Juggling Mike

One of my hobbies is creating my own juggling gear as opposed to buying all the parts ready made. I am slightly disappointed that I did not make my own pois, but I am currently creating other items to compensate. I have a nifty juggling club project that is ongoing, but I created a really simple contraption last night. I took one of my poi ends and clipped it to the end of a long rope (which is one of the many leashes for my parents’ dog) and created a rope dart. Really simple in concept, but it is so much fun! It is a martial arts weapon in principle, but since I am inadequate in the martial arts way, I see it more as a cool toy. I was inspired to create it when I was watching a National Geographic special on the weaponry used in martial arts. It featured the rope dart and the meteor hammer, and when used by a skilled performer, it is a sight to behold.

Since one of my poi ends are led sticks, it looks very cool at night. I can’t spin it around my body yet, but I can shoot it pretty far. I was really engulfed by it last night, so I think I will be practicing it very often. I can’t wait until this summer when I can go practice this outside at night! Melt faster snow!!!

Here’s the national geographic video.

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I am a puzzle fan. I love logic puzzles and scratching my brain for answers. I have a mensa puzzle book that I enjoy trying to figure out. You can imagine then that I was very excited for the DS game Professor Layton and the Curious Village. It is already on its third iteration in Japan and is an extremely popular game. It is essentially a simple adventure game with puzzles scattered about. Sorry, scratch that… it is a series of logic puzzles (over 120!) with a story engulfing it all.

When I completed every puzzle and got through the entirety of the story, I was overwhelmed by a grandiose case of déja vu. It felt like I had seen this story before. After seeing the ending movies, it clicked and I realized that it was from a movie I had in my dvd collection. I just watched it, and I can confirm that there are several similarities. That movie is Lupin the Third and the Castle of Cagliostro.

The Castle of Cagliostro is one of many movies starring Lupin the Third, the grandson to the famous Arsène Lupin. This movie is special to many since it was directed by the amazing Hayao Miyazaki. It has an excellent story and is a lot of fun. For those unaware of who this Lupin character is, the lowdown is that he is a master thief and is constantly going on various thieving adventures. He is also a gentlemen, but more of a womanizer. Created by Monkey Punch, he has been around for quite a while.

Anyways, the similarites between the film and game are everywhere. First off Professor Layton, although not a womanizer, is intelligent and creative (as you will discover in some of the final movies). Lupin is also creative. Both the game and movie involve a cop in a trenchcoat. I was secretly hoping for the cop in the game to start throwing handcuffs like Lupin’s Zenigata. Both involve a tall tower that nobody seems to be able to get to. While, you may think that is not much, it was enough to make me want to rewatch the Lupin movie.

I don’t know if anybody else has finished the game and also know the movie I am talking about, but I would love to hear your comments and if you have thought the same. Now I can’t wait for the next Professor Layton game and I feel like watching more Lupin movies!

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I’m a sucker for adventure games. They are by far, my favourite gaming genre, and it is a shame that it has all but died. Currently, you have a couple of surviving titles such as the episodic Sam and Max (which is great), but overall most game developers have decided to stop producing adventure games and skip to different genres. Gone are the days where Sierra and LucasArts would create amazing adventure games for you to lose yourself into. Games like Day of the Tentacle, Monkey Island, Gabriel Knight, Grim Fandango, and King’s Quest have all but dissapeared. It is a shame that they stopped producing these great story-laden games, but at least they ended them before they created spinoffs and butchered the name. Well, there is one glaring exception…

The Leisure Suit Larry series were some of my favourite adventure games. The primary reason for this was because they made me laugh. Even as kid, when I was too young to play the series, I laughed and laughed (and it probably made me more pervy than I would be without it, but that is a different story). The man behind the series was Al Lowe and he knew how to make me laugh. It was very saddenning when I found out that Leisure Suit Larry 8 got cancelled. Many fans were waiting for it, and so it came to a shock to us all. Now, with the game series ended, years passed by and a couple of years ago, they decided to bring the series back. Fans were exhilirated, but their happiness diminished when they realized that Al Lowe was not included in the making of the game. In our eyes, he was the funny man and it seemed propostrous to make it without him. Once the game came out, most fans were happy that Al Lowe did not participate. Gone was the great adventure game and the amazing puzzles. Instead the guts of the game consisted of a series of minigames. In fact it was pretty much only minigames. While the game did have its moments, it never approached the pleasure we received with the older series. Many cried foul and it became obvious that they were only using the name of Leisure Suit Larry to churn out a game for American Pie fans.

Now, more years have passed and we managed to put that game behind us. Thinking that they have learned their lesson and will not use the name again, they decide to create a new Leisure Suit Larry game. The debut trailer was released, and it pokes fun at the Gears of War commercial that made it so popular. After reading an interview with the developer and seeing this teaser, I am afraid that they will butcher the name once more. They may say it is a Leisure Suit Larry for the newer generation, but for us original pervs, it is a mockery and nothing but. See for yourself:

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For a second weekend in a row, I stayed inside the confines of my home. Last week I was sick, so I mostly slept, but this week I had no excuse, so instead of just goofing off all weekend, I decided to do some cooking. I hadn’t been trying any new recipes lately, except when experimenting with pasta sauces which is always fun, so I figured it was time for something new. This time I decided to use up some of my veggies in my fridge and make myself some vegetarian food. I don’t hate meat, but it is good to deviate from it now and then.

