In the name of sweet delicious science

The experiment has commenced and the package is on the way... I am the frosting craving guinea pig in a test of what's the best way to package cupcakes for shipping via snail mail. The mad cupcake scientist is Nikita over at Ranting & Raving. See her side of the cupcake equation and I'll let you know what condition her Pina Colada cupcakes arrive.

Welcome to the stage.... Pray for Mojo!

So, what's the name of your next band?

(Real life band, Guitar Hero, Rock Band or otherwise)

[Notion grabbed from ALOTT5MA, who in turn stole it from John Scalzi. It's the blog circle of life.]

"Jack, I swear... "

Class:

Daniel Day-Lewis, accepting his SAG Award as Best Actor for "There Will Be Blood" last night:

“It has always been the work of my fellow actors, including my fellow nominees, who have given me a sense of regeneration. Heath Ledger gave it to me. We wanted to follow him and yet we were afraid to follow him. In Brokeback Mountain, he was unique. He was perfect. The scene in the trailer at the end of the movie was as moving as anything we have ever seen. I ‘d like to dedicate this award to him.”

No Class:

The Heath Ledger speculator market is in full effect. Wizard Magazine sells their Heath Ledger Joker-covered magazine for $31 on eBay. (via Blog at Newsarama))

So you wanna be a rock superstar?

I managed to get my hands on a copy of Rock Band for the Playstation 2. This was due to a confluence of events:

1) I played Guitar Hero for the first time last weekend and was hooked right away. The developers for the original GH split, with RedOctane creating Guitar Hero 3 and Harmonix making Rock Band. I was in Best Buy looking to see if they restocked on Guitar Hero (they hadn't) when I came across...

2) ... an open box set of Rock Band (game/wireless guitar/drums/microphone) - it wasn't discounted properly, but once it scanned it was $40 cheaper.

3) I had a pocket full of gift cards and store credit.

I'm not a huge video game guy - I have a PS2 and X-Box, I go through stints of Final Fantasy, Tomb Raider or Halo, but I don't tend to buy or rent a lot of games. I haven't touched a video game in about 6 - 12 months. But the first time I played Guitar Hero last week, I was hooked. GH and Rock Band are so much fun, especially when you get together with your friends. I only had a chance to play a little guitar this weekend, but it's looking good. Guitar controls work same as Guitar Hero. The microphone adds a karoke component to the gameplay. The drum kit is a full set and by all accounts, if you can beat the drumming levels on hard, you can play real drums. No signs of virtual groupie however.

It looks like you can use the PS2 guitar/drums/microphone with the PS3. Add in that the PS3 allows players to create and customize their own in-game character and download more tracks, plus the Blue Ray DVD player in the hardware, and I'm definitely leaning in the PS3 direction more than X-Box 360. They even have whole albums on download, so you and your friends can play, for instance, "Nevermind" by Nirvana from end to end. The minute I see a full Radiohead album like "The Bends" up there, I'm doomed.

I wonder if this game has the potential to be a relationship-killer, as Guitar Hero and Rock Band widows roam the earth while their husbands and boyfriends live out their rock star fantasies. Any female game players out there tried out either GH or Rock Band?

Maybe there'll be a "Rock Band - Failed Glory" edition where, after a stint in rehab, you end up in a Ratt cover band, playing bars in middle America, fighting for your shot at a VH-1 reunion special or reality show.

Some of the Rock Band's track listing highlights that sold me on it:

"Are You Gonna Be My Girl" – Jet, "Blitzkrieg Bop" – Ramones, "Cherub Rock" – Smashing Pumpkins, "Creep" – Radiohead, "(Don't Fear) The Reaper" – Blue Öyster Cult (you use the microphone like a cowbell?! Hell yeah!), "The Electric Version" – The New Pornographers, "Enter Sandman" – Metallica, "Epic" – Faith No More, "Go with the Flow" – Queens of the Stone Age, "Here It Goes Again" – OK Go, "Maps" – Yeah Yeah Yeahs, "Paranoid" – Black Sabbath, "Sabotage" – Beastie Boys , "Should I Stay or Should I Go" – The Clash, "Suffragette City" – David Bowie, "Tom Sawyer" – Rush, "When You Were Young" – The Killers

"If I’m not wakin’ up for Monica Bellucci, I’m not wakin’ up."

Shotgun Reviews lets us know "if you ever find me non-responsive, please do not call Mary-Kate Olsen before calling the proper emergency agencies. If you believe that you must call a celebrity, please select from the following list (click here)"

This following the news that, upon noticing that Heath Ledger wasn't sleeping, but was unconscious and cold to the touch, "masseuse Diana Wolozin actually called Mary-Kate Olsen three times before dialing 911" (source). Investigators are saying this won't "affect the investigation into the actor's death because authorities believe he was already dead when she discovered his body". 3 calls? 10 minutes before dialing 911? WTF! What can an Olsen twin do that an ambulance can't? Is there some special Celebrity Super Defibullator she has access to? Where's Danny Tanner when you need him?

don't call it a comeback

Hi. Remember me? The2scoops? I used to write here pretty frequently.

• I was not in witness protection for squealing on Conrad Black.
  
• I was not playing Guitar Hero for 4 months straight - I only got into the game last weekend. If Cheap Trick is ever looking for a guitarist that can master the easy setting on "Surrender", I'm the man.
  
• I was not in a shotgun Vegas marriage, and consequential annulment.
  
• I was not Britney's Narcotics Anonymous sponsor.
  
• I was not showing solidarity with the Hollywood Screenwriters on strike.

I went and threw myself into a big project at work. One of those things that act as a time-suck, and is really pretty important to my professional development.

So that was 4 months ago. Well the project is winding down, and I can now poke my head up out of my little hidey hole and start getting earning your love and admiration again. I mean, what's a guy supposed to do when his blogmates are calling him out as a lazy non-blogging bastard?

So here's the deal: I'll start writing regularly again, and not just the YouTube filler. You come by once or twice a week and let me know what you think.

Deal?