Politics of Video Games

Trust Omar to find the good stuff. Bloglines is the shiznit!

Not only can I monitor the blogs I read regularly from one place – a la LiveJournal’s Friends list, without the creepy “Friend me” angle – but it lets me monitor other blog-like sites I check regularly, including Wizards’ D&D pages, Craigslist-ings, Snopes.com and my new fave, XBox sites!

Speaking of, this just in:

Def Jam Redefined

Vendetta II gets a new name.

April 30, 2004 – Electronics Arts has announced that their hip-hop battle title Def Jam Vendetta II has been renamed Def Jam: Fight For NY. Featuring more than 40 personalities and artists from the hip-hop world, Def Jam: Fight For NY will include Busta Rhymes, Carmen Electra, Lil’ Kim, Ludacris, Method Man, Redman, Sean Paul, Slick Rick, Snoop Dogg, and many more who are willing to beat the stuffing out of each other.

Great! Wonder if it will include an unlockable NYPD Rap Intelligence Unit to monitor the fighting? Maybe Benjamin Brafman or Murray Richman to defend them in court? Perhaps cut scenes of Tupac being shot up in a lobby, or Jam Master Jay in a recording studio?

I can’t believe this is the same company that publishes my beloved Madden football! Looks like I’ll be switching over to ESPN NFL 2005.

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Continue ReadingPolitics of Video Games

Hip-hop. Or, more specifically, rap music. Like your ex-con cousin on the verge of his third strike, I have a love-hate relationship with it. He will always be family, and every now and then I like to spend time with him, but for the most part, I'm over it. Was reading a preview the other day of Def Jam Vendetta II, a fighting game coming out for the XBox that features several prominent rappers and a hip-hop related theme, and went from geeked to disgusted by the end of the article. I love fighting games and the concept for this…

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Last night at Acentos was like an uninterrupted 24-hour stint in the recharger and I'm feeling good about poetry again and hopeful about the scene in general. I've always said being nervous before a performance is a good sign that you still care about what you're doing. Jessica, Nina and Maria obviously care about poetry, specifically the meticulous crafting and unadorned presentation of it. They let the poems speak for themselves and did they ever! Jessica, in particular, took an impressive leap forward with a commanding - almost, dare I say it...cocky? - stage presence and even kicked a memorized…

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From August 25, 2003: Speaking of next year, I'm making a To Do list for the run-up to 35. I've got 356 more days to get it all done: 1. Write 3 short stories/novellas; publish one; 2. Write & publish 2 articles, one non-poetry-related; 3. Produce 3 performance events; 4. Go back to school; 5. Reconnect with my not-so-inner nerd; 6. Lose 5 more pounds and tone up; 7. Unsubscribe from the poetry_slam listserve.112 days to go and I'm way behind on this. Completed: 5. Reconnect with my not-so-inner nerd; 7. Unsubscribe from the poetry_slam listserve. In progress: 1. Write…

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Wole Soyinka has this quote, "The tiger does not sing his tigritude." But, I think that if the tiger entered a world of leopards, he probably would. -- Mara JebsenApropos of nothing, I just love how Mara's mind works and her writing is second-to-none. This weekend was...tiring and counterproductive. Short, aimless getaways just don't work with kids this young. India throwing up in the car Friday night just as we had pulled into the Pathmark parking lot to go grocery shopping was a sign to cancel the whole trip and stay home. We didn't, of course, and the three-day weekend…

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Pumpkin Seeds: Weekend in Providence Edition

1. TGIF! Finally. Heading up to Providence, RI tomorrow for a long weekend of nothing more than relaxing. Saturday dinner with the MacMillan trio of Worcester will be fun. Might hit Roger Williams Park on Sunday. Definitely the crepe place off Thayer we found a couple of years ago. If it's even still there. Possibly up to Boston for Marché? Wish it was going to be a little warmer, though. 2. Pat Tillman. Hate the war, respect the soldier. Especially one that voluntarily signed up knowing he was going to be fighting in a war, walking away from millions of…

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