My Favorite things of 2013
Every year Oprah does her favorite things of (Insert Year) but they usually don't have anything to do with nerd culture, but that's not how we get down here in the realm of ONCJME. So without further ado I give you Shawn Michael's favorite things of 2013. Sorry guys there will be no free cars at the end... :(
1.Naughty Dogs Evolution Into The Adult Storytelling Realm.
The company that brought us classic childhood greats like Crash Bandicoot and Jak and Daxter stepped their game up in years past with a little known title called Uncharted, but on June 14th, 2013 they stepped away from Nathan Drake and crew to give us something that is and was just plain Magical. The Last of Us. *Spoiler Alert*
In the beginning of this story you find yourself in the shoes of Joel's daughter searching around their home for her father. In the moments that pass craziness ensues and we come to find out that the city is under siege by what we found out later to be "The Infected". While trying to flee the city things escalate quickly and end with Joel holding his dead daughter (Sarah) in his arms...Thanks to an A-hole government agent to scared to make his own life decisions and fires on innocents. This ladies and gentlemen was the first time a video game had me in tears. I turned to my wife to see that she also had tears falling from her eyes (Keep in mind this is a video game)...This is when I knew. This game will forever be engraved in my heart.
The game then jumps a few years into the future where man is on the brink of extinction. Joel and his partner Tess are searching for a supply of guns that belong to them that are being held on to by a local thug. 1 thing leads to another and Joel ends up taking on a task for the fireflies leader Marlene that introduces our protagonist to Ellie. Everything from that point on continues to be Epic. We loose Tess to an infected bite. She then goes out like a gangster to give Ellie and Joel some time to escape from mercenaries/crazy folks. We see Joel's long lost brother as a leader in a community he built from the ground up and eventually learn that Ellie is the cure to all humanity. The game closes with Joel sacrificing humanity to keep Ellie alive because through all their trials together he has found a new daughter in Ellie and his mind is saying FTW..
In closing if you have not played The last of us play it. (even if you read the spoilers) Even if you don't own a PS3 buy the game just to support naughty dog...Its just that good.
2. The Gospel Hip-Hop Takeover.
I was hollering Romans 1:16 before Lecrae became a household name. Who would have thought that a down-south Christian rapper would win a Grammy for his hard work and dedication to the mission of using what we call hip-hop as a catalyst to spread the message of Christ and following a bigger purpose.
I know we all have a piece in our heart for hip-hop my first journey into this genre was Biggie's ready to die. After that I was hooked. grabbing every hip hop album I could find on the shelf. Eventually my passion drove me to start writing lyrics myself going by the stage name "Shawn Juan" a nickname given to me by friends.At first I was just playing around recording over other peoples beats with a group I was a part of "Absalut Family".Later I started up a small record label Snowtown records that for unforeseen reason's destroyed itself. Giving up my dream and no longer rapping at all I started hating what Hip-Hop was becoming.
No longer was it about substance or value but how many times you can Rhyme the word Nigga, or how many fake people you can kill in your lyrics and if it wasn't about that it was a constant reminder of how rich the rapper was and the things they have that you can never obtain. Saddened by the state of hip-hop I left it alone and exclusively listened to R&B or Rock (Linkin Park mostly or old Nirvana albums)
But then in 2004 I started going to a new church. My youth pastor at the time was a rapper. I thought this was a crazy notion because growing up God and Rap didn't seem like they went together. I went to a few of his shows and was really feeling the positive message's as well as the encouragement it gave the youth. Years later I found out that there were many local MN artist that fell into this genre. My hunger grew for more and in 2010 on a visit to NC my homeboy popped in an Album (Rebel) and asked me one question
" Have you ever heard of Lecrae?" I shook my head no. He then turned the volume all the way up and allowed his subs to bang so hard that the concrete beneath us shook. Every song got better, every track had a great message that wasn't the norm and Lecrae was a dude from the hood just like me who found Christ and used his talent to grow the minds of people instead of poison them with the norm. My obsession started! As soon as I got back to MN I grew my collection. Not just with Lecrae albums but Trip Lee, Sho Baraka, Tedashii, Da Truth, Canon, Andy Mineo and Pro (now known as Derek Minor) to name a few. In short this is a genre that went from corny raps.. (ECW was my first christian hip hop tape back in the 90's you can imagine the corn-ballness but can respect what they tried to do) to solid beat banging, lyric spittin, positive vibe music. I am glad that these fellas were able to make their own lane and claim a slice of hip hop for the King. They have encouraged me to change how I rap and I hope to one day post some new content from myself for you to vibe to.
