Awesome Town

Travels

2010-09-05T11:17:00.000-07:00

Hi, BlogFans. I have an announcement: Awesome Town is moving.

I have switched blogs before and I apologize for zipping all over the place like this. But, I've finally decided to take some advice I got a while back and switch Awesome Town to a Tumblr.

I have seen a good amount of peoples' Tumblrs lately and I've been really impressed by the site. I've also realize Tumblr is a better place for the type of blogging I'm doing on Awesome Town.

Blogger is good, but its best for the kind of blogging we're doing over at The Ron Blog (which is about to go through some changes of its own, but I assure you it will remain on Blogspot). Tumblr has won me over as a better site for the sort of stuff I post on Awesome Town.

You can check out my new Tumblr that, I assure you, will run a lot like how Awesome Town ran, here. It's no longer called "Awesome Town," though.

I took this move as an opportunity to change the name. My Tumblr's called "Party All The Time."

Thanks, everyone, for supporting Awesome Town over this year-and-a-half or so that it has been active. I hope y'all check out my tumbling once I get cracking over there.

Best,

-Vogt

Lil B: Super Saiyan Freestyle

2010-09-05T11:01:00.000-07:00

Hipster Dinosaur

2010-09-04T21:51:00.000-07:00

My friend Mr. Will Culbert posted this to my Facebook wall. It deserves to be in Awesome Town:

[Via Fork Party]

Kratos Kitten

2010-09-03T08:33:00.001-07:00

GOD OF WAR!

Welcome To The Terrordrome

2010-08-27T08:11:00.000-07:00

For a while now I've been thinking a game like Terrordrome should exist: a fighting game starring horror movie characters.

This game is heavily influenced by Mortal Kombat which, if you think about it, has many characters that belong in a slasher film actually. All your favorite Slashers are in it: Freddie, Jason, Ghostface from Scream, Mike Myers from Halloween, Leatherface from Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Chucky...even Ash from Evil Dead and Army Of Darkness.

I've embedded a video of some gameplay footage below. You can check Terrordrome's official site here where you can download a demo if you have a PC (it won't run on Macs easily). I have a Mac so I can't play it. I'll have to be satisfied watching videos of the game for now.

[Via 1up]

Costume Quest Trailer

2010-08-19T12:13:00.000-07:00

Tim Schafer (probably best known for his original Xbox masterpiece Psychonaughts) is a real visionary when it comes to creating groundbreaking and extremely entertaining videogames.

His new game Costume Quest has a genius premise. It's halloween, and peoples costumes turn them into all sorts of different beings. Actually, there's kind of a Buffy episode like this game. Kind of.

The premise for Costume Quest is a great way to get unicorns, robots, dinosaurs, skeletons...and so on, all into one game. And, presumably you can BE these things by dressing up as them. Which is awesome. Also, Halloween is probably my favorite holiday.

Here's the trailer:

[Via 1up]

Battles

2010-08-18T20:00:00.000-07:00

Grinderman

2010-08-16T09:29:00.000-07:00

This video for Grinderman's song "Heathen Child," off their forthcoming second album Grinderman 2, is insane in the best way.

I know little about Grinderman except that its a side-project type band run by Nick Cave.

The "Heathen Child" song is alright, but its video is pretty damn amazing. This video is an awesome nightmare, and the sort of thing more music videos should be like:

[Via Pitchfork TV]

Star Wars Lego Mural

2010-08-15T16:06:00.000-07:00

This is not a mural for the game "Lego Star Wars." This is an Empire Strikes Back mural made of Legos.

It's amazing:

[Via @UGOdotcom]

New Little Big Planet Marvel Costumes

2010-08-15T07:25:00.000-07:00

[Via 1up]

Brady Bunch Gets Low

2010-08-13T21:40:00.000-07:00

My friend the very skilled filmman Joe Delaney made this excellent video in which the Brady Bunch get down to a hip hop (and high school dance) classic: "Get Low" by Lil' Jon & The Eastside Boyz featuring the Yin Yang Twins.

In naming this project, Joe made a bit of an error saying that "Get Low" is a Lil' Wayne song. It isn't, but don't hold that against him because "Brady Bunch Gets Low" is fucking awesome:

Scott Pilgrim-ize Yourself

2010-08-12T06:53:00.000-07:00

The Scott Pilgrim comics are pretty good. They aren't my favorite comics in the world by any means, but they're fun and well put-together stories.

What's best about them is Bryan Lee O'Malley's wit and the downright lovable characters he created through Scott Pilgrim's six volumes.

The Scott Pilgrim movie coming out tomorrow is making for a lot of hubbub in pop culture about Scott Pilgrim, and now there's a thing where you can made yourself into a Scott Pilgrim character.

I gave myself the Scott Pilgrim treatment. Here's Scott Pilgrim-ized Nick:

Here are some more avatars I didn't make. They're all in color and are of famous people unlike Mr. Nick, friend of the hero.

Here's Kanye West:

Here's James Murphy Of LCD Soundsystem:

Here's Zooey Deschanel:

And Here's M.I.A:

[Via Paste]

Chef!

2010-08-10T13:42:00.000-07:00

Bad Art

2010-08-08T06:07:00.001-07:00

Apparently there's a museum for "Bad Art" in the Eastern Massachusetts town of Somerville.

Here are some of the museum's choice paintings (with names by yours truly):

Fun Dogs

Michael Jackson x Dream Horse

Eggplant Horror Family

Finally, here are some paintings in the Bad Art museum that I personally don't think are "Bad Art." That's probably because they are pictures of cats (the names are still my own):

Cosmic Pets

Beast Wars

[Via Paste]

Malcom Vs. The Bagel

2010-08-05T14:18:00.000-07:00

Today at Kids Kung Fu camp I ended up involved in a kid named Macolm's imaginary world in which a giant bagel terrorized New York City. At one point I played the voice of Barak Obama on the telephone and it was pretty awesome. I channeled Jimmy Fallon for my Obama voice.

Malcolm called the president asking for ropes to bind the Bagel. And, of course, Obama gladly provided them. But, the Bagel proved to strong to be tied up by ropes. In fact, most of what Malcolm tried was unsuccessful in destroying or capturing the damn thing.

In the end, we needed the assistance of another kid, the super-inventor Gordy. Gordy built a giant toaster which he used to toast the evil Bagel and then Malcolm ate it.

Then, we rebuilt New York using crayons.

Super Marishka Hargitay

2010-07-31T07:46:00.000-07:00

This month The Awesome Town has seen many posts with the word "super" in them. That's good. All super everything.

The picture below is by an artist named Sina Grace. It's a drawing of Detective Olivia Benson, one of the main characters on the great television show Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (the best Law & Order show by far) played by the actor Marishka Hargitay.

In this picture, Detective Benson has lightning powers. And she's fighting terrorists.

But, wait! This is not the only sci-fi Law & Order picture in existence! Not by a long shot!

If you want more Sci Fi Law & Order, An artist named Brandon Bird got a bunch of his colleagues together to make art taking the premises for Law & Order episodes and turning them sci fi.

For example, the picture above is based on a Law & Order: SVU plot called "Benson Combats Terrorist Activities." The series of art is appropriatly called "These Are There Stories."

The famous comic shop Meltdown Comics in Hollywood is showing currently showing all the "These Are Their Stories" art in the store. If you are in the L.A area, and you enjoy Law & Order and Sci Fi stuff, I recommend stopping by Meltdown and checking "These Are Their Stories" out. If you like comics and haven't been to Meltdown, it's a great store. I've been twice and it's definitely one of the best comic shops I've visited in my life so far.

Law & Order becoming Sci Fi really is amazing. It's two awesome things coming together.

[Via io9]

Super Cross Overs

2010-07-29T12:39:00.000-07:00

Crossovers are definitely in fashion these days. Well, mostly if you're Capcom. Just last year Capcom released Tatsunoko vs. Capcom and next year they're putting out the game we've been waiting a decade for: Marvel vs. Capcom 3 (a game that has two character wishlists here in Awesome Town. One by guest blogger Morgan Kent and one by yours truly). And now, a year after Marvel Vs. Capcom 3, we'll probably see release of the recently announced Street Fighter Vs. Tekken crossover game.

