'splainin 2

Welp, here I am again in sort of a quasi build up to my next Whale Watcher video explaining myself on another video I'd done in the past. This time it comes in the form of something I put together not long before I'd finally moved up to completely to Ohio. First off though, I'd like to mention that I'd already had a long history with editing down Logan's Run to Whale Watchers music. My epic plan was to almost re-edit the entire move and put it to Roctannica songs. I even tried. I carried it out to about three songs. before I started running out of space on my mac.

The first song I completed was 'I see a Devil' (i think that was the name of the song). I fleshed it out completely on Smitty's mac I think. A couple years later I revisited it on my own mac with, again, full intention of making an epic. I re-re-edited the same thing even and carried further with 'Animals at the Levers' to a chase scene after the famous gladiator type scene in the movie. Later, after a show the WW put on I'd revisited Logan's Run for "Rock n Roll".

I think, as far as my Logan's Run edits go, this was my most coherent. Take that for what it is worth I guess and nothing more.



In this the WW blow up walls, ignite pyrotechnics on an extras ass, and rock a glowing anka. In the end 'Box' lets us all know what it is all about... Rock and Roll.

Enough is enough though. Can I say that I'll never revisit Logan's Run? Honestly... no.

'splainin 1

Much moons ago in a place near a place called VA Beach a band played. and played. and played. Three quarters of the way through they seemed to get loose, and by loose, I mean let it go, and by let it go, I mean get to the moment where you try and force it then go past that to the point where it let go of them. I remember driving up in pretty heavy snow and calling a girl named Sherri Fain's parents to try and get hold of her. I think she got engaged that weekend. I'd have to check with sources on that though. Too much information there, but it part of what 'splainin' is. It is what it was.

I drove up from Raleigh that night and drove back that night. Rocktannica's number one fan. Looking for magic then creating a mess just to see what happened.



I wanted deep shades of simple colors. Stevens was in a red shirt, Matt in white and Geoff in blue. Never found the yellow I wanted, but it worked for me. I layered about three different shots on top of each other and blew out the contrast. I want it there but not there. Animation with bold lines. I wanted it to be the visual representation of the sound I was given that night as well as capture the feeling I got by taking the trip up there.

At the time I remember being frustrated by the quality of that I got out of compressing files down so they didn't take up too much space. I knew that the band name would be a mess but it looked crappy large. So at the end I blew it out so it looked even worse. A big middle finger to compression. Yeah! Take that technical constraints. Rock n Roll!!!

To this day one of my favorite shots is Wood and Wood breaking apart before I fade them out at the end. This is probably why I picked this video got explain first... That one second I like and am watching a hundred times over just like I did when editing it.

A mess. But I remember it and it still conjures up the same feelings I had then. So something worked.

What I would give to hear Stevens poundin', Matt givin' it his all and Re searchin' for magic just one more time live.

Pick It Week 1

One of the things I found fun last year with Madden was keep track of the games it picked as I progressed through the season and compare them to those from major sports people. In the end, the video game finished in the middle of the pack. Which was surprising because i figured it to derail halfway through the season because of injuries, trades and whatnots. But this is a new year. How will Madden do this year? Let's put it up against the experts at ESPN. Part of me wants Madden to fail and another part wants ESPN to epic fail. So it's all fair here, lets take a look...

Week 1 accuracy:

1. Allen 68.8%
1. Accuscore 68.8%
2. Jaworski 66.7%
3. Wickersham 62.5%
3. Sclereth 62.5%
3. Mortensen 62.5%
4. Fleming 56.3%
4. Hoge 56.3%
4. Pick 'em 56.3%
5. Golic 53.3%
6. MADDEN 37.5%

Not surprisingly Mike Golic is near the bottom... but Madden only picking 6 games right in week 1?! Maybe I should ad a control picker like my cat or how about picking the first team mentioned in the box score... okay I just did. 37.5%. Same as Madden. Woops.

Lotta ground to make up here EA.

OSU Gets Ripped by Ohio*

Ohio State University. An interesting place.

It is impossible to not get wrapped up in the largest University on the face of the planet. Don't ask why I'm taking the time to write about it, because I don't know for sure. It's Sunday though so in opening the Columbus Dispatch today I wasn't shocked to find the headline "RUDE AWAKENING" in large type face on the front page of Sports section. OSU did beat Ohio University yesterday but apparently not to the liking of the entire state.

To me it is no surprise that OU played well against OSU. Many of the players on both teams are born, bred and coached in this state. They probably played with or against each other in-between cornfields, factories and suburbs all over the state whilst growing up. Football, it is said, is single most direct representation of America and Ohio is essentially the cradle of sport. Over the past few years I've learnt that Ohio is truly the countries heart, good and bad. Woody Hayes, one of the most iconic figures in the history of the game and long time former coach for the Buckeyes, embodied not only OSU football but the entire state of Ohio. "Three yards and a cloud of dust." he once said about his run first mentality. Physically beat the other team to submission. He also said "I've had smarter people around me all my life, but I haven't run into one yet that can outwork me. And if they can't outwork you, then smarts aren't going to do them much good." I couldn't come up with a better way to describe the state and people of Ohio then those two quotes.

