Review: A Clash of Kings

A Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



A great follow up! Can't wait to see how they present all this in the TV series!



View all my reviews

Still here!

I'm still here!

Just nothing to blog about really... or alternatively, I've had heaps to blog about but can't.

I've already been chastised about something I posted on Facebook, and although this website is far less visible, considering the way things are going, I need to be on my best behaviour.

That, and I'm lazy.

And I've also been playing Star Wars: The Old Republic.

Seriously, all my spare time has been sunk into this game. It's an amazing MMO - and the first where I've reached the level cap, and continue to play after a couple of months.

I'll have a full review in Time Out just in time for the Australasian launch, so stay tuned.

And if you have an account, I'm playing on the Jek Jek Tar server... Look out for Funk ;)

Entry into Kotaku's Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic War competition

For the Kotaku Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic: War competition

Ah Lovely Auckland...

People who read this site, people who know me, and even those people who have only met me a few times, will tell you this: I LOVE music.

People may have mixed opinions about me, some may think I'm a straight up utter prick, but they'll all agree on one thing: I LOVE music.

Even my email signature reads: Without Music, Life is an Error.

I love DJing. I love playing people new music, making mix tapes, trading music...

I'll even listen to music I might usually hate in order to find something I like (like with Dubstep. I've found heaps of stuff I like through dubstep, but then it becomes labelled - by others - as "not really dubstep". Which confuses me even more... anyway...)

One thing I'm particularly known for is going out to see bands ands DJs.

Portishead played here in Auckland last Thursday night. I've wanted to see them for so long! I missed their last tour back in the 90s, and I was going to go to Sydney to see them and that all fell through, but then I found out they were playing here, and grabbed tickets.

And they were fabulous. Really, everything I was expecting, and still amazing. There's only a few other bands who've exceeded my often admittedly high expectations - Pop Will Eat Itself, DEVO, The Flaming Lips, Muse, and Pixies.

But you know what?

The gig wasn't sold out. Wasn't even chockers.

To me, that's insane. The very idea that Portishead didn't sell out somewhere is mindboggling. That's like... the Beatles performing in 1964 and people not screaming at them for the whole concert. That's like... something I can't think of, because philosophically I can't consider a thing I'd never think about!

To put this in even greater perspective: Adelaide sold out! Within days of announcement!

Adelaide!!!

So I find myself wondering, how the hell is it I find myself living in a place where Portishead didn't sell out?

#fivewordreviews CD: PWEI - New Noise Designed By a Sadist

CD: PWEI - New Noise Designed By a Sadist:

Only Graham, but still rocking!

five word reviews???

Remember how I said I was going to do five word reviews?

Well, that kind of bit the dust when I couldn't get access to any CDs and such.

But, I've got access to Shock, Fuse, and EMI plus a few other places, so will continue them forthwith.

Review: A Game of Thrones

A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



Although I am "one of those" who started with the TV series, the intrigue of the series made me want to read the book, see where the book deviated, and hopefully figure out a bit more about the world and the characters relations to each other for the next series.



View all my reviews

Don't get angry at Google, get angry at the Government

So, a whole bunch of moronic dipshits are pissed at Google for not allowing Android Marketplace in Australia according to ZDNet. Guess what idiots - it's NOT Google's fault!

Do you think they deliberately want to hold back their market? Do you think they want to stop people in Australia watching things on their phones? Do you think they're sitting in their ivory towers, cackling with evil glee that they've fucked Australia over?

Of course not!

And do you have such short attention spans that you forget it took the Apple iTunes Store TWO YEARS to launch in Australia after the USA Launch? What's the difference here - you've learned to whinge more about more useless shit in the last 5 years?

This is SOLELY the Government's fault - both the current Labor Government and the former Liberal Government.

They have continued to bow to USA pressure to sign the DMCA, which restricts consumer rights and access to international content, and continue to bend over backwards to Sony, EMI, News Limited and other media and distribution companies to stop the free flow of content into Australia through price fixing and geo / region locking.

The governments claim it's to protect local industries... but we all know that's bullshit. How is getting to see Torchwood at the same time as the British and Yanks going to impact the filming of Neighbors?

If you want things like Google Android Market, Spotify, Turntable.FM, Hulu - you need to fight for it. You need to petition, protest, agitate, and defy the Government and Opposition and Greens on these matters, and let them know consumer rights are more important than protecting local companies profits.

We live in a democratic capitalist economy. If a local company can't complete with an international, especially when they're OWNED by another international company, they don't deserve protection.

