back when i was a younger man ("boy" might be a more acurate term), this kind of marketing would have worked rather well on me. and not just because it involves hockey and tracy morgan
of course, this isn't the first time former snl stars and my favorite of sports have combined in advertising...
show of hands edition
Democratic Pres. Cannidates Debate
I wasted nearly 2 hours to find this clip (please click to view) Thank god for my memory in face of the MSM
Who's packing heat? (actual question - "in your adult lifetime, who here has had a gun in the house?")
Answer: Mike Gravel, Dennis Kuccinich, Joe Biden, Chris Dodd, Bill Richardson
Republican Pres. Cannidates Debate
So far that list includes Sam Brownback, Tom Tancredo, and Mike Huckabee. (video here)
No comment (from me at least). Please Discuss.
Instead of live blogging the debates (in part because i don't understand their cannidate field as well), this time I'm trying out MSNBC's experiment. In this interactive feature, you can watch a short video clip of each cannidate talking about the issues and indicate whether you have a positive or negative impression of them. You can save your results for each cannidate. Then, after (watching) the debates you can see new clips of the cannidates speaking in the debate and indicate your impression of them, so you can see if it changed.
Not a bad idea, although it's not exactly an indcative poll. I'll stick my neck out a little bit (please keep in mind that I am a left-leaning independant) and share my picks now, to compare later. These rating are mostly relative to this field of cannidates, and are not necessarily indicative of how i'd vote in a general election, and I do not plan on voting during my state's Republican primary. I promise not to flip-flop by changing my previously stated stances, unlike many of the cannidates on stage tonight...
(see also: last week's liveblog of the Democratic debates)
Key:
"+" = positive impression, (if color is green indicates postive change)
"-" = negative impression (if color is red indicates negative change)
For those of us who remember waking up Saturday mornings to watch cartoons, and especially for Sonic-philes like us there was SatAM Sonic - that is the Sonic the Hedgehog cartoon series on thr ABC network. Well, actually there was another Sonic cartoon that was syndicated around the same time, but that usually aired on weekdays in most markets. But this cartoon gave us something special to wake up for - polished animation, complex charecters, and a terribly dated theme song (even when the show came out it was dated).
The series, which recently was released on DVD, is now finding a new audience. This audience grew up with their own new Sonic cartoons, like Sonic Underground and now Sonic X. Although the series only ran for two seasons, its cancellation was largely the result of ABC's being bought out by the Disney company in 1995. But this series, made when mascot videogames ruled the world largely because of their branding possibilities, reflects an interest more enduring than say a Mega Man cartoon or the failed Busby pilot. If you're looking to relive your childhood, or would like to catch up on one of Sonic's older series, why not pick one up at your local Target store? We think it's "way past cool"...
I'd like a chance to introduce the Sonic Team group on Vox. In this group we'll be dicussing all things Sonic the Hedgehog, his games, series charecters, animated shows, anime, comic books, websites, music, etc.. This will also be a good forum for Sega Fanboys like myself, and videogames more broadly. Already in the group "We're up, over, and gone"!
Ok so maybe you're freaked out by furries, but charecters in themselves are not such. Sonic has brought a lot of joy to many a gamer of new and old school graduation. This little blue sprite/polygon has graced the tv screen video game console, home video, comic book, fan fic, webcomic, and even the macy's thanksgiving day parade. You all know a little about the man, but what about his legend of freedom fighting? Have you been to plannet Mobius? IF the answer to the last couple questions is yes, then you should probably join the group already. If not, maybe you'd be interested in the debauchery and insane fandom this company mascot has encapsulated. The curious are invited as well...
R U E for the next level (2.0 edition?)
As a kind of follow-up to last week's post on video games and their portrayal in the news media, I found this piece from the CBS Evening News' series this week on Internet addiction. Chances are you've heard of people addicted to playing World of Warcraft, Second Life, or "Evercrack". This piece is supposed to be about an addict of Final Fantasy XI, but really it's just bunk journalism.
You really need to watch the piece to see what I meam. I watched it in my Online Journalism class today, and it was the subject of quite a few laughs and guffaws. Nothing like running through the old media cliches of scare mongering us about the internet (especially before sweeps week), you'll be laughing at the sinister computer in slow motion and the diagrams of addictive chemicals flowing.
Update:
Almost a week after helping out a friend of this blog find a Wii. Although I can't make any such promises at this juncture, I found it funny to spot two more of the notoriously hard to find units for sale at the same Target store today (check previous post linked above for location info). In the off chance that you live in St. Louis, you should take comfort in our frined's revelation that the store holds on to a couple extra on reserve, possibly the two shown in this case.
Also remember that readers of this blog would love to hear your wii hunting stories. Consider it an open invitation from wii all...
American Dream blog celebrates mourns the fourth anniversary of President Bush's so-called "Mission Accomplished" speech given to announce an end to "major combat operations".
You can make your own "Mission Accomplished" banner using this generator (http://tellusthemission.org/)
PS - YTMND
over in Leoville (that is the home of Leo Laporte) we found a little TechTV reunion with Morgan Webb of the videogame TV show Xplay (of G4TV). Leo, who's podcast on the Twit network keeps me tuning in for all my geeky needs ran into Morgan Webb of videogame review fame at an airport, but still share some comradery I can still remember meeting Leo one weekday afternoon while channel surfing DirecTV channel 354 on what was then called ZDtv (after the Ziff-Davis Publishing company), a channel for computer and electronics reviews. That afternoon I met Leo on hs show "call for help", was introduced to "Internet Tonight" (a kind of ET for the interweb, back when things were trackable), and saw my first videogame review show called Xplay. It was through them I first saw Sega Dreamcast games, it it is with them that a feature like this might start. Later, ZDtv was bought out and became TechTV, which in turn was bought by and intergated with G4TV. A lot of friends were lost along the way, but Leo has come back and maybe now Morgan will join him?...
Thanks to our friends @ KickPunchBlock.com, we now know about what is quickly becoming "the internet's new favorite past time" - Sumotori Dreams. This quirky, simple sumo wresling game is a short download (under 1 mb) with no instruction really necessary. For a game made with rather annonymous looking polygon fighters (Really more like lumps of mass with appendages) that only uses three buttons to control everything, this game seems rather difficult.
Supposedly this game is designed with beginers and non-gamers in mind, but we know better - this is a game for drunks. Between the relatively non functioning controls and the charecters continually falling over each other, this abstract yet addictive game is perfect for fights and accusations of cheap wins accompanying a couple of beers. It's for either one or two players (so far only for PC gamers), but it is FREEWARE. And when it comes to freeware games, what could be more fun between interwebnet buddies than a shitty game meant to frustrate and confuse everyone involved?
Give Sumotori a chance, and it may yet become the game of your confused, metaphorical, symoblic, and vaguely disturbing Dreams...
