Some Top 10 Lists from Fellow Bloggers I'd Like to See

The wonderful thing about the blogging village is there are scads of people with differing experiences and opinions on everything, and it occurred to me that there are a few top 10 lists I would love to see some of my peers work on because I would love to read their opinions on a few subjects.

Semaj or Jimmy Aquino: 10 Favorite Movie Scores: Both Semaj and Jimmy Aquino of A Fistful of Soundtracks are both people who have a lot of experience and love for the art of movie scores, and I would be very interested seeing how they boil down their favorite work down to a short list.

Lee: 10 Least Favorite Toys or Top 10 Favorite Comic Book Villains: Originally I was just going to have the Comic Villain thing, as Lee is a huge comic book fan, and as such, he would likely be able to produce a thought-provoking and interesting list all around. But then he posted about trying to sell a Marky Mark doll from Planet of the Apes, and I now have to know what are the 9 other toys that he has owned that he can't stand or was disappointed in.

Samuraifrog: Top 10 movies in a particular genre. As of late, SF has been doing quite a few lists including lists about his favorite Transformers and G.I. Joe characters and his counter list for Entertainment Weekly's recent list of the 25 greatest active directors, and given the breadth of his film knowledge, I think he could make some interesting observations on genre cinema.

Jeremy Barker: 10 Favorite Pop Cultural Last Supper references. Over the years, Jeremy has done a lot of blogging work around representations of the Last Supper in pop culture, and I would be very interested in knowing which ones represented his favorites.

Of course, if someone made a similar suggestion to me, I would definitely consider it.

Tags: jeremy barker, samuraifrog, semaj, a fistful of soundtracks, lee sargent, quit your day job, electronic cerebrectomy, popped culture, entertainment weekly, planet of the apes, mark wahlberg

Sunday Night Video: Ping Pong

Warner Music made it very difficult for me to bring you this Sunday Night Video as they've really cracked down on their music on Youtube, but given the current economic circumstances, this Stereolab song seemed very appropriate and well worth my effort to show you.

And because the lead singer, Laetitia Sadier is French, here are the lyrics:

it's alright 'cos the historical pattern has shown
how the economical cycle tends to revolve
in a round of decades three stages stand out in a loop
a slump and war then peel back to square one and back for more
bigger slump and bigger wars and a smaller recovery
huger slump and greater wars and a shallower recovery
you see the recovery always comes 'round again
there's nothing to worry for things will look after themselves
it's alright recovery always comes 'round again
there's nothing to worry - things can only get better
there's only millions that lose their jobs
and homes and sometimes accents
there's only millions that die in their bloody wars,
it's alright
it's only their lives and the lives of their next of kin
that they are losing
it's only their lives and the lives of their next of kin
that they are losing
it's alright 'cos the historical pattern has shown
how the economical cycle tends to revolve
in a round of decades three stages stand out in a loop
a slump and war then peel back to square one and back for more
bigger slump and bigger wars and a smaller recovery
huger slump and greater wars and a shallower recovery
don't worry be happy things will get better naturally
don't worry shut up sit down go with it and be happy
dum, dum, dum, de dum dum, de duh de duh de dum dum dum... ah ah
dum, dum, dum, de dum dum, de duh de duh de dum dum dum... ah ah

This song was released in 1994... which is sort of prophetic really. I am sure some of you out there can also tell that they are Marxists as well.

Tags: stereolab, marxist, ping pong, warner music group, wmg, youtube, 1994, laetitia sadier

Week 46: Pageant of the Transmundane

A pony this week garnered a lot of attention this week. Why? Well, it has very short legs and a normal sized body, and passersby kept thinking it was somehow stuck in the mud. I am sure people seeing Verne Troyer for the first time assume the same thing.

Will this week's Homer Simpson Transmundanity Award winning entry equal or top that? You'll have to decide for yourself.

The winner this week is Samuraifrog of Electronic Cerebrectomy.

He discovered a comic in which the Watchmen take on roles in a very memorable ad campaign from my childhood.

And seeing as this week's winner is superhero related, well, it seemed appropriate that Pieman Homer makes an appearance. Stunningly appropriate.



Congratulations SF. Here is your badge.



The rules of this little contest: Every week I will be selecting one blog post that I have seen from the vast reaches of the blogosphere to bestow with the Homer Simpson Transmundanity Award for being one of the freakiest(in a funny way) things I've seen or read during a 7 day period. It doesn't necessarily have to have been written during the week, I just had to have encountered it. That means that if you find something interesting and repost it like a movie or whatever, if I saw it at your blog first, you get the prize. Of course, creating your own content is also a very good way to win.

Now, if you see a post that you think is worthy of this illustrious prize, just drop me a line at campybeaver@gmail.com and we'll see if we can't get your suggestion up and award-ready while giving you some credit and a link to your own blog.

