to play. That’s the beautiful game in a nutshell.

I sacrificed my white lane for this screenshot, be thankful.

It plays like a champ, and it’s addicting as all get out. All that you’re going for is a high score of how far you’ve propelled your disc. There’s a good amount of unlockable color sets as well. If you’re a fan of arcade-type games where there is no final boss besides your own high score, you’ve come to the right place. The game holds potential for different strategies, and could be a cult favorite in a few years.

And then we’re left with Coloris. Coloris is a fairly simple puzzle game where your task is to put tiles in groups of threes on a large playfield. Think bejeweled. Play comes through color. Every turn you have a different color swatch, and it’s up to you where to decided to put this color. As can be understood, play your red swatch on a yellow tile, and it becomes organge. Blue and yellow to green, so on and so forth. But take a tile and a swatch that are across on the old color wheel, such as purple and yellow, and that tile goes out of play until you can free it up. There’s level clearing and score modes, and it’s quite fun.

Brame thinks I’ve typed an ungodly amount already, so I’ll stop while I’m ahead. Until next time, when I’ll take a look at bit generations: Dialhex, Rhythm Tengoku, and Yggdra Union, this is Brad, signing off.

Import Sites I use. I usually go for NCSX, as the shipping is cheaper as the warehouse is in the states. The others have a larger selection and stock, though.
NCSX / Play Asia / Lik-sang

And I say hey~ hey~ hey~ he~yay~ What’s going on?

“You have no idea how powerful I am.”

Posted by Brad.

Just as of late, I’ve realized how terrible I am at poker. I realized how I needed help, and boy, have I found it. Bill Fillmaff is the 1998 World Champion of poker, who has won over six million dollars playing poker over the internet. In nine simple lessons, his Secret System Plan, he can turn you from a poker zero into a poker hero. Of course, you’ll never be as good as Bill though, because he’s the poker god.

To get you started on the path of playing perfect poker, I’ve found the first four videos on Youtube. There are nine in total.

Lesson One.

Lesson Two.

Lesson Three.

Lesson Four.

You can find these videos, as well as the other five at Bill Fillmaff’s website, Billfillmaff.com. I highly advise you to watch these courses, they will change your game forever.

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.

Humans as Ornaments

Posted by Jamie.

Mainstream ruins otherwise good media. I’m sure many of you have experienced one of your favorite bands fall in the peril of mainstream. When a band enters this mainstream they acquire many more listeners apart from their solid fan base. This is good for them, but bad for you. example:: I have enjoyed Coldplay since 2002 and although they havn’t been anything close to underground or indie they have been modestly popular. The summer of 2005 came along and X&Y drops. This sparks many new fans which normally don’t listen to Coldplay or any similar music . They listen: 1. Because their friends are doing it 2. Because they are being exposed to it by the TV box and the radio 3.Because they suddenly realize they’ve loved the band the entire time.

This inundation of a band into the stream spawns countless fans who don’t really know/care/consider the band as a whole but simply the new material (especially the single) as supreme. A fan who, after hearing the word “Coldplay”, will blurt….”Is that that Clocks band?”…………No…………. That overplayed/overcultured song is not the band, rather they are Don’t panic, Amsterdam, In my Place, Rush of Blood to the Head, and their many other good tunes.

There are different levels of Mainstream:

• Subtle growth-Word of mouth filters fans who build a fan base gradually until they are a common-phrase.

• Album booming-One Album will propel a band to new heights and will usually overshadow previous albums from converted fans. ex::Death Cab’s Plans significantly boosted popularity

• Propagandized-The constant presence of a band or single will embed itself within people and force itself to success. ex::

• Dynamite-So big parents know about it, and you are haunted everywhere by it. ex::Friggin idiot, Liger

I’m sure you have heard Napoleon Dynamite quoted to no end. Case in point, if you were the first person to see the movie it would have been funny. The immense popularity has decreased it’s funniness to 0.

Combating Mainstream. There are many ways to beat this, but practicallity becomes an issue.

You could make a point to consume extremely indie media, but any thing you like billions of other people can too.

Ingest media, but don’t tell others about your gem. This is also impractical because half the pleasure of media is getting others opinions about it.

Stop caring and let hipsters, thugs, moms, rednecks, and the annoying average white Americans destroy your happy place.

