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zwolanerd

“I guess I just like liking things”

July 28, 2014 You’re Welcome

His fingers shooting electricity might explain his curly hair

His fingers shooting electricity might explain his curly hair

Some of you may recall that back in October, two things happened:

  1. Weird Al high-fived me
  2. I asked him during the Q&A session when we might see UHF get released on Blu-Ray and if there were any plans to release The Compleat Al on a modern format.

Turn now to recent news:

“Weird Al” Yankovic’s UHF Gets a 25th Anniversary Blu-ray in November

The article mentions that The Compleat Al will be along for the ride as part of a box set.

Now, I can’t take credit for UHF being released on Blu-Ray. When I asked Mr. Yankovic about it, he talked about how they had talked to the studio but had been rebuffed and what it would take for that to happen. It was obviously something he’d been considering/working on for some time.

However, when he responded to the second half of my question, the part about The Compleat Al, he said something along the lines of, “Oh, wow, that’s going back a ways!” and then something along the lines of “if there were interest.”

Now, I can’t prove that I put the idea in his head (really, I’m fairly certain that it had nothing to do me), but for a few moments I did have this thought: “Wouldn’t it be funny if that put the idea in his head?” And, you know, it would be. If it had happened (which it didn’t).

Regardless, this is great news. Many of you have most likely never seen The Compleat Al, and it’s a lot of fun. The scene where he goes to Michael Jackson’s house to ask permission to spoof “Beat It” alone is worth the price of admission.

Come hang out with me in November and we’ll watch both movies together!

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July 25, 2014 Build Your Own

I got it in my head a while back that it would be fun to build a Q*bert out of Lego. I downloaded the Lego Digital Designer and started playing around with it a bit, but quickly realized I didn’t have the visualization skills or the patience to do it. I can see what it would sort of be like in my head, but I can’t make that come out in the plans (this is the same problem I have with drawing things). I see things like the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man in Lego and know a Q*bert is certainly possible, but even if I could eventually figure out the design, I wouldn’t be able to afford the bricks needed to make him.

So I scaled back my dream a bit and decided I could at least make Q*bert’s pyramid in Lego:

Q*bert's pyramid in LEGO, but you already knew that

Q*bert’s pyramid in LEGO, but you already knew that

you could easily make this out of all 2×2 bricks, but I wanted to make it all interlock as one piece as much as I could. I was able to except for one 2×2 piece on the bottom row that isn’t attached to anything else. I put way more time into designing this than I would have expected, but couldn’t get that figured out.

All in all, with shipping, this cost me about $20 to make. I also ordered flat pieces to put on each block and smooth it out, but ordered the wrong size (1×1 instead of 2×2) so that didn’t work out.

If you’d like to build your own, I have included the plans here: LegoPyramid The plans were automatically generated by the design software, so they’re a little strange and not as clear as I would have liked, but it’ll get you there.

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July 23, 2014 Lyn Plays Salem

Price: Free to download and play, cash shop available.
Client: Java – small client download.
Get it from: www.salemthegame.com

When Salem was announced in 2011ish I was desperate to get on the Beta Invite list. I hassled friends, I hassled strangers, I made everyone I know sign up because four sign ups gave you access. And then… and then I didn’t love it. I still don’t love it, I’m afraid, which makes me very sad because I want to love it.

I love the idea, I love the concept. I love the art style, but the game play is just too baffling. Yes, there’s a ton of information in the forums but the tutorial is too short and there’s not enough early direction to get you ticking over nicely. As you know because you read this column every week (you better), I play a lot of games and for me the ideal start in any game is a good solid tute. Sometimes that tute is in the form of a basic quest so you can get a feel for your attacks or how to move or whatever, sometimes it’s a bunch of words in a pop up that you don’t read properly and then go “Wait, help!”. Just me? Okay.

After recording this I spent another hour or so in game and came no closer to learning what I was doing. While it’s handy that the forums are there, I shouldn’t have to be trawling forums to find out basic facets of game play. I’ll revisit Salem in a year or so if it’s still moving along, as I said in the video the original studio has passed the game over to a new mob in order to speed up development. We shall see how that pans out.

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July 22, 2014 Tuesday 10: Movies of 1985

This was a hard list to make. I haven’t seen many of these in a long time, so it’s a mixture of how much I liked it “back in the day” and how much I’d like it now if I watched it again. Sometimes I’m tempted to put things on these lists because I’m supposed to like something or other better and I want you to like me, but when it gets down to it, I like what I like. Sorry, Brazil.

cluemovie10. The Breakfast Club – I don’t like this movie near as much as most people from my generation do, but it’s fine.

