Edshugeo The GodMoor

Was looking for some I'd posted a while back, and found a page with a segment of my blog translated into Chinese.

From there I had Google translate the page back into English and found some fun bits (reminiscent of an old Saturday Night Live sketch, I barely remember) ;

Issue 6, October 20, 2007

“我现在要做的就是迪克两面” "I have to do now is dick both sides"

Labels: blogs, China, fun, funny-ass shit, moments of incoherency

Been going on for about three weeks and about to expire, I think. Saw on Lightning Deals that Elvis Is Everywhere was offered as a free download. Cool! I remember that song. Not what it sounded like, just that I liked it. Downloaded it, and then searched Wikipedia for Skid Roper cuz I'm just starting to realize that I can answer the questions I like to ask myself or others like "Whatever happened to...?" (though I still ask questions like that cuz they're good conversation fillers). I move on to Mojo Nixon, cuz I don't really know what he's been up to either. A few song titles sound familiar, but I don't remember what any of them sounded like. Then there's a passage about a bunch of albums given away free on Amazon in October 2009 and I'm like, "Wait, it's still October 2009." So I look, and yeah, there's a crapload of Mojo Nixon albums at Amazon for free and of course I download all that shit, even though I don't remember what any of this stuff sounded like. Just that I liked some of it and thought it was amusing at the time...

Gotta love those song titles. Wonder if he inspired Primus?



Mojo Nixon's home page.

Labels: fun, good deal, moments of incoherency, music, nostalgia, online retailers, The Sell Out?

I can too.
Maybe.

From Newsarama;

Announced at last month's San Diego Comic-Con, the babes-in-space concept has been called by Cho, a "rip-roaring space adventure of an all female crew explorers. Think Star Trek and Quantum Leap with a healthy dose of Wally Wood space girls." Sounds like something you'd like to read? How about would like to draw? You just might be able to. The series interior artist will be choosen through an official Image Comics Talent Search. The official rules and all you need (a six-page script and character designs) to submit an entry are below, courtesy of the publisher.

50 GIRLS 50 Talent Search RULES + NOTES

RULES

*To enter, you must illustrate six pages of sequentials based off the script by Doug Murray and Frank Cho.

*Artwork should be standard comic art size—11x17 inches. We want to
see pencils and inks.

*This Talent Search is open to everyone. No purchase is necessary.

*No snail mail. All submissions must be posted in its own thread on the 50Girls50 Message Board on www.imagecomics.com/messageboard

*The sole decisions of the judges (Frank Cho and Doug Murray) are final. You may think we’re stupid, but it’s our call.

*Winning artist is expected to start work on the 50-GIRLS-50 comic immediately. Deadlines are important, and failure to produce work on schedule will be grounds for replacement.

*Winning artist will also be expected to do promotional work on the new comic—after all, it never hurts to push your own product!

*All artwork produced for this Talent Search falls under the 50-GIRLS-50 copyright. This is a work for hire situation--you own the original art—but you cannot publish it without our permission—that would be a bad thing!

*Everything else falls under the rules, regulations, and laws of the United States of America—and IMAGE comics.

*Deadline: Friday, October 2nd by 12:00 PM EST

*Finalists will be chosen at Baltimore Comic-Con (October 10-11, 2009).

*Decision on which of the finalists will do the book will be made within 21 days of Baltimore Comic-Con—no later than Halloween (a trick and a treat!)

NOTES

*We want to judge your ability to draw every aspect of this comic. That means girls, spaceships, bug-eyed monsters, and anything else we can throw in. You have to be able to do all of it—not some, not most—all.

*It is important that you be able to do continuity—the telling of a story in panel form. The six trial pages are designed to show that you can do that.

Designs and script here...

Despite the task being beyond my meager talents, this is too cool not to try. Especially to render these ideas visually and to see (afterwards) how they've been interpreted by others. I'm assuming that the site that the work is being submitted to will display all(??)...

One minor thought; If they were serious about hiring somebody who could meet a deadline (apparently a problem in contemporary U.S. comicbooks), the deadline for six pages should'a probably been much shorter than a month. That said, I probably won't get it done that soon.


I've got a bunch of unused 2 ply bristol pads. My Rapidographs are probably dried up, but I got plenty o' pencils and a couple of erasers around here somewhere.

Sept. 12th, 2009 - I'm backing off'a this. Maybe. I knew it'd be difficult, but it is more-so than I imagined. Just conceptualizing the first page into thumbnails is kicking my ass.

Nov. 3rd, 2009 - A winner! I haven't yet seen what the other entrants were like, but this work is quite good. I like it. I like it.

Labels: Art, comics, fun, non music projects, possibilities for creative expression

Sure, I think all these Obama comics are getting out of hand. But then, what's more fun than watching (some) people who are normally down for letting the free market do it's thing bitch and moan when the market isn't doing their thing?

Image above swiped from PressingDigressions.com
Newsarama story and comments.

The anime? I dunno what this is about, but it looks fun.

Labels: Anime, comics, fun, politics, The President Is A Bad Muthafucka, The Sell Out?, youtube and other video

"Crash Machine GP-7! The Oath Siblings" Can Spider-Man stop the Iron Cross Army before they obliterate Japan with missiles?

From Marvel.com

Labels: fun, Japanese Spiderman, youtube and other video

I don't know what system I'll be getting this for (PS3? 360?), but I will be getting it.

Labels: Anticipay-yay-shun..., fun, PS3, video games, XBox 360, youtube and other video

Finally looked up "Teabagging" in Wikipedia. I always figured it was nut-sack related from the context, but never bothered to ask about specifics. With the word being thrown about so much lately, it was time to find out.

