One of my favorite "YouTube Content Creators" (as he must dread being known), JonTron, complains about games like Bubsy which he describes as "Floaty", a term that is somewhat popular as a way of describing games that lack the solid gravity physics, the most essential environmental properties of a platforming game, that something like Super Mario 3 or DKC have. But can this concept be expanded further? It seems to me like some shows can be written and animated in a way that gives them a sort of floaty feel that makes them seem as insubstantial as Bubsy.                                      

I was disillusioned towards web cartoons for a while as they've seemed to get worse (Maybe due to what Ross O'Donnovan talks about in this video?) while cable shows seemed to go in the opposite direction. I remember liking the first season of Oishi High School Battle. It had a strong premise and the dynamic created by mixing anime and American high school tropes was entertaining, even if the satire was sometimes subtle when it was there at all.

But when I watched the new season, there was something off. The animation had improved, though it had lost some spirit. That wasn't it, though. The new season is relatively ungrounded, or floaty. After tiring of the show's original premise, the creators had moved to exploring different secondary characters, timelines in the show, etc. And while this kept the show from being stale, it made it floaty. The plot now floats from character to character. Plotholes are everywhere and locations and the way the characters transport between them seem arbitrary.

This is just something I've noticed that often ruins shows. Or webcomics. Hell, half the webcomics I see exhibit these traits, especially when they're just starting out. Try to correlate actions and scenes well so that when things happen in places you can draw the line from one to the other easily. Pro writing class everybody. Just kidding disregard this. I'm a terrible writer you really shouldn't take my advice (but isn't that what any real writer would say? False modesty. Appalling)

-Riese (listening to Morning Phase - Beck)

    I thought I'd do some movie reviews because it's something to do and if I don't do things I think about things and that never turns out well. But before I review anything I'm going to tell you how I plan to do it, so that when I do it you can read this again and see all the things I lied about.
    First, I'm only going to review movies I like. The reasons for this are that there aren't very many movies that I don't like. There is no doubt that the reasons I have for liking these movies are going to be controversial, but I'm going to put them out there. It might be interesting to see if loving things can cause arguments as well as hating them does.
    Secondly, I'll be using a three-star system. Three stars will indicate a film that has unlimited replay value for me, which I can watch every day and have a different perspective on the movie and the reality it seeks to expose. Two stars will indicate a film that has changed the way I see the world, but replay value is limited. One star will indicate that it's in the same realm but that I realize it is by almost any other definition a bad or even terrible movie. You'll notice none of these rankings recommend whether you, the reader, should watch the film. That's because I don't want to tell anyone what to do, and try to avoid ever doing so.
    So if you want to come back tomorrow when I'll be writing up a film review. A splendid time is guaranteed for all.

    It's getting real. This blog isn't normally too serious, whatever. If you've heard Macklemore's "Same Love" you know there's a verse about homophobia on the internet and how "that's so gay get's used on the daily". This is somewhat of an old issue, but Macklemore wouldn't even be one of the top rappers in the country without that song, so it's worth examining. I've heard lots of people say they're appalled by accusations that Macklemore basically exploited the gay community for that sympathy dollar. But the fact is that this song could only have been written by a straight guy fancying himself a celebrity ally. If someone gay had written it, it would be "too gay" for mainstream audiences- the pain would be too real. 
    Even if you didn't know Macklemore, you'd be able to tell how distant he is from the gay community by the fact that he thinks homophobia is worthy of even a verse of such a song. I'm still not convinced that cyberbullying is quite as unavoidable as people make it out to be. In cases like these, it's more of a case of ruining someone's life by posting something very personal. This may be cyberbullying but it's not what Macklemore talks about. What he's talking about is more these kind of posts on places like Twitter, where the language is at worst calling feminine boys faggots and quite often just saying something's gay. I'm going to speak for myself here, and I think most people feel this way too: if that kind of thing offends you, you should unfriend the homophobe. It's easy enough and someone who really thinks being gay is wrong isn't going to be a great friend anyway. 
    Yeah, Macklemore would see a lot of that stuff on Twitter, since he's probably friends with a few homophobes (mostly by virtue of being straight and therefore only caring about it when he can make a song of it and get that $$$). For anyone else, if they're healthy they have the capacity to judge whether such comments are funny or secretly homophobic. But instead of real homophobia, when someone thinks gay people are worth less, this is probably more a case of lack of understanding. So in such a case, just inform the person you'd like it if they cut that shit out. But please don't do it in an annoying preachy way. I hate that.


