Among many others, one thing that sets the Xbox 360 apart from other home entertainment consoles today is the Achievement system. For years past, we've been able to brag about our accomplishments in video games, but there really hasn't been any way to consistently prove this. Computers have screen recorders, but none are very reliable. You can record gaming footage from a console, but there's no way to prove you did it, as opposed to having downloaded that video from the Internet. With the Xbox 360, you have individual profiles; when you use it, you first sign into your profile (or use it as a guest), and your profile keeps all of your information separate from everybody else's, much like an account in Windows, Linux, or Mac OS X. Your profile has an avatar, improved upon but nonetheless based on the Mii on the Nintendo Wii, a 3D character of your own creation, which can be made to look sorta like you, or it can be something entirely different. Then you have your gamer picture, a square icon which predates the avatar, but is still used to represent you in a smaller capacity. After that, you have your gamer score.
Traditionally, and though there are exceptions, retail Xbox 360 games come with 1,000 gamerscore that you can "unlock" by doing certain things in the game. This 1,000 gamerscore can be divided up into 1-99 Achievements, set accomplishments which net a predetermined score. Xbox Live Arcade (XBLA) games come with 200 gamerscore and must have 12 achievements, no more, no less. Exceptions include a couple huge games which have 1,200 gamerscore, and the expansions to the Rock Band franchise (e.g. AC/DC Track Pack, Track Pack 2, Classic Rock Track Pack) only come with 200/12 as though they were XBLA titles. How a game gives gamerscore depends entirely upon what the developer of the game wanted to do with the feature. Most games will give you a substantial award for completing the main objective. Many will give awards for completing important milestones in the game. Most award you for winning online matches. Some give you tiny awards for losing, as a sort of consolation prize. Many award you for finding secrets or by doing something creatively. For example, in the beginning of Half-Life 2 (from the game The Orange Box), you have no weapons, and you're being escorted through security checkpoints. A black stormtrooper guy knocks a soda can off the rim of a trashcan and tells you to pick it up, and throw it away. This is part of the tutorial. However, if, instead of throwing it in the trashcan, you throw it at HIM, well, he comes after you with a cattle prod. If you can get around him and away from him, you get 5 points for "Defiance". Later, in the course of normal game events, you're given the character's trademark crowbar from the first Half-Life, and you receive an award for this landmark.
Achievements and their associated gamerscore awards have become a point of pride for many Xbox owners. My account currently has 2405. My wife's is around 1800, and her brother has close to 12,500. But that's chump change; some people have 25,000 or more. A quick Google search lead me to a YouTube video showing a gamerscore of 237,355, but it's implied that this was obtained through an exploit in the system. On a given day of Xbox Live gaming, you're likely to see scores in the 40,000 to 50,000 range from time to time, but those are rare. Gamers in the 20,000 range are more common. What my brother-in-law does to get his, besides actually being very good at the games he plays, is, he has that membership at Blockbuster where, for $22 a month, he can rent as many games as he wants for as long as he wants, but he can only have one out at a time. Like us, he owns Rock Band and a handful of other games he plays just for fun, but he gets new games, and he beats them, not for all 1,000 points they're worth, but just to the end of the main story. He has 55-60 games on his profile (it keeps track of every game you play, as well). So that would be 50,000 gamerscore if he'd gotten all 1,000 from each. So it got me wondering: Would Xbox 360 gamers play a game which could take gamerscore as well as give it? This got me thinking, and I came up with an idea:
An auto insurance company and a car company team up to make a realistic driving game focusing on safety. While this game would seem boring, they'd map an entire state (New York or maybe California) and you'd be able to drive anywhere. The game itself could give you missions to drive people around, kind of like a tame Grand Theft Auto. The game's initial appeal would be that a total of 2,500 gamerscore could be obtained by unlocking all 99 of its achievements. However, there's a catch - there are a total of 99 "red" achievements which total NEGATIVE 5,000 gamerscore. Speed through a small town 10 miles per hour and get docked 10 points. The game could feature local trouble, you'd have a chance of getting a ticket and your insurance rate going up, creating an additional challenge to overcome within the game. You wouldn't get docked 10 points the next time you went 10 over, because the achievement was already unlocked, the penalty already imposed, but you could still be punished in-game if you were caught. However, maybe you go 15 over, you get docked 25 points. And so on until every green (normal) and red achievement were unlocked.
If you really went for all achievements, you'd have 99 green ones and 99 red ones, and you'd have 2500 gamerscore less than when you played the game. But, having accomplished this, would you really consider yourself worse off? In other words, is it the number of the score, or is it the sum of the accomplishments of playing and completing the games?
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Jollys' Mix 2009, Disc 2
I actually finished up this mix a couple weeks ago, but I've been so busy listening to it lately that I never quite got the chance to write about it. As usual with the mixes, we have a mix of songs from the musical puzzle games Rock Band and Guitar Hero, songs from sports events, and songs on the radio, as well as a good genre mix: we have rap, we have metal (some really heavy stuff, too), glam, a cover of an 80s classic, and college rock.
Click the name of any song to view the video on YouTube. I tried to get the "official" video wherever possible, not one uploaded by "just anybody" so none of these should get taken down for copyright violations, since the copyright owners put them up. If I couldn't get the "official" video I just went with whatever I could get.
1. Let it Rock (Kevin Rudolf, Lil Wayne)
This was used this January by the WWE for this year's Royal Rumble, based around that big match where 30 guys try to toss one another over the ropes, last one standing gets a championship match at WrestleMania a few months later. (This year, the Rumble was more entertaining than Mania, but never mind that.) This song's fun to listen to, sort of a cross between rock and rap with dance elements. It sets the stage for the rest of the album. From the earliest "beta" of the album, with just five songs, it was always the first track.
2. Magnetic Baby (Semi Precious Weapons)
This glam-rock song is hard to listen to at first, but it's really good. This is one of the 20 free songs that comes via a code with Rock Band 2, and it's fun as hell to sing and play on bass. Yes, that's a dude singing, if you were curious, though I can see (hear) how it's hard to tell. I went from putting this song on the mix (and it was one of the original five as well) as a joke, figuring I'd drop it by the final build, but it grew on me and I had to keep it. I'm also more apt to pick it on Rock Band. Watch it played on Rock Band 2; bass is the left track.
3. I'm Gone, I'm Going (Lesley Roy)
Another of the "20 free" Rock Band 2 songs, and more of a surprise. Think Avril Lavigne, Kelly Clarkson, but heavier. There isn't enough chick rock in Rock Band, and this one is worth paying for (not that I'm complaining that I got it for free).
4. Lifeline (Papa Roach)
I love putting Papa Roach songs on these mixes. Their songs are just consistently good. Seems like there's two kinds of Papa Roach songs. There's the hard-hitting ones like "Last Resort" and "...To Be Loved", and then there's these solid, semi-inspirational songs like this and "Scars". I never thought I'd like another of their songs as much as "Scars", but this one's pretty damn good. And with "Last Resort" and one other (drawing a blank here), it's part of a 3-pack on Rock Band. (It's not "Time is Running Out"; that's been up there, was released before.)
5. Life is Beautiful (Sixx:A.M.)
My favorite song on the mix and current favorite song, period. It's from the album "The Heroin Diaries" based on Motley Crue's Nikki Sixx's beating his addiction to heroin. I got the album after hearing this song, expecting it to be like this song. It's not, this song is pretty unique to the album, but it's a great album nonetheless. I remember getting this song. We had just bought a $50 Xbox Live card and had a party, and we were passing the controller around the room, letting people pick songs, whether they were playing the game or not. We just wanted to get a lot of variety. Somebody picked this, said it was a good song. I didn't notice it for the longest time, then we just started playing it. (When you have 332 songs, it's easy for a couple to get lost in the shuffle.) It's not an easy song to play on bass, harder to sing, but I'm fine just listening to it. Good stuff.
6. Young (Hollywood Undead)
Hollywood Undead's debut album is called "Swan Songs", but this is the only song that qualifies. "Undead" is a cool song and "Everywhere I Go" is funny, but "Young" is the only one that is genuinely good. And it was one of the free 20 songs. Fun to sing, really fun to play on bass. A nightmare on guitar, since the guitarist gets stuck with the keyboards as well.
