No Stairway

2012-02-12T11:58:00.002-05:00

I'm currently trying to come to terms with the continued rise of Javascript in all areas of web development. Nowadays Javascript can be used to drive your web application, your UI's nifty graphical effects, and even the web server itself. It is everywhere, and can seemingly do everything. If you want to work on the web, you need Javascript in your toolbox.

I find this to be disorienting to say the least. Back in the day, I was never a Javascript user, so I still see it as a toy language, something used to help validate forms and create annoying alert boxes. I also remember its reputation as being the bane of performance and security minded users everywhere. How is it that a language with so many negative traits become the de-facto future of the web? Hell, how is it that such an old language became the future? Usually, when developers want to solve a bleeding edge problem, they abandon the old and reinvent the wheel (even if it isn't necessary).

Some proponents say that Javascript was always a useful language, but it took a long time for anyone to take it seriously. I can actually buy this reasoning. In our modern rush to make bigger and better web based applications, we often forget that traditional programming and website design are two separate skill sets. Being good at one is no indicator as that you'll be good at the other. In fact, I'd say in many cases, being good at one means you're probably terrible at the other (I know no one likes stereotypes, but look at the interface for any open source project that isn't large enough to have dedicated graphic designers. It probably doesn't look pretty).

Thus for most of its life, Javascript was relegated to a realm in which the people who could get the most out of it were the least likely to use it. But as everyone began to agree that the future was on the web, more programming wizardry was required. And with Javascript being the most ubiquitous programming language of the web, it was eventually put through its paces.

So in thinking it out, I see and agree that Javascript is a legitimate and powerful language. But I still can't help but feel like it is being utterly misused, even in instances in which it has been put to good use. Prior to this post, I spent some time reading up on the language, including skimming the Javascript: The Good Parts by Crockford. It featured some easy to read, easy to grasp code examples which did much to prove the language's worth. But when I look at JS libraries, such as Dojo, and JQuery (actually, no, JQuery isn't too bad), I see the opposite: ugly code which uses Javascript's weakly typed nature to screw with the syntax, as if each one wants to put their own unique stamp on the language and make it look like something entirely different in the end. I wouldn't want to reinvent the wheel when a library could do the heavy lifting for me, and yet I wouldn't want to use a library that makes my code unreadable as Javascript.

And this is where I get to the root of the problem - real programmers have finally forced Javascript to flex its muscle, but I can't help but feel like most of the people using it aren't real programmers. They're web guys who are more than happy to cut and paste someone else's code in order to get their frontpage to do flips and make AJAX calls. It also seems to attract young and/or inexperienced programmers, who want to jump in with the hottest trend without having a solid understanding of the fundamentals. And then there are the genuinely smart guys who are either misguided, have an ulterior motive, or aren't quite as bright as they appear. Put all these camps together, and you wind up with something like node.js, which by appearances looks like a cult based on nothing but hype and circle-jerking.

I will lean me some Javascript. But I'm going to do my damnest to learn it the right way, and only use it when I have a real use for it. I'm not a wizard programmer myself, but if I'm going to step into the future, I want to do it the right way.

Delusions of Grandeur

2012-02-04T14:23:00.001-05:00

Maybe it is just me, but I feel like popular culture nowadays wants me to constantly root for the bad guy. There are all sorts of stories in which the main characters are either complete assholes, or outright villains, and the point of the tale is not to chronicle their eventual downfall, but their success.

Quite frankly, I don't get it. I'm not sure why I should want these people to succeed, or how I am supposed to relate to them, especially when - as in the case with a lot of these stories - the actions of these characters greatly damage (or end) the lives of innocents, minus any semblance of guilt or remorse.

The most common version of this story can be seen in the many vampire themed shows/films/books still being released. Vampires are supposed to be monsters. Or poor souls who are cursed. Vampirism is not meant to be a gift, and yet that's exactly what it is in pop-vamp stories. Where's the story in which vampires have to actually fear death at the hands of someone greater than them? I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm starting to miss Buffy.

Another example is the popular anime Baccano, which is also about immortals, many of which who are mobsters in 1920's New York. Again, am I supposed to be rooting for a bunch of murderous assholes who manage to cheat death time after time? I watched the first episode, and I couldn't go any farther.

Most recently, I've been a bit bothered by the "found footage" film Chronicle. A bunch of teens gain superpowers, and use them exactly how a teenager would - to get their kicks without regard to how their actions effect others, even if that means that people die. The film is based around all sorts of cliched themes - the "main" main character is an emo kid with a bad family who decides to lash out the most once he's stronger than anyone else. Chronicle takes overplayed themes like "person gains power, decides everyone else is now suddenly beneath them", and "deep down inside, we're all terrible creatures", and like everything else, presents them as new revelations which no one has ever pondered before.

Look, I'm not denying that human beings might be miserable and awful by nature. But dammit, I still want to have hope. Hope that not everyone would act terrible if given the chance to break the rules without consequence. Hope that if some weird supernatural occurrence did take place in reality, I wouldn't be dead on arrival. I'm not trying to hide from reality — I just don't need constant reminders of how shitty people can be when I turn to a piece of entertainment.

Furthermore, I'm disheartened when reviewers claim that the traditional superhero creed "with great power comes great responsibility" is hokey and unrealistic. The point of the saying (at least in regards to Spiderman) is not to define how everyone will handle power, but how we should. Because with nothing more than a gun, a criminal was able to bring Peter Parker's life down around him. And it didn't take many neurons for Peter to realize that with his powers, he could do far more damage to far more people. But after the loss of Uncle Ben, he knew there was no way he would want to put good people through anything like he felt. That's why he became a superhero. The saying, to me, is merely trying to encourage us to act the right way. Calling it hokey is missing the point entirely.

I think that leads to the flip side of these stories — as much as they try to paint a bleak, realistic picture of how the supernatural would fit into our world, in another way they're a complete denial of real life. For example, I'm not actually surprised to see a book such as Twilight portray vampirism as a free ticket to eternal life with lots of money and pretty people. Young people tend to think they're invincible, and effectively immortal. When they begin to get a bit older, and first start to ponder their inevitable end, you can expect a little bit of denial, in the form of some fiction that says that maybe, just maybe, they can escape it. Or if they are younger, something that reinforces their beliefs.

However, when this kind of storytelling becomes popular with adults, and begins to proliferate to every corner of pop culture, I start to get worried. It suggests that people refuse to shed their adolescent mentality, and accept and deal with the consequences and responsibilities that come with being an adult.

As for power fantasies like Chronicle, I wonder whether the point is to show what kids would do with superpowers, or to justify the natural (but unsustainable) feelings of isolation, rebellion and misguided superiority felt by (1st world) teens. Kids are going to act like jerks for all the wrong reasons, but sooner or later they're supposed to grow out of it. But in a world where the Internet lets us isolate ourselves from reality in the name of propping up the fantasy in our heads, you wind up with folks who will act like brats well into their mid 20's. Read a certain way, a film like Chronicle says "do you know how feel like you have it all figured out, and all those grown ups are in the wrong? That if you only were given the chance, you'd show them who's boss? Well guess what? You're totally right. And if really given the chance, you'd be fucking awesome. No one could stop you. And everyone else? Their lives and hopes and dreams? You were right about those too - none of it matters. After all, you're the only one who isn't a sheep."

I don't need any of this. Truth be told, I'm quite afraid of death, to this very day. But I can't deny its existence, nor its inevitability. And often times I do feel overwhelmed with the pressures of adult life. My response to this is to simply do the best I can to get through it all. Running away from it simply isn't acceptable, at least not for a sustainable period of time.

Fantasy is good as a source of escape, but there's a difference between escape, and fueling your belief that you aren't just another guy or gal trying to get through the day.

To put it another way, I wish for a day when "just getting through the day" isn't considered a failure state in life.

A few thoughts on Redline

2012-01-28T13:20:00.001-05:00

We should consider ourselves lucky to have a film like Redline. The entire production took seven years to make, every frame of animation is hand drawn, and it deliberately eschews the cliches of modern anime in order to be a deliberate throwback to the exciting, well built sci-fi blockbusters of yore.

In other words, it has no chance to succeed financially, and the likelihood that we'll ever see something of this nature ever again is slim to none. With that in mind, we should cherish Redline, because it makes good on all the promises made by every glowing review.

What more can I say that hasn't been already said? The animation is gorgeous, the soundtrack is effective, and the story is constantly engaging. As other critics have tried to make clear, Redline isn't the deepest or most powerful animated film ever made. It is simply one of the most entertaining animated films to come out in the last fifteen years.

There's a lot to be said for that, I think. This is a film that you'll want to come back to again and again. In my experience, that's rare. I can count on two hands the number of movies I am willing to watch more than once, and I'd say Redline is the newest member of the list. I think it is beside the point to try to say that this film is "mindless fun" or "all style and no substance". Aside from being arguably inaccurate, Redline is able to combine sights, sounds and motion to create an entertainment experience that could never be replicated with live action. If that isn't the point of animation, then I'm not sure what is.

I'll admit that while the story is effective, it does introduce certain plot elements without establishing them. In that way, it very much reminds me of older anime films which try to cram a bit too much into the length of a feature film. But at no point is any element of the film confusing. You might not get any backstory on what you're seeing, but you know what it is and why it is there. That alone puts Redline in a better class than many of its fore bearers.

Again, I'll echo the pro-Redline critics in saying this - you don't have to find Redline appealing, but you can't argue with the fact that it accomplishes what it sets out to do.And you should wish that someone would take the time to apply this level of craftsmanship to the things you do like. Redline is the kind of film we won't forget come twenty years from now, and for a certain sector of anime fandom - those who found the medium fifteen to twenty years ago - this is pure gold.

New Year's

2011-12-31T13:01:00.002-05:00

When my family first moved to Pennsylvania, our only neighbors were a single young family with an eccentric head of household. The father was the kind of man who vehemently disliked certain aspect of modern society (I didn't get to know him well enough to determine whether he disliked them all), and his response was to simply do as he pleased, in a region where there weren't that many people who would bother him about it. He loved wood working, and would create a multitude of large, obnoxious wood cutouts to display on his lawn. He used a recreational telescope, despite the fact that in the Poconos, the clear skies are blocked by tree cover in every direction (I know this because I got my own cheap telescope for my birthday and struggled to with it for a single winter). He also burned his trash so he didn't have to deal with waste management companies, which seems like an innocent, personal decision until you find out the hardway that he threw bones and other meat by products onto the side of the road, where your dog will find and eat them before you have a clue what he's going nuts after. Ultimately, he moved his family away before I left myself, and I can't help but think that he was driven out by the addition of more and more houses on the street, combined with his refusal to accomodate other people being around him. On the other hand, the same could be said about my own family's refusal to keep our dog in check long after we should have, so maybe it was just us that pissed him off.

In any case, today I was reminded of one of my old neighbor's most memorable quirks - he refused to celebrate New Years Eve. As he told my mom, "there's nothing different about January 1st. It's just another day, so I'm going to go to bed early and get up as usual." An army of hipsters are nodding their head in agreement, and I admit that technically, he's got a point. Yet I can't ever shake the feeling that New Year's Eve is special, and more than that, I don't think I want to either.

Part of my opinion is due to the fact that, for some people, New Year's time isn't just another day. If you work in certain professions, then it is true that the Christmas/New Year's season is hardly different than any other (retail fits this mold, and as it so happens, my neighbor sold fish at Grand Union). On the other hand, if you are a student, or a certain kind of office worker, the end of the year is when everything shuts down for two weeks. When jobs give time off for the two holidays, many workers simply take off all the time in between to give themselves a break before life spins back into full gear in January. It may be an arbitrary machination of society, but like it or not lots people take a break at the end of December, and that makes it the perfect time to reflect on the year that was.

Another arbitrary machination is the New Year's Resolution, and while I think specific resolutions are a tricky topic, I don't at all disagree with seeing the New Year as an opportunity to start fresh. Some goals truly do take years to accomplish, and the start of a new one is a good time to assess whether you are making good progress. We can take the pessimistic route and scoff at all the people who so quickly forget their resolution to lose weight or quit smoking, but if you get pessimistic enough about it, then you take this failure as being a certainty. If only one person is truly inspired and motivated to change themselves for the better after the New Year, then that certainty no longer exists, and the pessimist has one less leg to stand on.

Here is my personal experience. I get into a rut whenever I get into a daily routine. I stop seeing what is ahead of me on the road of life, and I only focus on what is in front of me during any given day. This causes me to lose perspective. I forget just how close future dates are, or how little time I have to finish something. It is a huge problem, and I'm only ever shaken out of this stupor when I'm broken out of my routines. That is exactly what happens during my year end time off. Already I'm working harder than ever on preparing for my wedding, and I can once again see all the plans I have for 2012. Even better, I have more motivation than ever to make those plans a reality. I know that in just a few months some of this optimism will fade. Hell, maybe all of it will come April. But there is a slim chance that the fire and optimism will stick with me, and those are better odds than if I just went to sleep tonight and saw January 1st as any other day.

Android phone rooting

2011-12-05T19:51:00.002-05:00

Yesterday I rooted my phone (an OG Droid) and put Cyanogen mod on it. After a couple of recommended settings tweaks, it's running much better than it was on the stock ROM, and the battery life looks to be much improved. All told, I'm happy with the results, but not so much with the process of getting there. The steps I needed the take - that is, the ones which were necessary to root the phone and load the ROM - were not bad. The number of steps I actually took, however, was far greater, and the overall process chewed up a significant amount of my Sunday afternoon.

"Back in the day", when rooting and custom ROMs were a new thing, the processes were not well documented, and there was always some risk that you would brick your phone. Nowadays, however, writers all over the 'net, on legitimate sites no less, proclaim how much easier it is to soup up your Android phone. When I read such claims, I assumed it meant that the Android community was akin to the modern day Linux community, which has made it easier than ever before for new users to install both the OS and new software.

Not so. There are lots of places instructing you on how to root your phone or load a ROM, but no one is on the same page. Everyone has a different approach, and at first glance it isn't easy to understand why (or which one you should adopt for your own purposes). Look a little closer at the dates when all these instructions were posted, however, and you'll begin to understand the problem. Most of them are old, and are likely made obsolete by newer, better methods. Unfortunately, if you're dealing with an old phone, you're not going to find any very recent guides, so you have to weed through archived forum posts and figure out which ones are "current".

The other problem I noticed is a lack of explanation. On one hand, you have guides which try to be user friendly by eliminating any sort of explanation of what is going on. They simply tell you do run some tools and poof! - your phone is ready. This is dangerous and potentially costly, and I wonder if these friendly guides harm more than they help.

On the other hand, however, the more technically minded authors are reminiscent of the Linux community from years ago, which would scream "RTFM" to people who didn't know where the manual even was (and there was a good chance that it wasn't easy to find). Many forum based guides scold any would be rooters who fail to understand the process, or the purpose of all the software they need to use. I can understand that you want the reader to have this knowledge in hand, but why not give it to them then? If you tell them to go google it instead, they're likely to go find another, better guide in the process. Imagine if you were a teacher who gave instruction but, never assigned any work to complete, and never specified any texts to read. Then you decided to fail a students who didn't find the materials on their own, and so was unprepared for the day's lecture. That's what it felt like when I read some of these posts. If you tell someone to use the Android SDK, would it be hard to actually say "this is part of the Android SDK, and here's why you need it." And if you aren't good at writing, surely someone else in the community is!

Lastly, I have an issue with how some Android fan sites use people's interest in rooting for their own gain. Many of the forum based guides are unuseable without registering for the site. Links are blocked, downloads are disallowed, etc. I don't like having to register for a site that I only plan on visiting once, and it's even more insulting when the site in question has a "rooting" sub section which is linked to on the front page. Way to rope 'em in.

When all is said and done, I understand that this section of the Android community is built on volunteer work, and I am very thankful for their efforts. It's just frustrating, as a nerd, to see worst nerd tendencies manifest themselves again and again. It doesn't have to be this way.

And if you're wondering why I don't go and volunteer my own time and knowledge, consider this - on the XDA developers forum, one of the subforums has a "no newbies allowed" warning, and as far as I can tell, there's no alternative newbie zone to start out in. Behold the power of open source gone wrong - everyone is free to participate, unless you aren't bright enough to figure everything out on your own, or lack the effort to wade through problems which were already solved.

Zeta Gundam Volume 10

2011-11-26T22:50:00.000-05:00

Here we are. The final five episodes of Zeta. To answer my question from last time, I think this volume makes up for some of the damage caused by the last batch of episodes, but it can't fully erase their stink.

Here's the long and the short of it - each faction in the war hatches some sort of plan to turn the tide in their favor. Scirocco tries to take out the Titans' leadership, Axis Zeon tries to play everyone against each other, and the AEUG take control of the giant colony laser (without much thought as to any hypocrisy this might entail). Each side succeeds in their plan, but that doesn't mean everyone's a winner. The Titans are wiped out, the AEUG win the battle, and Zeon sets itself up to dominate the rest of the war. Yes, the good guys don't really win at the end of Zeta Gundam. The best you can say is that they eliminate the "Gryps" part of the "Gryps conflict" by eliminating the Titans, but in relation to the war at large, Zeta's ending is merely a turning point that sets the stage for its successor ZZ Gundam. On its own merits, I don't think this is a disappointing way to end the show, but I do feel disappointed, knowing that ZZ will never see the light of day in the U.S. I won't hold that against Zeta, but damn Bandai, why did you have to leave us hanging like that?

I'd be remiss if I failed to mention that Volume 10 kills off a significant number of cast members in astonishingly little time. Considering that this is a Tomino show, I wasn't shocked at the fact of these deaths. What bothered me is that they have very little weight behind them. Because the second half of the show wasted so much time, none of the pilot rivalries are given any time to grow, meaning none of the showdowns within these episodes carry any sort of weight. Furthermore, the uneven pacing of the plot meant that characters would often vanish for several episodes at a time, only to return out of the blue, as if the writers felt like they quite literally had to cram in an appearance to justify their existence. It leads to a lot of wasted potential to say the least. The best example of this is Yazan, who manages to kill more main AEUG pilots than anyone, despite not being an newtype. The idea of this normal pilot winning through sheer skill is intriguing, but he shows up in this volume after a long period of absence, for no other reason other than to have one very successful sortie. Yazan got some solid character development earlier in the show, but the way in which he returns to cut a path through the AEUG makes his success (and the deaths of his targets) feel cheap.

Ultimately, Zeta Gundam's biggest problem is that it was never meant to wrap up the story it began. Emotionally and narratively, it doesn't wrap up cleanly because it really can't. That being said, there was a way to say farewell to most of its cast with a little more respect, and it'd have been nice if the final battle between Kamille and Scirocco actually meant something. I understand the idea of a sci-fi show that treats death and destruction realistically, but to be honest, Gundam isn't that show. Main characters are spared in grim situations, and ace pilots are usually given all the time they need for their rivalry to simmer. Zeta switches up the rules in an unexpected and inconsistent manner. The result is a show that lacks any of the punch it should have, which makes it all the more frustrating when it chooses to waste more and more time with inconsequential topics.

Zeta Gundam is a stunningly well animated show, and it does much to expand the world of the Universal Century in ways which its predecessor never could. I understand how it became so influential, but for anyone simply looking for good storytelling (with giant robots), I don't think I can recommend it as essential viewing. And that's a damn shame in my eyes.

Zeta Gundam Volume 9

2011-11-26T22:10:00.000-05:00

At this point in the show, there are only ten episodes left. That isn't much time to wrap up the now-three way conflict, to say nothing of the numerous rivalries and plot threads still lingering. I thought that perhaps Zeta Gundam's status as a an all time classic was in part due to the way in which it handled all this narrative content.

I couldn't be further from the truth. Most of the episodes in Volume 9 are a complete waste of time. So bad is this batch that it retroactively damaged my opinion of the previous forty episodes. It's also the reason why it took me so long to polish off the rest of the show.

I'm not going to beat around the bush - the show wastes three, maybe four episodes dealing with Rosamia, most of which occurs in this volume. The fact that the Titans literally brainwash her to have the mind of a child is creepy in principal, and worse in execution. It isn't enough that she's annoying; the writers then have to cram her antics down our throat in overly lengthy, incredibly awkward scenes. Her presence also gives them an excuse to write Shinta and Qum into more storylines, and at no point is that ever a good thing.

All in all, Rosammia is almost a proto-Moeblob. While she has the physical traits of a grown woman, her mind is that of a (potentially slow) child. The scene in which she runs around topless is beyond uncomfortable considering the circumstances.

I know it sounds dramatic, but I honestly believe that the focus on Rosammia/Shinta/Qum/whatever do irreparable damage to the entirety of the show. There's so much to do still, and it all gets put by the wayside in favor of this? Sorry folks, but true classics don't tend to cave into demographic based pandering quite this earnestly. There's no hope of this show ending the way I want it to, but maybe it will manage to redeem some of my esteem before the end credits.

Where's it at?

2011-10-30T09:31:00.001-04:00

This morning I encountered an annoying, inexplicable computer issue. I wanted to configure our new printer to work with our netbook, which my fiance typically uses for computing tasks. It runs Linux, and I had no idea if any printer makers beyond HP had any semblance of Linux driver support. So I went to the Lexmark website (on the netbook) and saw that they had some Linux support. But I found no drivers whatsoever. The only choices available to me were firmware updates for the printer itself, and the only OS choices were Fedora Core and Open SuSE.

Rather than giving up or getting angry, I instead got distracted by something on my main computer. And when I decided to go back to figuring out what to do about the printer, I googled up Lexmark Linux print driver support, without realizing that I had switched PCs. I came across a list which included my printer, so I went back to the drivers page, and tried again. This time, I got a much larger list of Linux distros to choose from, and when I picked the appropriate one, I got an actual print driver. I copied it over to the netbook, and the configuration went smoothly.

My question, then, is why did I get different choices on the driver download page based on which PC I was using? It's possible that the page uses the web browser's user agent information, but that doesn't make sense, since it lets you choose an OS anyway. It's silly that on the Linux box, I got no good options for Linux, but on another OS I got a list of over twelve unique distros.

Ultimately, I'm just glad I can print from multiple places. But if I didn't mistakenly use the "wrong" computer to check, I might not have gotten that far. I can only wonder how many other unsuccessful driver searches of mine were the result of a similar problem.

Ugh

2011-08-21T21:24:00.001-04:00

Today's HP Touchpad fire sale, and the whole "out of the consumer biz" HP move put me in a sour mood. The sale because it was a huge tease. Us mere mortals know that such discounts are out of our reach, yet we cling on to this miniscule hope that maybe we'll luck out. It never actually happens. The stores were simply not on the same page, and some of them might have been playing games. I heard of at least two people go to Walmart and be told that the tablets weren't being sold for the $99 sale price. Three hours later, when they called back, the store was sold out. Playing favorites? Anything is possible with this shit.

As for the business move, it just shows you f-ed up the business world is. HP's computers were profitable, but not profitable enough. So now they're probably going to be gone. We all know the deal - businesses aren't charity cases, they have to make profits. But the amount of profit desired, and the steps shareholders are willing to take to get them, are getting absurd. When you have people who are willing to burn something to the ground in order to line their pockets, maybe this whole "publicly owned company" thing is a bad idea. Not that it is a bad idea in general, just when you have a society that can't be trusted to handle such decisions. Libertarians often think that the free market will fix anything, but I think a lot of the business decisions you see today show that companies will leave money on the table if it means going after a bigger table with a bigger pile. If that means that you and I can't find a decent PC (or an operational Postal Service), "tough noogies" is the answer we get.

Gahhh, I need a drink. And a cheap Touchpad.

College Football

2011-08-17T06:46:00.001-04:00

Looks like Texas A&M is looking to shake up the college football world by trying to defect to the SEC. Cue another flood of editorials complaining about how college football is being ruined by a desire for money.

These opinion pieces frustrate me to no end. It isn't that I disagree. I just don't understand how we got to this point.

Let me explain. I know why all the big schools are chasing the money - there's a lot of it. It isn't at all surprising to see some of the crap that goes on during every season. But that money has to come from somewhere, and that's what confuses me. What drives people to love this particular version of the sport so much that it can become its own mini NFL?

I'll admit, I had no football team at my college, so maybe that's why I can't understand the passion. It's one thing to have fond memories of your alma mater, and even to want to make a difference as an alumni. But the football programs, especially in the bigger schools, are practically their own entity, far removed from the academic side. Professing your loyalty to your school via its football program shows... what, exactly? That you appreciate the values and mission of the college? Is that necessarily reflected on the field? I doubt it.

Furthermore, when I think of those big name football schools, I don't think of the quality of its education, like I would with an MIT or an Ivy League (okay, maybe I would think of USC, as they seem to have some decent programs). I wonder, then, if prospective students do. Or do they want to go to the school so they have a popular team to route for?

Maybe that's it. Maybe college football's fanbase is established early, with kids rooting for a team years before they even finish secondary school. That would really make it the mini-NFL. The only way I see this kind of passion stemming from four years of undergrad is if it results from alumni being unable to let go, much like you see from college freshmen wishing they were back in high school (where they were kings and queens). When you're twenty years out, you can be anywhere in the country and still have an easy connection to your frat days.

Who knows. At this point, the only thing for sure is that collegiate football and basketball probably don't belong to exist beyond the club level (but unless both pro versions of the sports develop farm systems, that will never happen).

Zeta Gundam Volume 8

2011-08-11T21:12:00.001-04:00

If Zeta Gundam Volume 8 had a sub-heading, I'd suggest "Bitches be crazy".

It starts off where we last left, with Kamille dealing with a more psychotic Four Murasame. It ends with the return of Rosamia Badam, who is now brainwashed in her own terrible way. Back in volumes 3 and 4, I mentioned how I disliked how these two characters were handled. Both filled the same general role of "teenage girl made into mentally unstable Cyber Newtype", and were introduced within episodes of one another. I don't know what Tomino's intentions were when writing this part of the story, but either he or his editors realized that it would look sloppy for both of them to coexist. As a result, Rosamia was whisked away almost as quickly as she was introduced, making way for Four to dominate the entirety of Volume 4 to become Kamille's impossible love interest, the Zeta Gundam equivalent of Lala Sune.

In Volume 8, these two tragic young women essentially trade places in regards to screen time, though it doesn't really matter. Four is killed at the disc's start (if you count her arrival at the end of Vol. 7, her return lasts just two episodes), while Rosamia dominates the last two eps, with at least one more appearance at the start of Vol. 9. Just like before, there's simply not enough time for the show to handle both characters properly, but once again I'd say that Four gets the better treatment. The show does a reasonable enough job selling the idea that she's (sadly) a lost cause, and her death allows Kamille to learn some important life lessons from his mentors. If the intention was to use Four to demonstrate the tragic nature of Cyber Newtypes, then I'd say it succeeds.

Rosamia, on the other hand, has been conditioned into thinking she's Kamille's brother, which leads to a very awkward episode which also features Haman Kahn and Mineva Zabi in a bit of absurd comic relief. For whatever reason, the AEUG take her on board, and it becomes apparent that she's going to be have a mental breakdown before flipping out and being killed in battle. With little background information on her character, and no knowledge as to what was done to her off screen, so far Rosamia feels like an unfortunate waste of a character. Perhaps they could have given her some of the purpose that was ultimately reserved for Four, though my gut tells me that it would be better to write her out.

I can't end this post without mentioning "Day at Dakar", perhaps the most widely referenced episode of Zeta Gundam. It is during this ep. that Char makes his famous speech, which anyone and everyone cites as one of his finest moments as a character, and a fine moment for Gundam in general. I'll have to go back and watch it subtitled, to see if it lends any more gravitas to the moment. In English, there's no doubt the scene is important, but for whatever reason I was expecting something more.

Despite my gripes with the characterization of the Cyber Newtypes, I liked this batch of episodes. It isn't Zeta at its most gripping, but it's well animated, and occasionally dramatic (and goofy). Still, I'm increasingly curious - and afraid - of what will come next. There's only ten episodes left, and it doesn't feel like the show is anywhere near ready to wind down. Something big is going to have to happen to set up for the endgame. That, or it will be rushed to at the last moment.

Zeta Gundam Volume 7

2011-08-04T07:00:00.005-04:00

Volume 7 kicks off with "Half Moon Love", which doesn't have much in the way of love, but does have a bomb go off in a lunar city. One which kills few, if any civilians, and doesn't put a scratch on its intended target, the Argama. It does, however, force the ship to flee before being able to complete repairs, leaving it in terrible shape before beginning a very dangerous operation. As a complete episode, "Half Moon Love" is far from classic, but the ending foreshadows the overall theme of this disc. Ever since Kamille returned to space, I'd argue that the AEUG have had the upper hand in battle. They have more high tech mobile suits, and less nameless mooks as pilots. With Volume 7 the roles reverse. The Titans get more new suits to counter the AEUG, and their current ace, Yazan Gable, is the first Titans pilot who won't lie down and die in a fight (Jerrid might not be dead yet, but his survival is due more to comic relief and Plot Armor than to any skill). Throughout the disc, our heroes find themselves outnumbered and pushed beyond their limits. Dissent and fatigue kick in, and they wind up losing one of their own, which we haven't seen since Roberto's death in Volume 3.

This volume sounds much more interesting than it actually is, mostly due to some poorly executed character arcs. In "Moonside Love", Kamille acts practically schizophrenic around Titan pilot Sarah, showing both contempt and concern for her (though nothing like love, which I hope the episode title is not referring to). Worst of all, however, is Reccoa. She's been a very important character lately, and her screen time answers two important questions about her - What talents make her worthy of working in the AEUG, and does she feel as under-appreciated and disrespected as she should? The answers themselves are satisfying, but her ultimate fate is not. Her tumultuous mental state turns her into a complete space case, in a manner that suggests a sadly sexist "love and emotions turn a woman's mind into mush" type of event. It all leads to her capture by the Titans, and just doesn't feel like an dignified treatment of her increasingly interesting character.

Also unfortunate is that the AEUG thinks she's dead, and this puts the crew into angst mode. Kamille gets bitchy and punchy with Quattro, and Quattro himself becomes the saddest of sacks, unwilling to defend himself. I could tell you that it's because him and Reccoa were in love, but the writers hinted at this immediately before her capture, so it's tough to tell just what the hell it was supposed to mean(there is, arguably, earlier proof of the two of them together, but the show never pursued it). The angst hits its peak at disc's end, when Kamille and Quattro's bickering causes them to get stuck on Earth again, after which Kamille learns that Four Murasame is alive. All of his character development unravels as he becomes a bitchy, love stricken teen again, causing as much trouble as ever before.

Still, there is one redeeming aspect of this disc. The middle sections introduce the Zeon Remnant, and their leader, Haman Kahn. Haman is a major player in U.C. lore, and her debut didn't disappoint. In just a few major scenes, she gave an air of complete control and competence; just the way she causes Quattro to flip out gives you a great sense of her character. These episodes stand in isolation for now, but they give you a sense of just how screwed the AEUG might be after a Titans/Zeon alliance, and for the first time, we see Quattro (who I should probably just refer to as Char now) wrestle with his past life as the Red Comet. You tell how hard it is for him to make peace with it, as well as come to terms with the fact that his countrymen are no longer truly his own.