At least it's not as nasty as the "Dirty Sanchez".

Labels: fun, politics, society

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Playing catch-up.

Labels: fun, Japanese Spiderman, tv, youtube and other video

As reported on Ain't It Cool News.

Here's the first episode:



Now to find a way to download these....

Labels: Awesome, fun, japanese, Japanese Spiderman, kung fu, nostalgia, That's what I'm talkin' about, tv, youtube and other video

I think that's how the line went, though I can't remember what song that was from. Run used to talk about DMC's drawing skills in one interview I read back in the day, with DMC admitting he might've taken a shot at drawing comics if he hadn't been a successful rapper.

So when I saw there was a video on Newsarama with the man talking comics, I got my hopes up thinking we may finally see his artwork in a project. Doesn't seem to be the case (though there is some sort of comicbook on the horizon), but it was still fun to watch.

Labels: Awesome, comics, fun, music, youtube and other video

Now this... is an Obama action figure. It's close to a hundred bucks. I'd get one if I didn't have other priorities, though.


I read about it at Kaiju Shakedown. Followed the link but it was dead when I got there. Then found this at Gizmodo (that's where I stole the image from), which led to A Rinkya Blog, where it can apparently be purchased for 8090 Yen. I'm guessing the dolls are sold out, hence the dead link. If they make more, I'll eventually get one. For sure.

Labels: Awesome, fun, funny-ass shit, That's what I'm talkin' about, The President Is A Bad Muthafucka, Toys

I still suck at this game, but that doesn't stop Rock Band from being fun, though I really haven't played much of it. I've not been inclined to purchase extra tracks till now, being that I hadn't got past the warm-up songs, yet. Grabbing Are You Gonna Go My Way and Freedom Train, were no-brainers for me. The other two songs, Let Love Rule and Mr. Cab Driver, don't excite me so much.

Labels: downloads, fun, music, PS3, video games, XBox 360

Spoiler alert! This scene is from the end of the movie.




The two Princes are Ti Lung and Derek Yee. Yee's a fairly well known director nowadays and has an upcoming drama with Jackie Chan coming up, The Shinjuku Incident. I don't know his stuff, though I have a copy of Protege around here somewhere.

This movie, Shaolin Prince is awesome, though I haven't seen it in almost (more than?) a decade, on a VHS tape called Death Mask Of The Ninja. There are no Ninja in this film, though there is a scene of a guy sneaking around dressed in black. Aside from the sedan fight, the highlights are the antics of the Three Holy Fools. Kinda like the Three Stooges but Buddhist, and Chinese. Also a great fight with a bunch of monks with large brass rings.

Labels: Awesome, fun, HDTV, kung fu, movies, nostalgia, Shaw Bros., wu-xia, youtube and other video

An old favorite, though I don't think I'd seen that video till I saw it on Youtube a couple of days ago. This song got airplay on local station WLIR, but probably wasn't a hit for the band in the U.S. (which is why it's not on their greatest hits record). I bought the album, What A Life, on vinyl, back then. It's probably in a closet. Can't play it, so I might get the CD, which can be found cheap.

Labels: fun, music, music video, nostalgia, youtube and other video

Some dude who wished stand up at his own wake got his request fulfilled. I hope this starts a trend.

Full story at the NY Post.

Labels: Awesome, death, fun, odd, possibilities for creative expression

I've been watching the fifth season of Alias, and came across this mash-up (but not this video) during a club scene (in episode 13?). I think it's kinda nice.



Never been a huge fan of The Doors (Jim Morrison's overrated), aside from Moon Of Alabama Alabama Song, which is greatness. But Blondie? How could one not love Blondie? Still, I'd a liked to hear more of Riders Of The Storm on that mix and less of Debra Harry's rhyming skillz. Don't think I heard the "killer on the road" line, or did I miss it?



Didn't know this before, but I know it now dept: Alabama Song wasn't written by Jim Morrison, but by Kurt Weill. Well, how about that?

Labels: Awesome, covers, fun, music, music video, remix, Songza, youtube and other video

This had been playing on the Monsters HD channel on cable a while back. I'd seen the first Blacula flick at some point during the last ten years or so and wasn't crazy about it.

While flipping channels I happened upon a scene from Scream, Blacula, Scream! that caught my attention and decided to DVR it. After finally watching it, I have to say that while not a great film (better than the first, though), there were some good ideas that could've been the basis of a really good movie.
An African prince, enslaved by the curse of Dracula seeks the power of Voodoo (in the form of local priestess, Pam Grier) to emancipate himself. There isn't much more to the film than that, but I found the idea intriguing.

That and the Prince/Jesse Johnson-ish subordinate:



I'd like to see a remake, preferably in the form of an extended, but limited series which would end in a final climatic battle; Blacula VS. Dracula.

Hey, why not?

Labels: fun, movies, youtube and other video

Labels: Awesome, cats, fun, youtube and other video

Labels: comics, fun, media, politics, society, tv, youtube and other video

Also features Arsenio Hall and Tommy Davidson as Tasty Freeze and Cream Corn.
I'm assuming this is an indie production.
Can't wait for this.

Busy time for MJW. A role in The Dark Knight, a new Spawn animation, it seems, and also playing a guy named Ali (surely not Mohammad?) in the new Bruce Lee TV series coming out of China. All of which I am looking forward to.

Labels: Anticipay-yay-shun..., Awesome, fun, independent film-making, kung fu, movies, nostalgia, youtube and other video

Very, very impressive. I envy them.
More stuff and info here.

Official page and one for Loose Cannons.

Even more strange and fun stuff via Ain't It Cool and Twitch.

