Jonathan-Coulton
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WoW Moviewatch: Shop Vac
I can't help it. I'm an absolute fangirl when it comes to Jonathan Coulton and Mike "Spiff" Booth. That's why when Michael Gray let the team know he was having Internet problems, I simply had to jump in and share the most recent Spiffworld WoW machinima, Shop Vac.Spiff notes at the end of the video, this song is all about suburban angst, and how people want to live there until they realize the 'burbs are kind of boring. As he says, "This phenomenon is exemplified in the shop vac, a tool found in many suburban garages for sucking up leaves, dirt, nails, or whatever. When you first use a shop vac, it seems like the most awesome thing ever. But then you realize it's just a vaccum cleaner." Another fun aspect of the video is the return of one character from previous videos. See if you can spot who it is causing trouble once again. Also, be sure to keep an eye out for what must be the saddest achievement ever. Now, with all that said, check out Shop Vac for some lunchtime movie fun that doesn't suck. (Pun intended.)
WoW Moviewatch: The last goodbye
This is a hard post to make. I've grown so fond of the commentary and insults that it's difficult for me to tell you that today is my last day at WoW Insider. I've received an opportunity to work in machinima that will allow me to help machinimators in a whole new way. However, my replacement, Natalie Mootz, is an excellent blogger and I'm sure she'll make you proud! I'll miss you guys.Instead of being overly sappy, I thought I'd do a top five list of my favorite machinimas and scandals: Here Without You - This love story is three and a half years old, but has stood the test of time. First of May - This extremely not-safe-for-work video caused a riot on Valentine's Day! Thaenor Chronicles: Chapter One - The only movie where I've been accused of ruining a PR campaign. Tunasushi - The time I accidentally blogged a movie with questionable subliminal images. How to Paladin: Insanity Remix - I honestly have no words to even describe this video ... 9 Crimes - A bonus video that was blogged before I got to WoW Insider, but touched me nonetheless. Previously on Moviewatch ...
PAX 2008: Highlights from the Jonathan Coulton concert
Last night, Jonathan Coulton (preceeded by the awesome OneUps and Frezepop) rocked the PAX 2008 house in the only way a bearded man with an acoustic guitar standing in front of a crowd of nerds can -- with clever puns and nerd references. Check out our highlights reel of the show, including: A "Still Alive" duet with Dr. Horrible's Felicia Day A more subdued, romantic "Code Monkey" A cover of They Might Be Giant's "Birdhouse in Your Soul" A sea of arms stretched out mumbling "eat your brains" Lots of great Coulton banter We've embedded the highlights reel above. Check out the separate videos for "Code Monkeys" and "Birdhouse in Your Soul" after the break.
PAX 2008 Music Video: Jonathon Coulton's 'Flickr' and 'Not This One'
Last night we attended the first PAX 2008 concert, featuring The OneUps, Freezepop, and Jonathan Coulton headlining. There are a multitude of great moments (highlight reel to come later this weekend), but one thing that stuck out was Coulton's performance of "Flickr" and special song "Not This One," both songs featuring video accompaniment aided by sound guy Bart Brad. Check out the live performance, embedded above.
L70ETC, Video Games Live will both perform at WWI
Just in case you were worried about whether or not you'd see Level 70 Elite Tauren Chieftain live at Blizzard's upcoming Worldwide Invitational event in Paris, worry no more -- they'll be there. Both L70ETC and the Video Games Live orchestra will be performing at WWI, just as they did last year at BlizzCon '07.Should be a great show on both counts. Does make us wonder, though, what Blizzard is planning for BlizzCon this year -- a repeat of last year's performance would be nice and all (and we have no doubt that no matter who else plays, L70ETC will definitely have to be there, considering that they're made up of Blizzard employees), but maybe we'll get some new blood in the mix? Jonathan Coulton is definitely a name that springs to mind -- even if he's not specifically a Blizzard guy, his music is very familiar to WoW fans of all levels.Who else could they hire? Nyhm? Felicia Day to host? As fun as Jay Mohr was, seems like after all the taunting last time, he just might be trouble to get again -- Blizzard might as well choose someone that WoW fans want to see.
Cinemassively: Braaaaaaaiiiiiiiinnnnnns
Today's Cinemassively is straight from the archives of 2006! Back then, an artist named Jonathan Coulton was cranking out a song a week as a form of self-promotion. Among the songs was this little ditty about a coworker gone zombie with some not so reasonable demands.Re: Your Brains, in World of Warcraft machinima form, is a hilarious take on zombies calmly requesting brains, instead of just rushing to get them. Created by Spiffworld, it was his first of many JoCo videos, racking up 1.6 million views so far![Thanks, Korrak!]If you have machinima or movie suggestions from any MMO, please send them to machinima AT massively DOT com, along with any information you might have about them.
