Scattershot Post - Filler for September

Nothing of importance, really. but I don't want a gap in the blog archive that shows absolutely nothing for September. Topic? Lets pick... entertainment!

Books:

There's the Dresden Files Side Jobs book that's out next month, followed by the next to last Wheel of Time book out early in November, then another Dresden files book way out in April that'll continue the main storyline. Good reading! I need to go over the first Wheel of Time books again to re-familiarize myself.

Games:

Team Fortress 2 is without a doubt the game that made me love online gaming. Eve didn't do it; there's a reason why this game is nicknamed "Spreadsheets Online". Starcraft II didn't do it (as great as the game is, you're either the OCD Multi-tasker that builds five bases and two dozen Battlecrusiers/Carriers within ten minutes, or the guy that repeatedly gets overrun by the former when he starts building his first Siege Tanks. Usually, I'm the latter. (Also, sorry for the majority of you that had this paragraph go over your heads.)

TV:

I think I mentioned before that I do not have Televisions service of any kind, including the free over the air kind (signals don't get out to here), but now that an HBO miniseries based on A Song of Ice and Fire is in production, I may have to reconsider. Yeah, I could wait and buy the inevitable DVD collection, but... There IS something to be said for seeing it sooner than later. Then again, why have another monthly bill, especially for something that I'll never use? If this one doesn't make me call up DirecTV or Dish, then I don't think anything will.

Movies:

Due to 1) the closest decent theater being an hour away, and 2) a lack of Television that walls me off from the primary marketing outlet for new movies, I haven't seen much that wan't on Netflix, and I still only bother watching maybe one Netflix movie a month. Still, I decided to go see Scott Pilgrim vs The World Last month, and have to say it was pretty good. Sadly, juding by box office returns, it looks like I was one of only about 300 people nationwide that actually paid to see it. This pretty much says it all.

Nightlife/Social:

One of the reasons why I adjusted so well to moving to Nowhereville, WY is that to me, a Saturday night at home is better than a night on the town, even when said town is hip and trendy. But I still have my karaoke, and I still run the show on Friday Nights. Good times!

Music:

I went to see Streetlight Manifesto Back in July, and in spite of a great show, I was reminded why I don't go to concerts. I can recreate the experience by walking into a sauna fully clothed, tape a picture of the backs of people's heads to my glasses, and just play one of their albums through. I could probably get closer and a better view if I was willing to muck about in the mosh pit, but I don't feel like getting shoved around by 19 year olds that have no other outlet for aggression. I'm just too old for that shit.

And now, posted with no explanation or reason, ELO's Don't Bring Me Down.

Scattershot Post - Two Barrels of Word Pellets

Several items, none that can fill out an entire post. You know the drill:

• In Salt Lake City, there is a store called Game Night Games that specializes in European board games, and other semi-obscure games. Meaning you wont find them at Toys R' Us between Chutes and Ladders and Sorry. The have open tables on weekends, so I learned how to play Puerto Rico with some like minded strangers. I'm liking Salt Lake more and more these days.
• In electronic gaming, Starcraft II recently was pushed back to a release in the first have of 2010, and that makes me sad. I wanted a Zergling rush for Christmas. (For those of you unfamiliar with the terminology, it's kinda like this).
• A few weeks ago, I got the news that Dabel Brothers Publishing are going to finish the comic book series based on Robert Jordan's The New Spring. This series was first published by Red Eagle Entertainment and illustrated by the Dabel Brothers, but some business SNAFU kept the last issues from being completed. So now, the Brother's are publishing it themselves, and they are also illustrating/publishing the comic book based on the Wheel of Time series. I just got the first taste of it in the mail today. Friggin Sweet.
• I'm enjoying the whole karaoke master gig, but some nights, the drunken idiots are out in force. This past Friday was one of those nights. Some sloppy-drunk girl got belted by some angry-drunk guy, and some stupid-drunk dude just couldn't get it in his head that I. Don't. Have. Any. Music. From. Crystal Dew. English, mother****er, DO YOU SPEAK IT?!?!?
• I'm juggling three consecutive weekends involving a wedding in Pittsburgh, a move to another apartment, and a visit from my sister. When it rains, it pours.
• And finally, here's a band that I've recently discovered: Streetlight Manifesto. Any band that lists the Squirrel Nut Zippers as an influence must be good.

It's a Wicked World that We Live In...

In 2002, a band called The Transplants wrote a song called "Diamonds and Guns". It's a surprisingly catchy song for the subject matter. From what I can interpret, it's about a drug deal or a black market diamond deal gone bad, and the consequences that comes from the life choices that led to said deal.

Some of you know which song I'm talking about, some of you may not. But all of you have probably heard it before when Garnier licenced it to sell their shampoo. Any of you who may have not heard the song in it's entirety, will recognize it by the first 5 seconds.

