Recently there has been much buzz online about Bandai and Disney relaunching the original Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers. The show will be re-aired on ABC Family, and Bandai has a whole line of freshly tooled toys ready to hit the market (including a new version of the MegaZord). With all this going on, I decided to seek out and finally rewatch the show after I hadn’t seen it in at least a decade. I have a fair amount of Super Sentai under my belt now, including Zyuranger, and wanted to really see how it stacked up. I was going to mention here that the episodes were available on iTunes, but they aren’t anymore. Not sure if that has to do with the relaunch or what. If that’s how they’re going to be though, and not have the episodes for sale or streaming anywhere, well… you know what I had to do. The versions that were on iTunes were the post-9/11 cuts which had some shots of building destruction removed anyway. I’d rather see the original cuts released. Methods of content acquisition aside though, on with the review.

Adapting Zyuranger

Saban’s concept for Power Rangers, one that they pitched many times before it was picked up, was to take footage from a Japanese tokusatsu series and splice it with new footage of American actors to make a new, English-language series. This must’ve sounded insane to the network execs, and who could really blame them. The result would be disjointed and silly as hell. However, circumstances aligned in the correct way, and Fox Kids was in need of a throwaway mid-season series. Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers was greenlighted, creating 40 episodes based on the 50-episode series Kyoryu Sentai Zyuranger.

Compared to Zyuranger, the premise was substantially altered. Instead of five ancient warriors waiting in suspended animation until they are needed to fight off the witch Bandora who has a personal grudge with them, Power Rangers has five freshly recruited “teenagers with attitude” battling Rita Repulsa who wants little more than to destroy the Earth. Why does she want to do that? Who knows, maybe it’s blocking her view of Venus. Instead of a wise old elf watching over them, the Power Rangers are supported by an interdimensional being called Zordon and his perpetually annoying robot assistant Alpha-5. In addition, they control giant battle machines called Zords, a more traditional idea than Zyuranger’s sentient dinosaur gods.

During this initial batch of 40 episodes, the fact that it’s written around existing footage is painfully obvious. The Power Rangers were granted the ability to teleport into battle, which conveniently explains away the sudden shifts in setting. However, this also causes the plot to leap all over the place just as suddenly. Some episodes it’s almost like there are two shows going on, one a bad Saved by the Bell clone, the other a superhero series, and never the twain shall meet. “Civilian” scenes would have the Rangers doing some bullcrap to promote peace, or help the environment, or whatever soapbox it is they’re on today. Then, suddenly, Rita will attack them, they’ll fight some putties, then transform and teleport to a totally different place to slug it out with a monster. When that’s done, it’s back to the good old Youth Center to resolve the story from before and drill in today’s moral.

This first part of the series would be almost unbearable at times, aside from two saving graces — Farkus Bulkmeier and Eugene Skullovich, aka Bulk & Skull. Played by Paul Schrier and Jason Narvy, these two bumbling wannabe bullies are always good for a chuckle. Often, I found whatever antics they were up to more interesting than what the Rangers were doing. You can hardly blame Bulk & Skull for wanting to pick on the Rangers either. I mean, they really were a bunch of dweebs.

Contrary to all expecations, Power Rangers was a smash hit. Kids all over the country were running around karate kicking each other and singing “Go Go Power Rangers!”, myself included. Problem: Saban didn’t have much Zyuranger left to work with. Almost all the usable footage had been exhausted making the initial 40 episodes. A couple more were created with what was left, plus an episode featuring an encore of the Pudgy Pig consisting of almost all American footage. Meanwhile, Saban prepared a nice little surprise.

Zyu2 — The Zyuranger episodes that never were

Saban went back to Toei with a request: Shoot another half season (25 episodes) worth of Ranger fights and corresponding Zord battles. Toei agreed, and designed 25 new Zyuranger-styled monster costumes as well as dragging the Zyurangers’ suits out of mothballs. Saban even got them to include elements tailored to Power Rangers, such as a relationship between the Green and Pink Rangers which didn’t exist in Zyuranger. This footage is often referred to by Power Rangers and Sentai fans as “Zyu2″. Since these were not full Zyuranger episodes, just costume and Zord fights, the only place to see them is in Power Rangers.

