The Legend of Zelda 35th Anniversary

Intro

As you may already know, and as you can probably see from my collection pictured supra, I am a fan of the Zelda series… a big fan. I’ve done blog posts on The Legend of Zelda; I own, played, and beaten 10 of them. Twilight Princess (the first one I played) is still my favorite, and I’ve probably put more hours into Breath of the Wild than any other video game (with a possible acceptation of Flight Simulator).

There are lots of people out there predicting what exactly will be done for the 35th anniversary of Zelda, and I want to join the discussion myself. Now I should point out that this is just a guess, I have no inside information, and I may be very far off in my guess. I have three and a half guesses here.

Regardless, whatever is done it is very unlikely that I will be disappointed in whatever is done, the Zelda team routinely supplies us with solid videos games, that are innovative, new, and still familiar; the worst of which are still worth playing multiple times (the CD-i games notwithstanding).
Without further ado, here are my three guesses:

Option 0 – The Legend of Zelda: The Faces of Gamalon.

No this is not a guess because it’s so unlikely. If the CD-I games are given a good faith upgrade and re-release, I think everyone in the world will be very surprised, and I don’t see that happening.

Other non or half guesses

The Legend of Zelda: 35th Anniversary Collectors Edition, like the rare disk released in 2003, this would be a collection of all consul Zelda games from the first up to (maybe) Skyward Sword, not significantly upgraded. Yes, I’d pick it up, but I’d prefer the real guesses below.

Since the Switch is more of a handheld system that can play on the TV, as opposed to a dedicated TV system, the collector’s edition may have all the handheld releases instead of the consul releases. Still unlikely though.
Another possibility is that they don’t release anything other than Breath of the Wild 2, and yes I am very much looking forward to that release, but I still hope they will pay tribute to the past in one of the other ways listed below.

Option 1 – The Legend of Zelda 3D All-Stars

I doubt this title will be used because “All-Stars” doesn’t seem to fit the Zelda MO, but it seems to be the widest held belief that the Zelda 35th Anniversary will be made up of a trio of 3D Zelda games which is likely to be: Ocarina of Time, Twilight Princess, and Skyward Sword. This would follow the same dynamic as the Super Mario 3D All-Stars, which had one game from the N64, one from the Game Cube, and one from the Wii.

I would love to see this collection. Ocarina is considered the best video game of all time. I’ve only played Ocarina on the 3DS and didn’t enjoy it as much as everyone else, because of the small screen. Seeing this game on the big screen in HD (or at least upgraded graphics) and even seeing it on the “mini” switch screen would also help me appreciate it as much as this game seems to deserve. Twilight Princess, I would love to see on the switch, as I said earlier it’s my favorite of the Zelda games. And Skyward Sword – this is a strange one, personally, I love it, and I usually play through it in the winter, however it was marred by misguided controls and has been poorly remembered because of this, if they fix the controls this game might finally get the respect it deserves by the masses. Even a solo HD remaster, with improved controls would be welcome. But I would prefer and hope, that they do a three-pack.

Other games that could be put in the 3 pack could be Wind Waker and Majora’s Mask. I don’t see them doing 5 games in one unless it’s Nintendo’s apology for the Super Mario 3D All-Stars (which I have and am enjoying so far, but the community seems a little pissy about it).

The production of this game should not be too difficult, I don’t know what exactly HD up-scaling entails, but in the case of Twilight Princess there would be very little work as it already had an HD remake for the Wii U. and with Ocarina they may just use the 3ds version. Skyward Sword would be the most difficult upgrade for the team as the controls would have to be reworked along with the graphics, but it would be worth it because the game has some really good things in it.

Option 2 – The Legend of Zelda: the 35th Anniversary

Wait a minute, isn’t that the title of this post? Yes, but here’s the idea. If the Zelda team has the resources, this would make for a very interesting game indeed, but it would require a lot of work on their part.

Take the original Zelda game, the very first one, and run it as a 3D Zelda game through the Breath of the Wild or Twilight Princess Engine. Everything would be in the same place as it is on the regular Zelda map, but you would now get to see it from a 3D perspective.

It may be helpful to add NPC’s that our a little less cryptic and a little more helpful so the game is not so difficult to follow, but I would still keep the free-roaming nature of the game, and perhaps even making it possible to beat the game entirely without the sword (without glitches to do so).

For an added bonus, throw in 8 additional dungeons (scattered throughout the world, each one a representation of one of the other major Zelda console releases. And perhaps also add a book found in an abandoned library that covered the overarching story for the whole series, or as it were the series up to that point in the chronology on that branch of the timeline (which is actually most of the series), maybe you get a heart piece or gold rupee for reading the whole book.

This would be a major project for the Zelda Team, more so than the other two options, but it would be perhaps the best way of truly honoring the history and the origin of the legend of Zelda. And would probably require years of work, so maybe they should save it for the 40th or even 50th anniversary.

Option 3 – The Legend of Zelda: Retro-Modern All-Stars

I seriously doubt that will be the title of the game, but I think there is a significant chance that we might see this game.

This would be another trio of remakes, but unlike Option 1, it will not be remakes of 3d games, but instead remakes of the first three Zelda games: The Legend of Zelda, Adventure of Link, and a Link to the Past, all of which would be redone in the Links Awakening 2019 Engine.

I do not know what making a game like this would entail, but I get the feeling that now that the engine is already built, adopting other top-down Zelda games into it would not be terribly difficult or time-consuming.
Somebody named BlobVanDam already made a remake of a Link to the Past in the Awakening Engine.

Zelda II is the only Zelda game that is largely a 2D platformer, and although that was the standard game model of the past, even now, 35 years later, it is still very much alive and well, with games like AVGN, Shovel Knight, Sonic Mania, etc. and there were short platforming segments of Links Awakening. So redoing Zelda II with a retro-modern diorama look, may breathe new life into a game that for a long long time has been considered the black sheep of the Zelda series. Which brings me to option 3.5.

Option 3.5 – The Legend of Zelda: Return of the Black Sheep

Less likely than any of the other games on here, but let’s just say for argument sake the Zelda team wants to breathe new life into its less remembered releases. If that were the case then on one card: Skyward Sword HD Remake, Zelda II Retro Modern Remake, and (why not) Faces of Gamalon (Faces of Evil and Wand of Gamalon (two of the three CD-i games) combined, and more importantly improved).

