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Barnes and Noble Nook

Tuesday, February 09, 2010

E-readers never really caught my attention until... well I guess they still haven't really caught my attention. That iPad thingamajigger, though, looks promising. Regardless, Josh put his faith in Barnes and Noble and went with the Nook. Here's his review.

Reviewer
Josh
Categories
Electronics

Reviewed by Josh Rees

** EXTENDED TITLE **

The e-reader world was shaken up when Barnes and Noble introduced the Nook, and being in the market for an e-reader, I decided to check it out. The flier I was looking at in Barnes and Noble is really what got me; it was the exact size and shape of a nook, and showed a crazy full color touchscreen display at the bottom of the device. At $259, it was the same price as the Kindle, and cheaper than some of Sony's eBook readers, but with that gorgeous color touchscreen to display the book jackets amongst other things, and with a bit more research, I was sold.

I actually bought it shortly before Christmas, somewhere around the 16th. After I bought it, I was disappointed to find out that it was back-ordered until February 1st, even though it actually came out at the end of November. Surprisingly, the Nook came a few days before the first, so that was nice.

When I got it, it came in a 12x9" brown cardboard box. After opening it up, I was surprised to find that there was no padding or protection for the device. However, I came to find out it was held securely in place with a pretty unique little system; the Nook box is laid out on a slab of cardboard and under a connected sheet of plastic. The plastic is loose enough to slip the Nook box in and after you've done so, you fold down the edges, which connect together and pull the plastic tight enough to hold it in place. Once you get to the actual packaging, it reveals a very sleek design that actually looks like they put some thought into it, with the Nook on full display. In fact, the box that it comes in is made to double as a carrying case for the Nook, as it's made of very heavy plastic and has a stand built in.

I inspected the device to see where the power button was, and once I found it on top, it took about a minute to start up. Within a minute or two, my Nook had already downloaded three books from Barnes and Noble, a pleasant little surprise. The Nook is a pleasure to hold. It's lightweight at about 3/4 of a lb., and the shape of the device fits in your hands perfectly. The main screen is e-ink based, like the Kindle and the Sony Reader, and can display black and white pictures in superb quality detail. Reading on the Nook is exactly like reading magazine paper, because it has a slight shine to it. The touchscreen is capacitive and supports swipe motions, and serves as a sort of control panel for the Nook. It also has a Micro USB port, as well as a MicroSD slot that can accommodate up to 16 gigabytes of memory.

The software was intriguing, but didn't run as smoothly as it should've. When you tap a button on the touchscreen, it takes a second or two for the touchscreen menu to change, and then takes another two seconds for the e-ink screen to reconfigure that next page. The operating system is slightly laggy and just doesn't perform at the level you'd expect it to, especially when you consider how little the device actually has to do. The latest firmware update sped things up decently, but it's still not where it should be.
br> The Nook supports three different formats: .ePub, .pdf, and .pdb. It has a speaker, but only supports .mp3 files. Supported image files are .jpeg, .gif, .png, and .bmp. It doesn't support Office files, .lit, .txt, .azw (Amazon), or .lrx (Sony eReader). The Nook is compatible with Mac and Windows, and acts as an external hard drive. At this point, you can drag and drop files, and if you have eBooks from Barnes and Noble, you can put them all on the Nook. You can access the files in 'My Library', which is on the home menu on the touchscreen. You can read the text in three different fonts and five sizes. If you change these settings while reading, it takes about ten seconds to reload the text, which is too long. You also can't resize the text on a .pdf file, so whether or not they're readable depends on the individual file. Sometimes the Nook just can't read certain .pdfs, too. There are left and right buttons on both sides of the device, so you can flip through the pages however you want. Shopping is simple - just click the shop button on the touchscreen and you're at the Barnes and Noble e-reader bookstore. There you'll find a variety of categories to browse, and you can also search (with a full qwerty keyboard). I have searched for a book, bought it, and been reading it within a minute, so that's how simple it can be if your account is set up correctly. This is why it's important to register your Nook when you get it. It also gets free AT&T 3G.

Thanks to the most recent firmware update, most of the little complaints I had are gone. The system is still slightly sluggish, which is a shame. Scrolling on the touch screen isn't smooth yet, and the swipe controls feel a bit hesitant. The battery life is great. If you're constantly reading, you'll get about five solid days. It needs better .pdf support for sure, but I guess that's one way to discourage the reading of free books. One accessory that it should really ship with is a cleaning cloth, like some Apple products have, because if I'm paying $259 for this thing, I wanna keep it in good condition. The only way to get one currently is to buy the screen protector, which ended up being too small for the actual screen, and not worth the cost. I know I can't rightfully complain about the lack of backlighting on the screen since no e-reader has one yet, but why is that? Couldn't they just use the backlighting technology we've had for years on basic digital watches? Last, it's too easy to turn the Nook off when you're trying to wake it up.

If you really want to learn how to use the Nook, do the Take A Tour demo, because that is all you get in the way of a manual, and the OS can be slightly confusing if you don't. There are some cool ways to spice up your Nook, too. These skins, for example, are some of the most detailed and awesome I've seen for any device, wrapping completely around the Nook. Certain ones even come with a download link for a wallpaper that matches, or rather continues, the skin. You can also get a variety of high quality wallpapers and screensavers from Nook Look. With an Android based OS, people have gotten the Nook to run some apps, and even a browser, so an App store might be in the future for Nook users, as well as perhaps a way to "jailbreak" it to run third party apps. Overall, the Nook is a fabulous device with some flaws. I've gone through three firmware updates since getting mine, and I've seen improvements with each one. As long as Barnes and Noble keeps rolling out the updates at this rate, the bugs should be worked out within a reasonable amount of time. I was going to give the Nook a 5/7, but with all the potential the future holds for this device, I'm going to bump it up to a 6/7.

TL;DR - The Nook has a great form factor, as well as a capacitive touchscreen and a high quality e-ink screen. The software's a little laggy, but it has great potential due to its Android based OS. It's completely sufficient as an e-reader device, and gives you access to the entire Barnes and Noble collection.

Ratatat - Self-Titled

Monday, February 08, 2010

Rumor has it that before Oceanic 815 crashed, Ben Linus and Richard Alpert had one hell of a band. Some time before that word is Jacob and his Nemesis had one also, hence their strained relationship. I'd imagine Ratatat falls somewhere between.

Reviewer
Kaitis
Categories
Music

Reviewed by Michael Kaitis

Ratatat - Ratatat

So one day I was looking up people I used to go to middle school with. You see, I moved down to Florida right after my 8th grade year. Well it turns out that one friend of mine actually worked as a college DJ in Terre Haute, Indiana (sup Everyview?). Besides typical indie choices like the Arcade Fire and Grizzly Bear, she happened to put one one of the coolest, most original bands I've heard in a while - Ratatat. When I first heard it, I thought was two people making incredible electronica songs with synths. My mind was blown when I found out it was actually made using only a bass and a guitar on top of a drum machine, tying together melodies like shoelaces.

As Kid Cudi fans could tell you, even with rock instruments these guys know how to make a good hip-hop beat. While the songs all follow a typical verse/chorus/verse structure, the limited variety of instruments forces them to use some cool effects and get more creative than they'd normally need to. Certain songs have such an electronic quality that by the time they get to the chorus, it'd be hard to tell that you're not listening to music from Sonic 2. While sometimes they use heavy, thick distortion like on the title track "Seventeen Years," which you may have heard during the party scene in Cloverfield.

All the songs are relentlessly catchy, and I think it's the lack of vocals that makes them work harder to stick with you. Track 9, "Germany to Germany", is the perfect example of how catchy a single instrumental can be, and it's probably the best track on the album because of it. On top of that, you'd think you might get sick of hearing just guitar and bass, but the tones never seem to get in the way of each other and you almost never hear the exact same notes twice. Lets just call this awesome little phenomenon musical snowflakes.

Therefore if you like electronic music that's slightly out of the ordinary like me, then I highly recommend checking this album out. It may be quite old at this point, but for being a band that infamously influences both rap and rock alike, Ratatat is still relatively unknown for some reason. Few bands can shred like Slash and have beats like Wayne, but even fewer can mix that skillfully. Ratatat is still an indie gem after all this time, and I think it's impossible to listen to this album not find at least one song you like.

Listen to Ratatat on Grooveshark

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La Blogotheque: Concerts A Emporter

Friday, February 05, 2010

Have you ever wanted to see your favorite bands performing songs in a location that isn't quite so boring, non-moving, and doesn't smell like stale tobacco and pee? Well Vincent Moon and co. have a treat for you. Check out La Blogotheque's Take Away Shows!

Reviewer
Brad
Categories
Websites

Reviewed by Brad Cook

La Blogotheque: Concerts A Emporter

I'm not particularly one for French cinema. In fact, the extent of my cultural exposure to France might be limited to what I learned from Last Tango in Paris. Calm down, that's a joke. However, when you combine a visionary cinematic eye with a variety of amazing indie bands, I cannot ignore it. Such is the case at La Blogotheque's Concerts A Emporter page. That roughly translates to Take Away Shows, and if that sounds to you like it might be a cool idea, you are correct.

A Take Away Show takes a band or performer and puts them in atypical locations for music to be performed, usually in France, but in various other countries as well (including Copenhagen, Montreal, Quebec, Seattle, New York, Buenos Aires, amongst others). Wikipedia refers to these as "field-work music videos". Concerts A Emporter started out at the intersection of the owner of La Blogotheque's (Chryde) desire to find an innovative way to share music, and local artist Vincent Moon's wonderfully creative imagination. While he's not the only director of these videos, he's certainly the most prominent, and he has helmed many of them.

