I was in a funk all day. I woke up late, groggy, in the early afternoon. I ate lunch, did a little internet surfing, but after only a few hours being up and active, I didn’t feel much up for anything and could only go back to lie in bed. Around 6pm, I read an email header on my phone that said Michael Jackson had suffered from cardiac arrest and had been rushed to a hospital.
I thought that in itself was tragic but didn’t think much more about it. “Hopefully they fix him up,” I thought as I drifted off for a few more hours of sleep.
I woke up some time after 9pm and started up my time-delayed DVR recording of So You Think You Can Dance, and the start of the show began somberly as Nigel began eulogizing. “These things happen in threes.” I knew Ed McMahon and Farrah Fawcett had died; was Michael that third? Is it true? (more…)
Conveniently, Maxim’s interview with Lady GaGa in their July 2009 issue comments on pop art and the active aim of being shallow.
The Lady GaGa experience is a tough one to wrap one’s head around. Is it high art? Cap? Straight-up cheese?
Warhol said art should be meaningful in the most shallow way. He was able to make commercial art that was taken seriously as fine art, to use something simple and shallow to take you to another planet. That’s what I’m doing, too. When you listen to a song like “LoveGame,” is it communicating my soul to you? No. My music isn’t me jerking my dick off all over a piano trying to feel something. I make soulless electronic pop. But when you’re on Ecstasy in a nightclub grinding up against someone and my music comes on, you’ll feel soul.
Not every piece of work has to be cerebral or challenging. Often times the primary goal is to be fun and evoke simple joy. Doing anything more on top of that will just weigh down the experience, forcing the audience to work when all they ever wanted was a quick fix.
Think about punk music. Though many bands have some sort of political agenda the music itself is a raw expression of passion. Â The instrumentation is generally pedestrian and more or less sounds the same between songs. Â It’s banging and thrashing, screaming and shouting. Â But regardless of the particulars, you get the sense that whatever the band is singing about, they feel very strongly about it and want you to get riled up with them.
Songs boil down to being delivery mechanisms for emotions, feelings, and moods. Â What’s so wrong about “shallow” games that act in the same way?
A few of my friends look at me weird when I say I listen to pop music, recommending that they check out the new Britney Spears album. Possibly my favorite era in music during my young life is during the late ’90s to early ’00s between when grunge rock faded away and rap became Top 40 radio mainstream.
Let me explain how I listen to music. When I first hear a song, I listen to “the big picture,” the overall feeling of the song and not yet analyzing the little details like lyrics and composition. Â In later passes I dissect the components of a song and analyze each individually. Â It will take at least four playthroughs before I’ve actually really “listened” to a song.
For me, a “good” pop song is one that I will let play through without wanting to switch to another song. Â In other words: inoffensive. Â It doesn’t have to actually be good or great, just not bad, just “good enough.”
After all, getting past “no” is often the hardest, most important part. Â Everything past that is gravy. Â That’s the lesson. Â In order to reach the widest possible audience, you don’t necessarily have to figure out how to appeal to every kind of person, just offend as few as possible.
This one’s actually more of the “not hotness.” 3D Realms shut their doors this past week, leaving behind a legacy of great shareware and…not too much since then. Uh…Max Payne and Prey, I guess.
When I first saw these advertisements at GDC09 (before the city took them off their bus stops, it seems), I was excited that, just maybe, we’d hear something something about Duke Nukem Forever. If you go to the website, though, it’s a casting call to be the spokesmodel (a la Lara Croft) for Deep Silver’s upcoming Duke Nukem Trilogy of portable games.
I still have my fingers crossed someone will pick up the project. I don’t think we’re holding our breath any longer, but there are still plenty of gamers out there eager to see the final product.
Television:
Southland (NBC)
I’m not normally one for cop shows, but about a month or so, I kept the television tuned in to NBC’s Southland after it’s Thursday night full night of comic goodness. Â They’ve been promoting it as from producer of E.R. (a show I didn’t watch, either) and plastering the Ben McKenzie’s (Ryan from The O.C.) face all over the promos.
I was pleasantly surprised. Â While on the surface it’s a show with cops doing cop things, it’s more of a character drama than about fighting crime. Â There’s a rather large cast, and each week the show does a series of intertwining vignettes on a small handful of them rather than trying to make up some token thing so each cast member gets screen time. Â It’s a true ensemble piece, and no individual character is being singled out as the “star” or center of the spokes. Â The policework plots tend to merely serve as a framework to enable us to get a sense of each character’s personality and individual personal struggles in and out of the uniform.
Music:
Â
Kylie Minogue North American Tour
Kylie Minogue, international pop mega-star (in all places but the US…), just announced her very first North American concert tour in her over two decades of performing. Â She’ll play seven dates in September and October across the US and Canada, of course none of the stops near me.
