“Of the Month” Archives: 2011
December 2011:
Link of the Month:
My Christmas Wish List
Merry Shameless Christmas to Me!
Album of the Month:
A Very She & Him Christmas
She & Him, aka Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward, have come out with a very simple, minimalist Christmas album. The vocal reverb is turned up, and the instruments are kept to a minimum. Sometimes it’s just a ukulele; sometimes just a guitar that sounds like it’s straight outta the 1950s. There are only a couple of songs that bring in a full band (one even has backing vocals). The result is a soothing, somewhat spacey and dreamy set of Christmas standards. I like it.
TV Special the Month:
A Muppet Family Christmas
A great 1987 Christmas special that combines the Muppets, Sesame Street, Fraggle Rock, and even Muppet Babies (appearing as puppets) in one glorious, nostalgic feast of warm feelings and happy times. Problems with the rights to some songs have caused the “official” video & DVD releases of this movie to be edited all to Hell, but right now you can watch the unedited version on YouTube… before it gets taken down!
November 2011:
Link of the Month:
Retro Game Master on Kotaku
My new favorite thing on the internet, Retro Game Master (GameCenter CX as it is originally known in Japan) is a show about watching a man, Arino “The Kacho,” play video games. That’s it. At the beginning of the episode he’s given a video game he’s never played before, and he tries his damnedest to beat it. You wouldn’t think watching that for an hour would be at all entertaining, but you’d be so very wrong. Here’s the thing: Arino is not very good at video games. He’s not really an expert. So it’s fascinating to watch him struggle and figure out how to do things. Secondly, Arino is the very definition of affable. He is just so easily charismatic and likeable that you get drawn into his struggle and each small victory on the way to beating a game becomes your small victory, and each defeat becomes your defeat. Arino also is so good-natured about the whole affair; he never gets angry when things don’t go his way, he just makes a little self-effacing jokes and little sighs. No matter how bad things get for him, he never allows it to bring him down. And that’s what in the end is worth watching.
Album of the Month:
Brite Futures: Dark Past
Brite Futures used to be known as “Natalie Portman’s Shaved Head.” They changed their name for obvious reasons. This is their second album, and it seems like a straight-ahead extension of their first, Glistening Pleasure. And I mean that in a good way. This album is just pure, giddy fun. It’s excellently-crafted disco-pop-synth-rock straight out of the ’70s and ’80s. But all of the songs are from a slightly skewed point of view or are about subject matters that are just slightly… off. They’re funny, but they’re sung with such earnestness that the tongue is planted firmly in the cheek, like Flight of the Concords, Jonathan Coulton, and Tenacious D. I love it.
Movie of the Month:
Conan O’Brien Can’t Stop
A fascinating documentary portrait of a man who is so driven to make people have a good time that he just cannot stop. At all. And it’s so frikkin’ hilarious. It’s like Conan is a man who knows his purpose in life, and every instant wherein he is not fulfilling his purpose to his utmost feels wasted to him. Throughout the course of this film he routinely wrings himself dry onstage to the point of utter exhaustion, then goes backstage and greets fans and fellow celebrities with just as much (if not more) gusto. It’s like a never-ending fountain of manic entertainment. He periodically complains about it, but he never actually intentionally snubs anyone (even in one terribly awkward exchange with a racist young man). You get the sense that Conan O’Brien is the kind of man who would run across no-man’s land in WWI just to get to a soldier on the other side and make him laugh. It’s a good thing he’s so funny.
October 2011:
Link of the Month:
Urban Threads
While I don’t like their name (“Hey, let’s add the word ‘urban’ to our company’s name to make it sound hip end exciting to the youthful demographic” – they might have well as added a “Z” to the end of “Threads” instead of an “S”), I do like that Urban Threads is taking embroidery out of the realm of the 55-plus-year-old ladies and putting into the hands of artist who actually make legitimately cool stuff. Urban Threads specializes in quirky, spooky, and steampunk designs (they collectively refer to it as “stitchpunk”), all of which are perfect for Halloween costumes and decor.
Game of the Month:
Barrr
An incredibly addictive game wherein you run a pirate bar and have to manage your flow of customers (all pirates) as they drink beer at a bar, get a tattoo from an adorable redhead, play some darts, need to pee, and play some video games or some Rock Band. The art style is incredibly kawaii, and Pirates are kinda Halloween-ish, right? Available for Android devices.
