Songs I Like - Vol 4: "Neon Tiger" (The Killers)

Another song from one of my favorite bands, The Killers. I think this one is my second favorite from their recent "Day & Age" album.


Neon Tiger Lyrics:

Far from the evergreen of old Assam
Far from the rainfall on the trails of old Saigon
Straight from the poster town of scorn and Ritz
To bring you the wilder side of gold and glitz

Run neon tiger there's a lot on your mind
They promised just to pet you, but don't you let them get you
Away, away, oh, run
Under heat of the southwest sun

Took to the spotlight like a diamond ring
Came from the woodwork and the hopes they might
Redeem themselves from poor decisions to win big

Run neon tiger there's a lot on your mind
They'll strategize and maim you, but don't you let them touch you
You're far too pure and bold
To suffer the strain of the hand and its hold.

I don't wanna be kept, I don't wanna be caged, I don't wanna be damned, oh hell
I don't wanna be broke, I don't wanna be saved, I don't wanna be S.O.L
Give me rolling hills and tonight can be the night that I stand among the thousand thrills
Mister cut me some slack, 'cause I don't wanna go back, I want a new day and age

Come on girls and boys, everyone make some noise!

Run neon tiger there's a price on your head
They'll hunt you down and gut you, I'll never let them touch you
Away, away, oh, run
I'm begging you neon tiger run

Under the heat of
Under the heat of
Under the heat of southwest sun

Neon tiger
There's a lot on your mind

Penn & Teller: Bullshit (Review)

I've always enjoyed the work of the Las Vegas based performers Penn & Teller. The illusions and comedy that they preform have always been incredibly entertaining. I've also come to respect them as advocates of science over superstition and acceptance of facts over wishful thinking. Their television show, Penn & Teller: Bullshit is a documentary series that has run on Showtime for 7 seasons (it's the network's longest running show). Penn and Teller are known for revealing the secrets to their magic acts on stage and in this show they basically do the same thing to hot button topics like gun control, paranormal research, or even the Bible. Every episode has them trying to debunk some common misconception or expose the truth of a well known organization. The camera crew interview people who support the different sides of the arguments and Penn and Teller tape linking studio segments that provide commentary to what was filmed in the field. Penn usually expresses his opinions in a loud, brash, and extremely abrasive manner, the irony being that his arguments are more specific, reasoned and sensible than most of those on the opposing side.

I find the show to be entertaining, informative and able to display a refreshing amount of critical thinking for a television show. I was genuinely surprised that they actually got me to think about some of the issues that were brought up. The guys research is extremely well done and they show an appropriate amount of respect for the topics and still get their arguments across eloquently even with all the profanity they use. The slight downside is that the show's arguments are always one-sided, though, as Penn and Teller get to edit the interview segments however they like and provide plenty of snarky voice-over, while the opposing side never gets a proper chance at a rebuttal. Also as the show has gone on over the years, they seem to have inevitability started running out of topics to debunk as a lot of the recent episodes feature a few subjects that seem an awful lot like those covered on past episodes. Having said all that, I think Bullshit is still an entertaining watch. Whether you agree with their opinions or they outrage you, they'll certainly make you laugh and think, and maybe take a fresh look at what you know.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: 1987 Series - Season 1 (Review)

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. They're the world's most fearsome fighting team, they're heroes in a half-shell and they're green. Master Splinter taught them to be ninja teens, Leonardo leads, Donatello does machines. Raphael is cool but crude and Michaelangelo is a party dude. When the evil Shredder attacks, these turtle boys don't cut him no slack! Those reordered lyrics from the theme song pretty much explains the premise the show. The TMNT was one of the most successful franchises of the 80s and 90s and of course, the most remembered of the Ninja Turtles' adventures came in the form of their 80s animated series which ran for 10 seasons and over 200 episodes between them.

The first season, which spans 5 episodes, was actually created as a self-contained mini series with the series proper being produced after this run proved to be really popular. The season details the turtles meeting news reporter April O'Neal and the turtles' first encounter with their arch nemesis Shredder. After Shredder's foot soldiers and goons are defeated he creates two mutants called Bebop and Rocksteady, and along with the exiled warlord Krang, Shredder tries to open a portal to Dimension X so Krang's army can conquer Earth. The thing that surprised me about these episodes is how how well they've held up over the past 20 years. Most 80s cartoons are horrifically dated and usually only loved now for the nostalgia factor. Ninja Turtles definitely falls victim to this problem (most of Michelangelo's dialogue to be specific), but not enough as to completely deter from any enjoyment of the show. The show's chock full of corny one-liners and memorable characters and features a surprisingly well done mixture of action and comedy that most other 80s cartoons were fairly inept at preforming. While the parts of the show that are dated are cringe-worthy, the rest manages to show-off why the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was one of the most popular cartoons ever and for people like me, it's a a fun and entertaining trip back to childhood.