Tags: homer simpson, pageant of the transmundane, sausage horse, samuraifrog, electronic cerebrectomy, watchmen, pieman, hostess fruit pies, richard nixon

The Culture Kills Music Podcast Episode 4

Well, that was a lot of work. I mean, this time out it seemed like a monumental task bringing this show to completion. And what was causing the delay never really got solved so there is a lot of background noise during my talking bits, which is something I wish I could have fixed, but I still don't have the kung fu to do it.

I am still dissatisfied with the end product, but since I made a promise to you all that if I didn't fix it, I would still post what I had, here is the 4th Episode of the Culture Kills Music Podcast.

The playlist for this show:

Fagan - Dante from Shipping Secrets
(Sugar Rush - Sol Records) Buy at Amazon MP3

Social Studies - The Dante Corey War from the EP The World's Biggest Hammer

Corb Lund - Horse Soldier, Horse Soldier from the album Horse Soldier, Horse Soldier

Bat for Lashes - Horse and I from the album Fur and Gold

Tree Wave - Sleep from the EP The Cabana EP (Read my Interview with the band as well)

The Squarewaves - Cosine (Do the Math)


You can listen to it on the embedded player below:


Of course, if you want to download it for future listening, it is also available in MP3 form (32 MB at 128 Kbps)

The Podcast is also available at Mevio, which has an RSS feed and additional listening options.

The music was provided by RCRD LBL, the Podsafe Music Network, Killbeat Music and Ioda Promonet, Tree Wave, and The Squarewaves.

And if you are an independent musician or represent a publicity or record company that makes music available for podcast and you would like me to know about it, feel free to contact me at campybeaver@gmail.com.

You can also revisit past episodes of the show.

Episode 1: The Pimps of Joytime, Triptic Winter, Val Emmich, Betika, Uma Floresta, The Squarewaves
Episode 2: Ekho, Little Name, Patti Rothberg, Dare Dukes, The Squarewaves, Social Studies
Episode 3: Kensington Prairie, Giant Brain, Kaiser Cartel, Sandy and the Surfsonics, Kraak and Smaak

Enjoy!

Tags: culture kills, music podcast, dante, fagan, corb lund, horse soldier, social studies, rcrd lbl, ioda promonet, horse and i, bat for lashes, tree wave, sleep, squarewaves, cosine, betika, pimps of joytime, podsafe, fur and gold, val emmich, patti rothberg, dare dukes, kraak and smaak, kaiser cartel

Another Reason I am not on Twitter

There are days when I almost break my vow not to join Twitter because I want to respond to something that someone has said on their feed, or just to see how many people I can get to follow me.

And then I read a story that puts things into perspective. Like the breaking celebrity news that the reason Jennifer Aniston dumped John Mayer was because he was ignoring her to Twitter.

That sounds like something I would do. I mean, seriously, I could see myself letting things like my interpersonal relationships slide because I just had to write one more thing on an online service.

And the think is, I don't have a business reason to use it, because professionally, most of the stuff I do isn't noteworthy enough to immortalize in 140 characters. Not to mention the fact that even though I blog, I am not the most intimate of people when it comes to my feelings and such online. And I am not as cool as Christopher Walken either.

So I am not ready to jump on to Twitter and ruin its credibility at the moment.

But I guess I am not alone, as Supernews also did something about Twitter recently.

Tags: john mayer, jennifer aniston, twitter, supernews, christopher walken

Express Checkout: Who You Gonna Call (Ghostbusters, Not LiLo or the Sellout)

• Lindsay Lohan is thinking about giving up acting entirely for a career in high fashion modeling. Am I the only one that suspects the reason she might be considering this change in occupations isn't because it will be more fun, but rather, because those precious acting jobs are no longer so plentiful, so modeling may be the only career available to her nowadays since she has burned so many bridges. I could say something rather cutting and crass about how thin she is getting, but I feel that would be really wrong.


• The producers of the upcoming Ghostbusters game have decided on the actress who will replace Sigourney Weaver, who opted out of appearing in the game... and they did manage to snag someone else with a recognizable name, but not the same kind of reputation for quality work. However, they do have experience working with the supernatural. I am of course talking about former Who's The Boss and Charmed actress Alyssa Milano. Personally, I would have thought verisimilitude would have trumped star power in this case, but I am willing to give them the benefit of the doubt in this case... she may indeed be able to pull off that voice.


• Well, it is official. Billy Corgan is the last man standing in The Smashing Pumpkins. Then again, when you think about all the positions Billy Corgan has taken in the past and his recent behavior, well, I would say the Smashing Pumpkins have been dead in the water for months. I would love to think that if 1995 Corgan saw the 2009 model, he'd kick his own ass. He was against using the band's music in commercials and had quite a few choice words about Live Nation and Ticketmaster in the past, and his modern counterpart has sold the song that he claimed helped him not commit suicide to Visa, a company that, let's face it, has probably been part of the reason that more than a few people have taken their lives. And while he was selling out, he was also championing the merger between Live Nation and Ticketmaster while taking time out of his busy schedule to publicly support the Performance Rights Act which would basically kill independent stations, the very stations which helped the Smashing Pumpkins get off the ground. I am expecting to read a story any day now that Corgan was caught punching babies in the face while kicking puppies and kittens.