Movie of the Month:
Trollhunter
A surprisingly engaging “found footage” horror movie in the vein of Blair Witch and Cloverfield, about a group of enterprising journalism students who hope to track down and interview a bear poacher in Norway. They quickly discover that bears aren’t what he’s actually hunting. A great use of a low budget and some very effective CGI as the group encounters increasingly dangerous categories of trolls, with some amusing discussions of troll physiology and behavior along the way. There’s a wonderful scene where this badass trollhunter sits down to eat breakfast in a diner in a sweater vest and glasses and you realize that he just looks like someone’s kindly grandfather or uncle. I really appreciated how quickly the movie got into the business of getting the trolls right up there on the screen in plain sight and dealing with them instead of keeping them a shadowy secret until a big climactic reveal at the end.
September 2011:
Link of the Month:
Comic Book Resources
It’s weird; I have a strangely encyclopedic knowledge of comic books, especially from the Marvel universe. Here’s where I go to get all my comic book news.
Album of the Month:
Leeni: The Only Now
Sometimes I think I’d like to meet Leeni, but then I think I might inadvertently creep her out because (1) I also make chiptune music, (2) I also play the ukulele, (3) I also do improv comedy. I’m like a guy version of her except I can’t sing. Fortunately she can. In this album, her third full release as a chiptune musician, her silky, ethereal, dreamy vocals are smoother than ever, and her chiptune compositions (with some added enhancements) are intricate and lovely. There were a dozen amazing albums that came out in the past few weeks, but Leeni ends up winning this month.
TV of the Month:
Community: The Complete Second Season
Still the funniest TV show currently on the air. The 2nd season did not perhaps have as strong of an overall arc as the first season. There were storylines that seemed like they were gonna be important or go somewhere that ultimately ended up fizzling or going somewhere it didn’t quite seem like they belonged. But this season still has some of the best episodes of any TV series ever (yes, I will go on record with that), the highlight perhaps being the D&D episode. Just unbelievably creative television making by everyone involved. It’s inspiring and a bit depressing because I know no matter how hard I tried I’d never be able to make a TV show this good.
August 2011:
Link of the Month:
Project Rooftop
As Project Runway is to fashion, Project Rooftop is to Superhero fashion. This site is dedicated to imagining redesigns of comic book uniforms and outfits. It has news on all new costumes worn by comic book superheroes, and it also takes submissions come from all over (you can submit stuff yourself if you want). It’s shockingly engaging to read and look at.
Album of the Month:
Julia Massey & The Five Finger Discount: Is There Room For Me?
*Contented sigh* The 2nd album from the Seattle superstars is every bit the masterpiece that their first one was. Another album funded through a grassroots Kickstarter campaign that exceeded what it asked for, this album is destined to be my album of the year. Just like their last album.
Game of the Month:
The Humble Indie Bundle
Not just one game, the Humble Indie Bundle is a periodic release of a handful of the best video games from independent game makers. You can get some games that are really unique, and best of all it’s name your price for the whole set! Pay what you think they’re worth or what you can afford. This is a great way to get exposed to some games you wouldn’t otherwise ever know about.
July 2011:
Link of the Month:
Tee Fury
It seems like there are a handful of websites that offer one daily t-shirt for sale every 24 hours, but I tend to like Tee Fury’s geekish offerings more often than any others’ designs. I follow their feed for easy updates!
Album of the Month:
Blue Scholars: Cinemetropolis
A damnably catchy album with an equally wonderful origin story: The local Seattleite duo of MC Geologic and DJ Sabzi funded the entire album through their fans via a Kickstarter campaign that ended up bringing in more than double the money they asked for! Geo has one of my favorite flows in all of hip-hop right now, and his lyrics are intelligent and clever. Sabzi pulls out some head-shakingly-good music for this project. Here, watch this video for “Fou Lee” (which is an Asian market on Beacon Hill in Seattle):
Game of the Month:
A Boy and His Blob
This is a gorgeous, soothing, adorable game. It’s a re-imagining of the insanely frustrating ’80s video game. In remaking it they removed all of the things that made the first game so difficult to actually play. The result is a strangely pastoral experience, like walking through a beautiful forest… with puzzle-solving. My favorite part: there’s a button whose sole purpose is to make the boy hug the blob. It’s so frikkin’ cute, and it serves no purpose other than to be cute.
