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zwolanerd

“I guess I just like liking things”

June 15, 2013 Ranking Dare To Be Stupid

This is the third in a series of transplanted articles from my other blog. The transplants will run on Saturdays until they’re all over here. They are copied and pasted, but might get slight edits here and there.

This album was released on June 18, 1985 and was the first album of musical comedy released on compact disc.

I double dog dare you

I double dog dare you

11. Slime Creatures from Outer Space – A love letter to scifi films of the 50s and 60s. Includes these great lyrics: “They’ll rip your head off just for fun, they’ll paralyze your mind / They’re wearing out their welcome I don’t think I like their kind.”

10. Girls Just Want to Have Lunch – Another food-related song! Producers made Al include a parody of a Cyndi Lauper, against his wishes. Apparently this song is one of his least favorite, but I’ve always enjoyed it.

9. George of the Jungle – One of the oddest songs in Al’s oeuvre, it’s a cover of a theme song for a cartoon. It did end up in the 1997 movie, though.

8. Cable TV – Al’s TV songs always do a great job of walking the line between showing how ridiculous TV is and how much he loves it. When you put this song in the context of cable being a relatively new thing that was really starting to take off, it becomes a fascinating snapshot of the era, I think.

7. This Is the Life – The theme song to Johnny Dangerously. “I eat filet mignon seven times a day, my bathtub’s filled with Perrier – what can I say? This is the life!”

6. Dare to Be Stupid – In some ways this is the quintessential Weird Al song. You can tell he’s having fun with this parody of DEVO.

5. Like a Surgeon – Al famously does not accept parody ideas from anyone…except for here.  The idea for this spoof of a Madonna song came from Madonna herself, who asked a friend how long it would be before Al did it.  Word got back to Al and he felt he needed to write it.

4. I Want a New Duck – I love this song simply because there are more duck puns per minute in this song than you’ll get anywhere else. My favorite is that Al wants a new duck so the duck can show him how “to get down.”

3. Hooked on Polkas – Again, I pretty much love every polka medley.

2. Yoda – The Empire Strikes Back came out in 1980. This song got held up because (surprise) it was difficult for Al to get permission from George Lucas (and also the original song’s writer, but we know who the real bad guy is). Throughout the years Al does several “movies in song form” songs, and I love pretty much every one. This one holds a special place in most everyone’s heart, though, because it’s Yoda and Yoda is awesome.

1. One More Minute – This song is in my All Time Top Ten of Al songs.  A doo-wop song about breaking up with a girl that starts out tenderly and ends up, well, weirdly.  I sang a slightly-modified version of this song for a talent show in college, and it was the best-received comedic thing I ever did on stage there.  (Thanks, Al!) I had to modify it because the guy in charge thought the line “I’d rather clean every toilet in Grand Central Station with my tongue than spend one more minute with you” was “too gross.”  I’m inclined to agree with him.

This series is turning out to be one of the most fun things I’ve ever undertaken. I can’t really tell if anyone else in enjoying it, but I’m enjoying it enough personally that it honestly doesn’t matter – and for a guy that really, really wants an audience, that’s saying something!

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June 14, 2013 Favorite Things: Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee

What do you do when your beloved TV show has made literally a billion dollars? What’s there left to accomplish? If you’re Jerry Seinfeld (and in this scenario, you’d kind of have to be) you go small. Really small.

Predicated on the notion that “hey, people might like it if I went out for coffee with a friend of mine who just happens to be a comedian and we talked about stuff, ” Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee is exactly what it purports to be and it’s a special kind of great, besides.  Well, let me qualify that a little: some of them are great.  It’s not a thing that works completely all the time, but when it does it’s a lot of fun.

The car part doesn’t do much for me, I’ll admit. I mean, it’s interesting to see the different weird stuff Jerry drives around, but since I have no history with any of them it’s not more than a “huh, neat” kind of thing.

I have way more of an interest in comedy, though, and it’s fascinating to watch these interchanges. On the surface, it’s a couple of friends (who just happen to be famous) going out for a drive and some food. Below that, and sometimes just barely, it’s two people who’ve had similar experiences relating to each other in ways many people wouldn’t be able to… which I guess is a basis for most standard friendships, but, hey, leave me alone. Watching them slip into a bit and expand on that bit together is a joy to watch not just because it’s usually funny, but also because it’s the art of comedy creation in action, on film. One of them offers an element, the other expands on it, the first one recognizes the beauty of it, and it goes from there. I find it fascinating, much the same way I found Comedian fascinating. Normally “seeing how the sausage gets made” is not something you want to see, but in this instance it actually makes the thing better for me.  I’m sure part of that is my long-time desire to be a comic, but I’d think anyone with an interest in comedy would enjoy it.

