The Fantastic Mr. Starfox

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

A heartwarming movie about a Starfighter pilot who sets out to avenge his father and discovers that the one who needs to be avenged... Is himself.

From Loldwell.

Cart Classics - Episode 1: The Retron 3

Here it is -- a first in many aspects.  It's the first video for me, Geek Streak, and my new segment, Cart Classics, where I look at video games for old school home consoles.  Though the title does denote that most of the games will be cartridge based, I'll also delve into the early days of CD-Rom games.

Today, let's take a look at some new hardware I got.  Clone consoles have been a fairly recent option for classic gamers with consoles that have seen better days.  While they started out being a bit sketchy, when it comes to working properly, these clones seem to have taken major leaps.  Case in point: the Retron 3 is only one of two clone consoles that can play NES, SNES, and Sega Genesis, with ports for all your original controllers.  But is this console good enough for you to warrant a purchase?  Click play and find out.



One thing I will elaborate on -- the sound on the SNES can range from tolerable at low volume to downright horrible, depending on the game.  The volume level for the emulation is so high that it can distort the music to the point of ear-bleeding bad.  The worst case scenario doesn't happen often, but it does happen.  For instance, the soundtrack in Darius Twin is pure audio torture (though, I'll admit, it wasn't all that great, to begin with).  You practically have to turn it down until it's almost inaudible, and that's annoying.  Despite that, the games run great on the Retron 3, so it's a perfectly viable option if you don't have the money to purchase all three systems.

Check out the list of all the games I own for the three systems after the jump.  Yes, they all work with the Retron 3.

Ginger, on Flygirl By Sherri Smith

Title: Flygirl
Author: Sherri Smith

Publisher: Speak
Published: September 16, 2010
Format: Paperback
                              Grade: A

Amazon Description:
All Ida Mae Jones wants to do is fly. Her daddy was a pilot, and years after his death she feels closest to him when she's in the air. But as a young black woman in 1940s Louisiana, she knows the sky is off limits to her, until America enters World War II, and the Army forms the WASP: Women Airforce Service Pilots. Ida has a chance to fulfill her dream if she's willing to use her light skin to pass as a white girl. She wants to fly more than anything, but Ida soon learns that denying oneself and family is a heavy burden, and ultimately it's not what you do but who you are that's most important.

Review:
I was originally draw to this book because of the cover. Shallow, I know, but I love the airplane silhouettes and the WWII flight get up. Plus the girl on the front looks determined, and that usually equals entertaining at the very least. After I read the description, I decided this would be good for me since it was outside my reading comfort zone. (I'm trying to challenge myself this year, step outside my box and all that.) Normally I would never read a war novel, but I'd never heard about the WASP program so I was intrigued - and I do on occasion like a historical fiction. So, I looked them up just to check, and they did indeed exist. (Check us nest week for some WASP history!)

Sliver WASP Wings: Worn by 1,074 women during WWII

Right away I liked Ida Mae's character. She's independent, smart, funny and comes off as truly sincere. There's something really refreshing about her character in terms of young adult fiction where a lot (if not most) female characters are closer related to do-nothing, helpless damsels in distress. It's interesting to watch her character evolve as well; her decisions shape her idea of who she's going to be as an adult, some of things she experiences outside her 'normal' life change her outlook on what's really important. Her two friends from training are quite remarkable too - they each had their own unique story and brought their own special somethin' to the mix - and I have to admit, I see a little of Patsy and Lily in my own friends now, and that makes me love this book even more. Ida's family is very realistic too: you can tell the love each other very much but there's still certain expectations everyone has about each other, however fair or not fair that may be. All in all, I haven't read a story in a long time where I cared about the main characters as much as I cared about the young women in Flygirl.

Fifinella Patch - Fifi is the WASP gremlin mascot

After doing a bit of research, I found that the historical backdrop for the story was actually very accurate - which I think is great for young adult fiction. It defiantly gives some insight into the lives of families and young women left behind during WWII. There is obviously the strong racial aspect to the story as well, but I think that adds to the 'realness' of Ida Mae and her personal struggles and it gives a more detailed everyday life description the reader might have otherwise missed. That said though, even though Lily's family was well-off, I don't necessarily agree that family money would protect Lily from the racial prejudices Jews faced in the 1940s as much as it seemed too, so that was a little unrealistic in my eyes. But, I'm willing to over look that aspect since Lily's life isn't the focal point of the story and everything else was pretty spot on.

