Lost: Episode Two Revisited

I don't know about you but this week's episode of Lost was one of my favorites. I love how you can see the pieces coming together closer and closer with every episode so far this season.

I am a big fan of Desmond's character so this week was no disappointment to me. I enjoyed every minute of this episode so much I did not even notice that we never saw any of the Oceanic Six off the island, or Ben. Stef pointed that out to me as the episode ended.

Let's update the status on my questions though, shall we? Red answers are confirmed incorrect responses and green ones are in green. Running totals, where needed, are in parentheses.

1. Which of the following characters will speak first in episode one? Kate, Jack, Ben, Hurley, Locke, Sawyer
2. Which of the following will speak last in season five? Kate, Jack, Ben, Hurley, Locke, Sawyer
3. Will we see Claire holding Aaron in her arms this season? Yes
   
4. Will we see Sun and Jin kiss? Yes
   
5. Will Sawyer and Juliet kiss? No
   
6. Will Hurley shoot someone? No
   
7. Will Jack cry? Yes
   
8. Will Faraday be seen without his tie? No
   
9. Will Kate return to the island? Yes
   
10. Will Sawyer shoot someone? Yes
    
11. How many episodes will Hurley be in? 13 (2)
    
12. How many episodes will Abidan be in? 6 (0)
    
13. How many episodes will Jin be in? 4 (0)
    
14. How many episodes will Charlotte be in? 12 (3)
    
15. Will we see Charlie this season? No
    
16. Will we see Libby this season? No
    
17. Will Faraday and Charlotte kiss? No
    
18. Will someone shoot Miles? Yes
    
19. Will we see the 4-Toed Statue? No
    
20. Will Ben and Penny have a scene together? Yes
    
21. Will we see Hurley's dad again? Yes
    
22. Will we see Helen (Locke's girlfriend) again? No
    
23. How many episodes will Rose appear in? 7 (2)
    
24. How many episodes will Bernard appear in? 7 (2)
    
25. Will we find out that either Rose or Bernard at one time worked for Dharma? No
    
26. Will we find out that Ben has another child? No
    
27. Will we see Walt again? No
    
28. Will we see Boone again? No
    
29. Who will be the first main character that Sawyer gives a nickname to? Faraday
    
30. Will Sayid go the whole season without shooting someone? No
    
31. Will anyone mention Nicky or Paolo's name? No
    
32. How many times will Hurley say "Dude"? 32 (8)
    

Actually there is no change from a week ago. Now here is the caveat; Desmond and Penny have a child, who is named Charlie. That was a nice touch, but for question fifteen it refers to the original Charlie. How about the twist thrown in at the end where Locke learns the name of the kid he had refused to shoot as he ran away? Huh?

This show rocks!

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24: 1:00pm - 2:00pm

As Dubaku presses President Taylor to comply with his devilish demands, she contemplates if the administration should negotiate to avert a disastrous terror attack.

Uhh...too late!

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Friday Links

Congratulations! You have survived another week in the year 2009! How did you do it? I apologize for the lack of posts this week but as I have previously mentioned, it was a busy week for me.

I had two job interviews (one was a second interview for a job) and both went well. We'll see how it pans out for me though next week. I have a 24 post scheduled for later today and a Lost post scheduled for tomorrow. Sunday will be a day of blogging rest and Monday will be the long awaited return of Mario Monday. Mario Monday took off for Martin Luther King day and slept past its alarm this week.

And now, some links to kill some time today. Enjoy! All links today were Found via Digg.

Movie Traffic Stops Gone Bad - This is a nice compilation of classic traffic stop scenes in some classic movies. I admit this link would be better if there was video included instead of still shots.

Mad Libs Men - I love the show Mad Men on AMC. I never really got into Mad Libs back in the day but I know it was popular with kids my age. This video combines them in a funny video.

Fire in space - In case you ever wondered what it would look like?

Lego Mario - I could have saved this for a Mario Monday but I do not think I could wait long enough, so here you go.

