So I got an E-mail from my dad today. Turns out he's an "administration co-ordinator." I did not know this. It sounds pretty important though. Well, enough of this bullshit.
Up until today I've been using FlashFXP for my uploading needs, and it's a pretty great program for someone like me who barely understands the concept of FTP. But sadly, none of the registartion keys out there on the internet worked, and my trial run ended today. I had to do something about it, because for reasons I can't explain, normal FTPing through IE doesn't work. I rememberd a while ago when I tried to get myself set up on Keenspace that I had to muddle around with an FTP thinger to get that done. That's why I gave up. It was far too complicated for me, and I quite before I could even get a second comic ready. Anyhow, now I've downloaded SmartFTP again, and it's still annoying me. I guess the only good thing about Angelfire was the easy file browsing interface business. Oh well. That's really all I have to say today. I just wanted to complain about shit for a while.
Oh, and the February archive is up and a nice big CD collection entry will be ready by the end of the week.
I used to think I was pretty good at Super Mario 64. I could get all 120 stars without breaking a sweat and I've even beat the big penguin race a couple times. But my dreams have suddenly been shattered. Turns out some dude can get to the end in 21 minutes. Now anyone who knows the game knows that such a feat is impossible, and it's true, he does glitch it out on at least three occasions. Still, the video left me with my jaw on the floor. His technique is nearly flawless, and there are so many shortcuts that I'd never have thought of. I thought I was pretty good, but it seems that I still have a lot to learn.
Just thought I'd let you know that since I had a full day of nothing on my hands, I've finished up that one non-review I mentioned a couple weeks back. Yes, it should have been done long before today, but I'm lazy, you know. Anyway, that's up and I've started production of the next article (pics are done, just need to write it) which likely won't be up until next month sometime. But that's only like six days away, so chill. Damn, I'm really starting to ramble, so I'd better end this. Ryan ou...
Actually, you should also note that I stole the hover-over-and-show-text technology from Penny Arcade and used it on this post's title. Expect to see it all the time in the future.
First, I have a very important link for you. Yeah, quit your moaning. The Legend of Zelda is 20 years old now, and 1up.com has published a very nice retrospective on the series. If you're reading this post, you need to read this article. You owe it to yourself. And then go play some Zelda.
The other thing I want to talk about today is Guitar Hero for the PS2. It's been out for a while, but it's also been a very slippery game to get a hold of, and only recently did the local EB get some copies in, and me and my brother pounced like a horny teenage boy on the drunk chick at a party. Well, I'm more than pleased. The first thing you should know is that we have both found it extremely hard. Of course, I've never even seen a guitar, so that's understandable. Even with the level of difficulty, I've been having a ton of fun with it. Beats dancing anyday, although my left hand is seriously cramped from the fret buttons. The best part of the game is without a doubt the soundtrack. Featuring bands I adore such as Boston, Deep Purple, and Queen, there's no lack of great music to rock out to. First video game soundtrack (with "real" songs) to be free of rap, I think. Nice bonus there. Not to mention that the illusion that I'm playing "More Than a Feeling" brings me a joy that cannot be expressed in human words. Final word: If you don't have some irrational and unfounded hatred of rhythm games, grab this one. It beats the pants off DDR as far as fun and music go, and it's even more entertaining than Donkey Konga. Grab a second guitar and a few buddies, and you've got hours of limitless fun.
Keeping up with my link barrage...
Story of the Year and Thrice to headline Taste of Chaos tour '06
Doesn't Super Princess Peach look awesome?
Normally, I don't really care about this kind of stuff, but check this out: Opera browser for DS
In other news, I've been thinking about adding another page to the CD collection. So that might be up later today. Or it might not. I've got nohting else to say now, so I'll be taking my leave now. I really just wanted to share the Opera on DS thing with you.
Don't forget to check out the V-Day comic at Coozy for Hire...
