Timeslaughter’s story revolves around a group of “time worshiping demons” called the Takar who don’t approve of a time machine created by William Spade, a mild mannered scientist. After an encounter with the Takar that leaves him a mutilated shell of a man (shown in glorious detail by the opening cinematic), he creates a robotic exoskeleton and goes insane, attacking anyone who may stumble through his time portal which has now completely destroyed the normal flow of time and space, causing people from different times to meet on the field of bloody battle. It provides as good an excuse as any to get a variety characters brawling, and adds in time period variations to the traditional ethnic diversity of fighting games.

Considering the indie (and freeware) nature of the game, the quality is really impressive. Even now (thanks to DosBox) I find it to be both visually pleasing and fun, with large animated characters, infinitely quotable voice clips and blood that soaks the entire screen by the end of every match. Each character has a set of special moves, including the mandatory fatalities to put a violent exclamation point on the end of a match. There were even secret characters and unique endings for every character to complete the package.

As a service to the modern Internet, and to honor the past, I decided to upload the game opening and all the character endings to my Youtube account:

You can watch these videos, my LSD dream journal videos and more on my Youtube profile. Play Timeslaughter. It’s fun.

BONUS INFO: In 1998 a company called Paradox Development almost released a game called Thrill Kill. A violent Playstation 4 player 3D fighting game, Thrill Kill was never officially released, (although a basically complete disc image was circulated online) and was eventually re-purposed as the engine for Wu-Tang: Shaolin Style in 1999. I don’t want to point any accusatory fingers, but Thrill Kill featured a straight-jacketed psychotic who looks sliiiightly familiar…

Forecast grabs the extended forecast from wunderground in either Fahrenheit or Celsius and displays it in the Ubiquity notification area. I am by no means a Javascript master, so I’m sure there is still room for optimization, but things are still fairly snappy and the functionality is pretty much all there. I was surprised at how easy it was to develop, and all the stumbling blocks I ran into were related to my own Javacript abilities. I’m mulling over what to develop next, which is probably a good sign for the future if someone as inexperienced as me is still excited about making new commands.

If you end up using forecast, let me know about any issues you run into or any improvements you’d like to see. Also if you are making any new commands drop me a note and show me what you’ve come up with.

On 08/08/08 the Boredoms and their friends put on a concert in the La Brea Tar Pits. The day was beautiful and the night was full of magic space music. I flew out from my DC area home allll the way to LA to see a free concert. So it ended up being pretty expensive when you take everything into consideration. Musically it was fairly similar to last year’s 77boadrum, but not identical. Things weren’t QUITE as tight as they were with the 77, but it was still impressive. I got to hang around in the tar pit park for all of the dress rehearsal, which was pretty interesting. I’m not sure how much they all practiced together beforehand, (probably not at all, it must be hard to organize that many people) so watching things come together made the final product even more interesting.

There wasn’t any of the nonsense from last year with thousands of people getting turned away at the gate, thanks to the actual ticket system employed, but there was quite a line for the custom screened t-shirts. Actually there were two, one to get the shirt itself and one to get it screened. Things just seemed to run smoother this year, which was nice after the confusing frenzy in New York.

Some things were strange though. Right before everyone was supposed to line up to get in to the actual concert there was a traffic…incident. Since there were a lot of extra cars parked on the street for the event it created some slightly different driving conditions. A little old lady got confused, clipped a parked car and smashed into a tree, right in front of the metal security gate for the concert entrance line. We had to wait a while longer than expected to get in, but the human traffic drama unfolding made it interesting. During the concert itself, the drummer right in front of me just got up from his kit and left for a few minutes, and an audience member replaced him. It was actually a smooth transition because the audience guy had some skills. Never a dull moment!

Check out my flickr slideshow below, with some short videos of the performance.

At 6:30 we finally got out and walked to the front gate. After the least thorough pat-down of all time we were inside, and totally soaked. Standing water was everywhere, and due to the slight incline in the path around the pavilion a river was starting to form. We fought upstream to the end of the line and grabbed a piece of wall next to a bathroom under an overhang just long enough to shield us from the downpour. It rained as hard as I’ve ever seen it rain. The standing water got worse and worse. The opening band came and went. The sun went down and the temperature dipped into the 40’s. Then it rained harder.

At 9:00 Radiohead came on. We had moved around a bit but the water was inescapable. Even if we COULD escape it we were so saturated it wouldn’t have mattered. Songs started to come and go when something strange happened. A guy came out from under the cover of the pavilion and asked if we were stuck out on the lawn. Then he told us to take his pavilion seats because he was too ill to stay. So just a few songs into the set, we were running as fast as our rain frozen legs could carry us to sweet relief under the roof.

Relief isn’t quite what we found, but we did find a better view than the wall of humanity and umbrellas that was the lawn. The show was great. When it came time to leave the walkway dividing the seats from the lawn had become an actual river, more than ankle deep. I couldn’t help but laugh hysterically as we sloshed through the water, down the ramp and back out into the disgusting mud pit of the parking lot. We lined up to get out but didn’t move for 20 minutes. Out of the corner of our eye we spotted a cop car zooming off to the back of the lot. We followed and managed to circumvent the entire line somehow. The roads we were all funneled out to eventually were whittled down to a single lane on the way back to 66 in the blinding rain.

