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It was suggested that I post this thread based on a post in the main thread concerning Lowtax's passing. Over the decades, Rich "Lowtax" Kyanka cranked out a mountain of hilarious and artistic things, from his various SomethingAwful personas like JeffK and CrankySteve, to his musical projects like ARC. I thought it might be a good idea to post a thread based on his work, that separates his contributions from his controversial personal life. Because if anything, he was a provocateur, he brought out strong opinions and emotions in people on and off the internet, and even though his edge style isn't in fashion right now, he was funny. So I am making this thread as a memento mori, and would prefer it if people contributed just the bright spots Lowtax created over the decades. If you hate him that's fine. But I think there's plenty of space for that elsewhere on the forums. I'm going to let others bring up some of the more famous Lowtax bits and start things off with some obscure stuff. Back in the early days, Lowtax was heavily into electronic music composition, and published songs and videos under the name ARC. Some of these videos were among the first content ever posted on SomethingAwful. I archived this one and when I sent it to him on Facebook he was mighty amused. The song is titled "Deviation" and the video is horribly artifacted and garbled due to rotting on a burnable CD for decades. So I just put it up on Youtube for anyone to see, as a memento mori. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wtV2ZvjaQvc Here's something from the humor side of things. I have no clue why this bit stuck in my head, but in a way, it is the perfect example of early millennial SA comedy. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fFckkM5nnE Thanks for the decades of Protection, Lowtax. Pak Chooie Unf. 
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Nov 11, 2021 20:35
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| # ? May 12, 2024 20:51 |
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We ar ehere to protect you from the terrible secret of space
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Nov 11, 2021 20:37
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super sweet best pal posted:We ar ehere to protect you from the terrible secret of space Ahhh, Space Robot Bonanza. My absolute favorite classic prank, as one of my internet handles is "SHOVAR ROBOT". Also, it spawned this amazing music video tribute, which holds up to this day. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7E0ot9iJm_k Back when I attended the premier of The Phantom Menace in Savannah, I wore my old original SA "The Internet Makes You Stupid" shirt to it, and had the glorious experience of hearing "DO YOU HAVE STAIRRRSSS IN YOUR HOUSSSEEE" from someone in the packed theater as I made my way to my seat. So I got to yell "I AM PROTECTED!!!!1" in front of a horde of Star Wars fans. It was glorious. And all thanks to Space Robot Bonanza.
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Nov 11, 2021 20:48
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i hear he did really good jackson pollack fanart
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Nov 11, 2021 21:02
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 Knew I'd get a lot of milage out of making this
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Nov 11, 2021 21:09
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BEAN BAG CHAIR BEAN BAG CHAIR
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Nov 11, 2021 21:11
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I like flip top box and hopkin green frog, but I don’t know how much those have to do with lowtax specifically.
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Nov 11, 2021 21:18
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Dance Dance Karnov ruled
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Nov 11, 2021 21:30
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Who What Now posted:
I'd like to say this isn't the thread for that sort of thing. But I figured someone would do it. I really wish you wouldn't in this thread though. I guess that's up to the Mods. Now that that's over, let me post some more content. Cranky Steve's Haunted Whorehouse. These articles cracked me up back in the day. Cranky Steve was a Lowtax persona which reviewed the explosion of truly horrible maps that burst out of the golden age of modding video games. I particularly remember cracking up at his Quake 2 reviews. Cranky was a bit of an evolution of Lowtax's actual job over at PlanetQuake, and was one of the early examples of classic SA content. Once again, like the ARC video I posted above, a lot of this stuff is kinda lost, and can only be accessed via The Wayback Machine. https://www.somethingawful.com/news/come-get-your/ Review of map "Robie the Robot" At one point an actual "Cranky Steve" Quake 2 map was created, and I still have it! My Quake 2 directory that I have migrated from computer to computer is pretty much a repository of everything created on Polycount, PlanetQuake, and SA, and yes, this map is horrible. Wonderfully so. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ui99BQ6G6Fk I really have a soft spot for terrible game modding, and Cranky Steve was my original gateway to that world.
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Nov 11, 2021 21:32
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Blue Raider posted:I like flip top box and hopkin green frog, but I don’t know how much those have to do with lowtax specifically. I don't remember flip top box, but hopkin "I'll find my frog" wasn't created by SA. It sure as hell was helped to spread by SA though. Lowtax once did an SA update which was titled "Pokepants" though, and involved him stuffing pokemon in his pants. If that helps. Hey, I laughed. Poor Pikachu. I'd link it but I think someone traveled back in time to specifically remove that article from existence on INTERNET. TheBuilder posted:Dance Dance Karnov ruled Yes it did! Another example of Lowtax's music composition as well. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axaUQg4Zkdc
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Nov 11, 2021 21:48
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Naw, gently caress that guy, actually.
