New In Town (Bimbo Jones Remix)
I love this track and it's original version so much. Been listening to them all day at work.
P.S. Do yourself a favor and click the HQ button (always). The sound is eight billion times better.
Franchised society
I recently finished reading Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson; one of my favorite science fiction novels. I'd read it once before, almost exactly ten years ago. I'm not sure what made me hold off from reading it a second time for so long, but it definitely was interesting to compare my impressions of it back in 1999 with those of today. The book struck even more of a chord with me this time around.
It's a decidedly weird world that Stephenson paints for the reader. Weird, but also quite familiar. Reading it this time I can see that while it definitely tells a fun story there is (like any good novel) a number of levels that the text works at. One of my favorite passages from the book does this very well.
The franchise and the virus work on the same principle: what thrives in one place will thrive in another. You just have to find a sufficiently virulent business plan, condense it into a three-ring binder - its DNA - xerox it, and embed it in the fertile lining of a well-traveled highway, preferably one with a left-turn lane. Then the growth will expand until it runs up against its property lines.
In olden times, you'd wander down to Mom's Cafe for a bite to eat and a cup of joe, and you would feel right at home. It worked just fine if you never left your hometown. But if you went to the next town over, everyone would look up and stare at you when you came in the door, and the Blue Plate Special would be something you didn't recognize. If you did enough traveling, you'd never feel at home anywhere.
But when a businessman from New Jersey goes to Dubuque, he knows he can walk into a McDonald's and no one will stare at him. He can order without having to look at the menu, and the food will always taste the same. McDonald's is Home, condensed into a three-ring binder and xeroxed. "No Surprises" is the motto of the franchise ghetto, its Good Housekeeping seal, subliminally blazoned on every sign and logo that make up the curves and grids of light that outline the Basin.
The people of America, who live in the world's most surprising and terrible country, take comfort in that motto. Follow the loglo [ed. glow from logos] outward, to where the growth is enfolded into the valleys and the canyons, and you find the land of the refugees. They have fled from the true America, the America of atomic bombs, scalpings, hip-hop, chaos theory, cement overshoes, snake handlers, spree killers, space walks, buffalo jumps, drive-bys, cruise missiles; Sherman's March, gridlock, motorcycle gangs, and bungee jumping. They have parallel-parked their bimbo boxes in identical computer-designed Burbclave [ed. Suburban Enclave] street patterns and secreted themselves in symmetrical sheetrock shitholes with vinyl floors and ill-fitting woodwork and no sidewalks, vast house farms out in the loglo wilderness, a culture medium for a medium culture.
Assassin’s Creed 2
[Note: I know I haven't been posting hardly at all lately. I have tasked good buddy Paul with giving me a topic to write on to start getting me back into the habit. This is the first one.]
The hype machine for Assassin's Creed 2 has started up apparently with the realease of a teaser ahead of the official reveal next week. As I watched it got me thinking back to the first game a bit (which I posted some early thoughts on) and how it ended.
Those initial complaints of mine carried through the entire game pretty much. By the time I finished it I was left empty by how badly the gameplay itself fell flat. It was great in short bursts but the lack of variety and "meh" combat really hampered the experience in general. In my opinion you really did get some sense of the fact that the vast majority of the development cycle was spent on technical aspects of the game, not the gameplay itself.
Luckily, however, I did also get the feeling that while the devs were working on the engine they did manage to work out a story that was pretty interesting. I do think the dialog was a bit rough in places, but the overall story did grab my interest and by the very end with all its lose ends I felt that they were setting themselves up for a successful second game.
The majority of the technical aspects should have been worked out at this point so now they can focus on something that didn't quite make it in the first game: Making it fun.
The teaser doesn't say much, but here's what I got out of it:
- the handy-dandy hidden blade will make a return
- it will most likely be set during the Renaissance (or at least, we'll be playing in that time period through the genetic memory magic machine)
- there could very well be a flying contraption
Sounds good to me. The sections where I was most interested in the first game involved slowly walking around a modern apartment engaging in linear, non-branching dialog or looking at bizzare scrawls on the walls and floor. Let's hope the second one improves on that.
Beach Party
Sia – Lentil (Live)
Courtesy of my new favorite site, Grooveshark.
Sia, by the way, is the female vocalist who does a lot of work with Zero 7. She is amazing.
High Tech Soul
Last night I watched High Tech Soul: The Creation of Techno Music, something I've been eagerly awaiting since I found the movie on Netflix and added it to my queue. Let me say to begin with that I really enjoyed this documentary. First off, it's about techno and I am (of course) very into electronic music of most forms. Techno in particular has a special place in my heart because of the second reason: it originated in Detroit and I am (of course) very into Detroit.
Given my interest in both topics there was a lot that the documentary discussed that I knew. For instance, I know about the Belleville Three and I know about Electrifying Mojo. I know about the Music Institute (which was just a couple blocks from where I work now) and the reasons why the music has such a life here in this city.
But there was plenty that I still learned. I think most interesting was just learing about a lot of the personalities directly involved and more detail about the moods at the time and how it built up to this sort of creative outlet. It's not a particularly long flick, but it is arranged well and has a nice flow to it. Some people might criticize that there isn't more music, but frankly this is a documentary about the creators and the time period just as much as it is about the music itself.
Here's the trailer if you're interested in checking it out.
What I have been reading
- Rainbows End, by Vernor Vinge.
- A Fire Upon The Deep, by Vernor Vinge. (I've read it before, but I got on kind of a Vinge kick.)
- The Emperor's New Mind, by Roger Penrose.
- About Time, by Paul Davies.
About Naim
Naim is a 27 year old software magician, electronic musician and puzzlematician. By day he is a pro software architect and developer. By night he is the illustrious potentate of KnowLogik, a software R&D, strategy and design outfit. In his spare time he learns, writes, takes photos, and is chill.
@naim
- I'm beat. But I live to keep fighting the good fight tomorrow.
- Work is moving along; past all the nitty gritty now and am getting to the deep stuff. But first, dinner! Chinese buffet - a guilty pleasure.
- This is just cruel. @vvergoth is watching Real Genius while I have to work in the other room. :( I love that movie.