Labels: Awesome, fun, independent film-making, kung fu, movies, youtube and other video

What is this world coming to? I dunno, but I like it. Celebrity porno, even if they were fakes (lookalikes) is a category that deserves to be a genre unto itself, ...or is it already? At least, if it wasn't for the fact that porno producers are generally lazy. And lookalikes rarely look that much like the celeb they impersonate.

The Marilyn Monroe film is reportedly authentic (it better be for 1.5 million), but will be kept out of circulation. The Jimi Hendrix video has at least one doubter, but will be made public.

Yay!

Labels: Awesome, fun, media, porn

Less than 26 hours from now. I'm torn between picking up GTA IV at midnight tomorrow (@ the local GameStop) or getting it on the way to work on Tuesday morning. I'm currently leaning towards midnight. I was hoping to finish San Andreas before this game was released, but that ain't gonna happen.

I've barely touched Call Of Duty 4, or Blazing Angels 2, though I have played a li'l bit of Rock Band (w/drums). I was mostly trying to get through GTA: San Andreas (XBox version) on the 360. Got farther than I did on the PC version, in which I got stuck at the mission where I had to intercept a jet with a propeller powered plane, and kill the hit men inside. The XBox version was much easier and I caught up with the plane on all attempts. I just kept forgetting how to activate the landing gear at the end. I'm now up to the point where everything is setup for the casino heist, but I didn't do any of those James Woods airstrip missions, so I gotta do those before the story can move along.

Taxpayers are expecting some gub'mnt cheese within the next coupl'a weeks or so, and for a little while, I actually thought I might blow mine on a PS3. I'm having second thoughts, though. I don't really need it. Would be nice to have for the Blu-Ray, now that it's safe to buy movies, but there aren't any PS3 games I have to have at this point (and I have plenty on the 360 to keep me busy for a while). Their Second Life knock off, Home looks intriguing, but is just another one of Sony's promises right now. I might buy it (just because), but it looks like I won't. Maybe there'll be a price drop soon.

Labels: Anticipay-yay-shun..., fun, Hempstead, PS3, video games, XBox 360, youtube and other video

Labels: fun

Labels: Awesome, fun, japanese, movies, youtube

Here's some heavier stuff, and for the above, a hat-tip to CNulan's blog whose reading level is genius.

Labels: blogs, fun, Truth

Ms. Malik has avoided prison, which is good. Not so good is that she is still a convicted criminal, if not for writing poetry, then "of collecting information, without reasonable excuse, of a kind likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism."

Right.

I didn't make any time to write any terror poems or songs, but I did record myself reading Samina Malik's "How To Behead" five times. Four before work, and once after. None of them turned out particularly well (flubbed lines and other stuff), but I uploaded the last two to YouTube, anyhow.





The poem can be read here.
Wanna download the Al Qaeda Manual? Here, but if you live in the U.K., you can be arrested for it.

Labels: civil rights, Fascism, fun, media, politics, society, terrorism, These pictures will come back to haunt me one day, World Affairs, youtube

There's a great gallery of comicbook covers that accompany an article on the truly legendary Tony Wong. Most of the work represent early issues of Dragon Tiger Gate (Oriental Heroes). Dragon Tiger Gate was recently made into a not so good movie and Kaiju Shakedown laments what could have been (while linking to the above article in the first place and allowing me to find it).

Labels: comics, fun, kung fu

One of the true icons of my youth.

Labels: advertising, death, fun, miscellaneous, youtube

Cross posted from my own PsychoVoyager Journal...

There are plenty of songs from the past couple of years waiting on the back burner to be completed. However, I realized I haven't written any new tunes this year. I just sorta finished Ménage à Trois with robots, so I figured on getting something new in between that whatever I'll spend the next month or two polishing up.

Always looking for new toys to play with, outta nowhere came ChordStudio.com, now known as JamStudio.com (both URLs work, currently).

A boon to songwriters, musicians, or those of us who pretend to be, this web interface allows you to not only arrange chord progression with a click o' the mouse, but also the musical arrangement as well. Nice sounding samples of drums, bass, guitars, pianos, etc.

Creating songs this way, offers one a way to think outside the instrument and maybe write songs that might not normally result from noodling on the guitar or keyboard. Of course, if you were really good, you'd think outside the box with or without your main instrument. I'm not, so here I am.

I threw some random chords together on the 3rd and 4th of this month, till I got a couple of sequences with melodic potential. Then I started to build on the first one, which I decided was a verse. A chorus and intro was eventually added and I started on lyrics, which I worked on little by little from the 11th to today.

There might be a wee bit of a WTF factor to them, which I'm not gonna get into, except to say there is some element of truth to the words and just leave it at that.

After nearly finishing the lyrics, I then constructed a bridge section, which will probably host a guitar solo or some kind of instrumental break. Too lazy to write more words.

The two big limits with JamStudio are the inability (so far) to record vocals (don't know if that can be done with something like this) and the inability to record your song to mp3 or other audio format. The latter would sorta take care of the former as one could then overly vocals over the mp3 in another program (not the optimal way to record a song, but fine for a demo). Otherwise the share song feature is almost redundant as you're just sharing a chord progression arranged into a verse-chorus sequence, and not really an actual song (words and music).

Otherwise, the website as it is will keep me somewhat honest as a musician, as I'm forced to actually play and record the music to complete a demo. Still, if I could do it all here, and then put it on the shelf til I was ready to record proper, that would be an extra two flavors of awesome.

My JamStudio song can be heard here (and then make your own) until I get around to recording it.
And the lyrics below (I don't think anybody's gonna be able to sing along, just yet)...