Not the best volume in the back half of the show, but Zeon's arrival hints at potential for the future.

Zeta Gundam Volume 6

2011-07-26T07:00:00.006-04:00

Note: From here on out, all Volumes of Zeta Gundam are brand new to me, so there will be no comparisons to my previous time with the show.

Like its Chapter 3 counterpart, Volume 6 lacks any degree of focus. Unlike Vol 5, however, it makes up for it by making something important happen in every episode. There might not be a common narrative arc, but it doesn't really matter when all five episodes are distinct in my mind.

To clarify, some of these episodes offer no indication of their importance until the very end. A good example is the disc's opener, which is a fairly standard episode until Captain Jamaicon of the Titans is vaporized. Other eps are more blatant, such as the disc's finale, which makes it perfectly clear in its preview that Mouar is going to die. There was always something interesting going on in Volume 6, which made it refreshingly addictive to watch.

I also found these episodes to be balanced. They had action, strategy, and solid character interactions. At this point in the show, the stakes are high enough that even fairly green pilots like Katz and Fa understand that they can no longer be so flippant and disobedient. The entire cast is starting to get into a groove, and it is refreshing to see angst replace with the occasional spout of comedy relief.

Still, I find this to be a bittersweet change of events. The body count in Volume 6 is significant, at least for the Titans, and I get the feeling that the AEUG is going to lose some crew soon so as to even the odds I know they're the bad guys, but Titans pilots have a shelf life of 3-5 episodes (in terms of appearance count), which makes it tough for them to come into their own. From a character development standpoint, it simply isn't fair.

Overall, the second half of Zeta Gundam has gotten off to a fantastic start, and I'm excited to go full steam ahead with the rest of it.

Sing a Mean Tune Kid...

2011-07-25T20:09:00.000-04:00

An Amazon gift card came my way recently, and I used it to pick up some terribly unexciting, arguably unecessary items. The first was the anime FLCL on Blu Ray. FLCL is a favorite of mine - or was a favorite, based on what I remember of it - but I have long feared that a re-viewing will cause my impresion of the show to sour. Meanwhile, there are quite a few shows out there which I haven't seen at all, which would have provided, at the very least, a better content/cost ratio. I suppose I just wanted to fill an what I thought to be an important blank in my small collection, rather than try and chase what's hot(ter) and new.

The same logic convinced me to spend the remainder of the card on the album Chicago III. I listened to the record a few time in the past, but didn't find it terribly exciting. It was hardly my most wanted CD, but I have been listening to a lot of Chicago lately, and remembered that I only needed Chicago III to complete my collection of the band's first seven records (I decided that VII would be my cutoff point). So rather than chase something newer and potentially more interesting, I decided to fill in a gap. Listening to it now, via a well mastered CD on a nicer sound system, I'm already enjoying it far more than I ever did. Hopefully FLCL will fare this well.

PS - Zeta Gundam Volume 6 review up tomorrow.

Frustration

2011-07-19T18:41:00.000-04:00

When I began posting my Zeta Gundam recaps, I was all excited. I felt like I was on a roll, and that I would be able to get them out in a (fairly) timely manner. Unfortunately, I have been all out of sorts lately, which caused me to -

a) not set the Volume 3 recap to auto post, despite my memory of doing so
b) leave the Volume 4 draft sitting on my netbook for days on end, because I mistook it for the Volume 5 recap, and so figured that it could wait a little longer to be posted.

As a result, over a week went by between Volumes 2 and 3, and I ended up doing Vol. 5 at midnight so I could get it done before I plowed too far through 6. What a clusterf*ck.

In any case, I'm all caught up now, and Volume 6 should be up soon.

Zeta Gundam Volume 5

2011-07-17T08:00:00.005-04:00

My first time through Volume 5 left me hopelessly lost. The show jumps back to outer space after two completely Earth-centric volumes, and it doesn't make the transition smoothly. As it turns out, not much happened in space while Kamille and pals were fighting on the surface, but it tries to carry on as if we haven't been away from the vast majority of the cast for ten whole episodes. In order to have a complete grasp of everyone and everything, you have to recall some fairly minor details from back in Volume 2. I suggest having that disc (or the Internet) handy in case you need a refresher.

The other problem with Volume 5 is that it has no central narrative arc. Coincidence or not, each of the previous Volumes felt like a unified set of episodes, all focusing on the same concepts and characters. Volume 5 starts off trying to establish Paptimus Scirocco as a legitimate antagonist, but around halfway through it switches its focus to the rest of the Titans, including new pilot Yazan Gable (who we'll see far more off in the next disc).

As for the AEUG, Fa Yuiry makes her return, and wastes no time trying to become a pilot herself. Between her and Katz Kobayashi, we have plenty of candidates to replace Kamille as the annoying kid who disobeys orders and flies off with a Mobile Suit. Speaking of Mobile Suits, the Zeta Gundam arrives, giving Kamille a craft which is capable of going toe to toe with the Titans' numerous Mobile Armors. As a result of Zeta's arrival, we also see Emma Sheen taking a more prominent role as a top pilot, taking permanent ownership of the Gundam Mk 2.

Overall, Volume 5 is not centered around any one character or concept. Everyone gets some time in the spotlight, and some large scale battles are pitched in quick succession. Specifically, the last three episodes involve a moon assault, a counterattack, and a mission to prevent the Titans from dropping a colony on the lunar cities. This is an incredibly thrilling Volume, but you have to keep track of everything in order to really enjoy it. I'm glad I was finally able to do so, and I look forward to the next half of the show, which I will be seeing for the first time.

Zeta Gundam Volme 4

2011-07-17T08:00:00.004-04:00

My rewatch of Zeta Gundam has so far improved my opinion of the first three volumes tremendously. On the other hand, Volume 4 was only barely more enjoyable than it was the first time around. Back then, I had so much trouble getting through these episodes that I put the show on ice for a few weeks.

I'm not comfortable enough as an anime fan to label a block of episodes as "filler", but that is exactly what this volume feels like. Right off the bat, Quattro returns to outer space, meaning the show has used the "leave a couple of AEUG members behind on Earth, but don't worry, they'll get their chance later" twist twice within the span of just a few episodes.

On a similar note, the show abandons Titan officer Rosamia out of nowhere, replacing her with another pilot, Four Murasame. Four, like Rosamia, is a teenage girl and a Cyber Newtype, charged with piloting an experimental mobile suit, the Psycho Gundam. In all fairness, both women are different characters who serve different purposes in driving along the story, but at first glance they're both characterized as both emotionally unstable and cocky (dareisay bratty) during battle. Simply put, when Volume 4 starts off, it gives you the impression that it has no real aim or purpose, as it insists on using the same plot devices all over again.

Supporting this feeling of aimlessness is the setting for Volume 4. The Karaba resistance group stops and parks in New Hong Kong City for supplies. It ends up staying there until it is kicked out at the end of the Volume (I should also note that the supplies are provided by a local businesswoman who Kamille describes as "a female Wong Lee" due to her behavior. I agree with him on that, and it could be argued to be another bit of conceptual recycling). This downtime leaves the cast with little to do, so we end up with a lot of scenes in which Amuro's new squeeze Beltochika pesters both him and Kamille, all of which leave her looking bitchy and immature. It is hard to look forward to future episodes when you know such a poorly evolving character will be getting the spotlight throughout the disc.

On the other hand, Four Murasame becomes much more favorable over the course of the five episodes. While she demonstrates the disrespect for authority typical of teenagers, her past is sympathetic enough, and her interactions with Kamille are fundamental in helping him grow up into a more mature, responsible character. Unfortunately, while these scenes moments are good for character development, they can be painful to watch. Gundam dialogue aspires to be serviceable at best, so all the slow, conversation heavy moments in this Volume play out awkwardly. You walk away understanding the intent, but you never feel engaged in it.

Despite the generally slow feeling of the Volume, there are still battles to be seen, most of which fail to reach their potential. The Psycho Gundam in particular causes a ton of damage to New Hong Kong, but the show never depicts the true toll it has on the citizens of the city. After the Psycho Gundam obliterates a whole section of town, the following episode shows the cast gallivanting around the harbor as if a major loss of property or lives never occurred not that long ago. I also noticed that the Earth based Titans forces are crawling with nameless pilots. You don't really care about a fight when the enemy is depicted as nothing more than a mobile suit.

I feel like Volume 4 is important to the overall story of Zeta Gundam, but damn if I don't find it hard to get through.

Zeta Gundam Volume 3

2011-07-16T23:08:00.002-04:00

Only few hours after I wrote my Disc 2 summary, I noticed that the Zeta Gundam DVD labels not only identify each disc's volume, but also a "chapter" designation. Vol. 1 and 2 are both part of Chapter 1, while Vol 3. begins Chapter 2. This classification inadvertently lines up with what I said previously about how Disc 2 was the end of show's setup phase. Disc 3 definitely feels like a new "chapter" in the story, one which takes place in a new setting and introduces many new characters.

This batch of episodes begins with the AEUG dropping into Earth, in order to attack the Federation's Jaburo base. The second episode episode (ep. twelve, for those counting) does a lot to establish what Zeta Gundam is all about, and what has changed in the Universal Century since Gundam 79. For example, while Jaburo was once the Federation's primary stronghold, in Zeta is has been almost entirely abandoned, used by the Titans as nothing more than a supply depot. Watching mobile suits battle in the empty shell of a base, while straggling soldiers struggle to escape, gives a strong sense of just how bad a shape the Federation is in.

The next episode has most of the AEUG forces escaping back to outer space, though the intervention of Earth based Titan forces prevents Kamille and Quattro from joining them. This leads to the meat of the Chapter, in which the two pilots work with the Earth based Karaba resistance group to avoid the Titans and get out to space via other means.

The implications of this split are twofold. First, it means that Emma, Bright, and the other AEUG staff are out of the picture for a while. Secondly, it means the show has to fill in those gaps with a new Earth based set of characters, including several returning faces from Gundam 79. Fraw Bow, Katz, Kai (actually, he was in the last Disc) and even Amuro show up to lend a hand, some more than others. I was positively giddy to see them again, and all grown up at that. Unfortunately, however, Amuro is not much of a factor. For now, he's traded with Kamille to take on the role of angsty pilot who refuses to cooperate. Amuro eventually gets him game face back on, but you won't see it here.

On the side of the Titans, we see a new batch of pilots, including a "cyber Newtype" named Rosamia Badam. Rosamia is one of many pilots given superior physical traits and Newtype-esque mental abilities via experimentation, though we quickly see the tradeoff of such enhancements when Rosamia establishes that she's batshit crazy. At this point, she is almost a source of comedic relief, though at no point in the disc do her and her Titans comrades launch an assault at full combat strength. With some powerful mobile armors at their disposal, they have the potential to bring some pain.

Overall, this disc is a slow burn. The Jaburo assault is spread out over two episodes, while the other three serve mostly to reacquaint us with Amuro and the other returning characters. It isn't really "setup" like in the last two discs, but the show is also not yet firing on all cylinders.

PS - RIP Roberto. Up until now, characters died only an episode or two after their debut. Roberto was a fixture from the very start, and his death marks the first time a "veteran" cast member has been axed.

Sex and the City, again

2011-07-06T06:11:00.001-04:00

I think I can see now where some of the stereotypes about Sex and the City culminated. Seasons 5 and 6 (at least the episodes I saw from them) are rotten. I don't know what the reason was, but starting with Season 5, Sarah Jessica Parker and the show writers saw fit to rip anything interesting out of her character. As narrator and protagonist, Carrie was far less financially able than her counterparts, and quite a bit flawed emotionally. As a result, she struggled, quite often at that, in such a way that many viewers, I believe, found relatable, even within the show's fairly fictional portrayal of New York. These traits are wiped away in Season 5. Out of nowhere, Carrie says good bye to relationships. She wears increasingly funky outfits, with a new hairdo between scenes which look to take place within the same 24 hours. Her newspaper column leads to a book deal.

For whatever silly reason, she's invited to be a fashion model for Dolce & Gabanna, and an incident in which she slips in falls is supposed to cancel out the fact that she eventually gets to pose and preen for all to see.

Oh, and after watching so much of this show, the idea that she marries Mr. Big is asinine. It goes against anything and everything natural and logical.

Starting from season 5, Carrie is a precious angel, and it gives her and her friends cart blanche to act ridiculous in ways which they never did before (or, in ways which they'd later regret). The show is turning away from being about smart, capable, but ultimately human women, to being about a bunch of superficial infants. And I here the movies are even worse.

What the hell happened? Is this what people wanted to see? I just don't get it.

Beer

2011-07-05T18:10:00.001-04:00

I think it is safe to say that I am no longer a beer snob.

I started to become one back in college. I think it was, in part, a reaction to all the stupendously terrible beer which college coeds found acceptable. It was also fueled by a bit misguided herd mentality. I spent a lot of time on the Internet back then, and I saw plenty of Europeans who mocked Americans for drinking Budweiser. They were joined by "enlightened" Americans drinking imports and craft beer. I decided that I wanted to be accepted by these people, and so my taste in beer had to be impeccable.

I don't regret my turn at being a wannabe beer snob. I learned a lot about the drink, including countless varieties I once never knew about. And if you sat me down with a very good craft beer today, I'd still enjoy it. But some time within the last year, I decided that I just didn't care anymore.

Take, for instance, those Internet Europeans. Once I got a lot more knowledgeable about my new favorite drink, I went back and looked at what superior brews they were fans of. Turns out they enjoyed some fairly trashy imports. This was an important general purpose lesson, about how you shouldn't give even half a shit about anyone on the Internet, but I digress. More important than unmasking the Eurotrash was the revelation that becoming a beer snob is a never ending battle. Every so often, you find a beer which is completely new to you, and looks absolutely awesome. You try it, and you think it is pretty good, so you head over to the reviews to see what others have to say. Beeradvocate.com and the like are flooded with mediocre grades. According to them, what you thought to be a hidden gem was just another average product that pales in comparison to *insert name of local craft brew which you cannot get a hold of here*. Psychologically, this was always a downer. I thought I had developed the eye, the taste, but apparently I still had a long way to go . According to these folks, almost nothing out there was worthwhile.

This leads me to my last point. The success of craft breweries is, ultimately, a great thing, but some of them seem to exist for no other purpose other than to fuck with us. Some of them are straightforward, brewing a couple of stable ales and lagers, with a seasonal or experimental drink every so often. Others can't get enough of experimentation, to the point where it defines them. Some use simple labeling and pledged to quality. Others try much to hard to look cool and quirky, using art design reminiscent of an O.K. Soda can and using way too much playful ad copy for a drink which is illegal for minors. Buying from craft brewers feels like a crapshoot at times. You may end up with simple, well made beer, or you may end up with something that tastes weird for the sake of it. I'm particularly frustrated with what I feel is an irresponsible usage of hops among craft brewers. Hops can add all sorts of wonderful flavors to a beer, but in my experience they have to be handled with care. If you just use a wreckless amount of them (which some beer labels have bragged about), you may end up with a drink that feels like a punch in the face more than anything.

There's a problem with saying anything like this. Most beer snobs (and the brewers, if they responded) would quickly tell me, or anyone else with a similar complaint, that we don't actually appreciate the flavor of hops. This isn't at true, of course, but it doesn't matter. If you question whether a microbrew is doing the right thing, you can easily get scorned.

In writing this post, I actually remember when I decided to stop giving a fuck. It was last summer, right before moving out of my old abode in Baltimore. I picked up a variety twelve pack of Magic Hat summer beers. They had a new IPA inside which was phenomenal. It was very hoppy, but went down easily. It felt such perfectly balanced. My internal monologue went something like this:

You've wasted many a six pack on IPAs which taste like shit. After finding something this good, why are you so desperate to experiment? You know what you like these days, and who the hell cares what others think, when it is clear that they're talking out of their ass half the time? Stick with what you like, and be happy with it.

And that's what I do these days. I stick to what I like, and I don't care what anyone else thinks about my choice in suds. So far it hasn't let me down.

Zeta Gundam Volume 2

2011-07-05T08:05:00.004-04:00

Disc 2 has the AEUG preparing to launch a major offensive, while the Titans try to uncover and upend their plans. While certainly action packed, these episodes are more important for their relationship building. We see Kamille interact quite a bit with the AEUG crew, and while his reactions are often corrosive and angsty, you can tell that he now sees them as comrades, and to some extent, his surrogate family. His concern for them results in some reckless actions, but ultimately he ends up keeping some of his new friends alive, and his performance on the field proves his worth as a full time pilot.

This time around, as I payed closer attention to the fights, I started to notice just how early Kamille demonstrates Newtype abilities. Simply put, he is able to react and anticipate so quickly that he is able to go toe to toe with veteran pilots despite his lack of flight time. I also began to understand why he jumped to save Reccoa and Emma Sheen - he was able to sense their danger from far away (which I guess makes Newtypes kind of like Jedi).

On the Titans side, these episodes did a lot to improve my opinion of Jerrid Messa.At this point, Jerrid is still a bigmouth and a shitty pilot, but he demonstrates that he is willing to put his ego aside in order to become the leader he aspires to be. His interactions with Federation pilot Lila are akin to Obi Wan and Luke with added sexual tension. She teaches him quite a lot in a short period of time, and her death helps push Jerrid over the edge. By the end of the disc, he's starting to look like an actual pilot, rather than an adversary you hope to see shot down as soon as possible. At this point, the core cast of Titans is nowhere near solidified, but that's because they have to fuck up a bunch on this disc, in order to justify bringing in some heavy hitters that will present the AEUG with a serious challenge. The pieces are put into place here, and Disc 3 will see the real beginning of what will be known as the Gryps conflict.

Oh, and Bright Noa joins the AEUG, immediately taking command of their flagship simply by being Bright fucking Noa. The sooner the better I say.

Zeta Gundam Volume 1

2011-07-04T08:00:00.006-04:00

The first five episodes of Zeta Gundam are mostly setup, introducing most of the main characters before the story's main conflict begins in earnest. During my original viewing, I struggled greatly to understand the show's teen protagonist, Kamille Bidan. Everything he said or did was annoying and/or baffling. It often felt that he got certain breaks or opportunities simply by being the hero of the story.

Rewatching these episodes, my opinion has improved. Kamille is still a bit annoying, but I can understand (most of) his behavior. The trick was in remembering that there are many reasons why adolescents act foolishly. In addition to being hot headed, they like to act without thinking, and without understanding the consequences of their actions. They believe they know more than the adults in their life, and will rebel against authority in order to establish themselves as an individual. They also tend to be ignorant of a certain selection of current events. Together, all of these traits gave explanation to Kamille's stupidity, which is clearly meant to be seen as stupidity, in order to show us how much he has to grow.

I also got a better sense of the Titans, why they're hated and how they're able to act like such thugs. I don't think the Universal Century shows do a great job of emphasizing the state of the planet, but it is important to remember that the One Year War wiped out about half of the human population, that the Earth is all sorts of fucked up, and that those pesky Minovsky particles make communications all screwy. The Earthsphere is in awful shape, and it would be plausible for the planetside government to be too busy to keep close attention to what is happening in space. It is also believable that they lack strong leadership with so many people being dead. We tend to think of governments as being all knowing entities, but this is perhaps due to modern technology more than anything. Rome once ruled only a fraction of Earth, and yet Ceasar was able to use his army to come home and take control. In regards to Zeta, the Titans are still a bit convenient as an enemy, but they aren't unbelievable.

By the end of this disc, the AEUG have pretty much successfully escaped with the Gundam prototypes, and Kamille's parents are dead, which locks in his fate whether he knows it or not. I found myself genuinely sympathizing with the boy this time. As he states in the fifth episode, his might have fought bitterly with his parents, but they were still his family, and now they're gone. I thought this highlighted a very important point about teenagers - their supposed disdain for their parents is mostly smoke and mirrors. And even when they do have good reason to be mad at their folks, deep down inside they would rather things be better. Kamille's anger at his parents is no doubt genuine, but their death leaves him with absolutely nothing, including the hope for having a better relationship with them in the future. He's thrust himself into a world of shit, and it won't get any easier.

Zeta Gundam

2011-07-03T19:26:00.001-04:00

Having recently finished rewatching 08th MS Team, I decided it was time to go back and give Zeta Gundam a proper viewing. I bought the first half of Zeta on DVD about three years ago, and gobbled it up quickly. I watched one episode a night before going to sleep, on my old, dying CRT television (for that authentic, 1985 feel). In retrospect, this was a bad idea. The TV's sound system was dying, meaning I often couldn't hear dialogue properly, and my PS2 had troubles reading the discs, causing me to fumble with the playback frequently.

Worst of all, however, was the fact that I was a newly diagnosed Narcoleptic trying to watch a television before turning in for the night. It wasn't obvious at the time, but I wasn't giving the show anywhere near my full attention. As a result, I often missed the names of new characters, and couldn't recall when they first appeared. I had trouble understanding why operations were being launched , and my mental timeline of how past events played out was all out of order. Zeta, like many Gundam shows, can be confusing, and my sleepy mental state made it worse. While I recalled some of the episodes being thrilling, on a whole my opinion of the show was quite low.

Perhaps this is why it took me until the tail end of 2010 to obtain the second half, and only then because I found it for half price during the liquidation of the local Suncoast. Volume 2 has sat on my shelf ever since, and is the only anime DVD up there that I haven't yet watched. With both 08th MS Team and Gundam 79 recently rekindling my interest in the franchise, I decided it was time to give Zeta a second chance, with a proper viewing from the very beginning (while being very much awake).

So far, the plan is working. I am encountering dialogue that I don't remember hearing before, and combined with the extra Gundam knowledge I obtained over the years, it is helping dispel most of my confusion. And while the script is still awkward (in that way that all Gundam shows tend to be), I can come up with explanations and interpretations whenever someone says or does something jarring (when I first began watching, I literally paused the show at times just to stop and think). Zeta Gundam is starting to really feel like a good piece of space opera, with a coherent plot and some semblance of character development. It feels like a drastically different, and much better, show than what plays out in my old memories.

I am also finding the animation to be much more impressive, though I'm not sure if this is due to a better TV, or because I can keep my eyes open. I get the impression that the animators skimped when drawing certain scenes, in order to devote more attention to the battles. That isn't to say that every fight scene is perfectly fluid, but on a hole they are more detailed and kinetic than I expected something circa 1985 to be.

Overall, I'm hooked for real, and the best part is that I still have a whole new half to get into for the first time.

McCartney Remasters

2011-06-20T20:26:00.002-04:00

As I mentioned previously, good ol' Macca is releasing his remasters slowly, and out of order. The first record out of the gate was Band on the Run, which of course is technically a Wings album. Last week saw the release of not one but two more reissues, McCartney I and II. Inserts that come with these CDs indicate that several more are on the way, including Ram, and Venus and Mars.

I'm not really sure what, if any logic is being applied to this process. Band on the Run is probably the most recognizable of Paul's post Beatles work, so it makes sense as a first choice. And the two self titled albums which just came out share a similar thematic bent, in that he made them entirely by himself (minus some backing vocals from Linda). As for the rest, I'm stumped. I'll be curious to see in what order they are released.

One of the striking aspects of McCartney's remasters is how - I don't know a better term to use, so I'll go with this - "money grubbing" they are. Each of the three that are out have been released in multiple versions. You've got basic and special editions CDs as well as massive $80-$90 versions containing extra discs, DVDs, and books, none of which looks to be worth all that scratch. And yet here's the rub - if you don't spring for the $80 mega editions, you're shit out of luck when it comes to retrospective and historical content. The plain old CD's contain no notes, no interviews, nothing of the sort. This is true even with the two disc McCartney I/II reissues (though the presence of a second disc means that there's at least some bonus tracks). Call me cynical, but this feels like an attempt to get you to buy the expensive one, in order to get the "best" experience possible. The Jimi Hendrix remasters were a few bucks cheaper, and had nice little DVDs with them. It's not impossible to do.

On the other hand, a part of me feels as if these basic releases are a good thing in their own way. What you're getting is, essentially, what people got when these records were first released. The same songs, with the same kind of artwork. You're left to judge the music yourself, without anything coloring your perspective. Compare this to the Lennon remasters. Nice as those are, their liner notes would have you believe that every one of his solo works was a masterpiece. That kind of revisionism can be bothersome, and while Paul doesn't completely shy away from it, his output can only be available in super deluxe editions that will be purchased by the biggest of diehards. Lennon's gospel, on the other hand, is written into even the basest of his reissues.

Reviews of the albums themselves should, hopefully, come soon.

That Damn Stripe

2011-06-20T00:27:00.000-04:00

Ever the 2009 remastering of The Beatles catalog, some of the former band members (or their estates) have made efforts to remaster their solo material. What's odd about this is not that it is happening. In my view, the 2009 reissue garnered enough goodwill (and rekindled enough nostalgia) in people that they're more likely to continue to buy and rebuy, and they'll arguably be that much more willing to believe whatever revisionist history is written about any one of the four.

No, what I find odd is how they are being released. Each of the ex-Beatles worked with different labels during their solo careers, and so each of the remastering efforts are their own little projects. Lennon's discography was handled with help from EMI, and came out all at once. McCartney, on the other hand, is still working through that weird Starbucks music label, and he's releasing his work at a trickle. George Harrison's had a a few special packages made up, but his people haven't gone full steam ahead with anything major. As for Ringo, I could have sworn I read a press release about some All-Starr band remasters, but I can't find it. Also, don't forget the Apple Records remasters of all the non Beatles acts that recorded for the label.

And yet, while each of these are individual projects, they have a sense of commonality about them. For one, most of them are being handled in part by the Abbey Road team that did the 2009 Beatles remaster. Since could be hired numerous times over, this makes some sense. But consider the album covers for all these remasters. Here's Sgt. Pepper:

Notice the vertical stripe on the left side of the cover. Now here's a Lennon remaster:

Same stripe, different text. And the cover to Band on the Run?

Again, the same stripe with its own text and color. And lastly, those Apple Records remasters look like this:

If you lined up all these CD's on a book shelf, or laid them out together on the table, they'd look as if they're part of one giant set. But they're not, and I haven't found anything that suggests this is anything more than Lennon and McCartney's camps deciding to stay in line with the style chosen to represent their old band. (I think the biggest proof that this is the case is that the stripes aren't all the same size). Coincidence or not, I think it's a good idea, and if George and Ringo do wind up with remasters, it will be interesting to see if they follow suit.

Sex and the City

2011-05-29T14:11:00.002-04:00

Sex and the City has become an unspeakable name among guys. You can't mention it, watch it, and especially not like it. You Man Card is immediately taken away, no questions asked. I felt this way about the show for years, because without every seeing it, I came to loathe it. I knew many other fellows who felt this way, all for the same reason. None of us cared that there existed a show that showed women making a living and craving sex. My generation was raised in an environment which encouraged the talents of boys and girls, and most of us got the message.

No, what made us hate the show was the message it was conveying as seen in the actions of the young women who watched it. When the show was airing, it looked like they walked away from it thinking that life not merely can, but should involve drinking expensive cocktails, buying insanely expensive shoes, and being pampered by themselves and the men they choose to have in their lives. Guys felt threatened, not because of the idea that their girlfriends or wives might out earn them, but because they feared they would never find a wife or girlfriend without being part of the Manhattan-esque upper crust of society.

At this point, you can take my Man Card away. I have watched the show extensively lately, with my fiancee. However, I don't really care if anyone wants it, because I'm glad to have seen it. Sex and the City isn't the best show I have ever seen, but it isn't at all the one it was made out to be.

Okay, it is somewhat the show it was made out to be. But the messages that people are taking from the it are only half the story. You can't bring up how the characters knock back Appletinis and bash men without pointing out that the women aren't portrayed as saints. Some of the things they say are meant to be enlightening, but others are meant to show that they are just as bad as the fellas, either in the same way, or in an equal but opposite fashion. On a whole, its worldview finds the behaviours of both men and women to be frustrating. The gender, and personalities of the main cast are important, I think. It makes us accept the fact that women are here to roll with the boys, and the dynamics of society are now changing. But rather than just stating this as fact, it wants men and women to take a good, hard look at this changing world, and figure out how to live in it, before our own bad tendencies drive us to ruin. The show has always been pitched to me as antagonistic, but I don't see it here. It's about as cooperative a take on modern dating as anything I have read or seen.

I also find that the show's glorification of shopping is exaggerated. I'm not sure if the show changes greatly over the years, but at the very least, the early seasons go to great lengths to show how Sarah Jessica Parker's character can't go buy shoes without maxing out credit cards. Of course, they'll still show her spending again some episodes later, but I wouldn't say that this means the show is ignoring its actions. How many times have you seen a sitcom in which an adult loses a bet, and forks over wads of cash to the child they wagered against. Do we expect the show to remember this next episode? Comedies tend to play fast and loose, and it doesn't stop them from making a point one moment, and moving on to another. Reasonable men and women should be able to watch Sex and the City and understand that the show isn't glorifying spending beyond your means.

Maybe that's the problem, then. The show is a work a fiction, but perhaps not everyone takes it as one. The setting is real, the stereotypes are familiar, and so people take it that this is some sort of accurate depiction of Manhattan socialites. I don't think it is, and even if that were the case, the ratio of Manhattanites to the rest of the nation's population is tiny. That isn't our world, and I don't think the show assumes that it is, or that it will be. It's a good setting for the show's premise and its flavor of humor, and I think it works well. Unfortunately, there is only so much the show can do with a viewer who can't separate fact from fiction, or who cherry pick all the fun things in the show while ignoring the struggles. Sex and the City tries to hold a mirror up to its characters, to get them to change for the better, but I feel it has become warped by an audience who can't help but look into the mirror and admire themselves.

Radiant Historia

2011-05-29T13:37:00.000-04:00

My review of Radiant Historia is up. Looking back, I had a ton of fun with it, but I wish it finished stronger. When the going was good, and the game fired on all cylinders, it was an astounding experience. Everything it did just felt right. I never questioned the story, the pacing, or the locations. It all made sense in its own way.

Yet, as I mention in the review, the late game segments become a huge drag. This was bothersome not only because it lowers the game's overall quality, but also because it affected my review. I spent a lot of time trying to figure out why the game changed so suddenly, but no answer was satisfactory. The problem, in retrospect, was that I was analyzing the game in a bubble. I assumed that every decision, good or bad, was an intentional effort on the part of the developers.

My troubles came to an end after reading a few other amateur reviews, one of which pointed out how the game was affected by its low budget. There was the answer, or at least part of it. Budget, like so many other outside factors, can have a huge impact on how a game turns out, yet the thought never crossed my mind. I felt embarrassed, and frustrated, that such a simple explanation went over my head. It was a stark reminder of how much further I have to go as a critic.