Since Saban was now working with footage that was made specifically for Power Rangers, they had a much easier time creating cohesive stories. The last 20 episodes of the season contain some of its best and most memorable. The stories are better, it’s less jumpy, the actors are improving, even Bulk and Skull are funnier. There was even new combination footage for MegaZord and UltraZord. The new MegaZord sequence is interesting since it has them going directly to MegaZord without going through the tank mode first, but it’s also pretty obvious that Toei shot these new sequences using the toys. This isn’t new, all the original footage of Kyuukyoku Daizyujin (UltraZord) was the toys, but these new sequences make it more apparent so I don’t like them as much.

In Zyu2, the Green Ranger was even revived, something that never happened in Zyuranger. Ironically he was more active after his revival with his temporary powers than he had been before. In his previous stint, Saban had to work around the fact that Burai (Zyuranger’s Dragon Ranger) had a very limited amount of time to live from the very start. Whenever he would leave his special “lapseless room”, his remaining life would decrease. For this reason, Burai would only come out to fight when his Dragon Caesar was needed. Thanks to that, MMPR’s Green Ranger never participated in a ground fight while transformed, they would always have to find a way to write him out until it was time to call out the Zords. In the Zyu2 footage though, Green Ranger is frequently right there with the others kicking ass and taking names. This is great for fans of the Dragon Ranger/Green Ranger (and who isn’t his fan, honestly).

The Zyu2 episodes are also where they started using the show’s famous battle themes. Songs like “Fight”, “We Need a Hero”, “Combat” and “5-4-1″ help to really up the excitement level of the fights. They are also genuinely pretty damn good songs. Ron Wasserman, under the pseudonyms Aaron Waters and The Mighty RAW, was called in to create the new themes. Wasserman had previously performed the series’ infectious opening theme “Go Go Power Rangers”. Though I think the drums were done with a drum machine, Wasserman’s vocals and guitar created some truly memorable stuff not befitting a mere childrens’ TV series.

All that combined to bring the series its own identity during the Zyu2 era. No longer was it merely a hacked up Zyuranger, it was its own entity with its own style and appeal. This trend would continue into the second and third seasons as they relied less and less on the Japanese footage. It does beg the question though, what would this have been if Saban had just made their own show? Could they have come up with a concept that would have worked as well? I’m not sure, but at the very least it has introduced a lot of young Americans to tokusatsu and Super Sentai in particular. Though I still think the Super Sentai shows are overall better, MMPR is pretty enjoyable once it hits its stride and shouldn’t be totally written off.

Improvável é um espectáculo Brasileiro de comédia de improviso. Num dos jogos (Jogo das Frases), antes de começar o espectáculo, a plateia coloca sugestões de frases numa caixa. Cada jogador recebe duas frases dessa caixa, que eles não sabem quais são, e no decorrer da improvisação eles tem que encaixá-las na cena.Todos o espectáculo em http://www.improvavel.com.br

What a steal! The Disney Outlet store has princess tees for girls for just $2.99! At this low price, they also have the classic Minnie Mouse ringer tee, High School Musical tees, Power Ranger tees, and more for both boys and girls. I’ve just discovered this store… Amazing!

Thanks, DealNews!

It’s Tuesday. I took a break last week to take care of finals for my first quarter at ITT. That’s done, so let’s get back to the fun stuff, shall we?

Toku Tuesday: Vol.1, Issue 10

Tokusatsu’s Greatest Hits

10.  VR Troopers

“We are. We are, V-R!” Simple, to the point, and catchy. For the 90’s, that’s about as much as you can ask out of any sub par action show’s theme. Saban Entertainment might have been over-extending itself a little with Power Rangers, VR Troopers, and the coming Mystic Knights, Beetleborgs, and Masked Failure, but the fact that the shows it cranked out were inventive (considering the time) and fun (except said FAILURE) shows that even the doomed franchises had promise. This tune still creeps into my head from time to time, bringing happy memories of weekday mornings.

