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SHOWNOTES
00:00-Show Intro
05:51-Mailbag
10:42-Discussion Segment: Stuff of the Year-Part I
1:10:17-Show Close
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2010 was packed. So much that looking back I can hardly believe it all happened in just one single year. It was also a different sort of year for me as I did my best to focus on living, rather than simply consuming. This was as much a conscious decision as it was one born out of necessity. Now the father of two young boys, I find myself with less and less time to enjoy the frivolities that we generally celebrate here at Robot Panic, and more obliged to savor every moment I have that isn’t spent changing diapers, assembling toys, or pretending to chase invisible monsters in my house. As such, I purchased far fewer games, watched less than half the number of films I saw in 2009, and pulled the plug on a number of TV shows that I just didn’t have time for.
But don’t mistake my tone to be one of regret. 2010 was one of the most personally fulfilling years of my life. It was the year I was able to actually return to creating things, rather than just talking about them. The Shmopera was the first time in years that I sat behind a real drumset and felt competent. It was the year I really embraced fatherhood to the fullest and discovered that despite all my cynicism and reluctance, I really enjoy being a family man. I bought a cabin on the lake where I spent nearly every summer of my childhood, investing in a place where my young family can grow together and create great memories over the next several decades.
My Fortress of Solitude
Fret not, gentle readers. I won’t spend this entire post rambling about how I love my wife and kids and gushing over baby pictures. Without further ado, let’s get to the important shit, shall we?
Comics: I’m starting with comics because buying comics was the most consistent thing I did all year. Without fail, I made my weekly trip to the comic book shop to pick up books that provided me with much-needed escape from my hectic life. I found that I’ve all but left the Marvel universe this year, due to their over-emphasis on the multitude of Avengers franchises and lack of anything really interesting going on in their regular books. In fact, unless I’m mistaken, the only Marvel books I currently pick up on a regular basis are Iron Man, Captain America, and Secret Avengers. The first purely out of habit (Tony Stark’s journey to win back his fortune hasn’t been all that fascinating), and the last two simply because I’ll buy anything the Ed Brubaker writes.
In the superhero world, DC has been getting the bulk of my cash this year, and most of that is spent on the Batman franchise. Bruce Wayne finally returned, and as a result I now pull about a half-dozen bat-books per month. Detective Comics, Batman, Batman and Robin, Red Robin, Batman, Inc., and probably one or two others I’m forgetting. I’m glad they found a way to keep Dick Grayson in a Batman suit for the time being, but I can’t say I’m too fond of the whole “Bruce Wayne publicly admits to funding Batman all these years” story line. In fact, it makes the whole “secret identity” gimmick far less believable than ever; especially since Vicki Vale just about blew the lid on it last year anyway.
But the best comic books I’ve read this year have had nothing – or close to nothing – to do with men in tights and capes. The best book on the stands, bar none, continues to be Scalped. A pulp/crime drama set on an Indian reservation with all sorts of side stories, multiple story threads, and amazing action, Scalped finally beat out The Walking Dead this year as my favorite series.
The other book that has been blowing my mind is Chew, a story about FDA agent Tony Chu, a cibopath who can learn the backstory of any plant or animal simply by eating it. He uses his powers to solve murders (just take a bite out of the victim), and track down criminals. It’s an amazingly entertaining series full of brilliant writing and great hidden jokes on every page.
Scarlett by Brian Michael Bendis is also near the top of my list of must-read books this year. I know I gave Bendis a written lashing last year for the whole resolution to the big Marvel event that he orchestrated, but he sure came bouncing back with Scarlett, the story of a girl who’s been wronged and is out to whip some serious ass.
And then there was Casanova. It’s hard to describe Casanova. Spy book tripped out on acid? Sure, I guess. But that doesn’t do it justice. It’s complex, funny, and challenging. But it’s worth your time.
And finally, I can’t end a comic book rant without getting a plug in for my beloved Ed Brubaker. Whether it’s another great run on Criminal or his new installation of Incognito, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I will buy anything this guy puts out. He’s never, ever let me down.
Music: My aforementioned process of stripping away the excess in my life has had a huge effect on my music buying and listening. I’ve spent much of the year rediscovering albums in my collection, and that included about a month or two where I listened to nothing but “Pet Sounds” by The Beach Boys. I’m also just about finished re-purchasing the entire John Lennon solo catalog now that they’ve been remastered and reminding myself just how fucking brilliant the man was.
But in the way of “new” music this year, for me, nothing topped LCD Soundsystem’s “This is Happening”. It’s music in a genre I rarely get into, but every damn song on that album had me shaking my aged, fat ass. I’m ashamed that it took me so long to take SimpleNate’s advice to buy it, but I made up for my sins by listening to it over and over for nearly the entire month of August.
A close runner-up was “Brother” by The Black Keys. Two white dudes from Ohio doing a killer take on Delta blues. Gotta love it. I listened to this one almost as much as “This is Happening” and enjoyed every last track, especially “Ten Cent Pistol”. “Brother” was the perfect album for late nights sitting out under the stars while sipping on some Surly beer.
