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Tech Requests For 2009
Welcome to my third annual tech wishlist! In 2007, I wished for more eye candy and visual sweetness in my interfaces (most often my OS), a new free, independent music site and a dream phone similar to the iPhone just days before its January 9th announcement [link]. In 2008, I desired massive improvements to mobile devices and an all-in-one, Apple woes, a new Quake (still waiting!), the dissipation of the Duke Nukem vapor, Knights of the Old Republic MMO confirmation (got it! The Old Republic!), an improvement to Amazon Unbox (still waiting...), what I called the Vista Millenium Effect (hello, Windows 7), municipal wifi, and a great year for gaming [link]. What do I want this year? V. Wish: A sub-$200, >2GHz Netbook running Ubuntu with superb WiFi, ~2GiB of DDR-SDRAM, and excellent battery life should find its way into my lap. IV. Prediction: Microsoft Windows 7 will prove to be to Windows Vista what Windows XP was to Windows ME. The detractors will balk and the fanboys will drink the kool-aid; but the objective minded moderates will approve. III. Wish: Scalable game design should take hold. You shouldn't need to be running a liquid-nitrogen cooled, $8000 custom rig to play the latest and greatest games. In fact, games should be able to run cleanly on a current $300 budget machine, but scale up to look breath-taking on those high end $10K beasts. I would also like to see an end to SecuROM. II. Prediction: Star Wars: The Old Republic will take a respectable piece of the MMORPG marketshare from World of Warcraft and pull some good numbers. Also, I will enjoy the game immensely. ...and the number one wish for 2009? I. The RIAA and MPAA will be exposed and collectively charged under RICO laws when a disgruntled SafeNet (nee MediaSentry) discloses to the public and press all sorts of dirt and bile. A torrent (pun fully intended) of federal indictments will rain down upon the bastards and the people will rejoice. This is not too likely; but a man can dream, can't he? Chrome Comes To Conquer Google's new web browser Chrome has sent a ripple through the web browser waters. It adapts all of the most notable aspects of a Google project: simple, functional design, effective marketing, and the inclination to collect your data (re: OmniBox]. Additionally, Google plans to add a plug-in functionality to Chrome, pitting it directly against Mozilla Firefox. Google provides 80% of the funding for the Mozilla Foundation. They do this purchase the right to be the default search engine in Firefox; a contract which, curiously, expires today [source]. Did they, quite strategically, release the beta Chrome with just enough time to get this buzz going before they mortally wound their main competitor by shutting off such an immense amount of funding? Or, perhaps this, with the recent aggressive push to make a deal with major PC manufacturers to make Chrome the default browser on new PCs [link], gives Google the right type of negotiating edge to drastically decrease how much they pay for that top spot search right. This move also kicks Internet Explorer (IE), the big dog in the house, in the teeth. IE's large market share is mostly due to its inclusion as that default web browser on nearly all new PCs. Google has, with its beta release, created an immense buzz about Chrome. Reviews, rants and raves about the browser created a firestorm of free word-of-mouth marketing within days of its release. It took Mozilla ages to get this kind of attention. These elements have put Google in a very strategic position to push its web browser to the top. Will the other browsers come back with competitive defenses? This type of event certainly forces competitive innovation and keeps the industry really moving. I am a Firefox user. As long as it is around and updated, I will likely remain so. My browsing experience will have to really be revolutionized to change this fact. Still, Chrome is a decent and solid browser with a speedy little engine. It's good to see some new competition out there. Who knows; perhaps Opera will come out of left field with some immensely innovative Chrome-killer. If one thing is certain in this field, it is uncertainty. Google's Chrome page Mozilla's Firefox page Microsoft's Internet Explorer page Enslaved - Vertebrae  Enslaved are perhaps one of the most legendary Viking Black Metal bands to hail from the great frozen north of Norway. On this offering to the nine worlds, Enslaved consists of: Ivar Bjørnson (guitar, keyboard), Grutle Kjellson (bass, vocals), Arve Isdal (guitar), Cato Bekkevold (drums), and Herbrand Larsen (keyboard, vocals). They appear to be making a progressive turn in their songwriting. How does this fare for Vertebrae?The opening of Clouds was different that what the likes of Frost (1994) and Isa (2004) (my two favorite Enslaved pieces) primes me for. However, they seemed to be able to make it work. It had its weak points; but overall, it succeeded. The rest of the album really reaches fir and grasps the part of me that leaves me truly enslaved (pun intended) to their sound. You can feel the icy waves around the Arctic Circle in its crystalline purity -- sometimes violently crashing around you; sometimes flowing to a smooth current. Much of this album reminds me of why I am a fan. Despite my swooning, there were moments I could not even force myself to like. Every now and then, a song would turn into what I can only liken to American post-grunge. I cannot stand American post-grunge. These parts would have been easily fixed by using more full, deep, operatic "viking" vocals. Despite this drawback, I very much enjoyed Vertebrae. I give this mighty release three and a half stars.   