The Hub of Reid Harris Cooper

Tribute to the Fallen of 2012 – Comic Books

Posted on 01/26/2013 by Pop-Culture Spectrum

Richard Alf (59, cancer): A co-founder of what became Comic-Con International, he also ran a successful comic shop as well as mail order service. His contributions to how the comics industry and well, the entertainment industry as a whole can not be ignored. An article on the San Diego Union Tribute website has a very well written and detailed account on his life and accomplishments.

Josie Decarlo (82, natural causes): A model for a short time in France, she became Dan Decarlo’s wife and the actual inspiration for Josie and The Pussycats. After his passing she kept his legacy and legend going.

Jean Giraud aka Moebius (73, cancer): I probably first discovered Moebius through his work with Jodorowsky. I was a weird kid growing up, so The Incal definitely called to me when Epic published it. I like many people who learn to love Moebius, be it through Heavy Metal, his Silver Surfer comic or even Blueberry would love when they found out he was designing something for a movie. Be it ALIEN, TRON, WILLOW, etc. and of course the failed Jodorowsky version of DUNE.

Joe Kubert (85, cancer): I absolutely and utterly have loved TOR and SGT. ROCK since I probably first started really discovering comics as more than just a kid who read comics. It has amazed me how he just kept doing work that surpassed anything he did beforehand as he got older. Books like Fax from Sarajevo blew me away showing what a true talent the man really was. He can also be thanked for helping train and guide some of my favorite creators ever through his school, including Rick Veitch, Steve Bissette, Tom Mandrake and Adam Warren.

Sheldon Moldoff (91, natural causes): A mainstay of DC Comics from the 40’s through the late 60’s, Sheldon is one of those unsung legends who did multiple classic covers and alongside Bob Kane ghost drew and co-created some of the most major characters of the Batman mythos. His best known work that is credited to him is his run on the 40’s Hawkman feature in Flash Comics.

Keiji Nakazawa (73, cancer): One of the few survivors to have actually been within Hiroshima during the World War II bombing, he went on to take this experience and become the creator of the highly popular and well known BAREFOOT GEN. Adapted into various live action and animes, his work delivered some of the strongest manga to make it stateside and a true legacy of the power of sequential storytelling in how it can capture life in all facets and add a new face unseen without comics.

Al Rio (49, suicide): The only work from Al Rio that I personally have gotten to enjoy was within the one shot comic associated with the video game Unbound Saga. He drew many other great books though and despite being considered a “good girl” artist, he has a linework style that should’ve procured him many more bigger gigs than he had. If he had been given a real run on something that I loved I would not have been upset about it. I probably would’ve ended up calling him one of my favorites, but unfortunately this was not be.

John Severin (90, natural causes): I first discovered the awesomeness of Serverin as a kid with CRACKED. Of course as I got older and “studied” comics I discovered his long history, especially his amazing work in Western comics. One of the best things I ever think he drew was one of the miniseries in the Desperadoes. It amazes me that his sister Marie is just as talented as he was. There’s actually no artist right now who can even come close to capturing John’s style. A true one of a kind artist whose legacy left behind are pages of shootouts, action, war and comedy that are so versatile in their expressionism, it makes you wish he drew every comic ever almost.

Tony de Zuñiga (79, results of stroke): Best known for co creating and drawing Jonah Hex in the 70’s, Tony is accredited with an even more important factor in the history of comics. Being a Filipino born artist and quite talented inspired the head honchos at DC to go to the Phillipines for a talent scout way back when. That search brought us talents like Nestor Redondo and Alex Nino, which in turn allowed folks like Whilce Portacio and others.

Posted in Tributes to the Fallen | Tagged artists, Comics, obit | Comments Off

A Look at Independent Games that Are My Fancy

Posted on 01/18/2013 by Pop-Culture Spectrum

Independent video games have tons of soul, but finding ones that truly call to me are difficult. Finding video games that I want period are difficult, but they do exist. I generally enjoy point n’ click adventures, third person action games (not shooters) or side scrolling platformers. As I said, they exist, but the prevalent gaming still is the FPS, the multiplayer insanity and the MMO RPGS and they get the focus. Here using the entries to the IGF I found a share of games that I enjoyed and I think you might too.

Bollywood Wannabe: I don’t tend to like rhythm games myself, but if they’re your thing this is the one to look into. The graphics are superb, an amazing art style that truly pops. The concepts of adding a bit of platformer style to the game is awesome too. One of the main issue missing is being a keyboard only game from what I can see, but if you actually like games that test your hand eye coordination with high quality graphics and funny script this might be up your alley. Try out the demo in the very least.

JazzPunk: This looks like a really fun first person action/adventurer with fun graphics and lots of humor, since well that is how it’s being advertised, but the current video teaser shows it to be just that. Definfitnetly one I’ll be keeping my eyes on to see how the final product is.

Pavilion: Best described by their own words. Pavilion is a fourth person exploratory experience about guidance, influence and subliminal control. Manipulate the surrounding environment, influence his sense and guide the main character on the path towards truth.

Spoiler Alert: I highly recommend this innovative but simple platformer available for the PC and Mac and being developed for mobile. It’s a two button game with the main mechanic that you have actually ready beaten the game and you are playing in reverse, having to actually recreate the game you played. It’s actually quite hard to properly convey, but it’s a great idea and this little game gets it just right. Best of all the complete game is free.

The Insulines: A traditional point n click adventure with finding a way to make the mundane actually fun. It’s meant to be part rock n roll comedy/part insulin&diabetes PSA. As someone who has more than a few friends with diabetes I can see how as the story goes along it”ll grab me more. I really like the art style, it’s quirky. The song “Sugar Free” which you can hear through the chrome demo and linked through their twitter is also really worth checking out.

Back to Bed: An intriguing and slightly difficult puzzle game in which you must make a man not fall of the path. You control a dream dog or something who must lay the path out on a dreamscape with added difficulty each level. It’s esoteric and challenging and it’s free.

