“Breaking Bad” 16-Bit Edition
Last month some people who I thought were my friends peer pressured me into “trying” Breaking Bad. Breaking Bad is an AMC series about a highly overqualified high school chemistry teacher who is diagnosed with lung cancer. With the help of a former screwup student begins cooking the worlds highest quality crystal meth in order to pay for his treatment and leave some money for his family. Insanity and amazing storytelling ensue. The show is ridiculously addictive. Next thing I knew I was nursing a three episode a night binge habit.
Just watch the damn show. You won’t regret it.
Moving on… College Humor created a 16-bit version of Breaking Bad. It comes complete with a badass 16-bit rendition of Rodrigo y Gabriela’s masterpiece Tamacun. Don’t watch this unless you’ve watched the show already… Bitch.
16-Bit Breaking Bad
Rodrigo y Gabriela’s first album with Tamacun and 8 other magnificent songs (CD) (Download)
Best of Funny Christmas Movies, TV & Music
Surviving another month in the “holiday spirit” echo chamber made me ponder, “Which of these movies, television episodes, and songs do I actually enjoy?”
Best Christmas Movie
Winner
Die Hard (1988) - ”Now I have a machine gun. Ho ho ho.” It’s a tale of redemption set on Christmas. That makes it a Christmas movie. Deal with it.
Runner-up
Elf (2003) – Everyone likes this movie. If you don’t I recon you might be one of those damned communists.
Best Christmas Television Episode
Winner
South Park – Woodland Critter Christmas (Season 8, Episode 14, 2004) – Stan helps some adorable Woodland Critters give birth to their savior. Insanity ensues. This isn’t for the faint of heart, or for young children.
Runner-up
Futurama – Xmas Story (Season 2, Episode 8 1999) – 1,000 years in the future, a robotic santa (John Goodman) distributes gifts on Xmas. Robot Santa’s behavior standards were set too high in the factory and he judges everyone as naughty… And tried to murder them for their misdeeds.
Best Christmas Song
Winner
O Holy Night – Matt Mulholland - Be sure to read the description of this song, and stick around for the crescendo at the end; Mulholland has exceptional vocal range.
Runner-up
The Night Santa Went Crazy - Weird Al Yankovic
Happy Holidays!
Arrested Development Returning!
Of the many cancellation atrocities committed by Fox, the termination of Arrested Development is one of the worst (next to Firefly).
After nearly six years off the air, the Bluth family is returning with new television episodes and a movie, with their very specific brand of uncomfortable humor. In doing so Arrested Development will join the ever-growing list of excellent shows that Fox prematurely cancelled, only to bring them back in some form. That list includes:
- Firefly
- Futurama
- Family Guy
“Series star Will Arnett seconded Hurwitz’s pledge on his Twitter feed, @arnettwill, while, er, standing next to co-star Jason Bateman: ‘I’m peeing with @batemanjason at the moment … and we can confirm that we are going to make new AD eps and a movie.’”
Maybe one day we will see new episodes of The Tick, Dollhouse, Human Target & Terminator the Sarah Connor Chronicles… But I’m not going to hold my breath.
At the moment, Fox isn’t confirming the resurrection of Arrested Development. If this doesn’t happen, I will be pissed.
(Source)
Actor Wil Wheaton Explains Why the Entertainment Industry Causes Piracy
Actor/ geek Wil Wheaton (Stand By Me, The Guild, Eureka) explains why the entertainment causes piracy through stupidity.
I haven’t really pirated anything in a very long time because I earn enough money to pay for my own stuff. However I have bittorrented movies, music & games after purchasing legit versions simply because the cracked versions were more user-friendly than the locked-down crap I paid for.
Also, it’s become clear that pirates are also the best customers.
(Via techdirt)
Geek Events NYC
A lot of the biggest geek events are in California, but New York City has it’s fair share. Here are the biggies where you might bump into me.
Maker Faire - September 17 & 18
The event I’m most excited to attend.
It’s the worlds largest DIY festival, and that’s not what you think it is. We’re talking DIY robotics, gadgetry and all manner of crazy stuff on both the small, and very large scale.
I’ve only seen video of them, but I can’t wait to see a Maker Faire in person.
Get your Maker Faire Tickets
New York Comic Con – October 13 – 16
The second largest comic con, next to San Diego (I think). I haven’t attended a comic convention in about five years, but I’ve decided to drop in on NYCC mostly to see how much larger these events have become since the last time I went to one. From what I understand these super cons are unfathomably massive.
Get NY Comic Con Tickets
Google Tech Talks (Recurring)
Google’s NYC office holds monthly tech talks hosted by Google Engineers. I went to one, and had a great time; learned a ton; and met many interesting people.
The only drawback to these is that getting a seat is difficult. The events are scheduled through meetup.com. The registration starts at unusual times, and there’s limited space.
If you can get in, it’s absolutely worth it.
Google Tech Talks (Meetup)
Tim Schafer Pitches His Next Game to Cookie Monster
Tim Schafer, the game designer behind some of the most creative games of the last decade (Psychonauts & Brütal Legend) is making a Sesame Street game called, Sesame Street: Once Upon a Monster.
Check out his pitch for Cookie Monster.
And for the record, I have no time for people who don’t love muppets.
The Truth About Transformers
When I was a kid my parents watched a lot of cartoons with me, but there were some shows that drove them out of the room. One of those cartoons was Transformers. I was an observant kid, and I noticed the correlation. I always wondered why, and found my answer in college.
My college roommate was (and probably still is) a huge Transformers fan. He read the comics, had the toys (the Unicron figure was so damn big I wanted to charge it rent), and watched that cartoon a whole lot.
Unicron
One of the many things I learned in college was that the Transformers are fucking stupid.
The animation is crap, the dialog is shit, and I’ve seen porn with a more compelling plot.
I’ll admit Peter Cullen owns Optimus Prime, but that’s where my praise of Transformers media ends.
Transformer toys are great. When you’re a kid there’s nothing cooler than a robot and a truck/ airplane in one. I got more mileage out of the few Transformer toys my parents gave me than just about anything else in my toy-chest.
In this instance, great toys don’t translate into great media.
Convince me that I’m wrong… Or just let your fanboy rage loose on my comment section.
(Image)