Please don't let the christian moniker scare you ( I know theirs a lot of fakes out there.) These artist have something to offer that you may like! So take a leap of faith, try something different and get familiar with the movement.
3. Sci-Fi Making A Comeback
We live in a day and age where the Sci-fi film is pushed to the corner like a red headed step child. I remember when I was growing up that almost every other film that dropped was a Sci-fi action or horror flick. We got our greatest in the late 80's early 90's ( I will leave that to you the READER to decide what films are greats during that time.) But nowadays we are hit with a barrage of sappy love films, dramas that you can wait for them to drop on Netflix or everyone trying their hand at the super hero genre...(thank The Avengers success for this) but when it comes to Sci-fi you were waiting for one good film (to be released in theaters) and maybe if you were lucky you would get an original IP that wasn't a terrible remake that made you cry at its terribleness.
Well in 2013 that seemed to change. We got great films like Pacific Rim, the next installment in the star trek trilogy and my personal favorite Elysium. These movies paid homage to the Sci-fi films of old by showing us worlds that have not yet come but will come in the future and that's what Sci-fi is all about. Future tech, cool stuff that you wish you could get your hands on but is only available via your imagination. I remember the first time I saw the replicator in star trek and wished I had that.. Or that pimp machine handgun that Robocop had in all his films...Of course my personal favorite the Lightsaber because who doesn't want that right.
These above films (and others that dropped this year) reached deep down into that inner kid that sat and drooled at the Sci-fi films of old and made me have hope for the Sci-fi future. I believe we have a lot to look forward to in this genre in the years to come and cant wait to experience all the Sci-fi goodness with all of you.
4. Next-Gen Consoles Launching
This year us gamers got a special treat. 2 New systems... This launch marked the 8th generation in gaming. With the PS4 dropping on Nov 19th and the Xbox One dropping on Nov22nd. The build up and anticipation for these systems started some time ago with rumors and patents flying around on the regular, but when we all got our first glimpse of these system and what they could do most of mouths dropped. Unless at the time of announcement you were the Xbox One....I wont go into details of the total debacle that was the 1st announcement of the X1 and its terrible DRM implemented system set the world ablaze with animated GIFs to show who everyone thought was winning the next gen battle at the current moment.
Microsoft has since gotten rid of the terrible ideas that once plagued this system and for once a major billion dollar company listened to the voice that was the mighty consumer (because money talks and BS walks)
I hopped on the PS4 train way before the issues were even mentioned simply due to the fact that it was cheaper 400 dollars compared to 500 and its the system I grew up with. I am not a fanboy just a guy who has a lot of mouths to feed. I will eventually get an Xbox one because " I am a gamer and I need to have every new system to feel complete" and you should too. I never understood the fanboy mind state and the rage that comes with it. Enjoy something because you enjoy something and don't hate on folks that don't like the same thing as you because that's what makes us individuals and yeah we can all be a little biased sometimes but in the realm of gaming "cant we all just get along?" ...but enough of that...back to the show.
Since then both systems have gone on to sell 2 million units in the short time they have come out and the demand is keeping both companies on their toes to meet the customers need to have these next gen controllers in their hands. The exciting thing about the news of these systems selling the way that they simply means one thing. GAMES we will get them eventually and probably faster than any of us thought we would. Most developers should see the prospect of offering new IP's to the world because hey when you have two systems that have 2-3 exclusive games between them who isn't going to take a chance on that new game that looks great and hopefully plays just as great sitting on the shelf next to call of duty 29 and 1/2. My hopes for this new generation of gaming are high from the small teasers we have seen next years games looks to make the last generation feel like super famicom and I welcome it with open arms and empty wallets.
*If anyone wants to hook us up with an Xbox One so we can bask in its glory with you feel free to reach out to the group*
5. Almost Human And Its Amazing Greatness
This show is the best thing to happen to TV in 2013 period. The actors/actresses involved are phenomenal. The production quality is million dollar movie budget epic (Every episode I may add). This is one of those shows my wife and I refer to as "get the kids in bed" shows. You want complete and total silence and no outside interference while you watch this show because you don't want to miss a single moment or a quick quip from our protagonist John Kennex or a snarky response from his partner/android-human hybrid Dorian.