The locations of the Take Away Shows are half of what makes them so fantastic. Sigur Ros plays an unbelievable rendition of their song "Vid Spilum Endalaust" in a small pub that can barely fit them. Hardly anyone is paying attention, people are being served at the bar, a man is walking around, and a woman is on the telephone with someone. Yet somehow Moon manages to make it one of the most intimate performances I've ever seen. The performances are mostly acoustic obviously, due to the fact that most of the time they're moving around, rather than setting down and playing in one spot. Sometimes they're even in vehicles, which makes for a undeniably more interesting backdrop than a concert venue. For example, Brooklyn-based band Yeasayer was filmed playing songs a capella in a subway car, which makes for a great percussion instrument until one of the window's shatters. Anand's reaction to it breaking is priceless. Delta Spirit is filmed in San Francisco playing on a Cable Car. How badass is that? Yes, they're all written in French, but there's a "Read in English" link at the top of each individual page if you feel like intaking the textual content as well as video.

If you're in the business of actively searching for new bands to listen to, there really is not a better, more natural way to experience what a band can do than to view them through the Take Away Shows lens. Even if, perhaps especially if, it's done by a band you know, it's worth checking out. You'll never see them perform in a more interesting, artistic, and inspired backdrop. The reactions of the real-life bystanders and tourists just enhance the experience that much more. Concerts A Emporter will provide you with plenty of new and amazing bands, and will make you appreciate the ones you love already so much more.

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MAG (PS3)

Thursday, February 04, 2010

If you handed me a game and told me that I could play online in a 128v128 player battle, and then predicted that I would ask you about lag and refuted that point I had in my head, then I'd have to write a review. Thankfully, Kevin did just that.

Reviewer
Kevin
Categories
Games

Reviewed by Kevin Cook

MAG (PS3)

Zipper Interactive is an American game developer known for their SOCOM series. Their newest creation is the very ambitious, PlayStation 3 exclusive, MAG: Massive Action Game. When MAG was revealed at E3, the title of the game was probably the second thing most people remembered. The first thing was surely the number 256, which is the number of players MAG’s servers can support at one time. While this is surely an impressive achievement, it does not automatically equate to awesomeness.

With other shooters running strong, claiming hours upon hours of millions of gamers’ lives, Zipper would surely need something new to draw people away from highly successful industry standards like Gears of War, Halo, and Call of Duty. This new feature was less of a feature than it was mechanics. They designed a new server architecture that would allow up to 256 players in one game at once. Something that enormous has never been done on a console before, so that certainly drew some attention their way; I know I was damn excited to hear about a game that allowed more than 18 players per server. So Zipper was thinking outside the boxes; that’s awesome, huh? No. It’s not. Soldiers of the ever-outrageous console war immediately took to making uneducated claims that MAG would be a definite failure, because surely no console can support 256 players at the same time without severe lag. We can finally put that claim to the test.

I picked MAG up at midnight on January 26th, as I had preordered it. Early review and score: MAG’s cover art earns an instant 7/7. The following morning, I popped MAG in for the first time; awfully excited for something new after investing maybe three days worth of time into Modern Warfare 2. First order of business: choose a faction. You are able to choose from three different factions, or “companies”, as they are called. You can think of this as MAG’s version of World of Warcraft’s Horde and Alliance. These three factions are: Valor - classic military style made up of American, British and Mexican veterans; Raven - futuristic (2025) lab rat soldiers who will always use state of the art technology – hailing from mainly European countries; and finally SVER (Seryi Volk Executive Response, pronounced “sever”), the very unconventional army hailing from Asia. Let’s start with your choice in army.

There are pros and cons that come with choosing any of the three factions to side with, but some factions are more disadvantaged than others. For example, Valor’s Sabotage (one of four game types) map (yes, map; not maps) is immensely easier to capture than to defend. It got to the point where the invading faction would overtake all of our points in under 2 minutes… out of twenty available. Now this could be traced back to bad teamwork, but the fact is that there are two initial points that must be captured: A and B, and Valor’s A and B are protected by, well... nothing. A and B both reside in a building with an entrance on each side. This differs from Raven and SVER’s Sabotage maps, as their points are fortified with steel buildings, ladders and staircases. Valor is greatly disadvantaged in the Sabotage game type. More on the game types later. Weapon range, power and whatnot may vary from faction to faction, but other than my immediate realization that the maps are not fairly designed, the only difference from faction to faction is appearance.

Next order of business: the content. MAG suffers due to one very specific condition: it is thin. Skinny. Narrow. We want for ourselves to be thin, not for our games to be thin! If you tell me that a game is going to be solely based online, then I will tell you that the game better be fat. Rotund. Filled to the brim. MAG, unfortunately, is not. MAG’s content is so scarce that your interest in the game dies a little each time you turn it on. What do I mean by content? Simple: maps, guns and game types. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 featured 17 maps for its online half, excluding the entire single player campaign and Spec Ops missions. That is an acceptable amount of maps for an online game where the focus wasn’t directed fully onto the online portion of the game. When you are looking to compete with a game as dominant as Modern Warfare 2, you should look at the qualities that make it success, the qualities that make it replayable. Having said that, 17 maps for a game like MAG should have been the bare minimum. Zipper obviously didn’t agree. There are twelve, yes, 12, maps to be had in MAG. That laughable number might have been acceptable back when we were playing Turok Evolution on split screens, but when you are trying to boast about a game that features 256 players in one game, you might want to give the game some content to put that amazing capability to use.

Complaining about the number of maps isn’t going to me anywhere, so I might as well get used to it. I mean, twelve maps isn’t SO bad, right? Wrong! Saying MAG has twelve maps is being generous. Let me explain. First things first, I think there are about 3-4 maps for training, but I did not include those into the twelve, as they are solely for training, only to be played by yourself. Now, there are four game types: suppression, sabotage, acquisition and domination. Here’s the kicker, while there are twelve maps, those twelve are organized so that there are three maps available to play on suppression, three maps available to play on sabotage, and so on and so forth. But WAIT!!! Suppression is essentially a training game type, in which you fight casually against your own faction only. It’s hard to even consider it a real game type. Unless you make a character with each faction, you can immediately eliminate two maps, as you will never play the two opposing forces’ suppression maps. So now we’re down to ten maps total. The remaining three game types make up the “meat and potatoes” of the game. I can promise you that once you are ranked highly enough to play sabotage, acquisition and domination, you will never return to suppression; let’s just call it three game types total.

As stated earlier, each game type has one map per faction. You’d expect each map to be completely different from the last one, like in MW2, Halo, Gears of War, etc… Each of those games featured very diverse maps. MAG, on the other hand, features three types of maps total. Valor’s three maps have a “country-green” theme, which never strays from being, well, country-green. SVER’s three maps have an outlandish red-haze theme that makes you feel like you’re fighting for control of Mars. Raven’s three maps have an urban rainforest theme. With one map a piece per game type, you’d think that they would make each map different in a way, but that’s simply not the case. While these maps are all similar, they are also enormous, which is both a pro and a con. The sheer size of the maps doesn’t even begin to make up for the sickening number of total maps, but it does account for more space than nine normal sized maps would account for. At the same time, the size of the maps makes spawning half a mile from any sort of action even more ridiculous, not to mention the long respawn times (anywhere from 5-20 seconds).

The three game types are, once again, sabotage, acquisition and domination. In sabotage, the invading faction tries to capture points A and B, and when that is complete, they invade a fort to plant charges and destroy point C; the other faction defends their points, obviously. This is the most fun game type in my opinion, and offers the most replay value. Sabotage features 32v32 battles. In acquisition, the invading faction tries to steal two enemy vehicle prototypes. Battles here are fought with 128 players, 64v64. In domination, the invading faction tries to secure “burnoff” towers and destroy as many enemy bases as possible. The game can end in one of two ways: the invading team can fill up the damage bar at the top of the screen, by destroying all points, or the defending team can defend for the entire time limit and be victorious. This is the big one, the 128v128, 256 player battle. What can be said about it? It is nothing more than a cluster of grenades exploding and bullets flying past your face. It’s actually too much. One time I couldn’t even leave my spawn point without being shot in the face instantly. That’s all there is as far as game types.

With nine maps between three game types, this game MUST have a sizable armory of various gun types, right? Wrong again. Off the top of my head, I can recall that there are about twelve to fourteen guns total. You have three main types: assault rifle (M4, AK-74, etc), sniper rifles and heavy machine guns. Then there are side weapons such as a pistol, sub machine gun and shotgun. A few launchers, such as an RPG, are available as well, but serve little purpose. The weapons are all very bland and non-distinctive. Gear items include your typical frag grenade, smoke grenade, medic-kit and repair-kit. I, personally, cannot get over the lack of content this game provides. It is an online-only game, so where did all of the focus go? I can see no area of the game that is flourishing. There are very few maps, and each map is similar to the last one; there are three game types that grow thin after a few hours, and the approach to guns makes it seem like the shooting part of first person shooter is second to something else.

