Knuckles and Gyros

10 Great Video Game Tunes (plus 40 others)

Say what you want about this topic but some of the best music I’ve heard have come from video games. Am I a dork? This has been established already but I really dig myself some video game tunes. Here’s 10 that I particularly love. My only thing is that I can’t include Super Smash Bros Brawl/Melee remixes and only one per franchise (but I’ll put like 3 others I like too)

1) “Because I Love You” (Earthbound series/SNES) There’s just something so romantic about this song. It plays near the end of the game as you’re walking back home with Paula (the girl character). And yes, it’s implied that Paula loves Ness. :P Also I couldn’t recommend this game enough either. Runners Up: “Winters White” (Earthbound/SNES), “Pollyanna (I Believe in You” (Mother 3/GBA) (note: This is a common theme through the entire series. I just chose this version), “Theme of Love (Mom’s Hometown version)” (Mother 3/GBA) (note: I CANNOT put the other version on because it makes me cry like a little bitch), “Boy Meets Girl (Twoson)” (Earthbound/SNES)

2) “Prologue (Ahead On Our Way)” (Final Fantasy series/NES) There’s so many great songs from this franchise but THIS is the one that I love the balls out of. I remember the first time hearing it and just how much it felt like I was about to embark on some awesome journey. I went with the NES version because that was the first version I fell in love with. Runners Up: “Castle Cornelia” (Final Fantasy/NES), “Chocobo Theme (Yellow)” (Final Fantasy IV/SNES) (any Chocobo theme is good), “Melody of Lute” (Final Fantasy IV/SNES), “Matoya’s Cave” (Final Fantasy/NES) [note: I don’t like really like any Final Fantasy games beyond VI and while VI is a great game, I prefer the music of I and V more)

3) “Grape Gardens” (Kirby’s Adventure/NES) Kirby has a lot of great music, but this one is my favorite. It’s so relaxing and makes me feel like I’m flying. I catch myself singing this song time and time again. Kirby is a rather underrated franchise if you ask me. It’s overshadowed a bit by Pokemon, Mario, Legend of Zelda, and the others. It’s kinda on par with Metroid on notability. Runners Up: “Green Greens” (Kirby’s Dream Land/GameBoy) , “Gourmet Race” (Kirby Super Star/SNES), “Milky Way Wishes Ending Theme” (Kirby Super Star/SNES), “Checker Knights” (Kirby Air Ride/GameCube) [note: I must also direct you to this mashup of Gourmet Race and Checker Knights that is just brilliant]

4) “Birabuto Kingdom: World 1-1” (Super Mario Land/GameBoy) I always felt that this game was a little underrated. It’s kinda like not really part of the same world that Super Mario Brothers was, but I don’t care. This song is fucking awesome. Definitely my favorite Mario song, those a few Super Mario Galaxy songs made their bid too. Runners Up: “Overworld Music” (Super Mario Bros 2/NES) [note: I need to seriously link ya to this jazz orchestra version which I love so hard], “Good Egg Galaxy” (Super Mario Galaxy/Wii), “Gusty Gardens Galaxy” (Super Mario Galaxy/Wii), “Athletic Level” (Super Mario World/SNES)

5) “Vermillion City” (Pokemon RBY/GameBoy) Because I’m suddenly 14 years old again, I’ve been playing my Pokemon Red out of boredom and I STILL found myself in love with this little ditty. Why yes I have been feeling nostalgic lately. I caught this game love on the tail end of the ages that it catered to for the most part. I was about 13 or so when I fell in love with the games. I fell into some strange fads as a kid which my mom probably wouldn’t have minded as much but all the fads I fell into were more aimed for boys. Runners Up: “Lavender Town” (Pokemon RBY/GameBoy) [note: Man did this theme give me the jibblies when I first played it], “Cinnabar Island” (Pokemon RBY/GameBoy), “Routes 24-25” (Pokemon RBY/GameBoy), “Pallet Town” (Pokemon RBY/GameBoy)

6) “Sheiks Theme” (Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time/N64) There are SO many good songs in the LoZ series let alone this game. However, despite how short this theme is, it’s always been one of my favorites. I never hear anybody really talk about it which kinda sucks. I love it and it fits so well with the character (which we all know by now is Zelda in disguise) Runners Up: “Dungeon” (Legend of Zelda/NES), “The Great Sea” (LoZ: The Wind Waker/GameCube), “Gerudo Valley” (LoZ: Ocarina of Time/N64), “Overworld” (Legend of Zelda/NES) [note: Oh come on like I WASN’T gonna put this one in?!)

