Bad Luck City Blog

Ms. Pacman is excluded. She is everyone’s favorite.

No particular order:

Archon. I played this on the Atari 8 Bit series (mostly the 800 and eventually the 130xe (the computer I brought to college (daisy wheel and all). Archon has amazing game play and the AI is pretty good if you’re playing nofriendo style. It takes place place on a chess board and the worlds of dark (blue) and light (yellow) battle it out with fast and slow moving game pieces with projectiles, clubs, magic, and expandable death auras. My fav is the unicorn and the scorpion.. but they die so the golam and the summoned elemental have to make due. Such a great game. Buy a C64 or Atari 8-bit and play this game. Baa emulator. Like you could emulatepokey sound!!!

Shark Island. Radio Shack version of the Nintendo Game and Watch series. My buddy had a Game and Watch (mario bottle plant). Shark Island is one player nofriendo. Pretty simple. Left right club. Hours of fun. A gift from my pop’s folks. My only other handheld was an LED soccer game. Lots of replay… until you master its patterns.

Ico. The best thing I’ve found on PS2. If you can get past the fact that you’re pretty much just dragging a girl around… it’s pretty awesome,beautiful, and frustrating. I had to consult the interweb for one one the puzzles. Curse you horned boy and the girl you drag around!

Supper Puzzle Fighter. Holy crap. I used to dream about building gigantic blocks and dropping a swirlly… raining a counter blocks on my opponent. I mastered this game. I never saw the arcade cabinet, but I heard there was one in north jersey. Hands down the best puzzle fighting game ever. I <3Hsien-Ko and Sakura. This has been the main multi-player game in my lifetime (pre-wii lifetime).

Uniracers. A few years ago I met a new friend who loved her SNES but never heard of Uniracers. Ebay. Mail. She loved the SNES even more so. Addictive. Great replay value. Graphics sound so good. Underappreciated. Seek it. You’ll see. The animal stuff is a little weird, but whatevs.

Moon Patrol. I had to drop the music from my ringtone. It was giving me flashbacks. I know exactly where I played this game as a kid. Including the road-side locations on family vacations. The 8-bit version was pretty close to the arcade.

Katamari. Both. I haven’t played the PSP version, but I imagine it’s like rolling a ball. Great art direction. Music. Inovative game play. Perfect. It sucks that you (me specifically) can blow right through it in a day. I’m looking forward to the day where it’s fed new data, worlds, objects daily from the interweb . too short of a game and really… can the world be rolled up that quickly? Give us more. Make the PS3 cheap and fill our hard drives with junk to gather.

WarioWare Twisted. I love the GBA and this game is the best of the WarioWare series. Soo many souvenirs, toys, graters, stupid records to spin and scratch. The art direction in these games is brilliant and disturbing at times. The masked wrestler that slaps his ass… what’s with that?

Metroid. Oooh gosh. First and foremost, 2D. I tried prime, but gave up. It ain’t the same. Super, fusion, zero, original, and II. In that order. II kinda blows but it’s cool that they tried to make a huge game for the gameboy. It was just really slow and vast and i dunno… slow.  I spent a several days playing this game indoors at the beach.  My friend brought his NES to our house and we didn’t have one… I wanted to get a shirt made on the boardwalk saying I killed the mother brain and survived.

Boulder Dash. I don’t care what the character’s name is… what the story is… This was one of the best 8-Bit nofriendo games EVER. I couldn’t get through w/o continuing. FAST game. I only played the original. The construction set could be pretty cool.

Making Time at the former Two Four… The Faint went on after midnight. Some audio issues… I think the bass was whack until they jiggled a cable. Gleeking distance from the stage.