Owlboy: A pixel art platformer with really high quality pixels, an awesome looking main character, awesome conceptual art and based on what they consider an outdated demo from 2011 really quality gameplay mechanics. This definitely one to check out. Grab that old demo, enjoy it and then just wait with baited breath for the final version.

Beat Buddy: A platformer swimmer with music mechanics that looks great and sounds great as well. There’s a pre-alpha demo up on Steam right now which just needs to be played. It’s a full level and really shows off the promise of what can be a very fun game to run around in and experience.

Contrast: An upcoming action platformer with puzzle mechanics and more based in 1920s France under the allure of performing arts and using shadows mechanics to tells it story. No demo available, but the teaser trailer is amazing and it was greenlit on Steam, so the expectation and excitement is high.

OIO: Intriguing well designed puzzle platformer with a cute lead character a great art design. There’s a demo to make you want it which really accomplishes this goal. A well polished indie gem for PC/Mac.

Douse: This simple, but elegant project from students at Digipen is like platforming version of Flower for PSN. There basically no challenge, it’s pretty much an art game, but it is really beautiful experience.

A Cat’s Night: A very classic style point n click that is cute and fun because you play a cat who is trying to save his shelter from being destroyed and thinks he can do it all without leaving the shelter. The art is really cute and it’s another free one.

Posted in Video Games | Tagged games, gaming, independent, indie, video games | Comments Off

Tribute to the Fallen of 2012 – Actors/Comedians

Posted on 01/09/2013 by Pop-Culture Spectrum

For many of these actors and comedians I found it hard to write something that would be meaningful. Their names and a few of their credits or a quick acknowledgment of who they were will be sufficient I feel especially for someone like me who is an avid film, television and theater lover who could go on and on about many of these people. I have had personal life experience with two of the men listed and neither of these are actually good experiences, so I’ll save the vitriol on a Tribute.

Ian Abercrombie (77, kidney failure): ARMY OF DARKNESS, STAR WARS: CLONE WARS, SEINFIELD

Luke Askew (80, cancer): COOL HAND LUKE, EASY RIDER, PAT GARRETT AND BILLY THE KID, ROLLING THUNDER

R.G. Armstrong (95, natural causes): BONANZA, RAWHIDE, GUNSMOKE, PAT GARRETT & BILLY THE KID, CHILDREN OF THE CORN, PREDATOR

Zina Bethune (66, accident) Noted mostly as a dancer, she also appeared in THE DOCTORS AND THE NURSES and WHO’S THE KNOCKING AT MY DOOR

Peter Bergman (72, leukemia): FIRESIGN THEATER

Ernest Borgnine (95, renal failure): MARTY, AIRWOLF, POSEIDON ADVENTURE, THE GREATEST (coincidentally Angelo Dundee also passed away), THE BLACK HOLE, THE SINGLE GUY, BASEKETBALL

Dennis Bowen (61,undisclosed): WELCOME BACK KOTTER

Gary Collins (74, natural causes): THE SIXTH SENSE, AIRPORT

Richard Dawson (79, cancer): HOGAN’S HEROES, THE RUNNING MAN (oh and he hosted FAMILY FEUD)

Phyllis Diller (95, natural causes): This wacky standup appeared on every variety show, talk show and almost every episode of Hollywood Squares, as well as having her own sitcom in the 60s

Michael Clarke Duncan (54, complications of heart attack): THE GREEN MILE, THE WHOLE NINE YARDS, THE FINDER

Charles Durning (89, unknown): DOG DAY AFTERNOON, THE MUPPET MOVIE, TOOTSIE, V.I. WARSHAWSKI, HUDSUCKER PROXY

James Farentino (73, complications of hip fracture): BEN CASEY, POLICE STORY, DYNASTY, MELROSE PLACE

Ben Gazzara (81, cancer): THE YOUNG DOCTORS, THE KILLING OF A CHINESE BOOKIE, THEY ALL LAUGHED, THE BIG LEBOWSKI,

Andy Griffith (86, Heart Attack): ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW, MATLOCK, A FACE IN THE CROWD

Larry Hagman (81, leukemia): I DREAM OF JEANNIE, DALLAS

Robert Hegyes (60, Heart Attack): WELCOME BACK KOTTER, CAGNEY & LACEY

Sherman Helmsley(74, cancer): THE JEFFERSONS, AMEN

Davy Jones (66, heart attack): OLIVER, THE MONKEES, MY TWO DADS

Lila Kaye (82, natural causes): Longtime British television actress who appeared in film and also had her own American series MAMA MALONE

Alex Karras (77, kidney failure): BLAZING SADLES, PORKY’S, WEBSTER

David Kelly (82. illness): (British series) OH, FATHER!, LAST OF SUMMER, ROBIN’S NEST, also was in WAKING NED DEVINE

Jack Klugman (90, cancer): THE ODD COUPLE TV series, QUINCY M.E.

Elyse Knox (94, natural causes): The JOE PALOOKA series co-starring Joe Kirkwood.

Lance LeGault (77, natural causes): VIVA LAS VEGAS, THE A-TEAM, AIRWOLF

Richard Lynch (72, Heart Attack): DEATHSPORT, GOD TOLD ME TO, BAD DREAMS

Russell Means (72, cancer): Primarily a political activist for Native Americans he had notable acting roles in DANCESA WITH WOLVES, NATURAL BORN KILLERS and DISNEY’S POCAHANTAS, as well as various TV appearances

Jerry Nelson (78, various complications): SESAME STREET, MUPPET SHOW, FRAGGLE ROCK

Lupe Ontiveros (69, cancer): ZOOT SUIT, THE GOONIES, SELENA, CHUCK & BUCK, REAL WOMEN HAVE CURVES

Ron Palilio (63, Heart Attack): WELCOME BACK KOTTER, FRIDAY THE 13TH VI, also an young adult book illustrator