About the Bloggers: moo Money
Twice a week, our writers will tell you more about themselves, and let you get to know them and the characters they play a little better. Click here to read more About the Bloggers.What do you do for WoW Insider?I write the daily machinima posts for both WoW Insider, and its broader MMO sister site, Massively.What's your main right now?This won't make me very popular, but I actually don't really play WoW. I did for a while after it came out, but I'm not a very good grinder and it just got lonely.This is an outrage! How dare you write about WoW without playing it?That's actually a really good question. I got my start in machinima roughly two years ago when I was hired to promote it in Second Life, an oft-mocked virtual world. Through experimentation with machinima, as well as the education that I provided to others, I became known as one of the "It" people for machinima in SL. When Second Life Insider folded into Massively in November 2007, I volunteered to write the daily Cinemassively. After about 45 days straight of blogging them, WI asked me to do the same for WoW Moviewatch!Read on to find out more about the Notorious M.O.O. ...
Cinemassively: Mr. Fancy Pants
We've all had those moments where we're sure that we're the biggest and the best at something. Then someone comes along and steals our thunder. Jonathan Coulton and Mike Spiff Booth know how we feel.During Jonathan's Thing a Week project, he came up with Mr. Fancy Pants, a whimsical look at the perfect pair of pants. While Coulton's songs are mainly reinterpreted by Spiffworld as World of Warcraft machinima, they are actually released with Creative Commons attributes, so they could be used in other MMO machinima too!If you have machinima or movie suggestions from any MMO, please send them to machinima AT massively DOT com, along with any information you might have about them.
Harmonix confirms 'Still Alive' will be free 'indefinitely'
Let them eat cake! A Harmonix representative has confirmed to Joystiq that the delicious download of Jonathan Coulton's "Still Alive" is planned to be at "no charge indefinitely."Major Nelson noted that the download would be forever gratuit on his Twitter, but on this high holy day of foolery we just wanted to double triple quadruple check with the source. So all the procrastinators out there can take their sweet time picking up the song on XBM and PSN users -- who won't get the song until April 17 -- don't need to worry they'll somehow miss the free period.[Via X3F]
Rock Band Weekly: 'Still Alive' free now on XBM, April 17 for PSN
[Update 7:30pm ET: Our poker buddies at X3F let us know that the extremely impatient amongst you need wait no longer. That's right, "Still Alive" is available on Xbox 360 right now; unfortunately, PS3 owners still have to wait until April 17th. Go get it!] var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/gaming_news/Still_Alive_the_Portal_Song_FREE_this_week_on_Rock_Band'; This is a triumph! And, of course, by "triumph" we really mean "not an April Fool's joke." Harmonix has just announced availability and pricing details for the Rock Band release of Jonathan Coulton's cult hit "Still Alive": it's dropping tomorrow for the low, low price of $0.00.Individual song "Still Alive" - Jonathan Coulton (0 MS points/ $0) Video for this week's Rock Band DLC is after the break (including our own vid of Coulton performing the song in Rock Band live!). We're going to warn you now that the song is a spoiler for Portal, but if you haven't spent the three hours to finish Joystiq's GOTY by this point ... well, we're sorry. "Still Alive" will be available tomorrow on Xbox Live and on April 17 for PSN due to the store update.
WoW Moviewatch: Mr. Fancy Pants
It's been three months since Spiffworld made his last Jonathan Coulton machinima, Chiron Beta Prime. However, the last time I blogged about him was the V-Day Riot of '08, and I'm still in therapy. This time around, the worst you'll see is a second of human buttocks, and it's in context with the story ... about pants. It'll be over before you know it!If there were a machinima about my life, it might be Mr. Fancy Pants. There's shopping, dancing, and ... pantsing? Wait. Scratch that. I don't want another riot on my hands. Just join me in the Fancy Pants Parade![Thanks, Drewbie!]Previously on Moviewatch ...
Video: Coulton performs Rock Band DLC 'Still Alive'
Our Joystiq pals just posted a video of Jonathan Coulton's Friday night performance of (recently announced as Rock Band DLC) "Still Alive" at San Francisco's Great American Music Hall. Coulton brought a few folks on stage including tech guy Leo Laporte and Mahalo's Veronica Belmont to participate in the "Still Alive" performance. Their Rock Band skills are lukewarm at best, but we get the general idea and can't wait to sing to "Still Alive" from the comforts of our Rock Band setup at home. And in even more exciting news, Joystiq got a chance to chat with a few Harmonix employees who attended the concert and learned that currently (though subject to change) the "Still Alive" DLC single will be downloadable for $.99. For that price, no true Rock Band'er or Portal'er should be without GLaDOS' mega-hit.
Video: Jonathan Coulton performing 'Still Alive' Rock Band DLC
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/gaming_news/Video_Jonathan_Coulton_performing_Still_Alive_in_Rock_Ban'; On Friday night we were lucky enough to witness a pretty special event: geek-rock troubadour Jonathan Coulton performing his song "Still Alive" at San Francisco's Great American Music Hall. There's nothing new about that, he's been performing it since Portal's release last year. What is new is that he was playing it in Rock Band, where it's due to be released as downloadable content, and we just so happened to get it all on camera. Unfortunately, most of Coulton's Rock Band band wasn't quite up to his level, with the lone exception of ... hey, it's Mahalo Daily's Veronica Belmont, who you should recognize from her GDC videos here on Joystiq. One of the Harmonix folks there told us the track was only in production for an unusually short six weeks, thanks in no small part to Valve's willingness (you might even call it eagerness) to license the song. They also said that, though nothing has been finalized yet, they're expecting the track to be attractively priced at $0.99 leaving you no reason to avoid it. High-def video embedded after the break.