Perhaps inspired by Capcom's Cornucopia of crossovers on the way, an artist named David Stonecipher has made some crossover art. Stonecipher drew a series of pictures depicting superheroes meeting famous videogame heroes. Pictures such as this one of Superman and Super Mario:

Or this one of Batman meeting a fellow stealthy, deadly serious and gruff-voiced warrior: Solid Snake:

Here are two big monster guys, Donkey Kong and The Hulk:

And finally, here's Spiderman--whom Capcom oddly hasn't announced yet for Marvel Vs. Capcom 3--teaming up with a somewhat lesser known videogame guy: Just Cause's protagonist Rico Rodriguez. That team-up is because both Rico and Spider-Man zip around using grappling hook type things. Spider-man has his webs and Rico's got his stunt.

[Via Comics Alliance]

P.S: Just Cause 2 is one of the most fun games to dick around in of all time. It's like Grand Theft Auto, but even more ridiculous and thus even more entertaining.

I highly recommend downloading The Just Cause 2 demo, which is available on the Playstation Networks and Xbox Lives of the world. It's free fun. And, the Just Cause 2 demo is re-playable in a way most demos aren't. You can keep returning to it for awesome paramilitary sandbox adventures.

The Sound Of Superheroes Fighting

2010-07-27T18:05:00.000-07:00

As a rule, All MMOs suck, and I'm sure the DC Universe Online game will be no exception. However shitty it the game will be, its trailer is pretty amazing. It is an incredibly epic and damn entertaining clash of DC's heroes and Villains.

Now, I know what you're thinking. I, too thought this would be lame before I watched it. But, trust me, it's nowhere near lame. Give this video a chance. I could care less about the game its a trailer for, so I'm sort of just considering it an awesome animation featuring DC characters and not much more than that:

[Via io9]

Air Skeletor

2010-07-26T12:02:00.001-07:00

Skeletor is one of the most badass villains of all time. In fact, I think he's so badass that he deserves a better nemesis than He-Man. But, that's neither here nor there.

Anyhow, here's a little know fact about Skeletor: did you know he plays basketball?

An artist by the name of Andy Macdonald drew up the lovely picture of Mr. Skeletor balling.

[Via Complex]

Iron Man Anime Trailer

2010-07-25T15:30:00.001-07:00

I've said again and again that I think most anime is terrible.

But, this trailer for the an Iron Man anime show looks pretty badass. And really, only the art style is anime. It probably won't have a ridiculous anime story since Warren Ellis, one of comics' most visionary sci fi writers, is handling on the script.

Game Reviews - E3 2011

In addition to Iron Man, G4 is also giving 3 other Marvel franchises the anime treatment: Blade, X-Men and Wolverine.

[Via Spinoff Online]

Robot Butterfly

2010-07-25T14:10:00.001-07:00

Mind Sanitizer

2010-07-25T07:17:00.000-07:00

This bizarre and awesome short film "Mind Sanitizer" is the work of my friend Emily Wingren:

And, get this: it isn't the only film she's made! You can check out other videos on the ALAAMODE Youtube Channel.

Yeah!

Street Fighter Vs. Tekken Trailer

2010-07-24T15:10:00.000-07:00

[Via 1up]

Western Spaghetti

2010-07-23T07:12:00.001-07:00

Ghostface Soap Commercial

2010-07-20T06:55:00.001-07:00

Star Wars Cereal

2010-07-19T11:35:00.000-07:00

[Via Comics Alliance]

Toy Delorean

2010-07-19T07:01:00.001-07:00

I can't tell if this Power Wheels style Back To The Future Delorean is coming out soon or if it's a retro thing. It's hard to tell these days what's retro and what's made to look that way ( Cf., Mega Man 9 and 10, '50s Star Wars...).

My guess is that it's a new toy with retro advertising. Even if I'm wrong about that, this Delorean is still awesome:

[Via io9]

A Mustachioed Assassin

2010-07-19T06:16:00.000-07:00

Ubisoft has an Assasin's Creed comic coming out, a joint effort by comics guys Cameron Stuart and Karl Kerschl.

This comic won't be about either of the Assassins we've come to know and love from the games (Altair from the first or Ezio from the second). Instead, it will take place in 19th century Russia and features Nikolai Orelov, a new Assasin who seems to use a riffle. And has a mustache.

There's also a teaser trailer they put out for this comic. Trailers for things that aren't films is a strange thing. But, they're making trailers for everything these days. This one is kind of cool since it's in an oldschool fashion:

But, you should know that while old man, mustachioed Assassins are awesome, Nikolai won't be the first...
[Via Comic Book Resources]

Presidents And Their Hams

2010-07-14T17:15:00.000-07:00

An Artist named Bijoo painted portraits of all the U.S Presidents. He depicts each man with a ham in his arms.

Here's Obama with a Ham:

Here's Abraham Lincoln:

Here's Ulysses S. Grant:

And Here's Bill Clinton:

[Via Paste]

I Write Like...

2010-07-14T11:27:00.000-07:00

On the website I Write Like, you can paste in few paragraphs, a sample of your writing, and it will tell you which famous author you're writing resembles.

For example, It told me that the first few paragraphs of a short story I wrote are like Charles Dickens. The site used "analysis" to do that, so it has to be correct. Right?

Obviously, if I write like Dickens that means I'm destined for greatness, y'all.

I can't see why you'd need to know what writer this site thinks you're like.

In fact, you don't need to know. But, finding out can be fun. In the that very dumb internet way.

[Via Paste]

Kanye West x King Tut's Grandma

2010-07-12T15:09:00.001-07:00

Here's an even more ultimate teamup than Hellboy and Ghost Rider:

[Via Rap-Up]

Man Wolf Van

2010-07-12T14:55:00.000-07:00

Not only is this a creeper van. But, it's a GOLD creeper van with a MUTANT WOLF DUDE (and outer space) painted on it.

[Via io9]

Hellboy x Ghost Rider

2010-07-12T12:49:00.000-07:00

The other night I had a dream where Hellboy teamed up with Deadpool and Rorschach from Watchmen.

In the same vein as my dream, today some art hit the internet of another Hellboy teamup. Comic artist Dan McDaid took it upon himself to draw this very short comic featuring Hellboy and everyone's favorite flame-skeleton superhero: Ghost Rider.

[Via Comics Alliance]

Super Mario On The Curb

2010-07-11T09:33:00.000-07:00

Super Mario Bros. from Andreas Heikaus on Vimeo.

[Via Destructoid]

From Russia With Love

2010-07-10T10:32:00.000-07:00

Alcohol Up Close

2010-07-09T10:04:00.001-07:00

Here's what Gin looks like crystalized and viewed through a microscope:

Pretty awesome, right? Here's what Sake looks like:

And here's what White Zinfandel looks like:

[Via Complex]

Batman vs. Predator (and Aliens and The Joker)

2010-07-08T09:20:00.000-07:00

The new Nimrod Antal directed (and Robert Rodriguez produced) Predators movie is out tomorrow.

In honor of that, and because I've been blogging a ton about Batman lately (mostly over on the Ronblog) here's Batman: Dead End.

This fan film's a couple years old, but it's pretty cool. There's really no story. It's just Batman fighting monsters. But, that's fun.

A much more recent Batman fan film called City Of Scars came out a little under a month ago. "City Of Scars" has no Predators or Aliens, but it's not too shabby.

Big Bang Big Boom

2010-07-06T11:46:00.000-07:00

Here's some amazing graffiti stop motion by an artist named Blu (not the same guy as the hip hop Blu) showing the beginning of the world up to Blu's vision of the world's end:

BIG BANG BIG BOOM - the new wall-painted animation by BLU from blu on Vimeo.

[Via io9]

Fancy Inception Ad

2010-07-06T11:30:00.000-07:00

Christopher Nolan's new movie Inception is supposed to really great and it isn't even out yet (it comes out July 16th).

