4561

It is rumored that:

The Princeton Review (with the new GamePro) is doing their first ranking of undergraduate game development programs nationwide this year.

They looked at 500 programs. The program I helped developed came in at number 7.

We’re very happy.

4562

Is it only comp sci, technical type courses that they reviewed? Is there any post-grad review coming out? When is this one coming out?

I’d be interested in seeing it.

And congrats.

4563

Damn, Flowers. That article scared the hell out of me! I had no idea my lungs could spontaneously collapse.

4564

Linky? I can only find the top 3! I’m curious how UCSC (my affiliation) ranks.

4565

We’re an art + tech blend (an art track and a tech track). I teach writing for games and critical studies-- that sort of thing. I can program (once upon a time when I was young) in Fortran and BASIC, but it’s been 20 years since I wrote a program.

Oops. I’m not sure I can say this publicly. I guess the linky will be in a week or two.

4566

I saw one when I was getting my skates sharpened, and was kind of tempted to get it because it’s sexy and my grandpa was German (and so is my last name) but I already have a team Canada jersey so I don’t know when I would wear the German one. I suppose I could get a white one, but it’s not as sexy.

4567

Bamboo is a harder surface than maple. It has the potential to flatten the edge of the blade quicker because the board absorbs less of your cutting force. On the flipside, that property also makes it easier to cut on bamboo because you slice into the board less.

From an anti-bacterial point of view, I don’t know if bamboo has been proven as effective as maple boards at preventing salmonella from spreading to other foods prepared on the chopping board. Maple boards have excellent anti-bacterial properties.

4568

The only thing better is the hoodie that Nike was selling last year. It had all the awesome things of the current hockey jersey but in hoodie form with some awesome yellow highlights.

I can’t find an XL anywhere. I would buy it in a heartbeat.

4569

I saw nothing. ;)

There’s probably nothing that’d interest me, as I’m more on the business side of things, and it’d be as a postgrad (and I can’t afford to study in America.) Apart from liking computers as a hobby, I think games could/are instrumental in the development of modern business strategies, because of early adopter mentalities of gamers and the lead user nature of them, along with the strength of community that those elements entail.

Saying that, I doubt there’s very much chance of their being many courses for that. Hollywood has been hugely successful for 80 years, and while there’s plenty of programmes looking at the creative or artistic aspects, there aren’t many on the business of film.

4570

Congrats! And I liked the warning/testing jokes, I can certainly see where you would need such a thing with the average comedy club crowd.

As for it being easy, I used to watch the newbies try their hand at Two Keys Tavern in Lexington, and (as I’m sure you’re aware) there’s no tougher audience than a bunch of sober college kids. The opener invariably died like they have never died before, I would often see them holding back tears at the bar after their set. Of course by the time the main act rolled around the kids were drunk and laughing at anything.

No comedy for me, I guess is what I’m saying. I don’t have the ego for it.

H.

4571

So would you recommend The Stand-Up Comedy Bible for someone thinking about doing an open mic night?

4572

If you haven’t got the guts, yes. If what you’re short on is jokes, then no.

4573

I’d love the answer too. I’ve really been looking to start back at stand-up, I only did little bits in the past with some success. Probably would help if I was jewish, but I am hairy and self-loathing, so that’s something right?

Then again, maybe I shouldn’t.

4574

If I don’t find a job soon, I’m thinking of going back to school for game design.

I’m an established game journo and also an avid creative writer, and would make a terrific dialog/narrative/script creator.

Any thoughts on a career path?

4575

Guts is definitely what I need more of. For jokes, I just need to learn to write them down when people laugh.

Is it actually called “The Comedy Bible” by Judy Carter? The top hit for Standup Comedy Bible was your interview.

4576

Those responses are awesome on the Onion thread. I love this one, about the Down’s Syndrome joke*

Do you hear that, Flowers? Hundreds of ways to be funny about Down Syndrome! I don’t know about you, but to me that sounds like a challenge.

  • Which is hilarious, by the way.
4577

Get good fiction published. Books, comics, graphic novels… That’s a prerequisite to getting a dialog/narration/scripting gig, at least around these parts.

4578

Yep, that’s the one. I hope the lady that wrote it doesn’t get mad at me, but whatever.

Either way, you should both give it a shot, it really is as easy as it seems, once you know the three or so rules that govern the situation. Like how the Civil War really was about owning people, and the space program really is about strapping people to mounds of explosives. Stand up really is just about saying funny things.

4579

I’m trying, I’m trying. I have a novel in the hands of an agent, looking for a publisher…

4580

Yeah, I was wondering about that, if there are hundreds of ways to be funny about a specific genetic disorder, and that guy could list them, what kind of Rainman mess would come out of his mouth?

Ways to be funny about Down Syndrome

  1. Pretending you have it.
  2. Pretending your friend has it.
  3. Pretending your mother has it.
  4. Pretending your friend’s mother has it.
  5. Pretending someone you do not like has it.
  6. Pretending someone you do not like, who is famous or a political figure, has it.
  7. Big tongues.
  8. Loose knees.
  9. Talking about Down Syndrome children’s irrational hatred of organized tennis competition.
  10. Making fun of the jobs they have.
  11. Making fun of the jobs they can’t have, by pretending that one of them has that job.
  12. Making fun of their sexual desires towards people.
  13. Making fun of their use of inanimate objects for sexual gratification.
  14. Listing things that are funny about people with Down Syndrome.
  15. Imagining someone with Down Syndrome as Julius Caesar, and he is yelling.
  16. Imagining a person with Down Syndrome has grown to fifty feet tall and is attacking the city.
  17. Singing a very explicit love song, perhaps by R. Kelly or Jodeci to a person with Down Syndrome.
  18. Giving a person with Down Syndrome a check for a trillion dollars and seeing if they can start their own space program.
  19. Teasing the Prime Minister of Great Britain because your retarded friend has just passed them in the space race.
  20. On a similar note, putting together a United Nations summit using all retarded people from around the world, and pointing out that they are better problem solvers than the people in charge of Israel and Palestine.
  21. Writing a song called, “Are you Ham? Ham? Ham? (DeutscheBank Mix).”
  22. Buying all the tickets to the NCAA Final Four and giving them away as prizes for throwing a tantrum at the Special Olympics.
  23. Making fake subscription cards for “Modern Tard,” and putting them in issues of Maxim Magazine.
  24. Attempting to settle parking ticket debts using photos of retarded people at the beach.
  25. Pretending that you live in a Stephen King novel, and retarded people all have special powers.
  26. Dressing up as Sancho Panza and following someone with Down’s Syndrome around town.
  27. Dressing someone with Down’s Syndrome up as a Catholic Cardinal to take advantage of the fact that faithful Catholics who mistake him for a real Cardinal will, by operation of Papal Mandate and Heavenly grace, have their sins forgiven, but only if they perform the ordered penance of, “Make me a candy dinner and let’s hug the Moon.”