9. Cutie Honey

She had her own anime series (at least two of them actually), OVAs, and a feature length, live-action film before she went “the LIVE” on TV a few years back. I place no particular rendition of the famous “Honey Flash” tune on the list, but highlight “the LIVE” version simply because it’s as upbeat, fast-paced, and sexy-crazy as the show actually was – and there happens to be some rap lyrics for good measure. If you haven’t seen the recent live-action series, you should, for it is excellent.

8.  Fight (MMPR)

Believe it or not, this is the only insert song on the list. Okay, maybe not-so-hard-to-believe as most insert music is forgettable or downright unnoticeable with all the action going on on top of it. This one, however, most will remember, even if they don’t realize they remember it. When the Putties terrorized Angel Grove, the Power Rangers battled them to this awesome battlecry. It’s simple, but full of heart – FIGHT!

7. Gosei Sentai Dairanger

You will be humming this track soon after listening. It quickly became one of my favorite Sentai themes, and it happens to be the first thing you get upon watching on of my favorite Sentai series. Beautiful.

6.  Another Day Comes (Ultraseven X)

The end (?) theme of Ultraseven X, this was the song that got me into Pay Money to My Pain. I was surprised to find their album on iTunes. I was even more surprised to learn the group is straight out of Tokyo – damn good English, even better shredding. Overall, this cut is superbly matched to the tone of the series.

5.  Jumon Kourin Magical Force (Mahou Sentai Magiranger)

You want to know why this ending theme to Magiranger is on this list? It’s on the list because it’s so figgin’ cute, that’s why. Listen to the song, watch the video, and tell me that’s not cute. Then sit down and make sure no one was watching you make a fool of yourself trying to do the dance…

4.  Kamen Rider AgitΩ (Kamen Rider Agito)

The most singable hooks in all Kamen Rider themes. This is another that can easily get stuck in your head and hold it ransom.

3.  Climax Jump (Kamen Rider Den-O)

The Kamen Rider series that refuses to die has a theme that has as many versions as there are spinoff properties and then-some. There’s like, a version for each movie and special and a version for each of the Den-O’s EIGHT forms. I prefer the main version – the one used to open the main show about 80% of the series. Another catchy little ditty, indeed.

2.  Savior in the Dark (Garo)

An epic show needs an epic theme, and anime/game music super group JAM Project delivers here (as they have always done). One listen, and you will be hungry for Makai Knight action, your heart will be pumping and you will want to ride into battle with the Golden Knight yourself. What’s even better, this epic song is even more EPIC live.

1.  Go, Go Power Rangers (MMPR)

Did you thing I was going to overlook this? Please…

I’m sure by now all of you have heard like so many before her Arsenio Hall, Sally Jessy Raphael, Montel Williams, Jenny Jones, Johnny Carson, Ricki Lake, Leeza, Rosie O’donnell and Geraldo Rivera that “The Queen Of Daytime Television” Oprah Winfrey will be putting an end to her twenty five year run of “The Oprah Show” come 2011. I personally will miss her show for its platform it brings via T.V. to many unfortunate homes around the world, like myself the topics that she covers and giveaways along with her unique interviewing style, soft yet with conviction, Oprah kept me entertained. I remember when i was younger after school, i’d be glued to the T.V. to watch Power Rangers and then “The Oprah Show” with my mom before I would go outside to play or buy something from the candy/hot dog truck that came through my neighborhood. To myself Oprah is legend and i’m almost certain whatever she does next will be equally exceptional…GOOD LUCK LADY “O”!!! MAUHZZ*

Para quem não lembra quem é Zordon…

Today on Alphabet City: Long before he takes real estate advice from an Oscar-winner, Jon Paul battles Japanese Power Rangers to score his first NYC apartment.  Guest star: Marcia Gay Harden.

As repeat viewers may remember, on last week’s Kitchen Knightmares I served a fishy dish to the editor of Washington Heights’ neighborhood newspaper.  Well, turns out he survived to tell the tale—literally, he wrote all about it in this week’s Manhattan Times, the opening of the piece tells the story of how I found our current brownstone thanks to encouragement from actress Marcia Gay Harden.  Reading it reminds me that I’ve always been blessed with good Big Apple real estate karma.  While many young transplants spin tales of tiny Manhattan studios with tubs in kitchens, I escaped those nightmares when I first moved here in 1996.  Instead, I did battle with costumed characters to score my first pad in the East Village.