Conclusion

Now, in my opinion, I think that Option 3 is both the most likely scenario and also the one I’d like to see the most… kind of. It’s a tough call between that or an upgraded Skyward Sword. So maybe Return of the Black Sheep would be my favorite (but that’s much less likely).

My reason for thinking that option 3 is the most likely scenario, is because they developed a very unusual engine for Links Awakening, and I would think they would want to use it to remake some other games. Especially with the positive response of Links Awakening 2019.

If that holds true then I would also expect that the original Zelda is most prime for a remake in the retro-modern look, while a Link to the Past is perhaps the most loved of the top-down Zelda’s, so it too should get an upgrade, and since they would likely do a three-pack, Zelda II would be the best choice for the last slot. Though they may go with one of the other handheld games instead (I wouldn’t mind seeing Minish Cap redone either).

As I said in the beginning, I have no idea what direction they will actually go. But I am looking forward to finding out.

I will be updating this blog post twice.

One update will be on how close I was to what actually is released. I’ll rank it on a score of 100. And I’ll be fair and honest with my score, and explain how I came up with it compared to the final product.

The second update will be a quick review of the actually released, after some time playing the game.

Until then, stay tuned, and game on for Wisdom Power, and Courage.

Year in Review – 2020 – The Numbers

Hours Spent Writing: 395

Hours Spent Reading: 423

Hours Spent Watching Movies: 98

Hours Spent Playing Video Games: 349

Hours Spent Video Editing: 23

Pieces Published: 1

• The Narrow Path

New Pieces Written: 8

• 4 Short Stories
• 2 Collections
• 1 NaNoWriMo Novel (in Rough)
• 1 Flash Creative Non-Fiction

Blog Posts Posted: 9 (not counting Year in Reviews)

Books Read: 32

Books Read (1^st time): 23

Books Read (on paper): 5

Stories Read (total): 158

Stories Read (1^st time): 14

Movies Watched (1^st time): 44

Movies Watched: 82

Video Games Beaten: 32

Video Games Collected: 22

Vinyl Records Collected: 19

DVD’s Collected: 44

Toys Collected: 4

Pulps Collected: 3

Books Collected: 7

Year in Review – 2020 – Wake-Up Songs

For those of you who may be new here, or may have forgotten, I often wake up with a song stuck in my head, and I keep a running list of those songs. I’ve put the list here with links (where appropriat) for each song.

1/1 Glad to Meet You by United Corea

1/6 Fly for Your Life by Gunship (one of if not the best music videos of all time, check it out)

1/7 Sell Out by Reel Big Fish

1/9 Cosmic Rings by Crack the Code

1/10 Fruitcakes by Jimmy Buffett

1/13 Tiptoe Through the Tulips by Tiny Tim (no idea where this one came from)

1/14 Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now by Starship

1/17 Rosanna by Toto

1/23 Mouse Love Rice by Khoi My

1/25 Wishing Well by Terence Trent D’Arby

1/26 Wishing Well by Terence Trent D’Arby

1/27 Young Americans by David Bowie

1/29 Opus 17 (Don’t You Worry Bout Me) by the 4 Seasons*

2/1 Goodbye to You by Scandal

2/2 Groundhog Day Commercial (Best commercial ever made)

2/3 Send My Love (To Your New Lover) by Adele (no clip – hate this song)

2/4 Head Over Feet by Alanis Morrissette

2/5 Another Time by Edguy*

2/6 the Sanford and Son Theme Song

2/8 the Coco Krispies Theme Song

2/9 I Don’t Care by Ed Sheeran and Justin Bieber

2/10 Mouse Love Rice by Khoi My

2/13 Love Yourself by Justin Bieber

2/24 Boss Theme from Quackshot

3/1 Turning Japanese by the Vapors

3/3 Grape Aerosmith by Tobacco

3/5 A Serial Killer’s Wet Dream by Dress 2 Kill

3/6 Fly for Your Life by Gunship

3/8 What’s Up Doc (Can We Rock) by Fu-Schnickens

3/9 One Particular Harbor by Jimmy Buffet

3/10 Alphabetical Slaughter by Papoose (whether you like rap or not this song is impressive)

3/12 Head Over Feet by Alanis Morrissette

3/13 Its Magic from Mickey’s 60th Birthday

3/16 Shooting Star/I Want Out by Eddie Antonini

3/17 The Rare Old Mountain Dew by the Irish Rovers

3/19 DNA by A Flock of Seagulls*

3/22 Funny Little Things from the Hobbit

3/26 Shine by Kygo

3/27 Bobby McGee by Janis Joplin

3/28 I’ll Tell Me Ma by the Clan (this is the song I wash my hands to…FYI)

3/29 Cryin’ by Aerosmith

3/31 Funny Little Things from the Hobbit

4/1 Seasons in the Sun by Terry Jack

4/3 In Living Color Theme Song

4/5 Virus Alert by Weird Al Yankovik

4/6 Never Had a Friend Like Me from Aladdin*

4/12 Bobby McGee by Janis Joplin

4/14 Mouse Love Rice by Khoi My

4/15 99 luffballons by Nena

4/17 Singularity by Sunset Protocol

4/21 the Ninth by Beethoven*

4/23 Cryin’ by Aerosmith

4/24 Need You Now by Lady Antebellum (no link)

4/29 Bobby McGee by Janis Joplin

5/1 Never Dance Again by Sunset Neon

5/2 Fly for Your Life by Gunship

5/5 Deal With God by Infinity Frequencies

5/8 Shooting Star/I Want Out by Eddie Antonini

5/12 Inside Out by Eve 6

5/13 We Can Work It Out by the Beatles

5/16 I’ll fly Away by Fire from Heaven

5/18 David the Gnome Dancing Music (can’t find specific video, song starts at ~10:00)

5/19 Get Off It by Casual

5/20 Funny Little Things from the Hobbit

5/21 Why Can’t This Be Love by Van Halen

5/22 Won’t You Be My Neighbor from Mr. Rodgers

5/23 I’m Just a Fool by Lets Talk

5/24 Rabbit of Seville

5/25 Mother Teressa the Musical from Naked Gun 33 1/3

5/26 Toxic Cave from Sonic Spinball

5/28 Bobby McGee by Janis Joplin

5/29 Activate by FM Attack

6/4 Boys of Summer by Don Henley

6/14 Brandy (You’re a Fine Girl) by Looking Glass

6/17 Eat Until I Die from Fun and Fancy Free

6/18 Somebody Told Me by the Killers

6/19 My Boyfriend’s Back by the Angels

6/21 Seasons in the Sun by Terry Jacks (that is a hard song to listen to)

6/23 Let it Be by the Beatles

6/24 Inspector Gadget Incidental Music

6/26 The Runaround by Blues Traveler

7/2 Wanderer by Ensiferum

7/3 The Catch of the Century by Edguy

7/4 I Thought This Was America from South Park

7/5 Gigantic by the Pixies

7/6 (same) – I should note that this isn’t a very good song, and I only listened to it once, on the 4th from a skateboarding video, but the song is so repetitive that it’s just going to be stuck there for a while.

