Sounds Stuck in my Brain: August 7, 2024

All Star in Latin

(YouTube)

“All Star” by Smash Mouth has a permanent place in pop culture (until my entire generation dies off, anyway) thanks to Shrek. For better or for worse, the song has endured and undergone countless iterations. Despite all the overplaying we’ve done over the decades, the song still possesses a sheen of triumph and hope. In fact, the band wrote it in response to the fans who thanked them for making songs in the first place.

One of the versions that’s been replaying in my head is a fan-translated Latin version. Not only did the creators go through the trouble of localizing the song to reflect ancient Roman culture, but they also used traditional Roman instruments. Latin nerds do seem to go all out when it comes to content creation, so this isn’t surprising—but it’s still impressive as hell.

 

Omnia micantia aurum
Caudata sidera devertunt mala tempora

 

 

Damn, listening to this channel makes me want to study Latin again… and actually keep it up.

 

 

All Star, but it’s an Emotional Orchestral Journey

(YouTube)

I’m not gonna prattle on here. Watch the video. You’ll think that you’re watching an early 2000s music video about a man having an epiphany on behalf of all of humanity, and you will be awed.

 

Do I need to quote the song? You know the lyrics by now. Even if you just got on the internet you absorbed them through osmosis.

 

 

 

Two on the Vine – Ep 5: Nintendo Direct, PS4 

(YouTube)

Some memories are resurfacing. Very faint, loathsome memories. Not about the podcast, but the environment where I often listened to the episodes.

Back when earbuds were still fairly crappy, I had to make do with a pair that couldn’t go further than ten feet away from my phone. I needed plastic clips that curled around my ears to keep them secure since my ears are small, and some companies back then didn’t have the courtesy to include more than one or two different sizes of ear tips.

Working a part-graveyard shift, I had to get up at dark o’clock, drive through deserted streets, and do inventory before the facility opened. It was one of the worst jobs I ever had, but my audible setup helped me survive. I listened mostly to podcasts and YouTube Premium (known as Red around this time); Dan Carlin’s Hardcore History and Two on the Vine were in steady rotation. Even while cleaning up after oblivious coworkers, I carried around a cozy little sound haven.

That gives me some idea of when I first started watching Vinesauce videos. Kind of. It’s still a big window: 2014 to 2018. I can’t remember if I was listening to these episodes as they came out or long after their release. For that matter, I can’t remember the exact years I worked in that godawful place without looking (with regret) at a resume.

But enough fruitless detective work. You clicked on this entry because you knew I’d be making bullet points for a TotV episode.

 

 

Personal highlights, personally chosen by me:

