So as it turns out, these pesky little blog posts don’t just write themselves. I’m falling behind again, partially due to lack of time, but also because I haven’t been feeling the urge to write anything “off-topic” as of late. I have a handful of drafts started on a handful of different topics, but I can’t seem to find the motivation to finish them off. Perhaps weekly mega posts are a more realistic goal. We are hoping to redesign Film Junk sometime in the near future, and I’d like to set it up so that it doesn’t require daily attention from me. At any rate, I am now trying to avoid writing a review that I need to write for Film Junk, so procrastination has inspired me to pass along another batch of random links right here instead.

I know I’m EXTREMELY late to the party on this, but I recently discovered Grooveshark and have been using it to listen to music at work a lot lately. I’m not sure how much longer it will be around for since they’re currently being sued by all the major labels but it made me realize how close we are to storing absolutely everything in the cloud. We don’t have Spotify yet in Canada, but another streaming music service from France called Deezer is supposed to be launching here soon.

Speaking of the cloud, the Megaupload shutdown and subsequent arrests are continuing to send shockwaves through the online file sharing community. Filesonic has also recently disabled sharing along with a number of torrent sites such as BT Junkie. And yet, reports continue to indicate that online piracy has not decreased as a result, and hacker group Anonymous now claim to be working on their own file sharing service. Something tells me that the RIAA and MPAA are fighting a battle they can’t possibly win.

Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl is developing his own TV series about a rock band on the verge of breaking up who enlist the help of a therapist to work it out. That’s funny… sounds a little bit like a certain Metallica documentary we already know and love. FX have picked up the show, which is a half-hour comedy co-written and executive produced by Dana Gould (The Simpsons). Consider me interested.

Valve launched a Steam mobile app a couple of weeks ago for both iOS and Android. It mainly just lets you keep in touch with friends on the network and purchase games, but I can’t help wondering if there might be something more planned down the road. Would it be possible for Steam to start selling mobile versions of games through this app as well? I’m not sure that Apple would allow them to bypass the App Store like that, but it’s certainly an intriguing thought. For now, the app just makes it even easier to binge on Steam sales… perfect!

After years of neglect, it appears that The Cartoon Network and Adult Swim are finally moving forward with plans to launch in Canada. The move is part of a partnership with Teletoon, the Canadian specialty channel that already currently airs a lot of their programming. There was a time when I would have killed to have access to The Cartoon Network just for the retro cartoons, but now all that stuff is easy to find on DVD or elsewhere. I guess it will be nice to not have to wait a year to see new seasons of Adult Swim shows though.

If you grew up on 8-bit video games, specifically the Nintendo Entertainment System, you owe it to yourself to play Abobo’s Big Adventure. This fan-made Flash game packs a ton of nostalgia into a polished package that is surprising fun to play. It kind of makes you wonder why Nintendo doesn’t do something like this and bring all of their characters together into one game… the more obscure the better! I think I might even have to invest in an NES USB controller just to get the proper Abobo experience.

Perhaps the weirdest news story I read all week had to do with a scientific study on “flow” — that is, the state of mind while performing a task where you are at the peak of concentration and focus. It turns out that by zapping certain areas of the brain, they can simulate the flow state and increase your skill in a particular activity, allowing you to perform at the same level as someone who has had years of practice. Basically, it’s like you can “level up” without actually putting in the time. Pretty soon we’re going to be popping in brain implants to install new abilities. I’m so glad to be living in the future.

I had heard a lot of good things about Dungeon Raid throughout most of 2011, so when this game went and dropped to 99 cents on the App Store a couple of weeks ago, I decided to snag it. The gameplay is clearly reminiscent of the Puzzle Quest series, which is a large part of what interested me, but I wasn’t sure I needed to play yet *another* twist on a match 3 game. As it turns out, Dungeon Raid has a lot more going on than I expected and it packs in a ton of replay value. The only problem is that I can’t help comparing it to Puzzle Quest. And when I do that, it feels like something is missing.

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Pretty awesome new song from Sleigh Bells, although I’m not sure I can condone the use of firearms in a music video. (Obviously I’m kidding.) Their new album Reign of Terror is out on Feb. 21st. Here’s another new song from it: “Born to Lose”.

Ever since Lost ended a couple of years ago, it left a void in my TV viewing schedule that has yet to be replaced. Oh sure, there are plenty of TV shows that technically do fill that one hour gap every week, but I really miss the magnetic pull of a genuinely absorbing mystery, one that offers unpredictable twists and turns and a sense of discovery. Plenty have tried to replicate it (Heroes, Jericho, The Event, FlashForward) but they all fell short somewhere along the line. Now, for the first time in a while, Alcatraz has me feeling at least a small twinge of what Lost once offered.