Enslaved's website Enslaved's MySpace profile Labels: cd review, music, Skot Behemoth - Ezkaton  Behemoth is widely known in the metal genre as being an unrelenting force of brutality and darkness. Hailing from Poland, Behemoth are an utterly vicious torrent of aggression to be reckoned with. On their new ep, Ezkaton, Behemoth is: Adam "Nergal" Darski (vocals, guitars, synth), Patryk Dominik "Seth" Sztyber (guitars), Tomasz "Orion" Wroblewski (bass), and Zbigniew Robert "Inferno" Promiński (drums). Like their last ep, Slaves Shall Serve, Ezkaton is comprised of 2 original studio tracks, 2 covers and concluded with live tracks. While last time they chose to cover Fields of Nephilim and Danzig, this time out they're covering Master's Hammer and The Ramones. (There is also a Misfits cover on the limited edition box set edition's 7" picture disc vinyl.) As their in-between album ep's go, this is a formula that works for them. Now, how did it turn out this time around? This is not Behemoth at their best. Chant For Ezkaton 2000 e.v lightly rips open the offering, whetting my tongue for Qadosh to get me moving. Jama Pekel (jam a pickle!) moves at a good pace but I cannot keep from laughing. The live tracks are what they are. On a whole, it seems their pace and hostility has waned some with this ep. It could be a bit heavier. It is not quite the frontal assault we've grown to crave. Behemoth set a standard and need to either meet it or excel beyond. I have a hard time using the word brutal and this ep in the same sentence. I can only hope they get some of their vital aggression back before they write and record the next one. I can only afford Ezkaton two and a half stars. They can do better. Behemoth's website Behemoth's MySpace profile Behemoth's YouTube channel Labels: cd review, music, Skot Cradle of Filth - Godspeed On The Devil's Thunder  Cradle of Filth are a melodic black metal band from England. On this release, they are: Dani Filth (vocals), Paul Allender (guitars), Charles Hedger (guitars), Dave Pybus (bass), Martin &0138;karoupka (drums), Rosie Smith (keyboards), Mark Newby-Robson (keyboards), Sarah Jezebel Deva (backing and female operatic vocals), and once more featuring the guest narratives of the legendary Douglas Bradley of Hellraiser fame. Cradle of Filth return from the lighter and more accessible sound they embraced with Thornography and Nymphetamine to their more traditional, black metal influenced sound in Godspeed..., much to the delight of their core fan base.The Blood This is a concept album about fifteenth century serial killer Gilles de Rais [Wikipedia article]. We all remember the last time they did a concept album about a famous, historical nutter, right? Cruelty And The Beast was an epic masterpiece! They were thinking right in going with that formula again. Godspeed...is indeed masterful. It is Cradle of Filth true to form once more. The guitars get good and fast when they need to and carry truly dark melodies throughout. I will likely learn a couple of these to warm up with. Dani gives a better vocal performance than he has for a couple of albums, but what caught my ears the most was an increase in Sarah's involvement. This is something fans have been asking for for some time. The Piss While I am indeed gushing over their return from more pop-inclined realms, this release still has a few down sides. Dani Filth still is not hitting the ear-piercing highs like he used to. I'm not one to beg for a screeching cat fight, but it is his signature. There has been some speculation that this is the result of Roadrunner Records influence. It sure seems in line with RR's behavior in the past. They seem quite partial to bringing mainstream moderation upon once extreme acts. Douglas Bradley's narratives are always good, but these are not up to his usual par. Perhaps it is in acting as de Rais, different from previous 'voices' he has been, but they seem more to the cheese than his past performances with Cradle of Filth. Finally, while all of the above I've said about the guitars hold true, there is still too much Maiden and not enough black metal in the riffs. Oh, Gian Pyres, how we miss ye. The Judgement This is a step back in the right direction. Cradle of Filth should not and never be a Hot Topic-friendly, emo-pop accessible band. They should be bitingly violent while cruelly beautiful. They should not be the beloved of 13 year old, neo-mullet wearing mall-goths. The music should not be MTV-friendly. This album is a drop of hope that Cradle of Filth can resist the influence of Roadrunner Records and stay true to who they've always been. Godspeed On The Devil's Thunder belongs with the elder releases in regular playing rotation. While it is not Dusk..., or any of the Gian-era releases for that matter, it is exceptionally better than their recent offerings. I give it a nice four and a half stars. Cradle of Filth website Cradle of Filth MySpace profile Labels: cd review, music, Skot Ceremonial Castings - Salem 1692  Ceremonial Castings is a melodic black metal band from Washington consisting of Jake Superchi (Lord Serpent, guitars & vocals), Nick Superchi (Old Nick, keyboards), Matthew Mattern (Bloodhammer, drums). According to their Wikipedia entry [link], Salem 1692 is a concept album about the Salem, Massachusetts witch executions in 1692CE. Lord Serpent and Old Nick claim to be descendants "...of the late Judge Ha(w)thorne...," a