George Watsky: The Voice of the Internet Generation?

-by Colin

The best-ever rap threat? Oh yes.

Today, I'm reviewing another aspect of Watsky's portfolio of work, you see...I'm reviewing his Youtube channel. To be honest, some of his videos are the most entertaining things I've seen in ANY medium EVER. Whether it be his live performances or his music videos, he slips us into his world of spoken-word wizardry every time he picks up the microphone and leaves us craving more.

This video for instance is entitled "Letter to My 16-Year Old Self." On the outside, it seems as if he's dictating a letter to himself advising him never to give up in the face of adversity or near failure. The true beauty of this video is by 30 seconds into the speech, you feel as if Watsky specifically tailor-made this video for you. By the end of this video, you feel as if there's no problem you can't take care of by yourself. That's the pure power of Watsky's prose, his empathy and enthusiasm energizes all viewers.

Now spoken-word is only one aspect of Watsky's work, he also stands as one of the most popular artists on Youtube. His musical stylings feature rap prominently, but are not strictly limited to the genre as shown in his most recent video, a take on the Simon and Garfunkel classic "Mrs. Robinson" featuring Kush Mody and  Danny "SkyHigh" McClain.

This take was a definite improvement giving it a more soulful edge (with McClain's vocals), while Watsky regales us with a narrative of his first love as well as his love of older women. Watsky not only showcases his trademark brand of spoken-word in this video, but also shows his sense of humor by setting the scene for this video at a divorcee convention. This video shows another facet of Watsky's genius, subtle humor weaved in with his life experience, creating a scenario that all can identify with.

Watsky's best video (thus far) in my opinion is his video for the song "Fuck an Emcee Name", itself a commentary on the fact he can be the best rapper without adopting some sort of fake persona (as so many other rappers tend to do). The fabulous thing about this video is the juxtaposition of situations that require fake personas (i..e. wrestlers and porn stars) while the song denounces the very idea of choosing that path.

This article doesn't even begin to scratch the surface of George Watsky's genius, I can only gush so much but his Youtube channel isn't going anywhere. If you want a true taste of it, go root around and i'm sure you'll find something to jam to, something to inspire you, or something that'll make you want to change your life. From Def Jam to his live tours, his work on the Duke Westlake Cypher to his music videos? The Hermes of the Twenty-First Century*, George Watsky, will remain in this writer's opinion "the voice of the Internet Generation".

*Hermes is the Messenger of the Gods in the Greek pantheon, also the Greek God of Speech. Read a book for fuck's sake.


Watsky's Youtube Channel

Watsky's Facebook

Watsky's Twitter

www.georgewatsky.com

Beneful Reviews: The Simpsons Arcade Game

-by Ben

The Simpsons Arcade game was redeveloped by Backbone Entertainments for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 consoles. Backbone Entertainments has in passed has redeveloped other games such as the 1989 arcade Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles also originally by Konami as well, Sega’s Sonic The Hedgehog 2 game and other classic games. 

After purchasing and downloading the Simpsons arcade game on the Xbox Live Marketplace to my Xbox 360 console for 800 Microsoft points, which equates to about 9.99 U.S. dollars, I played the game through with friends online and solo a few times for few hours that day. Over all I found The Simpsons arcade game doesn’t differ from the original arcade game released by Konami in 1991 arcade release except for some sound and art quality improvements. In my opinion, that's like polishing an old car rather than dramatic overhaul, like some of the Mario games for the Wii have done. 

Back to the game,The game also comprises of 8 levels: Downtown Springfield (Stage 1), Krustyland theme park (Stage 2), Springfield Discount Cemetery (Stage 3), Moe's Tavern (Stage 4), the Springfield Butte (Stage 5), a concussion induced dreamland (Stage 6), the KBBL's Channel 6 Broadcasting studio (Stage 7), a dojo (Stage 7.5), the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant (Stage 8, the final stage) and an assortment of small enemies, mini bosses, and big boss battles.