Burning Kiss (c) 2007 George-Williams Isaacs

The secret evil
beneath the surface-volitile
but all the while-I stay
politecuzIcouldneverhurtyouorburnyouyoumeanthewholeworldtomebutIstillwantto
because it feels so good
this is where I've stood-the line
between
two worlds
of pain and pleasure
I need you to release the pressure


There is no hate there is no anger
in my burning kiss
I lust to taste your fear
of my burning kiss

Submission
to the power
while my aura
overwhelms-I sense
thetensionincreasingthestrikesneverceasingeuphoriareachingnewheightsneverdreamedof
No safe words spoken yet
smell the latex and the sweat
Awake
the dragon
from hell up to heaven
all our sins are now forgiven


There is no hate there is no anger
in my burning kiss
I lust to taste your fear
of my burning kiss

Thanks to Create Digital Music for highlighting this app.

Labels: fun, good deal, lyrics, music, music making, my music, PsychoVoyager, web apps

This is gonna be so awesome! Click on the art to enlarge or go here for those above and more.

Labels: comics, fun, funny-ass shit

Great new homebrew game for the PSP. An update to the classic, Pong, in 3D, which also plays your music (randomly) off your memory stick as background. I know it's just Pong, but it's great.

Get it at DCEmu.co.uk
Works on firmwares 1.0, 1.5, and Dark Alex's 2.71 SE

Labels: Awesome, downloads, fun, good deal, PSP, video games

First, click here...

Then watch this techno remix...



Then, if you're so inclined, read this explaination.

Found via Kaiju Shakedown.

Labels: Anime, fun, music video, remix, youtube and other video

Swiped from the home page:

PSP Rhythm 6.0 is Released!
PSP Rhythm is the homebrew drum machine for the Sony Playstation Portable.
Inspired by classic drum machines such as the Linndrum and Roland TR-series, PSP Rhythm has been created to use a similar simple, yet effective sequencer.

PSP Rhythm uses a parameter feature that enable you to change the pitch, volume, balance, start, end times, cutoff and resonance per step to create moving, changing melodies and effects. This control over your sounds will give you much more creative freedom.

The on board Bass Line synthesizer in PSP Rhythm is similar to the classic Roland TB-303. TB-303 style features such as Accent and Slide are available. The real time control of the Cutoff and Resonance give you that authentic "Acid" sound that made the TB-303 Bass Line Synthesizer so famous.

Included effects are: Distortion, Slicer, Delay, Time Stretch, High/Low Pass Filter and Monophonic Sample Mode.

But wait! There's more;
PSP Rhythm 6.0 Song Contest!!!

The top 3 song entries will win a 1gb SanDisk Pro Duo memory stick.

Contest Rules:

1. Your song must be created with PSP Rhythm 6.0.
2. You can submit as many songs as you like but can only win one prize.
3. You must include your samples and bank file.

Bonus Points:

1. Using Effects
2. Using the Bass Line Synthesizer
3. Using Extended Mode

Submit your song to rconlives@yahoo.com before August 31st.

In our effort to give back to the PSP homebrew community we are using all the donations received for our project to sponsor this contest.

Good Luck!!!


I should also mention that it's free, though donations are accepted. I gave a li'l bit. It's a great program that makes the PSP that much more worthwhile to own. Too bad Sony has to be a dick on the issue of homebrew.

More details, downloads, and lessons here.

Labels: Awesome, downloads, fun, good deal, music making, possibilities for creative expression, PSP, PSP Rhythm

Came across an interview with the creator of Loco Roco, Tsutomu Kouno. It's a good, short read that goes into some of the issues with many video games today. Particularly the lack of intuitiveness. I feel I shouldn't have to study a chart to figure out what buttons to push to do x, y, or z. He doesn't say any of that exactly, but that's what I kinda got out of it.

I've chosen, at the moment, to ignore what he says is the backstory to Loco Roco. Something about a planet invaded by Mojas or something like that. In my mind the game is about coming forth into existence, the joy of discovering the world around you, and the pain of realizing that not everyone loves you, nor is every experience pleasant. But by and large, the world is a wonderful, wonderous place of adventure and discovery. Mojas are the natural predators of Loco Rocos. Why they are there does not matter at this point. I could change my mind as I get further along, but I probably won't.

This game is awsome, in case you don't get that from reading the previous paragraph. If you're in Europe or Asia, pick up this game now. If you're in the U.S. like me, wait till September or figure out an alternative. I'll still buy the game when it comes out here, because games like this (and as good as this) are few and far between and deserve to be supported. Sure I could buy the import, but I'm hoping the game becomes a hit in this country. Imports won't help in that regard.

I believe a game demo can be downloaded from the official site. If you have a PSP, you'll need firmware 2.7 or higher. If you have 1.5, you can use the latest DevHook which now emulates 2.71. I haven't tested it's effectiveness. The website itself has a Flash facimile that might give you some idea what the game is like if you don't have a PSP. It's not the same, though.

Labels: Awesome, fun, japanese, PSP, video games

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It's Jesus VS Vampires in Loaded Bible. I love the idea and I haven't fully read the Newsarama article, yet (more page samples there). I once had an idea for a Warlord Christ comicbook or Flash animation, where Jesus leads the world in a fight against aliens. It wouldn't have come out as cool as this, though. I just don't think I could fork out 5 bucks for a 48 page comicbook.

Oh, wait. I did worse than that yesterday, when coming out of Forbidden Planet in NYC yesterday. I saw some dude selling some self printed booklets, of something called Sausagehead: The Passion Of Sir Shizzle Monizzle. The title and the cover image was so insane, I had to buy a copy. I paid 5 bucks. It's over fifty pages of text, photocopied, except for the cover which appears to be laser printed. He also offered to sell a copy of "How To Put Your Foot In The Devil's Ass", but I told him, I'd wait to see if I liked this offering, first.