7/9 I Wanna Hold Your Hand by the Beatles (I rarely listen to the Beatles, im not sure why they’ve showed up so much this year.)

7/12 Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You by Frankie Valli

7/14 Mouse Love Rice by Khoi My

7/15 ‘85 Again by Robert Parker

7/16 Islamic Dance (uncut video – here’s the remix)

7/19 The Emerald City by the Tossers

7/20 In the Year 252525 from Futurama

7/22 Help Me Rhonda by The Beach Boys*

7/23 Hash Browns Clip from Squidbillies

7/24 You’re Still the One by Shania Twain

7/25 The Muppets Annual Carol Sing

7/26 Jungle Love by Morris Day and the Time

7/31 Lover Your Feller Man from Squidbillies

8/4 ABC by Michael Jackson

8/7 Theme Song from Perfect Strangers

8/10 I Get No Kick from Champagne from Blazing Saddles

8/11 What’cha Want by Beastie Boys

8/13 Finnagan’s Wake – the novel is written in a sort of Paudoenglish and when I woke up I kept hearing lines from it.

8/19 Tequila by the Champs

8/20 ‘85 Again by Robert Parker

8/21 You Don’t Know Me by Ray Charles (from Groundhog Day)

8/22 Rush Hour by Vincenzo Salvia

8/23 Something About Us by Daft Punk

8/24 Blazing Saddles Theme Song

8/25 Bad Girls by M.I.A (also a great Music Video)

8/30 My Oh My by Aqua

8/31 I’m Gonna Fly by Sydney Forest (from this trailer)

9/3 In the Ghetto by Elvis Presley

9/4 I’ll fly Away by Fire from Heaven

9/8 Blinding Lights by The Weeknd

9/10 A Whiter Shade of Pale by Procol Harum

9/11 Love to Love You Baby by Donna Summers

9/13 Peter Speaking Italian from Family Guy

9/15 Blinding Lights by The Weeknd

9/17 The Emerald City by the Tossers

9/19 Peter Fighting With Kyle from Family Guy

9/20 the Bureaucrat Song from Futurama

9/21 Promised Land by Anastasia

9/22 The Real Folk Blues by Seatbelts

9/23 Victory Song by Ensiferum (one of my all time favorite songs)

9/28 We Three Kings from a Claymation Christmas Celebration

10/3 I Am Woman by Helen Reddy

10/4 Brain Stew/Jaded by Green Day

10/5 Come With Me by Puff Daddy

10/6 Jump by Van Halen

10/7 the 80s Never Went Away by Stromfire

10/8 Slacker by Tech N9ne

10/10 Say Goodbye to Hollywood by Billy Joel

10/9 We Are The Party by the Ex-Girlfriends

10/12 Wave of History by the Downtown Boys

10/13 Jolly Old St. Nicolas by Ray Connif Singers

10/14 What’s Up Doc (Can We Rock) by Fu-Schnickens

10/16 Father Time by Stratavarious

10/20 Having a Party by Sam Cooke

10/22 Big Bill Hell’s commercial

19/25 Sultan’s Palace Theme from Aladdin on the Genesis

10/27 Lucky Like That by Clea

10/28 In Da Club by 50 Cent

10/29 Humanity by Aqaria

10/30 Inside Out by Eve 6

10/31 Jaded by Areosmith

11/2 Free Market Threat from the Daily Show

11/3 Mr. Write’s Theme from Links Awakening

11/7 Wait for Sleep by Dream Theater*

11/13 Beautiful Sunday by Danial Boon

11/15 The Garfield Rap from Garfield and Friends

11/21 I’ll Tell Me Ma by the Clan

11/22 Chicken and Ham from South Park

11/25 alright we got a strange one – Rudolf the Red Nose Reindeer sung to the toon of a slow minor key Jewish polka, the song at the end of this video [starts at 18:13], and that story is pretty good too if your interested, read by Jerry Stiller (RIP).

11/28 Santa Clouse is Coming to Town by the Jackson 5

12/2 My Robot Friend from South Park

12/3 YMCA by the Village People

12/13 Sun (Keeper of the Dreams) by Eddy Antonini

12/14 Little Johnny Snowball by Red Buttons

12/17 Bonus Stage Music from Golden Axe

12/19 Girls by the Beastie Boys

12/20 Santa Claus got Stuck in my Chimney by Ella Fitzgerald

12/23 Calling You by Raccoons

12/26 California Girls by the Beach Boys*

Year in Review – 2020 – Collection

for collecting: * = New Product

DVDs Collected

• Howl’s Moving Castle*
• Once Upon a Time in Hollywood*
• ICarly – ISpace Out
• Man of the Year
• Kiki’s Delivery Service*
• Quantum Leap Season 1*
• The Best of Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors*
• Inspector Gadget Season 1 Volume 1*
• Monster Squad*
• Jersey Boys*
• King Arthur and the Knights of Justice: the Complete Series*
• Aladdin (Blu-Ray/DVD)*
• The Little Mermaid (Blu-Ray/DVD)*
• Aqua Teen Hunger Force Vol. 7*
• Penguin Highway (Blu-Ray/DVD)*
• It’s Ernest*
• Just Shoot Me Seasons 1&2*
• The Magic School Bus Rides Again Blast Off*
• Where the Wild Things Are*
• Talespin Vol. 3*
• Merlin*
• My Favorite Year*
• Terminator 2: The Ultimate Edition
• Sprited Away (Blu-Ray/DVD)*
• Cowboy Bebop: The Complete Series (Blu-Ray)*
• MST3K – Season 12 – The Guntlet*
• School House Rock – 30^th Anniversary Edition*
• Tom and Jerry and Friends*
• Ran (Blu-Ray)*
• Cheers – Season 8*
• RifTrax – Summer Shorts Beach Party (Live)*
• Garfield – Happy Holidays Garfield*
• Greetings
• Friday the 13^th (Uncut)
• Hi, Mom!
• Hot Shorts!
• Hot Shorts! Part Deux
• National Lampoon’s Loaded Weapon 1*
• The Omen
• The Prestige*
• Sesame Street – Follow That Bird*
• Red Sonja*
• Saturday Morning Cartoons of the 70s Vol. 1*
• Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark*