Here’s an excerpt from Alphabet City’s Epsiode 2: Will He Make It After All?

Just like when Mary first arrived and battled Rhoda over an insanely well-designed apartment, I had a similar fight over my first NYC home—only not with my best friend.  In my sitcom set-up, my pal from college Angela and I joined forces and battled a group of Japanese Power Rangers.  The East Village apartment we desired was in a newly renovated building, and while it was slightly more than we could afford, it had two levels, and a backyard, perfect for my foofy dog Winnie who was accustomed to carousing in her own grassy yard in Texas.

JP with Winnie in backyard of first NYC apt

Only thing standing between us and our new sitcom set were seven Japanese kids who had just graduated from high school, dressed head-to-toe in colored leotards with matching helmets, and flashing a wad of cash.  Their parents were willing to pay the entire year’s rent up front.  It was an offer that John the Greek landlord, just venturing into the realm of NYC real estate, could hardly refuse.  Our shot at a fabulous pad was slipping away.

But if there’s one thing I learned from Mary, it was a little charm goes a long way.  I invited John the Greek Landlord to lunch—he looked like a guy who didn’t miss a meal.  Over latkes and applesauce at Leshko’s Polish Diner just down the block, Angela and I asked John about his family.  He beamed as he showed us wallet-size pics of the strapping young men.

“It’s a very big Greek family.  All my sons in the business with me,” he said.

I wondered if any of them were single.

“Well, I can’t wait to meet them,” I said.

“Must be so wonderful with them being so close for you to look after them,” Angela added.

“It’s so hard for us moving to New York from Texas, so far from our families,” I chimed in.

I looked away out the window—like I was about to cry, when actually I was about to burst out laughing at the lie I was telling.  Angela was certainly close to her family—but I was purposely escaping my crazy brood back in Dallas.  My father’s parting words echoed in my head.

“This will be the biggest mistake of your life.”

I turned back to the landlord, and went for the close, ready to pick up the check, intending to pay with money I had borrowed for the apartment’s security deposit.  I leaned in, looking him squarely in the eyes.

“John, let’s be honest, after all the blood sweat and tears you put into that amazing apartment, who would you rather have in there?  Two good kids from Texas that are going to care for the place like a real home?  Or the hard-partying Power Rangers who will trash it in a year?”

While thinking about the cash the Asian superheroes were flashing, John looked at Angela, then at me—my eyes pleading with him for a break.  He smiled.

“Alright, it is you who will have apartment.  Welcome to Alphabet City.”

After dreaming about this moment for over 20 years, I grabbed the keys to my first New York apartment—and the beginning to a new sitcom life in the Big Apple.

cartoons piss me off cartoon network use to be a reason to come home after school i guess i should just be a bum and do drugs ” just kidding”but seriously powerpuff girls ed edd and eddy   samurai jack pokemon ” orginal” yu gi oh “orginal” cow and chicken   Cartoon Cartoons and toonami dont even get me started  dragon ball Runonin Kenshin  Yu Yu Hakusho zoids all the gundam shows robottech           those awesome promos toonami should of been its own channel like boomerang thats all i have to say or atleast all im going to type right now but dont worry this rant willl be back

ive devised a playlist of cartoon theme songs or opening themes or songs in cartoons that are really cool/memorable to me with a little help from youtube.

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Theme Tune

samurai champloo opening credits – Battlecry by Nujabes

pokemon “oringinal” theme song

boondocks huey vs bushido brown – mf doom all caps

cowboy bebop opening- the seatbelts tank

Gobots intro

dragon ball z intro

fooly cooly outro- the pillows shooting star

1980’s Transformers cartoon intro

big o opening theme

megas xlr intro

Histórias em quadrinhos e videogames é uma combinação que, na maioria das vezes, rende coisas muito boas. Não é para menos, já que a ação e os poderes das HQs combinam e muito com o mundo fantástico dos games. E o que dizer de super heróis dentro do Super Nintendo? Super legal, pelo menos a maioria deles. O console com o ’super’ no nome teve jogos de vários dos mais famosos personagens dos quadrinhos – do Batman ao Hulk – transportando-os das páginas dos gibis para a tela da televisão deixando o jogador à vontade com seu novíssimo cinto de utilidades.