7) “Star Fox Main Theme” (Star Fox/SNES) Star Fox is one of those games that by the concept of it should’ve tanked pretty badly. I mean four anthropomorphic space pilots going on adventures to defeat evil? It just sounds odd but yet it totally worked! There’s a lot of games like that and Star Fox is pretty much the granddaddy of all of them. Or something like that. And also I’m someone who doesn’t like shooters that much either and I like this game. Runners Up: “Opening Theme” (Star Fox 64/N64), “Corneria” (Star Fox/SNES), “Area 6” (Star Fox 64/N64), “Star Wolf Theme” (Star Fox 64/N64)

8) “Ending Story” (Yoshi’s Story/N64) The Yoshi series of video games are so adorable and awesome. They never fail to make me smile. The ending story theme is awesome and it makes you think like ‘Hey things are gonna be okay after all’. A great song to listen to while you’re down in the dumps. The very very very last notes kinda get me strangely teary. Don’t ask why. Runners Up: “Yoshi’s Song” (Yoshi’s Story/N64), “Flower Garden” (Yoshi’s Island/SNES), “Athletic Theme” (Yoshi’s Island/GBA version), Yoshi’s Island (Super Smash Bros./N64) [note: I know I’m cheating with this one but I don’t care, it’s that awesome!]

9) “Super Metroid Theme” (Super Metroid/SNES) Okay these are gonna start getting Grab Bag like but I’ll try to keep a theme with them. Like these ones are more the systems from SNES and up (minus one Metroid theme). I like this one because of the fanfare that’s used. It’s like “Here she is mofos! Hero-ing up like nobody’s business” and so on. :) Samus is awesome dammit. Runners Up: “Brinstar” (Metroid/NES), “Mute City” (F-Zero/SNES), “Chemical Plant Zone” (Sonic the Hedgehog 2/Sega Genesis), “Rainbow Road” (Super Mario Kart/SNES)

10) “The Moon” (Ducktales/NES) Dude, this song is fucking awesome. I don’t even know where to begin with it. It sounds like it should be an ending theme even though it’s not. It’s one of those songs I completely forgot about how great it was until like a few years ago when coming across it again. You know those kind of things. Anyways, I love this song. Runners Up: “Victory Music” (Ice Climber/NES), “Underworld” (Kid Icarus/NES), “Theme A” (Tetris/GameBoy), “Chill” (Dr. Mario/NES)

I’ll provide links to the last bits in a while. My computer is acting slow. My bad. But there’s my list. :P

10 TV Shows I Couldn't Recommend Enough To People (Past and Present)

I’m not a huge TV watcher these days, but there are certain shows from the past and present that I cannot recommend enough to others. I must talk about these shows.

1) How I Met Your Mother — This one is a great show that people really should watch. However, it’d be best if they went throught the seasons and understand that the story isn’t really about the mother but more about a group of friends. That’s just the main driving point. A lot of people say it’s a Friends ripoff, but it really isn’t. It actually is a lot deeper and has a lot of awesome characters and hilarious moments. IMO the best standard sitcom out there today.

2) Newsradio — My god I loved this show. Then Brynn Hartman was a c-word and killed Phil Hartman. Between that and the fact that NBC were fucking a-holes with the show, it was a recipe for cancellation. :( It basically sucks balls because I loved this damn show.

3) The Dick Van Dyke Show — I’m going super old school but honestly, look at any episode of this show and it still remains fresh to this day. The humor isn’t lost on anybody due to aging and you really can’t go wrong w/ a show that had Carl Reiner as one of the writers! Also the chemistry between Dick Van Dyke and Mary Tyler Moore is one of my favorites ever.

4) America’s Funniest Home Videos — I don’t recommend this as somethign to get on DVD and watch religiously. I recommend this more as a “if it’s on TV, stop and watch for a cheap laugh”. Because sometimes we’re all in a shitty mood in life and need a cheap laugh so you put this show on and laugh at the nutshots upon nutshots upon morons.

