misc December pictures

Been meaning to share these cell phone pics:

dude has Half-Life bumper stickers.


side by side competing orange soda machines

beer for sale at Walmart in Northwest Arkansas

I guess we had celebrate FFA week at work

when I think of fun 80's movies, I think of The Accused.

Borderlands save hacker

Western Illinois Country Rock in the 1970s

An audio documentary from western Illinois country rock cognoscenti Bill Harroun.

http://www.mediafire.com/file/1ygl4mxzjmm/western_il_country_rock_70s.mp3

One 81MB file.

V-necks

perhaps I have V-necks on the brain this morning, or perhaps the internet is trying to tell me something. too bad the Dr Pepper picture is so small.

November 17th Gamestop Midnight Mayhem quiz

If you picked up Assassin's Creed 2 or Left 4 Dead 2 at Gamestop at midnight on November 17th, you likely got a 10 question Midnight Mayhem Text2Play quiz (and maybe an Assassin's Creed balsa airplane). You can consult Wikipedia for all the answers, or you can just trust me that these are correct:

1C
2C
3B
4C
5A
6A
7B
8B
9B
10C

youtube down?

Looks like youtube is "down for maintenance" right now.

Rebecca Mayes

Rebecca Mayes writes songs inspired by video games. Calling them game reviews seems like a stretch. Nevertheless, that is the official line given here: http://www.gamepeople.co.uk/rebeccamayes.htm
Some of her songs are quite nice regardless, and a quick Google search yielded no options for procuring her Velvet Assassin song (or any of her songs for that matter, save one I saw on beemp3). Here is the video, which you may enjoy if a woman on a train and/or playing instruments cut with video game footage floats your boat: http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/rebecca-mayes-muses/977-Velvet-Assassin

I downloaded the podcast for Velvet Assassin in iTunes, and burned it to a CD. then I ripped that track to wav, and edited out the intro and outro, and encoded it as an mp3. here is the result:
http://www.mediafire.com/?z2oi3kmzyul

Maybe someday I will play Velvet Assassin.

nice costumes

source: http://www.collegehumor.com/cutecollegegirl/GenevieveG

Kindle chick

I do like the Kindle chick.

paleface - three songs

three tracks of the eponymous Paleface album:

http://www.mediafire.com/?mtjjjyijtne

Hank Williams from His Grave

Burn and Rob

Burn and Rob (Again)

shit to do before we play

three songs I've been hearing on the radio and have meant to investigate. I put them up here, so hopefully this will remind me:
http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?itzymd0gyzn

the songs are:
Very Busy People - The Limousines
Dreamers - Tiny Vipers
So Bored - Wavves

mind the volume on So Bored, it's a loud one.

Bluetooth Trackball

WHY DOES THIS PRODUCT NOT EXIST?

maxed out Xbox 360 storage

I believe this is the most possible storage you can have on an Xbox 360 at the moment:

There is a 120GB hard drive, the 256MB of onboard flash memory, two 512MB memory units, and the 192MB that comes in the HD DVD player.
Of course you can't actually store anything in the HD DVD player memory, but it is listed.

to summarize:

120GB

256MB

512MB

512MB

192MB

there is nothing artificial about this intelligence

to the AI Director of Left 4 Dead--in your face:

this is the first time I've ever gotten 100% of the achievements for an Xbox game.

Of course I literally could not have done it without the help of my friends.
see for yourself if you don't trust the screenshot.

It Hugs Back

Ripped straight from their facebook page, here is It Hugs Back covering Stereolab's "Stomach Worm"
mediafire link
enjoy.

Rock Band covers

I love the game Rock Band and now Rock Band 2, but I don't understand why they sell near pitch-perfect cover versions of famous tunes in the music store. Do they make more money off them? In some cases, such as the David Bowie track pack, they have both covers and originals of the same artist, so it probably isn't because the artists won't play ball. Perhaps it's the individual record labels and/or publishers? Or they just really love the songs in question, but can't get the masters, so they re-record them?

