Scott: The Gamer + Skylanders

Posted on October 28, 2012 by mathan

I’m not afraid to admit that I am not only just 38 years old, but I am also a gamer. Some of you are probably rolling your eyes thinking, “Oh grow up Iain!”

This is one area, in which, I refuse to grow up.

I think video games actually help to keep the brain sharp from problem solving, and also keeping my reflexes quick.

A few weeks ago, I finally found a video game that Scott might actually be interested in playing, and one I had been thinking about wanting for a long time – Skylander’s Spyro’s Adventure. I’m actually pretty overjoyed at this because I’ve wanted to share in the experience of gaming with Scott for several years now, and while a group of us got him playing Assassins Creed at Christmas last year, he never stuck with it. I don’t blame him – it’s a difficult game and learning the controls for a first timer is not easy. I needed something that he could sink his teeth into, even if it mean finding an easy game. Skylanders was it – and he invested in getting himself a set of characters for each element so he could complete the game. Wow!

For the record, Scott did not grow up with video games so his context is very different from mine, despite only 4 years difference between him and me. And believe me, the ‘gaming divide’ of 4 years is pretty significant.

Consider those of us who grew up with the Atari 2600, Colecovision and Intellivision; and those who started with a Nintendo Entertainment System or Sega Master System; versus kids today whose first gaming system may be an XBox 360 or Playstation 3. Even between different countries – Apple ][s versus, Commodore 64s, versus Sinclair ZX Spectrums, etc…

Despite the games collection I grew up with on my Commodore 64 or Amiga, I didn’t have much time for games per-se. I’d play for a few minutes and turn off or switch games. I played a lot of Bard’s Tale, Karateka, Maniac Mansion, Zac McKrakken and the Alien Mindbenders (First game I ever finished), Shadow of the Beast, Xenon 2, and Arkanoid to name a few that I did play on a regular basis.

I didn’t have time for game machines. Yes, I admit, I had a holier than thou attitude saying they weren’t real computers and as such, a waste of time and money.

Secretly, I really wanted a Gameboy and I drooled over the NES Deluxe Set with ROB.

I often say my first game machine was actually a Sega Dreamcast. Truth is, a Gameboy Colour that I bought in British Columbia was the first, purchased in the late 90s or early 2000s during Christmas.

The Dreamcast, I bought at a Best Buy – first time I went to one, for $49 at a Black Friday sale in Philly. Thankfully with friends who had them and with how cheap the games were by then, I snapped up what I could. I still have this unit and almost all the accessories, except for the fishing rod.

What really excelled me into being more of a hardcore, though still middle of the road, gamer was the PS3. I LOVE the Playstation 3. If it were not for Little Big Planet, I would not be the gamer that I am today. That game sucked me in. It also showed me how beautiful video games had become. I also love what Sony has done with the Playstation Plus membership, providing free games every month – and we’re not just talking lame independent games here – we’re talking Infamous, Little Big Planet 2, etc… Definitely a value.

We’re both late bloomers into gaming, and I’m glad we did it, and I’m very glad I found something Scott can play. Now he’s considering going back to try Assassins Creed, starting from the beginning, now that he’s comfortable with how the controllers work.

If I had to pick between watching TV and playing a game – I’d pick the latter.

My thoughts on Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure? I think it’s misnamed. Spyro really doesn’t have much to do with the storyline other than he’s one of the characters in the game.

The game itself is great. A fairly simple and stright forward platforming game with shooting where you have to get to the end collecting treasures, soul gems, hats and other items, within a specific amount of time. If you don’t – that’s okay, you still get what you need for the storyline at the end of the level.

For Spyro’s Adventure, you’re looking at, easily, $179 to play the complete game for which, if you want to collect every item and fully complete the hidden game levels that open up when you buy things like an adventure pack. I have highballed that number, but it gives you the idea of what you’re getting into if your kids are asking. This consists of:

$69.99 for the game with three characters and the portal
$49.99 for 5 more characters for the other elements.
$60.00 for 3 adventure packs

Skylanders Giants, which is apropriately titled, is the second game with more robust graphics and sound.. This time we have game characters that now light up (Giants and Lightcore characters) – see the picture at the beginning of this article. A pretty cool idea. And you can reuse the chacters you already have from the first game – which now speak, where in the first game they did not.

