Dueling Marios

[vovat]

Last night, bethje and I watched Spellbound and Deliverance. The former was about some kids who were in the National Spelling Bee. It showed some of the training they go through, some of them even going so far as to just study right from the dictionary. There were also some comments from Alex Cameron, the guy who announces the words. We've seen this guy on ESPN a few times, and he's very recognizable. He even said that people would come up to him in restaurants and such, and say they knew him from somewhere. According to his profile, he actually died three years ago, which I did not know.

I'm sure everybody knows about Deliverance, and how it's yet another entry in the category of urban or suburban people going out into the country and being attacked by psycho hicks. I've seen quite a few such movies as of late. I guess it's sort of a primal fear for vacationing urbanites. I was a little surprised that Deliverance dealt more with the aftermath than with the actual encounter with the hicks. Oh, and the banjo music was pretty cool. I wish I could play the banjo. Really, though, I wish I could play just about ANY musical instrument.

I wonder if I'd like Mario and Luigi: Partners in Time. I mean, I don't think I'd want to get it until after finishing Superstar Saga, but I do like the Mario RPG genre. The thing is, I really don't like Baby Mario and Luigi. They were annoying enough in Yoshi's Island, and now they're starring characters? Actually, speaking of Mario RPG's, I still have Paper Mario to play. Unfortunately, I don't get the chance to use Beth's Nintendo 64 all that much, and that's the only thing I have to play it on.

Now that I've finished re-reading the Chronicles of Narnia, I think I'll finish with my re-read of Terry Pratchett's Small Gods. Then I'll move on to James Loewen's Lies Across America, Al Franken's The Truth, and then get back to the Discworld series with Lords and Ladies. That's my current plan, anyway. It's certainly possible that it'll change.

Today, I took Beth to school for her first day of the new semester. There are always students trying to cross in the middle of the street there. It's very dangerous, and since there are a few different traffic lights with long-lasting walk signals, I have to wonder why anyone does that. I guess they're living on the edge, or something. After dropping Beth off, I got a bagel sandwich from Dunkin' Donuts, and bought my first stamps of the new year. I'd been holding off on buying stamps, since I didn't want to end up with a bunch of practically useless 37-cent ones. No longer, though! {g}

Comments

[l8erngr8er.livejournal.com]

How demented is it that Deliverance is one of my favorite movies? I own it. I've made other people watch it. They still talk to me. I even started to read the book, but I have a problem with reading books. Even if I really like them, I am so distracted. I was really enjoying Deliverance, too. There were so many more thoughts and details (as you usually encounter in book vs. movie).

This Mario RPG thing sounds crazy. I would not play it unless I could be Toad or if it was based on the genie pants-vest wearing adventures of Toad.

[vovat.livejournal.com]

I didn't know Deliverance was based on a book until seeing it mentioned in the credits of the actual movie. How long is it, and is it close to the movie (what you've read of it, anyway)?

The Mario RPG's tend to have more action than other RPG's, in that, even though the battles are turn-based, you can add force to jumps, dodge enemy attacks, and other things in real-time. Toad shows up quite often in the original Super Mario RPG, but he's not playable.

I've heard that, in Super Smash Bros. Melee, the Princess uses Toad as a human (well, mushroom) shield. I haven't played it myself, though.

[l8erngr8er.livejournal.com]

The copy that I have is nearly 300 pages long, so it's not bad. I didn't get very far into it, but from what I've read sp far, it's very similar to what goes on in the movie but with a little more elaboration on their lives before going on the trip (which I think is really good...you understand a little better why they're going in the first place that way). I think it's worth noting, too, that I didn't actually buy this book, but my high school library was getting rid of a bunch of stuff, students were welcome to take what they wanted before they did, and I just happened to find it. Ha ha...why wouldn't they want a copy of Deliverance?

Toad is the most underrated Mario character ever. I really liked how in MB2 for NES, you could play him. Of course he couldn't jump worth of anything, but it was better than Luigi's fluttery jump. But then, he's doing Pick A Box and jumping up and down, crying about the king getting transformed into a dog and the princess being kidnapped in MB3. What ev. It's cheap. :)

[vovat.livejournal.com]

Yeah, Toad being playable in SMB2 is cool, and he's good at pulling up the coins really quickly.

Is it really Toad in every house and castle in SMB3? Maybe he's invested a lot in real estate, and has several houses in every world. He'd have to move around a lot, though.

The thing is, in the later games, the Mushroom People are referred to collectively as "Toads." So one of the Toads is NAMED Toad. I guess it's like how Yoshi is a Yoshi, and Pikachu is a Pikachu. Since I used to have a cat named Cat, I guess I really can't complain about this. {g}

So, how about Toadette in Mario Kart: Double Dash?

[l8erngr8er.livejournal.com]

So, how about Toadette in Mario Kart: Double Dash?

Not cooler than Toad, but more acceptable than Donkey Kong or Wario.

Waluigi no win this time!

[vovat.livejournal.com]

What about Waluigi, then?

Apparently one strategy guide says that Toadette is Toad's sister, but this is never actually confirmed in the game itself.

[rockinlibrarian.livejournal.com]

Then I'll move on to James Loewen's Lies Across America, Al Franken's The Truth,
Kind of a funny combination if you think about it. Sorry.

[vovat.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it is kind of funny. Of course, The Truth is sort of a follow-up to Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them, while Lies Across America follows up on Lies My Teacher Told Me. So there are a lot of titles involving lying floating around. {g} Both Franken and Loewen made a case for their use of the word "lie" (and variations) in their earlier books. I think Franken's case was stronger, since Loewen was dealing more with errors than outright lies. Still, I suppose they all grab attention, which is the important thing for a book title, right?