The Simpsons arcade game version for consoles like the original arcade offers 4 playable Simpsons characters as followed; Homer, Marge, Lisa, and Bart Simpson, featuring the original voices from the TV show. The console version of The Simpsons arcade for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 offers the Japanese version of the game after beating the American version of the game. The gameplay for the console version is very simple, two button smash, hit, jump, combo, pick up, and throw with thumb joystick movement controls. In addition, this game has co-op gameplay both online and or offline with family members and or friends. Co-op play adds an additional bonus of two player playable characters only combos that differ with each playable character combinations. 

I found that the two versions of the game, the American and Japanese releases hardly differ over all in gameplay experience. The Japanese version adds content and advantage that the American version doesn’t have. For example, in the Japanese version of The Simpsons arcade game, players are able to get a bomb weapon that is thrown and cause all enemies on screen to die. Plus an added bonus of food health pick-ups that add extended health when at full health.

The Simpsons also features two mini games. Players compete against each other and or against computer players (if fewer than 4 human players) to be the first to finish a task. The mini games involve inflating a balloon shaped like their character in the first game, and waking up their character in the second game. The goal of these two mini games within The Simpsons arcade game is to be the player who pushes the their controller buttons the fastest. 

  

I recommended playing The Simpsons with an arcade style controller (many of which can be found and bought online through various websites) to get that classic arcade feel out of the console verison of the game. 

My final thoughts on The Simpsons arcade game, buy this game if you like The Simpsons and or love to play classic arcade games. But, wait until it comes on sale on the various console marketplaces. If you are a PlayStation+ member, this game is free to download and play. This game is fun to play for the 30 minutes it takes to beat both the American and Japanese versions of the game in individual sessions. Replay factor? It's almost none. I found myself only playing this game over and over for this review and to get all the Xbox achievements. Better with friends and family members. If you haven’t played the original arcade and or love The Simpsons TV show then don’t buy this game.

2.5 to 3 stars out of 5.

Episode 56: LifeAlert

http://boldlygoingnowhere.podomatic.com/entry/2012-02-22T18_38_12-08_00

After a month's break to recuperate from the madness that was Magfest, Boldly Going Nowhere returns with a new season and the obligatory format change. Castwave Studios will now be providing you with more content in more digestible forms. The music, movies, and video games segments will be released as individual episodes every week, allowing people to pick and choose the segments they like most. Look for the following shows:

Monday - Boldly Going Nowhere (for all our classic non-topical banter)
Tuesday - Justin's Jukebox (music segment)
Wednesday - BGN at the Movies (Colin and Sean's movies segment)
Thursday - Beneful's Games (Ben's video game segment)
Friday - BGN Correspondents (hear from other people who are not us!)

In this Boldly Going Nowhere episode, we take the classy route and talk about elderly people and deaf people, as well as language barriers and our plan to ambush Pong creator Nolan Bushnell at the Art of Video Games Exhibit at the Smithsonian.

One Drunk Geek: Yeti Review

-by Brian

Hello all you wonderful people in internet-land! Welcome to the first of many Beer Reviews written exclusively for the BGN network. Today, we do something epic. Something deserved of a first episode that not only sounds triumphant, but delicious as well. That particular beast is "Oak Aged Yeti", a Russian Imperial Stout brewed by the fine gentlemen at the Great Divide Brewing Company, located in my home town of Denver, Colorado. (Go Broncos.) 

The Rundown.
Oak aged Yeti, henceforth referred to as "Yeti", is one of 3 different stouts offered by Great Divide, the others being Espresso and Chocolate oak-aged yeti, respectfully. This particular beer has won 3 different silver medal awards in Australia, and has a alcohol percentage of 9.67 percent. Great Divide classifies it as "An Imperial stout aged on new French and American oak chips." They Recommend it served best with steak, brownies or vanilla ice cream. We would personally recommend coffee as a good match however.