Hal Roach (84, long illness): Many comedy self titled comedy specials

Sage Stallone (36, heart attack): ROCKY V, DAYLIGHT

Dick Tufeld (85, heart failure): LOST IN SPACE, SPIDERMAN AND HIS AMAZING FRIENDS

Ginny Tyler (86, unknown): DAVEY & GOLIATH, GUMBY, SPACE GHOST

Posted in Tributes to the Fallen | Comments Off

A Quick Kickstarter Roundup to start 2013

Posted on 01/08/2013 by Pop-Culture Spectrum

It has been a long time since I’ve done a roundup of Kickstarter’s that catch my interest. In the past I’ve done a long roundup of many Kickstarter’s including one’s that I could’nt invest in because of lack of funds. If I could I’d invest in over 50 Kickstarters a month, even with the risk of not seeing a project fufilled (an article forthcoming shortly will be all about my Kickstarter history). This time around there’s just three Kickstarter’s here. Three projects I felt were too awesome not to open my wallet as well as marketing, pushing, prodding, supporting skills for. One music project, one comics project and one products/branding project. They all have their charm and are worth checking out.

MICHALE GRAVES – THE LOST SKELETON RETURNS:

I am one of those rare birds who sometimes like bands with their second frontman more than their first. Not usually, but in two specific cases this is a fact and coincidentally the two bands where this is a fact came together in my life in an unexpected way. The first is ANTHRAX, I never got into them until Sound of White Noise with John Bush on vocals. The second would be The Misfits when Michale Graves joined. The only Misfits albums I own are American Psycho and Famous Monsters… and those are on cassette! Now for the fun part, when I went to see Anthrax during their The Threat Is Real Tour, Michale took the stage with them. All of that has nothing to do with this Kickstarter, but it does. Michale wants to make brand new versions of many of the songs he wrote with The Misfits as Skele-Crow and I assume some of the ones he developed with Graves, the band he had with Misfits Dr. Chud. Not just re-recordings though, but new explorations with what he’s learned musically over the last fifteen years. I missed out on Michale Graves first new major solo project last year, I don’t want to miss out on this one. I know that there has to be more fans out there of the Graves version of Misfits who would be excited to hear Michale bring it back, re-birthed, refurbished and well, let that lost skeleton return.

STOMPADON:

This is one of the cutest characters I’ve seen in like forever. Artist Kelsey Wailes has created something that is just truly charming and has so much life in Stompadon. The work she’s already finished for the Children’s book is amazing, the art for the print is mind dazzling and shows she can do realistically grotesque as well as super cute and the prototype for the plushie is just so awesome that despite myself and already owning more than enough plushies and cuties I can’t resist. He actually will go well sitting next to my handmade Carl from Marcos Perez. What really pushed me over the edge is the actual complete preview of the children’s book. Once seeing it I realized this is something I want to own for myself and for my future children or any future children who might be in my life. I’m sure even my nieces would love these up to even my age, because they’re the kind of girls who will always love cute, but weird… but I can’t buy 4 of these things as much as I want to! You can though, buy as many as you can and make this thing happen!

THE WHOLE STORY WINTER 2013 COLLECTION:

The first digital collection of comics called The Whole Story totally grabbed my attention with its stories from Box Brown, translated Korean Comics re-envisioned by some amazing indie comics talents and the fully realized version of Ryan Estrada’s non winning Zuda comic The Kind (here’s a PDF file that previews what that first collection had) . This time around he’s brought the concept to Kickstarter to really help build the brand and the company. At over 500% there’s no reason to not pledge for this one and if it gets to those stretch goals or near them, I am damn near proud to up my pledge to get a print edition of The Kind, etc. The new batch features comics by KC Green, Ryan Andrews and of course Ryan Estrada. You’re doing yourself a disservice if you don’t at least do the $1 for some awesome comics not available anywhere else.

Posted in Kickstarter | Tagged kickstarter, michale graves, stompadon, the whole story | Comments Off

Tribute to the Fallen of 2012 – Literature

Posted on 01/07/2013 by Pop-Culture Spectrum

Jan Berenstain (88, stroke): Growing up with The Berenstains was an experience in of itself. When Stan died in 2005 it was really tragic, as he was taken by cancer. Luckily Jan and her son took the reigns of the bears for a few years and they even found their way into the modern world. I can remember when I was young the book always made me wish I had a sibling while at the same time grateful I didn’t. I don’t remember the bears having any friends though. They probably did, but I don’t recall them. There was a cartoon too, which I remember not to vividly but it did exist. There was this PC thing as well, which I still own. I was way too old for the Bears at that point actually, but the point and click style and nostalgia for my childhood grabbed me.

Maeve Binchy (72, illness): I must honestly admit I have never read a Maeve Binchy book, but my mother has read all of them. She was a true fan and I’m sure if I took extra time to get her to write a little bit about her it would be sweet and heartwarming and reassuring that at least someone in this family got affected by this writer who I’m sure was wonderful. I did see Circle of Friends, but it was nigh impossible to not notice all the hype and clamor for this brand new discovery Minnie Driver and how wonderful she was.

Ray Bradbury (91, illness): I absolutely love The Toynbee Convector. Sure it’s the Martian Chronicles that put Ray on the map and Farenheit 451 that cemented him, but he was so much more than that. Something Wicked This Way Comes and it subsequent stories as well as Death Is A Lonely Business made me more than just someone who really enjoyed his work, but a serious fan. It’s amazing how much of his work has actually been adapted as well for both the small screen, stage and film. Twilight Zone used his shorts as basis (Bradbury also created a few original scripts for TZ as well), then of course there was even his own TV series, The Ray Bradbury Theater, which he wrote all the episodes for and actually was in the introduction as a host. A search on Youtube of Ray Bradbury Theater should bring you all the episodes, choosing one specifically to recommend seems a bit much, so really just go to to Youtube and see what catches your eye, you can’t go wrong.

