And what a moment

I’ve only briefly mentioned In This Moment on this blog, but rest assured, I am a big fan. Been rocking The Dream for years now. Listen to it all this time. It’s a pretty perfect album for me; one of my all-time favourites (that “Call Me” cover? To die for). Despite that, I never bothered to check out the albums that came immediately before or after it.

I did, however, take Blood out for a spin as soon as it released. I was not terribly into it at the time, as it was way heavy and angry and violent. 2012 Ryan must have been some kind of sissy or something. I’ve been listening to it a lot lately and I’ve really gotten into it. Love the screaming. Love the rawness. Love how absolutely badass Maria is.

The fact is that I’m not good at following music, so I had no idea that In This Moment had released a new album in November of last year. I made getting Black Widow onto my iPhone my number one priority as soon as I learned of its existence. (Also Savages by Breathe Carolina, but that’s a story for another day.)

widowcover

I went for a walk as soon as it was done downloading so that I could listen to the album without distraction (I can’t sit still for a whole hour!). I was not prepared.

Black Widow opens with a ball-to-the-friggin’-wall instrumental piece that sets the scene very nicely. It’s got this pumping drum beat and air raid sirens and that weird radiation detector feedback noise. And it’s damn spooky. If I played this alone at night, I’d probably be frightened if it weren’t so cool. Great, great intro.

The rest of the album follows suit, with plenty of twisted, macabre lyrics. Maria’s voice isn’t as sweet as it used to be, and that goes very well with the grim subject matter. The industrial metal sound is not the kind of thing that I usually tell people I’m into, but I so am. Guitar riffs that will tear your face off, drums that you can feel in your gut. Even the more techno-influenced elements are perfectly in place, awesome and terrifying at the same time.

“Big Bad Wolf”, “Black Widow” and “Bones” are my favourite tracks, but I can’t deny that “Sex Metal Barbie” and “Sick Like Me” are just as great. “Dirty Pretty” seems like a Lady Gaga song, if Lady Gaga was more angry and hardcore. “The Fighter” is a sweet, confident track that starts with a duet between Maria and a piano, which builds nicely as the rest of the band joins in. “Sexual Hallucination” is an actual duet with some dude from a band I’ve never heard of (Shinedown). “Bloody Creature Poster Girl” and “Natural Born Sinner” are also songs on the album. Perfectly good but not really things that I have a specific thing to say about.

The last two tracks on the album, “Into the Darkness” and “Out of Hell” really turn the entire thing around. “Into the Darkness” is like a minute of Maria trying to justify her existence and express her love to an abusive male voice that is constantly slandering her. Then another solid minute of her sobbing in silence before regaining her composure and heading out the door. It’s one of the most disturbing things I’ve ever heard and makes me feel deeply uncomfortable every time. I suppose that’s the point. Art, man.

“Out of Hell” is a heartfelt ballad devoted to all those who’ve suffered life on the streets. It’s sorrowful and beautiful; tales of downtrodden youth and how difficult it can be to find support. Sadly, it’s hitting a little close to home these days, and makes me want to re-evaluate my entire self-centered life.

So yeah, Black Widow is definitely a home run with me. I’ve listened to it at least twice a day since I got it, so it’s safe to say that I dig it. It’s spooky, emotional, thought-provoking, confident. And it just rocks. There are layers to pick apart here, and I’m barely scratching the surface with this review.

I guess that’s enough words for now. I’m bad at talking about music and generally nobody takes my recommendations seriously anyway. Maybe because I don’t recommend the same cookie-cutter pop garbage pushed by record labels that the majority of people so willingly choke down.

METAL 4 LIFE

Monthend Video Game Wrap-Up – May 2015

Um… preamble… I don’t know.

I recently paid to renew my webhosting. Honestly, I wasn’t sure that I really wanted to any more. But I can’t let go. I just… I would be throwing away everything since 2006. You know, I kind of wish I actually could get a do-over and go back to 2006, with one very key piece of information.

Uh, but anyway, video games!

~ Game Over ~

Super Mario 64 (N64) – This has been my go-to Favourite Video Game for over a decade now, and to be completely honest, it’s getting harder and harder to sit through on each replay. Because it’s clunky and old. If there were a remake (with analog controls) I’m sure it’d be fine.

Jazzpunk (PC) – It’s a fairly short little comedy game. Not a lot of “game” to be had, with the exception of a bunch of cheap little mini-games peppered throughout. Mostly you just wander about and enjoy puns and sight gags. Good, but not $15 good.

