Fragments of Lost Memories

Brutal Legend

2009-12-28T21:50:27Z

So, you want to know what the game Brutal Legend is like? It's this: You lead an army of True Metal against other types of Metal. And your lieutenants are Lemmy, Rob Halford, and Lita Ford. (Okay, not actually them, but animated characters with their actual voices.) Oh yeah, and Ozzy Osbourne is this wizard who lives in a cave and you go to him for power-ups.

You get to ride around a truly awe-inspiring world in a nice little ride you call The Druid Plow with a ball-busting soundtrack. In time you get to give it new paint jobs and install machine guns, armor, and rocket launchers. And at a certain point you get poisoned by a demon and grow wings. Yes, that's right. Just in case the game wasn't awesome enough, you now get to fly!

There are no words for how bloody brilliant this game is! When my army discovered a tribe of women led by Lita Ford who ride fire-breathing beasts and wear KISS make-up I thought I would plotz!

This game is over-the-top metal and it gets everything right! And yet it doesn't take itself too seriously. For example, I got to ride one of the fire-breathing beasts with Lita Ford and when I got off and walked away I could hear her behind me say, "We're alone now, my love." I had to take a moment to shudder before moving on.

It's apparent that a lot of love went into the making of this game. It's just so perfect. I am truly grateful that this game exists, and that my Secret Santa got it for me.

auryn29a @ 2009-12-25T00:00:00

2009-12-25T05:00:39Z

Happy Christmas, people!

The Muppets and Jimmy Fallon do the 12 Days of Christmas

2009-12-24T18:01:34Z

It's a Trap!

2009-12-03T13:32:52Z

What movies can you think of that have the line, "It's a trap!" or some variant thereof? I can think of three. Of course, Return of the Jedi with our beloved Admiral Ackbar. Then there's the Operative in Serenity: "That is a trap." ~~And there's Ash in Army of Darkness: "It's a trap. Get an ax."~~What others?

But....but....Oh hell, I'll just go with it. Clash of the Titans, people! Get Ready to Rumble!

2009-11-11T03:17:12Z

I feel like something inside me just died. And yet...ooh! Exciting! Apparently all you have to do to get me to like a trailer is to use a power metal soundtrack and include a lot of growling and quick cuts of slashes and grimacing faces. Whee!

(I don't get it. They look pretty color-coordinated to me...)

Flash-Forward

2009-11-10T03:29:33Z

Imagine it's 20 years in the future and you're invited to a Naughties Party where you can party like it's a few years after 1999! You're encouraged to come in costume.

View Poll: Re-live the Naughties!

New Muppet Sketches on Youtube!

2009-10-27T00:39:59Z

Just in time for Halloween.

Seeking Music

2009-10-15T21:39:23Z

Okay, Livejournal people, I need songs about personal growth. Whaddya got?

Writer's Block: What is your muse?

2009-10-14T11:32:40Z

If you're trying to create something, like a story, a composition, or a design, etc., do you find yourself imagining how others will react to it? Does that impede or enhance the creative process?

View 743 Answers

Unfortunately, yes. That's why I write, or compose, or design. I don't do it for myself because that stuff is already in my head. The point is to get this stuff out of my head in a form that I can show it to others. I guess you can say it enhances the creative process because otherwise it wouldn't happen. And I suppose it impedes the progress if I think someone won't like it or if I think there's no interest in it.

Obviously I'm doing it all wrong. I wonder if anyone else thinks like this.

A Gleeful Noise?

2009-10-01T01:21:41Z

I started watching "Glee" through Hulu ('cause they're aliens). As a consequence, I now have the song "Gold Digger" stuck in my head. Unfortunately (or fortunately), I've never heard the original version of the song. And I've only heard the "Glee" version once. Do you know what version is stuck in my head? The Weird Al polka version. Over and over.

[EDIT] Decided to go ahead and listen to the Kanye version. Had a strong urge to interrupt it halfway through to inform him that the Glee version was better.

New New Nightmare!