First up was Foonpool’s Dahl Soup. Having tried this at his place before, I knew how good and tasty it is. It proved to be very easy to make, yet I needed to go to my grocery store to pick up a couple of missing spices and some sweet potatoes. I now have enough soup to last me a good portion of the week!

The second recipe was stuffed squash. I deviated from the recipe somewhat, but it turned out pretty good as well. The stuffing was a mixture of brown/wild rice with diced yellow/red bell peppers, mushrooms, onions, garlic, and various spices. It makes you think of an autumn meal, which is great considering I have a couple of feet of snow on my balcony.

I also ate some spinach and ricotta manicotti (store bought) with some homemade pomodoro sauce, but since half of it was not made by me, I will not speak any more of it.

Each meal turned out to be quite tasty though and I will probably be using them again in the future.. especially the soup. The recipe can be found on Foonpool’s site, and I highly reccomend it.

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I woke up early this morning to realize that I had captured, while sleeping, the creature commonly known as the common cold. Since I knew it would be pointless to fall back asleep (my alarm was due to do it`s job in 10 minutes), I got up and proceeded to follow through on what is the usual morning routine. Now usually, I slam the snooze button for over an hour, get out of bed, rush everything and somehow manage to catch my bus. This morning though I had nearly two hours to get ready, and I even took an earlier bus. Now, I`m not used to taking it slow in the morning, so I decided to eat my breakfast in front of the television. Ignoring all the morning shows, I came upon PBS HD which had just begun to play a kids show. This show is called Boohbah. I am now traumatized.

If you don`t know of this show, it is a VERY colourful show which resembles very closely to the Telletubbies. It starts out with these kids laughing and saying “boohbah” as a magical flying white ball seems to touch them. It is 10 seconds in and I am already disturbed. The ball changes area a total of three times, each time touching other kids, who keep on giggling the word Boohbah. It then flies into the sky and twirls and then you are shown to the inside of this ball… Five spoons, or ladles are in a circle, each containing what looks like a colourful blob with the tip of male genitalia on top. The kids call out their names and each wake up in turn. Then they all hold hands and form a circle, as a stream of colourful liquid or steam ejects from the top of their heads!! What the hell? It just gets more messed up from there… At one point a kid drops a gift (which contained a door! a normal door!!) on this glowing spot then blows onto it to make it fly off into Story Land, where Grandpappa, Grandmamma, Auntie, Mrs. Lady, Mr. Man, Brother and Sister and some dog do something with it. It is important to note that each character is a different nationality, so I get the feeling Mrs. Lady had several adventures behind Mr. Man`s back.

I stopped watching at that point. I can imagine this is what an acid trip feels like, and I don`t think my brain could handle anymore.
I found the intro online. Go ahead and watch it, the first time is free.

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After writing my previous post, I felt impulsed to watch a movie, preferably animated. My first choice was the classic Who Framed Roger Rabbit (which has a Betty Boop cameo in it), but I ended popping in one of my favourite movies instead, Spirited Away. This masterpiece from genius Hayao Miyazaki never fails to spirit me away (pardon the pun) to another world. The movie revolves around Chihiro who stumbles into a bathhouse for the spirits and gets a job there in order to save her parents. I don’t want to give too much away, but you can’t help but fall for Chihiro and her adventures.

The animation is excellent and you really enjoy each character. I’m not a fan for cuteness overload in characters, but I am a sucker for the mouse in this movie. This was one of the first movies in which Miyazaki mixed 3d with the usual 2d and it came out superb. There is nothing groundbreaking, and the mixture has been done better in newer films (Steamboy comes to mind), but it doesn’t distract from the story.

The audio is also great with plenty of sounds that just feel right. I’m a dubbing purist, meaning I usually only watch movies in their original language, but I enjoy Spirited Away in both Japanese (with subtitles) and English. Also, the soundtrack is sublime. Joe Hisaishi has never been better. I keep the soundtrack close where ever I go, since if ever I get stressed, angry, or sad, it always manages to cheer me up.

It is near impossible to find faults in this film. Well, I can think of one thing, but it is not of the movie directly. Whenever I finish watching Spirited Away, I am always impulsed to hug the person I love and hold them tight, since the movie fills you with so much joy. It only hurts when there is nobody there to receive the hug, but that is an issue only to those who are alone.

All in all, I cannot reccomend this movie enough. It came out in 2001, and if you have not seen it yet, you should definitely add it to your list. This is in my top movies of all time, and probably my favourite animation to date.

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I spotted this video soemwhere else, but I am in awe and had to share. The animation was surely drawn by acid-coated illustrators with a messed up mind. What is it with the cartoons from the 30’s? Everything is ALIVE. Everything moves! There’s always violence, and nobody ever gets hurt! These tiny animated episodes were most definately not for the kiddies, and I can only imagine the sanity of a child shown these videos…

Even though, I find this animation incredibly fluid; something that is lacking in today’s current selection. If you ignore the violence, the political incorectness, and all the other faults, it is still amazing what they could do back in the day. This particular video is a Betty Boop episode and it was overdubbed with music from the Cherry Poppin’ Daddies. The two fit very well, and it was my love for swing music that drew me to the video in the first place.

You can find details of the real cartoon from Wikipedia here.
Feel free to post what you think of these old cartoons in the comments.

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