NERDCULTURE SMACKDOWN! POKÉMONS OF THE WEEK! FEB 23 -MAR 1 /13!

#316 GULPIN & #317 SWALOT

Today, we're looking a pair of poison Pokemon from the third generation that seem to be the spiritual successors to Grimer & Muk-- #316 Gulpin & #317 Swalot. This goes out to all of who have gotten sick because of the up and down weather with these snotty Pokémon.

LAST WEEK'S POKEMONS OF THE WEEK! GULPIN & SWALOT!

WORD OF THE DAY! 2/23/13!

body slam [baw-dee-slam]
noun
1. A wrestling throw in which an opponent is lifted and hurled to the mat, landing on his or her back.
verb
2. For a person to slam someone onto the ground with their body.

EX. I think, according to the definition above, Snorlax is doing something worth with his Body Slam technique?

WORD OF THE DAY! 2/22/13.

 .gif/gif [gif/jif] 

noun 

1. A set of standards and file format for storage of digital color images and short animations.

2. A file or image stored in this format.

EX. Is .gif pronounced "jif" or "gif"? According to inventors of the format, it is pronounced "jif", but after years of grammar war, the "accepted pronunciation" is "gif". Personally, I think either way is fine, yet I would prefer to say "jif" but end up saying "gif" to not be corrected.

What do you think? Also, which starter do you think is cutest for Pokémon X & Y? Who would you choose without knowing details except they're appearance?

WORD OF THE DAY! 2/21/13.

asteroid [as-tuh-rohyd]
noun
1. Astronomy. Also called a minor planet, any of the thousands of small bodies of from 480 miles (775 km) to less than one mile (1.6 km) in diameter that revolve about the sun in orbits lying mostly between those of Mars and Jupiter.

meteoroid [mee-tee-ohr-ohyd]
noun
1. Astronomy. Any of the small bodies, often remnants of comets, traveling through space: when such a body enters the earth's atmosphere it is heated to luminosity and becomes a meteor. 

meteor [mee-tee-ohr]
noun
1. Astronomy. A meteoroid that has entered earth's atmosphere and is falling through the sky. 
2. Astronomy. The fiery streak caused by a meteor falling through earth's atmosphere, also called a shooting star.

meteorite [mee-tee-ohr-ahyt]
noun
1. A mass of metal or rock that has reached earth from space; a fallen meteoroid. 

EX. An asteroid is an asteroid as long as it lies between Mars & Jupiter (or in other asteroid belts), but becomes a meteoroid once it leaves a fixed orbit, then becomes a meteor/s if it enters Earth's atmosphere and finally become meteorite/s once it reaches Earth's surface. Thanks, Obama.

MIXED BAG. PS4: MY FIRST IMPRESSIONS!

MIXED BAG PRESENTS

PS4: MY FIRST IMPRESSION!

Last night, alongside hundreds of thousands of viewers ranging from casual gamers to veteran video game journalists got their first peek at Sony's game plan for the PS4-- we got to see some new hardware, some new software, and a lot of talk about how PS4 plans to win its way into our homes & hearts. The purpose of today's article is to give you guy's my first-hand impressions and gut-feelings about the features they described and the games they showed off.

Before I get started, I wanna apologize for not doing this with the Wii-U-- yet! If this article has some legs, I might try and describe how I feel about Nintendo's newest console they released last Fall (cuz it still feels like it just launched with so little momentum right now).

As I break down each of my impressions, I will be linking as many videos as I can to help fill the blanks for you guys.

P.S. In case you're wondering, I do own a PS3, Xbox 360, and Wii. PS3 was my first Sony console and I do not play it as much as my Xbox, but probably around the same as my Wii. So, that gives you a frame of reference to judge my biases.

WTF WED! THE NOSTALGIA CRITC & THE ANGRY VIDEO GAME NERD in THE MYSTERY OF THE YANNICORN!

WTF WEDNEDSAY PRESENTS

NOSTAGLIA CRITIC & AVGN ANIME? 

D-DESUKA!? This was a real weird one to find out about, but its sort of completely awesome to know that there are fans for our favorite internet reviewers over in Japan! I've talked about the Angry Video Game Nerd before (check out this classic article of AVGN VS. Arino the Kacho), but I don't think I've really pimped out Nostaglia Critic. The Critic is a character at the center of an entire network of video reviewers. The character Doug Walker plays is a personification of the cynical critic in all of us critical folk when it comes to entertainment-- going off into rants and moments of temporary insanity in reaction to horrors like...well...TWO ANIMATED TITANIC MOVIES?! (One HERE. And one HERE). His specialty is reviewing 80's and 90's tripe, but has known to do some retrospectives, top ten lists, and has started breaking into the 2000's for some fresh nostalgia & exceptions. Doug Walker actually retired the character last summer but, to quote him, "the review must go on!" He started reviewing again-- he may have changed some things but, if the Pearl Harbor review is any indication, the King is back baby.

