First Time Flowing

Friend Spotlight

by Drey on May 7, 2008 in Board Games, Video Games with No comments

Allow me to direct your attention to some cool projects my friends have produced.

Ryan’s company is behind the technology used in Yahoo! oneSearch with Voice. It lets you do searches on your phone by speaking instead of having to type everything. It will eventually be available for the iPhone.

Dave was on the team that created Steven Spielberg’s Boom Blox, what looks like an insanely fun game for the Wii. It was featured on Penny Arcade, which, some might say, is the highest honor one can achieve in the video game world.

In the cardboard realm, a game publisher finally came to their senses and snatched up Dan’s Monkey Lab, a ridiculously fun board game. It will premiere at Essen, but there is no word on a release date. Trust me, you’re going to want to play this.

Speaking of board games, Marc’s Coalescence is now available. It looks really sharp, is easy to learn and provides a lot of challenging fun.

And, finally, I heard that fellow Landmark graduate Jonna will be appearing in Oliver Stone’s film “W“, filming now.

Congratulations, everyone, on bringing the awesome!

Novacative

by Drey on May 6, 2008 in Avatar with No comments

Well done. You’re almost there.

I am writing this message from the past, beginning at the end. At this moment, it is an anachronism, but it will slowly slip backward in time. Though many may read it, I write it only for you. It is the final beacon.

Thank you for your persistence. If things have gone according to plan, you will have enjoyed yourself. Though many may have played the game (or thought they were playing), only one person could ever win. And that’s you. I created all of this for you, my dear.

By now you know what the prize is and you must truly want it. Are you ready?

If you are, contact me and ask The Question.

This end is the beginning of everything.

Go, Speed Racer, Go!

by Drey on May 5, 2008 in Movies with 2 Comments

I was worried during the first act as it was full of lengthy exposition. I thought “Shouldn’t there be some racing?” But after that, it was a fun ride.

This is definitely a kid’s film. The humor and wacky action is definitely aimed for 10 or 12 year olds. So there’s that. The style is unlike anything I’ve ever seen. It’s a crazy twisting neon kaleidoscope of races and fight scenes witnessed previously only in anime. Everything about the races is over the top. Cars don’t spend more than two seconds going straight ahead. The rest of the time they are drifting into impossible spaghetti curves or flipping through the air or cartwheeling along mountainsides.

The editing and visual style definitely overwhelm everything else. Susan Sarandon, John Goodman and Christina Ricci hold their own like pros. Emil Hirsch does a fair job competing against the visual effects to be a likable Speed. The kid playing Spritle is the Jar-Jar of the film, though he has some genuinely funny moments. And there’s a monkey. Who doesn’t love monkeys?

My favorite character was Racer X. I kind of wish the movie was called “Racer X’ instead of “Speed Racer”, but that’s me.

The second act is the most fun, with all kinds of crazy racing, Dragonball Z fight sequences and ninjas. You already know how the third act is going to go down about halfway through the film, but it was still fun to watch.

If you can get past the groan-worthy first part of the movie, there’s a lot to enjoy. Whoever cut this film is a true artist. The mind that could think in the same way that this film moves brushes against the alien.

1. There Will Be Blood
2. Batman Begins
3. Ghostbusters
4. Barton Fink
5. Old Boy
6. Iron Man
7. My Left Foot
8. Ratatouille
9. Speed Racer
10. Gone Baby Gone

Shuddering beside you

by Drey on May 4, 2008 in Writing with No comments

With the advent of cheap, ubiquitous public teleportation, casual inebriation has reached an all time high. When there’s a perfectly preserved saved state of yourself waiting back at the home terminal, there is no such thing as heroin addiction. In the clubs, amputation is already yawn-inducing performance art. Only your grandmother knows anyone who has seen an abortion clinic, let alone visited one. Tokyo is only as far away as Starbucks.

But you still arrive two hours late to all of my parties.

Iron Man

by Drey on May 2, 2008 in Movies with No comments

Exceeded all expectations. Awesome. Remember to stay until the after credits for maximum geek impact.

1. There Will Be Blood
2. Batman Begins
3. Ghostbusters
4. Barton Fink
5. Old Boy
6. Iron Man
7. My Left Foot
8. Ratatouille
9. Gone Baby Gone
10. Cloverfield

cast a wider net

by Drey on April 28, 2008 in Life with No comments

My experiment of expanding my presence continues:

www.dreynet.com

Eeyore’s 45th Birthday Party

by Drey on April 28, 2008 in Life with No comments

This is how I spent my Saturday.

Pictures will explain what words cannot: http://www.flickr.com/photos/birzer/sets/72157604762416387/

One Year Later

by Drey on April 28, 2008 in Life with 2 Comments

Another cycle completes, stars spin with the sound of calendar pages, and the bats are once more beneath their bridge. The heat and humidity begin their steady encroachment upon the city, breathing at my doorstep, getting down to business a few minutes earlier each day. It is spring, so everything is tinged with an ecstatic madness, as though sex could leap from the trees, coffee cups, anywhere. All people shine with mystery. All people are generous and kind, and even their narcissism becomes a wonderful twisted mirror, scattering light.

Today I received a letter from the Texas Department of Public Safety. Inside I found a plastic card bearing my photo, my face already strange. They wanted to let me know that I live here now. Officially.

246 Toothpicks

by Drey on April 21, 2008 in Movies, Television, Video Games with 1 Comment

1. Veronica Mars
2. Battlestar Galactica
3. Lost
4. Doctor Who
5. Torchwood
6. Flight of the Conchords
7. The League of Gentlemen
8. Haibane Renmei
9. The Mighty Boosh
10. Witch Hunter Robin

1. There Will Be Blood
2. Batman Begins
3. Ghostbusters
4. Barton Fink
5. Old Boy
6. My Left Foot
7. Ratatouille
8. Gone Baby Gone
9. Cloverfield
10. Juno

1. Rock Band
2. Psychonauts
3. Rez
4. Viva Pinata
5. Puzzle Quest
6. The Secret of Monkey Island
7. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney
8. Zak & Wiki
9. Dreamfall: The Longest Journey
10.

1. Spook Country
2. Odd and the Frost Giants
3. Interworld
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.

Golden Delicious

by Drey on April 21, 2008 in Music with No comments

Mr. Doughty and his crew get on stage half an hour early, disguised as a noise jam band. They wear beards and funny hats, but the crowd is not fooled.

The Panderers pander and we accept.

Mr. Doughty returns. His voice is indeed golden and delicious. New tracks and Soul Coughing throwbacks. The crowd enjoys.

Mr. Doughty denounces the use of pot. It being 4/20, the audience misunderstands, screaming with joy.

Circles!

Mr. Doughty explains that he is going to throw the bridge out and replace it with “half-mumbled half-words”. The crowd accepts this proposition.

Mr. Doughty plays the best cover of Kenny Rogers’ The Gambler ever performed.

Mr. Doughty plays a fake last song, asks us to pretend he has left the stage when he in fact is just turning to face the back of the stage, turns back around to play the real last song.

Crowd spills out of Antone’s.