The Vault - Entry 1 - The Slim Shady LP Review

Title: The Slim Shady LP
Artist: Marshal Mathers "Eminem" III
Production: Aftermath Entertainment / Interscope Records
Release Date: 1999
Genre: Rap / Hip-Hop
Tracks: Twenty

$8.99 [Buy at Amazon]

$11.75 [Buy at Barnes and Noble]

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Well, since everyone else at TF141 Media has a "Vault", I guess it's my turn.

(NOTE: Okay, so for those of you wondering what a Vault actually is before I start: the people at TF141 Media all have a 'Vault': a personal "online diary", but instead of just randomly talking, you have to put up something informative, about either something you adore or hate. Something informative. Mine deals with the music, cartoon, and drawing industries. So, here we begin.)

In the long and pathetic years of hip-hop and rap, there's begin a lot of downers. Right in the middle of all of it, it seems that Eminem inspired rappers to express themselves. And this album shows it. Marshal Mathers, official creator of the deranged, crazed Slim Shady personality, has had a very long history as well. You've got a man who was abused by his mother, treated harshly at high school, got cheated on by ex-wife, the infamous Kim, and his first album was so unpopular it led to a failed suicide attempt. You're SUPPOSED to feel for Eminem in his albums, which is part of what makes them so extraordinary.

And his music history is just insane. When anybody mentions 'rap' in the 21st Century, one of the first names (if not THE first) that will pop up is clearly Eminem. People sing along to his lyrics, he's had several hits on iTunes, earned multiple Grammys and won an Academy Award, with Platinum-achieving records. And yet, somewhere in the beginning, it wasn't as happy. Infinite was his first album, but it never achieved success and is highly underrated. Infinite, although it rarely sold and didn't last long on the market, was actually one of Eminem's best albums, lyrically. He screwed around in albums like The Slim Shady EP, and finally deciding to just unleash all his rage and hate into song.

Now, let's get something out of the way: The Slim Shady LP is NOT Eminem's best work. Is it close? Oh, very much so. Very little albums nowadays will pack the burning sucker punch that The Marshal Mathers LP had achieved. However, compared to Eminem's further albums like the infamous Encore, and the hugely less tolerable Relapse, this is surely a cult classic. With lyrical descriptions that would surely shock the FBI, and a beat that succeeds in nearly every area, The Slim Shady LP deserves the hype and praise it got.

And yet, after the success of both his LP albums (not to mention his greatest hits compliation), it seems that it all started here. When you hear the lines from the second track, the gloriously famous 'My Name Is', you'll KNOW that the over-the-top persona of Slim Shady is here. (Got pissed off and ripped Pamela Lee's tits off / And I smacked her so hard, knocked her clothes back criss-cross). I mean, wow. Eminem's lyrical capabilities are far and beyond better than the Pop music nowadays. His hatred in this album ranges from authority and music critics to people who diss him and his mentally damaged abusive mother. Not to mention his now infamous girlfriend, Kim, and you've got an album that just oozes rage.

Take the now-brilliant single 'Guilty Conscience', for example. In this song, three men are spread across different situations, and they, as in the title, have a conscience. Slim Shady is 'the devil' and Dr. Dre is 'the angel'. Dr. Dre tries to persist the three men across this track to do the better thing (in these situations, in order, the men deal with robbing a liquor store, date-raping an HIV-infected girl, and debating whether to kill his wife or not after seeing her have sex with another him), but Slim Shady always wins, using his sneaky personality to trick people into going the wrong path. That should give at least a message about how Eminem portrays himself in such a humorous way, and a very evil way.

A couple of problems are clearly evident to the album. First of all, Eminem clearly shines here, but the guest stars should really take a trip to death row, as they are clearly pointless. (Though I do think that Dr. Dre is fine enough in 'Guilty Conscience') The skits are also completly dumbass, and some of the songs featured here I actually think would of gone better on The Marshal Mathers LP (in particular the decent Just Don't Give A Fuck). In fact, I think that the cult classic from the MM LP, 'The Real Slim Shady' would have done better on this album, because it would of had a better balance, and I'd rather pick that song over some of the songs on here ("Cum on Everybody" and "Soap" are particularly losers).

That's not to say that this album isn't brilliant. Most of Eminem's albums definitely range. Marshal Mathers LP and Infinite clearly show a far more personal story, The Eminem Show and Encore feature good poetic skills, and Relapse..... uh, uh? Never mind. The Slim Shady LP is clearly the comedic point in Eminem's career. I'd definitely add this alongside The Marshal Mathers LP, and it gets a highly recommended from me.

Particular standouts:

My Name Is - Hi! My Name Is (what?) [chicka chicka] Slim Shady. This first line had helped Eminem start his big career. Much like its tongue-in-cheek successor 'The Real Slim Shady', My Name Is features very over-the-top violence and references to sex, drugs, and alcohol. (I drank a fifth of vodka, dare me to drive? / I fuck anything that walks (come here) / I can't figure out which Spice Girl I wanna impregnate) It's a classic track that most Eminem fans already have in their personal 'Best Of' collection.