Death and Return of Superman – O kryptoniano aparece no Super NES não só em sua versão Clark Kent. Seguindo o enredo do quadrinho de mesmo nome, Death and Return of Superman mostra a morte do herói e seu retorno. Aparecem o Cyborg (O Homem do Amanhã), o Superboy (A Maravilha de Metrópolis), o Homem de Aço (uma versão meio-robô-meio-kryptoniana) e o Erradicador (O Último Filho de Krypton), todos jogáveis e com habilidades diferentes. Não é um dos melhores jogos para o console, mas bem divertido para quem é fã do herói, já que remonta toda a história dos quadrinhos, embora com alguns cortes. Apesar de um pouco repetitivo, tinha algumas fazes no estilo ’shooter’ e ainda permitia que o personagem voasse, algo possível somente ao Superman em um beat’em up.

Batman Returns- Sem usar ao extremo seu cinto de utilidades, o homem-morcego estrela um dos melhores beat’em ups do Super NES. Inspirado no filme de mesmo nome (aquele com o Danny DeVitto como o Pinguim), é tudo o que se espera de Bruce Wayne em sua identidade secreta: muita ação. Assim como a vida do super herói, o jogo não é dos mais fáceis, mas tem controles, gráficos e trilha sonora de excelente qualidade. Ótimo trabalho da Acclaim, diferentemente de Batman Forever, da mesma companhia, feito no estilo Mortal Kombat, uma experiência sofrível no console de 16 bits.

The Incredible Hulk – O que o grandão tem de incrível nos gibis não tem nada de incrível no Super NES. A US Gold fez Hulk parecer um ‘anão’ troncudo com dois metros de altura em um jogo horrível, difícil de jogar e com uma música irritante. Onde já se viu um humano resistir a três socos furiosamente carregados com a força dos raios gama? Sem carros para jogar nos adversários, sem paredes para quebrar, apenas humanos aparentemente ultra resistentes que tentam parar o grandão em um game até confuso. Se Bruce Bane visse o que fizeram com o verdinho, provavelmente ficaria furioso e… o resto vocês já sabem.

X-men: Mutant Apocalypse – Um é pouco, dois é bom, três é demais… e cinco é perfeito! Cinco mutantes em um só jogo, cada um com suas habilidades especiais lutando contra Magneto e Apocalypse. Isso é X-men: Mutant Apocalypse, o melhor jogo dos pupilos de Charles Xavier no Super NES. Gambit, Psylocke, Cyclops, Fera e, claro, Wolverine, são os mutantes à escolha do jogador. Além de habilidades específicas, cada um começa em uma fase diferente, e todas devem ser completadas para que o jogo siga em frente. O estilo, ainda que seja parecido com um beat’em up, se encaixa melhor no gênero de ação, já que tem características de plataforma. Bastante difícil também, mas ao mesmo tempo muito divertido, principalmente por conta dos poderes especiais dos personagens e das batalhas – impossíveis – contra Magneto e Apocalypse no fim.

Captain America and The Avengers – Também estrela mais de um herói, embora apenas o Capitão America esteja no título. O soldado tem a ajuda do Homem de Ferro, de Hawkeye e de Vision, embora a equipe original dos Vingadores tivesse apenas os dois primeiros. Assemelha-se a todos os outros jogos citados até agora, mas em vez de socos e chutes, é baseado em projéteis, ou seja, mais parece um jogo de tiro que de luta, mesmo porque tem fases no estilo shooter. Os gráficos são bem simples e os controles não ruins, mas é mal projetado, apresenta bugs frequentes e o grau de dificuldade se eleva repentinamente. O barato é a aparição dos vilões da Marvel, como o Ceifador e o Fanático, e alguns aliados, como a Mulher Maravilha e o Vespa. Além disso, toda vez que se acerta um inimigo aparecem as onomatopéias tradicionais dos quadrinhos, como “POW” e “THWAK!”.

