Turtle: This is where you should be living, Vince. In a kingdom, like a prince.
Eric: Don’t you mean in a kingdom like a king, you idiot?
Vince: Nah, E. Everyone wants to kill the king. But the prince, he just sails along telling all the ladies, “One day I’m gonna be king.”
From Philidelphia Daily News:
Michelle Luciano usually spends her days selling orthodontic equipment – from braces to retainers – to dentists from her desk at Masel Enterprises in Bristol.
But yesterday, her job included hopping on a bouncing ball, tumbling on an air mattress, jumping through hoops (sort of), pushing a toddler’s plastic lawn mower through an obstacle course, and running with an egg on a spoon.
If it’s 10:30 on a Wednesday morning, it must be adult recess at Masel.
Yesterday was a picture-perfect day to escape the office and warehouse for company-wide relay races on the back lawn.
Besides outside water-balloon tosses and basketball, there are also indoor remote-control-car races, electric-slide dances in the lunchroom, and games of Simon Says.
“Fifteen minutes out of work,” laughed Luciano, of Philadelphia, “we’re all about that.”
Former casino dancer Victoria Martin, the marketing coordinator who started adult recess two years ago, said the program builds teamwork across departments, improves morale, and creates a happy workplace.
OK, it’s totally corny.
And if it happened in Scranton, on the NBC TV series The Office, it would be the usual disaster of embarrassing miscues with grumpy workers dragooned into participation.
But for some reason, it works at Masel, and sales rep Christopher Simon, from Philadelphia, put his finger on why: “Recess is a manifestation of what goes on here normally. You have to get work done, but it’s a playful atmosphere.”
Ok, I am definitely emailing this article to my boss. Toddler plastic lawnmower racing? Water balloon tossing? I am in! (Actually, I just like the idea of spending as much time as possible, not in my office).
Tyson passed along the following link to me. It’s a new touchscreen “coffee table” computer just announced by Microsoft.
The video’s a couple minutes long, but make sure you watch until at least the three-minute mark. It’s amazing what they do with the digital camera and PDA. Wow.
> Click Here to check out the video.
Last night after my incredibly enjoyable dentist appointment (note the sarcasm), Michaela and I sat down to watch a movie. It seemed like it’d been a long time since we’d done that. When it’s Summer here in Kelowna, it’s so beautiful and stays nice out until nearly 9:00pm, that sitting in front of the TV just doesn’t seem right.
We decided on the new Denzel Washington film, Deja Vu. It didn’t get necessarily the best critical reviews, but action/adventure films rarely do. I went into the movie without any expectations, which is my preference.
I enjoyed the film quite a bit. It has a pretty wacky and unrealistic premise, the it’s definitely an enjoyable, entertaining movie.
I am a big fan of director Tony Scott’s style, and have enjoyed many of his past films which include hits such as Top Gun, Beverly Hills Cop 2, Days of Thunder, True Romance, The Fan, Enemy of the State, Spy Game, Man on Fire, among others.
Denzel Washington, who made my Top 10 Favorite Actors list, was great as always. Val Kilmer, Jim Caviezel and Adam Goldberg also appear. I was also very impressed with the incredibly beautiful Paula Patton, who I had not seen before.
The film starts out with an explosion on a large cruise boat, and ATF agent Doug Carlin (Washington) is sent to investigate.
I don’t want to give away any of the plot, so I don’t want to say too much about the film. It’s the perfect choice if you’re looking for a suspenseful, “thinker” type of film. If you can get by the movie’s unrealistic and far-fetched plot, you should find it very enjoyable.
My Rating: 7.5/10
After enjoying doing the Saved by the Bell… where are they now? post, I decided to do the same thing for another one of my favorite childhood TV shows, “Family Matters”.
While writing this article, I found out something I had never known. Family Matters was a spin-off of the television hit, “Perfect Strangers”.
Family Matters centered on the Winslow family and their annoying next door neighbor, Steve Urkel. Urkel eventually became the star of the show, even though it began with him as a small side character. He was incredibly annoying, but as a young kid, I always found him hilarious. I liked the rest of the family as well, especially the dad, Carl.
