Friday, March 20, 2009

Basketball

It is my favorite sport to play, but I also like to watch it... in March. I don't know what it is, but I'm not a huge fan of the regular season like I am with football and baseball. However, yesterday Clemson reminded me of one reason why I like to watch basketball: the full-court press. This type of defense makes the game intense, and you have to respect the tenacity and conditioning of teams that use it. You also have to respect the flailing arms of the tallest and most gangly dude on the court in the face of the poor guy trying to inbound the ball. At one time in my life, I watched Iowa basketball a lot with my grandpa and dad, and I loved it when those Iowa teams from the late eighties and early nineties pressed opponents into submission. It had to have been a Tom Davis thing. I'm not an Iowa fan now, but I think Davis was a great coach.

Monday, March 16, 2009

MMO-Friendly Music



There are bands out there that go really well with epic computer games (WoW, etc.), and Grails is one of them. This marriage of music and cpu game is not meant to be an insult to a band's music; to me it simply means that their music has achieved a narrative and cinematic quality that is a fitting soundtrack for adventure. Some might say, "Waaaaah... WoW has great in-game music; why don't you listen to it?" Yes, WoW does have good in-game music, but I prefer listening to my own playlist when I play. Check out Grails when you have a chance--especially the song "Belgian Wake-up Drill." I've really been enjoying their album Black Tar Prophecies Vols 1,2,& 3.

Not all music works well with adventure games. For instance, I don't want to be hearing "1,2,3,4 tell me that you love me more" when I'm jamming my sword into a dark iron dwarf's ear. I want to hear something with a matching mood. Some of my other favorite bands for this application include Mogwai, Explosions in the Sky, and Godspeed You! Black Emperor. I still only have one album from Grails, but I plan to check out more of them.