7. Careless Whisper (Seether)
Anyone who has lived through the 1980s probably knows this song, even if not by name, or who did it. I can almost guarantee if you're 25 or older, you've heard it. "I'm never gonna dance again, cuz guilty feet have got no rhythm, though it's easy to pretend, I know you're not a fool. I should have known better than to cheat a friend, and waste the chance that I've been given, so I'm never gonna dance again, the way I danced with you." Sound familiar now? Yeah. That one. Sorry for that reminder. The orignal performer was George Michael, by the way. Seether render a faithful cover that's amazing to hear the first few times, but after the novelty wears off, you may find yourself wishing you were listening to something else. Still, it's worth having on the mix. (And no! It's not on Rock Band! Though RB could use some Seether, but I'd prefer they do "Broken", their song with Amy Lee of Evanescence.)
No official video for this one, so rather, I linked to a live performance that can be viewed in HD. Enjoy!
8. I Don't Care (Fall Out Boy)
It's easy to make fun of Fall Out Boy, but this song's fun to listen to. Another song in Rock Band, boring as hell on bass. Haven't tried singing it yet, though I'd like to soon.
9. Something in Your Mouth (Nickelback)
Yep, he's talking about what you think he is. A little too crude for the quality of the song, but it's fun if you're in the mood. Sometimes I am, sometimes not.
10. Too Drunk (Buckcherry)
Now this is college humor rock done right. Catchy, quotable lyrics (though not in mixed company), a real fun song.
11. Scream (Avenged Sevenfold)
Pretty good hard rock song, supernatural themes, kind of reminds me of Godsmack.
12. Re-Education Through Labor (Rise Against)
Rise Against seem to be the new political-angst metal band, after System of a Down and Rage Against the Machine before them. Fans seem to agree this song is about China, though some say it's about their sweatshops, others say it's about their prisons. Either way, it's good.
13. Two Weeks (All That Remains)
I'll sing this song on Rock Band, but I won't mess with playing it on any instrument. Fast and heavy, but not as much as "This Calling", also in the game (and also fun to sing). Jen's current "favorite song ever", or at least that's the latest she's told me.
14. Dear Lucid, Our Time is Right Now (Evans Blue)
It'll be a while before I run out of Evans Blue songs for these mixes. They fired vocalist Kevin Matisyn, and they kinda blow now, but we got two great albums out of their doomed union. The exact meaning of this song is vague and evades me, but the lyrics sound powerful, and the instruments are. One of the songs I'd kill to play in Rock Band.
15. Becoming the Bull (Atreyu)
If you've heard the name of this metal band before but you can't place it, it's likely you've seen "The Neverending Story" when you were a kid. He's the Indian teenager with the horse. You wouldn't expect a metal band to be named after a character in a kids' movie (ten years from now there'll be a band called "Harry Potter" - mark my words). This song is fun to listen to, though, and heavy enough.
16. Burn You Down (Opiate for the Masses)
The last of the Rock Band songs on the album, this also comes from the free 20. Toss-up between this and "Young" for the best, but like the last five songs, it's heavier. Doesn't really sound like it at first, but the chorus is a beast. Not as easy to sing as I'd like, and the bass is just how you'd expect. Boring during the verses and hard, though not too tricky during the chorus. And here's that bass track, you can see what I mean.
17. Dead Memories (Slipknot)
Ever since Stone Sour, the horrible secret has gotten out that Corey Taylor can actually sing, but in my opinion, Slipknot's only gotten better since. They're not as heavy, not quite as scary as the nine masked men who came out in the late 90s, but they make some good music. Not quite as heavy as "Psychosocial" from the last mix, this one's alright though.
18. Helden (Apocalyptica with Till Lindemann)
I have no idea what "Helden" means, or anything else Till Lindemann says in this song. It's all in German, so it sounds cool. Well, except "ja", that means "yeah" or "yes". And "Ich" (sounds like "ish"), which means "I" or "me". So I know a couple words in German. But I got no idea what he's saying. I like it, though. Video is real special because it's got translations. So if you want to know what they're talking about, you can find out.
19. What Have You Done? (Within Temptation)
In 2004, after I'd listened to all the Nightwish albums a hundred times apiece, I went looking for similar bands. Within Temptation were the most promising, but their "Mother Earth" album, a theme album about Mother Nature, was a little tacky. Some good stuff, but kinda silly. Then they put out "The Silent Force" which kicked all kinds of ass. The album this song is from (the name of which escapes me at the moment) is kind of a let down, but the chorus of this one is fun. I mentioned Guitar Hero in the first paragraph. Usually I make fun of Guitar Hero, but they got this song as downloadable content, and I was all over it. We hardly ever put GH in, but I killed this on bass. Not so easy to sing, but the singing is broken in GH anyway. Nobody sings good in Guitar Hero. Broken. Does not work.
20. Death to All But Metal (Steel Panther)
Who the hell are Steel Panther? I have no idea, but this song is funny as hell. It sounds like 1980s hair metal - fine by me - and then proceeds to rip on all kinds of music in the most vulgar way possible. Who all gets burned? In order of naming, Goo Goo Dolls, Eminem, Dr. Dre, Papa Roach, blink-182, Def Leppard, Motley Crue, MTV, record companies in general, Britney Spears, Madonna, Mariah Carey, Sheryl Crow, 50 Cent, and Kanye West. Well, Def Lep and Crue aren't really burned, but they're called metal, and... they really aren't. Maybe a case could be made for Crue, but not Def Lep. If they wanted to talk about 80s metal, they could have said Metallica, Iron Maiden, Megadeth, or Motorhead. Funny song, but it actually sounds good - good as in, it would be challenging to play on Rock Band.
And as always, this mix isn't for sale, but feel free to buy or otherwise acquire the songs and compile it yourself. It's great in the car, we've had it in the car for a couple weeks now, and I'm almost ready for a new disc, but it's been entertaining.
Click the name of any song to view the video on YouTube. I tried to get the "official" video wherever possible, not one uploaded by "just anybody" so none of these should get taken down for copyright violations, since the copyright owners put them up. If I couldn't get the "official" video I just went with whatever I could get.
1. Let it Rock (Kevin Rudolf, Lil Wayne)
This was used this January by the WWE for this year's Royal Rumble, based around that big match where 30 guys try to toss one another over the ropes, last one standing gets a championship match at WrestleMania a few months later. (This year, the Rumble was more entertaining than Mania, but never mind that.) This song's fun to listen to, sort of a cross between rock and rap with dance elements. It sets the stage for the rest of the album. From the earliest "beta" of the album, with just five songs, it was always the first track.
2. Magnetic Baby (Semi Precious Weapons)
This glam-rock song is hard to listen to at first, but it's really good. This is one of the 20 free songs that comes via a code with Rock Band 2, and it's fun as hell to sing and play on bass. Yes, that's a dude singing, if you were curious, though I can see (hear) how it's hard to tell. I went from putting this song on the mix (and it was one of the original five as well) as a joke, figuring I'd drop it by the final build, but it grew on me and I had to keep it. I'm also more apt to pick it on Rock Band. Watch it played on Rock Band 2; bass is the left track.
3. I'm Gone, I'm Going (Lesley Roy)
Another of the "20 free" Rock Band 2 songs, and more of a surprise. Think Avril Lavigne, Kelly Clarkson, but heavier. There isn't enough chick rock in Rock Band, and this one is worth paying for (not that I'm complaining that I got it for free).
4. Lifeline (Papa Roach)
I love putting Papa Roach songs on these mixes. Their songs are just consistently good. Seems like there's two kinds of Papa Roach songs. There's the hard-hitting ones like "Last Resort" and "...To Be Loved", and then there's these solid, semi-inspirational songs like this and "Scars". I never thought I'd like another of their songs as much as "Scars", but this one's pretty damn good. And with "Last Resort" and one other (drawing a blank here), it's part of a 3-pack on Rock Band. (It's not "Time is Running Out"; that's been up there, was released before.)
