A Reason to Get Google Chrome.

This has actually been around for a while, but if you don't have Google Chrome, you've never seen it!

Arcade Fire and Google teamed up to create an interactive music video.  It is really, really, really cool.  You have to download Google Chrome to watch it, but it's worth it.  In fact, Google Chrome is actually a solid web browser.  Bonus.


http://www.thewildernessdowntown.com/

-DMc, West Coast Correspondent

Goldeneye Spawn Patterns: Facility

Facility was the second level I learned the spawn pattern to. Like before the top of the picture is the hunter and the bottom is the hunted.

Step 1. 

Step 2.

Step 3.

Step 4.

Step 5.















 -jv

End of a Generation Defining Era

This might get personal.

I don't think I'm alone when I try, and fail, to describe what a massive place the wizarding world of Harry Potter holds in my heart. I was 11 when I first read the first book (the same age as Harry) and now at age 23, I still own all the books, card games, board games, calendars, and can still have a three hour long discussion about the analyzation of literature, plot devices, and every character from Ron to Madam Pomfrey, without blinking a eye.

Going off AV's most recent post, it will be 9 and a half years almost to the day when the first movie was released. I remember anticipating the first trailer and spending three hours downloading off AOL 4.0. Then losing my mind with giddiness after seeing it.

I can honestly say nothing has changed with this most recent trailer. I invite you to watch the trailer for Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, then watch the trailer for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 back to back. I can guarantee any fan, including myself, will (and did) get choked up at the recognition that this series is an era that spans more than half of our lives and will continue with us for the rest of them. 

And I don't think anyone expects the series to go out with anything less then a hullabaloo that would make Fred, George, and Peeves proud.

July 15 can not come soon enough. Let's all go see it in IMAX.

-AM

Harry Potter 7 part 2 Trailer

Speed Read Harry Potter

Just stumbled across some totally sweet cartoons by Lucy Knisley. She is super funny and talented, but I got quickly side tacked by her 1-frame Harry Potter summaries. She has one for each book and they're pretty great.


Here's my favorite HP book in one hilarious frame. Check it out in full size and see the rest here.

 Also she re-imagined Harry Potter as a late 80s movie/early 90s tv show. Saved by the Spell or Accio to the Future. Here's a clip of that.

I'm anticipating a slew of Harry Potter related madness in the coming months til part2 comes out.

-av

p.s. here is a even newer even sweeter X Men trailer

I Just Wambled...

This list is awesome. I (and other people agree) believe that JV's favorite trivia information is that the dot on the top of a lowercase j or i is called a tittle. That's one of the 25 things we see everyday, that we didn't know had a name.

Find the rest here.

I scratched my Philtrum with my Lanule, while staring up at Crepuscular rays, which gave me Phosphenes.

-AM

You Should Probably Get LinkedIn

LinkedIn is like Facebook but for your work world. It is the reason I found a really great job, so I wanted to give it some love. 


If you're on LinkedIn, add me to your network! If not, and you're looking for a job, you should get it. It's an online resume, but better. 


-id

Geek Rappers

As fans of music, television, comedy, and general 'geekiness' I feel that all of our palettes are broad enough that I can put this out there for all to love. I have assembled a few artists that if you don't know, then you should.

Donald Glover (member of derrick comedy and cast member of the show community) has a rapping alias known as Childish Gambino. If I could oversimplify his style and flow is to simply say that he makes songs using indie beats (adele and sleigh bells to name 2 off of the top of my head) to make amazing songs. Check out his new single off of his latest EP called Freaks and Geeks.


[its not the official music video b/c I wasn't able to embed the video file :-(]

The next one on my list who fits into this new category is Nyle. I have been a fan of this guy for a few years ever since I heard his remake of Lil Wayne's Let the Beat Build. Born in Philadelphia and schooled at NYU this guy is paying his dues on the underground for notoriety and respect and he has the chops to back it up. He has a couple of mixtapes available for free at his website and I suggest that if you like any of the following songs you should definitely download his mix tapes.


(As an incredible side note; the above video was shot entirely in 1 take by 1 camera man and the audio was recorded live. Amazing.)




