Videocrab Vox

Ack! Sorry, I forgot about Vox. Truth be told, I forgot about a lot of the Internet. I went back to school and stuff. I stopped blogging about video games on my videocrab dot com domain, but that's also partially because I haven't even been READING about video games, let alone playing them. (Although I'm halfway done with Phoenix Wright: Ace Attourney.) I haven't been updating my online journal. I haven't been posting comments. I haven't been uploading files, heck, I've barely even been downloading files! But, perversely, I have been signing up for more things-- I'm finally on Facebook, and also de.icio.us, which means that by the time I check all my online community things, I'm sick of looking at the screen and don't even feel like typing. I'm pretty sure my great grandfather never had this problem.

My main problem with Vox is that it's slow as hell on my machine and lags terribly. (My computer is too old for Web 2.0! OH NOES WHAT WILL I DO WHEN WEB 3.0 COMES OUT???!?!?!!?)

But I still love you! Promise.

Last night, my friend and flatmate Chris burst into my room and announced to everyone that it was ice cream time, so we all went to McDonald's. Everyone got their cones, then the guy behind the counter held mine out, but when I went to grab it, in one fluid motion that took about two seconds to execute he TOOK A BIG CHOMP OUT OF THE TOP OF IT AND THREW IT AWAY AND SMILED. The worst part is, NOBODY ELSE SAW HIM DO THIS, and I might be crazy but I know I'm NOT THAT CRAZY. He made me a new one and handed it to me, just smiling. Other friend and flatmate Scott believes me, though, so it's okay. Kind of.

If you could be on any reality TV show, which one would you pick and why?

"Let's Give Kevin Money." You probably haven't heard of it. Trust me, it's awesome. I think it's on the WB.

What or who is your favorite product mascot? Why?

McDonald's' (<-- punctuation disaster!) "Speedee" burger-headed chef character. When I was very young, I was visiting my grandparents in Kansas, and I was taken to the Kansas Museum of History. They had a surprising amount of recent history in there, including this:

Mcsignlg

I'm not sure why it had such a profound effect on me. Neon tubing fascinated me, especially being raised in Santa Barbara where such garish displays are generally against the law; I certainly also ate more than my fair share of McDonald's cheeseburgers as a kid. But I remember being literally awe-struck with wonder, realizing that the huge corporate empire that I knew had humble beginnings, just like everything else. Ronald McDonald had to be invented, just like everything else. And not only that, but as for the McDonaldland characters and mythos that I knew so well? I realized they were just another marketing concept, which, in time, would seem as ancient as this "Speedee" character. They are, now, come to think of it... remodeling has caught up with most of the McDonald's restaurants still home to the Fry Kids and Mayor McCheese. It's just that scary clown now. I think I remember McDonald's recently trying out a half-assed anniversary nostalgic reintroduction of Speedee... but I think they should have tried harder. Screw "brand identity"... Speedee is way more awesome than Ronald. I'd rather have my burgers prepared by a (literal) burger chef than a magical clown.

I've taken to eating my ramen before it has completely cooled. I am hoping that I can burn my tastebuds permanently numb, or at least dull them. If anyone has any medically-sound reason why this is a bad idea, tell me now. If you think this action is drastic, you should try being a supertaster sometime. (I'm even sensitive to temperature; I'm the one still blowing in his hot chocolate long after everyone else at the table has polished off their first refill. When everyone meets somewhere for coffee, I usually order a kiwi-strawberry Vitamin Water. Which, incidentally, tastes to me the way Kool-Aid tastes to you when you make it without enough water.)

Update: I've been informed that your taste buds are one of the few parts of the body that will actually regenerate. Dammit! Is that true?!

I've really got to get it together. I thought I had it together. Turns out it's still in pieces in the box, or it was together but some other kid has taken it apart to make something else.

What was the highlight of this past weekend?

Perhaps seeing "Clerks II" with my friends. Possibly seeing "Wordplay" with my mom. Probably the rock show I went to last night. (My favorite local band, The Hero and the Victor, at my favorite local venue.) But if "highlight" is measured in "number of digital photos taken in rememberance," it was this:

Whut whut

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My housemate Chris went to Comic-Con and brought back (amongst other things... many, many bags full of other things) this temporary tattoo featuring the art of Chris Sanders, co-director of Lilo & Stitch (and voice of Stitch). I happened to be wearing this shirt, which I'd cut the sleeves off of since it was so damn hot. I also had a camera. It was a recipe for disaster. MACHO DISASTER.

Because nothing says "macho" like a Metal Slug shirt and a temporary baby fox tattoo.

Outtakes: http://www.flickr.com/photos/videocrab/tags/temporarytattoo/

I don't think I could eat these. Or these. (Not without crying, anyway.)

"I enjoyed Clerks II" is a statement which, coming from me, adds nothing whatsoever of value to anything or anyone. It means nothing when I say it, because I have so far enjoyed all of Kevin Smith's efforts* and I had no reason to believe that I'd have anything other than a very good time watching this one. I know they're not great movies but I still went to go see the guy open up his comic book store, so an endorsement from me is pointless. But what I can admit is that I was actually touched, in a strange way, by some surprising themes present in a movie that (by its TV-ad appearances) is primarily concerned with pop culture references and unspeakable sexual acts. I will be the first to admit that Clerks (the original) is certainly not a good movie, and is most assuredly overrated even by the people who would claim that it is at least just a funny movie. I won't even try very hard to defend the overstuffed, verbose dialog, as funny as it may or may not be. (I just really like big words.) But: Clerks meant something to me when I first saw it about ten years ago. So it's probably no coincidence that, as its titular characters have also aged about the same amount of time, these clerks still have something to represent for me this time around, too.

I was having trouble putting my finger on it; I've read quite a few reviews of Clerks II but this last paragraph of the one on salon.com (linking to Salon is a guaranteed annoyance) is as close as I'm likely to come:

"Clerks II" has its problems: It rambles into sentimentality, and it doesn't need to -- the movie is more affecting when the characters are just cracking jokes. But Smith, an inherent optimist, has made a movie full of crude humor that also manages to explore the enduring qualities of friendship. And "Clerks II" gets at something even more elusive: In this country, we assume that every kid has to go to college, which will help him or her get a great job and build a happy, satisfying, productive life. A life lived any other way is probably destined to be inferior. That's not just a fallacy; it's also a way of setting people up for huge disappointments. At one point even Randal, who generally doesn't seem to be bothered much by his directionless life, says that the time he's spent lounging around, working at not-very-demanding jobs, hasn't been meaningless: "It's all building toward something," he asserts, a truth "Clerks II" stands by. Smith seems to be suggesting that there are many ways to build a life, even when you're not making much of a living.

*(I haven't gotten around to "Jersey Girl" yet.)

Who is your favorite Muppet? Why?
QotD submitted by knitwitology.vox.com.

I don't know how to embed a YouTube video. That makes it hard for this to just stand on its own without commentary, because all these words I'm typing now kind of count as commentary. Oh well, click here to have your face drummed off by awesome.