Dance Dance Revolutions

Posted Apr 28, 2007 by Stephen Hammill

Updated Apr 28, 2007 at 10:11 PM

Why is it that every time I invite a friend to meet me out at a rock show in town, to see local bands, he or she responds with a groan?

It’s the weekend. People are looking for something to do, right? I can’t help but get the feeling that going to local shows is a chore for my friends, and I don’t like it.

There are obvious reasons. I think people figure that the live music, tending to be loud, will drown out many conversations. Words will go unheard or mis-heard. Flirtations will be misinterpreted for good and ill.

But I think the bigger problem is dancing,or the lack of dancing. To my friends who are out to be active and to socialize, watching a local band doesn’t constitute socializing. It doesn’t even come close. In calorie-burning parlance it falls somewhere just above sitting on the couch at home and watching the paint. Why? because people in Tampa, at least people of my generation, don’t dance to live music. They don’t move to it. They barley acknowledge it. This doesn’t mean they aren’t enjoying the sounds, understand. I’ve been with friends at a good show only to see them stand catatonic throughout a band’s set, and then, hours or days later, tell me “that band was really awesome.” Really? Are you sure? Because you didn’t look awestruck; you looked bored. I did the same thing of course. I watched great music happen in front of me, and I barely twitched.

I’m theorizing on a tangent: when there’s a culture of inaction in other facets of society, it becomes contagious to the point where everyone seems under a spell—hard to deny when, as a friend recently pointed out,  the only ones who ever dance to the local bands are the “slightly crazy people.”

The problem, to me, seems tied to the music itself. How do I know?  On nearly every weekend night at New World Brewery there’s live music, usually of the local variety, and usually, the best local music to be found. When the band does its thing the spectators merely spectate while inside, drinkers are exchanging laughs and shouts up and down the bar. There are high-fives at the foosball table. A couple is making out on top of the pinball machine. This is human interaction at its most vibrant. Back outside, the band plays and 35 people just watch. They don’t move. They smoke, maybe take a phone call, but they don’t dance. They applaud after the songs, politely.

This is what I and others have called in the past the “New York syndrome.” Historically, New York city concert-goers were always the least responsive to local music. It’s counterintuitive, since so many good unknown bands come through the city, but that’s the way it’s been—lots of crossed arms and scowls, like it would be folly to show emotion to the band playing, since after all this is New York, and nothing should come easy to anybody.

Now it’s different. Some sort of criss-cross is afoot these days. On my recent trips up to NYC, especially in my home borough of Brooklyn, I’ve seen a fascinating thing happen. People are dancing, really, really enthusiastically, to bands. Indie rock, hip-hop, 8-bit glitch, dub—all of it.  It’s become in vogue. Maybe that’s the result of the cyclical nature of pop culture. Music is fashion to many, after all. One year, the “dancing is cool again” movement might make its way down to Tampa, just as wearing pointy shoes and screen-printing everything go away.

Maybe these bands just suck. I’ve considered this. Some friends with good taste even think so. I’m not so sure. The recent death of the great Kurt Vonnegut has me looking at humanity through a cynical eye, more than usual for me. Vonnegut never had much faith in people when they got together in groups. In numbers, they seem to act less like people and more like sheep, he thought. As I try and channel him lately I can’t help but feel that it is far less likely that the bands of Tampa Bay suck than that the people going to see them suck.

That includes me, it should be noted, unless I alter my ways. Music was never fashion to me. The more fashionable the band, the less likely I am to like them. I’m just waiting, biding my time, for the dance revolution that might one day arrive. It’s either that, or I become one of the slightly crazy people.

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Foul Not Found?

Posted Apr 27, 2007 by TBO.com

Updated Apr 27, 2007 at 04:47 PM

Our colleague Ryan Bauer stumbled on this photo, titled “unfortunate placement of yahoo ad,” today. It’s a shot of an outfield corner at San Francisco’s AT&T Park, and anyone who’s spent any time on the World Wide Web—to say nothing of Yahoo!, itself—will appreciate the irony of the 404.

Speaking of which, there’s a great collection of amusing, weird, creepy or just plain curious 404 error pages here.

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I Admit It, I Don’t Get It

Posted Apr 27, 2007 by Kevin Walker

Updated Apr 27, 2007 at 12:22 PM

“The Producers” is ending its multiyear, lucrative Broadway run. I am Jack’s complete lack of interest. Never saw it. Saw the movie version, didn’t like it. Shame on me.