Apparently the film's about dreams and reality manipulation and such. That's what I can glean from the internet anyway.

Whatever Inception's about, this ad on the side of a building is pretty cool:

[Via Heat Vision]

Mice Fight

2010-07-06T11:18:00.000-07:00

[Via i09]

Girls And Wolves Shirt

2010-07-06T10:20:00.000-07:00

This is a great shirt you can get from Threadless.

Awesome Sand Castles

2010-07-06T10:17:00.001-07:00

[via Curated]

Lego Futurama

2010-07-02T08:40:00.001-07:00

[Via Comics Alliance]

Hulkula

2010-07-02T08:31:00.000-07:00

The recent Hulk comics have really sucked in my opinion. But, this variant cover for Hulk #26 featuring the Red Hulk as Dracula is pretty awesome.

It's drawn by Salva Espin. Hulk #26 will be out in October.

[Via Comic Book Resources]

Code Organ

2010-07-01T08:20:00.001-07:00

Yeasayer has this fancy "Code Organ" on their website that will "play" other websites and make you a song if you type in URL.

Somehow the Code Organ reads a website's HTML code and then makes a song out of that using sounds from Yeasayer's song "O.N.E". I tried it with Awesome Town's URL (thetownisawesome.blogspot.com) and got a pretty fun song (which I unfortunatly can't figure out how to share with y'all).

Try it with your for yourselves here!

Also, here's the original track "O.N.E" because it's a great song:

Yeasayer "ONE" By: Radical Friend from ODDBLOOD on Vimeo.

[via Pitchfork]

Iron Man by Genndy Tartakovsky

2010-06-29T09:58:00.000-07:00

Here's the Samurai Jack creator's variant cover for the upcoming Iron Man Annual.

[Via i09]

Paddington

2010-06-29T07:48:00.000-07:00

Paddington's Real!

I knew it!

Google Earth Proved it!

[Via Huffington Post]

How About Some Raccoons?

2010-06-28T09:58:00.001-07:00

[Via Comics Alliance]

Masters Of The Universe!

2010-06-28T08:12:00.001-07:00

Check out these awesome pictures of He-Man characters by an artist named Tyson Bodnarchu. Skeletor is my favorite. (Via Comics Alliance)

Why Paint Cats?

2010-06-28T07:27:00.000-07:00

Amazing Wizard

2010-06-22T22:26:00.001-07:00

Best Coast

2010-06-22T12:47:00.001-07:00

This band really likes cats. And California. But mostly cats.

Kirboard Cat Vs. Keyboard Cat

2010-06-15T08:13:00.000-07:00

Lobsterfest

2010-06-11T21:27:00.000-07:00

In The Immortal Words Of Diddy...

2010-06-05T12:40:00.001-07:00

Staff Skills

2010-05-24T09:24:00.001-07:00

Kung Fu Panda is not real. Kung Fu BLACK BEAR is though.

I originally spotted this at the Huffington Post.

Also, re: Kung Fu Panda, the first movie was okay, right? It wasn't awesome, but it wasn't a piece of poop either.

Well, the 2nd movie is apparently being written by Charlie Kaufman. So maybe it'll be awesome? Maybe that will step Kung Fu Panda up into Awesomeness?

RAGE!

2010-05-20T16:51:00.000-07:00

Best Animals

2010-05-17T07:09:00.000-07:00

Recently I found myself listing off my favorite animals. I was inspired to do so by hardboiled eggs shaped like bears faces.

These Are my favorite animals (a top 5!)

1. Monkeys.

Everyone knows I like Monkeys. I like lemurs especially. But really all Monkeys and Apes are wonderful in my book.

2. Cats

I am not a dog person. I love cats. They're so weird and amusing. I like to imagine what's going through a cat's head because every thought a cat has must be bizarre, don't you think?

3. Chickens

Yes, Chickens. I love them because they have bird brains, but are smarter than you'd think. I used to have chickens (and Awesome Town contributer Morgan Kent did too actually) and they were my friends. They would follow young Nicholas around the yard.

I'm fascinated by Roosters especially. They're very majestic I think. And they're bad ass. I had a Rooster named Ronney and he was great. He wasn't mean to us, but he would defend the hens from any threat. He'd yell at Hawks up in the sky.

4. Bears

A Cave Bear Can Do No Wrong. Bears are great. They're huge, furry dog/cat/raccoons. They're strong and can really fuck you up if they want to fight, but I think they can be very kind and gentle, too.

The most popular stuffed animal is probably a Teddy Bear, based on one of the most dangerous bears: Grizzlies.

Speaking of Grizzly Bears, Polar Bears and Grizzlies have been mating recently and that's been making a hybrid known as the "Grolar Bear" or the "Pizzly Bear" I like "Grolar" myself.

5. Snakes

I am a person who is freaked out by snakes. I love snakes. I always have. They're slithering doesn't gross me out it fascinates me. I like their faces. And how they flicker their tongues a lot.

I have only read the first 3 Harry Potter books, and I am in no way really a big "follower" of the novels. But, I will say my favorite moment in what I've read of the series is in the first book. It's when Harry realizes he can talk to snakes. I wish I could do that.

My friend Luke and I once taught a snake to nod when we pointed at him. We named him "Bo." I had a dog named "Beau" which is pronounced the same way.

Finally, I'd like to give Alligators an honorable mention.

They get an honorable mention for being cool. They're cool and are dinosaurs. And have funny faces.

Marvel Vs. Capcom "Wishlist" part 2 By Morgan

2010-04-28T21:03:00.000-07:00

Today I present y'all with Awesome Town's first guest blogger. As promised, below my good friend Morgan Kent has provided the internet with his Wishlist of Capcom characters for Marvel Vs. Capcom 3.

***

Mega Man X

In every vs. Capcom game we've had some form of Mega Man, but never the best one. X is the older darker version of Mega Man. The Tim Burton Batman to the Adam West Batman. The Bomberman Zero of Bomberman... well actually that example sucks. Anyway X has all the abilities of other versions of Mega Man, but if you met the right conditions in his games you could unlock Ryu's moves. Sounds like a good idea for Ultras to me.

Zero

After already appearing in Tatsunoko vs. Capcom and being the coolest character in the game it seems silly to not put him in. Zero is fast, has tons of power, and has a look to him that is the perfect combination of awesome and retarded, which to me is necessary in a vs. game.

Blade Master Alastor

Viewtiful Joe was alright in Tatsunoko vs. Capcom, but part of the appeal to the vs. series is not just getting the Ryus, and Chris Redfields, but also getting the side Characters. Blade Master Alastor was the rival character in Viewtiful Joe. He has all kinds of crazy sword and lighting powers, and he would be a nice cult favorite character to throw in.

Monster Hunter Guy

As one of the most popular franchises in all of Japan it's time Capcom milks this property in their fighting games. The Monster Hunter himself is pretty hardcore. He goes out and kills dinosaurs, and when he's done he turns them into clothes and weapons and then goes out and kills more dinosaurs to create more shit. Somehow this has to be made into a gameplay mechanic.

Phoenix Wright

He was originally planned to be put into Tatsunoko but was caught because of some bullshit language thing. Let's fix this! He's video games' only playable lawyer, or at least the only cool one.

Bionic Commando

For some reason Capcom is dead set on reviving this franchise, which I don't really get. Regardless the grappling hook and gun combo is pretty hardcore. Also I dig the Duke Nukem look of the character, so maybe I just lack the nostalgic connection with the guy to get super excited.

Wang-Tang

As a fan of Super Smash Bros. Power Stone to me has always been one of Capcom's best franchises. The characters were crazy, the levels were interactive, and in the second one you could build your own items. Of the whole cast Wang-Tang is the best for this game, he's fast, shoots lasers, and can turn into a super saiyen look-a-like. Capcom seems to like distancing itself from this franchise, and it's a crime that needs to be fixed.

