Oh, Onion.

1. It's still a bit surreal, to be sure.

I have my flash recorder on me, which we used to record yesterday's songwriting session, and I listened to a bit of the work we did. It doesn't sound particularly amazing; all that was notable about yesterday was that we were actively trying a new process. Instead of us just standing around and thinking about a particular musical impasse, we just played and experimented and tried new things, and after a particularly interesting take we'd play it back through the monitors. (This is something we should have been doing 2 years ago.) In any event, after a while I couldn't listen to it anymore.

During lunch I casually browsed through the Craiglist musician-wanted postings. Not that I have any intention of jumping headfirst into something else, of course; this was more out of curiousity than anything else. After 2 or 3 pages it all just started to bleed together into this depressing miasma of suckitude - it would seem that the only bands looking for guitarists today are into Mudvayne and Tool and such; everyone in NYC is deathly afraid of melody. The thing about Good Evening that was so frustrating is that as much as we loved our songs, our creative process was completely fucked; I'm not sure there's a single song we ever finished that didn't feature countless hours of yelling and crying and temper tantrums and whatnot. Yesterday I said as much and concluded that if that is indeed what it takes to succeed in a collaborative environment, then it seems pretty clear to me that I'm in the wrong business.

I don't necessarily have a plan at this moment. Now that I've cleared out my credit card debt, I'm very strongly considering splurging on a new laptop strictly devoted to ProTools and a midi keyboard and writing an album this winter, but that's kinda ridiculous - I can certainly write an album with what I have now; it's just that the recordings will sound shitty. And frankly, I really just ought to be worried about writing instead of anything else.

2. It's a good thing the Yankees are out of the playoffs, if for no other reason than I can have my brain all to myself, now. I'm still hungover from what happened in Detroit, although, really, if your postseason life depends on the arm of Jaret Wright, it shouldn't really come as a surprise. I'll be sad to see Joe Torre go, even though the man clearly had no idea how to manage a bullpen; I won't be sad to see A-Rod go, though. I'm sure we can get some pitching out of an A-Rod trade, anyway.

3. There's been any number of amusing things on the interweb of late; here's my 2 contributions.

a. Human Space Invaders
b. Queen v. 50 Cent mashup

You can thank me later. For I now present to you, FINALLY, the trailer for my most anticipated movie of the year.

For Your Consideration.

Courtesy of Fark.com: the handy Armageddon flow chart. Yahtzee!

Ganked from mgrasso and blergeatkitty, almost simultaneously: The LiveJournal Dungeon Adventure!

Not a tremendous amount to update, but I just had to post this fantastic bit of wacky Japanese television. The concept? A gameshow wherein the contestants are subjected to all forms of wacky torture - while trying to remain as quiet as possible because they're all in a library.

Silent Library. Requires sound, sort of.

Shamelessly stolen from delphicdays, but it's utterly fantastic and I can't feel that guilty about it.

Other Romance Novels.

Courtesy of Joe: Steve, Don't Eat It!

Today's AVClub highlight is buried in their 2006 Summer Movie Preview - alternate titles for "Poseidon"...

The Crazy Upside-Down Boat With All The Screamy People
Hang In There!: The Motion Picture
When The World's Turned Upside Down, You've Got To Get To The Bottom To Reach The Top

File under "Maybe Hollywood isn't out of ideas after all", courtesy of AICN:

Jack Black is set to star in Michel Gondry's eccentric comedy "Be Kind Rewind," playing a junkyard worker whose brain is magnetized, destroying every tape in his friend's video store and forcing the pair to remake the lost films. Focus Features International has nabbed international sales rights to the under-$20 million Partizan production, which begins a two-month shoot Sept. 6 in New York. In the film, Black plays Jerry, a man whose headaches lead him to believe his brain is melting. His brain is magnetized, leading to the unintentional destruction of movies in his friend's store. In order to keep the store's one loyal customer, an elderly lady with signs of dementia, the pair re-creates a long line of films including "The Lion King," "Rush Hour," "Back to the Future" and "Robocop." Producer Georges Bermann of Partizan said Gondry, who has partnered with Partizan since 1989, came to him in November with several ideas. "Michel is a super-fast writer," Bermann said. "He handed in a draft three weeks. Focus was interested the second they heard the pitch and made the deal within a week."