In short, the characters are amazing - the author makes the real, like your own friends. The story is strong - the 1940s come alive: the good, the bad, everything jumps out and runs around your brain they've been invited to a party. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in American history, anyone looking for a book with a strong girl lead...Actually, I take that back: would would recommend this book to everyone. 

End of an era

The First

Last night I was reminded that one of the last three Space Shuttle missions had just taken place. I was born on the day the first Space Shuttle was launched. On April 12, 1981, Columbia launched from Cape Canaveral. And I was born in a small town in Texas. Which means in a little less then a month the Space Shuttle Program will be 30 years old. There are two remaining missions, you can find out about them here.

The Last

The Space Shuttle was a symbol of the entire space program for most of my life, and for good reason. This was the first space going vessel that was sleek. Apollo may have been the famous one, but NASA's vehicles in the 60s' and 70's always looked to me like someone had made them in their basement. The other symbols of our space program in my life, the Hubble and the International Space Station. Maybe the Voyager probes. I don't think there's really been any others. 

Columbia was the shuttle I considered to be mine growing up. I was stationed in Kosovo with the U.S. Army when Columbia exploded on re-entry on February 1st, 2003. I was very paranoid that day about everything. You may call it superstitious, but I figured there was no sense taking chances that day. 

So we're rapidly approaching the end of an era. In July we will say good-bye to the Space Shuttle, the remaining shuttles will be taken to museums and become as much a thing of the past as the Saturn Rockets, and Sputnik. 

I wonder if NASA would let me ride on the last one, surely it'd make for good PR, if nothing else...

I got to go find a number I'll talk to you later.

The world as shaped by a 4 fingered yellow hand

So after finding a few articles on the subject, I realized how much of our popular culture has been effected by The Simpsons.

This will be the blog's name
when I get older. Say like 50 or 60.

The 10 Simpsons Phrases that should be in the Dictionary

Subtly Simpsons Quotes

Only recently had this dawned on me, as I make Simpsons' quotes to my wife. And most of the time I end up having to explain the set up and premise of the joke because she didn't watch the Simpsons growing up. Because of this I realized how much of the humor of the earlier season has stayed with us and become quite a force in our current culture.

Out of the top ten I can recall in the last year yoink, meh, kwyjibo, car hole, frogurt, craptacular, and unpossible being used in a sentence that was not reciting the original gag. My vote to add to the top ten Simpson phrases: Cromulent.

Not quite the drink of Champions.
The Drink of those who win by Default.

Yeah, I know the show's been on for 22 season. But what really gets me is how many of my fond memories of this show were from the reruns that used to show on weekday evenings, it wasn't the new episodes it was the reruns my siblings and I really appreciated, and grew up on. Granted I was old enough to see the 3rd Season on TV originally and started watching because I wanted to see Ozzie Smith in Homer at the Bat. So I've been a fan for a while.

So here's to you early years of the Simpsons, I raise a Duff in your honor. And hope that your humor never goes out of style.

A Geeks Guide to Sports: Prosthetics

Oscar Pistorius - Too fast for the Olympics.

First off here are two links dealing with prosthetics in sports.

The serious one.

The funny one.

Mr. Pistorius' story might be old news to some of you, but just think for a minute we have created an artificial limb that is faster then what it replaced.

I actually think the Olympics should let him run, or at least he should host a race against the Olympics finalists. I'm sure there are those who will argue that the Olympics started out as a celebration of the human body. And as such allowing someone with an artificial limb is not in the original spirit of the games. To that I say did the original spirit include bribery and steroids? (At least their are no extra medical or ethical concerns down the line with a prosthetic.)

But really the real question I want to ask is what happens when prosthetic limbs start to encroach on other sports? Running is probably one of the more straight forward sports, what about a sport that requires a wide range of tasks to be preformed. The 2nd link makes a joke of an MMA fighter with metal hands. (No, not Jax from Mortal Kombat). What will happen to sports if there was a basketball player who was brilliant but isn't allowed into the NBA because his prosthetics give him a slight edge over other players? What if it's not so slight? Will people watch a league where the players aren't the creme of the crop just to keep the purity of  the game? What if people start to watch the prosthetic league (Yes I know it's a horrible name feel free to send in a better name for it)? Will athletes actually have to choose between cutting off a limb and playing at the highest levels of the games? Yes, I know it's all speculation, but it's an interesting turn of events. We have in a way made or legs obsolete at running, what comes next?