Duck Hunt Level 100 Error - Speaking of classic Nintendo, what happens when you reach level 100 in Duck Hunt? I can not imagine playing the game long enough to find out. Another reason why YouTube is great!

6 Things you need to know about Windows 7 - If you were unaware, Microsoft's latest operating system (Windows Vista) was anything but a success. The beta of Windows 7 has been out for a bit now and the reviews are starting to pour in. This review suggests that it may slow down the defections to Mac but may still not be ideal for businesses.

Multiple Windows 7 versions coming? - Perhaps Microsoft did not learn one of their lessons from the Vista product?

How Many 90 Year Olds Could You Take in a Fight? - 27.

Things you Never Noticed in Famous Pictures - I will leave you with this. Take a moment to take a second look at these classic pictures. They may make you chuckle. I had a deep appreciation for number two on the list.

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Quick Tuesday Post

So I had a Mario Monday post drafted for yesterday but forgot to upload it. I'll push it back to this coming Monday (we can't go having Mario Monday on Tuesdays...that would be insane!).

That's all for today (and probably tomorrow and maybe Thursday). I have a busy week in store and yesterday just got it started. I have two job interviews in the next 30 hours to prepare myself for so hopefully something works out. We may also be getting a snow storm (it has already started everywhere in the Philadelphia region except for here apparantly).

24 and Lost posts will be delayed as well.

I'll catch you in a couple days. Deal?

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Friday Links

Happy Friday everybody! You made it through another week so why not check out some links to kill some time before the whistle blows and you head home from work today?

Top 16 Most Bizarre Traffic Lights - I hope you do not encounter any of these on your way home from work or if you are doing any traveling this weekend. (Found via @guykawasaki)

Google Data During Inauguration - Notice the major drop in Google's traffic when President Obama was taking the muffed up oath... (Found via BagofNothing)

Twitter Data During Inauguration - ...and compare that with the traffic that Twitter was encountering! (Found via Twitter Blog)

Obama's Speech Annotated - Speaking of which, here is a breakdown of his first speech as president. (Found via Digg)

Ten Websites that will matter in 2009 - Surprisingly this site is not on the list. Perhaps it was #11? (Found via Digg)

Eight bad tech habits to quit in the new year - Loud talking on cell phones is on the list, as well as Rickrolling. (Found via Digg)

Mario and Sonic at the Winter Games? - Possibly. (Found via Digg)

Top 10 SNES Music of All Time - While we can probably put to rest the all time adjective for a retro gaming system this is a post from a brand new blog dedicated to 16 bit gaming. As the blogger states "To date, I've realistically probably logged 5,000 hrs of SNES gameplay alone... point of pride or shame?..." No need to be ashamed on this site. Your nerdy quirks are welcomed in open arms. My personal favorites on the list ar #8 and #6. (Found via Digg)

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24: 12:00pm - 1:00pm

I figured that if I threw out some more love for Lost than I should share the love equally with my favorite show, 24. So here is Monday night's episode for your viewing pleasure.

The following takes place between 12pm and 1pm.

All hail Jack Bauer!

Hulu's contract to share episodes of 24 limits them to five episodes at a time. So until next week's episode is available you can watch the entire season premiere. I'll be sharing with you the latest episodes all season long as long as they are available to share. To view all posts sharing episodes of 24, click here.

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Lost: Episode One Revisited

Last night on Lost...



Just a quick look back at the status of my contest questions...

Confirmed correct responses in green. Wrong answers in red. Running counts, when needed, in parentheses.