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia - Season 3 (Review)

The third season is really just more of the same and considering that the last two seasons were pure brilliance, that's actually a pretty damn good thing. The main characters still manage to make me laugh out loud by trying to one-up each others, taking advantage of innocent people, and just being all around douchebags. The continuity is even stronger this time as supporting characters from the past become more prominent like the tranny from season one, Rickety Cricket (my personal favorite), and the McPoyle family. The McPoyles in particular get a lot of screen time this season which is unfortunate as I don't really find them to be that funny.

The cast continue to play off each other wonderfully. Charlie continues to be the standout character, but this season sees Dee (Kate Olsen) really step into the spotlight with some truly hilarious comedic moments. The area she seems to excel in most is her reactions to either the gangs actions or their constant belittling of her life. The episodes still covers a range of topics like abandoned babies, handicaps, and sexual predators. It's all handled very well and it's all very funny, but my favorite episode this season is the finale, where the gang find themselves in a dance marathon with ownership of Paddy's Pub at stake . The episode is a joy as it has the cast at the best and it features my favorite line of the season spoken by Charlie ("I'm about to show you the white hot cream of an 8-year-old boy."). The show is still crass, insensitive and funny as hell, I want more.

Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars (Review)

Super Mario RPG was the last Mario game produced for the Super Nintendo. It was a joint project between Nintendo and Square-Enix and was the first RPG for the Mario franchise. This game was not very well known because it was released only months before the N64, so nobody gave it any attention. Luckily, I got the game for a birthday present and though it took me a while to figure out how to play it (I was 8 and it was the first RPG I ever played), it became one of my favorite games. Those that played it considered it to be one of the best games of all time and really wanted Nintendo to put it on the Wii's Virtual Console. The game was finally released on the Virtual Console last September and everyone who missed out on it got to see what all the fuss was about. Meanwhile, I played through it and found the game to be just as amazing as it was way back then.

The game's RPG roots allowed for the Mario storyline to be properly expanded for the first time. The story starts like a typical Mario game with Mario going to save Princess Peach from Bowser. Once Mario is about to rescue her, a giant sword falls from the sky crashing into Bowser's castle. The crash sends Mario, Bowser, and Peach flying in all different directions and Mario ventures off to find Peach. Eventually, Mario meets a spirit in the form of a doll named Geno who explains that when the sword fell from the sky, it fell through The Star Road spreading the pieces of it everywhere. The Star Road is what grants everyone's wishes and the sword is a henchmen for a alien named Smithy, who plans to get rid of all wishes and replace them with weapons. In 1996, it was definitely refreshing to see a major Mario game that didn't center on saving Peach. The story is well written with plenty of humor, though I don't think the writting is as good as the later RPGs in the series. The game's full of interesting and unique new characters and the classic cast of Mario characters have their personalities defined and expanded. Bowser in particular, steals the show with some truly hilarious dialogue.

The game is pretty much the same as any other RPG. The big difference is that in battle you can use actions called Timed Hits. For example, if you have Mario punch and you press A at the right time while attacking, he will punch twice instead and do extra damage. This also works defensively and with special magic attacks. It's intuitive and it has been implemented in every Mario RPG game since this game. Like other RPGs, you can use magic in battle which take up FP(Flower Points) and when FP is gone, then you'll have to use an item to replenish it. You also can buy or find new Weapons and Armor to equip on your characters. The weapons that you can equip are fun and fit the Mario universe well, like a giant koopa shell, hammers, a star gun (for Geno), and razor claws (for Bowser). The only problem comes with the item storage, you can only carry 30 items and duplicate items don't stack. You'll receive items from battle constantly so it won't be long before you have to start selling/trashing items to make room for better ones.

The overall game is not that difficult, although most of the latter bosses can cause a decent bit of trouble due to some really cheap overpowered special attacks. The game is a fairly decent length running about 7-8 hours, which becomes longer when you explore the game's big overworld to find all the hidden secrets. The game has really great replay value as I've already played through the game several times over since its re-release last year. I've talked about this game a lot longer than I meant to, but that's only because I love this game so much. I say anyone who loves fun games should do themselves a favor and check this one out. It's easily one of the best games in the Mario franchise.

Ghostbusters (Review)

It took me a long time to get around to seeing this movie, but when I finally did it become one of those movies I'd have to revisit often. In my opinion, if you don’t find Ghostbusters at least mildly amusing, you may need an intervention, therapy, medication...something. This is one of those rare movies that I've found to get more hilarious the older I get. For the uninitiated, the movie's about a group of teachers that get fired from their university. They decide to start a business using their knowledge on paranormal activities to capture otherworldly apparitions, only to have some twerpish bureaucrat from the EPA come in and try to screw everything up . It turns out that all of these freaky paranormal occurrences are a sign of the return of the ancient sumerian god, Gozer. Naturally, it's up to the newly formed Ghostbusters to stop this monster from destroying the planet.