After that, the list starts to dwindle fast. I loved “The Suburbs” by Arcade Fire, but can’t decide if I like it better than “Neon Bible.” Either way, it’s a great album and a remarkable achievement in the whole “concept album” endeavor they’ve been chipping away at for seemingly their entire career. And I can’t decide if I love MGMT’s “Congratulations” or find it silly and pretentious.
Aside from that, what really struck me about my music habits in 2010 is that while I’m always actively seeking out something new and interesting to listen to, the wonder of modern technology and programs like iTunes, Grooveshark, and my friends’ recommendations via word-of-mouth or Twitter mean that at long last I’m no longer slave to popular culture. To this day, I have never heard a song by Taylor Swift, Justin Bieber, Lady Gaga, Kanye West, or any of the other current “big things”. And I say this not as a badge of honor, but simply a recognition that I no longer have to participate in a musical culture in which I have no interest. I’ve been told that a few of those artists have put out interesting material, and I’m sure that’s true. But I’ve just reached the age where I simply don’t give a damn to turn the dial of my radio to the local “modern hits” station or watch whichever industry awards show where these types of people are paraded about. I’ll let the party-goers gossip about Kanye and Taylor as they dance to the latest auto-tuned bubblegum hit while I grow old clutching onto my Rolling Stones and Hendrix vinyl albums, not yearning for days gone by, but glad in the fact that my world no longer needs to overlap with that one.
Movies: This one’s gonna be short.
Am I crazy or did the majority of 2010 just seem as though it was about nothing but Inception and Toy Story 3? Granted, How to Train Your Dragon was pretty bad ass, but until December, those were the only two big-buzz films of the year that I can recall. To be fair, they were both phenomenal films and ones that I could watch repeatedly. But it certainly seemed like a slow year at the box office.
I did mention December, though, and that month brought True Grit, which further cements the Coen Brothers as two of the greatest filmmakers of our time. It’s great that they can go from producing little niche films like A Simple Man to massive hits like True Grit in the span of a year, and both films are so different yet fit perfectly within their catalog. I wanna see them take on sci-fi next. Deep space science fiction by the Coen Brothers. That shit’d be awesome.
And then there was Tron: Legacy. I’m sure Hilden will wax philosophic about this in much greater detail than I’m capable of, but I’m still of two minds about the movie. On one hand, I was just as apathetic about it as I was the original Tron. That movie was nerdy and 80s, which was a good thing, but it also was boring as absolute hell. This one upped the neat-o factor by a billion, gave Jeff Bridges’ character a Dude-like makeover, and oozed with style. Yet, it still felt a bit dumb and clumsy to me. If nothing else, it created an interesting world that I’d like to see more of. I just hope they remember to include an interesting story next time.
My favorite movie of the year, though? None of the above. My favorite flick was Machete. My wife and I went to see this on opening night and we both had a blast, quoting the movie for the rest of the week. What can I say? I like to have a good time at the movies.
Tech: The iPhone 4 is now more valuable to me than my dick. And that’s not just because I had a vasectomy this year. This thing does everything and it goes everywhere. I just need it to function as an automobile, provide shelter, and dispense food and I’ll never need anything else as long as I live. And you know what? iPhone games can be good. Damn good. Cave dropped a few wonderful titles for iPhone, and I now have an admittedly clunky, yet legitimate TurboGrafx-16 emulator on my phone! I can also listen to radio stations from all across the globe, watch Netflix, organize my comic book pull list, and write music…on my phone! We live in the future…
And then there was the iPad, a device I was certain I didn’t need until Hilden – that rat-bastard – bought one and brought it to the podcast. It wasn’t love at first sight, but it planted a seed. And that seed would grow over the next several weeks as I found out about all the new and awesome shit I could use it for. Next thing I knew – BAM! 64GB iPad in my possession. That thing is now loaded with movies, games, books, magazines, and tons of activities that keep my kids entertained and help them learn. And reading Wired magazine on iPad? One of the coolest things I’ve done all year.
And really, that’ll about do it for me. 2010 was pretty fucked up as far as world events went. Floods, earthquakes, oil spills, celebrity nonsense, crazy deaths. But for me? 2010 was pretty bad ass and I hope I’m able to build on it in 2011 and beyond. As always, thanks for sticking with us for another year and thanks for
hanging out. We enjoy having you around, talking about games, movies, and other random nonsense.
You know, I think I talked about most of this stuff already, but it’s too damn awesome not to be remembered for this year. Let’s begin!
Back Dynamite: Okay, so technically the movie was released in 2009, but how many of us saw it in the theater? The awesomeness of this film became truly widespread when it was released onto DVD back in February. The internet was abuzz at the uniqueness of this film, and after at least six different viewings this year I can see why. The brilliance of this film isn’t in it’s clever writing, quotable one-liners, or how it never really takes itself seriously; no the magic comes in how every time you watch it you pick up on something new and funny. It has become my “go to” movie whenever I have company over, and I’m always thanked when the film is done. As of last week, this film was one of the few Netflix streaming videos that won’t allow you to have a Netflix party with. The reason? Everybody would be doing it as this movie is even more awesome in a shared viewing. I don’t believe Netflix has the bandwidth available for the nightly Black Dynamite parties that would no doubt be going on. Until then, I say you go just go and buy this film. It will sit nicely next to The Blues Brothers, Animal House, and Caddyshack.