judge who presided over the trials. Meh.The Good The guitars carry their melodies quite well through the traditionally fast black metal riffing. The growled and screamed vocals are perfect for the atmosphere created by the music. Ceremonial Castings does a good job of mixing violent black metal with touches of epic sound and moments of moving slow-downs. The Bad Still, there were drawbacks to this release. The keyboards of "Old Nick" are adequate enough as background filler, but are mostly uninspired. The clean, operatic vocals, both male and female, sound hokey and forced. They feel more like an homage to other, more notable bands than an attempt to make their own mark. The Verdict Overall, Salem 1692 is listenable, and even enjoyable, if rather unoriginal. It stands up on its own but does not reach the anything exceptional to stand out from the very crowded barrage of melodic, symphonic black metal being released. I cannot justify giving this release more than three stars. Ceremonial Castings website Ceremonial Castings MySpace profile Labels: cd review, music, Skot Announcement: The DigitaLucifer WebZine And Forums The Webzine You read that title line correctly, folks. DigitaLucifer.Net is turning into a full-fledged webzine. We will cover music both local and global, publish a variety of literature, interviews, commentaries, artwork of many sorts, and offer various types of multimedia content. All of this will be provided for free. There will be some minimal advertising on the website and we will, at some point, offer some form of premium membership incentives. Suggestions? The conversion from personal site to full-featured webzine will occur piece-by-piece over the next month and should be out of beta by the first of 2009. The basic appearance of the website will remain the same. Some of the content will be restructured and streamlined. It should, in theory, be a painless process. Just in case there is some trouble, however, the month of December will be a beta period for testing. Contributors will include the editorial staff (Editor-In-Chief: Skot, Managing Editor: Evilyn, Associate Editor: Persephone) and a few 'regulars'. If you are interested in being a contributor, send your name, email address, why you want to be a contributor, and some sample work via this feedback form. The Forums The DigitaLucifer.net Forums are now open and ready for ye depraved masses to populate and textually fornicate your mutual thoughts. Get your collective arse over to http://forums.digitalucifer.net and sign up right now!!! It is where you'll need to go to communicate with our staff and, if you're so inclined, take a shot at becoming a contributing writer. Go! Now! From Darkness To Disgust: A History of Morpheus Today, the 17th of October, 2008, marks the official 11th anniversary of the inception of Morpheus, a band that was permanently put to rest a little over a year ago. In honor of this date, I am going to give a brief history of the band, as I remember it. While I began making "music" (mixes of brief necrophiliac songs interspersed with am radio noise and samples) under the pseudonym of Morpheus in the Summer of 1997, a few months prior to the October 17th birth date, it was on the official date that I invited John Ellis, Jr., aka. Spanky Payne, then going by the stage name False Einstein, (so named for a particularly prided lack of intelligence) to join Morpheus and form a real band. Let me begin a little further back. For a little over a year, I had been playing guitar in a two-person industrial metal band called Caution with vocalist and keyboardist Soulburn. In the summer of 1997, around the same time I started a solo side project called Morpheus, Soulburn and I decided to open up to other members. John came in on bass, friend Josh Meighan joined as an additional guitarist, and Kyle L'Esperance was being courted as a possible drummer. We'd practice a small set and booked ourselves a Battle of the Bands style gig. The night before the gig, Soulburn decided he did not want to do it and dissolved the band. The rest of us decided to start a new band Flail Chest. After a few months of practice and song writing, we booked a girl's birthday party as our first gig. This was the infamous October 17th set that is considered to be the first Morpheus show. No members of Flail Chest showed up aside from John and myself. Determined to still carry on, we played our set just guitars, vocals and bass with numerous samples and much destruction. That night, angry at everyone else, we ended Flail Chest and I invited john into Morpheus.  While Necrosex is the eldest Morpheus song, having written it prior to John joining, the first song we wrote together was Chastities. I wrote the music and we wrote the lyrics together. Chastities was a heavy but slow tribute to a quite promiscuous friend of ours, Chasity, whom was in possession of rather pleasing endowments. That theme of sexual deviance soon mixed with gothic overtones, destructive tendencies and a strong anti-Christian sentiment to create the original Morpheus sound. Musical styles ranged from angry punk to simple thrash metal and experimental industrial. This sound lasted for the first few Morpheus cassette releases Systematic Release {1997), Abyss of Lust (1998), and el Nino de Luzbel (1998). Between 1997 and 1999, we played many small house-party shows for tiny crowds and amassed a reputation for utter destruction, crowd abuse and pure sadistic fun. Inspired by the ineffable GWAR, we took stage "slaves." These 'slaves' were fans who would come up on stage and beat each