The film is filled with tons of memorable sequences, from the run-in with Slimer to the classic Staypuft Marshmallow Man. The script is loaded with many great lines, most of which found their way into popular culture immortality. The acting here is nothing less than high quality performances. Harold Ramis, who co-wrote the script with Dan Aykroyd, has some of my favorite lines as Dr. Egon Spengler. The character of Peter Venkman is Bill Murray at his comedic best here. Sigourney Weaver holds her own with the guys, Annie Potts does so as well, and Rick Moranis has never been funnier. I don't really have anything else to say that hasn't already been said. Ghostbusters is just a really solid, well done movie.

Songs I Like - Vol 3: "Epic Last Song" (Does It Offend You Yeah)

I love this song from Does It Offend You, Yeah?'s debut album, "You Have No Idea What You're Getting Yourself Into". I'm more familiar with the song's use at the end of the famous John Paul & Craig Dean romantic story arc on the British Soap "Hollyoaks". I think it's a wonderful love song for those long standing crushes we tend to find ourselves in.

Lyrics to Epic Last Song :

I can't believe I made it here
Today I'm afraid of yesterday
I wrote this letter to you my dear
In case, afraid, this fades away

I say baby, babe I've loved you a long time
I try harder just to know you're all mine
I say baby, babe I've loved you a long time
I go happy knowing that you're alright

I called today but missed you again
Today's the day I go up in flames
I sent the money to you my dear
Today's the day I burn away

I say baby, babe I've loved you a long time
I try harder just to know you're all mine
I say baby, babe I've loved you a long time
I go happy knowing that you're alright

I say baby, babe I've loved you a long time
I try harder just to know you're all mine
I say baby, babe I've loved you a long time
I go happy knowing that you're alright

Obsessed (Review)

Obsessed tells the story of Sharon and Derek (played by Beyoncé Knowles and Idris Elba), a happily married, beautiful young couple who find their lives shaken by Lisa (played by Ali Larter), a shameless and totally psycho woman who temps at Derek's office. As the film's title suggests, Lisa becomes ridiculously enamored by Derek and attempts to sexually assault him everywhere from the men's room during a Christmas party to a business retreat and it only gets worse from there. After a certain amount of time and after the couple's baby has come into play, Sharon catches on to Lisa's stupidity and the two have the big old catfight that the whole movie's promotion was based around.

Obsessed is nothing more than a weak version of Fatal Attraction. The various actions of the main characters are ill-defined and rather frustrating and it doesn't help that their every move is telegraphed well in advance thanks to run of the mill writing and direction. The worst of the bunch is the villainous Lisa for the which the film makes no attempt to supply a motive or even a misunderstanding for the young woman's creepy behavior. She just becomes crazy for Derek after a normal conversation in an elevator for no reason other than what I assume is sheer mental retardation. I spent most of the movie snickering at her increasing loopy actions to snag Derek and none of these actions are suppose to funny...they're just stupid.

Derek is played well by Elba, but his character is forced to act rather moronically simply for screenwriting necessity. Derek is a faithful, honest man and never shows any interest in Lisa. Despite Lisa's increasingly disturbing behavior, he only once makes an attempt to properly tell someone about it. Derek doesn't tell any of this to his wife until after Lisa's actions go too far and as a result the trust between them is broken and he gets kicked out of the house. Everyone then treats Derek as if he actually slept with the temptress and for all this grief he might as well had. Beyonce does what she can to bring life to Sharon's character but falls flat. The film tries to make her sympathetic, but she unfortunately falls for the undesirable role of overly sensitive wife. She professes her trust for her husband only to forbid him explicitly from working closely with women of any kind. When she finally finds out about the trouble with Lisa, she's rightfully upset for not being told about but she over reacts by kicking Derek out of the house for 3 months. Sharon isn't given much to do until the finale where she and Lisa duke it out. The fight scene is scene is well choreographed and fairly intense though it doesn't make up for the rather mediocre nature of the rest of the film. I recommend Fatal Attraction over this film, until Beyonce and Ali Larter duke it out at the end, this is one uneven film.

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia - Season 2 (Review)

The second season is just as good, if not better than the first. Still showcasing that brand of cynical comedy that I love so much. The most notable thing about the second season is the addition of Danny DeVito as the father of Dennis and Dee. I was worried that he wouldn't quite work in this show as he is a completely unnecessary addition, apparently suggested by the FX network to get a famous name in to gain viewers. Luckily, my concerns were put to rest as DeVito fits right in with the gang, playing Frank as a crazy, shallow douche just like his children and their friends.