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    On the Internet, there are the jokes that you make about people. Seth Rogen smokes weed? Seems funny, let's do a joke about that. Michael Bay seems to like explosions and breasts? Let's run that joke into the ground. And apparently, Nicholas Cage likes acting in terrible movies.
Some people may fall into the first fallacy behind this: that acting in terrible movies is no fun. The truth is that even a Great Movie can be no fun at all to act in.
    But that's not all! The other fallacy is that any movie Nicholas Cage is in is going to be terrible. Now, depending on your displacement you might think some Nic Cage movies are bad, but most are good and the reason for that is Cage. Look at some of his earlier works: Adaption, The Rock, Peggy Sue got Married. Nicholas Cage gives serious performances. People explain that Nicholas has gotten more insane as time went on. But wait! What about Kick-Ass, The Sorceror's Apprentice, and The Croods? Those are much more recent, yet he doesn't act very insane in those at all.
    This is because Nicholas Cage is not crazy: he played a crazy guy in Face/Off and since then he's been typecast. Some typecastings reveal the person beneath the act (Liam Neeson really is badass) but this one doesn't, and Nicholas Cage's range is very large. He plays every role he is given convincingly. He may "overact", but this is because people underestimate how extremely some people express emotion. Some actors (like Kristen Stewart or Shaun LaBoeuf) can keep one facial expression for a whole film and people call it good acting, because these are protagonists we are supposed to empathize with and we don't like to imagine that we display huge ranges of emotion. But Nicholas Cage's characters are not there for empathy, they are there to entertain, and that they do. So next time you see Cage at #9 on a list like this, ask yourself: is it that he can't act, or that I can't just lean back and enjoy?

    If there's two things everyone on the Internet likes, it's Game Grumps and overanalysis! Well not really. But what with the fact that I draw and have some say in Couch Philosophy some overanalysis seems warranted.
    Game Grumps is interesting in that, over it's run Arin, Jon and Danny have broached practically every issue, discussed every topic, and most likely crossed some line for each viewer. Yes, I'm saying that some people could find certain things the grumps say offensive, or become enraged by how they react to their haters (hating the response to hatred is very meta).
    Of course, there are still fanboys who will defend anything the Grumps have ever done. However even they will probably find the Grumps did something annoying at some point. For many, it was replacing Jon with Danny. Game Grumps is a very real show and it's really all about the friendship, particularly in less gameplay-focused playthroughs. Arin and Jon have (had??) a truly once-in-a-lifetime friendship, whilst Arin and Dan's seems more run-of-the-mill (partially because they're so very similar personality-wise).
    It is because of this very realness and the emphasis on friendship, however, that I can forgive anything the Grumps ever do: we are being offered a window into their lives, not in an incredibly specific or private way, but so that we get the very sense and essence of their relationships. This truly is how they act, and so some find it hard to separate it from content that can be expected to be thought out beforehand: this is not a movie, nor a JonTron episode or Egoraptor cartoon, where you can say "what were they thinking???" because if you recorded everything you said with your for 20 minutes, you would not want that on the Internet. But the Game Grumps are brave enough to put it there for the entertainment of others, and for that I am grateful.