1. Which of the following characters will speak first in episode one? Kate, Jack, Ben, Hurley, Locke, Sawyer
2. Which of the following will speak last in season five? Kate, Jack, Ben, Hurley, Locke, Sawyer
3. Will we see Claire holding Aaron in her arms this season? Yes
   
4. Will we see Sun and Jin kiss? Yes
   
5. Will Sawyer and Juliet kiss? No
   
6. Will Hurley shoot someone? No
   
7. Will Jack cry? Yes
   
8. Will Faraday be seen without his tie? No
   
9. Will Kate return to the island? Yes
   
10. Will Sawyer shoot someone? Yes
    
11. How many episodes will Hurley be in? 13 (2)
    
12. How many episodes will Abidan be in? 6 (0)
    
13. How many episodes will Jin be in? 4 (0)
    
14. How many episodes will Charlotte be in? 12 (2)
    
15. Will we see Charlie this season? No
    
16. Will we see Libby this season? No
    
17. Will Faraday and Charlotte kiss? No
    
18. Will someone shoot Miles? Yes
    
19. Will we see the 4-Toed Statue? No
    
20. Will Ben and Penny have a scene together? Yes
    
21. Will we see Hurley's dad again? Yes
    
22. Will we see Helen (Locke's girlfriend) again? No
    
23. How many episodes will Rose appear in? 7 (2)
    
24. How many episodes will Bernard appear in? 7 (2)
    
25. Will we find out that either Rose or Bernard at one time worked for Dharma? No
    
26. Will we find out that Ben has another child? No
    
27. Will we see Walt again? No
    
28. Will we see Boone again? No
    
29. Who will be the first main character that Sawyer gives a nickname to? Faraday
    
30. Will Sayid go the whole season without shooting someone? No
    
31. Will anyone mention Nicky or Paolo's name? No
    
32. How many times will Hurley say "Dude"? 32 (8)
    

And I am once again off to a poor start. The first character Sawyer gave a nickname to was Charlotte (Ginger), Faraday was seen in a worker's suit on the construction of the Orchid, and Hurley was not the first character to speak form the choices given.

I thought the two hours of Lost was awesome. There is clearly a different take on the space-time continuum than is seen in the Back to the Future trilogy and may actually be closer to that seen in the Harry Potter series.What did you think?

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Lost Open Thread

Lost returns to tv tonight with the premiere of the fifth season. Awesome. What's going to happen this time around? The Oceanic Six now have to return to the island, so says Ben who is also off the island. Jack is a mess, Kate is raising Aaron, Sayid is working for Ben, Hurley was being taken out of a mental institution by Sayid, and Sun is seeking out Penny's father.

Here are this year's questions for The Lost Podcast with Jay and Jack contest. Unfortunately for you the contest locked at noon today, but feel free to share your answers in the comments section, or post them on your own site of choice and let me know about it. That way we can track it and compete against each other.

1. Which of the following characters will speak first in episode one? Kate, Jack, Ben, Hurley, Locke, Sawyer
2. Which of the following will speak last in season five? Kate, Jack, Ben, Hurley, Locke, Sawyer
3. Will we see Claire holding Aaron in her arms this season? Yes
   
4. Will we see Sun and Jin kiss? Yes
   
5. Will Sawyer and Juliet kiss? No
   
6. Will Hurley shoot someone? No
   
7. Will Jack cry? Yes
   
8. Will Faraday be seen without his tie? No
   
9. Will Kate return to the island? Yes
   
10. Will Sawyer shoot someone? Yes
    
11. How many episodes will Hurley be in? 13
    
12. How many episodes will Abidan be in? 6
    
13. How many episodes will Jin be in? 4
    
14. How many episodes will Charlotte be in? 12
    
15. Will we see Charlie this season? No
    
16. Will we see Libby this season? No
    
17. Will Faraday and Charlotte kiss? No
    
18. Will someone shoot Miles? Yes
    
19. Will we see the 4-Toed Statue? No
    
20. Will Ben and Penny have a scene together? Yes
    
21. Will we see Hurley's dad again? Yes
    
22. Will we see Helen (Locke's girlfriend) again? No
    
23. How many episodes will Rose appear in? 7
    
24. How many episodes will Bernard appear in? 7
    
25. Will we find out that either Rose or Bernard at one time worked for Dharma? No
    
26. Will we find out that Ben has another child? No
    
27. Will we see Walt again? No
    
28. Will we see Boone again? No
    
29. Who will be the first main character that Sawyer gives a nickname to? Faraday
    
30. Will Sayid go the whole season without shooting someone? No
    
31. Will anyone mention Nicky or Paolo's name? No
    
32. How many times will Hurley say "Dude"? 32
    

My answers in bold. We will revisit these questions after each broadcast. Questions that are verified will turn to green for correct responses and red for incorrect responses. There is a point system in the actual contest but here I will just be tallying right and wrong choices at one point a piece.

