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Worst of Music 2013 Retrospective: United States of Pop

Well, it’s certainly been a while since I’ve done a Worst of Music post. I really need to bring these things back on a semi-regular basis. But do you know how bad music can be nowadays. I was going insane listening to “today’s big hits.”

But since everyone’s doing year in review type stuff, I thought that I’d throw the annual DJ Earworm mashup of the year’s big songs into the mix on behalf of the Worst of Music. So to look back on the year that was in music, both the good but mostly bad, here’s is a collection of mashups of the 25 biggest songs of 2013.

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BIFF2013: Patrick

patrick posterUnless you’re an Australian and/or a horror film nut, you probably won’t even know that Patrick is a remake of a 1978 Aussie flick. Despite following the usual horror movie tropes, Mark Hartley’s remake is moody, loud, unapologetic and a whole lot of fun! Continue reading →

1 Comment Posted on by Steve Murray Entertainment

Captain Picard Sings Let it Snow

Since we’re less than three weeks from Christmas, I thought it was time to get into the spirit of the season. I’ve turned the fake snow on (though you’re probably seeing more than enough outside) and I have a Star Trek: The Next Generation Christmas carol for you. A Christmas classic sung by Patrick Stewart? Make it so!

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Saturday Link-Off: A Tale of Two Leaders

deborah-mace-anthropologie13-01Happy weekend denizens of the interweb! It’s Saturday which means that it’s time for the links. As you might expect given the news this week, we’re talking about two very different types of people in the news this week. Anyhow, let’s start with Deborah Mace.

Nelson Mandela died this week so we’re going to start with a few Mandela links. First, here’s a timeline look at his life. (New York Times)

And here’s a look at Mandela’s life in pictures rather than words. (National Geographic)

While Nelson Mandela is now thought of as a hero for the freedom of South African, for a long time, he was thought of as a terrorist and vilified by the same folks who are now praising him. (The Daily Beast)

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2 Comments Posted on by Steve Murray Columns, Video Games

7 Best Games of the 7th Generation: Mass Effect Trilogy

mass-effect-trilogy-headerLast week, when talking about Skyrim, I mentioned that a number of games outside the RPG genre incorporated elements of RPGs into their games. These included things like skill points, customization, inventory systems, questing, deep stories, dialogue tree and more of the classic RPG tricks.

This week’s entry into the 7 Best may have started life as being a bit more of an RPG than a third-person shooter but evolved into a third-person shooter that retained the strong influence of RPGs. Of course, if I boiled down the Mass Effect Trilogy to a series of gameplay mechanics and the evolution of the mechanics, I’d be missing the whole point of the franchise. Mass Effect’s strong suit and its claim to fame is the story.

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2013 VGX Nominations And Predictions

vgx-2013-headerEvery year, I give you my picks for the annual Spike TV Video Game Awards and predict the winners. Now that the rechristened VGX have gone to always online, I considered dropping the whole thing. However, this post is an annual tradition around here and who am I to argue with tradition?

While I’m not a fan of the VGX format of shameless promotion interrupted by the occasional award and burning through 80% of the awards either in a big list before a commercial or a big list when announcing that a given game won another award, it is probably the most mainstream of award shows (even if it’s been pulled from TV) so it’s probably worth giving a bit of attention to.

So let’s take a look at the 2013 group of VGX nominees and pick out some winners intermixed with a few rants about this awards show.

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Wednesday Link-Off: ‘Tis The Season

xenia-deli-lulifama13-03It’s the first linkdump of December. WordPress turned on the Christmas decorations so the falling snow isn’t a problem with the site or your monitor but our little piece of Christmas spirit… Unless we manage to do a Christmas podcast. Then that’s our contribution to Christmas.

Anyway, let’s get started with Xenia Deli.

You would think that Justin Trudeau might be a radical for wanting to legalize marijuana but he’s only following the recommendation of a forty-year-old study that said there was no scientific basis for the ban. In fact, Canada’s drug bans are all rooted in racism. (Toronto Star)

Without ad revenue from Hockey Night In Canada, the CBC’s current business model is broken but no one is rushing to fix it. (National Post)

Could Russell Brand be the smartest man occasionally in Hollywood? His op-ed about Rupert Murdoch and NewsCorp is epic. (The Guardian)

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1 Comment Posted on by Steve Murray Man Lab

Man Lab: Ten Manliest Cocktails 2013

Don’t look now but snow is starting to stay and that means that office Christmas parties (or holiday parties for the overly politically correct) are soon to be underway. And since it’s still slightly frowned upon to down beer after beer at suit-and-tie social functions like your Christmas party, we’re here again to help non-cocktail drinkers choose fancy drinks for their parties.

As we do every year, here is our list of the top ten manliest drinks that aren’t beer or wine that you get away with drinking at a formal function.

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BIFF2013: Don Jon

don jon posterAs some festival goers would say, Don Jon is the most ‘mainstream’ or most Hollywood film at the Brisbane International Film Festival this year. Both screenings attracted a sold out crowd and there is a good reason for it. Joseph Gordon-Levitt has demonstrated that he is a fantastic actor and through Don Jon, he also showcased his writing and directing skills as well. His feature debut Don Jon, is a smart and funny commentary on how the media can negatively consume both men and women in our society. Continue reading →

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Facebook Fails of the Week

Every so often, we look at the most spectacular fails that the internet has to offer. Well today, we look at the most spectacular fails that Facebook has to offer. This week, we have five of the best fails Facebook has to offer.

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