Heart Beaten (3DS) – Essentially bargain bin Wario Ware, with very few games. It was fun while it lasted, though. And cheap!

Ultimate NES Remix (3DS) – Done and dusted. It’s a really great premise, but a little lopsided in the favour of Mario (to nobody’s surprise). Probably would’ve been even more fun if I hadn’t opted to get rainbow stars on every challenge. I’d love a Game Boy or SNES Remix to follow.

Continue reading Monthend Video Game Wrap-Up – May 2015

These chips are no good

I’m serious, yo. Don’t buy them. I know that steak is delicious and that chips are a great snack, but the two don’t play nice together. I bought them because I love steak and also chips, and I regretted my choice immediately after opening the bag.

Don’t get me wrong, they most definitely taste as advertised. Only it’s not good. I’m shocked that Ruffles was able to infuse potato chips with the flavour of meat, but it’s a bad kind of meat flavour. I don’t know how to describe it, but it’s gross. So gross. And they smell even worse.

So, I think I’ve reiterated my point enough times now. There really isn’t much more to say.

This is what I’ve learned

Apparently WordPress automatically turns text emoticons into smilies? I had no idea. Maybe it’s just the theme? I don’t think I’ve ever actually used one in a blog post before yesterday.

Anyway, don’t worry about me. I’m fine. I went to work yesterday as usual, even though I was feeling a little snippy (not that anyone noticed). And I spent the evening with my family, so it’s not like I was stewing in my misery all alone. I’ve been fairly good in general, it was just the one big day that brought me down.

Yes, but episodes of what?

I don’t watch TV like most people. In fact, I sort of don’t watch TV at all. I mean, I watch shows, but I watch them exclusively through DVDs or Netflix. I guess most hipsters are the same way. But for me, it’s not because I’m too good for cable, but rather that I’m just too lazy to remember schedules and make sure I’m around when things are on.

Also I generally just watch the same things over and over again. I’ve watched the entire series of Futurama and Arrested Development at least three times each, and for the past few years I’ve had what’s become sort of a ritual of watching every streamable season of American Dad! every summer. Other than that, I basically just try to keep tabs on when new seasons of old favourites become available (Trailer Park Boys, Criminal Minds, Big Bang Theory, etc). I don’t follow most popular shows. I barely ever start watching a new show.

So you can probably guess that since I’m writing a blog post about it, I’ve started watching something new.

This one is called Episodes. The premise is that a couple of British TV writers move to LA to shoot a pilot for an American version of their hit show. It’s a pretty interesting premise, I think. Their plans hit a massive snag when the lead role of the show is given to Matt LeBlanc.

And now you see what really pulled me in.

Matt plays a (hopefully) fictional version of himself, and he ends up causing many headaches for the main characters, Sean and Beverly. The couple quickly lose creative control of the show to Matt and network meddling, and things spiral out of control fairly quickly.

It’s not terribly funny at the start. In fact, I’d go so far to say that the first episode is fairly dull. I think I laughed once? But it does get much better! That first episode sets up the premise really well and introduces a handful of key themes of the show. Which, I suppose is really the point. I found that I got attached to most of the characters fairly quickly, and by the end of season one I was enjoying the drama as much as I was the comedy.

I think that what I like about this show is that it’s another one where every character is fundamentally broken in some way. It’s a lot like Arrested Development in that way, only there are more sympathetic characters in Episodes. It’s a little more down-to-earth when there’s a mix of characters that you can honestly relate to and ones that ones that you just want to slap for being such assholes.

I also appreciate the look behind the curtain of how things work at a television network, even if it is exaggerated to some degree. The “office politics” angle sort of reminds me of Better Off Ted, but the humour is a little darker and more subtle.

Anyway, I burned through the first season in only two days (not an impressive feat; it’s only seven episodes), despite the first episode being slow and not overly funny. Like I said, it got better, and I’m now facing the difficult decision to go ahead and binge on the next two seasons right away, or leave them on the back burner for a while to enjoy later.

If you’re interested at all, the first three seasons are available on Netflix, and season four just finished airing in March. It wouldn’t get my highest recommendation, but Episodes is definitely worth checking out.

The ones which will be avenging again

I had the joy of seeing The Avengers: Age of Ultron on the weekend. General consensus seems to be that it’s somewhere between Not Good and Not As Good As The First. I don’t know about that. I thought it was pretty darn great.

Maybe it’s just because it’s been so long since I’ve been to a theatre.

