Monthly Archive for November, 2008

Ocarina of Time: 10 Years Later

Published on November 24, 2008 in video games. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , .

if you want to see a ferry to the other world, come here

–quote from a painting in the Shadow Temple.

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Ten years ago on this day, The Legend of Zelda:Ocarina of Time was released in North America. There has been a lot written about this game since it came out, it is always on a top ten list somewhere, so I’m not going to try to review the game. I just want to bring attention to a video game masterpiece and show it some respect on its ten year anniversary.

I bought the game for the N64 when it came out, gold cartridge and all as seen above and played through it at least twice on the N64. When the Master Quest of Ocarina of Time came out in 2003, I played that as well, and just on Friday I finished playing the original Ocarina of Time again. I had the memory of the remixed dungeon arrangements in the Master Quest in my mind, and I had to go back and play the original to remember it as it was.

Part of my fondness for the game was the good memories of what was going on in my life when the game came out and I was playing it (I had been happily married for just about a year) and part of it was also  being amazed that the awesome games from the SNES and NES managed to make the transition to 3-D so successfully. The game is epic. Replaying it today takes a little adjustment for the 1998 graphics, but the cinematic feel, the settings, dungeons, and music more than make up for it quickly. The combat is great fun with the, at the time, revolutionary lock-on targeting system that allowed you to keep a focus on a given enemy. Riding your horse Epona is still a lot of fun, and the items in the game still work great. The dungeons and boss battles in them are just as I remembered.

Luckily, the game is available for download through the Virtual Console on the Nintendo Wii. You can play it with a Gamecube controller, and it works great. I had no problem playing through it with the Gamecube controller. There are so many crap games for the Wii, because there are so many Wiis out there now in households. The first game you should play on your Wii is Ocarina of Time. There is no comparison in terms of quality to the vast selection of Wii titles available.

Here are some nice Legend of Zelda links.

The official website has a really nice thorough Walkthrough/Guide.

For fans who have played the game a few times and are familiar with the dialogue, it is kind of fun to scan through this text dump of the all the dialogue in the game on gamefaqs.com

I have listened to quite a bit of ZREO(Zelda Reorchestrated). It has an impressive collection of synthesized orchestral arrangements for the soundtracks of the various games.

MC Chris in Chicago

Published on November 22, 2008 in Uncategorized. 1 Comment

tour poster

tour poster

MC chris started his show off with a long draw on his albuterol inhaler(for asthma).He opened up with MC Chris is Dead, which was appropriate, because he looked DEAD TIRED with dark bags under his eyes. He moved slow, rapped quietly, and had no energy. Thankfully his energy picked up substantially and he delivered his rhymes much more effectively. His performance was very animated with zombie walking, spat loogies, and robot dancing.

In between his frat-geek rapid fire songs(–the strobe light explodes white as I step on the floor-the barkeep knows the code so he throws me a Stroh’s–) he delivered updates about what he has been up to.There were also some stand-up comedy style shouted rants. They tied together pop culture references from the past and present.His take on a solution to Will Smith’s predicament in I Am Legend included a twisting waterslide in the basement similar to the one in the Goonies.The whole performance works great and is humorously entertaining along with head-bobbingly catchy.

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Clip of MC Chris Owns

His fatigued beginning seemed a foreshadowing to an announcement he made later that he had been touring and rapping for four years and he was going to quit. He said he was finally going to make his own cartoon called Battle High. I guess that means no more MC Chris, MC Chris is dead. Well, not dead, because he is going to be voicing a gummi bear on a new Adult Swim cartoon called Cheyenne Cinnamon and the Fantabulous Unicorn of Sugar Town Candy Fudge. The whole cartoon direction is fine.The only reason I even know about MC Chris is because I loved MC Pee Pants on Aqua Teen Hunger Force so much I had to figure out who the hell was rocking I Want Candy. I thought for sure the MCs voice had been altered, nope, just MC Chris’ signature sound bitch!

Oh, and it’s not nerdcore, its Hip-Hop.

Book Review: A People’s History of the United States-Howard Zinn

Published on November 5, 2008 in books. 0 Comments Tags: , .

It took me a while to finish this book, but I’m glad I did. Not only have key details of U.S. history been disappearing from my mind since high school, but an important distinction is made in this account of U.S. history:perspective. Howard Zinn is telling the history of the U.S. as much as he can from the many and different perspectives of minorities and the oppressed and exploited.

When I read about the book, it really caught my attention. The string of events that led me to think more about this country’s history are long, including just my everyday associations with people at work, to the atmosphere that exists of personal responsibility to vote and participate in this country’s two-party political system. It was actually a really frank song that got me thinking more about it. I’m a big fan of the Toy Story movies, and I loved Randy Newman’s music in them, which led me to get one of his albums (The Randy Newman Songbook, Vol. 1). There is a great song on that album called “The Great Nations of Europe”.

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Here are the lyrics to that song.

From the very first chapter of the book he states very plainly what you are about to read:

“My viewpoint, in telling the history of the United States, is different: that we must not accept the memory of states as our own. Nations are not communities and never have been.”

“Still, understanding the complexities, this book will be skeptical of governments and their attempts, through politics and culture, to ensnare ordinary people in a giant web of nationhood pretending to a common interest.”

