Weekly Roundup

While watching Return of the King (still waiting for the bluray, what is this 2 dvd deal. c'mon guys), I have nothing better to do so here is a update i guess you can call it.

type Shadowfax, show us the meaning of haste..

MUSIC...

I woke up this morning and while poking around on the internet, I stumbled upon this gem. It is a mash-up of Jay Z and Marvin Gaye called "Hello Brooklyn". I think it came out a while ago which makes me mad I didn't hear it until now.

(Sorry I'm inept and couldn't embed just that one song BUT if you like that song you can DL the whole album)

Download Mixtape | Provided by DatPiff.com

GAMING...

As most of you know, ODST came out Tuesday and I must say it is a blast. I've only been able to play co-op campaign, but from what I've experienced already I am loving it. They split up the main group and the rookie story wise and the difference is night and day (literally). While playing as the main group it is a lot more action packed. This includes more enemies, heavier weapons and set pieces (battling from vehicles/ operating turrets..ect). On the other hand, you have the rookie's POV where you explore a pitch black New Mombasa completely taking advantage of the new low light vision mode (basically it's a night vision mode that also marks your enemies). This side of the story is a lot slower but in return shows the open world side of the game. I haven't completed it yet but I think I can honestly say that this game is more epic than Halo 3 (yeah, I said it). There is a scene, after they destroy the bridge, where the whole back round city is on fire. I think that right there did it for me. I plan on playing firefight very soon and probably get addicted to that.

Let's be honest though, as great as this game is, we're all waiting for Modern Warfare 2. Not a bad game to hold us over though.

I can't call my self a hardcore Final Fantasy fan even though FF7 is very near and dear to my heart and I played it a billion times(but who hasn't right?). With that said I am ready to be a FF freak when FF13 comes to America (180 days left). The trailer and the demo game play have already gotten my skin ting-a-ling (get it?). From what I've seen, the cinematics are gorgeous and even in game the graphics can be compared to advent children, which I think looks amazing as well. The new battle system looks very interesting as well. It's based on the Active Time Battle system and you will be able to stack commands to chain attacks together. I mean when you can juggle and enemy in the air in a RPG...dope.

To fully cement my excitement they are going to release this for the game as well...

I mean I'm trying to save money but the world really doesn't want me to.

MOVIES...

Last night I saw Jennifer's body (haha yeah...) with Saemi Chotrane. She's my partner in crime when it comes to good bad movies. Imagine a quasi lesbian relationship of the 2 girls in American Beauty mixed with a hint of humorous terror of Drag Me to Hell and topped off with Diablo Cody's dialogue in Juno. If you're expecting a boobie fest or a gore fest, expect to be disappointed. Even with that said, I still relatively enjoyed the movie. It was definitely a plus seeing Adam Brody play a devil worshiping indie rocker.

Call me typical or whatnot, but one movie I absolutely cannot wait for is Where the Wild Things Are. Actually not only can I not wait for the movie but the wait for the soundtrack is almost unbearable. Karen O. recently released a track from the movie called "All is Love". Combine that with the Arcade Fire's "Wake Up" (I don't think this song is actually going to be on the soundtrack), it's enough to be more than just intrigued right? CD track list

(For those of you that don't know me that well, soundtracks are one of my favorite sources of music, whether it be a compilation or OST. It's actually my dream to write an original soundtrack for a movie. Kind of hard when you've only written one song in your life but I'm on my way to working on it, I swear.)

That's about it, Gondor needs saving and the beacons are lit so... Ting will answer!

Hooked on phonics, hooked on Phoenix

Tonight was one of the funnest nights I've had out in a while. I think Phoenix made my list of top 5 shoes ever. Only to Daft Punk, Phoenix's light show was amazing. Completely reshaped my thoughts about shows, which has been very bleak as of late. Enough writing though, the real reason I made this post was to finally put to use my iphone camera and camcorder. If you value your speakers, I would turn down the sound on your computer when you are watching the videos. The audio is pretty muddled but if you know the songs you can barely make them out. Enjoyings....

Lisztomania

(I accidentally hit the button and stopped it)

If I Ever Feel Better

1901 (audio cuts out. boo)

encore to the encore

Goodbye summer playlist

With the recent rain, I suppose summer is coming to a close. The best part of summer is it's ability to bring out the summer cuties, so I guess this more of a send off of summer cuties from some summer cuties...

(Click individual tracks if you want that song. Other wise you can click here for the whole list, but you might have to rearrange the songs to make this playlist.)

1. Relator- Pete Yorn and Scarlett Johansson

2. Electric Twist- A Fine Frenzy

3. Sugar Town- Zooey Deschanel

4. Elevator Love Music- Stars

5. Dance Anthem of the 80's- Regina Spektor

6. Hit Me!- The Sounds

7. Cheated Hearts- The Yeah Yeah Yeahs

8. Accidntel Deth- Rilo Kiley

9. Merry Happy- Kate Nash

10. Dance, Dance, Dance- Lykke Li

warning: one or two tracks might be drm-ed so those may not work

test tube babies

I've actually seen this a while ago but if I could go back and genetically alter my children, this is probably what they would look like.

(I actually have a MGS4 special edition PS3 but if I didn't this would be in my room)

(This version of my macbook pro would match all my tactical gear, you never know when you need a tactical computer. tactics...)