This brings up an interesting point. This venue has been around for quite a while, and is in the middle of a lot of nothing. Why then are the roads so bad? Why is there only on exit / entrance to the parking lot? Why did the structure handle rain so poorly? I don’t have an answer to any of that, but if someone has some answers I’d love to hear them.

Today I came home from work to find a box on my doorstep. What was inside? A new umbrella of course.

Here’s what Radiohead had to say. Here’s a rundown from the Radiohead 2008 Tour blog. Make sure to read the comments for the full effect.

That’s some flying guy with a big box head and a pink bird, the most ghetto Diveman from Megaman 4, and the crazy chicken from Africa Taro. Neat!

JEALOUS?????

Original Photo by flickr user trontnort

Continuing evidence that Blanka = Spinnaz

These videos were made with LSD: The Dream Emulator for Playstation. Asmik Ace developers kept dream journals for years, and drew from their unconscious experiences to create a video dream journal that is different for every player.

There is no “point” to the game. You explore the dreamscape for as long as you can before you wake yourself up. It seems like each dream builds on previous ones, so the longer you play the more you will see. Wildlife stalks over once empty expanses, the layout of buildings morph behind your back, faceless people wander ghostlike through ancient cities. LSD is the epitome of “pretty ugly” Playstation graphics, but the surreal environment lends itself to the creepy harsh edges of late 90s polygonal models. 40 days in there is no end in sight. Join me for my adventures in dreamland.

Adult Swim occasionally makes interesting Flash games. Their newest one is something special though. Viva Caligula has you saving Rome. How you ask?

Sounds simple right? In addition to laying waste to the populous, you get to collect a different weapon for every letter of the alphabet. Here is the list:

• Axe
• Brick
• Crossbow
• Dagger
• Eagle
• Flambeau
• Gurlet
• Hatchet
• Iaculum
• Javelin
• Knife
• Lion
• Manhood
• Necromancy
• Ocarina
• Pitchfork
• Quadrel
• Rock
• Sword
• Tentaculum
• Ursiform
• Vespiary
• Whip
• Xyston
• Yatagan
• Zampogna

The ending is totally worth it, and laying waste to scholars and bathhouse employees isn’t bad either. And here’s a bonus screenshot. Don’t delay, save the world with the power of…

As a selfish little side note, I noticed that my friends and I were in 2 of the pictures in the slide show. Pictures 62 and 63 to be exact. Shout outs to Justin William Lin for taking these pictures. Thanks for proving I was there dude!

Remember, if you want to see more from this life changing experience, check out my 77 Boadrum Gallery.

• Williams Street apparently really likes internet classic Portal of Evil network websites
• If you lived in China you wouldn’t be able to enjoy this very website!

The more you know

Now for a personal touch to this story:

My companions and I woke up bright and early, then took an unscheduled detour to over near Coney Island thanks to the simplicity of the New York subway system. Once we got back to DUMBO (down under the Manhattan bridge overpass, yes it is the stupidest name for a neighborhood ever) we scoped out the venue and popped a squat on a restaurant stoop. It was around 1:00, and “the cops will make you leave” if anyone tried to line up before 2:30, so we knew we were in good shape. Just around the corner was Grimaldi’s Pizzeria, along with about 50 people in line on the sidewalk. We managed to get our pizza in a bag (boxes are apparently a luxury they refuse to afford customers) and since it was only 2:20 by the time we were done, we figured everything was still well on schedule. We stroll around the corner to see…about 400 people already in line. So much for the iron claw of the NYPD. We scurried down the block and managed to get in line well within the “safe zone” of people who would be allowed in. Since this was a free concert it was going to be packed to the gills, so timing was of the essence. We burned our asses and ankles indian style on the sidewalk for an hour and a half, then were let in to the Empire-Fulton Ferry State Park.

The drums were already set up. There weren’t any seats so speak of, so we just set up shop about a foot from the outermost ring. I was between position 72 and 73 to be exact. This gave us the perfect view of the Boredoms themselves, as it was a dead shot to the stage.

We were so close we could have taken an errant slap at a drum if we wanted. We were a bit too busy having our minds blown completely out of our heads for that though. It was an amazing experience, and one that will never happen again. There were cameras everywhere (not mine of course, just my crappy cellphone camera), so I’m hoping there will be some grand video memorial officially put together. In the meantime, here is a nice collection of online media for those who missed out:

Event Photos via Flickr
Tie Dye - this bears a bit of explanation. I don’t know who this kid was, and he was about 25% of the circle away from us, but he was dancing up a STORM during the whole affair, crumbling up rocks and waving his shoes in the air. He knows how to have a good time.
A nice close up video
The view from the bridge
Eye attacking his string boards Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

AND NOW
Since I haven’t seen it anywhere else, here are pictures of the program given out at the show:

The cover of the program.

