Pocket Universe

In keeping with my long-standing tradition, I am summarizing what I know about Wall•E from the previews I have seen. I actually wished I knew less than I already do; I loved the completely barren teaser, but now I know about some of the other spaceships and characters in the movie. But I’m getting ahead of myself.…

1. Wall•E is voiced by the legendary Ben Burtt, one of the original Star Wars Nine.
2. He is all alone on Earth, the last of a series of robots tasked with cleaning up the waste that humans have left behind. (Side note: I will forgive the preachiness if I see him cleaning up a mountain of Toy Story 2 DVDs…or better yet, Blu-ray discs.)
3. He meets a female robot (called Eve?) who shows up in a sleek white spaceship.
4. Wall•E and Eve hold hands and have other misadventures on Earth.
5. He tags along when the spaceship leaves Earth unexpectedly.
6. There is a romantic zero-G cruise around the spaceship.
7. An obese man is wearing a traditional white sailor’s uniform.
8. Apparently, Wall•E gets stuck in an assembly line, and ends up wearing makeup.
9. There is some interstellar city or space station.

Okay, I think that’s about it. From what I hear, the trailers don’t really give away anything about the plot, so I am curious to see the actual movie. I am also cautiously optimistic, though not nearly as excited as (apparently) everyone else in the world.

A breast-powered iPod? Rarely does an article encapsulate so many of my interests.

This is a nice, brief obituary for George Carlin, by Jerry Seinfeld.

For those of you who don’t know me—or more importantly, for those who do—here is an interesting personal fact:

I don’t laugh.

I mean, sure, I will smile when something is entertaining, and occasionally chuckle at something funny. And when someone tells me a story that I perceive I’m supposed to laugh at, I even have a polite, fake laugh that I use (but even then, I can’t maintain it for very long; I often have to pad it out with a half-hearted, “Oh, that’s great!). But on a general, day-to-day basis, I don’t tend to laugh at things. I’m not self-conscious about it, but it is something that I am aware of. I suppose I could be all Howard Roark about it and not care what people think, but I am polite enough that I feel the need to laugh when I am expected to, or at least make an effort.

In grade school, we had some comedy tapes of Bill Cosby that our family listened to, and I always thought they were funny. And I watched TV shows and cartoons, all the typical things that kids watch and do. But at that time, I wasn’t really conscious of the fact that I didn’t laugh very strongly, or very often. Then one evening when I was in sixth grade, I was over at a friend’s house (it’s always a friend, isn’t it?), and he was listening to a tape of George Carlin.

I just about died. I was on the floor laughing, tears streaming from my eyes, barely able to breathe. That probably went on for several minutes until I was able to regain control of my body…but then another bit would set me off again. I couldn’t believe how unbelievably, painfully funny this comedian was. I had never experienced anything like it. And that was when George Carlin became my favorite comedian.

At my junior high, we had an annual speech meet, and one of the events was Humorous Interpretation. When I attended the meet in sixth grade, my brother’s friend Wayne Jebian used George Carlin’s routine “Icebox Man”; I can’t remember what place he got, but it was hilarious. In seventh grade I tried doing a bit from a Monty Python movie, without much success. So in eighth grade, I decided to go a different Carlin bit, “Fussy Eater.” Of course, I had to tone it down quite a bit, but over the course of the year I was able to refine and improve my performance. One day, when we were practicing in Speech and Debate class, my teacher asked what we should do, and a bunch of people said they wanted to see my routine again. I wasn’t a popular kid in junior high, so it was really gratifying to get that kind of response. I ended up getting first place in Humorous Interpretation at the speech meet, to thunderous applause, and that remains one of the high points of my junior high career.

At one point in the ’80s, Carlin claimed a strict policy of appearing in only one movie every decade. He later broke that streak with his role as Rufus in the underrated Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure. He later became the narrator on Thomas the Tank Engine, an odd choice for a man whose most famous work is “Seven Words You Can’t Say on Television.” He is also worth watching in the Kevin Smith flick Jersey Girl, where he gets to play a greater emotional range. And for you younger readers, he was also the voice of Fillmore, the hippie VW bug, in Cars.