Gouken

Gouken was a character that I felt Street Fighter 4 could not contain. There was so much to the story of this character that 4's game mechanics just held him back. Gouken deserves to be doing so many crazy moves, and only a vs. game gives him this kind of freedom. In 4 he's stuck just being slow and really technical. In MvC 3 he could live up to his story.

Sagat

Sagat is too cheap in Street Fighter 4. Keep him exactly the way he is and put him in MvC 3 then maybe he'll be fair.

Leon Kennedy

For the life of me I can't figure out why Chris is in this game. Leon is way cooler and actually has moves. He has a ton of spin kicks and wrestling moves, and all Chris has is big punches. Granted those punches broke a boulder, but honestly Leon is just a way cooler character. Plus the fact that is so nimble makes him fit in better with the vs. Univese.

Haggar

The greatest mayor.

Scrooge McDuck

The very best Capcom NES game is Duck Tails. That's right I said it! Now you may be asking how Scrooge McDuck could be in this game, well I have the answer! Capcom made Duck Tails. Disney owns Duck Tails. Disney also owns Marvel. Now if all these forces work together then we'll have quite the cross over.

Ken from Street Fighter 2010

If any version of Ken is in this game it deserves to be this often forgotten spin-off character. Street Fighter 2010 honestly had nothing to do with anything else in the franchise, it just had the name slapped on to sell copies. Regardless it would be a nice bit of fan service, if at the least it was an alternate costume for Ken.

Vanessa Z. - P.N. 03

I never played P.N. 03, but I always wanted to. The game had a great Aesthetic, and a cool mechanic of combining rhythm and third person shooting. The main character was also cool looking which is reason enough to throw her into this game.

The Killer 7

This game never sold well, and is definitely a cult classic game. That alone is reason enough to throw them in some way. I imagine them playing like a violent version of Captain Commando or that evil character from Yatterman with all the henchmen.

In terms of final bosses the series has tried to always include something related to one of the companies involved. However they have never done a tag team fight with two bosses which I think would be awesome.

Wesker and Galactus are both characters who have never appeared in the series, and both are crazy awesome. Plus an ultimate team-up like that is what makes the vs. series so cool. It's two characters who could not even exist in the same universe teaming up for who knows why, and that's awesome.

I'm sure Capcom won't do this exact team, but I'm really hoping for a tag-team boss of a Marvel and Capcom character rather than just the multi-form bosses we've been given so many times.

The charcter count in the game right now is 30, but that's only who they have working. More are being added every day. However, to say that everyone from 2 will be in is extreme so here's my list of who needs to be kept in the sequel, excluding obvious ones like Chun-Li or Spider-Man.

Need to Keep: Excludes obvious ones like Spider-Man

Guile

Akuma

Cammy

Strider

SonSon

Captain Commando

Sakura

Zangief

Psylock

Cyclops

Venom

Juggernaut

*Replace Omega Red with Dr. Octopus*

Colossus

Marvel Vs. Capcom 3 "Wishlist"

2010-04-18T18:57:00.000-07:00

Yeah! Marvel Vs. Capcom 3 is finally coming out! I've waited like 7 years for this game (and I think most people who like videogames have, too). Let's get it!

I love Marvel Vs. Capcom even though I suck ass at the game. Many people love Marvel Vs. Capcom, right? I mean, how can you not? Street Fighter characters, Mega Man, Other cool videogame characters AND Marvel Superheroes and villains? No human can dislike that.

I'm not normally down with this hype-inspiring videogame "Wishlist" stuff, but I'm too excited about the 3rd Marvel vs. Capcom and I love comics and superheroes too much to not do it.

Here are the Marvel characters I want in the game most of all. Really, though, I don't expect most of these characters to make it in the game.

This is, in reality, less of a Wishlist and more of a list of Marvel characters I think are awesome and who would be great in a Marvel Vs. Capcom game. So yes, I am just kinda getting my rocks off here:

Moon Knight

The hero with the most ridiculous name is also perhaps Marvel's most bad ass dude. He's like a mix of Batman, The Punisher, Rorsach and the criminally insane. He's a hallucinating maniac who once bit a man's face off. And he's a superhero.

Iron Fist

Iron Fist would be perfect for a fighting game. He has chi powers that resemble hadoukens even. He has marital arts skills.

Doctor Strange

Doctor Strange is awesome. He can fly and he can do magic. He would have awesome hyper combos for sure utilizing his magic. A Doctor Strange villain, Shuma Gorath, was in Marvel Vs. Capcom 2. But no Strange. Strange could easily be in the 3rd game.

Carnage

I think Carnage is my favorite villain. A serial killer bonded with an alien symbiote that craves violence? He is a downright psychopath who can turn his arms into axes. Plus, he looks real badass.

Luke Cage

Luke Cage has really gone from being a joke to being a legimiate superhero at Marvel and that's awesome. Cage is superstrong and supertough. And he swears a lot. He's also proven to be a very good leader for The Avengers in Captain America's absence.

Also, Nicholas Cage changed his original last name from "Coppola" to "Cage" because of Luke Cage. No Joke.

Blade

Aren't the Blade movies (well, the first 2) great? Did you know Blade's a Marvel Comics character? Blade has swords and vampire strength. He kicks ass and is apparently in the X-Men now, too.

Beast

I think Beast would play kind of like Blanka (without the electric powers). But, he's a real acrobatic dude. And really smart, too.

Spider-Woman

Her name's "Spider-Woman," but don't let that make you think she's lame. Jessica Drew can shoot energy bolts out of her hands and she can kind of fly. She's also a sort of secret agent with amnesia issues. And she's hot.

Nick Fury

Nick Fury would use a big lazer gun. And look like Samuel L. Jackson. He'd probably play kind of like Cable.

X-23

The girl Wolverine. She has toe claws.

Taskmaster

This dude is crazy. He can copy any body's fighting style. He'd be kind of like a Mojujin character I imagine. I really like Taskmaster's ridiculous skull mask costume.

The Hood

The Hood wears a demon cloak. When he holds his breath, he's invisible. He's a crimeboss. He uses guns.

Multiple Man

Jamie Madrox. If you hit this guy, he splits into two copies of himself. He can make lots of copies, Naruto-like.

Black Panther

Black Panther is a king of a super-advanced African country and also a superhero who wears a Batman-ish costume and has Wolverine-ish claws that vibrate slightly (they're made of "vibranium") and thus can cut through stuff pretty well. He's ninja-y and martial artsy. He uses gadgets. He'd be great in a fighting game.

The Vision

A robot that can alter his density and has super eye-lazers. The Vision is a big deal for Marvel since he's been an Avenger a lot. He was married to Scarlet Witch which may be the only human/android relationship in comics.

Daredevil

Daredevil has martial arts skills and acrobat skills. And weird nunchuck/grappling hook things. He'd be good for a fighting game.

Deathlok

A cyborg from the future (kind of). The Metalocalypse band is named after him.

Mister Negative

A recently-created Spider-Man villain with many strange, unexplained, yet badass (magical?) powers. He looks really cool, too.

The Lizard

I've always liked The Lizard. I like that he wears a lab coat.

Brother Voodoo

The new "Sorceror Supreame" Voodoo has a ghost friend. And magic. He took Dr. Strange's place as the Supreme guy.

Toxin

Where did Toxin go? He's the son of Carnage and Venom. He's a good guy with a symbiote bonded to him. Toxin's pretty cool, but nobody writing Marvel comics is writing about him these days and that's kind of sad, right?

Armor

A Japanese Teenage mutant who can manifest a force field that can kill people. She's an Astonishing X-man.

Chase Stein

Really, any of the Runaways (Hell, put the whole team in) would be great. But, if I had to choose one, it'd be Chase. Chase has no powers, but has gadgets including giant fist things that can shoot fire. And also a dinosaur companion. What a cool dude, right?

The Sentry/The Void

The Sentry is Marvel's Superman kind of. He's essentially got god-like powers, but he's schizophrenic and sometimes becomes a monster "The Void." He'd be a perfect "final boss" for the game.