Ron Burgundy auditions for SportsCenter
It's not "Steve, Don't Eat It!" but it'll do
ZOMG!!1! A non-WoW Cascade Failure comic!
I don't visit Homestarrunner.com for a while and look what happens
GC controllers won't work with Revolution games
New Maddox: How to Spot a Pedophile
Alien Abduction, 2 and 3
I have found the best Flash game ever. Naked Melee Armageddon.
And of course, I salute anyone who rips on Final Fantasy. Keep up the good work, soldier!
I forget what my moving status was last time I updated you, but I now have all my "pseudo-article" content (except the Gallery - more on that in a bit) moved over. I've also finished up about half the mini-reviews, I'm even going over the older ones to incorporate the newer layout and the Pros/Cons boxes. The other half should be done by the end of the day or tomorrow. Lastly, I've also restored my address bar icon and created the January 2006 news archive.
I've decided that keeping a multitude of galleries is a bad idea, so to coincide with my Angelfire to Comedy-Napalm move, I'll also be moving all the content of my art galleries to DeviantART to make my life easier. That should all be moved over by Sunday, depending on my enthusiasm for the task. There's even some new stuff there to boot...
Moving everything is all well and good, you say, but where's the new content? I've got some good news for you. I'll be finishing a new non-review and a proper review soon. There will also be a new article on Comedy Napalm from me in a couple days. And don't go spreading rumours, but there have been talks about bringing back a featurette that hasn't been seen in a coon's age. I won't say exactly what it is, but I'll tell you this: it's not exactly the most popular feature on the site.
That said, I'm off to be productive. Funk Master R. Valentine, away!
They say you can set any mood with the right tune. This has got to be the funniest thing I've seen in a while.
To balance out the entertainment levels, here's the collection of this year's Super Bowl commericals. You know, if you've got nothing better to do. Which is likely considering which website you're reading.
That's really it for today. I don't feel like bumming any more links at the moment. However, I just discovered that Resident Evil: Deadly Silence comes out tomorrow. The name was pretty accurate, as that one really snuck up on me. Well, there's another forty bucks down the tubes. So anyway, what's up? We never talk anymore. I feel like we're falling apart. You know what would solve that problem? Joining the forums. Or if you've already joined, why not post something?
Woah. Did you know there's a Super Mario Bros soundboard? This is awesome. Now I can listen to the underwater music indefinitely.
But to get back on track (actually, that was the whole reason I'm posting), I have some news. I recently rented the newest James Bond game, From Russia With Love. Yes, it's made by Electronic Arts, and yes, it's third-person. But you know what? It's not half-bad. I was as surprised as you, my friend. I'm not going to go on about it, but it has turned out to ba a half-decent shooter. The last handful of EA Bond games didn't even convince me to play more than the first level (Hell, I didn't even try Everything or Nothing), but while I didn't finish it, From Russia With Love is definitely more enjoyable than the last few. While shooting takes the forefront, there are also plenty of bonus objectives to accomplish and goodies to find. The game has a pretty good upgrade system, and there are plenty of things to unlock. Didn't try multiplayer, but it seems a bit half-hearted, as you can only play as villains. From the time I spent with the game, I'd say it's worth the seven bucks I spent to rent it. Not as worth it as POP:T2T was, but good enough. I'm satisfied, and that's all I ask.
If you don't feel like trying it out, go play with sand instead. Eerily enough, it's just about as fun. Oh, and the Steve articles and Chat Radio have all been moved over.
You know, you'd think I'd have learned to change the year in the post date to 2006 after a couple posts, but no, I'm a fucking moron. Well those are corrcted now. I also swtiched the link for my counter so it'll count this page's hits, and not those of the Angelfire page.