Guilty Conscience - Brilliant. Interesting. Funny. Lyrically impressive. Bitter. Evil. Insane. Totally Slim Shady. Guilty Conscience is a winner, featuring an intelligent storyline and classic rhymes and lyric ranges. Dr. Dre does a good job as his role as well, so another point for that.

Just Don't Give A Fuck - Although the beat to the song needs some editing, Just Don't Give A Fuck is one of THE most expresssive showcases of the true Eminem persona: I JUST DON'T GIVE A FUCK. (Note: this was first featured in The Slim Shady EP)

I'm Shady - Nice to meet you! It's good, and that's all I'm gonna say. (If I go farther into the song, I'll probabbly be scarred for life)

If I Had - Also from The Slim Shady EP. Good lyric progression and a nice beat. It's also very reminiscent of a Barenaked Ladies song: "If I Had $1000000". Ah, good times.

VERDICT:

The Big Interview from Stockholm, Sweden

EDIT: I don't currently have the images, I didn't have an actual camera at the time. I think Derek has his own protection master of the photos, though, so I'll post some soon.

On December 14th of 2010, at 7:00 pm (in Europe), the TF141 Media crew got ready for an interview in Stockholm, Sweden, being interviewed by the now-defunct Video Festival president. It was freezing cold and Pierce was desperately trying to find a way to drive our out-of-gas car. Of course, though, that never happened, because IT WAS OUT OF FUCKING GAS. After about two tries, though, we just took a bus. Which also sucked. We had to walk the entire way.

So, joining me for the first half of the interview was Pierce Sanders, Derek Carter, Michael Sinclair, and Finn Smith. It felt more like a chatroom, but this certainly wasn't a one-person review. So while we're talking, October Smith was in the other room, the lass frantically trying to copy down EVERYTHING we were saying. She did it, though, and I owe her $100. Something like that.

[We enter the room]

President (his nickname will be El Pres): And so, with us tonight are some of the creative minds from New Vegas, which won Best RPG here tonight! Please welcome the crew of TF141 Media!

Pierce: Hey, everybody. Pleased to meet you.

Alec: It's great to meet you, Mr. President.

El Pres: What a pleasure it is to meet you aswell.'

Derek: So, what should we start with?

El Pres: Tell us about making New Vegas, and can we expect anything in the later years?

Alec: I'll start. Well, making New Vegas was the hardest project we had actually ever worked on. We had gotten a word from one of the execs from Obsidian that they wanted to involve us in something bigger than just designing backgrounds and weapons. Pretty soon, they told us that they wanted us involved in progression for some of the main quests. We had decided on following the 'Caesar's Legion' storyline, and had some involvement in the independent storyline. We had a ton of people join the TF141 Media crew, from around the world. Most were from Europe, but we got some other interesting countries, like Austria, Russia, and even the Philippines.

Michael: As for actually expecting something? Well, Interplay had decided to take over the production for the big multiplayer Fallout, which should be called something like Fallout Online. I think that they had taken control of the project, let it slide away from Bethesda. They chose Bulgaria's Masthead Studios, who do seem nice enough, but I don't think they have the EXACT same experience like Bethesda had.

Finn: They mentioned that they wanted to involve us in the maps again, along with weapons and animation.

El Pres: Can we expect anything else big from Bethesda that you'll be involved in? Or anything related?

Finn: Well, Bethesda mentioned they wanted to involve us in storyline progression and map design for Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.

Alec: Some involvement in the script...

Derek: And it appears that the people who made Red Faction: Guerilla want to involve us in their next game, Red Faction.... uh, Armageddon. This is new for us, since we've never had involvement in a shooter.

Alec: But there was Resistance 2, right?

Pierce: Yeah, we were involved in the game's multiplayer system.

Derek: Ah yeah. We also should be brought back to do Resistance 3, if there is one.

El Pres: This question was from one of the watchers of the show: [grabs paper] What was your favorite project?

Finn: [chuckles] Wow, I haven't been asked that question. Who wants to share?

Pierce: I'll go first. Well, personally, my favorite involvement in one of the RPGs we've worked on was New Vegas. Getting to develop the story into Caesar's Legion was really good. We would stay up for nights on end just writing up more ideas, to further the script. We had to make a lot of references to Roman mythology. I also had a real fun time helping with the DLC for Fallout 3, Operation: Anchorage.

El Pres: What about you, Alec?

Alec: For me, personally, was working on the DLC for Fallout 3, Point Lookout. I think that the plot in Point Lookout was really good, and being able to make a completly different "wasteland" for the game I got really excited about, so we took up the chance to help develop it. I also did enjoy working with Fallout 3's mission in Raven Rock, you know the real twist about the President.

Finn: I'm going to have to say mine was working on Elder Scrolls 4.

Alec: Really?

Finn: Yeah, I mean the involvement that I had in the world of the Elder Scrolls, in the gates of Oblivion, was a chance I really enjoyed taking. There were all kinds of stuff we had to accomplish for it, having to follow it through with Shivering Isles.

