I am a simple man, the littlest things amuse me. So when I see a game called “Little Red Riding Hood’s Zombie BBQ,” for the Nintendo DS, I am going to pick it up because it has an awesome title. All I expect from the game is two things: Zombies, and a way to kill them. The game does not disappoint in this department.
Two mediums collide, as well as two minds, to make animation, heavy metal, horror, gore and comedy into… well… something obviously driven by marketing. While Metalocalypse, created by Brendon Small, is absolutely uproarious on screen, with all four characters almost entirely unintelligible as they mumble the dialogue before delivering another nonsensical musical number, it really doesn’t work on paper.
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Chuck Palahniuk released another book a few months ago entitled “Pygmy,” just a year after his last book, “Snuff,” which I did not like. I was surprised when I found out another book had been released so soon; most authors usually have a larger gap between books. I figured with the steady decline in quality that his work has had that it probably wasn’t going to be any good, but it was short so I figured it wouldn’t take to long to read. So, going against my better judgment I picked it up, hoping it would at least be better than his last few books have been. I really need to start trusting those first instincts.
The story is about a young Asian spy from an unnamed country posing as an exchange student in America. While here, he is working to put a plan in motion that involves winning the local science fair so he can go to Washington and set off a device that will kill millions of Americans. This is different from his usual work and for some reason felt a little ridiculous to me. Yet I had no problem accepting the plot of “Survivor,” which involved a man becoming the leader of a cult and building a giant landfill of pornography. Maybe it had to do with the narrative style of this book that just completely turned me off to the story. Continue reading
Ronan Harris of VNV Nation
I have a very definite opinion about music. Mainly, that it should make you feel something, anything. This is clearly an opinion shared by the members of VNV Nation; the duo being the Irish born Ronan Harris and Mark Jackson of Great Britian. Together they’ve become the most popular creators of a music genre called “futurepop”. For them, it’s not about the money, the fame, or even the art of creating the music itself; it’s about how that art can make people feel and that’s exactly why they’ve been so successful. It also doesn’t hurt that they make music almost certain to get you moving; losing yourself you feel inspired by the hope that Ronan’s voice and lyrics bring. Continue reading
Show date: June 5, 2009
Venue: Highline Ballroom
Bands: Amanda Palmer, The Lisps, Emilyn Brodsky, Abby Ahmad
AFP''s blurry self-portrait before the show. Due to battery fail, this is all the photography you're gettin'. And it ain't even ours.
The night opened up with Abby Ahmad, a one-woman vocal powerhouse. She appeared on stage as a little surprise (she was unbilled), but quickly won me over with her fun, rhythmic guitar and her amazing voice. Deep and rich, she had to back at least a yard away from the mic in order to belt out some stanzas without blowing speaker cones or ear drums. Sadly she only played three songs, but they ran the gamut from emotional (i.e., recovering from a breakup) to tongue-in-cheek (i.e., reminder that a woman can have fun between the sheets all by herself). Continue reading
Show date: May 8th, 2009
Venue: Highline Ballroom
Bands: V.A.S.T., Into The Presence
Photography by: Frenchie
Jon Crosby of Vast
VAST was a band I randomly found about a few years ago from a friend who randomly found out about it from a friend. This is how Jon Crosby would have wanted it. The band, consisting basically of Job Crosby, but which has finally established a consistent support in the form of Michael Cry, Ben Fenton, Tabber Millard and Ernesto J. Ponce has had a tumultuous relationship with record labels and has gotten some radio play and big media exposure in its formative years. Of late, VAST has been the underground band Crosby has always wanted it to be, with the direction and vision of the music entirely in his capable hands. Continue reading
Lucasarts used to do more than just release multiple Star Wars games year after year. That was twenty years ago. They had a game division which made a lot of classic adventure games that had nothing to do with Star Wars. I always thought the term “adventure” wasn’t all that fitting, that brings to mind more platforming elements, but I guess it sounds better than “plot-driven puzzle games.” They produced many classic titles, such as “Maniac Mansion”, ‘Grim Fandango” and “Sam & Max Hit the Road”, all of which had memorable characters, hilarious dialogue and brain-scratching puzzles. The genre died out in the mid to late nineties, but fans have always wanted more.
In the past few years, they’ve had something of a revival, especially by the company Telltale Games who have been releasing adventure games in an episodic format. They started getting major attention when they released two new seasons of Sam and Max two years ago and continued on with other games like “Strong Bad’s Cool Game for Attractive People” based on the characters on Homestarrunner.com and “Wallace and Gromit’s Grand Adventure” based on the famous duo of the same name. Recently, it was announced they would be releasing episodes for one of my favorite series next month: “Monkey Island”. Continue reading
