NaBloPoMo: Day 4

Today I was singing in the shower, like you do, and, as is so often the case, my songs of choice hailed from the Joss Whedon oeuvre. I haven’t tested this theory officially but I’m pretty sure I could sing “Once More with Feeling” all the way through ALL BY MYSELF YES ALL THE PARTS ALL OF THEM.

I’m not really what one would call a “good singer,” but I do enjoy it, even if it’s just singing along to the radio or making up dumb songs to sing to my pets, or playing Rock Band a million years ago. Remember Rock Band? We have the entire set that sits in a closet in our house because it’s not fun to play just the two of us and we are hermit people who never invite anyone over to our house and the dogs haven’t learned how to play guitar OR drums yet. Slackers.

(Why doesn’t anyone play Rock Band anymore? We played it so much a few years ago and then just stopped but I don’t think anything took its place. Anyway. Whatever.)

I was in choir in school and I loved it, especially the time in fifth grade when we went to McDonald’s in our fancy robes to sing Christmas carols and I got to stand on a table and it was AWESOME until I went to the bathroom to take my robe off and one of the snaps on it got stuck in my hair and I for real thought I was going to have to shave my head to get it out. I didn’t, though. GOOD STORY.

The only thing I ever really miss about church is all the singing in unison. Which is weird because whenever I was the acolyte, I never wanted to sing along to the songs, I think because I was sitting in the front of the church, where everyone could see me, and the last thing I wanted was to be seen PARTICIPATING EARNESTLY in something. PERISH THE THOUGHT. 

(Did your church have children as acolytes? I don’t know if it’s just a Lutheran thing. I think maybe it’s like being a choirboy in the Catholic church. Basically, I lit the candles at the front of the church when the service started, staring at the flame as I carried it, hoping and praying (appropriate) that it wouldn’t go out because THEN WHAT WOULD I DO? Would I have to go to the back and start over? What would people think? What would GOD think? Anyway, I also was in charge of holding the dish where people put empty glasses when they were finished taking communion. It was really a lot of responsibility for a 12-year-old.)

If I wasn’t acolyting, though, I really enjoyed the singing part of the services. Especially at Christmas, because I actually knew those songs, except for the weird extra verses of songs like Silent Night that no one on solemn Christmas episodes of TV shows ever sings so why do they even exist?

 A couple of years ago (um, ok, four years ago, yikes), I went to a Sound of Music sing-a-long at the movie theater and it was magical. A couple years before THAT, Joe and I went to a Dr. Horrible sing-a-long at ANOTHER movie theater and THAT WAS ALSO MAGICAL. I haven’t really seen anything else like that around here recently, other than a Frozen sing-a-long last year that I was afraid to go to because I thought I might get irrationally angry at any kids butchering the words. So. I guess what I’m saying is, I really need a non-church, non-solo, adult outlet for singing. MORE OPPORTUNITIES FOR SECULAR SING-A-LONGS.

Until then, I guess I’ll just dig out Rock Band. How hard is it to teach a dog to hold some drum sticks, do you think?

Guitar Hero: World Tour vs. Rock Band

I briefly discussed my feelings about Rock Band vs. World Tour the other day, but Shari is asking me to make a decision (dammit!) because she is tasked with choosing one AND ONLY ONE to buy for her kids for Christmas. This is difficult, because, well, I've only played World Tour once. But I'll do my best. Keep in mind, I am not an expert, I just really enjoy pretending I'm in a rock band. And I did some research, both HANDS ON and also with the whole reading thing.

First, let's discuss the track lists.

Rock Band: These plus five others, "Roxanne" by The Police, "Roam" by the B-52s, "Dirty Little Secret" by the All-American Rejects, "Don't Look Back in Anger" by Oasis, and "Rockaway Beach" by The Ramones. Plus, you can buy this disc of extras.

World Tour: These.

Songs from Rock Band I Couldn't Live Without: Don't Look Back in Anger, Don't Fear the Reaper, Wanted Dead or Alive, Orange Crush, Say it Ain't So, Creep, Here it Goes Again, Dani California

Songs from World Tour I Couldn't Live Without: No Sleep Til Brooklyn, Livin' on a Prayer, One Way or Another, Hotel California, The Wind Cries Mary, Beat It, Float On, The Joker, Eye of the Tiger

Advantage: TIE

Now, let's talk about instruments.

