August 28, 2013
Concern is not a finite commodity.
You can care about more than one subject at a time. Being upset that Miley Cyrus is being slut shamed, and being upset that her performance looked awfully racist, and being upset because Robin Thicke’s single is rapey as hell, does not mean that you’…re any less upset that the Syrian regime is gassing it’s own people to death and that we might be heading into another war in the middle east.
These things are not mutually exclusive. So every time you wade into a Miley/Robin thread where people are attempting to address sexism, racism, and what to do about a crumbling music industry that’s trying to feed us poop with ketchup on it with “meanwhile in Syria” you’re being a dick. Please go make your own post about Syria. The answer is not to thread crap our thread but to start your own.
And no it’s still not ok to point out that the media isn’t talking about Syria as muck as Miley Cyrus in those threads either. Just because it’s true doesn’t make it any less dismissive and thread crappy.
I care that people think it’s ok to hold women to a much higher moral standard than men, that a well dressed rape cheerleader get much less crap than a badly dressed young adult who’s trying to figure out who she is (badly, yes I get it. Where you mistake free in your early twenties)?
I also care very deeply that people are dying in a civil war between a corrupt dictatorship and his own people. I care that we might end up sending materiel, making strikes, and even sending ground troops against that regime, especially when that regime is politically supported by Russia, who’ve been making some big noise lately and I consider to be dangerously close to dictatorship themselves.
I also care that two characters in a roleplaying game that we play on Thursday night are about to break up and that Brian’s character, Milo, might be headed towards a spectacular melt down.
See, it’s possible to care about many things and caring about one DOES NOT diminish the other. The media might be running a game on us, but stop insulting your friends by insinuating that they don’t know what’s going on in the world. Are your friends really that vapid? Most of the legion on my list aren’t. (ok, some of them are, but that’s why the defriending project is ongoing).
February 23, 2012
Television
I like tv. Actually what I really like is tv on netflix or dvd, because i hate commercials. Beyond the fact that commercials are often sexist, racist, and are manipulating me to buy things I don’t want or need, I just don’t like having the narrative flow of a story interrupted to tell me a series of little stories that are designed to sell me things. ok, rant over. So, yeah, I watch a lot of shows and here’s a roundup of what I watched.
Skins (UK)I think this is my favorite of the last couple of years, especialy the first two seasons. The premise is simple. A group of students all attending their last two years of college (English college, much like our high school, but with a focus on final exams for university placement or vocations) before moving on to adulthood. Add to this a format which spotlights a character or two an episode and how they relate to the others and their own little section of the world.
The writing is crisp sometimes very brave, and there’s little of the candy coating you get with American shows about teens. Sex, drug use, alcohol, and relationship angst all figure heavily into the mix, much like in my own life, and i think that’s what resonated so highly. the characters are allowed to be fucked up and show their humanity through their faults. There’s also an edge of crazy energy and surrealism that, while maybe not being a form of truth, is an terrific way of portraying how confusing and bizarre coming of age can be.
GRADE: A+ a favorite, that I’ll watch again.
For people who like: good dramatic writing, British television, anglophiles in general, people who wished they’d done more partying in school. people who did that much part in school.
As a small post script, there’s an American version made by MTV. Don’t, just don’t. it’s awful.
Terriers I make no secret of my love for Donal Logue’s work. I will watch just about anything he’s in, even shitty Mel Gibson movies where history is treated like shit. When I heahat he was going to be in a detective/buddy series I thought “oh, this’ll be a fun comedic romp.” I was wrong. Don’t get me wrong, it’s fun, and often comedic, but it’s also got great writing, some very heavy themes and, unbelievably for this type of show, there are consequences to every action and they just spiral and spiral down the drain.
Mark Raymond-James, plays his partner, Britt, who’s having trouble with the collision between his past and future. There is some really amazing writing there too.
Also, Karina Logue, Donal Logue’s real life sister, plays his sister on the show and blew me away with her portrayal of a genius who’s life was interrupted by mental illness.
GRADE B+ A solidly watchable show with some excellent acting and writing.
