Rorrohernan

April 28th of this year marked the seven year anniversary since Tool has released any new material, and though it’s true to form for the pacing of the band’s releases, fans still can’t help but wonder what the hell is taking so long.

Is Maynard too busy getting drunk off his wine and posting pictures of his breakfast on Instagram? Is the band just ready to settle down with their families and drop the musician lifestyle? One thing is for certain, the four monsters of rock are getting up there in age and this may very well be the last release we see from Tool. We do know that a new album is in the works but the band, like always, has been quite reclusive on the subject.

Perhaps a part of the delay can be attributed to a path not unlike the road Pink Floyd traveled when they released The Wall, their groundbreaking movie album. Guitarist Adam Jones, who formerly worked in Hollywood doing special effects for films, is responsible for most of the art direction of the band and almost all of their eerie, visionary videos. In a 2007 interview, one year after 10,000 Days was released, Adam revealed that a “band movie” was in the works.

He told Billboard, “We all have ideas about it. If I had my way, it would be a narrative story in a surreal fashion with as much money and special effects we could throw at it. I think some of the other guys would like to do pockets of all of that or something that’s live or we’re playing. It’s just talk right now.” After that, the band never mentioned the idea again. However, more recent bits of information have given us some nonspecific clues on the rumored project.

In May of 2012, Toolband.com released this image:

While this post says that a new “Tool Project” should have been out in the Fall of 2012, we know now that that never came to fruition. What we do know is that whatever Adam is working on is not only musical, but visual. As usual.

Bassist Justin Chancellor also gave us something to chew on earlier this year when he spoke to TimeOut regarding the new album. He said, “We’re currently involved in the biggest project of our lives.” A short, but sweet, sentence giving every Tool fan hope. It sounds like something a bit more than just a new album is in the works – something that may very well have a greater impact than a collection of new songs.

Making an album/movie is a lengthy process, but just how lengthy? Pink Floyd released The Wall in 1979 two years after Animals. The Wall Movie was released in 1982. So five years passed until we saw The Wall in its final movie album form. Given Tool’s track record for taking their sweet time in between albums, seven years into making an album/movie would put them right on schedule.

So what do we know? We know that the band has been tossing around ideas for a movie. Adam Jones has been long at work on a new visual Tool project, and the band are “currently working on the biggest project” of their lives. While it can’t be said for sure that a movie is the culprit for this agonizing gap between albums, the pieces do seem to fit.

Update: And in the most timely fashion, Jones posted this picture to Instagram on Monday, while Ultimate Guitar reports that, according to a Loudwire interview with drummer Danny Carey, new music from Tool is most definitely underway.

“It’s still the three of us right now and four of us it will be soon,” Carey explained. “You know, just working on all our parts and working on our compositions together. Stylistically, we’re trying to push things in different ways, but it always comes out sounding like Tool no matter what we’re trying to do. We’re working everyday on it and it’s going really well, so I’m hoping we’ll get into the studio by the end of the year.”

As for whether we’ll see a 2013 release, the stickman was less optimistic:

“I doubt it. Right now, since we haven’t started tracking stuff at this point, it’ll be hard. We could have the record finished by the end of the year – that’s a possibility, but the logistics of getting it manufactured and getting the record company in line and all this stuff, I doubt we’ll be able to get it out before Christmas. We’ll see how it goes. Most likely, it’ll be early 2014.”

We’ll keep you posted.

With Ramadan looming, Yasiin Bey—formerly known as Mos Def—is protesting the force-feeding of Guantanamo prisoners by undergoing the procedure himself. To raise awareness for the more than 40 hunger-strikers who are force-fed at the prison each day, Bey underwent it himself for the video below, filmed for the human rights organization Reprieve. As you might expect, it’s absolutely horrible to watch, and even worse to imagine happening to someone—prisoner or not—day after day. And as the video itself warns, “Some viewers may find these images distressing.” 

Only $950,972,940?! I probably have that much change in my couch. Mushroom Kingdom, here I come!

Maybe he needed to use a Master Ball to catch her.

Ever wished you could have seen the Ramones at CBGB in 1974? Or the Beatles at a club in Liverpool in 1962? Or the Smiths at the Hacienda? User Daniel Kohn, on no-fi web site Ranker.com, has compiled 22 video clips of sparsely attended early gigs from a legion of heavy hitters, ranging from Nirvana rocking out in an empty Radio Shack four years before "Smells Like Teen Spirit" hit it big to an 11-year-old Beyonce rehearsing in a backyard with Destiny's Child. The clips also include high school gigs by Green Day and Eminem; the first-ever performances ...

Get out your Fakeblock and stock up on Teamocil, because Arrested Development is releasing a soundtrack. David Schwartz, who has been the show's composer throughout its whole run, has announced that an album is in the works. Whether you're a coun...try music-loving lady, someone who does care about black puppets, or you just want to work out to "Balls In the Air," you'll soon be able to listen to songs from throughout the show's on-again-off-again four-season run in one handy album, though one that probably won't sport any of these covers. Schwartz is still ...

I’m not so sure about this. I once had a fever, and the only prescription was more cowbell!

A smiling Jack Tretton revealed that the PlayStation 4 will have "no restrictions" on used games - as well as reiterating the system will not require an always-on internet connection for single-player games.

In a slide detailing Sony's policies on used games and connectivity, Tretton confirmed that disc-based PS4 games can be traded in without restriction, borrowed from friends, or kept for life.

"Yes, that's a good thing," he said to a cheering group of fans at the Pre-E3 2013 Sony Press Briefing.

In May, Sony President of Worldwide Studios Shuhei Yoshida said that the company never considered an always-on PlayStation 4 console.

​"Did we consider it? No, we didn't consider it," Yoshida said. "The main reason being that many countries don't have robust Internet connections. It makes sense for people to have Internet connections to play online games, but for offline games there are many countries that we saw [that] do not really have robust Internet."

Microsoft's upcoming Xbox One console will require authentication, at least every 24 hours, and has restrictions on trading games to stores and lending them to friends.

PlayStation 4 has 'no restrictions' on used games, no always-on connectivity originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 10 Jun 2013 22:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Aaron Diaz, the creator of Dresdan Codak, has put together a proposal for new Legend of Zelda game where Zelda is the hero sent to rescue Prince Link. Here’s what he says on the topic:

Clockwork Empire is set 2,000 years after Twilight Princess, and is not a reboot, but simply another iteration in the Zelda franchise. It just so happens that in this case, Zelda is the protagonist. I’m a very big Zelda fan, and worked hard to draw from key elements in the continuity and mythos.

This concept work is meant to show that Zelda as a game protagonist can be both compelling and true to the franchise, while bringing new and dynamic game elements that go farther than being a simple gender swap.

Here’s my question: If Link is now the prince instead of the hero, wouldn’t this game be The Legend of Link and not another installment in the Zelda series?

source: Indistinguishable From Magic

Check out a very unique and incredibly fucking awesome cover of David Bowie’s Space Oddity, recorded by Commander Chris Hadfield on board the International Space Station. Hadfield will leave the International Space Station at 7 p.m. Monday. To celebrate his last day in orbit, he has recorded this.

Amazing.

P.S. XKCD has considered the question of whether or not this is the most expensive music video ever made.

Ben Kuchera: The Xbox One is a console that’s likely to kill our idea of what a physical game purchase means. According to a story published on Wired, each game will be installed to your hard drive, and you can then play without the disc in the drive. What happens if you pass the disc to a friend? Well, that’s where things get interesting. “In other words, what happens to our traditional concept of a “used game”? This is a question for which Microsoft did not yet have an answer, and is surely something that game buyers (as well as renters and lenders) will want to…

1. “I’m afraid that I just blue myself.” It’s been seven years since the last new episode of Arrested Development aired, and in that time, the show’s whip-smart dialogue has taken on a second life, a shared language among the faithful who’ll find any excuse to throw a “Illusions, Michael!” or a “Marry me!” into casual conversation. But with 15 new episodes set to add a fresh volume (or potentially overshadow) to The Quotable Bluths, what’s to be done with all those old, worn-out punchlines? Why not do what Internet commenters have done for years ...

Amanda Vissell pertenece a esa clase particular de artistas contemporáneos que ha encontrado la forma de hacerse de un nombre con una propuesta propia, que a pesar de ser vintage se mantiene relativamente original por la mezcla de elementos en su discurso, tan vinculado a la cultura pop, la obra de esta autora se centra principalmente en la creación de juguetes de madera tallada, con un proceso de armado como si se hicieran al finales del siglo XIX.

