5-10-15-20: Websites

Part of a continuing series. Click here for the original: http://tikkimann.blogspot.com/2010/08/5-10-15-20.html

Click here for the second part: http://tikkimann.blogspot.com/2010/08/5-10-15-20-television.html

Age 5

Compton's Interactive Encyclopedia

We didn't really have the internet when I was 5. I think we got Netscape when I was six, but I didn't use it much, unless school said I had to. I'll tell you what, though: Compton's was the shit, son. You wanted to look up something way back when, you'd boot up this CD filled with wonderous knowledge and waited as the disc loaded behind a rather long title screen--and you enjoyed waiting, because that title screen music was awesome. (This CD-I intro's pretty good, too. I wish I could find the original:)



If you wanted to know anything about anything, it seemed like you could find it there. Links leading to prime ministers, native history, famous sports teams...it was all there, at the filling of a "Search" bar. Related topics had linked words, and there were insightful pictures to boot. This might seem all cursory now, but at the time it was a revelation.

I concede, with great irony, that I looked the encyclopedia up on Wikipedia to make sure my information on the subject was correct. But I wish I had a not-17-years-dated version of Compton's on me, sometimes. For one, there was that awesome theme music. Second, it's hard to find an encyclopedia full of reliable information, all located in one place; I remember citing Compton's as late as the early 2000's because it was just so much handier than searching the internet to find related, credible articles on 6 different sites. (Obviously, Wikipedia doesn't count. And again, that site has no theme music at all.) It's comforting to know that you have a reliable, concise resource of information at your side when confronting a research assignment, and not having to deal with a whole bunch of search engines on increasingly-specific sites. I suppose I could find a newer encyclopedia with vetted articles online if I paid a monthly fee, but I doubt I'll get the peace of mind I once found by pulling that tawny-brown CD out of its case.

Age 10

Neopets: www.neopets.com/



It was like drugs: we all did it. (Kidding, ma! Dial 911 if you feel a sharp pain in your arm.) As with the RPGs I began playing around that time, I would spend hours getting neopoints, attempting to get the best goods so that my Neopet would be competitive in the Battledome! (The Battledome was, of course, a merely-competent turn-based fighting game for the virtual pets that somehow took years to finish making.) I played all kinds of flash games on there on my off hours, both the originals and the cheap ripoffs of popular titles, and accrued my Neopoints greedily. I attended to my shop, I levelled up my two rare pets, a Cybunny and a Poogle, and admittedly had a pretty good time.

As I grew up, I went on to play more mature games, or otherwise wasted time on flash games on other websites that were not as complex, but my end goal was always fun, and never Neopoints.

Like many of my friends, though, I have not been able to access my account, or most of my secondary accounts, for years because I forgot my password. Sure, they'll send it to you via e-mail, but if you fudged your birthday when you signed up, they won't send you anything: you must confirm the birthday you told them at the start. And I gave them who-knows-what date, because I wanted access to the parts of the site that were denied to you unless you say you are 13.

My first, greatly-successful account has already been deleted, in a massive sweep of the site's old files, and many of the ones I made subsequently are sure to follow. On the other hand, I have faked my age on many a site when I was young to get the full experience, and I suppose it's fair that I receive what's coming to me.

Age 15

Metacritic



As part of my desire to live the best life I possibly can, I decided to start paying attention to critics of music, film, video games and to a lesser extent, television. Music critics had a large influence in my decision to purchase Demon Days, the second Gorillaz album, which was immensely influential in my life, and since then I listened to what critics had to say about a piece of art before I spent money on it.

It's been an interesting experience. There was a point a few months in where I wouldn't watch anything that most critics disliked, much to the shagrin of friends and family, who just wanted to go out and see an Adam Sandler movie. I toned that back after a while, and even set aside a few films/games whose critical reception I would pay little attention to, so that I could enter the theatre with an unbiased mind--but I was weak, and information was plentiful, and I often ended up entering the theatre/album/etc. knowing a little bit more about the film than I should have. I became a little pretentious, frowning upon art that was critically reviled--and sometimes, even the people who enjoyed them--while praising and discussing in-depth those that were well-received. (Assuming I liked them, too, of course.)

Recently, I've been able to accept what I've known for years: critics provide their opinions regarding a piece of art, but liking something that most critics don't like doesn't necessarily say anything about you, and disliking something many critics like is the same. When a catchy pop song comes on, I should feel it for myself, and use music criticism as a guide, at best. The same goes for all else that is subjective.