Tags: billy corgan, smashing pumpkins, who's the boss, charmed, alyssa milano, sigourney weaver, ghostbusters, performance rights act, lindsay lohan, modeling, video games, visa, sellout

Sunday Night Video: Atom Bomb

I remember back in the days when music stations actually played videos, this little vignette got some decent airplay.

Yes, it is Atom Bomb by Fluke from the Wipeout 2097 soundtrack. Whee!

And yet I've never played a Wipeout game. Ever. But I do own this particular soundtrack, one of the few soundtracks I have (and the only video game related one I own), and this song is the reason why I bought it.

Tags: fluke, atom bomb, wipeout 2097, video, soundtrack

Week 45: Pageant of the Transmundane

Someone in Venezuela somehow fashioned a complete 42 piece dinnerware set out of cocaine to try to help smuggle the drug into Spain. Now that is pretty weird.

This week's winning entry was recommended by Maven during the week, and it is one of those cases where the whole is greater than any one particular small detail.

Basically, it is a blog that has one long entry, but the story is so fascinating and yet so bizarre, I had to recognize it.

In short, it was a long entry about one man and the weird relationship he developed with a character who was trying to scam him through email.

Now I had a little bit of a decision to make about this week's winner, since this week's winner was composed of one entry but at the same time, a whole blog as well. I decided that since the meat of this entry was the entry, it would win the Homer Simpson Transmundanity Award rather than a Krusty.

And since this week's winning entry has to do with running a con, well, Homer Simpson running a scam seemed to be the most appropriate image I could think of (and if you remember this episode well, you will note that he got counterconned, which is also relevant to the entry/blog in question).



Congrats A--- for astonishing me this week with your wild tale. I know you don't have any form of adornment on your blog, but here is your badge nonetheless. And thanks go out to Maven for bring this slice of oddity to my attention.



The rules of this little contest: Every week I will be selecting one blog post that I have seen from the vast reaches of the blogosphere to bestow with the Homer Simpson Transmundanity Award for being one of the freakiest(in a funny way) things I've seen or read during a 7 day period. It doesn't necessarily have to have been written during the week, I just had to have encountered it. That means that if you find something interesting and repost it like a movie or whatever, if I saw it at your blog first, you get the prize. Of course, creating your own content is also a very good way to win.

Now, if you see a post that you think is worthy of this illustrious prize, just drop me a line at campybeaver@gmail.com and we'll see if we can't get your suggestion up and award-ready while giving you some credit and a link to your own blog.

Tags: pageant of the transmundane, homer simpson, room with a screw, con, fraud, email scam, scheme, cocaine, 42 piece dinnerware, venezuela, spain

Friday Favorites: This Game Company practice has got to go!

Video game related posts have always been popular here at Culture Kills... at least from a writing standpoint (generally they end up being the least commented work I do). But there are times when something I wrote about the industry or a specific title remains relevant even over a long period of time, and this was one of those entries.
--

I have a little pet peeve, and I am sorry some of you have to go along for the ride on this, but it has to be said: PC games that have the CD nag are starting to piss me off.

Now, this doesn't bother me when I know there is stuff on the CD that the game needs to run, like video files or whatever, because usually you have a choice when you install. That's FINE. And I understand having such a restriction on a 50 dollar product when it first comes out to try prevent some forms of theft, even though I don't like it and statistically it probably stops 1-2% of piracy if that.

But when a company is, I don't know, GIVING their games away in a box of cereal or in a magazine or is selling them as part of a larger set for about what the actual disc the game is on would cost to buy as a blank, well then, what is the point of forcing me to stick in a CD to prove that I own it when all the files needed to run it are on my hard drive... really.

I mean, these companies are giving away or selling these games deeply discounted for some future financial gain later because I may want to buy full price games from them after seeing the quality of work they produce, but showing me that you don't trust me with your free or heavily discounted software isn't winning my undying devotion. This is especially true of products that have been patched on the disc, because I know the company spent some time repackaging the product, so why didn't they add that little bit of code to make a full installation no-CD? I mean, I could be a bad boy and go look for help from the industry's sworn enemies, but I don't want to do that. I want the companies that made the games to meet me halfway on this and actually trust me, the consumer, for once.

I know it is merely an inconvenience and not a major issue, but it has always been something that just irked me.

Tags: cd checks, copy protection, legacy, pc games, video games, pet peeves, no cd, full installation, abandonware

The Podcast is Delayed

I was in the process of editing down the spoken intros/outros for the fourth episode of the Culture Kills Music Podcast, and it just isn't coming together like it should. There were some technical problems which frankly I don't feel are acceptable.

I need to up my sound editing kung fu belt level a few notches before I will be satisfied with the end result (I need to learn how to do noise cancellation truth be told) especially with the number of redubs I have to do to make it presentable. If I can't come up with a workable solution, then I will present what I have next Thursday.

