Fusing Materialism with Esoterica
typed for your pleasure on 4 September 2007, at 12.30 amSdtrk: ‘Inner mind mystique 7’ by Masonna
Who likes Stuff? You like Stuff. Yes, you do. Here’s some Stuff that I like, that I think you’ll like too, if you think like I think.
+ Remember back in the days when you could easily tell the difference between house, acid, techno, rap, hip-hop, et al? Those were great days, but they’re long gone; now you need a scorecard to keep track of all the hybrids and mutations of the differing genres and offshoots of electronic music. Ishkur’s Guide to Electronic Music would be that scorecard. Between the various irreverent-yet-detailed descriptions and helpful samples, you’ll kill an hour there, guaranteed
+ These are Items Essential for Living, as seen on Wired’s website:
Left, an LED alarm clock that looks like a telly from the Seventies, and right, a reproduction in miniature of a late Shōwa-era Japanese livingroom, with A/V inputs for the functioning television. MUST HAVE BOTH NOW
+ I’ve never seen more than like half an hour of LOST, but I have friends that are addicted to that show. Recently, they told me about a new theatrical release in production by that show’s co-creator, J.J Abrams. By this point, I’m sure a lot of you know what I’m speaking of: the upcoming film referred to as either ’01-18-08′ or ‘Cloverfield’. If you’ve not seen the trailer yet, cast your gaze here, cos it’s kinda enticingly freakish in that whole post-Blair Witch-pseudo-reality context. It’ll be interesting to see if my own interest is maintained between now and when it comes out next year
+ As it is, I own a passel of videogames for my PS2, and a handful for my XBOXEN, so I really don’t see the need of picking up a PS3 (too feckin’ expensive) or an XBOX 360 (not inexpensive enough) in the near-future. However, I might rescind that statement — at least as far as the XBOLLOX 360 — cos I’ve just seen trailers for Bioshock, and it is, in the parlance of our times, gripping my shit. An intelligent first-person shooter that manifests a sense of immediate terror in a retro-apocalyptic landscape, where you have the ability to set people on fire or launch insects out of your forearms through the use of hazardous on-the-fly drug enhancements?? Sign me up! My gods, have you seen the trailers? I swear, between Bioshock and Dynasty warriors: Gundam, that XSLAB 360’s lookin’ kinda good…
(aside to PB Shelley: do you have enough Plasmids?)
+ Thanks to Bandai Visual, the DVD imprint that’s known for their pricey-but-well-done releases, such as the very fab Gunbuster boxset, now I can look forward to buying a crystal-clear copy of one of my top three favourite anime films of all time: ‘Wings of Honneamise‘, which is due out in September. Only thing is, Bandai is forcing people to purchase the regular DVD with either an additional HD-DVD or Blu-ray disk along with it (or, if you’re an A/V elitist, forcing you to buy a mere bog-standard DVD with your HD-DVD or Blu-ray disk). I suppose not just including a book with the regular DVD — like what you’d done with the Patlabor films — wasn’t good enough, eh? Ah well, as long as I have my Honneamise, I’ll be happy
+ It’s a tiny house!
The micro compact home [m-ch] is a lightweight, modular and mobile minimal dwelling for one or two people. Its compact dimensions of 2.6m cube adapt it to a variety of sites and circumstances, and its functioning spaces of sleeping, working – dining, cooking, and hygiene make it suitable for everyday use.
Under normal circumstances, I’m not too keen on studio apartments, as usually they’re slightly larger than a shoebox, but I think the space-age austerity of the micro compact home would make it quite appealing. It’s a bit like a more permanent version of the Hotel Everland, now that I think about it… [m-ch] actually contains two levels, if you can believe that, and can accomodate about six or seven of your closest mates. At the very least, if you weren’t close before, you will be in short order
+ Finally, for years, I’ve wondered, and still wonder, why as super-hygenic as the American populace claims to be, the whole concept of the bidet confuses and frightens most people. It’s a good idea. I suppose you could chalk it up to the expenditure of having to make bathrooms slightly larger to accomodate both a toilet and a bidet, but concessions could be made. Other countries don’t have to worry about that shit (pun), as Japanese bog manufacturer TOTO has been exporting fancy high-tech bogs for years; the Washlet is a product that’s like a bidet, yet fits over your existing toilet like a big seat. Lovely! I don’t mind saying: I would love to own one of those bad boys
ta very much to Dave Z and Derek for some of the links
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September 4th, 2007 at 2.34 pm
“A/V inputs for the functioning television.”
