Travis P. Brown

The Variety Playhouse had quite the bill last night. Holy Fuck, The Fiery Furnaces, and Super Furry Animals were in town, so a good time was pretty much guaranteed. The Variety Playhouse’s shows are about as prompt and predictable as Mussolini’s trains. That is to say, they start as soon as the doors open. So we didn’t make it in time for Holy Fuck, however I would like to talk a bit about the Fiery Furnaces.

The Fiery Furnaces put on an amazing show. Their set was a lively combination of their newest album Widow City, favorites from Bitter Tea, and a sprinkling of new tracks. They have a pretty interesting style that seems to fuse Brooklyn noise, indie-pop, jerky time signatures, sludgy keyboards, and even some Deerhoof caliber silliness. It was intense. After the show I was able to get their new album on vinyl. It includes a code to download the digital version of the album for free. I think all records should include free digital versions of the album, but I guess that’s just me.

Also, the Super Furry Animals played. You know, the actual headliner. Well, to be honest, SFA never really did it for me, and last night was no exception. I mean they were good, and they are amazingly accomplished musicians, I just couldn’t seem to muster excitement for a set that felt a little sterile and tired. Regardless, after the Fiery Furnaces played, it was all just icing on the cake. Now I can look forward to my next big show, Simian Mobile Disco at MJQ!

This is kind of one of those “Hey, this is funny check it out” posts, but this one is pretty odd. Apparently some people over at Fatal Farm have put together live action recreations of Garfield comic strips. Each one is followed by a surreal music video in tongue-in-cheek tribute to its creator, Jim Davis. What makes Lasagna Cat so delicious, is just how mean and accurate the satire really is. Basically, when Garfield comic strips are performed in a 60’s laugh-in style, they are exposed for the stupid unfunny tripe they really are. But Lasagna Cat never strays from its premise of being a tribute. On the front page, you are greeted with the message “One man lives with the burden of making the entire world laugh everyday… It’s time we showed him just how much we care.” It’s part Adult Swim, part Mr. Show humor, that can be hit or miss, but on the whole I found it pretty hilarious, and well worth my time.

Lasagna Cat - My favorites were Final Fantasy, Haunted Cheeseburger, and Eyes Without a Face

Also, the guys at Fatal Farm redid the intros to some 80’s TV Classics. Some of these are NSFW, you have been warned.

TV Themes - My SFW favorites are Knight Rider and Doogie Howser, M.D.

It’s finally here. I know you’ve been losing sleep, biting your nails, and just had an overall difficult time waiting for it. In what is definitely gaining steam as a tradition among my friends, here are my picks for the top 10 movies, albums, and games. This year I will do something amazingly clever as well, I will put them in reverse order to build suspense. Brilliant!

Movies

10. Before The Devil Knows You’re Dead
9. 2 Days in Paris
8. Superbad
7. Juno
6. King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters
5. Sweeny Todd
4. Eastern Promises
3. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
2. No Country For Old Men
1. Ratatouille

Now before you comment about my horrible movie misappropriations, first know that there were some movies that I just didn’t get a chance to see. Here are some movies that I didn’t get to see, but could have very possibly been on this list.

Honorable Mentions - Year of the Dog, Persepolis, Savages, Michael Clayton

Games

I really do consider 2007 to be the greatest year for video games ever. We have 3 great consoles constantly competing for our attention, and the next step in some pretty amazing game franchises. I could have just as easily made a Top 25 list.

10. Desktop Tower Defense
9. Crackdown
8. PGR 4
7. Mario Galaxy
6. Halo 3
5. Call of Duty 4
4. Guitar Hero III
3. Rock Band
2. Half-Life 2: The Orange Box
1. Bioshock

Honorable Mentions - Mass Effect, Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune

Albums

That’s means music, sonny.

10. The Clientelle - God Save the Clientelle
9. Deerhunter - Cryptograms
8. Deerhoof - Friend Opportunities
7. Black Kids - Wizard of Ahhhs EP
6. Bjork - Volta
5. Of Montreal - Hissing Fauna
4. Panda Bear - Person Pitch
3. M.I.A. - Kala
2. Jens Leckman - Night Falls Over Kortedala
1. Animal Collective - Strawberry Jam

Honorable Mentions - The Black Lips

Wow, this blog has really gotten the shaft. I know I haven’t updated my blog in a long time, but things are starting to settle down a bit, so I should be able to blog more often. Here are some random things that have happened in my life since the last entry.

I have a new job at InternetSafety.com. It involves doing some pretty fun Linux Network programming with some friends that I did my college internship for. I really love the work, and my only complaint is my long commute, but I should be able to start working from home soon. Also, that pesky secretary is always throwing things at me.

I am an uncle (for the fourth time)! Abbygail Rose Brown is the newest member of the Brown family.

My first batch of beer finally conditioned, and proved to be good. Not great or amazing mind you, but a noble first effort. I think the temperature from the initial fermentation was a little too high, so by the time I added the priming sugar for the bottling process, the yeast was a little too weak to carbonate the brew. This resulted in a Weisbier that was a little too sweet and only about 4% ABV. Almost like a Weis-Dunkelweis hybrid. Since then I have started on another batch, this time a Continental Pilsner.

I went to Germany and didn’t even blog about it. Josh and I decided that the only way to really experience Oktoberfest, was to just go to Munich and see the real deal. Along the way there was Autobahn racing, old churches, beautiful art, horrendous currency exchanges, and even some luggage lost….by the FRENCH! Altogether it was an amazing experience, and I regret nothing!

I have been playing a metric ton of games lately, and there have been a lot of really great ones. Halo 3, Rock Band, Guitar Hero III, Call of Duty 4, Mario Galaxy, PGR 4, Half-life 2: Orange Box. This has been the best Christmas ever for games.