For people who like: Donal Logue, off-beat detective shows
Detroit 187 Mickey and I both watched this one, and we were both impressed by the fact that they didn’t work “interesting mysteries” like some formulaic bullshit I could mention, but won’t. They work some real cases, and there’s a metaplot that’s the “big case.” I liked the pacing and the characters, and I’m always a fan of Michael Imperioli, and he plays a pretty weird guy in a pretty weird situation, both of which make sense after some well executed reveals.
Grade B good offering, that I think could have used some better actors in supporting roles.
For people who like: cop shows where the cops are the good guys, but not the best guys, shows about Detroit, slow building metaplots
Life On Mars (US) I’ll make a little confession here. I like the American version better for once. It’s the ending. I don’t like super loose unanswered endings, and i don’t like religious whatchamawhosit. I just don’t. I think that was spoiler free. I think.
A cop in 2008 is hit by a car and wakes up in 1973 with a life already waiting for him as a cop in the same house as he was in in ’08. Look, anything else is just gonna be spoilers.
This show is weird, interesting, and has Harvey Keitel. That’s enough, right?
To return to the British VS American question for a second. I think you’ll like the one you watched first best. I dunno. It won a BAFTA in the UK and got cancelled here… I dunno. Watch the one you can get ahold of.
GRADE A really good speculative fiction in a television format, amazing acting.
For people who like: subtle sci fi, strange questions that actually get answered (US version)
October 20, 2011
Louie Louie
When I was 16, the first time I performed in front of an audience was at a high school battle of the bands. We’d been together maybe three or four months. We were terrible. We had no bass player. I was barely able to work two hands and a foot together. Matt, our guitarist was better than the rest of us, but really still in the infancy of learning. Our singer was Ed Melton, and Ed’s a great guy, but a terrible singer, he’s the first to admit that. I didn’t know you needed a piece of carpet to put your drums on, so I kept having to drag my cymbal stands back into place.
However, after saturday night, I can now say I have not participated in the worst cover of Louie Louie I’ve heard performed live. Moral Crux played some really great songs that night, but that cover wasn’t one of them. Weird considering how amazing their cover of Sonic reducer was. Maybe I just have no patience for Black Flag style covers of Louie Louie. Maybe it’s some inborn trauma from that night a few decades ago.
July 13, 2011
70’s sitcoms.
Barney Miller is still one of the best sitcoms television has ever produced, and still, with a few small exceptions, a fine example of a single-set performance. What really gets me is how forward-looking it was, not just for it’s time, but for now. Issues of race, gender, and sexual preference are all treated with humanity. Also, goddamned funny.
Grade A+
Grade B, B+ if you forgive it for launching Travolta.
Grade Meh.
Mork and Mindy isn’t near as good as I remember, but there are some moments of pure hilarity mixed in, especially Mork’s crazy friend Exidor, as played by the comically brilliant Robert Donner.
Grade "I'm a baaaad clown. I do Cocaine."Grade "Mork! Is that you?!?"
I know why I liked LaVerne and Shirley. It was Lenny and Squiggy. Any time they’re on is brilliant, any time they’re not is sort of a gamble.
Grade C, B if Lenny and Squiggy are on.
Soap is one of the weirdest shows I’ve ever seen, and it still draws me into the plot as well as the humor. I think Arrested Developemant takes a lot of its cues from Soap.
Grade, Yeah, Mitchell Hurwitz and Ron Howard watched a lot of this.
Grade Not as good as I remember.
Grade Better than I remember
Three’s Company seems horridly dated and most of the comedy is based on social mores that are best left in the past. In a weird way it’s more interesting as a time capsule than as comedy, but there are some moments of physical comedy by Jon Ritter that rule.
Grade Outdated.
April 25, 2011
Norwescon 2011
Norwescon started early for me with a flurry of baking for the Dethcon room party. Wednesday and Thursday were very busy days and I took the last foccaccia out of the oven mere minutes before I left to head down and be on my first panel on Thursday night.
That panel “Not just for white boys anymore: beyond stereotypes” Was very well attended for a Thursday night panel, in fact Thursday overall was very well attended. I think a lot of people treated Norwes as a staycation this year. I did the panel with Jules Hahn, Donna Prior, and Phil Brucato. So there I was a white boy on that panel, feeling a little uncomfortable about trying to talk about non-heteronormative gamers while being one, but it went well and I think we definitely put down some food for thought. Next year I’m really hoping that I’ll be able to gladly give up my seat to a Mike Pondsmith, or a Chris Chen, or a John Kim, plus that would mean that I’d get to sit in the audience and watch any of those guys talk about gaming, which would be awesome.
