Ok, this just pissed me off.
Fast Food Moratorium
Apparently the people of Los Angeles cannot decide on their own what they should and should not eat. Thank goodness we have the government to intervene in our eating habits. Who the hell are these people? Do they seriously believe that if they do this LA is all of the sudden going to be not fat? Ridiculous. Someone should storm that meeting and throw vegetables at these high and mighty retards. God bless America, the only place in the world where people THAT stupid are granted political power.
fawk_novat0
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Monday, June 30, 2008
I will not soon forget the events of this Saturday’s warped tour. The two blisters on my nose that somehow manage to be in my peripheral vision at all times will not allow me to forget the great music that I heard. With each periodic oozing of puss I am reminded of the similar wetness which saturated my hair and clothing. Anyways, this blog entry is less about me being able to squeeze moisture out of my shirt like a sponge, and more about the great music that I was exposed to. Of course there were bands there who I was familiar with, and sadly I will not be plugging them today, but the new bands—or at least new to me—get a plug on the blog that is widely circulated in 3 cities with a total of 3 readers. Check out their websites and music.
Midnight to twelve -m212.com
Anberlin - Anberlin.com
1997 - partylikeits1997.com
Relient K - relientk.com
Defy tomorrow - myspace.com/defytomorrow
Tickle me pink - ticklemepinkrock.com
And 1 that I was intrigued by but did not check out
Dose of adolescence - myspace.com/doseofadolescence
CHECK THEM OUT!
fawk_novat0
Midnight to twelve -m212.com
Anberlin - Anberlin.com
1997 - partylikeits1997.com
Relient K - relientk.com
Defy tomorrow - myspace.com/defytomorrow
Tickle me pink - ticklemepinkrock.com
And 1 that I was intrigued by but did not check out
Dose of adolescence - myspace.com/doseofadolescence
CHECK THEM OUT!
fawk_novat0
Monday, June 23, 2008
What a Rush.
For English we were supposed to write a Personal Narrative Essay highlighting an experience in our life. I chose the time I was hit by a car. I apologize for the profanity at the beginning, but what else are you supposed to think when you are hit by a car? Enjoy.
Oh shit.
As fast as this thought shoots through my head, time seems to be frozen. I envision walking around my body, which is about to receive a cold embrace from a 2,000 pound vehicle. It is a strange car, appearing to be some hybrid of a Geo Metro and a Chevy Trailblazer. Only now does it cross my mind that I should not have stepped in front of traffic without a clear line of vision in both directions. This split second of examination is enough to sway me to believe that I will not beat this car. This is going to hurt.
The streets of Ecuador are crazy. This is no surprise to me; I’ve been here for twenty months now. You see, I have a small problem. The rules do not apply to me. I am too smart to carefully examine the streets before I cross. While others may wait for an opening in traffic and clear view of oncoming traffic, I simply look down at the street where I want to cross. If I see no lights, it’s a go.
White light fills my vision. Am I imagining time’s freeze? I can’t be. It’s too real.
I must be dead. No one survives what I just experienced. As my vision comes in to focus, I realize I am in the middle of the street. Dead or not, I summon all of my strength to sprint to the other side of the road. The jump over the curb was almost enough to make my legs buckle under the pressure.
Determined to dramatize the situation, I roll onto the grass much like an action hero would in the movies. A moment of epiphany seizes me, and shakes me as if to scream, “You are alive!” I am alive. I am invincible.
The screams around me seem to intensify all pain in my body. With each utterance of “¡Lo mataron!” a shot of pain goes through my body, contradicting their vocalized belief that I am dead. “¡Ya! ¡Callense!” I shout to demand silence from the roughly one hundred faces that look on. Half of the crowd is offended at such a rude outburst at their supposed caring and turn their backs to leave. “Well, I hate to burst your bubble,” I mutter under my breath and laugh as I watch the majority walk away, “but I am not dead.”
Knowing that I am superhuman for surviving such an incident, I imagine myself in the pages of a comic book. Each of the past few seconds is documented panel by panel. There are oval bubbles reflecting my thoughts and words.
