wheeee for wiiiiiii

Yup, I've acquired a Wii. And what do you know? I've just typed a blog through the brand spanking new Internet Channel. Ahhh...I must say, I prefer a keyboard. Still, this does have its own little charm. Not that you readers can tell the difference. Oh well. You'll just have to take my word for it. More later. Promise.

for the dark things cannot stand the light...

Some sad news. First off, Peter Boyle has passed on. It's sad to lose such a great actor - from Frankenstein's monster to Frank Barone, he just oozed talent. Gotta love his seemingly hate-filled lines on Everybody Loves Raymond.

Marie Barone: We haven't had a conversation for 35 years.
Frank Barone: I didn't want to interrupt!

Good times.

Another death - Martin Nodell, the creator of the Green Lantern (and the Pilsbury Dough Boy) has died. As a huge Green Lantern fan, this is especially sad news. I mean, if it weren't for him, there'd be no Kyle Rayner today! Or Hal, or Guy, or anybody...I'm sure he was proud to see his creation spawn a whole legacy of superheroes.

Bunches of sad news...but hey, they lived good long lives. And now, they don't have to worry about all that suffering.

A great actor and a great comic artist/writer gone, but definitely not forgotten.

yeah right, sea cow

www.hornymanatee.com

Wow. Just wow. Conan, I salute you. Again.

You know, Jim Gaffigan has some good bits on the manatee. And he HAS collaborated with Conan on Pale Force (sort of). I smell yet another crossover of sorts.

Not much to say. Busy busy busy. For a week. And then I shall shut down for a week.

In unrelated news, damn you to hell Wal*Mart.

freshly organized room

Ah, the ol' room is nice and organized for the first time in a while. Not complete, mind you, but much better.

Ah, Christmas time. Sue me, but I love the commercialism and the fakeness of it. If Jesus is the "reason for the season" as they say, then Christmas should be in Marchish. So, I'll take my pagan winter festival, thankyouverymuch.

Been designing a beer label for a class project. Makes me wanna drink. Heavily. But not beer. Rum. Or Irish beer. Yeah, I'll settle for that. After watching Conan, I think I want to make my own Rummy eggnog. Mmmm...eggs + nog = bliss. And heart troubles.

GameFAQs has a top 10 list of underrated Nintendo 64 games. Ah, a nice list...makes me pine for them good ol' 64 days. Especially Mischief Makers and the long multiplayer nights of Goldeneye, Star Fox, and Smash Brothers. Ahhh...well, I restarted Pokemon. Yes sir, I'm going back to the days of wanting to catch 'em all. Right now, my Spanx the Mankey could whip your ass any day of the week. Spanx the Mankey, Slurms the Bulbasaur, and Spread the Butterfree. There's a trio.

Sleep is seeming like a good thing right about now. But a quick hop on AIM to analyze the crowd...and I got nothin' but Poop.

EDIT: HOLY CRAP! What's the Oblongs doing on Adult Swim again? Why not Mission Hill? Hmm...bears investigating. Later. Seacrest OUT!

mancomb seepgood

"Ohhhh there's a monkey in my pocket and he's stealing all my change!
His stare is blank and glassy and I suspect that he's deranged!"

Holy crap! Conan's "Skanks for the Mammaries." Genius, that man.

Hey, my blog reads have gone up. Hellz yeah!

This makes me incredibly happy.

I think it's about time for some meaningful, deep blog entries. Later. For now, go rent The Guru. Excellent movie.

say it isn't so

It seems Kid Rock and Pamela Anderson are calling it quits. You have no idea how distressing this is to me. At least twice as horrible as when Britney Spears dumped K-Fed. Believe me, tears were flowing. I was just about to have a stained glass window commissioned to commemorate the event. Alas, it serves as nothing more than a bitter memorial to what might have been. Thanks for the memories. We thought you might make it.



Thanks for the memories.

bamf

http://www.nightscrawlers.com/forum/viewthread.php?tid=6539

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dave_Cockrum

Never knew the guy, but we've all seen his work.
Never knew the guy, but let's all thank him for Nightcrawler, the Legionnaires, and all the others.

g.o.d.

"I've been thinking about the good old days
Decorated in a candy glaze
Each pretty ink blot panel
Tells a different tale
Each photo on the mantle
Sweet memories that never will go stale

I've been climbing up the walls again
Living with a memory that might have been
So pick me up on a weekday night
We could get together and ride around in
The black and white

I've been thinking about the good old days
My silly clothes and my silly ways
Each drunken drugstore purchase
Each chemical advance
Seven days a weekend
Every day the same old dizzy dance"

Seriously, I have been. I'm few of words right now. No real reason. Got to play the Wii. WiiSports>>>most anything. Ever.

A lot's going through this noggin of mine. Maybe I'll let some of those thoughts out on paper or on the blog. Maybe. Christ in a cartoon, I know I need to. Think anybody reads anymore? No, I don't think so. Me either.

Take care of yourselves. And each other. <_<. >_>

love you grandpa

Link

it's been a while

No big celebration for the 100th post. It's just a number anyhow. Anyway, thought you may enjoy this.

Raising the (Genius) Bar

Well, Apple Store genius Alan...you did indeed repair my ailing iMac. Of course, I could have done the repairs, but it seems Apple has some policy about not selling computer parts to customers through the store. Which means $85 was paid to said Genius to undo a trio of screws, swap out a power supply, and replace the the screws. At least the part itself was only...umm...$109. GAK! All because of a silly little "ambient light sensor" (read: the computer's iNipple). At least the Genius was very friendly.

I've been catching up on reading blogs and the ever-important 8-Bit Theater. After reading some of Dr. Kirkopholes' posts, I have come to the realization that I haven't had a good deep conversation in quite some time. Hopefully that will be remedied soon.

Ho hum...this post needs some meat. And a shameless plug. Plug time! Last night, I attended an Oktoberfest and was treated yet again to the sweet sweet sounds of Peace Train. They're based in Indy and specialize in music covers from the '60s. They are quite a bit of fun to hear, so check them out on the Internets to see where they'll be next. All I know is that they're at German Park in Greenwood until the 5th. So, get out there and witness a heaping helping of groove. And brats. If you're into that sort of thing. Which you are.

Now the meaty section. As I glance at the clock (now reading 12:45 in the a.m.), I am reminded of that wonderful period we like to call "slumber." A while back, I compiled a playlist on iTunes of sleepytime music. If any of you ever have difficulties sleeping, this just might cure your insomnia woes! Err...umm...unfortunately, it seems to be 45 tracks long. So, CHUNK TIME! Here, in no certain order is a sampling of the sleepytime playlist.

1) Acoustic Fireworks - Free at OCRemix
2) Symphonic Ruin - Free at OCRemix
3) Into the West - Annie Lennox, available on LOTR: ROTK ST - acronyms. Hell yes
4) Sadeness - Enigma
5) Rivendell - Rush, Fly by Night
6) Ravine Cleft Dimension - Yasunori Mitsuda, Chrono Cross OST
7) Rusty Ruin - Richard Jacques, Sonic 3D Blast OST
8) Various Enigmo II pieces - Michael Dan Beckett, pulled from Enigmo II
9) A Walk in the Woods - Martin O'Donnel, Halo OST
10) #34 - Dave Matthews Band, Under the Table and Dreaming

Now, that's just a sampling. Much more from Chrono Cross and various other sources. Anybody interested in more information? Hmmm? If so, leave me some comment love.

The Big 100 Approaches (or Computer WHOAS!)

Curse the iMac that sputters along for a few minutes before completely shutting down. The problem's pretty much been narrowed down to the power supply (I hope), so now it's just a matter of ordering said part.

That being said, posts haven't been as regular as I'd like them to be, mainly due to the issues with the Mac. Never fear, once that problem is addressed, things should go on smoothly. In related news, this is post number 98. Just a couple more, and the amazing 100 post uh...post. Don't expect too much.

The transition to IUPUI was a smooth one, and in fact I'm typing this post from the Business building of IUPUI's campus.

I see that GameFAQ's Top 10 list of the day (Top 10 DOS Games) contains Scorched Earth at number 10. That's good...I know one Ross Martin will appreciate that.

What a short and choppy post. Eh, it happens. Expect more. Soon. Ish.

Most Disturbing

It seems that all technology around me is rebelling. It started off simply enough. My rear passenger side tire 'sploded. No biggie, I suppose...a quick apprehension of some new tires and I was on my merry way.
It seems that all technology around me is rebelling. It started off simply enough. My rear passenger side tire 'sploded. No biggie, I suppose...a quick apprehension of some new tires and I was on my merry way.

Then the iPod began to mew and groan like a constipated kitten. It would hiccup and grind quite loudly. Oh, and then it began to lock up. Ah yes, then it refused to play any music I had purchased from iTunes (luckily the minority of music stored in my iPod, OMAC). And mysteriously, after a few attempted restorings the iPod seemed good as new. The joy was not to last.

Immediately after the iPod began acting normal, the connector on my cassette adapter (which allows me to enjoy my tunes in the car) began to give out and I now have to hold the iPod just so to get it to properly transmit my tunes through the wire into the cassette bay.
Then the iPod began to mew and groan like a constipated kitten. It would hiccup and grind quite loudly. Oh, and then it began to lock up. Ah yes, then it refused to play any music I had purchased from iTunes (luckily the minority of music stored in my iPod, OMAC). And mysteriously, after a few attempted restorings the iPod seemed good as new. The joy was not to last.

Immediately after the iPod began acting normal, the connector on my cassette adapter (which allows me to enjoy my tunes in the car) began to give out and I now have to hold the iPod just so to get it to properly transmit my tunes through the wire into the cassette bay. FM transmitter, you say? If only it could come through halfway clearly. Ah well. An iTrip seems to be in my future.

In another form of an iTrip, I may have to make an iTrip of my own to the Apple Store. Yes, to top off the rebellious technology list, my lovely iMac has started to act rather weird. First the Firewire ports will only charge the iPod (not transmit data). And now, it randomly shuts down. It likes to wait until I look away to blink off.

