I was quite excited to see the new DLC for New Vegas available for purchase, though I immediately regretted starting down the Lonesome Road, not for the reasons you’d think.
I have no idea what is going on with the Fallout series and the continuous technical bugs/glitches that plague the inhabitants of the wastes, but it is getting ridiculous.
SLOOOOOW DOOOOOOOOW — – - — NNS……..
The amount of time I’ve waited between open/closing containers and entering/exiting VATS between the last two DLC released surely outweighs the time I spent commuting to work for the entirety of a month. How can you fail on the process of looting containers? That’s the sacred cow of the Oblivion/Fallout series. I’m actually avoiding opening containers and joy they contain because I know that it will mean sitting and waiting for 1-5 minutes to return to actual gameplay. I should write it as “gameplay” because all I’ve been doing since I entered the Lonesome Road is waiting for the game to catch up. I even tried installing an SSD into my PS3 to hopefully avoid the sort of lockups and freezing problems I had with Oldworld Blues. It maks no difference. The Fallout wiki states that the PS3 may exhibit lockups when too many games saves are “in memory”. I deleted tons of game saves and even proactively deleted the game data force a reinstall and it makes NO DIFFERENCE. Such a waste of potential. I really LOVE this game but it’s become so laborious that I don’t even care about the storyline anymore. I just want to PLAY the goddamned game. I’d say I have to reboot the console every 15 minutes in order get the game into a state that’s tolerable. That is unacceptable. Maybe a software update will resolve these issues, maybe it’s a problem with the ever-increasing size of the gamesave file and not being able to fit into the PS3′s limited RAM, thus forcing swap-o-rama. I don’t know, but something has to give. I’m starting to lose faith in the Bethesda know-how. If Skyrim is anything like this, count me out.
So while digging through my laptop I came across this “memo” I wrote on Oct. 1st of 2007. I don’t actually remember writing it and I’m using the word “drunken” in the title because given most of it’s content I assume (or perhaps hope) that I was drunk when I wrote it. I briefly thought about going through and changing certain areas but after reading it over several times I decided I just wanted to peel the lid back and expose to the fresh air. Call it “therapy” if you will.
I should say certain parts I still agree while others I simply do not. I’ll leave it to the reader to decide which is which. The only things I’ve edited are grammar and spelling errors (of which there are still bound to be plenty).
10/1/2007
The deal is this people. No one is thinking enough! The reason we aren’t is because we can’t afford to. We can’t afford it mentally. There too much shit happening in our daily lives to worry about half the bullshit that gets presented to us on a daily basis by the mainstream.
So what’s the mainstream? You already know the answer to that question so why ask it? Simple: you need more fucking distractions in your life. It helps you stay focused on the mundane.
Reality check. In case you haven’t caught on (you stragglers) I’m saying people need to be duped to survive. It’s always been the case and always will be. Okay so let me clarify. See, people need a “cause”. The need something to get behind and champion. Makes us all feel like we have a stake in the grand scheme. Without it what do you have? Jack shit! Even these people who walk around calling themselves Nilhist and claiming they believe in nothing is bullshit. HA! WAKE UP! You believe in believing in nothing! Ha. Retarded muthafucka’s! Whatever. It’s all the same.
Dreams are all the same. Want to know the secret to yours? Pay attention! There is no fucking secret! It’s all right there! Again you busy yourself with the mundane because it feeds you. You’re very hungry.
Don’t sweat it. It’s not your fault. I include myself in this too. We’re fucking built like this from day one. You know that shit you hear from people when they say it’s “human nature”, well this is that shit. You’re apart of it, but you already know that.
So what’s my deal? I’m just as fucked up and confused as all of us. I guess I want to talk about it which is why I’m writing this. It’s my own brand of therapy because who the fuck wants to pay a shrink.
And what the fuck is intimacy anyway? And fuck thought cohesion. If you subscribe to that bullshit get the fuck off this page. It’s not for you. Shit here isn’t pretty and collected. It’s a fuckin mess! But I know you like it because you’re a mess. I know you are because you’re a human being. You got no fucking choice in the matter.