CHARLIE THE YANNICORN

This a new classic animation from secretagentbob, featuring, in their debut roles, the Yannicorn, Kenny G.sus, &, last but certainly not least, Munch the Hungry Star Cat Fish! The Star Cat Fish really steals the show with

"Little Kitty Baby eating marshmallow pie, oh man!

Sometimes I feel like my life is a marshmallow lie!

Little Kitty Baby eating the world with my face,
OMNOMNOMNOMNOMNOMNOM!"

Bonus nerd points if you can name off the titles to these classic Hanna Barbera cartoons in the comments below.

WORD OF THE DAY! 2/20/13!

bell jar [bel-jawr]
noun
1. A bell-shaped glass jar or cover for protecting delicate instruments, bric-a-brac, or the like, or for containing gases or a vacuum in chemical experiments.

EX. There is something about the proverbial "devil in the bell jar" that appeals to my sense of visual and literary taste. To capture and contain evil, to put it on display, makes it an example. To combat evil, one may argue, you must understand evil. If you put a villain in a regular jail cell that means that you don't want to see them and want to hide them away. The problem with hiding evil is that it makes it all the more effective. When people forget evil and fail to understand it, they're almost always doomed to be defeated by it.

Then, of course, there is the dramatic license of having the villain contained, but not sequestered away from outside contact. This is the reason we love scenes where a villain taunts the hero from inside their glass prisons, because the glass represents the thin and fragile barrier between the two characters and how easy it would for the evil to escape.

I think there is certainly something to it-- after all, putting something on display and under glass makes it all the more... tantalizing...

WEEKLY ROUND-UP! 2/11-2/17/13!

WEEKLY ROUND-UP PRESENTS

POKÉ-FEELINGS WEEK!

7. POKÉMON OF THE WEEK! FEB 16-22/13. CASTFORM.

Woof. I know it seems like I've been down-talking some Pokémon designs in February, but you gotta be aware of the fact that I choose them at random. Castform is just not that interesting. Just meh. Pretty much sums up the week.

6. WORD OF THE DAY! 2/15/13! SUPER MARIO BUSTERS!

2011 was the year I found many passions.
2012 was the year I started really feeling old.
2013 needs to be a year of new experiences.

5. WORD OF THE DAY! 2/14/13! Crash.

I woke up into a panic attack last Friday morning (or something of that sort). I can describe it best as waking up with the sensation that my body was covered in tongues, a jellyfish was in my chest, and everything was moving at about 1.5x normal speed. This is true. I'm sorry if this week's round up get a little personal, but that's part of the reason I do them.

4. MUSICAL MON! OBAMA'S AERODACTYLS DIE HARD!

Some positive news is that Dungeons and Dragons has picked up lately with me and my group (we play on Sundays now). The group has changed from when I started the blog. I guess I should count myself lucky to have any sort of gaming group, but I wish our society put more emphasis on putting aside time to just hang with friends rather than spending all our time watching reality TV and working ourselves to death (if we can get jobs).

3. WTF WED! PAPER MEGAMAN'S PONY LIGHTSABER! OH MY!

Sorry. I'm a bit of a downer. My humor keeps me going, if you need a light at the bottom of the hole I'm digging myself.

2. POKÉMONS OF THE WEEK! FEB 9-15/13. RAMPARDOS & BASTIODON

You know what? Time for a less depressing confession-- I have generally been disappointed with the end results of every fossil Pokemon. Meh. Rampardos and Bastiodon though are probably my least favorites just because, despite having such a slam dunk concept, they still managed to drop the ball. On the plus side, if there is something I'm hyped for this year it's....

1. WORD OF THE DAY! 2/13/13. Eveelution.

Pokemon X & Y! My money, in case your wondering, is riding on Ninfia (ENG: Sylveon) is going to turn out to be Normal or Flying. My wish is that she'll be something new...

WORD OF THE DAY! 2/19/13!

free-range [free-reynj]
adjective
1. Describing or pertaining to livestock/domesticated animals permitted to graze or forage for food rather than being stuck in an enclosure/cage.

EX. Remember that Chain Chomps are always happier when not chained up and prefer be able to run free-range. Don't train your pet to attack Italian plumbers and, if you suspect Chain Chomp abuse by your dragon-turtle neighbor, report the act to the authorities.

