Video Review - Captain Dan - From the Seas to the Streets

I had enough fun with my first video review that I decided to do another one.  I once again plundered the archives and now I present to you my review of Captain Dan - From the Seas to the Streets redone as a video review.

I had fun doing this one too, so you can expect more of these in the future.

These messages never actually work, but I'll try anyway: If you enjoyed this, please let me know and give me feedback.  Even if you didn't, for that matter, please tell me what I could do better.

I always appreciate comments, compliments, and constructive criticism.

Best Mod Ever?

This is why I love the Internet.  Without it, I would never have heard about what is quite possible the most awesome fan-made game modification ever.  In fact, it probably wouldn't have gotten made in the first place.

And that would have been a damn shame.

Some guy decided to rerecord all of the sound effects from Half-Life 2 and replace them with... 

His own voice. 

That's 1,327 sound files, according to his YouTube video description, that are now some dude doing sound effects with his microphone.

This is one of the most entertaining YouTube videos I've seen in quite some time.  Major props to this guy.

Rammstein Returns: Thoughts From An Obsessed Fan

As an ardent Rammstein fan, I’m clearly required by RammLaw to have a strong opinion on the new songs and video released today, right?

Naturally.

Let’s get the negative stuff out of the way first.  

Yes, there is a negative.  

The music video for lead single Pussy which was released today (on an adult webcam site, no less) is a little disappointing.  It’s clearly not their best work.

This is not the end of the world, mind you, as even an obsessed fan like myself will admit that Rammstein’s music video work to date is a bit spotty.  Let me explain.

Considering the provocative teaser clips shown beforehand and the fact that it was directed by the same guy behind another of Rammstein’s middling video efforts, Mann gegen Mann, the fact that the video for Pussy is somewhat mediocre doesn’t actually come as that much of a surprise.

It’s pretty much Rammstein porn, albeit humorous Rammstein porn done with tongue planted firmly in cheek, and little more.

But leading with a single like this certainly isn’t unprecedented in Rammstein lore.  Benzin’s video leading the album Rosenrot was less controversial but just as goofy in its own way.  Keine Lust may not have been the lead single for its album, Reise, Reise, but it was in the same vein as Pussy in that it was a lighthearted video meant to be catchy and funny and little more.  Mann gegen Mann’s video, as discussed earlier, combined a heavy dose of controversy with very little storytelling, making for a male-centered counterpart to Pussy.  

So, take the controversy and heavy nudity of Mann gegen Mann, flip the gender focus a bit, then combine that with Keine Lust for humor value and you have the group’s newest music video.

In tone and its heavy use of English the song itself is quite close to Amerika, only more humorous and less political.  Amerika’s video was certainly the better one, but I’m not ready to make a statement on which song I consider better yet.  I think the music of Pussy just might be able to hold its own it that fight.  We’ll see.

Am I devastated that the new video isn’t all I’d hoped it would be? 

Honestly, no.  

Clearly Rammstein had a lot of fun with this song and it definitely carries over into the listening experience.  Sure both song and video might lack depth, but I don’t think every Rammstein song or video has to be ultra serious to be enjoyable.  I think there’s certainly a place in the Rammstein cannon for a dose of pure fun, pure mockery, pure vulgarity.

From what I’ve heard there’s going to be plenty more opportunities on this album to make a more traditional, darker, deeper video complete with interesting storyline and all that jazz.  I hope they make good on the opportunity before this album cycle is over, but in the meantime, I’m going to enjoy what they’ve given me.

Even if I think Rammstein is at their best when playing the role of serious storyteller, that doesn’t mean I won’t enjoy them goofing off like this.  

As long as they don’t turn the whole album into a joke, which I hardly think is going to be a problem, this should act as a nice breather from the Rammstein norm.

Besides, every Rammstein fan knows that what the band least likes to deliver is exactly what you expect.  By not making this album’s first video another Mein Teil, another Sonne, another Rosenrot, they’ve succeeded in that respect.

All that said, anyone who is still downhearted about the sex-filled kickoff to Liebe ist für alle da need only listen to Rammlied to have their spirit renewed.  

Rosenrot had me a little worried that the band had lost their aggressive edge; lost their ability to deliver that pure industrial brilliance which no other band could deliver in quite the same way.

Rammlied is a spectacular dose of what Rammstein does best the likes of which we haven’t heard since perhaps as far back as the Mutter era.  

There is no pop tinge to this.  There is only beautiful industrial aggression combined with Till’s wonderful voice leading us along in a self-referential chant, something we haven’t really seen from them since Herzeleid.  We get to hear not only his glorious higher-pitched singing voice which we came to love so much on Reise, Reise and Rosenrot, but also that signature guttural growl which had become all too rare on their recent work.  

Pussy is a wonderful song.  I can appreciate it for what it is, even if it’s not what I like best about Rammstein, as long as its style doesn’t dominate the album like their previous two releases.

But Rammlied is what really makes me excited for Liebe ist für alle da.  Rammlied proves that not only does the band still have what it takes to make a truly kickass industrial romp, but also that the upcoming album could contain the most variety of any Rammstein album yet.

The three songs I’ve heard so far certainly suggest as much.  All completely different, yet all brilliant in their own way.

I can’t wait to hear more.

Bist du traurig und allein, wir sind zurück, schalte ein, Rammstein!