In any event, there seems to be no slowing down on cover versions in Rock Band downloadable content. I don't see a lot mentioned about it online either. Here is a Wired article on the subject, though not a lot of specualtion on the why:
link to Wired article

Harmonix does acknowlegde the covers with an asterisk in the music store, but they don't give any details on the actual performers. to get that information, you have to visit their website:
link to DLC credits

Personally I wonder how the artists feel. In some cases, they are probably getting paid for the cover, but in other cases they might not hold the publishing rights, and therefore might not get paid a dime. I guess for the time being I will avoid downloading these tracks, and stick to the real deal. Which is a shame, because who doesn't love singing along to Brass in Pocket since Lost in Translation?

here is a list of the downloadable content covers, current as of 01-JAN-2009:

“Beetlebum”
Damon Albarn, Graham Coxon, Steven James, David Rowntree
EMI April Music, Inc. (ASCAP)
All rights reserved. Used by permission
[listed as a cover, but no credits are given for the cover artists]

“Ten Speed (of God's Blood & Burial)”
Claudio Sanchez, Michael Todd, Joshua Eppard, Travis Stever
2005 Foray Music (SESAC)
All Rights Reserved. Used By Permission
Performed by: Mark Edwards: Vocals, George Nastos: Guitars, Ric Fierabracci: Bass, Joel Taylor: Drums
Recorded and Produced by WaveGroup

“Working Man”
Gary Weinrib, Alex Zivojinovich 1981 Core Music (SOCAN/SESAC)
All rights reserved. Used by permission
Performed by: Mark Edwards: Vocals, George Nastos: Guitars, Ric Fierabracci: Bass, Joel Taylor: Drums
Recorded and Produced by WaveGroup

“Action”
Andrew Scott, Brian Connolly, Stephen Priest, Michael Tucker
1976 Sweet Publishing (PRS). All Rights On Behalf Of Sweet Publishing (PRS). Administered By WB Music Corp. (ASCAP) and Red Rose Programming Ltd. /Sweet Publishing Ltd. Administered by Maxwood Music Ltd. All rights reserved. Used by permission
Performed by: Mark Edwards: Vocals, Nick Gallant: Background Vocals, Lance Taber: Guitar, Ric Fierabracci: Bass, Joel Taylor: Drums
Recorded and Produced by WaveGroup

“Last Train To Clarksville”
Tommy Boyce, Bobby Hart
Screen Gems- EMI Music Inc. (BMI) All rights reserved. Used by permission
Last Train to Clarksville Performance Credits: Performed by: Mark Edwards: Vocals, Lance Tabers: Guitars, Nick Gallant: Bass, Scott Dugdale: Drums, Additional Percussion
Recorded and Produced by WaveGroup

“The Number of the Beast”
Stephen Harris
1982 Zomba Enterprises Inc. (ASCAP)
All rights reserved. Used by permission
Performed by: Brandon Bayless: Vocals, George Nastos: Guitars, Ric Fierabracci: Bass, Joel Taylor: Drums
Recorded and Produced by WaveGroup

“Limelight”
Neal Peart, Gary Weinrib, Lifeson, Alex Zivojinovich
1981 Core Music (SOCAN/SESAC) All rights reserved. Used by permission
Performed by: Mark Edwards: Vocals, Ric Fierabracci: Bass, Scott Dugdale: Keyboards, Joel Taylor: Drums
Recorded and Produced by WaveGroup

“Hard to Handle”
Otis Redding, Allen Jones, Alvertis Isbell
Universal Music Publishing. Ltd. All rights reserved. Used by permission
Performed by: Chris Perry: Vocals, Nick Gallant: Guitars & Bass, Scott Dugdale: Programming, Keyboards, Drums
Recorded and Produced by WaveGroup

“Song with a Mission”
Jasper Anderberg, Johan Bengtsson, Maja Ivarsson, Fredrik Nilsson, Felix Rodriguez
2006 Tom Bone Music (STIM)/Dimensional Music of 1091 (ASCAP) Tom Bone Music and Dimensional Music of 1091 administered by Cherry Lane Music Publishing Company, Inc. (ASCAP). All rights reserved. Used by permission
Performed by:Becca Nueneubel: Vocals, Moorea Dickason: Background Vocals,Nick Gallant: Guitars, Bass, Scott Dugdale:, Programming, Additional Percussion, Joel Taylor: Drums
Recorded and Produced by WaveGroup

“Brass In Pocket”
Christine Kerr, James Honeyman-Scott
EMI April Music, Inc. (ASCAP) All rights reserved. Used by permission
"Performed by: Moorea Dickason: Vocals, Lance Taber: Guitars, Nick Gallant: Bass, Scott Dugdale: Programming, Keyboards, Drums
Recorded and Produced by WaveGroup