So don't forget, there are three hours of Lost on tonight. At 8pm EST there is a one hour special that recaps everything that has happened leading up to the season premiere. Then at 9pm EST the season gets rolling with two hours of all new Lost.

Again, feel free to leave your Lost thoughts, questions, theories, and question responses in the comments section if you feel so inclined.

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World Series Trophy Tour

Over the past weekend the 2008 World Series trophy continued the early stages of its off season tour through the Philadelphia region. On Saturday it was on display at the Montgomery Mall. Having already seen the trophy at Citizens Bank Park I wanted to see it again so I could get an individual picture taken with it. Mission accomplished.

What I did not know is that the Phillie Phanatic would make an appearance! You can view my pictures here.

One of my favorite images though was taken in the Macy's on our way out of the mall. Have you ever seen one of those vending machines that disposes iPods, PSPs, video games and more? Well I now have...



I don't know if this kid had enough spare change in his pockets.

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The Lucky Seat Rule: Plausible

I will never again watch an NFC Championship game with my friend Mike. In fact I may never watch an Eagles game with him again period. No, my old friend was not a poor host (quite the opposite), but I think the Eagles' record when we watch a game together is now 0-4, including 0-3 in the NFC championship game.

Do you believe in the lucky seat rule? The premise is that if things are going well for your team that everybody must remain in their seats. That seemed to be working yesterday. Nobody I was watching the game with moved during the first dreadful half as the Eagles went into halftime down 24-6. When the second half started a number of us switched seats, not really taking the lucky seat rule into account. But then something started to happen.

All of a sudden we were jumping up exchanging high fives in anticipation that the Eagles might be going to the Super Bowl. It was then that we realized that the lucky seat rule was working. But then this happened...


...and so ends the legacy of the lucky seat rule.

Do you believe in the Lucky Seat Rule? I wonder if the getting up to refill drinks and bathroom breaks interfered with the success of the comeback. After the Eagles took the lead there was a massive shuffling of people in the apartment. While everybody returned to their now lucky seats, the heavy motion may have disturbed the balance of the rule and upset the football gods. As it stands now, I deem this rule plausible.
So the Arizona Cardinals are going to the Super Bowl. I have no problem admitting that I will be rooting for them in the Super Bowl against the Pittsburgh Steelers. I feel the Steelers will win the game but there is nothing I loathe about the Cardinals. They are a likable team. For as classy an organization the Steelers are and are hyped to be, it was pretty despicable of them to be playing music while Ravens running back Willis McGahee was laying motionless on the ground for all that time.

The unwritten rule is that when a player is injured on the ground you don't play music, even if it is a player on the opposing team, in this case a bitter rival. Shame on you Steelers! shame on you.

But hey, the Phillies got a deal with Cole Hamels the other day and are still the world champions of baseball!

Philadelphia's championship drought now stands at one.

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Martin Luther King Day

Today has an extra motivational spirit about it today with tomorrow being Inauguration Day, when Barack Obama will be sworn in as President. It does not matter who you voted for back in November. You should take pride in the accomplishment of this country. Just take a moment to reflect today and tomorrow about the changes this country has undergone in the past few decades.

Is this country perfect? No, of course not. There are still people out there who judge people by their color. These people would be ignorant. Those are the kinds of people we don't need to hear from or have attempt to influence others. While this country has taken great strides in creating an equal environment for all, there are still hurdles that remain.