“YOU are the 78th member! This is because the sound will spiral outwards, from left to right, like DNA, from deep inside of us right out to you. The 77 drum group is one giant instrument, one living creature. The 77 boadrum will coil like a snake and transform to become a great dragon!
-EYE”

Notice that wavy line is the milky way, just for some scale in comparison to the magnitude that was the drum circle.

You can see more of my crappy cell phone pictures, bigger pictures of the program, and pictures of the commemorative t-shirt in my 77 Boadrum gallery.

• Radiohead - OK Computer
• Dr. Dooom - First Come First Served
• Cornelius - 69/96
• The Blue Hearts - Stick Out
• Coil - Ropeland Music
• Bjork - Homogenic
• ODB - Nigga Please
• Ben Folds Five - Whatever and Ever Amen
• Beck - Odelay
• OOIOO - Feather Float

The next day someone else asked me what my top 10 music videos list would be like. Well since I am all about this internet thing the kids are so fond of, I will include links so you can experience these for yourself. There are a few that you shouldn’t watch at work though!

• U.N.K.L.E. - Rabbit in Your Headlights
  A man walks in traffic in a tunnel and gets hit constantly by cars. It’s pretty brutal.
• Fatboy Slim - Weapon of Choice
  Wacky dancing Christopher Walken. How can you not like that?
• Wax - California
  One long shot of a guy running to catch the bus. Oh, and he’s on fire. No CG here folks, he’s really on fire.
• Prodigy - Smack my Bitch Up
  Crazy POV video with a good ending.
• Bjork - Bachelorette
  Bjork is the only musician who’s music videos I actually bought on DVD. This one is a weird story within a story within a story etc etc etc.
• The White Stripes - Fell In Love With a Girl
  Lego animation is good.
• Supercar - Be
  The idea is simple: kick a soccer ball into a goal. But every time he misses a mobster shoots one of his loved ones in the head.
• Michael Jackson - Leave Me Alone
  This is just a straight up weird video from MJ, but it was one of my favorite parts of Moonwalker.
• Bjork - I Miss You
  I TRIED not to repeat but this video is too weird not to include. John K from Ren & Stimpy put his other character Jimmy the Idiot in with cartoon Bjork for super funtimes.
• Radiohead - No Surprises
  Thom Yorke’s head in a fishbowl that slowly fills up with water while he sings. I just always though this looked cool.

I was working at a major trucking company, one of the biggest in the country. No, not that one. I don’t know what it was called, but that wasn’t important. I didn’t have time to worry about things like that because I was embroiled in a battle to save this company from the brink of disaster.

Trucking is, at it’s core, something most people don’t want to think about. Tractor trailers are things to be avoided on the highway as their drivers are often tweaked out speed freaks commanding 37 tons of metal and rubber and gas and hate at a million miles per hour.

BUT NO MORE MY FRIENDS!

To combat this negative image I propose a change in the aesthetic values trucking has been to this point based upon. We will replace the depressing gray boxes that intimidate and disgust motorists with epic works of stained glass. A thirty foot cube of dazzling craftsmanship, designed to improve the driving experience for both truckers and everyday motorists alike. Each trailer unique and beautiful, like a snowflake, bending the light in a thousand directions.

The cost you say? Costs be damned. We’re talking about wrestling this flagging industry from the edge of a bottomless pit. Accidents? If nothing else the scene would be a work of unparalleled art.

WHAT SAY YOU GENTLEMEN?

Will you decide to bring this industry to the next level, or allow it to languish in this increasingly dangerous quagmire?

To tell you the truth, I was totally aware that even one accident would probably bankrupt the company, as the trailers put a considerable economic strain on the company as it was. Having to replace what essentially was a one of a kind work of art would have surely lead to complete financial ruin. Still, I had to stick to my guns or these stereotypically balding executives would have eaten me alive.

Unfortunately I woke up before any definite decision could be reached, but I could see the tide starting to turn, and even had a few backers among the stuffed shirts in the room. I stand by my decision though, if trucks were hauling recycled cans in a stained glass cube I think people would just be happier as they drove down the road. At least I would be.

Also how about this new template? Pretty slick huh?

The Best Buy people didn’t let a line form 3 days in advance like some stores *ahem*Circuit City*ahem* so the line was to form at 5:00AM and the store would open at 7:00AM. Steve saw an empty parking lot from the highway and believed everything was coming up roses. However, it turned out that the police had banned people from the parking lot itself, and so a throng of hundreds was forming across the street. People milled about for a while until the proverbial green flag was dropped and everyone broke into a full on foot race to the door.

Does this sound ridiculous? Good, because it’s about to get much worse. People had apparently been hiding from the cops in the parking lot, and sprang from trees and bushes in an attempt to get a head start to the door and the sweet sweet $600 electronics therein. Steve knew if he looked back all would be lost, but we all speculate that people were brutally trampled behind him. A tentative line formed at the front door, but when people in the back realized they were too far from the door to be guaranteed a unit, the mob rushed the door as a cloud of humanity. The police threatened to arrest people, so the line reformed but with Steve significantly farther back. So the dream of a launch day PS3 was dead, but he had memories to last a lifetime. God bless America!

*I did not buy one

Bask in more of my glory in the Halloween gallery.