Do I like it? I was a bit disappointed that there wasn't an actual narrative. It's more of a religious rant, but what I've read, scanning bits and pieces here and there is pretty funny:

"Sausagehead because of his nose like that of a pig cannot smell what the Rock is cooking. The Rock I'm talking about is not the Rock from wrestling here in the United States, but he's the Rock of refuge whose name is Christ Jesus."

"Another sad story I heard is about a certain man in South Africa who screwed a chicken, and the chicken died. I was very young when I heard the horrible story about what had happened to the chicken, but now that I am a man I realize that to do such silly things is to be a Sausagehead. I hope you enjoyed this book, but even if you didn't: That's not my problem. I did what I had to do by unleashing this book of Sausagehead, because a man got to do what a man got to do."

If this sounds like your kinda thing, the author, PMD can be found on the corner of 840 Broadway, between Forbidden Planet and the movie theatre across the street every Wednesday afternoon, or so he said. Neither the website given in his book, www.PMDtheAuthor.com nor the one on his business card, www.southafricanauthor.com seem to be working.

So I was at Forbidden Planet yesterday, cuz I finally went to see V For Vendetta, which was playing across the street. I'd thought about going on Saturday, but just didn't feel like it. I'd forgotten it was free comicbook day, so I missed out. Anyway, the movie was pretty good. The source material wasn't raped the way From Hell and League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen were, and at the same time they were able to make a decent and entertaining film. I didn't like that they didn't use the communion scene from the comicbook. That happens to be my favorite part in the book. Also, we get to see the sensitive side of V. I was mildly annoyed by that, but it's no big deal. I'll get the DVD at some point (wait for the special edition?). There are some elements that right wingers will take (have taken - the flick's been out for a while) issue with, especially as the source material predicted an out of control leftist government, but I feel the change and added subplot was appropiate for the times we live in.

So, at the comicbook store I did a bit of looking around, and saw a few things that interested me, but didn't pick up. It was pretty crowded for about 3 in the afternoon, and pretty hot. Probably a good thing I wasn't there on Saturday. I eventually settled on Godland volume one; Hello Cosmic by Joe Casey and Tom Scioli. Scioli does the best 70's Kirby since Keith Giffen's Defenders run back in the 70's itself. I'd read some preview pages on Newsarama a while back and was intrigued. The Dialogue is pretty funny, which mixes Kirby's style (which is sorta like movie producer Robert Evans if you've seen The Kid Stays In The Picture - Saw it on TV the other day) and something out of The Simpsons. I'm only about halfway, but enjoying it, so far. A couple of things bother me, though. 1) the lip piercings on the youngest sister are drawn in such a way, that from a distance it appears she has worms sticking out of her mouth. I don't know how Kirby would've handled that, but I know it's wrong. 2) a scene where a general hands another sister a disc. He has six fingers. Two are thumbs. Maybe I'm not gettin' something here.

Not content with my purchase I headed to Sullivan Street, to a store I used to frequent. I've forgotten it's name, but it's gone. I may head to Midtown Comics in the next day or few. I've avoided Amazon.com for the last week or two cuz I wanted to visit a shop or few. There are a couple of local Long Island spots, that I'd like to drop by to see if they're still around.

Labels: comics, fun, funny-ass shit, movies, religion, South Africa

The newest version of this great drum machine for the PSP has been released.

From their homesite;

"With the release of version 4.0 a Bass Line synthesizer similar to a Roland TB-303 has been added to make this the most versatile homebrew drum machine for the PSP. TB-303 style features such as Accent and Slide are available, along with the real-time control of the Cutoff and Resonance you can get that authentic "Acid" sound that made the TB-303 Bass Line Synthesizer so famous.

"Version 5.0 adds Real Time Audio Effects. Included effects are: Distortion, Slicer, Filter, Delay and Monophonic Sample Mode. Effects assist in creating new and unique sounds. They assist you in getting the most out of your samples and the bass line synthesizer. With effects, Rhythm goes beyond a typical drum machine and is now a well rounded production suite."

Haven't tried it, yet, but I already know I'm gonna love it. Download it from the above link.


By the way, if you want to keep playing great programs like this on your PSP, DON'T UPGRADE YOUR FIRMWARE!!!! EVER!!! 2.7 has been realeased in Japan, and reportedly knocks out homebrew capability.

I made the mistake of upgrading to 2.6, enabling features, I've yet to make use of. I can still play homebrew on it, but it's a hassle having to wait for GTA: LIberty City Stories to load before I can do anything. Firmware 2.0 is optimal in my opinion, as it allows GTA to play as well as loading homebrew from the memory stick instead of the UMD. More info here. Many will find 1.5 better as it allows for pirated ISOs (not my thing, but if I could, I probably would) and there's a prog that will load 2.X firmware games on 1.5 PSPs.

Labels: Awesome, fun, music making, possibilities for creative expression, PSP, PSP Rhythm

Man, this guy is good. Dokaka is an a cappella-ist somewhat in the vein of Bobby McFerrin (but more of a metalhead) and that guy from the Police Academy flicks who did the special FX with his voice. I'd heard a little of his stuff in a preview for We Love Katamari, from a Playstation Underground magazine/disc, a little while back. Didn't blow me away, but I thought it was interesting. I did want to get the game, though.
The other day, I caught a small article about him in the latest issue of Wired, which I subscribe to (only ten bucks), and thought I'd check out his website. I downloaded a bunch of music, listened to some of it and was like "Holy shit!!!, This guy's fucking great!!! And he is, too. And there's a lot of music at his site. I haven't finished listening, yet.
I think every song of the week in April is gonna be a multi-track a cappella production. Obviously, they won't match the blinding brilliance that is Dokaka, but it does offer me a different way of approaching music for a little bit.