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Nov 11, 2021 21:55
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Ramen Pride! posted:I don't remember flip top box, but hopkin "I'll find my frog" wasn't created by SA. It sure as hell was helped to spread by SA though. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0NcFFgeYZc There were a lot of these kind of things that were created by whoever, and smorky apparently, that I think were called the flash tub. It has been ages since I've even thought of this stuff, so it's very possible that I'm making it all up. There is a lot of stuff that is either gone from the site or not indexed. There was a David Thorpe article about being a dickhead in high school, that I spent about an hour looking for a few years ago, and it had disappeared like it had never existed in the first place. Unlike those flash animations, I remember it specifically because it contained the phrase, "I'm sorry bitches, I don't speak Fatlish."
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Nov 11, 2021 21:55
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First time i saw this it was on some TV show on TechTV/G4 that showcased internet animation. I stayed up late to catch the rerun and tape it onto a VHS to show my friends.
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Nov 11, 2021 21:59
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I like the thing where he was chatting with someone on like aol instant messenger and went on about how he was posting from inside his fridge. There are probably people on these forums who weren't even alive when AIM was the premier internet chat thingie. Man, lowtax was a pioneer. I would say he was probably the first e celebrity. He shaped so much culture of the internet. Crazy...
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Nov 11, 2021 21:59
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Lowtax gave us Fragmaster, and Frags gave us the best video ever made once he learned that HL2 had lip syncing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0QEGhSlv9SM
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Nov 11, 2021 22:03
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Ramen Pride! posted:Ahhh, Space Robot Bonanza. hell yeah
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Nov 11, 2021 22:25
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I still have a soft spot for his Dingo Pictures knock-off. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvpsWPWWDzA
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Nov 11, 2021 22:36
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he did do a lot of funny things. goddamn I wish he was a better person though
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Nov 11, 2021 22:38
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SeBjr8Bm_wA Can't get past page one without Doom House. I still sometimes quote this with a few friends of mine. I think that if I dug out my old desktop from the 00's, I am pretty sure my folder of internet videos will have an originally downloaded doomhouse.avi along with swap.avi and some other really awful bits of poo poo that I accumulated back then. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZLwM3nyY5g This is Fragmaster talking about F-Zero GX Story Mode 7, and I still also quote this thing. OniKun fucked around with this message at 22:46 on Nov 11, 2021 |
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Nov 11, 2021 22:43
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AHH F/UGH posted:Lowtax gave us Fragmaster, and Frags gave us the best video ever made once he learned that HL2 had lip syncing: this was frags best imo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1TrC7SuN4s
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Nov 11, 2021 22:43
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what was that announcement lowtax made about redesigning the forums as some kind of augmented or virtual reality thing? i remember him describing fyad as a pink castle in the sky and the entire thing was hilarious in part because he sounded high out of his skull
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Nov 11, 2021 22:50
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AHH F/UGH posted:Lowtax gave us Fragmaster, and Frags gave us the best video ever made once he learned that HL2 had lip syncing: wha... I made that with Fragmaster's voice, he didn't make it! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TtHIIX8d44 Colorfinger fucked around with this message at 22:54 on Nov 11, 2021 |
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Nov 11, 2021 22:51
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Wait are you saying that's NOT frags? That's pretty wild how close you got it. In that case, Colorfinger made the best video of all time. And also the worst with the ebaums world song, which I'll never forgive Neil Cic for. Okay here's something frags actually did, and includes a cameo from one of the Mega64 guys, and I think was filmed in the old PlanetQuake office where Lowtax and Frags worked together or something https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddvttIgThQw FILLMAFF WITH A WIRED PAIR OF COWBOYS https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0AH4GXb0VtM I think Frags was actually into Poker AHH F/UGH fucked around with this message at 23:03 on Nov 11, 2021 |
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Nov 11, 2021 22:58
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I still think about pretty much all the old Flash Tubs like Peezle Ward's Christmas and the Hollywood Montrose remix every day. It's a damned shame
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Nov 11, 2021 23:01
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bill fillmaff is GOAT i also love at the end of doom house 2 when frags says "i'm so.... BOARD" because he got killed by a board
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Nov 11, 2021 23:02
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hamburgers in pockets posted:I still think about pretty much all the old Flash Tubs like Peezle Ward's Christmas and the Hollywood Montrose remix every day. It's a damned shame yeah he didn't write most of Peezle Ward either lol. That was scripted by some other person that Shmorky had a contact with, and then I read it with the worst acting possible.
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Nov 11, 2021 23:15
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AHH F/UGH posted:Wait are you saying that's NOT frags? No no that is him, I just did the animation. AHH F/UGH posted:Okay here's something frags actually did, and includes a cameo from one of the Mega64 guys, and I think was filmed in the old PlanetQuake office where Lowtax and Frags worked together or something lol I'm in this too as the animated rich guy in ep 5. a lot of that was shot at the same time that we shot footage for mega64 version 2 ep 6 (i think?) which frags is also in with me https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFKhq2_8RdY AHH F/UGH posted:I think Frags was actually into Poker yeah he was Colorfinger fucked around with this message at 23:19 on Nov 11, 2021 |
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Nov 11, 2021 23:16
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Remember when he had a really bad idea about an SA MMORPG or some bullshit and when people said it was a bad idea he got really butthurt and banned a bunch of people? That was pretty funny. Oh and that time he killed himself.