“Ever Fallen in Love”
Peter MacNelsh
BMG Music Publishing. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
Performed by: Nick Gallant: Vocals, Guitar, Bass, Joel Taylor: Drums
Recorded and Produced by WaveGroup

“N.I.B.”
Terence Butler, Anthony Iommi, John Osbourne, W.T. Ward
TRO - Essex Music International, Inc. (ASCAP) All rights reserved. Used by permission.
Performed by: Mark Edwards: Vocals, George Nastos: Guitars, Darryl C. Anders: Bass, Joel Taylor: Drums, Scott Dugdale: Additional Percussion
Recorded and Produced by WaveGroup

“Sweet Leaf”
Terence Butler, Anthony Iommi, John Osbourne, W.T. Ward
TRO - Essex Music International, Inc. (ASCAP) All rights reserved. Used by permission.
Performed by: Brooks Lundy: Vocals, George Nastos: Guitar, Ric Fierabracci: Bass, Joel Taylor: Drums
Recorded and Produced by WaveGroup

“War Pigs”
Terence Butler, Anthony Iommi, John Osbourne, W.T. Ward
TRO - Essex Music International, Inc. (ASCAP) All rights reserved. Used by permission.
Performed by: Mark Edwards: Vocals, Marcus Henderson: Guitar, Darryl Anders: Bass, Scott Dugdale: Drums
Recorded and Produced by WaveGroup

“Heroes”
David Bowie, Brian Eno
1972 Screen Gems-EMI Music Inc. (BMI), Tintoretto Music (BMI) admin. by RZO Music, Inc. and Careers-BMG Music Publishing, Inc. (BMI) All Rights Reserved. Used by permission.
Performed by: Kid Beyond: Vocals, Lance Taber: Guitars, Ric Fierabracci: Bass, Scott Dugdale: Programming, Keyboards, Drums
Recorded and Produced by WaveGroup

“Queen Bitch”
David Bowie
1972 Screen Gems-EMI Music Inc. (BMI), Chrysalis Music (ASCAP), Tintoretto Music (BMI) admin. by RZO Music, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Used by permission.
"Performed by: Kid Beyond: Vocals, Lance Taber: Guitars, Nick Gallant: Bass, Scott Dugdale: Programming, Keyboards, Additional Percussion, Joel Taylor: Drums
Recorded and Produced by WaveGroup

"Fortunate Son"
John Fogerty.
Jondora Music courtesy of Concord Music Group Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
Performed by Mark Edwards (vocals), Lance Tabers (guitars), Darryl C. Anders (bass), Joel Taylor (drums).
Recorded and Produced by WaveGroup

"Juke Box Hero"
Mike Jones and Lou Gramm.
1981 Somerset Songs Publishing, Inc. (ASCAP). All rights reserved. Used by permission.
Performed by Nick Gallant (vocals, bass), George Nastos (guitar), Scott Dugdale (drums, keys).
Recorded and Produced by WaveGroup

"Bang a Gong (Get it On)"
Marc Bolan.
TRO - Essex Music International, Inc, (ASCAP). All rights reserved. Used by permission.
Performed by Danny Shorago (vocals), Nick Gallant (background vocals, guitar), Darryl Anders (bass), Scott Dugdale (programming, keyboards).
Recorded and Produced by WaveGroup

"My Sharona"
Doug Fieger, Berton Averre.
1979 Wise Brothers Music, LLC (ASCAP), Eighties Music and Small Hill Music. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
Performed by Nick Gallant (vocals, guitars), Ric Fierabracci (bass), Scott Dugdale (drums).
Recorded and Produced by WaveGroup

"Cherry Bomb"
Joan Jett, Kim Fowley.
Peer Music, LTD / Jett Pack Music (BMI). All rights reserved. Used by permission.
Performed by Moorea Dickason (vocals), Nick Gallant (guitars, bass), Scott Dugdale (drums).
Recorded and Produced by WaveGroup

“Brass In Pocket”
Christine Kerr, James Honeyman-Scott
EMI April Music, Inc. (ASCAP) All rights reserved. Used by permission
"Performed by: Moorea Dickason: Vocals, Lance Taber: Guitars, Nick Gallant: Bass, Scott Dugdale: Programming, Keyboards, Drums
Recorded and Produced by WaveGroup