Derek: Mine's working on the Fallout 3 download, The Pit. The idea of another wasteland with SLAVES was an incredible idea to me. And working on the New Vegas story was really cool aswell, I enjoyed writing about the assassination of the president. Yeah.... I'm not a very good person.

Michael: I liked working on everything. That's all I'm gonna say.

[brief chuckles]

El Pres: Well, I have to say that the game was really popular amongst fans. You mentioned that a huge part of working with Fallout 3 was making the PAL import.

Michael: Ah yeah. When I had gotten a message from Simon Jacques that we were in charge of changing the region to PAL...

Pierce: Photographic Analogue Line, for those nerds on there.

Michael: I freaked. That would earn us a hell of a lot of money, and it was one of our big breaks, sans working on New Vegas and the DLC.

Derek: Yeah, working on that was a real bitch.

El Pres: [laughs] Yeah. You guys mind another fan question?

[shake heads]

El Pres: This one's from Tommy of... ooh, France!

Alec: I've always wanted to go there.

El Pres: The question is: "Where's the TF141 Media OFFICIAL studio?"

Michael: Well, Darrin Garcia and Myles Davis wanted to bring the official location somewhere in Great Britain. However, that was vetoed because a good half of the Media people had voted for Belgium, since we were all from there. So, Emile Christ, one of the head strategists, used her ever-awesome veto power to turn it down.

El Pres: Another question by... John from New York.

Derek: Finally, someone from the Big Apple!

El Pres: Question: "Have you been associated with anything else besides video games?"

Alec: Well, there's a lot of things, actually. First of all, Rachel Davis, brother of Myles, obviously, had formed her own recording studio in the UK with Alice Thompson and Gregg Cross. They called it "Atlantic Recordings".

Finn: We had done some test recordings from several bands. Some of the particularly big bands we had done was with Judas Priest. We had also helped mix and record an entire album for Gemini, which helped us earn big bucks, and the band Oasis had spent a couple of days there.

Pierce: There's a United States recordings somewhere in San Diego. It's called "Pacific Recordings".

El Pres: Because of the change in Oceans, right?

Derek: Precisely. You gotta have an attractive name.

El Pres: Well, I'm dying to ask: do you have an official website?

Alec: We're THINKING about it. That's not to say that we won't go through with it.

El Pres: How did you all meet one another?

Michael: Uh... Finn better answer this one. He and Alec are some of the originals.

Finn: My pleasure. That's actually a very good question, Mr. Pres. Well, for starters, I knew Alec and Vincent Blake from college. We had similar interests: production, drawing, writing, and girls. When Alec had come around for the idea of our own studio, we seemed pretty game with it. Around that time, we had met Darrin Garcia and Michael here, and Finn's girlfriend Emile also got into it. They all seemed game about the idea of getting signed to a much more popular company. We're actually pretty unique when you think about it: one independent company being paid by ANOTHER independent company.

Finn: As the years progressed, we got more members, including the very patient Caesar Vancen, one of our head editors.

El Pres: If I may interrupt, wasn't he supposed to be here tonight?

Derek: Couldn't make it.

El Pres: Oh. Well, send him my thanks. Sorry, Finn, this is good.

Finn: No problem. Anyways, our first big project I think was either Elder Scrolls 4 or Fallout Tactics. We had applied for design jobs under Bethesda, and they seemed to like our work. Pretty soon, as the years progressed and the favorable responses to Elder Scrolls skyrocketed, we soon became involved in big, big games. We're kind of freelance, but we mostly earn our pennies from Bethesda.

El Pres: What if you had to replace someone?

Alec: Please don't put that picture into my head.

[laughter]

Alec: Umm... well, replacing the president of TF141 Media, Caesar, would be massive. That would mean someone else would have to step up to the job, and, believe me, Caesar is one of THE best presidents you could have. The lack of one of the head editors would also mean... yeah.

Derek: Not to mention the fact that we're all like blood brothers. Over the years, everybody's gotten to know eachother like siblings. It would be very hard to replace one of us.

El Pres: One of the fans, Johnny from Portugal, asked: What was your first new-generation game?

Alec: Sonic Adventure 2.

Pierce: Something like Halo.

Derek: Halo.

Michael: Super Mario 64. Awesome game.

Finn: Does Ocarina of Time count? You know, that Zelda game?

Alec: Yes indeed.

to be edited later

Fallout: New Vegas Game Review

Title: Fallout New Vegas
Systems: Playstation 3, Xbox 360, PC
Genre: Role-playing Shooter, First-Person
Format: NTSC, HD, Subtitles, No Online Capabilities
Developer / Publisher: Obsidian Entertainment, Bethesda Softworks
ESRB: Mature (M)

$55.99 [Buy and Save at GameExpress]

$38.99 [Buy and Save at Amazon]

I've helped produce the game, I've helped draw it, design it, I've done a lot for it. Now that I've played it through, it's time to review.

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I can practically hear my footsteps as I walk. My rifle is grasped tightly in my hand, and the sunset is a glorious yellow and orange blaze, with a wonderful flow of peachy color. My armor is hard, but protective, and I can feel the cold of night as I tread along.

