Would You Trade Memory for Intelligence?

I often am surprised at how the human mind works.  The lady that sits in the cubicle across from mine often listens to the classic rock radio station, so when I'm not listening to my iPod, I'll just sit there and listen to whatever happens to pop up on that channel.  Anyway, today a song that I probably haven't heard in 15 or 20 years, "Can't Get It Out of My Head" by Electric Light Orchestra, comes on, and surprisingly (and probably embarrassingly) I remembered all of the words and various other idiosyncracies about the song (remembered how the string part here went, how the piano part there goes, etc.).

By now, you're probably asking yourself what this has to do with my being surprised at how the mind works.  Well, it got me to thinking - this is a song that I haven't heard in years, and I remembered that much about it.  Then I got to thinking about the bigger picture - you can easily multiply that by hundreds of thousands (or possibly millions) when you think about all the lyrics and music to all songs you've got sitting around in your brain.  Wasted space some people might call it.  I know that in general, different parts of your brain are used to store away & retrieve information (be song lyrics or the memory of your 5th birthday party) than perform complex thought/analysis, but if we could just tap into all that storage space stowing away the lyrics to "Unskinny Bop", maybe those cures for cancer wouldn't be so elusive. 

I know that science has proven that there are many areas of your brain that either really aren't doing anything or control involuntary functions, but let's say for the sake of argument that increasing capacity for complex thought/intelligence would be at the expense of real estate that could be used to retain memories. What do you think - would you be willing to sacrifice "memory storage space" in your brain for the ability to perform more complex thought (essentially trading memory for intelligence)?  What if you had no way to decide what memories were kept and which ones were "overwritten"?  Would you risk potentially "overwriting" your happy memories in order to gain some IQ points?  I know these questions are subjective - for many, it would depend on how much memory could be lost versus how much intelligence could be gained.  Just curious...

Posted by ImaginaryEngr76 @ 12:21 pm EDT | Permalink | 6 Comments

Triple Shot of Nostalgia

Well, I'm exhausted.  Last night I went to the Styx/REO Speedwagon/Def Leppard triple bill and I didn't get back to the homestead until about 12:30 AM.  That wouldn't be so bad on the weekend, but when you've gotta get up the next morning at 5:30, you kinda drag a bit.

Anyway, overall I was impressed by the show - especially considering the vast majority of the performers are pushing 50 or more.  First up was Styx, who've had so many lineup changes over the years that I had no idea who would be there calling themselves "Styx".  This iteration didn't have the singer Dennis DeYoung, but luckily they at least did have Tommy Shaw.  Surprisingly, Styx probably was the most energetic of the three bands that played last night - everyone on stage was running all over the place and the keyboardist was very theatrical (his keyboard was on a rotating platform).  Sorry Jammer, there was no Mr. Roboto, but they played some good stuff like "Too Much Time on My Hands", "Come Sail Away", and my personal favorite, "Renegade".  At the end of their set, I caught a drumstick, but I ended up giving it to this kid sitting next to me.  I went ahead and gave it to him because I felt like I caught it only because I was taller than him.  If that thing ends up on eBay, I'm gonna hunt his ass down.

After Styx's 45 minute set, REO Speedwagon hit the stage.  Kevin Cronin (the lead singer) had a lot of energy, but damn if he didn't look ridiculous with this short, white, gelled up hair.  They played a song off of their new album ("Find Your Own Way Home", which kinda sounded like generic hard rock) along with some of their big hits - "Keep on Lovin' You", "Can't Fight This Feeling", "Take It on the Run", "Rolling With the Changes", "Time for Me to Fly", and of course, "Ridin' The Storm Out".  They even made a reference to "Keep on Lovin' You" being in the new "Horton Hears a Who" movie.  The best part of their show was when the drummer hit the giant gong behind his drum set, and it fell off the frame.  In typical Spinal Tap fashion, the roadies spent a whole song trying to put it back in place.  Awesome.

The headliner, Def Leppard, hit the stage about 9:30 or so.  I had never seen Leppard live before, so I had no idea what they'd sound like outside the studio.  Let me just say, singer Joe Elliott's voice is truly mostly a studio creation.  I'm not saying he can't sing, but as you would expect, he sounds completely different when not bathed in a chorus of a hundred Joe Elliotts via the overdubs that appear on the studio recordings.  He's also getting older, so he can't hit a lot of those impossibly high notes (see "Bringin' On the Heartbreak").  I also thought the vocals in general were way to low in the mix - oftentimes you could barely hear him, and the backup vocals from the other band members were nearly impossible to hear.  They did put on a high energy show, and played all the fan favorites - "Rocket", "Armageddon It", "Hysteria", (oldie but goodie) "Mirror Mirror", "Pour Some Sugar on Me", "Foolin'", and encored with "Rock of Ages".  One of my favorites from the night was their cover of David Essex's "Rock On".  I think they played about 16 or 17 songs in total.  They did play a song off of their upcoming album called "Nine Lives" that evidentially has the band dueting with Tim McGraw, so by that fact alone it's a piece of shit.  Joe even put on a cowboy hat to sing Tim's part - groan... 