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Argument -Mainstream media can’t be all that bad because if billions like it there must be something to it.Response-Wrong. Rap disproves that there is something to popular media, the bells and whistles that enrapture thousands don’t appeal to me. However, I did find myself repeating that I was “in da club” after 50’s album drop. Was this because I was a true 50 fan, no. I was enthralled in Curtis becuase of the constant presence.

If mainstream didn’t over-popularize good bands, quote to death decent movies, tell me I need to pop my collar and dust off my shoulder, or tell me how bad Bush sucked it would be ok. It’s not and I will continue hating it until I die. There are always alternatives and just because it’s popular doesn’t mean it’s right, cool, good, or even talent filled…and that’s why I hate mainstream.

Feline-Female-Philia (or Why isn’t the girl of the cat or read?)

Posted by Brad.

I forget how I even stumbled upon Cat and Girl; I most likely followed a link from another comic site. All that I can really say about this is that I’m glad I did. Cat and Girl, as the name suggests, chronicles the adventures of a very free-thinking girl and the large anthropomorphic cat that lives with her. The comic seldom sees a page without social-political commentary, but for a strange reason this is one of the few comics I feel can get away with it. I generally tend to avoid comics with any sort of these addresses, coming from any viewpoint whatsoever, Cat and Girl is usually so charming that it can pull it off. From Cat’s exhuberance and straightforwardness, to Girl’s question-everything nature, as well as the continued adventures of Grrrl and the Hipster Scouts, to Boy and his shy-natured crush on Girl, the comic offers something for anyone who’s anybody.

Much of the comic can be thought provoking, albeit sometimes a bit text-heavy. The author’s opinion is reflected in most of the comics, and in whatever esteem I hold these said opinions (from outright agreement in some cases, to doubt about the opinion at hand on others), I never once felt weighed down by any of them. Although some of the topic material of the comic is heavy stuff, the comic remains light and breezy, which is fantastic.

Overall it is an excellent comic, both in style and substance, which I would suggest to most anyone. While there may be several-many in-jokes those out of the loop may not get, it still is very enjoyable. Go and read it here.

All above images are the work of the author of Cat and Girl, which I assume the name of is Dorothy Gambrell, and is under a Creative Commons License.

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

Fifteen Way “Rock Scissors Paper”.

Posted by Brad.

At a loss for what to do when multiple parties exist at an impasse?

A modern multi-player melee of many mains, that’s what! Although I had seen it long ago, this image cropped up once again on the wonderful/terrible 4channel.

All credit apparently goes to David C. Lovelace.

Yohoho! I’m worried about the future of my studies!

Posted by Brad.

Brad here, time to get some nerd on! Apparently Yohoho! Puzzle Pirates now has free servers. I’ve played the game during free trials twice before, and now I’m finally setting off on a world of puzzle piracy like never before.

Obviously, the game is not for everyone. If you don’t care for cutesy graphics and/or dislike puzzle games, you might want to make sure that you don’t waste your time registering a username. If you might like it, give it a try, by all means. I mean, I love puzzle games, and maybe I did spend hours playing this last night. A few friends and I are on the “Hunter” server, my pirate’s name is the infamous Sogeking. If you happen to see me, don’t hesitate to invite me to be your heartie. I could go on explaining the game, but I’d rather be lazy and provide you a link.

Yohoho! Puzzle Pirates

Speaking of pirates, I’ve started watching One Piece again. For those of you who don’t know me, One Piece is to me what most people would commonly refer to as “my favorite”. However, the format that Kaizoku-Fansubs started putting their files in put me off (along with a disinterest in the Skypiea storyline, due to spoilers) , and I was split from the series for a good half year. I’m back, and I’m enjoying it just as much (more?) than before. Luckily, I’ve yet to pick up some of my more detestable demons such as Bleach, or even worse, Yakitate! Ja-pan (brame and Jamie mocked me for watching this nonstop). For this reason, I’m excited about some One Piece movie that has already come out in Japan! It’s like the eleventh movie this year or something! It’s got robots, and a really old woman! Anyways, view that shameless promotion and fanservice in the video, HERE!

I like to put pretty pictures in nearly every single one of my posts, so you may want to get used to it (Of course, only if we have any readersl… *sob*).

I’ll leave you with some little video tidbits that I love, in relation to the last post. Well, just Ten. Six. One. You’ll laugh until you cry. And watch it over and over. A woman punches a teacher in the face at a PTA meeting. The video isn’t as good as the satisfying “thok” sound that occurs when the punch lands. View this senseless violence HERE!

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.