In which JD sells out
So normally around this time of year I post a wrap up of the tv season. And while I might still do that at some point in the future, I don't have as much to say because, frankly, I haven't watched as much tv this year. There's still a few shows I would go out of my way to catch, Lost, Glee, etc, but Netflix makes most tv easy to catch up on if you're patient and Hulu makes it easy if you're not.
But lately, I find I'm watching a lot of internet based programming. I'm assuming a lot of people are familar with The Guild, starring Doctor Horrible star Felcia Day, about the everyday lives of a group of online gamers and the bond (and issues) that they have. It's sweet, it's funny and it's third season has Will Wheaton!
But that's not all. For a while I have been following Yahtzee's online reviews, Zero Punctuation. While he does get a bit predictable in what he's going to say (hilarious reviews but after a while you know what type of games or features in games that he likes and what he doesn't and so a lot of repeatition in a some of them) but he's funny and occasionally does have some good insight.
Also on the same site are Unskipplable, a MST3K styled series usually riffing on the opening movie of video games, and ENN, the Daily Show of video game news.
But what has really gotten me hooked is a website called That Guy With the Glasses,a site with a wide variety of contributors. While some have more experiance then others, none are professionals, per se, and instead just film reviews, news, skits, etc in front of their own camera and share it with the world. The main man behind this is Doug Walker, aka the Nostalgia Critic. I won't say he's a genius but damn he's good. Despite having relatively no budget he manages to make his reviews of (usually) "nostalgic" material smart and funny. Here's a few reviews that are memorable: Suburban Commando (starring Hulk Hogan!), Ferngully (with special guest The Nostalgia Chick!) and one my favorites, the Uwe Boll classic, Alone in the Dark (with special Guest The Spoony One and Linkara)
But Doug isn't the only guy on the site, Nostalgia Chick, Linkara, and Spoony also do their own updates (NChick is based around a more female oriented media nostalgia then the Critic's, Linkara does bad comic reviews and Spoony does assorted things from movies reviews, to game playthroughs to random vlogs with just him talking for an hour if that's your thing). There's also Cinema Snob who focues on exploitation films of yesteryear. LordKat who does Until We Win and plays old hard games like Battletoads or Earthworm Jim and offers his advice on the game. MikeJTV does Shameful Sequels...and, well, that's pretty self explantory isn't it? Etc Etc. I'm not a fan of everyone on the site, but generally speaking I do enjoy much of their work and it's awesome to see amateur video makers have a place where they can show off their skills (whether it's video editing, writing, natural charisma, etc) and makes some genuinely funny or entertaining videos.
And so, that's why I ordered today my own HD Camcorder. I found a good deal online on a Sony HDR-CX150 for about $400 (I think it retails for around $550). It's not top of the line or anything, and at the end of the day it's still just a home camcorder, I'm not going to make any Hollywood blockbuststers with it, but it seemed about about as good as I could find after about a half day of research without me nearly doubling what I paid for the one I did end up getting (the price gap seems to be that $300 to $550 is midline and then jumps to about $700 to $1,000 for the top of the line before you start going into professional video cameras). Oh and the one I ordered comes in red! ^_^ (That wasn't a huge deal to me but it was about $30 less than the black model).
I have an idea for a web review series of my own, one that I haven't personally seen done before. Nothing mind-blowing but just offering a slightly different viewpoint on a subject matter. Of course a concept doesn't mean diddly without some good writing behind and I'll have to have some good writing behind it because I'm not a naturally charismatic guy. I've grown socially in the last few years, forcing myself to meet people, but I'm still a somewhat awkward goofball. That will only get me so far. And there are a million other factors as well (getting my hands on video editing software that won't cost me more than the camera, figuring out how to shoot myself, editing it all together, etc etc)... but I still want to try it. I might fall flat on my face and bury the evidence right next to Jimmy Hoffa (or, alternatively, wipe the memory card) but I kind of need to try this. I've always wanted to do something creative with my life. Hell if everyone hates it but me it might have been all worth while. There's a good chance this might be the only time I ever make mention of it, but if not, I'll share the results here.