Welcome to Vegas. Enjoy Your Stay.

It's hard to believe that Fallout 3 was so big. We had to wait an entire generation for a worthy sequel to Fallout 2. And yet, once we had finished Fallout 3 with Bethesda, all our hard work had paid off as I slid the disk inside my Xbox 360. I had my doubts, of course, but looking at the wonderful Wasteland, and all the Nuclear warfare that came with it, I soon became hooked into one of the most wonderful, addictively amazing experiences in video game HISTORY. Almost nothing could compare to Fallout 3.
When I popped in New Vegas, I had so many expectations. I was ready for the sequel to the game that showed that perfection, although not there, could almost be achieved. Ready for the sequel to the game that quite possibly inspired an entire bandwagon of amazing RPGs that have been made to this game. I was ready for the sequel to Fallout 3, an absolute epic, worthy of all the awe and nostalgia that it deemed it had.

Was I truly overcome with that same wave of shock and awe, and glimpses of perfection that would soon attack me when I saw the title menu? The answer is a resounding yes, but at the same time, a great big no. New Vegas is yet another important gaming moment in history. I'd go as far as to call both 3 and Vegas as the finest video games in the last DECADE. Yeah, they're that good. And I usually don't brag about our work. On the other side of the token, however, New Vegas is frustrating. Very frustrating. As much as the game wants be to scream and pull out my hair because of the unconcievably difficult gameplay and terrible bugs and glitches, but the numerous moments of amazement have stolen me over the torture that New Vegas will put me through.

For the less patient folks out there, is all of Bethesda and Obsidian's (and our's, too) hard work still worth the price, even with all the embarrasing glitches? Well, let's go through that.

Let's go with this: Fallout is, without a doubt, the king of role-playing games this generation has seen to date, and also one of the most subversive. I'm not going to go and brag the fact that I can actually call out all the maps in New Vegas and recite EXACTLY where they are and what's in them. I'm not going to brag that the HUNDREDS of weapons that are included in Fallout, and spewing out their ammo capacity. Fallout is IMPOSSIBLE to complete. You will spend repetitive months just trying to get close. You'll never find every location, obtain every weapon, see every vendor, take on every quest, talk to every character, or fight every enemy, and put on every piece of armor. Fallout is a game that requires focus, and at the rate the games are going, the addictive nature makes this not a problem.

New Vegas and its other sister, Fallout 3, will completly re-define the way you play games. Where as most games will probably only take a couple days, Fallout is a long game. There's no hiding that. It's a brilliantly plotted, overwhelmingly extensive game that will be the envy of RPGs for a long time. If you're an Elder Scrolls player and you felt like it would be a great game if it went further, Fallout will totally re-define your respect for Bethesda.

And that's just the thing that makes New Vegas great, is how the creators' vision for the games are so inhumanely creative. The quests in Fallout: New Vegas are, to say the least, life-threatening. You'll spend so, so long to complete them, just to get a level up, maybe a new weapon, maybe increase your reputation with a group. The end quests at the end of the story, no matter which faction you side with, will prove that the $60 was all worth it. There's always something new to find, some new quest to take, a new town to find and loot, and a new enemy to fight.

However, even though that New Vegas will quite possibly go down as THE definition of fine role-playing games, there's problems in the game that are screamingly painful. Sometimes I want to rip my skin off and stuff it in my mouth just to vent my screaming.

The number of glitches are an absolute JOKE. Anybody who's played New Vegas and hasn't experienced a freeze, slowed animation, DVNR, or anything, I salute you. Many of the times you'll go far and it will randomly stop, and you can't do a damned thing about it. That could possibly cost you valuable gameplay that you'll have to do ALL. OVER. AGAIN. I'm not wanting to point fingers, but my idea of playing a game, roaming across a wasteland, going up a level I was never able to do, find a stash of caps I will NEVER find again, and have that %&#$@ freeze pop up and damn my progress, is NOT in my schedule.

And the range of the difficulty is staggeringly hard and exceptionally painful. To further the problems of New Vegas, they add in impossibly hard enemies that you'll never be able to beat. You'll constantly waste magazines and magazines of ammunition. You can be the highest level you can be, have the best weapon, and you can still DIE. New Vegas is absolutely repetitive.

Take the last level for examples. Now I don't mind extra difficulty (playing Call of Duty on Veteran is actually quite the thrill), but this is ridiculous. Invading Hoover Dam is quite possibly the hardest task I've EVER done in a video game. There's everything around you to shoot you and burn you. You will be forced to a literal CRAWL just to make sure you don't waste all your stimpacks.

I can't tell how many times I've cursed at the screen, or thrown the controller at the floor. Bethesda missed a very important game design lesson: you have to make sure to keep a balance. Make it hard, but not repetitive. You want to take out an entire camp of NCR on your own? This will require a good amount of restarts, and 70% of your time will be spent either reloading saves or dying. This is not funny, Bethesda. The autosaves are tedious and the fact that your weapons break a lot easier than before in Fallout (I can't tell you how many times I've had to fix my shotgun at the battle for Hoover Dam) only furthers the difficulty. Once you've experienced Fallout the whole way, you'll never play a game with the 'Hard' difficulty turned on.