February 23rd, 2008 - there is no longer the huge collection of music that was on his site before, though, there are a couple of songs for purchase. More samples and video can be found on his MySpace.

Also playing in my PSP...

My Only Alibi (four song demo) - A guy I know at work is the lead guitarist for this band. I'm not a huge fan of emo (I think that's what this is), but all of these songs are rock solid. From the songwriting to arrangements and the musicianship. It's a little annoying to know someone about half my age who's this good, even if it's not unusual to find better musicians than myself.

Wendy And Lisa - Lolly Lolly and Are You My Baby from their 1989 CD, Fruit At The Bottom. I need to cut out the album intro from the beginning of Lolly, but otherwise I've always dug these two songs. Are You My Baby is sorta Camille/Prince in voice and production, though maby not much so, lyrically. My first two CDs were this and Living Colour's Vivid (both purchased simultaneously).

Still playing; GTA: Liberty City Stories, Donkey Kong Country, Metal Slug 2, K.E.T.M. and playing with PSPRhythm. Sony's apparently working on a PSOne emulator for the PSP so they can sell Playstation 1 games that work right off the memory stick. That sounds great, but if it comes at the cost of playing the games and programs I just mentioned (except GTA, which is safe), then I won't be participating in the inevitable firmware upgrade. The lure of being able to play Jumping Flash again, though...

Watching Romance Of The Three Kingdoms (up to "episode" 9 of 58, now).

Reading The Smiling Proud Wanderer (still on chapter one, I think), by Jin Yong (Louis Cha). Translated by Lanny Lin.

Labels: Awesome, fun, music, possibilities for creative expression, PS2, video games, wu-xia

While I agree intellectually with most, if not all of the points made in Shay's article at Booker Rising (click the title above to read it), I have to say The Three Six Mafia were the most interesting part of the big show. And their song wasn't half bad either.
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I didn't watch most of the show. I'd forgotten it was on till just after nine (it started here at eight, I think) and when I tuned in, I divided my time between that and some other stuff. I miss Jon Stewart's Daily Show. I keep my cable TV very basic since I pay enough for cable internet, which allows me to find whatever I miss anyway. Still, I haven't really bothered to hunt down his show in a while.
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Doesn't it seem like Booker T. Washington should be older than 150? It's about another month from now, but happy birthday, just in case I forget.

Labels: fun, society, Truth, tv

I finally got homebrew running on my PSP (2.6 firmware), thanks to this article. Once that was done, I had to look for stuff to play with.

Among my favorites, so far...

KETM - Kill Everything That Moves: To me it's a pretty version of Space Invaders/Asteroids/Galaga, etc., but actually a port of some other game I've never heard of. Lot's of fun, though.

Art Of Fighting 3 - this requires a Neo Geo emulator called NeoCDPSP to run. There are a number of game ROMs available. I've only tried this one (which I like a lot) and Sengoku 2, which is okay, so far. I also have a GBA emulator, but it's slow and apparently soundless.

PSPRhythm - this one has me giddier than a schoolgirl. Here's a quote from it's creators:

Inspired by classic drum machines such as the Linndrum and Roland TR-series, PSP Rhythm has been created to use the simple, yet effective 16 step style drum sequencer. PSP Rhythm incorporates the use of audio sample playback instead of drum synthesis. PSP Rhythm has been directly influenced by one of our favorite modern drum machines, the Elektron MachineDrum. The most significant is our use of "parameter locks" (as used by the MachineDrum). Parameter locks enable you to change the pitch, volume, balance, start and end time per step to create moving, changing melodies and effects. This control over your sounds will give you much more creative freedom and allow you to not only use drums, but to use instruments in your music.

I've barely gotten started with this, and there's still much for me to figure out, but so far it sounds great. There's a great deal of potential here. My portable video game system/movie player/mp3 player/e-book/e-comicbook is now also a pocket song writing tool.

It also means that when Sony releases the next firmware update, I'll have to pass.

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Other stuff on my PSP...

Andy Richter Controls The Universe - why the FUCK isn't this on DVD, yet? I'd downloaded a bunch of these a couple of years ago. I saw a few, but stored the rest. I watched the first ep from the second season, yesterday. Brilliant!

Romance Of the Three Kingdoms - The kung fu isn't all that great and the male bonding a bit over dramatic, I still find this entertaining so far (I've only watched 3/4 of the first episode).

A few bizarre Golden Age Comicbooks that are apparently in the public domain. A few of these characters have appeared in Alan Moore's Terra Obscura. I may lift a few myself.

Super Spy - I've read the first two and I have the third. There are four more up as of this writing. Got some catching up to do, and I still haven't finished MPD Psycho.

Various mp3s from Hello Gina - standouts are
The Man Machine by Kraftwerk. Do I remember this song, or the song that sampled it in the early to mid eighties?
Catch My Disease by Ben Lee - there are some songs that cause these feel good secretions that I can sometimes feel happening in my brain. Adore and She Loves Me 4 Me by Prince, and Europa And The Pirate Twins by Thomas Dolby are among those. So is this. I love it.
Unite by Tiger Tunes - They can make you dance.

various mp3s from wherever, including:
Battle Without Honor Or Humanity by Tomoyasu Hotei - the fight song from Kill Bill.
Slave by Nadir - I still love this song.
American Woman by Lenny Kravitz - don't look at me like that.
Take Me To The River by The Talking Heads

Prince stuff like Black Sweat, S.S.T./Brand New Orleans, Beautiful Loved and Blessed as well as his recent performances on SNL and the Brit Awards.

and some of my own recent demos and projects as well as the originals to songs I covered by Cry For Life and Sinister Dexter.