The Walking Dead: You know, the sad thing about a zombie movie is after two hours the feature ends and we are left wondering what happens next. But what if we could watch what happens to our survivors for a long period of time? At least that was the concept behind the popular comic series developed by Robert Kirkman. For a comic, The Walking Dead is unique as it focuses far more on character development and less on the zombie hoard. The zombies, in fact, act much like a dangerous natural element that the characters have to deal with and less of a plot element. The other cool thing about The Walking Dead is how real it is. People resort doing doing some pretty nasty things to one another in their quest to stay alive just one more day. Main characters come and go and we should expect that in a world where the dead rule the Earth. This past Fall, AMC released a six-part mini-season based on the comic. I was both excited and a bit anxious as to what we might see onscreen as Hollywood has a tendency to mess things up or dumb things down for their audience. But this was AMC, and the first episode stuck true to the comic storyline. And with over five million viewers, it was the highest-rated premier on AMC and became the most watched cable series for its demographic. The storyline would eventually split from the comic, but the overall tone and emphasis of character development over action stayed the same. AMC has picked up this classic for another 13 episodes, and I personally can’t wait to see what happens next.
No Ordinary Family: 2010 had some great TV shows: Madmen, Breaking Bad, The Walking Dead, but this little show on ABC has become a guilty pleasure for me. The show is essentially a live-action version of one of my favoriute films, The Incredibles. The Powells are an ordinary, dysfunctional family who gain super powers after their plane crashes in Brazil. The father (Micheal Chiklis) has super strength, can leap several blocks, and is seemingly invulnerable. The mom (Julie Benz aka Rita from Dexter) is super fast, and as a scientist by trade she is more than curious about how they got their powers. Their kids (Kay Panabaker and Jimmy Bennett) have lesser powers as the girl can read minds while the son has become a Reed Richards super genius. There is a bit of Heroes-like mythology going on in the back-story, but the real strength of the show is the characters and how they interact with one another and grow from their new found abilities. Whomever is writing the reboot of the Fantastic Four should pay attention to this show, as Disney and ABC “get it.” It’s campy and fun, and even the bit characters play their roles to the tee. Even the unlikely pair of Chiklis and Benz seem to pull off a believable couple together. Bottom line, the show is just plain fun, and I hope I get to see more of it in 2011.
Kinect: I’m one of those people Microsoft was targeting when they thought up Kinect. I don’t own a Wii, but I am interested in what it can do. But with all the shovel-ware and stories about it collecting dust, I could never get myself to drop the cash to jump into the experience. Kinect seemed like a more logical transition for me, and upon purchasing one last Fall I can finally understand what motion gaming is really all about. Folks can argue that there really isn’t a lot out there right now, especially for the hardcore gamers. I can admit that may be true, but I am also convinced that Kinect is here to stay and that the future looks bright for the peripheral. I say this for many reasons, but mainly because the tech just seems to work and there is something magical about gaming with no controllers. It has revitalized the gaming experience for my entire family, and for me that is well worth the money I paid for it. Here’s hoping that the new titles that come out for the system are as tantalizing and cool as Dance Central and Kinect Sports.
Red Dead Redemption: I might piss off some Grand Theft Auto fans out there, but Red Dead Redemption is a better game. In fact I do believe that it is RockStar’s BEST game yet and one that I can’t seem to stop playing. Maybe it’s the newness of the Old West that got me hooked. Or perhaps it was the amazing storyline and characters. Or maybe it was the surprise ending that got the internet abuzz with discussions. Whatever the reason, Red Dead Redemption is in my top ten list of favorite games ever played and the new DLC keeps me coming back to the environment for more fun partners. Not to mention that the DGR night we had in the game, holding the fort from sleazebags on our server was quite frankly one of the best times I have had on Xbox Live ever. Thanks guys (and Token).
Inception: Christopher Nolan has proven that he’s the King of the Mountain when it comes to directing movies. Not only did he make us rethink how we view one of the most iconic super heroes of all time, but he can take us to places we never dreamed of before. Such is the case of Inception, a movie that is as close to perfect storytelling as I can remember. We follow Leonardo DiCaprio and his team into the world of the dream and are left wondering if what we experienced was ever real at all. When asked if he could explain what he actually meant by the end of his film he stoically explained, “If I did that it would ruin the entire reason why I filmed Inception. The movie is supposed to leave you questioning. If you feel that way, it did its job. The man is a stud, and I can’t wait for how he ends his Dark Knight trilogy and the upcoming Superman project.
