Last Friday I went with a small group to see Video Games Live at the Wang Theater in Boston. Essentially, it's a symphony orchestra playing the soundtracks to classic and modern videogames, in a kind of celebration of videogames as an art form. The whole thing was organized by Tommy Tallarico, who's apparently a world-renowned videogame composer, but I only know him from his co-hosting gig on a review show on G4 TV. (I fail at video game industry knowledge.)

The show is about what you would expect. It was a small orchestra, with a video screen where they showed clips of the games they were playing. It was a much more casual atmostphere than the typical symphony or theater performance, and there were a lot of 20-somethings in the audience. We were encouraged to cheer and applaud and whatever else when we felt like it. This was both a blessing and a curse - on the one hand, it was great that these familiar games were cheered, but then the cheering got in the way of the music. That would be one notch against it, in my opinion...Tallarico would do prolonged introductions between songs, when the transitions worked anyway...we get what the games were, they're on the video.

My only other problem was the lighting in the theater. For one, the room must have been filled with a bit of smoke or something, because it's that situation where the intensely-bright spotlight and all the other stage lights can be seen, and when that gets in front of the video screen it makes it harder to see. Plus, some of the lights were pointed into the audience for effect, but then you just get an annoying light in your eyes.

Plus, we sat in the nosebleed section/back of the balcony, and since it's an old theather there's not as much legroom, but hey, with discounted tickets I can overlook those things.

Another neat thing was they brought Ralph Baer on stage (the father of the video game console), reunited with his partner (whose name I forget, sorry!) that helped him create the Magnovox Odyssey, and he actually brought a system and they hooked it up to the video screen. They invited some 12-year-old kid up on stage and he played Pong live on stage. Now there's a story to tell your grandkids.

So yeah...the last two times I've been to the theater, it's been to see Video Games Live and Spamalot. Viva geek culture!

Labels: concert, Video Games Live

posted by Tim at 9:20 PM

Earlier today, I participated in the first annual Met@Morph convention, a newly formed convention about comics and webcomics, especially from an academic viewpoint. It took place in Second Life, which I know people who have heard of it have mixed feelings about.

Firstly, this was very nice since it was a virtual convention, so all I really needed was an Internet connection. As opposed to spending time and money to drive to a convention hall, pay for parking, registration, a hotel room, etc. etc. Plus, I was invited to be on a panel (of sorts), which is cool since I'd likely never be invited to be on a panel at any real convention.

I arrived about 11:00 am SLT (Pacific), at it seemed the group there was just finishing up some kind of roundtable discussion. Then, in a foreshadowing event, the sim/server reset for maintenance. When the group reconvened, we met on a glass-bottom auditorium over the ocean, where 3 people gave talks. There were some technical problems, but I guess that's to be expected when dealing with Internet-type things, and a bunch of people who probably haven't used Second Life very much. One fairly interesting talk was a discussion of Alan Moore, about how he was a cartoonist before he got into comics proper and an analysis of his style and how it developed toward what would become Watchmen or LXG.

We then moved to an art gallery for the "Creator's Commons". When I first heard I was going to be on this panel, I panicked a little, because I was confusing it with the Creative Commons license, which I don't use, and I thought I made a poor choice for this panel since I couldn't speak with any authority about it. Really, it was just a way for some of us to show off our online projects. One was a new webcomic that took place (and I think has a gallery) in Second Life, and the other was a guy who had done some work in Machinima. Then there was me. I totally didn't prepare (since I didn't really know what to expect), and I winged it, with plenty of um's and awkward pauses. If I had known what I was doing, I might've prepared a little better, with at least something to show off, but as I explained to the audience, I'm really just using them as a promotional tool...which much to my relief, they took in stride. (Not that I think they'd admonish me for it).

All in all, it was a neat experience. With all the work I've been doing in IMGD, it's very neat to participate in something that's taking advantage of the general shift toward/work in virtual worlds. We had many participants from all over the world. It's also nice to be a part of something using Second Life the way it was intended, instead of probably what most people experience, which is just sex and gambling.

I wouldn't mind being a part of it again next year, and maybe I can come up with a more significant contribution, instead of just kinda blurting out "um, read my comic!" as a kind of afterthought at the end of the conference.

Labels: comics, convention, Met-at-Morph, Second Life

posted by Tim at 12:35 AM

A quick thought about the Olympics.