I suspect – you’re going to need each of the giants to complete this game. We’ll see.

Thumbs up from my standpoint. And I hope these will be the first two games in which Scott and I achieve Platinum trophies. WOOHOO!!

What was it, we were thinking of?

Posted on September 30, 2012 by mathan

“…Oh the wheel it is turning spinning round and round
And the house is crumbling but the stairways stand
With no guilt, and no shame, no sorrow or blame
Whatever it is, we are all the same…”

This past Thursday, I had a chance to see Peter Gabriel on his Back to Front tour. Our client had mentioned that Prince had played in Chicago a few nights before and that Peter was playing The United Center on Thursday.

I’m normally not one to jump at going to a concert unless it’s an artist I really like. In this case, I looked at my coworker and my response was, “Oh really?!”, and she seemed interested too. So we looked at StubHub.com and bam we found a bunch of great tickets. I gotta say, what a great service.

I digress… Peter Gabriel is not one of those artists I typically list as an artist I really like. The truth of the matter is, I probably hold him in higher regard than Pet Shop Boys, Erasure, Depeche Mode and New Order.

He’s in a class all of his own, in my books. Take a look at what he’s done with his life and it’s easy to see why that is. Promoting music from around the world, lifting people up, his philanthropy work – work with Amnesty International, Witness, The Elders…

My earliest introduction to Peter’s music would have been “Games Without Frontiers” from his third album. I have to admit, as a kid, I didn’t like the sound of the song. As an adult, I appreciate what the song is about and how it is structured – in fact I had bought family, “Ein deutsches” for Christmas in 1994. Hearing “Spiel Ohne Grenzen”, the German version of “Games Without Frontiers” was quite neat.

The concept of the Back to Front tour is to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Peter’s album, So, by playing the complete album live from start to finish. Additionally, proceeds will go towards running WOMAD in 2013 – something I fully support.

So was Peter’s most accessible and best selling album with songs like Sledgehammer, Don’t GIve Up, and Big Time being singles from the album. This is also the album that brought Peter Gabriel into my life – although I never bought it, and still to this day, I do not have a copy of So.

I didn’t mind Sledgehammer, I loved Big Time – really loved this track, but I found Kate Bush’s voice really annoying on Don’t Give Up. Don’t hate me, but I find Kate Bush’s voice annoying on any song especially “Running Up That Hill”. I digress.

As time went on, I heard and appreciated Solsbury Hill, Shake the Monkey, Shaking The Tree, Red Rain and Biko. You could see that the lyrics, topics and messages are much deeper than your average pop star. I liked what I heard, meanwhile I still did not pick up any of his albums.

On Jan 22, 1993 at 12:33pm (I have the receipt), I did pick up ‘Us’, his sixth studio album that included singles, Steam, Digging in the Dirt, and Kiss that Frog. I’m not sure what drew me to the album, other than radio play, but I can say that a significant number of the songs really spoke to me.

Given all the things I had been dealing with

I had moved in with my Aunt and Uncle in May 1992, just before graduating from High School, after a tumultuous falling out with my immediate family including my grandmother;
I still had a year of high school left (5 OACs)
I needed to work hard to make sure I got into the university I wanted to get into, and do my best
I was starting to come into my own as a man of 18 and learning to live life on my own;
I was finally starting to receive a certain amount of respect that had been missing from my life;
I had to re-learn how to give respect

The context for picking up the album was a cold winter day, as we used to have them back then. Either I had borrowed my Uncle’s Plymouth Sundance, to go to school – or I had been dropped off. Exams for the day were cancelled, as I think it was exam season, mainly because of a snow day or busses not being able to get to the school on time. It was Friday – so, a bunch of us friends decided to go into Toronto.