Spiderman & Venom: Separation Anxiety - Jogar com na pele de super heróis é divertido. Controlando um vilão também! Além do Homem Aranha, é possível controlar o simbionte Venom neste jogo, um dos muitos do aracnídeo para o console. Um beat’em up bem simples e divertido, com a adição dos poderes especiais do Aranha, claro. Afinal, não é todo jogo que permite prender os inimigos em uma teia e escalar prédios se balançado em cipós de fluído. É a continuação de Spiderman & Venom: Maximum Carnage, mas dessa vez é possível jogar com herói e vilão simultaneamente, o que torna tudo infinitamente mais fácil e divertido! Além desse dois, o Aranha ainda tem mais três títulos para o console, um deles junto dos X-Men.

Spawn – Fiel à história e até aos estilo gráfico dos quadrinhos, o único título do demônio para Super NES é divertido para quem é fã da série, mas nenhuma experiência nova para quem só está interssado na ação. Embora tenha várias opções de comandos – todos visualmente muito bonitos quando executados - Spawn é simples de aprender, mas difícil de jogar. Ainda assim, traz a mesma ação dos gibis e não deixa a desejar no quesito fidelidade. Inimigos como Overkill e o próprio demônio Malebolgia aparecem como chefes. Seria uma obra prima se o combate fosse mais elaborado, mas ainda assim vale pelas técnicas avançadas de Spawn.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time – Neste que é considerado um dos melhores beat’em ups de todos os tempos, nada de poderes, heróis voadores e cintos de utilidade. Tudo o que há são quatro tartarugas lutadoras, capangas e pizza. Sem dúvida o melhor jogo das Tartarugas Ninja já produzido. Divertido, fácil de aprender, temática de viagem no tempo e os quatro répteis à escolha do jogador são a receita do sucesso de Turtles in Time. Além de Michelangelo, Donatelo, Rafael e Leonardo, vilões típicos dos quadrinhos entravam em cena. Tudo o que os fãs queriam das Tartarugas Ninja estálá, inclusive a música do desenho animado e os gritos de “kowabanga!”. Posteriormente, as Tartarugas Ninja ganharam um jogo no gênero de luta, mas o título não fez sucesso.

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers – Quando os Power Rangers ainda eram um sucesso por aqui e nos Estados Unidos, um jogo foi lançado pela Natsume exatamente nos moldes do seriado da televisão: os cinco adolescentes seguiam batendo nos bonecos desengonçados e, quando as coisas apertavam, era hora de morfar e eles se transformavam nos Power Rangers. Quem era fã da série tinha um prato cheio nas mãos, mesmo não tendo o melhor título para o Super NES. Nas fases finais do jogo, os Rangers invocam o robozão Megazord, como não poderia deixar de ser, para lutar com um monstro de proporções gigantescas. Bastante simples, mas ainda assim bem divertido. Quando ‘morfados’, cada ranger tinha uma arma especial e movimentos próprios. É baseado na primeira geração da série, produzida pela Bandai, a que fez mais sucesso. Posteriormente, foi lançada uma versão de luta dos Power Rangers com cinco Zords (os robôs de cada um) e um novo beat’em up um pouco mais elaborado, que foi produzido com base no filme da segunda geração.

Bad guys beware!  Power Rangers in the house!

Ready to fight evil!

And of course the cute little one.

or is she?

Archie Kao

Archie Kao, ator norte-americano de ascendência taiuanesa nascido em 14/12/69. Formado em Comunicação, pensou em estudar Direito e entrar para a política. Foi presidente do grêmio estudantil e Homecoming King na faculdade. Listado um dos Solteirões Mais Quentes da revista People em 2006. É o Power Ranger azul e o técnico de laboratório Archie Johnson de CSI [sumiu nesta temporada, infelizmente...].

It would seem that me calling Adelaide Kane an ignorant Australian Bitch has had an effect as I am now banned from following her Twitter account

(c) photo copyright StarToyCo.wordpress.com

Tom’s Toys in San Luis Obispo is a favorite specialty/independent toystore on California’s Central Coast. Toy shoppers will love having a new Tom’s Toys located just 40 min. south in Santa Maria’s Town Center Mall. The mall is undergoing a major renovation and Tom’s Toys is a main draw!

