[Book Wednesday] I Am America

And So Can You!

I finally managed to snag a copy of Stephen Colbert's I Am America (And So Can You!) (from the author of I Am America (And So Can You!)) yesterday, after literally months of searching. I knew beforehand that I'd like it of course, as scientists have proven* it's impossible to dislike anything Stephen Colbert does.

While America (The Book): A Citizen's Guide to Democracy Inaction** read more like an actual History/Political Science book filled with jokes that are funny because they are sadly true, I Am America reads more like a memoir of Colbert's character, Stephen Colbert. Which makes sense of course, given that each book is an extension of its respective show. My favorite bits so far are all the side notes and footnotes*** in almost every page, which help extend the jokes and remind me of my favorite TCR segment, The Word.

You can visit the official I Am America site here.

* Probably. I don't keep up with everything, you know.

** Best title ever, by the way.

*** Kind of like this one. Only actually funny.

TL;DR version:

As the book informs you, by buying it you become 25% American. Hell, I'm willing to bet that you've become more American just by reading this post.

There and Back Again

I may have a few more kilos and fewer hair than I used to, but I'm back in Athens. Karditsa, my hometown, felt like London lately, or perhaps even Silent Hill with all that damn fog going around night and day. The cold wasn't very welcoming, either.

Seems like I'm back just on time, as the Daily Show and the Colbert Report re-appeared after a long hiatus, although they're still missing their writers. I've only seen one TDS episode so far, but I thought it was still as funny as usual.

I can't wait to see what they'll have to say about the New Hampshire primary results, which saw Hilary clinching the win with a small 3% difference, and McCaine winning the Republican primary, despite most people writing him off already. Moreover, Bill Clinton called Obama's campaign the "Biggest Fairy Tale I've ever seen!" Ouch. Looks like the kid gloves are off. /cliché.

I'm not sure why I'm keeping such a close eye on the primaries. $10 say that if I were American I'd probably wouldn't give a shit about them and probably wouldn't even vote either. Don't tell anyone, but I only decided to vote on the Greek election about two hours before the deadline.

What I'd really like to know is what the HELL are Darth Vader and Yoda doing in Soulcalibur 4. I mean, WHAT?! Spawn and Link in Soul Calibur 2 at least made a little bit of sense from a purely marketing point of view, and could even perhaps convince people buy more than just one version of the game. Spawn still was a friggin' weird idea to which I had objected back then as well, but his creator, Todd McFarlane, or rather his company, was creating Soul Calibur action figures back then. So go figure.

But Darth Vader and Yoda? Sweet zombie Jesus. I hope that Inigo Montoya and Zorro will appear in SC5. Now that'd be something to wait for.

Heroes, you're on notice.

I could go on ranting for a while on why I found the latest episode of Heroes to be such a disappointment, even though apparently most people loved it. Instead, I'll just say that the show is now officially On Notice.

Remember, that's one step away from being Dead To Me. Careful where you tread now, Heroes.

Catching up

I'm back in Athens, after a relatively fun weekend (despite the fact that I hurt my back and it makes me feel like an old guy right now) which I spent playing... Halo 3.

I played through the whole thing in two days, on heroic difficulty in co-op mode. It was an amazing experience, the co-op helped of course, but the game felt so well-designed throughout, with definitely fewer low points than the previous two games of the series. The battle with the two Scarab tanks was epic.

There's a few valid criticisms about it, such as its length. Honestly, the game feels (and probably is) shorter than Halo 2, which was pretty short for an FPS as well. Still, I'd rather have a shorter game than one filled with filler missions such as Halo: Combat Evolved, its name was uh... something about a Library. My memory isn't what it used to be.

I really can't understand how people are criticizing the game's graphics. While it might not be significantly better than everything else in the market right now, or as (I guess) as good as its fans have hoped for... They are still really fracking good. Some of the textures are insane, and you can't argue with the draw distance of the game, as with all Halo games.

I haven't had the chance to play the multiplayer part of the game online, but even the offline mode is good fun, I can only assume it's even better online.

Lastly, I loved the amount of options you're given when fighting. Close-quarters combat with machine guns or melee weapons, sniping fools from afar, a combination of the two with the Carbine/Battle Rifle, it's there. Personally, I love sniping people and then finishing them off with the Elites' energy sword, I love this combination of both long-distance and close-up combat. It's actually kind of funny in a sad way that an FPS can offer you such level of customization, when RPG's force you to specialize in a specific way (hello, World of Warcraft.)