Could it be that I have pissed off some tech-deity? Or are the fates trying to grind my mind down until I snap and just start killing things? Funny story about that, actually...let's just say Wal-Mart does that to you. And yes, you are a dick. And that box of lightbulbs deserved the thrashing. But ANYway...I'm better now. A few seconds from a murderous rage, but I'm all better now...much much better...

At this point, the Mac shut down. Crap.

Anyway, I looked at this and got thoroughly depressed. Well, not really. Take a look. That's a graph showing how many visits the blog has gotten since about this time last year. Now, I think about 1.3ish people read this. Ah well. Perhaps when this school thing starts up.

And in case you were wondering, here is my desktop without a Firefox window open.

Yup. Good ol' Zoidberg peeks at me all the time. Dr. Zoidberg - a crustacean at which we can all look up. And now, it's time for some Futurama. And animal crackers. Mmm...well, that's all for now.

The Spiteful Crow Attacks!

I've had Earthbound on the brain lately. No idea why, but I've just been thinking a lot about that wonderful wonderful gem of a game. If you've not ever played it, give it a try - it's one of the shining examples of how awesome RPGs were back in the 16-bit days. Not that all RPGs suck now...it's just that you have to dig deep into the muck of miserable game titles to arrive at a truly good game. In my searchings for Earthbound material, I came across an interesting recording...it seems in 1989, Mother (the precursor to Earthbound/Mother 2) became the subject of a musical production. That's right, a full orchestra provided backup to choirs and umm...some sort of synthesizer mess. Chock full of cheesy '80s lyrics, this was quite something. In fact, I've pulled up the link now. Give it a listen. As of now, I've only listened to the Eight Melodies and Pollyana (which was referenced in Home Again, a track in another spifferific Earthbound musical production, Bound Together).

There's really not much else to report. Well, I looked up some info on Mother 3 (which doesn't seem likely to cross the Pacific). Looks wacky...Pig Armies, massive destruction, and scores of deaths. Seems fun to me! Though, the Mr. Saturns seem to be missing...

Any other news? Hmm...seems likely that I'll be working in the Wal-Mart dairy area. Yay for milk and eggs!

Attended a family reunion, and it turns out we have some black people in our family. They seemed quite nice, and offered us a place to stay if we were ever in the Chicago area. It was a tad odd at our family reunion, and it kept making me think of Uncle Ruckus' little tune on the Boondocks.

And now, it's time for some Futurama. And animal crackers (can't beat $1.50 for 2 lbs. of heaven!) Take care, people. Keep yourselves hydrated and out of the sun. PSA from the King himself.

Praise be to Journey (or I'm Back! For Good?)

Wow. It's been a little while since I've dipped into the world of blogging. Sure, I've been keeping up on the blogs of others such as Joey and Kirk (not to mention the much more famous Neil Gaiman and, slightly more famous than the previous pair, the Traveling Morans).

Much has happened in the couple of months since I've last checked in. Chief on that list of happenings is that I have sold my soul to Satan himself - in the form of Wal-Mart. Yes, that's right I'm one of the ASSOCIATES of Wal-Mart (Heavens forbid that they use any other degrading yet far more accurate term such as "Grunts" or "Sam's Bitchz"). Having signed my life over to the realm of Hades, I am eagerly awaiting a departure from said death camp. But hey...need the money for now. And I get a nice chunk of time to let my mind run wild (a lot of great things have been rolling around in my head - Fuman backstories, ideas for video games/stories/some art I want to mess around with...overall happy nuggets of creativity that should reach you, the reader, sometime in the near future. Prepare thyselves).

If I said the past few months have been great, I'd only be telling the somewhat truth. Things with Jen are great, I've been making money, and IUPUI stuff is going along...smoothly...and yet I've not been the happiest clam in the sea. All sorts of mental distress has been attacking relentlessly. AND they took Mission Hill off of Adult Swim. Bastards.

There are approximately 3,452,742 topics I could blog about. We've got that NEW mess in the mideast I could go on about. How about Lil' Kim and his shiny new weapons? OR I could go on and on and on about Rev. Bush and his veto on the stem cell research issue. Nah, you've got a ton of other blogs to read about that stuff. Here at the Kingdom of Fuman...We like to take things a little more simply. Well, most of the time...okay, fine We do have an opinion or two. To be honest, though, I'm not up to blogging about this particular set of events. All I'll say is North Korea>Iraq in terms of who's more threatening and who SHOULD have been the target if we just had to go to war. Hezbollah/Hizbollah and Isreal - don't know all the details, but is anybody really surprised that a destructive conflict has come out of that area? Bush and the stem cell research - stem cells are not little babies like they'd like you to believe. Sanctity of life? BULL! Someone defends a mass of stem cells and yet doesn't say a word about swatting a fly. Or how about sex in which the woman is not meant to be inseminated? Do we hold millions of micro funerals for the little guys? No, because they're not significant enough to be considered living beings at that point - stem cells aren't a far leap from that.

Hoo boy. Had to get a few things off of much chest. I know I've said this a million times, but I DO plan to get back in the blogging ring more often. A million tiny complaints have I that could be wonderfully crotchety blog posts - alas, I'll hold most of them within. Until they boil over and I snap and I'm known as that twitchy guy who works at Wal-Mart...well ONE of them, anyway. I do apologize for the lack of posting. I shall remedy it. In the meantime - go check out the trailer for TMNT (in HD at Apple if'n you want).

ARGH, that reminds me! Dead Man's Chest? Quite enjoyable. Good news on the comic movie front, too...Spidey 3 is looking good from what little I've seen. Seems the Hulk's getting a new director to clean up Ang Lee's mess. Next Batman looks good, though I'm not ecstatice about the villain choice (well, maybe I am. Don't want to spoil it for anybody, so I'll stop now). Ghost Rider...iffy, but we'll see. Iron Man, Fantastic Four 2 (yay for Fantasticar and Silver Surfer!), Wolverine, Magneto...the list goes on. What am I happiest about? What three upcoming movies am I so excited about that they deserve their own sentence? I speak of none other than the Flash, the Doom Patrol, and Deadman. Now get me a JLI movie and I can die happily.

It's difficult to stand on both feet, isn't it?

Gaaaaargh! I'm still not feeling 100% up to a full-fledged blog post quite yet. I still feel a bit behind in a lot of areas, and I'd like to fully settle down before making another post.

One of the areas I'm behind in is the world of gaming. Holy crap, how could I forget that E3 was last week? We've got a ton of Wii info (Mario Galaxy, Smash Brothers Brawl, Twilight Princess), a bit of Halo 3, new Sonic news, and much much more. It's almost too much to take in. I mean, Solid Snake battling it out with the likes of Mario and Link in Smash Brothers? Silver the Hedgehog? A non-fat version of Eggman?

There are a few blog ideas rolling around in the ol' noggin so there should be plenty of ammo for the gun of wisdom in the days to come.

EDIT: Did I mention I'm now stuck with a shoddy DSL connection that's split three ways? It's so slooooooow...

The Return of the King

Annnnnd I'm back. Yes, that's right - I have survived the Florideal. Overall, good times were had by all. There's much to talk about, and I'd love to get back to blogging right away. Unfortunately, I've some stuff to get caught up on (not to mention some mass reorganization of my room; coming home from college + packing for vacation = utter chaos). I had some time to think about some blog topics for you, the loyal readers. They seemed to have slipped from my head somewhere between Georgia and Kentucky, though, so I'll have to come up with some new stuff for you. Well...sort of. See? Blog funk and I've not even begun. I promise to write more when I'm settled a bit. Have a grand Monday, everybody.

Florida Should be Air-Conditioned

A final final...it was 15 minutes long. Seriously. I can't help but feel somewhat odd about that short little span of time for a test that is supposed to encompass half a semester's worth of material. Ah well...I'm not complaining.

This will be the last post for a while, I'm afraid. This next week will be a one of vacation in the wonderful world of Florida. Well...sort of wonderful. I've some mixed feelings about the whole ordeal. It should be a good time, but nothing can top the time I was in Florida a couple years ago with some good friends. THAT was some good times...I'll be sure to goose the yellow knight at Medieval Times for Jason.

Not much else to talk about. The past couple of days have been packing, unpacking, and repacking. Well, I hope you all survive a week without an update in the Kingdom of Fuman. Something tells me most of you will. Most of you...MUAHAHAHA!!!

Final Night

First off, Stephen Colbert is a god among men. If you've not yet seen his little roasting of the president, head on over to iFilm or any other site filled with political clips. I have to agree with Jon Stewart - "balls-alicious"(Colbert's speech, not Jon Stewart).

Conquest of Ape Escape 3 goes well...

Last night, I had a series of dreams. It began innocently enough with a trip to a Renaissance Festival of sorts. This particular festival happened to be on a crescent-shaped island. The inside was surrounded by a line of high mountains (oh, and the middle was a sort of plateau...I think. Well, for a while it was). As I travelled towards the center, I (maybe we at this point) noticed some hovering speederbikes. It turns out these bikers would rush out and grab travellers. This was supposed to be a good thing as the grabbed were the "chosen." You could break away if you wanted, but you'd never be grabbed again. Needless to say I was grabbed and I held on for dear life as we raced across the surf.

At this point, the dream became a sort of arcade game where I teamed up with none other than the Ninja Turtles! It was a high-speed game in which I (with a Ninja Turtle in tow) had to avoid wreckage and islands as I sped along on the speeder bike. There was even a colored HUD, much like the TMNT arcade game. I believe I wrecked at some point and was forced to walk...then I faded into something else...

It began at my house in at which there was some sort of party/gathering. For some reason or another, Jennifer and I began to suspect that my roommate Ken had been murdered. So, obviously since Jen and Ken had the same phone number, she could return home to check and see if he was dead. She called me quickly to report that he wasn't dead. Then she appeared inside the house. How about that?