Lost Finale: Never has a show left me feeling so satisfied and with so many unanswered questions at the same time. For six seasons we watched the survivors of Oceanic Flight 815 unravel the mysteries of the strange island they were stranded on. The storytelling and acting were top notch, and the show spawned several podcasts as viewers tried to decipher the clues left behind in each episode. Whether you enjoyed the final episode or not, Lost and its canon have secured their place in our society and lore. Just the other day my colleagues warned us not to open the hatch when dealing with a sticky project. It is a show that I will miss, and one that I will also enjoy revisiting on BluRay.
Mass Effect 2: This is my pick for the Daryl Awards this year. Why, you ask? No, not just because I can bone alien creatures (ohhh yeah) but because the character development in this game is so strong, I actually miss them when I am not playing. Bioware has simply mastered the dialogue tree and you can’t help but feel a connection to the characters in the game. That, and it’s the only game I can remember that built on my decisions from the previous game. Countless references to seemingly unimportant characters and my encounters with them solidify that the world of Mass Effect is uniquely mine; there are no two universes that are exactly alike. They fixed the combat system so things flow much smoother and no more tedious armor and weapon upgrade guessing games, just lock, load, and kick ass. Downloadable content for the title has been nothing less than stellar and the last installment (Lair of the Shadow Broker) dramatically changed the universe I play in. I have to wonder how the addition of that single piece of content will affect Mass Effect 3. That, my friends, is sheer brilliance in game design.
Good BAD Movies: As Hollywood searches for some creative ways to express itself without rehashing old ideas (thanks but no thanks Yogi Bear) certain directors have seemingly created their own genre by making really bad movies that are just plain FUN to watch. The story-lines (if any) are paper thin, the acting is laughable, and the effects are ridiculous, but for some strange reason they work. Maybe because these movies know they are bad and never try to be anything other than what they are. This summer, we saw what may be the goriest and most awesome killer fish movie of all time, Pirhana 3D. A movie that took the 3D realm to new heights with 3D boobage (and mind you there was not one boob onscreen that I didn’t care to see, they were all excellent). It was campy and fun and one of the best times I have had at the movies this year. Later in the fall, I gathered my fellow DGR faithful for a Netflix showing of Bitch Slap, a movie that truly must be experienced in a group setting. The movie was awesomely terrible and one that I plan to enjoy with a group of friends over and and over again. Let’s hope that we see this trend continue as directors take their craft just a bit less serious. It may not make a good movie, but if we are entertained I certainly don’t care.
Robot Panic: I remember when I got the email from Hilden, “Hey Ryker thanks for submitting all this cool shit. Here’s access to the blog and keep up the good work.” Those that read my stuff know that I haven’t always been a good writer, in fact we might be able to make a pretty good argument that I’m the opposite. But at least I have the opportunity to contribute to a community that shares my interests and is pretty bad ass. I’ve also been blessed to help the guys do their live shows and that is a real treat. I am always impressed with their passion in delivering a great show every week, and just how genuine they all are. Last Summer we all got together at Moe’s for the 5th anniversary show and bonfire (sorry about your neighbor’s house Moe). It was one of the best times I have had all year; hanging with the good friends I have made here and enjoying a night together. For the real magic in all of this isn’t in the articles I write, or the awesome shows the guys do, but it’s in the community that we all share. So thanks to all my friends here, your are truly amazing. Here’s hoping for a great 2011!
44th Presidential Inauguration - Calm down. This isn’t about him, it’s about you. On one hand, this was another routine (yet fascinating) display of our model of government; on the other, it was completely different. The year began with a sight I thought I would never see: a black man sworn in as the president of the United States. If you have lived where I’ve lived and been where I’ve been, you know what I’m talking about. There was a time, and it was within the life span of millions who voted in 2008, that even the suggestion of a black president would have incited riots and widespread hate crimes. But once again, a peaceful and surprisingly quick transfer of power took place for the 44th time in our young nation’s history, and nobody died. Those two things are remarkable if you consider the tremendous political power at stake and, that little chestnut, the Civil War. It is a subtle and welcome reminder that, while I don’t like everything that happens here (admit it, nobody does), we live in a pretty amazing place. We can say what we like and we can disagree, vehemently at times, but we aren’t going to disappear in the night or be stoned in the street. For these things, I am grateful.
HDTV - Well, I’ll be slapped and called a tree frog, broadcast High Definition Television has FINALLY arrived as the standard. Men on the moon… 1969. HDTV…. 2009. Somebody has been manipulating my wallet. Don’t give me your technical mumbo jumbo explanations, I’m not even listening. It’s all a lie! But there is a sunny side, a certain weather anchor is now even more defined than before! If only I could remember where I put those spurs…
Michael Jackson - June 25, 2009, provided us with one of those moments where many people will remember where they were and what they were doing when the news broke: out of nowhere, Michael Jackson was dead. Plenty can be said of his private life, much of it embarrassing and awkward, but few need many words, if any, to describe his music. In particular, I’m thinking about the music he recorded in the late 1970s through the end of the 1980s. The day after Jackson died, I was off with a high school marching band at a parade in another state. It was a big parade with 15-20 marching bands, which amounts to a lot of noise. Simply out of the need to manage a crowd that large, all the bands were housed in a baseball stadium and fed hot dogs and Mountain Dew: excellent idea. To keep the band members occupied, music was playing over the loud speakers; a constant variety of whatever it is the kids like these days. But when Thriller came on, much to my delight, about 1000 high school students got up and started dancing. And they continued through Billy Jean and Bad. Then I saw the same phenomenon happening nearly everywhere I went, be it the mall, stadium, or outside on a sidewalk. All these people were wrapped up in a moment of total bliss and, in my opinion, the finest tribute to pay a musician. No need to further eulogize or demonize the man, there’s nothing more that need be said about Michael Jackson. Just dance.
