"Metal Gear Solid meets fluffy animals"?...

... or so Danny Cho describes the show previewed in the following, glorious video. I have to agree, and add that Cat Shit One: The Animated Series looks to be my favorite show of all fucking time.

The admittedly lame title with which the Japanese series is burdened has been mercifully changed for American audiences.

My friends, say 'ello to Apocalypse Meow.

How long before PETA jumps on this? I mean, at least it's animal-on-animal violence. With guns. And Japanese voices. Like in the wild.

Karaoke Night Videos

For some reason, I can't upload these to Facebook. Screw you, Facebook! I will display my videos here! No, you had your chance, sorry. So stop the calling, the long voicemails, the late night texting, the notes beneath my windshield wipers, the sappy JumboTron messages. It's over.

So, this was a birthday party populated by many of my non-old-ass coworkers. Like many of my favorite such parties, I was not required to buy presents or drinks for the birthday girl.

And the obligatory Queen sing-along, or, as I like to call it, BP's Finest Destroying Queen's Finest.

It was a fun way to spend a Friday night in the 'burbs. I was promised that the next such shindig will take place in Chicago proper. Hopefully I'll be able to grab more embarrassing situations on digital media.

In these times of economic uncertainty, it's a good strategy to have as much dirt on your coworkers as possible.

Genus Phoneutria: Greek for "Murderess"

See that bad boy/girl? Brazilian wandering spider. These cute little guys are responsible for more human deaths than any other spider on the planet. One of them was discovered and captured in the produce section of a Whole Foods in Tulsa, OK.

That's right, some kid making $7 an hour fumbled through a bunch of Honduran bananas and rounded up a creature whose bite could have killed him in less than half an hour.

I mean, the Whole Foods in Lincoln Park was closed by the health department over rats. Why does Tulsa get all the cool critters?

I Read a Book!!

I just read a mostly brilliant book by Jeff Chang entitled Can't Stop Won't Stop: A History of the Hip-Hop Generation. It came out a few years ago with a decent level of fanfare, but I only decided to read it quite recently. Luckily, after a camera retrieval mission brought me back to the Steppenwolf Theatre in Lincoln Park, I deigned to enter the nearby Borders Bookstore on North Ave in search of my book. It was at least the 8th bookstore at which I attempted to purchase the damn thing, and, wut-wut, they had a single copy on the shelf.

Yoink!

Although I'm a relatively recent convert (maybe within the last five or six years), I love hip-hop. I can, and do, enjoy old school to crunk, backpacker to gangster, indie to multiplat, and most everything in between. Unless it sucks. I do have a low tolerance for suck. And a high tolerance for this.

Anyway, this book does a fantastic job at chronicling hip-hop's true beginnings in Jamaica (really?) and Brooklyn, its troubled rise to mainstream acceptance, and subsequent exploitation. The music is obviously a big part of it, but I really consider this to be An Urban People's History of the United States. Chang goes relatively in-depth on governmental abandonment of the inner city, racism, gangs, drugs, and the three primary ingredients to the culture: music, art, and dance.

I've already been needlessly verbose. If any of the above interests you in the least, check out the book. Anyone who likes things that are unassailably badass should check out this video.

Jon Steward vs. CNBC Part... I dunno, this is turning into a war.

I'm just going to post a link here. The premise: Jim Cramer of CNBC's "Mad Money" guests on Jon Stewart's "Daily Show." The interview went well over the allotted time, so Comedy Central posted the entire, unedited segment in three parts. As I said a couple of posts ago, Stewart has taken down "news" programs before. Could an entire network be next?

The Interview

I'm not really going to go into specifics here, but there's something genuinely awe inspiring about a relatively quiet talk show host humbling guys like this in front of a national audience. The neo-righties get the vein/pill popping Rush Limbaugh, and the rest of get spoken to like adults.

I don't think this is an attempt on Stewart's part to garner more exposure for himself, but to actually affect change in the most visible of areas. I don't doubt his sincerity. Given some time, I'm interested to see if this gets any real traction.

If Bob Dylan was the voice of his generation, and we somehow got assigned Kanye West, where can I vote for Jon Stewart?

Blogging on the Weekend

I never blog weekends. Here's a picture I took with my new camera.

Here you see Paul and my bikes and helmets in front of my living room window. I just noticed this morning that the helmets appear to be locking horns, like if cyclists went head-to-head in the Monday Night Football intro video.

Here's a pic I took with my old camera of my new watch.

I got it from TokyoFlash.com. I oftentimes enjoy scrolling through the new watches and play a little game wherein I attempt to figure out how to tell the time without looking through the user manuals.

It's the hardest game ever.

These watches are really more conversation pieces than time pieces. I've had this thing for more than a month, and I think I've accessed it for the purpose of telling time approximately thrice. I just like the fact that between 6pm and 1am the whole face lights up in a spiral pattern every two minutes. Kind of annoying in a movie theater, but pretty cool at parties.

Oh, I just beat Braid this weekend.

It's a short little downloadable arcade game on XBL. It's like Super Mario Bros. meets Donkey Kong meets Prince of Persia: Sands of Time meets assorted hallucinogenic substances. It's not often I finish a game and feel the need to read a plot analysis in an attempt to come to terms with what the hell just happened.

Luckily for non-Xbox types there's a PC version coming out soon for $15. It's incredibly worth it. Braid is the most rewarding and enjoyable puzzle game / platformer I've played since Portal.

Jon Stewart vs. CNBC

There's really very little to say about this video that isn't said... well, in the video. I will say this is probably the best and most hilarious emasculation of a "news" source since Jon Stewart destroyed Crossfire.

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

CNBC Gives Financial Advice

Daily Show Full Episodes
Important Things With Demetri Martin

Political Humor
Joke of the Day

It's sad that things have gotten to this point, and I'm not sure if I should take comfort in, or be horrified by, the fact that no one really knows what's going on.

Official Oklahoma Rock Song

In times of world economic meltdown it's nice to hear that Oklahoma's legislature devoted part of its 2008 session to approve House Concurrent Resolution 1047: a selection process for the official state rock song. And the winner is... The Flaming Lips' "Do You Realize?"!!!

Since I'm basically a native Oklahoman, I'm required to like, nay, LOVE the Flaming Lips. They could make uniformly unlistenable albums and trippy, holiday-themed, Martian rock-operas for the next ten years and I'd still stand in a teeming crowd of tweens for two hours, squeeling with glee at every giant, glitter stuffed ball Wayne Coyne pops with his ridiculous guitar. They are that awesome.

This is an Oklahoma band who absolutely love playing in Oklahoma, adored by huge hometown, Oklahoma crowds. I can think of no better musical representative for the state.

I'm also hugely impressed/surprised by the fact that over half the Oklahomans who voted on the 10 finalists went with the Lips' "Do You Realize?" when All-American Rejects' "Move Along" had somehow made the cut. Victory!!