My favorite episodes so far have been Brian Regan, Larry David, and Michael Richards. Next week’s with David Letterman looks like it’ll be on that list soon enough. Another part of the charm is just how tickled Jerry is to talk to some of these people.  Watch his reactions to Carl Reiner and Mel Brooks – just fantastic.

My wish list for future guests (somebody please get this list to Jerry):

  • Paula Poundstone
  • Tina Fey
  • Jim Gaffigan
  • Jay Leno
  • Louis CK
  • Weird Al
  • Bill Murray
  • Ray Romano
  • David Cross
  • Patton Oswalt

Of course, what I’d really like is to become a comedian and get famous enough that Jerry would have me on, mostly so I could talk to the guy for a couple of hours.

 

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June 13, 2013 Wonderfalls S01E12: Totem Mole

SUMMARY

Jaye, Sharon, and Mahandra arrive at a reservation for the Satsuma nation so that Mahandra can hand in an application to become a tribal member. As Jaye refuels their car, the Totem Mole calls over to her and tells her to go inside a tipi*. She does and talks to the woman inside, who knows about the voices that talk to her. She is interrupted by a man who wants to know why she was talking to his dead grandmother. This attracts the attention of Deanna Littlefoot, who is the tribal lawyer. Because of this and a former rivalry with Sharon at law school, she denies Mahandra’s application.

The Totem Mole tells Jaye just before they leave that she needs to “show him who’s special”, which she understands to refer to the grandson from earlier. She tries to convince him that he is the successor to his grandmother, who was the tribal seer. All the tests seem to fail, although Jaye helps him cheat so that he can say he has “the gift”.

Sharon feels dejected over losing the appeal for Mahandra’s application, and the Totem Mole tells Jaye to “comfort her”. As she does, her bracelet gets caught in Sharon’s hair. Later, Sharon and Deanna end up in the same sauna. After an argument, Sharon leaves and accidentally gets the bracelet caught in the door. Deanna is stuck inside, and due to heat and dehydration, she has a vision of Gentlefeather, the dead grandmother. This changes Deanna’s perception, and she begins to chart a new course for the Satsuma nation.

With this episode, we are back in full force to our Client story. It is a bit of a let down after the action-packed Cocktail Bunny. Here, we have Bill Hooten and his displacement from his tribe, and how he feels like he is a disappointment because he doesn’t have “the gift”. This parallels to Jaye because she does have “the gift” and feels like she doesn’t fit into her own social environment because of it. She does seem to be swayed by Bill’s assertion that she has a purpose, and having that is better than no purpose, although I’m not sure exactly what he said that changed her mind.

"That feather took a mean left turn."

“That feather took a mean left turn.”

Since the fallout with Eric, it’s obvious that it would be another episode of pining and heartbreak if it had taken place in Niagara, so to fit another episode in between this and the finale they needed to go to a new location. I’m just not sure it was needed. This is an example of a “filler” episode. All of the things that took place in this episode could have happened alongside a more compelling plot. Having Jaye not be able to actually talk to a seer about the voices and the implications of that really makes this episode feel like a waste of time.

I realize that I am being quite negative about this episode, but after the build-up that has been coming since Lovesick Ass, this is horribly disappointing. The dialogue and acting are fine, but this isn’t really a story that I can care about.

TRIVIA & REFERENCES:

  • In Muffin Buffalo, Mahandra says that she is 3% Seneca. The Satsuma nation does not exist.
  • Jaye references The Matrix when she says that Neo was just a geek until he swallowed the red pill, as she is trying to convince him to follow in his grandmother’s footsteps.

*I looked this up, according to wikipedia this is the accurate spelling.

June 13, 2013 The Healing Power of Gaming

When game designer Jane McGonigal found herself bedridden and suicidal following a severe concussion, she had a fascinating idea for how to get better. She dove into the scientific research and created the healing game, SuperBetter. In this moving talk, McGonigal explains how a game can boost resilience — and promises to add 7.5 minutes to your life.

I haven’t seen many TED Talks, probably fewer than five, but that description on this one got me all intrigued. Normally if a video on the Internet is longer than  three minutes  it’s too long (and this from a guy who has held several 12+ hour-long movie marathons), but I gave this one a chance and I’m glad I did. For what it’s worth, she promises you in the talk that she’s giving you 7.6 minutes of life, so the 19.5 minute runtime only leaves you negative 11.9 minutes.