Su línea de juguetes inspirados en Star Wars ya los habíamos revisado el pasado mes de agosto y ahora les compartimos su más reciente creación, rindiendo tributo a una serie de dibujos animados emblemática de los noventa. Con motivo del montaje de la exposición títulada It’s the shizNICK!, en donde los chicos de iam8bit rendían tributo al canal de caricaturas Nickelodeon, Visell realizó una serie de 4 figuras talladas en madera, con los personajes principales de la serie Ren & Stimpy.

La exposición tuvo lugar del 19 de abril al primero de mayo, en donde pudo observarse la propuesta de distintos artistas, donde a través de distintas técnicas rendían homenaje a los distintos personajes que protagonizaron la programación de dicho canal, desde Bob Esponja hasta Rocko (de Rocko's modern life) todos estaban presentes, sin embargo la obra que llamó más poderosamente la atención fue la propuesta de Visell y debido a ello la artista ha decidido ponerla en venta a través de la tienda en línea de iam8bit.

Estas esculturas talladas en madera con acabados en acrílico se venden en un sólo paquete, que incluye las cuatro figuras de los principales personajes de la serie: Ren, Stimpy, Yak y Muddy. Las dimensiones de cada muñeco es variable pero rondan los 15 centímetros de altura y se encuentran a un precio de 2 mil doscientos dólares.

Se trata pues de un capricho tentador para el televidente nostálgico de unos dibujos animados que durante su periodo de esplendor entre 1991 y 1996, se encargaron de cambiar un poco los parámetros de la concepción de las caricaturas, demostrando que no por ser animadas tenían que ser infantiles o ausente de un humor retorcido.

La entrada Juguetes de madera de Ren & Stimpy, por Amanda Visell aparece primero en Monkeyzen.

Now that I know the formula, I know what I must do…

Damsel in Distress: Part 2 of Anita Sarkeesian's Tropes vs. Women in Video Games series discusses three "trope cocktails" that she says developers use to spice up the bland "save the girl" plotline: the woman in the rerigerator, the disposable woman and the mercy killing.

Sarkeesian introduced the issue of the damsel in distress throughout the history of video games in her first video; the second installment notes that some modern developers recognize this trend and try to make the narrative "edgier" with graphic depictions of violence against women. Each trope cocktail has the effect of victimizing female characters, and using them only as motivation for the real story - the male character's quest, Sarkeesian argues.

Damsel in Distress: Part 2 went live at 1 p.m. PT today, but by 2:30 p.m. the video was pulled from YouTube. It was restored within the hour, though Sarkeesian's official Feminist Frequency Twitter account said the removal was from an influx of bogus reports of YouTube terms of service violations.

"An hour after our video went live I got an email saying, 'The YouTube Community has flagged one or more of your videos as inappropriate,'" Feminist Frequency said. Sarkeesian does note that the video contains "some depictions of violence against women" and advises viewer discretion.

This wouldn't be the first time Sarkeesian was the subject of internet harassment, following a high-profile Kickstarter that drew ire from a vocal group of people online. Damsel in Distress: Part 2 is live now, available for anyone and everyone to view and discuss. Civilly, if we have anything to say about it.

Tropes vs. Women in Video Games digs into the damsel in distress idea originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 28 May 2013 20:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If you're one of the dozen or so people who still haven't seen the show, never fear: Wired has prepared a handy guide to communicating with your friends and neighbors via Arrested Development catchphrases. Soon, you'll be yelling "No touching!" with the best of them.

Amazon is bundling together three of Firaxis Games' most recent at a really low price. For $20, you can snag PC download codes of XCOM: Enemy Unknown, Civilization 5: Gold Edition - a definitive version with Gods and Kings and a bunch of other DLC - and Civilization 4: The Complete Edition, also including a host of DLC and extra goodies.

The Firaxis bundle headlines Amazon's Digital Mayhem promotion, with other discounts spanning Telltale's The Walking Dead, Battlefield 3, BioShock, Mark of the Ninja and many more. The sale ends on May 31, so feel free to take your time perusing the hundreds of eligible discounts.

Cheap Firaxis bundle headlines Amazon Digital Mayhem sale originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 21 May 2013 23:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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I need to remember this… Or perhaps I have already said too much.

