Filed under: Music
Benny Greb is my new favourite person, and here’s why:
That’s the stuff. Right there. And his feet are just going crazy all over those pedals.
Anyway, Benny Greb is a teacher at the Hamburg School of Music in Germany and released his first solo album, entitled “Grebfruit”, in 2005. He’s been attracting many fans with his solo performances all over the world, and you know he’s good when he’s got his very own signature Pro-Mark drumsticks and an article on Wikipedia (albeit a short one). He also has a personal webpage and a myspace blog, So go check them out.
So I saw this video on CNet Editor, Veronica Belmont’s blog, as well as her thoughts about it. I tried to post a comment, but I think it went into her spam folder. Anyway, it might seem inappropriate that Jack Thompson uses this tragedy to highlight his point that violent video games are the root cause of violent behaviour, such as the Virginia Tech massacre, but hasn’t that been the norm in the aviation industry with tombstone technology?
Then again, air crashes and massacres are 2 entirely different things.
I don’t know a lot about Jack Thompson, but I think Veronica and many others have misinterpreted his point of view, in this video at least. From what I can tell, he’s not saying that violent video games like Counterstrike and the Grand Theft Auto franchise will make otherwise normal people more inclined towards displaying violent behaviour. His point is that individuals who are already inclined towards such behaviour could be desensitized by playing these violent video games, to the point where they don’t feel any remorse or guilt after killing human beings in real life.
I think that’s a valid point of view, but I don’t agree with it.
I see violent video games as a sort of pressure relief valve, a non-destructive way of venting a person’s anger. So it could actually help to reduce violent physical behaviour in individuals by providing an alternative outlet for a person to release his anger.
Besides, violent people are attracted to violent video games just as wannabe pilots are attracted to flight simulators. Playing violent video games is an effect of a person’s inclination towards violent behaviour, not a cause. So there really is no basis for the accusation that such games are the root cause for violent behaviour.
It is fun to note that after the interview, the news anchor concludes by saying “Alright. Jack Thompson – an attorney who specializes TERRIBLY in these crimes…”
Filed under: Huh?
If you dig Star Wars, you’ll definitely dig this:
(Credit: StarWars.com)
It’s a hot air balloon.
Yup.
Hot air balloon.
Personally, I don’t really think that Darth Vader is full of hot air (I know it’s a bad joke, but I just couldn’t resist), but I think this is really cool concept. Created by Star Wars enthusiast Benoit Lambert under the approval of Lucasfilm and manufactured by Cameron, the balloon has a height of 26 metres, with enough room for a pilot and 2 passengers.
The only thing missing would probably be a loudspeaker, with that I-just-smoked-50-packs-of-cigarettes-today voice, reciting the phrase “I am your father…”
For more information, you can visit the balloon’s website: http://www.darthvaderballoon.be/en/index.html
Filed under: Music
The Killers rock! Which is pretty obvious because they are a rock band. But I really love them because they have a great sound (even with the cheesy techno-esque synth which is actually part of why they sound so good), a lead singer (Brandon Flowers) who can actually sing really well, and a drummer (Ronnie Vannucci) who opens his mouth really wide while playing;
(Credit: The Killers)
I’m saying all this because that picture of Ronnie up there really cracked me up. But really, I just bought their new album – “Sam’s Town” - and after listening to it, I think they’re phenomenal. And their first album, “Hot Fuss”, sounds really great too. I’m probably gonna get “Hot Fuss” sometime soon, because I’m officially a Killers fan. They’re definitely the best British rock band America ever produced, because even though they sound like a British band (I can’t really describe how “British” sounds like, but they just sound British ok?), they are actually from Las Vegas.
And I think this is really cute; the name of their official fan club is “The Victims“. (The Killer’s “Victims”, get it?)
Filed under: Ramblings
5 months, 1 failure, and a helluva lot of money later, I have finally passed the wretched ritual of the driving test; which means I am now free to drive a car on public roads and randomly terrorise any motorist or pedestrian that I come across, should I so desire.
So here’s a big thank you to Richard – my driving instructor – for being ever-ready to point out every mistake I make and correcting them (or attempting to at least), and Mr Dennis – my examiner – for being probably the only examiner in Singapore who speaks decent English and who was kind enough to give me a good pass.