June 2011:
Link of the Month:
Popped Culture
A delightful blog that specializes in the mashups of various pop-culture icons. For example, the recent Josey Wales & The Pussycats:
Album of the Month:
Open Mike Eagle: Rappers Will Die of Natural Causes
Just like I did last year, I’ve named Mike Eagle’s new album as my Album of the Month BEFORE it is released! Don’t worry, you won’t have to wait long; it’s released on Tuesday 6/7. Here’s a video to tide you over:
It’s gunna be suh-weeet.
DVD of the Month:
The Middleman: The Complete Series
The Middleman was a small show that kinda slipped under everyone’s radar a few years ago. It quietly aired a dozen episodes on ABC Family, then disappeared. It’s a shame; it’s one of the geekiest, most gosh-darn fun shows I’ve seen in a good long while. It’s a TV show for people who love TV shows, Movies, and Comic Books. It was canceled before they got to make the final episode, so after you watch the series you should pick up the comic book they made
May 2011:
Link of the Month:
Dads are the Original Hipsters
Sorry hipsters, your dad was the original hipster and he was killing it back in the day. This site has photographic proof that no matter how cool you think you are, your kids will think you are an absolute dork. And they’ll be right.
Album of the Month:
The Asteroids Galaxy Tour: Fruit
This is an incredibly infectious and poppy album that has sweet hints of 60s spy jazz music liberally sprinkled thoughout its happy, bouncy, electro-pop sensibilities. Danish vocalist Mette Lindberg has a thin, girlish voice that I find incredibly appealing in such stand-out tracks as “Around the Bend” (which was featured in an iPhone commercial), “Golden Age,” and “Bad Fever.” Also they seem to have a song about Ghost Rider. Awesome fun.
Book of the Month:
Usagi Yojimbo: The Special Edition by Stan Sakai
It is a great shame of mine that I do not own any Usagi Yojimbo comics. You may remember him from some (strange) crossovers with TMNT, but Usagi has a life completely on his own, and is celebrating his 25th anniversary. Usagi Yojimbo is easily in the top five greatest comic book series of all time, and I would love to own every single issue. I’ll begin my collection with this extremely handsome edition that collects the first seven volumes of the series (from Fantagraphics) with many fantastic extras. Hopefully I will be able to continually add volumes to my collection.
April 2011:
Link of the Month:
My Birfday
It’s my birfday next month. Here’s my Wish List. SHAMELESS PLUG.
DVD of the Month:
Max Headroom: The Complete Series
A unique and fascinating 1980s cyberpunk TV show, where the dominant technology is television broadcasting, not computers (though they do play their part). It’s truly a fascinating world where ratings are king, and your boss at the network is sometimes your enemy and sometimes your supporter. Unusual production design and strangely low-budget production values give this show a real alien feel. Not every episode is a hit, but there aren’t very many, and it is endlessly intriguing.
Game of the Month:
Sketch Online
Here’s the premise: imagine playing Pictionary over the internet with strangers, only there’s no board; just drawing. And you have to draw with your finger on a smartphone screen. It may not sound like it, but Sketch Online is ridiculously fun. Sure, every now and then you get some schmo who doesn’t play by the rules or draws something obscene, but for the most part everyone involved seems to actually be trying their hardest. Look for me online: my username is angrybeef (of course).
March 2011:
Link of the Month:
Boxcar 2D
A shockingly addictive “game” in which randomly-generated, wheeled vehicles are pitted against one of several 2-dimensional terrains. The cars that do the best in any given round then “breed” to create the cars of the next generation. A fascinating simulation of how environment shapes evolution as the cars “evolve” to be better and better over the course of many generations. You can introduce other factors, such as a chance of mutation or a “seed” car that you can design yourself. I suggest you load this website before going to bed and then checking on it in the morning to see just how many generations have passed and how evolution has shaped your creations.