After the panel hung out and had some good conversations with some people i hadn’t seen in awhile. I did that a lot this weekend, with the most surprising being my friend Jay, who I went to high school with and not only hadn’t seen in a very long time, but hadn’t expected to see at Norwes.
Friday morning I was on “Game publishing goes digital” with Jeremy Holcomb, Sean K Reynolds, and a good friend of mine, Dustin Gross. This one was pretty interesting, there was some advice those those hoping to digitally publish games, some gripes about the current status of such, a really good section where we talked about promotion online, and a wrap up where we mused about the future of online games publishing. It was a good panel and about the perfect length and content.
I want to take a small moment here, and say that the green room that Alexia ran was the best I’ve seen and I was never for want of a little snack to boost me through, and it was always super neat and well organized.
Again I wandered around and chatted, spent some time in the bar, and then went to pick up Mickey from work and bring her back as we both had panels that night.
I was then on “Ask the gamemasters” with Jonathan Tweet, Rodney Thompson and Jason Bulmahn. I love this panel. it’s fun and it’s easy because the audience generates the content with their questions, and this year we got some really good ones. The highlight questions for me were “how much contribution do you feel the players should have to the setting?” which garnered such a resounding answer of “A whole lot, because then your players are really invested in it” that it made my heart sing, and the question “What was your biggest mistake as a gm?” was really interesting.
That evening I was on “Dude, seriously WTF?: When gamers cross the line” with Phil Brucato, Donna Prior, and my friend Loree Parker. I think this one might have been a little mistitled. I think some people showed up expecting a lot of funny anecdotes about ridiculous gamer behavior and then got some horror stories about Gms and players really really crossing the line. The first example given was a GM who forced a rape upon one of the female characters and ignored the player’s protests. So, we discussed this kind of thing, and talked about how to bring up this kind of subject matter before the game and respect the wishes of the players and GM when it comes to subjects that make them uncomfortable. We also talked about how to talk to disruptive players, how to deal with unengaged players, and what to do about creative differences.
I then ran out and drove up to the Galway in the U-district for a punk rock show, and to deliver a loaf of cheese bread to Davey Death Ray. I hope he liked it. Unfortunately Danger Death Ray had played first, so I missed them. I watched The Tanked, and then some of Steel Horse’s set, but had to head back down to the hotel to pick up Mickey so we could go home and get some sleep.
We got back mid Saturday afternoon and I rounded up some players and ran my Dresden Files RPG demo. It went well and I’m glad Dylan, Ver0nica, David, and Dylan’s mom got to play. They seemed to really enjoy it.
That night I was on “Putting the R in Rpg” which was a big hit last year. This year I was on with Phil and Mickey again and taking Wolfgang Bauer’s seat was Jennifer Brozek. We went over how to broach the subject of adult content and how to set some rules for what won’t be brought up and what will be treated delicately, and got a surprising amout of questions and comments about that. Unfortunately that put our schedule behind just a little so we got to talk about how to make horror horrific, and really scare the hell out of your players, but sadly we only got to touch on the dirty stuff just a little. There was talk after the panel about splitting this panel into two panels next year, possibly three. I’d like to see three with the first being about how to deal with difficults subjects, then the horror panel, and then the sex one.
After the panel I went up to the suites and attended the 19th anual Robert the Bruce Memorail Scotch Off with my friend Thaddeus. As always it was a terrific time and there were some excellent and unusual things on the menu. There were also a few bottles of bourbon there, including the Washington Dry Fly, which I believe might be my father’s christmas present this year, and a bottle of Basil Hayden which I’m very fond of. Scotch-wise I tried the 99 Laphroig special, which was nice, but not as exciting as I’d hoped, an Oban 18 which was lovely, and the Yamazaki 12 which I’ve had before and liked quite a lot. My pal Richard put out the food as usual and it was splendid, especially the hand cured gravlax.
