TB.Pensar 001

What is this? For a while now I’ve been thinking that it might be nice to start writing a (mostly) weekly column-type post in which I could just blab about whatever is on my mind, and that wouldn’t necessarily fit as a regular post on the site. I’ve been told in the past that some miss the personal posts that have mostly disappeared from the site, and I guess this is my way of bringing that back, without messing around with the site’s mission and regular coverage. Why TB.Pensar? Most long-time readers will know about my silly naming convention for projects — it’s a simple equation: TB + a word in Portuguese.

My latest obsession? Well, I have a few, actually. First is VBS.TV, the recently launched streaming video channel from VICE magazine. I am absolutely hooked, and look forward to new shows everyday. I love the mix of serious subjects and wackiness, all presented in a terrific interface. This is the future of video online, and I believe you’re going to see a lot of magazines — or new entities — hopping on this bandwagon (MONOCLE has the right idea too, and check out the new Kuntzel+Deygas videos in their “Culture” section). Oh, and no one rocks a suit like VBS correspondent Trace Crutchfield, I bow to him (and his great reports). I also love the SOFT FOCUS series, featuring interviews by Ian Svenonius (another suave suit sporting gentleman) and shot on location at the Guggenheim Museum in NYC.

And yes, I’ve truly become a MONOCLE fanboy. I’ve been anxious all week for the new issue, but have yet to find it. Release date was on the 15th (Thursday), and so on Friday I went to Tower Records and ABC in Shibuya with no luck (at ABC they said it was coming in on Satuday). Today I checked Junkudo and Libro here in Ikebukuro, and still no signs of issue 2. I need my MONOCLE fix, dammit!

Third obsession of late are PDF magazines. A month or so ago I discovered the PDF-Mags site, and since then I’ve been downloading every new title that appears in the update section. I’m just amazed at how nice a lot of these are, with production values (in terms of esthetics) that often rival commercial magazines. Very long-time readers may remember the old online zine I used to produce, GEISHA, which I did for 8 or 9 issues I think, and this is the first time in years that I’m feeling the desire to get back and producing them. But instead of going solo, as I mentioned in this post, I’d like to launch a PDF magazine project through PauseTalk with the group. We only discussed it briefly, but some suggested that we do each issue with a theme, which makes sense (that’s how I produced GEISHA).

And games! You know I play games, and I’m currently hating on FINAL FANTASY III for the DS. Why, especially with all the love I professed for it? Well, after close to 30 hours of gameplay, I got to the final boss and, one spell, boom, 9999 points of damage to each of my characters. The End. Fuck that shit. So a week ago I decided to try RAYMAN RAVING RABBIDS for the DS — the Rayman game that came out on the Dreamcast was one of my all-time favorite platformers — and was surprised to find a great game, and I ended up playing it so much that I finished it yesterday. Now it’s on to CASTLEVANIA: PORTRAITS OF RUIN — long live the whip! Oh, and my copy of GHOST RECON ADVANCED WARFIGHTER 2 came in yesterday. Guess what I’ll be playing at home for the next few weeks…

Enough for now — time to check for new shows at VBS.