other up while we played. We would also abuse them. They were typically led by a female slave who would go by the stage name 'Dead Angel'. The most memorable incident was when we created a large wooden cross, laid it on the ground, littered broken glass over it and tied a slave down on it. We proceeded to spit and bleed on him. Our stage acts would lead to us being banned from playing all over town and picking up a reputation. Between 1998 and 1999, John dropped his second stage name, Anal Buttfuck, and began going by the moniker he would hold on to, Spanky Seamen Payne.Somewhere in 1999, we picked up drummer Wharg0ul and recorded the final, heaviest and best version of Chastities to date and a thrash piece called Fuck You. Eventually, the Wharg0ul moved west and things slowed down. We didn't record again until 2000. The first year of the new millennium was a transitional period for Morpheus. The old sound was left behind and we explored noise metal and relentless thrash sounds. A CD-R demo release was recorded featuring the beginning of this direction, and later a three-way split CD-R with CHUNK and Insane Brutal Nonsense solidified it. Between 1999 and 2001, Morpheus passed through so many changes in attitude and sound that it was barely recognizable as the same band anymore. All measure of darkness left the feel of the music, being replaced by chaos and depravity. In 2001, John and I picked up an off-and-on former member Peter "Spaz" Bolster (Peter Belial of Torrents of Death) to make the rotation (no one had an assigned position; we all switched around) three. We booked ourselves a Battle of the Bands style gig and, the day of the show, Peter had to leave for a family emergency. On the spot, we convinced local kid Ben Bushman to fill the shoes. The set was fun and chaotic. Ben practiced with us a few times but eventually lost interest and faded out. That's where Rob The Dead came in. Rob The Dead had been in local thrash/grunge band Twisted Chaos and had some drumming experience. He took the helm and rounded out what would be the definitive Morpheus line up for the next five years. We wrote a slew of new songs, played loads of local shows and had a lot of fun. Though we did the switching act for most of the time, I began spending the bulk of time on guitar, Rob with drums, and John became a front man. We played the first Punk in the Park mini-festival, organized by The Scams guitarist Mike Wierzbicki (now Mikey X of Fight Back). Toward the end of 2001, Morpheus came to a screeching halt.  Growing personal problems between John and myself culminated in a heated argument, resulting in John declaring the band broken up. In the months to follow, John started various side projects with Rob and the denizens of John's house, the infamous 107 Granger. It was in this period that Rob formed Psychotic Assault with Matt O'Brien. I played a "More Fee Us" set with a returned Wharg0ul on drums consisting of a few Morpheus songs reworked into death metal and a pair of lengthy death metal jams. My most notable project in that period was a blackened death metal three-piece called Black Chapel. This consisted of myself, Peter Belial and Wharg0ul. While we never played any gigs, we had an ep's worth of material written and practiced. Eventually, Wharg0ul moved west again and Black Chapel dissolved. In the summer of 2002, as I got ready to move to Burlington, VT, John approached me to reform Morpheus. I agreed and we did so just in time to play the second Punk in the Park mini-festival, this time organized by Tommy of Send More Cops. We played many local and backyard shows. Most notable of that year was the Halloween set played in the local parade on a dolly attached to a pickup truck. We were powered by a loud gasoline generator and went crazy. This tradition and pattern continued for the next few years. Each year was highlighted by the subsequent Punk in the Park sets (which John and I were organizing) in the summer and the Halloween parade. I had moved back to Rutland, VT and John moved out to Grafton, VT. In 2006, we picked up bass player Mike O'Holic, also of Broken Mindz. Practices and shows became few and far between. Spanky started forming side projects, Rob began focusing more on Psychotic Assault, and I eventually joined Psychotic Assault. This caused a lot of tension between John and myself, he reacting with jealousy towards the decision. I eventually began paying a lot more attention to Psychotic Assault as well, itself being a much more organized and active band, perhaps justifying some of the jealousy. The final Morpheus show took place on November 10th, 2006 in Gloucester, MA at The Art Space with The Jabbers and the Jonee Earthquake Band. John did some speed with The Jabbers before the set and Mike was good and drunk. Rob and I played a relatively tight set but, for the most part, John's vocal timing was far off. Incredibly angry, Rob and I decided that this just wasn't worth it anymore. For the next month we bounced around the idea of ending Morpheus. Personal differences between myself and John were mounting again. Eventually, it came to a head and John once more broke up Morpheus. This time, I was resolved to not go back. Morpheus had been dying for a long time and needed to be put to rest. It was over. It was one hell of a ride, but it could go no further. It is over. It will never be again.I would like to take a bit to thank those who helped us out in some way over the years. First and foremost, I want to thank John and Rob. After that: Whore-God the slave, Dead Angel (all of 'em), Josh Macabre, Jock