Today is not just a federal holiday, but a day of reflection on where this country has been and where it is heading.

To read the speech, click here.

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My Friday Post

I am a fan of Kevin James, but even though I have some free movie tickets from Christmas I do not believe I will be using them to see Paul Blart: Mall Cop this weekend. Instead I will wait for this one to hit the shelves at Blockbuster. From what I have seen though James seems to play the role of an everyday serviceman who is highly dedicated and enthusiastic about his job.

Wait a second...that sounds familiar, doesn't it? In any event, James is funny and this is another movie by Happy Madison so it has potential.

As for the sports scene this weekend all eyes are on the NFC Championship. I do believe my Eagles are going to pull a hard fought victory out and advance to the Super Bowl by beating the Cardinals. Who will they face? I think the Steelers will beat the Ravens, but I am rooting for Baltimore this weekend.

Have a good weekend everybody! Talk to you next week!

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Friday Links

It's Friday and it will be cold once again! Here are some links to check out today for fun.

Ten Best Super Bowl Commercials (with video) - I don't totally agree with all of them, but there are some good ones here. Minus points for lack of Budweiser frogs.

20 Awesome Vintage Video Game Ads - While we are on the topic of advertisements, check out these old video game magazine advertisements.

Rickey Henderson's Hall of Fame Plaque - Take a sneak peek at Rickey Henderson's shrine in the Baseball Hall of Fame. Henderson was voted in this week.

Ten Worst Blowouts in Sports - I for one am hoping that the Eagles add a lopsided victory to the next edition of this list this weekend.

If Movie Posters Were Honest - One last link for fun. These posters send the accurate message about the film they advertise.

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Waiting for 7.7.7.0? Not Anymore!

I had a bout with some magical spy ware recently that could not be tracked by three separate, and updated, virus protection and spy ware zapping programs.

The problems started a few days ago when using FireFox. When attempting to perform a Google search the search results would come up as usual, but the links to which the results took you were hi-jacked, taking you to advertisers for (ironically) anti-spy ware and virus removal programs, employment searching sites, and various other sites that had nothing to do with your search. For example, I did a Google search for "Phillies" and the links would take me to the various spy ware utility programs. Not helpful.

I noticed that the messages in the bottom of my window were somehow different. Instead of telling me the usual messages such as "Waiting for www.google.com" and "Transferring from www.google.com" etc., the messages were telling me "Waiting for 7.7.7.0" or something along those lines. Now I was on to something.

This hijacking problem was only taking place in FireFox, Google's Chrome and Internet Explorer. Luckily for me I use the Flock browser, which showed no signs of suffering the same problems the other browsers were experiencing. While in Flock I googled "Waiting for 7.7.7.0" and "hijacked links" and found my solution.

If you experience the same problem here is all you have to do. Locate the following file...

c://windows/system32/wdmaud.sys

...and delete it. Seriously, that is all you have to do. I sent the file to the recycling bin, emptied said bin, and tried searching "Phillies" on FireFox once more. Success! Just to make sure I checked in Chrome and Internet Explorer and experienced the same success in both browsers.

No matter which browser you use, if you have this problem, this should work!

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Harry Kalas Gets Disrespected

Pop quiz hot shot. Who is the better sports broadcaster when comparing an entire career?

In the left corner, national broadcaster for Fox Sports, covering the top NFL and MLB games every weekend and through out the playoffs, Joe Buck!


And in the right corner, legendary voice of NFL Films and Hall of Fame baseball announcer, the Voice of the Philadelphia Phillies, Harry Kalas!


According to a recent top 50 list voted by members of the American Sportscasters Association Joe Buck is ten spots better than Harry the K. Buck is listed at #31 in the op 50 list and Kalas is #41. Say what now?

How can a Hall of Fame broadcaster be voted below one of the most mediocre national broadcasters of the recent generation? You might be saying "But Kevin you are being biased" or "But Kevin Harry has seen better days" and you would be right on both counts. That still does not mean that Kalas should be higher than Buck, or Chris Berman (#35), or Bill Walton (#39), shouldn't he?