You US folk may be familiar with her songs “Locomotion” from the late ’80s and “Can’t Get You Out of My Head” from the early ’00s or her role as Cammy in the ’90s Street Fighter live-action movie and the (Absinthe) Green Fairy in Moulin Rouge. Â Apparently later this year she’ll be starring in the biggest-budget Bollywood movie yet and record a song with A.R. Rahman, the guy who scored the Slumdog Millionaire soundtrack. Â Hmm.
Now if only Michael Jackson would come back and tour the US. Â Or rather, the US let MJ come back.
Her 2008 album X is on my list of perfect albums. Â A collection of pop perfection you can get lost in but sung a variety styles so that none of them sound like a rehash of each other.
Movies:
The Wackness
I’ve already written a review, which you can read here. In short, it’s a coming-of-age story with drama and humor supplied by the bro-mance between an old psychiatrist and his young pot-dealing patient/dealer. Cinematography is like a dreamy summer day, and the film is supported by an old-school hip-hop soundtrack. I would say its surreal visuals and bittersweet coping plot is reminiscent of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.
Gadgets:
Samsung Alias2 (U750)
When you hear about e-ink, I bet that the first thing you think of is the Amazon Kindle or some other e-book reader. Or maybe the Esquire magazine cover from last year. This dual-hinge phone uses the technology for dynamic keypad/keyboard layouts, switching between vertical/horizontal layouts and numeric/QWERTY modes depending on context.
The backlight shines through the clear portion of each key behind the labels, and though B/W is high contrast, I think that much light might with such small fonts might actually make it difficult to see the proper keys. I’m only guessing, however, since I haven’t seen the phone in person.
As much as I applaud this innovative use of the low-power dynamic displays, it still comes at the expense of an ergonomic no-look layout. Aside from the space bar and a few menu buttons, the face keypad is one large grid of same-size keys, making it near impossible to accurately navigate without looking at your finger placement. This probably won’t be the best phone for people who like to T9 text on the sly with their phones kept in their pocket or by their side.
Wow, that took quite a long while between updates. (Shhhh…don’t talk about the video show…) In the few weeks, about as many interesting consumables that I’d want to rave about passed through. Let’s get to it, though.
Music:
Completely by coincidence, continuing with Korean acts, here we have Girls’ Generation’s (aka SNSD oveseas) “Gee.” I stumbled upon the video while wading through the comments on a Kotaku article regarding one of the producers behind Japanese girl super-group Morning Musume.
If you know me, you know I make no secret that I’m a fan of pop music (as specifically referring to the post-grunge, teen idol era surrounding the turn of the millennium), in particular girl groups. See Girls Aloud for a modern example. Anyway, this song is quite catchy and (so far) not irritating. There’s a marching percussion backing the whole composition, and the vocal melodies are very reminiscent of early ’90s pop-R&B. What I enjoy most about this music video is the tight unity for the massive number of participants and how each feature girl is able to seamlessly apply her own flair for the current move that sometimes is played to a different beat, then jump right back in synch for the next formation shift. I also liked the hyper-feminine sass that avoids becoming too sexualized. To be fair, the choreography is far from complex with everybody generally doing the same thing between formation changes, but I think that they’re able to stay in unison so perfectly comes from the need to perform live constantly. I wouldn’t be surprised if not that many takes were needed to get the shot in the can.
Though the single-shot video impressed me when I first saw it, after stumbling around the internet trying to relocate the same video as posted in the Kotaku comments, I learned that this is just a dance reel used for splicing into the actual video. There actually exists another dance reel with a white background (not as cleanly danced as the above posted video). I thought it was rather interesting that these full “alternate take” videos would be publically released for the fans to gobble up. Take note, Britney!
Video Games:
Discounted XBLA games
Last week, Amazon.com began offering Xbox Live Arcade game download codes you could purchase with real money, rather than needing to invest in Microsoft Points. The best part of it was that they offered several games for half price! Of course the discounted offerings will rotate, but so far they’ve offered Galaga Legions, Pac-Man Championship Edition, DOOM, and Undertow. When you make your purchase, you’ll immediately see (and be emailed) a code you can enter on your Xbox 360 or on Xbox.com to queue up the download; no waiting for a slip of paper to arrive by snail-mail.
Food:
Wonka Tinglerz
I don’t know if you’re aware it exists, but they make (official) Pop Rocks chocolate bars. Unfortunately the chocolate is of a pretty low quality, there’s too many pop-rock nuggets per bite, and the thing is just too damned sweet. The other week, I saw these at Target and decided to give them a try. Thankfully, this is a much better candy. Basically, it’s Nestle Buncha-Crunch with the occasional fizzy bit. (Note that Wonka is a sub-brand of Nestle.) So for the most part, your mouth isn’t exploding, but you still get some pop from the crispy “rice krispie” bits, but then every so often you get an extra kick. It’s much a much better ratio of gimmick to food, and being a Nestle product, the chocolate actually something enjoyable.