EDIT:
And if you don't believe me that the Governments of the world are in collusion with copyright companies, the Wikileaks scandal proves that the the very least New Zealand has been: New Zealand's Three Strikes Paid by USA

Google Plus

OK, so I've got Google Plus.

http://gplus.to/funkyj is my site. Feel free to look me up and add me to your circles.

I've read that Blogger might be re-branded eventually, and so I'm hoping they integrate everything together nicely.

Falling Skies

Seriously, who keeps giving these people money to make these TV shows?

Sure, ok, if I were a deaf, blind mute who had just been living in a cave in Nowherekistan and just returned to full cognitive ability recently, I might possibly enjoy this show.

But because I'm 38 years old and have been exposed to a fair amount of pop- and not so pop-culture in these last 38 years, like most people in the Western world, the show has absolutely no merit at all.

What's the point stomping over trodden ground, using the same story and same stereotypes and same shit over and over again?

This makes me hate reality TV shows even more. Because we're so starved for anything not so incredibly vile and lame, we praise mediocrity as if it's the second coming.

I am just so disappointed after United States of Tara - a rich, unusual, funny, and touching series.

This is how it feels? Nah!

So, I woke up with this song in my head today...

This is How it Feels - by Inspiral Carpets covered by Carter USM.

I know, I know - J you miserable bastard! you're thinking... but if I may channel Andrew P Street here for a moment and pontificate brilliantly about music...

More importantly, I think, it was this version, by Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine, in my head.

As they take what is a beautiful yet utterly miserable song about the depressive condition of modern life, and turn it into a sideshow of noise and a celebration of the absurd, which is utterly brilliant.

Because no matter how miserable life may seem, it's forever more absurd than miserable, and I for one love that about live.

And after getting excited about playing music again, this happens...

And after getting excited about playing music again, this happens...

A note on the turntable.fm website:

We're very sorry, but while we would love to let you in and rock out with us, we need to currently restrict turntable access to only the United States due to licensing constraints.

We are working very hard to try and get you in as soon as possible.

If you believe this is a mistake and you are located in the United States, please e-mail help [at sign] turntable dot fm

Again, sorry, and we hope to see you soon.

Billy Chasen
CEO

Fuck you music industry. Fuck you with a pole, sideways.

I was exposing this great music to people who can't even buy it on CD or on itunes because you're too fucking ignorant and scared to promote outside of Australia!

7 Years of LA Noire development hell

IGN have a great and disturbing article about Team Bondi's LA Noire 7 year development cycle.

It features responses by Brendan McNamara, who is the typical egotistical management type.

I'm sick of dealing with management fucktards like McNamara. I’m butting against it daily at the moment and I’m sick of it. There may be a bit of projection onto McNamara in this rant, but he’s not the only person who acts like he does in this industry… ;)

But if you ask me, “whatever it takes” means getting rid of egotistical arsehole pricks like him out of the games industry.

However you cut it, running your staff into the ground is NOT a good management plan, nor is it good for maintaining an industry.

I don't buy into the argument that it's due to the competitive nature of game development. I know people in the finance and defence software creating business - software which is worth billions of dollars and far more important than games ever could hope to be - and they positively baulked when I told them the crap hours for the crap pay we put up with.

How is this environment good for a competitive and sustainable industry? You can't develop and nurture creative skills in this kind of environment! How are you meant to have people who are strong leads if you burn everyone out and they leave after a year or two? People will leave for other studios overseas, where at least pay if not conditions are proven to be better. However, more often people leave the industry altogether, choosing to go into fields which pay better and are not as demanding on their time and sanity as games. All that talent, skill and knowledge has left the industry. Is it any wonder every bloody game is almost exactly the same now days?

And where is the industry left after this scenario, repeated time and time again? After the closure of studios and mass exodus due to McNamara and others “management skills”, a lot of casual / indie developers have popped up as a result, and yes, a few are making some great games, but is this really a sustainable industry? Will these startups be around in a year or two? Will they be around after Facebook dies (and it will die just like AOL and all those others died) and iPhone development costs increase with the continual revisions to the devices hardware?

I have a very strong suspicion these studios will vanish when the cashcow of iOS and Facebook games comes back to reality, and we'll lose even more talented people.