I’m not sure what I can say about George Carlin that hasn’t already been said a million times. He was raunchy, groundbreaking, controversial, animated, and a master of the human voice. He was a definite product of the ’70s hippie culture, and as time wore on, he became increasing cynical and critical of politics and society. He had a profound influence on society and the world of comedy, but I will always remember him fondly as the first comedian who literally made me fall to the floor with tears in my eyes, unable to control my laughter.

When I went to E3 in 2004, there was a magazine reseller with an amazing deal: four magazine subscriptions, four years each, for $44. I couldn’t pass that deal up, so I bought one set of subscriptions for myself, and one for my generous host who let me stay at his house while I was in town. The magazines I got were Electronic Gaming Monthly, Official U.S. PlayStation magazine, GMR (a general gamer magazine), and XBN (Xbox Nation). When I hadn’t received anything after a few months, I thought I had been scammed. But by October of 2004, the magazines started rolling in.

Then in February of 2005, both GMR and XBN shut down. I was informed by mail that my remaining issues on both subscriptions would be transferred to some new gadget magazine which I wasn’t interested, so I called and talked to them, and they split my remaining issues: half went to Computer Gaming World, and half went to extend my EGM subscription. Then at some later date, the PlayStation magazine stopped as well, so I used its issues to extend EGM as well. When I checked my EGM subscription later, I saw my expiration date as “Aug 15.” I wondered, August 15th of which year?, but then later discovered that it was actually August of 2015.

Jump ahead to 2008. Computer Gaming World is now Games for Windows, but in April, they also ceased publication, deciding instead to focus on their online component. With 46 issues remaining, I could either extend my EGM subscription even further, or take a cash refund for the remaining issues. My EGM subscription has inexplicably ballooned to 2020, so I’m not sure that extending it to 2024 would provide much added value. When I asked, I was informed that the cash refund would be $83.51, or nearly double the price I initially paid. If I had known that four years ago, I would have bought more subscriptions.

In just one week, you will be able to order the trial version of the Spore Creature Creator! For those of you who don’t know about Spore…well first of all, it was my pick for Game of the Year at E3 2006, so get reading. The game itself doesn’t come out until September, but the Creature Creator serves two purposes in the interim.

First, it placates people like me who are most excited about the idea of constructing their own aliens. I fully anticipate spending many hours just playing around with the editor and seeing what it can do. If you haven’t seen it yet, it looks amazingly easy to build, paint, and watch your creations come to life.

But more importantly, the Creature Creator will allow users to pre-populate the Spore game world. You see, when you play Spore, you create your own life-forms, but you also encounter hundreds, if not thousands of other aliens as you explore your planet, solar system, and galaxy, and every one of those beings was created by another Spore player through an electronic form of cross-pollination. By released the Creature Creator early, Maxis can make sure that the game world is already teeming with life when the first player starts his game. It also appears that you can track aliens by who created them, and even tell the game that you would like to see more from that person, so this aspect of the game appeals to the artist in me.

As you can tell, I am incredibly excited about this! I will let you know more once I get the trial version, and since you can easily email pictures or upload videos to YouTube, I may even start sending out links to what I’ve done.

Just a few weeks ago, through a somewhat random circumstance, I heard about an event that floored me: a one-night-only Bourgeois Tagg reunion concert. For those of you not into pop music between 1984 and 1989, Bourgeois Tagg had two albums during that period, and their most successful single, “I Don’t Mind At All,” peaked at number 38 on the Billboard charts. Back in the ’80s, my friend Wayne and I were really into Bourgeois Tagg, after Wayne picked up their first album (on cassette) because he liked the cover art. I loved that album and listened to it all the time. And I still remember the night before an a-ha concert, when Wayne called and excited told me that Bourgeois Tagg would be the opening band. So while they were moderately successful in the ’80s, Bourgeois Tagg hold a special place in my heart, and I never, ever would have expected the chance to see them again.