So the thought came to me what the fuck would I say if I could say anything? Fuck if I know and I know most people don’t. Why the fuck is that? We walk around all day like we’re enlightened and if only someone would give us the floor and an attentive audience we would school muthafucka’s around the globe. But in the end we find we don’t know what the fuck to say! You know why that is? It’s because we punk the fuck out and say what we think people want to hear. We want to…no fuck that, we NEED to please others. So we busy ourselves with trying to figure what we think someone wants to hear, but who knows what the fuck that is, so in the end we say fucking nothing. IT’S BRILLIANT!!
So okay about addiction! I fuckin love it! I swear to god I just want to start fucking whores. I mean I know the shit will cost money but what the fuck? Is intimacy really even needed? Can’t I just fuck and suck and be done with it? Do I need to be intimate?
Women so far have disappointed me. I’ll just say that shit and get it out there. Too fuckin picky and too fuckin naggy. I don’t want to have to baby sit your ass. If you want something fuckin say it! Fuck this whiney bullshit! I ain’t the fuckin one! And why the fuck do we (the men) have to initiate everything? I mean what the fuck? You ever stop to fucking think that the same ways you like feeling about shit I do to? Maybe I’d like it if you picked a fucking place to eat. And FUCK this theory that women need to be told what to do. Assholes invented that shit.
Shit, I lost my train of thought.
But I know I’m fuckin angry and have been for a long time? What the fuck has me upset. I don’t know. I’m looking for a fucking release and the shit is coming out fast and furious. Fuck it. I gotta take a piss then I’m gonna jerk off. The shit feels good and I fuckin like doing it!
From Yahoo (of course): “MTV is embracing change. In nearly three decades on the air, almost everything about the cable network — from its programming, to its focus, to its place in popular culture — has changed with the times, except for its famous tagline, “Music television.” Recently, the network quietly unveiled a new logo which has dropped the tagline entirely, indicating that MTV itself is leaving its original mission of an all-music channel in the dust.”
“The new logo is meant to put the focus on MTV’s current slate of talent.”
From Socrates Points (of course): OK, the graphic has GOT to be a joke. There’s bad photoshop (on celebs, wafer-thinners and other trash), but then there’s REALLY bad photoshop…and this logo is definitely REALLY bad photoshop. So you’re telling me that after 30 years, MTV just crops the fuckin’ original logo? That’s it? Just fuckin’ crop it? Oh wait, if I really wanted to be technical…make that “crop it and invert it.” Done.
That’s not edgey. That’s not new and original. That’s just fuckin’ REALLY bad photoCHOP! A baby can do that crap.
And because of that, I’m pissed off! You know some fuckin’ lazy gen-x asshole out there (working for MTV) came out on top with this one.
Socrates Points is back, and he’s pissed off. Thanks.
I was driving to a LAN party the other day with a friend and for some reason (no pun intended) we got on the subject of music and why we don’t make it anymore. I felt compelled to express a frustration that I’ve had with music software that essentially prevents me from creating anything these days. Every time I get the desire to open one of these programs I hesitate because of all the bullshit hoops you have to leap through in order to set your canvas and get something accomplished.
One has the power, through software, to accomplish insanely complex tasks that were impossible with prior technologies, but with this power comes an immensity of technical hang-ups that don’t exist when you have a 4-track and a guitar, for instance.
In my mind, workflow is largest barrier between me and my creating. Some people (including me, when I was a student and had time to burn) have no problem with a few set backs or technical glitches. They accept this as par for the course, or use these limitations to their benefit by finding creative workarounds. I really have no time for this kind of “dicking around” anymore. Through the years I’ve come to expect a certain amount of functionality to the applications that I use, and I’ve distilled these findings to the following list.