Concerning the equestrian events. Now, I don't usually follow the Olympics that closely, but before this I didn't realize the Olympics had equestrian events. And to me, it seems kind of unfair. The Olympics are supposed to be about human athletes, and with this equestrian stuff, the horses are doing most of the work. Now, I've never ridden a horse before, so maybe it does take a superb athlete to ride one. But it looks like the horse is just following instinct (in the races jumping hurdles), or training (like that weird dancing competition). I don't know how much the human is doing in those cases.

Come to think of it, one might say the same thing about the bobsled, but at least there there's a bit more direct control (I would think).

Also, do the equestrians bring their own horses with them, even with all the headaches about importing fauna across international borders? Or are these rented Chinese horses?

Labels: equestrian, Olympics

posted by Tim at 1:03 AM

2008 Summer movie reviews, part 2

The Dark Knight

The movie, like everyone said, was great. Although I think I'd need to see it at least a second time before I could say I really enjoyed it. I spent a lot of time on edge, because I didn't know what was going to happen...especially with Heath Ledger's Joker and the creepy suspenseful horror-movie music they played a lot during his scenes. You would've thought that I might have already gone and seen it a second time, especially considering I paid to see Iron Man twice. So maybe that says something.
Heath Ledger was admirably creepy, but really, I wanted to see more of Eckhart (Two-Face). I was just completely fascinated by the special effects they used with him. More so of a super-villain that just "a crazy guy in makeup". It was also great that the movie just kept going after his transformation; by the time it got to that point, it felt like the movie ought to be over and save Two-Face for the sequel, but as you all probably know, the movies 2 and a half hours long, so there was plenty more to go.
It's a shame Two-Face won't be back, so of course the speculations are on for the villains of the next Batman film. My hope is, now that the Joker has been capture and likely taking residence at Arkham Asylum, that they could introduce Harley Quinn.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars

I questioned the release of this film, especially when there was already an animated series depicting the Clone Wars on Cartoon Network a while back. But apparently this is kind of a tie-in to lead to a new season/series for the fall. And that's just what this movie feels like: more of a extra-long pilot to a TV series rather than a canonical Star Wars film. That is to say, not as epic as any of the original saga movies. Still, it's an enjoyable movie. I just wish there was a bit...more...from a theatrical release.
Which of course begs the question, why a theatrical release? I suppose there's money to be made!


I also wanted to review the latest Mummy movie, but I haven't gotten a chance to see it yet. Maybe I will before the end of the summer, but otherwise it'll have to be a rental or something.

Labels: movies, Star Wars the Clone Wars, The Dark Knight

posted by Tim at 12:49 AM

So I see Guitar Hero: Aerosmith is on its way. Kinda funny, since I remember having a computer game a number of years ago, called Quest for Fame, starring Aerosmith. In fact, it was a lot like Guitar Hero, except you didn't have to worry about the frets; it was only matching the strumming rhythms. The game came with a purple plastic pick that attached to the computer's parallel port, and you could strum it against anything (it suggested, and we used, a badminton racket).

It wasn't purely Aerosmith fare. For the first "level" of the game, you had to play Steppenwolf's Born to be Wild. And I never really got much further in the game than that, since one of the challenges was to play a syncopated blues track, which was tricky. Plus, it was a bit of a hassle to set up the game, since it required disconnecting the printer from the parallel port. (In hindsight, we didn't do that much printing back then, so we probably could have left it. But still, the pick interface wasn't all that sophisticated.)

But it makes me wonder now, this is (as far as I know) the second Aerosmith-based rhythm-matching music game. Did Aerosmith remember Quest for Fame when they agreed to do Guitar Hero? How is it Aerosmith is like the go-to band for videogames? You know, aside from being super-famous for the last 100 years.

Labels: Aerosmith, Guitar Hero, videogames

posted by Tim at 11:41 PM

I was flipping around TV and came upon VH1's new series, I Love the Millennium.

First thought: really. VH1, you really couldn't wait another two years and tie everything up into a nice decade-sized package like you did the last three decades? They must be making a ton of money/ratings between those and the Best Week Ever series (now I see even comes in Best Day Ever flavor) because they're apparently not patient enough to wait to spew out more.

The freaky part is that you find yourself actually feeling nostalgic over events that only happened 7 or 8 years ago.

And another problem is that, at BEST, they can only really make 8 episodes. Which you know they're going to repeat ad nauseum. At least, until their next genius stoke, I Love Money.