5. Life is Beautiful (Sixx:A.M.)
My favorite song on the mix and current favorite song, period. It's from the album "The Heroin Diaries" based on Motley Crue's Nikki Sixx's beating his addiction to heroin. I got the album after hearing this song, expecting it to be like this song. It's not, this song is pretty unique to the album, but it's a great album nonetheless. I remember getting this song. We had just bought a $50 Xbox Live card and had a party, and we were passing the controller around the room, letting people pick songs, whether they were playing the game or not. We just wanted to get a lot of variety. Somebody picked this, said it was a good song. I didn't notice it for the longest time, then we just started playing it. (When you have 332 songs, it's easy for a couple to get lost in the shuffle.) It's not an easy song to play on bass, harder to sing, but I'm fine just listening to it. Good stuff.
6. Young (Hollywood Undead)
Hollywood Undead's debut album is called "Swan Songs", but this is the only song that qualifies. "Undead" is a cool song and "Everywhere I Go" is funny, but "Young" is the only one that is genuinely good. And it was one of the free 20 songs. Fun to sing, really fun to play on bass. A nightmare on guitar, since the guitarist gets stuck with the keyboards as well.
7. Careless Whisper (Seether)
Anyone who has lived through the 1980s probably knows this song, even if not by name, or who did it. I can almost guarantee if you're 25 or older, you've heard it. "I'm never gonna dance again, cuz guilty feet have got no rhythm, though it's easy to pretend, I know you're not a fool. I should have known better than to cheat a friend, and waste the chance that I've been given, so I'm never gonna dance again, the way I danced with you." Sound familiar now? Yeah. That one. Sorry for that reminder. The orignal performer was George Michael, by the way. Seether render a faithful cover that's amazing to hear the first few times, but after the novelty wears off, you may find yourself wishing you were listening to something else. Still, it's worth having on the mix. (And no! It's not on Rock Band! Though RB could use some Seether, but I'd prefer they do "Broken", their song with Amy Lee of Evanescence.)
No official video for this one, so rather, I linked to a live performance that can be viewed in HD. Enjoy!
8. I Don't Care (Fall Out Boy)
It's easy to make fun of Fall Out Boy, but this song's fun to listen to. Another song in Rock Band, boring as hell on bass. Haven't tried singing it yet, though I'd like to soon.
9. Something in Your Mouth (Nickelback)
Yep, he's talking about what you think he is. A little too crude for the quality of the song, but it's fun if you're in the mood. Sometimes I am, sometimes not.
10. Too Drunk (Buckcherry)
Now this is college humor rock done right. Catchy, quotable lyrics (though not in mixed company), a real fun song.
11. Scream (Avenged Sevenfold)
Pretty good hard rock song, supernatural themes, kind of reminds me of Godsmack.
12. Re-Education Through Labor (Rise Against)
Rise Against seem to be the new political-angst metal band, after System of a Down and Rage Against the Machine before them. Fans seem to agree this song is about China, though some say it's about their sweatshops, others say it's about their prisons. Either way, it's good.
13. Two Weeks (All That Remains)
I'll sing this song on Rock Band, but I won't mess with playing it on any instrument. Fast and heavy, but not as much as "This Calling", also in the game (and also fun to sing). Jen's current "favorite song ever", or at least that's the latest she's told me.
14. Dear Lucid, Our Time is Right Now (Evans Blue)
It'll be a while before I run out of Evans Blue songs for these mixes. They fired vocalist Kevin Matisyn, and they kinda blow now, but we got two great albums out of their doomed union. The exact meaning of this song is vague and evades me, but the lyrics sound powerful, and the instruments are. One of the songs I'd kill to play in Rock Band.
15. Becoming the Bull (Atreyu)
If you've heard the name of this metal band before but you can't place it, it's likely you've seen "The Neverending Story" when you were a kid. He's the Indian teenager with the horse. You wouldn't expect a metal band to be named after a character in a kids' movie (ten years from now there'll be a band called "Harry Potter" - mark my words). This song is fun to listen to, though, and heavy enough.
16. Burn You Down (Opiate for the Masses)
The last of the Rock Band songs on the album, this also comes from the free 20. Toss-up between this and "Young" for the best, but like the last five songs, it's heavier. Doesn't really sound like it at first, but the chorus is a beast. Not as easy to sing as I'd like, and the bass is just how you'd expect. Boring during the verses and hard, though not too tricky during the chorus. And here's that bass track, you can see what I mean.
17. Dead Memories (Slipknot)
Ever since Stone Sour, the horrible secret has gotten out that Corey Taylor can actually sing, but in my opinion, Slipknot's only gotten better since. They're not as heavy, not quite as scary as the nine masked men who came out in the late 90s, but they make some good music. Not quite as heavy as "Psychosocial" from the last mix, this one's alright though.
18. Helden (Apocalyptica with Till Lindemann)
I have no idea what "Helden" means, or anything else Till Lindemann says in this song. It's all in German, so it sounds cool. Well, except "ja", that means "yeah" or "yes". And "Ich" (sounds like "ish"), which means "I" or "me". So I know a couple words in German. But I got no idea what he's saying. I like it, though. Video is real special because it's got translations. So if you want to know what they're talking about, you can find out.
19. What Have You Done? (Within Temptation)
In 2004, after I'd listened to all the Nightwish albums a hundred times apiece, I went looking for similar bands. Within Temptation were the most promising, but their "Mother Earth" album, a theme album about Mother Nature, was a little tacky. Some good stuff, but kinda silly. Then they put out "The Silent Force" which kicked all kinds of ass. The album this song is from (the name of which escapes me at the moment) is kind of a let down, but the chorus of this one is fun. I mentioned Guitar Hero in the first paragraph. Usually I make fun of Guitar Hero, but they got this song as downloadable content, and I was all over it. We hardly ever put GH in, but I killed this on bass. Not so easy to sing, but the singing is broken in GH anyway. Nobody sings good in Guitar Hero. Broken. Does not work.
20. Death to All But Metal (Steel Panther)
Who the hell are Steel Panther? I have no idea, but this song is funny as hell. It sounds like 1980s hair metal - fine by me - and then proceeds to rip on all kinds of music in the most vulgar way possible. Who all gets burned? In order of naming, Goo Goo Dolls, Eminem, Dr. Dre, Papa Roach, blink-182, Def Leppard, Motley Crue, MTV, record companies in general, Britney Spears, Madonna, Mariah Carey, Sheryl Crow, 50 Cent, and Kanye West. Well, Def Lep and Crue aren't really burned, but they're called metal, and... they really aren't. Maybe a case could be made for Crue, but not Def Lep. If they wanted to talk about 80s metal, they could have said Metallica, Iron Maiden, Megadeth, or Motorhead. Funny song, but it actually sounds good - good as in, it would be challenging to play on Rock Band.
And as always, this mix isn't for sale, but feel free to buy or otherwise acquire the songs and compile it yourself. It's great in the car, we've had it in the car for a couple weeks now, and I'm almost ready for a new disc, but it's been entertaining.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
331 songs on Rock Band: Evanescence, Iron Maiden
I'm so used to writing Evanescence as Evanuisance because, well, that's kind of what they are. My Firefox spell checker even recognizes "Evanuisance"; yeah, I got that bitch trained. "Evanescence" is actually a real word, just not commonly used; it basically means the act of evaporation. (Sadly Evanescence didn't evanesce, and now they're in Rock Band. C'est la vie.)
Anyway, we got 3 tracks by Evanuisance: Bring Me to Life (feat. Paul McCoy of 12 Stones), Call Me When You're Sober, and Weight of the World. The latter I don't think is even a single; all I've heard from their new album is "Call Me" (and the radio station goes nonchalantly back to their first album... sure sign the new one sucks) but it sounds fun, so we get it. And they give you a break when you buy the whole pack, so some smart shopping there.
As for Iron Maiden, these guys kicked your grandpa's ass so many years ago and they still rock to this day. However, they do kinda suck live, Bruce Dickinson has mostly lost his voice. Doesn't stop me from getting the live version of "Hallowed Be Thy Name", probably their best song after "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" which is too long for Rock Band anyway. So we've got Hallowed, and the studio versions of "Run to the Hills" (a cover was on Rock Band 1, and did not export with the others, so it'll be nice to have that again) and "Number of the Beast" (a cover we've had as DLC for a while). Rounding out the four is the semi-poppy "Two Minutes to Midnight", which should be fun to sing.
Anyway, "Midnight" is about to finish, and that's the last of 'em, so I'm gonna go get my ass kicked on vocals (I'm up to Hard now) and Jen's gonna get her ass kicked on drums.