It also reminded me of just how much the press has influenced my train of thought. On a podcast, I once talked about "developer intent", the idea that developers have a fondness of using interviews to inform gamers of what their game is all about. This can be done during the preview phase, but is also crops up after the game is out, at which point it becomes a defense of their work. I don't have a problem with this practice in principle. In fact, it should probably be encouraged, so that gamers have a better idea of what they might be getting into whenever they pick up a game. But sometimes, a developer's words serve to (intentionally?) warp reality. There's a difference between telling your audience what you are trying/tried to do, and making a qualitative statement about your product when it is out for all to judge.

I have two examples of what I'm thinking of. The first is Bioware. They consistently talk up the importance of storytelling in games, to the point where some remarks state that a game can't be good with a story. It's a bullshit premise, because we have plenty of evidence of classic games with little to no story. It's made slightly bullshittier when you consider that Bioware has relied on the same core plot for years, and finally, people are starting to take notice. Unfortunately, not quite enough people are noticing, so the developer can continue to parrot the same belief in good storytelling, and gamers continue to believe that Bioware are the ones responsible for said quality storytelling. It's a situation in which they can say one thing, and do another, and no one really gives a damn.

The second example is Harmonix. Ever since they split from Activision to work on Rock Band, they've been hell bent on fulfilling their specific vision of what music games should be like. This vision, in turn, led to some of my biggest gripes with the early iterations of Rock Band. The lack of control over your avatar, its relatively party-unfriendly design, and its disdain for single-player modes were atrocious. I never saw anything resembling an admittance from Harmonix about these flaws. On the contrary, they felt that they were good, necessary enhancements, and that we should like it this way. Plenty of their fans nodded their heads in agreement, but I couldn't. I don't care if developers make mistakes sometimes, but I appreciate when they can at least identify them. Harmonix instead chose to follow their path to its logical conclusion the result of which was Rock Band 3 dropping to $20 faster than games with half its notariety, and with the franchise dropping off the face of the earth at roughly the same time as the dreaded Guitar Hero. I'm not happy to see that happen, but I wonder if it could have fared better if the team (and the players) were a bit more honest with themselves about what the series needed to stay relevant.

To bring this back to Radiant Historia, when I read enough interviews with such bullheaded declarations, I start to forget that game development is so much more than a single talking head with a plan. And if things go great, or horribly, the reasons are going to extend far beyond that one person and that one plan. I know that people like auteur driven entertainment, but it isn't conducive to strong criticism. An important lesson learned, and one I hope not to forget.

Thoughts - 5/12/11

2011-05-12T08:34:00.000-04:00

Apple's dominance in the market is due in part by their products, but I have to say, it's hard to argue that isn't also due to the terrible synergy between their practices and their user base. Apple doesn't want to talk about their inner workings? No problem; their users aren't interested in knowing. They managed to make a faulty product? Fire the bastards behind it, because every Tom, Dick and Harry wants top shelf gizmos, and in their minds, clearly those developers weren't top shelf enough. Apple is, in most ways, no better or worse than any other massive tech company, but they can get away with it all with much fewer stains on their reputation, and in some cases, their fans become so defensive that they're willing to go on the offensive in their efforts to trash other companies.

I've been reading about the shutdown of iFlow Reader, the iOS ebook reader app who claims that the new rules in place for in app purchases have destroyed their business model. A lot of the responses from iOS users have been something along the lines of "They signed the contract, so they knew what they were getting into." This is the kind of ignorance that allows Apple to dick around in ways that Google or Microsoft would be slammed for. The iFlow folks certainly agreed to a set of rules when they first started; the problem is those rules are changing in such a way that pretty much every option I've seen these people recommend, are in fact going to be outlawed by Apple.

And those same new rules are going to affect google and Amazon in a short amount of time. All of this information is clear as day in many of the news pieces covering the shutdown, which of course means that people are willing to simply scream at Apple detractors without even bothering to read. Par for the course on the Internet, but it hurts to see it happen to a company who at the very least seemed to have a belief behind the app they were making. If I had to make a criticism against them, I would ask them whether they had to make their business rely on the sale of ebooks, and if they had to resort to an Adobe DRM scheme for said books. Looking at the current state of ebook sales, neither of those seem like good ideas for a small company. Still, that doesn't change the fact that Apple's new rules for ebook sales allow them to act as an extra middleman on top of the middlemen like iFlow, Amazon or Google, and I wouldn't be surprised if even a few tweaks to iFlow's business model wouldn't be enough to save them.

I don't expect any rapid change, but I wonder how long they can keep this increasing stranglehold without someone deciding it's worth looking into. Or maybe I shouldn't - if Apple were slammed with an antitrust case, the resulting apologist editorials might make me sick.

Meet the Mets?

2011-04-06T08:54:00.000-04:00

I know, I know - far too early in the season to make any judgements. Still, last night's win against the Phillies, in Philly? That felt good. Real good.

It had all the hallmarks of a feel good win. They beat the stuffing out of our rivals. in their stadium. And we did so by beating one of their "ace" pitchers, who at one point called the Mets "choke artists", which is one of the few things athletes tend not to gravitate towards during trash talk. Hell, They didn't just beat him - they took him out after less than three innings.

Again, none of this is a portent for the full season. But last night, in addition to the Marlins series, showed a much more fiery, much more aggressive Mets club. They're trying to steal, they're fighting at the plate, and for the most part, playing decent defense. Terry Collins has done something to remind these players of who they are, and what they can do, and it just feels good to see guys like David Wright hit the ball like he should, and to see someone like Chris Young or Willie Harris remind the league of how good they can be.

The Phillies (as well as their little minions on the Marlins) have been trash talking the Mets for so long, while the rest of the league has had no qualms with letting them be the butt of every joke. That's what pushed this latest win over the top. It won't silence anyone - we need at least a sweep for that- but it still looked amazing to me.

Funimation Channel

2011-04-03T18:20:00.000-04:00

So I've been spending a week or so housesitting, at a place which has Verizon Fios cable, and thus gets the Funimation Channel. I've had it on for several chunks of the weekend, and the results haven't been convincing.

Now to be fair, I recognize that this is the very definition of a deep cable channel. In that regard, I think the station has some decent looking promotional ads and bumpers. However, they aren't used very well to inform you of what programming the channel has. Over the course of the two days, I saw the ads for Phantom and Oh Edo Rocket multiple times. In contrast, I saw exactly two ads for Hetalia, and zero for Sengoku Basara. If you want to know just what Funimation shows are on the station, you're not going to know without watching it for a full twelve or so hours. That's a bit problematic in my eyes.

Furthermore, the channel doesn't seem to have any themed programming blocks (or, if it does, they again aren't well promoted). It'd be easier if there were action or comedy blocks of some sort.

I'm also not sure why there was such an odd frequency of reruns. The episodes of Kenichi and Tsubasa showing on Saturday morning were the exact same ones showing on Sunday morning. It isn't uncommon for the day's episodes for a show to be repeated at night as an encore, but tow do so over the course of two days? It doesn't make sense. You'd think the shows would advance, especially considering that another show, Soul Eater, didn't repeat itself in the afternoon.

What I'm trying to figure out is how much Funimation cares about this effort. What they have made is undeniably slick, and yet the programming makes it look as if someone just threw shows on there so there would be something to show. If you wanted to use the Channel to actually watch a show through its entirety, I couldn't guess how long it would take you. I get the impression that Funi doesn't want fans to use it as a companion to DVD's and streaming. But if that is the case, then what the hell is the point? Near as I can tell, the company is still going strong, but they might not want to repeat the mistakes of ADV, which fucked around so much with The Anime Channel. Funimation Channel should be a great way to let people eat up the more stale shows, but right now, it doesn't make it easy.

MLB At Bat '11

2011-04-01T12:56:00.001-04:00

Another Year, another season of baseball. That means it is time for MLB At Bat, the handiest way to listen to live games.

I'll admit, by the end of last season I pretty much stopped using the app, partly because the Mets were awful, and partly because the both the app itself and my home internet connetion had troubles staying connected. This year, it seems that some work was done to help alleviate this problem. The connection has dropped occasionally, but each time the app managed to reestablish it on its own, within just a few seconds.

At Bat has a few new features as well. There is one feature which apparently can be used at ballparks, though I'm not sure what it does. It also doles out the occasional free video feed from mlb.tv.

In regards to video, technically this version of At Bat is improved, but it still lags behind the version made for iOS devices, which have full mlb.tv integration. I understand that the popularity of iOS means that it will be the premiere platform, but Android handsets have made huge strides since last spring, both in features and in sheer numbers. If the NFL and Verizon can whip up a decent Android app for free, then I hope that MLB is able to sneak in some more goodies during the season.

Overall, I'm happy with the improvements made, and I've already used the app more per day than I did last year. With some luck, we may get more updates as the season goes on.

Now let's go Mets!

NFL Lockout

2011-03-13T14:16:00.000-04:00

I became interested in baseball some time around 1996, meaning that as a fan, I am entirely a product of the post strike League. As a result, there were times when I struggled to understand why fans much older than me expressed such negative emotions when thinking about the strike, and I especially couldn't believe that it would sour some people on baseball entirely. As I grew older, I began to understand them a little more, at least on principle. Now, I know exactly how they feel. I'm not sure what will happen with the current NFL lockout fiasco, but it has already question whether I'll come back to the game.

The gut reaction among many is that there is no reason why a bunch of millionaires can't figure out how to share their millions (actually billions) at a time when many people's financial outlooks are grim. I understand this sentiment, and agree with it to a certain extent, though I think it is important to remember that not every player is making massive, multi-million dollar wages.

Personally, my gut anger stems from the same issue which bothered me all last season - that the NFL is devious and hypocritical in regards to its treatment of concussions and their concern for overall player health. There are a lot of measures the League could be taking to better protect players, and most of them are things which still aren't in effect. Not to mention that no matter how much marketing money they spend to promote their initiative, it is impossible to ignore just how much big hits are celebrated by commentators and fans (keep in mind that those commentators tend to tow the party line for the League, in case of any future coaching positions). I used to scoff at anyone who considered football to be a bloodsport, but it is getting harder to ignore not only how violent it is, but just how much that violence is celebrated. How many other sports leave former players with such a strong potential to be a husk of a body? The first one to come to my mind is boxing, and it too has been the subject of huge controversy over the decades. But unlike boxing, football is the nation's most popular sport. Any calls for real change will be drowned out by cheering spectators.

Deep down inside, the NFL knows that people like the carnage. They know that the players have been trained to deliver it with greater and greater force over the years. They've gone down this path, and they know there's no chance of trying to reverse it. Players will get more and more protective gear, and rather than keeping them safe, it'll convince them that they can get away with more powerful hits. We have already seen many old players who, regardless of the money they made, are in shambles thanks to all the hits and concussions they suffered. We already know the League never gave two shits about their retirement, and I shudder to think as to how some of today's current stars might look in thirty years. Even with millions of dollars (which, again, they don't all have), there's only so much medicine can do to help a person with a broken body.

But it isn't just the players who are treated like garbage. Fans too have been slowly and systematically screwed over by the NFL. The blackout rules exist to try and get people to go to the stadium if they want to see the game. At the same time that ticket prices continue to rise, and homefield advantage dissolves as stadiums are instead filled with people who treat a football game as a place to be seen. If your team isn't blacked out, you might be able to see them on TV, but if all you have is basic cable, who knows what you'll get. Thanks to the League's TV deals, someone like me, just a 25 minute drive from the DC metro, can't be certain that the Redskins will be on TV (and as a Giants fan, I gave up on seeing the game every week). Of course, you could spring for a pricey NFL package, which can (and probably will) get even pricier over time. Or you could go to the bar, where you can't hear yourself think, let alone hear any of the calls on the field. With all of today's wonderful technology, I think it is actually getting harder to watch football. The League certainly wants my time money, but they also want to demand how I give it to them.

So if everyone is being treated like shit, when can we expect the tables to turn? I have no idea. Because despite everything the NFL has done, they still have everyone feeding out of their hand. They could screw over the next season royally, and people will still come back. Baseball didn't die from its strike, and I imagine that football will take little, if any, damage. And on top of all of this, I haven't forgotten that if the sport does go away, a lot more people are going to be jobless.

It really has become a fucking circus. I don't look forward to the end result.

To me, the lockout says so many things, not just about football, but the current cultural climate in general.

In Media Res

2011-03-04T09:46:00.001-05:00

(Note - this post was inspired by the latest anime news network podcast, and the responses it garnered in the ANN forums. Apologies on the lack of quality.)

In Media Res is a storytelling technique as old as storytelling itself. Such longetivity suggests that it is also an effective technique, which I would agree with. It also means that it can and will be used improperly.

I'm no literary scholar, but in my experience, the best stories which start In Media Res are the ones which aren't largely hindered by it. To put it another way, you shouldn't be confused as to what is happening now because you're missing out on events that happened before. A little bit of explanation, and you should be on your way. Later on, the story can fill in some of the gaps, to add more weight or depth to a character or conflict, but in the meantime it should still stand on its own two feet. If you ever read an excerpt from the Iliad or The Aenid back in high school, your textbook probably spent a few sentences explaining what you missed out on. With that alone, you can gleam a hell of a lot from the passages you're actually given to read. That, to me, is good use of In Media Res.

As for more modern examples, there are quite a few, but for the sake of this post's main topic I'm actually going to use a video game - Dragon Quest 8. When the game begins, the hero and his companion are escorting a goblin in a horse drawn cart. We quickly learn that the goblin is a king, and the horse his daughter, and that the hero is trying to help lift the curse which was placed on the two by a court jester in possession of a magic staff. It isn't until much later in the game that we discover how the curse was placed on them, or how the jester turned evil, but until that point, these details don't matter. The information we are given is more than enough to justify the quest, and the back story is filled in only after we've been with the characters long enough for those details to have any sort of impact. Dragon Quest 8 isn't a complex story, but in terms of using In Media Res, we don't lose anything by starting in the middle, and the flashbacks to the past actually sweeten the pot.

In contrast, I consider it bad use of the technique when the reader/viewer is ignorant of critical information as a result of starting in the middle. There will be references to events, characters, terminologies, or important events which the viewer has no clue about, even though they need to in order to comprehend the story. The viewer ends up having to wait for the flashbacks and exposition to kick in in order to piece it all together. A entire rereading/viewing may even be in order.

I'm not going to say that this latter method has no merit, but it isn't easy to do well. There's a difference between sprinkling in a little mystery to keep us on edge, and creating something purposefully obtuse. Unfortunately, this method is used extensively in anime (and anime inspired games), and while the fans on a whole have no problem with it, I think it leads to shitty storytelling more often than not. I know it is tacky to slam others, but I think that for a lot of anime fans, the appeal lies in the fact that they believe that if a show takes them a lot of time to decipher, then it must be complex and deep, and that their ability to decode it is an indicator of their intelligence. In other words, it is more proof that Western anime fandom is fuelled by ego more than anything. These people don't seem to comprehend the possibility that the confusion is the result of bad writing and plotting.

But allow me to turn away from attacks and focus on why I prefer the other, more clearer method of In Media Res. I don't think you can really analyze and appreciate the depth of a story until you understand, at the most basic level, what it is about. In order to really appreciate a dialogue exchange, you need to know why it is taking place. In order to be shocked at a character's actions, you need to know something about them. There's this pervading sensibility among otaku that a story is only good if you have to put it together like a puzzle. I think it is this same sensibility which causes them to assume that anyone who says they "simply want to be entertained" by media is a plebe looking for mindless distraction. To use another tired example (sorry), Shakespeare's plays aren't terribly confusing, but watching one of his plays being performed by skilled actors is still dammed entertaining, because they generate so much excitement and emotion. That's still entertainment, and it is far from mindless.

I guess, for me, there's a difference between a work that rewards you for paying attention, and one which plays games and rewards me for putting up with it. I like when a work makes me think, but a good one will make me want to think, because I am already interested in what I see, and want to dig deeper. It shouldn't make me have to think because that's the only way I'll get anything out of it. I don't need my ego stroked, nor do I want to stroke the author's.

TL:DR - I wish fucking anime fans would stop throwing around literary devices to excuse bad shows, and actually ponder whether the show used any of them effectively.

Gundam

2011-01-17T17:19:00.001-05:00

I have been trying to like Gundam for years. It hasn't been easy. There are many reasons why Gundam is legendary, but those reasons aren't inherent traits of the franchise. It can be just reliably schlocky as any other sci fi anime, perhaps moreso than fans care to admit. Enjoying Gundam requires some work, not so much in finding it (DVD's are easy enough to locate online), but in parsing through choppy dialogue, discovering crucial supplementary material, and in some cases, accepting some plain old bullshit in order to appreciate the good stuff. It isn't always easy, or acceptable, but for some reason, my mind has been twisted into believing that it is worthwhile.

Over the next few weeks (months?), I'll be posting all sorts of musings about Gundam, as I try to watch not one, but three different series, and offer my take on them all.

Chicago

2010-11-08T09:00:00.000-05:00

Chicago is one of the most commercially successful bands in modern American music, one that has been running continuously in some form or another for decades. But the Chicago of today (of the last thirty plus years, really) is nothing like the group in its original incarnation. The band that eventually became known for love ballads and Lite FM radio began in the late 60's by a bunch of young hippies eager to play experimental, politically charged jazz/rock fusion.

What, then, caused their eventual shift in tone? There are many factors, but the catalyst was the loss of what is arguably the heart and soul of the band, Guitarist Terry Kath. Kath was incredibly skilled with his instrument, drawing praise from even the likes of Jimi Hendrix. His experimental performances and soulful voice dominated the band's earliest albums. Unfortunately, he was also a lover of firearms and drugs, which lead to him accidentally shooting himself in the head in the late 1970's. The band would try to move on, and would eventually land even greater success than they had in Kath's lifetime, but musically and artistically, they would never be the same again.

Most Chicago fans I have read agree that this era of "Classic Chicago" ends with Kath's death, but many would argue that the quality of their output went downhill sometime earlier. How much earlier varies from person to person. For some, Chicago is worth listening to through their first seven records. Others stop after five. Even fewer like only their first two, and I've even seen purists who only care about their debut release.

I too prefer the early albums, though I haven’t listened to enough of them to say where my cutoff point is (I’m going to guess it won’t go past their 10th album). At the same time, I can appreciate some of their later pop hits, if only as a guilty pleasure used sparingly.

Here are a few fun facts for anyone interested in the band’s discography:

- One of Chicago’s early band names was “Chicago Transit Authority”, which they had to shorten once the real CTA told them to do so. However, they managed to get their first album out before the name change. If you ever see an blue/yellow album cover with the title “Chicago Transit Authority”, know that it isn’t another band, or a weird aberration. It’s the band’s first record, and one of the few that I consider a must own.

- The band's releases are organized using a loose numbering system. Both their original works and compliations fall under this system, and there have been quite a few Greatest Hits works over the years. This is why you can walk into a music store and see a CD labeled Chicago 30.

Lots of anime

2010-10-28T09:33:00.000-04:00

Yes, lots of anime out or coming out. I'm currently watching FMA Brotherhood Vol. 2, FMA Classic, and Eden of the East. The Trigun boxset is out now, the second (and final) set of FMA Classic will be too, and there's still some Gundam product I need to scoop up before it's too late. Guess it's a good time to be a fan.

Addendum to last post

2010-10-06T11:14:00.000-04:00

The Lennon remaster CD's have a specific URL on the back - johnlennon.com/70. That's a sign that you aren't supposed to just go to the official site, but to a specfic part of the site specifically made for the release. Here's what I found after following the URL:

1) The site isn't finished yet.
2) You won't be able to access it at all without having bought one of the bigger box sets or the deluxe edition of the new Greatest Hits disc.

So if you're one to simply buy a few of the albums, the site becomes not an extra level of value, but a paywall, and that link becomes not supplemental, but advertising. The cynicism only adds up.

John Lennon Remasters

2010-10-05T23:10:00.001-04:00

Slightly more than a year ago, the Beatles album remasters were released. At the time, I felt like I did as a child during Christmas time, actively counting down the days until launch (when I remembered to do so, of course). It was a happy time, but deep down I knew there was a more cynical, capitalist angle to the event. It reminded us that no other band can quite get away as easily with charging premium prices for their material, nor can any other band quite dictate how it will be presented. It is a bit maddening to know that you can't buy the mono remasters as single albums, and even more maddening to know that the Mono box set costs more money for less music. There's no point in asking why any of this is the case. Paul McCartney will Force choke you and answer "Fuck you, that's why" (I say this lovingly). The fact that I was missing about half their discography was reason enough to plunk down, but when I see cranky old timers bitch about having to (or at least being asked to) constantly rebuy old music, I understand where they're coming from.

I can say, however, that my cynicism shield only exists for my favorite band of all time. I know this because I can't muster it for the band member's solo works. This week will mark the 70th birthday of John Lennon, and to celebrate the event, his entire catalog of solo work has been given the same remastering treatment that was used for the Beatles, right down to using the same alternating black/white album spines, and a giant, expensive boxset. I went out and immediately bought two of the records, but I have no strong interest beyond that.

But it's more than a lack of interest. I really feel that heavy air of cynicism around these remasters. This article on the Guardian spells it out perfectly. In short, much of the merchandising and branding of the man runs contrary to what he believed in, or at least, what we tell ourselves he believed in. Additionally, the man was not a saint, and his post Beatles output often fell flat. I've seen some of this material get ripped on with a ferocity that no other rock legend tends to receive, even for their worst work. Solo Lennon can be shitty, just like shitty solo McCartney can be.

What does it mean, then, that there's an entire box set of this thoroughly uneven work? It might mean that some revisionist cobbled up liner note material that tries to put the album Rock 'N Roll in the same Pantheon as Plastic Ono Band (though maybe it isn't so kind?)

What does it mean that there is a new greatest hits CD made for this remastering project? For one, it certainly means that Lennon's solo work isn't considered as sacred as the Beatles catalog, which will probably never see another compilation CD ever again. More importantly, there's already a fantastic hits disc which they could have worked with. The fact that it was left behind shows a greater concern for marketing than on making a definitive compilation.

And hey, there's some other component of the release - a box set compilation, containing CD's that organize the material based on themes, or some vague logic like that. Again, I see this as a lack of confidence. Not many fans will want all the albums, but maybe they want a decent chunk. But maybe that means that even a selection of the full albums isn't quite enough...

What I'm taking away from all of this is reinforcement of a growing feeling of mine, that the public at large has an odd dual relationship with John Lennon. We revere him at the same time we consider him human. We praise his great work with more gusto than we point out his failures. We try to make positives out of the fact that he was frequently an asshole. Maybe people are simply trying to hold on thee ideal they have formed in their minds, since Lennon isn't here to personally reshape their opinions. I think most of us know that we continue to be intrigued by the man at the same time that he frustrates us. Perhaps that alone ensures his infamy.

Look forward to some album reviews, hopefully.

Perl

2010-10-04T23:19:00.003-04:00

I've spent some time at work finally learning Perl. When I first looked at the language back in college, I was turned off immediately. Now I understand what the problem was, and it is the same reason why the language has such a strong following. Perl's basic features and syntax are safe and straightforward. A Java programmer can look at it and have a decent idea as to what's going on. But Perl is also incredibly flexible. If you want to do something, you can probably do it several different ways. You can make a Perl program easy to read, or fast, or compact - whatever your tastes are as a programmer, the language will accommodate. This is what makes it so well loved, but it can also make it difficult to learn without the proper materials.

I also think there's another, more subtle psychological element to the way Perl works. To me, it strikes a happy middle ground between the various schools of thought about how a language should behave. A few days after writing that last sentence, I came across a Perl book containing the closest thing the language has to a motto: "Simple things should be simple, difficult things should be possible".

I guess I wasn't that far off. I think that is a great way to explain Perl. There is an incredible amount of different ways to use the language, but you don't have to use any of them if you don't want, or more likely, don't need to. And if you want to stick with the basics, there's no penalty. It's refreshing to see a programming language that isn't trying to shove a religion-like belief system down your throat. It can be frustrating to see object oriented languages which are so obsessed with making everything into a class that the simple act of opening a file requires six import statements and a method call that looks like

We.Don't.Want.You.To.Get.Any.Work.Done.FileReader.FileBuffer.LayeredBuffer.LayeredNachos.OpenStream(AndYouThoughtTheArgumentListWouldBeSmall);

On the other hand, there are a lot of small, fast functional languages that decide that you need a million data types, each of which uses every brace and bracket on the keyboard for different results. Apparently, it isn't enough to have arrays. You also need lists (also nice), tuples (wtf?), and god knows what else. And if you ever read the documentation for these things, they make it sound as if every exception and difference makes perfect sense. Back in college, my friend Joe and I were frustrated with the fact that every time we asked what a certain concept was in our Hardware Engineering course, the answer was always "oh, it's just a 4-to-1 Mux", as if either of us knew what the hell that was at the time. That's what these "whizbang" little languages remind me of (though to be honest, we should have known what a multiplexer was back then).

There's another great quote from the Perl book, paraphrased here - "you can do just about anything you need with a hash". Amen to that.

PS - the crack at OO Languages above is more due to my time with .NET languages. Say what you will about Java, but it lets you get to core classes very quickly.

anime

2010-09-23T22:44:00.001-04:00

Today I bought Volume 2 of Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. Apparently, of the three Best Buys in my area, only one sells enough anime to stock the show in Blu Ray. That's kind of sad, but one store is better than none.

When I got home, I looked up the show's episode count, and did some quick math. At the rate that Funimation is going right now, they can release all of Brotherhood in exactly five volumes. At 44 bucks each on Blu Ray, that's.... ouch. That's a lot.

I've been going back and forth on whether I should keep buying the show on BD. To be honest, it isn't so much the price that gets me. 13 episodes for that much dough is still cheaper than anime in the days of singles releases. I guess what bothers me is that so far, the show hasn't proven that it's worth watching in Hi Def. The fight scenes look gorgeous, but like with so many anime these days, there have been episodes where hardly anyone moves, and so the BD quality feels like a waste. Meanwhile there were a few stories in volume 1 which felt slow and unnecessary, despite the fact that the first fourteen episodes are already a compression of events in the original series. I know it gets better over time, but Fullmetal is one of the only surefire money makers right now, and I figured they'd be more willing to pull out the stops. I want to make this a "one episode per week" show, but that only seems to work with 13 episode series, where every single one has to count.

IE 9

2010-09-23T21:40:00.000-04:00

I tried the IE 9 beta out last night. I had trouble thinking of a way to describe it, so I will go with my original, awkward summary - it feels like Microsoft is approaching their consumer oriented web browser the same way they treat their professional products.

See, if you're just a normal computer user, MS doesn't really have to try and sell you on its wares. Chances are you're going to upgrade your computer right around the time that a new version of Windows comes out, in which case they've already got you. Businesses, on the other hand, are trickier. They're going to spend a hell of a lot more, and as a result, they're going to be much more hesitant to update their software on a regular basis. It is up to Microsoft to find ways to get them to do so anyway. They have a few methods, one of which is to make a product work on multiple OS's, but work best on only one. If you want all the new features (and chances are, at least one of them won't be useless), you either pony up, or take what you can get. Sooner or later, your OS of choice won't be supported at all, in which case you will have to move on whether you like it or not. Another classic tactic is to lay a ton of sheen and polish on the surface of a program, but leave the inner workings and menus exactly the same, leading to an aesthetic nightmare and, in some cases, a program that spends too much time with useless, sellable features that it fails to work on the issues which really need addressing.

These tactics pretty much sum up what MS has done with IE9. Take a look:

- It is tightly integrated into Windows 7, with all sorts of features which I haven't yet seen
- It will run on Vista, but without all the same features
- It won't run at all on XP
- The interface is brand new, minimal, and integrated into the look and feel of Aero. Meanwhile, the Internet Options menu is exactly the same as it has been since IE4 or so. Not only does it look old, but it makes you wonder - if IE keeps supporting all these new features on the web, then why are we still configuring a web browser the same way we did in the days of dial up?

MS is using IE to give users the double deuce. It is telling WinXP users that if they're pretty much screwed at this point, while Vista users are going to have to pay for spending money on the company's mistake.

Thank goodness for options.

Kindle reminds me of Kindling

2010-07-06T15:37:00.000-04:00

Android phones finally have a version of Amazon's Kindle app. I have been waiting for this for a long time now, though sadly if I hadn't unintentionally found it in the Marketplace last week, I probably still wouldn't know about it.

Now that it's out, the question is whether it is any good, and even still, if it is worth a download. The whole ebook thing never really excited me at first, mostly because they were always discussed in the context of expenseive e-readers, a device which I still consider to be unecessary. I know this comes from the guy who has spent the same amount of money on portable gaming consoles, but at least those are meant to run sophistacted pieces of software. Spending hundreds on a large reading device whose sole selling point is a special screen meant to emulate the look of paper is not, in my mind, quite the same. This was especially true to me after having finally seen a Kindle in the wild, and finding that magic "e ink" technology didn't look all that different than a regular old screen.

Of course, Amazon is smart enough to know that the real money comes not in selling their e-reader, but in getting people to buy their digital books. Which is why they have made a free Kindle app for as many devices as they can. In this context, ebooks start to become a lot more appealing. I still love the feel of a real book, and I enjoy the act of going to the library, but library selections can vary wildly based on your location, and time constraints keep me from doing so as frequently as I would like. At the very least, a Kindle app could serve as a reader program for the hundreds of free classics available online.

This is exactly what I set out to do, and this weekend, I gave the Android version of Kindle a spin. While it certainly isn't' the first reader program on the OS, and also not the first I have tried, I find it so far to be the best. The main screen is pleasant, and makes it easy to find your books (it updates itself whenever it is started, so you don't have to manually refresh). Reading the books themselves is also made intuitive. You tap the sides of the screen in order to change pages (which I suppose is true for all of the different versions of the App), and the responsiveness is perfect. You can also change the size of the text, which I find to have a powerful psychological component. One one hand, I like to zoom it out a bit, so the little cell phone screen contains about as much text as a real paperback. On the other, the default size breaks each page into bite sized chunks that are easy to stay focused on. There's also a silly feature which Amazon has branded as Whispersync - whenever you finish reading, the app uploads your place in the book, so that your spot is synced up on all Kindle fueled devices you own. While I'm glad to know I could switch between my phone and my PC, I don't see myself doing it.

And now for the most important question - is it actually easy to read on a phone screen, or any screen for that matter? Lots of people believe that this isn't the case, and I agree that I struggle to read any good piece of fiction on an LCD monitor (which is why I stopped bothering to use that site that emails you a book chapter every morning). However, cell phones these days have very excellent screens, and so the e-pages jump out at you, and do a good enough job at imitating a page. Furthermore, while phone screens aren't large, they tend to be oriented like an actual book, rather than the mostly widescreen monitors we tend to use on our PCs.

I don't see myself buying tons of ebooks, but so far, I'm glad to have the option.