Then the dream took a nightmarish turn. In this scenario, I was in a basement teamed up with Fox Mulder. He was busy reconstructing a photograph (which reacted a lot like a broken mirror). This reconstruction involved Fox "folding" the image to combine the shards into a larger chunk. There were some demons or something hanging out in the basement...which was fine because we teleported out of the basement and into a stereotypical suburban home. There was a knock at the door...

Fox and I answered it. Wait! Wasn't Fox at the door? Eh, no matter...anyway, there was a woman (a wife?) on a couch behind us and to our right. She began screaming "He's out there!" repeatedly. We ran to her and looked out the sliding glass door near her. As a matter of fact "he" WAS out there. Sort of. A person in a hoodie (face was hidden) had a shovel and was chasing a girl. He swung at her...slowly...and hit her in the back of the leg. She sort of collapsed...slowly. Then the Hooded Slow Shoveler came in through the door. For some reason, this part of the nightmare was the most terrifying and much screaming ensued. This continued despite the fact that hood fell away and we saw a girl. Seemed to be late teens or early 20's. She had a straw and threatened (while laughing and stumbling) to "stick the straw in your (our) asses." Yeah...don't know about that one. I woke up quite confused.

That was wordy!

So here we go...the last night here at BSU. Sure I'll miss a few things...well, maybe 2 things or so...but I'll be glad to head home.

Not quite sure how to end this post...umm...well, we don't need to worry about that. I'll probably be posting within the next couple of days. BOOYA!

Schizoid

Schizoid because this post has a rant AND a happy little thing. We'll get the ugliness out of the way first.

Something I've learned here at Ball State: people are pathetic. I sort of figured this already, but if I hear one more "Hey, can you tell me what we did/what we're doing/when the final is/what the final is over?" I just might snap. I can understand when somebody is sick and needs some info. That's fine. But what I tend to hear is "Oh, I'm sorry I couldn't POSSIBLY haul my ass to class like a responsible person, so can you spoon feed me the information that I just couldn't bear to go to class to get?" Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that you go to bed around 6 a.m. and wonder why you're tired. You know what's worse? Being asked THREE times when a final is. Once is almost too much since it's available on our online schedule. THREE times?

*phew*

I don't mind helping out. But people sadden me...

Okay, now for the good thing. The Calculus final went rather smoothly and I even had a nice walk back. The weather was JUST a tad too cold, but there was that perfect light rain. I have a feeling there will be some good nights this summer. This post seems unbalanced - a lot of rant, a little goodness. Well, the power of the good is infinite. Or something cheesy like that...

Esuna

I'm happy to report that I feel much better today compared to last night. My head feels cleaner and there's not much in the way of ominous inexplicable feelings thrashing around my brain.

I've also learned that I can get a 0 on my speech final and still get around a 90% in the class. I can get a 0 in computer science and still get around an 80%. Or maybe I mixed those up. But that seems right.

Tonight begins the first of the Final Four Fiends.

"Must stop finals' spinning! Jump Kain! Jump!"

Expect a slightly more substantial post in the days to come.

Musings of a Gummed Up Mind

I didn't blog on Friday. I really really felt like blogging today, but I couldn't quite get it out. I'm not exactly sure what's been going on with me, but my mind seems like it's in a big funk. It's not any sort of depression or anything...my mind's simply not quite working in a lucid manner. I almost feel like my mind is restructuring itself and some of my core beliefs and values are shifting a bit. I'm sure they're not headed in any horribly evil direction...just a different one.

I must say, finals week is not a good week for a mental restructuring. However, I feel that finals should go pretty smoothly. My calculus final is Monday night, so I'll be glad to get that one out of the way early - it looks to be my hardest.

There seems to be SOMEthing jostling around in me. Can't say that it feels too pretty, either...ah well. Like I said, my mind's in some sort of haze. I'm hoping that this week will clear this shroud up.

Millions of things seem to be great blogging topics...video games, comics, music...I've certainly kept myself involved in those. Oh well. Maybe a better post will be coming your way soon enough. Take care, people.

Wii are Curious...

So, Nintendo has finally revealed the official name for their new console - Wii. Pronounced "we", the "ii" is supposed to represent the nunchaku-style controller. Also, the "we" is supposed to represent some sort of relationship between the makers of games and the gamers...or something like that. Sounds more like a collective to me. A potentially perverted collective.

"Wii are the Borg..."
"Hey, want to come play with the Wii with me?"

Eh, what's in a name? Remember the Dolphin? The Starcube? The ULTRA 64? Well, that's it for the moment. Just felt the need to get the word out.

Oh, it's not quite it. I beat Ape Escape 3 (well, first run-through) today. Imagine my surprise when I heard the last stage music - it was none other than Gustav Holst's "Mars, the Bringer of War." A nice end of the world sort of theme. Afterwards, I was treated to Mesal Gear Solid...that's right, you, as a monkey must rescue Solid Snake. With a Banana Pistol. I'm not even kidding.

Now it's definitely it. For this post, anyway.

Super Leafage

So, I think I know a thing or two about Japanese mythology. I'm at least aware of some of the creation myths and mythical creatures such as the kappa and kitsune. Today, I read up on the wonderful creature called the tanuki. Before today, I knew it was a dog/raccoon-like being who (according to legend) utilizes leaves to cast spells, shapeshift, and generally be a magical raccoon. AFTER today, I learned that they have enormous testicles.


















Holy crap. Those are huge. I also learned there's an old Japanese schoolyard song that goes a little something like this...

Tan Tan Tanuki no kintama wa
Kaze mo nai no ni
Bura bura bura

Translated, it says "Tanuki's testicles swing back and forth even when there is no wind blowing."

You Japanese...I salute you.

There's a Smell in the Air...

And that smell is of cookie. It seems that my roommate has baked cookies and set them out on a platter on my side of the dresser. I'm sure that they are there for the purpose of cooling...but I can't help but ponder the possibility that perhaps they are some sort of offering to me. They are, after all, stacked in a nice pyramid of doughy goodness.

They sit...taunting me...

I've been tossing around some ideas for the Friday tunes blog. I couldn't decide to do a theme or what. Spurred by the find of "The Ballad of Barry Allen" I was considering doing a playlist involving superheroes. Unfortunately, that turns into a list of about 7 Superman-related songs, 1 Flash-related song, and a CD's worth of wacky 60s Justice League recordings by Arthur Korb. Still not sure what will be coming...

It just occurred to me that this Friday is the LAST Friday tunes blog while I'm here at BSU. FUBSU! Don't worry, they'll still be coming fairly regularly in the summer (though I can't promise one two weeks from tomorrow).

The joys of a slightly slushy 20 oz. of Coke (my first soda of the day!). Never was there anything more delicious while being so precarious. You've gotta watch out and make sure that the releasing gas doesn't cause the Coke to expand past the lip of the bottle. Else you'll make a mess.

Advent Children: It has come out. I must see it (again, though this time in English). Perhaps this weekend...perhaps...

Now, however, it is time for some of that luscious Street Fighter action.

SHOURYUUKEN!!!

The Ballad of Barry Allen

And you say the world goes rushing by
but it seems so slow to me
and you see a blur around you fly
but it takes too long
it seems so slow to me

So, I'm roaming Wikipedia today like I so often do. I then felt the usual urge to read some random wiki articles on random superheroes and I happened to notice that on the bottom of the Flash page that there's been a song created entitled "The Ballad of Barry Allen." I did some searching and found the song for sale on iTunes so I promptly downloaded it. Well, promptly is the wrong word - you see iTunes likes to be painfully sluggish here at BSU (it just gives up on large podcasts completely - no TWiT for me). The song is quite good and offers an interesting perspective on the character of the Flash. Lyrics can be found here.

Is it just me or does Jon Stewart do that little slow eye close thing a tad too much on the Daily Show previews? Just a random thought.

Comics have been on my mind today. Things are just changing so rapidly in the comic world. A new Blue Beetle, a new Atom, Booster taking a starring role...it's just crazy! I'm eager to see where DC takes us, though.

Prommy prom prom. Last weekend was SHS's prom and I attended that happy little gig with my Jennifer. Pre-prom, we headed to Ruth's Chris Steakhouse. Expensive? Yes. Delicious? YES! Best restaurant steak I've ever consumed.

Prom itself was very very good. Fun times for all! Dancing and TyTy. What more do you need?

Not much more to report...
All quiet on the western front...

Thank You Bleward

We have Blaire to thank for this additional Friday post. Why credit Blaire? These...are his creations. He gifted me with these last May for graduation and I promised I'd put them up online. Well, it's nearly a year later...but better late than never! Enjoy these wonderful checks made out to me by Blaire.










And then you have the back.











Hope you loved it. I know I did.

It's like..umm...that...what?

I picked and picked at my brain (figuratively) and I could not come up with an idea for this post. Not even a post TITLE came to mind. I thought...hey, why not a First 10 Friday? I decided I wasn't feeling it. How about a themed Friday? Ah, good idea! But...what theme? Album review/comment! Umm...which one?

You see, I am very indecisive at the moment.

Let it Begin...

So, I've signed up with YouTube. What does this mean to you? Why, it means imbedded video posts of course! Don't expect anything amazing anytime soon. But in celebration of joining YouTube...here is Disco Jason. Enjoy.

Thy Game is Over

Take THAT comm 210 class! I completed my final speech presentation today, and I don't think I could feel much better. Sure, I was a tad monotone throughout it...but it's OVER! And I'm quite confident that I passed.

Now what else to go on about? Ah - a buddy o' mine, name of Kirk, is part of a wacky group dubbed Oily Chicken. I've watched some of their work and I must say...it's quite bizarre. And lovely. Here's a trailer for a project they're cooking up this summer...enjoy a preview of - The Township!



Ah...methinks I should get a YouTube account. I've been playing with iMovie a bit and just messing around with some video I have stored away on the Mac. I have a feeling that there will someday be a nice little video post soon. Yessss...YES!!!