I wont spoil any plot details about the show I will just say watch it and enjoy the film like quality in every episode. A few shows can definitely take notes from Almost Human (Agents of Shield I am looking at you)
and I will continue to watch the show just to show my support.
So if your not watching Almost Human. What is your life about?
6. Starting the Only Nerds Can Judge Me Podcast/Blog
Now before you ask I don't know who would be the master splinter of our 5 man group and I am sure Jay and I would fight for the rights to who is Donny but currently we have no group pic of the squad. (coming soon)
This podcast was created by joking around one day in the office. We threw a few group names out their but Mikes "Only Nerds Can Judge Me" idea ran true with all of us. It had a taste of 2pac with a side of nerd and I like it. We now are in the process of working out the kinks as we go along but that is part of the fun and the process to become podcast greats. We all have something to offer in every category around the spectrum of nerd and hope to continue or journey together and with you. Look forward to our growth and development as a team. We will try our best to bring something for everyone to enjoy adding things along the way. In 2014 I hope we can bring you great reviews, news and just plain old fun from the ONCJME crew. Let us know what you think we can change and what areas we can develop. This is our baby and like an actual child we will nurture it until it grows to be a human being we can all be proud of. Hopefully some things that we can work and you all as listeners/readers can look forward to. Theme music for the podcast. Interviews with people in all industries... Smooth Mcgroove (video game acapella genius), Jessica Nigri (the cosplay queen) are hopefuls in my mind and live podcast just to name a few.
So take our hand and walk on this journey of greatness with us. I promise we wont let you down.
But then in 2004 I started going to a new church. My youth pastor at the time was a rapper. I thought this was a crazy notion because growing up God and Rap didn't seem like they went together. I went to a few of his shows and was really feeling the positive message's as well as the encouragement it gave the youth. Years later I found out that there were many local MN artist that fell into this genre. My hunger grew for more and in 2010 on a visit to NC my homeboy popped in an Album (Rebel) and asked me one question
" Have you ever heard of Lecrae?" I shook my head no. He then turned the volume all the way up and allowed his subs to bang so hard that the concrete beneath us shook. Every song got better, every track had a great message that wasn't the norm and Lecrae was a dude from the hood just like me who found Christ and used his talent to grow the minds of people instead of poison them with the norm. My obsession started! As soon as I got back to MN I grew my collection. Not just with Lecrae albums but Trip Lee, Sho Baraka, Tedashii, Da Truth, Canon, Andy Mineo and Pro (now known as Derek Minor) to name a few. In short this is a genre that went from corny raps.. (ECW was my first christian hip hop tape back in the 90's you can imagine the corn-ballness but can respect what they tried to do) to solid beat banging, lyric spittin, positive vibe music. I am glad that these fellas were able to make their own lane and claim a slice of hip hop for the King. They have encouraged me to change how I rap and I hope to one day post some new content from myself for you to vibe to.
Please don't let the christian moniker scare you ( I know theirs a lot of fakes out there.) These artist have something to offer that you may like! So take a leap of faith, try something different and get familiar with the movement.
3. Sci-Fi Making A Comeback
We live in a day and age where the Sci-fi film is pushed to the corner like a red headed step child. I remember when I was growing up that almost every other film that dropped was a Sci-fi action or horror flick. We got our greatest in the late 80's early 90's ( I will leave that to you the READER to decide what films are greats during that time.) But nowadays we are hit with a barrage of sappy love films, dramas that you can wait for them to drop on Netflix or everyone trying their hand at the super hero genre...(thank The Avengers success for this) but when it comes to Sci-fi you were waiting for one good film (to be released in theaters) and maybe if you were lucky you would get an original IP that wasn't a terrible remake that made you cry at its terribleness.
Well in 2013 that seemed to change. We got great films like Pacific Rim, the next installment in the star trek trilogy and my personal favorite Elysium. These movies paid homage to the Sci-fi films of old by showing us worlds that have not yet come but will come in the future and that's what Sci-fi is all about. Future tech, cool stuff that you wish you could get your hands on but is only available via your imagination. I remember the first time I saw the replicator in star trek and wished I had that.. Or that pimp machine handgun that Robocop had in all his films...Of course my personal favorite the Lightsaber because who doesn't want that right.