As I found out later, the reunion concert also included Uncle Rainbow, a popular Bay Area band during the ’70s, whose members included Brent Bourgeois and Larry Tagg. The concert was a benefit for former Uncle Rainbow singer Richard Oates, who needs money for a liver transplant. So with a once-in-a-lifetime event ahead of me, I decided to hitch up my little red wagon and make the drive up to Sacramento.

Despite the unfortunate circumstances that brought everyone together, the concert ended up being a tremendously fun event. Apparently some of these band members had not seen each other for twenty years or more, but they seemed to fall right back into their old groove. (I was told by a reliable source that they only had two rehearsals, but you couldn’t tell.) Two of the members of Bourgeois Tagg, Lyle Workman and Michael Urbano, have been regular studio and touring musicians since the breakup, so their musical chops were finely honed. (Keyboardist Scott Moon has apparently been busy with other pursuits in the interim.) There was plenty of time during the set for improvisation and solo, and some of the songs sounded even better than the originals. They even had a string quartet for “I Don’t Mind At All.” The bands were joined by many of their musical friends, and it was especially fun to see twenty-year-old Adrian Bourgeois, who seems ready to follow in his father’s footsteps. In all, it was a tremendous show, and a lot of fun to see the musicians clearly having such a good time onstage together.

For those who would like to play at home, here is the Bourgeois Tagg setlist from the show:

I Don’t Mind At All
Best of All Possible Worlds
The Move Up
Heart of Darkness
Out of My Mind
Electric Train
Waiting for the Worm to Turn
Mutual Surrender
The Perfect Life

I remember it like it was yesterday, but it was really ten years ago. On this day in 1998, Steve Jobs introduced the original iMac. At the time, it was criticized by many hardcore computer users for having an all-in-one design that prevented upgrading the monitor separately from the CPU, switching to the then-unsupported USB format for peripherals, and for omitting a floppy drive in favor of a CD-ROM drive. Of course, it ended up becoming amazingly popular, and many of the criticisms turned out to be unfounded. The floppy drive was a legacy item that has not been missed. The iMac actually caused the USB market to flourish, and started a longstanding Apple tradition of using well-known standards instead of inventing their own. And while the all-in-one design still suffers from a lack of expandability, today’s high-powered machines generally need fewer add-ons than machines of the past did, and an all-in-one unit is easy to resell when it’s time to get a new machine.

Of course, the iMac had many design iterations over the years, but the machine of today bears little resemblance to the gumdrop from 1998. Where the Bondi Blue iMac was an artsy experiment, today’s metal iMac is a sleek, futuristic powerhouse. I don’t think anyone can imagine what the iMac will look like in another ten years.

Andy’s Rating: One notch below Loved It (12/13)

As the first Metroid game released for the Super Nintendo system, the designers of Super Metroid had a legacy to live up to. The original Metroid for the NES introduced non-linear gameplay on a large open world, into which the player (as bounty hunter Samus Aran) is dropped with very few abilities. Over time, Samus gains new powers that allow her to enter previously inaccessible areas, and she discovers hidden doors and passageways that let her explore deeper into the planet. But the player is given little direction, and elaborate hand-drawn maps are practically required to figure out where to go next.

The Game Boy sequel, Metroid II: Return of Samus, alleviated this lack of direction by introducing a new gameplay element: deadly lava, which blocks access to the next area until certain goals are met. In this way, there is still a vast planet for the player to explore, but always has a rough idea of where to focus his attention. Although this provided more clear-cut goals, many criticized the game for straying from the more organic progression of the original.