Dog Brother #1

Any of the Immortal Weapons from Iron Fist would be awesome. But, I think I like Dog Brother #1 the best. His name is the best anyway. He's a martial artist with wolf friends. Bride Of Nine Spiders is also cool because she can generate spiders from her body. And the Prince Of Orphans, too.

The Gorgon

The Gorgon's a super mutant who will kill you if you look him in the eyes. He's also got many other powers, too. Maybe he's too powerful for this game actually? But he's pretty badass. He's been a part of the supervillain teams HYDRA and The Hand.

Rocket Raccoon

A space Raccoon. A Guardian Of The Galaxy. An awesome dude. An anthropomorphic Raccoon with a a lazer gun? What's not to like?

Omega Sentinel

Karima Shapandar is a cyborg sentinel who's a good guy mostly. She's been an X-man. She can turn parts of her body into guns and missile launchers and stuff. Awesome.

Crimson Dynamo

Basically Russia's Iron Man. He's sort of what Omega Red is to Wolverine.

Nightcrawler

Nightcrawler's teleporting would make him cool in a fighting game. I'm actually surprised he wasn't in the previous Marvel Vs. Capcoms.

Morbius

The Living Vampire! A Spider-man villain who got his powers like Spider-man kinda. Except from a radioactive bat rather than a spider.

Morlun

Another Spider-man villain with an "M" name. Molurn eats super people. He can suck the life out of you. He's wicked strong and tough. Some sort of ancient being.

Fantomex
An X-men character. One of the many "Weapon X" creations (Wolverine being the best known). Fantomex has more than one brain! And, he shoots people up with guns.

Mister Sinister

Sinister should've been in a Marvel Vs. Capcom earlier. He's awesome and has many powers. I mean, he's just such a badass villain. I imagine he'd play kind of like Doctor Doom since he can levitate and shoot energy blasts.

Lady Bullseye

Bullseye, is cool and all, but Lady Bullseye is cooler. Man Bullseye saved her inadvertandly when she was little. And, when she grew up, she joined The Hand and became a villain "Lady Bullseye" as an homage to him. She is more "ninja-like" than man Bullseye and I think a cooler character. Her fashion sense and her "look" would lend itself well to a Marvel Vs. Capcom's art style.

Moonstone

Moonstone has a variety of powers. She can fly, shoot energy and turn intangile mostly. She's like Ms. Marvel, except a villain and a more interesting character. I really dislike Ms. Marvel. Moonstone she posed as "Ms. Marvel" in Norman Osbourne's Dark Avengers. I think Moonstone should be the faux "Ms. Marvel" (pictured above) for the game because that's her best look.

Songbird

Once Songbird and Moonstone were in the Thunderbolts together. Songbird can fly with weird mechanical wings. And she can supersing and make constructs out of sound. The sound-construct powers would be really interesting in a fighting game I think.

Radioactive Man

While I'm going down the line of Thunderbolts, Radioactive man would be cool. He can, well, shoot radiation at people. He wears a biohazzard suit. He's usually polite to people even though he's a recovering villain.

Sleepwalker

Sleepwalker's crazy. He can alter reality with eyebeams. He's connected to some kind of dream dimension called "Mindscape". According to Wikipedia he's Marvel's attempt at a rip off of Neil Gaiman's "The Sandman". He looks much more badass than Sandman, though? Am I right? I doubt he's ever been written as well as Sandman though...

Man-Thing

Speaking of Marvel's "rip offs" of Vertigo (and speaking of Thunderbolts, too. Since Man-Thing will be on the new Thunderbolts team) The Man-Thing is quite obviously a rip off of swamp thing. But, he'd be cool to have in a fighting game.

The Thing

Seriously, where was the Fantastic Four in the first 2 Marvel Vs. Capcom's? The Thing is pretty cool. So is Human Torch. One of them should really be in the next game. Maybe all of the Four, actually. They're a pretty big deal for Marvel, yet the previous games really ignored them. Why that is I do not know.

Actually, ignoring putting The Fantastic Four in the first two games is like ignoring Thor. Thor is not one of my favorite Marvel characters, but he's a founding Avenger (speaking of Avengers, The Thing will be in the Avengers comics soon as a member of that team) and he's a big Marvel character. I imagine Thor will have to be in the Marvel Vs. Capcom since there's a Thor movie on the way...

Phew. That was a workout posting all that. But fun. Nerdy and fun.

I doubt many of these characters will get into the game. But, that's ok. I still love them all. And a boy can dream, can't he?

My friend Morgan has hopes for what Capcom characters he wants, and maybe I'll post those up?

For Capcom, I'd like Frank West of Dead Rising and also Dante from Devil May Cry. And Viewtiful Joe...Okay, that's a list for another time. Maybe for another blogger, too. Maybe I'll get Morgan Kent up on Awesome Town to give y'all that Wishlist since he seems like he has a good Wishlist going for the Capcom side of things.

Later,

-Nick

I Like This Creature

2010-03-11T20:26:00.001-08:00

Apparently with the forthcoming "Playstation Move" motion control technology you can make friends with a monkeycat.

Behold:

Catstronaughts

2010-03-05T12:33:00.000-08:00

My friend Joe Delaney made these Catstronaughts. Aren't they amazing?

It was Joe's Birthday yesterday.

Bandcamp!

2010-02-14T20:51:00.000-08:00

I have some music up online now. Bandcamp is a pretty cool site that let's you upload musics so people can stream them and also you can have people download your stuff, too. It's fun.

On my Bandcamp page I have two songs I've already posted to this blog, but there's also a new track, a Valentine's Day song.

http://nickvogt.bandcamp.com/

Mama Town

2010-02-14T18:49:00.001-08:00

Yo.

In Janauary 2010, my radio show here at Hampshire College: "A Cave Bear Can Do No Wrong" had its last show. Well, it's last show for a while anyway. It could, like the phoenix, rise up from the ashes shrieking.

My show has shapeshifted due to the addition of a co-host, my friend Molly Taylor.

What did A Cave Bear Can Do No Wrong shapeshift into? Mama Town.

You can listen to Mama Town on Wednesday nights at 10 on the yurt radio. You can hear us say enlightening things and play music that is delicious and nutritious.

Tune in on Wednesday nights. We'd appreciate it. We did a show last week, but it was a rocky sort of start. Rocky like Geodude or Sylvester Stalone. Our next show will be smoother. Smooth like the criminal Michael Jackson famously sang about.

Be well, everybody. Remember to recycle.

Mama Town.

Tigers Deluxe!

2010-01-30T07:07:00.000-08:00

Tigers Deluxe is amazing. I have no idea what most of the text on the site says since it's in Danish (at least I think it's in Danish...), but that does not matter.

What matters is that this is a site full of cat pictures called "Tigers Deluxe".

Here's an example of a "Tigers Deluxe" cat picture:

And Here's another one:

Poor Optimus

2010-01-27T21:08:00.000-08:00

Recently I went to Target and I bought folders and notebooks. I needed them for classes. One of the folders I bought has Optimus Prime on one side and Megatron on the other.

When I was checking out, the cashier was really excited that I was buying a Transformers folder (I was excited, too) and he pointed something out to me.

He said something to the effect of: "You know, it's a shame that we won't see like the old versions of the transformers, man. Now all the Transformers you see are the movie versions."

The Target Cashier (and I apologize for just calling dude "Target Cashier". I wish I knew his name. Perhaps I should name him for the purposes of this blog post? Yes, I'll name him Gob.) is refereing, of course, to the Michael Bay movies that defiled the Transformers franchise and have given us shitty versions of Transformers on our folders and notebooks and as action figures.

Gob the Cashier is right. The old animated series, models of the Transformers are SO MUCH cooler than the Michael Bay versions. But, due to the films' successes, we may never see the old versions of the Transformers (the ones most of us grew up with) again.

The Michael Bay Transformers are the ones the kids of today have to grow up with. And that saddens me.

Here's the old version of Optimus, the "non-Bay" version:

Compare that to the shitty "Bayified" Optimus:

The Bay version is butt compared to the old one, right?