These above films (and others that dropped this year) reached deep down into that inner kid that sat and drooled at the Sci-fi films of old and made me have hope for the Sci-fi future. I believe we have a lot to look forward to in this genre in the years to come and cant wait to experience all the Sci-fi goodness with all of you.
4. Next-Gen Consoles Launching
This year us gamers got a special treat. 2 New systems... This launch marked the 8th generation in gaming. With the PS4 dropping on Nov 19th and the Xbox One dropping on Nov22nd. The build up and anticipation for these systems started some time ago with rumors and patents flying around on the regular, but when we all got our first glimpse of these system and what they could do most of mouths dropped. Unless at the time of announcement you were the Xbox One....I wont go into details of the total debacle that was the 1st announcement of the X1 and its terrible DRM implemented system set the world ablaze with animated GIFs to show who everyone thought was winning the next gen battle at the current moment.
Microsoft has since gotten rid of the terrible ideas that once plagued this system and for once a major billion dollar company listened to the voice that was the mighty consumer (because money talks and BS walks)
I hopped on the PS4 train way before the issues were even mentioned simply due to the fact that it was cheaper 400 dollars compared to 500 and its the system I grew up with. I am not a fanboy just a guy who has a lot of mouths to feed. I will eventually get an Xbox one because " I am a gamer and I need to have every new system to feel complete" and you should too. I never understood the fanboy mind state and the rage that comes with it. Enjoy something because you enjoy something and don't hate on folks that don't like the same thing as you because that's what makes us individuals and yeah we can all be a little biased sometimes but in the realm of gaming "cant we all just get along?" ...but enough of that...back to the show.
Since then both systems have gone on to sell 2 million units in the short time they have come out and the demand is keeping both companies on their toes to meet the customers need to have these next gen controllers in their hands. The exciting thing about the news of these systems selling the way that they simply means one thing. GAMES we will get them eventually and probably faster than any of us thought we would. Most developers should see the prospect of offering new IP's to the world because hey when you have two systems that have 2-3 exclusive games between them who isn't going to take a chance on that new game that looks great and hopefully plays just as great sitting on the shelf next to call of duty 29 and 1/2. My hopes for this new generation of gaming are high from the small teasers we have seen next years games looks to make the last generation feel like super famicom and I welcome it with open arms and empty wallets.
*If anyone wants to hook us up with an Xbox One so we can bask in its glory with you feel free to reach out to the group*
5. Almost Human And Its Amazing Greatness
This show is the best thing to happen to TV in 2013 period. The actors/actresses involved are phenomenal. The production quality is million dollar movie budget epic (Every episode I may add). This is one of those shows my wife and I refer to as "get the kids in bed" shows. You want complete and total silence and no outside interference while you watch this show because you don't want to miss a single moment or a quick quip from our protagonist John Kennex or a snarky response from his partner/android-human hybrid Dorian.
I wont spoil any plot details about the show I will just say watch it and enjoy the film like quality in every episode. A few shows can definitely take notes from Almost Human (Agents of Shield I am looking at you)
and I will continue to watch the show just to show my support.
So if your not watching Almost Human. What is your life about?
6. Starting the Only Nerds Can Judge Me Podcast/Blog
Now before you ask I don't know who would be the master splinter of our 5 man group and I am sure Jay and I would fight for the rights to who is Donny but currently we have no group pic of the squad. (coming soon)
This podcast was created by joking around one day in the office. We threw a few group names out their but Mikes "Only Nerds Can Judge Me" idea ran true with all of us. It had a taste of 2pac with a side of nerd and I like it. We now are in the process of working out the kinks as we go along but that is part of the fun and the process to become podcast greats. We all have something to offer in every category around the spectrum of nerd and hope to continue or journey together and with you. Look forward to our growth and development as a team. We will try our best to bring something for everyone to enjoy adding things along the way. In 2014 I hope we can bring you great reviews, news and just plain old fun from the ONCJME crew. Let us know what you think we can change and what areas we can develop. This is our baby and like an actual child we will nurture it until it grows to be a human being we can all be proud of. Hopefully some things that we can work and you all as listeners/readers can look forward to. Theme music for the podcast. Interviews with people in all industries... Smooth Mcgroove (video game acapella genius), Jessica Nigri (the cosplay queen) are hopefuls in my mind and live podcast just to name a few.
So take our hand and walk on this journey of greatness with us. I promise we wont let you down.
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