Helen Gurly Brown (90, undisclosed): For over 40 years the editor in chief at Cosmopolitan, she will always for me be “The Single Girl”. I’ve never actually read “Sex and the Single Girl” and I probably never will, but it and she inspired the film of the same name in which Natalie Wood shined. The movie itself isn’t good. Everyone knows that. But it made so much money it’s a freaking classic nonetheless. Also, it helped DOWN WITH LOVE happen so many years later. So here’s to Helen Brown, fucking up dating for people worldwide for years. Thank you Helen.

Harry Crews (76, neuropathy): As a journalist I have read a share of his work in Esquire and Playboy. He covered some crazy stuff that you’d swear was fiction. I never read his fiction, so I’m not sure if it was ever crazier than what he found in the real world or if he just used the real world to inspire fiction of things he couldn’t properly convey in journalistic articles in the way he wanted. I should explore that, but there’s so much to explore.

Gene DeWeese (78, Dementia with Lewy bodies): I’m familiar with DeWeese because of the few Star Trek: The Next Generation books he wrote. I use to devour those things like comics. It was a pretty bad habit, as most of those books were essentially hackneyed fan fiction put into a pretty package, but I was an addict, addicts know when something is bunk and still take it and look for more.

John Sargent, Sr. (87, health complications): Executive at Doubleday as President and Chairman. Amazingly he started working at the company long beforebefore he dated and then married the founders grand daughter and kept it after their divorce because of his incredible success into turning Doubleday into the Powerhouse it remans today. Later he got married to Liz Kelly, top editor in charge formerly at William Morrow, Harper Collins and Cosmo.

Maurice Sendak (83, stroke): The thing I loved the most about Maurice was that he always stated that he was not a children’s book author. You have to love that a man who created one of the greatest and most loved children’s books of all time refuses to accept what they called him or that he continued to create Children’s illustrations for others as well as develop Children’s TV… he wasn’t making stuff FOR kids, he was making stuff for everyone, it just so happened that the target market in publishing and TV was kids, but he wanted everyone to love it and… well I think they did. I also loved that he was a crotchety gay Jewish Atheist (one can be Jewish and Atheist… he identified with the plight, if not the beliefs). I mean seriously… how awesome is that? He was never quiet about it either. He was always crotchety, he was always Jewish and he was always gay, even if the last part never actually came out in his personality or publicly till 2008. I could probably go on forever of my love of the man and his work and what he offered, but I think I’ve said too much.

Derick Thomson (90, natural causes): Master of Gaelic poetry and literature, as well as many books teaching and explaining the Gaelic language, Professor Macthomas has been in my periphery and part of my base of knowledge for a long time. He would’ve been a great man to have gotten to meet had I given myself chance to ever visit the isle… but alas it was not to be.

Gore Vidal (86, pneumonia): I’ve never read a word Gore Vidal has written, but I know I’ve definitely seen his work on screen, butchered, uncredited or officially. I’ve always wanted to read thing like Lincoln, Myron, Empire, etc… just never got around to it. Maybe one day I will, I owe it to myself.

Sam Youd (89, natural causes): AKA Chris Youd, Hilary Ford, Peter Graaf, Stanley Winchester and most notably John Christopher. As John he wrote The Tripods, which if you’re an American, were a teenager or a kid in the 80’s, liked stuff, had a TV and intelligent parents you saw on PBS (if you didn’t, well, too bad, it was on and it was awesome, but if you really must see it, here’s a link to part 1 of episode 1 on Youtube. I believe the show is also on DVD, but only in PAL). The Tripods was not the only work of John Christopher to be adapted either, he was truly a science fiction great and with his pseudonyms surely a great writer period.

Posted in Tributes to the Fallen | Comments Off

Tribute to the Fallen of 2012 – Professional Wrestlers

Posted on 01/03/2013 by Pop-Culture Spectrum

Doug Furnas (52, heart disease): With his tag team partner Phillip Lafon (aka Dan Kroffat), Doug was one of the most under appreciated and under utilized talents in sports entertainment. While they had seriously success in Japan and were given respect in ECW, once in the WWE that respect went out the window and they were turned into boring and bland. That was really unfortunate as they could’ve easily been used to be major stars, but were looked over for flashier talents. Luckily footage of them in Japan against what are considered one of the greatest tag teams of all time The British Bulldogs does exist and here it is.

Pablo Fuentes Reyna aka MS-1 (55, car accident): Most popular in the 80’s as a part of Los Infernales with Pirata Morgan and others. I personally was never really privy to his work but it seems interesting to me which Luchadores names are public knowledge and which are not but either way I think they die with their mask on (although MS-1 did not wear a mask).

Here is the one match I could find on Youtube with Los Infernales taking on The Guerreros (Mando, Hector and Chavo, Sr.)

Aristóteles Radamés Coccó Flores AKA MS-2, Maskare and later as as Yeti (57, cancer): Aristóteles Radamés Coccó Flores AKA Maskare and later as and most well known as Yeti (57, cancer): Another luchadorian h actually dressed like a Sasquatch/Yeti and worked in AAA in the 80s when it we got it on Galavision. His existence is actually a sight to behold. Before all that though he was a regular team partner of MS-1 and was even brought into Los Infernales for a short time. Despite years passing since the two worked together, fate took them both in the same year. Curious. Here’s a match where he teamed with Tinieblas Jr. and Sr, as well as La Calaca against Pierroth Jr, Heavy Metal and Latin Lover (oh and midgets too). This match isn’t the best example that shows Yeti’s size though as the Tinieblas were freakishly tall as well was La Calaca. The only average sized lucha here actually is Heavy Metal.

Joe Scarpa (87, results of a fall): The man known as Chief Jay Strongbow was never in the main event, but he was truly a wrestling superstar. Four tag team championships, a household name, a member of the Hall of Fame, and the co-star of the second most brutal strap match in mainstream history with the man who was the co-star of the most vicious Greg “The Hammer” Valentine. The best thing about how Strongbow was not actually a Native American, but he was still respected and Chris Chavis aka Tatanka who was a true native never had a problem with it. Scarpa was also trained by Don Eagle, so that gave him a pass. Here’s that Indian Strap match.