GDC08: Jonathan Coulton scores 95% vocals on Rock Band's Still Alive
It's hard not to love Jonathan Coulton (or JoCo), especially if you're a fan of Valve's Portal. The recent news that Still Alive will be coming to Rock Band as downloadable content was accompanied by JoCo's appearance at Valve's party on Wednesday. Mr. Coulton posted to his personal blog about the experience yesterday, noting that he 'only' got 95% vocals on the song he created. The question we've been asking ourselves is: who is singing the song on the track - Coulton or GLaDOS?He also noted that Portal snagged the Game of the Year, Best Game Design, and the Innovation Award nods from the GDCAs. Coulton observed that BioShock had won the GDCA award for Best Writing, a merit he thinks should have gone to Chet Faliszek and Erik Wolpaw's work on that quirky game about tests, thinking, and cake. Luckily for Wolpaw and Faliszek, they're the first winners of the (soon to be coveted) Jonathan Coulton award; maybe the GDCAs should rename the prize for Best Audio?
GDC08: Still Alive coming to Rock Band
There are plenty of parties here at the conference, and they're usually not the best source of news. So imagine our surprise when we read this morning that Valve used their party on Wednesday night to let it slip that Jonathan Coulton's brilliant song "Still Alive" would be available as DLC on Rock Band.As if that weren't face-meltingly cool enough, the announcement was made by Harmonix staffers who took to the stage to play the song on their Rock Band instruments alongside Coulton himself. When is it coming? We don't know. Will it been soon enough? No. It will not.
WoW Moviewatch: Summing up Valentine's Day
(UPDATE: Videos are now under the jump. On this special day dedicated to love, I've chosen not one, but two videos! Both are NSFW, but sum up Valentine's Day perfectly. They contain pixel nudity and adult content. You've been warned.)The first video was recommended by #machinima on Quakenet (IRC). "First of May" centers around what to do with your special friends when Spring arrives. The machinimator, Mike "Spiff" Booth, recreates Jonathan Coulton songs set in World of Warcraft, with the most popular being Code Monkey, another love song.[Thanks, #machinima!]Previously on Moviewatch ...Both videos after the jump.
See the Top 12 covers of Portal's 'Still Alive'
We've mentioned before that we worry the internet is close to killing the golden goose of Portal references, with no small amount of help from your friends at Joystiq. That doesn't mean, of course, that we're in any way tired of the game's big finale, Jonathan Coulton's brilliant song "Still Alive." YouTubers are just as smitten as us apparently, with enough covers popping up on the service for GameSetWatch to compile a Top 12 list.We think their #1 pick is pretty much irrefutably awesome, leaving us to debate only which cover makes us the most uncomfortable. We have selected the video above, a heart-melting salvo of earnest warbling and ... props. Don't worry, sweetheart. It's called an awkward phase because it will, eventually, end.[Hey visitors from Jonathan Coulton's blog! As Coulton himself pointed out, you probably shouldn't be mean to this young lady for sharing her song with the internet. She seems like she could be the world's sweetest human, and karma can be a real pain about stuff like that.]
Cinemassively: Chiron Beta Prime
Spiffworld has created another fantastic Machinima using the Creative Commons licensed work of Jonathan Coulton, the man responsible for the internet hit "Code Monkey." Coulton's song, Chiron Beta Prime, sets the scene for this WoW video about a family laboring away during the Christmas holiday. It also happens to be a present from Mike Spiff Booth to JoCo, whose birthday was on December 1st! "Awww!"I'm pleased to see the Christmas Machinimas flowing in at a nice pace so early on in the season. If you have made an MMO holiday film, let us know![Thanks, Krystalle!]
WoW Moviewatch: The Big Boom
Mike Spiff Booth continues to make machinima music videos that I enjoy. The Big Boom is the latest, featuring another song by Jonathan Coulton.Also, this one is less creepy than the one I featured last time!Previously on Moviewatch...
Orange Box includes single by geek troubadour Jonathan Coulton
As if the inclusion of Half-Life 2, HL2: Episode One, HL2: Episode Two, Portal, and Team Fortress 2 in Valve's Orange Box didn't already represent one of the most incredible values in video games ever, they've just announced geek troubadour Jonathan Coulton (he of "Baby Got Back" and "Code Monkey" fame – WARNING: MySpace link) has recorded a "surprise" track to be included in that massive package.But Coulton didn't go it alone. No, he had the help of the Valve design team (who are apparently fans, go figure) so we can surely expect something about Zombines eating your brains. At this point, with less than a week to go before the game's (games'? gameses'?) release, we're surprised the track hasn't already made its way to the seedy, illicit , peer-to-peer underbelly of the internet. Hey record industry, you should take notes!
