The Aegis-Grin

"When we are tired, we are attacked by ideas we conquered long ago."

Fri, 26 Apr 2013 17:30:28 -0500

“When we are tired, we are attacked by ideas we conquered long ago.”

- :: Friedrich Nietzsche

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Fri, 26 Apr 2013 17:01:28 -0500

:: Reviews for you ::

Fri, 26 Apr 2013 16:30:00 -0500

Hotline Miami :: Video Game :: Dennaton Games :: 2012 ::

“Do you like hurting other people?”

Hotline Miami is psychotic, blisteringly psychotic, but yet subversive enough to penetrate through the fourth wall and have you questioning why, in fact, is this game so fun? The gameplay mechanics are simple: you come to the front door with a mask on and murder everyone. It varies in complexity, as the game gives you a healthy variety of tools with which you can use to make with the red splatters, and rewards you for utilizing your options with new mask choices—each one granting its specific boon. My favorite was Don Juan, the horse mask, granting me “Lethal Doors.” In I would charge, typically getting gunned down or having my brains bashed in within seconds, and seconds later trying it again, only slightly different. You can get caught in loops where the same enemy kills you over and over and you insist on keeping the same pattern because it has worked so well until that point and you realize… well, maybe I should say I realized, that the whole thing seemed rather psychotic in nature, but why is it so fun?

“Why did you come back here? You’re not a nice person, are you? You make me sick!”

The story lends the whole gameplay element about as much credulity as a handshake from a banker. But that is why it works so well. “Jacket,” our unnamed player-character, is seriously unhinged from the start, living alone and, we learn, following instructions left on his answering machine.

“It’s ‘Dave’ from Miami pest control. We need you. A client at SW 104th Street is having vermin problems. Try to handle it as quick and swift as you can. Someone else will clean up for you after you leave. Make sure not to bother any of the neighbors.”

How curious our method is of “following instructions.” However, Jacket has hallucinations, or maybe flashbacks, of three masked people sitting around him, asking him hostile questions, predicting the future with certainty, and generally being bizarre, which certainly doesn’t explain anything, but it does add a bit of clarity to the situation. You are psychotic. All the neon colors, the pulsing retro techno buzz, the blood, the free handouts at every store you go to, the puking in the alleys. You start to see the people you’ve killed again, grotesque sinkhole foreheads dripping on the carpet. And then you die. Or maybe you don’t. And then, once you’ve beat the game, it almost makes sense that the story is not over, and that you must play as someone you’ve killed. It would be easy to trust this “Biker” over Jacket, but when the final blood is spilled, it puts everything into question. Why did Jacket and Biker keep following the instructions on their machines? Could the whole thing really just be a couple kid’s nihilistic game? Why is this game so fun?

“A picture is starting to take form here… I wonder if it’s accurate. Some pieces don’t quite seem to fit. Or maybe I just don’t like the way it looks.”

Hotline Miami manages to hook you with the one-more-try mechanic and a promise of an unforgettable fever dream of feral fantasy. Soak in this inspired indie game. Enjoy the brutality, enjoy the style, but most of all—enjoy the music.

:: by kurt vonnegut, jr. ::

Fri, 26 Apr 2013 16:01:11 -0500

:: The Martian Sonnet

Break every link with air and mist,
seal every open vent;
make throat as tight as miser’s fist,
keep life within you pent.
Breath out, breathe in, no more, no more,
for breathing’s for the meek;
and when in deathly space we soar,
be careful not to speak.
If you with grief or joy are rapt,
just signal with a tear;
to soul and heart within you trapped
add speech and atmosphere.
Every man’s an island as in
lifeless space we roam.
Yes, every man’s an island:
island fortress, island home.

