around the web - 1/21/08

it's that time of year again. the Oscars? no. it's time to take notice of the worst that Hollywood has to offer:
the 2008 RAZZIES are upon us (thanks Matt)

actually wouldn't mind playing a few of these - you know, i am a game designer after all. it'd be research:
the world's most controversial board games

from Fatal Farm, the guys behind Lasagna Cat:
Infinite Solutions on youtube (fake how-to videos)

and because i can't get enough of Lasagna Cat (and missed posting one last time), here's two more to take us home:
11/01/2007
10/26/2007

-k

around the web - 1/17/08

this is exactly why i don't listen to most of what's considered "today's music" on the radio today:
Nickelback is really, really original (thanks Matt)

drunk on a lawn mower:
stick around for the end - it's great

god i love the Japanese:
Super Terrific Japanese Pizza Time!

remember the game Guess Who? well here's how you win in one move. it's horrible, but oh so funny. why did i never think of this move???
Guess Who('s Coming to Dinner)

-k

around the web - 1/15/08

an interview with Todd Holland:
director of perhaps the best adver-movie ever - The Wizard

In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale - Uwe Boll's latest monstrosity of a movie - made a measly $3 million at the box office. it's budget? $70 million. what does this mean:
Uwe Boll is ejected from the big-budget ring - huzzah!

the 80s were a simpler time, with unassuming advertising. wait, what do you mean the ad is slightly racist? i'm a tall, gangly man. aren't all us white folk?
banned sony ad

and, because i fear it didn't get enough attention yesterday, i'm going to be posting a Lasagna Cat clip every "around the web" post until i run out. here is your Lasagna Cat for the day:
04/08/1998

-k

around the web - 1/14/08

the name of the show: Cinematic Titanic. the premise: watch a movie and tape yourself make funny comments while watching it. sounds familiar right? maybe like a little show called Mystery Science Theater 3000? well, Cinematic Titanic stars all the original players of MST3000. their first DVD is out. here is the trailer:
Cinematic Titanic: The Oozing Skull

i have to admit, the first few of these i watched i didn't really get it. but after a few, you start to laugh your ass off. a team of guys (Fatal Farm) decided to take "unfunny" Garfield cartoon strips and act them out. then after doing that they set what they just did to music. the unfunny brought to life is hilarious, and then the songs they choose and what they decide to do with them? priceless. some of the best are 05/22/1980 and 08/18/1978. here's the rest:
Lasagna Cat on youtube

i never knew ignorance and bigotry could be so god-damn funny! (oh, and i'm not anti-religion - far from it. i'm just anti-ignorance and anti-bigotry):
the 100 greatest quotes from fundamentalist Christian chatrooms

finally, with almost all the movie production houses moving over to blu-ray, it looks like the next-gen format war might be over. and Hitler ain't happy:
the downfall of HD-DVD

-k

my weekend - let me show it to you

notes from my oh-so-glorious weekend:

- purchased 3 games over the course of the weekend. first off was Eye of Judgment for the PS3. it comes with the PS3 camera and it's a card game that you play using the camera. for $45, it was quite the steal (the camera alone is $40 retail). then i also bought 2 more RPGs for the PS2 - Steambot Chronicles and Digital Devil Saga 2. the first i bought after reading about it on destructoid (my gaming news site) and the second i bought because it's by the makers of Persona 3, and i LOVED Persona 3. both were steals again at only $15 a piece. now, when will i have TIME to play these games? who knows.

- watched the latter half of the Packers/Seahawks game Saturday and wow - color me impressed! with the Cowboys loss on Sunday, i'd say we've got a pretty good chance of making it to the Super Bowl! here's hoping we mop the floor with the Giants. GO PACK!

- read the graphic novel series Love as a Foreign Language. i'll dedicate a post to it later this week, but overall it was pretty good. the first 4 books were a lot better written and paced than the last 2 (ESPECIALLY the last one). but i still liked it.

- watched the premiere of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles on FOX. the first episode was ACTION PACKED! the only time you had to catch your breath was really during the commercials. again, i'll dedicate a post to my thoughts on the show so far (also watched the 2nd episode tonight), but overall i'm liking it. a lot.

- decided with the writer's strike on i'm going to try and tackle some of the series i've been downloading over the past year (like i did with Babylon 5 this past summer). first up? Star Trek: The Next Generation. watched the first 4 episodes last night and hope to watch at least an episode a day until i'm finished - sometime this summer. the series is LONG!

- played lots and lots of Halo 3. Sunday-Thursday nights i play for about 2 hours a night, but on the weekends i sometimes play for 4-6 hours a night. it's unbelievable. i don't know why i don't tire of the game, but i don't. it's seriously impeding my making progress on any other games. damn you Halo 3.