The show lasted nearly ten years (running from 1989-1998), which is almost unheard of for a sitcom.
Reginald Vel Johnson (Carl Winslow)
Carl Winslow was the head of the family, and I always enjoyed his character. He absolutely could not stand Urkel, and of course Urkel wanted to be around him as much as possible. Carl was a former police officer and tried to be strict and tough, but was always put into ridiculous situations.
Most former TV stars, especially those that play older characters, don’t usually do a whole lot once their show ends. The same goes for Reginald Vel Johnson, as he continued along the usual path by having one-episode roles in various TV shows. He appeared in The Hughleys, The Fugitive, C.S.I., Crossing Jordan, Will & Grace, Ghost Whisperer and Monk.
A year into his role as Carl Winslow, Johnson had a role as a police officer in Bruce Willis’ Die Hard 2. He also appeared in a few movies after finishing up with Family Matters, but the only one I have ever heard of is the Lil’ Bow Wow film, Like Mike. He is currently working on a film called “Steppin: The Movie”, which stars Anthony Anderson and Mo’Nique.
Jaleel White (Steve Urkel)
Far and above the most popular and memorable character of the show. He was the nerdy neighbor that was constantly over at the Winslow home. He adored Carl like a Father, and was in love with the Winslow daughter, Laura.
He also played seven other characters on Family Matters, all of them some sort of take on Urkel himself. Whether it be one of the Urkel cousins, a historical person such as Albert Einstein or of course his infamous alter ego, Stephan Urquelle.
Jaleel White was very successful as Urkel, but hasn’t managed to turn that success into much of an acting career.
Before working on Family Matters, White actually appeared in the early version of Saved by the Bell, called Good Morning Miss Bliss. He made an appearance in 1991 on Full House, playing the Steve Urkel character.
White voiced the character of Sonic on the Sonic the Hedgehog cartoon in the early 90′s. He also appeared on episodes of The Fresh Price of Bel-Air, Step-by-Step and Boston Legal.
He has landed roles in a few straight-to-video releases, and his most high-profile role was a talent booker in the hit film Dreamgirls, starring Beyonce Knowles and Eddie Murphy.
JoMarie Payton (Harriette Winslow)
JoMarie Payton played Carl’s wife, Harriette. She was always giving poor Carl a hard time. She was a strong-willed character, and was never afraid to be blunt and up-front with people.
After Family Matters, she had one-episode roles on The Jamie Foxx Show, 7th Heaven, The Hughleys, Reba and Judging Amy. She also landed a re-occurring role on Will & Grace, playing “Mrs. Freeman”.
More recently, she appeared in an episode of Desperate Housewives.
She is currently working on a film called “Let’s Ride” which lists such superstars as Ray J and the former Mrs. Federline, Shar Jackson as cast members. Family Matters was easily the highlight of her career, and I doubt that will change anytime soon.
Kellie Shanygne Williams (Laura Winslow)
The only real role of Laura Winslow, as far as I remember, was to play the love interest of Steve Urkel. I don’t remember a single moment of her character that didn’t somehow involve being pursued by the nerdy Urkel.
Her career has been basically non-existent since Family Matters came to an end. She has appeared in two episodes of Moesha, one episode of The Parkers, and three episodes of Eve. She was also a part of the “I Love the 90′s” TV special.
She is currently working with her former TV Dad, Reginald Vel Johnson, in the film Steppin: The Movie.
Darius McCrary (Eddie Winslow)
Eddie was the rebellious youngster of the Winslow clan. It seemed that he was getting grounded nearly every episode. He was good buddies with Urkel, which is not something you usually see of the “sports jock” type character.
It seems I could write the same thing for each one of the former cast members, as it seems they have all worked on the same shows after Family Matters ended. McCrary also appeared in an episode of Moesha and in two episodes of Eve.
He has had a little more success in films, with small roles in Park Day, 15 Minutes and Hostage. One of his bigger roles was playing “Muhammed Ali” in the TV movie, Don King: Only in America.
McCrary was a part of the TV specials, 101 Craziest TV Moments and 101 Even Bigger Celebrity Oops.
Along with several other former Family Matters co-stars, he is appearing in, as well as co-producing, the film Steppin: The Movie.