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I have to admit, my first reaction to most online petitions and campaigns is to be somewhat annoyed by the self-righteous nerds who are pushing them on other people. It just seems so easy to fight for a cause by being loud and obnoxious on the internet without actually doing anything. Add to this the fact that most self-respecting tech geeks will automatically jump on board with anything that even remotely challenges government and/or corporate entities, and you’ve got a lot of sheep shooting off their mouths without thinking for themselves. On the other hand, I also can’t stand the people who are so oblivious and apathetic that they think nothing in the world will ever affect them directly.

Putting all of those feelings aside, this SOPA thing is kind of a big deal. As much I’d like to think that a U.S. bill should have no influence on someone living in Canada, the truth is, the U.S. controls the internet whether we like it or not. This bill could change the face of the internet, and as someone who runs a handful of blogs I am particularly concerned because it could even land me in jail through no fault of my own.

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Clearly I have already been slacking on my self-imposed challenge to post on this blog every day. It’s turning out to be a little harder than I thought, but I’m not about to throw in the towel just yet. Most of my free time over the past week was spent watching the first season of The Wire (I think I can officially say I’m loving it) and trying to cram for Game Junk’s Best of 2011 episode, not to mention a little Visual Basic and Python programming on the side to help out a relative. You know, the usual. I have a couple of longer posts in the works, but they’re going to take a bit more time to finish up. So in in the meantime, enjoy some good ol’ web miscellany. (I always was a fan of these icons.)

Word on the street is that Jay-Z has decided to officially stop using the word “bitch” in honour of the birth of his new baby daughter. I want to say this is an admirable vow for him to make, but somehow it seems to imply that if he had had a son instead, the thought never would have crossed his mind. The good news is there are plenty of other demeaning and derogatory terms for women out there that are still fair game for rappers.

The CW has apparently ordered 10 episodes of a new reality show called Oh Sit!. The premise? Contestants play a game of musical chairs through “five physically demanding, obstacle course-style eliminations” with a live band providing the background music. I don’t know about you but I will definitely tune in for the first five minutes and then never think about it again.

A strange job posting on the TIFF website recently revealed that they are building an augmented reality game in collaboration with David Cronenberg. I have no idea what that means but I’m hoping it involves game controllers that merge organically with your body.

With James Franco continuing to pursue a million other careers aside from acting, it seems that writing is something he might actually be able to fall back on. I can’t say I had much interest in his first book of short stories, but now he has a new book in the works called Actors Anonymous, that is said to be a “a fictionalized version of Mr. Franco’s experiences as an actor.” Sold.

Now that I have a kid, I have a socially acceptable excuse to be interested in toys again. So when I say that I’m excited to hear that Lego landed the license for The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, it’s only because I know my son will want to play with these one day. Two month old babies love Lego, right?

Last but not least, there are some earth-shattering accusations going around the web that the hit reality show Pawn Stars is actually fake. You mean some parts of a reality show might actually be scripted and pre-arranged? Stop the presses! In all seriousness, the article is kind of an interesting read, if only to learn about all the little things potentially being manipulated that you never would have guessed. I’m pretty sure Hardcore Pawn, Storage Wars, Auction Hunters, What The Sell and American Pickers are all 100% real though.

The most revered bands in history are usually the ones who just happened to quit while they were at the peak of their career… by choice or otherwise. We remember them for their best work instead of the slow descent into watered down obsolescence that most other bands eventually take. We see them as being incapable of compromise or misstep simply because they never had a chance to make either. We may or may not hold an idealized version of them in our minds, and although we lament their early demise, it is the very thing that makes them seem so dear to us.

At The Drive-In are arguably one of those bands. They self-destructed just after the release of their biggest album of their careers, Relationship of Command, resulting in a clean split down the middle and two new bands that were somehow less than the sum of their parts: The Mars Volta and Sparta. I was actually a big fan of The Mars Volta’s first album Deloused in the Comatorium but over time I lost interest in their prog rock wankery. Sparta represented the more commercial, hard rock side of the band; their first album was listenable, but at times it bordered on generic nu-metal.

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It seems like 2012 is going to be a big year for musical comebacks, and Chuck Klosterman is pretty convinced that these guys in particular are far from washed up. I’m not too sure about this video though… it feels like someone was just playing around with random settings in iMovie. As for the song, was this a thinly-veiled attempt at getting on the soundtrack for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo?