September 30

Self-fulfilling prophecy /  / comments (1)

     Remember last November when I proposed a superbowl commercial treatment? Somebody has made essentially the exact commercial I was envisioning. Michael spotted it here -- anyone have any idea where it originated?

September 29

TGIF - The Ballad of Jesse Frederick /  / comments (14)

     At the beginning of 2005, I resolved to spend much of my free time figuring out how to run a tiny indie label by actually doing it. In the past eight months or so, I've learned:

• ...the nuts and bolts of pressing and 'releasing' a CD by working on the Javelins' 'No Plants, Just Animals' release (March 2005).
• ...how the college radio and promotions business works, following the release of my band The Recital's 'Colour Up' (July 2005).
• ... and more than I ever needed to about the world of 'mechanical licensing,' in order to obtain the rights to the four television theme songs that make up my other band, The Pop Project's 'TGIF' EP (September 2005).

     So, yes -- it's been a busy 2005 so far. The fruits of all this learning can be viewed at the Suburban Sprawl Music website, which I recently spent a good deal of time rescuing from the varying states of disrepair it has languished in for several years now. Several bits of the site are still in a state of disrepair, I'm just hoping not to let them languish this time.



     What's the story with this 'TGIF' EP, you ask? Well, I'm glad you asked, because it is a ridiculous and great story. Some might even say ridiculously great. If you don't care about behind-the-scenes shit, click here to skip ahead.

     I play the drums in the Pop Project - A four piece (Guitar, Bass, Keys, Drums) band from various points in the Detroit and Ann Arbor areas. We get along very well because we are all ridiculously nerdy about music. At some point in the past year or so, Zach Curd (keys), and Dave Lawson pointed out to Will Yates (Bass) and I that the impossibly catchy theme songs to all the TGIF shows we grew up watching were composed (at least in part) by the same guy -- a gentleman by the name of Jesse Frederick. Naturally we had to find out everything we possibly could about him.

     I soon became obsessed with the idea of recording a tribute of sorts to this guy, and harangued my bandmates at any opportunity to help me realize this project. Somehow, this actually worked, and we spent some time earlier this year learning and recording four of our favorite Jesse Frederick-penned TGIF themes -- "As Days Go By" (Family Matters), "Everywhere You Look" (Full House), "Second Time Around" (Step By Step), and "Nothing's Gonna Stop Me Now" (Perfect Strangers).

     At some point in the negotiations, it was decided that we would each sing lead vocals on one of these songs. Despite my emphatic recommendations that someone else take my song after the first of many lacklustre attempts, they were steadfast in their resolve, and a version of my shaky tenor warbling the theme to "Perfect Strangers" has now been cast out into the world.

     Those of you paying attention to the above impromptu roll-call of the Pop Project know that we are all males, so I should probably explain that the female counterpoint to Zach's lead vocals on 'Step by Step' was provided by our friend Korin Cox, of The Hard Lessons.

     After finishing the recording, I think we were all surprised by how nicely the project came together, and we started to think about actually 'releasing' it. So it was that we began to consider the legal issues involved with releasing a CD consisting entirely of cover versions of television theme songs. Now, if the band "Me First and the Gimme Gimmes" are good for any one thing in particular, it's for making the fact that you can cover almost any song you want for 8 cents per CD common knowledge. This is done via a 'mechanical license.' In order to have any reputable pressing plant replicate the EP for us, we would need to obtain a license for each of the four songs.



     While the recording was going on, we were learning all sorts of stuff about Mr. Frederick. Several years ago, Zach was given a copy of the one solo album that he released, on Bearsville records (Found via musicstack.com). It is long out of print, but it served as a decent starting point (It's available for download below). Eventually, Zach attempted to track down Mr. Frederick via Google. He found a telephone number associated with his publishing company via the ASCAP site, so he called and left a message explaining that we were recording several of his songs and sought his blessing. A few hours later, Jesse Frederick called him back and they discussed both the project and Mr. Frederick's musical career at length. Zach eventually described the idea for the TGIF EP to him: "I explained what we wanted to do, and he responded with 'Wait, you want to do what?'"