I was probably most fascinated by watching their drummer, Rick Allen, mainly because I wanted to see how a person with no left arm handles the drums.  His kit was surprisingly small, and you could see his feet moving the whole time.  I figured out that he generally plays bass with his right foot and snare with his left foot, while doing all the cymbals with his right arm.  The drum parts weren't overly complex, but he held his own.

The event staff was hardcore about cracking down on cameras, but I managed to sneak a shot of Leppard while running up the steps from my seat during a beer run.  Yeah, I know, my mobile phone's camera sucks.


If this bill makes it out to your city, I would recommend checking it out.  It was a great show overall, and an awesome shot of nostalgia.


Posted by ImaginaryEngr76 @ 1:21 pm EDT | Permalink | 1 Comments

Pieces of Eight

A couple days ago, on a whim I picked up what I thought would be last minute tickets for the Def Leppard show here in Greenville, SC.  The show is this coming Tuesday, April 4th, so I purchased the tickets less than a week before show time.  That being said, according to the seating chart, I'll be on the front floor section in front of the stage, Row C.  How the hell did I get tickets three rows from the stage on such little notice?  Maybe only about 200 people will show up to see the show in this giant stadium.  There's some folks on the TicketsExchange (a place that's like eBay for concert tickets) trying to sell seats in the vicinity of where I'm sitting for 5X what I paid.  Oh well, I stumbled into some great seats and I'm not going to complain.

The "special guests" are Styx and Reo Speedwagon, so all in all it should be a pretty good show.  I have a soft spot for all that cheesy arena rock from the 70s and 80s, so this should fit the bill nicely.  Looking forward to hopefully hearing some Styx classics like "Blue Collar Man" and "Renegade" along with Speedwagon's "Ridin' The Storm Out".  I think Def Leppard have a new album coming out in a couple months, so they may be touring to support that, but I hope to hear some good stuff from Pyromania and earlier like "Mirror Mirror" and "Foolin'".  They also do a pretty good cover of Badfinger's "No Matter What".

Just for kicks, in preparation for the show, I was watching some old videos by these bands from the 80s.  I think my favorite of the bunch has to be Reo Speedwagon's "Keep On Loving You", simply because it is somehow simultaneously predictable and complete nonsense.  Even though you know how it's going to end from the opening notes, I don't really get why all the band members are hanging out on the couch with that chick sipping champagne?  Why does the performance have to be on videotape, wouldn't it have been more effective to serenade her live?  Are we to believe that the lead singer really is that big of an idiot?  As a bonus, it has acting on par with your favorite spanish soap opera.  Watch and see for yourself...




Posted by ImaginaryEngr76 @ 11:22 am EDT | Permalink | 3 Comments

RB6V2 - Of Dice and Gin(seng)

I apologize in advance for the poorly constructed pun, but you'll soon figure out what it's all about soon enough.  Any time there is a hot new game release, I usually head over to the local Circuit City since I've got one of those super fancy Gamers Club cards, which nets you 10% off off any new game or accessory.  Anyway, I headed over there during my lunch break to pick up Rainbow Six Vegas 2, and see that they're handing out promotional items if you pick up the game.

The first item is a single red fuzzy die (not a pair, but one) that proudly says "Rainbow Six Vegas 2" on it.  It's quite large, but I wonder why there is only one die and not a complete set.  I guess it's twice as many or half the price, however you want to look at it.  Anyway, the most interesting promo item that I got was the "Gamers Energy Kit" box - the "Energy Kit 4 Gamers, so they can Game All Nite!".  The most fascinating part of this kit (other than the cashier said it's quite popular, and lots of people are evidentially paying $15 for this thing) is that it includes items that I never knew existed - in addition to the standard 12 ounce ginseng energy drink, it comes with Energy Gum, Energy Spray, and best of all, Energy Beef Jerky.  The Energy Spray proudly exclaims that it can keep you going for as long as 80 hours(!), but warns of "rapid and possible fluctuating heartbeat".  Cocaine is probably safer to take than this stuff.  I also never knew there existed Energy Beef Jerky until today - God Bless America...

I don't if anyone else out there in TV Land has one of these Circuit City Gamers Club cards, but damn if CC didn't completely botch the program.  Ever since I picked the card up last June, very few employees seem to be aware of its existence and not a single one seems to know how to scan the thing properly.  Every time I use it, the employee always has to call a manager to override the system and manually take the 10% off.  You'd think with a nationwide program like this they'd have some kind of training on how to use it.