But lately, I find I'm watching a lot of internet based programming. I'm assuming a lot of people are familar with The Guild, starring Doctor Horrible star Felcia Day, about the everyday lives of a group of online gamers and the bond (and issues) that they have. It's sweet, it's funny and it's third season has Will Wheaton!
But that's not all. For a while I have been following Yahtzee's online reviews, Zero Punctuation. While he does get a bit predictable in what he's going to say (hilarious reviews but after a while you know what type of games or features in games that he likes and what he doesn't and so a lot of repeatition in a some of them) but he's funny and occasionally does have some good insight.
Also on the same site are Unskipplable, a MST3K styled series usually riffing on the opening movie of video games, and ENN, the Daily Show of video game news.
But what has really gotten me hooked is a website called That Guy With the Glasses,a site with a wide variety of contributors. While some have more experiance then others, none are professionals, per se, and instead just film reviews, news, skits, etc in front of their own camera and share it with the world. The main man behind this is Doug Walker, aka the Nostalgia Critic. I won't say he's a genius but damn he's good. Despite having relatively no budget he manages to make his reviews of (usually) "nostalgic" material smart and funny. Here's a few reviews that are memorable: Suburban Commando (starring Hulk Hogan!), Ferngully (with special guest The Nostalgia Chick!) and one my favorites, the Uwe Boll classic, Alone in the Dark (with special Guest The Spoony One and Linkara)
But Doug isn't the only guy on the site, Nostalgia Chick, Linkara, and Spoony also do their own updates (NChick is based around a more female oriented media nostalgia then the Critic's, Linkara does bad comic reviews and Spoony does assorted things from movies reviews, to game playthroughs to random vlogs with just him talking for an hour if that's your thing). There's also Cinema Snob who focues on exploitation films of yesteryear. LordKat who does Until We Win and plays old hard games like Battletoads or Earthworm Jim and offers his advice on the game. MikeJTV does Shameful Sequels...and, well, that's pretty self explantory isn't it? Etc Etc. I'm not a fan of everyone on the site, but generally speaking I do enjoy much of their work and it's awesome to see amateur video makers have a place where they can show off their skills (whether it's video editing, writing, natural charisma, etc) and makes some genuinely funny or entertaining videos.
And so, that's why I ordered today my own HD Camcorder. I found a good deal online on a Sony HDR-CX150 for about $400 (I think it retails for around $550). It's not top of the line or anything, and at the end of the day it's still just a home camcorder, I'm not going to make any Hollywood blockbuststers with it, but it seemed about about as good as I could find after about a half day of research without me nearly doubling what I paid for the one I did end up getting (the price gap seems to be that $300 to $550 is midline and then jumps to about $700 to $1,000 for the top of the line before you start going into professional video cameras). Oh and the one I ordered comes in red! ^_^ (That wasn't a huge deal to me but it was about $30 less than the black model).
I have an idea for a web review series of my own, one that I haven't personally seen done before. Nothing mind-blowing but just offering a slightly different viewpoint on a subject matter. Of course a concept doesn't mean diddly without some good writing behind and I'll have to have some good writing behind it because I'm not a naturally charismatic guy. I've grown socially in the last few years, forcing myself to meet people, but I'm still a somewhat awkward goofball. That will only get me so far. And there are a million other factors as well (getting my hands on video editing software that won't cost me more than the camera, figuring out how to shoot myself, editing it all together, etc etc)... but I still want to try it. I might fall flat on my face and bury the evidence right next to Jimmy Hoffa (or, alternatively, wipe the memory card) but I kind of need to try this. I've always wanted to do something creative with my life. Hell if everyone hates it but me it might have been all worth while. There's a good chance this might be the only time I ever make mention of it, but if not, I'll share the results here.