    Today I was googling myself (as I often do) and found a link to the website Drawing Battle, which I've had a very hard time understanding. They have over 100 pages with topics ranging from cartoons and video games to made-up people(?). The article I found was an OC (original character) Pokemon fanfiction written by someone I knew, who likes the games a lot. One of the characters was me, or a representation of me, or someone who "happened" to have my name. 
    The characterization wasn't perfect (Pikachu is one of my favorites though) but it still felt really weird that I was now a character in this work of fiction. And on the Internet, all OC is invariably accompanied by lists of best characters like this one. Feel free to vote for me. I also have my own character page with an anime type thing of me.
    I think everyone should experience this interesting feeling of being separated from this alternate self, this reflection of you, which appears in someone else's work. So just ask me and I can make a fanfic of you!

    Hello all. Recently I posted this video to my new channel, LordGiberion, which will focus specifically on YTPs.
However, the plot of this video is much more complicated than that of your average one.
Before reading on, I suggest that you watch the video because SPOILERS AHEAD:

    Prison guard Derpy arrives just in time to CLEARLY SEE the Scorpion escaping, but it takes him some time to realize what’s going on. One must wonder how he keeps his job. Scorpy gets somewhat annoyed, and snaps at Derpy, but Derpy only responds by having a seizure and then exclaiming once again that the Scorpion has escaped. 
    Meanwhile, Peter Parker tries to convince J.J. Jameson to give up the American dream and become a scum-sucking low-life, but J.J. won’t have any of it, claiming that “the newspaper is for news, Parker”. The viewer can see in Peter’s eyes that he may/may not have some sociopathic and/or psychopathic tendencies, including but not limited to murder fantasies about J.J. J.J. then receives no less than FOUR (4) calls from Anonymous as to his endangered life, and Peter Parker openly mocks him for his likely demise, revealing more of Peter’s depraved psyche. J.J. calls the professor and makes it EXTREMELY CLEAR to him that if he sets A GOOD TRAP, he will be safe. However J.J. overestimated the professor’s practical knowledge, and the prof. ended up putting a really measly pathetic and obvious trap, saying satisfactorily over the phone “that oughtta do it”. J.J. can tell that the prof might have some problems/need some pills, but desides not to remark upon it. J.J. looks up to find that Peter has left the room, troll that he is (trololol). J.J. calls out mournfully to Peter, and then reassures himself that the poor boy is only a “teenager”, which Peter again scoffs at, showing that he is clearly doing this purposefully and DOES have psychopathic problems. Deciding to do some more trolling, Peter puts on his strange cosplay bodysuit based on the fact that even HE can tell that “the professor needs [some serious therapeutic] help” (however, it is later revealed that Peter’s intentions were not genuinely to benefit the professor, only to troll him) Spidey now takes his own sweet time going to X location. 
    Meanwhile, at X location, the professor is assaulted by the Scorpion, who asks for the serum. Angrily, the scorpion looks through the lab for it, but is repeatedly and obnoxiously told “STOP!” and “YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU’RE DOING!” by the professor, which only worsens the situation. After being told to “STOP!” about thirty times by the professor, the scorpion gives up on trying to find the “serum” (prolly just weed, actually) and simply starts throwing everything at the professor. Meanwhile, spidey finally makes it to X location. There, he can CLEARLY hear the sounds of the professor being assaulted, but either feigns ignorance or really is incredibly stupid, then reaching the stupid/ironic conclusion that “[he] sense[s] trouble”. Spidey then opens the door to find the professor being viciously assaulted to within an inch of his life, but does nothing to help until the scorpion is gone. This may have been an act of surprise, cowardice, or, most likely, complete lack of empathy for his fellow man. Spidey then questions the professor extensively about “the serum”, to the point that it is apparent that he desires its effects for himself. But when it is apparent that Spidey isn’t going to get it his way, he settles for second best: an “antidote” that the prof. worked up in his (meth) lab. Spidey then starts swinging again, only to fall from his web and DIE (???) 
    From this point on, everything is speculation. The rest of the episode could be a dream (J.J.’s? of what life could have been if spidey lived?) or some kind of parallel universe. Or maybe spidey survived the fatal fall, somehow. In any case, Spidey is assaulted by the scorpion, who though normally a logical if somewhat camp man, proceeds to play with webs for no reason and then become overly irritated and grow huge (this is very likely either the living spidey’s hallucinations as a result of his concussion or “the antidote” (obviously METH) or J.J. casting his recollections of Spidey’s personality onto Scorpion). The scorpion then becomes irritated by Spidey’s existence, perhaps seeing into his soul and realizing that this psychopath must be eradicated, and throws him away, proclaiming he “dosen’t want that” (this may be a hint towards a former romantic relationship betwixt spidey and scorpy, as the scorpion implies that he “do[sen’t] want” to suffer the same abuse from Spidey as he once did. Spidey survives, however (if he is really still alive, maybe he actually dies here and this is where J.J’s dream actually starts) and rushes to the surface, making a cruel joke to himself, affirming to the viewer that his sense of humor is VERY twisted, thinking that anything relating to death and murder is funny. 
    Meanwhile, J.J. goes through a mental breakdown (the entire rest of this episode may be the hallucination within his mind he has at this point in time) and subsequently his paranoid fear comes true and he is captured. Spidey then swoops in, knowing full well that J.J’s life is in danger, and nonetheless JOKES about J.J.’s likely death to Betty, testing the waters to see if she is fit to join his cult of personality. She finds him a disgusting psycho and thus Spidey leaves. Spidey then points at Scorpy’s genitalia, trying to shame/shock Scorpy for no particular reason other than that Spidey is sick and enjoys mind games. Scorpion claims that he is going to murder Spidey (again, may be a projection of Spidey’s homicidal tendencies by J.J./Spidey) and then Spidey runs off in fear or simply wanton abandon, leaving J.J. to die. However, the clumsy Scorpion trips on some random thing on a tree and trips, releasing J.J., who then instructs the army to open fire on Scorpion, reducing him to normal size (effectively ending the hallucination that it all may have been) In the ending sequence, J.J. takes credit where credit is due, but in a melancholy way not normally befitting him. This may be another clue that Spidey died (or was dead all along) (ALSO: Were J.J., Spidey, and Scorpy involved in a doomed love triangle? If so, was the professor involved?) J.J. imagines once again Spidey running off, in that carefree way he once did.