I also picked up Sega Superstar Tennis while I was there.  Being a Segaphile all my life (I had a Sega Master System and Genesis instead of a NES and SNES growing up), I'm a sucker for Sega fan service.  I also like tennis games, so for me it was a win-win.  Where else am I going to be able to lob a ball at House of the Dead zombies as Gilius Thunderhead, the dwarf from Golden Axe?

Posted by ImaginaryEngr76 @ 5:34 pm EDT | Permalink | 4 Comments

For The Love of Bad Games

I think all of us at one point in time grew a weird kind of fondness for a something everyone else on earth made you feel ashamed for liking, be it that copy of Winger's "In the Heart of the Young" album lying in the backseat of your car or that Special Edition DVD of "Krull" that you swore was good and hidden on your DVD shelf.  Games are no different -  everyone's got a list of games they'd be embarrassed to let anyone else know that they liked, much less played.  Here's a few of my guilty pleasures from my "hall of shame" from over the years.

KC Munchkin (Odyssey 2) - One of the first games I played as a kid.  It was a pretty bad Pac Man clone, but I secretly always loved it more than its source of inspiration.

Ys Book I (Sega Master System) - Great game on the Turbografx, but not so hot on the SMS.  Unfortunately, for reasons I can't recall I chose a SMS over an NES, so I was playing this while all of you were slicing up Octorocks in The Legend of Zelda.

Super Hydlide (Sega Genesis) - Still desperate for the a good Zelda clone, I picked this up with the money I got for my 14th birthday.  Although it looked like shit (somehow, Zelda, which had come out three years earlier on previous generation hardware looked better), I still loved it.  Plus, it has about the best soundtrack of any 16-bit game out there.

Primal Rage (Arcade) - Who doesn't know about Primal Rage?  I lost many so quarters playing this, which was probably the poorest controlling fighting game I've ever played.  But you got to be a digitized prehistoric ape, and that was good enough for me.

Apocalypse (Playstation) - A third person shooter with lots of explosions and a poorly digitized Bruce Willis.  'Nuff said.

Sword of the Berzerk: Gut's Rage (Dreamcast) - This third person action-adventure game had a main character named Guts who had a giant sword whose sole purpose in life was to cut dudes.  Probably the most violent game I'd ever seen up to that point, but it was lots of fun slicing and dicing fools.  Extra points for containing Mandragoras and an arch enemy named Balzac.

But even this generation, I still have a soft spot for the occasional bad game:

Just Cause (Xbox 360) - Even though the cut scenes, story, and dialog are all horrible and the side missions are extremely repetitive, I still enjoyed exploring the huge chain of islands and the jungle, as well as using the grappling hook to perform stunts.  The boats, helicopters, and airplanes only added to the fun.  Although your character pranced about as though he was chronically constipated, he won back coolness points by looking like a combo of Antonia Banderas and that dude from Creed (OK, maybe we should actually deduct some more of the coolness points for the Creed thing).

Earth Defense Force 2017 (Xbox 360) - Everything about this game screams poor production values (meh graphics, objects have no sense of weight or momentum, your main character runs around like a constipated Space Harrier, etc) it has a certain el cheapo charm.  Killing ridiculous numbers of giant ants, spiders, and robots is also oddly cathartic.  Bonus points for having powerups show up as 2D sprites in a 3D world.

Conan (Xbox 360) - Even though this game is shameless in its God of War rippoffery, it's actually not that bad.  It has a really deep combo system (even deeper than God of War and rivals the one in Devil May Cry), cool bosses, and it plays to the 12 year old fantasies in all of us (lots of blood, bad fantasy, and tits).  Plus you'll get to hear Ron Perlman (as Conan) say things like "I'll cleave your skull to the teeth" about 5 million times over the course of the 8 hours it takes to beat the game.

Solider of Fortune: Payback (Xbox 360) - The latest game in my bad game craze, I'm completely baffled to why I've had so much fun with it.  While it can be masochistically difficult on the Hard difficulty (the level in the parking garage made me want to throw my controller for the first time in years), it's easy enough on Normal to give you a linear shooter where you can just run through levels and blow away people with ridiculously overpowered guns.  There's a kind of primal fun in being able to cause someone to explode in a geyser of blood by hitting them from 100 yards with only a pistol.  Realistic (or even good) it's not, but there's still something oddly compelling about the badness of it.  While multiplayer can be laggy, it's still fun to blow someone's leg off by shooting them in the knee and causing them to helplessly topple over while still alive.

Anyone else have a bad game they secretly enjoy?

Posted by ImaginaryEngr76 @ 10:45 am EDT | Permalink | 5 Comments