Age 20

Facebook



I actually boycotted the site for quite some time in my youth. Why go to a website to talk with friends...when I can talk with friends? I still agree with that statement, but like texting, there are kinds of conversations that are better posted when the person you wish to speak to is not able to immediately respond. (Length of phone conversation/discussion about going to the movies: 8 minutes. Length of time in text form: 1 minute. Ideally.) As well, I have a number of friends in two distant places now, and Facebook allows me to connect with them both. Finally, I quit Facebook a few weeks ago, as part of an attempt to spend more time outside and actually with people, but I missed out on an event that was posted exclusively on Facebook, and I knew many more would follow, so I'm back. It seems now that everyone uses it, there is no escape. Lousy Facebook...

5-10-15-20: Television

This is the second in a series; see here for the original: http://tikkimann.blogspot.com/2010/08/5-10-15-20.html


Age 1-ish



Rock With Barney

I didn't see much Barney on TV; I caught a bit of Sesame Street, though. At least, this is what I'm told by mom--apparently, my sister took control of the TV when she was around, leaving me to watch what she did--but this period in television-watching is mostly a blank for me. If I were to see references to favourite episodes today, I'd probably remember the scene, but I haven't seen much of the show since--or others from that period; I recall little more than Bert and Ernie and my confusion at the real-life children acting normally towards puppets.

But I'm told I did see some Barney. I'm cheating the timeline slightly, but I'm deeply amused by this story, and thought I'd share it. Back when my sister was at the appropriate age to watch Barney (2-4) and I had yet to master this "running" thing, my mom would supplement her parenting with some Barney VHS tapes--straight-to-video Barney shows that preceeded the creation of the television program. (apparently, this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock_with_Barney) I watched a few of these shows with my sister. When Barney sang a song, I guess we liked it; my sister would jump around, sing along...it all depended on the song and her mood.

As for me? I stood in front of the television set, about 2 feet away, and stared at the screen.



I take this as an early sign of my interest in music. "What's this...rhythm business?! It's like regular sound, but more appealing. And don't those old kids know they're talking to a purple dinosaur?!"

Age 5



Power Rangers-Maybe three of the seasons

I gotta say, I don't think minors have very good taste in entertainment. I used to watch this show all the time when I was a kid--it was on every Saturday, right? I had a grand old time. It was exciting to see the the good guys dress up in their secret identities and beat the evil, cackling (often literally) bad guys. I didn't think of it at the time, but I thought the elaborate fight maneuvers, and the giant robot battles were cool.

Just about every episode, the rangers would fight some goon that the behind-the-scenes evil person would send at them; this person would rarely be seen before or since, but the Rangers usually had a difficult fight with the villain. And when the behind-the-scenes evil saw the goon finally losing, they would have the goon grow hundreds of times in size, forcing the rangers to enter their animal-esque robot devices/Zords (if they hadn't already) and perhaps turn into a really big robot/Megazord! Take that, generic villain! the Rangers would get closer and closer to fighting the evillest baddie behind-the-scenes, and it always took longer than I hoped it would.

I watched this show many, many times, leaving only a few years later when I begun to grasp the formula. This was the same with many other shows on YTV, but I had a good time while they were on, though. And why not? It's not like I'd experienced high art at that point, and I wouldn't have understood something like that at a young age, anyway. I had to develop my taste, and it was only once I'd seen shows that were merely decent, if not outright awful, that I begun to differentiate. This is why I always find it odd when critics describe a kid's movie as being great: it's not just that it's usually a grown adult giving the review and recommendation, but also that, when you've seen only a few films or television in your life before, almost any fantastic storyline seems new and exciting to you. It's good to read those reviews when going to the movies with youngsters because you've likely developed those standards. When it comes to young kids themselves, however, I sometimes feel that if you were to watch an outdoor rave party at a distance with a young one, and tell a story about it, they would be equally enthralled.

Age 10



Monster Rancher

Another show about monster battles that mirrors popular video game franchise. Boy is good at Monster Rancher game; boy wins tournament and special early copy of new game; boy gets sucked into game universe; adventures ensue.