As for the hardcore difficulty, it seems more like 'hard totally amped up to the point of no return' rather than just 'hardcore'. This pushes it's difficulty rating. Not only is Hardcore a complete struggle for survival in terms of your health and weaponry (senseless deaths everywhere), you have to suffer the effects of sleep depreivation. And lack of sleep can actually KILL you. Not only does this add nonsensical rules, finding water to keep you hydrated (although this is important, and I found it to be an okay addition) is easier said than done. Most of it's irridiated (drink too much and you die), and you'll have to spend money on it. I don't mind when it comes to that, but I also need caps for weaponry, health, and ammunition. So... I'm supposed to kill myself and you don't get extra XP for that?

And this reputation system, although it will take time to learn and respect, is torpid, tedious, and very annoying. Your rep can go from Neutral to either Respected and Idolized, to Hated and Villified. It's insane. Not to mention the fact that one single shot to the foot can kill you, so add that to the frustration of the game's insane difficulty. It all feels like a day in a mental asylum, with everything screaming and thrashing at you, ready to kill someone, cursing like a drunk inside. As much as you will love the game (and there's stuff to love), you will also hate it. A lot.

And yet, Fallout is just such an extraordinary experience that, despite all the tortures you will go through, you will scream, you will curse, you will throw the control down, you'll grind your teeth and punch the wall, but all the way you will learn to love it. Blasting through New Vegas's story is unimaginably great, breathtaking, and it's an experience you can't miss. Addicting, amazing, frustrating, annoying, but all the way near-flawless.

I still haven't answered the $60,000,000 question, though: is it worth your money? The decision is not mine to make. For me, New Vegas is an experience like none other. It will rock your fucking world, it will entertain you. If you buy it, you will never forget the moment your character left the hospital and entered into the Mojave Wasteland, embarking on one of the most unforgettable experiences. Period. It will change the way you look at gaming, much like Fallout 3.

New Vegas, just like its predecessor, is an engrossing, eye-opening, utterly fantastic experience that is absolutely awe-inspiring. However, it's still far away from perfection. It more or less worsened the problems Fallout 3 was similiarly plagued with. To it's credit, New Vegas does fix some problems, and there's still a lot to do. It may be a pain in the ass sometimes (more like a kick in the balls), but it's worth it, and it's by no means easy. So give it a look: New Vegas just may change your gaming experience, and the way you look at games.

A Q&A for the viewers

For those of you wanting to know about me (and dear god, let's just get it over with), let's at least start with this. I was sent an email about a guy wanting to join me for one of these in a chatroom, so I did.

Q: How old are you, Alec?


I am 27, but I made a mistake on my Youtube page that says I am eighteen.

Q: How did you start working for Bethesda?

Well, we started out by giving a call after seeing an ad for "The Elder Scrolls IV", and explained that we wanted to be some of the designers. We started out by giving them some bow designs, and they seemed very impressed, and they wanted to further the artwork. Pretty soon, we were both writing and designing for major games like Fallout 3, New Vegas, and the upcoming MMO, Fallout Online. That's basically how we're able to feed ourselves.

Q: What's your role in Fallout Online? (The same goes for the TF141 Media crew)

Well, this time we've taken a step up and are not only designing the weapons, we're able to control of more interface and online options. I think the guys at Masthead, the Bulgarian developers, also wanted to involve us in more of the visual effect breakdowns, but we're still in production and waiting. It's the biggest project we've worked on, and despite the criticism we're giving it, we're glad to be a part of it.

Q: Are you happy about their decisions to make it an MMO?

I'm still mixed about that. I do hate their decision to take the production away from Bethesda, but Masthead seems nice enough.

Q: And you live?

Well, I'm currently working long hours in Atlantic City, New Jersey, renting an apartment. After I'm done following Fallout Online through here, though, I really live in Belgium. The stuff they say about their fries is true, by the way.

Q: Do you enjoy working at your studio?

It's amazing. I've really gotten to know EVERYBODY. They're very funny, you're able to hold an interesting conversation with them, and they'll always have an interesting fable to reminiscence.


Q: Since you're a big video game guy, what's your favorite?

Either Fallout 3 (yeah, I can like my own games) or Mass Effect. I can't exactly decide.


Q: What's your favorite food?

Gyro meat. The Greeks can really cook up some meat.


Q: I've also heard some people from TF141 Media did some covers for various DVD sets. What did they work on?

I can't exactly remember all of them, but I think I remember Michael Carter showing off a cover he made for either Saving Private Ryan or The Pacific, some big war movie / series coming out at the time. My bets are on the latter route.


Q: I've heard you worked on some digital series called Paradise Lost. What's all that about?

It revolves around the comedic (and sometimes dramatic) fables of Caesar, an altruistic, but devoted protagonist, who, although sometimes unwilling to do certain deeds due to his pacifistic nature, can actually work a bow and arrow when it comes to it. Isabella is his girlfriend, and she's quite the kickass, and doesn't tolerate any kind of shit thrown to her, but she is nonetheless loyal to Caesar.