Apparently this new series follows in the footsteps of their "Of Love" series (Flavor, New York, Rock), by simply taking contestants from those shows and having them compete against each other, Survivor-style. And it's actually a little refreshing. VH1 is being honest with the public by saying, "Yes, these people never were really interested in finding love with Flava Flav to begin with, so we're stretching their 15 minutes of fame even further." That certainly explains why shows like this manage to get sequels.

Now, follow along with me, this might get complicated. If I remember correctly, this all started with the third season of The Surreal Life, with Flava Flav and Brigitte Nielsen hooked up to Strange Love. Two years of that, they broke up, Flava got into Flava of Love. The second season introduced "New York", who went onto two years of her own series. Now, we have this new show which stars former contestants from this and the other shows.

So, in effect, I Love Money is the spinoff of a sequel of a spinoff of a sequel of a spinoff of a sequel of a sequel of a spinoff of a sequel of a sequel of a show. And it possibly gets more complicated if you count stuff like Charm School or Rock of Love 2.

Ugh.

Labels: television, VH1

posted by Tim at 10:23 PM

2008 Summer movie reviews, part 1 of who knows...

Iron Man. Awesome. Go see it. Again, if you already have. Top-notch from beginning to end. Loved all of the little (and not-so-little) references alluding to the comics and future movies. Here's hoping for the Mandarin in 2010!

The Incredible Hulk. Not quite as awesome. It's been a while since I saw the 2003 Ang Lee version, so I pleasantly forgot all of the daddy issues going on in that one. This, however, I felt was just a series of CGI and special effects fight scenes loosely tied together. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing, considering all Hulk really do is smash. I suppose I just kind of feel that it felt a little more...hollow. The opposite side of the spectrum than the first movie. Still, it's nice to see that the movie is about the Hulk, and not creepy Nick Nolte.

Kung Fu Panda. To be honest, I kinda wanted to see this, but I wasn't completely sold on it. So it was great that it turned out better than I expected it to be. It moved along at a fairly good clip, which I expected for a movie geared more for children.

What struck me most about this movie was how much of 2D animation elements (including the actual 2D sequence for the introduction) were blended into this movie. It reminded me of most previous 3D animated movies, like Shrek or most Pixar fare, where it was simply that; animated. Those movies were just presented to you, one scene to the next, everyone doing their thing. But Kung Fu Panda included very stylized techniques, with a very strong Samurai Jack flavor. I'm thinking of multiple panels onscreen, overlaid on each other, flipping around, pauses in the action anime-style, stuff like that. I was pleasantly surprised that the Dreamworks team are incorporating different things, which very much fits the style of the movie.

Minor note: I was also surprised how much merchandising this movie has gone through. I don't know, maybe it's just been a while since we've had a property that could be utilized in such a way. I mean, with stuff like Pirates of the Caribbean, Spider-Man, Transformers, and the like, that stuff you kind of expect. And there are the old standbys like Power Rangers and most comic properties. So, here's another one, I guess.

Another note: Concerning the previews. Apparently later this summer is Fly Me to the Moon, about flies that tag along a space mission. I knew beforehand that Space Chimps is also due this summer. Now, I don't know the production companies of these movies off the top of my head, but I know there are now more animation studios besides Pixar and Dreamworks. However, haven't we gotten past the point where these studios need to make too-similar-to-be-a-coincidence movies? There are plenty of ideas out there*, I don't think you need to resort to copying each other to get the leg up on the competition anymore.


(* You know, ideas like Alternate Delusions... ¬_¬)

Labels: Hulk, Iron Man, Kung Fu Panda, movies

posted by Tim at 11:34 PM

A minor bonehead move on my part today.

On my way out to dinner tonight, I made a decision. "You know, I'm not quite that hungry for the usual fare at the place I usually go to dinner. Tonight might be a good night to head to one of the nicer restaurants just off of campus! I've been meaning to check them all out before I graduate, and I've already tried 2 of the 3 major ones. It's Thursday night, so it probably won't be that crowded...at least, not as much as it would be on a Friday. So, I'll go now!"

So I walked to the place. And, finding the counter, I ask for my table for one and inquire how long the wait would be. The reply? One hour.

I was taken aback. Of course, a one hour wait at a restaurant like this wouldn't be unheard of (probably normal, even). It was 6pm. But it was just something I wasn't expecting. Plus, I didn't feel much like waiting two hours (one for seating, one for the meal) before heading back to the lab for more homework. So, I said thanks but no thanks, and headed back to campus.