Let's take the Chain out of the Chomp.

MUSICAL MON! BRAVE SILVER SAYS "IT'S NO USE" TO GO BACK TO SKYRIM!

MUSICAL MONDAY PRESENTS

BRAVE (SECRET OF NIMH REMIX)

First up on the Monday Menu, I'm serving up a Pogo-esque remix nombre of, one of the greatest animated films of all time, Don Bluth's The Secret of NIMH. Based on the children's novel, the film follows a mother mouse on a journey to save the lives of her children from the monstrous machinations of man. Along the way, Mrs. Brisby finds herself over her head when she seeks out the help of The Great Owl who tells her to seek the aid of the Rats that live under the rosebush-- Rats  entrenched in a political debate between pacifism and violence, between patience and progress, and between magic and science (the boundaries of which seem to overlap in their world).

Besides the beautiful handcrafted animation, the film is flowing with depth and resonance that goes much farther than the average children's movie. Perhaps, more than any of Bluth's films, this film creates a world that is both fantastic and fascinating without softening itself for children.

Perhaps, most extraordinary, is the film's humble, but brave protagonist Mrs. Brisby.

On a sidenote, wtf is up with movies being released on DVD with these FACKIN' TERRIBLE covers? Example above. Did they lose the right to the cover art for the original VHS covers or did they think it would be easier to sell the movies to kids if they made it seem like a completely cutesy little piece of dog crap?

 

GAME GRUMPS REMIX- SILVER'S THEME SONG

And now time to talk about some far less sympathetic vermin in the form of the Game Grumps remix of their improvised theme song for Silver "It's No Use" the Hedgehog. The first time the Grumps ran into him in Episode 7 of the Sonic '06 series, we knew-- WE KNEW that this series would be big for the Grumps. The terrible characters (all of them suck, there, I said it), the terrible story (don't even argue that the Sonic games have a good story), but most important the bad and, even more importantly somehow, BROKEN gameplay has made the Sonic series legendary for its mediocrity and has made Sonic '06 memorable for its sheer miserable design. Can they save this series? My opinion? "It's no use".

SKYRIM'S THEME AS PERFORMED BY TAY ZONDAY

This probably was indirectly responsible for me hopping back on my xbox this last weekend to continue my playthrough of Skyrim (which I probably stopped playing last Summer)  as my Breton heavy armored, one hand weapon weilding, battlemage! You prolly know Tay best from his break-out internet hit "Chocolate Rain" and, while this theme might not be super timely, its better late than never to hear him sing this Skyrim tune!

BONUS: HOBBIT THEME

WORD OF THE DAY! 2/18/13!

nymph [nimf]
noun

1. One of a numerous class of lesser deities of mythology, conceived of as beautiful maidens inhabiting the sea, rivers, woods, trees, mountains, meadows, etc., and frequently mentioned as attending a superior deity.

2. A beautiful or graceful young woman.

3. A maiden.

4. The young of an insect that undergoes incomplete metamorphosis.

POKEMON X & Y- SYLVEON TRAILER

EX. Alright, so this new Ninfia? Pokemon got spoiled last week (talked about it here) and its English name has been revealed as "Sylveon". As a D & D fan, this makes me think of Silvanus, the classic D & D god (based on a Roman god) of wild nature and druids. This also makes me think of "sylphs" a type of air-elemental or spirit. Also, Silph Co. was a company in the Pokemon games that made a device that allowed you to see and catch Ghost pokemon. Finally, someone was kind enough to point out that "nymph" (which place is into its other foreign names) refers to fairies and elves (which "sylph" does too) but also refers to several types of butterflies. It seems to use some normal moves and either a fighting and/or bug moves in the trailers. So what does that mean?

We'll have to wait to find out if it is a Ghost, Fighting, Flying, Bug, Normal, or some type of new typing of Pokemon... sigh...

WORD OF THE DAY! 2/17/13.

congeniality [kahn-jeen-ee-al-ih-tee]
noun
1. The level of an individual's agreeable. suitable, or pleasing nature or characteristics.
2. An individual's suitability or adaptability in spirit. feeling, and/or temperament.

EX. I've never considered Batman to be Mr. Congeniality before, but perhaps with a little expert training from Alfred will get him ready for some undercover work at the Gotham Beauty Pageant. After all, it will probably get attacked by Poison Ivy for using plants in their make-up, Cat Woman might compete in it to try and steal some valuable jewels from one of the judges, and/or Harley Quinn & The Joker may decide to put a smile on every judge's face (whether they like it or not).