Rollin' on Through...

I realize that back in October I was going to write about the virtues of Katamari Damacy, but I forgot. Well, first, let this be known:

Katamary Damacy is as ragingly fun and adorable as Sci-Fi Channel original movies are ridiculous and laughable. ie: A LOT.

The object of the game:

Emergency! You are the tiny Prince of the Universe! You must use this sticky lump called a Katamari to roll crap up for various dubious reasons! Your father is a buffoon, but he's huge, and he'll make a star out of your lump to replace the ones he broke!

Also, listen to this fantastic music as you roll! Ready-go!




There is nothing quite so satisfying as growing your Katamari to the point that you can actually knock over that annoying kid in the alley and roll her right up! Haha! And those cats! And that guy! And that car! And that elephant! And that building! And that whale! Take that!

Eventually, you get to the size that your mammoth Katamari overshadows the tiny prince many thousands of times over, and you bonk into and roll up clouds and rainbows, enormous oceanic whirlpools, entire islands, massive Gozilla-like creatures and the like...

There's nothing quite like it. So satisfying.

Take me out back and shoot me.

...because, God help me, I can't help being curiously attracted to awful Euro-fluff-electro.

I know it barely qualifies as music. I know that being a musician of sorts myself, I ought to pointedly and publically loathe it. But secretly I go home and download it because the wispy, annoying strains can be addictive LIKE CRACK.

I'm sure this guy understands.

I laugh at the video, and the fact that this young man looks as though his head actually expands and contracts with the music. Then I shamefully find and download the mp3 to play repeatedly until my brain explodes and bursts into flame, purging itself of the addiction 2 days later.

Incidentally, also I find it quite amusing that my search for the mp3 landed me at a google-translated page where, in order to join the mailing list and keep up with what's new, one enters one's email below where it says,

"For always being dawned on the innovationes of the situated one, you enroll yourself to the Newsletter:"

Carpooling with Respectable English Magicians

I'm currently "reading" Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell on my way to and from work. I received an early Christmaas gift from The Boy of a flash player and a subscription to audible.com, and all my wildest audiobook dreams have come true. The flash player is a tiny little thing about the size of the remote I use to unlock my car doors (but it carries something like 16 hours of audiobook). In fact, I carry it on my keychain, and on occasion find myself, arm outstretched, starting and stopping an audiobook rather than letting myself into the car. Despite that minor confusion once and awhile, I adore the little thing. I also adore the iPod, but it is clumsy to use while driving, and I tend to forget to lock the buttons, so I unexpectedly flip back and forth between tracks. Whereas the pod needs to be placed somewhere I can control it, and where it won't fly off the seat at a sudden stop, the flash player stays on my keychain, and I simply plug the cord from the tape deck into it and control it from there. eee!

I find myself humming the refrain from the post-credits wedding sequence in Napolean Dynamite where Kip earnestly sings to his bride, "I love technology/ (reassuringly) but I love you more, you see/ but I STILL love technology... always and foreeeever.

Technology I will take a little longer to completely warm up to is the Bluetooth headset for my cell phone. I like that there are no wires. Ever since Pinnochio, the world has known that "no wires" is quite a good thing. But I find that I clutch at it for fear it will fall off my ear. I find that it takes longer to apply the headset to my ear than it does to simply pick up the phone and make a quick call. I'm sure I will get better at it. Once it's on and I'm chatting hands-free I love it. Eventually I'll adore it like I adore my flash player.

Always and foreeever.