Thankfully, the third game maintains the non-linear gameplay of the first, while removing most of the frustrations, and also inherits many of the advancements made by the second game. In Super Metroid, Samus returns to the planet Zebes, the setting of the first game, where she once again has to face off against the Space Pirates and their leader, Mother Brain. The villains have stolen the baby Metroid that Samus rescued at the end of Metroid II, and retreated to their newly rebuilt lair. From the start, this gives the player familiar territory to explore, and it is fun (and a little eerie) to pass through the room that you destroyed at the end of the first Metroid.

Progression in Metroid is all about the weapons and equipment, and Metroid 3 takes nearly everything from the first two games, and then just about doubles it. New suits provide damage reduction and added mobility, and the Varia Suit has never looked better. (It also retains Samus’ iconic rounded shoulder armor, introduced in Metroid II as a way of distinguishing the two suits on the monochrome Game Boy screen.) There are also addition beam weapons, but while previous games required you to track down the original powerup each time you wanted to switch beams, Super Metroid makes things easier for the player by allowing you to switch each beam on or off at will. As an added convenience, some beams can be combined; so for example, you can equip the Plasma Beam, but still retain the Metroid-freezing power of the Ice Beam.

Besides the various suits and beams, Samus gains a number of new tools in her arsenal. Notably, the x-ray scope makes it even easier to find hidden passageways. As another nice touch, if you can’t destroy a block with a certain weapon, it will show you which weapon is required to remove it. There are many other abilities that Samus can collect during the game, but sadly, the Spider Ball (a favorite from Metroid II) is missing here. In Super Metroid, it may have rendered some of the puzzles too trivial, but it was a welcome addition that really opened up the previous game to complex exploration.

It should be clear by now that Metroid 3 adds more of the weapons, abilities, and tools that you loved from the previous games. But it also introduces gameplay improvements that make this game less frustrating and more fun. First and foremost, Metroid 3 finally has an auto-mapping system! Yes, you can say goodbye to those cryptic hand-drawn maps forever! The game shows you where you have explored, and convenient map rooms give you an idea of where to go next. However, the maps do not reveal everything, so some exploration is still required, but they take a lot of the tedium out of it.

Another huge change is how you discover new items and abilities. In the first game, a seemingly impassible area would suggest that some new ability was needed, but it was often unclear what you needed or where you would find it. Metroid 3 also has these same obstacles, but they are usually discovered when Samus falls into an area that she can’t escape. This added to the claustrophobic atmosphere of the game, but also provides a better idea of where you need to explore next, because there is always some way out. It may sound like a subtle difference, but it provides the same sense of progression, without worrying that the necessary item is tucked away in some distant corner of the world. Instead, you feel trapped, and there is an urgency to find your way out.

There are a few frustrations that creep up along the way, however. While many of the controls were streamlined or improved, some of the new moves are difficult to execute. In particular, the wall jump is tough to pull off with any consistency, and there is nothing more frustrating than making nine or ten jumps up a tall vertical shaft, only to miss the last one and have to start all over again…and again, and again. Other moves like the Super Jump are difficult to decipher, and frustrated players may find it necessary to consult a walkthrough to proceed.

In all, Super Metroid maintains the sense of wonder and exploration from the first two games, while including many changes to keep the player from quitting the game in frustration. The energy charge stations from the second game are retained in this one, and you even get a few reserve tanks in case you get really desperate. The mapping system relieves you of the manual effort, but the game compensates by giving you a world which is much larger than either of the first two games. The sound is more subtle, the music is better, the enemies are bigger, and the battles require more strategy. And to top it all off, the graphics are absolutely gorgeous, making great use of lighting, color, and effects. This really is one of the best examples of great 2D graphics from the 16-bit era.

Setting the story back on the planet Zebes was a nice touch, because the player can really appreciate the graphical improvements from the 8-bit to the 16-bit era. Having a familiar setting also makes you notice the little differences, which often give you an idea of where to explore. The storyline remains the high point of the series, with an ending that is tremendously satisfying. Without revealing the details of the extended ending sequence, players who have completed the first Metroid game will be taken by surprise by the battle in Metroid 3. It is amazing how much adventure, fun, and genuine emotion the designers were able to pack into this game. If you have never experienced Super Metroid, it is definitely worth your time.