Comic Timing

2010-06-27T17:55:00.000-04:00

I feel like I need to use this blog more for venting. It would probably do me a lot of good. After all, no one's really reading this, right? (hi Joe!) And even so, there are plenty of people with actual fame and notoriety that get away with writing any old crap by claiming "it's just a blog post!" Might as well get away with what I can.

I just wrote a review for the DS game Flower, Sun and Rain for videolamer. It is half critique, half rambling against the entertainment industries of the U.S. and Japan, but I don't think it ended up crossing the line. I have a habit of railing against the games industry when I should be writing about a single game, but FSR is a game by Suda51 and his studio Grasshopper Manufacture. These guys are notorious for making games with deeper commentaries on both game design and society, who have a habit of making these points in games which are themselves faulty in design.

It's the kind of conundrum that I feel like I see all the time these days; something comes out that is either bad, or just partially bad, and someone comes along to tell me that this badness is, in fact, intentional. This leads me to stand there and wonder whether they're being sincere, insecure, or so condition to embrace the modern perception of irony that their response is simply rote. With FSR, I came to the conclusion that there's an honest game somewhere inside, but I know that somewhere, someone is out there who would violently disagree. This doesn't bother me, but as one who strives for honest critiques, it makes me wonder if I'm giving Suda's games the same kind of pass that I yell at others for giving the things that I hate.

In case you're wondering, this all stems from the fact that I was this close to devoting a paragraph of the review in order to make fun of the band Muse. Luckily I punched out at the last minute and avoided this mistake. I'm trying to review a video game. I'm lucky to have anyone reading it in the first place. The last thing I need to do is drive them away by trying to impose my flippant observations on popular music onto them. It would be even worse to do so by pretending to make a clever comparison to the game. There are already too many games writers who make their body of work more about them than the games they cover; the last thing I want to do is make that situation worse.

So instead, I'll take that reference and write about it here. Muse kind of pisses me off. In my mind, they are the kind of band that is trying to get away with pulling off a variety of ideas that, in the year 2010, musicians should have a pretty fair grasp of how to pull off (and in some cases, the ideas are simply stupid, and they should know better than to use them). Yet they go ahead with it anyway, and their fans make plenty sure to give it all a pass. They're a fine example of why I struggle to get into a lot of modern bands, indie or otherwise; I can never tell who the fuck is being sincere, and who is simply lost and confused.

A good example of my frustrations can be found in "Uprising", the opening song of their latest album, "The Resistance". The song has this funky, fairly cheesy disco beat, with lyrics that tell everyone to rise up and fight against evil governments and corporate overlords. The overall tone and lyrical content makes me almost - almost - think that it is a satire on inexperienced, overly delusional people who rail against The Man without truly grasping what The Man is, or how best to stop Him. Yet the Internet has bred a generation of kids who easily eat this shit up, and the theme of the song is also in the name of the entire album. So the fans can tell me that it's meant as a joke - you can tell me anything on the Internet, if you really want - but I don't have to believe it. The fact that the band has been featured on the soundtracks of the Twilight films, which only know how to take themselves seriously, makes it apparent that at least someone in charge of marketing has deemed Muse as needing the serious angle. That's not really damming proof, but it's a bit more concrete than the words of anonymous fans.

But still, even if we were to buy the notion that Muse is cracking a joke, one more question remains; is it a good one? I don't think so. This gets back to another point I made in the FSR review - these days, an entertainer (or their fans) can simply state their intentions, and everyone behaves as if they succeeded in their goals just because they tried. There's still a matter of quality of execution, and in this regard, the Muse song fails. For comparison, look at most Dead Kennedys songs. You can tell that DK isn't interested in killing the poor, and you know that they aren't cops looking to abuse their power. Their lyrics discuss these topics because they're attempting to lash out at certain aspects of society, and this is made crystal clear by both the tone of the music and the vocal delivery. With Muse, I can't immediately tell what side they're trying to push, and if you think about it, the side the fans want you to believe - that this mega popular band, signed to a major label, is mocking the idea of resistance - is actually a more scary alternative than if they were dead serious in their overblown, out of touch protest. In either situation, good taste loses.

To go back to a previous statement, this shit frustrates me because there is no sincerity in it. There's none in the music, or the fan's reaction to it. A band like Muse exists solely to address the interests that gullible kids have been told to enjoy. I guess the only difference between them and pasts bands of this ilk is that arrested development has caused an army of twenty somethings to eat this up at an age when they should probably know better. But this can be a big problem, since these twenty somethings are so afraid to grow up, or even take a stand for what they think, that they muddy the waters of discussion by sewing doubt in the minds of anyone who dares think that the stuff they started getting into in college may not be timeless.

Muse Nation, take it from an ELO fan: like symphonic pop, symphonic rock isn't awesome by default. If you're not using the string section to enhance and improve the rock sound, then kindly get it out of the song. Don't fuck things up because you feel the need to insert some false sense of classiness into your favorite genre, and are too lazy to explore actual classical music.

Review - A Hard Day's Night

2010-05-27T18:54:00.001-04:00

Album: A Hard Day's Night
Release Date: July 10th, 1964

A Hard Day’s Night was momentous for several reasons. It was the first Beatles album without any cover songs, as well as the only one written entirely by Lennon and McCartney. It also served as the soundtrack for the band’s first feature film. That’s quite a lot of firsts for just their third album, and it becomes even more interesting when you figure out the proper historical context. A Hard Day’s Night, both the record and film, is said to represent the state of the band at the height of Beatlemania. This assertion is so strong that I believed it to be true before I ever read anyone who outright stated it. It became one of those givens of music culture.

The trouble is that the collective consciousness tends to ignore dates. I always thought that Beatlemania was the result of years of success, but A Hard Day’s Night was released a little over a year after Please Please Me. Beatlemania actually happened fast and early. What we don’t often hear is that pop music in the 60’s was not too different than it is today. It was based entirely on trends, with no act having a shelf life of much longer than a year, at least as performing musicians. After that, they might find opportunities in TV or film. The industry was generating personalities, and was perhaps more blatant about it than it is today. As the Pitchfork retrospective explains, the album’s response to this cynical outlook is it’s greatest achievement. The Beatles knew that they didn’t have to bow out gracefully if they could prove that they were still relevant. So they showed that they could write their material all on their own, and they made said material push boundaries that no one expected pop songs to try and bother with.

So far I’ve admittedly only recycle other, better observations on this record. Now for my own opinion on its quality. It’s one thing to say that the band tried to push the pop envelope, but did they actually succeed? And can a modern listener without much musical knowledge tell the difference? I think so, but it isn’t always easy. Some of the songs here still have that sock hop sound, with cutesy lyrics and harmonies, but legendary tracks like “A Hard Day’s Night” and “Can’t Buy Me Love” certainly feel more mature and exciting. The content is not about awkward teenagers, but perhaps somewhat older lovers, dealing with love and life and money and jobs. They may not sound edgy by modern standards, but they make it clear that the band was now about touch as much as it was look. Tracks like “If I Fell” and “And I Love Her” are slower and more mellow sounding. A Hard Day’s Night deals with all the same themes, but childish pining and fictional pain are replaced with something that sounds more like real love and loss. Compared to past works, there is definitely an evolution in sound and content, and if you still believe it sounds straightforward, you’re right. It’s just that the reasons for this are that The Beatles helped establish several decades worth of pop canon, starting somewhere around here.

Overall, I find A Hard Day’s Night to be something I have to listen to from start to finish. There are no tracks that I cherry pick, nor are there real stinkers. It is a thoroughly enjoyable event, from start to finish, and I tend to only bring it out every so often, so as not to burn out on it. Perhaps my favorite thing about the album is how it reminds me that pop music doesn’t have to be disposable; it is simply often made that way by design. When someone insults The Beatles for being a “pop band”, they’re gonna have to try harder.

The Prisoner - Recap

2010-05-25T13:19:00.001-04:00

So I never finished my Prisoner recaps. Sorry for that. At the very least, the last few episodes are wild and speculative enough that any interpretation I might won't add up to much. There are certain scenes and questions which cannot be answered, and they don't need to be either. Still, this post might have some analysis.

I do want to talk a bit more on my final thoughts on the show. It's been months since I finished the final episode, but I just rewatched a few with audio commentary on, and they provided some insight and observations which have helped improve my interest and appreciation of the show.

There are a lot of reasons to admire The Prisoner, and what I've really come to see is just how lucky we are to have something like it. It was different than most shows of its era, and difficult to write, film, and produce. The fact that it came out at all, let alone managed to be so good, is incredible.

Another point of merit is that the show's subject matter is easy to fuck up. Everyone loves referencing 1984 and Brave New World, and calling things they don't like "Orwellian", but it is easy to miss an important point of these classic books. Orwell and Huxley were against the terrible dystopias they created, but they also emphasized just how powerful they are. Neither novel's protagonist succeeds in the end, and in the case of Brave New World, the only person who really fights against society is someone from outside of it. I find that people seem to cling to stories like The Matrix, in which the heroes are pure and virtuous, being fully disconnected from the societal machine, and having little to no care for the poor "sheep" (or if concern does exist, it is so half assed as to be irrelevant). They like to believe that if they were in the story, they too would be free and enlightened. This, of course, is entirely bullshit. Orwell and Huxley knew that we're all part of society to some extent, and once you're a part of it, it is extremely difficult to break away. The answer, then, may not be to escape and destroy, but to prevent these nightmare scenarios from ever occurring. Most of the supposed "free thinkers" I am referring to are more like the Huxley's character Bernard. He has the ideas, and he thinks highly of himself for this, but he doesn't have the guts to act upon them. In the end, he's a flake who crumbles due to fear and jealousy.

The Prisoner, on the other hand, very much gets the point. For most of the show, we see Number Six find new and more clever ways to try and escape, and every one of them fails. He finally understands that the people behind The Village have influence far beyond it. There is no getting out; instead, all he can do is pretend to play along, while trying to fuck with them in any way he can. In the end, he wins the battle of the minds, but by the end of the final episode, it isn't clear that his efforts have done anything. The Village is destroyed, but there's no definitive proof that Six has escaped his captors for good. The cycle will continue, and escape is likely impossible.

I also found that, despite what you might expect, The Prisoner is friendly to the plight of its victims. Number Six is the most individual of anyone in The Village, and his plight is very much his own, but he isn't the only person who tries to escape or fight back. He often tries to enlist the aid of others who have seen through the lies (none of whom last very long), and those that have bought in to the system are not looked at as sheep ripe for collateral damage, but as people whom are worth saving. He has contempt for those that work towards keeping the prisoners at bay, but both he and the viewer can tell that the people are being trapped by very powerful mechanisms which a single person can't hope to break. In the end, Number Six very much wants to escape The Village, but he also wants to put a stop to it. This level of concern is rare, but it is important in that it shows that while The Village is the result of man's evils, it's success is caused by failings weaknesses of man which cannot simply be prevented.

This brings up an apparent contradiction - in the end, a single man does manage to defeat the system, at least temporarily. The key here is to understand that Number Six is more of an allegory for the human spirit, the fight for freedom, than he is a person that we can hope to perfectly emulate. Indeed, the only reason he succeeds at all is because he is able to learn from the failures of those who acted before him, and because The Village considers him so important that his rebellion is met with only mild punishment. Six is treated specially compared to everyone else, and this isn't because he is some special person. Rather, he is treated as such because he represents an ideal, one that is so powerful that they do not wish for it to spread. In most fiction of this nature, the viewer is tempted to see themselves in the hero, to believe that they too are special compared to the rest of humanity. That isn't the point of The Prisoner; we will never have the constitution or the lucky breaks that Number Six is gifted with. Yet he is someone we should all aspire to be like, because if enough people stand up and fight back, then we can cover our individual weaknesses and work together as a cohesive whole. I believe this interpretation works well with the ending, which shows that, alone, the ideal as man is only able to inflict temporary damage to the system. The only way to truly break it is for people to come together. This sense of inclusion is what makes The Prisoner so powerful and unique. It doesn't tell us to save ourselves and abandon the world, and it doesn't want us to hide behind a mask (which is why I still loathe the popularity of the V for Vendetta film adaptation). We must stand up and make our faces known, but we must do it together if we want to succeed.

A lot of people hated the ending to The Prisoner. Everybody wanted a proper reveal. Who is Number One? What does he want? How is he stopped? These are the questions viewers wanted answered, and McGoohan rejected them all because they were never the point. He wanted it to be an allegory on society, while everyone else wanted a traditional "good versus evil" yarn. If the show was leading up to a proper ending, with escape and victory, it probably would have built up to such an event, with clues and reveals being sprinkled into each episode. As it is, the show has little to no continuity between episodes, and no one can agree on an official ordering. It makes sense that viewers of the time were upset, but in the modern era we should know better. The Prisoner echoes many moderns shows like Lost and Battlestar Galactica, which fail to create a satisfying ending and often fall back to the "story as metaphor" explanation. The difference is that these shows spent several seasons previous behaving as if there is strong continuity and development within the plot, and that a resolution is forthcoming. The Prisoner was victim of audience expectations, but modern shows are victims of trying (and failing) to address those expectations. In my mind, they deserve far less sympathy. McGoohan had something he wanted to say. The writers on Lost simply fucked up.

And so it pains me to see that in the decades since, the TV critics who are supposedly concerned with the quality of modern programming continue to regard The Prisoner as a wacky footnote in the history of the medium. The truth is that it's themes, its tone, and its delivery are all far more powerful, interesting, and viewer friendly than most of today's failed serials. We compare it to so many other works as if they had anything in common, yet if we spent more time looking at what this show was trying to achieve, we'd see just how much different it really was. If we truly learned the right lessons from it, and improved upon its ideals, then I'm sure that TV storytelling would be worlds better than it is now. Like it's main character, the show was merely a dent in an ever moving machine.

The Hold Steady

2010-05-13T12:01:00.004-04:00

The Hold Steady are one of the great polarizers in modern music. Rather than trying their hand at some postmodern experimentation, they play straight up classic rock, inspired heavily by the sounds and lyrics of Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. It's a familiar, fun sound that has given them the infamous title of being the greatest bar band around, something to play while the drinks are flowing among friends. Naturally, such a sound is considered unworthy of any deep examination or critical acclaim. As the albums kept coming, and the band continued to play songs about teenagers in peril, music fans began to stop fighting over the band, and simply stepped onto one side of the line, knowing that this schtick was the only sound they knew how to make.

Being a fan of both classic rock and sincere music, I find myself being pro Hold Steady. They may not shake my musical world, but I find them to be a necessary comfort food in an age where modern music doesn't know what the hell it wants to be. Furthermore, the band is a fine example of how age of a song or act can affect our view of it. No one faults an old and rich Bruce for singing about hardships and youthful mistakes, so it seems silly to make this claim against The Hold Steady.

Be that as it may, there can be striking levels in quality in even such a straightforward theme. my first Hold Steady album, Boys and Girls in America, had a sound that was far more fun than sober. It was as if the band was saying "take a look at our youth today. Aren't they so crazy??!?", at the same time that you could envision the keyboardist slamming back a brew between furious solos. This is probably why Pitchfork media gave it such a favorable review - the hippest and coolest of the music indsutry seem to latch on to bands where you aren't quite whether they're looking at you with stern seriousness or a wink and a nod.

Meanwhile, time has gone on since "Boys and Girls", and while the band is still covering the same topics, their approach has definitely changed (I won't say evolved, exactly). Critics have described this as The Hold Steady sliding into a position as elder statesmen of modern rock, looking back at the trials and tribulations of youth while no longer being apart of it. At first, I thought this was a bizzare statement to make. The band's first major release was only back in 2004, meaning that singer Craig Finn has been in his thirties the entire time. In music years, it seems like he should have been an elder statesman all along. But we live in an age where everyone is growing up slower, and you can bet your ass that a 32 year old can still be found partying hard, or at most, is starting to grow out of that phase. Now that Finn is closer to 40, play time is definitely over. The fact that we didn't see The Hold Steady grow out of their twenties doesn't negate the fact that people of any age can change a lot in the span of six years. They may not have followed the traditional rock band narrative, but how much does that really mean? In any case, regardless of what labels the band has been stamped with, the songs themselves are all you need to see that they really have done some growing up (more on that in a future review).

In any case, this transformation of sorts has led to the usual results. Their last two records have met with increasingly lower grades from the hipster critics, all the while gaining more praise from mainstream outlets such as Rolling Stone. This is due to the fact that, depending on where your music tastes lie, the concept of "growing up" means either giving in to wild experimentation, or settling down. Personally, my own tastes are far too unpredictable for me to agree with either approach wholeheartedly, so I tend to judge each band's progress on a case by case basis. In regards to The Hold Steady, their newest album is out, and I think I'm ready to hold court.

Follow Up - MLB At Bat

2010-04-14T18:01:00.002-04:00

I've been able to use At Bat for a bit over a week now. My opinion of it is mostly the same. I can't really say how much more reliable the sound is on a Wifi connection, because the Wifi at the house has been flaking out a ton lately (plus the Droid just doesn't get a strong signal from it). I've had nights with completely uninterrupted sound, and others in which I've just quit listening instead of attempting to reconnect every inning. However, I'm quite positive that it isn't all due to problem on my end. There were a few instances where a game cut out, and I would open up the browser to make sure that websites still loaded. They did so without a hitch, making me believe the disconnects were due to problems with MLB's servers. Whatever the issue, I'd be happy if the game's reliably reconnected, but this only happens occasionally. The rest of the time, the program will simply hang unless you coax it into trying again.

Despite that, I was using At Bat to listen to at least one game a day from Monday to Sunday, and the majority of that time was probably disconnect free. In essence, this program turns your smartphone into an AM pocket radio, allowing to pretend that you're your dad for a night, sitting on the porch and tuning in before bedtime. That's really special to me, and if the disconnects would improve a bit more, I'll be in heaven.

With the Beatles

2010-04-14T13:04:00.004-04:00

Album: With the Beatles
Release Date: November 22 1963

No help on this review; I'm going it alone. I have always felt like With the Beatles is susceptible to getting lost in the shuffle. Released just four months after Please Please Me, it breaks down to eight original tunes and six covers, just like it's predecessor. As the second album, it doesn't celebrate any major "firsts". Even it's iconic album art is easily forgotten among several more iconic album covers that would succeed it. In short, it was a quick and dirty follow up meant to preserve the band's unparalleled success.

But you know what? I like it better than Please Please Me, by a long shot even. True, Please Please Me is more iconic, and there are individual songs on it that tend to stick in my head more strongly. But every time I fire up With the Beatles, I am reminded of how many great songs are on it.

Where do I start? First there are the covers, which are some of the band's most memorable. "Please Mister Postman", "Money", "Roll Over Beethoven", and "You Really Got a Hold on Me" are all present here, and as expected, the Beatles' takes on these standards are so good that they are often the only versions that people remember. Surprisingly, my favorite of the covers is "Till There was You", which is so obscure that people are likely to think it is a Lennon/McCartney original. The rendition is light and airy, a ray of sunshine that stands out amongst the band's output to this point, at least in terms of style.

Among the original songs, I'm not sure how, exactly, I want to describe them. There's nothing that matches "I Saw Her Standing There" or "Love Me Do" in terms of "smacks you in the face" quality, though the opening lines of "It Won't Be Long" are damn close. Yet overall, the songwriting feels more mature. The harmonies are more clever and interesting, and just four months later, it already sounds like the band is coming into their own. While I'm listening to them, the songs on With the Beatles hold my interest much more easily than those on Please Please Me, but once I'm done they tend to slip away. I'm not sure why this is the case, especially with tracks like "Hold Me Tight", which practically sums up the entire concept of sock hop dance hits for me.

If I had to take a stab at it, I'd say the problem with With the Beatles is one of magnitude. The first and final songs on Please Please Me are definitive in a way that nothing here really is, even if this is a stronger overall body of work. This in turn causes us to go back to Please Please Me with greater frequency, which is what really causes it to stick in our minds. Make no mistake though; With the Beatles has a stronger overall set of covers, and it gives us a solid glimpse into the future sound that the third album, A Hard Day's Night, would use to cement Beatlemania. You may not always remember how good it is, but that just makes it one of the more generous album's in the band's catalog, and it ensures that every re-listen is a treat.

MLB at Bat

2010-04-05T13:52:00.002-04:00

Blackouts are the most frustrating thing a sports fan can deal with. You move away from your favorite team (or live somewhere in the midwest where the team affiliations of neighboring states get flaky), yet you still want to follow them. You can't see them on TV, since (understandably) the local stations want to follow their own home teams. But you can't easily venture online, since the Powers That Be have determined that listening to streaming radio online doesn't grant you permission to hear the game, even if you're listening to the same advertisements as the local audience. If you're dealing with the NFL, it gets even worse, as even the team minutes away from your house may be blacked out if ticket sales are weak.

For better or for worse, some of the sports leagues have developed a solution - pay them money, and you can get different kinds of access to the entire league's content. This is problematic for two reasons. Firstly, you probably don't want access to the entire league, in which case you're always going to be paying for service you don't need. Second, said prices can be enormous depending on what you're after. Full season access to televised ball games? Better save your coins for that Triple Play package. And good luck making sure you get exactly what you need. My roomate got giddy over a supposedly sweet deal for NFL games on DirectTV, only to discover that there are at least two packages available, and the one he sprung for didn't grant games in HD or guarantee no blackouts. He haggled to get that version for free, but that's not the point.

As frustrating as this all is, I'll admit I'm willing to pony up a bit for a service. And thankfully (if you want to call it that), MLB has done better than most sports in creating different services. You can get TV access, online video and radio access, and now, in the era of smartphones, there exists a new program called MLB At Bat. Far as I can tell, it is one of the cheapest options out there. For a $15 flat fee, you can download an app for iPhone, Blackberry or Android that allows gives you live data of every MLB game, and even better, full radio broadcasts. If you're on iPhone, you can also get some video. It lasts all season and through the playoffs, and appears to have no blackouts.

No matter how annoying it may be to have to pay for this service, I'll admit that getting radio broadcasts of the Mets wherever I go for less a week's lunch budget is hardly the worst sacrifice. So I took the plunge and downloaded the Android version today.

So far, I'm liking it, but the season is long, and there are questions that still need answering. The best feature is the lack of one - there are no accounts to create, no signing in to be done. You just fire up the app and go. There's also a wealth of data at your fingertips. At Bat has all the info you'd expect from Yahoo! Sports or ESPN, including the box score, play by play breakdown, and analysis of every pitch. There are ways to get this info for free, but on a phone that lacks Flash and the like, being able to get it conveniently has its advantages over relying on apps that may not refresh correctly, or finding a browser page that will actually display.

Now about that audio... it lets you choose your radio station, if there's a choice, and the sound quality is crystal clear, or at least, as clear as it would be on AM radio. There's something about that AM sound, however, that makes baseball on the radio so charming, so I'm glad that everything sounds the way I like it. I have had problems with the connection already on Opening Day, though I have to test listening to it via Wi-Fi. On that note, I'll be curious to see how much data a single game uses up. I know I'm on an unlimited plan, but I'm still figuring out if these phone providers have some sort of hidden bandwidth cap (if it's five gigs, as I've heard it rumored, I'll be fine this month, but what of the future?)

Lastly, the Android version currently lacks gameday video. I don't actually need this feature, since baseball is the one sport that works perfectly well on the radio, but I can understand a bit of complaint on principle, since the feature exist for iPhone users paying just as much. Still, iPhone lacked it in its first year of the app, so I'm sure MLB will roll it out eventually.

Bottom line, At Bat is shaping up to be a solid program and a good value. As long as the sound quality and the streams stay strong, I'll be in heaven all season.

PS - Forgot to mention, there needs to be a better way to start/stop radio streaming. Currently you must go to audio, and hit a small stop button that doesn't easily recognize touch inputs, and looks more like a checkbox than a stop button. Something nice and big at the bottom of the app would be nice.

The Hendrix Remasters

2010-04-02T13:08:00.002-04:00

I knew about the Jimi Hendrix remastering project for a while now, but I didn't know they were out until a week or two after release. I guess I expected the same level of hoopla that the Beatles remasters received. The fact that I didn't find it means that either Hendrix's staying power is weaker than I thought, or I just didn't look hard enough for press material.

In any case, they're out, which means that I had to pick up a couple of the albums, as well as do the usual research to get better acquainted with Jimi.

Said research brought up back my typical feelings of excitement, confusion, and despair. Let's start with the confusion part. Like many classic rock acts, Hendrix's discography is more complicated than it needs to be. The only records to come out during his lifetime were the three albums he made with the Experience, and one live album made near the end of his life. However, he spent a boatload of time in the studio during '69 and '70, working on material for new, post-Experience albums. His untimely death meant that Jimi would never have control over how this music would be used, and sure enough, the people in charge of his recordings would mine this collection throughout the 70's (and even the 80's) to create a ridiculous amount of posthumous records. There have also been various legal battles throughout the years, as one group or another tried to gain control of the Hendrix estate.

Today, members of his family have created Experience Hendrix, who, as far as I can tell, have full control over all of Jimi's music, and who are most definitely in charge of these remasters.

Much like The Beatles CD releases from the 80's, these Hendrix remasters attempt to create a cohesive, standard collection of his studio recordings. This collection consists of the three Experience albums, as well as two posthumous releases. The first of these is First Rays of the Rising Sun, which was actually created over a decade ago, and is the family's attempt to create the album Jimi was working on before his death. These tracks were all released in some form on the first three posthumous albums created back in the 70's, but those are no longer recognized, with First taking their place in the Hendrix canon. The other is Valleys of Neptune, which is a brand new attempt at recreating and the releasing the material Jimi worked on in 1969, immediately after finishing up with the Experience. . All in all, the catalog is fairly neat these days, and since the remastering project is only five albums large, it isn't too pricey to collect.

Now for the excitement. For ten or eleven dollars (only slightly pricier than a modern music release), each remaster gives you a CD, a documentary DVD, a hefty booklet with a lot of great photos and lyrics, and a hefty cardboard digipak case to hold it in. It's a fairly nice package that arguably gives you more than any of the Beatles remasters, and for less money. Okay, so those albums also come with exactly the same stuff, but the documentaries are shorter and relegated to on disc Quicktime files.

In regards to the quality of the supplemental material, the booklet contains the usual cock sucking essay by a nostalgic music critic, but the lyrics and photos more than make up for the revisionist Hendrix history. The DVD, on the other hand, is great all around. A number of Jimi's associates take turns reminiscing about the recording of the album, and we get to go into the engineer's booth to take a listen to individual parts of each song, learning how they were recorded and mixed, giving you a glimpse into the creation process that few bands ever reveal. Some of the interview segments don't feel entirely honest or thorough, but these are still useful, since you can still learn a lot by what they don't say.

Since I'm not an audiophile, my opinion on the sound quality isn't going to be worth much, but for my ears it's better than expected. Everything is crisp, and I have no trouble hearing the dynamics (which really do add something special to these tracks). That covers my usual gripes in regards to mastering. There might be some compression for the sake of loudness going on; after listening to Are You Experienced, I immediately switched to Sgt. Pepper in mono, and found it to be a hell of a lot quieter at the same volume.

And now for the despair: as is typical of the internet, no one is happy with these remasters, or the way in which Experience Hendrix has handled anything. I see some nicely made, well priced releases, and an official website boasting an impressive number of interviews and official bootlegs for free listening. However, for the old timers who were live for Hendrix's work, and the younger fans who can use the power of anonymity to pretend to be both audiophiles and Hendrix historians, none of this is good enough. This problem is exacerbated by the fact that Jimi created hundreds of unreleased tracks and thousands of live recordings in his short career, making it likely that no one can agree on just what is and isn't worth releasing. But that still doesn't excuse the fact that haters won't let something as simple as acknowledging that their worldview is just one of many get in the way of their scorn. The bottom line is that if you're a new fan who hasn't bought past Hendrix releases, there's nothing wrong with these remasters. And if you truly are an older, experienced fan, the best thing you can do in a review is describe the music and why you like it. Not everyone has the desire, time, or money to track down whatever rare or definitive version you put your stamp of approval on. Share your interest in the music first, and let the reader decide for themselves how deep they want to dig.

Running Wild

2010-04-01T11:36:00.003-04:00

So far, my experience with the Android OS can be boiled down to "baked in features are great, optional apps are hit or miss". That's quite acceptable for me, especially since the Android Marketplace is still slowly evolving. Even an official Google app like Listen can get a way with some flakiness, since I know it is a Labs product. But I had my first real issue with a standard phone feature, and I think it says a lot.

The basic problem was that gmail wasn't syncing with the phone. Out of the blue, over the last two days, I've had to manually refresh the program to get my messages. It started off as a mild annoyance, but grew into great concern when none of the simple fixes and settings tweaks I tried did a lick of good. Just as I was tempted to do a factory reset, I came across the true problem. I had been disabling almost all background process on the phone in order to test its performance, including Google Talk. As it turns out, gmail won't sync without this process running.

Right off the bat, this is pretty stupid. Nowhere does it say that the Google Talk process is in charge of anything but incoming IM's. I suppose the logic behind this is "there's a reason this process is spawned by the phone at startup. Don't mess with it." But the other processes launched by the OS have names like "Android Keyboard" and "Voice Search". I know what they are, and that I should probably leave them alone. That isn't really the case with Gtalk.

But it doesn't stop there. It turns out that Gtalk sticks its fingers into other parts of the phone. Say you have another IM client, like Meebo. You can add your Google Talk account to it, but the standard Gtalk process will almost always get the messages first, in which case you're stuck managing two IM programs. Furthermore, based on what I can tell, if one of your contacts is online, Android will try to send messages via Gtalk, rather than an standard text. I'm still figuring out if there's a setting behind this one, because while this feature can be nice in order to save texts, it doesn't take into account the idea that someone may get up from their desk for an indefinite period of time (unless it doesn't use Gtalk to message idle users....I'll have to check).

A few points about all this. Firstly, the Gtalk process is not very Linuxy. It should do one thing, and one thing well, and instead it tries to master several areas of the device. Second, the confusion behind it is very Linuxy, in that a simple (but frustrating) problem is solved by something that a new user would never think of checking. Third, when things do go wrong in Linux, there's usually some sort of documentation that, if you had read it, would have shed a clue. The documentation that comes in the box of a Droid is sparse, and finding more robust manuals online requires quite a bit of digging.

In a way, Google has proven why Apple has disapproved of multitasking in the iPhone. There's no chance for mystery or surprise. Users get what they choose to use, and everything else about the phone's operation is tucked away. I'm glad that Android lets us have more control, but granting that control means that people will find ways to screw things up. This can cause chaos for regular users, and for the power geeks, there at least needs to be a chance to RTFM.

It also reinforces the "work in progress" feel that official Google software occassionally falls victim to. While I said I won't criticize a Labs product like Listen, I'm still scratching me head at the fact that the app never seems to close; it just works in the background. Now, there are a lot of instances in which this is a good thing - if it's downloading a show, or set to auto refresh subscriptions, or I pause a show and want to come back - but there's no way to tell it to close up for good. By allowing multitasking, Android also allows programs to behave however they want. They may actually close when you hit the back button, or they may sit in the corner and wait for you to come back. With any luck, the behavior of these programs will evolve over time, but right now it's just another one of those characteristics of Android that has the potential to drive away new users towards the iPhone, in turn reinforcing the idea that you can't have user power or whizbang features without the experience falling apart.

