Could Pole Dancing Be An Olympic Sport?

I have to admit, watching pole dancing is pretty entertaining and very skillful, but does it really deserve to be an official Olympic sport? The International Pole Dancing Fitness Association believes so. In fact, their collecting signatures for a petition to the organizers of the London Olympics in 2012. According to NY Daily News, the IPDFA is pushing to have Pole Dancing be accepted as an Olympic sport if not by 2012, then 2016.

After doing some more research on this, I found out that there are serious pole dancing competitions that are held around the world, including women and men. I can probably accept the fact that pole dancing is becoming a little bit more "main stream" (just barely), and that it takes a lot of skill to perform, but no - this should not be taken seriously. Really. This act will forever be relating to stripping and the activity is overtly sensual, unlike any other sport in the Olympics. It's like if the porn industry pushed to have their films nominated for Academy Awards - ain't gonna happen. Plus, if baseball and softball have been taken out of the Olympics, how can anyone justify pole dancing being considered?

I've been proven wrong before, but this time... I guess we shall see.

Don't Swat Me, Bro! Being A Fly On The Wall In A Recording Studio

For the past month, I've had the awesome opportunity to intern with record producer/engineer Tommy Cooper in Nashville. I'm having a blast learning as much as I can about engineering side of music from one of the best! To add to the awesomeness, for the past two days I was able to essentially be that fly on the wall and help in any way possible during a tracking session in an actual recording studio on Music Row!

We had the tracking session for an artist named Anthony Hopp at OMNIsound Studios. Nicest guy ever and he had some really catchy pop tunes!

Here is the drum set right before the first session started.

It's weird and awesome that I know what most of those knobs and buttons do now. :)

I was able to meet and observe many amazing studio musicians that have played for popular artists including Reba McEntire and Taylor Swift. They hadn't listened to the music before hand, but all it took was one or two play-throughs of the demo and they were ready to record!

I was able to see magic made for the past two days and I loved it!

The best part is I get to do it again next week! More on that later!

American Humane Rains On District 9's Parade

Most of us already know that not one, but TWO science-fiction films have been Oscar-nominated for Best Picture this year and how awesome that a science-fiction film may finally win the coveted title. District 9 shocked many of us when it first came out with its creative storytelling technique and likable characters, but it looks like the American Humane Association is trying to destroy the movie's chances of Oscar history because they did not approve the line "no animals were harmed" at the end credits.

Last week, Karen Rosa, vice president of American Humane’s Film & TV Unit issued a statement that they "did not monitor ‘District 9.’ And the unauthorized use of that end credit on ‘District 9’ not only leaves open the questions of ‘How were the animals treated?’ and ‘Were any of them harmed or killed?’, but it’s dishonest to the public and it’s a slap in the face to the conscientious productions that have American Humane on set, meet our standards for animal safety, and have legitimately earned the right to say ‘No Animals Were Harmed.’ We encourage Academy members to cast their votes for films other than ‘District 9,’ to send the message that Hollywood cares about the safety of animals and respects intellectual property."

I understand that the use of "no animals were harmed" shouldn't have been used, but to threaten the integrity of the voting process for the Academy Awards is downright disgusting. Members of the Academy should vote on the basis of the collaborative efforts from production, directing, acting, writing efforts, and overall artistic expression. American Humane is absolutely wrong for encouraging Academy members to cast votes for other nominations. It's against the artistic integrity of why it was nominated in the first place.

Granted, I feel that there should be more investigation on this topic especially the interaction with animals during filming, but c'mon - get over it, American Humane. Please don't become PETA.

Speaking of which, PETA is going to go apeshit once they hear about this. :::sigh:::

Monday Eargasm #3: Ra Ra Riot - 'Ghosts Under Rocks'

Turn that radio off! We know you grow tired of the cookie cutter top 40 hits that's bombarded at you 23 time a day. Let us soothe your ears to something new and maybe introduce you to something entirely different, no tip required. All in a day's work for The Monday Eargasm:)

This week, I'm featuring Ra Ra Riot's "Ghosts Under Rocks" with its driving tempo, interesting lyrics, and catchy melody. From their sophomore album The Rhumb Line, which peaked at #109 on the Billboard 200 in 2008. I dig it, especially since I'm a sucker for any strings in rock music.

Check out Ra Ra Riot's website: www.rarariot.com

Kid Gets Detention For Being Awesome

If my kid came home with this detention slip, I would give him a high-5 and take him to Chuck E. Cheese's. That'll do, pig. That'll do.

We can only hope that our kids will be this awesome.

Source: Huffington Post

Monday Eargasm #2" Mutemath - 'Spotlight'

Turn that radio off! We know you grow tired of the cookie cutter top 40 hits that's bombarded at you 23 time a day. Let us soothe your ears to something new and maybe introduce you to something entirely different, no tip required. All in a day's work for The Monday Eargasm:)

Late post, but late than never as I always say. This week's eargasm comes from Mutemath's sophomore album Armistice. I discovered them through Pandora but many of you may have heard of them from being on the Twilight soundtrack... and that is the last time I will ever mention that film on this blog ever again. :P

Anyway, very catchy track and the video is pretty fun to watch, as with all their music videos. Enjoy!

It's Winter Olympics Time!