Itch, Kyle, Lucy Skullfukkr, the whores of Hatezine, Wharmaster, Soulburn, Heidi Fallen Angel, Alex Balls, Mike O'Holic, Broken Mindz, Send More Cops, Jonee Earthquake and his band, Thorn, Mikey X, The Scams, Forest, Klara Raven, Flowers In The Attic, Josh Larose, all the bands we've played with, all the slaves we've beaten, all the people who've drank with us or blown us, all the groupies and fans we ever had and anyone who ever came to our shows. You made the ride what it was. Thanks. RIP. Morpheus b.1997 d.2007 "I am the nightmare." The Official Morpheus Website Labels: Editorial, music, Skot, wolves Who Needs Film Continuity? What the hell is with all of these comic book movie reboots this millennium? In 2006, we saw The Hulk, directed by Ang Lee. It had lots of hype and endless merchandising. (yawn) then, in 2008, we were treated to The Incredible Hulk, directed by Louis Leterrier. The Incredible Hulk is not a sequel, it is a do-over. In 1988, we got a so-so Punisher movie starring Dolph Lundgren. In 2004, they gave us The Punisher, starring Thomas Jane, a reboot. It was okay and there was a sequel planned, Punisher 2. Thanks to no scripts worth wiping my ass with, the sequel was canned. This December, we'll be seeing the second Punisher reboot, Punisher: War Zone, starring Ray Stevenson as Frank Castle/The Punisher. We'll see how well it does. Still, the biggest continuity reset, in my view, has been film franchise of a certain flying rodent from the DCU. The Batman franchise has become one of the largest comic book movie continuity reboots of all time. I know that the first film series went to shit after Tim Burton and Michael Keaton left and we'd all really love to just forget that Batman Forever [1995] (I loved the villain casting, however) and Batman & Robin [1997] (Uma Thurman as Poison Ivy was great) ever happened, but they could have revitalized it rather than tanking it and starting over. If they convinced Tim Burton to get back in the director's chair, it could have worked. The Superman Returns [2006] route could have been taken. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm a solid fan of this new version. Batman Begins [2005] does an incredibly good job at telling the origin in this new continuity by taking from Frank Miller's legendary Batman: Year One story. Christian Bale is a very solid Batman and Bruce Wayne. In The Dark Knight [2008], the late Heath Ledger portrays a very convincing, and absolutely maniacal Joker to conclude his film career. I cannot, in any way, put down the performances in this new canon. At the same time, however, Batman [1989] and Batman Returns [1992] are two of my favorite movies of all time. Jack Nicholson played a brilliant Joker, Michael Gough was a perfect Alfred, Michael Keaton was an amazing Batman (even if only a so-so Bruce Wayne), Danny DeVito was born to play The Penguin, and Michelle Pfeiffer was the best Catwoman I've ever seen on film. (Stick to playing Storm, Halle.) Burton's Gotham City was a cold and dark place, as it should be. His signature style and atmosphere was perfect for the franchise. Still, what has been done, has been done and we have a worthy replacement for the original film series (link: Variety). I am just disappointed that we will never get a proper Catwoman movie based on that initial series. Halle Berry's Catwoman [2004] was a joke and not a shred of Pfeiffer's impressive role. That said, I persevere. The only thing left to do is move forward and hope the new Batman series doesn't go the same route as the elder. Labels: Editorial, Skot, wolves Well? Are you waiting anxiously with baited breath for the Halloween Post-500 announcement? Are you? Post #498 Keep your eyes on this site for a big announcement on Halloween. Post #500 will contain an overview of secret announcement-y goodness. Sand Can Make A Man Mean For the last seven years, we ("such as US Americans," ha ha) have been inundated with the term and concept of holy war. A holy war is, by definition, a war motivated by and primarily over religion. This seems to be an eastern-borne concept. The cultures of the Middle East appear to love spawning war and destruction in the name of god; this has held true since their earliest days. Always, these cultures slaughter each other over religion and dogma. The Western and Far Eastern cultures do not share this action in their roots. Sure, they fought over land and other such tangibles; (Every one fights over territory. It is genetically ingrained.) but not over religion. Now, I know you are thinking, "What about Christianity? Countless wars have been fought over Christianity." I'll get to that later. Before I go further, however, I would like to preface this by stating that I am speaking of extremists on all sides. I am not, by any means, disparaging the religions themselves, the peaceful constituents of these belief systems, nor any specific, ethnic race of man. This is a piece about practices, not beliefs. When a Middle Eastern religious group or sect encounters another who either call god by a different name or worship their god in a different way, they declare them infidels and justify killing them. In the Arab world, this is called jihad, or, "holy war." Extremists even go so far as to suicide bomb mass groups of people of this supposedly offensive faith or practice, including the children. They believe they will be rewarded in the afterlife for this deed. For my Western example, I hold up the Mediterranean cultures and the Germano-Celtic cultures. When these two sets of peoples found one another, they did