I can’t sit here and say “Man, she’s right on, this is the best thing that’s ever happened” but I can say two things:

  1. It helped her and that’s awesome. It also seems to be helping other people, and that’s pretty cool, too.
  2. I am completely intrigued by the idea of applying game theory to real life.

So, achievements, right? In the gaming world they are kind of a boiled-down version of rewards you get in real life – in the game you get 20 points for killing 500 aliens, but in real life you get a raise for completing X number of assignments well.  That’s simplifying things, but it’s kind of the same deal. A lot of real life rewards are intangible – a good feeling, a slightly stronger friendship, not tiring out as quickly – and I can’t help but wonder if a visible/tangible reward or notification might not help. The lightshow and sound you get when leveling up in World of Warcraft elicits praise from anyone around you and also a little quickening of your own pace.

I know there have been apps and games that have tried to apply some of those ideas to real life (Chore Wars, for example), but they’re not automatic so it doesn’t feel the same. And, yes, I realize there isn’t a way to really make them automatic just yet, and no, I’m not necessarily sure it’d be a good thing, anyway. Reducing life to a series of tasks might replace joy with a sense of accomplishment, which works for some people, but not all of us. I think I just wonder if somehow having the option would be fun.

Mostly I just wanted to share that video with you. I don’t have answers on game theory applied to life, but it si certainly something that intrigues me.

 

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June 12, 2013 I Feel Ridiculous: Xbox One Edition

You put the bumper sticker on your car, the signs out in your yard, and you wore the T-shirts. You hooted and hollered and argued and bragged and discussed and debated and got all fired up. Then your your guy lost the election, or your team lost the big game. You still think you made the right choice, but either not enough other people agreed with you or you were just flat-out wrong. It doesn’t mean you’re sorry you made those choices, but it does put you in a melancholy mood and you don’t want to talk to anyone about it, especially not anyone from the other side of the issue, because they’re the worst gloating jerks in the history of everything. The stupid thing is you know it’s ridiculous to feel that way because it doesn’t matter. How often do politicians make positive changes?  Who even remembers who won Super Bowl XIII? (I know you do, sports guy, but most people don’t. Smart aleck.)

It’s just… your team lost. By extension, you lost. People mocking your team are mocking you – all the bad stuff your side is accused of is stuff you’re accused of.

All of this is to say I am really, really bummed by E3 right now.  I have put all of my gaming eggs in the Microsoft basket for a long time now (almost ten years!). I mean, sure, I have other consoles, but the Xbox is my main dude. I have been really enjoying where the 360 has been for a while now: I love the “Metro” dashboard, I enjoy the available games, I’ve invested a lot in my Gamerscore (currently 74,592), and the controllers are my second-favorite of all time. Conversely, I use my PS3 mostly as a media device, and really, really dislike the PS controllers (seriously: if someone made a way for me to use Xbox controllers on a PS3, I’d probably play a whole bunch of games on it). So what I’m saying is: I’m an Xbox guy.

Which is why I’m sad now. Like, actually sad, which I know is ridiculous! I went into this planning to get the next Xbox, excited to see where they were going to go from the excellent setup of the 360. Instead, Microsoft is doing everything they possibly can to keep me from doing it:

  • more expensive for lesser hardware
  • inability to loan or rent games
  • no real ownership anyway because if you can’t connect to the Internet every 24 hours you can’t play your game.

We just talked about this, right? “If you don’t like it, don’t get it.” Well, sir, I don’t like it. Realistically, the inability to buy used games or borrow from a friend takes me from being a 20-30 games a year player to a 4-5 games a year player. So, while I am an “Xbox guy,” I’m really a “gamer guy,” and all the brand loyalty in the world doesn’t make that stat any better. If I want to play more games, I will need to get a PS4. And use that controller I despise.

I get that not allowing used games is theoretically better for publishers, who do not see any money off used games – unless, of course, said buyer likes the game so much that he buys all the available DLC for it. Oh, and gets hooked on the series so he does buy new versions of future games in the series. And then there’s the supply and demand side of things: if more people buy a PS4 because the system is cheaper and you can borrow/rent games, then the publishers of Xbox games will see less overall money because the install base is smaller.

So, yes, I’m sad. And, yes, I feel ridiculous about being sad because it is such a silly thing to be sad about. But I’m also future-sad because the best solution is the same solution there has always been in every generation of the console wars: get both systems. The future sadness is because that’s a lot of money and a lot of convincing my wife that it’s money well spent, something I don’t even know for sure myself.

I know just enough about Game of Thrones to know this is a pretty good summation

I know just enough about Game of Thrones to know this is a pretty good summation