Q: Wow. And how many episodes did it go on for?

A total of 14.


Q: And your favorite?

"The Wasteland". It's a 40-minute (hour when it aired on VH1 Britain) epic that revolves around the two in a decrepit, almost destroyed corrupt capitol. I'll explain the story further in one of my later blog posts, which might be the best one..


Q: What kind of genre music do you like?

Alternative rock (bands like Gemini, 30 Seconds To Mars, etc.), classic rock (The Beatles, Rolling Stones), and hard rock / metal (Judas Priest, Scorpions, Faith No More), but not the kind of metal where you can't hear a damn thing. I do hate rap, though, but I do like Eminem (besides that Relapse album).


Q: Where's the TF141 Media location?

Well, in Belgium, of course. The TF141 Media crew had to fly first class all the way to New Jersey.


Q: Do you work for anybody else besides TF141 Media?

I was part of the Online Film Critics Society, but that got ditched a long time ago.

Q: In your spare time, what do you enjoy doing?

I enjoy updating my web log, of course, it helps me stay current. I also like to sketch, hang out with the TF141 Media members with some cans of coca-cola. I also enjoy going out to eat at places like Rigatony's (very good place to get a salad / bread), and listening to hard rock.

Q: Pierce Sanders is his name, right? I heard you help him make mixtapes?

Sometimes we do, sometimes we don't. All I know is he has a DJ, and we do make them sometimes.

Q: Any information about your upcoming book?

We're thinking about putting it for free on Kindle (hopefully free).

Q: Back to the mixtapes: anywhere you know where I can buy them?

What, are you insane?

Q: Nope.

Okay, okay. We haven't make an album or anything, but we're throwing around the possibility of making an LP for them. It won't be very long, though, so it'll be CHEAP.

Q: And what's your favorite music artist?

Avantasia. I think the idea of a metal opera is the greatest.

Q: That's all I gotta say. Later.

Review: The Ren and Stimpy Show, Pt. 2 (Seasons 3, 4, and 5)

"They don't exactly care about the criticism they get: they just throw out their own jokes and see if it sticks."

- Bill Wray, 1994

It's actually quite hard to exactly remember just when Ren and Stimpy took over the masses by storm. When the show did first arrive, it packed a sucker punch that attacked the masses like a hurricane; the material stinging and oozing with pure, unadulterated intensity. Was it the subversive, understandable, groundbreaking humor, or the excellent character development? Perhaps the animation that broke all taboos and boundaries, or perhaps the likable, awe-inspiring expressions and art that stole everyone?

Ren and Stimpy is both the greatest achievement in animation history, to this day, and the biggest tragedy in animation history, also to this day. After John Kricfalusi created the taboo-breaking, subversively awesome Ren and Stimpy Show, it was massive. The violently schizophrenic, emotionally unstable chihuahua, Ren Hoek, and the mentally idiotic, yet annoyingly happy-go-lucky manx cat, Stimpy J. Cat, had left an aftermath that only a nuclear bomb could surpass.

And yet, it was taken away in a single heartbeat. The first and second seasons are the finest cartoons ever produced, but Nickelodeon thought otherwise. The constant delays, increasingly adult humor, and virtually unlikable cast (to them), had made them nervous. And so, on the depressing day of September 25th of 1992, John K and his Spumco crew hit the road, leaving Nickelodeon to take over. This soon became the series' downfall, creating some of the most unbelievably forgettable pieces of animation, TV or Theatrical, in history. Was it really that bad? Oh yes, yes it was. The cartoons used disgusting fart jokes and stupid gags as crutches a fair deal of the time.

The biggest problem of Ren and Stimpy's last seasons was that it tried to be just like the older, much more better days, but, in the end, it tried too hard. It turned from the most popular cartoon show ever produced to one of the least imaginative cartoon shows ever. And although it sometimes retained genius, the overall product was horrible.

And now, ladies and gentlemen, let us review, each baby step of the way, the beginning of the end, and the end of the beginning.

SEASON 3 (1993 - 1994)

Writing: **

Humor: ****

Production: **1/2

Replay: ***1/2

Overall: Decent Enough (Worth some Replays)

It was right from the first episode where Ren and Stimpy began to fall down, down, down. Something, I'm not sure what (until the series progressed) was wrong, and it had an incredibly uncomfortable air to it. And as it continued, it became clear what was happening, and the problem became evident.

With John K gone, these episodes dearly suffer. Without John K, these cartoons lacked a good amount of real, hard production and any actual care of the show. Without John K, Billy West's voice as Ren is less tolerable than an atom bomb in a trash can. Without John K, Ren and Stimpy... just wasn't Ren and Stimpy.

However, it's not all bad. It appears that due to John K's style and technique of executing those wonderful landmarks of cartoons, Games, for this very brief season, actually had a mental image and a clue as to what to actually do. A lot of unfinished Spumco episodes remain, and they are the real winners here.