SO.

1. Weekend was mostly a blur, since my allergies were absurdly brutal and I didn't take anything for 'em. Friday night we met up with my mom and stepdad and got home late, and we didn't sleep because Lola barked every 20 minutes; Saturday morning we took the dogs and visited my grandmother, who is barely lucid; Saturday night we got back to Queens and I pretty much collapsed right then and there, which is why I didn't make it to delphicdays's bash at the Beer Garden.

2. Sunday was more of the same, except all in one place - allergies, lack of sleep, dog grooming, fantastic Italian dinner delivered, pretty good Sopranos episode, bed.

3. My fantasy baseball team SUCKS.

4. In case you didn't read my post from an hour or so ago, Stephen Colbert is an American hero with brass balls the size of coconuts.

5. Today: work is crazy. Tonight: Yankees at Red Sox.

Weekend update to come, but I gotta post this link above all else. A transcript (with links to videos) of Stephen Colbert's speech at the White House Correspondents Dinner. You thought Jon Stewart taking apart that bow-tie-wearing dickweed on Crossfire was brutal? You thought Edward R. Murrow talked tough? Colbert takes the goddamned cake. Of course, nobody's reporting about it - I guess you can't piss off the president AND the media and expect anyone to find out. Enough of my yakkin - let's boogie!

Substantial-ish post to come, but for now, it's time for some Choo Choo, the herky jerky dancer.

Still recovering from the head cold of death, but I just HAD to post this - it may be an early April Fool's Day joke, and yet I'm secretly hoping it's true.

Happy Little Trees - the video game.

In Production.
Bob Ross Video Game.

Bob Ross Inc. has announced in March 2006 that they have filed a letter of intent to license to Joseph Hatcher's AGFRAG Entertainment Group to develop exclusively worldwide video/computer games based on Bob Ross' creative, unique and easy to learn painting techniques and TV show properties.

The Bob Ross video game, currently untitled, is planned to be developed for PC, the Nintendo DS handheld & on Nintendo's next-gen system coming later this year, code named Revolution. Release date was not announced. AGFRAG is currently seeking a publisher.

AGFRAG's Director of Development, Joseph Hatcher, has this to say about the announcement:

"I grew up watching Bob Ross on PBS and was always in awe of how quickly and smoothly he made these beautiful paintings, which helped inspire my creativity. There are generations that know Bob Ross and his painting techniques, and I want to share his talent with future generations in a new medium.

The Bob Ross game will utilize the unique inputs that the Nintendo DS and Nintendo Revolution have that can truly immerse the players while they learn to paint like Bob Ross and can play the addictive and fun games that we have planned for the title. I believe that Bob Ross Inc's and AGFRAG Entertainment Group's similar beliefs in independence, creativity, and teaching others will benefit how the game is developed and how the players of all ages will be able to enjoy this game.

I want the community to share with us their favorite Bob Ross shows, painting techniques, and what they’d like to see in the NDS and Revolution games. We want to keep the brush going."

The Joy of Painting is seen on nearly 300 public television stations throughout the United States, and is broadcast in Japan, Mexico, The Philippines, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Turkey, The Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, Austria, Costa Rica, Canada, Colombia, Iran, Greece and others.

Contact: Joseph Hatcher • Bob Ross Video Game Development/Forum • http://agfrag.com

Not much to report today, other than this amazing commercial featuring kung-fu clowns.

I thought I slept well last night, but I guess I didn't; I'm so goddamned tired today I can barely function.

Stereogum comes through, again: Mark Ronson's fantastic remix of Radiohead's "Just", along with a pretty awesome video featuring London graffiti - sound is obviously necessary, as is Quicktime: you do it to yourself

Edit: apparently a YouTube link is also available

More to come, but for now, another fantastic movie mashup, via Whatevs - Toy Story v. Requiem for a Dream.

"You know," Carter said, as the cheering faded, hoping this would solve everything, "I do love magic. By itself, for its own sake."

Ledocq nodded. "So. If you do a trick and no one notices, does that satisfy? Or is it like a tree falling in the forest without anyone to hear it?"

Carter sighed. His curse in life was to be attracted to people who understood him. With a sip of beer, he said, "I feel sorry for that tree."

Some more Stereogum awesomeness.