More photos

Thinman:

Moonbabies. BBQChickenRobot turned me on to this Swedish pop duo. From their fourth album At the Ballroom

MP3: Moonbabies- Cocobelle (from BBQChickenRobot)

MP3: Moonbabies- Take Me to the Ballroom (from SoMuchSilence)

MP3: Moonbabies- War on Sound (from PowerPopulist)

The Crayon Fields. I first hoid this Aussie band on Gorilla vs Bear, who thinks they’re a straight up Zombies ripoff. I says they’re Belle & Sebastion in disguise. The lead singer even has that half-awake, lispy voice. From the Animal Bells LP.

(It seems their MP3s have all been taken down from the blogs. Check their myspace page linked above. Choir of Tiny Boys is my tune of the moment and available on iTunes)

Peel. from Gorilla vs Bear and CovertCuriosity– all three from Austin, TX.

MP3: Peel- Oxford
MP3: Peel- In The City (from Gimme Tinnitus- what a great name!)

The best song on the self-titled LP is Navy Waves, but all the mp3s online link to the wrong song.

The Black Keys are offering a new live EP recorded last Fall in LA and Nashville free for download on their myspace page. Get ‘em quick cuz they might not be up long.

On the Jamaican music front, I’m really digging audiomaxxx.com’s new cd download service. 5 dolla mixes of the freshest riddims straight from jamaican 45s mixed seamlessly with the occassional cheezy sound effects thrown in.

Be sure to pick up Jah Rising Star Revelation Music Vol. 1, which features the Serengeti riddim. (Full album of the riddim available on MP3 here)
and Higher Heights Culture Mix Pt. 6.

Well Apple has kept the Mac Mini’s processor stuck at a core duo forever. Some of us wished for a total makeover and hoped the rumors weren’t correct. But alas, AppleInsider has stated that the Mini is dead.

What the article doesn’t mention is that the Apple TV killed the mini. Who knows. I had a sweet home theater/PC setup all planned, with a little help from a great how-to podcast from the HTGuys.

Right now when I want to view online videos or pics of the kids on the new 40″ Sony V2500 LCD, I have to hook up the Powerbook via a DVI to HDMI cable. I wanted to have a dedicated Mac permanently connected using a bluetooth keyboard and mouse and I was waiting for an update before getting the Mini. Now I’ll have to use my old G4 tower which should be fine, but I just didn’t want a noisy fan running in the living room. I’ll have to slap a larger hardrive & videocard in it. Or I’ll go the Apple TV route, but my tv is 1080p, whereas the ATV is only 720p (with all the hacks found for it already, maybe someone is bound to get it to do that too). At least if I want one quick I can soon pick one up at my local Target.

I’ll let you know what I end up doing. Be sure to check out the HTGuys podcast for some good HD info.

Apple TV vs Mac Mini from theappleblog

Jimmy Carter’s got balls. Our 39th president and Nobel Peace Prize recipient is one of the few men with balls enough to lay it straight: In his words, Bush is “the worst in history“. We all know how f**ked up Bush is, but when a living president goes to this extreme when describing a sitting president, one starts to REALLY get pissed that more isn’t done to stop this administration. More from Carter:

I think as far as the adverse impact on the nation around the world, this administration has been the worst in history.

Wow. We’ve ALL said that before. The worst in history. But coming from a former president it really starts to sink in.
Carter also offered a harsh assessment for the White House’s Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, which helped religious charities receive $2.15 billion in federal grants in fiscal year 2005 alone:

As a traditional Baptist, I’ve always believed in separation of church and state and honored that premise when I was president, and so have all other presidents, I might say, except this one.

We all know that Democrats criticize Republicans from time to time, and vice versa, but this is really a first. And mild-mannered Jimmy isn’t some nutcase or blowhard as the White House press is trying to spin it. You know it really IS bad when this happens. We’ve gotta get more attention to this atrocity we call a president.