I am sure you, my six listeners, are disappointed by this delay, but I felt it was something I had to do. I'd rather delay than present something that was really substandard.

Tags: culture kills music podcast, delay, kung fu, redub, sound editing

Three By Theme: Album covers

You ever notice that when there is one movie about a particular subject out, there are usually 2 or 3 more released within the next few years that are strangely similar... like somehow Hollywood is creatively bankrupt. Well, I've noticed the same trend in music videos as well.

Or the special effects techs and artists learn how to do something new and then just keep running with it (I remember reading about how once special effects technicians figured out how to do a flaming man stunt, they just wanted to keep throwing it into movies, which is why it is such a prevalent death in movies of the late 1970's and early 1980's.)

The following three videos are living proof of one of those two maxims.

Erykah Badu - Honey

Morningwood - Nth Degree

Liz Phair - Why Can't I

And naturally, the videos for those songs make me think of this old gem:

Tags: erykah badu, honey, morningwood, nth degree, liz phair, why can't i, albums galore

Express Checkout: Steve-O, Idol and Bond

• Steve-O got injured on Dancing with the Stars? I wasn't watching it (after all, it is Monday, so it is 24 night). Given all the stupid crap he has done in his life to endanger his body, I never thought a dance competition would be one of the things that would put him out of commission. I mean, almost anyone else, I could see them getting injured, but Steve-O getting hurt like that... its sort of weak.


• I don't know how someone came up with this idea, but apparently there is going to be an American Idol trading card line. Who exactly was clamoring for this development again? I mean, I know more people vote for American Idol over the course of a year than vote in presidential elections, but really, is now the best time to suddenly decide to try to get people to buy these? The ratings aren't what they once were, we are in the middle of a recession and the buzz just isn't there anymore. Are these cards supposed to suddenly turn that around? I know how that could happen... if there were 5 golden tickets in the entire run, and finding one would allow the bearer to administer one asskicking to the American Idol judge or contestant, current or past of your choice. Now that would be something worth having.


• Jennifer Aniston wants to be a Bond Girl? I think that is a very bad idea. In making the comparison, the producer said the following ""We're always looking for the next Bond girl. She has to be beautiful but she also needs to have brains. It helps if she's athletic and able to keep up with the intense stunt work a Bond movie demands. Jennifer has all these qualities. It's great to hear she'd love to do a movie because we have used established actresses before such as Teri Hatcher and Denise Richards. It's great she's a fan." Just the mention of Denise Richards (also on this season's Dancing with the Stars) should be enough to put this whole thing in perspective. I mean, if they want to go in a twitchy, parody of a Bond movie kind of direction, then by all means, go with Aniston. However, every time I see her on screen, I am going to be thinking about her admonishing a capuchin monkey, asking it if it took a poo in her shoe. Now, if she was going to be the leading lady in, say, Austin Powers 4, I could totally get behind that.

Tags: jennifer aniston, dancing with the stars, steve-o, teri hatcher, james bond, teri hatcher, capuchin monkey, american idol, trading cards, judges, golden ticket, austin powers

Be Awed by My Mystical Mind

Last night, I was watching the end of Equilibrium, and I left the Space on (Space is the Canadian equivalent to the Sci Fi Channel in the States), and they started showing another movie.

When the Orion Pictures logo came up I said to myself: "If this is any movie other than Robocop, I can turn it off."

The Orion Pictures logo fades away and immediately, this comes up.



I'm good. I'm really good.

Tags: equilibrium, sci fi channel, space, robocop, orion pictures

Sunday Night Video: Trans Europe Express

Back in the early part of the decade, I heard about a weird sounding conceptual album by German musician Uwe Schmidt. Under the name Senor Coconut, he recorded a group of Kraftwerk songs with a Latin twist for his first full length album.

And recently someone redubbed the original Kraftwerk video with the Senor Coconut version, which is just double glazed awesome. Enjoy.

I sort of want 1:20 through 1:40 to be a ringtone for a cell phone, I really do.

Tags: kraftwerk, senor coconut, trans europe express, cumbria, ring tone, krautrock, latin, mashup, redub, t e e, uwe schmidt

Week 44: Pageant of the Transmundane

A woman bought a couch this week for 27 dollars at a secondhand store, and for days she heard odd noises coming from it, but she couldn't fathom what was going on until she finally discovered a starving calico cat underneath it. The former owner of the couch was the owner of the cat who had gone missing a month earlier.

That story is weird and sad, and I feel this week's Homer Simpson Transmundanity Award winning entry has those two elements, though I think a different definition of sad applies.

This week, the award goes to someone who has won it in the past: Drew of Back of the Cereal Box.

There are a lot of people who have problems understanding how technology works. People who don't get how a particular site or service are meant to be used... and this week's winning entry is demonstrative of this.

This is an truly epic Twitter fail. The fact that I am using the term "epic fail" should demonstrate that well enough (because let's face it, aside from a few gaming terms like pwned, I don't subscribe to the I can has Cheeseburger/1337 speak school of blogging terminology).

