If you don’t know what Left 4 Dead (L4D) or Left 4 Dead 2 (L4D2) is, then please enlighten yourself. You will need the skills within for the zombie apocalypse. Trust.
While I was away on vacation, I was visiting a friend’s cottage and lo’ and behold, I found something rather interesting.
A TANK ALERT box.
Now, most people would attribute this rather curious looking device–colored in Half-Life orange no less–to the toilet it sat beside.
But not I. Not being well-versed in the art of zombie killing via L4D and L4D2.
No, I immediately went O M F G. And took a picture.
Yeah, all I could think about was how this would be so fitting in the Left 4 Dead universe. Because when you hear the thumping, T-Rex like vibrations of an approaching Tank, it’s already too late. But a Tank Alert Alarm System could save you precious seconds–allowing you to not run away (because there is no running away from a Tank), but to load up on ammo and prayers.
And if you don’t know what a Tank is? Check this out:
Yeah. Guns and prayers. Guns and prayers.
And it’s kinda funny how a franchise and soak into your head so much that the second you see something that could easily fit into said franchise, your brain automatically makes the leap. I love that.
Now I need to find something to defend against Boomers, because, well, they’re just gross.
So after reading about Cory Doctorow taking off on vacation up into the wilds of Canada and not looking at email, answering the phone, or blogging, I started thinking about doing the same. I mean, I can’t remember the last time I cut myself off of the internet. Even when I was in Hawaii for 2 weeks during my 5 year wedding anniversary, I still blogged and uploaded pics while I trekked around with my wife. Or the Dominican Republic in March is another perfect example. WiFi on the resort meant me with my BlackBerry, all day, every day (much to my wife’s chagrin).
And to be honest, I’m not sure I can do it. I am email addicted. Twitter addicted. Internet addicted.
Well, I am plugged in pretty hard.
But when I look at the picture below (a quick snap from Maui), I think, ahhh, relaxation–and how nice would it be to just disappear for a little while.
So that is exactly what I’m going to do. As of tomorrow, when I leave my house for a cottage on a favourite Canadian lake, I will be unplugging myself.
No internet, no email, no Twitter, nothing.
I will have my cell phone in case my agent needs to get a hold of me, but that’s it. No. Data. Access.
The order of business will be family, beach, writing, and reading. And drinking a few beers here and there.
I will be back on Sunday August 22nd.
Now I need to go ready myself for the disconnection tomorrow morning. It’s going to hurt…
Last night I went to see the Black Eyed Peas in Toronto with my wife, brother, and his girlfriend. We’d been waiting for this show for some time, since we bought the tickets back in March…
And wow, they sure didn’t disappoint.
We had awesome seats, just off-center to the crazy stage. Then opened up with Let’s Get It Started (surprise, surprise, though I was kinda expecting I Gotta Feeling, which they used as their encore–a whole 2 hours after they opened the show!). And for that whole 2 hours they smashed it. Awesome beats after awesome beats. Good stage presentation, good mix of tracks, with awesome stage presence from the entire group.
Taboo even rode high above the crowd on a TRON light cycle…I mean, how cool is that?
Now, I always thought will.i.am was talented, but seeing him “freestyle” rap–without making a mistake–for over 5 minutes was truly amazing. I couldn’t find a clip of him doing it in Toronto, but I did find one from Sacramento to give you an idea. He gets amazingly fast by the 3:30 mark and blows the doors off by the end.
Now I guess you’re wondering why I haven’t mentioned Fergie yet…well, best for last? Um, yeah. She looked amazing in person, and damn, her voice was powerful and rather–surprisingly–solid live. She even did three of her solo tracks, Fergalicious, Glamorous, and Big Girls Don’t Cry. And of course her outfits were crazy-hot.
Actually all of the costumes were over-the-top, including will.i.am coming out in this funky cylon-like robotic outfit for a 20 minute DJ set–that totally rocked BTW.
Really, the entire show was like one big party and I can’t wait to see them again in September–in San Francisco. Aw, yeah!
I will leave you two of my favorite BEP songs–Meet Me Halfway…
Finally a new Deus Ex game–and OMG does it look gorgeous or what?
My Xbox 360 has been collecting dust since February (yeah, I know–I’ve been busy). But I would totally dust it off for this game. That and Bioshock 2, which I still have to pick up.
Anyways, if you love Blade Runner, cyberpunk, neon, dystopian realities melding with transhumanist possibility, then buckle-up for this.
I awoke only to find my lungs empty,
and through the night so it seems i’m done breathing,
and now my dreams are nothing like they were meant to be,
and i’m breaking down,
I think i’m breaking down.
And i’m afraid to sleep because of what haunts me,
such as living with the uncertainty,
that i’ll never find the words to say which would completely explain,
just how i’m breaking down.