And lastly, this is directly to McNamara and anyone else who thinks the same way: it is not your game, you egotistical fuckstick; It’s every single person on that teams’ game! It belongs to everyone who works on it. And I don’t give a fuck who you are - Brendan McNamara, Sam Houser, Cliff Bleszinski, or Jesus Fucking Christ; if you’ve got a producer and leads, then help those people PRODUCE and LEAD - that's how a good producer/director should work.

Don’t give me this “I’m passionate about games” bullshit either – those people who are making $50,000 a year working 12 hour days plus weekends are passionate about games. Just because you’re on $200,000 jetsetting all over the world trying to get finance for the next game doesn’t make you any better, clever, or talented than the team you’re working with.

Funky J back on the airwaves!

So, I have finally found a way to get back on the airwaves!

There's this great new streaming service called Turntable.fm.

You sign up using your facebook log in, and you can select any number of rooms generally split into genres.

For those DJs amongst us, you can create a list of tunes from their databank (or upload your own if they're not in there) and spin tracks alongside 4 other DJs, taking it in turns.

You have avatars which you can level up through playing music, and can become fans of other DJs, subscribe to email lists which tell you when your favourite DJs are playing, can use Twitter and Facebook to announce what and when you're playing, and can use text based chat to mention where bands are from, talk about gigs, talk about boobs, whatever.

I've been playing in the Hiphop Jazz Funk room, which introduced me to some damn good music, and I introduced some Americans to some fine Aussie hiphop via Hilltop Hoods, Delta, Funkwig & Denorthwode, Funkoars, Katalyst and others.

It's lots of fun, and if you like sharing your music then give it a try!

comments on violence makes me want to punch something!

This "psychologist" talking about violence after the Stanley Cup;

Quote:

[PEOPLE] spend countless hours exposed to incredible violence through TV, video games and movies. "I'm not surprised at all that the very same people who've grown up on a steady diet of observing and playing violence are then intrigued to watch it when they see it in person. ... There was a large number of people for whom this was a spectacle, an event to be observed and maybe laughed at and to participate in very, very minor ways in these activities," he said. ... Their behaviour was "entirely consistent" with how they're expected to react to violence on TV or in video games, he said.

http://www.thenownews.com/technology/Stanley+riots+come+this/4962998/story.html

FOR FUCKS SAKE THEY WERE JUST WATCHING A GOD DAMN LIVE ICE HOCKEY MATCH AND HE BLAMES TV AND VIDEOGAMES!?!?!?

Seriously, people are going push their agendas despite all the overwhelming evidence against them, so what's the point in asking about anything, any more?

Every weekend, sports are played.

Every weekend, teams lose.

Every weekend, fights occur because of this. Often, these fights turn into riots.

And yet it's the first impulse of a psychologist when asked about how this can arise is to blame violent TV, movies and videogames?

Not the fact that people become so invested in that sport because they've got nothing else in their lives to be passionate about?

Not the fact that commercialism and competition have devolved so much that we can no longer enjoy a game of sport, but rather have to become so heavily invested in watching a team that we feel negatively when they lose - something we as fans and viewers have absolutely no control over - in other words the classic human dilemma of feeling hopeless in the face of an uncaring environment?

Did Stephen Fry just out Little Big Planet 3 on twitter?

I love Stephen Fry, and follow him on Twitter, and he just mentioned this:


Off to do some voicing for Little Big Planet. Then lunch and QI. Only three more recordings and the 16 of Series 9 will be done.

Has he just outed Little Big Planet 3? Or is this for the PS Vita?

Either way, I'd LOVE to do a game with someone of Stephen's talent!

It's been a while...

So, after about a week and a half where every morning it would be a different song, it's been a while since I woke up with a song my head... well, at least one I hadn't listened to the previous day.

But this morning, woke up with this... Oh one two!


Breakadawn - De La Soul

Wonder this morning...

Woke up with Happy Birthday by Stevie Wonder today in my head today...

it's not even my birthday!

Song I woke up with in my head this morning

So, I woke up at 6am with a coughing fit, and for some reason this was in my head:

Rick James - Super Freak

At least this time it was a fucking cool song, and not some lame arse soft rock song ;)

What the fuck? Billy Joel?? Honestly, subconscious!

OK, I must be channelling some kind of crap old 80s rock station or something...

Woke up with Billy Joel's "You May Be Right" in my head this morning.

Thing is, until I looked up song, I didn't even know it was Billy Joel! I thought it was some more obscure band like Toto or someone.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1xrlt_billy-joel-you-may-be-right_music

Also, youtube doesn't have this video clip. What dicks.