by Morgan
Readers, I’m sorry it’s been quite a long time since my last set of reviews! I’ll give you plenty of reviews to make up for it this time. In this installment of Casual Game Recommendations, you’ll find a review of gaming company Kairosoft (courtesy of my fab BF), two animal tending games, a great matching game, and more!
“It turned into this because we’re both control freaks.”
– Doc Hammer
The Venture Bros. has since its 2003 debut been one of the best, and most under-appreciated, shows on television. Airing on Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim block, the show began as a parody of (and tribute to) Jonny Quest, and other ‘60s space age adventure shows. However, it quickly developed its own mythology and a massive cast of characters representing everyone from David Bowie to Spiderman. Only four seasons of the show have eked out so far, but hopefully the recent “Shallow Gravy” special represents progress toward bringing us more. SuicideGirls recently spoke with the series’ creators, pseudonymously known as Jackson Publick and Doc Hammer, about the show, the special, and the possibility of season five.
Read our exclusive interview with Jackson Publick and Doc Hammer of The Venture Bros. on SuicideGirls.com.
by Steven-Elliot Altman (SG Member: Steven_Altman)
Our Fiction Friday serialized novel, The Killswitch Review, is a futuristic murder mystery with killer sociopolitical commentary (and some of the best sex scenes we’ve ever read!). Written by bestselling sci-fi author Steven-Elliot Altman (with Diane DeKelb-Rittenhouse), it offers a terrifying postmodern vision in the tradition of Blade Runner and Brave New World…
By the year 2156, stem cell therapy has triumphed over aging and disease, extending the human lifespan indefinitely. But only for those who have achieved Conscientious Citizen Status. To combat overpopulation, the U.S. has sealed its borders, instituted compulsory contraception and a strict one child per couple policy for those who are permitted to breed, and made technology-assisted suicide readily available. But in a world where the old can remain vital forever, America’s youth have little hope of prosperity.
Jason Haggerty is an investigator for Black Buttons Inc, the government agency responsible for dispensing personal handheld Kevorkian devices, which afford the only legal form of suicide. An armed “Killswitch” monitors and records a citizen’s final moments — up to the point where they press a button and peacefully die. Post-press review agents — “button collectors” — are dispatched to review and judge these final recordings to rule out foul play.
When three teens stage an illegal public suicide, Haggerty suspects their deaths may have been murders. Now his race is on to uncover proof and prevent a nationwide epidemic of copycat suicides. Trouble is, for the first time in history, an entire generation might just decide they’re better off dead.
(Catch up with the previous installments of Killswitch – see links below – then continue reading after the jump…)
This Sunday (October 2nd) SG Radio’s special in-studio guests will be We Are The Riot and Joe Letz (of Combichrist).
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“I’ve got my curse level.”
– Kool Keith
Kool Keith is legally insane. If this interview doesnt prove that to you, just go out and grab his latest album, The Return of Dr. Octagon. Dr. Octagon is a persona that Kool first used ten years ago and since then hes gotten his degree in crazy so it was time to kick it up a notch.
Read our exclusive interview with Kool Keith on SuicideGirls.com.
by Brad Warner
A guy named Brian who posts on my blog (hardcorezen.blogspot.com) asked:
“I’m wondering how you feel about stories of Zen masters who endured what would normally be insane levels of pain through the discipline of zazen? No doubt some of the stories are fanciful, but we have on video the monk who set himself on fire and didn’t flinch until he was dead.
“Do you think you could do that after so many years of sitting or is something missing? Or is that really not the point of zazen, just a type of parlor trick that’s cool to know can be done but isn’t the primary purpose of meditation?”
Around the same time I got a message from one of my Facebook friends mentioning this video by Ken Wilber:
In case you can’t view it, this is a video of the uber-spiritual wonderman Ken Wilber hooking himself up to a machine that supposedly demonstrates how he can voluntarily stop his brainwaves.
This stuff kind of reminds me of juggling.
When I lived in Santa Monica, I used to walk down to Venice Beach on weekends. There would always be lots of talented people on the boardwalk doing various tricks for chump change from tourists. One of these guys was a juggler. He was absolutely amazing. He had this trick where he’d climb up on a balance board on top of a top of a rickety wooden ladder and juggle like five butcher’s knives, all while making clever jokes at his own expense. It was astounding. Take a look:
Like most people on the boardwalk, I’d watch his act, be amazed and then put a dollar or two in the bucket he passed around at the end. I was a local, and hence a cheapskate. Maybe the tourists slipped him fives and tens. Or maybe some of them were cheaper than me and just threw in quarters.
I’ve done twenty plus years of daily zazen meditation, plus more intensive retreats than I care to remember. Having been through some interesting scenes during practice I can understand how one could use meditation practice to learn to do some pretty impressive tricks. I personally could not sit still while I was on fire and I doubt I could wire myself up to an EEG and make the indicators do whatever I wanted. But I can see clearly how that could be done.
“I love SuicideGirls.”
– Sara Quin of Tegan and Sara
To fans of Tegan & Sara, it may seem like it’s been a quick rise from unknown indie band to one with a respectable following. But to Tegan & Sara it has been a long, hard road with many artistic rewards along the way. One of their most recent rewards is that they are finally putting out a DVD. It’s Not Fun, Don’t Do It!, features all of their music videos, a full length concert, the making of their video for “So Jealous,” and endless commentary by these talkative sisters/singers.
Read our exclusive interview with Sara Quin of Tegan and Sara on SuicideGirls.com.