not say, "You worship Odin rather than Zeus so you must die." Instead, they said, 'You worship the same gods as we but you do so with different names and in different ways. That's interesting.' Of course, they warred over lands and territories for centuries; but that is something tangible. They did not war over their gods and religious worship. The Far East was the same way. They warred over lands and rulerships. They did not war over spirits. This brings me to Christianity. The main opposing forces within Christianity are Protestantism and Catholicism. This began in the time of King Henry VIII of England, when he decided to break England away from the Roman Catholic Church and The Vatican and found The Church of England. The Church of England was the beginning of the Reformation and the birth of the Protestant denomination. Other denominations followed and they do bicker with one another. This has indeed led to wars over styles of worship. Let us also recall the spread of Christianity itself through Europe. This was done in a very brutal and fascist manner, comparable to a holy war against the native, heathen ways of each land it took. This, in fact, was the first holy war of the Western world. So why do I not include it in my statement? Christianity began with Jesus Christ and his break from Orthodox Judaism. Christianity is, fundamentally, Judaism. It was merely a prior Reformation-like split. Where does Judaism originate? Judaism originates in the Middle East. Thus, the plague the spread of Christianity wrought upon countless heathens and then in itself in its many forks and branches is entirely an export from the Middle East. Is there something off kilter in my fact-checking? Post corrections in the comments! Labels: Editorial, Skot, wolves Blame Shitty Parents Earlier, I was reading an article about the drug dealing mini-game to be included in the upcoming Nintendo DS GTA game, Chinatown Wars. The usual backlash against Rockstar Games will ensue. One commenter made the usual argument that children will play this. To her rant, I replied thusly: Jdill, if the parents are not monitoring what their children are playing, then they are guilty of CHILD NEGLECT. If the parents buy adult-themed items for children, they are guilty of Disseminating Indecent Material To Minors. It is a parent's RESPONSIBILITY to inspect and search out what is in content they may possibly purchase for their minor child. I am a gamer and have enjoyed gaming since I was a child. I am also a parent. I closely keep track of what I buy for my son. If I were to buy my son content intended for an adult, I would be the guilty party, not the game developers nor publishers. It is un-American and just plain stupid to blame video game publishers and developers for the consumer's bad parenting. The article can be found here: at blogs.siliconvalley.com I stand by that statement. It is irritatingly tiring to constantly hear people blaming game developers and publishers for the lack of parenting skills in our fair land. This is a true marker for the state of our culture. Rather than taking responsibility for one's faults, we seem obsessed with scapegoating and finding a supposed villain to blame and chastise. If some klutz slips on a patch of ice because he was not paying attention to where he was stepping, he may then try to sue the city or the owner of the property, as if it were their fault he made a stupid move. So, if some parent who either does not know how to say no to their child or just doesn't care purchases the latest GTA for said child stumbles across a brilliantly graphic scene freaks out, they will likely not say, "Wow, I should have been paying attention to what I was buying my child." Rather, this unfit parent will immediately blame the store who sold it to them, the publisher who released the game, and the developers who made the game. I abhor these so-called parents. They are pathetic parasites sucking the life, liberty and freedom out of our society. You do not have to love graphic media to loathe a bad parent. Labels: Editorial, Skot, wolves Five-Hundred Rambles This blog is fast approaching the 500 post mark. Maybe for #500 I will post something special. Maybe I will simply post a photo of poop. Who can say? Who knows? Who cares? On that apathetic note, I have finished converting the poem pages for my own works and updated my 'Poetry' archive page to reflect this. All archive links under my heading point to the corresponding blog posts. While migrating the poetry, I noticed that there is 17MiB of content in the blog itself, consisting of post pages, monthly archive pages and label/tag pages. That's quite a bit. This mass of content could translate well into a web magazine format. That idea is still bouncing around the cave between my ears. Burnt Leaves Fallen That's right, delinquents, it's back to seasonal backgrounds for DigitaLucifer! I have been contemplating the site's future quite a bit these past few days. I can't help but wonder if perhaps it would be best to become more magazine-like and less personal. I could maintain a set of personal blogs within the website, but the site as a whole could then justify itself. Opinions? Once Upon A Raven's Crest Once upon a raven's crest, My head did surely rest While its blood slowly dried on my chest. She brushed her wing across my face To thank me for this shadowed place. Oh, what a deviantly blissful taste! Like all birds, this raven did depart, Taking with it a piece of my heart; But in all ends, a new course may start. Labels: literature, poem O, poetry, Skot Farewells