Now that I’ve covered the content, or lack of content, rather, I need to talk about the gameplay. To me, MAG feels more like a computer game than a console game. More of a Counter-Strike than a Modern Warfare. You will find that your player moves very quickly and jumps quite athletically. Aiming your gun is quite difficult in this game; aiming down the sights of your gun is even more difficult. While you may find a sensitivity setting that allows you to aim comfortably from the hip, you will find no setting that allows for both optimal hip-fire and ADS fire; if you want to fire from the hip more accurately, your ADS fire will suffer, and vice versa. The reason for this is that your character will aim his gun very quickly from the hip, but when you enter the gun’s sights, it feels as though you’ve lowered your sensitivity to the lowest possible setting. How do you fix that? Normally you’d raise your overall sensitivity, but as stated before, that will make your hip-fire suffer. Zipper should have included a setting to adjust ADS sensitivity. The guns feel very weak, as by default the assault rifles will take about 8 bullets to kill; default sniper rifle takes 3 bullets, or one headshot to kill; and, well, the pistol will take a while. There is something you can do about this, but it still does not change the fact that a kill requires a LOT of bullets in MAG.

With each level you gain, you are rewarded with one skill point that can be spent on upgrading your character. You upgrade by category: assault rifles, athleticism, marksman, etc. This is a fair upgrading system; no complaints here. You are also given the option to “respec” your character, which eats up all of the respec points you’ve earned and gives you every skill point you’ve earned back to be spent differently. This was a great feature.

The questions preceding MAG’s release were not about the gameplay, however; they were about whether or not the servers could support that many players and still be playable. 256 players per server is quite a thing for a console to handle, but hats off to Zipper. I can fully say that you will be disappointed if you picked this game up expecting lag. The game runs as if it’s a single player game. It is as smooth as online gaming comes. I’ve had fewer problems with lag in this game than I have ever had with any other game. Seriously, Zipper needs to be credited here, because they blew away even the highest of expectations as far as connectivity goes.

I had such high expectations for MAG. I never let the fact that there could be server problems bug me, because I knew they wouldn’t release the game if it weren’t tested and ready to play. What I did not expect, however, was that the game would have such little content in the form of maps, guns and game types. I cannot stress it enough: if you’re going to make an online-only game, you better give us a real package, as far as the maps and guns go. I was expecting MAG to have upwards of 20 maps; 20+ DIVERSE maps, not three maps for three game types, in which each map is one color hue different from the last. I’m sure there will be downloadable content at some point, but I am not going to stick around only to be disappointed again. After about 25 hours of gameplay, I can safely say that I will never play MAG again. Can’t do it. Won’t do it. I was very tempted to give this 3/7, however, the fact that it runs as smoothly as it does makes it worthy of a 4/7.

TL;DR - Far too few maps and weapons for such an ambitious online based game. Runs surprisingly smoothly, but gets old fast.

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Kick-Ass #8

Wednesday, February 03, 2010

With the live action film in the works, including such talents as Nic Cage and McLovin', the first book of the Kick-Ass superhero comic comes to a close. Kaitis has been reading these for a while now. Lately I've seen him leaving at night with a mask..

Reviewer
Kaitis
Categories
Comic Books

Reviewed by Michael Kaitis

Kick-Ass #8

I don't read comic books. Now it's not like I have anything against them. In fact being a nerd myself I know the amount of fandom that usually goes into the whole thing and I respect that. My only exception to this has been Gears of War 1-3 and only 'cause it was based on one of my favorite games. Kick-Ass has really been the first series that I've finished, and truth be told, even I acknowledge now that I should really read more comics.

Anyways enough personal history. The conclusion of this epic series manages a lot in a short amount of time. Hopefully you've read up to his point and know the situation, and I don't mean the guy from Jersey Shore. Being the end of the book, it is of course the mega-ultimate-final show down. It starts out with Hit Girl using a special substance that Big Daddy said would give her the strength of ten men. Now Kick-Ass seems to think it's cocaine, but seriously, what would a ten year old be doing with cocaine? Just another hilarious situation you won't find anywhere else but a comic.

Keeping the past issues in mind, the ensuing battle is insanely bloody, with some pretty fucked up kills, especially for animation. Most of this is Hit-Girl as per usual, but there are some shining moments with Kick-Ass, including a hilarious part with Red Mist hiding in the bathroom in fear, which made me think that Christopher Mintz-Plasse was actually a good choice to play him in the upcoming feature film. The battle is mostly a "the good guys win" situation, but it would've been even less believable if they didn't. Regardless, this book sets up a well rounded ending for the series. Hit-Girl gets a really well earned send off, and they did a great job of bringing some humanity to her after all of the outrageous stuff we've seen.

The epilogue is a nice little piece that sets up the series for a book two really well. I also was recently on Mark Millar's forum and he has tentatively set book 2 for later this year. So do yourself a favor, ignore the terrible promotion for Kick-Ass the movie and read yourself the good old fashioned comic books. They're suspenseful, hilarious, action packed, bloody and theres even one point where I would've cried If i wasn't so manly. This is easily as amazing as a novel or any other form of writing and I can't believe it's taken me so long to realize it, just please, please do yourself a favor and realize it too. The Kick-Ass series is one of the coolest and most enjoyable things I've read in a long time, and I couldn't recommend it you more.

Lost (S06E01)

Tuesday, February 02, 2010

The upside to Lost concluding? No more extended periods of time waiting for new episodes to air. The downside, of course, is that executive producer Carlton Cuse will no longer have an excuse to practice banjo fills. Let's see what's up in LA X!

Reviewer
Ben
Categories
TV Shows

Reviewed by Ben Cordes

Lost (S06E01) - LA X, Part 1

Wasting no time at all, Lost launches its sixth and ultimate season by immediately burdening viewers with massive, mind blowing new mysteries. Thankfully, alongside new questions come answers to all-time favorites, namely who or what exactly is that impostor waltzing about the island in John Locke's body, and what's the deal with the ash surrounding Jacob's cabin? Believe it or not, this information overload occurs within the first ten minutes of the LA X's former half. Needless to say you'd better practice being utterly shocked now, lest a stray "OH!" or "WHAT?!" escape you during pertinent dialogue delivery. You don't want to have to wait until commercials for your buddy to explain what's going on.

Lost is kicking it old school this season, jumping between island events and what appears to be a reset of the first season's off-island story. Was the plan to stop Oceanic 815 from crashing a success? I can't say. Not because I can't spell it, but because I can't be the "Snape kills Dumbledore" guy. I will however let slip that Oceanic 815 does fly again, and some very interesting conversations take place on board. The plane's fate is something you'll have to tune in to unveil.

Where Lost's sixth season differentiates itself from past deliveries is in the narrative device (and amount of smoke). The first three seasons primarily focus on developing characters through flashback storytelling. Not until the end of season three was the flashforward introduced, and that spawned an entirely new TV series. Thankfully the same didn't hold true for season five's time traveling plot evolution; as much as I enjoyed the chaos, I'm grateful I'll no longer be worrying about how Hurley plans to get his "improved" Empire script to George Lucas. Precisely how is the story being told this year? Well, appearances can be deceiving, so I won't say Lost has reverted to classic flashbacks. Executive producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse have repeatedly claimed to have ditched all forms of flashing, be it forward, backward, sideways, or in public places. Are we seeing an alternate reality? A mirror universe? The inside of the magic box? Some serious retroactive continuity? Half the fun of watching this season's events unfold will be determining the actuality of this mysterious shift in storytelling, until the answer swiftly smacks us upside the head.

What with death being an unfortunate side effect of life, some characters inevitably won't be tagging along for the island festivities. In fact, early on in the episode a few redshirts bite the dust hard before a recent cast addition sees his exit. Again, this is all happening near the beginning of the episode, leaving room for surprise character appearances and interactions for later on. It's clear that the goal of LA X, Part 1 was to rocket out of season five's stay in 1977, now tackling the fundamental dispute between the island's nefarious force (the Man in Black) and peaceable protector (Jacob) and how Jack, Kate, Sawyer, Hurley, etc. factor into the grand scheme. So far I'd say team Darlton is succeeding.

Lost is poised to go down in history as television's greatest science fiction drama regardless of whether it continues along the same keel presented in LA X, Part 1. The excitement of fast revelations will leave you wholly content, just long enough to enjoy sweet satisfaction before having a thousand-piece puzzle dropped onto your lap. And knowing Damon and Carlton, only the most essential pieces are missing - the edges. How long it takes for the outer structure of the show to appear is unknown to me, but loyal fans have waited this long; another 18 episodes is a walk in the jungle. Lost promises to continue presenting compelling character stories, insight, and intrigue, slowly filling the gaps between focal thematic elements and finally shedding light on the deepest roots of island mythology. Remember: being dead on Lost hardly negates a character from the show, and this holds truer than ever for season six. Take care to double wrap your mind, because come tonight, it will be fucked.

Cupcake Pebbles Cereal

Monday, February 01, 2010

Here's something I wasn't expecting - a new flavor of Pebbles cereal. Fruity and Cocoa Pebbles have been around since I was a wee lad, but I feel like they haven't even tried to do anything new with the brand, 'til now. They call this flavor Cupcake Pebbles.

Reviewer
Brad
Categories
Food & Drink

Reviewed by Brad Cook

Cupcake Pebbles Cereal

A few weeks ago, I was working in the back room of the grocery store where I'm employed. I was helping a stock crew member, a hilarious and lively African American we call Zee (his real name is Zethro. A black dude named Zethro. Think about that.) We were talking about freestyling or something awesome like that, one of those things that just isn't fun to talk about with white people, and I was helping him move some boxes. At one point in the conversation, he said something to the effect of "Hey, toss me that box of Cupcake Pebbles." My immediate reaction was "…uh…", after which he pointed at a box, so I threw it to him. He was like "Oh yeah, we got some new stuff in," then proceeded to tell me that there also were Chocolate Cheerios, among others. I made a mental note to buy both of these when they were put on shelves, but with school and work to deal with, I guess I forgot.