Rosetta LeNoire (Estelle “Mother” Winslow)
Estelle was Carl’s Mother, and moved into the family’s home in the first episode. This of course did not please Carl, and neither did her frequent dates and her love for men. She enjoyed the company of Steve Urkel, and during the show married part-time character Fletcher Thomas.
Most of LeNoire’s career happened prior to Family Matters, having only one role after Family Matters completed. She appeared as a nurse in one episode of “Cosby”.
One neat fact about her, is that she used to babysit James Earl Jones (the voice of Star Wars’ Darth Vader) when he was an infant.
Rosetta LeNoire died on March 17, 2002 at the age of 91.
Telma Hopkins (Rachel Crawford)
Rachel Crawford was Harriette’s sister, and along with her son Richie, moved into the Winslow home after her husband passed away. She was a budding singer, and also opened up a restaurant called “Rachel’s Place”, which was the local teenager hang-out. She appeared in various episodes throughout the shows span, missing only a few episodes here and there.
Telma Hopkins went on to appear in TV shows ER, Suddenly Susan, The Hughleys, and had a full-time role on Half & Half.
The Other Characters…
Jaimee Foxworth (Judy Winslow)
Judy was the youngest daughter of the Winslow’s. She started out as a regular character when the show began, but soon became nothing more than a background character, and by the fourth season, she was written out of the show entirely. As an inside joke later on in the show, someone asked where she was, and Harriette replied, “she is upstairs cleaning her room”. This is in reference to the fact she was last seen heading upstairs, and it’s joked that she’s never come back downstairs since. Jaimee Foxworth has gone on to appear in highly acclaimed films “Hot Girlz”, “More Black Dirty Debutantes 30″ and “My Baby Got Back 29″. They sound like porn movies? Well, that’s exactly what they are.
Bryton McClure (Richie Crawford)
Richie Crawford was the Winslow’s nephew, and Rachel’s son. He appeared in 54 episodes between 1990 and 1997. I could not stand this character, as he annoyed me to no end. McClure has gone on to star in The Young & The Restless as “Devon Hamilton”.
Shawn Harrison (Waldo Faldo)
Waldo Faldo was Eddie Winslow’s dim-witted best friend, and he was seen in 53 episodes from 1990-1996. Shawn Harrison had one-episode roles in Moesha and Eve, and has a leading role in the television show, Legion of Super-Heroes. He also has a re-occurring role in Girlfriends.
Cherie Johnson (Maxine)
Maxine was Laura Winslow’s best friend. She dated Eddie’s friend Waldo Faldo throughout the show’s run. Cherie Johnson’s uncle was David Duclon, a famous producer of many TV shows of the 70′s and 80′s. He created “Punky Brewster”, and in honor of his niece, created a character using her name. She insisted she wanted the role, and after several auditions, got it. She played “herself” for 86 episodes over four years. After Family Matters, she has appeared on a few TV shows and a few small films, none of which are worth mentioning.
So, after all that, we’ve found out where the cast of Family Matters are now. For all of the cast members, Family Matters has easily been the highlight of their respective careers. I’m not sure who has achieved the most success following the shows end, but you’d have to make the argument for Jaleel “Steve Urkel” White. Although the show lasted for nine seasons, he is probably the only character anyone remembers.
From RGJ.com:
Police seized more than 1,500 pairs of girls’ shoes from the home and storage unit of a man arrested for breaking into a high school, police said Tuesday.
‘He liked to smell them,’ said Lt. William H. Graham.
Police said the recovered shoes may be related to the burglaries of three Waukesha public high schools and a middle school over the past two years.
The 27-year-old Kenosha man, who was not identified because had yet to be formally charged, worked for a cable company and collected keys to the schools as he responded to calls, Graham said. The same man was convicted in 2005 for stealing shoes from Kenosha Tremper High School.
Police arrested him after a security video showed him entering North High School on May 20 and leaving with some items, authorities said.
Yeah, I can see why he’d do this… smelly used shoes really get me going, too. Wow, a nut job. You’d think he find better ways to occupy his time… like you know, working at getting a girlfriend, maybe?
