Your Go is weak

for Steve:

Quite possibly THE MOST EPIC VIDEO OF ALL TIME.

I would go to church DAILY.

Terminator: Eden p5-6

Sheesh, I hate it when this happens.

Terminator: Eden p3-4

A couple of new pages. Do you like how it looks like every page was drawn by a different third-grader? I know, I win at consistency. WARNING: John Connor wiener. Sorry, the story dictates it.

Mobile Apps - Neat, but Appropriate?

As I peruse through hundreds of articles in my RSS feed aggregator (good job not checking for a month, Will), the gadget blogs keep catching my eye with posts like "Now anyone can be T-Pain" or "New synthesizer app for iPhone." I always think "Hey awesome" and then dismiss it, because like anyone who spends there money wisely (I'm not saying I'm one of them, but we share certain traits) I do not own an iPhone.
Then I read an article about 8bitone, a new iPhone app that lets you synthesize and sequence 8bit sounds. Of course, all the articles I've read about it share similar cheezeball titles like "8Bitone lets you mix it like Mario!" and these generally irk me. I'm not saying that there's any lack of novelty to chiptune, it's extremely nostalgic and uplifting for me, but to see it popularized in such trivial ways leaves a stale taste in my mouth. Awesome, now millions of hipsters will be making crappy 8bit tracks and remixes of lame acoustic punk songs about riding tallbikes. You know, when I think about scene music, I don't think about tight pants, flannel and vintage tees, I think about DEMOSCENE.
Don't get me wrong, I applaud the author of the app, and if I had an iPhone, I'd most likely grab it, but if I wanted to make a 4 channel chiptune on the go, I wouldn't pick up my phone, but one of several gameboys I have lying around.
These mobile apps are real neat-o, and it's cool to see people making them, I even have a few on my android phone, but at the end of the day they all seem to be just plain obsolete by software that has been around for ages.
Sorry about the rant, but mobile technology has a lot to offer, and it's sad to go into the android app market and see dozens of crappy Jeff Dunham soundboards on the list of popular apps. If developers follow trends, maybe 200 years from now we'll be living on the same dirty planet paying $5 for a virtual Cartman farting soundboard and an updated T-Pain app...WEEEEE

I'm sorry.

I really can't help myself.

Here are some fun facts about Kyle Reese!

• Michael Biehn plays Kyle Reese in Terminator 1 and 2, but originally tried out and was considered for the part of the Terminator. Also, Arnold Schwarzenegger was considered first for the role of Kyle Reese.
• Michael Biehn was also originally dumped for the role, because he had a slight southern accent. The producers didn't want the character to be regionalized, which is interesting considering the consideration of Arnold for the part
• Kyle Reese wasn't the original John Connor's father!
• KYLE REESE IS FREAKING SOLID SNAKE:

Okay that's it, I promise. Maybe.

...OK ONE MORE:

I hope you're taking all of this in...SKYNET! (google)

Let's try to keep this Terminator ball rolling! So there's a lot of talk on the internets about how HORRIBLE Terminator Salvation was, and while I will admit that it probably wasn't the most well written installment of the saga, and maybe the acting isn't quite the best of 2009, there are plenty of reasons why it's not as bad as people make it out to be, and here are 10 of them.

1. Gritty Visuals - While it doesn't conjure up quite the bleak future a lot of us expected, visually this movie is gritty as hell, and gritty means badass.
2. Amazing sound design - I don't care if a script is written in piglatin, great sound effects can carry a film a far way, and in this case it makes me squirm with delight. Every electronic buzz, every robot groan (similar to the only reason anyone should watch War of the Worlds...robots making noises that sound like some kind of enormous electronic cello), every DUNDUN DUN DUNDUN gets the job done.
3. Iconic Scenes - Everyone focuses on the CGI Arnold, which I thought was extremely well done, but my favorite part is that in every other Terminator movie, the terrifying future scenes all begin with some robot crushing a human skull under foot (or tread), but in Salvation, the first glimpse of the future begins with a Resistance Helicopter landing on a T-600's FACE. Take that, Skynet.
4. New Terminator Vision - Check it:
   