     What did we learn? All sorts of great stuff. He doesn't see a cent from any of those compositions. There are two unreleased Jesse Frederick albums languishing in studio vaults somewhere, both recorded closer to the era in which his television work was written than the Bearsville debut. The second album supposedly even features Michael Bloomfield on guitar. Zach adds: "It was pretty insane to hear someone say things like 'Yeah, when we cut the theme to Step By Step, we actually recorded a song-length version of it, with an extra verse, maybe a bridge or something.' and be totally straight-faced."

     We also learned that we were not the first to hit upon the idea of paying tribute to Mr. Frederick. He told Zach about a documentary being produced by a student at Penn State University. Zach explains: "There is an entire generation of kids who have grown up and know all of the words to these themes, but no one knows his name, or even really knows he exists. You know, victim of the global village and shit." I tracked the student, Brian Morrison, down via the Penn State film department faculty, and we have since been in touch. Small world!

     Back to the licensing. Since we were only looking to license the compositions, and not the recordings it turned out to not be the ginourmous pain in the ass that it could have been. The organization that I was most frequently recommended for licensing was the Harry Fox agency. Three of the songs on the EP were easily located in the Harry Fox database, as they had been released on one of those 'The Best of Television' Theme song collections. The theme to 'Step By Step,' however, was proving elusive.

     We eventually were able to license the song directly from Warner Brothers, via the absolute worst user-interface ever created in the history of man. It only worked in IE on Win XP, and even then, it didn't correctly pass the song data to the final order form. After submitting my form, I was contacted by the 'webmaster' who politely asked me via form letter exactly which song it was I was licensing. It seems to me that fixing that form would save Mr. Webmaster a lot of time and email, but I digress.

     Now, even with four songs licensed and ready to go, this EP is BARELY five minutes long. Sensing that additional content would be nice, We decided to put together a brief bit of documentary footage on 'the making' of the TGIF EP, culled from Dave and Korin's off-the-cuff taping. We also had our good friend Shawn Knight (of New Grenada and BoyArm) make everything look nice, via a series of emails discussing the psychology of place and sunset gradients, which has everything to do with why I love working on album art with him (He's done the other two releases I worked on this year as well). We packaged it all up with the following blurb, which won't do much to dissuade the cries of 'Gimmick!' -- but it is sincere.

     It seems like a joke: cover the theme songs to four popular early 90's sitcoms and release the results for hipster consumption. In reality, this release is a painstakingly crafted tribute to the work of Jesse Frederick.

     In 1971, a 19-year-old Frederick recorded his self-titled debut for legendary manager Albert Grossman's Bearsville Records. In the wake of the relative silence following the album's release, Frederick recorded a pair of follow-up albums for two different labels - neither of which ever saw the light of day.

     By the late 1980's, Frederick had found his way into the world of TV theme music - composing a number of memorable themes with longtime writing partner Bennett Salvay. We feel that the songwriting, arrangement, and density of craftsmanship on display in these four short themes is legitimately mindblowing.

     Fittingly, syndication ensures that each of these compositions will receive perpetual airplay -- resulting in a uniquely modern, pseudo-anonymous eminence.

     Without further ado, here's a sample of each of the four tracks that make up our completed TGIF EP:

The Pop Project - TGIF Preview From: "TGIF"

     If you'd like to order a copy, it's $5 shipped anywhere in the US, just click here.

~*~

     We turned up all sorts of ridiculous information in our Jesse Frederick-related research. Here's a fairly thorough summary, aurally annotated with MP3's throughout.

• The starting points for nearly everything we found were Frederick's IMDB entry and his ASCAP listing. Epguides.com and sitcomsonline.com, were both invaluable for tracking down obscure themes. A good starting point for tracing TGIF lineage is the TGIF wikipedia entry.
  
  
• The LP that Frederick Recorded for Bearsville in 1971 has long been out of print. Those curious to hear the beginnings of Mr. Frederick's recording career can download sides one and two below. My verdict? Uninspiring. The song 'Victoria Lenore' was pulled to represent this album for the Bearsville boxset, but my pick of this batch is 'When She Goes' so I've seperated that song as a point of reference for those who don't want to bother with the full album. Download 'When She Goes' here.