Each painting uses such vibrant colors as to make you think that this place is beautiful. No self-respecting artist would ever waste his efforts to depict “La loma de Puengasi,” this settlement built on a hill littered with all variety of garbage. This place is as ugly as my wounded face, which is now swollen and scratched down the left side, letting just enough blood seep out to make the wound visible in the dim light.
From the crowd, one man comes into view. His face is warped by disbelief and curiosity. He carefully examines the scene with his moustache at a 45 degree angle with his chin, rising from left to right. Our eyes meet, and fear instantly conquers his face. “Doxey?!”
It’s Jaime. Unsure that I can express my state vocally, I begin to laugh to reassure him. Laughing is the easiest response, and needs no Spanish translation. He tells me that I’m crazy. He said the same thing when I jumped inside the bull fighting ring. Even that long red cape would not have been enough to protect me against this much larger, faster beast. He must think that I did this one on purpose.
“I’m going to call an ambulance,” says Jaime.
I laugh harder to make my objection clear, and roll back and forth. The grass under me crunches as my body rocks. The rocking brings the small bag propped under the small of my back to my attention. At least I still have my books. I’m always the optimist.
Enough time has passed that I am convinced I cannot stand. The crowd shares the belief. Two uniformed officers standing to my right continue examining me. I can hear them whisper, “He’s a gringo” to one another. I thought it might be fun to play dead just to see how they would treat a dead gringo, but decided that might take away from the story of my human game of Frogger.
“Here comes the finale” I thought to myself. I concentrated all my strength to stand. Determined to continue the theatrics, I attempt to do so in a rocking motion. One… Two… Three… All the way back, I rock and throw myself forward. I firmly plant my feet on the ground and admire the majesty of my conquest. If ever there was a time for a soundtrack of life this was it. I feel the success rush to my head. It feels strangely like blood leaving my head, and likewise leaves me light headed. The hero falls. There I am once again on my back staring at the sky. There is a lesson to be learned here, a lesson that twenty-one years of my mother’s warnings was not enough to teach. Rather than worry, I laugh again softly. Convinced to share my new found knowledge with the world, I raise my voice and proclaim, “Look both ways before you cross the street!”
Oh shit.
As fast as this thought shoots through my head, time seems to be frozen. I envision walking around my body, which is about to receive a cold embrace from a 2,000 pound vehicle. It is a strange car, appearing to be some hybrid of a Geo Metro and a Chevy Trailblazer. Only now does it cross my mind that I should not have stepped in front of traffic without a clear line of vision in both directions. This split second of examination is enough to sway me to believe that I will not beat this car. This is going to hurt.
The streets of Ecuador are crazy. This is no surprise to me; I’ve been here for twenty months now. You see, I have a small problem. The rules do not apply to me. I am too smart to carefully examine the streets before I cross. While others may wait for an opening in traffic and clear view of oncoming traffic, I simply look down at the street where I want to cross. If I see no lights, it’s a go.
White light fills my vision. Am I imagining time’s freeze? I can’t be. It’s too real.
I must be dead. No one survives what I just experienced. As my vision comes in to focus, I realize I am in the middle of the street. Dead or not, I summon all of my strength to sprint to the other side of the road. The jump over the curb was almost enough to make my legs buckle under the pressure.
Determined to dramatize the situation, I roll onto the grass much like an action hero would in the movies. A moment of epiphany seizes me, and shakes me as if to scream, “You are alive!” I am alive. I am invincible.
The screams around me seem to intensify all pain in my body. With each utterance of “¡Lo mataron!” a shot of pain goes through my body, contradicting their vocalized belief that I am dead. “¡Ya! ¡Callense!” I shout to demand silence from the roughly one hundred faces that look on. Half of the crowd is offended at such a rude outburst at their supposed caring and turn their backs to leave. “Well, I hate to burst your bubble,” I mutter under my breath and laugh as I watch the majority walk away, “but I am not dead.”
Knowing that I am superhuman for surviving such an incident, I imagine myself in the pages of a comic book. Each of the past few seconds is documented panel by panel. There are oval bubbles reflecting my thoughts and words.