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Nov 11, 2021 23:23
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hamburgers in pockets posted:I still think about pretty much all the old Flash Tubs like Peezle Ward's Christmas and the Hollywood Montrose remix every day. It's a damned shame I still remember "Taco teh wodoner dog" and a hilariously stupid flash animation with a catchy jingle called "Inspectar Urine". Alas... even though I found the page, I'm not set up to play flash animations right now. I'm not sure if Taco was Lowtax though, or someone else. But this thread wouldn't be complete without a mention of JeffK. Wow. The ultimate proto-edgelord h4x0r spoof. I found a list of JeffK articles that still seem to work. Ish. Edward Mass posted:BEAN BAG CHAIR I looked for this, but it seems to have been destroyed by time and the universe like a lot of other things. Apparently some company decided it would be a good idea to send Lowtax bean bag chairs to review. I'm sure they regretted it. There's a lot of hilariously horrible things I can picture Lowtax doing with a bean bag chair. vandalism posted:I like the thing where he was chatting with someone on like aol instant messenger and went on about how he was posting from inside his fridge. I'm not sure if most of the pranks were with AIM or ICQ or both. I remember I had a six digit ICQ number, and that somehow became a big ePenis deal right before everyone quit using ICQ, with people actually selling their short ICQ numbers to people who actually gave a poo poo about that sort of thing. The weird thing about ICQ was how random people could just bug you for a conversation, and Lowtax made the most out of that with his pranks. Trash Ops posted:what was that announcement lowtax made about redesigning the forums as some kind of augmented or virtual reality thing? i remember him describing fyad as a pink castle in the sky and the entire thing was hilarious in part because he sounded high out of his skull I don't remember this one either, but I can totally imagine it.
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Nov 11, 2021 23:26
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Demonachizer posted:Remember when he had a really bad idea about an SA MMORPG or some bullshit and when people said it was a bad idea he got really butthurt and banned a bunch of people? That was pretty funny. Oh and that time he killed himself. i think that was what i was describing, it was wild
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Nov 11, 2021 23:28
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Nov 11, 2021 23:29
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I don't recall a single thing he created other than the forums that was legitimately funny or good.
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Nov 11, 2021 23:30
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sigher posted:I don't recall a single thing he created other than the forums that was legitimately funny or good. That's okay. You can think that. I disagree, even though I often didn't embrace his brand of humor. I think when he did nail a gag, it was epic though. That debate aside, he did make some good points in many other areas, many of which related to the sociology of the internet as a whole. "The Internet Makes You Stupid" was kind of prophetic. Think about that aspect of Lowtax as a different version from the past, if you must. For example: Here's a clip from when he spoke at The University of Illinois about SA, forum moderation, the current (then) state of the Internet, and where he predicted it all was going. He came up with this typically titled Lowtax analogy called "The Parrot rear end Club". I'm linking to that portion of the video below *( ...if it doesn't work jump to 24:52). That part of the speech has echoed through my head ever since I heard it, and I can't help but think about it more and more with all the crazy conspiracy wackadoodle stuff that the internet has spawned over time, and how various Parrot rear end Clubs slowly became accepted as fact by the masses and wound up influencing the entire direction of the country, if not the world. His whole speech is actually really good, and a must-watch if you're interested in the history of SA whether you agree with his observations or not. So, yeah, Lowtax actually did crank out some objectively good things... such as the forum you are posting on.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Gvo1uWAhHc Ramen Pride! fucked around with this message at 00:24 on Nov 12, 2021 |
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Nov 11, 2021 23:47
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Ramen Pride! posted:
Aw, that ad was stuck in my head all last night and I was gonna go look for it after work. Iirc it was Sumo beanbags, who were just going and mailing their beanbags to all sorts of internet people to get them to advertise for them. Like Loss.jpg era Tim Buckley.
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Nov 12, 2021 00:23
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2umyUC1BGs One of the few videos from lowtax that genuinely made me laugh because having been to a shitload of trade shows in my industry this could literally be an advert for any of them.
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Nov 12, 2021 00:46
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Drone_Fragger posted:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2umyUC1BGs lol, the first few bits from gaming garbage were actually pretty solid. thought we were due for a forums and comedy renaissance
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Nov 12, 2021 00:47
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Drone_Fragger posted:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2umyUC1BGs Honestly I loved that video and this one I used to watch them all the time https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSfr8C60VgM
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Nov 12, 2021 00:50
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Every now and then I think about The Macabre Fantasy Artwork of Ray O'Bannon, and lol. Possibly my favorite WTF D&D, not sure if it was the only one with ole Lotwax in it. Also Lowtax and Shmorky were a good duo for a pretty long while https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FAf0bTdEGrM
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Nov 12, 2021 00:58
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Seth Pecksniff posted:Honestly I loved that video and this one well well loving well
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Nov 12, 2021 01:04
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Does anyone have that gaming garbage video of the side scroller shooter that lotwax as playing and the hostages would say "PLEASE" repeatedly until they got freed and would say "hmgongolobalaistaradreeb" or something of that nature?
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Nov 12, 2021 01:10
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