Symphony X In response to yesterday's letter from Craig, and just as I had suspected, our resident underground music guru Adam Matlock has this to say:
I happen to love Symphony X, man, and if it's any consolation, it was only in the past five months that I met anyone who had heard of Symphony X, Dream Theater, OR Evergrey, so it may yet be awhile for you. Any band that could remind me of classic prog-rock like Yes with their own 20 minute epics, and can still rock out while doing it, gets a gold star in my book.
And to any of you wishing to look up on Craig's suggestion, I recommend the following songs: Sea of Lies, Evolution, Fallen and King of Terrors. Or just buy The Divine Wings of Tragedy and save yourself the wait.
Adam
So there you have it. Adam saves the day.
Yesterday, I got into the topic of California and their newly elected Governator. Our new Italian friend Alessandro would like to put his two cents in...or lira, as it were:
Hi John, it' the italian dude again. You know there's something worse than Justin Timberlake (or Christina Aguilera for that matter) in this world: it's called Over-Hype.
Everything today is over-hyped to the extreme, from games to politics. Even from our italian shores, it's crystal clear that Schwarzy elections were a case of over hyping and hollywood gloss thrown all over. I pity who selected him when things will start to go upside-down...anyway, people today simply buy anything medias throw them, it's a tired subject i know but since nobody cares, i thought it was worth mentioning...again.
BTW, i totally agree on viewtiful joe, for another old-school blast try Metal Slug 3 when it arrives in the US (i'm playin' the japanese version now).
-aleZ-
Don't think for a moment that the second Metal Slug 3 releases here in the states I won't be all over it like Hilden on the latest fetish video.
But you're right, man. 100%. We could go into business selling the millions of hardened white turds to gullible buffoons as long as we had the Nike swoosh emblazened on its side.
Minnesota voted for Jesse Ventura mainly because he represented something different, and the other candidates at the time reeked of stale, corrupt, been-there-done-that politics. It proved to be just short of a disastrous experiment, but we came out of it alive with only a few bruises. We had to deal with that buffoon releasing Jesse the Governor action figures, idiotic diatribes posing as NY Times bestsellers, commentating the XFL, refereeing the WWE, guest-appearing on Young & the Restless, letting his son throw keggers at the Governor's Mansion, and consistently sticking his foot in his fat mouth. The next couple of years will truly be amusing for Minnesotans as we watch California go through a similar debacle.
There is a band called Symphony X, they hail from New Jersey and are masters in Progressive Metal. I love them but alas, none of my friends, co-workers, family and even the people i meet online have heard of them, so i was wondering if by any chance you know of them seeing as your a fellow american, my girlfriend makes fun of Symphony X as no-one knows of them and it wud really make my day to know that you knew of them.
Secondly i want to comment on your wedding photos. I have to say you two really look right together and that view from your room was beautiful. I'll have to wait awhile for a wedding but me and Harmony (my girlfriend) already have the location, New Zealand (seeing as she lives there) so im sure it will be special. Well i've rabbited on enough about myself (as i tend to do) So have a nice holiday (English word for vacation, if you didn't already know) and Happy Gaming!
Tally ho old bean!
Sorry, man. No Symphony X knowledge from me. I'm sorry to disappoint, but my expertise in the prog-rock and metal scene has petered out a bit over the years. However, if you direct your question to Adam, who seems to be our resident underground music junkie, he may have a bit of information for you. Sonny actually lives in New Jersey, but if it's not on Radio Disney, chances are he hasn't heard it.
Our man Ken writes: Well, your a married man, how does it feel? It's been a long time coming and now that its over, you can relax a little more (and try to refill your bank account). I must say Christine is a very gorgeous bride and you looked pretty sharp too. Good to know you enjoyed Barbados. Thanks to the spiffy link, I might go there on my honeymoon when I get married. Well not to bore you with all the congrats and whatnot (I'm sure you've got that enough already) I totally agree with the hating of Florida thing. I can't stand that place. It's too freaking sandy for my taste. I also have detirmined that I have to look for Bonk 3 by myself. Every freaking time one of my friends finds it and buys it, they say "Bring me the money at school and I'll give it to you". Unfortuantely they play it, then tell me they want to keep it and won't give it to me. It really steams me everytime they do that. I also did not know they all had turbografx. Enough about my whining, So do you plan on picking this up? I never saw it because of the mixed reviews, so I just decided to wait for it. I do like the idea of them releasing both those movies real close so I don't have to wait an eternity (even though they only made a big movie and cut it in half). And finally Bad Strong has updated his e-mail. Can't remeber when this was, but oh well. Stay cool GMOALB or now John the Married Man. Hmmmmm, that has a nice ring to it. he he.
Ken
Thanks, Ken.
For those of you too lazy to click on Ken's link, he was referring to Matrix Reloaded. I'm sorry to say that I'm 0 for 2 today. I've never seen either movie. Can you believe that? To be honest, I tried watching the first one when it first hit DVD, but it had been a long day and I fell asleep. Unfortunately, I haven't been inclined to try again since then. I'm sure it's a fine franchise and one deserving of my attention. However, if you could see the room in my house full of DVDs still in their plastic wrap you'd probably fall over.
Speaking of piles of stuff that I'll never use, don't forget about the latest Lord of the Rings themed contest. All you have to do is write in with a new, unique feature idea for GWX and you could win a bunch of cool LOTR stuff. I'll be making my decision shortly, so get those letters in soon.