Any and all theories and comments are welcome. So what's you take?

Flick Picks 9: Satan's Little Helper

This mask will haunt your dreams.

Hello, Geek Streakers! Boog here again, and this time, I've noticed a rather large hole in my reviewing stable. I have yet to review any kind of horror film. Plus I wanted to do one I'd never seen before as well, to give a 'fresh look' review, so to speak. So, I went shopping sround, and found a plethora of B-movie awful ot subject myself to. Case in point, 2004 indie 'horror comedy' called.......
Satan's Little Helper.SPOILERS!
This film is weird to a degree I didn't think was possible. First, yeah it's an indie film, so no real budget in sight here. A very little bit of gore, some above average music, and a creepy bad guy, that's about it.
So, let's really get into it here. First, the casting, for the most part, is awful. the two bright spots are Amanda Plummer, and Kathryn Winnick. Amanda Plummer plays the mother of the family unit at the center of this tale, and she does well enough. As a strong female character actor, she's been everywhere across film for the past 20+ years, but for the life of me the only performance I can remember of hers is Honey Bunny from Pulp Fiction.

Because gun-toting thieves make great moms.

Katheryn Winnick plays arguably the lead, and she's hot enough to help this B-grade schlock be watchable, and then go back to her career of playing background characters in movies, with the occasional TV guest slot. But really, here's the story. Dad buys a video game for his son, called, wait for it, Satan's Little Helper. Do I really need to list how this can never happen? Let's see:
1- a video game sold in the States with Satan in the title? Nope.
2- The 'game' is piss poor graphics and programming, but that's a budget woe, so it gets a pass for now.
3- The game is about helping Satan, let me say that again, HELPING SATAN, to kill everyone in sight in gruesome ways, including bowel dismemberment and vehicular manslaughter. Was Dad just too stoned off his to look at the damn game box? Whatever. The point is, this boy abso-freakin-lutely LOVES this game, to the point of asking his mother if Satan exists, for the sole purpose of hoping he can meet him and become his helper. This child is 9, maybe 10, and in third grade. does who can do the math to know he's been held back at LEAST once, take a shot.

Get used to this face, you'll want to punch it later.

So, the kid, who obviously already has problems distinguishing fantasy from reality, gets a major dose of what-the-hell by running into a serial killer, dressed as Satan. Whom he then befriends, and runs around town with. Really? You want to make an independent horror film, something that should make money with it's eyes closed, and you're going to give it the plot of anti-video game after school special? *Sigh* Alright, well, the kid, who is named Dougie, is played by Alexander Brickel. Don't bother to remember that, he did one other film that year, and nothing else. ever. I'll consider that a good thing and move on, as his voice has that sickly sweet quality that makes you want to punch him in the face. Also his character is downright functionally retarded, or should be. Seriously, the villain tricks this kid into going with him or helping him THREE times. There's dumb, and there's why the hell haven't you gotten a Darwin Award yet? Basically, it's rather formulaic after that. Although there are some points worth mentioning.

Mom did some things she wasn't too proud of, dear...

First, like any other story or piece involving video games, and whether or not they affect children, the blame on this tale falls squarely on the shoulder of the kids family. It's a explanation from Mom that has him believing that Satan is real, and weird bits from his sister, Jenna (Katheryn Winnick), and her boyfriend, Alex (Stephen Graham) (No, not that one) that has him really going along with this Satan dude like it was a game. The kid only realizes the truth when he sees his dad gutted in front of him. And I'm sorry, if Mom had just said 'Satan's not real honey, he's a myth, like vampires and werewolves', then most likely most of the events of the film wouldn't have happened.

This picture does more than my lines do.

The face of blandness.

But I digress. I've talked about the mom, son and sister, so now let's round out my impression with the rest of the main cast. there's the dad, who has about six lines before he's stabbed to death, yay pointless killing. the boyfriend, is just terrible. He gets the most plot twists centered around him too. He gets beaten to death, except not, thinks the killer is his father, except it isn't, then gets mistaken for the killer, and gets killed himself. And none of it really grabs you.

Want some candy? How about I take your spleen?

