RubixsQube

I guess, just like I didn't much care to know about the story of how Anakin fell to the dark side, I don't much care to know what happens to Luke and the gang after the death of palpatine. It makes me sad that they're going to prop up ol' growleymouth Harrison Ford and make him go through that wry scoundrel act again. It's a nice, fine cast of actors...although it only lists two ladies, and would it really kill the casting director of a Star Wars film to perhaps find someone of Latino or Asian descent?

While this video is full of fun robot moves, I am especially charmed by the last line.

I am not trying to dismiss clyde's personal identity. Clyde, you understand, I support whatever personal choices you want to have about art and society and culture. I don't resent hipsters. I am going to say that again. I don't. Resent. Hipsters. Perhaps this is tough because you may have some version of me in your head based on the posts I've made here. I've got all of the signs of hipster-dom, and have been labelled that throughout my entire adulthood. I've done the things a hipster should do. The thing is, I am just putting forward the idea that being cool should not be because you seek out the abnormal, or the different, but rather because you seek things out to begin with. If you're being counterculture because you have something to say, say it. But if you're being counterculture just because it's counterculture, well, where does that end? I want art. I want progression, and I want the world to make things that are different, and fight predominant viewpoints. I just don't want irony. I want the core reason that people do things to be because it's helpful, or kind, or good for society. Not because it raises their coolness level. I don't believe that something loses any value if other people like it. I want people to be able to do what they want, and enjoy things that they want to enjoy, and that's been my argument throughout this thread. I don't consider that a ridiculous idea, Twig. Ok, I'm going to go back and re-read what I've written. I'm sorry if my posts have been personally attacking clyde. I don't mean him any harm, except that I just feel pretty strongly about the cult of cool after spending my life around people who seem like nothing matters unless they put it up on instagram, or find the correct gif for their tumblr, or just finds some way to share their authenticity. I really strive to do things because I want to do them, instead of doing things because of their perceived coolness by others. This sentiment has perhaps gotten way mixed up in an otherwise civil thread. I'll see myself to the door!

This thread is real ridiculous. Clyde! Just like the things you like! You can call yourself whatever you want! Fetishize authenticity, or don't. The problem with continually trying to be counter-culture is that eventually, you have to be counter-counter culture in order to be edgy and authentic,, and then counter-counter-counter culture, and eventually what the hell are you standing for? People give hipsters shit only because they fight so damn hard for the world to recognize their efforts at consumption: "I like this movie! I liked this movie before you did! That makes me special!"

Yeesh. Dude! I'd really, really try to work on your "excitement" reaction upon realizing you enjoyed something before someone else. That's a real off-putting attitude to have for anyone. There's one million reasons why someone may not have heard of a band you particularly enjoy. Combined with the fact that you actively "start out by assuming [you] will not enjoy popular art", and you sound like a bundle of fun. The coolest thing a person can do is stop caring about looking cool. If someone starts to tell me about a piece of art I already have some knowledge of, I've started trying to just listen to them. We should all be in the business of supporting other people's enthusiasm, even if you don't share their particular opinion. Unless someone posts up for a high-five over mass genocide, I don't want to rain on someone's parade if they happen to be a big fan of some "popular art." It's fun, sometimes, to hear people talk about things you aren't big into, too. This is partially why I listen to Idle Thumbs! Because god damn, it's just fun to listen to people talk about things because they like them. Trying to distance yourself from the majority is such a weird thing to attempt. Just like the damn things you like, and share this with people, and listen and reflect the enthusiasm other people give to you, even if it's about how much they love Big Bang Theory.

This is a statement that made me tug my collar. Every conversation about hipsters I've witnessed tends to go along with what's been seen here. Someone calls someone else a "hipster." Generally, this comes from the most basic "definition" of hipster: someone who claims to be into something before it became more well known. There is generally a response of "I don't know what you're talking about I'm not a hipster". Someone comes in and says that the word hipster has no meaning. Someone says that the only people who hate the word "hipster" are hipsters. People provide weird vague definitions of the word that tend to use the word "cool" a lot. Someone references beatniks. I just want people to stop lumping people into weird behavioral boxes. It felt gross growing up to have people call me names, and it feels gross when people still call each other names now. I've said this before in this very forum, but if someone wants to listen to vinyl, or ride a fixed gear bicycle, or be really into like, 19th-century ship ropemaking or whatever, let them. If they happen to think they're cooler than you because of it, let them continue thinking that. What do you care what other people think? Clyde, you wrote "It's the hipster-curse. I have often had moments where I ask myself 'Do I want to tell them how I know about this? Or should I just nod because they won't believe me and they'll think I'm just trying to impress them with what (understandably) sounds like braggart-lies?' ". If someone asks you how you know about some band, or a video game, or a movie, and you know it because you care about things, let them know! You don't have to sound like a braggart if you don't want to! Let them know the ways that you find your music, or your games. Chris was pointing out an astounding coincidence on the podcast that the game Jake brought up was shown to him by a fan, who was developing it. There is zero subtext to that. The easiest way to fight worrying about this "hipster curse" is just raw, pure enthusiasm.