  Side 1 (MP3):
  1. Prelude: To A Woman
  2. Bless Me Daddy
  3. Victoria Lenore
  4. You Can't Hide Away
  5. Finale: To A Woman

  Side 2 (MP3):
  1. Sweet Bye And Bye
  2. Slave Runner
  3. Alley Lady
  4. When She Goes
  5. No Reunion

  There's a November 1971 article from some sort of MIT publication here, which reviews both the LP and a live set at a venue called the Pee-Nut Gallery. Some highlights:

       "To help the Pee-Nut Gallery get rolling, both Warner Brothers/Reprise and A&M records have brought in new musicians to debut at the club. The first to arrive was Jesse Frederick, the second to sign on Albert Grossman's Bearsville WB subsidiary label (the first being Lazarus, who released a fine premiere album last month). This young man from southern Maryland is definitely someone to keep your eye on. His music ranges from solo guitar and voice to a rocking three or four man electric back-up. He has a decidedly interesting voice that grows on you, somewhere between a Joe Cocker and a Randy Newman, with a bit of a Band vocal thrown in."

       "At the Pee-Nut Gallery, Jesse Frederick was the more impressive of the two: Both albums suffer from over-orchestration which is mercifully eliminated live. As Frederick leans more heavily on the music, the fact that his backing musicians were very tight and competent only enhanced his set."

• In 1973, Bearsville released a promo 45 featuring both stereo and mono versions of the first single from Frederick's second album, which would never be released. The song was called 'I Belong to You.' Download it here.
  
  
• One pleasant discovery I made is that there are several more obscure themes listed in Frederick's ASCAP file. Thanks to the wonder of the internet, I've been able to track down most of these theme songs.
  
  The only themes I've seen attributed to Mr. Frederick that I haven't been able to track down are the theme to a short lived (6 episodes) series called "Pride & Joy" (Starring Jeremy Piven and Caroline Rhea), and the theme to an NBC pilot starring Tatyana Ali that was never picked up - "Wally and the Valentines." Any kind frequenters of the Museum of Radio & Television in NYC are encouraged to contribute!
  
  Here's a comprehensive listing of Jesse Frederick's Lesser-known television works:

  Better Days (1986). IMDB description: "Brian McGuire is a California teenager who lives and loves life in Los Angeles, until something happens to his family and he must move to his uncle's place in Brooklyn. He has a hard time fitting in with the crowd but makes two friends he can count on, wisecracking Luther and the very hip Snake." [MP3]

  Perfect Strangers (1986). All your online Perfect Strangers needs should be met by this site. The wikipedia entry for Perfect Strangers is here.

  Full House (1987). Wikipedia Entry.

  Family Man (1988) [MP3]

  Family Matters (1989) was a spinoff from Perfect Strangers (Harriet Winslow was a co-worker of Larry and Balki at the Chicago Chronicle). The relevent Wikipedia entry is here.

  Going Places (1990). IMDB description: "The production staff of The Dick Roberts Show has its hands full booking guests for the outrageous talk show and dealing with its egomaniacal host." [MP3]

  Step By Step (1991). Patrick Duffy, Suzanne Somers, etc. I hated this show. I didn't know Bronson Pinchot was on it, but according to IMDB, he played 'Jean-Luc Rieupeyroux' during the 1997 season.

  Getting By (1993) was a sitcom about "two women living together in a large house." What a premise. Turns out this show was a spin-off from Family Matters (see here). Telma Hopkins, the actress who plays Rachel Crawford (Harriet Winslow's Sister), also apparently sang backup on a number of Motown records (see here). [MP3]

  On Our Own (1994) was a sitcom about a group of kids who continue to live in the family home after losing their parents. [MP3]

  Pride & Joy (1995) bears the distinction of being the only televised Frederick theme I can't find. The IMDB comments describe it thusly: "The cast of this sitcom was made up of several now-familiar faces, but at the time they weren't particularly well-known. It was a fairly forgettable tale of two young married couples who were neighbors and friends. All four characters were plain vanilla; this was before comedic performers like Caroline Rhea and Jeremy Piven developed their distinctive personas we have come to know and appreciate."