Only a week and 2 days before I have to square off against the Final Bosses! Sorry for the short post with little or no point. No wait, I'm not - not at all. Hoohah! Perhaps another post will arise in the evening.

Perhaps...perhaps not...

Themed First 10 Friday - My Face Hurts

So, somebody has pissed in our trash room. These amazing BSU students never cease to amaze me. Hoo boy...I'm trying something different with the First 10 Friday today. I've picked a random phrase and searched for each word in the phrase with iTunes. The result? The "My Face Hurts" playlist! Alright! I don't know how some of these songs wound up on the list...but we'll let it go.

1) If You Don't Love Me (I'll Kill Myself) - Pete Droge
Interesting little song featured in the Dumb and Dumber soundtrack. Nothing too amazing here, just your standard mid-90's rock I suppose. Enjoyable.

2) All in My Head - Shawn Mullins
Whoa there, Mr. CheaterCheaterFaceEater. This was mentioned in last week's Music from Scrubs bit. What do you know? The song hasn't changed since then.

3) Be My Yoko Ono - Barenaked Ladies
WONDERFUL! I love this song...it's silly and at the same time a bit lovey. It has a really nifty, upbeat sound to it. The iTunes originals version features an extended little "Yoko Ono scream/singing" segment which is..uhm....interesting.

4) Penny Lane - The Beatles
This appared solely based on the album name (Magical Mystery Tour). So, technically it shouldn't be on the My Face Hurts list. But oh well. You probably know this one. If not, make an attempt to. It's...okay.

5) That Face - John Pizzarelli
Not an excellent post-speech class song. A smooth quiet jazz song. I don't recall a lot of it...I think it may have lulled me into a walking sleep. I think it warrants a re-listen, but not right now. I've no time to dilly-dally.

6) Jimmy Olsen's Blues - Spin Doctors
Took me a second to figure out how this got on the list. Once again, it's a little faker "my" in Jimmy. Once again, a mid-90's song that most people would probably recall upon hearing it. It sounds very much like their other hit from the same CD, "Little Miss Can't Be Wrong." Not that there's anything wrong with that.

7) Sit on My Face - Monty Python
Wow. I was hoping this would pop up on the list. A very short (46 seconds) military march by none other than the members of Monty Python's Flying Circus. Yes, it's lewd. It's also hilarious.

8) Margaritaville - Jimmy Buffet
Accursed fakers! Another Jimmy cheating his way into the list. Oh well, this song reflects the weather we've been having, I suppose. Can't say I'm a huge Buffet fan, but...(insert something here).

9) Carry on My Wayward Son - Kansas
Ah, another very nice song. Ummm...that's it.

10) ******* - ***********
******** planes ***8* and the bright ********** will ********* eat every****** ****** *** **** *** ****. BUT, ******** **** *** *** * ** *****. Watch out, *******. ********* *** ** ******* ** ************ ****** ****** chickens.

Well, that's it for today. And now off to an evil evil weekend of calculus, computer science projects, a speech, and assisting with a video project. Oh, and getting up early Saturday and Sunday. Can't forget that. Luckily, one of my best friends is Red Bull. And tea. I like these. Short, choppy sentences that is. Yup.

Cranial Demons

Ghar! No, that's not a pirate grunt - I have head demons again. An evil pounding headache that just pushes me bit by bit...oh well, it will pass. I've been wanting to blog some today, but didn't really feel up to it. And now I do. Lucky you.

It seems that Attack of the Show is losing two of their hosts (co-hosts? umm...personalities. that works). Sarah Lane and Brendan Moran are heading out to...get married!? It's sad to see them go, just as it was when Kevin Rose went on to other things. I loved Sarah's Damn Good Downloads as well as the Gems of the Internet. And I loved Brendan's...uh...well, let's just say he may have been the most eccentric of the AOTS crew. They will both be missed, I'm sure. Good luck on your little marriage thingy. You're lucky I like Pereira...or else you'd be sorry. MUAHAHA!

I felt like there was possibly something else important to blog about. Perhaps I was wrong...you see the head demons have gummed up my thinkbox. If I recall something, don't worry your pretty little heads - I'll post it. And now off to do...something...or other. Oh yeah, by the way (in case)...it seems that listening to Journey alleviates headaches. At least it did for me. For a while anyway...

That's it for now.

First...2...Friday?

It went like this: I wake up, shower, and proceed to speech. What plays on the iPod on my jaunt? Nothing too exciting. In fact I already forget. See how great the random list was today? SO, I tried it again. I decided I'd give the random shuffle another shot on the way back from speech. Once again, nothing too exciting...SO, I gave up and just listened to what I wanted to listen to. And in doing so, I killed the First 10 Friday for today. BUT, don't fear...for I'm trying something daring and new today. Album reviews! Well, more like album comments. Yaaay...so, here you go. 2 albums: a commercial one and a free one (coincidentally a video game remix one).

The one you have to buy:
















Music from Scrubs. I looked at my various albums on iTunes, saw this, and said...eh, what the heck? It's an interesting mix of music, most of which is pretty enjoyable. Of course, the show's opener, Superman by Lazlo Blane, is present as is a tacked on instrumental credits closer. It's an excellent song and fits the show perfectly. Colin Hay, Shawn Mullins (remember him? "Lullaby"?), and John Cale are also on the list. Many of the songs have a regular guy loserism about them which is juuuust peachy. The only track I'm not fond of in his collection is "Hooch "by Everything. Gah, do not like that song much at all. My personal favorites from the CD are "Overkill" (acoustic) by Colin Hay, "New Slang" by the Shins, "Superman" by Lazlo Blane, and "Dracula from Houston" by the Butthole Surfers. This is definitely worth the purchase (if you can find it). Of course, you could always pick out the best tracks and purchase them on iTunes.

And now, the free album:












Okay, I cropped that image from the homepage banner of joecam.net. Hope no lawsuits ensue...this is an EXCELLENT collaboration of remixers. Dhsu, Mustin and the OneUps, virt, and Dale North are just a few of the names connected to this 31-track project. For those that enjoy quirky music or may be interested in entering the world of video game remixes this is the place to start. Of course, Earthbound fans are "bound" (heh heh...) to love this. Check it out at http://earthbound.joecam.net/

I think there were a few news bits I wanted to touch on...OH YES! Lionhead studios was acquired by Microsoft. Though this is excellent news for Lionhead, this means that these games will only appear on Xbox 360 and PC, must like Rare games. I admit I haven't seriously played a game by Peter Molyneaux (head of Lionhead) for a while, I greatly enjoyed his work at Bullfrog. That seemed important enough to me to mention. So there you have it.

The weather's beautiful, and so too are shiny things. My good buddy Kasey (Wil Hawk) is back! In celebration, we may eat a wheel of shrimp and down much Wal*Mart tea. This weekend will be great. Hope it goes the same for all of you. Take care, everybody.

Marry me with my money...

Here's that meaningful post I promised. Recently I've been going back through some of my MAME games and playing some good arcade games. Now, among the games I generally play (Capcom's fighting games) there are a few true gems of the arcade world. Not least of which is Sunset Riders.

This amazing game was a product before widespread video game political correctness. It was a time when cowboys mowed down virtual Injuns with extreme prejudice (and glowing bullets). A time when Mexicans fired unlimited pink bursts of grapeshot (which matched their ridiculous sombreros and panchos). I present to you...my personal hero of Sunset Riders: Cormano.














There he is, doing what he does best - swiping booze and uh...being cool. Marvel as he pays the rustler no mind, despite the imminent gunshot.














Ooh, action shot! Don't you hate it when Western outlaws set barrels of oil on fire? Well, Cormano scoffs as he SINGLE-HANDEDLY traverses the rope.














The bosses in this game were something. That's Dark Horse, who is also apparently a firefighter/male stripper. Good thing his horse is covered.














Spearking of the bosses, check out the middle guy. Chief Scalpem. I'm not even making this up...














Yay Cormano! Keep up the good work and keep the Wild West safe! Gotta love a pale Mexican in a pink/bright red getup.

And now, I bring you something amazing from another side-scrolling beat 'em up. This is from Knights of the Round, so you could probably predict the playable characters: Sir Lancelot, King Arthur, and Perceval (maybe you wouldn't have guessed him right off the bat). But what's this? Is it really King Arthur? Or is it - OH MY GOSH!














Perhaps you need a closer look and a side-by-side comparison...








It's Chuck Norris! I KNEW he was the King of the Britons in some way or another. Wow...screenshots are fun. Hold on to your spats gang! I have a feeling more will be coming.

Have a nice remainder of your Thursday, everyone. Tune in...er...click in tomorrow for the First 10 Friday.

The Fell Beast

I just returned from vanquishing a rather tedious calculus exam. The test wasn't too hard, but it was incredibly long. As in hour and a half long. And I was among the first handful that completed it. I really hope that this doesn't indicate the length of the final exam, because if so...we're looking at a 3 hour exam. Ah, I'm sure it won't last THAT long.

I've been wanting to write lately, but I'm not quite sure what about. Here I am, still at a loss as to what the subject of this post could be. Let's brainstorm shall we? Hmmm...

Bizarre dreams, end of school, Will Wright, MAME, food, "If you're not laughing, you're not living", Peter Molyneaux, Medea, picross, Revolution, Pineapple Upsidedown Soda, persuasive speech, Stephen Colbert, MGS3: Subsistence, Kingdom Hearts 2, stupid people, OYL, ummm...there are many more things. And you know what? I don't have the drive to post about any of them.

SO, that's it for this post. Yes, this waste of online space. Not to mention your time. Perhaps tomorrow, we'll have a more meaningful post. If that doesn't happen to be the case, you can always look forward to the First 10 Friday.

That's it for now. I think.

Rainy First 10 Friday

Ah...a kindly speaker in our speech class handed out coffee to everyone and it was delicious! Hang on - I'm on a java-fueled musical rampage! It's Fuman's First 10 Friday!