In this ongoing segment, I’ll narcissistically talk about things that I’m currently enjoying or think are cool. Â I’ll plan on doing this once a week, rather than random ramblings about Dancing with the Stars or the latest failed attempt at pop music.
Music:
BoA – BoA (self titled)
This is Korean pop singer BoA’s big American debut album…although she’s been singing in English…and Japanese…and of course Korean…for many years now. Â For better or worse, unlike Utada Hikaru’s big American debut album, this one doesn’t sound very Asian at all. Â In fact, if you tried to pass this off as Britney’s latest work, no one would be none the wiser. Â It’s a collection of above average, lightweight, catchy, current dance/”hip-pop” tunes.
Fashion:
Busted t-shirt I posted this a little while back, but at the time it wasn’t officially a shirt. Â However, it’s been approved and available for purchase. Â I don’t know what it is, but artsy Pac-Man shirts are able to make me pay more than $12 for mere t-shirts.
TV:
Hana Yori Dango (Boys Over Flowers)
The live-action adaptation of the classic manga/anime series. Â That being said, I wasn’t familiar with the source material, but somehow I stumbled on a recommendation to check out the TV show, so I gave it a shot. Â And it sank its claws into me, causing me to watch mini-marathons each night that prevented me from going to bed before 4am.
In a nutshell, Tsukushi is a poor girl whose family is putting her through the most exclusive, rich-kid high school in Japan. Â Her goal was to fly under the radar until graduation, but after defending a friend, she draws the the wrath of the school’s ruling power: the F4, a group of sons of Japan’s ruling elite in commerce, culture, and the “underworld.” Â Refusing to back down from the teasing and abuse from the whole school and actually socking a punch to the F4’s leader Tsukasa, she earns F4’s respect and the admiration of their self-centered, young punk leader, much to the dismay of all the rich girls doting on the boys. Â Of course Tsukasa has familial obligation to become heir to the throne of Japan’s largest financial dynasty, and his wicked mother won’t stand to have him fall in love with a peasant girl. Â The side characters all have interesting side-stories that are reasonably explored, and the Cinderella story is not overly melodramatic or cheesy nor girly or sappy. Â However, a certain level of over-the-topness is expected from any Japanese show. Â It goes on for 20 episodes between the two seasons, plus a movie.
Books:
Watchmen I picked up the book after watching and thoroughly enjoying the movie. Â I’m about a quarter of the way in, and so far the movie’s been pretty damned spot-on. Â Already knowing how things are going to play out (more or less given the tweaks to the ending), I am having lots of fun seeing hidden hints and clues in the crude 1980’s artwork.
Video Games:
House of the Dead: Overkill It’s a non-stopbloody, funny, funky, dirty-mouthed riot. Â Except for those annoying half-second freezes everytime you blow someone up to smithereens…which is quite often. Â It’s easy to overlook that technical quirkiness, though when the game is just this much fun thanks to it’s incredible polish. Â There’s location sensitive hit-zones that let you blow off individual limbs, grindhouse-style dirtied up image and audio filters, and a genuinely funny script despite the famously frequent f-bombs.
Buy it! Â Buy it new, dammit! Â Otherwise we’ll still be stuck with endless mini-game collections. Â Sega is sticking its neck out by publishing all these “core gamer” titles like HotD: Overkill, MadWorld, and The Conduit. Â If they don’t get any love and appreciation (read: money), then the word that’s being sent their way is that it’s not profitable to aim for the “core” gaming crowd.
I was in a funk all day. I woke up late, groggy, in the early afternoon. I ate lunch, did a little internet surfing, but after only a few hours being up and active, I didn’t feel much up for anything and could only go back to lie in bed. Around 6pm, I read an email header on my phone that said Michael Jackson had suffered from cardiac arrest and had been rushed to a hospital.
A few of my friends look at me weird when I say I listen to pop music, recommending that they check out the new Britney Spears album. Possibly my favorite era in music during my young life is during the late ’90s to early ’00s between when grunge rock faded away and rap became Top 40 radio mainstream.
 you could purchase with real money, rather than needing to invest in Microsoft Points. The best part of it was that they offered several games for half price! Of course the discounted offerings will rotate, but so far they’ve offered Galaga Legions, Pac-Man Championship Edition, DOOM, and Undertow. When you make your purchase, you’ll immediately see (and be emailed) a code you can enter on your Xbox 360 or on Xbox.com to queue up the download; no waiting for a slip of paper to arrive by snail-mail.