Needless to say, with all of the things I had going on, this album hit home for me with my own interpretations:

Digging in the Dirt representing a lot of my feelings around my immediate family situation, especially anger inside;
Come Talk To Me about wanting sanity to establish itself within that family situation, and just needing someone to be a guide and mentor; and being afraid;
Acknowledging that I actually Love to be Loved – which is pretty big for a teenager;
Secret World about hiding and withholding love, and very much about my need to move out of my Grandmother’s house and in with my Aunt and Uncle.

It’s not surprising that I was going through relationship issues at that time and this whole album is about relationships.

So that pretty much solidified Peter Gabriel as an artist I really enjoyed.

It’s been years since I listed to Us and with going to the concert on Thursday, I started hoping that Peter might play tracks from Us in addition to playing So from start to finish.

Come Talk to Me was the second song of the night, Digging in the Dirt started the second part of the concert, and Secret World was the second song of the second part of the evening. The third part of the evening was playing So live from start to finish.

By the end of the second part of the evening, my Peter Gabriel concert experience was more than I could have asked for with three key songs from my life having been played live. I could not have asked for more.

Okay, I will say that there were some other very cool moments, especially with “Father, Son” and “The Tower That Ate Men” from Ovo (The Millennium Show) – the latter being played as an encore which were also significant.

One other thing I appreciated about this concert was the volume was at an appropriate level for listening without ear plugs.

I feel very fortunate to have experienced this concert at this time and very much appreciate the experience.

I’ve been listening to Us all day, and it still stands the test of time. I look forward to a remastered version in the future.

It’s nice re-listening to pivotal albums from times in our life, and realizing how much we have grown, moved on, and have been honourable to those challenging experiences.

Since that time in 1993, I picked up “Shaking the Tree”- Greatest Hit collection; and “Ovo – The Millennium Show” album from the Millennium Dome itself in 2001, before it became the O2 Arena.

As for So, I plan on buying a copy as soon as I can. Today, I purchased “Secret World Live” on DVD so that Scott can somewhat experience a PG show as he wasn’t in Chicago with me.

“Seeing things that were not there
On a wing on a prayer
In this state of disrepair

Down by the railway siding
In our secret world, we were colliding
In all the places we were hiding love
What was it we were thinking of?”

Long live Sam Silverman

Posted on September 28, 2012 by mathan

This past week Sam Silverman, aka Sam The Record Man passed away.

Given my previous blog entry, about shopping for music in Chicago, I was saddened by this. I was sad when the store was shut down and torn down.

What pleases me, though, is the fact the neon lights of Sam’s will run again once Ryerson University’s new building is erected.

Sam was quite the force in the Canadian music scene, long before there were Can Con (Canadian Content) laws on the books for the percentage of Canadian music that had to be played on airwaves. He was HUGELY supportive of new artists. For that, my hats of to Sam.

When I was younger, I LOVED hanging around Yonge St between the Eaton Center and northward to Bloor. If I visited Toronto, I *had* to go check out the record shops. I spent hours going to the HMV in the Eaton Center, which is where the Urban Eatery is now located, Sam’s, and the HMV at 333 Yonge St.

My favourite story about Sam’s, which is kind of a sad one is about me having gone to buy Madonna’s box set of The Immaculate Collection, called The Royal Box, and finding out about 5 minutes later – courtesy of CFNY in Toronto – that Pet Shop Boys were coming to town on their Performance Tour! Sadly, I had spent the money I could have used to see Pet Shop Boys.

I wouldn’t get to see Pet Shop Boys live for about 13 years!

Sam’s was kind of a grungy place… Artist names were hand-written on plastic cards… It worked in a city with places like Honest Ed’s. The staff were great and were helpful, they liked music – though they weren’t all that helpful when I wanted to return “The Royal Box”, LOL!

But alas, here in 2012, with the digital download industry, etc… Sam’s is no longer here, HMV is now 2/3rds the size and a shadow of it’s formal self.

Believe me, digital downloads don’t have the value as holding a CD, Tape, DAT, Vinyl or 8-Track in your hands. Besides, you can’t tell who actually worked on an album when you buy the digital download. Isn’t that a tad bit disrespectful to all of the artists that work on an album?

