OMG

:(

WEIRD

Okay, I just wanted to point out how weird it is that I (through no effort of my own whatsoever) posted something at exactly 3:18 PM, two days in a row.

Superballs!

Sometimes, dreams come true. (If you're a huge multinational corporation with something to sell)

Glitter Ball

"Hey," said a nightclub's events promoter during a 70's themed benefit for AIDS research, "I have forgotten my camera. I see that you have one."

"Click," said my camera 75 times.

ARE YOU READY FOR SEXUALLY PROGRESSIVE DISCO ACTION IN YOUR FACE???

"Click," says your mouse.

Polytics Or Die!!!

This is funny, but somehow, this is even funnier.

Blogging from PSP!

Instead of sleeping! And boy, do I take forever typing with this confused interface that thinks it is part of a cellular phone!

Crab. Ro. Bot.

Hee!

Getting ideas

I don't even know if I like Neil Gaiman, having never read any of his work (or "comic books")... and I know his site design is, um, amusing... but I know I like this.

Disneyland!

FINALLY: Pictures from my Disneyland double-birthday trip! Start here with this exciting photograph of a concrete pillar and work your way forward, obediently and carefully reading every word of my captions that took way too long to write.

For the record, going to Disneyland alone has a lot more advantages (and, if you're me, a lot less feeling like a loser) than you'd think. But I'm too tired to write about them now, ha ha! I hope when I'm well-rested I can put into words the transcendental experience I had on the Mark Twain riverboat.

Linkdump 003

Eddie Izzard: Prophet - Video Games Are Evil (Quicktime) - Amazing Doom casemod in progress (and I'm not easily amazed by casemods) - Katamari Damacy lyrics (with translations!) -Blurb Racket - Cute autobiographical comic "Everyone Drunk But Me" - It's not just America - Corndog Festival

PARTY TIME

Phase one of the remarkably slow process of uploading and captioning my birthday weekend photos is complete! I present to you: Friday and Saturday!

Buffer

Well, I survived! Not only did I survive, but I had a suspiciously great time during which absolutely nothing went wrong. And I was in LOS ANGELES! I'm still sorting through the pictures, packages and plural nouns that I picked up along the way, but expect at least a huge Flickr update when I've had a bit more sleep. In the meantime, there's this. There's even more Disney/Kevin birthday stuff on that website if you poke around. But anyway, as I was saying, I *bonk* zzzzzzzzz

Rocket Toyota

Okay, I'll blog this. THEN I'll go to Los Angeles in my non-rocket Honda.

Harry Birthday To Me

I'll be out of town this weekend, so I may not be able to "blog." Everyone hope really hard that I don't die driving in LA for three days, and by that I mean "have fun reading Harry Potter." And you will have fun, too, because it's such a surprise when Neville Longbottom becomes the new Hogwarts headmaster after Dumbledore is killed!

WHOOPS! SORRY, SPOILER ALERT!!

YES

Oh, Flickr: "Retro Arcade" photoset - better than you can even imagine. Oh my. Be still my heart. I SAID BE STILL.

Linkdump 002

WANT - Mewface at Rammstein - Hahaha EEW - World War 1337 - My Amazon Wishlist (Clara asked! Because it's my birthday on Sunday!)

This future still sucks

This is cool and all, but I won't be truly satisfied with this The Future we're currently in until I get my damn Meal In A Pill. I realize I'm in the minority here on this important issue, but honestly: an affordable and nutritious Meal In A Pill would enhance my lifestyle far more than any robot maid, flying car, laser gun, holographic television or personal teleport.

The F'n Shins

Hahahaha (via Mefi): a blog consisting of nothing but the most horrible in today's "indie rock" writing. Music is personal, and most "indie music critisism" is written by people too young to know when to stop attempting to put one's personal experiences into words. I'm not saying that people shouldn't try to put their personal experiences into words; it's just that if you honestly put a bunch of words together this way:

Hearing "Hide and Seek" at the climax of The O.C.'s second season finale was one of those pull-over-to-the-side-of-the-road moments where space and time collapse and the world holds its breath.

...well, then, I suppose that must mean something to somebody, but to me, it means: Hahahaha! And I still don't know if the music's something I'd like or not. Yes, I know most of these people do it For The Love Of The Music, or at least to get free CDs and/or laid, but still. The O.C.?! Even if working really hard to be ironic in print, I'm going to stop reading anything, immediately, if it tries to use The O.C. as an emotional waypoint. "I heard this song right when I found out my girlfriend was a man and it really spoke to me" is an emotional waypoint. "I was watching a soap opera" is not.

And am I the only one who thinks The Shins might only "change your life" if you've never heard, like, people with guitars and drums before?

Linkdump 001

Super Happy Linkdump time!!:

A Few Good G-Men - My friend's little sister was at the KNITTING FACTORY?? - Hacking for UFOs = 70 years in prison - Hey, I DO like Olivia Tremor Control and Pinback! (Who is Of Montreal?)