Rip Hawk (82, heart issues): A multiple WCCW World Tag Champion, Rip Hawk’s biggest claim to fame in professional wrestling is when he teamed up with a young Ric Flair. Hawk was a stocky man who could throw a good punch and if anything at leats make you belive he’ll beat you up. He definitely missed a certain charisma and look to be more than a talent that helped others and a consummate ring grappler bit those are admirable things to have been. Here’s an old match with him teaming with regular partner Swede against some guys.

Brad Armstrong (50, medical distress): The most charismatic, physically talented and exciting of the Armstrongs (sorry Road Dogg, but he was) was also the one who struggled the most career wise. While brother Scott has always had a referee gig and brother Jesse James is mixed in deep with wrestling history, Brad never made the impact he deserved the chance to make (although he did do better than third brother Steve). More underrated than Doug Furnas it could say… not as an inring performer, but all around, definitely. Although he was part of some awesome moments, including when he made two run-in appearances in one match as different personas, as his masked persona was not supposed to actually be him. He was also at one point one half of the greatest tag teams ever in The Lightning Express, but their push got halted as Tim Horner became a jobber. One of the greatest matches he should be remembered for is against Dean Malenko, he doesn’t win… not even close, but he holds his own and proves how good he was in this one.

Buddy “Jack” Roberts (67, pneumonia) : Any true real wrestling fan with an actual history know The Fabulous Freebirds, even if all they know is current WWE road agent Michael Hayes. The Freebirds were so much more though. While many would say it was Hayes, Gordy and Garvin, it was Buddy Roberts who made them totally awesome and he was there before Garvin… he was The Freebirds. His nickname “Jack” was because he was always drunk on Jack Daniel’s. He made it work though, it wasn’t just a drunk dude barely able to walk, but a drunk dude being really entertaining and good worker. Hayes was the looks, Gordy was the muscle and Buddy “Jack” was well Buddy “Jack”. The Freebirds were just cool before cool was even a concept. Well, you know what I mean. Buddy also had the craziest voice. He eventually got lung cancer and you could see it happening, he talked like he smoked 22 packs a day. He retired way back when, but I’ll never forget him or The Freebirds. Guys like Hayes, Jack and Gordy paved the way for so many folks, it’s a shame nobody ever says something for them. DDP, CM Punk, Edge, guys like that would’ve never even been given a chance (and they STILL had to earn it) without guys like those three to at least take a shovel to the groundwork. Finding the best of Buddy isn’t easy, but here’s a clip where he cuts a promo with Terry, as well as “Iceman” King Parsons. Followed by a longer clip in which the Freebirds confronted Mike Graham directly after the passing of his father.

That second clip brings us to:
Mike Graham (61, suicide): The son of legendary promotor Eddie, Mike seriously was never really that good in the ring, but he had a true love and passion for the industry. That in of itself truly shined and hey, even got to be a champion a couple of times. Sure it was AWA Light Heavyweight champion as the “biggest” title in terms of indutsry clout, but he owned Florida. Sure, he also OWNED Florida, but he never actually really used that card. I think that may be what finally after all these years may have brought him down. Despite his passion, dedication, respect for others, he was still the son of Eddie Graham and once he sold off the entire FCW library to WWE/Titan he had nothing more to live for. Love, children, it should be enough, but for many… it’s just not enough and depression is a horrible disease and sometimes it takes us, especially in a family with the disease strong. Eddie killed himself 20 years ago and Mike’s son killed himself two years ago… that Mike found the strength to last is a testament to his dedication.

Posted in Tributes to the Fallen, Wrestling | Comments Off

Freedom: A Duo Review of LINCOLN & DJANGO UNCHAINED

Posted on 12/25/2012 by Pop-Culture Spectrum

America during the time of pre-Civil War and Civil War itself was tumultuous, violent, full of bravery, regime, and the building of a nation that has evolved technologically and lawfully if not spiritually or mentally. The prejudices of the time are still rampant. The attitudes and personalities of the time a constant. The only thing that has changed is how society as a whole looks at these attitudes. From who are president is, to the type of entertainment audiences divulge and live off of.

It is quite fascinating to me that in 2012 two of the most lauded film makers of my generation and what I predict generations to come would approach a time period around the same time although very different, and yet extremely similar.

Over the winter I had the opportunity to see Steven Spielberg and Tony Kushner’s LINCOLN and Quentin Tarantino’s DJANGO UNLEASHED. Clocking in at a combined 5 hours and 30 minutes they are both truly epic films filled with violence, stellar casts, amazing dialogues and what seem like lost opportunities in which even such expansive running times were not enough to deliver all the story and awesome that exists, especially in Tarantino’s DJANGO. There’s so much awesomeness in DJANGO that a comic book adapted from the original script being published by DC Comics.

I saw LINCOLN at the prestigious ZIGFIELD theater with a friend. It was a joint early Academy and SAG screening and Mr. Spielberg presented the film beforehand. A playbill/book was handed out which basically gave out some historical background that didn’t actually make it into the final film. In my opinion Tommy Lee Jones truly steals the film. His performance while still very “him” has a panache and delivery of conviction. His character a true hero of the times, at least as depicted here. History is very unclear and a bit possibly misguided in their presentation of Thaddeus Stevens and film has never been kind to him, probably because of the fact that he was actually a man who truly believed in equality, a rarity in those times and sadly even up till the 70’s. The cast was used in spectacular fashion here, everyone truly got a moment to shine, even the very short appearance by the rarely seen but always enjoyable Lukas Haas. It was an all together wonderful experience as well as an educational one and at least for me showed that Spielberg might still have it, either that or we’ll be able to say “Well at least did a couple good movies” in the future.

I saw Django Unchained at the IFC Center and got lucky enough to meet someone cool on line. The IFC room they used had really weird seats that went way too far back, making it a bit uncomfortable for a three hour film, but I think any theater has that problem, there’s no real answer. This is what I said about the film on Facebook directly after viewing it.