Shame on the voters who took part in this ranking. I believe that the only reason for "Best of" lists like this is to stir up conversation and debate. I guess you can declare me guilty of this. While I vent my frustrations here, fellow Phillies fans should check out the rant on The Fightins on the topic. Caution: strong language contained in link (not my responsibility).

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Prison Break Canceled

Nuts.

Say what you want, Prison Break was better this season than it was last season. Still, it does seem like it is time for the series to wrap things up. Michael and Linc and company can only be running from, well, "The Company", for so long. Right?

With Fox hyping up this new Lie to Me show and 24 back in the prime time slot, and Fringe somewhat of a success, it was only a matter of time before Prison Break saw the end of its run. So there you have it. Six more episodes to go. Please finish strong.

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24 Season Premiere

In case you missed it or the DVR or VCR failed to record it for you, here is the entire season premiere of 24.

The following takes place between 8am and 9am. Events occur in real time.


The following takes place between 9am and 10am.


The following takes place between 10am and 11am.


The following takes place between 11am and 12pm.

Now that you have watched the two night, four hour season premiere event, what do you think?

I had a strong feeling after the first night (and pretty much heading into the season) that Tony Almeida was not as bad as we were lead to believe. I, unlike many people I have talked too, never thought Tony was actually dead. He was too disrespected in his "death" scene to be gone for good.

So what about Bill and Chloe. She still seems to have a crush on Jack and Bill looks as if he could use a shower and a good haircut. Is this what working under the radar to spill the beans on a deep government cover up does to a guy? If so, count me out.

Jack Bauer is never one to have a forgettable line. Two years ago it was "The only reason you're still conscious is because I don't want to carry you!" This year I would like to give an early nomination to "So help me God I will kill you and you will stay dead this time!"

So far I must say that I am very pleased with what the writers did with 24 this season. With so much time off due to the writer's strike last season, and the ineptitude of Day Six when compared to the rest of the series thus far, this season is off to a terrific start.

Now we must wait a full week for the fifth episode. Also next week Lost will return, so be on the look out for some Lost blogging in the future.

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Orchestral Doogie Howser

Neil Patrick Harris hosted Saturday Night Live last weekend. I only watched as far as Weekend Update and remember why I don't watch SNL any more. It is not as funny as it used to be. It's not even close, but when a good host like Harris is on it is worth watching. Clearly Harris was the best person on that night.

My favorite skit as far as Weekend Update was the digital short, which you can see below (until NBC catches on and has it removed from YouTube)...

I wish Doogie Howser was still being shown in repeats on something like Nick at Night or TV Land or ion. Anything! Somebody please play this show!

Harris had a good monologue going until the SNL cast members jumped in. I am not exactly sure what the whole gag with Mark Wahlberg was about though. It just seemed like the cast members jokes went on about a minute (or two) too long. The skit in which the characters of various Broadway musicals come together to unite to save Broadway was a good one as well.

I still have the second half of the episode on my DVR so at some point I'll watch the rest of the show.

Here is the Broadway skit I mentioned above.

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Mario Monday - Donkey Kong Jr.

Last week we took a trip down memory lane to Mario's debut in Donkey Kong. Today we look at the famed sequel, Donkey Kong Jr. I first played this game on the Donkey Kong Classics cartridge for the NES, which had both Donkey Kong and Donkey Kong Jr. on it. It was also the only game, that I am aware of, that casted Mario as the villain. Say what? It's true!


The premise of the arcade classic was that Mario had captured Donkey Kong and now it was up to his heir, Donkey Kong Jr., to avoid the mechanical crocodile traps, hazardous birds and electrical shocks in order to rescue his father. I believe that this game is harder than the original, but why don't you decide for yourself? You can play the original arcade version of the game by clicking here.

