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James's Journal

james
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08/16/2007 23:04 #40585

Dance Dance Revolution
My addiction started many years ago,

You see, I had not seen the wonderful friends I had made the freshman year of college in about a year. Being absolutely horrible at making friends by my onesome I gravitated towards that special group of freaks who accept those too nerdy to be accepted by the treckies, the dorks too geeky to play Vampire LARPS. I was friends with the Anime crowd. You will have to take my word on this, but they were the coolest anime kids the world has ever known.

There was Jamie: the born-again-off-again Christian who could be found reading The Story of O, playing piano without ever taking a lesson, capture stray kitties and put them to her bosom, and dance like a maniac. All without the fortifying spirits of alcohol.

Dave, the 30 year old freshman who chain smokes. He began smoking to kick his cocaine habit, and it worked!

And a constellation of very minor characters which I will leave out for interestingness sake. Jamie and Dave weren't very active. Jamie's lack of Dance space and soccer, and Dave's lack of coke had led to a little slowness, a little softness. A noticeable, but modest paunch.


But When i saw them after one year, the change was amazing. The crazy characters would play Dance Dance Revolution (DDR) at home, in the arcade for hours. And they wanted me to try. Oh, the horrid songs! The indignity of dancing like stationary hop-scotch! The utter un-coolness of it told me not to dance. But their newly shapely thighs and tight buttocks commanded me to dance.

And oh! was it unimaginably fun! Cooly I told them it was alright. But when I got back home a few days later I made a rare trip to the mall. Thankfully, my apartment at the time was in a basement under a staircase. And with my tiny window blinds shut and the music down I shed my bourgeois music and stillness for a dance epidemic.

I mention all this because a new version is coming out for the Wii. It will have the usual dance pad and also involve motion with the two remotes. It promises to be the craziest game I am ashamed to play.

that is all
james - 08/17/07 16:51
Cool kids are doing it now? Get out of town!

I did here of some high school who bought a smattering of DDR machines for their gym classes.... meanwhile Buffalo schools can't afford to give qualified teachers a raise in 5 years or hire new qualified teachers. Awesome!

Guitar hero does look like it would be fun, it combines rad rhythm games like DDR with an implement resembling a keytar: the most bitchen instrument ever crafted by sentient beings. A winning formula
drew - 08/17/07 14:54
Guitar hero is better, because you can be lazier.

But I like both, and I totally think we need an Estrip DDR tournament (I will participate but lose)
jason - 08/17/07 14:33
I can't say I've ever tried Dance Dance Revolution. I think I would like Guitar Hero a lot better.
fellyconnelly - 08/17/07 14:00
you should see me play dance dance revolution. its like watching somebody perpetually stuck in that moment of slipping on ice but not quite going down yet....

but.. eyetoy.. now there is somethin exciting...
lauren - 08/17/07 12:06
I LOVE Dance Dance Revolution! And anyways all the cool kids are doin it.
james - 08/17/07 00:14
Oh! It is on!
terry - 08/17/07 00:10
you must invite me...
if you're up for a challenge :)

08/15/2007 09:56 #40553

Dan Deacon
Category: music
Hi,

Youtube still amazes me. One day it will occur to me to type in the name of a musician, show dog, novelty cigarette manufacturer, just to see what comes up. Well, today was Dan Deacon's day.

I have memories of Dan. He went to school with my friends. So, when i would see Dan I would be high or drunk, both, or carrying a length of PVC pipe covered in pipe insulation and duct tape. I saw Dan perform a handful of times, but man, it was freakin' awesome. An kinetic ham electronica genius.

Care to see a youtube result?



you will look for more, I know you will.
fellyconnelly - 08/15/07 17:46
would you ever fight a pack of lycanthrops without silver weapons? seriously, i'd run.
james - 08/15/07 13:45
no, it had nothing to do with ballpipe. PVC would lead to some horrendous ball injury, and that is not cool.

No, my friends from college were LARPers. And I suppose I have no choice but to make a hilarious post about LARPing.

A brief interlude: Once, while fighting a pack of lycanthrops, Dan Deacon yelled out across campus to us, on his way to some other more glamorous destingation, urging us to use silver weapons.
fellyconnelly - 08/15/07 12:46
i finally picked myself up off the floor from my epileptic seizure and i still only have the same question as jason...
jason - 08/15/07 11:23
Did that PVC thing have anything to do with Ballpipe? Or whatever that was called?
jbeatty - 08/15/07 10:07
I may need a dose of gabapentin after watching that!

08/13/2007 19:05 #40522

Back
We just got back from visiting my folks.

A 6-7 hour car ride makes those at the destination the most horrible people on the planet, by simple virtue of their distance. But, it was a lovely trip and I ate a great number of clams.

I hung out with all my hometown friends. This is a bit of a misnomer, as only two of them are from the same town as me, but hometown is a much larger geographic term encompassing anything east of Syracuse and generous parts of Connecticut. We played a game called 'Who Wants to Eat a Millionaire" if provoked we can play it next estrip party.

Speaking of estrip. Separately but with the same concerned tone both my folks asked me what Estrip.org was, due to the new bumper-sticker. Boy were they relieved.

And now, I must get blood flowing back into my legs after such a long car ride.

squishy kisses
tinypliny - 08/13/07 20:57
If the game involves eating vomit-flavoured stuff, I am totally out.

  • just laying that out in advance*
fellyconnelly - 08/13/07 20:52
ah i love extremely long car rides.
lauren wants to go to the delaware county fair this week!
which is over in your hometown....er...area...

i had a concerned question about my estrip bumper magnet too! but it was from my 14 year old nephew. he was probably thinking along the same lines as your folks.

