Music Roundup Monday: 7/27/15 "Death and Dying"

Lorem ipsum... Nah, just kidding. Not really much to introduce this with, honestly. Music from last week!

Cool Stuff Sunday: "DDOS and Fallout"

There's a lot of cool stuff on the internet. I find it, because I spend way too much of my free time online. Time was, I had whole folders of bookmarks labeled "Interesting Things." (Not to be confused with the folder labeled "Interesting Thongs"). So I've decided to share my treasures, a roundup of everything that's caught my eye that week. Some of it will be familiar to you, some of it may be new. Let's explore, friends. Click the enlinkened words to go to the original article or site.

Backlog Blitz: NES, Week 23, "This is the End, My Friends..."

It's been a long time coming. After twenty-three weeks--half a year!--I've come to the end of my NES backlog. Today's post includes the last few of those games. It's the end of a run, and so it seems appropriate that there's a mixture of the best and the worst the NES has to offer. Let's look at them...

Short Story: Under the Silent Guns

Leyte, Philippines, 18 December 1944
Interviewee: Pfc. Gerard Rogers
Interrogator: Lt. Charles Munroe. 

Pfc. Rogers shifts in his chair. He does not look at the interviewer. He is dressed in filthy, but standard-issue, fatigues. His face is covered in small scratches. Occasionally he fingers a cross around his neck. 

Pfc. Rogers: “Jim Fulton found the first one. We were patrolling pretty far afield. There’s a thick patch of jungle north of Valancia Airfield. Forward camp there kept getting hit by artillery from the area, so they sent us out to shut the guns down.  About two miles in, the jungle just...opened up. Ten feet back in the jungle, you couldn’t see a thing. We stumbled right into it—really stumbled. Frankie Calloway had point and he fell flat on his face.”

SATURDAY MORNING WARFARE: WEEK ONE, "TRENCH ROCKIN'!"

In 2012, I took my first steps into the world of pen and paper role-playing-games. Which wasn't really pen and paper, but rather, Skype and a PDF. But whatever. This is the story of those games. It began one summer evening, with some friends from online, as we prepared to test out the beta version of Warhammer 40K: Only War. Some of the character names have been lost to time and Skype kerfuffle, so I've done my best to replace them. I've also tried to make the Skype format into a more readable experience.

This first session was pretty slow-moving. By next session, though, things will start unraveling.

Poem: Waste Your Life

Waste your life

In pursuit of something grander

Than yourself. 

Something ethereal

You'll never grasp. 

On Tuesdays, we post poetry. Okay, now that I've made the Mean Girls joke--Tuesdays are for first drafts of poems I wrote for fun. Nothing special. 

Music Roundup Monday: 7/20/15 "Songs About Love and Loneliness"

Lately I've been doing this thing where I post a song on Facebook and Twitter every day, a song that I listened to recently which really clicked with me at the time. I've decided to start compiling them week-by-week, and posting the collections on the following Monday. The genres and thematic elements really whiplash back and forth, but last week there was a definite tone of "I'm lonely and also lovesick and a little bitter." Would you believe I had a lovely week? I did. Anyway, the following are links to the artist's wiki (click the artist name) and links to the song (click the song title.) Odds are good you'll know most of the artists, but maybe every now and then you'll find a band you've never heard of. Either way, enjoy!

Backlog Blitz: NES, Week 22, "Radioactive Waste Week"

Well, this week is going to be toxic. Get it? Because I'm reviewing Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Toxic Crusaders? HAHahahaha...ha...ha...ha...ha. Anyway, I'm nearing the end of my first week of mandatory time off for the summer. It's not normal to want to back to work, right? Because I really want to go back to work. Let's talk about video games!

OverAnalyzed: Kanye West, "Black Skinhead"

Like many pasty-white middle-Americans, I like to listen to rap and pretend that I'm a gangsta when in reality I can barely tell the difference between pot and poison ivy. And since I'm a writer, that means I tend to overanalyze lyrics (actually, I overanalyze anything written). Anyway, I was listening to Kanye West's "Black Skinhead" and something seemed a bit off to me. Namely, the chorus section beginning at 1:32 which states,"I keep it 300 / Like the Romans / 300 bitches / Where the Trojans?" 

Poem: Translation Guide

How to speak Greg:
If it's kind, it's sincere.
If it's mean, it's a joke.
If it's angry, it's not at you.
If it's stupid, it's the concussions.

This is one of the less-good poems from the collection I'm currently working on, Abyss Blinked. 

Untimely Revue: Boondock Saints

First off, I love this movie. It’s not high art. It’s not even all that great. But it’s a fun movie and I love it to pieces. That said, it has a lot of problems, and I’m going to be mostly focusing on the problems. Because I can. Because I’m a negative little man with anger issues. Anyway. Love this movie, but let’s rip it a new one!

Backlog Blitz: NES, Week 21, "The Super Show!"

Woo! It certainly is a super day today! It's the first day of my first vacation of this summer, and I'm feeling, well, super! That feeling will quickly fade as I realize that without the structure work provides my pitiful life, I'm horribly lost and bored, but for now, let's talk about some NES games with "Super" in the title! Because today is super! *forced grin*

Backlog Blitz: NES, Week 20, "Celebrate Rebellion!"

Well. This seems like a pretty good weekend to write about the Star Wars games. After all, there are some remarkable similarities between Star Wars and the American Revolution. By which I mean, there was a rebellion, and um, that bit where Benedict Arnold turned to the Dark Side and force-choked Jar-Jar Binks and I should have paid more attention in history class. Anyway. Let's talk about old games!