Android 2.1

2010-03-31T12:58:00.003-04:00

In general, the comments section of any article on the Internet is usually worthless and terrible. No amount of useful information an outweigh the feelings of despair and sadness about the future of the human race that come from the rest of the users. Yet no matter how many times you hear someone say "if you don't like them, stop reading", the mere existence of these worthless comments can be enough of a temptation to comb through them. Thankfully, there's an easy fix - plugins like Noscript for Firefox usually prevent most comment threads from displaying, and I find that I usually won't go looking for one if I don't see it.

"Usually" being the keyword. Every so often I decide to live dangerously, and open the comment section of an unfamiliar website. The results are never pretty, but I can't remember the last time I witnessed levels of stupidity on par with what I found on display at mobile phone/Android enthusiast sites. I've been checking them out ever since getting the new phone, in hopes of learning more about the smartphone market and Android in particular. This is something I can do without ever touching a comment thread, but the flaky release schedule of Android v2.1 for the Droid caused me to wander into the belly the of the beast.

As my coworker (and months long Droid owner) explained to me, 2.1 has been promised to release on the phone since sometime in January, and both Verizon and Motorola have not always been crystal clear as to why it was constantly delayed. This, in theory, is where a comment thread should be useful - users can share rumors or information that they have, speculation can run wild without overrunning editorial. Since I missed out on most of the update drama, I figured the comments would be a good place to get up to speed on information that is too old to cover in the news, but important enough for users to care about. Too bad the 'net never works like it does "in theory".

The most recent information about the update has been a statement that "we'll get it out by end of March", and sure enough, the update really did kick off yesterday. By this morning, zip files containing the update were all over the web, useable by anyone who wished to a do a manual installation. On a whole, not only was Motorola's statement (finally) accurate, but all it took was a good night's rest for the update to show up. There shouldn't any reason for drama, right?

Wrong. For one, these phone enthusiasts abused capital letters, exclamation points, and grammatical errors in ways that I thought had gone extinct in back in 1998. People were calling it an April Fool's joke, despite the fact that the news lined up with what we were told and it still March. There were people flipping out at the fact that no one had uploaded an update.zip file before midnight, meaning there were people who were losing precious sleep over this fiasco.

And of course, now that Droid owners all over the 'net have manually updated their phones, Twitter is awash with the sound of "meh", as the same people who frothed at the mouth over 2.1 find that it isn't that big of a fucking deal.

I guess the biggest question of all is this - I've seen things like this happen throughout the years. Why do I still let it surprise me?

In any case, it's a cute little update. The news and weather application is handy and convenient, though I'll probably keep the Weather Channel program as well, since it has a much more detailed forecast for the rest of the week. I like the new photo gallery program, since it kind of works like the one on a Playstation 3. I tried the pinch to zoom on the browser, and it's cute, but I don't know how to use it very well, so it doesn't seem any better than the standard zoom tool. The only other "wow factor" feature are the live wallpapers, which are pretty much like the ones in Windows Vista - you'll show them off to a friend, and then switch to something that takes up less system resources. Actually, I lie - the Polar Clock live 'paper might be permanent for me, since it makes the phone look like something out of Wipeout or Ghost in the Shell.

From what I can tell, this update did not up the number of home screens from 3 to 5, though hell if I would ever need that many. I guess 2.1 does a fine job explaining why people got so worked up, only to immediately burn out. Gadget enthusiasts only care about having something that is new and cutting edge. They like seeing numbers go up. Once they actually have to use their device in a productive way, they realize that they already have everything they need. I guess it's their form of entertainment, though damn if it doesn't clog up fine websites and forums.

PS - I keep hearing from folks that April Fools is starting to become a weeklong barrage of pranks, rather than one day of good fun. Thanks trolls, you ruined something else.

24 has been Canceled

2010-03-30T15:31:00.002-04:00

Yeah, I guess 24 may have been canceled in the middle of it's eighth season. Can't say I'm sad to see it go. While I do get a kick at the fact that it outlasted Heroes (I got so much shit when both shows competed in the same timeslot), 24 should have gone the way of the dodo a few seasons ago.

I was talking to my brother about this a few weeks ago, and interestingly enough, an article from Time Magazine had about the same explanation as I did about where it went wrong. In the start of season 6, Jack kills his friend and comrade Curtis without blinking, all because the writers decided to give him a previously nonexistent vendetta at the last minute. Moments later, a nuclear bomb goes off in Los Angeles. Jack is on the ground, shocked by the combination of both events, vomiting on the grass. I wasn't sure about it then, but the show was over for me at that point. That was when my subconscious realized that the writers had ran out of ideas. 24 was never afraid to kill off anyone and everyone on the cast if it helped advance or improve the plot, but Curtis' death was neither moving or surprising. It just felt unnecessary. More importantly, this was the first time the show had a nuke had gone off without a hitch, yet a few episodes later no one seems to care. I have vague memories of a scene in which a badguy of sorts is arguing with his wife while driving, providing what was supposed to be comedic relief. But I don't imagine anyone driving, or chit chatting on a cell phone, or walking on the sidewalk after a nuke goes off. One of the most powerful plot devices that 24 - or any show for that matter - has ever tried to rely on was turned into an afterthought. How could we have any trust in the writers from that point on?

Sure enough, there wasn't any reason to after that. Jack's family is revealed to have been involved in Secret Villain Plotting, but the conflict is introduced and resolved with such little fanfare or scope. It should have dovetailed wonderfully with the end of Season 5, but it was made into another afterthought. With Season 7 we got a new setting and a largely new cast, and once again characters are knocked off with abandon, and a yet another secret society is introduced. Fast forward to Season 8, which I haven't watched more than an episode of. I asked my family whether those Big Bads from Season 7 were still kicking around, and at the time, they said 'no'. In other words, 24 keeps dabbling with continuity, only to follow up with seemingly standalone seasons. It's sloppy, teasing, and hard to give a damn about.

Let's face it folks - 24 has never been the height of TV entertainment. But it always manage to squeeze out more action scenes than I ever expected to see on Primetime, and the concept was intriguing enough to generate basic suspense. Nowadays, not only is the concept worn out, but there's no point in trying to guess what will happen next, not when the answer is forgotten within the span of two episodes.

Damn shame. Time to find something else to watch weekly.

Blockbuster

2010-03-24T23:05:00.002-04:00

My local Blockbuster is closing down. I found out last week when I walked down to rent a game, only to encounter massive closing signs on the windows, and price tags on everything. I picked up a couple cheap games instead (making it almost six months since I've bought a $60 game).

I never used Blockbuster until I lived in Maryland. Where I grew up in Pennsylvania, they simply didn't exist. Meanwhile, once I moved to Baltimore they became my only choice. Yet I never went to them with any great frequency, despite it being a mere ten minute walk to the store. I can think of a couple of reasons why.

Netflix - this is the reason every else gives, though it isn't the same for me. I don't subscribe to Netflix myself, but my roomate does, giving me access to their streaming service on the Xbox 360. The amount of movies they offer to stream is staggering, more than I could hope to get through. With that kind of selection, even a ten minute walk is too much.

The main point about Netflix, I think, isn't so much convenience as it is price. They helped make movies cheaper. A Netflix subscription lets you see quite a few movies by mail, and even more via streaming. There's no reason to even spend four bucks on a rental when double or triple that price can give you more films per month.

Gamefly - Calling Gamefly the "Netflix of games" is a bad analogy, since it's costlier, and the games mail out more slowly. Still, if you use Gamefly as a compliment to your gaming diet, it can change the way you play. You can buy the big, meaty games at full price, and rent out the quick and dirty action games you might otherwise have ignored. This system has allowed me to stay current with the industry in ways that would have been prohibitively expensive otherwise.

Gamefly also beats up Blockbuster on cost. $15 a month for a single game at a time will, at the bare minimum, even out to two games a month if you take your time. At one point this meant that they were not any cheaper than renting two games a month at Blockbuster, but that changed 'Buster raised their rental prices to close to nine bucks. They went from being competitive to a non option. The only alternative was Blockbuster's deal in which you could save by renting two games at once, but that puts a severe time crunch on you that simply isn't necessary.

Flaky policies/pricing - the "no late fees" policy was probably terrible for business, but great for me. It gave me a whole extra week with my games, which was often necessary. But they quietly removed this policy, such that games were back to having a strict 5 day rental period. I suffered some fees by not knowing this, and after that happened I pretty much stopped going to them (even with Gamefly, sometimes I wanted something right away). If it was made a bit clearer to me, I would have accepted it a lot more.

I also discovered that the Blockbuster Rewards program was bullshit. It only really rewarded you if you rented a lot of new, expensive films. If you just got old, cheap rentals, or didn't rent quite enough games in a month, you'd get little in return. If they modified it so that every four or five games netted you a freebie, it would have been much nicer, but instead they reset your count at the start of every month. That just made it less of a reward system and more of a way to sucker you out of money. Which I guess was the point, but the potential was always there for something good.

They Didn't Really Compete - A year after I left Pennsylvania, a Hollywood Video opened up in town. In the one summer I was home from college, I found them invaluable. They always had a good stock, their game rentals were cheaper, and they frequently offered up free rentals on any product if you didn't come in for a few months. That got me back in the store in a hurry. The only phone calls I got from Blockbuster were when items were close to being due. They were far more concerned with you giving back their products than helping customers out. But I guess they can't be blamed for that, as my next point makes clear.

They had Nothing - For a brief period of time, I worked close to another Hollywood Video. The one time I rented from there, I was able to get Bioshock the day it was released. There were at least 4 or 5 other copies sitting there. Many people would say that this kind of fast service is what we should expect and demand, but I'm a patient guy. If you told me that a game would come in within the same work week that it hits shelves, I'd be a happy camper.

Which is why I was so often frustrated with Blockbuster - even a time frame of "within the week" was too quick for them. Sometimes you'd have to wait until the next week, and when you went down to grab the game you had your eye on, it wouldn't be there. They had one, maybe two copies, and both had been scooped up. You would come back a week later, and it was still gone. Two weeks later, and it was still missing. A month later, and you were shit out of luck. It was once explained to me that this was the result of the company's "gamer pass" plan, wherein you paid a Gamefly-esque monthly fee and could keep a game as long as you wanted. But when I tried to sign up for the service, the clerk told me that not only was it discontinued, but had been for quite some time. Yet the games were still being lost in the ether.

Here's my best analysis of what happened - when the Gamer Pass service wasn't keeping the games off the shelf, the No Late Fee Policy was. As I alluded to earlier, this system could be used to your advantage. You got an extra seven days after the due date to hang onto the item, after which they charged you full price and gave you ownership. So long as you returned it before the extra seven days was over, you just extended your rental time considerably.

But while this would keep the games out longer, it would still only be a matter of two weeks, not months. But the other, more devious side of the policy took care of that. No Late Fees was hardly no late fees, but I was amazed at how many times I saw another customer complaining at the fact that they had been charged thirty bucks for a dvd they hung on to. Blockbuster knew that those who didn't read the rules of the policy would just become lazier with returning items, in turn allowing the business to make more money. But this extra-lazy customer also kept the shelves barer for longer.

But the cherry on top was that these issues were only issues at all due to the low stock, at least for games. They will devote an entire wall to a single big film release, but games never got more than two copies. They just didn't give a shit, and it showed.

It didn't have to be this way - I know they haven't (didn't?) fare any better, but at least Hollywood Video used a simple, traditional approach. You rented stuff, and if you didn't return it, they would ream you. As long as enough people were responsible with their returns, a store could rent out an item enough times to recoup the costs. When it came to games, they offset the numerous copies that they would stock by selling them off once the game was no longer hot shit. Customers got cheap buys, and they cleared their shelves. This system wasn't better for business I suppose, but if Netflix wasn't around, it probably would have worked. And hey, at least you knew what you were getting into.

Blockbuster, on the other hand, had to play games. They had to constantly tweak their return policies and pricing, and showed little consistency in their stock. One month, the games were in one area, and another month saw them on the opposite end of the store. The Blu Rays would be in a tiny section, and some time later there are stacks of them in the week-rental area (with no clear indication that yes, these are cheaper than new rentals, but still more expensive than a dvd rental). My local store was emblematic of the company as a whole - always trying to make desperate and extreme adjustments in order to survive, which in the end only served to confuse and annoy us. People on the Internet make it sound like every consumer wants to be pampered, but we're not all that stupid. We know that we'll never get the best deal from everyone we do business with. All we really want is some consistency and a bit of respect. Whenever a company begins to act against it's customers, finding the best ways to screw them over, bad things tend to happen. People notice, and they don't always put up with it. Blockbuster probably can't do anything to stop their inevitable destruction, but they've done a lot to help dig their own grave.

Considering how fond I am of the experience of dropping by the video store every week, I wish I didn't have to say any this. But I'd rather the experience go away entirely than have a twisted version of it.

The Beatles: Please Please Me

2010-03-22T12:35:00.005-04:00

Album: Please Please Me
Release Date: March 22 1963

I often disagree with reviews from Pitchfork Media, but their critiques of the Beatles remasters offer some nice insights, or at the very least a valuable framework for viewing each album.

For Please Please Me, Pitchfork's Tom Ewing describes it as a way to deliver the titular hit single while also teasing the buying public with a large sample of what the band played through in their live shows. Based on what I know of their history, this makes sense. It fits in nicely with the story of how the album was recorded in one long session, using very few takes. Please Please Me was largely a promotional vehicle, a quick and cheap way to get the band out there to see what, if anything, would stick with listeners. It is perhaps only due to the band's talent that such a release is as good as it is.

I agree with Ewing's comment that the entire album can be danced to, which makes perfect sense if the album consists of live show staples. I also agree that the album feels cohesive despite being a mix of originals and covers. There's an overall sound of twangy guitars and sweet, syrupy harmonies which is only occasionally interrupted. But despite these positive qualities, the album doesn't always click with me. There are fourteen songs, which is right in line with the majority of Beatles albums, yet it's the only one where I end up wondering when it will end. I look at the track list, and think to myself, "These are all great songs. Why am I so impatient to get through them?" That's when I have to admit to myself that I don't like "Misery" or "Ask Me Why", or even "Please Please Me" itself nearly as much as I think I do. And the tracks that I don't like are scattered in such a way that they kill any momentum the album manages to work up.

But what's most striking to me about Please Please Me is that no song goes over three minutes in length, yet each feels longer than they actually are. My guess, as a budding writer, is that the dance hall nature of this early material leads to a heavier emphasis on vocal harmony over strong instrumentation. To my ear, all the long phrases and "woohs" and "ahhs" make even the songs with a brisk tempo feel slower than they are. There are no hooks, no wild shifts in tone, because these qualities aren't apt to dance.

Thankfully, when Please Please me does work, it clearly demonstrates that the Beatles were playing with genius. "I Saw her Standing There" may be the greatest first track in the history of rock. The beat is fast, every instrument is clear and perfectly used, and the harmonies are golden. On the other end of the record, their cover of "Twist and Shout" is so raw, at once both surprising yet seemingly appropriate. Even when dealing with covers, the Beatles knew how to combine the intent of the original with their own personal spin, in this case creating a definitive version of the classic tune. The same can be said for their cover of "Boys" by The Shirelles, which somehow comes to life on the Rock Band game tie-in. As for other originals, "Do you Want to Know a Secret?" always wins me with its charm, and I'd easily take "Love Me Do" over "Please Please Me" as the best song to identify the record with.

There's a lot of fun in Please Please Me, but don't be afraid to pick and choose on this one. There are better whole album experiences to be had.

A note on reviews

2010-03-22T12:23:00.002-04:00

I figured out why I keep promising, but then failing, to write album reviews. As much as I have learned over the years in regards to popular music, I haven't learned quite enough to be able to express myself properly. I don't know quite enough history, nor can I identify influences or styles with enough precision. I fear that I will write something that sounds definitive but incorrect, excited but unorganized. But if I let that fear take control, I'll never get better. So I decided that if I have to read other reviews to get an idea of what it is I'm feeling but can't express, so be it. I'll still try and agree/disagree when I feel it is needed.

One Week

2010-03-16T22:53:00.002-04:00

One week with the Droid. How has it been faring?

- The learning curve is pretty much gone. I haven't used every little feature (like keyboard shortcuts), but I don't think there are many that I don't at least know about. Having to use the Menu button to access app settings and features isn't as bad as I thought it would be. The most important ones are easy to get to, and a lot of the ones I thought can be mostly ignored once you get things configured the way you want.

- I'm liking the touch keyboard more and more.

- I like the ability to add widgets. It forces me to do things like actually check my calendar in detail.

- The accelerometer is a bit wonky.

- While the built in apps are very well made, for some reason I assumed that Android Marketplace would be filled with all sorts of optional, fun apps from Google themselves. That isn't really the case; they've got some stuff on there, but in far less quantity. Maybe they're too busy updating the OS itself.

- Too many "bastard stepchild" apps. The best ones integrate seamlessly with Android, but others are quick and dirty ports from the iPhone. You can tell which is which based on whether the MEnu button does anything. On the iPhone ports, it won't, and instead all of your options will be on the bottom of the screen. Not the end of the world really, but without proper optimizations for the Droid's screen/touch capability, these apps can be more troublesome to use than they should be.

- Google Listen is a great program, but not a perfect one. You can add podcast subscriptions in Google Reader, and Listen will sync up with them, allowing you to tune in to your favorite podcasts wherever you are. At first I thought this was one of those programs that enables lazy people, and I guess it still is, but it is the kind of convenience I can get behind. Before, I would have to download podcasts to my PC (often rebooting from Ubuntu to Windows solely to do this), load them onto the Zune, and delete them afterwards. I would also have to make sure I had enough space on the player. It wasn't terribly time consuming, but it required a lot of effort and upkeep just to listen to some hour long shows. Google Listen allows me to fire up a show, then ditch it as soon as I'm done. And since it downloads the sound files, I can start a 'cast when I get on the subway, and continue listening when I go underground and lose phone signal.

So what's the problem? While the interface is simple and crisp, the updating mechanism is confusing when set to manual. It never really tells you whether a refresh is successful, so you have go to your show list and see if there are any changes. Furthermore, the playback mechanism is not explained in detail. I guess the best way to describe it is that Listen downloads any show you start to play, but begins playback immediately. So it looks as if it is streaming, but it saves the buffer for later use. This is nice, but I'm not sure if there is a way to force it to just stream or just download. I don't mind having to delete old shows, but I would like to know exactly what is going on (and why).

More thoughts

2010-03-10T17:38:00.003-05:00

I made errors in judgment in my last few posts. Next time I'll do better research. In our last episode, I chided LG for making what I thought was a silly iPhone ripoff with the Venus. What I forgot is that it is only one of many phones that they make. I was recently informed of the LG Prada, which launched close the iPhone, has many similar features, and looks rather slick.

So I need to revise my thought about Apple's success. I still believe that they know how to make basic computing concepts simple and user friendly, as well make hardware that looks nice and packs power. But the problem with the competition is not that they can't do the same things. Rather, they get into trouble because Apple puts their balls in a vicegrip. They can make something that's slim, fast and gorgeous, but if it isn't the same as the look and feel of Apple's products, people won't be nearly as excited. They end up being forced to abandon their own concepts and mimmick Apple, because everything else gets crushed.

Of course, doing this makes their products look like second rate knockoffs, so they still wind up losing.

I guess the best approach would be to stake out one's own path, carve out a niche, and try to expand it. Still, this has to be frustrating when you realize that the only reason you have to work that much harder (and longer) is because you can't generate a Reality Distortion Field.

This makes me think some more about Apple's recent lawsuit against HTC for patent violations. As always, these software patents are used irresponsibly, and the nature of the descriptions create enough wiggle room for people to create poor but convincing defenses, either because the text is too vague, or the concept is.

There's a whole lot of bickering going on about this over at slate.com, and the thing that gets me is that Apple apologists mount their defense based on very specific, strict facts. We all love facts, because compared to opinions, they're a hell of a lot better at proving things. But facts work come in different flavors. If you have a scientific fact, there's nothing you can do to rationally wave it away. It isn't going to change, unless you can use more science. But if state the fact that some terrible thing a corporation does is entirely legal, does that end the discussion just as quickly? Yes, it is a fact, but unlike the laws of physics, the laws of government can change. And the fact that something was allowed doesn't make it right. Humans make mistakes, after all. I'm sure someone out there would grill me for this, but in my mind, a person who argues the gravitational constant has no leg to stand on, but the person who is upset that a corporation screwed someone over by using loopholes shouldn't be immediately dismissed.

This is why the pro Apple arguments bug me so much. Yes, patent law as we know it today allows them to file a suit, but that doesn't mean that patent law is working properly. And yes, there are certain aspects of the iPhone that are original in a very specific sense, but that doesn't mean it was fit to patent. The argument that we should "hate the player, not the game" doesn't always work. If we don't hate the players, then the game will never change. You can try, but if we don't see anything wrong with the someone's actions, then there doesn't appear to be any reason to change.

One of the worst arguments I saw on slate boiled down to claiming that Apple is in the right place at the right time. He claimed that their use of a entirely multi touch based device was unheard of before, and is original enough to patent. Everyone else has to build touch features onto pre-existing interfaces, such as a key or mouse based device. (PS - can the iPhone work without ever using it's single button? If not, it ain't a multi touch only device).

But on a gut level, I see no difference between "multi touch based device" and "mouse driven device". The argument can be interpreted as saying that if the mouse or the GUI was invented in the 2000's, then the inventors would be right in patenting them, and forcing other device makers into building it on top of other interfaces. Imagine if we actually had to do that. It sounds absurd, because it is. Keyboards and touch screens have been around for a long time. Using them in different ways is only so original. And in my mind, they are not original enough to patent. There's also the problem that hardware like a keyboard and mouse is such that their functionality is largely determined by the actual configuration of the hardware. Touch screen interfaces are governed far more by their software than a Logitech mouse. Hardware is a lot more concrete than software, which is why software patents are almost universally despised. We can use this example in my previous argument - there were some legal issues surrounding GUI's, which are interfaces based mostly on software, during their creation. These were resolved, and these days no one can really stop you from making a GUI based OS. But imagine if instead we had a legal showdown like this one Apple is brewing up? That would be rather dangerous. Not to mention that the actual issues that came up were resolved by Apple working with Xerox. In this current battle, Apple has put competitors in the situation they were once in, without the chance to wheel and deal. This is a fact too, but it won't be used by apologists to negate the necessity of the lawsuit.

Lastly, there's the really finicky, not-so-fact based dilemma of Apple being in a position of power. One commenter argued that if they didn't file these patents, someone like HTC would. It was a first strike scenario. When the law works as intended, size won't matter, and indeed, we have seen large corporations lose out to smaller patent holders, and vice versa. But if HTC had these patents, and filed suit against Apple, you wouldn't see Mac fans defending the little guy. They'd laugh at the fact that the underdog dared to try and get in the behemoth's way. But in the world of Internet debate, such touchy feely ideas are stomped upon, no matter how accurate they may be.

I should have just made this argument with a bit of common sense. If Apple is going to purposefully ignore features and software that they don't like, then screw them for trying to stop people from building upon their ideas.

Droid

2010-03-10T14:16:00.004-05:00

So as I said, I got a Droid. Back in '09, when the teaser ads for the device began to surface, I thought it was a joke. The name implied that it was simply an Android phone for Verizon, but somewhere along the way, I must have read something that I interpreted as stating that it was going to be completely different from Android, and simply used a couple of Google services provided by the company. This made no sense to me; sure, it was logical to whip up some special features on the iPhone, back before Android had launched. But doing so again would have been counterproductive to their new phone OS.

Sure enough, the Droid does have some quirks that keep it from being identical to other Android phones, but said phones often have their own qualities that keep them from meshing with the Droid. For example, there are certain Apps that are not Droid compatible, yet the Nexus One can't play some games due to screen resolution issues. But this isn't a post about Android inconsistencies (maybe I'll do that another day, when I know more about it). For now, let's stick with the phone at hand.

The Droid has gotten mostly favorable (and some raving) reviews, and the key to that is that it does a fine job of aping the iPhone without feeling like a cheap knockoff. As a counter example, consider the LG Venus. Verizon got that sucker out as quickly as they could once the iPhone launched, and dammit if it didn't look silly. The interface was as close as possible to a 1-to-1 copy of the iPhone's, only the icons were not quite as slick, and the App support was a mystery. It tried to ride the wave, but it didn't look much better than a Chinese knockoff. They tried to one up Apple by including a keyboard, but it ultimately made the phone a lot chunkier than it needed to be (or at least it looked chunkier to me). LG ran into the same problems that most companies have when they compete with Apple. They can't make their software quite as simple and elegant, and they can never cram the same hardware into a device with the same small size and simple shape. No one really makes competitors to Apple products, so much as wannabes. I say this as a Linux fan with no Apple products in my life, and who looks for a reason to criticize the company. That doesn't stop me from admitting what they do damn well.

So back to the Droid. From a hardware perspective, Motorola avoided most of the pitfalls that plague the competition. It's a bit thicker than an iPhone, and the screen is a bit bigger, but overall you've got two devices of roughly the same size and shape. That's critical, because the iPhone is common enough that most of us know how it looks and feels. If the Droid was too far off from that baseline, immediately people would be turned off. It sounds silly to be excited that someone managed to get the right form factor, but as I mentioned, it happens so rarely that it feels significant. Better yet is the fact that they managed to do so while still cramming in a keyboard and camera (and if you get the keyboardless Droid Eris, you'll have something even slimmer). This does come with a sacrifice however. Most phone keyboards have big chunky keys that are easy to type on. Motorola avoided this with the Droid, knowing that such a design would make it too big. Instead the keys are very flat, almost flush with the phone. It is much easier to mistype on it than on even the simple texting phone I once had, and while you do get used to it, it still grates me a bit to know that in this case, we still had to sacrifice function to get the form. One the other hand, the keyboard has a d-pad like cursor. I have no idea how many smart phones have something like this, but damn if it isn't nice. It beats having to switch from the keyboard to the main phone pad, as I had to on my old phone in order to edit texts.

I have no idea if the camera is any good, because I've not had much use for camera phones. I hear that it is slow to snap and is a little weak in picture quality, but I get the feeling that these are the opinions of gadget heads who aren't satisfied with a five megapixel camera on their goddamn phone. My standalone digital camera is still five megapixel. I think I'll be happy with whatever the Droid gives me.

The data port looks similar to a standard five pin USB cord, and my research says it is a Micro USB, which isn't quite as general purpose as a five pin, but is apparently common among phones, so there's no proprietary extras that you need. The data cable nicely fits into the A/C adapter, meaning you don't need any extra trinkets in order to connect the Droid to a PC. Also nice is that the headphone jack is standard sized. Again, this is likely common with smart phones, but it is new to me. My old text phone had a smaller headphone jack, and both the data cable and SD storage were sold separately, so I took advantage of none of its special features. This makes me wonder if phone makers have gotten more generous, or if this is simply a luxury that is only afforded to the more expensive phones. All I know for now is that I feel like I'm out of the cellular gulag.

So what else does the Droid hardware do differently than the iPhone? The 16gb of storage comes from a swappable MicroSD chip, so you can add something bigger later on should you want to. This is one of those stupid things that every phone should have, but Apple unsurprisingly refused. I'm curious as to what other devices do in this regard. Additionally, there are four keys on the bottom of the touch screen, in order to assist with actions which aren't mapped to the screen, and which don't mesh well with the fairly standard actions on the keyboard. This is essentially the iPhone's Home button times four, and while that sounds like a stupid gimmick, it works fairly well. Or rather, the iPhone works fairly well with one button, but my brain is wired in such a way that it throws me off. On the Droid, there is a "back" button that is distinct from the "home" button. The other two buttons bring up Google search, and general settings related to whatever program you're running.

It sounds like a matter of spreading functionality out for no reason, but I guess my experiences with game consoles makes it click with me. For example, on the PSP/PS3, you'd use the circle button to back out from a program, but the home button takes you to the main OS at any time. Same deal here. The settings button is also nice, because it lets you easily find out what you can and cannot do at any point in time. The settings button will either be really smart or entirely silly depending on the person. The problem is that it is context sensitive, so the only thing about it that's standard is the look of it. One of the most common complaints that I hear about Graphical User Interfaces is how users do not like when menus change in size or context without any clear explanation as to why. This is exactly what is going on here, so it's no surprise that it has been a bother to many. You have to understand that not only is is context sensitive, but that its purpose is to give you a few basic options no matter where you are in a program, without having to back up to another page or start it up fresh. But this doesn't match up with what we expect. I think a good compromise would be to create a few constant options that allow you to access general phone settings in the like wherever you are. The Droid sort of does this with the home key, but it isn't quite the same.

On that note, the back key is a little screwy. It may back up out of an app, but it may not close it. If you're in the browser, it will act as a browser back button, retreating you to the last page you visited. I think that's the general flaw with the four buttons - only two of them work the same every time. The other two have slight changes in their purpose depending on what your are doing, and while you can adjust to them eventually, it increases the learning curve. Still, I think part of it comes down to how you approach the device. As I've mentioned, the simplicity of the iPhone works for most folks, but I prefer the flexibility of the Droid, even if isn't always clear on how to master it. This doesn't make either approach (or thought process) better, just different.

On one last note, the buttons aren't keys, but touch sensitive regions. There are times when you hit one, and nothing happens, because you didn't hit it in the right spot, or maybe your touch was too quick. The phone does give haptic feedback when you do it right, but it only helps so much when you don't know what it is you are doing wrong.

The rest of the phone's plusses and minuses are based on the Android OS itself. At first glance, all the screenshots I saw of it suggested that it had a very inconsistent interface. In reality I was simply watching different apps in action, which of course will fill the screen with whatever it needs. The OS itself is quite uniform and nice. In it's basic form, it isn't too far from the iPhone's OS. You have a main screen where you can drop shortcuts to apps, and the screens for changing settings and finding music mimmick the list format of the iPhone. What Android does better is in regards to control. There is a small button on the bottom that will expand with a list of all of your applications, meaning you can add as little or as many to the main screen as you want. There's also an upper toolbar which works like the one found in the GNOME desktop environment for Linux. It displays the time, running tasks, and your signal quality, and this too can be expanded to display alerts and messages. You can also change the background image on the phone, though making your own requires cropping the picture to a specific resolution, at least if you want it to be perfect. Overall, Android has the simplicity and aesthetic qualities of the iPhone OS, but still feels more like an actual computer operating system. The main screen isn't so much an app launcher as it is a mini desktop for you to do as you please.