If it will relieve some of the stress, these cartoons can actually be quite good, contain some decent gags, and are tolerable in their own way. They just need editing. "Stimpy's Cartoon Show" is a good example of the old Spumco days, with gags that work, a good storyline, and the end result of Stimpy's show makes it all work.
"Lair of the Lummox" is a sequel to the first season's Untamed World, with some really good animation and being fairly true-to-nature. Even some of the shorter episodes work. This is evident in cartoons like "Ren's Bitter Half", "A Yard Too Far", and "An Abe Divided". However, there are others that could REALLY use editing.

Just be thankful Ren and Stimpy was good for at least three seasons.

Some images from the third season

SEASON 4 (1994 - 1995)

Writing: *1/2

Humor: *

Production: **

Replay: **

Advice: Don't Waste Your Time

  My expression after seeing how Ren and Stimpy progressed.

I think it was around the time the fourth season ran is when Ren and Stimpy began to die. The cartoons had become so bad, it's hard to summarize them in this review. It's all a very clumsy mess, with very few real decencies. Barely any of these go past the 'awful' mark, minus a few exceptions.

In fact, people say that R&S's fifth season was the worst, but, oh no, the worst has already come. The 4th season had a total lack of wit, intelligence, humor, good direction, animation, or even likable characters, leaving it into a complete heap pile of crap. Everything seemed rushed and generic in this season, and about at the start of the season, fans will totally lose interest in Ren and Stimpy, no matter how devoted they just may be.

The only good thing I can really say about the 4th season is that you can tell that it's going to be bad, yet there's just a couple points when you'll actually enjoy it. Maybe the standalone fact that there will be an episode that can actually go above the 'average' mark will be enough for fans to watch. And although the series' best material is long gone, there's still a few bright spots, however brief or little there may be.

The highlights include "Hermit Ren", a two-parter episode that deals with Ren going insane from loneliness (and boredom) when he lives alone in a cave, to get away from Stimpy's stupidity and the insane world around him. This episode was the only Season 4 episode I can truly call 'good', though it's way too short for the potential it has. And "Aloha Hoek" is another good point. However, in my personal opinion, my favorite is
"Lumber Jerks". Just the fact that Ren and Stimpy are trying to find a tree, but they need a book to help them, makes it worth watching. Other than these, it sucks.

For all the abysmal moments it does have (the episodes 'Egg Yolkeo' and 'Pixie King' will go down as the two worst pieces of animation ever made, in my opinion), don't bother.

Some images from Season Four

SEASON 5 (1995)

Writing: *

Humor: ***

Production: ***

Replay: ***

Advice: Tolerable (Some Laughs Included)

Let's be honest: the fifth season is both Ren and Stimpy's weakest in terms of writing and acting, but it's also a hell of a lot better than what Season Four offered.

Even though that the fifth season is heavily flawed ('Reverend Jack' is a candidate for the worst cartoon, as is 'Dinner Party'), the gags have definitely improved over season 4 (and, in some ways, Season 3). There's some worthwhile episodes here that are at least worth a watch.

Some of these episodes include "Who's Stupid Now?", a decent outing with an epic storyline: Ren and Stimpy switch roles. "Space Dogged", another space episode when the duo become cosmonauts in a space race against the U.S. capitol, "A Scooter For Yaksmas", a two-parter that, while has some bad parts (the part with the song is way too dumb), has enough potential to make it fair enough to watch, and "The Last Temptation" / "I Was A Teenage Stimpy" contain some really good, real-to-life gags that work.

Another thing that I *DID* like about Season 5 (and something that I didn't) is that, with the less tolerable episodes (which sometimes are unfunny), have great enough potential to make them worth watching. "School Mates" scripts Ren meeting his old college buddy, Chuck (who turns out to be an asshole), and even though some of the gags are dumb, the story's very emotional, considering some of the tortures Ren goes through.

"Terminal Stimpy" is a classic POV on the five steps to death (Anger, Denial, Bargaining, Depression, and Acceptance), with fairly funny descriptions, but a rather slow, average story. "Stupid Sidekick Union" features Stimpy quitting the studio because of Ren's abuse (which may or may not be based off of an old Spumco script titled 'The Big Switch'.), and although it progresses rather slowly, it's funny enough. And "Ren's Brain" is based off an unfinished Spumco idea. Just the fact that Spumco has its fingerprints on one of the episodes is worth watching.

Despite the bright spots, it's clear that nobody really cared about the duo at this point. And, really, I didn't either.

Images from Season Five

The Social Network

Well, last evening I decided to take my kids to see 'The Social Network' (at my request and my son's interest), and I can honestly say, I was fucking blown away.

After watching this movie, I'll never look at Facebook the same way again (even I though I don't have a Facebook, my son does). At the beginning, this dude, Mark,  writes a horrid blog entry about his ex-girlfriend (with extremely horrible details) while not only drunk, but had just broken up with her. He then begins to create a girl comparison site, where they compare the hotness of the university women. That is just fucking cold, right?

The acting was really, really good. Jesse is amazing in his role of Mark, creating a realistic, believable character, who, even through the tortures that he puts people through sometimes, you can still feel sympathy for the character.

