questionblock.com

for those that didnt catch my status update, put some NES art at questionblock.com, more to come.

live (hawaii) basketball at 3:20 am

dope.

really?

"In the second half, Tracy McGrady, Yao Ming and Ron Artest all left the game with minor injuries" - AP

If you follow basketball at all, this is like a parody headline for the Rockets. I knew that mcgrady and yao were fragile and at least one of them would fall to injuries again this year, but all 3 of these guys in one game? "Minor" aside, in credible.

David Bowie

Just blows my mind. More so than anyone, the beatles, radiohead, even beck, if only barely - david bowie represents the sort of songs I want to write, the sort of rock star I would want to be*. Ziggy is the nuts, but man, listening to hunky dory blows my mind out in a car. If you haven't heard that ablum, just get it, and hear life on mars, quicksand, (especially) andy warhol, queen bitch and (especially) the bewlay brothers and hear all there is to know about what my romantic soul longs for in a song.

* Edit: except maybe dan deacon.

The Fall

was really good. I can't believe that it got so much less press than Pan's Labyrinth, a reasonably similar movie that it trumps at every turn. More focus on the fantasy elements, a more epic scope, originality and vision to them; it even had a better outer-story melodrama. A little slow at times, but pretty can't miss if you ask me.

crack!

here's the logo from 3 upcoming / just-started tv shows.

OK guys, fuck, i get it, your show is so intense it broke its own logo.

Edit: more! This is my new hobby.

 

scotland

5 rounds of pints. then someone buys a round of double shots. then another round of shots. on a thursday. wtf.

powerdeer

for some reason I did this tonight. ten-year-old model paint on bird-shit-stained closet door. taller than me.

the first ratatat album

doesn't get its due. Cherry is as much a birthed-from-the-forehead-of-god classic as anything off Loveless, other than the immortal Sometimes.

Dnd

I'm running a Dnd game for the first time since undergrad, putting some session reports here: http://coralislandnightlife.blogspot.com/

Medium

today I go to karl's and order a sandwich and absent-mindedly ask for a Medium drink. When i get to the window, they give me a small drink. I consider saying something, but of course, its one of those FUCKING HUGE cups that would outclass a large drink in europe, or anywhere else in the world. Only someone who had observed the titanic cup arms race as curiously as I had would even notice. I couldn't even begin to stomach the idea of saying "hey! this is a small! I want a bigger one!" They've got me all turned around so I don't even know what size to expect any more, its some eurasia eastasia doublethink shit.

ylt

yo la tengo's painful might be my favorite album i discovered this year

NES

I am fairly obsessed with the NES games as cultural objects these days. The imagery of them, the levels on which they can be understood, as games, as screens, as individual sprites, as puzzles to be TAS-ed, etc. And a general creative/lazy/postmodern urge has drawn me to a variety of art projects around these things, which maybe I'll post some day.

In particular, super mario brothers is becoming a point of obsession. I wonder what percentage of people my age, especially males, have played that game at least once. The layout of 1-1 is a powerful image. The sprites themselves are burned into our brains (though my image of the turtles has been replaced by the more satisfying, rounded ones from later sequels). There is great lore surrounding the locations of invisible 1-up blocks, and of course the mythic infinite water level.

I did some research into how NES graphics are constructed, read this article on bizarre bugs in the game, and seen this thing that shows you what graphics are loaded at each moment as you play - the underlying skeleton is being revealed, and while it ruins the magic somewhat, it reveals a far more powerful magic underneath, far more interesting, somehow.

Its like if we found out a championship runner was actually a complex construction of gears, springs and counterweights. Sure, he's lost his appeal as a fast runner, but holy shit! How does he actually work?

Braid

If you have an xbox360, there's no excuse not to play Braid. Gorgeous graphics and music, extremely satisfying puzzles, and a compelling, if cryptic storyline*. The whole thing just comes together, one of my favorite game experiences ever.

* That I was going to resist calling Lynchian but then David Lynch was one of five folks mentioned in the special thanks section of the credits so maybe its valid. Plus, it really is. I could go on for paragraphs.

play your part!

The new girl talk lives up to the last one. Hit it.

on a smaller scale

the second half of the new islands album doesn't quite live up to the specatular first half, but i think it might be a grower half.

also, is it a concept album? seems like it might be. the end segues strangely well into the beggining of The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway, so if so they can be friends if I ever want to make a 19 hour concept album concept mix consisting of whole concept albums back to back to back.

top 3 recent debut eps whose promise has thus far not been lived up to

3. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Yeah Yeah Yeahs
2. Los Campesinos - Sticking Fingers into Sockets
1. TV on the Radio - Young Liars

I'll need to hear the newly released Tokyo Police Club album, but I can't see how it could live up to A Lesson in Crime.

orange county

I had a moment yesterday where I actually felt some attachment to orange county, where my nostalgia for all the time I spent here overcame my cynicism about it as a place, and where I identified it as a place I belonged. weird, huh?

impossible

I finally saw no country for old men, and found it, as most did, pretty great. it somehow reminded me of a david lynch movie, say, mullholland dr. or inland empire. Stories with hidden meanings, vs meanings with hidden stories. And all three were filled with a lot of patient shots, with a rich style that infects you, and that haunts you after the movie's over.

Update: There's spoilers in it, but this discussion about NCfOM made me see the lynch connection more directly, espcially, of course, when one of the commenters explicitly draws the connection. I have more thoughts on it, but they're not for those who haven't seen it, so ask me some time.

flashmute

i was just realizing how much i love flashmute. It's an app that turns off all sound from flash, or from your browser altogether, with a quick shortcut to re-enable as you see fit. Its great if you want to play flash games with music on, or just don't want horrifying ads hassling you.

Also:
blur's self-titled is really a underrated album.