Seriously, the story here is piss poor, and it wants to be funny, but there is really only one even slightly funny sight gag involving a dead woman's corpse, but as I was typing that I realized how creepy that sounds so let's forget that, shall we? The editing is awful as well, but when you have 3 Assistant Directors giving orders to two Photography Directors across 2 units filming in three cities, I guess some jump cuts can't be helped. They the film look amateur, however, instead of just low-budget. The make-up and effects were okay, decent blood, what little gore they showed was passable for a film like this. The high point of the make up and effects is the killer's Satan Mask. Seriously creepy, especially since he doesn't speak. Not a word from the Price of Darkness this time around. The kid is really effing stupid so he justifies a reason for this immediately, and I just want to punch him the face. I haven't seen a character this willingly obtuse, even a child, ever. The highest point of stupidity for me, has to be the shopping scene.

'So that's why I repeated Kindergarten. Twice"

Yes, there's a shopping scene. Where the killer grabs a bunch of knives, packing tape, sellotape, various other pointy objects, and the kid justifies as part of the game, and says nothing because he gets candy. They worst part of this is that a bagboy notices that Satan doesn't pay for the items and confronts them behind the store. Where the killer proceed to stab the man in the belly, and throw into a dumpster. With the kid watching. And the kid doesn't bat an eye. Then they go on a spree of assaults and murder, including hanging an old lady out her front window. I really don't get how no one caught on before now. Oh wait, it's because the plot told them not too. There,s some other bits here and there, including four policemen dying offscreen, crap plot points with the boyfriend, and a couple of red herrings in possible identities of the killer, one being a know arsonist(the police station is set on fire offscreen), and another being Alex's dad. Here is the point where it all comes to a head for me, because the killer never talks, and we never see his face.

This is the face you never see.

I know it's supposed to be mysterious and lend him a primal, force of nature quality. It works for a lot of classic and contemporary horror villains. Jason, Micheal Myers, The Creeper, none of them talk, and it adds to their general persona of psycho killer. You can't talk to them, can't reason with them, they want to kill you, or at least eat part of you, and won't stop until they are satisfied. Here, it comes off kind lazy, considering the film's myriad other problems. At best, the killer is just opportunistic and plays along with the boy to get access to the family, but here is my biggest complaint. Why? Throughout the film, no reason or explanation is given as to why this particular person is killing people, why he wears the mask, and why he does it on Halloween. Every other horror film I can think that I have seen, even going as far back as Dementia 13, which was from sometime in the 60s, there was at least a token explanation as to why this particular group of teenagers was getting bumped off. Maybe there was an indian burial ground, maybe the killer's a real momma's boy, maybe he's a zombie who get resurrected though a bolt of lightning and a weathervane. Whatever the explanation, threadbare it may be, it is necessary to set up the following action and murderous mayhem. Having a random guy kill randomly is kinda boring. Having a guy in a devil costume befriend a child to simultaneously recapture youth lost to an abusive father, and prove himself a better man by teaching the young child how to kill? That's gripping entertainment. So, in closing, I give this film the same gesture that the film itself give its audience at one point:

Stay away from this one. Now to try and find some better horror movies....

Sites to waste your time, and help you

Just a quick post. If anyone misses their days from now on I will post something a little bit after midnight. I can't do it any earlier cause I'm at work, but at least you'll get a post out of it.

And now I will demonstrate my magic powers to make posts shorter and hide all the interesting stuff behind this.

Games You Should Know About... Beyond Good & Evil HD

I was, originally, going to make this a surprise post after I put up my video review for the Retron 3, but that video is taking longer than anticipated to upload, so... surprise!

Anyway, I consider this to be one of the most important GYSKA I will ever write, for it's about one of my favorite games of all time.  I knew that, one day, I would do a post about Beyond Good & Evil.  I just didn't know when.  Fortunately, Ubisoft made a smart move that would do more than just give me a chance to talk about this game.  It would also give many of you a real opportunity to play this game and show support for a sequel.

Beyond Good & Evil, or BG&E, as I will refer to it from here on, came out in 2003.  It was the brainchild of Michel Ancel, creator of the Rayman series.  Gameplay is very similar to the 3D Legend of Zelda games, but it's fleshed out by extra features, like hovercraft races, stealth missions, and liberal use of Jade's camera, whether it's for taking pictures of wildlife for a scientist or gathering evidence of a government conspiracy to invade your homeworld.

Like Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, the game garnered high acclaim by the press, but was ignored by the mainstream gaming populace and it was a commercial failure.  Word of mouth and great reviews were the only advertising the game got.  Nonetheless, BG&E became a cult hit with fans through the virtue of its story, gameplay, and lovable characters.