Going back to the settings/music parts of the interface, I like it, but it could use some work. In a way, it is more consistent than the iPhone's (keep in mind that all my comparisons are based on fairly limited time with the iPhone/Pod Touch, so sorry if I get things wrong). There, most of the settings pages are colored in grey, despite the fact that the main screen is in black. On Android, these pages are black, and it technically doesn't clash with the main menu, because that can look however you want it to. So there's an extra layer of mental consistency when it comes to appearance, but the contents are another matter entirely. Some settings are a simple yes/no check box. Others are a small dot that gets colored in when you choose 'yes'. Still others will expand with a list of hidden options. Still more can be clicked on, leading to another page. There can be some confusion as to what you can do with each option in a list, though eventually it makes sense once you realize how they're formatted. From what I can tell, the main settings page and music list are clicked, and any pages below that have dropdowns and toggles. It's easy to figure out, but still not clear initially.

Overall, the speed with which programs run is fine by me, and while the pseudo open source nature of Android makes it's App Store a wild west scenario compared to the iPhone's, most of the ones I've used have integrated nicely with the OS.

Lastly, I wanted to mention the ability to "root" the Droid. I haven't done it, and probably won't, but it is the Droid equivalent of jailbreaking an iPhone, though as is the case with the Droid, it's far more dangerous and powerful. From what I can tell, it simply gives you more control over the phone. You can load newer versions of Android before they pass Verizon's testing, and you can load apps which will overclock the CPU. You're not supposed to do this, and screwing it up will brick the device, but that hasn't stopped people from giving it a shot.

I've heard some people make the statement that the Android OS, and by extension the Droid itself, are different enough that it isn't right to call it a "Linux phone". And I agree - a truly open source, Linux based device would not only let you root it, but would probably encourage such behavior. But what restrictions do exist make sense. Smart phones are becoming more like computers, but unlike computers their main purpose is to make phone calls. Device makers can't allow the actions of users to interfere with these basic features, so certain restrictions must apply. This is why the iPhone is so strict, and we see that most people are just fine with giving up control in favor of usability. It makes a lot of sense no matter how you slice it. Furthermore, while the philosophy of Free Software doesn't prevent one from selling your software, it doesn't rub well with corporate types who are focused on profit. Google likes to have some power, while letting their users be mostly free (or at least feel like they are). For now, I think these compromises are fair, without actually compromising the device. Perhaps I'll think differently in the future.

But with all that being said, I feel that for all intents and purposes, this is a "Linux phone". Like Linux itself, the Droid lets you do things that most phones would never dream of. You can change the storage, the programs, the look and feel. There's even an approved app that lets you tinker with the phone's Linux-esque file structure. Compared to the rest of the market, the Droid and it's siblings aren't the wild west - they're a goddamned state of anarchy.

And just like Linux, Android spends so much time focusing on this freedom that it ends up trading away intuitiveness. You have to figure out how to do everything, because features are designed to address a techie's frame of mind. If you don't have that frame of mind, it won't be easy to sort everything out, and even if you do, you might not agree that it is the best way to go about it.

For geeks like me, this is pure heaven. It is also why, despite so many negatives within this review, I am still in love with the phone. I don't mind getting past a few quirks, especially if I become a better user because of it. I also enjoy rollicking in a bit of compu-anarchy, because I'm not afraid of it.

But if this is supposed to be the iPhone's competition, it needs more mass market friendliness. I'm glad a phone like this exists, but it feels like a niche product being thrown into the big leagues. As long as it sticks around I'll be pleased, but I do wonder if this might sabotage Android's chances. Geeks might not mesh well with general purpose computer users, but both are critical. Android wants to bring them together, and I wish them luck, as I'll be counting on it's success for the next few years. For now, I'm afraid I've been given this wonderful treat that will be taken away in due time.

smart phones

2010-03-10T11:21:00.003-05:00

So I got a Droid. I was going to write about the device, but instead I wrote a whole post on the nature of smart phones. I'll save my intended writeup for next time.

So this is the first smart phone I've ever gotten. I was hesitant about getting one at first, and always have been. Despite the fact that I'm a programmer and a major techie, I've slowly become a grognard when it comes to the latest and greatest. I can work around a computer like no one's business, and figure out new and strange devices within minutes, but I don't actually jump for them myself. Furthermore, I find myself gravitating more towards simplicity. I go for straight white desktops in place of wallpaper, only install the most basic programs I need, and keep the flashy stuff down to a minimum. I had a college professor who had trimmed his PC so much that he had no desktop of any sort. He'd work on the command line, and when he needed a program, X.org would simply draw it up somewhere on the massive black void of his screen. I thought it was silly then, and now I kind of want to do the same. This is pretty much the opposite of what you get with a smart phone.

The other problem I have is that I spend so much time on a computer on any given day, and I was afraid of what the "always on" nature of a smart phone would do to me. Our modern times are fast paced, and we are constantly bombarded with information every day. It is suggested that we try to find ways "disconnect" for a little while, and indeed, I always tend to feel better whenever I am away from the Internet for days or weeks at a time. Again, this is the opposite of what you get with a smart phone.

But now I am starting to think that it may be the cure, rather than a curse. Despite being on a PC at work all day, I often come home and turn on my personal desktop. People will start to chat on IM, or I'd get mesmerized by the random corners of the Internet, and before I know it, the night has gone by and I have to go to bed. I miss out on playing games, watching TV, and spending time with the roomates. I initially tried to fix this with a netbook that I could use while loafing on the couch, but the battery has not proven to have the endurance I expected, and the power cable is constantly tripped over. Not to mention that I usually end up typing away on it like I would on my desktop upstairs. I might have a physical presence in the living room when using the netbook, but mentally I am still off in cyberspace.

This is where I put myself into another person's shoes and realize that I'm nuts. I imagine that most people would wonder why this is even a problem for me. After a long day's work, shouldn't I be too lazy and tired to constantly run up and down the stairs to check my PC? The answer is that yes, I am tired, but apparently not lazy enough. I'll make the trek up and down the staircase multiple times a night. It's like there's a magnetic field between me and the PC that draws me in every time I manage to break away.

This is the problem with trying to "disconnect" - you can't do it if you're addicted. And I'm most certainly addicted to the Internet in some capacity. In those situations when I do break free and do feel better, I am always in some place where there is no ready access to a computer, or where there is a particularly slow one that I don't feel like using. But at home, I have a PC that is fast enough, and working exactly the way I want it to. I can get the information I crave without trouble, and in that case the addiction is strong enough to make me job around the house all night.

So how does having internet at the tip of my fingers make this any better? Simply put, the technology is nice, but it lacks the speed and customization of my PC. If I need a specific bit of information, I can get to it, but random surfing, and even checking up on news sites is too slow and cumbersome to be worth it. I won't want to constantly check my emails or IM's or websites on it, and that's fine, because the phone will let me know when they come in. I'll "connect" my mind to the 'net only as much as I need to, rather than how much I think I need to to stay current on what's going on. And that works, because I don't need to check a lot of stuff. I don't have stocks to look at, or multiple inboxes to track. The important online aspects of my life are slim, and the phone will give them to me, while keeping me away from the junk that I can lose hours to, but which are rarely worth the time. It puts my addiction into a controlled environment, and I hope it will help me curb it.

Additionally, a lot of the little gizmos and features that are common among smart phones may prove quite useful. Shopping lists, to-do lists and the like are all things I need to have, but never bother with. My handwriting is poor, I tend to forget pads and pens, etc. Now I can have these things in a device I won't leave the house without, and they won't take up any extra space. On a related note, I might be more willing to create an online calendar that goes with me, rather than being something that I have to go to a PC to access. Plus, I can add calendar items right when I think about them, rather than having to remember to add them later when I'm home.

And that's the other thing. While a smart phone can easily be used to as a time waster, I'm not worried. My addiction is of the sort that I don't reliably get that weird feeling that comes from being "disconnected". That only happens when I'm on the 'net and see that things are happening. If I check a news site once, I'll keep checking it to see what changes. But if I never start, I'll forget it even exists. And my addiction is triggered by web surfing, not social networking sites. The same power that makes the useful things like to-do lists easier to access also applies to stuff like Facebook and Twitter. But I'm not giong to start tweeting now that it is more convenient, because I still don't have interest in it. I'm a weird sort that thinks it is quite easy to stop checking Facebook statuses, but give me a fanboy debate about videogames, and I'll be captivated all day. Neither situation is better than the other, but mine gels well with the smart phone concept.

Phones

2010-03-10T10:18:00.003-05:00

After almost eight years of having Sprint as my cell phone provider, I finally canceled service and switched to Verizon. I have nothing serious against Sprint - despite how much they are hated among tech savvy internet types, my switch was not due to spite. Their call quality was simply too poor in my house (as well as my parents' house in the poconos), and I've never had good luck with their low grade phones that they give out for free (or close to free). On the other hand, I've seen how strong Verizon's signal is in those same places, and they've done a ton of work to improve their phone selection. Add in the fact that so many of my friends and family use them (meaning free calls), and the choice made sense.

I know anecdotes are proof of nothing, but I actually felt bad about disconnecting with Sprint. Until the last few years, they have been a solid provider, and I've never had any bad customer service issues. I would add and cancel features easily, and never had my contract renewed behind my back. Hell, when I called them up last night, they didn't even try to stop me from leaving! That is not to say that they haven't been a nightmare to other customers, but it also makes me wonder how much it comes down to one's ability to pay attention to their bill and contract.

On the other hand, I feel like they brought it upon themselves. They don't have any really good exclusive phones, so there's no reason to stick around with them and deal with potential network troubles. On that note, some of these network issues are inexplicable for such a big competitor in the cellular market. I once thought that my call troubles at home were because of the brick walls, but my roomates had a clear signal with Verizon and AT&T, while my signal was flaky with two different handsets. Put these two issues together, and there isn't much reason to stick around, unless one of their plans is particularly good for your needs (and to be fair, they're actually cheaper than I previously thought).

But if that was all there was to it, I could still understand. The tipping point, then, is the fact that they're losing tons of cutsomers and posting massive losses, yet still deem it fit to spend what is likely a ton of cash in advertising. Not only are these ads annoying, but they also don't work very well. If you show me a commercial that boasts of all the cool things you can do on a Sprint phone, you probably shouldn't make two out of the three examples be Blackberries. All that says to me is that Blackberry makes good phones, phones which I can go and get on other networks. It also isn't smart to brag about how they can use apps, because the cultural consciousness knows that the best place for apps is the iPhone. Telling everyone that you have some too isn't enough. Are they better? I wouldn't know. It's a sad day when I would rather see an iPhone ad over one from Sprint.

An a related note, they might save some money by dropping support of the NFL and NASCAR, neither of which can be cheap. Bottom line is that I felt like they were more worried about suckering new customers than taking care of their existing ones.

So now I'm on Verizon. I'm going to be paying more each month, but these days I use my phone constantly, and that's just for making calls and texts. Being able to rely on a better network has already come in handy on the first day. I feel like I can actually use my mobile as a primary phone without making compromises. That's worth a couple more bucks.

Next post, I'd like to talk about my phone of choice.

A note on the music stuff

2010-01-29T09:56:00.003-05:00

As you can tell from the last post, I'm trying once again to get some of my ideas about music going. This has been an on and off effort for a while now, and while I dislike my tendency to forget about topics (look at what it did to my Prisoner writeups), it was probably a good idea this time around. By putting it off for so long, I learned the important lesson of doing multiple drafts of long posts. More importantly, it also means that I have listened to a lot more stuff.

That being said, I wanted to discuss my intentions. Like a lot of folks, I love music, and I always have the urge to spread the word about the things I'm passionate about. I want to share the things I have learned, the things I have observed, and the ideas that I have. My hope is that they might help someone else who finds themselves in the places I once was. The Internet is flooded with people who know nothing but universal hate or praise. Snark rules supreme. I don't want any of that. I want to look at music with passion while still maintaining a reasonable perspective. Getting worked up into a frenzy does no one any good.

I'm thinking of breaking up these music essays into three general areas. Overviews of bands that I am currently exploring, reviews of specific albums, and supplementary posts containing commentary and details that aren't appropriate for the other two.

Now for the details. There isn't going to be a structure or format for any of this, including the reviews. Just like with video games, I find that music criticism is often hampered by rigid formats that treat every subject the same way. There are also certain habits among amateur critics that drive me nuts, which I will try to avoid (and probably detail in another post). My intention is to discuss whatever aspects of an album stand out to me, be they specific or very general. Naturally, this will make it very personal, but I believe that capably expressing your personal experiences is something is the best way to get to know more about it. I can't say that I will be capable, but I always try.

I also plan on finding ways to keep it from focusing entirely on classic rock. It is what I listen to 90% of the time, but I understand that it is important to explore other areas of music if one is to become truly learned.

I will also try to establish some structure in regards to post length and post scheduling. These are the cornerstones of keeping a topic like this going, be it on a blog or something else. After years of writing at Videolamer, I have gotten better at honoring self imposed deadlines.

Finally, I may go back to some of my older music related posts, in order to edit and modernize them. If that happens, I'll change their post date so that they're here in 2010 where they aren't buried.

Ooops...

2010-01-28T19:30:00.001-05:00

I realized that I never finished my reviews of the last episodes of The Prisoner. I did watch them all, and have a lot to say still. I'll try to do that soon.

The Prisoner - Do Not Forsake Me, Oh My Darling

2009-12-07T23:22:00.004-05:00

Episode Name: Do Not Forsake Me, Oh My Darling
Original Air Date: December 22 1967
TV Airing Order: 12
KTEH Airing Order: 13
Summary - Deprived of his memory and placed in another man's body, Number Six travels back to England to seek a missing scientist.

Another episode that opens with a slightly different intro. But no matter, as there's no telling what they'll do next time. This episode happens to be the one I read about earlier, in which Patrick McGoohan was almost entirely unavailable for filming, and so they had to make a story that has almost no need for him. The writers chose body swapping, another classic trope that gets a Prisoner twist.

It turns out that the Village wants a certain scientist who mastered the ability to swap two minds. Only problem is that he went into hiding before he could master the reversal process, or so they think. They also know that Number Six knew him before being captured, so they his mind into another body and send him back to London, knowing that he will track down his old friend in hopes of setting things straight. A few twists occur, and the ending results in another small victory for Six.

As an episode that is almost entirely devoid of McGoohan, this ended up being a more traditional spy thriller. Not too bad considering the circumstances, though again it feels rushed. The victory at the end is achieved only thanks to a plot hole that past episodes would have refuted, and a potentially powerful revelation - Number Six was engaged before being captured - is barely covered and will likely never be followed. This could have been an interesting character piece, but the opportunity is squandered. Still, as a standalone thriller it works well enough. We're getting close to the end, with only three more filler episodes left, so at this point I am willing to put my mind on cruise control and see where the ending takes me.

The Prisoner - It's Your Funeral

2009-12-05T15:56:00.006-05:00

Episode Name: It's Your Funeral
Original Air Date: December 8 1967
TV Airing Order: 11
KTEH Airing Order: 11
Summary - To save the prisoner who is being set up to take the fall, Number Six must intervene in a Village power struggle and prevent the assassination of a Number Two.

Holey moley, the episode order matches up! Not like that means much at this point. What does matter is that after Living in Harmony's detour, It's Your Funeral gets the show back on track with one of the best "filler" episodes so far. This one is all about an assassination attempt, with one Number Two trying to kill another. We also learn of a group of Villagers called "Jammers", who apparently hatch fake plans of resistance in order to confuse the Observers. I must admit that most of this episode was highly confusing for me, perhaps moreso than any episode to date. The problem was that It's Your Funeral is a mix of influences. It harkens back to the earliest episodes, in which the Village tricks and leads Number Two through some elaborate scheme without the use of drugs or mental conditioning. Yet it belongs where it is because just like the last few shows, Number Six gets the upper hand and foils the plot.

From what I can tell, the assassination attempt is real, and Six only factors in because the conspirators hoped to keep the Village's freest thinker from thinking all the right things that would allow him to stop the plot. The Number Two that is marked for death also seems to be played as a fool, because he actually is. The only thing I can't figure out is why his replacement wants to kill him, and whether it has to do with the Jammers.

There was some good character work here too. Number Six is fully knowledgeable of what tricks the Village likes to use, and skepticism and lack of genuine interest (at least at first) is a stark contrast to his earlier behaviors. This episode also contains a lot of interaction with other Villagers who aren't all (deliberate) spies or mindless drones. Between them and the struggles of the ruling members, we get to see a lot deeper into the Village on a whole, and the cracks in the foundation are starting to show.

Ultimately, despite being my most confusing episode, It's Your Funeral was not frustrating in a bad way. I believe that all the answers are there as to what was going on, and I just have to pay a bit more attention to piece them all together. Also, part of the reason for the confusion is that, in a rare change, the Village's plot is real - the only lies are small ones used to jerk around the players. It isn't common for them to act so straightforwardly (relatively speaking), which made it difficult until the very end to figure out what was really going on.

I don't like when television shows play these games with the viewer for the length of an entire season or more, but for the purpose of one episode I can appreciate the fact that The Prisoner decided to play with my mind for a change, and give Number Six a bit of a break.

Edit - I did some reading, and no one else can come up with a good reason for the questions I still had. That really puts a dent on the whole point of having this episode. Add in the fact that there's no real theme or message (aside from one that I need to get into in the future), I'm beginning to change my mind and agree with the folks that say this was perhaps a rush job. The fact that the episode contained a lot more of the Village than I have been seeing lately is probably what endeared me toward it.

The Prisoner - Living in Harmony

2009-11-30T10:19:00.004-05:00

Episode Name: Living in Harmony
Original Air Date: December 29 1967
TV Airing Order: 14
KTEH Airing Order: 10
Summary - In an Old West setting, a lawman who resigned is trapped in a town called Harmony where the Judge wants him to be the new sheriff — by hook or by crook.

Yeah, I don't have much to say about this one. If I a certain interview with McGoohan correctly, this episode exists because no one in British television was interested in doing a western, so they put one into The Prisoner. Yes, this episode really is an old western tale, complete with its own introductory sequence. Yes, it also another scheme to trick Number Six into thinking he is somewhere other than the Village, in the hopes of getting him to do something. This time, it isn't about his resignation - instead, they force him to become the sheriff of their fictional frontier town so that he once again picks up a gun.

There's probably all sorts of analysis to be had with this episode, but just like with A, B, & C I feel that these questions are the wrong kind. They don't exist to drive home a point or to serve the story, but are simply due to the show's loose grasp of development and continuity. I don't really want to spend time getting anxious and frustrated as I try to piece it all together when there isn't much of a point. Since I was exhausted when I watched it, I approached this episode like it was an entry in a good old western show, and I had a lot of fun with it that way. Anything else can easily be written off as The Village becoming even more frustrated with their failure to break Number Six and that maybe, just maybe, their unorthodox methods are starting to take their toll on the people administering them.

Normally, I don't always like any analysis of a show that tries to write something off as "not being the point", but this wasn't an episode to worry over (it wasn't even shown in the U.S. back in the 60's). Hell, you could view it as a parable of a man's struggle with society in another period of time if you want. You'll still get something good out of it.

The Prisoner - A, B, and C

2009-11-30T10:18:00.003-05:00

Sorry about the delay in posts - Thanksgiving came around, and I hadn't the ability to watch any episodes for four days. We'll be getting back to our regularly scheduled updates now...

Episode Name: A, B, and C
Original Air Date: October 13 1967
TV Airing Order: 3
KTEH Airing Order: 9
Summary - A desperate Number Two tampers with Number Six's dreams to discover where his loyalties lie.

We're going way back to the third TV episode here, though it feels much more at home in the KTEH order. It features the same Number 2 as The General, providing one of the few solid bits of continuity in the show. We also get the rare reminder that there is someone more powerful than Two, and they are most displeased with how difficult it has been to crack Number Six. Results must come soon, or he will most certainly be replaced.

This opening scene alone guarantees the episode's spot in the middle of the order. It makes sense that tensions would be running high, especially now that Number Six has been shifting his strategy yet again. He isn't trying to escape, nor is he mildly fucking with their minds. Now he is devoted to fighting back and dismantling their traps, hoping to destroy the establishment and gain victory from the inside. We saw this in full force in The General and to a lesser extent in The Schizoid Man (they put him through the ringer, but he ends up getting their man killed, and only a minor verbal gaffe botched his escape). Now it continues as Number Six wages his battle within the confines of his own mind. The Village has created a drug that allows them to observe and modify a person's dreams. They intend to use this to place the dreaming Six into a party along with three people he might have revealed his resignation to, in hopes that he'll play out the scene again without realizing that it is all in his head (and that it is being watched).

The scenario may be a familiar concept, but it is one that can be used in so many ways, all depending on what any given writer believes about the power of dreams. I expected a little bit of back and forth from the players, but instead Number Six easily figures out what is happening, and sabotages the second and third nights of testing. In the end, he completely humiliates Number Two, and all we learn is that his theory - that Six planned to sell everything he knew to the highest bidder - was incorrect.

The problem I have with this episode is not that Six gets the upper hand, but that the way he does so feels cheap. He gains a small victory in Schizoid Man because the Village did not expect him to put together all the pieces. He won in The General because they didn't expect him to get inside help. These are both fairly plausible mistakes to make, and aside from them the Village still had most angles covered and considered. Here, they lose because they didn't expect Number Six to notice the puncture wounds in his arm, or that the characters in his dream were acting out of place. Their security got so poor that they allowed him to follow a doctor into the testing chamber. The Village is lazy here, plain and simple, and I can only wonder if it is the result of inattentive writing, or something deliberate. Maybe they want to show that this Number Two is letting his fear and obsession obscure his judgment, or that the entire system only appeared to be airtight, back when Number Six wasn't as intent on poking around where he isn't wanted.

This episode still manages to be entertaining thanks to the dream sequences (which are at times witty and dripping with 60's trippiness) and the small amount of continuity that we get. But I feel that this episode doesn't suffers the most on its first viewing. There's nothing here to anchor it down. Previous questions about the Village were inconsequential. It didn't matter why they did anything, because it always worked. But now that Six is altering his strategies, the changes to the Village are reactions rather than plans, and reactions always have consequences. Without knowing whether they'll step up their game, the episode ends with the feeling that it is missing some context that only the rest of the series can possibly provide. In other words, up until now The Prisoner has always dealt with the "good questions" that manage to thrill and entertain regardless of whether they are answered. Now I am getting that uneasy, "what will happen next time?" feeling that comes from the "bad questions" that make a show feel stilted and incomplete. I am fully confident that these feeling will go away by the next show, and that I'll feel a lot better about A, B, and C once I have completed the series. Let's hope I'm right.

Edit - There's a comment in the AV Club's blog reviews that says

"I can't help but recognize that A, B and C is... really good? I just never CONNECTED to it, you know? Not in the same way as Schizoid Man or Dance of the Dead."

While my choice of episodes would be different at the end, this sums up how I felt about A, B, and C as well

The Prisoner - The General

2009-11-29T15:25:00.005-05:00

Episode Name: The General
Original Air Date: November 3 1967
TV Airing Order: 6
KTEH Airing Order: 8
Summary - An important prisoner's new speed-teaching machine poses perhaps the greatest threat to Number Six's independence.

The General popped up frequently in my research of the show, and it always reminded me of Chinese food (which makes me hungry), and the song of the same name by Dispatch (which makes me think of shaggy haired undergrads struggling to play some chords on Thursday nights in college). Neither of those are feelings I like to have, so it will be nice to finally get this episode behind me.

The Schizoid Man made the first mention of the General, and by the end of this story we learn exactly who he is. Until then, we see the entire Village become obsessed with "Speed Learn", a method of instantaneous learning allegedly created by our mysterious General, and taught by another Villager called The Professor. Number Six learns firsthand how well Speed Learning works, which naturally worries him. Any device that can teach so well can also be used to brainwash. What follows is what some fans consider a low point in this series, as it goes against what they consider to be the point of the show. Number Six gets genuine allies, and the final conflict involves feeding an unsolvable question to a super computer (you didn't think the General was going to be an actual person...). In a show that focuses on the struggles of one man against society as a whole, it seems odd to throw Six and some one time use characters into a plot straight out of Star Trek, or so the fans say.

I'm not sure if I entirely agree. The General shows sides of the Village we have never seen before. The Professor and his wife, for example, are neither captives or guardians, but rather voluntary citizens doing a job. We see a rare male spy/ally, whose interactions with Number Six are much different than what we have seen before (interesting to see that he is identified as Number 12, which was the number of the main antagonist in Schizoid Man). And it still highlights an important theme of the show - how technology advances faster than society can learn to use it. Speed Learn appears to be a more powerful and efficient method of learning than any traditional form of lecture, but all you really end up with are students who can fire off facts without any comprehension of what they mean. It isn't a form of education, but rote memorization. It does nothing for the pupil, and it can even take away from the importance of the subject matter.

As someone who is only a few years removed from the world of education, this hits close to home. I can still remember all of the students who could memorize everything they needed to in order to pass a test, but couldn't remember any of that material by the time they graduated. I saw my own brother struggle to write a good college essay, because he was told that anything he wrote in high school would be graded based on how well it fit a rigid, five paragraph structure. I read a sample from a decade's old elementary school exam that was considered a "real" test by some commenters, simply because it asked students to name the people elected to obscure government positions. Everyone argues about the right way to educate people, but few can let go of their love of rote facts. The General touches on these dangers, and even glimpses into the future's absurd, touchy feely approaches to education (a Villager who is sitting upside down is said to be "discovering a new perspective").

Finally, The General reminds us that no matter how robotic and procedural the Village is depicted to be, it is still run by and populated with human beings, who have flaws and dark sides and everything in between. It shows us the Education council that wishes to use Speed Learn for their own means, and it uses Number 12 to show that these mysterious elites can have a change of heart. When the ending conflict leaves the Professor dead, we are reminded that his wife will be left behind. The Prisoner may explore the human condition, but there are certain human qualities which it forgets to focus on, and The General brings them into focus, if only for a brief hour. While it is true that the 60's cheese may make repeat viewings difficult, the underlying messages are as strong as ever.

The Prisoner - The Schizoid Man

2009-11-24T22:07:00.005-05:00

Episode Name: The Schizoid Man
Original Air Date: October 27 1967
TV Airing Order: 5
KTEH Airing Order: 7
Summary - Number Two replaces Number Six with a duplicate to weaken the real Six's sense of identity.

The KTEH ordering is starting to make a lot more sense. The initial batch of episodes always seemed appropriate, considering they all show a Number Six who is new and naive to the machinations of the Village. But now I see that the ordering is also the reason why so many of the episodes followed the same basic structure of "Six tries to hatch an elaborate escape plan that fails". Apparently this too was intentional, and luckily worked along with the other ordering rationale. But ever since Free for All, we have been in a new arc, which can best be described as "The Village tries to fuck with Six's mind in order to break his spirit". I only realized this after figuring out that the last episode, Many Happy Returns, was also just another elaborate mindfuck. The Schizoid Man continues the trend, only this time it doesn't try to hide from its intent.

That intent is a classic storytelling device - the evil twin/Bizarro impersonator. Six is faced with a double, one who claims to be the real deal. Only The Prisoner cannot use such a simple storytelling device without putting its own twisted stamp on it. It does so by putting the real Six through a gauntlet of psychological conditioning in order to convince him that he is the double and that the impostor is genuine. This isn't actually too confusing, though after reading some breakdowns of the episode, it appears that some folks thought that Six was sufficiently brainwashed into thinking he was an impostor. I didn't see this at all. He knows what is going on from the start, and tries to reveal the truth. The problem is that the Village has gone to great lengths to make the real Six look fake. This in turn causes him a bit of psychological trauma, but it isn't so much because he believes he is fake, but because he isn't sure how they managed their trickery. Eventually he figures it out, and uses it to hatch a hasty and failed escape.

If Free for All was a taste of the Village's methods, and Many Happy Returns was a twisted bit of benevolence, then Schizoid Man is an attempt to make Six forget his old identity and embrace his role as, well, Number Six, by forcing him to want to the role back from his double. By doing this, perhaps the Village believes he will be more willing to integrate into the system and eventually talk. We know that won't work, but this is another piece of filler that takes an entertaining concept and uses it to further the show's cause. A bit of a mindbender, but certainly a good one.

PS - after writing it, I didn't think this summary did the episode justice. I just found a remark from an AV Club commenter that I believe is important to appreciating it. The user said that, while you always know what is happening throughout the episode, you never feel absolutely certain about it. There is always something in the back of your mind that tries to make you doubt what seems to be the obvious truth. I felt the same way, which means that Schizoid Man essentially makes the viewer feel the same way as Number Six. That's as powerful as TV can get.

The Prisoner - Many Happy Returns

2009-11-24T13:11:00.008-05:00

Episode Name: Many Happy Returns
Original Air Date: November 10 1967
TV Airing Order: 7
KTEH Airing Order: 6
Summary - After waking to find the Village deserted, Number Six returns to England but doesn't know whom he can trust there.

In case you were wondering, the summary for Many Happy Returns is not a joke. Number Six does find the Village deserted, and he does return to real old England. As you might guess, he also winds up back in the Village. What happens in between makes for one of the more difficult episodes to decipher. In a way, the plot is structured similarly to The Chimes of Big Ben, the difference being that this time, he actually gets to London. But it also feels entirely different. Very little of the episode takes place in the Village, instead focusing mainly on his journey. There is action at sea, adventure on land, and very little dialogue overall. When he gets home, there is all sorts of technical chatter as he and his old friends try to determine the location of the Village.

Many Happy Returns feels more like an episode in a classic spy show, and I suppose that there is a reason for that. This is the first episode in the KTEH ordering that was not part of McGoohan's original seven, and in fact all of the episodes from here on out are part of the extra ten shows, save for the final two. With that in mind, it is understandable that it feels like there is little going on. But I do feel that there is some reason for its existence. It exists as a character piece, showing us just how good of an agent Six was in his former life, and how he behaved when he was at home working with his mates.

There is also one major point revealed at the end, when one of Six's colleagues has a line that says something like "he is an old friend, a man who doesn't know when to quit." This single utterance gives us the most important clue about Six. He is good at his job, but he can easily become single minded in his pursuits. This gives context to his early escape attempts, and why the Village is always able to get him back. It may even be another clue as to why he resigned (he was already a part of a system he wanted to be rid of). Six is a smart man, but he is flawed, and these flaws are why he cannot be free, no matter where he goes. And even if he were rid of those flaws, the nature of the world is such that there may no where that is free from the control of the powers that be.

At this point I thought it would be appropriate to mention another aspect of 60's television production. Back then, TV viewers rarely watched every episode of a show every week. This is why an episode like this one can be similar to Chimes, and why the show would have been hurt by having stricter continuity between episodes. The Prisoner can be trippy enough as it is, let alone if it relied on last week's story to make a lick of sense.

Many Happy Returns might be our first example of filler, but you could do a lot worse. The quiet scenery within is beautiful, and where previous episodes brought feelings of fear and despair, this one has a subtle but overwhelming sense of hopelessness.

The Prisoner - Free For All

2009-11-24T12:12:00.006-05:00

Episode Name: Free For All
Original Air Date: October 20 1967
TV Airing Order: 4
KTEH Airing Order: 5
Summary - Presented with the opportunity, Number Six runs for election to the post of Number Two.

Interestingly enough, every single ordering of the show I found other than the KTEH order have Free for All appearing earlier in the list. I can see why this is the case. The episode features both a mention of non alcoholic alcohol (as seen in Chimes) as well as Six intention to discern who is a captive and who is a Guardian (which he does in Checkmate). Still, I have an idea as to why it is slotted here, as we will get into shortly.

This episode was written by Patrick McGoohan under a pen name, and leave it to him to give his show a kick in another direction, at least for a brief duration. Number Six learns that it is time for the Village to hold its democratic elections, and that if he wants to, he can try to run for the office of Number Two. In fact, he pretty much has to, as there is no opponent to Two, and everyone thinks he would be an ideal candidate. This puts the character between a rock and a hard place. Six knows that the role of Two changes constantly, and that any election that the Village would hold would be a farce. It would seem silly to try and play along, but he knows that they would make him do so anyway, and perhaps he feels there is a chance he could indirectly sway the Villagers toward his cause.

During the initial phases of the campaign, Six learns just how much of a joke the election is. He is bombarded by reporters who create their own news when he refuses to comment (and put down no comment when he has something to say). This information is in turn printed immediately into the newspaper. We know the Village has complete control over every aspect of life, but here we see it in action.

It doesn't last too long, however, because Six eventually plays into the trap that was set for him all along. After a tense and disturbing scene, he is brainwashed into approaching the election with the utmost seriousness, promising the citizens things that he would never agree to in his normal state of mind, and quickly becoming the favorite candidate. Throughout this time, he occasionally snaps out of it, and during these bouts of fear and confusion we see him try and fight back. These attempts are futile, and by the end of the show the replacement Number Two has him carted away like a looney. The ending of the episode was fairly clear - the election was held solely to remind Six of just how much power they have over him, and that in the end, they can make him do whatever they want, short of extracting his secrets. If he doesn't want to experience something like this again, he will need to talk.

The Village has never been this rough on him mentally, and it is almost painful to watch. McGoohan does a fantastic job of making it appear that Six's mind is a mess of thoughts and emotions, and while there are two clear moments when he breaks free of the brainwashing, there are other times when it is not so obvious, where it looks like his true feelings are coming out while under the spell. If this is the case, however, who is to say that this is not going on when he is towing the party line? This is why I think the episode works well in the five slot. At the end of Chimes, Six narrowly avoids falling into a trap, and walks away defiantly. In this context, the events of Free for All act as a sort of revenge from the Village, to remind him who is really in control here.

All in all, Free for All has so much going on. We get commentary on voters, candidates, the absurdity of elections, and the power of government. Most importantly, we get a lot of psychological trauma that I found to be down right scary. In a way, this has everything you could want from The Prisoner, save for the spy games and action of other episodes, but in another way I feel this is the make or break episode. After both Free for All and Chimes, there is danger that a modern viewer may give up. If you watch these two episodes with a desire for every scene to have a logical explanation, you will be beyond frustrated.

This is where one must realize that The Prisoner is not about logic. Not everything will fit together neatly. Perhaps this is due to production issues, or the difficulty of creating a show that was so unique for its time. But in the end, much of it is intentional. It isn't that The Prisoner wants to confuse you - in fact, I would say the intent is quite the opposite. It simply assumes that the viewer has enough intelligence to understand what is important and what is not. For example, the question of why Number Six would choose to run for office is not important. We know as well as he does that there is little choice in the matter, or if you chose to watch Free for All earlier, you might assume that he does so out of naivety. Either answer works. The important thing is what happens later, what it means for Six, and what greater points about society the show wants to impart on the viewer.

This is why The Prisoner is so brilliant. Depending on what order you watch it, and what you bring to it, there are many bits and pieces that can be interpreted and analyzed however you wish. They can have different meanings for different people. But there are certain big picture concepts that each episode aims to tackle, and each of these different paths winds up at the same place at the end. The show is saying "you can deal with these parts however you want, but I expect you are smart enough to figure out the main thrust." It doesn't matter what the answer to any given question is in the end. If you walk away from Free for All feeling a bit more depressed about the nature of government, if you feel the same sense of dread as Number Six, if you are on the edge of your seat waiting to see when the Village might push him a little farther, then you have "gotten" the episode. And if you ask me, it was an episode worth "getting".

The Prisoner - The Chimes of Big Ben

2009-11-24T11:20:00.004-05:00

Episode Name: The Chimes of Big Ben
Original Air Date: October 6 1967
TV Airing Order: 2
KTEH Airing Order:
Summary - A new prisoner, Nadia, may have information about the Village that makes an escape attempt possible

The "official" second episode pops up a bit later in the KTEH ordering, but it honestly would work just fine where it was. I say this solely due to one fascinating scene between Six and the new Number Two. Unlike his colleagues, who sometimes carried out their tasks in a workmanlike fashion, this Two is very much in love with the concept of the Village, and makes this known in a conversation by the beach. He mentions that, aside from its purpose in extracting top secret information, the Village is in a way a prototype for a new civilization, which he hopes to see spread throughout the globe as under the command of a New World Order. It is a chilling exchange, filled with excellent lines (the entire episode has a great script, really), and it works to enrich the setting and context of the show, something which works best early on.

I mentioned in the last post that I was wondering whether the show was going to mix up its formula, and I can say that Chimes does not. Six still tries to hatch an escape that looks under the radar, but is in fact allowed by the Village. The plan is again inspired by interactions with a woman spying on him. He looks towards the sea for his freedom. I suppose I could start railing on the show for this repetitiveness, but in all honestly I can't bring myself to do so. Part of the reason is that I realize how influential the show has been over the decades, and that many of the more sophisticated stories I have seen are only so in part because of writers and producers inspired by The Prisoner. The other reason is that no matter how many of these basic aspects of the episode structure remain the same, they never play out the same way, and there are different themes to explore every time. There is always something new to chew on with each new entry, and that is something that easier said than done in the world of TV.

With this in mind, there are two important moments in Chimes, one that makes it a very crucial episode. The first is when Six enters his piece into the Village arts and crafts competition, which is in fact the boat he plans to use for escape. He talks directly about the ideas of freedom and escape to his fellow villagers, who nod their head and smile in appreciation, without ever remarking that his thoughts might be dangerous. Hell, they never even realize that the sculpture is very obviously a boat! Chimes discusses the concept of freedom more than any other episode thus far, but the reactions of the Villagers juxtaposed next to it are what make it so vital.

The second crucial moment is at the end, when Six gets as close as we have ever seen to revealing the nature of his resignation. In the end, we do not get it, but his first sentence is enough of a clue that we can make a safe guess as to what it might be. Combined, these two scenes dig into a core idea of the show, in that we never know what is going on in the minds of the Villagers. Are they really that naive, or is it all a ruse? Is Six escaping because he tricked his captors, or are they giving him a false sense of power? How much of what we see is premeditated, as opposed to being a reaction to Six's ingenuity? It isn't always easy to tell, for him or for us, and we see just how much of a problem this is going to be. Number Two was this close to getting the information he wanted, and all he had to do was let Six think he was outsmarting and outrunning the Village on his quest for safety, and let him get closer than ever before towards escape. If there is one clue we can garner, it is that the Village, while crafty, can make mistakes, as it is a very minor oversight that prevents Six from spilling the beans. It is a brief, last moment hint that his adversaries might not be as perfect as they appear to be, and it only makes future conflicts that much more intriguing.

On a final note, there is a striking bit of character development at the end, when Six reacts to his recapture with nothing more than a smile and a wink. He isn't comfortable in the Village, or happy, but he knows when to admit temporary defeat, and he does not give the Village the kind of rage and desperation they want to illicit in him. Getting out will be a challenge, but in the mean time, he might as well fuck with them.

The Prisoner - Checkmate

2009-11-21T15:36:00.004-05:00

Episode Name: Checkmate
Original Air Date: November 24 1967
TV Airing Order: 9
KTEH Airing Order: 3
Summary - Number Six thinks he has a means to tell the prisoners from the warders, and assembles a group for an escape attempt.

Checkmate continues the trend of logical episode reorderings. Number 6 still takes a brute force approach, asking people he runs into basic questions about the Village and the identity of Number One, even though we know that nothing will come of it other than canned, Orwellian responses from the citizenry. An early scene shows a game of chess played with human pieces, in which the players (sans 6 and his questionee) believe they are playing with some semblance of skill and tactics, rather than simply following orders of the two players. Quite frightening, especially when one of the players makes a move on his own, and is taken away for "reconditioning". The Village really does have a hell of a vicegrip on its populace. The mental conditioning continues when they take 6's new friend and potential ally, and brainwash her into a "lovestruck" spy.

However, Number 6 is starting to learn, and amidst all of this he begins to try and recruit other Villgaers to help him escape, by determining which citizens are captives, and which are the Guardians that keep an eye out on everyone. The plan goes off with little complication, and 6 is able to keep away from his spy with startling efficiency. Everything looks to be going all too well, and by the time the escape is "finished", we discover that this quite is true.

Checkmate's ordering as episode 3 is a double edged sword, depending on how you look at it. It is the third time in a row that a woman has been used as some sort of bait, as well as the third time that Number 6 has looked toward the sea as a means of escape. We also get an even better peek at how much control the Village has on the minds of its captives. A pattern is starting to form, one that risks repetition. On the other hand, it makes sense to place them in this order. We can explain Number 6's actions as the result of him still testing the waters, coupled with his continued (but lessening) underestimation of his situation. The same can be said for the Guardians and their mind tricks. We'll have to see if the plots start mixing it up in the future.

Despite the feelings of retread, this episode was a good one. Even though we know the scheme is going to fail, it is difficult to hold back those feelings of "he's going to make it this time!" Checkmate's chess based symbolism is also an obvious but much needed allegory that helps reinforce the idea of the Village, as well as the show's opinions on government control.

Next episode goes back to the second show in the TV ordering. Will we get the same old song and dance, or will something new pop up entirely? You'll have to come back for the next post.

Be seeing you....

The Prisoner - Dance of the Dead

2009-11-18T19:57:00.006-05:00

Episode Name: Dance of the Dead
Original Air Date: November 17 1967
TV Airing Order: 8
KTEH Airing Order: 2
Summary - Number Six tries to save an old friend headed for destruction at the hands of the Village.

Dance of the Dead marks the first time that the KTEH ordering deviates from the original TV airing, and as such I was nervous as to how well this whole episode shuffling business would work. I suppose I am simply used to modern shows with strict continuity and cannonical underpinnings (not to say that The Prisoner is marred by any lack of this strictness). In any case, I'd say it worked out pretty well on a whole, save for the first five or so minutes. The first thing to throw me off was the modified introduction, which apparently will be used from here on out. After that, we are treated to scenes that suggest that the leaders of The Village have been continuously experimenting on Number 6, and that he has grown rather accustomed to his new place in life. This is quickly shattered when he eventually reacts to a situation in his home by saying "I'm new here". From here on out, he once again begins to act like a newcomer, someone who doesn't know all the answers and believes that his escape is all but guaranteed. If you shrug off the opening scene as being a bit of In Media Res storytelling, you can see that shifting this episode to the 2 slot is a smart move. I can't imagine that the original second episode would fare better (though I'll find out two episodes from now!)

Another reason why this is a good ordering choice is the sheer crudeness of the scheming. Number 6 is still relying on little to no planning in his escape attempts, and Number 2 and crew try again to use a woman to spy on him (which didn't work out too well the first time). Both sides appear to be underestimating each other, but that notion is thrown away once the Carnival begins. The Village Carnival is the focus of the episode, and it is important for several reasons. First, it gives us more insight into the villagers themselves. We learn that they actually ordered to have fun during the festivities, though every time this happens, the looks on their faces are anything but cheery. I'm not sure if this was an intentional bit of direction, but the villagers react to the Carnival with a kind of indifference that borders on sadness. I won't go so far as to say that they are all unhappy with their lot in life, but they certainly look broken. There's no real happiness here, only orders to do one thing or another, which they carry out without question.

But their tone changes dramatically at the end of the party, when Number 2 and crew reveal just how quickly they learn from their mistakes. Number 6 is put on trial for breaking an important rule, which is a bit surprising considering he broke it right in front of 2 and his Observer. Apparently is wasn't going to go unpunished. In fact, the trial is over almost when it begins. 6 is found guilty of his crimes, and his sentence is death by the people. The result throws the villagers into a frenzy. They immediately go from gloominess to sheer joy, as they form a mob that happily chases Number 6 through the Town Hall, every one of them eager to kill him. The trial is also strange in that his Observer servers as his prosecution, even though we see just how much she regrets the idea of 6 being slain. No matter what she feels, she still must obey her commands. They way both she and the other citizens change their tone on a dime is creepy as hell, and shows just how powerful the rulers of the Village are.

But it isn't even the strongest example. 6 doesn't die, of course, but he is only saved due to Number 2, who takes one of 6's rescue attempts and uses it to fake his death. At first, I thought this scene brought everything together, but after a few days I changed my mind. On one hand, it is chilling to realize that the people in control of 6 are also his main protection. Yet the ending doesn't make sense. If the villagers are told that he is dead, surely they will realize that he is walking around afterward. And reversing the sentence would never happen. The only solution to this plot hole that I can think of is that their minds are so flexible that they can quickly be convinced that everything is alright sometime later, and that the whole exercise was meant to remind 6 of just how screwed he is.

In the last post, I mentioned how I was looking for that episode that would hook me in, and Dance of the Dead was it. Despite the oddball ending, it showed the twisted, trippier side of the Village, and ended with the feeling of hopelessness that I was waiting for. All I could think of at the end was that I needed to see just what else they would try on Number 2, as well as whether or not he would change his tactics. We'll have to wait for Episode 3 to see what happens.

Be seeing you...

The Prisoner - Arrival

2009-11-18T18:59:00.003-05:00

Episode Name: Arrival
Original Air Date: Sept 29 1967
TV Airing Order: 1
KTEH Airing Order: 1
Summary - After waking up in the Village and discovering his captivity there, Number Six encounters a friend from the outside who may have a possible escape.

So here it is - the one and only first episode. We get to see The Village and its inhabitants, which are at once peaceful, creepy, and full of fab 60's era style. We also learn just enough about Number 6 and The Village's plans for him to whet our appetite, but it isn't enough to spell anything out, or worse yet, confuse us to the point of frustration. By the time the episode is complete, we are treated to multiple escape attempts and double crosses (with just a bit of action sprinkled in for good measure). Arrival gives you a taste of the many things The Prisoner offers, from the thrilling to the exotic.

However, I might argue that all of these little tastes fail to add up to a full meal, and they aren't exotic enough to get you hooked. What I mean is that there is nothing here that makes you wonder what will happen next, nor is there anything trippy enough to entirely appeal to one's retro curiosities. It is good enough to convince you to watch more, but perhaps not enough to instill that "just one more" sense of addiction that a good show can produce.

That being said, I really do think it is a fine standalone episode. Despite the fact that the crew had a leisurely 57 minutes of show to work with, they manage to cram in so many events and so much information without it feeling like a rush job. When I first watched it online, I stopped around Number 6's first escape attempt. When I started it up again, I realized I was only halfway through! If they had ended the show there, I would have been satisfied, but the fact that it kept going allowed Arrival to do an even better job of establishing just how skilled the guardians of The Village will be at keeping our hero captive. I understand that television programs these days cannot run for so long, but it does wonders for the plot and pacing.

Actually, I should clarify on the "rush job" remark. One of the more jarring aspects of the episode was how quickly it cut from one scene to another. At one point Number 6 is invited by Number 2 for a chat later in the day, and the next thing we know, they're sitting down to talk. I can't say it is bad way to handle things - better to cut to the chase than to add some unnecessary scene in between - but it takes some getting used to.

So there you have it. A fairly straightforward, but no less exciting introduction to The Village. I can't say that the show's purported magic is on full display here, but it did convince me to dig deeper. In the end, you can't ask for much more in a first episode.

PS - Apparently The Onion AV Club did an episode guide of their own leading up to the AMC Remake. I'm promising myself to only read them after writing my own posts, so as not to affect my own views and opinions.

Be seeing you...

The Prisoner

2009-11-18T17:26:00.006-05:00

I learned about the cult classic TV show The Prisoner on the day that Patrick McGoohan passed away. After seeing some clips, I realized that, in fact, I had seen it before, in the form of homages and parodies in other pieces of entertainment. I also learned that the full series was available for viewing on line on AMC.com, as something of a preparation for their eventual remake.

Said remake just finished airing, and in the time between these events I only managed to watch the first episode of the original Prisoner. It wasn't that I didn't enjoy it - I simply struggled with the idea of watching every episode from the uncomfortable position of a computer chair. Months went by until I eventually forgot about it almost entirely.

Thankfully, the remake rekindled my interest, and this time I intended to be serious about it. Looking online, I discovered that my delay was a blessing in disguise - the show has been recently released on Blu-Ray, with remastered footage and a bunch of extra content. And so I did what I have rarely ever done - bought a television show on disc. Considering The Prisoner is considered one of the best cult classics of all time, I think it will be worth it.

From here on, I will be doing a small post for each episode I watch. I'm not sure if I will discuss them with or without spoilers, but I will warn everyone ahead of time. I'll try to get them out as soon as I am finished with each one, though it might take longer if I decide to rewatch certain episodes with commentary on.

With all that said, a few more remarks before we get started -

- The show was originally envisioned as lasting just seven episodes, making it more of a proto miniseries than a full television show. However, the studio bankrolling it wanted more, and so a compromise was made at 17 episodes. This means that there are only 7 which, as the fansites declare, "actually matter" in order to understand the plot.

- When the show originally aired, it was not done so in the correct order. These are the only things I have been able to ascertain in regards to this:

The only episodes that were shown in the proper order are the very first, and the final two
The seven important episodes have something of an official order
No one is sure about the rest
Various fan groups have created their own preferred orderings that they feel work best, though they admit that many of them can be ordered in whatever way the viewer wishes, in order to examine certain themes or ideas

For the purposes of my viewing, I'll be using the ordering made up for public television station KTEH, which is "reportedly approved" by series creator Patrick McGoohan.

That's it for now. It should be interesting to see where this one takes me. Be seeing you...

Foooseball

2009-09-28T11:22:00.002-04:00

After Week 3 of NFL play, the only thing I feel like talking about is how much the NFL is getting me down. Specifically, I feel this year the league's TV presence is getting less and less PC. Usually, network personalities have to be incredibly fair and even handed. Everyone team has to be made out as having talented players and coaches, where every loss is a struggle (but not one that can't be overcome). As the season goes on, this starts to fade, but there is always optimism for next year! Even if these announcers do not directly work for the NFL, you get the feeling that they all have to tow the same line in order to stay on air.

I'm not getting the same feeling in 2009. I'm seeing pregame guys call the Browns "pathetic", plain and simple. There may be no arguing against that statement, but I still found it shocking. On the other end of the spectrum, I have heard more people use the nickname "Tom Terriffic" in regards to Brady than when he his team were division leaders. That could easily be the result of me not paying attention, but perhaps part of it is that they are afraid of people getting off the Patriots' bandwaggon, and are trying to do some damage control. Whatever happened to all of that love of parity?

The problem here is that there is too much football coverage. As such, the networks have to find things to talk about for far longer than anything needs to be talked about. This brings out conflicting ideas, and also allows each person to bring out their biases as they scrape for every last ounce of commentary. The answer, at least for me, would be to reduce the length and quantity of football programs. Let the networks' pre and post game guys come on for a half hour before and after the games, and during half time. No more coverage starting at 11:00 on Sunday, and then throughout the week. Leave the heaviest coverage to the local market networks and newspapers. Those guys may have biases, but we expect them there. I don't mind see lots of worship for Brady if I am up in Massachusetts, but he is one of the last things on anyone's mind here in Maryland. Don't assume we want to suck on the League's proverbial member because you're getting paid to.

An a relate note, football has been silently evolving into something more white collar for a while now, and every year this reality becomes more evident to me. I finally understood the concept of TV blackouts, and then saw it in effect (or rather, I saw nothing) when the Lions beat the Redskins. The sport is in a weird position where it both demands and spends a lot of money, in an economy where the fans cannot. This may work for a while, as the moneyed classes continue to "enjoy" the sport as a social event, but they are a fickle crowd who will never devote any loyalty to a team. You still need your diehard fans, and all I see is an NFL which is pushing them out of the picture. I love watching the game as much as anyone, but if I had to live without it, I could do so. Maybe one day I will do it by choice rather than necessity.

Netbook

2009-09-21T13:00:00.005-04:00

...aaaand the reason I made my last post was because I recently had a successful time purchasing a brand new netbook. I have been looking to get one throughout 2009, so that I could get work done from the comfort of my couch, while still conversing and chilling with the roomates, instead of locking myself to my desktop upstairs. But I remembered my past purchasing gaffes, and hesitated to look for the right netbook for the job. I knew which brands were good, but which of those brands' models were the best? Which could I afford? Would I really benefit for finding one online? Did it matter if Linux wasn't preinstalled? These questions caused me to waffle over and over again. The solution was to stop thinking like a techie.

My g/f has a $300 Acer Aspire One, which I have had experience with, and which I found to offer enough power and features for the price. So when I found the similarly priced and speced EEE PC model at a retail outlet, I got it right then and there. No debating whether I should price compare online for an MSI Wind, or wondering if I would be content with Windows XP. I knew the EEE was a popular brand, and I knew it would offer the power I needed. I bought a new Flash drive to go along with it (holy crap memory is cheap), and that was that.
I don't care what anyone says - it was a good choice for me. The EEE is a great little piece of kit, with a crisp screen and enough power to suit my needs (and if not, a RAM upgrade will do the trick). Since I will not be using it as a primary PC, I don't mind having to trash and reinstall the OS on it if it ever starts to slow down. Bottom line, I will get years out of this netbook, and that makes it a worthy choice.

My only complaint was how tricky it was to get Linux running on it, though I understand that this is a silly thing to say when dealing with Linux. The problem is that the model of EEE PC I got has a newer set of ethernet/wireless hardware than previous versions, and support for them isn't built in to every distro (or at least not Ubuntu and even plain Debian). My final solution was to install the ethernet drivers (ignoring all the errors that come from them - they actually did install), update, reinstall with a new kernel, and finally dive into a backport repository to fix wireless. In the end, I got regular desktop Jaunty running at a great clip, and learned a lot along the way. A successful afternoon of hacking if I ever saw one.

So now the EEE is exactly where I want it, and I can't wait to play around with it in the coming weeks. Work has been extra busy as of late, and I'm thinking this will allow me to better unwind at home, and also keep me out of my bedroom for anything but sleeping (which is supposed to help with your sleeping). Wish me luck.

PC Hardware

2009-09-21T10:56:00.003-04:00

Today I want to talk a bit about computer hardware, as a preface to the next topic I want to write about. After buying my college desktop back in 2003 (still my best and most thought out purchase), I have made every mistake in the book when it comes to buying computer parts, accessories, and everything in between. I have been suckered into buying "deals" that were actually rebate hells. I have bought on impulse rather than shopping around, causing me to overpay or get a lower quality product. I have bought on impulse without looking at what I needed, leaving me with hardware that was incompatible.

Most of this stems from the fact that I don't keep up to date with the latest and greatest tech when I am not in the market for it, and when I am, it typically means that something has broken, and I need a fix immediately. So of course I do not do any research - I cannot, or sometimes do not want to wait, and since I haven't had any time to save up money, my only requirement is that what I buy is cheap. The pricetag is the most misleading labels on a product, and burned me time and again.

The other problem is that no one makes buying hardware easy. Taking your time to do some research and comparisons will always help, not simply because you spend the time, but because spending that time forces you to spend even more in order to cross reference and check everything you read. Because that glowing review you read for a video card is guaranteed to be contradicted by a few others. Meanwihle hardware focused sites and message boards will have their own opinions, most of which are of little use for people who don't upgrade their hardware on a yearly basis.

Once you find the "one", that one answer to all of your troubles, your excitement will immediately diminish once you find out that it is either too expensive, too crappy, outdated, or that the true best product is out of your price range. The best video card I ever bought was the Radeon 9800 Pro. It took me almost a year, and a genuine price drop, to determine that it would meet my needs. My younger brother spent two months trying to research his own college PC, asking me questions almost nightly.

I am not trying to say we should not spend time looking into major purchases, but I do think that it is possible to overthink them. That is because the Internet can be a a hindrance as much as it is a help to shopping. For example, 'net denizens are often suspicious of premium, name brand products, which they fear (or simply know) are ripoffs . This is great when dealing with companies like Bose or Monster Cable. But there are other situations in which the reverse is true. PC enthusiasts will always recommend the highest quality RAM for your computer upgrades, and there are specific brands they chose for this purpose. If you stick with the former mentality, you will be screwed over by the multitude of cheap Chinese wares that flood even good sites like Newegg. If you go with the former, you will most certainly be swindled one time or another, and you will always have that doubt in your mind that you could have spent your money more wisely.

My solution to this dilemma is evolving, but it currently involves two major steps. First, never run out and buy non a new piece gear right away. Wait a while - a year if you have to - in order for the technology to get better and for the market to grow. Doing this successfully requires being happy with what you have, or if you have none, then being able to live without for a little while longer. Thankfully this isn't hard to do - any tech junkie that tells you otherwise is acting like a brat. The second step is to try and take good care of your hardware, including learning how it works and how to troubleshoot it. I almost trashed my (now six year old) college PC because of malfunctions, until I found out that a cooling fan was unplugged and that it was dusty as hell inside. I used the same tiny Flash drive for five years thanks to painter's tape and a sharp eye (so it doesn't get lost). A little bit of DIY can go a long way.

I have a third step that I am not quite prepared to believe in - sometimes it is worth going with the name brand for the sake of convenience and security. Can you find an MP3 player that is better and cheaper than an iPod? Of course. But I can finally see why people clamour for them. They just want to listen to their tunes, and with millions of iPod users out there, they can be confident that it will allow them to do just that.

I guess this can all be distilled into saying "when in doubt, play it safe." Now all I have to is follow through with future purchases.

Football Season

2009-09-14T09:13:00.002-04:00

Not much to talk about with the start of the current NFL season. It was an exciting enough first week, but it will not be indicative of how many teams perform down the stretch.

What I did find interest in was the simple, though oft repeated remark by ESPN's Bill Simmons about how football, a typically blue collar sport that captivates most of the nation, has become a white collar event, at least if you want to see it live. Tickets are pricey, parking is pricey, food is...pricey, which has been the case for long enough. But now you have teams charging for seat licences to help pay for and raise the profile of their pricey new stadiums. Meanwhile, the economy is making it so that longtime season ticket holders cannot afford their seats, and longtime waitlisters may not be able to act on their one and only chance.

As Simmons has pointed out, this leads to a situation in which homefield advantage means very little in some fields, where the only people who can afford to go do not really care that much about the team. The people who do are at home watching on a nice TV (which, while pricey, is easier to save up for than tickets), or at the bars. That's not the best situation for America's Game to be in. Thankfully, Hi Definition and good camera work can make the home experience pretty intensive. But how this obvious sign of class division can continue to go on without anyone really noticing or caring is more than a little unsettling.

Pleasant Surprise

2009-09-07T22:42:00.002-04:00

I just finished playing Wheelman, a fairly standard looking GTA clone starring Virtual Vin Diesel. But while the game might look unnecessary on the surface, Diesel's luck with the Chronicles of Riddick games rubbed off on it.

I won't go into a full schpiel until I write the review, but suffice to say that Wheelman ditches a lot of what has bogged GTA down over the years, in favor of a straightforward action film script, and missions that do their best to constantly elicit the excitement of a good car chase. Oh, and it doesn't make you travel to your mission every time you attempt it. The game isn't as memorable as GTA at its very finest, but ends up being worthy by not being full of itself.

I find myself gravitating to this kind of game lately - something stupid and relatively quick that I can start and finish on the weekend. I like to have momentum with any game I am playing, and when the work week leaves you with little time or energy, this becomes difficult. I might log 15 hours into an RPG during a light week, only to find it collecting dust two months later, when I have forgotten where I was and what was happening, and ultimately do not continue. With a simple action game, I can usually beat it in a handful of sittings, and if not, it can probably be polished off with an or two on Monday night. Worst case scenario, I call it quits, and guess how the cliche plot ends. This leads into the other advantage - this system plays well with Gamefly. I can get a game on Friday, mail it back on Sunday, and get another one the next Friday. The games spend their time in the mail on the days that I can't give them attention, and arrive exactly when I can. Plus it means I can get my money's worth from the service, while spending less on purchasing games (which I will then not play).

Most importantly, I find myself getting tired with everything else. I have played too many RPGs with piecemeal plots or 50+ hours. Too many games with OCD driven tasks. Too many highbrow, artsy titles that aren't actually fun. I still believe in the medium's ability to be something bigger than cheap thrills, but most that shoot for this lofty goal still come up short, and I do not have the time for that anymore. Give me the cheap thrills so I can actually stop thinking for a brief period during the week, and maybe save some money to be spent on other areas of interest.

I'm not abandoning gaming, but when life changes, sometimes your hobbies have to adapt.

Just Walk Away

2009-09-01T20:41:00.003-04:00

Dammit, it happened again - I fell out of love with a gaming forum that I thought I would never leave. I lost count of the number of times this has happened, though I think I have finally figured out why it happens to me. It all has to do with the nature of the Internet.

Say you have a small, intelligent message board that somehow explodes in popularity. The arrival of new users of varying degrees of posting quality will eventually bring down the board's overall quality. You can't really stop this trend, however, so I find that the best thing to do in this situation is to move on and not lament.

Another scenario is that the board is part of a massive community website, in which users come and go quickly, and the idea of a "regular" is measured in the span of months. This causes the nature of its content to fluctuate, so that it will have "good" and "bad" periods of various lengths. The trouble here is that you never can tell where the forum is heading towards. You may join in when it is great, only to see it devolve into endless list threads. Will the next influx of regulars turn it around into something interesting? Or will the lists simply give way to something else that is aggravating? Usually it isn't worth finding out.

There is one more situation I am thinking of, and it applies to the forum that I am currently at. We often lament how the internet is hampered by people who are varying parts hateful and unintelligent, but just as troublesome is its ability to shelter us from the people and thoughts we do not want to hear from. When a community is so small, so tight knit, it tends to become insular and warped. Without fresh blood or fresh ideas to challenge the status quo, the members simply reinforce each others ideas until their belief becomes unshakeable. They also end up repeating themselves. You will hear about the same games time and again, and you will read the same debate play out exactly like it did a month or two ago. You can get to the point where you can accurately guess what news will be worth creating a post for, what people will say, and how others will respond. It becomes boring, and as the users keep going through the motions, they become caricatures of not only themselves, but the people they claim to avoid on the internet. The hate, the sarcasm, the snark all creep in, and they can't even tell that it has happened.