Django is a 3 hour spaghetti Western with some awesome Tarantino dialogue, amazing cinematography and severe waste of some of the talent used. It is not as good as Inglourious Basterds, but it is a very strong movie and for a guy who always says that a movie would be better if it had more nudity, the film delivered there for all genders.

Retrospectively it may have actually been better than Basterds, although with Basterds I never felt like any character was shortchanged, but I still really feel that Zoe Bell was completely unused. I felt her role and her inclusion in the film could’ve led to something quite amazing. We never get the one thing Spaghetti Westerns or any Western really offer. Even the Western comics that Quentin loved. He never get a real one on one battle between the hero and that one tough enemy who we don’t know if he can beat. Not a single villain is a bad ass. They’re all pushovers. Mentally strong and that is shown, but I would’ve loved just one battle where Django had to really fight one on one, mano y mano with a ne’er do well that was more than him and Django had to use HIS wits to defeat. Saying that, the film really paints an intriguing picture of pre-Civil War South, the South that Lincoln would soon have to contend with, the degenerate,m backwards thinking, bigoted racist South. I have to think Django got drafted during emancipation and died in the war or went into hiding and died an old man with not much to speak for but his freedom, yet sometimes… Freedom is all anyone asks for.

Both these films state that, freedom, equality be it by the land of the law or the societal measures, freedom is a thing one should be grateful for, always.

Posted in TV and Movies | Tagged django unchained, lincoln, movie review, TV and Movies | Comments Off

PRIMORDIA Review

Posted on 12/10/2012 by Pop-Culture Spectrum

What came first? Robots or Man? Was there even Man? Is Robot Man actually Man Robot? Can a Robot wear a Monocle? Can a machine have emotions? Is anyone above the law? Is the law truly the law? If you don’t know your own past, does it really mean you aren’t who everyone thinks you are? Can a robot fly, be sarcastic, and funny, but still really helpful and a great friend?

All these questions and more are asked, but not answered in PRIMORDIA... or more exactly they are given multiple answers, in which your own spiritual moral code will let you decide the answers.

In my preview of Primordia I said it reminded me of Beneath A Steel Sky, but once you really get into the crux of the game it feels both its own beast and yet even more a true predecessor and that is an actually great thing. There’s no denying the genius of Beneath A Steel Sky, no matter how hard one might try and there’s no denying the genius of Primordia.

It is an excellent point n click adventure with truly inventive puzzles that make you think as much inside the box as out of it. You are introduced to Non Player Characters who become extremely fleshed out as the story progresses, maybe more fleshed out than any I’ve seen before and in some cases more fleshed out than even your protagonist. In that it’s more link hints, little smattering, things to put together the puzzle together yourself.

All together the game presents a very large and over encompassing story about a post apocalyptic (or seemingly so) world in which only robots remain and these robots live in a 1984 lifestyle in which your character invades, upturns and rearranges in surprising ways. All along the way you’ll laugh, cry, be amazed and question your choices. These are meant more to convey the impression, they are not red herrings. There is no way to not finish the story. Actually there are multiple ways and that is just an added bonus to everything.

As a perfect ending to this short, succinct, but loving review I thought I’d share with you my also short but with brilliant answers via e-mail interview with the developers of Primordia and an extra bonus question for publisher Dave Gilbert of Wadjeteye.

1.) How much of Beneath A Steel Sky was an inspiration? It felt throughtout the game and up to the ending even that it was being heavily referenced, but that could be my own nostalgia fog invading.

Vic: Yes, Beneath a Steel Sky was definitely an inspiration for me during the conception of the game. I recall that in some respects I wanted to make something in a similar vein, tonally. Metropol I think had the most direct graphical influence from BASS, but that said, I don’t really think of Metropol as representative of the art style in Primordia, which I feel is essentially more of a kind of Ray-Gun Gothic style you see around the UNNIIC and the Dunes – a melange of technologies flowing into ruin.

Mark: I played Beneath A Steel Sky years ago, and I remember somewhat liking it, though less so than Revolution’s later games — the Broken Sword series — which had a definite influence on my puzzle design. Of course, people subconsciously assimilate ideas all the time, so I’m sure I drew from BASS. Still, the strongest connection that people have been noting — Crispin to Joey — is misplaced. Crispin is directly inspired by another sidekick, but it’s not Joey. It’s Morte, from Planescape: Torment (along with some others like Cedric in King’s Quest V, Orko in He-Man, Zzyzzx in Sacrifice). I don’t remember Joey at all from BASS, other than that there was a robot sidekick. By contrast, I can can point to a lot of Crispin that was directly inspired by Morte — his refrain of “boss” (from Morte’s “chief”), his implausible amorous declarations, his skepticism of epic motifs. But if people want to draw comparisons to BASS, I’m certainly not going to complain! It’s a beloved game with a strong following. I’m even more perplexed when people say that Crispin was based on Wheatley from Portal 2, a game I didn’t play until after the Primordia writing was done. But, again, that’s a nice comparison for people to draw!

2.) What was the development process, did you complete the world/history/background before designing puzzles or was it a side by side creation. Is there a large bible detailing the whole Primordia world?

Mark: There is a design document, but frankly the game is probably more expansive in content than the design document. I spent a lot of time thinking about the world, of course, but like Sean Connery says in The Rock: “It was in my head!” All along, we wanted the puzzles and the setting to complement each other, so we designed them in tandem. One of the reasons why I didn’t do some vast setting bible — which I’ve done for other games — is that I would rather that players fill in the blank areas on the map with their own imaginations, which I see some have already done. We tried to include a lot of evocative references to places the player never goes, but left them vague enough that, say, Steeple’s Cathedral or the fractal network of robots in Civitas or the vast Factor complex are left to the player to create.

(Added side note by RHC post interview: The actual quote is “The blue was in my head”.)

3.) What was the creation style for the pixel art still paintings? Are they originally paintings and then pixelized or straight from “sketch” to pixel? Is there full on beautiful concept art that was done before all the pixels?