Under construction for the last month, the store is now open 7 days a week (M-Sa 10-6, Sun 11-5), but the Grand Opening will be held on SATURDAY NOVEMBER 20, 2009.

Lots of great sales, costumed characters, and free pizza will make this family event even more fun.

Sale Example: Power Rangers Action Figures that were priced at $8.99-$14 are now only $3.99!

As you are all aware, for the past few weeks, I have been trying to convince the Monster Zero people that my apologies are sincere and that I no longer say the things that got me exiled from MZP, in the hopes that they will forgive me and allow me back onto their forums. So my question is to any Monster Zero people who might be reading this: Will you REALLY let me back onto your forums? I ask this as two messages I recvived after banning makes me think otherwise

Attenzione: questa è la seconda parte del resoconto del nostro weekend di paura e delirio a Desenzano del Garda, ti preghiamo di leggere dall’inizio se vuoi capirci qualcosa! Buona lettura!

Ci raggiungono gli ultimi avanzi di galera dalle pendici della bassa milanese, Jonny, Hell, Simo, Melo, Pole, Alessio ed il Grass completano quel che chiamiamo io ed Albert “la squadra del cuore”… 15 elementi pronti a tutto, armati fino ai denti di bottiglie e mascherine per l’ossigeno…
Appena la squadra è al completo, inizia un nuovo delirio, nuove e mozioni e nuove risate… Lo stereo riprende a suonare ad un volume normale, e noi a stappare tutto quello che ci pare, bottiglie di bianco, di rosso, di giallo, verde e blu… I colori Power Rangers… L’idea è quella di fare un grande fratello con tutti noi, telecamere e spesa illimitata… Questo si che sarebbe un vero SHOW… Peccato però che al posto del grande fratello c’è la grande sorella… Detta anche “vecchia di merda” che alle ore 20 di sera mi ha chiamato nel confessionale…

“Ragazzi, è il terzo avvertimento! Fate le valigie che vi ridò i soldi di domani e ve ne andate via da quì!”

Con il mio Savoir-faire ho convinto la signora che da li alla nostra partenza sarebbe stata la sua ultima telefonata, che avremmo fatto silenzio per sempre e che alle dieci ce ne saremmo andati fuori dai coglioni… E così è stato.

Abbiamo quindi cercato di bere l’impossibile senza alzare troppo la voce, e verso le ore 22, io, palesemente ubriaco, ho incominciato ad urlare a tutti di portarsi dietro tutte le bottiglie che ci stavano nei giubbini, facendone esplodere una proprio di fianco al bagno della vecchia… Ringrazio Poio e Jonny che hanno pulito al posto mio.

Una volta usciti è iniziato il delirio per Desenzano, io onestamente ricordo poco, parlano le foto, che dicono che siamo stati al Circus e li davanti a bere e a fare i coglioni tra di noi. Solito macello nei bagni e con i passanti, ai quali io ed Albert continuavamo a chiedere dove si poteva andare per passare la serata, sperando sempre che fra le risposte non ci fosse il cassico “Affanculo!”.

Ci ritroviamo poi a mangiare una piadina e da li ci si divide, c’è chi torna in stanza, c’è chi rimane fuori ancora per molto, e quelli siamo sempre io e Albert, con la compagnia del Mino e di Koala. dopo un po’ anche Koala sparisce chiedendoci indicazioni per la via di casa, e noi, speriamo di avergliele date giuste… Da qui incominica l’ora di delirio di Albert, che non fa altro che  chiamarmi “mongolo” per un’ora e anche più, spingendomi, chiamandomi, guardandomi negli occhi con aria di sfida… Tentiamo quindi di placare le acque in un pub, per bere una tisana e non si sa come arrivano tre vodka & redbull, cosa che io odio profondamente, e che Albert sostiene che l’ordinazione è partita da me…

Pago io e ce li portiamo fuori, due bicchieri rimarranno diementicati da qualche parte, uno l’ho spaccato su un palazzo esausto ed incazzatissimo il continuo dire “mongolo” di Albert, va a finire che lo faccio con di fianco gli sbirri, grazie a Dio che non si sono accorti di nulla… Ricordo poi di essermi sdraiato su una macchina… Ho chiesto informazioni ad Albert che mi ha risposto così:

“Questo è quello che mi ricordo! Parole frasi battute che abbiamo detto mi chiedi troppo. Altre cazzate ci saranno di sicuro perchè ridevamo però chi se le ricorda?”