Video Games Collected

• Clue (Gen)
• Risk (Gen)
• Daffy Duck: The Marvin Mission (SNES)
• Defenders of the Crown (NES)
• The Rocketeer (NES)
• Tetris Worlds (GC – Disk only)
• Namco Museum (GC – Disk only)
• Yoshie’s Craft World (Switch)*
• Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (Switch)*
• Classic Disney Games: Aladdin/Lion King (Switch)*
• Saturday Morning RPG (Switch-Download)
• 198X (Switch-Download)
• Sega Genesis Classics (Switch)*
• Paper Mario: the Origomi King (Switch)*
• Beauty and the Beast: Bell’s Quest (Gen)
• Tiny Toon Adventures (Gen)
• Ecco: Tides of Time (Gen)
• Who Framed Rodger Rabbit (NES)
• Finishing Universe Simulator (Switch-Download)
• Mother Russia Bleeds (Switch-Download)
• Super Mario 3D All-Stars (Switch)*
• Hyrule Wariors: Age of Calamity (Switch)*

Vinyl Collected

• Gap Band IV by the Gap Band
• Tales to Warm Your Mind – The Irish Rovers
• String Quartet in A Minor – Beethoven
• 2^nd Vault of Golden Hits – by the 4 Seasons
• Original Oldies Vol. 12 – Various
• Dream Theory in Malaya – John Hassel
• The Swing – INXS
• Scritti Pollitti – Cupid et Psyche 85
• Schoenberg – Transfigured Night
• Stockowski Play’s Bach
• Songs from the Yom Kipour War
• Schosticovich – Symphony 1 & 9
• The Beach Boys – California Girls & All Summer Long
• Elliot Carter – Sonata for Flute Obeo Cello & Harpsicord
• William Albright – New Music for Organ
• Theater of Salvation by Edguy*
• Naked Eyes by Naked Eyes
• Abacab by Genesis*
• The Ghostbusters Soundtrack*

Toys Collected

• Winston Zedenmore – Funko Pop
• Link (Link’s Awakening) – Amiibo
• Sam’s Friend – Funko Pop
• Mortal Kombat – Raiden

Pulp Magazines

• Golden Fleece October 1938 (reproduction)
• Original Science Fiction – February 1959
• Analog Science Fiction – November 2018

Books

• The William H. Gass Reader
• The Evil B.B. Chow by Steve Almond
• The Insanity Defense by Woody Allen
• With a Difference by Nick Gregorio and Francis Daulerio
• Who’s Irish by Gish Jen
• Candyfreak by Steve Almond (Audio Book)
• Menu Design in America by Jim Heimann

Year in Review – 2020 – Consumption

Books Read

New Books:

(Best to Worst. *= Books read on Paper)

• Armada by Ernest Cline
• If It Bleeds by Stephen King
• Devolution by Max Brooks
• Candyfreak by Steve Almond
• The Pioneers by David McCullough
• Uncommon Type: Some Stories by Tom Hanks
• With a Difference by Nick Gregorio and Frances Daulero*
• Give Me Back My Legions by Harry Turtledove
• Getting Even by Woody Allen*
• Exhalation: Stories by Ted Chaing
• The Evil B.B. Chow and Other Stories by Steve Almond*
• Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk
• Yiddish Story Time by Lenord Nemoy (host)
• The Lands of Ice and Fire by George R. R. Martin
• The Fork, the Witch and the Worm by Christopher Paolini
• The Pearl by John Steinbeck
• Welcome to Deadhouse by R. L. Stine
• 50 Classic Motion Pictures by David Zinmin*
• Welcome to Camp Nightmare by R. L. Stine
• One Day at Horrorland by R. L. Stine
• Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
• Rip Van Winkle and Other Stories by Washington Irving
• Paris for One and Other Stories by Jojo Moyes

All Books:

(In Order Read)

• Blood Meridian or the Evening Redness in the West by Cormac McCarthy
• This Land was Made for You and Me (But Mostly for Me) by Bruce McCall*
• The Broom of the System by David Foster Wallace
• Secrets of the Gnomes by Wil Huygen*
• Exhalation: Stories by Ted Chaing
• Give Me Back My Legions by Harry Turtledove
• Rip Van Winkle and Other Stories by Washington Irving
• Paris for One by Jojo Moyes
• The Tunnel by William H. Gass
• The World of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin
• The Pearl by John Steinbeck
• The Pioneers by David McCullough
• The World of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin
• 50 Classic Motion Pictures by David Zinmin*
• With a Difference by Nick Gregorio and Frances Daulero
• Blood Meridian or the Evening Redness in the West by Cormac McCarthy
• Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
• One Day at Horrorland by R. L. Stine
• Welcome to Camp Nightmare by R. L. Stine
• Welcome to Deadhouse by R. L. Stine
• The World of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin
• Getting Even by Woody Allen*
• Armada by Ernest Cline
• Uncommon Type: Some Stories by Tom Hanks
• If It Bleeds by Stephen King
• The Fork, the Witch and the Worm by Christopher Paolini
• The Evil B.B. Chow and Other Stories by Steve Almond*
• The World of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin
• Candyfreak by Steve Almond
• Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk
• Yiddish Story Time by Lenord Nemoy (host)
• A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

New Stories Read (Not from Collections)

