Weekend links to get weird with: October 6, 2024
I wrote most of this on September 25 or so, then took a surprise flight to Florida. Now I’m back! I’m back! I feel like this link roundup is unusually video-heavy.
Lofi Girl Halloween – beats to get chills to (video link) - The streaming-radio YouTube channel has returned with its seasonal playlist. Update: The livestream restarted/moved; as of September 30 it’s over here, lol.
Normal Man (video link) - Nick Lutsko is at it again, posting one new song a week all season long (this one apparently went live when Ted and I were both on airplanes). The song itself is about pregnancy body-horror movie tropes, but it's also about a beloved family movie classic.
“Fear Street”: R.L. Stine’s Gruesome ‘Cheerleaders’ Saga is Full of Evil and Spirit - It's that time of year again where all I wanna do is reread R.L. Stine's Cheerleaders Trilogy (which contains, at last count, five books). The first three books are maybe Stine's best work ever. Spoilers at the link; read only if you think you'll need some convincing.
The Qudelix-5K DAC is an inexpensive EQ tinkerer's dream - Wish I'd gotten this DAC in the first place!! I don't know anything about hifi audio, but my cheap in-ear Sennheisers must've had higher ✨impedance✨ than my over-ear headphones, because I destroyed my Belkin adapter after one night of watching YouTube. I replaced the dongle with an inscrutable FiiO DAC.
The Qudelix 5K, by comparison, is effortless to use. I plugged it in and confirmed it was working, then opened the corresponding app to adjust the audio and to choose an EQ preset. I picked the preset someone had already made for my model of headphones. Easy! Done!
I didn't even realize how badly I’d needed this. Now that I've switched to a monitor with a headphone jack all the way on the back (!), I was thinking about getting a usb-to-3.5mm adapter so I could plug my headphones into my laptop from way up here. Jenn, a headphones adapter? Aren't you describing a DAC? Oh my God I am. Anyway, plugging the Qudelix into my tiny usb hub lets me listen to 5K audio direct from my laptop. Bluetooth works well, too. I mean, it doesn't pass through my stucco walls; nothing does. But yeah, it works really well.
Is the ViewSonic 22” VX2267-MHD Good for Gaming? - My portable monitor was really tough on my eyeballs; it turns out refresh rate does matter! I have been toying with, for a long time now, the idea of switching to an e-ink monitor (don't @ me), but the price would be well beyond justifiable. I was also curious about transflective monitors for eyestrain; they use ambient lighting instead of a backlight... but my apartment is very dark, so maybe not.
Finally I just googled “monitors for eyestrain”; Popular Science recommended this one. Oh boy do I love a ViewSonic. This Paragon of Practicality plugs right into a Mac using a usb-c-to-DisplayPort cable (letting you watch Apple TV+ without getting the Blank Black Anti-Piracy screen — very important), and its refresh rate is 75hz. This monitor is so comfortable. It costs US$109, exact same price as the DAC I was just talking about. You aren't gonna find a ton of reviews on this budget Betty, so I am telling you right now, it's... more than fine. For the price, it is downright exceptional. You're gonna wanna buy a VIVO pneumatic arm for it, though, so just factor that in along with the overpriced DisplayPort cable you'll be buying. All in, still under 200 bucks. Make sure you leave enough clearance so you can spin the monitor around every single time you want to plug in your Steam Deck.
Take The ‘I Will Never Take Nintendo’s Side’ Vow
That’s the thing that gets me: They found the evilest angle for this. They found the thing that makes me side with Palworld, which I don’t want to do.
Consuming Halloween – “ALL ACTIONS STOP PLAYING / UPON THE HAT BE COVERED”
Companions of Xanth remastered soundtrack (YouTube playlist) – Oh my god??? Musician “Little Epic Tunes” decided to rework every song from the 1993 Legend point-and-click adventure game Companions of Xanth, starting with the first track and then just blasting through the whole game. What a profound labor of love — all for a computer game that is not particularly well-known or well-liked! I'm floored.
The Eye Screen's theme is a banger, and the Com-Pewter theme (which, in-game, I'd always muted) has become a work of smooth jazz genius. Actually, the entire last half of the soundtrack is super smooth. For a festive seasonal treat, check out my all-time favorite Legend game tune, “Inside the Gourd” (though I think I still prefer the original because of the “player piano” MIDI instrument).
Where does canned laughter come from – and where did it go? - Wow, I had forgotten how silly 1980s British laugh tracks were! These comedies are filmed on location in adorable little towns! Where even would the audience be sitting?
This reminds me of how terrifying the U.S. version of The Masked Singer was during Covid lockdown. Instead of sensibly shutting down like every other production with a studio audience, the show continued to film — splicing together audience reactions from earlier seasons. I found the concept of a ghost audience to be so unpleasantly uncanny (and so weirdly condescending) that it gave me a panic attack: would we never have a live audience again? And, well, the rest is history. (I have a habit of cutting myself short, to avoid launching into a fresh five paragraphs.)
How a bunch of art school grads made putrid, brilliant horror adventure Sanitarium - This isn’t my favorite point-and-click adventure game by a long shot, but it is really… distinctive.