1) Across the Stars - John Williams
Ah, a staple of the Star Wars soundtrack. Very beautiful and sweeping, not quite heroic and militaristic like the main Star Wars theme. Fits into the movie quite nicely.

2) Go Go Cactus Man - Yoko Kanno and the Seatbelts
Perfectly western theme for a western-inspired anime series, Cowboy Bebop. Your standard rough-ridin' cowboy tune, I suppose. One of my favorite Cowboy Bebop tracks.

3) On the Sunny Side of the Street - John Pizzarelli
A nice little cover by Mr. Pizzarelli. Can't say that I LOVE his little scat areas (gets a tad boring, if you ask me...), but they're okay. Overall a happy little tune. The kind that makes you feel quite alright.

4) Enid - Barenaked Ladies
I had never listened to this one. Now that I have, umm...well, I sort of forget how it sounds. You see, I went to stock up on foodstuffs between listening and writing this. Whoops. If I remember correctly, though, it was about some BS relationship. I do recall it sounding good.

5) Lupin III Theme - Charlie Kosei (I think)
Ah, now THIS brings back memories. Lupin III is one of the best anime series I've ever watched. Wacky and at the same time a tad serious, Lupin III follows the adventures of Arsene Lupin III, a descendant of the great French thief Arsene Lupin. Zany antics, cool heists, and a funky '70s soundtrack. What more could you ask for? By the way, Charlie Kosei recently did a track called Que Sera Sera for the Katamari Damacy soundtrack. He's an odd one... man, I need to start watching Lupin again!

6) Falling for the First Time - Barenaked Ladies
Another BNL song! This is definitely one of my favorites - great instrumentation and great lyrics. Add in a great message (the feeling of freedom one gets from realizing that it's okay to be human and screw up) and you've got an excellent song. If anybody thinks that BNL are little more than a novelty act with silly lyrics, check this song out.

7) Brian Wilson - Barenaked Ladies
Okay, 900-something songs in this pool of music and THREE BNL songs in one list? Something is quite fishy here...the title's pretty self-explanatory: It's about Brian Wilson, one of the Beach Boys, who fell into a deep depression after bits of his life began to crumble away. Less obvious from the title (though quite glaring in the lyrics) is that the singer is relating his own feelings to being "like Brian Wilson."

8) #34 - Dave Matthews Band
Sort of a hidden track on the Under the Table and Dreaming CD (which is probably my personal favorite DMB album...probably). This was really cool in that the CD actually skipped to track 34 (the CD only had 12 songs on it). I don't know why, but little things like that seem cool to me. This is instrumental, though I believe there ARE lyrics that Dave sings in concert. Can't say much about the lyrics because I've not really heard them. This is quite the calming song.

9) Can't Buy Me Love - John Pizzarelli
Ah, another Pizzarelli cover. I like the original Can't Buy Me Love, so my standards are sort of high for this song. Luckily, Pizzarelli delivers with an interesting jazzy/big band version. Odd that the last bits of the song have Woodchopper's Ball (the Gong Show theme) playing.

10) Frankenstein - The Edgar Winter Group
This was sort of tacked on. See, Sunshine of Your Love was on the list, but I realized it had already appeared...so, the next random track was this. I've always enjoyed this song (even the perverted rendition back in HS pep band). Good for a listen, I wouldn't put this up on the 'best ever' list.

I sort of lost it part way through the list. I just didn't seem to get into the list as much. Ah well, it was fun anyway. Hope you enjoyed. Have a nice weekend, everybody.

Sans Thesis

Well, the dreaded informative speech is over with. I felt rather prepared for this one, and wouldn't you know it, I wound up doing quite alright. A few seconds over the limit, but close enough. The topic, if you were interested in knowing, was "Comics as a Reflection of Culture." This name was chosen because 1) That's what I spoke about and 2) Because my wit was a little dull at the time of trying to think of a better title.

A great idea came into my little (err...actually, rather large) cranial cavity yesterday in my Visual Basic class. I don't want to spill the beans on it quite yet. I will say this, though - you will all be sorely disappointed if I DO decide to share my idea. Not because it's a bad idea, but because it's really no big deal at all. Just a little character I've come up with and am interested in pursuing something with.

In the past week or two, I have been thinking about my video game heroes. No, not Mario and Sonic...I'm talking about the likes of Shigeru Miyamoto, Will Wright, and Peter Molyneaux. Not sure why...but the recent Game Developers Conference probably has something to do with it. Ah well, who knows? Maybe it's a little thing called inspiration trickling into my brain? I sure hope so...

Finished up my weekly batch of comic reading. This OYL stuff that DC's playing with is driving me crazy! Suddenly throwing your storylines a year into the future will mess with just about anybody's mind, I suppose...why doesn't Superman have powers? No Kyle Rayner on Earth? What's up with Vandal Savage? Supergirl - a Legionnaire? WHA!? 52, you can't come soon enough.

Speaking of comics, Sonic the Hedgehog #160 came out. Guest appearances galore! Finally, the introduction of Bean and Bark. For you non-Sonic fans out there, these two made their debut way back in Sonic the Fighters. I like how Bean's personality is being handled...apparently he's completely nuts and hyper. And you can't complain about a Mario Sunshine reference in a Sonic comic! Much like I envisioned a green bomb-throwing duck. Finally, the Sonic art is picking up...

I think that's just about it for now. Can't say for sure why I wanted to post, but I did. And there you have it.

5 Weeks to Go!?

Whoa...it just hit me how near the end of the school year is. I have to say that this semester has sort of flown by. In fact...I don't recall the past 2 weeks occurring. That's probably not a good thing. Bah, oh well! So close to getting out of here and on to what I REALLY want to do (direct...). I just felt the need to post today, but I don't really have an ultimate idea in mind (by the way, that last parenthetical expression was false). I've been reading Medea: Harlan's World lately and it is quite interesting. It's a good insight on the thought processes that may or may not go on in the heads of writers. This, of course, has led me to do a little reading on Harlan Ellison himself and he seems to be quite the interesting guy...

What else to yammer on about? It rained a bit today, but it was a really good rain. The first good rain, in my opinion, in quite a while. It was the right temperature out for it and it smelled like a good rain. It's odd that when you're out in the country, a light rain seems to freshen everything up. In a more heavily populated area, however, it just makes everything cold and desolate. Usually, anyway. Today's instance was a rare instance where even in the ugly areas that I tread on the way to classes the rain seemed refreshing. Top that off with the fact that What a Wonderful World came on right as I noticed the beauty of the rain! It's the little things, eh?

It turns out that work is underway to begin hacking the Super Mario 64 ROM and create custom levels. Whoa. I remember when it was amazing for the (somewhat) common computer user to be able to get into the Super Mario WORLD ROM and mess with the textures. This reminds me. I love video games. LOVE 'em. It saddens me that I've been rather busy (or in the mood at the wrong time) and video gaming hasn't been a priority. I have a feeling it will pick up in the summer and probably next year. It's hard to get into a long game when you don't know if you'll be able to play consistently for the next few weeks.

EDIT: What a moron I am! I meant to mention that I played co-op Donkey Kong Country 2 over the weekend with my lovely Jennifer. Now THAT'S a good classic game. Sorry, just had to mention it.

Spore. Just wow...I've always admired Will Wright (though I didn't always know it) for promoting ingenuity and innovation into his games, even at the cost of sales. The more of Spore I see, the more I want it. Here's hoping that the game gets ported over the to the Nintendo Revolution! Of course, a Mac version would suffice...yeah, I think that would be sufficient.

I think that's just about all that's been on my mind. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a speech to practice. And I might take a little visit to Harlan's World.

Fuman's First 10 Friday 3/24 - STOP THE HAPPINESS!

Man, So Happy Together was in the first 10 yet AGAIN! That's three times in the past...4 weeks, I think. So it's kicked out. Well, yet again an interesting lineup. Hope you LOVE IT.

1) Touch Me - The Doors
Simple and repetitive, but I still like it alright. I've liked a few Doors songs here and there, but I've never really gotten into the band.

2) Leaving the Field - Boghall & Bathgate Caledonia Pipe Band
An odd little Scottish ditty. Seems to be some traditional Scottish military song. Not sure how this wound up on the list...but I do enjoy them bagpipes! WOOHOO!

3) Hardware Store - Weird Al Yankovic
I have been eagerly awaiting this song's arrival on the list. This is from Poodle Hat, Al's latest CD (which was good, but not exactly AMAZING). This is an original Al song and is quite possibly one of the greatest things I've ever heard. It's cool enough having different voices chiming in to complete a sentence, but the list partway through the song is awesome. If you've never heard this song, do yourself a favor and listen to it. Utterly amazing.

4) Hooch - Everything
Gah, I don't think this group ever got off the ground. This happens to be packed in with the Music of Scrubs CD. Otherwise, it wouldn't have ever gotten onto the list. I'm not a fan of this song, so it'll probably be going bye-bye on the list. Not the worst song ever, but far from being really liked by me.

5) Before You Accuse Me (Take A Look At Yourself) - Eric Clapton
I believe this was a cover/remake of an older song? (Yes. Research indicates the original was by Bo Diddley.) Pretty alright song, but I didn't get too into it. Perhaps I'll take another listen sometime.

6) You Can Call Me Al - Paul Simon
Gotta love this song. The music video also reeks of happy. Can you really go wrong with Chevy Chase and a pennywhistle? I didn't think so! That being said, I'm not really sure what this song is about...something about being lost in life and trying to figure everything out, perhaps? That doesn't really explain the chorus, though...

7) Bell Bottom Blues - Derek and the Dominos
I had never heard this song before, but I think I've realized yet another Clapton great. Sounds like a sort of desperate love song and has a lot of emotion behind it. Good song, I need to listen to it some more.

8) Superman Theme - John Williams
Williams is known for some good sweeping heroic-sounding arrangements, and this piece is no different. This makes me want to go watch Superman: The Movie...