Vic: Almost all of the graphics and sprites for Primordia are hand painted in high resolution, then re-sized and touched up to create what is seen in-game. I did a lot of concept art and illustration for Primordia too, both to work out specific designs in detail, and also to create works that would inform the style and the overall look of the game. I probably did a lot more illustration than was necessary for Primordia (I even did some aerosol art toward the end too), but with all the low res graphics I had to do, it was a nice break to be able to make something a bit more, well, illustrative once in a while. I still think my best work in Primordia was the in-game graphics though. For me, an animated environment with characters etc will always win over a still image; at least in my mind and when it comes to my own work.
4.) We now have another sci-fi inspired Wadjet Eye published game with multiple endings… are we creating a pattern? Is there any chance this style could influence Blackwell?

Dave: Hah – I’d love to do multiple endings in a Blackwell game, but since it’s an episodic series that could get very problematic. Maybe in the last installment!

Posted in Video Games | Tagged adventure game, point n click, primordia, review, wadjeteye, wadjeteye games | Comments Off

Amnesia Fortnight Follow-Up

Posted on 12/10/2012 by Pop-Culture Spectrum

With almost a week and a half of work done, over nine days days of streaming footage, six documents of daily work edited by the team at 2 Player Productions and many many Double Fine forum and tumblr posts with concept art, music, programming and development discussion I felt I’d do my own quick personal viewcap on the Double Fine Amnesia Fortnight. This is for myself, the Double Fine team, the people already as invested as much as I am in the progress and those who have not yet joined in and can still do so within the next two days or possibly longer.

The breakdown will be by games and my own insights and reflections.

AUTONOMOUS: Not long into the game I came up with calling the production team of this prototype PETTY CROOK. This being a what I thought a clever combination of Project Lead Lee Petty, and Lead 3D Modeler/Artist Ray Crook. While equally the team could also be called “MOO-AR PETTY CROOK IS SOULLESS” to add some more team members in to the name, that leaves out the awesome music guy Camden Stoddard, programmer Oliver Frankze and all the rest of the excellent team working on this, so…
AUTONOMOUS is A Petty Crook production…

That music by Camden btw is amazing, but is also the only music that can’t be heard outside of the twitch.tv or downloadable 2PP eps as of yet. That’s okay though as added to the Humble Bundle has been a soundtrack and as each prototype has been given it’s own cues and original music this soundtrack itself will be worth being in the bundle grip.

Brad Muir has truly been the star personality wise of this whole deal, between his recording of the Jersey bot for voices and jokingly, but not completely stating the game sucked (as it exists at the time, because the bots were just being dumb, so it became some fun to mess with, but not fun to actually play). Still I understand why so many want to to play. I personally kind of just want to mess around with it, and feel it’ll need to prove itself to me in knowing my final goal.

BLACK LAKE: Levi Ryken’s sketches and concept art are still the most top notch part of this game. Of all the games this is the one I’d want a collected concept art book

(speaking of concept art book… Double Fine actually will finally have one soon. That will be the BRUTAL LEGEND art book. It is in the current PREVIEWS Catalog in a full page spread from UDON, and comes out in February.)

I’m also really enjoying how this game is coming together, the idea of scanning for smells and sounds and then following clues to your next spot in the tracking of an animal while also trying to avoid enemies really sound intriguing for a game that from a gameplay standpoint was the weakest at first and now seems conceptually the best.

In terms of music we know that Dax Tran-Caffee has recorded accordion parts for a mechanism of gameplay which I can only assume shall also come into the actual soundtrack as well and that makes me assume that the Doublefine employee who brought him in Brent Andrew Shinn is also recording some original guitar pieces.

HACK N SLASH: While the concept art for Black Lake blows me over, especially the early sketches, it’s the final look of Hack n Slash that is really calling me. Mark Hammer’s final version of the protagonist is awesome, but even better is the work Razmig Mavlian has put in. While inspired by Zelda he’s created his own awesome background that would work well as prints, wallpapers, or whatever. Raz also did the utterly awesome logo.

I’m still unsure completely n what the game playing will be like. I’m intrigued by the ideas originally presented and seeing how they finally find their way into the prototype and how easy or difficult they’ll be to understand.

On the music end, Paul O’Rourke has outdone himself creating as of now three amazing sketches that invoke an old school feel yet at the same time being completely modern. They really should be heard and along with Camden’s tracks will make a seriously awesome soundtrack.

SPACEBASE DF-9: This actually coming together in a way that I’m actually interested in seeing the final product. While many were excited by the concept alone it has taken seeing how much work has gone into it to make me want this as much as everyone. From the choosing jobs for your individuals to the fact that Bagel is doing sitting and eating animations to the Facebook style status updates it all looks really nice.

I get a vibe of them really trying to find a way to make this gameplay that for a sim that allows even the biggest sim hater to appreciate. I really hope they pull it off, because I always had issues keeping my excitement with things of the ilk.

In terms of music, I’m really impressed by what Chris Remo has put together. It’s very atmospheric, it has the most feel of being something you’d hear in a TV show instead of a game actually.

THE WHITE BIRCH: The platformer is coming together really nicely. We’ve seen her leaps on ledges, run across a bridge, climb ropes, and all in an almost finished 3d character. Over these last two days they should be able to accomplish a lot and make something that feels like a really complete minigame that if expanded could be even crazier and wild.

The only thing I don’t think we’ve seen yet is how the original idea of different prizes from climbing the tree and different pathways causing multiple playthrough has been implemented or if possibly scrapped for this prototype, only trying to prove Double Fine could make a working 3D platformer that was fun and innovative.

In terms of music, long time adventure game video game design Brian Min is really outdoing himself. On stream we saw/heard him recording live. Of all the music folks at Double Fine he’s the one I’d want to interview most. His sound career goes back to the days of Sierra at its limelight till today at Double Fine and I’m sure he has great stories. Even if he told them in instrumental musical pieces. Btw, listen to some White Birch suite.

