Sometimes, just staying up late and browsing the Internet can bring a few jewels to the surface, such as the below-embedded parody--hilarious, superbly-done, and not safe for work.
Similarly, see the below Mac vs PC parody: Wii vs PS3.
This is just something I happened to run across while trying to find references for the post on jazz. It made me laugh, so I thought I'd share it.
Moreso over the past few months than ever before have I realized how much I adore jazz, swing, blues, and classical musicals. This adoration has led me to various projects (which I will discuss later), as well as to join the local jazz band at my university. Now, unfortunately, my band program while in High School was less than spectacular, and as a result I never managed to fully learn my chords, nor how to read notes or recognize pitches. Therefore, I ended up playing third trumpet.
The concert went quite well. I didn't make any big mistakes, thankfully, and I believe the audience enjoyed our performance. The below is NOT our band, but it is the same arrangement of one of my favorite songs we played: The Children of Sanchez by Chuck Mangione (alternate version), written for the movie of the same name.
In addition, I adore many songs of the late 30s to early 60s, which I personally consider to be the "golden age" of American culture. Amongst my favorite artists are those of the songs used by the Fallout series, including Louie Armstrong (A Kiss to Build a Dream On) and The Ink Spots (I Don't Want to Set the World On Fire). Oh, and, of course, Judy Garland (The Trolley Song). Note that with the linked-to songs, it's not the visuals that are important, but the music.
Of course, Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals (particularly the later movie renditions thereof) also hold a special place in my heart. The great music is nearly endless, one of my favorites being "My Favorite Things", sung by Julie Andrews.
A couple more songs from The Sound of Music:
Edelweiss
The Lonely Goatherd
(Not embedded because it is hosted by morons, seeing as how it will auto-play without a feature to not do so. Click here to view.)
Note: I couldn't believe how difficult it was to get actual footage of the Lonely Goatherd song from the movie. All I could find was a bunch of people filming themselves singing it, or a dubbed-over version. I don't have a problem with creativity with music, but I should never have to search for fifteen full minutes to find original footage for something as big as the Sound of Music. There's such a thing as too much user-created content when you can't find quality amongst the bogged-down rubbish and parodies.
Apparently I haven't been paying enough attention, because the announcement of Deux Ex 3's release completely slipped by me. Now, I adore the original Deus Ex, and even liked Invisible War, even though it was nothing as good as the first (just like how Thief: Deadly Shadows was nothing as good as the first two--just some examples of how improving the graphics can be a bad thing). Now, personally, I also rather enjoyed Bioshock, though I understand a lot of the complaints of it being nothing like System Shock 2 and instead more like Half Life 2 (which I also liked).
Anyway, the point is that I hope they try for something a bit more like the original, as opposed to the second (basically, less action, more story). It has been awhile since I played either game, but I recall enough to say that I enjoyed the augmentation system of Deus Ex far more than the system of Deus Ex 2. Why? Because it makes your character seem more special, while in the sequel, everyone and their dog is augmented (it smacks of Bioshock's blissful use of plasmids). Perhaps even worse is their attempts to force old characters into the sequel, especially considering that one could choose the ending of the first game (see the potential--and awesome--endings for deus ex below).
What's the only worse thing than a sequel in which the beginning is based off of an assumed ending for the prior game (Fallout and Half Life excluded)? Why, a prequel where, regardless of what choices you may have, you already know how it will all turn out. It has not been officially claimed to be a prequel as of yet, but as those of this forum would point out, there are a few suggestions of such in the (in my opinion, poor) trailer.
Basically, I just hope that it doesn't discredit a beloved game, as so many new games, especially sequels, do.
I could go on a tangent about Bioshock, Deus Ex, etc., but I think I will save them for their own episodes of Walk Down Memory Lane, as I should have for Portal.
I love Portal. No, I simply adore it. A simple game, perhaps. A short game, yes. A great game, without a doubt! Since I haven't posted in quite some time, I guess I'll have to do a compendium of all my favorite Portal resources on this single posting. Shipped in the Orange Box, it expertly keeps up Valve's high quality gameplay (as Zero Punctuation, a hilarious and fascinating find of mine, notes below).
The basic idea of Portal is you are a test subject for Aperture Science, a stereotypical high-tech company that is developing technology that allows one to create two portals that interconnect space regardless of the distance these portals are from one another. It is a genius twisting of physics, and is made even better by the clever storyline. Based off the Half-Life universe, it is amazing how much plot is jammed into just a little bit of dialog and occasional hints. Overall, complete genius.
Now you may find some spoilers below, so beware:
I found the ending song to be as satisfying as the story itself, and yet another credit to the amazing game. You can see the ending screen below. Another version is available here, expertly animated by Scott from VG Cats.
The game itself is based on the freeware game Narbacular Drop (download), which I had, around the release of Half-Life 2, played. It is certainly a clever concept from the start, but Valve takes it to a whole new level. In a way, Valve has taken advantage of my natural affinity for all things AI with their use of GLaDOS, who is just a downright amusing and lovable character (as are the turrets), and, of course, the companion cube.
On a final note, I just received the t-shirt from VG Cats with companion cube and Portal catch-phrase today. I cannot wait to wear it around campus and see what reactions I get!
Nic Says: |
|||
