Sdtrk: ‘Past majesty’ by Demdike stare

People love that 2048! Well, I’m assuming that people love 2048. Then again, I normally assume people even know what I’m on about, and if they don’t, that’s par for the course…
2048 is a game I just recently discovered that involves sliding tiles, each of which is numbered sequentially starting from 2. Using your arrow keys, you match up the tiles until you have gained satisfaction, or run out of moves. I’m led to believe that 2048 is based off the iOS game 1024. In any case, both of them involve math, so I can’t be bothered.
Internet online website usvsth3m, a spinoff of the amusing b3ta.com, developed a version of 2048 which uses picture tiles instead on numerical ones, for those of us who equate the use of numbers to witchcraft. The game is Flash-based, so you can make your own version! And so I have, and it’s exactly what you’d expect.

So which one of them is Ann B. Davis?

Click here for non-stop image-related excitement: 2048: Super Synthetik Girls Edition by Davecat. Why not play a couple of rounds while awaiting your bus, your date, or the grave??
As it uses the guest Gravatars on this blog, it just reminds me that a lot of those are old pics, and I really could stand to make some new ones. But that reeks of effort!

In other, more horn-trumpeting news, back in February, I was contacted by Dr Bertalan Meskó, medical doctor and medical futurist, concerning getting my thoughts on how humanoid robots will effect social change. He’d fired a few questions at me, and my responses ended up in his latest book, ‘The Guide to the Future of Medicine: Technology AND The Human Touch’. I’m really glad he’d asked! Apart from robots, his book also spans emerging trends such as stem cells, cryonics, prosthetic limbs, and more as well — in short, the future of medicine. You can order a physical copy for yourself, or a digimal version for your hoity-toity Kindle, here on Amazon.

And this very week-end, the Missus, our mistress, our flatmate, and I will have another film crew observing us in our natural habitat. This film crew is headed by another doctor, one who paints in her spare time, and she wants to get my insights as far as how recent technological advances are influencing our relationships and interactions. As she doesn’t seem like a pop psychologist — ‘Dr’ Phil, I’m squinting in your general direction — I’m looking forward to speaking about how being an iDollator has changed my life for the better, and how having a Gynoid, an Android, or a Doll as a partner can do the same for thousands of individuals. Also, it’s a much nicer change of having a camera crew come round when it’s not boiling Summertime, but then, everything’s better when it’s not boiling Summertime. Fact.

O, and expect a couple of new Synthetiks-related news posts relatively soon, as just recently, there’s been a handful of noteworthy things worth writing notes posts about

Sdtrk: ‘Man cannot flatter Fate’ by NON

It’s been a great while since I’ve 1) done one of those crazy online test things, and 2) shared the results with you. No time like the present! Here’s my results for a Jungian personality test:

Only 11.6 per cent of the population? That’s an injustice; there should be more of us ISTJs larking about. Well, loping about.

While we’re here, why not gaze upon some portraits I’d made of the staff of Deafening silence Plus, in keeping with the whole Internet theme?

This was done via the Square Face Generator that was popular for a couple of months until the general public moved on to something else. That squarish thing over my right eye is a Google Glass, incidentally. Wishful thinking?
And this is nearly the same as above, but in an arguably more realistic style:

That was slapped together using imadeface Artoon, the Droid version of the infamous iMadeFace app that lets you create portraits that lie somewhere between Roy Lichtenstein and Julian Opie. Lenka came out the best, as she actually looks vacant and rubbery, Shi-chan has her glasses but is missing her beauty mark, and I look like Trent goddamned Reznor. Hrrm.

Here’s some fan art by a lass on Twitter who goes by the name ‘Potassium’. which means she’s an alkali metal with the atomic number of 19, and she oxidises rapidly in air. We all have our problems!

Modest to a fault, she dismisses it as a quick sketch. Talented much? It’s based off this photo, and I find it a wee bit funny that the way she drew Shi-chan, it kinda looks like she’s holding my head instead of Maidlee’s. Salome much?