I digress. Thank you for the music, Sam!

Retail therapy

Posted on September 13, 2012 by mathan

Today I engaged in some retail therapy and decided to buy a bunch of music on CD including

Pet Shop Boys – Elyisum – The main reason I went shopping
New Order – Retro
Alanis Morrisette – Havoc and bright lights
Kylie Minogue – The Best of
David Gahan – Paper Monsters – A steal at $1.99!

Chicago is one of those cites where I like to go shopping for music, like London. Let me loose in HMV on Oxford St in London, 333 Yonge St (which is a pale shadow of what it was in the early 90s) or a Virgin Megastore and I’m in heaven.

Except, here in Chicago, the Virgin Megastore I was looking forward to visiting is now no longer open. I knew Virgin had shut down the store in San Francisco, but looking at their website, I had not realized they shut down in the UK, Ireland, Spain, US, Canada, Australia and Japan!

They are open in France, Germany, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, UAE and Oman.

On the “Elysium Track by Track” with David Walliams, Pet Shop Boys mention that a staggering 96% or 98% of music is now purchased online – I cannot remember if that was in the UK or internationally. I knew things were dire in the physical distribution market for music, but I didn’t realize it was that bad.

And that is sad.

I asked someone that, with the Megastore being closed, where does one get music? HMV? Can’t find one in Chicago. FYE at 26 East Randolph St. is the place to go from what someone suggested to me.

So after work, I had a Chicago experience on the ‘L’ – my first time going around the Loop.

I had a great time just looking for music, and I couldn’t be happier. It’s been a long time since I did that.

There’s nothing like having your hands on the real physical project. Being able to read the lyrics, reading the liner notes. Without this, the music is too impersonal. You never see details about who worked on what track, who was involved, what equipment was used, who do the artists want to thank, who is the album dedicated to? Nothing unless you get an iTunes LP, and even then it’s only if it’s programmed into the multimedia interface.

Music is not something to just be consumed. A collection should be nurtured. Listened to and enjoyed. And that from an artist who has a track on iTMS and has pretty much only released music digitally. There were/are physical copies of Bear Tracks 3 out there, BTW.

You’re only getting part of the experience.

I also still like listening to albums in the order in which the artist or band laid them out on the album. Often they tell a story and it’s quite an art to make an album flow, much like how a DJ takes you on a trip at a club.

Then, of course, there is the quality question. Nothing beats a CD relative to M4As, MP3s, iTunes Mastered, etc… Some say there’s nothing like playing vinyl – the warmth, etc… And I can appreciate that after having bought albums in digital format that I had only previously owned in vinyl.

I’ve fantasized for years about, and have wanted to put together an actual physical album – be it on CD or Vinyl, complete with artwork, etc… It’s about time I stepped up to the plate on writing more music.

I digress. After leaving FYE, I couldn’t wait to open the albums so I rushed over to the Washington – Blue station to get the train out to Cumberland station, to meet up with a coworker back at the hotel for diner.

On the station platform I opened up each album and read the liner notes, the thank yous, the equipment used, some of the lyrics, and in particular the interviews in the New Order Retro box set.

Very much my happy place.

iTMS: Nice bug…

Posted on September 13, 2012 by mathan

So, I got a response back from Apple.

In short, if you pause a download while downloading a song from iTMS, iTunes thinks that is the breaking point in the song – where the song stops. I certainly did that with a few tracks while downloading.

Seriously? How dumb is that? And when is this going to be fixed?

iTMS: Songs that don’t play fully

Posted on September 12, 2012 by mathan

I opened the following support case with Apple – I’ve seen this happen too many times with iTunes Music Store downloads recently.

In short, while you’re playing music the music stops playing and proceeds to the next track, despite there being time left on the track. The issue does not happen on my iPhone, iPad or Apple TVs.

Buyer beware – just in case…

I purchased Pet Shop Boys “Elysium” (Order MGZBZW1437) and “Winner” (Order MGZBTMXGJ9) – both have tracks that when played on iTunes on my Mac, it sometimes stops in the middle of the track and proceeds to the next track. On my iPhone and Apple TVs the content plays correctly.