Each painting uses such vibrant colors as to make you think that this place is beautiful. No self-respecting artist would ever waste his efforts to depict “La loma de Puengasi,” this settlement built on a hill littered with all variety of garbage. This place is as ugly as my wounded face, which is now swollen and scratched down the left side, letting just enough blood seep out to make the wound visible in the dim light.
From the crowd, one man comes into view. His face is warped by disbelief and curiosity. He carefully examines the scene with his moustache at a 45 degree angle with his chin, rising from left to right. Our eyes meet, and fear instantly conquers his face. “Doxey?!”
It’s Jaime. Unsure that I can express my state vocally, I begin to laugh to reassure him. Laughing is the easiest response, and needs no Spanish translation. He tells me that I’m crazy. He said the same thing when I jumped inside the bull fighting ring. Even that long red cape would not have been enough to protect me against this much larger, faster beast. He must think that I did this one on purpose.
“I’m going to call an ambulance,” says Jaime.
I laugh harder to make my objection clear, and roll back and forth. The grass under me crunches as my body rocks. The rocking brings the small bag propped under the small of my back to my attention. At least I still have my books. I’m always the optimist.
Enough time has passed that I am convinced I cannot stand. The crowd shares the belief. Two uniformed officers standing to my right continue examining me. I can hear them whisper, “He’s a gringo” to one another. I thought it might be fun to play dead just to see how they would treat a dead gringo, but decided that might take away from the story of my human game of Frogger.
“Here comes the finale” I thought to myself. I concentrated all my strength to stand. Determined to continue the theatrics, I attempt to do so in a rocking motion. One… Two… Three… All the way back, I rock and throw myself forward. I firmly plant my feet on the ground and admire the majesty of my conquest. If ever there was a time for a soundtrack of life this was it. I feel the success rush to my head. It feels strangely like blood leaving my head, and likewise leaves me light headed. The hero falls. There I am once again on my back staring at the sky. There is a lesson to be learned here, a lesson that twenty-one years of my mother’s warnings was not enough to teach. Rather than worry, I laugh again softly. Convinced to share my new found knowledge with the world, I raise my voice and proclaim, “Look both ways before you cross the street!”
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
OC remix
Ok, before the two of you who read this think I have gone fru fru and started watching the TV show...
You are right.
That is not the point, however. This blog is about www.ocremix.org which I have found to be quite the source for good music. This started back a while ago when Mitchell and I attended "video games live" and they gave out a cd that had like 500 remixes on it to the second place frogger girl or whatever was going on. Anyways, I took it upon myself to check it out but not until a couple of weeks ago. Recently I have found that my iTunes has grown quite a bit and I am almost constantly listening to remixes of video game songs. This entry is not to revel in my fathood or gloat my nerdiness, (although it more than certainly does so without even trying) but to give it a free plug so that one day if my blog is reviewed on some website or TV show as the least read blog ever OC remix gets at least a bit of free advertising.
The OC stands for overclocked, and although the name "overclocked remix" may stimulate thoughts of wicked fast techno songs I have found most of the compositions to be nothing of the sort. So, if your iPod bores you or you just really like video game music head on over and download some music- it's all free. The best place to start is here.
Oh yes, and me love you long time.
fawk_novat0
You are right.
That is not the point, however. This blog is about www.ocremix.org which I have found to be quite the source for good music. This started back a while ago when Mitchell and I attended "video games live" and they gave out a cd that had like 500 remixes on it to the second place frogger girl or whatever was going on. Anyways, I took it upon myself to check it out but not until a couple of weeks ago. Recently I have found that my iTunes has grown quite a bit and I am almost constantly listening to remixes of video game songs. This entry is not to revel in my fathood or gloat my nerdiness, (although it more than certainly does so without even trying) but to give it a free plug so that one day if my blog is reviewed on some website or TV show as the least read blog ever OC remix gets at least a bit of free advertising.
The OC stands for overclocked, and although the name "overclocked remix" may stimulate thoughts of wicked fast techno songs I have found most of the compositions to be nothing of the sort. So, if your iPod bores you or you just really like video game music head on over and download some music- it's all free. The best place to start is here.