Even though I had seen it before, the hilarious Jes Golbez recently posted this picture of Chris Chelios. It still manages to crack me up, though.
In the photo, Chelios gets a laugh out of a fan’s sign…
Those of you that aren’t familiar with Mr. Ricci are probably wondering ‘who the hell is Mike Ricci, and why is this funny?’
Well, this is Mike Ricci…
Needless to say… that is not a compliment. Mike Ricci is famous among hockey fans as being quite possibly the ugliest player in the history of the game.
Ahhh, how I love them Canucks’ fans.
You can find out what happened on your birthday thanks to a site called, Kakorama.
By entering in your birth date, the website will tell you what famous people are born on the same day as you, who was on the cover of Rolling Stone and Time Magazine that week, what the top song was on that day, and more.
Some of the interesting things I found out were that western gunslinger and American pioneer Buffalo Bill shares the same birthday as me, Bill Murray was on the cover of Rolling Stone, the average price of a dozen eggs was .84 cents, and I was born on a Friday.
The top song on my birthday was “Centerfold” by the J. Geils Band.
Also, if I was a Martian and was born on Mars, I’d only be 13.4 years old thanks to their years lasting 687 days each.
If you’d like to find out about your birthday, click here.
A new website has started up, called The Cute Project. If there’s one thing that even I’ll admit I find incredibly cute, it’s baby animals. This site is not entirely baby animals, but it does have over 16 pages of cute animal pictures.
Here’s an example of the types of pictures they have…
With the way Google.com is slowly taking over the world, here’s a good guess at where they’ll be in 20 years…
These are pretty cool. Available only in Japan, are the “bikini girl golf tees”. Quite the neat little addition to your golf game.
I haven’t golfed a lot over the past few years, but it’s something I’d like to get back into. The one problem I had with golf though, is it made me so frustrated every time I played.
There is so much open field, yet there always seemed to be a 99% chance my ball would end up in the bushes, in water or on another hole. Why? Well I guess I know the answer, and it’s that “I suck at golf”. But still… golf should not be so frustrating.
I do enjoy going to the driving range, though. The driving range has always seemed like such a great way to blow off stress. You get your platform and your little bucket o’ balls, and you get to continually hit them as hard as you want over and over. And the best part is, it doesn’t matter where the balls go. Well, except when you’re trying to hit that kid driving around in the “ball picker upper” cart.
How much more fun would golf be if instead of trying to get the ball into a little hole, the object of the game was to hit kids that randomly ran around the course?
Anyways, I thought these golf tees were something different. Whether it improves your game or not, I don’t know.. ? But I guess who cares about a golf score when you have a bikini girl holding your balls.
Haha, sorry that was pretty awful.
Source: Tokyo Times
Last night I was looking to watch something light, and went with the CGI film, Barnyard. I hadn’t really heard a lot about it, so I wasn’t expecting much.
The film is about a barnyard of animals that get wild n’ crazy when the farmer’s not around. The main character is a cow named Otis (voiced by Kevin James). He doesn’t like responsibility and just wants to have fun all day. His Dad, Ben, is the “leader” at the farm, and is the complete opposite of Otis. When coyotes threaten the farm, it’s up to Otis to either shape up, or let his friend’s be attacked.
The movie starts out pretty slow, but picks up about mid-way through. It’s definitely in the lower class of CGI films (although the animation is great), but it’s still worth the watch. It’s more geared towards kids, and not as much for adults, whereas films like Finding Nemo or The Incredibles were entertaining for both.
If you have kids, I’m sure they will love it, but unless you really like CGI films, or are in the mood for something light, don’t expect a whole lot from Barnyard.
My Rating: 6/10
The newest trends and looks are always changing. They always have and always will. But every once and a while, and a lot more often than it should, something really stupid comes along. Shoulder pads in women’s jackets, frosted tips, parachute pants, anything with glitter on it… you get the point.
The latest in the long line of really stupid trends, is the big waist belt. What the hell is this thing?
It is almost impossible for the big waist belt to look good. At best, it looks ridiculous. At worst… well… it compares to this.