As was the case with many arcade games of the time, they did not exactly port very well to the home consoles. Due to the technology levels of the early home consoles, Donkey Kong Jr. came across pretty choppy. Take this video of the Intellivision port for example...



It is better than the Donkey Kong port, but still leaves a lot to be desired. I will not even subject you to the Atari 2600 version, but you can click here for a game review video of the port if you feel so daring. Obviously Donkey Kong Jr. looked best on the NES, as was the case with many games in the mid-eighties.

You may not know this but the Donkey Kong character you see today in games such as Super Smash Brothers Brawl is actually supposed to be the same character from Donkey Kong Jr. The original Donkey Kong, who is the big bad guy in the original arcade game, has also grown up and become the character often referred to as "Cranky" Kong.

The character of Donkey Kong Jr. has essentially lived the big life because of his old Kong, going off to star in his own series of games in the Donkey Kong Country series on the Super Nintendo, and later Donkey Kong 64 on the Nintendo 64. Of course he also appears in the Smash Brothers series, but he also makes appearances in Super Mario Kart, Super Mario Baseball, the Mario Party series and so on. No wonder Cranky always seems jealous of the younger Kong.

Did you know that Donkey Kong Jr. also was the star of an educational game? Donkey Kong Jr. Math mixed the DKJ game play with math equations with competitive game play. It sounds about as fun as Carmen Sandiego minus the geography and history added in with math. Wait a second...


Both games, in addition to Donkey Kong, are available for download on the Wii's virtual console, although I am unsure why Nintendo offered the math game. Feel free to share your Donkey Kong Jr. thoughts in the comments section!

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Paterno's Glasses Stolen

I never understood what influenced people to go and steal copper and other such materials that could fetch some dollars on the market, but this has just gone too far.

The Joe Paterno statue has had its bronze glasses stolen.


First the real JoePa needs hip work done, now his statue needs Lasik! What a world we live in!

He looks funny without glasses, doesn't he? Even in bronze form!

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Are You Excited for Lost?

I know I am and it should be no surprise to learn that Stef is beaming with excitement for the return of Lost. While it is still two weeks away it is still something to look forward to. To kill the time in the next fourteen days I recommend you get refreshed on what happened in season four. Stef and I are watching the DVDs for the season now. Honestly it might be my favorite season so far. Desmond's episode where he is not flashing back but rather he is traveling through time in The Constant.

Not to be lost (pun semi-intended) in my enthusiasm for the return of Lost is the fact that my favorite show on tv, 24, returns this weekend! Season six of the show left a lot to be desired and suffered more than any other season to combine multiple plot lines. To have Wayne Palmer be cast as President seemed odd to me and the character suffered from never being able to compare to past presidents on the show. With the extra time off as a lingering effect of the writer's strike last year I am confident that 24 will be able to reestablish itself as a high quality show.

The previews of the upcoming seventh season tell us that Jack Bauer learns that his old friend, whom he though had died in his arms, Tony Almeida is in fact alive and apparently up to no good shenanigans. Seeing as the government forces never seem to be able to catch the bad guy in 24 land they turn to Bauer to bring him in. Many people believe that Tony being alive is proof that last season was poorly written, but I for one never believed he was dead. I still have to go back to the DVD and examine the scenes in detail, but I was never convinced Tony was killed off. There was no silent clock leading to a commercial, which is a trademark move when a key character is killed, and the transition was too rushed for a character that was one of the few remaining original characters from the first season. There was no way Tony would be disrespected like that. Maybe that is why he appears to be evil this season?

I'll give my 24 predictions later on but I imagine that at some point Jack will find out that Tony has his hands tied and that eventually Tony will do something for Jack that will help his investigation. Just a hunch. Although I do love the fact that Tony is evil. I always thought there was something sinister about him that was waiting to be unleashed.

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Happy (Belated) New Year!

So today is January 6, 2009. Happy New Year!