1. Drum Synthesis
2. Audio Recording
3. Self-reliance (doesn’t require additional software to be used to fullest extent)
4. Plug-in Support
5. Flexible audio routing
6. Backwards compatibility
7. Standardized file formats
I’ve learned that no program is perfect in respect to its workflow/features because not every program is created with the same musician in mind. That brings me to Reason 4 (or 3).
Reason 4 is built from the mindset of someone with an affinity for hardware. All software instruments and virtual “devices” within Reason are modeled from existing or imagined hardware devices. Inputs, outputs, signal flow, patch cables, bypasses, and even drawn-on power cables are featured, and perform as imagined. While this is “cute” and certainly helps those not familiar with abstract computer-based music software get their heads around the concept, it’s impossibly limiting! Wiring up a patch is just as arduous a task in Reason as in real life, but with the added “bonus” (see, handicap) of having to use a mouse to patch everything together. Everything about Reason screams “waste of time”!
For example, I’m a musician who, on occasion, likes to add vocals or a live bass/guitar part to a song. I also tend not to record my parts perfectly on the first try, nor do I set “live” parts in stone for a whole project. I tend to revert back to these recordings and either re-record them or cut them up. Ok fine, now, Reason costs about $400 for the latest version. It’s a bit more if you want all of the bonus content. You’d think that this amount of money will allow you to accomplish the above tasks without spending additional money. You would, of course, be wrong.
If you want to record vocal or other live instrument parts for use in Reason your only “real” choice (see my comments on Rewire below) is to record those tracks in an external audio editor and import them into one of Reason’s two sampler “devices” (three, if you count ReDrum, four if you count Dr. Rex and have deep pockets). Of course, by doing this you’ve “locked-in” that recording, so that if you had to re-record or make changes you’d have to go back into that external application and re-record, edit, export, then import all over again.
Like the Vocoder in Reason? Me too. Too bad you can’t reach the damn thing with a live input. What’s the point of a vocoder without a live input, you ask? Nothing, it’s just a stupid audio effect. Maybe there are tons of people out there that can imagine what their tracks will sound like with a vocoder without having to preview it ahead of time, but I don’t have time to record, export, import, map, then playback while playing another patched instrument as a carrier just to hear if I like a fucking vocoder added to my track!
Ok ok, let’s fucking forget the “live” features of Reason, as there are very few, and honestly it’s not meant to be a multi-track recorder or full-out DAW. Let’s move onto Reason’s bread and butter, namely electronic music production.
Synth drums?! Don’t get me wrong, people can do amazing things with samplers, amazing, but the days where you had to mixdown a software synth track to a sampler bank because you had seriously limited CPU power are quickly coming to an end. I mean, am I the only person that thinks sample-based drums are extremely limiting? What if you want to “create” your own drum sounds? Well, open an instance of Thor, Subtractor, Maelstrom, or what have you and start twisting, right? Well, none of these instruments are intended for drum sounds. Yeah, there are envelope options for it, but a whole device set aside for a single drum sound is pretty wasteful. Plus, if you wanted to add this drum sound from a Reason synth into one of the many sample devices (like ReDrum) there isn’t an easy way of bringing over your creations to these devices (despite the fact that you’re “locked” into a sample instead of being able to tweak a knob and pull a totally different sound into your mix). All I can think of is setting the sequencer to playback only a single note, mute the rest of the tracks, render to disk, then open in an external audio editor, clean up/trim the recording if necessary, then save this to disk and import it into Reason. What a fucking joke! Can it be done, yes. Will I do it, fuck no.
So you like to cut-up drum loops, eh? Well bend over, douche-neck. Reason 4 (as in Reason 3) features a phrase-sampler, Dr. Rex, that sounds great on paper. It allows you to playback cut up loops and re-sequence them at any tempo. Too bad the format that the “Rex Player” accepts (the .rex format) is only able to be exported from one particular application. If you guessed that this program is called Reason, then you owe me $200 bucks. Actually, you have to purchase ReCycle from propellerheads for $200 bucks to attain the capability of exporting Rex files from your own loop content. Kinda defeats the utility of such a “device” when you need to buy more software to use it properly, IMHO. And what is so special about ReCycle? Well not so goddamn much, at least not anymore, or not special to the degree that they couldn’t include the app’s functionality into Reason. The program is practically unchanged from when it was originally released in 1994. (we’re only on version 2.1, 15 years later, guys? …guys?) I’ve never wanted to buy the software because it seems so rarely supported or updated, that I figured that it would eventually be dropped due to lack of interest. I’d then have a dead-app that I couldn’t guarantee would function on any later OS X or Windows versions, so what’s the point?