El Huervo feat. Shelby Cinca - Daisuke

Fri, 26 Apr 2013 15:30:50 -0500

El Huervo feat. Shelby Cinca - Daisuke

thominoz: Knife in the Water (1962) by Roman Polański

Fri, 26 Apr 2013 15:02:02 -0500

thominoz:

Knife in the Water (1962) by Roman Polański

:: I Hate News ::

Fri, 26 Apr 2013 14:30:27 -0500

:: I Hate News :::

:: A Monthly Good News Source

Ecover to turn sea plastic into bottles in pioneering recycling scheme

maybe
in time we can
remove the great
from the pacific garbage gyre
maybe
we’ll remove the garbage
too

:: Exernet Spotlight ::

Fri, 26 Apr 2013 14:01:09 -0500

:: Exernet Spotlight :::

:: Frozen Bubbles Suspended Below Abraham Lake

beautiful
and monstrous
a sign of what’s coming

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Fri, 26 Apr 2013 13:30:42 -0500

:: Thought Block ::

Fri, 26 Apr 2013 13:01:05 -0500

I can’t wait for my generation to be listened to. Out with the old thought, our big thinkers are waiting for their moment.

"I tell you even a half-dead man hates to be alive and not be able to see any sense to it."

Sun, 27 Jan 2013 17:30:25 -0600

“I tell you even a half-dead man hates to be alive and not be able to see any sense to it.”

- :: Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. - The Sirens of Titan

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Sun, 27 Jan 2013 17:01:12 -0600

:: Reviews for you ::

Sun, 27 Jan 2013 16:30:26 -0600

The Master :: Film :: Anderson :: 2012 :: I am a huge fan of P.T. Anderson—have been since I first saw There Will Be Blood and was further swayed by Magnolia. He has a hypnotic way of drawing you in and keeping your attention as things swirl out of control. And so when I saw previews for The Master, it only took me one look into Joaquin’s manic gaze before I knew I had to see it.

“If you figure out a way to live without a master, any master, be sure to let the rest of us know, for you would be the first in the history of the world.”

Joaquin Phoenix stars as Freddie Quell, the enigmatic troublemaker that stumbles his way into Lancaster Dodd’s (Philip Seymour Hoffman) world, secret elixirs in-hand. But even here, so close to the beginning, we come to an impass: who is really the star of this film? Both actors give phenomenal performances, not to mention Amy Adams finding ways to shine in the unenviable role of the submissive wife. But the film itself can’t seem to decide who exactly this movie is about. There has been controversy over the topic of the film since it is based loosely on the life of Scientology’s founder, L. Ron Hubbard—but it doesn’t tread past the ankles in anything worth mentioning. You see some sides of Dodd that make you think he isn’t as supremely confident as he would like to think, and sometimes in those same scenes, you see Freddie has similar doubts. The movie teeters on the edge of climax, making you think something explosive will happen at any moment due to the volatile nature of Freddie—yet the end scene plays out and the only thing it made me wonder is if Lancaster was trying to hide his love for Freddie. Still, this movie has a lot going for it—P.T. has a great visual style with gorgeous shots and detailed scenes. I especially enjoyed the period-piece clothing choices and color palette. I just wish it was more cohesive, which sounds strange coming from me.

:: by jozef conaway ::

Sun, 27 Jan 2013 16:00:00 -0600

:: stutter

sometimes
i let my mouth do the talking
it gets me into trouble

:: Charles Bradley and the Menahan Street Band - The World (Is...

Sun, 27 Jan 2013 15:30:00 -0600

:: Charles Bradley and the Menahan Street Band - The World (Is Going Up In Flames)

trashisfree: I wait for the mice to come to me.

Sun, 27 Jan 2013 15:01:50 -0600

trashisfree:

I wait for the mice to come to me.

:: I Hate News ::

Sun, 27 Jan 2013 14:30:00 -0600

:: I Hate News :::

:: A Monthly Good News Source

Fleet of FireFlies to Probe Space for Mineral-Rich Asteroids

3d printers in space
competitors for asteroids already
soon our robots will not need
us, very soon
indeed

:: Exernet Spotlight ::

Sun, 27 Jan 2013 14:01:00 -0600

:: Exernet Spotlight :::

:: William Faulkner’s Wishing Tree

haunting illustrations
for faulkner’s
only known children’s book
we can hope more
will be found

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Sun, 27 Jan 2013 13:30:24 -0600

:: Thought Block ::

Sun, 27 Jan 2013 13:00:00 -0600

So the new year begins with some rain and frigid air, and here I stare into pixels again. Better job, noteworthy projects on the rise, old projects on the mend, it’s hard to see it but I sense improvements all around me. I can hope my creations can carry me, weighted as I am, weightless as I aim.