Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Hip-hip-hooray for Christmas blogcation

I know, I know. I had one of these like a month ago in order to eat criminal amounts of turkey.

But it's December, and here in 'Merica, we like to do things up nice and big to properly celebrate the birth of the Lord baby Jesus, and also capitalism and insurmountable debt.

Lots of events and travel mean I'm going to be running wild through the new year. I'll get up as much sporadic content as I can, but otherwise, we'll hit the ground running in 2011.

Enjoy yourselves and thanks for spending another year with me here at staticEchoes. It's been a blast.

Monday, December 20, 2010

Monday mini-movies: Christmas 2010 edition




My special lady friend has a knack for locating obscure, yet awesome videos on the youtubes. She is once again to blame for this week’s offering.

In keeping with the festive nature of the holidays, she turned me on to this little number from the gang at Liberty University. You’ll likely recognize the tune from the infamous news report of a late evening break-in wherein an excited victim recommended everyone “hide your kids” and “hide your wife.”

You wouldn’t think this could be made all that Christmasy but, hey, they pull it off nicely.

Friday, December 17, 2010

Rejected T-Shirt ideas: Seals

Every now and then I like to post a T-shirt design that, while awesome, would likely never find its way to an actual T-shirt.

Mistakes happen. It's part of life. However, as a journalist, I find it interesting that if you mess up one word somewhere in an article, you can rest assured at least 20 people will be calling the paper to let you know about it.

Funny that none of those people ever call to comment on the other 265,000 words I spelled correctly that week, but I digress.

Thinking about these "simple mistakes" got me wondering what sort of affect such an error would have on a T-shirt design. That's where the image on the right comes from.

If you ask me, it looks way better this way.

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Review- Black Swan

If you’re looking for an end-of-the year festive flick to get you in the holiday spirit, Black Swan is probably a bad choice.

If, however, you’re in the market for a beautifully crafted thriller overflowing with desperation, jealousy, love, lust and characters consumed by their passions, then this is the one to check out.

Directed by Darren Araonofsky, the guy behind such films as Pi, Requiem for a Dream, and last year’s The Wrestler, you should already know you’re in for a dark, emotional and intimate thrill ride. Black Swan is expertly shot, especially during the hypnotic, dizzying dance sequences, and perfectly paced. The characters, all driven to an unsettling degree, show a passion that should be equally envied and feared.

Black Swan stars Natalie Portman as Nina Sayers, a young and beautiful ballerina who, while perfect on the stage, lacks the ability to let herself go and become the characters she’s portraying.

Monday, December 13, 2010

Monday mini-movies: Thirsty cat edition



This cat drinks by sticking his head under a running tap, then licking the refreshing water as it rolls off his snout. You couldn’t possibly ask for anything more out of your Monday.

Thursday, December 9, 2010

Movies to Miss in December

Much like the world of video games, there isn't a whole lot happening for movies in the year's final month.

If you have children you also happen to dislike, by all means, go see the following films. Otherwise, I'm left once again wondering who actually gets paid to make some of these decisions in Hollywood. I want that job. "You want to turn Street Sharks into a film? Brilliant! Here's a million bucks. Make it hot!"

Yogi Bear
There's a very special place in hell for the folks who green-lit this monstrosity. Seriously, folks, we don't need to cash-in on every single cartoon and television show from the 70s and 80s. Some things are best left in the past and, yeah, Yogi is definitely one of them. This looks like a train wreck in slow motion. Do modern kids even know or give a crap about these characters?

Gulliver's Travels
I'm one of those people who usually likes what Jack Black has to offer. Except for this. This looks like poop. I'll give him this freebie under the assumption he's got some bills to pay, even though I'm pretty sure Kung-Fu Panda 2 would have taken care of that...Maybe he was really stoned when he signed on? That's about the only way you'll ever get me to watch this.

Games to get in December

Talk about a light month. With most publishers pushing out their final big titles in time for the holiday shopping season, there's little on the menu, good or bad, for the month of December.

December
7th- World of Warcraft: Cataclysm (PC)
12th- Super Mario All-Stars (Wii)

It's been a great end of the year for gamers on the PC. Not only did the highly anticipated Star Craft II make an appearance, but now WoWers everywhere have more ways to lose track of time thanks to the world-changing Cataclysm expansion. If you have gamer relatives missing through the holidays, this is likely the cause.

Finally, Wii owners with a hankering for nostalgia, and who haven't already purchased these titles on the Virtual Console, have a slightly enhanced version of Super Mario All-Stars to look forward to. Featuring Super Mario Bros. 1-3 and the Lost Levels, there's plenty here to keep you busy into the new year.

Don't worry. The first few months of 2011 look to be as jam-packed with top-notch titles as the last half of 2010.

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Review wrap-up

I have once again fallen behind in reviews. Rather than flood the site with a bunch of posts that, let’s face it, would be far too long-winded (I love to hear myself type), I’ve decided to round everything up here and spare just a paragraph or two (or five) per item.

It’s a real mixed bag, as I’ve got a CD, a comic, a movie and a video game all here for your consideration. (Spoiler alert: They were all pretty fantastic.)

Mumford and Sons: Sigh no more
I heard the tune “Little Lion Man” by Mumford and Sons on the radio a couple months ago and did my damndest to remember the name of the song and/or the artist, ultimately forgetting both. That happened twice more, causing me loads of frustration. I was near my computer the next time I heard the song and immediately logged on to just download the whole album and be done with it.