I kind of hate snow. It's pretty annoying. Especially since I'm done with schooling, it's even more pointless. But all snow flakes aside, I love watching the Olympics! Something about the whole world putting their cultural/political differences aside to come together and compete in sports just gets me going. With the help of new media, populations across the world can share the same experience as they watch their countries athletes on TV, the internet, and their phones at any time of the day. This is great because the olympic dream can reach even more people and influence the younger aspiring generation. The Olympics rock! I guess it's a minor dream of mine to be able to win one of those nifty medals.

But definitely during the Summer Games. Boo snow.

To watch all the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic events, tune into NBC on your television tube or that thing called the world wide web at NBC.com.

Read this.

http://www.gamecareerguide.com/features/824/maxims_of_game_.php


This will teach you more about game design than I can (PS-I teach game design). The only one I disagree with is the one that says you won't play many games- if you stop playing games, you'll stop growing as a creative artist. Don't stagnate. Filmmakers watch movies. Painters go to art galleries. Play. Learn. Grow. Make your own kick-ass games.

Also, stop designing huge games. You'll never have the budget to make the next Elder Scrolls game. Think small, build small, and your likelihood of success increases dramatically. Think "Episodic Content" if you have a great story you want to tell. Tell it over 6 smaller games. Think of them like chapters in your novel.

Monday Eargasm #1: Contra NES Throwback!

Turn that radio off! We know you grow tired of the cookie cutter top 40 hits that's bombarded at you 23 time a day. Let us soothe your ears to something new and maybe introduce you to something entirely different, no tip required. All in a day's work for The Monday Eargasm:)

For the first weekly edition of The Monday Eargasm, I decided to do a service to two types of people in this world: those who have played Contra for the original NES, and those that haven't. If you haven't, what a sad world you live in. But no worries! Behold the awesomeness that is the soundtrack to Contra in glorious full metal form. And for those that have, get ready to have your faces melt off - this is definitely the way these songs were supposed to be heard, in all its epic 80s metal-themed glory. Kudos to the band Vomitron for bringing these songs alive!

So let this music play while you're at the office today. I bet you'll be thrashing you head and using pens and pencils as drumsticks in no time!

TheCrossPad Congratulates X-Play on 1000 Episodes

This week, history was made in the gaming world. The greatest (and arguably only) gaming show, X-Play, reached 1000 episodes! Now if you haven't seen the show, you're missing out...or you don't get G4. Not only does this show have evident lasting power with the viewers, it has also developed massive respect in the professional gaming world with it's honest and upfront reviews. Also, X-Play spawned one of the greatest weekly video series' I've ever seen, Sessler's Soapbox. This show is basically X-Play host Adam Sessler saying everything he can't say on the show. It, like X-Play, is very informative and a must see for all game enthusiasts.

So from Bryan, Jordan and myself, congratulations, X-Play, on reaching the glorious 1000. May you have 1000 more.

Thanks for reading. Game on!

First Impression of LOST, The Final Season

And so it begins. The beginning of the end of our beloved TV show, LOST. After almost a year of waiting, we're back onboard the roller coaster with no stops until we arrive at the endgame. There will be a mixture of excitement and sadness in the air while I watch this last season.

Warning! SPOILERS AHEAD! Please don't read ahead if you haven't seen the past 5 seasons. (And if you haven't, what the hell?)

LA X Part 1 began with a bang, literally! We finally get to see what happened after the bomb went off! Did it reset history or are our Losties still stuck on the island? Well... it looks like both. Huh? Pretty clever on the writers' part to incorporate both situations that us diehards have been debating for the past year. These "flashes" are cleverly called "Flash-Sideways," but where does this alternate timeline fit within the story?

Personally, I couldn't care less for the alternate timeline. I was actually arguing against this idea for the past couple months. Why? Well, because the reset of the timeline undermines everything that's happened during the show. One of the important themes of LOST is the theme of redemption, featuring a cast of flawed characters striving to redeem themselves and their lives. As you can guess, the first 5 minutes had me pretty ticked, but once we were back on the island everything was better.

I know, I know. There's a larger picture going on with the writers presenting both timelines to us at the same time. Also, it will be interesting how these two may interact with each other, if at all. I have complete faith that the writers know what they're doing and everything will make sense, but for now I'm giving them the stinky-face. Nonetheless, I know I'm going to love this season.

Oh yeah - OMG, DESMOND WAS ON THE PLANE??

Excape from Clown Town 'Early Demo'

I think I'm just now finally caught up on sleep from this past amazing weekend from the Global Game Jam 2010 - so worth it:) Our early demo of Excape from Clown Town is up for you to download and play! It features music by yours truly! We'll be editing video from the weekend and also our first edition of the Crosspad Roundtable that should be up soon! (Whenever Josh's lazy as can get it done:D)

Here's a brief description of our game:

Fifteen years have elapsed since the Circus Incident of 2024. The Clowns have grown in number and their influence has spread, corrupting the landscape with their cotton candy and offensively bright colors. You, a secret operative, have been dropped into one of the hot zones near the source of the original Circus infestation, tasked to retrieve a DNA sample and return to HQ.

You have been equipped with clown makeup as a disguise to evade the clowns' wrath. However, rainclouds have been moving toward the region. Time is short. If the rain starts falling, your makeup will melt away, exposing you to the ire of the clowns. Avoid them at all costs and do whatever you can to keep your disguise intact long enough to complete your mission objectives. Good luck; the world is counting on you.

Definitely check out all the games submitted from other teams around the world, because there are many great games that were made too!