 

...
So, Ben's not really in Heat Death anymore. It seems his focus is more appropriated towards less rewarding, but more addictive activities, such as the browsing of the infernet. Y'see, I NEVER browse the interwebs. Don't even know what they are. Don't look at me like that. I'm a hipster, mmkay? I'm WITH IT! I'M COOL! I spout references like it's nobody's business! I TOLD YOU ABOUT THE STAIRS, MAN!
In any case, the band is now myself on guitar, vocals, handling of the drum machine, songwriting and helping Mridul play bass better, since he's more of a drum man, and Mridul on bass and backup vocals.
It's better in some ways, worse in others. It's easier to make music for just 2 instruments (though I do program the drum machine, as said before), but also somewhat less fun.
Unfortunately, the majority of my friends either don't play instruments or are far too busy to be in my humble little four hours (SEVEN hours last time) a week practice sessions.
However, the current incarnation of Heat Death's first gig will be announced soon, although it is only at our school, you can still attend if you... go there... yes. Benefit Concert for... something. Probably poverty or disease. We will play a... what, 5 minute gig? Are you serious?
In any case, the Seattle Teen Music lady hasn't hit me back and it's been like two weeks. I guess she didn't like the demo...? Okay, the drums on that one are bad, but the new drumbeats I made sound great! If you know this woman, I believe her name is Megan, could you please tell her to give us a gig?
We need a gig.
A guy I know... he gets gigs. ALL THE TIME.
Riese out.