Let’s be honest here though, The Avengers is a tough act to follow. Captain America: The Winter Soldier was even better, though less of a magnificent spectacle and more just a darn good movie. Guardians of the Galaxy was wonderful in every way. I can see how maybe the bar had been pushed up a little too high.

There’s nothing wrong with Age of Ultron though! It had plenty of action, plenty of great one-liners, and a boatload of character development. I keep hearing that people (nerd people) think it’s very obvious that a ton of the movie was cut for time, but it didn’t seem that obvious to me. I think maybe the only thing that left me wondering was the whole plot behind Ultron. His motivation didn’t make a whole lot of sense and I’m not sure what his endgame was. Also, what the heck was Thanos trying to accomplish?

Anyway, it is really just setting the scene for the next slew of movies, whatever those are. I don’t really keep up with what’s going to be happening in the future, but I’ve known for a while that the Infinity Gems are a thing. That’s only because I had a minor fascination with Marvel Super Heroes: War of the Gems as a kid. It’s like, oh hey I’ll finally understand what that was all about. Except without Spider-Man or Wolverine. Or Iron Man or Hulk, possibly. Oh, right. Spoilers.

If for some reason you have any doubts about Age of Ultron, let me tease you with this tender morsel: at one point, Hulk bites the head off od a robot.

So yeah, you should totes check it out.

Monthend Video Game Wrap-Up – April 2015

We’re going to mix things up a little this month. I’ve decided that the Game Over section should get first billing, and then have a rundown of what I’m currently playing. I think that putting the focus on my “accomplishments” for the month is a little more interesting. And when I say more interesting, I mean that for myself when I look back on these, not for you reading it right now.

Originally the idea of this feature was to keep track of what I was playing and encourage me to leave fewer games sitting half-done. That hasn’t been the case at all, as you’ll see if you look back at how many Now Playing entries just vanished and never showed up in Game Over. I still just start games on a whim and let them wither and die when something new comes along.

~ Game Over ~

Shadow of the Colossus HD (PS3) – If you’d told me that I could like SotC even more than I already did, I’d have said it wasn’t possible. But then I played it in 3D and here we are. Possibly the best (only?) reason to own a 3D-enabled TV.

BOXBOY! (3DS) – A brilliant little puzzle-platformer by HAL Laboratory. Not surprising, since everything they do is wonderful. The gameplay is incredibly thoughtful and satisfying, and you can dress up the main character, Qbby, as a rapper or a bunny or even a girl. Hooray!

Life is Strange: Episode 2 – Out of Time (PC) – I really liked Episode 1, and Ep.2 might have been even better. I don’t much care for hot button social commentary in my video games, but I think the “Internet Bullying/Slut-Shaming is Bad” theme was handled fairly well. I find myself caring about what happens to these characters, so… Good work, Dontnod. Keep it up. Continue reading Monthend Video Game Wrap-Up – April 2015

You can now write at me

Well, you always could. There’s a comments section below each post. But only spammers have used the feature over the last… woah, it’s been exactly two years since the last legitimate comment. Spooky.

Anyhow, I’ve put a link to the long-abandoned Torrential Coozy Forums on the left bar there. I beg you, please sign up and be my internet friend? Or not, whatever. It’s your choice. We actually just had a new member sign up in December, so technically the forums are more active than the blog comments! What even are you waiting for?

Here’s a special bonus even: sign up and I’ll write a big long blog post on the topic of your choosing. It’ll probably be boring as all heck if it’s not something I’m interested in, but I’ll do it!

(A more interesting alternative may be to join Talking Time, where I post quite often and there are a bunch of cool people.)

Migraine Watch: The Startening

I never had migraines as a kid, but they began in my early twenties, and have been happening somewhat regularly since then. They aren’t anywhere nearly as bad as they are for some people; they only last a day and only happen every six months or so. However, when I get one, I am generally rendered useless for the rest of the day.

In the interest of keeping data, I’ve decided to post notes every time I have a migraine. Each one is different, with varied effects (known as an “aura”) preceding and accompanying the main headache. I’m interested in seeing how many side-effects I can “collect,” so that’ll be kind of neat. I’d also like to see if I can nail down what triggers the migraines in the first place, and how/if I can prevent them.

Start: 4 PM, April 23/15

End: 12 PM, April 24/15

Aura: Mild loss of feeling in left hand (temporary, no tingle), dizziness, upset stomach after eating (persisted overnight)

Possible trigger(s): Stress, lack of sleep, poor eating

Medication: No-name ibuprofen pills, taken 2 hours after start (had none handy). total of 3 taken over the course of the migraine.

migraine