Conan O'brien: Human Tetris (Hole in the Wall)
Hole in the Wall (Conan O'brien 5/08)
Hole in the Wall (Conan O'brien 5/08)
Labels: (TV), Conan O'brien
Team Fortress 2 is a very unique FPS in that many different and distinct classes must work together and coordinate with one another to be successful.
The Engineer class is probably the most unique of all the classes in the game. He is known for his ability to make structures to aid in base defense. Since they're a support class, they're not very useful on their own, however, a good engineer can be vital in keeping the enemy team from taking over a key piece of territory or capturing the intelligence. Engineers can also be very useful in pushing the frontier offensively - a well placed sentry, turret, and dispenser combo can really help push your teammates closer to the enemy territory and thus, closer to victory.
Gold Rush
Dustbowl (Part 1)
Dustbowl (Part 2)
Audiosurf is an IGF Award winning puzzle/rhythm hybrid game created by Invisible Handlebar. Its track-like stages visually mimic the music the player chooses, while the player races across several lanes collecting colored blocks that appear in sync with the music. Currently, the full version is only available for purchase through Steam and includes the entire Orange Box soundtrack files to play. Audiosurf is the first game to use Valve's Steamworks technology. The game was released on February 15, 2008 over Steam.
In Audiosurf the player controls a levitating spaceship-like craft similar to those found in Wipeout or F-Zero. The player then maneuvers it down a colorful multi-laned highway, collecting blocks in a manner similar to Klax. The ship is controlled either by a mouse, the arrow keys, the number keys, or a Gamepad. The game also supports the rumble feature of the Xbox 360 controller.
I was sorta bored so I thought I'd download Audiosurf and try it out. It's not too bad, especially given the price tag ($10) . The best thing about the game is that you can choose any audio file that you might have on your hard drive and successfully create a playable level based on the tempo of the song. However, after a couple hours I think I've already had my fill of it. It seems to cater to a very specific group of people into this type of music/rhythm gameplay; but if it's your thing, this is one of the better ones on the market.
Here are some clips of me playing some songs (very poorly), notice that the tempo of the song affects the difficulty about as much as the actual difficulty setting does:
Robyn - Bum Like you (Easy Difficulty)
In medium difficulty you get some new abilities: the left click button allows you to collect blocks on all columns and the right click makes the ship jump.
Coheed and Cambria - The Running Free (Medium Difficulty)
R.E.M. - Orange Crush (Hard Difficulty)
There are many other kinds of modes in which you can choose to play with, but the 'mono' ship (where you just have to concentrate on avoiding the gray blocks) was the only one where I seemed to know how to play with intuitively.
10. W.
Director: Oliver Stone
Writer: Stanley Weiser (screenplay)
Cast: Josh Brolin, Elizabeth Banks
Release Date: Fall 2008 ?
Assessment:
I'm not 100% clear on when or if this movie is going to come out this year, though there seems to be indications that it will. Helmed by Oliver Stone, who did a biopic on Richard Nixon over 20 years ago, is certainly qualified to take on this film. Whether or not the film will be biased one way or the other remains to be seem, but I'm hoping it will try to be as neutral as possible, simply stating the facts will be sufficient enough to expose Bush as an incompetent fool. Whatever the case, the timing is absolutely spot on.
Synopsis:
A chronicle on the life and presidency of George W. Bush
9. Australia
Director: Baz Luhrmann
Writers: Baz Luhrmann (screenplay) and Ronald Harwood (screenplay)
Cast: Hugh Jackman, Nicole Kidman
Release Date: 14 November 2008 (USA)
Assessment:
In the hands of one of the most visionary directors in the world right now, Luhrmann's Australia is unlikely to disappoint. Though Baz hardly ever makes a film, when he does (whether you enjoyed it or not) it turns out to have a very unique and interesting style. Australia seems to look like a more traditional, more pedestrian type of film; it'll definitely be interesting to see what he does with the source material. All signs seem to indicate that it'll be a huge, epic film, possibly being an Oscar contender this year.
Synopsis:
Set in northern Australia prior to World War II and centers on an English aristocrat (Kidman) who inherits a cattle station the size of Maryland. When English cattle barons plot to take her land, she reluctantly joins forces with a rough-hewn stock-man (Jackman) to drive 2,000 head of cattle across hundreds of miles of the country's most unforgiving land, only to still face the bombing of Darwin, Australia, by the Japanese forces that had attacked Pearl Harbor only months earlier.
8. Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Director: Woody Allen
Writer: Woody Allen
Cast: Javier Bardem, Patricia Clarkson, Penélope Cruz, Scarlett Johansson
Release Date: 5 September 2008 (USA)
Assessment:
Woody Allen has been stringing out quite a lot of decent films in the past few years, what exactly motivates him to work so hard at his advanced age is beyond my comprehension, but I suppose the same could be said for Clint Eastwood. Though he hasn't been able to come out with anything as good as Match Point, he may stumble upon yet another solid movie simply because of how prolific he's been of late -- it just seems like something is bound to stick. Javier Bardem, along with other top starlets today, make up a cast of interesting characters bound to possess a number of quarks and interesting character flaws.
Synopsis:
Two young Americans spend a summer in Spain and meet a flamboyant artist (Javier Bardem) and his beautiful but insane ex-wife (Penelope Cruz). Vicky (Rebecca Hall) is straight-laced and about to be married. Cristina (Scarlett Johansson) is a sexually adventurous free spirit. When they all become amorously entangled, the results are both hilarious and harrowing. --© Weinstein Co.
7. Changeling
Director: Clint Eastwood
Writer: J. Michael Straczynski (written by)
Cast: Angelina Jolie, John Malkovich, Jeffrey Donovan, Colm Feore, Amy Ryan
Release Date: 7 November 2008 (USA)
Assessment:
Eastwood has emerged as one of the best directors around since Mystic River was released in 2003 and Million Dollar Baby was released just a year later; both garnering an enormous amount of critical acclaim (Million Dollar Baby won 4 Oscars including best picture). I don't know much about the film, but its looking to be an interesting historical thriller with a very solid cast -- I'm certainly pleased to see John Malkovich in better films this year.
Synopsis:
In the film, Christine Collins' (Jolie) prayers are met when her kidnapped son is returned. But amidst the frenzy of the photo-op reunion, she realizes this child is not hers. Facing corrupt police and a skeptical public, she desperately hunts for answers, only to be confronted by a truth that will change her forever. Los Angeles, 1928: On a Saturday morning in a working-class suburb, Christine said goodbye to her son, Walter, and left for work. When she came home, she discovered he had vanished. A fruitless search ensues, and months later, a boy claiming to be the nine-year-old is returned. Dazed by the swirl of cops, reporters and her conflicted emotions, Christine allows him to stay overnight. But in her heart, she knows he is not Walter. As she pushes authorities to keep looking, she learns that in Prohibition-era L.A. women don't challenge the system and live to tell their story. Slandered as delusional and unfit, Christine finds an ally in activist Reverend Briegleb (Malkovich), who helps her fight the city to look for her missing boy. Based on the actual incident that rocked California's legal system, Changeling tells the shocking tale of a mother's quest to find her son, and those who won't stop until they silence her.
6. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Director: David Yates
Writers: J.K. Rowling (novel) and Steve Kloves (screenplay)
Cast: Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson
Release Date: 21 November 2008 (USA)
Assessment:
Surprisingly, out of all the directors that helmed the various Harry Potter films, David Yates did the best job with the franchise. Though I stopped reading Harry Potter books at book 4 many years ago, the films never seem to disappoint. Considering the length of the series and the variety of different directors, the Harry Potter franchise has been surprisingly consistent throughout the years. I'm expecting it to be about as good as the last Harry Potter film, and the film before that, and the... well you get the idea.
Synopsis:
Harry Potter's sixth year at Hogwarts turns out to be quite the exciting year. First off is the arrival of a new teacher at Hogwarts, Horace Slughorn, who is a bit more useful to Harry than he realizes. Next, Harry obtains a Potions book which used to be belong to the very mysterious Half-Blood Prince. Harry finds that the Half-Blood Prince's ancient scribbles are written along the margins of almost every page, giving Harry advice on how to improve greatly on his Potions work, and also teaching him a few helpful (and dangerous) spells along the way.