To ring in the new year Stef and I went down to Philadelphia with Sarah for the fireworks on Penn's Landing. It was pretty cold but the wind was not as much of a factor as it was earlier in the evening, so it was tolerable. Below is the 16 minute video I took of the fireworks. Please excuse the quality and side remarks and verbal exchanges I make with Stef and Sarah. At times I also try to take video and photos at the same time! Check out the video and a slideshow of the photos below.





Before the fireworks we headed to Dock Street Pub in Philadelphia where I had some of the best pizza I have ever had. I highly recommend it if you get a chance. The pub is also a micro brewery and offers some interesting sounding beer, none of which I actually tried that night. Perhaps next time if I ever get back there.

So, do you have any New Year's resolutions? Or do you scoff at the idea? Check out What Should You Do Today? tomorrow for my first post of the new year in which I will delve into that exact topic. Since I took somewhat of a blogging holiday I also put aside that site for an extended period of time. I have some plans to build it a little bit so I hope you will check that out at some point as well.

In closing, once again, Happy New Year! I hope it is a good one for you, your family and your friends!

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Mario Monday - Donkey Kong

It is no secret that I grew up, like many kids of the 80's and 90's, with Mario being one of my favorite characters. Honestly he may be my favorite fictional character to this day, which leads me to a new "feature" of my blog, Mario Mondays. Each Monday I will share with you something Mario related. Why? Because I'm a dork, that's why. To get things started we take a look at Mario's debut.

My introduction to Mario came through the Colecovision, which was out at the time of the Atari 2600. The game that came packaged with the Colecovision was a port of Donkey Kong. It was also the only game we ever owned for the system as we had gone the way of the Atari 2600. After doing a YouTube search I came across this commercial for the home version of Donkey Kong.


Wow. They sure don't make commercials the way they used too, do they?

Donkey Kong was the first game to feature Mario, who at the time of the arcade release was simply known as Jumpman, because all he did was climb ladders and jump barrels and gaps in the floor. Mario was originally cast as a carpenter as well before starting his own plumbing business I suppose. Jumpman was also known as "Mr Video Game" in Japan. While the early arcade cabinets had the name of Jumpman the name Mario was quickly added to the stumbly hero when Donkey Kong came to the United States. Nintendo of America had decided to apply a catchy name to the hero instead of the bland and generic Jumpman. The namesake came from the landlord of the Nintendo of America offices. Legend has it that Mario Segale would burst in to meeting rooms of the Nintendo offices demanding rent payments. Hard to believe today that Nintendo had trouble paying rent. The folks at Nintendo of America saw a resemblance between their latest video game character and their demanding land lord and it was settled.

By the time the home console versions made it to store shelves the name Mario had replaced Jumpman. While Donkey Kong's character survived the test of time, Mario's first girlfriend, Pauline, has not been heard from since shouting for help while held captive by the barrel throwing ape. Princess Toadstool replaced Pauline quickly. She is a princess afterall.

With today's technology you can find perfect ports or clones of the original arcade game but before the days of the NES it was pretty rough to find a quality port for some arcade games. Donkey Kong is a great example of that. Growing up I had played both the Colecovision version and the NES version. Naturally I scoffed at the Coleco once setting my eyes on the NES version, but today I know I should have appreciated what I had more than I did! In the above commercial Donkey Kong is advertised for the Colecovision, the Atari VCS and the Intellivision. Below you can see the difference in the three systems.

Colecovision

Atari VCS

Intellivision

Now the NES version...



Compare those with the actual arcade version...

I had no idea that the Colecovision port was that much better than the others that were available at the time! Boy am I glad the NES came along though...

Donkey Kong was not my favorite arcade game (that title belongs to Ms. Pac-Man) but I could probably play a game of Donkey Kong any day of the week if I could. No matter how many times I play though I can guarantee I would never be as good as Steve Wiebe or Billy Mitchell, the two guys who made a bitter rivalry out of attaining a high score in the game. The story was documented in King of Kong, which is worth a rental if you get a chance.

This concludes the initial installment of Mario Monday. Feel free to leave your Donkey Kong memories in the comments.

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