  Meego (1997) was Bronson Pinchot's series following Perfect Strangers. He played an alien named Meego, from the planet Marmazon 4.0. Meego only lasted six episodes, and also starred the kid from Jerry McGuire. This theme is instrumental, but does feature some ridiculous Bronson Pinchot-as-alien dialog. I'd be interested in seeing an episode of this. [MP3]

  Two of a Kind (1998) was an Olsen Twins-centric series. The theme is instrumental and fairly unremarkable, but it's here both for completeness and to illustrate the post-TGIF glory days patronage that Frederick recieved. [MP3]

• Frederick popped up in a few films, both musically, and on-camera. Though he didn't write the music, he performed the lead vocal duties for the main character in the 1980 Taylor Hackford film "The Idolmaker." One single from the Idolmaker soundtrack was pressed. It contained both stereo and mono versions of the song 'Here Is My Love.' Download it here. He also apparently played Alice Cooper's roadie in the film 'Roadie.' He also did soundtrack work for the Troma film 'The Fanatic' (also known as 'The Last Horror Film' There's a screengrab of the relevant bit of the end credits crawl here. MP3's may or may not be forthcoming.
  
  
• In the brief 'documentary footage' accompanying our TGIF CD, the members of the Pop Project can be seen speculating that the theme to "Camp Wilder" may be free jazz. I was not able to track down this particular theme to confirm, but I was able to determine that Jesse Frederick was not the composer - Fred Wolf bears that distinction. It does appear to have been played on KFJC in october of 2004, so I remain hopeful that I will one day happen upon it.

September 28

Arcade Chicanery /  / comments (1)

     A few years ago I got way into arcade game restoration. Let me tell you, it really wooed the ladies. One of the most interesting aspects of that diversion into nerdery was the insight into the commercial end of the arcade industry that I gained. Nearly all 'modern' (ie post-JAMMA) games have vendor-configurable difficulty settings - so high scores and other such arcade accomplisments can be ambiguous.

     The video linked below, which I recently found via the Make Magazine blog shows the secrets of other bits of arcade machinery, including the tension adjustment on claw-grabber games, and the hidden coin harvesters on those 'coin pusher' machines. Sneaky! It's realvideo (10 Minutes, 25 MB), but it's worth it -- just click here or on the image below for a direct link. The host of the video is Tim Hunkin, his site, which is packed with nerdy goodness, is here.

September 18

Hello World - Jason Shiga /  / comments (4)

     The work of Jason Shiga first came to my attention in 2003, when he won an Eisner award for "Talent most deserving of wider recognition." A few months later, I read a write-up on his then-current interactive comic book, 'Hello World,' and immediately ordered it from the USS Catastrophe store, hoping for the best.

     'Hello World' turned out to be a tour de force in the relatively uncrowded field of interactive sequential narrative. In concept, it's a bit like a combination of the obsessive block diagramming of software development and the traditional comic book narrative. Put simply, it's an ambitious, illustrated "Choose Your Own Adventure" story, complete with a self-contained inventory system. The pages of the book itself are cut into two halves - the upper half contains the narrative, the lower half displays your current inventory.

     It's a bit difficult to explain the function of the book without actually experiencing it or seeing it in action, so I've provided a short video clip below. It's a must-see, if only to truly appreciate the complexity of the book Mr. Shiga has put together.

Jason Shiga - 'Hello World'

      Hello World thoroughly blew my mind - when you think about the planning that went into executing such an idea, it's just insane. I'm not sure how understandable the video above is, so I've pasted the official description, from the Shigabooks site, below:

     "Hello World has two tiers that work independently of each other, not unlike the mix-n-match monster books of your childhood. Memory is stored in the bottom tier while the story takes place in the upper tier. The panels of the story are connected by a network of tubes. These tubes constantly dip in and out of the memory tier to determine what happens next in the story."

     Those familiar with my interests are by now realizing that this discovery -- comic books that are NERDIER than NORMAL comic books?! -- ranks pretty high on my list of best shit ever. Obviously, I had to find some of his other work. What follows are summaries of two of the other noteworthy books I eventually tracked down, as well as a 'highlight reel' of the new work that Jason recently added to his redesigned Shigabooks website. First though, some perspective on the guy behind these comics. Here's the bio from his website:

     "You could say that cartooning was in my blood. My father was an animator and worked on such shows as Obake no Q-taro and the legendary Bas Rankin Rudoph the Red Nosed Reindeer Christmas Special."

