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Meet the Gamers: David Gerrold
By Mr. E, February 18th, 2008By far the most popular section of EdgeCurve is the Captions Game. Thousands of captions are submitted every round by players around the world. We thought it would be fun to get to know some of the players that have either been playing for years now, or have an exceptional talent. Today, Q&A’s with the one and only, David Gerrold. Say hello to David in the comments below.
Mr. E: Hello David, please introduce yourself.
David: My name is David Gerrold. I’m old enough to have seen “I Love Lucy” first run. I write books, short stories, articles, and the occasional television script. I’ve won the Hugo Award and the Nebula Award for “The Martian Child,” the story of my son’s adoption. The movie version opens November 2nd, starring John Cusack, Amanda Peet, Joan Cusack, Angelica Huston, Richard Schiff, Oliver Platt, and Sophie Okonedo. If you google me, you’ll find out what I’m really famous for. But what I’m really proudest of is my son. I adopted him when he was 8 years old, and now he’s 23 and he’s almost human. I’m proud that I didn’t strangle him in his sleep during his teenage years.
Mr. E: What part of the country do you live in?
David: I live on the Left Coast. When the big one happens, the rest of the country is going to fall into the Atlantic Ocean.
Mr. E: What do you do when not playing the Captions Game?
David: I try to keep up with my email. I keep getting letters from Nigerian finance ministers who want to introduce me to sexy Russian ladies who will increase my breast size and my penis size (both at the same time), because if I break the chain and don’t send a card to the sick boy in England I’ll have ten years of bad luck. Otherwise, I write books.
Mr. E: How did you first hear about EdgeCurve’s Captions Game?
David: I don’t remember. Oh hell, at my age, I’m lucky to remember breakfast. I’ve been playing in the Captions Game since the first time Jeff Green posted, “Hey, this water just got warmer! Bad dog!” Or maybe even before that.
Mr. E: How else do you flex your creative muscle?
David: I do Flash animation. I edit my own videos. I restructure my website. In June, I directed “Blood And Fire”, a two-hour webisode of Star Trek New Voyages, a Star Trek series for the web. Otherwise I lie awake nights and plot revenge.
Mr. E: What sort of items have you bought with your Amazon winnings?
David: Books, CDs, DVDs. I have the world’s largest collection of CD tributes to the Beatles. There are over a thousand CDs that celebrate the music of Lennon & McCartney. I have about 950 of them. The Beatles’ music has been interpreted as jazz, soul, baroque, classical, chant, hillbilly, 50s rock, cha cha, bossa nova, electronic, heavy metal, punk, funk, and a few things that defy description.
Mr. E: If we asked, what four words would a best friend use to describe you?
David: (You’re assuming I have friends.) Some of the words that have been used to describe me include: Unreasonable. Committed. Mensch. Silly.
Mr. E: What would you say are some of your guilty pleasures?
David: Dark chocolate Dove bars. Heinlein juveniles. Marin Alsop’s recording of Saint-Saens’ Third Symphony. Boston Legal. Nethack. Star Trek Conventions. Ridiculing trolls in online forums. Dexter on Showtime.
Mr. E: What animal do you think you most resemble?
David: Probably a polar bear. I’m fat, have white hair, and like to eat fish.
Mr. E: Creamy or chunky peanut butter?
David: Neither. Yiccchh.
Mr. E: Do you remember what was the last book or magazine you read?
David: The last magazine I read was Maximum PC. (I used to build my own computers and write my own code.) The last book I read was Spider Robinson’s “Very Bad Things” which hasn’t been published yet, I read a sneak preview of it. It’s a sequel to “Very Bad Deaths.” I’ve also enjoyed “Hannibal Rising” by Higgins, “Variable Star” by Robinson and Heinlein, and I’m about to start the new Dexter book. (Look it up, I’m not going to do all the work here.)
Mr. E: What historical figure would you most like to have dinner with?
David: Too many to choose from. Alan Turing. Bayard Rustin. C.M. Kornbluth. Harry Truman. Ike. FDR. But first choice would be Robert F. Kennedy.
Mr. E: If we looked, what would we find on your iPod?