5) The Mary Tyler Moore Show — I like old school TV, what can I say? I loved this show too. Betty White is hilarious, Gavin McLeod was great, and even Mary’s friends were awesome — Phyllis and Rhoda (whom had a very big love/hate relationship). I wish I could watch this these days.

6) Futurama — I know that Family Guy is a huge “love it or leave it” show so that’s not included. This show, IMO, is better than the Simpsons. It actually also recently got uncanceled. That’s awesome! Futurama has some smart writing and a lot of goofiness mixed in. Oh and it can make you cry like a little bitch sometimes.

7) Psych — It’s so goofy of a show but I love it. Shawn and Gus are hilarious together and “Lassie” is always amusing. And Jules isn’t a bimbo which is awesome to see (though she does have a weakness for football players). It’s on during weird points of time though so it’s hard to find when new episodes will be airing.

8) Top Chef — Most reality shows piss me off and I hate the shit out of them. However, this show is an exception to my hate. It’s just amusing to watch these people create awesome dishes and then watch them being judged and stuff. And you get really into it and soon form favorites and stuff. It’s a more mature reality show. Though last season they got a little too into the personal lives. Stupid Hosea and Leah.

9) Mad Men — Okay I’ll admit I’m just getting into this show but I love what I’ve seen thus far. I love that time period it focuses on too. AMC has a real hit on their hands here and that’s awesome. I’m not big on dramas but I love this one.

10) Whose Line is it Anyway? — What? You thought I was going to forget this one? Hell no. Basically the premise is this — 4 people do improv games. There’s the UK and the US versions. The UK version has more variety and a better host but the US version has better chemistry and you’re guaranteed to see Colin every episode. I can’t really pick between both but I have a slight preference to the US version. IMO, this show is guaranteed to make you laugh at least ONCE. And usually it’s because of Colin.

So basically the lesson here is that TV is good sometimes. The end.

we were singin bye bye miss american pie...

dreamincolorx:

cornerinfielder:

allmyloving:

geenarosa:

saithis:

letseatstrawpasta:

faultycameras:

sarahcan:

itscaseynotkc:

continue..?

drove my chevy to the levy but the levy was dry

and them good old boys were drinking whiskey and rye

Singing this’ll be the day that I die.

Did you write the book of love?

and do you have faith in god above…

If the Bible tells you so?

Do you believe in rock and roll?

Can music save your mortal soul

Can you teach me how to dance reallllllll sloooooooooowwwwwww?

10 Quotes From My 10th Grade Random Thoughts Journals

In 10th grade, I decided that I wanted to keep a journal full of stream of consciousness thoughts. What resulted was a lot of insanity. I found these journals and looked back on them with a friend of mine and I decided that I’d share some of the best quotes in there. I’m also thinking about transcribing them. The conclusion that was brought here is that I am Colin Jr. (Colin as in Colin Mochrie) :P

1) Period 6: Mmm Pringles Man *drools* That can was testicle-riffic! (Jan 25)

2) Period 3: Sheer Horror is either toast attacking the world or seeing a Kathie Lee Gifford Christmas Special. If I had to choose, I’d rather have the toast attack (Jan 8)

3) Period 5: Ahhh another homoerotic adventure in Mr. I’s class and I must say for once I’m scared and disturbed for the mere thought of hearing Mr. I talk sexually. [note: This teacher is a deacon at my church]

4) Period 2: If we had eyes on our knees then Monica Lewinsky would be blind! (Feb 8)

5) Period 1: I have a heart sticker on my middle finger so when I flick them off, I can mean love (Feb 26)

6) Period 4: Mr. Potato Head likes to eat himself. It’s cannibalism, I tell ya! OW! My colon. (March 9)

7) Period 2: The hole puncher and the stapler are reproducing!!! AHHH!!! Runfor your life! Have you been waiting a long time for this moment to come? (March 29)

8) Period 7: This bookmark I just got gives some perverted ideas for being kind. I mean, ‘give someone a ride?’. Someone can misinterpret that and end up doing some bad bad stuff. Can’t they just say be nice? One doesn’t even make sense! ‘Do a favor without for someone without being asked?’ Oh that is just one messed up sentence. Pepper pens are just as cool as egg pens. Oh yeah, the bookmark even promotes teacher/student relationships but not the buddy-buddy kind but the grosser kind. (April 2)

9) Period 6: What would happen if it rained candy bars? That would hurt your head a lot . But it’d be also very bitching because if it did so, you can always pick up a candy bar from the ground when you got a craving for a candy bar. Petty cool, huh? (April 3)

10) Period 4: Blinding people makes them think you live in a cardboard box (April 6

The lesson learned here is that I’m rather batshit insane, that is all.