Um, remember that Jonathan Coulton t-shirt contest I told you about? Well, he just announced the winners.

Yeah, wow.

In the wake of my superlative concert experience, I decided to post an entry for the Jonathan Coulton T-Shirt Contest, where fans compete to design a possible new concert t-shirt. My entry is an artistic interpretation of the song “I Crush Everything,” about a giant squid who is in love with a sailing ship, but is doomed to a life of solitude because he destroys everything he touches. The song is hauntingly beautiful and sad, and seeing it played live was just an amazing experience. My design was inspired by Escher’s interlocking images, which elegantly portray two individuals who are helplessly intertwined, but eternally separated. I hope you like the image, and I would appreciate any votes you see fit to toss my way.

It’s been kind of a crazy week since the Jonathan Coulton concert, so I thought I’d post a few links documenting the extent of my little fifteen minutes of internet fame.

Jonathan Coulton posted a nice entry thanking everyone in S.F. for the great show.

Paul and Storm also mentioned the then-upcoming show with Jonathan Coulton, and a few people (including yours truly) commented to thank them for the show. And again, Paul and Storm made an entirely too-generous response thanking me for my participation.

Merlin Mann summarized the recent episode 133 of This Week in Tech, which featured the reunion of the Rock Band band (Merlin, Leo, Veronica, and Jonathan Coulton) from the concert. (I was mentioned by name at around 31 minutes into the podcast, and Jonathan himself said, “God bless Andy Bates!”) I made a comment to correct some errors, and Merlin made a very gracious response.

Jonathan also posted about the episode of TWiT, and I again made the same factual corrections.

Some posts were made to the forums in the aftermath of the DVD show. I now have many new titles, including “Andy Bates (of now-immortal fame),” “the legendary Andy Bates,” and “the inimitable Andy Bates.”

And here is one more title, from Jonathan himself: “The Great Andy Bates,” with a picture of me and two fine-looking young gentlemen from Harmonix. Also read the comments to find out how I have affected people’s lives.

Oh, and here is the original forum thread where I asked for an extra ticket, then won the coin toss against Abby (who ended up getting another extra ticket later, and went to the show too!). I posted on this thread too, and even started one of my own. What can I say? I was desperate!

After the show, I asked on the forums if anyone had a completely set list, and the guy who stole it from onstage (and had it signed!) kindly posted it.

Colleen was in our group, and she posted this lovely summary of the show experience. Rex was the one who got the group of single-ticket-holders together, and he also posted about his thoughts on the show.

Colleen kindly posted a YouTube video of Oded’s recording of the part where I raised my hand and went up on stage. Unfortunately, he didn’t record the song itself, but if you want to see the beginning part, there you go.

There are also a few pictures from the show on Flickr, and even some which feature my smiling face, including (but not limited to) these ones. Some of my favorites are the near-handshake, “It’s THAT guy,” my zombie friend, “Smile!”, duet, pining, and friendship.

Now that I’ve talked about my participation in the Jonathan Coulton concert, I’ll take a step back and discuss the concert and DVD shoot in general.

Again, for those of you unfamiliar with Jonathan Coulton, there is an excellent primer on his website, along with an excellent list of suggestions to get you started: most popular songs, funny songs, sad songs, songs that are both funny and sad, geeky songs, and sweet songs. My personal favorite is The Future Soon, an autobiographical tale of a lovelorn schoolboy who dreams of a better future. Take some time, look around, listen to some music, and read about a genuine self-made internet phenomenon.