And the other test would be a Dante’s Inferno-based affair, which is a sordid reminder that it’s been years since I read my copy:

It’s important to remember that the city of Dis was built on rock ‘n’ roll. And yes; puns such as that are the true reason I’ll be banished to eternal hellfire

Sdtrk: ‘Did you ever have that feeling?’ by Research Laboratory of Electronic Progress

By my own admission, I’m jumping on this whole Scott Pilgrim bandwagon rather late. Up until maybe last year, I’d never known anything really about the comic, apart from the fact that it takes place mostly in Toronto (my favourite city in the world), and that it contains a fair amount of references to both indie rock and 8-bit videogame cultures. Then the first trailer for the film adaptation came out, which, as I’m sure you’ve seen, is pretty damn impressive. Then goshou lent me the first volume of the comic, written and drawn by Bryan Lee O’Malley, and considering that I read it from cover to cover non-stop, I’d have to say I was hooked. As it’s in the vein of one of my favourite indie comic series, Chynna Clugston’s Blue Monday — detailing interpersonal relationships amongst a group of individuals that came to an awkward, stunted maturity during the genuinely alternative days of the early Nineties — it resonated with me quite soundly.
Despite the fact that Michael ‘Playing The Same Character In Every Film I’m In, Baby’ Cera is portraying Scott, it looks like it’s going to be a fun little ride. And it’s directed by Edgar Wright, the bloke behind ‘Shaun of the dead’? Well, more than likely it won’t be a shambling pile of rubbish, then!

Recently the Missus and I took some time to make Scott Pilgrim versions of ourselves! Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the two latest members of Sex Bob-omb: Davecat and Sidore Kuroneko.

click here and here for full-sized epicness

Tell us those aren’t our dead spits! I didn’t think you could. And when you’re done downloading those, why not make your own here?
Now if you’ll excuse us, we have to practise our fighting / singing chops, respectively

Sdtrk: ‘Dial-a-cliche’ by Morrissey

Once again, 19 July is upon us, which means not only is it another anniversary of this rambling wreck of a weblog, but it’s actually the fifth anniversary of ‘Shouting to hear the echoes’! That’s right. I didn’t expect it to go for a full year, much less five! Sometimes I get the impression that it’s not so much a case of that ‘it’s built up so much momentum, that it’d be extremely difficult to stop at this point’, but more like ‘it’s still going, but at points, it’s being ghost-ridden’.
I should point out that’s ghost-ridden, not ghost-written. Who else would intentionally want to write like this, about subjects like this?? I suppose I’ve found my niche!…

As I’m sure regular readers recall from previous anniversary posts, ‘Shouting etc etc’ was started back on Blogger in 2004, and transplanted to WordPress in 2006. After reuniting with Patrick, a mate of mine, he suggested that I start a blog, as the reason he started one was to keep family and friends apprised of what he’s up to, instead of having to send x number of Emails to x number of people. So I did! (Incidentally, he stopped updating his round 2007. What does that say?)
If, for some masochistic reason, you’re curious as to what the previous years’ entries were, you can now find them located under the appropriately-named ‘Annual rubbish avalanche’ category, found where the categories usually hang out.

And now, this year’s post: 100 80 THINGS I’D LIKE TO SEE AND/OR DO BEFORE ENTROPY TAKES OVER, aka, the Bucket List. Definitely not in order; airlifted from seeginablog.com. And you really don’t want to know how long it took me to compile and write this (hint: Months).

01. Visit the Tupperware Museum, Orlando, Florida
No, I’m serious. The Kitsch Value of a visit such as that cannot be denied. When you close the front door, does the building burp to seal in freshness?

02. Drive Sidore-chan and myself round in a Fiat 500, a pre-BMW Mini Cooper, or a Karmann Ghia
We’d probably have to dress in the height of Sixties Mod fashion to tie the whole experience together, but wouldn’t that be fab?? Answer: Yes

03. Ride a Vespa or a Lambretta
Having the Missus with me on a scooter would also be ace, but riding around would be near-logistically impossible, for obvious reasons

04. Visit Oscar Wilde’s grave, Paris, France
Well, this one’s a given. And hey, Reading Gaol is still in use!

05. Visit Ian Curtis’ grave, Macclesfield, England
Although I recently read some cunts stole his headstone — hopefully that’ll have been found and replaced long before I’ll get to see it

Click here for the rest of the post, bunky »

Sdtrk: ‘Farmland, freeland’ by The Advisory Circle

Yes, another meme (pronounced ‘meh-meh’), courtesy of Veach (pronounced ‘vee-ack’): in no particular order, twenty albums that warped me into the tosser I am today. Ready GO!

