Monday, May 17, 2010
Videogame music is an acquired taste. But for fans of this obscure genre of music, there have been a few fantastic songs in recent years. Here are a few highlights:
Halo Theme - The Marty O'Donnel classic in it's purest form. Epic and moving.
Still Alive from Portal - Quicky and funny, but eerie at the same time. I feel like every piece of electronics in my house is watching me now.
Dancing Mad by the Black Mages - If you can sit through this, you are hardcore.
M4 Pt2 by Faunts from Mass Effect 1 - Best use of licensed music in a game EVER. ANYWHERE. This song fit the game perfectly and opened my eyes to a fantastic band I would have never heard of otherwise. Perfect. Seriously, do whatever you can to get your hands on their two full length albums and the M4 EP.
Those Minterals sort of from Mass Effect 2 - Okay, it's not official, but it's bad ass. And I quote "she's a skeezy how, tell the illusive man, he don't believe me tho..." Classic.
Halo Theme - The Marty O'Donnel classic in it's purest form. Epic and moving.
Still Alive from Portal - Quicky and funny, but eerie at the same time. I feel like every piece of electronics in my house is watching me now.
Dancing Mad by the Black Mages - If you can sit through this, you are hardcore.
M4 Pt2 by Faunts from Mass Effect 1 - Best use of licensed music in a game EVER. ANYWHERE. This song fit the game perfectly and opened my eyes to a fantastic band I would have never heard of otherwise. Perfect. Seriously, do whatever you can to get your hands on their two full length albums and the M4 EP.
Those Minterals sort of from Mass Effect 2 - Okay, it's not official, but it's bad ass. And I quote "she's a skeezy how, tell the illusive man, he don't believe me tho..." Classic.
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Non-Social Networking: The Reticent Exhibitionist In Me
I have been thinking a lot lately about what I hope to get back from this tentacled monster that is the internet and realized that my experiments in this arena go back quite a ways. I started my first web page back in 1999. It was mostly photos of my dog, but I also began chronicling the adventures of my sister as she took jobs abroad, first in Wyoming and then in Massachussettes. My "updates" were mostly nonsense and distortions of real events, but I had almost weekly posts and had a number of friends and family who were checking in on a regular basis. I was blogging without even realizing it.
I dropped that amatuer website a couple years later and while I spend a lot of time on the internet, it took me a few years before I decided to "put myself out there" again. In 2008, after hearing years of hubabloo about it, I created a MySpace page. And promptly deleted it. It was mostly ads and I got a lot of messages from shady looking men and women I had no interest in knowing. And frankly, "Tom" struck me as a little creepy himself. Obviously, I did not have a grasp of privacy controls at the time, but I did not keep that page for long. Actually, it might still be out there; once you create a profile on one of these sites it is harder to kill than a cockroach.
Later that year, at the suggestion of a friend, I joined the playfully titled Facebook. Maybe you've heard of it. Again, I had some fits and starts trying to keep the riff-raff out, but I actually managed to connect with numerous college and high school friends. I very quickly learned to stay away from the games and apps (really, what is the point of "flair"?) and soon I had accumulated a moderate circle of "Friends". Now, two years later, I am questioning why I am on Facebook at all and what's in it for me.
I am inherently an introvert and I thought that FB might be an easy way for me to engage more people. Ridiculous. Early on, I tried to include a personalized message along with each Friend Invitation and also responded with messages to those who attempted to Friend me. I only got an actual message in response from about 1 in 10 people, which made me wonder why they would want to be my virtual friend in the first place. I'm not bitter about it or anything, I just find it interesting. For the most part, I only send messages and interact with about 10 of the 95 people among on my Friends list.
I am reluctant to delete my account though. For some reason, I feel a need to let others know I am out there and in modern society it would almost be taboo to NOT have an account. I occasionally post an update or random thought and less frequently comment on the status of another person not in my immediate circle of friends. Reading the posts of others is not always particularly interesting, but it is comforting to see everyone's lives ticking along at a similar pace to mine. The other factor is that I have to say I need an outlet and need to know someone is watching. Like most people, I tend to find myself to be an intelligent, witty person. Admit it: You are pretty impressed with yourself too. One little "thumbs up" symbol on a comment can satisfy a person's need for validation for the day. But it is getting old and I just don't feel that I am getting much out of the experience any more.
So here I am. Non-Social Networking: Part III. I'm just a damn wiener kid who is trying to find his voice on the internet. I have some company now, so let me see if this provides me with the creative outlet the exhibitionist in me needs. Or will my inner introvert get scared that someone actually might be paying attention? Let's see what happens.
I dropped that amatuer website a couple years later and while I spend a lot of time on the internet, it took me a few years before I decided to "put myself out there" again. In 2008, after hearing years of hubabloo about it, I created a MySpace page. And promptly deleted it. It was mostly ads and I got a lot of messages from shady looking men and women I had no interest in knowing. And frankly, "Tom" struck me as a little creepy himself. Obviously, I did not have a grasp of privacy controls at the time, but I did not keep that page for long. Actually, it might still be out there; once you create a profile on one of these sites it is harder to kill than a cockroach.
Later that year, at the suggestion of a friend, I joined the playfully titled Facebook. Maybe you've heard of it. Again, I had some fits and starts trying to keep the riff-raff out, but I actually managed to connect with numerous college and high school friends. I very quickly learned to stay away from the games and apps (really, what is the point of "flair"?) and soon I had accumulated a moderate circle of "Friends". Now, two years later, I am questioning why I am on Facebook at all and what's in it for me.
I am inherently an introvert and I thought that FB might be an easy way for me to engage more people. Ridiculous. Early on, I tried to include a personalized message along with each Friend Invitation and also responded with messages to those who attempted to Friend me. I only got an actual message in response from about 1 in 10 people, which made me wonder why they would want to be my virtual friend in the first place. I'm not bitter about it or anything, I just find it interesting. For the most part, I only send messages and interact with about 10 of the 95 people among on my Friends list.
I am reluctant to delete my account though. For some reason, I feel a need to let others know I am out there and in modern society it would almost be taboo to NOT have an account. I occasionally post an update or random thought and less frequently comment on the status of another person not in my immediate circle of friends. Reading the posts of others is not always particularly interesting, but it is comforting to see everyone's lives ticking along at a similar pace to mine. The other factor is that I have to say I need an outlet and need to know someone is watching. Like most people, I tend to find myself to be an intelligent, witty person. Admit it: You are pretty impressed with yourself too. One little "thumbs up" symbol on a comment can satisfy a person's need for validation for the day. But it is getting old and I just don't feel that I am getting much out of the experience any more.
So here I am. Non-Social Networking: Part III. I'm just a damn wiener kid who is trying to find his voice on the internet. I have some company now, so let me see if this provides me with the creative outlet the exhibitionist in me needs. Or will my inner introvert get scared that someone actually might be paying attention? Let's see what happens.
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