Sunday we stayed home and I recuperated from my hangover and watched tv while Mickey went out to walk around Greenlake and have lunch with a friend. I was going to write this post last night, but the thought of being upright and engaged with anything other than coffee and episodes of Parks and Rec and such was too daunting.
April 7, 2011
Lose some time with Tumblr
I have a new tumblr where I post whatever geeky pics I think of at a moment’s random notice.
http://stabbingcontest.tumblr.com/
I find it amusing. Maybe you will too.
April 2, 2011
Shows shows shows!
Last weekend started out with a trip to west Seattle to attend Connor from The Damage Done’s birthday bowling hoopla, and a hoopla it was. I broke 80 which isn’t all that shitty considering I hadn’t bowled in twelve years. Much beer was consumed as well, and chocolate cake pie!!
That saturday I went to the Black Lodge for the first time to watch Connor’s birthday show Where Success!, Attica Attica, Ghost Robot Ninja Bear, and The Damage Done played one hell of a show. I liked the Black Lodge, it’s a good DIY space with plenty of room as well as couches and a decent sounding music space.
This thursday I went to the Random Orbits tour kick off Where I caugth the second half of One Day’s set, all of Destruction Island, who are so rad, and then a blastoff of a set by Random Orbits that included a hella decent cover of the Get Up Kids’ “Ten Minutes” which I think they should record.
Can someone please remind me who’s been doing a cover of Hot Water Music’s “Trusty Chords?” That’s been bugging me.
Finally last night I went to Smooth Sailing’s record release party at the Sunset in Ballard. As always parking in Ballard sucks, but the show was great. We had a lot of fun hanging out, Into The Storm and Anadonia, were quite good, and The set by Smooth Sailing was a tremendous amount of noise, emotion, and pure brilliance. Buy that CD.
Seriously, buy the CD.
March 23, 2011
HOUSE SHOW HOUSE SHOW HOUSE SHOW!!
Saturday night was the first house show I’ve been to in a long time, and it felt really good to be able to do that again. First off thanks to Steve, Tyler and everyone else who lives at Belly House for hosting, and thanks to all the bands who played, especially Hurdles who drove all the way from Bozeman, Montana to play.
Mickey and I got theraround 7:30 and immediately saw so many friends that we had a hard time saying hello to everyone.
The line up was Go! Fight! Win!, Random Orbits, Smokejumper, Hurdles and Success!, and damned if I can remember if that’s the order in which they played. Apparently I have a blind spot for remembering such things.
Some random notes:
I’ve finally figured out what Random Orbits sound like to me. They sound like if Foghat were a hardcore band.
The drunker I get and the more bands I see, the more willing I am to hug people I barely know.
I forgot how much I like Shiner Bock, very drinkable.
Hurdles are a fantastic band and if I ever get banished to the wilds of Montana, at least I’ll be able to see a good band once in awhile.
Sketchy hoods are great for house shows. There were emergency vehicles rolling by many times that night, fire, cops, and ambulances, and not one of them even turned an eyeball towards us.
I love hearing new songs. GFW, Success!, and Random Orbits all unveiled some terrific new material.
Lou is a great dog.
Mostly I just want to say how amazing it is to stand around in someone’s yard and smoke and drink and then run inside to watch bands. Find your house venue in your area if there is one and check it out.
March 1, 2011
His name is Tyler.
This is my friend Tyler.
Look at that face. What a scamp.
Tyler plays guitar for Random Orbits, they added him after their first album and he fills out the sound and does a bunch of shreddy widdla widdla fills.
Tyler, Ryan, Blake and Sauce, collectively known as Random Orbits.
Tyler also makes great posters for area shows.
And he’ll make ’em on a moments notice.
He also interviews bands for AMP Magazine, like this A Wilhelm Scream interview, where he drools all over them in fanboy glee.
All of these things make him rad, but what really makes Tyler rad is that he’s a good friend and when he manages to get out of the house and make it to something he is 100% down with hanging out, making the stupidest of jokes together, and a few rounds of the circle game.
I just circled you, Tyler, and the rest of you too.
I mean it’s not all flowers and roses. There’s the weird whining when you get it in his hair, and then there’s that thing where he doesn’t understand music made before 1998, but if you can get over that, then it’s just the smell, right?
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