LOADED

"One week... that's what 'hope' is."

Magical Me

Mike sent me some of the pictures from James' birthday party where I did some magic.

View them here and click on the "<--" button

Did you see this too?

I could've sworn I saw this exact thing on TV. Was this recorded from someone's DVR?

Wednesday Music

MUTEMATH - Typical


And maybe it's just me... but I have a soft spot for Lupe Fiasco. Why? Two words: He's SMART!


Lupe Fiasco - Kick Push

This week and NEW GAME GET

Been pretty busy this week. Work is long and arduous.

Tuesday the 14th I got Megaman 9. Day-um. If you have a Wii, and you don't have this game yet... you NEED it.

Wednesday the 15th I watched the Bella Lugosi Dracula movie. Meh.

Thursday the 16th I played MONSTERPOCALYPSE at the Haven. It's ok. Not the best, but pretty ok. I play the giant robots. Sky Sentinel will save us all!

Friday the 17th Max, Eric, & Nancy (Eric's girlfriend) came over to the Museum to help me with some computer stuff. We played a few games, but it was a pretty weird evening.

But I DID get Super Robot Taisen Z for the PS2. Super Robot Taisen (Wars) is a long running series taking robots from MANY anime and manga and putting them all in one game. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overman_King_Gainer, The Big O, Zambot 3, Daitarn 3, Xabungle, Gundam, Mazinger Z, Great Mazinger, Getter Robo G, Grendizer, God Sigma and many others... TONS of robots/mechs. And it's a really decent strategy game too.

Friday was also the release of the Mother 3 English Patch.

Mother 3 is the 3rd installment of a cult classic on the NES/SNES. It only came out here in the US for the Super Nintendo (as Earthbound) but it died a slow painful death. Well fans have been trying to keep it alive by spreading the 'word'.

When Mother 3 came out two years ago (only in Japan) the fans went nuts, but many couldn't enjoy the story. Two years later, they can. And I gotta tell you that it's TOTALLY worth it.

I have never played Earthbound although I have gotten a NES cartridge of the original Mother game for the NES through NES Reproductions. It had an English patch, but it was too "grinding" to play and enjoy.

This one is a bit of grinding as well, but the story is so deep and interesting... and ADULT that you get lost in it. You want to know more. I cannot suggest enough you finding the ROM of the game *cough*HERE*cough* and downloading the patch. Oh, and here's a really decent emulator.


Saturday the 18th I performed my first birthday party as a magician. I didn't charge for it (for one, because it was for my good friend Mike Ruch's son James... and two, because I'm not good enough to charge yet) but it gave me a LOT of insight to performing for children.

I think it went well, and what I heard from my wife (who was surprisingly well enough to be there for about an hour... she's been really sick) the kids liked it.

It was nerve racking, but I think it was passable. I can definitely see why children's magicians do a 20 minute act, though... MAN what a tough crowd. I also see why many of them do extra stuff as well (doing balloon animals afterward) to account for their fee.

One kid really surprised me, though. He was an older boy and hung out with the "older" kids. He had short blonde hair and while he was with the "cooler" crowd, when the other older kids went off on their bikes... he stayed and played with the little kids. It really impressed me and he was really nice to everyone during the whole afternoon. Really impressed me.

And here's how to take scratches off of CDs and DVDs using toothpaste, peanut butter, soda pop, and baking soda...

So... what if...

...the "Lost Boys" from the movie "Pan" became teens?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UtUI5MC9tVM

I hear that this is what the "cool kids" today are listening to.

Loves me some Little Miss Gamer

I love this episode.


And this made me think of Jen and our WiiFit

There ain't no school like Old-School!

Jen and I have been watching old episodes of Voltron on DVD. Man... so many memories! And I found DVDs for Battle of the Planets/Gatchaman.

But below, when I was first getting into anime (Japanimation as we called it) in the 1986/87, my friend Mark Salisbury showed me this video he had gotten (ON LASERDISK!). A daicon is a Japanese radish. 'Dai' can mean 'big' or 'great'. Con... like convention. DAICON! So much fun.

I can't believe I found this video on YouTube! Technology is amazing.

And the scary thing: I used to be able to name about 80% of the characters.

Now I just need to find a DVD copy of 'Robot Carnival', and I'll explode from ani-memories.



And come to find out that one of Jen & my favorite stories/movies/tv shows from Japan (Densha Otoko) had an opening for the live action TV show based upon this video. Talk about an "inside joke"! Only serious otaku (nerds) would get that reference!



And the entire album (Time - ELO) is FANTASTIC. One of my top 5 albums.

The Nintendo DSi

Thoughts? Downloadable content will NOT be region-free.

- 3.25 inch LCD screen (versus the DS Lite’s 3 inch screen)
- Two .3-megapixel cameras equal to a maximum resolution of 640×480
- Will be able to sync with the Wii Photo Channel and edit photos
- SD slot on right-hand side.
- On-board memory
- Comes with web browser (presumably Opera-based) and will support music playback with adjustable pitch and playback rate.
- Will launch with the DS equivalent of WiiWare in which you can download new titles for the DS (Wii Points now officially called Nintendo Points)
- DS Ware titles range from free/300/500/800
- No GBA slot
- 18900 yen ($180 US)
- Battery charging time: ~2.5 hours
- Battery charge length:
lowest brightness: ~9-14 hours
low brightness: ~8-12 hours
medium brightness: ~6-9 hours
high brightness: ~4-6 hours
highest (3-Suns) brightness: ~3-4 hours
- The DSi will be released in white and matte black on November 1st in Japan, 2009 elsewhere.