Album of the Month:
Geli Wuerzner: Before the Eye
Electric violin virtuoso Geli Wuerzner participated in the RPM Music Challenge: record an entire album in the month of February 2011. The result is this remarkable 10-song album, which is in turn beautiful, haunting, and just plain pretty! Mostly instrumental, but periodically Geli’s voice appears to blend perfectly with her strings, and there are pianos, organs (as in the delightful “Spectacle“) and even some electronica sounds. Take a listen, but more importantly it’s only $6.00 for the entire album! Support local independent musicians!
Game of the Month:
Tetris Party
Man-o-man, is my wife ever addicted to Tetris, though it comes and goes in phases; she’ll spend entire months playing it nonstop, and then take a year-long break from it before picking it up again. This year we got the Wiiware Tetris Party with a gift card I got for Christmas, and I have to say—it really is a lot of fun. There are some crazy modes and special items (especially the one that drops a tiny little man into the playing field that you have to try not to squish). The multi-player modes are where it’s at, though, whether playing with your wife as she sits intensely on the couch next to you or playing with people around the world via wi-fi. It’s a hoot.
February 2011:
Link of the Month:
Lackadaisy
A webcomic about prohibition-era St. Louis has much of what you’d expect from such a thing: speakeasies, flappers, pinstripes, tommy-guns, moonshiners, heavies, and dames. But you might not expect that it is one of the most lushly-illustrated webcomics I’ve ever seen. Seriously, it makes other webcomics look like they were drawn by four-year-olds using their non-dominant hand. It’s also meticulously researched and strives to be as historically accurate as possible. And let’s not forget that it’s hilarious and dramatic and thoroughly entertaining. And it’s about anthropomorphic cats.
Album of the Month:
JP Inc.: An Album of Distinction
You might know JP by his former musician name of Pleaseeasaur. In his new identity, JP has crafted a concept album: JP Incorporated is a company that crafts “Music Themes for Quality Television Programs.” The album is a parade of howlingly-funny horrible theme songs for horrible-sounding TV shows, such as “Lietenant Custard & His Banger of Time,” “Family Comedy,” “Gymnastics Dad,” and “The Internet” (and those are all just on the first half of the album), interspersed with some commercial work, such as the recurring “Common Scents” and the heavy-metal band Crap Factory. The songs are all purposefully incompetent and sometimes hilariously and aggravatingly accurate, especially to 1980s TV theme songs. Take a listen to some sample tracks here:
The Internet:
Situations:
Jacuzzi Air:
And here’s the video for “Jazzbot Xtreme”
Game of the Month:
Kirby’s Epic Yarn
One of the most visually stunning Wii games I’ve ever played, Epic Yarn re-tools the familiar Kirby franchise and spins a new game where everything is composed entirely of yarn and fabric and buttons. But it isn’t just a visual style; the side-scrolling platformer gameplay is based almost entirely on incredibly creative ways to manipulate and interact with the various fabric environments and yarn characters. Kirby’s Epic Yarn is simply a joy to play, and is a surprisingly relaxing and happy experience. It’s low on the challenge level (much like Lego Star Wars, you can’t actually die), but the whole point is to be able to experience the lush fullness of the game, not get frustrated by its challenges. So much fun!
January 2011:
Link of the Month:
Unintentional Housewife
A very funny blog from a professional woman who suddenly found herself career-less and decided to make a go of this whole “housewife” thing. It manages to be personal and universal at the same time. And, bonus: I TOTALLY KNOW HER IN REAL LIFE!
DVD & Album of the Month:
Daft Punk: Tron Legacy Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
An incredibly effective soundtrack that is intense and strong, and moves surprisingly between the expected electronic music and traditional orchestral-style soundtrack music. It would be a bad idea to play this soundtrack while you’re driving because it really just makes you want to go. It’s very driven, and one of the best movie soundtracks since Trent Reznor’s The Social Network and Michael Giacchino’s Up.
DVD of the Month:
Batman: Under the Red Hood
This is a surprisingly good Batman movie, near the very top of the list. It’s an intensely personal story about Batman’s greatest failure and some unexpected consequences. Great vocal performances by Bruce Greenwood as Batman, Jensen Ackles as the titular Red Hood, and the ubiquitous John DiMaggio (best known as Bender on Futurama) as the Joker. It’s heart-wrenching and action-packed.