Here are the tracks that do that:

– From Elysium – Leaving, The Early Stuff, Give it a go, Elysium Track by Track (with David Walliams)

– From Winner – The way through the woods (Long Version) –

To recreate either play the whole track through or you can even scan through the track. In the case of “The way through the woods (Long Version)”, it stops at where you think the end of the track is but there is a whole second part to the track. It stops at 4:03 with 1:39 still left in the track – which is the best part of the track.

I’m not sure if this is an iTunes Store encoding issue, or a problem with iTunes software itself. I’d appreciate the store looking into this.

What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas…

Posted on September 11, 2012 by mathan

Or does it….

From a competition we had at our work PTM . Yes, I’m the bride, and this is announcing our new fake product – Wedding Order Management System – with responsive design to your every need for your wedding.

*GRIN*

Review: Elysium – Pet Shop Boys

Posted on September 10, 2012 by mathan

I was able to get an advanced copy of the new Pet Shop Boys album, Elysium, a few weeks prior to release which takes place in Canada on September 11th.

At first the album did not grab me. Taking it home, putting it on the stereo while I was cleaning up in the kitchen, it just didn’t capture my attention. At one point I went as far to say, “This is the worst Pet Shop Boys album ever.”

When you travel as much as I do for work, you look for consistent things to help keep you sane. As of writing this review, I will have been out of the country 15 weeks out of 22 with many more to come. This gives me a lot of time to listen to music on the plane, in the lounge, at the gate, and at the gym. So I’ve had a lot of time to list and analyze the album.

Just like Behaviour, which is such a deep album, Elysium, to me, is very much the follow up. Instead of begin written in Germany, it was written in Los Angeles – who knew that such opposite places on the planet could evoke similar emotion updated, 20 years later?

Leaving – The third single, if you count the early release of Invisible the first release, a song about hope after a break up, almost brutal reality. Surprisingly upbeat and catchy despite the chants of “Our love is dead”. Don’t play this song if you’re on a date.

Invisible – Very trippy, dub step. The video for this was completely brilliant, and a throwback to the Very days. Admittedly, it reminds me of music played in the 80s at my orthodontist’s office, and definitely a track that belongs on Behaviour. I’m not exactly sure if there is a hidden message to the song, but it describes the story of a socialite who has realized they’re “Invisible”. I had thought that the song was a song about the double edged sword seeing that as a somewhat positive thing in their life, and the negative aspect of people who grow older being somewhat invisible. It really is much more the latter case. “Look at me the absentee, disappearing finally, goodbye. Is it magic or the truth, strange psychology or justified, by the end of youth. Can you hear me, can you see me, am I really here? I’m invisible.”

Winner – Many people think this written for London 2012, but it wasn’t. It was inspired by the Eurovision Song Contest. Who can’t get caught up in Eurovision? I know I did at my first experience in 1996 – and yes, I rooted for Gina G at the time; and I got caught up with it in Uruguay when I had nothing else to do. I would love to see the Boys support a new artist by playing backup for them at the Eurovision Song Contest as a Amazingly upbeat for Pet Shop Boys, and I love the exposure they give the trans community, and specifically the MTF community, in their video. Kudos for trans awareness!

Your Early Stuff – “It’s bad in a good way if you know what I mean” – A response to things taxi drivers have said to the boys as they tour around. It very much reminds me of, “Yesterday when I was mad” from Very, toned down. “They say that management never used to pay, unless you got ripped off back in the day. Anyway, what’s your name?”

Face Like That – If you’re looking for the stomper track, this is it. Pure Pet Shop Boys synth pop, reminiscent of tracks from Please taken to the next level, maybe “Two Divided by Zero”. This would have me dancing in my hotel room on loud. Love the bass line and the drum machine. “With a face like that how couldn’t I want you, With a face like that why wouldn’t I fall in love with you”

Breathing Space – This is my favourite slow track on the album. Being an introvert and with how much I have had to be ‘on’ being the face of the company I work for in front of clients and the two companies we acquired recently; I can totally relate to the story and message behind the track. The need to take time for yourself when you’ve been non-stop go go go. I’d be proud singing this at karaoke. I love the strings on this track. “I stop for some breathing space, divert from the public place, return to a private place, I know it’s there just in case I gotta get out.”