  • It’s a salt shaker gift basket this episode as the guys have so much of the mineral, they’re practically crusty.
    • KY’s “sodium levels” were through the roof with his recent Bloodborne attempt.
  • The snow in Boston has retreated, and “Mount Dunkin’ is mostly gone”. I still can’t picture snow piling up to the roof of a one-story building.
    • 40-60 degrees is considered warm up there? Amateurs. Try spending a summer in the South. (Actually, don’t.)
    • New York got snow on the first day of spring. I guess Nature had to throw the middle finger to the city in a big way.
    • Such nice weather and the duo are stuck indoors. By choice, of course, because the indoors are the natural habitats of gamers.
      • They’re not total shut-ins. Vinny would go outside to read… video game strategy guides.
        • I shouldn’t judge because I also read strategy guides like real books back in the day, but hearing this in 2024 makes me glad that Vinny is now getting time away from screens and feeding ducks in the park.
          • An activity which, I should add, has been enjoyed by people of all ages for time immemorial, not just “old men” and “boomers”, as people Vinny’s chat like to tease him.
            • By the way, fellow Millennials, every time a Zoomer makes fun of us, their entire generation ages by a full day. I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m gonna profit from their insolence through stocks in anti-aging products and SSRIs.
        • A Myst strategy guide had a unique arrangement: the first half contained step-by-step instructions on how to beat the game, and the second half was a walkthrough designed like the traveler’s journals. That must have been a treat.
        • Vinny has a story about the Soul Caliber 2 strategy guide. His older (by nine years) cousin spotted a rack of them by a door, assumed they were free, and walked out the door with one. Vinny, possessing more common sense than his elder, later suggested that the guides perhaps weren’t free after all.
        • KY tells the story of getting his mother to rent an Earthbound and strategy guide combo box. She came home with just the game. KY threw the shittiest of shitfits while his mother tried to reason with him that he could still play the game.
          • Before you reprimand him, KY did later feel remorse.
            • Besides, if the scuttlebutt in Rev’s chat is correct, then KY’s own sprogling is probably delivering some karma.
          • Vinny has a similar story of his father mixing up a rental request. To most non-gaming parents back then, every console was either a Nintendo or a Sega.
  • Nintendo Direct discussion.
    • Vinny: A lot of “pleasing the shareholder moments.”
      • Isn’t that with everything Nintendo does?
    • Smash Bros. Melee.
      • Mewtwo hit the big time… and flopped.
      • Vinny had the opinion that Lucas is a Ness clone. Chat hated that.
      • Fans had the option to vote for characters to appear in future games.
        • Vinny voted for Tingle. Tsch, just another example of somebody voting against their best interests.
          • He was able to vote a second time for Crono. Jail this menace for voter fraud!
      • The fans demand that Banjo and Kazooie appear in the next Smash game.
        • They got their wish four years later. If you want an idea of how big of a deal this was, search for videos of reactions to the duo making their debut in Smash Ultimate. Some people were screaming, crying, or screaming and crying.
    • Vinny doesn’t claim to know a lot about anime or J-pop. Nine years later, Chat is still trying to make him like anime. You really do have to admire both parties’ stubbornness perseverence.
    • Vinny: Now I wanted to talk about the Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer. Wait, no, I didn’t.
      • KY didn’t like the card aspect, but recognized that some people play AC for the home design aspect, and decided that the game wasn’t a bad thing after all.
  • KY: So you want to talk about, uh… you are a YouTube content creator, is that the issue you want to talk about?
    • Vinny’s main gripe for this episode is how Nintendo owns anything related to its brand on YouTube, and therefore profits off of it.
      • I wish I remembered what I read about this incident around the time, but I found an article that compared American and Japanese copyright laws. It made sense of Nintendo’s fanatical approach to takedowns.
    • A slight derailment to discuss the Marvin Gaye estate vs. Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams case. As someone who’s tired of seeing Pharrell Williams hailed as the hometown hero in Virginia Beach: GOOD. I don’t care if this was years ago, because hearing that makes me happyyyyyyyyyy.
  • KY got a PS4 with Bloodborne. “It rewards assertiveness and aggressiveness…” Hey, just like real life does.
    • “… in a lot of smart ways.” So, not like real life. I take back what I said.
    • KY often had to fight two enemies at the same time: the designated boss and the camera.
  • Vinny asks if KY heard about a game “where you record a podcast and there’s a faint sound of bag rustling.” Well, someone was a Mr. Sassy Britches, wasn’t he?
  • KY was playing Captain Forever Remix, which Vinny said he’d stream. I can’t find any results on YouTube, so it might be one of those videos that was lost to time or copyright strikes.
    • It goes without saying… no, I do have to say it in today’s intellectual climate… but don’t use the key that Vinny put out.
  • Greenlight Guess!
    • “The year is 2420. An uprising on Dog Planet threatens not only Dog Planet, but the universe itself.”
    • “You are a bird with explosive poop. Use it to fly between saw blades to go and kill the evil boss, Ostrichino.”
      • Spoiler: it’s fake. Vinny tells the proposer to make the game. “I’ll play it.” Oh, 2015 Vinny, you’ll play so many games like it, and worse.
        • Should someone go back in time and warn him? I would, but I’d get sidetracked and tell my 2015 self to buy stock in toilet paper, disposable masks, and hand sanitizer. Just to be random.
    • “Help the boy wake up in time to clean the litter box.”
    • “Platforms and the Holy Sprint. What more could you want?”
    • “It sounds like someone who watches too much Vinesauce made that up because I say things like that a lot.”
      • Apparently, back in the day, the Steam description box wouldn’t allow crude words. I’d check Steam, but I have a feeling viewing those pages would require me to log in, and right now I just don’t have the patience to reset my password seven times before it takes.
    • “Have you ever wanted to be a [sp] orbiting satellite fighting for a small, minimalistic cute planet which is being invaded by stylish-looking aliens?”

KY: Super Kawaii Turtle Fighter is a fast—

Vinny: Fake.

*tense second of silence*

KY: Do you want me to finish?

Vinny: It’s fake.

KY: Oh, pffft. Okay, well, you’re wrong, it’s real.

Vinny: Goddammit!

  • Continuing…
    • “Mario Kart meets Madden with dogs.”
    • “You are a surgeon who has accidentally stapled his thumb 47 times. Can you remove the staples before they dissolve into your skin?”
      • But if they dissolve… why would…
    • “Frozen Olaf Give Daddy the Cummies.”
      • The auto generated script on YouTube says “Cubbies” and “gummies”, and it inspires all sorts of awful things in my imagination.
    • Undersea Cricket, submitted by Shrimp. Fitting.
    • “When you begin the game, remember to eat all the beanses on the table. Otherwise you will not fret.”
    • “Fight baddies with goons, swords, and fists of fury in an effort to win the crystals and other glorious prizes.”
      • It’s “guns” misspelled, but considering how “goon” has achieved quite the status in the Vinesauce realm…
    • Fine Sweeper actually does sound fun.
    • “Have you ever wanted to pick up your poop and throw it at the wall? No? Oh. Well, we have.”
  • Listener mail.
    • Really loaded questions were left out. Sakes, people, you can’t ask Vinny or KY if they prefer pasta or pizza. Respect their privacy.
    • The first letter asks KY if he’s concerned about children’s “increasing usage of exposure of iPads, computers, etc.” replacing real-world activities.
    • Someone felt nervy enough to ask about rectal exams. I guess this one didn’t count as “really loaded”.
      • At least we get Vinny and KY roleplaying Mario and Luigi.
    • Vinny has a question for KY: “Why am I still watching 3D Bathroom Simulator?”
  • Tell everyone you know about the podcast. “Tell your friends, tell your dog.”
    • I told my cat. Does that count? She just stared at me before going back to grooming herself.