5. Revolutionary Road
Director: Sam Mendes
Writers: Justin Haythe (screenplay), Richard Yates (novel)
Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet, Kathy Bates
Release Date: 26 December 2008
Assessment:
Sam Mendes is one of the most talented directors out there right now, though he has never managed to replicate the critical success of American Beauty (released almost a decade ago now), he has been very consistent over the years. This movie seems to be right up his ally, which is a drama involving dysfunctional Connecticut suburbanites. This adaptation of Richard Yates' classic novel reuniting Titanic's Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet, is likely to be up for numerous awards at the end of the year.
Synopsis:
April and Frank Wheeler are a young, thriving couple living with their two children in a Connecticut suburb in the mid-1950s. Their self-assured exterior masks a creeping frustration at their inability to feel fulfilled in their relationships or careers. Frank is mired in a well-paying but boring office job and April is a housewife still mourning the demise of her hoped-for acting career. Determined to identify themselves as superior to the mediocre sprawl of suburbanites who surround them, they decide to move to France where they will be better able to develop their true artistic sensibilities, free of the consumerist demands of capitalist America. As their relationship deteriorates into an endless cycle of squabbling, jealousy and recriminations, their trip and their dreams of self-fulfillment are thrown into jeopardy.
4. Burn After Reading
John Malkovich will play Ozzie Cox, a CIA vet who is fired because he is an alcoholic. He takes his revenge by writing some inflammatory memoirs. Cox's soon-to-be ex-wife Katie (Tilda Swinton) steals the disc containing his memoirs and accidentally leaves it at the gym where it is found by a trainer Chad Feldheimer (Brad Pitt) and the gym's owner Linda Litzke (Frances McDormand) who believe they can use the info to blackmail Cox. Harry Pfarrer (George Clooney) is an oversexed, fanatically fit, lactose-intolerant federal marshall, who is sleeping with Cox's wife. He meets Linda via an online dating service and gets entangled in the blackmail scheme, when he stumbles across Chad breaking into his and Katie's house.
Labels: (FILM), Top 10 Lists (Films)
Here is a clip of one of the most iconic songs of the 70's, a brilliantly composed song executed by one of the more underrated lyricists and vocalists of the 20th century. Lyrically, the song is one of the most strikingly personal and revealing in her career, clearly showcasing her talent as a song writer. The song is musically elegant in its simplicity, yet embodies one of the more sophisticated vocal styling in the business.
This clip of her most successful single "At Seventeen," was released in 1975, it was a bittersweet commentary on adolescent cruelty and teenage angst, as reflected upon from the maturity of adulthood. "At Seventeen" received acclaim from record buyers — it charted at #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #1 on the Adult Contemporary chart — and critics, as it won the 1975 Grammy for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, beating out the likes of Linda Ronstadt, Olivia Newton-John and Helen Reddy. Ian performed "At Seventeen" as a musical guest on the very first episode of Saturday Night Live in October 1975. The song's parent album, Between the Lines, also hit #1 and earned a platinum certification for sales of one million copies. Another measure of her success is anecdotal - on Valentine's Day 1977, Ian received 461 Valentine cards, having indicated in the lyrics to "At Seventeen" that she never received any as a teenager.
Janis Ian performing "At Seventeen" on SNL (1975)
"AT SEVENTEEN"
By Janis Ian
I learned the truth at seventeen
That love was meant for beauty queens
And high school girls with clear skinned smiles
Who married young and then retired
The valentines I never knew
The Friday night charades of youth
Were spent on one more beautiful
At seventeen I learned the truth...
And those of us with ravaged faces
Lacking in the social graces
Desperately remained at home
Inventing lovers on the phone
Who called to say "come dance with me"
And murmured vague obscenities
It isn't all it seems at seventeen...
A brown eyed girl in hand me downs
Whose name I never could pronounce
Said: "Pity please the ones who serve
They only get what they deserve"
The rich relationed hometown queen
Marries into what she needs
With a guarantee of company
And haven for the elderly...
So remember those who win the game
Lose the love they sought to gain
Indebitures of quality and dubious integrity
Their small-town eyes will gape at you
In dull surprise when payment due
Exceeds accounts received at seventeen...
To those of us who knew the pain
Of valentines that never came
And those whose names were never called
When choosing sides for basketball
It was long ago and far away
the world was younger than today
when dreams were all they gave for free
to ugly duckling girls like me...