Airplanes - Because of these marvels of engineering, we had Philthy Phil Haymes (the official 4th stool at the bar) in our loving embrace for another couple of weeks. It’s special because he’s from London or England, I can’t remember, which is super far from here. Either way, considering the spectacular conclusion to Shmopera #2, significantly enhanced by the meedly, meedly, shreddy guitar of one Philthy (via the intertubes), the thought of recording more of this nonsense in the same room was too much to bear. Not only did he show up ready to play, but he also had 4 bottles of Old Rosie Cloudy Scrumpy. It’s an apple booze about a tractor. In a word, London. Or England. I can’t remember.
South Carolina - Governor Mark Sanford’s Argentinian-Appalachian adventure; Representative Joe Wilson’s State of the Union flatulent ; “Keep your government hands off my Medicare!” – some poor schmuck at a town hall meeting. Oh, South Carolina, you crazy, eight-toothed bastard, you’re too much!
Roland V-Drums - These have been around for many years, but out of nowhere, they came rushing in to save… or inspire the day! I started off with the entry level kit I bought off Craig’s List for an unreasonably low price, but have already upgraded due to extreme badassitude. The internal sound bank is a bit shitty and really not intended for live performance, but we only needed the set to function as a MIDI controller we could hit with sticks… and not break. Digital keyboards don’t work like that. Weird. Anyway, those beauties allowed us to begin recording via digital drum set. Until now, everything we did had been a combination of loops or a keyboard kit, which is hard as hell to play. While we thought this was going to be a handy little tool for recording the Shmopera, it instead led us down an entirely different path, which brings us to….
ZomBOOsical! - What is there to say? Please buy it. Again and again and again! Those lobsters are super-the-deliciousist! And I’ve made a lovely lobster coat and lobster shorts, though the lobster-claw tinkle slot (where the zipper is usually found) can be a bit treacherous to navigate. In about 3 1/2 weeks we wrote and recorded a musical tome that would make Homer turn and run from his sophomoric Odyssey in shame. It would have been finished in less than a week, but we had to go to those stupid jobs. Though, to be fair to Hilden, there were some, we’ll call them “inspired,” tracks that required about 3-4 weeks of editing. Plus he needed time to brew all that science he pours over the music stuff. It’s very technical and works exactly as I have described. He pours science on it. Out of his science cup. ZomBOOsical!
Shmups - What a great year for a genre I thought had been left behind! Inside of 12 months we saw the release of Raiden IV, Raiden Fighters Aces, and Mushihime-sama Futari! Granted they were all for one system (360), but still… kick ass!
XBox Live - It’s been a full year for me, back in the saddle, as it were. I dropped my Live account back in Fall 2006, when I decided against investing in a 360 and no longer played with John or Hilden because I moved within a reasonable drive for the the first time in 6 years. The single reason I bought an Xbox in the first place was so we could still hang, albeit in a virtual sex room, or game lobby, whatever, once a week. When I moved back to the area, there wasn’t a need to maintain the account anymore. So I quit. But after those knuckleheads bought me a 360 for Xmas last year, I had to sign up again. Not much choice, really. And it’s been fantastic! The service itself continues to improve with a generally consistent formula of two steps forward, one step back, thus demonstrating somebody has finally created an online environment that works remarkable well on a home console and interfaces relatively well with much of the social networking and customizable trends in music. It has also provided some tremendously entertaining moments with some of our good friends from the website, podcast, former lives, and beyond. In general, I don’t play games nearly as much as I used to, but it is always great to know that when I do log on, there is going to be somebody who’s up for a round or two of digital shenanigans. Excellent.
In years to come, I’ll look back fondly on 2009 as having some great films, albums, and games, but also as being an all-around good year personally. 2009 was the year I knocked up my wife for the second time and the year my first son started becoming a miniature human, capable of interacting and making me laugh with his great sense of humor. It was the first year I felt even remotely like a musician in nearly a decade and the year that our website and podcast really took shape in the way in which we always intended. So let’s take a look back at the stuff in 2009 that gave me a tingly-in-the-pants feeling.
The Music: Two of my favorite bands put out albums this year. Pearl Jam started off with Backspacer, a tight, rapid-fire album that proved they are still among the best – if not the best – rock and roll bands in existence. They managed to stay relevant after nearly twenty years, outlasting the grunge fad and the dark period of the late 90s and early 00s when musicians were cast aside for pop-star-douchebaggery, and come out better than ever.