The Mad Lab

EDIT

I didn't realize that all my pictures were cut off in my previous post so I fixed all that. It's only because I know you all care.

PAX

This brog will mostly be able tech, music and clothes/shoes. Basically everything I "waste" my money on, but what better way to kick it off than to share my PAX experience. (ps i swear future posts will be more concise.

For those that don't know, PAX is the Penny Arcade Expo or even more simply put a gaming convention. It was my first gaming convention and to make it even better it was completely sold out, which was unprecedented.

The best aspect of PAX is that it really exists for the fans. Although i have nothing to compare it to i can say that there definitely a great sense of community. Where else can you see a large number of people on bean bags playing ds's and psp's.

The opening keynote was given by Ron Gilbert. I'll be honest I hadn't heard of him before this, although i did play his game Maniac Mansion. It was funny to learn that he worked for lucas arts but couldn't make a star wars game at the time. I think the thing that stuck most was that he said video games might be/ is the greatest art form purely because it is interactive. Plus it has almost all aspects of other art forms to make it so enjoyable. Raj and I religiously believe in this and it is nice to hear it from a distinguished figure. After the keynote, the convention began and basically we got to play a bunch of games and got a lot of free tshirts. I think I'll list our journey in picture form now.

The view of the "showroom"

Forza 2 was the first game we saw. cool screen setup BUT Raj's chassis and wheel setup is actually better so we didn't play.

First game we actually played, Dead Space Extraction.... pretty cool rail shooter. Not bad for a Wii game. I can say that the tshirt from this game was the best.

Next game we played was probably the longest wait we had the whole time, Left 4 Dead 2... in my opinion, pretty much the same thing but with a couple new enemies. I think there is a new tankish enemy and one that hops on your back. It was pretty fun being able to cut your enemy with a katana or beat them down with a guitar, i will say that.

I never got to finish GoW2 but I'm really glad i got to play God of War 3... the demo i played was basically the same and GoW2 but i know its going to be so much more epic. all i have to say is wings....

Speaking of games i never finished, I never did get a chance to play Mass Effect but I did get to play Mass Effect 2. Or should i call it Blade Runner, the cinematic of the level you get to play might be a clip of the movie.

and to finish the day off...RAWR...

The Next day we go to the Rockstar booth to see Red Dead Redemption, the game looks like it's going to be massive. Imagine GTA and Call of Juarez. I couldn't take any pictures because it was forbidden. But while we waited, we did get to see a game (i can't really call it a game actually) called Beatorator. Raj flexing his audio engineering muscle got pulled on stage and right then and there he made a song timbahland would be proud of. He even got to share some poetic words with the audience.

True Blood is probably my favorite show on TV right now, and that is saying a lot because I watch a lot of TV. Well they are releasing the plasmic drink from the show, it'll take a real fan to buy them at 4 dollars a bottle (based on the website). Does Sam Merlotte know she's here...

Just seeing the ODST live action trailer reminded me that we played the game. Your life system has changed a little, new guns and a new play mode called firefight (which is what we played). imagine horde mode from gears and you get the idea...

Always being a MGS fan I've never really liked the Splinter Cell series purely based on loyalty. But after watching them demo the game here i think I'm going to love it.

This next booth saddened me as much as it excited me but the Blizzard booth was a pretty big deal. We go to try out the Worgen in WoW and i have to admit they are pretty cool. I'm still perturbed that the horde got goblins and not something like vampires to balance but what ever I don't play anymore.

This game was the one I was waiting for and we will be waiting for a while now...so sad. We got to play the Wizard and the Monk from Diablo III. Dope is all i have to say.

There were 1v1's set up for StarCraft that we watched but we didn't play because of the lines. Can't say much more than it should be ridiculously fun when it drops.

And that was the end of the second day i think, this whole trip was kind of a blur now that I'm taking nyquil.

On the last day I didn't get to take any pictures but we visited the Mafia 2 booth which was probably the most immersive one. Ok i lied i do have a picture, but just one.

Then we start searching out some of the smaller games since we basically hit all the big ones we came to see. We got to try out Dark Void and got to fulfill my childhood fantasies of being Rocketeer. Might even be one step up because you get guns. Can't beat that.

Just wandering around we got to try a game called Bayonetta (sp). Imagine Devil May Cry but with a hot chick. It was actually quite enjoyable, and if we scored 6000 points we would get a t shirt. Welp, me and raj put together didn't get 6000 so....it was a stupid tshirt anyways.

The last game I can remember and possibly the most impressive game of the whole convention was Brink. The demo was actually a PAX exclusive so it made it that much better. I can only simply describe it as a first person shooter/ rpg and even some elements of plat-forming. You can switch roles on the fly if it isn't occupied to complete tasks needed to finish the mission. You can even switch tasks that give you different amounts of xp. The more relevant to your role the more xp you get. To top it off you can do a slide and shoot at the same time.

Sorry if this is a complete mess, I think I may have gotten swine flu there and I've been popping nyquil like candy. I'm sure im leaving out a lot but these are the things that were most vivid in my mind. I don't know if I'm going to keep this up, its a lot of work haha. I'll probably just post random music videos to appease you, hopefully.