Luckily yesterday my sister informed me that we currently had a box residing in the pantry. She also told me that British people call cupcakes "Fairycakes". That's so twee! Come on, guys. Is it really a coincidence that fairycakes is the perfect insult to call someone who has just referred to cupcakes as fairycakes? I most definitely not think so.

Once I got up from roflmao, I poured myself a bowl of Cupcake Pebbles. They emitted a wofty cake smell, the kind of smell hanging in the air in a bakery while they're waiting to put on the icing. The other types of Pebbles are fruity and cocoa, which are colored, so it's kind of funny seeing a bunch of naked little pebbles in the bowl. Naked as they are, they do have cereal's answer to confetti all over them, which makes them look festive and fun.

So I poured the milk in and went to town. The main taste is a vanilla/batter-y kinda flavor, and it's surprisingly strong, though obviously not as intense as Fruity Pebbles. Taking a bite of Cupcake Pebbles is like eating your birthday in a bowl with Bamm-Bamm. I ate the bowl pretty quickly, but the pebbles seemed to take their time getting soggy. The flavor is relatively unique in the cereal world, and I enjoyed it a lot. I'm sure it's terrible for you, but hey. Go eat some celery, hippie. But seriously, the best part of it is that there's now a new flavor of milk to drink once the cereal is gone! That and the fact that Cupcake Pebbles don't leave a weird film on the top of your mouth like Fruity Pebbles do.

Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars

Friday, January 29, 2010

I'm actually kinda surprised they're still making Capcom vs. fighting games; I remember in middle school when we could bring in games to play once in a while on club days, all the anime kids would play Marvel vs. Capcom. I was busy with my tech deck.

Reviewer
Forrest
Categories
Games

Reviewed by Forrest Boyd

Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars (Wii)

So we all know and love the Capcom Crossover fighters, right? Right. So when Capcom announced they were about to bring a new one to the field, we were all excited, right? Right. They were teaming up with a world-renowned company with only the most well-known characters and hero groups, just like always, right? Right. Then we got the reveal. It's Tatsunoko! Everybody lov--wait, who?

Granted, I knew them as those guys that made Speed Racer and Samurai Pizza Cats. Unfortunately, neither series makes an appearance in the game. Instead, we got a bunch of superheroes (and villains) that remind us of old-school DC. The "Science Ninja" group, a few lone warriors, a boyfriend-girlfriend double team, and even a couple of the team's villains. Nobody really knew who they were, and even I only knew so many of them...but rest assured, this game's a kept promise on Capcom's end of the field.

Gameplay is very reminiscent of other Vs. Capcom titles. 2-on-2 team battles, complete with assists, tags and Hyper Combos are in, as well as multiple specials that make use of a special bar on the screen. Each character has three super special moves; two that use only one of a max of 5 special bars, and a stronger, more situational special that takes up a whopping three. You can chain up to 3 specials together to make a Hyper Combo (Character 1 special, Character 2 special, Character 1 special), as well.

The roster is a strong point. The game is, thankfully, -not- flooded with Street Fighter characters for the Capcom side. Only Ryu, Chun-Li and Alex make appearances. Joining them are Megaman Volnutt, Roll, Batsu (from a relatively unknown title, Rival Schools), Morrigan, Viewtiful Joe, even Lost Planet's own PTX-40A (which I will talk about here in a bit), as well as a few others including Zero and Frank West, both hidden from the start. Tatsunoko's side features Science Ninja heroes Ken, Joe and Jun (Joe being an unlock), as well as Ippatsuman, Tekkaman, Yatterman-1 (and his girlfriend and partner Yatterman-2 as an unlock), along with other characters you've probably never heard of.

One bit to add about the tag teams is that there are two characters that make for exceptions. You can choose to pick either Lost Planet's PTX-40A mech, or Gold Lightan from the Tatsunoko universe, as one-character teams. They're giant characters, with hefty health bars, and the ability to not be locked into combos of any kind (though they're suspectible to tripping over and getting stunned if hit enough). They serve as arcade mode mini-bosses, as well.

The control schemes are even more varied than in other Wii games such as Super Smash Bros. Brawl that offer multiple ways of playing. The Wii Remote alone is a heavily simplified control scheme for the more casual gamers who don't much care to get into the real details (if this is you, don't worry about having trouble unlocking characters; turn on the easiest settings, Arcade is a breeze in comparison to past Vs Capcom titles). The Wii Remote + Nunchuk configuration adds a little more customization to what moves you throw out, and the game ultimately comes out in full with the Gamecube Controller, though the Classic Controller makes for a reasonable alternative. Of course, if you're willing to spring for that $80 Wii Fight Stick, that's the way to go for the truly dedicated. Wouldn't recommend that, though, seeing as how the Wii has very few other fighters to choose from.

This game is also one of the increasingly numerous titles on the Wii that sports online play. Naturally, it utilizes a Friend Code system, but it also lets you register Rivals that you've played before, that you may want to play again in the future. It uses a ranking system similar to that of Mario Kart Wii that uses a point system to determine skill similarities in players, as well as an icon displaying what kind of player a person is. A fire icon appears for offensive players that use heavy-hitting moves and specials, an ice icon appears for block-and-counter defensive fighters, and a lightning icon appears for people that specialize more in chaining high-number combos. You can also set up an icon, similar to Street Fighter IV.

Overall, this game is the definitive fighting game on the Wii for both casual gamers and more advanced fighter fans alike. Though not quite as hectic as Guilty Gear or other high-speed 2D fighters, Tatsunoko vs Capcom offers just enough pace to its already combo-based fighting formula the Vs Capcom series is known for to make it a definite buy for any fighter fan on the Wii.

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Battlefield: Bad Company 2 Multiplayer Beta

Thursday, January 28, 2010

Choosing to go head to head with Modern Warfare is like choosing to fight Clubber Lang blindfolded. You can't really expect to win, but there is a chance you'd survive if he pitied you enough. DICE is repeating history by releasing this soon after MW2.

Reviewer
Kaitis
Categories
Games

Reviewed by Michael Kaitis

Battlefield: Bad Company 2 Multiplayer Beta (Xbox 360)

Today is the launch date for the Battlefield: Bad Company 2 online beta for PC, but due to a very nice system error it's up on Xbox live too. I actually own the first game in the series and what I remember liking most was the way explosives destroyed environments, as well as the funny characters and good story; it was almost like a modern day Inglourious Basterds, just not as awesome. Jumping back to the former, the explosive damage engine was unlike anything I'd seen in a game and quite realistic. It's mostly used to blow up walls, but such a small element somehow makes for a world of fun. It also had the tough job of competing with Modern Warfare when it came out and now both sequels are back for round two.

The game feels much heavier than before, even with the sensitivity turned up. The first thing it reminded me of was Borderlands sans the super jumping. While shoot is RT as usual, Melee is RB and Grenade is LB. Instead of classes like in MW you get what they call kits, which are basically the same thing except no customizability. These kits come with a primary and secondary weapon, usually a rifle and pistol, and you get a d-pad-left item that ranges from RPGs and C4s to a defibrillator to revive teammates.

Adding on to the explosive engine is another nice little feature, the ability to knife through a fence. It's a really useful feature, because you never have to stick to default boundaries and it gives you a much harder chance to find a corner to camp in. The scale of the map is nothing short of epic. One section features a four story parking garage and several large snowy mountains that lead to interesting battles, usually involving snipe. With the huge map comes transportation, which makes a world of difference from MW. You have the options of using a Quad bike to advance quickly or a helicopter or tank for assault.

The beta adds all of this together on a giant map with four sections. The game type isn't team deathmatch unfortunately, and is more like MW's Demoliton. Instead of the round ending, the positions move up to new locations on the map leaving you with almost four separate small maps. One of the coolest elements to the online play is when you're attacking and spawn you actually take control of yourself parachuting in, which is just another realistic element that takes it to a higher level of fun.

Most of the fun you will have blowing up walls will be hampered slightly by what I think are clunky controls. The character feels quite heavy to move, and it feels like gun battles go really slow. Knifing is so slow that it may actually be easier to die and respawn. I really like using melee in games and this just made me not want to at all. On top of all that, you don't even have the option to go prone, which would be so helpful considering how far you're usually shooting. So it hasn't quite won me over from MW2, but like the first one it's a nice option. While multiplayer can't really give you any idea on the humor in the game, the explosive engine has been tweaked to be even more destructive and fun. Just remember to turn your sensitivity all the way up, and you may actually like this game. This beta hasn't won me quite over, but it still shows promise for the full release.

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Hardee's Jalapeño Chicken Sandwich

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

I really don't know why you're reading this, because at this very moment, Steve Jobs is on stage announcing the Apple Tablet. If you are actually interested in this, Hardee's has just released a 1/4 lb Jalapeño Thickburger, as well as this chicken sandwich.