Someone come and,
someone come and save my life.
Maybe i’ll sleep when I am dead,
but now it’s like the night is taking sides.
And all the worries that occupy the back of my mind,
could it be this misery will suffice?
I’ve become the simple souvenir of someone’s kill,
and like the sea i’m constantly changing from calm to ill,
madness fills my heart and soul,
as if the great divide could swallow me whole,
oh how i’m breaking down.
Someone come and,
someone come and save my life.
Maybe i’ll sleep when I am dead,
but now it’s like the night is taking sides.
And all the worries that occupy the back of my mind,
could it be this misery will suffice?
Oh we’re alive.
Someone come and,
someone come and save my life.
Someone come and,
someone come and save my life.
Someone come and,
someone come and save my life.
Years ago, I used to take public transportation into the day jobbe as I worked in downtown Toronto. So that meant train, subway, walking. It also meant a lot of time to kick back and read–somewhere around 3 hours a day. It was great. I read and read, polishing off one or two books a week (depending, of course, on how many times I passed out during the early morning train rides). Wow, did I build up a nice collection of books in this time period.
5 years ago I changed jobbes and started driving again–2.5 hours per day. But my reading stopped. I was now reading anywhere between two and five books a year. Gasp! I needed to fix this, so I started listening to audiobooks. What a godsend! I was now able to start reading, er, listening to a book every two weeks or less, plus what I’m physically reading outside of the car.
Now, this is all well and dandy–but I love books. I love the physical quality of books. I love how they feel, how they smell, how they look on my shelves, or stacked up on my desk, or sitting beside my bed.
I just love them.
So I started to realize that this audiobook gig posed a problem. I wasn’t adding to my library by listening to them in a digital format. Sure, my iTunes bookshelf looks rather impressive…but that doesn’t make me happy. Being surrounded by books? That makes me happy.
To remedy this I started repurchasing books I really enjoyed as an audiobook.
That’s right. I pay twice as much for some books that I love just to have them in their physical form. Call me crazy, but I feel like I just need to have them on my shelf.
A perfect example of this is The Lightning Thief, the first novel in the Percy Jackson & The Olympians series by Rick Riordan. I loved this book so much I had to have it. So I bought it. And that started this craze of repurchasing audiobooks as their physical counterparts. In fact, all of the Percy Jackson books are wonderful audiobooks, and I will be repurchasing them all to have on my shelf–to look at and to share with my kids.
Now, I surely can’t be the only person who does this, can I?
Do you repurchase audiobooks you love, just to have them in their physical format?
There is something haunting about this song. From the first time I heard it, it grabbed me. It’s been on heavy rotation as of late, and similar to my post on NiN’s Hurt, it is leading into a post I’m putting together on writing soundtracks. Hopefully I will have that done soon.
But for now enjoy this song; it depresses me to no end.
This is a perfect song for a manic Monday. I’ve always liked it. And today, I’ve had it on repeat.
It’s kinda going to lead into a post on writing soundtracks etc., whenever I get around to it–but for now, this is what you get.
The lyrics resonate.
Nine Inch Nails — Hurt
I hurt myself today
to see if I still feel
I focus on the pain
the only thing that’s real
the needle tears a hole
the old familiar sting
try to kill it all away
but I remember everything
What have I become?
my sweetest friend
everyone I know
goes away in the end
You could have it all
my empire of dirt
I will let you down
I will make you hurt
I wear this crown of shit
upon my liar’s chair
full of broken thoughts
I cannot repair
beneath the stains of time
the feelings disappear
you are someone else
I am still right here
What have I become?
my sweetest friend
everyone I know
goes away in the end
And you could have it all
my empire of dirt
I will let you down
I will make you hurt
If I could start again
a million miles away
I would keep myself
I would find a way
One of my picks was the anime series Ergo Proxy. This anime merges three of my favourite sub-genres together into one twisted trip: steampunk, cyberpunk and gothic noir. If you haven’t seen an episode–and there are, sadly, only 23–then check it out, you’ll be in for a visual treat. This anime has it all: self-aware androids, viruses, domed cities, mysterious immortals, shady governments, and kick-ass girls with kick-ass guns. Highly recommended.
Below is the opening credits with the kick ass song Kiri by MONORAL.
This should whet your appetite rather well for Ergo Proxy.
Click through to see all of my genre crossover selections (and some great selections from many others).
Years ago, I used to take public transportation into the day jobbe as I worked in downtown Toronto. So that meant train, subway, walking. It also meant a lot of time to kick back and read–somewhere around 3 hours a day. It was great. I read and read, polishing off one or two books a week (depending, of course, on how many times I passed out during the early morning train rides). Wow, did I build up a nice collection of books in this time period.
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