In retrospect, this show disappointed me. The characters were distinct and interesting, and the plots often hinted at deeper themes. For example, there was an episode where a Henger (humanoid robot) who was programmed to keep a city clean while its inhabitants were off fighting a war breaks away from its programming by accident, and learns that the humans the robots were built to serve had all died in that war, ages ago. He goes back and tries to tell his former robots what happened, but he is considered defective and is nearly destroyed in the process. It recalls the Socratic Myth of the Cave in its depiction of a sentient being who has learned, but but no one believes him, and could be compared to the novel 1984 in its depiction of a purely obedient, strictly-ruled society, and makes me wonder if there is something that much of human society is working for now that is utterly useless, and we simply are mistaken in working towards it. It was reminiscent of Star Trek in this sci-fi way of addressing social issues abstractly.

However, most episodes did not plumb so deep. Some of the enemies the characters encountered in the show were simple villains, with little more than a character tick and a faux-philosophic line to differentiate them from everyone else. And there were more simple episodes devoted more specifically to the monster battles themselves; it's as if the show was trying to split the difference between a more philosophic teen audience and a younger audience that just wanted to see fantastic monsters do battle with the bad guys.

Or maybe I was too young to appreciate it. That episode I dissected above sounds a lot better now than when watched it.

Age 15



MuchMusic Countdown

As noted in the last 5-10-15-20, this is about when I started "getting into" music, as much as I can say that. Around this time, I watched a whole lot of Much Music; I didn't have as much homework then as now, MuchMusic played a lot more_actual_music_than it does today, and my musical tastes weren't as obscure then. I remember seeing tons of 50 Cent. changing the channel whenever Hedley came on. I remember thinking Rihanna was pretty generic (Umbrella hadn't come out yet; as a singer, she still kinda is, but no one's gonna say that). The videos rarely stuck with me, but the music did; increasingly, I just put Galaxie radio on or somesuch when I want to watch something on commercials.

Age 20



Robot Chicken

It's one thing to start liking low-brow comedy; it's quite another to dislike it until being slapped by quality humour across the face. Robot Chicken certainly isn't for everyone, but even in this day and age, where I spend more and more time in front of a laptop instead of a computer, I find time out of my day to head down and watch 15-30 minutes of this. Quite simply, no show mashes together different elements of pop culture quite like this one; it doesn't always say something, but the best jokes make you feel like it has. My favourite gags include a short about a morbidly obese man who rescues a kid from a burning building using a forklift; an episode of the surreal life where MC Hammer et all have to return the one ring of power to Mordor; a Sir Mix-a-Lot rap about why King Arthur and his knights ought to get a round table for their meetings (featuring the real Sir Mix-a-Lot!) and a teenybopper biopic of Anne Frank, starring Hilary Duff.

For many of you, I likely preach to the converted, but if you haven't opened yourself up to absurd humour and television that seems "below you", you might be missing out. Sometimes. (Watching Jersey Shore is still a waste of time.)

5-10-15-20

Hello, all! Sorry for the absence; I've been busy with work, as well as procrastination. (Can't ya tell?!) This summer's been a memorable, exciting one though, and I'm grateful for that.
Today, I thought I'd start a small series here. 5-10-15-20 is a series that occasionally runs on the website http://pitchfork.com/ , where the site talks "to artists about the music they loved at five-year interval points in their lives." I thought it would be interesting to do the same for myself today, but here's where the (modest) originality comes in: for the next 3 Wednesdays, I will also write about the television shows, websites, and movies I liked at five year intervals, as well. (If I get a good response from this, I might write about the books I loved, too.) I'd like to say that I hope Pitchfork doesn't send me a cease-and-desist order for this, but admittedly that would be pretty cool.

Age 5

"You are the Sunshine of my Life" by Stevie Wonder



This is a cheerful, upbeat tune from Stevie at his prime; full of clever instrumentation and having an overall warm atmosphere. That's my initial reaction anyway; I listened to it today for the first time, and it made me smile for more than one reason.
My father loves to hum songs from his past when he's on the move, and I slowly absorbed them. This one is one of the first I remember hearing, and I know how my dad whistles this tune, how he only seems to remember the first two lines, the unusual phrasing of the second line, and the improvisation he makes for the rest of the song--and much of this, I know by heart. May you all get the chance to know a loved one's idiosyncrasies so well.

