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March 2, 2007

Impossible Mission II

Out of curiosity I went to the local Wal-Mart and Target to see if they had any Nintendo Wiis in stock. Neither had them, although at Wal-Mart I was treated to a blowsy woman yelling “They got the GAMES only!” into her cell phone.

By far the best (well, only) videogame related news I heard today — Impossible Mission is coming back. And it will be available on the Wii. Loved playing that one on the Commodore 64. And here’s a review of the Wii’s downloadable classic games.

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January 26, 2007

Working in the LAB

I’m proud to be a part of the first issue of LAB magazine, a new online and print publication (you can download a pdf at the site). According to the intro from editor Joseph Robertson, the magazine will focus on various independent creative types — “a new breed who are actively creating what they want to see in the media and in the market, not content to sit still and passively consume the same old slop.” Gnarly, huh? I contributed a comic titled “My Workday” detailing a typical day in this freelance designer’s life. The comic stands as somewhat of an exaggeration, but not really — you’ll have to see it. This inagural issue is jam-packed with interviews and articles on people like Derek Powazek, Ray Fenwick and my bestest friend Julie Jackson of Subversive Cross Stich fame (her piece is illustrated with the S.C.S. mascot I created for her, a lady we informally call “retrohead gal”). Nice work, Joseph!

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December 15, 2006

Queen of Queens

Salon on Perez Hilton's Gay Witch Hunt. I’ve checked out PerezHilton.com a few times, and honestly ... I don’t get it. A bunch of downloaded paparazzi pics with childish writing scribbled on top. This is hugely popular? Go Fug Yourself does basically the same thing, but at least the G.F.Y. people are funny. And I stronly disagree with Hilton’s m.o. that outing celebrities is a public service to the gay community. Mostly it’s nasty and intrusive — although the tabloid press thinks otherwise, even celebrities deserve to have private lives.

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December 9, 2006

Wii Are the World

I’ve read JD’s impressions, then Kris’ post, then I saw the commercial embedded in the TiVo. Now I want a Nintendo Wii. This comes from someone who hasn’t played a home videogame system since the Atari 2600. It looks like Nintendo’s doing the right thing by appealing to a broader audience who aren’t into the hardcore gaming scene — and those interactive controllers look like tons of fun. I’m not typical, but I prefer simple and engaging gameplay over fancy-shmancy graphics — and first-person games make me dizzy. As a bonus, I love the console’s creamy, Mac-like design. Maybe it’s time to save some pennies and wait a year or so for the price to lower (I didn’t say I wanted it now).

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December 5, 2006

Button Pusher

Fimoculous compiled a lot of neat diversions for his Best Blogs of 2006 that You (Maybe) Aren't Reading list. One choice that especially stood out for me was History of the Button, a weblog entirely devoted to push buttons (yep). It’s great enough that the person doing this blog has a photo of a ’50s button console from (I think) the Monsanto House of the Future on the front page, but he also recently did an entry on Merlin! I for one didn’t know that Parker Brothers needed to inform Merlin buyers on how to properly use its unusually flat buttons.

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November 14, 2006

Simple Pleasures ...

... finally locating a good Scrabble game for the Mac. It cost me twenty clams, but I’ve been trying to get something like this for years.

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September 18, 2006

No Way To Hide Your Prying Eyes

Slate.com delves into Judging Your Friends By Their Netflix Lists (via Hacking Netflix). Although the article belabors the point about the five-star ratings system, it does touch on the voyeuristic thrill of checking out which DVDs your friends have lined up. I’ve gotten a lot of good ideas off them.

Anyone who’d like to become my Netflix Friend is welcome to do so by sending an invite to biz(at)scrubbles.net. We have the four-out-at-a-time plan, with myself having a queue for three deliveries to Christopher’s separate queue for one. C. tends to put the newer films on his (short) list so they get here faster — but my Friends never see that. Instead, they get my unwieldly queue filled with Mystery Science Theaters, weird documentaries, crappy TV shows, old Disney movies and the occasional Criterion disc.

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August 24, 2006

Heap Big Gobble Gobble Man

Pac-man.jpg The CBC did an interesting article yesterday speculating on why the gaming industry has never topped the success of Pac Man 25 years ago. Some historical tidbits in the article, although they missed the one where they had to change the name from the original Puck Man (to discourage would-be vandals). “Puck Man Fever”? Don’t think so.

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August 21, 2006

The Villagers Have Stormed the Castle

Jim Hill Media delivers daily news on the Walt Disney company with an accent on the vintage — or at least it used to, apparently. I don’t read that site on a regular basis. But based on the flurry of comments on this post, I wouldn’t want to bump into a mob of angry ex-Jim Hill Media readers in a dark alley. Jeepers.

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July 27, 2006

Generation YouTube

Tom Scocca of The New York Observer sums up the vast appeal of the web’s latest plaything with The YouTube Devolution. Below I’ve assembled links to the clips that Scocca references in the article. Now, I’m a sometimes busy guy with lots of deadlines. But I also finding myself losing lots of productivity time searching for obscure stuff at that damn site. Do they have the video for “Can’t Shake Loose,” an ’80s-tastic solo single from ABBA’s Agnetha Faltskög? Yes. What about a clip from the short-lived sitcom The Ellen Burstyn Show with Megan Mullally as Burstyn’s daughter? Well, not yet — but while I was looking for that I found this fantastically kitschy 9 minute fashion show from 1985’s Night of 100 Stars. See what I mean? Fudge.

The Pixies on The Dennis Miller Show (1991)
The Pixies’ “Velouria” music video
British sitcom Heil Honey I’m Home (part 1 of 2)

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Give Me Back My Name

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Blogging Tips from a D-Lister

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Download Brigitte

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Where the Hell Is My Chiffon?

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We’re #14! (Out of 15)

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Weblogs of Note

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It’s An Honor To Be Nominated

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Videogame Ads of 1982 at Flickr

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Feed Me Seymour

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