On the same note, Gore has a book coming out with few more choice words for the president and the media’s complacency:

if we had a full debate and a full airing of the pros and cons of the invasion that brought out the fact that Iraq had absolutely nothing to do with attacking us on 9/11 then we would have been much less likely to have these troops trapped over there now in the midst of a civil war

Article from AP: Carter: Bush team is “worst ever”

Article from ABC News: Gore Blasts Bush in The Assault on Reason

Bell Beverage in South Philly has Stoudt’s Weizen and this odd new creation on sale this week for $23/case. I had a hankerin for some wheat beer since the weather’s getting warmer and it’s on my way home from work so I swung by to pick some up. Then I see this. No description on the box or bottle as to what style of beer it is, but it has the word “hop” in the title, so, after much debate, I’m sold. I grab this instead since Stoudts would never lead me wrong (their double IPA is seriously in my top 5 favorite American beers).

I should of stuck with my original plan. I got whammied.

I can put aside the ugly label as long as it tastes good… So, about the taste: Not too impressed. Now, as I’ve stated before, I can’t review a beer like they do on ratebeer.com and beeradvocate (if I read one more review mention “straw” or “copper” color I’m gonna scream. how about just “beer” color?)
I was expecting hoping for an IPA or even a pale ale, but was met with a malty taste and not really that much hop flavor or smell at all. It immediately reminded me of a milder version of Troeg’s Nut Brown Ale.

Then I did a Google search and found that it’s really a lager or even a bock or doublebock, (which explains the goat). That explains everything.
I’m not a big fan of lagers but after further drinking, yes, it was definitely a lager. If you’re a fan, then you’ll enjoy it. If you’ve got any Bell’s Two-Hearted Ale, drop me an email and we can maybe make a trade since I have a whole case of this!

According to Tria Cafe’s website, Stoudt’s is offering this 7% brew for a limited time in honor of their 20th anniversary.

It’s on tap there and the Drafting Room.

More on Stoudt’s anniversary from Lew Bryson.

Come one come all. Celebrate the arts in Port Fishington. Can’t wait until the fringe to see what Billy Dufala rides through the streets? (I have no idea if Billy is involved in this derby.)

Check out the Kensington Kinetic Sculpture Derby!

Make a day of it. Support the local businesses. Have a meal. Set a spell.

Join the Ride of Silence Wednesday May 16 @ 6:45 PM in front of the art museum.

From the City Paper:

A low-speed, seven-mile bike ride performed in complete silence might not sound like fun, but fun’s not the idea behind the Ride of Silence. In its second year in Philly, and fourth nationwide, the Ride of Silence aims to remember cyclists killed on the road and make motorists more aware that cyclists — brazen as they may seem in traffic — are really quite precarious when surrounded by cars, and incredibly frail when struck by one.

Last year’s ride, which started at the Art Museum and snaked slowly through Center City, was greeted by solemn support and, predictably, honking horns. Just four days before the inaugural ride, 6-year-old Riley Boyle was killed on Martin Luther King Drive by a motorist. At least four more cyclists, says ride co-organizer Raymond Scheinfeld, have since been killed in area traffic — including Kelly J. Ronto, 42, who was killed on Caroline Drive near Black Rock Road last weekend.

And while four deaths might pale by comparison to the murder barrage this town is currently facing, they’re just as pointless and highly preventable.

Scheinfeld and co-organizer John Siemiarowski went to a memorial ride in New York in January to pick up some tips on how to better get the ride’s message across to the public.

“The fascinating thing for us,” says Scheinfeld, “was that for the first [ride], the entire spectrum of the bike community — racers, commuters, recreational riders, messengers, handicapped trike riders and others — got together and rode in unison.”

Which, like, never happens.

More here.

Checkit. Local boy done good. Filmmaker Michael Bednarz will be premiering his first feature length motion picture on Saturday May 12th at 7PM in the Lang Performing Arts Center on Swarthmore College’s campus. FREE.

Two Clips:

For directions and dets check Mike B’s myspace page.