• Ismadin and the Holy Carpet by E. Hoffman Price
• The Executioner [link] by Robert Leslie Bellem
• Naga’s Kiss by E. Hoffman Price
• The Ocean Full of Bowling Balls by J.D. Salinger
• I Sexually Identify as an Attack Helicopter by Isabel Fall
• You Can’t Take it With You by Jimmy Buffett
• Hooked in the Heart by Jimmy Buffett
• The Doom That Came to Sarnath by H.P. Lovecraft
• Beyond the Wall of Sleep by H.P. Lovecraft
• Delivery Guaranteed by Calvin M. Knox
• The Omnibot Inccodent by Ernest Cline
• The Fallen Kingdom by Haruki Murikami
• Dreamboat by A. Bertram Chandler
• Yes, Mason There Is a Santa Claus by Carrie McCrossen
• “Repent Harloquin” said the Tiktok Man by Harlon Ellison

New Movies Watched

(Best to Worst)

(*= saw the movie before, but didn’t remember it)

• Kiki’s Delivery Service
• Key Largo
• Anomalisa
• Jojo Rabbit
• Cowboy Bebop (The Complete Series)
• Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
• National Lampoon’s Loaded Weapon 1
• Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
• Raging Bull
• Inherent Vice
• Joker
• Life of Brian*
• The Terminator
• Stiff Upper Lips
• 10 Cloverfield Lane
• Cloud Atlas
• My Favorite Year
• We’re No Angels
• The Hobbit (1977)*
• Hugo
• The Little Mermaid
• Creepshow
• Batman 1989
• Jersey Boys
• Rocky
• Hoosiers
• Once Upon a Time in America
• Stripes
• Day of the Fight
• Scorpio Rising
• MST3K – The Painted Hills
• Another Fine Mess
• The Blacksmith (1925)
• Immortal Beloved
• From Here to Eternity
• The Phantom Tollbooth*
• Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay
• Bull Durham
• His Girl Friday
• Something to Sing About
• Second Chorus
• Pot-O-Gold
• Made for Each Other

All Movies Watched (in order):

• * = Never seen before/don’t remember
• Key Largo*
• What’s Up Tiger Lilly
• International House
• It’s a Gift
• Once Upon a Time in Hollywood*
• The End of the Tour (with commentary)*
• Bull Durham*
• Hoosiers*
• Monty Python and the Holy Grail
• Raging Bull*
• Rocky*
• Anomalisa*
• Joker*
• The Phantom Tollbooth*
• Harold and Kumar go to White Castle
• Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanemo Bay*
• Another Fine Mess*
• Heathers
• Monty Python’s The Life of Brian*
• History of the World Pt. 1
• Hero
• The Hitchhicker’s Guide to the Galaxy
• Hitler: The Rise of Evil
• The Hobbit (1977)*
• Monty Python and the Holy Grail
• Hugo*
• The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad
• Something to Sing About*
• His Girl Friday*
• Made for Each Other*
• Second Chorus*
• Key Largo*
• Pot-O-Gold*
• Who Framed Rodger Rabbit
• The Blacksmith (1925)*
• His Girl Friday
• Identity
• Immortal Beloved*
• Kiki’s Delivery Service*
• Melody Time
• Kiki’s Delivery Service
• Day of the Fight*
• Jojo Rabbit*
• Inception
• Inherent Vice*
• Insane Clown Posse: Six Jokerz Unauthorized
• Scorpio Rising*
• Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back
• the Monster Squad
• Kiki’s Delivery Service
• Jersey Boys*
• The Monster Squad
• The Terminator
• From Here to Eternity
• Kiki’s Delivery Service
• Once Upon a Time in America*
• Kiss Kiss Bang Bang*
• Labyrinth
• Ghostbusters
• Blazing Saddles
• Groundhog Day
• Stripes*
• 10 Cloverfield Lane*
• Cloud Atlas*
• Lawrence of Arabia
• Monty Python’s The Life of Brian
• The Little Mermaid*
• Stiff Upper Lips*
• The Looney Looney Looney Bugs Bunny Movie
• The Bugs Bunny Road Runner Movies
• Bug’s Bunny’s Third Movie: 1001 Rabbit Tails
• Clue
• Creepshow*
• Ghostbusters 2
• Monster Squad
• The VVitch
• Ghostbusters
• The Rocky Horror Picture Show
• Batman 1989*
• Kiki’s Delivery Service
• Cowboy Bebop (The Complete Series)*
• The Adventures of Ichibod and Mr. Toad
• The Toxic Avenger
• Beetlejuice
• The Nightmare Before Christmas
• MST3K the Movie
• MST3K – The Painted Hills*
• My Favorite Year*
• The Adventures of Ichibod and Mr. Toad
• We’re No Angels*
• The Polar Express
• National Lampoon’s Loaded Weapon*
• What’s Up Tiger Lilly
• The Nightmare Before Christmas
• The Lord of the Rings Pt. 1 – The Fellowship of the Ring
• The Lord of the Rings Pt. 2 – The Two Towers
• The Lord of the Rings Pt. 3 – The Return of the King

Video Games Beaten:

• The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening (Switch)
• Sonic Mania – Sonic Campaign (Switch)
• Aladdin (Genesis-Switch)
• Aladdin (Gameboy-Switch)
• A Boy and His Blob (NES)
• Yoshie’s Craft World (Switch)
• The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (SNES-Switch)
• Saturday Morning RPG (Switch)
• The Legend of Zelda (NES-Switch)
• Sonic Mania – Knuckles Campaign (Switch)
• Sonic 1 (Genesis-Switch)
• Toejam & Earl (Genesis-Switch)
• Streets of Rage (Genesis-Switch)
• Sonic 2 (Genesis-Switch)
• Streets of Rage II (Genesis-Switch)
• Golden Axe (Genesis-Switch)
• 198X (Switch-Download)
• Paper Mario: Origami King (Switch)
• Sonic Mania – Tales Campaign (Switch)
• The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Wii)
• The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Switch – All Divine Beasts, Master Sword, Dark Link, and all hidden memories)
• Solomon’s Key (NES-Switch)

Video Games Played Heavily (Not Beaten):

• Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (Switch)
• Classic Disney Games: Aladdin/Lion King (Switch)
• Super Mario 64 (Switch)

Year in Review – 2020 – Production

New Pieces Written

(The published pieces are linked)