The early history was very interesting, although very slow-going. The 60s and 70s kept me interested, and I particularly like the balanced accounting of the founding of the labor unions (the American Federation of Labor and the Knights of Labor).The chapters I liked the most were towards the end, the last five chapters beginning with chapter 21, Carter-Reagan-Bush: The Bipartisan Consensus. In chapter 23, The Coming Revolt of the Guards, He refines the broad title of the whole book as a “people’s history” by saying:

“I call it that anyway because, with all its limitations, it is a history disrespectful of governments and respectful of people’s movements of resistance.”

He goes on to say:

“That makes it a biased account, one that leans in a certain direction. I am not troubled by that, because the mountain of history books under which we all stand leans so heavily in the other direction–so tremblingly respectful of states and statesmen and so disrespectful, by inattention, to people’s movements–that we need some counterforce to avoid being crushed into submission.”

He talks quite a bit about the false choice of the Democrat/Republican political party, which is really interesting given the current presidential situation.I think its an important book to read, and although it deals with many negative aspects of U.S. history, I wasn’t depressed after finishing it.

Be Seen

Published on November 4, 2008 in Uncategorized. 0 Comments

I’ve been seeing a lot of these lately on cars and trucks.I guess I kind of agree with this message, seeing as it is admonishing increased awareness of motorcycles. I mean, not hitting motorcycles keeps everyone safe. My brother hit a deer recently, and thankfully came away safe from it along with his wife. The car was totaled though.

This past weekend, my wife and I were traveling on a rural two-lane county highway at night, and with my brother’s recent accident in mind, I drove 5 miles below the speed limit. I wish deer were easier to see, but there’s nothing to be done about that I guess. I wish there weren’t so many of them, but again, there’s nothing to be…wait I guess they do get shot by hunters, and controlled deer hunts. Those assigned to community service for restitution could be sent into the woods with either guns, or for the animal-rights lot, neon green worker safety vests tailored to fit deer. I think a healthy deer skull could also probably support a solar-powered yellow warning klaxon. I don’t know how else I’m going to just start seeing deer. I guess I just need to start to.

Now, back to the bumper sticker. Imploring people to “Start Seeing Motorcycles” isn’t going change the low profile visibility of motorcycles. There is a reason that drivers are taught in Defense Driving courses. The only way to be safe on the road is to drive for everyone else. This bumper sticker has the exact opposite attitude and sentiment. Instead of being assertive and communicating proactively protecting oneself, it is communicating that others need to protect them. A more appropriate bumper sticker would say “Motorcyclists: Start Being Seen”. Someone who has the “Start Seeing Motorcycles” bumper sticker displayed, yet rides a motorcycle without any reflective, fluorescent, or bright colored clothing and gear is being hypocritical. I have to say the one thing I do see motorcyclists doing for visibility is using the headlight even during the day. That’s nice.

You might say, “what’s the big deal, its just a bumper sticker”, but ironically, while I’m reading that bumper sticker in traffic I might not be seeing that motorcycle who has the right-of-way. Honestly, if you’re trying to promote visual attention to a low profile vehicle on the road, don’t try and take people’s eyes off the road.

There needs to be less of this attitude and more of this attitude.

…chaos ensues

Published on November 2, 2008 in movie. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , .

Huh. so that’s what a press kit is. I wanted to check out the “offishal” website for CJ7, but of course its a whole flash thing. Bleh. So I clicked on the “download press kit” link and got a PDF. Just chock full ‘o facts. The short synopsis ends with “…chaos ensues.” , which I wouldn’t take as a very good indicator of a good movie, because usually when chaos ensues in a PG-rated flick, it means a bunch of bullshit antics that, if not 8 years old, will get you a little depressed that you even gave it a chance.

The name Stephen Chow made me press on  despite the similar feeling I got from perusing the cover art of CJ7 at Blockbuster Video, and despite the “Blockbuster Video Exclusive” label featured prominently on it(Legend of the Black Scorpion also had this and sucked balls). The cover art reminded me of the cover art of Mac and Me for some reason.

Yeah, Mac and Me, so IMDB says released in August 12th 1988, so I’m twelve years old, and even then when my dad came home from the movie rental store with this I rolled my eyes. Couldn’t even finish it when I was twelve.(Notice that the promo poster there indicates the VHS availability as March 30th!)

So, anyway, I LOVED Kung Fu Hustle and also Shaolin Soccer before it.  Both of those movies feature characters that are dirt poor and have meager resources but against all odds make something out of nothing. And they don’t make something out of nothing the way Republicans think welfare recipients should make something out of nothing,  but they make something out of nothing despite how others think they should. This is coming from Stephen Chow, who grew up in China of all places. I like the Bruce Lee-inspired martial arts combined with the Looney Tunes sense of humor that Stephen Chow has. What surprised me was the dramatic change in theme material from Kung Fu Hustle to CJ7. Kung Fu Hustle was fairly violent and sported an R rating. From the very beginning, I knew Kung Fu Hustle was different from Shaolin Soccer the way the poor guys leg was taken off with that axe.

CJ7 reminded me of the original Spy Kids movie from Robert Rodriguez. Rodriguez made all kinds of violent movies, and then he breaks something off for the chilluns. I liked Spy Kids. The sequels are shiz, but I liked Spy Kids. The nice thing is that CJ7 is even more consistently entertaining relative to its more adult brethren than Spy Kids is to its own. Stephen Chow keeps up the classic principles of his characters, and his trademark sense of humor while keeping it safe for kids to watch. Don’t let the dumb live action/CG interaction gimmick fool you, this is a real Stephen Chow movie!