2009-09-29T02:21:28Z

A Nightmare on Elm Street in HD

Not a bad trailer. I kinda like it. Except for one thing: Freddy speaks in the beginning of the trailer like he's innocent of the accusations. Does that mean he didn't really kill those children in this version? I'm not sure how that works. I mean, I get how it can add a layer of sympathy for the character and that maybe in some sick way these kids deserve to get slaughtered in their dreams for their parents' mistake. Hmm, maybe that's simply how the story translates now from the 80s.

Think about it. The 80s was the decade of excess. Freddy was a guy who just couldn't get enough. He indulged in his fantasies in life as much as he could and simply continued after his death, dreaming up ever more elaborate ways to torture and kill. He didn't go after just the naughty teenagers. He went after everybody, innocent or guilty.

But now, perhaps there's a bid to add a bit of a moral about personal responsibility to the story. In both stories, the parents are punished for daring to bypass the normal wheels of justice and take matters into their own hands. But in the 80s they're justified. They simply didn't count on Freddy not being able to die. Now, they're just blind and misguided and created a creature of evil out of an innocent man? hmm.

This is all speculation based on a couple of lines. I really don't know how they changed the plot.

Dollhouse Season Premiere

2009-09-26T23:58:45Z

Remember this post?

Bastard did it to us again having them almost kiss in a flashback. I wonder if it's going to be a yearly theme.

Linux "Supplies!"

2009-09-26T02:59:27Z

I've been using Ubuntu Linux now for several years now and I'm amazed at how quickly it's advancing. It should not be easier than Windows, and yet I can install it now and everything "just works." I actually have to do more to get things working when I install Windows these days. Granted, I'm still using XP because the main program I installed Windows to use doesn't work with Vista. (I don't know about 7.)

Of course it still has its problems. The latest Ubuntu doesn't work with some older graphics cards I discovered. The solution (so far) is to downgrade bits of the OS. Irritating. On the other hand, if you have a graphics card that uses proprietary drivers, it's just a matter of clicking a button and Ubuntu says, "Oh hai! There are proprietary drivers available. Wanna use 'em?" And it's kinda done.

Just recently I learned that the screensaver controller I'd been using, gnomesaver, the one that has no way to change preferences, is not the best option. It's simply the default for Ubuntu. Why? I have no idea. Because the one it replaced, Xscreensaver, is awesome! It's fully customizable and has about a hundred more screensavers! I'm having a giggly good time configuring stuff, like my Star Wars scrolling screensaver now uses the opening monologues from all the seasons of Babylon 5. It did require manually disabling gnomesaver and I'd have to jump through some hoops to actually uninstall it, but it's good for now.

Anyway, Linux is fun. Just thought I'd share.

QOTD

2009-09-22T22:27:50Z

We must strive for excellence in everything we do. Except the Hokey Pokey. You can go ahead and phone that in.

Happy 9/9/9!

2009-09-09T10:50:01Z

Last night on a whim I decided to try making a 999 icon for today in Photoshop based on the 666 icon I have, and then I sort of went forward and tried experimenting with After Effects a bit. Then I fed that back into Photoshop to create an animated gif. I decided not to bother to try to make it small enough for Livejournal icons. That's often a very frustrating journey.

It's not perfect, but it's cute.

And then I fed that into Pro Tools and made a quick 10 second theme.

I find this all rather neat, but it's frustrating that I've spent the past couple of weeks trying to come up with a logo for my web page and have so far failed, yet this just popped up and I did all this in a few hours. So apparently I can pretty much do anything if I'm inspired to do so. Too bad I don't get inspired much.

Oh my.

2009-09-03T02:27:58Z

Thanks to someone on Facebook, I now know the existence of this particularly interesting-looking slide:

And then one my own I found this fun-looking bouncy castle:

Somebody has got to bring these things together! A slide that shoots kids right into a bouncy castle? Genius! Why, a venture like that could trigger a growth spurt in the manufacture of both toys!

Well. Didn't see that comin'.

