PixlBit

Bing Top Search Images:

1. Roomba Exposures, pictures taken by cameras set to long exposure times, with all the lights off, showing the path of Roomba cleaning robots.

2. Sara Silverman, "Jewish" actress and comedienne that voiced Vanellope in Wreck it Ralph.

3. Raja Bell, Utah Jazz

Bing Image Mad Libz: In order to get her character Vanellope into the not-impending, fictional Snowboard Kids 3, Atlus says Silverman must outscore Raja Bell in a game of basketball; Silverman "glitches" the court so that the lights go out and Roomba robots trip Raja Bell at every turn, in order to win.

Oh, and this isn't a Roomba exposure, but the trick they used to get those Roomba pathways captured on camera is the same we used my Sophomore year in college to get our "Painting with Light" photographs taken. 

The one I took was called "It's Electric!" which references "It's Goddamn Electric" by Pantera and looks like this:

Feel free to share, just as long as I'm credited; don't edit my name out of that bottom right corner or anything. Wasn't as cool as some other people's "Painting with Light" entries, but I took my 5/5 on it like a champ when it was graded in 2010.

Anyway, Snowboard Kids 2:

Yesterday, when I posted my thoughts about 1080 Snowboarding, a lot of you mentioned SSX Tricky (I'll get to that one too, by the way) and Yargz, spunkyd99, and I think someone else mentioned Snowboard Kids as snowboarding titles they enjoyed.

Snowboard Kids is actually one of my favorite titles on Nintendo 64, having rented the original fairly often, and still owning its sequel, which I'll talk about today.

Unlike 1080, the game is very cartooney in style and arcadey in its gameplay, which I certainly think is a good thing. I'm a big fan of the character designs and personalities, and you actually can tell that the characters control quite differently, where in 1080 I didn't feel it really mattered who I picked.In SK:2 I tended to pick the all-around Slash, the kid with the spiky hair on the box cover, and avoid the hell out of Tommy, the "big-boned" one in green, whose weight makes him a speedster on downhill slopes, but also hard to control.

Of course, I also liked playing with the penguin, a hardass snowboarding coach (yes, really) for novelty reasons.

Again, unlike 1080, which mostly had separate courses for racing and tricks, and not much else, SK:2 has a lot more variety.

There's a story mode that plays like a good, cheesy Saturday morning cartoon, with a clumsy blue demon child named Damien constantly attempting to ruin everyone's good time, but usually the kids don't even notice him, and his plans backfire in his face. Damien later becomes a playable character when you unlock him, but the slapstick humor he provides in Story mode is pretty great; here's a clip of the first chapter.

SPOILER ALERT: Chapter 1 is from 0:00 to 0:59, past that is more story from the game; sorry I couldn't find one of only the "Enter Damien" story.

In addition to the main story, there's tons of other stuff to do just in single player, including a shooting minigame where you have to get your paper delivery route completed by shooting the newspapers into mailboxes as you go down the hill with all the houses to be delievered to, a speed minigame where you have to rush to school using items like the rocket booster to get there in time, and there's even a central hub town where you can buy stuff for your characters from Big Dog's shop, like clothes, boards, etc. as well as just visit with characters around town, including Coach, the penguin, if you're up for some training, or listen to in-game music.

Google and Bing Images were not that helpful in finding relevant imagery, as seen here

Of course, what I remember most about SK:2 is its multiplayer, in which you still race to the finish, pull off some neat tricks, and use items to boost your speed and attack your opponents, but with up to four people playing on splitscreen. Think Mario Kart with snowboards, and getting on a lift after each lap.

Overall, Snowboard Kids 2 brings me lots of warm childhood memories, has tons of cartoony personality, gameplay variety, and comes as a highly recommended Atlus title if you ever get the chance to play it. Snowboard Kids is a pretty good game as well, if I recall, but my memory is a bit hazier on that one.

And now, be sure to check out homelessrook's Punk Tuesday entry today, as I will after I post today's Alternative Tuesday, in honor of SK: 2 being such a great alternative to 1080:

It's actually 102.1 now, but I remember these days.

I actually did manage to get Soundcloud working decently enough to introduce these by voice, HOWEVER, since I'm currently having to record through my laptop's internal mic, meaning the noisy laptop itself is picked up, I recommend listening without headphones first, to see if you can get through some of the chopiness and ambient noise. If it's too much, I've posted text today as well, just in case.

Some of you remember me mentioning that the 2000s weren't an amazing time for alternative rock fans. There were good bands, and I didn't have as much hate for what was on the radio as some, but when Nickelback is the most successful rock band in a decade, yeah, it doesn't make the past sound all that rosey.

Last year though, in the summer, two huge hits, "Somebody That I Used to Know" by Gotye, and "We Are Young" by fun. came on the scene and switched places at #1 for weeks on end, marking a revival of sorts for alternative music on the radio.

Now, I love "Somebody That I Used to Know," but I want to save that for a Waxing Lyrical Wednesday, as I feel the lyrics are what made that song really stand out. And, while I like "We Are Young," I did grow tired of it quickly, so today I'm going to play for you some alternate songs from them (see what I did there?), the first being the also mega-successful "Some Nights" by fun. This song is a lot more interesting to me than "We Are Young," and is the title for their newest album. Something I forgot to mention in my audio, though: that autotuned vocal solo? No, just no. Everything else though, is pretty great.

I also posted "Eyes Wide Open" by Gotye and "When I Come Around" by Green Day. Gotta love the crazy video for "Eyes" and if I'm doing an alternative day, I have to have at least one 90s song to start out, so might as well be my all time favorite by Green Day. Hope you enjoy.

fun. Alternative Tuesday Intro by Joe Mike Step

Eyes Wide Open Looking at Gotye by Joe Mike Step

When I Come Around by Joe Mike Step