Often, but not always, it’s overweight girls wearing them in some sort of effort to make their waist appear smaller. The idea in itself is absolutely moronic. You want to hide that large stomach by wearing a huge freakin’ god-awful looking belt around it? Are you RETARDED? Do you not realize the horrid belt just BRINGS attention to that large mid-section, and makes you look even FATTER?!?
“Hey, I don’t want anyone to notice how big my stomach is, so I’m going to wear a regular outfit that doesn’t look too bad, and then I’m gonna slap on a huge attention-grabbing blocky belt around my waist. Yeah, it’ll look awesome!”
Is this seriously how women think?
Girls… if any of you have one of these belts… throw it away. You look ridiculous. Anyone who tells you different is lying to you.
Then again, what do I know about fashion? This is one of my favorite T-shirts.
Tony Montana: “What you lookin’ at? You all a bunch of f*ckin’ assholes. You know why? You don’t have the guts to be what you wanna be? You need people like me. You need people like me so you can point your f*ckin’ fingers and say, “That’s the bad guy.” So… what that make you? Good? You’re not good. You just know how to hide, how to lie. Me, I don’t have that problem. Me, I always tell the truth. Even when I lie. So say good night to the bad guy! Come on. The last time you gonna see a bad guy like this again, let me tell you. Come on. Make way for the bad guy. There’s a bad guy comin’ through! Better get outta his way!”
I finally got around to watching the critically acclaimed and Oscar nominated film, Blood Diamond. Wow, was I ever impressed. What an incredible film.
The film stars Leonardo DiCaprio (nominated for Best Actor) and Djimon Hounsou (nominated for Best Supporting Actor). Neither won their respective awards, but both were equally as worthy as the eventual winners. DiCaprio continues to blow me away with his performances. He is in the upper echelon of actors right now. I have always been a fan of Hounsou, dating back to his performances in Amistad and Gladiator.
Blood Diamond is a very serious film and centers around a very disturbing topic, but the one word I would use to describe the film, is “beautiful”. The filming is breath-taking, and director Edward Zwick (Last Samurai, Courage Under Fire, Glory, The Siege) does an incredible job. The scenery in the film wonderfully contrasts the extreme situations the characters are involved in.
The film focuses on the African country Sierra Leonne in 1999, where the dangerous diamond export business is wreaking havoc the entire country. Solomon Vandy (Hounsou) is an enslaved diamond-miner that finds a rare “blood diamond”. Danny Archer (DiCaprio) is a diamond smuggler that hears of Vandy’s findings, and tries to partner with him to ensure he become rich off of the rare diamond. The country is in the middle of a Civil War, and the rebels are very interested in getting their hands on the diamond.
The film is a drama, but is quite fast paced and has a good amount of action to keep the casual movie watcher entertained. I would recommend this film to anyone, especially those who appreciate a wonderful piece of art that this film most surely is.
My Rating: 9.5/10
After recently posting about Excitebike, it got me thinking about my other favorite video games. Even though I owned many video game systems over the years, I usually stuck to the few game series’ I liked, and didn’t try a lot of different ones.
I’m sure my list will differ greatly from most others, but I guess that’s why it’s my top 12 list.
First of all, I’ve never enjoyed RPG’s (aka role playing games), so you won’t see many of them on my list. I usually like sports games and racing games, with the occasional “shoot ‘em up” games thrown in once and a while.
Most of my favorite games are from the earlier gaming systems, but there are a few more recent titles I’ve enjoyed as well. So, without further adieu… on to the list.
12. Goldeneye 007, Nintendo 64
Wikipedia: GoldenEye 007 is a first-person shooter video game for the Nintendo 64 based on the James Bond film GoldenEye. It was released in 1997. The game received positive reviews and sold over eight million copies. It has become well-known for the quality of its multiplayer deathmatch mode and its incorporation of stealth and varied objectives into its single player missions.
My thoughts: I never owned a N64, and this is the only game from that console on my list. One summer back in ’97 or ’98 I would go to a friends’ of mine and we would play this game for hours on end. I was never quite interested in the missions, but the deathmatch mode kept us entertained for hours. In my mind, it is the second best game (next to Halo) of all-time as far as the deathmatch option goes.