    One of you guys suggested to me that I write more posts on "the music scene" that's kinda' vague... but I will deliver! And what's a hotter topic in the music scene right now than rap? Oh right, Dubstep... well, maybe I'll tackle that later.
    Rap is still seeing a lot of hate after all these years. Mostly from the white community. You know why? Because white people don't listen to nearly enough rap. I should know. It's a typical "fear of the unknown" deal. These people haven't seen the wide varitey of enjoyment rap has to offer, and so assume it's all like, I dunno, N.W.A. or something. Some of Kanye West's stuff is kinda messed up. You get the idea. Shooting people, doing/dealing drugs, the like. Well, in the first place, people should be able to write about whatever they want. But I don't think I would be interested if that was the true message of all rap and hip-hop. It is so much more of an array. There is a rap about almost any topic you can think of.
    I used to see rap as just another thing self-obsessed jerks could wave in my face, like some kind of proof that they were arrogant jerks, just like what I saw rappers as. But now I know there are very few rappers like that. And even then, it's a release, it dosen't neccessarily mean you're like that.
    Now to talk about the first rapper I liked. A gateway rapper, if you will. MC Frontalot. The first nerdy rapper to rap about the nerdiest of topics, from RPGs to old-school video games to goth girls to Penny Arcade. Stuff that, realistically, his audience can actually connect to. All things I'm interested in. So, lots of fun. And that's how I learned about MF Doom, the closest thing to Frontalot, only black. He's rapped about video games, comics, and made entire albums about the adult swim cartoons. Like Aqua Teen Hunger Force, which is so so awesome. I friggin' love this guy. He makes nerdy stuff cool. And he's very self-aware (by the way thats him in the picture, he wears that mask all the time: Dr. Doom from fantastic four homage). He realizes the stereotypes associated with rappers and critiscizes them for it. So cool. So yeah, I love him. Uh... as they say in the hood, "No homo!"
    Now I can actually appreciate rappers like Snoop Dogg (Well, Snoop Lion now, he's still not completely done with rapping though), Ghostface Killah, and even Insane Clown Posse... kinda. 
    My advice for anyone who still views rap as I once did: look for your way in. Find someone who raps about something you like. You could get used to it, And trust me, it's a lot more fun to like music the more genres you can respect.

    In a recent e-mail with a friend, I found myself discussing every single album by one of my favorite bands of all time: Ween.
"Wow," I thought to myself, "I sure do offer a comprehensive beginner's look at all of this band's albums! Why not share this with the rest of the world, for the sake of the children?" And so I provide to you the first of what I hope will be a vast series of tours through the works of my favorite artists. Today we have the absurd experimental musical duo, Gene and Dean Ween.

(1990) GodWeenSatan: The Oneness: Ween’s first official album (they released their first album at the age of 15, all by themselves) and possibly the most wide-ranging. Contains about 30 songs, in a seemingly random order of really poppy tunes, folk, hard rock, and more. This was more of a novelty record  than most of their other stuff, but it’s still good. I recommend “Don’t Laugh (I Love You)” and “L.M.L.Y.P”

(1991) The Pod: This is the one with the really slow tempos. This is the fan favorite, Ween’s version of They Might Be Giant’s Apollo 18, where they made some of their craziest songs. I would recommend not starting with this one unless you have very high patience and/or tolerance for Ween’s style. Seriously, some of these songs can give you a headache or make you feel nauseous at a first listen. The whole thing sounds like it was recorded underwater. I recommend “Dr. Rock”, “Captain Fantasy”, and “Pork Roll Egg and Cheese”.