9. Weird Science – This movie makes the list but Witness and Teen Wolf don’t? Outrageous! This is back when people were pretty much convinced computers were magic and probably accounts for most people my age choosing a career path in I.T..

8. Real Genius – One of Val Kilmer’s top three roles along with Top Secret! and Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang. More geeks and nerds winning over jerks and jocks. Careful, or this’ll turn into a themed list!

7. Rocky IV – If I was making this list in 1985, this movie would’ve been #1. Rocky Balboa punched Communism so hard that the Berlin Wall came down four years later. it might not seem like a movie made four years prior had anything to do with the wall coming down, but believe me, it did.

6. Commando – Any defense of this clearly ridiculous movie needs to mention that Arnold’s character in the movie throws a circular saw blade like a throwing star and it takes off part of a guy’s skull. Clearly this movie should be ranked higher.

5. Silverado – My second-favorite Western of all time.

4. Rambo: First Blood Part II – Rocky IV changed the present, this movie looked to right the wrongs of the past. Rocky used punches, Rambo used explosions and a big knife. Different jobs call for different tools.

3. Clue – I feel safe in saying there will never be a movie based on a board game funnier than this one.

2. Better Off Dead – One of the most quotable movies of all time and I don’t care if John Cusack doesn’t like the movie: he’s wrong.

1. Back to the Future – I’ve always thought that if I got transported back to the 50s that I’d handle it better than Marty did, but I also probably wouldn’t be able to make it back to the present day, so it’s a mixed bag.

Additional thoughts:

  • A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge – The first Nightmare on Elm Street movie I saw. Before watching it a friend warned me by saying, “If you see this one, you’ll want to watch the whole series.” He wasn’t wrong. Turns out, 2 is the worst of the whole series (unless you count the reboot, which I don’t really).
  • American Ninja – Just the name of this one when I was a kid was the coolest thing in the world. Sadly, the movie wasn’t quite as cool as its name.
  • Brazil – I liked this one, I just don’t think I completely get it, you know?
  • Desperately Seeking Susan – Madonna should’ve just stopped being in movies after this one, I think.
  • Pee-wee’s Big Adventure – Tim Burton’s first movie, and 1985’s Napoleon Dynamite.
  • The Goonies – If I’d seen this one when I was a kid, I’d probably like it more. I read the movie-to-book novelization of it around the time it came out (I did that a lot back then), but didn’t see the movie until I was in my 30s.
  • Witness – This movie and Weird Al’s “Amish Paradise” have done more to educate people about Amish culture than anything else.

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July 21, 2014 Music Monday: “Weird Al” Yankovic

weirdalI know I said last week I’d have “Ranking Mandatory Fun” today, but I’m not ready for it. I’ve listened to the album plenty (9-10 times) and I have an idea of my ranking, but I need to let it simmer for a bit. All my other album rankings have had the benefit of many years’ consideration, and while I’m not saying it’ll take me a few years to rank this one I don’t want it to suffer from too-hasty decisions. Worry not, I’ll do it!

Today is the last day of Al’s “#8days8videos” run (in fact, the last one will be out by the time this post is live). Al chose not to release a leading single from the album like he’s done in the past, opting instead to debut a new video every day for eight days. It’s crazy, but it seems to be working. As of last Friday, it looks like the album will be his highest ranking album debut ever. It was down to him or Jason Mraz, and that’s an easy choice, America. Get your act together!

Along with that, Al just about caused my death last night because he favorited a tweet of mine: “Dear @alyankovic: a lot of your old songs from previous albums don’t have videos. #80days80videos.” (This is now my personal Lame Claim to Fame.) I would love to see him go back and make videos for some of his classics that he didn’t have the resources to make back in the day. I bet Mark Hamill would gladly show up in a video for “Yoda.”

This album is Al’s last under his studio contract, and there’s been a lot of speculation as to whether or not it will be his last full album ever. In the Internet age where people are posting parody songs on YouTube every three seconds, it makes sense he’d want to be able to react quicker to things. I’m sure we’ve lost out on some good Al stuff just because it hit in the middle of a 2- or 3-year cycle of album making. However, I think we’d lose so much more than we’d gain if Al went to singles-only instead of albums. It’s unlikely we’d get any more polkas and originals. I also like that the albums are a snapshot of pop culture history, and I’ll miss the album art. Whatever direction he goes, I’ll still be a fan, I’m sure. I’d just like to vote for albums.

 

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