David: Nothing. I don’t have an iPod. I do have a Creative Zen Vision which has 30gb of storage. You’ll find all 9 Beethoven Symphonies. Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D Minor. Saint-Saens’ 3rd symphony, Dvorak’s 9th, Aaron Copland’s 3rd, Stravinsky’s “Rite of Spring” and “Firebird” and “Petrouchka”, Tchaikovsky’s “Sleeping Beauty” and “Swan Lake” and “Nutcracker” and “1812” and “Romeo and Juliet”, Brahms 1st Symphony. A lot of ELO, The Doors, The Carpenters, all of The Beatles, The Lion King (guilty pleasure), Xanadu (another guilty pleasure), The Beach Boys’ “Good Vibrations”, Frankie Valli “Can’t Take My Eyes Off Of You”, and a few soundtracks. Titanic. (Very guilty pleasure.) Also a bunch of pictures of my son.
Mr. E: Lastly, you win (or are mentioned) a lot at the Captions Game, what advice can you give to all the other players that you beat so consistently?
David: Be funny. Be very funny.
But I don’t know what funny is until after I’m through laughing. I don’t beat anybody consistently. I’ve only won twice. The rest are honorable mentions. And sometimes even my best don’t get honorably mentioned. Like the time — never mind. I think the best captions are the ones that are so out-of-the-box, you can’t even see them coming, but after-the-fact you realize they were inevitable. (Like the one I submitted for the picture of all the 2nd graders making faces at the camera. That one came to me out of nowhere.)
I like it when submitted captions refer to earlier pictures or other contestants. It creates a sense of community. Meanwhile, I’m still trying to figure out how to submit a winning caption that will plug “The Martian Child” movie. Did I mention that it stars John Cusack and opens on November 2nd?
Our Presidential Endorsement
By Mr. E, February 5th, 2008WHAT
About this time every 4 years, political pundits around the world’s media outlets all look to EdgeCurve for its official endorsement. We’re a bit late here at EC…and we’ve been getting swamped with messages. Without further delay, we’re now ready to announce our endorsement.
WHO
For the next President of the United States of America, EdgeCurve officially endorses Barack Obama. We’re captivated by the fresh face and hopeful attitude. We look to you to not just change the wayward course of America over the past 7 years, but to change the tiring and undermining partisan political process. We want change.
WHY
There are many labels being thrown around, sexist, ageist, racist. But that would be politics as usual. This election we’re blessed with smart, capable candidates for President on both sides of the aisle. Several would be excellent ambassadors for this country. And this has been sorely lacking over the past 7 years. But we think Obama rises above all. It’s time we move away from the old, rich, out-of-touch politician and elect someone from a different background to represent a new generation. But overall, it’s Obama’s charismatic, intelligent demeanor that motivates us and inspires us.
Comparing the Guitar Heroes and Rock Band
By Mr. E, December 19th, 2007We live in a time when there’s an embarrassment of riches when it comes to rock music rhythm games. In this article I’m going to compare the big three Guitar Hero-type games: Guitar Hero II vs. Guitar Hero III vs. Rock Band.
Guitar Hero II |
Guitar Hero III |
Rock Band |
- Song Selection
- Playability/Controls
- Party Time/Fun Factor
- Animations/Characters
- Intangibles
Song Selection
The songs in each of the games runs the gamut from classic rock, to punk, to alternative. And as everyone seems to like certain songs and dislike others, this category is largely subjective. But I have to give the edge to Guitar Hero II. It’s track list is just excellent, and you can even download many of the famous songs that were in the original Guitar Hero game for the PS2. And not to say that Rock Band doesn’t have great songs; it does. It just does not have as many and therefore probably has fewer of your favorites.
Guitar Hero II: 3 points
Guitar Hero III: 2 points
Rock Band: 1 point
Playability/Controls
This is where Guitar Hero 2 and Rock Band really shine. Going strictly on the guitar part, Guitar Hero II is clean, responsive, and just plain fun. The notes seem to have clear placing in the song and that you actually feel you are playing it. And when you miss, you notice it in the song clearly. This adds to the feel that you’re really rocking. Rock Band is the same but with the added ability to play the drums and even sing. It is three games in one. The game is almost worth it just for the drums alone. As for Guitar hero III, well, there’s something missing. Playing songs feels kind of “muddy” or something. Like the notes are placed somewhat randomly from what you’re hearing in the song. It’s still fun to play, but it just doesn’t feel as “clean” as Guitar Hero II. And it seems to matter less if you mess up. This doesn’t mean it’s easier. It just sometimes seems that the song plays anyway, regardless if you screw up or not.
