By Ben Hoffman
As the first couple tracks cue up, the question eventually rises: what am I hearing here that I haven’t heard already? Thus the tragic flaw of Method Man becomes apparent–in a world full of trends and confusion over what makes a beat or flow sound current, Meth’s stylings on this second solo project from the… Continue reading Spun: Method Man
By Kyle Francis
With his smoke-ring smile, plastic eyeballs and spray-painted vegetables, Beck is back with another non sequitur delight: The Information. The lyrics still don’t make any sense, but like always, it works. As an artist often more concerned with the sound of words than their meaning, the obtuse metaphors on The Information hardly sound out of… Continue reading Spun: Beck
Back in 2004 a band with a lesbian sex act for a name renewed the world’s love of Elton John and the Bee Gees. The band called itself Scissor Sisters and their self-titled album was glitzy, flamboyant and damn-near irresistible. Though they were firmly rooted in some of the more absurd elements of the ’70s,… Continue reading Spun: Scissor Sisters
By Jon Roe
Buzzzzrrt-a-rama-rama-rama! “AaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAARRRRrrgh!” Ah, the scintillating sounds of October and the horror-movie push. Leading off the scary season is Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning. Leatherface is back and this time, it’s personal. Or something. In reality, Leatherface is less “back” and more “still around” in The Beginning, a prequel to 2003’s Texas Chainsaw Massacre, which was… Continue reading Chainsaws, Blood, and Gore
By Jon Roe
A name like the New Porngraphers conjures images of horrible avant-garde erotica that would blind even the dirtiest of dirty old men. In actuality, the Pornographers are a veteran independent band who play catchy–not unlike chlamydia–rock music. But that’s where the comparisons to sex end. The Pornos have been together since 1997, winning a Juno… Continue reading Pornography, but without the degradation
By Ryan Pike
Command and Conquer [1995; Westwood Studios] Spawning seven sequels, the original Command and Conquer pitted the Global Defense Initiative against the Brotherhood of Nod, a terrorist cult intent on control of valuable tiberium crystals, with the player controlling whichever side they’d like. One of the games that popularized the genre, it also featured live-action cut-scenes.… Continue reading Sidebar: Three strategy games to hold you over
Real-time strategy in future space is a tired concept. Remember Starcraft? Total Annihilation? Or more recently, Star Wars: Empire At War? The long list of genre standards goes on, and consequently it’s important for developers hoping to carve a niche for themselves in the RTS market to avoid falling into cliches. Dreamcatcher Games, a PC-game… Continue reading Space ships will eat your children
The world has a new nuclear power. Last weekend North Korea announced it successfully detonated a nuclear bomb in an underground facility. This left the rest of the world scrambling to determine whether North Korea’s claim was true and to denounce it, whether it was or not. Reactions from the United States, Japan and North… Continue reading Holding on for a hero
Calgary saw some crazy storms this year, and this is one of them. That poor car sure is taking a pounding. Looks like some hail too, but luckily not golf ball-sized stuff… those things can shatter windows!
Editor, the Gauntlet, [Re: “PC Leadership Candidates Face Off,” Katy Anderson, Oct. 6, 2006] While a recent Herald column suggests that Lyle Oberg may be making up ground in the PC leadership race with his plainspokenness, I firmly believe that he will never be an appropriate premier for this province because of certain actions taken–or… Continue reading Letter: Oberg Ostentatious