2009-08-31T22:47:53Z

DISNEY TO ACQUIRE MARVEL ENTERTAINMENT

Burbank, CA and New York, NY, August 31, 2009 —Building on its strategy of delivering quality branded content to people around the world, The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) has agreed to acquire Marvel Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE:MVL) in a stock and cash transaction, the companies announced today.

So far, the response from the fan community has been a resounding, "Umm...what?"

[EDIT] This article puts it into perspective nicely.

Books

2009-08-30T03:46:23Z

There's a meme that's been floating around for a while about writing down the names of 15 books in 15 minutes. Books that "will always stay with you." I hesitated doing it for a long time but finally gave it a shot. Man, that's hard. I mean, to come up with 15 particular books that made an impact on you? Why some books and not others? And what sort of impact? I mean, I'll always remember Lord Jim because I absolutely despised being forced to read it. I remember crying because I just couldn't get through the damn book! I know I read it, but I couldn't tell you a bloody thing about it. And because of it I hate Joseph Conrad with a vengeance.

I remember lots of moments from books, but not necessarily the overall books. I spent five minutes trying to figure out one book because it turned out I got the title wrong. all I really remember about the book is a scene in a garden at night when children watch statues come to life. I remember them riding around inside a hollow elephant. I thought it was The Time Garden. I further thought it was written by Edith Nesbit. Turns out I was right about the author but wrong about the book. The Enchanted Castle is important to me because I remember it being the first "big" book I read. I believe it was nearly 200 pages which was amazingly big to me at that age, whenever that was. I was possibly in third grade? Anyway, it was a great triumph to me but I knew no one else would care. Edith Nesbit was an author who was very special to me as a child. I must've gone through three of her books before I realized that she had died in 1924. I was shocked that I was reading something so old and hadn't noticed and was enjoying it! And it struck me that once I read all of her books there would never be any more. I was saddened.

And then there are series that mean a lot to me but I can't pin it down to one book. And of course there are short stories from books I don't remember. And then there are books with short stories where...I remember the name of the anthology, but I don't remember the names of the stories or the authors. I do however remember the content. I was 12 when I read an anthology called New Dimensions 11. It featured a story about a spaceship being navigated by teenagers who steered the ship via sexual fantasies. And there was a "furry" story in there that really opened my mind to possibilities I had never thought of before. Ah, youth.

There are books I remember because of when I read them. They just happened to be exactly what I needed to read right then. Like The Girl with the Silver Eyes and Interview With the Vampire. The former gave me something to hold onto when I made the transition into junior high. And the latter possibly kept me from committing suicide in college.

I knew when I was doing this list that I'd forget something and kick myself about it. I totally forgot The Golden Compass which I adore very much and it really pulled things inside me. And there's Ender's Game. No matter what I think of the author now, I'll always think of that book very fondly. When panicked I sometimes find myself muttering, "Remember, the enemy's gate is down!" And I really should have included Stranger in a Strange Land. I just remembered that it taught me how to kiss.

I didn't even bother thinking about comic books. That would be way too confusing.

So anyway, here's my list. I did it more or less in 15 minutes. Possibly more. Okay, probably half an hour. But I tried.

1. 1984 by George Orwell (I was physically ill after reading that book. It made me so angry.)
2. Interview With the Vampire by Anne Rice (It changed my life.)
3. Spirits of Flux and Anchor by Jack Chalker (actually probably one of the other books in the series. There's a particular moment that's burned in my mind.)
4. The Number of the Beast by Robert Heinlein
5. No Flying in the House by Betty Brock
6. The Enchanted Castle by Edith Nesbit (I actually had to look up the title. I thought it was another book. But the events of the book will always stay with me.)
7. The Green Futures of Tycho by William Sleator (I remember this because there was a certain paradoxical thing that just didn't make sense to me.)
8. The Girl With the Silver Eyes by Willo Davis Roberts
9. Childhood's End by Arthur C. Clarke
10. New Dimensions 11 (anthology of science fiction short stories)
11. To the Stars by George Takei (I even got it signed!)
12. On a Pale Horse by Piers Anthony (possibly his finest book)
13. Writing for Comics with Peter David (has great advice for fiction writing in general, not just comics)
14. The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkein
15. Another Fine Myth by Robert Asprin

Maybe there should be another meme where you take 10 books that have added something positive to your life and talk about them, and take as long as you like.