I used to dj a few years back before the family came along, so I was constantly crate digging: I was into it all: house, electro, drum & bass, dancehall, old-school tr/hip hop, funk & soul… Back then these labels were going strong: TummyTouch, K-7, Pork, Ninja Tunes, OM Records. They’re still around, but I don’t hear much from them anymore. Artist like Kruder & Dorfmeister, Layo & Bushwacka, Tim “Love” Lee are still producing stuff but not making many waves.

Some of my old faves are still going strong, but they kinda jumped the shark (See Bob Sinclair, Daft Punk, Cassius, Basement Jaxx).

I got heavily into reggae, soul, and indie recently but was always on the lookout for new electronic, but I just wasn’t finding much. I blew too much money on vinyl and now its getting wet in the basement. No need to hop between record stores anymore. Sorry, Cue, Armands and 611. Now it’s all done online thanks to the multitude of music blogs and Peel software.

Well lately, kinda out of nowhere, I’m getting blindsided by all kinds of sick electronic tunes. Lots of it in the indie vein, but some of it pure techno… and I’ve gotta say, there’s some whammies, but mostly it’s all really tight shit.

Here’s just a tiny sampling of my fave labels, artists and sites in the past month or so:

Ratatat, a tweaky electronic act has remixed a bunch of hip hop artists and the results are amazing.
MP3: Jay Z & Biggie- Allure (Ratatat Remix)

Matthew Dear Minimal Detroit techno artist. New LP Asa out June 5.
MP3s available at ObscureSound.com and XLR8.com

Bassnectar
MP3: Bassnectar -Yo (Speaker Junk’s Jackin Brazilian Rave Remix)

Walter Meego Chicago band in the vein of Junior Boys and LCD Soundsystem. Check out any remix.
MP3: Walter Meego-Through a Keyhole (and others thanks to largeheartedboy.com)

PalmsOutSound remix Sunday. Check it every week for a shiteload of new remixes.

Black Moth Super Rainbow- Mellotron goodness outta Pittsburgh(!?)
Downloads on their site and more MP3s from IndieBlogHeaven

Free the Robots Jazzy grooves from California.
MP3s available from CovertCuriosity

Tru Thoughts label from the UK that was great back then and better now. Featuring TM Juke, Alice Russell, Quantic, Diesler, and formerly Bonobo.
MP3:Freddie Cruger-Pushing On feat. Linn from Shapes Compilation by Robert Luis.

Beatonic.co.uk Site features full FREE downloadable mixes. Be sure to check out the Barrio Katz mix and the Boogieburg mix, them being from Virginia of all places.

WeFunkRadio from CKUT outta Montreal. Wicked straight up obscure funk, soul and rollerskate jams mixed perfectly with old and new school hip hop. Two hour live sets every Friday at midnight, with a giant catalog available for streaming (they used to be available for download but the copyright police must’ve got ahold of ‘em).

J*Star out of all the mashup djs/producers, he’s my fave. Can take a Toni Braxton tune and mash it perfectly with straight up dub and make it sound better than the original. Check out beatonic above for a dubbed out J*Star mashup.

Justice, on Ed Banger Records: A new twist on the old French house sound.
Sweet video for new single at Brooklyn Vegan.

It’s not really electronic music but more soul and doo-wap: Something is definitely in the water over in the UK. Check Lily Allen, Alice Russell, Amy Winehouse, and Mark Ronson. Bitty Mclean’s doing Versions of revival riddims with a voice that sounds like it’s straight outta 1968.

MP3: Alice Russell - Hurry On Now (Boub Remix) Forget Joss Stone. Alice Russell is the new Teena Marie. White AND British… soul?

New York/London dj/producer Mark Ronson is the man behind the throwback sound on Amy Winehouse’s album. His own new album Version is out in the UK and soon here.
MP3: Mark Ronson (feat. Amy Winehouse) - Valerie

From NYC, Theres the Budos Band and Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings both on the Daptone label. Go see this always touring soul revue. Budos Band resemble but outperform their brethren Antibalas and Sharon Jones puts on a show that makes YOU sweat more than her.