Real Alternatives

2012-08-08, 4:52 pm
Categories: E-Mail, Politics, Stream of Consciousness, Tech

To: NPR's All Things Considered

On this afternoon's All Things Considered, you referred to the computer-illiterate, failed copyright bills SOPA and PIPA, and spoke with economist Steve Siwek. You noted, "Although both bills seem to be on permanent hold, Siwek says their critics have offered no real alternatives." You did not challenge this assertion.

A Google search for the phrase "alternative to sopa" produces 41,100 results. A Google search for the phrase "real alternative to sopa" produces 4,930.

These proposed alternatives range from simple -- focus on the biggest infringers -- to the more radical -- completely overhaul copyright law to provide shorter copyright terms and broader exceptions for fair use.

Indeed, there is a proposed alternative to SOPA and PIPA working its way through Congress right now; it's called the OPEN Act.

To put it bluntly, it is impossible that Siwek is unaware of these proposals. When he says no one has offered any alternative to SOPA and PIPA, he is lying.

Underwood Interview

2012-08-07, 10:02 pm
Categories: Music, TV

Embedding disabled; clicky the linky: Ruth Underwood interview. It's a chunk of a BBC piece on Zappa from 1993; it's from a program called The Late Show which, presumably, is entirely unrelated to the American Late Show.

(Although speaking of the American Late Show, I did watch a bit of a Zappa appearance on Letterman the other night. I may post it later but honestly I thought it was pretty boring.)

Xboxin', Part 1

2012-08-07, 9:49 pm
Categories: Games, Stream of Consciousness

Welp, couldn't think of an entry to write this evening, and I got to thinking -- my brother just got an Xbox (rather like I did), and I was meaning to recommend some games to him. So hey, howzabout a blog post about my favorite Xbox games.

(Actually, I've mostly played the PC versions of these. Because, again -- just got the Xbox.)

Mass Effect -- I haven't played 3 yet, but the first two games are, straight up, my favorite games of the current hardware generation. It's the guys who made Knights of the Old Republic, but it's a new science fiction setting they've cooked up. Humans have begun exploring space and are treated as second-class citizens by the Galactic Council; your character is the first human to be selected for an elite special-ops position. Of course, as these things go, you uncover a threat to all of galactic civilization.

The first game's a not-quite-perfect hybrid of third-person shooter and RPG; it's got a wonky inventory system but is pretty great aside from that. The second game streamlines out all the crap and is more of a pure shooter; on the whole I'd say it's a better game but the first has the better story. I haven't played the third yet; from what I've read it's pretty good but the ending is so bad the company actually released a new ending at fans' insistence.

Batman: Arkham Asylum -- When this game came out it got the Guinness Record for the best-reviewed game of all time. It's easy to see why. It's got a script by Paul Dini and stars Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill. The gameplay is just perfect, and the enemy AI is a great touch; a lot of the fighting is focused on the idea of sneaking around and slowly picking off thugs one-by-one. (You can even hang upside-down from a gargoyle, wait until a guy walks underneath you, and drop down and tie him up.) As you take thugs out the remaining ones get more and more agitated and have different reactions; some start firing randomly into the air, others start traveling in pairs -- the AI's not exactly brilliant but it's a really nice touch. And that's before the game even starts messing with your expectations, playing with what you expect out of the world of Batman and even the mechanics of the game itself.

The sequel, Arkham City, is supposed to be pretty fantastic too, but I haven't gotten around to that one yet.

Guess that'll do for a start. Other stuff for later: Dragon Age, The Witcher 2, Sonic Generations, Sonic CD. And, hell, Ghostbusters. Because it may be mediocre as a game, but as a Ghostbusters sequel, it's pretty great.

Channel 4 Zappa Obit

2012-08-06, 10:21 pm
Categories: Music, TV

Well, bit of a downer, but a pretty good rundown of the man's life and career.

Plus the anchor looks like Bill O'Reilly and is named Jon Snow.

Miss you, Frank.

Too soon!

2012-08-06, 7:16 pm
Categories: Comics, Politics, Stream of Consciousness

There's a sentiment I've seen in the CBR comments section a couple of times recently: this "How dare you try and tie this to a political agenda?" faux-outrage.

Now, there are lots of times when it's inappropriate to bring up controversial political subjects. Particularly when there's a recent tragedy in the news and you're sensationalizing it. Like, for example, after the V-Tech massacre, when soon-to-be-disbarred fuckface Jack Thompson tried to blame the killings on Counterstrike, a game which the shooter did not play.