9) The Spirit of Radio - Rush
One of my favorite Rush songs. The lyrics in this song suggest that music on its own is a wonderful and beautiful thing. However, many "artists" are selling out and producing music solely for profit and glory. Very true song and also an incredibly enjoyable one.

10) Alternative Girlfriend - Barenaked Ladies
This was the first time I had ever listened to this song in its entirety. Can't say I completely understand the meaning of this song, but it does have some interesting lyrics. This might merit another listen sometime.

That's it for today. Now I think it's time to hit that old dusty trail...to Shelbyville. Have a good weekend, everybody.

News and Such

Whoa! A lot of good gaming news in the past few hours.

First off, Sony's Playstation 3 has been confirmed as region-free. This doesn't necessarily excite me for Playstation 3, but maybe this will set a precedent for future consoles? Well, that'd be cool...

Sega Genesis and TurboGrafx games on Revolution! Nintendo has confirmed that Genesis and TurboGrafx games will appear as part of the Revolution's "virtual console." Mmm...now let's hope that they won't do something crazy like rent out downloads. Blah. I'm sure they will.

And finally...a new Legend of Zelda game slated for release sometime this year! This is on the DS and is currently titled Legend of Zelda: The Phantom Hourglass. It's cel-shaded and seems to make good use of the DS's features. Here's hoping it's a good one.

That's all the VG news for now. Sorry for the sort of...stiff news, but I'm feeling rather odd. I'm thinking tonight there will be a better post. Perhaps, anyways.

That's all for now! I promise more...umm...I don't know...real blogs in the future!

Vi Veri Veniversum Vivus Vici

I feel the need to blog. I'm not sure about what exactly to blog about, but I have some seeds in there. First thing, though - I believe I'm done with the First 5 Monday thing. It was alright while it lasted, and it gave me a good reason to listen to more video game music, but I just haven't been feeling it. Perhaps I'll randomly throw a VG First 5 out there. Who knows?

I saw V for Vendetta over the weekend, and I have to say it is an excellent movie. Everything looked fantastic and Hugo Weaving gives the perfect voice and mannerisms to the main character, V. Overall, all of the actors involved gave a great performance. I definitely recommend this one, and I'd love to go in-depth on the parallels of the movie to today's world, but I'm not feeling it at the moment. Go see it! You'll be glad you did.

Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett's novel Good Omens is currently 30% off at the bookstore so I'm sure to go buy it soon. Any novel that's described as reading "like the book of Revelation as penned by Monty Python" has to be something. We shall see, we shall see...

I have a plethora of things on my mind, but I just can't seem to type it up. Maybe laziness? Nah, probably more like...something else. Gah, why is it so hard to formulate thoughts right now? Ah, well here's to hoping that my brain gets out of whatever funk it's in. That's it for now.

Stop the Presses! 3/17 part 2!

Whoo, forgot that I wanted to mention some interesting news tidbits.

First off, this is old news by now, but Sony officially pushed back the PS3's release date to November. Not that I'll be getting one at launch anyway. That honor belongs to the Nintendo Revolution (hopefully).

Speaking of the Revolution, Shigeru Miyamoto claimed that The Legend of Zelda: The Twilight Princess will be able to "take advantage" of the Revolution controller. Of course, this is a GCN game that will be using the Revolution's backwards-compatibility feature to add more to the game. No word on how the controller will work out with Twlight Princess, but we'll probably see some sort of unveiling at E3 later.

Final Fantasy XII was released in Japan yesterday. How have I not yet played the demo? I will have to acquire this. XII is actually a game I'm rather excited about. After being severely disappointed with Tactics Advance and not even playing XI, I've been in somewhat of an FF drought. This and Kingdom Hearts II coming...mmm...

Rumors are flying around that there will be no Halo 3. Well, not exactly. Some "well connected" sources claim that the next game in the series will be known as Forerunner, a nod to the ancient civilization in the Halo universe. This is just rumor at this point, but the source claims that there will be 4-play co-op and a gigantic world that will be affected by events. In the source's example a mission could be something like infiltrating a munitions dump. Succeed, and you get the guns. Fail, and the Covenant forces enjoy a beefed up armory. Sounds interesting, but I wouldn't take this as the truth quite yet.

Finally, a fun little bit of space news. There's been a lot of that lately what with the orbiter around Mars and the geysers found on one of Saturn's moons. Now it seems that the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) has uncovered some evidence that proves that the universe is expanding at an accelerating rate rather than slowing down. It seems that the universe has now been dated as about 13.7 billion years old. Though this really has no effect on me, it still amazes me to learn about this stuff.

Well, that's really all for now. Remember remember, the 5th of November...

St. Fuman's First 10 Friday

Happy St. Patrick's day. Yes, even to all of you who use it as an excuse to drink. Of course, I don't use it for any reason whatsoever...so...yeah.

This week, we had two anomalies in the 10 list. Numbers 9 and 10, I had to boot and swap out a new track. Those were Sunshine of Your Love by Cream (it was on the list last week) and Baby It's Cold Outside performed by Leon Redbone and Zooey Deschanel (thought I axed the Christmas music). Ready Bill? Let's go.

1) Mmm mmm mmm mmm - Crash Test Dummies
Quite an excellent song by the Dummies, but NOT my favorite. Far from it, in fact. This is from their CD God Shuffled His Feet, which has some interesting and nice songs. However, it's The Ghosts that Haunt Me that sits as my favorite album.

2) Time and Motion - Rush
This was new to me. Seems to be about how life is constantly changing and we shouldn't waste it. Seems to be a common theme in much of their songs. Okay song, but easily forgettable.

3) Learn to Fly - Foo Fighters
My favorite Foo Fighters song, though I've not heard a ton of their stuff. In fact, this may be one of my favorite songs of all time. It sticks in my head, and is a good listen at any time. It just seems so uplifting. Sort of. I suppose.

4) Sleep to Dream Her - Dave Matthews Band
I'm surprised there has been so little DMB on the lists. This is an alright song, from the Every(you know what? Eff italics!)day album. Umm...don't feel like commenting too much on it. No reason. Just don't feel it.

5) 867-5309/Jenny - ??? (originally by Tommy Tutone)
I have no idea where I came across this mp3. I have a thing for 80's songs, so it was probably in one of my manic 80's downloading sprees. This is a cover, by...umm..some punk band. A good cover, this doesn't deviate too much from the original source. A great classic 80's song.

6) Crossroads - Cream
Admittedly, I didn't realize this song was by Cream until recently. In fact, I didn't really know the name of the song. Now, I'm glad I do. This is an excellent song with some VERY happy guitar solos going on. By the way, this song is featured on the PS2 game, Guitar Heroes.

7) Happy Together - Performed by Newfound Glory
Another result of the 80's cover spree. Originally by the Turtles, this is a nice little lovey dovey song. Only this version has a bit of "I'm going to kill you" behind the sweet lyrics. Decent song, good cover.

8) YYZ - Rush
The song that got me into Rush in the first place. This is completely instrumental and shows off just how tight of a band Rush is. Tight as in works well perfectly. Fun Fact: the opening drum and guitar hits are morse code for YYZ - the code for Toronto International Airport, home of Rush.

9) Wild Child - Enya
I love the sound of Enya, but I haven't listened to a lot of Enya songs. A nice nature-feeling song. Songs by Enya really have a tendency to pull you away from reality and into some sort of mythical fantasy world.

10) It's All Been Done - Barenaked Ladies
A somewhat well-known BNL song. I just don't have a lot to say about this except that it's another one of those BNL tunes that mixes a dash of absurd lyrics with some sort of relationship song. It's nice to see that The Price is Right is still on in the 30th century.

Well, that wraps it up for this week's First 10 Friday. V for Vendetta comes out today! I don't know if I'll be seeing it tonight or tomorrow. But you can bet I WILL see it. And then purchase a Guy Fawkes mask. And then roam the streets...MUAHAHAHA!

I Feel H...a...p...p...y

Actually, that title is a lie. I'm far from happy, but I would have said otherwise yesterday evening. Oh, there's not going to be a First 5 list today. Sorry about that. I just feel awful and I'm definitely not in the mood for blogging. Well, not about anything like that.

You see, I have this little ritual about returning to BSU after an extended break. You see, 2 or 3 days before I actually go back, I get a terrible feeling of dread in the pit of my stomach. It just builds up despite my efforts to ease my mind, and the first couple of days back at school are dull and depressing. Sunday was different...I was in a good mood on the way back. For once. Which made things even worse when I finally did crash back into the depression.

I suppose this isn't like other times. It's not a normal depressive feeling, it's just a blah feeling. I could not fall asleep last night. I got an hour or maybe 2. None of it was continuous, and what sleep I DID get was plagued by nightmares. I'll share some snippets:

The nightmare began with me driving in the country (I believe it was on E 350 S.) with Jen in the car. Everything was pitch-black, and even my headlights didn't seem to help. We kept trying to get to her house or mine, but it seemed every road was blocked by something or other. We were both panicking because the darkness kept creeping closer to us. I think we were running from something.

I finally did wind up at my dad's house, but Jen wasn't with me. I don't remember too much of this part, but this was where I first woke up and broke the nightmare. Of course as I drifted back into sleep, the nightmare began again. This time, I was in a mall-type area looking at comics on racks. I'm not exactly sure if anything happened, but I know I wound up in some sort of mining facility. It seemed like it was on another planet, but the place bore a striking resemblance to my grandparents' garage. Only this was bigger, and had a lot of heavy machinery in it. This was probably the absolute worst part of the nightmare, and contains some gruesome content. So, you've been warned. Anyway, there was this girl who seemed to be boring into the rock wall of the garage/mining area. She looked familiar, and I think I knew who she was in the dream. If I could recall her face better, I'd probably know who it was. She was boring through the rock with some sort of laser, and she suddenly stopped and turned around. She looked down in horror and realized she had cut a line into her leg. It just looked like a minor burn, and nobody freaked out. However, the burn spread and a chunk of her leg fell off. Everybody (myself, the girl, and other workers) started to panic as more and more of her body began to seethe. She turned back towards the wall and then turned around to face us again. She had hideous marks all over her face. They looked like burns, and they centered on her cheekbones. She kept screaming and gurgling, but all we could do was watch. Parts of her jaw fell off, and her eyes fell back into her head, leaving gaping black holes. More and more of her flesh began to fall off, and her dad (who was a fellow worker) decided to try and help her. He approached her, and she reached out for comfort. Panicked, her dad swung at her and hit her right in the chin. Her jaw snapped in two, the pieces fell to the ground, and her skin continued to be eaten away, revealing the back half of her throat. At this time, one of her eyes fell from her skull into her throat. Now her screams were more like muffled gurgles. She lurched towards us, reaching out for help...the last thing I saw before I woke up was her face right in mine. I can't shake that image, no matter how hard I try.