5. John Connor - Face it, everyone loves Christian Bale, no matter how hard he hits his mother, and he does a great job portraying John Connor, who at this point is a soldier and a figurehead and not (yet) the leader of the Resistance. He's overconfident due to his mother's tapes that tell him all about the future and how to deal with it, and he's beginning to lose it because a lot of what was SUPPOSED to happen is happening differently, more quickly, or not at all (the result of messing around with time, folks). It's also interesting that (even though he does look like a hardass military dude) his character remains true to the series in that he fights like a hacker- for instance, in one scene, he rapes a Mototerminator (motorcycle) and hacks it so he can ride it to Skynet HQ and beat some metal ass.
6. Kyle Reese - It's always cute to see Kyle Reese as a kid (esp. in The Sarah Connor Chronicles), but in this movie, he eerily reminded me both of Kyle Reese from The Terminator and John Connor from Terminator 2.
7. Skynet gets crafty - In the past Skynet just throws robots around through time and hopes they just blow up whatever it wants blown up. In Salvation, Skynet plays a mean game of chess, toying with humanity, baiting us, experimenting with us. It's definitely a more sinister and manipulative Skynet, no doubt because of the thriftiness of a forewarned Resistance.
8. In the future, even Alice in Chains is cool - There's a scene where a kid hears Alice in Chains for the first time, and it may be the first time she's heard music at all (with good reason, Terminators are very sensitive to sound), and you realize how easy you have it, being able to listen to your iPods and your streaming music and video.
9. Different viewpoints - The war against Skynet isn't just people shooting at robots. There are pro-Resistance folks, anti-Resistance folks, Raiders, and much more. This movie finally paints a picture of a dynamic future, perhaps more bleak than originally because (as zombie movies have taught us) instead of just having to worry about a giant metal skeleton shooting lasers at you, you also have HUNDREDS OF JERKS.
10. The aforementioned Mototerminators - In earlier installments of Terminator, you pretty much figure "Hey who even cares about Terminators? The only go like 1 mile an hour!" And then Arnold got on a Honda 750. Holy crap. What do I do now? Terminator + Motorcycle = INSTANT TERROR.* This has been established since day one. In Salvation, not only are there robocycles all over the place, but now they're MADE BY FREAKING DUCATI. Sorry humans, 'You have no chance to survive, make your time.'

AH HOLY CRAP TERMINATOR. I'll try to shut up about it, but don't count on it.

*It's also well known that- Even the Most Badass Human + Scooter = Pathetic:

Terminator: Eden p1-2

I was feeling in a comicbook mood today (getting hyped about two upcoming events) so I sketched out a few pages of a story I've been meaning to get to!
It was after I sketched these pages out that my mom texted me and told me that 25 years ago today the world celebrated the premier of Terminator!

To spoil things a little bit, in my story, John Connor is getting ready to travel in time to prevent Skynet from doing something terribly awful and rude, when some T-800 model Terminators storm the facility and sabotage John's plans. As John locks himself into the time machine room, a T-800 messes with the console. ZZZAAPPP!!! John uncurls from his time travel pose, and finds that he has traveled THOUSANDS OF YEARS, and is in the middle of a lush paradise, with no civilization apparent!

INSANITY ENSUES.

This is how Skynet will DESTROY US.

WITH CUTENESS.

Track - Terminator 2 (Oldschool Atmospheric Jungle Glowstick Mix)

I made this track after watching Terminator 4 about 5 times and getting too psyched up about Terminators. It's pretty repetitive because I just wanted to finish it pretty quick, but it has some epic parts as well. All the synths are made using NI Massive, which is an amazing synthesizer that I am totally getting sick of due to the insane load I've been putting on it recently.
Over 9,000 points to whoever can tell me where the sound effects came from!
Direct Download:
B.Ultra&Basic - Terminator 2 (Oldschool Atmospheric Jungle Glowstick Mix)

[EDIT] Just saw today's xkcd comic:

Track - Shazam (B.Ultra&Basic Remix)

I've decided to start putting some tunes (and maybe some podcast jank) up on this thing, considering the NAME and TITLE of my blog.
Here's a track I made recently to test out a set of Drum Samples I compiled for funky tracks. It's a remix of a Beastie Boys track from "To the 5 Boroughs."
I used FLStudio's FPC to control the drums, and Native Instrument's B4 for the organ. At the end, there's a bit of tomfoolery with the vocals, done using FLStudio's Grossbeat and Instajungle.
I hope you enjoy!
BTW - you may need to subscribe VIA RSS feed to hear the track, or if you use a podcast aggregator, add this link:
http://audibleninja.blogspot.com/feed/posts/default
Otherwise, you can just download!
Beastie Boys - Shazam (B.Ultra&Basic Funklab remix)