     "My parents have always been supportive of my interests. In highschool, I drew comic strips for the school newspaper and started to take up animation as well. In 1998, I graduated from Cal with a degree in... Pure Mathematics. Why? Well, ever since I was ten years old, I had always thought that math was the best subject because even if you're locked in a room for 25 years with no books you can still study it."

     "Currently, I work at the Oakland Public Library as a Library Aide and do freelance cartooning for magazines."

Meanwhile

     'Meanwhile' is another interactive comic book that is less work-intensive on the part of the reader, and generally a much more readable iteration of the same 'Choose Your Own Adventure' concept -- a reversal in balance of plot and principle when compared with 'Hello World.'

     In 'Meanwhile,' the paths the reader can follow are linked by pipes that extend between pages. Transitions from page to page are coordinated via tabs that extend beyond the edge of the page. If the reader follows a path to a tab, the page is turned and the reader continues on the newly-revealed page, starting from the tab. Confusing? The best way to get a feel for it is to experience it yourself, which is now possible online, as Jason has put together a Javascript version of the book here.

     Like 'Hello World,' my first reaction to 'Meanwhile' was to marvel at the fact that someone was able to wrestle it all into a cohesive structure. The slightly-less-maniacally-detailed approach allows the plot to develop much more freely than in 'Hello World.' There's a Mad scientist, a Time Machine, Secret Passwords, and Ice cream. All the good stuff. Shiga has actually isolated each panel, twist and turn contained in 'Meanwhile' and constructed a single 'posterized' version of the book, which he has exhibited at comic shows in the past. The finished product measures 5 feet by 5 feet, and can be seen here.

Fleep

     'Fleep' isn't an interactive comic, but it managed to capture my interest nonetheless. While it doesn't turn sequential narrative on its ear in the same way many of Shiga's other works attempt to, it does have elements of logic and puzzle-solving built into the relatively straight-forward narrative, which will appeal to many of the same readers that would be enthused by his other efforts. The story begins with the main character waking up locked in a windowless phone booth with no memory of the events landing him in said situation. The rest of the plot consists of this character trying to piece together the specifics of his predicament, based on clues in the phone booth, information obtained using the telephone, deduction, and math. Awesome.

     Fleep has been available online in its entirety for quite awhile, and made the rounds of notorious nerd-hives such as metafilter sometime last year (mefi discussion here).

     For those keeping score, the print version has the best production values of any of the books I've yet seen. Nice thick paper and better print quality than the interactive comics (Which I imagine are far more expensive to produce).

Further Online Works

     I originally started piecing this entry together shortly after I originally ordered these books in early 2004. Research at the time seemed to indicate that Mr. Shiga had disappeared from the face of the earth shortly after winning the Eisner award. I emailed him in early 2005, asking about his next project and the availability of additional copies of "Hello World." Here's what he had to say:

     "I'm currently working on a new choose your own adventure type comic. The gimmick this time is that you get to choose from 7-20 branches at every node (by the way, you only get to make 3 choices before a crazed gunman shoots you in the stomach). This project should be finished within a couple months. I won't make it in time for this APE but it should be available by the next one."

     "As for obtaining a copy of "Hello World", you're out of luck as usscatastrophe sold out recently. I'm not selling any copies on my site because I get killed on the shipping. I will be selling copies at APE so you should come down if you're still in the area.

     About a month ago, Mr. Shiga emerged from e-exile and completely revamped his website, adding all sorts of new content and revealing that he's been doing interactive comics for Nickelodeon Magazine in the interim ("I started working for Nickelodeon Magazine in 2003. It is an awesome responsibility knowing that my comics could potentially corrupt over a million children across the country. I do mostly double page interactive spreads which the kids seem to love."). Some other highlights from the newly updated site, in relative order of recommendation, include:

• 'Dead Lock' - An absolutely great autobiographical story, illustrated by a friend. A glimpse into how the mind that creates these works functions in the real world. The story comes from an entry on his circa-2003 livejournal. Awesome.
• 'Bookhunter' a new longform strip about crime and libraries. Super good.
• Description of 'Theater Eroika', a scrapped project involving an interactive narrative with panels printed on 5 rotating paper 'wheels.'
• 'Every Dog Has His Day' - a comic strip with panels that are randomly ordered based on punchcard-like cuts.
• A few samples of his work for Nickelodeon are here.
• 'Double Happiness,' a book that won a Xeric award in 1999 is now also available online in its entirety.