• Hey Mr. Tombaugh Won’t You Name a Star for Me
• The Dechronazation Chamber
• Eggs in the Coffee
• The Narrow Path
• Chasing a New High in the Age of Deconstruction
• Second Shift at the New Wave Deli
• The Devolution of Birds and Other Stories (Collection)
• Cloud Dreams and Other Stories (Collection)
• Stories from the Frazier Reading Room (NaNoWriMo)

Blog Posts

• Ten Thousand Hours
• Mega DVD Marathon – Episode 8 – The G’s
• Mega DVD Marathon – Episode 9 – The H’s
• Half Way Point
• With a Difference
• Mega DVD Marathon – Episode 10 – The I’s
• Mega DVD Marathon – Episode 11 – The J’s
• The Narrow Path
• The COVID Christmas Airlift

The COVID Christmas Airlift

Merry Christmas Everyone,

My friend Josh Mavis has taken a page out of my book and has started to write a story on Christmas Eve. Of course, this one he didn’t write last Christmas, this is very much a product of and reaction to this year. And this has certainly been a year.

He wrote this one about a month ago, and published it a week ago, he said to me (and also in the note at the end of the story), that he wants it to go viral (no pun intended). I don’t know if that will happen or not, though I’d be very happy for him if it did. I wanted to do my part to help that along. I would do the same for any writer I believe in.

So for this Christmas, please stay at home, please stay healthy, and please read this fun new Christmas story that my good friend was compelled to write. It has a good cover picture too, I might add… though it could be better.

The COVID Christmas Airlift

The Narrow Path

Haven’t done one of these in a while, Not a blogpost in general (the last was in August, about the J’s in my Mega DVD Marathon… I’ve been busy), and especially not one like this. This is another published story. My first published story in almost a year, and my first published story in a new publication since “Legbaugh’s Holistic and Alternative Healing” in the God’s and Services Anthology, which was over 2 years ago.

Despite this delay, I’ve still been writing, fairly heavily in fact. I have another story that was selected to be published, but it hasn’t been published yet (more on that when it gets here, nothing else before) and 4 more submitted and waiting for responses. And I’ve also been shopping around a short story collection. Hopefully, next year will be the year for that (all in all… I’m kind of glad this year wasn’t the year for my first book to be published, this has not been a good year).

Now I should mention, that this is a little more than just a new story published in a new publication. If that wasn’t good enough, the plug they wrote for the story, was unexpected. Usually, there isn’t a plug at all, but not only did I get a plug, but the praise lied therein was considerably higher than I anticipated. Saying that my story follows in the tradition of the classic American short story and being put into the same paragraph as O. Henry, that is some serious validation.

They accepted this story for publication back in mid-august and told me it would be published in late November – Early December. I guess good things come to those who wait. I hope you read the story and the plug, links below. More stories and blog posts to come.

The Art of Narrative – the plug

The Narrow Path – the story

Mega DVD Marathon – Episode 11 – the J’s

Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back [6/27] – I actually bought this movie twice at two consecutive library sales, the first time, it turned out there was an Anthrax DVD inside, instead of the actual movie. In all of my collecting, it’s surprising how rarely this has happened, twice in fact, this DVD and once with a record. I check these things more often now. Anyway, I gave the anthrax DVD to a friend of mine, and at the next library sale the same DVD (the special edition) appeared, I guess it was meant to be, so I picked it up. I’m not a huge fan of stoner movies (H&KG2WC notwithstanding), and I didn’t think I would like the crude humor in this movie nearly 20 years after having seen it the first time, but, no this is still a pretty funny movie. It has an All-Star cast as well, and it’s actually kind of surprising some of the names they pulled in for this one. George Carlin and Chris Rock are in most of the J&SB films but: Carry Fischer, Mark Hamell, Wes Craven, Jon Stewart, Ben Afflec & Matt Damian, Morris Day and the Time, James Van Der Beek, Jason Biggs, Judd Nealson, Deidrich Bader, Will Farrow? They pulled an impressive team together to say the least. Apparently there was a reboot or sequel last year, but it seemed to go under the radar, at least I didn’t know about it. There is one scene though that I have to point out, because the writing is just spot on, and that’s this one, enjoy. This movie is too good to pass up. 4 out of 5 stars.

The Best of Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors* [7/3 to 7/8] – I came across this show thanks to my TV Toons to Go DVD, it was on what I call the bonus disk, only the first episode, but the premise was very intriguing. It’s a five finger biopunk space opera about a young warrior trying to find his father. When I went to buy the complete series on DVD it had just sold out, literally, I waited a single day, and when I went back to buy it on Amazon it was sold out, so I opted for the “Best Of” 10 episode DVD. By the time I finally watched it a few months later the full series was available again on Amazon. Sure the full series would be nice, but after having watched the best of, and having done some research on the series, the full series is not something I need. At the onset of the show Jayce’s father is missing, and with the help of a wizard he ends up tricking a space freighter into taking them on the mission to find his father, and the freighter is obliged to help them so he can get paid, unfortunately the series ends before Jayce finds his father and the freighter gets paid. On tp of that, the episodes are a bit hard to follow. If nothing else the show does have a good theme song.

Jersey Boys* [7/10] – I picked this movie up thinking I was going to have to watch it on the Blu-Ray player, which for various reasons is a little more complicated, but I was pleasantly surprised that it was a Blu-ray/DVD combo pack. I have always been a big fan of the Four Seasons. I wanted to see the original play, but that’s a little difficult. I didn’t actually realize they had turned it into a movie until I saw this disk in the bargain bin at the grocery store, but you know I picked it up right away. As far as the movie goes, it’s pretty good, solid soundtrack which is to be expected, my favorite Four Seasons song, Rag Doll, is played in it as our most of their other great songs. And it tells their background story, of which I knew nothing… I didn’t even know they were Italian. The movie does not cover their connection with Grease, but that’s alright, the movie was kind of long anyway. Don’t miss the standout performance of Christopher Walken, though that is kind of a redundant statement, he doesn’t miss. I won’t be giving this movie a full 5 stars though because of the mumbled dialogue, which seems to be a new fad in movies these days, and not one I appreciate, though that could have been a problem with this DVD itself, I don’t know. 4 out of 5 stars.