Anyway, we got 3 tracks by Evanuisance: Bring Me to Life (feat. Paul McCoy of 12 Stones), Call Me When You're Sober, and Weight of the World. The latter I don't think is even a single; all I've heard from their new album is "Call Me" (and the radio station goes nonchalantly back to their first album... sure sign the new one sucks) but it sounds fun, so we get it. And they give you a break when you buy the whole pack, so some smart shopping there.
As for Iron Maiden, these guys kicked your grandpa's ass so many years ago and they still rock to this day. However, they do kinda suck live, Bruce Dickinson has mostly lost his voice. Doesn't stop me from getting the live version of "Hallowed Be Thy Name", probably their best song after "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" which is too long for Rock Band anyway. So we've got Hallowed, and the studio versions of "Run to the Hills" (a cover was on Rock Band 1, and did not export with the others, so it'll be nice to have that again) and "Number of the Beast" (a cover we've had as DLC for a while). Rounding out the four is the semi-poppy "Two Minutes to Midnight", which should be fun to sing.
Anyway, "Midnight" is about to finish, and that's the last of 'em, so I'm gonna go get my ass kicked on vocals (I'm up to Hard now) and Jen's gonna get her ass kicked on drums.
Saturday, May 23, 2009
A culture of perversion exposed
The night before last, I came into work and was appalled by what I saw on television in a cubicle. A 51-year-old North Carolina man from Morehead City was on "paid suspension" by the Carteret County school system, most recently as a school counselor at an unspecified school, and also in some capacity at Morehead City Primary School and Newport Middle School before that, for taking nude photos of young boys. Unmarried, this man has five adopted "sons", who are likely the subject of the photos, though that was never specified. The oldest boy, 18, has moved out quickly enough, but defends his adopted dad's activities, saying that he believes strongly in nudism, and that nakedness is not bad. Further investigation reveals that he was planning on taking two of his "sons" to a pedophile resort in the area, which has photos of nude children with nude adults on its website, but hasn't been shut down due to vague laws over what is artistic and what is pornographic.
I understand nudist colonies are fairly popular, particularly with the college-age crowd. Now, I have nothing against nudist colonies in general. I think it's a novel idea, but they become labeled "pedophile resorts" by me when they force children to participate as well. I have no problem with consenting adults in a closed colony practicing nudity. I don't care if they have mass orgies, either. It is not something I would choose to do, but hey, life's short and all that. If that's how they want to spend their life, that's all good. It's when they want to bring children into it that I have a problem.
I remember a few years ago I read an article in TIME about a pedophile resort, highlighting a young girl whose parents had been taking her there for years, every summer they'd rent a cabin or apartment or something, and I guess it was only during the summer, because clothes were forbidden. She said that as a kid she didn't mind, it was fun, and she says she was never touched by anybody or forced to perform any sexual acts, but she says as she reached puberty, she wanted to cover up, and not only was it not allowed, it was not tolerated. The resort made a huge deal about it, threatened sanctions against her parents. Being a clever girl, she got ahold of the rules, and found a loophole that said towels could be worn, for example to dry off after coming out of the pool. So she began wearing a towel. And that was all she was allowed to wear. Now what kind of adults would tell a child she can't wear clothes? That pretty much sums up a pedophile to me.
Nude photos - Art, Nature, or Pornography?
A WITN poll, from the same site, asks readers the following question: "A local nudist resort has pictures on its websites of naked adults with naked children. Do you think this practice is appropriate?" Of the 428 who answered yes or no, 77 said yes, this is OK, or appropriate. While I don't doubt some of them were pedophiles, as this story would certainly attract their lot, especially an anonymous poll, I'm sure a good portion would have no sexual attraction to children, yet would answer yes for other reasons. When I was a child, back in the early 1980s, there was no grey area. Parents took nude photos of their children, but it wasn't explicit, and it wasn't in excess at all. It was common practice to have one or two pictures of baby's first bath, in those blue baby tubs they had. My mom sent my wife a picture of me, just having gotten out of the tub, at perhaps age 5 or 6, fully nude from the front. Or was it the one sliding into the kiddie pool? But back then it was considered cute, and innocent, and when I reached school age, the practice stopped immediately, but practice is too strong a word. It wasn't like my parents practiced taking them. But back then, you had to pay for film, and then you had to pay to have the pictures developed and printed. And in being printed, somebody got to look at each one as it came out of the machine. So you couldn't take explicit pictures. Well, you could if you had a Polaroid, but those were specifically low resolution images that did not last long.
Now, it's so much different. Just a couple years ago I remember hearing about a woman who tried to shoot a home video of her 11-year-old daughter in the shower. Took her by surprise and was trying to take closeup shots of her chest, backside, and private areas. The girl was so disgusted, she told her teacher, who called the law. When confronted, the mother said the video was just for family. Family, right. I'm thinking Uncle Craig. As in Craigslist. Yeah, she needed money and was trying to hawk the video online. Family wouldn't want closeups of her chest and private areas. That's not nature, that's not cute or innocent, that is patently pornographic, and it's porn because it focuses on sex. Now, you take - imagine, in your head, a naked girl of about that age, just standing there. Being a decent human being, you don't look her up and down, you look her in the eye - it's not a pornographic scene, it's natural. We're born without clothes, so there's nothing wrong with it. However, same girl, but now she's on her back with her knees up and her legs spread wide open. That isn't natural at all, that is patently pornographic. And there's the difference.
Having not seen the photos this school counselor was busted for having, I can't judge just the photos, but I can say they were sexual in nature. First of all, he's a single guy - no girlfriend or wife to speak of. He lives with five young boys, and forces them to practice nudity in the home. He hasn't adopted any girls, just boys, which shows a preference. Now, nudity in and of itself does not perversion make, and child gender preference does not sexual orientation determine. But when you add them together, what it adds up to is that this guy is a homosexual pedophile. He prefers children, and he prefers them to be the same gender. Homosexuality is a hot issue these days, and I have nothing against homosexuals who prefer adults. That's all good with me. But homosexual pedophiles, I hate just as much as heterosexual pedophiles. Because it doesn't matter if they abuse boys or girls, or both, I hate 'em just the same. But because he prefers, possibly requires that they be male - he hasn't adopted any girls - that makes it sexual. Now that doesn't mean that if he had adopted kids of both genders and forced them all to strip for him that it wouldn't be sexual, but the addition of a gender preference does help to quantify things. There are undoubtedly bisexual/omnisexual pedophiles out there.
Art as Safe Haven for Pedophiles?
When I got home the next morning, I fired up my Firefox browser, and saw Google's response to the controversy. They say a picture speaks a thousand words; worked into the Google logo was a painting of a woman holding a nude girl of about 8 or 9 years old, with just a cloth covering her lap. I'm sure it's a coincidence, Google being a Mountain View, CA company, some 3,500 miles from Morehead City, NC, but their point is made just the same. Porn isn't pornographic sometimes, if it's art.
When I was a young teenager, I had a few Penthouse magazines hidden away in my closet. I got them from my best friend, who stole them from his dad. His dad kept them in the bathroom in a cupboard without a lock. We were 13, he'd sneak them over to my place in his backpack, and he and my brother and I would gather in my walk-in closet, which was like a fort back then, and we'd all giggle over the bare breasts and genitals. It was great. And he'd let me keep some, too. One, I remember, weirded me out because it had a little history article where it was talking about how in the 1800s, it was common practice for the wealthy to have nude portraits done of their children. Nothing explicit at all, and the one they had featured a girl of about 10 or 11, sitting on a rock, like at the beach, with her knees pulled up to her chest, her arms around her knees. Her arms covered her chest, and she was sitting at an angle, so you couldn't see between her legs. I was glad the picture was small, maybe a square inch at the most.