The other change is that there's an extra bit of continuity thrown in this time around. This usually entails the gang getting into trouble for something at the end of an episode and later on they'll deal with the consequences and other stuff along those lines. The show is still covering a variety of topics in dickhead ways and there really aren't any bad episodes in this run. "Mac Bangs Dennis' Mom" is one of my favorites, it's all enjoyable stuff. This seasons a tad longer than the first which is wonderful because its incredibly funny.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles In Time Re-Shelled (Review)

The 2nd Ninja Turtles arcade game: Turtles in Time, and more specifically the Super Nintendo enhanced port of the game are not only the high point of Ninja Turtles nostalgia, but also represent the peak in quality of the beat em up genre. To celebrate the turtles 25th anniversary, Ubisoft has updated the arcade version for the X-Box Live Arcade (it will release later for the Wii and PS3). I use the term "update" loosely as all that has really been changed for this version is a nice graphical improvement and the voice work being handled by the cast of the current Ninja Turtles series. The only major gameplay change comes as a result of the new 3d environments. Instead of just being able to attack in two directions, the turtles can now attack in all eight directions and since your enemies can also attack in this fashion, things get pretty hectic at times.

The game still has some of the cheap trappings of an arcade game trying to steal quarters out of your pocket, but its actually fairly manageable here, unlike the 1989 arcade game. Also unlike the 1989 game, the game is fairly enjoyable in single player. There still isn't any sort of delay time when you get knocked down so enemies near you when you try to get up will still easily attack you again, but it's not as punishing this time and doesn't seem to happen as frequent. Bosses are actually fun and seem to have some semblance of a legit attack strategy (well most of them anyway). Just like the 1989 game, the game is a lot more fun in mulitiplayer and much easier. The only major downside to this release is that its an update to the arcade version of Turtles in Time instead of the SNES version that had more levels and better boss choices. Despite its quirks, I'd say this remake gets a recommendation. It's a pretty fun game to play by yourself, and even more fun with friends.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: 1989 Arcade Game - XBLA (Review)

I was born in 1988, so around the time I was 5 I was unable to enjoy most of the craze that surrounded the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles outside of the classic cartoon. The biggest thing I missed out on was the 1989 arcade game. When it comes to Ninja Turtles nostalgia, nothing seems to top this particular game (apart from a another notable turtles video game) and that seems to have been part of the driving force behind this game's release on the X-Box live arcade back in 07 (in addition to being a tie-in with the TMNT movie that was out at the time.). Playing through it I found the game to okay, but mostly a clear sign that the beat em up genre hasn't aged very well...at all.

The game sends you through about 6 or 7 levels fighting hordes of enemies until you fight a boss and there are a lot of enemy hordes to deal with before the game is over. As an arcade title, the game was designed to basically suck quarters out of player's pockets and that was done by making the enemies cheap bastards. Enemy after enemy will give you a hard time, from pesky Foot Soldier gunners to robots that roll all over the screen. No matter how much you try dodge their attacks, you'll get hit...a lot. As you walk up to one and start beating the snot out of him, he'll suddenly, out of nowhere, land a lucky punch to your face, knocking you to the floor, in front of another enemy that beats you down before you even get up. And that's the main problem when playing this game: there's no small delay time when you get knocked down which means that any enemy near you when you try to regain yourself will easily attack you again, knocking you into the path of another enemy. Bosses have no real attack pattern and can break any combo you launch. This is only gets more annoying as you near the end, making the game a test of patience than a test of skill.

Playing the game in co-op is a fairly different experience. Not only does the game become pretty fun, it's also less frustrating than a single player game. This is mostly because every enemy on screen isn't attacking you at the same time, which gives you some breathing room. Not a lot of breathing room but its still an improvement over single player mode. Overall, I'd say this is a terrible single player game, but a pretty enjoyable multiplayer title. It's a pretty good example of nostalgia being a double edge sword.

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia - Season 1 (Review)

I finally go around to watching It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia last year while it was in it's fourth season and I fell in love with it after watching only 2 episodes. Since then I've gotten around to watching the earlier seasons on dvd and I found them to be just as hilarious. The show's about four friends who run a failing bar in Philadelphia and frequently get themselves in crazy schemes that usually involve some kind of controversial topic, like abortion, molestation or religion and of course they handle these situations in the most dickheaded ways possible.

Where the show shines is in its strong writing and characterization. Somehow the show is able to take a bunch of selfish, petty, vindictive people and make them somewhat likable. My personal favorite is Charlie which great because he seems to slightly dominate the storylines. The actor, Charlie Day, is hilarious and he knows how to use his short stature and scrappy look to his advantage as the more pathetic and desperate of the characters. His hopeless crush on The Waitress who works at the coffee shop across the street is used frequently and its one of my favorite recurring bits. The other characters all have their own personalities and share a sense of humor and real chemistry that make the show entertaining regardless of the topic and as long as they keep things funny I'll keep watching.