Johnny Test Seasons 1&2 [7/10 to 7/27] – Just like Jayce, Johnny Test is part of my favorite DVD in my collection “TV Toons to Go” which I’ve already covered. The show is great, a four finger cartoon about a kid with twin genius sisters who perform experiment on him; funny, good writing, stories and jokes. It also has a great theme song clearly based on Green Day’s “American Idiot.” This DVD does not cover any of the episodes on the TVT2GDVD which I was happy to see, and it has bonus episodes of: Nano Boy, Gadget Boy, World of Quest, Super Duper Sumos and Potatoes and Dragons. There were other episodes of some these on the TVT2GDVD, but none of those shows are all that good. I don’t know if I’d go out of my way to get more Johnny Test DVDs, but if I see them at a library sale I will pick them up, that is where I got this one.

Joyeux Noel – no, sorry, I can’t watch this one again. This is one of the few foreign language films in my collection, and one of the best movies I’ve ever seen. It’s about the WWI Christmas Truce; presenter in French, German and English; extremely well done. But it is just too heavy and too sad, I can’t do it. It’s basically a one and done movie, and I have it in my collection more for other people to borrow. I’ve seen it twice, once in a college class, and once again after I got the DVD. regardless the movie is 5 stars all day long.

Overview – June 27^th to July 27^th only three movies, only two of which I watched, so that makes the average easy, 4.3 stars. The next letter is even shorter.

Mega DVD Marathon – Episode 9 – the I’s

iCarly iSpace Out* – I used to love this show when I was younger (yet still older then the primary demographic. The title episode is not one of my favorites, but there are 5 other episodes on the DVD, and a bonus episode of Victorious (the pilot, which I don’t think I’d ever seen before) another good show. There is great chemistry between the four main characters and good dialogue, jokes within jokes, and so on. This is basically a teenage Seinfeld. The episode “iEnrage Gibby” has some great trash talking in it, “iFix a Pop Star” is a clear shot at Britney Spears and the other side of fame in general. The rest of the episodes here are great too. 2$ at a gas station, can’t go wrong.

The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad – I’ve recently added this movie to my biannual viewing list as it fits for both a Christmas and Holloween movie (though in reverse order). This is the last movie of the Disney Wartime/Anthology Era, where in order to save money and resources the company packaged together some of their shorts into a feature length film. I own every movie from this era, we already did Fun and Fancy Free, the next one won’t be for a little while yet. The two shorts in this movie are: Mr. Toads Wild Ride (from “The Wind in the Willows”) and the Legend of Sleepy Hollow. This is a Blu-Ray/DVD combo pack, and if you saw my review of “Howl’s Moving Castle” (form the previous episode) then you already know how I feel about HD animation, when I watched this movie last year for the first time, it was also the first time I witnessed what exactly HD animation was. 4/5 stars.

Icons of Comedy – this is one of those Mill Creek bargain bin 50 movie boxes. A few of the movies I have in other boxes, and one of which (Africa Screams) was already covered way way back in episode 2. The last time I did one of these types of DVDs (back in episode 4) I only watched the next movie on the list. For this one, since there are a lot of disks (and movies) I’m going to go through a whole disk, five movies. When I get to episode 28, the left overs, I’ll continue onward and watch the next disk (or which ever disk I haven’t yet watched, but that’s a few years away) in this box, and the next movie on the classic mystery box, etc. So onto these 5 movies. To be honest though, I did not give any of these movies my full attention, but enough attention to form an opinion.

Something to Sing About – the title is also the title of a patriotic Canadian song that was at one point slated to be the Canadian national anthem, but was ultimately rejected because it is a difficult song to sing, regardless it’s a great song and you should listen to it. This movie has nothing to do with that song. This is one of the only movies to have James Cagney sing and dance. The plot is about a New York night club owner getting a gig in the movies. It’s okay, 3/5, it wasn’t all that funny.

His Girl Friday – didn’t like this one all that much. I saw the original version “The Front Page” also on this box some two years ago and didn’t like that one very much either, this movie improved on that one, but only slightly. It’s a hard movie to follow, and it’s probably worth taking a second look, there is a lot of fast talking so paying more attention may be beneficial. This leads to one of the problems with these very cheap DVDs, the audio quality. Video is one thing, these movies are old and deteriorated, and they don’t need to be in HD, but if you can’t hear the words because of the noise decay that’s a bigger problem, sometimes you can fix it by putting the subtitles on, but don’t count on subtitles with these kinds of DVDs. I should like this movie more, and I may have to give it another viewing with my full attention. 3/5 stars

Made for Each Other – no this one sucked and sucked hard and hit a little too close to home for me to boot. It’s not a 1 Star movie, but it’s not much better. Worst movie I’ve seen so far this year. 2/5 stars.

Second Chorus – this movie has Fred Astaire, Artie Shaw (playing himself), and a very very young Burgess Meredith. It was enjoyable while it was on, but a week after watching it I barely remember any of it. 3/5 stars.

Pot-o-Gold – of the 5 films on this disk, this one is probably the best, it’s still not all that good. It’s a musical comedy with a loss plot to string together some musical scenes. The story is about a guy (Jimmy Stewart) going to work for his uncle who owns a radio station, and getting mixed up in a feud between his uncle and the neighboring Irish boarding house. 3/5 stars.

Conclusion – This might not say a whole lot about the box, but there are some things on here that I am very interested in checking out, mostly the shorts; with this box you get some Three Stooges, and WC Fields shorts (which I already have) and some Fatty Arbuckle, Charley Chaplin, Buster Keyton; and Little Rascals shorts (which I don’t already have), just one good or great movie that I have not yet seen is all it would take to make this box worth it, and I’m sure I’ll find it soon enough.