The First Impression.
Yeti pours a dark brown with a nice foam head and a pleasing smell. The initial taste however was not what I expected. Rather than a regular stout such as Guinness, this beer is high on the hops, and it shows. The caramelization and overall characteristics of a stout seemed to get lost in what I thought was an ale. Personally, I'm not a huge fan of overly-hoppy beers. Thankfully, the hops do not ruin an overall good beer, but it will throw off anyone used to a traditional stout. The smell resembles a cola with a mocha spike, and would not be out of place in a bar or pub.





The Whole Shebang-bang.
Unfortunately, I wasn't too impressed. This beer had a lot of potential, and I really like what Great Divide tried to do with this particular beer. Perhaps it's my predilection to enjoy beers that aren't overly hoppy or complicated. Having said that, this beer DOES stick out in a crowd, and I would recommend trying it at least once. If you're a hops fan and love guinness, this just might be your new favorite brew.
The taste was good, but nothing I would order twice, at least in the same sitting.

I give Yeti 3.5 stars out of 5. 

Availability: Nationwide, Year round.

Average Price: $10 a Pint.

Stay Thirsty, my Nerds.

In Remembrance of David Kelly (1929-2012)

~By Colin

Rest in peace, sir.

So I awoke this morning to the news that David Kelly had passed away. 

This was a bummer, for Ireland has lost one of it's fine actors, but even more depressingly, it was overshadowed by the death of Whitney Houston. Fucking press, I mean really? When was the last time Whitney Houston was even relevant? Anyway, back on point, it was a real shame to hear of David Kelly's death. For those who aren't familiar with David's work, here are a few short clips to jostle your memory.

For those who are fans of 70's British sitcom "Faulty Towers", Kelly played the bumbling Irish repairman, O'Reilly: 

Most will probably remember Kelly as Grandpa Joe in the 2005 film "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory":

I remember David Kelly portraying Michael O' Sullivan in the 1998 film "Waking Ned Devine". 

WARNING: SPOILERS UNDERNEATH VIDEO CLIP

The trailer:

The eulogy scene, which is probably my favorite scene of the film:

This is probably one of my more favorite films, due to it's plot and well-developed characters. 

Michael (Kelly) and his longtime friend Jackie O' Shea (Ian Bannen) discover that someone in their local village has won the Irish Lottery, they then hatch a scheme to seek the winner's friendship to wet their beaks. After a few failed attempts, they find out that Ned Devine (Jimmy Keogh) was the villager who won, they then go to Ned's house to find him dead, suffering a heart attack after finding out he won. They decide to claim the ticket with Michael masquerading as Ned when the man from the Lottery Commission shows up. They convince the remaining villagers to tell the man from the Lottery that Michael is Ned and they will all receive a equal share of the winnings (£130,000 or $204,217). Through a series of events, the man from the Lottery shows up on the day of Ned's wake. Jackie does an impromptu eulogy for Michael, in which he reveals how much he cares for his friend. The movie ends with Michael, Jackie and others saluting their drinks to Ned for all he did for them.

It's a shame when we lose so many truly funny actors, but we can remember what they did for us in life. In that way, I'd like to think a little part of them will live on in us forever.

Rest in peace, David, I'll be having a pint tonight in your honor while watching "Waking Ned Devine".

BIG NEWS!

Ladies and gentlemen,

To give you a taste of what 2012 will offer, I (Colin) and the group are proud to announce:

Like the design? Pre-order the t-shirt!

That's right! Now there are certain event we'll be covering in the DC/Baltimore area, but the real  news is that YOU, the fan, can request certain event for us to cover as well! Send your request to bgnpodcast@gmail.com and we'll promote it on air, we'll go to the event and give you the in-depth feel of everything you missed!

Some of the events are already being scheduled, so if you have an event that you're interested in getting promoted, e-mail us ASAP!

Listing of current events scheduled will be updated weekly! Check back often!