Tuesday, September 09, 2008

Large Hadron Collider Time

Everyone duck. Or get under your desk.

-OSK

Crap, I need a Guybrush Threepwood reference...there we go.

Wednesday, September 03, 2008

Ressurecting Guybrush: The Quest for Ron Gilbert


Who is this dashing man, you may wonder? And what does he have to do with Guybrush Threepwood? Well, ladies and gentleman, this is Ron Gilbert, creator of Monkey Island, and in my opinion, the best shot we have at ever getting it back. The trouble is, Gilbert parted ways with LucasFilm a long time ago. While this is regrettable, I really can't blame him- I would've left George Lucas too after Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Relevant Plot. It's always amazed me how easy it is for entertainment goliaths to disappear, something Gilbert has managed to do flawlessly. According to his brief wikipedia page, Gilbert published MI2, and then one more game for LucasFilms, and then left. He is now apparently in a position at the Vancouver-based Hothead Games. The curious fact is that he appears to not have published a single game whilst at Hothead. The logical answer as to why would be that he holds an executive position that is less hands-on in game development. This would certainly make sense from a business perspective, as his lauded work on LucasFilm games probably got him some pretty cushy (at least in comparison) job offers. The thing that puzzles me is how someone could get their hands dirty making a game as awesome as Monkey Island and then not crave that feeling again. It's long been my dream to be able to design and program a game (Escape the World!!!), and I am angered by Gilbert's cavalier attitude towards his godly talent. So am I just bitching about all of this? No, I intend to contact HotHead games, if only for some answers. Yes, this does make me a huge loser, and it does mean I have no life. But with an absence of life, why not use my free time towards this (probably futile) mission? I'll keep you posted.
Speaking of Ron Gilbert, a friend and I recently missed one of the most beautifully conceptualized concerts ever: State Radio and Rage Against the Machine in Denver. Given, there was no way we could have actually gotten there, but my gut tells me that something like that is a sign from God (Ron Gilbert? See, there was a connection there, I wasn't just freestyling a segue) and that it's wasted utopia to forego it. So that's my bit of bitching for tonight.
So they were playing outside the DNC in Denver (obviously in line with the two bands' political themes) and we thought that would be it. But apparently Rage also played the RNC just yesterday, though not in the way we would expect. Apparently they wanted to play outside the RNC as well in a similar manner to when they played Wall Street, but the police caught wind of it and prohibited it. So the four band members put themselves into a crowd of people and worked their way towards a central location, where (partially jokingly, I'm sure) they put on an Acapella performance of two of their songs. I love it when groups can laugh at themselves.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZv3fsM_3z0&feature=related

On the one hand, the video is hilarious. On the other hand, it sounds terrible. I'm just mad Morello skipped out on the guitar solos. But he was on Voyager, so I forgive him.

-OSK



GILF

That's governor, by the way.

The "U" Key

I'm not picking that up.

-OSK