Hey, you remember that thing where NBC was all, “Oh, we’re going to pick up shows with broader appeal, because we’re tired of being the network with niche comedies only watched by niches?” Yeah, about that… To go along with a sixth season for Parks And Recreation, NBC has added a fifth season for Community, the announcement officially made a few minutes ago, as per The Hollywood Reporter. The only other comedy still in contention is The New Normal, which regularly dipped below a 1.0 in the demo when it had no Voice lead-in, so NBC would ...

I had to skip over parts of the timeline as I have finished all the Metal Gear Solid games yet, but from what I read it does seem accurate.

source: gamefront.com
via: TheOmegaNerd, A Nerdy Guide To Gaming

If there’s anyone on the minds and tongues of every Hollywood backlot, it’s Dr. Tobias Fünke. Yes, everyone is sick and tired of hearing about how brilliant that well-known blow-hard and licensed analrapist is—but that’s not keeping him from exposing each and every one of his parts (look at all these parts!) on the interactive audition reel Insert Me Anywhere. What only appears to be a viral marketing effort for Tobias’ 15 latest rendezvous with the various members of the Bluth family is in fact your chance to catch him in the act, helpfully staged ...

Though recurring jokes have always formed the lasting legacy of Arrested Development, rewarding multiple viewings with even more choice quotes, those elements were also allegedly such a barrier to entry for new viewers that it contributed directly to declining ratings and the show’s cancellation. But just in time for the new season, which bows on Netflix over Memorial Day weekend, comes Recurring Developments, an interactive visual compendium of every single recurring joke over the entire run of the series, here to refresh the memory of anyone who hasn’t finished their compulsory re-watch of the show. Choose from tracking ...

D.B. Weiss and David Benioff have proven themselves game for interacting with shows vastly different than their HBO fantasy epic Game Of Thrones. Recently they swapped shows with Parks And Recreation’s Michael Schur and Dan Goor to write plot synopses of an episode for Entertainment Weekly. Now they’ve taken their collaborative spirit a step further, with Rob McElhenney announcing via Twitter that Benioff and Weiss wrote an episode of the upcoming season of It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia. Other details haven’t trickled out yet, but the show moves to FX’s new youth-oriented FXX channel ...

For the next five days, Show Me the Games is hosting a super sale on 32 indie games, with all of the money going straight to the developers, no middle man and no cuts. Games on sale for up to 75 percent off include Offspring Fling, Voxatron, Gratuitous Space Battles, Revenge of the Titans, And Yet it Moves, Dangerous High School Girls in Trouble, Democracy 2, Space Pirates and Zombies, and Beat Hazard Ultra.

Whew. The full lineup of on-sale indies can be found at Show Me the Sales, a project of Show Me the Games, and wherein 32 developers are probably thinking, "Show me the money."

32 indie games show off in a super sale for five more days originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 13 May 2013 14:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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With the upcoming release of their new album One of Us Is the Killer, The Dillinger Escape Plan have been teasing the LP appropriately over the past few months. After unveiling a few tracks, announcing several dates for The Summer Slaughter Tour, and playing a show-stealing performance at this year’s Golden God Awards (including a Depeche Mode cover with Chino Moreno), the time has finally come for the band to stream their new record in its entirety. And we have to say that it sounds pretty impressive so far.

You can head on over to Pitchfork and stream One of Us Is the Killer right now. Come back later this week four our full review of the LP, which will be out on May 14th.

If only I would have know about this sooner… I would have waited before I bought that land in Hjaalmarch. Man…

Iron Man 3 may have opened this weekend, but one Internet nerd still has Thor on the brain. Caleb Kraft from Hack A Day set out to make his very own version of Mjolnir, Thor’s hammer, and while his doesn’t weigh a metric ton or return to his hand from across the room, it does emit a shocking 80,000 volts of electricity. Kraft charged up his foam replica with the help of Tesla coil builder Staci Elan and says that it can both create 3-inch arcs of visible electricity and power light bulbs that are held nearby ...

As it turns out, there is a very good reason for that rumored Friends reunion not happening, besides it being a bad idea that exists only as baseless rumor. That reason: Science, which says that all of the Friends should probably be dead of caffeine overdoses, due to all the coffee that they ingested over 10 seasons of the show. Finally bored of the animal kingdom, Scientific American instead analyzed the many humorously oversized mugs of coffee the Friends gang consumed while they selfishly monopolized the couch at Central Perk, basing its data on the assumption that each Friend drank ...