The last rapper/hip-hopper I'll mention is a man by the name of Reggie Watts. To simply put it; awesome! He is literally a 1 man band with only a weird voice-distorter-machine-thingy and his own vocal chords and this guy is starting to get some real notice as of late. He has been a fairly regular act on Conan since he has switched to TBS but if you haven't seen him before check out this performance from the Conan O'Brien show and his uber famous single "Fuck Shit Stack" below.






Conclusion

I believe that the above artists are at the forefront of the next generation of hip-hop, R&B, rap and as well as comedy. Childish Gambino has some of the freshest beats I have heard in a while and the fact that the beats are all sampled from Indie bands is pretty amazing; plus his lyrics are incredibly fun/filthy which is a lovely reminder of B.I.G. Nyle is a smart young man trying to find his own voice in hip-hop and at the same time, I believe, he is helping others in the rap arena realize that they don't have to impersonate another mainstream voice in order to sound dope as all hell. Plus his lyrics are incredibly refreshing in a rap community mired in the dissolution that bigger cars and more chris brown-esque acts is what hip-hop needs. Reggie Watts is simply incredible and so fun to watch perform and the fact that he hasn't been scooped up by a Kanye West or even Andre 3000 to help make original and amazing beats is beyond me.

Peace & Love,
- sf

Great Movie

All of you love to laugh; pure fact. Here is a great, hilarious, original movie to check out now on instant Netflix called "Black Dynamite". Pure amazing. Check out the trailer.



 - sf

Euro-Electro-Visual-Pop Madness

This is a song by a collective of multimedia artists and musicians headlined by a Swedish pop star. They released a series of cryptic, anonymous videos on youtube under the name "iamamiwhoami." Check it out:





They also performed a version of their album live, where they started in a city and traveled into the wilderness in a car that had been converted to a music studio, and broadcast it on the internet. Crazy shit.


- DMc, West Coast Correspondent

Nneka

This is a artist that I stumbled across and she is pretty legit, this song and her other song "heartbeat" are some of her better known songs. Born in South Africa and raised in germany, check it out.





- sf

2-D glasses : the luddites cure for 3-D

I've mentioned it before, but I kind of hate 3-D. It's more expensive and it's doesn't do much for me but make me feel slow and stupid because my eyes can't keep up. Well, apparently the director of Tron:Legacy 's wife felt the same way. So he did her a solid and made 2-D glasses, that make it so you can watch a 3-D movie without getting the blur that happens when you take of your 3-D glasses.

How? Here's some science:
Normal 3-D glasses feed a slightly different image into each eye; take the glasses off and all you see is a blur. With the 2-D glasses, both eyes get the same image: No 3-D effect, and no blur.

Basically if there's a movie that's only coming out in 3-D (ahem, Harry Potter 7 Part 2), you can wear these glasses and, boom, no 3-D, no headache. Or you can give yourself a break from the 3-D part way through and go back to 3-D when it's worth it.

The downside is that you're still paying for a 3-D movie, so you're not saving any money. But for $9.99 it might be worth it, cause summer blockbuster season is right around the corner. And nausea really takes the fun out of it.

-av

p.s. The new X-Men trailer is even sweeter than the original. Watch it here

Goldeneye Spawn Patterns

Part 1: Temple.
Temple was the first level I ever noticed a pattern in. I know the patterns to Facility, Stack, Archives, Bunker, and most recently Complex. I have enjoyed sitting atop the Goldeneye multiplayer world for long enough and now it is time to spread the wealth.

Any level I do not know the pattern to is not worth playing.

I have taken pictures of each of the spawn points. I have set up the pictures so that on the top of the screen there is the hunter and on the bottom there is the hunted.

Step 1

Step 2: From Step 1 move to the right to the door that leads to a downhill ramp. There is a room on the left with no door and a room on the right with a door. Your opponent will spawn in the room to the left wait until they spawn and go down the hallway so the game does not bump them onto Step 3

 














Step 3: After having gone into the room without a door from the downhill ramp go back to the hallway. Wait at the door, you can open it just do not go inside. Wait for your opponent to spawn they will be in front of you slightly to the right.

Step 4: Having gone into the room with a door proceed across the room and go up the far side ramp. This will lead you back to the room from Step 1. Stay close to the wall on your left and go straight ahead to the door. Open the door and move forward until you see a dark downhill ramp on your right. Your opponent will probably have just enough time to spawn by the time you get there, proceed down the ramp.