(1992) Pure Guava: This was Ween’s first truly successful album, getting them signed with Elektra records and a stint on Beavis and Butthead. Probably Ween’s most poppy early record, it still has plenty of “Ween-style” songs. I recommend “Push th’ little daisies” and “Don’t Get 2 Close (2 My Fantasy)”

(1994) Chocolate & Cheese: Widely considered by most non-hardore fans to be Ween’s greatest album, it was the first to be recorded in a studio, and you can really hear the difference. Every song on this album is gold, it dosen’t miss a beat. I would compare it to TMBG’s “John Henry” album, for making their sound much more concise. Or “Demon Days” by Gorillaz. I recommend the song “Freedom of ‘76”, “Roses Are Free”, “Voodoo Lady” and “What Deaner Was Talking About”

(1996) 12 Golden Country Hits: Ween’s one and only one-genre album. And guess what that genre is? Yup, country. Seriously, you will not enjoy this album unless you like hard-core country or really really like Ween. The subject matter is typical country stuff with a dash of Ween. This album basically proves that when Ween want to do something well, they can really deliver. They’re not just goofballs. I would recommend “Mister Richard Smoker”, and “Help Me Scrape The Mucus Off My Brain” which is surprisingly good.

(1997) The Mollusk: This marks Ween’s second most successful attempt at creating an album that has one distinct sound, and in this case it is the sound of the ocean, or rather, art rock/pop with nautical themes. This album sprawled their most well-known song ever (because it was the one that played in the credits of Spongebob: The Movie), “Ocean Man”. From an artistic standpoint, this may be Ween’s greatest work: a semi-concise and well-thought-out album that can stand on it’s own. The best songs include “Ocean Man”, “Waving My D*** In The Wind”, “The Mollusk”, and “Buckingham Green”

(2000) White Pepper: Ween’s most accessible album. There is very little profanity in this one compared to the old records, as it is the transition record to the new Ween. This is undoubtedly their most poppy album, and their 3rd highest selling. Anyone who likes the Beatles can enjoy this. I would recommend  “Exactly Where I’m At”, “Flutes Of Chi”, “Even If You Don’t”, and “Falling Out”.

(2003) Quebec: This album is like a combination of the more mature, sedate new Ween of White Pepper and the old-school charm of Chocolate & Cheese. 
Whereas the first few Ween albums were absolute madness, and the next few sounded a bit like typical song lyrics made to mimic certain genres, This album feels like Ween really thought about each and every lyric. This includes some of Dean’s finest guitar work and Gene’s finest vocalization. Ween dosen’t lose themselves within this album, like in White Pepper, they just try a new approach. Every song on this album is of the utmost quality and therefore it is impossible to choose the best, but some good ones to start with are “Chocolate Town, “If You Could Save Yourself (You’d Save Us All)”, “Among His Tribe”, and “Transdermal Celebration”.

(2005) Shinola (Vol. 1): [Note: currently there is no Shinola (Vol. 2]. This is not technically a studio album, it is a collection of B-sides that go remarkably well together, but as it contains previously unreleased material I will still cover it. This is the full tour of Ween’s styles, and the closest thing fans have to another Chocolate & Cheese. Here Ween is at their most Weenish once again, with songs about messed-up love, religion, and foodstuffs.“Gabrielle” is the highlight of this album and it’s only single, with a selfish narrator and a funky tune. Whereas the album also contains songs like “Israel” that is some Jewish guy reading the Torah set to music. I would recommend the aforementioned “Gabrielle”, “Transitions”, and “Boys Club”.

(2007) La Cucaracha: Ween’s most recent album, it’s a little short after all this wait but it’s definitely a step back from whatever direction Quebec was heading, which is probably good for Ween’s fanbase (and Ween themselves). It has some old-school Ween charm in “Shamemaker” but is also reminiscent of their more recent style in “Lullaby” and “Your Party”. Speaking of parties, this albums associated EP, The Friends EP as well as some songs such as “Fiesta” and “Friends” show us a new side of Ween: the party side. It may or may not be the right direction for them, but the new party songs are
very catchy and better yet, one can actually play them at a party. I would recommend “Learnin’ To Love”, “Your Party”, and “Sweetheart”.

Well, that's it for today! And if you don't know who "They Might Be Giants (aka TMBG) are, don't worry. I'll cover them next.
THIS HAS BEEN: THE AAA MUSIC REVIEW TOUR SHOW (ACTUALLY JUST A BLOG THINGY)! TUNING OUT!