Interestingly, Justin Timberlake is in this film. Not the best choice for me, personally, but it's good enough.

The idea is also really interesting: a social networking website just for the university students. The film also showcases the cruelty of some people, including jealousy, which arguably started 'Thefacebook'.

I might be able to obtain a copy of the book it was based off of, 'The Accidental Billionaires", and as soon as I get to it, I'm getting a good copy of the DVD video version. I'd really like to see some behind-the-scenes footage, or the 'making of' The Social Network.

Edguy: Kingdom of Madness - Review

Title: Kingdom of Madness
Genre: Metal / Hard Rock
Label: AFM Records
Number of Tracks: Nine
Release: 1997

List Prices:

$17.29 [Buy at Amazon]

£15.89 [Buy at Amazon UNITED KINGDOM]


$10.99 [Buy at iTunes]


$32.97 [Buy at Import CDs]


$23.83 [Buy at Ebay UK]


I think the first time I ever heard of Edguy was at the Great Britain AFM Festival. I had decided to attend for the hell of it, it was sometime in autumn of 2000. A couple of weeks before the festival, I was searching around their now-defunct website (not the records website, the festival website), and somewhere at the front page is what I saw, right to the left of a Theater of Tragedy poster: GET YOUR SIGNED COPY OF THEATER OF SALVATION! GET IT QUICK!


I was looking for some good music back then. Which was quite ironic, due to the fact that I was accompanied by albums from bands like Judas Priest, Metallica, and Rhapsody of Fire. It seemed really, really interesting, so I decided to pay the $25.

Here's a picture of the poster I saw:

When I got the album, I was blown away.

Now that several years have passed, and I've been introduced to the further Edguy albums (including the really good Rocket Ride, the slightly more tolerable Mandrake, and the slightly LESS tolerable Hellfire Club),

all that's left is their debut album, KINGDOM OF MADNESS.

Here's a little history: Tobias Sammet is a German singer (and former bassist / keyboardist of this band), who is the vocalist for Edguy and also the metal opera Avantasia (more on that later). He had formed this band when he was sixteen or seventeen, with similarly young friends Jens Ludwig, Dirk Sauer, and Dominik Storch. Storch played drums, Ludwig played lead guitar, and Sauer played rhythm guitar / backing vocals. They first released an EP in 1994 called "Children of Steel", which was not very popular. They achieved acclaim with the release of "Vain Glory Opera", and later on progressed to release the hit albums "Theater of Salvation", "The Savage Poetry", and "Mandrake".

So now we're here at the start. Quite honestly, this album, in terms of all their releases (EPs and demos included) is in-the-middle, when comparing them to their epics Theater of Salvation and Mandrake, the questionable Tinnitus Sanctus, and the ever-infamous Rocket Ride.

First of all, a good deal of these songs I like - I really do. The vocalist has a mature, focused voice, and is up to the standards to the powerful Tony Kakko of Sonata Arctica, or Johnny Gioeli of the little-known (yet far superior) Crush 40. The guitar work is actually really good for a first time, and it follows a decent rhythm, with expert playing.

And a lot of the tracks on here are significant and are actually vital to the respect this young band deserves. "Paradise" has a great, yet brief guitar solo, followed by great drum work and decent vocal range. The songs are also very easy to listen to, the writing is quite good. "When A Hero Cries" has an expertly timed piano intro, though the lyrics could use some editing.

The standout tracks in this album is "The Kingdom", a whopping 18-minute epic, containing some epic guitar riffs / licks, great vocals, and bass work isn't too shabby either. The guitar solo is quite possibly one of the greatest I've ever heard. Also "Heart of Twilight" has great guitar and drum work, and "Angel Rebellion" has a good intro and solo, with some decent vocal range.

You can tell when the tracks are good. Let's be honest: despite their young age, everyone is very talented. Even though this album is over a decade old, and Edguy fanatics probably laugh about it, it's a mature, very well executed album. The title track is bound to be an outright classic.

The production, however, is absolutely gimped. It seems like the drumwork is highly suffering from being WAY too loud, and the guitar work (at times) sounds more like an engine from a car. It seemed like a half-assed, forced crapshoot of production. Another sore point of the album, is that Edguy was still searching for their hot spot, something to kick them off like it did in later albums.

And there's still some sore tracks. Some of the negative spots include "Steel Church", which, to be honest, is only bearable once. "Deadmaker" is its slightly more tolerable companion, and while it does have some great guitar work, there are times when it seems to exceed its listening time a little too far.

But I'm beginning to sound like a broken record now: Edguy is one of the definitions of power metal, alongside bands like Gamma Ray, Dragonforce, Sonata Arctica, etc.

This is Tobias Sammet we're talking about here. The man who created the metal opera Avantasia, and released multiple-award winning albums and hit singles around the fucking world. The creativity of Edguy IS, granted, still present here, even after their newer albums. This is actually a very enjoyable album, with a good amount of songs here that fans of Edguy should definitely listen to, despite the abysmal production.

And I do know I'm several years late reviewing this, but, hey! You can't help it!

Standout song: The Kingdom