Oh yes, and me love you long time.
fawk_novat0
Saturday, April 5, 2008
Dear film makers
In many senses I feel that I am a modern man. I enjoy the pleasures that society has to offer. New products, tastes, experiences, and sounds heighten my senses. Indeed you may say that I revel in the new and exciting.
There is, however, one area in which I remain old fashioned.
Zombies.
The new zombie movies are becoming more than a little lame. Let us examen the defnition as supplied by Merriam-Webster dictionary.
zom·bie
1usually zombi the supernatural power that according to voodoo belief may enter into and reanimate a dead body
2 a person held to resemble the so-called walking dead
These definitions say nothing about mutant strains of DNA or diseases. Film makers, please return to the roots of zombie-ism. They eat people, yes. You seem to understand that. but they are also risen from the dead, not just sick. Thanks
fawk_novat0
There is, however, one area in which I remain old fashioned.
Zombies.
The new zombie movies are becoming more than a little lame. Let us examen the defnition as supplied by Merriam-Webster dictionary.
zom·bie
1usually zombi the supernatural power that according to voodoo belief may enter into and reanimate a dead body
2 a person held to resemble the so-called walking dead
These definitions say nothing about mutant strains of DNA or diseases. Film makers, please return to the roots of zombie-ism. They eat people, yes. You seem to understand that. but they are also risen from the dead, not just sick. Thanks
fawk_novat0
Friday, March 28, 2008
VGL
Wow.
I have to say I was truly impressed with last night's Video Games Live performance. I'm sure we all imagined a large group of teenage to middle-aged men who had not left their parent's basement since the release of Halo 3. (or Call of Duty 4 depending on your cup of tea) As we arrived (we being myself and my Fat Angry White Kid brother themilton) I was actually worried that I was under dressed. As you can imagine there were few college students dressed to kill, but I was a little worried to see some of the older crowd dressed as if they were going to a run of the mill symphony performance.
There was nothing too eye-catching about the display tables set up outside of the main auditorium which could be attributed to either my arrival only half an hour before the scheduled start time, or just an over all lame guitar hero competition with no one playing on expert. The merchandise table did make me a little jealous and sad that I had not brought cash. The Advent Rising CD seemed to taunt me from the table.
The first arrangement was a little too old for me... Recognizing only the sounds from pong and joust. I was a little embarrassed. The lighting tricks were annoying. You see, someone decided they were too cheap to spring the extra 6 bucks to not be in the balcony, and the lights seemed to be pointing directly into my eyes. I was surprised, to say the least, that these light bursts were not met with screams as those who had seen no light for such a long time met sudden death. I found myself hissing as some sort of monster whose life was in danger. (that last statement is neither here nor there)
Of the music I have no real complaints aside from being a little disappointed with the Metal of Honor arrangement. I think it was a great idea to incorporate the footage from the history channel, but the music selection I did not think was the best they could have done given the extensive soundtrack for the Metal of Honor games. To play a Zelda arrangement without including the Ballad of the Windfish is borderline heresy, but the rest of the arrangement was good enough to fend of the urge to truly gripe about the absence of the BEST SONG OF THE FRANCHISE.
Martin Lueng was an excellent addition to the program. Other than his small stalling each of the two times he played the Final Fantasy fanfare music it was probably the best thing I have ever heard out of a piano. His follow-up Mario brothers bit was equally as comical as it was talented and impressive.
In my opinion the reaction sparked by the frogger competition was ridiculous. There were more cheers and screams for the "Ogden frogger champion" than for the performers or music itself.
Tommy Tallarico kind of confused me with his first guitar. It looked like a toy, but he played it well. The encore was a little strange and seemed to be scripted. To be honest I don't think the reaction by the audience deserved an encore even though we all wanted it.
Tommy ended the show by saying "See you next year," a comment that I believed caused many of the people in the audience to feel something warm and special that they had not felt since playing Dead or Alive volleyball.
