As Promised...

Here's Ethan in all of his crawling greatness.

Update on the Boy

So a little over 5 or 6 weeks have gone by since my Apple iPod excitement post, and I haven't been up to much. Most of my spare time has been spent with my family and I have enjoyed life with my son as much as possible.

We went to the local pumpkin patch with another family last weekend. Jamie and I tried to get some pictures of Ethan, but we didn't get anything great. He preferred to do his own thing that day.

I've sold some old 360 games, DS games, and Simpsons DVDs in order to buy an iPod touch. I'm tired of waiting for more memory. I'm going on a trip to Washington D.C. in a few weeks, and I want to have a decent video/music player to use on the way down.

Please oh Please oh Please!

My iPod video is a pain in the ass to watch. I want an 80GB Touch for $400-$500 and then I'll be happy. I know that may sound insane, but I swear by the 80GB model. When my hard drive on my Powerbook died a couple of years ago, my iPod had everything on there, saving my music and video library. The more I can save and take with me, the better.

clipped from www.engadget.com Apple introducing new iPods on September 9th? Apple introducing new iPods on September 9th? by Nilay Patel, posted Aug 25th 2008 at 9:06PM There's been a lot of iPod chatter in the air lately and now MacRumors and Ars Technica say that we'll be seeing El Steve boom-boom some new gear on September 9th. No specifics on what's in store, but new nanos are obviously on the table, as is that rumored subscription service and possibly a new iPod touch at a lower price. Anything you guys hoping for?

Activision Is Right...For Once

This is the company that announced plans to create yearly sequels in order to make as much money as possible, but I have to give Kotick credit here for sticking to his guns.

Basically, Warner Music is crying foul over royalty fees for their music being used in music games like Rock Band and Guitar Hero. People may or may not know that Warner Music has been spinning out of control for the past several years. Only The White Stripes remain as their biggest act (though I guess this is debatable), but executives and other acts have either left on their own or were cut loose. Warner NEEDS the gaming business for exposure purposes alone, because nobody listens to FM radio anymore, and MTV stopped playing music videos in 1997.

FYI: I wouldn't have been interested in any of these songs or artists had it not been for their music being featured in Guitar Hero or Rock Band. Okay, I may have discovered these tunes down the road, but a LONG way from now:

Guitar Hero:

"Cochise" - Audioslave
"Hey You" - The Exies
"Heart Full of Black" - The Burning Brides
"Stellar" - Incubus
"Unsung" - Helmet
"Farewell Myth" - Made In Mexico (I freaking bought that album from Amazon. Not great, mind you).
"All of This" - Shaimus

Guitar Hero II:

"Free Bird" - Lynyrd Skynyrd
"Madhouse" - Anthrax
"Tonight I'm Gonna Rock You Tonight" - Spinal Tap

Guitar Hero III:

"Before I Forget" - Slipknot
"Holiday in Cambodia" - The Dead Kennedys
"Reptilia" - The Strokes (one of my favorite songs of the last 5 years)

Rock Band:

Gimme Shelter - The Rolling Stones

Hmmm...this list is smaller than I thought. But I did buy all of these songs and others (that I'm too ashamed to mention) due to playing them repeatedly on these games. And don't even get me started on the sports game soundtracks. Those, too, expose a lot of new listeners to great music. With the music industry the way it is right now, they need games more than games need music.

clipped from www.gamedaily.com Activision Fires Back at Warner Music Boss Over Royalties Last week, Warner Music CEO Edgar Bronfman sent a ripple through the industry by complaining about the royalties structure currently in place for music video games such as Guitar Hero. He called the licensing fees per song "paltry" and noted that Warner Music may pull back from licensing its songs to game companies if the royalties don't increase. "I think his view was ... that [Warner Music] should be compensated the way they might for a performance on iTunes," Kotick told the Financial Times. "But this is an entirely different business that is very technically complex. He continued, "We're introducing a whole new group of artists to new audiences that is resulting in their iTunes downloads being exponentially higher than they would otherwise be, [as well as] new album sales and new merchandising opportunities."

Non-Factor

I feel like E3 is such a non-factor now. No big announcements this year. Then again, to show that I appreciate holding onto my 360 and Wii for another year, I'm glad nobody came out with a new console announcement.

Penny Arcade seems to have hit the nail on the head.

clipped from www.penny-arcade.com It's Just Like Being There

June + July

I have no idea where time goes, but I feel like I am constantly amazed at how often no updates come through.

Ethan has been taking up most of my time:



I'll post a legitimate update soon. I promise.

Watchmen = Impressive

I have high hopes for this film. It looks like a very faithful adaptation. If you haven't read the Alan Moore epic, you need to pick up the graphic novel now. May I suggest the elaborate (and expensive) Absolute Watchmen, published by DC?

clipped from www.aintitcool.com We've got a 1940's Picture of THE MINUTEMEN from WATCHMEN - and tis exclusive for all yous! Zack Snyder and crew decided that the day after MEMORIAL DAY was probably the most awesome day ever to remember and to expose some of our most awesome heroes of yesteryear. And I say AMEN to that. In the brilliant WATCHMEN story - there's a history - a universe and a specific world that the characters exist in. That's what makes it so great, so thorough and something to pour over. What we have below is a photo that the Minutemen took - Who are the Minutemen? Well in WATCHMEN - it was the first TEAM of superheroes that formed in 1939 and pulled a BEATLES in 1949. In the pic below you'll see the classic SILK SPECTRE and NITE OWL... you'll see CAPTAIN METROPOLIS, MOTHMAN, SILHOUETTE, COMEDIAN, DOLLAR BILL and with the noose... HOODED JUSTICE.