Wednesday, September 10, 2008Synaesthetic potationYesterday I realized that I have a strange need to – when playing video games – sip on a beverage befitting of the virtual environment I'm in. When shooting virtual terrorists (or virtual US imperialists) in Battlefield: Bad Company, for example, water is a must. Grizzled soldiers on the real battlefield don't drink apple juice or beer. Those are for after you're done fighting. During the battle, it's water if you're lucky. (This isn't some weird immersion obsession – I don't let the water ferment in a warm canteen or anything.) When battling virtual demons and zombies over in Aardwolf, on the other hand, a spot of tea is perfect. Just the thing Samuel Vimes would have before setting out to battle the forces of darkness. (I suppose this contravenes the comment above, but I have faith that in Ankh-Morpork a number of people actually do sip tea while fighting.) We recently got the very fun virtual-music game Rock Band. (Seems like such a pedestrian title for a game so devoted to virtual coolness.) It's kinda like Parappa the Rapper, only you're playing virtual instruments instead of pressing buttons. There's a mic, too, and whoever is on lead vocals really sings the song. Now I'm very excited about the potential for a new Parappa where the player really spits lyrics. Anyway, Rock Band begs the question: What do rock stars drink on stage? Beer! But I hate beer. I really don't like any beers at all. At all. I do like cider, though, so I'll just pretend all my gigs are in Slough. Of course, the local Kwik-E-Mart only has Mike's Hard Lemonade, so I suppose it'll have to do. Rock stars drink mediocre hypersweet alcohol drinks between axe solos, right? Drink responsibly and only if you're over 21. (I feel the need to include this sort of disclaimer lest an impressionable student of mine wanders in and sees me writing about the consumption of booze.) TimeWaster™ Check out Captain Disillusion – he's a guy on YouTube who explains how all the "crazy supernatural" videos that freak everyone out are actually made. In this episode, he breaks down the glasses caught with face video (which is a really cool vid). I know, his makeup is really dumb. But everything else about the videos is great. I also like the one he did about the gas station ghost. Enjoy! Today I'm listening to: "Minutes to Burn" (A guy from East Timor rapping in Tetum.) |
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