To the whole VGL crowd, I honestly hope you get a better reception at Abravanel Hall; you deserve it. I can only hope that unlike the prospect of a promised Advent Rising trilogy which failed to deliver that Tallarico is true to his word and we will, indeed, see him next year.
fawk_novat0
I have to say I was truly impressed with last night's Video Games Live performance. I'm sure we all imagined a large group of teenage to middle-aged men who had not left their parent's basement since the release of Halo 3. (or Call of Duty 4 depending on your cup of tea) As we arrived (we being myself and my Fat Angry White Kid brother themilton) I was actually worried that I was under dressed. As you can imagine there were few college students dressed to kill, but I was a little worried to see some of the older crowd dressed as if they were going to a run of the mill symphony performance.
There was nothing too eye-catching about the display tables set up outside of the main auditorium which could be attributed to either my arrival only half an hour before the scheduled start time, or just an over all lame guitar hero competition with no one playing on expert. The merchandise table did make me a little jealous and sad that I had not brought cash. The Advent Rising CD seemed to taunt me from the table.
The first arrangement was a little too old for me... Recognizing only the sounds from pong and joust. I was a little embarrassed. The lighting tricks were annoying. You see, someone decided they were too cheap to spring the extra 6 bucks to not be in the balcony, and the lights seemed to be pointing directly into my eyes. I was surprised, to say the least, that these light bursts were not met with screams as those who had seen no light for such a long time met sudden death. I found myself hissing as some sort of monster whose life was in danger. (that last statement is neither here nor there)
Of the music I have no real complaints aside from being a little disappointed with the Metal of Honor arrangement. I think it was a great idea to incorporate the footage from the history channel, but the music selection I did not think was the best they could have done given the extensive soundtrack for the Metal of Honor games. To play a Zelda arrangement without including the Ballad of the Windfish is borderline heresy, but the rest of the arrangement was good enough to fend of the urge to truly gripe about the absence of the BEST SONG OF THE FRANCHISE.
Martin Lueng was an excellent addition to the program. Other than his small stalling each of the two times he played the Final Fantasy fanfare music it was probably the best thing I have ever heard out of a piano. His follow-up Mario brothers bit was equally as comical as it was talented and impressive.
In my opinion the reaction sparked by the frogger competition was ridiculous. There were more cheers and screams for the "Ogden frogger champion" than for the performers or music itself.
Tommy Tallarico kind of confused me with his first guitar. It looked like a toy, but he played it well. The encore was a little strange and seemed to be scripted. To be honest I don't think the reaction by the audience deserved an encore even though we all wanted it.
Tommy ended the show by saying "See you next year," a comment that I believed caused many of the people in the audience to feel something warm and special that they had not felt since playing Dead or Alive volleyball.
To the whole VGL crowd, I honestly hope you get a better reception at Abravanel Hall; you deserve it. I can only hope that unlike the prospect of a promised Advent Rising trilogy which failed to deliver that Tallarico is true to his word and we will, indeed, see him next year.
fawk_novat0
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
I have thought, Mr Tiles, and now I'm flaming.
Before you read this blog please turn your attention for a short moment to the following link in which Mr Neal Tiles, President of the channel G4, has to say about his network and himself.
Concessions:
I will concede to you, Mr. Tiles, that post-merger ratings and the growth in the past two years has generated a large increase in ratings. I concede to you also that you are running a business and not a "public service."
I will now proceed to use words commonly heard on G4 itself to explain the large increase in gaming lately to explore the flaws with this channel.
First and foremost:
I do not necessarily think that all G4 programming is inherently bad. I actually enjoy most of it, including Ninja Warrior which is about neither video games nor technology. I also believe that in the past 2 years G4 has come a long way. 2 years ago when I would tune in it was like being on hold with the phone company; hearing (and in this case watching) the same thing over and over waiting to get to what I was originally after. Re-runs (and cheap cleavage) plagued the station. I am pleasantly surprised to see a large influx of daily programming and being able to tune in without seeing the same thing twice or three times in the same 24 hour period.