To A Pale Night Beauty A night of regal majesty And pride Opens wide A door of ancient memory. I recall patterns and feelings Too abstract To project Into sounds and imaginings. Conquests and victories Run aside Visions astride O'er passions and midnight regencies. Bare deep into the night, Beautiful wraithchild, And give your flesh up Not but to whom You choose to be Master. Labels: literature, poem F, poetry, Skot By Shifting Moonlight Alrighty, folks, it is time for me to begin migrating the current poetry page into this blog. I'll be using labels/tags to maintain the alphabetic sorting and perhaps keep the current archive page in some form. Still, no more pop ups for the archived poems. Bear with me. What's To Come Over on MySpace, I noted the ep Noctis would be coming up next. Noctis has been pushed back and the next release will be the ep Scripture. Let me clarify. Over the past two years, I’ve been working on four vastly different MP3 EPs simultaneously: Antithesis, Noctis, Scripture, and Posthumanity. Originally, I was working on Antithesis as a full length but ended up writing in a few very different styles; so much so that there could not possibly be any cohesive feeling nor continuity to the release. Thus, I split it up into a collection of eps. Antithesis itself was the first finished and released late last year on MySpace, Amie Street, MP3.com and as a torrent via Pirate Bay’s tracker. The next in line, as above mentioned, is Scripture, a mostly instrumental soundtrack for a vacation in Niflheim. Early next year will see the release of Posthumanity, an industrial depravity, and Noctis, a dark and sullen gothic rock bit. I’ve tossed around the idea of a cover ep after that, but we’ll see. I toyed around with covers of three NIN songs (last having been offered on MySpace several times), one Ministry track and some Bauhaus. Who knows? Narkissos I am, this moment, of the mind that this site needs to be less about multi-user content and more about me. (Wolves may and damned well should still blog.) This is, after all, my website. It will never be a large content aggregation site like YouTube, DeviantArt or NewGrounds. The structure is going to face some retooling in the next couple of months. Deal with it. a flicker... a shimmer Thanks to Flickr providing some embeddable slideshow code, I can begin to display a slideshow of my example photography work in the Photos page. Check it. HorrorMerch http://www.horrormerch.com  I need me some of this. Mountain Horror Once upon a time I decided to make some of the darkest, most desolate low-key lo-fi black metal I could muster. I wrote a few songs and called it Mountain Horror. It did not last and the songs fell to the wayside. The idea slept, frozen in the grimmest ice of a dark glacier in the blackened back of my head. Today, it has emerged, more depraved and desolate than ever. Thing is, I don't need another band. I am in Psychotic Assault/Violent Decay (or whatever the name is now) with Rob and I have Torrents of Death. Perhaps those songs would work in Torrents of Death? There is no set sub-genre really; it is just metal. I just may do that. I just may... go listen to some Gallhammer and DarkThrone. Labels: Editorial, music, Skot, wolves Draining The Mental Bladder Today, I'm going to go over a couple of things that piss me off. I'm having a pretty good day, so call this the force of habit, if you must. These aren't major acts of war; they are just a pair of minor annoyances. Let's hear it for loudly voicing minor issues! Before I begin, I would like to preface this with a disclaimer. I am aware that I probably should not be supporting major corporations. I can sustain myself happily on the local economy. Still, there are a few items I enjoy, despite the forthcoming complaints. What the frakk is up with soda bottle cap promotions these days? Remember the elder days of these "1-in-6 wins a free soda" promotions? You opened the soda, read the cap and it said flat out "sorry..." or "winner...". Now, you see a string of alphanumeric characters. This means you get to go to the company's bloated, short-attention-span-oriented website, register for an account (giving up personal information) and then punch in your code to see if you won or not. Chances are, you did not. DunkinDonuts is including an alphanumeric code in their Bases Loaded promotion this summer as well. This is incredibly annoying to the point that I now ignore most of these. If I win something, I should know right away. It was not a flawed system. It is everywhere. It is shit. This summer, Pepsi did a promotion with Amazon.com called PepsiStuff wherein buying a bottle of soda gave you Pepsi Points towards Amazon's MP3 store. When this promotion was first released, it was likened to the same promotion Apple did with its iTunes store offering free songs. A significantly good portion of the time, this elder promotion would in fact give you a full song. Now, with this current promotion, you average 1 point per soda. How much is a song? Most are 5 points. 