I think seeing that display put me off Twitter for another few months, for which I am grateful.

And because this involves both a computer and seeming incompetence, well, Homer Simpson sitting in front of a keyboard (doing what TMZ and other gossip sites do so well... making things up), seemed to be the most appropriate thing.



Congrats Drew on your second win. This was a great find.



The rules of this little contest: Every week I will be selecting one blog post that I have seen from the vast reaches of the blogosphere to bestow with the Homer Simpson Transmundanity Award for being one of the freakiest(in a funny way) things I've seen or read during a 7 day period. It doesn't necessarily have to have been written during the week, I just had to have encountered it. That means that if you find something interesting and repost it like a movie or whatever, if I saw it at your blog first, you get the prize. Of course, creating your own content is also a very good way to win.

Now, if you see a post that you think is worthy of this illustrious prize, just drop me a line at campybeaver@gmail.com and we'll see if we can't get your suggestion up and award-ready while giving you some credit and a link to your own blog.

Tags: pageant of the transmundane, homer simpson, twitter, epic fail, calico cat, back of the cereal box, drew mackie, couch, tmz, gossip, mr. x

Friday Favorites: Things I miss from childhood

When I mentioned this article a few days ago when I was writing my post on toys I covet, and I thought it was worth sharing in full again at some point, and well, there seems to be no better moment to do so than now.

--

I was thinking about a few of the things that I miss from childhood or even the recent past and I decided to put together a short list of 15 things that I miss now that I am an adult.

Some of these things are no longer around, some of them I outgrew and some of them are very niche items. Note: Some of these items may be widely available where you live(particularly food items), so take some of these in the spirit in which they are written.


1. 2D Fighting games... 3D has some selling points, but I grew up on River City Ransom, Double Dragon, Street Fighter and Samurai Shodown.

2. Video stations that actually showed music videos. Canadian stations have followed MTV/VH1's example.

3. Tahiti Treat and strawberry flavored sodas. They both remind me of my grandmother.

4. The online soap operas of the 1995-7 era. The Spot, where art thou.

5. Radio programming not determined from a formula. DJ are supposed to be taste makers dammit.

6. New episodes of the recent Disney animated shows(Filmore, Recess, the Weekenders)

6a. The older Disney cartoon series based on their classic properties(Duck Tales, Talespin)

7. Frankenberry Cereal. I still remember the taste.


8. Little green plastic soldiers. I SO outgrew them.

9. Bags of Swedish Fish. I loved them as a kid as penny candies.

10. Puppets and models in movies... I recently watched Close Encounters again, and you know what... that ship still looks pretty damn good. And well done puppetry has an organic warmth to it that will always stay with me.

11. The old funny commercials for FedEx, Wendy's and Alaskan Airlines they used to show in the 1980's... and are largely the basis for Commercial Crazies

12. Good Teen comedies in the theatres. John Hughes, you made an era.

13. The period where Travolta was a punchline and not a leading man.

14. Cajun Spice Ruffles. I didn't appreciate them as much then as I would now. I can take the heat, and I want them back in my kitchen.

15. Action figures that are meant for kids to play with. What is with this keeping crap in the box? Toys are meant to be played with.

So, what do you miss from childhood?

Tags: frankenberry, action figures, toy soldiers, cajun spice, ruffles, commercials, frankenberry, alaskan airlines, comedies, puppets, models, swedish fish, mtv, vh1, 2d fighters, samurai shodown, street fighter, river city ransom

So that's what I'd look like as a Superhero

Now you all know I am not into comics, but I recently tried playing around with The Hero Factory again. And here is the resulting cover.

I know at some point I've used this tool, but I don't remember it making covers with your creations. That was the thing that made me try it again after running into it at Pop Candy.

Maybe I do have a geek pedigree after all.

Tags: pop candy, hero factory, comics

Jon Stewart is a bad enemy to have

Remind me to never get on the wrong side of Jon Stewart or the staff of The Daily Show.

If you haven't been following this, basically what happened was, there was a CNBC analyst who had an outburst on the floor of the Stock Exchange about the potential bailout of some home owners because of this financial mess as part of the stimulus package, and he was supposed to sit down with Stewart to discuss matters, including that on-air outburst.

But he backed out of the interview and then the claws came out.

So every night since last Wednesday (the date that guest was to appear), The Daily Show has been just massacring CNBC in particular, and financial channels in general for not only their mistakes but for how sycophantic they were during the run up to the meltdown.

Stewart also went on Letterman to expound on the same subject.

And there is one target in particular that Stewart has been zeroing in on, it is Jim Cramer, though there have been shots at his expense on the show since the failure of Bear Sterns. Since this onslaught has be unloosed, Cramer has been trying to tell his side of the story online and on other NBC/GE owned stations, and frankly, it isn't going to well.

I think the maxim that should be followed in most cases is, if Jon Stewart and The Daily Show is coming after you, just stay down. It is like that advice you hear about avoiding a bear attack... just play dead. Because trying to fight him only gives him more to work with, and because he is a comedian rather than a policy maker or shaper.