But, the movie Optimus is ubiquitous these days. It's a real bummer that the IDW Transformers comic s are the only place where the Transformers keep their old look.

Who reads those comics, though, right? I honestly don't. Yes, Nick Vogt, in all his comics-ness, does not read the IDW Transformers comics. I think if I don't read them, no one does.

Ok. Let's compare another transformer's "old look" to the "movie look" shall we?

Here's the old Bumblebee:

Now, here's the new Bumblebee:

Why did they make Bumblebee, the cute transformer, into a hideous abomination? Why did they change him from a VW Bug (which makes the name Bumblebee make sense...) to a sportscar?

Everything in the Transformers movies is forced to be badass or to be sexy. That's what happened to Optimus and Bumblebee. Bay tried to sex them up and in the process ripped out all their charm. Poor Optimus. Poor Bumblebee. Poor Transformers.

However, for as much as I constantly rag on Bay and how he fucked up Transformers, I will say this: His version of Megatron is a cooler than the old Megatron.

Here's the old Megatron:

Now here's Bay's new, nightmarish Megatron:

The one, and I repeat THE ONE, thing Michael Bay did right when he got his grubby mits on the Transformers was to make Megatron appropriately menacing. Megatron is a villain, but the old one doesn't necessarily look the part. Well, Michael Bay, I'll give you this: you made Megatron look like the villain he is.

Finally, I'd like to add that on Yup We Blogging, there is a report of a man who made a 14 ft. Optimus Prime statue. Although the man made his Optimus in the style of the Bay films, it's still pretty damn incredible.

Check that out, and also check out YWB because it's a great blog and really I should have mentioned Yup We Blogging on Awesome Town a while ago.

There are great people blogging on YWB including the proprietor of my other blog: Ronald Metellus. There's also a man I do not know in person, but follow on Twitter named Vlad, and someone I don't know at all named Broken Android. They're a good team and do a great job on YWB. Check that site out!

Yeah!

Hood Internet

2010-01-23T17:15:00.000-08:00

Y'all have probably already discovered the incredible site The Hood Internet, home of mashups of your favorite hipster jams with your favorite hip hop/R&B/top 40 jams. But, if you have not...well, you really need to check them out.

My sister Danica first showed me the Hood Internet's stuff a couple years ago. But, recently The Hood Internet has done some incredibly awesome mashups that I just feel the need to share with you, world.

First up is this jam which I think is the Hood Internet's best work yet: a mashup of DMX and The xx. Not only do their names jibe, but the mashup is ridiculously awesome. DMX rapping his classic "X Gon' Give It To Ya" (which you may remember from the classic film Cradle 2 The Grave...) over The xx (who have been described as "the sound of having sex") makes for an EPIC song. DMX has never sounded so deep. Check it out. Here's "The xx Gon' Give It To Ya:"

The Hood Internet - The XX Gon' Give It To Ya (DMX x The XX) by hoodinternet

Also, I recently heard another excellent Hood Internet track. One that combines Grizzly Bear's "Two Weeks" with Dead Prez's "Hip Hop". This song is less epic than "The xx Gon' Give It To Ya", but who'd have thunk "Hip Hop" and "Two Weeks" would make such a great combo? The Hood Internet, that's who. Without further ado, here's Hood Internet's "Two Weeks Of Hip Hop":

The Hood Internet - Two Weeks Of Hip Hop (Dead Prez x Grizzly Bear) by hoodinternet

What's great about Hood Internet is that they make awesome pictures for their songs, too. Not many mashup people do that. Here's the art they made for "The xx Gon' Give It To Ya":

...And here's their art for "Two Weeks Of Hip Hop":

Yeah!

Check out that Hood Internet already!

Poopfest

2010-01-13T08:38:00.001-08:00

Alfred

2010-01-12T15:17:00.000-08:00

Here's a new song for the kids. This is the story of Alfred the Panda.

Happy New Year.

2010-01-01T09:31:00.001-08:00

Mega Man!

2009-12-30T18:30:00.000-08:00

Mega Man 9 is the hardest videogame I've ever played. It nearly broke me so I gave up on it. I appreciate the pains Capcom took to make it really retro though. The game's art was really great.

They're now making Mega Man 10 in the same vein as 9, mimicking the crappy old box art from the ancient Mega Man games that looks NOTHING like the actual game and like the actual Mega Man looks.

Here's The Art from the first Mega Man game which came out in 1987:

That's terrible, isn't it? Yeah it is. It's TERRIBLY AWESOME. And, here's the Art for Mega Man 10 which is coming out probably in 2010:

Oh yes. That's brilliant.

And here's what Mega Man actually looks like. As I said, this is nothing like how he's pictured in the box art for a lot of his games:

Yeah!

Olive

2009-12-22T09:17:00.001-08:00

This is such a wonderful picture of a Baboon. The photographer did a really good job.

This Baboon is named Olive. Actually, I don't know that for sure. But, I think Olive is a good name for him. So I'm gonna call him that.

Olive's having an epiphany about the universe according to this news story.

He may be having a migraine though. If he's having a migraine, I feel sorry for Olive. Looks like it hurts.

Maybe he's having both a headache and an epiphany? I imagine gaining enlightenment and universal knowledge would hurt one's head a bit.

Olive, if you're out there, if you're reading this, you're a good monkey. I want you to know that.

-Nick

A Good Cat

2009-12-21T07:07:00.000-08:00

...I didn't find this video up here up the internet. My sister did. But, it's a good cat, no?

Get Dressed, Kids

2009-12-20T09:39:00.000-08:00

Goddamn it, Kids. Get Dressed.

Poopfest '09

2009-12-20T09:35:00.001-08:00

Dear South Butt It's Me, Nick

2009-12-16T05:44:00.000-08:00

I wrote this letter to the company South Butt to let them know how I feel about their situation and what they stand for in the world. South Butt is a parody name of the name "North Face", and North Face has decided to sue South Butt. You can read about this on NPR's site, which is where I found out about it.

***

Dear, South Butt:

As someone who greatly appreciates how funny "childish curses" are (i.e. poop, butt, stinky, dumb-dumb...) and as someone who appreciates humor in general, I find your company's name awesome.

There are many things on this Earth I do not find awesome, though. One of those is corporations throwing their weight around just to...well, throw their weight around. North Face, in suing you, is obviously just resorting to bully tactics and frankly I find that ridiculous.

South Butt, I hugely respect how you've handled this situation though. You are showing poise, stoicism and best of all, a sense of humor about the whole thing. Humor, of course, is something North Face and all of corporate America most definitely lacks.

I read about your company and this fiasco with North Face a few nights ago on NPR's website and I decided to write to you to let you know I think you, South Butt, are the "bigger man" in this mess. This is not a good look for North Face, and I hope everyone realizes that.

Good luck. And Good hunting, South Butt.

Yours,

-Nicholas Vogt

***

I sent that letter to South Butt this morning.

Get Dressed

2009-11-30T22:15:00.001-08:00

Get Dressed - Nick Vogt

More for the 2 Syllable Club

2009-11-09T22:20:00.001-08:00

Here are a bunch more awesome members of the wonderful "2 Syllable Club". If you're just tuning in, the requirements for membership are that your full name (first+Last) is, in total, 2 syllables.

-Bruce Lee

-Jet Li

-James Kirk

-James Brown

-Sean Combs

-Tim Gunn

-Jack White

-Will Smith

-Spike Jonze

-Spike Lee

-Mike Ladd

Mike Ladd went to Hampshire College. Where I am right now!

That's all for now. There are a whole lot of dude's in the club right now. I'm trying to think of more females (besides Grace Park) who are in the club.

1,000+ Words

2009-11-09T21:40:00.000-08:00

I just saw Raekwon (The Chef) live on Saturday. It was quite the experience. The man grimaced at me. And that's great.

Rae's Only Built 4 Cuban Linx 2 has been out for a minute now. It's excellent. It's really that oldschool Wu Tang cold ass shit you want to hear. As Sasha Frere-Jones said about the album, it feels like it came out in '98. It's sort of anachronistic in a good way.