So, not sure if I missed anything, but those are some of the highlights. I’m pretty sure I’ll post again before Christmas, but if not, Merry Christmas!

Just a quick update that I forgot to do earlier. Monday night Josh and I bottled the first batch. The process was actually quite fun, and I finally got to use my handy dandy bottle capper. The beers now need to just sit for 3 weeks. Josh informs me that the carbonation process has already begun, so I am finally starting to get a little more optimistic. Unfortunately, the gravity reading was a little high, this means the beer will have a little less alcohol, and will probably be a little sweeter as well. I think this is a combination of using a dry yeast, and the higher temperature in my apartment. We will probably open up a couple to try before we leave for Munich. If they turn out, I just might throw a little get together at my place to celebrate.

O’zapft is!

If you know me very well, and chances are if you are reading this, you do, then you know that when I come across a new movie, show, or video game that I fancy, I often tell everyone I know about it. While this makes me look like a git, I figured I would at least do a short write-up about a new British TV show that I’ve been watching lately. It’s called The IT Crowd, and given it’s title, you probably already know what it’s about. Roy, Moss, and newcomer Jen make up the IT team for a large corporation. Rather than work in the glamorous top of the building, they are instead relegated to dole out their duties in the basement. While this concept is grounded in the reality of a workplace comedy, it has a completely different approach, and has some zany moments that are more akin to later season Seinfelds than the original Office.

While the series is British, it’s definitely not as dry as you might expect. I love dry British humor, but this isn’t what makes IT Crowd enjoyable. In fact, it feels a lot more American in tone, but the writing is a lot more refined than your average Yankee sit-com. Obviously, the concepts of social awkwardness and geeky obsessions are there, which is something I can relate to. But the writing isn’t the IT Crowd’s only strength. The three main cast members are all quite funny, have good chemistry, and exhibit excellent comedic timing.

If you don’t feel like fishing around on BitTorrent, trying to find past episodes, you can always (discretely) ask me to burn you a copy. Another option is to wait until the American version of IT Crowd airs later this year. While I can’t guarantee it will be as funny as the original, the American transition of the Office has taught me that while rare, these adaptations can sometimes work. Granted it took the US Office a whole season to really catch it’s stride.

The IT Crowd is currently in its second season, and airs Friday nights on Channel 4. I believe you can also watch season 1 on the official website.

After securing all the final items, I was finally able to start the brew last night. Josh came over, and we watched the Braves destroy the Reds while we brewed. It was fun. The basic process was to sanitize all the tools, boil 2 gallons of water, malt extract, and hops, and cool it down and add yeast. Obviously, I am glossing over the details, but so far the brew looks good. Before adding the yeast, I took the gravity reading, and it is right were it should be. My recipe sheet said the O.G. should be anywhere from 1.048 to 1.052, and it was 1.050. I checked this morning, and it looks like the fermentation process has already begun. Every few seconds or so, the air lock will bubble up. Tomorrow night, I will move it into the secondary fermenter for the two-stage fermentation. This helps reinvigorate fermentation, and removes sediment from the beer.

For now, we wait…

I love Wikipedia. Barely a day passes without looking something up, or even doing some mindless browsing. So I was definitely intrigued by EA’s recent attempt to alter its history on their Wikipedia entry. Of the multiple edits, EA has attempted to removed any reference to Trip Hawkins and erase all criticisms of the company.

Now, I know your first question. “Why isn’t he posting this on his game blog?” Well the truth is, this little piece of news was found out using a new tool that resolves anonymous Wikipedia editors’ IP addresses to company names. It has a much bigger social and political impact than just video games, so I posted it here. It’s a tool created by Cal Tech graduate Virgil Griffith, and hosted at Shacknews. The tool has uncovered all sorts of Wikipedia edits that range anywhere from hilarious to concerning. Most amusing I found, was Disney’s attempt to erase DRM criticisms, the MLBPA’s attempt to quiet drug testing controversies, and even someone at Fox News trying to rename the movie “The Incredibles” to “The Stupids”. What I find most interesting about some of these edits is the juvenile nature of people when they think they are completely anonymous. Apparently someone at the MLB goes “crazy for boobs”.

Now I understand that the majority of edits are not official corporate communication, and that most likely it is just a zealous employee trying to push the ideals of his employer. But what people write when they think they can’t be traced is definitely amusing. If you have some time, check out the rated list here.

Also, in case you are wondering, the Quantum Leap reference was shamelessly inspired by Joystiq’s coverage of the EA fiasco. What can I say, the allusion fit too well to ignore.

After reading a couple of books on the subject, and deciding that I really did want to try it, I finally broke down and bought (almost) all the supplies to brew my own beer at home. The nice folks over at Wine Craft, on Roswell Rd. had a pretty nice equipment kit for a good price. Altogether, I got…

• Primary fermenter/bottling container
• Secondary fermenter glass carboy
• Siphon hose
• One-way air lock
• Hydrometer
• Bottling spicket and valve
• Bottle capper
• Bottle brush

I figured, as with any new adventure, it would be fun to blog it as I do it. While at Winecraft, I also picked up a kit of ingredients to make my first batch. Given the summer heat and the fact that it’s myfavorite type of beer, I felt like trying to brew a nice weizenbier. In the beer kit, I got a premeasured amount of wheat malt extract, bittering and finishing hops, yeast, priming sugar, and bottle caps. Now earlier I said I almost have all the things I need. I still need a 5 gallon brew pot, and man those things aren’t cheap. Winecraft had one for $60, and I may go back and get it. Most places don’t even have a pot that big. I bet I could find one in a shop on Diagon Alley. If I do get a pot, I would like to start the process on Saturday. Anyway, that’s it for part one, when I brew the wort and start the fermentation, I will do another post. Cheers!