Well, there you have it. Can you see why I'm not in the mood to blog? Heh...it felt better getting that dream out.

Obnoxious little frog...

Man. Spring Break is over. Though I'm beginning to seriously doubt that it really began in the first place. I am distressed, angry, and depressed. Oh, and our DSL connection decided to give out yesterday. Thus, there was no First 10 Friday. HOWEVER! Fear not! This list is a necessary escape into the wonderful world of music, so here goes...Fuman's Fantastically Late First 10 Friday!

1) Another Postcard (acoustic) - Barenaked Ladies
Something amazing here. I instantly connected to this song on the BNL album Everything to Everyone. Not in the sense that it held meaning for me, but in the sense that I instantly liked it. How could you go wrong with a song about chimp postcards? Hint: you can't.

2) One Week - Barenaked Ladies
Interesting...two BNL songs in a row. Everyone's heard this song. Filled to the brim with pop culture references, this wacky song is probably BNL's most recognized (in America, anyway).

3) The Zephyr Song - Red Hot Chili Peppers
A good "let's get out of here" song. Mmm...escape sounds so good. A great RHCP song from a great RHCP album.

4) New Slang - the Shins
I actually had never heard of the Shins until I picked up the Music from Scrubs CD. That is one wacky soundtrack...if you haven't watched Scrubs, do yourself a favor and check it out. Some truly bizarre and geeky comedy in there! Anyway, this song is odd. A tad depressing, as it seems to be some sort of longing for old days and how things didn't work out exactly as the narrator planned.

5) B Minor Jam - Eric Clapton
Clapton is a god. That being said, I'm incredibly glad that I stumbled upon Clapton's collection The Blues. This song is from the instrumental disc that came (I think) as a bonus in the collection. Verrry nice.

6) Imagine - John Lennon
The problem with having so many well-known songs is that there aren't a lot of things I can write that would blow anybody's mind. This song's idea of a utopia is a great one...too bad it's up to US to create that perfect world. Ah well. Nice idea, anyway.

7) Sunshine of Your Love - Cream
So many classics...this was put into the playlist by way of the recently purchased Cream of Clapton CD. A nice compilation that collects the highlights of Clapton's musical career. Though it's really great, I'd have to say that The Blues contains more raw Clapton.

8) By the Way - Red Hot Chili Peppers
Shuffle didn't shuffle this playlist too much! The second song on the list from the album By the Way, By the Way is, like many RHCP songs, borderline bizarre. I'm sure there's a meaning behind it, but I'm not up for thinking about it too much at the present time.

9) It's the End of the World as We Know It - REM
C'mon, how can you not enjoy this one? Though it's well known, I don't know if there's a definite meaning behind the song established. To me, it seems like it's about how things get crazier and crazier in this world and how sometimes you just need to step back and laugh at it all. I, however, prefer to ALWAYS be back laughing at it all. Good song.

10) Sweetwater, Texas - Fastball
Hmmm...hadn't ever listened to this one. Even after doing so, I had to look up the lyrics. Even then, I'm not sure I completely get this song. Seems to be something about a life that was perhaps wasted? I think maybe the person in the song is reflecting on his life and realizing how he was shaped more by outside influences rather than his own self. I'll need to listen to this some more.

Well, that's it for now. I doubt there will be any more posts until Monday's 5, so until then -- take care, people.

YOU'RE GONNA CARRY THAT WEIGHT...

Choose Luca Land! Dream Dreams...

It's a tad late, but here is the VG First 5 Monday list. This list seems to be even more obscure than the last...oh well, that should just encourage you, dear readers, to play more games. Oh, and I've somewhat decided on a format for songs. It will be the title, the source of the track (i.e. the game), and then the composer if it's known. In the case of a remix, it will go: title, remixer, original source.

1) Choose Your Buddy! - Sonic Adventure - Jun Senoue
Nothing too entirely exciting or complex here. Of course, it IS just the character select theme. This type of track is what causes problems in deciding what standard should be used to decide what tracks qualify to stay on the playlist. Anyway, this track is simple but a good representation of the music style of the Sonic Adventure series.

2) Luca - Final Fantasy X - Nobuo Uematsu
The town themes of Final Fantasy have always been a favorite of mine. When considering Final Fantasy X, you have to understand how much of a departure this game (and I suppose most of the FFs after VI) was from what had come before. Uematsu did a nice job of keeping a calming quality to this track while at the same time injecting the bustling life of Luca.

3) Super Mario Land - Super Mario Land - Koji Kondo(?)
Umm...this track is a mystery. I have no idea where it came from, and there is no information about it. It sounds like a J-Pop/80's pop version of the first two levels of Super Mario Land. Sounds...interesting. It even throws in some old Game Boy sound effects near the end. Mysterious...

4) Dreaming of Home (A Lullaby) - ManInGrey - Earthbound
A chillin' sort of remix of the home theme of Earthbound. I'd check VGMix to be sure, but I seem to remember this being dedicated to the remixer's cat. The somewhat bittersweet background manifests itself in this song. It's sweet and a bit nostalgic. That's Earthbound for you. Definitely worth the download.

5) The Dreamy Stage - Sonic Adventure - Jun Senoue
I love this track. Sonic Adventure had some very memorable tunes. This isn't one of them. However, it fits the Casinopolis level perfectly. A little blues lick opens it up, and from there it's a subdued, suave, big band umm...song. Not amazing, but matches the context perfectly.

Well, that's it for now. Oh, one more thing. Many times I post remixes on this list, which probably none of my readers have heard. Fear not, for they are available 100% free (AND legal)! OC Remix and VGMix are the main places I acquire these remixes. Unfortunately, VGMix isn't functioning at this moment. It probably won't be for some time, so for now, OC Remix will have to satisfy. So check it out.

I feel like there was something else to talk about...hmmm...perhaps it was just the little twinge of anger after reading this article, which was brought to my attention by Joey's blog (credit for him - I probably wouldn't have seen it right away if not for him). If you've not read it, check it out. And then cry. Of course, it probably won't pass...but then...apparently, as we saw in 2000, you can actually lose an election and then become President. My, these times ARE a-changin'.

I think that the Pink Ones are my favorite - but perhaps it's the Blue

I happened to notice that Neil Gaiman keeps an online journal. Nifty. I'll have to keep up on that. Speaking of Mr. Gaiman, I've been meaning to pick up a copy of Good Omens, a novel by Gaiman and Terry Pratchett. It looks interesting, and anything that promises Armageddon AND laughs instantly earns my interest.

Tomorrow, my Spring Break officially begins. I have a computer science program to write, a speech to write, and a calculus assignment to complete (not to mention a quiz to prepare for - easy, though). Isn't break fun? Eff Ball State and it's shoddy commercials. Have you SEEN these things? PUT ON A SHIRT, WOMAN! Does anyone else find the new Ball State commercial a tad creepy? It looks like Gora presides over a mausoleum and she's desperate for new blood. "Coooome! BRAINS! I NEED BRAINS! SETTLE FOR SECOND BEST! BRAINS!"

I greatly enjoy frozen dinners, but they're basically a subzero heart attack waiting to happen. Still, they are delicious. Except for the green beans. Tastes like some sort of antiseptic grass, if you ask me. Curse the instructions, too! The Hungry Man dinners now include a chocolate brownie, which is placed right in the middle of the tray. This would be fine, but the instructions require that you remove the plastic cover over the puddle of chocolate. Why not put the brownie on a corner, so I could do that without having to break out the scissors? Okay, so I can do it with a fork...but STILL!

Last night, I restored the Old Kings to power. That's right, the Super Nintendo and Nintendo 64 once again are fixtures upon my entertainment center. I sort of just sampled a few games here and there, but I found that I could not break away from Demon's Crest. As my lovely Jennifer did some homework, I played through all of Demon's Crest. Sure, I failed to complete it 100%, but I reached an ending. In one sitting. Whoa. The game that nearly brought me to tears at one point in time due to the frustrating difficulty was beaten in one sitting. I realized last night, how much fun it is to reminisce about video games with somebody with you. It's cool enough that Jennifer watches me play. It's even better that she likes to play, as well. I'm lucky to have a girlfriend like that.

Yup. Well, I think I'm done for now. Even though tomorrow is break, I think there will be a VG First 5 tomorrow. We shall see. Oh, and for the record...I think it might be the Purple ones.

New Banner, Same Great List!

Or something. Yeah, I didn't have much of a good title. Oh well. It's that time of the week, again.

1) Mr. Brightside - The Killers
Was this already on the list? Ah well. A good song, one that I really started to listen to last December. The song probably has many interpretations, but I can say for sure that none of them are particularly happy.

2) Style is Coming Back in Style - John Pizzarelli
From Pizzarelli's "Dear Mr. Cole" album. It's a really nice song, a song that really seems out of place today. Listening to this sort of jazz makes me happy, but at the same time, it makes me realize how some of the coolest things from years and years ago are history.

3) Love Roller Coaster - Red Hot Chili Peppers
Gah. I found not one, but TWO tracks I need to delete between #2 and #3 on the list. This remake from the Chili Peppers is pure fun. Wacky and happy, much like the Peppers themselves.