On the bright side, CLUB NINTENDO will be coming to the States! Now there's a reason to buy Nintendo products: free stuff!!!

And when did I miss that Jack "Douchebag" Thompson has been officially disbarred?

And now, Hitler is BANNED from X-BOX-Live! Can this day get any better? I say it cannot, my friend!

October brings... the SCARY!

Last year I played horror video games. It was fun and I discovered some really fun games. I also watched some movies based on those games.

This year I decided that since I haven't played Castlevania I would go that route. And movies? Dracula movies, of course!

Last week Jen, Dale and I watched "NOSFERATU: Phantom der Nacht" from 1979. Pretty creepy... but being an artsy Werner Herzog film, it was pretty funny in some places.

This week we're watching "Shadow of the Vampire" from 2000 with Willem Dafoe. I'll also be playing the original NES classic CASTLEVANIA. I do have the NES version, so I don't need to get it on the virtual console... but if you don't have it you might want to play it for the October season.

Don't say that there's nothing to listen to.

Two of my friends make podcasts that are fun.

My good friend Derek Knight does the "Son Of Cheese Half-Hour Power Hour". It's mostly just talking, but we have fun. There are the occasional interviews with famous-type people and it's really good. It can be friend/group specific but Derek and Collin really make the show worth listening to. And I'm not just saying that because they're my friends. Does have adult language.

Paul Drager (a friend of mine from work) does the "Unnamed Radio Show". It's a nice mix of music "that you aren't listening to" that are favorites of his... or songs that inspire him. And the great thing is that he TELLS you what the songs and artists are. It's well edited and the fourth podcast is packed with good indy music.

Be sure to listen to them and make comments on those pages. I'm sure they'd love to hear from you.

Also, a GREAT song HERE. Ryan Adams - La Cienega Just Smiled.

Click on the red dot with the white arrow.

TAKE THAT!

For years, I have been SICK of ebay sellers jacking me with overpriced shipping prices.

They do this to avoid paying ebay fees... but no more.

Starting in October, ebay is going to have shipping MAXIMUMS! They're going to force these @$$-hats who sell something (buy it now) for .01 and ship it for $15 to stop their shennanigans!

So they HAVE to ship it for $4... or whatever. They can probably get around it by doing something with the shipping calculator... but it'll be tough.

So yay.

And a big "thank you" to those sellers who, like me, try hard to make shipping costs realistic.

Wild Wild Life

So I'm going to my old and dear friend Eric's house for his 22nd birthday party. There's going to be Rock Band there. Yay. Games, beer, games, food, games... and I think there may be some games there.

So I was going through the Rock Band 2 set-list, you know... getting ready for tonight (lalalala) and I discovered that... well, it wasn't as good as I thought it was going to be.

Frankly, it sucks.

Which makes me even more excited for Guitar Hero 4's set-list in a month. MAN! Smashing Pumpkins songs up the wazoo with Billy Corgan as a PLAYABLE CHARACTER!!! Oh, and other playable characters like Sting, Ozzy, The 'Nuge', Hendrix, and Travis Friggin' Barker as well!

CanitgetmuchbetterIsayitcannotmyfriend!

Oh, and "Samba De Amigo" next week.

Woot.

Cool game alert!

If you like Baseball, I have a treat for you.

I found a game that is pretty spiffin' cool, and uses your baseball cards (as long as they have stats on the backs) to "play baseball". And get this: it's easy and it's LESS THAN $5!

It's called the "All-Star Baseball Card Game" and it's put out by ABCGame Company. It's non-collectible because, as said before, it uses regular-ol baseball cards!

I bought 3 copies of the game since it was so cheap to give to my friend Derek and Paul (and one for myself). Paul and I are play-testing it with a game here at work (well, during our breaks).

A single inning can last as long as 3 minutes. 5 minutes if you're on a streak.

For $5 you get rules that fit on both sides of a single piece of paper (with good clear rules and examples), 2 dice (a 12 and 10 sider), and a box to hold either a "team" of 10 cards/rules/and the dice... or a bunch of cards (with the dice fitting in your pocket and the rules in your wallet). Really, all the guys are selling are the rules.

Unlike some other games that use cards but ignore the player stats, the baseball card stats actually matter here. There may be times where a bit of math is involved, but it's VERY elementary math and (especially if you're a baseball fan) you know how to do it already.

Basically, one player gets their pitcher ready, and the other person chooses their lineup. Then you roll dice. According to the numbers you both rolled (and according to the stats on the back of the cards) you either hit the ball and advance, foul, or are struck out.

Sound simple? It is.

I can't go into detail without telling you the rules, but if you are a baseball fan, I would buy this game. The company is good about communication (within 2 days) and good about shipping (I got the game within 7 days of my order). And shipping for 3 games was inexpensive as well ($3).

I'm writing about this because I want you all to support independent game makers. And for just $5, it's really worth it.

Now, for you FOOTBALL guys, they have a FREE Football game, but it's a bit more complicated. The main Football page is HERE.

Dragon? You can have her!

LEGOOOOOOO!!!

One of my favorite films...

And one of the best moments in film history.

YES YES YES YES!!!!!

What were your favorites?

Dale and I got to talking about the Sesame Street songs that we were totally "emo" over.

What were yours? Post a link in the comments area.

Man, sometimes I really miss the 70's.

Dale's:


Mine:


And we can't forget these songs... I was TOTALLY emo for these.