Step 5: Go back up the dark downhill ramp you used to enter into Step 4. At the top on the ramp take a right to go downhill. Once at the bottom of the ramp do not enter the room. Wait for your opponent to spawn they will be to the right.

After Step 5 to pattern resets and goes back to Step 1. As long as you do not get to close to the spawn point the cycle will continue until the end of the game.

I will be putting up the spawn patterns to Stack, Facility, Archives, Bunker, and Complex in the upcoming weeks.

-jv

p.s. KMV, I could have never done this without you, love you very much.

I Love (the) LeBron(s)

LeBron James recently premiered his animated YouTube show The LeBrons.
I'm loving it so far.
All the characters represent a different side to LeBron; Kid, Athlete, Biz, and the old Wise man.In the first episode Biz, the character LeBron voices, hires a lion to protect Kid.
And the animation looks like it could be in the same world as a glossy Family Guy.


-jv

The Rules of a Gentleman

Being the chivalrous man I am, I take into account all the general what's and which's of gentlemanly living. This website condenses it all into vernacular.

Note: It gets broader and more vague as you go through the numbers.

-jb

Here's to Motown!

A friend of mine was throwing around ideas for musicals that she'd like to direct next year and she mentioned Hairspray. She knew nothing about the show and was on the fence until I showed her this:

Which has to be one of the most high-energy songs in a Broadway show I can remember. Absolutely ballin' dancing. And not for nothing, but try NOT to hum it later on.

So, here's a toast to Mo-Town beats, the unsung hero of most good parties. It endures (even my HSers love Frankie Valli and the Temptations) but no one ever acknowledges it as a great way to pump up many generations at one time.

-fp



Titanic: 99 years of morbid fascination.

In the wee hours of the morning on April 15th, 1912, 99 years old today, the Titanic sank into the Atlantic, taking with it 1,517 people, due to insufficient lifeboats and a whole bunch of other incompentencies. And people can't stop talking about it.

I'm not saying there's anything wrong with loving the movie, or going to a museum expo of stuff brought up from the wreck, getting lost on wikipedia looking up survivors and victims for several hours, or occasionally getting sucked into a History Channel marathon of Titanic-themed programming.

However, Titanic interest can be taken too far. Like the 100th Anniversary Titanic Cruise. The cruise, which sold out last October, will take place next year, reaching the place where the Titanic Sank on April 14th before continuing on to Halifax, where there's an excursion planned to the cemetary where the recovered bodies were buried. According to a press release:

"The Balmoral will trace the same route the Titanic took from Southampton to New York in 1912 and the ship will sail with 1,309 paying passengers, exactly the same number that sailed on the Titanic. The restaurants will offer the same menu, and the passengers will hear music of the time of the Titanic. The passengers will have an opportunity to listen to lectures about the Titanic era and those who shared its fate. "

This super morbid, totally sold out, with a very long waiting list cruise is doing some good, they've joined with a charity that is benefiting from the profits as well.

In other, related, vaugely depressing news, while researching this I saw an article claiming that the Titanic wreck still on the ocean floor will be destroyed by bacteria by 2017.

My heart will go on long after the Titanic has turned into the underwater version of dust,

-av

p.s. also, while Lincoln was shot the night before, he didn't actually die until the next morning, so Abraham Lincoln has the same death day as the Titanic, April 15th.

Architecture, Art, and Awesome Memories

How Great would this place be on a summer night?

Also, this Flickr has some of the best landscapes I've ever seen, my fav is this one. 

Lastly, this is even cooler in person, can you believe someone would tag over it!?! Try to stay classy Venice, CA

-BJK

More Exciting British News

The Royal Wedding is only two weeks away!
While looking in on the latest news about the wedding I came across a jelly bean that looks just like the future Princess William.
I also came across the short list of the BP Portrait Award, a contest that happens every year, awarding the top prize to the best portrait of the year.
My favorite to win is named Holly, and she is defs NSFW.
-jv

I am excited for Scream 4

I am too much of a wuss to really dig horror movies. I remember watching the first Halloween at my dad's house in the middle of the day with the lights on and being terrified. Anaconda scares me to even think about, right now I am a little scared. And if you are really looking to not be able to fall asleep or look at Ronald McDonald for a little bit you should see IT. I quit scary movies after seeing Section 9 though, that shit is too scary. Props to The Horror Digest for being able to do it, I am too much of a wuss.