11. NBA Jam, Super Nintendo
Wikipedia: NBA Jam is a basketball arcade game created by Midway in 1993. It is the first entry in the NBA Jam series. Many critics claim that the release of NBA Jam gave rise to a new genre of sports games, which were based around action-packed, unrealistic gameplay. The console version takes place in the 1993-94 NBA season.
My thoughts: NBA Jam is easily my favorite basketball game of all-time. It was a game that was extremely unrealistic, yet so much fun. Trying to create the most ridiculous dunk you could do was half the fun. I still remember some of the great commentary quotes from the game, such as “he’s heating up”, or he’s on fire!”. That’s literally, as the players would actually light on fire when they performed exciting slam dunks.
10. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, XBox
Wikipedia: Vice City is a prequel to the preceding game in the series, GTA III (which takes place in 2001). The game is set in fictional Vice City, which is based on Miami, Florida. The game’s look, particularly the clothing and vehicles, reflect its 1986 setting. In contrast to the gritty urbanism of Grand Theft Auto III’s Liberty City, Vice City appears (mostly) clean and upscale, with golden beaches, waving palm trees, and vivid purple sunsets.
My thoughts: The game was originally made famous on the Playstation 2 platform, and at one point, was that console’s highest selling game. I didn’t play GTA until it was available for XBox. I immediately loved the game, having been a fan of the earlier PC version, GTA 2. My favorite part of the game was just simply driving around while trying to get as many cops as possible to chase after me.
9. Mortal Kombat 2, Super Nintendo
Wikipedia: Essentially, Mortal Kombat II is an extension of the game system of Mortal Kombat. The first player to win two rounds, by fully depleting his/her opponent’s life bar is the victor. At this point the loser’s character will become dazed and the victor is given the option of using a finishing move. In addition to the fatalities of its predecessor, the victor could also use babalities, friendships, and stage specific fatalities.
My thoughts: The best part about MK2 was trying to pull off the many different finishing moves. They could be extremely graphic, like ripping someone’s head off, or as simple as turning them into a baby. One of the best fighting games of it’s time, if not ever.
8. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV: Turtles In Time, Super Nintendo
Wikipedia: The game begins with April O’Neil reporting from Liberty Island. Suddenly, Krang flies in using a giant exosuit and steals the Statue of Liberty, moments before Shredder hijacks the airwaves to laugh at the Turtles. The Turtles jump into action in downtown New York and pursue the Foot to the streets and the city sewers, where Shredder sends them through a time warp. The Turtles must fight Shredder’s army in both the past and the future in order to get home.
My thoughts: There were many Ninja Turtles games over the years, but this one ranks as my favorite. This is one of the very few games that I actually finished (I sucked at RPG games). Turtles In Time was such a fun game, and could be played with three other friends as well.
7. Excitebike, Nintendo
Wikipedia: Whether the player chooses to race solo or against computer-assisted riders, he/she races against a certain time limit. The goal is to qualify for Excitebike (the championship) race by coming in at third place or above in the challenge race (preliminary race). In any race, the best time is 8 seconds ahead of third place.
My thoughts: Remembering this game in a recent post is what inspired me to do this top 12 list. Excitebike was one of my favorite titles on the original Nintendo platform, and was good for hours of entertainment. I’m sure I could pick up the game today and have just as much fun as a did back in the late 80′s.
6. Blades of Steel, Nintendo
Wikipedia: Blades of Steel is an ice hockey video game released by Konami for the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1988. All teams are fictional but based out of real Canadian and American cities. The game is known for its fast paced action and especially for the fighting. It is a one or two player game.
My thoughts: Blades of Steel. It’s about as simple as you can get as far as hockey video game goes. I have so many fond memories about this game. I remember you could create players, and you had three choices. One, you could make a skinny player that was extremely fast. Two, you could make a regular sized guy that had regular speed. Or you could make a fat guy that could hit everyone, but was a super-slow skater. The fighting was great, as well. If you bumped into a player three times, you fought… and the loser gets a penalty! What a great concept! Such a fun game… this game alone could entice me to buy an old Nintendo.