And then there’s The Flaming Lips. What can I say about these crazy bastards other than I love them? First, they released an amazingly psychedelic double-album Embryonic, encased in a fuzzy, almost pubic-hair-like material, and then, with hardly any notice, they put out an album covering Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon. Both are challenging and hypnotic listens and both are among my favorite albums of the year.
Speaking of the Lips, Stardeath and White Dwarfs, a band fronted by Wayne Coyne’s nephew, released their first album, which was a great return to the psychedelic garage band rock that I grew up playing and loving.
But my favorite album of the year was Merriweather Post Pavilion by Animal Collective. I have never heard anything quite like the “Phillip Glass meets The Beach Boys” (via Hilden) sound of this album, and it kept me entranced for weeks. They also released the EP Fall Be Kind later in the year.
And finally, there was the debut album by Spinnerette. I only heard of this album because the band includes my all-time favorite drummer, Jack Irons, but I was pleasantly surprised by how great the tunes were. Singer Brody Dalle put together a fun, punchy album that proves chicks don’t need to put out candy-pop shit to be successful these days.
Other albums I dug in 2009 include Grizzly Bear’s Veckatimest, Sonic Youth’s The Eternal, and The Mars Volta’s Octahedron.
(more…)
Video gaming: L4D2, Borderlands and Recessions.
So yeah, L4D2 happened. It’s awesome. If I need to say more, you clearly do not read this site enough.
Borderlands is a loot-whoring masterpiece. I cannot put it more clearly. This game ripped my arm open, found the same vein that I had blown out with years of Diablo 2 playing, revitalized it, and pumped it full of a new, equally delicious blend of addictiveness. Also, monsters with vagoos for mouths. Awesome.
Let’s speak about how our current state of economic fuckery has helped, if not the gaming industry as a whole, my experience with it. People started swapping more used games, and indeed selling them outright for cheap. As such, I acquired Batman, Borderlands, and a few other titles for far less than I would have, and in that lovely time in which they’re fresh and new and the hype machine hasn’t forgotten about them. This also gave me time to catch up on my backlog of JRPGs, because I hate myself.
Movies: Zombies, yo!
So Zombieland was also awesome. If Woody Harrelson going mental on a zombie with a pair of hedge clippers doesn’t give you a thrill deep inside, you are dead inside, sir. And Woody Harrelson is going to go mental on you with some sort of garden tool.
Like Fido and other, Britishier movies before it, Zombieland takes a classic genre (the teen road trip self-discovery movie) and fills it full of zombie goodness like the cream filling injected into a twinkie (the artificially-flavored pastry, not the pornographic image). It shows us that somewhere out there, someone in Hollywood gets us. We don’t want 90 minutes of splosions, or people in furry suits murdering space marines (Ok, admittedly both of those sound wicked awesome on paper, but bear with me), we want the same nonsense we’ve wanted for the last decade, but full of flesh-eating mutants.
Make it so!
Books
Ok, so Jim Butcher has been writing well before 2009, but I’m going to talk about him now, so deal.
In addition to having a totally metal name, Butcher writes hard-boiled detective fiction in which the detective is a wizard, and kills supernatural evil with fire. Also guns, but usually fire.
Imagine Harry Potter, grown up, bitter, living paycheck to paycheck (oh, and he also accidently ‘splodes anything electronic he comes within 10 feet of). Instead of the grand plotting and investigating, he spends 20 minutes kicking the bajeezus out of Snape, then Hadoukens the big bad guy. With fire.
It’s delightful.
He’s also written a fantasy series about how the one person without magical talent in the world essentially becomes a medievel Batman. Only with more face-murdering. These things deserve perusal. Of the highest order.
Overall (this pretty much means websites)
Beyond that, I have a few favoritest things to throw down.
www.Cracked.com: It may not be the best internet writing. It may not be the cleanest. It is my favorite morning outlet for poop jokes and screaming obscenity this year.
www.Hulu.com: I gave up cable just over a year ago. Occasionally when I jones for bad TV and watch instantly doesn’t slake my thirst, this comes to the rescue. It also enough bad anime to choke a horse that eats other horses on a routine basis (and as such does not choke often).
The Robot Panic Community on XBLA. From the friendly seething emnity DJ and I have for one another, to Moe’s constant jump from apathy to frenzied rage, to Tiggermango and Apoch’s cheerful acceptance of my jerkassness, to Skreesha’s continuing polite laughter, to BNerdy and the like who give me things they know I will never appreciate, and to everyone else who dies a little inside as I’m inflicted upon them in a L4D2 room, I love you guys. Part of the reason I don’t pay attention to the console hype and competition is it simply does not matter to me anymore. The community I hang out with is on XBLA. When that moves, so shall I. You all have made my L4D2 games hilarious, Borderlands fun(ner), and bad movies hysterical.
And as I said last year. My avatar violates your avatar in the night. In every way imaginable.
Toodles!