Thrice was actually supposed to be January's BotM, but since I rather like them, and the month was almost over, it felt like a shame to bring them to attention for such a short time. Anyway, Thrice. I've only really been listening to them for a while, but the story starts a long time ago, in a mall far, far away. Actually, it's the closest mall to here, but that's an insignificant detail. It was a normal September afternoon in 2004, and I had recently come into a rather large wad of cash. So I did what was naural to most teenage beings: I went to blow it on CDs. I popped on into the local HMV, and I grabbed a couple discs. Turns oout they had a 3 for $50 deal going on (or something similar), so the clerk advised me to pick out another one. I was having a bit of a time trying to find a good CD to take home, since between what I already owned and what I was already buying, I had pretty much all the music I wanted. So the guy decides to suggest some bands I mihgt like (based on my other two choices). One of those bands was Thrice. While it was tempting, I decided not to, since I'd never heard of them, and I like to at least have an idea what I'm buying. So I went with a different disc and was on my way. The next day, I popped in on of the CD I'd bought, the Resident Evil: Apocalypse soundtrack. A little more than halfway through, this really awesome song came on, and I checked the case to see who it was. Turns out it was *drumroll* Thrice. Now that I'd gotten a taste of the band, I was a little disappointed I hadn't picked up one of their albums. So to make up for it, I did a little downloading. Sadly, most of the songs weren't as good as the one from the RE soundtrack, so I kind of forgot about them for a while.
Nearly a year and a half later, I'm going through some of the songs in my library that never get played. And then I see Thrice. I decide that since a good amount of time has gone by and my musical tastes have changed a bit, I'll give them another shot. That was the right choice. Damned Past Ryan had no taste. Thrice friggn' rocks. Let me tell you, I cannot believe I've ignored them for so long. Like many bands I listen to, they fall into the hardcore-punk-emo-metal mélange. This is good. While I don't listen to a lot of straight-punk, I've very much come to enjoy the punk-metal sound. And it's not even the pop-punk that you might've come to expect from me. Ha, the facade thickens!
Why do I like Thrice? Perhaps the kickass guitar work? The pertinent dumming? The deep and inspired lyrics? The screaming that doesn't come off as annoying or juvenile? I'm thinking pretty much all that stuff. The album you see above is their fourth real album, entitled Vheissu. If you don't understand the name, go look it up. Apparently, it has some sort of ties to a Thomas Pynchon book called "V.". Anyway, the album, as it turns out, is radically different from their first three. Vheissu is notably slower than its predecessors, with a much more significant feel to it, and militaristic tones in most of the songs. I really like it. "Image of the Invisible" is the first song, and is probably the most like any older Thrice songs. "Atlantic" is really worht noting, and "Music Box" actually starts with a music box that continues playing in the background.
The other albums, Identity Crisis, The Illusion of Safety, and The Artist in the Ambulance (released in that order) are all far harder than the latest, featuring tons of hardcore riffing and less structured songs. Of course, this stuff rocks just as much as Vheissu, just a lot harder and faster. A couple songs I want to point out are "Under a Killing Moon" (from The Artist in the Ambulance), which is featured on the Resident Evil: Apocalypse soundtrack, and "See You in the Shallows" (from The Illusion of Safety). I give both songs the brunt of the credit for getting me into the band in the first place, and are definite keepers. There is actually another Thrice disc, released between The Artist in the Ambulance and Vheissu, called If We Could Only See Us Now, which is a couple live tracks and some B-sides thrown together. But it's more of a second disc to a DVD "anthology" of sorts.
For the first time, I'm gonna tack on my own little bonus to a Band of the Month post. If you're looking for an easy score, I've got it for ya. As a special bonus, I'll give you the torrent for all four main Thrice albums. While this is a nice, cheap way out, if you like them, I highly recommend buying them like I di... like I will. I've got Vheissu, but I intend to acquire the rest sooner or later.
Anyway, that's it for today. Come back soon for more crazy hijinx! Or maybe visit Comedy Napalm. There's definitely higher quantities of crazy and hijinx there. Especially on the forums. (Hint hint)