Fun show! Notes: - Alongside every person who got a degree of some sort in the University of California system while Arnold Schwarzenegger was governor of the state, my masters degree (but unfortunately, not my PhD, which was received after he finished his terms) has his signature on the bottom. It's kind of nice that an official document indicating that I am a "Master of Astronomy" is signed by The Terminator. - My copy of the the Idle Thumbs record came, and it sounds great. I've never had to switch my turntable over to 45 rpm mode! Thanks for making those available. - My favorite single moment of this week's show was how, , Nick's only response was a very Nick Breckon "eh." It made me laugh a lot.

A lot of this has been said, but I am going to say it again, because it doesn't hurt to say it. I've been in academia for something like, shit, thirteen years. The best thing I did, while in graduate school, to keep my head above water when I was dealing with serious anxiety and sadness issues, was go seek help. It was very hard for me to fight the feeling that I was wasting the therapists time with my stupid depression, but everyone's mental health is worthwhile. There are a lot of ways to deal with depression. If you're nervous about medication, there are so many other things that you can try, and honestly, it sometimes feels good to just know you're trying. To add to the chorus, I've heard a lot of great stories (including from my own family) about the positive effects of medication. Group and individual therapy taught me that people are really good at looking like they know what they're doing, but in actuality, everyone is pretty nervous, and trying hard, and also many people are struggling just like you are. You have support here, and that's good. I would hope you can find support in a more personal way through any avenues that are open to you. Life is just so fucking difficult, everyone. Even when you have your shit together, it's rough. And it's good to remember that for when you look at someone else and see "wow, that person is always so put together, and here I am, feeling like shit." Because you know what? A person's outward persona may not reflect the truth, which is that god dammit, it's so hard to be a human being sometimes.

I tend to find "referential" humor to be a pretty low, easy-to-hit target, but it tends to become stale much faster than other forms of humor. Personally, I like to reward humor that I find to be intelligent, clever, and surprising. With Guacamelee, there's fresh humor in the writing, which can be pretty funny. These little billboards do a good job of adding visual appeal to the levels, but I wonder how it will age. If someone goes back to the game in ten years, will they still wonder what "business cat" is? Perhaps they will because it's "random," as we live in an age where things that are "random" is often found funny, but will this always be the case? I personally think that it's hard to say if the humor would be "better" if it did away with the references. Humor is highly subjective. The success of so much of our humor media that is largely predicated on making references (laughter, I've read, is merely the sound of an audience congratulating itself) indicates that Guacamelee's method was probably successful. I bet a lot of people got a kick out of the fact that they referenced the Me Gusta guy: "Neat! I saw that on the internet! These people must read the same internet!" But damn if I'm always disappointed when someone dips into that well.

I bought one of them vinyls because I was feeling super left out! Thanks for offering them!

First, thanks for the suggestion, hammerpants. I should have done that, it was silly not to. Second, I beat Yama again last night. Hell was a particular highlight, what with me almost killing myself with a spike ball, and the calm shopkeeper in 5-1.

This is perhaps the most disappointing way I've had to end a run in a while. I'd welcome any olmec tips such that I don't get stuck in this situation again.

I agree with you! I don't watch a lot of TV (not out of "coolness," but rather I just don't have the interest level) and while I also would wish that the people I surround myself with wouldn't talk about their current favorite television shows forever and ever...people like what they like, and they want to feel like the things that they like are liked by others. The internet's current state makes it a crazy photomultiplier tube for opinions that end up defining the zeitgeist, and it tends to make individual things like shows and movies a much larger "thing" than they actually are, by sheer virtue of the fact that the internet goes on and on about it (this is similar to what Gormongous said above) That's fine! Enjoy things! Feel good about your opinions because they are shared by others! It's quality stuff! The only thing that is bad is that people go from "you haven't seen _____" to "what kind of a monster are you for not watching ___!" It doesn't happen all the time, but I've definitely had to suffer a lot of eye rolling when I say I haven't watched a show, or seen a movie, or whatever, because they assume I'm just trying to be a coolster. I'm not! I won't judge you for liking something! Enjoy Dr. Who! Watch Community! There are more than enough people in the world (who are not me) who are part of your same interest group, so I think it's ok for individuals to not be a part of that interest group and still live a fulfilling life.