Ego Music – A response to stupid things said by people who are public figures for all the wrong reasons; very similar to “How can you expect to be taken seriously” but more general rather than a specific artist. I really dislike how this track is put together, unfortunately. The lyrics is what makes this track shine and they make me laugh my ass off. Here are some samples:

“I am my own demographic, what does that say about me?”

“I think whats fascinates people about me / And I’m really grateful to my fans / Is that I”m totally fearless / People really get that / in the sea of negativity / I’m a statue of liberty / That’s why people love me / It’s humbling”

The way Neil says all this all deadpan is even more hilarious.

Hold On – I think this is the first song written by anyone that pays homage to the recession being felt worldwide, and especially in Europe. I thought the virtual backup singers during the album launch concert in Berlin were hilarious and brilliant. The ultimate cost cutting measure for a band? I’m not saying that to be critical of Pet Shop Boys, they are feeling the crunch – have been for years as the music industry implodes with trying to figure out digital initiatives. This track was inspired by Handel.

Give it a go – This feels like a track from Release, very west coast, maybe even Beach Boys-esque? The song is also another practical look at relationships with that brutal reality and honesty element, while being uplifting. “I’m not saying that you can’t find yourself someone better, Oh no, but in the meantime why not give it a go?” I think all those guys looking for the next best thing in a relationship should give this song a good hard listen. I really do like this track and I could see some really great dance remixes being created.

Memory of the Future – In addition to Winner and Face Like That, I see this track as the other big dance track on the album and almost a stomper. Some great chord progressions on this one. It’s up there with “This used to be the future” as found on the “Etc…” extra disc that came with limited edition of “Yes”, which I thought was a brilliant track and well worth tracking down. “It’s taken me all of my life to find you”

Everything Means Something – This song suffers from the same issue as Ego Music. It starts very slow and not all that inspiring, but the chorus is really beautiful.

Requiem in Denim and Leopardskin – OH MY! This totally takes me back to late 70s, early 80s television programming. Visions of Charlie’s Angels combined with Dallas, Liz Taylor and even a bit of James Bond. Total shag carpet, wood panelling, driving down the Pacific Coast Highway in a convertible, Playboy and LAX. The fabulousness, the opulence. Even if I didn’t know the album was recorded in Los Angeles I would have had these visions. It should be a theme song to a new TV show. This will become a hit during concerts. Who of Neil or Chris will wear the Leopardskin print?

This album is definitely not Yes, and it’s not as heavy politically as Fundamentalism

What about the Winner EP? What a great set of tracks! I’ve already talked to Winner itself. Here are my thoughts on the others:

A certain “Je ne sais quoi” – I wish this were on Elysium, but I’m glad this stomper was on the Winner EP as it helped to build support and excitement on the album. It should have been released as a single. “In Berlin your’e dancing to techno, before you catch the first flight to Moscow, you know your way around an espace d’affair” “In Teran they’ve known your for years, despite of clerical fears, they think you understand their point of view. In the old days it would have been Rome, but now Beijing’s a second home, it started in the 80s just Bertelucci and you.”

The Way Through The Woods – A cute song that feels like it should be part of a musical. I’m wondering if it was a track cut from the ballet score the Boys wrote. Love the strings on this track, and the techno dance ending. Definitely a stomper towards the end.

I started a joke – A cute track. Who has the laugh in the end?

All in all, a great album and series of tracks from Pet Shop Boys.

Update: I have to say this is probably one of the best, if not the best Pet Shop Boys album to date. I did go back and listen to each of the albums from Nightlife onwards, and I have to say, all of their more recent work does stand up next to their earlier work.

Be sure to check out the Deluxe Edition download for an interview with Neil and Chris by David Walliams. It’s quite a neat look at the album.