4) The Trees - Rush
One of my favorite Rush songs. I tend to lump this in with Subdivisions for some reason. Maybe because they're both songs that examine society. This seems to be about corporate fat cats milking the money (sunlight) from the average person. Ah well. The end shows that, in death, we're all equal. Or maybe it shows that desiring equality makes us all the same? Who knows?

5) The Psychic - Crash Test Dummies
There have been few (if any) Crash Test Dummies songs on the list thus far. That's too bad, because I love these guys (and girl)! Most people probably don't know much CTD outside of "Mmm mmm mmm mmm" released about 10 years ago. This song, from the same album, contains musings about the notion of a psychic foretelling events. In true Dummies fashion, there's a mix of dark humor and serious observations. A good one, but not my favorite.

6) Ask DNA - Yoko Kanno and Tim Jensen
Those wacky Cowboy Bebop songs! Though there seems to be a serious message here, I'm most impressed with the interesting lyrics.

"What's up (what's up),
Sweet cakes (sweet cakes)?
Who's hip (who's hip),
Anyway (anyway)?"

One of my favorite Cowboy Bebop songs. Oops, can't forget! "When the truth seems so far away, Buddha loves you and Jesus saves!"

7) Jimi Thing - Dave Matthews Band
One of the staple DMB songs. This happened to be the "Under the Table and Dreaming" version. My personal favorite is the Central Park version. I see this as meaning that the narrator needs just one little bit of support (possibly a drug or booze) then he just might make it through his day. Of course, you could replace drugs or booze with any little "Jimi Thing" such as a kind word or loving relationship that keeps you going. Excellent Dave song.

8) Canon in D - Johann Pachelbel
You've all heard it, most likely at a wedding. Beautiful, but it just might put you to sleep.

9) Three Ayres from Gloucester, Mvmt 1 - Hugh Stuart
Also known as "The Jolly Earl of Cholmondele." I believe we first played this in band way back in Middle School. An enjoyable folksy composition (the second movement is my personal fav). This edition of the First 10 is getting boring...

10) Hamduche - Hassan Bohmide and Yoko Kanno
Not the best ending to the list. This is from the Cowboy Bebop movie "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" and is certainly not my favorite Bebop song. In fact, this may have just inspired me to weed out some less than stellar tunes from the list. Congratulations, Hamduche! You've been responsible for a musical genocide! Oh, this song...Middle East lyrics, and I have no idea what it's saying. There.

Not the best list we've had...but, like everything, it'll have its ups and downs. Perhaps Monday will be a better list! On a side note, I'm leaving for Spring Break today. I can't promise regular blog updates, but I'm sort of hoping I'll be able to mess around with the blog in my free time. Have a good weekend, everybody.

Raise Your Banner High

Umm...so, this blog "revamp." That's not going so well. I really should work with a different template, but I really don't feel like that. So after many frustrating starts, I've decided to simply stick a new header on. Keeping that spaced correctly was evil. Of course, I WANT to revamp the blog eventually. It'll just be in baby steps. I think. Or maybe it'll never happen. Oh well. Enjoy the new banner!

First 5 Monday...EXPERIMENT!

Well, I greatly enjoy doing the First 10 Friday lists, so I thought that maybe another list on Monday may be a good way to bookend the weeks. I couldn't just stick to the same formula as Friday, or else it would just be the same old thing. SO I'm trying this - The VG First 5 Monday! Same rules as before, only the playlist consists of video game and video game-related music ONLY. I'm still working on the playlist here and there, but I think it's alright for now. Here goes:

1) Collision Chaos Bad Future - Sonic CD (jp)
Maybe this list wasn't such a great idea...I really need to prune out some of the shorter songs. Sonic CD had a very nice soundtrack and had its own unique flavor. Random syllables of vocals abound in this soundtrack.

2) Floating Beaches of Manitoba - Double A Ron (OC Remix)
I have a feeling there will be a lot of OC and VG songs on these lists. This is a remix from Kirby Super Star, and one of the first OC Remixes I ever heard. Kind of poppy and laid-back. I can't recall the name of the original track, but it's prevalent in most of KSS. Good mix except for the sudden ending.

3) Creampuff Starship ~ Theme of Star Herald - analoq
I should come up with a better way to indicate what these songs are from. A more...standard form, I guess. Another Kirby remix! This one is from a collaboration project entitled "Rise of the Star" which focused on Kirby's Adventure. Opens with a wacky stereo reverb, then goes to a funky version of umm...maybe Butter Building? I forget. It was used many times throughout the game. Finally, it ends with a nice electric guitar version of the melody. Great!

4) A Presentiment - Toshiyuki Mori - Final Fantasy V Piano
Can't say that I really know this track too well. Final Fantasy V is one of the few Final Fantasy games that I've not played through. I've heard some good things about it, but I'm sure it won't overtake IV or VI. VI, after all, is my favorite of the Final Fantasies. I can't really choose a definite favorite, but if I had to. This'd be it. Ah, the track. Slow and ominous...then it turns to a harsh minor version of the world map. Don't worry, though. It gets nicer in the end.

5) Epilogue - To My Dear Friends - Chrono Trigger
Yes, there's a definite need for a better standard description. I'll work on something. I very nearly skipped this track, because I'm thinking I want to remove any straight from the console tracks. At least, I'd remove the SNES ones. Why? I don't know. This piece is just so great, though, that I had to let it live on. Chrono Trigger had an amazing soundtrack, and this beautiful ending theme sits very well with the rest of the game. Nostalgic and sweet. The orchestrated version is even better!

Well, that's it. The very first VG First 5 Monday. If this goes on, there shall be some more regularity to the descriptions. It's feedback time! If you read the above list, PLEASE leave a comment. You don't need to be registered or anything. I want to know what you, the readers, think of this segment. It's a small step, but it goes right along with the mission statement of OC Remix.

"OverClocked ReMix is a website dedicated to reviving the video and computer game music of yesterday, and reinterpreting that of today, with new technology & capabilities. This site's mission is to prove that this music is not disposable or merely just background, but is as intricate, innovative, and lasting as any other form."

Hope you enjoyed this list. Leave me a comment.

Okay 3, 2, 1, Let's Jam!

What an odd day in the land of Fuman's First 10. I fear few of the songs on the list today will be too familiar, but that's just all the more reason for you to go and check them out. Right?

1) Rock Lobster - B-52's
I'm not joking. This is on the list. Incredibly hokey, and yet it's just a fun song. I suppose anyway...Fred Schneider has quite the interesting vocal style. But you all know that.

2) Spokey Dokey - Tsuneo Imahori, Ryuichiro Senoo, and Keishi Urata
Enter the first of the unknown songs. Actually if you are a Cowboy Bebop fan, then this song may be familiar. It's a nice, ambling tune comprised of a harmonica, a guitar, and synthesizers. Odd combination, but then so is Cowboy Bebop. Relaxing with an Old West twang.

3) Scotland the Brave - ??? (but possibly performed by the British Colombia Dragoons)
Apparently the lyrics were by a Scottish journalist by the name of Cliff Hanley. This, however is the marching pipe version. No lyrics. You've all heard it, I'm sure. It's the unofficial national anthem for Scotland. I enjoy the bagpipes immensely...

4) So Happy Together - The Turtles
Once again, a song that everybody's heard of. Nice and sweet. Not much more to it than that.

5) Some Fantastic - Barenaked Ladies
The Barenaked Ladies have many different sides to them. First, there is the front side. And then the backside. From there, we have the inside. In their songs, however, these sides include depressing/suicidal songs, slightly smartass songs, and wacky songs. Of course, the love side often fits in any of these other styles. This particular song is a wacky love song. It's all about going to crazy extremes to be able to get with somebody.

One day I will work with animals
All the tests I'm gonna do
All my stuff's completely natural
And when we're done we'll boil 'em
down for glue
that we can use to re-adhere
your lips to mine if you were here

See? Crazy AND sweet at the same time. Good ol' BNL.

6) Testing 1,2,3 - Barenaked Ladies
Some guys would pay a lot of money for two Barenaked Ladies in a row. ZING! Oh, goodness. This song is certainly less active than the last one. This seems sort of ambiguous to me, but I think it's about skewed perspectives on past dealings. Perhaps that drove a little wedge in a relationship.

7) Pot City - Yoko Kanno and the Seatbelts
Another Cowboy Bebop tune. No lyrics, just a slow jazzy piece that reflects the title quite well. Pot City is dreary and gritty, much like most of the Cowboy Bebop universe.

8) Gimme Some Lovin' - Spencer Davis Group
Ah, 1960's music. No deep meanings here. Just give the man some lovin'! If you happen to be a fan of this type of song (or 60's rock in general), check out the band known as Peace Train. I've only heard them once, though they are based in Central Indiana. If you get the chance to hear them, do it! They're very talented in what they do (which is cover all sorts of 60's songs).

9) Everyday Glory - Rush
I must have been distracted while listening to this. Not good, as it was my first time to listen to it. I can't really give it an adequate review at this moment.

10) Is It Real? - Scott Matthew
Ahh...3 Cowboy Bebop tunes in one Friday. Odd that I happen to be wearing my Cowboy Bebop t-shirt today. Connection? COULD BE! This song is quite depressing...it seems to be about somebody feeling incredibly detached from the world. He feels that it all seems made up, and there's no point in really living on in a dream world. Low, somewhat husky vocals match the feel of the song.

That's it for now! I feel a little out of it. This week has shot by, and my brain is still catching up. Ah, and before I forget. GameFAQs has been doing a Top 10 list for various video game topics for a while now in celebration of their 10th anniversary (has it really been THAT long? Jeez...). Today's particular list (http://www.gamefaqs.com/features/top10/16.html) is a good one. I suggest you video game players check it out. Though I can't agree with many of the Top 10 lists that are put up, this one was pretty agreeable. Now, I'm really done. Have a good weekend, everybody.

See You Space Cowboy...