Due to the cliffhanger ending, fans wondered if a sequel would ever see the light of day.  In 2008, footage was revealed that teased that the second chapter of the saga would be coming to the current-gen systems.  Since then, there has been very little mention of it and some have been talking about the project being scrapped.  According to Ubisoft, the sequel has been in production for years, but is being done by a small team led by Ancel, to ensure that it retains the integrity of the original.

 

While we wait an undisclosed amount of time for the next chapter, Ubisoft re-released the original game in HD.  It's available now for the XBOX 360 with a future release for the Playstaion 3. If there is one game from GYSKA that you really need to play, it's BG&E.  Ubisoft needs to know that this franchise is still highly anticipated by us gamers.  Download this game for $10 and find out what the big deal is about - you'll thank me later.



Well, it seems I can't upload my Retron 3 video, for some stupid-ass reason. I guess it'll have to wait for next week.

Ginger, on music and socity

I have a confession: I love music. I like to look up music videos on youtube when I'm home by myself - I think subconsciously I might be a little embarrassed about it. Pop and rock (old and new - though I prefer the old stuff) are what I listen too the most though I wouldn't turn of the radio on some (clean) rap, new country, or classical tunes. (I mean these labels in the broadest sense, I don't want to get nit picky about electronic vs. punk vs. metal vs. alternative.) What I noticed the other day is that some of the songs I was listening to were actually quite awful, as far as lyrics were concerned. Most of them fall into that pop category, and I know pop singers aren't the most selfless people on the planet, but shouldn't they be just a little more concerned about the messages their music is handing out?

Take this song by Rihanna for instance. It's titled Unfaithful, so you know going in that this isn't gonna be a mushy love song. It sounds good though, strong beat, nice instrumental parts, clear vocals. I could catch myself singing along to this in the car without to much thought if it came on. But, what you don't realize until you actually hear the lyrics is that she's not really taking fault with her actions - she just can't help the way she is. Excuse me, What? You can't help but cheat? What does that say to young women all over the country? It's ok to lie and cheat honey, you can't help it you know. Just because you can doesn't mean you should. Way to throw decency out the window girlfriend.


Here's another one by Eve 6 called Think Twice. When you first listen to it, it sounds like he might be defending his girlfriend, which could be good right? We like for our guys to stand up for us - he even looks a little like a geeky guy next door type (aside from the scary full arm/shoulder tattoos). But there's one line in the secondary chorus that stands out for me: She spreads her love. She's doing the wrong in this situation, and he keeps taking her back. So, if you love someone, it's okay for them to treat you like crap because you can't bear to walk away? Who needs that pack of lies to move in to their head? I guess you can put it up next to the box of "I can't help the way I am" that Rihanna gave you. (There is also that weird possessive overtone - it's HIS girl - but then again, don't we all feel like that in a relationship?)


How about this one by Katy Perry: Teenage Dream. Is she singing about feeling like a giddy teenager or actual teenagers? Here's a better question: What do today's teenagers think she's singing about? Every teenager feels like they're in love or they've found the one at one point or another, but no matter how true (or not true) that statement may be, kids don't need to be falling in bed with each other right and left while they're still in high school. And they certainly don't need an excuse to do so. What were you thinking Miss Perry? You're a very popular musician and that popularity comes with a certain amount of responsibility to your young demographic. Get your shit together girl.


And last - but certainly not least - we have Kesha with her song Your Love Is My Drug. (Oh wait, I'm sorry, Ke$ha -I don't know how you can spell your name with a symbol, but whatever.) Everything about this song should make a sane person run away screaming. I mean really, if the best analogy you can come up with for how you feel is drug use, maybe you need to reevaluate that situation. And she's singing this like it's the best thing that's ever happened to her - no wonder girls today think assholes and jerks are real "keeper" material. Yay for role models. *sigh*


So, what is the message main stream music is sending? Is it telling us it's ok to be a horrible person - or maybe that we should love people for being horrible? Is it saying that we should do what we want to do, when we want to do it, without regard to others it might affect? Is it pushing selfishness as the way of the future?

I'm not sure how other people feel about it, but even though I like a lot of main stream artists, most of them aren't people I would invite on a picnic. Don't get me wrong, it's cool for music to be fun and rock-out-able - I have some go-to bands to listen to when I need cheering up, or I need company when I'm depressed, or I'm feelin' fantastic and I need some theme music to match my mood. But there should be a certain amount of respect in music too (especially if you know a majority of your audience belongs to an impressionable age range). Whatever happened to common decency people?