The Shield Season 7 DVD Set – The last season of my favorite cop drama, and possibly one of my all time favorite television series. If you have yet to give The Shield a shot, you are missing out on something special. The last season especially does not skip a beat, and features a very shocking, yet fitting conclusion.
PSN/Microsoft/WII Points Cards – Previous years have seen many high caliber PSN/XBLA/Wii Ware releases. 2009 is arguably one of the best years in download releases with studs like Shadow Complex, Trine and Final Fantasy IV: The After Years to name a few of many. Additionally, it has been a killer year for game add-on content with Neversoft and Harmonix still strongly supporting their respective music games, and titles like Call of Duty: World at War, Gears of War 2, FallOut 3, Little Big Planet, Killzone 2 and many more being consistently fed new DLC throughout the year to increae the lifespan and replay value of their titles. I do not know about you, but I have at least bought well into the double digits of PSN/MS cards this year alone. If you keep a keen eye to online retailers, you can find many of those going at huge bargains for big savings on that oh-so-easy-to-impulse buy DLC.
I Love You, Man – It was a close battle between this and The Hangover for my favorite comedy this year. But after seeing both a second time several months after the fact, I Love You Man surprisingly holds up better. The jokes still hit home for me, with the highlight being the vomit gag, which is easily one of the best shock laughs in all of film.
Shawn Michaels vs. The Undertaker – At Wrestlemania XXIV this year, I witnessed hands down, the best wrestling match of all time. This is somewhat strange since it featured none of the over the top gimmicks or stipulations from the wrestling world like ladders, thumbtacks, cages or other props. Strangest of all, this bout was between two wrestlers that many consider are both well past their prime and rapidly approaching retirement. Just like Brett Favre has proven skeptics in Minnesota this year, athletes can be like abottle of fine wine and improve with age as Undertaker and Shawn Michaels put on a five star mat classic for the ages. If you ever watched wrestling at one point in the past then by all means rent/Netflix Wrestlemania XXIV just f this match, I guarantee you will not regret it.
10 Year Anniversary of the Dreamcast – Sega’s dream may be long gone, but at least it was honored and remembered this year with class. Across the web, many videogame press outlets had a ten year anniversary nod towards the Dreamcast, and even a few new indie games were released for it this year. Someday, somewhere, Shenmue III will see the light of day.
Taken – Note to self, do not kidnap Liam Neeson’s daughter.
Engagement Ring
Sure I know the diamond industry is artificial supply and other price fixing garbage, but when I proposed to me pre-wife, her ongoing mushing over this ring have made the whole mess worth it. Also, I’m gettin’ married, bitches! My girl is cooler than all’y’all’s girls. In the most non-whipped tool way possible, gettin’ my ass married is at the top of the list stuff. Oreganoh fo lyfe!
PSPgo
Fuck you smartphones, this thing is what’s in my pocket ever since I got it. 28Gigs of music, PS2 games, and television all up on me thanks to Amazon M2 christmas deals. I’ve dropped this thing like, seven times and thank the jesus it doesn’t break. Well I dunno about you early adaptors, but I can’t recommend this thing enough. What a great lifestyle device. Good times, good times.
Mushihimesama Futari
Cave making this region free is a huge deal. The game is evil, crazy, and screeching on the ears, but what you gonna do when you’re up against some of the hardest bullet patterns conceived? Buy more copies so Espgaluda 2 goes region free as well.
Raiden Comeback
Between Raiden Fighters Aces and Raiden IV, STGs had a lot of good things going for them; all for $62 total. Raiden Fighters series was a great thing to port with leaderboards, as those scoring systems are some of the strangest I’ve played. Raiden IV is more like a Raiden III-DX, but a formula worth upgrading. I’m not worried about $2 DLC. I’d like to think purchasing that was less money going to Gamestop and more going to Moss and UFO.
Watchmen
We hope you enjoyed the last serious attempt at a R movie made from a comic. I don’t buy the printed version of anything after watching it, but this film is probably the first and last exception I’ll make to the rule. You did good David Hayter…you did good.
DJ Hero
Anytime I tried Rock Band or Guitar Hero alone, I got bored. Quickly. This turntable hero business tailors itself better to a 1-player style. I love mashups and original mixes to explore while practicing faux scratching is an experience I wouldn’t put down till the very end.
Wireless N Gaming
With the release of N wireless gaming adaptors, I can finally get good online play without hauling my box to a SDTV upstairs cramped in a small room. I can play online at my theater with less of the lagtastic bullshit from my end. I wish this was the standard and all G and B were flat-out outlawed. That’d be a good day. Now if only we can get the frikkin’ ISPs to cooperate…
Gameyard
Dunno where this place came from, but it appears every Thursday in Garden City, Michigan, the fighting game scene meets up to play Street Fighter 4 and Tekken 6 for $6 a day. Six large HD screens side by side, 20 players all bringing their own arcade sticks, money matches, shit talking, deep information exchanges, no input lag, and I can’t make a dent in any of these players. Holy shit I actually gotta practice. Terrific! If you’re ever chillin’ in the Murda Mitten state, this is where the party is.
