Some have it easy.. like all the sausages and bacons in a supermart's freezer. They will always be picked no matter what, very much unlike the rest. Take chicken nuggets for example, nobody likes chicken nuggets (well.. atleast I'd like to think so). People of all ages won't have problems liking saugages and bacons; But when it come to the like of chicken nuggets, you'd have problems even considering it i'd bet - unless you're below 10. Children seem to always see the good things in just about anything - have you noticed?
Things that have it easy usually doesn't need a lot to be liked. Those other things (..like the chicken nuggets) on the other hand, need different (other) reasons just to be loved. The chicken nuggets (again..) for example, when dipped on any kind of dip (??) tastes a whole lot better - you can love it for that. The same goes for everything (uhm.. yes, even tv shows), there will always be something good in/about them. We just have to know what it is - go beyond the first impressions.
Cold Cuts of Life..
Great Life in High School?
I often hear other people saying that high school is the best years of their lives. I agree with them in some point. High school is where you'd meet a lot of new people, new friends - some of them you'll have for maybe the rest of your lives. It's in high school that you'll experience a lot of new things - some of these you'll treasure forever. But there's more to "it" than these things and not all of them are great. (really?) Read my article...
Even though I had a lot of friends during my "high school days", I still got the feeling that I didn't really belong. This is due primarily to my insecurities, insecurities that I shouldn't even be having that time. I could've had a far greater time (more experiences, better grades, more friends, etc) in high school if not for these insecurities. I think that these are problems that most teenagers are having - not knowing who they really are, what they're worth, and the things that matters most. It's what's stopping most of us from having a great time (not only in high school).
My So Called Life is a really good series tackling the confusions and difficulties of teenage (high school) years. A realistic series that teenagers can relate with.
My Dose of Horror?
I've been a very "jumpy" person for as long as I can remember; And because of that, I seem to have developed some sort of "allergy" to horror pictures. Good thing that at my age, I've acquired "techniques" to compensate for my jumpiness. Okay.. Back when I was a kid things were different. Tales from the Crypt was the closest thing to horror I'd agree on watching. Not that the series didn't contain those so-called "jumpy moments" but because Tales from the Crypt is not your run-of-the-mill horror. It's one of those things that you just have to see. Watch it and you'll know what I mean.
Tales from the Crypt is a horror anthology TV series based on the 1950s EC Comics series of the same name. Each episode was a single story, and many had notable celebrity guest stars such as Brad Pitt, Joe Pesci, Martin Sheen, Roger Daltry, Demi Moore, and Don Rickles among others. Many famous celebrities, such as Tom Hanks, Michael J. Fox, and Arnold Schwarzenegger, also directed some episodes of the series. Tales from the Crypt was one of the few anthology series to be allowed to have full freedom from censorship by the FCC, due to the fact that it was on HBO. Given that HBO often allows its shows to have more graphic material than most shows on American television, the station allowed the series to contain graphic violence as well as other content that hadn't appeared in most television series up to that time. - wikipedia
WHAM! POW!
I can still remember watching the classic TV Series of Batman when I was still a child. Although non-animated television series wasn't one of my interests back then, I still ended up watching the series rather than do whatever it is that most kids of that age usually does. There was probably something in the Batman 1960's series that made such an impact on my "young mind".
Now that I think about it, this is the only classic series I remember watching. The Whams! Pows! Clangs! Whacks! during fight scenes are still fresh in my mind - up until this day. That part of the show really set this classic series apart from rest. Aside from the "visual sound effects", the music theme that consisted of repeated "Batman!" cries was also very catchy. I think everybody knows this music tune, even those who haven't even seen a single episode of the show.
Da - da - da - da - da - da - da - da - da - da - da - da - da - Batman!!
The Tale of One Gamer??
I started playing video games at the age of 8, the very moment an aunt gave me my very first gaming console. Since then, I can't seem to get enough of the virtual world - not that I'm addicted to it or something - at least not anymore. I've toned down my choices of games, unlike before where I'd play any new games I see. Now that I'm in my age, I've developed a strong preference to games that belong RPG/D&D genre.
Why D&D/RPG? It's really hard to explain. But there's just something in D&D/RPG that's not in other genres. In RPGs and D&Ds, you get to really be "involve" in the game. You get to "be" the main character. Feel what they feel.. through engaging and rich plots/storyline. See what they see.. through many different realms/worlds. And face what they face.. get to be the one to decide what to do during situations. Of course it might just be me, a D&D/RPG enthusiast, talking and your opinion can be very different from mine. lol.
The Dungeons and Dragons TV Series co-produced by Marvel Productions and TSR shows a lot of the good stuffs about D&D. Oh btw, did I tell you that there are a millions (maybe even billions) of D&D/RPG fans around the world? :D
What's inside them Muppets?