5. NHL 2003, XBox
Wikipedia: NHL 2003 is the eleventh edition of the popular EA Sports NHL series, a hockeyvideo game. NHL 2003 introduced a new feature, the GameBreaker. It is activated once a player performs enough “dekes” and it is used to help change the momentum of the game, such as scoring a big goal, delivering a big hit or winning a big fight.
My thoughts: There was nothing particularly special about NHL 2003. It didn’t have any real special additions or anything that makes it stand out all that much. Then why is it on my list, you ask? Well, I have probably spent more time playing this game than any other game, ever. Possibly even double as much. I played 11 full NHL seasons of this game, which is 82+ games per season. It was the main reason I bought an XBox in the first place. I’ve had many other NHL video games, but I’ve played no other more than this one, which I think rightfully places it on my list.
4. Donkey Kong Country, Super Nintendo
Wikipedia: In this game, Donkey Kong has to recover his stolen hoard of bananas from King K. Rool and the Kremlings. He has the special help of his nephew and best buddy, Diddy Kong. The game was revolutionary in that it was one of the first games for a mainstream home video game console to use pre-rendered 3-D graphics.
My thoughts: DKC was one of the highest selling and most popular games of it’s time. It’s quite possibly my favorite RPG game of all time. The game was just all-out fun, and could be played for hours upon hours. It’s the one RPG game that I kept playing even if I got stuck at a level, whereas with most games I would just give up.
3. Halo 2, XBox
Wikipedia: In the game, humans, who have developed faster-than-light travel and colonized several worlds, have been engaged in a war against a collective of genocidal alien races, the Covenant. The player assumes the roles of Master Chief and the Arbiter, and fights enemies on foot or with a collection of alien and human vehicles.
My thoughts: When it comes to playing with friends, there is no game that competes with Halo 2. The deathmatch mode is probably my favorite mode of any game ever. I absolutely love this game, and I am really regretting selling it along with my XBox a few months ago. One of the main reasons I bought an XBox 360 is for Halo 3, which I’m sure will be just as good as the originals.
2. NHL 94, Super Nintendo
Wikipedia: With two hockey games under their belt, EA released a masterpiece: NHL ’94. A game that is still played and obsessed over by hockey lovers for 10 years now, even being popular enough to be included in the Playstation 2 version of NHL 06. Key features in this game are the infamous “one-timer”, better all-around control of players, breaking the glass, the kid that sits in the stands, being able to save your records, as well as the four modes – Regular Season, Playoffs, Best of Seven, and Shootout.
My thoughts: NHL 94 was, and probably still is, the most complete NHL game ever made. It was such a fun game to play, and like it says above, it’s still talked about by not just NHL game fans, but all video game fans. Newer NHL games have had better graphics, more options, less bugs, but somehow, they all seem to pale in comparison to the great NHL 94.
1. Super Mario Kart, Super Nintendo
Wikipedia: Super Mario Kart can be played by one or two players. All gameplay uses a forced split screen view. In single player mode, the top displays the course, while the bottom screen can either display a rear-view mirror perspective, or an overhead view of the whole track, displaying where all the racers are currently. In multiplayer, the bottom screen is assigned to the second player’s view.
My thoughts: I love this game. It is my favorite video game of all time. With three hockey games on my list, Super Mario Kart still managed to beat them all out. This game was about as fun as it gets. One of the most overall enjoyable games ever made… so good in fact, that I am pretty sure I have to hit up eBay and buy a SNES just so I can play this game again.
So, there’s the list. I’m sure many of you will have much different lists, so feel free to post some of your favorites in the Comments.
Honorable mention goes to: NHL 07 (XBox 360), Superman (Arcade), Links LS 99 (PC), Duck Hunt (Nintendo), Starfox (Playstation), Dead or Alive 4 (XBox 360), Fusion Frenzy (XBox) and Grand Theft Auto 2 (PC).
Excitebike
I’ve never been that into video games. I’ve always had the latest in video game technology, going from Nintendo to Super Nintendo, to Playstation, to XBox and I now own an XBox 360. Still, I don’t think I’ve ever played games that were nearly as enjoyable as those that were released back in the late 80′s and early 90′s.