There is a concept from a particular episode of King of the Hill which I think applies here. Cotton was trying to break Bobby at a military school to remake him into a model soldier by doing all the things that work on himself as a child at the same institution. However, despite his best efforts, Bobby just wouldn't be broken, and it was only after Hank compared him to mud that Cotton finally understood. You can't really build mud up, but at the same time, you can't really break it down either. That is what having a war of words with Jon Stewart is like.

And that was going to be the end of this entry, but as I was writing this, I decided to look at a few other MSNBC shows to see how they are reporting this, and when I was watching a clip from Countdown about this feud, the following information was disclosed which I have provided from The Daily Show's website:



As a relatively recent reborn wrestling fan, I know this play/storyline. You have the two combatants trash talk each other and set up what looks like an epic battle before they finally clash through a war of words.

I don't know how long that interview has been on the books for, or if it was something that was hastily arranged in light of these attacks, but if Cramer was scheduled for tomorrow before last Wednesday's show, well, then I am calling shenanigans on this whole thing. But if this is a new booking, well, then this should be entertaining indeed, because given Stewart's history of not backing down during a heated conversation (as his appearance on Crossfire reveals), there should be some real sparks and not a lot of slow pitch going on. And when Jon Stewart is tough on someone, it is some of the best television he does.

Tags: jim cramer, daily show, jon stewart, cnbc, countdown, crossfire, bear stearns, wrestling, comedy central, nbc, msnbc, king of the hill, general electric, david letterman, stock exchange

A few Toys I Covet

Yesterday, Becca from No Smoking In the Skullcave posted her latest Geek Carnival comic and that is what inspired this post.

In short, her comic was about toy lust and while I don't really have raging toy lust myself, as I do on occasion have those drooling moments. This post lists toys I would drool to have.

I wrote a list back in 2007 of things I missed from being a kid, and #15 was as follows...

15. Action figures that are meant for kids to play with. What is with this keeping crap in the box? Toys are meant to be played with.

...so the things on this list are toys that can actually be played with and aren't just glorified resin statues or such and they actually have to be able to move or customize or something like that.

This is the list the developed from that starting point. So here are a few toys I covet.

Armored Core toys from Kotobukiya. I started playing the Armored Core series of games as of late (after playing a few other Mecha-based games) and in the back of the instructions for the first two of them for the PS2, there are ads for a series of toys/kits. Now, the figures when they are complete are posable and if you have more than one, you can mix and match weapons and parts and stuff, so you can just go nuts and build all kinds of robots from what you've got. So not only do you get the fun of putting it together like a robot oriented set of Legos, but you get to play with it like an action figure. It is the best of both worlds really.



A Diabolical Biz Markie Doll. Do I even have to say why. Seriously, does that Japanese ad not tell the whole story.



Pai Mei from Kill Bill. There are a lot of Kill Bill toys from that particular manufacturer, but man, you know the only one I think would be badass enough to want to have. It comes with weapons... if only it laughed dismissively as well, it would be perfect.

Dr. Doom: I don't read comics, but even in such a state, I know that Dr. Doom is the man and like Pai Mei, a total badass villain type, and let's face it, the mask totally sells it. Plus, I have an old Ben Grimm/Thing (as opposed to The Thing) action figure I got after an Christmas tree came down after an office party (it is a long story) that would go along with this (it is currently fighting a Burger King Ironmonger figure on my book shelf).



El Santo: I don't know where it is available online, but this is the exact figure I'd want. El Santo is and will always be awesome... the consummate Mexican actor and luchador and as Wikipedia puts it, folk icon. He fought evil at every turn, solved mysteries and kicked a whole lot of ass. And who can't respect that?



And finally, Godzilla. And there is a reason I chose that particular model. You see, the thing I love about the early Godzilla movies is you can tell on some small level that it is a dedicated dude in a suit. However, I would likely end up getting one of the later Godzilla models because that was when he really became a hero (and his eyes got bigger to reflect that). Though I would probably take any model that wasn't connected to that steaming pile of crap Devlin and Emmerich were responsible for foisting on the American public.



Robocop: But not just any Robocop... no, I want a Robocop action figure that looks like it got messed up... and they do make one which is pretty shot up, which I love (I am assuming that this figure depicts Murphy after a particular moment in the first movie. Of course, it was after that when he truly got some stuff done. I guess I like seeing my movie protagonists a little worse for wear.



So I guess maybe, just maybe I might have a toy geek somewhere deep inside me after all.

Tags: armored core, dr. doom, ben grimm, thing, the thing, ironmonger, christmas party, robocop, godzilla, kill bill, pai mei, el santo, biz markie, lego, no smoking in the skullcave, mecha, becca, burger king, robot, folk icon

Express Checkout: The Simpson and Cher Mystery Hour

• Ashlee Simpson is set to star in the upcoming revamping of Melrose Place. And no, she is not going to be playing someone related to Allison Parker. Why I remember that character name, I'll never know. Is it because I based the actress who played that part for writing a novel? Just like the secret of how many licks it takes to reach the center of a Tootsie Pop, the world may never know. But really, does anyone need to see Ashlee Simpson (or her sister for that matter) act ever again. I mean, the next thing I am going to hear is that some porn actress got cast to basically play a prostitute by a big director... and that wouldn't happen, would it? Errr... man....