OSU's stadium can seat almost 110,000 people. It sells out every home game. Think about that. Getting that may people together on Saturdays during the fall is not just a sporting event, it's a historical phenomenon.













Hahahahaha. That clip gets me every time.



Woody Hayes was fired the day after that punch happened.

In other news UVA officials ban signs from games.

Madden Back Again This Year

What a treat... EA sports has once again pushed out yet another year of Madden. Okay so, not so much a treat. Either way it is here and in my collection. Last year, after taking about a 10 year break from the popular franchise, I got it. All in all, I think I enjoyed it save for a few frustrating things (fumbles.). So why did I go back out and get it this year like a crazy person? For a couple of reasons. 1. You could get the Head Coach game in the special edition bundle. 2. It looked fancy enough. Okay, so those reasons suck. I got it because it is football season and I bought into the hype.

Where am I with the game?
Through the Pre-Season with the Redskins.

How is it?
Still fun. Contrary to what I've read, the game seems fairly balanced using the new Madden IQ thingy. A lot of reviewers underestimate the potential of this feature. I also think it is impressive from a coding stand point. It is difficult to say how it will play out during my regular season, but we will see. I'm curious to find out what happens if I am playing a far superior team and get crushed. Will my IQ be reduced to nothing thus diminishing the CPU skills for the next team I play? I'm still wondering if the IQ thing is to replace traditional sliders. I don't think there are CPU sliders in the game, which is different, but could be because of the IQ. What has me scratching my head then is that I can adjust User sliders though. A few people out there are reeeeaaaally upset about the lack of CPU sliders, but between the IQ and User sliders you can get a challenging, accurate game going on. Besides wouldn't adjusting User sliders one way or another, in effect, be adjusting the CPUs? Well, not entirely, but like I've already said, I'm having fun with the game.

How are the stats then, realistic?
This is a very important thing for me. I'll toss a sports game out the window if I'm leading the league in every category, or finishing dead last in them all. I've played Madden games enough to know not to go with 15 min quarters. Right now I'm going with 12 min. I'm only through the pre-season, but so far stats seem solid. I'm a bit stuck in the mud with the running game, but in my last game against the Bills I put up about 150 yds rushing and 200 something in the air (with zero interceptions!!!)

How does it look?
Great. And some moments... unbelievable. Viewing a replay is really a treat. But I will say that still images of the game make it look better then it is. Stadiums look perfect, and finally the crowds are not distractingly bad in a sports game.

How does it play?
Good. But it damn well better. It still bothers me that players can get pushed as if on ice if contact with another player isn't just so. It is especially irritating after a play stops. Nit-picky, I know. But, ya know, football, my friends, is a contact sport, MAKE THE CONTACT WORK AND YOU HAVE A GREAT DAMN GAME. Jeeze.

Bells and Whistles?
Lots. Pretty interface again. I'm a franchise player. In it for the long hall.

How did the 'Skins do in the preseason?
Not bad. Move Cooley to FB Mr. Zorn and you will win.

Madden is still piling on little features like IQ every year, when, if they fixed a couple tiny things in the gameplay I, and the rest of the sports playing world, would be very happy.

Polo in Ohio

Soon Ohio, Soon

too good a song by too good a band to resist. longer video to come

Lockbourne

Braid; 4.7(?)

The simplicity of the game design is what makes this game stand apart from most others. Braid is a complete thought. As I play the game I can't help but think about what if the game had come out during the height of 2-D platforming. What if somewhere in-between Super Mario Bros. 3 and Strider a game like Braid came out? Would the course of popular video game history have been changed?

While it is futile to compare video games to movies one thing is for sure; you can't help but do it with most current generation games. Alone in the Dark has chapters you can skip to like a DVD, Dead Rising is a send up to zombie movies, BioShock comes dangerously close to film noir at points. and I'm sure that there is some review out there that states CoD IV is an 'action packed, thrill ride'. So then why does such a simple game like Braid more closely garnish feelings so close to what a movie gives you? I guess I could battle back and forth with myself for hours on that, but in the end I would tell you the same thing.

Given the right circumstances, Braid is a game that can hit you like any good art form; literary, visual, or otherwise. I would liken the game to a movie like F. W. Murnau's 'Sunrise'. In that, if I were to talk about it, you might be turned off. It is something that has to experienced under the right conditions to get the full impact.

I can't review this game under the exact same structure I use for others. It has no package and I am going to stick to reviewing games that I can collect on my shelf (for now). I sometimes wonder what is going to happen to Xbox Live Games 10-20 years from now. Will we have all them stored somewhere, like our music, to pull up later when we want to enjoy them? Kind of makes things disposable to think about it that way. Time shall tell. As for now and for the topic of this particular blog, the game gets a 4.70 out of 5. Sans Package Design and Art of course.

Anyway... that is an average.