Rock Band: When you buy Rock Band, you get a set of drums (plus drumsticks, obviously), a guitar, and a microphone. Here's the kicker. If you already have a guitar, say, for regular old Guitar Hero, it doesn't work with Rock Band which is a total fucking ripoff. I have strong feelings about this. I realize they are two separate game systems and are in competition with one another, but if that's the case then Rock Band should come with two guitars. Or a guitar and a bass, if you will. Because, you see, Rock Band costs $180 or so. Anyway. The drum kit has four different colored pads, as well as a pedal. I'm not sure what the pads are made of, but they are really loud when you hit them. I suppose you don't NEED to hit them as hard as I do, but I feel like the true drumming experience calls for enthusiastic drumming, yes? Yes. You can buy drum silencers, but you just spent a billion dollars on this game, do you really want to spend more?

World Tour: The World Tour kit comes with a set of drums, a guitar, and a microphone, just like Rock Band, BUT if you already have a guitar for Guitar Hero, it works for World Tour as well. However, hopefully you have enough Wiimotes for all the instruments. You'll need one for the drums, one for the microphone, and one for each guitar. So plan ahead. I'd say it's kind of a bummer to have to buy extra Wiimotes, but if you have a lot of people playing any game on the Wii, it's nice to have extras Wiimotes and nunchucks. Also! The drums are much quieter when you hit them, plus there are cymbals.

Advantage: World Tour

Both games are fairly easy to play, with varying degrees of difficulty. You can play on Easy, Medium, Hard, or Expert on Rock Band. I believe it's the same on World Tour, except they have a Beginner function that's even easier than Easy. Which is pretty damn easy, I have to say.

Advantage: World Tour

The overall experience is really the important thing, but that's where I have a bit of trouble because I've only played World Tour once.

Rock Band: Basically, you create a rock band (duh), name it, and go on tour. Songs are split into groups of four (I think) and you have to beat three out of four to move onto the next group. Also, there are bonus songs. I've never played until you get to the very end, but I'm assuming you get showered with money and naked ladies or something. You can play the game with just the drums, singer, and guitar, but it's really more fun with guitar and bass because more people can play. This means, of course, buying that extra guitar.

World Tour: Same as Rock Band, really, only you play gigs. Each gig has two songs. With both Rock Band and World Tour, once you open up the songs, you can play them whenever you want. Again, the nice thing about World Tour is you don't have to worry about buying an extra guitar (if you already have one for Guitar Hero), so more people can play and it's win-win-win all around. Plus, the drums are way better.

Advantage: World Tour

VERDICT: It looks like World Tour is the winner, based on the above. After we played World Tour on Friday, I was still partial to Rock Band, but the more I think about it and the more I look into it, it seems like World Tour is the way to go. If someone gave me $200 bucks and I had to buy one or the other RIGHT NOW, I'd buy World Tour. At least until they come out with a new and improved version of Rock Band. Really, it's just a matter of preference. Both are excellent games that will give you hours and hours of fun times (or keep your kids occupied for hours and hours, leaving you alone to have your own hours and hours of fun times).

you don't have to wear that dress tonight

Yesterday was Jeremy's birthday (of Tamara and Jeremy) and so last night we celebrated with a surprise party. It was also my dad's birthday, but he wanted to hold off on celebrating, surprise or otherwise. We quickly established that, although Jeremy and my dad have the same birthday, Jeremy is not, in fact, my father. There was some confusion for a while, though.

When we got to Tamara and Jeremy's, I noticed that there were decorations on the front door. I was all, "um, won't that tip him off to the surprise?" and Heidi was like, "yeah, he's here . . . he's in the bedroom." Apparently some girls were totally mean to him ON HIS BIRTHDAY (read about it here) and he was sad. Stupid girls. Luckily, there were lots of people and food and drinks and ROCK BAND to make up for the bitchy, bitchy girls he works with.

Have you ever noticed that when Rock Band makes an appearance, everyone gets this manic look in their eyes? A greedy, manic look like, "I WANT TO PLAY ALL THE INSTRUMENTS AT THE SAME TIME AND ALSO SING AND OH MY GOD WHAT IF I DON'T GET TO SING WEEZER?" I'm not kidding. That game turns people into drunk five-year-olds and have you ever been around a drunk five-year-old? If you've been around me when I'm drunk, then that's close enough.

It was pretty awesome. Heidi remembered to strum. We discovered that Tamara is a fucking awesome singer. I got to sing Oasis. Sting inhabited Joe's body for the entirety of Roxanne. It was a little spooky.

This week on The Collective, we're sharing embarrassing stories about ourselves. I'm having a hard time coming up with anything, despite having embarrassed myself on a daily basis for about, oh, 25* years now. A little help? Heidi?

*I say 25, because I couldn't really talk for the first year . . . although, when I was a baby I did routinely poop my pants and that's sort of embarrassing.