     You can order copies of several works directly from Mr. Shiga via this order form.

September 16

Coding after midnight. Rockin to the dawn. /  / comments (3)

The Short Version:

     I wrote an application for OS X 10.3+ that rips the audio from DVD's to your iTunes / iPod. I use it to listen to commentary tracks - it could concievably be used as a language-learning tool (Listening to the alternate language audio streams from familiar movies). You can download the application here. Feedback and / or donations (if you find it useful) are appreciated.

The Long Version (Nerd alert):

     I've always been a huge fan of DVD commentary tracks, primarily because I'm obsessed with all things "Behind the Scenes." A few weeks ago I noted that lately I just don't have the time to watch all the movies I'd like to see, let alone rewatch them with the commentary track. What I do have time for, however, is portable audio. Every so often I'll hit a stretch in a project where I'm doing something relatively mechanical, and having narrative audio like This American Life to follow help make the time melt away. I duly filed the idea in the back of my brain.

     Roughly a week later, this tutorial popped up on Lifehacker. Basically, it details ripping the audio track from a DVD using command line options and Open Source video player VLC. This got me playing with VLC, but I was unable to find a command line option to switch the audio stream to grab (Though I did find some discussion of adding it as a feature). I posted this ask.metafilter thread looking for leads, and someone suggested MPlayer.

     After wrestling with getting fink up to date on my Mac, and then compiling MPlayer and LAME, I had the basics. I devised a command line program that will take the output of Mplayer and feed it in to LAME, resulting in an easily portable MP3.

     For some reason, I decided I would learn how to make this into an application for others to use. When I described this idea to my girlfriend, Sarah, she said:

"You have completely lost your mind this time."

     Which clearly means I'm on to something. So I set about learning the joys of Interface Builder and Applescript Studio during the wee hours of the past week or so. I now have what I think is a functional version of the application I set out to create. It will even take the MP3 it spits out and add it to a playlist in iTunes. You can download it here.

September 13

Testing... /  / comments (2)

     I'm looking for people running Mac OS X 10.3 or newer to help me test a nerdy little application I wrote. Let me know via email if you're interested in helping out.

September 12

Video Games that break the fourth wall in interesting ways /  / comments (5)

     I've recently come across references to two video games that interacted with the player in a pretty unique way. I've never experienced either of these first hand, but I'm intrigued, and curious if other such examples exist.

     The first example I've seen referenced is 1993's 'X-Men' for the Sega Genesis. I've read incomplete accounts of what exactly this 'breaking of the fourth wall' entailed in a few different places, but this is the most complete account I've found:

"At the end of the level "Mojo's Crunch," you will be in a room surrounded by tv screens with Prof. X's face on them. When the timer starts to run out, Prof. X will tell you to reset the computer. At this point press the RESET button on your Segas Genesis. You will see a screen that looks like binary code. After this fades out, You will then move on to the last level, Ateroid M."

     AT least that's the most coherent description I found of the goings-on. Anyone who grew up with the NES and it's successors can relate to the horror of a mid-game resetting, which is why I was particularly enamored with this bit of ingenuity on the part of the developers.

     Ever vigilant in my efforts to be both nerdy AND thorough, I was curious how this oddity had been handled in the various Genesis emulators, so I did a bit of googling. It looks like it hasn't been handled at all: "Sadly - emulators can't emulate the soft reset function."

     The other example of such weirdness involves a recurring character in the 'Metal Gear Solid' line of games - a character called 'Psycho Mantis.' From the wikipedia entry on Mr. Psycho Mantis:

"When Solid Snake faces Mantis, Mantis demonstrates his psychic powers by breaking the fourth wall. In the pre-battle cut-scene, he activates the controller's rumble feature, then reads the player's memory card. Then, at the begining of the actual battle, Mantis yells "Blackout!" and causes the screen to go completely black except for the words Hideo (a reference to the director Hideo Kojima) in green all capital text in the top right corner of the screen, much like TV or VCR on-screen-displays. Many players mistook this to be a glitch in the game, while it was supposed to trick the player into thinking that he or someone else changed the TV or VCR input, as a slight attempt to throw the player off.