That picture is misleading (or perhaps just dated) since the album is out now. It's no longer "Coming Soon". But, look at it.

What a crazy photo.

I love that picture. I wish they had made it the album cover. That picture really is worth 1,000 words. Probably 1,000+ words. Raekwon & some dude (probably Ghostface) lying on the floor, covered in cocaine, pointing guns at each other. Oh yes.

The album cover Rae (well, the record company really) did settle on is great, too. It's kind of campy and bad. But, it's fun since it's Rae and Ghostface being badass and goofy (and, this album cover really does add to the anachronism of Cuban Linx 2:

I feel like the Ronblog is "guest starring" Nick Vogt as...um..."Nick Vogt". Ron and I should take a picture like the cover of Cuban Linx 2 for the blog. Then we'd to be awesome.

I don't wanna spoil too much here, but the Ronblog may be getting another guest star...So, we'd have another dude in the photo, too.

All I have to say is: Senior Partners.

-Vogt

2 Syllable Club

2009-11-07T22:37:00.000-08:00

Hey, world.

I'm in the 2 syllable club since my whole name (first+Last) is 2 syllables total. Are you?

It's the reason I go by "Nick Vogt" and not...something else.

I will list off some other people in the 2 syllable club:

-Sean Price

I just saw him rap at Pearl Street in Northampton. He opened for Raekwon.

-Grace Park

she was on Battlestar Galactica. She's hot. Is she a robot?

-Nick Drake

He's dead and strangely only was famous after he died. Weird. But, he made lovely music. He was named "Nick" like I am.

-Max Schreck

He played Count Orlock in perhaps the movie that scares me the most of any movie: Nosferatu. Was he an actual vampire?

Um...I can't think of any others right now! But, there are others. And that's what's important. Can you think of more people in the club? We're a pretty cool club I think.

Peace.

-Nick Vogt

And, seriously, I'm fracking scared of Nosferatu. It's freaky shit. Just look at this. It gives me the woogies:

Crabcakes?

2009-10-15T13:40:00.000-07:00

I've taken to posting MF DOOM quotations on Ronaldmetellus recently, embedding them into my posts on other things.

The fact is DOOM lines circulate through my head constantly. Way more than the raps of anyone else. Why that is I cannot say. I can only speculate that it's either:

A) because DOOM is a genius and one of the world's greatest MCs or B) because he's evil and has perfected the art of subtle mind-influencing powers.

As someone who prides himself on his mental strength and his resistance to telepathic forces, I am inclined to think it's the former.

DOOM is a badass villain. So this might qualify as a "Badass villain Lines" installment.

But, no, I won't count it.

Here you go. Behold:

"MCs is crabs in the barrel / Pass the Old Bay"

-DOOM

Pass the Old Bay? "Old Bay"? Like the spice you put into crab cakes? Yep.

What other MC would think of that let alone rap it in such a kickass manner?

Uh, no one.

I used to make crab cakes a lot at a job I had once. It was back when I took a year off before this collegezone oh so many moons ago (also known as 3 years ago). Did you all know there are sweet potatoes in crab cakes? And celery, onions, Of course crab, and OLD BAY. I mean, I don't eat meat these days, so I wouldn't eat a crab cake. But, I enjoyed making them.

You know, I sort of miss the days when I would make crab cakes and falafel and turkey salad (and quiche!) and I would be paid. Blue Moon was a good place. R.I.P, Blue Moon Grocery & Deli.

Oh, believe it or not, "Awesome Town" was born in the kitchen of Blue Moon. That is, no joke, where I was christened this town's Chief of fire Safety.

So, there you go (which is a phrase my dad despises).

-NF VOGT, Chief Of Fire Safety.

Yeah!

2009-10-12T17:26:00.001-07:00

Jammin' On The Ones

2009-10-09T19:29:00.000-07:00

I realized just a few moments ago that I wanted to watch this video featuring the hilarious Tracy Morgan again. From time to time I watch "Totally Awesome" on youtube because it is just that amazing. I find something new to laugh about each time I watch it. And, I laugh about the old stuff, too.

And, I realized as I typed it into the search on youtube that the title of this video makes it more than appropriate for this blog. This is Awesome Town. This video is called "Totally Awesome". Nice!

Everyone really should see this. It's one of the funnier things I've watched. Also, everyone should watch 30 Rock where Mr. Morgan as well as other very funny people make a great TV show together. Really, it's excellent. The new season of 30 Rock starts October 15th, I think. So, mighty soon.

I did not find this video originally. My sister somehow located this on youtube a few years back, and what a find it was!

Also, there's this:

The Clipse x Zelda (and More!)

2009-10-04T15:29:00.001-07:00

Yo, I just happened to hear this track walking out of the "Dining Commons" a.k.a "SAGA" a.k.a The Cafeteria here at Hampshire college. The good people doing dishes were bumping it.

I searched it on the internets upon returning to my room and I was right: what they were listening to was Ocarina of Time music from the Lost Woods mashed up with "Virginia" by the Clipse. I love the Clipse and Ocarina is one of the best games ever. So, that's great:

Turns out, this is a part of a larger project called "Ocarnia of Rhyme". You can download the mix of all the mashups here. Or just stream them there. You can do that, too.

Another sick Ocarina of Rhyme remix is:

Or:

This stuff reminds me of the "Chrono Trigger Mixtape" that was floating around a few years back. If you haven't checked that ish out, you really should. I can't find a good download or stream of it anywhere on the internets, though. What a bummer! Maybe you can find it? For now, check out this track which is my favorite on the Mixtape:

"Get 'em high like noon or the moon or a room filled with smoke"

-Nick

More Villain Lines

2009-09-29T19:05:00.001-07:00

Yeah! Here's the part two, Y'all:

#3: The Joker: "Gentlemen, Let's Broaden Our Minds." That's Jack Nicholson as the Joker from the oldschool Batman movie, Tim Burton's. I have always loved the scene where The Joker and his goons rip up the museam. And right before they do it, Joker says that line. Nice! Anyone who says "Gentlemen" is cool in my book. Even if he's The Joker.

#4: Piccolo: "You Think A Sayain Would Show Any Mercy!"

I don't know if that's a

direct quotation,

but Piccolo of DBZ fame says that before shooting an energy blast

RIGHT INTO YOUNG

GOHAN'S FACE and BLASTS GOHAN OFF A CLIFF!

Granted, Piccolo is a good guy for most of Dragon Ball Z,

but he started out as a villain. And he's a badass.

Badass Villain Lines!

2009-09-27T19:48:00.000-07:00

Hey. I'm on all these different blogs now. It's a good time.

I wanted to post this shit here because I don't know what Ron would think of it going up on RonaldMetellus. He probably wouldn't mind it at all, but I need to post something on AwesomeTown since I never do. Ever.

I woke up this morning with many many thoughts in my head for many reasons. I do not know the reason I had the thought that I should blog about some of my favorite Villain lines from things that I find badass. If you need more clarification about that, this post is a very short list of lines villians in TV or movies or videogames or whatever have said that are wicked badass.

Here are two lines I thought of this morning that are incredible and are badass:

#1: The Master from Buffy: "Tonight I shall walk, and the STARS THEMSELVES WILL HIDE!" Yeah! That's crazy, right? Who says that? The Master says that! He's a great character, actually. I think The Master is my second favoirte Villian on Buffy. The first is Nathan Fillion as "Caleb" who comes in near the end of the second season and gets the "Knave to chops" treatment. Well, it's more like the "balls to chops" treatment.

#2: Digitamamon from Digimon: Digital Monsters: "So Many Accidents Can Happen In The Kitchen...So Many..." Digitamamon is a badass. He's a walking, talking, semi-hatched egg. And, yes, Digimon is was much better than pokemon and always will be the champion of the Saturday Morning world. I'm on the Digi team, guys. In the English dub Digitaromon speaks with a terrible German accent that makes that line so much better. He's talking about how he might like kill one of the kids he has enslaved in his diner and make it look like a kitchen accident. That's precisely why Digimon was so much better than pokemon could ever be.