A few years later, one of my cousins became obsessed with anime, and to this day he, his brothers, and my aunt still are. Very strange lot. Anyway, one of my cousins puts in this videotape, it's an anime about three crime-fighting sisters, and all I can remember is their names started with A, B, and C, and they rhymed. Anyway, this scene he thought was so cool, had this girl of about six get out of a swimming pool, go into the changing room, strip out of her bathing suit, and get dressed. Of all the ways I could think of to do it tastefully (aside from not doing it at all), they avoided, and I was pretty disgusted. I thought he had something illegal on his hands, but it turns out that because it was animated, and not involving real kids, while distasteful, it was legal. And that makes sense. Nobody's really being hurt, freedom of speech and all that. "If you don't like it, don't look at it" and all that. Fine. I don't like it, so I don't look at it. As a more popular example, I hear the original Japanese Sailor Moon got away with the same stuff. (Well, OK, I've seen it, an anime music video I've seen shows a clip. It's bad. Worse, I bet I could find it on YouTube. Yep, I think I see it. Search YouTube for "Jerry Springer Weird Al" and look for the boy with the dazed-out eyes. I didn't want a clever IT nerd at the servers seeing a search for Sailor Moon in my net history, otherwise my search would have been more specific.)
Lastly, I saw a program on Showtime named "Sex and the Silver Screen" in which they covered the crackdown on underage sex and nudity in the late 1970s. Reportedly, movies made before this time featured children in nude scenes to softcore sexual situations, and this was stopped by the 1980s. However, because the films in question were made before the law was passed, the movies are legal, and are still available to this day, even remastered on DVD. And every now and then, those movies and movies with similar content produced in other countries (including a popular one from Italy) are discussed on movie forums, and one has to wonder about the fans of these movies. I called some out rather recently, actually, and these guys got pretty defensive, their arguments basically boiling down to "you normals wouldn't understand". I've come to believe that topics like, "Hey, anybody like (such and such movie)?" are generally a sort of gathering call, I don't know if they're swapping email addresses to trade the "real stuff" (meaning the hardcore porn), or what, I don't know, but it's a good bet it's a gathering of perverts.
I've always thought of myself as an advocate or ambassador to kids, and I certainly like spending time with them, and listening to what they have to say about various topics, and I love helping them learn, but no, I don't understand the attraction. Even if you can justify the attraction, it has to go both ways, and then you have to have consent. The consent must also be informed, and a preteen is incapable of making the level of informed consent to engage in sex. Furthermore, there are physical dangers, not just risks, certain internal parts which are not developed enough, not large enough, to handle sex. So there is no way, shape, or form that it can ever not be abuse, and abuse of the worst kind, and while these perverts may try to tell themselves (or others, e.g. on forums) that they love the kids, they're not fooling anybody, probably not even themselves. And I've always thought of it as natural, as human nature, to be somewhat defensive of kids. So when I hear of people advocating abuse in any form, or saying it doesn't matter, I wonder if they're somehow less than human.
I understand nudist colonies are fairly popular, particularly with the college-age crowd. Now, I have nothing against nudist colonies in general. I think it's a novel idea, but they become labeled "pedophile resorts" by me when they force children to participate as well. I have no problem with consenting adults in a closed colony practicing nudity. I don't care if they have mass orgies, either. It is not something I would choose to do, but hey, life's short and all that. If that's how they want to spend their life, that's all good. It's when they want to bring children into it that I have a problem.
I remember a few years ago I read an article in TIME about a pedophile resort, highlighting a young girl whose parents had been taking her there for years, every summer they'd rent a cabin or apartment or something, and I guess it was only during the summer, because clothes were forbidden. She said that as a kid she didn't mind, it was fun, and she says she was never touched by anybody or forced to perform any sexual acts, but she says as she reached puberty, she wanted to cover up, and not only was it not allowed, it was not tolerated. The resort made a huge deal about it, threatened sanctions against her parents. Being a clever girl, she got ahold of the rules, and found a loophole that said towels could be worn, for example to dry off after coming out of the pool. So she began wearing a towel. And that was all she was allowed to wear. Now what kind of adults would tell a child she can't wear clothes? That pretty much sums up a pedophile to me.
Nude photos - Art, Nature, or Pornography?
A WITN poll, from the same site, asks readers the following question: "A local nudist resort has pictures on its websites of naked adults with naked children. Do you think this practice is appropriate?" Of the 428 who answered yes or no, 77 said yes, this is OK, or appropriate. While I don't doubt some of them were pedophiles, as this story would certainly attract their lot, especially an anonymous poll, I'm sure a good portion would have no sexual attraction to children, yet would answer yes for other reasons. When I was a child, back in the early 1980s, there was no grey area. Parents took nude photos of their children, but it wasn't explicit, and it wasn't in excess at all. It was common practice to have one or two pictures of baby's first bath, in those blue baby tubs they had. My mom sent my wife a picture of me, just having gotten out of the tub, at perhaps age 5 or 6, fully nude from the front. Or was it the one sliding into the kiddie pool? But back then it was considered cute, and innocent, and when I reached school age, the practice stopped immediately, but practice is too strong a word. It wasn't like my parents practiced taking them. But back then, you had to pay for film, and then you had to pay to have the pictures developed and printed. And in being printed, somebody got to look at each one as it came out of the machine. So you couldn't take explicit pictures. Well, you could if you had a Polaroid, but those were specifically low resolution images that did not last long.
Now, it's so much different. Just a couple years ago I remember hearing about a woman who tried to shoot a home video of her 11-year-old daughter in the shower. Took her by surprise and was trying to take closeup shots of her chest, backside, and private areas. The girl was so disgusted, she told her teacher, who called the law. When confronted, the mother said the video was just for family. Family, right. I'm thinking Uncle Craig. As in Craigslist. Yeah, she needed money and was trying to hawk the video online. Family wouldn't want closeups of her chest and private areas. That's not nature, that's not cute or innocent, that is patently pornographic, and it's porn because it focuses on sex. Now, you take - imagine, in your head, a naked girl of about that age, just standing there. Being a decent human being, you don't look her up and down, you look her in the eye - it's not a pornographic scene, it's natural. We're born without clothes, so there's nothing wrong with it. However, same girl, but now she's on her back with her knees up and her legs spread wide open. That isn't natural at all, that is patently pornographic. And there's the difference.
Having not seen the photos this school counselor was busted for having, I can't judge just the photos, but I can say they were sexual in nature. First of all, he's a single guy - no girlfriend or wife to speak of. He lives with five young boys, and forces them to practice nudity in the home. He hasn't adopted any girls, just boys, which shows a preference. Now, nudity in and of itself does not perversion make, and child gender preference does not sexual orientation determine. But when you add them together, what it adds up to is that this guy is a homosexual pedophile. He prefers children, and he prefers them to be the same gender. Homosexuality is a hot issue these days, and I have nothing against homosexuals who prefer adults. That's all good with me. But homosexual pedophiles, I hate just as much as heterosexual pedophiles. Because it doesn't matter if they abuse boys or girls, or both, I hate 'em just the same. But because he prefers, possibly requires that they be male - he hasn't adopted any girls - that makes it sexual. Now that doesn't mean that if he had adopted kids of both genders and forced them all to strip for him that it wouldn't be sexual, but the addition of a gender preference does help to quantify things. There are undoubtedly bisexual/omnisexual pedophiles out there.
Art as Safe Haven for Pedophiles?
When I got home the next morning, I fired up my Firefox browser, and saw Google's response to the controversy. They say a picture speaks a thousand words; worked into the Google logo was a painting of a woman holding a nude girl of about 8 or 9 years old, with just a cloth covering her lap. I'm sure it's a coincidence, Google being a Mountain View, CA company, some 3,500 miles from Morehead City, NC, but their point is made just the same. Porn isn't pornographic sometimes, if it's art.
When I was a young teenager, I had a few Penthouse magazines hidden away in my closet. I got them from my best friend, who stole them from his dad. His dad kept them in the bathroom in a cupboard without a lock. We were 13, he'd sneak them over to my place in his backpack, and he and my brother and I would gather in my walk-in closet, which was like a fort back then, and we'd all giggle over the bare breasts and genitals. It was great. And he'd let me keep some, too. One, I remember, weirded me out because it had a little history article where it was talking about how in the 1800s, it was common practice for the wealthy to have nude portraits done of their children. Nothing explicit at all, and the one they had featured a girl of about 10 or 11, sitting on a rock, like at the beach, with her knees pulled up to her chest, her arms around her knees. Her arms covered her chest, and she was sitting at an angle, so you couldn't see between her legs. I was glad the picture was small, maybe a square inch at the most.