Some things are completely inappropriate in the wake of a tragedy. Like flailing around trying to blame it on Doom or Marilyn Manson or Dungeons and Dragons. Or jumping all over a quote from some guy on the opposite end of the country about what the killer supposedly said. Or grabbing whatever Batman comic your film critic has on his desk, thumbing through it until you see a scene that takes place in the theater, and wildly speculating that the killer was imitating it. Or plastering the killer's name and stupid fucking face all over TV and the Internet to make good and sure that every crazy asshole out there knows that hey kids, if you wanna be on TV, all you have to do is murder a bunch of people. Or typing his name into Google and falsely conflating him with a Tea Party member. Or having an honest dialogue about the ease of access to high-powered weapons and high-capacity clips in this country, and the sorry state of our mental health system.

Wait, what was that last one?

The subject came up again in a discussion of the recent news that comics writer and inker Karl Kesel recently adopted a baby with a methadone addiction and is selling his comic collection to pay for the child's medical bills.

Now, it goes without saying that this is a feel-good story, that Kesel and his wife Myrna are clearly legitimately wonderful human beings, and that they're doing something great that really matters.

But if you can read a story like that and not, even for a moment, think "They shouldn't have to do that" then you and I are very different people.

Nothing but respect to the Kesels, and I certainly speak only for myself and not for them. But it strikes me that there are a lot of people out there with sick kids who don't have tens of thousands of dollars in investments, and that getting slapped with tens of thousands in bills -- even if you've got insurance! -- is a sign of a broken healthcare system.

Seems to me that stories like that are perfect opportunities to have a conversation about healthcare -- but somebody brought it up and immediately got shushed by another commenter's righteous indignation: "How dare you politicize this?"

(In fairness, the guy who brought it up was kind of an ass about it.)

Seems to me that, when presented with a story that's a clear, directly-pertinent object example of some important sociopolitical issue, it's probably a good time to talk about that issue!

I mean, should we just wait until there are no stories about gun violence or healthcare debt to talk about gun access and healthcare costs? Don't make much sense if you ask me.

Royal Festival Hall

2012-08-05, 8:43 pm
Categories: Music

London, October of '68. The poster calls this the Orange County Lumber Truck Medley and describes it as a "4th generation soundboard fragment"; that first bit is Let's Make The Water Turn Black.

Colour Me Pop

2012-08-04, 9:23 pm
Categories: Music, TV

British TV, 1968. (Another fine video from tomtiddler1!)

King Kong and a second number which, according to globalia.net, is called O, In the Sky. (A commenter on that page disputes whether it was Colour Me Pop at all and suggests it was Late Night Line Up.)

Twinkle Tits

2012-08-03, 7:44 pm
Categories: Cartoons, Music

Decided not to go with another interview after all; continuing the tenuous Olympic connection with a performance from the Olympic Auditorium in LA, March 1970.

Someone in the comments says the animation in the beginning is by David Firth. And he's British, so there's your British/Olympics connection, audience.

More Searches

2012-08-03, 6:41 am
Categories: Movies, Politics

Dear guy who found this site doing a search for obama fucking idiot,

While I certainly consider the President to be a disappointment in many ways, and has made some decisions that seem poorly-thought-out or just wrong, "fucking idiot" is not a criticism I typically level at people with Harvard law degrees.

Your search, however, will fit right in with the previous search for bush moron (a position I do endorse!) on my favorite searches page.

Thanks for dropping by!

Dear guy who found this site doing a search for why the fuck isn't batman in 3d,

Because Nolan wanted to shoot the movie (or a good big chunk of it) with IMAX cameras, not 3D cameras. Different directors have different points of view about interesting new technologies in the field of moviemaking. 3D is James Cameron's baby; Nolan prefers IMAX. Peter Jackson is shooting The Hobbit at 48fps (and, if I'm not mistaken, also in 3D).

Variety is the spice of life. Avatar was all about the 3D, the last two Batman movies were breathtaking in IMAX, and I'm looking forward to seeing The Hobbit.

Hell, The Artist is a black-and-white silent film and it's fucking wonderful. The right technology for the right film, my friend.

Newsnight

2012-08-02, 7:55 pm
Categories: Music, TV

Another interview, preceding the London Symphony Orchestra concert.

I particularly like his comments that Valley Girl is just as serious as an orchestral piece that takes six months to write, followed by his explanation that he paid out-of-pocket to put this concert together, that he can do so thanks to his fans, and that he's converting that money back into soundwaves.

This video and last night's are both on a YouTube playlist of UK interviews uploaded by a user named hazzaroonee; there are a couple more where this came from and I'm tempted just to keep going with them. How long is this Olympi-thing, again?