Questo cosa?

Ultima parte.

]]> http://aikozord.wordpress.com/2009/11/10/new-tags/ Tue, 10 Nov 2009 12:52:53 +0000 aikozord http://aikozord.wordpress.com/2009/11/10/new-tags/

This is a test-post using my new tags

I was never into Power Rangers when it was on TV. I must have been around 12 when it first came out, which probably placed me right on the edge of the target demographic. As lineout mentioned previously, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was essentially on its way out, which I had already transitioned from watching almost religiously every time it was on after school, regardless of whether or not it was a rerun, to shrugging off in tired disinterest any time I switched channels to it on a Saturday. Honestly, I probably had better things to do like practice guitar, comb my proud peach-fuzz mustache, or try to download warez off of one of the local BBS’s at 9600 bps.

Don’t look at me like that…I’m not old yet…

So, if I recall correctly, a typical Power Rangers episode went as follows:

1. Some cheesy, one-off story line is presented featuring the Rangers in their normal high-school environment. It’s somewhat like Saved by the Bell, but with considerably less drama fueled by one of the main characters’ addiction to caffeine pills.
2. A crazy person in a monster costume shows up across town and starts killing people and basically just wrecking up the joint.
3. The Rangers jump into their color-coded spandex suits and start beating the crap out of the drug-addled costumed hobo.
4. Some freaky woman with pointy hair and an obnoxious voice uses her magic wand to super-size the monster to Godzilla-esque proportions.
5. The Rangers form Voltron and finish up the fight.
6. The Rangers go back to school and conclude the story line with a smug sense of satisfaction.
7. I die a little bit more inside.

What Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Fighting Edition does is filter the preceding outline down to just the Voltron fighting. Surprisingly, it does a somewhat adequate job of this. The game takes the Street Fighter II route of relying on various button combinations and direction-pad sweeps to execute special moves. There’s also plenty of flashing lights and colors to keep you visually entertained or otherwise induce epileptic fits.

Fun fact: I just realized that the original black ranger was African-American, the original yellow ranger was of Asian descent, and, as far as IMDB tells me, the original red ranger was part Native American. Way to keep things PC, Saban Entertainment!

…or am I the bad guy for pointing out this connection? DEAR GOD, WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME!?

hahaha przezabawny filmik

Zobaczcie sami:

Can you find me in this photograph?

No?  I promise I’m there.  I’m not invisible.  I’m not hiding behind someone.  I’m not disguised as a bush.

That’s right…  You guessed it; I’m the one suffocating inside the Red Power Ranger costume.

This was a birthday party for one of our neighbors’ sons.  They are friends of the family.  The birthday boy is that kid in the neon green shirt standing next to me.  This party took place over the summer of 1994.  I’m 12 at the time and, to this day, I’m not sure how I ended up being the one in that costume.  I mean, I was a drama major in a performing arts school at the time but, seriously, I was nowhere near the correct size for the costume.  There was no lack of taller, more appropriately sized men about, either.  Take the father of the birthday boy, standing on the steps in the background, for example.

Anyway, you remember who the Power Rangers are, right?  Tall, muscular and annoyingly attractive (even the nerdy one) “high school kids” wearing skin-tight body suits while fighting big, bad monsters.

Let me present to you an image of the Red Power Ranger I’m supposed to be portraying, for comparison purposes:

Now me again:

Amusingly, I was wearing a few layers of clothes underneath the costume to try to look like I had more muscles, because my 12 year old mind thought that would be a good idea.  You can see from the photograph above that that didn’t work out so well.

If you were a kid, do you think you might be a little suspicious?  Maybe just a little?  Well, thankfully the birthday boy didn’t seem to be and was super excited to have a Power Ranger at his party.  I guess, that’s ultimately what counts, unless you’re the fool in the costume…

Oh, and did I mention that the costume was way too big?