I am excited about Scream 4 though. I have seen all the other ones and don't have any lingering "omgimsoscared" moments. I really enjoyed them more then anything. And Scream 2 inspired me to sing a partridge family song to my girlfriend in 8th grade in the cafeteria the day before she moved away. Scream 4 comes out on Friday and while I might not see it this weekend when I do I'm sure I will love it.

I had plans to put links in to the trailers for all those movies I had mentioned before, I got too freaked out just searching for them I only got as far as the first Halloween.

Also I just saw the first bit of footage from the new Planet of the Apes movie, I'm excited for that too.

-jv

Make Your Own Volcano

So, I'm teaching Pompeii to my sophomores right now and they're loving it. Especially when we each created our own virtual volcano (thanks, Discovery) and whoever created a Plinean eruption got some extra cred. It's still cool to make things explode.

Bit of a downer compared to vinegar and baking side, but I'll take it, 21st Century.

-fp

Make Pictures with Sound Board Colorama

This is my new favorite song:

drunk history

"I'm trying to create electricity, and you look like an asshole. You look like a fucking idiot."

Sound Board Colorama

Literally, what a legit deal. I don't even know what this is.
Those are all the same link I'm so excited about it.


 But it could entertain me for at least three hours.

Every day.

For the
rest
of
my
life.



Also, street art is always a plus.

<3jb

Steve Carell, Julianne Moore, Emma Stone and, oh yeah, Ryan Gosling.

This speaks for itself I think.




July 29th, 2011. never forget.

-av

Song of the Week

Everyone do yourself a favor and download Lou Bega's "Mambo Mambo"

Sometimes you just want to listen to latin music but it can be so hard! You can try to find that random spanish channel on your AM radio but it might be hours before you catch a song you can get down with. That's one hour of listening to sub par music in a language you can't understand.


This is your best alternative. If you are going to be driving somewhere, walking somewhere, doing work, having a dance party, or cooking spaghetti this week then just download this song and listen to it while you do your thing and trust me you will not regret it. If the song doesn't make your smile then I'm not sure why you read this blog. And while you're at it listen to Mambo #5 too- it's pretty much solid gold.

                                                          

How can you say no to this face?

-Jilliciuos

Team White Queen

I am very excited for the new X-Men movie. I loved the cartoon and recently came across what seems to be all of X-Men Evolution on YouTube. My love of X-Men defs started with the playing cards. They were the shit, they had cool on the beach cards, halloween cards, and the card that probably kept me interested in X-Men when I could have begun having other interests; the White Queen.

In the new X-Men movie the White Queen, or Emma Frost, will be played by the awesome January Jones who I loved in Pirate Radio. I think the casting agent nailed it. And James McAvoy as Prof. X, nailed it. The movie comes out June 3rd and I am wicked excited.


-jv

5 Fav Actors

I had a discussion on set with a coworker last week about what can qualify someone as being a great actor. There are many different parameters and exclusively deciding on the particulars, as we concluded, usually comes down to opinion.

SO, just for the hell of it, seeing as this is a completely subjective question, I'd like to see who everyones favorite top five actors are. If you are an avid TV or movie watcher, this changes constantly, so just list your current favorites in the comment section.

Coming up soon, I will ask who the top five favorite actresses are, so prepare for that as well. JV's post about "Inside the Actors Studio" led to my thinking of this, as I think it was one of the best posts yet.

-AM

Spaghetti doesn't grow on trees

You've probably realized it's April Fool's Day. Perhaps you've been inundated with prank attempts. Maybe it was TKM's not-birthday or Gmail Motion made you consider clearing a four foot space around your desk (my dad was totally fooled).  Perhaps an enthusiastic French teacher taught you about how April first is Poisson d'Avril or Fish of April in which all the jokes involve fish, so you've been noticing fish everywhere.

My favorite kind of April Fool's prank is fake news. I came across the first TV news April Fool's prank. In 1957 the BBC aired this news clip (don't mind the ten seconds of black at the beginning):


Apparently at the time in the UK spaghetti was considered pretty exotic, so people didn't know it didn't grow on trees and the BBC received a boatload of calls asking where to buy a spaghetti tree.

I wish spaghetti grew on trees, that'd be awesome.
-av