Age 10

"Try Again" by Aaliyah



It might surprise some of you to know this, but I once abhorred listening to the radio. "Turn it off!" I would say from the back seat. "Let's talk instead!" I saw music as a barrier to conversation, and I found my friends and family to be more intellectually and emotionally satisfying than any static piece of music. I'd express my annoyance every time the radio was turned on, and while my mother often complied when it was just me and her, but my sister loved her mainstream dance and pop radio stations, and while a minor argument would often ensue, the result was that I often sat in (relative) silence as Z103 played on the radio.

I'm glad my sister won those arguments in retrospect, because I have developed a deep memory for pop music from that period. "Try Again" stands out as a great example of this, heavily played as it was in the year 2000. It's also a great example of a song I'm so familiar with, that is so foundational in my understanding of music, I can hardly imagine hearing a pop song without it. It's not because this is a particularly great song--although it is--but because it was a tune that stuck in my brain when I was young, and served as a basis for considering and comparing music of similar genres that were to come. I know every note in this song before it comes; even if I cannot recite them, or have memorized the lyrics, I know the sounds and instruments of this song, note for note. Other songs that had this impact on me include Bran Van 3000's "Astounded", Cher's "Believe", and "No Scrubs" by TLC.

Age 15

Demon Days by Gorillaz (album)



I went to the mall with friends almost every Thursday at this point. I would see them buy albums, and I grew curious. Sure, I could hear the elegant, shiny radio song, but if a song or band really interested me, I should listen to their album to get a broad picture of what they're really about. The first CD I got was Blink 182's self-titled album, purchased on a friend's advising; I listened to half of it once, then my sister took it. I saw it once more--badly scratched--then never saw it again. A few months later, when more strongly considering purchasing albums, I took a long, hard look at the Sloan's greatest hits: I liked the band, they were Canadian, and how could I go wrong with a greatest-hits collection? But if I did this, and I liked the music, I knew I would be tempted to buy another album, and then more, creating a new vice in my life. As I was thinking about all of this, the attendant at the sadly-shuttered Sunrise Records asked, "Do you want help with anything?" I slowly turned around and said "...Yes. I'd like to buy this."

I went home, and for the first time, I put the CD on my computer. There, I listened to the music with convenience, as I worked. The album was good, but I knew this was the same shiny music I would have heard on radio at various points between 1992 and now--or I should say, 2005. I cautiously returned to Sunrise Records, and after some research and consideration, I purchased the album Demon Days by Gorillaz, at what I felt was a great personal cost (15 dollars!). The album had received exceptional reviews, and more importantly, it contained a song I liked: "Feel Good, Inc."

The album was a minor revolution in my life. Containing numerous great songs and a full suite of memorable ones, Demon Days helped change my perspective on music. It contained many songs that would go on to be hits (Dare, Dirty Harry), and a few others that were so good, I felt blessed that I had heard them when many people with radios would not (O Green World, Kids With Guns). Even the weak points on the album were memorable, providing the messy experiments I'd hoped to hear from a band--albeit a fictitious one--on an album (White Light, Fire Coming Out of the Monkey's Head). Expecting more of the same, I would purchase many more albums, with varying degrees of satisfaction, but I always remembered my first true album experience.

Age 20

Plastic Beach by Gorillaz (album)



2010's been a disappointing year in new music for me, personally. I was let down by a few releases I was excited for (Holy F***, Trent Reznor in How to Destroy Angels), and some other greats were only pretty good when I'd expected great (Crystal Castles, the new Gucci Mane mixtape). I have a feeling I'll revise this year's post if I ever get the chance to rewrite this, as Kanye West looks to be coming out with a new disc this year, and what I've heard so far has been incredible.

Until then, it seems things have come full circle. The new Gorillaz album was exciting and fun, living up to my sky-high expectations. I now know a great deal more about the band than I did when I picked up their first album, and I see how Damon Albarn, the British pop star who is secretly this band's mastermind, has grown as an artist; this album , coming after the score he wrote for an operatic retelling of a classic chinese story (http://www.metacritic.com/music/artists/monkey/journeytothewest?q=monkey%20journey) and the sombre, similarly-different album with the group The Good, the Bad and the Queen (http://www.metacritic.com/music/artists/goodthebadandthequeen/goodthebadandthequeen?q=the%20good%20the%20bad%20and%20the%20queen), the album is less-accessible but very artistic, just as I'd expected. I find it funny that Damon Albarn thinks that stuff like this is "pop":