Bright light! Bright light!

2009-08-20T23:45:41Z

For the past couple of days I've been very sensitive to light. I swore it got brighter at work and it was giving me a headache. I was seriously considering picking up a pair of sunglasses just to sit in my cube. I'm better now though. Light levels are back to normal.

It's a pity. I was kinda hoping I was turning into a vampire.

Specialized Knowledge

2009-07-23T00:42:21Z

Every once in a while I come across something that I thought was common knowledge but actually turns out to be some bit of esoteric knowledge that only I know. Sometimes it's cool, sometimes it makes me feel strange and inadequate.

Today coworkers were talking about what they would want to do for their weddings--just passing time, you know--and I mentioned that I'd like the Tower of Power horns there. And they looked at me like I was crazy. "The what?" And for a moment I thought I'd made up their existence. But no, they're real. So I wonder if it's an age thing, or a subculture thing, or what. Am I just getting old?

So I need to ask:

View Poll: Tower of Power

auryn29a @ 2009-07-18T17:57:00

2009-07-18T21:58:40Z

"I'm in a hostile environment. I'm totally unprepared. And I'm surrounded by a bunch of guys who probably want to kick my ass... it's like being back in high school."
-Johnny Cage

gasp YES! OH YES!

2009-07-06T22:28:14Z

*pant, pant, pant*

I must have this game!!!

I...I can't feel my legs.

heh

2009-06-26T22:11:24Z

Seeing this metaquote made me want to have kids:

Robbie, only 3-years old, says to his mother katrinb last week:

"Why did you give me a Wall-E bowl and a Spiderman plate when they're in different universes?"

Ah, that takes me back. I had Spider-Man wallpaper and Superman sheets growing up. Somehow I instinctively knew this was wrong, but I liked them anyway.

Recent Deaths

2009-06-26T11:36:58Z

I suppose I've had a weird relationship with death. I never really knew how to react to it. And it's hard faking feeling things like grief. Yes, I do actually feel grief over certain deaths, but the majority, no. And I sometimes feel bad about not feeling bad. Anyway, I thought I'd post about the three recent celebrity deaths.

Ed McMahon: Honestly, I was under the impression he was already dead. Thus, I was surprised to hear about his death.

Farrah Fawcett: I do have a memory of her being part of my childhood. I remember her as vaguely connected to the Six Million Dollar Man, but I can't even remember why right now. So her death doesn't really affect me. Before she died, though, I did see some footage of Barbara Walters talking to her boyfriend that really touched me. His love for her was apparent.

Michael Jackson: I think I simply felt a bit of shock and incredulity. To me, MJ represented magic, fantasy, and the wish to live forever. He escaped an abusive childhood and attempted to recreate himself in his own image. His music videos were full of his dreams to become a magical creature, some mythological thing that can't be defined by reality. MJ's world was a world where everyone danced and nothing was truly dangerous. A heart attack at fifty? No way! Michael Jackson should die saving the world from a horde of dancing aliens! This is just wrong!

I mentioned yesterday that the slowness of Livejournal and Facebook was only a "Moonwalker" virus slowly taking shape into Mike Headroom, because the man surely had a contingency plan for immortality. I hope that in the years to come tabloids will post fuzzy pictures of MJ-like people in odd places and quote witnesses saying they saw him eating a burger in some out of the way diner. He deserves that. He will live forever in our culture.

Heh. Strangely, I didn't feel any grief until I wrote that. Weird. Also, read what Roger Ebert had to say about him.

A Tasty Poll

2009-06-25T11:21:37Z

View Poll: Tasty