Left 4 Dead 2
A few steps forward on single player, a few steps back on multiplayer. Scavenge is cool, Hard Rain is sweet, new infected are neat, but goddammit I don’t wanna wait 9 months to get the new game up to the optimized speed of the first game. Currently, framerate drops like a rock in all modes when shit goes down, lag issues are ongoing in multiplayer, collision detection sucks more and not something to have when you gotta make a Charger work. Also, why the hell can’t I pick what infected I wanna use? Team Fortress devs are probably crying right now. It sucks widespread community won’t go back to old game, but oh well, new coat of paint, still a slick game.
Saw VI
Good god did a lot of movies suck this year. Nobody knows why effort is still being put into this series, but it’s there and still a great time. Die insurance adjusters, die! Weee!
The return of the JRPG
The last couple of years for Japanese Role Playing Games has been lacking to say the least. Final Fantasy XII was the last huge release for the genre, and that game wasn’t what I would call…good. Since then the genre went pretty much dormant except for the occasional sign of life (Persona 3) or big time disappointment (Blue Dragon). However this year saw some truly fantastic entries into the genre with games like Lost Oddysey, Tales Of Vesperia, Disgaea 3, The World Ends With You, and the grand finale of 2008 that was Shin Megami Tensei Persona 4. With the 800 pound gorilla that is Final Fantasy XIII on the horizon, I can’t wait to see what the genre puts out in 2009. Dragon Quest IX and White Knight Chronicles have peaked my interest.
Mega Box Sets from HBO
Everyone loves DVD box sets, and everyone loves HBO. When you put them together, you have a chocolate & peanut butter situation. However this match made in heaven tends to be expensive as fuck. So when John’s check signers decided to have a mega sale on all HBO box sets last week when I happened to have a bunch of Christmas cash, I decided to get two shows that I’ve never and always wanted to watch: The Sopranos: the complete series and The Wire: the complete series, which pretty much everyone is in agreement are two of the best TV shows ever made. Apparently this deal also caught my brothers eye, who proceeded to get me Deadwood: the complete series as well. That my friends is over 170 hours of content across 75 discs, so whatever spare time I have for games is now gone. Also: kudos to whoever puts these sets together, as they are all gorgeous. The Sopranos case is this giant book with the season laid out as the pages, and it might be the best box set EVARRR. Add to these the Blu Ray release of Band Of Brothers earlier this year, and HBO has done some fucking awesome work this year…if you got the cash.
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2008 was a hell of a year in just about every category, from movies to music to world events to video games… It seemed that with every new day, something crazy and unexpected was just on the horizon, from a presidential candidate choosing a complete buffoon as his running mate to Chinese Democracy finally being released. Here are a few of my most notable memories from 2008.
The Movies: While The Dark Knight seems to have made everybody’s list, I’ll add Iron Man and Pineapple Express to my list. Poor Iron Man came out of the gate swinging, and I came out of the theater proclaiming that it was the greatest superhero movie ever made. And it was…for a couple months until Heath Ledger blew everybody’s damn mind. Nevertheless, Robert Downey Jr. was stellar as Tony Stark and Jon Favreau brought my favorite Marvel superhero to the big screen perfectly.
Seriously, I probably watched this trailer over a hundred times before the movie was released. Pineapple Express is not only my favorite movie of the year, but it’s the best movie Seth Rogan has ever been in. It also reminded me that James Franco is at his best when he’s funny. The guy is a great comedic actor and I hope the success of Pineapple Express encourages him to do more with the funny.
The Gadgets: I used a plural, but in truth there is only one gadget to mention in 2008: the iPhone 3G. Never in my life did I think a phone could change the way in which I live my life. But the iPhone is the most important device I own and the one thing that I must have with me at all times. I use it to watch movies, listen to music and podcasts, play video games, check news, browse the internet, update Robot Panic, take pictures, take notes, text dirty messages to Hilden and Moe, and of course call people. The App Store has completely revolutionized nearly everything in my life, and because of this wonderful gadget, I have joined Hilden in the cult of Steve Jobs.
The Games: Boy oh boy oh boy oh boy…there were some excellent games released in ’08. Among my favorites were Professor Layton and the Curious Village, No More Heroes, Burnout Paradise, Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, Little Big Planet, Dragon Quest IV (DS), Fable II, Mario Kart Wii, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4, and Motorstorm: Pacific Rift. Not to mention great downloadables like Castle Crashers, Megaman 9, and Galaga Legions. But the game that simply blew us all away was Left 4 Dead. Our obsession with zombies has been well-documented here at Robot Panic, but even we were stunned to find out just how incredible Left 4 Dead was. The game took nearly everything that is great about zombie movies (relentless hordes, a group of unlikely survivors, an ultimate standoff) and translated it perfectly into the greatest multiplayer game I’ve experienced in years. I was all set to choose Little Big Planet as my Game of the Year, but one evening with Left 4 Dead was all it took to change my mind. Hell, the game is so good that even Moe is playing it. Hilden and I had to buy him a 360 just so he’d stop playing our copies.
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