Labels: comics, Crystal Walters, dead links, dorama, downloads, fun, music, music making, possibilities for creative expression, Prince, PSP, PSP Rhythm, video games

I think I spelled that wrong. Whatever. Anyway, here's Frank Miller on video discussing his work in progress, Holy Terror, Batman! Looks good. Look at the size of those pages, though. I love Miller, and probably would've stopped reading comics in 1980 or so if not for him. Actually, I did for a minute, I think. His stuff often looks like it could be drawn with Sharpie markers on 8 1/2 x 11 copy paper. Not sayin' that's bad, just that he makes it look that easy.
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Unconfirmed reports at Aint it Cool News about Keanu Reeves possibly playing the Silver Surfer and Yuen Wo-Ping directing an Ang Lee film production of Shang Chi (Master Of Kung Fu) got me thinking about ideas I used to have about about these characters.

First, let me start with Spiderman. I never thought a faithful adaptation of Spiderman could work, but it did, and the first two Sam Raimi films were great. Before he proved me wrong, I had this bizarre concept of Peter Parker being a Haitian-American student played by Will Smith (who basically has Spiderman's personality down) who goes through the traditional origin and then becomes a modern day incarnation of one of his ancestral gods, Anansie, which is what Spiderman basically is. Anansie/Edshu to Brer Rabbit to Bugs Bunny to Spiderman to assorted loudmouthed, charismatic black wiseguys popular in Hollywood cinema today.
I understand that to some, that's possibly the worst idea they will ever hear. Anansie, however is a god in the form of a spider and sometimes spider-man. He predates Marvel's character by possibly thousands of years and is therefore public domain. Somebody is gonna eventually exploit this idea if Marvel itself doesn't do what they've already done with their other spider-related franchises from Spider-Woman to Arana, and get there first.

Where was I? Okay. The Surfer and MOKF.

Lee and Kirby reunited (with Joe Sinnot) near the end of the seventies to produce a graphic novel (not so-called, if I remember the times correctly) which remains among my favorite comics of all time. This is close to equaling a Beatles reunion (not the one that produced Free As A Bird, though). I recall that at some point (late 70's, very early 80's?) a movie based on this book was considered. A musical with a prominent role for Olivia Newton John, but still, I was excited. Never happened. I still consider this story the only one featuring the Surfer and Galactus that matters. The Fantastic Four "trilogy" where the stretchy guy scares the big guy off with that little gun? Nope. Liked it when I first read it, but... nope.

The only place where my ideas veer off a bit is that Zenn La is not Norrin Ladd's home. Norrin, the Surfer is a figure created wholly from Galatus' subconcious. Sorta like the angel that sits on a person's right shoulder in those old cartoons. His memories of home are actually those of his host, Galactus. Everytime Galactus comes across an inhabited world, he does battle with himself, because in spite of what he says, he knows there's not that much difference between him and his food.

Master Of Kung Fu was an attempt to cash in on Bruce Lee by having a martial arts hero be related to Fu Manchu. I dunno, is that kinda like having Luke Cage be related to Rochester from the old Jack Benny show? Dude's name was Shang Chi and he wore the same red pajamas all the time and hung out with some British folks who were trying to take down his father. Now, I'm not Chinese, but I have a feeling this wouldn't play that well in Beijing, Hong Kong or even Taiwan. Still, it might be cool. I know Yuen's not gonna actually direct the film. They'll have him do the action (at most) and let some hack do the rest.

Had an idea for the comicbook, that Fu Shang-Chi was working for his father all along or at least for the organization that he would eventually inherit. The series would pit him against Nick Fury who would always be a step behind the son of Fu.

Labels: comics, fun, kung fu, movies

Got the PSP. I got the money for Christmas, but I had to endure the mall yesterday to pick the bad boy up. Even though one can find *relatively* okay prices for 2 GB memory sticks at Amazon and elsewhere, I couldn't wait so I bought a 1GB memory stick for $99. Also bought GTA: Liberty City Stories, perhaps the only game I will need for a while. I never finished GTA 3, but playing this game for a few minutes, driving around made me feel like I'd returned to a familiar neighborhood.

I converted some videos using this tutorial. Ghost In The Shell: Stand Alone Complex episodes 9 and 10, Macross Zero 1 and 2, trailers for Mission Impossible 3 and Exodus. Two videos by Bloc Party; Banquet and Helicopter, one by Sevendust; Ugly and some PSP ready trailers from CPM.

I transferred music from Bloc Party, Prince (unreleased out-takes), Damien Marley, Best Of Kool And The Gang 1969-1976 did not go through probably due to the memory being full (this is for all intents and purposes NOT THE SAME BAND who gave us songs like Misled, Victory and other crap from the eighties) and this possibly brilliant cat named Nadir whom I first heard on Adam Curry's podcast the other day. Check out his song Slave on his website.

Also read an article about reading manga on the PSP. Tried it with MPD Psycho and so far I'm not impressed. I may need to be more familiar with navigating through graphics, but so far I don't like it. I do like being able to transfer text to jpegs (same article just mentioned) so that I can take lengthier articles with me when necessary.

All in all, this is gonna be a fun toy to play with.

Labels: Anime, Awesome, downloads, fun, holidays, music, PSP, video games

This was the 85th comment to Cobb's post, "Fond Memories Of Tookie". It's written by someone identified as Frank Gonzalez. With apologies to him, I'm posting his story (which I find amusing) in it's entirety. Here goes...

