Sweet Game

The title says it all. The latest Ultraman series is available on Youtube for free and it's dubbed. I know there's always debate about subbed vs dubbed from fans of any non-english IP. However, it's available and already at episode 19! I remember only getting fleeting views of Ultraman on TV. I don't even remember the first time I saw him. I thought I was the only person in the world that knew about him for a long time. As DVDs, file sharing, bootlegs, etc.

It's the holiday season which means dinners, family get-togethers, long nights, lazy days, and overly sweet Hallmark movies. My mom got me hooked on these. Before the Pandemic, I was like most people. I rolled my eyes and endured the same old story of corporate girl returning to her home town to buy the local tree farm, only to be swept off her feet by the current manager who was also her childhood crush. And now, well, now I'm rolling and giggling at the absurd sweetness.

Writing William S. Burroughs was an author and icon for many a weirdo starting with the Beat Generation. He wrote about drugs, madness, and practiced non-linear narratives, often using something called the cut-up technique. This practice involved cutting up a writing and rearrange it to reveal new texts and hidden meanings. David Bowie practiced the same as a musician and magician. Yes, magician, as in magick. A practice to shift user's mindsets and reality through rituals.

Games Now is the time to make video games. I read years ago when I was starting my web dev career. I was one of a billion people who decided that going to a dev bootcamp was a good idea. I quickly realized that programming wasn't for me. I was not invested in any of the projects I worked on, and I didn't like the process. However, I found that I liked making small, dumb games. Just something that could be played in the browser and thrown up on Itch.io. Nothing serious.

Comics I'd never heard of Metal Hurlant. I had heard of Heavy Metal, the wild and weird comic magazine that told really intense sci-fi and fantasy stories. I also didn't know Heavy Metal was an American magazine published by National Lampoon. I always thought it was an English mag. Been wrong on all of this for a while. I did know about Humanoids, the publisher of Metal Hurlant, however. I've been a fan of their Metabaron books for some time. A generational spanning story of violent space rulers.

If you've been on the internet for a minute then you're probably be aware of Smosh. It's one of Youtube's pioneering channels. It has evolved from two teenagers lip-syncing the Pokemon theme song to a full production company with multiple channels, a cast, and crew. I'm not here to talk about that though. I'm here to talk about one of their games. While I don't know the full story of its creation, I do know that came from an idea of Shayne Topp's.

My favorite prank videos come out of Korea. A young man or woman asks someone in a group of other young people to help them in some way. After the task is complete they thank them, adding "auntie", "auntie", or "uncle". From what I gather it's similar to "ma'am" or "sir" here in the U.S. A sign of respect and acknowledgement of stranger that is older. I remember the first time I was called sir.

Sounds Finding music that you like as you get older is so hard. Your tastes have stiffened, culture has changed, your brain has changed, how you consume music has changed, and most importantly music recommendations has changed. It used to be friends, maybe a show, or the weird guy at a record shop. That naturally fades as you age. Then you had magazines and blogs. However, we've sped past the dominance of Pitchfork and on to TikTok reviewers and algorithms.

Over the past couple of days, I've watched five episodes of the 90s classic tv show, Renegade. An over-the-top action-centered melodrama that can only be put into words using the show's intro: He was a cop, and good at his job, but he committed the ultimate sin—and testified against other cops gone bad. Cops that tried to kill him, but got the woman he loved instead. Framed for murder, now he prowls the badlands... an outlaw hunting outlaws... a bounty hunter... a renegade.

I got a Retroid Pocket 2s for Christmas. With a little time, I was downloading and playing games. Having it in my hand, I couldn't help remembering the GP2X. A weird open-source handheld coming from Korea. I honestly can't remember how I heard of it or where I bought it. I think I ordered it on some sketchy site in 2006 or something. Or at least, it seemed sketchy at the time. I do have this vague feeling I got it for a Christmas as well.