It was on my way back to my usual dining spot that I had the flash of realization. Today was Valentine's Day...of course the place would be busy tonight. I had gone thinking it was just an ordinary Thursday. It was a shame, too...I had put myself in the mood for tortellini, and now I wouldn't be able to get it.

See, you don't think about these kinds of things when you don't have a girlfriend.

Labels: Valentine's Day

posted by Tim at 12:17 AM

SPOILER ALERT for those who haven't gotten as far in The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess as I have.



So, I got to the point where I ask the guy at Lake Hylia to fix the ancient cannon to launch me into the heavens. There's a quick cutscene montage of him taking several days to accomplish this, with the standard issue "show the sun and moon moving across the sky really fast" bit. And I'm sitting there thinking, "Thanks, buddy, for wasting several days fixing this thing while evil continues to take over the world."

Then I realized, "Wait, I'm wasting several days hunting bugs while evil continues to take over the world. For a girl who wants to bathe in snail slime." *shudder*

Labels: Legend of Zelda, spoiler, Twilight Princess

posted by Tim at 9:09 AM

Cruising along the Internet and came upon Talking Squids in Outer Space, and was disappointed to see that even with a comics section, there was no mention of Flerpnip. Nor Gary.

Labels: LegoStar Galactica, outer space, squids

posted by Tim at 1:35 AM

Yes Hello! For some crazy reason I decided to blog again. I think because I had a hard time sleeping last night and thought my brain could use a purge.

Looking back, I noticed my last post was from March. I thought, "Hey, that's not so bad...". But then I realized my entry before that was me congratulating myself on my 4 Year Anniversary. And now I've just had my 5th. So yeah, I kinda fell out of the blogging thing. Will it continue? Hard to say. I'm not going to delude myself into thinking I will, because I have a horrible track record when it comes to saying things like "Yup, things will be different now!"

So, what possessed me to blog again?

Spider-Man 3. I watched it again last night (thanks to my brother getting me the DVD for Christmas), the first time I had seen the movie since opening weekend back in May. And I have to say, I liked it a lot better upon the second viewing. Which is saying something, because I was really disappointed with the movie. I mean, sure, the movie has its problems, which I'm sure have been well documented. But for me personally, the movie couldn't live up to my expectations for it, especially considering it was featuring Venom as a villain. So I felt adding Sandman was just one villain too many. As it stands, there's too many villain character story arcs to resolve, so none of them got the treatment they really deserve. Well, okay, Harry's story finished up all right, and Sandman didn't have that much substance to him in the first place...so you can see my disappointment. Anyway, my point is, knowing the story now ahead of time, I could watch it and see the story hang together a little better instead of sitting there impatiently waiting for more symbiotic goodness.

Another key thing I noticed while watching the movie: Gwen Stacy. Particularly the building-getting-smashed scene where she falls 30 stories.
That's not to say I suddenly fell in love with Bryce Dallas Howard. I mean, sure, she looks great in this movie, but if I really developed that big a crush on her, it would've been when the movie came out, right? No, I fell in love with her outfit.


(image probably © Sony Pictures, or Columbia Pictures, or something.)

Looks awfully familiar, doesn't it?

Here's the best image I could find of a full body shot:


(again, image © Sony Pictures blah blah blah)

As you can see, it's remarkably similar to Fuchsia's standard fare. As I see it, Gwen is probably 70% Fuchsia:
Hair - obviously would need to be changed to a redhead. (Perhaps a bonus that, as far as I can tell, Howard is a natural red.)
Shirt - lose the embroidery on the front, and I'd typically lengthen the sleeves. Still, it's flared, a good thing. Plus, it's low-cut, as it should be.
Skirt - looks awfully brown here. Go for more gray or black. Plus raise the hemline to mid-thigh. I can understand why it may be long here from a movie production standpoint, since she's doing a lot of sliding and falling.
Leggings - get rid of 'em. Natural skin, baby. Plus the boots might need to be lowered just a smidge, to mid-calf (they might already be, but it's hard to tell).

For whatever reason, I'm drawn to see if there could be some kind of real-life equivalent to the Fuchsia outfit. Part of it might be because of the fantasy of the Alternate Delusions movie, part of it might be my fantasy of meeting Alternate Delusions cosplayers. Or it could just be that fascination with art imitating life, or life imitating art, or however it goes. It's just really neat that just an outfit would turn up in a major Hollywood production - one that also includes alien symbiotes, no less. :)

Labels: Spider-Man 3

posted by Tim at 3:14 PM