In other matters, the local media have finally caught up with Stephen Colbert and his presidential run, even if the Democrats have already declined him. The person writing the article in the local "Kyriakatiki Eleftherotypia" newspaper had his facts about Stephen a bit messed up as well, but I guess it's good enough that they actually had a report on this.

This is also the 100th post in this blog, didn't quite make it in time for October, but better late than never, no?

And I'm off

I'm still not sure what it was I wanted to write about two days ago. Probably something about Frank Sinatra and the 4-cd collection I picked up earlier this week. I guess that'll have to wait.

I finally managed to watch Stardust yesterday, I thought it was thoroughly entertaining, and not that different from the book, unlike what most people were suggesting. I'm aware of the fact that some Gaiman fanboys make the rest of us look bad. I wasn't too fond of a couple of changes (the unicorn not dying, at least it's not made clear it does, the "twist" and the overall fight at the end) but the rest all made sense from a cinematic point of view. Overall, it's exactly like the book, simple (not simplistic) but really charming.

Back in the real world, Stephen Colbert's presidential bid has been rejected by the Democrats, with a vote of 13 to 3. Boo, hiss! How could you do that to the man?

I'm leaving for my hometown in a couple of hours, so now I'll have an actual excuse for not updating for a few days. Le gasp! In the meantime, here's another video from my favorite World of Warcraft machinima series, "Snacky's Journal", Roberto's Halloween Special. It even has Sinatra!

In Rainbows

By now, you most likely will have heard all about In Rainbows, Radiohead's latest album, and the story of how they decided to leave their publishers (multi-national giants EMI) and instead distribute their album on their own, through the internet.

Phew, that was a long sentence. Anyway.

The best part about this, is that you get to choose exactly how much money (or how many monies) you want to pay for the album. But I assume you already knew about this, as well. Yes, you can even get it for free. No, you shouldn't, though. And if you did, it does not make you cool, no matter how much you think so.

I finally managed to buy the album today, but I haven't gotten the chance to listen to it carefully yet, I do like it so far though, my favorite song being "Bodysnatchers". At this point, I should also confess that I am not the biggest Radiohead fan around, as a matter of fact, this is the first album of theirs I've ever bought. When somebody tries to do something so radically different, though, I believe we all have to support it as best we can.

For the curious people out there, yes I did pay for it. How much? Less than the special edition's cost (40 English pounds, coming out on December 3rd), more than what a bootleg copy would cost. Happy now?

Regardless of that, I do hope that Radiohead's decision to promote their album on their own, without the influence of their company, could become the starting point for a whole new era in music. After all, Madonna had already left her big-name publishing company as well, and The Artist Formerly Known As The Artist Formerly Known As Prince distributed his last album through a Sunday newspaper in the U.K. However, both these artists have been around for a long while, and their careers have been in decline for a while now (Prince's more than Madonna's, obviously.)

Still, it's a common secret a music artist's main source of income comes from live performances, not record sales, as the publishers take most of those. And how did the last performance of Prince in the U.K. go, you ask? It was sold out. And Madonna's tour was her most successful yet.

What does that all mean, though? For me, it means that there's the blind hope that after almost a decade where hardcore marketing-type people dictated what music we listened to, what movies we saw and what kind of games we played, this fad may finally be nearing its end. I may be a bit too idealistic, but I feel that moves such as Radiohead selling their album for whatever amount their customers are willing to pay, may mean that artists will be able to reclaim control over their work again, beforelong.

As I said, I may be a bit too idealistic in my assessment this. But after so many years in which music, art in general I'd say, had to conform to certain strict standards in order to be commercially successful, I am really glad to see such a bold move from a well-known band.

Certainly, cynics have a lot to downplay this for, but you know what? Fuck cynicism. There's too much of it around already. Just enjoy your almost-free album, suckers.

Anyway, I'd like to end this post on a more positive note, so I'll just post an image of the cover for In Rainbows, which I find very beautiful in its simplicity, as it reminds me of Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon in a way.




Wait, how did Stephen Colbert get in there? That guy is omnipresent, I swear.

P.S
A good read on the impact that In Rainbows could have to the music industry can be found here. The author concludes that "Unfortunately for the music labels, that change would only decrease their relevance and mechanisms to make money."

Boo-fracking-hoo, I say. Greedy bastards, the lot of them. Viva La Revolution, etc.