+ My bloody valentine Loveless

+ The Human League Dare!

+ The Smiths The Queen is dead

+ New order Power, corruption & lies

+ The Velvet underground and Nico s/t

+ Echo and the Bunnymen Porcupine

+ The Cure Standing on a beach: the singles

+ Joy division Substance

+ David Bowie Changesonebowie

+ Sex pistols Never mind the bollocks

+ Throbbing gristle D.O.A

+ Laibach Macbeth

+ Stereolab Transient random-noise bursts with announcements

+ Broadcast Work and non work

+ Merzbow Great American Nude/Crash for hi-fi

+ NON Easy listening for iron youth

+ the soundtrack to ‘A clockwork orange’

+ The Jesus and Mary chain Psychocandy

+ Pulp Different class

+ France Gall Greatest hits

Granted, my choices for the Cure, Joy division, Bowie, Broadcast, NON, and F.Gall were compilations (o, the shame!), but those were the first releases by those artists that I’d bought, which subsequently hooked me and reeled me in, so I’d consider them to be just as significant in my personal history as the actual albums that the other artists on my list put out. Usually I’m a music snob about compilations — are they albums? No, not really — but I can’t apply that sort of thinking here.

As always, the Marquess of Queensbury Meme Rules apply: I don’t infect people with these, so if you’re keen on it, you’ll have to infect yourself by leaving a comment in the usual area. But then, with the exception of Quentin Crisp, who doesn’t like music?

Sdtrk: ‘Cavalcade’ by Extraperlo

This one was nicked from Veach, of s n a p p e r h e a d Estates. It’s interesting, meme research & development, as they have to try to put new (or at least, slightly new) spins on old ideas. I thought the one with the three-word answers was unique/difficult, but after one like this that requires single-word answers, where does one go? Numerical answers? Punctuation? Creative use of negative space?

1. Where is your cell phone?
There

2. Your significant other?
Silicone

3. Your hair?
Dry

4. Your mother?
Improving

5. Your father?
Repetitive

6. Your favorite thing?
Sleep

7. Your dream last night?
Brief!

8. Your favorite drink?
Dr pepper

9. Your dream/goal?
Wealth

10. What Room are you in?
Livingroom

11. Your hobby?
Retro-futurism

12. Your fear?
People?

13. Where do you want to be in 6 years?
Toronto

14. Where were you last night?
Workin’

15. Something you are not?
Prompt

16. Breakfast?
Pizza-based

17. Wish list item?
TARDIS

18. Where you grew up?
Detroit

19. Last thing you ate?
Breakfast

20. What are you wearing?
Jimjams

21. Your TV?
Adequate

22. Your pets?
Nonexistent

23. Friends?
Goofy

24. Your life?
Unfulfilled

25. Your mood?
Placid

26. Missing someone?
Yes

27. Your car?
Toyota

28. Something you’re not wearing?
Hoodie

29. Your favorite store?
Amazon.com

30. Your favorite color?
#333333

31. When is the last time you laughed?
Yesterday

32. Last time you cried?
Semi-recently

33. Who will resend this?
Hrmm…

34. One place that I go to over and over?
Home!

35. One person who emails me regularly:
Regularly?

36. Favorite place to eat:
Billy’s

37. One place I would like to go right now?
Manchester

38. One person I think will respond:
Laura

39. One TV show I watch all the time:
Doctor Who

If anyone wants to be tagged, do leave a comment in the appropriate area! People seem to hate these things, so come get it if you want it…

Sdtrk: ‘Beechwood park’ by the Zombies

You Scored an A

You got 10/10 questions correct. It’s pretty obvious that you don’t make basic grammatical errors. If anything, you’re annoyed when people make simple mistakes on their blogs. As far as people with bad grammar go, you know they’re only human. And it’s humanity and its current condition that truly disturb you sometimes.

Gotta love that last line — I agree with it 100%, but it’s almost completely non sequitur. What, did Light Yagami write that bit? Or Ragnar Redbeard?
Couple the results of this test, with the results of this one taken aeons ago, and these should be sufficient enough to nab me a proofreading job, as far as I’m concerned. Remember, potential employers: you could do worse