In conclusion, as I finished writing this the Monday Standups have begun on the Stream, which is fun stuff to listen to if you’re fascinated with production like I am.

We’re heading to the end of the Fortnight here, but these next two days will be long and exciting, so hop on board while you can!

Posted in Video Games | Tagged amnesia fortnight, double fine, double fine games, humble bundle, video games | Comments Off

A Fortnight of Amnesia in 2012 gives us more Doublefine Sausage AND 5 new game prototypes

Posted on 12/02/2012 by Pop-Culture Spectrum

Double Fine Games came into super extra megaton popularity earlier this year with their monumental Kickstarter that launched the excellent Double Fine Adventure game now codenamed REDS along with the so far six episode documentary Doublefine Adventure from 2 Player Productions. If you aren’t already a backer on that and getting to enjoy the awesoment development, art, production and stories on this future old school inspired modern adventure point n click adventure game from the mind of Tim Schaefer and as of now featuring the art design of Peter Chan, Scott Campbell and most specifically Nathan “Bagel” Stapely, there’s still time with their Slacker Backer program. That isn’t what this is about though. In the continued interests of opening of their doors to all, Double Fine decided to take their annual two week new idea/prototype development session a public event. Titled Amnesia Fortnight, previous years have brought forth prototypes that gave us games such as Costume Quest, Stacking, Trenched and Once Upon A Monster. Now this year we’ll be seeing five new prototypes, but for the first time these prototypes will be shared with the public. Well that is if they buy into the Humble Bundle for the program. Not only will one get these 5 new prototypes though, they’ll also get three old prototypes if they give at least the minimum top price suggested on the bundle. Humble Bundle gives to charity as much as it does itself and the developers, you get to choose how much you give for how much you get and how it gets allocated. The three prototypes available are Happy Song (which became Once Upon A Monster), the original Costume Quest and a game called Brazen which was made in last years Fortnight and is now being prepared for further development. Along with the prototypes you’ll also get documentary episodes of the daily progress on the development produced by 2 Player. On top of all that there is also a live stream from twitch, running from 10 AM-6 PM PST. It has been running since last week and shall continue along till the games are ready to be shared in the two week process. Each of the five games being developed were actually whittled down from 23 pitches from various Double Fine employees which were voted upon by fans who discovered the Humble Bundle project on day one and wanted to be right on the ground floor. It could be said the five best choices were selected, but some of the games not being worked on this Fortnight definitely deserve exploring at some point and I believe this is honest being considered. Of the five games I personally am excited for the two artistically envisioned games, but from the work shown on all them they should all be awesome. Here’s a list of the five, short descriptions based on my personal understanding, and a cool progress image that shows what I think is exciting. More images can be seen on the Doublefine Tumblr and the Doublefine forums. The White Birch: A plat-former with exploration, there won’t be foes, but the protagonist must continue climbing and exploring to reach the top of a strange tower where an actual White Birch tree sits with a prize and I assume the only way home. I believe the prizes and exploration will change in repeated playthroughs as there will be multiple paths to the top, but not ways to actually go back and explore the other paths once you choose one. Here’s some early concept art from Derek Brand.

Black Lake: From the mind of Levi Ryken, this looks like it’ll be a 3rd person top down perspective. You’ll be playing a mythical animal hunter who doesn’t actually hunt, but uses some type of dream control mechanic to capture these supernatural beasts in a combination of action/adventure and another mechanic not fully explored. Levi’s art concepts are what really attracted me on this one. Here’s a final version of the lead protagonist he designed.

Autonomous: The brainchild of Lee Petty, the same man who gave us the ingenious STACKING, this is set to be a first person game (the first 1st person game from Double Fine they keep saying, although I thought that the cancelled SPECS was first person). In it your character programs, but does not control Automotons… also known as robots. Through basic input these bots will help the character explore and survive the world he has found himself in. The team is hard at work on robots and especially making really awesome looking arms that would be the main inputting. Here’s Lee’s early arms design that 3d modeller Ray Crook has been building furiously.

Spacebase DF-9: A simesque game that being pitched/promoted as Dwarf Fortress in Space with graphics (and I assume simpler mechanics). You’ll be building a spacebase, hiring employees, setting up shop, and placing characters in situations and then watch what happens, with each playthrough creating a virtual fiction/story that I assume can be easily shared. I have to admit I am still not sold completely on where the fun is here. I understand some people find this fun and once upon a time I actually thought the idea of games like this sounded like the most fun ever, but I’ve changed. What I feel shall be one of the saving graces of this game is the creative minds of DF instilling their humorous creative juices and also that Nathan Stapely is working on the character designs that will if anything make the game fun to look at. I know I keep using the word game, instead of demo and/or prototype… as none of these will be full games, but a game is still something someone can play and hopefully have fun with, so… game. Spacebase doesn’t really have any mockup graphics to show off that make me go “Oooh…” but the twitch.tv stream showed Bagel working on the characters and they look great.

Hack n Slash: A NES/SNES Zelda-esque game in which instead of slashing away at stuff, you actually try to hack the game using codes, glitches and various secrets to find your way around monsters, walls, and more. Team leader, head programmer Brandon Dillon really seems to have most of the game figured out mentally, so it all comes down to the programming itself. Mark Hamer has come up with a great character design and Raz has conceptualized an awesome background, so visually this game is looking awesome. I actually at first really couldn’t even see how this game would work, but I really do look forward to it.

So get in on the ground floor now for what could be the next best great Double Fine game to come after the upcoming The Cave from the mind of Ron Gilbert, the iOS superhero management sim Middle Manager of Justice, the sequel to Double Fine Action Theater known as Kinect Party, Double Fine Adventure and who knows what else they have up their sleeves. If the 2012 Amnesia Fortnight is any hint to some of the ideas running around, expect awesomeness.

Posted in Apps, Video Games | Tagged adventure, amnesia fortnight, doublefine, doublefine games, humble bundle, video games | Comments Off