Because we’re always on the trailing edge of internet memes (and because I only recently found out what those captioned cat photos all over the web are called), we pay tribute to the phenomenon that will one day soon fall into the category “You Had To Be There”: Lolcats. They’re cute, they’re funny, and they’d probably amuse and scare the elderly in equal proportions.
But wait, there’s oh so much more…
Like 4/5ths of the free world, we recently finished Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and, like 4/5ths of the free world and their grandmothers, here’s a blog entry about our reaction. Click below to read, but beware of monster spoilers.
(Erich: What follows is a pretty long post, folks, with plenty of twists and turns, and maybe a picture or two? But, heck. It’s the least we can do to mark the end of such a great series!)
In 1999, director Wes Anderson made Rushmore—one of my favorite movies of all time. It’s one of the very few films I could (and have) finish watching and immediately watch again. Since 2000, he’s made a pair of movies that, while not as complete an experience as Rushmore, are way more interesting than the majority of Hollywood dreck: the brilliantly ambitious The Royal Tenebaums (2001), and the quirky, yet deeply flawed, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004).
Though the past three years of silence made me nervous about ever seeing another Wes Anderson film (the last place I saw him was an American Express commercial), a trailer for his upcoming film about brothers reconnecting on a trip to India, The Darjeeling Limited, has hit the web and it looks—and, thanks to the Kinks, sounds—great! Hit the link below to check it out:
(Oh, and before anybody starts whining about Owen Wilson being in it, you should know he got started writing with Anderson. In fact, they wrote Rushmore together, which is why I’ll defend Wilson to the grave, no matter how many Starsky & Hutch-es or You, Me and Duprees he makes.)
In this modern wasteland of licensed video game crap, it’s hard to imagine a time when a game based on a Disney property could have been more than a shameless money-grab based on “High School Musical.” Somehow, though, in 1989 Capcom released one of my favorite NES games (and the best in their line of excellent Disney-licensed carts): DuckTales.
Those of you old enough to remember rushing home after school for some “Disney Afternoon” action know all about the animated half-hour adventures of Scrooge McDuck, his nephews Huey, Dewey and Louie, Launchpad McQuack, Mrs. Beakely, and the Beagle Boys. It was a great show, full of action and humor. While I haven’t revisited it, for fear it might not live up to my memories, the NES video game adaptation is a classic, even today.
The gameplay is pretty straightforward: you control Scrooge as he searches the world for hidden treasures. What sets this game apart from other platformers is how you use ol’ Scroogey’s cane. By jumping then pressing down + “B” at the same time (as ingrained in my brain as the Contra code), you turn the cane into a pogo stick that lets you bounce safely over spike pits and off of enemies’ heads, as well as reveal jewels and energy-replenishing layer cakes hidden (where else?) in rocks. Besides the pogo trick, you can also use the cane like a golf club to launch rocks at giant insects–not many billionaires can do that. Well, maybe Richard Branson.
Thankfully, you the game has three difficulty settings: To make up for the its being crazy-short (you can blow through all six levels in less than half an hour if you know what you’re doing), they made it crazy-hard. It’s pretty much three strikes and you’re out, with unforgiving enemy patterns and jumps that require precision pogo-ing.
Though I could go on about gameplay, the real reason I love this game is the music. This game has some of the best music in any game…ever (behind only two other Capcom games: Mega Man II and Mega Man III).
Don’t believe me? Check out these sample mp3s from the game:
Such a great game. Too bad it’ll probably never come to the Wii’s virtual console, what with all the complicated licenses and rights and such. Just think: a whole generation of kids will grow up thinking the world’s richest duck works for AFLAC…sigh.
Funny you should mention that Erich, because last week I was mowing my lawn when I looked up at the sky and noticed a cloud that looked just like this kid Jerome Gulisano I knew in middle school that was allergic to tangerines!
So, last night I was having dinner with my wife and I put a napkin in my mouth and pretended I was an albino duck…and then I asked her if she got the memo! It was so funny!
Dominic Santini is the fictional co-pilot from the hit ’80s action show Airwolf. Grizzled and wise, Dom served as a level-headed balance to the fiery Stringfellow Hawke, the pilot of the titular battle copter. To channel his anger from having to play second fiddle, Dom poured his angst into the composition of aggressive Japanese poetry.
Hammer Meets Thumb
Driving nails all day,
Fatigue sets in–lose focus!
Tears of pain cascade.
–Dominic Santini