An appropriate sentence for Stanley “Tookie” Williams, convicted four time murderer.

Many others and I believe that the punishment should fit the crime, that is, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. Therefore, using this criterion, Tookie should be sentenced to death by SHOTGUNNING, as he sentenced his victims to die by.

I can see it all now, a macabre flight of fancy, with myself cast as the Chief executioner of San Quentin correctional facility.

One hour before the execution, final preparations would be made in the green room, the warden presenting me with hearing protection muffs and a sawed off, Mossberg 935 12 gauge magnum autoloading shotgun. The magazine would contain brass cased, hotloaded 00 buckshot.

“Are you sure you can handle this?” the warden would ask, a review panel having found that lethal injection was much too merciful for those such as Tookie Williams.

“Sure, I’ve dropped many a deer with one of these babies,” I would answer, hanging the muffs around my neck.

“No, that’s not what I mean, do you think you can slaughter inmate Tookie in such a brutal manner?"

“Why not, he killed his victims in the same way.”

“Very good,” the warden would reply, “Your weapon has been provided with four shells, one for each of his victims. The entire procedure is to take five minutes, in order for Tookie Williams to feel the maximum amount of pain for his crimes.”

“Yes sir.”

“Remember that each shot must be felt by the condemned, the last shot being a point-blank blast to the left side of his face, in memory of his victim Ye Chen Lin. Oh yes, and please be certain the final shot is so directed that it blows his brains out.”

“No problem,” I would answer confidently, sitting down in the death chamber with the Mossberg autoloader in my lap, awaiting instructions to carry out the duly ordered execution.

“Executioner, remember also that you must not speak to the condemned, as it is against prison procedure.”

“Yes, sir,” I would answer from my seat.

Later, Tookie would be drug in, kicking and screaming, to the death chamber. He would look at me with sullen eyes as he was strapped in the chair. The warden would pronounce the sentence, and the chamber would be closed.

“You may proceed, executioner,” the warden would remark over an intercom speaker.

I would nod, place the muffs over my ears, rise from my chair, and cock the Mossberg, chambering the first round.

“You’re a sick muthafucker,” Tookie would yell while I would pause to determine where to place the first shot, for maximum prolongation of his agony.

Remaining silent and focusing on the lower part of his legs, I would pull the trigger, shredding the prison uniform and blowing off his left kneecap, flesh, bone and blood flying everywhere. The spent shell would eject to the floor with a metallic clatter; smoke and the smell of burned powder would fill the room. An overhead exhaust fan would come on, ventilating the noxious fumes from the death chamber. Tookie would shriek in pain, his formerly powerful arm muscles struggling against the nylon restraining straps.

The warden would call out, “Hold for one minute.”

I would nod, preventing myself from uttering a word.

A minute would pass.

“You may proceed.”

Having time to decide where to place the second shot, I would direct the muzzle at Tookie’s right arm and pull the trigger. The blast would sever the arm below the elbow as the condemned would thrash about, writhing in exquisite torment as the spent shell bounced off a thick glass window in the death chamber. Blood would shoot in torrents from the remains of his thrashing arm; the severed lower part still strapped to the arm of the chair.

“Hold for thirty seconds,” would come over the speaker while the exhaust fan would hum in the background.

I would turn to the warden with a quizzical expression.

“He’s running out of blood, at this rate he’ll be dead before you blow his head off.”

I would nod.

“Proceed.”

The muzzle would be aimed as to produce a painful lower gutshot, the 00-buck blasting in a wide pattern, nearly severing his penis and lower spine; the third shell casing bouncing off a wall before landing on the floor of the death chamber.

“Hold for thirty.”

Blood would be dripping to the floor from Tookie’s wounds and spattered about the death chamber; I would pause to wipe blood from my shooting glasses as the smoke cleared.

My glasses replaced, the bored warden would remark in monotone, “You may again proceed executioner.”

“Finish me off you cruel muthafucker!” Tookie would yell with his remaining strength.

“With pleasure,” I would retort with a vicious smile, momentarily losing control and violating prison procedure for the first time in my career as Chief executioner of San Quentin correctional facility.

Calmly aiming point blank at the left side of his face, I would move the checkered buttstock of the sawed-off Mossberg high to my right, so the kill shot would enter his skull at an oblique angle. The trigger would be pulled, the final brass shell casing ejecting automatically. The blast would erase the left side of Tookie’s face; his brains erupting through the skull from the rear of his head, splattering like red, white and gray Jell-O over the green walls of the death chamber.

Slumped in the chair, a dying Tookie would gurgle blood from his mouth for a minute or two; I feeling remorse for having spoke to him in his final moments.

As the smoke cleared the chamber would be opened for a physician to pronounce Tookie dead. The doctor, not really caring, would look over the mangled remains and say, “Well, if Tookie Williams isn’t dead, I’ll bet dollars to donuts that he wishes he was.”

The warden would walk in, stare at me and say, “Christ, what a gory mess, look at you, you’re practically covered in blood from the condemned!”

Yeah, it’s a good thing Tookie didn’t have AIDS or hepatitis,” I would answer nonchalantly, quickly adding, “Sorry warden, I violated procedure by speaking to the condemned.”

“Don’t worry about it, I don’t blame you, he was a mouthy piece of shit; were I you, I’d have punched him for his smart remarks.”

With those words, the execution party would leave, with other death row prisoners assigned to remove the body and disinfect the death chamber.

Later, the warden looking on in sheer disgust, the remains of Tookie Williams would be carried off from San Quentin in an unmarked coroner’s van, to be dumped into San Francisco Bay from the Golden Gate Bridge.

Labels: Awesome, death, fun, society, solutions?, terrorism