     The reading of the player's memory card involves checking how often they've saved their game in reaching the battle with Mr. Mantis, and commenting on the relative wisdom or recklessness that this symbolizes. The card is also examined for specific game saves which are then commented on ("I can see into your mind. You like Castlevania, don't you?").

     According to various sources, the best method for defeating Mr. Matis involves configuring your memory card and controller connections, mid-game. Again, from the wikipedia entry:

"The easiest way to defeat Psycho Mantis is to for the player to remove the memory card, plug the controller into the Player Two portal (which prevents The Parasite from predicting your battle moves) and equip both the FA-MAS and the Thermal Goggles (FA-MAS is useful for attacking Mantis with speed and power, while the Thermal Goggles prevent him from turning invisible on Snake [by detecting his body heat] and making Mantis unable to hide from your attacks). The battle should be a lot easier now, if not impossible to lose (on easier difficulties)."

     So, looking at this from a game design / programming perspective, we have the following: Leaving your controller in port 1 during the battle passes your button presses onto the logic code that controls Psycho Mantis -- So he's 'reading your mind.' The game will accept controls from the player 2 port without passing them on to the enemy's artificial intelligence logic.

     This means that the designers assumed that the player would mentally extend the scope of the game they were playing to the physical space around them, based on nothing but subtle contextual hints. Crazy. And awesome.

September  9

Motorcyclists and Me /  / comments (5)

Scene: A few years ago, driving on I-96 towards Detroit.

Motorcycle comes screaming up behind me on the left. Swerves into my lane, cutting me off in ridiculously-close, Hollywood-novelty style. Is that enough? No, that is not enough. Said motorcyclist proceeds to POP A WHEELIE, and stand on his back pegs. This pose is maintained for the better part of a minute. Doing 80. On the freeway. I thought I was being attacked by Ghost Rider or something.

Scene: A few days ago, driving on a main road in Ann Arbor.

Motorcyclist swerves from behind me, presumably because I was moving too slowly for him. Upon passing me on the left, motorcyclist appears to jump off the bike proper and SIT ON HIS HANDLEBARS for several seconds, before remounting his motorcycle. How is that even possible?! Don't you have to have your foot on a pedal or something?!

     So: for some reason, my mere presence on the road apparently compels motorcyclists to do 'tricks.' Needless to say, this is extremely weird. Is this some sort of "You got served!" thing that motorcyclists do? Like "I just passed you! Here's a trick to remember me by! I served you!" Perhaps.

September  6

Playback Device within a CD Case /  / comments (1)

     A Link to Tristan Perich's forthcoming 'One Bit Music' project made the rounds of the nerdy music blogs last week. If you mouse over the image below, you can see my assumptions as to the basic breakdown of the circuit -- it's nearly identical to a circuit I used in a music box two years ago, though the IC doesn't appear to be one of the ISD series of Record / Playback chips I'm familiar with.

     It seems this concept could easily be expanded into an even more self-contained object by enclosing some ultra-thin speakers in all that open space.

     Perich plans to release the objects with his music encoded onto the IC's, you can sign up for his mailing list at the link above for more information.

UPDATE

Yep, those are volume potentiometers. More here.

MP3's of the music accompany this Wired article about the project.

September  1

OS X Gramophone emulator /  / comments (2)

     This isn't a life-changing application or anything, but I was pretty thrilled to discover RetroPlayer - an OS X gramophone emulator. Launch the program and you get a top-down view of a gramophone, sans record. Drag any audio file into the Retroplayer window, and a record appears and begins to play.

     Playback is infused with user-configurable quantities of vinyl crackle, skippage, and warping / speed distortion. You can advance the track by dragging the tone arm to the desired relative radial position on the record, and the 'reject' (stop) and speed adjustment controls on the graphical gramophone are functional as well. If you're immune to quickly expiring novelty and make it through a whole track, the tone arm will spin and crackle in a pseudo lockgroove until you either hit the stop lever or quit the application. Two emphatically nerdy, impractical thumbs up.