Metal Monday

3.25.2024

Author

Owen McClintic
March 25, 2024

YouTube Obsession

One thing that smart phone took away from me (and society as a whole really) is The Bathroom Reader. Before the days YouTube I would read short articles and trivia from these pages to pass the time as I was passing…gas. I miss having steady source of trivia and mostly useless information.

Though nothing can really bring back that specific nostalgia, I look forward to Joe Scott’s weekly Monday morning videos that span a many and various (mostly science focused) topics.

What separates Joe from other science channels is not only his simple format with great editing, it’s that he does not make excuses for and kiss-ass to Elon Musk and other tech bros. Though he does not get explicitly political in most of his videos he makes clear that conservative thought and motives are fundamentally harmful to science and society. An unfortunately rare characteristic in the please-everyone-algorithm-driven content farm of YouTube. Also, he openly admits when he does not have a full grasp on a subject and provides sources for further research.

Watching

I was never a 30 Rock fan. I have nothing against the show and I have enjoyed the clips I have seen, I just didn’t care enough? Idk. There’s so much media out there, good stuff will inevitably slip through the cracks.

When my roommate started watching Tina Fey’s Girls5eva on Netflix, I was immediately drawn to the late 90’s “MTV” flashbacks.

This promo in particular has stuck with me for decades and Girls5eva definitely taps into that nostalgia.

But what more can I say than I find the show funny. It’s not annoyingly “on message” or headed by “strong female characters.” The characters are flawed, self-centered, envious and naïve. Like real people! Also, seeing Tina Fey do her best impression of Dolly Parton really made my day.

Reading

I’ve been wanting to read The Three-Body Problem by Lui Cixin for a while so I finally (since the show looks like the flattest shit ever) picked up a copy from the library and, well, I’m a bit mixed on the book.

First off, and coincidentally, there are 3 types of sci-fi.

  1. Grounded in reality “Hard-Scifi”; Think Foundation or The Martian.

  2. Philosophical and “what if?” Soft-Scifi; Think The Expanse series or Dune.

  3. The mix of both soft and hard “Sworl-Scifi”2 ; of which, Three-Body Problem is the perfect example.

It tackles very real mathematical subjects and problems with all the zest math problems can be tackled: Boringly. I’m sure this kind of narration is fascinating to a certain set of people but para me? No me gusta.

It is also interested in exploring heady philosophical conundrums of life in the universe and the true nature of knowledge. I do love this kind of book, though in Three-Body Problem the big questions flatten the characters into nothing more than exposition machines and cliche’s. Especially female characters.

And all of this is wrapped in a “People's Republic of China sucks” motif that comes across as bitter, judgmental and wholly unnecessary. The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution in China is not a simple subject and certainly Lui Cixin can write any opinion he likes but the characters’ views reek of Randian New Intillectualism. Mainly that there is a hierarchy of humans and smart people should be at the top.

The main mystery was the only thing that drove me to finish this entirely mid sci-fi book. I probably won’t read the 2 sequels but what do I know?

Playing

Whilst waiting for Dragon’s Dogma 21 to drop I decided I should play something completely different from open world fantasy RPG: Prodeus.

I have to admit, I was not expecting much from Prodeus but just another Boomer Shooter with a pixel aesthetic. Though it is a boomer shooter with a pixel aesthetic, it’s one that fully understands the what makes the genre fun. Levels (especially in the first episode) do not feel linear and encourage exploration. This kind of design is difficult to pull off, too much guiding and the levels become linear, too little and the player will get lost and eventually bored. Prodeus pulls off the balance perfectly in the first episode.

While later episodes appear more linear they emphasize another tenant of Boomer Shooter design: Speed. Enemies of varying capabilities force the player to always be on the move. To stop is to die. Use all the tools and weapons available and never stop.

And why would you when the soundtrack is this rad?

Andrew Hulshult, composer for many games notably 2018’s Dusk (a game I’m sure I speak on someday) really hits it out of the park with this OST. I will be listening to this at the gym for the foreseeable future.

Other Notables

***A really dumb and good thing done in Skyrim tailor made for my millennial nostalgia.

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1 As of writing I have only just dipped my toe in Dragon’s Dogma 2. It’s great, I can’t wait to talk about it!

2 This term does not exist, I just made it up.