What’s wrong with me? Why don’t I get it?

Those are the sort of questions I ask myself when I’m left cold by some pop culture phenomenon millions adore. After all, we’re social animals and live in a media-saturated society where you are what you watch (and listen to).

When’s the last time you got through a dinner party where no one mentioned a movie, television show or book they loved? Have you had to stop yourself from saying, “That’s awful”? Or, conversely, did you mention something and just get blank stares, or that look that says, “I have something to say about that, but I’m not going to say it, because I don’t want to argue”?

Yes, it’s a tricky conversational business. And I have to confess “The Producers” is far from the most popular thing I never “got.” Here are four others, although you’ll never hear me admit it if you invite me for dinner.

Elvis Presley: My parents forced me to watch his Hawaiian concert, and there he was in a white … outfit, or something. And he’s crooning like an off-the-strip Vegas act. And he’s worshiped. Why?

Al Pacino: Pacino always Acts with a Capital A, and he’s so over the top that his performances look like desperate cries for validation.

Reality television: An easy mark, I know, but is anyone else amazed that they just keep rolling along? And ratings are through the roof? And that people care about the actions of Donald Trump?

Dan Brown: While his stories (especially “Angels & Demons”) are compelling, his writing is not. In fact, it’s sort of terrible. And if you think five minutes about “The Da Vinci Code,” it’s ridiculous.

Shame on me, right?

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Custom Robo Arena

Posted Apr 27, 2007 by Doug Buel

Updated May 1, 2007 at 12:18 PM

System: Nintendo DS

Publisher: Nintendo

Reviewer’s rating: **

ESRB rating: Everyone 10+

Game type: Role-playing and fighting

Kind of like: “Pokemon” crossed with “Virtual On.”

Best feature: There are lots of different robot weapons to obtain and use.

Worst feature: You have to slog through a ton of uninteresting role-playing to get to the actual fighting.

The bottom line: “Custom Robo Arena” brings Nintendo’s “Custom Robo” license to the small screen on the Nintendo DS.

As far as being a good translation of the “Custom Robo” game for the GameCube, it hits the mark. The graphics in this game of 3-D robot battles are great. It plays much like its predecessor.

Unfortunately, we didn’t exactly love the previous game. Robot fighting is a lot of fun, but to get to the actual fighting, you have to endure an extremely derivative role-playing game. It’s very reminiscent of “Pokemon,” which is not exactly known for its Shakespearean story.

You play as a young boy who learns to fight with “custom robos,” holographic robots that battle in an arena. The robots are very easy to control. You simply run left, right, forward and backward wherever you want on the battlefield, and the game automatically keeps you pointed toward the other robot.

You can jump and use a variety of weapons. There are different types of guns, bombs you can throw, and pods that zip around and do different things. The battlefields feature lots of objects to hide behind.

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Virtua Tennis 3

Posted Apr 27, 2007 by TBO.com

Updated May 1, 2007 at 12:16 PM

System: Microsoft Xbox 360

Also available for: Sony PlayStation 3, Sony PSP, Windows PC

Publisher: Sega

Reviewer’s rating: ***1/2

ESRB rating: Everyone

Game type: Sports

Kind of like: “Tennis 2K2” (2001)

Best feature: The mini- games are a blast.

Worst feature: You miss the smell of a freshly opened can of tennis balls.

The bottom line: I’m not a huge tennis fan, but for some reason I’ve always loved tennis video games. Maybe they just remind me of “Pong.” Those were the days.

“Virtua Tennis 3” is just flat out fun to play. The character creator is merely adequate and the graphics are a mixed bag, but once you get on the court you just don’t care.

The 20-year career mode adds RPG-style elements as you build up your character from a newbie to a champion. On your way to the top of the rankings, you’ll have to train between tournaments to increase your skills.

Training consists mostly of ridiculously fun mini- games. For example, you might have to knock down oversized bowling pins with your serve, use groundstrokes to topple stacks of oil drums, hit a bull’s-eye with your volleys or improve your footwork by dodging giant tennis balls.

Soon you’ll be hitting slices and drop shots with ease. But remember, the ball reacts differently on clay, grass and hard courts. And you sometimes have to adjust your game to account for an opponent’s strengths and weaknesses. You probably won’t overpower Andy Roddick or out-finesse Martina Hingis.

The Xbox 360 version also adds a fun, robust online component (the PS3 version offers none).

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