• Add Cher to the list of celebs that are going after the Octomom. Given the fact that Cher herself has made a few classic missteps in the past, well, I take some of her anger with a grain of salt. That and the fact that they look surprisingly similar.
  And since this is the first and last time I am going to mention that particularly artificially fertile woman, I thought that the best parting shot would be a particularly apt segment that TMZ did about her on Wednesday called Eight Times The Fun.


• I was browsing The Wulfshead the other day and I came across a picture of a woman in an Alice in Wonderland-inspired latex creation (no nudity or anything), and I am being driven mad because she looks so familiar to me and I just can't put my finger on why. Maybe she is one of the myriad of gals Samuraifrog or various other bloggers have brought to my attention over the years, or someone who appeared in a commercial or a singer/film actress, and I can't place her. For all I know, I am being reminded of someone else, and my mind just can't put the pieces together. I was hoping someone out there might be able to drop a puzzle piece into place for me.

Tags: ashlee simpson, melrose place, samuraifrog, sasha grey, octomom, cher, allison parker, tmz, nadya suleman, wulfshead, tootsie pop, steven soderbergh

Sunday Night Video: Aerodynamic

In celebration of Daft Punk getting the soundtrack gig for Tron 2.0, I thought it was worth posting a video by the band.

Of course, choosing one song out of their catalog is difficult, but I think I made the right decision.

Both Harder Faster Better Stronger and One More Time got a lot more video airplay than the above, so I decided the lesser seen released video from that album.

The songs of Discovery were put together as the soundtrack for a longer animated work called Interstellar 5555, which is why the videos released from it do seem to go rather well together.

Tags: tron 2.0, daft punk, aerodynamic, harder faster better stronger, one more time, discovery, insterstellar 5555

Week 43: Pageant of the Transmundane

Apparently the Vatican wants people to give up texting for Lent in addition to their other chosen sacrifice. Considering the President of the United States is using a Blackberry himself, I don't think culturally that is going to happen in the US anyway. Maybe in South America that decree will fly (as long as the Pope wasn't talking about plastic surgery being off the table for 40 days, I think almost anything else would be fine).

Did I see something that was more Transmundane this week? Perhaps, but you will have to be the judge (however, the crack about South America, I will wager that was the most incendiary thing I said this week).

This week's winning entry comes from Film Drunk, a blog who I assume has a readership every hour that eclipses my daily haul by a large margin.

Now, you know that I generally don't choose the larger blogs when I select a Transmundanity winner, but in this case, I felt an exception was in order, especially since it is pop culturally related. In the simplest terms, it is a strange picture of Sean Connery... holding another picture of himself.

And somehow, I thought this was the most appropriate Homer Simpson image to represent it. You may or may not agree with that assessment, but I am sticking with it.



Congrats go out to Vince Mancini and the staff of Film Drunk. Huzzah!



The rules of this little contest: Every week I will be selecting one blog post that I have seen from the vast reaches of the blogosphere to bestow with the Homer Simpson Transmundanity Award for being one of the freakiest(in a funny way) things I've seen or read during a 7 day period. It doesn't necessarily have to have been written during the week, I just had to have encountered it. That means that if you find something interesting and repost it like a movie or whatever, if I saw it at your blog first, you get the prize. Of course, creating your own content is also a very good way to win.

Now, if you see a post that you think is worthy of this illustrious prize, just drop me a line at campybeaver@gmail.com and we'll see if we can't get your suggestion up and award-ready while giving you some credit and a link to your own blog.

Tags: vince mancini, homer simpson, sean connery, james bond, film drunk, the vatican, the pope, texting, pageant of the transmundane, president of the united states, blackberry, lent, south america, incendiary, transmundanity, you only move twice

The Culture Kills Music Podcast Episode 3

Well, its that same Batchannel, same Batday, so once again, I am pleased to bring you another episode of the Culture Kills Music Podcast.

And with a new recording session came a new found confidence and somewhat smoother presentation. It just sort of worked out that way, though as always, there is a lot of room for improvement.

This time out, I've only played 5 songs, but it still worked out to the same amount of music and general podcast length (and even more surprising, the same amount of banter... who knew I had it in me).

You may notice on this and upcoming shows a few changes to its presentation. I found a couple of additional promotional services which have podsafe music. However, to use their materials, I have to post more information about the songs, so the show notes and such will be a little denser, and after I've played a song, I will mention the service.


The playlist for this show:

Kensington Prairie - Crooked Things Straight from the album Captured in Still Life

Giant Brain - This Is Where the Robot Escapes His Evil Captor, Finds Raygun, Plots Revenge from Thorn of Thrones released by Small Stone Records Rhapsody

Kaiser Cartel - Oh No from the album March Forth

Sandy and the Surfsonics - Playa Encantada from the album Oceanica

Kraak and Smaak - Real Pain from the album The Remix Sessions


You can listen to it on the embedded player below:


Of course, if you want to download it for future listening, it is also available in MP3 form (33 MB). I went with 128 kbps encoding this time out, and I think the reduction in size is a fair tradeoff for whatever minimal loss in sound quality this move may have produced.

The Podcast is also available at Mevio, which has an RSS feed and additional listening options.

The music was provided by Ariel Publicity, the Podsafe Music Network, Killbeat Music and Ioda Promonet.

And if you are an independent musician or represent a publicity or record company that makes music available for podcast and you would like me to know about it, feel free to contact me at campybeaver@gmail.com.

You can also revisit past episodes of the show.

Episode 1: The Pimps of Joytime, Triptic Winter, Val Emmich, Betika, Uma Floresta, The Squarewaves
Episode 2: Ekho, Little Name, Patti Rothberg, Dare Dukes, The Squarewaves, Social Studies

Enjoy!

Tags: kensington prairie, giant brain, crooked thing straight, killbeat music, ariel publicity, ioda promonet, podsafe music network, mevio, kaiser cartel, sandy and the surfsonics, kraak and smaak, real pain, oh no, march forth, thorn of thrones, remix sessions, pimps of joytime, uma floresta, squarewaves, social studies, patti rothberg, little name, playa encantada, finds raygun, plots revenge

Alice in Steampunkland

It sort of makes sense that Steampunk and Alice in Wonderland would at some point be melded together. They are both subversive views of the 19th century after all.

The idea was explored in this awesome picture by Sandra Chang-Adair.



Check it out at the original site for greater detail.

Sandra Chang-Adair, you've rocked my world. I guess I am a closet steampunk fan after all.

Tags: alice in wonderland, steampunk, sandra chang-adair, lewis carroll, tesla, wireless electricity

Life On Mars Flatlines

I really shouldn't have gotten my hopes up, I really shouldn't have.

Once again, the bitch goddess that is television has given me some joy and then just as summarily, taken it away.

Life on Mars is being cancelled.

However unlike some other recent ABC cancellations like Pushing Daisies, the producers of the series are going to get some closure as they were informed that the show wasn't being picked up for a second season, but the rest of the current season will be filmed.

Now, I was disappointed that they replaced Colm Meaney with Harvey Keitel as Gene Hunt, but aside from that minor quibble, I've enjoyed the show this season, especially given my familiarity with the original series.



But to me, it looks like having a new series based on a time travel premise alone is turning into a losing proposition for all involved. Journeyman is an earlier testament to that. I don't know... perhaps the American viewing public can only stand time travel on television if it is just a flavor or occasional aspect of the show (like Star Trek or Heroes), or if they are gradually introduced to that element (Lost comes to mind).

And now I think we are ending up with a self-fulfilling prophecy, as this history of failure may make viewers less likely to tune into a show like this in the future because, like myself, they will be afraid of committing to the show, and thus, it will fail.

Tell me I am wrong.

Tags: life on mars, abc, colm meaney, harvey keitel, journeyman, lost, heroes, star trek, cancelled, pushing daisies, gene hunt

Scratch Another Genre of Gaming from My Favorites

I came to a startling realization over the weekend, and I was in denial about it for a long time.

I just don't like fighting games anymore. It was like I was blocked about the whole thing, because I couldn't believe that somehow I didn't like something I loved as a kid.

So I kept buying titles from the Mortal Kombat, Tekken and Capcom universes to play and yet I was never satisfied. I just couldn't connect with them on some level, and while I may have been entertained for a few hours, I quickly gave up on each of those titles. Nostalgia wasn't enough. They ended up being a worst combination of frustration and boredom for me.



There is that phrase that is bandied about sometimes that insanity is repeating the same actions and expecting different results. Well, I think my behavior fell into the category.

I remember playing so many of these kinds of games when I was a child, and they never really failed to satisfy, but I think much like console role playing games, I outgrew them. There is some need that these one on one combat games just don't seem to fulfill anymore.

It is ironic that I came to this realization the weekend that the latest Street Fighter movie was released (and I may write something about that at a later date).

Yet strangely enough, if you take the same attention to fighting detail and take it from a one on one contest to a battle between one or a few against many, well, somehow those games still can captivate me.



So, the beat em up as a genre still works for me. I mean, I could play the above and games like it all day long. And I will be very afraid the day they no longer appeal to me.

Tags: street fighter, fighting games, mortal kombat, tekken, soul calibur, river city ransom, movie, beat em up, shooters, renegade, double dragon, capcom

Sunday Night Video: To Be Free

I remember hearing this song almost weekly on a local alternative show in 2000, and for years, I had forgotten the name of the song, but not the artist (Emiliana Torrini).

But thanks to the magic of Youtube, I found it again. Hope you enjoy.

Tags: emiliana torrini, to be free, love in the time of science, youtube