Reviewer
Brad
Categories
Food & Drink

Reviewed by Brad Cook

Hardee's Jalapeño Chicken Sandwich

Hardee's is amazing. Yes, their items are definitely a bit pricey, but you really do get a higher quality meal when you choose them rather than McDonald's or Burger King. They have large, steakhouse-style fries that taste purely like potato, but have an extra kick to 'em. They also used to have the best buffalo chicken sandwich in the fast food world, but they've apparently retired it. Regardless, they have a pretty consistent and varied stream of new items that never fails to tempt me off the computer and out the door. As is often the case, our good friends at GrubGrade tipped us off. If you don't already read that site, shame on you, because they have fantastic reviews and to-the-minute food news.

The latest example of this would be the new Jalapeño Chicken Sandwich (as well as the Jalapeño 1/4 lb Thickburger, but I was in a chicken mood). I stopped by Hardee's and grabbed one, and was pleasantly surprised. It consists of a grilled chicken breast, lettuce, tomato, jalapeños, and "Southwestern sauce". The sandwich alone is $3.99, and a small combo makes it $5.99, so it's not exactly cheap, and it had a lot to live up to.

The size of the chicken breast is what surprised me most. It was quite a bit larger than I expected, probably 4.5 to 5 inches at its widest. It wasn't as thick as a full chicken breast, at a little over a half inch thick consistently, but the total size of it made up for this. The chicken had a bold grilled flavor that was one of the focal taste points.

The Southwest sauce I wasn't too fond of at first. It took me some pondering to figure out what it was, but I'm pretty sure I got it eventually. It seems to be pretty much just mayo, sugar, and paprika, with perhaps some cumin in there, too. I know this because I've made my own Taco Bell quesadilla sauce, and those are some of the main ingredients. This Southwestern sauce tastes a lot like that, only a little more bland. However, supplemented by the grilled chicken taste, you have quite a combination on your hands. They weren't scant with the sauce, either; the bun was partially soaked through on the bottom.

As you can see, there were ample jalapeños although they were surprisingly mild for some reason. They added some nice texture and a strong flavor that would certainly have been missing otherwise. Considering the surprising heft of the sandwich and the unique flavor combination of the Southwest sauce, the grilled chicken, and the jalapeños, I think this sandwich is almost worth the $4 I paid for it. It almost left me full enough to not want to eat another one, and the large fry I got with it took care of the rest anyway, so it's a decent value. If you're into Southwestern flavors, jalapeños, or just really good chicken, give this one a bite.

Trials HD Big Pack

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

I've witnessed firsthand the type of addiction that Trials HD results in, and it's not pretty. It's one big mess of engine noises, trigger pulls, and retries. So good news, addicts! There are enough extra courses and new skill games to annoy your friends forever.

Reviewer
Ben
Categories
Games

Reviewed by Ben Cordes

Trials HD Big Pack

For a measly five bucks, Trials HD players can nearly double their available courses and tack on 50 gamerscore points between three brand new achievements. Trials HD was a massive 2009 success as far as Xbox Live Arcade games are concerned. With the Trials HD Big Pack's 35 new tracks featuring all sorts of new physics elements, this instant classic will carry on entertaining and challenging gamers well into the new year.

Everybody loves new maps, new courses, new tracks... Anything that can provide die-hard fans of any game with more of what they love. Unfortunately not all developers posess the technique necessary to deliver more of the same minus the stale flavor. In other words, Trials HD creators RedLynx are among the few who successfully debut downloadable content. The 23 new racing courses alone make the Big Pack worth the 400 MS points; inside these new tracks are experiences previously unatainable in any trials realm - low-gravity riding, wind current cruising, and trippy 1-bit traveling. Beginner and easy difficulties are left alone, meaning amped difficulty throughout the 12 medium, 9 hard, and 2 extreme tracks. Inferno II will seem like a joke in comparison.

Skill games got some sweet attention, too. The 12 new challenges totals to two skill games per challenge type, with slight variations in each. I prefer the latest slew of "just one more try" conquests as opposed to Trials HD's original offerings, but both are entertaining and the break from standard fare will increase replayability once you tire of the new courses. Win win win!

What with the installation of bizarre physics in some new tracks comes an inherent ability to use said physics in the level editor - a real treat for the creative-minded and the severely bored alike. And since the Title Update increases storage space for user created content, you're best off parking your bike in the garage; you'll be hammering out new levels like mad (wo)men. RedLynx can only create so much, and they've done quite a lot with the Big Pack, and thanks to their open-eared developers, riders will enjoy what they've most requested - mid to high range difficulty and the skill games necessary for painting new leaderboards. I don't know about you, but I'll be riding right into Spring.

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Love Songs of a Third Grade Teacher

Monday, January 25, 2010

It sounds to me like the love songs from my third grade teacher and the love songs that this third grade teacher plays are vastly different. Mine included something about a bay where watermelons grow, while hers don't seem very third grade safe.

Reviewer
Marco
Categories
Movies

Reviewed by Marco Duran

Love Songs of a Third Grade Teacher

It’s difficult to find a parking spot in this part of downtown Los Angeles where you aren’t afraid you’ll be mugged or your car will get broken into. After 20 minutes of navigating through one-way streets I found a location not too far from the theater for a reasonable price. The theater itself buzzed with a motley crüe of people mulling around, buying drinks and popcorn or listening to the band playing in the screening room itself. The band, Third Grade Teacher, commanded the attention of the audience as I walked in and found a seat. Their music was earnest and entertaining, if not a bit unconventional. After a while, the band wrapped it up, the lights around the theater dimmed, the crowd hushed – some of them sitting on the floor since there were no more seats left, and the show began.

This film is the autobiographical story of Sabrina Stevenson, played by Sabrina Stevenson, a third grade teacher who sings in the band called Third Grade Teacher. Creative, no? We follow her as she tries to find love in all the wrong places, or in this case, all the wrong websites. The film is a litany of dates with far too many messed up men, which plays like an episode of Sex in the City if Carrie channeled her creativity from writing columns into head banging punk. This film, however, is far rougher around the edges and achieves a whole new level of boldness in handling the main character than any SITC show could ever do. Sabrina, writing about her own experiences, may have pulled some punches when it comes to revealing her exes, however she did not pull any punches in writing about herself. A scene in which a lawyer is breaking up with her and one of her first instincts to get him to stay is to go down on him, shows a level of exposed despair that would not be seen elsewhere. I applaud Sabrina for taking such risks and putting herself out there with such abandon.

As she is portrayed in the film, there are three personas to Sabrina and never the three shall meet. There is the unabashed Id that prances and screams and performs on stage, flinging her hair wildly, soaking it all in. Charisma and complete control over herself and her crowd ooze from her pores. Here she seems comfortable. Here she seems complete. Then there is the Superego of the teacher, watching over her students, caring for them, wanting the best for them. Again, there is a measure of control and, though there may not be as much gusto, it still feels like she is comfortable in her situation and her place in that world. Finally there is the Ego persona of Sabrina in her dating life. This life is filled with uncomfortable silences, cautious mousy stares and desperate pleas to God or to anyone who would please just intervene or lend a hand. She is a woman of very little action and even fewer words. Most of her dialogue during the dating scenes comes in the form of voiceovers, as if she’s so scared to communicate with her date so she’ll just talk to herself. She is an observer of her own life as she lets things and people happen to her. She has lost, and is in no hurry to regain, any control over what may befall her.

You can lift the scenes of the band and the scenes of the teacher right out of the movie and not touch the plot at all. That may be a writing flaw or that may just be who Sabrina is. The character would not be as interesting or as fleshed out, but really, as I stated before, these are three completely separate worlds she revolves in that don’t have much bearing with each other. Which is a bit incredulous, I have to say. After a while of the dating life, one begins to wish for a Tyler Durden moment where the punk-band Id breaks through the timid Ego, slaps her horrible dates around and verbally eviscerates them to the point they will never be such douche bags again.

As is the case with such personal films, this is a passion project of the writer/producer/star, Sabrina. She struggled through the pre-production of this movie with it almost not happening and falling apart but got it done in order to give us this film, all of which makes me wonder why she felt such a burning need to bring us this story in the first place. Was it the need for an emotional release, some sort of psychiatric experiment to get things off her chest? Or is it some sort of penance, a way to be emotionally brutal with herself and to come to terms with who she is or was? Perhaps it was just her reaching out to others who may be in the same boat, a comforting hand explaining that this too shall pass. Maybe it’s a combination of all of the above and Sabrina will show herself to, once again, be much more complex then any single line of explanation can hold.

Keebler Fudge Shoppe Cheesecake Middles

Friday, January 22, 2010

If you're anything like me, you've been actively searching distant caves in the mountains of mysterious countries for some form of portable cheesecake that is worth it. Well friends, our travel bills are about to become considerably lighter. Thank the elves.

Reviewer
Kaitis
Categories
Food & Drink

Reviewed by Michael Kaitis

Keebler Fudge Shoppe Cheesecake Middles Cookies

Those little elves are at it again. Up in their mighty conglomerate tree-house, the Keebler elves have thought up what i'm gonna go a head and call one of their greatest inventions yet. Except the name, Cheesecake Middles, is fairly awkward and Cheesecake Centers rolls off the tongue much easier in my opinion. After calling around a few local stores - and a Wal-Mart in Oakland, CA - no one seemed to have them until we checked at the grocery store we least thought would have them. At a sweet two for $5 deal, we picked up both of these glorious confectionary innovations. The cookies themselves look like a mix of deep-dish pizza and a pie. Basically, If a cheesecake had a swollen crust then you shrunk it it would look exactly like these. Both types also feature an Adidas three stripe drizzle and a layer of milk chocolate on the bottom. Weirdly enough, the filling is actually made from Ricotta cheese with cheesecake flavoring. Now I'm no cheese expert, but I dabble, and that seems like a really strange choice to replace cream cheese.