10 Feel Good Songs That Are Not "Stand By Me"-Ben E. King

Sometimes, we all just need those songs that make us feel happy and a lot better about life in general. Here’s 10 that I fucking adore in that respect. Note that I am not including “Stand By Me” because that one is known basically by everyone and I wanted to challenge myself a little more:

1) “Birdhouse In Your Soul”-They Might Be Giants — particularly this version that was done on The Tonight Show w/ the Tonight Show Band. I love the way it sounds and Doc’s solo gives me the chills.

2) “America the Beautiful”-Ray Charles — I’d so love it if we all sang THIS at the 7th Inning Stretch instead of “God Bless America”. Also, Ray Charles is fucking awesome and this song makes me think of The Sandlot. There’s a version he did in 2003 at Fenway that I LOVE the shit out of.

3) “Pollyanna (I Believe in You)”-Mother (series) — Yes, this is a video game song but it has lyrics and it’s uplifting. It makes me happy. This version was performed by Catherine Warwick. I dunno it just makes me happy.

4) “You’ve Got a Friend in Me”-Randy Newman — Say what you want about Randy Newman, but this song is fucking awesome. Also he wrote “When She Loved Me” and that song makes me cry like a little bitch. This should’ve won the Oscar for Best Original Song

5) “Follow Through”-Gavin DeGraw — This is a weird choice, I know. However, I first heard this song after the 2003 ALCS and hearing that introduction, it made me smile. It made me once again believe and made me think ‘Heh, this is only part 1 of a 2 part epic, that’s all’. And I was right.

6) “You’re An Ocean”-Fastball — I never understood why this song wasn’t as big as “The Way” was. This song is so much better and it’s such a feel good song. Sometimes I like to just randomly rock out to this song when I’m bored. Yes, I’m a dork but you know that.

7) “Dancing in the Street”-Martha and the Vandellas — I’ve always wanted to do a baseball version of this song complete with a video of fans from around the MLB just goofing around and shit. Anyways, this song makes me dance and makes me think of summertime. I’d totally try something like this if I had enough interest and time on my hands….and I do need a Senior Portfolio video…..*ponders*

8) “Paper Moon”-James Taylor — WHY DOESN’T ANYBODY KNOW THIS VERSION?! RARR! *calms down* Actually, I’m sure people who’ve seen A League of Their Own know of this version, but only vaguely. It’s a cover of an old jazz tune by Nat King Cole and I love the version by Taylor. It’s so calming and happy.

9) “Can I Get a Witness?”-Marvin Gaye — First off, my favorite Marvin Gaye song of all time. Second off, come on like you haven’t bounced around to it when you heard it on the radio? You’re a lying liar who lies if you haven’t.

10) “You Didn’t Have to Be So Nice”-Lovin’ Spoonful — The Lovin’ Spoonful are damn good in the feel-good song department. This one I’m only focusing on because it’s slightly less known than “Do You Believe in Magic?” and “Daydream”.

The lesson learned here is that I have a strange taste in music and I may have a project on my hands….until next time *tips hat*

10 Current/Former Yankees I Actually *GASP* Like And/Or Respect

This doesn’t count players who were mainly known for playing on the Red Sox but played for the Yankees at a point in time (i.e. Luis Tiant)

1) Roger Maris — Dude got a rough deal when he was with the Yankees because he was not Babe Ruth or Mickey Mantle. They were pretty shitty to him in 1961 early on. Hell his record had an asterisk on it for his entire lifetime. :( Such a shame.

2) Lou Gehrig — The Iron Horse was pretty awesome. One of the best players all all time and a class act all the way through.

3) Mariano Rivera — I always respected him as a closer and I think he’s one of the greatest relievers of all time. It didn’t cross over to like until the mock standing O for him during the Red Sox’ 2005 Home Opener. The way he took that made me like him.