08/08/2007 16:24 #40444

In Praise of Pandora
The title of this journal is not a failed playwright MFA thesis, but it could be if you ask nice enough.

No, I am talking about [link=www.pandora.com]Pandora.com[/link] it is a streaming music site where you plug in the name of a beloved song or musician and BAM it provides you with hours of things you might also like.

I have been listening to a radio station with songs similar to Nico's Marble Index album. Monday it was Tom Waits-like radio.

To give you a sense of how much I am enjoying it I usually keep a text document open that I fill with new artists I hear. The more obscure stuff has some repeats (Like Robert Wyatt, which has about 30 songs) but there have been few repeats with the above mentioned.

One thing I quite enjoy is to pop in a band with a dozen side projects. Or a musician who put out a few works before dieing of going Syd Barrett crazy. Specifically, the band Morphine has has both. Mark Sandman, the singer and principle song writer had a heart attack early in the bands career (though he was in his 50's). It is about 60% Morphine, his solo stuff, and rarities. So freakin' awesome.

It is part of what they call The Music Genome Project. Music is analyzed and cut up into specific characteristics. These are based on the sound and not the lyrics. So your happy happy upbeat music station could suddenly have a bright song with cut yourself lyrics. It is part of the joy.

So, if you are stuck at a soul crushing job what makes you want to bore out your eyes with hardened dung and can listen to music please check it out; you will be happy you did.

paul - 08/10/07 00:16
With the new update my nokia n800 does pandora now!
tinypliny - 08/09/07 21:21
This is annoying. I think I emphasized the wrong word and spelled wrong. A sign from the grammar gods to quit hanging around...
tinypliny - 08/09/07 21:18
Three cheers to opening the box and letting hope out. :)







I know, but I just *had* an immense urge to say it. BTW, (e:james), harned dung is very crumbly and I don't think you can beat ocular pressure with that kind of leverage.
james - 08/09/07 11:15
Jenks: I know of several people on this site who use and love Pandora. But I was just so wide eyed in love with it yesterday because in the middle of my Nico lovin' it played Big Bottom from the Spinal Tap movie. Such an unexpected treat! I just thought I would share.

Chico: The niche music problem is kind of my problem. I have tried putting in a specific song by a lesser known artist and will get crap. Or, I can put more popular choices like Nick Drake or Joni Mitchell and I will just get really boring folk stuff. I will have to do a little more training I suppose.

And it was a pleasure meeting you last night as well. ^_^
chico - 08/09/07 10:06
Oh, and good to meet you last night, (e:james). :)
chico - 08/09/07 10:05
Love Pandora. And Morphine is good stuff.

I've had good success "training" Pandora to conform to my musical tastes as well. I've used it for everything from jazz (Dexter Gordon, etc.) to metal to folk rock to alt country, it's great fun. Sometimes it chokes a little on niche bands with unique sounds, like Cake, but it's generally very good.

Have been ignoring Pandora lately in favor of networked iTunes at work, but in the meantime I'm pretty sure Pandora had only gotten better. (And a shout-out to (e:jenks) for turning me onto it last year!).
jenks - 08/08/07 17:48
yeah- pandora is cool stuff. (as is lastfm, fyi).
However, you are not the first to write about it. ;)
(but neither was I- I think it was (e:kara) that posted it first.)

08/06/2007 14:10 #40407

The most hilarious birthday present EVAH
You may recall me posting [inlink]james,40063[/inlink] about a Florida state representative who offered to give an undercover police officer a blow job in a public restroom for $20. And seriously, if you don't remember, you didn't read it, because it was the funniest thing since Planet of the Apes: the musical. He was the one with a recreational interest in water sports.

Well, Rep. Allen has given us an explanation, finally. Oh, and it was so worth the wait.

You see, Rep. Allen, who is white, was arrested by an officer who is black. Allen felt intimidated and feared becoming a "statistic". In defense, Whitey offered the big scary black man a blow job. It seems so natural when you think of it like that, a survival strategy.

Skunks spray, puffer fish puff, Allen blows.

Well, here is an excerpts from Officer Scary Blackman's police report. How long can you go without guffawing?

In a written statement released Thursday, Titusville Officer Danny Kavanaugh recalled entering the restroom twice and said he was drying his hands in a stall when Allen peered over the stall door.

After peering over the stall a second time, Allen pushed open the door and joined Kavanaugh inside, the officer wrote. Allen muttered " 'hi,' " and then said, " 'this is kind of a public place, isn't it,' " the report said.

The officer said he asked Allen about going somewhere else and that the legislator suggested going "across the bridge, it's quieter over there."

"Well look, man, I'm trying to make some money; you think you can hook me up with 20 bucks?" Kavanaugh asked Allen.

The officer said Allen responded, "Sure, I can do that, but this place is too public."

Then Kavanaugh said he told Allen, "I wanna know what I gotta do for 20 bucks before we leave.' " He said Allen replied: "I don't know what you're into."

According to Kavanaugh's statement, the officer said, "do you want just [oral sex]?" and Allen replied, "I was thinking you would want one."

The officer said he then asked Allen, "but you'll still give me the 20 bucks for that . . . and that the legislator said, "yeah, I wouldn't argue with that."

As Allen turned and motioned for the officer to follow him to his car, Kavanaugh identified himself as a police officer by raising his shirt and exposing his badge.
fellyconnelly - 08/06/07 17:52
big scary black man!