Surprisingly though, you'd never be able to guess that it's Ricotta cheese. The taste and consistency were very close, if not identical to a small bite of cheesecake. While it may not be chilled, the flavor they use works well with the crust and does taste very much like the dessert. The original cheesecake flavor cookies explode with graham cracker flavor, then cool you down with the low-density cheesecake dribble, which has a rich cream cheese taste. The chocolate cheesecake flavored cookies have more of a rounded flavor; the chocolate and the cheesecake parts kind of cancel each other out at first, then slowly spread a delightfully tangy chocolate flavor around the mouth. For some people this plus the chocolate coating on the bottom and the drizzles of chocolate on top could easily be too much, though the filling gives it a very nice offset. If it was a desert island scenario and I could only pick one, it would be the traditional graham cracker, but I had a few back and forths whilst deciding. I would easily call this one of the most unique cookies I've had, and i'm glad they took the risk and made it. Thanks a lot, you damned elves.

Motion City Soundtrack - My Dinosaur Life

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

I don't know what kind of life you'd lead if you had a Dinosaur life, but odds are it would be much more exciting than the one you have now. I'd personally love to ride a Stegosaurus to the grocery store; talk about arriving in style.

Reviewer
Kaitis
Categories
Music

Reviewed by Michael Kaitis

Motion City Soundtrack - My Dinosaur Life

The first time I put this album on, I swore it sounded like Even If It Kills Me. Granted it was on shuffle and I didn't realize that it was out of order, but the first few songs made me cringe slightly. Seems almost more impressive now that I've listened to it a few times, because this album had to work really hard to win me over. If you read my review on the first single from this album, Disappear, I kinda went off on a long tangent on how the producers really affected how the album sounded. Well, I would take some of that back and say that maybe the producer was only half of the issue. The band still has the pop sensibilities they did on their last album, but this album at least brought back some of their former edginess.

The good songs on this album sound more like Commit This to Memory era songs. The drums are pretty unique and well thought out as they usually are at the hands of Tony Thaxton. Besides the choruses mostly being basic power chords, the verses contain some pretty unique instrumentation. Guitarist Josh Cain is usually known for this, even amongst peers like producer Mark Hoppus, but even the bass was used much more skillfully this album, using it for lead verse riffs on at least one song. Most songs mix all these things together, with the synth I missed oh-so-much on their first single. On songs where the guitar isn't anything special, the synth really picks up the slack as a strong lead. I think this shines best on "Hysteria," which isn't as good as "Hysteria" by Muse, but much better than "Hysteria" by Def Leppard.

Justin is back to singing slightly typical lyrics for himself, mostly about pop culture, awkward loneliness, and of course, pills. One song even boasts a chorus of primarily "I swear to pharmaceuticals." He also name drops things from Veronica Mars to The Legend of Zelda and even wrote a song called "Pulp Fiction." Little quirky elements like this have always been just another reason why Motion City has had such appeal to me.

There are a few tracks I don't really like, though, which is in extreme contrast to their previous albums which are completely love or hate for me. I don't care what anyone says, "History Lesson" sounds just like it could be a Dropkick Murphys song. I don't know if it's the vocal melody or what, but that songs just sounds like Irish punk to me. The other couple songs I didn't like were just because of how simple and radio friendly they sounded, it just reminded me of 13 year olds' music. Again, I'm surprised how much this album changed my mind, and a few songs aside I really think this turned out to be a good album. Mostly I'm just glad that there's not another MCS album out there I choose to just ignore.

Listen to a stream of My Dinosaur Life

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HTC Droid Eris

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

I don't really like the term iPhone killer, because since the iPhone was released, there hasn't been a single phone that can match its user friendliness, sleek profile, and abundance of software, nor will there be, IMO. But Ben might think different.

Reviewer
Ben
Categories
Electronics

Reviewed by Ben Cordes

HTC Droid Eris for Verizon

More intelligent than dumb phones and not quite up to scratch with full-blown computers, smartphones first targeted businessmen and women alike, but since their inception have expanded to consume massive numbers of casual cell phone users. Everywhere you look, you're likely to spot an iPhone, a BlackBerry, a Palm... Calling, messaging, and web browsing all at your fingertips or otherwise comfortably napping in your pocket. These devices have been circulating the cellular market for several years now, each's hardware coupled with its own unique software. For a while Research In Motion and Palm were the go-to companies for reliable smartphone hardware and software, until Apple busted onto the scene with its cellular savior and market dominator - iPhone. More recently, corporate beast Google decided to test the waters of wireless phone communication by debuting its portable operating system dubbed Android. Google's left-field success with Android eventually led the company to work in cahoots with HTC to create the Nexus One - the official Google phone, but that's where digression starts. The Droid Eris is an altogether separate device, sporting Google's Android operating system, and running on Verizon's CDMA network as opposed to globally supported GSM. This moderately small, sleek, feature-packed device demonstrates how far we've come since the original smartphone, and furthermore humbly sets a unique standard for what's to be expected from these intelligent communicators.

The first thing I noticed when lifting the Eris is its heft. It's not an overweight device, nor a flighty, weightless object of apparent cheap construction. The Eris isn't an ounce heavier than it ought to be. It bodes well in the hand, too, with its plastic-rubber fusion coating and slim profile. If you're familiar with the iPhone, the Eris is less wide and not quite as tall a fellow. It makes up for it with a few added millimeters of depth, however. Even so, I prefer a device with a bit of girth over a smartphone as thin as paper and wider than my driveway. Even aesthetically it's high marks all around for the Eris; it's so far from gaudy it's almost daunting to see such a plain handheld. Its rounded black body is baren, sure, but the absence of buttons gives the Eris a remarkably refined look.

But looks aren't everything (unless you own a bag phone). The Eris is visually appealling and a pleasure to physically interface with, and that's important. Once the initial appreciation of the Eris's physique subsides, one is left to ponder its internals. How's the famed Android operating system? Will I be satisfied with the device's battery life? Can I sext on this thing? The answers to these questions are great, maybe, and in 5-megapixel glory, yes you can.

The Droid Eris is equipped with a capacitive touch-screen, similar to the iPhone's, because reductive touch-screens are so late 90s. Under pressure of constant, rigorous daily use, I've only mistyped a handful of words into the on-screen keyboard, and half of them were the fault of auto-correct thinking it knows what I mean to say, but I didn't "redress" my friend. I "texted" him. There is a difference, HTC! Speaking of which, HTC has done a marvelous job appending their Sense user interface to Google's Android operating system. I hardly take notice of the Eris's trackball as finger-swipe navigation is so effortless and responsive, thanks in large part to the Sense UI.

Google's Android operating system is lightning fast and intuitive. To ice the cake, HTC decided to craft its own interface, creating a trifecta of speed, useability, and beauty. Everyone has seen the iPhone commercials wherein Thing T. Thing swipes through screens of application thumbnails. Well, no more! (And I'm positive Apple is taking note of this, because it's absolutely brilliant.) Instead of caging consumers into a box of icons, the horizontal seven-screen spread can be completely customized by application widgets. This middle-ground between viewing simple program icons and dealing with entire applications is where the HTC Eris gets fantastic. Merely swiping left or right, or even remaining on the center screen will give real-time updates to condensed versions of your choice applications, otherwise known as widgets. For the most part, these widgets work flawlessly, exemplified by displaying Twitter updates in a convenient little box, offering picture-stamped contact icons for fast calling or messaging, and showing the first several lines of the email you've been waiting for, all without the click or touch of a single button. If the Eris is unlocked, just swipe left and right for fast, easy updates from your favorite applicaions. My only complaint about widgets is that there aren't enough of them.

The Eris is one smooth operator. Day in and day out I'll find myself listening to streamed tunes on Grooveshark, sending messages to friends, browsing all corners of the wide web, checking email and making phone calls. At the end of every day, I always have a bit of battery life to spare. Granted, I have the screen's brightness turned down significantly (it's blindingly bright by default). Still, the Eris hardly gets any rest while in my posession, and the powerhouse of a device is unceasingly functional. The touch-screen has benchmarked amongst the most accurate capacitive devices available to date, topping even its big brother - the Motorola Droid. It's a shame ongoing calls can't be held while browsing the web, but that's the fault of Verizon's lackluster 3G technology (although in terms of network availability, Verizon 3G takes the cake. And the pie, and the custard, and your lunch.) Verizon may have taken its sweet time to acquire attractive devices that aren't plastered inside and out with its branding, but finally with the Droid Eris we're offered a smartphone whose operating system and user interface partnership is heretofore unmatched. I'd even venture so far as to say that Verizon found its answer to AT&T's Apple iPhone.

Parks and Recreation (S02E13)

Monday, January 18, 2010

You know, at first I wasn't too big a fan of Parks and Recreation, but as season two got underway, the quality of the show really kind of skyrocketed. If Ron Swanson isn't one of the best characters on TV right now, I'll eat Josh's lunch. Don't test me!

Reviewer
Kaitis
Categories
TV Shows

Reviewed by Michael Kaitis

Parks and Recreation (S02E13) - "The Set Up"

I'm not really sure why The Office didn't come back this week with Parks, but I was happy to at least have one of them. Plus it's the show that for the past few weeks has kept me more consistently laughing. This week had two pretty great guest stars in Mr. Amy Poehler aka Will Arnett, and Justin Theroux, who I've only seen as Joe on Six Feet Under. After the credits rolled, I was really distracted by the giant picture of Louis C.K.'s head. Interestingly enough, they don't explain it in the regular cut, but do in the producer's cut, which includes a slightly humorous bit about how she stole it. It's not really important why lawyer Justin is in the Parks and Rec. department, but he's got a great story about the ridiculous product that is Fire-In-A-Can, which by how he describes it sounds like it's insane enough to be a Cinco product.