Happy Smiles Review Revisited

I decided to try something a little different for today's update.  I wanted to try my hand at making a podcast.  So I went back through my archives and attempted to craft a more interesting, audio version of my t.A.T.u. review from way, way back.  

Click the Enclosure link below to either download the file to your computer (left clicking in Firefox should automatically bring up a save dialog box) or listen to it directly in some browsers (such as Safari).  You can right click and choose "Save As" or the equivalent option to directly download it in any browser.  

This is an enhanced podcast, with album art and such as visuals to go along with the audio, so playing it using software that can support that format (such as iTunes) is recommended.

Please let me know what you think of this, whether you have problems viewing it, or whether it would be more helpful to make this kind of thing available in other formats (mp3, YouTube, etc.).

I'm not kidding.  Give me feedback.  Please.  

I hope you enjoy my little experiment.

[Edit: YouTube video version is now up and embedded below. Finally. Bloody unreliable iMovie uploader. Oh well.]

Enclosure

Twilight: Journey Into the Abyss (Part Fifteen)

Chapter Ten (continued)

Eye count: Number of times the word “eyes” is used in two pages: 9

While this may not sound like a ton on its own, keep in mind that this random sample could be repeated with pretty much any other two pages in the book and you’d get close to the same number, if not higher.

This woman has a truly unhealthy obsession with the eyes.  

Either that or she only learned how to describe emotions in one corny way and is using the trick over and over and over again.

Boy, I wonder which one it could be?

Every time there is a descriptive passage in this book, almost without fail, Steph will bring up the eyes.  

In just three pages, I’ve seen eyes roll, somehow possess a speculative expression, hold someone else’s eyes, glare, be troubled, be both dark and golden at the same time, look piercing, open wide with surprise, forced to keep looking down at a table, trace a pattern on the aforementioned table (that’s two mentions in the very same sentence!), look like liquid topaz (which is, incidentally, an entirely new color in Edward’s eye lineup, I do believe), be penetrating (very different from piercing, used just a page or so before), take on a knowing look, and have a look come into them (can’t get much more specific than that, can you?).

For the love of Pete, lady, I know eyes are the windows into the soul and everything, but, believe it or not, humans do have other features.  It is, in fact, possible to describe a human emotion without using the eyes.

I know it’s hard.  I know.  I feel for you, I really do.  But sometimes challenging yourself really is the best thing to do.

Or, you know, not.

Your call.

Enjoy the silence: “I could see him getting impatient; frustrated by my silence, he started to scowl.”

I’m seriously beginning to question the integrity of Edward’s intentions here. 

For a guy who supposedly just confessed a couple of paragraphs ago that he feels as strongly toward Bella as she feels toward him (something that I think might be physically impossible, as an aside) he sure still gets irritated at her quickly.  

This guy has absolutely nothing in the way of patience or compassion.  At the slightest hint of hesitance he’s instantly irritated and scowling.

This is someone you’ve confessed to having romantic interest in.  You’re waiting for her to explain her intimate thoughts and insecurities about why she doesn’t feel that her feelings are truly being reciprocated.  Have a little patience, man!

He must have one serious case of road rage.

Truly bewildering: “‘Well, look at me,’ I said... ‘I'm absolutely ordinary... And look at you.’ I waved my hand toward him and all his bewildering perfection.”

Does this bewildering perfection include his unhealthy obsession, cold, dispassionate nature, and clearly abusive tendencies?

Because if it does, then it says a lot about Bella’s taste in men.

Bewilderment continued: “[Edward’s] brow creased angrily for a moment, then smoothed as his eyes took on a knowing look.”

So on top of continuing his clear display of being dangerously quick-to-anger, Edward also shows us with one knowing look of the eyes (whatever that is, exactly) that he’s unfathomably arrogant as well.

Quite a catch, this blood-drinker is.  

He represents pretty much everything that horrible stereotypes say woman are obsessed with but that woman continually deny is true and insist that they really do pay attention to the nice guys and that’s all just a myth.

Way to spill your gender’s secret, Steph.  It’s going to be awfully hard to keep pretending that woman actually like the “nice guy” when a series like Twilight is selling millions upon millions of copies to women everywhere.

Losing control: “...I just really wanted to watch your face," [Edward] chuckled, I would have been angrier if his laughter wasn't so fascinating.”

Oh Lord, get ahold of yourself woman!

Also: really bad grammar.  The copy editor must have taken a day off when this one came across his desk.

Actually, he probably read a couple pages and shot himself.

A healthy fear: [After a long diatribe about why Bella wants to drive during their trip together, which is no longer to Seattle, by the way, but instead to some mysterious place of Edward’s choosing that’s sure to be perfectly harmless and fun.] 

“‘And also, because your driving frightens me.’

He rolled his eyes. ‘Of all the things about me that could frighten you, you worry about my driving.’”

Yes she does, and you damn well better leave her alone about it because it is the one and only rational reaction this poor girl has toward your crazy, obsessive self and if you manage to snuff that out too then there’s just no hope left for her at all.

There’s no hope left for her anyway, is there?

*Sigh*

Note to Bella: "’Won't you want to tell your father that you're spending the day with me?’"

Pssst!  Bella!  He’s trying to figure out whether he can get away with boning you.

Just so you know.

On second thought, he might also be trying to eat you.  I’m not really sure yet.

Pssst again: Edward: "’But if you don't want to be... alone with me, I'd still rather you didn't go to Seattle by yourself.’”

He’s still trying to bone you.  

Continue to Part Sixteen