As for the concert itself, the venue was set up with multiple cameras, including one mounted on a large boom that threatened to brain a few viewers as it passed within six inches of audience members’ heads. Because it was being filmed, the audience was also well lit (by lights, if not alcohol), so the mood was a little different from a normal concert. The audience was buzzing as we waited for the show to start, and several people were dressed for the occasion in full zombie makeup.

The opening band were Paul and Storm, who, not coincidentally, opened with their song, “Opening Band.” They played a generally truncated set, leaving plenty of room for possible reshoots during Jonathan’s set, in case he made a mistake or two. Their music is a perfect counterpoint to the headliner, being more laugh-out-loud funny, which nicely balances out Coulton’s music, which is equal parts funny, sweet, and melancholy.

The Jonathan Coulton set was brilliant, as always. For much of the time, he accompanied himself on the guitar, although some songs included Paul and Storm on backup vocals and miscellaneous percussion. He was also joined by Kristen Shirts, winner of the Code Monkey remix contest and accomplished ukulele player, for Code Monkey, Tom Cruise Crazy, Creepy Doll (where she completely stole the spotlight), and Still Alive, the song which Jonathan wrote for the closing credits of Portal.

Jonathan returned with his Zendrum version of Mr. Fancy Pants, complete with an extended remix in the middle. I also never truly appreciated Skullcrusher Mountain until this show, when the audience took over singing the final chorus. But the two most amazing moments came during I’m Your Moon, a love song from Charon to Pluto lamenting Pluto’s planetary declassification, and I Crush Everything, a song about a self-hating giant squid who is in love with a sailboat. Both of those songs were so profoundly beautiful and sad that the audience sat in perfect silence, entranced by the performance and unable to think of anything else. I have seen very few genuine moments where an entire crowd was so completely focused on a performer. It was something that still sticks with me today.

Then, after the audience favorite Re: Your Brains, and a rousing sing-along of First of May, Jonathan walked up on stage, pulled down a projection screen, and proceeded to introduce his special guests: Leo Laporte (host of The Screen Savers from way back in the TechTV days, and über–podcast host today), Merlin Mann (founder of 43 Folders and many other things), and Veronica Belmont (former CNet host, and current host and producer of the Mahalo Daily podcast), each carrying their respective Rock Band instruments. (Personal geek trivia: I first met Merlin about a year ago, at my first Jonathan Coulton concert.) The four of them went on to perform Still Alive, which will soon be a downloadable song in Rock Band. Leo went out twice and Merlin went out once, but Veronica saved them each time, but Leo’s third failure sang the band right at the end, and they failed with 99% complete. However, as Jonathan pointed out, 99% is still an “A.”

So that’s the show in a very large nutshell. At the moment, I can’t imagine a more satisfying nexus of geekdom. I mean, having Jonathan and Merlin perform the song from the end of Portal, in Rock Band? I’m tempted to draw a Venn diagram just to show how many of my disparate interests intersect there (including my love of Venn diagrams!). And as a bonus, I got to talk to Jonathan and Paul and Storm afterwards, as well as two fine gentlemen from Harmonix (makers of Frequency, Amplitude, Guitar Hero and Rock Band), whom I followed around and heaped with fanboy praise for quite a while. And once the DVD comes out, you can experience just a taste of what a wonderful night it was.

I need to start at the end of this story, because that is freshest in my mind right now. I’ll get to the beginning and middle parts later.

It has been said that luck equals preparation plus opportunity. If that is the case, I got very lucky last night. But first, let me back up and provide some background.

When I saw Jonathan Coulton perform the first time, he asked for an audience volunteer to help with a song. Naturally, my hand shot up, but then he said, “Well, wait a minute, let me first tell you what you’ll be volunteering for,” so I put my hand back down. He explained that he needed a robot voice for one line in a song, and then he picked…the guy in the back of the room, who raised his hand (the second time) before I did. So that guy got to say the one line in Chiron Beta Prime (which you can download for free), while I sat and watched. On the way home, I said to Dean, “And you know what would have been cool? I could have sung harmony with him on the chorus!” So ever since then, I regretted that missed opportunity.