Most of the episode revolves around Leslie getting back into dating, and that's where Will Arnett comes in. In a floating head shot, filmed only a few feet away from the table they're sitting at on a date, Leslie says, "Good job, Ann". Will Arnett's Chris doesn't hesitate to go, "I actually heard that." I haven't laughed that hard at a floating head interview in ages. The producers cut actually saw the date getting worse than the televised moments could fully show. It's a shame that they couldn't air all of it on TV, but at least it has a home online.

Ron Swanson almost had quite a few good moments himself in the assistant search. He got to the point where two phone calls in a row was enough to rip the phone cable out of the wall. After Tom Haverford brought him a terrible option for an assistant he got to "I wanna punch you in the face so bad right now." They used this situation to not only create an entertaining storyline, but with some clever writing they managed to work it into the whole April liking Andy thing. Speaking of which, Andy was extremely hilarious this episode and I for one couldn't be more supportive of bringing Mouse Rat back onto the show. I also love that this is the second time we've heard a recording of the band, and both times have been songs they played in S01E06, "Rock Show". Continuity is always funny.

As much as I would prefer not having any bullshit relationship moments written in a la The Office, it was really good for character interaction. Mark going to Andy for help about "Justin? I hate Justin." Of course, this eventually worked itself into another one of Andy's trying-to-get-Ann-back schemes, maybe his most brilliant one yet. I think most importantly, focusing on that little bit of relationship trouble gave Paul Schneider the most screen time he's had all season. I may be alone in this thought, but he should really be on more. Even though he's typically a serious actor, he works really well with the strong writing staff. He may not deliver fully laugh out loud funny jokes like the other characters, but this episode did a terrific job of showing that when used with subtle humor, Brandanawicz can still shine.

Yeasayer - Odd Blood

Friday, January 15, 2010

The difference between Yeasayer's debut album, All Hour Cymbals, and their new album, Odd Blood, is stark. The former is kind of like a fantastical medieval adventure, while the latter is more like a night on the beach under the moon.

Reviewer
Brad
Categories
Music

Reviewed by Brad Cook

Yeasayer - Odd Blood

Yeasayer is one band that has fast-tracked their way to the top of my favorites, and might be my favorite musical discovery of 2009. Their debut album, All Hour Cymbals, was an odyssey of atmosphere, swirling vocal harmonies, unorthodox audio environments, and an ever-present 80's synth-rock tinge, a quality that would've sunk other bands to the depths of my disgust. Yeasayer just has such a stranglehold on music in general that there's literally no way I can dislike them.

Since All Hour Cymbals had come out quite a while ago when I started listening to Yeasayer, I was quite excited to hear what they'd come out with next. Their video for "Ambling Alp" was what really got me into the band; if you are a Yeasayer fan and haven't seen that yet, you need to right now. If you've never heard Yeasayer, then you need to watch the video even more. The song and video are both so good that I was dying for more.

For better or for worse, their new album, Odd Blood, leaked long ago. At this point it's all over the internet, and harder to not find than to find. The band released this statement regarding the situation: "Presents are always spoiled for those who open them before they are supposed to." Now that they've held an official listening party, however, I'd say we're allowed to open ours.

Odd Blood is an entirely different album than All Hour Cymbals, in so many ways. There's a distinct difference in the instruments used from album to album; All Hour Cymbals had an natural, foggy, at times even tribal, sound to it, while Odd Blood is largely synthesizer based with significantly fewer traditional rock instruments. Some people may say that Yeasayer has gone "Animal Collective", pushing their sound in a more electronica direction while going more experimental, and to an extend I'd agree. Even though they're reaching out to further ends of the musical spectrum, they've also reeled their music in a bit. The songs are not as densely layered, meandering, or long as they used to be. They're much more refined and to the point. There are less soaring harmonies to provide warmth for the main vocal melodies, but the ones utilized are sharp and purposeful. Chris Keating's voice is sounding better than ever, his rich timbre quavering gorgeously over alternately bright and murky scenic musical landscapes, consistently more at the forefront than previously heard.

"The Children" is the album's opener, giving the album its first breath, which happens to come via iron lung. The song is a seriously industrial opener that at first I considered to be mostly a throwaway song, but when you really listen to it, every aspect of the song is pieced together with robotic accuracy; the vocal melody and the vocal effect are so perfectly matched. Definitely not the best song here but an interesting listen. This song gives way fantastically to "Ambling Alp", the album's first single, which has stayed fresh for so much longer than I thought it would. Percussion-heavy and severely major-key, this song will having you singing the chorus for weeks to come, whether you like it or not (you will). "Madder Red" is one of the more traditional rock songs on the album, kind of downtrodden, and definitely one of the more 80's influenced songs, with a thunderous, reverb-y percussion part and some of those wordless vocal parts that I loved from their debut. "I Remember", an instant standout of the album, is the fourth song. This is where the band comes closest to the Animal Collective comparisons, though Animal Collective is certainly in a league of their own. It's a sparkly, lofty, upbeat song as fun to listen to as it is to sing along with. "O.N.E." is perhaps the crowning achievement of the album; it's danceable, relentless, catchy, layered, and basically the climax of Odd Blood.

"Love Me Girl" is the kind of title that would make me think of an acoustic pop-ballad where the singer attempts all sorts of word-play and a falsetto bit to woo the opposite party. The song is actually the most techno-esque one on the album, almost reminding me of Radiohead's "Idioteque". The lyrics deal with questions we men find ourselves wondering from time to time: "What is she covering up? What is she lying about?… Why is this happening now?" "Rome" is basically a Donkey Kong Country song with one of the guys from "Tool Time" playing the waving saw over it. Great song. For some reason, "Strange Reunions" doesn't really do anything for me. Not a bad song by any means, but it's the one I usually skip over. It has kind of a MIddle-Eastern or perhaps Indian feel to it, either way there's not enough there to keep me listening. "Mondegreen" is actually a term coined to describe when you're listening to something and you think you hear a ridiculous phrase, only to realize that's not what was said. You know, like when it sounds like Jimi Hendrix says "Excuse me while I kiss this guy" in the song "Purple Haze". Mondegreen! This song sort of sounds like something from Flash Dance; it's really upbeat and really 80's, but surprisingly a very catchy song that will keep you coming back for more. The album ends with the perfect closer, "Grizelda". The playful vocals in the chorus really make this song. It's one of my favorites on the album, in part because of how happy the song sounds, yet how strange and threatening the lyrics are.

Yes, there are some elements of the old Yeasayer I miss. The old Yeasayer had much more of an indie edge to them, more experimentation, more instruments, and more background vocals. But it takes a lot of craftsmanship to create a record that could probably be considered both a pop and an indie classic. With Odd Blood, Yeasayer has moved more toward the pop genre, but at the same time brought all the quirk and strangeness that they used to have with them, it's just packaged differently. Odd Blood is an almost universally solid album, with each song clearly presenting its own personality and purpose. It's certainly a cleaner, more fun album than their previous, but sometimes you want more than fun, and I'm glad to say this album delivers in all aspects.

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Thursday - Common Existence

Thursday, January 14, 2010

I think the concept behind Thursday's newest album is a pretty neat idea. Apparently each song was influenced by a certain writer or work of literature. Almost sounds interesting enough for me to finally listen to the band after years of ignoring them.

Reviewer
Chris
Categories
Music

Reviewed by Chris Balan

Thursday - Common Existence

Thursday's previous album, A City By The Light Divided was a softer, more electronic side of the band that certainly took more than a couple of listens to get used to. Although this is true, it was still an excellent entry to the band's history of releases. Common Existence, their newest album, is deeply rooted in hardcore with light touches of their previous outing, and is one of their most daring and accomplished pieces or work since War All The Time.

Common Existence comes off as gritty, with some of the band's heaviest songs to date. The album consistently delivers a structured assault of sound on the senses, beginning with "Resuscitation of a Dead Man". Songs such as "Last Call" and "Friends of the Armed Forces" deliver on the intense enthusiasm the band is aiming for, yet the calming aura of the band's previous two albums remains in tact for a few of the songs here. The best example of this is "Love Has Lead Us Astray", one of my favorite tracks on the album, while the song that really exemplifies the evolved and intensified sound that Thursday has built on is "Beyond The Visible Spectrum". From the dissonant guitars to the unremarkably unique vocals and strong songwriting, it contains everything that makes the band who they are, as well as proving that they still have the ability to surprise and satisfy after so many albums. Plus, the string arrangements on the track make it pretty damn epic.

By now, you may be wondering if the album is anything like Full Collapse, which is considered by many to be a seminal album of the hardcore/screamo genres. In a way, it does retain the sound and feel of the album, but Common Existence is a much more mature and experienced sound that almost pushes the album to the point of being incomparable. This may be, but Common Existence IS the closest thing that the band has put out since Full Collapse.

So, album number five reinforces the notion that Thursday are a band who are not afraid to keep moving in a world where one divergence can cost a thousand fans. Commercialism requires that someone concoct an idea and repeat it until it becomes unprofitable. Art dictates that you give birth to a concept before releasing it and treating it to nurture future notions. It's safe to say: Thursday are artists.