There was this one scene in a horror series I remember watching that showed a kid being afraid of a puppet. Apparently, the puppet has a "vengeful spirit" living inside of it and would later end up doing some "unspeakable" things (lol). Now that I think about it, there has been a lot of these "scenes" - or something like it - shown lately. Is it becoming trend in horror films?
Whatever happened to those kid's shows that features puppets as their stars? Shows like the Muppet Show, the Sesame Street, Spongebob Squarepants (???), etc. Have you seen these shows in your television channels lately? I know I haven't. Could this be the result of this new "horror=puppet" combo that's slowly becoming popular (if not already)? I wonder.. do children these days think as fondly of Elmo, Cookie Monster, Kermit the frog as me when I was their age..
Who wants to be Blue when you can be Yellow!?
Unless it includes robots, swords or guns - I'm not watching it. That was my sort of "motto" regarding cartoons as a kid. Then I saw my very first episode of The Simpsons. It was like nothing I've ever seen before. I can still remember me and my friends laughing the whole time the show was on. Back then I had no idea of the freeze frame gags and saw very little of the sign gags that the show is widely known for. It was only after I receive a copy of The Simpsons Series as a gift and re-watch the whole series (pausing on appropriate frames of the episodes) that I was able to see these freeze frame gags that people are talking about. I finally understood what all the buzz was about - the funny dialogues and comical scenes are really just a tiny part of what The Simpsons is all about. No wonder it's the longest running American sitcom. And at 25, I'm still watching it - that's more that 15 years now. D'oh!
The Simpsons family lives a "Middle American" lifestyle and is a one-income, working class family. Homer Simpson is a safety inspector at the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant and a generally well-meaning buffoon. Marge Simpson is for the most part a stereotypical American housewife and mother. Bart Simpson is a ten-year-old troublemaker who thinks of himself as a rebel. Lisa Simpson is an extremely intelligent eight-year old middle child who is often involved in left-wing activism and loves playing the saxophone. Maggie Simpson is a baby who sucks on a pacifier, falls down a lot and does not speak. The family has a dog (Santa's Little Helper), a cat (Snowball II), as well as several other one-shot pets. Despite the fact that numerous yearly milestones (such as holidays or birthdays) clearly pass, the Simpsons do not physically age. - wikipedia
The Secret Agents are Out?
I came across a rerun of Alias while doing my usual channel surfing this morning. I've heard a lot about the series from friends but their "excitement" never really grew on me. I'd always tell them that I'd rather watch MacGyver back then.
Pete: (Hands him a gun.)
MacGyver: Pete, you know how I feel about those things.
Pete: But you're defenseless out here.
MacGyver: No, just weaponless.
MacGyver is a survival expert and scientific prodigy who prefers peaceful conflict resolution wherever possible. He refuses to use or even carry a gun due to a childhood accident that resulted in the death of a friend. The character is portrayed as an outspoken advocate of gun control. Even in cases where his improvised devices are used to attack hostile opponents, he is always doing so in self-defense and, if possible, subduing or disabling rather than killing.
I haven't noticed a lot of successful secret agent tv series lately. Does this mean that secret agent themes are out? I don't think so. I believe that we are just not being given the ingredients that we'd like on a series like these. What did the MacGyver Serieshave that others don't? Well.. unlike other action/suspense/mystery series being aired nowadays, Mcgyver managed to captivate a lot of audience without the use of violence, sexual content, profanity, etc. Are these the ingredients we'd want? Maybe yes, maybe no. But notice that lately almost all shows regardless of genre contained almost exactly the same elements - maybe a little deviation is all that is needed like what Macgyver was in the 1980s.
Transformers transform to the Big Screen
With the advent of the new Transformers Movie from Dreamworks, more and more people are regaining their long lost enthusiasm for Transformers. People have started rekindling their interest in them, ever since tiny details of the movie started coming out. I have to admit, I'm one of those people. I really can't blame myself - as I child I grew up watching Transformers: The Animated Series. There was even that particular moment in my childhood when I'd wake up so early in the morning just to watch a Japanese version of it. I could still remember all the scoldings and the number of tardiness I was rewarded in school because of it.
Anyways, seeing the CG effects of the movie made me really excited. These are what 3Dimentionalized (Is there such a word?) Transformers are supposed to be - unlike in the Beast Wars/Beast machine series aired on televisions years ago. The 3D effects and environment, in my humble opinion, was terrible. If not for the exceptionally good storyline and great characters the series probably wouldn't have made it.. the movie is a whole different story though. From what I've seen and heard so far, I'm pretty sure that it'll make as good impact (if not more) as those Transformers tv series that most of us enjoyed as kids.