We all play the game, and when we dare
We cheat ourselves at solitaire
Inventing lovers on the phone
Repenting other lives unknown
That call and say: "Come on, dance with me"
And murmur vague obscenities
At ugly girls like me, at seventeen...
Labels: (MUSIC), Howard Stern, Janis Ian, Seinfeld
Triumph, the Insult Comic Dog is a puppet created and performed by Robert Smigel premiering in 1997 on NBC's Late Night with Conan O'Brien best known for mocking celebrities. Triumph was identified in the early appearances as a Serbian Mountain Hound. Triumph often puffs a cigar, which usually falls out of his mouth when he begins speaking. The crudeness of the puppetry behind Triumph — Smigel's arm is often clearly visible in the shot — has added to the character's popularity.
Here are several clips of Triumph from various TV appearances:
Triumph, The Insult Comic Dog in Quebec
Triumph, The Insult Comic Dog - American Idol Part 1
Triumph, The Insult Comic Dog - American Idol Part 2
Triumph, The Insult Comic Dog - Daily show
Triumph, The Insult Comic Dog - Eminem Fiasco
Triumph, The Insult Comic Dog - Star Wars Nerds
Triumph, The Insult Comic Dog - 8 Mile Spoof
Triumph, The Insult Comic Dog - Graduation Speech
Triumph, The Insult Comic Dog - Hollywood Squares
Triumph, The Insult Comic Dog - Hollywood Tour
Triumph, The Insult Comic Dog - The White House
Triumph, The Insult Comic Dog - Pets.com Press Conference
Triumph, The Insult Comic Dog - TV Funhouse
Triumph, The Insult Comic Dog at Westminster Dog Show
Triumph, The Insult Comic Dog - Bon Jovi Concert
Triumph, The Insult Comic Dog at the Michael Jackson Trial
Labels: (TV), Triumph the Insult Comic Dog
Here is footage from the best TV show of all time. This two episode clips show (split into four parts) aired in the 9th season of Seinfeld, it's basically a compilation of all the best moments of the show.
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Features:
Death Knight
Labels: (GAMES), World of Warcraft
Though I'm opposed to the existence of a show that showcases some of the worst talent in the country and forces them to do horrible versions of some of the most cherished songs across the world, I do watch the show out of curiosity. I'm curious as to why one show is more popular than another, and this particular show is by far the most popular show since its inception.
That being said, Jason Castro seemed to have the best taste in and seemed the most knowledgeable about music. Though he clearly did not possess the level of professional experience many of the other singers had on the show, he did seem to be one of the more musically adept contestants. He wasn't cool, but he was considerably cooler than the other fake shit-heads on the show, additionally, he seemed completely inebriated and glassy eyed, suggesting that he was completely stoned the entire time he was on the show.
Out of all the talent on the show, I thought Jason Castro had the best vocal style; he did not possess the technical vocal skill others might have had, but he did know how to make a song sound nice and stylish. Also, he has a naturally nice and unique sounding voice.
Though I hate the show with a passion, I found myself kinda rooting for the dude, sorry to see him leave the show.
The Lovin' Spoonful - Daydream
Andy Gibb - I Just Want to Be Your Everything
Leonard Cohen / Jeff Buckley - Hallelujah
The Beatles - If I Fell
The Beatles - Michelle
Sting - Fragile
Dolly Parton - Travelin' Thru
Israel Kamakawiwo'ole - Over the Rainbow
Mariah Carey - I Don't Wanna Cry
Cats - Memory
Neil Diamond - Forever in Blue Jeans
Neil Diamond - September Morn
Bob Marley - I Shot the Sheriff
Bob Dylan - Mr. Tambourine Man
Labels: (TV), American Idol
The White Stripes perform 'Seven Nation Army' on Conan O'brien (4-22-03).
One of my favorite TV musical performances of all time, The White Stripes perform a cover of Dolly Parton's 'Jolene' on Conan O'brien (4-23-03).
The White Stripes perform 'Hardest Button to Button' on Conan O'brien (4-24-03).
The White Stripes perform 'Lets Built A Home, Back To Mephis' on Conan O'brien (4-25-03).
Labels: (MUSIC), White Stripes