This time, I don't think I will go about looking for a new board to post in. If I find one, terrific, but if not I have plenty of good offline relationships to spend my time with. And if I do find myself on another one, I should be able to walk away before it gets on my nerves.

Pink Floyd

2009-09-01T13:04:00.006-04:00

In some cases, getting into a classic rock band is a straightforward process. You hear a couple of tunes you enjoy, do some research to find out which album people consider the best (or at least the best to start with), and check it out. If you like it, you do some more research and add to your collection.

But with some bands, this process is not so clean cut. Maybe they have too large of a discography, or their albums are a dizzying mix of live and studio recordings. Maybe they had distinct eras in which different members put their own spin on the sound. For me, Pink Floyd was one such challenge. I have had genuine exposure to them since I went to college in 2003, and it is only this year that I have grown to have an appreciation for their music. For many of the above reasons, as well as a few others, I found them incredibly challenging to "get into".

For starters, you have the fanbase. Even in 2009, every college campus has at least a few stoners who absolutely adore Floyd and all their works. These folks will easily expose you to them, but their passion is so great that it is difficult for them to recommend a good starting place for budding fans. Your other option is the radio, which isn't any better. Most classic rock stations rely on small stable of Pink Floyd songs which they reach for whenever they come up on the playlist. It mostly consists of tracks from Dark Side of the Moon and The Wall, with a handful of other tunes from the rest of their catalogue. Not only are these radio safe songs unable to demonstrate the band's full talent and style, but it is easy to grow tired of them. To this day, I still can't listen to Money. I believe that this overexposure was the major factor in keeping my interest in Floyd down for years. In any case, for a long while, I was completely indifferent to Floyd. I respected them as a major force in classic rock, and I would pay lip service to die hard fans that I talked to, as I knew enough about their history to sound like an expert. But deep down I had no urge to take a serious look at their music.

The solution to my troubles was purely accidental. I was driving around with my roomate for a few long trips, during which we listened to The Wall and Wish You Were Here almost to completion. Sitting there, being able to listen to these works the way they were intended to be heard, was the key. I had nothing to focus on but the music, thus all the subtleties and mezmerizing sounds were unlocked. I listened to them a few more times on my own, and I went from being indifferent to at least being interested. Then I purchased and listened to Animals on my own, and after that I was hooked.

Or at least, I would like to think I am hooked. But the only albums I have mentioned so far compromise the band's "Big Four", the releases which saw their best commercial success, and which many people think of when they think of what defines the Pink Floyd sound. But there were releases afterwards, when the band was in turmoil, and even more from before, when they were going through changes in their lineup and musical styles. I still haven't explored these offerings, and if my research is any indication, there is no guarantee that they will click with me in the same way. But for once I am willing to take a chance, and at the very least I have an anchor point. It took a long time to get to this point, but the journey was more than worth it.

The Best

2009-08-27T10:55:00.002-04:00

Last night I had a very random revelation - for almost every era of your life, there is someone who will tell you they are your "best years". Which made me wonder why they felt so, and if there are so many differing opinions, is any of them truly the best.

High School - High school is often considered the best years of your life because it is a time when you are young, carefree, and most definitely curious. It is a chance to make memories and build friendships without having to shoulder any responsibilities. Or so they say.

But these days high school involves a lot of work, at least if you plan on attending college. It also involves growing up and making mistakes. Most importantly, I think high school is our least permanent time. We don't tend to keep our HS friends, or stay in our home town. Many of us will move up or down on the social ladder. Our favorite music at the time often doesn't last with us by the time we are 30 (this is opposed to our favorite things from childhood, which often stick with us due to stronger nostalgia). High school is an important time for growing up, but the years later are when we will learn more pertinent life lessons, and when more important goals can be achieved. I often feel that those who miss their HS days are the folks who peaked at that time, and have struggled to make something of themselves ever since.

College - this is another time without full responsibilities, with the added benefit of often leaving home for the first time, as well as the eventual ability to drink. Unlike high school, this is the time where one can fully take advantage of the wonders of youth.

Looking back, I have great memories of college, but I still wouldn't call it the very best of times. The problem with this period is that the experience is different for everyone. Some of us go in with mom and dad footing the bill, and can take more than four years in order to dick around with a liberal arts degree. Others have student loans to pay, and absolutely need a job after gradtuation. What your situation is will largely affect how much of your college years are filled with work or play, and the kind of school you go to will also have a great impact on what you end up doing. College is far more important than secondary school in regards to one coming of age, but it can be a bumpy road.

Post college - this is the time in which I find myself in right now, and in a lot of ways it is fantastic. I have money to spend, and no one to look after but myself. This is the time wherein one can bask in luxuries that one cannot have while raising a family, as well as a chance to maximize your free time with activities that are a bit more active than staying around at home all the time. But I find that this is only half of the picture. All that money still comes from a job, one that may or may not involve a lot of hard work and long hours. Often I find myself unwilling to leave the house on the weekends due to fatigue, nor do I have the ability to stay up until the wee hours of the morning. This is when real life kicks in, and that means you have responsibilities which cannot be avoided. I think that those of us in this age group are acting out on the last dredges of immaturity, trying to recapture the excesses of college in a time when they should be coming to a halt. We don't want to become old and boring, but we also fail to accept why it is that people become old and boring. Here's a hint: it is a good way to get through life.

Old Age - This time is supposed to be for when you are retired, and can finally sit back and worry about nothing but yourself.

I haven't reached this point yet, but I imagine that whether or not it is the best time of your life depends on your health. And wether or not all your hard work led to a position in which you can tackle all those things you never had time to do. Otherwise....I'd rather not think of otherwise.

Lastly, I wonder if maybe the best time of our life isn't middle age. Sure, we regret what we missed out on, and regret having to continue to do so. But it is also a time during which we have learned enough to prevent making the mistakes of youth, and when we still have enough years to complete a goal. It all depends on whether or not one is willing to start striving for something again. I'll guess I will know in about ten years.

In the Studio

2008-06-24T07:46:00.005-04:00

These days, I often find that the kids absolutely love live music. A music fan should always appreciate, say, an accoustic or live version of a great song, especially when a good ban improvises or changes it. For example, a lot of live recordings of Jimi Hendrix are staggeringly good. Aside from their clarity, they often consist of some crowd noise, an intro from Hendrix, and then a string of rock without interruption. You can hear the man play, and any doubt of his talent goes away. The Who's Live at Leeds is another great disc, as the band goes apeshit on some songs, and are practically their own unique versions.

But sometimes live music has its own problems. Not when you are there usually, but if you are listening to it on CD. When you are at the show and the whole crowd is singing along with the lyrics, it is a damn good feeling, as everyone gets lost in the music. But go ahead and record that, taken completely out of the moment. Usually that doesn't sound too good to me, especially with a lot of the jam bands that college folks fawn over, where the singer sounds terribly lazy and/or stoned and the audience seems to do more singing than they do (John Mayer can also be placed here). I came to hear the performers show off their talents, not to hear how much of a fan you are. I'm not blaming fans for that, as I would be doing the same if I were with them at the show. But that's one reason why we go to the show, rather than listen to an album at your desk. There is a certain magic that comes from live performance, and trying to capture that on disc is impossible. Some would disagree, and so they continue to listen to really poor recordings and bask in the placebo affect.

What got me thinking about this were some musings on the opposite of the stage: the studio. When it comes to recording music, the studio can be a blessing and a curse. Some bands have used the technology and the variety of instruments one can fit into a studio and used them to great extent. Sgt. Pepper was recorded with a variety of experimental recording techniques, and the amazing drum sounds in When the Levee Breaks were made by placing John Bonham in the bottom of a stairwell. Also, while I'm not a huge fan of Radiohead, I appreciate some of the comments made about recording Kid A, where the band felt that the recording process involves so many different steps to get from mic to your speaker, that it is silly to say that the sounds of a recorded guitar are any more real than something generated electronically. In the end, it is all music, and we should not fear the studio if it means the sounds you hear were not naturally produced by a human plucking a string or hitting a key.

The dark side to this is that the studio can also destroy and deceive. Technology allows a smart studio to create an image around a person, and alter their voice into a perfect sound. It also allows engineers to participate in the so called "loudness war", where dynamic range is sacrificed in order to make songs louder. It can be difficult to determine what a performer can really do, or whehter certain affects were even their decision. What is genuine, what was cobbled together? Maybe we are missing out on some rich sounds? Because of these issues, more and more people seem to be afraid of studio music. I feel torn about the issue; as a lover of technology, I recognize the benefits and dangers of it, but I do not feel like innovation should be held back by an insistence on analog, vinyl, and everything in between. When it comes to music, the importance is how it sounds, more than how the sound got there.

Post holiday slag

2008-05-27T07:54:00.002-04:00

It was a lot of moving, but we have a new roomate in the house. Having three bachelors in the house should either be fun or miserable. I'll let you know in six months.

I have been tuned into the concept of the "Bro" subculture. Apparently this terminology has been in use among the kids for a while. For some reason, folks my age used the term douchebag for the popped collar, hemp neckalce wannabe frat boys of the world. Bro is a better indication of their lifestyle however, leaving douchebag free as a general insult once again.

I find these morons fascinating, and could write a whole blog post about them, but who wants that? Instead I will just remark that Bros, unlike some of the frat members of old, aren't particularly good at anything, and seem to live their life because rich parents of today don't push their children to follow in dad's success. Also, the Bros would rather not admit they are in high society, which causes them to take working-class culture and bastardize it in an attempt to be "just one of the guys". Meanwhile they are still free to practice the racism and apathy that comes with their true position in the world.

The Mets are particularly despicable as of late. I stopped talking about them because they became unexciting early. That is not to say I stopped watching (the boxscore) each night, but you don't need to hear how they lost or barely won every day.

What frustrates about this team is how there is no accountability. Players perform awfully, the manager makes boneheaded decisions, and all we here about is how they need to win games, get a good streak going. It never happens, and no one seems to be looking for ways to make it happen. They all seem to think it will drop out of the sky. Few of them get angry, few of them take true responsibility. Half the team should be benched right now, just to show them what happens when they play to collect their paycheck and nothing more.

We don't desrve this play, or the cookie cutter excuses that come with it. How long can we last like this?

Cruminess

2008-05-20T21:33:00.002-04:00

I finally saw V for Vendetta in its entirety this week. Every bit and piece I saw before bugged me, but as a whole I'm almost afraid of how popular this film is. For one, I now know that the excuse that it is at the very least a good action film is a poor one. There are few fight scenes, and they all end very quickly. So all we are left with is the political angle, and that is what bothers me.

I'll use the quote from Alan Moore himself, as it sums it all up quicker than I could in this blog:

[The movie] has been "turned into a Bush-era parable by people too timid to set a political satire in their own country… It's a thwarted and frustrated and largely impotent American liberal fantasy of someone with American liberal values standing up against a state run by neoconservatives—which is not what the comic V for Vendetta was about. It was about fascism, it was about anarchy, it was about England

And yet I know so many young people who think their eyes are opened from this film, as if they are not one of the sheep. They don't look at the destruction of Parliament in horror, and I think they should. The building is a symbol of Republic, and their is no indication that the government of the film is using it for its own twisted means. Rather than the people using it as a symbol of hope, they watch it explode. If another nation's film blew up the Capitol building in the same context, would we be so happy? Chalk one up to all the world conscious Gen Y'ers.

This film is too easy. Its themes are too obvious, and no one should be pointing to it as a way to awaken others minds. If people don't know the problems in the nation today, the better thing would be for you to explain it to them. And I cannot emphasize how sad the ending is. That the only time us modern day pukes will protest is under the mask of anonymity, when we know that we can't be singled out and pinned down. Because we are too spineless to admit we stood behind a cause. I'd like to see hipster 20 somethings (or anyone else) protest against armed guards. It wasn't long ago when many blacks still alive today did just that.

More Music Ramblings

2008-05-18T17:05:00.004-04:00

More music talk to bother you all with.

Much was said about the great experiment that was In Rainbows by Radiohead, how it made a ton of money with its "pay as you want" online price scheme. I find myself confused at the business side of the album - I haven't listened to it, and thus won't judge its quality.

What I mean by the business side is twofold. First, if I recall correctly, the band has stated that they likely won't release another album in this style; it was merely an experiment. I suppose this is part of their style - do something amazing and new and crazy, and then move on to the next thing. But it still bothers me, as it suggests they really don't care about changing the industry as much as they wish to outdo everyone else in order to keep their crown as Band the Hipsters Can't Ever Hate.

This was reinforced in me when I saw the album in a store. All it consisted of was a cardboard sleeve, the kind that looks like something your PC Gamer demo disc comes in. No real jewel case, and it isn't the nice foldout cardboard cases that Millencolin has been apt to using. Just a cheap sleeve. Oh, but the tracklisting on the back uses crazy letter spacing. Quirky +2. I suppose the retail version was never the focus, and so it didn't warrant any attnetion to how it was presented. But, as I find myself collecting more and more physical music, I like being able to keep it in something a little less flimsy. This shows just how little we regard physical media compared to digital downloads, which really doesn't have to be. CD prices and quality have affected the industry, but that is not the fault of the albums themselves.

Meanwhile, as Radiohead goes with stunts, Nine Inch Nails continues to explore various release formats for their music, both digital and non. Ghosts I-IV can be downloaded, but it was also released in a nice CD format, and even on vinyl. Their belief in giving fans options, and putting effort and craft into everything they produce speaks volumes more to me, even if I don't really listen to their music.

I keep going back to this list of the greatest rock artists, and every time I learn a little more. I love the idea behind it, but what I am learning is just how out of touch Rolling Stone and others in the modern music industry are. Everyone is going to have bands they would like to see on the list - Queen and Pink Floyd come up most in the article comments, and I would at least agree to Floyd being a neccessity. What bugs me more is their insistence on putting talents from other genres on the list. Dr. Dre is not rock. Neither is Eminem. The fact that Britney Spears wrote the excerpt about Madonna is enough proof to say she isn't rock. By putting them on this list, as opposed to a list of great rappers, allows glaring ommisions like Floyd to exist.

Also, the list has some clear biases, some of which I agree with, though I don't credit it to RS being smart. There is little in the way of prog. rock on the list, and pretty much none of the stadium rock of the 70's. The former is why Floyd fans are up in arms, and I agree with the latter. I cannot deny an enjoyment of bands like Boston, Journey and Foreigner, but they have never inspired or moved me, and a lot of output from that era is unlistenable to me (see Kansas), or can only stand so many repeated listenings before I need a break.

Ninja?

2008-05-11T12:27:00.005-04:00

No, this isn't a thread about cliche ninja jokes. Yesterday I stopped at my favorite Gamestop in Maryland, which may seem like an oxymoron, but I promise is true. The reason for this is that it has had the same manager since I was in college, and he seems to run a damn tight ship. Back in school, I could get new games without preorder. I got the Tekken arcade stick with game for $30. I could have gotten Symphony of the Night for $25, but that no longer matters. They never bug you for reserves at checkout, the rarest games are often there, and they're always in good condition. Well, except for that copy of Tony Hawk's Underground, but they let my return it and pick which replacement disc I actually wanted to go home with.

Anyway, while I was there I felt compelled to buy something. True enough, I got Shinobi and Nightshade for $12 total, each disc in good shape, and each with instruction manuals. A bit rare for sub $10 games, but all the more worth it.

Anyway, back to Shinobi. Among the 3d action genre post-Devil May Cry, it is one of the most forgotten. This puts the game in fine company, along with titles like Gungrave Overdose and God Hand. However, with most games in the "action graveyard", I can think of a few good reasons for their lack of success. Gungrave was an unknown entity, and probably scared off some players with its anime stylings. Overdose was also $15, which is the kind of budget price that can give the wrong impression. As for God Hand, there were too many people slobbering over Okami to give a look at Clover's final game, and God Hand requires an actual understanding of beat 'em ups to enjoy its simple yet elegant system.

But what happened to Shinobi? The game is the resurrection of a classic series that many a gamer has fond memories of. Just like Ninja Gaiden. It features a new character taking the place of the old hero, wearing a sleek modern outfit. Just like Ninja Gaiden. It combines ninja acrobatics with very difficult combat.

Just like Ninja Gaiden!

When I saw NG's use of multicolored orbs to replenish health, magic and money, I knew Tecmo was taking a clear cue from Onimusha and Devil May Cry, but I never realized just how much of their re imagining of Ninja Gaiden mirrors Shinobi, which came out two years prior. If wikipedia's history of development is accurate, the many shifts in NG's creation would make it feasible for Shinobi to be a source of inspiration. Or should I say blatant copying.

Do not take this as me being bitter. Even if I end up enjoying Shinobi, I don't see it being better than Ninja Gaiden. I tr and recognize originals, but I am not about to laud them as superior in an attempt to seem hardcore and edgy. The point of all this is that Shinobi had many of the same pieces that its more successful rival did, right down to the finicky wall running mechanics. The reason that one soared and the other stalled probably has to do with what they did not have in common. Shinobi was considered graphically competent at its time of release, but certainly not a powerhouse. The game is focused on delivering the same linear progression from level to boss as its predecessors. It is a modern look at an old school game.

Ninja Gaiden on the other hand is still a showcase for the power of the Xbox. It was a technical marvel, offering slick graphic and smooth animations. It looks stylish and gory, giving players a reason to improve beyond getting to the end of the stage. It offered multiple weapons to master, rather than relying on the same sword/shuriken/magic combo of old. NG also opted for open environments and rudimentary lock/key puzzles, which gave players an added sense of depth, even if it is somewhat unnecessary. All of these qualities can also be found in Devil May Cry and God of War, the other two powerhouse action franchises. The lesson here is that no matter how challenging or deep your game is, it has to look and feel just as sharp in order to get people's attention. Ninja Gaiden was able to do that, thus it has some mainstream recognition.

Which just goes to show you that most people who say they don't care about such silly things like polish and graphics are probably lying.

Update: Played some more Shinobi. I think I also know why the game couldn't aspire to much. It is a good challenge, at least when aiming for speed and accuracy, but Devil May Cry looked better and had deeper combat a year before. It is a little too stuck to its old school roots, whereas NG tried to reinvent itself based on the formula laid down by DMC. Shinobi has its own drum to beat to, one that not every gamer is going to care for.

Millencolin - Machine 15

2008-05-06T15:13:00.002-04:00

Machine 15, the new album by my favorite band Millencolin is out, and I have shocked myself by not buying it immediately. As the band that help me break out of musical limbo, I have had an unwavering devotion to their new releases - it was never a matter of 'if' or 'when'. This time however, I got to listen to it in its entirety on their Myspace, and that was all I needed to know the album wasn't up to snuff.

It isn't easy for me to say that, but on the other hand, it makes sense. As the album name implies, the band is 15 years old now, which is ancient by just about any standard. Sure there are old bands from the 60's that are still touring to this day, but how many of them have put out new and relevant material? How many of the most famous bands from the 90's to today have lasted that long while producing quality music? It is rare, and so it seems only natural if MC is on the decline.

While every band has problems for different reasons, MC's seems to be directly related to their age. That is, they'er older, and this is affecting their work. Nikola's lyrics have gotten more and more serious post-Pennybridge, which led to some fantastic, edgier stuff on Home From Home. But it seems he is brought the mentality he uses with his solo work to Machine 15. His solo albums are filled with sappy love songs that tread the same tropes and themes we have heard a million times. It made me realize that he can be a lot weaker as a lyricist than I previously thought, at least when he isn't focusing on the wacky, more youthful topics of classic MC tunes. When bringing this sappy flavor into Machine 15, we are left with lyrics that sound awkward and obvious. They take you out of the song and almost make you cringe.

Worst yet is that there are a few fantastic tracks. Brand New Game is a clever retrospective on the band that name drops a lot of their past songs and will test your MC knowledge. Detox is their required catchy single, though this time there doesn't seem to be much else with a similar tone on the album.

I'll get around to Machine 15 some day, but it doesn't make me hopeful for the future. Nikola must find his inner teenager; if the band can take its wild and carefree lyrics of the past and combine them with their musical prowess as adults, we could be in for a treat. On the other hand, you could say that the Kingwood album was exactly that. Maybe it really is time for MC to wind down.

Green Schmeen

2008-05-04T19:17:00.002-04:00

Here is an example of the kinds of things my alma mater does already, that make me trust their future plans even less. The newest issue of the alumni magazine talks about efforts to be more environmentally friendly on campus. Part of this comes from the new, "green" dorm building, which they are proud to trot out. But on seeing the cover of the mag, a friend remarked "if they are so worried about being green, why are they replacing the Campus Police's Rav 4's with Ford F150's?"

I've got my federal rebate check, and I'm not sure what to do. Ps3? Or pay off a chunk of student loan? If I go with the PS3, should I roll the dice with a used 60 gig from an Amazon Marketplace vendor, or just wait for the mostly compatible 80 gig MGS4 bundle? I like the latter simply because it'll give me the one game I want to play immediately, and as long as a few important games play on it, I will live with what compatability I get.

But again, financial responsibility. Shit, I could also spend it all on furniture (which I have none of a year after moving in). I like feeding my passion, but should it trump the essentials?

When you're a bachelor, the rules are a little skewed.

2008-04-29T20:12:00.002-04:00

Here's a pic of my roomate and I's game bounty for the month.

One is a game that will be under printed, under appreciated, and will likely double or triple in value on ebay three years from now. The other will be the best selling game of 2008 and is said to be capable of destroying Hollywood.

The best thing is, I like 'em both! Still, this is about as polar opposite as you can get in the gaming spectrum (barring those icky "casual games").

To elaborate, both games surprise me. I am still shocked that P3 FES is out in the States. An expansion pack/director's cut from Japan for an Atlus game that could only sell moderately well? Perhaps the support of the Atlus faithful succeeded. I am also amazed to see that while Best Buy put the game on shelves a week late, they seem to have it in healthy quantities. The PS2 rack in any store is getting shabbier by the month, and yet BB has been amazingly on the ball with rare games on all platforms.

As for GTA, I haven't played it yet, but I am watching my roomie go through some of it. I am impressed with how reserved Rockstar is with the game, at least "reserved in a certain sense". The back of the box, the interface, the mission titles are all presented in simple, clena fonts with no fanfare. I like this approach with lots of things, and it seems appropriate for this reboot of the series.

Also, while the game comes with the usual fold out map of the city, the actual manual is amazingly thin. While I understand that the big publishers want to keep costs low (and thus cut manuals to the minimum), it is a sad state of affairs when we are surprised to see GTA's instructions in color. Contrast this with the game right next to it. True, the FES manual seems to be slightly cheaper paper and somewhat blurrier than P3's, but it is still in color and contains all the major information, despite its budget price. Not to mention that P3 itself came with a chunky manual, a soundtrack CD, a hardcover art book and a large cardboard sleeve to put it all in, all for $50. Take Two, your cheapness is unnecessary. GTA deserves better.

Stringy

2008-04-21T08:14:00.003-04:00

I had a whole long post thought out about this one, because I knew that some people reading may snicker and make comments to themselves. Also, stupid things about "feeling the music". Then I stopped caring and all was good.

Here is how I scratched a long standing itch.

Have fun snickering

Ch-changes

2008-04-17T20:53:00.004-04:00

My alma mater is attempting to change its name, and you wouldn't believe how much controversy it is causing.

Some explanation is in order. Loyola College has, technically, been a university for a long time in terms of what it offers students. It has several different schools, as well as a graduate program. Despite this, the "college" moniker has stuck, and previous efforts to change the name to "university" have been shot down. As a result, the school has been in a unique position. It is the only Loyola College in the US - all other schools with the name are "Universities". We have the loyola.edu domain name. Compared to the others, we stand out quite well. With a good reputation and some improvements, the school could easily develop the same Cult of Personality that surrounds Boston College.

So what caused this vote to pan out differently? There are a few reasons, and it just goes to show how depressing our academic systems are becoming.

For one, the college is playing the same games that many other institutions are in order to improve their reputation. They strive to increase the numbers and stats that are important to attracting attention from other schools and prospective students, and they wish to grow in size at an "accepted" rate, regardless of how fast they can actually grow based on geography. It is a constant game of one-upsmanship, and it has not gone unnoticed. When Newsweek or others print their yearly handbooks for getting into college, there are often articles discussing this issue and others. Quite frankly, it is not hard to make the comparison here. This kind of competition is what you see from corporations.

This analogy to corporate culture goes further. This time around, Loyola is making its changes under the guidance of a marketing firm. This does not sit well with me. For one, I hate marketing folks because so many of them seem bad at their jobs, completely missing what their target audience wants and making a laughingstock out of their client. Two, the ones that are good have no room in their minds for truth and morality. The College insists they will not forget its history and goals in this push forward, but that is exactly what will happen. The marketers will tell them to push all the issues that Loyola makes half hearted attempts at fixing, such as their sad approach to diversity issues. I also doubt that the sciences and other smaller fields of study will be given much thought.

Sadly, since I saved this post as a draft, the vote has passed and the name change will carry on through. The only ones I know who agree with it are current students, and the reasons I have heard from them are so shallow as to be rendered moot. All we alum know is that we are going to have a diploma for a school that no longer exists, and in the future we will have to explain where we attended rather than it being (somewhat) plain as day.

I look forward to seeing how much further away from its white - upper middle class values it will go.

Forgotten items

2008-04-10T09:46:00.002-04:00

A good article here on ESPN about how Barry Bonds has left the minds of pretty much everyone in the sporting world. Aside from a few quick "will barry be back?" roundtables on TV analyst shows, he really has been gone. I think the coverage of him got to critical mass, to the point where even the people cramming it down our throats got tired of it.

Or maybe it is something else. Maybe everyone is so ashamed of how they let Bonds and others run rampant and tarnish the baseball world, that they wish to pretend it did not happen. If that is the case, then it seems rather dangerous to me. We cannot simply forget history simply because we do not like it, and the fact that no one wants to admit the media circus that they created around Bonds means that they will do it again. It also shows just how little care the media has for the stories they cover. I still find myself horrified of the coal mining incident where every news outlet reported that there were survivors, only to find out they ran with an early and innaccurate report, and that they were all dead. No apologies, no egg on their face. I was disgusted and I didnt' even lose a loved one. All because they're so bored not covering real news that they had to fill in all their airtime with every juicy morsel.

In lighter news, I finally pushed far enough into Persona 3 (meaning I just got through the game's first month - five hours in!) that I "get it" and its system. All of my fears of failure are washed away, and now I'm pretty sure I can kick some ass. I can't wait to see how I fare on the final boss. My brother has been having constant trouble with it, and I would laugh at least a little if I could beat it in one sitting.

I need to write a new article on something. This is difficult when you haven't beaten a game in some time. Give me ideas people!

I should probably talk Mets somewhere in this post, as seems to be new tradition. All I can say is that I wish I had the power to evenly distribute their runs scored. If they keep up this pattern of "score pitifully and lose 3-1, or light up the bats and win 8-2", we're going to have last season's slide through all of this season. We can't have streaky hitters, and we can't dish Johan a loss when he gave up one run. They need to fucking wake up and fight harder at each at bat.

oy

2008-04-08T10:31:00.002-04:00

Reason number 302 why digg blows my mind
As of now the digg difference between these two 778-231.

Here's a link to the comic, which is essentially some stoner who can't draw blaming everything on the president, as if he controls everything right down to designing the Ad Council's anti drug ads.

Remember kids - the shit floats to the top

2008-04-07T07:40:00.002-04:00

Slate.com has an article about how Countrywide is still up to its tricks after helping melt the housing market. I don't understand it all, and there is lots of debate in the comments section, so I won't pretend to know what I'm talking about.

So I will look at something a whole lot simpler. Take a look at this picture from the Slate article. Look at that Countrywide sign. Am I the only person who finds that a little disturbing?

Hear me out. Look at its primary colors, its simple shapes. It reminds me of building blocks and preschool. It is simple and welcoming, like a pat on the head to a six year old. These are the messages associated with a massive company that deals with insane amounts of money. I don't know about you, but when I am dealing with a bank I appreciate some semblance of seriousness about them. Instead, Countrywide wants to paint itself in childish simpicity; seriously, the portrait place in Walmart has a more professional sign. It creeps the hell out of me. I feel like this is how little they regard its customers. Hey there stupid, you want a home right? The American Dream? We'll get you there. Just trust us. Meanwhile behind the scenes they screw everything up and get off scott free. It is incredibly insulting that this is how they try to disarm and distract us, and that it actually worked on so many folks. I hate the blanket statement of "I wish everyone else wasn't dumb", as it really is disingenuous, especially with the housing market. A lot of what happened was due to lender's duping people, as much as we claim it was due to families trying to live beyond their means. I just wish people weren't so obsessed with being coddled and praised and leisured, otherwise this kind of marketing would fail miserably.

The Orioles have a better record than the Mets. I hope this isn't a trend.

Rain

2008-04-04T09:27:00.002-04:00

The highway I take to work is generally quiet. Not that there isn't anyone on the road at all, but there is not enough traffic to cause slowdown. Every one goes into Baltimore, and we the few go out. As such accidents are rare.

This morning I saw two, one which caused all but one lane to close, the other blocking off the on ramp to a major exit. Now it could be sheer coincidence, but maybe not. You see, yesterday it rained in Maryland. And if you drive here for even a few months, you will know that somehow, locals treat driving in rain like they would an ice storm. In most normal areas of traffic, steady (not heavy) rain means people go 65 if they're confident, 60 to be sure, maybe 55 if your'e really afraid of hydroplaning. In Maryland 55 is the top speed, and no one drives without braking constantly and for no reason. It took me twice as long to get home yesterday, which is exactly how long it took me to get home during the "worst" snow of the winter.

All of this for rain.

So if these two major accidents were caused by some strange post-rain conditions, where the drivers forgot that it the ground was still moist, it would not surprise me.

It seems the spell checker in the beta version of Firefox 5 does not like contractions. Now I know geeks like to be grammar Nazis, but this is getting ridiculous.

A Daily Post

2008-04-03T09:42:00.004-04:00

Last night's win is the way it should be - tons of runs against weak pitching. I'm doubly pissed now at the game 2 loss. Pedro had the worst outing so far even before he left the game hurt, which makes me worry about him when he returns, and the fact that the team scored nothing against the Florida bullpen is absurd after they put up another five or so runs late last night.

If we can sweep Atlanta and give them an 0-5 start all will be forgiven.

Played Brawl online last night for the first time. The lag is inexcusable. Fuck you Nintendo, because somehow I doubt you will try to improve it in any way. I'm getting a bit tired of their current philosophy that as long as the Wii and DS keep selling, they don't have to worry so much about customer satisfaction and product improvement. Guess I'll have to drag people to my house the old fashioned way :)

I just learned that California is at least one state that does not want public schooling to be a legal option for children. Here is an excerpt as to why:

A primary purpose of the educational system is to train school children in good citizenship, patriotism and loyalty to the state and the nation as a means of protecting the public welfare

I still can't get over how scary that sounds.