I’ve pretty much already written about this, but after seeing Gamespot’s report about Rock Band’s downloadable content, I’m not sure if practical jokes aren’t part of Harmonix’s business plan.

Yeah, those are worthy songs, particularly the Metallica and Black Sabbath ones. I think they could call the Dec. 18 pack the “navel-gazers,” but that might give people the wrong idea. That’s not what I’m talking about.

Look at the Police pack, which is already out.

Look at the third song.

Motherfucking “Roxanne.”

Yeah, I know part of the appeal of this game overlaps with the desire to sing along at concerts and possibly even karaoke, and maybe bring your buddy’s girl/guy-friend in on the mic because s/he might not be able to play the toy guitar or drums. But does no one remember the “Elevator Fans” skit on Saturday Night Live with Sting, Kevin Nealon and Dana Carvey? I’m linking the script because I couldn’t find a video of it as an example of what I’m talking about.

I won’t say “thankfully,” but four Rock Band fans have already produced an example of what I was talking about. And like Yahtzee and Halo 3, I want everyone to know that I fucking called it.

I might have just ruined someone’s day.

Continue reading Black Friday…

OK, so I try not to have a hangup about the comments I don’t get on most of my posts here, but why the hell is it that this year-old post with the first of Warren Ellis’ Reuters-commissioned columns about the wretchedness of Second Life is still getting replies?

Is that post linked from some other site? It’s not like I wrote the column, I just linked to it. Is it still important enough to people that they reiterate that it Second Life, despite its innovative approach to letting otherwise normal people revel in their perversion and obsessive button-mashers pretend to be creative geniuses, probably sucks just as much as it ever did?

Do I need to admit to the world that I’ve never actually used (”played” is probably the wrong word) Second Life?

I’m not mad, I just think it’s weird.

If anyone didn’t see last night’s Simpsons episode with Alan Moore, Art Spiegelman and Dan Clowes, you missed a great one-third of an episode. Thankfully, I took pictures.

Consider, however, that Moore did his voiceover almost a year ago, which means he did it before this Robert Anton Wilson reading, which he did in March. Warning: About as appropriate for work as Lost Girls is for real children.

Docubloggers is one of several projects by KLRU-TV, Austin’s PBS station, also home to Austin City Limits (the TV series, not the outdoor concert.) They just got around to posting their report on the UT Videogame Archive and the fundraiser at Richard Garriott’s house from back in September.

Wheels are indeed turning, as Uncle Warren stated. My brother, who just happens to be a library scientist, pointed out that they’re already hiring for a librarian/archivist position, though it’s only part time at present. It’ll probably be years before they find a proper physical place to put it all, much less make it available to students or the public in any usable fashion.

Bit by bit.

Edit: Here’s a new interview with Brenda Gunn of UT about the archive.

I got the attention of one of the local game company human-resources managers from the event tonight. I’d asked the panel of five HR people to think of some favorite applicant of theirs, and maybe recall what that person said or did so members of the audience could rip off some ideas.

They weren’t ready for the question. Most of them instead deferred to horror stories about people who didn’t bathe or showed up two hours late or spread out all their papers in the lobby to furiously assemble a portfolio before the interview or didn’t know how to spell the company’s name.

I understood. Hell, most game industry panelists get geared up to show their war scars and beg their audience not to be like what seem to be at least half of the applicants for any game industry job out there, which is to say, don’t be a complete and utter jerkoff.

I caught a few of them afterward to apologize for catching them cold with such a question. She waved it off, adding, “With your personality, you should have no trouble getting a job in the game industry.”

I did bathe this morning. Beyond that, I dunno.

Back from San Antonio. Came back via Fredericksburg, and the Adm. Nimitz/National Museum of the Pacific War. Photos here, but I need to reorganize and give them captions, yet. Most of them are of my mom and dad, or rather their backs.

Oh, and the Fredericksburg Brewing Co. is excellent. Das bier isch gut.
I’ll probably go to the event tomorrow. I won’t be hard to find in the crowd. I never am.

If there’s a good steak restaurant in Texas, I haven’t found it. Granted, I haven’t looked beyond chain restaurants, and Texas Land & Cattle definitely is one. The one on the San Antonio Riverwalk has decent broiled shrimp, but the margaritas are nothing special, and the steak was weak.

My parents and I are having a fine time otherwise. More later.

Parents are coming to visit me as an excuse to go to San Antonio. Or the other way around.

When I get back on Monday, I’ll have almost an entire week free. Vacation time to burn.

I’ll need to think about what to do with myself. I have some ideas.