I thought I could work around these plainly noted limitations but as I’ve tried to use the software I always, and I mean “always”, hit these walls one time or another in a project. Yes, I can add a lot of this functionality by tying Reason to a full DAW via Rewire, but if you’ve tried this out yourself you’d understand why this isn’t even a fucking option in my book. Using Rewire to connect Reason to Logic or another app is no different in my book than going back to using hardware instruments.
Using Rewire, you now have to make sure that your apps are opened and initialized in the right order (just like using a hardware synth where you have to load the correct bank before playback). You also have to worry about having two project files to save, manage, and backup, just like when you have to worry about saving a bank from a hardware synth to make sure you have a copy for future use, or for when you run out of internal memory. When I was using Reason in Rewire mode in Logic 7 there was a limitation where Reason would only play through as a single stereo track, not individual outputs. Which, even if this was a setup issue on my part, or a limitation that was resolved by the release of version 4 (I was using version 3 at the time) it’s still a pain in the ass to setup.
If they want to encourage the use of Rewire then they should build in a series of presets for outputting multi-channel to outside DAW’s, otherwise fuck off.
Would it be too much to ask to add your existing virtual instruments into Reason, like the modules from Rebirth? Why even have a software connection to Rebirth from Reason on OS X if ReBirth isn’t a OS X native application? That’s like a casket with a satellite dish. Foist your abortion-ware on someone else.
Like I said, I thought I could ignore these limitations, but in following the virtualization of hardware model they virtualized almost all of the limitations of hardware as well (minus the most important, instantiation). There is so much promise to an app like Reason, but I fear this promise will never be realized unless they dump some of the “hardware baggage” and think about the totality of service that’s expected by their customers. Make it easy for musicians to create music with this technology not in spite of it.
To succeed, a talk show host must perpetuate the notion that his or her listeners are victims, and the host is the vehicle by which they can become empowered. The host frames virtually every issue in us-versus-them terms. There has to be a bad guy against whom the host will emphatically defend those loyal listeners.
Sometimes it takes these sorts of comprehensive explanations to nail down that pit in your stomach you feel when you happen upon a recording of Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, or Bill O’Reily that you find particularly hypocritical.
Though, I do find that something that’s missing from this account is the obvious self-aggrandisement of the host’s power or masculinity. It’s definitely the case with Bill O’Reily, who’s sex scandals, subsequent pay-offs, and active “bully” technique do little to mask a petty, fearful man. In regards to the last clip, he would certainly be fearful of losing a shouting match to “a gay“. lol
The simultaneous pandering to country, troops (unless they disagree with you), “Joe Six-Pack“, and anyone from a hero-worshipping, halcyon, by-gone (if it ever even existed) era, exposes the article’s claim of casting listeners as victims. The biggest problem with this, I can see, is that it manufactures an idilic “red-blooded”, “Rock-Ribbed” American archetype that only exists in these hosts’ wet-dreams. Instead of getting upset that a host is speaking to them while assuming that they are a member of this elite, the audience is of course flattered, thus buying into it. It’s what brought us lower-middle-classmen like “Joe the Plumber” arguing from a standpoint of being rich. Somehow he has been trained to be concerned about how people earning well over $250,000. That’s the only reason we have so many poor people supporting the GOP these days. They’ve been tricked into believing that they should be concerned about the Estate Tax, when they would have to inherit an estate valued at over $2,000,000 for that to even be an issue.