The games nowadays are beautiful pieces of art. They are difficult, complex and intricately designed, and they look amazing on a 42” Widecreen TV. But in the end, they just aren’t as fun as the games of my younger years.
One of my favorite games of all time is Excitebike for regular ol’ Nintendo. It was one of the first video games I ever owned, and I played it for hours on end. Like most of the earlier games, it was great because of it’s simplicity. Anyone could pick up a controller and get a handle on the game quickly, and enjoy it right from the start.
The game consisted of racing across a 2-D track that had hills, jumps and other various obstacles for you to avoid and/or use to your advantage. You could either do a time-trial or race against a number of opponents. One of my favorites was to race against a bunch of other bikes, and try to knock them off the track by smashing into their rear tire. I’m sure anyone who played the game remembers the fun you could have with that.
You could also build your own track, and make it as difficult as you’d like.
Nintendo 64 released a sequel called Excitebike 64, and there has recently been a second sequel released for the new Wii, called Excite Truck.
Excitebike… you will forever live on in my mind as one of the most enjoyable video games I have ever played.
From ABCNews:
Twin brothers Raymon and Richard Miller are the father and uncle to a 3-year-old little girl. The problem is, they don’t know which is which. Or who is who.
The identical Missouri twins say they were unknowingly having sex with the same woman. And according to the woman’s testimony, she had sex with each man on the same day. Within hours of each other.
When the woman in question, Holly Marie Adams, got pregnant, she named Raymon the father, but he contested and demanded a paternity test, bringing his own brother Richard to court.
But a paternity test in this case could not help. The test showed that both brothers have over a 99.9 percent probability of being the daddy— and neither one wants to pay the child support. The result of the test has not only brought to light the limits of DNA evidence, it has also led to a three-year legal battle, a Miller family feud and a little girl who may never know who her real father is.
I guess saying “the baby has your eyes, Richard! He must be yours!”, won’t work in this situation.
I’m not sure how they will ever resolve this situation, but I’d go with what the Judge suggests (later on in the article) by saying the two brothers should just split the child support down the middle.
“When you have bacon and eggs for breakfast, the chicken makes a contribution, but the pig makes a commitment”.
- Fred Shero
That’s a quote I read today on the great Edmonton Oilers’ fansite, Lowetide. I can’t remember if I had heard it before or not, but either way I got a kick out of it.
Fred Shero was a defenseman for the New York Rangers during the late 1940′s. He was, however, more successful as a coach. Shero won two Stanley Cups as a coach of the Philidelphia Flyers.
Fred Shero passed away from cancer on November 24th, 1990.
From TSN.ca:
Star defenceman Brian Leetch officially retired Thursday, ending an 18-year career that featured two Norris Trophy wins and 10 all-star selections.
The 39-year-old sat out the entire out 2006-07 season after spending 2005-06 with the Boston Bruins, when he recorded five goals and 27 assists in 61 games.
In 1991-92, he became only the fifth defenceman in NHL history to reach the 100-point plateau and finished the year with 102 points (22-80).
Leetch is also the only American-born player to win the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP after helping the Rangers end a 54-year Stanley Cup drought in 1994.
Normally, I wouldn’t make mention of something like this, but Brian Leetch holds a special place in my heart. That special place where you hold those most hated and despised.
Don’t get me wrong, Brian Leetch will go down as one of the best offensive defensemen in NHL history, but that doesn’t change what he did to me.
Brian Leetch is one of direct causes to what is probably the saddest of all my childhood memories. He helped the evil New York Rangers defeat my beloved Canucks, back in the 1994 Stanley Cup Finals. I was just twelve years old, but I remember the moment very clearly. Leetch receives a cross ice pass and scores a goal for the Rangers, in what I believe was the third period. I remember crying, and feeling absolutely crushed.
The underdog Canucks were not able to come back, and were defeated 3-2 in that Game 7 by Leetch and the super-powered Rangers.
I will never forget you Brian Leetch. But not for the good things you brought to the game, but for turning that potentially wonderful day into one of the most crushing moments of my life. And I’m sure not just mine, but also millions of other young (and old) Canucks’ fans around the world.
Good riddance.
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