No WAAAY!!! I wanna try and play a video game on that TV.
About Bioshock: lots of Ayne Rand references to catch as well. Lots of fun!
September 4th, 2007 at 7.23 pm
If I had that livingroom, I’d hook my DVD player up to it, and watch my copy of Wings of Honneamise. Or perhaps play Bioshock.
Yeah, I’d heard about the Ayn Rand references. But I still want to play it, anyway. 🙂 The name of Rapture’s founder is an homage to Rand (‘Andrew Ryan’), for one.
September 5th, 2007 at 12.00 am
Bioshock = one amazing game! I finished it over the weekend and had to force myself not to jump right back in again. Otherwise I’d lose ANOTHER week to it!
The story is complex, very very twisty, and moving if you decide to release rather than harvest the Little Sisters. The Big Daddies on the other hand… if you’ve a good sound system (I’ve a 7.1 surround setup) their thundering feet will really shake you up as they pursue you, VERY nimbly. And mercilessly, did I mention?
I kept my supply of plasmids high and only purchased new powers when I had to. My fave I think is “Hypnotize Big Daddy” through which you cause one of them to accompany and defend you for several minutes. Another handy one called “Enrage” lets you target say, one of three baddies waiting for you far ahead. The “victim” then starts firing on his buddies who of course become unhappy with him, and soon enough there’s a royal donnybrook going on, which you’re free to watch and snap piccys. You’re also free to get shot at if too close, so be cautious. ALWAYS be cautious in this game!
And yes, you got that right; you get a camera to use with the film scattered about 😛 (You don’t keep the pics; they act as “research” so you can become stronger against the subjects.)
THEN you waltz in with your Daddy and just plink one of the bad guys with one little bullet, and the BD goes berserk and shoots him, and the rest, aaaaallll up *shudder*
Even more fun is plinking another Big Daddy and having your hypnotized buddy and him go toe to toe. Talk about a show LOL
Once a BD is down, then you can attend to the Little Sister, who will be found weeping over her companion’s smoldering corpse. Poor little creature *snif!*
The choice you have is either liberate the Little Sisters, or harvest them for their Adam. I couldn’t bring myself to harvest any, because their story is so sad that foisting any further suffering upon them would have been too much unlike how I like to play (i.e. not a complete utter heartless bastard; there’s already plenty enough of them around both in the game and the real world).
I like to roleplay, and bad guys suck, so I preferred the good route, even though through the Randian elements they state that since the Sisters can’t feel pain (or somesuch) that it’s okay to harvest them. Bullshit. The animation for saving them was sad enough; I can’t imagine what harvesting might do. I need to live with my conscience LOL
But I’m sure there are those who will gleefully harvest them for as much Adam (through which plasmids are acquired) as they can. Me, I got through fine with what I received, which is about half of what I’d get for harvesting. I didn’t get several of the advanced powers as a result, but I made do with the ones I had, determined not to lower myself due to greed.
And the environment! :-O Don’t play this game without access to a bathroom, because there is water water everywhere. Just amazing…
All in all, very satisfied. Don’t listen to the whiners either; they’re idiots. Fantastic game!
😀
September 5th, 2007 at 4.02 am
oh, my genre of music (or should i say miss hyde and something different’s? Alter egos are confussing now i know how david bowie felt) is very simple to remember. alternative indie punk rock sub-emo with a dash of angst. see simple 🙂
September 16th, 2007 at 5.46 pm
Miss Hyde –
Noted! *scribbles it down*
PBS and les poupées érotiques –
Wow, thanks for the in-depth Bioshock review! You are making me want an XBOT 360. You are a Bad Man. 🙂
They say if you play Bioshock straight through, it’s like five and a half hours. But since the environment is so rich and detailed, as well as brimful of multiple decisions and choices you can make, you might well be looking at a couple of days’ worth of playtime. Not that that’s a bad thing! Unless you perhaps have a pet, or a baby, that needs feeding. So get rid of your pet baby, you’ve got ADAM to score!