Identity – [watched 4/18/20 w/Dave] I don’t know why I didn’t think to do this earlier, but I’m going to put the dates down for when I watch each movie henceforth, this one I happened to watch on April 18th, but I won’t spell it out in the review unless there is an interesting reason for the day. Also this is a movie I watch with my friend Dave over at Oblivion’s Realm. We sink up turning the movie on at the same time and then texting throughout, I did this last week when we watched Who Frammed Rodger Rabbit together, but that will be for another post far in the future. As for Identity, well… a 5 star movie all the way. It’s a very unusual combination of psychological thriller and slasher with a healthy Neo-Noir influence. It’s about a midnight court hearing of a serial killer and several different unrelated people who show up at a motel. There are so many twists and turns in this movie that I don’t want to say too much and reveal anything in the movie that you may not expect to see coming coming, so I’ll leave it at that. Don’t miss the stand out performances of John Cusack, Ray Liotta, Jake Busey, Pruitt Taylor Vince, and John C. McGinley… everyone else in the movie is good too, don’t get the wrong idea. Odd little factoid here, but this is one of very very few modern American movies that does not have a single African American actor/actress in the film, there is a non-racial reason for this, but I will not get into that for spoiler reasons. This DVD has wide screen, full screen, theatrical cut and extended cut all on the same disk, and it comes in a hard non-recycled case. This movie is a really good one, especially the first time you watch it. 5/5 stars.

Immortal Beloved – [4/19/20] I work with a good amount of community service at my job, in 2011 or there abouts, when I was getting really into classical music, one of the community service guys recommended this movie too me. Many years later (last year I believe) I picked up this move at a library sale, and today is the day I watched it. It was okay, sad, good music (but that’s to be expected of any movie about Beethoven). The story is nonlinear, about Beethoven’s friend/secretary Schindler, tracking down a mysterious woman who the maestro left his fortune to. The story weaves in and out of Beethoven’s life. I give the movie 3 stars, Amadeus is the better period biopic of a master composer. This one is still worth seeing, the segment with the ninth is quite spectacular, it’s worth watching just to see that. 3/5 stars.

Inception* [5/31] – it took a while before I got to this one, almost a month and a half. I’ve been very busy with work, I have an essential job and the complications of the unusual circumstances this year have made that job way more busy then usual. The big day is two days from now, so I should be hammering through the rest of the letter, then the J’s and K’s, more quickly. I’ve seen this movie once before, paid close attention to it the first time, but I wanted to pay close attention this time as well, and I have not had an opportunity to do so, hence the long break. I may do a longer review of this movie, because there is just so much content her, so many questions, so many theories. The opening sequence with Cobb on the beach adds an additional layer of possibility to the interpretation, and the ending is left with a subtle yet profound cliffhanger. The story is about a group of people who can control people’s dreams to find information. It is an extremely complex and surreal action movie, definitely my kind of movie, but it’s not going to be for everyone. It has an all-star cast with Leonardo DiCaprio, Ellen Paige, Joseph Gordon Levitt, Tom Hardy, Pete Posthalwaite, etc. I picked the movie up for 5$ on sale at at a B&N bargain bin, worth every penny and more, the only downside with this movie though, is you have to give it your full attention when you watch it. 5 stars.

Inherent Vice [6/13] – I am impressed. I’m a big fan of the author of this film (I.e. the writer of the novel the film was based on, Thomas Pynchon) and I’ve read this particular novel twice, and I plan on reading it again soon. The movie did a great job interpreting a novel from a notoriously difficult and complex writer. As will happen with any adaptation, several factors were left out, but it’s understandable, including those omitted aspects would make the movie even longer and even more confusing. This is a great Neo-noir with many of the aspects that hallmark the genre: low key, dim lighting, duel meaning dialogue. This movie is also a period piece of the late 60’s (20-30 years after the noir era). This is the second PTA film I’ve seen (I’ve recently discovered that film buffs refer to Paul Thomas Anderson as PTA), the other being “Magnolia” which was fantastic. Both movies are very entertaining and worthy of deep analysis. Inherent Vice is a great film and one I will come back to again and again when I need some Noir environment for writing. 5 stars any day.

Insane Clown Posse: Six Jokerz Unauthorized [6/14] – I got this DVD as a Secret Santa gift… a long time ago. I used to be a fan of the band/group, less so as I’ve gotten older. This is a short(er) documentary about ICP, taking place during their switch from the Disney owner Hollywood Records to Island Records. Love’em or hate’em you can not deny they are an interesting group, and this documentary gives some interesting backstory that you might not know. The one down side is this is an unauthorized documentary, so they do not have any performance footage or music from the band itself used. Also there are no bonus features, and the footage feels cheap, shot on a VHS and it shows, but I’m not complaining, still an interesting documentary for an interesting band. 3/5 stars.

Inspector Gadget Season 1 Vol. 1* [6/14-6/27] – This is a very recent edition to the collection. I ordered this DVD from amazon, in the lockdown, there were few options otherwise. I was looking forward to revisiting Inspector Gadget, but unfortunately the show has not seemed to age well, which is not to say that the humor is in poor taste by today’s standards, it’s more so that the show just seems geared to an even younger audience then I realized. The main character is basically a schlameel idiot, who fumbles his way to success thanks to his vastly more intelligent niece and pet dog (Penny and Brain respectively). Following the episodes has proven to be difficult, so I gave up pretty quick, the plots are basically there only to string various pratfalls together. There are various fan theories that state Dr. Claw (the main antagonist) is actually Inspector Gadget, but there really isn’t enough substance to the show to warrant such theories. The movie isn’t any better I might add, it’s not in my collection and probably won’t be. Unless I happen to come across the other DVDs of the show somewhere at a next to nothing price, I don’t think I’ll be getting anymore, but you never know. I can’t conclude this review without discussing the toys. Burger King released kids club toys in 1991, and I have 3 of the 4 they released, one from my friend’s collection of which he gave to me last year (SCUBA Gadget, 2 of them actually) and I’m still missing the inflatable gadget. Aside from them Tiger released a very good looking line of action figures in 1992. It included several gadget variations, Penny & Brain (on the same card) a MAD Agent, and a very valuable Dr. Claw which revealed his face for the first time (his face is never shown on the show, and there was a sticker over his face on the bubble). Loose Claw figures go for 70+$ (there aren’t many loose action figures of this era that fetch that kind of price), I remember seeing him in the K-Mart when I was a kid… why didn’t I pick him up? I really should have. There was also a gadget mobile that transformed between the van and the sports car. I saw a video of how this works on YouTube but it isn’t a very good video. Definitely toys I want to get for my own collection, maybe the video game for the SNES as well, if I see it, I’ve heard it’s pretty good, more a puzzle solver then a platformer.

Full Letter – following this letter I will be including time spans, but since I only started dating viewings part way through the letter I can’t do that yet. Again not counting TV shows I give this letter a rating of 3.7 stars, not bad.