- finally, it was my friend John's birthday on Saturday. i heard there was a party. unfortunately, i wasn't able to attend. hopefully you guys made do without me. miss ya buddy. have a happy 26th year of your life! i know i'm sure living it up!

-k

around the web - 1/11/08

everybody loves game shows. i especially like #2 and #1:
the 6 most insane game shows from around the world

yet another great exclusive TV offer... wait, where do you put the reel? read the comments for extra laughs:
the amazing fishing rod pen

great political attack ad - and hey, he's from Wisconsin:
Paul R. Nelson won't spend your money on sex

-k

around the web - 1/10/08

ah, the hero's journey. Joseph Campbell would be so proud:
the trailer for "harry potter and the chronicles of the lord of the golden compass of the jedi"

i've heard of touched-up photos in magazines but... wow:
a little photoshop magic

the "whore of the year" awards are not what they sound like. they are given out to movie critics that wrote rave reviews about crappy movies, most likely for money (hence the "whore" thing). i love the last guy - every movie is "the most _____ movie/film of the year!" ah, to be a critic:
four stars for the whore of the year awards

-k

around the web - 1/9/08

DC Comics started this All-Star line of comics a couple of years ago that would bring in top writing talent to tell tales of the big superheroes (Batman and Superman) that weren't necessarily part of continuity. Batman got Frank Miller - writer of 300 and Sin City. i was actually thinking of picking up the series one day:
needless to say, i don't think i'm going to anymore
part 2 of the worst Batman story to ever be told

from the freaky to the just plain weird:
current genetic experiments most likely to destroy humanity

a fake children's book explaining the wonders of home servers. be sure to read the forward and then check out the author's bio on the back. impressive stuff:
mommy, where do servers come from?

-k

around the web - 1/8/08

normally i'm not one for top __ lists from the previous year, but this one by the BBC had a lot of factoids in it AND links to the individual stories the factoids are pulled from:
100 things we didn't know last year

cartoons today have NOTHING on the cartoons from my childhood - case in point:
the absolute worst (best?) episode of The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3

nothing like proclaiming to the world that you're an idiot:
signs with spelling mistakes

i actually saw the sign about ninjas up in Vancouver (though i don't remember if that's the guy - does that make me a bad person that i saw the sign and not the face? aw who cares):
homeless people i'd give money to

-k

the writer's strike and late night Comedy Central - plus, No Reservations: Singapore

the final two late night shows returned tonight - The Daily Show and The Colbert Report - both sans writers. how did they do?

Jon Stewart on The Daily Show "winged it" a little more than Colbert did (or he gave the impression that he was winging it a bit more at least, maybe to subtly show that they need writers - like Conan), but he was still good. they both were in their own ways.

both he and Colbert covered a little bit of politics but then devoted most their time to the writer's strike, doing rather funny bits in regards to the whole situation. then, Jon's guest for the night was an expert on strikes, and Colbert's guest was an expert on unions. it was actually pretty bold, and i'm surprised Comedy Central let them get away with all of it.

i learned that the WGA is granting more and more smaller companies leave from the strike (like Letterman's company, which i talked about last week) and that hopefully that will light fires under the larger companies to the point where they say "look, we need to get our writer's back - they've got theirs back!" interesting tactic.

i also learned that now that talks have broken down (they did before the holidays), it will take a LONG time before they talk again, because whichever side approaches the other first will look like the "weaker" side, as if they caved to the pressure. so expect the strike to go on for a few more months (i was predicting it would be over in April, but we'll see).

i've said it over and over again - this whole thing simply fascinates me. i'm going to try and tune in to a couple more episodes of The Daily Show and The Colbert Report this week to see how things are going, but we'll see how long i can keep it up - i've already missed 2 nights of Conan and Leno (last Friday and then tonight).

- kawitchate

PS: the new season of Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations started tonight on the Travel Channel with an episode on Singapore. i had a particular interest in it because some video game companies look to Singapore for outsourcing. heck, George Lucas set up a branch of his company there to work on animation and video games!

there was very little i knew about Singapore going in: that it's hot and humid there, it has very strict laws that keep crime down to a minimum, and that they cane people there in extreme cases. what i DIDN'T know is what a cultural melting pot it is! one of the people on the show said that you should head there to get a crash course in Asia 101. there's Indian, Chinese, and Malaysian - plus it's being Westernized, so a lot of people speak English there. anyway, where cultures meet, so do their foods. and wow did the food look good. yum.

i may have to add Singapore to my list of places to see. for now, it's still way down on the list - somewhere below Korea and England.