Christine and I went out to dinner last night and downed an entire jug of wine. No, not a bottle, but a jug. Upon our return home, I decided to play Viewtiful Joe, even though I was feeling a bit sideways. Not a good idea. Hilden came over and sat there and laughed at me as I fumbled crosseyed through the first level and got my ass spanked every step of the way. As trippy as this game is, don't think further disorienting yourself is a good idea.
I read an article this morning quoting citizens of California. And although not entirely unembarrassed by their new governor, a few were quoted as saying that this recall makes them feel empowered; that they're voices matter.
Question: isn't that what we have elections for in the first place? Honestly, I couldn't possibly care less who runs California, but this whole experience has been baffling for me. It just seems to undermine the whole electoral process. If a small group of people - who I'm sure aren't biased in any way - can get a petition together to throw out somebody they don't like, what's the point? Can Gray Davis start a campaign to recall Arnold now?
I'll admit to being relatively uneducated on the subject and these are just my impressions. If you'd like to get in on the topic, drop me a line. And if this is too thick of a topic for you, I'd be more than happy to discuss the ins and outs of the Mushroom Kingdom instead.
Orange, Red, and Brown My friends, it’s a Viewtiful day.
I mentioned before that I love autumn. I’m a sweatshirt guy, a flannel guy. Getting out of my car this morning and smelling the autumn air was intoxicating. What’s more is that it’s also great beer drinking weather, and in recognition of that, I plan on spending a good deal of time at this weekend’s Oktoberfest in North Minneapolis, drinking stein after stein of wonderful German beer.
Does life get any better than this?
Yes it does.
Viewtiful Joe arrived today and you have no excuse not to pick up this game; even if you’re one of those fools without a GameCube. The $99 price tag and this exceptional title should be more than enough of an incentive to make the cubic plunge. So stop being a whiner. Strap on your red spandex and get your ass to the store!
Does life get any better than this?
Again, yes it does.
Alessandro writes: Hi John, guess i should finally say your column kicks serious ass. As you may notice from the address, I'm from Italy, now go and say something rude about mafia or spaghetti =)
capisce?
keep up the good work anyway!
Wow, man. From Italy? Your English skills are remarkable.
Sure, I may poke fun at the British or Canadians occasionally, but would I dare stereotype the Italians? No sir. I’ve watched The Godfather far too many times to make that mistake.
See how I did that there? Kind of slipped it in under the radar?
Well, today is Christine’s birthday and as such a celebration is in order. She is now a quarter of a century, which isn’t as old as it sounds but is still fun to say. Anyway, this year her birthday kind of crept up on my, what with the wedding and all. Do you think she’d mind if I pointed to her finger and said, “Happy Birthday!”
Probably.
One last note: I'd like to extend my sincere condolences to the state of California. As a citizen of Minnesota, I know how you feel. It truly gives meaning to the phrase "Looking California, feeling Minnesota." Good luck with all that.
Rock I f**king love Jack Black. Ever since his killer role in High Fidelity, there is no movie I won't see him in. I checked out a late showing of School of Rock on Friday night and my friends, it was the funniest thing I've seen in recent memory. Sure, it has it's problems, including a bit of sentimental cheese. But Jack Black's performance was so natural and off the cuff, that calling it a "performance" might be stretching things a bit.
Check it out and laugh your asses off. And if you catch the inside 80's metal jokes, it'll double your enjoyment of this movie.
I'm finally starting to catch up from my vacation, which means you'll be getting a belated review of Sega's Billy Hatcher any time now. If you'd like a quick ten cent rundown on the game, I'll tell you that it's a decent little game, but incredibly unsatisfying. And although Sonic Team doesn't do anything wrong, they also do absolutely nothing original in this game. And if you think the whole idea of rolling an egg around is original, might I direct you to a little game called Glover for the N64.
Again, there's really nothing fundamentally wrong with the game. In fact, it's fairly enjoyable. But unless you're extremely hard up for some platforming action, your money will be better spent elsewhere.
Craig writes: Hi John, my names Craig and I've been a fan of 'Cooking with John' for about 2 months now.
I live in the UK (England to be exact) and I really enjoy reading your section, as i think it's one of Gamingworld X's best features. It contains humour, competitions, games and a little about your personal life (or alot in some cases) and i just want to say that i take my hat off to you (or rather my top hat as we stereotypical brits are known to wear) for telling it how it is, a rarity in this day and age.
Keep up the good work John!
-Craig-
Top hats, Craig? I actually pictured you wearing a Bowler. Or perhaps a Moleskin Ivy? How about a nice Sherlock Holmes style Deerstalker? I've got it! You'd look fantastic in a white Zulu war era Foreign Service Helmet!
Ok, enough of that. Thanks for the kind words, my good chap. Perhaps when I get over to England way we can sit down for some fish n' chips and discuss cricket.
Hey, you asked for it.
I've received a couple good entries for the latest Cooking with John Contest and encourage more of you to write in. In case you've forgotten, I'm giving away a Lord of the Rings Gift Pack, put together from various things that New Line has sent us. For a picture of the package, click here.
Don't forget! This week is Viewtiful Joe week, and if you're having any doubts about picking up this title, first smack yourself in the face, then read Joe Mackie's review of the Japanese version.