A few years later, one of my cousins became obsessed with anime, and to this day he, his brothers, and my aunt still are. Very strange lot. Anyway, one of my cousins puts in this videotape, it's an anime about three crime-fighting sisters, and all I can remember is their names started with A, B, and C, and they rhymed. Anyway, this scene he thought was so cool, had this girl of about six get out of a swimming pool, go into the changing room, strip out of her bathing suit, and get dressed. Of all the ways I could think of to do it tastefully (aside from not doing it at all), they avoided, and I was pretty disgusted. I thought he had something illegal on his hands, but it turns out that because it was animated, and not involving real kids, while distasteful, it was legal. And that makes sense. Nobody's really being hurt, freedom of speech and all that. "If you don't like it, don't look at it" and all that. Fine. I don't like it, so I don't look at it. As a more popular example, I hear the original Japanese Sailor Moon got away with the same stuff. (Well, OK, I've seen it, an anime music video I've seen shows a clip. It's bad. Worse, I bet I could find it on YouTube. Yep, I think I see it. Search YouTube for "Jerry Springer Weird Al" and look for the boy with the dazed-out eyes. I didn't want a clever IT nerd at the servers seeing a search for Sailor Moon in my net history, otherwise my search would have been more specific.)
Lastly, I saw a program on Showtime named "Sex and the Silver Screen" in which they covered the crackdown on underage sex and nudity in the late 1970s. Reportedly, movies made before this time featured children in nude scenes to softcore sexual situations, and this was stopped by the 1980s. However, because the films in question were made before the law was passed, the movies are legal, and are still available to this day, even remastered on DVD. And every now and then, those movies and movies with similar content produced in other countries (including a popular one from Italy) are discussed on movie forums, and one has to wonder about the fans of these movies. I called some out rather recently, actually, and these guys got pretty defensive, their arguments basically boiling down to "you normals wouldn't understand". I've come to believe that topics like, "Hey, anybody like (such and such movie)?" are generally a sort of gathering call, I don't know if they're swapping email addresses to trade the "real stuff" (meaning the hardcore porn), or what, I don't know, but it's a good bet it's a gathering of perverts.
I've always thought of myself as an advocate or ambassador to kids, and I certainly like spending time with them, and listening to what they have to say about various topics, and I love helping them learn, but no, I don't understand the attraction. Even if you can justify the attraction, it has to go both ways, and then you have to have consent. The consent must also be informed, and a preteen is incapable of making the level of informed consent to engage in sex. Furthermore, there are physical dangers, not just risks, certain internal parts which are not developed enough, not large enough, to handle sex. So there is no way, shape, or form that it can ever not be abuse, and abuse of the worst kind, and while these perverts may try to tell themselves (or others, e.g. on forums) that they love the kids, they're not fooling anybody, probably not even themselves. And I've always thought of it as natural, as human nature, to be somewhat defensive of kids. So when I hear of people advocating abuse in any form, or saying it doesn't matter, I wonder if they're somehow less than human.
Thursday, May 21, 2009
324 songs and counting! Alice Cooper and Social D added
"Poison" by Alice Cooper and "Story of My Life" by Social Distortion added. I think the Social D song was on Guitar Hero 2 or 3, but it sounds great and I'm glad to have it. Axel, our drummer, ALWAYS picks "I Was Wrong" by Social Distortion, I don't know if he digs the tune or just loves playing it, but it's a real SOB on bass. I can hang with it half the time, but I'd pick something else if it were on me. Good song though.
Gonna do something a little different with this bulletin. I'm now gonna play 'em and post my scores. Not tryin' to brag, unless you're a freakin savant, your first play ain't gonna be all that special, but if you know the kinds of scores someone gets on songs of the same difficulty tier, maybe it'll help you figure out your own chances at it.
Difficulty is out of 7. Zero filled circles on the difficulty chart is first tier. One filled circle is second tier. All five circles filled is tier 6, and 5 devil heads is the hardest tier, Tier 7. These are both pretty easy in comparison to, say, the Yngwie Malmsteen, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and Dream Theater stuff.
Regarding ratings, you're given a points score, a "star" rating out of six, the percentage of notes that you hit, and then the longest unbroken streak of successful notes. Here's how the new songs stacked up, and here's how I did:
STORY OF MY LIFE by Social Distortion from "Greatest Hits" (2007) (originally 1990)
BAND 2/7 GUITAR 2/7 DRUM 3/7 VOCALS 1/7 BASS 1/7
59,132 3 stars 91% 56 note streak
Notes: "Story of My Life" is long and tedious. It starts with one green note, a long green note, and then 2 together, and then repeats a similar pattern on seemingly random colors, with an occasional burst of, like, 6 notes in a row, real close together. There are maybe four orange notes in the whole song, they're not close to other notes, and you can see 'em coming a mile off. Bassists, keep your fingers green-to-blue and take the orange ones as they come. And don't stay on red-to-orange, just hit the orange note and then come on back. This song felt like it was ten minutes long, but I'm just out of practice. It ain't a short song; I'd guess six minutes; Wikipedia gives it as 5:48. Close.
Oh, and though my guitar reported half battery strength, the batteries died partway in. I just turned the guitar back on and kept rockin. After the THIRD death, I changed batteries - and started over. So it's not a true sightread, per se. Close enough though. And it ain't like I did great. Onto "Poison"...
POISON by Alice Cooper from the album "Trash" (1989)
BAND 3/7 GUITAR 5/7 DRUM 2/7 VOCALS 2/7 BASS 2/7
22,892 3 stars 79% 30 note streak
Notes: "Poison" starts out easy as hell, with two sets of two green notes and then a series of long notes on the red-to-orange track, so switch down as soon as the green goes away. Once the long notes are gone, it gets kinda random, with a lot of jumping around and then a long series of notes, with every seventh or eighth just a little off. I got up to half my overdrive, but was afraid to use it, because all the overdrive notes were on those one-off trick parts I couldn't nail. After getting up to 75% on pure chance, I went ahead and went, and even with overdrive (each note counting double) I dipped into the red, but held on for the whole song, which thankfully wasn't long. I could perhaps do better with practice, but this song's really for the real fast-fingered guitarists who can just fly all over the controller, being where they need to be on a split seconds' notice. There were a couple cruel tricks, but mostly it was just straightforward.
Now it's onto bed... I actually intended to follow up those sorry performances with me owning all over "Say it Ain't So" or "Orange Crush" but my wrist is so damn tired (and you'd think being single for 25 years, that wouldn't be a problem...).
In other news though, got some new equipment. Our Xbox 360 got the dreaded Red Rings of Death, so we took it back to Best Buy. Now, Best Buy is the best place to buy electronics, and they're not paying me to say that or anything (they don't know, and probably don't care). The trick is to always spring for the protection plan. Long story short, my camera goes out, and they give me a newer one, since it was actually the bottom of the line of the same brand, but still much better than the one I had. I did however have to buy a new memory card as it used another format. And a new warranty - that's always the gotcha. More recently, we took in a broken wired guitar, they replaced it with a wireless one. Sweet!
So we bring in the Xbox 360 - and now, we paid $350 for the old 20GB "Pro" model. They have the new 60GB "Pro" for $300. After the exchange, since the Xbox is now $50 less, that $50 actually went to us. It covered the warranty renewal (which gives us another year, since it starts now, or rather last week) and they gave us a gift card with the remaining balance. It's like $12! So we got a brand new Xbox 360, a 2-year warranty, and $12 to spend there (most likely on song credits for Rock Band). If you ask me, the Red Rings of Death aren't so dreaded! I think we came out alright!
A couple weeks before this, Jen and I both upgraded our guitars with authentic albeit entry-level guitar straps from First Act - they make a bunch of entry-level musician equipment, most of which can be used by Rock Band and Guitar Hero players. Guitar straps, drumsticks, a drum stool, guitar stands, a lot of nice stuff. (No, they're not paying me to type either - nobody is.) So we got their straps, and while they are sturdier, they still scrape my neck on long setlists. Here's what I did: We're in Walmart last night, and I got this thing meant for seatbelts. It's like a wooly sock thingy that goes around the strap for comfort. I put it on my guitar strap and it feels great. It does tend to slip as I adjust the guitar, so I'll have to work on something to hold it in place. Axel Steel - again, our drummer - is pretty demanding during practice. I'm talking about playing for 4-5 hours straight (well, with breaks - him and Jimmi Rivers (think Bret Hart), our guitarist, are pretty heavy smokers, they can't go too long without a Newport, which works great for me when I'm out of practice.