4) Tino Martinez — Yeah, I really can’t explain this one. I just liked him and I have no idea why the hell I did. *shrugs shoulders*

5) Yogi Berra — He was goofy as all hell. Hard to hate on someone who says such gems as “It ain’t over till it’s over” and “A nickel ain’t worth a dime anymore”. And in a weird way, his quotes actually make sense to me. But I’m weird to begin with.

6) (tie) Kevin Brown/Javier Vasquez/Carl Pavano — LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL over 9000!!1!

7) Joe Torre — Do managers count? Because they will count in my world. Torre was a class act and got shafted by the front office. I like the guy, he’s pretty cool. I dont’ have much else to say.

8) Mickey Rivers — He’s only on here for one reason. Basically after Reggie Jackson bragged to journalists that he had an IQ of about 160 or so, Rivers interjects and says to him “What? Out of 1000?”. Also Rivers is a funny quote smith if there ever was one.

9) David Cone — Another one of those I can’t explain. I just liked him, that’s all. Also he was behind one of the most hilarious moments ever when he argued a call but forgot to call time and two runners scored on him. Good times.

10) David Wells — Didn’t give a shit, loud and fat, self-deprecating. I loved him because he just didn’t care what anybody said and spewed whatever he felt like saying….or spewing…yeah.

This just goes to show you that while I still hate the shit out of the Yankees, there’s at least 10 or so players/former players/managers that I like/respect :)

10 Shows I Watched as a Child

1) Animaniacs — I fucking LOVED this show. The parental bonus for this show is pretty epic adn the episodes are totally rewatchable and I see so many things that went over my head as a kid

2) Tiny Toon Adventures — Ditto with Animaniacs. Also Baby Plucky was fucking hilarious. Yes, it was pretty juvenile, but who cares. They also did a fucking BRILLIANT censorship episode called Washingtoon.

3) Legends of the Hidden Temple — Oh god that fucking Shrine of the Silver Monkey always screwed over all of the kids

4) The Mary Tyler Moore Show — I watched al ot of Nick at Nite as a kid and this was one of my two favorites to watch. Surprisingly rewatchable too. Betty White is fucking hilarious adn I loved Gavin McLeod too. Lou Grant was alright.

5) The Dick Van Dyke Show — Can’t go wrong with this show. Fucking loved it and it’s still fresh to this day. There’s nothing that really dates the show save for it being in black and white and a few minor details. Mary Tyler Moore adn Dick Van Dyke had some awesome chemistry.

6) The Adventures of Pete and Pete — This was honestly the only kid oriented TV Show I could watch with my dad other than Ren and Stimpy (and he only watched that because he once hear Frank Zappa’s voice on there and my dad is a huge Zappa fan). My parents would watch it with us and be like “Holy crap is that Iggy Pop?! Dude, that’s Patty Hearst! WTF?!” The celebrities in this show were pretty crazy.

7) Power Rangers — Yes, I had phase. I stopped watching once the movie came out though. I kinda was all “Yeah fuck you, I’m not watching this anymore”. I mean they already gotten rid of my first favorite ranger (Zack) and while I liked Rocky, I wasn’t that much in love with him.

8) Mystery Science Theater 3000 — In the summertime and during school vacations, this was a staple at our house. We’d stay up late and put it on Comedy Central and watch it. I still sing the MST3K’s version of the Gamera theme song when I’m bored. Then they moved it around and then moved it to Sci Fi and I haven’t seen it since. :( Lame

9) Sesame Street — Because, honestly, who the hell hasn’t? I always thought Big Bird had the same birthday as me so I was attached to him. I dunno if that’s true but I remember he had a birthday celebration the same time I did. So I was like “YAY HE HAS A BIRTHDAY NEAR MINE!”…this is 5 year old logic. Also the Pinball count was great and if loved Grover as well. Elmo was cute back in the day but now it’s annoying.

10) Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? — For one thing, I still sing the theme song to myself. FOr another, this is a HUGE reason why I’m good at geography. I loved watching this show. It helped that I thought the host was kinda cute and i thought Chief was one badassed woman(I then later on found out the actress who played her was the radio voice in the movie The Warriors….that just adds badass). I dunno I just loved the show. It made learning fun!

In conclusion — TV needs to make learning more fun. And hopefully I’ll have better lists than this and more baseball related.