The weeks that were

T.V.

Breaking Bad - I had seen a few episodes of this show a while ago and thought it was totally rad. For those who don't know, it's about a chemistry teacher with cancer (the dad from Malcolm in the Middle) and his exploits cooking crystal meth. In less words: fucking badass. Since he's dying he takes shit from no one -- even killing a dude after a botched deal and beating up meatheads who rag on his disabled son. Season two starts March 8 and I highly recommend the short (seven episodes) first season.


Yes, that is a drug-dealer bolted to a post. At about the 3:30 mark shit gets real.

Friday Night Lights remains awesome and one of the few shows I remember to watch every week. The storyline featuring a Todd Marinovich-like father/son combo is pure awesome. Reading shit about Papa Marinovich massging his baby son's hammies is hilariously messed up. I also indiscriminately watch all MTV/VH-1 trashy reality shows. The Girls of Hedsor Hall, Rock of Love X, From G's to Gents. Hell, they should just make a channel that is all this shit. Oh wait...

Music

Ponytail/Ice Cream Spiritual - I missed this in the hubaloo that was 2008 and I am glad I finally got around to it. They are a crazy noise band with a female singer -- sort of a lovely combination of Lightning Bolt/Marnie Stern/Black Dice. Tons of distortion, tribal drums, crazy riffs and yelps. I love it.



Glasvegas/ST - Another 2008 release I missed, Glasvegas is big, anthemy British rock and it's pretty solid. Nothing superb, but there are some great songs. Geraldine is a jam, but I still to listen more to see if I really like them or not.

Video Games

Star Ocean: The Last Hope - I got this game to review and so far it's a good RPG. It's pretty much Final Fantasy in space, so I love it. It's also three discs, which is crazy. Great with this much free time.

Street Fighter IV - I forgot how much I loved the SF series, with fond memories of the cartoon character that was Dee-Jay and spamming Blanka's electricity -- pretty much the only move I knew how to do. This installment is great, with nice graphics, lag-free online, awesome animations and ridiculous depth in the fighting system. And dammit I love stereotypical characters in my video games.


Despite what Soulja Boy says, there is a point to da game.

Braid - Since it went on sale for 800 MS points, I finally decided to get what is probably the best and most famous XBLA game to date. Braid is a platformer/puzzle game, but unlike any game you've ever played. At first, it plays a lot like an old-school Mario -- you jump on dudes going from left to right. But the rewinding of time mechanic proves itself to be genius, much more than simply, "I died, warp back and try again."

For example, there may be a locked door blocking your path. The key is located at the bottom of a pit, with an entrance, but no visible way out. But the key is glowing green (unaffected by time), so you can jump down and grab it, and then rewind time with key in hand and unlock the door. Of course, that is a super-simple example and the later puzzles are insanely hard. The game is short, but so challenging and unique that it is worth the money.

I also picked up Left 4 Dead again, thanks to the new patch. Although it doesn't fix everything, more Tanks, a better Infected HUD, and a stronger Smoker are all nice until the last two maps go live. I am waiting for a copy of 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand to come in the mail to review and it promises to be ridiculous and over the top so that should be fun.