You moose hunting, brainwashed puppet. How many times do you think she’s sucked John McCain’s dick to get on his ticket? Either that or he’s sitting next to her ventriloquist style with his hand up her ass. If these two chumps get elected, I’m moving to Canada.
I fucking DARE you to watch the clip above and NOT LAUGH at this colossal fuck-brained ape of an idiot! If we elect this fucking moron anywhere NEAR the goddamn white house, we ARE ALL FUCKED!!! I can’t believe this clip, I just can’t believe that this fucking IDIOT is on the national stage, with all the ways we’ve been fucked by the current administration, the wars, and the wall street meltdown… Bravo McCain! Bra-fucking-vo, you fucking asshole. The moment you stop trying to trick-fuck the American people is the moment you get your goddamn integrity back. Jesus CHRIST!
That’s great! That’s like when Bill Cosby received an honorary doctorate for starring as Dr. Heathcliff “Combustible” Huxtabul. For fuck sake! Just because your hockey-mom sidekick was the governor of Alaska for under two years, doesn’t mean she automatically deserves the medal for “biggest knowledges of puissance in them thar neck of the woods award”. There’s a lot of pissed off Department of Energy eggheads right now. I guess they’ll have to have her carry around a giant cardboard lightning bolt around, or a bunch of metallic hullahoops swirling around her like she’s a walking nuclear symbol. McCain, I don’t care how many of your soulless aids take turns fucking lantern-cells up her ass. She will never live up to that stack up bullshit you call her “credentials”. The only other explanations for your answer I could come up with are: you didn’t hear the question, you didn’t understand the question, or you decided, in your bent-cock wisdom, to answer a totally different question that was more to your liking.
It’s becoming quite apparent what strategy the GOP is taking after having announced Sarah Palin’s candidacy. Similar that if you happen to ask John McCain about how many houses he owns, why he doesn’t support universal healthcare, what he thinks about supporting a museum for Woodstock, or why he listens to the music he listens to, he will respond seriously, that it’s because he was shot down over Vietnam and held as a prisoner of war. Obviously. Why would you even ask such a thing?
Let’s not ignore the fact that McCain used the same “you can put lipstick on a pig remark” in regards to Senator Hilary Clinton this year, without the same complaints.
From CNN:
In Iowa last October, McCain drew comparisons between Hillary Clinton’s current health care plan and the one she championed in 1993: “I think they put some lipstick on the pig, but it’s still a pig.” He used roughly the same line in May, after effectively claiming the Republican nomination.
If you are unaware of Sarah Palin and are trying to make sense of her in the short week we’ve had since she was announced, and since she hasn’t done any interviews with the press at this point, you may have hastily researched her via the web and come across some information that though not definitive proof, leaves a lot to be answered…well you’re just spouting lies about this secretive candidate.
Ok, and for the record, asking about banning books, telling the head of the library that she’s fired, then dropping the subject when pressured, does little to convince me that she didn’t have the lunatic intent to ban books, just that she didn’t get away with it.
So now we get to the real meat and potatoes of the GOP. Painting Barack Obama as wanting to “Destroy” Palin, the innocent, god-fearing, tongue-speaking, hockey-mom of a disabled child. Painting a black man as an aggressive, destructive force, wow, I wonder who they’re trying to target with that ad.
Fuck the GOP, and fuck those who happily eat their bullshit.
All that work to dress up his 360 and notice the horrible grinding noise the disc drive makes right before the end of the video. I sent in one of my 360′s due to that grinding, and the other destroys any disc you put in.
Summary: Microsoft Xbox 360 sucks heavy dick.
So while digging through my laptop I came across this “memo” I wrote on Oct. 1st of 2007. I don’t actually remember writing it and I’m using the word “drunken” in the title because given most of it’s content I assume (or perhaps hope) that I was drunk when I wrote it. I briefly thought about going through and changing certain areas but after reading it over several times I decided I just wanted to peel the lid back and expose to the fresh air. Call it “therapy” if you will.