Crab Crab Revolution

I have no idea what this news article is about, really, and I've read it a couple times, which probably means it's not a very good news article. Or it could mean that anything to do with professional sports is immediately rejected by my eyeballs before it can be given a chance to be run past my brain. But with the title "The Crab Revolution Will Be Televised," how can I not link it? Answer: I can't not link it; in fact, I already have.

Chain-Shot To Have Some Fun

Trying (and failing) to Google some lyrics for Melt Banana's "Cell-Scape," I bumped into this interview, which finally explains why I am now so obsessed with this album despite originally being unable to even listen to it the whole way through (and it's only 25 minutes long, without the intro and outro tracks):

The Japan Times: Give us a specific example of your abstract songwriting.
Agata: Video games have a big influence on me. 'Tony Hawks Pro Skater 3' or 'Ecco the Dolphin,' for example. I might be playing the game and things start connecting in my brain. If I get excited about a clever move I've made in the game then I might try to interpret that move musically. It's hard to explain. But if I'm killing a lot of people in a game and there's a quiet soundtrack to it I might then go to the studio and think of that game and make a noisy blast-beat song and add some quiet pretty sounds to it.

Going over to Kevin's

"Mom, I can't go over to Kevin's anymore," my older son Cy announced. "It makes me too crazy seeing his PlayStation and knowing we can't have one."

Buried in Salon this week was an article (part of their long-running but now politically de-emphasized "Mothers Who Think" series) by a conscientious, thinking mother who decided to allow her sons to play video games, coinciding with a new wave of halfhearted "OH NO KIDS MAKE VIOLENCE HAPPEN ON THEIR TV" media hysteria. Although her sons haven't killed anybody yet, I think I speak for all old people when I say that it is only a matter of time before those poor children start hijacking cars and (the old standby) killing hookers. But then I speak for young people who know the difference between phosphorous dots and people who are alive, and say that her kids will probably turn out just fine.

Now: Salon makes you watch an advertisement or subscribe to their site with real money before you can read their articles. (That is the grim reality of trying to run a magazine that is openly critical of the President.) If the compulsory ad-watching doesn't make you mad or you've already jumped through those hoops, here's the article at Salon. But since we need to FIGHT THE CORPORATE HEGEMONY and I'm COPYFIGHTING FOR THE FUTURE and all, I've mirrored the complete text here on my site. Shh, don't tell Salon, or they'll send the powerful, influential LIBERAL MEDIA after me! Of course, if they do that, I'll know how to fight back, because I play video games. Now where did I put my SuperHealth and my Quad Damage...

Zombies vs. Lightning Bolters

[tag:oh man] Another photoset that helps to explain why I am no longer a pessimist: People roleplaying as zombies vs. people roleplaying in the woods.

Advantage: zombies

Matt, your homework is to draw zombies attacking LARPers. If ever there was something I was completely confident that you could draw and draw very well, it's this. You can even put a robot in it. But only one.

Wave Twisters?

Has anyone currently reading these words (you, for example) seen "Wave Twisters?" It sounds totally awesome, but I can't find much information about it.

Also of note: Fact: music industry bigwigs-- and even some of the smallwigs-- well, they really hate it when people hear music and they don't instantly get thousands of dollars as an automatic result. But I had no idea it had extended to six seconds of a MIDI ringtone or the phrase "everybody dance now." COPYFIGHT FOR THE FUTURE! (The future of poor people retaining the right to experience music.)

Scottage music

I just threw up a little internet area dedicated to music by my friend Scott. The design can be charitably described as "minimal" because my back can be accurately described as "hurting like hell," but check it out! I'm still a little confused as to what his "Lucy" project is, exactly, but as for the MP3s it has borne, it's good stuff. It sounds like the result of an experiment by Cartoon Network to see if they can cram Joe Hisaishi into a Nintendo64 game cartridge. And if you can emerge unscathed from that avalanche of references, you should know that that's a very good sound indeed!

Grumpy Ron Gilbert

Why didn't I notice until today that Grumpy Gamer is authored by none other than Ron Gilbert, creator of Monkey Island and Maniac Mansion? (Answer: I dunno LOL.) And why do his fans love him so very much that, when he blogs after Christmas that he did not receive "a brand new car with a big ribbon around it and a note saying 'Thanks for Monkey Island'," one of them starts up Car4Ron dot com? (Answer: because Monkey Island and Maniac Mansion are awesome.)

Image at right: "Dial-A-Pirate" copy-protection artifact, found last weekend in a box in my closet. Source: my middle school library's photocopier

David Foster Wallace: high on life

This is what happens when you ask David Foster Wallace to give a commencement speech.

Oh, and I'll probably regret having typed the following words, but I plan some major website updates tomorrow! I promise. (I promise that they are planned.)