5 sodas per song for someone who has cut back his soda intake immensely is just frakked up and not worth it. Frak you, Pepsi. In retrospect, putting any worth on these types of promotions is a very unfulfilling practice. One should expect wholly to be thoroughly frakked from behind when participating. I'll stick to water, tea, coffee, whiskey, beer, Reeds and juice. Frak the rest. Labels: Editorial, Skot, wolves Deathcore Is Impotent I'm so tired of this deathcore bullshit. Every band and their groupies want to be deathcore and completely avoid the innovation and originality brought forth by the earlier death metal movement. Single-chord 'breakdowns' were fun that time Pantera did it. Since then, its been the same mindless copying over and over again. Why bother trying to write something of your own when you can just imitate everyone else and draw a crowd? (We all know how much the herd loves impotent songwriting.) This could be why I've grown so sick of the local scene. Bands who actually have their own sound are few and far between. I have better things to spend my money on than another cover band relabeling songs as their own. Labels: Editorial, music, Skot, wolves Poison Apple  It seems Apple has finally felt a little of the heat over their annoying push of their horrible browser Safari through their Apple Software Update [>link]. This likely accounts for some of their web browser market share gain on Microsoft's Internet Explorer. Anyone using iTunes not paying attention to the update cycle would inadvertently install Safari. Today, I am greeted with a new update screen as I update iTunes to 7.7.1, as seen here: http://tinyurl.com/69rkdf. Safari is placed into a separate box labeled "New Software." Still, it is checked by default and would provide the same result as the previous scenario. Apple never ceases to amaze me with their arrogance.In other news, it's nice to see that some of George Carlin's ashes were spread in nearby Lake Spofford: http://tinyurl.com/56ac2n Axen http://s245.photobucket.com/albums/gg77/digitalucifer/guitars/  I just added a sub-folder in the DigitaLucifer photobucket account for my guitars past and present. Nifty and keen, I say! I'm missing photos of guitar #3... I must track it down. What should I name my current Ibanez? I have some customizations and modifications I've been tossing around in my head for a year or so I should get around to. Hmmm... First step: pickguard.Labels: Editorial, Skot, wolves Top Five Reasons Why I Can't Make A Band Work 5. I hate to travel. 4. She will never stop riding my ass. It is endless and boundless. (but I love her. What can I say?) 3. There is a severe drummer and bassist shortage 'round these parts. You have no frickin' idea. 2. Angry girlfriends kill rehearsals and chances. ...and the number one reason why I cannot make a band work: I'm part-misanthropist, part-apathetic, and 100% unmotivated. "I coulda' been somebody. I coulda' been a contender." Labels: Editorial, Skot, wolves Beer, Meat and 'Splosions KABOOM  That is my favorite part of this holiday, with cooking out and drinking beer a close second. Fireworks are a beautiful thing. they're only dangerous if you're a kid, they malfunction, you're a fucking moron, or all of the above in any combination. I think I may bust out the grill today and fire up some chicken tits. I should also get myself a pint or two to stick in a nondescript container for consumption during the city fireworks. Sounds like a good enough time to me.My lady Persephone plans on shooting some fireworks this evening. So, in anticipation of this, and in remembrance of my shots last year which were relatively sub-par, I've tracked down some links to guides on better fireworks photography. · Thanks to TinyURL now providing the ability to create custom url aliases, the first link (redirecting to MakeZine) is How To: Photograph Fireworks @ http://tinyurl.com/boom-stick. · The second, heading over to LifeHacker, is Get Better Fireworks Photos This Fourth of July @ http://tinyurl.com/boom-hack. · Third, we have Shooting Fireworks: Capture The Spectacle @ http://tinyurl.com/yvfou5 thanks to the Smithsonian Photographers. · Fourth, we have something from the Digital Photography School website, How to Photograph Fireworks Displays @ http://tinyurl.com/zlbkb. · Finally, from wikiHow, we have How to Photograph Fireworks @ http://tinyurl.com/5wfmwo. Now, for a holiday, you can't just toss the chicken on the grill and let it go. No, sir, you have to marinade these bird boobs just right and fire 'em up! Holiday grilling has to be special. It needs that extra effort. Sure, I'm going to slather barbecue sauce on them just before they come off the grill; but what about in the meantime? Well, here are a few links to decent marinades. No, I won't give you my own secret recipe. · Spicy Chicken Marinade/Basting Sauce @ http://tinyurl.com/5vmt29 on Cooks.com shows you a real nice, spicy chicken. · How to Make Balsamic Marinade @ http://tinyurl.com/55gfpx on eHow gives you a great little marinade recipe. · How to Make Maple Barbecue Chicken Sauce @ http://tinyurl.com/5ego34, also on eHow, goes over how to make your very own bbq. · The Secret For Making Your Own BBQ Sauce @ http://tinyurl.com/diybbq in that same vein, here is another really good bit on your own DIY BBQ sauce. What about the beer? Well, anyone who knows me well, knows I love Long Trail's [link] Blackbeary Wheat ale. (It's in season!) I'm also a really big fan of Trout River's Rainbow Red Ale. (It's on tap in most Burlington bars; expensively sold in six packs only 'round here.) I'm going to have to make it up to their retail shop sometime to get a Growler. (A growler is a half-gallon glass jug they fill from tap for you at the shop.) While this isn't much relevant here mid-summer, I do love a nice Otter Creek Oktoberfest in the fall. Tonight, however, I'll likely settle on a couple o' Long Trail standard pint bottles. With beer, fire-grilled meat, and explosions galore, my Fourth of July can be complete and fully satisfying. Happy Independence Day, readers! Remember, if it ain't burnin' I ain't year |