The second time I saw JoCo in concert (in a bigger venue, the Great American Music Hall), he performed with Paul and Storm, who also sang backup vocals on many of his songs. Since they were already up there singing harmony, he didn’t need an audience volunteer. And besides, he didn’t even perform Chiron Beta Prime at that show. So it looked like my one shot to sing with Jonathan Coulton had come and gone, and all I could do was practice the harmony part in the shower, as I had done for months before (and since).

Cut to last night (Friday), where Jonathan Coulton had another concert at the Great American Music Hall, with Paul and Storm opening for him once again. I ended up attending the concert at the last minute (more on that later) with a bunch of other people who had bought single tickets. So we’re all sitting there, in the middle of the set, with Paul and Storm on stage singing backup for Jonathan Coulton, and he says:

“Okay, now for this next song, I need a volunteer from the audience.”

I leapt up from my seat with my hand in the air.

As he started with his “Well, before you volunteer” warning, I kept standing there, ready to go up onstage. So finally, he called me up, and I jumped up on stage. He asked for my name, announced it to the audience, and said, “Have we corresponded before?” I told him that I had emailed him looking for a comp ticket (more on that later), “but I finally got one!” Cheers broke out from the audience! And then I whispered, “Can I ask a favor? Can I sing harmony on the chorus?” He responded with, “Sure, you can do the last chorus. That’s kind of the tradition.” I shook hand with both Paul and Storm, then they offered me a seat on the couch on stage, gave me a few dolls to hold, and made sure I was comfortable until the third verse. Oh, and he gave me a waiver to sign. I also pulled out my camera to take a picture on stage, and Jonathan said, “Oh wait, Andy is taking a picture. No rush Andy; we have plenty of time.”

When the it got to the keyboard solo, there was not a keyboard on the stage, so he asked, “Hey, do you want to do the solo?” So I belted out a vocalized approximation of the solo, again to thunderous applause. I kept the microphone for the third verse, where I nailed my two-word solo. Then Paul joined me, and the two of us sang harmony for the final chorus. The song ended, the crowd went wild, I got the “Ladies and gentlemen, Andy Bates!”, and a shook a few hands and left the stage. As I shook Storm’s hand, he leaned in and said, “Really, we couldn’t have asked for a better volunteer.” And as I returned to my seat (getting high-fives from audience members the entire way), Paul said, “We’ll have to call this DVD, ‘Jonathan Coulton in Concert, Featuring Andy Bates.’”

Did I mention that this concert was recorded for a future DVD release?

Afterwards, I talked to the band members as they were signing autographs and shaking hands. Storm said, “We were just talking backstage about how perfect you were. I mean, the harmony, plus that keyboard solo and everything.…” Jonathan said, “When you stood up, somehow you managed to be taller than humanly possible. It was like one of those tricks where a magician forces you to pick a certain card; as soon as you stood up, everyone was pointing, and we just had to pick you.”

Meanwhile, I had random audience members walking around saying, “Is that the Andy Bates?” I had people coming up to shake my hand. People asked to have their picture taken with me. I even signed a Paul and Storm CD, right after Paul did. And when I met the guys from Harmonix (again, more on that later) and asked to get my picture taken you them, they said, “Are you kidding? We want to get our picture taken with you!” In all, I was able to sing with Jonathan Coulton on stage for a DVD concert, I got to be a pseudo–rock star for the duration of a concert, and I got to rectify a missed opportunity that I had been regretting for months. How often does that happen?

Well, it looks like my purchase was well-timed: Toshiba has now officially discontinued the HD-DVD format, and will phase out players and media over the next few months. I for one am glad to hear this news, although I confess that I’m not excited to run out and repurchase all of my movies again. There is so much content available for so cheap on DVD, I can’t see myself ever buying as many Blu-ray Discs as I have DVDs. At least, I hope I won’t.