And, um, that's it for now. I may make this a sort of "posting theme" thing. If I think of a new line that I find badass, I will blog about it.

If you, dear reader, think of a badass line, comment on this here post, or tweet at me if you have the skills for that. I've said this a lot, but I'm Nicholasvogt on that there twitter.

Peace.

-Nick

More Lemurs

2009-08-28T05:56:00.000-07:00

This time, they are the Lemurs of my mind.

I Was Leap Leap Leaping Along...

2009-08-24T18:04:00.000-07:00

Lemurs are exciting creatures.

I saw three of them today at the Nashville zoo do really bizarre things. Including sit together in a circle and pose in strangely Buddha-like positions. The Lemur pictured above is one of the 3.

He approached when we came up to his habitat at the Zoo. I've decided to call him Elijah.

My friend Will has noted on many occasions that monkeys are "like the little catmen". And lemme tell you, world, Lemurs are DEFINITELY like little catmen. Just check out Elijah up thurr. He is a small cat-man, no?

Oh, you wanna know what's truly freaky (but fascinating) about Lemurs? Their hands are like human hands. No seriously. They move their small hands and use them to manipulate objects just like I would.

Wild Things

2009-08-11T06:05:00.000-07:00

Hey, world. I haven't blogged in 10,000 years it would seem.

But, all that's about to change.

Well, maybe. I just like the sound of the "But, all that's..." phrase. Don't you?

Where The Wild Things Are the motion picture is coming out soon and I'm mighty excited. I think we all loved the book when we were little and I hope everyone still loves it. Because, guys, The Wild Things are what's up.

So, If you don't know, Mr. Dave Eggers (of McSweeny's fame, Away We Go fame. +Other Fames) wrote the script for it. And Mr. Spike Jonze (Of Pharcyde videos fame, Being John Malkovich fame, Adaption fame + other fames) is directing the movie.

I have to say, Where The Wild Things Are looks like its going to be one of the coolest things. And, Jonze really seems to be making the film with a lot of respect. Giving it a sort of realness a lot of "kids'" movies don't have.

I mean, the Wild Things look real. They aren't the throwaway CGI crazo beasts that look like they were just projected into the movie but obviously aren't there. The Wild Things look and they move and they act like they're real, living things. And that's because they aren't CGI.

Unless it's done with incredible skill, I think CGI injected into live action looks like butt. There are countless examples of butt CGI-in-live action moments. Remember the season finale of Buffy season 3? With the big snake demon? Looks like ass, right?

Beyond the look of Wild Things, it also seems like Max won't just be the typical hero of a kids' movie. I think (at least I hope) Dave Eggers wrote more into Max's character than just the cuteness that main-character-kids are. I think Max will actually be a character and will be an active part of the story. Not just some cute little dude they stuck up there for us to stare at and go "awww..."

I am basing all of these thoughts on The trailers. But, aren't they well-put-together trailers, though? They're very nice.

The trailers make the movie look sort of insane and beautiful. Which, I guess, is what being a kid is. Or, really, what living is.

Also, my cat looks like a wild thing:

Guess Who's Back?

2009-05-16T06:27:00.000-07:00

Alright, It's The Senior Partners! We officially are up in this with our 1st song: The Kingdom.

The Senior Partners is Rex Horner, Ronald Metellus and myself. We do big things in the hip hop world. And in other world's as well. Especially the Milk Dimension. You heard me, Klaus. Watch out for the Seniors, buddy.

Friends, you can stream The Kingdom Here. "The Kingdom" is produced by Rex with vocals by all three of us. I put a couple o' samples on it. So I hope people enjoy it.

I would have embedded it into this post, but Imeem is basically sucking on a wee-wee now. They're only allowing 30 second streams to be embedded onto blogs and other non-Imeem sites (buttastic!). How foolish of them.

Here is 30 seconds of "The Kingdom". if you want the preview. You can hear Rex rip up the track (a a lil' bit of the chorus, too):

The Kingdom - Senior Partners

Word.

Oh, and if anyone wants a "download" of this song, hit me up with an email: supernickvogt@yahoo.com. I will hook you up.

Beyond Good & Evil 2: It Looks Awesome

2009-05-15T15:21:00.000-07:00

Peep this video the good people over at 1up posted last week. It's extremely badass.

I never played the first game, but I have wanted to check it out for some time now. I plan on picking up a copy of it. Ubisoft really holds it down for videogames. Some of my favorites have been made by them, they're probably second to Capcom in the "Nick Vogt's Favorite Game Companies" list.

And, while I haven't played the 1st Beyond Good & Evil, two Ubisoft games in particular have really blown me away. One: There's Rayman 2, which is a platformer with a great art style, cool characters, and a good story. Umm, You might not know this, but video games don't usually have good stories. Especially back during the N64 (or the "fifth gen") era of videogames. Back then, the only games with good stories really were RPGs (Final Fantasies for example) or like Metal Gear Solid. Granted, Rayman's story was saturday morning cartoonish, but there's absolutely nothing wrong with that. In fact, the characters and the plot of Rayman really was reminiscent of some of the best saturday morning cartoons I used to watch.

Speaking of Metal Gear Solid, Rayman is also a game by a (as I like to call them) " videogame auteur". The Metal Gear series, of course, is made by the brilliant and probably insane Hideo Kojima and Rayman is by the French auteur Michel Ansel. Incidentally, Ansel is also making the totally badass-looking Beyond Good & Evil 2. Ansel is certainly a great asset for Ubisoft, and probably for the country of France in general (although France has many assets including crepes and, like kissing).

Unfortunately, after Rayman 3 (which I didn't play but it was supposed to be good), the series has kind of gone to buttsville. I am not really a big fan of the Wii Raving Rabids games. Games made up of all mini games are just uninteresting to me. I think they're way too hectic and quickly lose my interest. Although, Wario Ware: Smooth Moves for the Wii is just so bizarre (and the mini games are so short) that I think it works. That game really keeps your interest in a "what the fuck is this?" sort of way. It's good fun.

Hopefully, in the future, Rayman will return from this Rabids crap and enter get into another platforming adventure. I'm sure they could make a new Rayman platformer that's just as good. There is reason to hope for that, actually, because the upcoming Rabids game: Rabids Go Home is not gonna have Rayman in it at all. That might mean Ubisoft is moving Rayman away from the Rabids franchise and possibly back into the world of platforming.

The second Ubisoft game that is really dear to me is Assassin's Creed. Obviously, it's a very different game than Rayman. While the story of Assassin's Creed isn't nearly as interesting and absorbing as Rayman's (typical alternate history conspiracy stuff) the game play definitely is. The strangely slow but rhythmic and combat and especially the parkour movement elements of the game really made me feel like I was Altair, and like I was having his adventures and tumbling through ancient cities. I think no other game has pulled me into its action like Assassin's Creed. And, with a new Assassin's Creed on the way, I'm excited for all that to get to get taken to the next level.

I think the 2nd Beyond Good & Evil is gonna rock out, and it really is looking like a combination of two of my favorite games. From this bit of footage, I can definitely see parkour/free-running elements from Assassin's Creed will be in the game and (from what I've heard/read about the first Beyond Good & Evil) the interesting story and colorful characters (including animal people!) of Rayman. I'm looking forward to it. If you like the videogames, you should be, too.

The Movement

2009-05-05T12:49:00.001-07:00

Hey there. This here blog: Awesome Town is my official Blog as of right nowsers.

I have another blog you may want to check out over at Wordpress called "World Heroes" but I'm (For all intensive purposes) abandoning that project and focusing on Awesome Town.

Why? Well, World Heroes was for a class assignment and Awesome Town isn't. World Heroes was very "themed". You know, it was about heroes. Awesome Town really isn't so themed. At all. But, it is awesome.

Also, I get to be chief of Fire Saftey here.

Stay Awesome.

Yeah!

2009-03-07T20:10:00.000-08:00

This is Awesome Town. We Made it.