Yeah, this was a buddy of mine who just had to sit there and let the ghost take him away.

How often does this sort of thing happen? Hopefully not very often.

There is a mode that I'll highlight that may help to entice anyone further. So, in one of the early batting-cage mini-games, they have a series of challenges that rely on "drawing a walk," which, if you're not familiar with baseball, involves only letting balls go by that are "outside the strike zone," which is indicated by a little box they show on the screen in relation to your player character. At this point, the little pitching device starts to pitch a series of balls to your character. If it's in the zone, you swing (press A). Otherwise, let it go. This proves to be straightforward and challenging, and by gosh it's fun. The 3D works well to help with timing, and the game has cute jokes when you manage to slap a ball back towards the pitching device. I think that I may be in the minority of people in this community who gets into games like this, but this satisfies the same itch that, say, Threes/2048 might in other people.

I donno. I see what you're saying, but there are indeed people who want to have white-only spaces, and while I don't support that particular cause, I don't know if I'm allowed to say they can't do that.

The game certainly uses baseball terminology, and it's developing (virtual) baseball skills, but it's more of a game about both reaction and timing. It has nothing to do with the MLB. I spent a good hour working my way through the batting cage levels last night, and it was really fantastic. In some modes, the balls are thrown with sweeping curves, and in others there is some fog in front of the machine such that you can't see exactly when it's pitched. There is one where the ball fully disappears right before you are to strike it, which requires good timing. Again, if you have zero interest in say, hitting or catching a ball, then maybe steer clear. Remember, there's a free demo which essentially walks you through an overview of the game, and allows you to play one of the early (and fun) modes, and then you can browse the other mini-games to see how they might work. It's worth taking a look.

I understand what you're saying, tegan, and it's definitely a fear, but I think that I would pay 16 - 20 dollars for a game like this (maybe some people wouldn't! You can get a lot of content nowadays for quite a low price, which I think is a bad thing, since it inspires cloning and creating cheaper alternatives to games), and while it's a little tedious to pay that over the course of the game rather than all at once, the feeling of success over a haggling victory eases that slight annoyance. I wonder if this is just the first step down a dark path, but their forays into it (see also the recent steel diver release as well) seem like they're testing out more stomach-able alternatives

It's pretty apparent throughout that you can haggle. As this is kind of a weird experiment, the game designers makes it very clear that it would be silly to pay the full $4. However, you can't just "haggle" for all of the games and get the best deal right from the get-go. Haggling requires items which are unlockable from successfully playing the games. So, it's not too far off from other version of in-app purchases, but it's less brazen. You also unlock percentage-off coupons that can add to the discount you might receive as you move down to what I think is a price floor for each game. I am really enjoying the mini-games, especially because the 3D really helps out with the spatial position of the ball in relation to your character. Also, it feels really good to play in a virtual batting cage. Architecture, you are right. It's real weird to like, give a depressed former pro baseball playing dog a pair of noise clippers so you can get a discount on a video game within a video game. And yeah, I really want to hear Jake talk about this game.

I didn't find the udjat eye, stumbled on the entrance to the black market, as well, and then beat Yama: I don't know why my cam is all scrunched up. Oh well!

I want to respond to this, but I perhaps think that this would take the thread in a weird direction, so perhaps I may dig up some sort of thread dealing with Gravity in another forum and discuss things there. Hopefully you can find me there!

I want to apologize for maybe not being very clear in my post. I have met feminists who have had very strong opinions about men. I don't support killing in any means, as I stated, and I don't support a person's desire to kill anyone. However, similar to what Gormongous has said, there are feminists (and, as tegan pointed out, this is a small group compared to the global population of feminists) who support living separately from men. Put it another way, the cross-stitch would say: "make all men disappear." This is not how the majority of feminists think, and I am sorry that I wasn't more clear about this. I know that this is a very different sentiment than kill all the men, and I should have perhaps worded things slightly differently when I was characterizing a group to which I am not a member. However, echoing Gormongous' post, I understand that I am not accepted into all situations, and I am not automatically given a "pass" because I'm a male feminist. If a group of women want to live in an area they designate as off-limits to men, it is not my right to get upset and think: "well, this is no better than the racists." That's incorrect thinking. Any group can create a safe space for themselves.

While I agree that the cross stitch is a joke, I support the fact that some radical feminists desire a world without men. Now, I do not support killing (of any form), but I do support the "kernel of truth" behind the idea, which is that patriarchal oppression has inspired this form of radical feminism. So, I understand what you're saying, Twig (although I would be wary about using the word "crazy" to describe anyone), and I agree with Merus as well (except the thing is, some feminists, do, in fact, hate men, and they've been given good reason, and that is in their right to do so).