Now, I hope you realize these band names are made up. Well, they're the names we use in the game. I'm Ben Sisko, named after the captain on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Kinda look like him, but younger and with Costello glasses. Jen's Aura Jo, and the other guys, well, I haven't asked their permission to name them publicly, so they get called by their stage names up here. And Aura Jo on vocals, Jimmi Rivers on guitar, Axel Steel on drums, and last but not least Ben Sisko on bass, we're DysS\MemB/EreD. Don't laugh, either, dammit, we came in 3rd place at the Carolina Gaming Summit Rock Band 2 tournament in Goldsboro, NC this past February, and the 8 guys who bested us couldn't be nicer guys, even though the ones who came in 1st got their ticket to the finals by beating the event promotor's kids. A little bit of backstage trickery there, but they beat us fair and square, so it's all good.
Gonna do something a little different with this bulletin. I'm now gonna play 'em and post my scores. Not tryin' to brag, unless you're a freakin savant, your first play ain't gonna be all that special, but if you know the kinds of scores someone gets on songs of the same difficulty tier, maybe it'll help you figure out your own chances at it.
Difficulty is out of 7. Zero filled circles on the difficulty chart is first tier. One filled circle is second tier. All five circles filled is tier 6, and 5 devil heads is the hardest tier, Tier 7. These are both pretty easy in comparison to, say, the Yngwie Malmsteen, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and Dream Theater stuff.
Regarding ratings, you're given a points score, a "star" rating out of six, the percentage of notes that you hit, and then the longest unbroken streak of successful notes. Here's how the new songs stacked up, and here's how I did:
STORY OF MY LIFE by Social Distortion from "Greatest Hits" (2007) (originally 1990)
BAND 2/7 GUITAR 2/7 DRUM 3/7 VOCALS 1/7 BASS 1/7
59,132 3 stars 91% 56 note streak
Notes: "Story of My Life" is long and tedious. It starts with one green note, a long green note, and then 2 together, and then repeats a similar pattern on seemingly random colors, with an occasional burst of, like, 6 notes in a row, real close together. There are maybe four orange notes in the whole song, they're not close to other notes, and you can see 'em coming a mile off. Bassists, keep your fingers green-to-blue and take the orange ones as they come. And don't stay on red-to-orange, just hit the orange note and then come on back. This song felt like it was ten minutes long, but I'm just out of practice. It ain't a short song; I'd guess six minutes; Wikipedia gives it as 5:48. Close.
Oh, and though my guitar reported half battery strength, the batteries died partway in. I just turned the guitar back on and kept rockin. After the THIRD death, I changed batteries - and started over. So it's not a true sightread, per se. Close enough though. And it ain't like I did great. Onto "Poison"...
POISON by Alice Cooper from the album "Trash" (1989)
BAND 3/7 GUITAR 5/7 DRUM 2/7 VOCALS 2/7 BASS 2/7
22,892 3 stars 79% 30 note streak
Notes: "Poison" starts out easy as hell, with two sets of two green notes and then a series of long notes on the red-to-orange track, so switch down as soon as the green goes away. Once the long notes are gone, it gets kinda random, with a lot of jumping around and then a long series of notes, with every seventh or eighth just a little off. I got up to half my overdrive, but was afraid to use it, because all the overdrive notes were on those one-off trick parts I couldn't nail. After getting up to 75% on pure chance, I went ahead and went, and even with overdrive (each note counting double) I dipped into the red, but held on for the whole song, which thankfully wasn't long. I could perhaps do better with practice, but this song's really for the real fast-fingered guitarists who can just fly all over the controller, being where they need to be on a split seconds' notice. There were a couple cruel tricks, but mostly it was just straightforward.
Now it's onto bed... I actually intended to follow up those sorry performances with me owning all over "Say it Ain't So" or "Orange Crush" but my wrist is so damn tired (and you'd think being single for 25 years, that wouldn't be a problem...).
In other news though, got some new equipment. Our Xbox 360 got the dreaded Red Rings of Death, so we took it back to Best Buy. Now, Best Buy is the best place to buy electronics, and they're not paying me to say that or anything (they don't know, and probably don't care). The trick is to always spring for the protection plan. Long story short, my camera goes out, and they give me a newer one, since it was actually the bottom of the line of the same brand, but still much better than the one I had. I did however have to buy a new memory card as it used another format. And a new warranty - that's always the gotcha. More recently, we took in a broken wired guitar, they replaced it with a wireless one. Sweet!
So we bring in the Xbox 360 - and now, we paid $350 for the old 20GB "Pro" model. They have the new 60GB "Pro" for $300. After the exchange, since the Xbox is now $50 less, that $50 actually went to us. It covered the warranty renewal (which gives us another year, since it starts now, or rather last week) and they gave us a gift card with the remaining balance. It's like $12! So we got a brand new Xbox 360, a 2-year warranty, and $12 to spend there (most likely on song credits for Rock Band). If you ask me, the Red Rings of Death aren't so dreaded! I think we came out alright!
A couple weeks before this, Jen and I both upgraded our guitars with authentic albeit entry-level guitar straps from First Act - they make a bunch of entry-level musician equipment, most of which can be used by Rock Band and Guitar Hero players. Guitar straps, drumsticks, a drum stool, guitar stands, a lot of nice stuff. (No, they're not paying me to type either - nobody is.) So we got their straps, and while they are sturdier, they still scrape my neck on long setlists. Here's what I did: We're in Walmart last night, and I got this thing meant for seatbelts. It's like a wooly sock thingy that goes around the strap for comfort. I put it on my guitar strap and it feels great. It does tend to slip as I adjust the guitar, so I'll have to work on something to hold it in place. Axel Steel - again, our drummer - is pretty demanding during practice. I'm talking about playing for 4-5 hours straight (well, with breaks - him and Jimmi Rivers (think Bret Hart), our guitarist, are pretty heavy smokers, they can't go too long without a Newport, which works great for me when I'm out of practice.
Now, I hope you realize these band names are made up. Well, they're the names we use in the game. I'm Ben Sisko, named after the captain on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Kinda look like him, but younger and with Costello glasses. Jen's Aura Jo, and the other guys, well, I haven't asked their permission to name them publicly, so they get called by their stage names up here. And Aura Jo on vocals, Jimmi Rivers on guitar, Axel Steel on drums, and last but not least Ben Sisko on bass, we're DysS\MemB/EreD. Don't laugh, either, dammit, we came in 3rd place at the Carolina Gaming Summit Rock Band 2 tournament in Goldsboro, NC this past February, and the 8 guys who bested us couldn't be nicer guys, even though the ones who came in 1st got their ticket to the finals by beating the event promotor's kids. A little bit of backstage trickery there, but they beat us fair and square, so it's all good.
Friday, May 8, 2009
Disturbed for Rock Band DLC next week
Downloadable content (new songs) just announced for Rock Band; we're getting "Stupify" and "Stricken" by Disturbed.
"Stupify" has got to be one of the best jokes in radio. Most radio stations play the song uncensored, even during the day, even though he's dropping the almighty F-bomb after every other line. I guess because it sounds more like "rock!" or even just a grunt. I wish I saved it (and Jen probably did somewhere), but on the old Disturbed board, in the "Ask the Band" area, someone asked of vocalist David Draiman what he was saying at the end of the lines. His answer was short, sweet, and to the point. He basically said "X fuck, one luck, no rock" where X was the number of F-bombs in the song, and "luck" ends the line "shit outta... luck". It better be uncensored on Rock Band, long after the cat's been let out of the bag. But it probably won't be. If it were just me, I wouldn't get it, but Jen loves 'em, and I gotta admit it would be fun to sing.
"Stricken" on the other hand is an awesome song. Disturbed stuff is hell hard to play in these games. The four we have in Rock Band ("Inside the Fire", "Indestructible", "Perfect Insanity", and "Down With the Sickness") are no pushovers and I've played "Stricken" on Guitar Hero 2 or 3, and it wasn't easy there, either.
Also on deck next Tuesday is "My Old School" and "Black Friday" by Steely Dan. I'd never heard either - where's "Reelin' in the Years"? "My Old School" doesn't sound all that great, but "Black Friday" is a cool song - I might pick it up.