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Youth In Revolt

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

I wonder what Michael Cera is gonna do once he's an adult actor. The awkward comedy genre is definitely better suited to a teen than a grownup. Until then I guess he can just keep on doing movies where he plays basically the same character.

Reviewer
Kaitis
Categories
Movies

Reviewed by Michael Kaitis

Youth In Revolt

Until someone picks up my script for Jesse Eisenberg and Michael Cera tentatively titled "The Awkward Bros.", the only thing that would compare comedically is two Michael Ceras. In Youth in Revolt, he plays Nick, a shy, nice guy who's incredibly uncomfortable with life. Sounds pretty atypical for a Michael Cera role, huh? He lives with his mom and her rotating cast of boyfriends, portrayed in the film by Zach Galifinakis and Ray Liotta respectively. Early on in the film, they go up to a "cabin" which turns out to be a really shitty trailer, and thats kind of when the movie actually starts, after a cut that makes the intro credits claymation for some reason.

Minutes after arriving at the "cabin", Nick meets a girl. Said girl, Sheeni Saunders, is pretty much the fuel for the entire movie. She has a boyfriend, but once Nick sees her vinyl collection and french movie posters, he just knows this girl has to be his. After his week is up at the trailer, he's basically so obsessed with her he tries to create some sort of scheme where he gets to move up there. The plan is a two part-er, with the first part including getting his father to move up there, and the second involving acting bad enough to get kicked out of his mother's place.

As you could maybe guess, this is where the title comes into play. This is also when most of the humor comes into effect in the film. Francois Dillinger is created as the devil on our lead characters shoulders. A complete polar opposite of this traditional Cera character, Dillinger makes him do things from stealing a car to eating an entire bag of mushrooms when he's warned just to eat two. If you're laughing at a Michael Cera on screen, it's probably Dillinger, not Nick Twisp.

Suprisingly, the cast for this film was pretty amazing. Portia Doubleday, the female lead, does quite an amazing job for this being her first acting gig ever. They also brought in plenty of people who do amazing comedy like Justin Long, Fred Willard, and Steve Buscemi, who in my opinion is a great actor to play Cera's dad. While the film can make you laugh, it seems much more keen to bring you into the relationship element the trailer's cut so much around. The movie is nonetheless enjoyable, though it's more like a rom-com than any of Michael Cera's other projects.

Glims

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

If you've read any of my Software reviews before, you probably know that Safari is my browser of choice, for many reasons. Safari alone doesn't cut it though; Glims, a fantastic little plugin with a ton of uses, is what makes Safari the best.

Reviewer
Brad
Categories
Software

Reviewed by Brad Cook

Glims for Safari

Let's face it, Safari users; Safari 4 isn't perfect. It's definitely lacking features, some more obvious than others. There is a variety of plugins and downloadable software for Safari, but how do you know which is best for you? Well, in my opinion when you have to download, install, and start messing around with SIMBL, you're spending too much effort for such small payout. Luckily there just happens to be one plugin for Safari that adds a myriad of features to enhance your browsing experience.

Glims is fully Snow Leopard compatible (if you're not by now, what's the deal? (I'm looking at you, Keywurl!)), you can download it at Mac Hangout's website. It's simply a .dmg that turns into a .pkg to install the file, then you're done! Just go into Safari's preferences then to the Glims tab to see all the features.

Glims does so much that it has to divide the features up into sections. They are: General, Full Screen, New Tabs, Tab Misc., Search Engines, Search Suggestions, Bookmarks, Misc., and Updates. They're all pretty self explanatory, so just hop in there and start changing things up.

One thing that bothers me about Safari is resizing the window. I've seen people use it where the window doesn't take up the full screen, and that drives me crazy, I have no idea how they can stand it. One option that Glims gives you is the Max Window Size function, accessed in the Safari menu or by pressing cmd+shift+M. This maximizes the window's size and perfectly aligns it in your screen, so even if you accidentally drag the window or resize it, just cmd+shift+M and you're instantly perfectly aligned and sized. Not only that, but if you need those extra pixels taken up by the bookmarks, tab, tool, and status bars, Glims also implements a full screen feature. It's also under the Safari menu, or can be accessed by hitting cmd+ctrl+F. Hitting it again will return the browser to normal.

Glims also allows you to customize Safari's search bar, a fundamental feature that Apple has overlooked time and again. Not only can you add search engines, but you can even add shortcuts so that all you have to do is type something in the search bar and then hit the shortcut, opening a new tab with the query performed on the specific engine. The only thing better than this would be the ability to use the address bar as the search engine, a la Firefox. And there is such a plugin for this, I mentioned it earlier: Keywurl. However, I'm not interested in running Safari in 32 bit mode until it's compatible with Snow Leopard, especially since it's been almost half a year.

Safari's whole tab system gets an overhaul with Glims. You can set tabs to always open to the right of the current tab, and you can have the site's favicon displayed on each tab, which I like because it adds a bit of color to Safari. My two favorite tab features, however, are the "Undo 'Close Tab'" feature and the tab navigation feature. Undo 'Close Tab' is incredibly useful if you're someone like me who often has to go back and look again at a tab they just closed but going through history takes too much effort. When that's the case, just hit cmd+Z to reopen your last closed tab! Glims also gives Safari some tab navigation hotkeys, namely the comma and period keys. Once you're using this feature, you'll cringe at the thought of not having it.

The ever-growing list of features that Glims adds to Safari's interface and browsing experience is simply too good to pass up. It's updated every month or two usually, continually tweaking it to perfect the way it interacts with Safari. If you use Glims already, you know how indispensable it is. If you haven't used it yet, ditch all those other plugins and go for the one that has it all.

Cursed Mountain

Monday, January 11, 2010

Here's a question: Why hasn't there been a survival horror game set on a desolate, haunted mountain before? No matter, because Cursed Mountain satisfies that question as well as my craving for some Wii survival horror and ghosts.

Reviewer
Brad
Categories
Games

Reviewed by Brad Cook

Cursed Mountain (Wii)

I have to admit, when I first saw the name Cursed Mountain while browsing Wii titles I might like for Christmas, I laughed pretty hard. There's just no subtlety to it. It's probably the first name I would think of if you'd asked me to give you a list of terrible ideas for game titles. In fact, they could've just called the game Mountain and I would've felt better about it. But sometimes, a bad title does not a bad game make.

Cursed Mountain has you taking on the role of Eric Simmons, looking for your lost brother Frank, who was sent out on an expedition to the top of a mountain in the Himalayas called "Cholomonzo" by a rich old mountain climber. Being set in the Himalayas, the game has a highly spiritual theme running throughout. You'll read much about monks and goddesses and sacred artifacts and curses, which may sound cliché, but Cursed Mountain actually executes this quite well. The backdrop for all this is what really makes the game unique. The mountainous and harsh terrain, the howling wind and ambient sounds, the sense of utter aloneness amongst the empty villages and shacks -- it all adds up to create a suspenseful and tense atmosphere, which makes the more re-hashed aspects of the game less noticeable, if not excusable.

If you've ever played the game Fatal Frame you'll immediately recognize this type of gameplay. Even some older Resident Evil fans will find Cursed Mountain familiar. As Eric, you travel throughout the local villages of Cholomonzo to find clues as to what happened to your brother. These clues come in the form of journal entries and notes from local villagers, your brother, the spiritual leaders of the villagers, etc. The notes are unexpectedly thorough and detailed, even though they're always relatively short and easy to read. The result is a surprisingly solid plot with a great sense of pacing, giving you tidbits of info to keep you interested and on the right path.

The actual gameplay, besides running around finding clues, involves killing ghosts with an ice axe bestowed with mystical powers by monks. The ghosts will walk toward you at varying paces, moving side-to-side, thus making it more difficult to stun them by shooting blasts of Raid for spirits at them. Once you've sufficiently stunned them, you can aim at them and click A, which will allow you to perform wiimote/nunchuk actions to finish them off, such as swinging the wiimote diagonally. The real detractor here is the movement system. I guess since the game takes place on a snowy, windy mountain they figured you should walk really slowly, and run at a pace that normal people would walk. This makes it difficult to avoid getting hit by close-up ghosts and bosses, which means you're gonna die and have to do it all over again, which can be especially frustrating when you're in a boss battle. There are also cool little aspects of the gameplay that provide some variety, like you'll have to sidle along the edge of a cliff, or you'll be walking along a path and have to dodge some huge rocks that randomly break off a rock wall.

While Cursed Mountain doesn't really present anything new to the survival horror genre, it does toss you in an extremely immersive and relatively unused environment - an epic, dangerous mountain. One thing I noticed about the game is that there are some truly amazing camera angles in the game; for example, you'll be running along a bridge and the camera zooms out and tilts up a bit so you can see the whole village beneath it as you cross, or as you're approaching a set of buildings, the perspective changes to that of a man watching you coming towards him through a window, which is pretty cool. The ghost fights can get a bit stale, but when they ramp up the difficulty and have you trying to kill three ghosts at once, you won't be thinking about that. You'll be thinking about how crappy the movement controls are, but that's beside the point. Cursed Mountain has a great story set in an absolutely perfect environment for a survival horror game and probably some of the best graphics I've seen on the Wii, unless you're playing on a large TV that really stretches the Wii's resolution. The voice-overs are even halfway decent. As frustrating as it can be, I'd definitely recommend at least renting this just for the experience.

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