And now, may you think of gritty thug life when you buy hair care products, which is only fair because now when I hear this song, I can't help but think about healthy lustrous hair with shine and bounce.

Woo Woo!!

Barroom Banter - The Exciting Conclusion!

At the end of last month, I challenged a friend who claimed to be able to create a general profile of a person based on nothing more than their ten favorite bands. This morning, I finally got the results back from the submissions in the comment section. I didn't use anyone's names when I handed him the list. How'd he do? You tell me:

Laedelas Greenleaf:

Probably oldest of the 3 {I assume he's referring to the three people who respsond to this}
Quite Reflective Type
Financially Stable

Sarah, the Wyoming Princess:

Close to 30 Years Old {Due to your recent posts, I'd bet this hits pretty close to home, eh?}
Fun loving, friendly type
likely single or has usually been so
possible female {I'd say pretty close, but he gets a penalty for using the qualifier "Possible", hedging his bets regardless of gender}

Brian (no link due to only having mySpace/Facebook web presence, and my disdain for all of them):

Youngest of the 3
Probably a bit obnoxious in comparison to the other 2 guys or gals [in this post]
Into more technical type stuff

For reference, the age ranking of the participants from Oldest to Youngest is Sarah, Laedelas Greenleaf, and Brian. All opinions posted here are not mine, printed verbatim (with some spelling corrections) and are for entertainment purposes only.

My personal take on this is that while he didn't give up enough detail, he's reasonably accurate for most of these, based on the little glimpse of personal data you could glean from Music Tastes. If anyone else wants to give it a try, you may post in the comments. I think next time I'll give him some more guidelines. Like no weasel words, such as "possibly". Participants, give me you're thoughts in the comments regarding the results.

Gonna run all night, Gonna run all day...

That promise I made about having the results from the Barroom Banter post will most likely be broken, as the person in question has had a slight medical emergency, and I wasn't able to get that list to him until today.

So in the meantime, here's My Top 10 in no particular order:

Offspring
Squirrel Nut Zippers
Franz Ferdinand
Reel Big Fish
Green Day
Spin Doctors
Five Iron Frenzy
"Weird" Al Yankovic
Gin Blossoms
Evanescence

And as an added bonus, here's my cadindate for best song EVAR:

Enjoy!

Barroom Banter

UPDATE: I'll try and have my friends music derived profiles up by March 14th if I can. Thanks to all who participated!

The Fiance of one of my Coworkers and I were discussing music at the Barling Alley (the Bar in the Bowling Alley), and he told me that he could profile people based on their ten most favorite bands. I called BS and demanded proof.

He demonstrated this ability with people around the bar using only 5 bands, but he only gave details about them that he would already know about them. Small town life means you pretty much know everyone around, so he asked me to get lists of bands from people that I know whom he has never met.

So, folks, start posting your list of 10 bands in the comments. I'll try and have his results back in a week or two. Let's see how well the amateur Rock n' Roll Psychologist does!

Odd-io

Some of the most weird, yet strangely beautiful things I have ever had the pleasure to listen too:

Freak on a Leash (acoustic) - Korn feat. Amy Lee of Evanescence
System of a Down's Lyrics to the Legend of Zelda Theme
Bluegrass tributes to Just About Anyone.
Anything by Richard Cheese

and most recently...

Seether covering... Careless Whisper by Wham! (?!?!)

Returned

I'm back from spending the week in Rockville, MD for a work related training session. While I was there, I finally got to see some touristy things. I'll have a related scattershot post later detailing the things, I saw, and ate. (DC is a delicous town!)

But in the meantime, I give you other coolness, such as What is Love, like you've never seen it before (actually, judging by the view count on this, some of you may have, but I digress):

Bonus Round Here

Why Don't the States Have Something This Sweet?

So, after bouncing around YouTube after watching that Haddaway video from a previous post, I ran into, and rediscovered this Techno-Euro-Pop band: Aqua.

Most of you know them from their One Hit that made them Wonderous, Barbie Girl. But they also put out several other videos where they turned the following all the way up: Camp, Cheese, and Color Staturation (on the Video editing equipment), and generally have the apperance of a vomitorium for rainbows*. Come, and view a sample of the painful awesomeness they have to offer!

First, a pirate adventure called My Oh My. Yar, Har Fidddle dee dee!


Next, a tale of love and adventure in the Depths of the Amazon Jungle, as well as a thinly vieled reference to certain intellectual Property of the same last name. Wake up now, Dr. Jones!

(As silly as it is, I think that it's still more Entertaining than Indy 4.)

Now an epic space opera adventure where... um... I really don't know. But it has candy. And aliens. Here's Lollipop.



Hope they bring smiles. Enjoy!

*PS: Vomiting Rainbows are just one more of the wonderous things that the vastness of the Internets have to offer!