There's also a few songs by Social Distortion. I don't really care for punk, but it's always fun to play in the game, including Social D's other song, "I Was Wrong" included on the Rock Band 2 game disc.
And a song by Elvis Costello, "Radio Radio", but I've never gotten into Costello, and his song on Rock Band 2, the name of which escapes me at the moment, isn't anything special.
...And maybe another obscure song or two, I don't know. Jen left the post up for me and I didn't grab the URL. There's a small army of folks on Twitter who post the updates, you can follow any of them to be kept in the loop, or if you prefer to kick it old-school, you can hit up the announcements page on RockBand.com.
Note: Lot of links here. Clicking on song titles will take you to a YouTube video so you can hear it (most always not the official video). Clicking on artist names will take you to their Wikipedia page. The word "Twitter" goes to my boring-ass Twitter page, and the three links immediately surrounding it go to Twitter pages that post Rock Band updates. The last two are kind of self-explanatory.
"Stupify" has got to be one of the best jokes in radio. Most radio stations play the song uncensored, even during the day, even though he's dropping the almighty F-bomb after every other line. I guess because it sounds more like "rock!" or even just a grunt. I wish I saved it (and Jen probably did somewhere), but on the old Disturbed board, in the "Ask the Band" area, someone asked of vocalist David Draiman what he was saying at the end of the lines. His answer was short, sweet, and to the point. He basically said "X fuck, one luck, no rock" where X was the number of F-bombs in the song, and "luck" ends the line "shit outta... luck". It better be uncensored on Rock Band, long after the cat's been let out of the bag. But it probably won't be. If it were just me, I wouldn't get it, but Jen loves 'em, and I gotta admit it would be fun to sing.
"Stricken" on the other hand is an awesome song. Disturbed stuff is hell hard to play in these games. The four we have in Rock Band ("Inside the Fire", "Indestructible", "Perfect Insanity", and "Down With the Sickness") are no pushovers and I've played "Stricken" on Guitar Hero 2 or 3, and it wasn't easy there, either.
Also on deck next Tuesday is "My Old School" and "Black Friday" by Steely Dan. I'd never heard either - where's "Reelin' in the Years"? "My Old School" doesn't sound all that great, but "Black Friday" is a cool song - I might pick it up.
There's also a few songs by Social Distortion. I don't really care for punk, but it's always fun to play in the game, including Social D's other song, "I Was Wrong" included on the Rock Band 2 game disc.
And a song by Elvis Costello, "Radio Radio", but I've never gotten into Costello, and his song on Rock Band 2, the name of which escapes me at the moment, isn't anything special.
...And maybe another obscure song or two, I don't know. Jen left the post up for me and I didn't grab the URL. There's a small army of folks on Twitter who post the updates, you can follow any of them to be kept in the loop, or if you prefer to kick it old-school, you can hit up the announcements page on RockBand.com.
Note: Lot of links here. Clicking on song titles will take you to a YouTube video so you can hear it (most always not the official video). Clicking on artist names will take you to their Wikipedia page. The word "Twitter" goes to my boring-ass Twitter page, and the three links immediately surrounding it go to Twitter pages that post Rock Band updates. The last two are kind of self-explanatory.
Digital TV is really cool
For a few months prior to the original analog/antenna TV cutoff date in February, I've posted a few articles praising the move and shaming efforts to delay it, but I've never actually talked about digital TV itself, at least not from experience, as I'd never seen a TV with a digital converter box and antenna. Until last week, anyway.
Here at work, we have about the ugliest and crappiest TV you can imagine. Well, maybe. It's white, it's got a roundish screen, a very odd-shaped back, and I think it's an RCA, but I can't tell, there's a sticker over the logo. I can only see a hair-wide bit of grey on the bottom of it. Prior to the digital converter box, it got 5 channels, if you count getting the same one twice on two different channels, with one almost unwatchable. The picture was grainy, had a lot of static, faded in and out, the volume fluctuated... it was crap.
Digital TV has gone beyond impressing me. One article I wrote criticized someone who said DTV has less channels. That's an outright lie. We have no less than a dozen channels, and I work out in the middle of nowhere. The picture is stunning. Even on the crappiest analog TV, it looks good. It's DVD quality. It's like a DVD player was hooked up to it. (I have hooked a DVD player up to it, before I discovered PortableApps and learned to watch movies/episodes on the computer. So I know what DVDs look like on it.)
The only problem I have is that what it doesn't letterbox (bars on the top and bottom) it zooms out (bars all around). I guess the only way to get a square or rectangular picture on a round screen is to zoom it out, but surely they don't need to zoom out that far. On a screen that's 14" at best, having a full inch taken off from all four sides is a lot.
If for whatever reason you have a TV that doesn't have digital or satellite, and it's not a digital TV (it's not rectangle, but rather more square), you'll need to get one of these converter boxes by June. June 12 I think it is now. They'll probably delay it again, but at some point, the companies who bought those airwaves (Sprint and AT&T I think) will push for the date to stay, and your TV will no longer get signal over the air. I don't appreciate the government selling everyone out like that any more than analog/antenna TV owners, but they are offering vouchers which cover $40 worth of equipment. The cheapest converter box is $50 at Walmart, so you're still out $10. Plus you have to buy an antenna. (They don't tell you that.) It's worth it. It's not HD (you need a digital TV for that) but it looks good.
For some things, like the news, it's comparable to HD. HD has its advantages, and it's true that it has more dots, but to the naked eye, it really does not look that much better. Unless, of course, it's digital to start with. Digital animation (Pixar for example, like Wall-E; or Japanese anime) and video games (Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, but not Wii or PlayStation 2) look absolutely stunning in HD. Real people don't look much better in HD; in fact HD is good for revealing flaws which were more easily covered up with conventional television. Until they replace news anchors with computer-animated, voice-acted avatars (not an impossibility at all), your news is good either way.
Here at work, we have about the ugliest and crappiest TV you can imagine. Well, maybe. It's white, it's got a roundish screen, a very odd-shaped back, and I think it's an RCA, but I can't tell, there's a sticker over the logo. I can only see a hair-wide bit of grey on the bottom of it. Prior to the digital converter box, it got 5 channels, if you count getting the same one twice on two different channels, with one almost unwatchable. The picture was grainy, had a lot of static, faded in and out, the volume fluctuated... it was crap.
Digital TV has gone beyond impressing me. One article I wrote criticized someone who said DTV has less channels. That's an outright lie. We have no less than a dozen channels, and I work out in the middle of nowhere. The picture is stunning. Even on the crappiest analog TV, it looks good. It's DVD quality. It's like a DVD player was hooked up to it. (I have hooked a DVD player up to it, before I discovered PortableApps and learned to watch movies/episodes on the computer. So I know what DVDs look like on it.)
The only problem I have is that what it doesn't letterbox (bars on the top and bottom) it zooms out (bars all around). I guess the only way to get a square or rectangular picture on a round screen is to zoom it out, but surely they don't need to zoom out that far. On a screen that's 14" at best, having a full inch taken off from all four sides is a lot.
If for whatever reason you have a TV that doesn't have digital or satellite, and it's not a digital TV (it's not rectangle, but rather more square), you'll need to get one of these converter boxes by June. June 12 I think it is now. They'll probably delay it again, but at some point, the companies who bought those airwaves (Sprint and AT&T I think) will push for the date to stay, and your TV will no longer get signal over the air. I don't appreciate the government selling everyone out like that any more than analog/antenna TV owners, but they are offering vouchers which cover $40 worth of equipment. The cheapest converter box is $50 at Walmart, so you're still out $10. Plus you have to buy an antenna. (They don't tell you that.) It's worth it. It's not HD (you need a digital TV for that) but it looks good.
For some things, like the news, it's comparable to HD. HD has its advantages, and it's true that it has more dots, but to the naked eye, it really does not look that much better. Unless, of course, it's digital to start with. Digital animation (Pixar for example, like Wall-E; or Japanese anime) and video games (Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, but not Wii or PlayStation 2) look absolutely stunning in HD. Real people don't look much better in HD; in fact HD is good for revealing flaws which were more easily covered up with conventional television. Until they replace news anchors with computer-animated, voice-acted avatars (not an impossibility at all), your news is good either way.
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