Now:
I do not think G4 is achieving at all it's potential. It seems that almost daily the advance of video games to the mainstream media and large public masses is made mention of on one or more program of G4, even if it is the dimwitted Adam vs. Adam. It seems to me, however that they neglect their own comments about how gaming is extending to more people. Tiles argues that they cannot simply be about games and technology all the time, although he would like to be. He cites that the target age of G4 viewers is males between the ages of 18 and 34, but in so doing largely neglects a large part of those who play and or buy video games. At theesa.com (the website of the Entertainment Software Association) they state that:
There are very few programs left that take a look at the making of games or as a documentary of the most popular games. There are no "how to" for computer programs or multimedia editing (something which might attract the EXACT audience they want.)
I suppose that mostly I have just been disappointed with G4 catering to those who are not really their target audience. Ratings may be going up, and that's great, but please Mr. Tiles do not insult us by telling us that your target audience are males between 18 and 34 and then air crap like cheaters and cops to keep it afloat. His defense cites that FX was once an all women's channel and that Spike used to be TNN (The Nashville network) but that eventual evolution was necessary to become what they are today. The only reply I have to that (noting that cheaters and cops are among the highest rated shows on G4) is, "If you want to be white trash TV you are well on your way." The next G4 premier "Extreme makeover: trailer edition"
fawk_novat0
Concessions:
I will concede to you, Mr. Tiles, that post-merger ratings and the growth in the past two years has generated a large increase in ratings. I concede to you also that you are running a business and not a "public service."
I will now proceed to use words commonly heard on G4 itself to explain the large increase in gaming lately to explore the flaws with this channel.
First and foremost:
I do not necessarily think that all G4 programming is inherently bad. I actually enjoy most of it, including Ninja Warrior which is about neither video games nor technology. I also believe that in the past 2 years G4 has come a long way. 2 years ago when I would tune in it was like being on hold with the phone company; hearing (and in this case watching) the same thing over and over waiting to get to what I was originally after. Re-runs (and cheap cleavage) plagued the station. I am pleasantly surprised to see a large influx of daily programming and being able to tune in without seeing the same thing twice or three times in the same 24 hour period.
Now:
I do not think G4 is achieving at all it's potential. It seems that almost daily the advance of video games to the mainstream media and large public masses is made mention of on one or more program of G4, even if it is the dimwitted Adam vs. Adam. It seems to me, however that they neglect their own comments about how gaming is extending to more people. Tiles argues that they cannot simply be about games and technology all the time, although he would like to be. He cites that the target age of G4 viewers is males between the ages of 18 and 34, but in so doing largely neglects a large part of those who play and or buy video games. At theesa.com (the website of the Entertainment Software Association) they state that:
- Sixty-seven percent of American heads of households play computer and video games.
- Eighty-five percent of all games sold in 2007 were rated "E" for Everyone, "T" for Teen, or "E10+" for Everyone 10+. (not generally the games that appeal to their target audience)
- Thirty-six percent of American parents say they play computer and video games. Further, 80 percent of gamer parents say they play video games with their kids. Sixty-six percent feel that playing games has brought their families closer together.
- Thirty-eight percent of all game players are women. In fact, women over the age of 18 represent a significantly greater portion of the game-playing population (31%) than boys age 17 or younger (20%).
- In 2007, 24 percent of Americans over the age of 50 played video games, an increase from nine percent in 1999.
There are very few programs left that take a look at the making of games or as a documentary of the most popular games. There are no "how to" for computer programs or multimedia editing (something which might attract the EXACT audience they want.)
I suppose that mostly I have just been disappointed with G4 catering to those who are not really their target audience. Ratings may be going up, and that's great, but please Mr. Tiles do not insult us by telling us that your target audience are males between 18 and 34 and then air crap like cheaters and cops to keep it afloat. His defense cites that FX was once an all women's channel and that Spike used to be TNN (The Nashville network) but that eventual evolution was necessary to become what they are today. The only reply I have to that (noting that cheaters and cops are among the highest rated shows on G4) is, "If you want to be white trash TV you are well on your way." The next G4 premier "Extreme makeover: trailer edition"
fawk_novat0
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