Guitar Hero II: 2 points
Guitar Hero III: 1 point
Rock Band: 3 points
Party Time/Fun Factor
Rock Band, hands down, wins this category. First, you can play with four people instead of just two. Second, you can play the drums and even sing. It’s simply a more inclusive, wide range experience - a natural evolution of Guitar Hero. And at a party, non-players love to watch. It’s as entertaining watching someone sing really bad as it is hearing someone with actual talent sing well. As for the Guitar Heroes, it depends on your skill level. Entry level players tend to like Guitar Hero 2 better with its cleaner controls. But Guitar Hero 3 has battle mode which is a fun, but kind of gimmicky, 2 player game. I have to lean toward Guitar Hero 2 as it seems to be more fun for a wider range of people.
Guitar Hero II: 2 points
Guitar Hero III: 2 points
Rock Band: 3 points
Animations/Characters
This one is again a matter of taste. Rock Band has a classier, more realistic look that I really like. It looks like you’re actually watching a concert or music video. The Guitar Hero series have a cartoony, tongue-in-cheek look. And the Guitar Heroes have more entertaining cut scenes and star power animations with Guitar Hero III taking it to the next level. It’s venues all have unique looks and effects. And it has actual real-life guitarists like Slash from Guns N Roses. Rock Band offers really great character personalization, however, it’s weird. Your character is tied to a single instrument and it’s confusing how to choose them when playing as a group. This is a minor issue as you can’t really pay attention to anything other than the notes. But it would be cool to be able to choose any of the characters at any time.
Guitar Hero II: 2 points
Guitar Hero III: 3 points
Rock Band: 2 points
Intangibles
Rock Band just feels like the future of the series. If it had more songs, it would be the clear winner and obvious choice. Having the option to sing and drum, along with the standard guitar hero-type play is scads better than just playing the guitar. However, Guitar Hero 2 earns points for it’s clean feel, and excellent song list. Guitar Hero 3, while still fun, took things a bit too far and didn’t focus on the song engineering as much as it should have.
Guitar Hero II: 2 points
Guitar Hero III: 1 point
Rock Band: 3 points
Overall
Overall, it depends what mood you’re in and what hardware you have. Xbox 360 owners can pretty much get anything they want. But Nintendo Wii and PS3 owners have slightly less options. But bottom-line, if you just want to play the guitar, alone, then one of the Guitar Hero games is probably the way to go, with the edge going to Guitar Hero II. But if you ever want to have a group of 3 or more people over, Rock Band is clearly the way to go. No video game experience can compete with having 4 players rocking hard and having it all come together. I see it inspiring a new generation of actual rock bands.
| Song Selection | Playability/Controls | Party Time | Animations/Characters | Intangibles | TOTAL | |
| Guitar Hero II | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 11 |
| Guitar Hero III | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 9 |
| Rock Band | 1 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 12 |
Like a Cruise Missile Without the Explosion
By Mr. E, November 19th, 2007Did you know? From last weekend’s box office performance: the Coen brothers’ No Country For Old Men earned in $3.1 million on 148 screens while Tom Cruise’s, um, limited appeal(?) film Lions for Lambs took in $2.9 million on 2216 screens.
Let’s break that down.
No Country For Old Men: $20945.00/screen
Lions for Lambs: $1308.00/screen
Oof.
Anagrams for Ann Coulter
By Mr. E, October 24th, 2007Here are some anagrams for the name Ann Coulter. Examples, some of which are a bit too nasty to print, are Rectal Noun, Loaner &$#%, and Unclean Rot.
Links: Hypnosis, Laws, Monkeys, and Hillary
By Mr. E, October 23rd, 2007Students have problems returning to normal after being hypnotized. However, I’ve seen Office Space. It’s not that big of a problem.
Why America says it’s ok not to follow all official laws. Often, these old laws remaining active are due to political failure.
Monkeys attack and kill deputy mayor of Dehli, India. And yes, this is real. This is a serious article from the BBC.
Hillary Clinton says she would give up some presidential powers that Bush/Cheney have grabbed in their time. Hillary’s stock just went up a tick for me.
Comcast Blocking Internet Content
By Mr. E, October 19th, 2007I don’t use Comcast internet but if I did I’d be very upset by this. A new report released today shows that Comcast is blocking subscriber content. This means that Comcast is deciding what types of files you can and cannot access on the Internet.
From the article:
“Comcast Corp. actively interferes with attempts by some of its high-speed Internet subscribers to share files online, a move that runs counter to the tradition of treating all types of Net traffic equally.”
Ah, Seattle
By Mr. E, October 16th, 2007Welcome to the next 4-6 months…
